Once the prisoners were secured, the wounded attended to and the dead buried, the whole attention of the rescue party was given to locating Rosemary and Floyd. That Paz knew the secret of their disappearance could not be doubted—at least our friends did not doubt.
"Though of course," said Captain Marshall, when preparations were going on for putting Paz through the third degree series of questions, "of course there may have been several bands involved in this raid, and some other body of Yaquis may have taken away the young man and his sister."
"It was Paz, I'm sure of it!" declared Bud.
"He looks guilty!"
Certainly the Yaquis leader looked ugly and mean enough to have perpetrated this deed. But he maintained a scowling silence as he sat on the ground before his captors.
"Now, Paz," began Lieutenant Snow, who acted as interpreter, "you may as well tell the truth first as last, for we're going to get it out of you, if we have to resort to—well, you know what I mean. Sabe?"
"No sabe!" grunted the Indian.
Then the work began. It was not a pleasant task, and it was only excusable on the plea of dire necessity. The Yaquis were entitled to no mercy.
But through ft all Paz maintained a grim silence. When he did speak it was to deny that he or his followers had even seen Rosemary and Floyd, much less had they kidnapped them for a ransom.
It remained for Buck Tooth to expose the trick. The wily Indian, perhaps knowing the habits of the race he had forsaken, had been prowling about among the sullen prisoners. He openly laughed at them for the plight in which he found them, taunting them as cowards of the first water.