"Then we fight it out?"
"I shall; I will never give myself into the hands of that creature."
"Senor," and Cavendish stepped aside to the protection of the logs, "we will not surrender. That is our answer."
"Fools!" he called back, his voice rising harsh above the growling of others. "We will show you. Silva, Felipe, quick now; do what I told you. We will teach these Americano dogs a lesson. No, stand back!
Wait until I speak the word.""
A faint glimmer of light through one of the log crevices caught Cavendish"s attention, and he bent down, his eye to the crack, one hand grasping the barrel of his gun. Stella watched him motionless and silent, her face again pale from strain. A moment he stared out, without speaking, the only noise the movement of men beyond the log walls, and the occasional sound of a voice in Spanish.
"I can count about a dozen out there," he said finally, his words barely audible, and his eye still at the slight opening. "All Mexican except two--they look American. Most of them are armed. You must have p.r.i.c.ked Mendez, for he has one arm in a sling, and the cloth shows b.l.o.o.d.y. Ah! Wait! The fellows have searched the cells and discovered Cateras. Do you hear that yell? It will be a fight to a finish now.
Here come two men with a log--that"s their game then; they mean to smash in the door."
He straightened up, casting a swift glance about the apartment. All hesitancy, doubt, had left him, now that the supreme test had come. He was again capable of thinking clearly, and acting.
"Miss Donovan," he burst out, "we can never hope to hold back those men here--in this room. There must be fifteen of them, and our ammunition is scanty. We shall be in bright light as soon as the door is battered down, and then, if they crush in the window also, we shall surely be attacked from two sides."
"What will be better?" she asked.
"The back room; it is dark, with no windows, and there are strips nailed between the logs. We can force that heavy wooden bed across the door, and hide behind it. We ought to hold them there as long as our cartridges last, unless they set the cabin afire. Good G.o.d! They have begun already. Three more blows like that and the door goes down.
Come; it"s our only chance."
It was the work of a moment; it had to be. The inner room was so dark they had to feel their way about blindly, yet those splintering crashes on the outer door, interspersed by the shouts of the men, spurred both to hurried effort. Nor was there much to be done. The heavy bed was thrown upon its side, and hauled and pushed forward until it rested against the door jambs, the mattress and blankets so caught and held as to form protection against bullets. Breathless the two sank to their knees in the darkness behind, their eyes on the brightening daylight of the room beyond. Already a hole had been stove through the upper panel of the door, the surrounding wood splintered. Some one fired once through the jagged opening, and an exultant yell followed from without.
"No firing!" the voice was Mendez"s rising sharply above the other sounds. "I don"t want the girl shot, you fools. Take that other log around to the window. They"ll surrender fast enough once we"re inside.
Now, another one. Here, five of you swing her!"
Stella touched Cavendish"s sleeve.
"Show me how to load, please," she urged feverishly. "I"ve fired two shots already."
His gun rested across the rude barricade, and he left it there, seizing the revolver from her hand.
"You have never handled one before?"
"No; not like this. Oh, I see; you press that spring. I can do that.
You have the belt with the revolver cartridges--fasten it about my waist; quick! The door is almost down."
"Rest your barrel on the edge of the bed," he muttered, gripping the shotgun again, "and aim at that door. The instant you see one of those devils, give it to him."
With a crash the remaining wood gave way, the end of the log, used as a battering ram, projecting into the room. Over the shattered door, now held only by one bent hinge, a half dozen forms swarmed inward, the quick rush blocking their pa.s.sage.
Cavendish pulled trigger, the deep boom of his shotgun echoed instantly by the sharper report of the girl"s revolver. She fired twice before the swirling smoke obstructed the view, conscious only that one man had leaped straight into the air, and another had sprawled forward on hands and knees. Cavendish pushed home a fresh cartridge, and the smoke cloud lifted just enough to permit them to perceive the farther doorway. A Mexican lay curled up in the centre of the floor, his gun a dozen feet away; another hung dangling across an over-turned stool, but the opening was vacant. Just outside, a fellow, wounded, was dragging himself out of range.
"Great Scott!" exclaimed Cavendish, excitedly. "Every shot counted.
Here, load up quick. They"ll try the window next. Get down!"
The warning was not an instant too soon, the hasty volley largely thudding harmlessly into the thick mattress, although a bullet or two sang past and found billets in the logs behind. Cavendish returned the fire, shooting blindly into the smoke, but the girl only lifted her head, staring intently into the smother, until the cloud floated away through the door. The attackers had again vanished, all semblance of them, except those two motionless bodies.
