ised knife. He
was the same greaser who, weeks before, had played that trick about the
letter; and Buck's lips twitched grimly as he recognized him.

As the knife flashed downward, Stratton squirmed his body sidewise so that
the blade merely grazed one shoulder. Grasping the slim wrist, he twisted
it with brutal force, and the weapon clattered to the floor. An instant
later he had gripped the fellow about the body and, exerting all his
strength, hurled him across the table and straight through the near-by
window.

The sound of a shrill scream and the crash of shattered glass came
simultaneously. In the momentary, dead silence that followed, one could
have almost heard a pin drop.

CHAPTER XXVI

SHERIFF HARDENBERG INTERVENES

During that brief lull Buck found time to wonder why no one had sense
enough to use a gun to bring them down. But almost as swiftly the answer
came to him; they dared not risk the sound of a shot bringing interference
from without. He flashed a glance at Bud, who sagged panting against the
table, the fragments of a chair in his hands and a trickle of blood
running down his face. Somehow the sight of that blood turned Buck into a
raging savage.

"Come on, you damned coyotes!" he snarled. "Come and get yours."

For a brief space it looked as if no one had nerve enough to accept his
challenge, and Buck shot a sudden appraising glance toward the outer door,
between which and them their assailants crowded thickest. But before he
could plan a way to rush the throng, that same sharp voice sounded from
the rear which before had stirred the greasers into action, and six or
seven of them began to creep warily forward. Their movements were plainly
reluctant, however, and of a sudden Stratton gave a spring which carried
him within reaching distance of the two foremost. Gripping each by a
collar, he cracked their heads together thrice in swift succession, hurled
their limp bodies from him, grabbed another chair from the floor, and was
back beside Jessup before any of their startled companions had time to
stir.

"Now's the time to rush 'em, kid," he panted in Jessup's ear. "When I give
the word--"

He broke off abruptly as the front door was flung suddenly open and a
sharp, incisive, dominant voice rang through the room.

"What in hell 's doing here?"

For a fraction of a second the silence was intense. Then like a flash a
man leaped up and flung himself through the window, while three other