ing
where Dr. Adams' office was. There was no heat, of course, but they had
brought sleeping bags which were unrolled on the floor. After the
sandwiches were gone their rations were canned soup, to be eaten
directly from the can without being heated.

Maria was quartered elsewhere in the building with some of the women who
were directing the nurses' activities.

Through the windows could be seen the campfires which Johnson had
permitted to be built at the guard posts. Each had a wall of snow ready
to be pushed upon it in case of any sign of attack.

"We'd better get some sleep," Professor Maddox said finally to Ken.
"They'll take care of anything that's going to happen out there tonight.
We may have a rough day tomorrow."

Ken agreed, although he did not feel like sleeping. After hours, it
seemed, of thrashing restlessly he dozed off. He thought it was dawn
when he opened his eyes again to the faint, red glow reflected on the
walls of the room. He was unaware for a moment of where he was. Then he
saw the glow was flickering.

He scrambled to his feet and ran to the window. In the distance the glow
of burning houses lit the landscape. The rapid crack of rifle fire came
faintly to his ears.

Professor Maddox was beside him. "How could they do it?" Ken exclaimed.
"How could they get through our lines and set fire to the houses?"

On the southern sector of the defense line Sheriff Johnson's men
crouched behind their improvised defenses. The glow of the fire blinded
them as they attempted to pierce the darkness from which the attack was
coming.

From a half-dozen different points fireballs were being lobbed out of
the darkness. Ineffective on the snow-laden roofs, many others crashed
through the windows and rolled on the floors inside. Such targets became
flaming infernos within minutes.

They were all unoccupied because the inhabitants had been moved closer
to the center of town for protection.

A fusillade of shots poured out of the darkness upon the well-lighted
defenders. They answered the fire, shooting at the pinpoints of light
that betrayed the enemy's position, and at the spots in the darkness
from which the flaming fireballs came. It was obvious that the attackers
were continuously moving. It was difficult to know where the launching
crews of the fireball catapults were actually located in that
overwhelming darkness.

Sheriff Johnson was on the scene almost at once. He had once been an
infantry lieute