Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/191

Rh and even if Claudius Brown's gang was in the vicinity, his own safety would be increased if he was with a friend instead of trying to make his way in the darkness over an untried and unfamiliar road.

He was relieved by the decision, and was about to push back his chair from the table when he was startled by the sound of voices of men in front of the tavern.

"Ho, there!" some one called in a voice that seemed to roll through the house and could be heard in every part of the building. "Come out and get our horses! We 're waitin', but we shan't wait long!"

Surely he recognized that voice, Robert assured himself, and trembling in his excitement he ran to the door of the room and peered cautiously out at the two men who now had dismounted and were standing on the steps, each holding the bridle of his horse in his hand. One glimpse was sufficient to convince Robert that he had not been mistaken, but his fears increased when he perceived that in addition to "Josh," the huge guard who had kept him in the hut into which the Thirteen had taken him, was Russell, the man whom he left asleep on his blanket in the same hut when he himself had been summoned by