Prev | Current Page 314 | Next

Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander), 1862-1919

"The Scouts of the Valley"

Henry now saw that he was not mistaken, and that
Braxton Wyatt and Walter Butler were really in the first boat.
From the cover of the cliff he could have picked off either with
a rifle bullet, and the temptation was powerful. But he knew
that it would lead to an immediate siege, from which they might
not escape, and which at least would check their activities and
plans for a long time. Similar impulses flitted through the
minds of the other four, but all kept still, although fingers
flitted noiselessly along rifle stocks until they touched
triggers.
The Iroquois war fleet moved slowly on, the two renegades never
dreaming of the danger that had threatened them. An unusually
bright ray of moonshine fell full upon Braxton Wyatt's face as he
paused, and Henry's finger played with the trigger of his rifle.
It was hard, very hard, to let such an opportunity go by, but it
must be done.
The fleet moved steadily down the lake, the canoes keeping close
together. They turned into mere dots upon the water, became
smaller and smaller still, until they vanished in the darkness.
"I'm thinkin'," said Shif'less Sol, "that thar's some kind uv a
movement on foot.


Pages:
302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326