With a groan he halted. They had him surrounded, then. He had
no chance. The game was up. He drew his revolver and dropped on his knee
to aim.
And then round the curve with a rush and a roar, riding like fiends, came
Melton, Dick and Tom, with twenty cowboys at their back.
There was a wild whoop when they caught sight of Bert, and his comrades
flung themselves from the saddle and rushed toward him. Melton, without
dismounting, reached over and gave him a bear grip that said more than
words. Then he straightened up and rode on at the head of his men to meet
the rustlers.
The latter, however, did not await his coming. They broke and ran,
bending low over the necks of their horses. But Melton's blood was up and
he rode them down relentlessly. Rifle and revolver shots merged into one
crackling fusillade. The cornered outlaws fought to the last ditch when
overtaken, and no one asked for quarter. And when at last the fight was
over, five, including the captain, lay stretched lifeless upon the
ground. One, by hard riding and his knowledge of the country, had
escaped, and "Red," still looking dazed and foolish, was a prisoner.
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