t, covering the ground rapidly.

He figured it that the storekeeper of Silver Bend was not going very
fast, however, and when he thought he ought to be pretty close to him he
brought his horse to a sudden halt and listened.

Wild had reckoned rightly, for he could hear the clatter of hoofs ahead.

"Ah!" he exclaimed, under his breath. "That was a pretty good guess.
Another minute and I would have been right up chose to him--close enough
for him to see me, perhaps. But I hardly think he has heard me, so I'll
keep right on."

He set out again, keeping his horse at a walk.

Suddenly the hoofbeats ahead ceased.

Wild let the horse walk right on, for the sounds that came from
Spitfire's hoofs could hardly be heard, the ground being very soft just
there.

But when about a hundred feet had been covered Wild brought his horse to
a halt and dismounted.

Throwing the bridle rein over the animals head, he hurried forward on
foot.

He rounded a turn in the pass just in time to distinguish the outlines
of a horse, and rider making straight for the almost perpendicular wall
at the left of the pass.

Then, all of a sudden, both man and horse disappeared!

"By jove!" exclaimed our hero, under his breath. "I reckon Cap Roche has
made a stop before going over to Silver Bend. Now it is for me to find
out where he has stopped. I didn't think I would have as much luck as
this. Whew! I reckon it won't take us long to settle accounts with the
outlaws of Forbidden Pass."

Stepping forward noiselessly, he was soon at the very spot where he had
last seen the horse and rider.

There was nothing there now and only the bleak walls of stone were
before him.

It was very dark in the pass too, but he could see the stars twinkling
overhead, and he was thus enabled to distinguish objects.

Wild went straight to the face of the cliff.

He put out his hand.

It was not rock that he touched, but a piece of canvas or similar
material.

This was nothing new to the dashing young deadshot, for he had been up
against all kinds of devices, and, he simply gave a low chuckle of
satisfaction.

"I'm mighty glad I followed you, Mr. Cap Roche," he thought. "Now, I
reckon it will be easy to settle the business. I'll just mark this spot,
and then ride back to the camp."

It was an easy thing to mark the spot, for he did it by rolling three
stones together, which he had no trouble in finding with his feet.

He took care that they were not dir