Instead of finding the bandits there though, Jack was chagrined to see that the passages they followed had led them up into the hills.
He saw some of the villains speeding away on their horses for the other side of the range.
It was not possible to follow them up there amid the tangled shrubbery and tumbled rocks with the stage.
"The only course to pursue," Jack commented, "is to go around the base of the hills and try to reach them that way."
"It's a mighty long course, my lad," said Tim.
"That's so; but there is no alternative."
"Vhere yer tink dey go now, Dimperlake?" asked Fritz.
"Out of the State, as fast as possible," the sheriff answered.
"Vhy yer tink me dot?"
"Because they've made a rich haul from the Husking Valley Bank, and we have sickened them with this section of the country. They are not used to such rough treatment."