eady fire was kept up, and
the Indians were picked off like flies. But the gaps were filled by men
beyond all description in their recklessness. Nothing could stem the tide.
They drew nearer and nearer like the waters of an oncoming sea. The end
was looming. It was very near.

Suddenly, in response to an order from Seth, some of the women left the
shelter of the house and followed him. A few minutes later the well was
working, and a chain of buckets was passing up to the roof of the house. A
process of saturation was put into operation. The thatch was soaked until
the water ran through the ceilings.

While this was going on a cry came from the northern extremity. The first
Indian had reached the stockade and paid the penalty of his temerity.

Now orders, swift and sharp, passed from lip to lip. Seth was everywhere.
The battle would be in full swing in a minute.

Suddenly Rube and Nevil appeared from a small outhouse rolling two large
barrels. These were stood on end and the heads knocked out of them. The
pails used for water were requisitioned; a fresh saturation went forward;
this time it was the log stockade, and the saturation was being performed
with coal-oil.

The sun was already dropping over the western horizon when a party of the
enemy, in face of the fiercest fire, reached the defences. It was the
moment Seth had awaited. From the stockade he called out a sharp order to
the women in the upper parts of the house, and the loyal creatures,
distracted with the nervous tension of inaction, poured out a deadly
volley.

The terrible bombardment of short range weapons had instant effect. The
enemy fell back under the withering hail. Headed by Seth a dozen men
mounted the ramparts, and the next instant the vast corral formed a circle
of leaping flame in the faces of the besiegers. The coal-oil had done its
work, and the resinous pine logs yielded to the demands of those who
needed their service.

The defence was consummate. For the great walls were sufficiently far from
the buildings to render life possible within the fiery circle.

Baffled and furious, the Indians fell back before a foe they were
powerless to combat. At a respectful distance they watched the
conflagration with wonder. The magical abruptness of it filled them for a
moment with superstitious awe. But this phase did not last long.

The gates were the weak spot, and they quickly burnt through. In half an
hour they crashed from their hinges, and t