ally vigilant.
The place was a natural trap. It had been built of roughly piled stone
and never entirely finished. Indians sometimes camped within the
inclosure. It was, however, empty of life, and the adventurers were
about to push on with the herd when the keen, roving eyes of Kid Wolf
spotted something suspicious on the north horizon. He held his hand
aloft, signaling a stop.

"Heah they come, boys!" he cried. "We'll have to stand 'em off heah!"

They had been expecting it, and they were hardly surprised or
unprepared. They were favored, too, in having such a place for
defense. Save for the low walls of the abandoned corral, there was no
cover worth mentioning for miles. Among the cool-eyed five who
prepared to make their stand, there was not one who hadn't faced death
before and often. But never had the odds been more against them. They
had slipped through the toils before, but now they were tightening
again.

Watching the riders as they grew larger against the sky, they could
count two dozen of them. There was no use to hide. They could not
conceal the cattle herd, and the Hardy gang would surely investigate.
Already they were veering in their course, riding directly toward the
stone corral.

"Aweel," muttered Scotty, lapsing into his Scotch dialect for the
moment, "there isn't mooch doot about how this thing will end. But I'm
a-theenkin' we'll make it a wee bit hot for 'em before they get us!"

"Right yuh are, Scotty," said Tip savagely. "I'm goin' to try and pick
Hardy out o' that gang o' killers, and if I do, I don't care much then
what happens."

The prisoners had been herded within the corral, and their feet were
lashed together.

"Yuh'll soon be listenin' to bullets," Caldwell told them. "Yuh'd
better pray that yore pals shoot straight and don't hit you by mistake."

The Hardy gang had seen them! They saw the riders check their horses
and then spread out in a cautious circle.

"Hardy ain't with 'em," sang out White, who had sharp eyes.

"They seem to be all there but him!" snapped Tip in disappointment.
"The coward's stayed behind!"

A bullet suddenly buzzed viciously over the corral and kicked up a
shower of clods behind it. And as if this first shot were signal, a
shattering volley rang out from the oncoming riders. Bits of stone and
bursts of sand flew up from the low stone breastworks.

"We got yuh this time!" one of the rustlers shouted. "We're givin' yuh
one chance to