"Come on! Come on!" yelled one of the three men, closely following the fugitives. "We've got 'em!"
A moment later they did have them. Taken at a disadvantage, pounced upon as they rolled, stunned, to the bottom of the gully, unable to use their weapons, Tom Swift and Ned Newton were quickly made prisoners by their enemies.
CHAPTER XX
IN THE CASTLE
Stunned and bruised by their unexpected fall into the gully and manhandled by their captors, Tom Swift and Ned Newton were in a bit of a daze as they were roughly pulled along. The men—there were at least four of them now, as two were on each side of the prisoners—walked their captives down the gulch in the middle of which ran a stream of water, swollen by the heavy rain.
One of the four bandits—Tom and Ned mentally called them this—had a flashlight which he used to pick out the path when the gleams of lightning failed, as they did every so often.
"Well, we got 'em both!" chuckled one of the men.
"And without firing a shot!" added another. "It was easy!"
"A slick bit of work," put in a third gruff voice. "If——"
"No names now!" warned the fourth bandit.