He had raised his voice a trifle, and the rustle that had commenced died away in token that Jeff had heard. In the meanwhile one of the rustlers had slipped his hand inside his furs; but Leland, who noticed it, made a little gesture.
"I guess it's not worth while," he said. "If you'll sit down a minute, I have a word or two to say to you."
One of the men did so, but the other stood near the door watching Gallwey, who was, on the whole, thankful that he had taken down Jeff's rifle.
"Well?" said the first outlaw. "It was Jeff who gave us away?"
"Not exactly. At least, he didn't mean to. You should have got a smarter man before you ventured to put up a bluff on me. Still, that's not the question. When are you going to bring my horses back?"
"I'm afraid I can't quite promise," said the other with a chuckle. "With us, finding is sometimes keeping."
"You have two weeks. If they're not back in that time, you're going to be sorry."
The outlaw laughed openly. "Come down and look at it reasonably. We have got to live, and we have, after all, stuck you for very little. With four police troopers to watch this part of the country, there's nothing you can do. I guess we've got our grip on it just now."
"You have two weeks to bring back my horses in."
"Then you mean to insist on it?" said the other man.