"It seemed as if the whole Injun nation was coming down on us. Such a crowd o' lank ponies, and painted heathen astride, yer never see. I expected seein' of 'em would prevent _my_ ever seein' of my family agin. 'Jim,' says I to my chum, and 'Bill,' says he to me, and then we didn't say nothin' more, but as the heathen come a chargin', we both put a hand in our pockets, just as if the brains had been in one head, and then both of us took a chaw o' terbaccer. "For the next few hours ther wur an awful scrimmage, and a shootin', and a hollerin', and a whizzin' of bullets, which made that the hottest little island ever stranded on sand. The boys had all dug out, with their hands, sort o' little rifle-pits, and fit behind 'em. We had good Spencers, with a few Henrys, and the way those patents spit lead at the devils' hearts wur a caution. The first charge, they cum close up to us, and for a hull minnit, that stretched out awfully, we were afraid they'd ride us down. It was reg'lar coffee-mill work then, grindin' away at the levers, and we flung bullets among 'em astonishin'. As fast as one Injun keeled, another'd pick him up, and nary dead was left on the field. "They follered up the charge game by a siege one, and peppered away at us from the neighborin' ravines and hills. Ther number wur about eight hundred, and some had carbines, and others old rifles and pistols. A few would sneak along in the bottom grass, and get behind trees, and then thur would be a flash, and a crack, and the ball would come tearin' in among us, sometimes burrowin' in a human skull, or elsewise knockin' down a horse. And all around, on the ridges, the squaws were a dancin' and shoutin', and the braves, whenever any of 'em got tired of shootin', would join their ugly she's, and help 'em in kickin' up a hullabaloo. "I reckon, arter they'd killed the last hoss, they must ha' had a separate scalp-dance fur each one on us. Plain sailin' then, ther red fellows thought--less than fifty white men down in the sand, and most a thousan' Injuns roun' 'em, and more 'n a hundred miles to the nearest fort; the weaker party bein' afoot, too, and the other mounted. "But we soon made 'em pitch another tune, beside ther juberlatin' one. We had took notice of a big Injun, with lots o' fixins on him, cavortin' all round ther island, and a spurrin' up the braves. We made certain it wur the medicine man, and found out arterward that he'd been tellin' on 'em ther pale-faces' bullets would melt before reachin' an Injun. Six on us got our rifles together, and as ther old copper-colored Pillgarlic cum dancin' round, we let fly. If Injun carcasses go along with ther spirits, I reckon ther bullets we put into the old sinner, got melted, sure enough. And what a howlin' thur was, as his pony scampered in among the squaws, empty saddled!