"
A laugh of bitter scorn followed the remark of Munro, as the party went
on its way.
Though inwardly assured of the propriety of his course, Ralph could not
help biting his lip with the mortification he felt from this
circumstance, and which he was compelled to suppress; and we hazard
nothing in the assertion when we say, that, had his sympathies been at
all enlisted with the assailing party, the sarcasm of its leader would
have hurried him into the very first rank of attack. As it was, such was
its influence upon him, that, giving spur to his steed, he advanced to a
position which, while it afforded him a clear survey of the whole field,
exposed his person not a little to the shot of either party, as well
from without as from within the beleaguered district.
The invading force soon commenced the affair. They came to the attack
after the manner of the Indians. The nature of forest-life, and its
necessities, of itself teaches this mode of warfare. Each man took his
tree, his bush, or stump, approaching from cover to cover until within
rifle-reach, then patiently waiting until an exposed head, a side or
shoulder, leg or arm, gave an opportunity for the exercise of his skill
in marksmanship.
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