“Stay here and use yer guns, ef any of ’em tries to scoot. We’ll go further down the gulch and chin about it.” The sentinels nodded and the leader and the rest of his men went down the ravine until they were out of sight. Now and then their voices could be heard as they argued, but what they said could not be told. Once they sent a couple of men up to take Snell’s companion, Jim Leonard, down to talk with him. They sent him back after half an hour, and continued their discussion until the sun was setting. Then they all came slowly back to the spot where Patsy lay. The young man who had been speaking when Patsy was captured, was talking with the leader. “I’m sure it’s the best way,” he was saying. “Wal, Harry,” returned the leader, “you’ve got a sound nut on yer shoulders, an’ you can talk better’n most of us, but I dunno. Howsomever, we’ll try it. As you say, the main thing is to get the stuff.” “We certainly can’t get the ransom, if we don’t give ’em a chance to pay it,” said Harry. The leader nodded. “After dark,” he said, shortly. It grew dark early in that deep ravine, but it was not till fully two hours had passed that the gang began to move. In the meantime, they smoked and talked in low voices, or lay on the ground and snoozed. At last the leader stood up and said: “Bring ’em along.” Patsy had tried at first to see if he could free his hands. In the darkness he tried again, but it was of no use. These fellows had known how to tie a knot, and they kept the noose around his neck, with a warning that they wouldn’t mind leaving him there for crows to pick. That was only too plain. They cared little for the detective. It was Snell and Leonard that they were interested in. The gang returned to Helena in pairs mostly. Two went beside Patsy, and one each with Snell and Leonard. The rest trailed along—some in advance, some behind. When they came to the edge of the town they scattered over different streets. No one meeting any of them would have suspected that a score of men were coming into the city together. Patsy’s guides took the noose from around his neck then, and cautioned him that if he tried to break away they would shoot. The caution wasn’t necessary, for the detective had no idea of doing anything except stick to the gang until he had found out all about the business that had brought them together. They came at length to a house in a quiet street. Patsy’s guides took him in there, opening the front door with a key, and led him to the kitchen. The house was dark when they arrived, but it had gas, and this was lit. Curtains were pulled down at the windows, and they waited in silence. Others came in from time to time. The last to arrive were Snell and Leonard, and the men who had been walking with them. It was understood that they had been to Bronco Bill’s, where Snell had hidden the “stuff.” When all were there, the leader said: