ly one man should
make the attempt and they might decide who was to go. This caused a
dispute.

Just then a young girl stepped forward and said that SHE was ready
to go. Her name was Elizabeth Zane, and she had just returned from a
boarding-school in Philadelphia. This made her brave offer all the more
remarkable, since she had not been bred up to the fearless life of the
border.

At first the men would not hear of her running such a risk. She was told
that it meant certain death. But she urged that they could not spare
a man from the defense, and that the loss of one girl would not be an
important matter. So after some discussion the settlers agreed that she
should go for the powder.

The house, as has already been stated, stood about sixty yards from the
fort, and Elizabeth hoped to run thither and bring back the powder in a
few minutes. The gate was opened, and she passed through, running like a
deer.

A few straggling Indians were dodging about the log houses of the town;
they saw the fleeing girl, but for some reason they did not fire upon
her. They may have supposed that she was returning to her home to rescue
her clothes. Possibly they thought it a waste of good ammunition to fire
at a woman, when they were so sure of taking the fort before long. So
they looked on quietly while, with flying skirts, Elizabeth ran across
the open, and entered the house.

She found the keg of powder, which was not large. She lifted it with
both arms, and, holding the precious burden close to her breast, she
darted out of the house and ran in the direction of the fort.

When the Indians saw what she was carrying they uttered fierce yells
and fired. The bullets fell like hail about her, but not one so much as
touched her garments. With the keg hugged to her bosom, she ran on, and
reached the fort in safety. The gate closed upon her just as the bullets
of the Indians buried themselves in its thick panels.

The rescued gunpowder enabled the little garrison to hold out until help
arrived from the other settlements near Wheeling. And Girty, seeing that
there were no further hopes of taking Fort Henry, withdrew his band.

Thus a weak but brave girl was the means of saving strong men with their
wives and children. It was a heroic act, and Americans should never
forget to honor the name of Elizabeth Zane.

THE CAPTURE OF FORT TICONDEROGA

BY WASHINGTON IRVING (ADAPTED)

Some bold spirits in Connecticut conceived the proje