That night Dick could hardly sleep a wink, and next morning he was too restless and impatient for his approaching liberation to keep within the confines of the little grotto. In the darkness of the big central cavern he walked up and down, casting occasional glances at the distant glow of the log fire where, as he could see, both the aged squaw and the white wolf were on vigilant and ceaseless guard.
Suddenly his steps were arrested. With great surprise he gazed toward the log fire. There, with Guadalupe and the white wolf, stood the figure of a strange man, cloaked and wearing a big sombrero. All their shapes were outlined against the ruddy glow, and the monstrous beast was actually fawning at the newcomer’s feet. A moment later the stranger, with a parting wave of his hand to Guadalupe, advanced toward the spot where Dick was standing. Close by was an oil lantern set in a socket of the rock wall to mark the entrance to the inner grotto.
For a minute the approaching figure had been swallowed up in the darkness, but now came the sound of his footsteps crunching on the sandy floor, and a few seconds later he appeared in the flickering radiance. Dick Willoughby had already made his inference as to the identity of the newcomer—he had been so often told that no living man but the bandit chief, Don Manuel, could pass the white wolf with impunity.
But the name Dick pronounced was quite a different one.
“Senor Ricardo Robles—it is you—you?”
“It is I,” replied the Spaniard, quietly, as he extended his hand.
“Then you are—Don Manuel—the—”
Dick faltered and paused.
“Yes, I am Don Manuel de Valencia, the outlaw, the bandit of Tehachapi, the White Wolf, as he is commonly called. Come within, my friend. I have matters of importance to communicate.” And the visitor led the way with an ease that showed his perfect familiarity with every opening and turning in the great subterranean series of chambers.
“I cannot remain with you very long,” said Mr. Robles, when they were seated in the inner grotto, “for I have a number of things to attend to during the few hours that still remain at my disposal.”