llie and his horse away a little distance.

"Fetch them packs, Frank," he called. The mustang followed, and
presently Frank came with one of the packs. Fresno slipped the saddle
from his horse, and, laying it under a tree, he pulled gun and rifle
from their sheaths. The gun he stuck in his belt; the rifle he leaned
against a branch.

"Sandy'll plug Old Miles in jest another minnit," remarked Fresno.

"What's this other game?" queried Frank, curiously.

"It's gold, Frank--gold," replied Fresno; and in few words he told
his comrade about Horn's buried treasure. But he did not mention the
condition under which the girl would reveal its hiding-place. Evidently
he had no doubt that he could force her to tell.

"Let's rustle," cried Frank, his dark face gleaming. "We want to git out
of this country quick."

"You bet! An' I wonder when we'll be fetchin' up with them railroad
camps we heerd about... Camps full of gold an' whisky an' wimmen!"

"We've enough on our hands now," replied Frank. "Let's rustle fer
thet--"

A gun-shot interrupted him. Then a hoarse curse rang out--and then two
more reports from a different gun.

"Them last was Sandy's," observed Fresno, coolly. "An' of course they
landed... Go see if Old Miles hit Sandy."

Frank strode off under the trees.

Allie had steeled herself to anything, and those shots warned her that
now she had two less enemies to contend with, and that she must be quick
to seize the first opportunity to act. She could leap upon the mustang,
and if she was lucky she could get away. She could jump for the
Winchester and surely shoot one of these villains, perhaps both of them.
But the spirit that gave her the nerve to attempt either plan bade her
wait, not too long, but longer, in the hope of a more favorable moment.

Frank returned to Fresno, and he carried the sack of gold that had
caused dissension. Fresno laughed.

"Sandy's plugged hard--low down," said Frank. "He can't live. An' Old
Miles is croaked."

"A-huh! Frank, I'll go git the other packs. An' you see what's in this
sack," said Fresno.

When he got out of sight, Allie slipped the lasso from her waist.

"I don't need that hanging to me," she said.

"Sure you don't, sweetheart," replied the ruffian Frank. "Thet man
Fresno is rough with ladies. Now I'm gentle.... Come an' let me spill
this sack in your lap."

"I guess not," replied Allie.

"Wal, you're sure a cat... Look at her eyes!... All right, don't git mad