All remonstrance squelched by his statement, his two companions wriggled through the small aperture, Jesse followed and Marjorie refastened the door.
By the aid of matches, the desperadoes were able to make their way among the redolent hams to the corners farthest from the stairs.
But the smoke coming through the bricks from the flue of the kitchen stove and the fumes were powerful.
"If we have to stay here long, we'll suffocate," growled Cole.
"Shut up! We've got to stand it. Don't move 'round," snapped his leader, and, resigning themselves to the ordeal, they subsided into silence.
All this time, down in the yard, Mrs. Prior and the others had been sparring for time, and it was with relief they beheld Marjorie rejoin them, for her coming told that the outlaws were hidden.
Grasping the purpose of Jesse's instructions, the wife of the farmer had opened the door, demanding of her bewildered husband:
"What's the trouble, Ephraim? What are those men running for?"
"We want the men who rode those horses here," panted Higgins as he reached the animals.
"What men?" protested Mrs. Prior. "Tell 'em they must have made a mistake, Ephraim. When they know you bought the critturs from those miners down at the train they'll come to their senses, maybe."