Instinctively his gun was lifted to his shoulder.
'Bail up!' he cried.

'A step nearer an' I fire!' The troopers spurred their horses.

Rogers clinched his teeth, his eye ran along the barrel, he covered the leading man and fired.

The trooper was flung forward on his horse's neck, his arms dangling limply on each side.
His horse sprang to a gallop, and a minute later the man slid over its shoulder and fell, rolling almost to Joe's feet as the animal rushed past.
The second trooper fired a revolver, and the bullet chipped a slab at the gold-stealer's ear.

Rogers had him covered, and his finger was on the trigger when the gun was whirled from his hands and a man who had stolen up from the back closed with him.