One watching the beautiful face of Bessie Rodman could have seen that she was inwardly praying for her lover’s safety.
But fortune was with the troops, though they had experienced a hard battle.
The position of the outlaws was a very strong one and almost unassailable.
High walls of rock were there for them to use as a breastwork.
It was not easy to dislodge them except at great loss of life.
But Clark was not a man to be defeated.
He urged his men on and slowly but surely drove the foe before him. Frank Reade, Jr., now with Barney and Pomp and Bessie Rodman on board, took the Steam Man out on to the prairie.
For over an hour a kind of desultory conflict was kept up in the hills.
Then Col. Clark suddenly came dashing up to the wagon.
“We have got them dislodged,” he cried. “And I think they have struck out for Ranch V. Now if you will show us the way, Mr. Reade, we will try and exterminate this poisonous gang.”