It all begins peacefully enough on a mild October morning, with Squire Miller and Mistress Rebecca picking beans in the field outside the fort.
Little do they suspect that the fearsome Shawnee Two Hawks and his band are skulking up through the forest only yards away!
At just the right moment, when his intended victims have their backs to him, Two Hawks makes his move . . .
. . . and seizes Mistress Rebecca and drags the poor girl into the forest and secures her to a tree . . . Squire Miller instantly turns to pursue the pair, but at that moment the other Shawnees move in for the kill . . .
. . . and brave Squire Miller meets his fate.
Just as Two Hawks considers whether or not to take Squire Miller’s scalp, the Shawnee are surprised by the sudden appearance of a returning hunting party, led by Capt Tom Carson.
As his companions run for the shelter of the forest, Two Hawks kneels for a final shot . . . after which he scoots for cover himself.
Capt Carson and his men, meanwhile, press home the attack . . .
. . . as Two Hawks and his warriors withdraw in good order, turning frequently to return fire as they melt back into the forest . . .
. . . but Carson and his men, enraged at the death of Squire Miller and the loss of the girl, will not be gainsaid and press on all the harder . . .
. . . until finally they realize the Shawnee are gone and that they are only shooting at shadows . . .
Mistress Rebecca is gone as well, and Capt Carson knows it will take a well-planned expedition to rescue her. He must consider whether to try and take her by force, or buy her back. Either way, it will take strategy, guile, expert tracking, and no little amount of luck . . .
. . . as for Squire Miller, however, his luck has run out . . .
