he lynx-eyed foe beheld the
breach thus open before them. They charged to the assault, while inside
the defenders stood ready for them just beyond the range of the fierce
heat.

Now was given an example of that strange, fanatical courage for which the
red man is so famous. To pass the breach was like passing through a living
furnace, for the fire was raging at its full height upon each side. There
was no hesitation, no shrinking.

Those nearest it charged the opening, and as they came were mowed down by
the rifles waiting for them. Again and again was the gateway besieged, and
the roasting human flesh sent up a nauseous reek upon the smoke-laden air.
Nothing could exceed the insensate fearlessness of these benighted
creatures, nothing the awful slaughter which the white defenders dealt
out.

But the superior intelligence and skill of the white men served them for
only a time against the daring horde. Dozens rushed to the sacrifice, but
ever there were more behind asking for the death of their comrades. And
inch by inch they drove through the opening to within striking distance.
They had abandoned their firearms, and, with hatchet and tomahawk, their
natural close-quarter weapons, the final struggle began.

All that had gone before was as nothing to the fight that waxed now. The
howling mob were within the defences, and there was only one possible
outcome. The position was one of those when the true spirit of the
frontiersman is at its highest and grandest pitch.

Gradually the riflemen on each flank dropped back before the raging mob.

The rank, of which Rube was the centre, stood. Here was no rifle practice.
Revolvers were at work with the rapidity of maxim guns. As they were
emptied, they were passed back and reloaded by the women. But even this
was inadequate to hold the mob.

Suddenly Rube, prompted by that feeling which is in the heart of every man
of mighty muscle, abandoned his revolver, and, clubbing his rifle,
reverted to the methods of the old savage. He swung it around his head
like a flail, and crashed it amongst those directly in front of him. And
his action became an example for the rest. Every rifle was clubbed, and by
sheer might, and desperate exertion, the defenders cleared a space before
them. The great Rube advanced, his rugged face fiercely alight. He could
no longer wait for attack; he went to meet it, his giant form towering
amidst the crowd, and the rest following.

The scene was one nev