Though he had the best of Young Wild West just then, he knew he was in a very bad box.
"You have done well, Young Wild West," he said, trying to appear cool. "You have done something that no one else has been able to do—you have found our cave and exposed the secret of it. I will admit that you have ruined our game here, but you don't suppose that you are going to live to enjoy telling about it, do you?"
"Oh, I don't know. I expect to live a long while, Cap Roche. I reckon you think as much of your life as I do of mine. If you should kill me you know very well that you would not live long after doing it. Your friends would never get a chance to do you a good turn, for you would never fall into the hands of the minions of the law. The only chance you have got is to make a deal that suits me. If you don't want to do that, do as you please."
Cap Roche got up and began pacing the rocky floor of the cave.
His uneasiness made his men feel in anything but a pleasant frame of mind.
Suddenly he paused in front of Wild and said:
"Let's hear your proposition."
"I would much rather you would make one," was the calm reply.
"Could you guarantee me three days to get away from Silver Bend if I agreed to let you go by paying the toll?"
"Yes, I could do that, I suppose."