MISKEL.
"Gone!"
"That's what!"
"Where?"
"Sailed away."
It was true that the _Eagle_ was not where they had left it the night
before, and, looking all around, they could find no trace of it.
"Thot bates me!"
The knees of the Irish boy seemed to weaken beneath him, and he sank in
a limp heap on the ground.
"It beats the band!"
Frank was scarcely less broken up than his companion.
"How did it happen, Frankie? Th' ould thing didn't go off av itsilf, did
it?"
"Not much!"
"Phwat thin?"
"Professor Scudmore must have succeeded in releasing himself."
"Roight, lad; an' thin he skipped."
"As soon as he was free, he sailed away in the _Eagle_, and we are left
here in the heart of this mountainous region."
"Oi'm homesick! Oi wish Oi hadn't come!"
Frank laughed.
"This is not the worst scrape we have been in, by any means. We'll pull
out of this, with our usual good luck."
But a feeling of loneliness and desolation did settle heavily upon them,
for all that Frank made an effort to throw it off. The mountains lifted
their heads on every hand like mighty sentries that hemmed them in, and
they felt shut off from all the rest of the world.
When they fully realized that Professor Scudmore had released himself
and escaped in the air ship, they walked round the place where the
_Eagle_ had been left the night before, but they discovered nothing
beyond some severed bits of rope.
Then Frank became philosophical.
"We may as well take it easy," he said. "It is useless to make a fuss
about it. Here we are, and---"
"Where we are Oi dunno!"
"You know quite as well as I do, old man."
"All roight. Phwat will we do?"
"Find some water to wash down our breakfast to start with. After we have
eaten, we will feel better. Then we can settle on what we'll do next."
By rare good luck, they were near a spring of clear water, and it was
found without trouble.
"It was fortunate we took the rifles and provisions out of the car last
night," said Frank.
"Thot it wur," nodded Barney.
For all of their situation, they ate heartily, and, breakfast over, they
felt better. Then they sat and talked the matter over a while, finally
deciding to make an effort to get somewhere, and trust to fortune.
With the aid of the pieces of rope, they tied the provisions into
bundles, which were easily carried, and before long they struck out.
Barney trusted everything to Frank who took the lead, and they headed
for what seemed to be an outlet to the valley, away to the west.
During the next five days the boys passed through a few adventures, none
of which, however, have any bearing on this story. They wandered round
and round amid the mountains, finally coming back to the valley from
which they had started.
This was discouraging, but they started over again, and they finally
came to a narrow cut that seemed to lead into the very heart of the
mountain that loomed before them.
"We will try it," said Frank, leading the way.
They passed through the cut, after traveling many miles, and came into a
vast basin, with mountains looming on every hand.
"Pwhat do yez think, me b'y?" asked the Irish lad.
"It is not easy to tell what to think," was the reply. "However, I fear
we are in Water Pocket Canyon."
"Phwat about Water Pocket Canyon?"
"It is said to be fifty miles in length to ten or fifteen in width, and
to have no outlets."
"Well, this can't be th' place, me b'y, fer it has an outlet roight
here."
"But one that would not be easy to find, and so it might go forth there
were no outlets to the place."
"Begorra! it looks loike we naded Profissor Scudmore's floying-machane
to git out av this scrape."
"It does look that way. We seem to be getting tangled more and more. All
we can do is to make the attempt to get out."
"Av this is Warter Pocket Canyon, we may not be able to foind this pass
if we lave it."
"We will mark the spot some way."
"How?"
"That is the question. Wait till I find a way."
It was not easy, but Frank finally decided that he could tell the
mountain through the base of which the pass had seemed to wind.
Then they went into the wild and picturesque valley, while Frank
continued to look back at intervals in order to impress the appearance
of the mountain on his mind.
That night they camped beside a little stream that bubbled out from
beneath the base of a cliff, and it was found that their stock of
provisions was getting very low, even though they had preserved it as
far as possible by shooting and cooking wild game.
"We have got to get out av here soon, Frankie," said the Irish boy,
soberly.
Frank nodded.
"That is evident; but we are doing our best, and so we can do no
better."
Frank was somewhat disheartened, but he did not wish Barney to know it,
and so he pretended to be cheerful.
Darkness settled over the canyon, and the light of a tiny fire shone on
the faces of the young adventurers.
Frank seemed to be dreaming, for, with a far-away stare, he was gazing
straight into the flames, apparently quite unaware of his surroundings.
In the flaring fire he saw strange pictures of events in his own
career--a career such as had never before fallen to the lot of a boy of
his years.
