Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/231

Rh want to go anywhere. We want to stay right here and get something to eat and something for our horses."

"Jes' so. So I heard ye remark." The man had not moved from the horse block, nor had he apparently turned his eyes away from the inspection of the animals. "Perhaps ye might want to be sellin' one o 'em?" he suggested.

"They 're not ours," replied Joseph.

"Ye don't say so. 'T is n't considered safe for ev'rybody to be seen ridin' 'long th' road 's early's this in the mornin' with horses that don't b'long to 'em."

"We 're not afraid. We 're just hungry," laughed Joseph. "You need n't be afraid of feeding horse thieves either, for we 're not quite in that class, and will pay you for every mouthful you give us."

"Want to put 'em in the barn?" inquired the man, rising for the first time from his seat on the horse block.

"No, I don't think so," spoke up Robert. There was something in the actions of the man that made him uneasy, though he could not explain what it was even to himself.

"Better put 'em in," persisted the man. "All right. Put them in the barn. I'm the spokesman of the party," said Joseph.