The combustibles and inflammable matters were shared between the three men and they separated.
Five minutes later a spark glistened, then a second, then a third; at the end of a quarter of an hour ten tires were lighted.
Weak at first, they seemed to hesitate for a while, but gradually the flame increased, gained consistency, and soon the whole plain was lit up by the blood-red glare of these immense torches.
The Captain and his comrades had been more fortunate than they anticipated in their expedition, for they had succeeded in lighting the piles of wood scattered over the valley, without attracting the attention of the Indians; and they hurried back to the entrenchments at full speed. It was high time, for suddenly a terrible war-yell burst forth behind them, and a large band of Indian warriors appeared on the skirt of the forest, galloping at full speed, and brandishing their weapons like a legend of demons.
But they came up too late to catch the Whites, who had crossed the ditch and were sheltered from their missiles.
A discharge of musketry greeted the arrival of the Indians, several fell from their horses, and the others turned and fled with great precipitation.
The fight had commenced, but the Captain cared little about that; thanks to his lucky expedient, a surprise was impossible, and they could see as well as in the daylight.
There was a moment's respite, by which the Americans profited to reload their rifles.
The colonists had felt anxious on seeing the immense fires lit up one after the other on the prairie; they believed in an Indian device, but were soon disabused, by the Captain's return, and congratulated themselves, on the contrary, upon this happy expedient, which enabled them to fire almost with certainty.
The Pawnees, however, had not given up their project of attack; in all probability they had only retired in order to deliberate.