ly to Bob's ears came the sound of a faint groan, not a foot
from his head, it seemed to him, as he lay on the very edge of the
hole, straining to listen. It startled him, but at once he realized
whence it came. One of the pursuers, perhaps the man who had stumbled
first into their barricade, must have been knocked out by a missile,
and was coming to. Then Bob had a wild idea.

Rising to his knees, he peered down into the hole, descried a dark,
round object just below him which he took to be the head of a man, and
bracing himself with one arm, plunged the other into the hole.

Then, while Frank gasped and Tom Barnum swore softly, from the
opposite side, in wondering admiration, the big fellow rose to his
feet and with a mighty tug pulled an inert body clear through the
hole. One look at the face was sufficient for identification despite
the blood streaming from an ugly gash over the right temple. It was
the man called Mike. His eyelids were fluttering. He was recovering
consciousness.

"Quick, some of you," gasped Bob, retaining his hold of the body, and
holding the fellow up as a fisherman lifts up his catch to admire it;
"search him. Get his revolver."

Frank sprang to obey, being the nearest. Running his hands up and down
the man's body, he was met only with disappointment. But then he felt
something bulky at the belt. It was a revolver in a holster. Stripping
off the weapon, he once more ran his hands over the fellow's body and,
in a trousers' pocket, found a handful of bullets, which he
abstracted.

Mike now began to squirm, and lash out with his heels.

"Got them?" gasped Bob.

"Yes," said Frank. "Searched him twice."

"Then back with you, Mister Mike," said Bob, dropping the other back
into the hole. "We want no prisoners on our hands. And, listen," he
added, "we've got your revolver. Just tell that to your friends if
they get inquisitive and want to follow us."

A curse was his answer. Then they could hear Mike start to scramble
back through the tunnel, and to call to his mates.

"My boy," said Captain Folsom, "I want to tell you that was one of the
quickest bits of work I've ever seen. You certainly have put a
different complexion on matters."

"Oh, that was just a bit of luck," said Bob. "When I heard him groan,
it came to me all in a flash what to do."

"Look here," interrupted Frank, "thanks to Bob, we have stalled off
pursuit. Besides, we have a revolver now. I don't feel like running
off an