“Oh, we shall be burned alive!” exclaimed Mrs. Stuart.
The daughter saw that one of the burning arrows had struck the cabin within a few feet of her. Here it stuck, while the small twist of flame round the head crackled and snapped in the logs. Without a moment’s hesitation, our heroine stepped forward, and seizing the arrow, drew it forth and threw it upon the ground.
“Heaven save us! Ain’t you burnt?” asked her mother.
“But slightly; but look, they are falling all around us.”
It was true. Everywhere, like serpents of fire, they crossed in the air, while some fell upon the ground, and others buried their keen points in the cabins and block-houses. Little balls of fire were visible in different places, and the air was filling with smoke. As may be supposed, the females were greatly alarmed, and there seemed imminent danger of all the cabins being ablaze in a short time. Women began running to and fro, plucking the arrows and dashing water upon their cabins, while the fiery missiles continued raining down upon them.
“Don’t be scart,” called out Moffat, as he rushed among them. “Don’t be scart; these arrers can’t do no harm. The cabins are too green to burn, and the Injins are too green to see it. Jerusalem!”
This last exclamation was caused by one of the flaming missiles dropping so close to his person as to graze his coat or hunting-shirt, and set it on fire. He slipped out of it in a twinkling, and dodged back to the block-house as fast as possible. His words had allayed the panic and reassured the females, for he had spoken the truth. The cabins were of such construction that, with one exception, there was the least possible danger of their taking fire, and it was the same with the block-houses and pickets. The wood in them was still green, and full of sap, and the flame borne by the Indian arrows had no effect upon them, except to cause a slight smoke and a great panic.
This the Indians soon learned, and ceased their efforts in this direction. A silence of perhaps a half hour followed—the deep, almost audible silence which precedes the bursting of the storm. The savages, up to this point, had given utterance to no yells, and had persisted to a man in remaining invisible, so that not a shot had been exchanged upon either side. Those in the block-houses had done their utmost to catch a glimpse of their assailants, but thus far had not succeeded. When the flying arrows made their appearance, they seemed as if shot from the branches of the trees, and the wood was so dense that a most effectual concealment was given all.
The clearing around the settlement, it will be remembered, extended several hundred feet, so an enemy would be compelled to expose themselves if they made a close attack. As the Shawnees ceased their efforts for a while, every settler loaded his gun, for he well knew that it would be needed in a short time.
“What’s the next thing on the programme?” asked Moffat, who was standing beside the minister within the block-house.