do it for sanitary reasons--too close to the fort
to let the bodies lie there and rot."

And with this prosaic reminder Captain Demere was content to dispense
with the polite formality of a flag of truce. They never knew what the
loss might be on the Indian side, nor did the braves again venture
within gunshot. Now and then the cannon sought to search the woods and
locate the line, but no sound followed the deep-voiced roar, save the
heavy reverberations of the echo from up and down the river and the
sullen response of the craggy hills. The cannonade had served to
acquaint the Cherokees with an accurate estimate of the range of the
guns. The fact that a strong cordon was maintained just beyond this, was
discovered when the post hunters were again sent out, on the theory that
the repulse of the Indians had been sufficiently decisive to induce a
suspension of hostilities and a relinquishment of their designs to
capture the fort, if not a relapse into the former pacific relations.
The hunters were driven back by a smart fire, returning with one man
shot through the leg, brought in by a comrade on horseback, and four
others riding double, leaving their slain horses on the ground. It
became very evident that the Cherokees intended to maintain a blockade,
since the fort obviously could not be carried by storm, and the
commandant was proof against surprise. To send the hunters out again was
but to incur the futile loss of life and thus weaken the garrison. The
supply of fresh game already in the fort being exhausted, the few head
of cattle and the reserves of the smoke-house came into use.

The very fact that such reserves had been provided put new heart into
the soldiers and roused afresh the confidence of the settlers, who had
begun to quake at the idea of standing a siege so suddenly begun,
without warning or preparation, save indeed for the forethought for all
emergencies manifested by the senior officers. Both Demere and Stuart
became doubly popular, and when there was a call for volunteers to run
the blockade and severally carry dispatches to Colonel Montgomery, they
had but to choose among all the men in the fort. The tenor of these
dispatches was to apprise Colonel Montgomery of the blockade of Fort
Loudon and ask relief, urging him to push forward at once and attack
the Ottare towns, when valuable assistance could be rendered him by the
ordnance of the fort, as well as by a detachment of infantry from the
forces of