“Why do you think he set the time at seven days, Frank?” asked Bob.
“Hum! well, now that’s a question,” remarked his chum. “If I knew Mr. Jared Scott better, I might be able to hit the truth, first shot. It may be he wanted more time to get away himself. Then again, perhaps he expected to know how he was going to come out with the doctor; and hoped for one last chance to get back here himself, to gather up his scattered sacks.”
“That last guess sounds more like Jared,” remarked Reddy, bitterly. “He wouldn’t give up anything, if he saw any chance to keep a grip on it. But if it turned out that he had to ‘cash in,’ why then he might be willin’ for ye to get the stuff back again.”
“We’re all pretty well played out just now,” said Frank, after a pause.
“That’s right,” put in Bob.
“And nothing ought to be done till morning, when we can return to the mine with our prisoners. When we’ve got them off our hands, we’ll turn our attention to the job of finding the treasure. How does that suit you, Bob and Mr. Riley?” went on Frank.
Both of them declared that they were fully satisfied.
“Only we’ve got to make sure that none of these slippery customers gives us the go-by during the balance of the night,” added the ex-mine superintendent, scowling in the direction of Reddy, Blaisdell and the two men whose names they did not as yet know.
“We’ll hunt up some rope, and make them safe,” Frank declared; and after an examination of the contents of the two bags, what they sought came to light in the shape of a heavy and strong line.
So the four men were compelled to submit to having their legs, as well as their arms, bound. And after Mr. Riley got through with them there was small chance for any one of them to escape.