'm behind you. You can't hide any
longer. I give you fair warning that if you don't come out within a
minute, throwin' your guns away an' holdin' up your hands, I'll pick
you off, one by one! That goes!"

There was sincerity in Sanderson's voice, but the men doubted.
Sanderson saw them look around, but it was plain to him that they could
not tell from which direction his voice came.

"Bluffin'!" scoffed a man who was in plain view of Sanderson; the very
man, indeed, upon whom Sanderson had his rifle trained.

"Bluffin', eh?" replied Sanderson grimly. "I've got a bead on you. At
the end of one minute--if you don't toss your guns away and step out,
holdin' up your hands, I'll bore you--plenty!"

Half a minute passed and the man did not move. He was crouching, and
his gaze swept the edge of the fissure from which Sanderson's voice
seemed to come. His face was white, his eyes wide with the fear of
death.

Just when it seemed that Sanderson must shoot to make his statement and
threat convincing, the man shouted:

"This game's too certain--for me, I'm through!"

He threw his weapons away, so that they went bounding and clattering to
the foot of the slope. Then he again faced the fissure, shouting:

"I know I've caved, an' you know I've caved. But what about them guys
on the other side, there? They'll be blowin' me apart if I go to
showin' myself."

Sanderson called to Williams and the others, telling them the men were
going to surrender, and warning them to look out for treachery.

"If one of them tries any monkey-shines, nail him!" he ordered.
"There's eleven of them that ain't been touched--an' some more that
ain't as active as they might be. But they can bend a gun handy
enough. Don't take any chances!"

Sanderson ordered the man to step out. He did so, gingerly, as though
he expected to be shot. When he was in plain view of Sanderson's men,
Sanderson ordered him to descend the slope and stand beside a huge rock
ledge. He watched while the man descended; then he called to the
others:

"Step up an' take your medicine! One at a time! Guns first.
Williams!" he called. "You get their guns as fast as they come down.
I'll see that none of them plug you while you're doin' it!"

There was no hitch in the surrender; and no attempt to shoot Williams.
One by one the men dropped their weapons down the slope.

When all the men had reached the bottom of the defile Sanderson climbed
down and asked the