A sharp turn in it and he saw a natural hollow, with steep walls of rock on either side, right before him.

It looked very much like the pa.s.s, but he knew it could not be, for they would not take him out there again.

Another thing, the end of the opening, or hole, as it might be called, was but fifty yards away.

Some parts of this wall was very steep, and others looked as though it could be climbed.

On one side, not far from the pa.s.sage he was taken from, was a stout post that was planted firmly in the ground.

To this Wild was taken, and being placed in an upright position, with his back to it, he was firmly tied to the post.

"There!" exclaimed Chuck Snivel, fiendishly. "I reckon you'll stay there just as long as we want yer to, Young Wild West."

"All right," was the calm rejoinder. "I hope you won't want me to stay here very long. I don't like this kind of business."

Some of the outlaws laughed, while others glared at him savagely.

His style did not exactly suit them. He was too cool by far.

Then, again, two of their number had fallen during the struggle to capture the brave boy and his sweetheart, and that made them feel all the more ugly toward him.

"You was goin' through ther pa.s.s an' yer wasn't goin' ter pay no toll, Young Wild West!" exclaimed Snivel, after a short pause. "I reckon yer found out your mistake all right. We seen yer when yer went through, an'

we jest got ready fur yer when yer come back. Yer couldn't have stopped in a better place, fur ye was right in front of our cave. Yer jest walked right inter ther trap we had set fur yer."

"That's all right," Wild answered, coolly. "You have won the first trick in the game, that isn't going to count for much. I've been in just such fixes as this, and I have always got out of them. You couldn't scare me if you tried for a week!"

"You talk it nice; but yer will change your tune afore you're many hours older. Thought it was fine fun ter make me dance last night, didn't yer?

Oh, but I'm gittin' square, all right."

"You'll wish you had never met me before I am done with you."

"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the villain. "Hear him talk, boys! He acts jest as though he ain't no prisoner. He's got nerve enough fur ten, I reckon."

"I reckon it's his bluff that's always carried him through," remarked one of the outlaws, as he looked at the helpless boy and nodded. "But there's always a time, yer know. Young Wild West has gone ther length of his rope!"

"I reckon you'll find that my rope is a great deal longer than you think," Wild answered, thinking it good policy to keep in conversation with them, as the more time Charlie and Jim had to figure out a way of helping him the better it would be.

"Ha, ha, ha!"

Again Snivel laughed.

It was evident that he was very sure that it was all up with Young Wild West.

The success the outlaws had met with since they had established their quarters in the cave no doubt made them confident that they could not be ousted.

"Boys," said Snivel, as he turned from our hero, evidently satisfied that he could gain nothing by trying to frighten him, "I reckon you had better bury ther bodies of Pete an' Simon. I don't know as there's any use in waitin' fur Cap ter come. He won't be here till some time after dinner, he said when he went away last night. He's tryin' ter git ther stage coach ter run through ther pa.s.s ag'in, an' if it does we'll let it go fur ther first two or three trips, an' then when they've got a good pile aboard we're goin' ter nab on it. Cap knows his business, all right; an' we make more by his bein' away than we do when he's here."

"That's right," answered the man, who seemed to have more to say than any of the rest. "I reckon we'll go ahead with our funeral. I'll take what they've got on 'em, an' you kin put in ther box inside, so ther boss kin take charge of it. I know they both must have had a few dollars when this unexpected business happened. This are too bad! It's ther first loss we've met with since we've been banded together."

"That's right, Aleck," replied Snivel. "You go ahead. Joe an' d.i.c.k kin go ahead an' dig ther grave that'll answer fur ther pair of 'em. Poor fellers! They never knowed what struck 'em, fur ther galoots what fired them shots aimed 'em mighty straight, an' there was no sufferin' done.

I'm mighty glad I wasn't in ther way of one of them bullets."

"Well, we all are, as fur as that goes. But it's a shame that they had ter be snuffed out that way."

He went away to attend to the work a.s.signed him, as did the others who had been named.

Then Snivel walked back into the cave, leaving Wild to his own reflections.

The villain found Arietta sitting on a box, over which some skins had been thrown to make it comfortable.

The girl had not been tied, the villains evidently thinking that there was no danger of her escaping, as she was but a girl.

But she was being closely watched, just the same, for those left to guard her could not help noticing that she was not afraid.

"Well, miss," said Snivel, apologetically, "I'm mighty sorry ter see you in such a fix as this. What did yer want ter come through Forbidden Pa.s.s fur, anyhow? Didn't yer read ther sign?"

"I wanted to come through, so I could pay the toll, and I will do it when the proper time comes," was the reply in a steady voice.

"You pay ther toll! Why, have yer got a big pile of money?"

"Not here. But I think I can pay it, though."

"Where is your money, gal?"

The lieutenant of the outlaw band became interested right away.

"I don't know as I have got to tell you where my money is," replied Arietta, coolly. "You don't suppose it is anywhere near here, do you? I wouldn't be wise if I carried a big pile of money around with me, would I?"

"Well, I don't know about that part of it. But it would be all ther better fur us, I reckon," and the man grinned, as though he thought he had got off a pretty good joke. "But jest tell me how yer expect ter pay ther toll?"

"I'll show you that when the time comes," was the reply.

"But can't yer tell me now?"

"No, because I don't just know how I am going to pay it. But I am going to do it, just the same."

"I s'pose yer mean that you're goin' ter pay somethin' ter be let go free," observed the villain, after thinking a minute or two. "Well, it will depend on what ther captain says about you gittin' away. I don't hardly think he'll be in favor of lettin' you go, no matter how much yer agree ter pay."

"Oh, I will get away as soon as Young Wild West gets out of here. He won't be long in finding a way to release me."

"Miss, if you're dependin' on anything like that ter happen jest git it off your mind. Young Wild West ain't never goin' ter git out of here alive. I've swore that I'll kill him; an' ther boss of our gang wouldn't think of lettin' him live, nohow. Jest make up your mind that ther boys has got ter die, an' that you're likely ter go ther same way yourself.

There's nothin' like resignin' yourself to your fate, yer know."

"Oh, is that so?"

Arietta looked at him with flashing eyes.

Her defiant way struck Snivel as something wonderful, coming from a defenseless girl, as it did.