“Yes, my friend, you had better give up your little plan. It won't work.”
Such language from his confederate, on whom he fully relied, wholly disconcerted the masked robber.
“Well, I'll be blowed!” he muttered, staring, in ludicrous perplexity, at his fellow conspirator.
“Yes, my friend,” said the colonel, “I shall really be under the necessity of shooting you myself if you don't leave us alone. We are all armed and resolute. I think you had better defer your little scheme.”
Brown was not quick-witted. He did not see that his confederate was trying cunningly to avert suspicion from himself, and taking the only course that remained to him. Of course, he thought he was betrayed, and was, as a natural consequence, exasperated.
He released his hold on the horses, but, fixing his eyes on the colonel fiercely, muttered:
“Wait till I get a chance at you! I'll pay you for this.”
“What an idiot!” thought Warner, shrugging his shoulders. “Why can't he see that I am forced to do as I am doing? I must make things plain to him.”
He spoke a few words rapidly in Spanish, which Brown evidently understood. His face showed a dawning comprehension of the state of affairs, and he stood aside while the stage drove on.
“What did you say?” asked Conrad Stiefel, suspiciously.