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Show INDIAN DEPREDATIONS 33 who had accompanied the expedition, to ride to the house and ascertain what was needed. He did so, performing the hazardous feat successfully, though bullets sung past him as he rode. His friends at the house, seeing him coming, redoubled their vol-leys and drew most of the Indians fire in their di-rection. Returning, Colonel Clawson reported that surgical aid was at once required for the wounded. He and his cousin, Steven Kinsey, a surgeon, then rode back to the building. Returning, the two were again fired upon, one bullet just missing Clawson ' s head and piercing Kinsey ' s hat. Later another ball came nigh hitting Clawson and went through Kin-sey ' s trousers. Both, however, escaped unhurt. Meantime, Lieutenant Howland, with something of the integrity of a Cortez, had conceived the idea of a movable battery, to operate against the In-dian redoubt. His idea was at once acted upon. A barricade of planks, in the shape of a V, was con-structed and placed upon runners, blankets being hung loosely on the inside to stop the force of the balls that penetrated the timber. The outside was covered with brush and boughs to conceal the true character of the improvised battery. This pointed barricade, behind which quite a number of men could take shelter and deliver their fire without being much exposed, was pushed towards the Indian stronghold. Like Macbeth, when Birnam Wood, or what he took to be a forest, came toward Dunsinane, the Indians were thoroughly alarmed at the ap-proach of this strange object, and divining its pur-pose made up their minds to retreat. Accordingly, that evening, they opened a furious fire upon the po-sition held by the troops, and under cover of the |