n my
present situation could only result in death. Fortunately, such relief,
now that I felt free to exert myself and seek it, was not so difficult as
it had seemed. The heavy horse rested upon other bodies as well as my
own, so that, little by little, I succeeded in dragging myself out from
beneath his weight, until I was finally able to lift my head and glance
cautiously about me.

I pause now as I sit writing, my face buried in my hands, at the memory
of that dreadful field of death. I cannot picture it, nor have I wish to
try. I took one swift glimpse at the riven skulls, the mangled limbs,
the mutilated bodies, the upturned pleading faces white and ghastly in
the sunlight, the women and children huddled in heaps of slain, the
seemingly endless line of disfigured, half-stripped bodies stretching far
down the white beach; then I fell upon my face in the sand, sobbing like
a baby. O God, how could such deeds be done? How could creatures shaped
like men prove themselves such fiends, such hideous devils of malignity?
It sickened me with horror, and I shrank from those dead bodies as if
each had been a grim and threatening ghost.

Necessity presently overcame the dread possessing me; and slowly, seeking
to see no more than I must of the awful scenes about me, I struggled to
my knees, and peered around cautiously for signs of skulking Indians.
Not a living creature was near enough to observe me. To the northward
the savages were swarming about the Fort, and it was evident that they
had left everything to search for plunder. My uncovered head throbbed
under the hot sun, and my hair was thick with clotted blood; scarce a
hundred feet away was the blue lake, and on my hands and knees I crawled
across the beach to it, forgetful of everything else in my desire to roll
in the cool sweet water.

I realized that it would be far safer for me to remain there until
darkness shrouded my movements; but I felt so revived by the touch of the
water that the old desire for action overcame considerations of personal
safety. Before night came I must somehow gain possession of a rifle,
with powder and ball; and I must discover, if possible, the fate of
Mademoiselle. I cannot describe how, like a frightened child, I shrank
from going again amid those mutilated corpses. I started twice, only to
crawl back into the water, nerveless and shaking like the leaf of a
cottonwood. I knew it must be done, and that the sooner I attempted i