The fighting was very near, for the bullets were
whizzing around all the time. We thought surely that liberty was not
far away. The Indians were continually riding back and fro inspiring
their followers in the rear with hope, and we poor prisoners with
despair. At last they came back and said that they had killed twenty
policemen and not an Indian hurt. But there were two Indians killed,
one of whom was the Worm, he who killed my poor husband, and several
wounded. We were kept running and walking about all that morning with
their squaws, keeping out of the way of their enemies, and our
friends. We were taken through mud and water until my feet got so very
sore that I could hardly walk at all.
The Indians ordered us to dig pits for our protection. Pritchard and
Blondin dug a large one about five feet deep for us, and they piled
flour sacks around it as a further protection but they dug it too deep
and there was two or three inches of water at the bottom. They then
threw down some brush and we got into it, twenty persons in all, with
one blanket for Mrs. Delaney and me. McLean's family had another pit,
and his daughters cut down trees to place around it. Mr. Mann and
family dug a hole in the side of the hill and crawled into it. If I
had my way I would have kept out of the pit altogether and watched my
chance to escape.
We fully expected the troops to follow but they did not; and early in
the morning we were up and off again.
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