They followed out the idea, and taking several minutes in order to make no sound, crept up on the unsuspecting Green.
“Put ’em up, Green, and don’t let out a yip, or I’ll blow the daylight through you,” whispered the sheriff sibilantly.
Then he and Dick straightened up, leveling their firearms at Green. Green was so taken by surprise that he was only able to gasp.
“Now, Dick, round up the boys while I watch this fellow,” ordered the sheriff.
Dick hastened to do his bidding, and in a trice the other members of the party were at the sheriff’s side. Green had already been handcuffed, and warning him to make no sound, the party moved towards the window in the rear of the store where the tramps had made their entrance.
Bidding the constable guard Green, the capturing party crept toward the cubbyhole office.
Everything was going according to schedule, when the constable’s assistant stumbled against a crate, barking his shins severely, and forgetting the necessity for quietness, let out a muttered imprecation.
Instantly the tramps wheeled from their work, and making out the forms of the sheriff and his men, let loose with a volley of shots from their revolvers.
There was the sound of a falling body, and a groan from the sheriff’s deputy. Dick was about to rush to his assistance, when he called:
“Never mind me, just got me in the leg. Get the men.”