ed, at least for a quarter of an hour,
by which he might judge what was the issue of the enterprise; and he was
beginning to indulge the hope that Nathan had passed safely through the
besiegers, when a sudden yell of a peculiarly wild and thrilling
character was uttered in the wood in the quarter in which Nathan had
fled; and this, exciting, as it seemed to do, a prodigious sensation
among his foes, filled him with anxiety and dread. To his ears the shout
expressed fury and exultation such as might well be felt at the sudden
discovery and capture of the luckless messenger; and his fear that such
had been the end of Nathan's undertaking was greatly increased by what
followed. The shots and whoops suddenly ceased, and, for ten minutes or
more, all was silent, save the roar of the river, and the whispering of
the fitful breeze. "They have taken him alive, poor wretch!" muttered the
soldier, "and now they are forcing from him a confession of our
weakness!"

It seemed as if there might be some foundation for the suspicion; for
presently a great shout burst from the enemy, and the next moment a rush
was made against the ruin as if by the whole force of the enemy. "Fire!"
shouted Roland to his companions: "if we must die, let it be like men;"
and no sooner did he behold the dark figures of the assailants leaping
among the ruins, than he discharged his rifle and a pair of pistols which
he had reserved in his own hands, the other pair having been divided
between Dodge and the negro, who used them with equal resolution, and
with an effect that Roland had not anticipated; the assailants,
apparently daunted by the weight of the volley, seven pieces having been
discharged in rapid succession, instantly beat a retreat, resuming their
former positions. From these, however, they now maintained an almost
incessant fire; and by and by several of them, stealing cautiously up,
effected a lodgment in a distant part of the ruins, whence, without
betraying any especial desire to come to closer quarters, they began to
carry on the war in a manner that greatly increased Roland's alarm, their
bullets flying about and into the hovel so thickly that he became afraid
lest some of them should reach its hapless inhabitants. He was already
debating within himself the propriety of transferring Edith and her
companion from this ruinous and now dangerous abode to the ravine, where
they might be sheltered from all danger, at least for a time, when a bolt