ho, even from his
friend, would not accept the mercy which his nation was not ready to
show to the whites. It is said that to the day of his death Dale could
not speak of this incident without shedding tears.

Dale and his comrades had still a duty to do and some danger yet to
encounter. The party remaining on the bank was in imminent peril, and
must be rescued at all hazards. The little canoe was not large enough to
carry them all, and so the big one must be cleared of the dead Indians
in it, and the heroes of the canoe fight accomplished this under a
severe fire from the bank. Then jumping into the captured boat, they
paddled to the shore, and taking their hard pressed comrades on board,
crossed under fire to the other side, whence they marched to Fort Glass,
twelve miles away, having dealt the savages a severe blow without losing
a man. Austill was hurt pretty badly on the head, and a permanent dent
in his skull attested the narrowness of his escape.

This battle was waged within sight of the root fortress, the drift pile
being indeed the cover from which the Indians fought. Tom, as we know,
went to the look-out at the beginning of the fight, and he remained
there to the end in the hope that the fortune of battle might possibly
bring the whites within call, and thus afford the little refugee band a
chance of escape. No such chance came, however, and sadly enough the
two boys, for Joe was also in the look-out, watched the passage of the
last of Dale's men across the stream, half a mile below.

"Mas' Tom," said Joe, "dem folks gwine right straight to de fort."

"Yes, of course," said Tom. "What of it?"

"Nothin', only I wish I could go wid 'em, and tell 'em Mas' Sam's here
sick."

"So do I, Joe, but we can't go with them, and it's no use wishing."

"I reckon 'tain't no use, but I can't help wishin' for all dat. When
folk's got der own way dey don't wish for it. It's when you can't git
your way dat you wish, ain't it?"

Tom was forced to admit that Joe was right, and that in wishing to be
with the retreating party he was not altogether unreasonable.

The two boys sat there, looking and longing. The savages had disappeared
almost as suddenly as they had come, and presently Joe sprang up,
saying.

"Dar's de little canoe lodged in the bushes, an' I'se gwine to fasten
her to the bank anyhow, so's we'll have her if we want her."

What possible use they could make of the canoe, it had not entered
Joe's head to as