CHAPTER XIV.THE END.
Set in the wall of the gallery was a door heavily barred with iron.
A white face was pressed against it, and as Frank looked up he barely repressed a loud cry of amazement.
“Heavens!” he gasped, “Harvey Montaine!”
“My soul!” came back in a thrilled whisper. “Is that you Frank Reade, Jr.?”
“It is nobody else.”
“God be praised!”
“I have found you.”
“My prayers are answered.”
“But I fear we are in as bad a position as you,” said Frank.
“How so?” asked Montaine.
“We are alone and unaided here. We escaped into this place from an old shaft near here into which we had been cast to die.”
“Heaven is with you!” cried Montaine, feverishly. “The Almighty has sent you to effect my rescue. Oh, Frank, I cannot tell you what I have suffered in the last month.”
“You have my sympathy,” replied Frank, warmly. “And if it lies within my power I mean to wrest you from the power of Miguel Costello.”
“Then you got my message asking for succor?”
“I did.”
“I knew that you would answer it.”
“Of course I would. I can imagine what you have suffered, dear friend. But this fiend—Costello—what was his purpose?”
“Partly revenge, and partly a scheme to defraud me of my legal claim to the mine.”
“Is this the mine?”
“Oh, no; the claim is a richer one and a full two miles from here. This is an old, disused Spanish mine, worked by the early Spaniards.”
“Ah! then this is simply a rendezvous for the greasers?”
“Exactly.”
“But Costello—does he spend most of his time here?”
“I think he is sinking a shaft at my mine. He comes here only to taunt and deride me in my helplessness.”
“The scoundrel!” exclaimed Frank; “but how are we to get you out of there?”
“Oh, Heaven help you to succeed!” exclaimed the prisoner. “These bars are too strong to break. But I think it is a simple matter to raise the barriers which are below. There is no lock, and no key is used. Simply steel bars are shot into their sockets. They should be easily opened from the outside.”
“Of course,” replied Frank, eagerly. “It is as you say. Have patience for a brief moment, and you shall come out of your cell.”
It required but a few moments’ work for Frank to lift the bars, and then the cell door swung back.
Montaine came staggering out.
He was a tall, finely formed man with an intelligent cast of features.
He was but a trifle older than Frank, and much after his type. The two friends embraced warmly.
“Oh, God, you cannot know what a joy it is to be relieved from that cursed cell,” said Montaine, fervidly. “It is like entering upon an entirely new life.”
“I can imagine it well,” replied Frank, “but the danger is not over. We are still in the lion’s den.”
“Right, my friend,” said Montaine. “But we must find a way out.”
He went to the railing of the gallery and looked over.
There was a light of despair in his fine eyes as he turned back.
“Ah, I fear that we will never see daylight again,” he whispered, hopelessly. “There is but one entrance to this place that I know of and that is securely guarded as you see.”
“But we must find a way to escape,” said Frank.
The words, however, had barely left his lips when a thrilling thing occurred.
Up the stone steps came the sound of feet.
Three of the greasers suddenly appeared not ten feet below. They saw the escaped prisoners and a cry of alarm escaped their lips.
“My soul! we are lost!” cried Montaine.
But Frank Reade, Jr., was seized with a mighty desperation.
Weapons they had none, save the shovel and the iron bar which they had brought with them from the old shaft.
But Frank raised the bar and hurled it with all his might at the foe.
It struck one of the greasers fair across the breast.
He went down like a shot.
The other greasers retreated, giving yells of alarm.
Frank recovered the iron bar and Montaine secured a couple of pistols from the fallen greaser.
The heroic little trio meant to die game if the foe should venture up the stairway again.
But they did not.
Circumstances occurred to prevent this contingency. Loud shouts went up from below, and great excitement seemed to ensue.
Then the distant exchange of rifle shots was heard.
Frank exchanged startled glances with Montaine, and a sudden inspiration seized him.
“My soul!” he cried. “Do you believe it possible that Silver Sam and his men have whipped the greasers and have penetrated to this place?”
“Begorra, there’s a fight goin’ on out there phwativer it manes!“cried Barney.
“Yes, and a hot one,” added Montaine.
