Merriwell moved at a swinging pace, and Hodge held close to his heels. The light in the east broadened, flushed, and rose to the zenith. The stars were blotted from the sky; but there were deep shadows far down in the ravines and gorges when the sunlight lay on the mountain peaks. Having left the pocket, Frank led the way along a twisting ravine. Out of this he climbed at a certain point, and they made their way over a ridge into another ravine, from which they branched into yet another. Finally, with the bare face of a great mountain rising abruptly on their left, the boys advanced slowly. "It cannot be far from here," said Frank, keeping his eyes about him. "We shall not be able to see the cabin from this ravine, but we may locate the cliff on which it is built." "How can we locate it?" "Big Gabe said there was a wide streak that ran perpendicularly in the rocky precipice not far from the cliff--and there it is!" The boys fell back a bit, gazing intently at the wide, white strip that seemed to hang along the face of black stone, like a wide streak from a monster whitewash brush. "I am certain we are very near the place," said Frank. "We will look for the cliff." This they did, and, in a very short time, they fancied they had discovered it. "There seems no possible way of reaching the ledge up there," said Bart, somewhat despondently. "But there must be a way, if the hidden cabin is built there," declared Frank. "I don't doubt it. At the same time, we are not likely to find it. Instead of making queer money in a city, where they would be in constant danger of discovery and arrest, they have come here to this wild region, where they are not likely to be discovered, and where there is very little chance that they will be arrested if they are discovered." For some time the boys speculated concerning the possibility of reaching the ledge. They were about to seek a way out of the ravine when something happened that astonished them both. "Look, Bart!" softly cried Frank, catching the shoulder of his friend--"look there!" He pointed upward to the ledge. On the very verge of the sheer descent a girl had suddenly appeared. In her hand she carried a huge umbrella, which she was struggling to open, her movements seeming to indicate that she was in great terror. Her unbound golden hair was falling over her shoulders. "It's Vida!" palpitated Bart Hodge. "It's Isa!" asserted Frank Merriwell. "What does she mean to do?" "Wait! Look!" "Merciful goodness!" Both lads were horrified, for, having succeeded in opening the huge umbrella, the girl suddenly turned, and, with a wild cry, leaped out into space from the edge of the ledge. [Illustration: "Frank brought the butt of his Winchester to his shoulder, and began to work the weapon." (See page 296)] CHAPTER XLV. QUEEN OF THE COUNTERFEITERS. It seemed an act of madness. A moment after she made the frightful leap a man came rushing to the edge of the ledge and clutched at her.