Well, thank goodness, we have found a back door to that place.

It was not a pleasant idea that we might be shut up there with the option of being either shot or starved." "They would take some time to starve us, Dick; nine horses would last us for a long time." "Yes, but it would come sooner or later, Tom.

Anyhow, I shall feel a great deal more comfortable now I know that there is a way out." "But the Indians know of it too, Dick, if, as Dave thinks, they came down this way to attack the Mexicans." "Yes, that is not such a comfortable idea." "Well, lads, what do you make of it ?" Dave shouted to them as they approached the bottom.
"We have been right up to the top; the ponies could go anywhere.

It is narrow in places, but we have passed many worse on the way; the cliffs never close up, so even at the worst places there is room for them to get along with their loads." "What is it like at the top ?" "Level ground along to the drop of the cliffs, hills behind it to the south." "Well, it is a comfort there is a way down into the valley.

Anyhow, since you have been gone, we have been fossicking about, and there is no doubt about the gold; it is the richest place any of us have ever seed." "Have you found water, Dave ?" "No, that is the one thing bad, we shall have to go out to fetch water, but maybe if we dig in the center of the channel we shall find it.