ength to the
anxious hunters. The convicts remained hidden behind the wall and
there was nothing to do but to keep a sharp lookout. At noon the
watchers made a light lunch on the smoked venison and water, but the
young outlaw waved away the offered food and remained engrossed by the
patient's side. At intervals of a few minutes all during the
afternoon, he administered medicine to the sufferer and repeatedly
bathed the wounded leg with the solution he had prepared.

The sun was barely an hour high, when he arose from the side of the
couch with a weary sigh. "I think he will live," he announced, "he was
almost gone for a while, though. I gave him enough strychnine during
the first few hours to have killed a normal man, but his heart had
weakened so that the stimulant hardly raised his pulse a single beat.
The heart action is better now, and with close attention he had ought
to pull through."

"How can we ever repay you for what you have done?" said the old
sailor, with tears of thankfulness in his eyes, while Walter wrung the
stranger's hand warmly.

"The saving of many lives will hardly atone for one I took once, though
the deed was done in self-defense," said the outlaw gravely. "I am
glad to have been of help in this case." He glanced around the room
with a return of his former light careless manner and nodded
approvingly as he noted the stores of provisions and water. "Good," he
exclaimed, "you are better prepared than I expected and certainly in
much better shape than my former gentle companions dream. Why, it will
be impossible for them to take this place by force."

"Can you tell us of their plans, Mr.----," inquired Walter, hesitating
for want of a name.

"You may call me Ritter, James Ritter," supplied the outlaw promptly.
"I am not ashamed of my real name but my relatives had cause to be
ashamed of its owner in his present condition. Their plans are almost
self-evident, my lad. They will wait until dark and then slip over the
wall, some will stop in that big building while the balance will make
their way around to a building on the other side of you. They will
then have you surrounded and have only to watch and wait to starve you
out. They have plenty of provisions with them and can get that spring
behind the fort without exposing themselves. It is only a question of
time before you will have to give up, and then may the Lord grant us
all a speedy death."

"Don't be too sure of it, friend,