Midnight
While they danced , six men , with their hands tied behind them and black caps on their heads , were brought forth and paraded around amid hoots and yells and brandishing of tomahawks in their faces . They were the surviving prisoners , and the black caps meant that they were to be killed and scalped on the morrow . Stupefied by all through which they had gone , they were scarcely conscious now . Midnight came . The Iroquois still danced and sang , and the calm stars looked down upon the savage and awful scene . Now the dancers began to weary . Many dropped unconscious , and the others danced about them where they lay .