The men who had lighted the
fires would have circled about to come upon him from the other side.
He was right. As he thrust his head above the top of the bank he saw
two figures running in the direction that he had judged they would
take. He pulled himself up. A loosened rock rolled noisily into the
gulch. They heard it and stopped. He knew when they saw him and knew
who they were as he heard them call to each other. They were Ed True
and Monte Devine. And Ed True, as he called, whipped out his revolver
and fired.

'He's on this side, Bettins,' called Monte loudly. 'Take your time.'

He had not fired nor had Howard. Ed True, however, lacked the cool
nerve and emptied his revolver. Monte cursed him for a fool.

'You couldn't hit a barn that far off in this light,' he shouted.
'Take your time, can't you?'

Howard's lips tightened. That was Monte Devine for you. Steady and
cool as a rock.

'We've got the best of you, Al,' called Monte warningly. 'Better crawl
out while you got the chance.'

'Go to hell!' Howard told him succinctly. And knowing that the man had
been right when he had said you couldn't hit a barn at that distance
and in that light, he came forward suddenly. For in a little the
burning grass would be behind him and outlined against it the target of
his body would be a mark for anybody to hit.

Suddenly, having reloaded, True fired again. But he was not so hurried
now. He fired once and waited. This time the bullet had not flown so
far afield as the first shots; Howard heard its shrill cleaving of the
air. He saw that Monte was moving to one side. Again he understood
the man's intention. Monte planned to put him between two fires.
Howard jerked up his own gun.

The two explosions came simultaneously, his and Monte's. There was a
brief silence. Plainly no bullet had yet found its mark. True fired
again. His bullet whined by and Howard realized that the man was
coming closer every time. He turned a little and, 'taking his time,'
as Monte was doing, answered True's fire. There was a little squeal of
pain from True, a grunt of satisfaction from Howard, a second shot from
Monte. Howard saw that True had spun about and fallen. He saw,
further, that Monte had come a step nearer and had stopped. In a
little Bettins would be to reckon with. It was still close enough for
a chance hit, too far for absolute accuracy. Walking slowly, realizing
that he had but four shots left and th