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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/19951-8.txt b/19951-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9b1cff4 --- /dev/null +++ b/19951-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13012 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ted Strong in Montana, by Edward C. Taylor + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Ted Strong in Montana + With Lariat and Spur + + +Author: Edward C. Taylor + + + +Release Date: November 28, 2006 [eBook #19951] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TED STRONG IN MONTANA*** + + +E-text prepared by Steven desJardins, Mary Meehan, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net/) + + + +TED STRONG IN MONTANA + +Or + +With Lariat and Spur + +by + +EDWARD C. TAYLOR + +Author of the Ted Strong Stories + +1915 + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER I. THE BIG SNOW. + CHAPTER II. THE LONG TOM RANCH. + CHAPTER III. THE SIGN-CAMP GHOST. + CHAPTER IV. THE BIG COON TREE. + CHAPTER V. THE PHANTOM LINE RIDER. + CHAPTER VI. CAUGHT IN THE ACT. + CHAPTER VII. A NIGHT RAID. + CHAPTER VIII. THE WAR PARTY. + CHAPTER IX. A BATTLE OF QUIRTS. + CHAPTER X. SILVER FACE. + CHAPTER XI. LOST IN THE WILDERNESS. + CHAPTER XII. WHO WHIPPLE WAS. + CHAPTER XIII. AN UNEXPECTED GUEST. + CHAPTER XIV. CHRISTMAS AT BUBBLY WELL. + CHAPTER XV. THE THUGGEE CORD. + CHAPTER XVI. A LETTER FROM THE DEAD. + CHAPTER XVII. BESIEGED. + CHAPTER XVIII. TED SAVES THE HOUSE. + CHAPTER XIX. HELEN MOWBRAY'S WILL. + CHAPTER XX. KNIFE AND FANG. + CHAPTER XXI. 'WARE THE GRAY WOLVES. + CHAPTER XXII. THE WOLFSKIN. + CHAPTER XXIII. BAGGING THE GRAY WOLVES. + CHAPTER XXIV. WHITE FANG LEADS HOME. + CHAPTER XXV. TED'S INDEPENDENCE. + CHAPTER XXVI. A COMPROMISE. + CHAPTER XXVII. THE BEEF ISSUE. + CHAPTER XXVIII. A SLAP ON THE FACE. + CHAPTER XXIX. RUNNING BEAR'S SQUAW. + CHAPTER XXX. "THE WOOFER" APPEARS. + CHAPTER XXXI. SINGING BIRD'S SECRET. + CHAPTER XXXII. A NIGHT CHASE. + CHAPTER XXXIII. THE LOCOED STEER. + CHAPTER XXXIV. THE BOBWHITE'S CALL. + CHAPTER XXXV. A DUEL WITH LARIATS. + CHAPTER XXXVI. THE MOTHER LODE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE BIG SNOW. + + +"We're going to have snow to-night!" + +Ted Strong, leader of the broncho boys, was sitting on the back of +Sultan, his noble little black stallion, on the ridge of a prairie +swell, looking at a lowering sky. + +Out of the northwest a chilling wind, damp and raw, was sweeping +dull-gray clouds before it. + +Ted had addressed his remark to Bud Morgan, his chum and able +lieutenant, who threw a glance at the clouds and grunted. + +"I reckon we be," he muttered, "an' I'm free ter say I'm dern sorry ter +hear it." + +"It's hard luck," resumed Ted. "If we had got away a week earlier, or +hadn't been held up by the high water at Poplar Fork, we would have been +at the ranch now, and settled for the winter." + +"Thar's no telling whar an 'if' won't land yer sometimes. If we hadn't +started we wouldn't hev been here at all. But here we aire, an' we'll +hev ter git out o' it." + +"Think we better push on, or make camp?" asked Ted. + +"Got ter make camp fer ther night somewhere," answered Bud. "But I wisht +ther storm hed held off till ter-morrer this time; we'd hev been within +hootin' distance o' ther Long Tom Ranch." + +"Suppose we push on a few hours more. We can camp down in the dark if we +must. If the snow gets deep before ye reach the high ground you know +what it means." + +"I shore do. I wuz all through a big snow in this yere man's country a +few years back, an' it wuz some fierce." + +"All right. Ride back and drive them up. I'll point. We'll drive until +it gets too dark. Tell the wagons to move up." + +Bud wheeled his pony and dashed to the rear of the great herd of cattle +that was coming on at a snail's pace. + +The cattle were lowing uneasily. They knew even better than the men that +a storm was coming, and they dreaded it. + +This was the big Circle S herd which the broncho boys had bought in +Texas in the spring of that year, and which they had herded and driven +northward throughout the summer to winter on the Montana plateau, later +to be driven to Moon Valley, and there put into condition for the +market. + +Various things had delayed the arrival of the herd on their winter +grounds. A detention of several days at a time by flood, by a stampede, +and by fights with rustlers, had brought the cattle several weeks late +to their winter grounds. + +Ted Strong had determined to try the experiment of wintering Southern +cattle in the Montana country in order to harden them and improve the +quality of the beef. + +The broncho boys had a large order to fill for the government the +following summer, and it was to accomplish their contract that they had +bought the Texas cattle and driven them north to the Long Tom Ranch in +northern Montana. + +Now that they were within a few miles of it, and still on the low +ground, it appeared that a big snow was inevitable, which might +frustrate all their plans and cause them great loss. + +But Ted Strong did not complain. It was a condition which he could not +have foreseen, and, being close at hand, there was nothing for them to +do but meet it with all the fortitude at their command. + +Soon the herd began to move forward, being crowded by the broncho boys +and the force of cow-punchers whom they had employed to assist them. + +Stella Fosdick, who, with her aunt, Mrs. Walter Graham, had accompanied +the boys on their drive, now came galloping up to Ted. She had been +riding beside the carriage in which her aunt had been comfortably +traveling. + +"Going to keep on, Ted?" she asked. + +"Yes. Got to do it. Those clouds are full of snow. If it catches us down +here we're likely to be snowed in, and if we do it's all up with the +Circle S," he replied. + +"That's bad." + +"Oh, I guess we'll pull through all right, if we can keep the cows +moving; but it is not going to be very comfortable for your aunt or you. +We'll have to drive until the cattle refuse to move farther." + +"I can stand it, and aunt will have to. She's getting a little anxious, +though, and asked me to ride ahead to learn when we're going to stop. +Poor auntie likes her comfort. I often wonder why she became the wife of +a ranchman." + +"Or why she consents to traipse all over the country with you," laughed +Ted. + +"Ted, she absolutely cannot refuse me a thing." + +"So I see. You've got her hypnotized--as, indeed, you have all the rest +of us. But ride back and cheer her up all you can. I told McCall, the +cook, to make some good, strong coffee and to serve it to any of the +boys who wanted it, as it will be some time before we can have supper. +Have Mac take her a cup of good, strong coffee and something to eat. +That may make her a little more cheerful." + +"I'll do it. But don't you want some coffee, too?" + +"Not for me. I've got something else to do right here. This is going to +be a race between the herd and the snow clouds, and it means a whole lot +to us." + +"Afraid of being snowed in?" + +"You bet. If this bunch of cattle gets snowed in I see our finish. We'll +lose half of them before we get to the grass." + +"I don't know a thing about the Northern range, and I can't see how +you're going to bring that herd through to spring. It would take +thousands of tons of hay, and I don't know how much corn to feed them." + +Ted laughed. + +"I see you don't know much about the North," he said. "But what should a +girl brought up in Texas know of wintering cattle in the snow? You see, +it's this way: Montana is the best winter cattle range in the United +States. + +"The winds from the mountains sweep the snow, which is dry and loose, +from the high, level ground, exposing the grass which has been cured on +the ground, and which makes the best kind of feed. Then there is plenty +of water, and the deep coulees, with which the country is cut up, afford +ample protection for the cattle during storms. + +"Occasionally there comes warm winds from the northwest. These are +called chinook winds, because they come from the direction of the +country of the Chinook Indians. They are warm and balmy, and melt the +snow as if by magic. Their warmth is caused by having come in contact +with the Japanese stream, which crosses the Pacific Ocean, after being +warmed in the sunny East, and which strikes the shores of North America +along about south Alaska. This stream is called by the Japanese, Kuro +Siwo. It is the equivalent of the Gulf Stream, which leaves the Gulf of +Mexico to cross the Atlantic and warm the shores of Great Britain." + +"Quite a lecture," said Stella, laughing. + +"I didn't mean to lecture," replied Ted, laughing also, "but I wanted +you to know why it is that it is a good thing to winter cattle in this +north country. In the first place it puts strength and stamina into the +cattle, and makes the beef better, and all the conditions of which I +have spoken make it possible to keep cattle on the open range out here, +where one would think they would perish of cold and starvation. But it +is no picnic to run a winter range, as we will all learn before spring +comes again." + +"I understand now, and I'm sure I shall enjoy the experience. But I must +go back to aunt and jolly her up, for she is easily discouraged, and she +is no more used to rough winters than I." + +"She'll be all right when we get to Long Tom, for there is a bully ranch +house there, and she'll be as snug as a bug in a rug when we get +settled." + +The cattle were going forward over the gentle, rising ground, being +pushed by the punchers in the rear and the fellows on the side lines, +while Ted and Kit were pointing them in the direction of a tall butte, +which they could see in the distance, rising needlelike and black +against the gray sky. + +This was Long Tom Butte, after which the ranch, which Ted had leased, +had been named. + +Suddenly, Ted felt something wet on his cheek, and looked up. A +snowflake, big and floating lazily down, had struck him. + +Others followed it, and soon there were myriads of big, wet snowflakes +falling slowly through the air. + +The cattle began to hurry, and were lowing in a distressing way. Their +instinct told them to seek shelter, and they were telling their drovers +as much in their own fashion. + +For a half hour the snow continued to come down, wet and soft. + +But suddenly the wind changed in temperature. Before it had been raw and +damp. Now it became sharp and frosty. + +The snow changed quickly from heavy, wet flakes, to small, dry, sharp +particles, which, driven by a strong wind, which had veered around into +the north, stung the faces of the boys like needles, and worried the +cattle, which seemed to want to lag in their pace. + +"Kit, go back and tell the boys to keep pushing harder. The cattle want +to stop, and if they quit now it's all up. There's a blizzard coming. If +we can keep them at it an hour longer, we will be in the lee of the +buttes, and there's a deep coulee into which we can drive and hold them +until morning." + +At Ted's command Kit dashed toward the rear, and repeated the order, and +the cow-punchers rode into the herd with shouts and with active lashing +of their quirts, and the beasts picked up their pace again and hurried +forward through the snow, which had begun to whiten the ground. + +Kit returned to Ted's side. + +"What do you think of it?" he asked. + +"If we had an hour more of daylight, I think we could make it," said +Ted. + +"Any doubt of it?" + +"Well, when it becomes dark we'll lose sight of Long Tom, and we're +likely to drift, because, unless the cattle are driven into the storm, +they'll turn tail to it and go the other way." + +"I can't see Long Tom now." + +"I can, although the snow almost blots it out. There it is right in the +northwest. I can just make it out. The herd is drifting south of it now. +Better get over on your point, and head them up this way a bit." + +Soon the herd was driving forward in the right direction again. + +But suddenly the darkness came down like of pall of black smoke, +shutting out everything, and the wind increased in violence, rising with +a howl and a shriek like some enormous and terrible animal in rage. + +"It's all off," said Ted to himself, with a sigh. + +The cattle came to a stop. + +"Keep them going!" shouted Ted, riding back frantically along the line. + +The cow-punchers dashed among the animals, shouting and beating them +with their quirts, and managed to get them started again, but it was +only for a short time, for again they stopped, bellowing, the leaders +milling and throwing everything into confusion. + +"That settles it," shouted Ted to Bud. "They're going to drift all night +if we don't stop them." + +"Dern ther luck, I says," growled Bud. "How fur aire we from ther +ranch?" + +"The worst of it is we're right on it. The ranch house isn't more than +three miles from here, and if we could have got there we would have been +all right. By morning we may be ten miles away, if we let the herd +drift, and we'll have a dickens of a time getting the brutes back +through the snow." + +"What aire we goin' ter do with the wimminfolks?" + +"I'm going to try to get them to the ranch house. You boys will have to +make a snow camp, and hold the herd from drifting at all odds. Don't let +them sneak on you. Keep pushing them from the south. You see, they're +all turned that way now with their tails to the wind. As soon as they +get cold they will begin to move. Don't let 'em do it." + +"All right, Ted. We'll do the best we can. You take care o' ther +wimminfolks. So long, an' good luck." + +Ted rode back to where Mrs. Graham was shivering in the closed wagon the +boys had provided for her, and Stella was sitting her pony by her side, +trying to encourage her. + +Carl Schwartz was the jehu of the outfit, and sat on the driver's seat, +a fair imitation of a snow man. + +"Carl, get a move on you. We're going to try to make the Long Tom ranch +house," said Ted. "I'll lead, and you follow. If you lose sight of me, +yell to me and I'll come back. I've got my pocket searchlight, and will +send you back a flash now and then." + +Carl was half frozen and would have been pleased to get down and walk +the rest of the distance, but he knew the danger that surrounded them, +and simply yelled back "Yah!" and gathered up the reins for a start. + +"Come on, Stella," said Ted. "We're going to try to make the ranch +house." + +Without a word Stella followed him, and the little caravan struck into +the teeth of the snow-laden wind, which was now blowing half a gale. + +The wagon moved slowly through the snow, which was getting deeper every +minute, and was like heavy sand. + +Every few minutes Carl's voice could be heard, and Ted called back to +him. + +Ted was traveling entirely by instinct, for it was so dark that he could +not see a foot in front of them. + +So they struggled on for an hour, halting occasionally to give the +horses a breathing spell, then drove obstinately forward again. + +"We should have been at the ranch house long ago," shouted Ted at last, +pulling in his panting horse. + +"Then we're lost, I suppose," shouted Stella in return. + +"Looks that way." + +"What are you going to do?" + +"Stop for the rest of the night." + +"I wouldn't. Keep on until the horses won't go any farther." + +"All right, if you think best." + +On they went again for a half hour more, and Ted was beginning to +believe it was folly to go any farther when his pony stumbled and almost +fell. + +In front of them loomed a darkness more intense than before. + +Ted scrambled from the back of his pony and led it forward. The pony had +stumbled over the horse block at the very door of the Long Tom ranch +house. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE LONG TOM RANCH. + + +Ted and Stella raised such a shout that Carl pulled his horses up just +in time to keep them from trying to climb upon the veranda. + +With the aid of his searchlight Ted had found the door and entered the +house, followed by Stella. + +In the big, front living room they found a lamp, which they lighted and +looked around. + +The house had been left ready for occupancy, and in the great, wide +fireplace logs were piled high ready to be burned. + +In a moment Ted had a fire leaping high up the chimney, then hastened +out to the carriage. + +Carl had scrambled down from the seat of the carriage, and was so cold +and numb that he couldn't walk, while Mrs. Graham had to be carried into +the house by Ted and placed before the fire to thaw out. + +Soon the room was comfortable, and Ted, who had set out on a tour of +inspection, found that the kitchen was well stored with food. + +He started a fire, and soon had coffee and bacon cooking. + +Outside the storm continued to rage through the night, but all within +was tight and warm, and Stella and her aunt retired to their comfortable +bedrooms. But Ted sat up through the night. + +He had considered starting back through the storm to the herd, but +thought better of it, for Bud was perfectly capable of doing all that +could be done with the cattle until daylight came to their rescue. + +While daylight was struggling up through the leaden eastern sky the wind +died down as suddenly as it had risen, and the snow ceased falling. + +Ted had fallen into a doze in a chair in front of the fire, but a stray +sunbeam coming through a window fell upon his closed eyelids, and he +awoke with a start. For a minute he could not think where he was. Then +the cheery voice of Stella fell upon his ears. Somewhere in the distance +she was singing, and he sprang to his feet and looked about him. + +It came to him that he was at the Long Tom, and he remembered having +left the Circle S herd out in the blizzard. + +This stirred him to action, and he went back to the kitchen with the +intention of lighting the fire and getting breakfast. + +He stopped in the doorway in astonishment. Stella, with her sleeves +rolled to the elbows, was busily engaged at the stove, singing as she +worked. + +"Good morning," said Ted. "You beat me to it. Why didn't you wake me up +and put me to work?" + +"Hello!" said Stella cheerily. "You looked so tired sitting in that +chair that I thought I'd let you sleep. At any rate, cooking breakfast +is no work for a boy in a house. Get ready. Breakfast will be on the +table in a minute. What do you think I found in the shed behind the +house? A mountain sheep already dressed, and hung up for us. The fellow +who left this house for us certainly was a good one. He knew we'd come +in hungry, and left everything ready for us." + +"That was just like Fred Sturgis. He's one of the best fellows in the +world. He's the owner of the ranch. Young New York fellow. Wanted to +spend the winter in the East. That's how I was able to get the ranch. +But I'll bet he'll be back here before the snow melts. You couldn't keep +him off the range for any length of time." + +"He certainly has good taste. The house is almost as nice as the Moon +Valley house, but nothing is quite as nice as that." + +Mrs. Graham and Carl were roused, and they were soon sitting down to +chops from a mountain sheep and corn bread which Stella had made; and +they all voted that winter life in Montana promised to be a very jolly +thing. + +When Ted went outdoors the whole world was simply a glittering waste +where the sun shone on, and was reflected back from the vast field of +snow. + +Sultan was in the sheltered corral, and as Ted threw the saddle on his +back he reared and jumped about like a playful kitten. + +"Quit your cavorting about, you rascal," said Ted, as Sultan wheeled +away from the saddle with a playful snort, at the same time reaching +around and trying to nip Ted's shoulder with his teeth. + +"My, but you're feeling gay this morning," said Ted. "Here, hold still, +won't you? How do you suppose I'm ever going to get this saddle on you +if you don't stand still?" + +But the cold weather and the bright sunshine had filled Sultan with +ginger, and he was as full of play as a small boy when he wakes up some +early winter morning and sees the ground covered with the first snow, +and remembers the sled that has lain in the woodshed all summer. + +But at last the saddle was on, and then Ted had his hands full getting +into it. + +"Gee, but you're skittish this morning," said Ted, giving Sultan a +vigorous slap on the haunch. "But just you wait a few minutes until I +get on you. I'll take some of that out of you." + +But when he tried to find the stirrup with his toe, Sultan wheeled away +from him with a little kick that was as dainty as that of a professional +dancer. + +But at last Ted made a leap and landed safely upon Sultan's back, and +gave him a slap with the loose end of his rein. The little horse gave a +leap like a kangaroo, and dashed through the gateway of the corral and +across the white prairie, running like a quarter horse. + +The herd was nowhere in sight, but in the far distance Ted saw a thin +blue stream of smoke rising in the still, frosty air. + +He knew it to be the camp fire of McCall, and that breakfast was going +forward at the cow camp in the snow. + +Heading Sultan toward it, Ted rushed on through the stimulating air of a +Northern winter, and soon came in sight of the chuck wagon, and several +of the boys standing around a fire. + +As he dashed forward he raised the long yell, which was gleefully +answered, and soon he was at the camp. + +This was where he and Stella had started from the night before. + +Turning his eyes back in the direction he had come, Ted could see the +smoke rising from the chimney of the ranch house, although the house +itself was hidden behind a swell in the surface of the prairie. + +Had he only known it, he might have driven the herd right up to the +ranch house during the night. As it was, he saw now that he and Stella, +with the carriage, had ridden for almost two hours in the night, +traveling in a circle, and by the merest chance had stumbled upon the +ranch house. + +"Hello, fellows!" he shouted as he rode up. "Where are the dogies?" + +"Oh, to blazes and gone!" exclaimed big Ben, who was trying to thaw out +his boots at the fire. + +"Where?" asked Ted anxiously. + +"Away off yonder." Ben pointed disconsolately toward the south. + +"Are they all right?" + +"All right, nothing. They're up to their bellies in snow in a coulee, +and won't stir. They're the sickest-looking lot of beef critters you +ever saw. We've been working with them ever since daylight, then Bud +sent us along to thaw out and get some chuck into us, and hurry back so +that the other fellows could get limbered up some. Find the house?" + +"Yes, accidentally stumbled on to it. Bully place, and the womenfolks +are comfortably settled." + +"Looks like it," grunted Ben, pointing to the north. + +Ted looked in that direction and saw a spotted pony leaping toward them, +and above it a dash of scarlet. It was Stella, riding like the wind on +Magpie. + +"Have any trouble with the critters in the night?" asked Ted. + +"Did we? Well, I should howl. After you got under way they began to +drift before the wind. We fought them all night, and if we'd let them go +they'd been plumb into Colorado by this time. I don't want any more such +nights in mine." + +"That was only a starter, my friend. That was a picnic compared to what +you may have to go up against before the daisies bloom again." + +"Chuck!" yelled McCall, beating on the bottom of a griddle with a big +iron spoon. + +The fellows left the fire in a hurry and, squatting in the snow with a +tin cup full of steaming coffee and a plate heaped with fried bacon and +griddle cakes, were soon too busy to remember their weariness. + +Stella had ridden up, her cheeks glowing, and her eyes sparkling with +the frost and the exercise. + +"Why didn't you wait for me?" she cried to Ted. "You're a mean thing. +Thought you'd leave me behind, but here I am." She made a little face at +Ted. + +"I thought you'd rather stay indoors to-day on account of the cold," +stammered Ted. + +"Well, change your line of thought. There's going to be nothing to keep +me indoors in this country, and don't you forget it. If I've got to stay +indoors, I'll go South." + +As soon as the boys had finished breakfast they were ready for another +day's work. + +"Come on, fellows," shouted Ted. "Let's hurry to where the critters are, +and send the other boys back. Mac, cook up another breakfast for them." + +They were in the saddle in a jiffy, and scurrying toward the south as +fast as their ponies could carry them. + +Ted found the herd bogged in a shallow coulee that was filled to the top +with snow, in which they stood up to their bellies, lowing from fright, +hunger, and thirst. + +They were packed in a solid mass, and could not get out on the other +side because the wall of the coulee was too steep for them to clamber +up, as they might have done had it not been for the deep snow with which +it was drifted full. + +As a matter of fact, though, the coulee had saved the herd from drifting +many miles in the night. + +But how to get them out was the question that perplexed Bud, and with +the arrival of Ted he thankfully turned the task over to him. + +"Hike for the chuck wagon, boys," shouted Ted, as he came up. + +"Well, I should smile to ejaculate," said Bud, "we're as hollow an' cold +as a rifle bar'l. I'll turn this leetle summer matinée over ter you, my +friend, not wishin' you any harm." + +"Go ahead and enjoy yourselves," said Ted. "But as soon as you have +filled up and warmed up come back. As soon as we get the bunch out of +this hole it will be a snap to get them near the ranch house. If we'd +only known it, we could have made it in half an hour more last night." + +When Bud had ridden away Ted took stock of the situation, and found that +he had a difficult problem to solve. + +Under ordinary circumstances it would have been easy to snake the cattle +out of the coulee by roping them around the horns and dragging them out +with the ponies, but it was utterly impossible to do that with a couple +of thousand of them. + +While he was looking things over he became aware that Stella had ridden +away. He looked anxiously after her, for he knew her propensity for +getting into trouble when she rode alone. Soon she dropped out of sight +behind a swell in the prairie with a flash in the sunlight of her +scarlet jacket. + +Ted was still studying the situation, riding up and down the edge of the +coulee, trying to figure out some plan of rescue, and noting the cattle +that were down, and which were rapidly being trampled to death by the +other beasts, or being smothered by the snow. + +The prospect was not a pleasing one to the young cow boss, for he saw +the profits of the venture fading away hourly. + +Suddenly a faint, shrill yell reached his ears, and he wheeled his pony +in the direction from which it came. + +Stella's scarlet jacket was coming toward him in a whirlwind of flying +snow, and he rushed toward her. + +What could have happened to her? He looked in vain for whatever was +pursuing her, and saw that she was not being followed, but was swinging +her arm above her head with a triumphant gesture. + +He slowed his pony down, and soon she dashed to his side. + +"You fellows are certainly a bright lot of cow-punchers," she exclaimed. + +"What's the matter now?" asked Ted gloomily. + +"Didn't any of you think of scouting down the coulee?" + +"I confess I didn't." + +"You ought to be laid off the job for a week." + +"Why?" + +"You can get those cattle out of that hole in an hour." + +"We can! How do you know?" + +"The coulee runs out about a mile to the west, and straight to the +north, up a wide swale, lies the ranch house in full view." + +"Stella, you're all right. But the cattle are bogged, and they can't +move even down the coulee." + +"I believe they can." + +"How?" + +"When the other boys come back from breakfast all of you jump into the +coulee and tramp the snow down as much as you can ahead of the leaders. +Then start them up." + +"Bully for you, Stella; you're a better cow-puncher than any of us." + +"No, I'm not, but because I don't know as much about it I go at it in a +woman's way, which is a roundabout way, and nearly always foolish to +look at, but sometimes does the work." + +This suggestion had the effect of taking a great load from Ted's +shoulders, for if he did not succeed in getting the herd out before +night they would freeze solid in their molds of snow, and then he would +never get half of them out alive. + +Presently Bud and the other boys came winging back from breakfast, and +Ted told them of the plan for releasing the cattle, at the same time +praising Stella and giving her all the credit for the idea. + +"Peevish peppers, but I'm a tenderfoot," grunted Bud. "Why in Sam Hill +didn't I think o' that myself? I reckon I'm gettin' too old fer ther cow +business. I ought ter be milkin' cows at some dairy farm." + +The boys followed Stella's suggestion, and, leaping into the coulee, +wheeled their ponies about until they had a well-beaten road for several +hundred feet toward the west. + +Then, cutting out a bunch of about fifty steers, led by a wise old +fellow, the herd leader, whom they called Baldy on account of the spot +of white hair between his horns, drove them along the path. After +getting the bunch going well, the boys drove them with yells and the +lashing of quirts into the deep snow ahead, and would not let them stop. + +Another bunch was driven up, and soon there was a smooth road along the +bottom of the coulee to the open ground, over which the cattle passed to +safety. + +Stella's good common sense had saved the herd. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE SIGN-CAMP GHOST. + + +As the last of the herd came out of the coulee to the open ground, a +cheer went up for Stella, who blushed rosy-red, and told the boys to +hush. + +Then the drive to the big pasture began, word having been sent to McCall +to follow with the chuck wagon. + +The big pasture ran north from the home pasture, which was near the +ranch house. + +It comprised thousands of acres, and was so high that nearly always it +was free of snow, which the strong winds coming down from the mountains +swept as clear as if a gigantic broom had been used. + +Back of the pasture lay a range of low mountains, the Sweet Grass they +were called, in which several high buttes towered like sentinels. + +The Sweet Grass Mountains had the reputation of harboring a great many +"bad men," both whites and Indians, who had forsaken the Blackfeet +Indian reservation to the west. + +The mountain valleys afforded a splendid protection for the cattle, as +did the numerous coulees with which the country was seamed. + +The big pasture of the Long Tom was reputed to be the best winter +feeding ground in Montana. The grass was high and nutritious, and there +were plenty of water holes. + +Once on the pasture the cattle scattered into smaller herds, each under +the leadership of a bull, while the steers drifted off by themselves. + +All that was necessary to care for the herd was to ride the lines of the +pasture, and keep the cattle on their own feeding grounds, prevent them +from straying, and hunt down the packs of wolves which preyed upon the +weak cows and young cattle. + +At stated intervals along the lines of the pasture were cabins, known as +"sign camps," in which the line riders lived. + +The first sign camp out of the home pasture was eight miles distant, and +the next was under the lee of the mountains, on the west line. + +As Ted directed the drive of the herd to the big pasture, on the south +and west line of which the first sign camp was situated, he cut out part +of the herd and held it back, while the remainder of the cattle went +forward. + +At the first sign camp Bud and Carl were dropped, for they were to ride +the line to the north and east from that point. + +Bud was glad to get some rest, and with a wave of the hand went on his +way to the camp to await the arrival of Carl, who had ridden back to the +ranch house for his blankets and other supplies. + +During the day the chuck wagon, following the instructions of Ted, +stopped at the sign camp, and left a supply of provisions and Bud's +blankets. + +Bud looked out the window of the cabin, and saw that the herd was +grazing quietly, for the cattle were very hungry, and as they were safe +for the time being, he rolled himself in his blankets and was soon +sleeping soundly. + +He awoke on hearing a fumbling at the door, and sat up. + +It was pitch dark, and he had slept nearly all day. + +Unlimbering his six-shooter, he called, "Who's thar?" + +"Ach, Pud, it's me alretty," came the muffled reply. + +"So it's you, Carl. Why don't you come in?" + +"Der door open, Pud, please. I my arrums full mit dings have." + +Bud sprang from his blankets and threw the door open, admitting a cold +blast and a flurry of snow. + +"Ugh!" he ejaculated, with a shudder. "Come in, yer fat wad o' Dutch. +What yer waitin' fer?" + +"Someding has my hat stolen off mit my head." Carl's voice expressed +both perplexity and awe. + +Evidently something unusual had happened, and Bud put on his hat and +stepped outside. + +He had no sooner passed through the doorway than his own hat was +snatched from his head. + +He drew his revolver, leaped into the open, and looked about him. + +There was no one in sight except Carl, who was standing near him with +his arms full of blankets and bundles. + +Carl could not have played the trick on him, and there was not wind +enough to have blown the hat away. Anyhow, it had been snatched from his +head by a hand and not by the wind. + +There was something uncanny about this. + +It was still light enough to see out in the open, and the snow-covered +ground reflected light enough to have discovered an intruder had one +been there. + +Bud ran around the house, but could find no person, and there were no +tracks of a man's foot in the snow. + +"Jumpin' sand hills, but that's queer," said Bud, coming back to where +Carl was still standing in the snow before the door, staring about in a +bewildered way. "Gosh ding yer, Carl, I believe yer swiped my hat, an' +if yer don't give it up I'll plant my toe whar it'll be felt +onpleasantly." + +"Honest, Pud, I ain't your hat taking," said Carl distressfully. "Vhy, I +my hat losing too, yet." + +"That's so, an' yer loaded down with truck. Throw them things inter ther +house an' help me hunt ther thief. Don' be standin' thar like a +sausage." + +"Don'd you calling me a sissage," said Carl wrathfully. "I ain't feeling +mooch as having fun mit you now. I bring all dese dings mit der saddle +on, und I lose two or three every dime der pony makes his jumpings, und +get down kvick to pick dem up maype as fifty dimes." + +"Oh, all right. Quit yer bellyachin', an' come an' help. We can't get +along without hats. That's a cinch." + +Carl retired into the house with his bundles. + +"Wow! Stop it, cuss ye," yelled Bud, as Carl came out of the cabin. + +"I ain't didding noding," said Carl, backing away as Bud rushed upon +him. + +"Yer did, yer fat galoot. Yer pulled my hair 'most out by ther roots." + +"I ain't pulling no hairs," Carl persisted. + +"Then who done it? Yer ther only person what I can see. It's a cinch +some one pulled my hair." + +"Say, Pud." + +"What?" + +"Let us camp outside." + +"What, an' freeze ter death before mornin'? Nixy. Not fer me." + +"Ain't you heard about der shack?" + +"No, I ain't, an' I don't want ter. What I'm after now is ther galoot +what got our hats an' pulled my hair." + +"Ain't you heard about der ghost?" + +"Ghost!" + +Bud was staring at Carl with his jaw dropped. + +"Yah. Dis is a ghost haus, filled mit ghostesses." + +"Don't you go making any monkey talks at me. There ain't no sich things +as ghosts. That'll do fer ter frighten kids with, but not fer me." + +"Den who tooken our hats, und who your golden locks pulled?" + +"That's so. Who took them? Tell me, who put all thet dope about this +bein' a haunted house in ther shell what yer calls yer head?" + +"Bill Simms, der cow-puncher vot we picked up on der drive, +informationed me about it. He says a man was kilt in dis shack, und dot +he valks aroundt mit it ven der night cooms." + +"That Bill Simms is ther worst liar in forty States. He tried ter fill +me with wild dreams about a feller what rides ther line on this yere +ranch what can stand havin' ther contents o' a six-shooter pumped inter +him, an' it don't feaze him none." + +"Yah. Dot's der ghostes vot runs dis shack. I don'd vant ter stay here, +Pud. Please let us camp out in der snow." + +"Why, yer doodle, can't ther ghost come out yere jest ez easy ez he kin' +go inter ther house--that is, if he's a sure-enough ghost?" + +"Yah, I guess he can. Vat vill ve didding?" + +"I don't care what you do, but I'm goin' inter ther shack ter start up +ther fire an' get warm. I don't care what you do, but I'm 'most froze." + +"Don't leaf me alone, dear Pud. Please, I imploring you." + +"Come on, then." + +Bud stepped inside, and, as he did so, he uttered an exclamation of +surprise. + +Both the purloined hats lay in the middle of the floor. + +"There, didn't I told you?" exclaimed Carl, in an awed voice. + +Bud simply stared at the hats. + +"Nopody but a ghostes could haf did dat." + +Bud looked around the room, and then up at the ceiling. + +Then he burst into a roar of laughter. + +"Thar's ther ghost," he shouted, grasping Carl by the arm and twisting +him around so that he could see. + +In the corner just below the ceiling were two sharp, green points of +light that glowed in the faint radiance cast by the fire, which had sunk +to embers. + +"Ach, mutter, save your liddle Carl. It vor der ghostes." + +"That ain't no ghost," said Bud scornfully. "Ain't you never hear tell +how ghosts look? They're all white an' long an' skinny, an' when they +walk they carry chains what clanks, an'----" + +"Oh, Pud, stop. Don't say it some more. My plood vas chilling now so I +ain't aple to svallow in my troat alretty. I vas so scared as nefer vas +I." + +"Yer a cheerful roommate, I must say. See, ther ghost is gone." + +"I ain't nefer goin' ter be happy some more. I haf seen a ghost. I vill +die, I am sure." + +"Yer kin bet on that ez a shore thing, an' I reckon I will, too." + +"Listen!" Carl grasped Bud by the arm with the clutch of despair. + +There was a faint and stealthy noise on the roof. + +Both stood for a few moments listening breathlessly. + +Then they heard a faint, far-away wail, like that of a banshee. + +Carl threw his arms around Bud in an agony of fear. + +"Dere it iss. Ve are gone. All iss lost." + +Again the gruesome wail came to them, this time louder and clearer, and +in a moment or two a hand was at the door. The latch clicked softly, and +the door swung slowly open. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE BIG COON TREE. + + +"Hello, what's the matter with you fellows? Are you going to have a +waltz, or is it going to be a two-step, or a catch-as-catch-can +wrestling match? Perhaps you've suddenly grown very fond of one +another." + +It was Ted who spoke, standing in the doorway, laughing as if he would +burst his buttons off, at the strange tableau in the middle of the +floor, Carl clinging to Bud, who was trying to shake him off. + +"Let loose o' me," shouted Bud. "Why, ther feller's plumb daffy on +ghosts. He says as how this shack is haunted, an' he's plumb loco." + +"Yah. Didn't we just hear der ghostes yell mit der outside?" said Carl, +who had been thrust away from his clutch on Bud, and was standing in the +middle of the floor, trembling like one with the ague. + +"Ha, ha!" laughed Ted. "Ghost, eh? It was me calling to the cattle, and +sending them back from the line." + +"Yah, aber I seen mit mine own eyes der green ones oof der ghost up in +dot corner, und heart him on der roof." + +"Come outside, and I'll show you the footprints of the ghost," said Ted, +leading the way. + +Out in the snow by the side of the cabin Ted showed them several tracks, +something like a small hand, which ended at the wall of the cabin. + +"That's where the ghost went up," said Ted. "Let's climb the wall, and +see what is on the roof." + +It was easy climbing up the log wall, for there were plenty of +footholds. + +When they were high enough to look over the edge of the roof, Bud gave +an exclamation of surprise, and then burst out laughing, in which Ted +joined. + +But Carl could not see the joke. + +"It's a vild cat," he shouted, scrambling to the ground. + +"It ain't, neither," asseverated Bud. "It's a bully little ole pet coon. +That's what it is." + +He held out his hand, and the coon, making a queer little chuckling +noise, came slowly toward him as he held out his finger, which the +sharp-eyed little beast clasped in its fingerlike paw and pulled. + +Bud reached out, tucked it under his arm, and climbed down with it. + +"This yere coon was a pet ter ther fellers what rid line yere before," +said Bud, when they were in the cabin again. "He's been hangin' eround +ever since, an' when he saw us he thought it wuz his ole pardners come +back. He's been taught ter swipe hats an' drop 'em down inter ther house +through ther chimbley hole. That accounts fer it, an' I reckon he's ther +whole ghost." + +"Yah, mebbe I dinks so," said Carl, who looked rather sheepish at his +exhibition of fear. + +"He's a smart little piece," said Ted. "By the way, Carl, get busy with +the pots and pans. I'm going to stay to supper and sleep here to-night. +I've got the cattle and the boys planted, and it is too far to go on to +the ranch house to-night. Stella and Kit went back an hour ago." + +Carl went to work to cook supper, while Bud played with the coon, which +was as full of tricks as a monkey, and kept the boys laughing all the +time. + +"A coon is a mighty smart animile," said Bud as they sat down to supper. + +"So I've heard," said Ted. "But I've never seen many of them." + +"Dere is no such beast in Chermany," Carl put in proudly. + +"That's so," said Bud. "Ameriky is the land o' ther free, an' ther home +o' ther coon. Never went coon huntin', did yer, Ted?" + +"I never did." + +"Well, ye've missed some mighty good fun. Down in Missouri is whar ther +coon grows wild an' independent, an' ther ain't one o' them what's come +o' age what ain't as smart as ary congressman you ever see." + +"I've heard something about coon hunting," said Ted. + +"It's great down in Missouri. Thar's whar ther coon trees grow." + +"Vat such foolishment for?" said Carl, with a sneer. "Coons don't grow +mit trees on." + +"Nobody said they could, but they live in trees, yer loony. A ole gum +tree what's holler is ther home o' ther coon. Thar's whar ther best coon +dogs come from, too. Ever hunt coons with a dog?" continued Bud. + +"Never did," said Ted. "It seems too picayunish fer me. I like bigger +game than that. Besides, I don't care much fer hunting in the +nighttime." + +"Do they hunt mit der coons in der nighttime?" asked Carl, who was +beginning to be interested. + +"Shore! That's ther time ter tree 'em. My Uncle Fletcher out in ole +Missou, we ust ter call him ole Unc' Fletch, had four or five coon dogs +that was ther cream o' the coon-huntin' canines in several counties, an' +Unc' Fletch was out near every night chasin' coons." + +"Many of them there?" asked Ted. + +"Ther country was overrun with 'em. They ust ter eat all ther roastin' +ears o' corn in ther bottom lands, an' git away with more chickens than +ever those that raised 'em did, until it got so that ther farmers said +they was only raisin' corn an' chickens ter keep ther coons fat." + +"No money in that." + +"Not much. But I wuz goin' ter tell yer what happened ter Unc' Fletch +one night ter show how plenty coons wuz in his section. + +"One night he starts out with his best coon dog, Ballyhoo, so called +because he made sech a noise when he treed a coon. + +"Bally runs acrost ther scent o' a coon an' takes after it. Unc' Fletch +trails along, an' Ballyhoo stops at a big sycamore tree. But there don't +seem ter be no hole, an' after unc' looks around, an' can't find +nothin', he calls Ballyhoo off, an' they start through ther woods ag'in. + +"Pretty soon Ballyhoo scents another coon, an', by jing, it leads them +ter ther same sycamore. About twenty times that night they strikes ther +scent, an' every time it stops at the same tree. + +"Now, Unc' Fletch wuz some o' a woodman, an' he says it ain't nat'ral +fer ther dog ter tree so many coons at ther same place, an' wonders if +thar is somethin' wrong with ther dog, if he's gone daffy, er whether +it's jest an onusual smart coon what has gone out jest ter have a joke +by runnin' them ter ther same tree every time. + +"While he is contemplatin' thus he is leanin' with his back ter ther +tree. Pritty soon he thinks he'll go home, an' he starts away sorter +disgustedlike with ther night's sport, an', by gee, he finds he's caught +by ther tail o' his coat an' can't break loose. + +"He tries ter get away, but he's shore fast. He reaches around, an' ther +tree hez got hold o' him all right, an' bein' some superstitious, Unc' +Fletch begins ter git some scared. Then he ricollects about hearin' the +colored folks talk about the haunted coon tree." + +"Coons is ghostes, not?" asked Carl. + +"Wait an' you'll hear," continued Bud. "Long about this time, Ballyhoo +begins ter howl in ther most sad an' lonesome way, an' that don't make +Unc' Fletch feel any better. Jest as he's thinkin' about hollerin' fer +help----" + +"Why didn't he skin out of his coat, and leave it sticking to the tree?" +asked Ted. + +"I ast him ther same question, an' he says as how he was too plumb +scared ter do sich a thing. But jest as he was goin' ter holler he finds +that he's loose, an' all his spunk comes back again. + +"Then he begun ter be curious ter find out what it was that held him +fast. He lights a fire an' gets a torch ter examine ther tree, but can't +find nothin' that would hev cotched him thataway. + +"But as he's lookin' ther strangest thing happens. Ther tree opens a +crack runnin' all ther way from ther roots up as far as Unc' Fletch kin +see. Ther crack is big ernuff ter put yer finger in, but Unc' Fletch +doesn't do no such fool trick ez that. + +"In less than a minnit ther crack closes up ag'in, an' thar ain't no +sign o' it. Now this is some puzzlin' ter Unc' Fletch, an' he hez some +more o' them funny feelin's erbout ghosts, an' them things. + +"While he's still watchin' ther tree, ther crack opens again, then +closes an' opens an' closes, same as if it wuz breathin'. This makes +Unc' Fletch some riled, fer he wa'n't never a feller what can stand +bein' made a joke of, an' he thinks ther ghost in ther tree is havin' +fun with him." + +"What did he do?" asked Ted, when Bud stopped and looked reflectively +into the fire. + +"Well, he starts out ter make a fool out o' ther ghost, if it is a +ghost, er outer ther tree, if it is jest a tree what is triflin' with +him. + +"He has his ax with him, fer every real coon hunter always carries an ax +ter chop down ther tree when he finds a coon in it. But he wa'n't goin' +ter chop down this tree none." + +"What did he want with the ax, then?" + +"I'll soon tell yer. First he chops down a small tree, an' he makes a +wedge with an edge erbout ther size o' yer little finger, an' he waits +until ther tree breathes ergin. Then he slips ther wedge in, an' hammers +it home. + +"'Ha, ha!' says he ter ther tree, 'ye'll make monkey-shines with me, +holdin' me by ther coat tails, will yer?' An' all ther time he is +choppin' out another wedge, bigger than ther first. + +"As he keeps choppin' out, an' shovin' bigger an' bigger wedges inter +ther crack, he hears noises comin' from ther tree like what he ain't +never heard before. But ther tree is beginnin' ter give out crackin' +noises, too, like as if it was splittin'. + +"While this is goin' on Ballyhoo is makin' a terrible fuss, an' jest +tryin' ter tear ther tree down with his claws. At last ther tree busts +plumb open, an' what d'yer think Unc' Fletch sees?" + +Neither Ted nor Carl replied. What the tree contained was a thing +unguessable, but Carl's eyes were as big as saucers as he stared at Bud, +awaiting the solution of the mystery. + +"What did it contain?" asked Ted at last. + +"It was plumb full o' coons," said Bud solemnly. "Thar must 'a' been two +hundred coons in that tree. It was a regular coon hotel. They made it a +sort o' winter colony. Every coon fer miles eround made it home." + +"But that doesn't explain the crack in the tree and the strange way in +which it opened and closed." + +"That's easy now that yer knows that the tree was holler an' plumb full +o' coons." + +"I don't see it yet." + +"Why, it wuz like this: Every time them coons drew a long breath it +expanded ther tree so that it opened a crack, an' when their lungs +filled the crack opened wide. Then, when they let out thar breath ag'in, +ther crack closed tight ag'in. Unc' Fletch happened ter lean up ag'in +ther tree jest ez ther crack closed, an' that's how his coat tails got +caught." + +"And what became of all those coons?" asked Ted. + +"Yer see they got inter ther tree through a hole in ther top. Unc' +Fletch didn't dare leave ther tree alone, so he tied a note ter Ballyhoo +an' sent him back ter ther village fer a carpenter. When ther carpenter +come they put a roof on ther tree an' made a door at ther bottom, an' +let ther coons out one at a time. By this means they got every dodgasted +coon in them woods, an' Unc' Fletch's bounties was enough ter enable him +ter lift ther mortgage on ther farm." + +"I guess that will do for to-night," said Ted, laughing. "I'm going to +hit the blankets, for it's up at daylight for all of us. I only hope +your pet coon does not attract so many others as to turn this sign camp +into a coon hotel." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE PHANTOM LINE RIDER. + + +For several days the weather remained fine, and the cattle were able to +get accustomed to their new range and become hardened. + +The boys at the sign camps took things easy. In each sign camp were two +boys, one of whom rode days, and the other nights, when it was necessary +in bad weather to hold the cattle from drifting. + +In order to keep in touch with one another the riders started from their +camps and met midway between, in order to exchange notes as to the +condition of the cattle and other things necessary to the welfare of the +whole herd. + +There was another reason for this constant interchange of communication +between the camps. + +Ted had received a warning from the town of Bubbly Creek, a small cattle +station, about twenty miles from the Long Tom Ranch, where there was a +cattleman's hotel, a few saloons, and an outfitting store, to look out +for the Whipple gang, which had its rendezvous in the Sweet Grass +Mountains. + +Fred Sturgis, in the last letter Ted had received from him, had also +mentioned this gang of thieves and desperadoes, whose operations +extended from Canada, into which they made extensive raids when the +Canadian Mounted Police happened to be out of that part of the country, +as far south as the central portion of Montana. + +"I have had considerable trouble with the Whipple gang myself," Sturgis +wrote, "but as yet I have never seen but one member of the gang to know +it. I have had plenty of cattle stolen, and have always attributed the +thefts to the Whipples. All I know about the gang is that it was founded +by a fellow named Whipple, an outlaw on the scout, who attracted to +himself a desperate gang of fugitives from justice who had taken refuge +in the Sweet Grass Mountains. + +"I have never seen Whipple himself, but from those who claim to know him +he is described as an enormous man of prodigious strength, and a perfect +brute, who has forced his men into absolute subjection by his acts of +brutality toward them. + +"With Whipple are a number of bad Indians, who have fled from the +various reservations in Montana after having committed all sorts of +crimes, from theft to murder. It is said that these are more to be +feared than the white men, for they are terribly cruel, and when they +get a victim he is tortured with all the horrible rites of the true +savage. They know that the moment they are caught that is the end for +them, so that they are reckless to the verge of insanity. + +"I tell you these things, believing that you already know what ranching +in northern Montana means, and with every confidence in Ted Strong's +ability to take care of himself, and meet conditions when they appear. +All I can say is, go after them if they molest you. I and my boys fought +them so successfully that they gave us a wide berth toward the end. But +when they learn that new hands have taken hold of the Long Tom they may +think that they can start their funny business again. + +"Knowing your reputation, and the ability you have shown in the past in +wiping out, or at least breaking up and scattering, bands of bad men, I +leave the Long Tom in your hands with the hope that when I take it over +again in the spring there will be no more Whipple gang, and that the +Sweet Grass Mountains will be as safe as one's own dooryard. + +"A word in your ear about the Sweet Grass Mountains: It is known to a +few men in Montana, and a few others in various parts of the country +that somewhere in those mountains are rich mines of gold and copper, and +at various times men have brought out beautiful and valuable specimens +of sapphires and rubies in the rough, not knowing what they were, having +picked them up solely because they were beautiful and unusual. + +"If it were not for the Whipple gang the mountains would have been +opened up to the prospectors long ago. Several prospectors, unheedful of +the warnings, have gone in, but none have ever come out of the Sweet +Grass Mountains. + +"Whoever is at the head of the Whipple gang possesses more than the +usual share of brains, courage, and luck. Keep your eye peeled, and good +fortune to you." + +This letter had been read to the boys one night in camp, and all were +instructed to look out for strangers on the ranch and to inform +themselves of the business of such. + +One night Carl started from the sign camp to ride north to meet the +rider from sign camp No. 2, which lay nearer the mountains. + +The camp in which Bud and Carl were stationed was camp No. 1. + +The distance between the camps was about six miles, so that each rider +had to go about three miles to meet. + +The night was clear and cold, and the air fairly sparkled with the frost +in the brilliant white moonlight. It was a glorious night, and Carl, in +a leather coat lined with fleece, and with a fur cap upon his head, and +his feet in thick felts, started away from the camp on his ride. + +There was no wind, but the temperature was very low. + +To the north the Sweet Grass Mountains loomed, a black mass against the +sky, while all about the world was carpeted with snow. + +Carl had not progressed more than a mile from his camp when he saw a +dark object against the snow some distance in front of him. + +At first he thought it might be a bush or a rock, so still it was in the +moonlight. + +But he could not remember of ever having seen either a rock or a bush in +that part of the range. + +Then he wondered if he was late at the meeting place, and that the other +line rider had got tired of waiting for him, and had ridden forward upon +his line to meet him. + +This stimulated him to greater speed, and he pricked up his pony. + +But as he got nearer the black blot on the snow there seemed to be +something unusual about it, and he unconsciously slowed his animal down +to a walk. + +At last he got within hailing distance, and saw that it was a man on +horseback that he had been approaching. + +The man on night duty at the second sign camp was a cow-puncher named +Follansbee, a short, reckless, yet amiable fellow, whom Carl knew well. + +The rider who was awaiting him was an unusually large man, and bestrode +an enormous horse. The two were as if they had been carved from ebony, +as they stood silent and absolutely still, outlined sharply against the +dazzlingly white background. + +Something inside of Carl began to sink as he went on, slower and slower, +his hand gripping the reins tightly, and holding back on them. + +"Vot it is?" he was saying over and over to himself. "Vot it is? Dot is +not Billy Follansbee. Dot man vould make dree times of Follansbee, nit?" + +Cold fear was slowly stealing over Carl, and he wanted in his heart to +turn and ride the other way. + +But something seemed to draw him forward, and, try as he would, he could +not bring himself to turn back. + +The man on the black horse could not be a member of the Long Tom force, +for Carl knew every one of them well, as a fellow will who has camped +with them for months on a cattle drive. + +Now Carl was near enough to see the man's face, and he peered eagerly +forward to get a glimpse of it. + +Then his heart sank lower yet, for the man's face was as white as the +snow beyond. There were no features; neither nose, nor mouth, nor +eyebrows, only a pair of black eyes gleamed out of that dead-white face. + +Carl clutched at the horn of his saddle to keep from falling, he was so +frightened. + +"Vot it is?" he kept repeating to himself. + +His pony stopped of its own volition directly in front of this black +apparition, and Carl swayed in his saddle and would have fallen out of +it had he not clung to it with the unconscious strength of despair. + +"Iss dot you, Follansbee?" asked Carl, in a weak, thin voice, well +knowing that it was not his line partner, but trying to break the spell +of fear that held him. + +There was no reply, but the gleaming black eyes never left his own, nor +did the figure on the horse move a hair's breadth. + +"Vy don't you say someding?" said Carl, his voice sounding like the +piping noise of the wind through a keyhole. "Speak someding." + +Then it suddenly struck Carl that the man could not speak, because in +that white, immovable face there was no mouth to speak with, only those +black, blazing eyes. + +"If you can't speak, make motionings," said Carl, in an imploring voice. + +The sinister figure on the black horse slowly raised his arm, and +motioned Carl toward him, at the same time swinging his black horse +around and riding toward the mountains. + +Chilled to the heart, Carl obeyed the signal, and sent his pony forward. + +The man, apparition, demon, or whatever it was, sent his horse into a +gallop, and Carl, with no volition on his own part, followed at the same +speed. + +But with the black and menacing eyes of the man with the dead face away +from his own, some small part of courage oozed back into Carl again, and +he remembered Ted's injunction to question every stranger met on the +range, and if he did not give a satisfactory answer to drive him off. + +But Carl had not got over the fright the sight of that face and eyes had +thrown him into. + +Suddenly his hand came into contact with the handle of his six-shooter, +and a thrill of daring ran through him. + +He looked ahead at the back of the man riding only a few feet in advance +of him. + +Should he take the chance? He knew that Ted or Bud or any of the boys +would do so. Why not he? + +If the man was only human a bullet would soon settle the matter. But if +he should be a ghost or an emissary of the devil, as Carl strongly +suspected, nothing like a ball from a forty-five would do him harm. + +This had the effect of staying his hand, and the revolver stopped +halfway out of its holster. + +Then Carl thought of the boys, and what they would say if they knew that +he had not nerve enough to pot the enemy when he met him. + +Carl was not the bravest fellow in the world, and he was intensely +superstitious. + +Again the thoughts of the taunts of the other boys, should they ever +know that he lacked the nerve to take advantage of the moment, came to +him, and he gulped something hard that rose in his throat, and drew out +his revolver. + +At that moment the man in black turned and looked over his shoulder, his +dead face gleaming white, out of which shone those terrible black eyes. + +The revolver stopped suddenly in its upward course, and Carl's jaw +dropped as he stared in abject fear at that white and expressionless +face. + +Then the man in black turned his horrible face once more to the fore, +and rode on. + +Something inside of Carl seemed to snap, and a great glow of courage +swept over him. He fairly hated the sight of the grim rider in front of +him, who was taking him he knew not where, and whom he yet dreaded with +all his heart. + +Up came the revolver again, and, almost before he realized what he was +doing, Carl was firing, straight at the back in front of him. + +The target could not be fairer, that black mark against the snow. + +The first ball struck, for Carl heard the thud of it, as if it had +struck and sunk into something soft. + +The report of the weapon crashed through the still night, and was +carried far on the frosty air, reverberating and echoing back from the +distant mountains. + +But the creature in whose body the ball had lodged did not seem to know +it. The head was not turned, the body did not lurch or sway. + +Carl, now blind to everything but the terror that had taken possession +of him, fired again and again until every chamber in his revolver was +empty, pausing after every shot to note the effect. + +That every shot was fair he was sure, for he could hear the sound of the +impact of the bullet. + +The recipient of the bullets seemed not to know that they had been +fired, for he did not hasten or retard the progress of the horse, nor +did he take any personal notice that they gave him any discomfort. + +But when Carl ceased firing he threw his head backward, looking over his +shoulder again, and from that hideous face without nose or mouth came a +gurgling noise that was like, and yet not like, laughter. + +The laughter was worse on Carl's nerves than the silence, and he felt +himself grow sick at heart. + +How could he expect to fight or escape from a devil impervious to the +balls from a Colt forty-five? + +Then, to Carl's amazement and relief, the black horse sprang forward +over the snow so swiftly that it seemed as if it was flying rather than +running, but this probably was due to the uncertainty and the illusion +of the moonlight, and vanished into thin air, leaving Carl staring +open-mouthed. + +It was several minutes before Carl regained his senses and knew that he +was sitting with his revolver in his hand, staring into space and seeing +nothing. + +Then he rode slowly forward to the brink of a deep coulee. + +Here was where he had last seen the phantom rider, for such Carl had at +last come to regard him. + +Looking to the bottom of the coulee, Carl saw nothing but snow, where he +had expected to find a dead horse and rider. + +"Ach, vot a country," he wailed. "Vy did I effer come to it? Mutter, I +vish you vas here to hellup your Carlos." + +Then he heard a groan close at hand and looked about, expecting to see +the phantom rider by his side. + +A short distance off lay a black splotch on the snow. + +It resembled the prostrate form of a man. Had he, after all, killed his +horrible enemy? Cautiously he rode toward it. It was a man, and not the +phantom, and it looked very much like a cow-puncher, for it was clad in +leather coat and chaps, and there was a belt filled with cartridges, and +in the snow beside it lay a Colt forty-five. + +This at least was human, and Carl climbed stiffly from his saddle and +bent over it. + +He started back with a cry of surprise. + +The man in the snow was his line partner, Follansbee. + +That he was not dead was evident, for he groaned occasionally. + +It was up to Carl to get him to camp as soon as he could, and when he +tried to raise the insensible form he was stopped by a gush of blood +from a wound in the breast. + +But he heard a shot in the distance, then another, and another. + +The boys had heard his shots, and were riding toward him with all speed. + +Presently he heard the long yell, and in a few minutes Bud Morgan came +dashing toward him at top speed, and soon they were joined by Kit +Summers from sign camp No. 2, and the horror of the night was over for +Carl. