At dawn Spotted Deer looked anxiously about the lodge, hoping to see the mysterious visitor who had entered during the night. He had disappeared. The Delaware was alone.

The camp was astir with the usual daylight activities. Spotted Deer recognized familiar sounds. People were calling from the lodges. Children were running about in play. The women were breaking sticks for the fires. He heard the crackle of freshly kindled wood. Smoke drifted into the lodge. Soon afterward he smelled the tantalizing odor of roasting meat. It roused his appetite. He wondered if the Shawnees would bring food.

It was not long before a warrior and an old woman entered the lodge. The warrior carried his tomahawk and the old woman brought meat and water. The Shawnee unbound the Delaware in grim silence. Then he motioned for the woman to place the meat and water beside the captive. He seated himself to wait while Spotted Deer ate. The old woman stood watching him. The Shawnee pointed toward the door and she hurried out.

It was some time before Spotted Deer could use his arms. The Shawnee showed no impatience. He seemed content to enjoy the discomfort of his foe. He was a young man, not much older than the Delaware. His face was stern and cruel, and his eyes were bold and piercing. He was sinewy and well formed, and looked as if he might be a dangerous adversary. He waited silently until Spotted Deer had finished eating, and then he bound him. Then he called the old woman who came and took away the bowl. The Shawnee followed her from the lodge.

As he was not further disturbed, Spotted Deer began to consider his chances. He wondered if the Shawnees intended to kill him. He had little doubt of it. The Mystery Woman wished to see him die, and the Shawnee leader had declared that his people would listen to her words. Spotted Deer had slight hope of being spared. He knew the hatred which the Shawnees had for the Delawares and he believed he would be made the victim of their vengeance. Still he had passed safely through many perilous days of captivity among the fierce Mohawks, and the thought gave him courage. If the Shawnees delayed his execution, he believed his friends might discover his plight in time to rescue him. He relied particularly upon his friend Running Fox, a famous young warrior who was the son of the great Delaware war chief, Black Panther. The lads had shared many perilous adventures and each had implicit confidence in the loyalty and ability of the other. Spotted Deer felt sure that, once alarmed at his absence, Running Fox would make desperate efforts to find him. If he finally learned of Spotted Deer's predicament, the latter knew that nothing but death would prevent him from extricating him from his difficulty.

"Running Fox will come," he assured himself.

Then he suddenly realized that, even if his friends should find his trail, they might arrive too late to save him. The thought sobered him. He feared that if the Shawnees planned to kill him they would carry out their intention with little delay. They, too, might anticipate an attempt by the Delawares to rescue him. He realized that the coming night might bring his death. For an instant the idea startled him. Then he drove it from his thoughts, and made an earnest appeal to Getanittowit, the Great One.

He had barely finished his petition when the Shawnee leader entered the lodge. For some moments he stood before Spotted Deer in silence. He stared steadily into his eyes, and the Delaware met his glance without flinching. Then the Shawnee began to speak.

"Delaware, I have come to tell you that you must die," he said.

He paused to note the effect of his words. Spotted Deer showed no emotion. He waited calmly for the Shawnee to continue. It was some moments before the latter spoke.

"Many bad things will happen to you," he said, finally. "Pretty soon we will see if you are brave enough to go through with it. I do not believe you are brave enough to go through with it. You are a Delaware. When you see what the Shawnees are about to do to you I believe you will cry like a woman. Then our young men will laugh at you."

The Shawnee again paused and looked searchingly at the captive. Spotted Deer smiled scornfully. He showed no inclination to speak. His control amazed his foe. He had expected to rouse him into a violent outburst of temper. He appeared baffled by Spotted Deer's indifference. It annoyed him. His anger showed in his face. Having failed to intimidate the young Delaware, the Shawnee appeared to be in a dilemma. Spotted Deer believed he had entered the lodge to carry out some crafty plan. For some moments he maintained an awkward silence. The Delaware watched closely. He saw a swift, cunning glance flash from the eyes of his foe. At that instant the Shawnee addressed him.

"Well, young man, I see that you are brave," he said, less harshly. "It is good. Perhaps I will help you. But you must do as I tell you. Will you listen to my words?"

"Speak," Spotted Deer said, coldly.

