caught the attention of the man on the
opposite side.

"Hold on," he cried. "There's somebody in here, an' we must know who it
is."

Before he could thrust his lamp through, Sam shouted:

"Stand back, or there'll be trouble. Two of us are here, both armed, and
we shall fire at the first one who so much as shows the tip of his
nose."

CHAPTER VII

THE STRUGGLE

Recognizing at once that the voice they had just heard did not belong to
the man for whom they were looking the rioters remained silent with
surprise, and during this short interval Sam brought the butt of his gun
to the floor with unnecessary force in order that there might be no
question about his being armed.

"Who is inside?" one of the party finally asked, and Sam replied:

"It does not make any difference so long as you don't attempt to come
through."

"We shall do it just the same, an' it'll be so much the worse for you if
a finger is raised to stop us."

"There's no need of very much talk. We're here to keep you out. At the
first movement both will shoot, and we've got ammunition to hold the
place 'till the others come."

This bold assertion caused the rioters no little uneasiness, as could be
told from the fact that the entire party retreated down the drift, where
they apparently began a consultation as to the best course to be pursued
under the circumstances.

"Come on this side," Sam whispered. "If we stand opposite each other and
are obliged to shoot we shall get the worst of it."

"Do you really mean to kill them?" Fred asked as he changed his
position.

"I intend to hit whoever comes through if I can, an' they'll have to run
the risk of the killin' part."

"If we could only send word to Donovan."

"Well, we can't, an' it looks as if we might have to stay here a long
while, unless they get the best of us. Nobody will think of coming to
look for us for a good many hours, an' that's why I said we were in a
fix."

Neither of the boys cared to prolong the conversation. Their situation
was desperate, and to state it in words seemed like making it worse,
but, as Fred afterward said, "they kept up a terrible thinking," until
the rioters began operations by approaching the aperture once more,
keeping close to the wall on either side to prevent giving the defenders
an opportunity of using their weapons.

"See here," the spokesman began, "we've come to give you a chance of
actin' square. You know who we are, an' that what we d