into their settlement,
burned some cabins, and killed one of the settlers. Immediately eight
backwoodsmen started in chase of the marauders; among them were the two
Poes.

The Wyandots were the bravest of all the Indian tribes, the most
dangerous in battle, and the most merciful in victory, rarely torturing
their prisoners; the backwoodsmen respected them for their prowess more
than they did any other tribe, and, if captured, esteemed themselves
fortunate to fall into Wyandot hands. These seven warriors were the most
famous and dreaded of the whole tribe. They included four brothers, one
being the chief Bigfoot, who was of gigantic strength and stature, the
champion of all, their most fearless and redoubtable fighter. Yet their
very confidence ruined them, for they retreated in a leisurely manner,
caring little whether they were overtaken or not, as they had many times
worsted the whites, and did not deem them their equals in battle.

The backwoodsmen followed the trail swiftly all day long, and, by the
help of the moon, late into the night. Early next morning they again
started and found themselves so near the Wyandots that Andrew Poe turned
aside and went down to the bed of a neighboring stream, thinking to come
up behind the Indians while they were menaced by his comrades in front.
Hearing a low murmur, he crept up through the bushes to a jutting rock
on the brink of the watercourse, and peering cautiously over, he saw two
Indians beneath him. They were sitting under a willow, talking in deep
whispers; one was an ordinary warrior, the other, by his gigantic size,
was evidently the famous chief himself. Andrew took steady aim at the
big chiefs breast and pulled trigger. The rifle flashed in the pan; and
the two Indians sprang to their feet with a deep grunt of surprise. For
a second all three stared at one another. Then Andrew sprang over the
rock, striking the big Indian's breast with a shock that bore him to the
earth; while at the moment of alighting, he threw his arm round the
small Indian's neck, and all three rolled on the ground together.

At this instant they heard sharp firing in the woods above them. The
rest of the whites and Indians had discovered one another at the same
time. A furious but momentary fight ensued; three backwoodsmen and four
Indians were killed outright, no other white being hurt, while the
single remaining red warrior made his escape, though badly wounded. But
the three men who were str