ink of doing that. He had become the acknowledged leader of
the party, and the sturdy men who remained with us were now all for
going forward; so, after we had buried our dear mother in a grove of
trees which grew near the camp, and had built a monument of rough stones
over her grave, to mark the spot, we once more moved forward.

We had just formed our camp the next day, in a more exposed situation
than usual, when we saw a party of mounted Indians hovering in the
distance. My father, who had not lifted his head until now, gave orders
for the disposal of the waggons as could best be done. There were not
sufficient to form a large circle, however, so that our fortifications
were less strong than they had before been. We made the cattle graze as
close to the camp as possible, so that they might be driven inside at a
moment's notice; and of course we kept strict watch, one half of the men
only lying down at a time.

The night had almost passed away without our being assailed, when just
before dawn those on watch shouted out,--

"Here they are! Up, up, boys! get in the cattle--quick!"

Just as the last animal was driven inside our fortifications the enemy
were upon us. We received them with a hot fire, which emptied three
saddles; when, according to their fashion, they lifted up their dead or
wounded companions and carried them off out of the range of our rifles.

Our men shouted, thinking that they had gained the victory; but the
Indians were only preparing for another assault. Seeing the smallness of
our numbers, they were persuaded that they could overwhelm us; and soon
we caught sight of them moving round so as to encircle our camp, and
thus attack us on all sides at once.

"Remember the women and children," cried my father, whose spirit was now
aroused. "If we give in, we and they will be massacred; so we can do
nothing but fight to the last."

The men shouted, and vowed to stand by each other.

Before the Indians, however, got within range of our rifles, they
wheeled round and galloped off again; but we could still see them
hovering round us. It was pretty evident that they had not given up the
intention of attacking us; their object being to weary us out, and make
our hearts, as they would call it, turn pale.

Just before the sun rose above the horizon they once more came on,
decreasing the circumference of the circle, and gradually closing in
upon us; not at a rapid rate, however, but slowly--sometimes so