borne to their husbands and friends the arms which had been left in
their dwellings; and in spite of the arrows and darts of the Indians,
by which several of them were wounded, they continued to load the guns
for the combatants while the conflict lasted. Happily this was not
long. The _fire-breathing_ muskets struck terror into the ignorant
savages; and when two or three of their number had fallen, they turned
to fly; first, however, catching up the bodies of their comrades, which
they carried off to ensure their honorable burial, and to save them
from the indignities which they supposed the pale-faces would heap on
the dead.

In vain their Chief endeavored to rally them, and compel them to
return to the conflict. In vain he waved his battle-axe on high, and
shouted his war-whoop, Woach! woach! ha, ha, hach, woach!' A panic had
seized his followers, and they fled precipitately into the forest from
they had issued, so suddenly and so fiercely, to the attack. One
warrior stood alone by the Chief. He was young and handsome, but his
countenance was dark and sinister and an expression of cunning was
strongly marked in his glittering deep-set eyes and overhanging brows.
He saw that it was hopeless to contend any longer with the powerful
strangers, and, by words and actions, he was evidently persuading the
Chief to retire. The settlers had ceased to fire the moment that their
enemies fled; and there was a deep silence, while every eye was fixed
on the striking figure of the enraged Chief, whose every feature was
distorted by excited passions. He stood with his tomahawk uplifted,
and his tall and muscular figure in an attitude of command and
defiance; while, in a loud and distinct voice, he uttered a vow of
vengeance, the words of which were unintelligible to the settlers,
though the meaning could easily be guessed from his looks and gestures.
Then he hung his battle-axe to his gaudy belt, and pointing his hand at