"I'll shoot the first man who comes through!" defied the voice behind the door, hoarser than ever. "And I'll shoot as many more as I can!"
"Some of you men on the sides of the deck-house push your rifles through the cabin windows and be prepared to shoot if you have to," ordered Hal coolly.
There was a crashing of glass as the rifle muzzles were thrust in through the cabin windows.
Again the woman's shriek rang out.
"If you have to fire," continued Lieutenant Overton, "take all possible care not to hit the woman."
Bump! Bump! Even the sturdy cabin door was beginning to yield under the repeated impacts of so many pairs of shoulders. At last the door swung back on its hinges.
"Back, men, but stand ready!" commanded the Army boy, pressing forward through the opened doorway.
The handsome young lieutenant looked cool and undaunted as he stepped into the cabin, without a weapon in either hand.
Hal found himself confronted by a big, purple-faced individual of perhaps middle age, who stood glaring at the intruder, a revolver clutched in his right hand.
Back of him stood five Mexicans, each with a rifle, though the man at the moment was making no visible attempt to use his weapon. Behind the group a white-faced young woman, of perhaps twenty, stood clutching at a buffet for support.