Fortune gave the boy the opportunity he desired.
Along the street came two runaway horses, attached to a carriage. In front of the restaurant they crashed into another team, and there was a rush to see how much damage had been done. The attention of every one seemed diverted toward the front.
Frank had observed an open door at the back of the room, and through this he quickly sprang, ran along a narrow passage, and burst into the kitchen.
"Hello, here!" cried the cook, in astonishment. "What's the matter?"
"Terrible smashup, out in front," replied the boy. "Don't know how many have been killed. It is awful!"
"That so?" came stupidly from the bewildered man in white. "How did it—— Well, he was in a hurry!"
But Frank had sprung out by an open door and was gone.
The boy reached a side street, sprinted round a corner, doubled and turned at every opportunity, and settled to a swift walk.
He soon discovered which direction he should take without having asked to be directed toward any particular point.
"This is an unpleasant scrape," muttered the boy; "and it came about through my readiness to exchange my good money for bad. If I remain in this town I am liable to be arrested at any moment."
He wondered what Bart would say when he was told.What could Bart think about a girl who carried two bright new counterfeit fifty-dollar bills in her purse?
Frank began to doubt. He was forced to confess to himself that such a thing was remarkable. If the girl had had but one bad bill in her possession, it would have seemed that she had obtained it unwittingly; but two—and exactlyalike——
"Can it be possible she is, in some way, connected with a gang of counterfeiters?" Frank asked himself. "I will not believe it! Her face is too innocent."
Then he remembered how, in the city of Chicago, he had encountered a beautiful girl who was connected with counterfeiters; but he also remembered that she was an unwilling tool, and had embraced the first opportunity to get clear of the meshes of the net into which she had fallen.
"If Isa Isban is connected with such a gang, I am certain it is against her will."
Then he thought how, when she had discovered that he had plenty of money, she had hastened to get him to change two fifty-dollar bills, and his faith was shaken.
"It looks bad," he confessed.
As he approached the place where he had left Bart on guard over the house in which the girl was believed to be, he passed a livery stable. He was hurrying on when some one ran out of the stable and clutched him by the arm.
"Just in time!" palpitated the voice of Bart Hodge.
"Hello!" exclaimed Frank, surprised. "Just in time for what?"
"They're gone!"
"Who?"
"Vida Melburn and that man."
"Gone where?"
"Taken the lake road. Something has caused them tohustle out on the jump. I do not believe they are coming back here."
"Then we must follow."
"Sure."
"How——"
"Here—in the stable. I have ordered a horse. We'll have two. They'll not slip us easily."
"How did they travel?"
"Horseback."
"How much of a start?"
"Twenty minutes."
Together the boys ran back into the stable, and another horse was ordered saddled.
"Look here," cried Frank, displaying his money. "We wish to overtake some people who have a start on us. Give us the best animal in the stable."
The proprietor of the stable was on hand, and he looked the boys over doubtfully.
"How do I know I'll ever see my critters again?" he asked.
"We'll make a deposit," declared Frank. "We'll stick up a hundred dollars apiece on 'em. If they are worth more you can afford to take chances. If we're horse thieves you won't have much trouble in tracing us. Besides that, horse thieves do not work in this way. If they did they'd get the worst end most of the time, for they'd have to chance it on the horses being worth a hundred each."
The proprietor was rather bewildered. He believed something was wrong, but still he did not wish to refuse to let the boys have the horses.
The money was counted out and thrust into his hands.
"Hustle!" cried Merriwell. "We can't afford to lose a moment."
The stable-keeper roared out an order to his assistants.The horse that Bart had ordered was quickly brought out, ready for mounting, and then he was followed by another, onto which a saddle was flung. Frank looked the animals over with a critical eye.
"They'll do," he said, approvingly.
In a few seconds the lads were mounted and dashing away from the stable. The proprietor stood looking after them, doubt written on his face.
"Gee whiz!" he muttered. "I never thought of that! Bet I've made a derned fool of myself! Well, I reckon I'll git the critters back."
"What is it you did not think of?" he was asked.
"Why, it's remarkable kids like them should be so flush with money. And they looked scared. They're runnin' away. I reckon they've been stealin' an' they wuz hustlin' to get away before they wus arrested."
The boys disappeared down the street.
Frank allowed Bart to take the lead.
"I suppose you know the shortest cut to the lake road?" he asked.
"I do," said Bart. "You follow close, that's all."
As they rode, Frank related his adventure in the bank.
Bart whistled in astonishment.
"Bogus money?" he cried. "And you received it of the girl? That is strange."
"It looks bad," said Frank.
"I don't understand it. How do you suppose she happened to have it? It's not at all probable she knew what it was."
"I am not so sure of that."
The dark-eyed boy gave his companion a reproving look.
"She is as innocent as a flower! I will not believe she could do such a thing! But she is in trouble."
They were regarded with some surprise as they dashedalong the streets. The citizens wondered why two boys were riding at such speed. A sleepy policeman shouted at them, but they gave him no heed.
Soon they came to the outskirts of the city. Before them lay the lake road.
"This is the way they came?" questioned Frank.
"Sure," nodded Bart. "They are somewhere ahead."
"What makes you think they are skipping the city? It strikes me they may be simply out for a canter. Perhaps they are going to take a look at Tahoe up there among the mountains."
"They did not buy horses for a canter of a few hours."
"They bought horses?"
"Yes."
"Then it is pretty certain they have no notion of coming back to Carson. You have a level head, my boy. Forward!"
The road became rugged and steep. They were looking for a mounted man and girl in advance, and they constantly urged forward their sweating horses.
"I do not see anything of them."
