Ned, let go the rope, you are in range there, and lie down with us! But you have done well, boy! You have done well! You have saved us all from being scalped, and perhaps the booming of the big bell will bring us help that we may need badly!" Ned threw himself on the floor just in time to avoid a bullet that sang in at the open doorway.

But no other shot was fired then.

The Comanches in silence sank back into the darkness and the rain.

The defenders lay on the floor, guarding the doorways with open rifles.

They could not see much, but they could hear well, and since Ned had given the warning in time every one of the little party felt that they held a fortress.
Ned's pulses were still leaping, but great pride was in his heart.