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +CAUGHT IN THE ACT. + + +Follansbee was carried to camp No. 2, where Bud, who was a pretty good +cow-camp surgeon, examined his wound. A ball from an automatic revolver +had struck him in the breast, but on account of the thickness of the +clothing he wore, and the fact that he had on a heavy vest of caribou +hide, in the pocket of which he carried a small memorandum book, the +ball had penetrated only a short distance. + +While he had lost a lot of blood, and the shock of the ball striking had +caused him to lose consciousness, he was not seriously hurt. + +It did not take Bud long to extract the bullet and stanch the flow of +blood, and Follansbee opened his eyes and looked about wildly. + +"Where is he?" he cried in terror. + +"Whar's who?" asked Bud. + +"The man what didn't have no face," cried the cow-puncher. + +"Carl chased him avay alretty," said Carl, bending over his partner. + +"All right, Carl. You saw him, too, did ye?" + +"Sheur I sawed him, mit mine own eyes." + +"Then it's all right," murmured Follansbee, sinking back on his bunk. "I +wuz afeared the boys wouldn't believe me if I told them what I saw." + +When Follansbee sank into a deep sleep, due to his weakness from loss of +blood, the three boys sat before the fire while Carl told of his +encounter with the faceless man, and of the six shots which he had fired +at him and the ineffective bullets which had struck his body. + +As the story was told a hush fell upon Bud and Kit. They were deeply +affected by the fact that this unknown and terrible menace was upon the +range which they were compelled to patrol, and which not even the balls +from a heavy weapon could kill. + +"I would hardly have believed it if both of you hadn't seen the +creature," said Kit. "It sounds too much like a pipe dream." + +It was morning before Bud and Carl left Kit's camp and rode to their +own. Follansbee was apparently all right, and exhibited no symptoms of +fever, for he had the iron constitution of a seasoned cow-puncher, who +almost invariably recovers as if by magic from a gunshot wound if the +missile does not penetrate a vital spot or splinter a bone. + +Follansbee, when he awoke from his sleep, told Kit of his meeting with +the "man without a face," as he called the man who had given him his +wound. + +"I wuz ridin' at a pretty good clip along the line to meet Carl," he +began, "when I see a feller standin' waitin' for me by the deep coulee, +about three miles south. + +"At first I thought it wuz Carl, but soon I see that it wuz too big fer +the Dutchman. + +"I slowed down a bit, fer I saw it wasn't any o' our outfit. Ye see I +had in mind what Ted said about that Sweet Grass Mountain gang, an' I +wuz some skittish. + +"As I rode along slowly the feller on the black hoss made a sign as if +he wanted me to foller him. But I didn't like the stunt, so I stops +still an' rubbers at him. + +"Two or three times he makes his motions, an' I don't do nothin' but +shake my head. + +"Kit, that wasn't no human bein'. It wuz ther devil as sure as shootin'. +I started to draw my gun, but shucks, I ain't got no chanct ter make a +move before thar was a crash, an' a blaze o' flame come from his chest, +right about the middle, an' I felt the ball strike me, I heard a queer +sorter laugh, like a man bubblin' with his mouth in a basin o' water, +an' then I went out, an' all I remember wuz fallin' out o' the saddle." + +About noon of that day, Ted and Stella rode over from the ranch house on +a tour of inspection, and stopped at Bud's camp, where they were told +the story of Carl's strange encounter with the man without a face, to +which he listened in troubled silence. + +When Carl was through with his story, Ted looked for a long time into +the fire without saying anything. + +"Well, what do you think?" asked Stella, at last. + +"I think it is the work of the Whipple gang," answered Ted. + +"But why should they shoot Follansbee?" + +"It is a piece of intimidation. Of course, they do not know us. Under +ordinary circumstances an apparition like that, followed by the shooting +of a man, would cause a panic among ignorant men on a ranch. It is a +cinch that the Whipple gang has got it in for us, and this is just the +beginning of it. You will soon see other evidences of their work." + +"But why should they hev it in fer us?" asked Bud. "We ain't never done +nothin' ter them." + +"I don't know, but I have several ideas." + +"What are they?" + +"There are two or three things to be considered. In the first place they +have it in for the ranch on general principles. You know Fred Sturgis +said in his letter that he and his boys had driven the gang away from +the ranch. That is reason number one. Then we are strangers in this part +of the country, and they have seen us and have us sized up for a lot of +boys, and, therefore, easy marks for them. Again, we have a big bunch of +cattle, which Whipple and his bunch think we will not be able to protect +against them. + +"They may have learned that we are deputy United States marshals. That +is enough to condemn us in their eyes. They are all old and fugitive +criminals, and if we knew them I think that we would find that they are +all wanted in one or more of the States and Territories, and that the +aggregate amount of rewards which have been offered for them, dead or +alive, would amount to a neat sum. They do not need marshals in this +part of the country. There may be other reasons why they will make war +on us, which we will learn later, but the ones I have mentioned are +sufficient for them to make themselves very troublesome." + +"So you think it is war, eh?" said Stella. + +"I do, and I think that you will be a shining mark for them when they +learn that you are here. For that reason I would warn you to be very +careful where you go about the ranch, and especially ask you not to ride +about alone, and to keep away from the mountains." + +"Oh, dear, and just when I had planned to explore those mountains from +one end to the other," said Stella, with a pout. + +"Can't help it. You know what would happen if they should catch you and +spirit you off as Shan Rhue did in the Wichita Mountains." + +"Yes, I know, I'm a lot of trouble to you, Ted, but you know I don't +mean to be." + +"Of course I know it, but if you run into danger, and expose yourself to +the attack of those who are avowedly our enemies, you run the chance of +being caught, and then, of course, it is our duty to get you out of +trouble." + +"Well, I'll be good." + +"The attempted killing of Follansbee was no accident," continued Ted. +"It was the work of an exceedingly shrewd man, who knows the moral +effect of his strange and mysterious appearance." + +"Ain't it a ghost?" asked Carl, who had become all swelled up at the +thought that he had made a ghost run away from him. + +"I should say not." + +"Den vy shouldn't mine bullets haf killed him?" + +"I'm sure I don't know. That is why I say that he is a remarkably clever +man, and it is probably the cause of the power he wields that he is able +to do such things. It wouldn't surprise me any if some day we learned +that your visitor was none other than the renowned Whipple himself." + +"What are you going to do about it?" asked Stella. + +"What can we do? We wouldn't know a single member of the gang if we were +to meet him. We don't know where they hang out, and if we did we know +nothing about the Sweet Grass Mountains, and could not go to where they +are. All we can do is to watch the ranch house and the cattle as a cat +watches a mouse, and if anything more, such as the shooting of +Follansbee, occurs, we will have to go on the warpath ourselves. But I +don't want to do that. We are out here to winter feed our cattle, and +not to fight." + +"Shore enuff, but yer kin bet yer breeches I'm not goin' ter let no cave +dweller or brush hider tromp onto my moccasins, an' turn ther other +cheek ter be tromped on. Ther first feller o' that outfit I cotch sashay +in' around me I'm goin' ter take a crack at him." + +"Go as far as you like when it comes to an act of aggression on the part +of one of them, but don't start anything, Bud, unless you can positively +bring it to a successful end." + +"I reckon I'm some of a fox myself. They ain't set no trap what I've put +my paw inter yet." + +Ted and Stella rode on to Kit's camp to see how Follansbee was getting +on, and found him doing nicely, but Stella laughed at the bandages Bud +had put on the wounded cow-puncher, and insisted on redressing the +wound. + +Stella was a master hand at bandaging, because she was deft of hand and +was naturally sympathetic. + +When she had finished with Follansbee, and had sewed his bandages so +that he could not rub or drag them off, he said he felt a hundred per +cent better already. + +Then they proceeded toward the mountains, where the third camp, under +the direction of Ben Tremont, was situated. + +It was almost the dying of the day when they left Ben's camp. He had not +heard of the attack on Follansbee, and Ted made it an occasion to warn +Ben against the attacks of the Whipple gang, as he was in the most +exposed place, being so near the mountains. + +When they turned their ponies' noses toward the south again it was to +ride through a part of the herd. + +Ted noticed that the cattle were feeding well and that there was plenty +of good, rich, well-cured grass, and that it was free of snow in big +enough patches to give the cattle ample room to graze. + +As they were riding along Stella drew rein. + +"What's the matter with that steer over there, Ted?" she asked, pointing +to a steer that was dragging one of its hind legs. + +Ted looked at the steer in question, which was moving slowly forward. + +"See, there's another," cried Stella. "Why, I can see a dozen of them +all limping in the same manner." + +"That's strange," said Ted. "I wouldn't think anything of it if only one +steer had gone lame, but I can't understand a dozen." + +They rode slowly toward the lame steers. + +"Great guns," exclaimed Ted, bending low in his saddle to examine the +steers closely. + +"What is it?" asked Stella excitedly. + +"This is terrible," said Ted. "If this keeps up we might as well shoot +all the cattle and let them lie out here on the prairie the prey to the +wolves. We will never get them back to Moon Valley." + +Stella looked at him with an expression of consternation on her face. + +"These cows and steers have been hamstrung," said Ted, with a tone of +suppressed rage in his voice. "Any man who would do a trick like that +ought to be shot down in his tracks like a mad dog." + +"Hamstrung! I don't understand." + +"Some inhuman brute has ridden up behind these crippled animals, and +with a sharp knife has cut the tendons or leaders behind the hoofs, or, +rather, in the ankles, laming them and preventing them from being able +to follow a drive. Where would we be in the spring if any large portion +of our beasts were so maimed?" + +"What a brutal thing to do!" exclaimed Stella, in indignation. + +"Hello, what's that?" + +Ted rose in his stirrups, standing and shading his eyes with his hand +against the glare of the setting sun on the snow. With the other hand he +was pointing off toward the east, where the cattle were milling +uneasily. + +"Something wrong over there," said Stella. + +They rode slowly in that direction to see what was disturbing the +cattle. + +As they went, Ted was looking for other hamstrung beasts. + +"By Jove! this is getting worse and more of it," he exclaimed. "See +there! That steer has had the tendons of his leg cut to-day. The wound +is fresh. It has hardly stopped bleeding. I wonder----" + +But before he had finished the sentence he applied the quirt to his pony +and was dashing through the herd, with Stella close behind. + +He had seen something strange and out of the way in the milling herd, +and while he thought he knew what it was he could hardly believe that it +could be true. + +As he rode he drew his revolver, and broke it to see that its chambers +were filled. + +Ted's face was pale and stern, and Stella saw at a glance that he was +terribly angry, and had the look in it that she had observed there +several times when he had seen animals being used with cruelty. + +As he dashed into the milling herd he gave a cry of rage. + +At the same moment a man sprang to an upright position in the midst of +the cattle, and gave a cry of surprise. + +Over his shoulders hung the fresh hide of a cow, with the skin of the +head and the horns protruding above his head. + +He gave one swift glance at Ted, then threw the hide to the ground and +set out at a run through the plunging beasts. + +Ted was hampered by the cattle getting in his way, and was not making +much progress, but he was beating the horned beasts aside with his +quirt. + +It was possible even yet that the man who was running from him would +escape, and this was what Ted was trying with all his might to prevent. + +Ted knew why the man was among the cattle protected from them by his +disguise of the cow's hide. + +He had been hamstringing them by the wholesale. + +In one day the inhuman brute could destroy for range use a whole herd. + +In the meantime, the cattle were growing wilder and wilder from the pain +caused by the hamstringer's knife, the wild career of the unmounted man +among them, and Ted and Stella pressing through them from the rear with +shouts and cracking quirts. + +"Great Scott! They'll get him!" shouted Ted, reining in his pony. + +The furious steers had turned their attention to the man on foot, and +were surging about him with angry bellowings, charging upon him, and +crowding him. + +He was in a very perilous position, and it was only that the cattle were +herded so close together that he had not gone down sooner. + +But once the cattle got him down he would be gored and trampled to +death. Nothing could save him. + +Ted and Stella were trying to force their way to his side, but were +unable to do so. + +Notwithstanding the fact the fellow had been caught in the act of +mutilating his cattle, Ted could not see him die without trying to save +him. + +Now they heard a cry of fear, and saw the man throw his arms up in the +air. + +The cattle were surging about him with wild and angry bovine cries, and +with a great tossing of horns, and leaps into the air. + +There were muffled yells of agony from beneath the tossing mass of +horns. + +"They've got him," muttered Ted. "They are wreaking their own revenge." + +"Are they killing him, Ted?" asked Stella. + +"They have got him down. The fool he was to go among them on foot. He +should have known better." + +Ted made another effort to get through the cattle, and at last succeeded +in making a lane for himself. + +"Stella," he shouted over his shoulder, "you stay where you are! This is +nothing for you to see. Better let me attend to this." + +Stella was aware that Ted always knew what he was talking about when he +warned her away from anything, and she made her way out of the herd. + +When Ted got to the spot where he had last seen the man, the cattle were +still milling, but were getting calmer, and had no hesitancy in +scattering when he rode among them slashing right and left with his +quirt and firing his revolver over their heads. + +When he had cleared an open space he rode back into it, and instantly +recoiled from the sight presented to him. + +On the ground lay the hamstringer, a mass of bloody clothes in which +were torn flesh and broken bones. He was quite dead, and had been not +only gored but had been trampled hundreds of times. + +The vengeance of the maimed animals was complete. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A NIGHT RAID. + + +Ted bent over the mangled body of the hamstringer and turned him over. +Then he leaped back with an exclamation of horror. + +He had recognized the miscreant. + +It was Sol Flatbush, the traitorous cow-puncher, member of the gang of +cattle rustlers and gamblers headed by Shan Rhue, who had run off about +five hundred head of cattle of the Circle S brand into the Wichita +Mountains in Indian Territory. + +But how had Sol Flatbush got into this part of the country? And where +was he stopping? It was evident that the cow-puncher and desperado had +hamstrung the cattle out of revenge for having been discovered and +driven out of the broncho boys' camp. + +Now that he was dead, however, Ted lost all his resentment, and was +genuinely sorry for the poor chap because of the horrible means of his +death. + +Ted hardly knew what to do with him. It were better if his friends could +take charge of his body and bury it, but where were his friends? + +Suddenly a thought occurred to Ted. Perhaps Sol Flatbush, following his +instincts and habits, had come north after he and Shan Rhue had been +outwitted by the boys at the Hole in the Wall in the Wichita Mountains, +and allied himself with the Whipple gang in the Sweet Grass Mountains. + +If this were true, the simplest thing to do was to send the body of +Flatbush to the gang. It would serve, Ted hoped, as a terrible warning +to the other members of the gang not to meddle with the affairs of the +broncho boys. + +Not far away Ted saw a pony, saddled and grazing quietly. + +Mounting his pony, he rode up to it. Tied to the cantle of the saddle +was a pair of blankets. + +This was the very thing! Ted carried the blankets to where the body of +Flatbush lay. Spreading them out, he rolled the remains of Flatbush into +them, and bound them securely with a rope. + +With some difficulty he lifted the bundle to the back of the outlaw's +pony, and bound it securely with a lariat. + +Then he tied the pony's reins to the horn of the saddle, gave the beast +a slash with his quirt, and it started, snorting and jumping, toward the +distant mountains. + +Thus was the body of Sol Flatbush sent to his friends. + +"What was it?" asked Stella, when Ted, having finished his gruesome +task, returned to her side. + +"The chap who was mutilating the cattle is dead," he replied. "The bulls +turned upon him and gored and trampled him to death." + +"Horrible! Do you know who he was?" + +"Yes, I recognized him." + +"Is that a fact! Who was he?" + +"An old enemy of yours." + +"An enemy of mine! I didn't know I had one." + +"Not really of your own, for no one who knows you could feel any +animosity toward you, Stella. But you have enemies through me. Those who +would seek to hurt me do so by making trouble for you, knowing that they +can hurt me worse by injuring you than they could by torturing me +personally." + +"That's why you have so often warned me to be careful where I go alone." + +"That is why. It is not fair that you should be put to discomfort or in +danger of death merely because I make enemies by trying to force men to +obey the laws." + +"I understand. But who was the man who was killed?" + +"Sol Flatbush." + +"Sol Flatbush! How does it happen that he is in this country?" + +"I'm sure I don't know, unless he and Shan Rhue, after escaping from the +Wichita Mountains, came directly here, having previously been members of +the notorious Whipple gang." + +"Then I suppose we shall see Shan Rhue one of these days. Ted, I'm +afraid of that fellow. When they had me in the Hole in the Wall I heard +him make the most horrible threats against you." + +"Threats don't hurt, Stella. The threatened man lives long. You know the +old proverb: 'The man I most fear is he who says nothing, but smiles in +your face while he is planning to stab you in the back.'" + +They were turned toward the ranch house, and as darkness was falling +swiftly, conversation was suspended as they put their ponies to their +highest speed, galloping across the snow-covered range toward where they +could see the lantern of the house shining like a beacon through the +gloom. + +For the safety of the boys and the cow-punchers traveling toward the +ranch house in the dark, Ted had placed a large lantern on the top of +the flagstaff which stood in the front yard, so that it could be seen +for miles at night to guide wanderers. + +This had been suggested by his experience the first night they had spent +at the house. + +Those of the boys who were not riding line were stopping at the house, +and they were all in the big living room awaiting the coming of Ted and +Stella. + +When Stella was late in arriving at the house, Mrs. Graham began to grow +anxious and worried, and this was communicated to the others. + +But when they heard Ted's ringing yell outside, as he and Stella +galloped up, there were shouts of gladness inside, and the big door was +thrown open, allowing a broad path of light to fall across the prairie, +as two cow-punchers came bounding down the steps to take the ponies to +the corral. + +After supper Ted told of the maiming of the cattle and the death of Sol +Flatbush. + +It was part of the life at the ranch that bad news of any sort was never +told at the table during meals, and if any of the fellows had a +grievance or was in trouble he tried to keep that fact out of his face +and look as merry as he could while the others were eating. If he wanted +to tell his troubles later, and any one was willing to listen, all right +and good, but mealtime was glad time where the broncho boys and their +friends sat down together. + +While they were sitting before the great fireplace after supper, Clay +Whipple was looking into the flames with a preoccupied air. + +He had been silent all evening, an unusual thing for him, for usually he +injected humorously dry comments into general conversations. + +"What's the trouble, Clay?" asked Stella, who was always the first to +notice when one of the boys was not his usual self. + +"Oh, I don't know," said Clay uneasily. + +"Reckon he's worryin' some on account o' this yere mountain bandit bein' +ther same name as him," laughed a cow-puncher named "Pike" Bander. + +"I reckon you're only joshin', Pike," said Clay quietly, but growing a +shade paler. + +"Why, shore, Clay. Yer didn't think I wuz in earnest?" Pike hastened to +say. + +Clay's Kentucky blood would not permit him to receive without resentment +any reflections against the South or the people of his family, while he +could stand any amount of personal joshing without growing in the least +touchy or angry. + +"Then what's the matter?" asked Ted, as Clay returned to his gloomy +contemplation of the fire. + +"I'm worried some, that's all," was the reply. + +"Tell your troubles to the policeman, that's us." + +"Well, I might as well out with it. Only I don't want to appear as if I +was gettin' panicky over nothing." + +"What is it, Clay? You are so provoking when I am just dying to hear +about it," cried Stella with a laugh. "Out with it." + +"Injuns!" said Clay explosively. + +"Indians!" + +Every one around the fire sat up with a jump. + +Clay nodded his head slowly without taking his eyes from the fire. + +There was silence for a few minutes, for every one was turning this new +menace over in their minds. + +The danger from Indians in this far-away Northern country was very real. +It was not that the Indians would make any open or daring attacks, but +that they were lawless and fearless of the authority of the United +States, and despised the "buffalo soldiers" at the near-by army posts. + +"Buffalo soldiers" is a name of contempt given by the Indians to the +negro troops who had been stationed near the Blackfeet and Crow Indian +agencies, on account of their curly, woolly hair, which, in the +fantastic minds of the Indians, resembled the short, curly hair on the +shoulders of the buffalo. + +The negro troops were too near their own color to demand much respect +from the Indians. + +But the danger did not come so much from the reservation Indians, as +from the fugitive Indians who had left the reservations and had become +outlaws, allying themselves with the white bandits in the mountains, and +living by thievery from the ranchmen and sheep-herders. + +Some of these Indians had rallied around Running Bear, a young +Blackfeet, son of a chief, a graduate of the Indian School at Carlisle, +in Pennsylvania. + +Running Bear was a young fellow of magnificent physique, for he had been +a member of the famous Indian football team of Carlisle that had a year +or two previously cleared all white teams from the gridiron. + +Running Bear was well educated also, and a man of fine address and +manners, when he wished to be so. But he was unprincipled, and when he +returned to the tribe lost no time in breaking all the laws imposed by +the United States for the government and welfare of the Indians. + +This brought him into conflict with the Indian agent, and certain +penalties were imposed on him. This he would not stand, and soon +persuaded other of the young men of the tribe to mutiny against the +agent. + +This led to further trouble, and after committing some unforgivable +offense against the United States, Running Bear rallied his young men, +and they fled the reservation and the ways and protection of the white +men, and took to the mountains, where they lived by raiding the ranches +in the neighborhood, and maintaining a sort of defensive partnership +with Whipple's band of white outlaws. + +After a silence, during which every one was turning these facts over in +his mind, Ted turned to Clay, and said: + +"What about the Indians, Clay?" + +"I saw their tracks." + +"Where?" + +"In the coulee back of the house." + +"Near the house!" exclaimed Ted. "That's getting pretty close to home. +Did they see you?" + +"I reckon they did. I took a shot at one of them, an' he left a red +trail in the snow." + +"That's bad, Clay. You shouldn't have shot at him." + +"Shouldn't, eh? Well, you never saw a fellow from ole Kaintuck that +would stand up an' let a man shoot at him without sending his +compliments back--if he happened to be packin' his gun at the time." + +"Did they shoot at you, then?" + +"One of them did. It was like this: I was ridin' in from the west, where +I had seen a small bunch of strays which I turned back to the main herd. +As I was comin' up to the big coulee I saw something move against the +snow. At first I thought it was a grouse, and was just going to take a +shot at it when I looked again. Then, by jinks, I saw that it was the +head of an Indian shoved up over the edge of the coulee. + +"His back was turned to me, and he was watching the house. I pulled in +my pony and kept my eye on him for several minutes. + +"Then I saw Mrs. Graham come out of the house and stand for a moment on +the back porch. + +"The Indian rose up and brought a rifle to his shoulder. At that I let +out a yell, and he turned to me like a flash, and pulled his trigger. +But he was in too much of a hurry, an' the ball whistled over my head. + +"I had my gun out, an' blazed away. The Indian yawped as if he had been +hit, and disappeared. I got to the coulee as fast as I could, but he had +disappeared." + +"Was he the only one?" asked Ted. + +"I reckon not, for there were any number of moccasin tracks in the +coulee, and the footprints of white men or Indians who wore boots. There +was a splotch of blood where the Indian had been, and a red trail +leading to where there had been ponies. Then I came on to the house." + +Ted was thinking deeply. At last he raised his head. + +"This has been a day full of things that may mean a great deal to us," +he said. "Follansbee has been shot by a member of the Whipple gang, Sol +Flatbush was killed after mutilating our cattle, more Whipple gang; and +an Indian prowler has been shot, some more of the Whipple gang. Boys, +the war is on, and it depends on us whether it is going to last all +winter and cause us to lose all our cattle, or whether we are going to +be able to stamp it out right now. Which shall it be?" + +"I reckon we'd better get busy. It'll be easier ter do the job now than +fuss along with it all winter," said Pike Bander, who was an old +Northern cow-puncher, and had had lots of experience with the Indians in +Montana, the Dakotas, and Wyoming. + +"I think you're right, Pike," said Ted. "And now off to bed with you. +There'll be something doing to-morrow." + +In half an hour the house was dark, and every one was asleep. + +The moon which had been shining brightly during the early part of the +night had become obscured by a heavy bank of snow clouds, which had been +driven over the mountains by a north wind, and it had grown much darker +outside. + +In his sleep Ted seemed to hear the well-known voice of Sultan, +whinnying shrilly. It was a dream, and Ted tossed uneasily. But again +and again he heard Sultan's voice. It had a note of alarm in it, and Ted +knew that Sultan seldom gave an alarm of this sort unless something +serious was the matter. Ted's dream was of Indians, and the call of +Sultan was very natural, for the little black stallion hated Indians, +and whenever one came within smelling distance of him he grew uneasy and +fretful, and always gave voice to his fear. + +The dream had such a disquieting influence on Ted that it woke him, and +he sat up in bed grinning to himself in the dark to find that, after +all, it was only a dream, and that he was safe in bed. + +But what was that? + +He was awake now, and he distinctly heard Sultan. Then he had heard his +pet give a warning, even in his dream. + +Leaping from bed, Ted groped around the room, getting into his clothes, +without lighting the lamp. + +Grasping his rifle from the corner, and buckling on his belt and +holster, he left the room. + +As he passed Clay's room he entered and shook the sleeping Kentuckian, +who was on the floor with a bound. Ted told him of the continued voicing +of an alarm by Sultan, and Clay hurriedly dressed. + +They passed into the living room, and Ted went to the windows on one +side, while Clay went to the other side. + +Hidden by the curtains, they stood looking out on the snow-covered +plain. + +"Hist!" It was Clay trying to attract Ted's attention. + +Ted went swiftly to his side. + +"What's that down by the corral?" whispered Clay. + +Ted looked sharply. + +"It's the Indians," said Ted. "They're trying to steal our horses. +Sultan knows what he's about. Come on, we'll have to rush them." + +Ted heard a rustling noise behind him and turned. + +It was Stella, fully dressed, and with her rifle resting in the hollow +of her arm. + +"I heard Sultan, too," she said. "We'll have to hurry if we're going to +save the horses." + +"You go back to bed," said Ted. "Yi-yi-yipee!" + +His voice rang out in the old Moon Valley yell. + +It was like a fire bell to a fireman, and brought the boys out of their +beds like a shot, and they scrambled into their clothes and were in the +living room with their arms in a jiffy. + +In the corral a great commotion was taking place, to judge from the +noise that came to them. + +At the word of command they rushed through the door, and raced for the +corral, turning loose the long yell. + +They heard guttural shouts in the distance, and a band of ponies came +through the gateway of the corral, scattering over the prairie. + +Behind them rushed a band of Indians, who, seeing that there was no +further occasion for silence, gave forth whoops of defiance. + +Then Ted saw Sultan gallop out, and on his back was an Indian. + +This was more than Ted could stand, and his rifle flew to his shoulder. +There was a flash and a crash, and the Indian fell to the ground, over +which he writhed in agony. + +Ted whistled, and Sultan trotted to his side. + +The ponies had scattered, and the corral was empty. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE WAR PARTY. + + +The Indians had fled in every direction. + +They had been foiled in their purpose of running the ponies off in a +band, as they had intended, by Ted's fortunate discovery of the raid. + +How to gather the ponies together again was the question that puzzled +Ted, for the broncho boys had no mounts with which to pursue the +would-be thieves. + +It was not long before the light appeared in the east, and by that time +Ted had ridden to Bud's sign camp, and thence to camp No. 2, and had +four more horsemen to assist him in the pony round-up. + +These worked unceasingly, riding the snowy prairie, picking up the +ponies which the Indians had not been able to round into a bunch to +drive to their rendezvous in the mountains. + +The attack upon them had been so sudden that they had taken no heed of +where they were going. It was every man for himself, with the broncho +boys' bullets for the hindmost. + +About noon Ted and the boys from the sign camps rode up to the ranch +house, driving before them a band of about twenty ponies which they had +found grazing on the prairie or seeking the shelter of the coulees. + +Not a sign of the marauding Indians had they seen. + +"Boys, as soon as we can get something to eat we're going after those +Indians," said Ted, dismounting and going into the house. "We've got +mounts for nearly all of us, now. A guard will be left at the house, +then we'll get on their trail. We can't afford to let this thing go. +Those Indians must be taught a lesson, so that they will get over the +idea that they can run in on us and take what they want just because we +are boys." + +"That's ther way ter talk," exclaimed Bud Morgan heartily. "Give 'em +what's comin' to 'em, an' give it to 'em good an' plenty." + +"I guess it won't be any snap to find them now," said Ben. + +"They've scattered. But we can trail them. They'll leave a track like +that of a moose, it will be so wide. They're in the hills somewhere, +laying for another opportunity to raid the corral. They need ponies to +ride, and beef to eat, and they have got the idea into their heads that +we were sent out here to cater to their wants. It's our business to fool +them." + +"Oh, hurry up," cried Stella. "I'm so anxious to get started I'm all in +a flutter." + +"Who said you were going?" asked Ted, with a smile. "This is no pleasure +trip. Trailing and fighting Indian outlaws is no matinée." + +"I should say not," said Stella coolly. "But it's work for the broncho +boys, and I'm one of them. Bud has promised to teach me the art of +following an Indian trail, and there never will be a better time than +this." + +Ted could only shrug his shoulders, as he turned away to see if McCall +was hurrying dinner. He knew that he would waste time arguing with the +spirited young woman, who was as good a cowgirl as he was a cowboy, and +for one of her sex quite as courageous. + +So eager were the boys to be off that they fairly bolted their food, and +rushed to the corral to saddle their cayuses. + +Then they saw to their arms, and each took his rifle in the boot of his +saddle. + +Sultan had had such a hard day's work since daylight, rounding up the +scattered ponies, that Ted left him in the corral, and decided to ride a +fresh horse. The only serviceable animal he could find was the worst +riding beast on the place, a vicious, half-broken Texas pony, which had +to be roped and held before the rider could mount. + +This, however, made little difference to Ted, who could ride anything +that would fit a saddle. + +While he held the saddle ready to throw it on Bingo's back Bud roped and +held the rearing, raging, bucking beast, who was busy kicking holes in +the air with his wicked heels. + +After maneuvering around the corral several times, Ted managed to dodge +the flying hoofs long enough to slip the saddle and tie the latigo. + +Then it was up to him to mount. + +Whenever he approached Bingo from the rear, dancing around to escape the +pony's battery, and got to the side where he could grasp the horn of his +saddle, Bingo would wheel in a circle away from him as if he was +fastened to a pivot. + +The performance was getting monotonous, for the boys were standing +around in a ring waiting to start. + +Ted was getting impatient also at the fool antics of the pony. + +"Stop your fooling," he said to Bingo. "When I do land on your back I'll +make you sorry you didn't stand still, my bucko." + +He stepped back several feet and stood looking at the pony, who, with +ears flattened and the whites of his eyes showing, stood still also, +waiting for further developments. + +He didn't know exactly what was coming, but wanted to be ready for it, +whatever it was to be. + +Suddenly Ted gave a short, swift run, leaped in the air, and before +Bingo could gather himself for a plunge, Ted was astraddle of the +saddle. + +Bingo remembered his part then, but he was too late, for simultaneously +he felt the sting of the quirt across his shoulder, and the prick of the +spur in his flank. + +A horse can think of only one thing at a time, while a mule can pay +attention to the mule-skinner's lash and think of forty-seven varieties +of devilment at the same time. + +In trying to keep his mind on the sting of the quirt and the prick of +the rowels at the same time, Bingo got rattled. + +He leaped high into the air, intending to fall backward, and crush his +rider. But Ted had been there before many times, and as he went up a +stinging blow across Bingo's withers brought him down in a hurry. + +Then he did some more plunging, but the spur in his side, and Ted's firm +seat, soon convinced him that it was wasting time to fool with Ted, and +he set off at a gallop across the prairie. + +With a ringing cheer the boys followed, and soon caught up with him. + +When they were together again, Ted paired the boys off to scout. + +"I'll tell you how you will probably find it, fellows," said Ted. "The +Indians ride in different directions. Whenever you hit a trail follow +it, but go slow and keep your eyes peeled for an ambuscade. You will +find that eventually all the trails will lead to the same place. If we +are in luck, we will find them before they go on into the mountains, and +we may have a skirmish. I hope, however, that we will be able to settle +the matter without resorting to any shooting. Uncle Sam is mighty touchy +about any one killing his Indians except his soldiers, no matter what an +Indian does. We'll probably all come together where the Indians are. +Kit, you ride with me. You other fellows choose your partners. Bud, take +good care of Stella." + +"You kin bet yer active an' useful life I will," said Bud, as he and +Stella galloped off together. + +Bud and Kit rode away to the north, while the other broncho boys spread +out in pairs over the prairie. + +Ted had been riding an hour without crossing a track. + +"There's no use going in this direction any longer, Kit," he said. +"They've probably gone farther to the west. I guess we'd better strike +off that way, and take a chance of cutting them somewhere over there." + +They had paused on the bank of a small frozen stream lined with willows, +and Ted had dismounted to walk up and down the bank to find a place +where he could break a hole in the ice to water the ponies. + +"You'll have to rope Bingo and hold him when I go to get on," he said to +Kit before he got down. + +"All right," said Kit. "I'd get down and cut that hole in the ice +myself, only my arm might give me trouble again. I've got to be mighty +careful of it yet." + +As Ted was looking for a safe place to lead the ponies down to the +stream, with Bingo's bridle reins hanging over his arm, he was startled +by a snort from the brute, and a sudden back pull. + +He looked over his shoulder at the pony to see what was the matter with +it. + +Bingo was standing with his head high, his ears pointed forward, his +nostrils as red as if they were lined with red silk, and the whites of +his eyes like pieces of chalk, snorting as if in terror. + +Ted read the symptoms instantly. + +"He smells Indians," he muttered to himself. + +He looked around for Kit, and saw him far down the stream, struggling +vainly with the pony he was riding, which was running away in a panic of +fear. + +Kit was an expert and dauntless horseman, and not one of the broncho +boys except Ted could excel him in horsemanship, but with his wounded +arm he could not bring the brute under control. + +"That settles it with me," muttered Ted. "I'm going to have a time +getting on the back of this beast, for he will be worse than ever now +that he has scented Indians." + +He heard a noise behind him, and wheeled. + +Coming out of the willows a few hundred yards away were a score of +Indians, painted for war and all armed with rifles. + +With a hasty movement the leader of the broncho boys loosened his +revolvers and glanced to see if his rifle was ready for instant use. + +The Indians had stopped, as much surprised as Ted, and stood staring at +him in a stupid sort of way. + +Ted saw that if he was to escape being murdered now was his chance, and +turned to his pony. + +As he did so the Indians let out a whoop that frightened Bingo almost +into a fit, and, wheeling suddenly, he dashed away, almost dragging the +reins from Ted's grasp. + +But as he did so Ted was by his side, running with one hand clutching +the long mane. + +It was rough running over the rocks and hummocks with which the bank of +the stream was strewn, but Ted seemed to fly through space, so lightly +did his feet touch the ground. + +Rifle balls were now singing through the air above Ted, and on every +side, which only served to increase the speed with which Bingo was +running away from his enemies, the Indians. + +Bingo had been trained in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas to regard the +Indian as his natural enemy, and whenever he smelled one it was his most +earnest desire to get as far away as possible in the shortest space of +time. + +This was fortunate for Ted also. + +While it was not an easy matter for Ted to mount while the pony was +wheeling away from him, Ted was well educated in the cavalry drill as +used at West Point, and mounting a running horse was one of the easiest +of the many equestrian tricks with which he was familiar. + +When he thought he was far enough away from the Indians not to afford +them too good an aim for his body, he placed his hand on the cantle of +the saddle, gave a smart upward spring, and the impetus of his running +and the pony's speed took him through the air like a bird, and he +settled in the saddle as easily, almost, as if he would have sat down in +a chair. + +As he reached the saddle he, for the first time, threw a glance over his +shoulder. + +The Indians were in full pursuit, yelling like madmen. + +They were led by a young fellow dressed in a yellow buckskin shirt +elaborately beaded, and trimmed with fringe, while on his head was a +bonnet of eagle feathers, which trailed far behind him as he dashed on +far in advance of his followers. + +"Here's a chance to stop that chap," said Ted, swinging around in his +saddle and throwing his forty-five over his shoulder. + +The six-shooter cracked, and as the smoke floated away Ted saw that his +bullet had gone where he intended it to go. + +The pony on which the young Indian was riding stumbled and staggered +forward a few feet, then dropped. + +That brought the party to a halt, and Ted, turning his face forward, +galloped on. + +Kit had succeeded in mastering his pony and had brought it to a halt, +and, as the report of Ted's revolver reached his ears, he turned and +rode rapidly in that direction. + +As the two boys came together and found that they were unharmed and that +the war party of Indians had been halted, they dove into a coulee, +followed it a short distance, and climbed again to higher ground. + +The Indians were no longer in sight, and they set off at a gallop toward +the west. + +For half an hour they rode, when Ted suddenly pulled his pony to a stop. + +On a rise far away he saw a black, slowly moving mass, which, at first, +he had taken to be a band of buffalo, but when it strung out he +discovered that it was a party of men on horseback. + +As the sun was behind the riders, Ted could not distinguish whether or +not they were Indians or whites, as he could have done if the sun had +been shining upon them. + +"If it's Indians I don't want any more of it," he said. + +"I don't think they are Indians," said Kit. "Those fellows sit +straighter than Indians. I believe they are either our own boys, or +cavalry from the post." + +"I believe you are right," said Ted. "Let's fire a few shots to attract +their attention, and then ride to them." + +The shots were fired, and presently they heard several faint reports, +and knew that they had been heard and answered. + +In a few minutes they had ridden to where the party was standing on the +ridge of a rolling hill. + +They were the broncho boys under the leadership of Ben Tremont. They had +all come together on a broad trail that pointed toward the foothills in +the north, and, as they rode, had picked up one pair of scouts after +another. + +"Where are Bud and Stella?" asked Ted, running his eye over the party. + +"Haven't seen anything of them," said Ben, "although we have been +keeping a lookout for them. They rode farther to the west, and probably +will pick us up later. I think this trail leads into the hills, and that +we will find the Indians in camp not far away." + +This was Ted's belief also, and, taking the leadership, he ordered an +advance. + +"Halt!" Ted Strong had stopped his pony, and with his hand shading his +eyes, was looking steadily to the front. + +"What is it?" asked Ben, riding to his side. + +"Smoke over the top of that hill right in front of us." + +Ted did not take his eyes from the spot. + +"By Jove!" he exclaimed. "The bunch of Indians who chased me have taken +a short cut and beaten us in. I saw a band of Indians cross in front of +us, and one pony carried double." + +"Then we have caught up with them." + +"I think so. Hold the boys here, I'm going forward to scout. When I +signal, come forward as fast as you can ride." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A BATTLE OF QUIRTS. + + +Ted turned Bingo over to one of the boys to care for, and crept forward +stealthily toward the hill behind which he had seen a thin thread of +blue smoke rising in the still air. + +No one but an Indian or a trained scout would build so small a fire. A +tenderfoot would have made one that roared and sent a vast cloud of +smoke toward the sky to attract any enemy that might be in the vicinity. + +But an Indian builds his fire in a space not much larger than the hollow +of his two hands, and manages to send up smoke that only a trained eye +could detect, and at the same time have heat enough with which to warm +himself and cook his food, with as little fuel as possible. + +As he went forward, Ted was surprised that he came upon no sign of a +camp guard. + +The Indians evidently thought that the boys would not have the courage +to follow them into their own country, and had grown careless. + +So much the better. It would give him a chance to learn how they were +situated before making an attack. + +He crept on his hands and knees to the ridge of the hill, and, removing +his hat, peered over the edge. + +Below in a small valley he saw about fifty Indians, who, from their +dress and their manner of painting their faces, he knew to be of various +tribes. + +He easily recognized in the band several Blackfeet, six or seven Crows, +some Sioux, who had come far north, and to his astonishment a few +Southern Indians, such as Caddos, Cheyennes, and Comanches. + +This alone was enough to convince him that the Indians were outlaws and +renegades, and that they were plunderers and thieves, as well; probably +murderers hiding out from the United States troops. + +In the circle about the fire he soon discovered the young fellow whose +pony he had shot beside the frozen stream. + +The young Indian, for he did not appear much older than Ted himself, was +holding forth to a number of other Indians. + +Probably he was boasting of his pursuit of the white boy, and the +unfortunate mishap that brought down his pony and prevented him from +bringing a white captive into camp. + +Not far away from this group Ted observed a man dressed in Indian garb, +who yet did not act like the other Indians. An Indian has a peculiar, +slouching walk, while this man strode about with the smarter, quicker, +springier tread of a white man. + +Presently the supposed Indian drew from his belt a pouch of tobacco and +some cigarette papers, and proceeded to roll a cigarette. + +Northern Indians do not roll cigarettes; they smoke pipes. It is only +the Indians of the Southwest who take their solace from tobacco through +the little homemade paper tubes. + +"That's a fellow who has been a cow-puncher," said Ted. "He's a white +man disguised as an Indian. Probably one of the Whipple gang. I've got +my opinion of a white man who will play Indian, and live with the dirty +scoundrels," said Ted to himself, with disgust. + +He had seen all that was necessary, and had laid his plan of attack in +his mind. + +Creeping down the hill, he threw his hand in the air as a signal for the +boys to come to him, also signaling for silence. + +In a few minutes they were by his side, and, while one of the fellows +held Bingo safely, Ted sprang into the saddle. + +"Now, fellows, we're going to ride around the end of this hill and plump +into the Indian camp. The snow will deaden the hoofbeats of the ponies, +but keep as still as possible. We'll surprise them, and probably be able +to settle the whole thing without firing a shot. But don't bet on it, +and keep your hands on your guns, but don't fire until they make the +first crack, then rush them and drive them into the hills, and bring +down all you can." + +With this advice they rode forward by twos, Ted and Ben in the lead. + +It did not take long to round the hill, and then, as suddenly as if they +had opened a door and stepped into a room, they were in the midst of the +Indians. + +No such surprising and sudden attack was ever made. The Indians stood as +if they were carved of wood as the boys rode up to them, staring +open-mouthed. + +Only one of them made a break--the young Indian whom Ted had dismounted. + +For several moments not a word was said. + +Ted saw instantly that the broncho boys had all the best of it, and that +the Indians had been taken completely by surprise, for not one of them +was armed. Their rifles and guns were either still on their saddles, and +the ponies were standing some distance away, or they were stacked beside +a ledge of rock twenty or more feet from the fire, where most of them +were congregated. + +The young fellow whom Ted had foiled stared for a moment with a look of +contempt and dislike. + +Suddenly he made a rush to where the guns were standing. + +"Stop!" Ted's voice rang out sharply. But the youth continued to run. + +"Stop, or I'll kill you!" shouted Ted again. + +Then an old Indian cried out something, in the tongue of the Blackfeet, +and the young fellow halted suddenly and came walking back with a sickly +look on his face. + +The old Indian who had stopped the youth now stepped a little ways +forward, and, holding up his hands in a peace sign, began to talk. + +"You are my brothers," he said, "and Flying Sun, the medicine man, +welcomes you to our camp." + +Ted held up his hands in a sign of peace also, but said nothing. + +"He's a darned old hypocrite," said Ben, in an aside to Ted. "He has +murder in those little red eyes of his, if ever a man had." + +"I'm on to him," said Ted. "Keep your eyes on that bunch, and give it to +them if they start anything treacherous." + +"My white brothers come with peace for their red brothers. Join us at +the fire. Warm yourselves; eat of our meat." + +"We are willing to be brothers," said Ted. "But one brother does not +steal the ponies from the corral of the other." + +"That was the work of the young men, and they are now sorry for it," +said the medicine man. + +Ted looked at the young fellow whom he had unhorsed, and saw that his +face was distended in a sarcastic smile. + +"The young brave yonder is the one who led the raid on my corral. He +does not look sorry," said Ted, pointing to the offender. + +Flying Sun threw a glance in the direction of the young man, and said a +few words sharply in the Blackfeet tongue. + +"Crazy Cow is young and the son of a chief. His blood is hot within him, +and he does not know what he does," said Flying Sun. + +Crazy Cow's face at once assumed a look of sadness. + +"I have not come for war," said Ted gravely, "but I want to warn you and +your tribe that I will not stand for any raids on our ranch. You will +find that we are good fighters, and that we can kill just as well as the +soldiers. The ranch is ours, and the cattle and horses are ours, and do +not belong to the young men of your tribe. They must leave us alone, or +we will be compelled to deal out justice to them in our own way, which +is a hard one." + +"Very well, my brother," said the wily old chief. "We desire to live in +peace with our white brothers. Your cattle and horses shall be sacred to +our young men." + +"I mean this," said Ted, looking at the old man severely. "Keep your +young men away from our ranch, or they will be killed." + +At this Crazy Cow drew himself up to his full height, and looked at Ted +with scorn. + +"Two can make killing," he said, in perfectly plain English. + +"Perhaps they can," said Ted quickly. "But I want to say to you +particularly, that if you are ever seen within the lines of the Long Tom +Ranch again you will be sorry that you ever were born. I have said +enough. Get on your horses and go. You are now on the ranch. Get beyond +it." + +The young Indian gave a short, harsh laugh, and strode toward a pony, +decorated after the fashion of war ponies with feathers and bits of red +flannel woven into his mane and tail. + +The other Indians were not slow to follow his example, and soon they +were all mounted. + +"Now look out for treachery," said Ted in an aside to the boys. + +"Keep your eyes peeled, fellows," said Ben, passing the word along back. + +"Ride up in open order so that we can surround that bunch if they get +gay," said Ted, in a low voice, and the boys rode out and scattered +themselves in a long line. + +The Indians were bunched pretty well together. + +It was a critical moment. + +The slightest suspicious move on the part of the boys might have alarmed +the Indians and started a fight. + +While the boys kept their hands on their weapons not one was drawn. + +The Indians rode off to a distance of a few hundred feet, then halted. +All had their rifles or guns in their hands, but not in a hostile way. + +They were well aware that the white boys were much better armed than +they, and were not in a temper to stand any foolishness. + +It seemed as if the Indians had stopped to say good-by before riding +away into the mountains. + +But when they stopped, Crazy Cow rode out from them a short distance and +stopped. + +"I am Crazy Cow," he said in a boastful way. + +This was in the manner of a personal challenge, as if he had said: "Who +the deuce are you? Knock the chip off my shoulder if you dare." + +Ted looked at him for a moment, for Crazy Cow was staring at him with an +impertinent look in his face. + +"I don't care who you are," said Ted, who was disgusted with the +fellow's airs. "If you were the chief himself, I would tell you to keep +away from my cows and ponies. What is the son of a chief? Nothing!" + +The tone in which Ted said this was such that the young Indian flushed a +deeper red, and grasped his rifle harder. + +"I am an educated Indian," said Crazy Cow, "and as good as any white +man. This is my country, and I shall go wherever I please." + +"Go where you will, except on my ranch. Keep off that." + +The Indian shrugged his shoulders. + +"I go where I please. You, whoever you are, have no right to prevent me +from going anywhere. Who are you to talk to me like that?" + +"My name is Ted Strong. I am a deputy United States marshal. Do you know +what that is?" + +"Yes. I spit on them." + +"Well, here's one you won't spit on. That's a cinch. You ought to be +ashamed of yourself, a man who got his education free from the United +States, to talk that way." + +"Bah! I hate the United States which robbed my people of their lands, +and then made treaties only to break them. Since they have driven me +into the mountains they owe me a living, and I'm going to collect it." + +"Very well, only be careful how you do it. I have said enough." + +"Ted Strong talks big and much, but does nothing. He is a coward who is +afraid of the Indian." + +"I am not afraid of you. I think I have shown it." + +"Yes, but you ran when I surprised you by the stream." + +"My pony ran, and to keep from losing him I clung to him." + +"It was a good thing for you that he did run. If he hadn't, you would +never have gone home again, and the buzzards and vultures, assisted by +the prairie wolves, would have you by now." + +"Big talk means nothing. You are not a fighter, you are a squaw. You are +a fool and a boaster." + +"No, I am a chief, and a warrior. I have seen the blood of the white man +flow, and I drank it. I am brave." + +"You're full of hot air. Run along now; I'm disgusted with you." + +"Hah! White squaw afraid to fight. Go back to your camp, and cook the +meals and wash the clothes in the tub." + +Crazy Cow made motions, of scrubbing at a tub. + +At this the other Indians burst into laughter. + +"You are but an idle boaster, Crazy Cow. You make much noise like the +wind in the trees. That is all it amounts to. You do not make me feel +bad by what you say." + +Crazy Cow, seeing that he could not get Ted angry with his banter, tried +a new tack. + +"Hah, little bay pony," he cried, addressing Bingo. "Are you a squaw +pony?" + +He paused in a listening attitude as if he was paying close attention to +what the pony was saying. + +"Yes, you are ashamed to be ridden by a squaw who does not fight, but +only talks. Come over here, squaw pony, and be ridden by a man." + +Again his speech was greeted by the laughter of the Indians, to whom it +was interpreted by the disguised white man. + +"So you think I will not fight, eh? You think I am a squaw, do you?" +said Ted quietly. + +The Indian only laughed. + +"I will show you who is the squaw. I will thrash you with my quirt until +you cry out with pain. You may keep your gun. I am not afraid of it." + +"Now you begin to talk a little like a man. But you won't fight. Little +pony, you are ridden by a squaw. Why don't you throw him off and come to +me, who is a fighter?" + +"Fellows, stand fast," said Ted to the boys. "I'm going to give that +young buck such a licking as he never thought possible. If they don't +play fair, shoot." + +Ted threw his rifle to Ben, so that he would not be burdened by it, and +rode toward the Indian, who also threw his weapon to one of his +followers. In his right hand he carried a long, braided Indian whip of +thongs. It was a cruel weapon, for the Indian is cruel to everything in +his power, from his squaw to his dog. + +This he grasped firmly in his right hand, and awaited Ted's coming with +a satirical smile on his face. + +Ted had been coming on quietly, but when he was a few feet from Crazy +Cow he suddenly gave Bingo the spur, and the astonished horse reached +the Indian's side in two jumps. + +Without a moment's hesitation Ted reached forward and grasped the Indian +by a collar of leather which he wore laced around his throat, somewhat +after the fashion of the white linen chokers worn by young white men. + +Furiously the young Indian lashed out with his quirt, which struck Ted +across the shoulders, and made him wince with the burning sharpness of +it. + +But Ted was back at him like a flash, and his quirt sang through the air +and slapped upon the buckskin shirt worn by the Indian. + +Crazy Cow, whom the lash had not hurt in the least, only laughed. + +Ted saw that he might go on thrashing the Indian all day upon his shirt, +and that it would have no more effect than if he whipped a covering of +iron. + +The other Indians also saw the humor of the situation, and joined in the +laughter. + +Meantime, the Indian was plying his quirt with all his force, and every +time the lash struck Ted across the shoulders or neck it left a blue +welt. + +Whipping fights are common among the Indian lads, and are merely tests +of courage, and the power to endure pain without crying out. The Indian +boy who cries out unexpectedly at some particularly stinging blow is +called a squaw, and sent into Coventry by the others for varying lengths +of time, during which none of them will speak to him. + +Crazy Cow had often indulged in the whipping sport, and knew how to +wield the quirt most effectively. + +So the battle of the quirts went on, the blows falling as fast as their +arms could fly, but Ted plainly was getting the worst of it on account +of the protection which the buckskin shirt gave the Indian. + +Ted saw that this soon must change or he would be ignominiously beaten. +He had not shown that he suffered any pain from the blows he received, +although the Indians watched his face closely for any sign that he was +weakening. + +At last Ted thought that he had discovered a vulnerable spot. + +With a sudden wrench of his strong wrist upon the leather collar which +he grasped, he whipped Crazy Cow flat across his saddle and held him +there. + +Then with all his strength he brought his quirt across the seat of Crazy +Cow's blue flannel trousers, which were drawn tight, and upon the tender +part of the back of his legs. + +The Indian struggled furiously, but could not release himself, and all +the while the cruel blows were raining upon him. + +A huge burst of laughter rose from the broncho boys, but the Indians +could not see the joke, and with angry exclamations started forward to +rescue their young chief. + +But at this sign of hostility Ben Tremont let out a roar, and every +broncho boy threw his rifle to his shoulder, and the Indians shrank back +in silence. + +Ted thrashed the Indian until his yells of agony and his struggles +ceased, then threw him aside. + +"Go back to your people and tell them that you are no longer fit to be +chief. That you have been whipped with a quirt by a white boy until you +cried. It is you who are the squaw," said Ted, riding back to his party. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +SILVER FACE. + + +As Ted released the badly punished young Indian and rode back to where +the boys were waiting for him, Crazy Cow painfully raised himself to a +sitting position in his saddle. But the pain was too great, and he +slowly and painfully slid to the ground. But the backs of his legs were +so seamed with welts that he could not walk. + +He was, indeed, an object for pity, but he had been defeated, and not +only that, but had been whipped on the most shameful spot, in Indian +fighting, and his friends would have none of him. + +When he looked toward them for sympathy they only pointed the finger of +scorn at him, and laughed. + +Now Ted rode out in front of the boys, and, raising his voice, said to +the Indians: + +"Go back to your village. Do not come to my ranch again. Next time it +will be something worse than quirts with which we fight, and dead men, +instead of squaws with sore legs, will be the result. Go!" + +The old medicine man turned his pony toward the mountains, and in a +guttural voice gave the command. + +Without a word, and without looking back, the Indians started on their +way, Crazy Cow following dejectedly on foot, leading his pony. + +He had been conquered and humiliated, but his heart burned with hatred +for the young white chief who had been the cause of it. + +When the Indians were out of sight, Ted returned to the boys. + +"Well, that's over for the present," he said. + +"Yes, but we'll have trouble with those fellows later, you may be sure," +said Ben. "Look out for a ball or a knife in the back from Crazy Cow." + +"I don't fear him as much as I do the cunning and treachery of that old +villain, Flying Sun, who plans these raids and lets the young men +execute them while he stays back in a safe place." + +"What interests me more than anything else just now is Stella and Bud. I +propose that we drop everything else and hunt for them. You know that +since the appearance of the man without a face, and now this encounter +with the Indians, to say nothing of sending Sol Flatbush's body home on +his horse, the members of the Whipple gang will be pretty keen after +every member of our party." + +"True, Ben. We must be very careful of Stella from now on. I would not +have taken this ranch had I known that it was menaced by such a gang of +thieves as seems to be in the mountains." + +"Where had we better scout?" asked Ben. + +"Do you think Bud and Stella went farther west?" + +"Yes. As we started away from the ranch house I heard Bud say to Stella, +'When the gang came out of the corral just before daylight I saw that +most of them headed into the west. If we go that way we're sure to beat +the others to the trail.' Then I saw them slip away quietly back of the +house, and later they disappeared over a rise due west." + +"Then that's where we must look for them. Forward, fellows. We're going +to find Bud and Stella." + +"Do you think it is necessary for all of us to go?" asked Kit. + +"No, I don't. The ranch must have a guard of some sort. About half of +you turn back to the lines, and two of you ride to the ranch house to +see that all is well, and guard it." + +Ben sorted out the fellows who were to go back to the ranch, keeping all +the broncho boys to start on the hunt for the missing ones. + +No one felt exactly uneasy for the safety of Stella and Bud, but it was +proper, under the circumstances, to see that they were safe. + +"As before, we will split up into couples to search for Bud and Stella," +said Ted. "You better come with me this time, Ben." + +To the west of the line of the Long Tom Ranch the land became more +broken. At first the hills ceased to be rolling and broke off into +cañons, more or less deep, with sometimes sides that assumed the dignity +of precipices. + +The sides of the foothills were clothed in small tracts of scrubby pine +timber, and altogether it was not a pleasant country to travel over in +winter. + + * * * * * + +When Bud and Stella left the ranch house, Stella was bubbling over with +joy at the prospect of being in the hunt for the Indians, and the +prospect of Bud teaching her the mysteries of the trail, particularly +the war trail. + +"Don't say a word," said Bud, with a wink, "an' we'll fool 'em all. Them +Injuns never went nowhere except inter ther east. I throwed out a blast +o' hot atmosphere erbout them goin' west. That wuz ter fool ole nosey +Ben, who had his neck stretched out like a spring chicken's ter hear +what was bein' said, an' git ther advantage o' my sooperior knowledge. + +"Well, when I see that I thort I'd give him somethin' ter chase, so I +hands out the west p'int, when I mean ter go ter ther east. When we +start out we'll ride ter ther west until we come ter ther first draw, +then foller it ter ther south until we come ter a break leadin' east, +then foller that, an' we'll be fust onter ther red man's tracks." + +"All right," laughed Stella. "That will be a good joke on Ben. He didn't +like it because he couldn't go with us." + +Now it will be seen that Bud's little fiction in the hearing of Ben was +not the proper thing, and, as it turned out, Bud was mighty sorry for +his apparently innocent fib before the end of the day, or the dawning of +the next. + +They did as Bud planned, and when they were well out of sight and +hearing of the other boys they turned to the east, and, when well out on +the prairie, turned their ponies' heads to the north. + +As they cantered across the prairie, on which the snow was like dry sand +and only about an inch deep, they could see bands of their cattle here +and there pawing the snow off the grass, or "rustling" for their fodder, +as the cowmen call it. + +"I shore believe thar's somethin' wrong on this yere range," Bud +remarked, after they had gone a few miles. + +"Why?" asked Stella. + +"Somethin' wrong with ther cattle." + +"In what way?" + +"Thar ain't half enough o' them here." + +"Do you mean that some of them are gone?" + +"Yep. Thet's jest what I mean." + +"Strayed, probably?" + +"No. Stole." + +"Nonsense. Who could have stolen them? The Indians?" + +"No. I reckon not. The Injuns is keen after ponies. In the fust place +thar ain't nobody what kin wear out a pony as fast as an Injun. They +work their ponies ter death, starve 'em, beat ther hides off'n 'em, +neglect 'em, and when they're wore out turn 'em loose fer ther wolves. +Second, they kin run off a bunch o' ponies in a hurry, but they balk +some at rustlin' cattle because they move so slow. If we aire shy on +beeves ther white men has got 'em." + +"When we get back we ought to round the cattle up and count." + +"That's ther only way ter do it. I've got a pretty good eye fer a herd, +an' it's my idee thet we're losers here, an' that ther rustlers is +gittin' rich off'n us." + +About noon Bud pulled in his horse, and examined the snowy ground +carefully. + +He had struck a trail. + +Winding across the prairie in a northeasterly direction was a broad +trail, the tracks of many cattle and horses. + +"Here we are," said Bud. "Thar's whar some o' our cattle and several +ponies have passed." + +He got down to the ground, and, stooping over the trail, regarded it +carefully. + +Suddenly he straightened up. + +"This is not an Injun trail," he said. + +"It isn't?" asked Stella. + +"No. Here are the tracks of cattle, an' on top of them those of horses +ridden by white men." + +"How do you know they were not Indians?" + +"Here's an impression o' a horseshoe, an' here's another o' a different +size. These were made by animiles ridden by white men." + +"I can understand why you should know that they were white men's horses +because Indians do not shoe their ponies, but I'm blessed if I can see +how you know that white men were riding them." + +"Easy enough. These horses were ridden straight. An Indian, in spite of +stories to the contrary, is not a good horseman. He rides all over the +ground instead of straight ahead when he is going anywhere, seemin' as +if he wanted to get his money's worth of the ride. If it had been +Indians who were driving off these cattle, you would see pony tracks all +over the prairie about here." + +"Then we've struck the wrong trail." + +"Well, we've missed the Indians, but we've struck another and a better +lead. Ther boys under Ted will most likely git in ther trail o' ther +pony snatchers, but we're on another lay--cattle thieves." + +"This is something of a surprise, isn't it?" + +"You bet. If we hadn't run ercross this yere trail we mightn't have got +on ter ther fact thet our steers wuz bein' lifted ontil so many o' them +wuz gone thet it would make a big hole in our herd." + +"Have they much the start of us?" + +"I reckon they have." Bud was down on his knees, looking closely at the +tracks. + +"Yes," he continued, "they went by here shortly after midnight." + +"How do you know?" + +"Against ther east side o' each o' these leetle depressions made by a +hoof is some fresh snow." + +"I don't see how that tells the time." + +"I do. Along about midnight last night a wind come up an' blew from ther +west fer half an hour. It drifted a little snow before it, which settled +inter these depressions an' banked up against ther east side o' these +tracks." + +"That seems reasonable. Bud, where did you learn all these things about +trailing?" + +"Never learned them nowhar. It's jest thinkin' about what yer see what +makes a scout an' trailer. These cattle is somewhar up in them hills +yon. They probably drove until sunup, an' then stopped ter give ther +critters a rest before shovin' them inter ther mountings." + +"Then I suppose we better hurry. We may be able to find out where they +are." + +"Righto, we'll mosey. I reckon we've struck a good thing." + +"How many beeves do you suppose there were in that steal?" + +"Oh, I reckon fifty er sixty." + +"Whew! That's worth going after." + +Bud had mounted, and they galloped along the trail, which was broad and +deep. It led them through coulees and over hills and down into valleys, +and the sun was high and the trail apparently endless. + +"Bud, let us stop and eat our lunch. I'm hungry," said Stella. + +"All right. I'm a bit peckish myself," was the reply. + +They were in a narrow valley which was strewn with great bowlders, and +on the sides of the hills grew a great many scrub pines. Through the +center of it ran the broad trail. + +The lunch was tied to the cantle of Bud's saddle, while Stella carried a +canteen of coffee, for she was a great favorite of McCall, the cook, and +when she started out for the day he invariably put up the best lunch a +cow camp could afford. + +Bud, in the meantime, had found a spring on the hillside and had watered +the horses, then made a fire of pine boughs over which they heated the +coffee and warmed themselves. Then they began their luncheon. + +Bud was so busily appeasing his hunger that he did not say much, and did +not think it strange that Stella said nothing. They were seated on +opposite sides of the fire, and Bud, thinking that perhaps Stella might +need something, looked across at her. + +What he saw caused him to stare. + +Stella was looking over his head with an expression of horror on her +face. Her wide, staring eyes were filled with an unspeakable horror. + +Her hand was poised in mid-air, just as if she had been going to put +something into her mouth, when the action was arrested by the sight of +something that froze her with terror. + +"Stella, what's ther matter?" Bud managed to blurt out. + +Stella's lips moved, but no sound came from them. She was too frightened +to speak. + +Then Bud, observing the direction in which she was looking, turned his +head. + +In an instant he was on his feet. He had become very pale, and his hand +shook as he reached slowly toward his holster. + +Standing behind him was a creature such as he never had seen before. + +It was a man of great stature, clad entirely in black, over which was +thrown a long, black cloak. + +But the horror of the creature was the face. Out of an expressionless +mask of silver, without nose or mouth, gleamed a pair of fierce, black +eyes, that twinkled maliciously. Midway of the face were two holes, +nostrils through which he breathed. + +It was the man at whom Carl had fired his six harmless bullets--the man +with the silver face. + +Bud stood staring at him like one frozen, but Stella, when she saw that +Bud was as frightened as herself, was able to take her eyes away from +those terrible orbs that shone through the silver face, and regained her +composure, and now was able to look at him without terror and with +curiosity. + +There was something fascinating in that blank, rounded, shining, white +face, lighted only by those remarkable eyes. + +What was behind that mask? A face, or only a blank? + +Bud had somewhat recovered from the ague of terror into which the sudden +appearance of the man with the silver face had thrown him, for he was a +brave fellow, and not easily shaken from his courage. + +"What do you want?" he asked at last, but yet with a little tremor in +his voice. + +There was no answer, but the eyes continued to burn in a very suggestive +way. It seemed as if the man behind the mask was trying to speak, but +could not. + +Presently, however, he made a motion with his hand that told them to +follow him. + +"I'll be derned if we do," said Bud stubbornly. "Who aire yer, anyway, +an' what business hey yer buttin' in on us this away?" + +A strange, inarticulate, bubbling sound came from behind the silver +face, but Bud could not understand it. + +Again came the signal to follow. + +"Not on yer life," said Bud firmly. He drew his revolver, and a look of +decision came into his face. When Bud took on this look he meant +business. + +"Oh, Bud, don't oppose the terrible creature," whispered Stella, to whom +fear had come again from looking on that blank but fascinating face. + +"No, by jing, I ain't goin' erlong with thet freak. If I could see his +face an' knowed who he wuz I might talk business." + +As he said this the eyes behind the silver mask fairly shot forth sparks +of anger, and again that horrible bubbling noise was heard. + +The creature raised his arm. There was a sudden rush, and Bud felt his +arms grasped from behind. + +But as this happened he had presence of mind enough to point his +revolver at the man in the silver mask and pull the trigger. + +The weapon crashed, and, as the smoke cleared away, Bud saw the thing of +horror still standing unharmed where he had been, although the revolver +had been pointed directly at his heart, while from behind the mask came +again that sickening, bubbling laugh. + +At another signal from the figure Bud was dragged a little way up the +hillside, and his wrists were securely tied, his arms embracing a tree. + +While this was being done Stella, too frightened to make an outcry, was +led away, and, looking over his shoulder, Bud saw her mount Magpie and +ride away surrounded by four men, led by the man with the silver face, +who bestrode a splendid black charger. + +Bud was left alone to survive, if he could, the perils of frost and +hungry wolves. