have been better blessed. She was not only a handsome woman, but one
of remarkable force of character as well as kindness of heart. She
was particularly noted for a rare skill in the treatment of illness,
and her deftness in handling the surgeon's knife and extracting a
poisoned bullet or arrow from a wound had restored to health many a
settler when all had despaired.

The Zane brothers were best known on the border for their athletic
prowess, and for their knowledge of Indian warfare and cunning. They
were all powerful men, exceedingly active and as fleet as deer. In
appearance they were singularly pleasing and bore a marked
resemblance to one another, all having smooth faces, clear cut,
regular features, dark eyes and long black hair.

When they were as yet boys they had been captured by Indians, soon
after their arrival on the Virginia border, and had been taken far
into the interior, and held as captives for two years. Ebenezer,
Silas, and Jonathan Zane were then taken to Detroit and ransomed.
While attempting to swim the Scioto river in an effort to escape,
Andrew Zane had been shot and killed by his pursuers.

But the bonds that held Isaac Zane, the remaining and youngest
brother, were stronger than those of interest or revenge such as had
caused the captivity of his brothers. He was loved by an Indian
princess, the daughter of Tarhe, the chief of the puissant Huron
race. Isaac had escaped on various occasions, but had always been
retaken, and at the time of the opening of our story nothing had
been heard of him for several years, and it was believed he had been
killed.