"Come on, Luscombe," Hugh said; "the sooner we are out of this the better."
Before, however, they had gone twenty yards they heard the sound of two horses coming up behind them.
"Let us get round the corner of that house, Luscombe. I don't suppose they will pass those men at the windows; if they do, they will be thinking of their own safety as they gallop past and won't notice us."
"WHEN THE COWBOY FIRED, HUGH DROPPED ON ONE KNEE."
They had scarcely got round the corner when there was a discharge of firearms, and the reports of the rifles were followed by the quick sharp cracks of revolvers. Then a man dashed past them at a gallop. One of his arms hung by his side, and the reins were loose on the horse's neck.
"I suppose they have killed the other," Hugh said, "and this fellow is evidently hit. Well, let us go on to bed."
Luscombe did not speak until they reached their room. Hugh struck a match and lighted a candle.
"Well, you are a nice lad, Hugh," Luscombe said. "I thought you were always against quarrels, and wanted nothing but to go on with your work peaceably, and here you are throwing yourself into this and standing the chance of being shot, as if you had been fighting ruffians all your life."