d."

The astonishment of Peleg was so great that he was unable to reply to
the staggering statement, and then aware that the silent grief of his
friend was almost more than she could bear, he assisted her within the
house and soon was listening to her story.

"I did not like to bury my husband so soon," began the woman at last,
"but I dared not wait to ask any one to come."

"Tell me about it," said Peleg quietly, "unless you think that we had
better start for the fort right away."

Mrs. Merrill shook her head as she said: "I do not think there is need
of immediate haste. It must have been about midnight when our dog began
to growl so savagely that my husband thought something must be wrong. He
got up, and when he opened the door to find out what the trouble was he
received the fire of six or seven Indians. He sank to the floor, but
managed to call me to close the door and let down the bars.

"I don't know that I ever had such a thrilling or awful moment in my
life! I could hear the savages on the porch, and I was afraid they would
get to the door before I could shut and bar it. Just as I managed to
close it and let the bar fall, the Indians began to pound upon it with
their tomahawks. If I had been one second later they would have got
inside the house and I should now be where my husband is. They kept
pounding on the door until they made a large hole in it. They did not
know that I stood close by, waiting for them with an axe, and as fast as
one after another--four of them--tried to crawl through, I killed or
badly wounded every one that made the attempt. They could not force
their way into the cabin," she added simply.

"How many Indians did you say there were at the door?" inquired Peleg
in astonishment.

"Four, but only two of them were killed. At least there are only two
left here, and the others may have got away."

"I saw two," said Peleg. "How many were there altogether?"

"Seven, I think. They kept away from the door after that, but pretty
soon I heard them up on the roof. I knew then that they were trying to
get into the house by coming down the chimney."

"I think I know how you kept them out," said Peleg, smiling slightly.

"Yes," replied the woman. "I grabbed the only feather bed we had in our
cabin and ripped it open, in desperate haste, feeling just as I did when
I was trying to close the door. I knew if I was not quick enough the
Shawnees would be in the room. It was fortunate that there were