"I must be there!" muttered Merriwell.
Fortunately Big Monte had a horse hidden not far from the cabin, and Frank was able to find the animal.
The wounded ruffian was raving at intervals. He seemed quite deranged.
"I can't leave him like this," thought Merry. "He might wander off into the mountains and perish."
Still he disliked to be encumbered with the wretch. Some would have deserted the wounded man without delay and ridden with all haste to reach the mine.
It must be confessed that such a thought passed through the head of Frank Merriwell.
"No!" murmured Frank. "He's a human being. It is my duty to do what I can to save him."
So it came about that two men rode Monte's big horse away from that valley. One of them muttered, and laughed, and talked wildly.
"Riding with the dead!" he said. "We're on the road to Purgatory! Ha! Ha! Ha! Whip up the horse! Gallop on!"