Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/116

100 Darting to the door in the rear of the house, Robert could see that two men were indeed approaching from the woods on that side, and instantly he understood what it all meant. Not satisfied with the result of their search, and convinced, in spite of their apparent failure, that the man for whom they had been searching was still hidden somewhere about the premises, the cowboys had in reality only pretended to depart from the place. As soon as they had gone sufficiently far to conceal their movements from the sight of the people in the house, they evidently had divided their force into two parties, and by their sudden and unexpected return were hoping to discover their man at a time when, confident in their success, the inmates would be less guarded and consequently would be more easily forced to disclose the hiding-place.

"They 'll see me if I go out of the house," exclaimed Robert, aghast at the sight.

"Yes, yes. You can't hide in the ash-heap again," replied Hannah, as excited as he.

"What shall I do? Where shall I go? Give me that gun," demanded Robert, hastening toward one of the rifles which were in the room.

"No, no. Not that!" said Mrs. Nott