A sharp turn in it and he saw a natural hollow, with steep walls of rock
on either side, right before him.

It looked very much like the pass, but he knew it could not be, for they
would not take him out there again.

Another thing, the end of the opening, or hole, as it might be called,
was but fifty yards away.

Some parts of this wall was very steep, and others looked as though it
could be climbed.

On one side, not far from the passage he was taken from, was a stout
post that was planted firmly in the ground.

To this Wild was taken, and being placed in an upright position, with
his back to it, he was firmly tied to the post.

"There!" exclaimed Chuck Snivel, fiendishly. "I reckon you'll stay there
just as long as we want yer to, Young Wild West."

"All right," was the calm rejoinder. "I hope you won't want me to stay
here very long. I don't like this kind of business."

Some of the outlaws laughed, while others glared at him savagely.

His style did not exactly suit them. He was too cool by far.

Then, again, two of their number had fallen during the struggle to
capture the brave boy and his sweetheart, and that made them feel all
the more ugly toward him.

"You was goin' through ther pass an' yer wasn't goin' ter pay no toll,
Young Wild West!" exclaimed Snivel, after a short pause. "I reckon yer
found out your mistake all right. We seen yer when yer went through, an'
we jest got ready fur yer when yer come back. Yer couldn't have stopped
in a better place, fur ye was right in front of our cave. Yer jest
walked right inter ther trap we had set fur yer."

"That's all right," Wild answered, coolly. "You have won the first trick
in the game, that isn't going to count for much. I've been in just such
fixes as this, and I have always got out of them. You couldn't scare me
if you tried for a week!"

"You talk it nice; but yer will change your tune afore you're many hours
older. Thought it was fine fun ter make me dance last night, didn't yer?
Oh, but I'm gittin' square, all right."

"You'll wish you had never met me before I am done with you."

"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the villain. "Hear him talk, boys! He acts jest as
though he ain't no prisoner. He's got nerve enough fur ten, I reckon."

"I reckon it's his bluff that's always carried him through," remarked
one of the outlaws, as he looked at the helpless boy and nodded. "But
there's always a time, yer know. Young Wild West has gone ther length of
his ro