ir armies intrench at night. Nobody
could take a Roman camp, and we've got to imitate those old fellows."

Under the guidance of Paul and his friends, the Roman principle was
followed, at least in part. The wagons were drawn up in a great circle in
an open space, where they could not be reached by a rifle shot from the
trees, and then more than two hundred men, using pick and spade, speedily
threw up an earthwork three feet high that inclosed the wagons. Henry Ware
regarded it with the greatest satisfaction.

"I don't know any Indian force," he said, "that will rush such a barrier
in the face of two or three hundred rifles. Now, Mr. Poe, you post guards
at convenient intervals, and the rest of you can take it easy inside."

The guards were stationed, but inside the ring of wagons many fires burned
brightly, and around them was a crowd that talked much, but talked low.
The women could not sleep, nor could the children, whose curiosity was
intensely aroused by the coming of these extraordinary-looking strangers.
The larger of the children understood the danger, but the smaller did not,
and their spirits were not dampened at all.

The night came down, a great blanket of darkness, in the center of which
the camp fires were now fused together into a cone of light. A few stars
came out in the dusky heavens, and twinkled feebly. The spring wind sighed
gently among the new leaves of the forest. The voices of women and
children gradually died. Some slept in blankets before the fires, and
others in the wagons, whose stout oak sides would turn any bullet.

Daniel Poe walked just outside the circle of the wagons, and his heart was
heavy with care. Yet he was upborne by the magnetic personality of Henry
Ware, who walked beside him.

"How far from us do you think they are now?" he asked.

"Fifty miles, perhaps, and they are at least a thousand strong. It was
their object to fall suddenly upon you in the dark, but when their scouts
find that you fortify every night, they will wait to ambush you on the
day's march."

"Undoubtedly," said Daniel Poe, "and we've got to guard against it as best
we can."

"But my comrades and I and Dick Salter will be your eyes," said Henry.
"We'll be around you in the woods, watching all the time."

"Thank God that you have come," said Daniel Poe devoutly. "I think that
Providence must have sent you and your friends to save us. Think what
might have happened if you had not come."

He shuddered.