CHAPTER IV.OUR FRIENDS GO TO THE MOUTH OF THE PASS AND READ THE SIGN.
When Wild and his partners entered the barroom of the shanty saloon they saw that quite a crowd had gathered there.
Nearly all the miners working the claims that had been staked out in the camp made the saloon their headquarters evenings.
There were but two or three of the thirty miners who did not drink and gamble, and they usually spent their idle time with the storekeeper, smoking and talking until it was time to retire for the night.
Our hero cast a swift glance around the room and saw Hop standing almost in the centre of the room, the miners gathered around him, and their faces wearing grins.
The clever Chinaman had come in by the back way while our three friends were watching the cowboys as they rode into Forbidden Pass.
The first thing he did was to try and make himself solid with the miners.
Though Nevada had plenty of Chinese at the time of which we write, it so happened that there were none in Big Bonanza until Young Wild West arrived with his two servants.
The men all knew what Chinamen were pretty well, and there was a sort of feeling against them that they were something not to be exactly classed with human beings, so to speak.
Hop knew this as well as any of them, and hence his desire to make himself in good standing with them.
The first thing he did on entering, then, was to pull a chunky piece of bamboo from under his coat and hold it up.
It was not more than eight inches in length and looked to be a very common-looking thing.
But while the miners were wondering what the "heathen Chinee" was up to, Hop suddenly gave the piece of bamboo a twist, and the next minute a small, bright-colored parasol was in his hand.
This was raised in a jiffy, and then he went parading around the room with it over his head.
Only a minute did this continue, however, and then the parasol vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
The Chinaman roiled the piece of bamboo in his hands and that, too, disappeared.
Then he stood still in the middle of the room and bowed right and left.
"Me allee samee velly smartee Chinee, so be," he observed, blandly. "Me likee Melican mans velly muchee."
The next thing he did was to toss a silver coin to the ceiling and as it came down he caught it in his mouth and went through the motions of swallowing it.
"Me allee samee eatee money, so be," he went on to say, smiling and bowing again.
It was just then that our hero and his partners came into the room.
"Hello, Wild!" called out Sedgwick, who was one of those present. "Your funny Chinaman has been doing some stunts fur us."
"Oh, he is liable to do almost anything," was the reply. "What is the matter, Hop? Who told you that you could come over here?"
"Allee samee nothing the mattee, Misler Wild," answered Hop, shaking his head and looking serious. "Nobody say me comee over here; me comee allee samee, so be."
There was a laugh at this, and then Hop had succeeded in doing what he had tried for. He had got the good will of the miners.
Having satisfied himself on this point, he stepped up to the bar, and, nodding pleasantly to Hoker, the boss, he observed:
"Me likee chuckee dicee for um dlinks, so be."
"You would, eh? Well, I never yet chucked dice with a Chinee; but blamed if I don't do it jest this once. What's it goin' ter be, fur all hands?"
"Lat light; allee samee all hands gittee lillee dlink. If me lose me pay; if you lose you allee samee givee um dlinks."
"Good!"
The saloon keeper brought out the dice, and, shaking them in the leather box, rolled them out.
"There yer are!" he said, exultantly. "There's fourteen fur yer ter beat. If yer do it you're a mighty good one."
"Allee light," was the reply; "me velly muchee lucky Chinee, so be."
Then Hop picked up the little cubes and appeared to be examining them closely.
But he was doing something else, too.
He had three dice of his own, and when he rattled the box preparatory to making his throw they were the ones in it.
Hop's dice were not straight dice.
They had only fives and sixes stamped on them, so no matter how they were rolled less than fifteen could not come up.
Though the dice were not exactly the size of those furnished by Hoker, it would be hard to tell the difference, unless one made a close examination of them.
Hop rolled out the dice and two sixes and a five showed up.
"Lat velly goodee thlow, so be," he observed, and then he picked up the dice and dropped the regular ones in the box.
