“Frank!” was the cry, as one of the two leaped from the horse and sprang to meet him.
CHAPTER IX—WHAT THE MONK TOLD THEM.
CHAPTER IX.
WHAT THE MONK TOLD THEM.
“By all that’s wonderful!” exclaimed Merry, as he beheld his brother. “I thought I must be dreaming when I heard you singing. Dick, how did you come here?”
“I heard nothing from you, Frank,” was the reply. “I didn’t know for sure that you had received my message. I did know that Felicia was in trouble and in danger, and so I resolved to hasten to her at once. When I reached San Diego I found she was gone and that you had been there ahead of me. I have been seeking to overtake you ever since. This afternoon we saw you far away in the valley, although we could not be certain it was you. You had a companion. We thought it might be Bart Hodge.”
Dick had made this explanation hastily, after the affectionate meeting between the brothers.
“It was not Hodge,” said Frank; “far from it! It was a man I fell in with on the trail, and a most treacherous individual he proved to be.”
Then he told of the encounter with Dulzura’s ruffianly crew, upon hearing which Dick’s companion of the trail uttered a cry.