Ben followed doggedly, willing to share the danger if he could not get Mr. Mainwaring to shun it.
Just where a small chasm opened in the rocks, and Mainwaring stepped in to see if there was any sign of the girls there, he was confronted by half a dozen men, with leveled guns.
Ben cried out from behind:
“Look out, Marse Mainwaring! Dere’s men wid shootin’ irons!”
Sure enough they were caught in a trap.
A man of tall stature, with all of his face hidden except his nose and eyes by a tremendous black, bushy beard, cried out:
“Stranger, you’re caught in a trap! If you’ve got any prayin’ ter do, do it quick—an’ then shell out! I see you wear a watch—an’ some diamonds. We’ll take them first an’ yer life afterwards!”
“It might pay you better to think twice about taking my life,” said Mainwaring, growing suddenly calm, though at first he had been momentarily startled.
“I can’t see that!” growled the leader of the gang. “Boys, knock that black man on the head! He’s not doing any good standing there!”