"Yes–run!" replied the sheriff.
Thinking he might have to call his friends to help, Jack slipped away unseen, and Timberlake might have gained the mastery of his opponent, had not the gang at that moment dashed up to them.
Surrounding him, they attacked the sheriff upon all sides, and in a twinkling made a prisoner of him.
He was knocked senseless, bound and gagged.
As soon as Jack found that the sheriff was not following him, he paused.
"I wonder if he's in trouble?" he muttered. "I can't go on this way. No! I'll return and see."
With this resolution he retraced his steps.
Reaching the spot where he had left Timberlake, he found that the sheriff had vanished.
Looking across the hollow, Jack saw the bandits mounting their horses.
He could just see them by the light of the camp-fire.