The Cave of Gold

by Everett McNeil

  CHAPTER XXV

  THE CAVE OF GOLD

  There were no disturbances during the night; and the dawn of the nextmorning found everybody up and awaiting eagerly the moment when therewould be sufficient light in the canyon to make the climbing of the BigTree and the entrance into Crooked Arm Gulch safe. At last Mr. Conroyaldeclared that the great moment had come.

  "But," and he glanced around the little group of eager faces, "Ham and Ithink, and I am sure you will all agree with us when you stop toconsider the matter, that we ought to leave at least one man here tostand guard with Pedro. Now, under the circumstances, I had rather notsay who that man shall be, but will ask for a volunteer. Who is willingto offer himself up as a sacrifice to the good of the public?" and Mr.Conroyal smiled.

  For a moment all stood staring blankly into one another's faces. No oneappeared to be in the least anxious to make this sacrifice. And nowonder! For, now at the very moment they were about to explore themysteries of the dead miner's wonderful Cave of Gold, who would care tobe left behind? Then, with a smile on his face, Frank Holt steppedforth.

  "Reckon I'll stay and keep company with Pedro," he said. "I'm not asyoung as I once was, and crawling along that limb some twenty feet abovethe ground looks some dangerous to legs as old as mine. But I'd like tohave one of you, if you find the cave all right, come and let me know,"and the sparkle in his eyes told how great was his interest in theresult.

  "I'll come right back and relieve you, dad, just as soon as we find thecave and see what it is like," Rex Holt promised. "Then you can go andsee for yourself. It was great of you to offer to stay. I'll be backsoon. Good-by," and he hurried after the others, who were alreadyclimbing the Big Tree.

  Pedro, all the morning, had been as feverish with excitement as had anyof the others, and had watched their every movement, as a cat watches acaught mouse, and had tried to overhear every word uttered; but, at thefirst mention of a guard being left with him, he had muttered a Mexicanoath and had turned angrily and sullenly away, all his excitement gone.Evidently he had counted a great deal on being left alone with thehorses and the camp supplies, when the search for the Cave of Gold wasmade; and, consequently, the leaving of a guard with him had been a verygreat disappointment. But he was too cunning to allow thisdisappointment to be seen by his employers, and had turned quickly awayto hide his feelings, until he was again his usual suave self; and so hedid not hear the promise of Rex to hasten back as soon as the cave wasfound and relieve his father.

  You may be sure that there were no laggards among the climbers up theBig Tree and along the limb and through the entrance into Crooked ArmGulch; and soon all stood on the little shelf of rock, from which theyhad had their first view of the gulch the night before.

  "Now, th' first thing tew dew is tew git down tew th' bottom," commentedHam, as the eyes of all eagerly searched the walls of the gulch.

  "That looks easy! Right this way!" and Thure began excitedly clamberingdown the rocks.

  The shelf of rock on which they stood was some fifty feet above thebottom of the gulch; and from it a series of shelves and jutting rocksmade an easy pathway downward, for mountaineers as experienced as theywere, and soon all our friends stood at the bottom of Crooked Arm Gulch.

  "Now for the Golden Elbow!" shouted Thure. "I want to be the first onein the Cave of Gold," and he started up the gulch as fast as he couldgo, jumping and climbing over the rocks that nearly covered its bottom.

  "Same here!" and, with a yell, Bud started after him.

  In a moment all, even the gray-haired men, had joined madly in the race.Evidently Thure was not the only one who wished to be the first in theCave of Gold.

  The gulch was narrow, only about a couple of rods wide at the placewhere our friends had reached the bottom, and, some three hundred yardsfrom here, it made a turn, like the crook in a man's bent arm. This wasevidently the Golden Elbow, and the point for which all were racing.

  Thure, owing to his start and his long legs, was the first to reach thisspot, but Bud was not six feet behind him. Then came Rex and Dill andthe others, with Dickson and his wife pantingly bringing up the rear.All had stopped directly in front of the point of the turn, and nowstood staring excitedly around them, looking for the entrance to theCave of Gold and looking in vain.

  In front of them the wall of the gulch had been hollowed out into agreat overhanging arch, seventy-five or more feet in height and somefifteen feet deep.

  Could this be the miner's Cave of Gold?

  Surely not; for there was no need of torch here, and the bottomcertainly was not covered with gold nuggets, but with hundreds of piecesof broken rock, some of them as large as two strong men could lift.

