The agile mountaineers formed a human pyramid in a moment with Texas as the top-mounter, Tony groaning beneath his weight and threatening every moment to give way sending the pyramid a bruised and broken wreck to the hard stone floor of the cave.
It was with no little effort that they finally accomplished the feat of releasing the girl from her rocky prison.
But once free she slid down the pyramid with the grace of a lofty tumbler.
Tony and Texas came down rather less easily.
"Now I want to know what this is all about?" demanded Frank when they once more had recovered themselves.
"Yes, what devil's prank put this joint on the blink?" added Tony. "I've had some jars in my time, but I never did have such an all-fired bump as this one."
"Me not know," answered Dew Drop hanging her head.
"What were you and the bones doing when it happened?" urged Frank, pointing to the mangled remains of the medicine man.
Dew Drop gazed at the horrid sight with emotionless eyes, then turned toward them.
"You put wood on the fire to make it bright," added Frank.
"Then heap fire like sun. Dew Drop go sleep. Great Spirit get um. Dew Drop open eyes--see pale faces and um want see Dew Drop."
"Clear as the big Muddy in a spring freshet," agreed Tony.
"Wait a minute," commanded Frank, raising a restraining hand.
"You put one, two, three sticks on fire, then you put another?"
"But when you put on the fourth one, hey?"
Dew Drop puffed out her cheeks and said "Pouf! So."
"Dynamite!" snapped the desperado holding the girl with a wondering gaze. "And you near put us all out of business at the same time.
"Yes, dynamite. I understand it all now. _Jess must have left those sticks here and the girl used one of them to build the fire with._ It's a wonder it didn't blow us all to kingdom come."
A loud guffaw greeted Frank's explanation.
All danger past they could afford to look on the humorous side of the disaster now.
"Well, we got rid of old saw bones quicker'n we thought," chuckled Tony. "Good thing Jesse wasn't here. It might have got him too, for he'd a been right on top of it likely as not."
"Jess. I had forgotten," cried Frank. "What has become of him? He's got into trouble, I'll bet my spurs on it. It must have been hours since he went away.