omer.

Roy got out. He was determined to see the adventure through now. If
Mortlake was plotting against him, he wanted to know it.

As he reached the ground, the newcomer extended his hand, as if offering
to shake Roy's palm.

Roy put out his hand, which was instantly grasped by the other.

"Your friend tells me that you have something interesting to tell me----"
began Roy. "I--here, what are you trying to do? Stop it!"

The other had seized his hand in a clutch of steel, and, before the
astonished boy could offer any resistance, had wrenched it over in such a
manner that, without exactly knowing what had occurred, Roy found himself
sprawling on his back.

The lad was helpless in this lonely place with two men who had now shown
themselves in their true and sinister character.

CHAPTER XIII.

PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT.

The spot was fearfully lonely. Roy realized this to the full. Brave as the
lad was, he felt suddenly chilled and creepy. Besides, the utter mystery
that enveloped the affair was gruelling to the mind.

"Now be still," pleaded the late guide, as Roy, full of fight, jumped to
his feet and flung off the detaining hold which had been laid on him.

"Yep. We don't want to hurt you," chimed in another voice, the voice of
the powerful, stockily-built man who had thrown him, "be reasonable and
quiet now, and you'll come to no harm. If not----" he drew a pistol and
presented it at the boy's head.

The hint was rough but effectual. Roy saw that it would be mere folly to
attempt resistance.

"What's the meaning of this rough behavior?" he asked in a steady voice,
mentally resigning himself to the inevitable.

"You just come with us for a little while," said the gruff-voiced one.
"Don't worry; we ain't goin' ter harm you. You'll git loose agin after a
while. Don't worry about that."

This assurance, though mysterious, was more or less comforting. But Roy
resented the utter mystery of the affair.

"But what's it all for?" he protested. "Is Mortlake at the back of it;
or--"

"Now, you come along, young feller," said a gruff voice, "don't axe no
questions and you won't git told no lies, see?"

Roy saw.

"Well, go ahead, since I'm in your power," he said. "But I warn you it
will go hard with you if ever I am able to set justice on your track."

"Hard words break no bones, guv'ner," came from the gruff-voiced man, who
was none other than Joey Eccles, disguised with a big beard. The man who
had