Sometime  in  September,  one  of  these  Tory  marauding
parties,  consisting  of  about  twentj^-three  in  number,  sud-
denly made  their  appearance  before  Graham's  Fort.  The
only  persons  there  capable  of  bearing  arms,  for  the  defence
of  the  many  helpless  people,  old  and  young,  congregated
there,  were  Colonel  Graham,  David  Dickey,  and  the  Colo-
nel's step-son,  William  Twitty,  a  brave  youth  of  nineteen  ;
but  they  were  fearless  and  vigilant.  The  Tory  party
demanded  admittance,  but  were  promptly  refused  by  Colo-
nel Graham  and  his  associates.  A  warm  attack  was  com-
menced, the  Tories  firing  several  volleys,  without  doing
much  damage,  yelling  out  at  the  top  of  their  voices,  after
each  discharge,   "d — n  yon,  won't   j'ou  surrender  now?"

One  fellow,  John  Burke,  more  venturesome  than  the
rest,  ran  up  to  the  house,  and  through  a  crack  aimed  at
young  Twitty,  when  Susan  Twitty,  the  sister  of  the  young
soldier,  seeing  his  peril,  jerked  her  brother  down  just  as
the  gun  fired,  the  ball  penetrating  the  opposite  wall.  She
then  looked  out  of  the  aperture,  and  saw  Burke,  not
far  off",  on  his  knees,  re-loading  for  another  fire;  and
quickly  comprehending  the  situation,  exclaimed  :  "  brother
Wilham,  now's  your  chance — shoot  the  rascal !  "    The  next


146  KING '  S  MO  UNTAIN

instant  young  Twitty's  gun  cracked,  and  the  bold  Tory  was
shot  through  the  head.  So  eager  was  Miss  Tvvitty  to  ren-
der the  good  cause  any  service  in  her  power,  that  she  at
once  unbarred  the  door,  darted  out,  and  brought  in,  amid
a  shower  of  Tory  bullets,  Burke's  gun  and  ammunition,  as
trophies  of  victory.  She  fortunately  escaped  unhurt.  It
was  a  heroic  act  for  a  young  girl  of  seventeen.*  Losing
one  of  their  number  killed,  and  three  wounded,  the  Tories
at  length  beat  a  retreat.  Anticipating  that  the  enemy,
smarting  under  their  repulse,  would  return  with  increased
numbers,  Colonel  Graham  and  friends  retired  to  a  more  dis-
tant place  of  safety,  when  a  large  Tory  party  re-appeared,
with  no  one  to  oppose  them,  and  plundered  the  house  of
clothing  and  other  valuables,  and  carried  off  six  of  Colo-
nel Graham's  negroes. |

Another  instance  where  a  party  of  the  enemy  fared  no
better,  occurred  during  the  Tory  ascendency  in  1780.
