It will be too warm for them here. As I was about to say, I have a proposition to make to you. Until things quiet down a little it is my suggestion that we get across the Rio Grande and go into retreat there in our old joint. We"ve got a lot of valuable stuff here that we can"t get out at present and we"ll have to leave it here. The Rangers are watching this locality altogether too closely for comfort so far as we are concerned. Withem is nosing around El Paso as you know, lying low for some folks that we know of there. No use to take chances when we don"t have to. If you"re all agreed we"ll just slope to the other side of the river and lie low for a month. What"s your idea?"
"I"m agreed, if you"ll give me a chance to get even with that gang of boys first," spoke up Tucker.
"You mean that you want to stay here after we"ve gone?" smiled Captain Willie.
"I reckoned I"d like to until I"d done what I told you."
"Well, I reckon you won"t do anything of the sort. When we go out of here, none of us comes back till the whole crowd returns. Is that clear, Dunk?"
The outlaw growled an unintelligible reply.
"The Rangers have drawn off, Captain," called the lookout.
"Which way?"
"Toward the camp."
"They"re going to stay there all night," decided the leader. "Well, we"ll watch our chance and perhaps we"ll be able to get away some time late in the night. Are you all agreed on getting across the river if we can make it?"
The men said they were.
"Then that"s settled. Get out the grub. We"ll feed up while we"ve got the chance."
No fire was built. The men munched their food cold. Little was said among them.
And now Tad began to ponder over certain other phases of his situation.
How were these outlaws going to get out? There surely must be some way of opening the way to the outside. Still, the boy did not see how they could move the tree from the inside. If they could do it he could. He decided, however, that it would not be safe to trust to his finding the secret of the opening. Far better would it be to bolt at the first opportunity.
Stacy had kept unusually quiet, though his eyes had grown large when he heard the conversation of the men. At least there was a peep-hole through which the lookout was keeping watch. It occurred to Chunky that he could yell after the men left, and thus attract the attention of his own fellows. Tad had a different idea in mind, though he had not yet fully formulated his plans along this line.
The outlaws having finished their lunch, some rolled up in their blankets and went to sleep undisturbed by the fact that a band of Rangers was encamped within a short quarter of a mile of them.
As for the boys who were in such a tight place, they hardly dared move for fear of frightening the horses and thus exciting the suspicions of the outlaws further down the underground pa.s.sage. When the boys did change their positions it was done as cautiously as they knew how.
One Pony near them evidently scented them, for it grew restless and kept snorting, but that was all.
The hours dragged on wearily. The boys did not know whether it were night or day. Finally the lookout came down to where Jones was pacing steadily back and forth.
"Well?"
"Something going on over there," answered the lookout, jerking his head toward the opening.
"What do you think?"
"I don"t know. They"re running around out there with torches."
"Where are they?"
"On the other side of the clearing."
"Got their rifles with them?"
"No."
"McKay there?"
"The whole crowd"s there."
"They"ve missed us," whispered Chunky. "They"re looking for us."
"Sh---h---h---h," warned Tad softly. Jones pondered for a moment, then he turned to the lookout sharply.
"Wake up the men," he said.
"I reckon something is going to be did," whispered the irrepressible Chunky. Something was.
CHAPTER XXIV
CONCLUSION
The waking of the men was a matter of seconds merely. A touch on the shoulder and the man touched was on his feet as if propelled by springs, hand instinctively going to the revolver dangling from his belt.
Tad, now keenly alive to what was going on, had partially thrown the blankets off, Chunky having done the same.
"Don"t stir. I"ll tell you when it is time to move," warned Tad.
"Men, I"ve changed my mind," announced the leader. "Are you ready for a fight?"
"Sure we are if it"s Rangers you want us to fight," answered a voice.
"Yes, it"s the same old crowd, and a bunch of youngsters thrown in. I don"t know what the trouble is, but they"re racing around out there with torches---"
"Mebby they"ve found the trail," suggested one.
"No, I reckon some of the youngsters have strayed away and got lost.
All the better for us. The Rangers won"t be looking for us."
"They have left their rifles in the camp. They"ve got their revolvers with them, of course. Take your rifles. Put out all the lights, then while the watch is being kept we"ll step out and give them a volley.
Be careful to get to one side of the opening so we don"t draw their attention too sharply to the opening. That might leave some marks and lead them to investigate when day comes. We"ll be a long way from here by that time, but I hope we"ll leave a few dead Rangers behind us."
Dunk Tucker was grinning broadly. This was the opportunity for which he had longed.
"Sneak out quietly. Take a good aim. Give them a rattler of a volley.
Every man pick his mark. You can"t miss. I"ll look for McKay. But don"t all aim at the same mark or you won"t do much damage."
Tad could not repress a shudder. He realized the desperateness of Willie Jones" character fully now. A man who could plan such a cold-blooded crime could have no heart. And the worst of it was that Tad saw no way to prevent the crime.