[CHAPTER XX.]
BACK TO THE DEATH-TRAP.
Old Broadbrim rode back to Ranch Robin.
As he dismounted at the door he caught sight of Belle Demona on the porch, and the queen of the ranch greeted him with a smile.
He had carried out her mission to Perth; he had delivered the jewels to the lapidary and was back with his answer.
In the house the detective was served with wine, and Belle Demona stood near while he feasted and told the story of the bandits' repulse.
Old Broadbrim went out at last to look for Waters.
Could he have looked beneath the foundations of the ranch at that very moment he might have seen a man toiling for life between four walls.
He would have seen the slender figure of Dick Waters, in the demi-gloom of the lower dungeon, working as his hands had never worked before.