Young Wild West at Forbidden Pass Read online

talkative of the three cowboys. "Did you hearthat, boys? Well, well! Who would have thought it?"

  Cheyenne Charlie acted as though he would like to take a hand in thecontroversy, but he managed to keep quiet.

  Jim Dart and the girls were looking on with smiles on their faces, whilethe Chinaman, looking out of the doorway, over the shoulder of thekeeper of the saloon, actually grinned with delight.

  They all knew that Young Wild West was quite able to take care of allthree of the men if it became necessary and they also knew thatsomething was likely to happen very soon.

  The two companions of the talkative cowboy laughed uproariously.

  They evidently agreed with him that the boy was away off in his remarks.

  Cheyenne Charlie could keep still no longer.

  "Jest show ther galoots that yer ain't foolin', Wild," he said. "Shake'em up it little."

  "Lat light, Misler Wild!" called out the Chinaman, from the door. "Makeeallee samee be polite, so be."

  "Shet up, you heathen!" roared the nearest cowboy, and with that hecaught the Celestial by the pig-tail and pulled him out.

  A kick followed this and the Son of the Flowery Kingdom let out a yellof pain.

  Biff!

  Young Wild West darted forward and struck the cowboy a blow on thebreast that sent him reeling.

  "If you insist on it I'll give it to you good and straight," he said,calmly. "How do you like that?"

  Biff!

  This time he landed one on the man's ribs, and down he went in a heap.

  The other two started to interfere, but out went the boy's left and oneof them landed on all fours in a jiffy.

  Spat!

  Our hero's right caught the other on the chin and he went, too.

  As was to be expected, all three of the cowboys made moves to pull theirguns.

  But Young Wild West got ahead of them.

  "Let go of those playthings--quick!" he shouted. "I will show yougaloots that you have got to be more civil with us. Get up and say youare sorry for interfering with us."

  There was something about the manner of the boy that told them that theyreally had made a mistake. The revolver was held by a hand that wassteady as a rock, and there was no doubt in their minds but that leadwould fly from it if they disobeyed.

  They let go their revolvers and scrambled to their feet.

  "Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Cheyenne Charlie. "A fine lot of galoots you are!Young Wild West is only a boy, all right, but I reckon he kin lick astagecoach load of sich fellers as you are! Make 'em do ther tenderfootdance, Wild. Go on--jest fur fun!"

  "All right, Charlie," was the reply, and the young deadshot fired a shotthat hit the ground near the feet of the spokesman of the trio.

  "Hold on!" the cowboy shouted. "It's all right, Young Wild West. I knowwho yer are now. I'll 'pologize. Don't shoot no more!"

  Crack!

  Again the boy fired, and then all three, knowing what was wanted ofthem, began to dance for all they were worth.

  Crack--crack!

  Cheyenne Charlie now took a hand in the game, and, while the girls andJim Dart laughed merrily, the three cowboys did the "tenderfoot dance"in fine shape.

  Both Wild and the scout fired three or four shots apiece, and some ofthem took chips off the high heels of the boots the cowboys wore.

  "I reckon that will be about all," said our hero, as he ejected theshells from his revolver and then coolly proceeded to reload thechambers. "You galoots will know better the next time. I don't much likethe looks of you, but I want to tell you that if you happen to take anotion to get square with us for what has happened you'll get the worstof it. I hope you understand what I say."

  The rascals--for they were undoubtedly such--did not stop to make areply, but darted into the saloon.

  The Chinaman gave a parting laugh, and then, turning to the otherCelestial, observed:

  "Me havee velly nallow escapee, my blother."

  "You allee samee velly muchee fool!" was the retort. "You allee timeelookee for um tanglefoot, so be."

  "Me havee two velly nicee lillee dlinks, my blother; you no havee."

  "Me no wantee," was the scornful rejoinder.

  It was Wing, the cook, who claimed he did not want any whisky.

  He was just a common, everyday Chinee, who did his work well and sleptwhenever he had nothing else to do, providing no one disturbed him.

