r friends, loudly praising the
deed by which Spite had saved the fort. The hero of all this praise sat
quietly on his perch resting, surveying the field, and thinking. He had
need of his wisest thoughts; for the victorious Brownies were already
beyond the outer line of the demilune, steadily driving Heady and his
division before them.

Spite dropped to the ground by the cable that still swung upon the bush.
"Go back into the fort," he said to the fugitives. "Your own homes are
gone, and that will be the safest place for you now. As for us,"
addressing the soldiers, "we must make a last stand here and keep it.
The sun is nearly down. If we can hold the position for a little
longer, night will bring relief, and give time for some plan that shall
change the fortune of battle. Advance!"

The line moved forward to support Heady. The site of the fort was well
chosen for defence. It stood upon a swelling height of the lake shore,
with a space of smooth grass in front. On this little plain, a short
distance beyond the height, at Spite's command the Pixies began putting
up a breastwork. They wrought rapidly, weaving together grass blades,
leaves and twigs, and spinning between them ropes and webs. Spite,
himself, with a few of the ablest warriors went to assist Heady in
holding back the Brownies. The plan succeeded; by the time the fighting
force was ready to fall back, the workers had thrown up a rampart behind
which the entire army retreated in good order. A series of skirmishes
began along the line of breastworks, but the evening shadows soon fell
and separated the combatants.

[Illustration: FIG. 35.--How a Spider Drops to the Ground.]

The Brownies were in fine spirits. They were confident of complete
victory on the morrow. A line of cavalry pickets, under Lieutenant
MacWhirlie, was posted throughout the plain, which skirted nearly
three-fourths of the knoll on which the fort stood. These pickets were
ordered to keep moving the whole night, thus keeping strict guard upon
the Pixies at the points whence they were most likely to make a sally or
seek to escape. Sentinels were also placed on the lake side or rear of
the fort. In that quarter the bank sloped toward the lake, and was
dotted with bushes that straggled singly and in clumps to the water's
edge. Soon the camp fires and lanterns of the Brownie army were
glimmering along the outer border of the plain and through the copse by
the lake side. They looked like fire-fli