By then the road had brought them to hilly land, and the detective was thinking that his pursuit would be easier, when the two turned aside and began to climb a steep hill. It was covered with trees, and there was no path. Dead wood was on the ground everywhere. A man’s footsteps could be heard a long way, no matter how carefully he proceeded. Therefore, it was not possible any longer to keep the men in sight. Patsy took the chance of cutting across ahead of where the men seemed to be aiming for. In this way he thought he might come to the top of the hill before they did. Perhaps he succeeded. He could not tell, for, when he got to the hilltop, they were not to be seen. He waited a bit, and listened for a sound of their voices, or footsteps, but heard nothing. The hill dipped steeply on the other side, and there were many hills beyond. It was a very wild place, only partly wooded, and there seemed to be deep gullies in every direction. “They didn’t come out here for their health,” thought Patsy. “It was to meet somebody. “Probably that somebody is waiting in one of these gullies. “Which one? “It’s almost as good a place for hiding as a big city is.” After some little thought he went part way down the hill, then along the side until he came near the edge of a ravine. While he was cautiously approaching the edge, he heard a laugh somewhere below him. In the ravine, undoubtedly. Then that was where the men had gone. Patsy saw a rock a short distance away, from behind which he thought he might be able to look down into the ravine without being seen. A few cautious steps and he was beside it. Leaning far over it, he found that he had chosen the spot luckily; for a little way below him he saw a group of men, most of them roughly dressed. Among them were Snell and his strange companion. They were talking earnestly. At that moment, Snell’s companion was speaking, and the others were listening. His words came faintly to Patsy’s ears. “I tell you,” he said, “we’re ready to pay the price, but you’ve got to deliver the goods. There’s nothing unfair in that. We’ve come out here to tell you so, but you can’t deliver the goods here, can you?” “That’ll be all right,” said one of the rough men. “Oh! will it? How do we know?” demanded Snell’s companion. “We don’t propose to put our feet into a trap.” At this some of the men laughed hoarsely. “Supposin’,” suggested one of them, “we don’t let you get out of this gulch alive?” Snell could be seen to start uncomfortably. His companion was unmoved. “In that case,” he retorted, “you’d leave a couple of worthless stiffs here for the crows to pick. That’s all.” “Do you mean that you haven’t brought the stuff with you?” “That’s it, exactly.” “Then what the dev——” “Why!” interrupted Snell’s companion, “we’re here to let you know that we’re acting on the square. Prove that you’re on the square, too, and we can do business.” The men looked at each other.