"No, please say no, Jesse. We've—ugh!—seen enough shooting tonight," and she turned her large eyes, full of pleading, upon her brother.
"As you say, sis," returned he, good-naturedly. "The ladies are in command now, John, so I can't allow you to fire at the wretch, though it does seem a shame not to give him a couple of bullets to hurry him a bit."
Susie, however, was deaf to supplication and with a sigh the outlaws turned their backs upon the lone rider.
"Are you going to leave those—er—men?" inquired Marjorie, as Jesse and his companions dismounted to look to the cinches of their saddles.
"We are," returned the bandit-chieftain with an emphasis that warned the others that he had yielded to their demands as far as he would. "They'll serve as a warning that my family and friends are not to be trifled with."
Then dropping his harsh tone, he inquired: "Where were you-all bound for when this interruption occurred?"
"To my aunt, Mrs. Jarvis, in Deepwater," answered Tim.
"Good. The girls ought certainly to be secure from annoyance with any of your family, who'd never be suspected of harbouring the Jameses or their friends. I rather think you girls had better stay there for a few days till things get quieter. There's liable to be something happen in course of forty-eight hours or so."
"Oh, Jess, why can't you be satisfied with getting away?" besought his sister, only to be silenced by his retort: