“Couldn’t stay long in that place without all that stuff, could you?” came back the reply from the leader of the two tramps.
“No, especially when you took our food, too. What are you going to do with all that stuff? Any chance of buying it back?” Frank asked, thinking he might start a trade with the fellows.
“I wouldn’t mind selling you the stuff,” said Snadder. “But orders is orders, you know.”
That remark was exactly what Frank was waiting to hear—an intimation that some one else had something to do with the looting of their cabin while they were away.
“What became of Jeek—did he go over to his own camp after you left ours?” Frank pursued his questions again.
“Yep. No use to come with us, you know,” Snadder was chuckling very happily. He felt no fear of carrying on the conversation further, so he continued: “Pretty nice plan we laid out, eh? Coming right along to this shack and letting you trail us through the snow. And we didn’t bother you one bit when you rushed in here to get us.”
All four of the boys huddled in a close space in the small hole, each looking upward, two of them with their weapons ready for action, and, while the talk went on, gaining additional information at every sentence.
“You two fellows ought to be willing to let us out of here for a little cash, and also let us have our stuff back,” Frank called up to them after a few moments of silence.
“How much you got?” Blinky blurted out before he was stopped by Snadder. This, too, gave them a lead—that Blinky would be willing to listen to a cash offer from the boys, and, maybe, break ranks with the others.
“Awful sorry, boys, that we can’t take any money right now,” Snadder broke in, to interrupt Blinky. “You see, we’ll get your money in the long run, anyhow. Jeek wants you to pay for his dog, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the price ain’t gone up now.”