We got a
fair start, of course, but it was only a few moments after we reached
here that three or four of the deputies were on our heels."
"Ah," she cried, "they thought you had driven him here."
"Naturally, and it is unnecessary to say that they spent several hours
in searching, not only this cabin, but your father's and Mrs.
Nitschkan's to boot, and also the stable yonder." He pointed to a little
shed farther up the hill where he kept his horse and cart. He held out
his coffee cup for her to refill and laughed heartily. "I have no doubt
that they will return at intervals during the day to see if there isn't
some tree-top or ledge of rock that they may have overlooked; but at
present they are too busy exploring every nook and cranny of the various
mines, especially the Mont d'Or."
She put down the coffee pot with a clatter and threw herself back in her
chair with a gesture of intense disappointment. "Then surely they will
find Jose!" she cried.
"Oh, you do not know," he exclaimed. "Wait; it was stupid of me not to
have explained. Your father is a wonderful man. He overlooks nothing. He
foresaw that in spite of all precautions, Jose--and other friends of
his," there was a trace of hesitation in his tones in speaking to her of
her father's chosen companions, "might be trapped here in the winter
time when they could not escape over the one or two secret trails which
he knows and which he has shown Jose. So, long ago, working secretly and
overtime in the Mont d'Or, he hollowed out a small chamber.
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