"If the girl came down here to meet her brothers, and the miners are the outlaws, they won't leave the Springs till they've seen her!"
And without more ado, the man-hunters hastened to the farmhouse where Higgins and Jones had followed Susie, having learned by inquiring of a neighbour that it belonged to the Priors.
But the sister of the notorious James' boys had left the homestead in Kearney with no such purpose in view.
Tiring of the long promised, but never given, consent to her marriage to Tim Mason, the telegraph operator at Kearney who had served the desperadoes so well in times gone by, the lovers had put their heads together and decided to take matters into their own hands and elope.
After considering many places, they finally decided upon Monegaw Springs as the one where their marriage would attract the least notice because of the constantly changing population.
With many misgivings, Susie had sought her mother's permission to pay a visit to the Priors, permission which was eventually granted.
The matter of leaving her home without occasioning embarrassing inquiries thus settled, the young people selected the day and made the final arrangements.
The girl was to leave Kearney on the morning train and her sweetheart at noon.
Both were aware that man-hunters would doubtless follow the sister of the desperadoes but they knew they could only look on, and many a laugh the lovers had over the surprise of the sleuths when they discovered they had trailed the girl to an elopement instead of to a meeting with her brothers.
But fate plays strange pranks.