dismounted, and then Snivel walked over to the edgeof the entrance and lifted a log that was lying there to an almostupright position, leaning it against a rock.
As he did this the curtain rolled down.
It was a rather simple affair, since the rope that was attached to thetop of the curtain was tied to the log, and when the log was made todrop the curtain went up.
It would drop just as quickly when released, as there was a weight atthe bottom.
The part of the cave the three men were now in was hardly any wider thanthe entrance itself, but it extended back a short distance and then tooka sharp turn to the left.
As they led their horses to this point they came upon a naturalunderground apartment that was fully fifty feet long and thirty inwidth.
Though irregular in shape, it was surely an ideal place for a band ofrobbers to hold forth.
The natural ceiling was high, and through the face of the cliff lightwas admitted through several zig-zag cracks.
Fully a dozen men were sitting in the cave on boxes and stools or lyingin bunks that were built along two sides of it, and none of themappeared to be much disturbed by the entrance of the trio.
"Where's Cap?" asked Chuck Snivel, when he had led his horse to a darkpart of the cave and tied it to the long strip of wood that was therefor the purpose.
"He's over to ther store, I reckon," answered one of them. "How did yermake out in Big Bonanza, Chuck?"
"Putty good, I reckon," was the retort. "Everything would have been allright if we hadn't met Young Wild West an' his pards there."
"Young Wild West an' his pards!" exclaimed one of the robbers, jumpingto his feet, excitedly.
"Yes, that's what I said. Why, do you know anything about them galoots,Bob?"
"Do I? Well, I reckon I do! I had ther chance ter see 'em a couple oftimes down in Prescott, Arizona. I belonged ter a gang near there, whichgot cleaned out by them same three galoots yer jest spoke of. I got awayjest by ther skin of my teeth, an' I was mighty thankful fur it, yer kinbet! Young Wild West ain't nothin' but a boy, an' neither is one of hispards. But ther three of 'em makes ther toughest proposition I everseen. So they're here, are they? Well, I wish they wasn't, fur it meansbad fur us. I'll bet they'll be lookin' fur us afore many hours!"
"Oh, yes. There ain't no mistake about that part of it. They'll belookin' fur us. What do yer s'pose Young Wild West told me as we leftBig Bonanza?"
"I don't know. What was it?"
"He said if we seen any outlaws in Furbidden Pass ter tell 'em that hewas lookin' fur 'em."
Bob shook his head and showed that he felt very uneasy.
"I know how it'll be," he said, half to himself, "We're in fur it now.That boy has got more lives than a cat, an' when he shoots he killsevery time. He's ther luckiest galoot what ever tried ter do a thing,an' if he has made up his mind ter clean us out yer kin bet he'll doit!"
"Pshaw!" spoke up one of the others. "That's all foolishness. Jestbecause these galoots you're talkin' about happened ter clean out thergang you belonged to in Arizony, don't say that they're goin' ter doanything like that with us. What did I hear yer say--that Young WildWest is only a boy?"
"That's all he is," Bob answered. "But he kin do more than any man Iever seen."
"An' there's only three of 'em?"
"Yes."
"An' there's another boy?"
"That's right."
"Well, what is ther third galoot?"
"He's a man--a big, powerful one, with no mercy when he gits after acrook."
"Oh, he's man, eh?' I thought maybe he might be a woman," and the outlawchuckled.
Nearly all of them laughed at this.
But it was plain that the villain called Bob was very uneasy over whathe had heard.
And Chuck Snivel and the two who had accompanied him to Big Bonanza werenot in a jolly mood, either.
Their experience with the Champion Deadshot and his partners had beenquite enough to make them understand that they had struck a propositionthat was a little different from what they were in the habit of facing.
While they were talking over it a horseman rode into the cave.
It was Cap Roche, the leader of the outlaw band.
"Now, then, we'll see what Cap says about it," said Bob, his facebrightening a little.
"He'll soon fix it so Young Wild West won't amount ter much, I reckon,"spoke up one of the men, confidently.
The villainous leader was soon among them and listening to the newsChuck Snivel had brought from Big Bonanza.
CHAPTER IV.
OUR FRIENDS GO TO THE MOUTH OF THE PASS AND READ THE SIGN.
When Wild and his partners entered the barroom of the shanty saloon theysaw that quite a crowd had gathered there.
Nearly all the miners working the claims that had been staked out in thecamp made the saloon their headquarters evenings.
There were but two or three of the thirty miners who did not drink andgamble, and they usually spent their idle time with the storekeeper,smoking and talking until it was time to retire for the night.
Our hero cast a swift glance around the room and saw Hop standing almostin the centre of the room, the miners gathered around him, and theirfaces wearing grins.
The clever Chinaman had come in by the back way while our three friendswere watching the cowboys as they rode into Forbidden Pass.
The first thing he did was to try and make himself solid with theminers.
Though Nevada had plenty of Chinese at the time of which we write, it sohappened that there were none in Big Bonanza until Young Wild Westarrived with his two servants.
The men all knew what Chinamen were pretty well, and there was a sort offeeling against them that they were something not to be exactly classedwith human beings, so to speak.
Hop knew this as well as any of them, and hence his desire to makehimself in good standing with them.
The first thing he did on entering, then, was to pull a chunky piece ofbamboo from under his coat and hold it up.
It was not more than eight inches in length and looked to be a verycommon-looking thing.
But while the miners were wondering what the "heathen Chinee" was up to,Hop suddenly gave the piece of bamboo a twist, and the next minute asmall, bright-colored parasol was in his hand.
This was raised in a jiffy, and then he went parading around the roomwith it over his head.
Only a minute did this continue, however, and then the parasol vanishedas quickly as it had appeared.
The Chinaman roiled the piece of bamboo in his hands and that, too,disappeared.
Then he stood still in the middle of the room and bowed right and left.
"Me allee samee velly smartee Chinee, so be," he observed, blandly. "Melikee Melican mans velly muchee."
The next thing he did was to toss a silver coin to the ceiling and as itcame down he caught it in his mouth and went through the motions ofswallowing it.
"Me allee samee eatee money, so be," he went on to say, smiling andbowing again.
It was just then that our hero and his partners came into the room.
"Hello, Wild!" called out Sedgwick, who was one of those present. "Yourfunny Chinaman has been doing some stunts fur us."
"Oh, he is liable to do almost anything," was the reply. "What is thematter, Hop? Who told you that you could come over here?"
"Allee samee nothing the mattee, Misler Wild," answered Hop, shaking hishead and looking serious. "Nobody say me comee over here; me comee alleesamee, so be."
There was a laugh at this, and then Hop had succeeded in doing what hehad tried for. He had got the good will of the miners.
Having satisfied himself on this point, he stepped up to the bar, and,nodding pleasantly to Hoker, the boss, he observed:
"Me likee chuckee dicee for um dlinks, so be."
"You would, eh? Well, I never yet chucked dice with a Chinee; but blamedif I don't do it jest this once. What's it goin' ter be, fur all hands?"
"Lat light; allee samee all hands g
ittee lillee dlink. If me lose mepay; if you lose you allee samee givee um dlinks."
"Good!"
The saloon keeper brought out the dice, and, shaking them in the leatherbox, rolled them out.
"There yer are!" he said, exultantly. "There's fourteen fur yer terbeat. If yer do it you're a mighty good one."
"Allee light," was the reply; "me velly muchee lucky Chinee, so be."
Then Hop picked up the little cubes and appeared to be examining themclosely.
But he was doing something else, too.
He had three dice of his own, and when he rattled the box preparatory tomaking his throw they were the ones in