eir invitation,
expressed by signs, to come forth and palaver with them. It was well
he refrained, for when they were within a few yards of the camp they
suddenly darted forward with a wild whoop. Underhill ordered his men
to fire a volley over their heads, hoping to scare them away without
bloodshed; but the reports of the rifles did not make the astounding
impression it usually produced upon savages, and Underhill could not
but believe that they were not wholly unacquainted with the use of
firearms. They advanced with the more ferocity, and it was not until
several had fallen to another volley from behind the barricade that
they drew back to the shelter of the woods.

It would clearly be unsafe to attempt to reach the boat while the
savages were in view. As time went on they appeared to increase in
numbers, and every now and then they sent a flight of arrows into the
camp. But the garrison kept out of sight behind the barricade nearest
to the enemy, and their missiles either stuck in it, or fell
harmlessly within the enclosure.

So the day passed. The fact that trouble had come so soon impressed
Underhill with the necessity of sending for assistance without delay.
The prospect of a siege, with only a limited supply of ammunition to
repel assaults, and a scarcely greater supply of food, was very
disturbing. He had little fear of being able to beat off attack so
long as ammunition lasted, but when it was all spent, the savages must
overpower the white men by sheer weight of numbers. Venables now
wished to recall his undertaking, and remain in the fighting line; but
Underhill decided that he must go in command of the other men.
Accordingly, at nightfall, the four crept through a small gap made in
the seaward face of the barricade, and clambered down the cliff.
Underhill listened anxiously for a time, wondering whether the men had
been discovered, or whether they had safely reached the boat; but
after an hour of silence he concluded that either the enemy had not
been watching in that quarter, or that the boat had slipped away
unobserved in the darkness.

The night was undisturbed, but with dawn the natives reappeared. The
lesson of the previous day had not proved effectual; they came
resolutely up to the barricade in a vast yelling horde. Underhill
ordered his men to reserve their fire until the enemy was within a few
yards of the enclosure; then two rapid volleys with repeating rifles
and revolvers opened a great gap