doing."

He was gone in a moment. And the operation he had prescribed for Abe's
men was applied to his own.

Another hour passed and still there was no sign from the enemy. It
almost seemed as if the victory had been more complete for the defence
than had at first been thought. The men were refreshed, and the rest
was more than welcome. Kars refused to leave his post. For all his
faith in the defence he trusted the vigilance of no one.

A meal of sorts was sent down to him from the cook-house, and he shared
it with the stalwart ruffian, Abe, and, for the most part, they
quenched their thirst with the steaming beverage in silence. The
thought of each man was busy. Both were contemplating the ultimate,
rather than the effort of the moment.

Abe was the first to yield to the press of thought.

"How's Bill doin'?" he demanded. "What's the figures? I lost four."

"Wounded--only?"

"Wounded."

"Guess that raises the tally."

"How about your boys?"

Kars gazed in the direction of the rough storehouse now converted into
a hospital.

"I'd say five. Bill was here a while back. He reckoned he'd got five
then."

Abe laughed. It was not a mirthful laugh. He rarely gave way to
mirth. Purpose had too profound a hold on him.

"Figger up nine by eight nights like this and you ain't got much of a
crowd out of eighty."

Kars' eyes came swiftly to the lean face shadowed under the night.

"No." Then he glanced in the direction whence came the reckless Indian
fire. "You mean we can't sit around, and let the neches play their own
war game. That so?"

"Guess it seems that way."

"I don't reckon they're going to." Kars tipped out the coffee grounds
from his pannikin with unnecessary force. He laid the cup aside and
turned on the engineer. "Say, boy," he cried, with a deliberate
emphasis, "I've got this thing figgered from A to Z. I've spent months
of thought on it. You're lookin' on the dollars lying around, and
you're yearning to grab them plenty. It's a mighty strong motive. But
it's not a circumstance beside mine. I'd lose every dollar in my bank
roll; I'd hand up my life without a kick, rather than lose this game.
Get me? Say, don't you worry a thing, so we hold this night through.
That's what matters in my figgering. If we hold this night, I got a
whole stack of aces and things in my sleeve. And I'm goin' to play
'em, and play 'em--good."

The assurance of his manner had a deep effect.