of the mountain."

"Oh, this is the pass, is it?" exclaimed the delighted lad; "then we have
a clear road before us straight to New Boston."

"Clear of all but one thing."

"What's that?"

"The red spalpeens; they're always turning up when you don't expect 'em,
and don't want 'em."

"How far are we away from the cave, where we left the half dozen Apaches?"

"I don't think it's much more than a mile, though it may be a mile and a
half."

"Well, that's very good; we've got that much start, and it's worth
having."

"And there's where ye're mistook, as the gals used to obsarve when anybody
tried to run down my beauty. The path that we come along, ye'll mind,
makes many turns and twists, and the ind of it all is that it strikes the
pass on the other side of the cave, and we've got to ride right by the
spot which we lift."

This was not cheering information, although, everything considered, the
two had cause to congratulate themselves upon their extraordinary success
up to this time.