For one brief instant Chunky was off his guard. In that second he lost his prisoners.
With a bound the two men cleared the intervening space that lay between them and the cliff. They reached it at a point near the corner of the chamber some distance from where they had attempted to drive the boys over. Throwing themselves flat on their faces, they wriggled over the edge and disappeared. A faint splash below, a few seconds later, told the lads that their desperate assailants had reached the water.
"They'll drown, they'll drown!" cried Walter.
"No such luck," growled Tom Phipps. "They've got away, that's all.
They know what they're doing."
Chunky swaggered to the edge with rifle dropped over his left arm, and peered over.
"Guess I'll hurry 'em along," he announced, clearing his weapon for action.
Tad sprang forward and forced the barrel up.
"Chunky, Chunky!" he warned.
"I was just going to scare 'em, that's all," grinned the fat boy, lowering his rifle.
At that moment the boys fell upon Chunky, fairly hugging him in their delight. After the keen edge of their excitement had worn off, they pressed him for the story of how he had happened to find his way into the Ruby Mountain at that time.