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +LOST IN THE WILDERNESS. + + +Stella could not keep her eyes from the silver mask of the man who rode +by her side. She was wondering continually at the mystery of him. + +For an hour or more they rode up one valley, then across a hill or +stretch of prairie, and through valleys again, the black mountains +coming nearer all the time, until at last they entered a forest of +pines, which they traversed until night began to fall. + +At a gesture from "Silver Face," as Stella had named the man who rode by +her side, the party came to a halt. + +Stella now saw that it was the intention to camp, for, while some of the +men cared for the horses, others cut down several small pine trees and +built a shelter of pine boughs, into which she was ushered, and before +which a blazing fire had been lighted. + +It had grown very cold, and Stella was grateful for the heat that filled +her shelter. + +One of the men had brought food, and a pan and coffeepot from a pack on +one of the horses, and now began to cook supper. + +Stella fully realized the peril of her situation, but particularly that +of Bud, who had been left alone, bound and helpless, in that wilderness. + +If he had not given the impression to the boys that he was going west +instead of east, things might have been easier for them, but now Bud +might perish of cold or be the prey of wild animals before Ted could +come to their rescue, which she was sure he would do soon. + +After she had eaten the supper which the man with the silver face +brought her with his own hands, she felt better and more cheered, and +began to take a brighter view of the situation. + +The floor of her lean-to shelter had been thickly strewn with pine +boughs, which were soft and aromatic, and Stella reclined upon them, and +gazed into the fire, listening to the strange sounds that filled the +forest, for the camp was absolutely quiet. + +After eating their supper the men had silently smoked their pipes and +then curled up on their blankets, which had been spread on mattresses of +pine boughs, and were asleep. + +Only Silver Face was awake, and he sat wrapped in his cloak near the +fire, his eyes taking on a fiercer gleam as the flickering lights struck +them. + +Stella wondered who he was. Evidently the mask concealed a horrible +mystery. Could he talk, and would not? Was that eerie, bubbling laugh of +his the only articulate sound he could make? + +Stella wished she knew more about him, and that he would talk to her. + +The night was growing on, but Stella did not feel like sleeping. + +Occasionally Silver Face arose and replenished the fire with resinous +pine logs, and for a while the flames leaped high, filling the woods +with strange shadows and ghostly, wavering spots of light. + +Then afar, it seemed, there sounded the night cries of wild animals, +timber wolves, those dreaded monsters of the lupus tribe, and +occasionally the scream of the cougar, like a woman in agony. Then, +close behind her shelter, there sounded a horrible, snarling shriek. It +was the night cry of a bobcat close at hand, attracted to the camp by +the scent of the meat which had been cooked for supper. + +It was so near and clear that for a moment Stella's heart seemed to stop +beating altogether, and she felt as if she would suffocate, and buried +her face in her hands, expecting every moment to feel the claws of the +terrible animal sink into the flesh of her back. + +But at the sound Silver Face leaped to his feet, and was coming swiftly +around the fire. + +Through the silver mask his eyes were gleaming wickedly. + +Stella heard him, and looked up. He was standing before her at the +corner of her shelter, his blank face turned toward the place from which +the cat's cry had come. + +Suddenly a strange thing happened. From the breast of the black garment +worn by Silver Face leaped a flame, followed by the crash of a revolver. +This was succeeded by another, and a third. + +The sleeping men had been aroused, and were sitting up in their +blankets, blinking stupidly. + +Behind her shelter Stella heard a thrashing among the frozen underbrush, +while Silver Face stood immovable, the blazing eyes in the mask staring +in that direction. + +Meanwhile, Stella was marveling at those shots which had seemed to +spring from his very body, and without the apparent use of his hands. + +But soon the noise in the brush ceased, and Silver Face stepped out of +sight. + +In a moment he was back, and threw into the circle of light about the +fire the body of an enormous mountain cat. + +The men had fallen back into their blankets and were sleeping again, +while Silver Face resumed his place before the fire. + +Soon Stella, began to yawn, and her eyes grew heavy with sleep. + +But she did not want to sleep. She had a foreboding that if she slept +she would be in danger. + +However, the dancing flames and the soft, comfortable heat which came +from the fire were too much for her resolution, and her head began to +droop, and presently her body sank gently down, and, as she pillowed her +head on her arm, she fell into a deep sleep. + +How long she slept she did not know, but when she awoke it was light. + +The fire had burned low, and she felt cold and numb. + +Staggering to her feet, she looked around. The camp was deserted. + +The men were gone, and so were the horses. Beside the fire was a +considerable pile of wood, and Stella hastily pulled the embers of the +fire together and threw several sticks upon it. As the fire blazed up +and she grew warmer, she tried to review the situation. + +Why had the men who had captured and brought her thus far deserted her? +Had they been frightened away by the proximity of the boys? No, it could +not have been that, for the boys were far away. + +Then a thought of horror flashed across her mind. She had been brought +here to perish in the wilderness. Probably Silver Face and his men, +desiring to wreak vengeance upon Ted, and feeling that keeping her a +prisoner would be too much of a burden, had brought her into this +dangerous place to leave her a prey to the wild animals that she knew +infested the forests. + +If they had only left her Magpie, she might have stood some chance of +escaping. + +But her fortitude soon returned to her. She was not dead yet, and, while +she had a fighting chance, she would not despair. + +Something of pity must have moved the men, for she found that they had +left her revolver and her rifle beside her in the lean-to, and that in a +pile not far from the fire was food enough to last her for several +meals. + +She set about cooking some breakfast, and caught herself singing as she +did so. + +After she had eaten she sat down in her shelter to think a way out of +her predicament. + +She was in the midst of a reverie when she was brought to her feet by +that most dreaded of sounds--the howl of the timber wolf. + +For a moment she stood trembling, trying to think what her best course +would be. + +The wolves had smelled the frying bacon from afar, and had been +attracted to it, for the scent had carried far in the clear air. + +From another direction came another wolf cry, and presently they seemed +to come from every direction. + +They were far away as yet, but the wolves were gathering. + +Without trying to reason further, Stella gathered up what food she could +carry, and, grasping her rifle, struck out into the forest in the +direction away from that from which the howls of the wolves came to her. + +Suddenly to one side appeared a slinking, gray form, which slunk along, +apparently dodging behind the trees, but following her. + +As it came from behind a tree in fair sight, she swung her rifle to her +shoulder and fired. + +It was a strike, for the wolf, with a howl of pain sprang in the air, +then rolled over on the snow and lay still. + +As the report of the shot reverberated back from the mountains, it was +followed by a perfect crescendo of wolf howls. + +They sounded louder and nearer now, and Stella's heart began to beat +rapidly with fear. + +Too well she knew what would happen if they caught her. + +But suddenly a thought came to her, and she stopped. + +Surely Ted and the boys would come to find her. They might even now be +on the way, and who could say they were not far away? + +If she could only send them a message to let them know that they were on +the right trail! + +Her face lighted up with an inspiration. She had the means. + +Breaking a stick from a low-growing tree, she began to write in the +snow: + +"I am followed by a wolf pack. Hurry." "Stella" + +These were the words she left behind her for Ted to read should he come +that way. + +Then she hurried on with all speed. + +Every few minutes the howls of the wolves assailed her ears as she +struggled on through the snow. + +Her burden of food was becoming very heavy, and she cast away a part of +it. + +Perhaps, she thought, it would serve to stop the wolves for a while when +they found it on her trail. + +Every moment seemed to bring the cries of the wolves nearer. + +They were following in her footsteps now, for the noise was all behind +her, not scattered over the forest, as it had been at first. + +The brutes had gathered into a pack, and Stella shuddered as she +pictured in her mind the gray band coming upon her with long, loping, +tireless strides; with red, long, lolling tongues and slavering, +sharp-fanged jaws. + +Presently she heard another noise behind her, and looked over her +shoulder. + +The sight that met her eyes caused her to almost faint. + +Not twenty yards behind her was an enormous gray wolf, loping along +easily but as swiftly as a horse. + +His eyes were blazing like green lamps, and his great body was scarred +and torn. Evidently he was the king of the pack. + +Stopping suddenly, she drew her revolver and fired two shots at him. + +He came to a halt with a snarl of rage and began biting at his shoulder. + +Then Stella turned and ran again, with the clamor of the pack close +behind her. + +But she was failing, and her run had become a painful stagger, and her +breath came in gasps. + +She was near the end, and she realized it. She fancied herself falling +into the midst of that ravenous crew and shuddered. What could she do to +save herself? + +Not far ahead was a tree with a forked branch growing low enough for her +to reach it if she still had strength to get so far. With almost a +superhuman effort she continued her flight toward it. + +As she reached it the great, gray king of the pack was only a few feet +behind her, so close that she could hear him pant from his long run. + +She reached up to the branch and tried to pull herself up, but it was an +impossible task burdened with food and rifle and her coat, which she had +removed at a time when she had stopped long enough to write another +message in the snow for Ted. + +She threw the rifle in the snow and tried it again, but she could not, +and then cast aside the food and the coat, and succeeded in clambering +into the sheltering nook just as the great wolf, leaping into the air, +swept past her, carrying in his teeth a shred of her skirt. She was +safe, but by a very narrow margin. + +She looked up into the tree, for the branch upon which she was perched +was so near the ground that she was not safe from the leaps of the +savage and famished brutes. + +But the next higher branch was far beyond her reach or her ability to +climb to. + +She must defend herself as best she could. + +Fortunately she had retained her revolver and had a good supply of +ammunition. + +As the old wolf leaped again she fired, and knew that the ball had +entered his neck. If she could shoot him often enough, she ought to kill +him after a while. + +But now the clamor was all about her. The pack had arrived, and was +leaping about the foot of the tree like waves upon a storm-tossed shore. + +Her red coat had been torn to shreds, and, in the fight over the food +she had cast aside, more than one of the brutes had met his death by the +razorlike teeth of his comrades. + +Suddenly, through the din about her, Stella lifted her head and +listened, while for a moment the wolves ceased leaping and howling and +stood listening also. + +From afar off, and very faintly, there came to her a subdued cheer. Her +heart leaped with hope. Could it be the boys who were signaling to her? + +But now the wolves, even more savage than before, were leaping at her, +their saber teeth snapping within an inch of her, as she fired into +their faces, and laughed as she saw them roll upon the snow in their +death agony. + +Again she heard a faint cry in the forest. Oh, if she should be wrong, +and it was not the dear old Moon Valley yell, she would die. + +Now the old king of the pack returned to the attack. + +He was bigger and stronger than any of the others, and when he snapped +at them with his terrible teeth they made way for him. + +He began a succession of leaps at her, and every time she planted a +bullet in his massive and seemingly invulnerable body. + +But each leap brought him closer to her perch. + +The next jump might be the one by which he would reach her, she thought, +and that surely would be the end, for, if he ever succeeded in getting +his hooked fangs fastened in her clothes, she would be pulled from the +tree in an eye twinkling, and she shuddered as she thought of the +sequel. + +The end seemed very near, and she had about given up hope of holding out +until the boys could reach her, when a well-known yell was wafted to her +on the frozen air. The boys had come. + +She felt the fangs of the king of the pack fasten in her skirt, and she +knew that she was being pulled out of her perch when, through the woods +came Ted and Bud and Ben, and the rest of her friends, yelling like mad +and amid a perfect fusillade of rifle shots. + +Then she began to slide out of the tree. But she did not reach the +ground, for Ted was there, and she slipped naturally and without harm +into his arms, as the last of the pack that remained alive escaped into +the forest. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +WHO WHIPPLE WAS. + + +There was great rejoicing when Stella so far recovered from the strain +which she had been undergoing, to learn that Bud was safe, although he +had passed a very uncomfortable as well as perilous night tied to a tree +with the cold numbing him, and wolves sniffing and snarling at him. + +These he had been able to keep off for several hours by kicking them +whenever they got close enough. + +But he was rapidly becoming exhausted when in the distance he heard +shouts. + +Ted and the boys had ridden to the west until they realized that it was +useless to go any farther, for they had not come upon the trail of Bud +and Stella, and Ted came to the conclusion that they had gone in the +opposite direction. + +But it was almost night when they turned their faces to the east, and +day was dawning when they heard Bud's cry for help, and rescued him by +driving the snarling pack from his heels. + +When they had heard his story about the man with the silver face and his +crew, and the fact that they had taken Stella away with them, the boys +waited only long enough to make a fire to thaw out Bud, and to make some +coffee, and took up the broad trail. + +When they came to the deserted camp they were almost sure that Stella +had gone on with her captors, and were about to follow the trail. + +Had they done so, Stella would have perished in the woods. But Ted had +one of his "hunches" that Stella was not far away, and rode around the +camp in a wide circle. + +He was soon rewarded by finding the prints of Stella's shoes in the +snow, and, concluding that she had in some manner escaped from her +captors, he called the boys together and started on her trail. + +They had not gone far when they, too, heard the howls of the wolf pack, +and knew that Stella was in great danger. + +Presently they came upon Stella's message in the snow and obeyed her +injunction to hurry. + +They had been compelled to leave their horses at the camp, for the +forest was too dense to permit them to ride. + +When Stella told them of her adventure and about Silver Face and the +stolen cattle, they decided to push forward on the trail, and, if +possible, regain their stolen property. + +At the camp they remounted, and, having to ride double where Bud and +Stella were concerned, made but slow progress. + +But the trail was broad and good, and they made good time as compared +with a slow cattle drive. + +Early in the afternoon Ted became conscious, in that remarkable way of +his, that not far ahead some one was on the trail. + +Stella was riding behind him, for the boys had taken turns in carrying +her so as not to burden any one horse too much, and he transferred her +to Kit's pony, and, telling the boys to move forward slowly, rode on +ahead to scout. + +Ted wanted to see for himself this wonderful Silver Face, who was +impervious to bullets, and who could fire them from his chest with no +apparent effort on his own part. + +Ted was also affected as the others had been who had seen him; that is, +by the mystery of the creature. + +He had ridden quite a distance ahead of the party, and had just entered +into the pass of a cañon which seemed to broaden out into a respectable +valley farther on, when he was brought to a halt by the scream of a +rifle ball close to his head. + +This was warning enough, and he scurried into the shelter of a huge rock +that jutted from the cañon wall. + +In a few minutes he emerged from it and rode back over the trail. + +When the party came up with him he told them of the shot. + +"It's my opinion," he said, "that Silver Face and his men and our cattle +are in that cañon or valley, but how to reach them I don't know." + +"S'pose we go scoutin' on ther hills above, an' take a look," said Bud. +"Stella an' ther boys can cache ther hosses an' hide, er come erlong +with us." + +"Very well," said Ted. And so they did. Hiding their horses in a thick +glade of cedar trees, they climbed in single file up the side of the +mountain, and were soon in an advantageous position, from which they had +a good view up and down the valley. + +A curious sight met their sight. + +In the center of the valley they saw their bunch of steers close herded +by several cowboys, while not far away two men were butchering one of +the steers. + +"They're going to have beef for dinner," said Ted, with a grin. + +"I hope it chokes 'em," growled Bud. + +"Or that they never get a chance to eat it at all," said Stella. + +Lounging around the fire were a party of Indians, but, though Ted could +not see from that distance whether or not they were the followers of +Crazy Cow, he thought most likely they were. + +The great figure of Silver Face could easily be picked out from among +his followers, even were it not from the reflected light from his silver +mask whenever the rays of the sun smote it. + +Close to the west wall of the valley, and huddled under its shelter, +were a number of Indian tepees, while farther on were several white +canvas tents. + +"Boys, we've stumbled upon the permanent camp or rendezvous of the +outlaw Indians, and the members of the Whipple gang," said Ted. + +As they were looking they saw a young woman, dressed as cowgirl, and +with long, blond hair hanging down her back, come out of one of the +tents, and look over the scene. + +Silver Face strode to her side, and then began a strange pantomime +between the pair with her hands. This convinced Stella that the man with +the silver mask was unable to talk. + +"I don't see how we are going to get at those fellows," said Ted. + +"They do seem to be pretty well fixed to defend themselves," said Ben, +who was lying flat on the rocky edge of the cañon wall, looking into the +scene below. + +"Oh, Ted," cried Stella, grasping the arm of the leader of the broncho +boys. "Look there. It is Magpie, my pony. There isn't another like him +in the world. We must get him back, Ted. Think of letting a dirty Indian +outlaw ride and abuse the splendid fellow." + +"All right, Stella," replied Ted. "Show us how to do it successfully, +and we'll go down and tackle the whole mess." + +"See, there's an Indian throwing his filthy blanket on Magpie's back. I +can't stand that." + +Stella put her rifle to her shoulder, and was about to pull the trigger +when Ted's hand closed down over the lock of the weapon. + +"Not on your life," he said. "This is not the time for anything like +that. If we were to get them after us right now we'd last about as long +as a snowball on a hot stove. Wait a while." + +While Stella said nothing she was angry clear through. It hurt her like +a blow to have her pony ridden by another. + +The Indian, having fastened his blanket on the pony's back to his +satisfaction, sprang upon his back, and began to lash him with a quirt. + +"Oh, the brute!" exclaimed Stella. "I hope Magpie throws and kills him +for his cruelty." + +Magpie wheeled and bucked under the unusual punishment, and the Indian +continued to beat him. + +"I can't stand it any longer," cried Stella, gnashing her pretty, small, +white teeth. + +This time she got her rifle to her shoulder, and, before she could be +restrained, had fired a shot. Perhaps Ted knew that the provocation was +great, for he did not interfere this time. + +At any rate, the ball flew close enough to knock the hat from the +Indian's head, and cause him to dismount and scurry to the shelter of +the rock wall. + +But it caused the greatest excitement in the camp. + +The man with the silver mask rushed forward, rapidly scanning the cliff +for whoever had fired the shot. + +He did not have long to search, for the smoke hovering over the spot +where Stella was lying on the top of the cliff was advertisement enough. + +A man by his side handed him a rifle, which he sighted, then took down +as a puff of smoke rose above him. + +Then there followed the smash of a bullet on the rock, a foot below +where Stella was lying. + +"Pretty close work," said Ted. "That fellow is a corking good shot. +Look, he's coming to shoot again. Duck! I'll bet he gets the range this +time." + +Every head went out of sight. Then came the sharp report of the rifle, +and the ball from it shattered the edge of the rock not far from +Stella's head. + +"That'll be about enough of that," said Ted, picking up his own +Winchester. "We'll have to stop that fellow's fun, or he'll end by +hurting some of us." + +Ted poked the barrel of his Winchester over the edge of the rock, +adjusted the sights, took a short aim, and fired. + +Then he looked to see the result of it, and saw the man with the silver +face drop his rifle, stagger to the side of the cañon, and sink down. + +"By jove! I got him," exclaimed Ted. "I believe that from here we can +drive that whole bunch out of the valley and get back our cattle and +horses, if we dodge back and shoot straight. We'll try it. Every fellow +get ready to fire." + +On seeing their leader fall, the men, both white and red, in the valley, +ran hither and yon in a state of great excitement. + +But when the boys began to fire systematically at them, kicking up the +snow about them with every shot, it became a veritable panic. + +Shouts of terror were heard, and, as the young woman raised the man with +the silver mask to his feet and helped him walk to the tent, the others +hastily saddled their ponies, and prepared to decamp. + +All the while the boys were pumping Winchester balls into them, and +occasionally a horse dropped, or with a yell a man would grasp a leg or +an arm and fall to the ground. + +"We've got them going," shouted Ted. "Keep it up until we get them on +the run." + +The boys fired their rifles until they got hot, then waited for them to +cool, and resumed firing. + +It was like bedlam in the valley, and not one of the men attempted to +retaliate by firing back. They were in a panic of fear. + +As soon as one got his horse saddled he dashed away toward the head of +the valley out of the way of those spiteful bullets which sang about +them like enraged hornets. + +Not one of them stopped to burden himself with his baggage, nor did they +pay any attention to the stolen cattle. + +They were in too much of a hurry to get away safely themselves. + +The Indians left their tepees standing, and ran for their lives. + +Soon the valley was clear of men. All that remained in sight were the +bunch of cattle, a small band of ponies in a rope corral, and the tepees +and tents. + +"I guess we're safe to go down now, and take possession of our own," +said Ted. + +"Don't forget that Silver Face and the young woman are in that tent," +said Stella warningly. "Look out for treachery." + +Without further delay the boys and Stella climbed down the mountain to +where their horses were, and, mounting, rode fearlessly into the valley. + +As they approached the tents the flap of one of them was pushed back and +the young woman came out. + +Her hand was raised for silence, and the tears were coursing down her +cheeks. + +"Hush!" she said. "He is dead." + +"Who is dead?" asked Ted, with the greatest respect. + +"Silver Face," was the answer. + +"Who was he?" asked Ted. + +"I don't know. I found him lying in the mountains almost dead from an +accident a few months ago, and nursed him back to life, but he never +spoke again, and he has never been able to let me know who he was." + +"Pardon me, but who are you?" asked Ted. + +"I?" said the woman, drawing herself up proudly. "I am Whipple." + +"What? Leader of the Whipple gang?" asked Ted, almost incredulously. + +"The same," said she. "I have laughed many times at the fear I inspired +among you ranchmen in the valley, and the officers of the law, to say +nothing of the soldiers. But that was because they had never seen me, +and believed me to be a man." + +They all looked their astonishment, for she was an exceedingly pretty +woman, and spoke in gentle tones. + +"But it is all over now," she continued sadly. "If those steers and +ponies are yours, take them. I am going to leave the mountains, and my +men are scattered and will leave also. I told them to go. And now that +Silver Face is no more, there is no reason why I should stay here." + +"You loved him?" asked Ted, nodding toward the tent. + +"Yes," she answered quietly. "He was my husband. When I had nursed him +back to life I sent my boys out and kidnaped a preacher. I had him +brought here blindfolded, and made him marry us, then sent him back, not +knowing where he had been." + +Ted and the boys looked their sympathy. + +"Can I be of any assistance to you in caring for him?" asked Stella, +very sweetly. + +A look of terror crossed the woman's face. + +"No, no," she cried. "Leave me with my dead. Take what belongs to you +and go." + +She retired into the tent, and they heard her weeping, and turned away. + +The boys started immediately on the back trail to the ranch, where they +arrived with their cattle and ponies. + +That was the last of the Whipple gang, for the members of it left the +country, and the outlaw Indians were gathered in by the troops and the +Indian police, and imprisoned on the reservations. + +But on winter evenings, as he sat before the big fire in the Long Tom +ranch house, his big snow camp, Ted Strong often turned over in his mind +the facts about the death of Silver Face, the man of mystery. + +Somehow, away down in his heart, he did not believe that the man with +the silver mask was dead, but that he would some day meet him again and +solve the mystery that surrounded him. + +In the early part of December, however, the members of the Moon Valley +outfit left the Long Tom Ranch for Phoenix, Arizona. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +AN UNEXPECTED GUEST. + + +Although it was winter, the air was soft and pleasant, and at noon the +sun shone with some fervor. + +It was Arizona, and as Ted Strong sat on Sultan and gazed across the +wide valley, over which the sun's warm rays shimmered above the sand and +cactus, greasewood and sage toward a low-lying ranch house in the far +distance, it did not seem at all like Christmas. + +But it was Christmas Eve, in spite of the fact that there was no snow, +no sleigh bells, no apparent use for Santa Claus, and that roses were +blooming in yards where there was sufficient black earth for them to +thrive. + +Behind his saddle Ted had a great bundle wrapped in burlap and securely +tied. + +For many miles on the way Ted had cast anxious glances behind him, and +occasionally reached back to assure himself that he had not lost his +freight. + +This argued that it was a very precious burden. + +"I guess that must be the place," mused Ted, as he looked at the +apparently deserted house. + +Not a live creature was to be seen about the place, neither man, woman, +nor beast. + +"Cheerful-looking prospect for Christmas," Ted continued to soliloquize, +as those who travel or ride on mountain or plain in solitude often get +in the habit of doing. + +"Wonder where the folks are?" he continued. "Hope they got here all +right. But, of course, they did. Bud is too good a leader to let them +get off the trail. Besides, they have been long enough on the way to +have got here and back again." Again he paused, musing. + +"Well, Sultan, old chap, it has been a long, dry drive, hasn't it?" + +Sultan, on hearing his name, gave a toss of his head and a soft snicker, +and Ted's hand passed gently over his beautiful, glossy mane with a +caressing gesture. + +"Hello, here comes some one. Wonder who it is. That's the only sign of +life, except a few rattlesnakes and horned toads I've seen since I left +the railroad at San Carlos." + +Shading his eyes from the sun, Ted looked for several minutes at the +dark speck bobbing along in the distance, a mere shadow against the +yellow surface of the earth. + +"He's taking his time," muttered Ted. "Reckon he's wondering who I am, +and what I'm standing here for. It can't be one of our fellows. I guess +I'll just wait for him to come up and say howdy." + +There was a faint trail, or road, which skirted Sombrero Peak, the mass +of multicolored rock at Ted's back, over which he had come on his way +from San Carlos to the Bubbly Well ranch house, which he was now facing +in the distance. But where he was now standing the road branched off to +the west, while a fainter trail lay straight before him to the ranch +house. + +Bubbly Well was the ranch of Major Caruthers, an Englishman, and a +retired officer of the British army, who had come to America to pass his +remaining days in the open. He was a well-preserved man, tall, stalwart, +with white hair and a red, fresh-looking face, who could ride well and +was an excellent shot, but who knew nothing about the cattle business. + +Ted had met him in Phoenix, at the hotel, and had dropped into "cow +talk." When the English major learned that Ted knew so much about the +cattle business, he told of his ranch at Bubbly Well, confessing that +his own knowledge of steers, cows, round-ups, and the like was so +limited that, instead of making the ranch pay, it had been steadily +losing money for him. + +It was then that the major had invited Ted to visit him at the ranch, +look the situation over, and give expert advice how to better the +condition of things. + +"I'll tell you what we'll do," said the major; "let's make up a +Christmas party for Bubbly Well. The holidays are so beastly lonely out +here, don't you know, and Christmas knocks me all of a heap. Come out +and help me make things cheerful." + +"I'd like to," Ted had said, "but I'm not a free agent. I am with a +party of friends, who are also my partners in the cattle business and +other enterprises. You see, my first duty is to them. I don't know what +their plans are." + +At this the major looked considerably crestfallen. Then Ted, as briefly +as he could, told the Englishman all about the broncho boys and their +plans and principles. + +As he talked, Major Caruthers occasionally interjected such exclamations +as "Extraordinary!" "Very remarkable!" "Fawncy!" + +He was intensely interested in Ted's accounts of some of the adventures +which the members of the Moon Valley outfit had gone through, and when +Ted stopped, with an apology for having consumed so much time in talking +about himself and his friends, the major assured him that he could +listen with pleasure and profit all night if Ted could only go on +telling him such stories. + +"My boy, I have the very thing," said the major, after a moment's +thought. + +Ted looked at the Englishman inquiringly. + +"Do you think your friends, not knowing me, would accept an invitation +to spend Christmas at Bubbly Well, and as long thereafter as they can +and will?" + +"That's a very kind thought," said Ted. "You see, we generally contrive +to be at our Moon Valley Ranch at Christmas time, but this year we had +business in this part of the country, and could not finish it in time to +get back home, and were planning to get as much joy out of the day in +the hotel here as we could." + +"Christmas in a hotel!" exclaimed the major. "I can't think of anything +more dismal. I'd spend Christmas in my own place even if there wasn't +another live thing there, and nothing to eat but cheese and crackers." + +"I feel very much that way myself," laughed Ted. + +"Then you'll come?" asked the Englishman eagerly. + +"I think my friends will be very glad to accept the invitation," +answered Ted. "I am sure I should like to, personally, and I thank you +for the privilege and the honor." + +"Don't speak of it." + +They talked of other things; about sport, and about the dangers of +ranching in that country. + +Before they parted it was decided that the broncho boys should visit +Major Caruthers' ranch. They were to take their own mounts on the train +to the nearest railroad station to Bubbly Well, where they would be met +by one of the major's men as a guide. + +It was three days before Christmas when all of them, except Ted, arrived +at the ranch and were given a hearty welcome by the Englishman. That is, +all arrived there except the leader of the broncho boys, who had +remained in Phoenix to attend to some business details and do some +shopping, agreeing to follow them later and arrive at the ranch +Christmas Eve. + +At the opening of this chapter we find him within sight of Bubbly Well, +with a pack of Christmas presents for all hands on his back, waiting +patiently for the approaching rider. + +In the course of a few minutes, the stranger rode up, and, with a cold +and quiet greeting, pulled in his mount, a beautiful chestnut mare, and +looked Ted over from top to toe in a cool manner. + +He was a handsome young chap, dressed in such a manner that Ted could +not quite determine what he was. He had not the appearance of a +cow-puncher, nor was he a town man, for he was bronzed by the sun, and +he sat his mare like a born horseman. + +His clothes were dark, save for a tan vest which buttoned close around +his throat; his boots were of the very best quality, and fitted the calf +of his leg snugly, and on his head was an expensive Stetson, with the +skin of a rattlesnake for a band. + +But it was his face that affected Ted with a sort of dislike that yet +had something of fascination in it, while at the same time it puzzled +him, it was such a strange mixture of good and bad. + +"Can you tell me what ranch house that is over there, and who owns it?" +said the stranger, in a well-bred manner that yet had the freedom of the +West in it. + +"Yes," answered Ted. "That is the Bubbly Well Ranch, and it is owned by +Major Caruthers." + +A strange expression passed over the young fellow's face. + +"Jack Caruthers--do you happen to know?" + +"I have never heard him called Jack," said Ted, smiling. "He signs +himself 'John Stairs Caruthers.'" + +"It must be the same," said the young fellow musingly. + +"Do you know him?" asked Ted. + +"Well, no. That is, not exactly." The stranger thought a moment. "I +suppose I'll have to put up somewhere for the night; it's a dickens of a +way to anywhere out here. I started from Rodeo, across the mountain, +early this morning, thinking I could make it to San Carlos by night, +but----" + +"You couldn't get there before morning if you rode at top speed," said +Ted, as the other hesitated. + +"Are you going to the ranch house?" asked the stranger suddenly. + +"Yes." + +"Do you think your friend would put me up for the night?" + +"I haven't a doubt of it. And to-morrow, too. You know this is Christmas +Eve." + +"So it is. I hadn't thought of it. My name is Farnsworth--Hilary +Farnsworth." + +The young fellow looked defiantly at Ted, who had started slightly at +the name. + +"Do you want to take me to the house now?" asked Farnsworth, with a +slightly contemptuous smile. + +So this was Farnsworth. "Fancy" Farnsworth, as he was called in the +Southwest. Ted looked at him with new interest, and the other stared +back with his gray eyes, which were as handsome as a woman's, and yet +had in their depths a wicked, cruel gleam. + +"I don't see why not," said Ted. + +"You know me?" asked Farnsworth, with a smile. + +"By reputation." + +"May I ask your name?" + +"Certainly. I beg your pardon. I am Ted Strong." + +At this Farnsworth suddenly pulled his horse to its haunches, at the +same time throwing his hand backward, and, with almost incredible +rapidity, whipping out a revolver. + +His face was white, and had as suddenly assumed an expression in which +fear and determination were equally present. + +"No, you don't!" he said slowly and coldly. "You don't get me that way. +I'm not as easy as that." + +Ted had made no move to draw his revolver, and was smiling in an amused +sort of way. + +"I'm sure I don't want you," he said. + +"You're a deputy United States marshal, aren't you?" + +"I am, but I'm not after you." + +"Then you haven't heard?" + +"Nothing about you recently. When I was in this part of the country +before I heard----" + +"Oh, you can always hear a lot about a fellow in this rotten part of the +world--except the truth. Then you haven't heard the latest news from +Rodeo?" + +"Not a word." + +"And you don't want to arrest me?" + +"Not now. I wouldn't know what to arrest you for, and I haven't seen a +United States warrant for months." + +"I believe I can trust you. You seem to be a square chap, in spite of +what I've heard of you. But I want to tell you one thing: I've got eyes +in the back of my head, and there isn't a quicker man on the draw in +Arizona, so no monkey business. This is not a boast, but a warning." + +"I have nothing against you now," said Ted quietly; "but if I ever have, +you'll know it, and have your chance. But I don't see any use in +standing here in the sun palavering. Let's hike to the house yonder. +I've been riding since daybreak without a drink, and I'd like to sample +the major's famous Bubbly Well." + +Farnsworth looked sharply at Ted for a moment, then replaced his +revolver, and signaled to lead the way. + +They rode in silence along the trail toward the ranch house for several +minutes. + +"How shall I introduce you to the major--as Farnsworth?" asked Ted, at +last. + +Farnsworth paused to think before replying. + +"I think not," he said at last. "If I am to stay there for the night, +there may as well be no unpleasant feeling. Call me anything you like +but that, and I will fall in with it. They may know something about me, +and, while I would be safe while Major Caruthers considered me a guest, +still, it might cause some restraint." + +"Probably you are right. How will Mr. Dickson do?" + +"As good as any. Say, Strong, you're a brick! I won't forget this." + +"This is a sort of truce. Anyway, it's Christmas, and a fellow should +put away malice at such a time." + +"Have you malice toward me?" + +"No, I can't say that I have. But I have heard things about you that +haven't prepossessed me in your favor." + +"Have you ever thought that perhaps you have heard more than the truth?" + +"Of course; I know that men are usually painted worse than they are." + +"That's true. It's especially true with regard to myself." + +For a moment Ted said nothing. He was running over in his mind several +of the stories he had heard about this handsome and daring young fellow. + +"Well, I'll take your word for it because it's Christmas," he said at +last. + +"I'll make you believe that I'm telling the truth before our +acquaintance ends," said Farnsworth. As Ted looked into his eyes he saw +that they had changed in expression. Now they were bold and brave and +truthful, where before Ted had seen only a cold, cruel, relentless look. + +Ted threw back his head, and the Moon Valley yell issued from his mouth. + +It instantly transformed the slumbering ranch house. Out of doors, from +around corners, and even as if they sprang out of the ground, appeared +the broncho boys, and the air fairly rang with their shouts of welcome. + +"That's the way I'd like to be greeted," said Farnsworth, a little +bitterly. + +"Then why don't you fix it so that you are?" asked Ted, smiling. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +CHRISTMAS AT BUBBLY WELL. + + +Ted introduced Farnsworth as Mr. Dickson, whom he had met on the road, +and the boys made the newcomer welcome in their usual characteristic +style. + +In a few minutes Major Caruthers rode up to the house, and Ted brought +Farnsworth forward. From the question Farnsworth had put to him when he +had first mentioned the owner of the Bubbly Well Ranch, Ted was anxious +to see the meeting between the two men. + +Major Caruthers received the young fellow cordially, and told him, with +true Western hospitality, that he was welcome to stay as long as he +wished. + +But Ted was watching Farnsworth. + +As he put out his hand to grasp the major's, a peculiar look crossed his +face. It was rather wistful, too, and it seemed as if he wanted to say +much more than the few formal words of thanks which he returned in +exchange for the major's greeting. + +Ted looked curiously at the two men, and started with surprise at a +peculiar resemblance Farnsworth bore to the older man. + +Ted had not particularly noticed the major's face and eyes before, but +now he noticed that his eyes bore a remarkable resemblance to those of +Farnsworth. + +There was a resemblance, too, in the shape of the head and the turn of +the jaw, but there it ended; and Ted surmised that the major must be at +least fifteen or twenty years older than the stranger. + +During the rest of the day there was much mystery about the house that +always precedes Christmas. + +Stella was particularly busy, and flew here and there, whispering with +Bud, who seemed to be in some secret with her. + +Behind the big ranch living room was a bedroom which had been used for +casual guests. + +Stella had possession of it, and had taken the bed down and banished it +until after the holidays. + +Within this room certain mysterious things were going on, and whenever +Stella or Bud left it, the door was always locked behind them. + +Not all the teasing of Ben and Kit, nor their efforts to get past the +door, were successful in finding out what was going on. + +Along toward evening, Bud, who had not met Farnsworth, or Dickson, as he +was known to Bubbly Well, came across that young man pacing up and down +the veranda alone. + +When Bud saw him he stopped as if shot, took a long look, and then +passed on. + +But he set out to find Ted, which he did at last at the corral. + +"See here, Ted," said the golden-haired cow-puncher, "whar did yer pick +up ther maverick what's up at ther house? I hear he come with yer." + +"I met him on the road, and he wanted to know if the major would put him +up for the night, and I told him I thought he would be welcome," +answered Ted. + +"Of course he'd be welcome. Ther major would welcome a yaller dog with +ther mange, out in this yere lonely place. But say, boy, does yer know +what yer brought?" + +"Why? I don't understand you exactly, I'm afraid." + +"Yes, yer do. Who is that feller? He's not Dickson. Who is he?" + +"Search me." + +"That's what I'm tryin' ter do, an' if yer don't give up peaceful, I'm +goin' through yer, minute." + +"Do you know who he is?" + +"I've got my suspicions. I see a feller up to Phoenix what's ther dead +ringer fer him, an' his name wasn't Dickson then." + +"What was it?" + +"It was Fancy Farnsworth." + +"I guess you're on, Bud. But Mr. Farnsworth asked me to keep it dark, +and, as it is Christmas, I consented to do so. Remember, this is the +time for brotherly love and peace toward all men. It wasn't much to do, +and I invented the name of Dickson for him myself. What's the matter?" + +"Oh, nothin', if yer like ter bring cattle like that ter our Chrismus +festivities. Fer me, I wouldn't." + +"I guess he's not as bad as that." + +"He's worse." + +"Explain." + +"Well, if yer don't know, I will, an' let yer chew on it, an' see if yer +want ter take any chances on him. Now, Farnsworth ain't his real name, +neither. D'y'ever hear tell o' ther Somber Pass massacree, where a +tenderfoot immigrant named Spooner an' his family was killed, an' their +wagons an' horses, an' a pile o' money what Spooner had brought with him +ter start a cattle ranch an' buy stock with, wuz taken? D'y'ever hear +tell o' that?" + +"Sure. It's part of the history of the Territory." + +"D'y'ever hear any suspicions cast upon nobody?" + +"I never did. That is, I never heard any one specifically charged with +the crime. Did you?" + +"I did, an' his other name was Farnsworth, only that wasn't ther name he +went by at that time. He's ther feller who was p'inted out ter me as +ther devil what led ther band o' cutthroats what killed ther Spooner +family fer a measly few thousands o' dollars. That's what I meant if yer +knew who yer was bringin' ter yer happy home." + +"Why, that crime was committed five years ago, and Dickson or +Farnsworth, as he calls himself, was too young then to be engaged in +anything of that sort." + +"He looks young, but he ain't. He's ther feller. Look out fer him, Ted." + +"Don't you tip off who he is, Bud. I brought him here because it is +Christmas, and he's going to stay. He's going to get a square deal here +if I have to fight for him." + +"Oh, I won't say nothin', but I'd like ter slip a pair o' handcuffs onto +them smooth, white wrists o' hisn, jest ther same. But why is he here? +What's he doin' in this part o' ther country?" + +"I don't know, Bud. He asked me when he met me and knew who I was if I +had heard the news about him. I hadn't, and told him so, but he did not +volunteer any information on the subject." + +"Whar did he come from? Did he tell you?" + +"Yes, he said he had come from Rodeo; starting early this morning." + +"Then look fer a big piece o' news from Rodeo right soon." + +"How do you know?" + +"I know this, if Farnsworth left Rodeo airly this mornin' thar was some +good reason fer it. I reckon it's a killin'. But he's a chump ter stop +off here. If anything has been pulled off at Rodeo, ther whole country +will be out after him, fer Fancy, so called fer his passion fer good +clothes an' high-colored poker chips, they don't like none too well, +he's too almighty quick an' slick with his six-shooter, hez got a list +o' killin's ter his credit as long as yer arm." + +"Well, he's here; let's forget it until after breakfast. But as long as +he's here as a guest, he gets all the protection I can give him." + +Supper that night was a very merry function in the Bubbly Well ranch +house, full of mysterious whisperings and jokes which were only +understood by two or three at a time. + +Mr. Dickson, as the latest guest, occupied a seat at the left hand of +the host, and Ted again noticed the remarkable resemblance between the +two, although it did not seem to be apparent to the others; at least, no +one mentioned it. + +After supper was over, and the Chinese cook and waiter had cleared the +room, the major brought out a violin, and asked if any one could play +it. + +"Clay kin jest make a fiddle sing!" shouted Bud, dragging the modest +Kentuckian forward. + +There was a piano in the living room, and Stella and Clay went to it, +and while Clay played the violin, Stella accompanied him. + +Lively airs were demanded, and the ranch house fairly rang with the +clapping of feet as Bud and Carl and Kit danced reels and jigs and cake +walks, and the laughter of the boys at Bud's jokes and Carl's lingual +mistakes. + +But at last they became tired of music. It was ten o'clock, and the +major disappeared for a few minutes, then entered, leading the way for +the two Chinamen, who bore between them baskets of rosy apples, dishes +of nuts and raisins and candies, and pitchers of cider. + +Although the day had been warm enough in the sun, the night was cool, +and the fire that leaped high in the fireplace made the room cozy and +comfortable, and one could well imagine that outside was the snow +glistening under the stars, and hear the far-away jingle of the sleigh +bells. + +They sat around the fireplace eating apples and cracking nuts, talking +nonsense and laughing at Bud's comic antics, until even Farnsworth +relaxed from the air of anxiety he had borne all evening, and once or +twice laughed. + +But Bud kept his eye on him, for he was distrustful of him, and believed +that he was up to some trick. + +At the end of the living room, between two massive deer heads, hung a +big clock, and, while they were still cracking nuts and jokes it began +to toll the hour of midnight. + +Instantly every one was on his or her feet shouting "Merry Christmas!" +and shaking hands all around. Farnsworth was not neglected because he +was a stranger, and Stella was the very first to wish him happiness on +this Christmas Day. + +Ted was the last to press forward and with all sincerity wished him +happiness, and, as he did so, he noticed that the young fellow was very +pale, and that his eyes were filled with unshed tears as he looked from +Ted to the major, who was fairly beaming with happiness and joy at the +great success of his Christmas Eve party, which, he said, was the finest +ever held in Arizona. + +Then Clay sat down to the piano and began to play a march, and Bud, with +a great flourish, unlocked and threw open the door of the guest room. + +Every one started back in surprise, while a shout went up that shook the +roof; but the old major hadn't a word to say. He simply stared, growing +pale and red by turns. He was deeply affected, and Farnsworth had +retired to a far corner, with his face buried in his hands. What +memories stirred him that this desperate young man should be so shaken? + +Inside the room all was aglow with myriads of candles which sparkled +from a small pine tree, which was hung with numerous packages and +strings of popcorn. Now every one understood the mysterious movements of +Bud and Stella. + +But the most marvelous thing of all was the enormous figure of Santa +Claus, dressed in a coat of red, liberally trimmed with fur, and a long +beard sweeping his breast, sitting on the back of a splendid little bay +pony that was none too quiet in the midst of the light and noise. + +"Where did it all come from?" asked Ted of Stella, as they were standing +together admiring the tree. + +"Oh, Bud and I thought it out for a surprise for you and the boys before +we left Phoenix, and one afternoon, when you were busy, we went shopping +and brought all these things. If we hadn't come here, we were going to +have the tree in the dining room of the hotel," she answered. + +"It was a great idea, and just like you, Stella. It has made this like +Christmas, indeed. We couldn't have had a better one at Moon Valley." + +"But look at Major Caruthers," said Stella, pulling Ted by the sleeve. + +The old major was actually on the verge of tears. + +"I have never been so near the dear home of my boyhood as this evening, +with all you happy, generous young people around me," he said. + +"Who in the world is Santa Claus?" asked Ted. + +"Why, just Santa Claus, you goose," said Stella, laughing. + +But now Santa Claus got down from the pony's back and stepped to the +front of the tree. Every one gathered around and kept silent. + +"Good evening, children," he said, in a gruff and husky voice. + +"Ach, it iss Kris Krinkle!" shouted Carl Schwartz, in glee. "Py Chiminy, +ain't he noble? How you vas, Kris?" + +"Children, I have a few seasonable gifts for you which I will give you +before I hurry away, for I have many more young friends whom I must +visit before the dawn. But first I will turn over to my young friend Ted +Strong this beautiful pony, which has been intrusted to me by Major +Caruthers." He led the pony forward and thrust the bridle into Ted's +hand. + +Ted was so astonished that he did not know what to say, but managed at +last to mumble his thanks to his host. + +For Stella there was a beautiful necklace of New Mexican turquoises from +the major, who also had not forgotten one of the boys. + +Then mysterious packages, well wrapped, were handed off the tree, and as +they were opened, shouts of laughter greeted them, for nearly every one +of them contained something meant as a joke on the recipient. + +Carl got a noble-looking parcel, and when he opened it, found a nice red +bologna sausage. Every one screamed with laughter, but Carl promptly +turned the joke by taking out his knife and cutting up and devouring the +sausage. + +There was a lemon for Kit from Ben, and a Joe Miller joke book, full of +antiquated chestnuts, for Bud, who proceeded to get square by reading +all the most ancient ones, such as the chicken crossing the road, and +similar gems. + +While the laughter and fun were at their height there was a sound on the +veranda, and they all stopped to listen. + +Ted instinctively turned to where Farnsworth was sitting alone in the +corner, for there had been no presents for him, and saw him sitting up, +listening intently. + +Being a guilty man, or, at least, aware that he was being pursued, he +was alert. + +"What's the row out there?" asked the major, who was loath to have the +evening's fun disturbed by outsiders. + +"Don't know," said Ted. "Sounded like some one walking on the veranda +and trying the door." + +He had no sooner spoken when the door was thrust open and four men +sprang into the room and looked around. + +At the same instant, Farnsworth leaped to his feet, drawing his revolver +and backing into the center of the room. + +Farnsworth was as pale as paper, but his eyes flashed fire as he glanced +swiftly around. + +Apparently there was no way of escape, for the intruders barred the only +outside door. + +The sudden entrance into the brilliant light had temporarily blinded the +men, so that they stood uncertainly for a few moments, looking from one +to the other of the figures that almost filled the room. + +Major Caruthers now stepped in front of them, his face red with anger. + +"What do you mean by intruding on me like this?" he thundered. + +For answer, one of the men threw back his coat and displayed the star of +a deputy United States marshal. + +"We're officers," he said gruffly, "an' we want Fancy Farnsworth." + +"You've come to the wrong place," said the major. + +"Oh, no, we haven't. We traced him right here, an' he's in this house." + +"What crime has he committed?" + +"He killed a woman over at Rodeo last night." + +An exclamation of horror arose from all parts of the room. + +"There he is! Get him!" almost screamed one of the men, pointing to the +pale but resolute figure standing under the chandelier. + +There was a rush, and confusion indescribable followed. + +Crash went the chandelier, shattered into a thousand pieces by a dozen +bullets. + +Rushing, struggling forms turned the smoke-filled room into a perfect +bedlam. + +Two of the intruders went to the floor, sent there by swift and powerful +right-handers from Ted. + +But they were up and rushing through the room in the direction of the +Christmas tree. + +There Santa Claus met them, and again they were bowled over. + +Ted saw the slender, black-clothed figure of Farnsworth slip past him in +the smoke. + +Then followed the sharp hoofbeats of a pony on the wooden floor, a crash +of glass, and the swift patter on the earth outside, and all was still. + +Farnsworth had leaped upon the back of Ted's Christmas-gift pony and +escaped. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE THUGGEE CORD. + + +Several moments following the dramatic and sensational escape of the +Christmas guest passed in silence, to be broken at last by Kit. + +"That was about the smoothest get-away I ever saw," he said, with a +grin, for he had assisted in it by deftly tripping the chief deputy +while he was on the way to intercept the pony. + +"What in thunder did they want to stop my star performance for?" asked +Santa Claus, pulling off his beard and revealing the rubicund face of +Ben Tremont, who was slowly baking beneath the heavy robes and hairy +disguise. + +"Well, he's gone, and only taken a pony and a window with him," said the +major, "and he's welcome to both. And now, you men, we'll try to +dispense with your company. You see, this is a private party, and had I +known that you were in this part of the country, I probably would have +invited you to be present. But I regret to say that the guest list is +full." + +The leader of the posse of deputy marshals looked up with a scowl. +Apparently, he was mad clear through at the sudden and unexpected loss +of his prospective prisoner. + +As he looked about his eye encountered that of Ted Strong, in which he +saw laughter, which did not tend to lessen his anger. + +"I've a good mind to arrest the whole bunch of you for conspiring at the +escape of a United States prisoner," he growled. + +"You'd stand a fine show to do that," said Ted quietly. "On the other +hand, I've a mind to arrest you for the forcible entry of this house." + +"You have, have you?" sneered the other. "You make me laugh, young +feller. You couldn't arrest a fly!" + +Ted threw open his coat and showed that he, too, wore a star. + +The leader of the posse leaned forward to read the authority on it. + +"Who are you?" he asked huskily. + +"I am Ted Strong." + +"Then why didn't you stop Fancy Farnsworth?" + +"What for? I have no knowledge of his having committed a crime, and, +besides, I have no warrant for him. Have you?" + +"No. Didn't have time to get one. But that makes no difference. He +killed a woman, and as soon as I heard of it I got my posse together an' +hit his trail. If it hadn't been for you fellows I'd have got him." + +"I don't think you would." + +"Why wouldn't I?" + +"Because he'd have killed two or three of you first." + +"What about this crime, and why are you so sure he committed it?" asked +Major Caruthers. "I thought him a fine, gentlemanly, quiet young fellow, +and I'm somewhat of a judge of men myself. I can hardly believe that a +man of that stamp could commit so terrible a crime as woman murder. That +is the lowest degree of killing." + +"He done it, just the same," said the deputy marshal positively. + +"Why are you so sure?" asked Ted, taking up the interrogation. + +"Well, in the first place, he skipped the town just before the body of +the woman was found. He was seen to ride out of town along the road on +which her house stood." + +"Is that all the evidence you have against him?" + +"No; he was seen coming out of the house about three hours before he was +seen leaving town." + +"H'm! Is that all?" + +"It comes pretty near enough. But, besides that, it was known that the +woman, who was young and beautiful, had recently received a lot of money +as her share in a mine, and that the money had been taken to her that +morning by one of her partners." + +"And it is believed that the young fellow you call Fancy Farnsworth +killed the woman for her money?" + +"Sure." + +"In what shape was the money? Currency, gold dust, ingots, or gold +coins?" + +"It was in ingots." + +"Anybody know how much of it there was?" + +"Yes; her partner, Billy Slocum, was at the hotel, intendin' to go back +to the mine to-day, and I went to see him." + +"And did he give you any idea of how much the gold weighed?" + +"Yes, it weighed about thirty pounds. Billy brought it in on his saddle, +and he said it weighed quite considerable." + +"But Farnsworth, as you call him, had nothing of the sort when he +arrived here." + +"That may be. He'd be too foxy to do that. He's cached it somewhere in +the mountains, most likely." + +"How was the woman killed?" + +"She was strangled by a cord." + +"What was her name?" + +"Helen Mowbray." + +"What sort of a woman was she?" + +"She was a mystery to most the folks at Rodeo, an' all over the +mountains, for that matter. Nobody knew where she came from. She didn't +mix much with the folks, but lived in a swell house, what she had built +for herself, with only two servants, a Japanese man and woman." + +"Was she rich?" + +"Said to be. Had interests in a good many mines, an' owned the Cristobal +Turquoise Mine." + +"Anybody ever learn where her mail came from?" + +"Yes, she frequently got letters from England, and occasionally sent +large drafts to a bank in London to her credit." + +"How do you know this?" + +"Early this morning, when the crime was discovered, and every one was +talking about it, Mr. Rossington, the banker, told that much to a crowd +at the hotel." + +"Had she any particular friend in Rodeo?" + +"Only Farnsworth, who came to the town at intervals and put up at the +hotel. When he was in town he generally spent an hour or two at her +house in the afternoon or evening, and then faded away as mysteriously +as he came." + +"Did he appear to be in love with her?" + +"All I know about that is what I have heard since Miss Mowbray's death." + +"There has been gossip, then?" + +"Not what you would call gossip, exactly. Only folks who had seen them +riding and driving together a few times seemed to think that, while she +was very much in love with him, he never made any fuss over her." + +"How long have you known Farnsworth?" + +"About three years. Ever since he has been traveling through this part +of Arizona." + +"Don't you know that he is a very undemonstrative man, and that if he +really cared for any one he is not the sort to exhibit it?" + +"Yes, I reckon Fancy is a cold sort of a proposition." + +"How have you got him sized up?" + +"I'd hardly know how to tell it. He's some of a mystery to me, and he +ain't never let no one as I know of snuggle beneath his jacket." + +"But, as an officer, you must have kept some sort of tab on him." + +"Sure. I know Fancy as well as most. I always looked upon him as a +crook, and a very dangerous man with a gun." + +"Has he ever been convicted of a crime?" + +"Ain't never been able to land him. Generally he gets away by some slick +trick, just as he did to-night, or he bluffs off the fellows who go +after him with his guns." + +"Has any crime ever been fastened on him so positively that there was no +doubt that he committed it?" + +"Can't say there was; but that don't cut no ice, for he's been in +several killings where no gun got busy but his, an' we've been able to +track him right up to crimes, but there we lose him. He's too slick to +get caught." + +"Something like the murder of Miss Mowbray? He is seen leaving the +vicinity of the murder, and is immediately suspected of the crime, +although probably fifty other men in the town were near the house or on +the road before the murder was discovered, eh?" + +"That's true enough. I passed the house myself on my way home, just +before midnight." + +"Why don't you arrest yourself as a suspect? But how was the murder +discovered?" + +"Some one passing saw a flame at the corner of the house, and, looking +through a window, saw that the house was afire. He gave the alarm, and +the blaze, which was in a corner of the library, was put out before much +damage was done." + +"Then the body was discovered, I suppose?" + +"Yes; a fireman found it in the bedroom on the floor." + +"In what condition?" + +"She was dressed for bed, and around her neck a cord was tied so +tightly, in a peculiar slipknot, that she could not breathe, and her +face was black and her tongue protruding." + +"Simply strangled to death, eh?" + +"That's about it, I reckon." + +"What became of the two Japanese?" + +"Disappeared." + +"Where are the ingots of gold?" + +"Gone." + +"What became of the cord by which she was strangled?" + +"I have it." + +"How does it happen that you have it?" + +"At the alarm of fire I left my home and ran to the scene. As I entered +the house by the front door, one of the firemen came running out of the +bedroom, crying that he had found a dead woman. I ran into the room, and +saw Miss Mowbray lying on her face on the floor, at the foot of the +bed." + +"She was dead then, I suppose?" + +"I thought so. I placed my hand on her bare shoulder, and it was cold." + +"She had been dead several hours, then?" + +"Two or three hours, perhaps, but maybe less, for the room in which she +lay was cold, there being no fire in it or in the adjoining rooms." + +"What did you do when you found that she was dead?" + +"I turned the body over, and saw by the discoloration of her face and +the protruding tongue that she had been strangled. Then I discovered the +cord, which was sunken deeply into the flesh of her throat, and so +hidden that I would not have discovered it had I not seen the end of +it." + +"What did you do with it?" + +"In the hope that she might not be dead, and that something might be +done to revive her, I managed, with great difficulty, to get the cord +untied and off her neck." + +"What authority did you have for that? I suppose you know that it is the +coroner's duty to do things of that sort?" + +"Yes; but, besides being a deputy marshal, I am also deputy coroner." + +"I see. What did you do with the cord?" + +"I don't remember. Oh, yes. I think I put it in my pocket. Yes, here it +is." + +"Let me see it. Why, this is very peculiar. Do you know what sort of a +cord this is?" + +"I don't. I never saw one like it before." + +"I have. Notice its thickness, and how closely it is woven, and that it +is strong as a piece of wire." + +"Yes, I noticed that when I found it. What sort of cord is it?" + +"Japanese." + +"Japanese, eh?" + +"Yes, and a very rare sort of Japanese cord, too, fortunately." + +"Why fortunately?" + +"This is the cord that is used by the Japanese and East Indian secret +societies known as the Thugs or Thuggees." + +"How do you know?" + +"I have seen cords like this before in the Orient, where they were used +by Japanese murderers." + +The cord passed from hand to hand as the major and the boys examined it +with curiosity and some degree of horror, while Stella positively +refused to handle it, or even look at it. + +"Tell me more about Miss Mowbray's servants," said Ted, again taking up +his line of interrogation. "What were the names of the two Japanese?" + +"The man was called Ban Joy, but generally was known as Joy." + +"Was he pretty well known in the town?" + +"No, he was uncommunicative, and spoke very little English. The only +persons who had much to do with him were the storekeepers of whom he +bought supplies for the house." + +"And the woman?" + +"Her name was Itsu San, I believe. I only saw her once, and that was in +the yard back of the house. She appeared young, and was very pretty for +a Jap, I guess. She is the first Jap woman I ever saw." + +"What were her duties?" + +"She was Miss Mowbray's maid, while Joy was the cook." + +"And you say they are gone?" + +"Yes. I saw Joy about eight o'clock, but when I searched the house after +the discovery of the body they were not there, and I could find nothing +that belonged to them." + +"What are you going to do now?" + +"I'm going to hit Farnsworth's trail, and I won't leave it till I run +him down and send him to the gallows." + +"I don't think you will." + +"I won't, eh? Why shouldn't I?" + +"Because Farnsworth did not murder Miss Mowbray." + +"Then who did?" + +"I don't know; probably the Japanese, but I'm not too sure of that. I +believe you will pick up a surprise at the end of the string you are +following. At any rate, me for Farnsworth, and I give you fair warning +that I'm going to help him all I can until I am persuaded of his guilt." + +"That's a fine way for a deputy United States marshal to talk." + +"A better way than you are talking, for it is as much our duty to +protect men from injustice as it is to bring them to justice." + +"That's enough of you for me then. I'll say good night. Come on, boys." + +The four deputy United States marshals marched in single file from the +house, mounted their horses, and rode away into the west just as the sun +poked its head above the eastern horizon. