He swung his clubbed musket at the French soldier's head.
At that instant a rifle report rang out. Sam Barringford, who had just reloaded his weapon, had seen Henry go down and was as quick to act as Dave had been. He was in such a position that he could not get a full view of the Frenchman but he could see the extended arms and the gun with the bayonet, and he fired at these.
His aim was true, and with a howl of pain, as the bullet cracked his elbow joint, the enemy dropped the weapon just as the bayonet point was entering the cloth of Henry's jacket. Then, finding himself wounded and defenseless, the Frenchman lost no time in retreating and was soon lost to sight behind the trees.
Now was no time to thank Barringford for what he had done, for the fighting still continued on every side. Dave helped his cousin to his feet, and soon the pair, with the faithful old frontiersman, were again in the thick of the fray. The forest was heavy with gun smoke so that in spots but little could be seen, and more than once it happened that one side or the other fired into the ranks of its friends.
Inside of quarter of an hour our friends found themselves in something of an open spot bordering the river, at a point where the rapids rushed furiously along the rocks on their way to the lake. Here, as they were moving forward, to join a body of English soldiers fifty yards away, they were suddenly confronted by a body of Iroquois who came upon them uttering the most horrible war-cries the youths had ever heard, and brandishing their tomahawks and scalping knives.
"On yer guard thar!" came from Barringford. "They air after us hot-footed now!"
He swung around, and as the nearest Iroquois came within a dozen steps of him, he let the savage have the contents of his gun full in the breast, killing him instantly. Then the boys also fired, wounding two others. This halted the Indians for the moment, but quickly recovering, they darted forward with increased fury, bent upon adding the scalps of the three whites to their belts ere the battle should come to an end.
It was Dave who found himself the first attacked. A tall Iroquois, straight as an arrow, leaped upon him and tried to stab him with a hunting knife. The young soldier warded off the blow, with his gun, and in a trice the pair were locked in each other's arms and swaying back and forth over the rocks. The Indian muttered something between his set teeth, but Dave did not understand what was said.
Henry and Barringford were also attacked, so they could do nothing for their companion. The Iroquois were ten strong, and soon it looked as if all our friends would undoubtedly be killed and scalped.