to the utmost,
every pulse and vein surcharged with the emotion that comes from a
desperate situation and a great impulse to save it.

The great bell suddenly began to peal forth the air of The Star Spangled
Banner. Some of the notes may have gone wrong, there may have been
errors of time and emphasis, but the old tune, then young, was there.
Every man lying on the floor, every one of whom was born in the States,
knew it, and every heart leaped. Elsewhere it might have been a
commonplace thing to do, but there in the night and the storm,
surrounded by enemies, on a vast and lonely frontier it was an
inspiration. Every Texan in the valley who heard it would know that it
was the call of a friend asking for help, and he would come.

Not a Texan moved, but they breathed heavily. Overhead the great bell
boomed solemnly on, and Ned, his hand on the rope, put all his heart and
strength into the task. A rifle cracked and a bullet entered the
doorway, but it passed over the heads of the Texans, and flattened
against the stone wall beyond. A rifle inside cracked in response, and a
Comanche in the grass and weeds uttered a death yell.

"I was watchin' for just such a chance," said the Ring Tailed Panther in
satisfied tones. "I saw him when he rose to fire. Just as you thought,
Mr. Bowie, the bell is makin' their nerves raw, an' they feel that they
must do somethin' right away."

"What a queer note that was in Ned's tune!" suddenly exclaimed Obed.

Bowie laughed.

"An angry Comanche shot at the bell and hit it. That's what happened,"
he said. "They can waste as many bullets as they please that way."

But the Comanches wasted no more just then. A noise came from the
horses. The shots evidently had alarmed them, and they were beginning to
stamp and rear. Four men, at the order of Bowie, slipped into the
improvised stable and sought to quiet them. They also remained there to
keep a guard at the broken windows. Ned, unconscious how much time had
passed, was still ringing the bell.

"You can rest now, Ned," said Bowie. "That was a good idea of yours and
you can repeat it later on. I'm thinking that the Comanches will soon
act, if they are going to act at all."

But nothing occurred for nearly an hour, when the horses began to rear
and stamp again. Two or three of them also uttered shrill neighs. Bowie,
with Ned, Obed and the Ring Tailed Panther joined the four already in
the improvised stable. The horses would not be quieted.