f it right there in the Council chamber. Then their
glances fell on their comrade, writhing in pain on the floor. They
raised their hands in slow surrender.

"If we're not back by sundown, you'll be wiped out!"

"When will the attack begin if you do go back?" asked Hilliard bitterly.
"Two hours before sundown? We thank you for the information about your
timetable, at least. We have 3 hours to prepare a defense of the town."
He nodded to the policeman. "Take them away. Put them in cells and tie
them up until this is over."

When they had been removed he turned back to the group. "I've had
nightmares," he said, "and this has been one of them. I guess if I had
been the Mayor some people think I ought to have been, we would have
been drilling and rehearsing our defenses for weeks. I had planned to do
so soon. I thought we'd have more time; that's my only excuse.

"The Sheriff and I have done a little preliminary planning and thinking.
We've made an estimate of weapons available. From what Jack Nelson and
Dan Sims report on hunting licenses issued locally a year ago, there
must be about two thousand deer rifles in town. They also guess about
four or five hundred 22's. We're lucky to live in hunting country.

"Dan and Jack have about two hundred guns of all kinds and sizes in
their rental and selling stock, and they've got nearly all the
ammunition in the valley. They had stocked up for the hunting season,
which we never had this year, so their supply sounds as if it would be
pretty good. You've got to remember the difference in requirements for
bagging a deer and carrying on a war. We have very little ammunition
when you consider it from that angle.

"The police, of course, have a few guns and some rounds. I'm placing
Sheriff Johnson in full charge of defense. The police officers will act
as his lieutenants." The Mayor stepped to a wall chart that showed the
detailed topography of Mayfield and its environs. "This is your battle
map right here, Sheriff. Come up and start marking off your sectors of
the defense perimeter and name your officers to take charge of each. I
hope somebody is going to say it's a good thing we've got the
barbed-wire defense line before this meeting is over!

"I want a rider to leave at once to bring back the wood detail. All
their horses will be turned over to the police officers for use in their
commands. I want fifty runners to go through town and notify one man in
each block to mobilize his