The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1907-01-10


that the lroquols had chosen the east
ern face for their main attack. II was
that the clump Of cover lay midway
between The edge of the forest and
The stockade. A storming party could
creep as far as that and gather there
for the FINAL rush, First one crouch.
lng warrior and then second and
then third darted across the little
belt OF opeu space and threw them.
selves down among the bushes The
fourth was hit and lay with his back
broken a Few PAGES out from the edge
of tie wood, but stream Of warriors
continued u venture the passage until
lhiriy.siX had got across, and the little
patch OF underwood was fun Of lurk.
ng sayaEes Amos Green's time had
come.
From where he lay be could see the
white patch where he had cut the bark
from the birch sapling. aud he knew
that Immediately underneath II lny the
powder bag lie sighted the mark and
then slowly lowered his barrel until he
had got to the bnse OF the little tree as
nearly as he could guess II among the
tangle OF bushes. The bullet penetrat-
ed the bag. and there was an explo
sion whicL shook the manor house and
AIDES as though they were eOrnstalks
IN a breeze Up TO the highest sum.
mlts Of the trees went the huge column
OF blue smoke, and after The first roar
there was deathly silence which was
broken by the patter and thud OF fall
ing bodies.
The blow was heavy one, OF the
thlrty-slx warriors, all picked for their
yalor, only four regained the shelter OF
| the woods and those so torn and shat
tered that they were spent men. Al
ready the Indians had lost heavily, and
this fresh disaster made them recon
slider their plan Of attack. Their fire
gradually slackened.
is II possible that they are going to
abandon the attacki" cried De Catinat
joyously.
But the willy Du Lhut shook his
| head. "a wolf would as soon leave 1
half gnawed bone as an Iroquois such
prize as this"
"But they have lost heavily"
aye, but not so heavily as ourselves
! in proportion to our numbers. They
| have lost fifty out of thousand and
we twenty out of threescore. No. no.
4las, - tsss.4s ttfs +~---A So
shall soon hear from them again. But
IT may be some hours first, and II you
will take my advice you will have an
hours sleep, for you are not, as | can
see by your eyes, as used to doing
without 1t as ! am
De Catinat was indeed weary to the
last pitch Of human endurance. Amos
Green and the seaman had already
wrapped themselves In their blankets
and sunk to sleep under the shelter OF
the stockado. The soldier rushed up
stairs TO say few words Of comfort
to the trembling Adele and then,
throwing himself down upon couch,
he slept the dreamless sleep of an ex-
hausted man. When at last he was
aroused by fresh sputter Of musketry
ready low In the heavens, and the
mellow light of evening tinged the
bare walls of the room. He sprang
from his couch, seized his musket and
rushed downstairs. The defenders
were gathered at their loopholes once
more. while Du Lhut, the seigneur and
Amos Green were whispering eagerly
together
what is it, thenl Are they coming
onf' he asked.
"They are up 10 some deviltry," said
Du Lhut, peering out at the corner OF
the embrasure. "They are gathering
thickly nj the east fringe, and yet the
firing comes from the north. II is not
the Indian way TO attack across the
open. and yet. II they think help Is
coming from the fort, they might ven
ture."
"The wool In front OF us is alive with
them" said Amos. "They are as busy
as beavers among the underwood" :"
Perhaps they are going TO attack
from this side and cover the attack
by fire from the flank"
"That Is what think" cried the
seigneur. Bring the spare guns up
here and all tho men except five for
each side"
The words were hardly out OF bis
mouth when a shrili yell rose from the
wood, and In an instant a cloud OF
warriors burst out and charged across
the open. bowling, sprnging and way
ing their guns and tomahawks In the
cir. Some Of those IN front bore canoes
between them. aud us they reached the
stockade they planted them against II
and swarmed up them as II they had
been scaling ladders. Others FIRED
through the cmhrasurcs and loopholes,
the muzzles OF their guns touching
those OF The defenders, while others
again sprang uualded on to the tops OF
the palisades and jumped fearlessly
down upon the inner side. The Cana
dlans fired while they had time TO load,
and then, clubbing their muskets, they
smashed furiously at every red head
which showed above the rails.
The din within The s,ockade was In
fernal the shouts and cries Of the
French. the whooping of the savages
ana the terrified screaming Of The
frightened women blending into one
dreadful nprosr. above witch could he
heard the high, shrill voice of The old
seiencur hpplering his censisalres TO
stand fast With Du Lhut, Amos, pe
Cnunai and Ephraim Savage. be was
ever III the farcfront of the defense.
So Desperately dld they Sight. The sword
and uiuskct huli oulreaehing the ,7na.
hawk. that though al one time fifiy lno
ausls were over the palisades they had
sI1in OF driven back nearly all Of them,
when q fresh wave burst suddenly over
the south face. which sad been stripped
Of It's aefcnder~. Du i1lui sag IN nn
instant thai the inciozure was los, and
that only one thing could save the