rce detached to hold the entrance to the valley. He ran part of the
way in the shelter of the trees and crept the rest, reaching the captain
in safety. Warner was there also, and the fire upon them from the slopes
was hot.

"There has been no attempt to force the gate-way here," said Warner.
"Since they failed with the horses they wouldn't dare try it. Besides,
our sharpshooters are doing execution. Those in the upper story of the
house have an especially good chance. Look at the black dots in the snow
high up on the slopes. Those are dead guerrillas. There, two men fell!
Perhaps if they had known the kind of regiment it was they were coming
after they wouldn't have been in such a hurry to attack us."

He spoke with pride, but Dick felt some chagrin.

"That's true," he said, "though I don't like our regiment to be besieged
here by a lot of guerrillas. It's an ignominy. It's not enough for us
to hold our own against 'em, because they're the people we came to get,
and we ought to get 'em."

"I dare say the colonel thinks as you do and he's already planning how to
do it. This is a smart little battle, as it is. Those sharpshooters of
ours in the houses are certainly making it warm for the enemy!"

The firing was now very fast, and, as long as the brilliancy of the night
remained unobscured, much of it was deadly, but a great amount of smoke
gathered, and, as it rose, it formed a cloud. The showers of bullets
then decreased in volume and a comparative lull came. But the men of
Slade and Skelly could yet be seen on the crests and slopes, and there
was no indication that they would draw off.

Dick made his way back to Colonel Winchester, who was still in the clump
of trees, a central point, from which he could direct the defense.
The colonel, as Dick clearly saw, felt chagrin. While they had prevented
the stampede of the horses, and were holding off Slade and Skelly,
the roles which he had intended for the forces to play were reversed.
They had come forth to destroy the guerrillas, and now they had to fight
hard to keep the guerrillas from destroying them. Despite their shelter,
about fifteen of the Winchester men had been slain, and perhaps
twenty-five wounded, a loss over which the colonel grieved. Doubtless as
many of the guerrillas had fallen or had been hurt, but that was a poor
consolation.

It was obvious too that Slade and Skelly were handling their forces with
much skill, utilizing for shelter