per he had."

"Well, you got it, didn't you?" asked the boy.

"Yes, I got it!"

"And much good it did you, too!" said George angrily.

"Look here!" Cameron almost shouted, "can either one of you boys read
that code despatch?"

George shook his head.

"Is there any one at the cabin who can read it?"

"I have never known of any member of the party reading the cipher,"
replied George. "I never have seen a code despatch before."

"You are lying to me!" shouted Cameron. "The boy to whom the despatch
was addressed can certainly read it! Which one of you bears the name of
Will Smith? Don't lie to me now!"

"Will Smith is at the cabin!" replied Sandy.

"Just my luck!" shouted Cameron.

"What do you want to know about the code despatch?" asked Sandy.

"I want to know what it contains. And what is more, I'm going to know,
too! I want one of you boys to write a note to this Will Smith and get
him to come here to this cave."

"Not for mine!" exclaimed Sandy.

George made no verbal reply, but the expression of his face showed that
he had no intention of doing anything of the kind.

"It will be the worse for you if you don't!" shouted Cameron.

"Oh, you've got the top hand for a few minutes now," Sandy said,
tauntingly, "but you'll soon find out that you're not the only man in
the world that's got a gun!"

This last as Cameron flourished an automatic in his hand.

"You'll write the note, or you'll starve to death!" replied Fenton.

"Then we'll starve!" answered George.

"No, we won't starve!" declared Sandy. "We'll get the best of you
outlaws in some shape, and give you a beating up that will put you in
the hospital for six months!"

Fenton raised his fist as if to strike the speaker, but Cameron caught
his arm.

"Not now," he said. "Wait until all other plans have been tried."

"We have other work to do at this time, anyway," Fenton said, with a
scowl, "so we'll just lock the door on these young gutter-snipes and
leave them to think the matter over!"

The men passed out of the small cavern, but before they left the outer
one, they rolled a great stone into the opening they had just passed
through and blocked it firmly on the outer side.

CHAPTER XVII

THE MORSE CODE

"And this," said Sandy, as the great stone began to render the
atmosphere of the place close and unpleasant, "is what I call a fine
little Boy Scout excursion! Did they leave one of the searchlights?"

"Not intentionally," re