The scout and the girl, between them, relieved the old trapper’s mind. When they came down to Cayuse’s report about Tonio Pass and the cave, Nomad pricked up his ears. “Thet cave whar I seen ther ’Pache at ther entrance,” cried the old trapper, “must hev been ther same one Cayuse was tellin’ ye of! An’ Bascomb is thar, hey?” “I don’t know, Nick, whether you’ve got the right place or not,” returned the scout. “You spoke of a blind gully----” “Et’s thar, all right.” “Well, by an odd coincidence, then, Tonio Pass has a blind gully as well as Tres Alamos Gulch. A force from Bonita, under Markham, has gone to Tres Alamos Gulch in the hope of picking up Geronimo’s trail. The fact that you found a cave would seem to indicate that you had found the very place where Cayuse saw Bascomb and Geronimo. How far is the place from here?” “An’ hour’s walk, I reckon.” “Could you take us there?” “I could, sure; but hadn’t ye better git yer hosses fust, Buffler?” “You overlook the fact, Nick, that it is impossible for us to get our horses until we can locate that valley with the drugged pool. To do that, we’ll first have to find some one who knows the lay of the land better than we do. Meanwhile, we can go to this cave in Tonio Pass and get Bascomb. If there are Apaches in the place, there will be food and water there, too; and if there is not too strong a force of Apaches, we can get the whip-hand of them and have the run of the cave--to say nothing of recapturing Bascomb.” “I reckon yore head is level, as per usual, Buffler,” said the old trapper. “When d’ye want ter start fer this hyar Tonio Pass?” “At once. The quicker we start, the quicker we can wind up the affair with Bascomb and get something to eat and drink. This road, I suppose, must lead to Bonita or Bowie?” “I pass. Et’s er road, an’ thet’s erbout all I knows. Ter git ter Tonio Pass an’ ther place whar I seen ther cave”--here Nomad got up and squinted around--“et’ll be necessary ter go down ther road ther same as how them two ’Paches went. Ef ye’re ready, we’ll lope.” The start along the shelf and down the trail was made immediately, the initial movement carrying the pards toward the turn around which the two Apaches had vanished a little while before. “I been hoofin’ et all night, Buffler,” complained Nomad; “an’ when a feller gits bow-legged from saddle-work, et’s plumb hard fer him ter navigate on anythin’ but er hoss. Now, ef we knowed whar thet thar valley with ther pizened spring was, we could hev things er heap easier, an’----” The trapper broke off his talk with a wild yell. He, and the scout, and the girl had rounded the turn and had come plump upon a full dozen Apache warriors. No wonder Nomad was startled. The scout and the girl likewise realized that they were face to face with unforeseen peril. All hands leaped to revolver-grips. The scout and the girl hesitated, but Nomad was on the point of pulling both triggers when the scout gripped his arm sharply.