The last Indian who went down must have known that the lad who assisted
him was one of the parties for whom they were yearning, and his presence
was proof that he had made the fortunate discovery which was denied the
natives of the territory. If the lad had emerged by that means into the
outer world, the natural supposition would be that his companion had done
the same, and that, therefore, neither of the fugitives were below, the
inevitable conclusion being that the tables had been completely turned
upon them. Such was certain to be the conclusion of the Apaches, and it
remained for Mickey O'Rooney to use ordinary prudence and keep himself out
of the way of the redskins, to secure a chance of further outwitting them
by a bold piece of generalship.

Fred repeated his whistle four or five times, with an interval of ten
minutes, when his hopes were raised to the highest pitch by hearing it
answered. In his excitement he thrust his head far over the opening, gave
the signal again to prevent mistakes, and listened.

A full minute elapsed, when the reply came, sounding faint and far away.
It showed that Mickey was at a considerable distance from the opening, and
that he heard and understood the situation. To make matters still more
certain, the lad now shouted at the top of his voice, holding both hands
so as to inclose his mouth like a tunnel.

"Mickey, I'm up here with a lasso! Nobody else is here! Whenever you can
get the chance, get hold of the lasso, and climb up! I will let it down
after a while!"

It cannot be said that this was a very wise proceeding upon the part of
the lad; for it was likely that some one of the half dozen Apaches
understood English well enough to comprehend what he said. To clinch the