A little higher up the valley narrowed again, the sides came closer and
closer, until they closed in abruptly in a rounded precipice, down which
in the wet season it was evident that a waterfall leaped from a height
above.
"They didn't come down here," Dave said. "If it were anywhere it was
near where the attack was made; the sides slope away a bit there. Now
keep your eyes skinned, and see if you can make out any place where a
man might climb up or down. Our lives may depend on it."
Just as they reached the old encampment Dick said, "Look, Dave, there is
a ledge running up behind that bush; it seems to me that it joins
another ledge halfway up. Tom and I are accustomed to climbing; we will
go up a bit and see if it goes anywhere."
The two lads stopped as they got behind the bush.
"It looks like a path here, Dave; it has certainly been trodden."
The miners came to the spot.
"You are right," Dave said; "it is a path, sure enough. Animals of some
sort come up and down--bears, I should say; maybe goats, and lots of
them, like enough; it is the only way they can get down from the top
into the valley, and they come down to drink."
The ridge was wider than it looked, being, where it started, fully two
feet across. The boys at once set off up it; as Dick had supposed, it
met another ledge running along halfway up the face of the hill. From
below this ledge seemed a mere line, but it was really two feet wide in
most places, and even at the narrowest was not less than a foot. Two
hundred yards along, another ascent was met with, and after half an
hour's climbing they found themselves on a level plateau, from which
they could see across to the three peaks. The path was everywhere worn
smooth, showing that it had been used for ages by animals of some kind.
"One would almost think it had been cut by hand," Dick said; "who would
have thought from below that there was such a way as this out of the
valley? The best of it is, that it is good enough for the horses to get
up as well as us. Well, thank goodness, we have found a back door to
that place. It was not a pleasant idea that we might be shut up there
with the option of being either shot or starved."
"They would take some time to starve us, Dick; nine horses would last us
for a long time."
"Yes, but it would come sooner or later, Tom. Anyhow, I shall feel a
great deal more comfortable now I know that there is a way out."
"But the Indians know of it too, Dick, if, as Dave thinks, they came
down this way to attack the Mexicans."
"Yes, that is not such a comfortable idea."
"Well, lads, what do you make of it?" Dave shouted to them as they
approached the bottom.
"We have been right up to the top; the ponies could go anywhere. It is
narrow in places, but we have passed many worse on the way; the cliffs
never close up, so even at the worst places there is room for them to
get along with their loads."
"What is it like at the top?"
"Level ground along to the drop of the cliffs, hills behind it to the
south."
"Well, it is a comfort there is a way down into the valley. Anyhow,
since you have been gone, we have been fossicking about, and there is no
doubt about the gold; it is the richest place any of us have ever seed."
"Have you found water, Dave?"
"No, that is the one thing bad, we shall have to go out to fetch water,
but maybe if we dig in the center of the channel we shall find it. The
best place to try will be at the end, right under where the waterfall
comes down in winter. There is most always a deep hole in the rock
there, where the water and stones and so on have come down and pounded
away the bed rock. We found where the gold comes from too. There is a
big quartz vein running right up the face of the cliff there; it is just
full of gold. You can see it sparkle everywhere. Some day, when the
Indians is all wiped out, fellows will bring machinery and powder, and
will have one of the richest mines in the world. However, that don't
concern us. I reckon there is enough in this gravel under our feet to
make a hundred men rich. Now, Boston, what do you think is the best
thing to do first?"
"See if we can get water, Dave. If we were shut up here without water
they would have us in twelve hours, so we have got to get enough for
ourselves and the horses to drink if we can, even if we have to fetch up
what we want for the gravel. When we have got water, the next job will
be to make a cradle; there are plenty of trees here, and we have got our
hatchets, and we have brought the zinc screens, so we have got
everything we want. I don't say we mightn't pick up a lot in nuggets.
Still, I have got a dozen already, making, I should say, over an ounce
between them. Still, the others is the real thing to depend on."
"And there is another thing, Dave," Zeke put in; "we must have a watch.
We had intended that, but we thought we should have only one place to
watch; now we have found this track up the hill we have two."
"That is so, Dave, though it is pretty hard on us having two out of five
idle. Still, we have got a lesson there," Boston said, pointing to the
spot where they had found the skeletons.
"Aye, aye, it has got to be done," Dave said. "Well, lads, will you take
the watch to-day, one above and one at the mouth, and we will set to
work at the water hole?"
"We will toss up which goes up the hill again, Dick. You spin. Heads;
tails it is."
"Then I will choose the mouth here. You go up to the mouth's head."
"Don't you be walking about when you get to the top," Dave said. "Find
some place where you can get a clear view all round, and then lie down.
Choose a bit of shade, if you can find it. When we knock off work and
have had a bit of grub, I will come up and take your place."
It was just getting dusk when Dave came up and relieved Dick.
"Are you going to stay here all night, Dick?"
"Yes, we have agreed I shall keep watch here to-night, Boston to-morrow
night, and then I go on again. Zeke will take the watch below regular;
he sleeps like a dog, and the least noise in the world will wake him, so
he will do very well. Can you make out the Indian village across there
from here?"
"Yes, quite plainly."
"You have not been using your glass, I hope," Dave said in alarm.
"No, I forgot to bring it up with me. But why shouldn't I?"
"Because if the sun were to flash on the glass or brasswork, it would be
sartin to catch the eye of someone in the village, and if it did you may
be sure they would send up to see what it was. Still, if you can make
out the village, it will save us the need for keeping watch in the
daytime down below. It is from there we have got to expect an attack the
most, and if you saw them moving out strong, you could shout down to us
and we should be ready for them. At night, in course, we must watch both
places, for there may be, for anything we know, a big village half a
mile from here, and the attack might come from one way or the other. I
expect you would rather work than watch, Dick; so you had better arrange
to change places with Tom in the middle of the day, then you can each
work half a day. You will find that plenty, I warrant."
"Did you find water, Dave?"
"Yes, plenty of it, enough for the horses and the washing too."