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.
CHAPTER XXIV.
IVAN SHOWS HIS METAL.
Chester had poured the boiling water upon the foe at the psychological moment indeed—for Ivan had been ready to dash forward at that exact minute and Chester had diverted the attention of the Bulgarians long enough for Ivan to reach them without being discovered.
Had the men not been otherwise engaged when he dashed from his place of concealment, they would doubtless have shot him down before he reached them. But the kettle of hot water had prevented them from bringing their revolvers to bear until too late.
Ivan descended upon them with a wild cry, and at sight of him the Bulgarians gave back. Eight of them there were, but they recoiled as a single man from the great Cossack.
A single shot Ivan fired from his two revolvers and then they were empty. Quickly he reversed both weapons, and holding both by the barrels, he was among the enemy, striking right and left as fast as the eye could see.