"Bluffin'!" scoffed a man who was in plain view of Sanderson; the very
man, indeed, upon whom Sanderson had his rifle trained.

"Bluffin', eh?" replied Sanderson grimly. "I've got a bead on you. At
the end of one minute--if you don't toss your guns away and step out,
holdin' up your hands, I'll bore you--plenty!"

Half a minute passed and the man did not move. He was crouching, and
his gaze swept the edge of the fissure from which Sanderson's voice
seemed to come. His face was white, his eyes wide with the fear of
death.

Just when it seemed that Sanderson must shoot to make his statement and
threat convincing, the man shouted:

"This game's too certain--for me, I'm through!"

He threw his weapons away, so that they went bounding and clattering to
the foot of the slope. Then he again faced the fissure, shouting:

"I know I've caved, an' you know I've caved. But what about them guys
on the other side, there? They'll be blowin' me apart if I go to
showin' myself."

Sanderson called to Williams and the others, telling them the men were
going to surrender, and warning them to look out for treachery.

"If one of them tries any monkey-shines, nail him!" he ordered.
"There's eleven of them that ain't been touched--an' some more that