"Let them come!" he almost exclaimed, aloud. "I will give them a warm reception!"
Then he noticed that they passed a narrow opening, like a broken door, and, the next moment he seemed to feel cat-like footfalls at his very heels.
In a twinkling Frank whirled about, crying:
"Hold up where you are! I am armed, and I'll shoot if crowded!"
He had made no mistake, for his eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness of the passage, and he could see three dark figures blocking his retreat along the passage.
For one brief second his eyes turned the other way, and it seemed that Manuel Mazaro had been joined by two or three others, for he saw several forms in that direction.
This sudden action of the trapped boy had filled these fellows with surprise and dismay, and curses of anger broke from their lips, the words being hissed rather than spoken.
Frank knew he must attract attention in some way, and so of a sudden he fired a shot into the air.
The flash of his revolver showed him several dark, villainous faces.
"Upon him!" cried Mazaro, in Spanish. "Be quick about it!"