make a suggestion?"

"What is it?"

"That ye kaap a little more out of raich. If one of the spalpeens craap
up, and shoots ye dead, ye'll be sorry ye didn't take me advice, when ye
come to think the matter over coolly. Here's a sort of boulder which seems
to have cared in from above. Do ye squaze in behind that."

"And what will you do?" asked Fred, acting upon his advice.

"Being as there isn't room to squaze in wid ye, I'll take my stand a
little out here, where I can secure the protection of a similar piece of
masonry, and where the spalpeens can't git by me without giving the
countersign and showing a pass."

The lad did not specially like this arrangement, as it really retired him,
but their quarters were so cramped that they had to dispose of themselves
as best they could. He was obliged to feel that practically he was of no
account, as his only pistol had become useless hours before. Accordingly,
he forced himself in behind the boulder pointed out, and found that his
position was safe against any treacherous shot from the front.

He was uneasy, however, about the open space above him, for it struck him
that it would be so easy for any of their foes to roll the rocks down upon
their heads. When he came to examine the situation more critically, he was
not a little relieved to find that he was protected by the sloping wall,
already mentioned. A heavy stone heaved over the opening above might
really weigh a ton, and come crashing downward with terrific force, but no
skill could, at the start, cause its course to be such as to injure the