ARIETTA ATTEMPTS TO ESCAPE.
At a word from Snivel Young Wild West was dragged along through the big
cave to a place that was almost directly opposite to the entrance.
The light that was admitted through the cracks in the front was
sufficient for our hero to see that it was another passage that he was
being taken to.
He had heard the villain in command of the men say that he was to be
taken outside and put in the hole until the leader came, but just what
that meant he did not know.
He was destined to find out very soon, however, for the passage did not
extend many feet.
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 pass, 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 passage 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 pass 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 pass 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' Dick 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 assigned 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 Pass
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.
He did not know that she had a six-shooter in the bosom of her dress,
which had been overlooked when she was disarmed.
But Arietta always carried the weapon there.
It was of smaller calibre than the one she always carried at her belt,
but it was deadly enough at short range.
The revolver had been given her by Young Wild West on her sixteenth
birthday, and several times it had stood her in good stead.
At the very minute that Snivel was talking to her she was thinking of
bringing the weapon into use.
Arietta had heard enough to make her believe that her dashing young
lover was not to be harmed for a while, for she had been listening when
the men were talking about Cap Roche, and she had not failed to make
note of it when they said that he was not due at the cave until some
time after the hour of noon.
Before Snivel came in from the rear entrance she had been carefully
studying the cave, and she knew just the way to get out.
She thought that the quicker she did it the better it would be for both
herself and Wild.
She determined that she would act right now.
"Can I have a drink of water?" she asked, as Snivel was about to pull up
a stool near her.
"Sartin," was the reply. "I'll go an' fetch yer one right from ther
spring."
There were only two men besides the lieutenant of the band in the cave
just then, and they were back near the rear.
Snivel went and got a tin cup and as he turned his back to go and fetch
the water Arietta arose and stepped lightly across the cave.
She had almost reached the passage that led out to the pass when one of
the outlaws saw her and raised the alarm.