Then the boys all came rushing in, and Jack was with difficulty restrained from giving the half-conscious Toombs a very bad beating.
“Let him alone,” Ned advised. “We’ll tie him up and take him out with us. There are many charges which can be placed against him.”
Jack’s father soon regained consciousness, and there followed a long and intimate conversation between the two. Too anxious to remain in New York after the departure of Gilroy, the father had followed on, trying his best to reach Gilroy by wire, but failing. He had traveled night and day, reaching the camp only three hours before the arrival of the boys.
The reader may well understand the kind of a meal that was prepared just after sunrise. After even Jimmie was satisfied the boys went to sleep, leaving Gilroy, who declared that he could never sleep again, moving about the camp. After a couple of hours the boys were awakened by shrill screams issuing from the throat of the fat clerk.
Ned sprang to his feet and looked keenly about but at first saw no cause for alarm. What he did see in a moment, however, brought a flush of anger to his face. The place where Toombs had lain was unoccupied! In some mysterious manner, the fellow had made his escape while the boys slept!
“The Indians did it!” insisted Gilroy, his teeth chattering with fright. “I saw an Indian creep up and cut the ropes. I was so frozen of terror that I couldn’t stop him. An awful, painted savage! He threatened me with a knife when I managed to look in his direction.”
While Gilroy was making this explanation, Jimmie sprang to his feet and darted swiftly out of the cave. Ned called to him to return, but he paid no attention. In a moment the boy was out of sight.
Leaving the boys in wild commotion at the camp, Jimmie followed swiftly on in the direction which he believed Toombs to have taken.
“I just can’t let that geezer get away!” the boy muttered as he traveled over the rough ground at great speed.
After half an hour’s steady walking he came to an elevation from which he saw two figures moving away to the north. One of the men seemed to him to be Toombs, while the other might well be classed as an Indian. They were moving at a good pace, although the Indian was frequently obliged to assist his companion over rocky crags.