"Then I was Pedro Gormez, the bandit; now I am Capt. Jordan, on the same graft." "By thunder! cap, you're right!" said the major. "I was doomed to swing, and if it hadn't been for you and your brave boys I shouldn't be sitting in this chair now." Capt. Jordan, the robber of the Dead Snake Canyon, sat down. "What brings you here, cap?" asked the major. "It isn't exactly safe for you to be in the city. If the boys knew it----" "That's what I came about, knowing I could count on you, owing to that little service I did you down in California." "Yes, yes." "I keep myself posted, and I heard that the boys were going to make a raid on the canyon." "They did talk of it," replied the major. "Well, I want you to stop that. I'm going to quit in a day or two, and shall not give your people any more trouble." "I'll see to it," said the major. Suddenly Smithers left the room, but quiet as had been his movements, his absence was noticed by the bandit. "Where has that cur gone?" he inquired. "I'll be hanged if I know," replied the major. "Gone to raise the town, I guess," said Capt. Jordan. "Well, I won't give him the chance. My horse is outside, and I'll skip." "Good-day, cap. Come and see me again," said the major. Capt. Jordan moved toward the door. Tommy placed himself before him. "You don't go from here," he exclaimed, "before you tell me about my mother." "She is quite well, so is Alice. As for Harold, you must ask the man you call your father about him, for his hand is red with his boy's blood." "Why don't you let mamma go away?" asked Tommy. "Simply because she doesn't want to," was the reply. Tommy smiled disdainfully, as if he did not believe this. "Come and see for yourself," exclaimed the robber. "I will promise not to harm a hair of your head." "That's a fair offer, and I accept it." "You will come?" "Expect me to-morrow." The robber nodded his head approvingly, and quitted the room. Tommy sank into a chair and looked down, as if trying to recollect something. "What's troubling you?" asked the major. "I've seen that man somewhere, and I can't recollect where," he replied. "Are you sure?" "Quite. The face is as familiar to me as my own." He tapped his forehead with his finger, but the recollection would not come to him, though he was positive that he had seen Capt. Jordan somewhere or another. His remarks about his mother he could not understand, for it seemed incredible that she would choose to remain a prisoner in the bandit's cave. All was a mystery to him. He was roused from his lethargy by the sound of voices in the street. A pistol shot was heard. This was followed by another and another. Rushing to the window, whither the major had preceded him, he saw a man on horseback dashing wildly up the street. This was the robber captain. Smithers had met the sheriff of Silver City, and given the alarm, which caused a body of citizens to assemble.