is hooting of an owl; but, somehow, this sound was different.
Once more her heart thumped wildly against her ribs. Her fists
clenched, and she peered tensely toward the wall of the scrub timber
that showed silent and black and impenetrable in the little light of
the stars. Again the portentous silence and then--was it fancy, or
were there shapes, stealthy, elusive, shadowy, moving along the wall of
the intense blackness?

A light suddenly flashed from the window of the storehouse. It
disappeared. The great door banged sharply, and out of the blackness
sounded a rush of moccasined feet, padding the earth as they ran.

From the edge of the timber--from the direction of the shadowy
shapes--came a long, thin spurt of flame, and the silence was broken by
the roar of a smooth-bore rifle. The next instant the roar was
increased tenfold, and from the loopholes high on the walls of the
storehouse flashed other thin red spurts of flame.

Terror-stricken, Chloe dashed for the cottage. Along the entire length
of the timber-line, spikes of flame belched forth, and the crash and
roar of rifles drowned the rush of the moccasin feet. A form dashed
past her in the darkness, and then another, forcing Chloe from the
path. The terrified girl realized that these forms were speeding
straight for the door of the cottage. Her first thought was for
MacNair. He would be murdered as he slept.

She redoubled her efforts, feeling blindly in the darkness for the path
that led toward the square of light. In her ears sounded the sharp
jangle of smashing glass. Her foot caught in a vine, and she crashed
heavily forward almost at the door. All about her guns roared; from
the edge of the scrub, from the river-bank, and from the corners of the
long log dormitories. Bullets whined above her like angry mosquitoes,
and thudded dully against the logs of the cottage.

Again sounded the sharp jangle of glass. She struggled to her knees,
and was hurled backward as the huge form of an Indian tripped over her
and sprawled, cursing, at her side. The door of the cottage burst
suddenly open, and in the long quadrangle of light the forms of the two
Indians who had passed her stood out distinctly. The girl gave a
quick, short sob of relief. They were LeFroy's Indians! At the sound
the man on the ground thrust his face close to hers and with a quick
grunt of surprise scrambled to his feet. Chloe felt her arm seized,
and realized that she was bei