It
rose from the west slope of the mountain like a tower, tall, bulky,
forbidding.
Looking down upon it from the east, Ned saw that there was a small
canyon in between it and the slope, much the same as the formation
near the cave of the counterfeiters. It was evident that the rock had
been cast down from the summit, and had caught there--on a projecting
ridge of stone.
"Looks like a fortress!" Frank whispered as the rock sparkled in the
light of the moon. "Notice the campfire in the canyon?" "There were
two there this afternoon," Ned said, "and we thought one of them was
there simply to make the second column--the Boy Scout call for
assistance."
"If Jimmie isn't tied up hand and foot," Frank suggested, "if he is
allowed to move about, under guard, and help in the cooking, he could
easily build two fires, and the outlaws wouldn't know what he was up
to. That is how Dode came to signal to us, you remember. The
counterfeiters never suspected that he was making Indian talk!"
"I think it was Jimmie," Ned declared. "He would find some way to
make the signal, if he wasn't tied hard and fast! Anyway," the boy
added, "I'm going down the slope right now to see if he is there!"
CHAPTER XVI
THE CALL OF THE PACK
Ned and Frank stood in the shadow behind a protecting rock and peered
down into the moonlit canyon for a long time.
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