the exit of the rustlers, aroused by the lowing of the herd after it was put in motion; or even before?
Strange how a sly fox should venture so near the camp, even at this still hour of the night; or could that little bark have come from the lips of the Indian, to serve as a signal?
“Come on!” whispered Frank in his ear; and immediately Bob jumped to the conclusion that his guess was the truth, after all, and that it had been the Moqui who so closely imitated the call of the red fox.
Figures arose here and there. The eager cowboys had been waiting for this sound with a fever in their blood. But there was no confusion, no stumbling, as they swiftly advanced, ready to take a hand in the game.
Colonel Haywood and Scotty had made all arrangements beforehand. Each man knew exactly what was expected of him, and they moved like the parts of a well oiled machine.
There were two of those small openings, one on either side of the cabin. The heavy wooden shutters could be closed easily enough; but, being intended for fastening inside, it was not so easy to make them secure from without.
Two heavy posts that had been chopped for some purpose by the rustlers having caught the eye of the stockman, he judged they would be just
the thing to hold the shutters closed, if placed in a slanting position from without.
Bob saw men run lightly forward, pick up these posts, and after the shutters had been quietly swung over, plant the braces in such a way that no effort from within could displace them.
And it seemed to him this had hardly been accomplished before there came a shout from inside the cabin, that told of alarm.