d with vehemence: 'Let
the brave men follow me, the cowards may stay behind.'
With this, the ill-advised settlers picked up the trail
of the redskins and started in pursuit. A body of scouts
who were slightly in the lead emerged, after various
exciting adventures, upon the broad hills that skirt the
Delaware river. Below them they could see the Indians
twining in and out among the trees. The red men were
evidently making for a shallow place where they might
ford the stream.

To the colonials this seemed a stroke of good fortune.
They would dash down the hill and dispute Brant's passage
of the river. Acting on the impulse, they swung confidently
along, only to find themselves outgeneralled. No sooner
had they sunk from sight in the forest than Brant had
artfully changed his march. He slipped through a deep
ravine and came out on the enemy's rear. Then he chose
his own position for an ambush. The Orange county men,
looking high and low for the Indians, at length came to
a halt, when to their dismay they found that the enemy
were posted in an unlooked-for quarter. There, in
concealment behind them, lay Brant's force. The War Chief
now issued from among his redskins, and made overtures
to the opposing force. He advised them to surrender
without offering resistance; if they did so he would see
that no harm befell them. Should the battle begin, he
added, he might be unable to restrain his followers. The
only answer which came was a hurtling bullet that clipped
a hole through the covering of his belt. In an instant
Brant had faced about and disappeared under cover.
Straightway the enemy bore down at break-neck speed upon
the tree-sheltered lair of the Indians. In wading through
a narrow brook that obstructed their advance, their ranks
became disordered, and Brant made effective use of the
situation. His voice rose in a war-whoop and his warriors
sprang into motion. After delivering one sharp, destructive
volley, they seized their tomahawks and surged into the
midst of their foe. From an hour before noon until sundown,
sheltered by trees and rocks, both sides fought stubbornly.
At last the whites gave way, and the battle closed with
appalling slaughter. Of the retreating remnant thirty
survived, while the bodies of many of their comrades were
left upon the field of battle. Of those who sought safety
by swimming the Delaware, a number were killed in the
water by the Indians, who fired upon them as they struggled
towards