"Well, what did you hear this time?" asked Bob, who lay on his blanket with his hands under his head and a pipe in his mouth. "Everybody kept still about the haunted mine, I suppose?"
"No, sir; I heard about it to-night for the first time," answered Claus. "Banta is going up there to-morrow."
"Then we will know something about it when he comes back," remarked Bob. "I hope the boys have got the better of those ghosts in some way, and that they are working their mine. Go on, and tell us what you have heard."
Claus did not have much to tell, for the miners had cut the conversation short; but what little he did say created great excitement between those who heard it now for the first time. The boys had got the better of thoseunearthly spirits in some way, for if the ghosts had driven them out and not allowed them to work their mine, the miners would have found it out long before this time.
"I don't see why Banta put it off for two weeks," said Jake; "I reckon he was afraid of them spirits."
The next day was one which Claus often remembered. There was much excitement in the camp, although it did not show itself. There was none of that singing and whistling going on, but every man worked in silence. Banta and his partner had got off at daylight, and ten hours must pass away before they could look for their return; but evening came on apace, the camp-fire was lighted, and the miners gathered around it and smoked their pipes without making any comments on the long delay of Mr. Banta and the man who had gone with him. There was one thing that troubled them, although no one spoke of it—the mule which had carried their pack-saddle came home alone, and was now feeding in company with the old bell-mare. That looked suspicious, but the men said nothing.For an hour they sat around the fire, and then one of them broke the stillness. He was an old, gray-headed man, experienced in mining, and of course all listened to what he had to say. He spoke in a low tone, as if there had been a patient there and he was afraid to arouse him.
"Ten miles in ten hours," said he, knocking the ashes from his pipe. "Boys, something's got the better of those two men. I remember that several years ago I was waiting for a partner of mine who had gone away to prospect a mine——"
"What was that?" exclaimed a miner, jumping to his feet.
"I heard something, but I don't know what it was," said another.
It was done quicker than we could tell it. In less than a second two hundred men sprang to their feet, and two hundred hands slipped behind them and laid hold of as many revolvers. Of all those men, there was not one who would have hesitated to fight Indians with the fear of death before their eyes, but there was not a single instance of a miner whodid not change color at the sound of a noise which seemed to come upon them from no one could have told where.
"Which way did the noise come from?" asked a miner.
"What did it sound like?" queried another.
"There it is!" said the miner who had at first detected it—"it sounds like a horse's hoofs on the rocks. There! Don't you hear it?"
And so it proved. The noise was heard plainly enough by this time, and in a few moments more two men came out of the willows and rode into the circle of light that was thrown out by the camp-fire. They were Banta and his partner; and one look at their faces was enough—they were fairly radiant with joy.
"Halloo! boys," cried Banta. "I declare, you act as though you had lost your best friend; and some of you have revolvers drawn on us, too!"
"Say, pard," said one of the miners, shoving his revolver back where it belonged andextending a hand to each of the newcomers, "where have you been so long? Your pack-mule has been home all the afternoon, and has kept the camp in an uproar with her constant braying. She acted as though she wanted to see your horses. Did you see the boys?"
"Yes, sir, we saw the boys," answered Banta. He did not seem in any particular hurry to relieve the suspense of his friends, which was now worked up to the highest degree, but dismounted from his horse very deliberately and proceeded to turn him loose.
"Well, why don't you go on with it?" asked another miner. "Were the boys all right?"
"The boys were all right and tight, and digging away as hard as they could."
"Did they—did they see the ghosts?"
"Of course they did; and the ghosts are now lying up there with their skins off."
"Were they animals?"
"You are right again. Now, hold on till I light my pipe and I'll tell you all about it. Tony, you ought to have gone up there; youwould be ten thousand dollars better off than you are this minute."
Tony was a man who was noted far and near for his success in killing the lions which were so abundant in the mountains. He would rather hunt them than dig for gold, because he was almost sure to get the animal he went after. He was filling his pipe when Banta was speaking, but he dropped it and let it lay on the ground where it had fallen.
"It is the truth I am telling you," declared Banta. "If you don't believe it, you can go up there to that haunted mine and find out all about it. The boys killed them with nothing but revolvers."
Banta had his pipe lit by this time, and the miners crowded around him, all eager for his story. Bob and Jake were there, and no one seemed to pay the least attention to them; but they were impatient to learn all the particulars of the case. There was one question they wanted answered immediately, and that was, Did the boys really have a bagful of dust, or was Banta merely joking about that? Fortunately Tony recovered his wits and hispipe at the same time and asked the question for them.
"Did the boys get ten thousand dollars in two weeks?" he asked.
"Well, they brought a bag out for us to examine, and they thought it was nothing but iron pyrites," said Banta; and then he went on smoking his pipe.
"We took one look at the bag," said his partner, "and we took a big load off the boys' minds when we told them it was gold, and nothing else. Yes, sir—they have it fair and square."
"The boys are going ahead as though there had never been any ghosts there," said Banta; and then he went on to tell the miners everything that had happened during their trip to the haunted mine; and when he got started, he followed Julian's narrative, and paid no attention to Jack's. It was certain that the story did not lose anything by passing through his hands.
"Jack pulled off his shirt," said he, in conclusion, "and he has some wounds on his back that will go with him through life."
"And is the gold as thick as they say it is—so thick that one can pick it up with his hands?"
"It is not quite as thick as that," replied Banta, with a laugh. "But every time one washes out a cradleful he finds anywhere from a teaspoonful to three or four which he wants to put in his bag. I tell you, the boys have been lucky."
"I am going up there the first thing in the morning," said a miner. "Here I have been slaving and toiling for color for six months, and I can hardly get enough to pay for my provisions, but I'll bet it won't be that way, now, much longer."
"Wait until I tell you something," answered Banta. "Neely, you can go up there, if you are set on it; there's no law here that will make you stay away. There are plenty of places where you can sink a shaft without troubling the boys any, but whether or not it will pay you is another question. The boys will be down here themselves in less than two weeks' time."
"How do you account for that?"
"Their vein is giving out. It will end in a deep ravine that is up there, and there their color ends."
"Why don't they go back farther and start another?" asked the miner.
