force.

"Do you think they'll go away and concentrate in front?" he asked
Tayoga.

"No," replied the Onondaga. "They still think perhaps that they have
only the soldiers from the city to meet, and they may attempt a rush."

Robert crept from soldier to soldier, cautioning every one to take
shelter, and to have his rifle ready, and they, being good men, though
without experience, obeyed the one who so obviously knew what he was
doing. Meantime the combat behind them proceeded with vigor, the shots
crashing in volleys, accompanied by shouts, and once by the cry of a
stricken soldier. It was evident that St. Luc was now pushing the
battle, and Robert was quite sure the attack on the flank would soon
come again.

They did not wait much longer. The warriors suddenly leaped from the
undergrowth and rushed straight toward them, a white man now in front.
The light was sufficient for Robert to see that the leader was not
St. Luc, and then without hesitation he raised his rifle and fired.
The man fell, Tayoga stopped the rush of a warrior, and the bullets of
the soldiers wounded others. But their white leader was gone, and
Indians have little love for an attack upon a sheltered enemy. So the
charge broke, before it was half way to the defenders, and the savages
vanished in the thickets.

The soldiers began to exult, but Robert bade them reload as fast as
possible, and keep well under cover. The warriors from new points
would fire at every exposed head, and they could not afford to relax
their caution for an instant.

But it was a difficult task for the youthful veterans of the forest to
keep the older but inexperienced men from the city under cover. They
had an almost overpowering desire to see the Indians who were shooting
at them, and against whom they were sending their bullets. In spite of
every command and entreaty a man would raise his head now and then,
and one, as he did so, received a bullet between the eyes, falling
back quietly, dead before he touched the ground.

"A brave lad has been lost," whispered Tayoga to Robert, "but he has
been an involuntary example to the rest."

The Onondaga spoke in his precise school English, but he knew what he
was saying, as the soldiers now became much more cautious, and
controlled their impulse to raise up for a look, after every shot.
Another man was wounded, but the hurt was not serious and he went on
with his firing. Robert, seeing that the line on the flank could be
hel