"The road crooks away up yonder, so they would be hidden. They have quite a start, and they are in a hurry."
A cloud of dust rose behind the galloping horses, drifting away to the left. The road was rough, but the boys did not mind that.
"Tahoe must be on the top of a mountain," grumbled Bart, after a time.
"It is six thousand, two hundred and eight feet above the level of the sea," said Frank. "That is elevated somewhat."
"I should say so. It must be the highest body of water in this country, if not in the world."
"It is higher than the peaks of many lofty mountains."
"And this so-called 'lake road' is hardly better than an ordinary trail. We are in for a hard pull of it."
"But the ones we are pursuing are in for just as hard a pull."
"That's right, and one of them is a girl."
The mountains loomed formidably before them. The bleak heights seemed to block their way. But the road wound onward and upward, and they followed it.
"What was that?" questioned Frank.
"What? I did not hear anything."
"It sounded like a cry. There it is again."
"I heard it that time. It did not seem to be ahead of us, and so it—— Great Scott! Look back!"
Frank looked back down the road. Far away, several horsemen were riding toward them. They were urging forward their animals, and the sunlight glinted on polished weapons.
"We are pursued, partner!" said Frank, grimly. "We are in for a hot chase."
"Who are our pursuers?" asked Bart, angrily. "What do they want? They are shouting and waving their hands."
"They are shouting for us to stop. They want me."
"For what?"
"Have you forgotten, as soon as this, what I told you about the queer money I tried to get changed at the bank?"
"Think that is why they are after you, eh?"
"Without a doubt?"
"Then they must be officers."
"It is certain that at least one of them is an officer. The others he may have called to his aid hastily."
"It will not do for them to overtake us."
"Surely not. I would be arrested and taken back into Carson. Even if I were sure of proving my innocence, the man and girl would get away."
"And you cannot be sure you could prove your innocence. The working of the law is sometimes strange and erratic. That money has placed you in great danger, Frank."
"You are right. I wish I had kept my money in my pocket, and had not been so ready to break fifty-dollar bills for a pretty girl."
Frank said this laughingly, but Bart's dark face wore a very serious look. He was not at all inclined to regard serious matters in a humorous light, while Frank hadfaced deadly dangers many times, and had come to laugh in the face of the gravest peril.
"We'll have trouble in escaping those men," came soberly from Bart's lips. "It is still rather wild up around Tahoe, I fancy, and this road must end at the lake."
"Well, we'll leave the road and ride over the mountain tops, if we do not overtake the man and girl."
"What if we do overtake them?"
"It will be a good plan to freeze onto them, and hold them for the officers."
"No," cried Bart, sharply. "I will not agree to that."
"You will not?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"It would place the girl in peril. She would be——"
"That's where you're off, my boy. It might rescue her from peril. If she is in trouble, as we imagine, it would be the very best thing that could happen for her."
"How is that?"
"She could tell her story truthfully, and it might get her out of trouble by putting the man with the black mustache in a box. At the same time it would clear me."
Bart was obliged to confess that Frank had made a point, and still he did not like to think of turning the girl over to the officers of the law.
"Perhaps she would not 'peach' on the gang, if there is a gang behind her, which I doubt. She might keep her mouth closed, might swear she never let you have the queer money."
"And I can prove she did by the conductor of the Pacific Express. He saw me give her the small stuff for the two bills."
"Still, I do not feel like nabbing her and turning her over to the officers. We might not be able to nab her, anyway."
"That is true enough. I rather fancy her companion would be likely to put up a stiff fight. He looks to me like a dangerous man."
Frank fancied that he was beginning to understand Bart's feelings. He believed the boy was afraid the girl might prove to be one of a gang of counterfeiters, and he was so badly smitten that he did not wish to be instrumental in her arrest.
Frank, himself, had been highly interested in Isa Isban; but events had transpired which caused him to doubt that she was all her innocent face would lead a casual observer to believe, and his admiration for her had waned swiftly.
Having been brought beneath a cloud of suspicion, Frank was determined to vindicate himself in some manner. He sincerely hoped it might turn out that the girl was innocent. If she were innocent, then she must be in trouble, and he hoped to be instrumental in relieving her.
It was well the lads had obtained two good horses, for they were able to keep well in advance of the pursuers.
Once or twice they fancied they saw rising dust in the far distance, which led them to believe the man and girl were there.
If they were right, then the couple in advance were urging their horses to the limit, for they kept beyond view.
The road grew rougher and rougher. The mountains shut in on either hand, and still they climbed upward. The horses panted and perspired, while horses and lads were covered with dust.
"Do you know how far it is to the lake by this road?" asked Bart.
"It can't be over ten miles."
"Well, it is the longest ten miles of road I ever passed."
The windings of the road shut the pursuers out fromview. They were coming on when last seen, but had not seemed to gain in the least. At last an exclamation of satisfaction broke from Bart's lips.
"There they are!"
Far up the road, halted and looking back, were the man and girl, mounted on two dust-covered horses.
"Sure as you live!" cried Frank. "We have been gaining on them."
The boys were seen by the ones in advance, and the man made a gesture of rage, while the girl reached out and caught him by the arm, seeming to speak earnestly to him. He listened a moment, and then both touched up their horses, quickly galloping from view.
Now the chase became hot, although the road became more difficult and perilous. Several times the lads obtained glimpses of the man and girl.
Finally, with appalling suddenness, they came out upon the shore of Lake Tahoe, resting like a blue gem upon the mountain tops, upheld like a perfect mirror to a cloudless sky.
Cries of surprise and admiration broke from the lips of both boys, for never before had they beheld such a lovely sheet of water. The surface of the lake was unbroken by a ripple, and the water, into which the heated horses thrust their noses, was clear as crystal.
