b, knocking him down, and making a dent in
his skull which he carried through life. Once down, he would have been
killed but for the quickness of Smith, who, seeing the danger his
companion was in, raised his rifle. With a single blow he knocked over
the Indian with whom Austill was struggling.

Then Austill rose, and the fierce contest went on. Dale and his men
rained their blows upon their foes, and received blows quite as lusty in
return, but Caesar managed the boat so skilfully that, in spite of the
superior numbers of the Indians, the fight was not very unequal. He held
the little boat against the big one, but kept it at the end, so that the
Indians in the other end of the big canoe could not reach Dale's men.

In this way those that were actually fighting Dale, Austill, and Smith
never numbered more than three or four at any one time, and so the
three could not be borne down by mere force of numbers. Dale stood for a
time with one foot in each boat; then he stepped over into the Indian
canoe, giving his comrades more room, and crowding the Indians towards
the end of their boat.

One by one the savages fell, until only one was left facing Dale, who
held Caesar's gun, with bayonet attached, in his hand. This sole survivor
was Tar-cha-chee, an Indian with whom Dale had hunted and lived, one
whom he regarded as a friend, and whom he now wished to spare. But the
savage was strong within the Indian's breast, and he refused to accept
mercy even from a man who had been his comrade and friend. Standing
erect in the bow of the canoe, he shook himself, and said, in the
Muscogee tongue, "Big Sam, you are a man, I am another; now for it."

With that he rushed forward, only to meet death at the hands of the
friend who would gladly have spared him.

[Illustration: "WITH A SINGLE BLOW HE KNOCKED OVER THE INDIAN WITH WHOM
AUSTILL WAS STRUGGLING."]

The canoe fight was ended, but Dale's work was not yet done. His party
on the bank were every minute more closely pressed, and if they were to
be saved it must be done quickly. For this purpose he and his companions
at once began clearing the big canoe of its load of dead Indians. Now
that only the white men were there, the Indians upon the bank directed a
galling fire upon the canoe, but by careening it to one side Dale made a
sort of breastwork of its thick gunwale, and thus succeeded in clearing
it. When this was done he went ashore and quickly carried off the party
there, land