“Fire! Fire!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.
Awakened by the startling cry, Mr. and Mrs. Hawks jumped from their bed, while the cowboys tumbled out of their bunks.
With such awful rapidity did the flames devour the wooden buildings that little beyond the clothes by their bedsides were the inmates of the house able to save.
In a momentary lull, as they watched the flames, there rang out shrill and piercing:
“O-u-e-e!”
For a moment, Bowser gazed at his men, astounded.
“Get your guns! It’s the Midnight Raiders!” he yelled.
Instantly the boys from the Double Cross and those of the Star and Moon dashed into the bunkhouse, returning immediately with rifles and six shooters.
“Shoot and shoot to kill!” thundered Bowser.
But, ignorant of which direction to rake with their shells, the cowpunchers stood in a bunch, straining their ears for a repetition of the cry.