Afar, the mountain peaks rose like sentinels, their outlines softened to a purple shade. Along the shores were unmarred forests.
For a few seconds the boys sat silent, gazing in speechless admiration on the beautiful scene, and then Frank gave a start and drew the nose of his horse from the water, saying:
"Don't let your animal drink too much, Bart. They are very hot."
"That's right," nodded the dark-haired lad, following Frank's example. "But where are the man and girl?"
"They must have hidden up or down the shore of the lake. Look for the tracks of their horses."
It did not take them long to discover which direction had been taken, and away they went.
"I don't see how they are going to escape us," said Bart. "We have them cornered."
"And we must be ready to fight, for that man will raise a rumpus."
They looked at their revolvers, making sure they were in good working order. There was a look of resolution on Frank's face that contrasted strongly with the expression of doubt and uncertainty which had been growing on the face of his companion.
They rode round a point and came in view of a beautiful cove. Then they again uttered exclamations of surprise, for out of the cove a light canoe was skimming, and the canoe contained the man and the girl. The man was handling the paddle with strength and skill.
"Tricked!" exclaimed Frank, somewhat dismayed. "They have slipped us after all."
As he saw this, the expression of doubt on Bart's face turned to one of intense anger. He was enraged at being baffled. Riding his horse into the edge of the water, he drew a revolver, pointed it at the canoe, and shouted:
"Hold on, there! If you don't come back, you are liable to find yourself dodging bullets."
The reply of the man was a scornful laugh, the sudden uplifting of one hand, a puff of smoke, and the singing of a bullet that passed over Bart's head.
"Don't shoot!" cried Frank. "You might hit the girl."
Bart was in a white rage; he quivered with anger.
"Oh, I won't shoot!" he said; "but, if he were alone I'd give him a few lead pills, hang him!"
After the shot, which seemed flung at the boys in derision, the man resumed paddling, and the canoe glided on.
But that shot had aroused someonthe opposite side of the cove, for a man came bursting out of the trees, rushed down to the shore, and stared after the canoe.
He was a gigantic fellow, being at least six feet and six inches in height, roughly dressed in woolen clothes, wearing long-legged boots and a wide-brimmed hat. He had a heavy mustache, and a long imperial.
Suddenly his voice rang in a roar across the cove:
"Hold on, thar! Whatever are you doin' with my canoe? Ef yer don't bring it back, burn my hide ef I don't turn a cannon on yer an' sink yer at sea!"
The man in the canoe made no immediate reply, but pulled the harder at the paddle.
"Derned ef yer don't git grapeshot an' canister!" howled the big man. "I'll riddle yer!"
Then the man in the canoe shouted:
"Don't shoot! You will find two horses hitched to a tree near where we obtained this canoe. They're yours in exchange."
"W'at do I want uv hawses!" roared the big man. "Bring back thet canoe instanter! I won't take yer hawses!"
But the man in the canoe continued to pull at the paddle, and the little craft glided straight out on the tranquil bosom of the lake.
The big man roared and raged, but he did not do any shooting.
"I'll see yer ag'in," he shouted, "an' burn my eyebrows, ef I don't make yer settle fer this yar!"
Then he saw the mounted boys on the opposite side of the cove, and he stared at them inquiringly.
"Wa-al," he shouted, "who be you, an' what do yer want?"
"We will meet you and make an explanation," Frank shouted back.
The two lads began riding along the shore of the cove, and the big man moved to meet them, regarding them with no little suspicion.
They finally met at the head of the cove, where the giant stood, with folded arms, scowling blackly at them.
A short distance away two dust-covered horses were standing, hitched to trees, their heads hanging low, while they still breathed heavily.
They were the animals abandoned by the man and girl.
"Ef you youngsters want ter steal anything, ye'd best mosey outer this yar part uv ther kentry," growled the big man, sullenly. "First it's a gang uv pleasure seekers thet comes an' takes my sailboat, then it's a man an' gal thet kerries off my canoe, an' next it's two boys as ain't got anything yit, but looks like they want something."
"We do," palpitated Frank. "We want some kind of a boat in which to follow those people—the man and the girl."
"Wa-al, yer won't git it."
"We will pay you—we have plenty of money."
"Ter thunder with yer money! What duz Gabe Blake want uv money! All I want is ter be let alone. Ther fust crowd promised me money fer my boat, but I told 'em ter take her an' bring her back before night. They took her, an' I ain't seen hide ner ha'r uv 'em sense. Ther man an' ther gal took my canoe without askin' leave."
"They left those horses——"
"Burn their hawses! What do I want uv hawses! Hawses ain't no good harabouts. Ther fust gang left four hawses, an' I've got ther critters ter feed. Hyar's two more! Burn ther hawses!"
It was plain the giant was in anything put a pleasant frame of mind. He scowled blackly at the boys.
"If you will furnish us with a boat——" began Frank.
"Ain't got no more boats. Can't go out fishin'. An' I'm too blamed lazy ter build another boat. Built ther sailboat an' canoe afore I got lazy livin' hyar. Man thet lives hyar six weeks gits too blamed lazy ter work. What 'm I goin' ter do when I want ter go out fishin'?"
Bart Hodge made a gesture of dismay.
"Do you know where we can get a boat?" he asked.
"Thar's none round hyar."
"Then we cannot follow that man and girl?"
"Not 'less yer kin walk on ther water."
"It's hard luck," declared Frank. "I did not believe they would be able to slip us."
"What did yer want uv 'em?" asked the big man, his curiosity getting the better of his anger.
Frank dismounted.
"Might as well get off and give the horses a breathing spell, Bart," he said. "They are blowed."
