"move a little lively, boys," added the captain, spurring his horse to a faster gait; "there'll be some shooting, and they're closer than they ought to be."
by a providential coincidence, the whole party of rustlers halted before ascending the ridge, which would give them a view of the building in which the stockmen were about to make a stand. they probably saw the impossibility of overtaking the fugitives by a direct pursuit, and paused to decide upon some different course of action.
this was proven by what they did a few minutes later, for they separated into two divisions, one turning to the right and the other to the left. they seemed to think that the course of their enemies must change soon, in which case there was a chance of heading them off and bringing them between two fires. the rustlers were more familiar with the country than the stockmen, and, had the chase continued, it is likely it would have resulted as they expected.
but, strangely enough, these people forgot the whitney home, upon which it may be said the horsemen stumbled the next moment.
down the ridge rode the dozen or more, hawkridge, sterry and capt. asbury at the head, with the others almost upon their heels. in the brisk morning air the frightened jennie whitney hastened to the door and gazed wonderingly upon the party.
she recognized the handsome youth, who doffed his hat, a courtesy instantly imitated by hawkridge, the captain, and then the rest of the men, as they halted in front of the door, where stood the pale and startled mother, at a loss to understand the meaning of the strange sight.
"good-morning!" called sterry. "where's fred?"
"he's on the range with the men, looking after the cattle."
"and are you and your mother alone?"
"we are the only ones in the house. what is the meaning of all this?" she asked, looking with astonishment at the horsemen.
"we are pursued by a company of rustlers," replied hawkridge; "they are directly behind us; i started to lead our friends to my ranch, but they headed us off, and we were compelled to apply here for shelter."
"you are welcome," mrs. whitney hastened to say; "dismount and come in as soon as you can."
sterry, hawkridge and capt. asbury thanked her simultaneously. time was beyond value. they expected every instant to hear the crack of the rifles and the shouts of their enemies on the crest of the ridge, and could not comprehend why they were delayed.
they dashed to the structure at the rear and a short distance from the dwelling, into which they ran their horses, slipped off their trappings, and hurried back to the house.
every one was inside and not a shot fired, nor was a rustler seen. it was beyond explanation.
but the stockmen were wise enough to turn to the best account the grace thus given to them.
they stationed themselves at the front and rear doors and windows with loaded weapons, on the alert to wing the first rustler who showed himself.
sterry found time to exchange a few words with jennie and her mother.
"it is too bad," he said, "to put you to this trouble and danger; but the rustlers outnumber us more than two to one, and it was the only hope that offered itself."
"and glad am i that it did present itself. o, if my poor husband had been here when they attacked him!"
"when do you expect the return of fred?"
"not before night, and the hands may not come with him. he does not dream of anything like this."
"nor did we, a little while ago. had any other refuge presented itself we would have seized it; but i never suspected we were near your home until we came over the ridge and saw it but a few rods away."
"but, where are they?" asked the wondering jennie.
"that's something i don't understand, for they were near enough for their bullets to whistle about our ears."
"they have seen where you took shelter and are afraid to attack you."
"that may be; but why don't they show themselves?"
at this moment capt. asbury approached. repeating his regrets that they should place their friends in such danger, he said:
"as there is no saying how long we shall have to stay here, we ought to learn the nature of our defences. our horses are in the stables, where, if the rustlers choose, they can get them, and they will be pretty sure to choose to do it. they can steal to the rear of the sheds and take them out without risk. now, mrs. whitney, we have enough rations with us to last, in a pinch, for three or four days; how are you fixed?"
"we have but a small quantity of food in the house—none worth mentioning."
"no matter how slight, it is worth mentioning. under the circumstances, i think we can say we are provisioned for the whole time of the siege, which must be over in less than a week."
"but how will it end?" asked the lady.
the captain shrugged his shoulders.
"take no thought of the morrow; but what worries me is the question of water—how about that?"
a hurried examination disclosed that there was not quite two pailfuls in the house. even that was more than usual. the small stream from which the supply was obtained was beyond the stables in which the horses were sheltered. water from that source was out of the question while the siege continued.
several of the men had a small quantity in their canteens, but, inasmuch as no such contingency as this was anticipated, little preparation had been made.
still capt. asbury expressed himself gratified at the result of his investigation. the weather was so cool that a moderate amount of the precious fluid would prevent suffering, and he decided that, dispensing with what ordinarily was used for cooking purposes, they could get along quite well for three days, and possibly longer.
the lower part of the flat building consisted of two parts, used respectively for the kitchen and the dining and sitting-room. there were four apartments above—one for the parents, one each for the son and daughter, and one for visitors. these, of course, would be held sacred for the members of the family, while the others found sleep, as opportunity presented, below stairs.
there were windows on all sides of the house; and the structure, while not strong, was, of course, bullet-proof.
before all this was ascertained the rustlers showed themselves. but instead of appearing on the ridge, over which the cattlemen had ridden, half of them showed themselves on the other side, having circled around back of the stables.
a moment later the rest were observed on top of the ridge. thus, with the exception of the broad level plain stretching in the direction of the big horn mountains, it may be said that the ranch was surrounded by the rustlers, who held the stockmen at bay.
what would be the result? none could foresee.
hawkridge drew sterry aside and said, in a guarded undertone:
"there is only one thing to be feared."
"what is that?"
"it is easy for them to burn this building."
"do you think they will do that, when they know a couple of women are inside?"
"it doesn't follow that there is any necessity of their being burned, nor indeed of any of us suffering from fire. when you touch off a barn the rats get out, and that's what we shall have to do."
"but they will give us a chance, first."
"yes, a chance to surrender, and we might have done that without putting ourselves to all this trouble."
"and suppose we do surrender, after making the best fight we can—what are likely to be the terms offered?"
"they will treat the majority, including myself, as prisoners of war; but capt. asbury, and probably you, will be excepted—he because of the killing of perkins last night, and you because you have disregarded the warning to leave the country when ordered to do so."
"all of which is mighty interesting to the captain and myself," remarked sterry, with little evidence of fear; "but we will hope for better things."