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +A LETTER FROM THE DEAD. + + +Ted was brooding over the appearance of Farnsworth, and the startling +events which followed, and particularly the crime at Rodeo, of which the +young fellow had fallen under suspicion. + +Ted believed that Farnsworth was innocent of the crime. + +But his flight from the town, and the question he had put to Ted when +they met in the road, as to whether Ted had heard the news from Rodeo, +were enough to convict him in the mind of any person prone to suspicion. + +But Ted looked at matters of this sort differently than most people. In +the first place, his experience had taught him that actions which seemed +most suspicious often proved most innocent. + +That Farnsworth knew of the murder of Helen Mowbray before he quitted +Rodeo his question to Ted left no doubt, and the shadow of suspicion +under which he had lived was reason enough for him to leave the town +before its discovery. He knew the dangerous temper of the people, and +that it would take very little to arouse them against him, and +precipitate them into a lynching, with himself as the central figure. + +Ted had heard that Fancy Farnsworth was the worst man in Arizona, and +that he had the most ungovernable temper, the quickest eye, and swiftest +"draw" of a gun in the Territory. + +He was a gambler against whom nobody seemed to be able to cope, for he +invariably won. It had been said that he was not a straight gambler, but +those who said it did so only once, as they were incapable of saying it +twice, for by that time they had been shot full of holes by the card +sharper. + +Why it was that Farnsworth always escaped punishment at the hands of the +authorities no one knew, except that they lacked the nerve to force +prosecution against him, and that he invariably had a good excuse for +killing a man; at least, one that made good in that rough country, where +every man was of a size because all carried revolvers. + +But even while Ted believed that Farnsworth was innocent of the murder +of Miss Mowbray, he felt that some day he and the dashing young fellow +would meet on the battlefield as enemies. + +But it was the strange resemblance between him and Major Caruthers that +affected Ted more than anything else, and he often wondered that the +major had not noticed it himself. + +Major Caruthers found Ted on the veranda turning these things over in +his mind after breakfast. Coming to his side, the old gentleman threw +his arm around Ted's shoulder and said: + +"Ted, I'm rather worried about that young chap Dickson, or Farnsworth, +whichever he is. I was greatly attracted to him, and intended to invite +him to stay with us several days, when those deputy marshals entered and +accused him of a crime that horrifies me. Somehow, I feel that he is +guilty, although I want to believe in his innocence, as you so bravely +advocated when we all were too cowardly to do so. But if he was +innocent, why did he not stay and face his accusers, and go back to +Rodeo with the marshals and prove himself innocent?" + +"He never would have got as far as Rodeo," said Ted quietly. + +"Why not? He was under arrest and in the guard and custody of four +deputy marshals, officers of the United States." + +"They would have prevailed no more than if they had been dummies, which +I strongly suspect they were." + +"Um, how is that?" + +"They were sent out from Rodeo as marshals, but the mob that would have +met Farnsworth at the outskirts of the town, to hang him, was the real +boss. Those marshals would no more dare defy that mob than they would +fly. In the first place, they were not of the real stuff, as was proved +by their conduct when they entered your house and saw Farnsworth in the +middle of the floor and dared not go to him." + +"Well, I'm glad he got away, but I am sorry he had to steal your pony to +do it." + +"That's all right about the pony. I'm betting I'll get it back one of +these days. And, besides, there was nothing else for him to do." + +"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the major. "That was the neatest thing I ever saw, +the way he got into that saddle and deliberately put that pony at the +window." + +"It sure was nervy," said Ted, with a reminiscent smile. + +"Wasn't it the most dramatic thing you ever saw? I can see it yet. +Farnsworth dodging those deputies and their bullets, and before any one +knew what his plan was, leaping upon the pony and jumping through the +glass. By Jove, it was fine. I never was so excited in my life." + +"It certainly was very dramatic. Almost like a thing one would see in +the theater." + +"Yes, but a lot more exciting, because it was the real thing. By the +way, Ted, there was something about that young fellow that I cannot +explain to myself. I was quite strangely affected when he took me by the +hand. And every time I looked at him it gave me a feeling as if he was +somehow mixed up in my life, or would be in the future." + +"That is strange. I wonder who he is. His name is not Dickson, nor is it +Farnsworth. Of course, there is a mystery behind him somewhere, and he +has a name which he is concealing. Suppose we take a look through his +effects. He had a saddlebag in which there may be something by which we +can identify him." + +"Very well. I don't believe it would be unfair to him to do so. You +know, we might be able to help him if we know his real name and +address." + +They went into the room which had been assigned to Farnsworth, but which +he had had no opportunity to occupy. + +In one corner they found his saddle, a very ornamental and expensive +piece of horse furniture, trimmed with silver and made of the most +expensive leather. + +Beside it lay a bag which could be fastened to the cantle of the saddle. + +It fastened with a snap lock, which was easily opened, and then Ted, at +a nod from the major, began to turn out its contents. + +First came a pair of silver-mounted hairbrushes and several toilet +articles, showing that even in the desert young Farnsworth did not +neglect his personal appearance. There were some clean shirts and +handkerchiefs, and in the bottom of the bag another leather case. + +"If he has anything by which he may be identified, it is in here," said +Ted. "But this is locked. Shall I force it?" + +"I believe you'd better," answered the major. + +"I don't care much about doing it," said Ted, "but as it is to help him +I suppose I might as well." + +The major nodded, and with the blade of his knife Ted soon had the bag +open. + +The first thing he came to was a photograph of a beautiful woman, at +which he looked intently for a few moments. + +It seemed to him that he had seen her, or some one very like her, +somewhere before. + +Then he passed it over to the major, and reached his hand into the bag +once more. + +Suddenly he was interrupted by a startled cry, in which there was a tone +of pain and surprise, from the major. + +Looking up, he saw that the major was as white as a sheet, and that his +hand trembled violently. + +"What is it?" Ted asked, striding to the major's side. + +But Major Caruthers was too shaken by emotion to reply at once. + +He continued to stare at the picture with devouring eyes, his face +alternately flushing and paling. He was gasping as if he would speak, +but the words would not come. + +"Do you know her?" asked Ted gently. + +The major nodded his head for reply. + +"What else do you find?" he managed to ask finally. + +Ted emptied the contents of the bag upon the bed. + +Among them was a package of old letters carefully tied. + +"Look at those letters," commanded the major hoarsely. + +Ted untied the string, and took one letter from the pack and opened it. +It had been opened and folded so many times that it was with difficulty +that Ted could open it now without having it fall to pieces. + +"You read it before I do," said the major, who was suffering from a +great, nervous strain, and showed it in his face and trembling hand. + +Ted spread it on the bed and bent over it. + +In the upper left-hand corner was a faded crest of a tower, over which +was a coronet. + +"My dear, wandering boy," the letter began, "I do not know where you +are, or if you are well and alive, or are in trouble, for I have not +heard from you for many months. I am sending this at random into that +great America in the hope that it may reach you some day to tell you +that your mother is constantly thinking of you. Your brother Jack is +still in India with his regiment, but will soon retire and come home. +Your sister Helen and her husband are I know not where. Mowbray turned +out very badly, as your father believed he would, and he had to run from +his creditors, and the enemies he had made through his dishonest +practices. I don't know where they are, but it is my belief that they +have gone to America. I wonder if you will ever run across them? If you +do, tell Helen to leave the beast and come home, and both her father and +I will forgive, and she can take her place here as if she had never met +him. And this leads me to tell you that your father has greatly changed +since you left us, and has even said that he was sorry for his +harshness, and wished you had stayed with us. We are very lonely with +all of our children away from us. Come back to your mother, and all will +be different." + +There were many expressions of mother love in the letter, which was +signed and dated from The Towers, Huntingdon, several years before. + +After reading the letter Ted passed it to the major without comment, and +walked to the window, that he might not be a witness to his emotion. + +He was now very sure that by the strangest of circumstances Major +Caruthers had come across a bit of personal history, and that it was +giving him a heart-tearing experience. + +In a moment he heard the sound of a sob behind him, followed by others, +which, however, subsided gradually, and he heard his name called. + +Ted came to where the major sat on the side of the bed, holding the +photograph in his hand. + +"It is the picture of my sister," he said quietly, for he was now the +master of his emotions. + +"Then Farnsworth is your brother," said Ted. + +"Yes, my brother, poor chap," answered the major, gulping down a sob. + +"It is strange, very strange," muttered Ted, almost to himself. "I felt +sure you were related, there was such a strong resemblance between you." + +"I didn't notice it. Why didn't you speak of it?" + +"Farnsworth knew that you were his brother, and I have no doubt he would +have made himself known to you had he not been compelled to flee before +the deputy marshals. I know that he was deeply affected at meeting you, +and saw that he hesitated to make himself known." + +"I didn't know him. I had not seen Fred since he was a little boy, when +I went into the service. Then he went away to school, and I to India. I +am much older than he, so we did not meet. When I returned to England +from India he had disappeared on account of a foolish row with our +father. Our only sister, Helen, had married a scamp against the wishes +of the family, and had left England also. Shortly after that both our +parents died, and I came to America with the intention of finding both +my sister and brother, and this is how it has turned out." + +Tears were coursing down the major's pale cheeks. + +"Don't you see how it is?" he asked, holding out the photograph to Ted. + +Suddenly it dawned upon Ted, and he took the photograph and gazed at it +eagerly. + +It was Helen Mowbray, the sister of the major and of Farnsworth, or Fred +Caruthers, to give him his real name--the woman who had been strangled +to death in her house at Rodeo. + +This was a shock indeed. + +The complications which had arisen in these few hours were sufficient to +shatter the strongest nerves, and Ted himself trembled a little at the +possibilities unfolded by this unforeseen and unexpected knowledge, +while it entirely unnerved the major, and left him as weak as a child. + +What was to be done? It was not likely that Fred Caruthers could be +found at once. That he knew that it was his sister who had been +murdered, and that he was charged with the crime, would be sufficient to +spur him on and on, his brain and heart filled with horror. And that he +had just found his brother, who might have given him all the moral +support he needed at such a time, only to be driven from him by the fear +of mob law, which he knew would give him no chance whatever for his +life, was an additional sting. + +The major sat on the edge of the bed with drooping head, holding in one +hand the letter from his dead mother, and in the other the photograph of +his murdered sister. + +He was too dazed with the suddenness of the shock with which the +revelation had come to him to stir. + +Ted saw that he must be roused from this immediately. + +"Come," he said, placing his hand gently, on the major's shoulder, "we +must do something at once." + +"What can we do?" asked the major, in a stifled voice. + +"In the first place, we must ride to Rodeo with all speed. Do not forget +that your sister lies there dead, and that it is your duty to care for +her." + +"Of course. I had forgotten. All the ghosts of the past crowded in upon +me until I forgot my duty to the dead. We will go at once. Will you take +charge of things? I am not able yet to do so." + +"Certainly. Leave it all to me." + +Ted left the major with his relics of the dead and the revelations of +the present to compose himself, while he went out to make arrangements +for the ride to Rodeo. + +Ted knew the difficulties and prejudices they would meet when they got +to Rodeo, and feared that before the unpleasant details attending the +burial of the dead woman were finished they might clash with the +authorities or the townspeople. + +Therefore, he decided that they should go well able to defend their +rights, and, calling the boys together, he told them as briefly as +possible the story of the major and his newly found brother and sister, +as the reader knows it. + +"Now, fellows, we must help the major straighten out this tangle, bury +the dead, defend the innocent, and punish the guilty," he said gravely. +"Arm yourselves and saddle, ready to take the road to Rodeo as quickly +as you can." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +BESIEGED. + + +The broncho boys galloped into the town of Rodeo early in the afternoon, +having put their horses to full speed, only stopping now and then to +give them a blow. + +Ted had done his best to restore the major to whatever cheerfulness was +possible under the circumstances, and the sturdy Englishman had regained +his courage and forcefulness. + +As they were riding up the main street, Ted in the lead, flanked by +Stella and Major Caruthers, they saw one of the deputy marshals who had +so unceremoniously entered the ranch house at Bubbly Well to arrest +Farnsworth look hard at them, then set off on a run down a side street. + +"That fellow has gone to give warning of our approach," said Ted. + +"Well, let him. What difference does it make to us?" asked the major. + +"It may mean something to us before we get through here," said Ted. + +"I imagine they will be suspicious of us," said Stella. "At least, they +know that we are not their friends, since we went to such trouble to +defend their favorite victim." + +"True," said the major. "But we are strong enough to meet them, and we +feel that we have the right on our side." + +"What shall we do first?" said Ted, deferring to the major's wishes in +the matter. + +"Who has charge of the body of my sister, do you suppose?" he asked. + +"Probably the coroner." + +"Very well, let's look him up at once. That, of course, will be my first +care." + +It did not take them long to find the coroner, who told them that the +deputy marshals had taken possession of the house, the property, and the +remains of the dead woman, to be held for the appearance of some friend +of hers, who had notified them to do so. + +"Who is this friend?" asked the major stiffly. + +"I'm sure I don't know. You'll have to see the deputy marshals. The +inquest has been held, and I have nothing more to do with the affair." + +"Now for the deputy marshals," said the major, who had recovered +possession of himself, and was now all decision. + +They went immediately to the chief deputy, who was also deputy coroner, +and whose name, they learned, was Jack Burk. + +But they could not find him, neither were any of his men to be found, +although Ted was convinced that he was in town. + +"There is only one thing to do," said Ted. + +"What is that?" asked the major. + +"Go to the house, and take possession of it yourself." + +"But suppose we find it in the hands of the authorities?" + +"That makes no difference to me. The remains of your sister belong to +you, and you have the first right to her and her possessions." + +"But her husband? I do not know where he is, or whether he is dead or +alive." + +"As long as he is not here, it is up to you, major, to assume whatever +authority is necessary." + +"Perhaps you are right. But we cannot gain our point without some show +of force." + +"I know it, and have come prepared for it. The broncho boys will back +you to the limit. Do whatever you think best, major, and you will find +the boys and myself right behind you." + +"Then we will go to the house," said the major firmly. + +In a few minutes Ted and the major dismounted before a handsome house on +the outskirts of the town. It was surrounded by a high stone wall, and +the gate, which was of iron, was locked. + +Ted shook the gate vigorously, and called out for admittance. + +Presently the door of the house was opened a crack, and a voice demanded +to know what was wanted. + +"Come and unlock the gate," demanded Ted. + +After a moment's hesitation the door slammed, and there was silence. + +"Evidently whoever is in charge of the house does not intend to open to +us," said Ted, "and I suppose this will have to be the first act of +aggression on our part. Shall I smash our way in?" + +"By all means," responded the major. "I don't propose to stay out here +and cool my heels in front of my sister's house at the behest of a +stranger." + +"That's enough for me." + +Ted picked up a big stone from the road, and with a vigorous blow or two +shattered the massive iron lock, and the gate swung open. + +Ted and the major entered the garden in front of the house and walked up +the path. + +As they were about to ascend the steps to the veranda they were stopped +by a voice. + +"Halt! What do you want?" + +"We want entrance to the house," said the major. + +"You can't get in without an order from Deputy Marshal Burk," said the +voice behind the door. + +"The deuce I can't!" growled the major, whose fighting blood was coming +up at this opposition. "Do you know who I am?" + +"No, and it don't make no difference who you are. Them's my orders from +the chief." + +"I am the brother of Miss Mowbray." + +A silence followed this. + +"Can't help it," said the voice again. "I can't let you in." + +"Open that door instantly, or we'll break it in." + +"If you try that you'll be sorry. I warn you, I am armed, and have +orders to shoot." + +"Shoot, and be jiggered!" shouted the major, who was thoroughly angry by +this time, for he was not used to having his orders disobeyed. + +"I will if you attempt to break into this house. If you get an order +I'll let you in. Without an order you get in only after I am down and +out." + +"Stay here, major. I'll be back in a few minutes." + +Ted Strong was angry also at the delay, and at once suspected that Burk, +the deputy marshal, had some sinister reason for putting the house in +charge of one of his men, but he could not imagine what it was unless +his purpose was not honest. + +Ted's experience had taught him that all men in authority as deputy +United States marshals were not honest, and that they often used their +office to graft. + +He had no faith in Burk, whose looks and actions he had distrusted at +their first meeting. If Burk knew that the broncho boys were in town it +would be sufficient excuse for him to annoy and impede their movements +all he could. + +No doubt Burk knew that they would come to Rodeo in the interests of +Farnsworth, but he did not believe that the deputy marshal knew anything +of the newly discovered relationship between Major Caruthers, the dead +woman, and the so-called Farnsworth. + +What, then, was his reason for holding the house and the remains of the +murdered woman against all comers? + +There were two inferences: Loot of the woman's house, unprotected by +friends and relatives, and the awaiting of the woman's husband. + +Ted had thought out these two possibilities thoroughly. He had no doubt +that there were many valuables in the house, for the woman was reputed +rich, secretive, and probably kept her personal property about her. From +what the major had said the husband, Mowbray, evidently had been cast +off by Helen Mowbray on account of his rascalities, and, being a bird of +prey, would swoop down upon her property as soon as he learned of her +death. + +Could it be that Burk was holding the house awaiting Mowbray's arrival? + +With these thoughts running through his mind Ted had gone around to the +back of the house to find, if possible, something with which to smash in +the door. + +In a shed he found a sledge, and returned to where the major was still +arguing with the guard inside. + +"Open or we'll break in the door," called Ted, in a stern voice. + +"Take the advice of a fool, and leave the door alone," answered the +guard. + +"Then, for the last time, will you open?" + +"No." + +Ted swung the sledge and brought it down with all his strength on the +lock of the door. + +There followed a crash, and the door flew open suddenly. + +Then came another crash; this time from a revolver, and a ball whistled +past Ted, penetrating the brim of his hat and burying itself in the door +casing. + +But it was not repeated, for before the guard could wink twice a +tan-colored figure shot through the opening, and he fell to the floor +with a smash that shook the house, and looked up to find a stalwart +youth astride of him, slowly shutting off his wind with strong and +inexorable fingers. + +Then he was relieved of his revolver, and before he could indicate that +he was willing to surrender he found himself trussed like a fowl, with +his arms behind his back, and the hall full of young fellows. + +"Why didn't you let me know that you had brought a regiment with you?" +he said sullenly. "Maybe I'd have let you in." + +"You had your chance to open, and was a fool not to take it," said Ted. + +"I believe you." + +The major had left the party and walked into a room on the left, and in +a moment they heard sobs issuing from it. He had found the remains of +his sister, and, at a signal from Ted, the boys hustled the deputy +marshal into the back part of the house and retired, leaving the major +alone with his dead sister. + +In a few minutes Ted heard his name called, and went into the room where +the major was standing beside a bed, on which was a form covered with a +sheet. + +"We must get ready to remove her to my house," said the major, in a +hushed voice. + +"Leave it to me," said Ted. "I will take charge of everything." + +"And I want you to help me search the house, for I intend to remove all +the valuables she left to Bubbly Well until such time as the courts can +handle her property. I don't propose that it shall fall into alien +hands." + +In the room at the foot of the bed was a small steel safe, which Ted +found was fastened with a combination lock. He knelt before it with his +ear to the lock, turning the handle of the combination, listening to the +click of the tumblers, while the major searched the drawers of the +handsome dressing case and other articles of furniture in the room. + +Everywhere were evidences that Helen Mowbray had been very wealthy. + +On top of the dressing case were sets of gold and silver toilet +articles, and ornaments, boxes, and bottles handsomely chased in silver +and gold, and set with jewels. + +In one of the drawers the major found a bunch of keys, probably to open +other drawers in the console and other articles of furniture. + +"I have it, major," said Ted quietly, as he flung open the door of the +safe. + +"See what is in it, Ted," said the major. + +In the bottom of the safe lay a pile of gold ingots representing a value +of many thousands of dollars. A drawer was filled with bank notes of +large denomination. Other drawers were crowded full of the stocks of +mines and other enterprises. + +"Whew!" said Ted, as he revealed the dead woman's possessions. "Did you +know she was so rich?" + +"I had no idea of it," answered the major. "Helen was always a capable +woman, and when she left England my father gave her her patrimony +outright, that he might never be compelled to see or communicate with +her husband again, and this looks as if she had increased it many +times." + +"This would have made fine plunder for the thieving fellows who had +taken possession of the place if fate, in the hands of your younger +brother, had not turned up to put you in command." + +"What else do you find?" + +"Here is a package addressed 'To be sent to The Towers, Huntingdon, +England, to Robert Caruthers, Esquire, or Major John Stairs Caruthers, +upon my death, unopened.'" + +"Give it to me," said the major huskily, thrusting the package into his +pocket. + +"And here's a bank book," said Ted. "It bears the name of the Bank of +London." + +He handed it to the major, who put it also into his pocket. + +"Anything else?" he asked. + +"That is all." + +"Then take this bunch of keys and examine the contents of the drawers." + +The first drawer of the console which Ted unlocked and opened was full +of jewels, rich and beautiful, a fortune in themselves. + +"Poor girl," said the major, in a low voice. "Why did she risk murder by +keeping such a fortune about her?" + +"Probably she didn't want some particular person to know that she was so +rich," suggested Ted. + +Drawer after drawer revealed other valuables, such as priceless laces +and articles of gold and silver. + +"We must get all this away as soon as possible, and guard it carefully," +said the major. + +"Yes, it is a great temptation, I sup----" + +As Ted was speaking he chanced to look up. + +Framed in the window was a face. + +But as Ted met the blazing eyes in the face it vanished, and he ran into +the hall and out onto the veranda, but could see no one in the garden. + +At that moment, however, he was brought back into the house with a jump +by the sudden slamming of the back door of the house and a cry of +warning from Bud, followed by shouts from the other boys. Then a shot +outside, and a crash of glass. + +The house was being besieged. + +He heard a rush in the garden, and turned to see several men race around +the corner of the house toward the front door. + +They had almost reached it when he slammed it in their faces, putting +his shoulder to it, and calling for help. + +In the lead of the besiegers he recognized the face he had seen at the +window. + +As he was still holding the door against those who were striving to push +it in from without there was a shot through one of the panels, and +Strong sank to the floor insensible. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +TED SAVES THE HOUSE. + + +But as Ted Strong fell to the floor there was a rush through the hall, +and in a moment he was surrounded by the broncho boys, who held the door +while Bud and Ben picked Ted up and laid him on a sofa. + +As he was laid down Ted opened his eyes. + +"Barricade that door with the furniture," he commanded. "Never mind me. +I'm all right. Defend the house first. We must not let the thieves get +Helen Mowbray's property." + +While several of the fellows held their shoulders to the door, which was +bulging with the power without to force it in, Bud and Ben carried a +heavy sideboard across the room and placed it against the door. + +This held it for a while until other heavy articles made it secure. + +They had no more than finished their work when a shot crashed through a +pane of glass in the dining room in which Ted lay, attended by Stella, +who was trying to stanch the blood from a wound in his side. + +Kit gave a muffled groan, and put his hand to his arm. The blood was +trickling through his fingers. + +"Keep out of range of the windows everybody," shouted Ted, from the +lounge. + +"Them fellers is quick an' peevish!" shouted Bud. "I'm goin' ter git one +er two, shore's my name ain't John Henry Thomas Quackenbush." + +There was a stairway in the hall, and Bud went up the steps three at a +time. + +They heard his step overhead, then his voice in a roar of angry +surprise. + +"Jumpin' sand-hill fleas!" he yelled. "So that's yer game, is it?" + +Outside there was a crash, and through the window they saw a falling +ladder; then two men hurtling through the air. + +In a moment there was a thud on the earth, and yells of agony. + +"They were trying to surprise us from above, but good old Bud got there +in time to fool them," said Ted. "Bully for him. Ben, go up and help +him. He may need it." + +Several shots outside broke the silence that followed the fall of the +ladder, and the breaking of glass in the upper windows. + +Then came a fusillade in the upper rooms. + +"Bud and Ben are giving them as good as they send," muttered Ted. + +From the yells that came from the garden the shots from above had +evidently done some execution, for they were followed by a rush of feet, +then silence. + +"Look out, Kit," said Ted, "and see what's doing. But be careful; do not +expose yourself." + +"No one in sight," said Kit, peering around the corner of the window +casing, having first put his hat in an exposed position to draw fire if +there were any sharpshooters on guard outside. + +"Wait! Great Scott, they're going to set fire to the house!" yelled Kit, +running from the room. + +In spite of the protestations of Stella, Ted staggered to his feet and +followed Kit. + +He swayed from weakness as he ran, but appeared to grow stronger with +the excitement. + +Two men had rushed to the shelter of the side of the house, and were now +safe from shots from the windows. + +One of them had trundled before him a tar barrel, while the other had +his arms full of shavings. + +This was the sight that had caused Kit's exclamation. + +"Gee whiz, this is bad," said Kit. "In a minute they'll have the stuff +blazing, and the house will go in this wind as if it was made of oiled +paper. What are we to do?" + +Ted, who was holding himself up against a table to keep from falling, +thought a moment. + +"They're watching for us to stick our heads out of a window to take a +shot at those fire bugs, and, if we do, that's the end," said Ted to +himself. "But we must get them before the house catches." + +Suddenly he straightened up. A spasm of pain crossed his face, and he +clutched his side. + +"Ted, you must not exert yourself," said Stella, springing toward him. +"Ted, remember you are wounded; you do not know how badly." + +"I'm all right," answered Ted, with a grim smile. "Let me alone for a +while, Stella. Then you can fuss over me all you like. I've got to think +of some way to circumvent those devils." + +Suddenly he drew his revolver from its holster. + +"I have it," he said briskly. "It's taking a risk, but it must be done. +If they set the house afire it's all off with us. Kit, stand ready to +throw open the door when I give the word. Then shield me from shots from +the shrubbery on the opposite side of the garden. The gang is hiding +behind those bushes." + +"What are you going to do?" asked Stella breathlessly. + +"I'm going out to stop those fellows with the tar barrel." + +"You are not. I will not let you," cried Stella. + +Ted gave Stella a peculiar look that she had never seen in his face +before, and she rather quailed from it, it was so full of authority and +force. + +"Sorry, Stella, to do anything against your wishes," he said quietly. +"But some one must do it, and Kit is wounded in his pistol arm, and the +other boys are busy." + +"Oh, fiddle!" cried Stella. "You are wounded yourself." + +"But I'm going, just the same. Stand ready, Kit." + +Kit sprang to the door. + +Already they could smell the burning tar. + +"Hi, deir der puilding firing up alretty," shouted Carl, bursting into +the room, pale with apprehension. + +"All right, Carl. Stand back from the door, and do as Kit tells you," +said Ted. Then, with a look at Stella, which seemed to ask her +forgiveness for acting against her wishes, he got ready for a rush. + +"Open!" he yelled. + +Kit threw the door wide, and Ted Strong sprang out into the garden, and +ran swiftly along toward the rear, keeping close to the wall. + +He was firing toward the shrubbery as he ran, and those on guard inside +heard yells of agony. + +Evidently Ted was making good with his bullets. + +There came a return fire from the shrubbery, directed not at the open +door, but at the flying figure of Ted. + +Stella, Kit, and Carl poured a hot fusillade into the bushes, but did +not seem able to silence the fire from them. + +Then Stella did a foolhardy thing. Without a word of warning she leaped +through the doorway, and stood on the step outside, looking after Ted. + +She saw him running weakly toward the corner of the house, where two men +were bending over the tar barrel, into which they had put the shavings. + +They had set fire to the shavings, and were lifting the barrel to place +it against the side of the house. + +And now the barrel was blazing like a gasoline torch, and the flame was +licking the side of the house. + +But Ted was upon them. They did not see him, as their backs were toward +him, and in a minute both had gone sprawling over the barrel, falling in +a heap on the ground. + +In a flash Ted had sent the barrel rolling down the yard, and with a +piece of canvas, which he had picked up from the ground, was beating out +the flames which were creeping up the side of the house. + +But the men were on their feet now, and, seeing the cause of their +discomfiture, they ran toward Ted with howls of rage, and reached his +side as Stella, who had started toward Ted when she saw that the men +were about to attack him, was still some distance off. + +Ted was not aware of the presence of the men until they were directly +behind him. Then he turned, only to be met with a blow on the head with +the butt of a pistol, and he sank to the ground with a groan. + +Meanwhile, Kit, whose duty it was to cover Ted's attack on the house +burners from the doorway, was not able to get a shot because Stella's +body was between him and the corner of the house. + +As Ted went down with a groan Stella drew her revolver and blazed away. + +At her first shot one of the men ran off, limping and yelping like a +kicked cur. + +The other, conscious that the bullets from her revolver were singing +unpleasantly near to his head, made a dash for the shrubbery. + +Bending over Ted, Stella tried to see how badly he was hurt. + +"You reckless boy," she was saying. "See how you run into danger. Now +you have two wounds for me to nurse, if you are not killed." + +She was trying to lift him to a sitting posture when she felt herself +grasped around the waist, and before she could make a motion in her own +defense, was borne swiftly across the yard, and into the shrubbery. + +Her scream rang out piercingly, and the boys ran in a body into the +garden. + +But by the time they got there Stella was out of sight, and they were +met with a fusillade of bullets from the shrubbery, causing them to +retreat into the house again and close the door. + +None of them had noticed Ted lying unconscious at the corner of the +house. + +They were no sooner out of sight than three men sped from the shrubbery +across the yard, and, seizing Ted by the heels and shoulders, ran back +with him into the place of concealment. + +As they threw Ted down on the grass none too gently, the pain brought +him back to life and wrung a groan from him. + +When he opened his eyes he saw Stella sitting beside him trying to hold +his head from the ground. + +Several men were there, too, lying flat, peering underneath the +shrubbery toward the house. + +Every man was armed either with a rifle or a revolver, and occasionally +one or the other of them would fire a shot at the house, which would be +answered by the boys. + +"They fire too high," muttered Ted to himself, "because they do not know +that these rascals are lying flat. Every ball goes a foot too high. Wish +I could let them know, but then they would probably hit Stella or me." + +Lying beside him was Burk, the deputy marshal, his greenish-gray eyes +looking coldly at the house, and whenever he saw a chance for a shot his +rifle flew to his shoulder. + +He became conscious that Ted was looking at him, and turned with a grin +on his face. + +"So we got you at last, eh?" he said to Ted, with a sneer. "You thought +you could put this thing through because you are a deputy United States +marshal, did you? Well, you won't be a marshal much longer." + +"I think I'll be longer at the job than you will," Ted replied slowly. + +"Not after your attempt to loot a dead woman's house while her body +still lies there under guard of a United States officer." + +This caused Ted to think of the situation in a different light. True, he +believed that Burk was a crook, and that it was he who was conspiring to +rob the house, but he had authority on his side, while Ted's belief, +after all, was based on surmise, and he would have difficulty in proving +anything criminal against the marshal. At the same time, he did not fear +for his own part in the affair, because behind him was the brother of +the dead woman. + +"I say, Burk, I'm tired of this nonsense, lying here and potting away at +the house," said a drawling voice, the owner of which could not be seen, +being hidden behind the shrubbery. + +"Can't help it," answered Burk. "We've got to take our time. The house +is full of them, and they can shoot some." + +"Rot! So can we. I propose that we rush them. But first I want the +pleasure of putting my revolver against the head of that young bully +there and the girl, and getting rid of them. Think what's at stake. We +must get away from here soon." + +"Don't talk nonsense," growled Burk, in reply. + +"I'm getting tired of it, I tell you. Three of our men are wounded now, +and that red-headed beggar is going to die, and he was such a good +cook." + +The speaker laughed unpleasantly at his gruesome joke. + +"Well, we can't do it now, because we don't know how they're situated. +We'd have had them when they all rushed out a few minutes ago if you +hadn't shot at them so soon, and driven them indoors again. Why didn't +you let them get into the open, where we could have shot them down?" + +Stella shuddered at the cold-blooded tone in which these men discussed +the killing of the boys, but Ted only smiled, for he knew that Burk was +at heart a coward, and that he did not care to rush, nor would he stand +a rush should one come. + +He wished he was back in the house and knew the enemy's situation as +well as he did now. He would not give them time to run very far. + +If he could communicate to the boys in some manner the exact situation, +he felt confident that the thing would be over in a very short time. + +"I say, Strong, I've a proposition to make to you," said Burk, after a +silence. + +"Well, out with it," said Ted coldly. + +"There's no use of any more of us being hurt or killed," said Burk, +looking at Ted out of the corner of his eye. + +"Then why don't you quit shooting and vamose?" + +"That's not for me to do," said Burk hotly. + +"Oh, I see. You want us to quit, eh?" + +"Sure. You're the fellows who broke in there over our guard. But if +you'll call your fellows off and get out of the house, I'll agree to +turn you and the young lady loose. But nothing must be taken from the +house." + +"That seems right generous of you," said Ted, with a sarcastic smile, +which Burk didn't see because his head was turned the other way. + +"It's a darned more than you deserve, but I don't want any more of my +fellows shot up." + +"What do you want me to do?" + +"Just step out there and holler to your boys to quit firing, and tell +them that you're going to quit, and then----" + +Ted just laughed, and Burk turned upon him with a scowl. + +At that moment there was a cheer from the direction of the house; then a +few scattering shots from the men in the shrubbery. + +Ted heard the doors of the house open, and the swift patter of running +feet. The old Moon Valley yell was in his ears. All the men in the +shrubbery had sprung to their feet, and were running wildly about. A man +crawled through the bushes--the man with the face he had seen at the +window. + +As he crawled close to Ted the expression of his face was awful to +contemplate. + +Such fiendish, murderous hatred he had never seen in a human countenance +before. + +When he was so close to Ted that he could hear his feverish breathing, +the man suddenly thrust forward a pistol until the muzzle was within an +inch of Ted's head. + +Ted struggled to grapple with him, but he had grown so stiff from his +wound that he could hardly stir. He was looking death close in the face. + +The man was just about to pull the trigger when close at hand the +major's voice rang out in an exclamation of amazement: + +"Mowbray! You here?" + +The man with the pistol sprang to his feet and faced Major Caruthers for +a second. Then, with a wild cry of fear, he sprang away through the +shrubbery and escaped. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +HELEN MOWBRAY'S WILL. + + +By the time one could have counted ten there was not a man of Burk's +force in sight, but, on looking down the road where it led to the plain +that lay before the mountains, the dust of their retreat hung in the +air. + +"We've got 'em on ther run," said Bud, throwing his hat into the air +with a joyous yawp. "Sufferin' tomcats, but them fellers has their +nerve, aber nit." + +Ben and the major had carried Ted into the house, and the major, who was +a good surgeon, had Ted's coat off and was examining his wound. + +When the shot had been fired through the door at him the ball had been +deflected by a piece of iron, and, instead of penetrating his heart, as +it surely would have done otherwise, it struck a rib and ran around +toward the back, coming out near the spine, and, although an extremely +painful wound, it was not at all serious. + +A ball had passed through the fleshy part of Kit's forearm, but when the +major had washed it in warm water and dressed it, it ceased to pain, and +he could use it handily. But Ted's wound was different, and the impact +of the ball on the rib had made him so sore that he could not breathe +without suffering agony. + +Stella had one of the boys make a fire for her, and, having found the +house well stored with provisions, she began to cook supper for them, +for they were all tired and hungry. + +It was evening before they knew it, and it was decided to stay at the +house all night, keeping a careful guard against the return of Burk and +Mowbray. + +"I never was so surprised in my life as when I saw Mowbray in the bushes +out there just in the act of murdering you," said the major after +supper, as he sat on the sofa beside Ted. + +"It was a surprising meeting," said Ted. "I had no idea he was in this +part of the country. His was the face I saw at the window when we had +all that money and gold and jewels out." + +"Then he knows we have found it?" + +"Sure. He knows we have it, and if he is the chap I think he is, he'll +not rest until he gets it, or--something else." + +"Meaning?" + +"Death or imprisonment." + +"He richly deserves either, or both. He made the life of my sister most +unpleasant." + +"By the way, major, what do you know about him? It might be handy to +know something in the future if he tries to make trouble." + +"Precious little." + +"Oh, by the way, have you looked into that packet I took from the safe +and handed you? The one addressed to your father, I take it, or to +yourself." + +"Haven't thought of it until now. Must take a look at it, by Jove. It +may tell us a lot we want to know." + +The major pulled the envelope from his pocket, and after examining the +writing on it closely for a moment tore off the end of it and drew out +several business-like documents. + +"You'll excuse me, Strong, while I look these over, won't you?" he said. + +"Certainly. Don't mind me," replied Ted, sinking back comfortably among +the cushions. + +As the major's eyes traveled over the documents they began to light up +with a new intelligence. Then a look of pain followed, and the tears ran +slowly down his cheeks. + +Finally he turned to Ted: + +"It is her will, and some history of her adventures in this country +since she left home, and an account of the abuse and indignities heaped +upon her by her husband, Mowbray, from whom she was divorced some months +ago." + +"Then Mowbray has no right to her property?" + +"Not a penny's worth. I shall not bore you by reading all she says on +the subject. She tells how he beat her after stealing from her all he +could. Then she goes on to tell of his crimes." + +"He is a bad egg, then," said Ted, as the major paused. + +"You would scarcely believe how bad he was if I were to read the story +of his career." + +"I suppose he had been bothering her since in order to get more money +from her." + +"Yes, she says that he made her life miserable, and that he often +threatened to kill her if she didn't give him all she had." + +"Hearing of her death, he came here to steal everything he could lay his +hands on; is that it? But I don't quite see why the authorities here, +knowing of her divorce from him, would permit him to take possession of +her effects, from any ownership in which the courts had barred him." + +"I don't suppose the people here knew anything about it, for she says in +this paper that she got her divorce secretly, and that there was no +publicity about it. She simply had her lawyers notify Mowbray to that +effect, at which time she sent him ten thousand dollars in settlement of +all claims against her, which he agreed to accept with that +understanding. But later he wrote her a letter in which he said that the +agreement meant nothing to him, and that he would expect more." + +"But why didn't she make the fact that he was no longer her husband +public? It would have saved this trouble." + +"She didn't want the news of it to travel to our parents in England. +That was her pride." + +"I see. Does she leave him anything in her will?" + +"Yes. Her will is a curious document. It was evidently made immediately +after her divorce from Mowbray, and leaves all her property to our +mother, and, after her death, to my brother and myself, with a small +bequest to silence Mowbray. But there is a codicil which leads me to +believe that she had heard of mother's death, in which event she leaves +almost everything to her brother, Frederic Caruthers. He is the one +known as Fancy Farnsworth." + +"Nothing to you?" + +"Oh, yes, but not so much as to Fred, whom she puts in my care, asking +me to see that he is properly treated and that he gets the justice which +is his due." + +"Evidently she knew, then, that he has many enemies who were trying to +put him within the clutches of the law." + +"Evidently. But there is a section which I do not understand." + +"Read it. Perhaps we can figure it out between us." + +"All right, I will. The paragraph is as follows: 'I desire that my elder +brother, John Stairs Caruthers, shall take charge of my property in the +event that the said Frederic Caruthers shall not be present when my will +is opened, and that he shall be found as speedily as possible. For +several years Frederic Caruthers has been my only protector, defending +me from the abuse and greed of my former husband, and, further, +sustaining my credit and honor by assuming the misdeeds of Mowbray, to +his own discredit and danger. Had it not been for his watchful care, I +would long ago have been stripped of all I have been able to accumulate, +and have been in my grave at the hands of Mowbray. But of this latter I +am in constant dread, and I feel such will yet be my fate. If my dead +body is found with marks of violence on it, and my house robbed, it will +have been the work of said Mowbray. Therefore, in the way of a tardy +reward for the loyalty, care, protection, and love given me by my +brother, Frederic Caruthers, I leave to him the bulk of my property, +personal and real, in mining stocks, jewels, money, and the turquoise +beds in New Mexico, as well as the San Fernando Ranch. I especially +charge my brother John Stairs Caruthers to find his brother, and to +defend him and clear his name, should it be necessary, and to put him in +full possession of his property.'" + +As the major finished reading he looked at Ted inquiringly. + +"Well, what do you make of it?" he asked. "I confess it puzzles me." + +"I can see through it. But you have your work cut out for you, major." + +"In what way?" + +"You will find this fellow Mowbray a hard customer." + +"Pshaw! I am not afraid of him." + +"Neither am I, for that matter; but it is not he alone that is to be +feared in this matter." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Just this: Mowbray evidently is an archvillain, but he could not do all +his dirty work alone." + +"You think he has accomplices, then?" + +"Exactly. And of the most dangerous sort." + +"For instance?" + +"I have been thinking the matter over, and I am convinced that Mowbray +has got about him the most dangerous sort of a gang to carry on his work +for him. Do you know if he is a man of any particular force and +cleverness?" + +"When I knew him, which was before I went to India, he was already +beginning to practice his shady transactions in England, but he had +never been directly caught at it. This led to the greatest opposition on +the part of my family to his marriage to my sister." + +"But, in spite of it, she married him?" + +"Yes; she had an idea that he was abused and misrepresented, and flew to +his defense by secretly marrying him. After that he got worse and bolder +until he was caught not only cheating at cards, but actually stealing by +means of forgery and in other ways, and they had to flee from England." + +"Then, of course, he is a master in crime by this time." + +"It would not surprise me to learn it. But you spoke of his being +especially dangerous because of the men he had gathered about him?" + +"Yes, and I mean it. I am sure now that in his gang are several men who +are especially dangerous, because they can defy the law without much +risk of running counter to it." + +"I don't see how one man can break the law with less danger of +punishment than another." + +"It is this way: Mowbray has in his gang several deputy United States +marshals. These men have advance information of any action to be taken +by the law against the suspected perpetrators of crime. This information +is at once at the disposal of Mowbray, and he can escape the +consequences of his crimes without difficulty. He is protected, also, by +his partners rigging up accusations against innocent persons, and +convicting them by manufacturing evidence against them." + +"What a villainous system!" + +"It is. And it is just this thing that has enabled Mowbray to prey on +his wife for so long a time." + +The major uttered an exclamation of anger. + +"Another thing," continued Ted: "I am sure now that it was these very +pals of Mowbray that made the accusations against your brother, known as +Farnsworth, at the instance of Mowbray. They nursed public resentment +against the young fellow until every hand was against him, and he was +forced to become an outlaw, or fall into the hands of the authorities +and be forced into prison, or to the gallows, through the perjury of +these same deputy marshals. It is an infamous thing, and I am going to +try to sift it to the bottom and clear your brother, and see that +Mowbray gets what's coming to him." + +"You are very good, and I shall never forget what you have done for me +already." + +"That's all right. It's my duty as an officer of the United States in +this Territory of Arizona to do it. Never fear; there will be more to +this than the beginning, and a race is not won until it is ended." + +All night one or the other of the boys patrolled the grounds, hiding in +the shrubbery, ready to give the alarm should any of Mowbray's party +return to attack the house and capture the treasure. + +But dawn broke without an alarm, and the boys were astir, making ready +for the abandonment of the house and the return to the Bubbly Well +Ranch. + +Ted was feeling so much better after a good night's rest that he was +able to climb into his saddle and go into the town. + +His object was to get a wagon and a span of mules in which to transport +the remains of Helen Mowbray and the valuables she had left behind to +her brother's house. + +At a livery stable he met the proprietor, a garrulous old man, whom, +when he had explained his mission, looked at him strangely before +speaking. + +"What's doin' at the Mowbray house?" he asked. "We all uptown was some +curious last evenin' when we heard so much shootin'." + +"Nothing much," said Ted. "Just a little pistol practice." + +The old man grinned. + +"Yuh musta kep' ther targets warm some from ther way ther poppin' +sounded up yere," he said dryly. + +"Yes, it was rather warm for a while. Well, can I have the wagon, and a +driver to bring it back?" + +"I don't know whether I can spare one or not. Yuh see, it's some +dangerous ter take sides in this town." + +"I don't want you to take my side. All I want is to complete a business +transaction with you. I want you to hire me a wagon and team for a day. +You understand what I want?" + +"Yes, but, yuh see, that would be considered as givin' succor ter ther +enemy." + +"I don't understand why." + +"It's this way: Judge Harris owns this stable an' rents it to me by ther +month. He could kick me out to-morrow if he wanted to. He's a queer +dick, an' him an' Burk, what, I understand, was at ther Mowbray house +yesterday, and what had ter run away, is as close as two sheets o' +sticky fly paper." + +"He is, eh?" + +"Yes; an' the coroner, the jailer, the mayor, the sheriff, an' everybody +else what has any power er authority, is in the same boat. They all hang +together, an' they're all friends o' Mr. Mowbray. Lord Mowbray they +calls him." + +"Ah, ha!" thought Ted. "If that is the case, it behooves us to get out +of town and to Bubbly Well with our property as soon as we can." + +After some further talk Ted was still unable to get the old man to rent +him a wagon. Then he changed his tactics. + +"Well," he said, in a firm voice, "if you won't rent me the wagon and +team I'll be obliged to confiscate it for the United States." + +"Eh, how is that?" + +"I said I would take it for the uses of the United States. Come, roll it +out and hitch up before I have to resort to violence." + +"I don't know you, bub. I'm from Missouri. You'll have to show me." + +Ted exposed his star of authority. + +"Does that go?" he asked. "Because if it don't, this will." + +His revolver was out of its holster like a flash, much to the surprise +of the liveryman, who had been somewhat of a bad man himself in his day, +and gun plays were not uncommon at Rodeo. + +He gazed mildly into the bore of the big, silver-mounted forty-five, and +then murmured: + +"It goes, pal." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +KNIFE AND FANG. + + +Several days had passed since the fight at Helen Mowbray's house, and +Ted Strong and the broncho boys were again at the Bubbly Well Ranch. + +The remains of Helen Mowbray had been laid to rest near the major's +ranch house in a little lot surrounded by a low fence, and her treasure +was safely stored away in the safe in the major's bedroom. + +The period of their visit to the ranch house was past, but still they +stayed to help the major to get word of his brother Frederic Caruthers, +alias Fancy Farnsworth, alleged to be the worst man in Arizona. + +Where he might be none knew, of course, but Ted was of the opinion that +he was still somewhere in Arizona, and not far away, either. + +He could not have told why he believed so, but he had one of his +"hunches" to that effect, and believed it as surely as if he knew it for +a fact. + +Ted had seen his hunches turn out true so often that he did not attempt +now to distrust them. + +Somehow, he felt that everything was to come out all right some day, and +that he would find Farnsworth, or Frederic Caruthers, to be more exact, +and Ted always reproached himself when he thought of the young fellow by +his false name. + +One morning Ted awoke before the dawn, sitting upright in bed, listening +for a sound, but heard nothing unusual. + +This was one of Ted's habits--to be aroused by some unknown sense in the +night when danger threatened. + +Hearing nothing, he got out of bed, and sat on its edge and listened +again. + +"Wonder what waked me?" he muttered to himself. He was not in the least +sleepy, as he would have been if he had wakened naturally. + +"I don't think I was dreaming," he continued to mumble to himself. "And +it wasn't a noise. Must have been a hunch. Guess I'll get up and see if +there's anything wrong about here." + +He slipped swiftly into his clothes, and sauntered through the living +room. + +It was just beginning to get light outside, and the windows were gray, +while all else in the room was still dark. + +He opened the door and stepped out into the chill morning. + +Then he heard a noise, but so faint that it couldn't have been that +which had disturbed him from his sound sleep, he thought. + +But as the sound came nearer on the clear, thin morning air, and he +recognized it and realized its significance, he knew that it was this +fine, almost indistinguishable sound that had penetrated in some +mysterious manner to his inner ear and called him from his sleep. + +It was the cry of a hungry and angry wolf. + +At last he located the sound off to the east, but as yet he could see +nothing, for it was not yet light enough, and a thin mist, like a +mirage, hung over the surface of the sandy prairie and obscured the +view. + +For a long time he stood listening to the long-drawn and savage howl, +thinned out by the distance and mist, but he knew that it was coming +nearer, and that the animal that was making it was not only hungry, but +that it was a master wolf. It was none of the gaunt, half-starved, +cowardly brutes that follow in the pack and take what the master wolf +leaves of the scraps of the murdered calf or sick cow or sheep which the +leaders of the pack have pulled down. + +He had heard before the yells of these kings of the packs of savage +prairie wolves, and they were masterful indeed, and could easily be +distinguished above the feebler pipings of the wolf rabble. + +Suddenly the sun came up and the mists disappeared as by magic, and it +was light. + +Ted looked steadily toward the place from which the howls had come when +it was dark, and saw a spot against the earth. + +It was either a pony or a cow, and it was in trouble, for it came on +very uncertainly, running sideways, stopping for a moment to kick, then +running on again. + +Ted immediately saw what was the matter. It was being pursued by the +wolves he had heard. + +The wolves were running with it, perhaps had been chasing it all night, +and were snapping it its heels, trying to hamstring it. + +He thought it was a small, lean cow from this distance, and wondered at +its courage, and if it would last until it got close enough to where +there were human beings to be safe from further pursuit. + +At first he thought of going inside and putting on his coat and boots +and getting his arms and starting out toward it on his pony. But this +was too much trouble, and he stood watching the tragedy of the plain, +hoping for the plucky animal that was doing its best to outrun and +outwit the wolves, for they were close enough now for him to see that +there were four of the gray devils of the prairie. + +But only one of them was worthy of a second look--a great, gray brute +much larger than his mates and twice as courageous. + +Ted thought it strange that the wolf king was not doing as the others +did; that is, running up behind their victim and making a slash at his +legs with their razorlike fangs, then retreating with a whining howl +when they felt the heels of the poor brute they were tormenting. + +No, the big wolf was leaping high into the air from the side, evidently +trying to reach something that was fastened to the pony's back--for now +Ted was able to distinguish what it was. + +It was a bay pony, rather small, and almost all in with fatigue. + +Something baggy was tied to its back, which resembled a bundle of old +clothes. + +Once, as he watched, Ted saw the pony go to its knees, actually tired +out and weak. + +But it was up again, and struggling bravely on again. + +"Plucky little beggar," muttered Ted, in admiration. "Wish I had taken +my first hunch and ridden out to help it. By Jove, it's not too late +yet!" + +Without going into the house Ted jumped to the ground and ran out to +meet the pony and its enemies. + +It did not occur to him that he was not armed until he was halfway to +them. Then he felt in his pocket and found his big-bladed knife. + +Taking this out, he sprang open the big blade and carried it loosely. + +He had stooped and picked up a large stone, which he carried in his +hand. + +When he came close enough he hurled the stone at the wolves, and a dull +thud, followed by a shrill, dog-like howl of pain, told him that he had +countered on the rib plate of one of the nasty brutes. Then he let out a +wild yell, and three of the wolves turned and fled. + +Not so the king of the pack. + +He stopped for a moment and stared at Ted with his pale-green eyes. +Then, with a long howl of defiance, he sprang again at the pony, which +had picked up courage at hearing a human voice and was coming on more +briskly. + +Suddenly Ted recognized the pony. + +It was the major's Christmas gift, and Ted once more gave voice to an +exultant yell, which only served to increase the fury of the wolf's +attack at whatever was fastened to the pony's back. + +Ted knew that Fred Caruthers, as he tried always to call the young +brother of the major, would send the pony back some day, and now his +faith had been rewarded. + +When he became aware of the identity of the pony he ran faster, and was +soon within a few feet of it. + +He naturally expected that the wolf would now beat a retreat, as wolves +met singly and in this fashion generally turn tail and split the wind +for home when attacked by man. + +But the big wolf simply turned his attention from the pony to the boy, +and stood as if carved out of gray granite, his head held high in the +air, and his eyes blazing like two pale-green lights. + +"By Jove, I think the brute is going to stand and fight!" said Ted to +himself. + +Taking advantage of the situation, the pony trotted past Ted, who +scarcely gave it a look, and went on to the corral back of the house. + +"So it's going to be a fight," said Ted, advancing cautiously toward the +wolf. "All right, old chap; I'll give you something to think about, if I +do not leave you on the ground entirely incapable of thinking. I wish +I'd gone after my Winchester now. That would have made it too short, +though. Come on, now. All I have is a short knife blade against four +sharp fangs, and you are as brave as the devil himself." + +The wolf had not stirred except that his nose was constantly working as +he sniffed the air for Ted. + +Ted knew that a wolf that will stand and fight a man by himself is +possessed of more than ordinary courage and brains, and, therefore, he +was on the lookout for the tricks of the fight. + +It was well that he was so versed, for before he was quite ready for it +the wolf, without a sound, leaped straight through the air at his +throat. He had just time to dodge aside, and make a vicious swipe with +his knife. + +But his blade did not touch the wolf, whose leap carried him several +feet past Ted. Had the wolf succeeded in striking Ted, they would +inevitably have gone down together, and Ted would have had none the best +of it. + +But the battle between Ted, the skilled huntsman and wolf exterminator, +and the wily wolf, whose scarred hide told of many battles with bull and +dog, wild cat and man, serpent of the desert, and the eagles of the +mountains, when, in his dire hunger, he had raided their families. + +The wolf slid a few feet, then swung himself around like a top and came +at Ted again. + +Ted was wiser this time, and dodged just out of the way. At the same +time he gave a vicious side lunge with the knife, and he felt it enter +the wolf's hide. There was a ripping sound, and he knew he had added a +scar to the brute's large collection. + +The wolf was now thoroughly angry, and snarled its fury as it wheeled +once more to the attack. + +Ted turned to meet it as it rushed toward him, but as he did so he heard +a shout from the ranch house and turned his head in that direction for +an instant. + +But that instant was the critical one, and before he could get around +again to face the wolf it was upon him. + +Ted felt it strike his chest a mighty blow with its head, and staggered +backward. + +It suddenly came to him that if he got under the wolf its teeth surely +would get to his throat, and that one snap of those saber-sharp teeth +would settle the business for him. + +He tried to protect his throat with his left arm as he felt himself +toppling, but could not get it up far enough because the wolf's body and +head interposed. + +But he was slashing away with his knife in a frenzy of despair, and, +apparently, was doing some execution, for every time he struck the wolf +let out a little whine of angry pain. + +But the wolf had all the best of it now, and as Ted's foot slipped on +some pieces of dry grass he went down with the heavy brute on top of +him. + +He could feel it nuzzling at his neck for a toothhold on his throat, but +he kept his chin pressed close to his neck, and, although the wolf +chewed his shirt to pieces, it had found no room to get its teeth into +the boy's flesh. + +Ted had no time now to play with the knife. It was not up to him to +conquer the wolf now, but to keep it from taking his life. + +Had his revolver been with him he could have ended the fight with a +couple of shots, even if the brute seemed to have a dozen lives, for he +knew that had any one of the knife thrusts which he had planted in the +wolf's body been given to an ordinary specimen of the species the fight +would have been over long since. + +The wolf was standing on him, and its weight crushed him. + +All he could do in self-defense was to try to get the wolf by the throat +with his bare hands and to choke it. + +But the hair about its throat was a thick, almost impenetrable mass of +heavy, thick-growing bristles, on which Ted's hands had apparently no +effect at all. + +Ted was in a pretty tight place, and he fully realized it. + +The wolf was working hard to get at his windpipe, and the teeth were +getting closer and closer to the vital spot. + +Ted's arm, where he tried in vain to get it between himself and the +wolf, was gashed in a dozen places, and the blood was all over him. His +clothes had long since been torn into shreds. + +The wolf was getting tired also, as well it might, for, probably it had +been running all night, and had been long without food, so that it was +no discredit to its enormous strength that it was weak and weary. + +But neither was Ted as strong as usual, for the ball which had creased +his rib had cost him lots of blood. + +In the hearts of both of them, however, there was strength enough, and +it was that which kept them fighting long after both of them were tired +and winded. + +The wolf knew, as well as did Ted, that if it ever got to his throat +there would be strength enough for it; the strength that comes from +blood. + +Ted was wishing that some one would come. + +He had heard a cry. Why didn't whoever had called out come at once? + +He couldn't last more than a minute longer, and the strong, murky smell +of the beast was turning him faint, as the wolf seemed to be gaining in +strength and savagery. + +Presently he knew the reason. He felt that his side was wet. + +His wound had opened again, and he was bleeding. + +The wolf had smelled his blood, and it had renewed its strength and +courage, while it weakened and took the life out of Ted. + +Suddenly there was a crash of hoofs on the sod. Stella's clear voice +rang out, and the swish of a quirt came through the air. + +That was all Ted remembered, except that he felt relieved of the weight +of the wolf, which was running like a streak of gray lightning toward +the hills. + +His eyes opened, and he saw Stella bending over him, and managed to +stagger to his feet, congratulating himself as his hand went to his +throat that he had at least saved it from the white fangs of his enemy. