“What is to be done now?” asked Frank, as he and Archie walked slowly along the dark passage-way.

“There’s only one thing we can do,” replied the latter, “and that is, to explore every room we come to until we find our way out of the rancho. Of course there is danger in it, but—There’s one of the rascals!”

A slight noise, a little in advance of them, attracted the attention of Archie, who elevated his lantern, and peered through the darkness just in time to catch a glimpse of a Ranchero, running swiftly toward the other end of the passage. Frank’s revolver was cocked and leveled in an instant, but he was too late to stop the man, who had no sooner been discovered than he vanished from their sight. He did not go far, however, but stopped at the end of the passage, and keeping his eyes fastened upon Archie’s lantern, called loudly for help.

“We’re discovered at last,” whispered Frank.

“But we’re not caught,” was Archie’s encouraging reply. “Let’s go into this room.”

Archie had noticed one thing that night, and that was, that the greater the hurry he was in to find a key to open any of the doors, the more time he wasted in finding it. There must have been twenty-five or thirty keys on the bunch, and he tried nearly all of them, before he found one that would turn the bolt. His hand trembled so violently that he could scarcely insert the keys into the lock, and, in his haste, he dropped the bunch more than once.

“How thankful I would be if that fellow should lose the power of speech for about five minutes,” said Archie, who seemed to be very much disconcerted by the Mexican’s furious yells. “I might as well give it up,” he added, in despair. “If the right key is on this bunch, I can’t find it.”

“Never say die,” replied Frank, who stood close at his cousin’s side, holding the lantern in one hand, and his revolver in the other. “We’ll not give up until we are bound hand and foot.”

All this while the Mexican had never once ceased his calls for assistance. He kept up a continuous roar, and presently answering shouts, and the tramping of numerous feet, told the fugitives that he had succeeded in attracting the attention of some of his companions. The reinforcements came on rapidly, and arrived in sight, and Archie had not yet been able to find a key that would open the door.

“Take it easy,” said Frank, who began to fear that his cousin’s nervousness and impatience would prove their ruin. He spoke calmly enough, but his face was very pale, and the lantern trembled in his grasp. This was the severest test that had been applied to his courage since he stood at that log awaiting the approach of the wounded and enraged grizzly; and yet he could speak in his ordinary tone of voice, without the least impatience, and advise his terrified and excited cousin to “take it easy.” It showed what nerve he had. He was getting desperate; and while he kept one eye upon Archie, and the other turned toward the farther end of the passage, he was calculating his chances for emptying his six-shooter among the Mexicans, before they could close around him. “There is nothing to be gained by being in such a hurry,” he added, as his cousin once more dropped the keys. “The more haste the less speed, you know.”

At this moment lights flashed in the passage, and dark forms came on at a rapid run. The prospect was certainly disheartening. Their only chance for escape was through that door, which refused to open for them, and there were their enemies, at least half a dozen of them, not more than twenty feet distant. But their good fortune had not yet deserted them. The right key was found, just in the nick of time—not a single instant too soon—the door flew open, and Frank and Archie, uttering a simultaneous cry of joy, slipped through and slammed it behind them. The moment it was closed Frank braced himself against it, and Archie inserted the key into the lock; but, before he could turn the bolt, a strong hand grasped the latch, and a stalwart Mexican threw his weight against the door, which was forced partly open, in spite of all Frank’s efforts to prevent it. A moment afterward, a hand holding a murderous looking bowie-knife appeared, followed first by a dark, scowling face, and then by a pair of broad shoulders. One of the Mexicans, who had reached the door a little in advance of his companions, was trying to squeeze himself into the the room; and he seemed in a fair way to accomplish his object.

“Here’s fifty thousand dollars,” said he, exultingly. “Come here, somebody. He’s got a pistol.”

The boys jammed the door against the Ranchero, with all their strength, but he was a match for both of them, and besides he had a great advantage. Frank and Archie could find no foothold upon the hard dirt floor. Their feet slipped about in every direction, and the Mexican, having braced himself against the door-post, was slowly but surely pushing them back. He would certainly have succeeded in working his way into the room, had it not been for Frank’s revolver. The sight of the cocked weapon, thrust full in his face, drove him back, and before the rest of the Mexicans could come to his assistance, the door was closed and fastened.

“Whew!” whispered Archie, drawing a long breath, and wiping the big drops of perspiration from his forehead, “that was a close shave, wasn’t it? It doesn’t seem to suit them very well.”

