seen Lessard fall, for at
the crack of MacRae's gun men and horses, already half-hidden by the
thickening smoke, vanished into the brush. Piegan fired one ineffectual
shot as they flicked out of sight. So far we had seen nothing of Lyn. I
was satisfied she was not in the party, unaccountable as that seemed to
be.

"Darn 'em," Piegan grunted disgustedly. "They're next, now. An' they
don't aim t' run the gantlet till they have t'. We got 'em penned,
anyway; they can't get out uh that patch uh brush without showin'
themselves."

"Oh, Piegan!" MacRae called to us. He lay within easy shouting-distance,
and managed to make himself heard without rising.

"Hello!" Piegan answered.

"Can you fellows keep them from going up the canyon?"

"I reckon we can," Smith called back, "unless this smoke gets so blame
thick we kain't see at all."

"All right. I'm going up on top, and throw it into them from above.
Maybe I can drive them out of the brush."

Piegan slapped me on the shoulder. "Darn our fool hearts," he exclaimed.
"We ought to 'a' thought uh that before. Why, he c'n pick 'em off like
blackbirds on a fence, from up there on the bench!"

We did not see MacRae go, but we knew that he must have crawled through
the sage-brush to the creek channel, where, by stooping, he could gain
the mouth of the canyon unseen. Anyway, our time was fully occupied in
watching the brush-patch that sheltered our plundering friends. They
held close to their concealment, however, nor did they waste any powder
on us--for that matter, I don't think they knew just where we were, and
they were familiar enough with the gentle art of bushwhacking to
realize that the open was a distinctly unhealthy place for either party
to prospect.

It was a long time till we heard from MacRae again, and, lying there
passively, we grew afraid that after all they would give us the slip;
for the smoke was now rolling in black clouds above the gorge. So far
the thickest of it had blown overhead, but any moment a change of wind
might whip it down the canyon bottom like an ocean fog, and that would
mean good-by to Hicks & Co.

"That fire's mighty close, an' comin' on the jump," Piegan remarked,
with an upward glance. "I wish she'd let up long enough for us t' finish
this job. That smoke's as good as they want, once it begins t' settle in
the gorge. What in thunder d'yuh s'pose Mac's doin' all this time. He
ought t' show pretty quick, now."

He showed, as Piegan pu