I pointed to the animal and rushed back into the fortress.

"Quick, Mart!" I shouted up the shattered stairway. "We
can get through the hollow. Ruth and Drake are on their
way to the break we came through. Hurry!"

"All right. Just a minute," he called.

I heard him empty his magazine with almost machine-gun
quickness. There was a short pause, and down the
broken steps he leaped, gray eyes blazing.

"The pony?" He ran beside me toward the portal. "All
my ammunition is on him."

"Chiu-Ming's taking care of that," I gasped.

We darted out of the gateway. A good five hundred
yards away were Ruth and Drake, running straight to the
green tunnel's mouth. Between them and us was Chiu-Ming
urging on the pony.

As we sped after him I looked back. The horsemen had
recovered, were now a scant half-mile from where the
road swept past the fortress. I saw that with their swords
the horsemen bore great bows. A little cloud of arrows
sparkled from them; fell far short.

"Don't look back," grunted Ventnor. "Stretch yourself,
Walter. There's a surprise coming. Hope to God I judged