"Will the small gentleman from Maine be kind enough to pass the
plum-pudding--I mean the one that's got the most raisins in it?" said
Johnny, who was inclined to be facetious.

"See here, fellows!" exclaimed Archie, and the earnest expression of his
countenance arrested the laughing at once. "This is no time for joking.
The rule of this boarding-house seems to be, Look out for number one. I
intend to do it; and, if you want to get any thing to eat, you had
better follow my example."

So saying, he caught up three or four sandwiches, and half a dozen
cakes, and started toward the spring, where he sat down to finish his
dinner. The other boys comprehended this piece of strategy, and, in less
time than it takes to tell it, the table was cleared of every thing
except the dried meat. Mr. Mercedes uttered an angry growl, and gazed
after Johnny, who had snatched the last sandwich almost out of his hand,
and then whipped out his knife, and turned his attention to the meat.

When the robbers had finished their dinner, Pierre held a whispered
consultation with one of his men, who, after placing Frank's letter
carefully away in the crown of his sombrero, mounted his horse, and rode
down the pass. The others, with the exception of a solitary sentinel,
sought their blankets, and the boys were left to themselves.

"Now," said Johnny, in a whisper, addressing himself to Frank, "tell us
what you wrote in that postscript. You surely did not ask your uncle to
send any money for you and Archie?"

"Of course not!" replied Frank. "I, for one, am not worth twenty
thousand dollars; and I would rather stay here until I am gray-headed,
and live on nothing but dried meat all the while, than ask Uncle James
to give twenty cents for me."

"That's the talk," said Johnny, approvingly, while Archie raised himself
on his elbow, and patted his cousin on the back. Frank then repeated
what he had written in the postscript, as nearly as he could recollect
it, and it was heartily indorsed by all the boys, even including Arthur
Vane, who said:

"I am glad to see that you are recovering your courage, Frank. If you
had all showed a little pluck, when Pierre attacked us this morning, we
should not have been in this predicament."

"We'll not argue that point now," said Archie. "Let's talk about our
plans for escape. By the way, what sort of fellows do you suppose Pierre
takes us for, if he imagines that he can frighten us into carrying tales
about o