x, or the housekeeper, would release you in the morning."

This answer came upon Frank like a bucket of cold water. His fine plan
for releasing himself and capturing the robber would not work. The
latter saw his look of disappointment, and laughed derisively.

"I am too old," said he, "to allow a boy like you to play any tricks
upon me. You won't tell me where the key is, then?"

"No, I won't. If that money was mine, you might take it, and I would run
the risk of catching you before you could get very far away with it. But
it belongs to my uncle; you have no claim upon it, and, what's more, you
sha'n't touch it."

"Is that your final answer?" asked the Ranchero, bracing himself for a
strong pull. "You had better ponder the matter well before you decide.
What do you suppose your uncle will think, when he comes home and finds
you hanging to this hook? He had rather lose the money a thousand times
over than to part with you."

Frank shuddered as the Ranchero said this, and, for the first time, he
felt his firmness giving away. But he was possessed of no ordinary
degree of fortitude, and, after a momentary thrill of terror, his
courage returned, and he looked at Pierre as bravely as ever.

The Ranchero paused for a moment or two, to give his last words time to
have their full effect, and then said: "Once more--yes or no."

"No, I tell you," was the firm reply. Scarcely were the words out of his
mouth, when the Ranchero began to pull down upon the lasso, and Frank,
in spite of his desperate struggles, was drawn up until he almost swung
clear of the floor. Pierre held him in this position for a few
seconds--it seemed an age to Frank, who retained his consciousness all
the while--and then gradually slackened up on the lasso, until his
prisoner's feet once more rested firmly on the floor. Frank reeled a
moment like a drunken man, gazed about him with a bewildered air, and
attempted to raise his hands to his throat, while the Ranchero stood
watching him with a smile of triumph.

"I have given you one more chance," said he. "Have you come to your
senses yet."

Frank tried in vain to reply. The choking he had endured had deprived
him of his power of utterance, but it had not affected his courage or
his determination. There was not the least sign of yielding about him.

Pierre had thus far conducted his operations with the most business-like
coolness, and in much the same spirit that he would have exhibited had
he been b