"It won't pay. The man who started that shaft upon which they are now at work was a tenderfoot, sure enough. There is not the first sign of color about the dirt anywhere. He thought it was a pretty place and so went to work, and the consequence is, it has panned out sixty thousand dollars. But go ahead if you want to, Neely."
Neely did not know whether or not he wanted to go ahead with such a warning in his ears. Banta was an experienced prospector, and he could almost tell by looking at the ground if there was any gold anywhere about there. A good many who had been on the point of starting for the haunted mine with the first peep of day shook their heads, and concluded they would rather stay where they were than go off to a new country. There were three, who did not say anything, whose minds were already made up as to what theywould do. They waited until the miners were ready to go to their blankets, and then Bob attracted the attention of those nearest him by saying,
"What Banta says throws a damper on me. The haunted mine is going to play out in a day or two, this place here is not worth shucks, and we are going off somewhere at break of day to see if we can't do better than we are doing here."
"Where are you going?" asked one.
"I don't know, and in fact I don't care much. I'll go to the first good place I hear of, I don't care if it is on the other side of the Rocky Mountains. I came out here expecting to get rich in a few days, and I am poorer now than I was ten years ago. These mountains around here have not any gold in them for me."
"And I say it is good riddance," whispered the miner to some who stood near him. "If you had acted as you did last year, you would have been sent out before this time."
Having paved the way for the departure of himself and companions, Bob joined them andled the way into his own cabin. They seated themselves close together, for they did not want to talk loud enough to be heard by anyone who was passing their camp.
"Well, they have it!" exclaimed Claus, who was so excited that he could not sit still.
"And it is gold, too," declared Jake. "Banta says so, and that is enough."
"In the morning, after we get breakfast," said Bob, "we'll hitch up and take the back trail toward Denver. We will go away from the haunted mine, and that will give color to what I told them a while ago."
"What if you should chance to miss your way?" asked Claus.
"You can't lose me in these mountains; I have prospected all over them, and I have seen where the haunted mine is located a hundred times. What a pity it was that I did not stay there. Sixty thousand dollars! Jake, if we had that sum of money we would be rich."
Jake did not say anything—that is, anything that would do to put on paper. He stretched himself out on his blanket and sworesoftly to himself, so that nobody but his companions could hear him.
"That will be three thousand three hundred dollars apiece," said Claus, who did not like the way that Bob and Jake left him out entirely. "Remember, I am to have a third of it."
"Of course; and it will be more than that. The boys will have some time to do more digging, and maybe they'll have another bagful. I understood you to say that the boys were pretty plucky."
"You may safely say that," replied Claus. "The way they stood up against those lions, when they did not know what was onto them, is abundant proof of that. You will have to go easy when you tackle them, or some of you will get more than you want."
The three continued to talk in this way until they grew tired and fell asleep—that is, all except Claus, who rolled and twisted on his blanket for a good while before he passed into the land of Nod. But he was out before daybreak and busy with breakfast, while the others brought up the animals and packedthem for their journey. There was only one man who came near them, and that was Banta, who wanted to make sure they were not going toward the haunted mine.
"Well, boys, are you going to leave us?" he inquired. "Where are you going?"
"Not giving you a short answer, we don't care muchwherewe go," replied Bob. "There is nothing here for us, and we will go elsewhere. We are going to take the back track."
"Are you not deciding on this matter suddenly?"
"We determined on it yesterday. We decided to go up to the haunted mine if you came back with a favorable report of the condition of things, but you say the lead is played out, and of course that knocks us. Wherever we go, we can't find a much worse place than this."
"Well, boys, I wish you luck, and we'll all go away from here before a great while."
"Why are you so anxious to find out about where we are going?" asked Bob.
"Because I wanted to remind you to keep away from that mine up the gully," answeredBanta, looking hard at Bob while he spoke. "The boys have that mine all to themselves, and we are going to stand by them."
"We have no intention of going near that haunted mine," asserted Bob, rather sullenly. "If those boys have gold, let them keep it."
"All right! Then I have nothing further to say to you."
So saying, Banta turned on his heel and walked away. There was nothing insulting in what he said, but Bob and his companions knew that he was in earnest about it. They all kept watch of him as long as he remained in sight, and then looked at each other with a broad grin on their faces.
"I guess Banta didn't make anything by trying to pump me," said Bob. "When we get a mile or two down the gully, we'll save what little provisions we want, push our horses over the bluff——"
"What do we want to do that for?" exclaimed Claus, in great amazement. "Can't we turn them loose?"
"Yes, and have them come back here and join the old bell-mare," said Jake, in disgust."We have to be in a hurry about what we do, for we must get a long start of the men here. If our nags appeared among the other horses here, the miners would know we had been fooling them and would start for the haunted mine at once."
"Couldn't we tie them up?" asked Claus; "or, we could shoot them. That would be an easier way than pushing them over the bluff."
"But there's the report our pistols would make," replied Bob, turning fiercely upon Claus. "The easiest way is the best. Now, if we have everything we want, let us dig out from here."
The men in the camp saw them when they mounted their horses and started down the gully toward Denver, but there was not one who shouted a farewell after them. When they disappeared from view, Banta drew a long breath of relief.
"It is just as well that they took themselves off before we had a chance to tell them that their room was better than their company. I do not like the way they have been acting since they have been here."
"I'll bet no men ever went away from a camp before without somebody said good-bye to them," said Jake. "They don't care where we go, or what luck we have, provided we don't go near the haunted mine. If they will just stay that way until to-morrow, they can all come on at once, if they have a mind to."
Claus was the soberest man in the party. He was waiting and watching for that bluff at which their faithful steeds were to give up their lives to make it possible for their owners to get away with the amount they expected to raise at the haunted mine. There was something cold-blooded about this, and Claus could not bring himself to think of it without shivering all over.
"I don't see why you can't tie them there," Claus ventured to say; "they won't make anyfuss until we are safely out of the way. It looks so inhuman, to kill them."
"Look here!" said Bob, so fiercely that Claus resolved he would not say anything more on the subject—"if you don't like the way we are managing this business, you can just go your way, and we'll go ours."
"But you can't go yet," interrupted Jake; "we are not going to have you go back to Dutch Flat and tell the men there what we are going to do. You will stay with us until we get that money."