"You are a Delaware," resumed the Shawnee, "Your people are our enemies. Our enemies must die. If I do not help you my people will surely kill you. You are a young man. I believe you are a brave warrior. It would be foolish to throw away your life. I will tell you how you may keep it. You must help me kill the great chief Black Panther. He is——"

"Stop!" Spotted Deer cried, furiously. "I have closed my ears. You speak the tongue of my people, but you talk like a Shawnee. The Shawnees are afraid of our great chief, Black Panther. It is good. They run to their lodges when they hear his voice. You wish to kill him but you are afraid. You ask me to help you. Shawnee, if my hands were loose I would pull you to pieces. I am a Delaware. A Delaware will die for his people. Go, Shawnee dog, and tell your brothers the words of Spotted Deer."

The Shawnee listened in dumbfounded amazement as the enraged young Delaware defied him. As Spotted Deer finished speaking, however, his foe suddenly gave way to passion. Springing wildly upon the helpless captive, the Shawnee began to choke him. Spotted Deer was entirely at his mercy. The Shawnee seemed determined to kill him. He slowly increased the power of his grip, and Spotted Deer began to strangle. The Shawnee laughed fiercely as he stared upon the distorted features of his victim. Then, when the tortured Delaware finally began to lose consciousness, the Shawnee suddenly released him.

"No, I will not kill you," he said. "It would be foolish. I will take you to my people. I will give them your words. Then you will see how the Shawnees kill their enemies."

He watched indifferently until he saw Spotted Deer recovering from the attack, and then he left the lodge. For some time afterward Spotted Deer gasped and choked in his efforts to recover his breath. Then he composed himself to think. He feared that his bold defiance would cost him his life. He believed that the Shawnee had spared him to receive a worse fate from his tribesmen. Spotted Deer knew only too well the sort of vengeance the Shawnees would inflict upon him.

"I am a Delaware—I must be brave," he kept telling himself.

Spotted Deer abandoned hope. It was evident that if his friends came, they would arrive too late to save him. He felt sure that the night would bring his death. He knew that the Shawnees would do their utmost to make him suffer, in the hope of breaking his spirit and making him die a weakling in their eyes. The thought roused his spirit. His eyes flashed excitedly, as he told himself that it was his duty to uphold the honor of his people. The thought fired him with enthusiasm. He resolved to die as the Delawares would wish him to die.

"The Shawnees will see a warrior," he said, proudly.

Then his thoughts turned to Running Fox. The lads had been inseparable companions and Spotted Deer grieved at the thought of leaving him. It was the first peril he had faced without the companionship of his friend. He took comfort, however, in the thought that Running Fox would avenge him. Spotted Deer was entirely familiar with the grim determination and dogged courage of that fiery-tempered young warrior, and he knew that the Shawnees would be made to pay dearly for what they were about to do.

As the long day finally drew toward its end, Spotted Deer heard sounds which confirmed his fears. The village hummed with activity. It was evident that the Shawnees were preparing for some unusual event. He saw the glow from a great fire in the center of the village. The Shawnees were shouting and laughing and singing their war songs. He heard them passing the lodge and calling to him as they went by. Then the robe was lifted from the doorway, and the diabolical old Mystery Woman peered into the lodge. She shook her finger at him and laughed shrilly. Her voice carried a threat of impending disaster, and Spotted Deer was relieved when she passed on. Other Shawnees drew aside the robe and looked into the lodge. Some stared in silence, others cried out threateningly. Then they, too, hurried away.

A few moments afterward Spotted Deer heard some one talking loudly near the center of the camp. The Shawnees had become quiet. When the speaker finished, however, they raised their voices in a wild shout that carried a sinister warning to the helpless young captive. He realized that his ordeal was at hand. There was no way of escape. He was resigned. He turned to Getanittowit, the Great One, for strength to defy his foes and uphold the honor of his people.

Soon afterward Spotted Deer heard some one approaching the lodge. He realized that the Shawnees were coming for him. He nerved himself to meet the emergency. The Shawnee leader and another warrior entered the lodge.

"Delaware, we have come to take you to our people," the leader told him. "You must get ready to die."

Spotted Deer showed no emotion. He remained silent as the Shawnees unbound his feet. For some moments, however, he found it difficult to stand. The effort caused him great agony. The Shawnees were impatient. The leader seized him and pushed him forward.

