They've got us two to one, almost--if they mean trouble we'll have to work easy!" He saw the men relax; and several of them resumed their former positions at the fire.
The strange riders were coming steadily onward; they were not more than a hundred yards distant when Blackburn exclaimed, hoarsely: "Lawler; it's Blondy Antrim an' his gang! Damn his hide! We're in for it!" For the first time since Garvin had told him of the presence of the men on the trail behind the herd, Lawler's face betrayed passion--the glow in his eyes rivaled that in the giant's.
During the past year or so word had reached him--rumor unfounded, but insistent--that more than once Singleton and Blondy Antrim, the outlaw, had been seen together.

He had placed no credence in the rumors, ascribing them to the imaginations of mischievous brains, prejudiced against Singleton because of his bluff, dominant manner.

He first had suspected there might be truth in them when Joe Hamlin had told him that he had rustled cattle for Singleton.

He now believed that Singleton had disposed of the stolen cattle through Antrim and the conviction that Singleton was behind the action of the outlaw in trailing the herd through the country seized him.
In an instant--following Blackburn's exclamation--he was aroused to the danger that confronted himself and his men.

As though by previous arrangement, the men looked at him, noted the tenseness that had come over him, listened attentively when he spoke.
"Boys; don't offer to throw a gun.