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Updated: May 10, 2025
Nor, indeed, did I know until afterward, when I learned that Brightson, coming down from the roof and taking in our peril at a glance, had caught up a great log from the fireplace in the upper hall, where it was awaiting the winter lighting, and, with a strength little short of superhuman, had hurled it down upon the savages.
Dorothy sniffed contemptuously at my last words, but deigned to sit down beside the other women. I placed the powder and ball where they could reach them easily, shaded a candle so that it threw its light only on the floor beside them, gave them a few directions about loading, and rejoined Brightson at his loophole.
It was the only chance of safety, so to the roof we went, the women first, and we two bringing up the rear. Once there, we closed the trap and waited. In a moment we heard the yell which told us that our retreat had been discovered, and then again came silence. "This is no ordinary Indian attack," said Brightson, who was wiping the sweat and powder stains from his face.
I divided the arms, and posted Brightson with three men at the rear door, while I, with Pomp and another negro, took a place at the front. The women I sent to the top of the staircase, where they would be out of reach of any flying bullets, and could at the same time see what was going on. It was my aunt who protested against this arrangement. "Can we not be of use, Captain Stewart?" she asked.
"There's a Frenchman leading them, and maybe two or three. Did you see that fellow in buckskin who ran in front?" "Yes," I answered gloomily. "I have fired at him three times, but always missed him." "Well, he is no Indian," said Brightson, "in spite of his painted face. If they hadn't had that cask of rum and him to lead them, they would have cleared out of this long ago.
We could hear steps in the hall below, a short consultation and a clanking of arms, and then all was still. "Here they come," said Brightson, between his teeth, and even as he spoke, the trap was thrown outward by a great force from below, and the savage swarm poured forth upon the roof.
"I will get out on the roof, and throw the arrows down. I don't believe they can hit me." It was the only thing to do, and he was gone even as I nodded my assent. Five minutes passed, and then the Indians began to yell again, and I knew that Brightson had reached the roof.
A boy, whom I sent to the negro quarters to bring reinforcements, returned with the news that they were deserted, but he brought back with him the overseer, a man named Brightson, who was to prove his mettle before the night was out. "I suspected this afternoon that there was something in the wind," he said to me, when I had explained our situation, "though I could not guess what it was.
I had ordered Pomp to bring to the hall all the arms and ammunition in the house, and at this moment he touched me on the elbow and told me this was done. Brightson and I looked over the collection, and found it as complete as could be desired. There were a dozen muskets, half a dozen pairs of pistols, a pile of swords and hangers, and ammunition in plenty.
The Indians had stopped dancing, and were engaged in heaping up a great pile of burning logs. "What are they about?" I asked. Brightson looked at me with a grim light in his eyes.
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