CHAPTER XVII.
A SECRET OF THE SACRED MOUNTAIN.
"If we hang out here any length of time, Adrian, we'll try and come backto this place again, and see if we can make a discovery," suggestedDonald, presently.
"You'll find me agreeable," replied the one addressed; but Billie madeno remark, and doubtless secretly hoped they might change their minds.
"I've got the exact spot marked in my mind, so we won't make any mistakeabout it," Donald continued, seeming to have set his mind on solvingthis mystery, concerning which there was so much talk among the miners,and the visitors who came to the Zuni village from time to time, led bycuriosity, and a desire to see the queer customs of this ancient people.
"It's his secret, all right," muttered Billie.
"And like as not," Adrian went on to say, thoughtfully, "handed down tohim from his ancestors, or some other medicine man; for they tell methat at some time in their lives each Witch Doctor selects the one hethinks ought to succeed him, and teaches that party all the things heknows, that go to make him different from the other men of the tribe."
"Yes," added Donald, "as you say, this secret way of getting into themountain has been known all the way back, for hundreds of years; but somuch afraid are the Zunis of their medicine man, that never once would abrave dream of following the same, to watch him talk with Manitou in theheart of the Sacred Mountain."
"It's a trick, then, you believe?" questioned Billie.
"No doubt about that, Billie," Adrian replied, wishing to settle thematter once and for all in the mind of the other chum; "if you couldonce find the 'Open Sesame,' here to this rock, the same that Ali Babadid, you remember, in the '_Forty Thieves_,' ten to one you'd learn thatthe inside of the mountain has passages running through itevery-which-way; and that once he gets inside the old humbug just feelsable to appear and vanish whenever he feels like it, because he's rightat home."
"Now, that sounds like hard, common-sense; and I'm beginning to thinkyou're on the right track after all, fellows," Billie told them.
"That's comforting, anyhow," chuckled Adrian. "When we've advanced theargument so far that Broncho Billie approves of it, things begin tomove, eh, Donald?"
"I s'pose now, that if one of your miners came along here, and set offhis little dynamite cartridge right at the base of this same cliff,there'd be something showing after that, a hole in the rock that somehowwe just can't seem to find now?" was the next suggestion on the part ofthe stout chum; who liked to think up all sorts of strange ideas thatoften bordered on the ridiculous; though he had been known to give hiscomrades a hint once or twice that had led to good results in theirhands.
"We haven't any more business around here, have we, Ad?" asked Donald,with a little chuckle, as of amusement.
"I can't remember having lost anything," replied the other; "and ifyou've looked all you want to, and marked the place with a white stonein your mind, why, I reckon we'd better vamose the ranch."
"Second the motion; all in favor say ay--motion carried unanimously, socome on, fellows, let's back track to the ponies," Billie went on tosay, hurriedly before Donald had half a chance to get a word in.
"All right, let's see if you can lead us there, Billie," suggestedAdrian. "You've been showing some pretty clever stunts lately; andkeeping track of things as you go, in case you want to return the sameway, is part of the education of a true plainsman, you know."
Billie looked dismayed. The fact of the matter was that while they wereon the way to this place he had been so busily engaged in keeping abright lookout for signs of the dreadful medicine man, that he had paidlittle or no attention to the surroundings.
Still, that was no reason he should expose his ignorance to his chums,who, as Adrian had just said, were coming to have a good opinion of hisabilities.
"Oh! all right, just as you say about it, boys!" he declared, cheerily;"but I'm hardly myself after my late terrible experience; and it mightsave time and bother if one of you took charge of the return trip. Notbut that I'm able to do the thing, if it seemed really necessary--youunderstand that, of course."
Neither of his comrades made any remark, though able to read between thelines, and judge for themselves just how capable Billie might prove.
"Looks quite different in here to what it was out on the sand desert,don't it, boys?" Adrian remarked, after they had started away from thecliff.
"I should say it did," replied Billie, "with the trees around, and thesebushes too. Ain't that a hazel bush, Donald, and this one, say, didn'tyou call it a rattlesnake weed once, when we were on the ranch?"
"Yes, but it doesn't get the name from being eaten by the crawlers,Billie. And here's another bush you ought to know," Donald told him.
"Buffalo berries, as sure as shooting," said the stout chum, eager toshow that his memory was good. "I hid in a patch of the same that time Itried to coax an antelope up close enough to nail him, by waving my redbandana every little while. And he did come trotting along, nowretreating, and then getting closer, till I just couldn't stand it anylonger, and blazed away; but somehow I didn't get my game, though Ithought I hit him, all right."
