an to wonder in what sort of a home his companion lived. His
evident affection for his son gave Ernest a different feeling toward him.
It was plain that he had a softer side to his nature, bandit though he
was.

Ernest had never read the story of Jekyll and Hyde, but he felt
instinctively that the man beside him had a double nature. On the road he
was an outlaw, with corresponding traits, a rough and unscrupulous man,
but at home and in the presence of his son, as Ernest judged, he was a
warm-hearted and affectionate father.

In truth, the young bank messenger looked forward with interest to a
meeting with the boy who was so dear to the heart of a man whom the world
generally supposed to be a stranger to the softer emotions.

At length they reached a rocky hillside. Here the outlaw pulled up his
horse and jumped from the buggy. Ernest looked at him in a questioning
way.

"You can get out," he said. "We have arrived."

Ernest alighted and looked about him. He naturally expected to see a
dwelling of some kind, but there was none in sight. If it was at a
distance, why should they not have driven to it?

James Fox looked at him with a smile, enjoying his perplexity.

From his pocket he drew a large silk handkerchief.

"Come here, my boy," he said.

Ernest did not quite understand what he proposed to do, but he felt better
acquainted with the outlaw now, and he knew that there was no cause for
apprehension. He accordingly approached without question.

James Fox bandaged his eyes so that he could see nothing. Then he took him
by the hand and led him forward.

Ernest could not tell what was being done, but he found himself walking on
a rocky path, hand in hand with his guide. How far he walked he could not
tell. It might have been two hundred feet. Then his guide stopped, and of
course he stopped too.

Next the handkerchief was removed and he found himself in what seemed a
rocky cavern. At any rate it was a large room of irregular shape, but the
stone floor had been made smooth and was covered by a soft carpet. It was
furnished like a sitting-room in a private house. There were comfortable
chairs, including a rocking-chair and a capacious armchair. On one side of
the room was an inviting-looking couch.

Of course there would have been perfect darkness but for artificial light.
On a table was a large student's lamp and in a niche in the wall was
another. Besides this there was a lantern hanging from the roof of t