sonablysafe，unlessourguestsdecidedtoburnthecabin。
Theeveningseemedendless，andwascertainlynerve—racking。TheIndiansateeverythinginthehouse，andfrommyseatinadimcornerIwatchedthemwhilemysisterswaitedonthem。Icanstillseethetableautheymadeinthefirelitroomandheartheunfamiliaraccentsoftheirspeechastheytalkedtogether。Occasionallyoneofthemwouldpullahairfromhishead，seizehisscalping—knife；
andcutthehairwithit——amostunpleasantsight！
WheneitherofmysistersapproachedthemsomeoftheIndianswouldmakegestures，asifcapturingandscalpingher。Throughitall，however，thewhiskyheldtheircloseattention，anditwasduetothisthatwesucceededinreachingtheatticunob—
served，Jamescominglastofallanddrawingtheladderafterhim。Motherandthechildrenwerethenputtobed；butthroughthatinterminablenightJamesandEleanorlayflatuponthefloor，watchingthroughthecracksbetweentheboardstherevelsofthedrunkenIndians，whichgrewwild—