“I certainly do!” Armitage replied, and turned to laugh at Oscar, who had fired at the barricade from the back of his horse, which was resenting the indignity by trying to throw his rider.
The enemy now concentrated a sharp fire upon Armitage, whose horse snorted and pawed the ground as the balls cut the air and earth.
“For God’s sake, get off that horse, Armitage!” bawled Claiborne, rising upon, the rock. “There’s no use in wasting yourself that way.”
“My arm aches and I’ve got to do something. Let’s try storming them just for fun. It’s a cavalry stunt, Claiborne, and you can play being the artillery that’s supporting our advance. Fall away there, Oscar, about forty yards, and we’ll race for it to the wall and over. That barricade isn’t as stiff as it looks from this side—know all about it. There are great chunks out of it that can’t be seen from this side.”
“Thank me for that, Armitage. I tumbled down a good many yards of it when I played up here as a kid. Get off that horse, I tell you! You’ve got a hole in you now! Get down!”
“You make me tired, Claiborne. This beautiful row will all be over in a few minutes. I never intended to waste much time on those fellows when I got them where I wanted them.”
His left arm hung quite limp at his side and his face was very white. He had dropped his rifle in the road at the moment the ball struck his shoulder, but he still carried his revolver. He nodded to Oscar, and they both galloped forward over the open ground, making straight for the cedar covert.
Claiborne was instantly up and away between the two riders. Their bold advance evidently surprised the trio beyond the barricade, who shouted hurried commands to one another as they distributed themselves along the wall and awaited the onslaught. Then they grew still and lay low out of sight as the silent riders approached. The hoofs of the onrushing horses rang now and then on the harsh outcropping rock, and here and there struck fire. Armitage sat erect and steady in his saddle, his horse speeding on in great bounds toward the barricade. His lips moved in a curious stiff fashion, as though he were ill, muttering:
“For Austria! For Austria! He bade me do something for the Empire!”
Beyond the cedars the trio held their fire, watching with fascinated eyes the two riders, every instant drawing closer, and the runner who followed them.