CHAPTER XXXII.
RELIEF AT LAST--CONCLUSION.
The attack did not come until half an hour later, and during the time ofwaiting the nerves of the boys were strained to the utmost. Theseriousness of the situation was depicted upon the faces of all thesoldiers, who felt that the coming contest must decide whether or notthe fort was to stand.
The firing began on the part of the Indians and desperadoes, whoadvanced upon the stronghold from four points of the compass at once.The enemy had learned the folly of massing their force, and Indians andwhites came on in a wide open skirmish line.
The soldiers within the stockade fired upon the advancing foe as bestthey could. Yet by the time red men and desperadoes were within reach ofthe stockade only three of the foe had fallen.
As before, some of the Indians carried a board with strips nailed acrossit for steps, and the desperadoes had a similar contrivance. The twoboards were placed at opposite ends of the stockade, and, while some ofthe enemy began to mount them, others came rushing on with a tree trunk,which they used as a battering-ram against the stockade gate.
The noise was now terrific, as rifle and cannon shot sounded out,mingled with the warwhoops of the Indians and the groans and shrieks ofthe wounded and dying.
As for Joe and Darry, the first shock over, each felt as if he was in adream--as if this terrible sight presented to their gaze could not betrue. They shot off their rifles mechanically, yet when it was all overJoe remembered how he had sent one redskin tumbling back into the ditch,and Darry could tell of a desperado who had dropped his gun because of ashot through the shoulder.
"Fight to the last, men!" shouted Captain Moore, as he discharged hispistol at the leader of the desperadoes. Gilroy had hit him in theforearm, but the young officer's aim was still more true, and MattGilroy went down never to rise again.
In the meanwhile old Benson was having a terrific hand-to-hand encounterwith White Ox. Each had fired a shot at the other, and now they closedin, the Indian chief with his hunting-knife and the old scout with hisclubbed rifle.
The struggle was as short as it was thrilling. Benson made a pass whichthe Indian chief dodged. Then White Ox plunged his knife toward the oldscout's heart, but a quick turn made it catch in Benson's hunting-shirt.Down came the rifle butt a second time, and the blow, catching White Oxon the neck, forced him to his knees. Even then he struck at Benson'slegs, but the old scout leaped over his head. Then down came the riflebutt once more, and the Indian chief gave a groan which was his last.
Fully sixty Indians and a score of desperadoes were now within thestockade, and it looked as if all was lost to our friends. A part of theregulars were fighting at the entrance to the stable, but the majoritywere gathered around Captain Moore at the entrance to the officers'quarters. Behind these were the ladies of the fort and the officers whowere sick.
"Perhaps we had better surrender," said Colonel Fairfield, when told byhis wife of the condition of affairs. "If we don't----" He could notfinish.
"Kill the white soldiers!" was the cry from the Indians. "White Ox hasfallen! They must all die! Spare nobody!"
Captain Moore was now fighting as never before. Beside him stood oldBenson, and not far away were Joe and Darry. Each of the number waswounded, and hardly any of the regulars were better off. Ammunition wasrunning low. Still the horrible din continued, and the dust and smokewere blinding.
But now, hark, what was that? From a distance sounded out a bugle call.Then came a shot, followed by another, and then a regular volley.Captain Moore started, and his eyes lit with pleasure.
"The relief!" he shouted. "The relief from Fort Prescott! Boys, we aresaved!"
"Hurrah, the relief!" was the shout which made the fort ring from end toend. "The relief! We are saved!"
"Give it to the reds and to the desperadoes!" came from old Benson."Teach 'em the lesson so they won't forget it! Don't let a skunk of 'emescape!"
Nearer and nearer came the shots from without, and a bugle continued toblow calls to a detachment still further away. Then up to the fort rodea troop of dashing cavalry from Fort Prescott, Hank Leeson beside them,and every horse covered with foam. Crack! crack! crack! spoke up thefirearms of the newcomers, and Indians and desperadoes fell in alldirections.
