“Listen!” he cautioned.
Sounds of men’s voices drifted through the black fog.
“The boss must be nuts, stringing us out on a night like this, Butch!” said one voice. “Whose gonna raid us in this kind of weather?”
“Ain’t nobody going to raid us, says I. Cowboy’s scared Hegarty so much I guess we ain’t likely to have no trouble.”
“And with Gallagher along, I guess we can hold our own!” the first speaker said. “That guy’s a honey with a tommy-gun!”
“His fists ain’t too bad, either, Butch,” some third voice said.
“Say, Dago makes me laugh,” Butch commented. “He’s scared stiff of them kids! You know the ones I mean!”
“Sure the two what got their maps in the paper!”
The voices were drawing near now and both boys slipped back from the trail. Even as they did so the men almost stumbled upon them and John lay prone at once, scared. Some one stepped on his right hand, his flashlight blinked as his squeezed fingers pressed the trigger and the light flared its betrayal.
His yell of pain and the bright light came at once!