THE OUTLAWS OF FORBIDDEN PASS.
The three cowboys were just getting ready to leave when Young Wild West
and his two partners reached the saloon.
They had loaded up pretty well with "tanglefoot," and they were doing
some very loud talking.
But when they saw the young deadshot they became suddenly silent.
"Hello!" called out Wild, speaking in his cool and easy way. "So you are
going back to the ranch, eh?"
"Yes," answered the one he had handled so roughly. "I reckon we've about
had our spree, so we'll go back now."
"How far is your ranch from here?" queried Wild, as he stepped up closer
to them.
"About thirty miles, I reckon," was the reply.
"Why, I heard there were no ranches within a hundred miles of here.
That's mighty queer."
"Whoever told yer that don't know nothin' about this part of ther
country, I reckon."
"Well, it was the boss of the saloon who told us. Perhaps he isn't much
acquainted around here."
Neither of them said anything to this, but went on buckling up their
saddle-girths.
"Which way are you going?" Wild asked, as they were ready to mount their
horses.
"Right out that way," was the reply, and the speaker pointed toward the
pass.
"What! You are not afraid of being held up in Forbidden Pass, then?"
"No. I reckon that's all rot what's said about that. Some galoots named
it Forbidden Pass, jest fur fun, an' since then there's them what's
afraid of their own shadders what's added enough to it ter make folks
think it's dangerous ter go through there. We come that way, an' I
reckon we'll go back that way. I don't believe there's any gang of
outlaws hangin' around there than there is right in this camp."
"Well, I am sorry to hear that. I had an idea that we could have a
little excitement hunting out the gang. If there is no gang there we
will be disappointed."
All three of the cowboys looked at him sharply.
It was evident that they did not know just what to make of the boy.
They swung themselves on their horses, however, and started to ride off.
"Say!" said Wild, calling out loudly to them. "If you happen to run
across any outlaws in Forbidden Pass just tell them that Young Wild West
is looking for them. Don't forget that, will you?"
One of the cowboys gave a reply that was not quite intelligible, but as
there was an oath attached to it, our hero knew that it was not
complimentary to him.
He did not stop them, however, and they rode away straight for the
narrow pass at the other side of the pleasant little valley the camp was
located in.
Not until they saw the three men disappear in the pass did our friends
go into the saloon.
But let us follow the cowboys and find out something more about them.
When our hero had said that they might belong to the outlaws of
Forbidden Pass he had hit the nail right on the head.
The fact was that there was a gang of eighteen villains located in the
pass, and these three had been picked by the leader to ride to Big
Bonanza for the sole purpose of leading the miners to believe that there
was no longer any danger for travelers to go through that way when they
wanted to go to Silver Bend.
During the time the trio was in the saloon they had been talking in this
way, and they had partly made Hoker, the proprietor, believe that there
was something in what they said.
The man Wild had treated so roughly bore the name of Chuck Snivel, and
he was a sort of lieutenant of the band.
The leader of the outlaws was a scheming man of a fair education, who
was called Cap Roche.
This villain owned a store in Silver Bend and was also the postmaster
there.
He divided his time with his lawless band and the store, and, being well
thought of in the mining camp, he had all the chance in the world to
pursue his villainy and profit greatly from it.
As Chuck Snivel and his two companions entered the pass they turned and
took one last look at Young Wild West and his partners.
"I reckon there's trouble ahead, fellers," the lieutenant of the outlaw
band observed. "That boy is about ther worst one I ever had tackle me;
an' ther others is putty nigh as bad, no doubt. It sorter strikes me
that they're here fur ther purpose of findin' us out. Yer all heard what
ther boy said as we come away, I reckon?"
"I sartinly did, fur one," answered the man nearest him.
"He said if we happened ter run across any outlaws in Furbidden Pass we
should tell 'em that Young Wild West is lookin' fur 'um," the other
added, quickly.
"That's jest what he said!" exclaimed Snivel. "Now, then, what does that
mean?"
"It means that he's after us," said the second, shaking his head and
shrugging his shoulders.
"It looks that way," the third villain admitted.
"Well, yer kin bet your life we'll tell ther outlaws, won't we?"
"We sartinly will."
"Come on, then! Let's git to ther cave."
They set their bronchos at a gallop and moved rapidly through the pass.
"I wonder if ther sign was all right?" said one, as they rode along. "I
was thinkin' so much about what that boy said that I never thought ter
look."
"It was all right," replied Snivel; "I looked at it. Ther sign that Cap
Roche made on a barrel-head is there. Yer kin bet that it'll stay there,
too. Young Wild West might take a notion ter knock it down; but if he
does we'll see to it that it's put up ag'in, or another jest like it."
