, Simon Girty and his brother, who had
fought under Dunmore against the Shawnees in 1774, and who
were now known to the Kentuckians as 'the white renegades.'
The appearance of Clark and his raiders on the outskirts of
the village took the inhabitants completely by surprise. At
the first note of alarm, the women, wild with terror, snatched
up their infants and fled shrieking to the woods. Tecumseh
and the older children followed, hastily gathering a few
treasured possessions. The warriors, awakening the forest
echoes with their defiant war-cries, took up their position
in an old fort which commanded the river. From the opposite
side the Kentucky rifle-men assailed the fort, which, in its
decayed and ruinous condition, offered but poor shelter. The
Indians quickly evacuated it, but not before several had been
killed. While the defenders were occupied by the attack from
across the river, a detachment of the enemy crept round through
the wood and suddenly emerged at the rear of the village. The
red men rushed to the defence of their wigwams, and kept the
enemy at bay for some time; but the whites being vastly superior
in number, the Indians were defeated with great loss, and the
whites applied the torch to the village.

At length, when the cry of battle and the sound of firing had
ceased, the women and children ventured to creep forth from their
forest shelter. The enemy had gone, but had left a scene of desolation
behind. The village was a heap of smoking ruins, and the corn in
the fields was laid waste. Bodies of dead warriors strewed the
ground, many of them lying stretched before their own wigwams,
which they had defended so bravely. A scene of smiling peace had
indeed been turned into one of deepest mourning. Content and
happiness had fled before the ruthless destroyer, and he had gone
forward to the next Indian village on his mission of destruction.

The impression made by this scene upon Tecumseh's youthful
mind was enduring. The youth gazed with awe at the dead warriors
and watched with childish wonder the preparations for burial.
The fallen defenders of Piqua might not have the customary
funeral dress, for such things had been destroyed by the fire,
but the survivors did what their resources permitted. About
the mat whereon each warrior lay were placed his tomahawk,
scalping-knife, and other weapons of war. By his side lay his
bow and arrow, wherewith to resume the chase with phantom
hunters in the Indian para