rass, forty yards away, moved a little, and between the boughs
appeared the segment of a hideous dark face, the painted brow, the
savage black eyes, and the hooked nose of the Mohawk. Only Henry saw
it, but with fierce joy-the tortures at Wyoming leaped up before him-he
fired at the painted brow. The Mohawk uttered his death cry and fell
back with a splash into the mud and water of the swamp. A half dozen
bullets were instantly fired at the base of the smoke that came from
Henry's rifle, but the youth and his comrades lay close and were
unharmed. Shif'less Sol and Tom were quick enough to catch glimpses of
brown forms, at which they fired, and the cries coming back told that
they had hit.

"That's something," said Henry. "One or two Iroquois at least will not
wear the scalp of white woman or child at their belts."

"Wish they'd try to rush us," said Shif'less Sol. "I never felt so full
of fight in my life before."

"They may try it," said Henry. "I understand that at the big battle of
the Oriskany, farther up in the North, the Iroquois would wait until a
white man behind a tree would fire, then they would rush up and tomahawk
him before he could reload."

"They don't know how fast we kin reload," said Long Jim, "an' they don't
know that we've got these double-barreled pistols, either."

"No, they don't," said Henry, "and it's a great thing for us to have
them. Suppose we spread out a little. So long as we keep them
from getting a lodging on the solid earth we hold them at a great
disadvantage."

Henry and Paul moved off a little toward the right, and the others
toward the left. They still had good cover, as fallen timber was
scattered all over the oasis, and they were quite sure that another
attack would be made soon. It came in about fifteen minutes. The
Iroquois suddenly fired a volley at the logs and brush, and when the
five returned the fire, but with more deadly effect, they leaped forward
in the mud and attempted to rush the oasis, tomahawk in hand.

But the five reloaded so quickly that they were able to send in a second
volley before the foremost of the Iroquois could touch foot on solid
earth. Then the double barreled pistols came into play. The bullets
sent from short range drove back the savages, who were amazed at such
a deadly and continued fire. Henry caught sight of a white face among
these assailants, and he knew it to be that of Braxton Wyatt. Singularly
enough he was not amazed to see it there.