a rude gateway, but as yet no gate further than some heavy brushwood piled conveniently near,—thorn brush, which all Indians despised.
So far there had assembled at the fort six families, consisting of eight men and seven women, with fifteen children of all ages, from boys and girls of Dave's growth to an infant in arms. These pioneers had brought with them all the earthly possessions which they or their beasts of burden could carry, and these goods were now piled high in the center of the stockade, where there was something of a hollow among the rocks. Back of this pile was a second hollow, rudely thatched with tree branches, and here the women and the smaller children assembled, the little ones either sleeping soundly or crying shrilly for the comforts to which they were accustomed.
Among the men was Captain John Smith Tanner, a Virginian, of mixed English and German blood. Captain Tanner had fought under Washington at Braddock's defeat and also done good work during several Indian uprisings, and this had won for him the military title, which, however, was not of the king's troops but of the local militia. The captain was an out-and-out backwoodsman, a bachelor, and a man well-liked by nearly all who knew him.
As we know, it was Captain Tanner who had