"Of course he will," assented Bob. "When we get through with that haunted mine we'll go off into the mountains, and then you'll be at liberty to go where you please."
"Of course I shall stay with you," said Claus, not a little alarmed by the threat thus thrown out. Then he added to himself, "I reckon I played my cards just right. If I can keep them from searching me, I'll come out at the big end of the horn, no matter what happens to them."
For the next hour Claus held his peace; but he noticed that his horse turned his headand looked down the gully as if he feared they were not going the right away. He did not remember that he had come that route before, but concluded that Bob was gradually leaving the trail behind them, and was veering around to get behind the camp at Dutch Flat. Then the mule which bore their pack-saddle began to be suspicious of it, too, for he threw up his head and gave utterance to a bray so long and loud that it awoke a thousand echoes among the mountains.
"Shut up!" exclaimed Jack, jerking impatiently at his halter. "I hope that bluff is not far away. We'll soon put a stop to your braying when we get there."
In another hour they came upon the bluff, one side of which was bounded by a deep ravine that seemed to extend down into the bowels of the earth, and the other was hemmed in by lofty mountains which rose up so sheer their tops seemed lost in the clouds above. Here again the mule became suspicious, for, in spite of the jerks which Jake gave at his halter, he set up another bray that sounded as if the mountains were full of mules.
"Hold fast to him, Jake, until I take his saddle off," said Bob, hastily dismounting from his horse; "I can soon stop that, if you can't. There—his pack is off. Take him by the foretop—don't let him get away from you. Now, then, look at you!"
The mule got away in spite of all Jake's efforts to hold fast to him. The moment the bridle was out of his mouth he dodged the grab that Jake made for his foretop, and with a flourish of his heels and another long bray made for the gully by which he had entered the bluff. The horses made a vain attempt to follow him, and the animal on which Claus was mounted seemed determined to go away, but he was finally stopped by his rider before he reached the gully. Bob and Jake were fairly beside themselves with anger. Bob stamped up and down so close to the ravine that the least misstep would have sent him over the brink, and Jake sat down on the ground and swore softly to himself.
"I tell you, this won't do!" said Bob, coming back to the horses. "Let us put them over without the least delay; and, mind you,we won't take their bridles off at all. That mule will be in camp in less than an hour, so we must make tracks. Let their saddles go, too."
The men went to work at pushing the horses over into the ravine as if they were in earnest. First Bob's horse went; then Jake's; and finally they took Claus's bridle out of his hands and shoved his horse over, too. Claus did not see any of this work. The animals went over without making any effort at escape beyond putting out their feet and trying to push themselves away from the brink; but the miners got behind them, and all their attempts to save themselves amounted to nothing. He heard the horses when they crashed through the branches of the trees below him, and then all was silent.
"What else could we do?" exclaimed Bob, who thought Claus looked rather solemn over it. "Dutch Flat is not a mile from here, and some one there would have heard their whinnying. I am sorry to do it, too, but when there is ten thousand dollars in sight, I don't stop at anything. Now pitch that mule'sthings over, also, and then we'll get away from here."
This being done, the three, with a small package of provisions on their shoulders, set out once more at a rapid pace, Bob leading the way.
For a long time no one spoke, the travelling being so difficult that it took all their breath to keep pace with Bob; but finally he turned about and made a motion of silence with his hand, and then they began to pick their way through the bushes with more caution. After a few moments he stopped, pushed aside the branches of an evergreen, and after taking a survey of the scene presented to his gaze he made another motion, which brought his companions up beside him.
"We have caught them at it!" said he. 'Julian is on top, and Jack is down below, shovelling dirt. Where are your revolvers?"
"Those fellows from the Flat have not come yet," said Jake, looking all around to make sure that the boys were alone. "Lead ahead, Bob, and remember that we are close at your heels."
Leaving his provisions behind him, Bob arose to his feet, stepped out of his place of concealment and advanced toward the pit. Julian was so intent on watching his companion below that he did not hear the sound of their footsteps until they were so close to him that he could not pull his partner up; so he simply raised his head, and was about to extend to them a miner's welcome, when he saw something that made him open his eyes and caused him to stare harder than ever. There was something about that short, fleshy man which he was sure he recognized. It did not make any difference in what style of clothing Claus was dressed in,—whether as a gentleman of leisure or as a miner,—his face betrayed him. He saw that it was all up with him, for he had no time to go to the lean-to after his revolver.
"Pitch that dirt out of the bucket and come up, Jack," called Julian, shaking the rope to attract the attention of his comrade. "Claus is up here."
There was a moment's silence; then Jack's voice came back in no very amiable tones.
"Get away with your nonsense!" he exclaimed. "If I come up there again for just nothing at all, I pityyou! If Claus is there, make him show himself."
"Why, he's your uncle," asserted Bob, who began to wonder if that was the first lie that Claus had told them.
"That man?" exclaimed Julian. "Not much, he ain't. Jack, is Claus your uncle?"
"Tell him to come down here and I'll see about it," said Jack, who could not yet be made to see that there was something really going on at the top. "That makes two I have against you, old fellow."
"No, you haven't got anything against me," said Julian. "Here is Claus. Don't you see his face? Any man who would claim such an uncle as that—"
"That is enough out of you!" interrupted Jake. "Fetch that partner of yours up, and then bring out your money—we must get away from here in a hurry."
"Well! well!" cried Jack, who happened to look up and catch a glimpse of Claus's face. "I will come up directly."
"Say, you, down there," called Bob, bending over the shaft, "if you have a revolver down there, be careful that you keep it where it belongs."
"Don't worry yourself," answered Jack; "I haven't anything in the shape of a revolver about me. Hoist away, Julian."
The dirt was emptied out by this time, and Jack stepped into the bucket and was promptly hoisted to the top. Then he stood waiting for the three men to make known their wants; but he devoted the most of his time to scrutinizing the face of Claus, to whom he was indebted for the presence of the other two.
"Do you think you could recognize me if you should chance to meet me again anywhere?" asked Claus.
"Certainly, I could," answered Julian; "I would recognize you if I saw you in Asia. You are bound to have some of that money, are you not?"
"That is just what I am here for," said Claus, with a grin. "You have one bagful and another partly full, and we want them both as soon as you can get them."
