"But you were with her—so Dave told me."
"I was with her. But some Indians came and attacked us, and I told her to run and hide in the woods. Then the Indians came at me and I was struck down, and that was all I knew until long afterward when I found myself strapped to the back of a horse and traveling with a band of redskins." And Henry gave the particulars of the encounter, and of how Sam Barringford had afterward come to his rescue.
"Do you think my wife got away into the woods?"
"I really can't say. I know she ran off as well as her hurt ankle would let her, but it may be that some of the Indians went after her. I had my hands so full I couldn't look," concluded Henry.
Uriah Risley was pale and haggard and said he had not slept for two nights, nor had he had a regular meal for forty-eight hours. He had been to the vicinity of his burnt cabin and had followed up Henry's trail as best he could for several miles, but nowhere had he found a trace of his wife.
"I fear she is either dead or in the hands of those murderous redskins," he groaned, his eyes growing suspiciously moist. "Poor dear Caddy! She never could get used to this life either! It was a sorry day when we didn't remain in England, or in Annapolis." And he turned away to hide his emotion. Several came and offered him food and a portion of this he ate mechanically. Sleep, although he needed it badly, was out of the question.
Strange to say no Indian attack occurred during the following day, and that night found the expedition well on its way to Winchester. Some of the pioneers were of the opinion that the enemy had retreated westward, satisfied with the damage done and the booty obtained, but at this Sam Barringford, Captain Tanner, and a number of other old frontiersmen shook their heads.
"The Injun's at his worst when he's layin' low," was the way Barringford expressed himself. "We've got to keep our eyes peeled or fust thing you know we'll all wake up skulped."
Fortunately for the party one of the advance guard had brought down a deer and another had bagged a number of birds with some fine shot. The birds were made into a stew for the sick and wounded and the venison was cut up and divided all around. The expedition was in the midst of a wide timber belt, at a spot where there was a small clearing. Here, in a hollow, a camp-fire was lit and the meat cooked and stew made, and while one half of the able-bodied pioneers and soldiers remained on guard the other half had their first full meal since leaving the fort. Then the guard was changed and the other half satisfied the cravings of the inner man, after which sentinels were posted and the camp settled down to see if it could not obtain a much-needed night's rest.
Mrs. Morris and the others were gratified to see that while Joseph Morris's wound pained him not a little it did not break out afresh and gave every promise of healing rapidly when once the sufferer should reach a place where he could have a couple of weeks' quiet. Before retiring with little Nell the wife washed and re-bound the wound and gave her husband all the nourishment he cared to take.