orse some hardtack,
and brought him several hatfuls of water from the spring,--scorching his
soles as he crossed the charred ground.

Pedro propped his tired body in a sitting posture with one ear cocked for
the conversation within. Ted flung himself flat on his back in the smoky
gloom, which obscured even the light of the moon. He was mentally
exploring that cave,--remembering what Norris had once told them of the
region and wondering into what limed recesses the Mexicans were likely to
retire when capture threatened. That the cave had its depths he felt
assured by their having so suddenly appeared with their torches. And what
could Pedro do if they tried to leave before help came?--My, but he must
ride! Three such incendiaries loose in those dry forests, and there would
be no end to the harm they could do!

The limestone of which these caves were formed,--sediment of the shells
of myriads of sea creatures,--had been deposited in the primeval ocean
that once flowed over that whole region from the Gulf of California.
Uplifted by contractions of the earth crust, it had been cut as the
surrounding granite could not have been by the percolating rains and
streams, flowing along the cracks of the uplift.

This cave was probably a network of water-worn passageways extending no
telling how far underneath the ridge. There were reputed to be caves
almost as large as Mammoth in these unexplored recesses of the Southern
Sierras. Could this be one of them, or was it just a two- or three-cavern
affair, he wondered? On that depended a very great deal of their success
in the coming capture, for once entrenched within these labyrinthian
caves, the Mexicans could hold them at bay until they had made good their
get-away. It had been so, he had been told by military men, in chasing
Mexicans over the border.

Perhaps there were other caves in the region. Where, indeed, had these
men secreted themselves while the fire had raged in a semi-circle about
them? In a cave, the air would be damp and cool, no matter what was going
on outside, and they could have been genuinely comfortable with the
inferno raging over their very heads. Unless, of course, the smoke
suffocated them! That would all depend on the air passages that fed their
particular cavern. Some of those caves across the Mexican border were
miles in extent, and had exits galore.

Pondering the pendant stalactites that had gleamed like onyx in the
firelight, he pictured the water