Frank groaned.
"Pick him up, two of you and follow. Be careful."
Not a word was spoken as the strange procession moved silently on, deeper and deeper into the bowels of the mountain.
The silence was, after what had seemed an age to the men whose nerves were tensed by the strangeness of the cave, broken by the voice of the Indian girl.
"Pale faces git down um bellies," she directed tersely. "Me go first."
Suiting the action to the word Dew Drop threw herself down and crawled through a hole in the rock. But Jesse, who followed, did not succeed in passing the narrow opening with the same ease that Dew Drop had, but he finally accomplished the feat with sundry exclamations of disgust beneath his breath.
Texas, more ample of girth, got stuck in the hole, which he had attempted to get through feet first, and he could not move either way. Jesse solved the difficulty quickly by grabbing the unfortunate outlaw by the feet and jerking him in beside him.
But with Frank the task was still more difficult.
"Easy there," commanded the bandit-chieftain. "Put him through head first and I will draw him in."
This they did, and though Frank groaned and begged piteously the move was quickly executed.