A Cigarette Clew

Nick discharged his revolvers, but the rush of his enemies was not stayed. He was assailed from all sides, and when he found the quarters too close for revolver work, he gripped the weapons by the barrel and clubbed them to right and left.

But the odds were overwhelming. In the midst of his desperate struggle, a savage blow on the head sent him down. The shouts and curses of his assailants died away in his ears, he felt them piling on top of him, and then he remembered nothing more.