"But the party pursuing us—what of them?"
"Let them come."
"Are you going to give up thus easily?"
"No; but I am not going to run like a criminal. Why should I? Let them come."
"You do not mean to fight?"
"Not if a regular officer attempts my arrest."
"What they goin' ter arrest yer fer, youngster?" asked the man, becoming still more curious. "Hev yer bin stealin' hawses?"
"No."
"Wa-al, yer needn't tell ef yer don't want ter!" resentfully said the giant. "I don't keer."
"I will tell you the whole story," said Frank. "When you have heard it you may be able to advise us about continuing the pursuit."
Bart dismounted, and the boys sat down on the ground. The man took a seat near at hand, and brought forth a cob pipe, which he leisurely filled and lighted. He was brawny, weather-tanned, and healthy in appearance. He did not look like a person who had ever seen an hour of illness.
"Fire away, youngster," he urged. "Somehow, I kinder take ter you. You've got an honest face on yer, burn me ef yer hain't!"
Frank expressed thanks for the compliment, and then, as concisely and plainly as possible, he told of his experiences since meeting the girl on the train.
The big man listened closely, his interest growing each minute. When the boy had finished, the man slapped his thigh and cried:
"Brand me deep ef I don't reckon ye've guv it ter me fair an' squar! I know somethin' about this yar gang uv queer-makers."
"You do?"
Both lads ejaculated the words.
"You bet!"
"What do you know?"
"I hev heard ez how they has a young gal who is queen uv ther band, an' she shoves ther queer on ther market fer them."
"Is that all?" asked Frank, with a trace of disappointment.
"Hold yer critters!" advised the big man, with a lazy wave of one hand. "Don't git too oneasy. I said I know something erbout 'em. What I told yer wuz what I had heard."
"Well, tell us what you know."
"See them mountains over thar, beyond ther lake, right whar I'm p'intin'?"
"Yes."
"Purty wild place over thar."
"Well?"
"Thet's whar ther den uv them thar counterfeiters is."
Frank clutched the man's arm, his face full of eagerness.
"How do you know?"
"I hev bin over thar."
"What did you discover?"
"Say, I don't keer ter mix in no rows, an' so I ain't troubled myself ter inform on 'em."
"But you will tell us what you discovered? We will pay——"
"Pay be derned! I tell yer I don't keer a hoot erbout money. Ef I git enough ter buy some terbacker an' clothes, an' sech provisions ez I want, thet's all I ask. I don't keer how much bad money is in circulation, an' thet's why I ain't meddled with them critters. Ef I blowed, they might take a notion ter call on me, some time, an' make it derned onpleasant fer me."
The hopes of the boys dwindled.
"But think what it may mean to me—my liberty, honor,everything!" cried Frank. "You must understand the situation in which I am placed."
"I do. Ef them critters hedn't run off with my boat, I might hev kept my mouth shet; but now, burn me deep, ef I don't git squar!"
The hopes of the lads rose again.
"I'll tell yer whut I found over thar," the big man went on, slowly. "I found ther place whar ther queer-makers hang out."
"You did?" fluttered both lads.
"Thet's whatever. Thar's a hidden cabin on a cliff, an' thet thar is their headquarters."
"Will you guide us there?"
"Wa-al, what do you two youngsters think you could do? Thar's a gang. You say yer wuz pursued by officers. Wa-al, I know Jack Long, ther sheriff, an' I kin fix it with him, ef he is in ther crowd. He wuz one as brought me hyar ter die uv consumption two years ago."
The boys looked at the giant in amazement.
"Brought you here to die of consumption?" cried Frank. "You—you? Impossible!"
The giant smiled lazily.
"I don't look like a consumptive, now, do I? Wa-al, ther doctors said thar warn't one chance in a thousan' fer me. They hed guv me up. I come hyar ter die; but I got well. This is ther greatest place I ever struck fer bracin' up a feller's lungs; but it takes all ther ambition outer him. It hes made me so I don't care ter do anything but be lazy. Let ther old world wag, Gabriel Blake won't bother with her none whatever."
"How can we reach the mountains over there?" asked Frank.
"Reckon we'll hev ter go round ther shore, thet's all ther way."
"And you will guide us?"
"Ef Jack Long shows up an' wants ter go, I s'pose so."
Blake said this somewhat reluctantly, as if he dreaded the exertion.
"If Long should not show up—what, then?"
"It won't be nary dern bit uv use fer one ur two uv us ter go rampin' off over thar. Ef Jack Long locates their hangout, he'll bring a posse an' scoop 'em."
The boys found the giant was set in his ways, and it was not strange that, as they were boys, he should consider them of minor importance in case of a collision with the counterfeiters.
He once more expressed his conviction that the lads were "squar," and it was his belief that he could thus convince Jack Long.
"Can we use our horses in getting round the lake?" asked Frank.
"Wa-al, I dunno but I kin pick out a trail fer yer; but fer me it'd be as much work ter travel hawseback ez afoot."
He then invited them to his cabin, and they followed him, leading the horses. He gave no heed to the animals the man and girl had abandoned.
Big Gabe's cabin was tucked away in a secluded nook, close to the shore of the lake, and not far from the cove. It was fairly comfortable in a rude way.
"Long will come hyar," he said. "Ef he wuz with yer pursuers he'll show up afore a great while. Make yourselves comfertable till he comes."
The lads did so.
In time the sheriff appeared, but one man—a rough, awkward-looking fellow—was his only companion.
Long uttered a cry of satisfaction when he saw the boys.
"Well, I have caught you, after all!" he exclaimed. "The boys allowed you had given me the slip, and they went back."