If one might judge by the uproar that arose in the passage, the Mexicans were certainly very much disappointed. They yelled at the top of their lungs, and some struck the door with their knives, while others threw themselves against it and tried to burst it open. But that door was not a common door. It was made of heavy planks, and was strong enough to successfully resist all their attacks. There was but one way in which they could effect an entrance, and that was by cutting the door down with an ax. Before that could be done, the fugitives would have ample time to hunt up a new hiding-place.

The boys had been so terrified by their recent danger, and so intent on preventing their enemies from following them into the room, that they had not thought of any thing else. They had not had time to look about the apartment in which they had taken refuge; and if there had been a dozen men in there, they would not have known it. As soon as they had somewhat recovered their composure, and satisfied themselves that their enemies in the passage-way could not immediately effect an entrance, they began an examination of the room, and found that, like most of the others in the underground portion of the rancho, it was used as a receptacle for various odds and ends, being filled with boxes, bales of goods, and articles of like description. They noticed also that the room communicated with another, and that the door between them stood wide open; and scarcely had they observed these points, before they became aware that there were men on the opposite side of that door. They could not see them, but they could distinctly hear their voices. One was angrily demanding something, and another was answering in an imploring tone. The men, whoever they were, had evidently got into some difficulty; for, with the voices, was occasionally mingled the sounds of a furious struggle.

“There’s a fight going on in there,” whispered Archie. “I hope they will keep one another employed until we can get out of here. Which way shall we go?”

That was the very question Frank was asking himself, and it was one he could not answer. If they went back into the passage, they would run directly into the clutches of their enemies; and if they retreated into the adjoining room, they would be captured by the men who were quarreling there. It would be useless for them to conceal themselves among the boxes and bales of goods, for two men could thoroughly ransack the room in half a minute’s time, and their hiding-place would speedily be discovered.

“Oh, we are caught at last,” said Archie, after he had thought the matter over. “We can’t stir a step, for our enemies are all around us.”

Thump! thump! Both boys jumped as if some one had suddenly fired a pistol close to their ears. The Rancheros in the passage had secured an ax, and were beginning the work of cutting down the door. The blows fell fast and furiously, and before the cousins had fairly made up their minds what was going on, the door began to shake and tremble violently. Something must be done at once; for in two minutes more the room would be filled with Rancheros. The boys looked at each other, and both seemed to have decided upon the same course of action; for, with one accord, they started toward the opposite side of the room. They moved swiftly, but noiselessly, and when they reached the door, they stopped and looked in and beheld a scene that filled them with astonishment. By the light of a lantern, which stood on a table in the center of the room, they saw a man lying upon the floor, and another kneeling upon his breast, and holding him by the throat with one hand, while, with the other, he flourished a knife in the air. The prostrate man was the chief of the robber band, and his antagonist was Pierre Costello. They were talking in angry, excited tones, and during the few seconds the cousins stood at the door, undecided how to act, they caught enough of the conversation to understand the cause of the trouble.

Pierre had boasted to Frank, before he left him in the ravine, that he had two strings to his bow this time. In case Don Carlos refused to pay him the reward he had offered for Frank’s capture, he would keep his prisoner safe, until his uncle ransomed him. If one failed, the other would not, for Mr. Winters would willingly give every cent he was worth, rather than permit harm to befall his nephew. But something was always happening to upset Pierre’s plans. The Rancheros, whom he had tried to cheat out of their share of the money, had followed him to the mountains, and taken charge of the prisoner themselves. Pierre was in the court when Frank was brought in, and although he said nothing, he was highly enraged. He could, of course, have claimed a portion of the reward, but that would not satisfy him—he wanted it all; and he mentally resolved that, before morning, he would smuggle Frank out of the rancho, and carry him back to the mountains.

While thinking the matter over, and trying to decide upon the best plan for accomplishing his object, he came to the conclusion that it would be well to make a change in his programme. He was satisfied that the events of the night had broken up the robber band (the disappearance of Frank and Archie would create a great commotion in the settlement, and the Don’s secret would be certain to leak out somewhere), and Pierre determined to secure his own safety by deserting his friends, and leaving the country. He would not, however, go empty handed. The Don had plenty of gold stowed away in some secret cavern; Pierre wanted some of it; and the only way he could get it was to compel the chief to conduct him to its place of concealment. This he had decided to do; and when the Don went below to renew his search for Archie, Pierre accompanied him; and after leading him into a deserted room in a remote corner of the rancho (one of the few which happened to be unlocked), he ordered the Don to show him where the coveted gold was hidden. Frightened by the sight of the knife which Pierre brandished before his eyes, the chief would have gladly complied with the demand, but, for the simple reason, that he could not get into the room where his treasure was concealed. The key was attached to the bunch in Archie’s pocket. He had long ago missed the keys from their accustomed nail in his room, but he did not know what had become of them.

