ed with
a yell. Bud sat up quickly. I pointed the revolver at him, then at
Greaser, and kept moving it from one side to the other.

"Don't move! I'll shoot!" I cried.

"Good boy!" yelled Dick. "You've got the drop. Keep it, Ken, keep it!
Don't lose your nerve. Edge round here and cut me loose.... Bud, if you
move I'll make him shoot. Come on, Ken."

"Greaser, cut him loose!" I commanded the snarling Mexican.

I trembled so that the revolver wabbled in my hand. Trying to hold it
steadied, I squeezed it hard. Bang! It went off with a bellow like a
cannon. The bullet scattered the gravel near Greaser. His yellow face
turned a dirty white. He jumped straight up in his fright.

"Cut him loose!" I ordered.

Greaser ran toward Dick.

"Look out, Ken! Behind you! Quick!" yelled Dick.

I beard a crunching of gravel. Even as I wheeled I felt a tremendous
pull on the lasso and I seemed to be sailing in the air. I got a blurred
glimpse of Herky-Jerky leaning back on the taut lasso. Then I plunged
down, slid over the rocks, and went souse into the spring.

X. ESCAPE

Down, down I plunged, and the shock of the icy water seemed to petrify
me. I should have gone straight to the bottom like a piece of lead but
for the lasso. It tightened around my chest, and began to haul me up.

I felt the air and the light, and opened my eyes to see Herky-Jerky
hauling away on the rope. When he caught sight of me he looked as if
ready to dodge behind the bank.

"Whar's my gun?" he yelled.

I had dropped it in the spring. He let the lasso sag, and I had to swim.
Then, seeing that my hands were empty, he began to swear and to drag me
round and round in the pool. When he had pulled me across he ran to
the other side and jerked me back. I was drawn through the water with
a force that I feared would tear me apart. Greaser chattered like a
hideous monkey, and ran to and fro in glee. Herky-Jerky soon had me
sputtering, gasping, choking. When he finally pulled me out of the hole
I was all but drowned.

"You bow-legged beggar!" shouted Dick, "I'll fix you for that."

"Whar's my gun?" yelled Herky, as I fell to the ground.

"I lost--it," I panted.

He began to rave. Then I half swooned, and when sight and hearing fully
returned I was lying in the cave on my blankets. A great lassitude
weighted me down. The terrible thrashing about in the icy water had
quenched my spirit. For a while I was too played out to move, and lay
there in my we