“Mr. Moore,” said Miss Campbell, as she clutched his arm, “we are in a nest of robbers. Do you think we shall ever get out alive? Tell me the worst before they come back.”
“Don’t let them know you are frightened. These men admire courage more than anything else in the world. I will keep with you every moment. The man named Bowles owes his life to me, and even with all their lawlessness, these poor souls are not ungrateful. Don’t protest about anything, and don’t make any demands. Try to be perfectly calm and, above all, pretend to be pleased. I believe they’ll do the best they can for you tonight. They may even show us out of the gulch, although I doubt it.”
Miss Campbell lapsed into silence. She considered that Daniel Moore had a very optimistic turn of mind, considering the circumstances.
“You can’t git out of the gulch to-night, Miss,” said Jim Bowles, returning to the side of the car. “It’s too dark, and the roads ain’t good enough for night travel in that there machine. You’ll have to stay here tonight, but before we admit you into our happy homes you’ve got to take an oath, an’ if you break it it’ll be the worse for you. We don’t take no half measures.”
“What do you want us to promise, Jim?” asked Mr. Moore.
“You’ve got to promise before we let you leave this place that you never will tell to nobody what you know about it, and that the one that shows you the trail to-morrow morning won’t git pinched through you.”
Jim Bowles was not satisfied until he made each occupant of the motor car say solemnly: “I promise,” from Mary, with her high, sweet voice, to Daniel Moore in his deeper tones.
And now there came that crucial moment when the Motor Maids and Miss Helen Campbell were obliged to leave the protecting interior of the Comet and mingle with a band of mountain brigands.
“I can’t do it, Mr. Moore. I tell you, I shall simply die of fright,” Miss Campbell whimpered into the ear of Daniel Moore, who seemed like an old and intimate friend in this dangerous situation.
“You must,” he said, giving her his arm. “Keep up and don’t show you are frightened. If you trust them, they’ll do their best for you, as they have promised.”