Then seeking out the commander, she pleaded for the release of her son, arguing that he was too young to make the journey to Canada and would be killed and left on the way. Moved with pity, the commander promised to do all he could to gain the child's release from the Indians; but this he found some difficulty in doing, though happily the release was finally effected.

Emboldened by her first success, she now made suit for several of her neighbors' boys and succeeded in gaining the release of eight lads, whom she conducted back in triumph, to the great joy of their parents, thus gaining for herself the well-deserved fame of being the heroine of the day.

The Captivity of Zadock Steele.-The captivity of Zadock Steele, as told by himself, is quaint in the extreme; but it furnishes a vivid picture of the perils of the Vermont settlers of that time, and relates a few of the strange customs of the Indians that are worthy of notice. At the time of his captivity, Zadock Steele was a young man of twenty-one years; he had, a short time previous to this, bought a farm in Randolph, and was at the time alone, though during the summer had had with him a young man who had gone back to his home in Connecticut after harvesting was over in the fall.

After taking Zadock Steele prisoner, the party hastened on to Berlin and encamped that night on Dog River, not far from where Montpelier City is now located. Here the Indians built a fire some rods in length, which gave all an opportunity to approach, and thus get the benefit of its warmth. The prisoners were then fastened together by means of a long rope passing around each of their bodies; and, when they lay down for the night, an Indian lay upon the rope between the prisoners, so that no two of them

might lie side by side, thus making it impossible for any

to escape.

Leaving Dog River they passed down the Winooski till they came to Bolton, where they stopped and made bread of some fine flour that they had brought with them from Canada, and had

there secreted on a

steep mountain. Making a stiff dough, they wound it around sticks which they then stuck into the ground near the fire, and in this manner the bread was baked. Reaching Lake Champlain they recovered their bateaux, in which they had come from Canada, and passed over to Grand Isle, where they encamped that night. The next day they went to Isle aux Noix and thence to St. Johns, where the Indians bartered some of their plunder for strong drinks, and many of them. now became very savage under its effects. Suddenly one of them, under the influence of intoxication, pointed a gun at Steele's head and was about to fire when another Indian interposed and thus saved his life.

It was a custom among the Indians to paint the faces

of those they designed to save; and Steele's face was now painted by his liberator, who now adopted him in place of a son whom he had recently lost. The ceremony of his adoption Steele thus describes :

"All the Indians, both male and female, together with the prisoners, assembled and formed a circle, within which one of their chiefs, standing upon a stage erected for the purpose, harangued the audience in the Indian tongue. Although I could not understand his language, yet I could plainly discover a great share of native eloquence. His speech was of considerable length, and its effects obviously manifested weight of argument, solemnity of thought, and at least human sensibility. I was placed near by his side and had a fair view of the whole circle. After he had ended his speech, an old squaw came and took me by the hand and led me to a wigwam, where she dressed me in a red coat, with a ruffle in my bosom, and ordered me to call her mother."

Soon after the prisoners were given their choice of remaining with the Indians or being delivered into the hands of the English at Montreal as prisoners of war. They chose the latter; and the Indians then took them to Montreal, where they were sold for "half a joe" each, or about eight dollars a head. Here they were kept imprisoned for about a year, suffering great hardship. Steele and Belknap were then removed, with other prisoners, to an island in the St. Lawrence, about forty-five miles above Montreal. As the water flowed very rapidly on both sides of the island and for some distance below, it was considered impossible for the prisoners to escape without proper boats. Here they were treated with great cruelty; and, after enduring it for about a year, a party of them determined to

make their escape. Steele and Belknap were among this number.

Digging with a jack-knife an underground passage twenty feet in length, which led from the barracks outside the barricade, they crawled through; and, under cover of night, made their way to the river in September of the year 1782. Here they divided into small companies; and Steele, Belknap, and two others now hastily constructed a raft for themselves by tying logs together with ropes made of their stripped-up blankets, and, clinging to this, they made their perilous way down the rapids and escaped to land.

It was now their purpose to get to the fort at Pittsford; but three weeks of weary wandering in the wilderness followed before they were able to accomplish it. They could take but little provision, and unfortunately their compass was spoiled while they were making the rapids, and this greatly retarded their progress. Their only guides now were the sun, and the moss upon the trees, which they knew grew thickest upon the north side. As it does not grow at all upon cedar trunks, they were often obliged to remain inactive in cedar woods when the sun was hid. They traversed the west side of the lake till they came to Split Rock, where there is a narrow place in the lake, and here they effected a crossing on a raft which they constructed, and landed at Charlotte.

Not daring to keep very near the lake, for fear of the British, they now took to the hills and became lost, wandering aimlessly about upon Bristol, Ripton, and Hancock mountains, not knowing whither to go to reach the fort, and living upon frogs, late berries, twigs, roots, etc. Finally, turning southwest, they happened upon a road.

This greatly encouraged them, for there was now hope of their reaching some human habitation. Soon they found horses and a colt. Killing the colt they roasted some of its meat; and the horses they appropriated to their use in conveying them to the fort, which proved not very far off. They reached this the next day, in tattered clothing, spent with fasting, and having been gone from home two years that month.