“I see,” replied Frank, in thrilled tones. “My God! that is a narrow shave. We would have been crushed to atoms in another moment as I live.”
“Whurroo! Give the spalpeens a good bit av cold lead!” shouted Barney, rushing to one of the loop-holes with his rifle.
“That’s right!” cried Frank, doing the same.
“Golly, yo’ kin bet we will do dat!” chimed in Pomp.
The two cowboys, seeing that their game was exposed, sprang up with wild shouts of dismay.
As they did so they were exposed to shots from below. The three rifles spoke sharply in chorus.
The two would be destroyers tumbled in a heap. Their fall was followed by a wild chorus of yells from the thickets and bowlder piles above.
A volley of bullets came from there and rattled harmlessly against the steel netting, showing that the cowboys were there located in great force.
How they had chanced to be there at that critical moment our adventurers could only guess.
But Frank mentally concluded that at best they were but a division of Cliff’s gang, and they had happened upon the spot by chance.