The two boys seated themselves on the side of the lake to catch their breath. It was then that they suddenly heard a noise. Turning around, Little Elk saw several feathers through the trees. He was about to call out when a warrior came into his sight and he realized that these were not Iroquois, but a roving band of Abnakes. Quickly he threw himself to the ground and pushed Quarter Moon down beside him. Quarter Moon almost cried out because he was so startled, but Little Elk motioned him to be still. He pointed into the woods and Quarter Moon could see why Little Elk had motioned him to be quiet. Then Little Elk counted the Abnakes who were moving quietly along the trail in single file, headed in the direction of his village. There were fourteen of them, all tall, strong, young warriors, each carrying a stout bow and a quiver of arrows.
When the band had passed, Little Elk turned to Quarter Moon and whispered:
“We must hurry. They are headed in the direction of our village and with our warriors all gone, there are none but the old men, women, and children. We must warn the village.”
They jumped up and began to run as fast as they could along the shore toward their village, forgetting all about their fish and fishing gear, in their haste to get to their village and warn their people.
Soon they saw smoke from campfires only a few hundred paces ahead. Even though both boys felt as if their hearts would burst, they forced themselves to continue running until the wigwams of the village were in sight. The boys slowed to a trot, and entered the village all out of breath. They ran straight to the wigwam of Quarter Moon’s uncle and tried, between gasps for breath, to tell him what they had seen. Finally Quarter Moon’s uncle raised his hand. “Wait! Wait! My boy, get your breath and then tell me what has brought you to my wigwam breathing so heavily and looking like a frightened deer.”
The boys took several deep breaths and then Little Elk told his story to the old man.
“But we are not at war with the Abnakes and surely we have nothing they would want in our village. But if this is an attack, we must warn the others. Go through the village and tell all the others to gather at the medicine lodge. There are some of us left who can handle weapons. Rather than give our few supplies or our women to an attacking band of Abnakes, we will gather every able-bodied man and woman and fight if we have to.”
Word was sent out through the village, and soon everyone gathered at the medicine lodge. Quarter Moon was ready to repeat to all what he had told the old brave when Little Elk looked through the fringe in the trees and spotted some warriors approaching. He was about to shout a warning when he saw his father in the lead of the party. Little Elk ran to his father, shouting that the Abnakes were near by. And then he saw, standing next to his father, a very tall and handsome Abnake. For some reason, Little Elk felt that this was no ordinary warrior. Then his father spoke.
“Wait, Little Elk, my son. What is this you say about our village being invaded?”
Little Elk was embarrassed and looked down at the ground. “My father, when Quarter Moon and I were returning from our fishing trip, we saw some Abnakes through the trees. They carried many bows and quivers of arrows, and they were moving swiftly and quietly toward our village. Quarter Moon and I ran as fast as we could to warn the village.”