“I don’t can do it, Meester Bierre,” groaned the Don, for the twentieth time. “I don’t got de key. It’s lost.”

“You can’t make me believe that story,” replied Pierre, tightening his grasp on the Don’s throat, and raising his knife as he spoke. “Once more, and for the last time, where is it?”

The Don’s answer was cut short by an interruption that was as sudden as it was unexpected. Two figures glided quickly into the room, and while one stopped to close and lock the door, the other ran straight up to Pierre, and presented a cocked revolver in his face. The robber, who had been so fully occupied with the Don that he had not heard the sounds of the ax, or the noise occasioned by the struggle at the door, was astonished beyond measure. The hand in which he held the knife fell slowly to his side, his under jaw dropped down, and he shrunk away from the muzzle of the revolver without uttering a word.

“Ach!” exclaimed the Don, who was no less amazed than Pierre, “here ish von of dese leetle poys!”

“Here are both of them,” said Archie, who, having succeeded in finding a key to lock the door, now hurried up with a pistol in each hand. “Well—by—gracious! Pierre Costello!”

Archie was as much astonished at finding himself in the presence of his old enemy, as his cousin had been. He bent down and gazed earnestly into Pierre’s face, and then straightened up and leveled both his pistols at the robber’s head. “Why, Frank!” he exclaimed, “it’s he, sure enough.”

“I know it. This is not the first time I have met him to-night. Drop that knife,” he added, sternly, addressing himself to Pierre. “Now, stretch yourself out on the floor, face downward, and put your hands behind your back.”

The Ranchero, at this moment, did not act much like the reckless, desperate man he had appeared a short time before. The sight of the pistols took all the courage out of him; and he obeyed both Frank’s commands without an instant’s hesitation. The sash, which the latter wore around his waist, answered all the purposes of a rope, and Pierre speedily found himself as helpless as though he had been in double-irons.

The Don, in the meantime, had regained his feet, and stood watching all that was going on with a smile of great satisfaction on his face. The astonishment occasioned by the unexpected appearance of the boys, was, for the moment, lost sight of in the delight and thankfulness he felt at finding himself released from the power of his enemy.

“Now, dis ish all right,” said he, gleefully. “It’s petter you makes dat rope pooty fast, leetle poys. Ach! I fix you, Meester Bierre,” he added, shaking his clenched hand at the prostrate robber; “I makes blenty droubles for you, mine friend. Come mit me, leetle poys; I shows you de way out, now.”

Frank and Archie were not in the least surprised at this proposition. It was a part of their plan to compel the Don to guide them out of the rancho, and they knew that he would readily consent. They knew, too, that he was as treacherous as an Indian, and that he would bear watching. It was their intention to keep as close to him as possible.

“Go ahead, Don,” said Archie, taking the lantern from the table; “but bear one thing in mind, and that is, at the very first exhibition of treachery on your part, we will shoot you with as little hesitation as we shot Old Davy this morning.”

The chief earnestly protested that the boys need have no fears on that score. They had done him a great service in saving him from the knife of Pierre Costello, and he would repay it by showing them the way out of the rancho. Besides, he was not foolish enough to attempt any treachery, while those three loaded pistols were so near him. The boys listened to all he said, but did not believe a word of it. It was not reasonable to suppose that he would permit them to escape, when he knew that, as soon as they reached home, they would tell their friends every thing that had happened at the rancho. They were as well satisfied that he had some plan in his head, as if he had told them so; but they were resolved to watch him so closely that he would have no opportunity to carry it out.

When Archie picked up the lantern, the Don started toward a door at the farther end of the room, which, upon being opened, revealed a narrow stone stairway leading up to the rooms above. As they were about to ascend these stairs, a loud crash in the adjoining room, followed by a chorus of hoarse yells, told the boys that the Rancheros had at last succeeded in cutting down the door. The Don would have stopped to inquire into the cause of the disturbance, but his companions pushed him on; and while Frank watched him to see that he did not escape, Archie overhauled his keys until he found one that would lock the door. This done, the Don led the way up the stairs, the boys following close at his heels.