XVII. A DAY OF HAPPENINGS 231 XVIII. WESTWARD AND EASTWARD OVER THE PRAIRIE 247 XIX. THE CROOKED LOG 260 XX. ENEMIES, SEEN AND UNSEEN 272 XXI. FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH 284 XXII. GROWING UP 296 XXIII. HEROES 306 XXIV. CONCLUSION 315 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE FORT DEARBORN _Title-page_ BLACK PARTRIDGE AND THE SUN MAID 6 KITTY AND THE SNAKE _Frontispiece_ 22 THE GIFT OF THE WHITE BOW 48 SNOWBIRD AND THE SUN MAID 68 GASPAR AND KITTY REACH THE FORT 188 "KITTY! MY KITTY!" 258 OSCEOLO AND GASPAR 276 THE SUN MAID. CHAPTER I. AS THE SUN WENT DOWN. With gloom in his heart, Black Partridge strode homeward along the beach path. The glory of a brilliant August sunset crimsoned the tops of the sandhills on the west and the waters of the broad lake on the east; but if the preoccupied Indian observed this at all, it was to see in it an omen of impending tragedy. Red was the color of blood, and he foresaw that blood must flow, and freely. "They are all fools. All. They know that Black Partridge cannot lie, yet they believe not his words. The white man lies, and works his own destruction. His doom be on his head!" As his thought took this line the chief's brow grew still more stern, and an expression of contempt curled the corners of his wide, thin lips. A savage though he was, at that moment he felt himself immeasurably superior to the pale-faces whom he had known; and in the consciousness of his integrity he held his tall form even more erect, while he turned his face toward the sky in gratitude to that Great Spirit who had made him what he was. Then again he remembered the past, and again his feather-adorned head drooped beneath its burden of regret, while his brown fingers clasped and unclasped themselves about a glittering medal which decorated his necklace, and was the most cherished of his few possessions. "I have worn it for long, and it has rested lightly upon my heart; but now it becomes a knife that pierces. Therefore I must return it whence it came." Yet something like a sigh escaped him, and his hands fell down straight at his sides. Also, his narrow eyes gazed forward upon the horizon, absently, as if their inward visions were much clearer than anything external. In this manner he went onward for a little distance, till his moccasined foot struck sharply against something lying in his path, and so roused him from his reverie. "Ugh! Ugh! So. When the squaw dies the papoose must suffer."