“Hold hard thar!” exclaimed Silas, as Julian drew the letter from his pocket, and moved nearer the candle. “Don’t read a word of it here, for thar’s no knowin’ how many pairs of ears thar may be listenin’ to it. Come with us, an’ we will talk this matter over.”
Julian had never seen three persons more excited than the trapper and his companions were over the announcement he had just made. It did not take the form of words, but showed itself in their countenances, and in their hurried, nervous actions. They prepared to leave the room at once. Silas raised the captive robber to his shoulder as if he had been a sack of flour, while the old Mexican skipped before him like a boy of sixteen, and held up the hangings which concealed the entrance to the secret passage-way. White-horse Fred, who had looked into the muzzle of Smirker’s revolver without flinching or even changing color, was pale enough now, and the hand with which he extended Julian’s sombrero to him now trembled like a leaf. They left the room without saying a word, and followed Silas, who led the way along the passage to the cellar, where they found a man with a lantern waiting for them. It was Romez, the hostler. He was greatly astonished to see the trapper carrying Reginald Mortimer on his shoulder, but without asking any questions he turned and mounted a ladder which rested against the wall of the cellar.
While Julian was going up he had leisure to make an examination of the store-house. It was a natural cave in the mountain, and seemed to have no roof—at least there was none that could be seen. The wall against which the ladder was placed arose for the height of thirty feet, as smooth and perpendicular as if it had been fashioned by the hand of man, and terminated in a broad, level platform. When the parties stepped upon this platform they paused until Romez had drawn up the ladder, and then mounted to a second ledge of rock higher up the cavern. This ladder was also drawn up, and the journey resumed along a narrow, slippery path, that finally ended in a dark opening, which proved to be the mouth of a smaller cave.
The interior of this cavern presented a scene which filled Julian with astonishment. Almost the first object his eyes rested upon was Smirker’s burly form stretched out on a little pallet in one corner. He was securely bound, and did not look much now like the reckless desperado he had appeared when Julian first met him in his cabin. But the presence of this man did not occasion him so much astonishment as the sight of the gold that was scattered about the room. He saw it there in all shapes—in dust, nuggets, quartz and coin. It was stowed away in chests, tied up in little bags, and packed upon shelves and piled in corners as if it had been merchandise of some description. Julian had never dreamed that all the gold mines of California could produce as much of the precious metal as he saw collected in that one small room. The cave was also used as a receptacle for various odds and ends—rifles, revolvers, muskets, hunting-knives, saddles and bridles. As Julian glanced about him he told himself that he knew now what had become of some of the articles Uncle Reginald had missed from his rancho.
“During your travels to-day did you hear Smirker or anybody else say anything about some hidden treasure which he hoped to handle some day?” asked White-horse Fred.
Julian replied that he did.
“Well, here it is. This is the cause of all our trouble. If it hadn’t been for these yellow boys we might have been a united, happy family to-day.”
“I don’t reckon it’ll be very long afore we’re all together agin like we used to be,” said Silas, as he deposited his prisoner upon the pallet beside the other. “If the major is where we can get at him we’ll have him out this very night. How did you find him, Julian?”
“Smirker gave me a horse in exchange for mine that took me straight to his prison,” replied the boy. And then he went on to relate, in a few rapid words, how his curiosity had led him to walk about the rancho, and that while on his way to the kitchen he had found the prisoner. He described, too, how narrowly he had escaped discovery by the Mexican when he came in to remove the supper dishes, and told what had passed between Uncle Reginald and himself prior to the arrival of Silas and his friends.