om the Indian camp. It was as if every brave, squaw, and papoose howled
his or her loudest in token of sorrow, and three of us within the fort had
a very good idea of what would have been our fate had we not been rescued
before the assault.

"This would have been our last night on earth, had the Minute Boys not
come to the rescue," Peter Sitz said to me, as we stood near the
sally-port for an instant, listening to the wild cries, and, strong man
though he was, I took note of the fact that his face shone pale in the
faint light.

It did not need that I should strain my imagination very much to paint a
mental picture of our condition at that time, if we had remained in the
power of the savages. Of a verity we would have tested their keenest
torture before death came to our relief.

"It would seem as if that company of ours had been formed to some purpose,
an' not all of them were children," I said, minded that he who had laughed
most heartily at what he was pleased to call our "pretensions," should
give credit where it was due.

"If I live to see home again, there is never a man in Cherry Valley who
shall not hear from me what I owe to you lads!"

"Don't forget that I had no part in the rescue, Master Sitz, for surely I
was trussed up as stoutly as either you or Sergeant Corney."

"Yet but for your persistence we would never have thought of enlisting the
boys to aid in our defence, therefore must you take your portion of the
praise, an' more especially since it is said by Sergeant Corney himself
that you have proven yourself a man at every time when danger threatened."

"Sergeant Corney has no idea how my knees shook beneath me when, as he
believed, I was stout-hearted," I replied, with a careless laugh that
served to cloak the feeling of pride which rose in my bosom when he gave
good words to the Minute Boys.

While weeping over our dead, and rejoicing because of having beaten back
the enemy when it seemed as if the assault was about to be successful,
fear regarding the safety of Colonel Willett and Lieutenant Stockwell lay
heavily upon our hearts. It was the belief of nearly all the garrison that
the two officers had been captured, and, if such had been the case, there
could be no question but that they suffered a terrible death at the stake
while the savages were mourning over their loss.

Those among us who felt convinced that the messengers had succeeded in
their attempt, and Colonel Gansevoort was one of th