It took a
single blow to shatter it.

Now the night belonged to the torch and rifle, unless a miracle
intervened, and though Boone would struggle like a shepherd whose flock
has been scattered, he would persevere in the face of foredoomed
failure. Yet until the death-freighted and ox-drawn wagon had strained
and jolted slowly away, and even a little longer, the specious calm
held.

The swinging lantern had disappeared around a turn; the sounds of
creaking axle and hub had died into the night and the door of the house
had been closed, before the hum of low talk gave her any coherent sign.
Below there was only the confused blurring of words such as may come
from a locked jury room, until over it sounded the deep basso that she
had heard first that evening.

Its words were not pitched in oratorical effect, but they were
contemptuous and final. "Come on along, men," said the voice. "We're
wastin' time hyar foolin' with a man thet kain't do nothin' but talk.
What we wants now is a man with guts inside him."

The sentiment of accord declared itself loudly, profanely and
indubitably. But as the fickle gathering grew turbulent, Anne heard once
again a shout followed by the opening of a door, and after that an
outcry of amazement which she could in no wise translate, beyond a
realization that something was happening which was both unforeseen and
incredible.

Anne's posture, as she listened to the fluttering of her own heart, was
one of terror in its most abject and helpless form. She had persuaded
him, not only with argument but the taunt of cowardice, to interpose
himself between this tidal wave of human savagery and its object. Now
the wave had seized him up and tossed him from his precarious foothold.
His career had ended: his influence, crumbled under too severe a strain,
and his life itself probably hung on a hair balance while he stood among
wolves. She told herself that the responsibility lay with her, and her
reason grew palpitant and dizzy. Only a miracle could quench the
conflagration now, and a miracle five minutes hence would be too late.

This deadly pause was unendurable. A door had opened and clamour had
been breathlessly stilled. What did it mean? Some one had entered--Who
was it?

The man who had just made his entrance had boldly pushed his way to the
threshold before he called out, and had as boldly thrown wide the door
without awaiting a reply. Faces turning with a single impulse toward the
invader