_ CHAPTER FORTY THREE.
Quite dark. My head confused. The alligator's foot on my chest. No; it was the butt-end of a gun pushing me.
"Here! Don't! What's the matter?"
"I thought I should never get you to wake, sir. Come along. The Indians are here."
I sprang out of the tent, with it gradually dawning upon me that I had been sleeping heavily from early afternoon right into the darkness of night, and dreaming away in a heavily confused fashion of the various objects that had just filled my eyes and ears.
"You said the Indians were here?" I said, excitedly.
"Yes, my lad. Look!"
I gazed in the direction pointed out, and saw there was a bustle going on at the block-house, where by a faint blaze men were throwing buckets of water.
"Just caught it in time, sir," continued Morgan. "They mean mischief now."
"Yes, I know. They fired arrows at it blazing."
"How did you know when you were asleep?"
"My father expected they would; I heard him say so."
"Ah, well, they won't do it again. We're going to soak blankets, and lay all over the top."
"Morgan, look--look!" I exclaimed, as three fiery long-tailed stars came swiftly sailing through the air from one direction; and as if they had been sent as a signal, three more came from the opposite quarter, and directly after two more threes, and all fell blazing on different parts of the block-house, the Indians evidently aiming for the spot where the first blaze appeared--that which was rapidly being extinguished as I crept out of our tent.
These fiery arrows had no doubt been prepared with tufts of cotton saturated with some resinous gum, which, after being lighted, burned furiously in its rapid passage through the air, and seemed to resist the efforts of those who were on the roof trying to extinguish the patches of glowing fire. In fact their efforts soon became useless, for the first twelve arrows were followed by dozens more, and then by hundreds, till at one time quite a fiery shower descended on the doomed place; while, emboldened by their success, amidst a fierce yelling, some of the Indians ran from their cover, their progress being marked by tiny specks of light which seemed to glide like fireflies over the fields. Then they made a sudden dart, blazed out, and stuck in the sides of the fort.
This was repeated again and again before sharp orders were rung out, and from that moment whenever one of these sparks was seen gliding along toward the palisades, it was met by shot after shot, sometimes by a regular volley. Twice over as I watched I saw one of these sparks drop to the ground and begin to burn, showing by it the body of an Indian; but though scores of shots were fired, these were the only two which checked the savages, who, encouraged by their success, kept on running in and shooting at the fort.
"Hard to hit a man running with a bullet," said Morgan, in answer to one of my ejaculations of impatience.
"But why are you here, Morgan?" I said, suddenly, as I felt that most of the defenders were either at work firing, or busy with buckets and water.
"Because I was sent here, sir," said Morgan, gruffly.
And though I questioned him, he said no more, but chuckled a little when I made a guess, and said that my father must have sent him to look after me.
The men on the roof of the block-house worked splendidly amidst the fiery shower, though they were checked several times by the horrible missiles taking effect, inflicting wounds and burning the poor fellows' clothing as well; but they returned to their duty as soon as their comrades were passed down below into the fort, and wherever the flames got hold they were extinguished. But that which the falling arrows sent high in air, to drop almost perpendicularly on the fort, failed to do, though shot with wondrous skill, was accomplished by the arrows sent in the ordinary way point-blank against the walls.
I was watching the progress of the attack with Morgan, and we were uttering congratulations about the admirable way in which the men on the roof worked, and how cleverly each fiery messenger was quenched now almost as soon as it fell, when there was a fresh attack.
"Yes; we've done 'em, clever as they are, this time, sir," said Morgan. "I tell you what: if I'd had the management of that affair I'd have had young Pomp up there."
"Where is he?" I said, for I had forgotten all about him.
"'Long of his father carrying water, sir. But as I was saying, I'd have had young Pomp up there with a small bucket as he could handle easy, half full o' water, and set him to catch the arrows as they fell. He's quick as lightning, and I'll be bound to say he'd have caught the arrows one by one in his bucket."
"Look--look!" I cried excitedly.
"Eh? What? Ah!" ejaculated Morgan, as evidently from behind one of the houses, quite invisible in the darkness, we saw quite a little group of specks glide out, and almost simultaneously another group--and there seemed to be about thirty in each--came out from the other side, the two parties joining with almost military precision, and gliding as it were over the fields till quite close in, when there was a perfect blaze of light as a golden cloud of trailing lights was discharged straight at the wooden wall of the fort, and in a few seconds it was wrapped in fire from top to bottom.
A tremendous yell followed this successful discharge, but it was drowned by the rapid firing which succeeded, and as I looked on excitedly, longing to go and assist, and wondering why I had received no orders, I had the satisfaction of seeing figures flitting to and fro before the blazing pine-trunks, and hearing the hiss of the water as bucketful after bucketful was discharged.
"Why, Morgan!" I exclaimed suddenly; "the women and children?"
"Well, sir, they'd be safe enough."
"What, if the fire is not put out?"
"Oh, it'll be put out, my lad. Look, they're battering it now. It aren't so fierce, but they don't happen to be there; the captain spoke to the governor this afternoon."
"To the General?"
"Yes, sir. We're getting to call him the governor now; and the captain told him, I hear, that he was afraid the main attack would be on the block-house, and it was settled to have all the women and children out; and they're all safe behind barricades in the middle there. Yonder, you see."
