CHAPTER X.
BESIEGED.
So deadly had been the aim of the troopers as they poured their volleys of lead at the horses dashing down the mountain that the animals were quickly stopped in their mad run.
"Close in! Be careful, Red is a dead shot!" yelled the manhunters as they leaped and scrambled over the rocks, hurrying to gain the spot where the horses had dropped before the fugitives, whom they supposed to have been riding the animals, could have the chance to seek cover in the underbrush.
The flare of the torches made the mountainside almost as light as day.
In the excitement, the manhunters poured volleys of lead at everything that moved, determined not to let the outlaw escape again.
But as the foremost of the pursuers gained the side of the disabled horses, they knew that they had been outwitted by the resourceful Rogers.
"He's fooled us!" yelled a trooper.
"What makes you think so?" demanded Lieutenant Fox, who was the first officer to reach the scene.
"Because the horses and their blankets are riddled with bullets," replied one of his men. "No person could have been on their backs and have lived."