known.
Their lips were pressed hard together--those soft Spanish lips that
were usually half apart--their eyes glowed with a steady fire. Their
chests rose and fell in short regular spasms.

Suddenly a thrill ran through Roldan. He had felt it before when a
rattlesnake, ready to strike, had fixed its green malignant eyes upon
him. He flashed the lantern about swiftly, twisting his neck with deep
anxiety. It would be no minor adventure to encounter a coiled rattler
in this narrow place. Then he saw something white shining out of the
darkness high above the rays, a large white disk, in which glittered
two points of light inexpressibly infuriate.

Roldan sprang to his feet with a warning cry. The other boys, greed
routed by the danger sense, were on their feet as quickly. As the three
lads, none very tall for his age, faced the gigantic bulk of the
priest, they looked cornered and helpless.

The priest, unconsciously beyond doubt, lifted his huge hands, opening
and shutting them slowly. The movement had an ugly significance, and
the hands, in the miserable glimmer of light, looked like great bats,
and seemed to pervade the cavern. Involuntarily the boys squirmed. Then
Roldan, mindful always of his proud position as captain of his small
band, stepped in front of that band and spoke with a vocal control that
did him much credit, considering that his heart seemed to be kicking in
the middle of his stomach.

"These hills are just beyond the Mission grant, Padre Osuna," he said.
"Nor are they on any rancho. Therefore what is in them is as much ours
as any man's. This is the first time that we have been here, but it
will not be the last; and when I am the governor of all the
Californias, I shall send many Indians to dig the very heart out of
these hills. So pick out all that you can now, Padre Osuna, for ten
years hence--"

As he spoke fear gave place to exultation in finding himself pitted
against a man whom he intuitively respected more than any he had ever
met, and whom he knew most men feared and none understood. Moreover, he
heard two sets of teeth clattering behind him, and that alone would
have sent the blood of a born leader of men back to its skin.

But his speech did not proceed to the finish. The priest swooped down
and caught the three necks between his hands, easily spanning them,
pressing the heads hard together. Then he lifted the boys high in the
air and held them there, a kicking, humiliated trio. The bl