could find them again, and go into one of the Indian camps to do some
killing. The camp they selected was but a couple of miles from the
British fort. They were dressed and painted like Indians, and spoke the
Indian tongues; so, riding boldly forward, they came right among the
warriors who stood grouped around the camp fires. They were at
arm's-length before their disguise was discovered. Immediately each of
them, choosing his man, fired into an Indian, and then they fled,
pursued by a hail of bullets. May's horse slipped and fell in the bed of
a stream, and he was captured. The other three, spurring hard and
leaning forward in their saddles to avoid the bullets, escaped, though
both Wells and McClellan were wounded; and they brought their Indian
prisoners into Wayne's camp that night. May was recognized by the
Indians as their former prisoner; and next day they tied him up, made a
mark on his breast for a target, and shot him to death. [Footnote:
McBride collects or reprints a number of narratives dealing with these
border heroes; some of them are by contemporaries who took part in their
deeds. Brickell's narrative corroborates these stories; the differences
are such as would naturally be explained by the fact that different
observers were writing of the same facts from memory after a lapse of
several years. In their essentials the narratives are undoubtedly
trustworthy. In the Draper collection there are scores of MS. narratives
of similar kind, written down from what the pioneers said in their old
age; unfortunately it is difficult to sift out the true from the false,
unless the stories are corroborated from outside sources; and most of
the tales in the Draper MSS. are evidently hopelessly distorted. Wells'
daring attack on the Indian camp is alluded to in the Bradley MSS.; the
journal, under date of August 12th, recites how four white spies went
down almost to Lake Erie, captured two Indians, and then attacked the
Indians in their tents, three of the spies being wounded.]

Wayne Reaches the Maumee and Builds Fort Defiance.

With his advance effectually covered by his scouts, and his army guarded
by his own ceaseless vigilance, Wayne marched without opposition to the
confluence of the Glaize and the Maumee, where the hostile Indian
villages began, and whence they stretched to below the British fort. The
savages were taken by surprise and fled without offering opposition;
while Wayne halted, on August 8th, and s