"Didn't I tell ye so?" he demanded, with a show of anger. "Didn't I tell ye so? Didn't I say that they be thinking that I was a spy; but you wouldn't have it so? Tell me that."
"I don't think he is a spy, Madge," said Handsome. "Remember that I have known him for a considerable time. And I have found him on the level."
Madge shrugged her shoulders.
"All right," she said. "That is, all right this time. Only now that he is here, he stays. Don't forget that."
"Oh, I haven't forgotten that."
"Nobody leaves this valley without my permission; not a single one."
"They are all pretty well satisfied that you mean that, Madge."
"Now, tell me what you brought the old man here for."
"Because he knows every inch of the galleries inside those caves. I want to know about them myself, and I want the old man to teach me about them. The time will come, Madge, when we will be mighty glad to know about those galleries."
"Possibly so," she replied. "Do as you like with him; only remember—nobody leaves this valley without my permission. When I get the men thoroughly organized and so they will do what I want them to do, then I will turn loose upon the world one of the best—and the worst—criminal organizations that has ever been heard of. Do what you please with the old man. He looks old enough to have been dead long ago."