Chapter 12
THE CHILDREN ARE CARRIED OFFThe pirate attack had been a complete surprise: a sure proof
that the unscrupulous Hook had conducted it improperly, for to
surprise redskins fairly is beyond the wit of the white man.
By all the unwritten laws of savage warfare it is always the
redskin who attacks, and with the wiliness of his race he does it
just before the dawn, at which time he knows the courage of the
whites to be at its lowest ebb. The white men have in the meantime
made a rude stockade on the summit of yonder undulating ground, at
the foot of which a stream runs, for it is destruction to be too
far from water. There they await the onslaught, the inexperienced
ones clutching their revolvers and treading on twigs, but the old
hands sleeping tranquilly until just befor
