Venturing Outside the Fort

Every man and boy, except two who were to remain on watch, were to go boldly out as guards, and in case the Indians made an attack it would be the duty of the women and children to drive inside as many of the cattle as possible, while our fathers and brothers fought to protect us.

Of course there was great danger that we might lose some of the animals if there should be a real battle; 'but even that would be better than to have to kill the poor things simply to save them from starvation.

It was the first time I had been through the gate since the day we entered the stockade, and how good it did seem to walk on the grass! Our mothers joined us, making it seem much like some merrymaking on the Yadkin, save that we were constantly watching for a glimpse of feathers among the trees on the edge of the forest, or listening for the watchman's cry, which would give warning that the Indians were about.

However, not one of them dared show himself while our men and boys stood ready to shoot down the first who appeared, and before the day had come to an end we had nearly forgotten our fear.

While the men stood on guard, I could hear them talking about the location of the plantations they expected to lay out the next spring, and it pleased me much when father, pointing to a rising piece of ground overlooking the creek, and not more than a mile from the fort, said to Colonel Callaway that there he hoped to build a home when he should be able to work with safety in the forest.

From that day until a certain time, of which I shall tell later, the horses, sheep, and cows were driven outside the fort each morning, with a guard of men and boys to watch them; after a week had passed we girls began to think there were no longer any savages about, even though the hunters claimed to see fresh signs every time they went into the forest in search of game.