Jack was astonished when he heard this, for Mr. Banta had told him to keep the full bag hidden where no one could find it. How, then, did Claus know anything about it? Julian was equally amazed; but, after thinking a moment, he turned on his heel and led the way toward their lean-to. Bob and his companion kept close by the side of the two boys, for they did not want them to find their revolvers before they knew something about it. They had heard from various sources that the boys were fair shots, and they did not want to see them try it on.
"Well, Claus, you slipped up on one thing," said Julian; "you didn't get any of that block of buildings—did you?"
"Come, now, hurry up!" insisted Bob. "Where are those bags?"
"Here's one you have been talking about," answered Jack, pulling the head of his bed to pieces and producing the article in question. "Julian, you know where the other one is."
While Jack was engaged in performing this work the revolvers were kept pointedstraight at him, for fear he might pull out another one and turn it loose upon them before they could draw a trigger. But the boys did not seem to care any more about the revolvers than if they had been sticks of wood that were aimed at them. Claus had a revolver, but he did not seem inclined to use it.
"Are you sure it is gold in here, and not something else?" asked Bob.
"You have got the bag in your hands, and you can look and see for yourself," said Jack.
"Go out in front of the lean-to and sit down on the ground so that I can watch you," said Bob. "Jake, go with that boy and dig up the other one. Is this all you have made since you have been here?"
"Yes, that's all. Now, what are you going to do with us?"
"I'll tell you when Jake comes back. Is there much more of that lead down there?"
"Well, you have charge of the mine, now, and there is no law to hinder you from going down and finding out," retorted Jack. "Claus, where are you going? I don't expect to seethese gentlemen any more, but I should like to keep track of you."
Claus did not see fit to answer this question, and in the meantime Julian and Jake returned with the other bag.
"Oh, it is gold!" exclaimed Jake, as Bob took the bag and bent over it; "it is not iron pyrites."
"Stow that about your clothes, Jake, and then we'll go on," said Bob; "and we want you boys to gather up provisions enough to last you for three or four days. But, in the first place, where are your revolvers?"
"Don't you see them hung up there, in plain sight?" asked Jack, pointing to the articles in question, which were suspended from the rack of the lean-to, in plain sight. "What are you going to do with us?"
"We are going to take you a three days' journey with us, and then turn you loose."
"Why can't you let us go now?" queried Julian. "We have nothing else that is worth stealing."
"No, but you are too close to Dutch Flat,"Jake replied. "We haven't got anything against you, and when we get out there in the mountains—"
"You might as well shoot us on the spot as to lose us among these hills. I pledge you my word that we will not stir a step—"
"That is all very well," interrupted Bob with a shake of his head which told the boys that he had already decided on his plan; "but, you see, it don't go far enough. If you don't go to the miners, the miners will come here to you, so we think you would be safer with us. Gather up your grub and let us get away from here."
The boy saw very plainly that Bob and Jake wanted to make their escape from the miners sure; so Julian collected some bacon and hard-tack, which he wrapped up in a blanket and fixed to sling over his shoulders. There was one thing that encouraged him—"if he did not go to the miners, the miners would come after him"—and proved that they must in some way have had their suspicions aroused against Bob and Jake. Jack also busied himself in the same way, and in avery few minutes the boys were ready to start.
"I must say you are tolerably cool ones, to let ten or fifteen thousand dollars be taken from you in this way," remarked Bob, who was lost in admiration of the indifferent manner in which the boys obeyed all orders. "I have seen some that would have been flurried to death by the loss of so much money."
"If Claus, here, told the truth, they have a whole block of buildings to fall back on," answered Jake. "But maybe that is a lie, too."
"No, he told you the truth there," said Julian. "He tried to cheat us out of those buildings while we were in St. Louis—"
"I never did it in this world!" declared Claus, emphatically.
"Did you not claim to be our uncle?" asked Julian.
"Uncle!" ejaculated Jack. "Great Scott!"
Claus did not attempt to deny this. Bob and Jake were almost within reach of him, and they looked hard at him to see what he would say, and he was afraid to affirm that there was no truth in the statement for fearof something that might happen afterward. He glanced at the boys, who were looking steadily at him, and Jack moved a step or two nearer to him with his hands clenched and a fierce frown on his face, all ready to knock him down if he denied it; so Claus thought it best not to answer the question at all.
"You won't think it hard of me if I hit him a time or two?" asked Jack.
"Come here and behave yourself," said Julian, walking up and taking Jack by the arm. "I think, if the truth was known, he is in a worse fix than we are."
"But he claims to be my uncle!" exclaimed Jack.
The tone in which these words were uttered, and Jack's anger over the claim of relationship, caused Bob and Jake to break out into a roar of laughter.
"We'll take your word for it," said Bob, as soon as he could speak; "but we can't waste any more time here. Follow along after me, and Jake will bring up the rear."
Bob at once set off to the spot where theyhad left their provisions, and, having picked them up, led the way down the almost perpendicular side of the ravine until they reached the bottom. Now and then he would look over his shoulder at Jack, who was following close behind him, and would break into another peal of laughter.
"So you didn't want that fellow to claim relationship with you?" said he. "Well, I don't blame you. He has done nothing but tell us one pack of lies after another ever since we met him. The only thing that had the least speck of truth in it was that we should find you here at the haunted mine."
This remark was made in a low tone, so that it did not reach the ears of Claus, who was following some distance behind. If Claus had not seen already that he was in a "fix," he ought to have seen it now.
"Now, perhaps you wouldn't mind telling us what you are going to do with us," Jack ventured to say, in reply.
"Well, the men there at Dutch Flat are hot on our trail now," asserted Bob.
"How do you know that?"
"Because our mule got away from us when we tried to shove him over the bluff. We wanted to destroy everything we had that we could not carry on our backs, but he got away from us. Banta warned us against coming up here, and we fooled him by making him believe we were going straight down to Denver; but he will be after us now. If he comes, he had better take us unawares; that's all."
"We don't want to see that fight," remarked Jack. "You'll let us go before that comes off?"
"Oh, yes; when we get you so deep in the mountains that you can't find your way back readily, why, then we'll let you go. If you behave yourselves, you won't get hurt."
