amazed. "For the love of God," he exclaimed, "what's broke
loose?"

"Come in, John," cried Laramie, seizing his arm. "I want your horse a
minute. Stay here till I get back--come, Abe, lively!"

"Where you going?" demanded Lefever, staring as he tried to collect his
wits.

Laramie hurried Hawk past him: "That'll depend on the shooting, John,"
was all Laramie hastily said. "Doubleday and Van Horn have got a bunch
of Texas men raiding the Falling Wall."

Lefever, gazing stunned at Hawk, talked as if he saw nothing. "I know
all about that," he cried. "Man alive, that's what I'm here for. Hold
on, can't you?"

"Not now. Stick around till I get back."

Lefever caught his breath in time to fire one more question:

"What about Abe?"

"He's not coming back. Scout around down along the creek, John, so you
can see those fellows when they ride in. Hold 'em as long as you can
and for God's sake keep 'em out of this cabin--there's blood on
everything."

CHAPTER XIX

LEFEVER RECEIVES THE RAIDERS

Laramie knew Lefever to be quite equal to the highly particular job he
had assigned to him and that John would give his best to it. Hardly
thirty minutes later, the raiders rode out of the timber along the
creek. Van Horn stopped his pack for a word of warning:

"Look to your guns," he said harshly. "You can guess most o' you what
you'll be up against, if there's trouble at this joint." Leaving the
creek, the party rode out on a rarely used trail that, Stone told them,
led to Laramie's cabin. They followed this for some distance, keeping
two men ahead as they had done in the early morning. These two men,
reaching the bench, which at that point had been cut sharply away by a
flood, halted. The main party riding up the hill debouched on level
ground at the crest and joined their scouts. Half a mile to their
right stood Laramie's cabin. The bench land lying in front of it was
as smooth as a table and covered with mountain blue stem. Out of the
level ground, a hundred yards from the edge of the bench where
Doubleday's party had halted, rose a huge and solitary fragment of rock.

Beside this rock stood a large man facing the intruders; slung over his
left forearm he carried a rifle and his right hand he held well out
toward them with its open palm raised in the air. The raiders
understood the signal; it warned them to advance no farther.

"What's that fat buck doing up in this country?" asked Van Horn,