"I am afraid so," my father replied. "She must have better attention
than I can give her."

I turned to gaze on the poor sufferer lying there close beneath the
bundle which she had insisted upon bringing--the great pile of soft
things which had been a protection to those with her, but had not saved
her from the Indians' arrow; and as I watched her I forgot my own pain
and suffering, and thought of how good and kind she had always been to
me in spite of her quaint, rather harsh ways; and the great hot tears
came into my eyes, to make things look dim and misty again, as I thought
of my father's words.

A sharp look-out was kept, and the colonel and his men armed themselves
with some of the pieces we had in the boats; but the Indians were in the
forest right at the back of the settlement, and had not kept along the
bank when we reached the great river.

Quite a little crowd was awaiting our coming at the wharf, and as soon
as the news spread, the excitement was tremendous; but almost before
poor Sarah had been carried up to the great block-house, and I had
limped there, resting on Hannibal, a bugle had, rung out, and having
been drilled by the General in case of such emergency, men, women, and
children, followed by the black slaves, ran scurrying to the
entrance-gates, carrying such little household treasures as they could
snatch up in the hurry.

As the women and children took refuge inside the strong palisades, the
able-bodied men formed up ready outside, all well-armed; and looking a
thoroughly determined set, as they were marched in, guard set, and
ammunition served out.

The military training of many of the settlers stood them in good stead,
while the General, who the last time I saw him was superintending his
slaves in the cotton-field, was hurrying about now giving his orders;
and in an amazingly short time scouts were sent out, arrangements were
made for barricading the gates, and every musket that could be procured
was stood ready to battle with the savage foe.

Colonel Preston and my father were, I soon saw, the General's right-hand
men, and each had his particular duty to do, my father's being the
defence of the gates, just outside which I was standing in spite of my
wound, Pomp being close at hand, ready, with several other of the black
boys, to fetch ammunition, to carry messages, and, with the guarding
force outside the gates at the present, being sent to first one and then
another of the abandoned ho