in slackened, the enemy resumed their fire, but Major Washington
forbade us to reply, since there was scarce a dozen rounds in the fort.
I confess that this species of fighting took the heart out of me, and I
could see no chance of a successful issue.

I was sitting thus, looking gloomily out at the forest in front of me,
and wondering why the fire from there had ceased, when I noticed that
there seemed to be many more rocks and bushes scattered about the plain
than I had ever before observed. The gloom of the evening had fallen, and
I rubbed my eyes and looked again to make sure I was not mistaken. No,
there was no mistake, and I suddenly understood what was about to happen.

"Peyronie," I whispered to my neighbor, who was sitting in the mud,
swearing softly under his mustache, "we are going to have some excitement
presently. The Indians are creeping up to carry us by assault."

"What?" he exclaimed, sitting suddenly upright. "Oh, no such luck!"

"Yes, but they are," I insisted. "Watch those bushes out there. See, they
're moving up toward us."

He rose to his knees and peered keenly out through the gloom.

"Pardieu," he muttered after a moment, "so they are! Well, we shall be
ready for them."

We passed the word around to our men, and startled them into new life.
The muskets were primed sparingly with dry powder, and we waited with
tense nerves for the assault. The fusillade from the hills had been
redoubled, but a terrible and threatening silence hung over the
intrenchment, and doubtless encouraged our assailants to believe that our
ammunition was quite gone. Near and nearer crept the Indians, fifty or
sixty of them at least, and perhaps many more, and we lay still with
bursting pulses and waited. Now the foremost of them was scarce forty
yards away, and suddenly, with a yell, they were all upon their feet and
charging us.

"Tirez, tirez!" shouted Peyronie, forgetting his English in his
excitement, and we sent a volley full into them. It was a warmer
reception than they had counted on, and they wavered for a moment, but
there must have been a Frenchman leading them, for they rallied, and came
on again with a rush. We met them with fixed bayonets, but they
outnumbered us so greatly that we must have given way before them had not
Colonel Washington, hearing the uproar and guessing its meaning, dashed
over at the head of reinforcements and given them another volley. As I
was reloading with feverish haste, I saw