The Border Watch

foot slipped,"

et them as they are to meet us. If they are willing to stay and have t

pped villain," interjected Shif'less Sol.

"They've noted the direction from which the sound c

to be a wise one, as a crack came from the forest, and a bullet cut the twigs where they had lately

a contented tone as he reloaded his rifle. "Whoever fired that

they cut the bushes close by, but the comrades lay

move slowly to the right. Thus a full half hour passed without a sign from either side. Meanwhi

space in which the ruined village stood. They felt sure that the Indians and the three white men would not go away. The Indians were never keener for scalp

re now sure we're not going to run away, and with the sunri

was nothing to indicate whether it had struck a foe. Then ensued another long silence which was broken at last by a shot from the interior of the old Council House. It was sent at random into the bushes, but the bullet cut the leave

red sufficiently to escape any wounds, and, t

nd which has been blowing for hour

y has," an

t where the old village touches the forest? You can reach

orely do

blowing directly from us against the old Council House in which some of the savages are,

rue reasonin' to me, an

e. It's still high enough to shelter ourselves behind it, and I think we ought to do t

to a man what belongs to him. That harelipped scoundrel and his fellows warmed by our fi

hold of the thin, dry bark at the edge of the old wigwam and blazed up with extraordinary rapidity. Then the flames sprang to the next wigwam. I

ds. The lodges were burning far faster than they had expected. All the old Indian village would soon go, and now they watched attentively the Council

the forest. Henry and his comrades could easily have shot down all three, but Silent Tom Ross was the only one who pulled a trigger and he picked the white man. At the crack of his rifle

eir foes crouching in the bushes. They advanced, using all the skill of those to whom the wilderness is second nature and a battle from tree to tree ensued. The five were more than a match for the eight who were now against them. The man who had passed as Fowler was q

edge of the forest. By the time they reached the open where the village had stood, the day was fully come. The Council House had fallen in and the poles and fragments of bark smoked on the ground. Nothing was

" said Henry; "we will make

have beaten them in the battle, and t

, "they are gone, an

He knew that he wished to obtain the name of the harelipped man and, sincere enem

nst that tree tr

ater from the spring in his cap. The

tell you that the man with the harelip was Colonel Bird, a British officer, who is most active against your settlements, a

t didn't find him instea

e man with a faint

trying to remember,

er of the British posts, and she rejected him because he was so ugly and had a hare lip. Then he seemed to

talking about and he's mad about shedding blood. H

face became ghastly pale, and then his

I'm sorry, too, Tom, that your bullet

, "that they are likely to

tack us in broad daylight. Look how open the forest is. We'd be

n't like to think of a white man lying here in the forest t

ith which to dig a grave for Perley's body, but they built over him a little cairn of fallen

ot a fragment of the place was standing. But they felt that it was better for it to be so. If man had left, then the forest should resume its complete

snow. They had left Pittsburg in the winter, but they were long on the way, making stops at two or three settlements on the southern shore of the Ohio, and also going on long hunts. At another time they had been stopped two

t merely whipped their blood and seemed to give them new strength for their dangerous venture. But Henry was troubled. He was sorry that they had not seen an enemy in the man Bird whose name was to become an evil one on the border. But how wer

tch for that of Bird and his band which they felt sure would join it soon. But when night came there was no sign of Bird and his men. Doubtless they had taken another course, with another object in view

t about the twilight hour. The night winds were sharp with chill, and they missed the bark shelter that the ruined Council House had giv

ee the big lakes. We come pretty nigh to one uv them that time we went up the Genesee Valley an' burned the Iroquois town

too, away up in Canada that no white man has ever see

't believe thar wuz any river ez big ez the Missip, until I saw it, an' thar ain't no tellin' what thar is out beyond the Missip, all the thousan

s tryin' to keep my scalp on top o' my head," said Shif'le

beyond and of the great forest, stretching, for all they knew, thousands of miles to the great ocean. The bushes and their blankets protected them from the col

officers at Detroit will make this the biggest raid

r beat us. When people git rooted in the ground you jest can't drive 'em away or kill 'em out. Our pe

we've got to look out for our scalps befo

s Gospel," said Shif'

