He did not hear a sound in the direction from which he had come, and he drew a breath of relief, and murmured aloud: “They have given up the chase and gone back. That is good. Now I am safe, and will take it a little easier.”
“So ye think ye’re safe, do ye, hey?” exclaimed a voice almost in Dick’s ear, and then he felt a pair of exceedingly strong arms encircle his body, pinioning his arms to his side. He struggled fiercely, but could not break the hold of the person who had seized him.
“Oh, thar ain’t no use tryin’ to git loose,” chuckled a gruff voice. “I’ve got ye, an’ ye kain’t git erway.”
CHAPTER V
Gabe Gurley
About two hours after Dick Dare left the fort, the Indians made the attack. They tried to take the settlers by surprise, by slipping up to the fort, but were discovered and fired upon, and then they uttered wild yells and made a desperate attack.
The settlers made a strong and determined defense, firing as fast as they could reload their rifles, and the calls of the redskins were varied by yells and shrieks of pain, proving that some of the bullets found lodgment in the bodies of the redskins.
Then, suddenly a cry went up from the settlers, for they saw that the stockade-wall was on fire. The Indians had not been able to break the wall down, or to scale it, so they had set fire to it.
There was a well inside the enclosure, however, and the settlers began carrying water and pouring it down on the fire, from the platform on the inside of the fence, and two or three of the settlers were wounded by arrows while engaged in this work, but they finally succeeded in putting the fire out.
The Indians, disappointed, repeated their war-whoops and yells betokening anger. Then they withdrew, having given up the attack, at least for the present. But that they had given up the matter permanently was not likely.
The settlers were glad of the cessation of hostilities, however, and it afforded them an opportunity for reloading their rifles, and, for needed rest, a watch was set so as to be ready for another attack, if it was made.