Year: 1876

came running toward her. and th't All
walked into the house. Z


To close AMI lock the heavy door. AMI
To swing To and lar the strong shutters
of the window va, hui The work - a
moment.


Not an instant too -Uru uas iI' vurk
accomplished. as th" ludiau- n unH'
saw that they had been observed. AMI a
shower Of bullets AMI arrous v'rH
hurled against th" hou~'


Hastily placing the rhillron ina plar'
Of safety. the brave woman ran O. The
rack where the arms, always really
loaded. stood.


She found she hal tao double bar-
rclel shot guns. Spencer rife, and
plenty Of ammunition. -" that a. long
as she KEEP, the Indian, at distance she
was all right.


4 yell from the sayagcs startled her.
Running hastily 10 one of the loop
holes in the front Of the house, she saw
four of them making a rush, with the
evident intention Of getting up to the
door before she had time to fire at them.


The shot guns were loaded with pis-
tol bullets. Quickly running the muz-
zle of one of them out through the
loop-hole, she took aim at the foremost
Indian. A crack Of the piece, and he
fell dead.


The others turned and ran, but too
late! Again the fatal crack of the gun,
and another savage went to his happy
hunting grounds. The other two sue
ceeded in getting under cover before
the heroic woman could bring the sec
ond gun to bear on them.


A howl of rage and dismay arose from
the edge of the timber as the savages
saw the fate of their comrades, and for
a long time no apparent effort was made
by them to continue the fight.
| She knew by the stiffness that was
kept by the Indians that they were get.
ting ready some new plan for her cap
ture.


Suddenly a thought struck her.
Should they make an attack from be-
hind the house they would be upon her
| before she was aware. How was she to
guard against this? She could not
| guard both sides at once.


A bright idea flashed across her mind.
The boy! She would place him as
sentry in the rear. He was old enough
to understand what was wanted.


Gabriel" she called, "come herep
| The little fellow ran from his hiding
place in a corner of the room and came
up to her.


"My boy, come here to this window.
Do you see those woods there?"


The child said he did.


"In those woods, my boy, are bad
men who want to kill us. Will you
watch and let me know if they try to
come near the house?"


The little fellow promised obedience,
and at once commenced his watch, with
look on his face that showed how
much he appreciated the honor and re-
sponsibility of his position.


Then the brave woman made her
preparations for what she feared would
be desperate struggle for her own life
and those Of her little ones.


Presently a movement on the part of
her savage foes attracted her attention.


An Indian showed his head from be-
hind one of the large logs in front of
the house. Waiting for few moments,
as if to see if he was observed, he grad
ually moved out until his whole body
was visible.


What could be his object?


1t was something unusual for an In
dian to expose himself thus.


The solution of the puzzle came i'm
mediately.


Mamma" cried little Gabriel.


"What is it, child?"


There's one of the men coming to
the house?"


Then she saw at once that the appear
ance of the Indian in front was ruse
to attract her attention while his com
panions attacked the house from be-
hind.


Gabriel, f" she called, hastily, ''come
here"


The boy ran over to her.


She pushed the muzzle of one of the
guns through the loop-hole, and the
savage Immediately disappeared.
Now, Gabriel, she said, whenever
that man shows himself you push the
gun so that he can see it."


The boy promised to do as he was
bid.


Then the brave mother went to the
back of the house.


Three Indians were slowly creeping
up toward it, taking advantage of every
tree, rock, or inequality of ground.
They evidently intended to take her by
surprise.


Determined that this time she would
make every shot tell, she waited until
they were within twenty yards. They
were close together, and crawling up
slowly.


Suddenly the muzzle Of the shotgun
was protruded from the loop-hole.


The savages saw their mistake and
turned to fee.


Too latel The sharp crack Of the
| 0un was heard and kwo of than rollad