"Come, have we frightened you so that you cannot walk?" he asked, mockingly.

Spotted Deer rallied at the challenge. He staggered unsteadily toward the doorway of the lodge. Fearing a trick, the Shawnees sprang after him. They seized him and led him outside.

The village was brightly illuminated by the glow from a large fire in the center of the camp. About it was gathered a great company of Shawnees. The appearance of the prisoner threw them into a frenzy of excitement. As he was led forward by his guards the Shawnees began to shout and laugh and shake their weapons. They made it plain that he might expect no mercy.

Spotted Deer was bound to a heavy log that had been set up a short distance from the fire. Then the warrior who had interfered in the attack at the edge of the camp came toward him. He was accompanied by the leader of the scouts and several other warriors. The Shawnees suddenly grew quiet as these men approached the captive. The oldest warrior addressed Spotted Deer in the Delaware dialect.

"You are a young man, but you are a Delaware," he said. "The Delawares are our enemies. The Shawnees kill their enemies. You must die. You have spoken big words. Now we will see how brave you are."

He turned and spoke briefly to his tribesmen. A company of warriors came forward and formed a circle about the Delaware. They carried their weapons and were painted for war. The Shawnees greeted them with shouts of approval. For a few moments they stood, glaring fiercely at the prisoner. Then they began to move slowly about the fire, stepping in time with the rhythm of a slow, mournful chant.

It was a weird and fascinating scene: the great fire roaring and crackling and sending its sparks high up into the night; the vast assemblage of Shawnees with their fierce, eager faces, like wolves gathered about a stricken deer; the circle of half-naked warriors moving slowly about their foe in the prelude to the grim ceremony that would follow. And, most interesting of all, the youthful prisoner, bound and helpless, waiting calmly for torture and death at the hands of his enemies.

For some moments the dancers continued their slow, sinister parade about the captive. They made no attempt to attack him, but appeared to be endeavoring to impress him with their grim earnestness. The solemn, dirgelike chant was taken up by the entire company, and Spotted Deer believed that the Shawnees were singing the death song. Then one of the warriors, who seemed to be a leader, suddenly straightened and raised a piercing yell that reverberated wildly through the camp. It broke the solemnity of the ceremony and roused the dancers to action.

A moment afterward they began capering frantically about Spotted Deer, shouting and jeering and flourishing their weapons. The Shawnees urged them on with yells of approval, and the entire assemblage was soon in an uproar. Once aroused, the dancers soon began to threaten and attack their prisoner. They swung their war clubs about his head, aimed their arrows at his heart and made close, dangerous passes with their knives. Some rushed forward and struck him in the face.

Spotted Deer faced the ordeal without a tremor. His heart was filled with a fierce resolve to uphold the traditional courage of his people, and he was determined to remain strong to the end. He waited, therefore, with head erect and eyes flashing, for the punishment which he felt sure would soon be inflicted upon him. The Shawnees appeared to be rousing themselves into a fury. Encouraged by the shouts of the spectators, the dancers had thrown off restraint and abandoned themselves to the mad antics of the war dance. They made every effort to intimidate the unfortunate young warrior who had fallen into their hands. Some rushed toward him and drove their tomahawks into the post close beside him. Others shot their arrows within a hand-width of his body. Several seized him by the scalp-lock and swept their knives about his head. Spotted Deer, however, showed no fear.

Then above the tumult he suddenly heard the shrill, ominous laugh of the villainous old Mystery Woman. A moment afterward she tottered forward into the firelight, and pointed excitedly toward the captive. As she stood revealed in the lurid glow from the flames her appearance was startling. Her frail, bowed form was covered with an old deerskin robe. Her white, unkempt hair fell loosely about her shoulders. Her aged features were distorted in a fiendish grin, and her small, ferretlike eyes glowed threateningly from their deep cavities beneath her shaggy brows. She looked like an evil demon whom the fire had drawn from concealment in the black depths of the night. The Shawnees watched her in silent, superstitious awe. Spotted Deer felt his courage falter as the fearsome old creature confronted him.

