Anxious to see if he could learn what his father's presence there meant, while Bird Burrnock was speaking he cautiously advanced, crawling upon his hands and knees.
He soon paused as he found himself in a position to look into the cavern room containing the speakers, though they were not in sight of him.
He stopped abruptly as he heard his father's voice again answering the outlaw chief.
"The last of them must be put out of the way!" he was saying, "and I am the man to do it."
"Of course ye air," replied Bird Burrnock. "How soon can ye do yit?"
Little Snap was about to make another move forward, hoping to be able to get a view of the speakers, his hearing strained to its utmost tension to catch every word that was spoken.
He heard his father's voice again falling on the unnatural stillness of the place, when suddenly he was startled by a sound behind him which he recognized as the stealthy footstep of a man swiftly approaching him.
Expecting to meet none but enemies there, he put the voice from his mind instantly, and turned to look for some way of escape.
As he glanced into the gloom encircling him, he saw the faint outlines of a man's figure a few feet away. At the same time he perceived the entrance to a passage running off to his left.
It was his only avenue of escape, and without stopping to think whether it might lead him to safety or into worse dangers, he darted along its course.