d his rifle at
the savage and shot him dead.

The Indians gave utterance to yells of rage, and from the hill-top
poured down a volley at the white men; but the bullets and arrows passed
quite over their heads. Bacon saw that the moment for a charge had
arrived, and, raising himself in his stirrups, he shouted:

"There are the devils who slew your friends and kindred. It is their
lives or ours. Strike for vengeance! Charge!"

Not a man faltered. Never did husbands, fathers and brothers dash
forward into battle more fearlessly. Each man thought only of his own
little home exposed to the ravages of the enemy, and the whistling of
balls and arrows did not deter him. The enemy were entrenched in a fort
of logs. They outnumbered the Virginians ten to one; but the latter
charged nobly forward, plunging into the stream which lay between them
and the fort, and wading through the water shoulder deep.

"There are the enemy; storm the fort!" cried Bacon. Ever in the van,
mounted on his dapple gray, where bullets flew thickest, he was here and
there and everywhere, urging and encouraging the men by word and
example. They needed little encouragement, for the atrocities of the
Indian had fired the blood of the Virginians, until the most timid among
them became brave as a lion.

Robert Stevens kept at the side of Bacon, imitating his example. Robert
was mounted on an English bay, a famous fox-hunter, and accustomed to
leaping barriers. Bacon knew nothing of the science of Indian warfare,
even if he knew anything of war at all. Indian tactics are entirely
different from civilized warfare and require a different mode to meet
them; but though the hero of Virginia four years before was thoroughly
ignorant of Indians, he seemed to acquire the necessary knowledge in a
moment. He was the man for the occasion.

Side by side Bacon and Robert dashed at the palisade and leaped their
horses over it. They emptied their rifles and fired their pistols at
such close range, that the effect was murderous. Others followed,
leaping down among the savages, and opened fire. When guns and pistols
had belched forth their deadly contents, the more deadly sabre was
drawn, and the Indians were slain without mercy.

The buildings were fired, and the four thousand pounds of powder, which
the Indians had procured of the governor, were blown up. One hundred and
fifty Indians were slain, while Bacon lost only three of his own party.
This victory is famous in