"It were better if they had killed him quickly," said Old Solitary.
"I don't know about that," panted Frank. "Where there is life there is hope."
"All who enter this canyon may leave hope behind."
"Av they let th' poor lad live till to-night, we'll do our bist fer him," said Barney.
Clyde seemed to have recovered, and now he was marched along in the midst of his captors, who moved straight toward the pocket where the homes of the Danites were located.
For all of their situation, Frank Merriwell had not given up hope. He was young, and he still believed that all evil things come to an evil end, and all good things eventually triumph. He had not grown cynical and pessimistic.
Drawing back into the mouth of the cave, the trio watched the Danites march across the canyon with their captive.
Graves was with the men, and he no longer pretended to be friendly to the boy. At last Clyde knew him for what he actually was.
At length the entire party passed from view on their way to the pocket.
Then Old Solitary led the boys back into the cave, where they ate breakfast, such as it was, and attempted to lay plans for the coming night.
It was a long, dreary, wretched day they spent in the cave. Many times they went to the opening where they could look down into the Danite village. Once they saw Uric Dugan, and once they saw Miskel, his daughter.
But the day passed on, and, to their intense relief, they saw nothing to indicate that the captives were executed.
The boys were eager to be astir. Their blood was throbbing hotly in their veins, and they felt capable of any deed of daring.
They looked to their weapons, making sure everything was ready for business, and then they followed Old Solitary from the cave.
The descent was slow and tedious, fraught with much peril, and long in the accomplishment. To the eager boys, it seemed that they would never get down.
The task was finally accomplished, and then they moved onward, with Old Solitary in the lead.
They had not gone far when a gasp of astonishment came from Frank's lips, and he clutched Barney, softly crying:
"Look up there! What do you make of that?"
Barney looked upward, as directed, and, high in the air, he saw a bright light that was swiftly settling toward the earth.