There was also chained up in the fort, a powerful and faithful
mastiff, of whom the Indians stood in great dread. Three of the
savages, concealing, as far as they could, their weapons, approached
the fort, under the pretence of bartering some beaver skins. They met
Hossett, the commander, not far from the door. He entered the house
with them, not having the slightest suspicion of their hostile intent.
He ascended some steep stairs into the attic, where the stores for
trade were deposited, and as he was coming down, one of the Indians,
watching his opportunity, struck him dead with an axe. They then
killed the sick man. Standing at a cautious distance, they shot
twenty-five arrows into the chained mastiff till he sank motionless in
death.

The colonists in the field, in the meantime, were entirely unaware of
the awful scenes which were transpiring, and of their own impending
peril. The wily Indians approached them, under the guise of
friendship. Each party had its marked man. At a given signal, with the
utmost ferocity they fell upon their victims. With arrows, tomahawks
and war-clubs, the work was soon completed. Not a man escaped.




CHAPTER IV.




THE ADMINISTRATION OF VAN TWILLER.