"He is dead," said Hercules.
"Dead!" cried Tom.
"Got killed," said Hercules, laconically; for he was tired and taciturn.
"Got killed!" exclaimed Toney. "How?"
"He'll tell you," said Hercules, pointing to the Professor, who now came up.
"It is true," said the Professor. "Botts is no more. He met with a violent death."
"How did it happen?" asked Toney.
"He fell a victim to his ungovernable temper," said the Professor. "On yesterday morning he and I left Hercules cooking some game, and proceeded to a mining-town which we saw at a distance. Botts rode on a mule and I walked by his side. As we entered the town, Botts called out to a man whom we met,—
"'What place is this?'
"'Yuba Dam,' said the man.