“A horse stealer!” cried Dean excitedly. “That’s what he meant by coming last night.”
“Yes,” cried Mark. “Come on and fetch them back.”
“All right, sir,” said Buck; “but how? You’d want a rifle to fetch him down.”
“Hullo! What does this mean?” cried Sir James, as he joined them, with the doctor. “Why are the ponies being driven away?”
“That fellow!” cried Mark wildly. “A thief, father!”
“To be sure,” said Sir James. “But this is a trick. We have been imposed upon.”
“Yes, father. This is the chap that crawled up in the dark, and I took for a lion. He’s a horse stealer.”
“Well, the law will soon set that right.”
“Yes,” said the doctor, “but it means a long tramp back to the town.”
“Say, Dan, old chap, this ’ere’s a rum game,” whispered Buck. “What do you think of it?”