  "Wal, I swun, if it don't look as if we was up ag'in it ag'in," and Hamstared excitedly around. "But, if thar is any cave here, it must beright in thar. Come, git busy," and he began clambering over the rockstoward the back wall of the arch. "I'll bet a coonskin that I can findit first."

  "Take you!" shouted Thure and Bud, both clambering swiftly after him.

  In a minute more all were searching excitedly for the hidden entrance tothe cave, along the entire back wall of the arch; but the rocks of thebottom seemed to meet a solid wall of rock at the back.

  "Say, but isn't it enough to make even a Job swear to be held up likethis, right at the most exciting moment!" and Thure stopped in front ofa large flat rock, that had fallen so that it stood nearly on edge,leaning against the back wall of the arch. "Come, give me a hand; andlet's see what is behind this rock," and he turned to Bud, who stoodnear him. "It looks almost as if it might have been stood up there onpurpose."

  In a moment the strong arms of the two boys were tugging at the hugeslab of rock; and, at last, with a mighty effort, they pulled it awayfrom the wall and toppled it over backward, and it fell, with a crash,on the rocks between them, revealing a black opening in the solid rock.

  "Hurrah!" yelled Bud.

  "Found!" shouted Thure; and both excited boys made a dive for the hole,with the result that their bodies stuck tightly in the opening, the holenot being large enough to accommodate the entrance of both of them atthe same time.

  Ham and Mr. Conroyal pulled them out; and then Ham thrust his big bodyinto the opening--he could just squeeze in--and began cautiously workinghis way forward. It was not a venture for an excited boy to make, theentrance into that black hole without a light.

  In about five minutes Ham came backing hurriedly out.

  "Who's got th' candles?" he cried excitedly. "Thar sart'in is a cave inthar; but it is as dark as the bottomless pit. We must have lightsbefore we can enter. Give me a candle."

  "Here, here they are!" and Mr. Conroyal who in the excitement of themoment had forgotten the package of a couple of dozen candles he hadtied up and slung over his back just before climbing the tree thatmorning, quickly swung the package down on a rock in front of him andcut the strings.

  Ham caught up one of the candles, and, hurriedly lighting it, againcrawled into the hole, holding the candle out in front of him.

  Thure and Bud both caught up candles and lighting them, lookedimploringly at their fathers.

  Both men nodded, and the boys dove into the hole; but this timeseparately.

  "The rest of us had better wait outside until we hear from Ham and theboys," Mr. Conroyal said, staring anxiously into the hole.

  For perhaps ten minutes, although to the anxious and excited watchersoutside it seemed more like an hour, not a sound came from the hole intowhose black depths the three men had vanished. Even the lights of theircandles had disappeared. Then, suddenly, the excited voice of Thure washeard, booming out through the hole.

  "It's the cave, the Cave of Gold!" he cried exultantly, his voicetrembling with excitement. "Come in, all of you. There is room for all.I will hold my candle so that you can see."

  "Here, Dickson, you go first, and, Mollie, you follow right behind him,"and Mr. Conroyal pushed Mr. and Mrs. Dickson excitedly toward the caveopening, and motioned Rex and Dill
and Mr. Randolph to follow them, hehimself entering last.

  The hole slanted downward for some ten feet, then, enlarging a little,turned to the right and ran straight ahead for some thirty feet, stillslanting quite steeply downward, when it suddenly opened out into alarge chamber, worn by the action of water, apparently, out of the solidrock.

  In five minutes all our excited friends stood in this chamber or caveand were staring wonderingly around them. They found themselves in aroom, some thirty feet long by twenty feet wide at the widest, with anoval slanting roof, shaped something like the inverted quarter of anegg-shell. The bottom of the cave was level and composed of a verycoarse gravel, mixed with little rounded chunks of a yellowish metal,that glowed in the light of the candles like thousands of dull yellowcoals of fire.

  In an instant everybody was down on their knees examining these chunksof metal. For a couple of minutes no one spoke. Then Ham lifted his headand looked slowly around him, as if he were trying to convince himselfthat he was really awake.

  "Gosh!" he said, in a voice hardly above a whisper. "It is gold!"

  "It is gold!" and Mr. Conroyal looked up, his face white and his eyesshining. "It is gold; and enough of it to make us all rich beyond ourfondest dreams. No wonder the miner called it the Cave of Gold."

  "IT IS GOLD! IT IS GOLD! AND ENOUGH OF IT TO MAKE US ALLRICH BEYOND OUR FONDEST DREAMS."]

