The Indian grunted a long-drawn grunt of satisfaction and laid aside his instrument of torture.
"Injun come again," he informed as Jesse opened his eyes once more. "Come tomorrow sun up. Take eyes out. Jesse Jame no fool Injun this time. No fool sojer. Byemby Jesse Jame Indian kill um. Injun get heap money for kill um Jesse Jame. Sojers no get um paleface. No get um money. Huh!"
"Jesse James will beat you yet," gasped the desperado weakly, mastering his faintness by a supreme effort. "He'll kill you!"
"Ugh!" breathed the savage, picking up his fire pot and departing from the wigwam without another word, nor once looking back at his miserable victim.
His fiendish torture had only just begun, and the anticipation in the mind of the savage was the keenest of all his inhuman emotions. He could afford to wait and he would yet see his victim writhe in agony and scream out as the awful pain was inflicted upon him.
Jesse emitted a long-drawn pent up sigh of relief, and a slight moan of agony escaped him as he closed his eyes wearily.
Great Bear had been gone but a moment when an Indian whom Jesse had never seen before, stalked in and made a careful examination of the tortured captive and his wounds.
From the savage's actions Jesse judged that he must be a medicine man. The outlaw grinned sardonically.
"Want to find out how much more I can stand, eh?" he jeered. "I'll take all you blood-thirsty devils can give me, don't you forget that."
His suspicions were confirmed when shortly after the medicine man had departed, three other Indians accompanied by Great Bear entered the wigwam, the chief giving them some terse directions in his own tongue that Jesse could not understand.
He did, however, understand the purport of it when the thongs that bound him to the stake, were severed by the strike of a keen-edged knife.
The desperado was roughly turned over on his face, and while two stalwart savages sat on him to hold him down, his arms were brought down to their normal position, then securely tied behind his back.
It was not much to be thankful for, but the change brought to Jesse the most heavenly sensation he ever had known.
His inclination was to draw a deep, long breath, but he resisted and shut his lips tight.