His hands fell on the butts of ready revolvers, and he ordered them to surrender without resistance.
"Hold on hyar a bit, Jack," said Big Gabe, stepping between the lads and the officer. "Let's we hold a little plarver. You know me, I'll allow."
"To be course I do, Gabe, and I am mighty glad to see you alive and well. You once had the name of being the strongest man in Nevada; but you didn't look very strong when we brought you up here, two year ago. You'll be up to the old tricks again, before long."
The giant shook his head.
"I reckon not," he said. "Liftin' bolders an' wrastlin' with four men at a time is outer my line ferever, arter this. I'm too lazy, an' besides thet, I'll allow it wuz a strain I got at that business as brought on my first bleedin' spell arter I hed ther grip. I'm purty well, now, but I don't make no exerbitions uv my strength, burn me ef I do!"
"Wait till you get away from here. Everybody that comes here gets lazy, and stays lazy as longs as they stay here."
At this Big Gabe nodded.
"Thet's sure as preachin'. It's ther derndest place termake a critter feel ez if he don't keer a hoot whether school keeps ur not!"
The sheriff had half drawn his revolvers. He now thrust one of them back into its holster, but motioned for Blake to stand aside.
"I judge you don't know the kind of youngsters these are as I have found here," said Long.
"And I judge I do," returned the big man, quietly. "I know all about 'em, an' they're all right."
The officer looked surprised.
"How does it happen you know about 'em?" he asked, wonderingly.
"They're old acquaintances uv mine,"asserted Gabe, greatly to the surprise of the lads; "an' they're on the dead level. They came hyar to see me, sayin' as how they wuz in some trouble down at Carson over some counterfeit money as they hed got by accident."
Long was scowling and looking disgusted. He listened in silence, motioning for the giant to go on.
"I hev listened ter their story," said Blake, "an' knowin' 'em ez I do, I'll allow it's straight, an' you ain't got no cause whatever ter rope 'em, Jack."
"Mebbe you're right," admitted the sheriff, fishing in a pocket and drawing forth a paper; "but here is a warrant for the arrest of one Frank Merriwell, and I must serve it. It is sworn out by Ezra Coburn, a leading citizen of Carson."
"Burn Ezra Coburn!" roared Big Gabe, becoming somewhat excited. "Burn him and double burn him! I tell yer them youngsters is my friends, an' I'm standin' by 'em! You an' I don't want any trouble, Jack."
"No, we don't want any trouble; but, at the same time, I'll have to do my duty," came firmly from the lips of the sheriff.
"By thet yer mean yer'll hev ter arrest Frank Merriwell?"
"Exactly."
"Stiddy, Jack! Don't be too quick ter lay yer paws on ther boys. You know me."
"I do, and I do not fancy having trouble with you. At the same time I must do my duty."
"Wa-al, hold hard a bit. Don't be in a hurry about nabbin' them. I'll give yer my pledge as how yer kin hev 'em any time. Does thet go?"
The sheriff hesitated a bit, and then said:
"It goes, if you are responsible for 'em, Gabe."
"All right. Boys, this yar is Jack Long, sheriff from Carson, a white man clean through. He'll guv yer a squar' deal."
The boys shook hands with the officer, after which the latter said:
"This man with me is Silas Jones, of Michigan, relation to my wife, somehow or other. He is thinking of locating out this way."
Jones grinned all over his bearded face, shook hands in a strong, blundering fashion, and said:
"I swan if this ain't a great country, out here! Beats all natur! But I don't feel to hum, fer I was raised right in ther middle of the woods, an' there's too much open land out this way. I don't mean right round here, you understand; but I've seen more'n forty thousan' miles of prairie sence comin' out this way, an' it makes me lonesome."
Having expressed himself thus, he sat down on a box and relapsed into silence, listening to the others and grinning now and then, but seldom speaking unless addressed.
Big Gabe urged them all to sit down, and they did so. He then directed Frank Merriwell to relate to the sheriff the story of his adventures since meeting Isa Isban on thetrain, and the boy was obliged to go over the ground once more.
Bart was impatient, thinking how much time was being wasted; but he held himself in check as far as possible.
The dark-eyed boy noticed that Silas Jones listened to Frank's story with great attentiveness, apparently greatly interested in the narrative.
When the boy had finished, Blake explained how his sailboat had been engaged by a pleasure party of four persons, two men, a woman and a girl, and how they had failed to return with it, making it impossible for him to pursue the man and the girl who ran off with his canoe.
"Then you saw the man and girl?" asked Long.
"I did that," nodded the giant. "An' I said a few things ter them, but it wuz a case uv wasted breath."
The sheriff seemed to hesitate, doubtfully, and then Frank spoke:
"Mr. Blake believes he knows where the retreat of the counterfeiters is, and he has offered to guide us there."
"How about it?" asked Long, quickly. "Is it right?"
"Wa-al, purty nigh right. I reckon I do know whar they're located, an' I offered ter guide ther party ef you brung a good crowd with yer. You only brung one man."
"Here are five of us, in all," said Frank. "Two of us may be boys, but it is possible we can fight harder than you imagine."
"If such a thing can be avoided, we do not want to fight at all," said Long. "We want to take the makers of the queer by surprise and capture them in a strategic manner."
Silas Jones nodded.
"Either that or send for plenty of officers ter ketch 'em on ther jump," he said. "Ther United States Secret Service men would be mighty tickled ter git such a show."
Long gave Jones a peculiar look.
"The Secret Service men may be mighty glad if they get an opportunity to play second fiddle in this affair," he said.
Whereat the man from Michigan grinned, but made no further remark.
