Young Wild West at Forbidden Pass | Page 8

postmaster there.
He divided his time with his lawless band and the store, and, being well thought of in the mining camp, he had all the chance in the world to pursue his villainy and profit greatly from it.
As Chuck Snivel and his two companions entered the pass they turned and took one last look at Young Wild West and his partners.
"I reckon there's trouble ahead, fellers," the lieutenant of the outlaw band observed. "That boy is about ther worst one I ever had tackle me; an' ther others is putty nigh as bad, no doubt. It sorter strikes me that they're here fur ther purpose of findin' us out. Yer all heard what ther boy said as we come away, I reckon?"
"I sartinly did, fur one," answered the man nearest him.
"He said if we happened ter run across any outlaws in Furbidden Pass we should tell 'em that Young Wild West is lookin' fur 'um," the other added, quickly.
"That's jest what he said!" exclaimed Snivel. "Now, then, what does that mean?"
"It means that he's after us," said the second, shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders.
"It looks that way," the third villain admitted.
"Well, yer kin bet your life we'll tell ther outlaws, won't we?"
"We sartinly will."
"Come on, then! Let's git to ther cave."
They set their bronchos at a gallop and moved rapidly through the pass.
"I wonder if ther sign was all right?" said one, as they rode along. "I was thinkin' so much about what that boy said that I never thought ter look."
"It was all right," replied Snivel; "I looked at it. Ther sign that Cap Roche made on a barrel-head is there. Yer kin bet that it'll stay there, too. Young Wild West might take a notion ter knock it down; but if he does we'll see to it that it's put up ag'in, or another jest like it."
When they had covered about a mile they slowed down a little and began to look behind them very often.
The fact was that they were nearing the hidden headquarters of the outlaw band of Forbidden Pass.
The pass itself was just about two miles in length, the entrance being less than a quarter of a mile from the cluster of shanties that made up the mining camp of Big Bonanza.
At the other end the regular trail to Silver Bend would be reached, and by taking the cut through the short pass just about fifteen miles could be saved on a journey to Silver Bend.
But, as John Sedgwick had told Young Wild West, the miners no longer took the short cut, since so many holdups had occurred in the pass.
The clever man who captained and ran the gang of villains was now trying to make the traffic be resumed through the pass, and, as has been said, Chuck Snivel and two others were sent over to the little mining camp to make the miners believe that there was no longer any danger to travel that way.
There was no doubt but that they had succeeded pretty well, too, since they were now certain that Young Wild West was coming through that way.
The boy had said enough to convince them of that.
It was a little more than half way through the pass that time three villains, who had posed as cowboys at Big Bonanza, came to a halt.
They looked cautiously in both directions, and, not seeing a sign of a human being, Chuck Snivel nodded his head and exclaimed:
"I reckon everything's all right, boys. Come ahead!"
Then he turned and rode sharply to the left, to what seemed to be a solid wall of rock.
Reaching out his hand, he grasped a rope that was hidden beneath some hanging vines.
A sharp pull on this and up rolled a curtain, leaving an opening that was large enough for a horse and rider to pass through.
The curtain was made of some flexible material and was painted to imitate the rock that was on either side and above it.
Snivel rode in the opening and his companions followed him.
Once inside they all dismounted, and then Snivel walked over to the edge of the entrance and lifted a log that was lying there to an almost upright position, leaning it against a rock.
As he did this the curtain rolled down.
It was a rather simple affair, since the rope that was attached to the top of the curtain was tied to the log, and when the log was made to drop the curtain went up.
It would drop just as quickly when released, as there was a weight at the bottom.
The part of the cave the three men were now in was hardly any wider than the entrance itself, but it extended back a short distance and then took a sharp turn to the left.
As they led their horses to this point they