True to the Old Flag | Page 6

Gloucester and have the frightful anxiety of not knowing what was
happening here. Besides, it is very possible, as you say, that the Indians
may attack the settlement itself. Many of the people there have had no
experience in Indian war, and the redskins are likely to be far more

successful in their surprise there than they would be here. If we go we
should have to leave our house, our barns, our stacks, and our animals
to the mercy of the savages. Your capital is pretty nearly all embarked
here now, and the loss of all this would be ruin to us. At any rate,
William, I am ready to stay here and to risk what may come if you are.
A life on the frontier is necessarily a life of danger, and if we are to
abandon everything and to have to commence life afresh every time the
Indians go on the war-path, we had better give it up at once and return
to Massachusetts."
"Very well, my dear," her husband said gravely. "You are a true
frontiersman's wife; you have chosen as I should have done. It is a
choice of evils; but God has blessed and protected us since we came out
into the wilderness--we will trust and confide in him now. At any rate,"
he went on more cheerfully, "there is no fear of the enemy starving us
out. We got in our store of provisions only a fortnight since, and have
enough of everything for a three-months' siege. There is no fear of our
well failing us; and as for ammunition, we have abundance. Seeing
how Harold was using powder and ball, I had an extra supply when the
stores came in the other day. There is plenty of corn in the barn for the
animals for months, and I will have the corn which the men are cutting
brought in as a supply of food for the cows. It will be useful for another
purpose, too; we will keep a heap of it soaked with water and will cover
the shingles with it in case of attack. It will effectually quench their fire
arrows."
The day passed off without the slightest alarm, and by nightfall the
patch of corn was cleared away and an uninterrupted view of the
ground for the distance of a hundred yards from the house was afforded.
When night fell two out of the four dogs belonging to the farm were
fastened out in the open, at a distance of from seventy to eighty yards
of the house, the others being retained within the stockade. The
garrison was divided into three watches, two men being on the alert at a
time, relieving each other every three hours. Mr. Welch took Harold as
his companion on the watch. The boy was greatly excited at the
prospect of a struggle. He had often read of the desperate fights
between the frontier settlers and the Indians, and had longed to take a

share in the adventurous work. He could scarcely believe that the time
had come and that he was really a sharer in what might be a desperate
struggle.
The first watch was set at nine, and at twelve Mr. Welch and Harold
came on duty. The men they relieved reported that all was silent in the
woods, and that they had heard no suspicious cries of any kind. When
the men had returned to their room Mr. Welch told Harold that he
should take a turn round the stockade and visit the dogs. Harold was to
keep watch at the gate, to close it after he went out, to put up the bar,
and to stand beside it ready to open it instantly if called upon.
Then the farmer stepped out into the darkness and, treading noiselessly,
at once disappeared from Harold's sight. The latter closed the gate,
replaced the heavy bar, and stood with one hand on this and the other
holding his rifle, listening intently. Once he thought he heard a low
growling from one of the dogs, but this presently ceased, and all was
quiet again. The gate was a solid one, formed of strong timbers placed
at a few inches apart and bolted to horizontal bars.
Presently he felt the gate upon which his hand rested quiver, as if
pressure was applied from without. His first impulse was to say, "Is that
you?" but Mr. Welch had told him that he would give a low whistle as
he approached the gate; he therefore stood quiet, with his whole
attention absorbed in listening. Without making the least stir he peered
through the bars and made out two dark figures behind them. After
once or twice shaking the gate, one took his place against it and the
other sprang upon