24 ON THE FEONTIEE. 



triangular point of land, whose precipitous banks were 

 fort} 7 feet high, and which was covered with heavy timber 

 and thick brushwood. The trees would render the smoke 

 of our fire invisible at a distance, as it would be dissipated 

 in going through the thick overhanging boughs. The 

 thickets would mask our tent. The steep banks would 

 make two sides of our position inaccessible. The base of 

 the triangle, the edge of the timber, would be only a 

 hundred yards wide from edge to edge of the river's bank, 

 and in front of it the level grass land reached out to the 

 valley's bluff, a mile off, without a bush to cover an advance. 

 The situation seemed made to order. 



A place opposite the middle of our position, and advanced 

 in the open some twenty yards beyond the edge of the 

 timber, was pitched upon for an outpost. There our 

 solitary night-watch was to keep his guard. It is well 

 understood that, when watching against Indian surprise, a 

 sentinel never walks, never stands; if he did either, his 

 wily foe might snake up to him in the grass, and the well- 

 directed silent arrow would 'place a sleeping camp at the 

 mercy of its assailants. No. The guard who understands 

 his business lies on the ground on his chest, his elbows far 

 apart, his wrists brought together, his chin supported on 

 his hands, his ears open, and his eyes everywhere ; that is 

 to say, he keeps as much in such attitude as he can, for 

 of course he cannot maintain it for two hours without 

 change. This is the best position to "sky" any object 

 approaching a night-guard, and should anything be moving 

 near him in the grass, its waving tops would give him 

 indication and warning. Besides, with the ear near the 



