Pagina 104 de 439

They passed quietly down-stairs and out the back door. The starry

night enveloped them coldly, and the moon looked down through

rifted clouds. Nature was peaceful as her own silent hills, but

the raucous jangle of cursing voices from a distance made discord

of the harmony. They slipped along through the shadows, meeting

none except occasional figures hurrying to the plaza. At the

hotel door the two men separated from the rest of the party, and

took with them their prisoner.

"I'm going to put him for safe-keeping down the shaft of a mine

my father and I own," explained Steve. "He wouldn't be safe in

the jail, because Dunke, for private reasons, has made up his

mind to put out his lights."

"Private reasons?" echoed the engineer.

"Mighty good ones, too. Ain't that right?" demanded the ranger of

Struve.