A dozen pistols were popping but the distance between their firers and the horsemen was too great for the bullets to have effect and Jesse laughed at their abortive attempts to hit him, his contempt enraging them the more. But Cole was watching the banker. Suddenly he saw him shift the muzzle of the Winchester till it pointed full at his chief. "Duck, Jess, duck!" cried his chum. Mechanically the famous desperado obeyed. And not a moment too soon! Not a foot above the seat of the saddle where the bandit-chieftain had sat an instant before sped the death-bearing slug of lead, burying itself behind the ear of the horse on which Clell reeled, dropping the animal to the ground. An exultant cheer rose from the crowd as the horse fell. "Charge 'em! Rush 'em!" shouted excited men. "They haven't any guns! We can beat 'em down!" To the townsfolk who had always thought of the terrible James gang as shooting and howling fiends, the abstinence of the three men from returning the shots sent at them suggested but one thing, that the desperadoes were unarmed. Even Higgins, Dillaby and their men were unable to understand the silence of the trio's guns. But Jesse had not drawn his weapons for the best of reasons--the crowd of would-be capturers was out of range of his "Colts." With the loss of Clell's horse, he suddenly awoke to the extreme danger of his position. "Keep your eye on Rozier," he snapped to Cole, even as he spoke, leaning from his saddle and dragging his wounded pal from the prostrate beast. "Here come some more men with Winchesters," gasped the eldest of the Younger brothers as he descried several coatless and hatless farmers line up at the fence beside the banker and rest the muzzles of their rifles on the railing. "Get on the other side of me, so your body'll be covered by your horse, grab mine by the bits and ride. I can't guide him and hold Clell too. Make for the woods!" Convinced that the men whom they had believed wealthy miners were in reality the terrible bandits, the men and women who had gathered to condone with the Priors had experienced a change of feeling and were yelling and shouting for the capture of the men who had defied the law so many times and with such success. As they heard the angry cries, Susie and the Prior girls trembled with fear. "They'll be caught! They'll be caught!" moaned Helen, wringing her hands. "Why don't they fire back?" From the windows they had seen the wounding of Clell and the killing of his horse under him and believing that it was the beginning of the end, they buried their heads on each other's shoulders, unwilling to see the capture of their brother and heroes, and sobbed. Yet as they waited for the shouts of triumph that would announce the fact, they were surprised to hear the shout: "Get horses! Get horses! Ring the church bells! Summon every man in town! We'll surround the woods!" Doubting their ears, they raised their heads and peered from the windows.