Bob led the way at a more rapid pace when they reached the bottom of the gorge, jumping from rock to rock, and climbing over fallen trees that lay in their road, and Jack followed his example. He knew that Bob was making the trail more difficult to follow, but it was done in order to keep out of argument with his charge; for Bob often stopped,whenever he came to a place that took some pains to get over, and saw that those who were following him left no tracks behind them.
"There!" said Bob, pulling off his hat and looking back at the way they had come; "I reckon Banta will find some trouble in tracking us up here. I am hungry, and we'll stop here and have something to eat."
After they had satisfied their appetites they took a little time to rest, and then set off again at a more rapid pace than ever. It was almost dark when they stopped to camp for the night. The boys were tired, and they showed it as soon as they had disposed of their bacon and hard-tack by wrapping their blankets about them and lying down to sleep, with their feet to the fire. Their slumber was as sound as though they were surrounded by friends instead of being in the power of those who had robbed them of their hard-earned wealth.
It seemed to them that they had scarcely closed their eyes when they were awakened by the sound of footsteps moving about, andthrew off their blankets in time to see Bob cutting off a slice of bacon. It was as dark as pitch in the woods, and the boys did not see how Bob was to find his way through them.
"It will be light enough by the time we have our breakfast eaten," said he, in response to the inquiry of Julian. "You have a watch with you. What time is it?"
Julian had a watch with him, it is true, but he had been careful how he drew it out in the presence of Bob and Jake. It had no chain attached to it, and the boy was not aware that Bob knew anything about it; but he produced the gold timepiece and announced that it was just five o'clock. This was another thing over which Julian had had an argument with Jack, who believed that, with the money he had at his disposal, he ought to have the best watch that could be procured, and, in spite of Jack's arguments, he had purchased the best American patent lever he could find. Jack's watch was an ordinary silver one, and he said that by it he could tell the time when dinner was ready as well as he could by a good timepiece.
"Do you want this watch?" asked Julian, because he thought the man who would steal his money would not be above stealing his watch also.
"Oh, no," replied Bob, with a laugh; "you can keep that. I wanted your money, and, now that I have it, I am satisfied."
By the time breakfast was cooked and eaten there was light enough to show them the way, and Bob once more took the lead. There was no trail to guide them—nothing but the gully, which twisted and turned in so many ways that Julian almost grew heart-sick when he thought of finding his way back there in company with Jack. More than once he was on the point of asking Bob if he did not think they had gone far enough, but the man had been so friendly and good-natured all the time that he did not want to give him a chance to act in any other way. So he kept with him during that long day's tramp, looking into all the gullies he crossed, and once or twice he slyly reached behind him and pulled down a branch of an evergreen that happened to come in his way.
"That's the way our women used to do in old Revolutionary times when they were captured and wanted to leave some trail for their rescuers to follow," soliloquized Julian; "but Bob doesn't take any notice of it."
"Well, I reckon we'll stop here for the night," remarked Bob, when it got so dark that he could scarcely see. "This is as far as we shall ask you to go with us, Julian. I suppose you are mighty glad to get clear of us."
"Yes, I am," assented Julian, honestly. "If you will give us what you have in your pockets, you can go your way and we will make no attempt to capture you."
"Oh, we couldn't think of that! You have wealth enough to keep you all your lives, and I have struggled for ten years to gain a fortune, and to-day I have just got it."
"What would you do if somebody should catch you along the trail, somewhere? You would come in for a hanging, sure."
"Don't you suppose we know all that? It is a good plan for you to catch your man before you hang him. We have two revolvers apiece, and you know what that means."
"You don't count Claus worth anything, then," remarked Jack.
"Eh? Oh, yes, we do," exclaimed Bob, who wondered what Claus would think of him for leaving him out entirely. "But Claus is not used to this sort of business, you know. He could make a noise, and that is about all he could do."
"We know we should come in for a hanging if those fellows at Dutch Flat should ever get their hands on us, but when they do that we'll be dead. You need not think we are going to stay in this country, where everybody has got so rich, and we be as poor as Job's turkey all the while. We have just as good a right to be rich as they have."
When Jake got to talking this way it was a sure sign that he was rapidly getting toward a point which Bob called "crazy." He was always mad when he spoke of others' wealth and his own poverty; and the boys, who were anxious to get him off from that subject, began their preparations for supper. They were glad to know they had gone far enough with the robbers to insure their escape, and theywere disposed to be talkative; but they noticed that Claus was more downhearted than he had ever been. He lit his pipe, leaned back against a tree, and went off into a brown study.
"I suppose he'll get a portion of the money that was stolen from us," said Jack, in a low tone.
"No, he won't," answered Julian in the same cautious manner. "He has been promised some of that money, but I'll bet you he don't get a cent of it. He is here in these fellows' power, and they'll take what they please out of him."
The boys, although as tired as they were on the previous day, were not by any means inclined to sleep. In fact they did not believe they had been asleep at all until they heard Bob moving around the fire. It was five o'clock by Julian's watch, and his first care was to find out what had become of Claus, who lay muffled up, head and ears, in his blanket; but he would not have stayed there if he knew what was going to happen to him during the day.
"Now perhaps you will be good enough to tell us what route we have to travel in order to get out of here," said Jack.
"Have you a compass with you?" asked Jake.
No, the boys had none; they did not think they would need one when they were surrounded by friends who knew the woods, and consequently they had not brought one with them.
"You know which way is east, don't you? Well, place your backs to the sun, and keep it there all the time. Dutch Flat lies directly west of here."
"That will be good if the sun shines all the time," said Julian. "But if it goes under a cloud—then what?"
"Then you will have to go into camp, and stay until it comes out again," replied Bob. "But at this time of the year you have nothing to fear on that score. Are you going already? Well, good-bye. Why don't you wish us good luck with that money we took from you?"
"Because I don't believe it will bring yougood luck," said Jack. "We worked hard for it, and we ought to have it. I wish you good-bye, but I don't wish you good luck."
"Shake hands with your uncle, why don't you?" asked Bob.
"Not much!" returned Jack. "If that money doesn't bring him some misfortune I shall miss my guess."
Julian and Jack shouldered the blankets which contained the few provisions they had left, plunged into the thicket, and were out of hearing in a few minutes. The robbers sat by the fire without making any effort to continue their journey, and presently Bob turned his eyes upon Claus.