The sheriff was for taking the boys back to Carson, leaving them in custody, and then seeking the retreat of the counterfeiters.
To this Big Gabe would not agree.
"Give ther youngsters a show," he said. "I hev pledged myself ter stand good fer 'em. Take 'em erlong on ther expedition."
There was considerable discussion over this, and Long finally gave in, although he expressed himself as certain that the boys would prove a great incumbrance.
Both Frank and Bart resolved to show him his mistake, in case an opportunity was offered.
They made preparations for the trip, which Big Gabe declared would take the better part of four days, as they would have to pick their way carefully through the mountains.
The two horses left by the man and girl were brought up and stripped of their saddles, packs being substituted.
Big Gabe was almost entirely cleaned out of provisions, but he did not murmur because of that.
The giant insisted on making the jaunt on foot, saying he did not wish to be incumbered with a horse.
When everything was ready, they started out, Gabe in the lead, carrying his Winchester at his side.
It did not take the giant long to convince them that he was far from an invalid. He seemed built of iron, and he was sure footed as a mountain goat.
Before long they were forced back from the shore of the lake and compelled to pick their way through a roughand rocky region, where progress was exasperatingly slow.
It was midafternoon, when they halted at the beginning of a desperate and dangerous climb amid mighty bowlders, with yawning chasms on every hand.
Here they opened one of the packs and brought forth provisions enough for the party to satisfy their hunger, the food being washed down with water from a tinkling brook that ran toward the lake.
After they had satisfied their hunger, and allowed the horses to feed, the animals were saddled again, the packs made fast, and once more they started onward.
Although Big Gabe had explored the greater part of the rough region lying around the lake, he had never before attempted to find a road for horses along the precipices and black ravines.
After eating, they set about the most severe and dangerous part of the journey yet reached. Up amid the giant bowlders they climbed, at times working around some part of the mountain where there would be a bare bluff on one hand and a yawning chasm on the other.
The giant guide warned them to look out for the loose bowlders, saying that some of them could be sent crashing down the mountain almost by the pressure of a hand.
The dangers from these huge rocks were made apparent before they had passed beyond that region.
Frank's horse proved far more skillful in climbing, keeping close to Big Gabe's heels, and the others were left at a considerable distance, so it became necessary to pause once or twice for them to come up.
A nearly level bit of the mountain had been reached, and they were pausing before the next climb, when a rumbling jar was heard, and a cry of warning broke from the guide.
"Loose bowlder! Look out fer it, boy!"
The others were yet some distance away, so that Frank and Gabe were together, the boy being astride his heavily breathing horse.
With each moment the roaring grew louder, till it swelled to jarring thunder, and then past them shot a huge black mass, enveloped in a cloud of dust. This mass leaped down into the black depths of a great chasm that yawned close at hand.
Frank's horse was frightened and began to plunge. The boy tried to quiet the animal, which was no easy task. In its mad plunging the creature reached the edge of the chasm. Big Gabe leaped forward with a second shout of warning, but it came too late.
Horse and rider went over the brink!
Not a sound came from the lips of our hero as his horse went plunging into the chasm, although, in the moment when he went over the brink, the boy fully expected to be dashed to death in the dark depths below.
He saw Big Gabe leap to clutch him, but realized that the giant was too late.
In that fateful moment Frank cleared his feet from the stirrups and made a desperate effort to save himself.
Too late!
All he could do was to clutch at the high pommel of the Mexican saddle, to which he clung tenaciously.
A wild, half human scream of terror came from the throat of the horse.
"Whoa up, thar!" roared the giant, as he made a clutch at the horse.
By rare good fortune the man clutched the flowing tail of the animal fairly and firmly. His heels settled into a rift of the rocks, and he surged backward.
Over went the horse, dangling, head downward, above the terrible chasm, while the giant held it thus by clinging to the creature's tail!
And our hero held fast to the Mexican saddle!
Frank was amazed when he found the horse was not going downward, and, being unable to see the big man, he wondered what held the animal suspended in the air.
In a moment the man above cried:
"Are you gone, boy? Are yer done fer, youngster?"
"No," replied Frank, with sudden hope. "I am hanging to the saddle. Drop a rope to me, and pull me up—quick, before the horse falls!"
"Can't do it."
"Why not?"
"I'm holdin' ther critter by ther tail, an', burn me, ef yer both won't go to ther bottom ef I leggo!"
Then the boy realized what had saved him, impossible as it seemed, and he marveled at the astonishing strength of the strange giant who had been sent to Lake Tahoe to die of consumption.
"But he can't hold out long!" thought the lad. "He must give up in a moment, and then we'll go down to death!"
It was not a pleasant thought, and still Frank was not terrified. He wondered at his own coolness. He speculated on the length of time they would be falling. Would he be conscious when they struck, or would the fall rob him of his senses?
He looked down. Far below, ragged points of rocks jutted out from the chasm wall, seeming to beckon to him. They would bruise and tear him, and it seemed that they were awaiting, with impatience, for him to fall.
He could not see the bottom of the chasm!
"It is sure death!"
Without knowing that he did so, he uttered the words aloud.
"Not ef I kin hold on a little longer, boy."
The giant had heard him and made reply, much to his surprise, for he had seemed to forget that Blake was holding him from falling.
Then he marveled more than ever at the strength of the man, for it began to seem that he had been suspended thus many hours. Surely Gabriel Blake possessed supernatural prowess.
Something like a laugh came from the boy's lips.
"It is foolish to try to hold on longer," he said, a bit wildly. "Let go, before you, too, are dragged over to death."
"Hyar, hyar!" called the man from above. "Don't git nutty, boy! I kin hold yer some time yit."
Still Frank was sure it was all folly; it could only end in one way.
