Long
John Butterfield.

He was headed straight for our hiding-place, and it was with some
uneasiness that I observed he had a revolver strapped about his waist.
In appearance he looked wilder and more unkempt than ever, while the
sharp, suspicious manner in which he would every now and then stop short
and glance quickly all around, showed him to be nervous and ill at ease.

While Joe and I stood there silent and rigid as statues, Long John came
on down the slope, until presently he stopped scarce ten steps from us
beside a big, flat stone. There, for a moment, he stood, his hand on his
revolver, his body bent and his head thrust forward, his ears cocked and
his little eyes roving all about the crater--the picture of a watchful
wild animal--when, satisfied apparently that he was alone and
unobserved, he went down upon his knees, threw aside several pieces of
rock, and thrusting his arm under the flat stone, he pulled out--a sack!

So close to us was he, that even in that uncertain light we could
distinguish the word, "Pelican," stenciled upon it in big black letters.

Laying this sack upon the flat stone, John reached into the hole again,
and, one after another, brought out four others. Apparently there were
no more in there, for, having done this, he rose to his feet again,
looked all about him once more, and then walked off a short distance
up-stream. At the point where the channel overflowed he stopped again,
when, to our wonderment he pulled off his coat, rolled up one sleeve,
and going down upon his knees, began scratching around in the water. In
a few seconds he fished out one at a time five dripping sacks, all of
which he carried over and set down beside the first five.

Evidently he was working with some set purpose; though to us watchers it
was all a perfectly mysterious proceeding.

A few steps from where the sacks were piled was a little ledge of rock
less than a foot high, above which was a steep slope covered with loose
fragments of stone. Taking up the sacks, two at a time, John carried
them over to this spot, laid them all, end to end, close under the
little ledge, and then, climbing up above them, he sat down, and with
his big, flat feet sent the loose shale running down until the row of
sacks was completely buried.

This seemed to be all he wanted, for, having examined the result of his
work and satisfied himself apparently that the sacks were perfectly
concealed, he turned and went straight off