Chapter 14

He could not rest, he could not stay
Within his tent to wait for day;
But walked him forth along the sand,
Where thousand sleepers strewed the strand.

_Siege of Corinth_.

It was now so late that most of the men of the Hut, and all the women
and children, were housed for the night, provided no alarm occurred.
There was consequently little risk in the major's venturing forth,
disguised as he was, should care be taken not to approach a light. The
great number of the latter, streaming through the windows of the
western wing of the building, showed how many were now collected within
the walls, and gave an unusual appearance of life and animation to the
place. Still, the court was clear, the men seeking their pallets, in
readiness for their coming watches, while the women were occupied with
those great concerns of female life, the care of children.

The captain, major, and chaplain, each carrying a rifle, and the two
former pistols, moved rapidly across the court, and passed the gate.
The moveable leaf of the latter was left unbarred, it being the orders
of the captain to the sentinels without, on the approach of an enemy,
to retire within the court, and then to secure the fastenings.

The night was star-light, and it was cool, as is common to this region
of country. There being neither lamp nor candle on the exterior of the
house, even the loops being darkened, there was little danger in moving
about within the stockades. The sentinels were directed to take their
posts so near the palisades as to command views of the open lawn
without, a precaution that would effectually prevent the usual stealthy
approach of an enemy without discovery. As the alarm had been very
decided, these irregular guardians of the house were all at their
posts, and exceedingly watchful, a circumstance that enabled the
captain to avoid them, and thus further remove the danger of his son's
being recognised. He accordingly held himself aloof from the men,
keeping within the shadows of the sides of the Hut.

As a matter of course, the first object to which our two soldiers
directed their eyes, was the rock above the mill. The Indians had
lighted fires, and were now apparently bivouacked at no great distance
from them, having brought boards from below with that especial object.
Why they chose to remain in this precise position, and why they
neglected the better accommodations afforded by some fifteen or twenty
log-cabins, that skirted the western side of the valley in particular,
were subjects of conjecture. That they were near the fires the board
shanties proved, and that they were to the last degree careless of the
proximity of the people of the place, would seem also to be apparent in
the fact that they had