CHAPTER XXVII.
HOW I STROVE ALL NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL.
It was late in the evening ere we reached the shelf in the high glens which was the headquarters of the Indian host.

I rode on a horse, between Onotawah and Shalah, as if I were a chief and no prisoner.

On the road we met many bands of Indians hastening to the trysting-place, for the leader had flung his outposts along the whole base of the range, and the chief warriors returned to the plateau for the last ritual.

No man spoke a word, and when we met other companies the only greeting was by uplifted hands.
The shelf was lit with fires, and there was a flare of torches in the centre.

I saw an immense multitude of lean, dark faces--how many I cannot tell, but ten thousand at the least.