"But you could do much better than that now, Billie," said Adrian,soothingly; "because you've had ever so much experience since that try.Yes, and brought down game worth talking about, too."
"Thank you, Adrian; it's kind of you to say that, and I won't forget itsoon, either!" declared Billie, as he turned his head to take one lastlook at the beetling cliff before they passed out of sight of it.
Immediately they heard him give an exclamation.
"Well, I declare!"
"What is it?" asked Donald, also whirling around.
"Why, he must have been watchin' us all the time, fellows; just think ofthe cunning of the old rascal!" continued the fat boy, whose face wasfilled with a mixture of surprise and alarm.
They did not have to question him any farther, because both of theothers had by now made the same discovery that had arrested theattention of Billie when he turned to say good-bye to the mysteriouscliff.
There, about three-fifths of the way to the top they sighted an objectmarked plainly on the white face of the wall. It was indeed the oldmedicine man, dressed in all his panoply of feathers and skins andcolored beads until he looked like a gay advertising sign.
"Whew! he's staring right at us," said Billie, uneasily; "just like heknew we had gone and follered him here, and wanted to ask us whatbusiness it was of ours if he chose to sneak away and talk with theManitou of his people?"
"Try your kodak on him, then, Billie, and have something to show toprove your story when you come to spin it," suggested Donald, who didnot appear to be very much concerned over the new happening.
Apparently Billie thought this might not be a bad idea, for dropping hisrifle he hastily swung the little camera around until he could grip itin both hands.
"Better hurry," warned Adrian, "because I think he's on to your dodge,and objects to being potted without having his palm crossed with silver.That's the way with most of the Indians along the line of the SouthernPacific now; they dodge, and hide their faces whenever they see a cameracoming, or poked at them, until you throw them a quarter, when they'llpose."
"Click!" went the shutter, followed by a satisfied exclamation from theoperator.
"That was another good one, I'm telling you!" Billie affirmed,triumphantly; "mebbe I won't have a dandy lot of views to pay for all mytrouble in toting this same little black box all the way over desert andmountains."
"He still watches us," observed Donald; "and I'd give something just toknow what is passing through the mind of that sharp old humbug rightnow; because he must guess that we're interested in his actions, or wewouldn't have followed him the way we did."
"Oh!" remarked Adrian, "chances are he's been followed many times beforenow, without anybody ever picking up any information worth while. Trustthe crafty old scamp for knowing his business through and through. Ifyou were close enough right now to see what he's do
ing I reckon you'dfind him laughing in his sleeve, as they say, because we ran smack upagainst a dead wall over there. We're not the first, by a long sight,because the story of that lump of gold would be apt to lure lots ofprospectors over this way. And they've been fooled every time by hisdisappearing so queer like. Perhaps some of them, being ignorant andsuperstitious like the Zunis, really began to believe the Witch Doctordid have the power to open the side of the mountain, whenever he wantedto talk with Manitou."
"Anyhow, it's plain he means to stand up there and watch us out of theplace," Billie went on to say; and then being overwhelmed with hiscustomary desire to acquire information he added: "looks like the faceof that cliff is as flat as any house wall; so what d'ye think he can bestandin' on up there all this while?"
"Some sort of small ledge, you'd find, if ever you got there," Donaldadvanced, positively enough, as though it did not admit of a doubt inhis mind.
"Oh! that's it, eh?" Billie continued; "then he must have come outthrough some crack that we can't see from here."
"But we may, some fine day not a great while off," remarked Donald,lightly.
"That is, if you can find the way in down at the base?" said the fatchum, who did not like to take things for granted when they seemed to bebarricaded with all manner of unsolved problems.
But as Donald turned away and resumed his progress along the trail hewas heard to say, half to himself, though the others caught his wordsplainly enough:
"That hidden entrance down below shouldn't bother us any, if once wemake up our minds we mean to see for ourselves what the old chap has gotconcealed inside his Sacred Mountain; because cowboys always carry ropesalong, and it wouldn't be such a hard job, after all, to drop down fromthe top there, and land on that same ledge, some time when we knew theWitch Doctor was busy in the village. I've got the spot marked to acertainty in my mind, and all of you notice that there's the finestcedar growing directly above him on the top of the wall, just as if ithad been meant to fasten a lariat to. Leave it to your Uncle Donald, andperhaps before a great while we'll make a try to solve the secret of thehidden treasure of the Zuni medicine man."