CHAPTER XXVIII
THE COME-BACK
It was more or less fun for Perk to keep up that bombardment as long ashe had any ammunition left--the heavy thumps on the roof continued tofollow each other, like blasts in a quarry or an admiral's salute whenthe "old man" took a notion to come aboard.
So, too, would each concussion be followed by a spurt of gunfire frombehind the closed door of the shack showing that Oswald was alive to thesituation and must be enjoying his share in the strange engagement quiteas much as the fun-loving Perk did his part.
If the little rock pile held out and there were enough ammunition beltsfor the machine-gun handy, the chances were that the roof of thebungalow would assume the nature of a sieve and leak when the next heavyrain storm set in.
Perk was fully aroused now, and awake to his part of thebombardment--his mind began to figure just what other means lay withinhis reach to continue engaging the attention of the rat in the trapafter the last rock had been fired.
Some of them he knew had rolled off the slightly sloping roof afteraccomplishing their duty. If only he could lay hands on them they mightbe made to serve again but the darkness would make this problematical.There was that log he had mentioned to Jack--with it he fancied he mightdo something to keep up the feverish interest in the game and holdOswald's undivided attention.
What added more or less to the thrill he was enjoying was the fact thatat any minute the ready marksman inside might succeed in reaching himwith a bullet fired at some new angle. Jack had told him how Kearns wassaid to be quite a wizard at making bullseyes in a flying target eitherwith a pistol or a rifle.
He was still going heavy although nearing the end of his ammunition,when something not on the calendar came along, something so unexpectedthat Perk was taken quite by surprise. A weighty and metallic objectstruck him on the head with such violence that he saw a million starsall at once, as though a myriad of rockets had exploded simultaneouslyhigh in the air.
He went down like a stone, his senses reeling under that frightfulimpact and yet half conscious of the fact that some one must have comeup behind him in the darkness and struck him with a heavy weight.
Now he could feel hands groping about his person as though seeking tofind where to follow up that first blow with another that wouldeffectually wind up his career for keeps.
Rendered desperate by the nature of his situation Perk threw up bothhands and chancing to come in contact with a human form, closed in withwhat might almost be called a death grip--his one object being to thushold the unseen enemy close and prevent him giving a second blow thatwould be in the nature of a knockout.
He met with fierce resistance, but no matter how desperately the otherstruggled and fought he was unable to break Perk's terrible hold, solike that of a fighting bulldog, once its teeth have closed for keeps.
There the two antagonists rolled to and fro, striving in turn to get ontop, only to be over-turned in rotation. What made it all the moreexciting was the fact that the man in the shack, hearing all those queernoises, must imagine his enemies were trying to burrow under the doorfor he kept up frequent furious bursts of gunfire and at any moment anunlucky roll was apt to bring the wrestlers within range of the hail ofbullets.
One thing favored Perk--he was by degrees getting over the deadeningsensation following that frightful blow on his head--apparently theother was weakening in the same proportion that Perk was gainingstrength, showing that he must have been in anything but prime conditionwhen the tussle started.
It was this potent fact that gave Perk his first inkling as to theidentity of the man with whom he struggled. At first he took it forgranted the fellow was the tall confederate they had noticed with Kearnsduring the late afternoon, and who had perhaps been away and returned tothe shack just at this interesting moment to find it in a state ofsiege.
He had hardly begun to get an inkling as to the true state of affairswhen one of his hands, in seeking to get a firmer hold, chanced to comein contact with something cold and hard. Then he understood just why hisantagonist seemed to be so handicapped in the scramble--he could stretchhis hands apart only so far--they were apparently held fast in somemysterious fashion.
It burst upon Perk like a bomb from a sky chaser--why, after all thiswas an old friend of his, one whom he had only recently been huggingwith all his might and main--in fact no other than the short confederateof Kearns whom they had left beside the well but a brief timepreviously.
In some manner, which was a complete mystery to Perk, he had managed toget his legs free from that binding rope which had been wound around andaround his ankles in many coils and then knotted half a dozen times.Perk found it hard to realize this puzzling fact, but just the same heknew it must be the truth.
He proceeded to continue his rolling process with additional vim, partlybecause he now knew the other could not get a chance to whack him againwith both hands handcuffed--for that was what had actually occurred andit proved his first surmise--that hard metal had come in contact withhis cranium.
Presently it came about that Perk was enabled to clutch the throat ofhis antagonist and for the second time close his fingers on his larynx,shutting off his wind completely and causing history to repeat itself.
The fellow gave up immediately, thus hoping Perk would diminish thatparalyzing grip which the other condescended to do. When this had beencarried through Perk made up his mind not to trust to a rope again--inthe first place he had no rope and even if this were not the case he hadfor the time being lost all confidence in ropes as restraining agents.
He remembered he had a second pair of steel bracelets in one of hispockets, having fetched two pair along with the idea they might have toinclude some pal of Kearns' before finishing their job.
He quickly had the fellow lying inert and acting as though he did nothave another bit of fight left in him. Managing to pull out thehandcuffs, Perk first tested them for size, and finding he could snapthem shut after circling the ankles of his prisoner he did so with avim. This would effectually prevent the man from getting any distanceaway, since he could move his feet only a few inches at a time at thebest.
Perk struggled to his feet, feeling more or less dizzy. His firstnatural act was to put a hand to his head, and feel it gently, in orderto ascertain the character and extent of his injuries. There was a cruellump on his crown and he knew blood was streaking his face but on thewhole he did not believe he was very badly hurt--perhaps after thedouble beating the other fellow had received at his hands he was worseoff than Perk--an idea that started the latter chuckling, even if theact caused him a sudden dart of pain that made him wince.
Then he remembered what was going on, knowledge of which had beenknocked out of his head by the unexpected fight that had taken place.How about Jack?
He dimly remembered hearing further shots from behind the barrier,although unable to decide whether the bullets continued to break throughclose to the bottom of the door or otherwise. Could this later fire havebeen directed at Jack, who had unwisely exposed himself at the sidewindow?
Perk was strongly tempted to disobey orders and hasten around the cornerin order to learn the worst. If that daredevil inside had hurt his palhe would be mad enough to find some way of blowing up the shack and thegas-mad ex-soldier along with it, regardless of consequences. He onlywaited long enough to run his swollen hands over the recumbent figure ofthe man in irons so as to make sure he could not play the same meantrick a second time. Finding everything fast, he turned away from thescene of his recent ruction, and hurried around the corner of the shack,bent on backing up Jack or, in case his pal had been placed out of therunning, to avenge his injuries without delay.