the outlaws!"

Dode led the way to the opening indicated, passed, with the others at
his heels, through a long passage, and finally came to a plank door
which was securely fastened on the inside. From this position the
racket outside became only a hum.

The boy unfastened the door and swung it inside. Beyond lay the
slope, and, beyond that, the valley and the distant mountains. The
air of the night was sweet and clear after the close atmosphere of
the underground room.

From the other side of the ridge, which was not very high, came shots
and the vicious shrieks of a pestered mule! Ned turned to the south,
from which direction the clamor came, and passed as swiftly as
possible along the slant of the elevation.

"Are you going to attack the outlaws from the rear?" asked Teddy. "We
are taking the wrong course if you want to go back to camp."

"Huh!" Jimmie grunted, trudging along puffing at every breath, "we've
got to find Frank and Uncle Ike, I guess."

When the party came to the end of the ridge under which the
counterfeiters had been working, they faced the valley, some distance
away, in which the cabin of Mary Brady stood. Through the moonlight
they could just distinguish the crude stone chimney of the structure.

"Now, Ned," Jimmie explained, "if we turn up the slope here and do a
little shooting when we reach a good elevation, the counterfeiters