e of them said, as they all stepped forward, "we
don't see any necessity for this halt in the proceedings just because
Seth has a lad that belongs to the Boy Scouts."

"That's right," another member of the party declared. "Just you say the
word and we'll string these boys up in a holy minute!"

"Not with my consent!" exclaimed Seth. "I'm not murdering babies! And if
you fellows attempt anything of the kind, there'll be trouble!"

"Look here," the sheriff said, addressing Will. "You boys go off in a
corner somewhere and talk this thing over. Here's a pretty decent kind
of a fellow, a neighbor of mine, getting into trouble on your account.
Now you go and talk the thing over, and see if you can't decide to tell
the truth and help him out as well as yourself."

"Why can't you tell him the whole story?" asked Chester as the boys
grouped themselves in a shadowy corner of the cave. "Why don't you tell
him just why you came out tonight, and how we happened to come into the
cavern. I don't believe they'll do us any harm if you tell the truth."

"Now, look here, kid," Will answered, "if we tell the cowboys that we
came into the hills hunting for a demented man, they'll want to know who
the demented man is, and why he came into the hills without any
supplies. Can't you understand that?"

"If he does," replied Chester, "I'll tell him all about it."

"If you do," Will continued, "the cowboys will join in the search for
your father, and when they catch him, they'll turn him over to the two
detectives who are now in the hills searching for him."

Chester turned pale as death and shrank back against the wall of the
cave. His voice was piteous as he asked:

"So you know all about that, too, do you?"

"Yes," answered Will, "and we don't want the officers to get hold of
your father. If they do, it will spoil all our plans, because they'll
take him back to the penitentiary, and that would make new trouble for
our friend. We want to find him ourselves."

"But I don't understand--"

"I know that you don't understand," Will declared, "and this is no time
nor place to give you the information you lack."

"But I'll see father taken back to prison before I'll see you two boys
lynched!" insisted Chester.

"You'd better think the matter over carefully," Will advised. "The
chances are that they won't believe anything we say to them now."

"Well!" the sheriff called out impatiently. "Have you boys reached a
conclusion?"

"We have