She had not before been conscious of any feeling; all she had done had been automatic, as though under compulsion; but now she felt strangely sick, and faint. An unutterable horror seized her and her hands gripped the edge of the bed to keep her erect. She could seem to see nothing but the ghastly face of that dead man hanging over the stool, and she closed her eyes. Yet this reaction was only momentary. She had fired in defence; in a struggle for the preservation of life and honour. Under spur of this thought she once more gained control.
But how still it was! Even the sound of voices had ceased; and out through the open door there was no sign of movement. The light seemed dimmer, also, as though the sun had sunk below the opposite cliffs, and night was slowly descending upon the valley. What could be happening out there? Were those men planning some new attempt? Or had they decided it was better to wait for a larger force? The silence and uncertainty were harder to combat than the violence of a.s.sault; she struggled to refrain from screaming. Cavendish never moved, his gun flung forward across the improvised barricade, the very grip of his hand proving the intensity of nervous strain. Something caused him to glance toward her.
"Looks as though they had enough of it," he said grimly, "and have decided to starve us out."
"Oh, do you think so? I heard a noise then."
He heard it also, his glance returning instantly to the front, his form stiffening into preparation. For a moment neither could determine the meaning of the sounds. Then he c.o.c.ked his gun, the sharp click echoing almost loudly in the stillness.
"Trying the window this time," he murmured, "Do you hear that? Be ready."
Nothing happened; even the slight noise in the outer room ceased; there was not a sound except their own breathing. The two knelt motionless, peering over the edge of the bed into the dim twilight, seeing nothing, each with finger on trigger--tense, expectant. Then, without warning, the flying figure of a man leaped across the doorway into the security of the opposite wall. It was done so quickly neither fired, but Cavendish licked his parched lips with a dry tongue.
"I"ll get the next one who tries that trick," he muttered, "It will be easier than partridge shooting."
A minute--two pa.s.sed, every nerve on edge; then a second flying form, almost a blur in the gathering gloom, shot across the narrow opening.
The shotgun spoke, and the wildly leaping figure seemed to crumble to the floor--its lower half had reached shelter, but head and shoulders lay exposed, revealing grey hair and a white moustache. Cavendish sprang erect, all caution forgotten.
"It"s Mendez," he cried. "I got the arch-fiend of them----"
A rifle cracked and he went plunging back, his body striking the girl, and crushing her to the floor beside him. There was no cry, no groan of agony, yet he lay there motionless. She crept across and bent over him, almost dumb with fear.
"You--you are shot?" she made herself speak.
"Yes; they"ve got me," the utterance of the words a struggle. "It"s here in the chest; I--I don"t know how bad; perhaps if you tear open my shirt, you--you might stop the blood."
She could see nothing, not even the man"s face, yet her fingers rent the shirt asunder and searched for the wound. It was not bleeding greatly, and she had no water, but not knowing what else to do, she tore a strip from her skirt and bound it hastily. He never moved, or spoke, and she bent her head closer. The wounded man had lost consciousness.
Alone, in the dark, she crept back on her knees to her place behind the barricade. Her hand touched the empty gun he had dropped, and she reloaded it slowly, only half comprehending its mechanism. The revolver, every chamber filled, rested on the upturned edge of the bed; her lips were firmly pressed together. Quietly she pushed forward the barrel of the shotgun, and waited.
CHAPTER XXIX: A NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK
The little marshal of Haskell had the reputation of being as quick of wit as of trigger finger. Startled as he was by that sudden apparition appearing before them in the dark road, and at being addressed by a woman"s voice, the mention of the name Ca.s.sady gave him an instant clue. There was but one Ca.s.sady in camp, and that individual"s reputation was scarcely of a kind to recommend him in the eyes of the law. If any woman sought that fellow in this out-of-the-way spot, it was surely for no good purpose. Brennan caught his breath, these thoughts flashing through his brain. He leaned forward over his saddle horn, lowering his voice confidentially, and managing to achieve a highly meritorious brogue.
"Sure, Oi"m Ca.s.sady," he admitted grouchily. "How iver come yer ter guess thot?"
"I was sent here to meet you," she explained hurriedly, as though eager to have her task done. "I thought maybe it wasn"t you, with another man along. Who is he?"
"His noime"s Crowley; just a friend o" moine; mebbe yer know the lad?"
"No; certainly not. Does he go along with you?"
"Fer only a bit o" ther way"; he lowered his voice to even greater intimacy. "Shure, it"s a parfectly still tongue the b"y has in the cheek o" him."
She laughed nervously.