so on the plains to prevent thirst. It was a terrible ordeal for a
boy of his tender years to witness the horrid sights transpiring
around him; and then, when the neighboring cabins were fired, he was
filled with fear, lest the cinders would set the tree ablaze.

Charlie hoped, through all this long watching, for an opportunity to
take refuge with his father and mother in the cabin; but the savages
lay encamped around him, and several times an Indian crept upon his
hands and knees, and fired from behind the tree at the inmates of the
cabin.

Three days and nights--how long they were to the children in the tree!
And yet there was nothing to indicate that they might not remain there
as much longer, provided the defence of the cabin continued as
persistently as it had done. There was still a good supply of food,
although the potatoes had to be eaten raw. But the water grew
nauseating, and if some more could not be obtained, what would they
do? Bub began to be tormented with thirst, and once attempted to cry
for water. He had borne up like a hero, controlled by his fears,
sometimes seeming to forget his own wants and perils in his baby
concern for his parents.

"Will the wicked Indians kill father and mother?" he once asked, his
blue eyes wide with horror, and voice too loud for prudence, just as a
savage was creeping up to take aim from behind the tree, so that
Charlie had to guard him with ceaseless vigilance. But thirst--how
could he expect that a little boy, like Bub, could long endure its
torments without making his agony known?

"I want some water," hoarsely whispered Bub; "I dry."

"Well, don't make any noise, and Charlie'll get you some."

So, waiting till after nightfall, Charlie put his head cautiously out
of the hole, and peered around. The spring was not far off; but
Charlie knew that the savages would be likely to guard that, and he
did not venture to draw his whole body from the aperture save with the
utmost caution, and very slowly. Satisfying himself that the Indians
were not noticing the tree, he drew himself completely out, and then,
putting his head in again, whispered,--

"Now, Bub, don't you move nor stir, while I go for the water. I'll be
back in a minute."

The heroic boy might have been taken in the darkness for an overgrown
caterpillar, he crawled so softly towards the spring. He knew that if
he broke a stick or twig, or inadvertently hit his coffee-pot against
an obstacle, the quick ear o