Yet they marched bravely against
the picked warriors of the Iroquois, trained from infancy to the
forest and war, and a formidable body of white rovers who wished
to destroy the little colony of "rebels," as they called them.
Small though it might be, it was a gallant army. Young and old
held their heads high. A banner was flying, and a boy beat a
steady insistent roll upon a drum. Henry and his comrades were
on the left flank, the river was on the right. The great gates
had closed behind them, shutting in the women and the children.
The sun blazed down, throwing everything into relief with its
intense, vivid light playing upon the brown faces of the
borderers, their rifles and their homespun clothes. Colonel
Butler and two or three of his officers were on horseback,
leading the van. Now that the decision was to fight, the older
officers, who had opposed it, were in the very front. Forward
they went, and spread out a little, but with the right flank
still resting on the river, and the left extended on the plain.
The five were on the edge of the plain, a little detached from
the others, searching the forest for a sign of the enemy, who was
already so near.
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