As Silas spoke he detached a halter from one of the bridles hanging on the wall, and with it securely bound the arms of his prisoner, who remonstrated earnestly against the proceeding, but never once thought of resistance.
By the time this was done Fred had saddled the two horses in the stable, one of which was Snowdrop, and the other an animal belonging to Smirker, replaced the belt containing the revolver and knife about his waist, and also secured possession of the bag containing the nuggets and gold-dust. Silas then mounted Smirker’s horse, and bending down from his saddle and placing his arm about his prisoner, raised him to a seat behind him as easily as if he had been a child.
In a few minutes more the trio were riding down the gully at a brisk trot. Silas and his young companion held their weapons ready for instant use, and kept a good lookout on all sides of them. If they chanced to meet any of the band of which their prisoner was a member, they might be called upon to fight for possession of him. But they accomplished the descent of the gorge, crossed the valley, and entered the woods on the opposite side without meeting any one, and finally found themselves in the vicinity of the rancho. Here they became very cautious in their movements, White-horse Fred leading the way at a slow walk, and frequently stopping to look about and listen. Presently he dismounted in a dense thicket, and having tied his nag to one of the bushes, seated himself on the ground, his example being followed by the trapper. For fully half an hour they and their prisoner sat motionless in their place of concealment, and at the end of that time Silas Roper’s quick ear caught the sound of a stealthy footfall. He communicated the fact to Fred in a whisper, and the latter was instantly on the alert. He crept away through the bushes, and presently came back again.
“It’s Dick,” said he, in a low tone; “and after Julian again I’ll warrant. Isn’t he persevering? He is coming down the hill. Do you think I could get ahead of him?”
“I reckon you might if you’re right lively,” replied the guide. “But be careful of what you do. One mistake would spile everything.”
The active Fred was out of sight almost before Silas had ceased speaking. Threading his way rapidly but noiselessly through the woods, he reached the bottom of a wide and deep ravine, which he crossed with a few swift bounds. Arriving at the base of a hill on the opposite side, he pushed aside a thick cluster of bushes, disclosing to view a dark opening, which seemed to extend far down into the regions below. Into this he dived like a squirrel going into his hole, and in a second more was out of sight.
The bushes which concealed the opening had scarcely sprung back to their places when Richard Mortimer appeared in sight, moving down the ravine with slow and cautious steps, and pausing every few feet to look about him. When he reached the mouth of the cave he backed into the bushes, and concealing himself among them, stood for a long time listening and gazing up and down the ravine. Being satisfied at last that his movements were unobserved, he drew back into the opening, and hurried along a narrow passage-way, which led first to the store-room before spoken of, and thence through the hill to Reginald Mortimer’s rancho.
“I am now going to make amends for the cowardice I exhibited last night,” soliloquized Richard Mortimer. “I am heartily ashamed of what I did, and I shall never again allow myself to be frightened from my purpose by so shallow an artifice. It couldn’t have been old Juan’s ghost I saw, for there are no such things. Neither could it have been the old man himself, for he was put out of the way long years ago, and as I was present when the deed was committed, and even assisted in it, I know that the work was thoroughly done. The apparition certainly looked exactly like him, and if it comes in my way to-night I am going to find out what it is. My Derringers are freshly loaded, and I will see what impression the bullets in them will make upon it.”
The passage-way was as dark as midnight, but Richard Mortimer, being perfectly familiar with all its windings, walked rapidly through it, and turning an abrupt bend, found himself at the place where the passage opened into the store-room. Although he had braced his nerves, called all his courage to his aid, and was fully prepared to encounter something here, he could not repress the thrill of horror that ran through him, or the exclamation of astonishment that escaped his lips the moment he emerged from the passage-way.