But what could he do now? He had repulsed them for the time, but they were in the cabin, and it would not be for long that he could keep them back. They would soon find a way to reach him.
He leaped to the swinging window and flung it open, thrusting the revolvers lightly into the side pockets of the coat he wore. He looked down into the depths of the chasm, through which ran the stream of water.
"It is a long distance down there," came hoa.r.s.ely from the lad"s lips.
"I will try it! It is our last hope."
With a bound, he caught up the coil of rope, then he rushed to the window and flung it out. As one end was made fast to a rafter, it hung dangling from the window.
Frank looked out, and he saw that the rope reached to the stream of water.
At the same time, he heard Black Harry calling on his braves to follow him up the stairs.
"Come!" said Frank, hurrying to the side of the girl, and grasping her arm. "There is one chance in a thousand that we may do the trick and escape alive. We"ll make a try for that chance."
She did not question him, she did not hold back, but she bravely trusted everything to his judgment.
Frank pa.s.sed through the window in advance. He twisted the rope around one leg, and he secured a good hold on it with his hands. Then he said to the girl:
"Be lively now! Get through the window, put your arms about my neck, cling for your life, and trust to Frank Merriwell and Providence."
She did so, and they were soon descending the rope.
Frank went down, hand under hand, as he did not dare slide at first, knowing that his hands would be torn and bleeding, and that he must lose his hold before the bottom was reached. With the twist about his leg to aid him, he managed to sustain himself and his living burden very well.
The girl whispered in his ear:
"Courage! You are the n.o.blest fellow I ever saw--the greatest hero in the whole wide world!"
He made no reply, for his teeth were set, and he was mentally praying for strength and time.
Down they went--down, down. And then, when nearly half the distance had been covered, a shout came from above.
"Here they are! Ten thousand fiends! They shall not get away alive!"
It was the voice of Black Harry himself.
"Oh, for a little more time!" panted Frank.
But no more time was to be given him. He heard the voice of the boy outlaw crying:
"Look up here, Frank Merriwell--look up! I have a little trick to show you."
Frank looked upward, and he saw Black Harry leaning far out of the window. A knife glittered in the hand of the young desperado.
"I am going to cut the rope!" came down to the ears of the boy and girl.
"Poor fools! Did you think to escape me! You will go down to your death in the creek!"
Frank clung with one hand to the rope, although the strain was terrible.
With his other hand he drew one of the revolvers from his pocket, lifted it, took aim, fired.
The weapon spoke just as Black Harry slashed at the rope.
There was a shriek of pain, a human body shot out from the window, and, as it went whirling downward, the rope parted!
Then down shot Frank and Lona to fall into the stream. They struck where the water was quite deep, and they were unharmed, although the girl was unconscious when our hero bore her to solid ground.
As for Black Harry, he struck where some jagged rocks reared their heads from the water, and he lay there, in a huddled heap, and dead, forever past harming any living creature.
And yet, as was afterward discovered by examination, he had not been touched by the bullet which Frank had fired up at him. He had been startled by the shot, had lost his balance, and had fallen to his death.
Frank was trying to restore Lona to consciousness when he heard the rattle of rifle and revolver shots, the sound coming down faintly from above. Following it there was wild and continued cheering, and still more shooting.
"It sounds like a battle," thought the boy. "I believe the outlaws have been attacked."
He was right. For all that he fancied he had thrown his pursuers from the trail, Black Harry had been tracked to Cade"s Canyon. The guard was captured while the a.s.sault on the hut was taking place, and then Hank Kildare, at the head of the trailers, swept down on the astonished braves.
The battle was short and sharp, and but few of the outlaws escaped. Some were killed, and some were captured.
One of the captured ruffians told them where to find Black Harry, Frank and the kidnaped girl.
Lariats were tied together, and a line was made long enough to reach the bottom of the chasm.
Lona Dawson was drawn up first, and then Frank tied the rope about the body of his double, permitting them to draw him to the top of the bluff.
Frank came up last, and he found the men from Elreno in a rather dazed condition.
"Is thar two Black Harrys?" asked one, staring at the dead boy, and then at his living counterpart.
"Moses in der pulrushes!" groaned Solomon Rosenb.u.m, who was on hand.
"There vas only von, und he vas deat, vid der accent on der deat. Dat leds me oudt, und I don"d vas aple to take him pack East vor murter."
"Take him back East for murder?" questioned a man. "What do you mean by that."
"I mean that he is wanted in the East, and I have been tracking him for the last two months," said the supposed Jew, suddenly speaking without a trace of accent.
"Who are you?"
"I am Burchel Jones, a detective."
"Burchel Jones! Impossible! Jones was the fellow who arrested this boy for Black Harry."
"That fellow was not Burchel Jones; he is an impostor, and he was working for the reward offered for Black Harry"s capture. If he is in Elreno when we get back there, I shall have a little settlement with him."
Then Lona Dawson, who had recovered, told them how bravely Frank had fought for her, and the boy suddenly found himself regarded as a hero by the very ones who had been fierce to lynch him a short time before.
"Hurro!" cried Barney Mulloy, who was on hand. "Oi knew ye"d come out at th" top av th" hape in th" ind, Frankie, be b"y!"
And the delighted Irish boy gave his friend a "bear"s hug."
It was a triumphant party that returned to Elreno. Lona Dawson was restored to her wounded father, the body of Black Harry was placed on exhibition, and Frank was cheered and stared at by admiring eyes wherever he went.