a loud banging of exploding
cartridges, but only a few shots whistled around the heads of the
cattlemen. Nevertheless, Wade told his men to resume shooting, and once
more settled down to his own task.

"What'n hell they tryin' to do?" Santry demanded. "Sounds like a Fourth
o' July barbecue to me."

"I don't know," Wade answered, charging the magazine of his rifle, "but
whatever it is they'll have to stop mighty soon."

Then gradually, but none the less certainly, the fire from within
slackened until all was still. This seemed more like a visitation of
death, and again Wade ordered his men to stop shooting. They obeyed
orders and lay still, keenly watching the house.

"Do you surrender?" Wade shouted; but there was no reply.

Santry sprang to his feet.

"By the great horned toad!" he cried. "I'm a-goin' in there! Anybody
that wants to come along is welcome."

Not a man in the party would be dared in that way, so, taking advantage
of such cover as offered, they advanced upon the cabin, stealthily at
first and then more rapidly, as they met with no resistance--no sign
whatever of life. A final rush carried them through the doorway into the
house, where they expected to find a shambles.

Wade struck a light, and faced about with a start as a low groan came
from a corner of the back room. A man lay at full length on the floor,
tied hand and foot, and gagged. It was Ed Nelson, one of the Double
Arrow hands who had been surprised and captured by the posse, and a
little farther away in the shadow against the wall his two companions
lay in a like condition. With his knife Wade was cutting them loose,
and glancing about in a puzzled search for the wounded men he expected
to find in the house, when Santry shouted something from the kitchen.

"What is it, Bill?" the ranch owner demanded.

Santry tramped back into the room, laughing in a shamefaced sort of way.

"They done us, Gordon!" he burst out. "By the great horned toad, they
done us! They chucked a bunch of shells into the hot cook-stove, an'
sneaked out the side door while we was shootin' into the front room. By
cracky, that beats...."

"That's what they did," spoke up Nelson, as well as his cramped tongue
would permit, being now freed of the gag. "They gagged us first, so's we
couldn't sing out; then they filled up the stove an' beat it."

What had promised to be a tragedy had proved a fiasco, and Wade smiled a
little foolishly.

"The joke's on us, I guess,