THE FIGHT IN THE HOUSE.
"I'm ready for them!" shouted Ivan, from his position behind the
broken door.
He stood well back in the darkness, out of sight from beyond the house.
All was quiet and dark within, for with the appearance of the first of
the enemy Chester had extinguished the light. The figures of the
approaching Bulgarians were plainly visible to Chester and Helen through
the windows. Ivan and Colonel Anderson, of course, could not see them,
although they would have been visible to the former had he a mind to take
a chance and expose himself to their view.
As the men approached, Chester counted them. Then he announced:
"Thirteen, I make them."
"My count, too," agreed Helen from her window.
There was not a tremor in her voice now and she seemed totally unlike
the frightened girl Chester had first seen. She held her revolver
steadily in her right hand, a pile of ammunition heaped up in the window
sill before her.
The men came on briskly, absolutely unaware of the rude welcome that
awaited them.
"Let them get close enough so we can't miss, then I'll hold a parley with
them," said Chester.
When the men were less than fifty yards from the house, Chester raised
his voice and called out sternly in Russian:
"Halt there!"
The Bulgarians halted in their tracks and gazed about in surprise. To the
best of their knowledge there could be no one in the house but the girl,
and this sudden hail in a male voice made them pause.
"What do you want here?" demanded Chester from his shelter.
There was a hurried consultation among the enemy; then one man called:
"We want to get in."
"You can't get in," returned Chester calmly.
There was a roar of laughter from without.
"Did you hear that?" said one. "He says we can't get in." The man called
to Chester: "And who is going to stop us?"
"You'll find there are enough of us here for that purpose," replied the
lad evenly. "I warn you we'll shoot the next step forward you take."
Again those without held a consultation and Chester could barely make out
the trend of the conversation.
"Perhaps they are too many for us," said one.
"Nonsense," was the reply of another. "He's simply trying to frighten us
away. We'll rush the two windows and the doors at the same time. Some of
us will get in."
"All right. Whatever you say--"
"Come on then."
The men split up suddenly into four separate bodies and rushed forward.
"Let 'em have it," said Chester quietly.
His revolver spoke at the same moment as did that of Helen and two men
stumbled as they ran. One recovered himself instantly and came on, but
the other pitched forward to the ground.
Colonel Anderson, at the rear door, remained at his post. There was
nothing he could do until the enemy attempted to force the door.
Ivan, however, stepped quickly from his place of concealment and standing
erect in the doorway fired point blank at the four men who came dashing
toward him. One threw up his hands with a cry and a second muttered a
fierce imprecation. Ivan emptied his revolver and then dashed back to
safety even as a fusillade was fired at him. The Cossack was untouched.
He smiled grimly to himself.
"Not so bad," he muttered.
He reloaded in haste and again stepped into the open. The men before his
post, the three who remained upon their feet, were directly in front of
the door and all fired simultaneously as Ivan showed himself. The big
Cossack felt a stinging sensation in his left arm, but he did not pause
to investigate the wound.
Again he raised his weapon quickly and fired its contents toward his
foes. But Ivan's aim was poor--or he had fired without aiming--for not a
bullet went home. Again Ivan dodged back just in time.
The men who had advanced toward the two windows had been driven off by
Helen and Chester. Two of their number lay on the ground and two of the
others were nursing wounded arms. Out of revolver-shot they stopped and
discussed the situation.
In the rear, the men who had attacked there were even now knocking at the
door with their revolver butts. Chester heard Colonel Anderson's voice:
"Get away from there, or I shall fire through the door."
There came a loud report and Chester believed for a moment the colonel
had been as good as his word. But he was soon undeceived.
"They've blown the lock off the door," cried the colonel. "Guess they'll
try to rush me now."
"You guard both these windows for a moment," said Chester. "I'll lend
Anderson a hand."
He hurried back and arrived just in time to see the door swing inward.
Colonel Anderson, across the room from the door, stood in the shadow,
waiting for the first of the enemy to show himself.
The door swung back violently and the men appeared in the opening in a
body. Chester and Colonel Anderson fired almost together. Came hoarse
cries from the attackers and a moment later the doorway was cleared.
