"By Jove! I never thought of them."
And eagerly Jones followed his co-worker back into the house.
Summoning their men from the upper chambers, the two set at work to remove the large fireboard in the parlour.
But the task was no easy one, for it hadn't been disturbed for years. Though to some of them this fact indicated that their quarry had not hidden behind it, Jones suggested that they might have dropped down into the opening from above and they continued their efforts.
In the ham chamber, Jesse and his companions were cursing the persistence of the detectives whose actions and words reached them through the flue from the parlour.
The smoke and fumes from the curing hams made their eyes water and parched their lungs, till it seemed to them that it would be preferable to run the risk of an encounter with the man-hunters than to be slowly smothered to death.
Warned by the cough that had escaped from Cole, which Jones had heard, the outlaws sat with handkerchiefs in their mouths both to keep out some of the smoke and to stifle any choking or sneeze.
With feelings of dismay they had caught the sound of the work on the fireboard and scarce daring to breathe they listened, their six-shooters ready for instant use.
At last the chimney board yielded to the efforts to remove it and with a cry of triumph, Jones and Higgins crawled into the fireplace, peering up the flue.