war-path, we had better give it up at once and return to
Massachusetts."

"Very well, my dear," her husband said gravely. "You are a true
frontiersman's wife; you have chosen as I should have done. It is a
choice of evils; but God has blessed and protected us since we came
out into the wilderness--we will trust and confide in him now. At any
rate," he went on more cheerfully, "there is no fear of the enemy
starving us out. We got in our store of provisions only a fortnight
since, and have enough of everything for a three-months' siege. There
is no fear of our well failing us; and as for ammunition, we have
abundance. Seeing how Harold was using powder and ball, I had an
extra supply when the stores came in the other day. There is plenty
of corn in the barn for the animals for months, and I will have the
corn which the men are cutting brought in as a supply of food for the
cows. It will be useful for another purpose, too; we will keep a heap
of it soaked with water and will cover the shingles with it in case
of attack. It will effectually quench their fire arrows."

The day passed off without the slightest alarm, and by nightfall the
patch of corn was cleared away and an uninterrupted view of the
ground for the distance of a hundred yards from the house was
afforded. When night fell two out of the four dogs belonging to the
farm were fastened out in the open, at a distance of from seventy to
eighty yards of the house, the others being retained within the
stockade. The garrison was divided into three watches, two men being
on the alert at a time, relieving each other every three hours. Mr.
Welch took Harold as his companion on the watch. The boy was greatly
excited at the prospect of a struggle. He had often read of the
desperate fights between the frontier settlers and the Indians, and