hought in each leader's mind. Its prevention
was his sheet anchor of hope. Its realization was his nightmare.

The tide of men surged once more. It came on under a rain of reckless
fire. The black wings of night were illuminated with a fiery sparkle,
and the smell of battle hung heavily on the still air. Kars shouted
encouragement to his men.

The response was all he could desire. The Indians surged to the
embankment only to beat vainly, and to fall back decimated. But again
and again they rallied, their temper growing to a pitch of fury that
suggested the limit of human endurance. The defence was hard put to
it, and only deliberation, and the full knowledge of consequences,
saved the breach.

The numbers seemed endless, rising out of the black beyond only to take
shape at the rifle muzzle. Thought and action were simultaneous. Each
rifle was pressed tight into the shoulder, while the hot barrel hurled
its billet of death deep into the dusky bodies.

For Kars those moments were filled to the brim with the intoxicating
elixir demanded by his elemental nature. He fought with a disregard of
self that left its mark upon all those who were near by. He spared
nothing, and his "automatic" drove terror, as well as death, into the
hearts of those with whom he was confronted. It was good to fight for
life in any form. The life of ease and security had small enough
attraction for him. But now--now he fought with the memory of the
wrongs which, through these creatures, had been inflicted upon the girl
who had taught him the true meaning of life.

Bill was no less stirred, but he possessed another incentive. He
fought till the first casualties in the defence claimed mercy in
exchange for the merciless, and he was forced regretfully to obey the
demands of his life's mission. All his ripeness of thought, all his
philosophy, gleaned under the thin veneer of civilization, had been
swept away by the tidal wave of battle. The original man hugged him to
his bosom, and he rested there content.

With Abe Dodds emotion held small place. A cold fury rose under the
lash of motive. It was the motive of a man ready at all times to spurn
obstruction from his path. His heart was without mercy where his
interests were threatened. These creatures were a wolf pack, from his
view-point, and he yearned to shoot them down as such. Like Peigan
Charley his desire was that every shot should sink deeply into the
bowels of the en