"See? No," I said; "how can I see through this terrible darkness?"
"Darkness?" said Morgan, in a peculiar tone. "I was just thinking that it was a bit lighter now, and yet they seem to be getting the fire a bit under."
"Yes," I said; "and now the clouds of steam are rising; you can see them quite plainly now. Perhaps they are reflecting the light down upon the building. Oh, look!"
I could hold back no longer, but started off at a run, closely followed by Morgan, so as to get to the other side and see what was going on there.
For I had suddenly grasped the meaning of the light that had puzzled me. It was plain enough now. With their customary cunning, the Indians had fired such a flight of fiery arrows that they had forced our people to combine their forces to put out the blazing side of the block-house, and then combining their own forces, the enemy had sent low down on the opposite side, after creeping close in, a tremendous discharge, which at once took hold, and the flames as I got round were already running up the building, fanned by the wind which seemed to be rising, and there was a fluttering roar which sounded like the triumphant utterances of the flames.
"That comes of using pine-logs," said Morgan, in a low voice, as amidst the shouting of orders, the tramp of men, and the hissing of the fire, volley after volley was fired from the palisades; but naturally these shots sent forth into the darkness were aimless, and in imagination I could see the enemy, after sending in their arrows, crawling away unhurt.
The progress of this last fire was rapid. Something was done to check it at first with the buckets, and the brave fellows on the roof made desperate efforts by hanging the saturated blankets over the side, but they were soon driven back by the heat and smoke; all but one, whom I saw--after working desperately, the leader evidently of the shadowy-looking, blackened band--topple forward and fall into the flames at the foot, just as a herculean black approached, bearing two buckets of water.
Then there was a rush, a deal of confusion and shouting; and as I neared I saw the black coming through the crowd bearing some one on his shoulder.
I needed no telling that the slave, whoever he was, had dashed in and dragged the fallen man away, and, roused to enthusiasm by the daring act, I was approaching the group, when I heard murmurs running from one to the other of the line of men we had approached, men whose duty it had been to pass water from the well to those whose task it was to scatter the fluid on the flames.
"What--what did they say, Morgan?" I whispered.
"Water's give out, sir."
"What! Just as it is needed most?"
"Ay, my lad, that's just when it would be sure to go. They've been too generous with it t'other side."
"But look!" I said; "the fire's getting firmer hold. Can nothing be done?"
"Not that we can do, sir," said Morgan, sadly. "It's got it tight now."
It was too true. Started by the Indians' fiercely-blazing arrows, the pine-logs were beginning to blaze well now, dispiriting those who had worked so bravely before; and, seeing that their attack hail been successful, the Indians ceased now to send in their fiery flights, for moment by moment the flames increased, completely enveloping one corner of the block-house, and displaying such fierce energy that we knew the place was doomed.
And now, not to solve a puzzle that had troubled me, but of course to strike fresh terror into their enemies, the Indians made it plain how they had managed to keep up their supply of fiery shafts. For, all at once, a house standing back in the plantation, on each of the three sides of the fort away from the river front, began to stand out clear in the darkness of the night. One of them was the place from behind which I had seen the two groups of sparks glide out, and in these they had cunningly had parties preparing the fiery arrows ready to start alight for others to discharge.
Yell after yell now arose from a distance as the three houses rapidly began to blaze and add to the lurid glare that was illumining the whole interior of the enclosure, while groups of smoke-blackened men were watching the destruction going on.
"Better seek cover, my lads," cried Colonel Preston. "Get your pieces, and be ready. We can do no more there. It must burn."
The men showed their military training by rapidly getting their piled weapons, and taking their positions behind the barricades which surrounded the temporary quarters of the women and children.
"I don't think they'll attack," said Colonel Preston to the General, who came up now.
"No," he said, calmly. "The men are standing well to their places round the palisades, but I have no fear of an assault to-night. By the way, how is Bruton?"
I heard the words, and my throat seemed to grow dry.
"Bruton? I don't know. Tired out, I suppose."
"What!" said the General; "didn't you know?"
"Nothing; only that we have all been working like slaves to put that fire out."
"Great heavens, Preston, didn't you hear?"
"Hear?" cried the colonel, excitedly; "is he wounded?"
"Not wounded, but badly hurt, I fear. Didn't you see a man fall from the roof right into the flames?"
"Yes, but--"
"It was Bruton."
"Ah!"
I felt as if I should have dropped, but at that moment, as I was trying to get over the horrible feeling of sickness, and to make my way to the place the doctor had been forced to take as his temporary hospital, I felt a thrill of delight run through me, for a voice exclaimed--
"Gentlemen, are you all mad?"
"Bruton!" exclaimed Preston, hoarsely; "then you are not badly hurt?"
"Badly enough," said my father; "but look--look! Of what are you thinking?"
"Thinking?" cried the General. "We can do no more; the place is doomed."
"But are we to be doomed too, man?" cried my father, furiously; and he looked as if he might have had the question he had first asked put to him. For his face was blackened and wild, his long hair burned, and a terrible look of excitement was in his starting eyes.
"Doomed?" exclaimed the General and the colonel in a breath, as the men gathered round.
"Yes; the women--the children. This enclosure will be swept away. Have you forgotten the powder--the magazine?" _