'That is your answer?'
'Aye, it is.'
'Dog! is it for this that I have spared you?' and he drew hastily from his sheath a knife with a long, keen blade, and raised it.
But Roland was equally as quick as the desperado; and holding his pistol in the very face of the robber, he said:—
'Move that hand, villain, if you dare!' and as he said these words he moved gradually back, for Murfrey was coming towards him.
The chief saw that there was no glory for him in such a scene as this. He lowered his arm, and beckoned Murfrey back to his place.
'I was in a rage,' he said, looking at our hero,' because you refused this favour; but I did not mean to strike.' His looks, however, as he spoke, belied the declaration. 'I will need you,' he said, nodding to The Lifter; 'and you come, of course,' to Murfrey. Roland said nothing, but sat apart, his weapon in his pocket, ready for immediate use. But he did not need it, as the three robbers speedily left the den and passed out into the wood.
As the evening fell that day, the robbers, disguised as three log-choppers, with axes upon their shoulders, approached a large, comfortable and rather imposing residence. In this house, to judge from the cautious looks of the party, dwelt the object of the expedition. How to obtain the girl was the problem that now presented itself.
At first it was proposed that The Lifter should go in and enquire the distance to Sloan's tavern, a well-known rendezvous for lumbermen in the neighbourhood. But this plan was rejected. These desperate men would have no hesitation in boldly forcing their way into the house with axes uplifted, but the girl might not be there; and the enterprise, for the future, would be rendered more difficult.
The robbers, as has been said, were standing in a group among a pine-clump that stood a couple of perches from the road. In this same clump stood two horses saddled and one harnessed to a sled. The latter was the chiefs horse, and of course the vehicle was intended for carrying away the prize. While the villains stood together, planning a way out of the dilemma, the jingle of sleigh-hells was heard upon the road leading down to the dwelling.