"So you got the best of 'Red' Thompson and 'Shag' Leary," he exclaimed in
astonishment. "The toughest nuts we've had to crack in this section for
years. A good many people will breathe easier now that they're trapped.
They're 'bad men' through and through, and if their pistol butts had a
notch on them for every man they've killed, they'd look like saws. And
with nothing but a paperweight and bare fists," he chuckled. "They sure
must feel sore. What was done with them?"

"Oh, the conductor handed them over to the sheriff at one of the
stations," answered Bert. "I suppose they'll be tried before long."

"Maybe," said Melton a little dubiously. "My own private hunch, though,
is that Judge Lynch will invite them to a little necktie party. They've
lived a heap sight too long already, and there won't be much formality
wasted on them.

"You boys sure have the nerve," he went on. "You got away with it all
right, but you took an awful chance."

"Yes," quoted Dick:

'An inch to the left or an inch to the right,
And we wouldn't be maundering here to-night.'"

"Those born to be hung will never be shot," laughed Tom. "I guess that
explains our escape so far."

"It beats the Dutch the faculty you fellows have of getting into scrapes
and out again," commented Melton. "I believe you'd smell a scrap a mile