"Had I not met you——"
"You might have been hanged for some crime. Dying this way will save you from hanging."
"Don't talk of hanging!" panted Ridgeway. "If ever a man deserved it you are that man!"
"But I was not born to be hanged."
"Better that than this kind of a death! At least, you would be out in the open air, with a chance to breathe. I am stifling! I feel these walls crowding in upon me! They are going to crush me! Keep them off! keep them off!"
The wretch flung himself on the ground and writhed with agony and fear.
With the torch in his shaking hands, Del Norte stepped forward and kicked his abject and fear-tortured companion.
"Get up, here!" he snarled. "We will take one more look. We will see once more if there is any chance of escape."
Although Ridgeway declared there was no hope, he got up. With the Mexican leading, they passed back into the cave, being forced several times to bend low in a crouching position to avoid striking their heads against the rocky roof.
There were three chambers and only one straight passage from chamber to chamber. It was a simple matter to explore the entire cave. When they came at last into the third chamber they soon found themselves at the end of it, with the dank wall of stone before them.