Immediately Chester and the colonel hurled their weight against it,
closing it again.
"Safe for a minute," said Chester.
He hastened back to where he had left Helen and arrived just in time to
see the girl fire her revolver at a figure that dashed toward the house.
The man did not falter. Apparently the girl's aim had been bad. The man
dashed to the very side of the house and took his stand directly under
the window.
Chester poked his head out to see if he could pick the man off and as he
did so his cap leaped from his head. The lad heard something whiz by. He
withdrew his head quickly.
"Just missed me," he said quietly.
Now three forms came dashing toward the house, running in a
zig-zag course.
"See if you can get one of them," cried Chester to the girl.
He took deliberate aim himself and fired. One man dropped.
Helen also fired--twice, but the other two men came on and joined the
first arrival under the edge of the window.
"Great Scott! This won't do," said Chester. "We can't have those fellows
under there. We'll have to get them out some way."
At that moment Colonel Anderson's voice rang out:
"Here they come again."
Chester dashed back. Again the door swung inward and two faces appeared,
revolvers leveled before them. They fired even as they came in sight and
Colonel Anderson tumbled over with a sharp cry.
"They got me," he said in a faint voice.
"And I got one of them!" shouted Chester as one of the Bulgarians hit the
floor with a thud.
The other withdrew his head before Chester could fire again.
Chester raised his voice and called to Helen:
"How are you making it?"
"All right," the girl called back. "Haven't seen any one since you left."
"Can you hold both windows?" demanded Chester.
"I think so. Why?"
"Anderson has been hit. I'll have to stand guard here. Pass the word to
Ivan, will you? Tell him of the men under the window. He may be able to
help you out."
The girl did as Chester ordered.
Helen, standing close to the window, allowed her revolver to rest on
the sill. In the darkness, a hand appeared from below and grasped the
weapon by the barrel and wrenched it from her grasp before she could
pull the trigger.
Helen screamed.
"What's the matter?" cried Chester anxiously.
"I've lost my gun," said the girl. "And here they come in the window!"
"I'm coming!" cried Chester, and started forward.
But another figure beat him. It was the giant form of Ivan.
"You stand here," he said sternly. "Guard both doors and the windows as
you value your lives. I'll attend to the others."
He moved toward the shattered door without another word.
"Where are you going?" demanded Chester anxiously.
Ivan disappeared without making reply.
At that moment one of the men who had succeeded in forcing the rear door
came dashing through the house. He held his revolver ready, but he didn't
see Chester quickly enough. Chester raised his own weapon and took a
snapshot. The man threw up both arms and staggered back. Immediately
Chester leaped forward and possessed himself of the other's revolver,
which he passed to Helen.
A second form appeared in the doorway and fired at Chester. But the lad
had perceived his opponent just in time to leap back and the bullet went
wild. Bringing his own revolver forward in deliberate aim, Chester
dropped the other with a single shot.
"Look!" cried Helen from the window at this moment.
Chester did so and saw the remainder of the Bulgarians coming toward the
house at a dead run. He put his revolver out the window and fired twice.
Helen did the same.
But both had fired too quickly and all the bullets went wide. The men
pulled up under the window, out of the range of fire from within, safely
enough, and Chester and Helen could hear them talking.
"We'll wait here," said one. "Somebody'll show his head pretty quick and
when he does, we'll get him."
Chester motioned to Helen to move back from the window.
"What are you going to do?" she asked in some anxiety.
"Have you any hot water?" asked Chester suddenly.
"Why, yes," cried the girl and clapped her hands, "There is a kettle on
the stove."
"You remain here while I get it," said Chester briefly.
He dashed into the kitchen and was back in a moment with the large kettle
of hot water in both hands. He motioned the girl away from the window.
The lad lifted the kettle to the sill with an effort, and then gauging
the position of the enemy by the sound of the voices without, he
tilted it over.
Came furious cries of pain from without as the boiling water found
its mark. Then there came a different sort of cry. Chester looked
out quickly.
From the front door dashed Ivan and bore down upon the foe.