Then an idea occurred to Whitey.

Why did not the sheepmen escape from the back of the house?
A volley of shots from the other side of the valley seemed to answer the question.

Under cover of the darkness Mart Cooley had sent half his men to a point that commanded the rear of the ranch house.

Their shots sounded continuously for a moment and told a plain story.

The sheepmen had tried to escape from the back, and had failed.
These shots told another story.