elly, and
there came the cry of an animal's agony. Then another and another, and
yet more. But no one came near me in the gateway. I could not see
anything to shoot at--only lithe shades and mottled shadows, for the
torch lay on the wet ground, and was sputtering to its end. The moaning
of the horses maddened me, and I sent a bullet through the head of my
own poor beast, which was writhing horribly. Elspeth's horse got the
contents of my second pistol.

And then it seemed that the raiders had gone. There was one bit of the
far palisade which was outlined for me dimly against a gap in the
trees. I saw a figure on it, and whipped my musket to my shoulder.
Something flung up its arms and toppled back among the dying beasts.

Then a hand--Donaldson's, I think--clutched me and pulled me back. With
a great effort the bars were brought down, and I found myself beside
Elspeth. All her fortitude had gone now, and she was sobbing like a
child.

Gradually the moaning of the horses ceased, and the whole world seemed
cold and silent as a stone. We stood our watch till a wan sunrise
struggled up the hill-side.

CHAPTER XXII.

HOW A FOOL MUST GO HIS OWN ROAD.

It was a sorry party that looked at each other in the first light of
dawn.

Our eyes were hollow with suspense, and all but Shalah had the hunted
look of men caught in a trap. Not till the sun had got above the
tree-tops did we venture to leave our posts and think of food. It was
now that Elspeth's spirit showed supreme. The courage of that pale girl
put us all to the blush. She alone carried her head high and forced an
air of cheerfulness. She lit the fire with Donaldson's help, and
broiled some deer's flesh for our breakfast, and whistled gently as she
wrought, bringing into our wild business a breath of the orderly
comfort of home. I had seen her in silk and lace, a queen among the
gallants, but she never looked so fair as on that misty morning, her
hair straying over her brow, her plain kirtle soiled and sodden, but
her eyes bright with her young courage.

During the last hours of that dark vigil my mind had been torn with
cares. If we escaped the perils of the night, I asked myself, what
then? Here were the seven of us, pinned in a hill-fort, with no help
within fifty miles, and one of the seven was a woman! I judged that the
Indian force was large, and there was always the mighty army waiting
farther south in that shelf of the hills. If they sought to take