The defense was too much for them, and they had to fall back, carrying with them nearly one-half of their men.
The repulse had been disastrous for the few defenders, for six lay on the bloody floor of Ranch Robin, and of these four were dead.
The windows were shattered, and bullet marks scarred the house from eaves to foundation.
Merle, with a bloody bandage around his forehead, stood in the middle of the room looking like a demon of battle, and Belle Demona, holding a carbine in her jeweled hands, stood near him triumphantly and happy.
The bandits rode back over the hills with threats of future attack and vengeance, and the last shots had died away on the night air.
An hour later silence had come down over the old ranch, and all traces of blood on the floor had vanished.
"If Riggs would only come back now," said Belle Demona, "I would finish the work."
"He will come," answered Merle. "The trap is now set for the detective, and we will soon be safe."
At this moment there crouched on the porch outside the slender figure of a young girl.