Sunset track, unafraid, Straight through the blockade, This jade Of a harmless craft, Packed full to her draught, Fore and aft, With powder and shot, One day when, red hot The British got Their full share and more Of this cargo, they swore, With a roar, At the trick she had played, This "damned Yankee jade" Who had run the blockade! NORA PERRY. The abortive expedition against Rhode Island practically ended the war at the north, and for a time the scene of activity was transferred to the frontier. The Indians had naturally allied themselves with the British at the beginning of the war, and early in September, 1777, attacked Fort Henry, near Wheeling, but were beaten off after a desperate fight, during which the garrison was saved by the famous exploit of Elizabeth Zane. BETTY ZANE [September, 1777] Women are timid, cower and shrink At show of danger, some folk think; But men there are who for their lives Dare not so far asperse their wives. We let that pass--so much is clear, Though little perils they may fear, When greater perils men environ, Then women show a front of iron; And, gentle in their manner, they Do bold things in a quiet way, And so our wondering praise obtain, As on a time did Betty Zane. A century since, out in the West, A block-house was by Girty pressed-- Girty, the renegade, the dread Of all that border, fiercely led Five hundred Wyandots, to gain Plunder and scalp-locks from the slain; And in this hold--Fort Henry then, But Wheeling now--twelve boys and men Guarded with watchful ward and care Women and prattling children there, Against their rude and savage foes, And Betty Zane was one of those. There had been forty-two at first When Girty on the border burst; But most of those who meant to stay And keep the Wyandots at bay, Outside by savage wiles were lured, And ball and tomahawk endured, Till few were left the place to hold, And some were boys and some were old; But all could use the rifle well, And vainly from the Indians fell, On puncheon roof and timber wall, The fitful shower of leaden ball. Now Betty's brothers and her sire Were with her in this ring of fire, And she was ready, in her way, To aid their labor day by day, In all a quiet maiden might. To mould the bullets for the fight, And, quick to note and so report, Watch every act outside the fort; Or, peering through the loopholes, see Each phase of savage strategy-- These were her tasks, and thus the maid The toil-worn garrison could aid.