"No," replied the Onondaga. "They still think perhaps that they have
only the soldiers from the city to meet, and they may attempt a rush."

Robert crept from soldier to soldier, cautioning every one to take
shelter, and to have his rifle ready, and they, being good men, though
without experience, obeyed the one who so obviously knew what he was
doing. Meantime the combat behind them proceeded with vigor, the shots
crashing in volleys, accompanied by shouts, and once by the cry of a
stricken soldier. It was evident that St. Luc was now pushing the
battle, and Robert was quite sure the attack on the flank would soon
come again.

They did not wait much longer. The warriors suddenly leaped from the
undergrowth and rushed straight toward them, a white man now in front.
The light was sufficient for Robert to see that the leader was not
St. Luc, and then without hesitation he raised his rifle and fired.
The man fell, Tayoga stopped the rush of a warrior, and the bullets of
the soldiers wounded others. But their white leader was gone, and
Indians have little love for an attack upon a sheltered enemy. So the
charge broke, before it was half way to the defenders, and the savages
vanished in the thickets.

The soldiers began to exult, but Robert bade them reload as fast as
possible, and keep well under cover. The warriors from new points
would fire at every exposed head, and they could not afford to relax
their caution for an instant.

But it was a difficult task for the youthful veterans of the forest to
keep the older but inexperienced men from the city under cover. They