to the entrance from the valley,
we'll start over again, and go into and through every one o' 'em. We'll
divide our party into smaller groups o' three and four, and in that way
we kin cover all of them at the same time. What do you say?"

"All right," said Madge, still looking upon him with suspicion. "But
Handsome and I will remain with you, Turner."

"That is what I hoped you'd do," replied Nick; but he spoke with a
meaning which she did not understand.

They followed the plan suggested by the detective. That is, they
returned to the entrance from the valley, and there Nick divided his
followers into six parties, thus arranging that four of the parties
should contain four searchers each, one of them should contain three,
and his own immediate party should consist of himself, with Handsome and
Madge.

To the leaders of each of these subparties he gave the necessary
directions, with the result that he sent them off as they arrived at
their respective galleries, and after a little he found himself alone
with the two chiefs of the outlaws.

"There ain't much for us to do now," he said. "There ain't much more
searching as we kin do. There's only two galleries left for us to
explore 'less we find some hiding place that's remained unknown until
now."

"And that isn't likely, is it?" asked Madge. Her voice was still filled
with suspicion against him.

"You know as much about that ere as I do," he replied.

But they searched each of the galleries without any result, and Nick
finally directed the route so that at last they paused to rest directly
in front of the movable rock behind which was the entrance to the place
where Patsy was concealed.

And Nick seated himself so that his own back was against that rock, for
he did not care to run the chance that Handsome might lean against it
hard enough to move it--at least, not until he was in every way prepared
for that part of the drama.

Madge was tired by this time, and she showed it. She leaned against the
rocky wall and sighed deeply; and Handsome furnished the cue for the
next scene--so perfectly that Nick could not have ordered it otherwise
if he had tried.

"I'm dry," said Handsome, yawning. "This is dry work, Madge. Don't you
think we had better give the thing up for a time and wait. Pat will be
starved out after a little. He'll have to come out and get caught."

"If he ain't lost in the galleries," suggested Nick; and Madge replied:

"No; we won't give it