“And you saved him?”

“I did.”

“And he never revealed his secrets to you?”

“Only the secret of this cave.  He often made strange remarks and hinted that some day I would receive my reward.  We roomed here together all of one winter, but he died and never opened his mouth to reveal where his gold was, if it is true that he had any.  I believe he did, but it will never do me any good, and I do want to make a fortune somehow, but I suppose I never will.  Yes, lad, there are thousands of skeletons of gold-seekers hid away in caverns in these mountains, victims of the same ambition which is leading us to take such desperate chances.”

Desmond was very greatly interested in the story of the old Mexican, and he asked a number of questions.

“You never got the least inkling as to where his gold was hidden?”

“I don’t know that he had any gold; it is only a suspicion on my part.”

“He lived in this cave?”

“Yes.”

“Did you ever search here?”

“Well, you bet I did.”

“And did you explore?”

“You bet I did.”

“And you never found anything?”

“I never did.”

“Nor secured any indication?”

“Never.”

“Possibly you did not look in the right place.”

“That is dead certain,” came the natural answer.

CHAPTER IV.

On an exploring expedition—­A find in A cave—­the
sepulchral voice—­the explanation—­Desmond
gets square on A trick—­strange longings—­the
finding of A nugget.

It was about midnight when the older men lay down on their blankets to sleep.  Creedon had a big silver bull’s-eye watch, and he said he always kept it going.

Desmond pretended to lie down and go to sleep also, but his head was filled with visions of the Mexican’s hidden gold.  He had an idea that Creedon’s investigations might have been very superficial; he determined to make a thorough and systematic search, and he actually believed he would find the hidden gold.

Brooks and Creedon were good sleepers; both were very weary and they were soon in a sound slumber, and then Desmond arose, stole on tiptoe over beside Creedon and secured the mask lantern.  A strange, weird scene was certainly presented.  There had been a big fire; the embers were all aglow and illuminated the cave.  There lay Brooks and Creedon, looking picturesque in their hunting garb, and there was Desmond stealing on tiptoe under the glare of the firelight to secure the mask lantern.

Having secured the lantern the lad moved away and made for a crevice which promised the best results.  He knew enough of rock conformations to go forward very carefully, always flashing his light ahead and studying the path in advance, and so slowly, carefully, and surely he moved along until he had traversed, as he calculated, a distance of two hundred and fifty feet, when suddenly his flashlight revealed a solid wall in front of him.