tion would be in
the precise fashion of the last: that is to say, he did not suspect the
Indian, after ducking so promptly out of range, would pop up his head
again to invite a shot.

"He will appear at some other corner," was his conclusion, "which they
believe is unguarded."

His eyes had become so accustomed to the gloom that he could trace the
outlines of the eaves around the cabin, and he felt little fear,
therefore, of his enemies stealing upon him unawares. They might try it,
but he was confident of defeating their purpose at the very onset.

Another fear troubled him: having learned that he was on the roof, they
were likely to begin firing at it from a distance, raking the entire
surface so effectively that some of the bullets were quite sure to find
him. Prudence whispered to him to withdraw into the interior of the
cabin while the chance was his, but there was a stubborn streak in the
Texan's composition which caused him to hold his place. He had been
under fire so often that it seemed as if nothing could disturb his
coolness or ruffle his presence of mind, and he was so inured to
personal peril that he felt something of the old thrill of which he had
spoken earlier in the evening, when recalling his experience in the war
that had closed only a few years before.

But none of the expected shots came. He heard the sound of more than one
mustang's hoofs, and several signals between the warriors, but no one
sent a bullet skimming along the slope on which he lay looking and
listening, and on the alert for the first appearance of his assailants.

This led him to suspect that, after all, they were not certain of his
presence. It was sound and not sight that had caused the sudden
withdrawal of the warrior.

If this were the case, there was a greater probability of his showing up
again.

It is at such times that the minutes seem to have ten-fold their real
length. The Texan, after glancing closely along the rim of the roof, not
forgetting to take a peep over the peak, turned his gaze to the
northward, and listened for the sounds that were so long in coming. Not
the glimmer of a light showed in that direction, nor could he catch the
faintest sound of a galloping hoof, other than such as was made by the
mustangs of the Comanches near the building.

"Avon ought to have arrived before this, and the boys would not throw
away a second after learning the truth from him. He may have been
hindered, but----"

C