and
his heart was full. Speech was difficult, because the very touch of
Ann's hands had made him divine that the success of his venture in no
wise changed the plight of the women.

"Wal, what happened out there?" demanded Blaisdell.

"I got two of them," replied Jean. "That fellow who was shootin' from
the ridge west. An' the other was Greaves."

"Hah!" exclaimed his father.

"Shore then it was Greaves yellin'," declared Blaisdell. "By God, I
never heard such yells! Whad 'd you do, Jean?"

"I knifed him. You see, I'd planned to slip up on one after another.
An' I didn't want to make noise. But I didn't get any farther than
Greaves."

"Wal, I reckon that 'll end their shootin' in the dark," muttered
Gaston Isbel. "We've got to be on the lookout for somethin'
else--fire, most likely."

The old rancher's surmise proved to be partially correct. Jorth's
faction ceased the shooting. Nothing further was seen or heard from
them. But this silence and apparent break in the siege were harder to
bear than deliberate hostility. The long, dark hours dragged by. The
men took turns watching and resting, but none of them slept. At last
the blackness paled and gray dawn stole out of the east. The sky turned
rose over the distant range and daylight came.

The children awoke hungry and noisy, having slept away their fears. The
women took advantage of the quiet morning hour to get a hot breakfast.

"Maybe they've gone away," suggested Guy Isbel's wife, peering out of
the window. She had done that several times since daybreak. Jean saw
her somber gaze search the pasture until it rested upon the dark, prone
shape of her dead husband, lying face down in the grass. Her look
worried Jean.

"No, Esther, they've not gone yet," replied Jean. "I've seen some of
them out there at the edge of the brush."

Blaisdell was optimistic. He said Jean's night work would have its
effect and that the Jorth contingent would not renew the siege very
determinedly. It turned out, however, that Blaisdell was wrong.
Directly after sunrise they began to pour volleys from four sides and
from closer range. During the night Jorth's gang had thrown earth
banks and constructed log breastworks, from behind which they were now
firing. Jean and his comrades could see the flashes of fire and
streaks of smoke to such good advantage that they began to return the
volleys.

In half an hour the cabin was so full of smoke that Jean could not see