At last he picked up the silk from the ledge where Captain Joe had placed it, folded it carefully, and put it into his pocket. Then he looked about for the belt. That, too, was gone! He looked everywhere for it, but it was not found.
He made an especially careful search for it because he knew that he must account to Clay and Case for it. They knew that he had had it. They had been led to believe that it still held the stolen money! What would they say when he told them the exact truth about the matter?
The boys slept until nearly sunset, and then came rolling out of the cabin proclaiming appetites beyond those of all other days! As for Alex, it did not seem to him that he would ever want to eat again!
“Tell you what, boys,” Clay explained, as the three sat down to a quickly-prepared supper, “we ought to go on up the river to-night. We ought to get farther away from the Mexicans and the deputy sheriff. They are hot after the money Alex is carrying around in that belt, and we may be attacked at any time. We ought to get up past Yuma, at least!”
Alex bit his lip and turned his head away. The time had come when he must face his chums with a story so flimsy that he would not have believed it if coming from the lips of another! The time had come!
“Yes,” Case agreed, “we ought to be getting away from here. The men we did business with down the river would go to any trouble to follow us; would commit any crime to secure possession of the fifty thousand dollars Alex has in the belt the Mexican robbed Don Durand of.”
“Where is the belt?” Clay asked. “Why don’t you show up, Alex, and let us see what a stack of money looks like? How long do you suppose we will have to keep it before Don gets to us and claims it?”
“Yes; produce it!” cried Case. “I can smell it now!”
“I haven’t got it!” was all Alex could find words to say just then.
The others looked at him in utter bewilderment until his eyes fell.