n saw Spot, the cow, sink to her knees and then topple over on her side. An Indian with rifle held aloof,

ed, softly, for the India

had crept to her. Annie, crying softly, was beside her, and they we

riscoe, the instant he reached her, gazi

an't come now

Mrs. Briscoe, simply,

id not lo

aid, almost

wn upon them. His mother did not weep; she was past tears.

" she asked

e carried him aw

owed her head

y!" she moaned. "Why should I

his mother's heartbroken cry a sudden rush of vitality and determination reanimated him. He recalled his father's words: "Remember that

,-and Tommy's. We shall get him back; they will not hurt him, he is so youn

coe controlled herself. Her

st live for you and Annie and Tommy.

dark," he replied. "The Indians are still aro

e beginning to arise from the roofs of the house and barn and realized with a terrible pang that his father's body was about to be incinerated in the ruins of his home. He felt a mad desire to rush from his concealment upon the savages and to fight them single-handed. But he restrained himself, for he realized that he would have no chance even against the four who were certainly there and who, f

. If they should find us and I should be hit, shoot Annie and then yourself. Never let

-place, and presently he crept again to the edge of the reeds. The house and barn were smouldering heaps of ashes, and the wagon was gone. No one was around the ruins but presently he saw, far off on a rise of the prairie to the eastward several horsemen, mere specks in the distance. He conjectured that it was the party which had wrought their ruin, bound for the Millers, their nearest neighbors, seven miles away. He wished ardently th

remembered, lying about a quarter of a mile east of the Olsens' buildings. He found a safe hiding-place for his mother and sister in a dense thicket of bushes under the trees, within a few feet of which he could himself lie and have a clear view of the Olsen house and its immediate vicinity. Here they remained until probably ten o'clock in the morning, Al all the time keeping a close watch on the house. Not a person nor an animal was about the place save a few chickens which he could see scratching in the yard, and he concluded that the Olsens must have been warned, perhaps by Mr. Briscoe himself on his homeward ride, and had escaped to the fort the day before. The Briscoes had not tasted food since the previous noon, and though neither his mother nor Annie would confess to being hungry, Al knew that they all needed nourishment in order to be able to continue their journey after nightfall. He determined to creep up to the deserted house in the hope of finding some food there, if nothing more than a few eggs in the log stable. Handing the revolver to his mother and dragging the musket along beside him, he made his way with painful slowness across the strip of open prairie between the woods and the house. On

wait! we n

g toward him but his rifle was also held up. Al realized that they could easily have shot him in his tracks had they wished, and their failure to do so enco

for whites to save from the bad M'dewakantons that make the much kill. We take you to Fort

to draw the rest of his party into their power and would then kill or torture them all. But, on the other hand, if the Indians were hostile he was already at their mercy, so his protection was lost to his mother and sister. Could they make their way to the fort alone if he should deny their presence now and go with the Indians himself, either to safety or death? He did not believe they co

ed. "There are m

the fort. You go get them." Then he added a little proud

led to meet them, but the latter greeted her so kindly and sympathetically that she soon felt easier. Three of the red men dismounted in order that she and Annie and Al might ride; and so, with the Indians leading thei

ification. When the Briscoes entered it on that afternoon of August 19, it presented a scene of confusion and distress hard to imagine. It was thronged with refugees,-men, women, and children, from all the surrounding country, many of them destitute of everything save the clothes they wore. Some were wounded or badly burned in escaping from houses set on fire by their assaila

likely owed their own lives, and of the carrying off of poor little Tommy. She instantly brought them food, and after they had refreshed themselves, she insisted on Mrs. Briscoe and Annie taking her bed in their covered wagon and resting, at least until more commodious quarters could be found for them.

ons, the animals, and the heaps of household goods scattered in confusion over the open parade grou

scoe! When did

the past year when he had come in after supplies. Wallace's father kept a general merchandise store just outside the fort, at

tore. Here Mr. Smith told him that he would find a place for Mrs. Briscoe and Annie to sleep that night, in one of the rooms occupied by his own family above the store. As for Al, he could sleep in t

y boy," he said. "There are too few men here. But

the store and walked towar

tty easily" asked Al, looking about. "I d

st of the men are busy now putting the buildings in shape for defence. There are about a hundred soldiers of the Fifth Minnesota Infantry here, for Lieutenant

had

ver. So, you see, there is a third of our force cut off at one blow. But a messenger was sent after Major Galbraith,-he is the agent, you know, at the Upper Agency,-at the same time that one went for Lieutenant Sheehan. Major Galbraith started yesterday for St. Paul with a company of half-breed recruits for the Union army. They are called the Renville Rangers.

eeds?" inquired Al, remembering with a shudder the evil face of t

therwise they would not be willing to leave th

uilding, and Al saw, standing in front of it, fi

ce?" he asked. "They are some

e standing idle with their ponies, evidently w

night, warning white people and bringing them in and there are other parties of Sissetons and Wahpetons doing the same thing; though it's mighty dangerous business, for the hostiles are almost as bit

to transact their business with him, Al presently found an opportunity to tell him of Tommy's capture and to ask that men b

have lost are grown and are likely to be killed or tortured by the Indians, while your brother is a child, and I don't believe they will hurt him. But I have had to tell every one the same thing; I can do nothing now. This place is likely to be attacked by a thousand or more Indians at any moment and we have not one-tenth enough men to defend it properly. Not a man can be spared from here now, for it will be all we can do to save ourselves and al

y to, sir,"

t. "You had better go and help the me

him; while Al, very much downcast at his failure but still feeling a little more hopefu