Quickly and silently the outlaws entered the fringe of bushes along the top at the opposite side of the cliff, descending by the trail which Wild Bill and Texas Jack had found while the bandit-chieftain had been talking.
With every sense alert, the outlaws proceeded, increasing their caution as they approached nearer and nearer to the bottom.
To their delight, they beheld a heavy patch of fir trees at the foot.
But just as they were within a rod of it, they were startled to hear a voice cry, faintly:
"Jess Jame! Jess Jame!"
In consternation, the desperadoes looked at one another.
Whether the calling of the name was a lure of the Indians, who, returning, had seen the men filing down the cliff and planned another ambush or what it betoken they could not tell.
"We're in for it now, for fair," growled Frank.
And as though to give emphasis to his words, a shout of triumph sounded from above them, and looking up, they beheld the forms of a score of cavalrymen silhouetted against the sky.