"Easy!" Hawkins cautioned. "Not so much noise! What did you see, Kid?"
"Saw an auto comin' down the road like a locoed steer! Just when the moon came out then, I happened to be lookin' that way, and I saw——"
"Listen!" Bud held up his hand, forgetting that they couldn't see him in the darkness that had now settled down again. "Don't you hear something?"
Through the air came the sounds of a car—the throttle wide open.
"Can't see it, but I can hear it!" Hawkins exclaimed. "Must be driving without lights. They sure are coming! All set, you men?"
"One of us better get the ponies ready, in case we miss them!" the Kid declared. "Billee, will you do that?"
"Suppose so," the rancher grumbled. "I allers seem t' miss the fightin'!"
"You'll get plenty of that," asserted Hawkins. "But let's not waste time talking. They'll be here in two minutes. Listen, you fellows, and listen good! Billee, you get the horses ready for a quick start. Nort, you and the Kid get around to the other side of the house, fast. Dick, Bud and I will stay here.
"Now here's what's going to happen—the car will pull up right here, and the Chinks will be unloaded. We take them—don't forget, we're Delton's men. As soon as they hand the Chinks over to us we cover the men in the car, and get them. Then when Delton comes we get him, too—if we can. He should be here now—must have been a slip-up in the time. All the better for us. Quick—do you understand?"
The roar of the approaching car could be heard plainly now. There was not much time left.