When they had covered about a mile they slowed down a little and began
to look behind them very often.
The fact was that they were nearing the hidden headquarters of the
outlaw band of Forbidden Pass.
The pass itself was just about two miles in length, the entrance being
less than a quarter of a mile from the cluster of shanties that made up
the mining camp of Big Bonanza.
At the other end the regular trail to Silver Bend would be reached, and
by taking the cut through the short pass just about fifteen miles could
be saved on a journey to Silver Bend.
But, as John Sedgwick had told Young Wild West, the miners no longer
took the short cut, since so many holdups had occurred in the pass.
The clever man who captained and ran the gang of villains was now trying
to make the traffic be resumed through the pass, and, as has been said,
Chuck Snivel and two others were sent over to the little mining camp to
make the miners believe that there was no longer any danger to travel
that way.
There was no doubt but that they had succeeded pretty well, too, since
they were now certain that Young Wild West was coming through that way.
The boy had said enough to convince them of that.
It was a little more than half way through the pass that time three
villains, who had posed as cowboys at Big Bonanza, came to a halt.
They looked cautiously in both directions, and, not seeing a sign of a
human being, Chuck Snivel nodded his head and exclaimed:
"I reckon everything's all right, boys. Come ahead!"
Then he turned and rode sharply to the left, to what seemed to be a
solid wall of rock.
Reaching out his hand, he grasped a rope that was hidden beneath some
hanging vines.
A sharp pull on this and up rolled a curtain, leaving an opening that
was large enough for a horse and rider to pass through.
The curtain was made of some flexible material and was painted to
imitate the rock that was on either side and above it.
Snivel rode in the opening and his companions followed him.
Once inside they all dismounted, and then Snivel walked over to the edge
of the entrance and lifted a log that was lying there to an almost
upright 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 the
top of the curtain was tied to the log, and when the log was made to
drop the curtain went up.
It would drop just as quickly when released, as there was a weight at
the bottom.
The part of the cave the three men were now in was hardly any wider than
the entrance itself, but it extended back a short distance and then took
a sharp turn to the left.
As they led their horses to this point they came upon a natural
underground apartment that was fully fifty feet long and thirty in
width.
Though irregular in shape, it was surely an ideal place for a band of
robbers to hold forth.
The natural ceiling was high, and through the face of the cliff light
was admitted through several zig-zag cracks.
Fully a dozen men were sitting in the cave on boxes and stools or lying
in bunks that were built along two sides of it, and none of them
appeared to be much disturbed by the entrance of the trio.
"Where's Cap?" asked Chuck Snivel, when he had led his horse to a dark
part of the cave and tied it to the long strip of wood that was there
for the purpose.
"He's over to ther store, I reckon," answered one of them. "How did yer
make out in Big Bonanza, Chuck?"
"Putty good, I reckon," was the retort. "Everything would have been all
right if we hadn't met Young Wild West an' his pards there."
"Young Wild West an' his pards!" exclaimed one of the robbers, jumping
to 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 of
times down in Prescott, Arizona. I belonged ter a gang near there, which
got cleaned out by them same three galoots yer jest spoke of. I got away
jest by ther skin of my teeth, an' I was mighty thankful fur it, yer kin
bet! Young Wild West ain't nothin' but a boy, an' neither is one of his
pards. But ther three of 'em makes ther toughest proposition I ever
seen. So they're here, are they? Well, I wish they wasn't, fur it means
bad 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 be
lookin' fur us. What do yer s'pose Young Wild West told me as we left
Big Bonanza?"
"I don't know. What was it?"
"He said if we seen any outlaws in Furbidden Pass ter tell 'em that he
was 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 kills
every 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 do
it!"
"Pshaw!" spoke up one of the others. "That's all foolishness. Jest
because these galoots you're talkin' about happened ter clean out ther
gang you belonged to in Arizony, don't say that they're goin' ter do
anything like that with us. What did I hear yer say--that Young Wild
West is only a boy?"
"That's all he is," Bob answered. "But he kin do more than any man I
ever 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 a
crook."
"Oh, he's man, eh?' I thought maybe he might be a woman," and the outlaw
chuckled.
Nearly all of them laughed at this.
But it was plain that the villain called Bob was very uneasy over what
he had heard.
And Chuck Snivel and the two who had accompanied him to Big Bonanza were
not in a jolly mood, either.
Their experience with the Champion Deadshot and his partners had been
quite enough to make them understand that they had struck a proposition
that 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 face
brightening 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 news
Chuck Snivel had brought from Big Bonanza.