"And what did those boys come out for?" the sheriff asked, pointing at Will and George and the boy in whose interest they had left camp.
Tommy had no means of knowing what stories the boys might have told regarding their presence in the mountains, and so he decided to dodge the question. This seemed the only safe way.
"Ask them!" he said after a short silence.
By this time the whole party was out in the gulch, standing full in the moonlight. The men conferred together for some moments, and then the sheriff turned to the other members of the party.
"Get your ropes, boys," he said. "We haven"t got time to fool with these boys any longer."
"I protest against this action," shouted Seth. "You, Pete, are sheriff of this county, and it is your duty to enforce the laws. If you permit this lynching to take place in your presence, you"ll be guilty of the crime of murder, and I warn you that you"ll be prosecuted."
Tommy and Sandy looked at their chums questioningly. They did not at all understand what was going on. Will and George were binding up the wound with bandages which they had long carried for use on just such an occasion as this.
"I think I know my duty," answered the sheriff. "Wyoming officers are being made the laughing-stock of the whole world because of the frequency of these train robberies. In nearly every instance, lately, the outlaws have escaped, princ.i.p.ally because of a.s.sistance given them by such people as we have here under arrest."
The men removed ropes from under their coat and began to unwind them.
Seth drew his revolver and waited.
CHAPTER XI
A WYOMING HOLD-UP
The four men stepped forward toward the boys with the ropes in their hands. The boys stood facing the crowd with unflinching eyes.
"I warn you!" shouted Seth.
"Wait!" Chester cried, stepping forward. "If you"re doing this because my friends won"t tell why they are in the mountains of Wyoming, and why they are out in the hills tonight, you may as well hold your hands. I"ll give you all the information on the subject you desire."
Will stepped forward and caught the boy by the arm.
"You know what it means to--to some one if you speak," he warned.
"But I"m not going to see you boys murdered before my eyes!"
"No more fairy tales go!" shouted a member of the sheriff"s gang. "We have an unpleasant duty to perform here and we"re not going to shirk it.
As the sheriff says, outlaws are flocking to Wyoming because they are hidden and protected by such people as you."
"But I can satisfy you as to the honesty of these boys," pleaded Chester, "if you"ll listen to me for five minutes."
"Nothing doing!" shouted the sheriff.
Again the men advanced with the ropes and again Seth lifted his revolver in warning. The situation was a critical one.
During the second of silence which followed, a clatter of stones came into the gulch from the rocky summit above, and all eyes were instantly turned in that direction. As they looked the sheriff and his men dropped their weapons to the ground and threw their hands into the air.
"That"s right!" came a hoa.r.s.e voice from above. "Throw down your weapons and drop your belts at your feet. Now line up there in a row, you baby s.n.a.t.c.hers! Never mind that funny business, there, you man with the red whiskers. You"ll drop in your tracks if you make another move! You are the cowboy sheriff of the county, I understand, but you ought to be training puppies for a dogshow. That"s about your size."
In a moment every member of the sheriff"s posse, including Seth, was unarmed. As they stood meekly in a row the boys were ordered to take their own weapons from the heap on the ground and walk away over the ridge.
"Can you see who they are?" asked Will, as the boys moved slowly along.
"I can see only the outlines of their heads and the gleaming barrels of their rifles," George answered. "Say," the boy went on, "didn"t the cowboys drop their weapons quick when they saw those shining muzzles?"
"They knew the other fellows had the drop on them, and I don"t blame them," Tommy cut in.
"Do you really think they are the train robbers?" asked Sandy, who was being a.s.sisted up the slope by Will and George.
"They"re the train robbers, all right!" insisted Tommy. "I can"t see their faces any more than you can, but I remember that voice! You remember the night he was at our camp, and we were getting something to eat? Well, I heard quite a lot of his conversation that night. Some of it I liked and some of it I didn"t, but I"m sure the man whose conversation I heard that night is the same man who ordered the cowboy officers to throw down their weapons."
"But why should they do a thing like that?" demanded Will.
"I don"t know," replied George, "unless it is because train robbers have a continual and perpetual grouch against officers of any kind."
"That must be the reason," Will admitted.
"Well, I"m glad they got us away!" said Tommy, as the five boys reached the summit and looked down into the little valley, "but they sure put us in bad with the cowboys from this time on. The cowboys, apparently with good cause, were accusing us of standing in with the train robbers, and now the train robbers have proven the point by b.u.t.ting in for our protection."
"It"s too bad," Will answered, "but I don"t see how it can be helped. It is particularly unfortunate at this time, because with the cowboys opposing us we won"t dare search the mountains for Chester"s father."
"We"ll find a way!" insisted Tommy. "We"ll be sure to find a way."
When the boys turned down the slope which led to their camp, not very far away, daylight was growing in the sky. They could see the figures of the men who had rescued them creeping away to the south.
Shouts and exclamations of rage were coming over the ridge, and the boys understood very well that in a short time the cowboys would be at their camp, with stronger motive than ever for their destruction.
"We"ve got our guns," Will said as they walked along, "and we"ve got to fight. That"s all there is to it."
When the boys came to the side of the dying campfire they found two men who seemed to be entire strangers sitting calmly in one of the tents, dividing the contents of a great tin of roast beef, and also sharing a huge loaf of bread. The light was still dim in the tent, and so Will turned his electric on the rather domestic scene.
"What are you men doing in there?" he demanded.
"Eating!" was the calm reply.
"I didn"t know but you were getting a hair-cut," grinned Tommy.
"Where"d you come from?" asked George, as the boys all gathered in front of the flap.
"Look here, kids," one of the men said easily, "we"ve been traveling two days and two nights, and we"re hungry and sleepy. Just let us fill up on this chuck and we"ll tell you all about it."
"We really ought to go to sleep!" the other intruder suggested. "But, as you seem anxious to know why we"re consuming your provisions, I"ll relieve your minds of anxiety by saying that we met John Johnson half way to Green River and he sent us in to tell you that he would arrange for reinforcements for you as soon as he reached Green River. He said he mentioned the fact to you when he was here, but you didn"t seem to like it, and so he said nothing more about it to you."
"He sent you in here just to tell us that?" demanded Will.
"Aw, tell him the truth," laughed the other.