This incautious speech betrayed the fact that he was unarmed, and made the two thieves feel secure.
“Good-by, strangers!” said the first cowboy. “Your horses will be taken care of. You ain’t no cause to worry.”
They turned the horses’ heads and prepared to gallop away, though the poor animals, recognizing the voices of their real masters, seemed reluctant to go.
“If Mr. Peters and the boys were only awake,”
said the tourist, “they would manage these fellow.”
“You just get off them animals, or I’ll shoot!” cried a stern voice.—Page [163].
But help was near at hand after all.
“You just get off them animals, or I’ll shoot!” cried a stern voice.