He seemed to behold the scores of perils through which he had passed,
and before him seemed to flit the faces of the many friends and foes he
had made.
He saw the foes of his school days--Snell, Bascomb, Gage, and all the
others--skulk past in procession. Snell had a sneaking, treacherous look
on his face, Bascomb swaggered along in the old bullying manner, and
Gage seemed to be driven along by the Evil One, who was constantly
goading him to rash and desperate things. Then he saw the face of his
most deadly enemy, his own cousin, Carlos Merriwell; but it no longer
bore a look of malignant hatred, for it was white and cold in the last
long sleep.
There were other enemies who had sprung up along his path, but they
seemed like shadows in comparison to the ones of his school days.
Following these came others, and the dark look faded from his
countenance. He saw Bart Hodge, who had once been his bitter enemy, but
who had become his stanchest friend. Hodge held out a hand to him, as if
longing to render aid in this hour of need.
Then came scores of others, the cadets at Fardale, the professors, and,
last of all, the girls who had admired him and believed him noble and
true.
Elsie Bellwood smiled at him sadly, and pointed to a mighty barrier that
lay between them; Kate Kenyon tried to reach him, and then drew back,
with a hopeless shake of her head; others came and flitted past, and
last of all Inza Burrage was there, holding out her hands to him, her
dark eyes full of trust.
"Inza!"
The name fell from his lips, and it aroused him. Barney had fallen
asleep, and was snoring beside the fire.
But what was that? Did he still dream?
Just beyond the fire, within the outer circle of light, stood a girl!
Frank rubbed his eyes and looked again.
She was still there, and she was pressing a finger to her lips, as if
asking for silence.
"Great Scott!" muttered Frank, in a dazed way.
"Sh!" came back across the fire. "Do not wake him." She motioned toward
the sleeping Irish lad.
Frank pinched himself.
"Yes, I am awake myself," he said, guardedly. "And it is a girl--a
pretty girl at that! How in the name of all that is wonderful does it
happen there is a girl here?"
"You have no time to ask questions," came back swiftly, in a low,
musical voice. "You are in a bad snare, Frank Merriwell."
The boy started violently.
"How is it that you know my name?" he demanded, astonished beyond
measure.
"I tell you you have no time to ask questions. Why did you come here?"
"You seem inclined to ask questions. I came because I could not help
it."
"That is not true. You came to search for the hiding place of the last
of the Danites. You may as well confess it."
"But I tell you I had no idea of coming here when I started."
"I know more than your name, Frank Merriwell; I know that you were eager
to come in search of the place where Uric Dugan and a few of his former
friends have hidden themselves from the world, hoping to remain there in
peace to the end of their days."
Frank was filled with wonder unutterable.
"Are you a supernatural creature--a phantom?" he demanded. "If not, how
do you know that I ever heard of Uric Dugan?"
"I am not the only one who knows. Uric Dugan and his companions know it.
They are ready for you, and you have walked into their snare. You are
meshed."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that there is not one chance in ten thousand that you will ever
be able to escape alive."
"By Jove! the prospect is pleasant!"
"I am in earnest. The pass by which you entered this basin is already
guarded, and you cannot get out that way."
"Then we will have to get out some other way."
"There is but one other way, and that is also guarded. Do you see you
are snared?"
"If you are not mistaken, it looks that way. What can I do?"
The girl made a despairing gesture.
"I don't know," she admitted. "I have begged them to spare you--to shed
no more blood; but they say it is absolutely necessary in order that we
may continue to live here in peace. The world at large must not know
where to find the last of the Danites."
"If I give my pledge----"
"It will not be accepted. You are not the first to stray in here. Not
one of them has ever gone away to tell the tale."
Frank shuddered a bit, beginning to realize that the situation was
indeed a desperate one.
"If there is no chance for us to escape, why are you here to tell us?"
"I could not help warning you. I saw your fire twinkling, and I knew
that you would sleep beside it. In the night death would come down upon
you, and you would never awaken."
"Jupiter! That is interesting! I won't sleep for a week."
"Ah, but you cannot escape, even though you never again close your eyes
in sleep. You can only avoid your doom for a little time. My heart is
full of pity for you, but I am unable to do anything."
Her voice told him that she was sincere, and Frank thrilled with
gratitude toward her.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I am Miskel," she answered.
"Miskel! What an odd name! But you seem to be a most remarkable girl.
How does it happen that you are here?"
"My father is one of the last of the Danites, and I live here with him."
"Your father--who is he?"
"Uric Dugan!"
[Illustration: "You must not linger here. * * * Even now the Destroying
Ones may be moving to fall upon you." (See page 124)]