"Well, you knows best," came the voice from behind the mask. "Three men to cover your approach to Holy Cross, and if there's trouble, to shoot Balshannon and Chalkeye. They're covered now. The wall of the stable court by the South-west Bastion to be mined with dynamite, and touched off at ten p. m. prompt; ten riders to get in through the breach in the wall, and drive out the bunch of horses; one man with an axe to split all the saddles in the harness-room, then join the herders."
"Leave out," said McCalmont, "all detail for pointing, swinging, and driving the herd. Go on."
"At one minute to ten, before the wall is blown away, ten riders are to make a bluff at attacking the main gate, and keep on amusing the garrison until the men with the naphtha cans have fired the private house.
"Rendezvous for all hands at Laguna by midnight, where we catch remounts, and sleep until daybreak, with a night herd of two, and one camp guard. At dawn we begin to gather cattle, while the horse wrangler and two men drive the remuda east. Rendezvous at Wolf Gap."
Lord Balshannon laughed aloud. "And how about poor old Bryant's posse of men?" he asked.
"Sheriff Bryant," said the Captain, "allows that he's to catch us in a sure fine trap, five miles due west of Lordsburgh. And now," he called to the mounted robber, "tell the boys that all awdehs are cancelled, that I'm supping to-night at Holy Crawss, and that the boys will wait for me at the place we fixed in case of accidents."
The man rode off hostile and growling aloud, while Balshannon stood watching to see which way he went.
"McCalmont," said he, and I took note of just one small quiver in his voice, "may I venture to ask one question?"
"A hundred, seh."
"You seem to know the arrangement of my house—its military weakness. How did you learn that?"