But he had not gone half a dozen yards before a sharp cry from Blake told that he had been discovered.
"Here he goes!" shouted the excited man, regardless of all caution now.
The cries were answered by a great commotion among those on the summit, and he heard the chief call out some question he did not understand.
"He's climbin' along th' rock!" cried Blake. "Head him off, an' ye hev got him!"
The next instant four heads were thrust over the brink within a rod of where Little Snap was suspended in midair!
"Hold up where you are!" commanded the chief, whose sharp eyes had discovered the fugitive.
Without stopping to reply, the postboy dropped from the bush supporting him in a diagonal direction to another several feet below.
"Don't let him get away!" cried the chief.
"Hold up there, boy, where you are, and we won't hurt you! Stop, or we will end your career at once. We hold your life in our hands."
Little Snap knew enough of the natures of the men menacing his life to feel that he was running no greater risk in trying to get away from them than he would in allowing himself to fall into their power.