“Ef Geronimo would only take er drink out o’ ther pool hisself,” said Nomad, “mebbyso he’d walk right inter Camp Bonita er Fort Bowie an’ ask ther sojers ter put him in ther gyard-house. Thar’s er heap er strange things in this leetle ole world thet we never know anything erbout till we finds ’em out. Hey, Buffler?” CHAPTER XXVIII. THE CAVE NEAR THE PASS. Tonio Pass was a gap through one spur of the Chiricahuas. Old Nomad retraced his way to it easily, and on the journey no Apaches, locoed or otherwise, were encountered. Descending into the pass by means of the blind gully, already mentioned, Nomad brought the scout and the girl to a spur of rocks which interposed itself between them and the cave. “We’ll have to scout and see how many Apaches have been left with Bascomb,” counseled the scout, during the brief halt behind the spur. “I don’t believe Geronimo would leave more than two or three, at the most. With so many troopers in the field against him, the wily old chief will find himself short-handed in the matter of bucks. Should there be no more than two or three at the cave, our work of getting in will be easy.” “Want me ter go ahead an’ see how things lie in ther cave?” asked Nomad. “I’m dryer’n ther desert o’ Sahary an’ plumb anxious ter git at some water, ef thar’s any thar.” “Go ahead, Nick,” said Buffalo Bill. “Dell and I will wait here. If you get into trouble, a couple of shots will bring us.” “Thet’s me,” answered the old trapper, crawling around the edge of the spur. Pausing with the mouth of the cave in sight, Nomad inspected the surroundings carefully. Evidently there were no redskins on guard at the entrance, for he got up and hastened noiselessly and swiftly forward. Both the scout and the girl watched the trapper from around the edge of the boulders. The mouth of the tunnel was narrow and high, almost like a gash in the granite wall. Boulders lay strewn about it, and there was a chance that some of those boulders screened one or more of the guard Geronimo had left with Bascomb. This latter possibility, however, did not pan out, and Nomad reached the cavern entrance unmolested. Halting there for a moment, he suddenly dashed into the cave, his aim being to put himself in the darkness of the interior before the savages could get a shot at him, in case there happened to be any savages there. No shot was fired, and from this Buffalo Bill augured hopefully. “Nick doesn’t seem to be having any trouble at all, Dell,” said he to the girl. “It would be hard luck if Bascomb had been taken away by the reds.” “What would you do in that case, Buffalo Bill?” Dell asked. “Find the trail again, and follow it.” “Suppose it led you into Mexico?”