`Yu darn fool,' he said. `Why don't yu stand up an' tell him where we are?'
Ginger did not reply, but having found a ridge of ground which afforded a little protection, he began methodically to hurl lead in a way which aroused the curiosity of his chum.
`What yu firin' at?' Larry inquired.
`The sky, yu blamed jackass,' came the polite retort, and then, `I'm cuttin' them hinges; take the left-hand one if yu think yu can hit it.'
Larry peeped out and saw that the shutter to the window was held in place by two rawhide hinges fixed at the top, and that the one on the right already bore testimony to the accuracy of Ginger's marksmanship. With a whoop of delight Larry got to work on the other, and had already cut it through when a voice behind said :
`How yu boys makin' it?'
It was Snap Lunt, sent oy Leeming on a tour of inspection to see how his men were faring.
"Lo, Snap; yu fellers got any of 'em?'
`Dunn; that blamed house is a nut that wants crackin'. What yu shootin' at?'
In a few words Larry explained the idea and the little gunman was filled with admiration.
`She's a great scheme,' he said. `Yu hit on that all oy yoreself, Larry?'
`Nope, got Ginger to help me think of it,' replied Larry, modestly.
Snap laughed. `I'm agoin' to pass the word all around,' he promised. `That shack won't be safe for a flea if we put them shutters out of action. Got any baccy?'
`Yeah, an' papers, an' matches, an' a lip to hang the pill on; want 'em all?' asked Larry sarcastically.
`All 'cept the lip,' returned Snap, helping himself generously from the bag the other threw to him.
When he had crawled away, for the vicinity of the two Y Z punchers was no place to stand upright or linger in, Larry resumed his task of destroying his particular hinge. Though the short range rendered this a not too difficult mark, the necessity of moving after each shot complicated the business, for the besieged fired upon the slightest provocation. Twice Larry had been burned by a passing bullet and presently a hearty string of expletives from his companion indicated that he too was finding the work warm.
`Where'd he get yu?' queried Barton.
`Right through the brain, yu chump,' came the petulant reply. `Come an' tie this blasted arm up; I'm bleedin' like a stuck hog.'
`An' squealin' like one too,' retorted Larry. `Brain, huh? Why, they couldn't hit your'n with the gun close to yore head.'
He wormed his way over to where Ginger was lying and bound the ripped forearm. The firing was now increasing in intensity and there was a regularity about it which pointed at a definite plan.
`Snap's passed on our idea, shore enough,' Larry said, complacently.
`Our idea,' cried Ginger. `Well, yu shore wasn't out o' sight when the gall was distributed; yu'll be claimin' it was yores soon. I--'
`Aw right, I ain't deaf,' Larry said. `Trouble with yu is yu talk too much. That blamed shutter's nearly cashed. I'll finish her off an' yu be ready to shoot when she drops.'
Two accurately placed shots severed the right hinge and thesagging shutter, tearing away the other support, fell to the ground. Ginger fired instantly and they saw a man lurch forward and subside. Larry's shot followed and another indistinct form seemed to fade away. No return shot came from the window.
"Pears like we got 'em both,' remarked Ginger, and then, `There's another shutter goin'--see--the other side o' the door. That'll be Simple an' Dirty. Reckon we got these coyotes where the hair's short now.'
The whine of a bullet which missed him by an inch cut out his jubilation and sent him burrowing, while Larry plugged a couple of shots into the window. A reply came instantly and it was Larry's turn to curse, for the lead ploughed through his hair.
`Sufferin' snakes!' he ejaculated. `I feel like I've been scalped.' Ginger crawfished over and examined the wound. `On'y a graze,' he said. `If I had yore luck I wouldn't work for a livin'.' `Yu don't anyways,' snorted the injured one.
The discovery of the weak spot in the defence, while it proved an expensive surprise for the rustlers, by no means justified Ginger's optimistic views. The exposed windows were quickly barricaded with mattresses, planks, and other articles calculated to impede the progress of a bullet, and the fight went on as fiercely as ever. That the defenders had suffered was evident since fewer shots came from the building, but they were still strong enough to make a rush across the open too costly. So that Dirk, on his way to the horses for a further supply of cartridges, was not unduly hopeful.
`They've got two of us, an' some others is more or less chipped,' he said, in reply to Ginger's query. `I reckon we've wiped out a few o' them too but 'less we get the house afore dark they'll have a chance. Yu boys all right?'
`I'm scratched an' Larry's got a permanent part in his hair, but he- won't look any uglier,' replied the redhead. `We're claimin' to have downed a couple, anyways.'
`Good for yu,' said the foreman, and went on his way.
The situation inside the ranch-house was more critical than the attackers suspected, for the unmasking of the windows had cost seven of the rustlers their lives, and several others were wounded. Nevertheless, like cornered rats, they were prepared to fight to the bitter end--all save one, for Tarman, conscious that the game was now going against him, was already framing a scheme by which he might save his neck. This plan he proceded to put into operation with a callous disregard for the fate of the men who were fighting for him. Stealing away unnoticed by those to whom a second's inattention to the work in hand might mean death, he went up to the room where Noreen, bound and gagged, was lying on the floor.
Carrying her downstairs he placed her near the back door of the house, which, owing to the assiduous efforts of Simple and Dirty had quickly become too dangerous a spot for defence. Then he opened the door a little and instantly two bullets crashed into it.
With one quick movement, Tarman slung the almost senseless girl across his shoulder and stepped out. A cry of astonishment and rage greeted his appearance, but as he had calculated, not a shot was fired, though half a dozen guns were aimed at his heart and as many fingers were itching to pull the trigger. For a moment he stood motionless, a grin of satanic triumph on his face, and then strode steadily towards the corral.
`Any attempt to interfere with me an' the girl dies,' he called out, and they now saw that in addition to the rifle in his left hand, his right held a revolver.
Dastardly as the threat was not one of the onlookers doubted but that it would be carried out, and the Recording Angel must have a busy time during the next few minutes. Larry, who had sprung up in readiness to intercept the ruffian before he reached the corral, subsided with a curse when Ginger growled: `Don't be a damn idjut; can't yu see the hound has got us throwed an' tied? P'raps he'll leave her an' make his getaway.' But they soon saw that such was not the rustler's intention; he was taking no chances of being shot down.
Reaching the corral, he did not relinquish his helpless burden, managing to rope and saddle a horse without doing so. Secure in his immunity, he went about the difficult job quite leisurely and the limp form draped over his shoulder seemed to hamper him scarcely at all. To the impotent watching men the operation was a maddening one but they dared make no move. At length he was ready, and mounting, he swung the horse round.
`My promise still holds good; follow me and she dies, pronto,' he shouted, and with a sneering `Adios' he plunged into the chaparral.
The rustlers defending the front of the house were not aware at first of their leader's defection, and those at the back did not realise his intention until it was too late to interfere. Green, from the slit which did duty as a window to the room in which he was confined, saw the whole proceeding and wrenched at his bonds in savage desperation. Suddenly the door opened and West came in.