Meanwhile Frank, Archie, and Johnny, all unconscious of the plans that were being formed against them, enjoyed themselves to the utmost, and wasted a good deal of time every day in laughing over the incidents that had transpired during their ride to Captain Porter’s ranch.  Archie, especially, had a great deal to say about it.  He had an accomplishment, of which we have never before had occasion to speak:  he was a first-class mimic; and he took no little pride in showing off his powers.  He could imitate the brogue of an Irishman the broken English of a Dutchman, or the nasal twang of a Yankee, to perfection; and one day, while he was in the barn saddling his horse, he carried on a lengthy conversation with Bob Kelly (who was on the outside of the building), about some runaway cattle, and the old trapper thought all the while that he was talking to his chum, Dick Lewis.  Now Archie had a new subject to practice upon.  He laid himself out to personate Arthur Vane; and he not only successfully imitated that young gentleman’s pompous style of talking, and his dignified manner of riding and walking, but even the tone of his voice.  He criticised Frank and Johnny continually, and made them laugh, till their jaws ached, by recounting imaginary adventures on the burning sands of Patagonia, and among the icebergs and polar bears of India.

The day following the one on which Arthur Vane visited the robber in the mountains, found the three boys on the back porch of Mr. Winters’s rancho, making preparations for their hunting expedition.  Frank was cleaning his rifle, and Archie and Johnny were repairing an old pack-saddle, in which they intended to carry their provisions and extra ammunition.  Archie was seated on the floor, with an awl in one hand, and a piece of stout twine in the other; and, while he was working at the pack-saddle, his tongue was moving rapidly.

“I am young in years, fellows,” he was saying, “but I am aged in experience.  If I had my rights, I should long ago have been gray-headed.  I have seen thrilling times in my life, and have been the hero of adventures, that, were I to relate them to you, would make each particular hair of your heads stand on end, like the quills of a punched hedge-hog.  I am—­if you will kindly permit me to use a slang expression—­an old hand at the business of hunting and trapping, and have accomplishments in which I can not be beaten.  Among them, stands my ability to whip a grizzly bear in a fair fight, with no weapon but my knife.  I have hunted wild gorillas in the streets of New York City; have”—­

“Good morning, fellows!”

Archie brought the story of his adventures to a sudden close, and, looking over his shoulder, saw Arthur Vane standing at the end of the porch.  The boys had never expected him to call upon them again, and Archie and Johnny were too surprised to speak; but Frank, who always kept his wits about him, returned Arthur’s greeting, and invited him to occupy the chair he pushed toward him.  He was not at all pleased to see the visitor, but he was too much of a gentleman to show it.