straight on the town, and the riflemen followed them step for
step. The moan of the distant thunder went on, and the soft rain fell,
but the deadly crackle of the rifles formed a sharper, insistent note
that claimed the whole attention of both combatants.

It was now the turn of the riflemen to receive help. Twenty or more
scouts and others abroad in the forest were called by the rifle fire,
and went at once into the battle. Then Wyatt was helped a second time by
a band of Senecas and Mohawks, but, despite all the aid, they could not
withstand the riflemen. Wyatt, black with fury and despair, shouted to
them and sometimes cursed or even struck at them, but the retreat
could not be stopped. Men fell fast. Every one of the riflemen was a
sharpshooter, and few bullets missed.

Wyatt was driven out of the forest and into the very corn field through
which Henry had passed. Here the retreat became faster, and, with shouts
of triumph, the riflemen followed after. Wyatt lost some men in the
flight through the field, but when he came to the orchard, having the
advantage of cover, he made another desperate stand.

But Shif'less Sol and Heemskerk took the band on the flanks, pouring in
a destructive fire, and Wyatt, Coleman, and a fourth of his band, all
that survived, broke into a run for the town.

The riflemen uttered shout after shout of triumph, and it was impossible
to restrain their pursuit. Henry would have stopped here, knowing the
danger of following into the town, especially when the army was near at
band with an irresistible force, but he could not stay them. He decided
then that if they would charge it must be done with the utmost fire and
spirit.

"On, men! On!" he cried. "Give them no chance to take cover."

Shif'less Sol and Heemskerk wheeled in with the flanking parties, and
the riflemen, a solid mass now, increased the speed of pursuit. Wyatt
and his men had no chance to turn and fire, or even to reload. Bullets
beat upon them as they fled, and here perished nearly all of that savage
band. Wyatt, Coleman, and only a half dozen made good the town, where
a portion of the Iroquois who had not yet fled received them. But the
exultant riflemen did not stop even there. They were hot on the heels of
Wyatt and the fugitives, and attacked at once the Iroquois who came to
their relief. So fierce was their rush that these new forces were driven
back at once. Braxton Wyatt, Coleman, and a dozen more, seeing no other
es