"An Indian he is!" muttered Bull Harris. "An Indian!" (The plebe was as red as one then.) "He shall die an Indian"s death!"
"That"s what he shall!" echoed the crowd. "An Indian! An Indian! We"ll burn him at the stake!"
"He, he! the only good Indian"s a dead Indian, he, he!" chimed in Baby, chuckling at his own witticism. "He, he!"
All this poor Joseph did not fail to notice, and as was his habit, he believed every word of it. Nor did his mind regain any of its composure as the procession continued its solemn marching through the lonely woods, to the tune of the yearlings" cheerful remarks. The latter were chuckling merrily to themselves, but when they were in hearing of their victim their tone was deep and awful, and their looks dark and savage.
Poor Indian"s fat, round eyes stared wider and rounder every minute; his equally round, red face grew redder, and his gasping exclamations more frequent and violent.
"Bless my soul!" he cried, "what extraordinary proceedings!"
"Ha! ha!" muttered the yearlings. "See, he trembles! Behold how the victim pales!"
A short distance farther in the woods the party came upon a small clearing.
"Just the spot!" cried Bull. "See the tree in the center. That is the stake, and to that we will tie him, while the smoke ascends to the clouds of heaven."
"Just the spot!" echoed Baby, chuckling gleefully.
"It is quiet," continued Bull, in a low, sepulchral tone. "Yes, and his cries of agony will be heard by none. Advance, wretched victim, and prepare to die the death which your savage ancestors did inflict upon our fathers. Advance!"
"Advance!" growled the crowd.
"Bless my soul!" cried the Indian.
He was no more capable of advancing than he was of flying. His knees were shaking in violent terror. Great beads of perspiration rolled from the dimples in his fat little cheeks. Limp and helpless, he would have sunk to the ground, but for the support of his captors.
"Advance!" cried Bull, again, stamping on the ground in mock impatience and rage. "Bodyguard, bring forth the wretch!"
In response to this order several of the cadets dragged the unhappy plebe to the tree and held him fast against it. Bull Harris produced from under his coat a coil of rope, and Indian felt it being wrapped about his body.
Up to this point he had been silent from sheer terror; but the feeling of the rough rope served to bring before him with startling reality the awfulness of the fate that was in store for him. He opened his mouth and forthwith gave vent to a cry so weird and unearthly that the yearlings burst out into a shout of laughter. It was no articulate cry, simply a wild howl. It rang and echoed through the woods, like the hoot of an owl at night, or the strange, half-human cry of a frightened dog. And it died into a gasp that Bull Harris described as "the sigh of a homesick bullfrog."
Indian"s musical efforts continued as the horrible rope was wound about his body. Each wail was louder and more unearthly, more mirth-provoking to the unpitying cadets, until at last, when Bull Harris finished and stepped back to survey his work, the frightened plebe could be likened to nothing less than a steam calliope.
The yearlings were so much amused by his powers that they resolved forthwith that the show must not stop. And so, without giving the performer chance to breathe even, they set to work diligently collecting sticks and leaves.
"Heap "em up! Heap "em up!" cried Bull. "Heap "em up! And soon shall the fire blaze merrily."
Naturally, since Indian"s shrieks and howls continued unabated in quant.i.ty or variety through all this, the yearlings were in no hurry to finish, but took care to prolong the agony, sport as they called it, as long as possible. So, while the red-faced, perspiring victim panted, grunted, howled, and wriggled, they piled the wood about him with exasperating slowness, rearranging, inspecting, and discussing the probable effect of each and every stick of wood they laid on.
It was done, at last, however, and the result was a great pile of f.a.gots surrounding and half covering the unfortunate lad. They were f.a.gots selected as being the driest that could be found in the dry and sun-parched clearing. There was a moment or two later on when Bull wished they had not been quite so dry, after all.
The crowd stood and admired their work for a few moments longer, while Indian"s weird wails rose higher than ever. Then Bull stepped forward.
"Art thou prepared to die?" he inquired in his most sepulchral tone.
Indian responded with a crescendo in C minor.
"He answereth not!" muttered the other. "Let him scorn our questions who dares. What, ho! Bring forth the torch! We shall roast him brown."
"And when he is brown," roared another, "then he will cease to be Smith!"
"Yes," cried Bull, "for he will be dead. His bones shall bleach on the plains. On his flesh we will make a meal!"
"An Indian meal!" added Baby, chuckling merrily over his own joke.
"Several meals," continued Bull, solemnly. "There is enough of him for a whole _table d"hote_. How about that? Aren"t you?"
"Wow! Wo-oo-oo-oooo!" wailed Indian.
"He mocks us!" cried the spokesman. "He scorns to answer. Very well! We shall see. Is the torch lit?"
The torch, an ordinary sulphur match, was not lit. But Bull produced one from the same place as the rope and held it poised. He waited a moment while the yearlings discussed the next action.
"I say we let him loose," said one. "He"s scared enough."
"Nonsense!" laughed Bull, "I"m not going to stop yet. I"m going to set him afire."
"Set him afire!" echoed the crowd, in a whisper.
""Sh! Yes," responded the other. "Not really, you know, but just enough to scare him. We"ll set fire to the wood and then when it"s begun to smoke some we"ll put it out."
"That"s risky," objected somebody. "I say we----"
"Nonsense!" interrupted the leader. "If you don"t want to, run home. I am."
And so once more he turned toward the wretched captive, who still kept up his shrieks.
"Ha, ha!" he muttered, "thy time has come. Say thy last prayer."
With which words he stepped quickly forward, struck the match upon his heel, and after holding it for a moment knelt down before the pile of leaves and wood.
"Wow! Wow!" roared Indian. "Stop! Stop! Help! Wo-oo-oo!"
Another of those steam calliope wails.
"He shrieks for mercy!" muttered Bull. "He shrieks in vain. There!"
The last exclamation came as he touched the match to the leaves, stood up and worked off to join his companions.
"Form a ring," he said, "and dance about him as he dies."
The terror of Indian can scarcely be imagined; he was almost on the verge of fainting as the hot choking smoke curled up and around his face. His yells grew louder and increased to a perfect shriek of agony.
"Don"t you think we"d better stop it now?" inquired one of the yearlings, more timid than the rest.
"Rats!" laughed Bull. "It"s hardly started. I"ll manage it."