Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1892-04-16

said:
Reckon we'll have ter ask ye ter stop
with us another day. 'Comnodations
amt extra, but we'll give ye the best we
got" with low chuckle.
I'm not going to complain" answered
Dan in u careless tone, for he had come
to the conclusion that it was best to ac-
cept the situation with as good grace as
possible IL would have preferred to
go on to the Marmaton today" he con-
tinued, "but if you are determined to
keep me here suppose I'll have to stay"
That's right" agreed the man, nod
ding his head as if to give emphasis to
his words. We'll haf to keep ye till
termorrow mornin at least: then if the
captain is satisfied that ye amt "a cattle
man spy we'll let ye CO."
At this juncture breakfast was an
| nounced, and Dan was invited to take a
seat with the men at the table. The
| fare was coarse. but Dan managed to
make a hearty meal for he had eaten
but little in the past twenty-four hours
and felt extremely hungry.
As soon as the meal was over Dan
was conducted back to the room in
which he had spent the night. The door
was locked. and he was alone.
From what he had overheard of the
| robbers conversation the night before
! he was convinced that an attempt wo1l6
be made to rob the payinaster that night.
and that he was to be held as prisoner
on mere pretext till the work was ac-
co,nplished.
As Dan reflected over his situation he
became greatly worried over the con
dition of affairs. and for some time b
was prey to the most unpleasant mis-
| givings. To be coopel gp there when
| great crime was about to he committed
and with no means in his power of PIE
venting 1t. planged him iIto state oi
| restless excitement.
IF coGld oaly make my escape" he
muttered glancing about the room
Then sudden thought came to him
Perhaps he could escape There were
only three men about the place to his
| knowledge and they might leave to join
their companions at any time. There
was one thing that he felt sure Of, and
| that was that the men would be absent
| from the cabin at the time set for the
| robbery. If he could only manage to
escape he might succeed in preventing
the robbery. But how was this to be ac-
complished:
,, He had the whole day before him in
which to consider the matter Lighting
a match he made a hurried survey of
the room. but could see no way in which
| he could effect an escape. Scattered
| about the room We're several empty
boxes, with here and there a pile of
black bottles. some broken and giving
| forth the fumes of spirits.
The walls were of rough. loose stone.
with patches of red clay visible through
| gaps where the wall had tumbled down.
| The roof was of smooth stone, with here
| and there crack, which had once been
daubed with mud, but which was now
open. admitting the light of day.
Dan lit another match and made an
attempt to light the lamp, but found
that the oil had all burned out Having
no more matches in his possession he
was compelled to continue his survey of
the chamber by the dim light that came
through the crevices overhead.
For an hour he continued his exami-
nation of the chamber. There was only
one way of escape visible, and that was
TO dig his way out He might, by many
hours of the hardest toll. dig his way to
the outside. But what was he to work
with? He had nothing but small
knife. and he realized how insignificant
such tool would be in the work before
him.
He drew forth his knife and began to
dig into the clayey wall, but he soon
gave up in despair. 1t would require
days, he calculated, to reach the outside
in this way. He must try some other
plan. He next examined the door and
found that it was of heavy oak and pro-
vided with "A strong lock. To attempt
to break it would doubtless attract the
attention of his captors, and even should
he succeed in getting the door open
without being discovered there was still
another one to pass through, and this
opened into the cabin.
Overcome with despair, he seated him
self on one of the empty boxes, prey
to the most gloomy reflections. The
hours dragged slowly away, and it must
have been past noon when he heard
some one approaching. The next instant
the door was unlocked and the woman
he had seen in the cabin entered the
room. bringing a lighted candle and a
lunch of boiled beef and corn bread.
Placing the candle and lunch upon a
rough pine box at the youths side, she
turned and retraced her steps to the
door, where she paused and cast half
stupid leer at the prisoner.
Dan saw at glance that the woman
was intoxicated. She looked at him for