Burns said he should clear out at once, but Hooper talked about
seeing it through. He's got no wife to be skeary about, and reckoned
that, with his two hands, he could defend his log hut. I told him I
reckoned he would get his har raised if the Injuns came that way;
but, in course, that's his business."

"What do you advise, Pearson? I do not like abandoning this farm to
the mercy of the redskins."

"It would be a pity, Master Welch, that's as true as Gospel. It's the
likeliest clearing within fifty miles round, and you've fixed the
place up as snug and comfortable as if it were a farm in the old
provinces. In course the question is what this War Eagle intends to
do. His section of the tribe is pretty considerable strong, and
although at present I aint heard that any others have joined, these
Injuns are like barrels of gunpowder: when the spark is once struck
there's no saying how far the explosion may spread. When one band of
'em sees as how another is taking scalps and getting plunder and
honor, they all want to be at the same work. I reckon War Eagle has
got some two hundred braves who will follow him; but when the news
spreads that he has begun his work, all the Iroquois, to say nothing
of the Shawnees, Delawares, and other varmint, may dig up the
hatchet. The question is what War Eagle's intentions are. He may make
a clean sweep down, attacking all the outlying farms and waiting till
he is joined by a lot more of the red reptiles before attacking the
settlements. Then, on the other hand, he may think himself strong
enough to strike a blow at Gloucester and some other border villages
at once. In that case he might leave the outlying farms alone, as the
news of the burning of these would reach the settlements and put 'em
on their guard, and he knows, in course, that if he succeeds there he