This was true.
The report of rifle shots were now rapid and near at hand. The yells and cries of the contestants could be plainly heard.
The amphitheater had been cleared of greasers in a twinkling.
It seemed to the prisoners a good opportunity to make an attempt to escape.
So they rushed down into the place, but scarcely had their feet touched the cavern floor when half a dozen armed men burst into the cavern.
At first Frank thought they might be some of the greasers returned, and consequently foes.
But a loud cry of joy went up the next moment.
“Hooray!” shouted a hearty voice, “however did you come here, Mr. Reade?”
It was Silver Sam and five of the hardy miners in his employ.
“We are saved!” cried Frank, joyfully. “Your men have the best of it, Sam?”
“Cert,” replied the sport, readily. “We scattered them like chaff. Oh, I tell ye, one good man can whip three greasers any time.”
It was the truth.
The prospectors had given the greasers a tremendous defeat. Miguel Costello fell at the head of his men.
After his fall, the band became demoralized and was easily broken up.
The mine and the whole mountain was quickly in the possession of the miners.
Montaine was surrounded by a legion of his friends.
Frank Reade, Jr., turned to Barney and said:
“Our mission is ended, Barney. Now let us return to Readestown the quickest way.”
“All roight Misther Frank. I suppose the fust thing is to find the naygur and the Steam Man.”
“Yes, if Pomp is still in the place where we left him all will be well.”
But at that hour it was not deemed safe to venture down the mountain side.
But daylight was close at hand and they decided to wait for it.
A sort of jubilee was held in the old Spanish mine that night.
The miners celebrated their victory in royal good shape.
Harvey Montaine was in high spirits.
He gripped Frank’s hand warmly, saying:
“I can never fully repay you, Frank, old friend. But for you I might never have seen daylight again.”
“I was glad to be able to help you,” said Frank, sincerely.
“I knew that you would do it, so I sent for you. The time may come when I can return the favor.”
“Do not speak of it,” said Frank, warmly. “It is all right.”
“I have a very rich claim upon the other side of the mountain. I shall make a large fortune out of it.”
“I hope you will.”
“You shall see that I will not forget you, old friend.”
When daylight came not a greaser was to be found in the hills.
The gang was thoroughly broken up with the death of Costello, and they dispersed to the settlements a hundred miles south.
No further trouble in working the gold claims was to be apprehended.
The prospectors from Saint’s Repose at once staked out their claims and began to sink a shaft.
Harvey Montaine had no trouble in finding plenty of men who were willing to take hold with him in opening up his own claim.
His predictions proved true, and he eventually reaped a large fortune from his claim.
Frank and Barney were escorted down the pass to the place where they had left Pomp and the Steam Man by Silver Sam, Diamond Jake and a party of the prospectors.
Pomp, as we have seen in a preceding chapter, had released himself from his bonds after being captured by the greasers, had got aboard the Steam Man and taken to the plain for safety.
All that night he kept on the move in the vicinity, taking care to guard against a second surprise.
But he was not attacked again, and some time after daylight he ventured to return to the spot where Barney and Frank upon returning would expect to find him.
He had hardly done so when they appeared accompanied by Silver Sam and his crowd.
Of course an exchange of experiences followed and then Frank and Barney boarded the Steam Man.
“Three cheers for Frank Reade, Jr., and the Steam Man, boys,” cried Silver Sam, heartily.
They were given with a will. Frank replied with several sharp notes from the whistle and then the Man was off.
Soon the Los Pueblos Mountains faded away in the distance.
For days the Steam Man kept on over wide plains until at length Laredo was reached again. Then once more the Steam Man was put aboard the cars.
The great quest was ended.
Harvey Montaine did not forget the favor done him, for two years later he sent Frank’s wife a valuable solitaire diamond worth many thousand of dollars from the mines of South America.
And so ends the story of hot work among the greasers, but it does not conclude the experiences of the Steam Man, a further account of which may be found in No. 6, of theFrank Reade Library, entitled:
“FRANK READE, JR., WITH HIS NEW STEAM MAN CHASING A GANG OF ’RUSTLERS;’or,Wild Adventures in Montana.”
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