"Is he a robber?"
"You bet he is," was the answer. "Though I didn't think he'd rob me, as I'm one of the boys myself. There isn't a man this side of the Rocky Mountains who doesn't know Joe Brady, the gambler."
"But, Mr. Brady," exclaimed Smithers, "did he try to stop you?"
"All he knew. He and two others must have heard that I was leaving Silver for Virginia City, and had considerable money about me, for they rode out from behind a bluff and commenced shooting free."
"And you escaped?"
"I did. A bullet carried off my hat, but I turned in the saddle, dropped one man, killed another's horse and the third turned tail and fled."
"Is it possible?" gasped Smithers.
"Then I made the running at a two-twenty pace, you bet, for I thought there might be more of them, and I never drew rein till I saw you in the distance."
Mrs. Smithers regarded her husband blankly, and the trepidation which this news caused the whole party to feel was written in their faces, Alice and Harold becoming particularly pale.
"Can the sheriff and his posse do nothing in the premises?" inquired Smithers.