CHAPTER VI.
THE GANG AND THE GAME.
Patsy Garvan heard, with a thrill of dismay, the threatening commands that suddenly broke the silence behind him. He heard, too, a vicious oath that came with a wolfish growl from David Margate, when he leaped from his chair and rushed toward the rear door of the house, immediately followed by Busby and the woman.
“Gee whiz! I’m caught hands down,” was the thought that leaped up in Patsy’s mind, as he turned and gazed over his shoulder.
One glance was enough to confirm his misgivings. Two men were standing about four feet behind him, both stocky, dark-featured fellows, and both held a revolver ready for instant use. That they were the two men he had heard mentioned, Dunbar and Haley, Patsy also rightly inferred.
“Come down here,” Dunbar repeated, brandishing his weapon. “Be quick about it, too, or I’ll plug you with a bullet.”
Patsy saw that he had no sane alternative, that his own promising designs were nipped in the bud, and that the discovery of his identity by Margate was almost inevitable.[Pg 27]
He met the situation with characteristic coolness, nevertheless, though thoroughly disgusted with the ominous turn of affairs. He sprang down from the window, replying curtly:
“Save your bullets. You may need them later.”
“Now or later matters little to us,” snapped Dunbar, thrusting his revolver under Patsy’s nose. “Shove up your hands and give an account of yourself. What do you want here?”
“You wouldn’t fancy hearing just what I want,” Patsy said dryly.