She was trying to lift him to a sitting posture when she felt herself grasped around the waist, and before she could make a motion in her own defense, was borne swiftly across the yard, and into the shrubbery.
Her scream rang out piercingly, and the boys ran in a body into the garden.
But by the time they got there Stella was out of sight, and they were met with a fusillade of bullets from the shrubbery, causing them to retreat into the house again and close the door.
None of them had noticed Ted lying unconscious at the corner of the house.
They were no sooner out of sight than three men sped from the shrubbery across the yard, and, seizing Ted by the heels and shoulders, ran back with him into the place of concealment.
As they threw Ted down on the grass none too gently, the pain brought him back to life and wrung a groan from him.
When he opened his eyes he saw Stella sitting beside him trying to hold his head from the ground.
Several men were there, too, lying flat, peering underneath the shrubbery toward the house.
Every man was armed either with a rifle or a revolver, and occasionally one or the other of them would fire a shot at the house, which would be answered by the boys.
"They fire too high," muttered Ted to himself, "because they do not know that these rascals are lying flat. Every ball goes a foot too high. Wish I could let them know, but then they would probably hit Stella or me."