Katz. "It's a dirty trick to get
us out of the state without arresting this fugitive from justice."

"I'm sorry boys," Sheriff Pete said to them, with official gravity,
although there was a twinkle in his eyes, "but under the circumstances,
it's my duty to take you to Lander and give you a hearing before the
grand jury. Personally, I have my doubts as to the truth of the charges
made against you, but at the same time I've got to take ministerial
cognizance of them. I'm sorry, but it's my duty."

"And in the meantime," yelled Cullen, "these Boy Scouts will get this
fugitive from justice out of our reach!"

"I don't know anything about that!" said the sheriff, "but if they try
to do anything of that kind, I'm afraid they'll succeed."

"Well," Gilmore, the Sweetwater sheriff said, "I presume we'd better be
moving along with the prisoners. If it's true that these two alleged
detectives, who now turn out to be train robbers," he added with a
glance at the boys, "have a camp with plenty of provisions at the north
end of the next valley, we'd better take the whole bunch there and get
the provisions and pack the whole outfit over to Lander with us."

"Are you going back to camp now?" asked Sheriff Pete, turning to Will.

"Just as soon as Tommy gets filled up on bear steak, I think we'd better
be moving."

Sheriff Gilmore and the deputies now started away with the four
prisoners and the boys watched them sliding and scrambling down the
slope to the gully.

Will reached out and took Sheriff Pete by the hand.

"You're a brick!" he said. "You not only know how to do things, but you
know how to do them right. If you ever come up to Chicago, don't forget
to call on Lawyer Horton, and he'll tell you where we are."

"I'll not fail to do so," the sheriff answered, "but, in the meantime,"
he went on, "it ought to take about a week or two for these detectives
to establish their innocence, eh?"

"I should say about two weeks," replied Will. "And see here," the boy
went on, "I hope you won't be too hard on those train robbers. They're
pretty decent fellows after all."

"They're the first men that ever held me up!" laughed the sheriff.

"Forget it!" exclaimed Will.

"Oh, I don't lay that up against them!" the sheriff replied. "After
all," he continued, "they were careful not to injure any one on the
hold-up they're accused of, and I don't think they'll get more than five
or six years."

The officers and the boys parted wit