e rear.

"Ride up the arroyo as close as we can get, an' then over the edge an'
straight at 'em," Buck ordered. "Their shooting an' the rain will cover
what noise we make on the soft ground. An' boys, _no quarter_!"

"Reckon _not_!" gritted Red, savagely. "Not with Edwards an' Jackson
dead, an' the Kid fighting for his life!"

"They're still at it!" cried Lanky Smith, as the faint and intermittent
sound of firing was heard; the driving wind was blowing from the town,
and this, also, would deaden the noise of their approach.

"Thank the Lord! That means that there's somebody left to fight 'em,"
exclaimed Red. "Hope it's the Kid," he muttered.

"They can't rush the store till they get Lacey, an' they can't rush him
till they get the store," shouted Neal over his shoulder. "They'd be in
a cross fire if they tried either--an' that's what licks 'em."

"They'll be in a cross fire purty soon," promised Pete, grimly.

Hopalong and Red reached the edge of the arroyo first and plunged over
the bank into the yellow storm-water swirling along the bottom like a
miniature flood. After them came Buck, Neal, and the others, the water
shooting up in sheets as each successive horse plunged in. Out again
on the farther side they strung out into single file along the narrow
foot-hold between water and bank and raced towards the sharp bend some
hundreds of yards ahead, the point in the arroyo's course nearest the
town. The dripping horses scrambled up the slippery incline and then,
under the goading of spurs and quirts, leaped forward as fast as they
could go across the level, soggy plain.

A quarter of a mile ahead of them lay the scattered shacks of the town,
and as they drew nearer to it the riders could see the flashes of guns
and the smoke-fog lying close to the ground. Fire spat from Jackson's
store and a cloud of smoke still lingered around a window in Lacey's
saloon. Then a yell reached their ears, a yell of rage, consternation
and warning. Figures scurried to seek cover and the firing from
Jackson's and Lacey's grew more rapid.

A mounted man emerged from a corral and tore away, others following his
example, and the outfit separated to take up the chase individually.
Harlan, wounded hard, was trying to run to where he had left his horse,
and after him fled Slivers Lowe. Hopalong was gaining on them when he
saw Slivers raise his arm and fire deliberately into the back of the
proprietor of the Oasis, leap over the falling bo