[Illustration: AN ATTACKING INDIAN.]
At Brookfield the settlers left their houses, and gathered in one
strong house for defence. The Indians burned all the houses but that
one, and did their best to burn that, too. They dipped rags in
brimstone, such as we make matches of, fastened them to the points
of their arrows, set fire to them, and then shot the blazing arrows
into the shingles of the roof. When the Indians saw that the shingles
had caught, and were beginning to flame up, they danced for joy, and
roared like wild bulls. But the men in the house managed to put out
the fire on the roof. Then the savages got a cart, filled it with
hay, set it on fire, and pushed it up against the house. This time
they thought that they should certainly burn the white people out;
but just then a heavy shower came up, and put out the fire. A little
later, some white soldiers marched into the village, and saved the
people in the house.
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