Then Fremont asked:
"And he will live?"
"There is no doubt of it," was the reply. "I do not know the details,
for one rocket told me that he was in his right mind again, and another
that he would live."
"Then we can all go back to New York and get ready for the trip down the
river!" said Jimmie. "You fellers can ride on cushions and I'll hoof it."
"Say," cried Stevens, in a moment, "if this raid scare is all over,
get a couple of drums and let Frank and Peter drum their heads off."
"I don't want to drum," Frank said, "not here, anyway! I don't want
to go down the Rio Grande, either. I've had enough of Mexico."
He turned to the night watchman with a shudder and bent over him.
The man's face was whiter than before, and his form seemed rigid.
Seeing the boy's action, Lieutenant Gordon also stooped down.
When he arose his face was grave.
"Prussic acid!" he said. "It seems that he was prepared for an emergency!"
"The last of the three conspirators!" Nestor said. "To wander through
the world until past middle age and then to come to this! But it is
better so."
It was daylight now, and the burials took place. After taking a very
light breakfast, the party started back over the mountain. They
passed up the ravines and canyons to the mine, and Lieutenant Gordon
ascended the mountain of crushed rock and entered the gold chamber.
"There is a fortune here," he said looking about. "What are you going
to do with it?" he added, turning to Fremont.
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