CHAPTER XIX.
THE TRAIL INTO THE MOUNTAINS.
On the outside of the cavern the boys halted. After the shock both were comparatively calm. Their faces were pale, and they compressed their lips with resolution. Some time during the preceding few hours thieves had entered their home and carried away one hundred thousand dollars in gold dust and nuggets, and the youths were determined to regain the property, no matter what danger had to be confronted.
But the common sense of the boys told them the surest way to defeat their resolve was to rush off blindly, with not one chance in a thousand of taking the right course.
"Roswell, that gold weighs so much that no one and no two men could carry it off, unless they made several journeys."
"Or there were more of them; they would hardly dare return after one visit."
"Why not? Hardman (for I know he is at the bottom of the business) and the other rogue have been watching us for several days. They knew that when we left here in the morning we would not come back till night, and they had all the time they needed and much more."
"But if there were only two, they would have to keep doubling their journey, and I don't believe they would do that. Perhaps they used the donkey."
"Let's find out."