“Then up with your hands!” And in keen fright Sedley put his hands over his head and kept them there.
“Humph! It’s Jack Ruddy and Andy Snow!” murmured Roy Bock. “How did you get here?”
“Up with those hands, Bock, or I’ll order Snow to fire!” returned Jack. “I want you to understand this is no laughing matter.”
“You won’t dare to shoot us,” said Bock, but his voice showed his uneasiness.
“Don’t you believe it! You are nothing but highway robbers!”
“No, we are not, we——”
“Are you going to put up those hands or not?” demanded Andy. “This is a repeating rifle, and it is fully loaded.” He spoke the truth, for Captain Putnam had allowed the cadets to load up before starting on the search, not knowing what might turn up. The boys, however, had been cautioned to be very careful.
Slowly Roy Bock elevated his hands. He was uneasy, for he did not know what to expect.
“Can’t you take a joke,” he grumbled.
“Maybe you won’t find this a joke when you get through with it,” said Jack. “Stealing horses and wagons is a State’s prison offence.”