Pomp and Barney with their repeaters began to fire upon the line of men there.
The repeaters did deadly work.
It was a constant fusillade, and the cowboys dropped like sheep. The error of their plan could now be seen.
In dividing their forces to make the surrounding line, they had weakened themselves. Frank had seen this.
If they had been merely content with holding the pass, it would have been extremely doubtful if the Steam Man could so easily have escaped.
Just as fast as they could work the sixteen-shot Winchesters, Barney and Pomp mowed down the opposing line of cowboys.
The line was thin, and it would have required a very solid corps to have withstood that scathing fire.
Down went the Steam Man toward the Pass with fearful speed.
Heaps of the dead and wounded cowboys lay upon the ground. As the Steam Man reached the Pass, a number of the cowboys tried to grasp the throttle reins and stop the machine.
But the ponderous body of the Man knocked them aside like flies and the wheels of the heavy wagon crushed them into death or insensibility.