it seemed to Henry that it was darker than
ever. He longed for the dawn. With the daylight disclosing the enemy,
and helping their own aim, their log fortress would be impregnable.
Elsewhere the battle seemed to be dying. The shots came in irregular
clusters, and the war whoop was heard only at intervals. Directly in
front of them the silence was absolute and Henry's rapid mind divined
the reason for all these things. Girty and Timmendiquas were assembling
their main force there and they, too, would rely upon surprise and the
irresistible rush of a great mass. He crawled over to Boone and told him
his belief. Boone nodded.

"I think you are right," he said, "an' right now I'll send a messenger
back to Colonel Clark to be ready with help. The attack will come soon,
because inside of an hour you'll see dawn peeping over the eastern
trees."

Henry crawled back to his comrades and lay down with them, waiting
through that terrible period of suspense. Strain their ears as they
would, they could hear nothing in front. If Timmendiquas and Girty were
gathering their men there, they were doing it with the utmost skill and
secrecy. Yet the watch was never relaxed for an instant. Every finger
remained on the trigger and every figure was taut for instant action.

A half hour had passed. In another half hour the day would come, and
they must fight when eyes could see. The lightning had ceased, but the
wind was moaning its dirge among the leaves, and then to Henry's ears
came the sound of a soft tread, of moccasined feet touching the earth
ever so lightly.

"They are coming! They are coming!" he cried in a sharp, intense
whisper, and the next instant the terrible war whoop, the fiercest of
all human sounds, was poured from the hundreds of throats, and dusky
figures seemed to rise from the earth directly in front of them, rushing
upon them, seeking to close with the tomahawk before they could take aim
with their rifles in the darkness. But these were chosen men, ready and
wonderfully quick. Their rifles leaped to their shoulders and then they
flashed all together, so close that few could miss. The front of the
Indian mass was blown away, but the others were carried on by the
impetus of their charge, and a confused, deadly struggle took place once
more, now among the logs. Henry, wielding his clubbed rifle again, was
sure that he heard the powerful voice of Timmendiquas urging on the
warriors, but he was not able to see the tall fi