“Dell,” said the scout earnestly, “I’ve got just pride enough about me to want to wind this up without any outside aid. I’ll be an hour on the surface, not longer; then I’ll come down here again and leave you at the top of the shaft.”
“You’ll be taking your life in your hands,” said Dell.
“I don’t think so. Lawless and his men could have killed me, or have snaked me out of the tunnel with Hickok. They didn’t do it; and that proves that they have some reason for sparing me and leaving me in the level. I can’t leave here without doing something for Wild Bill and Nomad.”
The scout started toward the shaft with the candle. As Dell followed, she kicked against something on the floor. Picking the object up, she found it to be a pine knot, soaked in kerosene.
“That gang that attacked Wild Bill and me,” said the scout, “probably brought that along with them. They didn’t have time to light it, and it was lost in the scuffle. We’ll make use of it ourselves,” and he held the candle to the oil-soaked knot.
The torch blazed up on the instant, and the scout blew out his candle and put it in his pocket.
They went on to the shaft, and, when they got there, another one of Dell’s “disagreeable surprises” awaited them. The rope which Dell had left swinging from the plank platform was gone!
The girl recoiled with a cry of dismay.
“I’m getting used to this sort of thing, Dell,” said the scout grimly. “The unexpected is sure to happen in this mine—you meet it at every turn.”
“Could Cayuse have pulled up the rope?”