therewon't be any danger of 'em gittin' hurt."
Anna and Eloise were perfectly willing to this, but Arietta shook herhead.
"I am going to stay here till Wild is free," she declared.
The scout knew very well that there was no use in arguing the questionwith her. Arietta had a mind of her own, and the only one she would everlisten to was Young Wild West.
"All right," the scout said, "Hop, you jest show us where yer got upthere, an' me an' Jim will go up an' take a look."
He quickly showed them, and then Charlie and Jim at once began toascend.
Arietta promptly followed them.
"Hop, you stay here with the girls till we come back," she said, "Keep awatch, and if anything happens call out to us."
"Allee light, Missy Alietta," he answered, though he would have muchliked to go up with them, since it was he who had made the importantdiscovery.
Young Wild West's two partners and Arietta were soon out of sight.
Anna and Eloise watched them until they disappeared, and they continuedto look where they had last seen them.
If they had only looked the other way they might have saved themselves alot of trouble.
Or if Hop had kept a watch, as Arietta told him to, things would surelyhave turned out differently.
It so happened that Cap Roche had changed his mind about waiting untilafter the hour of noon before paying a visit to the cave, and he wasriding up the pass in company with one of his men at that very moment.
In watching the climbers the two girls had exposed themselves to theview of any one approaching, and when Cap Roche and his man suddenlycame in sight of the two so near the hidden cave they were astonished.
One of the cowboys who had seen our friends when they came to BigBonanza was his companion, and he was not long in recognizing Anna andEloise.
"Cap," he whispered, "they belong to Young Wild West's crowd. I wonderwhat they kin he doin' here?"
"Is that so?" queried the leader. "Well, I'll soon find out what theyare doing here. I reckon we had better catch them and take them in thecave. That will be a bold stroke, I think. The chances are that YoungWild West is around here somewhere."
They dismounted and moved cautiously toward the girls.
When they got directly in front of the cave they were astonished to seethe bodies of two of their men lying there.
The eyes of the leader flashed dangerously.
"Young Wild West has been at work, I reckon!" he exclaimed, in a lowvoice. "Come on! We had better go in first and see if everything is allright there."
It was at that moment that the curtain rolled up, for the man on watchhad seen them.
They hurried to him and learned the situation, as far as the man knewit.
But the fact that Young Wild West was a prisoner so elated thevillainous leader of the outlaw gang that he felt like giving a shout ofjoy.
He restrained himself, however, and then quickly made up his mind tocapture the two girls outside.
Another man who was inside the cave was called, and then the four setout to carry out their foul purpose.
As they crept nearer to the unsuspecting girls, who were now talking inwhispers and waiting patiently for the return of their companions, theyfound that there was a Chinaman with them.
"Catch all three of them, and don't let them have a chance to utter acry," was the order from Cap Roche.
Stealthily the four villains crept upon the unsuspecting ones, and twominutes later all three of them were struggling in the grasp of theoutlaws.
Though it had been planned quickly, it was well done, and, unable tomake an outcry, Hop and the two girls were carried bodily into the cave.
A whistle brought half dozen to their assistance, and then the prisonerswere bound and told to be silent.
"If you scream it will do no good, for if your friends start to come inhere they will be shot down like wolves!" said Cap Roche, smilingfiendishly. "The best thing you can do is to take it easy."
Having said this, he turned to his men and ordered that the two bodiesbe brought in.
This was done, though those who did it were very cautious in theirmovements, since they expected to be shot down at any moment.
Much relieved, the outlaws carried the bodies through the cave to thehole outside.
"Now," said the leader, "just tie the prisoners to the table."
This was soon done, Hop pleading to be released in vain.
"Go and fetch Young Wild West here," said Roche. "We will have them alltogether while I talk to them."
Chuck Snivel hastened to do the bidding of his boss.
He went out to the post and began untying the captive boy.
"Cap Roche has got here, an' he wants ter see yer, Young Wild West," hesaid.
"All right," answered the boy, not knowing whether to believe him ornot. "He'll find that I am all right, I reckon."
His ankles being untied, Wild walked along readily.
The captain was standing near the table waiting for him.
When Wild saw Anna, Eloise and Hop prisoners there he could scarcelybelieve his eyes.
Things were surely getting worse, instead of better, he thought.
But he did not let the captives think that he was anything likediscouraged over the prospect.
"How are you, Mr. Roche?" he said, coolly. "How is business over at thestore and post office?"
The villain smiled at this.
"You're a pretty cool one, I must say," he retorted. "I suppose it wasyou who turned the sign over?"
"Yes; I thought I would let travelers know that you were one of theoutlaws who demanded toll from those who pass this way."
"Well, I hardly think your plan worked, then, for I took the trouble toright the sign a little while ago. Well, what do you think of thisbusiness, anyhow? Sorry you came to Forbidden Pass, are you not?"
"Oh, no. This is pretty bad for me just now. But it won't last verylong. If you want to save trouble you had better release me, and theothers you have got here, and then light out somewhere. If you don't youwill only be sorry for it. You think you have got the best of me now,but in a short time you will find out that it will be just the otherway. You don't suppose that I came here without knowing just what I wasdoing, do you?"
"Well, you couldn't have known just what you were doing or this wouldn'thave happened."
Roche motioned toward the prisoners.
"It was a poor way for you to win out, this letting us get you and thoseothers, I think," he added.
"Well, of course, I did not expect anything like this to happen," Wildanswered, coolly. "That was a pretty good scheme your men put throughwhen they got me. But let me tell you that my two partners have gone toget a crowd of miners to come here and clean, you out. They know justhow to get in, for they have seen the curtain raised in front of theopening that leads in here. But they knew all about that last night, forI followed you here and saw you come in. I told them all about it, andthey know just what to do now."
Cap Roche looked uneasy.
He did not relish the idea of the miners of Big Bonanza finding outabout the cave.
And he was now pretty certain that they would.
The fact that he was known to be the leader of the outlaws made itimpossible for him to go back to Silver Bend, too.
Though he had the best of Young Wild West just then, he knew he was in avery bad box.
"You have done well, Young Wild West," he said, trying to appear cool."You have done something that no one else has been able to do--you havefound our cave and exposed the secret of it. I will admit that you haveruined our game here, but you don't suppose that you are going to liveto enjoy telling about it, do you?"
"Oh, I don't know. I expect to live a long while, Cap Roche. I reckonyou think as much of your life as I do of mine. If you should kill meyou know very well that you would not live long after doing it. Yourfriends would never get a chance to do you a good turn, for you wouldnever fall into the hands of the minions of the law. The only ch
ance youhave got is to make a deal that suits me. If you don't want to do that,do as you please."
Cap Roche got up and began pacing the rocky floor of the cave.
His uneasiness made his men feel in anything but a pleasant frame ofmind.
Suddenly he paused in front of Wild and said:
"Let's hear your proposition."
"I would much rather you would make one," was the calm reply.
"Could you guarantee me three days to get away from Silver Bend if Iagreed to let you go by paying the toll?"
"Yes, I could do that, I suppose."
"Well, I'll think it over."
"You had better think quickly then."
Cap Roche scowled.
"See here!" he exclaimed, turning to Hop and quickly severing his bonds."You