Then small parties were sent forth to search the forest for settlers and their families.

Robert had a large share in this work, and sometimes he looked upon terrible things.

In more than one place, torch and tomahawk had already done their dreadful work, but in others they found the people alive and well, still clinging to their homes.

It was often difficult, even in the face of imminent danger, to persuade them to leave, and when they finally went, under mild compulsion, it was with the resolve to return to their log cabins in the spring.
Fort Refuge now deserved its name.

There were many axes, with plenty of strong and skillful arms to wield them, and new buildings were erected within the palisade, the smoke rising from a half dozen chimneys.