We had nearly reached Council Grove without encountering any jayhawkers and had begun to flatter ourselves that we were going to slip through the settlements without having trouble with them. At one or two places along the road, however, we had heard that a party of jayhawkers had lately been seen on the route ahead of us, and we had been cautioned to look out for them. CHAPTER V WE MEET DOUBTFUL CHARACTERS One day, on stopping at a store to buy some feed, just before reaching the crossing of a timbered creek, we noticed two saddled horses hitched to the fence and on entering the store found two well-armed, rough-looking fellows lounging about, one of whom seemed to be half tipsy. The store was also a post-office and presided over by a very old man. While Tom and the storekeeper retired to a back room to measure out some grain, the two ruffians began to manifest considerable interest in our affairs, asking many questions, to all of which Jack and I, who had left the team standing in the road and walked up to the store, gave rather curt answers. Apparently not satisfied with our replies, the drunken fellow staggered out toward our team, remarking to his more sober companion: "Joe, let's take a look at their outfit." We paid little apparent attention to them but quietly watched every movement they made, for we began to suspect that these were some of the robbers we had heard of. Each of the men carried a pair of revolvers hung to his belt. The most drunken one was a large, swearing, swaggering ruffian who was addressed by the other as "Cap." The one named "Joe" was smaller and apparently more sober and wore an old cavalry jacket. As they walked around the team we heard an ominous growl from our dog, Found. The big fellow stepped back and laid a hand on the butt of one of his pistols, and Jack quickly grasped the handle of his own weapon and took a step or two in the direction of the drunken ruffian, keeping his eyes on the fellow's pistol hand. "Cap" saw the movement and turned toward Jack, still with his hand on his pistol, and remarked with an oath: "Mister, ef that dog tries to bite me he dies." "Then there'll be two dogs die," returned Jack quietly, looking the fellow in the eye. I kept a close watch of the motions of Joe, but he made no threatening gestures and seemed waiting to see what his leader would do. "What do you mean, sir?" demanded the drunken blusterer of Jack. "I mean," replied the Irishman quietly, "that if you keep away from that team and attend to your own business the dog'll not hurt you; but you draw a gun to shoot him, an'--well, you heard my remark." Instead of resenting Jack's ultimatum, the big fellow turned to his henchman and said: "Joe, these men don't appear to have heard of me. Tell 'em who I am," and then disappeared into the store. Joe stepped up to Jack and said in a confidential way: