rderers in case he
was dead. It seemed impossible that in so small a place, with everybody
discussing the mysterious disappearance, the affair could long remain a
secret. Davis did not doubt that Miss Underwood was correct in her
assumption that the assailants of Gordon had carried him with them into
some hidden pocket of the hills, in which case it might take longer to
run them to earth. The great danger that he feared was panic on the part
of the abductors. To cover their tracks they might kill him and leave
this part of the country. The closer pursuit pressed on them the more
likely this was to happen. It behooved him to move with the greatest
care.

CHAPTER XVI

VALENCIA MAKES A PROMISE

When Manuel descended from the El Tovar hack which had brought him from
the station to that hotel the first person he saw standing upon the
porch was Valencia Valdes. He could hardly believe his eyes, for of
course she could not be here. He had left her at Corbett's, had taken
the stage and the train, and now found her waiting for him. The thing
was manifestly impossible. Yet here she was.

Swiftly she came down the steps to meet him.

"Manuel, we are too late. Mr. Gordon has gone."

"Gone where?" he asked, his mind dazed as it moved from one puzzle to
another.

"We don't know. He was attacked night before last and carried away,
whether dead or alive we have no proof."

"One thing at a time, Valencia. How did you get here?"

"I drove across the mountains--started when I got the news from Mr.
Davis that his friend had disappeared."

"Do you mean that you drove all night--along mountain roads?" he asked,
amazed.

"Of course. I had to get here." She dismissed this as a trifle with a
little gesture of her hand. "Manuel, we must find him. I believe he is
alive. This is some of Pablo's work. Down in old-town some one must know
where he is. Bring him to me and I'll make him tell what he has done
with Mr. Gordon."

Pesquiera was healthily hungry. He would have liked to sit down to a
good breakfast, but he saw that his cousin was laboring under a heavy
nervous tension. Cheerfully he gave up his breakfast for the present.

But when, three hours later, he returned from the old adobe Mexican
quarter Manuel had nothing to report but failure. Pablo had been seen by
several people, but not within the past twenty-four hours. Nor had
anything been seen of Sebastian. The two men had disappeared from sight
as completely as ha