CHAPTER XXXV.--A NIGHT BATTLE.
Sam was astonished when he heard the rifles banging away on the eastside of the rock.
He had been looking for a direct attack and so could not understand thismove.
"What can they mean; they are certainly bad, but they are not suchdownright fools as to think they can do us any harm from that quarter,"said Sam, thinking aloud rather than asking for the opinion of hiscompanions.
"Mistah Sam."
"Yes, Ike."
"I ken hear de bullets a whistlin' ober head, an' it do 'peah ez ef deywas comin' lower down."
"W'at mattle if dey no comee low nuff down to hult? Let 'em singee,lat's alle lite," grunted Wah Shin, as he crouched closer to the rock,and hugged to his breast a big stone, which he intended to use to thebest advantage when the proper time came.
Sam Willett was by instinct a soldier.
This useless attack had a purpose in it, and he was not long in reachinga right conclusion.
To encourage Ike and Wah Shin, he gave them the benefit of hisreasoning.
"That firing, off there, is all a dodge," he said.
"Tink dey're shootin' foh fun, Mistah Sam?"
"No, Ike, they are in dead earnest, but their object is to take ourattention away from the point of danger."
"De odder side."
"Yes; the attack will be made along the trail leading from the ground tothe top of the rock, and we must be prepared for it," said Sam.
Nothing could be gained by heeding the riflemen.
All his sight and strength must now be used to watch and guard the onlyascent by which their position could be reached without the highestscaling ladders, and of such mechanical appliances there was no danger.
Sam placed Ike and Wah Shin in position again, and whispered to them notto hurl a stone till he gave the word.
This done he brought his rifle to a half cock, and making sure that hiscartridges were within reach, he knelt down with the muzzle of his guncovering the trail.
The dry, still air carried every sound.
Though Badger and Shirley moved with the stealth of Indians, yet theirlabored breathing, and, now and then, the fall of their feet came toSam's ears.
He was sure he could hear two men whispering under the rocks. He took afirmer hold of his rifle and tried to look through the intense darknessthat covered the route by which the attack must be made.
The strain of that long wait was more trying to strength and couragethan would have been a prompt attack.
Five, ten, fifteen minutes passed, and still the riflemen to the eastkept up their desultory, but harmless firing.
The darkness that added to the difficulties of the defense, was not agreat advantage to the attacking party.
Badger was in the advance, groping with his hands for the trail, and notdaring to strike a light, for fear of making it the target for Sam.
"Keep close behind," whispered Badger to Shirley, who, as they crept on,showed a decided disposition to lag to the rear.
"Have you found the trail, Badger?"
"I think so."
"Is it steep?"
"Hist, man, don't talk, but foller close up. Here's the place where webegin to climb. Mind, it's no fool of a job to get to the top at thebest of times," said Badger, as he began the ascent on hands and knees.
Shirley, trembling in every limb, came close after, his fears somewhatallayed by the comforting thought that Badger's huge form would shieldhim from any bullets that might be fired down.
Sam was on the alert. The sounds about the place died out, and thestillness added to the painful intensity of the situation.
Unable longer to control his feelings, Ike bent down and whispered:
"Say, Mistah Sam."
"What is it, Ike?"
"Dis yar's gittin' ticklish."
"Yes; be still."
Unmindful of this injunction, Ike continued:
"Somet'ing got to be did mighty soon, or dis chile can't stan' destrain."
"Wait."
"But it's time to heab de rocks."
"Not till I give the word."
"But as I'm a sinner I can heah 'em!"
"Where?"
"Right close by----"
Ike's sentence, was cut short by the flash and crack of a pistol firedby a man not twenty feet away.
With a "spat" the bullet splintered against the rocks a few feet aboveSam's head.
The time for immediate action had come.
"Now, boys!" shouted Sam, in ringing tones.
By the flash of his own rifle he saw the forms of two men on the trailoutside the wall he had thrown up.
With the strength of desperation, Ike and Wah Shin rose to their feetand began hurling stones into the path, while Sam fired as rapidly as hecould throw shells into the breech of his rifle.
In less time than it takes to record the act, the defenders knew thatthe assault had been a failure.
Oaths, groans and the crashing of bodies, two score feet below, toldthat Badger and Shirley did not retreat of their own volition, but inaccordance with the one law which they could not violate, viz.:gravitation.
Cries for help went up from the base of the rock, and the two men whohad been indulging in harmless rifle practice hastened to the relief oftheir less fortunate companions.
"Hello, boys, any one hurt?" asked one.
"Hurt!" groaned Badger. "They've done for me."
"Oh, I guess not. Let us get a light and see how things is," said thelandlord.
"Don't make a light," protested Shirley.
"Why not?"
"Because they'll fire at it."
"No, but go up and clean them fellows out. I could die happy if I knowedyou'd cleaned 'em out," gasped Badger.
"Wa'al," said the landlord, "you can't expect me to go up there and tryto do anything after the fist you two have made of it. I don't mindanything in reason, but that's axin' a leetle too much."
"Something must be done, and at once," said Frank Shirley.
"What do you want done?" asked the landlord, already heartily sick ofthe undertaking.
"I am hurt as well as Badger."
"Sorry for that."
"And you two must help us on our horses and get us away from here."
"Of course we'll stick by you," said the landlord. "But atween you andme and the rock, Mr. Shirley, I kinder think, perhaps, it mout bebetter, if so be you steered cl'ar of Hurley's Gulch for awhile----"
The man stopped suddenly, his attention being attracted by the barkingof a dog in the distance.