The great camp relapsed into silence. The warriors on the ground
breathed perhaps a little heavily after so much feasting, and the
fires were permitted to smolder down to coals. Wolves and
panthers drawn by the scent of food crept through the thickets
toward the faint firelight, but they were afraid to draw near.
Morning came, and food and drink were taken to the lodges in
which four prisoners were held, prisoners of great value, taken
by Timmendiquas and the Wyandots, and held at his urgent
insistence as hostages.
Three were found as they had been left, and when their bonds were
loosened they ate and drank, but the fourth hut was empty. The
one who spoke in a slow, drawling way, and the one who seemed to
be the most dangerous of them all, was gone. Henry and Sol had
taken the severed thongs with them, and there was nothing to show
how the prisoner had disappeared, except that the withes
fastening the door had been cut.
The news spread through the village, and there was much
excitement. Thayendanegea and Timmendiquas came and looked at
the empty hut. Timmendiquas may have suspected how Shif'less Sol
had gone, but he said nothing. Others believed that it was the
work of Hahgweh-da-et-gah (The Spirit of Evil), or perhaps Ga-oh
(The Spirit of the Winds) had taken him away.
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