Lucy stood like stone when the lifeless body of the boaster fell almost
at her feet, and all the color was gone from her face. The terrible cry
of the savages without was ringing in her ears, and it seemed to her,
for a few moments, that she could not move. But Paul grasped her by the
arm and drew her back.
"Go into your house!" he cried. "A bullet might reach you here!"
Obedient to his duty he hastened to the palisade to bear a valiant hand
in the defense, and she, retreating a little, remained in the shadow of
the houses that she might see how events would go. After the first shock
of horror and surprise she was not greatly afraid, and she was conscious
too of a certain feeling of relief. Henry Ware had told the truth, he
knew of what he spoke when he brought his warning, and he had greatly
served his own.
CHAPTER XV
THE SIEGE
It was not Lucy Upton alone who felt relief when the attack upon the
stockade came, hideous and terrifying though it might be; the suspense
so destructive of nerves and so hard to endure was at an end, and the
men rushed gladly to meet the attack, while the women with almost equal
joy reloaded empty rifles with the precious powder made from the cave
dust and passed them to the brave defenders.
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