d all drop dead? Wish good when you wish
at all: got as much chance of having it come true," responded Neal,
sarcastically. He smothered a curse and looked curiously at his left
arm, and from it to the new, yellow-splintered hole in the wall, which
was already turning dark from the water soaking into it. "Hey, Joe; we
need some more boxes!" he exclaimed, again looking at his arm.

"Yes," came Johnny's voice. "Three of 'em--five of 'em, an' about six
feet long an' a foot deep. But if my outfit gets here in time we'll want
more'n a dozen."

"Say! Lacey's firing now!" suddenly cried Barr. "He's shooting out
of his windy. That'll stop 'em from rushing us! Good boy, Lacey!" he
shouted, but Lacey did not hear him in the uproar.

"An' he's worse off than we are, being alone," commented Neal. "Hey! One
of us better make a break for help--my ranch's the nearest. What d'ye
say?"

"It's suicide; they'll get you before you get ten feet," Barr replied
with conviction.

"No; they won't--the corral hides the back door, an' all the firing
is on this side. I can sneak along the back wall an' by keeping the
buildings atween me an' them, get a long ways off before they know
anything about it. Then it's a dash--an' they can't catch me. But can
you fellers hold out if I do?"

"Two can hold out as good as three--go ahead," Johnny replied. "Leave me
some of yore Colt cartridges, though. You can't use 'em all before you
get home."

"Don't stop fer that; there's a shelfful of all kinds behind the
counter," Barr interposed.

"Well, so long an' good luck," and the rear door closed, and softly this
time.

"Two hours is some wait under the present circumstances," Barr muttered,
shifting his position behind his barricade. "He can't do it in less,
nohow."

Johnny ducked and looked foolish. "Missed me by a foot," he explained.
"He can't do it in two--not there an' back," he replied. "The trail is
mud over the fetlocks. Give him three at the least."

"They ain't shooting as much as they was before."

"Waiting till they gets sober, I reckon," Johnny replied.

"If we don't hear no ruction in a few minutes we'll know he got away all
right," Barr soliloquized. "An' he's got a fine cayuse for mud, too."

"Hey, why can't you do the same thing if he makes it?" Johnny suddenly
asked. "I can hold her alone, all right."

"Yo're a cheerful liar, you are," laughed Barr. "But can _you_ ride?"

"Reckon so, but I ain't a-going to."

"Why, we _b