"
"Father, by all that is holy, I mean just what I say."
"Swear not at all, my son, but give me your hand."
The two men stood with a tight grip between them and exchanged a
long, steady, searching gaze.
A drizzling rain had begun to fall again, with a raw wind creeping
from the west.
"Come with me to my house, my son," Father Beret presently added;
and together they went, the priest covering Alice's sword from the
rain with the folds of his cassock.
CHAPTER XV
VIRTUE IN A LOCKET
Long-Hair stood not upon ceremony in conveying to Beverley the
information that he was to run the gauntlet, which, otherwise
stated, meant that the Indians would form themselves in two
parallel lines facing each other about six feet apart, and that
the prisoner would be expected to run down the length of the space
between, thus affording the warriors an opportunity, greatly
coveted and relished by their fiendish natures, to beat him
cruelly during his flight. This sort of thing was to the Indians,
indeed, an exquisite amusement, as fascinating to them as the
theater is to more enlightened people. No sooner was it agreed
upon that the entertainment should again be undertaken than all
the younger men began to scurry around getting everything ready
for it. Their faces glowed with a droll cruelty strange to see,
and they further expressed their lively expectations by playful
yet curiously solemn antics.
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