"
"You've got one advantage of us, stranger. You've got hosses, and
we've had to walk."
"Why didn't you buy animals?"
"We did, but they were stolen from us a little way back."
"If our hosses should be stolen," said Bradley, "the thieves would
die within a week."
Mosely and his friend looked at each other in silence, and the
conversation languished.
"Ben," said Bradley, after the two visitors were fast asleep, "shall
I tell you what I think of these two men?"
"Well, Bradley?"
"They are thieves, and they meant to steal our hosses."
"Won't they do it now?"
Bradley laughed.
"They'll be afraid to," he answered. "I've beaten them at their own
game, and they think I'm as desperate a bully as they pretend to be.
No; they won't think it safe to interfere with our property."
"How many men did you say you had killed, Jake?" asked Ben, with a
smile.
"That was all talk. Thank Heaven, I haven't the blood of any fellow
creature on my hands!"
CHAPTER XXV.
THE HORSE-THIEVES.
All four slept soundly, but the visitors awoke first.
"Are you awake, Tom?" inquired Mosely.
"I should say so," answered his friend.
Bill Mosely raised himself on his elbow and surveyed Ben and
Bradley.
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