  Hop, on the other hand, was one of the very shrewd and cunning ones ofhis race.

  Gifted with the art of sleight-of-hand, a lover of gambling and afondness for playing jokes on people had made him a great character,indeed.

  But he was a real fixture to the party that Young Wild West led, and ashe had on more than one occasion been the means of saving the lives ofdifferent members of it through his cleverness, he was thought a greatdeal of by them all, and many of his shortcomings were overlooked.

  Having disposed of the cowboys, Young Wild West now asked the keeper ofthe saloon if he thought there would be any objections to their pitchinga camp somewhere around in the vicinity.

  "I reckon not," was the reply. "There ain't no one as lives here in BigBonanza, what would 'ject ter anything like that. They've all heard tellabout Young Wild West, I reckon, an' some of 'em says as how they'veseen yer. Yer kin bet that yer will be welcome here! Jest helpyourselves ter any spot yer want."

  "Thank you. I thought perhaps some one might raise objections--the threecowboys, for instance."

  "Oh, they're strangers here. I never seen them until this afternoon.They must have come a putty long ways, fur there ain't a ranch in ahundred miles of here, as I knows of. Go ahead an' pick out a place tercamp. Ther boys will be here in a few minutes, fur it's about quittin'time now. I'll tell 'em that Young Wild West, ther champion deadshot, ishere, an' you kin bet that they'll give yer a royal welcome!"

  CHAPTER II.

  OUR FRIENDS HEAR ABOUT FORBIDDEN PASS.

  Young Wild West was not long in picking out a spot to camp upon.

  It was right near a little, running brook that came tumbling down thesteep rocks and wound its way through the gentle slope upon which waslocated the cluster of shanties.

  It was easy to tell that the mining camp had not been in existence verylong, for the shanties were new.

  As soon as the pack horses were unloaded our friends allowed the twoChinamen to go ahead with the work of getting the camp in shape, whilethey took a look around.

  Almost opposite to the point they had rounded in order to ride into themining camp was a high ridge, which was easily a hundred feet above thelevel. It extended around on both sides and joined the sloping,irregular side of the mountain over which the trail ran.

  Almost in the centre of this was a cut that was about thirty feet inwidth, and it was so regular in shape that one would almost have takenit to be the work of man.

  But it was nothing more than one of the passes that are to be found inthe mountains, and which are so handy for travelers to proceed to agiven point in a more direct line.

  Young Wild West noticed that a trail ran through the camp direct to thepass. But it did not appear as though it was used a great deal, sincethe wagon-ruts and hoof-prints had become obliterated in some parts.

  "I wonder where that trail leads to?" our hero observed, as he tamed tohis two partners. "Wherever it goes, there are not many using it now, itseems."

  "It leads on up in the wilds of the mountains, by the looks of things,"Jim Dart answered. "It may be that prospectors have gone that way and,not finding anything worth while, have come back through the passagain."

  "Sorter looks that way, I reckon," said Cheyenne Charlie. "But, hello!Ther miners is quittin' work. Now we'll soon see how many of 'em knowsus, as ther saloon man said they did."

  Sure enough, the miners were seen heading for the saloon. They came fromdifferent directions, for it was just six o'clock now, and they had quitwork for the day.

  The claims that were being worked were all within sight of the shanties,the nearest one bei
ng but a couple of hundred yards away from thesaloon, which appeared to be the leading place in the camp.

  But as the store was very near to it, it might be that some of the menwere bound there.

  Having satisfied themselves that it was a very nice, little mining camp,our friends turned to and assisted the Chinamen to get things in shape.

  They did not intend to remain there any longer to get a rest than for aday or two, but they were always interested when they struck a spotwhere gold dust was being taken out.

  No end of good luck had followed them in their search for gold, andArietta, the charming sweetheart of the dashing young deadshot, had thelead over them all, as far as making discoveries that were profitable tothem were concerned.

  But it was nothing more than chance that had brought them to