"Reade, this is most extraordinary!" "It is---very," Tom assented dryly.
"But who can the villains be ?" "A picked-up gang of gun-fighters, sent here to blow this camp off the face of the earth, since that is the only way that the backers of the rival road can find to set us back," Tom rejoined.
"If they drive us away from here, they'll attack the construction force next!".