However, he kept the secret until sure the entire party were so far out on the plains that nothing could prevent the perpetration of the crime.

He then told it to several associates, one of whom made it known to the officer of whom we have spoken.
This gentleman was horrified, and uncertain what could be done, if indeed he could do anything, hastened to Kit Carson, to whom he made known the story.

The mountaineer listened eagerly, and, as soon as he grasped the whole plot, declared there was reason to believe it was not too late to frustrate it.

With that wonderful intuition which was such a marked characteristic of his nature, he fixed upon the very place where it had been decided the crime was to be committed.

Knowing the entire route, it was easy to determine the spot most likely to be selected, which was more than two hundred miles distant.