  "Gold! Gold! Now Ruth shall have her breastpin nugget and goldnecklace!" and Thure, with hands that trembled so that he could hardlyhold the candle, began an excited search for the largest chunk of goldthat he could find. In two minutes he had found one about the size andthe shape of a robin's egg. "The very thing!" he cried. "That will makea magnificent breastpin," and he quickly picked it up and begansearching for the nuggets to go into the promised necklace.

  During this time Bud was quickly gathering up the largest nuggets hecould find; for a similar purpose but for a different girl; and thefingers of all the others were busy in the same exciting way.

  For half an hour all forgot everything, but the shining pellets thatcovered the bottom of the cave. Then Rex suddenly straightened up.

  "Great Washington! I'm forgetting dad!" he exclaimed. "I must go to dadat once," and he started for the hole that gave passageway to the outerworld.

  Naturally Rex was greatly excited and made all possible haste to getback to his father with the good news. The distance was not great, andin ten minutes he had reached the hidden entrance to Crooked Arm Gulch,and, hurriedly crawling through the narrow opening, he pushed theconcealing branches aside--and found himself looking directly into thered face of Bill Ugger.

  "God in heaven!" and Rex struck out with all the strength of his strongright arm.

  The face was not three feet away and the blow landed squarely on thebroken nose. There was a low cry, the crash of broken branches, and thehuge body of Bill Ugger plunged downward from the limb.

  For an instant Rex stared blankly after the body; and then, suddenlyrealizing the value of every moment, if they would not all be caught ina trap from which there would be no escape, he whirled about and racedback to the Cave of Gold, almost wild with the thought of what mighthappen, if the gang of robbers should capture their horses and suppliesand hold them captive in Crooked Arm Gulch, as they could easily do,once they secured possession of the Big Tree. Then there was his father.What had happened to him? No wonder his face went white, and he riskedlimb and life a dozen times in his mad scramble down the rocks and upthe gulch and into the opening of the Cave of Gold.

  "Quick! Everybody, back to the Big Tree!" he shouted, as he plunged intothe cave, where our excited friends were still busily picking up thenuggets. "The robbers! They have got dad! Quick!" and he whirled aboutand rushed back.

  In an instant the gold was forgotten. Every man jumped for his rifle,which had been left near the entrance to the cave, and sprang after Rex,leaving the startled and frightened Mrs. Dickson to follow as best shecould.

  There was not one of them but understood on the instant the seriousnessof their peril. If the robbers secured their horses and supplies andheld the entrance to Crooked Arm Gulch, they would be absolutely attheir mercy; for, so far as they knew, the only way out of the gulch wasby way of the Big Tree, and half a dozen men, armed with rifles, couldhold this narrow opening against their most desperate efforts to getout, and in a few days, could starve them into surrender, for they hadno food with them. They must at all costs, if it was not already toolate, keep the entrance to Crooked Arm Gulch from falling into the handsof the robbers.

  Hammer Jones, by desperate efforts, reached the side of Rex, just as hewas about to plunge into the passageway between Crooked Arm Gulch andLot's Canyon; and one of his great hands closed down on the excitedman's shoulder just in time to stop the reckless act.

  "Cautious! Cautious!" warned Ham, as he jerked Rex back. "If them skunkshave got th' camp, 'twill be death to sot foot on that big limb."

  "But, dad--"

  "'Twon't help him none for you tew git killed. I'll take a look first,"and the great strength of Ham forced Rex back, while he himself begancautiously, yet rapidly, crawling through the narrow opening.

  In a moment he had reached the limb of the Big Tree, and, carefullyparting the branches so as to make no noise, he cautiously looked down.

  The camp had been pitched under the Big Tree almost directly beneathhim; and the first look showed him everything apparently safe andundisturbed. The next look--and, with the cry: "Come on, everybody, asquick as th' Lord will let you," he sprang out on the limb and beganworking his way down the tree so recklessly that more than once he wasin danger of falling. The moment he reached the ground he leaped towardan object that lay tightly bound up in a blanket on the ground near thetrunk of the tree; and, with a swift hand began cutting the ropes thatwere tightly wound around it from head to foot, in a manner exactlysimilar to that in which they had found Mrs. Dickson on the night shehad been so mysteriously bound in her tent.

  By the time Rex had reached his side he had uncovered Frank Holt, withhis hands bound behind him and a gag in his mouth, but otherwise unhurt,except for a big lump on the back of his head. In a moment more Rex hadpulled the gag out of his father's mouth and Ham had freed his hands.

