JUST IN TIME.
Bending as closely to the floor of the cabin as he could, the Texan
advanced until directly in front of the crackling fire, when he reached
up with his Winchester, which was grasped near the muzzle. By this means
he placed the stock directly beneath the two weapons resting on the deer
antlers.
With a deftness that would hardly have been expected, he raised both
guns until their stocks were lifted clear off their support, when he
began gently lowering them, so as to bring them within his reach. He
might have flirted them free by a single quick movement and let them
fall upon the floor; but he wished to avoid this, since he ran the risk
of injuring them.
None knew better than Avon Burnet the great danger of this apparently
simple act on the part of his uncle. The chances were so immeasurably in
favor of his discovery that he was certain it would take place. While
the wife and servant held their breath in a torture of suspense, the
youth, with his cocked rifle firmly grasped, stole softly along the side
of the cabin until close to the door. In reaching the spot, he stooped
so as to move beyond the first opening, the proceeding placing him
between the windows, with his left elbow against the heavy door.
In this situation his nerves were at the highest tension. Everything was
in plain sight, but he was listening intently to the movements of his
enemies. He heard the sounds of the mustangs' hoofs, as they circled
swiftly about the cabin, sometimes turning quickly upon themselves, and
at varying distances from the structure. Now and then one or two of the
horsemen would rein up abruptly, as if striving to peer through the
openings, or about to apply for admission.
It may seem incredible, but there is no reason to doubt the fact that,
at the moment Captain Shirril began cautiously reaching upward with his
weapon, the youth heard one of the Comanches slip down from the back of
his mustang and approach the door. His hand moved softly over the rough
surface, as though searching for the latch string, which was generally
hanging out; and, finding it not, he began stealing to the window just
beyond.
This was the very thing Avon dreaded above all others, for it was
inevitable that he should detect the figure of the Texan operating so
guardedly in front of the fire.
Such proved to be the fact. Whether the youth actually observed the
action of the Indian, or whether he fancied he heard him moving along
the side of the house, cannot be said with certainty; but a faint rustle
in front of the shattered glass made known that the dusky miscreant was
there, and had detected the stratagem of the Texan, who at that moment
was in the act of lowering the gun from the deer's prongs over the
mantel.
His uncle was so clearly in his field of vision that, without looking at
him, Avon did not miss the slightest movement, but his whole attention
was fixed on the window, and it was well it was so.
"Look! look! Avon, do you see that?"
It was his aunt who uttered the terrified question with a gasp, as she
pointed at the narrow opening.
The youth had observed the object which appalled the lady; the muzzle of
a gun was slowly gliding through the window.
Captain Shirril had been discovered, and the Comanche was fixing his
weapon in position to fire a fatal shot. He might have stood back a
couple of paces and discharged it without revealing his presence, but a
better aim could be secured by thrusting a few inches of the barrel into
the room.
At the instant the dark muzzle showed itself and the gleam of the
firelight was reflected from it, Avon leaned his own rifle against the
door at his side, quickly drew his revolver from the holster at his hip,
sprang forward like a cat, and seizing the muzzle of the gun threw it
upward toward the ceiling.
It was done in the nick of time, for the Comanche pressed the trigger
just then, and the bullet which, had Avon's action been delayed a single
moment, would have killed Captain Shirril, was buried in the timbers
overhead.
The daring act brought the youth directly in front of the window, where
for the instant he was exposed to any shot from the outside.
As he made the leap he saw the face of the warrior, agleam with paint
and distorted with passion, but slightly flustered by the unaccountable
occurrence. Before he could recover, and at the same instant, Avon
darted his revolver through the shattered window pane and let fly with
two chambers in quick succession. An ear-splitting screech and a heavy
fall left little doubt of the success of the daring act. The Comanche
had not only been hit, but hit hard.
Although startled by the noise and flurry, Captain Shirril was too much
of a veteran to be taken at fault. His big right hand closed around the
two weapons for which he had run all this risk, and partly straightening
up, he bounded to the rear of the little room with three rifles secure
in his grasp, and with not a hair of his head harmed.
Avon was as much on the alert as he, and reached the shelter at the same
moment.
"It was confoundedly more risky than I supposed," remarked the captain,
with a smile and a shake of his head, "but all's well that ends well; I
guess you dropped him, my boy."
"I shouldn't wonder, for I couldn't have had a better chance," was the
modest reply of the youth.
"It was one of the neatest things I ever saw, and I'm proud of you,"
exclaimed his relative, slapping him affectionately on the shoulder. "I
said you would count as a full hand on the trip to Kansas, but at this
rate you'll add up double."
Avon blushed as he used to do in school, when his teacher praised him
for excellent lessons, and made no answer, but the eyes of his aunt
kindled with love for the brave fellow who, by his readiness of
resource, had saved her husband's life. Even Dinah, with whom he had
always been a favorite, added an expression of affection for the boy who
had done so well.
There were now two men and two women within the Texan's cabin, and each
held a trusty weapon, while there was plenty of ammunition for all. It
might well be asked, therefore, what cause they had for alarm.
Outside were a dozen or more savage Comanches, who are among the finest
horsemen in the world, and who in fighting ability and bravery are
surpassed by none, unless the Apaches of the Southwest.
It was a piece of daring on the part of these dusky raiders thus to
attack the cabin, when they knew how well it was defended. Captain
Shirril was probably right in supposing they believed that he and his
nephew were with the rest of the cowboys, watching the herd five miles
away. Finding the couple in the cabin, they could not resist the
temptation to bring down the head of the household, after which they
must have supposed the rest would be an easy task.
But having failed, probably they would have withdrawn but for the shot
of Avon Burnet, that had brought down one of their best warriors, and
their well-known desire for revenge urged them to the most desperate
measures against the whites.
But a few minutes' whispered conference at the rear of the cabin brought
to light the fact that every one of our friends, including even Dinah,
understood that their peril was of the gravest nature conceivable.
The structure of the cabin was so thoroughly seasoned by its years of
exposure that it would be an easy matter for their assailants to set
fire to it, and that they would make the attempt was not to be doubted.
They always prepared for such action, and none knew better than they its
fearful effectiveness.
"We might reach the boys by means of the reports of our guns," said the
captain, "if the wind were not the wrong way, but they won't catch the
first sound, especially as they will have their hands full in looking
after the cattle."
"But dey will obsarve de light ob de fiah," suggested Dinah.
"Undoubtedly, but when they do see it," said her master, "it will be too
late to help us. They haven't a suspicion of anything of this kind; if
they had, they would be down here like so many cyclones."
"There is one way of letting them know," said Avon.
"What's that?"
"By carrying word to them, and _I'm going to try it_!"