Two of them I instantly recognized as teamsters who had been driving in Lew Simpson's train, a few months before, and had been discharged.
They were charged with the murdering and robbing of a ranchman; and having stolen his horses it was supposed that they had left the country.
I gave them no signs of recognition however, deeming it advisable to let them remain in ignorance as to who I was.

It was a hard crowd, and I concluded that the sooner I could get away from them the better it would be for me.

I felt confident that they were a band of horse-thieves.
"Where are you going, young man; and who's with you ?" asked one of the men who appeared to be the leader of the gang.
"I am entirely alone.

I left Horseshoe station this morning for a bear hunt, and not finding any bears, I had determined to camp out for the night and wait till morning," said I; "and just as I was going into camp, a few hundred yards down the creek, I heard one of your horses whinnying, and then I came up to your camp." [Illustration: THE HORSE THIEVES' DEN.] I was thus explicit in my statement in order, if possible to satisfy the cut-throats that I was not spying upon them, but that my intrusion was entirely accidental.
"Where's your horse ?" demanded the boss thief.
"I left him down the creek," I answered.
They proposed going after the horse, but I thought that that would never do, as it would leave me without any means of escape, and I accordingly said, in hopes to throw them off the track, "Captain, I'll leave my gun here and go down and get my horse, and come back and stay all night." I said this in as cheerful and as careless a manner as possible, so as not to arouse their suspicions in any way, or lead them to think that I was aware of their true character.

I hated to part with my gun, but my suggestion of leaving it was a part of the plan of escape which I had arranged.