ne another?"

"I'd like to know, too," said Arthur, sitting up on his blanket, and
looking very indignant. "I wonder if he is foolish enough to believe
that one of us would tell him, if he heard the others talking of escape!
If I thought there was one in this party mean enough to do that, I
would never speak to him again."

"Now, don't you be alarmed," said Johnny. "We've been through too much
to go back on each other. But how shall we get away? that's the
question."

"Let us rush up and knock them down, and pitch them over into the
gully," said Arthur. "Follow me; I'll get you out of this scrape."

"We couldn't gain any thing by a fight," said Frank. "Four boys are no
match for five grown men."

"I'd give Sleepy Sam if I could only see Dick and Bob poke their noses
over some of these rocks around here," said Archie. "They will be after
us, as soon as they find out that we are captured; and when they get
their eyes on these 'Greasers,' as they call them, there'll be fun."

"But we don't want to wait for them," said Frank. "We must escape
to-night, if possible. We can find our way home from here; but, if we
stay with these villains two or three days longer, they will have taken
us so far into the mountains, that we never can get out. I propose that
we wait until dark, and see what arrangements they intend to make for
the night, before we determine upon our plans. If they allow us to
remain unbound, and leave only one sentinel to guard us, we'll see what
can be done. In the meantime, I move that we all take a nap."

The prisoners settled themselves comfortably on their blankets, and, in
a few moments, three of them were sleeping soundly, all unconscious of
the fact that their wide-awake companion was impatiently awaiting an
opportunity to repeat to the robber chief every word of their recent
conversation.

"Pierre said, that if any of us heard the others talking of escape, and
didn't tell him of it, he would pitch us over that precipice," muttered
Arthur. "He looked straight at me when he said it; so I shall take him
at his word, and put him on his guard against these fellows. I'll not go
back on them--O, no! Johnny Harris didn't call me a coward, did he? And
that little spindle-shanked Yankee, and his cousin, didn't insult me, by
sending me my hat and gun, and the skin of that wolf, and by telling
every body in the settlement that I was frightened out of my senses,
without seeing any thing to be frightened at, d