wn the street.

"Leave that gun here!" the Sheriff commanded harshly.

Ken gave it to the nearest soldier. He took off the ammunition belt and
handed it over too, then resumed his course. He should not have done it,
he told himself, but he felt better for it. He felt he had paid a little
of his debt to Mr. Harris.

When he reached the hospital center he told his father.

"It wasn't a good thing," said Professor Maddox gently, "but maybe it
was something that had to be done."

Throughout the day they continued to bring in the wounded and the dead.
There seemed to be an incredible number, but the invaders had suffered
heavily, too. Half their force had been lost. A dozen fine horses had
been captured, which were a considerable prize.

There was speculation as to why the nomads chose to attack in this
manner. They had done great damage, it was true, yet the attack had not
had a chance of being decisive in spite of their insane persistence.

Hilliard and Johnson held a staff meeting that afternoon while a sharp
watch was kept for further attack. They considered that they had done
very well so far. The chief worries were the grenades and incendiaries,
which the nomads seemed to have in large quantity.

Toward evening, Johnson asked for two volunteers to go out as scouts to
try to reach the top of Lincoln's Peak, west of town, to spot the camp
of the nomads and scout their activities. A pair of volunteers was
chosen from the many who offered. On two of the best of the nomads'
horses, they made their way across the frozen plain and up the small
ravine leading to the ridge. Observers watched until they were out of
sight in the ravine.

It was agreed the two would return by 6 o'clock. At 5 there was the
faint sound of gunfire from somewhere in the hills. The scouts did not
return at the appointed time. They did not return at all.

Night came, and word spread among the townspeople of the disappearance
of the two scouts. Anxiety increased as it became apparent they were
under close surveillance by the enemy. Perhaps it was the intention of
the nomads to wear them down with a winter-long siege of attack after
attack, until they no longer had the ability or strength to fight.

Hilliard and Johnson doubted this. The nomads were far less equipped for
such a siege than Mayfield was.

Maria continued to return to the radio shack in the evening to maintain
the schedule with the network. She reported the plight of Mayfield to