Henley, he painted most of these pictures, although his three
daughters, inheriting his tastes, assisted him. And thus, as the
years rolled by, Guir House became more and more a museum of artistic
efforts, embracing many unusual subjects, and in every degree of
perfection. The broad acres of the estate produced much that was
necessary toward the maintenance of life, and what they lacked was
supplied once a year from a distant settlement near the coast. As you
can readily understand, there were no neighbors, and but occasional
visits from the red man, who looked distrustfully upon the pale-face.
This feeling became mutual, and trifling acts of hostility on the
part of the natives grew both in frequency and magnitude.
Depredations upon Guir's fields and cattle were at first ignored, in
the effort to maintain peace, but in time it became necessary to
resist them. Upon one occasion, a raid upon a distant field was
successfully repulsed, with the aid of his wife and three daughters,
attired in men's clothing and mounted upon fast horses. The Indians
were so completely surprised by the ruse, being apparently attacked
by five men, where they had believed there was only one, that they
fled, completely routed, nor did they return for several years.
Meanwhile, fearing another and closer attack, Guir converted one of
the lower rooms of his house into an impenetrable and unassailable
place of refuge. The windows were walled up, to correspond with the
stonework of the house, leaving no suspicion of there having been
once an opening. Likewise the doors were treated, and then carefully
plastered both within and without, with the exception of one, which
he made anew, to communicate with a private stairway leading from one
of the upper bedrooms. This was the only entrance to the dark
retreat, and a heavy bolt was placed upon the inside, to be used by
the family in case of attack. There was no reason to suppose that a
marauding party would ever find the way to this secret chamber, as