nt ran, and
he knew, too, that the Iroquois had dug pits, marked by timber. They
were not far ahead, and the scouts now proceeded very slowly, examining
every tree and clump of bushes to see whether a lurking enemy was hidden
there. The silence endured longer than he had thought. Nothing could be
seen in front save the waving forest.

Henry stopped suddenly. He caught a glimpse of a brown shoulder's edge
showing from behind a tree, and at his signal all the scouts sank to the
ground.

The savage fired, but the bullet, the first of the battle, whistled over
their heads. The sharp crack, sounding triply loud at such a time, came
back from the forest in many echoes, and a light puff of smoke arose.
Quick as a flash, before the brown shoulder and body exposed to take aim
could be withdrawn, Tom Ross fired, and the Mohawk fell, uttering his
death yell. The Iroquois in the woods took up the cry, pouring forth a
war whoop, fierce, long drawn, the most terrible of human sounds, and
before it died, their brethren behind the embankment repeated it in
tremendous volume from hundreds of throats. It was a shout that had
often appalled the bravest, but the little band of scouts were not
afraid. When its last echo died they sent forth a fierce, defiant note
of their own, and, crawling forward, began to send in their bullets.

The woods in front of them swarmed with the Indian skirmishers, who
replied to the scouts, and the fire ran along a long line through the
undergrowth. Flashes of flames appeared, puffs of smoke arose and,
uniting, hung over the trees. Bullets hissed. Twigs and bark fell, and
now and then a man, as they fought from tree to tree. Henry caught one
glimpse of a face that was white, that of Braxton Wyatt, and he sought
a shot at the renegade leader, but he could not get it. But the scouts
pushed on, and the Indian and Tory skirmishers dropped back. Then on
the flanks they began to hear the rattle of rifle fire. The wings of the
army were in action, but the main body still advanced without firing a
shot.

The scouts could now see through the trees the embankments and rifle
pits, and they could also see the last of the Iroquois and Tory
skirmishers leaping over the earthworks and taking refuge with their
army. Then they turned back and saw the long line of their own army
steadily advancing, while the sounds of heavy firing still continued on
both flanks. Henry looked proudly at the unbroken array, the front of
stee