"Yes, I wasn't idle," replied Tom, "an' I found out a whole lot. At first the old man was afraid to talk, for he's scared of these fellers, but when I promised him that we would not get him into trouble he let out an' told me all he knows about 'em.
"This is the gang we heard about at Burlingame and again at A-Hundred-an'-Ten-Mile Creek," continued Tom. "They came to this neighborhood about a week ago an' have been robbin' and plunderin', an' everybody's afraid of 'em. The old storekeeper says that there are so few able-bodied men left here—most all of 'em having gone off to the war—that the few citizens left can't well make any organized opposition to 'em. This lot is an offshoot from Cleveland's gang of jayhawkers that we heard about at Leavenworth. It seems, the old fellow says, that this Captain Tucker was a lieutenant under Cleveland, an' they couldn't agree—each one wanted to be boss—so Tucker with a few followers split off from Cleveland an' started a gang of his own."
"Well, but did you find out how many there are in this gang?" I asked.
"Yes. The old man says that they try to make people believe that there is a big company, but from the best information he can get there are only seven or eight."
"What did I tell you?" said Jack contemptuously. "Ef they're no better than these two we're good for that many, easy."
"Yes," said Tom, "ef we don't let 'em get the drop on us I think we can stand 'em off; but we may find 'em a tougher lot than we take 'em for—ef they tackle us for a fight we've just got to clean 'em out, it's a ground-hog case. An' as to killin' 'em, I'd have no more hesitation about it than I would to kill a hostile Injun. Ef we have to open fire on 'em I want you men to shoot to kill, an' I'll do the same. These jayhawkers have been declared outlaws by orders from the commander of the department, an' the troops are turned loose to hunt 'em down, kill 'em, or break up the gangs wherever they can be found.
"The old storekeeper says they've just taken possession of his store," he continued, "helpin' themselves to his liquor or anything else they want, tellin' him to 'chalk it down' an' by an' by they'll settle with him.
"A boy from the neighborhood who had been down to their camp to sell 'em some butter told the old man that there was only seven men of 'em an' they had a tent an' a two-horse wagon. The boy said they had lots of good horses, an' the old man thinks they gather in all the good horses an' mules they can find in the country an' now an' then send a lot of 'em in to Leavenworth an' sell 'em to the contractors there who are buyin' up horses an' mules for the government.
"Whatever happens," continued Tom, "we must be careful not to compromise this old storekeeper an' his family, for he's very much afraid of these jayhawkers an' cautioned me several times not to let them get a suspicion that he had told us anything about them.
"I put an idea in his head, though, which may be the means of ridding this neighborhood of these rascals. I told him to write a letter to General Hunter, in command of the department at Fort Leavenworth, tellin' him the situation out here, an' to request the general to send out a company of cavalry to clean out this gang an' give protection to the farmers an' people travelling the road.