After this had been accomplished Red unceremoniously dragged him into an inviting fissure near by, where he could be left to himself. He had been coming into his senses at the time, and must have glimpsed the hated and feared uniform of the Mounties, which would be apt to give him a nightmare, knowing as he did what measure in the way of penalties was due for his reckoning.
Again the daring trio set out to reach the hidden den. Red led them by devious ways, always with the one thought of “playing safe” held up before him. Inside of five minutes he pointed to where a network of vines covered the face of a small cliff. Behind that curtain Red knew the secret entrance of the freebooters’ rendezvous was to be found.
Red’s hunch turned out to be all to the good, as was proven when they investigated, and found an opening that seemed to lead into the solid rock. Before taking chances by pushing into the black depths Jack and Red consulted once more in whispers.
Perk, hovering near by, suddenly glimpsed a moving object that turned out to be a hostile eavesdropper—undoubtedly one of the outlaws had been in the act of stepping out of the underground retreat when he made the thrilling discovery that the dreaded Mounties were at the door.
Knowing from Perk’s actions that his presence was discovered, in a near panic the man attempted to get away. Perk, however, hoping to prevent Jack’s plans for surprising the gang from being upset, made a furious rush toward the disappearing party.
He hurled himself upon the man, and succeeded in throwing him down with such violence that the other was knocked senseless; but unfortunately before this happened the outlaw had let out a warning shriek, that must have echoed through the passages of the cavern.
Several shots rang out, proving how quickly the gang could take the alarm. Loud voices, too, followed, and one in particular struck Jack as most dominant and commanding; so that it hardly needed the quick explanation from Red to tell Jack he was listening to the Hawk in person.
Perk, realizing that the battle was now on, started to do his share of the action; and the way he handled that machine-gun was a caution. Its rap-rap-rap following each burst with others in rapid succession, made it appear as though a dozen of the surprise party must be thronging at the entrance, ready for a concerted rush.
Perhaps, too, those sheltered inside the dark interior of the wonderful cavern could catch occasional glimpses of the hated and feared uniform of the Mounted Police; for Red was actively moving back and forth, with just this idea influencing him, to make them believe the entire force connected with the station had come upon the ground, bent upon making a complete sweep-up of the bunch at bay while they were about it.
The fight went on quite merrily for some little time, with shots echoing through the corridors of the underground retreat. Whether their hot fusilade was doing any harm the trio on the outside could not discover, for no longer were shouts being exchanged—the besieged bandits kept firing sullenly, nor did they seem to be lacking in an abundance of ammunition.