e blasts in a quarry or an admiral's salute when
the "old man" took a notion to come aboard.

So, too, would each concussion be followed by a spurt of gunfire from
behind the closed door of the shack showing that Oswald was alive to the
situation and must be enjoying his share in the strange engagement quite
as much as the fun-loving Perk did his part.

If the little rock pile held out and there were enough ammunition belts
for the machine-gun handy, the chances were that the roof of the
bungalow would assume the nature of a sieve and leak when the next heavy
rain storm set in.

Perk was fully aroused now, and awake to his part of the
bombardment--his mind began to figure just what other means lay within
his reach to continue engaging the attention of the rat in the trap
after the last rock had been fired.

Some of them he knew had rolled off the slightly sloping roof after
accomplishing their duty. If only he could lay hands on them they might
be made to serve again but the darkness would make this problematical.
There was that log he had mentioned to Jack--with it he fancied he might
do something to keep up the feverish interest in the game and hold
Oswald's undivided attention.

What added more or less to the thrill he was enjoying was the fact that
at any minute the ready marksman inside might succeed in reaching him
with a bullet fired at some new angle. Jack had told him how Kearns was
said to be quite a wizard at making bullseyes in a flying target either
with a pistol or a rifle.

He was still going heavy although nearing the end of his ammunition,
when something not on the calendar came along, something so unexpected
that Perk was taken quite by surprise. A weighty and metallic object
struck him on the head with such violence that he saw a million stars
all at once, as though a myriad of rockets had exploded simultaneously
high in the air.

He went down like a stone, his senses reeling under that frightful
impact and yet half conscious of the fact that some one must have come
up behind him in the darkness and struck him with a heavy weight.

Now he could feel hands groping about his person as though seeking to
find where to follow up that first blow with another that would
effectually wind up his career for keeps.

Rendered desperate by the nature of his situation Perk threw up both
hands and chancing to come in contact with a human form, closed in with
what might almost be called a death grip--his o