But Ted was upon them. They did not see him, as their backs were toward him, and in a minute both had gone sprawling over the barrel, falling in a heap on the ground. In a flash Ted had sent the barrel rolling down the yard, and with a piece of canvas, which he had picked up from the ground, was beating out the flames which were creeping up the side of the house. But the men were on their feet now, and, seeing the cause of their discomfiture, they ran toward Ted with howls of rage, and reached his side as Stella, who had started toward Ted when she saw that the men were about to attack him, was still some distance off. Ted was not aware of the presence of the men until they were directly behind him. Then he turned, only to be met with a blow on the head with the butt of a pistol, and he sank to the ground with a groan. Meanwhile, Kit, whose duty it was to cover Ted's attack on the house burners from the doorway, was not able to get a shot because Stella's body was between him and the corner of the house. As Ted went down with a groan Stella drew her revolver and blazed away. At her first shot one of the men ran off, limping and yelping like a kicked cur. The other, conscious that the bullets from her revolver were singing unpleasantly near to his head, made a dash for the shrubbery. Bending over Ted, Stella tried to see how badly he was hurt. "You reckless boy," she was saying. "See how you run into danger. Now you have two wounds for me to nurse, if you are not killed." She was trying to lift him to a sitting posture when she felt herself grasped around the waist, and before she could make a motion in her own defense, was borne swiftly across the yard, and into the shrubbery. Her scream rang out piercingly, and the boys ran in a body into the garden. But by the time they got there Stella was out of sight, and they were met with a fusillade of bullets from the shrubbery, causing them to retreat into the house again and close the door. None of them had noticed Ted lying unconscious at the corner of the house. They were no sooner out of sight than three men sped from the shrubbery across the yard, and, seizing Ted by the heels and shoulders, ran back with him into the place of concealment. As they threw Ted down on the grass none too gently, the pain brought him back to life and wrung a groan from him. When he opened his eyes he saw Stella sitting beside him trying to hold his head from the ground. Several men were there, too, lying flat, peering underneath the shrubbery toward the house. Every man was armed either with a rifle or a revolver, and occasionally one or the other of them would fire a shot at the house, which would be answered by the boys. "They fire too high," muttered Ted to himself, "because they do not know that these rascals are lying flat. Every ball goes a foot too high. Wish I could let them know, but then they would probably hit Stella or me."