"Boys," said Snivel, as he turned from our hero, evidently satisfied that he could gain nothing by trying to frighten him, "I reckon you had better bury ther bodies of Pete an' Simon. I don't know as there's any use in waitin' fur Cap ter come. He won't be here till some time after dinner, he said when he went away last night. He's tryin' ter git ther stage coach ter run through ther pass ag'in, an' if it does we'll let it go fur ther first two or three trips, an' then when they've got a good pile aboard we're goin' ter nab on it. Cap knows his business, all right; an' we make more by his bein' away than we do when he's here."
"That's right," answered the man, who seemed to have more to say than any of the rest. "I reckon we'll go ahead with our funeral. I'll take what they've got on 'em, an' you kin put in ther box inside, so ther boss kin take charge of it. I know they both must have had a few dollars when this unexpected business happened. This are too bad! It's ther first loss we've met with since we've been banded together."
"That's right, Aleck," replied Snivel. "You go ahead. Joe an' Dick kin go ahead an' dig ther grave that'll answer fur ther pair of 'em. Poor fellers! They never knowed what struck 'em, fur ther galoots what fired them shots aimed 'em mighty straight, an' there was no sufferin' done. I'm mighty glad I wasn't in ther way of one of them bullets."
"Well, we all are, as fur as that goes. But it's a shame that they had ter be snuffed out that way."
He went away to attend to the work assigned him, as did the others who had been named.
Then Snivel walked back into the cave, leaving Wild to his own reflections.
The villain found Arietta sitting on a box, over which some skins had been thrown to make it comfortable.
The girl had not been tied, the villains evidently thinking that there was no danger of her escaping, as she was but a girl.
But she was being closely watched, just the same, for those left to guard her could not help noticing that she was not afraid.
"Well, miss," said Snivel, apologetically, "I'm mighty sorry ter see you in such a fix as this. What did yer want ter come through Forbidden Pass fur, anyhow? Didn't yer read ther sign?"