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +'WARE THE GRAY WOLVES. + + +As Ted and Stella were walking slowly back toward the house they heard a +series of shouts from the direction of the corral. + +They then saw Kit at the corral gate waving frantically to them. + +"Something wrong there," said Ted. "I'll get up behind you, and we'll +hurry to the corral." + +He jumped upon the pony's back, and Stella rode as fast as possible to +where Kit stood holding the gate of the corral. + +Inside the corral was a scene of confusion. + +The ponies were running around and leaping in the air, snorting and +edging away from the little bay pony which had come across the plain +chased by the wolves. + +As Ted rode up to the corral fence he looked through the bars, then +started back in surprise with an exclamation. + +"What is it?" asked Stella. + +"A man tied to the back of the pony," replied Ted. + +"Who?" + +"I cannot tell. I cannot see his face." + +"Open the gate, Kit, and let me in," said Stella, gathering up her +reins. + +"What are you going to do?" asked Ted. + +"I'm going to catch that pony and bring him out. That man will be +smashed to death in there by the other ponies if he isn't gotten out +soon." + +"Go ahead, but be careful." + +Kit swung the gate open, and Stella dashed into the corral. + +The ponies were running around the corral, following the line of the +fence, and in the center of the bunch was the little bay pony with the +inert, and probably dead, body of a man hanging head downward on the +pony's flank, rolling horribly, and in constant danger of being hit by +the flying heels of the other ponies, who were frantic at the smell of +blood. + +Stella rode among the ponies, following the circle with them, all the +while edging in more and more until she was close to the little bay. + +Then she was able to see the face of the man tied to its back. + +"It's Farnsworth," she shouted to Ted, who was standing on the fence +watching her movements. + +"Get him out as soon as you can," Ted answered. + +Stella rode to the pony's side, and managed to get hold of the bridle +close to the bit. + +Then she maneuvered for an opening by which she could lead the +frightened animal out of the bunch. + +"Get ready to open the gate," she called at last, and Kit stood with his +hand on it. + +As she came around again she began pushing the bay pony outward. + +"Now!" she cried, swinging her own pony against the other with a prick +of the spur, and breaking through the galloping bunch. + +The next moment she and a half dozen of the frightened ponies swept +through the gate, and as Kit closed it again Ted ran forward and caught +the bay pony. + +"Hurry him to the house," he said, running beside the bay. + +His long yell brought the boys and the major to the veranda, and when +they saw Ted running beside the bay pony, with Stella and Kit following, +they rushed out to help. + +"What is it?" asked the major, as Ted drew up to the veranda. + +"Your brother," answered Ted gently, indicating the inert body tied to +the pony's back. + +"Get him off and into the house," said the major brusquely, his face +white with apprehension. + +Bud and Ben were working as for their lives at the rope by which the +body of Frederic Caruthers was bound to the pony's back. + +Soon they had him released, and between them bore the limp form into the +living room and laid it on a lounge. + +The clothes on the body were torn into strips, and the flesh was gashed +in numerous places. This was the work of the wolf's teeth, which, during +the chase, had repeatedly leaped at the unconscious man, trying to drag +him from the pony's back. + +"These wounds are not the worst," said Ted, looking down at Caruthers. +"Off with his clothes, boys, and let us see where his real hurt is." + +It did not take long for the boys to get Caruthers' rags stripped from +his body, and Ted bent over him, examining him closely. + +"Ah, here it is," he said, as he turned Caruthers over. + +"What?" asked the major, crowding in. + +"Here in the back," said Ted, pointing to a small, round, bluish hole +just under Caruthers' right shoulder blade. + +"By Jove, he's been shot through the body. That's what brought him to +this." + +"But how did it happen, I wonder, that he was tied to the back of the +pony?" asked Ted. + +"We'll never know until he tells us, probably," said the major. "If, +indeed, he ever is able to do that," he continued, after a slight pause, +looking sorrowfully at the young fellow, who seemed to have breathed his +last. + +But Ted's ear was pressed close to his heart, and his fingers sought the +wounded man's pulse. + +In a moment he straightened up. + +"He's alive--only alive, and no more. But perhaps we can save him yet," +he said. "Hustle, fellows! Stella, get me some hot water as soon as +possible. Bud, arrange a cot in my room near the window. Major, if you +have any brandy, let me have some. Kit, get the bandages ready and +prepare some carbolated water. All alive now." + +Ted's vigorous action was followed by the others, and in a few minutes +Caruthers was stretched out on the cot in Ted's room. + +At the movement the wound began to bleed, which was a good sign, and Ted +proceeded to wash it with warm water, and began to probe for the ball, +to ascertain, if possible, how deep it had gone. + +As he was engaged in probing a slight groan came from between the blue +lips of the victim. + +"All right, I've found it," said Ted, in a low voice to the major, who +was bending anxiously over the body of his brother. + +"It's all right," continued Ted reassuringly. "It didn't go in very +deep, and if he can hold out for a moment or two I think I can get it +out. I've taken out worse ones than this." + +Ted continued to work with the probe, and occasionally Caruthers stirred +and groaned. + +Then came a gentle tug, and the bullet rolled out of the wound upon the +sheet. + +It was followed by a spurt of blood, which Ted looked at closely. + +"No danger," he said. "It is not arterial blood. Give me the water, and +then the bandages." + +With deft and practiced fingers Ted bound up the wound as well as a +surgeon might. + +"Now for a sip of the brandy, and we'll have him around all right," said +the young amateur surgeon. + +He forced a teaspoonful of the ardent spirits between the pale lips of +the wounded man, which was followed by a spluttering cough, then a long +sigh, and Caruthers opened his eyes. + +For a moment he glanced around, and with a faint smile closed his eyes +again, and sank into a gentle sleep. + +"Bully!" exclaimed Ted, with satisfaction. "He'll get well now, I think, +but he had a close call. A little longer on the back of that pony, +jostled and being tossed around, would have finished him in spite of his +splendid physique." + +"What shall we do now?" asked the major. + +"There is nothing we can do except care for him faithfully, and nurse +him. Some one will have to watch him, and give him his medicine, which I +shall prepare from your medicine chest, major." + +"Let me nurse him," exclaimed Stella, who had come into the room in time +to hear this. + +"The very thing, if you don't mind," said Ted. + +"Mind! I should like to. And you know that I can nurse some," said +Stella proudly. + +"I know it from experience. Keep him quiet. Don't let him talk, and +whenever he gets restless give him a spoonful of his medicine. He +mustn't be allowed to toss around, for that would start internal +bleeding. He is not out of the woods by a long shot. When he is well +will be time enough for him to do his talking, and tell us what happened +to him. Now, fellows, we'll clear out and give nurse and patient a fair +show." + +For several days Caruthers hung between life and death. Most of the time +he was in a state of delirium, during which he continually muttered +something about "joy." When Stella told Ted about this he was greatly +puzzled. What had the poor chap to do with joy? + +Then it suddenly occurred to him that Caruthers meant Ban Joy, Helen +Mowbray's Japanese servant, who was called Joy for short. + +"He wants to tell us about that Jap," said Ted. "Evidently he knows +something about the murder of his sister, and wants us to find the Jap." + +"Thar's nothin' doin' until he gets over his fever an' is strong ernough +ter talk," said Bud, "So ther best thing ter do is not ter mind what he +says, but ter git him over his fever." + +Stella was well-nigh worn out, but she would not consent to leave the +bedside of the sick man, except at short intervals, when Ted or Bud, who +were the best nurses among the boys, took her place that she might get +some much-needed sleep. + +That night Caruthers awoke from a long sleep and looked up at Stella. + +"Where am I?" he asked, in a low voice. + +"You are with friends," she replied gently. "Hush, you are not strong +enough to talk." + +"Yes, I am. I am all right now. Whose house am I in?" he asked. + +"You are in Major Caruthers' house." + +"I am glad. Is Ted Strong here?" + +"Yes." + +"Send him to me. I must talk to him. How long have I been here?" + +"About a week." + +"Hurry. It may be too late." + +Stella saw that Caruthers' head was clear, and that he had something +important to communicate, and that it would not be well with him if he +were permitted to worry, so she went out, and presently Ted entered the +room. + +"Well, old chap, you look fit," he said, giving Caruthers' hand a gentle +pressure. + +"I'll be all right in a day or two. But I must talk with you. Tell me, +have the Gray Wolves been here yet, and have you driven them off?" said +Caruthers excitedly. + +Ted was sure now that the patient had relapsed back into his delirious +talk, and tried to soothe him. + +"I'm all right," said Caruthers impatiently. "I know what I'm saying. I +don't mean the pack that chased me." + +"No, we have not been attacked by wolves," Ted answered. + +"Then you will be. Have you seen Joy--Ban Joy, the Jap, I mean?" + +"No." + +"That is strange. He should have been here if he got away." + +"I'm up in the air as to what you mean. If you are strong enough, +perhaps you'd better tell what you mean, beginning at the time you left +us, and telling it as briefly as possible." + +"All right. But first give me a dose of that medicine." + +Ted administered the medicine, which was a mild stimulant, and Caruthers +began: + +"When I jumped through the window, I did so, not because I was afraid of +the four men, but to save you from trouble. I knew that the fellows had +been sent to get me, not by the authorities, but by my brother-in-law +Mowbray. You know about him?" + +Ted nodded, and Caruthers went on: + +"I went directly to Sombrero Peak. I knew they would look for me in +another place. I was right, but I had not foreseen another thing. When I +was in hiding I was surprised by the sudden appearance of Ban Joy and +his sister Itsu San, the servants of my sister. They, too, had fled from +Mowbray and his gang of murderers. + +"This was somewhat inconvenient for me, for I knew that Mowbray, while +he would not probably get on my track until I could communicate with +you, would easily track the Japanese, and I was not in any position to +defend myself and them, for I was out of ammunition, having lost my +cartridge belt. But I found a small cave and fortified it as well as +possible, and awaited the coming of the Gray Wolves." + +"The Gray Wolves?" said Ted, with interrogation in his voice. + +"Yes, that is what Mowbray and his thieves and murderers call +themselves. You will know why, I'm thinking, before long. + +"But to proceed: We continued to live in the cave for a few days, Joy +contriving to trap rabbits and birds, upon which we lived. Then, in a +moment of foolhardiness, I determined to go out and see if I could find +out whether we had been followed, and at the same time try to get to San +Carlos and supply myself with a Winchester and some cartridges, for I +knew that, if I was properly armed, I could stand off the gang. + +"Well, I saddled the little pony and started out, after telling Joy to +come here if I didn't return. I scouted cautiously among the hills, +trying to find the pass on the other side of the peak which led out to +San Carlos. + +"To make a long story short, I rode right into the trap, and was caught +by the Gray Wolves. I had six shells in my revolver, and as they +surrounded me I fought for my life, and I am glad to say I got three of +them before they got me. But I couldn't hit Mowbray, although I tried my +best to do so. He seemed to bear a charmed life. As soon as I had fired +my last shot I wheeled the pony and fled. Up to this time I had not been +hit, but just as I was getting safely away, having jumped through the +men surrounding me, clubbing them to the earth with the butt of my +pistol, I turned to look back. I saw Mowbray bring down his rifle and +take deliberate aim at me, and I shuddered, because Mowbray is one of +the finest shots in the world. Then I heard the report of his weapon, +and felt the sting of the bullet. He had aimed to strike my heart, but +the turn of my body saved me." + +"But how did you come to be tied to the pony's back?" asked Ted. + +"When I was struck by the bullet I felt myself going. I knew that very +soon I would lose consciousness, and in that event I would soon be +captured, so it behooved me, while I still retained my senses, to save +myself. There was a lariat hanging to the horn of the saddle, and I +proceeded to tie myself to the pony's back as well as I could. You see, +I knew that the pony would go home when he found himself free. + +"I was no sooner well tied to the pony's back when I heard the howl of +the wolves, and recognized the voice of White Fang." + +"White Fang?" + +"Yes, the master of the pack. Have you not heard of him. He is well +known in this part of the country--a wolf with almost human +intelligence, fierce, a perfect devil of an animal, to whose pack every +ranch in this country has paid heavy tribute. You will know more about +him if you stay here. He is the devil in the hide of an animal. + +"Well, I resigned myself to my fate, with a prayer that the little pony +would get me to the Bubbly Well Ranch before the wolves pulled me from +his back. And he did." + +"But you said something about the Gray Wolves visiting us?" + +"Yes. They will be here. Prepare to defend your lives and the house. +They know I am here, and they know that you have my sister's treasure. +That is what they want." + +"How do you know that?" + +"Joy told me, and more, which you will learn later. But I feel faint, +and can talk no more. 'Ware the Gray Wolves!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE WOLFSKIN. + + +Frederic Caruthers' warning was received seriously. + +Ted and the boys consulted about the defense of the house, for the news +of the Gray Wolves was not much of a surprise to Ted, who had all along +felt that they were sure to be attacked by Mowbray and his men when they +found that Major Caruthers and the broncho boys had emptied the Mowbray +house of all its valuables. + +The fact that there was an organized body of murderers and thieves under +Mowbray called the Gray Wolves was not inappropriate. + +But if the Gray Wolves came to the attack, the boys were prepared to +receive and deal with them as they would with any band of marauding +animals. + +"We'll establish a guard at once," said Ted, "and it will stand as +organized until this thing is settled." + +"It will have to be kept up night and day," said Ben Tremont. "If these +chaps are as clever as I think they will probably seek to do us harm by +day as well as night." + +"Thar's sense in thet thar," said Bud. "Better make it two watches." + +"All right," said Ted. "Ben will have charge of the day watch, and take +six of the boys, whom he will detail for duty as he thinks best." + +"How do you want to arrange the hours?" asked Ben. + +"Suit yourself about that, but I would suggest that the day be divided +from six o'clock to six o'clock, day and night." + +"Suits me," said Ben. "That will give my six boys a stunt of two hours +each, which will make it easy for every one, and insure a constant and +careful watch." + +"Bud, you will be captain of the night watch," said Ted. "How do you +want to arrange it?" + +"I would patrol ther house outside," said Bud. "And my fellers would +work in pairs. I should think Ben's men could do their best work from +the cupola on top o' ther house, usin' ther major's spyglass ter keep +tabs on ther horizon in every direction. At night, we can only watch +close to the house outside." + +"That sounds all right. Get your first guard established at once. We +don't know how close they may be to us right now." + +Kit was sent into the cupola with the spyglass and a Winchester with its +magazine full, to take the first watch. + +It was not necessary to give Kit any instructions, for he was a most +intelligent guard. + +He had not been on watch more than an hour when he whistled to Ted, who +was crossing the yard on his way to the corral. + +"What is it?" said Ted, stopping and looking up. + +"I wish you'd come up here a moment. I see something which puzzles me +mightily. It's kind of uncanny," replied Kit. + +Ted laughed at Kit's fancy, but went into the house and climbed into the +cupola. + +"What is it?" he asked, taking his place beside Kit. + +"Take the glass and look along my arm to where my finger is pointing, +and tell me what you see." + +Ted did so, and, after looking for several moments, took down the glass +and said: + +"It looks to me like a wounded wolf. I never saw a wolf make such +strange motions." + +"Quick! Look again. What do you see?" + +"By Jove!" said Ted slowly. "If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have +believed it. That is a wolf all right, but it seems to be waving +something white at us. It doesn't seem to be able to move along. I +wonder what it is." + +"Some trick, probably. Remember what Frederic Caruthers said about the +Gray Wolves' visit, and the cleverness of the fellows?" + +"Yes. What do you think of it?" + +"I think it is a lure to excite our curiosity, and get us to go out +there and fall into a trap." + +"That sounds reasonable." + +"You will notice that the wolf is just over the top of a rise on the +prairie. The question is, What is beyond the rise, in the hollow?" + +"I'm going out to find out." + +"I wouldn't if I were you, Ted." + +"Why?" + +"I'm afraid it's a trap, and that you'll fall into it." + +"We'll never find out what it is if we don't go out there." + +"That's a cinch, and that's just what they want you to do." + +"Well, I'm going." + +Kit knew that when Ted said anything in the tone of voice he had just +used he meant it, and that it was useless to argue with him. + +"All right, go as far as you like," he said. "I'll keep my eye on you, +and if anything happens I'll sound the warning." + +Stella and the other members of the Moon Valley outfit were resting +against the time when they would be called to duty, and only Kit was +there to see Ted catch Sultan out of the corral, saddle him, and ride +away. + +Ted rode slowly across the prairie to where he had seen the wolf. + +But the wolf had disappeared from view just as Ted started from the +corral, and Kit could see it no more. He took this for a bad omen. +Evidently, the wolf had seen that he had lured a rider from the ranch +house, and, having accomplished its purpose, it was no longer necessary +to expose itself to attack. + +As Ted drew nearer to the spot where he had seen the wolf he went more +slowly, and carefully examined his revolvers, and swung his knife sheath +loose, so that he could get at that weapon quickly, if it became +necessary. + +Although he looked carefully to the front, he could not see the wolf. + +Kit saw that Ted had missed the place where the wolf had been seen, and +that he was too far to the right. He observed, also, that Ted was going +cautiously, and that he was preparing for an attack, and he was sure +that Ted would be able to take care of himself against fair odds. + +Now Ted went forward again and soon gained the top of the rise. + +He went very cautiously, peering over the edge. + +Suddenly he sprang back and whipped out his revolver, and slowly let +himself out of his saddle. + +"Ted's found him," muttered Kit in the cupola to Stella, who had climbed +up to his side to learn how the watch was going. + +"Let me have the glass, Kit," she said. + +Kit handed it to her, and she trained it on the figure of Ted, who was +creeping along the top of the hill. + +"Oh, Kit, he sees the wolf," cried Stella, interpreting for Kit's +benefit the little drama being enacted for their benefit on the far-away +hilltop. + +"What's he doing now?" asked Kit, who was growing impatient from seeing +nothing except the changing expressions on Stella's face. + +"Nothing!" + +"Pshaw!" + +"Ha!" Stella gave forth an excited little exclamation. + +"What is it? Give me the glass." + +"Go away!" Stella pushed off Kit's hand that was reaching out for the +glass. + +"Now he's gone. He's out of sight. No; I can see his head. It's going up +and down." + +A long pause. + +"Well, what's doing?" said Kit eagerly, and somewhat impatiently. + +"Can't see a thing." + +"Oh, rats! Let me look." + +"Keep quiet. I see his head now." + +"Is that all? What's he doing?" + +"Here he comes. I can see his shoulders all bent over." + +"Is he hurt?" + +"Of course not, silly." + +"Then why is he bent over?" + +"I believe he's carrying something. Yes. He has something in his arms. +Goodness, gracious me!" + +"What is it?" + +"Why, he's carrying a wolf in his arms. But what a funny wolf." + +"I insist upon having the glass. I'm the fellow on watch." + +"Kit, you're very rude. Don't bother me. Don't you see through me? Am I +not telling you everything that occurs?" + +"Oh, what's the use?" Kit shrugged his shoulders in a disgusted way, as +if he were expressing the futility of arguing with a woman, and wishing +that she were a boy, so that he could punch her head and take back his +glass again. + +"What's the matter with the wolf?" Kit asked at last, in a sulky tone. + +"If you get mad at me, Kit, I won't talk to you." Stella took down the +glass for a moment and looked at Kit severely. + +"All right, fire away, but tell me what's going on, for Heaven's sake. +Don't break off in the middle that way." + +"It's an awful big wolf, and its hide don't fit it. Its legs stick out +of the skin, and I can see one of its feet. Gracious, it has a queer +sort of a boot on it, and this wolf has human hands." + +"Stella, quit your fooling. What is going on out there? This is serious. +It's no time for nonsense." + +"I'm not fooling. I'm quite in earnest. Now Ted's lifting the queer +thing onto the saddle, and holding it there." + +"Has he killed the wolf, or man, or wolf man, or woman, or whatever +crazy thing it is? I knew there was something queer about it," exclaimed +Kit. + +"I'm sure I don't know whether he killed it or not. I couldn't see +through the hill." + +"What's he doing now?" + +"He has started toward the house, leading the pony and holding the thing +in the saddle. Here! Take your old glass! I'm going to ride out and see +what it's all about." + +She thrust the spyglass into Kit's hand, and, with a merry laugh at his +look of disgust, disappeared through the scuttle, and a few minutes +later he saw her riding like mad across the prairie toward Ted. + +In the course of a half hour they were both back at the house, and Kit's +curiosity led him to desert his post to find out what Ted's strange +burden was. + +Ted lifted something from his saddle and carried it into the house very +tenderly. + +Stella was very silent, and followed Ted closely, helping as well as she +could to uphold his burden. + +"What is it?" asked Kit. + +"A girl," answered Stella curtly. + +"A girl?" + +Stella paid no attention to him, but rushed ahead of Ted, and led the +way to her own room. + +"This way, Ted," she cried. "She must be brought in here." + +Ted did as he was told, and laid the strange thing he carried on +Stella's bed, and stepped back to look at it. + +It was the skin of an enormous gray wolf, which all but enveloped a +human form. Between the opening in the head, where once had been the +cruel jaws of the wolf, peeped a pretty, brown face. But the eyes were +closed. And a little, brown hand swung inertly from the place where a +wolf's paw once had been; while below was a dainty foot, incased in a +Japanese stocking divided, like a mitten, for the big toe. + +"Who, or what is it?" asked Kit, looking curiously down at the strange +object. + +"I think it must be Itsu San, the little Japanese girl who was Helen +Mowbray's maid," answered Ted. + +"Great Scott, how did she happen in this fix?" + +"I don't know. We'll have to wait until she recovers." + +"Is she hurt?" + +"I don't think so. I think she is merely exhausted by fatigue, hunger, +and fear." + +Meanwhile, Stella was busy cutting away the wolfskin in which the +Japanese girl was concealed and entangled. + +The commotion had brought the boys into the room, and they gazed with +wonder at the sight. + +"Now, you chaps clear out," said Stella, pushing them gently toward the +door. "Do you want to scare the poor thing into fits when she comes to? +The sight of all you fellows will frighten her worse than ever." + +The boys hastened to leave the room, and Stella had just closed the door +upon them when Itsu San, for it was she, opened her eyes and gave a +little scream of joy when she saw that she was safe, and in the presence +of a very pretty and kind-looking American girl of her own age. + +"Don't be frightened," said Stella. + +"I not no fright now," said Itsu San, with a charming smile, that was +like that of a happy baby. + +"How in the world did you come to be in this horrid thing?" asked +Stella, kicking the wolfskin, which she had thrown to the floor. + +"I come to give warn," answered the Japanese girl. + +"About what?" + +"The Gray Wolves." + +"Go ahead and tell me." + +"The Gray Wolves catch my blother. I hide, and hear them talk and say +they kill all evelybody here." + +"When?" + +"Mebbe so to-night. Mebbe so to-mollow." + +"Who said that?" + +"The devil man." + +"Who is he?" + +"Mistah Mowbray." + +"Mowbray and his men found you and your brother in the place where you +were hiding, and took your brother after you had succeeded in hiding. Is +that it?" + +Itsu San nodded for reply. + +"You heard them talking among themselves, and Mowbray planned to attack +this house, and kill us all?" + +Again the Japanese girl nodded. + +"When they had gone you found this wolfskin, and, thinking that it was +the only way in which to escape, you crawled into it, and crept all the +way here, playing wolf, to warn us?" + +"Yes. I crawled to their camp, and heard them talk. I tried to get close +to my blother, to cut him loose, but they saw me and drove me away, and +shot at me." + +"Mercy! But I don't see why they didn't see through your disguise. It +wouldn't fool any one." + +"It was the half dark." + +"Oh, yes. But why didn't you get out of the skin when you came within +sight of the house?" + +"I not have the strength. I climb the hill and see the house. Then I +fall down, and not can rise again. All what I can do is to wave my +handkerchief. Then I faint." + +"You are a brave and lovely girl, and I already love you like a sister," +said Stella warmly. "You shall stay here, and need not be afraid. We +will be ready for the Gray Wolves, and they will not kill either us or +you. Your warning comes just in time." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +BAGGING THE GRAY WOLVES. + + +That night Ted Strong went on watch himself in the cupola, while Bud and +Clay Whipple marched around the house in opposite directions. + +Until the threatened attack took place Ted determined that he would +watch the house personally, in addition to the regular guard. + +About midnight Ted heard a slight noise out on the prairie. + +The night was bright and frosty, and the stars shone with a peculiarly +brilliant radiance, seemingly larger, brighter, and nearer the earth +than in more northern climes. + +Instantly his acute senses located the place whence the noise had come. + +It was merely a slight rustling, but as there was no wind Ted knew +instantly that it had been made by some creature. + +His eyes, fixed on the spot, soon became accustomed to the faint light, +and he saw an indistinct form that was so near the color of the earth +that a pair of eyes not so sharp as his would have failed to detect it. + +So indistinct was it that it looked almost like a wraith of grayish-blue +smoke by the starlight. + +Presently, as he still stared closely at it, he saw another form much +like it steal through the dead grass toward it. + +Then, over the hills on the east, rose the moon in its first quarter, +shedding a pale light over the prairie. + +Ted was now able to see that there was a pack of wolves, instead of two, +as he at first thought. + +The boys on the ground could not see the wolves on account of the tufts +of grass that scattered over the prairie, and, had they seen them, would +not have been able to distinguish one from the other. + +It seemed strange to Ted that the wolves had not yet given voice. It was +unusual for wolves to come so near a ranch house in numbers without +giving warning by howling. + +Suddenly the reason why they did not dawned upon him. + +They were not wolves, but men in wolves' clothing. + +Ted chuckled at the thought. + +The "wolves" did not know yet that they were discovered, for they could +not see Ted in his cupola watch-house, although they could easily see +Bud and Clay as they walked around the house, now in the full light of +the moon. + +Ted was suddenly startled by hearing a noise to the left, and at the +same time he heard Bud stop in his march. Evidently he had been +attracted by the sound also. + +As Ted looked he saw the cause of the noise. It was a wolf, larger than +the others, which had crept closer to the house. + +As he was looking at it he was astonished to see it rise up. + +Then he caught the glint of a revolver barrel in the moonlight. + +In an instant he knew the meaning of it. + +With the precision of a machine his own rifle rose to his shoulder, and, +without a second's hesitation, a streak of flame belched from it, +followed by the roar of the report. + +Looking closely through the smoke, Ted saw the "wolf" straighten up to +the full stature of a man, then fall to the ground, over which it went +writhing and tossing, while at the same time the most human of yells +expressing agony came from it. + +This was the signal for the other "wolves" to howl, and the most +unearthly noise come from all sides of the house. + +These were followed by a perfect fusillade of rifle and revolver shots +from everywhere, most of them aimed at the cupola. + +But as soon as Ted had fired the shot that had brought down the man wolf +he had jumped through the scuttle into the attic of the house, and the +balls harmlessly riddled the cupola. + +From a window on the second floor Ted saw a score or more of forms leap +into prominence; the forms of men who cast aside their skins of wolf, +and who had turned their wolfish howls into the scarcely less fiendish +yells of men. + +At the sight he rushed downstairs, and found the boys hastily gathering +in the dark living room, arming themselves from the gun rack, and taking +their places beside the windows. + +In the middle of the room stood the major, supporting with one arm the +unsteady form of his brother Frederic, who had risen at the first alarm +in spite of his wound, and who insisted upon fighting with the rest. + +"The Gray Wolves have come," he said. "They will be hard to drive off. +But you must do it, or go yourselves." + +Stella and the young Japanese girl were standing at one of the windows +peering fearfully out. + +"Come away from there, Stella," said Ted. "They might see you and fire." + +"All right, Ted, but you can bet that I will be in this somewhere," said +Stella. "It's my business to defend this girl, and I'm going to do it." + +Ted smiled, but said nothing, and passed on around the room, seeing that +the boys were properly placed to resist the attack when it came. + +Outside all was quiet again. The howls had ceased, and not a man was in +evidence anywhere. It was the calm before the storm. + +"What's the plan?" said Bud, coming up to Ted, for he and Clay had run +into the house at Ted's shot from the cupola. + +"I hardly know," answered Ted. "My plan is somewhat upset. I thought at +first that they were going to attack us immediately in this room. But +they seem to have changed their minds." + +"I've got a hunch," said Bud, scratching his head in a meditative way. + +"Let us have it. That's what we need now." + +"They're creeping up on us. I see one o' them a minute ago. They're +countin' on gettin' up ter ther house before we expect 'em, an' then +pourin' a volley inter us, an' puttin' us out o' business quick." + +"That would be like that brute Mowbray." + +"I've got it figgered that way. Now, s'posin' we fool 'em by not bein' +here. They sneak until they git so's they kin fire through ther windows +without any danger ter themselves, an' run away. But we ain't here." + +"Where will we be?" + +"Comin' up on them from behind." + +"That's the stuff. Notify the boys at once. We'll get behind the house +and creep up on them through the grass. We'll fool them at their own +game." + +As silently as ghosts the broncho boys deserted the living room and went +to the back door. After carefully reconnoitering the situation without, +Ted softly opened the door, and led the boys into the shadow of the +house, and they crept away through the tall grass. + +Only Frederic Caruthers and Stella and the Japanese girl remained in the +house. + +Skirting the house grounds, the boys were soon out on the prairie, +giving their enemies a wide berth. + +Raising his head slightly from behind a tuft of grass, Ted took stock of +the position of the enemy. + +In the shadow of the house beneath the windows of the living room he +could see the still darker shadows of the Gray Wolves. + +Leading the boys into a semicircle from which at a word of command they +could rush the house, Ted passed this word along the line: + +"If they enter the house, as they probably will, we will close in +quietly, rush the house, and capture them inside. Let none of them +escape, and make no noise." + +They had not many minutes to wait before the Gray Wolves began to get +uneasy. + +Evidently they expected some movement within the house, and the +continued silence puzzled them. + +But suddenly, like the scream of a tempest, the still air was shattered +with wild yells and pistol shots, followed by the crash of breaking +glass. + +The Gray Wolves had stormed the house, breaking in the windows, smashing +in the front door, and making all the noise they could, with the object +of frightening the inmates into a condition where they would be unable +to defend themselves. + +Stella, with young Caruthers and Itsu San, had locked themselves into a +back room, which they could defend for a few minutes at least against +all comers. + +As the Gray Wolves attacked the house Ted gave the word to advance, and +they moved forward as one man, crouching behind the grass tufts to be +out of sight of any guard the Wolves might have set. + +It took not more than a minute or two to reach the side of the house, +and look through the windows. + +Inside the living room men could be seen running back and forth, +searching for the broncho boys and the treasure. + +Finally a wild yell told Ted that the safe had been found. + +"That's good," said Ted to Bud. "They're at the safe. It will take all +their attention for a while. They don't know, poor fools, that the +treasure has been carried out and buried elsewhere. There's where we'll +bag most of them. When we get in, boys, look out for Mowbray. Don't let +him escape." + +At a signal the boys climbed into the living room, which was now +deserted, for the Wolves had scattered all over the house. Most of them +were in the major's room working on the safe. + +They had tried to move it from the house, but it proved too heavy for +them, and they were now trying to break it open with an ax which they +had found in one of the lower rooms. + +Ted had heard the blows as they beat upon the lock, and in the din it +was not a difficult thing for the broncho boys to get into the house +without being heard. + +Several of the Wolves, in searching the lower part of the house, had +discovered the locked room in which Stella and the other two were in +hiding. + +They had attempted to batter down the door, only to be driven from it by +shots sent at them by Stella and Caruthers. + +"Trouble back there, Bud," said Ted. "I guess some one is trying to get +at Stella. Take a couple of the boys, and go back and stop it." + +"What are you goin' ter do?" asked Bud, who was afraid the rescuing +assignment would cut him out of the fight above stairs. + +Just at that moment there was a tremendous explosion overhead, the crash +of glass and the triumphant yells of the Gray Wolves. + +"I'm going upstairs," yelled Ted. "When you've driven off or captured +these fellows down here, come up." + +At this he dashed away for the broad stairs that led to the upper story, +followed by the broncho boys and Major Caruthers. + +They had just reached the landing above when the yell of triumph turned +to one of baffled rage, for the Wolves had found that the safe was +empty. + +Ted Strong, with a look such as a conquering warrior might wear, burst +into the room where the Wolves were clustered around the empty safe. + +Behind him followed the boys. + +"Surrender!" shouted Ted. + +The Gray Wolves wheeled to look into a perfect battery of rifles. Not to +surrender meant death. To attempt to raise a hand would bring a shot, or +a dozen. + +The Gray Wolves realized that they were in a trap, and that if they made +the least resistance they would be shot down. + +"Throw your guns on the floor!" commanded Ted. + +He was obeyed. + +"Gather up those guns," said Ted. Bud and Clay stepped forward, and +gathered in the rifles and revolvers. + +Ted's eyes were running over the group of prisoners trying to pick out +Mowbray, when suddenly there was a smashing of glass, and, as he turned +in that direction, he saw a form taking a flying leap through the window +to the ground, and, quick as a flash, he fired and rushed to the window. + +But when he got there his only reward was the sight of a man on +horseback headed for the hills, swaying dangerously in his saddle. + +Mowbray had escaped, but he had taken with him an unpleasant reminder of +Ted Strong. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +WHITE FANG LEADS HOME. + + +Ted herded the Gray Wolves into one of the rooms and placed guards at +the door and at the outside windows. + +The desperadoes were thoroughly cowed. Burk was so frightened that he +was willing to do anything Ted said, and cringed to the leader of the +broncho boys like a thrashed cur. + +"What are you goin' to do with us?" he asked Ted. + +"I'm going to put you where you will no longer disgrace the office you +held by the authority of the United States," said Ted promptly. "You +will get all you deserve." + +"Let me down easy," begged Burk. + +"You don't deserve it. You will be in jail as soon as it gets light +enough to march you to Rodeo." + +The first thing for Ted to do was to get rid of his prisoners, then to +go after Mowbray, the archcriminal, and bring him to justice, and to +arrest Ban Joy, the Japanese thug, whom he was convinced was the +murderer of Helen Mowbray. + +There was one more thing that demanded his attention for the safety of +the live stock as well as the people of the Bubbly Well Ranch, and that +was the destruction of White Fang, the demon wolf that was as well known +in that part of the country as a destructive agency as Mowbray, the +thief and murderer, himself. + +For years White Fang had preyed upon the ranchmen, exacting a heavy toll +in cattle and sheep. Every huntsman in the country had taken to the +chase for him, but the cunning old rascal had outwitted or out-footed +them all. + +The following afternoon the broncho boys, led by Ted Strong, marched up +the main street of Rodeo to the jail with a score of desperadoes bound +to their horses. + +When they appeared a great many of the townspeople, friends of the +prisoners, gathered and made a demonstration to take them away from the +boys. + +Ted immediately formed the boys in a circle about the prisoners. + +With rifles trained upon the crowd the broncho boys held them off while +Ted spoke to them quietly, but with a force that carried conviction. He +told the people just what the prisoners had done, and what he expected +to prove against them, hinting that there were other men in the town who +would join them in jail if what he suspected proved to be true. Later in +the day a strange thing happened: Several men in high office disappeared +from the town, and were never seen there more. + +Having turned his prisoners over to the sheriff, the boys rode back to +the Bubbly Well Ranch, feeling safe from further depredations for a time +at least. + +On the lower part of the ranch the wolves had been playing havoc with +the calves and the yearlings, and the major's cowboys were continually +bringing in news of the depredations of the pack. + +The pack was led by old White Fang, the cowboys said, and they could do +nothing with him. Whatever traps they laid for him were upset by the +cunning of the old rascal, and he made life miserable for the men +responsible for the cattle. + +"What are we going to do about him?" said the major one day to Ted. "I +suppose we'd better organize a big hunt, and drive the wolves out of the +country." + +"No use," said Ted. "The old beggar would hide in the mountains until it +was over, and then renew the attack on you." + +"What do you propose, then?" + +"I'm going out after him myself, and I'll not come back until I get +him." + +Stella, who was curled up in a big chair in the living room reading, +looked up quickly when Ted said this, and smiled out of the corner of +her mouth, for she scented sport in this. + +"I think I'll go along," said the major. + +"I'd like to have you, major, but it won't do this time. You are too +heavy a rider. It will take a light rider to turn the trick with White +Fang," answered Ted, and the major looked a bit taken back. + +But Stella chuckled to herself. If it took a light rider, she was in +that class. + +Later in the day she saw Ted and Bud go toward the corral. Ted carried +in his hand a new, strong Mexican lariat. + +She watched them a few minutes before she realized their mission. + +"I believe they're going on the wolf hunt," she said to herself, "and +without me." Her eyes flashed. "We'll see about that." + +She ran into her room, and soon emerged ready for a ride. But when she +got on the veranda Ted and Bud were galloping away across the prairie. + +Without hesitating she ran to the corral, caught her pony and saddled +it, and was in pursuit. + +Ted heard the clatter of her pony's feet and turned to see her coming at +whirlwind speed, and slowed up to wait for her. + +"Ha, ha!" she cried, as she came up with them, her face wreathed in +smiles. "Thought you'd go without me, eh?" + +"Didn't think you'd care about such a commonplace thing as chasing a +wolf," said Ted. + +"Well, I'm going," she answered, putting her pony into a gallop. + +They rode for the lower pasture, which ran up into the foothills of +Sombrero Peak, where the recent depredations of the wolves had been +bothering the cow-punchers. + +They passed small herds of cattle grazing here and there, attended by +herders, who waved their hands to the trio as they swept past. + +As they were entering the foothills Ted's keen eye caught sight of a +slinking form on the rise of a hill running parallel with their path. + +He reined in suddenly and looked long at it. + +"By Jove, I believe that's our game over there," he said. "Take a look +at it, Bud and Stella. Don't you think that is White Fang?" + +"It shore is, er his twin brother," said Bud, to which Stella nodded +acquiescence. + +"Take it easy," said Ted. "We'll ride toward him, and when we get as +close as we can without his bolting, put your spurs to it and chase him +for all you're worth. He can run like a scared rabbit." + +They rode easily toward the wolf, who looked up at them with a wise, +sidewise twist of his hoary old head, but did not increase his speed +any. + +"He's tolling us into the hills where he can easily get lost," said Ted. +"Don't let him do it! Head him off! Turn him back to the prairie." + +Diverging, they rode parallel with White Fang again, and, before he +suspected their maneuver, they were ahead of him, and began to close in. + +But finally White Fang stopped and watched them for a moment, then +deliberately turned and set off on the back trail at a smart lope along +the ridge he had come. + +"I wish we had a couple of Russian wolfhounds here," said Ted, as the +three were breezing along in the trail of White Fang. "That would make +it something like a chase." + +"I'm bettin' that ole galoot will give us somethin' ter do before we +ketch up with him, at that," said Bud. + +"Close up on him," said Ted. "He's having too good a time." + +They let their horses out a notch or two, and closed up on White Fang, +who was off the ridge by this time, and galloping across the prairie. + +The old wolf did not seem to have as much steam in him as usual, and +loped along in easy fashion, occasionally looking over his shoulder at +them, apparently gauging the distance and their speed. + +"The only way to get close to him is to spurt when he isn't thinking +about it," said Ted. "Let 'em out!" + +A prick of the spur sent their horses forward on the leap. + +Ted was coiling his rope in his hand ready for a cast, and Stella and +Bud followed his example. + +"When we get close enough to throw, scatter out, and be ready to let +your rope go if either of us misses. All ready now!" + +Ted dashed forward, swinging his rope around his head, and when he was +close enough he made a beautiful cast and the rope went through the air +as true as a bullet, hovering in a sinuous loop above White Fang. But +just as it was about to settle the wily old rascal dodged to one side, +and the rope fell into the sand. + +"He's a cute chap," shouted Ted, bringing in his rope without slackening +his speed, while Bud's rope flew through the air and missed the wolf by +about a foot. + +Stella was in a bad position to throw, and withheld her rope. + +Again they closed in upon the wolf, who had begun to grow more wary and +had hit up his speed, dodging and turning on his trail, making some +swift turns and nimble feats of horsemanship necessary to keep within +roping distance of him. + +In this manner a dozen or more unsuccessful casts were made. + +At last Ted got tired of the hide-and-seek game, and determined to end +it. + +"I'm going to get him this time," he shouted, gathering his rope firmly. +"Back me up!" + +He dashed at White Fang, with Bud and Stella on either side of him. +Swinging his rope about his head, Ted watched his opportunity. + +Suddenly the loop left his hand and shot as unerringly toward the wolf +as if it had left the muzzle of a rifle. + +It soared through the air like a thing of life, twisting as gracefully +and sinuously as a serpent. For an instant the wide loop hovered over +the gray, swiftly running animal. Then it fell suddenly, and settled +over and around the seemingly doomed animal. + +But White Fang, king of the pack, was too old a villain to be caught so +easily. He leaped through the loop of Ted's lariat like a circus +performer through a hoop. + +But Stella's rope whizzed through the air and caught the old fellow +unawares. + +Then it seemed as if all the forces of wild nature had been turned +loose. + +The wolf leaped into the air as he felt the rope tighten around his +neck, and threw himself here and there with a violence inconceivable, +snapping at the rope and trying to sever it. But Stella's lariat was of +Mexican rawhide, and even White Fang's sharp teeth had no effect on it. + +The rope tightened and slacked in the struggle, and, had it been of +ordinary texture, it would never have stood the strain. + +Ted had ridden up to the plunging beast, and began to belabor it with +his quirt, to take the spirit out of it. The wolf had never felt the +sting of a whip before. It was such a new experience to it that it +stopped bucking in sheer amazement. But Ted did not discontinue, and the +wolf slunk upon the ground, its wild nature thoroughly tamed for the +time. + +"Stop!" cried Stella. "Let us see what he will do now." + +Ted rode away, and the wolf sat up on its haunches, and, lifting its +head toward the mountains, gave a long, wailing, dismal howl. + +"He knows he's done for," said Ted. "That's his death song." + +"Let him do what he will," cried Stella. + +Presently White Fang rose, tried to shake the rope from his neck, and +when he found that he could not do so, got up and started on a trot +toward the mountains. + +"Follow him," cried Ted. "He's leading us home. Who can say what we will +find there?" + +They followed the wolf through coulees and over rocky ridges in the +foothills, and through a cañon at the base of Sombrero Peak. + +They climbed rocky paths, higher and higher up the side of the peak. +White Fang's captors followed him silently. No more did he try to escape +from the rope. He seemed to have given up hope, and was going home to +die. + +At last they arrived at the wall of a precipice, along which ran a +narrow ledge just wide enough for their ponies to travel. + +The path was well worn, as if many animals, including men, had passed +that way. + +Suddenly it dawned upon Ted where the wolf was leading. + +Where but to the rendezvous of the band of the Gray Wolves? + +He straightened up and looked to his revolvers, and then the wolf slunk +around a bend on the cliff's side and walked into a cave. + +Ted followed him closely, and stopped in the entrance in amazement. Just +within sat Mowbray propped against the side wall, his face drawn and +haggard, his eyes half glazed with approaching death. + +But he stirred as Ted appeared, and groped about for his revolver. + +"Stop!" cried Ted. "The game's up!" + +Mowbray's hand dropped weakly by his side, as the wolf slunk to him and +licked his face, at which the dying man raised his arm and placed it +around the neck of the king of the pack, the most savage wolf in +Arizona. + +Ted could not but respect this strange exhibition of animal affection, +so unusual. + +There was a moaning cry from the depths of the cave, and Ted dismounted +and went in to see what had caused it. + +Chained to a rock he found the emaciated body of the Jap, Ban Joy, whom +he suspected of being the murderer of Helen Mowbray. Here was luck. The +wolf had led him to the two men whom he most wanted to capture. + +"Now, Joy, I want you to tell me the truth," said Ted, when he had +released the Japanese. "Did you murder Miss Mowbray, and why did you do +it?" + +The Jap looked at him with growing intelligence in his eyes. + +"Me no kill. Mistah Mowbray kill with cord. I see him, and he tly to +kill me." + +Ted looked at Mowbray, who had straightened up and was listening. + +Then he nodded his head, and signaled to Ted to give him a drink of +water. After he had drunk he seemed stronger. + +"Come here," he said, in a hoarse whisper. Ted went to his side. + +"I might as well confess," he said. "It will make the end easier. I will +be dead in a few minutes, for I am mortally wounded. I would have +released that poor devil of a Japanese, but I hadn't the strength to go +to him." + +"Take it easy," said Ted. + +"I murdered Helen Mowbray by strangling her with a cord," he said, after +a pause. "I did it because I had gambled away everything I had and +needed money--and she wouldn't give it to me. + +"I lived for many years in India, and there I became a member of the +sect known as the Thugs, who use a cord to strangle their victims. She +cast me off, and when she refused to help me I became enraged and killed +her. I am sorry now, for she was a fine woman, but I needed money." + +"Then Farnsworth had nothing to do with it?" asked Ted. + +"Nothing." + +"Tell me another thing. Did Farnsworth, so called, have anything to do +with the murder of the Spooner family in Somber Pass?" + +"No, I and my men did that. Farnsworth has led a pretty clean life. He +has stood for the crimes I committed for the sake of his sister. +Wherever and whenever I got into a scrape I used his name, and put the +crimes I committed upon him, and he stood for them on account of his +sister's name." + +"Is he a bad man? Has he killed many men?" + +"Only such as he had to, to defend his sister's name. I say it was I who +was guilty of the crimes charged to him. I hate him, and always have +done so, but I am dying, and it is only fair play to clear him." + +"That is all I want to know," said Ted, trying to make the man more +comfortable. But he was beyond help, and in less than a half hour he +sighed, and his wicked spirit passed away. + +Ted and Bud buried him on the mountainside, and, after releasing White +Fang, watched it for a few moments. + +It went to the edge of a peak overlooking a deep chasm, and there sat on +its haunches howling dismally. + +Then, to the amazement of all, it straightened up and leaped far out, +turning over and over in its descent until it fell in the rocky bottom +of the chasm, crushed and broken. + +Ted and the broncho boys, together with Stella, remained at the Bubbly +Well Ranch until well into the winter, when the entire party returned to +the Moon Valley Ranch to spend several uneventful weeks. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +TED'S INDEPENDENCE. + + +"Is this the Moon Valley outfit?" + +A young cavalry officer galloped up to the head of a beef trail that +strung backward for the better part of a mile, the cattle plodding on +wearily, guarded by a dozen or more tired and cross cow-punchers. + +"It is, lieutenant," answered Ted Strong, eying the epaulets on the +officer's tunic, and reading his rank. + +The lieutenant was in anything but a pleasant frame of mind, and looked +sneeringly at Ted, and at the tired cattle behind him. + +"Well, another fifteen minutes' delay would have cost you the contract," +he said. "It seems to me that you have been taking your time. Don't you +know that a government contract means business, and that to-day doesn't +mean to-morrow?" + +This was said in such an uppish and unpleasant manner that Ted could +scarce restrain an angry reply, for he was tired out with the long +drive, which had been unusually full of dangers and vexatious delays. + +But instead of making a sharp answer he merely smiled at the officer, +and said: + +"Yes, I understand all about government contracts and the penalties for +not living up to them. But I am within the government reservation, and +here are my cattle, and I have, as you say, fifteen minutes to spare." + +"Well, we consider that you are overdue, as you should have been here in +time to have the cattle inspected and formally accepted before the time +allowance elapsed." + +"Nothing in the contract that says so," said Ted, still pleasantly. + +"Well, it's usage, and that goes in the army." + +"I'm not in the army." + +"I don't want any words with you on the matter. It is sufficient that +you are late, and that you have been the cause of a great deal of worry +and annoyance." + +Ted was beginning to get angry at the officer's tone and looks. + +He turned from the lieutenant to the herd, and shouted: + +"Bud, round 'em up and bed 'em. This is as far as we go to-night." + +"No, you don't," said the lieutenant. "You will drive into the +quarantine pasture, where your stock will be inspected in the morning." + +Ted paid no attention to him, and the rounding up of the herd began as +he had ordered, while the lieutenant fumed and fussed and swore. + +At last he could stand it no longer, and dashed away from Ted's side to +where Bud was superintending the work of the cow-punchers. + +"Here, none of that," he said brusquely to Bud, who looked even more +disreputable than Ted. + +"See here, who are you alludin' at?" asked Bud, wheeling around on him. + +"I'm talking to you. I want those cattle driven in to the pasture, and I +want no delay or nonsense about it," cried the officer angrily. + +"Now, run along, little soldier boy, don't yer see I'm busy?" Bud looked +at the officer with a tolerant pity. + +Ted now rode up and interfered. + +"I'm capable of giving all the orders necessary to my men," he said +gently. "You will please not interfere." + +"Who are you?" asked the lieutenant, with a sneer. + +"My name is Ted Strong." + +The lieutenant looked at him with some curiosity and respect. + +"Oh," he said. "I thought perhaps you were some kind of a foreman. My +name is Lieutenant Barrows." + +Ted acknowledged it with a slight bow. + +"I am in charge of this delivery of beef to the department, and as you +are already late I wish you to send this herd further into the +reservation." + +"I am sorry I cannot comply with your wish," said Ted, "but it will be +impossible to-night. The cattle made a forced march to-day, and are +tired out, and, besides, they have just been watered, and have only time +to graze a full feed before they bed. I am explaining all this to show +you that my action in not doing what you wish was not through spite, but +in the best interests of both the government and ourselves." + +"It is my duty to inspect the animals, and----" + +"I can't help that. The cattle do not go forward a foot farther +to-night. I will get them into the pasture early in the morning." + +"That will be too late," said the officer curtly. "I shall inform the +commandant of the post, Colonel Croffut, that you are late and that you +refuse to obey orders." + +"Confound your impudence, who are you to give orders to me?" asked Ted, +mad in a minute. + +"As I told you, I am the inspector, and it seems to me that it would be +good policy, to say the least, to cater to my wishes somewhat." + +"What do I care for your wishes? Less than that, if I am doing the right +thing and stand within my own rights;" and he snapped his fingers. + +"Perhaps you may be sorry." + +"That's my affair." + +"Very well. I am to understand that you refuse to move the cattle on +to-night." + +"You've got it right." + +The lieutenant bowed, and, turning, rode slowly away with an ugly scowl +on his face. + +"I reckon Little Bright Eyes has got it in fer you now," said Bud, who +had ridden up in time to hear this part of the conversation. "He's +aimin' ter do some dirty work, I reckon." + +"Oh, bother him! He got me all worked up and angry, and that always +makes me feel bad. I wish he had happened to be somewhere else. Forget +him! We'll drive the herd in early in the morning. He couldn't have +inspected the beeves this evening, anyway." + +It took some little time to get the big herd in shape for the night, and +Ted was washing himself and putting on some clean clothes when a soldier +dashed up on a horse and asked for Mr. Strong. + +"I am Strong," said Ted, rubbing his head and neck vigorously with a +rough towel. + +The soldier looked at Ted in some surprise, as the colonel had alluded +to him as the "government beef contractor." + +"Well?" said Ted. + +"I guess it's your father I want," said the soldier. + +"Guess again. There's no such person here." + +"Are you the beef contractor?" + +"Surest thing you know. What do you want?" + +"Colonel's compliments, sir, and the colonel would like to have you call +at his quarters at the first convenient moment." + +"What about? These beef cattle?" + +"I don't know, sir; I didn't hear him say." + +"All right. Tell him I'll be there in a few minutes. Where is his +house?" + +"Last house on the right-hand side of the parade, as you go in." + +Ted nodded, and went on dressing himself. He was as tired as a dog, but +he supposed the commandant wanted to talk to him about the cattle, and +he would have to go. + +As he rode up to the commandant's quarters he saw a young man and a very +pretty girl talking on the veranda, and when he had ascended the steps +he saw that the man was none other than Lieutenant Barrows. + +He was just about to ring the bell when the girl looked at him, and her +eyes brightened because Ted Strong, straight and stalwart, with his +fine, handsome head and straightforward, honest eyes, was a person very +good to look at. + +"Do you wish to see papa?" she asked, coming forward. + +"Colonel Croffut expressed a desire to speak with me," answered Ted, +lifting his hat. + +"If you will wait a moment I will call him," said Miss Croffut, for, of +course, Ted had guessed who she was from her question. + +She tripped into the hall, and called to her father, and then entered a +room, and was followed by the commandant himself. + +"So you are Ted Strong, the beef contractor," said Colonel Croffut, +looking Ted over. + +The colonel was a big man with a pink face and a brusque manner. + +"I am," said Ted coolly. + +"Excuse me. Take a seat. You needn't go, Hallie. Keep your seat, +Barrows." The colonel motioned Ted into a chair, and took one himself. + +For several minutes he sat blowing clouds of smoke into the air from his +cigar, but saying nothing. + +Miss Croffut and Lieutenant Barrows continued their conversation about +lawn tennis and riding, as if Ted were not there, but the lieutenant +observed that Miss Croffut's eyes strayed often toward Ted, and it made +him irritable. + +"See here, young man," said the colonel, turning suddenly upon Ted in a +manner that in another person would indicate that the commandant was +very angry. "What do you mean by sending such a message to me?" + +"I sent no message to you," said Ted quietly. "I didn't even know your +name until your striker mentioned it to me a few minutes ago." + +Had Ted looked at the young lady at the other end of the veranda he +would have seen an irrepressible smile flit across her features, as she +looked at her father. + +"That was a facer for dad," she whispered to Lieutenant Barrows, who +frowned. "The idea of telling papa that he had never heard of him, the +great warrior and Indian fighter, Colonel Croffut." + +The colonel stared at Ted with a sort of amazement for a moment, and +grunted: + +"Well, you're likely to know a great deal more about me before we're +through with one another." + +"I hope so," said Ted pleasantly. "But what is your business with me?" + +"I'll speak of it when I come to it," said the old soldier. + +"Then you'll have to be quick about it, for I've been in the saddle +continuously for six weeks, and I'm tired. Besides, I've got a day's +work to do before I turn in to-night." + +There was something crisp and business-like in Ted's speech, and not at +all impertinent, that caused the colonel to look at him again. + +"What's this I hear about your refusal to accede to our just demand that +the cattle intended to fill your contract be turned into our pasture?" +asked the colonel sharply. + +"Only this," answered Ted: "I arrived here just in time, with my stock +worn out from forced marches. I had just let them have all the water +they could drink, and it was necessary that they should have a good feed +in order to rest well to-night to be in condition to stand inspection +to-morrow. I was well within my rights in deciding not to move them any +farther to-night." + +"I understand that you were impertinent to the officer who made this +request to you," thundered the colonel. + +Ted laughed softly to himself. + +"If I was impertinent to him I was there and perfectly responsible, +personally, for my conduct. It was wholly unofficial, and I cannot see +why he should come to you with it." + +Ted looked at the lieutenant, who had flushed angrily. + +The girl looked from Ted to Barrows, and then at her father. + +"That is not the question, sir. He represents the army in his person +when he comes to you on the army's business." + +"Well, I can't fight the whole army," said Ted, laughing, "but I can +certainly take care of myself in all ordinary matters." + +Barrows half rose in his chair as if he was going to resent Ted's +remark. + +"Sit down, Barrows," said the colonel explosively. "The young man is +right as far as that is concerned. Now, sir, I've half a mind not to +accept your beef at all. I consider that you have not properly filled +the contract." + +"I certainly have," said Ted stoutly. "The beef was on the government +reservation fifteen minutes before the time limit according to the +acknowledgment of Lieutenant Barrows himself." + +"I said no such thing," almost shouted the lieutenant. + +"Be careful," said Ted. "That is giving me the lie direct. Several of my +men heard you say so." + +"Mr. Barrows, please be quiet," said Miss Croffut. "I shall go in." + +"I beg your pardon, Miss Croffut," said Ted, rising and bowing. "I had +no intention of carrying on a quarrel in your presence. Colonel, I shall +be glad to discuss this matter with you in your office if you wish, but +not here. I have no quarrel with you, and I do not propose to, if I can +avoid it." + +"I presume you mean that you would quarrel with me," said Barrows, +blustering up. + +"I have no objection in the world, but not in a lady's presence," said +Ted, turning from him carelessly. + +"I don't like your attitude at all, Mr. Strong," said the colonel. "That +is not my idea of army discipline, in fact, sir----" + +"Excuse me, colonel," said an officer, bustling up, "don't forget that +to-morrow is beef-issue day to the Indians, and that we must have three +hundred head before noon to-morrow. There is not a hoof in the +government pasture." + +Barrows was trying to attract the other officer's attention with +vigorous shakes of his head, which Ted, although his back was toward +Barrows, saw reflected in the window. + +What could the matter be? Were they so short of beef at the post and a +beef issue coming off, and then attempt to bluff him with their army +rulings? He saw through it all, and now he would stand pat, and take +nobody's bluff. + +The officer walked away at a signal from the colonel, who turned to Ted. + +"I want you to go back to your herd and drive it into the government +pasture at once, do you hear, at once?" he said in a tone of great +severity. + +"I think not," said Ted. "The herd stays where it is until morning, or +if it must be driven at all it will be over the way it came." + +"What do you mean, sir?" + +"I mean that I forfeit the contract. The cattle are mine to do with as I +please. I shall immediately proceed to drive them off the reservation." + +"But that will ruin you." + +"That's my business. Good evening, sir." + +"Wait a moment. Don't you know that we must have the beef; that there is +an Indian beef issue to-morrow?" + +"I didn't know it until a moment ago. Now I know a lot more than I did +when I came here." + +"Confound it, boy, there'll be an Indian uprising if we don't give them +their beef to-morrow." + +"That's for you to take care of. Good evening. The contract is declared +off." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +A COMPROMISE. + + +Ted hurried back to the cow camp. + +"Stuff's off," he shouted, when he came within shouting distance. The +boys, who were lounging around the fire, resting from their arduous +drive, sprang to their feet. + +"What's the row?" asked big Ben Tremont. + +"They insist upon our driving the herd about five miles farther into the +reservation to-night, so that that lazy lieutenant who is to do the +inspecting in the morning will have as little trouble as possible. I +refused to do it, and they tried to run a sandy on me, but I wouldn't +stand for it. If they'd been white to me I would have had the cattle in +there if it took me all night." + +"That duck o' a lootenant wuz a trifle gay," said Bud. "He tried to run +a blazer on yer Uncle Dudley, but I told him to run along, an' I reckon +he'll have no Christmas present for me this year." + +"Did you tell the boss there was nothing doing in the moving line?" +asked Ben. + +"You bet I did," answered Ted. "That gay lieutenant who was here ran at +once to the boss with his tale of woe, and the boss threw his chest out +at me and tried the little-boy game on me. He thought he had me bluffed +when in comes another officer, who told him that a beef issue to the +Indians was due to-morrow, and that there wasn't an animal in the post +pasture." + +"Wow!" exclaimed Bud. "That means trouble for some one, unless they can +dig up something to take its place, for an Indian who has his mouth made +up fer fresh meat is lierble ter become rantankerous if he don't get +it." + +"I guess that's why they were so anxious to get the beef up to the +pasture to-night," said Kit. + +"Of course. When I heard that all my nerve came back to me, and I +decided that I would give those officers a lesson." + +"What are you going to do?" asked Ben. + +"Drive the herd off the reservation." + +"Gee, that will put us in the hole bad." + +"Oh, I don't know. We'll trail them a little farther north, keep them a +few months on free range, then drive them to the railroad and slide them +into Chicago on a rising market. I had the whole thing figured out in +case we got here too late, which I expected to do on account of our +being held back by dry weather and too much water, coming in streaks." + +"I'd like to have been there when you were throwing your bluff into the +colonel. I suppose he had the surprise of his life." + +"He looked like it. By Jove, he has a mighty pretty daughter, if he is a +grouch himself." + +"Seem to have an eye for beauty yourself." + +"Not as keen as yours." Ben blushed when Ted said this, for Ben was +always having a new girl and talking about her. + +"I noticed her because she was so pleasant, and so different from her +father, and that fellow Barrows, who seems to be very soft on her." + +"Well, we have no fight with the ladies of the post," said Ben. + +"How did it end?" asked Kit, who always wanted results. + +"I simply told them that they couldn't have the cattle now, and walked +away." + +"That must have been a facer." + +"Seemed to be, for the colonel called after me to know if I was aware +that if the beef issue didn't come off there would probably be an Indian +uprising, and I told him it was up to him." + +"Well, I suppose it's hike," said Bud, pulling on his boots. + +"Yes, get the dogies up, and we'll trail them back until we are out of +the reservation. It's not far." + +The boys mounted, and rode among the cattle, getting them to their feet. + +Soon the herd was moving slowly along the back trail, with Ted and Bud +pointing them out. + +Suddenly, from the woods to the right rode a band of horsemen in the +dark, for the sun had long since gone down. + +"What's this? A holdup?" asked Bud. + +"Can't tell yet. By Jove, I believe they are soldiers. I wonder if they +are going to try to stop us." + +"S'posing they try it?" + +"We'll have to ride it out. I wouldn't be held up on the reservation now +for anything. That would spoil it all. They would do anything they +wanted with us if we stood for that, and throw out a lot of legitimate +stock to get square with us." + +"What do you mean?" + +"If they're soldiers, and try to keep us in, you ride back and start the +herd to stampeding. Let the soldiers take care of themselves. If they're +regular cavalry, they will be able to ride well enough to get out of the +way." + +"Bully idea. O' course, we can't help it if the cattle get scared at +them bright uniforms, an' git ter runnin'." Bud chuckled at the thought. + +"Halt!" + +The voice of Lieutenant Barrows rang out commandingly. + +"Now's your chance, Bud," said Ted. "Mind you, get them started good and +plenty. I don't care if they run five miles." + +Presently, from the rear of the herd came a shout of warning, and the +herd increased its speed from a lazy walk into a trot. + +Back in the darkness the cowboys were riding through the herd hurrying +up the cattle with their quirts. + +From a trot they broke into a gallop, and this soon grew into a perfect +rout, for cattle are easily frightened at night. + +As soon as Ted saw that the cattle were going to run, sure enough, he +dashed across the intervening space to where the dark forms were +standing in the path of the oncoming cattle. + +He saw at once that it was Lieutenant Barrows and a squad of cavalrymen, +and that they were armed with carbines. He resented this, as the +lieutenant had no business to arm his men in this way for such an +errand. + +As Ted rode up, he shouted: + +"Get out of the way, if you don't want to be trampled to death." + +"What do you mean, you scoundrel?" shouted Barrows. "Halt, when I give +the command, or take the consequences." + +"Out of the way, you fool!" shouted Ted, as he swept past. "Don't you +see that the cattle are stampeding?" + +If the lieutenant did not know it, being so recently out of West Point, +the men did, for with a yell they turned and rode like mad for the side +lines. + +Then, for the first time, the young officer, hearing the sullen bellow +of the cattle and the thunder of the hoofs, turned and followed Ted. + +But the leaders were almost upon him, and, realizing that death was +following him fast, he gave an agonizing cry. + +Ted heard the cry, and understood its import. + +While he disliked and despised the bullying officer, he had no desire to +see harm come to him. + +The lieutenant's horse, while a good-enough cavalry animal in times of +peace, was not the match of the cow ponies, and was already badly +winded, as well as frightened, and was losing ground steadily. + +"Bear off to the right!" shouted Ted repeatedly. But the officer was +evidently too frightened or rattled to understand, and kept blundering +along. + +Ted saw that disaster was sure to follow in a short while if Barrows +didn't change his tactics. + +The herd was going at regulation stampede speed now, but this did not +cause Ted to think of his own danger when he deliberately turned Sultan +and came galloping back upon the advancing sea of sharp horns. + +In a moment he was beside Barrows, wheeled suddenly, and began to ride +against the cavalry horse, forcing it to one side, and urging it on with +lashes of his quirt. + +At last he got the heavy brute going the way he wanted and soon it was +out of danger, as the frantic herd swept by with a roar like that of a +lightning express rushing over a culvert. + +Barrows was sitting on his trembling horse, pale, and with beads of +perspiration standing out on his forehead. + +"You did that on purpose, curse you," snarled the lieutenant. "You made +those cattle run." + +Ted looked at him in astonishment. He thought at least that the soldier +would murmur some few words of gratitude for having been saved from a +horrible death. + +"You're a grateful chap, I must say," said Ted. "You weren't far from +kingdom come then, I can tell you." + +"I'll see that you are punished for this," said Barrows, wheeling his +horse and riding out of sight in the direction of the post. + +It was two hours before the boys headed the cattle and got them to +milling, and then broke them up and succeeded in getting them bedded +down. + +As they got a new camp fire made, and were lying around it, Bud said, +with a laugh: + +"That was a mighty slick trick o' yours, Ted. It certainly took ther +herd off ther reservation in a hurry." + +"I don't see yet why it was necessary to stampede them," said Ben, who +was sore at having had to do so much work getting the herd together +again. + +"Can't, eh?" said Bud. "That's all er collidge eddication done fer yer? +Why, if we hadn't got them cattle off'n thar pretty pronto, thet thar +lootenant would hev bagged every animile on foot. But Ted, he foresee +what they wuz up ter, an' ther simplest way wuz ter run 'em off in a +fake stampede. It done ther work, too, fer we're out o' ther reservation +whar they can't touch us." + +Except for the night guard, the boys rolled themselves in their blankets +and were soon sound asleep. + +The next morning Ted began to drift the herd slowly into the north, +where there was plenty of free range. They were still well within view +of the fort. + +It was almost time for the beef issue at the post, and Ted and Bud, +walking their ponies slowly along in the lead of the herd, were talking +about it. + +"Wonder they ain't been out to head us off this morning?" said Bud. + +"They know they cannot take forcible possession of our cattle when we +are off the reservation," answered Ted. "Hello, what's that heading this +way?" + +Coming toward them from the direction of the fort, several riders were +kicking up the dust in lively fashion. + +As they got nearer the riders revealed themselves as four soldiers, +accompanied by two ladies. + +Suddenly Ted pulled in his pony, and grasped Bud's arm. + +"If that don't look like Stella I'll eat my saddle blanket fried in +butter," he said. + +"Shore do look some like her," answered Bud, "an' that's ther same +little ole red jacket what she wears." + +In a few moments they heard Stella's hail, and answered it. + +Then up galloped Stella and Miss Croffut, accompanied by the commandant +of the post, Lieutenant Barrows, and two other officers, a captain and a +major. + +After greeting the boys, and formally introducing Miss Croffut, Stella +told them that from their last telegram she thought she might be able to +catch them at Fort Felton, and had not hesitated in coming on, +particularly as she happened to know Miss Croffut. + +"What's this trouble you fellows have been getting into with the folks +at the fort?" asked Stella. + +"We're not having any trouble, but we had some in the night when the +dogies stampeded us," replied Ted, with an almost imperceptible wink at +her. + +"None of my business, I suppose?" + +"None in the least." + +"See here, Mr. Strong," the colonel broke in, "I suppose I was somewhat +hasty last night in talking with you, especially as you had arrived on +time. I wish you'd turn back, and let us have those cattle." + +"Like to if you'd said so a little earlier, but since morning, and the +expiration of the contract, beef has gone up." + +"What do you mean?" + +"I mean that you haven't money enough to buy these cattle. What's the +matter? Want a few head to feed to the Indians?" + +"We want the whole herd, but as you have guessed the truth, we must have +a few head to keep those crazy Indians from making trouble. They have +heard that the cattle are gone, and I'm afraid that they will break +loose and murder a lot of settlers to get even with Uncle Sam." + +"What are the troops for?" + +"We wouldn't dare go after them without orders from Washington." + +"Well, you started it, and I would advise you to go on to the finish." + +"If we don't get enough cattle to feed the Indians the post is ruined." + +"You should have thought of that contingency when you sent your amiable +young assistant out to me." He looked at Barrows. + +"Well, I apologize for him. He was dead wrong, but so was I." + +"Nothing doing! You would have given me the worst of it if I had been +chump enough not to know the cow business as I do. But these cattle are +due on the high range in a few days, and we must be moving on. Adios." + +"Oh, Mr. Strong, please do let us have enough cattle for those poor +Indians. The squaws and babies and growing children are actually +starving, for the government has kept them on short allowance lately. +Let a few head go to us." + +Ted said nothing for several moments, during which they all looked at +him anxiously. + +"Come on, Ted, be a good fellow," said Stella, with a laugh. + +"All right," said Ted. "How many do you want cut out?" Ted was looking +at the colonel. + +"I'd like to have the whole herd," answered the colonel. + +"They're not for sale. They're going up to the high range for the rest +of the summer, then to market, and I hope it will be a fairer one than +this. But for the sake of the young ladies, who have more influence with +this bunch in a minute than all the officers at Fort Felton have in a +year, I'll cut out enough for the beef issue. How many head do you need +for the Indians?" + +"About five hundred," answered the colonel, in a very different voice +from that he had used the night before. + +"Bud, cut out, count, and deliver five hundred head at the post pasture. +Stella, we're going on. Where's your aunt?" + +"Up at the post. Say, Ted Strong, don't believe for a minute that I'm +not going, too. I'll get a wagon for auntie, and we'll hit your trail in +a couple of hours." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +THE BEEF ISSUE. + + +When Bud and the boys rode into the herd to cut out the five hundred +head of cattle, the four officers went away to inspect the animals as +they came out, leaving Ted to talk to the two girls. + +Nothing was said about the unpleasant interview on the colonel's veranda +the evening before, but Stella laughingly told how she had decided at +the last moment to follow the fortunes of the boys, and had dragged her +aunt off to Montana without giving her time to think about it. + +While they were chatting the colonel rode up. + +"Mr. Strong, I wish you would come up to headquarters and get your +voucher for these cattle before you go. I should like you to dine with +us, also." + +"Please do, Ted," said Stella. "Then you can ride back to camp with aunt +and I. I have been trying to persuade Hallie to join our party for a +week or two, and experience the joys and excitement of the cattle +trail." + +"I should like very much to go with you, but----" + +Miss Croffut looked at her father with some apprehension. + +"If Mrs. Graham will consent to add to her burdens as a chaperon I have +no objections," said the colonel whose manner toward Ted had been simply +reversed by the independence and manliness the broncho boys had +exhibited. + +"We should be very glad to have you with us, Miss Croffut," said Ted. +"And if you have never been on the long drive I believe you would find +much that would interest you." + +"Then it's all settled," cried Stella. "I'm sure aunt would be delighted +to have you, and you will like the boys. They are like a lot of brothers +to me, only they are better than most brothers, for they let me do what +I please, and are a help instead of a nuisance." + +They all laughed at Stella's estimate of the usefulness of brothers, and +rode away toward the fort, Ted leading the way with Miss Croffut, whom +he found to be an exceedingly interesting companion, and who expressed +her love for riding and other outdoor sports. + +"We're going to see the beef issue," Stella called to Ted. + +"All right," he answered. "It will be some time before the cattle are up +to the pens, and, in the meantime, we'll leave you there, and ride over +to headquarters and settle the business end of it." + +The girls were left at the office of the Indian agent near the place +where the cattle were to be issued to the Indians. + +Scattered over the prairie near the agent's office were the members of +the tribe, waiting patiently for their portion of the fresh meat, which, +at certain times of the year, Uncle Sam doled out to them. + +It was a savage sight. Here and there were the smoke-browned tepees of +the Indians, before which sat the squaws and papooses, and the old men +and women. + +The bucks, heads of families, strode back and forth majestically, with +their rifles and old muskets in the hollow of their arms, while the +young men and half-grown boys dashed here and there on their ponies. + +It was an animated scene, and the two girls looked at it curiously, for +neither of them had seen anything like it before. + +While they were looking out of the window a shadow darkened the doorway, +and they looked up to see a tall young buck Indian standing on the +threshold. + +He was very tall for a Northern Indian, and his broad, bronze-colored +face, with its high cheek bones, and prominent, aquiline nose, with the +black, beady eyes between, and the wide, loose-lipped mouth beneath, +caused Miss Croffut to shudder unknowingly. + +To her there was something repulsive about the fellow. But Stella looked +at him boldly and inquiringly. + +"How?" grunted the Indian. + +"What you want?" asked Stella, in a business-like way. + +"Me want agent," he answered, with a leer, which evidently he intended +for a smile of fascination. + +"Not here," said Stella sharply. + +"Where go?" + +"Get out." + +The Indian stared at her with an expression of amazement, which +gradually turned to one of admiration. + +"Heap good-looking squaw," he grunted. + +"Get out," said Stella again. + +She was not frightened, only disgusted. + +"Me Running Bear. Heap big chief. Heap rich. Heap brave. Running Bear +want white squaw. Heap other wives cook for white squaw. Make plenty red +dress." + +When the Indian had first entered the room Stella thought that there was +something decidedly familiar about the redskin, but when the name +"Running Bear" fell from his lips, her worst fears were confirmed--this +was the Indian with whom Ted had had trouble during the winter, when he +had broken up the Whipple gang. + +As he strode into the middle of the room, with his hand on the butt of +the revolver that hung on his left hip, Miss Croffut uttered a faint +scream. + +Stella was not exactly frightened, but she felt that there might be some +danger in being in the room with this Indian brute, with not a white man +in hailing distance. + +When he got nearer she smelled liquor. Running Bear had been drinking, +and Stella knew that a drinking Indian is a crazy Indian who will do +things he never would dream of doing when he is sober. + +She unconsciously felt for her own revolver, but it was not at her side. +Then she remembered that she had left it at the colonel's house when she +had started out that morning. + +She eyed the Indian closely as he advanced farther into the room, and +saw that in the Indian's eyes there was a strange gleam. He reminded her +of a snake about to devour its prey, as he moved toward her, almost +imperceptibly, seeming not to move, and yet getting closer to her all +the time. + +Now he was quite close to her, and Hallie Croffut was sitting back in +her chair gazing at the Indian with an expression of frozen horror on +her face. + +"White squaw give Running Bear a kiss," gurgled the brute. + +Stella tried to scream, but her throat refused to give forth a sound. It +was like the nightmare when one tries to scream for terror of the awful +shape that is about to menace, but cannot utter a sound. + +Somewhere outside she heard her name. It was Ted calling to her, but she +could not answer. + +Now the Indian was only a step away, and had reached out his arms to +grasp her. + +Suddenly the door flew open, and there stood Ted Strong. But only for an +instant. + +With one leap he was into the room, and as the Indian turned, with that +beastly leer still on his face, Ted was upon him. + +Catching the Indian by the collar, he swung him around, while at the +same time his left arm flew forward, and his fist struck the Indian's +jaw with a smash that sent his head back, and wrung a groan from him. +Again and again the fist encountered the Indian's face, rocking his head +horribly, until it hung upon his shoulder, and then, with an exclamation +of disgust, Ted flung the brute from him, and the inert body rolled into +a corner, where it lay still. + +"Oh, Ted," exclaimed Stella, "that Indian is Running Bear, with whom you +had trouble when putting the Whipple gang out of business." + +"I know it, but I don't think he'll bother us any more. Come, girls," +said Ted, "it's time to go out and see the beef issue. They're reading +the names now, and the bucks are assembling." + +Outside a strange scene was being enacted. A clerk from the Indian +agent's office was sitting on top of the fence of the cattle corral +reading the names of the Indians from a large book. + +"Na-to-no-mah, John Fisher!" called the clerk, and a middle-aged Indian +stepped forward listlessly and stood aside. + +"The first name is his Indian or tribe name," explained Ted. "The name +John Fisher is the name given him in Washington, so that the clerks will +not get him mixed with an Indian whose name is similar." + +So the reading went on, and after each name the clerk said "one" or +"two," meaning that the owner of the name was entitled to one or two +cows, according to the number of members of his family. + +"Running Bear!" called the clerk. + +There was no answer. + +"Running Bear! Where is Running Bear?" The clerk looked around +anxiously, for Running Bear was a prominent Indian, and was entitled to +three cows, or as many as he could graft, and was never known to miss a +beef issue. There were murmurs of wonder among the Indians at the +absence of Running Bear, and the clerk was about to mark off his name, +when he staggered out of the agent's house, groggy from the punishment +he had received, with one eye a vivid green, and holding on to his jaw +as if he was afraid of losing it. + +"Ah, there you are, Running Bear," said the clerk. "You look as if you +had collided with a streak of lightning. What's the matter?" + +But the Indian only shook his head and pressed his jaw harder. + +"Reckon you've got the toothache, eh? Well, when you get your teeth +fastened into a piece of fresh bull meat you'll be all right." + +Running Bear gave one look, in which all the concentrated hatred of a +lifetime was to be seen. Then he turned away and went out to his tepee, +where one of his squaws bound his jaw in a wet cloth. + +But the roll had been called, and the Indians stood expectant close to +the gate of the corral. + +While the clerk stood up on the fence with his list he repeated the +names and the number of cattle to which each Indian was entitled, and +men inside the corral opened the gate and drove them out. + +As a frightened cow or angry steer was loosed from the corral it was met +with shouts, wild and blood-curdling, from all the Indians, and its +owner sprang upon his pony and took after the poor beast, driving it +into the open beyond, and away from the house and corral. + +"Now begins the chase," said Ted. "We'll get out here where we will have +a good view, but I don't think you will care to see much of it. It gets +to be pretty--well, pretty raw after a while." + +"Why don't they kill their beef in a slaughterhouse and give them the +meat, instead of turning the animals over to them alive?" asked Stella. + +"The Indians wouldn't stand for that," answered Ted. "This is the only +sport they have in a year's time. You see, they are not permitted to +leave the reservations to go far away to hunt big game, and they take it +out in hunting, or playing they are hunting, these miserable cows." + +"I don't see any fun in that," said Miss Croffut. + +"You haven't the imagination of an Indian. You see, they make believe +they are hunting buffalo again, and the chase is quite as exciting to +them as if they were doing the real thing." + +By this time the prairie was covered with steers and cows, lumbering +along in front of the Indians, who were pursuing them with shrill cries, +shooting at them with bows and arrows or with rifles, striving always to +wound them, but not to kill them too soon, for if they killed them right +away they would miss the fun of the chase. + +This made the beef issue a carnival of brutality, and Ted soon saw that +the girls were getting tired of it. + +In the center of the great circle in which there were several dozen +cattle running around aimlessly, pursued by a yelling, exultant, +bloodthirsty band of Indians, were several wounded steers and cows, +which had gone down and were unable to rise. Several groups of Indians, +squatting on the rim of the circle, were shooting at them. + +This was dangerous business, and the white spectators moved back out of +range. + +The shooting was very reckless at times, and the Indian agent had to +protest to the soldiers, who, under Lieutenant Barrows, had the issue in +charge. + +Ted and the two girls were sitting on their ponies, watching the show +from a position of safety, as they were out of line of any of the +shooting parties. + +Without warning a ball sang through the air, clipped through the mane of +Ted's pony, and pierced the sleeve of Ted's jacket, passing out between +him and Miss Croffut, who was by his side. + +As Ted looked up hastily he caught a gleam of blue across the circle as +it dodged behind the group of yelling and shooting Indians. + +Ted glanced at Stella, and saw a look in her eyes which plainly said: + +"Did you see it, too?" And Ted nodded. + +Miss Croffut had screamed as the ball went past, and Ted's pony, burned +by it, reared. + +"Let's get out of this," said Ted quietly. "Those Indians are beginning +to shoot wildly, and some one is going to get accidentally hit. I wonder +that the soldiers don't regulate it better." + +"They are afraid of getting the Indians angry," explained Miss Croffut. +"The war department allows them to do as they please at this function, +to keep them quiet at other times." + +But most of the poor dumb brutes had succumbed to this slow method of +butchering, and the squaws, with horrible cries, rushed into the field, +every one to the steer which her lord and master had killed, and the +hideous rites of skinning and cutting up the animals was begun by the +women, who were even more bloodthirsty than the men. + +"Come, we don't want to see this," said Ted, and led the way from the +field. + +"It is time for dinner," said Miss Croffut. "Then we must get ready for +the trail. We will get a wagon from the storekeeper--a regular camp +wagon with beds and a tent. Papa will arrange it all, and he will detail +an orderly to drive it for us, and care for our things." + +"That will be fine for you and aunt, but for me--the saddle and the camp +fire," said Stella. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +A SLAP ON THE FACE. + + +As they were riding toward the post they were joined by Ben, Bud, Kit, +Clay, and Carl, who came riding up like Cossacks, and were presented to +Miss Croffut, on either side of whom they fell into place, and began to +talk animatedly and enthusiastically about the coming trail. + +Ben expanded mightily in the presence of a new girl, while quiet Kit +contented himself by slipping in a witty remark that was pointed enough +to puncture Ben's gas bag of grand talk once in a while, to the great +amusement of the army girl, who had never before met such fine, free, +and easy, yet gentlemanly, fellows. + +Ted and Stella were riding together behind them. + +"Did you see him?" asked Stella at last, looking up at Ted. + +"See who?" asked Ted. + +"The man who shot at you, trying to murder you, and cast the blame on +the Indians," she replied directly. + +"Oh, that was an accident," said Ted. "I saw a flash of a blue coat over +where the shot came from, but it was probably an Indian with a blue +shirt on." + +"And you didn't see who it was?" she asked again wonderingly. + +"No." + +"Don't you even suspect?" + +"Hadn't thought of it." + +"Suppose it was not an accident, who do you think would be most likely +to try to shoot you from ambush, and make it appear an accident?" + +Ted thought a moment. Could it be possible that it was not an accident? +For a few minutes after the ball had plowed its way through their little +party he had thought perhaps it might have been sent at them +accidentally, as the Indians were doing some pretty wild shooting, and +then again he almost believed it to be an intentional shot. It could not +have come closer to him from such a distance, and yet so narrowly missed +his heart, unless it was intended for him. + +"Let me see," he mused. "Why, of course," he said, with a smile. "I +didn't think of it before. It must have been that Indian, Running Bear, +who was trying to get square for the punching I gave him." + +"Ted, you're as blind as a rat," said Stella. + +"Did you see the fellow who shot at me?" + +"I did. Got a good, square, sure-enough look." + +"Who was it?" + +For a moment Stella did not reply. + +"You'll hardly believe it," she answered, at last. + +"I'll believe you. I don't know that you ever told me anything that was +not the truth." + +"But it seems so incredible, that I would hardly believe it if I had not +seen it with my own eyes." + +"Well, out with it." + +"It was Lieutenant Barrows." + +"Stella! You can't mean it." + +Ted stopped his pony, and stood staring at the girl. + +"It was he who fired the shot. I am positive of it. I saw him do it, and +was just about to cry out a warning when the bullet struck your pony and +passed through your coat sleeve, and he dodged out of sight." + +"The hideous cur!" exclaimed Ted, who was the apostle of fair play, and +who always felt bitterly when he saw another practice false, and +especially an officer, who was supposed to uphold all the best standards +for a gentleman. In fact, "an officer and a gentleman" were synonymous +to him. + +"It seems incredible," he said, at last. "I didn't think he was much of +a chap, he has not had much experience, and I thought he would grow out +of his bad habits." + +"He's horrible," exclaimed Stella impatiently. "But that is not the +worst of it. Hallie is engaged to marry him some day. Think of it!" + +"Too bad. Of course she must know nothing of this. She must believe that +it was an accident." + +"Of course. Unless she mentions it we will say nothing about it, and +I'll tell her that you do not care to have anything said about it." + +"That's the thing. Pretty bad outlook for her." + +"Yes, and the worst of it is, she's crazy about him, and the colonel, +her father, is very much in favor of the marriage, and is doing +everything he can to bring it about. You see, Barrows is very rich." + +"Is he the son of Barrows, the railroad multi-millionaire, do you know?" + +"Yes, Hallie told me all about it. She says his father is going to have +him promoted through his influence in Washington to be military attaché +to one of our embassies in Europe. He has completely dazzled her with +his wealth, and the prospects ahead of her." + +"Too bad." + +"And she is such a sweet and sensible girl, but she has no mother, and +the other ladies at the post, especially Mrs. Calhoun, the major's wife, +have put a lot of nonsense into her head." + +"Well, if she comes with us, we'll try to get some of it out." + +"It looks as if Ben was trying to do that now," said Stella, pointing to +where Ben was talking to the girl, who was laughing happily. + +"Yes, or putting a lot of another brand into it." + +"Don't they make a handsome couple. Ben is such a fine-looking chap in +the saddle. I wish he would do something to cut out Barrows." + +"Look out. Don't you go to meddling in this affair," laughed Ted. "Well, +here we are at the colonel's. I reckon he didn't count on this addition +to his table." + +As they rode up to the others, Hallie Croffut was insisting that the +other boys remain for dinner, and the colonel, hearing the contention +from his chair on the veranda, came down to add his invitation to that +of his daughter. + +So it was that they all stayed, and just before dinner was announced +Lieutenant Barrows rode up and joined the group. + +He was hot and dusty, and in a bad temper. He acknowledged the +introductions to the boys superciliously, and barely nodded to Ted. + +Hallie looked at him with a puzzled frown, but said nothing, and entered +the house with Stella. + +During dinner Ben sat at the left hand of Hallie, with Barrows opposite. + +Ben was in his usual good spirits, and was so easy and gentlemanly in +his deportment, in spite of his rough clothes, that Stella was quite +proud of him. + +While he kept Hallie in a constant gale of laughter by his witty +remarks, Barrows did nothing but scowl at him, when he was not casting +sinister glances at Ted, who, however, never looked at him. + +After dinner the girls rushed away to get ready for the trip, and the +boys went out on the veranda to wait for them, while the colonel and +Barrows went into the library, ostensibly to talk over business of the +post, as Barrows was officer of the day. + +But presently Ted heard the voices of the two men rising above the +normal pitch. + +"I seriously object to Hallie going with such people." + +The voice was Barrows', and it was angry. + +"But they are all right," said the colonel. "I know Strong well by +reputation, and the Grahams are old friends of mine. Knew them for years +when I was in New Mexico. Hallie and Stella went to school together. +There can be no objection on that score." + +"But this cad Strong is nothing but a common cow-puncher, and his +companions are even worse." + +"They're worth more than you are financially," said the colonel. "That +is, they have made more individually than you have made. I'm not saying +what your father gives, or will give you. And that counts for +something." + +"Well, there is no use saying anything more about it if you are willing +to give your consent to Hallie traveling in the company of, and camping +with, such a low blackguard as that fellow Strong." + +"You dare not call him that to his face," came an indignant voice. +Evidently Stella had entered the library in time to hear Barrows' +speech. + +"I am surprised to hear you speak in that manner of one of my guests," +came the voice of Hallie Croffut. "Papa, I'm going with Stella. At first +I hesitated to leave you and Clarence here alone, but now I am decided. +You will not be very lonely, and I shall be very safe and happy with +Stella and dear Mrs. Graham, who is like an own aunt to me, and with +those gentlemen, the broncho boys. Good-by, daddy. We'll be back soon." + +"So his name's Clarence, eh?" said Bud Morgan, on the veranda. "Well, +wouldn't that jar yer?" + +In the library Hallie was kissing her father good-by, and then offered +her hand to Barrows. + +"Good-by, Clarence," she said. "I hope you'll be in a better frame of +mind when I get back." + +"I want to talk to you privately before you go," said Barrows, in a +sulky voice. + +"It is not necessary," answered the girl. + +"But I insist upon it. It is my right." + +"You have no rights I do not give you. This is good-by." + +"I'll make you regret this yet. I'll----" + +"Hold hard, Barrows. Remember, you are in my house, and that you are +talking to my daughter. Threats to a girl do not come gracefully from a +gentleman." The colonel evidently had sprung to his feet, and his voice +was cold and harsh. + +"Very well, I will not threaten. I will execute." + +The young officer strode from the room and through the hall, pausing to +pick up his cap. + +At the door he came face to face with Ted Strong, who was standing there +quietly, waiting for the moment when he should think his presence would +be necessary in the library. + +As the two came face to face, Barrows stopped and looked into Ted's eyes +with a look of intense hatred. He was as white as a sheet, and his lips +trembled. + +"So you have been acting the eavesdropper, eh?" Barrows said, with a +sneer. "I hope you heard all I said about you, and that is not all I +think, either. Would you like to hear some more." + +"I don't care what you think about me. That will do me no harm. But if +you desire to retain your beauty I would advise you to keep it to +yourself. You probably know what I think of you, you cowardly assassin." +Ted spoke these words in a tone intended only for the ears of Barrows +himself. + +"What do you mean?" stammered the young officer, pale as death. + +"You know. You missed my heart at the beef issue by an inch or two, but +you were seen, you cur, and you can't lie out of it. If I were to tell +it, you would be drummed out of the army, and every place else where +there are square men. Keep away from me and mine in every way, and +especially with your filthy tongue. If you do not, I'll break you." + +Barrows uttered an unspeakable epithet to Ted under his breath. + +A loud crack sounded far enough to reach the ears of those in the +library, and bring the broncho boys to their feet. Across the white face +of Lieutenant Barrows were the crimson finger marks left by Ted Strong. + +Without a word the lieutenant swung on his heel, and walked down the +steps, mounted his horse, and rode away. + +In the doorway stood a young girl who looked at his going with wide +eyes. She was very pale, but as Barrows rode away without a word or a +glance backward, a flush slowly mounted to her forehead. + +She turned and threw her arms around the neck of Stella, for it was +Hallie Croffut who had seen the blow delivered. + +"He didn't even offer to resent the blow," sobbed Hallie. "Is it +possible that he is a coward?" + +"There, dear, I wouldn't worry about him," said Stella soothingly. "It +was very wrong for Ted to do so." + +Ted, who was standing near, also watching the departing lieutenant with +some surprise, heard these words and turned to look at the girls. + +He smiled, however, when he heard Stella trying to comfort Hallie by +blaming him, for over the shoulder of the crying girl his girl pard +winked at him with a smile that assured him that, no matter what she +said, she thought that whatever happened he was all right. + +"Say," drawled Bud to the other boys, "Ted put ther bloom o' youth on +Clarence's cheek, didn't he?" + +"He certainly did," said Ben, "and probably saved Clarence from getting +a good, stout punch on the nose from me." + +Ben held up for inspection a fist as big as a picnic ham, and worked it +around as if it was fitted to a toggle joint. + +"He didn't get all that was coming to him, either," said Kit. "If ever +there was a cad he's got the job." + +"And seems to be swelled up over it, too," said Clay. + +"Ach, yes, dot iss der vay mit dem army offichers," sighed Carl. "Dey +vas so conspicuousness in deir uniforms dot dey vos ridiculousness." + +"Say, Dutch, you want ter look out or you'll blow out all o' yer teeth +some o' these days sayin' them words," warned Bud. + +"Well, it isn't such a good joke as it seems," said Kit reflectively. "A +young fellow in the army, and with the backing he has, can make it +pretty disagreeable for fellows like us living and doing business in a +country where an army post is part of the civil government. Have you +thought of that?" + +"Kit's right," said Ted. "I guess we've made an enemy. But I'll be +mighty glad of it if it serves to accomplish one thing." + +"What's that?" asked Ben. + +"If it will keep him away from Hallie Croffut," was the answer. + +"I reckon there's others who will help attend to that," said Ben +sturdily, whereat several of the boys smiled. Ben was forever coming to +the rescue of maidens in distress, especially if they were more than +merely pretty. + +"We've all got to do our share at cheering the poor girl up," said Kit, +with a sly glance at Ted, who grinned. + +"Oh, I guess I'm large and strong enough to carry my own burdens," said +Ben. "I've managed to pack a good many of them' so far without getting +round-shouldered." + +"Yes, and without losing your appetite." + +"Hush, boys," cautioned Ted. "Here come the girls." + +Stella came out of the house, bearing in her arms a lot of shawls and +bundles, followed by Mrs. Graham and Hallie Croffut. + +"When you see me coming at this stage of the game loaded down like this +you'd know for sure that Auntie Graham was going on a roughing trip." + +"That's all right," said Kit. "Mrs. Graham can take whatever she likes +on the trips, if she'll only go along." + +"You're a nice boy, Kit, to say such nice things," said Mrs. Graham, +smiling. "But you're all nice boys to take an old lady like me with you, +and stand for all my laziness and tantrums." + +"That's right, auntie, you keep on with that line of talk, and you'll +get these fellows so spoiled that I'll have to begin training them all +over again. I just had them so that they were going along all right. But +you mustn't let them know they're nice, or they'll quit being nice right +there. Come, fellows, help carry Auntie Graham's things down to the +wagon. We've got to get started pretty pronto." + +They were all ready to start when an orderly dashed up on horseback, and +handed Hallie a letter, saluted, and rode off. + +The girl tore open the envelope, and read its contents. + +"What shall I do?" she asked, handing the letter to Ted. + +Ted's eyes ran over it rapidly. + +"Forget it," he answered, crumpling the note in his hand and throwing it +away. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +RUNNING BEAR'S SQUAW. + + +As they rode away to join the herd, which had been moving slowly +northward, Hallie and Stella rode together, and Hallie was telling her +friend what she felt, and what she thought about her break with +Lieutenant Barrows. + +"That note was the most impertinent thing I ever read," Hallie was +saying. + +"What was it all about? Ted did not think it was of much importance," +said Stella. + +"And yet it was all about him." + +"You don't say so. What was it?" + +Stella was not very curious about the letter, for she was too free and +independent to care what an enemy said of her or her friends. She had +that intense loyalty of character that put tried and chosen friends +before all the world, and she believed and stuck to her friends through +all and above all. But this was a characteristic of all the broncho +boys. + +She didn't believe that anything any one could write about Ted Strong +could hurt him, at least it could not with her. + +"It forbade me going with you on this trip, and said some awful things +about Mr. Strong," said Hallie. + +"Is that all?" + +"It said that Ted was a scoundrel, and that he felt it his duty to +expose him, and that, moreover, Ted had declared himself his enemy, and +he was going to get the bitterest sort of revenge for the insult Ted had +offered him. And--and a lot more." + +"If he wanted revenge, why didn't he take it while he had the chance? +Anyway, Ted doesn't seem to be very much afraid, so I'm not going to +worry." + +Ted realized that he had made a bitter and dangerous enemy. + +Barrows would be dangerous because he would not fight in the open, but +would stab him in the back. The way in which he had taken the slap on +the face proved that he was an open coward, but secretly was brave +enough in his blows. The shot fired by him at the beef issue was proof +enough for that. + +But Ted, while he determined to keep his eyes open, was not borrowing +trouble, and soon put Barrows and his enmity out of his mind. + +They caught up with the herd in the middle of the afternoon, and Hallie, +who had never seen so many cattle before in her life, was delighted with +the experience she was about to undergo. + +The weather was splendid, and Stella rode up and down with her along the +line, introducing such of the boys as had not met her, and teaching her +the points of the cattle business. + +Finally, Hallie got hold of Bud, who volunteered to teach her how to +shoot and throw a lariat, and she was perfectly happy, and soon forgot +the unpleasant occurrences at her home before she left. + +Stella was just spoiling for a good, hard gallop, and tried to get Ted +to go with her in a race across the prairie, but he politely but firmly +declined the honor, on account, as he explained, that he was responsible +for the safety of several thousand head of cattle, and as he had been up +against one failure with them so far he did not propose to face another +because of neglect. + +"All right, Smarty," said Stella. "You don't have to go. But you'll be +sorry if anything happens to me." + +"Stay with the herd, Stella," he said. "What's the use of tearing off +alone across the prairie?" + +"Not very much, as a matter of fact, but if you'd been shut up in a poky +old hotel for a couple of weeks, and only going out with your aunt to +shop around in stuffy dry-goods stores, you'd like to get out for a +breezer yourself," she said. + +"I reckon I would, but don't go far, and get back before dark." + +She waved her hand to him gayly, gave Magpie a flick with her whip, and +went flying across the country. + +"Hi, Stella!" shouted Kit. "Where you goin'?" + +But she was already out of hearing. + +"Let her go," said Ted. "She's got one of her crazy riding spells on, +and she'll just have to ride it out of her." + +In a few minutes she was a speck on the horizon. + +"That girl can ride some," said Kit, looking regretfully after her. Kit +could "ride some" himself, and this afternoon he just felt like a good +breeze across the turf, and no one suited him for a riding companion +like Stella, for she was so fearless and bold, and never balked at a +chance. + +But Stella was gone, and the drive settled down to a steady thing. + +We will leave the herd for the present to follow the fortunes of Stella, +whose ride that afternoon had so much to do with fashioning the +immediate fortunes of Ted Strong and the broncho boys. + +As Stella was borne exultingly along through the clear, sharp air of the +Montana uplands, she was singing in a high, sweet voice the cowboy song, +"The Wolf Hunt." + + "Over the hills on a winter's morn, + In the rosy glow of a day just born, + With the eager hounds so fleet and strong, + On the gray wolf's track we jog along." + +As she paused at the end of the first verse she thought she heard an +echo of it. It seemed that off to the north somewhere she had heard an +eerie "Ai-i-e!" But she listened attentively, bringing Magpie to a stop, +and hearing it no more, concluded that she had been mistaken. + +Then she galloped on, still singing at the top of her voice from sheer +happiness and good spirits, the other verses of the wolf song, and, +although she paused frequently for the repetition of the cry, she did +not hear it until she had sung the refrain for the last time: + + "The race is o'er, the battle won, + The wolf lies dying in the sun; + His midnight raids are of the past, + He's met the conquering foe at last. + Well done, brave hounds! Thy savage prey + Was shrewdly caught and killed to-day." + +As she stopped and looked around her at the brown, rocky hills, once +more she heard that shrill and heart-searching wail. + +"What can it be?" muttered Stella, reining in her horse. "Is it a woman, +or is it a beast trying to lure me on? It sounds like a woman in +distress, and yet cougars can cry like that, also." + +She meditated a moment, and then decided to take a chance. + +She would search out the creature that had sent forth that desolate cry. + +"Ai-i-e!" cried Stella, imitating the other. + +"Ai-i-e!" came the reply. + +It came from the north, and seemed only a short distance away. + +Slowly Stella crept forward up the rocky hillside, pausing now and then +to listen. + +Once more she heard the wail. This time it seemed to be under her very +feet, and, guarding against treachery, she drew her revolver, and walked +softly on. + +Suddenly she stopped in amazement. At her feet lay a young Indian girl. + +She was lying on a blanket, and the yellow front of her deerskin tunic +was stained with blood. + +Without an instant's hesitation Stella was on her knees beside the girl, +working with swift and gentle fingers to unfasten the tunic. + +As she did so the girl opened her eyes, and, seeing Stella, smiled. + +Then her Indian stoicism failed her, and she uttered a groan and +fainted. + +"Poor thing," muttered Stella. "Poor, wounded, wild thing. Here lies the +wild wolf 'dying in the sun,' as the song says. I wonder if she knew the +song." + +But by this time she had opened the tunic and saw a bullet wound on the +brown skin, through which the blood was oozing steadily. + +She stood up and looked around for a water sign, and not far away +discovered a little clump of willows, which advertised a spring. + +She hurried to it and filled her hat to the brim with the cool fluid and +rushed back to the wounded Indian girl, who had not yet recovered from +her fainting fit. + +Stella bathed her head, washed her wound, and then poured some of the +water between her lips. + +At that the girl opened her eyes, and, with another smile, opened her +lips as if to speak. + +"Rest now, dear," said Stella, with so much pity and love in her voice +that the girl could only smile once more, and gratefully close her eyes. + +It did not take Stella long to improvise bandages from some of her own +garments, which she tore into strips, and bound up the wound so that it +stopped bleeding at last. + +Another drink of water so refreshed the Indian girl that she tried to +rise, but Stella gently forced her back, and told her to rest. + +Stella never rode away from camp without taking food in a small bag, +which was attached to the cantle of her saddle. + +She now bethought herself of it, and hurried away for it. + +The Indian girl was ravenously hungry, and her faintness was as much due +to her abstinence from food as from the loss of blood. + +But when she had eaten she appeared much stronger. + +"What is your name?" asked Stella. + +The girl looked up at her and smiled. + +"I am Singing Bird, daughter of Cloud Chief," she answered. + +"You can speak English well," said Stella, at which the girl looked +pleased. + +"Yes, I went to the Indian school, and learned to speak and to sing +hymns." + +"How do you come to be here?" + +"My man shot me." + +"What?" cried Stella, in a horrified tone. "Your man shot you? What do +you mean by that?" + +"I am Running Bear's squaw." + +"You are married to Running Bear?" + +The girl nodded her head. + +"And did Running Bear shoot you?" + +"Yes. He shot me and left me to die." + +"The horrible brute. What did he shoot you for?" + +"He said he had too many squaws, and wanted a white squaw." + +"Couldn't he have sent you away without trying to kill you?" + +"I wouldn't tell him something." + +"Oh, that was the reason, eh?" + +"Yes, he married me at the school for my secret, and when I wouldn't +tell him he began to hate me." + +"Tell me about it. How long have you been married to him?" + +"Five months." + +"I thought you were rather young to be a wife. How old are you?" + +"I am seventeen." + +"Where is your home; where does your father live?" + +"My father is in the Far North. I cannot go to him any more now. My man +has turned me out and tried to kill me, but yet I live. But there is +nothing for me now but to die." + +"Indeed, you are not going to die. You are going to live with me until +you are well, then you can say what you are going to do." + +"The white lady is too good to an Indian girl." + +"No, that is only right. How do you feel now? Do you think you could +travel if I was to help you into my saddle?" + +"I will do what my sister wishes," said the Indian girl simply, trying +to rise. But the effort was too much for her, and she sank back, the +blood spurting freshly from the wound. + +"That won't do," said Stella, easing the girl back, and rolling up her +jacket and placing it under her head. "You are not able to leave here +yet. At least, you cannot ride." + +The Indian girl was perfectly passive under Stella's guidance, and did +not think of having a will of her own. + +"I wish one of the boys had come with me," Stella said to herself. +"Something always happens when I go away alone. I must get word to them +somehow." + +"I am going to fire my revolver to bring help," said she to Singing +Bird. "You will not be frightened." + +The other girl shook her head. + +Stella fired her revolver three times, and waited for an answer, but +none came. + +After waiting a while longer, she fired three more shots. + +"No shoot again. Need bullets for wolves. Come around soon," said +Singing Bird. + +The day was going fast, and soon it would be dark. She could not leave +the girl to go for help, for with the dark the wolves would come. + +Singing Bird had fallen into a feverish doze, and Stella arose and +gathered up some dry wood from about the spring, and carried it to where +the girl was lying. + +Stella had some matches in her outfit, and when it got dark she intended +lighting the fire, hoping that the boys would see it when they came to +look for her when she did not return at dark. + +Again she brought water from the spring, and sat down beside her +new-found friend to bathe her head and reduce her fever. + +As darkness fell she heard vague rustlings in the tall grass, and looked +carefully about. In the dim light she saw pale-green lights moving +about, and knew that the wolves had smelled blood, and were gathering. +But she was not afraid. She knew that she could keep them away with the +fire and her revolver. + +One of the wolves came quite close to the little camp and set up a howl, +and the Indian girl awoke. + +"White girl go to her friends," she said to Stella. "Leave Singing Bird +to die as the Great Manitou intended." + +"Indeed, I will not. I will stay with you until my friends come to me, +and then we will take you with us and nurse you." + +Stella thought it was time to light the fire, and as its flames leaped +high, she felt more at ease. + +When the wolves came close to the camp she fired her revolver at them, +and drove them away. + +The hours passed silently, Stella rising occasionally to replenish the +fire and look at Singing Bird, who seemed to be sleeping. As a matter of +fact, the young Indian, who had been reared out-of-doors, and was +perfectly healthy, was recovering rapidly from her wound, although had +it not been for Stella she would probably not have survived the night, +for what the chill night air would not have done the wolves would have +finished. + +It was long past midnight when out of the west rose a clear, welcome +shout that sounded as the sweetest music to her ear, the Moon Valley +yell, and she answered it, while the Indian girl sat up and smiled at +her. + +They had been found at last. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +"THE WOOFER" APPEARS. + + +Presently Stella heard the clatter of many pony hoofs on the turf, then +a succession of yells, and Ted, Ben, and Bud galloped into the circle of +light made by her fire. + +"Hello, what have we here?" asked Ted, riding up and flinging himself +from the saddle. + +"I found this Indian girl, Singing Bird, daughter of Cloud Chief, lying +here with a wound in her breast that would have killed an ordinary +mortal, but I think she is getting better." + +"We got worried about you when you did not return for supper, and +started out to find you. If we hadn't seen the reflection of your fire +against the sky we would have passed you by. How did this happen?" + +"She tells me she is the squaw of Running Bear, with whom you had an +argument at the beef issue." + +"Yes, I remember him. What about him? Why is he not here to take care of +his wife?" + +"He shot her and left her here to die, because he was tired of her, and, +she says, because she would not reveal to him a secret." + +"He certainly is a precious scoundrel, and deserves worse than I gave +him, and if I ever meet him again I won't do a thing to him." + +"But we must get this girl to a camp where she can be cared for, Ted. It +is cruel to leave her here on the cold ground when she can have a cot +and plenty of blankets." + +"I don't know how we are going to manage it to-night." + +"One of you can ride back to camp, and get the wagon and a lantern, and +come back for her. She ought to have better attention than I can give +her here." + +"That's all right. Bud, ride back to camp and get the wagon out, and +fill it with blankets and my medicine chest, and get back here as soon +as your team will bring you." + +Ben had sauntered down to where the willows were seen, and soon returned +with a big armful of wood, which he tossed upon the fire, then sat just +outside the blaze and popped away with his revolver at the little balls +of pale-green light, the wolves' eyes, which he saw floating among the +tall grass, and he always knew when he had made a bull's-eye by the +howl, and the thrashing around that followed it. + +Ted sat with Stella, watching the Indian girl, who had again fallen into +a deep sleep. + +"Did she say what her secret is?" asked Ted. + +"No, I didn't ask her, and I don't intend to. If she wants to confide in +me, well and good, but I am not a sharer of other peoples' troubles or +secrets. I have as many of my own as I can take care of." + +It was almost dawn when they heard the rumble of wagon wheels, and Bud +drove over the top of the hill, and came toward them. + +"By my Aunt Hester's black cat's tail, I never had sech a time gittin' a +team hitched up as this one. It took me an hour to ketch 'em out o' ther +pony herd, and yer talks about drivers, I'd jest as soon try ter drive +two bolts o' red-hot chain lightning. But I've got all ther ginger +worked outer 'em now, an' I reckon that nigh bay will not never buck no +more." + +"Now we'll see if she can be moved," said Ted. "I think we can lift her +right on the blanket on which she is lying, and into the wagon, if you +will lend a hand, Stella." + +Each of the four took a corner of the blanket, and with some difficulty, +for Singing Bird suffered excruciating pain with every motion, they got +her into the wagon and started for the camp, driving slowly over the +rough ground. + +It was almost daylight when they reached camp, where willing hands +helped to make the girl comfortable in a tent which Ted rigged up. + +Then Ted and Stella went to work with all their surgical skill, and soon +had Singing Bird's wound properly dressed. Stella stood guard over her, +and nursed her as tenderly as if the Indian had been a sister of her +blood. + +Ted had stayed the herd until Singing Bird should be well enough to get +up. The pasturage was fine, and after their arduous drive Ted thought +that it would do the cattle no harm to have a long rest. + +He was undecided what to do with the Indian girl. It was not altogether +practicable to take her with them, and it did not seem to be the humane +thing to leave her behind to again fall into the hands of her brutal +Indian husband. + +At last one morning Stella announced that Singing Bird was almost well. +On account of her health and generally fine physical condition she had +made rapid progress toward recovery. + +"What are we going to do with her?" asked Ted, when Stella announced +that Singing Bird was well enough to travel. + +"I don't know what she wants to do," said Stella. "One thing I am sure +of, I am not going to see her come to any harm. I have grown very fond +of her, for she is a sweet, good girl." + +"Let us ask her what she wants to do. I suppose we shall have to abide +by her decision, for we cannot turn her adrift." + +Singing Bird was sitting in front of her tent in the sun, watching the +cowboys sitting around their camp, weaving horsehair bridles, cleaning +their guns, mending their clothes, and doing other things that fall to +the leisure of a cow camp. + +"Singing Bird, you are well now, and able to travel," said Stella, +sitting down on the grass. + +The girl looked at her and then at Ted with an expression of alarm in +her face. They both saw that she feared what was coming. + +"What do you want to do, Singing Bird? We must be on the trail again, +for we have a long way to go to the big pasture to the north," Stella +continued. + +"I want to stay with you, sister," said the Indian girl simply. "I will +die if you send me away. I will slave for you if you will only let me +stay near you. I have no one else on earth. My husband has cast me out; +my father will not have me back; the white man does not want the Indian. +I am alone in the world. You have saved my life. I am your slave." + +"That settles it," said Stella, with the hint of tears in her eyes. "You +shall stay with me, dear. Ted, get ready to move the herd whenever you +are ready. Singing Bird goes with me." + +"All right," said Ted, glad that the matter was so easily disposed of. +"You can do whatever you want to with this outfit. If you say she goes, +why, she goes." + +He went out to where the boys were to give orders for getting the herd +on the move again. + +"We'll hit the trail in the morning," he said. "It will take some time +to break camp, and we might as well stay around here the rest of to-day +and get an early start in the morning." + +Far out on the prairie they heard a cheery shout, and saw coming toward +them a horseman, driving before him a bunch of six steers. + +"Git on to ther new herd crossin' our trail," said Bud derisively. +"Jumpin' sand, hills, but thet feller hez a big bunch o' cattle." + +"Wonder where he got them all. He's surely a big drover," said Kit. + +But the stranger hustled the six steers into the camp, and pulled up a +scrawny little cayuse, and, taking off his hat with a flourish to Stella +and Hallie, who had joined the boys, said: + +"Your pardon, ladies an' gents, but what may be ther brand that is +burned inter ther hides o' yer esteemed cattle?" + +Ted looked at him questioningly, and saw a tall, thin, bronzed +individual, dressed in a most unusual costume for a cow-puncher, for +such he evidently was from the manner in which he had driven the cattle, +and the way in which he sat and handled his horse. + +He had a strange face, half humorous and half sinister. One moment he +would be merry and gay, but in an instant, and for an instant only, it +would change to suspicion and caution. He was lean of frame, but very +muscular, and his eyes were of a keen, piercing blue. + +"Any particular reason for wanting to know?" asked Ted quizzically, +smiling up at the tatterdemalion of a cowboy. + +"Well, I reckon," was the drawling reply. "I picked up six strays out +here a ways, an' they don't belong ter no brand in this yere part o' +ther country, so I suspicions they belong ter some pilgrims' road brand. +Now, yours is ther only bunch o' trail cattle what's passed this way +recently, an' me, bein' wise ter ther ways o' ther plains, hez ther +hunch thet they might be yours. Right cute o' me, wa'n't it?" + +Ted laughed at the chap's half-humorous, half-serious manner. + +"Our brand is the Lazy Z," he replied. + +"Then them critters aire yourn. Look 'em over, an' if they don't belong +ter you, hand 'em back, an' I'll make 'em ther noocleus o' a herd o' my +own." + +Ted rode up to the six strays, which were peacefully grazing not far +away, and examined the brand. They belonged to the herd, all right, and +he said so. + +"Well, stranger, much obliged to you for picking them up and bringing +them in," said Ted. "Now, what can I do for you? Those critters are +worth a hundred dollars or more to this outfit. I'll split with you." + +"No, you won't, stranger, seein' it's all ther same ter you. I may be a +measly, fleabitten, hongry, lone maverick o' ther plains, but thar's one +thing I ain't, an' that's a 'lost and found' department, 'suitable +reward offered, an' no questions asked.' When I picks up a man's strays +I hands 'em in if I can find him, or if I was so blame' hongry I +couldn't resist ther temptation I might butcher one fer ther sake o' +sinkin' my molars inter a tenderloin steak. But thet's ther wust a +feller could say fer me. If ther critters aire yours, take 'em, an' +welcome." + +"All right, pardner," said Ted, who had taken a fancy to the fellow. "At +least, you'll eat with us." + +"Shore I'll break bread. I'm as hongry ez a shipwrecked sailor. When +does ther tocsin sound?" + +"The dinner bell will ring in about half an hour. Get down and turn your +cayuse out to graze, and join us about the fire." + +"Which means ter open ther mouth o' my war bag, an' give up my +pedigree." + +"Something like that," said Ted, with a laugh. + +The ungainly cow-puncher slid out of his saddle like an eel, and slipped +the saddle and bridle off his pony, and, giving it a slap on the haunch, +sent it out to eat. + +Throwing his horse furniture on the ground near the fire, he squatted in +the ring of boys about, and proceeded to roll a cigarette in a leisurely +way. + +"Say, hombre," he said, looking at Ted. "You've got a mighty tidy outfit +yere." + +Ted nodded, and continued to watch the stranger's face. + +"Which outfit mought it be?" asked the cow-puncher, picking a live coal +out of the fire and placing the end of his cigarette against it. + +"Moon Valley, Black Hills," said Ted. + +"An' your name mought be----" + +"Ted Strong." + +The stranger paused with his cigarette halfway to his lips, and lifted +his eyebrows. + +"Sho! Yer don't say?" + +"But I do." + +"Well, I'm right proud ter meet up with yer, an' be able ter do yer a +small service. My handle is numerous, not because I've ever had any +serious reason ter change ther one my daddy give me, but because ther +cow-punchers has a most humorous way o' hitchin' whatever label they +thinks fits onter a man." + +"What's your present label?" asked Ted. + +"Ther cognomen what I packs with me now is sure fantastical. I'm known +on ther Western free range as 'The Woofer.'" + +"'The Woofer'? That's a strange name." + +"It ain't my real name, which is 'Tennessee Al.'" + +"How did you come to be named 'The Woofer'?" + +"Well, it's jest a piece o' foolishness," said the cow-puncher, laughing +at the recollection of it. + +"Tell us about it." + +"Well, it was this away: About two year ago last Chrismus I wuz punchin' +cows over on Coburn's ranch. Chrismus Eve ther boys got some cagy, an' +we all decided ter go inter Cut Bank, ther tradin' town some ten mile +away, an' cellybrate. It wuz a bad night, with ther wind blowin' out o' +ther nor'west, an' ther promise o' a bliz. + +"Wallace Coburn balks some at ther boys leavin' ther cattle, fer he sees +thet thar's some danger o' their driftin' in ther night. But yer don't +can up a lot o' cow-punchers Chrismus Eve when they wants ter go, so +finally he grunts out that we kin go, an' off we starts. + +"'Fleshy' Wheeler, so called because he wa'n't no bigger round nor a +lemonade straw, kep' a saloon in Cut Bank, an' thar wuz ter be a day. +Well, we-all went ter ther dance, which progressed beautiful, when one +o' ther boys come in an' announces that a big herd o' cattle had drifted +through ther town while we wuz trippin' ther light fantastic toe, and +that one o' ther critters had fallen inter ther town well. + +"Naturally, ther town people objected ter havin' range cow mixed in with +their drinkin' water, an' hinted strong that it wuz up ter us +cow-punchers ter git it out, at ther same time emphasizin' their +invitation with a lot o' shiny six-shooters. + +"Well, we goes inter caucus, an' decided thet ther cow belongs ter ther +Coburn outfit, an' that we're too humane ter let a pore critter stay in +a well Chrismus Eve, when joy an' peace an' merriment is reignin' +everywhere. + +"Now, as you-all knows, when a cow is hauled out o' a bog or a well she +don't feel no gratitood, she jest gits mad plumb through an' h'ists her +tail, an' runs fer ther fust thing she sees afoot, with her horns ready +fer immediate business. + +"Before we goes out ter git ther cow outer ther well, we tells Fleshy +ter stand guard at the door, an' when ther cow charges, ter let us in, +then slam ther door in ther cow's face. He agrees. + +"We ropes ther cow, an' altogether pulls her out an' puts her on terry +firmy. Then we hits it up fer ther house, with ther cow as mad as a +woman scorned, an' only two jumps behind me, what is ther last man ter +git under way. + +"Ther boys hits ther house, an' Fleshy lets 'em in, but me, bein' some +feet behind, he doesn't see, at least, that's ther way he explains ter +me later, an' he slams ther door in my face jest ez ther cow arrives. + +"My only chance is ter keep runnin', an' I starts around ther house, +hopin' that when I gits ter ther door ag'in Fleshy will have discovered +his mistake, an' have it open hospitablelike fer me, but cold feet fer +ther cow. + +"But, no, ther door is closed an' bolted, an' I start on another lap +around ther house with Mrs. Cow a-snortin' an' a-blowin' in my immediate +vicinity, an' comin' fast. Every time I hit ther ground with my hoofs I +grunted 'woof.' I wuz gittin' winded, what with runnin' an' yellin', so +thet I wuz gruntin' 'woof' most all ther time. + +"Inside, all wuz merriment, an' me runnin' fer my life, fer ther cow wuz +most industrious, an' didn't know what it wuz ter git tired. + +"Well, ter make a long tale short, I kept runnin' an' gruntin' 'woof' at +every jump, ther sweat runnin' down an' freezin' on my clothes, until +mornin', when ther cow gits tired an' goes away. Then ther boys comes +out an' finds me, an' says they're mighty surprised ter see me, havin' +conclooded that I'd gone home. + +"'We hear somethin' goin' "woof" all night, an' thought it wuz ther +cow,' says Fleshy, 'an' we didn't dast open ther door fer fear she'd +want ter come in, an' as there wuz ladies there, it wouldn't do. Wuz +that you what was woofin' all night?' + +"After that I wuzn't nothin' ter them boys but 'The Woofer.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +SINGING BIRD'S SECRET. + + +The boys laughed at the story, for Woofer, as they began to call him +immediately, told it in a most comical manner. They all took to him +immensely, and regarded him as quite an acquisition to the camp. + +Dinner was announced by McCall, the cook, and Woofer certainly did +justice to it, being, as Bud remarked in an aside to Hallie, "holler all +the way down to his toes." He confessed that he had had nothing to eat +but a little mud, which he had absorbed when he got a drink at a water +hole, since the noon of the day before. + +Ted had been thinking about the man. It would do no harm to have another +puncher in the outfit, and would relieve the night guard, which at times +was a little overworked. + +"Say, Woofer, you won't take a reward for bringing in our strays, how +would you like a job with this outfit?" he said. + +"I don't want you to think I'm workin' ther grub line," said the +cow-puncher quickly. + +When a cow-puncher is said to be working the grub line, he is known as a +thriftless cowman who cannot hold a job long anywhere, and who travels +from ranch to ranch, staying only long enough at each to get fed up, +then passing on with a few dollars in his pocket, to repeat the +operation elsewhere. + +"Certainly not," answered Ted. "If I believed that I wouldn't offer you +the job." + +"All right," said Woofer. "This outfit looks good to me, an' I'll jine, +an' go ter work instanter." + +"You're on the pay roll, then." + +Woofer proved quickly that he knew the business thoroughly, and when, +the next morning, the herd got under way, he took the left point, with +Bud on the right, and headed the herd into the north. + +For several days life on the trail was monotonous. Whenever Ted could be +spared from the herd he and Stella and Hallie Croffut, and sometimes Ben +or Kit, took long rides off the trail with their rifles, after a +pronghorn or black-tail deer, and frequently they had venison for +supper. + +The life was most fascinating to Hallie, who enjoyed every minute of it, +and had seemingly forgotten the unpleasant features of her start with +the party. + +Singing Bird rode in the wagon, with Mrs. Graham, waiting on that lady +in the capacity of maid. Stella had undertaken to teach her the duty of +maid, and the girl soon did for Mrs. Graham what had taken a great deal +of Stella's time. + +The Indian girl was devoted to Stella, and whenever she was near, +followed the pretty white girl with eyes in which shone devotion and +affection. + +She had made herself so useful, and was so self-effacing that every one +wondered how they had ever been able to get along without her. + +Stella had conceived a real affection for her, she was so gentle and +sweet of manner. + +They had long talks together in the evenings, sitting away from the +fire, the Indian girl telling her white friend all about the life led by +the Indians, their wrongs at the hands of the white men, their religious +beliefs, their songs, and their folklore. + +And, more important than all, she taught Stella the language of the +Blackfeet and the Sioux. Stella was a good scholar, and it was +surprising how rapidly she picked up the Indian tongues. Later she was +to feel gratitude to the Indian girl for this knowledge. + +For several days Stella had noticed that Singing Bird was uneasy and +apparently unhappy, and it worried her. + +She spoke to Ted about it, and he was of the opinion that the Indian +girl was getting homesick, that her wild nature was asserting itself, +and that she was experiencing a longing to be among her own people +again, and free from the conventions of civilized life. + +Stella did not think so, and determined to speak to Singing Bird about +it at the first good opportunity. + +One day the chance came as they were walking together in a wood near +which they had camped. + +"What is the matter with you, sister?" asked Stella kindly. "Is it that +you are not satisfied with our ways, and that you want to leave us?" + +Singing Bird looked at her with troubled eyes, in which the tears soon +began to well up. + +"My sister knows that I love her," she said, "and that I would not leave +her unless she wishes me to." + +She looked at Stella inquiringly. + +"No, I want you to stay. But if you are troubled, you must tell me as +one sister would tell another." + +"I will tell you," said the Indian girl simply, "and I would have told +you long ago, only that I did not want to trouble you, nor make trouble +for any one else in the camp." + +"What do you mean by making trouble for any one else in the camp?" + +"I mean that the new man who drives the cows is a bad man. Beware of +him." + +"You mean the man called Woofer?" + +"Yes, it is he whom I mean. He is the traitor, and he doesn't like the +master, Ted Strong." + +"How do you know that?" + +"From what he has said to me. He is the bad man." + +"But tell me all about it. I didn't know that he had talked to you, +even. Why did you not tell me this before?" + +"The white man threatened to kill me if I told." + +"Now you must tell me all." + +"We will sit down here, for there is much to tell." + +Singing Bird took a seat upon a fallen tree, and Stella sat down beside +her. + +"Proceed," said Stella, "and leave nothing out." + +"When he first came to the camp, I wished he would not stay," began +Singing Bird, "but every one seemed to think he was the good man, and +who am I to say anything against the wishes of my friends who saved my +life and made me a home?" + +"Did you know him then?" + +"Yes. I have seen him at the white soldiers' fort. He is the friend of +Running Bear. He is a bad man, who steals other men's cattle." + +"But he brought ours back to us." + +"That was a trick to get into your camp. He is as cunning as a bad +Indian. One day he came to me when no one was about, and told me that he +had seen my husband, Running Bear, and that I must go back to him. I was +frightened, but told him I would not do so. Then he begged me to tell +him the secret I have. I told him I could not do it." + +"You have never told me that secret." + +"But I will. Always I have intended to do so." + +"When you are ready. But go on." + +"Then he told me that if I would tell him the secret he would marry me +himself." The Indian girl flushed. "You know, sister, that it is a great +thing for an Indian girl to marry a white man." + +"But you are already the wife of Running Bear," said Stella, who was +puzzled. + +"That is the Indian marriage, and soon broken. But when I told him I +didn't want to marry him, he got very angry. I told him I was going to +stay with you, and he said that if I did I would be killed with all the +rest of you; that it was coming, and that Mr. Strong had many enemies +who were stronger than all of you." + +"Did he hint when this was going to take place?" + +"Yes, when we get to the Far North." + +"Did he say anything else?" + +"He told me that if I didn't go with him to-night he would kill me when +I slept." + +"We shall see about that," said Stella spiritedly. "But why is all this +fuss being made about you and your secret? It must be something very +important." + +"Yes, to the white man, but not to the Indian." + +"Then why did Running Bear shoot you because you would not tell him?" + +"He wanted to sell the secret to a white man for whisky." + +"Who is the white man? Do you know?" + +"Yes. But I do not like to tell." + +"You have told me so much, you must tell me the rest." + +"The white man is a soldier at the fort." + +"A common soldier?" + +"No, a chief, who carries a sword." + +"Oh, an officer. What is his name?" + +"He is called Barrows." + +"Oh! And he offered Running Bear whisky for your secret? That is bad." + +"Yes. Chief Barrows wants the secret, and he has sent the man who drives +cows here to make me tell it." + +"Singing Bird, you must tell me the secret." + +"I will." + +Stella settled herself to hear the Indian girl's story. + +"It began when I was a little child," said Singing Bird. "One time when +my father's tribe was hunting, we came to a place where a lot of white +men were digging in the sands of the big, muddy river." + +"Was that the Missouri?" + +"The white men call it so. We camped beside them, and one day I saw them +washing out of the sand little grains of yellow metal, which they +thought much of, although the Indians would rather have iron, the black +metal." + +"They were hunting for gold." + +"Yes. In their talk with my father they said that somewhere up the river +was the mother of the gold, where all this came from. They asked my +father if he knew where it was. + +"Now, my father had found where there was plenty of the yellow metal. +But he, too, was shrewd, and, seeing that the white men prized it so +highly, he thought he would go back and get the gold, and sell it to the +white men for iron and shot and powder and blankets. + +"The white men guessed that he knew where the mother of gold was, and +asked him. But he refused to tell them, and went away. + +"The white men followed us for days. One evening I was with my mother, +and heard my father tell her where the yellow metal was on the opposite +side of the river, pointing to a great sycamore tree that grew on the +river bank. 