Aggie was scooping the inside out of her muffin, being unable to eat the
crust, but she went quite pale.

"Tish," she said, "you have some desperate plan in view, and I am not
equal to it. I am worn with travel and soft food, and am not as young as
I once was."

"Desperate nothing!" said Tish, pouring condensed milk into her tea. "I
am going to teach a lot of idiots a lesson, that's all. There should be
one spot in America free from the advertising man and his schemes, and
this is going to be it. Commercialism," she went on, growing oratorical,
"does not belong here among these mighty mountains. Once let it start,
and these towering cliffs will be defaced with toothpowder and
intoxicating-liquor signs."

The young man knew the plans for the holdup even letter than Bill. He
was able to show us the exact spot which had been selected, and to tell
us the hour at which the Ostermaier party was to cross the pass.

"They'll lunch on the pass," he said, "and, of course, they suspect
nothing. The young lady of whom I spoke to you will be one of their
party. She, however, knows what is coming, and is, indeed, a party to
it. The holdup will take place during luncheon."

Here his voice broke, and he ate an entire muffin before he went on:
"The holdup will take place on the pass, the bandits having been hidden
on this 'bench' right here. Then the outlaws, having robbed the
tourists, will steal the young lady and escape down the trail on the
other side. The guide, who is in the plot, will ride ahead in this