“Fire!” he roared, and instantly sheets of flame came from the weapons of the besieged.
The effect was instantaneous. Two of the attacking party staggered and fell and the rest stopped short in their tracks. They had evidently expected to find their intended victims asleep and the answering volley halted them as though it had been a thunderbolt. One or two of them made as though they would still come on, but the others wavered and then fell back to the shelter of the woods dragging their wounded comrades with them.
“First blood for us,” said Benton grimly. “Any of you boys hurt?”
“No,” came in a chorus, in which jubilation was the dominant note.
“Good!” exclaimed Benton with vast relief. “They can’t say as much, for we’ve put two of them at least out of business.”
“Wonder how they liked the little surprise party,” chuckled Dick.
“Not very much I imagine,” answered Benton. “But stay under cover and keep your guns fully loaded. This fight isn’t over by a long shot. We’ve won the first round and balked them for the time, but they’ll come back. They’ve got too much at stake to give it up, and they know they outnumber us four to one.”
For the next half hour scattering shots kept coming from the woods, but the boys kept well under cover and the bullets whistled harmlessly against the rocks.
It was hard to lie quiet and not reply, but Benton’s orders were imperative.
“Let them shoot,” he said. “They’re only wasting their ammunition, and there’s no reason why we should do the same. Besides our absolute silence gets more on their nerves than if we answered. But they’ll hear noise enough when they come on again.”