aked up into couches, and thus, every man with a blanket beneath and another above him, they did not care how the wind blew. They were as snug as bears in their lairs, but despite the darkness of the night

was uncertain. Both hoot and howl might be a product of the imagination. He was so alive to the wilderness, it was so full of meaning to him that his mind could cr

ust be the faint cry of a wolf that he now heard or its echo. He had the keenest ear of them all, and that Tom Ross did not

distance from which I thought the sounds came. D

remonstrated with him, but he knew that it was useless. He merely drew his blanket a littl

at he had seemed to hear came from the southwest, and the road in the direction was easy, grown up with forest but comparatively free from undergrowth. He walked swif

cones of light. Then he knew that it was a camp fire, and a camp fire built there boldly in that region, so dangerous to the Kentuckian, indicated that it was surely the Indians thems

agerness to know increased. As he crept nearer and nearer, he was amazed by the number of the fires. This was a much larger band than the one led by Timmendiquas. He also heard the sound of many voices and of footstep

s army was gathered. He lay upon the ground in the thickest shadow of the woods, and crept forward a little closer. Then he saw that the camp contained at least five hundred warriors. As nearly as he could make out they were mostly Sh

ought in plenty of game and they were atoning for a fast. They ate prodigiously of buffalo, deer, bear and wild turkey,

we, the great

fair land of

eath for t

strong, our he

white face c

ver and steal t

dark hour the

uses send flam

the Yengees ha

white face c

tly this enterprise was distinct from that of Timmendiquas. In his eagerness to see, Henry crept nearer and nearer to the utmost verge of the danger line, lying in a clump of bushes whe

ttire. But Henry saw that deference was paid him by white men and red men alike, and he had the walk and manner of one who commanded. The youth was sorry

, and all the warriors rose to their feet. Then they moved with one accord toward the point from which the shout

sed to see him there. Behind him came Red Eagle and Yellow Panther, Simon Girty, Braxton Wyatt and Blackstaffe. Bird went forward, eager to meet them, and held out his hand in white man's fashion to Timmendiquas. The great Wyandot took it, held it only a moment, and then dropped it, as if the touch were hateful to him. Henry had noticed before that Timmendiquas never seemed to care for t

azed up, filling all the camp with ruddy light. Then Henry found the meaning of the metallic gleam that he had seen from the forest. Near the center of the camp and standing in a row were six cannon, fine, bronze guns of large caliber, their dark muzzles, as if by some sinister chance, pointing toward the South. T

d he did not notice it. A scouting Indian passed near, and he did not hear him. But the scouting Indian, a Shawnee, alert and suspicious, heard

und behind him. He drew his body quickly together like a powerful animal about to sprin

t use at close quarters was torn from his hands. The warriors uttered a trium

flash, two others loosing their hold elsewhere, seized the arm. Then they pressed all their weight upon him again, seeking to throw him. Evidently they wished to take him a captive. But Henry remained erect despite the immense weight pulling at him. He was bent slightly forward, and, for a few moments, his efforts exactly balanced the strength of the six who sought to pull him down. In that brief space they remained immo

the fires cast a red glow over the tall figure of the white youth, and the six naked and s

t is Ware!" and drew his pistol, b

shoot," he said; "le

there, but the tone of Timmendiquas was so strong and masterful th

eir savage faces. One or two started forward to help the six, but Timmendiquas waved them back. Then the circle pressed a little closer, and other rows of dark faces behind peered over brown shoulders. Henry was scarcely conscious that hundreds looked on. The pulses in templ

nst his opponents. The ring had come in closer and closer, and now the savages uttered low cries of admiration as he sent some one of his antagonists spinning.

an," said the old ch

ark blood flowing from his face, but was caught and sent down a second time, to lay where he had fallen, until some of the watchers took him by the legs and dragged him out of the way of the struggle. Henry was rid of one of his opponents for the time, and the five

sudden struggle he had not thought before to fight by this method. A savage had him by the left

zed the warrior in his arms, and hurled him ten feet away, where he fell with a sprained

t cry and long-drawn sigh from the multitude! A single opponent was left, but he was a powerful fellow, a Wyandot, with long thick arms and a mighty

is arms to his sides, tripped his feet from under him, and, seizing him by shoulders and waist, lifted him high above his head. He held him

ndiquas, I sur