The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1907-01-02

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brought ten men to reinforce him. De
| Ia Noue was holding out his snuffbcx
/ to De Catinat when a shrill scream
| from behind them made them both
| look round Omega. the Indian wife.
| was wringing her hands over the body
of her son. 4 glance showed that the
bullet had pierced his heart and that
he was dead
For an instant the old nobleman's
thin face grew a shade paler and the
hand which held out the little gold box
shook like a branch in the wind
THE De la Noues always die upon
the field of honor" he remarked. Il
think that we should have some more
men in the angle by the gun"
And now it became clear why it was
that the Iroquois had chosen the east
ern face for their main attack. 1t 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
ing warrior and then a second and
then a third darted across the little
belt of open 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 the wood, but stream of warriors
continued to venture the passage until
thirty had got across, and the little
patch of underwood was full of Turk
ing sayages. Amos Green's time had
come.
From where he lay he could see the
white patch where he had cut the bark
from the birch sapling, and he knew
that Immediately underneath it lay the
powder bag. He sighted the mark and
then slowly lowered his barrel until he
had got to the base of the little tree as
nearly as he could guess it among the
tangle of bushes. The bullet penetrat-
ed the bag, and there was an explo-
sion which shook the manor house and
swayed the whole line of stout stock
AIDES as though they were cornstalks
in a breeze. Up to the highest sum-
mits of the trees went the huge column
Of blue smoke, and after the first roar
there was deathIy silence, which was
broken by the patter and thud of fall
ing bodies.
The blow was a heavy one. OF the
thrty-six warriors, all picked for their
valor, only four regained the shelter of
the woods and those SO torn and shat
tered that they We're 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.
lis it possible that they are going to
abandon the attackY cried De Catinat
joyously.
But the willy Du Lhut shook his
head "a wolf would as soon leave a
half gnawed bone as an Iroquois such
a 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 q thousand and
we twenty out of threescore. No, no;
they are holding a council, and we
shall soon hear from them again. But |
it may be some hours first, and if you
will take my advice you will have an
hours sleep, for you are not, as 1 can |
see by your eyes, as used to doing |
without it as I 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 I
the stockade. The soldier rushed up
stairs to say a few words of comfort
to the trembling Adele, and then,
throwing himself down upon a couch.
he slept the dreamless sleep of an ex-
hausted man. When at last he was
aroused by a fresh sputter of musketry
fire from the woods the sun was al
ready low in the heavens, and the
mellow light of evening tinged the
bare walls of the room. He sprang
rushed downstairs. The defenders
were gathered at their loopholes once
more, while Du Lhut, the seigneur and
Amos Green We're whispering eagerly
together
What is it. then? Are they coming
ON = he asked.
"They are up to some deyiltry," said
Du Lhut, peering out at the corner of
the embrasnre. They are gathering
thicaly at the east fringe, and yet the
firing comes from the north. 1t is not
the Indian way to attack across the
open, and yet, if they think help is
coming from the fort, they might ven
ture."
1.-The wood in front of us is alive with
them," said Amos. They are as busy
rs beavers among the underwood
Perhaps they are going to attack
from this side and cover the attack
oy fire from the flank
THAT is what l think" cried the
seigneur. Bring the spare guns up
here and all the men except five for
Zach side"
The words We're hardly out of his
mouth when a shrill yell rose from the
wood. and in an instant cloud of
burst out and charged across
he open. bowling. springing and wav-
ng their guns and tomahawks in the
lir. Some of those in front bore canoes
between them. and as they reached the
'tockade they planted them against it
md swarmed up them as il they had
been scaling ladders. Others fired
through the embrasures and loopholes. !,
he muzzles of their guns touching
hose Of the defenders, while others
gain sprang unaided on to the tops of .
ha DaliSaGac and i,,u,nad foarlpSSly :