defenseless in the
face of a cruel and implacable foe.

It was just before daylight that the anticipated rush occurred. From
every side rang the reports of carbines and the yells of the bandits.
There were scarcely more than a dozen of the original twenty left; but
they made up for their depleted numbers by the rapidity with which they
worked their firearms and the loudness and ferocity of their savage
cries.

And this time they reached the shelter of the veranda and commenced
battering at the door.

At the report of the rifle so close to them Billy Byrne shoved Barbara
quickly to one side and leaped forward to close with the man who barred
their way to liberty.

That they had surprised him even more than he had them was evidenced by
the wildness of his shot which passed harmlessly above their heads as
well as by the fact that he had permitted them to come so close before
engaging them.

To the latter event was attributable his undoing, for it permitted Billy
Byrne to close with him before the Indian could reload his antiquated
weapon. Down the two men went, the American on top, each striving for
a death-hold; but in weight and strength and skill the Piman was far
outclassed by the trained fighter, a part of whose daily workouts had
consisted in wrestling with proficient artists of the mat.

Barbara Harding ran forward to assist her champion but as the men rolled
and tumbled over the ground she could find no opening for a blow that
might not endanger Billy Byrne quite as much as it endangered his
antagonist; but presently she discovered that the American required no
assistance. She saw the Indian's head bending slowly forward beneath the
resistless force of the other's huge muscles, she heard the crack that
announced the parting of the vertebrae and saw the limp thing which
had but a moment before been a man, pulsing with life and vigor, roll
helplessly aside--a harmless and inanimate lump of clay.

Billy Byrne leaped to his feet, shaking himself as a great mastiff might
whose coat had been ruffled in a fight.

"Come!" he whispered. "We gotta beat it now for sure. That guy's shot'll
lead 'em right down to us," and once more they took up their flight down
toward the valley, along an unknown trail through the darkness of the
night.

For the most part they moved in silence, Billy holding the girl's arm
or hand to steady her over the rough and dangerous portions of the path.
And as they went there grew in Billy'