Page:Cornelia Meigs-The Pirate of Jasper Peak.djvu/121

 bound to run me out. You see I am proving up on a claim to this land; I have to live here just  so long, build a house and keep up a certain  amount of cultivation. They thought that if they could drive me away and burn down the cottage  they could jump the claim. They know better now."

“Was it—was it hard to teach them better?” Hugh inquired eagerly.

“It took me three days, no, four or five, I never quite knew. They lay in the woods at the edge of the clearing and shot whenever I came near  the door or window. See there,” he laid his finger upon a rough groove that showed in the  window ledge, “that is some of their work and  there are more marks around the door and even  inside. Little Hendrik—that was the dog—and I stood the siege for two days; he was a great  help, for he waked me twice in the night when I  had dropped asleep and the Indians were stealing  across the clearing. We stood them off easily enough for a while, but it got to be bad when our  water gave out.”