Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/60

44 with the giant. Doubtless he was as well assured of the safety of the prisoner as if a guard of a half dozen had been placed over him, for a contest with his keeper could have but one issue.

"Hungry?" demanded Josh when he entered the hut.

"No."

"Tired?"

"Yes, dead tired," responded Robert heartily.

"I knew it. Everybody that comes here has th' same feelin'," said Josh, with a laugh that again recalled the rumbling of thunder. "It sort o' seems to affect people that way when 'the Thirteen' get hold o' 'em."

"‘The Thirteen'?" inquired Robert.

"Yes. Have n't ye ever heard o' that band?"

"Yes, I 've heard of it," responded Robert quickly; for the report of the deeds of a band of cowboys with that unique name had been current for some time. Among the hills and passes in Jersey and in the region back of the Hudson they had been busied for more than a year, and their leader, Claudius Brown, was a man whom all the patriots feared. Resolute, without fear, merciless and bold, already the