The sight which Joe had seen horrified him, for several moments, into helpless inaction.

He lay breathing heavily, impotent, in an awful rage.

As he remained there stunned by the shock, he gazed up through the open space in the leaves, trying to still his fury, to realize the situation, to make no hasty move.

The soft blue of the sky, the fleecy clouds drifting eastward, the fluttering leaves and the twittering birds--all assured him he was wide awake.

He had found Girty's den where so many white women had been hidden, to see friends and home no more.