ws, so be. Ley allee samee goatee Young Wild West in um
cave, and Missy Anna and Missy Eloise, too, so be."

The keeper of the saloon was astounded when he heard this.

He questioned the Chinaman and soon came to the conclusion that he was
telling the truth.

Then he hastily left the saloon and went out and told the miners as fast
as he could get to the places they were working at.

Shortly afterward the first of the miners to be notified by Hoker came
running into the saloon.

Hop had to answer a lot of questions, but he managed to make it plain to
the miners what was wanted of them, so in a few minutes they were
marching for the pass.

The Chinaman rode on ahead and soon came to the spot where he had left
Charlie, Jim and Arietta.

But they were not there now, and, thinking that they had ascended the
cliff again, he decided to go on in the cave.

He went around to the curtain and found the scout lying close to the
cliff near it.

Charlie motioned for him to go on in, and, without looking at him any
further, Hop lifted the curtain and obeyed.

CHAPTER XIV.

HOW ARIETTA PAID THE TOLL.

Arietta and Jim had gone to the top of the cliff again, hoping to catch
sight of Wild once more, while Charlie remained near the mouth of the
cave.

The scout made up his mind to get inside when Hop came back, and he had
managed to creep up close to the concealed opening.

As the Chinaman passed inside he waited for half a minute, and then he
took the risk of raising the curtain a trifle.

The coast was clear, so he crawled through.

Once on the inside, he moved over to a rocky wall and then listened.

He could hear the Chinaman talking in his bland way to the villains.

There had been a man watching for Hop's return, but in some way he had
neglected to be looking at the time Charlie crept up, and it was not
until he had escorted the Chinaman to the leader that he went to the
curtain to stand guard again.

But he did not see the crouching form of the scout, and once he had
passed him Charlie began moving toward the rear of the cave.

He soon got to within a few feet of the villains in the cave, and when
he peered from behind a rock and saw his wife and Eloise sitting at the
table near Wild; he felt a little easier.

Hop was standing before the leader of the band, and all eyes were turned
on him.

He had been talking in a random sort of way, not seeing fit to make a
report just yet.

"Stop that!" exclaimed