Page:Barbour--Metipoms Hostage.djvu/285

Rh well enough for one afoot, abounded in swampy stretches too treacherous for the  horses, and twice wide detours were made  that added distance and consumed time. Yet at an hour before sunset the company reached  a position something above a mile from the  village on the north and a halt was called  where stream and grass offered refreshment  for the tired steeds. Thus far not an Indian enemy had been sighted, although, as David reckoned it, they had passed within a  league of the Wachoosett encampment and  were fairly within the demesne of the Quaboags. Two of the guides were dispatched toward Brookfield to reconnoiter, while the  others were posted on either side to prevent  a surprise. Food was partaken of in silence while the last slanting rays of sunlight filled  the copse with mellow beauty. An hour passed. Then a distant musket shot was heard. Instantly a second followed it, and soon the firing was fairly continuous.

“The devils have begun a new attack,” muttered Major Willard. “I would our scouts were back.”

They came soon after, creeping stealthily from the brush. The Indians to the number of three hundred or more were disposed