no comment
to break the course of the Greaser's narrative, only eyeing him
occasionally with a squint of his hard blue eyes.

"I don't see, Mike" (his true name was Miguel Jose Maria, etc.), "why
them fellars down there in the valley didn't choke the breath out of
your black carcass; they must be soft ones, and I'm going to git their
horses pretty soon now. I'm going to turn in, and I don't want you
boys raising Cain around here. If you want to do any chawing be quiet
about it, understand?"

They understood perfectly; Miguel Jose Maria, better known as "Mike,"
looking blackly at the slouching figure of "the boss," as the giant
stooped his head through the low doorway of the cabin. What he
muttered to himself was complimentary neither to Big Gus' character
nor career, but he stood in great fear of him nevertheless. It was
characteristic of Gus Gols' shrewdness that his gang was made up for
the most part of Mexicans and half-breeds, with only two white men for
lieutenants.

He could dominate these mongrels and make them subservient. Also they
had to be satisfied with a small part of the spoils, while with a gang
of white men he would have been obliged to have divided up evenly and
he would constantly have had to prove his right to leadership. He had
drilled his motley crew until they were a very dangerous band of
outlaws. Naturally the Mexicans and half-breeds were poor shots, but
Big Gus had trained them until he had made good marksmen out of them,
and cool under fire. He had used threats, cajolery and even occasional
money prizes to obtain this result.

From this it was evident that the Frontier Boys had their work cut out
for them, with this dangerous gang barring their way and liable to
attack them at any time. Gus Gols was even now making his plans for an
ambush or a raid. The reports that his scouts had brought him in
regard to the boys' horses had made him greedy to get hold of them.

His own horseflesh was not in the best of shape. Besides, he needed
ammunition and other supplies which the boys had so thoughtfully
brought along. He chuckled to himself as he saw how easy it all was.
What chance would those tenderfoot kids have against his cunning
courage, strength and the odds of numbers? He would eat them alive. In
truth there seemed excellent ground for his confidence and it would
take something besides luck to save Jim and his followers at this
crisis. It would require hard fighting and skillful strategy.