'Beneath that tree lies much of the yellow metal,' he said +to her, and I saw the tree, and knew what he said was true. + +"That night the white men came to our camp and had a long talk with my +father, trying to make him tell where the mother gold was, and, when he +would not, suddenly they fell upon the camp, and, after killing some of +the young men, drove my father and the others away. At the first shot my +mother ran away into the woods with me." + +"That was horrible," interjected Stella. + +"As my mother ran, she was shot in the back, but she kept on running +until she was out of sight before she fell. + +"Then the white men went away, and I lay there with my mother until she +breathed no more and was cold. + +"I cried for a long time because it was dark and cold, and I could hear +the wild animals in the woods all about me. + +"This frightened me, and I began to call 'Ai-i-e!' which is the Indian +way of lamentation, and I cried louder all the time to keep the wild +animals from me." + +"And did no one hear you?" + +"Yes. In the night I heard a noise in the wood, and it was the noise of +a man walking, an Indian man, for it was soft, made by moccasins. Then I +cried louder, and soon my father came and picked both me and my mother +up in his arms and carried us away into the woods, where he buried my +mother, and went away into the North again. + +"But as I grew up, I thought often about the mother gold and the place +where it was hidden by the Great Spirit, for so I had heard my father +say. Once when I spoke of it to my father he told me never to speak of +it to him again, for it was cursed, having taken away from him his son, +who was killed by the white men, and my mother. + +"So never did I talk of it. But when Running Bear heard of it from some +of the old men who had been with my father, and heard that I was the +only one of all the tribe who knew where it was, he began to court me, +and then bought me of my father for twenty ponies. + +"We had not been married long when he asked me to take him to the place +of gold, but my father told me not to do so, and I did not. Then he +began to beat me, and tried to kill me, but the secret is still mine. + +"In time others heard that I possessed the great secret of the hiding +place of the mother gold, for when Running Bear was drunk he would boast +that his squaw was the richest woman in the world, because of her +secret, and many men have tried to get it from me. Then the army chief, +who carries the sword, got hungry for the gold, and gave Running Bear +plenty of whisky to make me tell where it was, and now he has sent +Woofer to make me tell, or to kill me." + +"Will you tell Ted Strong where the mother gold is hidden?" asked +Stella. + +"I will, if you wish me to. But it is accursed." + +"Nonsense. That is only a superstition. Now that you have told me, all +will be well. Be careful, and do not let Woofer see you alone, and if he +lays his hand on you, scream for me. We will now go back to the camp." + +As the two girls walked away with their arms around one another's +waists, a tall, gaunt man rose from behind a dead tree not far away, and +over his face spread a shrewd smile. + +It was Woofer. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +A NIGHT CHASE. + + +The tent occupied by Singing Bird was pitched some distance from that +occupied by Mrs. Graham and the two girls, Stella and Hallie, and when +she had attended to the wants of Mrs. Graham, she retired to it. + +It was early in the evening, and when she saw that her friend had +retired, Stella sought out Ted, and told him the story she had heard +that afternoon. + +At first Ted was inclined to be somewhat incredulous about Woofer's +share in it as told by the Indian girl, but when he thought it over and +put together certain facts which had come to his attention, and recalled +questions, apparently innocent at the time they were asked, which Woofer +had put to him from time to time, he began to suspect that the merry +cow-puncher was, after all, merely acting a part. + +Ted took Bud into consultation, and the three went over the matter +carefully. + +If it were true that Barrows was after the gold, he had a double cause +to do injury to the broncho boys. + +There could be no doubt that Barrows, by virtue of his position, was +capable of being a very dangerous foe, especially in this part of the +country where the boys were virtually alone, and where they had no +friends, and were compelled to rely absolutely upon themselves. + +That their doings were probably known to Barrows by means of a system of +espionage conducted by Woofer, who, Ted now recalled, was in the habit +of leaving the camp for long, solitary rides at intervals. What could be +easier than when Woofer heard them talking about their plans to ride out +and meet a courier sent by Barrows to get the information? + +Ted resolved not only to fight Barrows with his own weapons, and to a +finish, but to interfere with his plans to get the gold in the mine to +which Singing Bird only could guide them. + +It was necessary, therefore, to guard the Indian girl closely, and this +he proposed to do, and when he had rid the camp of Woofer, and scoured +the country for Barrows' spies and sent them off, he would proceed to +the mine. + +As it was, they were headed in the direction of the Missouri River, and +it would not be at all out of their way, or interfere with their +business. + +Woofer was sitting with the boys around the camp fire, regaling them +with stories of cow-punching in various parts of the country, and making +of himself a most agreeable companion, and Ted, watching him carefully, +could see nothing guilty or suspicious about him. + +But that didn't prevent him from keeping his eyes open. + +Gradually the camp settled down for the night. + +Stella went to bed after she had peeped into the tent occupied by +Singing Bird, and satisfied herself that she was sleeping quietly and +safely. + +One by one the boys rolled themselves in their blankets beside the fire, +and dropped into deep slumber. + +Woofer had said good night among the first, saying that he was very +tired, and would "crawl into the wool," as he expressed it. + +Only the night guard was awake, as they rode around and around the +sleeping herd, their voices breaking out softly into song as a restless +steer arose and sniffed the air and began to walk around. + +Ted was lying in his blankets, breathing softly and deeply, evidently +sound asleep. + +Overhead the stars sparkled brightly, casting a radiance upon the earth +that made things several feet distant perfectly observable. + +Woofer's blankets had been spread at the edge of the circle farthest +from the fire. Ted also slept on the outer rim, and not more than ten +feet from Woofer. + +It was past midnight, as Ted could tell by the stars, for he was not +asleep, although feigning to be. + +He lay facing the place where Woofer was circled up in his blankets, +when he saw the cow-puncher raise his head cautiously, not more than an +inch or two, and look around. + +Ted closed his eyelids to a mere crack, for the light from the fire +shone on his face, and in that position watched Woofer's movements. + +Woofer was very sly and cautious. Ted had observed that he had +ostentatiously pulled off his boots when he lay down. Now he could see +by the movements of the blankets that he was pulling them on again out +of sight. + +"That fellow is going to get up in a minute," thought Ted, "and I think +I know just what he is going to do." + +He had not long to wait, for presently Woofer crawled out of his +blankets on the far side, and began to wriggle away on his belly, like a +snake. + +Ted still kept his eyes upon him. + +Once Woofer stopped and looked back to see if his escape from camp had +been observed, or if any one was stirring. + +Ted had not moved, and apparently was as sound asleep as ever. + +Reassured that no one had seen him leave his blankets, Woofer proceeded +until he was without the radius of the camp fire's glow, when he rose to +an upright position. + +But Ted could still follow him by the starlight. + +Evidently believing himself safe, Woofer did not again look around, but +walked slowly and silently toward the tents, which were plainly to be +seen about fifty feet distant from the fire. + +The tent in which the Indian girl was sleeping was farther from the fire +than that occupied by Mrs. Graham and her two charges. + +Ted had slipped from his blankets at the moment when Woofer rose to his +feet, and was creeping along, close to the ground paralleling Woofer's +progress, but about twenty feet to the left. + +Woofer arrived at the Indian girl's shelter and stopped, and seemed to +be listening. + +This gave Ted time to creep nearer. + +He saw the cow-puncher lift the flap of the tent and look within, still +listening carefully for anything that would tell him that Singing Bird +was awake. + +Ted was not more than ten feet away when Woofer disappeared. + +He had entered the tent. + +Suddenly from within it there came a muffled cry, then the tent began to +pitch and toss. Evidently a savage struggle was going on within. + +But it was all so silent that had Ted not been within striking distance +of it, he would not have heard anything of it. + +Suddenly the tent flew apart, and Woofer appeared, carrying in his arms +the insensible form of the Indian girl. + +Woofer was a very powerful man, and he ran swiftly from the tent bearing +the girl in his arms as if she were a child. + +Ted dashed after him. It did not occur to him to raise an alarm. + +But as swiftly as he ran, Woofer had the better of him, for a few +strides took him out of Ted's sight. + +Ted stopped and listened, blaming himself for not closing with Woofer +sooner. + +Not a sound of Woofer's retreat came to his ears. + +Suddenly he heard a nicker at his elbow almost, and looked around. It +was Sultan, who had smelled him, and had come to him, and was now +rubbing his velvety nose against Ted's sleeve. + +In an inspiration Ted leaped upon his back, and caught the headstall, +which he always left on Sultan when he turned him loose in the night so +that he could get him in a hurry should there be a night alarm of any +sort. + +An idea came to him as soon as he felt Sultan under him. + +Woofer undoubtedly had thought to have a horse saddled and ready waiting +for him somewhere near the camp. If he could only get Sultan to call to +it and get an answer, he would soon find him. + +He had no sooner conceived the thought when Sultan whinneyed like a +trumpet call. + +From a distance came an answering cry. It was the voice of Magpie, and +Ted knew it well. Stella's little black-and-white mare and Sultan were +the greatest friends, and when she heard him call, she replied. + +Woofer was about to steal the most valuable and swiftest of the animals, +except Sultan. That was another reason why Ted was now so keen on the +chase. He turned Sultan's head in the direction of Magpie's call, and +the little stallion galloped away like the wind. + +Ted had no bridle, but that was not necessary, for he and Sultan +understood one another so well that a slight pressure of the rider's +knees was all the guidance the horse needed. + +Again came Magpie's shrill call, and this time Sultan nickered and +fairly flew. Somewhere ahead, in the darkness, Ted heard for the first +time the hoofbeats of the pony, and knew that Woofer had reached it and +was away. + +"Follow her; catch her, Sultan," called Ted, and Sultan seemed to +understand, and let himself out to his full stride, although he missed +the firm, guiding hand on the bridle. + +Magpie was put to her utmost, but she was heavily handicapped by +carrying double for a race against Sultan, who was not even burdened by +the heavy saddle he usually bore. + +So it was that Sultan steadily gained on the little mare, who was not +disposed to do her utmost even under whip and spur, which Woofer did not +spare. + +They were now racing in the dark along the ridge of a deep coulee, the +wall on the right of which went down steeply to a depth of thirty or +more feet. + +Ted could not see the way, but he knew that they were riding a perilous +path, and that a slip of the foot or a rolling rock might cost them +their lives. + +But he knew Sultan's feet were sure, and that unless an accident which +could not be avoided took place, they were safe. + +He had so gained on Woofer that he could now see him dimly outlined +against the sky in advance of him. + +If it were only level ground on which he could urge Sultan, it would not +be a matter of more than a few minutes before he would be up with him. + +But evidently Woofer saw him, also, for there was the flash of a +revolver, and a ball sang past Ted's head. + +He dared not fire in return for fear of hitting Singing Bird. + +But the race must end soon, for Ted was steadily gaining. + +At length they swept down from the ridge and into the coulee, along the +level bottom of which they galloped, Sultan always edging up, closer and +closer to Magpie, who evidently was slowing down. + +Now Ted spoke to Sultan and urged him for the first time, and the +gallant little beast spurted forward, and in an instant's time was +abreast of the other horse. + +Ted's eyes were almost put out by a blinding flash, and there was a +deafening roar. + +Woofer had placed his forty-five close to his head, leaning far out of +his saddle, and fired. + +By same interposition of Providence, however, the ball went past his +head, singeing his hair, and he bent forward and struck Woofer on the +head with the butt of his own weapon. + +Woofer seemed to shrink in the saddle, like a wet rag, and the Indian +girl was slipping from his arms to the ground when Ted seized her and +transferred her to his own saddle. + +At the same moment the insensible form of Woofer slipped to the ground. + +Feeling herself free of her burden, Magpie came to a stop, and trotted +back to where Ted was waiting for her, and rubbed noses with Sultan. + +The Indian girl had been rendered unconscious by a blow on the head in +the tent, and was just recovering as Ted rescued her from a fall to the +ground. + +Presently she opened her eyes, and, not knowing what had taken place +within the last few minutes, she tried to struggle out of Ted's arms, at +the same time uttering shrill screams, and trying to use her finger +nails on his face. She was fighting like a wild cat, and it was all Ted +could do to prevent her from injuring him, while he was trying to get +her quiet enough to realize the change in her fortunes. + +Finally she recognized his voice and ceased to struggle, but sat up and +looked at him in amazement. + +"It is I, Singing Bird," said he. "I followed you and took you away from +Woofer. You are safe." + +Then she saw it was so, and remained quiet. + +He let her slip to the ground, and then assisted her to mount Magpie, +and thus they rode slowly back to camp. + +Before going Ted got down from Sultan's back and found Woofer, who was +lying where he fell. He was not in a serious condition, but Ted knew +that he would suffer from a severe headache when he awoke. Then he would +have to take care of himself, alone on the vast prairie without a horse. +But it was his own lookout, and perhaps it would teach him a much-needed +lesson. + +When they reached camp the night guard was changing, and, seeing Ted and +the Indian girl come riding in together, the boys aroused the whole camp +with their eager questions. + +Ted told them briefly all that had happened during the attempted +abduction of Singing Bird, but the time was not ripe to divulge the +burden of the Indian girl's story of the gold in the mother lode. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +THE LOCOED STEER. + + +The daring attempt to abduct the Indian girl made a strong impression on +every one of the Moon Valley outfit, and they resolved that they would +not be caught napping in that manner again. + +The herd continued to move forward slowly toward the north, with nothing +to vary the monotony. + +The long, grassy slopes of Montana furnished the best of feed, and the +country was plentifully watered with clear, flashing mountain streams, +and, all in all, it was an ideal cow country. + +The herd was now well up toward the northeast corner of Montana, and not +far away was the Missouri, near the banks of which Ted intended to hold +the cattle until they were in fine condition, and then drive them by +easy stages to the railroad. + +One day Bud rode up to Ted with a very serious face, so unusual a thing +that Ted looked at him with a grin. + +"What's the grouch about now, Bud?" he asked. + +"I ain't got no grouch," answered Bud. + +"No? You look as if some one had handed you a lemon." + +"No lemons in mine, but I jest got a hunch that this yere outfit is +being follered, an' that thar's some dirty work doin'." + +"What makes you think that?" + +"I found a couple o' dead steers back a bit with our brand on them." + +"Great Scott! What seemed the matter with them?" + +"All swelled up." + +"Poison?" + +"That's what makes them swell up. There's no disease in ther herd, what +I kin diskiver. All healthy enough. But some o' them is showin' signs o' +loco, an' thar ain't no loco weed on this range." + +"That's mighty strange. I hadn't noticed it. What do you think of it?" + +"I believe that dog Woofer is follerin' us, an' has been spreadin' +poison o' some kind on ther range what either kills or makes ther steers +crazy." + +"If that is true, it is the most serious thing that has come our way in +a long time. It wouldn't take much of that sort of work to put the whole +bunch out of business and leave us with not enough cattle to pay to +drive back to the road." + +"That's right. We'd be in a pretty fix with the best o' our herd rottin' +out here on the prairie. And about all we've got is tied up in it, too." + +"What do you think is behind it?" + +"Barrows, the dirty little coward of an officer back there at Fort +Felton, striking back-hand blows at us through his money, by hirin' +crooks and murderers to do his dirty work. There's more than one man at +work at this." + +"I've no doubt you're right. By Jove! I'm going to take a look at the +situation myself." + +"Be careful about goin' too far away from the herd alone." + +"I will; and, say, warn Stella and Miss Croffut about going out of sight +of the herd, and to always fire a signal if strange men approach them +when away from camp." + +"I'll put everybody on, and warn them to be on their guard." + +As Ted rode on, he turned the matter over in his mind. + +Not knowing exactly if poison had been given the cattle, or if they had +eaten of a poisonous weed, of which he had no knowledge, Ted was in a +quandary. But it was questions like this that came before cowmen on the +range, and it was the successful ones who solved them. + +Ted felt, therefore, that it was up to him to get at the cause of the +trouble which had unexpectedly come to him. + +If he was being followed by a band of cattle poisoners who worked in the +night, the sooner he knew it the better, for he could then lay plans to +put them out of their nefarious business. + +As he rode, he came across three swollen bodies of steers, and examined +them. Clearly they had been poisoned, as Bud had said. + +Far out on the range he saw a lone steer. Thinking that it was a stray, +he rode toward it, with the intention of driving it back toward the +herd. + +For a herd steer, it was acting in an unaccountable manner. At times it +galloped away in a frantic sort of way, throwing its head from side to +side, then as suddenly stopping, and, with drooping head, standing +quietly. Then away it would go again, charging at some unseen foe, only +to become stupid once more. + +"Something wrong with that brute," said Ted to himself. "Either it has +got into a nest of rattlesnakes and has been bitten and is charging +them, or it is locoed. We'll soon see." + +He kept on fearlessly toward the steer, which continued its strange +conduct. + +When he was still several feet away the steer noticed him for the first +time, apparently. It lowered its head and looked at him in a dazed sort +of way. + +This steer was known as Blue Eyes, on account of the curious bluish +patch of hair that grew around one of its eyes. It had always been known +as a particularly intelligent and tractable beast. + +But now it was a very demon, with gleaming, blood-shot eyes and pawing +hoofs, uttering deep, guttural bellows, and throwing the sand up over +its back to the accompaniment of its thrashing tail. + +"You look pretty dangerous, old fellow," muttered Ted, stopping his pony +and gazing at it from a safe distance. + +"No signs of rattlesnakes around here, or I'd smell them," soliloquized +Ted. "Wonder what's the matter with you." + +For answer, the steer gave an extra flip to its tail, and, without +further warning, charged upon Ted with head down and wicked horns +gleaming like bayonets. Ted's horse gave a snort of fear, and trembled +in every muscle. + +Ted at once realized his danger, and wheeled his horse like a +bullfighter as Blue Eyes dashed past him, its horn scraping his leg. + +"It's fight or run," thought Ted, "with a poor chance to get away from +the brute. When they're in that condition they can run like an +automobile." + +Again the steer, having recovered itself, turned to the attack. + +"I'll have to put a few bullets into that brute, if this thing keeps up +much longer. It's just crazy enough not to be afraid of a man on +horseback, besides, it's a good deal more active than usual." Ted's +thoughts were keeping time with the swift actions of the brute, which +was wheeling and charging like mad, so that it took all his agility and +superb horsemanship to keep clear of it. + +Now the horse was getting tired, and was almost useless because it was +losing whatever sense it had had, and was becoming awkward and +unmanageable. + +The steer stood off for several minutes looking at Ted in a lowering +way, but when Ted tried to run from it, it was close to his heels in a +minute, and he had to simply throw the horse to one side, bringing it to +its knees, to avoid the brute. + +"That settles it," said Ted, taking his forty-five from its holster and +advancing slowly upon the frantic steer. + +As it started to charge again he fired directly at the middle of its +forehead. + +But the animal was hardly staggered, as the missile flattened on its +skull and fell harmlessly to the ground. + +"This won't do," said Ted. "I've got to get into this game myself. No +more peek-a-boo goes with Blue Eyes. I'll do the tackling for a while." + +He wheeled out of the way, then turned suddenly and rode after the +steer, firing four balls in rapid succession into its body. + +But this did not seem to affect the animal's spirits at all, and Ted +rode off a short distance and reloaded. + +When he turned again toward the beast it was charging, and was so close +to him that he hardly had time to get out of its way. + +He might have made it had not the horse caught the smell of blood, which +was running from the steer in several places. + +This rattled him so that he lost his footing, and the next instant he +was struck on the withers by the steer's horns and went rolling over and +over on the prairie, while Ted Strong flew from his back, and landed +heavily on the sod, with his revolver knocked from his hand. + +The locoed steer stood a few feet away pawing the earth and looking at +him with dim eyes, all blood-shot and crazy, not making a move toward +him, yet always seeming about to do so. + +Stealthily, inch by inch, Ted crawled toward where his forty-five lay on +the ground. + +It was six feet from where he lay to that gun, and he prayed silently +that he could reach it before the steer changed its mind and rushed him. + +He knew it would do no good for him to rise and go toward the weapon. If +he did, the steer would immediately rush him, and that would be the end +of things for him, for he would stand no chance whatever against that +terrible beast, crazed, and powerful beyond its ordinary strength. + +As long as he crept gently the steer seemed not to notice him. + +Now he was within five feet of the revolver with his arm stretched out +at full length. It was only four feet now, and still the steer did not +make any move to attack him. + +He was trying to think where he would shoot it. In the throat, ranging +so that the bullet would pierce its heart; or through the eye, and so +reach its brain. + +Now his fingers closed around the weapon, and he clutched it +convulsively, leaping to his feet like an acrobat. + +At the same moment the steer, bellowing like an insane thing, charged +upon him, and he fired into its blue eye. + +The ball pierced the brain and killed the brute instantly, but did not +stop the headlong flight of it, and before Ted could step out of its +way, it struck him with the force of a locomotive. As he went to the +ground, the dead steer fell on top of him. + +Ted's fight with the steer had been seen, and across the prairie two +flying figures simply split the air. When they reached the side of the +prostrate steer, they flung themselves to the earth and flew to the +rescue of Ted. One was Stella and the other was Bud. + +"Is he dead?" asked Stella breathlessly. + +"I reckon not," answered the cow-puncher, who, secretly, was very much +afraid he was; he didn't see how Ted could help being dead, having been +charged by a steer, and having gone down beneath its weight. + +He was struggling like a demon to lift the heavy animal from Ted's body. + +The bulk of the steer was lying across Ted's chest, whose face was black +from the congestion, so that Stella dared not look at him. + +"Pump yer gun fer all it's worth," commanded Bud, in a rough voice. +"Keep shootin' till yer bring 'em on ther run. We've got ter get him +from under this steer soon, er he'll be all in." + +Stella had snatched her Winchester from the boot of her saddle, and +fired it in rapid succession into the air until the magazine was empty. +Then she refilled it, and began shooting again. + +Presently she heard answering shots from the direction of the camp, and +in a few minutes several horsemen came tearing over the top of a distant +hill, to disappear into a valley and come into sight again on a nearer +hill. Soon, with a shout that fairly split the air, six of the boys, led +by Ben and Kit, threw themselves from their saddles in front of her. + +"What's the matter?" they yelled in unison. + +"Throw that steer off Ted," she commanded. + +Then they saw what the matter was, and altogether they hoisted the +steer, and Ted was freed of the terrible weight. + +He was scarcely breathing, for the wind had been completely knocked out +of him. Ben laid him flat on his back, and, straddling him, with his +knees on the ground, began to work Ted's arms with an upward, backward, +and outward motion, as if he was restoring the breath to a half-drowned +person. Soon a flush came into Ted's face, and he gave a gasp, and his +breath came in short, painful inhalations. As Ben continued the +exercise, his breathing became regular, and he opened his eyes with +surprise, to see so many of his friends about him, and particularly big +Ben straddling him and apparently holding him down. He thought at first +that Ben was responsible for his prostrate condition, or that he had +struck him. + +"What are you doing?" Ted said angrily. "Let me up, dog-gone you." + +But when he saw the dead steer on the ground beside him he remembered +what had happened, and sat up and laughed with the others. + +It did not take him long to recover after this. + +"I'm going to try to find out what caused this beast to go mad," said +Ted. "There's certainly something wrong about it." + +"How are you going to find that out?" asked Ben. + +"I don't know yet, but I will," Ted answered. "Come on, two or three of +you fellows. The rest of you ride back to the camp. You may be needed +there. We can't guard things too closely these days." + +The party separated, and Ted, with Bud, Ben, and Kit, rode away, but +they had gone only a little ways when they heard a noise behind them. It +was Stella galloping toward them. + +"I'm going, too," she said, and go she did. + +Riding about half a mile west they came to a deep coulee, into which +they descended and followed its course for a short distance, when +suddenly Ted held up his hand as a signal to halt. + +"I smell burning paper," he said, and, getting down from his saddle, +went forward alone on foot, as silently as an Indian. + +Suddenly he bent forward, examining something on the ground, and +motioned the others forward. They rode to his side, and saw him looking +at a small, dead camp fire. + +"Some one camped here last night," he said, thrusting his hand into the +warm ashes. "And whoever it was burned papers in it before he went away +this morning; the smell of them is still in the air." But no nose in the +party was keen-scented enough to detect it except Ted's. + +Ted was still pawing among the ashes, when a change in expression swept +over his face, and soon he pulled out several small pieces of charred +paper. They were only burned on their curled-up edges, and Ted saw that +they were covered with writing, evidently part of a letter. + +"What's this?" he exclaimed, after he had spread them out, and studied +them attentively. "Here are some words. There is not very much sense in +them, though." + +"What do they read?" asked Stella. + +"This is all I can make out of it: 'I *end you *** **nds of ***is **een. +***tter it on *** *rass. nce rr ws,'. Sounds as crazy as the steer, +doesn't it?" + +"That's as easy as living on a farm," said Stella, who had been looking +over Ted's shoulder. + +"All right, Miss Smarty, what is it?" said Ted laughingly. + +"See, it's part of instructions to some one, and the way I read it is +like this: 'I send you so many pounds'--I don't know just how many, but +from the spaces the weight is expressed in three letters or three +figures. The next is presumably a poison, although I wouldn't have +thought of it if you hadn't spoken of it. What does two words, the first +ending in 'is' and the other in 'een' mean, I wonder?" + +They all scratched their heads for an answer. + +"Why, sure, I have it," said Ted. "It is Paris green." + +"That's it. Clever boy. Then there's 'tter,' which simply shouts +'scatter' at you. After that 'rass.' That's not hard. It reads so far: +'I send you, say six, pounds of Paris green,' although it must have been +more than that. 'Scatter it on the grass.'" + +"But the rest of it. That will stump you," said Ben. + +"That's what caused me to get next to it first. It's Clarence Barrows, +as sure as you're born!" + +"Stella, you're right, by jinks!" shouted Bud. "Ther sweet-scented +Lieutenant Barrows has sent men out yere ter poison our critters, and +we've caught him with ther goods on." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +THE BOBWHITE'S CALL. + + +The discovery that Lieutenant Barrows had lent himself to such an +enormous crime in the sight of all cowmen as to attempt to poison a herd +of cattle, served to keep them all silent as they rode homeward, but +around the fire that night their tongues loosened as they discussed it. + +They told Hallie Croffut nothing about it, as they wished to save her +pain, for as far as any of them knew she was still betrothed to +Lieutenant Barrows, who was proving himself an enemy indeed. + +"I see how it is, and how easy," said Ted. "They have been following us +ever since we have been on the trail, but from a secure distance, +generally riding parallel with us, out of sight in coulees, watching us +continually." + +"But how could they poison our cattle, without our seeing some of them +sometimes?" asked Kit. + +"Easy enough. Probably there are only two of them, for more would be in +the way, and run more risk of being seen." + +"But about the poisoning part of it? I don't understand how they could +do it." + +"That's easy, too. They are probably a day ahead of us all the time, +guessing at our probable direction of march. If they guess it wrong, +they try it over again, for they are never more than a mile or so away. +When they pick out a place where they think we will graze, they scatter +the Paris green on the grass for the cattle to lick up. It takes a +good-sized dose of the poison to affect so large an animal as a steer, +and that is probably why we have not lost more of our stock by that +means. They could never get quite enough, that is, the most of them, to +kill them. Such as are dead did get enough to make them loco first, and +kill them afterward." + +"Another thing," said Kit: "We have had several heavy rains in the early +morning lately, and that has served to run the poison off." + +"I wouldn't wonder, also, if they haven't missed our route several +times, and left the Paris green to poison some other herd," said Stella. + +"Their salvation, I am convinced, is also due to the peculiar quality of +the water they have found to drink. Who knows but that it is a perfect +antidote for the Paris green?" said Ben wisely. + +"Oh, slush!" interposed Bud. "I reckon ther truth is they haven't begun +ter poison in right earnest yet. From ther letter, I would think that +they had just received the stuff and were trying it out before they +begin the big poisoning stunt. I'll bet Woofer is the chief actor, and +that he's just met ther feller what brought ther poison out with him. +Having found that it worked on a few o' ther cattle, they'll spread it +on thick ahead o' us. An' ther wust part o' it is, thar don't seem no +way ter circumvent 'em, onless we go hunt fer 'em, an' put 'em out er +business quick." + +"Well said, Bud," was Ted's comment. "There's no way of discovering the +confounded stuff. We can't go ahead with a microscope and a chemical +laboratory to analyze every blade of grass along the route for Paris +green. The best we can do is to take our chances and keep going north. +But I think we'd better establish outside picket lines which will stay +well in advance, and off to the flanks. If it can be done, this system +will succeed in at least frightening them off for a while. Everybody +prepare to stand extra hours in the saddle." + +A line of outriders was established at once, and the herd pushed on, and +for several days there were no evidences that any more of the cattle had +been poisoned. + +They were nearing the river, as they could tell by the gradual sloping +of the land to the east, and the flatness of the country. + +One afternoon about four o'clock Brock, one of the hired cow-punchers, +came riding into camp as fast as his horse would run, and fell out of +the saddle. He had been shot through the leg, and was almost insensible +from loss of blood when he succeeded in getting in. + +When he was able to speak, he said to Ted: + +"I was riding picket about two miles off to the west. As I topped a hill +I saw a body of men about a quarter of a mile away. With my glasses I +saw that they were soldiers, and wondered what they were doing so far +from a post, as there isn't one nearer here than Fort Felton." + +"Soldiers, eh?" asked Ted. "Cavalry or infantry?" + +"Cavalry." + +"How many of them were there?" + +"I should say about fifty." + +"Did they see you?" + +"They must have seen me, for I saw them brought to a halt, and remain +that way for several minutes, while the officer was looking at me +through his binoculars. After they had satisfied themselves as to what I +was, they galloped to the north, and I soon lost sight of them behind +the hills." + +"I wonder what troops are doing out here. I haven't heard of any trouble +with the Indians, and there is no gang of outlaws this far north that it +would take troops to subdue." + +Stella looked at Ted significantly, and he read her thoughts. + +Could it be that Lieutenant Barrows had been able to use his influence, +or his cunning, to bring a detachment of troops so far away from the +post to attend to his own personal affairs, while ostensibly on the +government's business? + +He dismissed the thought, however, as soon as it was conceived. It +appeared to be too ridiculous. + +However, they were all on their guard now. They realized that there were +others on the range, and they were aware that a powerful and vindictive +enemy was close at hand. + +"How did you come to receive the shot in the leg?" asked Ted, breaking +the silence. + +"As I turned to ride to camp to report what I had seen, something moved +down in the coulee. At first I thought it might be a wolf or coyote, but +as I drove the pony into it a shot was fired, and it got me in the leg. +I didn't wait for any more, as I did not know how many men there might +be, and I deemed it wise to get to camp alive with the news." + +"The poisoners!" was Ted's brief comment. + +"They've got us pretty well hemmed in," said Ben. "They mean business." + +"Yes, but we'll break through, and beat them yet," said Ted, with +conviction. + +But they were a long ways from being out of danger yet as they were soon +to know. + +That evening Ted, accompanied by Stella and Hallie, rode out of camp. +Ted wanted to spy out the land in advance to see if there were any signs +of the troops and the poisoners. + +They were riding along out of sight of the camp, talking cheerfully and +feeling perfectly safe, when they were brought to a sudden stop by a +command, "Halt!" given in a gruff tone. + +They stared in amazement when they saw that they were surrounded by a +detachment of soldiers, and that the command had been given by a +sergeant. A dozen carbines were leveled at them. + +"What's the meaning of this?" asked Ted, with a smile. + +"Orders for your arrest," answered the sergeant gruffly. "Disarm the +man." + +Several soldiers stepped to Ted's side, and the one who attempted to +take Ted's rifle from its boot on the saddle received a kick on the +chest that sent him sprawling on his back. + +But as the kick was delivered, and before he could do anything further +in his defense, Ted was struck a ringing blow on the head with the butt +of a carbine, and was dragged from the saddle. + +As he went down he heard a shout of alarm. + +"Don't shoot!" he heard the sergeant cry. "Let her go. We don't want +her, anyway." + +Then Ted knew that Stella had escaped, to carry the news back to the +boys, and to bring assistance. + +"I wish the Indian girl had been along," the sergeant said to one of the +men. "We'd have all we wanted, then." + +"Oh, we'll get her later," was the reply. + +Ted was hoisted to his feet in no gentle manner, and then he discovered +that his arms had been bound. Sitting on her pony was Hallie Croffut, +pale but calm, regarding the scene with an expression of contempt. + +"What is the meaning of this, Brown?" she asked, addressing the sergeant + +"Orders from a s'perior officer, miss," said the sergeant +apologetically, saluting respectfully. + +"Well, you and your superior officer will be sorry for this day's work +when the colonel hears of it," was all she said. + +The sergeant saluted again, and ordered the men to march. + +Ted was lifted into his saddle, and, in the center of the detachment, +was marched away. + +They rode thus for several miles, when, in the gathering dusk, Ted saw +ahead of him a small cabin. + +In a few moments they were in front of it, and Ted and Hallie were +assisted to the ground and bade to enter. + +In the center of the room, seated at a table, was Lieutenant Barrows, +who scowled at Ted, but hadn't the courage, apparently, to look at his +fiancée. + +Hallie Croffut did not address him, but he felt the glance of scorn she +gave him, for he winced under it. + +"For what am I arrested?" asked Ted coolly. + +"You will discover when your trial comes," was the cold reply. + +"And why have you dared to detain me?" asked Hallie. + +"Your father's orders, Miss Croffut," he said almost inaudibly. + +"I believe that you are lying. If you are, Heaven help you, for there is +not a decent man in all the army who will not hound you to disgrace. To +think that you would countenance this outrage against your colonel's +daughter is almost past belief. But now I know you for what you are, you +cur." + +Barrows went white as a sheet as she said this, and his lip curled back +from his teeth, like those of an angry dog, as he half rose to his feet +with a gesture as if he would strike her. But he thought better of it, +and sank back. + +"Brown, take them away," he said to the sergeant. "I will hold you +personally responsible for them." + +The sergeant saluted, and, catching Ted by the elbow, marched him into +the next room. + +Hallie Croffut started to follow him, when she was stayed by Barrows. + +"Hallie, won't you come back with me?" he pleaded. "If you will, I will +release Strong and let the rest of it go." + +"I wouldn't trust you out of my sight," said the girl. "Oh, how happy I +am that I have found you out in time. You are the most miserable +specimen of a man I ever heard of, and to think that you have called +yourself an officer and a gentleman. But this is the last for you. If +you were brave enough you ought to kill yourself to save the army from +the disgrace of having had you in it." + +"Curse you!" he cried, in impotent rage. "If you were not a woman I +would knock you down." + +"If you feel like it, don't let so small a matter that I am a girl and +your colonel's daughter interfere with your pleasure. Strike me!" + +But Barrows only stared at her with a white face, and with a muttered +curse left the room. + +"This way, miss," said the sergeant. She entered the room into which Ted +had been taken, but he was not there. + +In the middle of the floor was an open trapdoor. + +"I must ask you to go down there," said the sergeant. "You will find a +ladder. You will be safe, and it is not for long. We start for the post +soon, I am told." + +Hallie made no reply, but did as she was bid. + +The cellar was as dark as a pocket, and she could see absolutely nothing +as her feet touched the earth floor. + +But she found a box, and sat down upon it. The trap was closed, a bolt +shot in it, and she was in Stygian darkness. + +She was terribly frightened at first, but there were no rats in the +cellar, which she had at first feared, and she fell to thinking what it +all meant. Surely the army must have gone entirely mad that she, Hallie +Croffut, its pet, should be under arrest in a dark and musty cellar. + +But presently her heart stopped beating. In a far corner she heard a +faint noise. + +Something else was in the place with her. What could it be? Where was +Ted? What did it all mean? + +Then she heard a groan, and an uneasy movement. + +"Who is it?" Hallie asked, in a trembling voice. + +"Is that you, Hallie?" It was Ted's voice. + +"Yes, it is I. Where are you?" + +"Over here in the corner. Those brutes threw me down the ladder, and it +stunned me. Come here. Perhaps you can untie my hands. Then we will see +what chance there is for escape." + +Ted was soon released, and, climbing the ladder, tried the trapdoor, but +found it securely fastened. + +There had been no sound above them for some time, and Ted came to the +conclusion that the soldiers were gone. + +He was right. When the prisoners had been thrust into the cellar, +Barrows and his men rode away, leaving them alone. + +Hours dragged along in the dark, and they scarcely spoke to one another, +both lost in their thoughts. + +Suddenly Ted started up. Outside he heard a whistle, and he listened for +it to be repeated. It was the whistle of the bobwhite. He knew that +there were no quail in this region at this time of the year. He knew, +too, that it was an Indian signal which Stella and Singing Bird had used +between them. Could it be that Stella was outside, and that she was +signaling the house, and thinking it occupied, did not dare come to it? +He answered it as well as he could, knowing, however, that the sound +would not get beyond the cellar. + +For several minutes the whistling continued, then stopped. What if they +had gone away? + +After a long time, it seemed, he heard a stealthy noise overhead. Some +one was crawling through the window. Then there was a light step +overhead. + +"Ted! Hallie! Where are you?" It was Stella calling to them, and they +both raised their voices in a joyous shout. Then the bolt slipped, and +the trap was raised. + +"Come up out of there," cried Stella, "unless you like it. Singing Bird +and I started out after you. I met her on the way, and she trailed you +here. She has just started back for the boys." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +A DUEL WITH LARIATS. + + +Outside it was night, and beyond the clearing the woods were dark. Both +Ted's and Hallie's horses were gone, and it would be impossible for them +to start back toward the camp without them. + +"We'd better hide in the woods until morning," said Stella. "Singing +Bird will guide the boys here. Besides, we do not know when that brave +warrior Barrows will return with his soldiers." + +"That is a good idea," said Ted, and they crossed the clearing to the +woods, and found a place of concealment from which they could see all +that took place at the house. + +The night was far advanced, and the girls were sleeping on a couch of +dried pine needles, which Ted had gathered for them. + +Ted was on watch to shield them from harm, and to drive away the animals +of the night. + +He was half asleep himself, sitting with his back to a tree with his +head on his arms, which were crossed on his knees. + +An unusual sound brought him to his senses instantly, and he was +listening intently. + +He heard the sound of horses' feet, and the subdued rumble of men +talking. + +There were only two horses, and they were coming on uncertainly. + +Evidently their riders did not know their way, and were feeling along in +the dark, which was intense. + +"It ought to be along here somewhere." + +It was the voice of Woofer. + +"Well, I hope it is," said another voice, "I'm tired of this night +riding. When did the boss say he'd be here?" + +"Early in ther mornin'. He's goin' ter make an attack on ther cow camp +ter-night, an' what he don't kill he's goin' ter bring here, an' +stampede ther cattle an' scatter them all over ther range." + +Woofer laughed as he said it. + +"I don't care much what he does," he continued, "if he'll only turn over +ther Injun gal ter me. That'll be ernuff fer you an' me, I reckon." + +"Then what's he goin' ter do?" + +"He's goin' ter take that Croffut gal, he's jest crazy about her, an' +hike her off ter ther coast, an' put her aboard a private yacht he's got +there, an' that'll be ther last o' her in this community." + +"What's goin' ter happen ter ther rest o' them?" + +"He's got er nice little deal fixed up fer Ted Strong. He wuz tellin' me +thet if I wanted it, ther job was mine. I reckon I'll take it," and +Woofer laughed heartily. + +"You're ter be ther executioner, eh?" + +"That's about ther size o' it." + +"An' yer hate yer job, eh?" This was greeted with uproarious laughter. + +"Like a kid hates candy." + +"What's it goin' ter be?" + +"A little rope play, I reckon." + +"That's yer long suit. Hello, what's this? Here we are at the cabin." + +Ted heard the men dismount and enter the cabin, and then their voices +roaring with rage. + +"They've escaped, darn 'em!" they heard Woofer shout. "Hey, there, turn +out an' hunt 'em! Ther boss will be wild when he finds this out." + +"Hunt fer 'em nothin', in this dark? Yer wouldn't find 'em in a blue +moon. Why, it was all we could do ter find ther cabin." + +"Well, they can't git far away. We'll find 'em in ther mornin'." + +They retired to the cabin again, and slammed the door. + +"Did you hear that?" + +Stella's hand was on Ted's arm, and she whispered to him in an awed sort +of voice. + +"You awake?" he said. "Yes, I heard it, but don't let it worry you. They +won't get us very soon." + +They heard Hallie sobbing quietly. + +"What's the matter, dear?" asked Stella. "Don't be frightened." + +"Suppose he does," sobbed Hallie. + +"Suppose who does what?" asked Stella, throwing her arms around her +friend. + +"Suppose Lieutenant Barrows does get me and takes me away on a boat. Oh, +I shall kill myself!" + +"Never fear," said Ted. "He won't do that. Why, the whole army would be +up in arms and after him before he got fifty miles." + +Hallie took comfort in this, and slept again, while Ted and Stella +remained on guard. + +As the night wore on, they both became very sleepy, and they must have +dropped into a doze, for when they awoke at the sound of a loud laugh, +the sun was shining brightly, and they were surrounded by soldiers, and +Woofer was looking down at them with a sneering laugh. + +"Jest like ther babes in ther woods," he shouted, and the soldiers +laughed with him. + +Ted was on his feet in an instant, feeling for his revolver, but it was +not in its accustomed place, and he suddenly remembered that it had been +taken from him by the soldiers the night before. + +"Whar's ther lootenant?" asked Woofer. "He'd be glad ter see this +tablow." + +"He's gone out inter ther woods ter walk his mad off. When he got within +strikin' distance o' ther cow camp last night his sand run out, and he +started back. Then when he found that his birds had flown that was ther +last kick what sent him down." + +"What's he goin' ter do now." + +"I reckon he'll make ther best o' what he's got now. Come, git up." +Woofer spoke roughly to the two girls, and they arose. "Come along back +to the cabin. Ther lootenant will be mighty glad ter see yer. One o' you +sour doughs hunt up ther lootenant an' tell him ther lost is found." + +Ted saw that resistance was useless, and, taking the girls by the hand, +he crossed the wide clearing between the woods and the cabin; at the +door of which they arrived just as Barrows strode up. + +One of the soldiers was busy preparing breakfast, and the others were +grouped around jesting about their night's work. + +The two girls were sent into the room in which Ted and Hallie had been +taken the night before, but Ted was not confined, and was allowed to +walk up and down in front of the cabin. + +Barrows did not attempt to hold conversation with any of them, but sat +at his table with his head in his hand, thinking moodily. + +Evidently Barrows was an arrant coward. He had set out with the +intention of ruining the Moon Valley herd, and killing all who attempted +to resist him, but his courage had failed him. + +Ted saw hope in this, if the boys would only arrive on time. + +He thought over the conversation he had heard the night before on the +arrival of Woofer and his companion at the cabin, with regard to his own +fate. Evidently it meant something out of the ordinary, for it seemed to +have given extreme pleasure to Woofer, for it was evidently the +intention that all the advantage was to be with the cow-puncher. Well, +it didn't matter much, so long as he had the ghost of a show himself. He +was willing to take a long chance. + +Breakfast was announced, and, as the soldiers sat down to eat, the cook +came out with three tin plates on which there were bacon and bread, and +tin cups of coffee for the prisoners, and they sat down together in the +shade of the cabin and ate their food gratefully, for they were very +hungry. + +The meal was soon over, and Woofer began to strut up and down in front +of the cabin. + +"I reckon here's where I get my revenge, ain't it, lootenant?" he said, +stopping in front of Barrows. + +"Do what you please with him," said Barrows crossly, "but leave the +girls alone." + +"I don't want but one gal, an' she's copper colored," laughed Woofer +insultingly, walking to his horse, which was already saddled. + +"Now, young feller," he said to Ted, "I'm goin' ter give yer a chance +fer yer white alley. I'm goin' ter try ter rope yer while yer dodges me. +If I get yer, why--I'll drag yer, see?" + +Ted saw that he was to have no chance for his life whatever. + +He was to be afoot, while the other man was to ride and try to rope him, +and, if he succeeded, drag him to death over the rough ground. + +"Do you call that a chance for my life?" asked Ted. + +"As much as you'll get," answered Woofer, with a canine grin. "Get out +an' take a fightin' chance, or I'll rope yer an' drag yer without it." + +Ted looked around the circle of grinning faces about him, and saw that +there was no mercy for him. He must make the best fight he could. + +Woofer had ridden out into the open and was coiling his rope in his hand +ready for a cast. + +As Ted walked out he saw in the grove the horses of the soldiers, and +among them Sultan bridled and saddled, and a thought flashed through his +mind that before the duel was ended he might find use for his beautiful +stallion. + +As soon as Ted was in the open, Woofer began to circle around him on a +lope, steadily increasing the pony's speed, at the same time keeping the +rope swinging about his head. + +Ted wheeled on his heels, always keeping his face to the horseman, the +pivot, as it were, of this little spectacle. Near the cabin stood the +soldiers, watching the play with interest. Stella and Hallie were at one +side, their eyes fastened on the scene with a sort of fascinated horror. +Stella knew well the danger of the bout. In the doorway of the cabin +Lieutenant Barrows leaned indifferently, smoking a cigarette, and +watching the uneven contest with slight interest in its outcome, and +with no regard whatever for the thing which all gentlemen hold sacred, +that is, fair play. + +Around and around rode Woofer, waiting for a good chance for a cast, but +always finding Ted alert. But suddenly the rope flew from his hand with +unerring accuracy, and Ted had just time to dodge it. It had been as +swift and almost as deadly as the strike of a rattlesnake. + +With a confident smile, Woofer drew in his rope again, coiling it, and +making ready for another cast. + +Again he circled and cast, and this time the rope settled over Ted's +shoulders, and a great shout went up from the soldiers. + +But before Woofer could tighten it Ted managed to wriggle out of it, and +again Woofer drew it in. + +Ted realized the danger in which he would stand if ever Woofer succeeded +in getting him fast. + +Suddenly his hand came in contact with something hard in his pocket. It +was his knife, and he surreptitiously inserted his hand, and opened it, +then drew it out concealed in his palm. He felt sure that if it was +discovered that even this chance would be taken from him. + +Again and again Woofer cast and Ted dodged, and the soldiers were +getting tired of the monotony of it, and began to deride Woofer for not +being able to get Ted. + +This aroused the man to anger, and the next time he sent the rope over +Ted's shoulders, and drew it taut. A wild cry went up as Ted was being +dragged along as fast as he could run, and Stella turned white and gave +a cry of fear. + +But Ted reached up, just as he was about to be carried off his feet, and +cut the rope in two. + +At this a yell of protest rose from Woofer, but the men had at last +turned with sympathy to Ted. + +"Let him have the knife," they cried. "You have the horse and the rope." + +Woofer was forced to be content, and he slowly dragged the rope back +again, and made a new noose. + +He was getting rattled, while Ted was gaining courage, and the rope did +not come as accurately as when Woofer had not begun to grow weary. + +The soldiers were now addressing rough pleasantries at Woofer, who was +growing angry and trying harder than ever to rope Ted and drag him to +death. + +Then, quite unexpectedly, the rope settled over Ted's arms, for he had +grown a little careless, and his eyes had been directed toward the top +of the hill behind the cabin, where he had seen something that caused +his eyes to open with wonder. + +But when he felt himself being dragged along on a run he came to his +senses. Stooping his head, he managed to get the knife between his +teeth. Then he went along the rope, gathering it in his hands as he +went, as if he were climbing it hand over hand. + +A shout of joy went up from the two girls at this, for they saw his +purpose. + +On he went, the rope coming into his hand and being coiled on his arm. +Woofer all the while was urging on his pony, trying to throw Ted off his +feet. + +Ted had now gathered in about thirty feet of the rope, or about half of +it. + +Woofer saw his game, and swore horribly, as he tried in vain to throw +Ted. + +When he thought he had enough rope, Ted bent his head once more, and his +fingers grasped the knife with which he cut the rope and was free. + +Suddenly a shrill whistle left his lips, and there was a nickering +answer as Sultan left the other horses and came galloping to his side. + +Stella threw up her hat and shouted, and the soldiers followed her +example. + +As Sultan galloped on, Ted leaped into the saddle, and began to make a +noose in his lariat, for he now was equally armed with his enemy. + +But Woofer was game, and came galloping back. He didn't know how good a +roper Ted was, but he felt confidence in himself. + +Around they went, circling like horsemen in a circus ring, with watchful +eyes and whirling lariats. + +But suddenly Ted's rope left his hand before Woofer could divine his +meaning, and pinioned the cow-puncher. + +At the same moment Ted gave Sultan a prick with the spur, and the little +stallion leaped into the air. + +Woofer left his saddle and struck the ground with a bump that knocked +the wind out of him. + +This was not to the liking of the soldiers, who ran howling toward Ted. + +"Drag him from his horse," they shouted. + +"No, yer don't. Fair play fer all!" a clear voice rang out above the +din, and the soldiers turned toward the hill behind the cabin. + +On the summit stood Bud Morgan, his long, fair hair floating in the +breeze, and on either side of him ten cow-punchers with their +Winchesters trained upon the unarmed soldiers, whose carbines were +stacked in the house. + +"Three cheers for the broncho boys!" yelled Stella shrilly. "You can't +beat 'em anyway you try." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +THE MOTHER LODE. + + +As the boys swarmed down the hill to where Ted and the girls were +standing apart from the soldiers, who stood staring at them in +amazement, they let out the Moon Valley yell, and acted as though they +were a victorious army taking possession of a conquered city. + +Lieutenant Barrows stood in the doorway in open-mouthed amazement at the +change of scene, in which he and his men were not the captors, but the +captured. + +He started to bluster by ordering Hallie to get ready to accompany him +back to her father. + +"I shall not go," she said positively. "I don't believe that my father +sent for me." + +"I know he didn't," said Ted firmly. + +"What do you know about it?" asked Barrows, with a sneer. + +"I know that it was your intention to kidnap Miss Croffut and take her +to the coast, where you would board a yacht and carry her out of the +country." + +"That's a----" began Barrows. + +"Don't let the word lie pass your lips as applied to me, or I'll jam it +down your throat," said Ted, advancing toward the officer, who turned +pale and retreated. + +"You shouldn't tell your intentions to such irresponsible persons as the +Woofer, here. He told all about it early this morning so loud that the +whole of Montana might have heard it if they had been awake. I heard it, +and if Woofer denies saying that you did say so, then he's a liar, and +I'm personally responsible for everything I say." + +"I did say so, and I heard the lieutenant say so," said Woofer +defiantly. + +"Another thing, I have in my pocketbook scraps of a letter written by +you in which you say you have sent Paris green out to poison our cattle, +and you did succeed in a way, but not as you wished. Barrows, your game +is played. You are at the end. I shall see that the proper authorities +get all the details of this, and you know what will happen then. You +will be chased out of the army like a mad dog, and all the influence you +can bring to bear will not serve you." + +Barrows was looking at Ted with terror in his eyes. + +"My advice to you is to skip before the army gets on to you," continued +Ted. "Disappear. Obliterate yourself. It will be easier for you to be +thought a deserter than what will be thought of you if what we know +about you goes back to the post." + +Barrows stepped back into the cabin, and Ted walked to where he could +keep his eye on the soldier. + +Suddenly he jumped into the cabin and wrenched a pistol out of Barrows' +hand. + +"No, you don't," he cried angrily. "You can't pay for this by +self-murder. You've got to live to pay for your meanness." + +Barrows submitted to be disarmed by Ted. He stood looking for a moment +at Hallie, and for a moment it seemed as if he would speak to her. Then, +with a cry of agony, he rushed across the open, leaped upon his horse, +and, plunging into the grove, was lost to sight. + +"Sergeant, now you know what to do," said Ted. "There's only one thing +for you to do. Hike for the post and tell the commandant anything you +like to explain the absence of Barrows. But be sure to say to the +colonel that his daughter is safe and well and prefers to stay with Miss +Fosdick and her friends. I don't know how deeply you are mixed up in +this cattle-poisoning, girl-abducting scheme of Barrows, but I give you +the benefit of the doubt." + +"Sure, sir, I didn't know anything about the cattle poisoning, nor do +any of the men, and as for abducting the young lady, all I knew about it +was that we were sent by the colonel to bring her back, that is, the +lieutenant said so. We was to arrest you for stealin' cattle from the +gover'ment. But I don't see as we can do anything, now that the officer +in charge is gone. All right, sir, I'll tell the colonel all what you +said, an' somethin' that's been layin' hard on my stomach ever since I +got wise to the officer what's not in charge no more. Men, get ready to +march." + +The soldiers saddled their horses, and got ready to start on the march +back to Fort Felton. + +When they were ready to start, Ted walked up to Woofer and the man who +had come in with him in the night. + +"Woofer," said he, "strike the back trail, and don't look around. You +are not wanted in this part of the country. Remember, we are all deputy +United States marshals, and not in the least afraid to use our +authority. Hike!" + +"All right, pardner, if you say you don't like our sassiety we won't +force it on you. We'd like good company back to Felton, anyhow, an' the +sojers has plenty o' grub. Adios!" + +With a wave of the hand, the sergeant led his column out of the +clearing, and, climbing the hill, struck into the southwest, where lay +the fort. + +When they were gone Singing Bird came out of the woods in which she had +been hiding, for she was in mortal terror of Woofer. + +When she knew that Woofer was in the vicinity she had run into the woods +and immediately climbed into a tall pine tree that grew on the hill, +where she was sure he would not be able to find her. + +Now, when she came forth, she ran to Stella, in a very much excited +state. + +"Sister," she cried. "I have found it!" + +"Found what?" asked Stella, in surprise at the girl's emotion, for +usually she had the stoicism of her Indian blood. + +"I have found the place of the secret, the place of the mother gold," +cried Singing Bird, trembling with excitement. + +"I have seen it, the place where my mother lay," she continued, when her +excitement had somewhat passed away. + +"How?" asked the puzzled Stella. + +"When I climbed the tree I saw the big, muddy river lying over there. I +looked about. It seemed that I had seen it the same before. Then I +remembered the night the white men killed my mother, and it all came +back to me. Woofer was one of the men. He knew that we were coming near +to it." + +"How did you recognize it as the place?" asked Stella. + +"By the tree across the river, and by the bluffs, and the turn of the +river. Oh, I know it. You can't fool Indian on signs like that." + +The boys were standing around listening eagerly, for this was the first +time they had heard of the "mother gold." Briefly Ted related the story +told by Singing Bird about the gold in the river, and how her father +found the mother lode. + +"I'm fer gettin' thar as soon as we kin," said Bud Morgan. "Whenever I +smell gold I git tired o' ther smell o' cows." + +"Looks good to me," said Ben. + +"Me, too," said Kit, and the other boys raised a shout for the mother +lode and the excitement of finding gold. + +"But the cattle?" asked Ted. + +"We'll drive them down into this valley, where part of the force can +easily watch them, while the other part is engaged in the fascinating +sport of gold hunting. Me for the gold." Thus Stella delivered herself, +and that seemed to settle it. + +Accordingly the cattle were driven down from the plain and into the +beautiful grassy valley, with the Missouri flowing at the foot of it. +Then they pitched their camp. + +Singing Bird had gone into the woods on an exploring mission to find, if +she could, the grave in which her father had buried her mother the day +after the fight with the white miners, and had been gone an hour or +more, when she came hurrying back, trembling like an aspen. + +Rushing up to Ted, she fell at his feet. + +"What's the matter now?" he asked, in a kindly way. + +"I have seen him," she cried. "Save me! Save me!" + +"Whom have you seen?" asked Ted. + +"Running Bear. I go into the woods, and I see moccasin tracks; fresh +ones. They are large and new, made this day. I run away from them. Then +I see an Indian hiding behind the trees, always following me, and I +turned and ran for the camp. He followed me until he saw the camp, when +he turned and ran the other way." + +"Are you sure it was Running Bear?" + +"Oh, yes, I am sure. I know Running Bear. He was my husband." + +"Well, do not be afraid. Running Bear will not hurt you. But don't go +away from the camp." + +Ted told the boys that the Indian was on their trail, looking for the +mine himself, but that he would probably track them until they found it, +and then try to take it from them by pressing to his service a band of +Indians, which he could very well do. + +When Stella went to look for Singing Bird that evening she could not be +found. The alarm was passed to the boys, and a thorough search of the +camp was begun, but the girl could not be found. + +"She has done what I told her not to do," said Ted. "She has left camp, +and that precious rascal has captured her. But he will not wring her +secret from her. I am convinced that she would die first." + +"But what are we going to do about her?" asked Stella. "We can't let her +remain where she is." + +"Where is she?" he asked whimsically. + +"Where is she?" Stella repeated the question excitedly. "Do you suppose +that I would be here if I knew. I don't know where she is, but I'm going +to find out." + +"Not to-night, Stella, surely." + +"Yes, to-night. Right now." + +"But----" + +"There's no buts in this at all. Who wants to help me find Singing +Bird?" + +Every fellow in the outfit stepped forward. + +"Well, I guess that's enough," she said, laughing. "But, I want you and +Kit. The others can stay behind and 'tend the herd. We'll be back when +we return." She waved a merry hand to the others, and the three strode +into the woods, Bud bending eagerly forward to find the trail. + +Presently Bud struck a moccasin trail, and they followed it until it +mingled with another. + +The first was undoubtedly that of Singing Bird. The other was that of a +big man, or of a man with a big foot. + +"I reckon she come out here ter find her mother's grave, an' met up with +ther bully, her husband. Here they seem ter hev had a struggle, and then +thar is only one track, but deeper, showin' that he was carryin' weight. +I reckon he put his hand over her mouth an' carried her off by main +strength." + +"Poor Singing Bird," murmured Stella. "If she has really fallen into the +hands of that brute, it's a sure thing that she'll be killed this time, +and now we're bound to follow her and get her." + +"That's interfering between a man and his wife," said Kit. + +"I don't care. She's mine now, for I saved her life. She said so." + +"All right, Stella, we'll find her if we swaller our chewin' gum. +Forward!" Bud led the way, always with his eyes on the ground. + +After traversing a few hundred yards he stopped. + +"Here they're walkin' side by side again," he said, "and they're going +toward the river." + +They hastened on to the bank of the river, and there all trace of them +was lost at the water's edge. + +"They've crossed over, but not in a boat," said Bud. "I don't see how +they could do it if they didn't swim. There isn't the sign o' a boat +around here." + +"Then over the river we go," said Stella. "But the question is, how?" + +"I'll swim it," said Bud. "And if I find any trace of them over there, +I'll holler." + +Bud threw his guns on the bank and plunged into the water, and in a few +minutes was across, for so near the headwaters it was not wide. + +They saw him scouting along the shore, and presently he waved his hand +at them, and pointed to the ground. + +"He's found them," said Kit. "But how are we to get over?" + +Kit ran up and down the shore, and soon found several logs, which he +towed to where Stella was waiting, and fastened them together into a +raft. + +"There you are," he said. "Climb aboard, and I'll ferry you across." + +Stella did so, and in a few minutes they were on the other side. + +Bud showed them the tracks of Singing Bird, and they followed them into +the woods. + +Close beside the track was a huge stump of a sycamore tree, and Stella +elected to sit down beside it and wait until they returned, as she was +pretty tired. The boys passed on with the warning to fire her revolver +three times if anything should alarm her. + +As she sat beside the stump, she picked up a stick, and began poking in +the earth at her feet. As she did so, there was a rumbling sound beneath +her, and the world seemed to be slipping from her. This was followed by +a rush of earth and a clatter of stones, and Stella went down with it. + +She did not fall more than ten feet, however, before she stopped, a +little shaken but unhurt. + +When she had recovered somewhat, she looked about her. + +Then she gave a little shriek of joy. It seemed as if she had fallen +into a regular nest of pure gold, for the glittering grains were +everywhere about her, on her clothes and in her hair. + +Suddenly she recalled everything. She had found the mother lode that the +Indian girl had told of. + +Drawing her revolver, she fired three shots, the danger signal, and +immediately it was answered by three shots, but from the side of the +river she had just quitted. + +This surprised her, but in a moment she heard a shout. It was Ted. +Evidently thinking that something might befall her, he had followed, and +in a few moments she heard him splashing in the water. + +"Hello!" he cried. + +"Here I am, Ted," cried Stella, and in a moment she saw his face +outlined above her in the opening of the hole. + +"How the deuce did you get there?" he asked. + +"Oh, I just dropped in to take a look around, and what do you think I +found? I've found gold by the bushel. Ted, this is the mother lode." + +Ben, Carl, and Clay were with Ted, and soon Bud and Kit, who had heard +the shots, came hurrying back. + +When they heard what had happened they were much surprised. + +"But this cannot be the place. Where is the sycamore tree Singing Bird +said was a landmark?" said Ted. + +They had pulled Stella out of the hole, and now she pointed to the big, +old stump. + +"That is what's left of it," she said. "If I hadn't that hunch to sit +down here, we wouldn't have found the mother lode in a blue moon." + +As they were speaking they heard a sound behind them, and turned to see +Running Bear. He had crept up to them so silently that not one of them +had heard him until he was a step away. + +"Ugh!" he grunted. "White boy go away. This my country." + +"Go to your grandmother," said Ted. "Where is Singing Bird?" + +"She in Running Bear wigwam. Mebbe so you like Singing Bird. You can +have same go away." + +"What, and leave you in possession of all this gold? Not likely." + +"Then Running Bear make you. Hate white boy. Not make play this time." + +Before Ted was aware of his intention, the Indian had sprung upon him +from the side. He was immensely powerful, and forced Ted backward toward +the edge of the pit, evidently with the intention of breaking his neck +by the fall. + +But Ted managed to get a good hold at last, and forced him back +gradually. + +Then Running Bear came at him with greater strength, and again they +wrestled perilously near the edge of the pit. + +Running Bear took advantage of Ted's trip over the loose tree roots, and +slowly forced him backward, in spite of his herculean efforts, to the +pit's edge. + +He had bent Ted's head back until his neck cracked, and if he threw him +into the pit, it likely would kill him. + +From where they stood, on the opposite side of the pit, none of the boys +could get a shot at Running Bear without endangering the life of Ted. + +It was a pretty tight situation, and the boys were really alarmed for +Ted's safety, when out of the woods ran an apparition--a woman so +covered with blood as to be unrecognizable. But Stella uttered a scream. +She had seen that it was Singing Bird, who had been terribly injured by +her brute of a husband, who had evidently tortured her to get from her +the information she possessed about the mother lode. + +Before any one could divine what she was about to do, the Indian girl +had sprung toward Running Bear and plunged a long, keen knife into his +back to the hilt. + +It was an Indian's revenge. She had given him blood for blood. + +Running Bear staggered backward, then suddenly wheeled, caught the knife +from the girl's hand, and was about to plunge it into her, when he fell +forward on his face and lay quite still. + +Singing Bird weaved back and forth for a moment, then she, too, sank to +the ground. + +When the horror of the sudden tragedy passed from them sufficiently, the +boys rushed to the side of the unhappy couple, but they both were dead. + +That was the tragedy of the "Mother Lode Mine" on the upper Missouri, +which became the property of the Moon Valley Company, and which paid +enormously until it worked out, for it was only a pocket, thus putting +an end to the placer mining on the islands farther down the river. + +The rest is soon told. Barrows was never heard of again, for he knew +that if he returned to take a court-martial for his misconduct, he would +have fared badly. + +That fall the officers at the post sent word to Ted that if his cattle +were for sale they would be glad to buy them at his own figure, so that +his independence in repudiating the first contract was a good thing +after all, for, besides the profits which came from Stella's gold mine, +the herd paid handsomely. But Stella never forgot Singing Bird, whose +gentle life paid the penalty for the greed for gold. Not far from the +mine she was buried, and a stone carved with the story of her death +still marks the place where she was laid to rest. + + +THE END. + + + + * * * * * + + + + +WESTERN STORY LIBRARY + +For Everyone Who Likes Adventure. + +"Ted Strong's Contract" is the title of the next volume in the +Western Story Library, No. 43, a story of wild adventure in the +far West written by Edward C. Taylor. + +Ted Strong and his band of bronco-busters have most exciting adventures +in this line of attractive, big books, and furnish the reader with an +almost unlimited number of thrills. + +If you like a really good Western cowboy story, then this line is made +expressly for you. