CLOSE QUARTERS.
"Have we been found?" asked the four in the same breath.
"Not that I know of. The party that I meant seem to be a family stopped
here for a rest, though I could not see anything of the men folks. They
may be off gunning."
"If there is no danger, what did you alarm us for?" demanded the chief.
"I ain't through yet," replied the other, doggedly. "There is some one
else in the valley besides them. Perhaps he came with them."
"Who is this other? Why don't you pack your ideas up together?"
"I ain't seen the chap himself," continued the man, in his deliberate
way, "but the postboy of the Kanawha is somewhere around about these
diggings."
Had a thunderbolt fallen among them the men could not have shown greater
surprise.
"Where is he?" the four asked, again using the same words.
"I tell you I don't know. His horse is on the other side of the bluff,
feeding as quietly as you please. The mail sack in on his back. Perhaps
he has throwed his rider."
"Dix Lewis in this region!" exclaimed the chief, ignoring the last
statement of the messenger. "There is work for us to do, boys! Come——"
At this juncture, the torch, which, unnoticed by all, had been dying
out, flared up for an instant and then went out, leaving the little
group enveloped in darkness.
"The furies!" cried one of the men. "Who's got anything to make a
light?"
"Follow me!" commanded the chief, "and let the light alone. We must find
that boy without any loss of time. His presence here at this——"
Little Snap failed to catch the rest, but he had heard enough to know
that he must be active, too. From the sounds, he knew the party were
leaving their underground rendezvous.
Aware that it would not do for these men to capture his horse with the
mail, his mind was filled with conflicting plans of action. His first
impulse was to return the way he had come, but he realized that it would
be impossible for him to cross the chasm, even could he scale the
slippery ascent beyond. Possibly, if he were coming the opposite way, he
might leap the abyss, though that would be extremely doubtful.
Only one avenue of escape seemed open to him, and that was to follow
upon the heels of his enemies!
He had not a moment to lose if he did this, and, without further
consideration, he glided across the cavern room in the direction taken
by the five men.
Guided by the sounds of their advance, while moving as noiselessly as
possible himself, Little Snap threaded the circuitous passage, keeping
but a few yards behind them.
After a short distance, the way began to ascend by irregular stone
steps, to climb which Little Snap had to exercise great caution not to
betray his presence. Once, as the party suddenly paused, he found
himself within a few feet of the group, but owing to the darkness he was
not discovered.
"Hang it!" exclaimed the chief, after a moment's stop, "I have dropped
that letter somewhere. I think it must be where we were sitting. Blake,
go back and find it; and then keep a watch over the entrance to the cave
until we return."
Little Snap held his breath at the sound of this order, and when he
heard the man turning back, he felt that he was lost.
Without losing his presence of mind, he shrank back as close to the
nearest wall as he could, and silently awaited the approach of the
other.
He hadn't long to wait, for the next moment Blake's heavy step told that
he was near at hand. Then the postboy felt his bulky form brush against
him!
"I shall be glad when we get out of this place!" muttered the man, as he
stumbled on past the crouching figure of our hero.
During this time the others were leaving the cavern, and as soon as he
dared, Little Snap started forward, feeling now that every moment was of
infinite value to him.
A little farther on a streak of daylight struggling into the dismal
pathway told that they were approaching the end of the passage.
In fact, the men were already crawling out of the small aperture that
afforded an exit from the cave.
As closely as he dared, Little Snap followed after them, and when he
could no longer hear their movements he ventured to peer out. As at the
other place of entrance, the mouth of the cavern was overgrown with
stunted bushes, so as to be well concealed from sight. He found, too,
that the spot was nearly twenty-five feet from the ground, it being
midway up the side of the bluff.
A small stone rattling down the side of the declivity, passing within a
few inches of his head, warned him of the close proximity of his
enemies.
It also told him that they had ascended to the top of the cliff. In
fact, that seemed the only way of escape from the place, as the rock
descended smooth and perpendicular to the bottom.
With greater caution than ever, he noiselessly scaled the ascent in the
footsteps of the four men, who were hastening to find him.
As his head came on a level with the top of the rocky heights, he
discovered them approaching the opposite side, creeping cautiously
toward the edge overlooking the clearing where the Raggles family had
camped, and where he had left Jack.
A movement below him at that moment warned him of the return of Blake
from his search for the missing letter. Glancing downward, he saw the
head of the other appearing in the mouth of the cave!
Little Snap began to realize that he was in close quarters.
To retreat would be to throw himself into the arms of the enemy behind,
while it would be even greater madness to ascend to the summit.
No sooner had Little Snap taken a hasty survey of his situation than he
decided that by following along the side of the bluff he might reach a
place where he could descend in safety to the valley.
With an agility belonging to one of his years, he advanced on the side
of the cliff, finding a foothold in some crevice of the ledge or on a
bush, and clinging with a tenacious hold to its precarious support.
But he had not gone half a dozen yards before a sharp cry from Blake
told that he had been discovered.
"Here he goes!" shouted the excited man, regardless of all caution now.
The cries were answered by a great commotion among those on the summit,
and he heard the chief call out some question he did not understand.
"He's climbin' along th' rock!" cried Blake. "Head him off, an' ye hev
got him!"
The next instant four heads were thrust over the brink within a rod of
where Little Snap was suspended in midair!
"Hold up where you are!" commanded the chief, whose sharp eyes had
discovered the fugitive.
Without stopping to reply, the postboy dropped from the bush supporting
him in a diagonal direction to another several feet below.
"Don't let him get away!" cried the chief.
"Hold up there, boy, where you are, and we won't hurt you! Stop, or we
will end your career at once. We hold your life in our hands."
Little Snap knew enough of the natures of the men menacing his life to
feel that he was running no greater risk in trying to get away from them
than he would in allowing himself to fall into their power.
Accordingly, without paying any heed to the warning, he swung himself
forward and downward to a narrow shelf on the side of the ledge, where
he found himself in sight of the clearing in front of the bluff.
Casting a swift glance over the scene, he saw Jack standing nearly where
he had left him. He also saw Mrs. Raggles and her three girls picking up
the rude utensils they had used in getting their lunch, and tossing them
into the wagon. But what surprised him the most was the sight of old man
Raggles and his two boys, in the act of hitching the oxen to the
vehicle!
He barely took this all in at a glance, without having time to give it a
second thought.
He was now about fifteen feet from the foot of the ledge, and seeing
that the way was clear beyond, he unhesitatingly dropped from his
precarious perch into the bushes growing near to the mouth of the cave.
As he did so, the reports of the outlaws' firearms rang out sharply on
the silence of the wild woods.
Quickly regaining his equilibrium, Little Snap bounded toward the side
of the surprised Jack, who looked up with wonder at his sudden approach.