CHAPTER XIV.
THE TWO DESPERADOS "Don't shoot, sir! It's just me!" Jamie piped in terror from the tree.
"It's only a kid!" Bill swore an oath of disgust and lowered his rifle.

"You git down out'n that tree! Git down quicker'n lightnin', too!" "I'm comin', sir!" came Jamie's frightened voice from the tree-top.
Jamie lost no time in descending from his perch and in a moment stood trembling before his captors.

It was quite dark now and snowing hard, and to the frightened little lad the two big lumbermen loomed up like giants.
"What you doin' here ?" demanded Bill with an oath as he seized Jamie's arm with a grip that made the lad wince.
"I were--I were huntin' for the cache," confessed Jamie.
"Goin' to steal our cache, was ye?
Well, we'll teach you to leave other folkses things be!" The man gave Jamie a savage shake.

"Tryin' to steal our cache, eh?
Who set you on to it?
That's what I want to know! Who set you on to stealin' it, now ?" "I weren't goin' to steal un, sir," chattered Jamie, horrified at the implication that he was a thief.
"What were you huntin' the cache for, then?
Don't lie, you little rat, or I'll twist your neck off!" The fellow seemed quite capable of executing the threat literally, as he again shook Jamie savagely.
"I--aint'-- lyin'-- about--un, sir!" pleaded Jamie between the shakes.
"I were--just--goin'-- to--look--at un, and--if--'tweren't--Lem Horn's silver fox--I weren't--goin' to touch un!" "Well, 'tain't Lem Horn's silver fox.

It's things of our'n! Do you hear that?
_'Tain't_ Lem Horn's silver, it's our'n what's in that there bag! You leave our things be! Do you hear what I'm sayin'?
You and your gang keep away from our cache, and don't go foolin' with anything you don't know anything about! Do you hear ?" The man gave Jamie another shake.
"I--I didn't know! We--we just suspicioned 'twere Lem's silver, and I were wantin' to take un back to he," explained Jamie.
"You heard what I said?
'Tain't Lem Horn's silver! You hear that, don't you ?" "Aye, sir, I saw what you was takin' out of the bag, and 'tweren't Lem Horn's silver.