The other three now had
double-barreled pistols, too. In addition they resupplied
themselves with as much ammunition as scouts and hunters could
conveniently carry, and toward morning left the fort.
Sunrise found them some distance from the palisades, and upon the
flank of a frightened crowd of fugitives. It was composed of one
hundred women and children and a single man, James Carpenter, who
was doing his best to guide and protect them. They were
intending to flee through the wilderness to the Delaware and
Lehigh settlements, chiefly Fort Penn, built by Jacob Stroud,
where Stroudsburg now is.
When the five, darkened by weather and looking almost like
Indians themselves, approached, Carpenter stepped forward and
raised his rifle. A cry of dismay rose from the melancholy line,
a cry so intensely bitter that it cut Henry to the very heart.
He threw up his hand, and exclaimed in a loud voice:
"We are friends, not Indians or Tories! We fought with you
yesterday, and we are ready to fight for you now!"
Carpenter dropped the muzzle of the rifle. He had fought in the
battle, too, and he recognized the great youth and his comrades
who had been there with him.
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