"Now, my friend, it is time for you to go, too," said he.
Claus had been expecting something of this kind. It is true he had a revolver, but by the time he could reach back to his hip pocket and draw it he could be covered by Jake, whose weapon lay close at hand. There was but one thing to be done—he had to surrender. Instead of getting three thousand dollars for his share in the robbery, he would be turned loose in that country, two hundred miles from anybody, without a cent left in his pockets—that is, if Bob searched him.
"Well," said Claus, "I suppose you want all the money I have around me. I should think you might leave me a little."
"How much have you?" asked Bob.
Without saying a word, Claus unbuttoned his vest, worked at something on the inside, and presently hauled out a belt, which hehanded over to Bob. It did not stick out as though there was much money in it, and when Bob began to investigate it, all he drew forth was twenty-five dollars.
"You are a wealthy millionaire, I understood you to say," exclaimed Bob, in great disgust. "This looks like it!"
"I told you, when I had purchased the pack-mule, provisions and tools, that I should not have much left," answered Claus. "That's all I have, and if you take it from me I shall starve."
"Stand up!" commanded Jake, who was as disgusted as Bob was. "You are sure you haven't got any about your clothes? But, first, I'll take possession of that revolver."
The revolver having been disposed of, Jake then turned his attention to feeling in all Claus's pockets, but he found nothing more there—Claus had evidently given them the last cent he had.
"Take your little bills," said Bob, throwing Claus's belt back to him. "If you are careful of them, they will serve you till you get back to Denver."
"And when you get there, you can go to one of those men who own that block of buildings and borrow another thousand or two. Now, get out of here!" put in Jake.
"I thank you for this much," returned Claus. "But I should thank you a good deal more if you would give me my revolver. I may want it before I reach Denver."
"Give it to him, Jake. He hasn't pluck enough to shoot at us or anybody else. Make yourself scarce about here!"
"They think they are awful smart!" thought Claus, when he had placed some bushes between him and the robbers. "Why didn't they think to look in my shoe? I have three hundred dollars that they don't know anything about. Now I guess I'll go back to St. Louis; and if anybody ever says anything to me about an 'old horse,' I'll knock him down."
We are now in a position to take a final leave of Claus, and we do it with perfect readiness. Did he get back to St. Louis in safety? Yes, he got there in due course, but he had some fearful sufferings on the way. In thefirst place, he was nearly a week in finding his way out of the mountains; and by the time he reached a miner's cabin he was so weak from want of food that he fell prone upon the floor, and stayed there until the miner came from his work and found him there. Of course he was taken in and cared for, and when he was able to resume his journey he offered to present the miner with every cent he had,—twenty-five dollars,—to pay him for his kindness; but the miner would not take it.
"You will need every cent of that before you get to Denver," said he. "The food and care I have given you don't amount to anything. Good-bye, and good luck to you."
He was nearly three times as long in finding his way back to Denver. He tried to buy a horse on the way, but no one had any to sell. He now and then found a chance to ride when he was overtaken by a teamster who was going somewhere for a load, but the most of his journey was accomplished on foot. His long tramp never cost him a cent, for everybody pitied his forlorn condition.
"I tell you, if I had been treated this way by those robbers I wouldn't look as bad as I do now," Claus often said to himself; "I would have seen California before I went home."
All this while, Claus was on nettles for fear he would see some of the men from Dutch Flat who were in pursuit of him; but the trouble was, the miners all went the other way. They never dreamed that Claus was going home, but saddled their horses at Mr. Banta's command, and, making no attempt to follow the devious course of the robbers through the mountains, took the "upper trail," and did their best to shut them off from the towns toward which they knew the men were hastening to buy some more provisions. What luck they met with we shall presently see.
No man ever drew a longer breath than Claus did when he came within sight of Denver. He went at once to the hotel where he had left his clothes, but the landlord did not recognize him and ordered him out of the house; but he finally succeeded in makinghimself known; and, now that he was safely out of reach of the miners at Dutch Flat, he had some fearful stories to tell of his experience.
"You know I left my clothes with you on condition that you would keep them for me for a year," said Claus, who thought that was the wisest thing that he ever did. "Well, I want them now. I have the key to my trunk, so everything is all right."
Claus was not long in recovering from the effects of his journey, for he could not help thinking that Mr. Banta, or some other man who belonged to the Flat, would find out that he had gone to Denver and come after him; so he remained there but two days before he took the cars for home.
"Now I am safe," said he, settling down in his seat and pulling his hat over his eyes; "I would like to see them catch me. But what shall I do when I get back to St. Louis? I must settle down into the same old life I have always led, and that will be a big come-down for me."
Claus is there now, spending his time at thepool-rooms, where he makes the most of his living, and ready at any time to talk about the mines and the terrible experience he had there.
And where were Julian and Jack all this while? To begin with, they were in the ravine, making all the haste they could to leave the robbers behind and reach the haunted mine before their provisions gave out. That troubled them worse than anything.
"If our grub stops, where are we going to get more?" asked Jack. "I don't believe there is a house any nearer than Dutch Flat."
"And we can't get there any too soon," returned Julian. "At any rate, we are better off than Claus is. What do you suppose they intend to do with him?"
"I suppose they intend to divide the money with him. What makes you think they would do anything else?"
"From the way they treated him. If we could learn the whole upshot of the matter, you would find that they don't intend to give him a dollar."
"I wish we could see Mr. Banta for about five minutes," said Jack. "I don't like to give up that money. It is the first we ever earned by digging in the ground, and I was going to suggest to you that we keep some of it."
Julian replied by lengthening his steps and going ahead at a faster rate than ever. He, too, did not like to confess that the money was lost,—that is, if they could only get word to Mr. Banta in time. He did not know where the robbers were heading for; but, with two hundred men at his back, Julian was certain he could come up with them before they had left the country entirely.
"But I hope they will not hurt the robbers," said Julian. "If they will just get the dust, that is all I shall ask of them."
About five o'clock in the afternoon, when it began to grow dark in the ravine, Julian, who had been all the time leading the way, stopped and pointed silently before him. Jack looked, and there was the camp they had occupied two nights before.
