he called out . ` Ay , ay . ' ` Then lead the way . ' Tink darted up the nearest tree ; but no one followed her , for it was at this moment that the pirates made their dreadful attack upon the redskins . Above , where all had been so still , the air was rent with shrieks and the clash of steel . Below , there was dead silence . Mouths opened and remained open . Wendy fell on her knees , but her arms were extended toward Peter . All arms were extended to him , as if suddenly blown in his direction ; they were beseeching him mutely not to desert them . As for Peter , he seized his sword , the same he thought he had slain Barbecue with ; and the lust of battle was in his eye . CHAPTER XII THE CHILDREN ARE CARRIED OFF The pirate attack had been a complete surprise : a sure proof that the unscrupulous Hook had conducted it improperly , for to surprise redskins fairly is beyond the wit of the white man . By all the unwritten laws of savage warfare it is always the redskin who attacks , and with the wiliness of his race he does it just before the dawn , at which time he knows the courage of the whites to be at its lowest ebb . The white men have in the meantime made a rude stockade on the summit of yonder undulating ground , at the foot of which a stream runs ; for it is destruction to be too far from water . There they await the onslaught , the inexperienced ones clutching their revolvers and treading on twigs , but the old hands sleeping tranquilly until just before the dawn . Through the long black night the savage scouts wriggle , snake-like , among the grass without stirring a blade . The brushwood closes behind them as silently as sand into which a mole has dived . Not a sound is to be heard , save when they give vent to a wonderful imitation of the lonely call of the coyote . The cry is answered by other braves ; and some of them do it even better than the coyotes , who are not very good at it . So the chill hours wear on , and the long suspense is horribly trying to the paleface who has to live through it for the first time ; but to the trained hand those ghastly calls and still ghastlier silences are but an intimation of how the night is marching . That this was the usual procedure was so well known to Hook that in disregarding it he can not be excused on the plea of ignorance .
The Piccaninnies , on their part , trusted implicitly to his honour , and their whole action of the XXXXX stands out in marked contrast to his .
Barbecue Peter attack attacks ay first night paleface redskins revolvers