Now, in the eyes of a miner a horse-thief was as bad as a murderer. He was considered rather worse than an ordinary thief, since the character of his theft gave him better facilities for getting away with his plunder. He was looked upon by all as a common and dangerous enemy, on whom any community was justified in visiting the most condign punishment.

 

Bill Mosely knew very well the feeling he would rouse against the men whom he hated, and, having started the movement, waited complacently for the expected results to follow.

 

Jim Brown was by no means slow in spreading the alarm. True, these men were his guests, and it might be considered that it was against his interests to denounce them, but he knew his claim for entertainment would be allowed him out of the funds found in possession of the party, with probably a liberal addition as a compensation for revealing their real character.

 

Horse-thieves! No sooner did the news spread than the miners, most of whom were through work for the day, began to make their way to the neighborhood of the hotel.

 

There hadn't been any excitement at Golden Gulch for some time, and this promised a first-class sensation.

 

"Hang 'em up! That's what I say," suggested Brown the landlord.

 

"Where's the men that call 'em thieves?" asked one of the miners, a middle-aged man, who was sober and slow-spoken, and did not look like a man to be easily carried away by a storm of prejudice or a wave of excitement.

 

"Here they be," said Brown, pointing to Bill Mosely and Tom Hadley, who were speedily surrounded by an excited crowd.

 

"What have you say?" asked the first speaker of Mosely.

 

Bill Mosely repeated his story glibly. It was to this effect: They had met the Chinaman, who induced them to accompany him to the cabin where his master lay sick. From motives of compassion they assented. When they reached the cabin they were set upon by the combined party, their horses were taken from them, they were tied to trees, where they were kept in great pain all night, and in the morning stripped of the greater part of their money and sent adrift.

 

It will be seen that the story did not entirely deviate from fact, and was very artfully framed to excite sympathy for the narrator and indignation against the perpetrators of the supposed outrage. Tom Hadley, who had not the prolific imagination of his comrade, listened in open-mouthed wonder to the fanciful tale, but did not offer to corroborate it in his usual manner.

 

The tale was so glibly told that it carried conviction to the minds of most of those present, and a storm of indignation arose.

 

"Let's have 'em out! let's hang 'em up!" exclaimed one impetuous miner.

 

Others echoed the cry, and the company of miners in stern phalanx marched to the hotel, where, unconscious of the impending peril, our friends were resting after the day's fatigue.

 

We have already described the manner in which Jim Brown burst in upon them with the startling charge that they were horse-thieves.

 

Of course all were startled except Ki Sing, who did not fully comprehend the situation.

 

Richard Dewey was the first to speak. "What do you mean," he said, sternly, "by this preposterous charge?"

 

"You'll find out soon enough," said the landlord, nodding significantly. "Jest you file out of that door pretty quick. There's some of us want to see you."

 

"What does all this mean?" asked Dewey, turning to Jake Bradley.

 

"I don't know," answered Bradley. "It looks like a conspiracy."

 

The party filed out, and were confronted by some thirty or forty black-bearded, stern-............