"You were fleeing from the officers of the law."
"That's as straight as shooting," came from Hamp Gouch.
"If we help you to escape, will you stick by us in a little game we are trying to put through?"
"I will," answered Pick Loring, promptly.
"So will I," added Hamp Gouch. "No game too daring for me either."
"Well, it's this way," continued Dan Baxter. "Supposing I told you I had a game on that beats horse stealing all to bits. Would you go in for half of what was in it?"
"Sure."
"Trust me," added Gouch. "Say," he went on. "Got any liquor aboard?
This rain is beastly."
"I guess there is some liquor. We'll hunt around and see."
"Ha!" exclaimed Pick Loring. "Say, perhaps you don't know much more about this houseboat than we did about them horses we took."