omrades who lay stretched on the earth around the ball grounds. After a
brief parley, some started with blood-curdling yells toward a house
across the fields where an English woman lived with her children; others
leaped into their canoes and paddled off to an island where an English
farmer lived alone.

Before sunset the men at the fort heard the exultant scalp yell of the
Indians, and knew that the first blood of the war had been shed.

In the meantime Pontiac hastened with gloomy rage to his own village
across the river. It was deserted by all but a few squaws and old men.
These Pontiac ordered to pack the camp luggage and make all ready for
removal, as soon as the men came with their canoes to carry the camp
equipment to the Detroit side of the river.

All labored to do their chief's will, while he went apart and blackened
his face.

At nightfall the braves came in with the scalps they had taken. A pole
was driven into the ground in the open space where the tents had been.
The warriors gathered about it, their bodies decked with paint and eagle
feathers.

Pontiac sprang into their midst, brandishing his hatchet and striking
violently at the pole. As he danced about, he recited the great deeds he
and his fathers had done in war. His appalling cries, his terrible
words, stirred the hearts of his Indians and fired their blood. All were
in a frenzy of excitement. With wild cries they joined their chief in
his war dance.

Even the faint echo of the din these blood-thirsty demons made struck
terror into the hearts of the watchers in Detroit. The soldiers kept
close guard all night, expecting an attack at any moment.

But not till early dawn did the war cry sound. Shrill and near it rose
from hundreds of throats. Strong men turned pale at the clamor of yells
and cracking rifles. It seemed that the Indians must be at the very
walls of the fort.

The guards on the ramparts, however, could see no enemy in the faint
gray light. From behind every tree, every stone, every rise of ground,
came the incessant flash of muskets. Bullets and blazing arrows rattled
against the palisades. The Indians aimed at the loopholes and succeeded
in wounding five of the English. The soldiers returned a cautious fire,
unwilling to waste powder on an invisible foe.

After an attack of six hours' duration the Indians, weary with their
night's activity, gradually withdrew to their camps, having suffered no
loss, but at the same time having