eyes in the coign of the crevice were watching everything that
went on below.

He crouched lower and lower, until he blended with earth and thicket and
still watched. He saw one of the warriors raise his rifle and fire at
the hidden mark. Then he heard two impacts of the bullet, first as it
struck upon stone, and then as glancing, it fell among the leaves. Out
of the mouth of the fissure came a great booming voice, speaking Shawnee
and ridiculing their lack of skill with the rifle.

The voice said that if they did not improve in their firing he would
come outside, sit in the best moonlight he could find, and let them take
turns at him as a target. He would even mark off spots on his chest and
offer prizes to any one who might hit them, but he knew very well that
none of them would ever succeed. If he had a six-year-old boy who should
do as badly as they were doing he would take him away and whip him with
willow switches.

Henry, lying close in his covert, laughed inwardly. Long Jim was in good
form. Upon occasion he had a wonderful command of language, and the
present occasion was better than any other that Henry could remember.
Events, chief of which was a successful defense, had inspired in him a
wonderful flow of language. His great sonorous voice again pealed out
wrath, defiance and contempt.

"Oh, you dogs! sons uv dogs! an' grandsons uv dogs!" he shouted. "Why
don't you come an' take us? Here we are, only a few, jest settin' an'
waitin' fur you! An' thar are twenty or more uv you! Oh, you Shawnees
an' Miamis, an' Wyandots, why are you waitin' down thar when jest a few
uv us are up here, ready to give you welcome? I don't think you're
re'lly warriors. You're jest old squaws painted up to look like 'em, an'
the real fightin' men uv your tribe are at home, asleep in the lodges,
afraid to face the bullets uv the white men, while they send thar old
women here to make a noise!"

Henry laughed again that soundless laugh behind his teeth. He read
everything as plainly as if it had been written in a book before him.
Nobody in the stony hollow had been hurt, else Long Jim's voice would
not have been so exultant. They were confident, too, that they could
hold the narrow opening indefinitely, else he would not have sent forth
such intolerable taunts. He made his position a little easier and again
laughed deep in his throat and with unction. He had never known Long Jim
to be in finer form. Shif'less Sol was the acknowledg