Alex got the belt and then asked:
“Why didn’t you bring Don back with you?”
“He went up in the air,” was the reply, “just like Alex did earlier in the day. One second he was on the ground with a man searching him, and the next he was nowhere to be seen. Why did he run away?”
“He thinks Clay is after him,” grinned Alex.
“But he left his money behind,” Case put in.
“Yes,” Alex admitted, with an inward chuckle, “and I’ll look out for it until he returns. I promised him I would if anything happened to him. He’s keeping the money for the man it was stolen from.”
Alex placed the belt about his own waist and watched the Mexican wiggling away. There was no reason why he should detain him. Don was off into the mountains and there was little danger of his being caught. The money was hidden in the sand, and would be safe until either Don or himself dug it out. So, on the whole, it might be just as well to permit the fellow to make his escape!
The firing had, of course, attracted the attention of Deputy King, and the boys now saw him approaching. The Mexican saw him, too, and, bounding to his feet, darted away. In two minutes’ time he was out of sight in the hills. The third man lay dead where he had fallen.
When King came up there remained only Clay, Case, and Alex to greet him. Before he had quite reached them, the latter warned the others to say nothing of the money belt. After they were on their way, after Don was out of his reach, King would undoubtedly be told by some of the Mexicans that the belt had passed to Alex.
In that case, the boy reasoned, the pursuit of Don would cease for a time, and that would give him an opportunity to find the person the cash had been stolen from. Don had not told the whole story of the crime to Alex, but the latter had heard enough to cause him to sympathize with the boy and wish him all luck in getting away.