CHAPTER XV.CONCLUSION.
Cheyenne Charlie was just thinking of making his way out of the cave when a shout rang out from the opening they had taken Wild through.
Out went the men in a hurry, and, hearing Arietta's voice shouting a warning to them, the scout drew his revolvers, and with one in either hand bounded out after the outlaws.
One of the first things he saw was the form of Cap Roche hanging from the ledge.
The rope had looped him about the body and pinioned his arms at the same time.
But the villain was making a desperate struggle and the rope showed signs of slipping.
However, not one of the men dared to shoot at the girl or Jim.
Cheyenne Charlie stepped up and walked around behind Wild without being noticed by the excited and surprised outlaws.
A quick slash with his knife and the ropes were severed.
Then he slipped a revolver in the boy's hand.
Wild coolly stepped from the post.
"Up with your hands, you sneaking coyotes!" he cried in a ringing voice. "I reckon ther jig is up now. Arietta has paid ther toll!"
Then Wild calmly reached out and took another revolver from the belt of the nearest man to him.
Two of the villains held up their hands, but the rest made a bolt for the cave.
Crack!
Cheyenne Charlie got at work, as usual, and the foremost one dropped.
"I reckon you galoots will have ter have a bigger grave dug when we git through with yer," he called out. "That one you've got here ain't half big enough!"
Just then Cap Roche slipped the rope, and down he came in a heap.
Before he could get upon his feet our hero stood over him.
"Surrender!" he cried. "It is the easiest way out of it. If you fight it out there won't be one man left of you, Roche!"
"I'll never surrender!" was the defiant shout. "Go ahead and shoot me, if you want to. I am going to die fighting."
He rolled over and got upon his feet, regardless of the fact that the finger of the young deadshot was upon the trigger of the revolver that was aimed at him.
Roche had lost his revolvers when he tumbled down, but he still hold his knife.
Jerking it from the sheath, he prepared to make a rush at the boy, who stood covering him with a revolver.
Just then several shots rang out from inside the cave, following by yells of triumph.
Arietta now slid down by means of the lariat Jim had hold of.
Then Jim dropped the distance himself.
Out of the cave came the miners, dragging the prisoners they had taken with them.
Roche turned deathly pale when he saw that it was all up with him.
"Young Wild West," he hissed, "I want to kill you before I die myself! I will never be taken alive, so if you have got the nerve to fight me, come on!"
Wild dropped his revolvers into the holsters and took Jim's knife.
"I'm after you, Cap!" he exclaimed, a smile playing about his mouth. "If you want to kill me, come on!"
Clash!
The knives came together in the air, and then the fight was on.
Young Wild West kept slapping him on the face with the flat of his knife blade, and this was galling to the outlaw.
"What are you, a young fiend?" he cried, savagely, as he received a scratch on the neck, which he knew could have been his finish if the boy had so willed it.
"No," answered Wild; "I am simply a boy who has practiced this sort of business a great deal. Look, out for yourself, Cap! I am going to make you drop that knife!"
The words were hardly out of his mouth when the back of Wild's blade struck the villain's wrist.
Uttering a cry of pain, Roche dropped his weapon.
Then he staggered back and picked up a stone.
Crack!
One of the miners fired and the man reeled, and, letting go the stone, dropped to the ground, dead.
Our hero now went into the cave, for the twelve men who had survived were all tied hard and fast.
It was only natural that he should want to look around the cave, and one of the first things he came across was the paint that had been used to make the signs, or some just like it.
A brush was found, and he painted the following across the entire breadth of the curtain:
"Closed for Repairs—No More Toll Collected in the Pass!"
"I reckon that looks all right, don't it, boys?" he called out to the miners.
"You bet!" cried John Sedgwick. "Boys, give three cheers fur Young Wild West!"
The cheering echoed through the pass.
It was now near noon, but Wild was bent on doing the work he had in view, so he started in.
He sent the miners on with the prisoners, and then he painted a couple of signs to take the places of those at either end of the pass.
The signs when finished bore the words:
"Short Cut Pass—No danger!"(Signed) "Young Wild West."
"There! I reckon as soon as we have put these up we will call the job complete," he said.
Not until they were up did our friends return to their camp.
There was a big time in Big Bonanza, as might be supposed.
A messenger had been sent over to Silver Bend to spread the news of the capture of the outlaw band, and, with the prisoners locked in a shanty, the miners danced around it in delight.
It was the middle of the afternoon when a crowd came over from Silver Bend, and then the prisoners were turned over to the Vigilantes who were with them.
Everybody was surprised when they heard that Cap Roche was dead, and that he had been the leader of the outlaws.
The next day Young Wild West and his friends left Big Bonanza.
They rode through the pass that had been forbidden to travelers unless they paid toll, and stopped at Silver Bend, for a day and night.
They received a big ovation there, and the next morning they set out for Arizona, where our hero had some business to attend to.
They all were willing to allow that it was one of the liveliest mornings they had ever put in when they went to Forbidden Pass, however.
But Arietta had paid the toll, so that was sufficient.
THE END.
Read "YOUNG WILD WEST AND THE INDIAN TRAITOR; or, THE CHARGE OF THE 'RED' BRIGADE" which will be the next number (290) of "Wild West Weekly."
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