time to
escape observation.

Six men came riding madly toward them, sending up a wild shout when they
were observed.

"Behind these rocks here!" cried Frank. "We must stand them off. It's
our only show. Put the girl behind that large one, so that she will be
safe from bullets."

Bart was desperate. His teeth showed, his face was very pale, and he
grated:

"They shall not touch her again--I vow they shall not touch her!"

Behind the bowlders plunged the trio, just as a bullet whistled over
Frank's head.

Dropping on one knee behind a stone on which he could rest his elbow,
our hero brought the butt of his Winchester to his shoulder, and began
to work the weapon.

Even then Frank was not quite ready to shoot straight at the breasts of
human beings, and so his first five shots brought down three of the
horses, throwing the band into confusion.

Bart was more desperate, as his words indicated, for he half snarled:

"Don't kill the poor horses! Shoot the human brutes!"

Then he began firing, and, if his nerve had been as steady as Frank's,
scarcely one of the six would have escaped. As it was, he quickly
wounded two of them.

This was a reception the men had not counted on. Those whose horses had
not been shot made haste to rein about and dash away, one with a
dangling arm, while the others leaped to the shelter of the rocks.

"Now they have us cornered!" came fiercely from Bart's lips. "If you had
not wasted your bullets, Frank, we would have the advantage now."

"Don't you care," laughed Frank, lightly. "We are hotter company than
they were looking for, and I rather fancy we'll be able to give them a
jolly good racket."

Frank was in a reckless mood. Danger ever seemed to affect him thus. A
bullet tore his hat from his head, but he picked it up, laughing, as if
it were all sport.

For some minutes the boys and their enemies popped away at each other,
and then, from the opposite direction along the ravine, came the sound
of galloping horses.

"Here come our friends!" cried Bart, joyfully. "We are all right now!
Those chaps will have to take to their heels."

Suddenly a sharp whistle rang through the ravine from above, and the
party below answered in a similar manner.

The boys looked at each other in astonishment.

"Shield yourselves as far as possible in both directions," cried Frank.
"If I am not mistaken, we have enemies above and below!"

Crouching behind the rocks, they saw the second party