They surrounded the ranch. Sam Hogg and his men joined them. Slowly they closed in upon the silent building as dusk was obscuring the land. But no firing greeted them. The building was empty; that wary bird, Cupid Dart, alias Mac Kennedy, had flown to safer parts. "Musta made his get-away to the gang's stronghold," Allen commented. He led the others up a narrow trail into the lava fields. Here, in a cuplike depression, they found the judge's cows, as well as several hundred other stolen animals. All had been rebranded and were being held there until the new brands healed. Of the men guarding the cattle all had escaped. The place was totally deserted, and they prepared to make camp for the night. It was then that Allen discovered Snippets was still with them; he thought she had gone on into town long before. He stared at her, open-mouthed. "What yuh doin' here?" he asked. "No one told me to go anywhere else." Snippets smiled demurely and mischievously. "Yuh wanted to be along in the ruckus, kid?" Allen accused. "Yuh should've gone home an' told folks you wus all right." Snippets hung her head meekly. She knew that he knew why she had lingered. She had wanted to remain by his side as long as possible. A shelter of blankets was rigged for her; they could not send her home now before morning. After the others were asleep, Allen slipped out alone and followed the outlaws' trail for several miles. It climbed rapidly to the remains of an old mine shaft. Suddenly there loomed before him a low, one-story adobe house. He realized that he was looking at the real stronghold of the outlaws. "Huh, they could stand off an army in that place," he told himself after he had scouted about it. Quietly he returned and rejoined the campers. With day they considered the possibility of an attack. Tom Powers, Sam Hogg, and Jim Allen looked over the situation carefully through strong glasses. All three decided that it would not only be costly in lives, but completely hopeless. The place had been built to serve as a fortress against the Apache, in the days when the mine had been worked. Over the crest of the hill there were several roofless buildings and a huge weather-stained derrick that had been used to hoist ore from the mine. "Hello! There's a gent with a white flag," Tom Powers said, pointing. The heavy metal-studded door of the adobe house had been opened a crack, and a man stood waving a white shirt. Sam Hogg arose from the concealment of the bushes behind which he had been crouching and waved his hat. The door opened wider, and Mac Kennedy, still holding the shirt, stepped out into the sunlight. He advanced twenty yards and beckoned the ex-Ranger forward. "Makin' believe he was a dude!" Tom Powers growled. "Like I did pretendin' to be a hobo," Allen replied with a grin. "Sam, don't go to meet him. Make him come to you. I've heard stories about Cupid Dart--he's treacherous as a snake," the sheriff advised.