oss.

"And they're coming fast," said Henry. "It's for us to carry the
warning."

They sped back to the Wyoming fort, spreading the alarm as they passed,
and once more they were in the council room with Colonel Zebulon Butler
and his officers around him.

"So they are at hand, and you have seen them?" said the colonel.

"Yes," replied Henry, the spokesman, "they came down from Tioga Point
in boats, but have disembarked and are advancing through the woods. They
will be here today."

There was a little silence in the room. The older men understood the
danger perhaps better than the younger, who were eager for battle.

"Why should we stay here and wait for them?" exclaimed one of the
younger captains at length-some of these captains were mere boys. "Why
not go out, meet them, and beat them?"

"They outnumber us about five to one," said Henry. "Brant, if he is
still with them, though he may have gone to some other place from Tioga
Point, is a great captain. So is Timmendiquas, the Wyandot, and they say
that the Tory leader is energetic and capable."

"It is all true!" exclaimed Colonel Butler. "We must stay in the fort!
We must not go out to meet them! We are not strong enough!"

A murmur of protest and indignation came from the younger officers.

"And leave the valley to be ravaged! Women and children to be scalped,
while we stay behind log walls!" said one of them boldly.

The men in the Wyoming fort were not regular troops, merely militia,
farmers gathered hastily for their own defense.

Colonel Butler flushed.

"We have induced as many as we could to seek refuge," he said. "It hurts
me as much as you to have the valley ravaged while we sit quiet here.
But I know that we have no chance against so large a force, and if we
fall what is to become of the hundreds whom we now protect?"

But the murmur of protest grew. All the younger men were indignant. They
would not seek shelter for themselves while others were suffering. A
young lieutenant saw from a window two fires spring up and burn like
torch lights against the sky. They were houses blazing before the Indian
brand.

"Look at that!" he cried, pointing with an accusing finger, "and we are
here, under cover, doing nothing!"

A deep angry mutter went about the room, but Colonel Butler, although
the flush remained on his face, still shook his head. He glanced at Tom
Ross, the oldest of the five.

"You know about the Indian force," he exclaimed. "What sh