"We are on the right road, so far," said he."If we don't miss our way to-morrow we are all right."
The boys had not stopped to eat any dinner, and for that reason they were hungry. They spent a long time in cooking and eating their bacon, and Julian said there was just enough for two more meals. He did not like to think of what might happen when it was all gone, and, after replenishing the fire, bade his companion good-night, wrapped his blanket about him, and laid down to rest; but sleep was out of the question. A dozen times he got up to see the time, and there was Jack, snoring away as lustily as he had done at the haunted mine. Julian wished that he, too, could forget his troubles in the same way, but when morning came he had not closed his eyes.
Julian proved to be an invaluable guide, for that night they slept in the first camp they had made after leaving the haunted mine. If he had always known the path, he could not have brought his companion straighter to it.
"Now keep your eyes open for the trail we made when we came down from our mine,and then we are at home. But I say, Julian, I shall not be in favor of staying here. All our money is gone, I don't feel in the humor to work for any more, and we will go down to Dutch Flat."
"And we'll stay there just long enough to find somebody starting out for Denver, and we'll go with him," replied Julian. "I don't want anything more to do with the mines as long as I live."
The night passed away, and the next morning, without waiting to cook breakfast, the two boys started to find the trail that led up the bluff to the haunted mine. They were a long time in finding it—so long, in fact, that Julian began to murmur discouraging words; but finally Jack found it; and now began the hardest piece of work they had undertaken since they left the robbers. The cliff was as steep as it looked to be when they gazed down into its depths from the heights above, and they did not see how they had managed to come down it in the first place.
"Are you sure the mine is up here?" asked Julian, seating himself on a fallen tree torest. "I should not like to go up there and find nothing."
"Didn't you see the trail we made in coming down?" inquired Jack. "Of course we are on the right track; but if you spend all your time in resting, we shall never be nearer the top than we are this minute."
Julian once more set to work to climb the hill, and in half an hour more Jack pushed aside some branches that obstructed his way and found himself in plain view of the mine. Julian was satisfied now, but declared he could not go any farther until he had recovered all the wind he had expended in going up the bluff; but Jack wanted to see that everything in the camp was just as they left it. He walked on toward the lean-to, and the first thing that attracted his attention was that his goods had been disturbed. The skins were gone, some of the blankets were missing, and there were hardly provisions enough to get them a square meal. Julian came up in response to his call, and was obliged to confess that there had been other robbers while they were absent.
"Let us dish up the few provisions left, take those things we want to save, and dig out for the Flat," said Julian. "I am sure there is nothing here to keep us, now."
"And we'll leave the dirt-bucket here for somebody else to use," added Jack. "If he thinks there is a lead down there, let him go and try it. I did not send up enough dust the last time I was down there to pay for the rope."
At the end of an hour the boys resumed their journey, each one loaded with a few things they wanted to save, and in two hours more they arrived within sight of Dutch Flat. Some few of the men had already given up their workings and were sitting in front of the store, smoking their pipes; but one of them speedily caught sight of the boys, and the miners broke out into a cheer. In a few seconds more they were surrounded, shaking hands with all of them, and trying in vain to answer their questions all at once.
"This is no way to do it," declared Julian. "Let us put our things in the cabin and get our breath, and I will tell you the story."
"In the first place," began Jack, as he deposited the things with which his arms were filled and came out and seated himself on the doorsteps of Mr. Banta's cabin, "let me ask a few questions. I won't delay the story five minutes. Where is the man who owns this house?"
"Mr. Banta?" said one of the miners. "He took the upper trail two or three days ago, and rode with all possible speed in the direction of Mendota. He hopes in that way to cut off those villains."
"He will do it, too, for they have no horses," said Julian.
"No horses? What did they do with them?"
"I don't know, I am sure," answered Julian, in surprise. "They were on foot when they came to rob us."
"Why, their mule came up here a few hours after they left, and made the biggest kind of a fuss, and Banta suspected something at once. He called for some men to go with him, and he went as straight as he could to your mine. You were not there, and thatproved that those miners had paid you a visit."
"We are going to get our dust again!" said Julian, slapping Jack on the shoulder. "But I hope they won't hurt the robbers after they catch them."
"Well, that is rather a difficult thing to tell. A man who comes into a mining-camp and watches his chance to steal money instead of working for it, takes his life in his hand."
"Then they must have been the ones who disturbed our things," said Jack.
"Probably they were. They brought the skins of the ghosts back, and also some of your provisions. They are there in his cabin now. Now let us have that story."
When Julian had fairly settled down to tell his story, which he did by crossing his right leg over his left leg and clasping his hands around his knee, he discovered that there was not so much to be told as he had thought for. His adventure with the robbers was nothing more than might have happened to any one of the miners who were standing around him; the only question in his mind was, would the other miner have fared as well as he did?
"They came to our mine and stole our dust; but I don't see how they found out about the full bag. Mr. Banta told us to be careful about that."
"Why, Mr. Banta told it himself!" remarked one of the miners. "He said you had a bagful hidden away."
"You see, he had to do it, or the men herewould have become suspicions and gone up to your mine in a body," explained another. "Go on—what next?"
"They took the full bag, as well as the half-empty one, and told us we would have to go with them on a three days' journey into the mountains, so as to keep you fellows here in ignorance of the robbery as long as possible but they took us only a two days' journey, and then told us we had gone far enough. That's all there was of it."
"Is that all you have to tell?" asked one.
"Well, no. They went away from here on horseback, you said. Now, what did they do with their animals? They were on foot when they came to see us, and they never said 'horses' once during the two days we were with them."
"Probably they rode their horses as far as they could, and then killed them."
"No doubt they pushed them over a bluff," said a man who had not spoken before.
"We did not see any horses; of that much we are certain. The only thing I can't see into is, what they did with Claus after we wentaway. Of course they agreed to give him a portion of the money they got off us."
"Maybe so, but I don't think they did it. Go on—how did they treat you?"
"As well as they knew how," answered Julian, emphatically. "That is the reason why I hope Mr. Banta will be kind to them if he catches them."
"Well, you'll see how he'll treat them," retorted a miner. "You'll never see those three men again."