  "Pedro!" Holt gasped and staggered a little dizzily to his feet. "Hestruck me down from behind, and tied and gagged me, as you found me.Where is Pedro?" and he looked excitedly and a bit wildly around. "Ah,now I remember," and his face cleared. "He has gone for the rest of thegang. I overheard him and another man, after I had recovered my sensesand lay tightly bound up in the blanket, planning how he would go andget the rest of the gang, while the other man climbed the tree and keptguard over the narrow opening. Their plan was to capture the camp andhold the Big Tree, so that none of you could get out of Crooked ArmGulch, and then starve you into surrendering everything; and they camemighty nigh doing it," and he glanced anxiously down the canyon."They'll be due in about half an hour, I judge from what I overheard.They were not calculating on any of you getting back so soon," and hesmiled grimly.

  "But that other man? Where is that other man?" and Mr. Conroyal--by thistime all, even Mrs. Dickson, had made their way down the BigTree--looked anxiously around.

  Rex started and glanced quickly toward the wall of the canyon, directlyunder the opening to Crooked Arm Gulch; and then his face cleared.

  "I reckon that's him," and he pointed to a huddled heap that lay on therocks. "I knocked him off the limb of the Big Tree. But, we had bettermake sure he is where he can do no harm," and he hurried to the body."Dead as a stone. Neck broken," he declared, as he turned the corpseover.

  "Broken-nose! It's Broken-nose!" and Thure, who had hurried up with Rex,started back, as the man's face came into view.

  "Wal, th' world's better off by havin' one less scoundrel in it," andHam scowled down on the face of Bill Ugger, ugly and repulsive even indeath. "Now," and he turned quickly to Holt, "didn't you say that tharMexican skunk, Pedro, had gone tew git th' r
est of th' gang?"

  "Yes," answered Holt; "and we must be ready for them, when they gethere. They are camped down near the Devil's Slide; and I calculate itwill take them about half an hour yet to get here."

  "An' the skunks are a-calculatin' on findin' th' camp unguarded?" andHam's eyes began to twinkle brightly.

  "Yes, I heard Pedro tell the other fellow that he felt quite sure noneof us would be back for two hours or more; but, to make things safe,Brokennose, as Thure calls him, said he'd climb the tree and knock thehead off anyone that tried to come through the narrow opening intoCrooked Arm Gulch. I reckon Rex got there just at the right moment tospoil that little game."

  "I certainly did," and Rex smiled grimly. "A minute later, and he wouldhave got me, instead of my getting him. But, we must be getting readyfor the return of Pedro," and his eyes glanced anxiously down thecanyon.

  "Say," and Ham turned to Conroyal, "why can't we give them th' same kindof a s'prise they was a-calculatin' on givin' us? They ain't expectin'tew find us here, an' will come a rushin' up unsuspicious-like, an', ifwe hide, we can give 'em a mighty warm reception a-fore they know what'shappenin'."

  "Bully! Where'll we hide?" and Mr. Conroyal glanced eagerly around."There, those rocks will be just the place," and he pointed up thecanyon to where a row of big rocks stood up, almost like a rampart,something like a hundred feet from the Big Tree. "Now we must leave thecamp looking just as it was when Pedro left it. Here, somebody, quick,we'll tie the body of Ugger up in the blanket, and leave it where wefound Frank. That will sure fool them," and he hurried to where thecorpse of Ugger lay; and, in a few minutes, the body was tightly boundup in a blanket and laid down on the exact spot where Ham had foundHolt.

  "All got plenty of powder and lead?" and Mr. Conroyal glanced swiftlyfrom man to man.

  All answered in the affirmative.

  "Then get behind the rocks," and, with a final look around the camp tosee that every suspicious sign had been removed, Mr. Conroyal led hislittle company to the rocky rampart to await the coming of Pedro and theband of robbers; and soon all had vanished from the sight of anyonecoming up the canyon.

  In front of them and the Big Tree there was a space some three hundredfeet wide, clear of trees or underbrush or rocks large enough to shielda man.

  "We will wait for them until they get out into the open," Mr. Conroyalsaid, pointing to this space. "Now everybody see that his rifle andpistols and knife are ready; and remember to keep down out of sight andon no account to fire until I give the word."

