Captain Dohm Shirril was never more in earnest than when he declared that the Comanches meant to renew their attempt to fire his cabin.  
Having come so near success, they would resort to the same means, taking care to provide against a second defeat at the hands of the .
 
The darkness, on the whole, was far more helpful to the latter than to their assailants, for, if care was used, it was beyond the power of the Indians to discover the presence of any person on the roof. The Comanches, from the force of circumstances, would have to move back some rods from the building, to see the cover, and that distance was sufficient to shut out all sight of a figure, so long as it remained . If a 95man rose to his feet, as Dinah had done, his outlines would show, and he would become an instant target for the redskins.
 
It was with a full conviction of these important facts that the Texan, imitating the action of his servant, unfastened the , and noiselessly let it fall back behind him. Then he thrust his head and shoulders through and scanned the half of the roof in his field of vision.
 
Nothing to cause alarm was discerned, and rising still higher, he peered over the peak to the other side.
 
The air had the odor of burning wood, and the cavity burned in the roof showed signs of life, but they were so slight as to be harmless. They would soon die out, despite the strong wind still blowing.
 
It need not be said that the Texan had not the remotest intention of following the example of his servant. If he should discover the presence of an Indian on the roof, little fear of an attempt to steal upon him and fling him to the earth below. The captain held his Winchester firmly 96grasped and most of its were charged. That offered the true solution of his problem, in case of the appearance of danger, and he was not the man to hesitate in such an emergency.
 
He did not fail to notice that which was observed by his nephew: the Comanches had ceased their and firing, though the tramping of their mustangs proved that most of the were still mounted and circling back and in the aimless effort to detect some means of getting at the of the house.
 
“Avon has given them the slip,” was his conclusion, “though he must have had a close call. There is one Indian less, at any rate, than when he stole out of the cabin.”
 
Such was the fact, though, as we have shown, he did not fall by the rifle of the youth.
 
The Texan was on the chair in the upper room, with his head and shoulders through the opening, all his senses on the alert, when he caught the faint report of a rifle, repeated several times. The sounds 97came from a point a long way off, and he could only their cause.
 
“If it was over yonder,” he added, referring to a point of the compass almost opposite, “I would believe the boy fired the gun and had come in collision with some more of the scamps that are so plenty to-night, but he can’t be over there, because that would lead him further from the camp of the cattlemen.”
 
And yet, as the reader suspects, the rifle was discharged by the young man, who, in to the general law, had strayed in the wrong direction in his blind search for his friends.
 
It was not necessary to give any attention to matters below stairs. He could not believe that danger threatened there, but, should it appear in an unexpected form, the women would give quick notice, and he could hasten to their aid.
 
“Avon ought to reach camp in half an hour,” continued the Texan, following his train of thought; “true, he is on foot, but he knows every step of the way, and won’t allow 98the grass to grow under his feet; it will take the boys about half a minute to make ready; the cattle can be left to themselves, so they ought to be here within three-quarter............