_Wherein we see how a brave girl risked her own life to save that
of others._
Betty Zane moved with her parents to the Ohio country. The new home
was in a western wilderness, but all the settlers were full of hope
and courage. They lived in a big square fort with a high fence of
logs on every side, and at each corner a strong-house with loop
holes for guns.
Betty liked the place and soon began to do her share of the work,
for everybody was busy at Fort Henry, as the place was called. All
around were thick woods where the Indians lived, and Betty could
hear the wolves howling in the depths of the forest. Soon other
settlers came to live with the first comers, for in those days the
strength of the white men depended on their numbers.
The Revolutionary War began just about this time. The Indians were
treacherous and savage. The English wanted their help, and offered
a good price for the scalp of every settler. One day a message came
in great haste to Fort Henry. It was that the Indians were on the
war path and traveling rapidly toward Fort Henry. The alarm was
given and all the settlers hurried into the fort to make ready for
the attack.
Betty peeped through a crack in the wall and saw the Indians
sneaking through the woods. Soon they were everywhere, dodging and
hiding in the underbrush. The leader of the band held a flag of
truce. He was a white man. All the settlers knew Simon Girty. He
hated the white people and willingly led the Indians against them.
He told the people in the fort that if they would surrender no
harm would befall them, but that if they resisted the fort would
be destroyed and every man, woman and child would be put to death.
Colonel Sheppard answered that as long as there was one person
alive in the fort it would be defended.
Then the fighting began. The yells of the Indians filled the air,
and the bullets whistled through the trees. Colonel Sheppard was
dismayed to find his powder nearly all gone. A keg of it had been
left outside in one of the cabins, and they must have it if they
were to win. He called for a volunteer to go after the powder. The
cabin was so far away that it was almost certain death to try to
reach it.
Then Betty Zane came forward. She was a brave girl, and told them
that she would go for the powder. The gate was opened before any
one could stop her. The men cried, “Come back and we will go,” but
she ran all the faster. She seized a bag of powder and started
back. The Indians fired upon her, but not a bullet touched her.
Into the gate she ran and gave the powder to the men, while they
cheered her for her bravery. With the powder that Betty had brought
the men kept the savages at bay. Soon some hunters came to aid the
settlers, and together they drove the Indians into the woods and
away from the fort. Colonel Sheppard told the newcomers how “brave
Betty Zane” had saved Fort Henry and the settlers from the savage
Indians.