Just here Clancy yielded to a reckless impulse. Had he thought twice about the matter, he would probably have suppressed himself. But he was excited, and perhaps not accountable for what he did.
Starting up suddenly, he gave vent to a yell.
“Hold up, you fellows!” he shouted. “What have you got there?”
His answer was a wild rattle of spurs and swish of quirts.
“Ride!” shouted one of the horsemen, in a voice that was strangely familiar. “They’re laying for us!”
The horses dashed out of the chaparral at frenzied speed. Something fell heavily, and the lads knew it must be the bag. It had been torn from the horse’s back by the bushes, or had been dislodged by the horse’s wild movements. Anyhow, the bag dropped—and the horsemen did not pause to recover it. Their anxiety to get away astounded Clancy and Ballard.
“What did you want to butt in for, Red?” demanded Ballard, watching the dim figures receding at breakneck speed into the distant shadows.
“I don’t know,” answered Clancy. “I was curious, I suppose. If I had it to do over again, I’d keep still. What I said scared them, though, and that’s why they went on without the bag. Let’s see what’s in the thing.”
The boys stepped toward the heavily weighted bag and Clancy began untying the cord at the top of it.