“I guess the dogs have gone back to growl,” said Belt, glancing up. “They’ve let the golden moment slip. It’s gettin’ too light to attack now.”
CHAPTER VIII.
A BIT OF MUTINY.
Fort Strong could not have successfully resisted an assault of the allies on the stockade. The settlers knew this; but were determined that the foe should be met with courage as fierce as his own, and that he should find none but dead bodies when he entered the fort.
Already the women were arming themselves and their words of encouragement threw more strength into their husbands’ arms.
We left Wolf-Cap and the two Indian chiefs hurrying toward the fort, and have also witnessed the former’s appearance among the besieged. Before entering, he had tarried a while without for the purpose of watching the enemy. His great heart leaped for joy when the rain began to descend, and beside the gate, he dismissed the chiefs with low words, intended for their ears alone.
He heard the foe approach, and learned that they bore ladders which, no doubt, they had constructed beyond the hill during the day, and then he hastened to prepare the settlers for the new danger.
But the sky grew lighter, and the assault came not. From some cause which the besieged could not fathom, the proposed attack had been suddenly abandoned, and when the light rendered objects distinguishable from the fort, not an enemy could be seen.
The dun storm clouds rolled heavily toward the south, and by-and-by the sun’s rays fell upon the charred roof of Fort Strong.
But let us follow the fortunes of Huldah Armstrong, and learn why the assault was abandoned—abandoned when the most unlearned warrior could foresee the result of a grand attack with the ladders.
To all appearances, the Indians had been withdrawn from the river; but such was not the case. The light of the burning roof revealed the ground between fort and stream, but not a brave lay behind the stumps. Colonel O’Neill attacked the fort from the hill only, thinking that the garrison might be driven to an attempt to fly to the river and escape by boats. Therefore, he had drawn the Indians to the tall grass on the bank, and during the entire fight not a shot was fired from the ambush.