The Chinaman did not know what it meant, so he looked for a way to get up close to Jim and the girls without being seen by them.
If he went on through the narrow defile he could not do it.
Then he looked up and, much to his satisfaction, he saw a place that could be climbed quite easily, he thought.
He decided to go on up, and then work his way along until he was directly above those in waiting.
Hop was quite agile for a Chinaman who did not like work a great deal.
He was soon ascending the craggy way, and in less than two minutes he was at the top of the cliff.
Once there he found that it was comparatively level, and he walked along fearlessly.
But he could not help noticing that there was a fissure similar to that which formed the pass on the other side, and, being curious to see what was down there, he made his way to the edge.
A smothered cry of astonishment came from the Chinaman's lips as he peered downward.
It was the "hole," as the outlaws termed it, that Hop was looking into, and there was Young Wild West, tied to the post, in plain view!