bared knife in his left hand, and his right resting on the
breech of his rifle, remarking as he composed himself to sleep, 'We must
be ready boys; there's no telling when the varmints will be upon us.'

B---- and myself prepared our arms: each of us wore a brace of pistols in
a belt; these were carefully loaded and buckled on; our rifles were next
examined and put in order; our hatchets were placed at hand, and with many
misgivings we laid ourselves down. It was some time before I could sleep,
and when I did, my repose was disturbed by dreams. How long I slept I am
unable to say, perhaps not more than an hour, when I was suddenly
awakened. I listened. The noise of the horses, of which there were several
hundred grazing in the valley, with the tinkling of the bells on their
necks, were the only sounds that at first met my ear; all else was silent.
Presently I heard a noise as if made by the stealthy tread of a man; then
a voice, or perhaps the cry of some animal. It was repeated. I heard it in
the grove, on the hill, then an answering cry on the other side of the
stream. I knew that Indians in a night-attack make signals by imitating
the cry of some animal; and the sounds I heard, though like those made by
wild beasts, seemed to me to be in reality human voices. I drew a pistol
from my belt, cocked it, and with a hatchet in my other hand, crept out of
the tent, and lying on the ground, looked cautiously around. The cries
continued at intervals, and I became more and more satisfied that they
were human voices. I felt, I _knew_ that the Sioux were about to attack
us. A thousand thoughts flashed across my mind. I thought of the home of
my childhood, my far distant kindred; a mother, sisters, brothers.
Unskilled as I was in Indian warfare, I expected to be slain. I was
alarmed; frightened perhaps, but not paralyzed. I resolved to fight to the
last, and if I _must_ die, to fill no coward's grave.

As my eyes became more accustomed to the darkness, I began to distinguish
objects; and peering beyond our line of tents, I saw on our right, between
me and the grove, three dark objects like human heads projecting out of
the grass. While I was observing them, two of them disappeared, and I
could discern the grass wave as they made their way toward our encampment.
There was no longer room for doubt. I called to B---- in a whisper; he was
on his feet and by my side in an instant, a cocked pistol in each hand. I
directed his attention