Finding that she was falling, Little Snap freed his feet from the stirrups just as horse and rider shot headlong into the boiling river! At that moment the pursuing party halted on the bank of the stream, amazed witnesses of the mishap. Little Snap was carried completely over a stringer running parallel with the first, and, lighter than the horse, struck in the water farther down the stream. Fortunately, he escaped the jagged rocks of the banks, though the fall deprived him for a time of his senses. When he came to a realization of his situation, he found himself struggling in a mass of _débris_ which had clogged the river a short distance below the crossing. In the midst of his efforts to extricate himself, he heard a voice just above him. Then, as he peered out from his retreat, he saw some of his enemies coming rapidly toward the place. "I can see him!" cried the foremost. "I knew he came down this way." "Give up, younker!" called another voice. "Ye mought as well, fer we air sure to git yer." Letting go the branch upon which he had found himself clinging, Little Snap hoped to elude his foes by swimming down the stream. But he found himself so entangled in the mass of floating wood about him, that before he could get clear, the party was in the water beside him. A sharp struggle ensued, but at its end the postboy was dragged out of the water by the hands of the Burrnock gang. "Bind him, boys!" said the leader, exultantly. "That's gittin' him what I call mighty easy. I tole yer the bridge racket would fix him." "What do you mean by this treatment?" demanded the postboy, as he found himself bound hands and feet. "Keep cool an' ye'll find out quick 'nough, younker. Tote him erlong, boys." Little Snap looked for some trace of Fairy, but in vain. Nothing further was said by his captors, while he was borne away into the depths of the forest, subject to such thoughts and feelings as may be imagined. What would they think at home of his non-appearance when the time for his return came? Then he thought of Jack, and wondered if the horse would keep on until he had reached Six Roads. He was certain the steed would, and this gave him the only hope he felt in his captivity. At last the captors and their prisoner reached the little opening marking the top of the bluff overhanging the cave, where Little Snap had once sought Ab Raggles. In the party which had effected his capture he saw Buzzard and Hawk Burrnock, while the leader of the gang was none other than he who had been chief spokesman in the cavern. This man the postboy soon found was Bird Burrnock, the father of the four brothers. As soon as the underground room was reached, Bird Burrnock addressed the captive as follows: