Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1916-12-08
CHAPTER XVII.
We Attack the savaaes.

We Attack the Savages.
It was already so dark that the sol
der was almost upon us before per
ceived his shadow. but 1t was evident
enough from his first words that he
tion.
There are no Indians in the viii
lage," he said gruffiy, leaning on his
gun and staring at us. II got across
to small island, along the trunk of
a dead tree, and had good view of the
whole bank yonder. The tepees stand,
but not squaw nor dog is left"
Were there any canoes in sight
along the shore?''
"Only one, broken beyond repair"
"Then, as / read the story, the tribe
fed down the stream, either to join
the others on the Illinois, or the whites
at the fort They were evidently not
attacked, but had news of the COM
ing of the Iroquois, and escaped with
out waiting to give battle. IT'S not
likely the wolves will overlook this
village long. Are we ready to so for
ward?"
He disappeared in the darkness.
vanishing silently. and we stood mo-
tionless waiting our turn to advance.
Neither spoke, Barbeau leaning for
ward, his gun extended. alert and
ready. The intense darkness, the
quiet night, the mystery lurking amid
those shadows beyond, all combined to
arouse within me sense of danger.
I could feel the swift pounding of my
heart. and l clasped the sleeve of the
soldiers jacket merely to assure my
self Of his actual presence. The pres
sure of my fingers caused him to
glance about.
"Do not be frightened, madame"
he whispered encouragingly. There
would be firing yonder IL the Iroquois
blocked our path"
Fear not for me-" answered, sur
prised at the steadiness of my voice.
at is the lonely silence which makes
me shrink: as soon as we advance /
shall have my nerve again. Have we
not waited long enough?"
SAY. come; but be careful where
you place your feet"
He led the way, walking with such
slow caution, that, although followed
step by step, not sound reached my
ears We circled about large rocks.
and up a ravine, through which we
found barely room for passage. the
walls rising steep and high on either
side 1t was intensely dark down
there, yet impossible for us to escape
the trail, and at the end of that pas
sage we emerged into an open space.
inclosed with woods, and having grit
of sand underfoot. Here the trail
seemed to disappear, but Barbeau
struck straight across, and in the for
est shade beyond we found D'Artigny
waiting.
'Do not shoot" he whispered. IT
was afraid you might misjudge the
way here, as the sand leaves no clear
trace. The rest of the passage is
through the woods, and up steep
hill You are not greatly wearied.
madamef"
'Oh, no; have made some false
steps in the dark, but the pace has
been slow. Do we approach the fortY'
"A half league beyond; hundred
yards more, and we begin the climb.
There we will be in the zone of dam
ger. although thus far perceive no
sign OF Indian presence. Have you,
Barbeauw
"None except this feather of a war
bonnet picked up at the big rock
below"
"A feather! Is 1t Iroquois?'
sit Is cut square. and no Algonquin
over does that"
"Ay, let me see! You are right, Bar
beau: twas dropped from Tuscarora
war bonnet. Then the wolves have
been this way"
We crossed the wood, and began to
climb among loose stones. finally find,
ing solid rock beneath our feet, the
path skirting the edge Of what seemed
to be q deep cash in the earth. and
winding about wherever 1t could find
passage. The way grew sleeper and
sleeper, and more difhcult to traverse
although. as we thus rose above the
Inc limit, the shadows became less
6eass, and we were able dimly to per