dealing volley, from
the gallant Kentuckians, decided their course of action; and again
yelling fearfully, they parted to the right and left, and bearing their
dead and wounded with them, rushed for the covert of a neighboring
forest. At the same moment, the party which had sallied forth upon the
Lexington road, to make a feint of attacking their decoys, entered the
fort by the eastern gate, in high spirits at the success of their
maneuver.

The warfare was now carried on in the usual manner, after the failure of
stratagem, for several hours, with but little success on either side.
The block-houses were immediately manned by the garrison, who by this
means could command every point of compass; and whenever an Indian
came in sight, he was at once made the target for three or four keen
riflemen, who rarely missed their mark. In consequence of this, the
wily savage rarely showed himself in an open manner; but would creep
stealthily among the tall weeds, or among the tall standing corn, that
covered about an hundred acres of ground on the southern side of the
station, or ensconce himself behind some stump or trunk of a tree in
the vicinity, and discharge his rifle at any mark thought suitable,
or let fly his burning arrows upon the roofs of the cabins. To avoid,
if possible, a conflagration, every boy of ten years and upwards, was
ordered upon the roofs of the houses, to throw off these burning
missiles; but notwithstanding their great vigilance, so rapidly were
they sent at one period, that two of the cabins, being in a very
combustible state, took fire, to the great consternation of all, and,
before they could be extinguished, were totally consumed. Here again the
hand of an overruling Providence was manifest; for a light wind drove
the flames from the other buildings, and thus a terrible and fatal
calamity was averted.

From the attack in the morning by the main body, a sharp fire was
maintained on both sides till towards noon; when it began to slacken
considerably; and a little past meridian ceased altogether--the savages
having withdrawn for another purpose, as we shall show anon, leaving the
garrison in suspense as to whether they had totally abandoned the siege
or not.

We have previously stated that Bryan's Station stood on a gentle rise on
the southern bunk of the Elkhorn, whereby it commanded a view of much
of the surrounding country. A considerable portion of the land in the
immediate vicinity had been cleare