Young Wild West at Forbidden Pass | Page 4

then, turning to the other
Celestial, observed:
"Me havee velly nallow escapee, my blother."
"You allee samee velly muchee fool!" was the retort. "You allee timee
lookee for um tanglefoot, so be."
"Me havee two velly nicee lillee dlinks, my blother; you no havee."

"Me no wantee," was the scornful rejoinder.
It was Wing, the cook, who claimed he did not want any whisky.
He was just a common, everyday Chinee, who did his work well and
slept whenever he had nothing else to do, providing no one disturbed
him.
Hop, on the other hand, was one of the very shrewd and cunning ones
of his race.
Gifted with the art of sleight-of-hand, a lover of gambling and a
fondness for playing jokes on people had made him a great character,
indeed.
But he was a real fixture to the party that Young Wild West led, and as
he had on more than one occasion been the means of saving the lives of
different members of it through his cleverness, he was thought a great
deal of by them all, and many of his shortcomings were overlooked.
Having disposed of the cowboys, Young Wild West now asked the
keeper of the saloon if he thought there would be any objections to
their pitching a camp somewhere around in the vicinity.
"I reckon not," was the reply. "There ain't no one as lives here in Big
Bonanza, what would 'ject ter anything like that. They've all heard tell
about Young Wild West, I reckon, an' some of 'em says as how they've
seen yer. Yer kin bet that yer will be welcome here! Jest help
yourselves ter any spot yer want."
"Thank you. I thought perhaps some one might raise objections--the
three cowboys, for instance."
"Oh, they're strangers here. I never seen them until this afternoon. They
must have come a putty long ways, fur there ain't a ranch in a hundred
miles of here, as I knows of. Go ahead an' pick out a place ter camp.
Ther boys will be here in a few minutes, fur it's about quittin' time now.
I'll tell 'em that Young Wild West, ther champion deadshot, is here, an'

you kin bet that they'll give yer a royal welcome!"
CHAPTER II.
OUR FRIENDS HEAR ABOUT FORBIDDEN PASS.
Young Wild West was not long in picking out a spot to camp upon.
It was right near a little, running brook that came tumbling down the
steep rocks and wound its way through the gentle slope upon which
was located the cluster of shanties.
It was easy to tell that the mining camp had not been in existence very
long, for the shanties were new.
As soon as the pack horses were unloaded our friends allowed the two
Chinamen to go ahead with the work of getting the camp in shape,
while they took a look around.
Almost opposite to the point they had rounded in order to ride into the
mining camp was a high ridge, which was easily a hundred feet above
the level. It extended around on both sides and joined the sloping,
irregular side of the mountain over which the trail ran.
Almost in the centre of this was a cut that was about thirty feet in width,
and it was so regular in shape that one would almost have taken it to be
the work of man.
But it was nothing more than one of the passes that are to be found in
the mountains, and which are so handy for travelers to proceed to a
given point in a more direct line.
Young Wild West noticed that a trail ran through the camp direct to the
pass. But it did not appear as though it was used a great deal, since the
wagon-ruts and hoof-prints had become obliterated in some parts.
"I wonder where that trail leads to?" our hero observed, as he tamed to
his two partners. "Wherever it goes, there are not many using it now, it

seems."
"It leads on up in the wilds of the mountains, by the looks of things,"
Jim Dart answered. "It may be that prospectors have gone that way and,
not finding anything worth while, have come back through the pass
again."
"Sorter looks that way, I reckon," said Cheyenne Charlie. "But, hello!
Ther miners is quittin' work. Now we'll soon see how many of 'em
knows us, as ther saloon man said they did."
Sure enough, the miners were seen heading for the saloon. They came
from different directions, for it was just six o'clock now, and they had
quit work for the day.
The claims that were being worked were all within sight of the shanties,
the nearest one being but a couple of hundred yards away from the
saloon, which appeared to