to the
sheltered corner that alone afforded protection. He had scarcely
reached it when a carbine cracked and a bullet struck the flinty lava,
striking sparks, then singing away into the air.

Thorne was either dead or unconscious, and Gale, with a contracting
throat and numb heart, decided for the former. Not so Ladd, who probed
the bloody gash on Thorne's temple, and then felt his breast.

"He's alive an' not bad hurt. That bullet hit him glancin'. Shore
them steel bullets are some lucky for us. Dick, you needn't look so
glum. I tell you he ain't bad hurt. I felt his skull with my finger.
There's no hole in it. Wash him off an' tie-- Wow! did you get the
wind of that one? An' mebbe it didn't sing off the lava!... Dick, look
after Thorne now while I--"

The completion of his speech was the stirring ring of the .405, and
then he uttered a laugh that was unpleasant.

"Shore, Greaser, there's a man's size bullet for you. No slim,
sharp-pointed, steel-jacket nail! I'm takin' it on me to believe
you're appreciatin' of the .405, seein' as you don't make no fuss."

It was indeed a joy to Gale to find that Thorne had not received a
wound necessarily fatal, though it was serious enough. Gale bathed and
bound it, and laid the cavalryman against the slant of the bank, his
head high to lessen the probability of bleeding.

As Gale straightened up Ladd muttered low and deep, and swung the heavy
rifle around to the left. Far along the slope a figure moved. Ladd
began to work the lever of the Winchester and to shoot. At every shot
the heavy firearm sprang up, and the recoil made Ladd's shoulder give
back. Gale saw the bullets strike the lava behind, beside, before the
fleeing Mexican, sending up dull puffs of dust. On the sixth shot he
plunged down out of sight, either hit or frightened into seeking cover.

"Dick, mebbe there's one or two left above; but we needn't figure much
on it," said Ladd, as, loading the rifle, he jerked his fingers quickly
from the hot breech. "Listen! Jim an' Yaqui are hittin' it up lively
down below. I'll sneak down there. You stay here an' keep about half
an eye peeled up yonder, an' keep the rest my way."

Ladd crossed the hole, climbed down into the deep crack where Thorne
had fallen, and then went stooping along with only his head above the
level. Presently he disappeared. Gale, having little to fear from the
high ridge, directed most of his attention toward the point beyo