confined
to the rank and file of the outfit. The clearer vision of the leaders
searched their own understanding of the position. It was pretty
definitely certain there would be no attack in force. The enemy had
hoped for a victory as the result of surprise and overwhelming odds.
It had failed. It had failed disastrously. The Indians were supposed
to be five hundred strong. They had lost a fifth of their force
without making any apparent impression on the defenders. There could
be no surprise on the second night. It would take longer than twelve
hours to spur the Indians to a fresh attack of a similar nature.

No, there would be no attack of a serious nature--yet. And Kars
unfolded the plans he had so carefully thought out long months ago. He
set them before his three companions late in the afternoon, and
detailed them with a meticulous care and exactness which revealed the
clarity of vision he had displayed in their construction.

But they were not plans such as these men had expected. They were
daring and subtle, and they involved a risk only to be contemplated by
such a nature as that of their author. But they promised success, if
fortune ran their way. And in failure they would be left little more
embarrassed than they now stood.

The meeting terminated as it was bound to terminate with Kars guiding
its council. Joe Saunders, whose mentality limited him to a good
fight, and the understanding of a prospector's craft, had neither demur
nor suggestion. Bill admitted he had no better proposition to offer,
and only stipulated that his share in the scheme should be completely
adequate. Abe protested at the work imposed upon him, but admitted its
necessity.

"Sit around this layout punchin' daylight into the lousy carcases of a
bunch of neches, while you an' Doc here get busy, seems to me a sort o'
Sunday-school game I ain't been raised to. It's a sort of pie that
ain't had no sweetenin', I guess. An' my stomach's yearnin' for sugar.
That play of yours has got me itching to take a hand. Still, I guess
this darn ol' camp needs holding up, an' if you need me here you can
count me in to the limit."

Kars nodded unsmilingly. He knew Abe, second only to his knowledge of
Bill Brudenell. That limit was a big one. It meant all he desired.

"It had to be you or Bill, Abe," he said. "I fixed on you because you
got the boys of this camp where you need them. You'll get all the
fight out of them when you w