"I must fall at last!"
The giant heard these hoarsely muttered words, and he feared the boy would let go.
And now Bart Hodge and the two men had become aware of Frank's peril, and they were spurring their horses madly forward, having reached the top of the climb.
The giant saw them coming, and it gave him new strength.
"Hold fast, down thar, youngster!" Big Gabe shouted to Frank. "Thar's help comin' hot-foot an' hustlin'. We'll hev yer out uv thar in two shakes, brand me deep ef we don't!"
Still, Frank did not dare to hope. Once or twice it seemed that the horse, wild-eyed and snorting with terror, slipped a bit, and the boy fancied Gabe was losing his grip.
It was a fearful strain on the giant, but he held fast as if his own life depended on it. The cords stood out on his neck and forehead, and perspiration rolled down his face. He could hear his own heart thumping like a hammer in his breast.
The sheriff, Sile Jones and Bart Hodge came tearing up to the spot, flung their horses back with a surge at the bit, and leaped to the ground.
In a moment Jones had leaped to the side of Big Gabe and obtained a hold on the tail of the horse, relieving the giant a bit.
A lariat dangled from the sheriff's saddle, and this he had freed before he brought his horse to a halt. With it in his hand, he sprang to the ground and leaped toward the brink of the chasm, on which Bart was already kneeling.
"Hang on, old boy!" breathed the dark-haired lad. "The horse will not fall now. You are all right. We will have you out of that in a moment."
Frank looked up and saw Bart peering down. The sight of his friend's face gave the imperiled lad new hope.
"It's all right, if you say so, partner," he said, coolly. "But I don't care how quick you get me out of this."
Jack Long reached the brink of the chasm, lariat in hand.
"Say," he cried, "whatever are you trying to do, boy? Think you can slip me this way? Not much!"
He ended with a reassuring laugh, which was meant to encourage Frank. In a moment the rope was lowered, and the end dangled close by the boy.
"Catch hold!" cried the sheriff.
Frank did so, first getting a firm hold with one hand, and then with the other. By the time he had hold of the lariat Bart was ready to pull with Long.
"All right!" shouted Frank. "Lift away, up there."
They did so, carefully lifting him over the edge of the ledge, so his hold would not be broken, and he was drawn safely to the solid ground.
Some boys would have been completely overcome and unmanned by such a close call, but such was not the case with Frank. The moment all peril was past for him, he exclaimed:
"Save the horse!"
"Don't know as we can," said the sheriff, breathing heavily. "We'll try it. If we can get the beast up without strangling it we'll be dead lucky."
Long was skillful with the lariat, and he dropped the noose over the horse's head with a wide sweep. He did not draw it tight till the time came, and that was when every man and boy were ready to lift to the extent of their strength.
"Heave!" shouted Big Gabe, in a stentorian tone.
After a desperate struggle they dragged the horse up over the brink, but the unfortunate creature was more dead than alive, and nearly an hour passed before it recovered.
By nightfall they were encamped—or bivouacked—in a sheltered pocket, close by a clear bubbling spring. A fire was lighted, and, having eaten supper, they sat around and talked over the journey and adventures of the day.
The men smoked. The horses fed on some tender grass near at hand. Bart said:
"Do you know, Frank, I never touched a cigarette since you induced me to swear off at Fardale?"
"I am glad to hear that," said Frank. "There is nothing more hurtful than cigarettes used to excess, and one who smokes them regularly is almost certain to use them to excess, after a time."
"When you left Fardale I told you I feared I might fall back into my old ways—might become reckless and dissipated as I was before you gave me a helping hand and pulled me out. You remember it?"
"Yes."
"And do you remember that you said you were confident I would not go back—that you felt sure I had stamina of character enough not to take up with my old associates?"
"Yes."
"Well, Frank, by saying so you saved me. Whenever I have been tempted to do a mean thing, or to take up with any of the old gang, I have always thought of your words, and knowing you had faith in me has given me strength to resist."
"I am glad of it, old fellow. For all that we were enemies to begin with at Fardale, I found you had good stuff in you, and so I stood by you when others were against you."
"You stood by me when I was falsely accused of a theft, even though I had treated you shamefully, and it was that which made me ashamed and disgusted with myself. I saw you were white clean through, and I resolved to mend my ways if I ever pulled through the scrape I was in."
"You kept your resolution."
"With your aid. I did not expect you would accept me for a roommate, after what had happened, but you did. I do not believe I should have been able to remain in Fardale Academy but for that. Now——"
"Now what?"
"Well, it may sound like boasting, but you know I am not given to that, Frank."
"I know. Go on."
"Now, to a certain extent, I have taken the place you left vacant at Fardale. I was captain of the football team last fall, and we came out champions in the series we played. This year I was unanimously chosen captain of the baseball team, and we have had a most successful season thus far. The fellows who would have nothing at all to do with me originally are ready to stand by me to the last gasp now. All this came about through your influence, Frank."
"You make me blush," laughed our hero. "Don't tell me anything more, or you will give me a case of swelled head."
"There is no danger of that," Bart declared. "For a fellow who was so popular at school, you were and are reprehensibly modest. You had a way of holding your own, and still you never thrust yourself forward, whichis something I cannot understand, for, as a rule, if a person does not push himself right ahead, he does not get there. Modesty may be all right, but, in most cases, the modest fellow gets left. Not that I believe in the braggart and blowhard, but a chap must have nerve to put himself ahead if he wants to keep in the game. I have seen lots of inferior individuals get a start on those with ability simply because they had the gall to sail right in and make their bluff. I believe there are two kinds of modesty, and one kind is closely allied to cowardice. The fellow who has confidence in himself, thinks he can do a thing, says he can do it, and does his level best to do it, is the one who will come out on top. If a chap wants an opportunity to try at anything, he makes a fool of himself if he says, 'I don't know, perhaps I can do it.' The one who says, 'I can and will' is the one people have confidence in, even though he may not be so smart as some modest coward."
