can's unsupported word that Mascola had stood by
while his father and Bill Lang were murdered by his men. That was not
enough. Mascola might be convicted of smuggling but he would go clear on
the charge of murder.

Gregory shook his head slowly in the darkness. No, Mascola would not go
clear. He would choke a confession from the Italian with his own hands.
Somewhere below him in the fog, a girl waited for him to bring back her
father's murderer. The girl he loved, had always loved, but had never
known it before to-night. If he failed, he could never face Dickie Lang
again. But he would not fail.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of sharp scuffling ahead.
Rushing down the trail he came upon the deputies struggling with two men
in the bottom of a small ravine. As he assisted the revenue men in
securing their captives, he heard Smith whisper: "Down the gulch, men.
Take it easy. It's steep. Stay with these fellows, Joe."

The air which sucked through the ravine grew colder as they descended.
Then the dank atmosphere became strongly permeated with the odor of
fish. Gregory felt a hand upon his arm.

"Go last," Smith ordered. "Watch the others. Do what they do. No more."

Foot by foot, the men wormed their way over the dry sticks which choked
the entrance to the cave. Then Smith ordered a halt.

Leaving a half dozen men at the entrance he instructed them: "Watch this
outlet. When you hear a shot inside, light the signal flares and throw
them inside. Then you can see anybody that tries to get by you. They're
going to do the same thing at the main entrance." Beckoning Gregory and
the two remaining deputies to his side, he said: "We'll go on into the
cave. Keep close behind me. When I give the signal by calling on them to
give themselves up, each one of you pick a man and hang to him. They
haven't a chance of getting out with both entrances lit up and guarded.
Come on."

The carpet of dried sea-grass thrown up by the high tides, deadened
their footsteps as they crawled into the cave. For an instant they crept
on through the darkness. Then a twist in the pathway brought a faint
gleam of light ahead. Smith flattened to the kelp and wriggled nearer
with the two men behind him following close. Gregory was the last to
reach the surface of a table-like ledge of rock which ribbed their path
and projected outward over the cavern. Crawling abreast of the deputies,
he raised slowly to his elbow and looked down.

The flo