st he conveyed his orders to the
master of the ranch, but Moreno himself had made no audible reply,
and, as was conjectured, had enjoined silence on his wife, for after
that outbreak she spoke no more.

"I've got this approach covered anyhow," muttered the veteran. "Now if
I only had men to watch those doors into the corral, I could pen
Moreno and whatever he has here at his back. It's that gang of
hell-hounds we passed at Ceralvo's that will pay us a call before
morning, or I'm a duffer."

Once again he found the paymaster wearily, anxiously patrolling his
self-assumed post out beyond the westward wall. The presence of common
danger, the staff official's forgetfulness of self and his funds in
his determination to aid the wretched women whom he firmly believed to
have been run off by the Apaches, had won from the sergeant the
tribute of more respectful demeanor, even though he held the story of
the raid to be an out-and-out lie.

"Any signs or sounds yet, sir?" he questioned in muffled tone.

"Why, I thought--just a moment ago--I heard something like the crack
of a whip far out there on the plain."

"That's mighty strange, sir; no stage is due coming east until
to-morrow night, and no stage would dare pull out on this stretch in
face of the warning there at Picacho."

"Well, it may have been imagination. My nerves are all unused to this
sort of thing. How do you work this affair when you want to reload,
sergeant? I'm blessed if I understand it. I never carried a revolver
before in my life."

Feeny took the glistening, nickel-plated Smith & Wessen, clicked the
hammer to the safety-notch, tested the cylinder springs, and, touching
the lever, showed his superior by the feel rather than sight how the
perfect mechanism was made to turn on its hinge and thrust the emptied
shells from their chamber.

"The Lord grant we may have no call to shoot to-night, sir, but I
misdoubt the whole situation. That fire's beginning to wear itself out
already, and any minute I look to hear the hoof-beats of the Morales
gang, surrounding us here on every side. If they'll only hold off till
towards morning and I can brace up these two poor devils they've
poisoned, we can stand 'em off a while until our fellows begin to
come back or Lieutenant Drummond hears of the gathering."

"And do you still believe there are no Apaches in this business?"
asked the major.

"Not out north or west, sir; they're thick enough ahead in the Santa
Mari