danger to which Jacob must be exposed, rather than of my own desperate
plight. While on the alert for a living target, I speculated whether he
was yet free, and if he had discovered the whereabouts of his father.

I had no idea as to the flight of time, and could not have told whether we
had spent ten minutes or sixty in that struggle for life, when, without
warning, the floodgates of heaven were opened. The rain came down
literally in torrents; it seemed as if the water descended in solid sheets
rather than drops, and, no matter how bloodthirsty a man might have been,
he could no more have continued the battle than if he had been neck-deep
in the river.

Savages as well as white men were forced to cease their efforts to kill,
and for a time we crouched beneath such poor shelter as the trees
afforded, but drenched to the skin in a twinkling.

General Herkimer was in no better plight than those who were the most
exposed. The fire in his pipe was drowned out; but he continued to hold it
between his teeth as he said, in a low tone, to Sergeant Corney:

"Pass the word quietly for our people to close in where it will be
possible to hear what I say. Thus far I've noted that the savages have
watched until a rifle has been discharged, when they rush up and use their
hatchets. We can put an end to that kind of butchery."

The old soldier did as he had been bidden, moving to and fro without fear
of exposing himself, for the downpour was so great that no man could have
loaded a musket with dry powder, and even while the storm continued the
circle was contracted until the commander was enclosed by a living hedge.