CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 483 



driven in the ground about fifty yards from the biv- 

 ouac; to this stake he was firmly bound by lariat 

 ropes. All of the Indians then began dancing around 

 and torturing their victim in the most brutal manner 

 conceivable. Arrow-heads were heated in the fire and 

 held against his naked person. Three or four of the 

 Indians made a target of their captive, and amused 

 themselves by hurling at him their sharp-pointed 

 knives, which, penetrating his body, remained imbedded 

 in the flesh until he was nearly exhausted with pain 

 and loss of blood. These tortures were continued 

 until our unfortunate comrade lost consciousness, when 

 one of the Arrapahoes, more humane than his associ- 

 ates, advanced and ended his sufferings by a pistol- 

 shot in the head. 



In the meantime Gordon and I were seated on the 

 ground, bound together, and unable to offer any relief 

 to our suffering companion, who bore his tortures with 

 a greater degree of composure and fortitude than I 

 ever witnessed on the battle-field or within the walls 

 of the dungeon, and, while no stately column or monu- 

 mental pile marks his resting-place, he deserves to sleep 

 beside the heroic martyrs of the border who have 

 risked life and suffered privation and hardship for the 

 advancement of a higher civilization. 



Having disposed of the Mexican, several of the 

 Indians now approached Gordon and myself, and, 

 separating us, seized me roughly by the arms, and, 

 dragging me to the stake, bound me to it and com- 

 menced a series of dances, accompanied by much gesticu- 

 lation and taunting, which they doubtless intended as 

 a sort of introduction to tortures which were to follow. 

 Lone Wolf, who had from the first seemed friendly, 



