But it seemed to the girl that they were standing nearer to one another than they had been all along, and a pulse of trepidation ran over her.
Watching them closely, Mary felt they were meditating some action.
They were whispering to one another, and Dale was gesturing as emphatically as he could.
The girl was certain they contemplated concerted action of some sort, and she was just about to apprise Owen of her fears, when she saw one of the men--and then another and another--working with the ropes that bound them.

One of the men turned, a huge grin on his face.

She caught the flash of metal in the man's hands, saw the rope fall from them, severed.
She shouted, then, at Owen: "Look out, Barney; they've got a knife!" At the instant she spoke the men moved as though by prearrangement.

By the time her voice reached Owen's ears the men had scattered, running in all directions.

Several ran directly away from the house, others toward it, some went toward the corners of the building nearest them.
All were running zigzag fashion.
Owen, his eyes blazing, fired three times in rapid succession.