“Well,” he answered, looking up, “we hadn’t been down here fifteen minutes until Nomad had disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
“Yes. Wild Bill and I heard him give a yell, but when we went to look for him he had vanished.”
“There must be a secret passage leading into another part of the mine, and——”
“Hickok and I made up our minds to that, but if there is a secret passage we failed to locate it. While we were talking the matter over, I heard a sound of stealthy movements between us and the breast of the level, and I had just time to throw down my candle and knock the light out of Wild Bill’s hand, and then to drag Wild Bill flat down on the floor of the level, when a volley was fired. We had a hand-to-hand fight, and right in the middle of it I stumbled over that stone and rammed my head into the wall. And now Hickok has followed Nomad—where? And why is it I wasn’t taken away with Hickok? I can’t make head or tail to this thing, Dell, and it’s getting onto my nerves. Nothing happens as you would expect it to happen. The mine seems bewitched.”
“We’d better get out of here,” Dell suggested.
“I came here to stay three days and nights,” said the scout doggedly, “and——”
“But with Nomad and Wild Bill gone, what could you and I do against men who have a secret retreat in the mine? They have every advantage, pard. They can make an attack when they want to, and can get away in a hurry and without leaving a clue as to where they go. Of course, these men are Lawless and his gang, and they not only have the advantage in the point of numbers, but they have also a knowledge of these underground workings.”
“Lawless prepared the mine as a trap for us,” said the scout, “and, while I was expecting underhand work and surprises when we came down here, I was not counting upon hidden passages and secret levels. I won’t abandon Nomad and Hickok to their fate, but I’ll go up to the surface and take a look around. There may be a concealed shaft somewhere in the vicinity of the ore-dump. After I make an examination of the surface, I’ll come back down here.”
“Will it be wise,” asked Dell, “for us to come back down here alone? Hadn’t we better send Cayuse to Sun Dance for more men? Pete, and Tenny, and Blake would probably be glad to come down here and help.”