ians; I loading and firing, and you firing too, Bub. But I haven't
put that last rifle in just right;" and glancing out of the hole, as
he adjusted it, he turned deathly pale, and his whispered utterance
was strangely faint, as he exclaimed,--

"If there isn't an Indian now!"

It is said by old hunters accustomed to shoot small game, however
skilful in the use of fire-arms they may be, that the first time they
see a large animal,--a deer, for example,--such a nervous excitement
seizes them, although the creature stands within a few feet of them,
for an instant they cannot command themselves to fire; and when they
do, they are sure to miss the object. It is not surprising, then, that
Charlie was, for a moment, paralyzed. He gazed at the Indian as if
fascinated, as the savage glided along, his head bent, going from the
spring towards the tree, in the very path through which Charlie had
carried the water, stooping to pick up something, then keeping on a
few paces, then stopping and putting his ear to the ground, as if
intently listening. He was within easy range of Charlie's rifle all
the time; yet the boy lifted not his finger.

The savage now rapidly darted forward, as if following Charlie's
trail, and, sweeping the bushes back with his hand, discovered the
opening in the tree, and, to Charlie's amazement, managed to creep in.
Nearly an hour had passed, and Charlie still waited in painful
suspense, wondering what next would transpire, when he saw a score or
more of Indians stealthily approaching from different directions
towards the cabin. The blood returned to Charlie's face, and,
recovering his senses, he whispered to Bub, "The Indians have come."

He then took sight across the rifle nearest Bub, and found that it
covered several of the savages; and, taking aim with the one next to
it, he said to his little brother, "Pull!" Bub did so, and, starting
on the round trot, pulled each string in succession. A broadside
ensued that would have done honor to an old-fashioned ship of war. The
effect was prodigious. The savages seemed to think that a strong force
occupied the cabin; for, with a loud yell, and a hasty discharge of
fire-arms, they vanished from sight.

Charlie was astounded at Bub's misunderstanding of the order and the
effect produced. Gazing amazed into vacancy,--for the enemy had
disappeared,--he sprang to the floor, hugged Bub till he almost
suffocated him, and, laughing uncontrollably, stammered, "That be