Or if Hop had kept a watch, as Arietta told him to, things would surely have turned out differently.
It so happened that Cap Roche had changed his mind about waiting until after the hour of noon before paying a visit to the cave, and he was riding up the pass in company with one of his men at that very moment.
In watching the climbers the two girls had exposed themselves to the view of any one approaching, and when Cap Roche and his man suddenly came in sight of the two so near the hidden cave they were astonished.
One of the cowboys who had seen our friends when they came to Big Bonanza was his companion, and he was not long in recognizing Anna and Eloise.
"Cap," he whispered, "they belong to Young Wild West's crowd. I wonder what they kin he doin' here?"
"Is that so?" queried the leader. "Well, I'll soon find out what they are doing here. I reckon we had better catch them and take them in the cave. That will be a bold stroke, I think. The chances are that Young Wild West is around here somewhere."
They dismounted and moved cautiously toward the girls.
When they got directly in front of the cave they were astonished to see the bodies of two of their men lying there.
The eyes of the leader flashed dangerously.
"Young Wild West has been at work, I reckon!" he exclaimed, in a low voice. "Come on! We had better go in first and see if everything is all right there."