d in force, and so far from helping the fleet his men must now
defend themselves. But he would be an aid, nevertheless, since the
attack upon his own party must draw off warriors from the leaguer of the
fleet.

His men fell back to the shelter of the tree trunks, and began to fire,
every one like a sharpshooter choosing his target. The Major's back was
now to the river, and he could hear the rattle of the rifles behind him
as well as before him. Two or three minutes of this, and a shout reached
his ear. It was not the shrill, high-pitched yell of the Indian, but the
deep, full-throated cry of the white man, and the Major knew it. A
sudden burst of firing came from a new point, and then the attack seemed
to melt away before him.

Meanwhile, the fleet, with the savages hanging on either flank, crept on
up the river.

CHAPTER XXI

FORCES MEET

Major George Augustus Braithwaite had judged aright. Henry Ware knelt in
the prow of the first boat, as it showed beyond the curve after forcing
the watery pass. The shiftless one knelt just behind him, and in the
stern was Paul, kneeling, too. The rifles of all three were hot in their
hands. Long Jim and Silent Tom were now at the oars.

It all seemed--that last half hour--a dream to Henry and Paul. They had
moved in a kind of mist, now red, now black. They had seen the black
hills lowering above them, and the innumerable flashes of fire. They had
heard the roar of the tempest and the unbroken crackle of hundreds of
rifles, and they had fired in reply almost mechanically. Their one
object was to press forward, always to press forward, and so long as
their boat continued to move they knew that they must be succeeding.

Now they beheld the wider water before them, and upon a high hill upon
the southern shore a great fire blazed, by the light of which they saw
wooden walls and roofs.

"We are through!" exclaimed Henry. "We have at least come as far as the
fort, whether we can land or not!"

"Yes, we are through," said the shiftless one, "but I never run such a
gantlet afore, an' I hope never to do it ag'in."

He laid down his rifle a moment, and began to feel himself critically
and carefully.

"What are you doing?" asked Henry.

"Me?" replied Sol. "I'm tryin' to see whether I'm all here, or whether
most o' me is scattered around in the Ohio. When a million savages are
shootin' at a feller, all at the same time, an' keep on doin' it, it's
more'n likely that felle