One shot sounded as a
signal, and then from a half circle before him half a dozen bullets
tore their way towards the boy and his barricade. Most of them went
wild. Two hit the boxes and half stunned the lone guardian behind
them. The assailants did not know that one of the two white men was
dead, and Elmer, in hopes temporarily to deceive them, fired two of
the rifles at the same moment.
But his enemies were closing in; the half circle was growing smaller
and the crash of the bullets in the wagon above him and in the
barricade in front told the boy that the end could not be far away.
To the right in the direction of the explosion there was a gap in
the fast closing circle. It was folly to delay longer. If escape
were possible, it was in that direction. He would make one
desperate attempt. One shot remained in his rifles. Putting it
where he thought it would do the most good, and catching up the two
yet full revolvers, the colored boy crawled under the wagon and
crept hastily along the river bank.
And yet he did not dare to attempt to pass the end of the Indian
semi-circle.
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