their scratches from the rest, and went
on with their part. A third attack in force at a third point was
repulsed in the same manner, but only after the most desperate fighting.
Each side suffered a heavy loss, but the Indians, nevertheless, were
repulsed and the defenders once again lay down among the bushes, their
pulses beating fast.

Then ensued the fiery ring. The white circle was complete, but the
Indians formed another and greater one facing it. The warriors no longer
tried to rush the camp, but flat on their stomachs among the bushes
they crept silently forward, and fired at every white man who exposed a
head or an arm or a hand.

They seemed to have eyes that pierced the dark, and, knowing where the
target lay, they had an advantage over the defenders who could not tell
from what point the next shot would come.

It was a sort of warfare, annoying and dangerous in the extreme, and
Clark became alarmed. It got upon the nerves of the men. They were
compelled to lie there and await this foe who stung and stung. He sought
eagerly by the flashes of lightning to discover where they clustered in
the greatest numbers, but they hugged the earth so close that he saw
nothing, even when the lightning was so vivid that it cast a blood red
tinge over both trees and bushes. He called Boone, Henry, Thomas and
others, the best of the scouts, to him.

"We must clear those Indians out of the woods," he said, "or they will
pick away at us until nothing is left to pick at. A charge with our best
men will drive them off. What do you say, Mr. Boone?"

Daniel Boone shook his head, and his face expressed strong disapproval.

"We'd lose too many men, Colonel," he replied. "They're in greater
numbers than we are, an' we drove them back when they charged. Now if we
charged they'd shoot us to pieces before we got where we wanted to go."

"I suppose you're right," said Clark. "In fact, I know you are. Yes, we
have to wait, but it's hard. Many of our men have been hit, and they
can't stand this sort of thing forever."

"Suppose you send forward a hundred of the best woodsmen and
sharpshooters," said Boone. "They can creep among the bushes an' maybe
they can worry the Indians as much as the Indians are worrying us."

Colonel Clark considered. They were standing then near the center of the
camp, and, from that point they could see through the foliage the dusky
surface of the water, and when they looked in the other direction they
saw