e morass, overlooking the dense thicket which filled
its depths, was surprised at what seemed to him, in the hazy
light, a flight of strange birds coming from the leafy
hollow. One after another of these winged objects passed
over his head. After he had observed them a moment or two,
he saw one of them strike a neighboring tree, and cling
quivering to its trunk. A glance was enough for the drowsy
sentinel. He was suddenly wide awake, and his musket and
voice rang instant alarm, for the bird which he had seen was
a winged Indian arrow. He had been made a target for
ambushed savages, eager to pick him off without alarming the
party which he guarded.

A large force of Indians had crept into the morass during
the night, with the hope of cutting off the laborers and the
party of support. The sentinel's alarm shot unmasked them.
Whooping like discovered fiends, they flew from their
covert upon the unarmed laborers, shot and tomahawked those
within reach, and sent the others in panic flight to the
fort. Captain Little and his band flew to the rescue, and
checked the pursuit of the savages by hasty volleys, but
soon found themselves so pressed by superior numbers that
the whole party was in danger of being surrounded and slain.

In this extremity Captain Little sent a messenger to General
Lyman, imploring instant aid. He failed to obtain it. The
over-cautious commander, filled with the idea that the whole
French and Indian army was at hand, drew in his outposts
with nervous haste, shut the gates of the fort, and left the
little band to its fate.

Fortunately, the volleys of musketry had reached the ears of
Major Putnam, on his island outpost. Immediately afterwards
his scouts brought him word that Captain Little was
surrounded by Indians, and in imminent danger of
destruction. Without an instant's hesitation the brave
Putnam plunged into the water, shouting to his men to follow
him, and waded to the shore. This reached, they dashed
hastily towards the scene of the contest. Their route led
them past the walls of the fort, on whose parapets stood the
alarmed commander.

"Halt!" cried General Lyman. "Come into the fort. The enemy
is in overwhelming force. We can spare no more men."

To these words, or similar ones, spoken by General Lyman,
Putnam returned a vague reply, intended for an apology, but
having more the tone of a defiance. Discipline and military
authority must stand aside when brave men were struggling
with