CHAPTER XXIX.
OPENING OF THE BATTLE.
Promptly on the minute Gilroy and White Ox appeared again, with thewhite flag of truce flying between them.
This time Captain Moore took with him one of his lieutenants, Bacon byname.
The interview was shorter than the captain had anticipated.
"Well, is it surrender or not?" asked Matt Gilroy.
"We must have more time," answered Captain Moore. "Cannot you wait untilto-morrow morning?"
"Not another minute," was the angry reply. "Is it surrender or not?Answer yes or no."
"We will not surrender--at least not yet," came from the young captainfirmly.
"Then your time is up, and we shall attack at once," returned the leaderof the desperadoes. "Am I not right, White Ox?"
"You have spoken truly," came from the Indian chief. "Soon the blood ofthe white soldiers will flow freely."
Without another word White Ox galloped away, and Matt Gilroy went afterhim.
"We are up against a battle now!" exclaimed Lieutenant Bacon.
"I have done my best to delay the contest--I can do no more," saidCaptain Moore.
When he returned inside of the stockade he was immediately surrounded.
"Boys, we must fight," he said in a loud, clear voice. "They will waitno longer. But re-enforcements must be on the way by this time. Can Idepend upon your standing by me?"
"Yes! yes!" was the cry.
"We know how to do our duty to Uncle Sam and the flag!"
"Let the desperadoes and the Indians come on! We'll give them as hot areception as they ever got!"
While the soldiers were taking their way to the several defenses of thefort there was the beating of Indian drums at a distance, followed bythe blowing of a bugle in the camp of the desperadoes.
Soon the beating and blowing came from half a dozen directions.
"They are gathering, sure enough!" exclaimed Joe. "I wonder how long itwill be before they fire the first shot?"
"They'll not be rash--be sure of that," answered Darry. "They must knowthat the fort is a strong place."
A little later one of the guards announced that bodies of Indians weremarching from the south of the fort to the westward.
Here there was a fringe of trees at a distance of not over a hundredyards from the stockade.
Colonel Fairfield had often thought to have the belt of timberland cutdown, but had never put the plan into execution.
"They mean to get as close as possible before they expose themselves,"said the captain. "Dilberry, have the four-pounder trained on thatspot."
"I will, Captain Moore," said the head gunner, and saluted.
Quarter of an hour went by, and the drumming and bugle calling hadceased.
Suddenly a shout went up from behind the belt of timberland, and a smallcannon spoke up, sending a shell into the ditch outside the stockade.
"Hullo, they have a cannon after all," thought Captain Moore. He calledDilberry to him. "Can you get the range of that piece?" he asked.
"I can try, sir."
"Then do it, and if you can disable the piece so much the better."
At once the head gunner ran off and sighted one of the cannon of thefort with care.
A few seconds later the cannon spoke up with a report that rang in theboys' ears for long after. The ball sped straight into the timberlandand cut down a heavy sapling growing beside the piece the enemy werereloading. One desperado was killed instantly and another badly injured.
"A fair shot!" said the young captain. "Try it again," but beforeDilberry could do so the cannon was withdrawn from sight.
After this came another lull, as if desperadoes and Indians wereconsidering what to do next.
"It's a wonder they don't make a rush," said Joe, "if they have so manyin their command."
"Nobody cares to risk an advance in the open, Joe," said old Benson."More than likely they won't try to do much until dark."
Again the Indian drums were rolling, coupled with shrill warwhoops.
Then, with a wild yelling and a brandishing of rifles, about a hundredand fifty red men burst from cover and ran toward the stockade.
"They are coming!" was the cry.
"Stand firm, men, don't waste your ammunition!" Captain Moore cried. Heturned to the gunner. "Let them have it, Dilberry!"
Bang! the cannon boomed out again, and the shot tore through theadvancing horde of Indians, laying four of them low.
Then came a volley from the red men, followed by the discharge of thepiece in the hands of the desperadoes. The splinters flew in severaldirections around the stockade and one soldier was seriously wounded.The cannon ball grazed the flagstaff, and presently it was seen tototter.
"Look out!" roared old Benson to Joe, and as he spoke down came theStars and Stripes on the heads of Joe and Darry, and a section of theflagstaff with it.
"The flag is down!" A score of voices took up the cry, and a yell oftriumph came from the Indians and desperadoes.
"It's not going to remain down!" cried old Benson, and began to climbwhat remained of the pole. He carried the halyard with him, and soon,with the aid of the two boys, he had the glorious Stars and Stripes oncemore in position.
In the meantime the soldiers under Captain Moore were busy. The Indianswere now at the ditch, and one had advanced as far as the stockadeitself. They were yelling like demons, and now the desperadoes began toshow themselves, confident that the fort would soon be taken.
"They haven't got a corporal's guard to defend it!" cried Matt Gilroy."Nearly everyone of those inside is sick. Come on!"
The noise was now deafening, for soldiers and Indians were dischargingtheir weapons as rapidly as possible. The red men had brought with thema long board, to which cross-pieces were nailed. This board was now setslantingly against the stockade, and a dozen warriors rushed upon it.
"Down with them!" shouted Captain Moore. "Heave the plank off!"
A dozen soldiers started to do his bidding. The first that showedhimself was shot down, and the second shared a similar fate. But otherswere more successful, and into the ditch went the board with a loudsplash, carrying the Indians with it.
The soldiers set up a shout of triumph, and as the red men fell backthose who could gain a point of vantage fired on the enemy. By thismovement three Indians were left in the ditch dead and several otherswere wounded. A desperado was also brought down. Those that wereuninjured lost no time in seeking cover; and thus the first advance onthe fort came to an end.
All told, the attack had lasted nearly an hour, and when it was over itwas found that everybody was hot, dry, and dusty. But, fortunately,water was to be had in plenty, and a drink refreshed all. The dead andwounded were carried away, and the latter were made as comfortable asthe limited means of the fort afforded.
"They won't come back in a hurry," said the young captain. "The Indianshave had their eyes opened."
"How soon can those re-enforcements come, Will?" asked Joe.
"I don't think they can get here before to-morrow noon, if as soon.They'll have a long journey before them, and a body of several hundredsoldiers can't travel as fast as a single person."
"Of course they'll be cavalry," put in Darry.
"I hope so--if the cavalry was at Fort Prescott when Leeson got there."
Colonel Fairfield was much disturbed by the shooting, and he insistedupon sitting up and hearing the particulars.
"Good!" he murmured. "Keep them off another twenty-four hours and weshall be saved," and then he went off in another stupor.
All was now as quiet as if not an enemy was within a mile of the fort.But the soldiers remained on guard, and this vigilance was increased asthe sun went down in the west.
"This night will tell the tale," was old Benson's comment. "Boys, it'sdo or die, and don't you forget it!"
Whether or not the old scout was right we shall soon see.