  They did not have long to wait; for hardly had Mr. Conroyal uttered hislast words of warning, when they saw Pedro coming around the bend in thecanyon some two hundred yards below them. At first Pedro advanced verycautiously, darting from rock to rock and keeping his body concealed asmuch as possible; but, at last, coming to where he could get a clearview of the camp and seeing nothing to awaken his suspicions, heappeared to be satisfied that all was safe and turned and beganbeckoning excitedly with both his hands. In response a little company ofheavily armed men instantly sprang into sight, coming from around thebend in the canyon, and hurried up to where Pedro stood awaiting them.

  For two or three minutes they stood there, while Pedro, gesticulatingexcitedly and frequently pointing toward the quiet-seeming little campunder the Big Tree, appeared to be explaining the situation to them.Then all began advancing cautiously, yet rapidly toward the Big Tree,taking advantage of the rocks and trees and bushes to conceal theirmovements as much as possible.

  "Here they come!" whispered Thure excitedly to Bud, as the men begantheir advance. He had his eye to a little opening between the twoadjoining rocks behind which the boys were crouching. "I counted twentyof them and I think there are one or two more. Say, but won't we givethem a big surprise?"

  "You bet!" and Bud's jaws came together grimly.

  "Keep down! Everybody keep down!" warned Mr. Conroyal in a whisper."Don't shoot, until I give the order; and then jump to your feet andpick your man and fire as quick as the Lord will let you; but, be sureyou have got the bead on the man before you pull the trigger. We mustdown as many of them as possible at the first volley. Now, everybody getready. They will be out in the open in a minute or two," and he turnedto give his attention to the advancing robbers.

  By this time Pedro and his men had reached the line of rocks and bushesthat faced the opening in front of the rocks behind which our friendslay concealed; and here they paused for a moment, each man behind arock, and searched with careful eyes the camp under the Big Tree.

  "There's Pockface!" excitedly whispered Bud, who now had his eye to thecrack between the two stones, "behind that big rock straight in front ofus, the skunk. Now, just wait, until we get the order to fire," and hislips closed tightly.

  At this moment Ham, who crouched behind a rock by the side of Mr.Conroyal, whispered:

  "I'll be durned if I don't believe we can capture the hull caboodle, ifwe jest wait 'til they git 'most up tew us, an' then jump up sudden an'point our guns at them an' yell, 'hands up!' an' that'll be a heapbetter'n tew let half on 'em git away tew bother us all the way back tewcivilerzation."

  "Right, I believe you are right. Anyway we will try it. Watch them,while I give the right instructions," and Mr. Conroyal crept swiftly tonear the center of the little group behind the rampart of rocks.

  "Men," he said, speaking low, yet loud enough for all to hear, "we aregoing to try to capture the whole bunch of scoundrels. At the word,every one of you jump to his feet and point his rifle at the skunks andyell 'Hands UP!' I reckon that will bring every hand up; but, if itdon't and any of them act suspicious or make a break, shoot quick, andshoot to kill. Do you all understand?"

  All nodded and Mr. Conroyal returned at once to his place by the side ofHam.

  At this moment the robbers broke from the rocks and ran swiftly out intothe open toward the Big Tree.

  "Ready, everybody ready!" whispered Mr. Conroyal.

  On came the robbers, until they were within seventy-five feet of therocks behind which our friends were hiding.

  "Now!" yelled Mr. Conroyal, and leaped to his feet, and leveled hisrifle. "Hands UP!" he commanded.

  And almost at the same moment all the others,--even Mrs. Dickson--leapedto their feet, and leveled their rifles, and yelled: "Hands UP!"

  The robbers stopped, as if they had suddenly run into a stone wall,turned their startled eyes on the leveled rifles and the stern-faced menback of them--and then, every hand went up, as if worked by one shaft ofmachinery, every hand except the hands of Pockface, who, doubtlessthinking that his capture would mean death anyway, whirled aboutsuddenly and leaped toward the rocks behind him.

  At the same instant Ham's rifle cracked; and the legs of Pockfacedoubled up under him, and he went down, like a shot rabbit.

  That was enough for the rest of the men.

  "Don't shoot. We surrender," they all yelled, holding their hands ashigh as they could above their heads.

  "Rex, you and Dill get their guns and knives. The rest of you keep themcovered with your rifles," commanded Mr. Conroyal.

  Rex and Dill, with broad grins on their faces, instantly stepped forth,and soon had all the weapons of the robbers safely confiscated.

  Fifteen minutes later, every robber lay on his back under the Big Tree,his hands and feet firmly bound with strong ropes. There were twenty-oneof them; and our friends were too wise to take any needless chances.