by Old scout
go and tell Young Wild West's partners that I want all the moneythey can rake up, and as soon as you bring it to me you can all go free.They are to fetch no one here, though. If they do I will kill Young WildWest, and then take the chances of a siege in the cave."
CHAPTER XIII.
THE CLEVER CHINAMAN AT WORK.
Hop no sooner had his hands free than he said:
"You wantee me tellee lat ley mustee git tee velly muchee money, and lenyou lettee Young Wild West go?"
"Yes, that's it. You seem to understand pretty well for a Chinee. Youunderstood enough to clean me out of a couple of hundred dollars lastnight, too. I reckon you had better give me that money and all the restyou have, before you go on your errand."
"Me velly solly," declared Hop, acting as though he really felt bad overit, "but me leavee allee my money in um camp."
This was a fact, too, as all he had with him was about five dollars insilver.
"I reckon I had better go through you," said the leader of the outlaws.
Hop quickly produced what money he had, and then held up his arms to letthe man make a search of his clothing.
Roche went through him and brought out as many as half a dozen packs ofcards, a flask of whisky, several little vials containing liquids andpowders, two or three oblong objects that looked like a lot of paperpressed together, some black-looking cigars, a dead mouse, some coloredstring, and a lot of other small things, too numerous to mention.
But there was no money to be found.
"That's a nice lot of trash fur a galoot ter have in his pockets," hedeclared, looking at the pile in disgust. "What are you doing with adead mouse in your pockets?"
"Me feel lat me might git tee hungly some time, and len me have lilleebite to eatee," replied Hop, looking very innocent.
The outlaws grinned at this.
They had all heard that Chinamen liked to eat rats, so they were notsurprised to hear that one ate mice.
Even Wild smiled at the way Hop was working it.
He now believed that the chances of getting free from the outlaws wereimproving, for Hop would be apt to manage it in some way.
"I'll tell you what you do," said Roche, as Hop proceeded to put thearticles back where they had been taken from. "You get your money at thecamp and bring that here, too."
Allee light, Misler Outlaw, replied Hop. "You will havee um cigar?"
He tendered one and, taking it, the outlaw looked at it suspiciously andthen cut off the end with his bowie knife.
Hop lighted one, too, and then he stood still.
"Me allee samee forgittee whattee you say," he said, as he lookedpuzzled.
Cap Roche went over it again.
"Oh, allee light. Me understand."
The cigar he had given the villain was a good one, and he puffed away atit with no little satisfaction, since it served to soothe his nervessomewhat.
Hop took occasion to drop the dead mouse in the pocket of the man whowas standing at the side of Wild to prevent his possible escape, andthen he turned to go.
But he came back again, and, looking at the villain he had played thetrick on he said:
"You takee my tanglefoot and allee samee puttee in your pockee; mewantee."
As it was Roche who had appropriated the flask, the man shook his headand grinned.
"See here!" exclaimed the leader, angrily. "You ought to be satisfiedthat I didn't take more than the whisky. You've got your mouse, so go onand do your errand."
"Oh!" cried Hop, his face lighting up. "Now me know. You takee umtanglefoot, and lis man takee my mousee! He allee samee goatee in umpockee."
Instinctively the outlaw put his hand in his pocket, and the first thinghis fingers came in contact with was the dead mouse.
He uttered a cry and pulled it out.
"Hip hi!" yelled Hop, as he ran for the mouth of the cave.
But the outlaw was just mad enough to run and catch him before he got tothe curtain.
"Here," said Hop, "me givee you lis. Allee samee diamond ling inside.Lettee poor Chinee go!"
It was one of the oblong, little packages that he handed to the man,and, letting the mouse drop, he took it and walked back to those in thebig cave.
But he did not notice that a tiny spark was working its way along whatseemed to be a string on the package.
The fact was that it was one of his patent firecrackers that Hop hadgiven him.
