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Page 34
This was the moment for action. The Virginian, who,
although expecting this, had watched their movements with
aching interest, now summoned his whole strength, and
while the first savage below was upon the ladder, pushed
his musket with such violence against the sole, that it
carried it rapidly over the corner of the house, before
the Indian could find presence of mind to throw himself
upon the roof--a sudden backward jerk of the weapon
liberated the bayonet, the extreme point of which only
had entered the wood, and as the Virginian withdrew this,
he could distinctly see the unfortunate savages fall
headlong from the top of the ladder, uttering, as both
descended, a fearful cry of dismay, which was responded
to by fierce yells from the lips of their companions,
who hastened to their succor.
"Well done, that!" said the corporal, exultingly, and
half-aloud to himself, as he slapped his thigh, in a
manner to denote his own self-approval. "That's what I
call doing the business as it should be done. The attempt,"
and he smiled at the conceit, "was not a bootless one to
us all, though it has been a BOOT LESS one to ME."
To understand this facetiousness of the Virginian, it
must be understood that on withdrawing his bayonet, the
boot which it had only slightly pierced, had slipped from
the weapon and fallen to the ground simultaneously with
the other heavier bodies, whose more marked sound had
absorbed its own. It therefore escaped the notice of the
Indians.
"Hilloa there!" he continued in a louder key; "there's
no more danger in this quarter, my lads. Show us a light,
and if Cass has that turkey ready, we'll have some supper.
For my part, I'm devilish sharp set. Here, Green, take
my musket, and give me the candle."
Surprised at the corporal's unwonted humor, for they had
been led to apprehend, from the noise made by the falling
ladder, and the excitement evidently prevailing among
the Indians, that some new act of treachery was about to
be tried by them, the men gathered underneath the opening,
Green taking his musket from the hands of the Virginian,
while in return, he mounted on one of the low chairs,
and extending his arm far above, handed him the light.
After a few minutes search, the corporal appeared again
at the mouth of the loft, not only with a demijohn
half-filled with whisky, but with a large loaf of brown
bread, and part of a shoulder of dried venison, from
which nearly one-half had been chipped away in slices.
This, indeed, was a prize, and the men looked at the
articles of necessary supply, as they were successively
handed down, with an earnestness which denoted, that
whatever might be their apprehensions of danger from
without, they by no means coveted fighting on an empty
stomach. After having lowered the treasures he had been
so fortunate as to secure, the Virginian swung himself
down by his hands, without difficulty, upon the lower
floor.
The fire had been again revived, and having ordered
Jackson up into the loft, to keep watch at the small-window,
and apprise him if any attempt should be made to replace
the ladder, the corporal for the first time lighting his
pipe, sat down to ruminate on his position, and consider
the means by which the party were to be taken back to
the fort. Further serious apprehensions in regard to
their safety he did not now entertain, for baulked, as
the Indians had been, in all their attempts to get into
the house, he felt persuaded that it was more with a view
to annoy and alarm, than with any hope of eventual success,
that they still lingered in the neighborhood. Had they
been in a situation to continue the siege longer than
the morning, the case might have been different. But it
was obvious that in order to secure their own safety,
alarmed as they most know the governor would be at the
absence of the party under his command, they would not
remain longer than daylight exposed to the chances of
being themselves closely assailed from without.
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