University of Virginia Library

5. CHAPTER V.

The event most desirable for the savages, and for
which they had probably been waiting, now unfortunately
occurred. The heavy drifting clouds which had
long blackened the western horizon, began now to obscure
the whole sky, and a thick darkness soon settled
upon the landscape. To fire the building, and to compel
its evacuation, and thus to capture and massacre the
whole party, whilst its defenders had no advantage of
shelter, and were impeded by the care of their women
and children, was the chivalrous feat which the besiegers
now contemplated.

The danger could not be concealed, and hope consisted
only in meeting it courageously. In a momentary
interview which Dudley obtained at this period with
Miss Welles, the latter communicated to him the dreadful
suspicion that one of the leaders of the enemy was
Enoch Waldon, whom she believed that she had recognized
both by his figure and gait. Although horrified
at the supposition, there was also a gleam of pleasure
in the announcement; for whether Waldon was so
deeply guilty or not, the fact that he could be obnoxious
to such a suspicion, precluded the idea of her entertaining
for him partial feeling. Animated by an increased
hope, Dudley begged Ellen to consider herself
under his especial protection, and, with an earnest and
eloquent look, he added, not to believe herself in danger
while he continued to live. There was nothing in
the words, but there must have been something in the
manner of the speaker to call the quick blood into the
cheek of Ellen. Hurridly thanking him, she turned

away, and Dudley, with a comparatively light heart,
hastened to prepare for further defense.

Placing two or three men at the several windows,
so as to command, to some extent, every side of the
house, he directed them to keep up a random fire, in
hopes that the besiegers would be intimidated from a
near approach. For a while, this plan seemed to succeed,
and no sound of the foe being detected, the belief
was entertained, that they were effectually repulsed.
But the more wary were not disposed to such ready
hope. The silence was too deep and ominous. Alarmed
by the very quietude without, Dudley, after ordering
increased vigilance on every side, announced his
determination to ascend to the house-top, and called upon
three or four of his most resolute companions to follow
him.

A small “sky-light” afforded means for effecting this
object, and with extreme silence and caution, Dudley
ascended only until his head had fully emerged into the
open air. Pausing to reconnoitre the adjacent fields,
his eye was immediately arrested by what, at first,
seemed a few fire-flies flitting about the roof. With a
sudden and fearful suspicion, he remained motionless,
and made a close scrutiny. Feeling cautiously about
him, he ascertained that the wetted blankets had been
removed, and the conviction that the roof was already
in possession of the savages, forced itself upon his mind.
His position was nearly at one-extremity of the building,
which was long and narrow, with a single chimney
at the opposite end.

Peering earnestly through the thick darkness, he at
length discovered part of the outline of several figures
in a stooping attitude. The sound of breath, as in
the act of blowing at embers, also reached his ear from

several quarters, and convinced him that the Indians
were at that moment engaged in setting fire to the
building. His prudence for the moment almost yielded
to the quick feeling of rage which prompted him to
rush headlong upon so diabolical a foe; but restraining
his wrath, he immediately drew back and communicated
to his astonished companions the nature of his
discovery. His resolution was immediately taken.
The sky-light, which was gained only by moveable
steps, would admit of only three persons standing within
it; and having stationed that number of his little
garrison at the foot of the steps with reserve guns, he
called upon Lee and Rogers to follow him, and once
more ascended, with the same perfect silence as before.

Rising until their shoulders were above the roof, the
three remained standing, motionless, with presented
arms. It was, doubtless, a hazardous experiment for
the besieged party to wait for the kindled light of their
own roof to reveal the persons of their foes; but the
importance of striking a signal blow, and one that
might deter the enemy from making any further attack
overcame every other consideration.

The dampened state of the shingles rendered the process
of ignition slow; but at length, a faint bue flame
made its appearance in the vicinity of the chimney,
where a number of small faggots had been carefully
inserted. Flickering with the wind, now sinking, now
rising, the unsteady blaze was guarded from the air by
both hands of a kneeling Indian, whose fiendish features,
as he bent over the light, could be distinctly traced.
Brighter and brighter rose the blaze, and soon began to
reveal the other objects in its vicinity, while the place
occupied by Dudley and his companions remained in
impenetrable obscurity. Brighter and higher still, until

the alarmed inmates beneath, saw the fire gleaming
downward through the chinks of the unceiled roof. But
the time for action had arrived. Other faint lights
had sprung up, and the savages, to the number of five,
were distinctly visible, when Dudley having exchanged
signals with his men, in order to select their several
victims, quietly gave the command to fire.

The report of the guns, and the death screech of the
Indians, was a mingled and simultaneous sound. They
each rolled rapidly down the roof and fell heavily to
earth. But although Dudley and his comrades instantly
handed down their guns and received others from
below, only one of the enemy remained visible when
they were again prepared to fire. Running rapidly
along the apex of the building, he had already gained
hold of the rope, which, thrown lasso-like over the
chimney, had been the means of his ascent, and was
about to swing himself off, when he received the contents
of Dudley's gun. Still convulsively clutching the
rope he was seen by the now growing light to totter for
a moment on the extreme end of the building, when
Lee, more in pity than in wrath, gave him another ball.

“It would have been a hard fall for a living man,”
he said, as the noise of the body striking the ground
reached his ear, “but a stack of feather beds would n't
have been any mercy to him now.”

“Do n't be too sure,” replied Rogers, banteringly;
“your dead men have a remarkable faculty of coming to
life again, and I think I see the red devil now, scampering
across the field with the rope in his hand!”

“And a piece of the chimney, I suppose!” retorted
Lee, who understood his comrade's propensity to joke
too well to take offense.

But the triumph which produced this temporary elation

of spirits in these brave men, was far from being
complete. The fire had gained a headway that demanded
instant attention, and whoever ventured within
its light would doubtless be a prominent mark for
the outlaying foe.

No time, however, was to be lost, and two brave
fellows of the Life Guard already stood prepared at
the foot of the stairs for the perilous enterprise. Bearing
blankets, saturated with water as before, they
rushed hastily to the flames. The expected volley
was discharged, and unhappily, as the groans of the
young men testified, not without effect. One, but
slightly injured, fled hastily back, while the other, convinced
of the mortal nature of his wounds, nobly resolved
that his life should prove no idle forfeit. Stanching
the life-blood with one hand, he dragged himself
feebly from blaze to blaze, until the last flickering light
was extinguished; and then, with the remnant of his
failing strength, crept slowly back to his companions.
Drawn hastily, but gently within, the youth was deposited
upon a couch, and hasty preparations were made
to examine and relieve his wounds. But observing the
changing expression of his face, and obeying his significant
gestures to desist, his comrades crowded with
tearful eyes around his bed.

“My sister?” faintly ejaculated the dying man, as he
slowly turned his face toward the door. A low wail
was heard without—the door opened—and the fainting
maiden was supported to his bed-side. A placid smile,
like sun-light, stole over the features of the youth; his
lips moved, and the trembling girl bent lower and lower
to hear. The whispered words with which the parting
soul went upwards, were soft as sound could be, yet
distinctly articulated, they fell upon every ear, “we
shall meet again!”