Half an hour after the telling of the story, Buffalo Bill and his comrade were crawling upward out of the chamber. It had been the hope of the king of scouts that he would be able to follow the light that came through the crevice and soon reach the top of the ground; but the discovery that the light entered from above between two massive bowlders, and that the open space that separated him from the hilltop was not over half a foot in diameter, put a damper on the hope. Both he and Angell used their combined strength to move the bowlders, but in vain. “Come on,” said Angell, at last. “We will get outer here, all right, though it’s shore goin’ ter take a little time.” The speaker was correct in his opinion. More than three hours elapsed before they emerged from the new section of the cave. Beyond the bowlders there was a sharp descent. The scouts went down, making many turns, and at last stood in a chamber four times as large as the one that had recently held them as prisoners. As they were exploring the place, Bart Angell, in advance of Buffalo Bill, who held the torch, gave utterance to a cry of amazement. “Ther sufferin’ saltpeter,” he exclaimed, “ef it ain’t Manuel. Ther aire the chaps I guv him when he got over his sick spell, an’ ’lowed he’d meander outer ther Territory.” The king of scouts looked, and saw the body of a man—that is, he saw a portion of the body. The head and one shoulder was out of sight. The inference was plain: The man had tried to crawl through a hole in the wall, had become wedged in, and had died there. The torch was lowered so that a closer inspection of the body might be made. The clothing had not rotted, but from appearances Buffalo Bill knew that it inclosed a skeleton. “What do you make of it?” inquired the king of scouts. “Some one war chasin’ him, an’ he made fer ther hole ter hide. It war too small, an’ he got stuck an’ stayed thar.” “I wonder what is down in that hole, Bart?” “You kin s’arch me. Maybe thar’s gold an’ all sorts of plunder.” “But how could the robbers have placed it there?” “Easy ernuff.” He gave the body a jerk, and the opening was fully disclosed. “Why, it’s a large hole,” exclaimed Buffalo Bill, in surprise. “I could go through it easily.” Bart Angell chuckled. “Of course, Cody, of course. An’ ye’ll have ter go through thar, fer it’s ther only way outer this chamber.” As the expression of surprise still lingered on the face of Buffalo Bill, Angell quickly proceeded: “Manuel Larios war as broad as he war long. Ye wouldn’t think it, lookin’ at him now. I reckon every member of the gang, ’cept him, could get through ther hole, an’ I reckon also that he’d never tried ter crawl in ef he hadn’t been skeered plumb ter death by whoever war pursuin’ him.” “I don’t believe the pursuer caught up with him,” was Buffalo Bill’s comment. “Nor I. Bekase why? Ef he had, he’d shore hev explored ther territory on t’other side of the hole. Gimme ther torch, an’ I’ll try ther route.”