The twilight had given way to night and there was only faint starlight to show him the way. Billy paused at the corner of the corral where it turned to parallel the side of the barn. It was half an hour or more till moonrise, and for that he was glad. Before him was a good fifty feet before the shelter of the barn, with only the poles of the corral to shield him. In moonlight he knew he’d never make it. He had his doubts as it was.
The heavy boom of Old Thad’s .45-70 thundered on the still night. Billy glued himself to the ground along the corral, heard the metallic whang of the big slug hitting a strap iron hinge on the loft door.
In the stillness that followed he could hear Thad’s muttered swearing at the poor light that had caused him to miss. Then the old man called out. “Watch the l
