step outside, looking after Ted.

She saw him running weakly toward the corner of the house, where two men
were bending over the tar barrel, into which they had put the shavings.

They had set fire to the shavings, and were lifting the barrel to place
it against the side of the house.

And now the barrel was blazing like a gasoline torch, and the flame was
licking the side of the house.

But Ted was upon them. They did not see him, as their backs were toward
him, and in a minute both had gone sprawling over the barrel, falling in
a heap on the ground.

In a flash Ted had sent the barrel rolling down the yard, and with a
piece of canvas, which he had picked up from the ground, was beating out
the flames which were creeping up the side of the house.

But the men were on their feet now, and, seeing the cause of their
discomfiture, they ran toward Ted with howls of rage, and reached his
side as Stella, who had started toward Ted when she saw that the men
were about to attack him, was still some distance off.

Ted was not aware of the presence of the men until they were directly
behind him. Then he turned, only to be met with a blow on the head with
the butt of a pistol, and he sank to the ground with a groan.

Meanwhile, Kit, whose duty it was to cover Ted's attack on the house
burners from the doorway, was not able to get a shot because Stella's
body was between him and the corner of the house.

As Ted went down with a groan Stella drew her revolver and blazed away.

At her first shot one of the men ran off, limping and yelping like a
kicked cur.

The other, conscious that the bullets from her revolver were singing
unpleasantly near to his head, made a dash for the shrubbery.

Bending over Ted, Stella tried to see how badly he was hurt.

"You reckless boy," she was saying. "See how you run into danger. Now
you have two wounds for me to nurse, if you are not killed."

She was trying to lift him to a sitting posture when she felt herself
grasped around the waist, and before she could make a motion in her own
defense, was borne swiftly across the yard, and into the shrubbery.

Her scream rang out piercingly, and the boys ran in a body into the
garden.

But by the time they got there Stella was out of sight, and they were
met with a fusillade of bullets from the shrubbery, causing them to
retreat into the house again and close the door.

None of them had noticed Ted lying unconscious at the corner of the
h