The two men exchanged looks. Then they lowered the hammers of their guns. The action signified that, according to their way of thinking, they had nothing to fear from these half-grown lads.
“Cum an’ set down an’ tell us a lot more,” said the big man, with the red face, and the crafty eyes, Thad could not bring himself to like, because he seemed to see wells of treachery in their depths.
So the boys dropped down again, being more foot-weary than ever. But taking a cue from Allan and Thad, the other two scouts kept their guns close beside them. Apparently none of them exactly liked the looks of the two strangers; and they were not accustomed to much reading of character, either.
“War his name Bumpus?” asked the American.
“Just what it was,” flashed out Giraffe; “but how did you know that? Have you met up with our lost pard?”
“Sho! ain’t I got ears, an’ didn’t one o’ ye call out that same name when ye was agoin’ ter walk inter our camp?” demanded the other, gruffly.
Thad was on the alert.
He did not feel favorably impressed by the looks of the two men. Besides, he noticed a crafty, greedy expression cross their faces whenever they allowed their eyes to rest on Step Hen’s new repeating rifle. Evidently the neatness of the little weapon quite captured them, and made them envy the boy its possession.
And Thad was of the opinion that two such rough-looking customers would not hesitate long about trying to obtain anything they coveted.
The conversation soon became more general, the men wanting to know how it was these boys, almost wholly inexperienced in the ways of the woods as they took them to be, were venturesome enough to start into the foothills of the Rockies without a single guide along.