In a few moments she turned and addressed the four warriors who stood apart from the rest of the Shawnees. As they made no attempt to stop her, Spotted Deer believed that they were eager to hear her words. He had little doubt that she was talking against him. When she finally finished her excited harangue, one of the warriors called to the dancers. They immediately ceased their exertions and stood quietly in their places. Then the warrior whom Spotted Deer believed to be the Shawnee chief made a brief talk. The Shawnees seemed to approve his words.

In a few moments Spotted Deer saw preparations which enabled him to guess the sort of punishment which the Mystery Woman had suggested for him. The great company of Shawnees suddenly broke up, and the women and old men and some of the boys hurried to the lodges. The old Mystery Woman hobbled away, cackling gleefully. It was not long before Spotted Deer saw his suspicions confirmed. Those who had disappeared were returning with sticks and stout willow switches and small whips with rawhide lashes. They were laughing and calling out in joyful anticipation of their attack upon the prisoner. Behind them followed the Mystery Woman. She, too, carried a willow wand and Spotted Deer felt sure she would make savage use of it.

In the meantime the warriors jeered and threatened but made no further attempts to injure him. Spotted Deer believed they were restrained by the man whom he took for the war chief. The latter called out sharply whenever one of the younger warriors showed an inclination to attack the captive, and each time his command was obeyed. Spotted Deer realized, however, that the respite was only temporary. He believed that his foes were simply delaying his torture and death to give the fierce old Mystery Woman an opportunity for vengeance.

The women and old men and boys had formed in two long lines about two bow-lengths apart. They were singing and shouting and shaking their sticks at the captive. Then a warrior freed Spotted Deer from the stake. A moment afterward he was led forward to receive his punishment. Spotted Deer realized exactly what was about to happen. He knew that he would be compelled to make his way along the narrow lane between his foes who would beat him as he passed. As his arms were bound behind him he was powerless to defend himself against the attack. He realized that he might lessen his punishment by dashing wildly along the course, but his spirit rebelled at the thought. He feared that the maneuver would make him appear frightened and weak in the eyes of his foes.

"Delaware, run!" cried the Shawnee leader, as he pushed Spotted Deer between the lines of excited Shawnees.

Spotted Deer ignored the command. For an instant only he hesitated while he looked calmly along the rows of fierce, eager faces. One in particular stood out in contrast with the others. It was the evil, grinning face of the old Mystery Woman who stood at the end of the line. As Spotted Deer began the perilous journey between the lines, he heard her shrill, harsh voice rising threateningly above the tumult.

The Shawnees were astounded when the Delaware started forward at a slow walk. For an instant the unexpected maneuver baffled and confused them. They wondered if fear had suddenly driven the power from his limbs. Having expected him to make a wild dash for the end of the lines they could think of nothing but fright as the reason for his strange action. They began to laugh and jeer as they struck him about the head and shoulders with their whips.

"Come, come, make the frightened Delaware run!" they cried.

Then they suddenly realized the significance of his conduct. They saw that the Delaware was defying them. The realization drove them into a fury. Weak and aged arms grew strong with emotion, and Spotted Deer staggered beneath the violence of the attack. Some of the women jabbed viciously at his eyes with their sticks. Some of the infuriated old men kicked savagely at his legs. The boys beat him with their fists. All struck him about the face and head with their sticks. By the time he had covered half of the course he was suffering from many cuts and bruises. It was evident that unless he hastened, he was threatened with serious injury or even death. Still he refused to save himself by running. He preferred to die rather than give the Shawnees an opportunity to boast that a Delaware had run from their women and old men.

When Spotted Deer finally reached the end of the course, he was attacked by the Mystery Woman. Throwing away her stick, she rushed upon him and thumped him about the body with her fists. Her frail old arms lacked strength, and her blows did little damage. Then, as several warriors seized the Delaware and prepared to take him away, the Mystery Woman drew a knife from her belt and attempted to reach the captive. The Shawnees intercepted her and led Spotted Deer away.

He was greatly surprised when they took him to the lodge instead of the stake. The Shawnees followed close behind him, shouting wildly and threatening to overwhelm his guards and put him to death. He reached the lodge in safety, however, and was pushed through the doorway. Then he heard the warrior who seemed to be the chief talking to the people. Was he attempting to pacify them? Spotted Deer listened anxiously. He heard the Shawnees moving away. He believed that for the moment at least he was safe.