was the warning of the Great Spirit--the Death-Shadow of the
Miamis. Never has it appeared to men of our tribe except on the eve of
great disaster, the forerunner of grave tragedy. We ride forth from
these gates to death."

It was plain that no amount of reasoning could change his Indian
superstition; and with a word more of expostulation I left him standing
there, and sought a place where I might lie down. Already the numbing
sensation of supernatural fear had left me, for in the breaking up of
that odd-formed cloud I realized its cause; and now the physical
fatigue I felt overmastered all else. I found a quiet corner, and,
with a saddle for a pillow, was soon fast asleep.

CHAPTER XXIV

THE DAY OF DOOM

_Fifteenth August, 1812_.--My hand trembles and my pen halts as I write
the words; for the memory of those tragic hours, far distant as they
are now, over-masters me, and I see once again the faces of the dead,
the mutilated forms, the disfigured features of the hapless victims of
savage treachery. Were I writing romance merely, I might hide much of
detail behind the veil of silence; but I am penning history, and, black
as the record is, I can only give it with strict adherence to truth. I
dread the effort to recall once more the sad incidents of that scene of
carnage, lest I fail to picture it aright; but I can tell, and that
poorly, only of what I saw within the narrowed vista of my personal
experience, where the fate of the day found me. Out of the vortex of
so fierce and sudden a struggle, the individual, battling madly for his
own life, catches but hasty and confused glimpses of what others may do
about him or in other portions of the field; and there has been much
recorded in what men call the history of that day's battle, about which
I know nothing. Nor shall I attempt to tell much more than the simple
story of what befell me and those who faced the danger close at my side.

In spite of the early bustle around me, incident to the preparations
for departure, I slept late, stupefied by intense fatigue. The sun was
already high, painting with gold the interior of the western wall of
the stockade, when some unusual disturbance aroused me, so that I sat
up and looked about, scarce realizing for the moment where I was. The
parade was alive with moving figures; and I instantly marked the cheery
look on the faces of those nearest me, as if the entire garrison
rejoiced that the hour for departure ha