Frank whistled softly.
"Hodge," he said, gravely, "you are a philosopher. Your philosophy may be a trifle mixed, but it will untangle itself later on. Such words from your lips rather daze me. I think I'll have to sleep and rest in order to recover."
He ended by a light laugh, in which, however, Bart did not join.
The dark-haired boy would have been glad to talk of the mysterious girl, but Frank rolled himself in a blanket, with his feet toward the fire and showed no desire to continue the conversation.
Bart soon followed this example, but the men continued to smoke and talk for some time.
Bart was awakened by feeling himself vigorously shaken, but, when he started to speak, a hand was over his mouth, and a voice whispered, in his ear:
"Easy, old boy; don't make a racket. We want to take a little stroll by ourselves, and there might be objections."
He knew it was Frank who spoke, although it was still dark, with just a hint of approaching dawn in the east.
When Frank was sure Bart understood he removed his hand from the latter's mouth, and the dark-haired boy crept softly from his blanket.
"Where are you going?" whispered Hodge, in surprise.
"Never mind," was the answer. "Take your rifle and come along."
The men were sleeping heavily. The horses stamped restlessly at a distance of two or three rods. The stars were fading before the gray light that slowly spread in the east.
Bart secured his rifle. Frank had his already, and they stole out of the bivouac.
Frank led the way, walking swiftly, and making no noise.
Bart wondered what the boy meant to do. Surely he did not think of skipping the party, for the horses were abandoned.
The dark-haired lad could not restrain his curiosity long, and he asked a question as soon as they were beyond earshot of the camp.
"What do you mean to do, Frank?"
"Take a morning stroll," was the laughing reply. "It is good for one's health. Why, it's a regular tonic."
Bart was puzzled, for he knew Frank was not out for his health.
"You are not skipping them?" he asked.
"Not for long," was the reply.
"But what will they think when they awaken and find we are gone?"
"I have left a note."
"Where?"
"Pinned to Big Gabe's breast."
"What did you say?"
"That we would be back, and for them not to think we were running away."
"They will think so, all the same."
"They are likely to."
"And I fail to see the object in this move. If they catch us before we return, Jack Long is liable to tie us up and take us back to Carson without delay."
Frank laughed softly.
"They will not catch us till we are ready to return. I will tell you just what this move means."
"Fire away."
"Last night, after we both seemed to be asleep, Big Gabe told his companions just where this hidden cabin of the counterfeiters is located. I was not asleep, although I seemed to be, and I heard every word."
"Well?"
"Well, we are going there."
"For what reason?"
"To see what we can do. I also overheard the men talking, and they seemed extremely doubtful as to our ability to do much of anything. In fact, they regarded us as an incumbrance. That touched my pride. I resolved to see if we could not convince them that they had made a mistake."
"Are you sure you can find this hidden cabin?"
"No; but I can try. I remember every word Gabe spoke, and I'll come pretty near it, you may bet."
"Go ahead. I am with you."
Bart did not question his friend further, although it seemed a foolish move to him. But he remembered that, in the past, Frank had seldom made a mistake when he set out to do anything.
Merriwell moved at a swinging pace, and Hodge held close to his heels.
The light in the east broadened, flushed, and rose to the zenith. The stars were blotted from the sky; but there were deep shadows far down in the ravines and gorges when the sunlight lay on the mountain peaks.
Having left the pocket, Frank led the way along a twisting ravine. Out of this he climbed at a certain point, and they made their way over a ridge into another ravine, from which they branched into yet another. Finally, with the bare face of a great mountain rising abruptly on their left, the boys advanced slowly.
"It cannot be far from here," said Frank, keeping his eyes about him. "We shall not be able to see the cabin from this ravine, but we may locate the cliff on which it is built."
"How can we locate it?"
"Big Gabe said there was a wide streak that ran perpendicularly in the rocky precipice not far from the cliff—and there it is!"
The boys fell back a bit, gazing intently at the wide, white strip that seemed to hang along the face of black stone, like a wide streak from a monster whitewash brush.
"I am certain we are very near the place," said Frank. "We will look for the cliff."
This they did, and, in a very short time, they fancied they had discovered it.
"There seems no possible way of reaching the ledge up there," said Bart, somewhat despondently.
"But there must be a way, if the hidden cabin is built there," declared Frank.
"I don't doubt it. At the same time, we are not likely to find it. Instead of making queer money in a city, where they would be in constant danger of discovery and arrest, they have come here to this wild region, wherethey are not likely to be discovered, and where there is very little chance that they will be arrested if they are discovered."
For some time the boys speculated concerning the possibility of reaching the ledge. They were about to seek a way out of the ravine when something happened that astonished them both.
"Look, Bart!" softly cried Frank, catching the shoulder of his friend—"look there!"
He pointed upward to the ledge.
On the very verge of the sheer descent a girl had suddenly appeared. In her hand she carried a huge umbrella, which she was struggling to open, her movements seeming to indicate that she was in great terror. Her unbound golden hair was falling over her shoulders.
"It's Vida!" palpitated Bart Hodge.
"It's Isa!" asserted Frank Merriwell.
"What does she mean to do?"
"Wait! Look!"
"Merciful goodness!"
Both lads were horrified, for, having succeeded in opening the huge umbrella, the girl suddenly turned, and, with a wild cry, leaped out into space from the edge of the ledge.