big log or suthin, and are busting in the gate!" he
cried.

A shout of dismay went up from them all. As it so happened, there had
been no time to bore any holes near the gate, and the only way to delay
the work of battering it down would be to clamber to the fence top and
fire down into the insurrectos handling the battering ram.

But it needed no second thought to show that this would be madness. At
the first appearance of a head above the stockade, they knew that half
a hundred rifles from without would pour a volley at it. It would not
take more than ten minutes to wipe out the whole garrison in this way.

"Nope. We'll have to think of some other plan," decided Buck. It is
worthy of remark here that not one of the defenders of the mine had
ever even hinted at a surrender. This was not due so much to the fact,
as they knew, that it would only mean exchanging one form of death for
another, as it was to their grim determination to defend the mine at
whatever cost to themselves. It was the dogged American spirit that
prevailed at the Alamo.

"Aha! I haf idt!" burst out Geisler suddenly, after a few minutes of
deep thought. "Dere is no hope uv safing dot gate?"

"Not the least," Buck assured him. "They'll have it through in a few
minutes now."

He pointed to the timbers which were already showing jagged cracks up
and down their entire length.

"Veil," said the German, "der office uv der mine is made strong--oh
very strong, for behindt idt is der specie room. Ve can gedt by der
inside in dere and fire through der vindows. And as a last resort vee
can----"

He paused.

"We can what?" demanded Jack.

"Nefer mindt. I dell you later. Now is dot agreed upon?"

"It's about all we can do, I guess," grunted Pete, "unless we stay here
to be shot down."

"Den come mit me."

The German rapidly led the way across the yard to the office building.
As he closed and barred the door, they noted that it was lined inside
with steel, strongly riveted to the oak. The windows also had steel
shutters, cleverly concealed, in cases into which they slid, from
casual view. In the windows, as well as in the door, were small
apertures for firing through.

"Why, it's a regular fort!" exclaimed Ralph, as the shutters clanged to
with a harsh, grating sound.

"You bet my life idt's a fort," agreed Herr Geisler, "undt ledt me tell
you dot you needt a fort ven you have a specie room by dis country."

"Then the specie ro