True to the Old Flag | Page 5

succeed there and get lots of booty and plenty of scalps, they may
march back without touching you; they will be in a hurry to get to their
villages and have their feasts and dancing. If they are beaten off at the
settlements I reckon they will pay you a visit for sure; they won't go
back without scalps. They will be savage like, and won't mind losing

some men for the sake of having something to brag about when they
get back. And now, Master Welch, I must be going on, for I want to
take the news down to the settlements before War Eagle gets there, and
he may be ahead of me now, for aught I know. I don't give you no
advice as to what you had best do; you can judge the circumstances as
well as I can. When I have been to the settlements and put them on
their guard, maybe I shall be coming back again, and, in that case, you
know Jack Pearson's rifle is at your disposal. You may as well tote this
stag up to the house. You won't be doing much hunting just for the
present, and the meat may come in handy."
The stag was landed, and a minute later the canoe shot away from shore
under the steady stroke of the hunter's powerful arms. Mr. Welch at
once threw the stag over his shoulders and, accompanied by Harold,
strode away toward the house. On reaching it he threw down the stag at
the door, seized a rope which hung against the wall, and the sounds of a
large bell, rung in quick, sharp strokes, summoned the hands from the
fields. The sound of the woodman's ax ceased at once, and the shouts of
the men, as they drove the cattle toward the house, rose on the still air.
"What is the matter, William?" Mrs. Welch asked as she ran from the
house.
"I have bad news, my dear. The Indians are out again, and I fear we
may have trouble before us. We must hope that they will not come in
this direction, but must be prepared for the worst. Wait till I see all the
hands and beasts in the stockade, and then we can talk the matter over
quietly."
In a few minutes the hands arrived, driving before them the horses and
cattle.
"What is it, boss?" they asked. "Was that the alarm bell sure enough?"
"The Indians are out again," Mr. Welch said, "and in force. They have
massacred the Brents and are making toward the settlements. They may
come this way or they may not; at any rate, we must be prepared for
them. Get the beasts into the sheds, and then do you all take scythes

and set to work to cut down that patch of corn, which is high enough to
give them shelter; there's nothing else which will cover them within a
hundred yards of the house. Of course you will take your rifles with
you and keep a sharp lookout; but they will have heard the bell, if they
are in the neighborhood, and will guess that we are on the alert, so they
are not likely to attempt a surprise. Shut one of the gates and leave the
other ajar, with the bar handy to put up in case you have to make a run
for it. Harold will go up to the lookout while you are at work."
Having seen that all was attended to, Mr. Welch went into the house,
where his wife was going about her work as usual, pale, but quiet and
resolute.
"Now, Jane," he said, "sit down, and I will tell you exactly how matters
stand, as far as Pearson, who brought the news, has told me. Then you
shall decide as to the course we had better take."
After he had told her all that Pearson had said, and the reasons for and
against expecting an early attack, he went on:
"Now, it remains for you, my dear, to decide whether we shall stay and
defend the place till the last against any attack that may be made, or
whether we shall at once embark in the scow and make our way down
to the settlements."
"What do you think, William?" his wife asked.
"I scarcely know, myself," he answered; "but, if I had quite my own
way, I should send you and Nelly down to the settlements in the scow
and fight it out here with the hands."
"You certainly will not have your own way in that," his wife said. "If
you go of course I go; if you stay I stay. I would a thousand times
rather go through a siege here, and risk the worst, than go down to