"I don't suppose we can launch the canoe and slip away in it?"

"No, it would be swamped by the rain and the flood. It's likely, too,
that they're on watch for us farther down the stream."

"Then this is our home and fortress for an indefinite time, and, that
being the case, I'm going to make myself as easy as I can."

He drew the blanket under his body again and lay on his elbow, but he
held his rifle before him, ready for battle at an instant's notice. His
feeling of comfort returned and with it the sense of safety. The bullets
of the savages had gone so wild and the darkness was so deep that their
shelter appeared to him truly as a fortress which no numbers of
besiegers could storm.

"Do you think they'll try floating down the stream on trees or logs
again, Tayoga?" he asked.

"No, the danger is too great," replied the Onondaga. "They know now that
we're watching."

An hour passed without any further sign from the foe. The rain decreased
somewhat in violence, but, as the wind rose, its rush and sweep made as
much sound as ever. Then the waiting was broken by scattering shots,
accompanied by detached war whoops, as if different bands were near.
From their shelter they watched the red dots that marked the discharges
from the rifles, but only one bullet came near them, and after chipping
a piece of stone over their heads it dropped harmlessly to the floor.

"That was the one chance out of a hundred," said Willet, "and now we're