McLeese did not seem to think it strange that the hasp was fastened in place. He held June with one arm while he unfastened it. He grasped her again with both hands and kicked the door open. And as the door flew open, something in the nature of a cyclone seemed to strike them. Jack Silver sprang from inside the room, striking Chuck Bell with his shoulder. June’s feet struck the floor heavily, and McLeese jerked away, letting her fall to the floor as Chuck Bell went spinning across the room. Jack went to his hands and knees, but was up like a flash and into the startled McLeese before he could draw a gun. He swung a right hand at McLeese’s jaw, but the blow was too high. It caught McLeese on the bridge of the nose and knocked him to his haunches against the wall. Silver turned quickly to meet the rush of Chuck Bell, and they grappled. It was evident that Bell was so dizzy from his spinning that he forgot to draw a gun; but not so McLeese. He sagged back, his broken nose painting his face with gore, and whipped out his gun and fired upward at Silver. The report of the gun was echoed by a crash of glass, and the room was plunged in darkness. McLeese’s bullet had smashed the lamp, missing Jack Silver’s ear by a fraction of an inch. Silver whirled Bell around, broke his hold and flung him toward McLeese. It was evident that Bell went down on top of McLeese, and Silver feared for the safety of June, who was only a few feet from McLeese. He stepped in and tried to drag her out of the mélée, but at that moment one of the men crashed into him, knocking him off his feet. He went rolling against the table, and a man fell over him. Silver struggled to his feet and met the rush of one of them. In that darkness it was impossible for him to see which one it was. They crashed to the floor, fighting like a pair of animals, but Jack managed to tear himself away and slid along the floor. The front door opened, and for a moment he could see the silhouette of a man, etched blackly against the moonlight. Came the crashing report of a revolver in the room, and the silhouette sagged down heavily. The flash of the gun had blinded Silver, and the powder smoke choked him. One of these men had shot the other, thinking it was Jack Silver. He heard this man crawling across the floor, but did not try to stop him. Then he heard him run through the kitchen, slam the door shut and go running across the yard. Silver ran to the front door. The man who had left the house mounted his horse and spurred toward the gate. Silver turned the man over in the doorway, and the white face and staring eyes of McLeese looked up at him. He found McLeese’s gun where he had dropped it on the porch, and went back in the house. He secured the lamp in the kitchen, lighted it and went into the main room.