Julian became uneasy every time the men spoke of the way the miners would use their prisoners if they found them, but he knew it would be of no use to say a word. If anything was done to them, he was in hopes the miners would get through with it before they came to camp. He was not used to any Western way of dealing with criminals, and he thought he was getting too old to become used to it now.
This was the way Julian told his story, in answer to numerous questions of the miners, who finally heard all they wanted to know. In regard to what had happened to Claus,none of the miners had any idea. He did not get any of the dust that was stolen from the boys, and he would be lucky if he got away with a dollar in his pocket.
"Do you know, I have been on the watch for them fellows to get into a squabble of some kind before we saw the last of them?" remarked a miner. "That Bob was a regular thief—one could tell that by looking at him. The short, pursy fellow—you called him Claus, didn't you?—looked like a gentleman; but his face did not bear out his good clothes."
The miners then slowly dispersed, one after the other,—some to their work, and some to lounge in front of the grocery, smoking their pipes,—and the boys were left to themselves. Their first care was to get something to eat, for they had not had a sufficient quantity of food, the bacon and hard-tack they first put into their blankets having disappeared until there was none left. Provisions were handy in Mr. Banta's cabin, and when they had got fairly to work on it they heard a sound from the miners whom they had left outside.
"Here they come!" shouted a voice. "Now we'll see what will be done with those prisoners!"
The boys looked at each other in blank amazement. They had caught the robbers, so their dust was safe; but what were they going to do with the culprits, now that they had captured them?
"I declare," said another miner, at length, "they haven't brought any prisoners with them! And there's Tony, with his arm tied up in a sling!"
The boys had by this time reached the door, and saw Mr. Banta, accompanied by a dozen miners, ride into the camp. The boys looked closely at them, but could not see anybody that looked like Bob and Jake; but Tony did not seem to have left all the fight there was in him up in the mountains, for he raised his rifle and flourished it over his head.
"Halloo! Mr. Banta," shouted Julian. "You meant to catch them, did you? But I guess you came out at the little end of the horn."
"Well, there!" exclaimed Mr. Banta, stopping his horse and addressing himself to his men; "didn't I tell you those boys would come back all right? Put it there, kids!"
Julian and Jack shook hands with all the returning miners before they saw an opportunity to propound any other questions; and then, when they did ask them, they did not get any satisfactory answers.
"Did you get our dust?" asked Jack.
"Yes, sir! And the men—ah!" said Mr. Banta, who stopped and looked around at the miners as if he hardly knew what to say next.
"Well, what about the men?" inquired Julian. "You saw them, of course."
"Oh, yes, we saw the men; and when we asked them where the dust was that they stole down here at the haunted mine, they took it out of their clothes and gave it to us. Ain't that so, boys?"
The men around him nodded their heads emphatically, as if to say their leader had told nothing but the truth, but there was something in their faces that told a differentstory. The boys concluded they would ask no more questions while Mr. Banta was around, but when he went away they were sure they would get at the truth of the matter.
"And, Julian, there's your money," continued Mr. Banta, who had been trying to take something out of his coat-pocket. "There is the full bag, and there is the other. The next time I leave you with such an amount of money to take care of, I'll give you my head for a football."
"Why, Mr. Banta,youtold them all about this!" asserted Jack, laughingly.
"No, I never!" shouted Mr. Banta.
"Didn't you tell the men what we had done and all about the dust we had?" asked Julian. "Youdidtell them, and the robbers were sitting by the camp-fire, and heard it all."
"Eh? Oh, well—I did say—I could not well help it—let us go into the cabin and see what you have to eat."
Mr. Banta lost no time in getting into the cabin, for the boys had asked a question he could not answer, and when they followed him in he was engaged in filling his pipe.
"We rode to the haunted mine and found you were not there, so we came back and took the upper trail on the way to Mendota," said the miner, talking rapidly, as if he hoped to shut off any questions the boys might have ready to ask him. "We had a good time. We found the men there and asked them for the money, and they gave it over as peaceable and quiet as could be. Now, don't let us hear any more about it. You know the whole of the story. Is this all you have to ease a man's appetite? Why, I could eat it all myself!"
"That's a funny story," whispered Jack, as he and Julian went to the spring after a bucket of water.
"Well, keep still," said Julian. "He told us not to say anything more about it, and that's just the same as an order. We'll get the straight of the matter yet."
"Who will you go to?"
"We'll go to Tony for it. He was the man who was shot in the fracas, and he will tell us all about it."
It was two days before Julian had an opportunity to speak to Tony in private. Tony'sright arm was injured so badly that he could not use a shovel, and the boys volunteered to go down in his mine and help him—a voluntary act on their part which gained them the good-will of all the miners. One day, when Tony was sitting by his mine smoking his pipe and Julian was waiting for Jack to fill up their bucket, the latter thought the chance had come, for Tony was unusually talkative that morning.
"Now, there is no need that you should keep this thing away from us any longer," said Julian, suddenly. "Who shot those two men?"
Tony was taken off his guard and looked all around as if he was waiting for some one to suggest an answer. Finally he took off his hat and dug his fingers into his hair.
"Who said anything about shooting a man?" he asked.
"No one has said anything about it this morning, but I just want to know if everything I suspect is true," answered Julian, with his eyes fastened on Tony's face.
"Some one who was there can't keep hismouth shut," remarked Tony, in great disgust. "Mr. Banta said he didn't want you to know anything about it, and here that man has gone and blowed the whole thing! But you'll remember that I didn't say a word about it—won't you?"
"No one shall ever know what you tell me," asserted Julian. "Did you shoot them?"
"Well, I couldn't help it—could I? We came up with them just before we got to Mendota. We rode right plump onto them before we knew it, and without saying a word they began to shoot. If they had had rifles, some of us would have gone under; but they had nothing but revolvers, and the first thing I knew something went slap through my arm, and I began to shoot, too. I got in two shots while you would be thinking about it, and then Mr. Banta looked through their clothes and got the dust. We went down to Mendota and reported the matter to the sheriff, and he sent up and buried them."
"It is a wonder to me that they didn't arrest you," said Julian.
"Who—me? What did I do? The men were shooting at us, and I was defending myself. It would have taken more men than they had there to arrest me, for any man would have done the same. Anyhow, we got your money back. Say! Don't lisp a word of this to Mr. Banta. He would go for me hot and heavy."