Part 10 (1/2)
That was not all Thisto lawfully seize Frank and Hans and hold them till the animals captured by the bandits were paid for at the price he should name, and this he proceeded to do
Now, Frank did not have the price deht, so he was obliged to submit, and the two boys were prisoners till near three o'clock the next afternoon, when the money was obtained and the bill paid
At the hotel Frank found a letter awaiting him, and, to his unbounded amazement, it was from the professor
With haste he tore it open, and these words are what he read:
”DEAR FRANK: Pacheco commands me to write this letter We are at the headwaters of the Rio de Nieves, but we move on to the ard as soon as I have written He tells illa el Alto, which is directly west of Zacatecas as the bird flies one hundred and ten illa el Alto, where he says arrangements will be made for my ransom Remember Jack Burk He spoke of the mountains to the west of Zacatecas Pacheco threatens to ments to you if you do not follow to the point specified He is watching me as I write, and one of his men will carry this letter to Mendoza, and deliver it The situation is desperate, and it strikes me that it is best to comply with Pacheco's demands in case you care to bother about me If you want me to be chopped up bit by bit and forwarded to you, do not bother to follow I have no doubt but Pacheco will keep his word to the letter in this uardian and tutor,
”HORACE ORMAN TYLER SCOTCH”
That this letter was genuine there could be no doubt, as it ritten in the professor's peculiar style of chirography; but it did not sound like the professor, and Frank kneell enough that it had been written under coe had been dictated by another party
”Poor old professor!” murmured the boy ”Poor old professor! He shall be saved! He shall be saved! He knoill do everything I can for him”
”Yah, but he don'd seem to say dot der ledder in,” observed Hans, who had also read every word
”Huejugilla el Alto is one hundred and ten miles west of Zacatecas”
”Vere you belief they findt dot name, Vrankie?”
Frank did not mind the Dutch lad's question, but bowed his head on his hand, and fell to thinking
”We must have horses, and we must follow 'Remember Jack Burk' Surely the professor put that part of the letter in of his own accord He did not speak of the Silver Palace, but he wished to call it toto Burk, lies directly west of Zacatecas, somewhere amid the mountains beyond this place he has mentioned The professoron my way to search for the palace Perhaps he hopes to escape”
”Yah,” broke in Hans, ”berhaps he meant to done dot, Vrankie”
”We would be very near the mountains--it uess dot peen shust apoudt vere we peen, Vrankie”
”If he escaped, or should be rescued or ransomed, we could easily continue the search for the palace”
”You vos oxactly righdt”
”We ed dem mit money”
”We had better proceed to Zacatecas, and procure the aniuide there”
”Shust oxactly vot I vould haf suggestet, Vrankie”
”We will lose no tiuess nod!”