Just as he joined the rest at the table the thing exploded with a noiselike that of a shotgun.
"Ow! Murder!" yelled the outlaw, for his hand was burned by theoperation.
Then he danced about like a wild man, while the prisoners were forced tolaugh, in spite of their situation.
Cap Roche was the first to realize what had happened.
"Shut up!" he commanded. "He played a joke on you, that's all. Servesyou right for fooling with him. That is the greatest Chinaman I eversaw."
The victim went for water to cool his burning hand.
"Allee light; me go now," called out Hop, who had been, watching fromthe front of the cave. "Me soonee come back with um money to pay umtoll, so be."
Out he went, and he had not gone more than a dozen yards when he cameupon the scout.
"Where's Anna an' Eloise?" Charlie demanded.
"Outlaws allee samee gottee," was the reply. "Come 'way pettyquicken."
He almost pulled him around the bend, and then he found Jim and Ariettathere.
The three had been watching from the top of the cliff, and when they sawthe outlaws take Wild in they did not wait very long there, but cameback to the pass.
It was their intention to take up a couple of lariats and try and devisea means of getting Wild away from the villains, but when they found thatthe girls and the Chinaman were not there, while the horses were just asthey had left them, they did not know what to make of it.
It was while the scout was creeping up to the cave, thinking that theoutlaws might have caught those they had left in the pass, that he sawHop come out.
It was surely a morning of surprises, and Charlie was badly puzzled.
But when Hop told of the errand he has been sent on he was completelysilenced for the time being.
When he found the use of his tongue he exclaimed:
"Well, that beats anything yet! So ther galoots wants us ter pay money,eh? Well, I reckon not! We'll jest git Wild an' ther two gals away from'em without pain' a thing. Hop, you take my horse an' ride over to thercamp as fast as yer kin. Jest git ther miners together an' tell 'emwhat's up. Then yer kin git some of ther counterfeit money you've gothid around somewhere an' come back an' take it ter Roche. While you'retalkin' to 'em we'll all creep in an' fix ther galoots fur good an'all!"
"Allee light, Misler Charlie."
Hop was not long in mounting the scout's horse, and then he rode swiftlyto Big Bonanza.
He went to the camp first and, telling Wing enough to make himfrightened about it, he got a roll of counterfeit money from hissaddlebags.
This he stuffed in his pocket, and then he rode to the saloon.
"Misler Hoker," he said; "me wanted allee samee lot of mans to go andfight um outlaws, so be. Ley allee samee goatee Young Wild West in umcave, and Missy Anna and Missy Eloise, too, so be."
The keeper of the saloon was astounded when he heard this.
He questioned the Chinaman and soon came to the conclusion that he wastelling the truth.
Then he hastily left the saloon and went out and told the miners as fastas he could get to the places they were working at.
Shortly afterward the first of the miners to be notified by Hoker camerunning into the saloon.
Hop had to answer a lot of questions, but he managed to make it plain tothe miners what was wanted of them, so in a few minutes they weremarching for the pass.
The Chinaman rode on ahead and soon came to the spot where he had leftCharlie, Jim and Arietta.
But they were not there now, and, thinking that they had ascended thecliff again, he decided to go on in th
e cave.
He went around to the curtain and found the scout lying close to thecliff near it.
Charlie motioned for him to go on in, and, without looking at him anyfurther, Hop lifted the curtain and obeyed.
CHAPTER XIV.
HOW ARIETTA PAID THE TOLL.
Arietta and Jim had gone to the top of the cliff again, hoping to catchsight of Wild once more, while Charlie remained near the mouth of thecave.
The scout made up his mind to get inside when Hop came back, and he hadmanaged to creep up close to the concealed opening.
As the Chinaman passed inside he waited for half a minute, and then hetook the risk of raising the curtain a trifle.
The coast was clear, so he crawled through.
Once on the inside, he moved over to a rocky wall and then listened.
He could hear the Chinaman talking in his bland way to the