re was a small room well
stocked with rifles and ammunition. This was wise precaution of Mr.
Merrill's, who, knowing the Mexican character to a T, had insisted on
this room being provided in case of strikes or other difficulties.

The store of arms was drawn upon freely, and each of the defenders had
a spare rifle at his side. The weapons were piled by their respective
holes while the besieged awaited the attack. But a hasty dinner was
prepared on the coal-oil stove Of the office, and eaten and digested
before there came any move on the part of Madero's men.

Through the peep-holes a casual inspection showed nothing outside but
the hillside sloping away from the mine, with here and there a clump of
bushes or small, scrubby trees. But every once in a while the grass
would stir, or a clump of bushes would be agitated strangely, as some
concealed form crept up yet closer to the stockade. Evidently, as Buck
had said, the intention of Madero was to "rush" the place.

The mining village now seemed deserted, except for a few forms of women
and children which could be seen flitting about. Evidently most of the
men had joined the insurrectos, hoping to have a share in the loot when
the time came.

"Say, Geisler!" exclaimed Buck Bradley suddenly, "got any steam in the
boiler?"

"Ches. Aboudt forty or fifty pounds. Der fires vos banked. Pud vy?"

"Oh, nothing. I've just got a little plan in my head. Now, Jack,
suppose you and I take a little run to the boiler room and look about
us a bit."

The boy was glad of anything to do to relieve the tension of waiting
for the attack that didn't come. He gladly accompanied the
self-reliant Westerner to the boiler house. They found, as Geisler had
said, that in one of the boilers steam was still up.

"Now let's take a look around here, sonny," said Buck, glancing about
the walls as if in search of something. "Ah! Here we are, that will
do."

He pounced on a big reel of fire hose attached to the wall, as he spoke.

"Fine! Couldn't be better," he continued, as he rapidly unwound it.
"Why, there must be fifty feet or more here. Now let's see. Where is
the blow-off valve of this boiler?"

"This is it, isn't it?" asked Jack, indicating a valve, with
wheel-controlled outlet near the base of the boiler.

"That's it. Now then for a monkey wrench and then we are all ready to
give those greasers the surprise of their lives in case they try an
attack upon this side of t