Against the background of crimson cloud a man’s figure stood out clearly. He was peering down toward us, although in the dusk he could hardly have seen us, and he carried a gun. Mr. Muldoon smiled faintly.
“Well, they’ve spotted me, I guess,” he said. “I’d better move on before I get you into trouble. They won’t hurt women.”
“Why don’t you shoot him?” Aggie asked. “It would be one bandit less. If you do arrest him, and he gets nearly all his sentence off for good behavior, he’ll be out again in no time, doing more mischief.”
But at that moment we saw the man on the hill throw his gun to his shoulder and aim at something moving below in the valley. Aggie screamed, and I believe I did also.
“Tish!” cried Aggie. “He’s shooting at Tish!” And at that instant the bandit fired. He fired three times, and the noise of his gun echoed backward and forward among the hills. We thought we heard a yell from the valley. Then the next second there was a faint crack from below and the outlaw’s gun flew out of his hands. Mr. Muldoon’s jaw dropped. “Did you see that?” he said feebly. “Did—you—see—that—shot?”
The outlaw disappeared from the skyline and perhaps ten minutes later Tish crawled up to the cave and put down a tin pail full of milk, a glass of jelly wrapped in a newspaper, and a basket of eggs. Aggie fell on her and cried with joy.
“Be careful of those eggs,” Tish warned her. “That outlaw charged me forty cents a dozen.”
“You gave him a good fright anyhow,” said Aggie fondly.
“Fright?”
“When you shot at him.”