"It must have been a thunderbolt," spoke the other dreamily. "But it didn't look like a storm."
"Oh, dere was a storm, all right," chuckled Eradicate, who, having left his mule, Boomerang outside, came into the shed. "It was a giant storm all right."
The men put their hands to their heads, and seemed to comprehend. They looked at the rope that bound their feet. Their forearms had been loosened to allow them to take a drink of water.
"What does this mean—Ransom—Kurdy?" asked Tom sternly, when the men seemed able to talk. "Did you attack Koku?"
"It looks as though he had the best of us, whether we did or not," said the man Tom knew as Kurdy. "Whew, how my head aches!"
"Me sorry," said Koku simply.
"Not half as sorry as we are," returned Ransom ruefully.
"What does it mean?" asked Tom sternly. "There were four of you. Feldman and one other got away."
"Oh, trust Feldman for getting away," sneered Kurdy. "He always leaves his friends in the lurch."
"Was this a conspiracy?" demanded Tom.