side and she shot
again, then emptied the magazine at a crevice on the side where he had
taken refuge.

"Get back inside, damn you!" a voice shouted. "We're going to wreck
the Three Bar--and you with it if you stand in the way. Get back out
of line!"

Harris knew that the men would not be deterred in their purpose--would
sacrifice her along with the rest if necessary to accomplish their end.

"Get back, Billie," he called from the bunk house. "You can't do us
any good out there. Take the little cabin and sit tight. We'll beat
them off."

A haze of smoke showed through the storeroom door, a bright tongue of
flame leaping back of it.

She turned to the door but Waddles had barred it behind her.

"Take the little house, Pet," he urged. "Like Cal said. You'll be
safe enough. We'll give 'em hell."

She walked to the little cabin that stood isolated and alone, the first
building ever erected on the Three Bar and which had sheltered the
Harrises before her father had taken over the brand.

The smoke had spread all along the row of buildings and hung in an oily
black cloud above them, the hungry flames licking up the sides of the
dry logs. The men had withdrawn after putting the torch to the row in
a dozen spots.

From her point of vantage she saw two masked men rise from the brush
and run swiftly down toward the main house, each carrying a can. She
divined their purpose instantly.

"Watch the west side!" she called. "The west side--quick."

The sound of Waddles's hand-axe ceased and an instant later the roar of
the shotgun sounded twice from within the house, followed by the cook's
lament.

"Missed!" the big voice wailed. "Two minutes more and I'd have made a
real hole."

The muffled crash of a rifle rolled steadily from the house as Waddles
fired at the chinking in an effort to reach the two men outside. But
they had accomplished their purpose and retreated, the house shielding
them from Harris's field of view; and they kept on the same line, out
of sight of the bunk house, till they reached a deep coulee which
afforded a safe route of retreat.

The row of buildings was a seething mass of flames rolling up into the
black smoke. Flames hissed and licked up the blank wall of the main
House, traveling along the logs on which the two masked raiders had
thrown their cans of oil. The men outside had only to wait until the
occupants were roasted out. A stiff wind held from the west and once
the h