162 WAITING IN THE WILDERNESS 



prospectors and their cabin. They were naked 

 save for breechcloth and moccasins. As these 

 five rushed out upon the prospectors, tomahawks 

 in hand, most of the other Indians stopped and 

 with jeers and hoots of derision set up a terrible 

 yelling. Evidently they considered the prospec- 

 tors captured. 



Williams was the elder and the slower of the 

 two. The woods were still one hundred yards 

 away when an Indian crowded him so closely 

 that only the audacity of Crandall prevented 

 Williams's capture. He grabbed a stone, wheeled, 

 and let it fly at the head of the nearest Indian. 

 So true was Crandall's aim that the Indian 

 flung himself to the earth to avoid it. In this 

 brief pause two or three other Indians ran up 

 dangerously close. Three tomahawks were 

 thrown at Crandall, but rapid dodging to right 

 and left as he ran saved him. Although the 

 Indians were not swift enough to encircle the 

 two men, it did appear that they would capture 

 them before the woods could be reached. 



It was a race for life. An Indian without a 

 tomahawk rushed forward, evidently intending 

 to seize and grapple with Williams or his com- 

 panion. Crandall noticed that he was unarmed, 

 watched for an opportunity, broke a dead limb 

 from a tree, wheeled, and felled the astonished 

 redskin. 



