He had made these urgent requests of
Gray, instead of Colonel Butler, because of the latter's youth
and willingness to take advice.
"I'll have the forest beat up continually all about the town," he
said. "We must not have our triumph spoiled by any afterclap."
Henry and his comrades, wrapped in their blankets, lay in a row
almost at the edge of the forest. The heat from the fire was
still great, but it would die down after a while, and the October
air was nipping. Henry usually fell asleep in a very few
minutes, but this time, despite his long exertions and lack of
rest, he remained awake when his comrades were sound asleep.
Then he fell into a drowsy state, in which be saw the fire rising
in great black coils that united far above. It seemed to Henry,
half dreaming and forecasting the future, that the Indian spirit
was passing in the smoke.
When he fell asleep it was nearly daylight, and in three or four
hours be was up again, as the little army intended to march at
once upon another Indian town. The hours while he slept had
passed in silence, and no Indians had come near. William Gray
had seen to that, and his best scout had been one Cornelius
Heemskerk, a short, stout man of Dutch birth.
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