"We must retreat!" shouted one of the desperadoes. "The game is up!"
"Retreat! retreat!" came from the others; and the red men took up thecry. Soon the enemy were pouring from the fort grounds even more rapidlythan they had entered.
There was only a pitiful handful that could follow them, the youngcaptain, Benson, and nine regulars. But there was no need for even thatnumber, for the blood of the cavalry was up and every desperado and redman received one or more shots the instant he appeared. Soon the enemywere flying in all directions. But the cavalry went after them, and inthe end all but four desperadoes and thirty-six Indians were killed, theothers being forced to surrender.
It was rather a silent party that gathered in and around the fort thatnight. Victory had come to our friends, but the cost had been a heavyone, and the hospital ward of the fort was filled to over-flowing.
Hank Leeson came in for many a warm hand-shake, and was made to tell hisstory over and over again.
"It was a close shave," said the old hunter. "Twice I got in a close boxwith the redskins an' I had to shoot one of 'em down afore I could gitaway. Thet's wot kept me so long. I'm glad we wasn't an hour later, ferthen mebbe we'd 'a' been too late."
All of the principal desperadoes were dead and the same can be said ofthe Indians. Among the slain was found the body of Bicker, and, if thetruth must be told, nobody mourned his loss.
"He is responsible for a great deal of this suffering," said CaptainMoore. "Had he lived it is likely he would have been court-martialed andshot."
Both of the boys had been slightly wounded, yet each felt happy when thefighting was over and they were assured that from henceforth they wouldbe safe to come and go as they pleased.
"It was like a regular campaign," said Darry. "Joe, we have becomesoldiers after all!"
"That's so, Darry," replied Joe. "We can call ourselves, after this, theboys of the fort!"
* * * * *
A few words more, and we will bring this story of fort life in the GreatNorthwest to a close.
Two weeks after the events just narrated Joe and Darry returned to theirhomes. Here they were received with open arms by their parents, who hadheard all manner of ugly reports and who half expected to see themcoming back wounded and crippled for life. But the lads soon proved thatthey were not so bad off as that, and inside of a few months both wereas well as ever.
At the fort an active campaign was started under Captain Moore and thecommander of the cavalry, and this resulted in the rounding up of sixmore desperadoes and thirty Indians. Lieutenant Carrol and four regularswere found as prisoners of the Indians and were released.
The desperadoes were turned over to the civil courts, and were dealtwith severely, two being hung and the others being imprisoned for years.
Drossdell was court-martialed, and after a long trial was sentenced toimprisonment in a military prison for ten years. He served six years,after which he was released. To his credit be it said, he turned over anew leaf, and from the West went to Cuba, where he fought with theCubans against Spanish rule. He was with the Cubans at the fall ofSantiago and died a few weeks later of tropical fever.
As soon as the proper medicines could be obtained and administered,those who had been drugged at the fort began to recover, and inside oftwo weeks Colonel Fairfield, Captain Lee, and our other friends werearound once more, although rather weak.
The mining company whose money had been saved was exceedingly thankfulto Captain Moore and the others for what had been done, and when,several years later, the young captain left the regular army, thiscompany offered him a lucrative position, which he accepted and whichhe fills to this day.
Old Benson and Hank Leeson still continue to roam th
e Great Northwest,and are happy. Occasionally they receive a visit from Joe and Darry, andare never more satisfied than when they have the two young men with themon a hunting and fishing tour.
"Takes me back to years ago," says old Benson. "Years ago, when you wereboth green as grass."
"Well, we are not so green now," replies Joe, with a quiet smile."Through bitter experience we have learned a thing or two."
"Now it is over I am glad I didn't miss it," puts in Darry. "We got agenuine taste of soldier life, didn't we?"
"That's so," adds Joe. "We were really and truly the Boys of the Fort."
THE END.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
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