The outlaws were already at the closed kitchen door and hammering on it in a way to make the bolt and chain rattle.
The air of the young man was so kindly and anxious that Buffalo Bill entered the dark opening behind the cupboard. Nomad hesitated, then followed, with Pizen Kate.
When they had passed through and seemed to be standing in a dark, windowless room, the young man came after them, and closed the opening by swinging the cupboard back into position.
“They’ll think we went on through the kitchen,” he whispered. “This way.”
He took Buffalo Bill by the hand; and together he and the scout descended a narrow stairway, being still followed by Nomad and Pizen Kate.
As they did so they heard the kitchen door give way before the onslaught of the outlaws, and heard the trampling of their feet on the kitchen floor, together with their angry oaths.
When they had descended a short distance, the scout judged they were in another tunnel somewhat like the one he had been in before.
He found this was true; and after a short walk a faint light appeared in the tunnel before him. Then all emerged into an open space, and found it to be a natural cup-shaped hollow hanging on the side of the river ledge like the nest of a bird. Vines and bushes grew about, screening it from view of any one on the opposite side of the stream; and a narrow path, bush-hidden, led to the top of the bluff, where, through a bushy fringe, a view could be had of the house and grounds.
The light which brightened this cuplike space was starlight, but it was bright enough to enable the scout and his companions to make an astonishing discovery; which was, that John Latimer and the mysterious young woman were in this spot, and apparently awaiting them.
Latimer, however, seemed to be injured, or sick; for he was lying down, with some garment under his head for a pillow, and he did not rise when Buffalo Bill and the others entered.