What was worse, the ammunition of the Vigilants seemed to be giving out.
With plenty of ammunition, it was possible that the Vigilants could have held them at bay for a long while.
But, of course, when the ammunition should give out, the battle would be ended.
White-faced, but determined, the brave plainsmen stood their ground.
Not a man of them thought of retreat. All were prepared to give up their lives like heroes.
There seemed no way of getting out of their present desperate situation.
To retreat was about equal to an impossibility, for it would be out upon the open plain where they would be shot down like sheep.
The situation was an awful one.
“Durn it, I don’t keer for myself,” said bluff Harmon, the vigilant leader, “but some of the boys have families dependent on ‘em. Ah, that dog of a Cliff has sins to answer fer.”
“You are right,” agreed Frank Reade, Jr. “But there must be some way of getting out of this scrape.”