"Into the strong room with him," said the man of the house.
Ted was carried into a room and dumped upon a lounge. Then a light was struck, and both men bent over the prostrate form of the leader of the broncho boys.
Both of them started back.
"Whew! You must have given him an awful dose, Checkers," said the man of the house.
"Had to do it, Dude. If I hadn't, I'd never got him here, that's a cinch."
"Well, get his gun off before he comes to."
Ted was stripped of his weapons, a glass of water was thrown into his face, and he began to regain consciousness.
He had been shot down with an ammonia gun, and the powerful alkaloid gas had almost killed him. For a long time he breathed in gasps, but his splendid constitution pulled him through.
When they saw that he was recovering, the two men left the room, after examining the iron-barred windows, and as they went out they locked and barred the door behind them.