Submission was not to be thought of, for to flee would be to lose caste, and the story of such an act would follow them wherever they went, and brand them as cowards.  Here they had lived, and here they would stay if possible, and to this end they discussed ways and means.

“Harlan’s right!” emphatically announced Laramie Joe.  “We can’t pull out and have this foller us.”

“We should have started it with a rush when he was in here,” remarked Boston, regretfully.

Harlan stopped his pacing and faced them, shoving out a bottle of whiskey as an aid to his logic.

“That chance is past, an’ I don’t know but what it is a good thing,” he began.  “He was primed an’ looking fer trouble, an’ he’d shore got a few of us afore he went under.  What we want is strategy—­that’s the game.  You fellers have got as much brains as him, an’ if we thrash this thing out we can find a way to call his play—­an’ get him!  No use of any of us getting plugged ’less we have to.  But whatever we do we’ve got to start it right quick an’ have it over before that Bar-20 gang comes back.  Harper, you an’ Quinn go scouting—­an’ don’t take no guns with you, neither.  Act like you was hitting the long trail out, an’ work back here on a circle.  See how many of his friends are in town.  While you are gone the rest of us will hold a pow-wow an’ take the kinks out of this game.  Chase along, an’ don’t waste no time.”

“Good!” cried Slivers Lowe emphatically.  “There’s blamed few fellers in town now that have any use for him, for most of them are off on the ranges.  Bet we won’t have more than six to fight, an’ there’s that many of us here.”

The scouts departed at once and the remaining four drew close in consultation.

“One more drink around and then no more till this trouble is over,” Harlan said, passing the bottle.  The drinks, in view of the coming drought and the thirsty work ahead, were long and deep, and new courage and vindictiveness crept through their veins.

“Now here’s the way it looks to me,” Harlan continued, placing the bottle, untasted by himself, on the floor behind him.  “We’ve got to work a surprise an’ take Edwards an’ his friends off their guard.  That’ll be easy if we’re careful, because they think we ain’t looking for fight.  When we get them out of the way we can take Jackson’s store an’ use one of the other shacks and wait for the Bar-20 to ride in.  They’ll canter right in, like they allus do, an’ when they get close enough we’ll open the game with a volley an’ make every shot tell.  ’T won’t last long, ’cause every one of us will have his man named before they get here.  Then the few straddlers in town, seeing how easy we’ve gone an’ handled it’ll join us.  We’ve got four men to come in yet, an’ by the time the C-80 an’ Double-Arrow hears about it we’ll be fixed to drive ’em back home.  We ought to be over a dozen strong by dark.”

“That sounds good, all right,” remarked Slivers, thoughtfully, “but can we do it that easy?”