Los Angeles herald., 1907-04-07


Immediate vicinity Of the watcher:
Here however. the boys were entirely al1"e ,
;f srd1en danger should arise, they woui1 pe
obliged to depend upon their own ullalu' lI t,o,.
sources. and caution demanded 'n"V III.
sbould be deprived even of the weicome hen'
of the camp fire. -, eool;ncs of
Under such circumstances, the feelings Oh
the sentry were, as may be imagined, any .niHe
hut reassuring. 1t seemed as IL inc Vel' g. 80
bristled with danger, and there was no ie"i
that the sentinel would sleep at MS poes.
But as soon as the time came lol 'ne s~1 -
to he relieved from duty, fatigue so oVercalhe
~. 60 +bot he was asleep as soon as he
1y-anned in his blankets, and thus, with az
ternate terror and repose, the long nigh'
passed. L.5 t,ol,
Cold fried bacon, cold coffee and hard tack
made ND the rather unpalatabe breakfast that
was eaten before it was yet light enough 70
see surrounding objects, while potn Une 9oys
put in their pockets portion OF the 1000 TO
serve as lunch when Their appgsi'eS reb 'n0"-U
have been sharpened by the marcn.
The canteens were filed with fresh water,
for Bart had told them that they would ma
none at the ledge where they were TO pass
the night; the packs and saddles were pucKleo
on the burros once more, and even before they
could see their point of destination on account
of the gloom, the line of march had been taken
up Ill
-"There wasn't much danger for Bart while
he was behind the barricade, unless s,,r Iom got
free" Kirk said, as they rode on. The trou-
BILE will be after he gives the word for them
to come down, I'm afraid.
"But he says that it will take them nearly
all day to get into the canyon"
"That is if they walk; but while L was on
guard last night, l thought of possibility
which, 1 am certain couldn't have occurred to
Bart"
What was that?" asked Dory, in alarm. .
Gust this: If they could lower their ,weap-
ons down the cliff, I'm sure they could let
themselves down in the same way; One of
these raw-hde lariats would hold the weight
of two men, and by that means they could be
in the canyon with their firearms in their
hands in ten minutes after Bart had started"
There was CONSERVATION written on every
feature of Dory's face as he understood the
danger that menaced the guide-a danger that
neither one of the three had even dreamed
of before.
ut doesn't seem as if Bart could have over
looked such an important fact" continued
Kirk, "and yet he must have done So"
He could have prevented it if he had made
them throw their lariats down after he had
the firearms"
eyes; and that is what shows concusively
that he never thought of such a danger"
"Then they will start after him at once"
suggested Dory, glancing over his shoulder
furtively, as if he expected to see the men
even then close behind them"
ly, "and the worst of it is that he won't have
suspicion that they are so hot on his trail
Of course, after having seen us, as there is no
question but that they have, they know where
we are going as well as we know ourselves.
We have got the treasure with us, and even
if they should fail to find Bart, or if they
have killed him, they will be at the ledge very
soon after we get there"
For some moments the boys rode on in ST.
lence, their well-grounded fears. causing them
to lose all desire for conversation. A few
hours before they had rejoiced in what seemed
the absolute certainty of escape from the road
agents, and now their situation was nearly as
perilous as when they were in the canyon,
exposed to the boulders that the enemy could
roll upon them from above.
"Why do we go to the ledge?" asked Dory,
after a. long lapse "Why not strike straight
across into the woods"
81 have been thinking of that myself but
I don't believe it is advisable" replied Kirk
decidedly. "In the first place, if Bart keeps
ahead of the men he will come right to the
ledge, and, not finding us, won't know which
way to turn until it is light enough to follow
our trail, which is exactly what the men will
do. We don't know the country around here
and the result would be that we should be shot
down. The only chance l can think of is tc
push right on to Silver Cliff, unless the mer
are too close behind u.s.
"But then we should be running away from
Bart, and he may need our help"
"That is true. 1t is hard to tell Just what
we ought to do. Wen keep on toward tn,
ledge, and when we get there we may be bet
ter able to say which course to pursue"
1t was nearly noon, and, as near as they
could Judge, they had covered a little NOR,
than half the distance from the base of tn,
mountain to the cliff, when Dory said, alb
ruptly:
.ha clainna ha ought 10 ba in tbo III