Reginald and Baptiste, having previously examined all the logs which were now to serve for their defence, lost no time in selecting their respective stations; the Indian warrior allotted to them was placed between them; Monsieur Perrot, safely ensconced behind the fallen trunk of an alder, was to load his master’s rifle, and when discharged, to replace it by another; and the defenders of the camp were all instructed not to fire until their enemies were so near as to afford a certain aim.
The side on which Reginald was stationed was the most open to attack, from its being adjacent to the brook that flowed through the centre of the valley, the banks of which, being dotted here and there with alder–bushes, afforded an occasional covert to an approaching enemy. Nearly an hour had elapsed, and Reginald began to suspect that they had mistaken the intentions of the Upsaroka, when Baptiste pointed in silence towards the prairie, and on following with his eye the direction of his companion’s finger, he saw a dusky object in motion. Looking steadily forward, each with his finger on the trigger of his rifle, Reginald and Baptiste could now distinguish the figures of several Indians, creeping along the ground towards the thicket. On a sudden the report of Attō’s rifle in the opposite quarter was heard, and the creeping figures starting up, advanced with shouts and yells, vainly hoping that the spot which they had selected for attack was defenceless. When they were within a few paces, Reginald and Baptiste fired at once, and the two leading Indians fell; most of their companions retired in dismay, one only sprung forward with desperate courage, and his evil destiny bringing him close past the log behind which the guide was posted, the latter cleft the skull of the unfortunate savage with his tremendous hatchet.
Maddened by disappointment, and by the loss of several of their comrades, the Crows let fly a shower of arrows at the edge of the thicket, and retreated on all sides, filling the air with their cries and yells. Reginald, having crossed over to visit Attō at his post, found that the Delaware had not fired in vain, for a reeking scalp already hung at his belt, and it appeared that the enemy had retired on this side also, as soon as they found themselves exposed to the murderous fire of unseen marksmen.
Not long after this unsuccessful attack on the part of the Upsarokas, day broke, and having mounted their horses, which had been left at some distance, they returned towards the encampment; and galloping to and fro, endeavoured, by every kind of insulting gesticulation, to induce their cautious enemies to come forth, or at least to exhaust their ammunition by firing at random; but Reginald’s party kept close within their covert, taking no notice whatever of these bravadoes, although several of the horsemen came within a distance which would have rendered them an easy mark for the guide’s unerring rifle; their insolence produced only a grim smile on his weather–beaten countenance, as he whispered to Reginald.
“They are somewhat out of their reckoning as to the ‘Doctor’s’ range; poor devils, if they’ll only keep off, I don’t want to hurt any more of them. But if that long–haired fellow, capering on a brown horse, were a Dahcotah, I’d make a hole in his hunting–shirt before he was many minutes older.”
“I am glad to find you in a merciful humour, Baptiste,” replied the young man. “I too would willingly avoid farther slaughter of these Crows; and while fighting with them, we are losing time more precious to me than gold.”
As he was yet speaking, his attention was caught by the sound of a scuffle within the thicket, followed by a shout; and immediately afterwards Attō and another Delaware came forward, dragging with them a Crow, whom the quick eye of the former had detected lurking under dense foliage of an alder–bush.
“Whom have you here?” exclaimed Reginald; “and where did you find him?”
“Upsaroka,” replied Attō; “he must have crept like a snake under the grass, for the Delawares are not blind, yet he is here.”
The prisoner was a tall bold–looking youth, and he seemed resolutely prepared to meet the fate which a spy and an enemy must expect in that wild region.