Dick seemed to be of the same mind, for he nodded his head, and said: "If we have half a chance we must try to escape to-night. That Canadian scout in the explorers' camp, Drewyer, knows considerable about these Blackfoot Indians, and he told me they are very treacherous, often killing their captives as they take a freak, or the medicine man of the tribe has a pretended message from Manitou that they must be put to death. So we dare not trust them, but must escape by any means." CHAPTER XXII IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT APPARENTLY it was not the design of Lascelles to starve his prisoners, for later on he had them untied, and gave them a chance to devour some of the crudely cooked buffalo meat. They were also permitted to drink their fill of the cold water in the brook. After all this had been done, with the trader watching them constantly, and holding his gun in readiness to frustrate any attempt at escape, the boys were once more tied with long thongs to the trees. They noticed, however, that the brave who fastened them was inclined to be much more gentle with them than on the first occasion. Dick believed the seed of kindness he had sown was commencing to take root. "It will be a night that we shall never forget, Dick," Roger remarked. "If it blows up windy and cold, as it was when we were in the cave, we will suffer terribly here." "Let us hope then that we may not be here all night long," Dick ventured; and somehow his manner, as well as his words, caused the blood of his companion to leap in his veins. "Do you really mean it?" Roger asked. "Is there a chance that we can break loose, tied up as we are? Are you depending on Mayhew to come to our rescue? Surely, you could not have had any signal from him?" "Nothing," replied the other. "But have you noticed where they put our guns and powder horns?" "I must say I hadn't thought much about that part of it," confessed Roger; "but, since you mention it, I think they are over against that tree. The Indians are afraid of firearms, you know. Perhaps the chief Lascelles spoke to us about, and whom he called Black Otter, hopes to force Williams into teaching him how to use 'the sticks that spit out fire and stinging things.'" "There is another thing that, perhaps, I ought to tell you," continued Dick, in a low tone. He saw the Frenchman looking over at them just then, as though wondering what they were finding to talk about, and debating whether it might not be safer to separate the pair. "If it's anything that will make me feel more cheerful, I hope you will lose no time in doing so," Roger hastened to say. "Please keep from showing so much in your face then," Dick told him; "or that man may be able to read the whole story from where he sits. Act as though we were without the first ray of hope. He is a suspicious sort of man. We must try to make him believe we mean to make the best of it."