“It can’t be done! We shall only succeed in bringing death upon all this party!” “If we think first of our own safety, what becomes of the proposition that the Minute Boys shall take it upon themselves to defend the entire valley?” Master Bartlett asked, gravely, and I replied, hotly, thinking more of Esther Hinchman’s life than any other: “It is not defending the valley when we sacrifice our own to save others! Here are so many who have come out alive from the slaughter, and now shall we give them over to starvation, or the mercies of those wolves, that strangers, whom we cannot defend or feed, shall come in?” “It was the Minute Boys who were to do the work,” and Master Bartlett spoke so calmly and slowly that I was near to crying out with vexation. “You are the captain, and it is for you to say that when John Butler abandons the women and children now in the fort to those of his followers whom he cannot control, they shall not come here.” For the moment I was silenced, and then it was that Esther Hinchman put her hand in mine, as she said in a tone so low that none save me could hear the words: “It is better all of us meet death than refuse a share of what we have to those who are in such sore need.” After that, which was neither more nor less than a reproof, I could say nothing, and because no one spoke again, we laid ourselves down to rest, if indeed that might be possible when there was so much to make us wakeful. It must have been nearly daybreak before my eyes closed in slumber, and when I awakened Esther Hinchman called for me to come where she was sitting at the entrance to the tunnel, looking out over the water as it sparkled in the sunshine. “Why was I allowed to sleep so late?” I asked, taking a seat by her side, and giving no heed to the others of the company. “Master Bartlett said we should be careful not to disturb you, because of your having remained awake so long,” she replied, in a whisper. “Shall I get you something to eat?” “Not now; I have no desire for food, and if the lack of appetite lasts, it will be well, for we must go on short allowance when our company has more mouths to feed.” “Master Bartlett, Stephen Morley, Giles March, and Daniel have been out since early light searching for game, believing the savages will not venture across the river again until the day is older.” It annoyed me because I had not been called upon to make one of the party; but I choked back the petulant words which rose to my lips, lest she might think I was accusing her, and then she began to speak of Colonel Dennison’s plan, soon convincing me that there was no other course for us to pursue than such as he had mapped out. “Those at Forty Fort, and we here, are all of our people remaining in the valley, and it is far better every one of us perishes by starvation than that a portion of the number be abandoned to such fate as would be theirs,” she said, softly, and I resolved then never to say another word against the plan.