"I reckon it is," answered the saloon keeper. "Come on, boys. It's on me. I lost, but I made him throw big to beat me."
Young Wild West and his partners knew that Hop had all sorts of trick dice, and they could easily guess that he had played a trick on the man in order to beat him.
But since there was no money involved, our hero would not say anything.
He did not like Hop to fleece any one honest, though, and as the clever Celestial was always bent on cheating some one, it often became necessary to make him give back his winnings.
Our hero thought he had better let the boss of the place and his patrons know that the Chinaman was a sharp and trick gambler, so just as Hoker proposed that they throw again, and for five dollars on the side, he spoke out:
"Gentlemen, I advise you not to gamble with Hop Wah. He is a very smart one at the business, and he will relieve you of all the money you have, if you play with him. Being a sleight-of-hand performer, he can do things that you could not see. Just go it light on that point. I don't want to have him get into trouble, and that is what he generally does when he wins a whole lot of money. There is always some one to accuse him of cheating, whether they catch him or not, and then there is trouble. Now don't play cards or throw dice with him for money, if you don't feel like losing your money."
"All right, Young Wild West; I'll take your advice," said the boss of the saloon. "I reckon that you know what you're talkin' about."
Hop put on an injured air and went and sat down at a table.
It was now getting dark and the lamps were lighted in the saloon.
Wild called Sedgwick to him and they got to talking about the cowboys who had left a short time before.
The miner related what he had heard them say about Forbidden Pass, and the young deadshot nodded in a pleased way.
"I reckon that means something," he said. "Business has been pretty bad, I suppose, and the outlaws are anxious to have travel through the pass resumed. Well, I reckon I'll take a walk over and see how it looks at this end of the pass, anyhow. Come on, boys!"
Charlie and Jim promptly responded to the call, and Sedgwick hastened to declare that he would go with them, if there were no objections.
"Certainly not," our hero assured him. "Come on!"
The four left the saloon and walked over to the pass.
Though it was now quite dark, they had no trouble in seeing the sign that was posted at the entrance.
It consisted of a barrel-head nailed together, and the words upon it were as follows:
"FORBIDDEN PASS!""Travelers must pay toll, or go some other way.""Private Road!"
Jim Dart struck a match so the inscription could be read, and when they had made it out our three friends looked at each other and nodded, while the miner waited to hear what would be said.
"I reckon that's what I call putty good," said the scout, a smile creeping over his bronzed face. "'Private Road,' eh? Well, I wonder who is ther owner of it!"
"We'll find out all about it, Charlie," said Wild, assuringly. "Just wait till to-morrow morning. We'll take a ride through the pass, and don't you forget it!"
"Well, it might be that yer won't be bothered now, fur it's jest likely that ther outlaws has quit ther pass an' gone somewhere else," Sedgwick remarked. "If them cowboys is all right, an' they kin go through without bein' bothered, it are most likely that you fellers kin."
"But I don't believe they are all right," our hero answered. "I think that they belong to the outlaw gang, and that they came over here and talked that way just on purpose to get the people here to use the pass, instead of going by the roundabout way to Silver Bend."
"It looks that way, I'll admit, Wild."
"Well, no matter how it is, we'll go through the pass to-morrow, I reckon. And we'll come back, too, if it takes a whole day to do it."
It was just then that the sounds made by a approaching horse came to their ears.
"Somebody is coming through now," said the scout, as he listened.
"Get behind the rocks here," Wild whispered. "We will watch him as he goes past, and see what he does, if anything."
A few seconds later a horseman came in view.
Our friends could distinguish the outlines of both horse and rider, and when they saw the man halt right at the end of the pass they were not a little interested.
The rider turned and looked at the sign, and, nodding when he found that the sign was there all right, he started on for the little collection of shanties.
"That's Cap Roche, ther storekeeper over in Silver Bend," Sedgwick whispered, as he went on.
"Is that so?" Wild queried. "Well, I reckon we'll go back to the saloon and find out what kind of a fellow Cap Roche is."