Simultaneously the patter of moccasined feet came from the dense forest
to the rear--a thousand Kolosh warriors, every Indian armed and wearing
the death-mask of battle. Before the astounded sentry could sound an
alarm, such a hideous uproar of shouts arose as might have come from
bedlam let loose. The Indian always imitates the cries of the wild
beast when he fights--imitates or sets free the wild beast in his own
nature. For a moment the Russians were too dumfounded to collect their
senses. Then women and children dashed for refuge upstairs in the main
building, huddling over the trapdoor in a frenzy of fright. Russians
outside the palisades ran for the woods, some to fall lanced through
the back as they raced, others to reach shelter of the dense forest,
where they lay for eight days under hiding of bark and moss before
rescue came. Medvednikoff, the commander, and a dozen others, seem to
have hurled themselves downstairs at the first alarm, but already the
outer doors had been rammed. The panels of the inner door were slashed
out. A flare of {309} musketry met the Russians full in the face.
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