"
Surajah, without a word, hurried up the road, while Dick ran over to
the house opposite, which seemed to be larger than the one they had
first entered. He looked round. It contained only one room, but this
was twenty feet square. There were three small windows, one looking
into the street, one looking up the valley, and one behind. The floor
was littered with the beams of the roof. The door was still in its
place. Having ascertained this, he ran back to the bodies of the two
men, picked up the three guns, took off their bandoliers, and removed
the pistols from their sashes; and with these, and one of their
swords, returned to the house, just as Surajah came back.
"This is the best house to defend, Surajah. There are some beams with
which we can block up the door."
Laying down the arms inside, they set to work with the beams, and
barricaded the door so firmly that, short of its being splintered to
pieces, no entry could be effected. This done, they re-charged the six
guns, examined the pistols, and finding that they were loaded, placed
three of them in each of their sashes, and hung the swords by their
sides. Then they went to the window looking up the valley. The
horsemen, some twenty in number, were but a short quarter of a mile
away, and were coming along at a gallop.
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