His voice was now quivering with fear. Evidently whatever little
courage the fellow possessed, or the grit which had caused him to start
upon this mission of attempting to discover the cause of the mystery
connected with Thunder Mountain, had suddenly disappeared.
"Nawthin' 'cept stick it out, I reckons," replied Nick Jennings.
The superstitious cowboy was more or less anxious, himself. Frank,
eagerly listening, could tell this from the way in which the fellow
spoke. But Nick did not mean to fall into a panic. To try and rush
down the precipitous side of that mountain in the dark would be
madness. And with all his faults Nick was at least smart enough to
understand what it meant by "jumping from the frying pan into the fire."
Another roar, louder than any that had yet broken forth, interrupted
the excited conversation between the son of the mining millionaire and
his guide. The whole mountain quivered. Bob himself was much
impressed, and began to wonder more than ever what it could mean.
The noise died away, just as thunder generally does, growing fainter,
until silence once more brooded over that wonderful mountain. Then
again the two crouching lads caught the complaining voice of Peg.
Bully that he was under ordinary conditions, he now showed his true
colors. That awful sound, coming from the heart of the rocky mountain,
as it seemed, had terrified Peg.
But Frank was not surprised, for he had all along believed that a
fellow who could lift his hand to strike a small girl must be a coward
at heart, no matter how much he might bluster and brag.
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