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TED STRONG IN MONTANA*** + + +******* This file should be named 19951-8.txt or 19951-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/9/5/19951 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Taylor</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + hr.full { width: 100%; } + pre {font-size: 75%;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ted Strong in Montana, by Edward C. Taylor</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Ted Strong in Montana</p> +<p> With Lariat and Spur</p> +<p>Author: Edward C. Taylor</p> +<p>Release Date: November 28, 2006 [eBook #19951]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TED STRONG IN MONTANA***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Steven desJardins, Mary Meehan,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net/)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + + + + + + + +<h1>Ted Strong in Montana</h1> + +<h3>OR</h3> + +<h2>WITH LARIAT AND SPUR</h2> + +<h3>By EDWARD C. TAYLOR<br /> +Author of the Ted Strong Stories</h3> + +<h4>1915</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>CONTENTS</h3> +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. THE BIG SNOW.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. THE LONG TOM RANCH.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. THE SIGN-CAMP GHOST.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. THE BIG COON TREE.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. THE PHANTOM LINE RIDER.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. CAUGHT IN THE ACT.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. A NIGHT RAID.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. THE WAR PARTY.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. A BATTLE OF QUIRTS.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. SILVER FACE.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. LOST IN THE WILDERNESS.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. WHO WHIPPLE WAS.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. AN UNEXPECTED GUEST.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. CHRISTMAS AT BUBBLY WELL.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. THE THUGGEE CORD.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. A LETTER FROM THE DEAD.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII. BESIEGED.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII. TED SAVES THE HOUSE.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX. HELEN MOWBRAY'S WILL.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX. KNIFE AND FANG.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI. 'WARE THE GRAY WOLVES.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII. THE WOLFSKIN.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII. BAGGING THE GRAY WOLVES.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV. WHITE FANG LEADS HOME.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV. TED'S INDEPENDENCE.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI. A COMPROMISE.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII. THE BEEF ISSUE.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII. A SLAP ON THE FACE.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX. RUNNING BEAR'S SQUAW.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX. "THE WOOFER" APPEARS.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI. SINGING BIRD'S SECRET.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII. A NIGHT CHASE.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII. THE LOCOED STEER.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">CHAPTER XXXIV. THE BOBWHITE'S CALL.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">CHAPTER XXXV. A DUEL WITH LARIATS.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI">CHAPTER XXXVI. THE MOTHER LODE.</a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>THE BIG SNOW.</h3> + + +<p>"We're going to have snow to-night!"</p> + +<p>Ted Strong, leader of the broncho boys, was sitting on the back of +Sultan, his noble little black stallion, on the ridge of a prairie +swell, looking at a lowering sky.</p> + +<p>Out of the northwest a chilling wind, damp and raw, was sweeping +dull-gray clouds before it.</p> + +<p>Ted had addressed his remark to Bud Morgan, his chum and able +lieutenant, who threw a glance at the clouds and grunted.</p> + +<p>"I reckon we be," he muttered, "an' I'm free ter say I'm dern sorry ter +hear it."</p> + +<p>"It's hard luck," resumed Ted. "If we had got away a week earlier, or +hadn't been held up by the high water at Poplar Fork, we would have been +at the ranch now, and settled for the winter."</p> + +<p>"Thar's no telling whar an 'if' won't land yer sometimes. If we hadn't +started we wouldn't hev been here at all. But here we aire, an' we'll +hev ter git out o' it."</p> + +<p>"Think we better push on, or make camp?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"Got ter make camp fer ther night somewhere," answered Bud. "But I wisht +ther storm hed held off till ter-morrer this time; we'd hev been within +hootin' distance o' ther Long Tom Ranch."</p> + +<p>"Suppose we push on a few hours more. We can camp down in the dark if we +must. If the snow gets deep before ye reach the high ground you know +what it means."</p> + +<p>"I shore do. I wuz all through a big snow in this yere man's country a +few years back, an' it wuz some fierce."</p> + +<p>"All right. Ride back and drive them up. I'll point. We'll drive until +it gets too dark. Tell the wagons to move up."</p> + +<p>Bud wheeled his pony and dashed to the rear of the great herd of cattle +that was coming on at a snail's pace.</p> + +<p>The cattle were lowing uneasily. They knew even better than the men that +a storm was coming, and they dreaded it.</p> + +<p>This was the big Circle S herd which the broncho boys had bought in +Texas in the spring of that year, and which they had herded and driven +northward throughout the summer to winter on the Montana plateau, later +to be driven to Moon Valley, and there put into condition for the +market.</p> + +<p>Various things had delayed the arrival of the herd on their winter +grounds. A detention of several days at a time by flood, by a stampede, +and by fights with rustlers, had brought the cattle several weeks late +to their winter grounds.</p> + +<p>Ted Strong had determined to try the experiment of wintering Southern +cattle in the Montana country in order to harden them and improve the +quality of the beef.</p> + +<p>The broncho boys had a large order to fill for the government the +following summer, and it was to accomplish their contract that they had +bought the Texas cattle and driven them north to the Long Tom Ranch in +northern Montana.</p> + +<p>Now that they were within a few miles of it, and still on the low +ground, it appeared that a big snow was inevitable, which might +frustrate all their plans and cause them great loss.</p> + +<p>But Ted Strong did not complain. It was a condition which he could not +have foreseen, and, being close at hand, there was nothing for them to +do but meet it with all the fortitude at their command.</p> + +<p>Soon the herd began to move forward, being crowded by the broncho boys +and the force of cow-punchers whom they had employed to assist them.</p> + +<p>Stella Fosdick, who, with her aunt, Mrs. Walter Graham, had accompanied +the boys on their drive, now came galloping up to Ted. She had been +riding beside the carriage in which her aunt had been comfortably +traveling.</p> + +<p>"Going to keep on, Ted?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Got to do it. Those clouds are full of snow. If it catches us down +here we're likely to be snowed in, and if we do it's all up with the +Circle S," he replied.</p> + +<p>"That's bad."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess we'll pull through all right, if we can keep the cows +moving; but it is not going to be very comfortable for your aunt or you. +We'll have to drive until the cattle refuse to move farther."</p> + +<p>"I can stand it, and aunt will have to. She's getting a little anxious, +though, and asked me to ride ahead to learn when we're going to stop. +Poor auntie likes her comfort. I often wonder why she became the wife of +a ranchman."</p> + +<p>"Or why she consents to traipse all over the country with you," laughed +Ted.</p> + +<p>"Ted, she absolutely cannot refuse me a thing."</p> + +<p>"So I see. You've got her hypnotized—as, indeed, you have all the rest +of us. But ride back and cheer her up all you can. I told McCall, the +cook, to make some good, strong coffee and to serve it to any of the +boys who wanted it, as it will be some time before we can have supper. +Have Mac take her a cup of good, strong coffee and something to eat. +That may make her a little more cheerful."</p> + +<p>"I'll do it. But don't you want some coffee, too?"</p> + +<p>"Not for me. I've got something else to do right here. This is going to +be a race between the herd and the snow clouds, and it means a whole lot +to us."</p> + +<p>"Afraid of being snowed in?"</p> + +<p>"You bet. If this bunch of cattle gets snowed in I see our finish. We'll +lose half of them before we get to the grass."</p> + +<p>"I don't know a thing about the Northern range, and I can't see how +you're going to bring that herd through to spring. It would take +thousands of tons of hay, and I don't know how much corn to feed them."</p> + +<p>Ted laughed.</p> + +<p>"I see you don't know much about the North," he said. "But what should a +girl brought up in Texas know of wintering cattle in the snow? You see, +it's this way: Montana is the best winter cattle range in the United +States.</p> + +<p>"The winds from the mountains sweep the snow, which is dry and loose, +from the high, level ground, exposing the grass which has been cured on +the ground, and which makes the best kind of feed. Then there is plenty +of water, and the deep coulees, with which the country is cut up, afford +ample protection for the cattle during storms.</p> + +<p>"Occasionally there comes warm winds from the northwest. These are +called chinook winds, because they come from the direction of the +country of the Chinook Indians. They are warm and balmy, and melt the +snow as if by magic. Their warmth is caused by having come in contact +with the Japanese stream, which crosses the Pacific Ocean, after being +warmed in the sunny East, and which strikes the shores of North America +along about south Alaska. This stream is called by the Japanese, Kuro +Siwo. It is the equivalent of the Gulf Stream, which leaves the Gulf of +Mexico to cross the Atlantic and warm the shores of Great Britain."</p> + +<p>"Quite a lecture," said Stella, laughing.</p> + +<p>"I didn't mean to lecture," replied Ted, laughing also, "but I wanted +you to know why it is that it is a good thing to winter cattle in this +north country. In the first place it puts strength and stamina into the +cattle, and makes the beef better, and all the conditions of which I +have spoken make it possible to keep cattle on the open range out here, +where one would think they would perish of cold and starvation. But it +is no picnic to run a winter range, as we will all learn before spring +comes again."</p> + +<p>"I understand now, and I'm sure I shall enjoy the experience. But I must +go back to aunt and jolly her up, for she is easily discouraged, and she +is no more used to rough winters than I."</p> + +<p>"She'll be all right when we get to Long Tom, for there is a bully ranch +house there, and she'll be as snug as a bug in a rug when we get +settled."</p> + +<p>The cattle were going forward over the gentle, rising ground, being +pushed by the punchers in the rear and the fellows on the side lines, +while Ted and Kit were pointing them in the direction of a tall butte, +which they could see in the distance, rising needlelike and black +against the gray sky.</p> + +<p>This was Long Tom Butte, after which the ranch, which Ted had leased, +had been named.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, Ted felt something wet on his cheek, and looked up. A +snowflake, big and floating lazily down, had struck him.</p> + +<p>Others followed it, and soon there were myriads of big, wet snowflakes +falling slowly through the air.</p> + +<p>The cattle began to hurry, and were lowing in a distressing way. Their +instinct told them to seek shelter, and they were telling their drovers +as much in their own fashion.</p> + +<p>For a half hour the snow continued to come down, wet and soft.</p> + +<p>But suddenly the wind changed in temperature. Before it had been raw and +damp. Now it became sharp and frosty.</p> + +<p>The snow changed quickly from heavy, wet flakes, to small, dry, sharp +particles, which, driven by a strong wind, which had veered around into +the north, stung the faces of the boys like needles, and worried the +cattle, which seemed to want to lag in their pace.</p> + +<p>"Kit, go back and tell the boys to keep pushing harder. The cattle want +to stop, and if they quit now it's all up. There's a blizzard coming. If +we can keep them at it an hour longer, we will be in the lee of the +buttes, and there's a deep coulee into which we can drive and hold them +until morning."</p> + +<p>At Ted's command Kit dashed toward the rear, and repeated the order, and +the cow-punchers rode into the herd with shouts and with active lashing +of their quirts, and the beasts picked up their pace again and hurried +forward through the snow, which had begun to whiten the ground.</p> + +<p>Kit returned to Ted's side.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of it?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"If we had an hour more of daylight, I think we could make it," said +Ted.</p> + +<p>"Any doubt of it?"</p> + +<p>"Well, when it becomes dark we'll lose sight of Long Tom, and we're +likely to drift, because, unless the cattle are driven into the storm, +they'll turn tail to it and go the other way."</p> + +<p>"I can't see Long Tom now."</p> + +<p>"I can, although the snow almost blots it out. There it is right in the +northwest. I can just make it out. The herd is drifting south of it now. +Better get over on your point, and head them up this way a bit."</p> + +<p>Soon the herd was driving forward in the right direction again.</p> + +<p>But suddenly the darkness came down like of pall of black smoke, +shutting out everything, and the wind increased in violence, rising with +a howl and a shriek like some enormous and terrible animal in rage.</p> + +<p>"It's all off," said Ted to himself, with a sigh.</p> + +<p>The cattle came to a stop.</p> + +<p>"Keep them going!" shouted Ted, riding back frantically along the line.</p> + +<p>The cow-punchers dashed among the animals, shouting and beating them +with their quirts, and managed to get them started again, but it was +only for a short time, for again they stopped, bellowing, the leaders +milling and throwing everything into confusion.</p> + +<p>"That settles it," shouted Ted to Bud. "They're going to drift all night +if we don't stop them."</p> + +<p>"Dern ther luck, I says," growled Bud. "How fur aire we from ther +ranch?"</p> + +<p>"The worst of it is we're right on it. The ranch house isn't more than +three miles from here, and if we could have got there we would have been +all right. By morning we may be ten miles away, if we let the herd +drift, and we'll have a dickens of a time getting the brutes back +through the snow."</p> + +<p>"What aire we goin' ter do with the wimminfolks?"</p> + +<p>"I'm going to try to get them to the ranch house. You boys will have to +make a snow camp, and hold the herd from drifting at all odds. Don't let +them sneak on you. Keep pushing them from the south. You see, they're +all turned that way now with their tails to the wind. As soon as they +get cold they will begin to move. Don't let 'em do it."</p> + +<p>"All right, Ted. We'll do the best we can. You take care o' ther +wimminfolks. So long, an' good luck."</p> + +<p>Ted rode back to where Mrs. Graham was shivering in the closed wagon the +boys had provided for her, and Stella was sitting her pony by her side, +trying to encourage her.</p> + +<p>Carl Schwartz was the jehu of the outfit, and sat on the driver's seat, +a fair imitation of a snow man.</p> + +<p>"Carl, get a move on you. We're going to try to make the Long Tom ranch +house," said Ted. "I'll lead, and you follow. If you lose sight of me, +yell to me and I'll come back. I've got my pocket searchlight, and will +send you back a flash now and then."</p> + +<p>Carl was half frozen and would have been pleased to get down and walk +the rest of the distance, but he knew the danger that surrounded them, +and simply yelled back "Yah!" and gathered up the reins for a start.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Stella," said Ted. "We're going to try to make the ranch +house."</p> + +<p>Without a word Stella followed him, and the little caravan struck into +the teeth of the snow-laden wind, which was now blowing half a gale.</p> + +<p>The wagon moved slowly through the snow, which was getting deeper every +minute, and was like heavy sand.</p> + +<p>Every few minutes Carl's voice could be heard, and Ted called back to +him.</p> + +<p>Ted was traveling entirely by instinct, for it was so dark that he could +not see a foot in front of them.</p> + +<p>So they struggled on for an hour, halting occasionally to give the +horses a breathing spell, then drove obstinately forward again.</p> + +<p>"We should have been at the ranch house long ago," shouted Ted at last, +pulling in his panting horse.</p> + +<p>"Then we're lost, I suppose," shouted Stella in return.</p> + +<p>"Looks that way."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?"</p> + +<p>"Stop for the rest of the night."</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't. Keep on until the horses won't go any farther."</p> + +<p>"All right, if you think best."</p> + +<p>On they went again for a half hour more, and Ted was beginning to +believe it was folly to go any farther when his pony stumbled and almost +fell.</p> + +<p>In front of them loomed a darkness more intense than before.</p> + +<p>Ted scrambled from the back of his pony and led it forward. The pony had +stumbled over the horse block at the very door of the Long Tom ranch +house.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>THE LONG TOM RANCH.</h3> + + +<p>Ted and Stella raised such a shout that Carl pulled his horses up just +in time to keep them from trying to climb upon the veranda.</p> + +<p>With the aid of his searchlight Ted had found the door and entered the +house, followed by Stella.</p> + +<p>In the big, front living room they found a lamp, which they lighted and +looked around.</p> + +<p>The house had been left ready for occupancy, and in the great, wide +fireplace logs were piled high ready to be burned.</p> + +<p>In a moment Ted had a fire leaping high up the chimney, then hastened +out to the carriage.</p> + +<p>Carl had scrambled down from the seat of the carriage, and was so cold +and numb that he couldn't walk, while Mrs. Graham had to be carried into +the house by Ted and placed before the fire to thaw out.</p> + +<p>Soon the room was comfortable, and Ted, who had set out on a tour of +inspection, found that the kitchen was well stored with food.</p> + +<p>He started a fire, and soon had coffee and bacon cooking.</p> + +<p>Outside the storm continued to rage through the night, but all within +was tight and warm, and Stella and her aunt retired to their comfortable +bedrooms. But Ted sat up through the night.</p> + +<p>He had considered starting back through the storm to the herd, but +thought better of it, for Bud was perfectly capable of doing all that +could be done with the cattle until daylight came to their rescue.</p> + +<p>While daylight was struggling up through the leaden eastern sky the wind +died down as suddenly as it had risen, and the snow ceased falling.</p> + +<p>Ted had fallen into a doze in a chair in front of the fire, but a stray +sunbeam coming through a window fell upon his closed eyelids, and he +awoke with a start. For a minute he could not think where he was. Then +the cheery voice of Stella fell upon his ears. Somewhere in the distance +she was singing, and he sprang to his feet and looked about him.</p> + +<p>It came to him that he was at the Long Tom, and he remembered having +left the Circle S herd out in the blizzard.</p> + +<p>This stirred him to action, and he went back to the kitchen with the +intention of lighting the fire and getting breakfast.</p> + +<p>He stopped in the doorway in astonishment. Stella, with her sleeves +rolled to the elbows, was busily engaged at the stove, singing as she +worked.</p> + +<p>"Good morning," said Ted. "You beat me to it. Why didn't you wake me up +and put me to work?"</p> + +<p>"Hello!" said Stella cheerily. "You looked so tired sitting in that +chair that I thought I'd let you sleep. At any rate, cooking breakfast +is no work for a boy in a house. Get ready. Breakfast will be on the +table in a minute. What do you think I found in the shed behind the +house? A mountain sheep already dressed, and hung up for us. The fellow +who left this house for us certainly was a good one. He knew we'd come +in hungry, and left everything ready for us."</p> + +<p>"That was just like Fred Sturgis. He's one of the best fellows in the +world. He's the owner of the ranch. Young New York fellow. Wanted to +spend the winter in the East. That's how I was able to get the ranch. +But I'll bet he'll be back here before the snow melts. You couldn't keep +him off the range for any length of time."</p> + +<p>"He certainly has good taste. The house is almost as nice as the Moon +Valley house, but nothing is quite as nice as that."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Graham and Carl were roused, and they were soon sitting down to +chops from a mountain sheep and corn bread which Stella had made; and +they all voted that winter life in Montana promised to be a very jolly +thing.</p> + +<p>When Ted went outdoors the whole world was simply a glittering waste +where the sun shone on, and was reflected back from the vast field of +snow.</p> + +<p>Sultan was in the sheltered corral, and as Ted threw the saddle on his +back he reared and jumped about like a playful kitten.</p> + +<p>"Quit your cavorting about, you rascal," said Ted, as Sultan wheeled +away from the saddle with a playful snort, at the same time reaching +around and trying to nip Ted's shoulder with his teeth.</p> + +<p>"My, but you're feeling gay this morning," said Ted. "Here, hold still, +won't you? How do you suppose I'm ever going to get this saddle on you +if you don't stand still?"</p> + +<p>But the cold weather and the bright sunshine had filled Sultan with +ginger, and he was as full of play as a small boy when he wakes up some +early winter morning and sees the ground covered with the first snow, +and remembers the sled that has lain in the woodshed all summer.</p> + +<p>But at last the saddle was on, and then Ted had his hands full getting +into it.</p> + +<p>"Gee, but you're skittish this morning," said Ted, giving Sultan a +vigorous slap on the haunch. "But just you wait a few minutes until I +get on you. I'll take some of that out of you."</p> + +<p>But when he tried to find the stirrup with his toe, Sultan wheeled away +from him with a little kick that was as dainty as that of a professional +dancer.</p> + +<p>But at last Ted made a leap and landed safely upon Sultan's back, and +gave him a slap with the loose end of his rein. The little horse gave a +leap like a kangaroo, and dashed through the gateway of the corral and +across the white prairie, running like a quarter horse.</p> + +<p>The herd was nowhere in sight, but in the far distance Ted saw a thin +blue stream of smoke rising in the still, frosty air.</p> + +<p>He knew it to be the camp fire of McCall, and that breakfast was going +forward at the cow camp in the snow.</p> + +<p>Heading Sultan toward it, Ted rushed on through the stimulating air of a +Northern winter, and soon came in sight of the chuck wagon, and several +of the boys standing around a fire.</p> + +<p>As he dashed forward he raised the long yell, which was gleefully +answered, and soon he was at the camp.</p> + +<p>This was where he and Stella had started from the night before.</p> + +<p>Turning his eyes back in the direction he had come, Ted could see the +smoke rising from the chimney of the ranch house, although the house +itself was hidden behind a swell in the surface of the prairie.</p> + +<p>Had he only known it, he might have driven the herd right up to the +ranch house during the night. As it was, he saw now that he and Stella, +with the carriage, had ridden for almost two hours in the night, +traveling in a circle, and by the merest chance had stumbled upon the +ranch house.</p> + +<p>"Hello, fellows!" he shouted as he rode up. "Where are the dogies?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, to blazes and gone!" exclaimed big Ben, who was trying to thaw out +his boots at the fire.</p> + +<p>"Where?" asked Ted anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Away off yonder." Ben pointed disconsolately toward the south.</p> + +<p>"Are they all right?"</p> + +<p>"All right, nothing. They're up to their bellies in snow in a coulee, +and won't stir. They're the sickest-looking lot of beef critters you +ever saw. We've been working with them ever since daylight, then Bud +sent us along to thaw out and get some chuck into us, and hurry back so +that the other fellows could get limbered up some. Find the house?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, accidentally stumbled on to it. Bully place, and the womenfolks +are comfortably settled."</p> + +<p>"Looks like it," grunted Ben, pointing to the north.</p> + +<p>Ted looked in that direction and saw a spotted pony leaping toward them, +and above it a dash of scarlet. It was Stella, riding like the wind on +Magpie.</p> + +<p>"Have any trouble with the critters in the night?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"Did we? Well, I should howl. After you got under way they began to +drift before the wind. We fought them all night, and if we'd let them go +they'd been plumb into Colorado by this time. I don't want any more such +nights in mine."</p> + +<p>"That was only a starter, my friend. That was a picnic compared to what +you may have to go up against before the daisies bloom again."</p> + +<p>"Chuck!" yelled McCall, beating on the bottom of a griddle with a big +iron spoon.</p> + +<p>The fellows left the fire in a hurry and, squatting in the snow with a +tin cup full of steaming coffee and a plate heaped with fried bacon and +griddle cakes, were soon too busy to remember their weariness.</p> + +<p>Stella had ridden up, her cheeks glowing, and her eyes sparkling with +the frost and the exercise.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you wait for me?" she cried to Ted. "You're a mean thing. +Thought you'd leave me behind, but here I am." She made a little face at +Ted.</p> + +<p>"I thought you'd rather stay indoors to-day on account of the cold," +stammered Ted.</p> + +<p>"Well, change your line of thought. There's going to be nothing to keep +me indoors in this country, and don't you forget it. If I've got to stay +indoors, I'll go South."</p> + +<p>As soon as the boys had finished breakfast they were ready for another +day's work.</p> + +<p>"Come on, fellows," shouted Ted. "Let's hurry to where the critters are, +and send the other boys back. Mac, cook up another breakfast for them."</p> + +<p>They were in the saddle in a jiffy, and scurrying toward the south as +fast as their ponies could carry them.</p> + +<p>Ted found the herd bogged in a shallow coulee that was filled to the top +with snow, in which they stood up to their bellies, lowing from fright, +hunger, and thirst.</p> + +<p>They were packed in a solid mass, and could not get out on the other +side because the wall of the coulee was too steep for them to clamber +up, as they might have done had it not been for the deep snow with which +it was drifted full.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, though, the coulee had saved the herd from drifting +many miles in the night.</p> + +<p>But how to get them out was the question that perplexed Bud, and with +the arrival of Ted he thankfully turned the task over to him.</p> + +<p>"Hike for the chuck wagon, boys," shouted Ted, as he came up.</p> + +<p>"Well, I should smile to ejaculate," said Bud, "we're as hollow an' cold +as a rifle bar'l. I'll turn this leetle summer matinée over ter you, my +friend, not wishin' you any harm."</p> + +<p>"Go ahead and enjoy yourselves," said Ted. "But as soon as you have +filled up and warmed up come back. As soon as we get the bunch out of +this hole it will be a snap to get them near the ranch house. If we'd +only known it, we could have made it in half an hour more last night."</p> + +<p>When Bud had ridden away Ted took stock of the situation, and found that +he had a difficult problem to solve.</p> + +<p>Under ordinary circumstances it would have been easy to snake the cattle +out of the coulee by roping them around the horns and dragging them out +with the ponies, but it was utterly impossible to do that with a couple +of thousand of them.</p> + +<p>While he was looking things over he became aware that Stella had ridden +away. He looked anxiously after her, for he knew her propensity for +getting into trouble when she rode alone. Soon she dropped out of sight +behind a swell in the prairie with a flash in the sunlight of her +scarlet jacket.</p> + +<p>Ted was still studying the situation, riding up and down the edge of the +coulee, trying to figure out some plan of rescue, and noting the cattle +that were down, and which were rapidly being trampled to death by the +other beasts, or being smothered by the snow.</p> + +<p>The prospect was not a pleasing one to the young cow boss, for he saw +the profits of the venture fading away hourly.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a faint, shrill yell reached his ears, and he wheeled his pony +in the direction from which it came.</p> + +<p>Stella's scarlet jacket was coming toward him in a whirlwind of flying +snow, and he rushed toward her.</p> + +<p>What could have happened to her? He looked in vain for whatever was +pursuing her, and saw that she was not being followed, but was swinging +her arm above her head with a triumphant gesture.</p> + +<p>He slowed his pony down, and soon she dashed to his side.</p> + +<p>"You fellows are certainly a bright lot of cow-punchers," she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter now?" asked Ted gloomily.</p> + +<p>"Didn't any of you think of scouting down the coulee?"</p> + +<p>"I confess I didn't."</p> + +<p>"You ought to be laid off the job for a week."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"You can get those cattle out of that hole in an hour."</p> + +<p>"We can! How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"The coulee runs out about a mile to the west, and straight to the +north, up a wide swale, lies the ranch house in full view."</p> + +<p>"Stella, you're all right. But the cattle are bogged, and they can't +move even down the coulee."</p> + +<p>"I believe they can."</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"When the other boys come back from breakfast all of you jump into the +coulee and tramp the snow down as much as you can ahead of the leaders. +Then start them up."</p> + +<p>"Bully for you, Stella; you're a better cow-puncher than any of us."</p> + +<p>"No, I'm not, but because I don't know as much about it I go at it in a +woman's way, which is a roundabout way, and nearly always foolish to +look at, but sometimes does the work."</p> + +<p>This suggestion had the effect of taking a great load from Ted's +shoulders, for if he did not succeed in getting the herd out before +night they would freeze solid in their molds of snow, and then he would +never get half of them out alive.</p> + +<p>Presently Bud and the other boys came winging back from breakfast, and +Ted told them of the plan for releasing the cattle, at the same time +praising Stella and giving her all the credit for the idea.</p> + +<p>"Peevish peppers, but I'm a tenderfoot," grunted Bud. "Why in Sam Hill +didn't I think o' that myself? I reckon I'm gettin' too old fer ther cow +business. I ought ter be milkin' cows at some dairy farm."</p> + +<p>The boys followed Stella's suggestion, and, leaping into the coulee, +wheeled their ponies about until they had a well-beaten road for several +hundred feet toward the west.</p> + +<p>Then, cutting out a bunch of about fifty steers, led by a wise old +fellow, the herd leader, whom they called Baldy on account of the spot +of white hair between his horns, drove them along the path. After +getting the bunch going well, the boys drove them with yells and the +lashing of quirts into the deep snow ahead, and would not let them stop.</p> + +<p>Another bunch was driven up, and soon there was a smooth road along the +bottom of the coulee to the open ground, over which the cattle passed to +safety.</p> + +<p>Stella's good common sense had saved the herd.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>THE SIGN-CAMP GHOST.</h3> + + +<p>As the last of the herd came out of the coulee to the open ground, a +cheer went up for Stella, who blushed rosy-red, and told the boys to +hush.</p> + +<p>Then the drive to the big pasture began, word having been sent to McCall +to follow with the chuck wagon.</p> + +<p>The big pasture ran north from the home pasture, which was near the +ranch house.</p> + +<p>It comprised thousands of acres, and was so high that nearly always it +was free of snow, which the strong winds coming down from the mountains +swept as clear as if a gigantic broom had been used.</p> + +<p>Back of the pasture lay a range of low mountains, the Sweet Grass they +were called, in which several high buttes towered like sentinels.</p> + +<p>The Sweet Grass Mountains had the reputation of harboring a great many +"bad men," both whites and Indians, who had forsaken the Blackfeet +Indian reservation to the west.</p> + +<p>The mountain valleys afforded a splendid protection for the cattle, as +did the numerous coulees with which the country was seamed.</p> + +<p>The big pasture of the Long Tom was reputed to be the best winter +feeding ground in Montana. The grass was high and nutritious, and there +were plenty of water holes.</p> + +<p>Once on the pasture the cattle scattered into smaller herds, each under +the leadership of a bull, while the steers drifted off by themselves.</p> + +<p>All that was necessary to care for the herd was to ride the lines of the +pasture, and keep the cattle on their own feeding grounds, prevent them +from straying, and hunt down the packs of wolves which preyed upon the +weak cows and young cattle.</p> + +<p>At stated intervals along the lines of the pasture were cabins, known as +"sign camps," in which the line riders lived.</p> + +<p>The first sign camp out of the home pasture was eight miles distant, and +the next was under the lee of the mountains, on the west line.</p> + +<p>As Ted directed the drive of the herd to the big pasture, on the south +and west line of which the first sign camp was situated, he cut out part +of the herd and held it back, while the remainder of the cattle went +forward.</p> + +<p>At the first sign camp Bud and Carl were dropped, for they were to ride +the line to the north and east from that point.</p> + +<p>Bud was glad to get some rest, and with a wave of the hand went on his +way to the camp to await the arrival of Carl, who had ridden back to the +ranch house for his blankets and other supplies.</p> + +<p>During the day the chuck wagon, following the instructions of Ted, +stopped at the sign camp, and left a supply of provisions and Bud's +blankets.</p> + +<p>Bud looked out the window of the cabin, and saw that the herd was +grazing quietly, for the cattle were very hungry, and as they were safe +for the time being, he rolled himself in his blankets and was soon +sleeping soundly.</p> + +<p>He awoke on hearing a fumbling at the door, and sat up.</p> + +<p>It was pitch dark, and he had slept nearly all day.</p> + +<p>Unlimbering his six-shooter, he called, "Who's thar?"</p> + +<p>"Ach, Pud, it's me alretty," came the muffled reply.</p> + +<p>"So it's you, Carl. Why don't you come in?"</p> + +<p>"Der door open, Pud, please. I my arrums full mit dings have."</p> + +<p>Bud sprang from his blankets and threw the door open, admitting a cold +blast and a flurry of snow.</p> + +<p>"Ugh!" he ejaculated, with a shudder. "Come in, yer fat wad o' Dutch. +What yer waitin' fer?"</p> + +<p>"Someding has my hat stolen off mit my head." Carl's voice expressed +both perplexity and awe.</p> + +<p>Evidently something unusual had happened, and Bud put on his hat and +stepped outside.</p> + +<p>He had no sooner passed through the doorway than his own hat was +snatched from his head.</p> + +<p>He drew his revolver, leaped into the open, and looked about him.</p> + +<p>There was no one in sight except Carl, who was standing near him with +his arms full of blankets and bundles.</p> + +<p>Carl could not have played the trick on him, and there was not wind +enough to have blown the hat away. Anyhow, it had been snatched from his +head by a hand and not by the wind.</p> + +<p>There was something uncanny about this.</p> + +<p>It was still light enough to see out in the open, and the snow-covered +ground reflected light enough to have discovered an intruder had one +been there.</p> + +<p>Bud ran around the house, but could find no person, and there were no +tracks of a man's foot in the snow.</p> + +<p>"Jumpin' sand hills, but that's queer," said Bud, coming back to where +Carl was still standing in the snow before the door, staring about in a +bewildered way. "Gosh ding yer, Carl, I believe yer swiped my hat, an' +if yer don't give it up I'll plant my toe whar it'll be felt +onpleasantly."</p> + +<p>"Honest, Pud, I ain't your hat taking," said Carl distressfully. "Vhy, I +my hat losing too, yet."</p> + +<p>"That's so, an' yer loaded down with truck. Throw them things inter ther +house an' help me hunt ther thief. Don' be standin' thar like a +sausage."</p> + +<p>"Don'd you calling me a sissage," said Carl wrathfully. "I ain't feeling +mooch as having fun mit you now. I bring all dese dings mit der saddle +on, und I lose two or three every dime der pony makes his jumpings, und +get down kvick to pick dem up maype as fifty dimes."</p> + +<p>"Oh, all right. Quit yer bellyachin', an' come an' help. We can't get +along without hats. That's a cinch."</p> + +<p>Carl retired into the house with his bundles.</p> + +<p>"Wow! Stop it, cuss ye," yelled Bud, as Carl came out of the cabin.</p> + +<p>"I ain't didding noding," said Carl, backing away as Bud rushed upon +him.</p> + +<p>"Yer did, yer fat galoot. Yer pulled my hair 'most out by ther roots."</p> + +<p>"I ain't pulling no hairs," Carl persisted.</p> + +<p>"Then who done it? Yer ther only person what I can see. It's a cinch +some one pulled my hair."</p> + +<p>"Say, Pud."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Let us camp outside."</p> + +<p>"What, an' freeze ter death before mornin'? Nixy. Not fer me."</p> + +<p>"Ain't you heard about der shack?"</p> + +<p>"No, I ain't, an' I don't want ter. What I'm after now is ther galoot +what got our hats an' pulled my hair."</p> + +<p>"Ain't you heard about der ghost?"</p> + +<p>"Ghost!"</p> + +<p>Bud was staring at Carl with his jaw dropped.</p> + +<p>"Yah. Dis is a ghost haus, filled mit ghostesses."</p> + +<p>"Don't you go making any monkey talks at me. There ain't no sich things +as ghosts. That'll do fer ter frighten kids with, but not fer me."</p> + +<p>"Den who tooken our hats, und who your golden locks pulled?"</p> + +<p>"That's so. Who took them? Tell me, who put all thet dope about this +bein' a haunted house in ther shell what yer calls yer head?"</p> + +<p>"Bill Simms, der cow-puncher vot we picked up on der drive, +informationed me about it. He says a man was kilt in dis shack, und dot +he valks aroundt mit it ven der night cooms."</p> + +<p>"That Bill Simms is ther worst liar in forty States. He tried ter fill +me with wild dreams about a feller what rides ther line on this yere +ranch what can stand havin' ther contents o' a six-shooter pumped inter +him, an' it don't feaze him none."</p> + +<p>"Yah. Dot's der ghostes vot runs dis shack. I don'd vant ter stay here, +Pud. Please let us camp out in der snow."</p> + +<p>"Why, yer doodle, can't ther ghost come out yere jest ez easy ez he kin' +go inter ther house—that is, if he's a sure-enough ghost?"</p> + +<p>"Yah, I guess he can. Vat vill ve didding?"</p> + +<p>"I don't care what you do, but I'm goin' inter ther shack ter start up +ther fire an' get warm. I don't care what you do, but I'm 'most froze."</p> + +<p>"Don't leaf me alone, dear Pud. Please, I imploring you."</p> + +<p>"Come on, then."</p> + +<p>Bud stepped inside, and, as he did so, he uttered an exclamation of +surprise.</p> + +<p>Both the purloined hats lay in the middle of the floor.</p> + +<p>"There, didn't I told you?" exclaimed Carl, in an awed voice.</p> + +<p>Bud simply stared at the hats.</p> + +<p>"Nopody but a ghostes could haf did dat."</p> + +<p>Bud looked around the room, and then up at the ceiling.</p> + +<p>Then he burst into a roar of laughter.</p> + +<p>"Thar's ther ghost," he shouted, grasping Carl by the arm and twisting +him around so that he could see.</p> + +<p>In the corner just below the ceiling were two sharp, green points of +light that glowed in the faint radiance cast by the fire, which had sunk +to embers.</p> + +<p>"Ach, mutter, save your liddle Carl. It vor der ghostes."</p> + +<p>"That ain't no ghost," said Bud scornfully. "Ain't you never hear tell +how ghosts look? They're all white an' long an' skinny, an' when they +walk they carry chains what clanks, an'——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Pud, stop. Don't say it some more. My plood vas chilling now so I +ain't aple to svallow in my troat alretty. I vas so scared as nefer vas +I."</p> + +<p>"Yer a cheerful roommate, I must say. See, ther ghost is gone."</p> + +<p>"I ain't nefer goin' ter be happy some more. I haf seen a ghost. I vill +die, I am sure."</p> + +<p>"Yer kin bet on that ez a shore thing, an' I reckon I will, too."</p> + +<p>"Listen!" Carl grasped Bud by the arm with the clutch of despair.</p> + +<p>There was a faint and stealthy noise on the roof.</p> + +<p>Both stood for a few moments listening breathlessly.</p> + +<p>Then they heard a faint, far-away wail, like that of a banshee.</p> + +<p>Carl threw his arms around Bud in an agony of fear.</p> + +<p>"Dere it iss. Ve are gone. All iss lost."</p> + +<p>Again the gruesome wail came to them, this time louder and clearer, and +in a moment or two a hand was at the door. The latch clicked softly, and +the door swung slowly open.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>THE BIG COON TREE.</h3> + + +<p>"Hello, what's the matter with you fellows? Are you going to have a +waltz, or is it going to be a two-step, or a catch-as-catch-can +wrestling match? Perhaps you've suddenly grown very fond of one +another."</p> + +<p>It was Ted who spoke, standing in the doorway, laughing as if he would +burst his buttons off, at the strange tableau in the middle of the +floor, Carl clinging to Bud, who was trying to shake him off.</p> + +<p>"Let loose o' me," shouted Bud. "Why, ther feller's plumb daffy on +ghosts. He says as how this shack is haunted, an' he's plumb loco."</p> + +<p>"Yah. Didn't we just hear der ghostes yell mit der outside?" said Carl, +who had been thrust away from his clutch on Bud, and was standing in the +middle of the floor, trembling like one with the ague.</p> + +<p>"Ha, ha!" laughed Ted. "Ghost, eh? It was me calling to the cattle, and +sending them back from the line."</p> + +<p>"Yah, aber I seen mit mine own eyes der green ones oof der ghost up in +dot corner, und heart him on der roof."</p> + +<p>"Come outside, and I'll show you the footprints of the ghost," said Ted, +leading the way.</p> + +<p>Out in the snow by the side of the cabin Ted showed them several tracks, +something like a small hand, which ended at the wall of the cabin.</p> + +<p>"That's where the ghost went up," said Ted. "Let's climb the wall, and +see what is on the roof."</p> + +<p>It was easy climbing up the log wall, for there were plenty of +footholds.</p> + +<p>When they were high enough to look over the edge of the roof, Bud gave +an exclamation of surprise, and then burst out laughing, in which Ted +joined.</p> + +<p>But Carl could not see the joke.</p> + +<p>"It's a vild cat," he shouted, scrambling to the ground.</p> + +<p>"It ain't, neither," asseverated Bud. "It's a bully little ole pet coon. +That's what it is."</p> + +<p>He held out his hand, and the coon, making a queer little chuckling +noise, came slowly toward him as he held out his finger, which the +sharp-eyed little beast clasped in its fingerlike paw and pulled.</p> + +<p>Bud reached out, tucked it under his arm, and climbed down with it.</p> + +<p>"This yere coon was a pet ter ther fellers what rid line yere before," +said Bud, when they were in the cabin again. "He's been hangin' eround +ever since, an' when he saw us he thought it wuz his ole pardners come +back. He's been taught ter swipe hats an' drop 'em down inter ther house +through ther chimbley hole. That accounts fer it, an' I reckon he's ther +whole ghost."</p> + +<p>"Yah, mebbe I dinks so," said Carl, who looked rather sheepish at his +exhibition of fear.</p> + +<p>"He's a smart little piece," said Ted. "By the way, Carl, get busy with +the pots and pans. I'm going to stay to supper and sleep here to-night. +I've got the cattle and the boys planted, and it is too far to go on to +the ranch house to-night. Stella and Kit went back an hour ago."</p> + +<p>Carl went to work to cook supper, while Bud played with the coon, which +was as full of tricks as a monkey, and kept the boys laughing all the +time.</p> + +<p>"A coon is a mighty smart animile," said Bud as they sat down to supper.</p> + +<p>"So I've heard," said Ted. "But I've never seen many of them."</p> + +<p>"Dere is no such beast in Chermany," Carl put in proudly.</p> + +<p>"That's so," said Bud. "Ameriky is the land o' ther free, an' ther home +o' ther coon. Never went coon huntin', did yer, Ted?"</p> + +<p>"I never did."</p> + +<p>"Well, ye've missed some mighty good fun. Down in Missouri is whar ther +coon grows wild an' independent, an' ther ain't one o' them what's come +o' age what ain't as smart as ary congressman you ever see."</p> + +<p>"I've heard something about coon hunting," said Ted.</p> + +<p>"It's great down in Missouri. Thar's whar ther coon trees grow."</p> + +<p>"Vat such foolishment for?" said Carl, with a sneer. "Coons don't grow +mit trees on."</p> + +<p>"Nobody said they could, but they live in trees, yer loony. A ole gum +tree what's holler is ther home o' ther coon. Thar's whar ther best coon +dogs come from, too. Ever hunt coons with a dog?" continued Bud.</p> + +<p>"Never did," said Ted. "It seems too picayunish fer me. I like bigger +game than that. Besides, I don't care much fer hunting in the +nighttime."</p> + +<p>"Do they hunt mit der coons in der nighttime?" asked Carl, who was +beginning to be interested.</p> + +<p>"Shore! That's ther time ter tree 'em. My Uncle Fletcher out in ole +Missou, we ust ter call him ole Unc' Fletch, had four or five coon dogs +that was ther cream o' the coon-huntin' canines in several counties, an' +Unc' Fletch was out near every night chasin' coons."</p> + +<p>"Many of them there?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"Ther country was overrun with 'em. They ust ter eat all ther roastin' +ears o' corn in ther bottom lands, an' git away with more chickens than +ever those that raised 'em did, until it got so that ther farmers said +they was only raisin' corn an' chickens ter keep ther coons fat."</p> + +<p>"No money in that."</p> + +<p>"Not much. But I wuz goin' ter tell yer what happened ter Unc' Fletch +one night ter show how plenty coons wuz in his section.</p> + +<p>"One night he starts out with his best coon dog, Ballyhoo, so called +because he made sech a noise when he treed a coon.</p> + +<p>"Bally runs acrost ther scent o' a coon an' takes after it. Unc' Fletch +trails along, an' Ballyhoo stops at a big sycamore tree. But there don't +seem ter be no hole, an' after unc' looks around, an' can't find +nothin', he calls Ballyhoo off, an' they start through ther woods ag'in.</p> + +<p>"Pretty soon Ballyhoo scents another coon, an', by jing, it leads them +ter ther same sycamore. About twenty times that night they strikes ther +scent, an' every time it stops at the same tree.</p> + +<p>"Now, Unc' Fletch wuz some o' a woodman, an' he says it ain't nat'ral +fer ther dog ter tree so many coons at ther same place, an' wonders if +thar is somethin' wrong with ther dog, if he's gone daffy, er whether +it's jest an onusual smart coon what has gone out jest ter have a joke +by runnin' them ter ther same tree every time.</p> + +<p>"While he is contemplatin' thus he is leanin' with his back ter ther +tree. Pritty soon he thinks he'll go home, an' he starts away sorter +disgustedlike with ther night's sport, an', by gee, he finds he's caught +by ther tail o' his coat an' can't break loose.</p> + +<p>"He tries ter get away, but he's shore fast. He reaches around, an' ther +tree hez got hold o' him all right, an' bein' some superstitious, Unc' +Fletch begins ter git some scared. Then he ricollects about hearin' the +colored folks talk about the haunted coon tree."</p> + +<p>"Coons is ghostes, not?" asked Carl.</p> + +<p>"Wait an' you'll hear," continued Bud. "Long about this time, Ballyhoo +begins ter howl in ther most sad an' lonesome way, an' that don't make +Unc' Fletch feel any better. Jest as he's thinkin' about hollerin' fer +help——"</p> + +<p>"Why didn't he skin out of his coat, and leave it sticking to the tree?" +asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"I ast him ther same question, an' he says as how he was too plumb +scared ter do sich a thing. But jest as he was goin' ter holler he finds +that he's loose, an' all his spunk comes back again.</p> + +<p>"Then he begun ter be curious ter find out what it was that held him +fast. He lights a fire an' gets a torch ter examine ther tree, but can't +find nothin' that would hev cotched him thataway.</p> + +<p>"But as he's lookin' ther strangest thing happens. Ther tree opens a +crack runnin' all ther way from ther roots up as far as Unc' Fletch kin +see. Ther crack is big ernuff ter put yer finger in, but Unc' Fletch +doesn't do no such fool trick ez that.</p> + +<p>"In less than a minnit ther crack closes up ag'in, an' thar ain't no +sign o' it. Now this is some puzzlin' ter Unc' Fletch, an' he hez some +more o' them funny feelin's erbout ghosts, an' them things.</p> + +<p>"While he's still watchin' ther tree, ther crack opens again, then +closes an' opens an' closes, same as if it wuz breathin'. This makes +Unc' Fletch some riled, fer he wa'n't never a feller what can stand +bein' made a joke of, an' he thinks ther ghost in ther tree is havin' +fun with him."</p> + +<p>"What did he do?" asked Ted, when Bud stopped and looked reflectively +into the fire.</p> + +<p>"Well, he starts out ter make a fool out o' ther ghost, if it is a +ghost, er outer ther tree, if it is jest a tree what is triflin' with +him.</p> + +<p>"He has his ax with him, fer every real coon hunter always carries an ax +ter chop down ther tree when he finds a coon in it. But he wa'n't goin' +ter chop down this tree none."</p> + +<p>"What did he want with the ax, then?"</p> + +<p>"I'll soon tell yer. First he chops down a small tree, an' he makes a +wedge with an edge erbout ther size o' yer little finger, an' he waits +until ther tree breathes ergin. Then he slips ther wedge in, an' hammers +it home.</p> + +<p>"'Ha, ha!' says he ter ther tree, 'ye'll make monkey-shines with me, +holdin' me by ther coat tails, will yer?' An' all ther time he is +choppin' out another wedge, bigger than ther first.</p> + +<p>"As he keeps choppin' out, an' shovin' bigger an' bigger wedges inter +ther crack, he hears noises comin' from ther tree like what he ain't +never heard before. But ther tree is beginnin' ter give out crackin' +noises, too, like as if it was splittin'.</p> + +<p>"While this is goin' on Ballyhoo is makin' a terrible fuss, an' jest +tryin' ter tear ther tree down with his claws. At last ther tree busts +plumb open, an' what d'yer think Unc' Fletch sees?"</p> + +<p>Neither Ted nor Carl replied. What the tree contained was a thing +unguessable, but Carl's eyes were as big as saucers as he stared at Bud, +awaiting the solution of the mystery.</p> + +<p>"What did it contain?" asked Ted at last.</p> + +<p>"It was plumb full o' coons," said Bud solemnly. "Thar must 'a' been two +hundred coons in that tree. It was a regular coon hotel. They made it a +sort o' winter colony. Every coon fer miles eround made it home."</p> + +<p>"But that doesn't explain the crack in the tree and the strange way in +which it opened and closed."</p> + +<p>"That's easy now that yer knows that the tree was holler an' plumb full +o' coons."</p> + +<p>"I don't see it yet."</p> + +<p>"Why, it wuz like this: Every time them coons drew a long breath it +expanded ther tree so that it opened a crack, an' when their lungs +filled the crack opened wide. Then, when they let out thar breath ag'in, +ther crack closed tight ag'in. Unc' Fletch happened ter lean up ag'in +ther tree jest ez ther crack closed, an' that's how his coat tails got +caught."</p> + +<p>"And what became of all those coons?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"Yer see they got inter ther tree through a hole in ther top. Unc' +Fletch didn't dare leave ther tree alone, so he tied a note ter Ballyhoo +an' sent him back ter ther village fer a carpenter. When ther carpenter +come they put a roof on ther tree an' made a door at ther bottom, an' +let ther coons out one at a time. By this means they got every dodgasted +coon in them woods, an' Unc' Fletch's bounties was enough ter enable him +ter lift ther mortgage on ther farm."</p> + +<p>"I guess that will do for to-night," said Ted, laughing. "I'm going to +hit the blankets, for it's up at daylight for all of us. I only hope +your pet coon does not attract so many others as to turn this sign camp +into a coon hotel."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>THE PHANTOM LINE RIDER.</h3> + + +<p>For several days the weather remained fine, and the cattle were able to +get accustomed to their new range and become hardened.</p> + +<p>The boys at the sign camps took things easy. In each sign camp were two +boys, one of whom rode days, and the other nights, when it was necessary +in bad weather to hold the cattle from drifting.</p> + +<p>In order to keep in touch with one another the riders started from their +camps and met midway between, in order to exchange notes as to the +condition of the cattle and other things necessary to the welfare of the +whole herd.</p> + +<p>There was another reason for this constant interchange of communication +between the camps.</p> + +<p>Ted had received a warning from the town of Bubbly Creek, a small cattle +station, about twenty miles from the Long Tom Ranch, where there was a +cattleman's hotel, a few saloons, and an outfitting store, to look out +for the Whipple gang, which had its rendezvous in the Sweet Grass +Mountains.</p> + +<p>Fred Sturgis, in the last letter Ted had received from him, had also +mentioned this gang of thieves and desperadoes, whose operations +extended from Canada, into which they made extensive raids when the +Canadian Mounted Police happened to be out of that part of the country, +as far south as the central portion of Montana.</p> + +<p>"I have had considerable trouble with the Whipple gang myself," Sturgis +wrote, "but as yet I have never seen but one member of the gang to know +it. I have had plenty of cattle stolen, and have always attributed the +thefts to the Whipples. All I know about the gang is that it was founded +by a fellow named Whipple, an outlaw on the scout, who attracted to +himself a desperate gang of fugitives from justice who had taken refuge +in the Sweet Grass Mountains.</p> + +<p>"I have never seen Whipple himself, but from those who claim to know him +he is described as an enormous man of prodigious strength, and a perfect +brute, who has forced his men into absolute subjection by his acts of +brutality toward them.</p> + +<p>"With Whipple are a number of bad Indians, who have fled from the +various reservations in Montana after having committed all sorts of +crimes, from theft to murder. It is said that these are more to be +feared than the white men, for they are terribly cruel, and when they +get a victim he is tortured with all the horrible rites of the true +savage. They know that the moment they are caught that is the end for +them, so that they are reckless to the verge of insanity.</p> + +<p>"I tell you these things, believing that you already know what ranching +in northern Montana means, and with every confidence in Ted Strong's +ability to take care of himself, and meet conditions when they appear. +All I can say is, go after them if they molest you. I and my boys fought +them so successfully that they gave us a wide berth toward the end. But +when they learn that new hands have taken hold of the Long Tom they may +think that they can start their funny business again.</p> + +<p>"Knowing your reputation, and the ability you have shown in the past in +wiping out, or at least breaking up and scattering, bands of bad men, I +leave the Long Tom in your hands with the hope that when I take it over +again in the spring there will be no more Whipple gang, and that the +Sweet Grass Mountains will be as safe as one's own dooryard.</p> + +<p>"A word in your ear about the Sweet Grass Mountains: It is known to a +few men in Montana, and a few others in various parts of the country +that somewhere in those mountains are rich mines of gold and copper, and +at various times men have brought out beautiful and valuable specimens +of sapphires and rubies in the rough, not knowing what they were, having +picked them up solely because they were beautiful and unusual.</p> + +<p>"If it were not for the Whipple gang the mountains would have been +opened up to the prospectors long ago. Several prospectors, unheedful of +the warnings, have gone in, but none have ever come out of the Sweet +Grass Mountains.</p> + +<p>"Whoever is at the head of the Whipple gang possesses more than the +usual share of brains, courage, and luck. Keep your eye peeled, and good +fortune to you."</p> + +<p>This letter had been read to the boys one night in camp, and all were +instructed to look out for strangers on the ranch and to inform +themselves of the business of such.</p> + +<p>One night Carl started from the sign camp to ride north to meet the +rider from sign camp No. 2, which lay nearer the mountains.</p> + +<p>The camp in which Bud and Carl were stationed was camp No. 1.</p> + +<p>The distance between the camps was about six miles, so that each rider +had to go about three miles to meet.</p> + +<p>The night was clear and cold, and the air fairly sparkled with the frost +in the brilliant white moonlight. It was a glorious night, and Carl, in +a leather coat lined with fleece, and with a fur cap upon his head, and +his feet in thick felts, started away from the camp on his ride.</p> + +<p>There was no wind, but the temperature was very low.</p> + +<p>To the north the Sweet Grass Mountains loomed, a black mass against the +sky, while all about the world was carpeted with snow.</p> + +<p>Carl had not progressed more than a mile from his camp when he saw a +dark object against the snow some distance in front of him.</p> + +<p>At first he thought it might be a bush or a rock, so still it was in the +moonlight.</p> + +<p>But he could not remember of ever having seen either a rock or a bush in +that part of the range.</p> + +<p>Then he wondered if he was late at the meeting place, and that the other +line rider had got tired of waiting for him, and had ridden forward upon +his line to meet him.</p> + +<p>This stimulated him to greater speed, and he pricked up his pony.</p> + +<p>But as he got nearer the black blot on the snow there seemed to be +something unusual about it, and he unconsciously slowed his animal down +to a walk.</p> + +<p>At last he got within hailing distance, and saw that it was a man on +horseback that he had been approaching.</p> + +<p>The man on night duty at the second sign camp was a cow-puncher named +Follansbee, a short, reckless, yet amiable fellow, whom Carl knew well.</p> + +<p>The rider who was awaiting him was an unusually large man, and bestrode +an enormous horse. The two were as if they had been carved from ebony, +as they stood silent and absolutely still, outlined sharply against the +dazzlingly white background.</p> + +<p>Something inside of Carl began to sink as he went on, slower and slower, +his hand gripping the reins tightly, and holding back on them.</p> + +<p>"Vot it is?" he was saying over and over to himself. "Vot it is? Dot is +not Billy Follansbee. Dot man vould make dree times of Follansbee, nit?"</p> + +<p>Cold fear was slowly stealing over Carl, and he wanted in his heart to +turn and ride the other way.</p> + +<p>But something seemed to draw him forward, and, try as he would, he could +not bring himself to turn back.</p> + +<p>The man on the black horse could not be a member of the Long Tom force, +for Carl knew every one of them well, as a fellow will who has camped +with them for months on a cattle drive.</p> + +<p>Now Carl was near enough to see the man's face, and he peered eagerly +forward to get a glimpse of it.</p> + +<p>Then his heart sank lower yet, for the man's face was as white as the +snow beyond. There were no features; neither nose, nor mouth, nor +eyebrows, only a pair of black eyes gleamed out of that dead-white face.</p> + +<p>Carl clutched at the horn of his saddle to keep from falling, he was so +frightened.</p> + +<p>"Vot it is?" he kept repeating to himself.</p> + +<p>His pony stopped of its own volition directly in front of this black +apparition, and Carl swayed in his saddle and would have fallen out of +it had he not clung to it with the unconscious strength of despair.</p> + +<p>"Iss dot you, Follansbee?" asked Carl, in a weak, thin voice, well +knowing that it was not his line partner, but trying to break the spell +of fear that held him.</p> + +<p>There was no reply, but the gleaming black eyes never left his own, nor +did the figure on the horse move a hair's breadth.</p> + +<p>"Vy don't you say someding?" said Carl, his voice sounding like the +piping noise of the wind through a keyhole. "Speak someding."</p> + +<p>Then it suddenly struck Carl that the man could not speak, because in +that white, immovable face there was no mouth to speak with, only those +black, blazing eyes.</p> + +<p>"If you can't speak, make motionings," said Carl, in an imploring voice.</p> + +<p>The sinister figure on the black horse slowly raised his arm, and +motioned Carl toward him, at the same time swinging his black horse +around and riding toward the mountains.</p> + +<p>Chilled to the heart, Carl obeyed the signal, and sent his pony forward.</p> + +<p>The man, apparition, demon, or whatever it was, sent his horse into a +gallop, and Carl, with no volition on his own part, followed at the same +speed.</p> + +<p>But with the black and menacing eyes of the man with the dead face away +from his own, some small part of courage oozed back into Carl again, and +he remembered Ted's injunction to question every stranger met on the +range, and if he did not give a satisfactory answer to drive him off.</p> + +<p>But Carl had not got over the fright the sight of that face and eyes had +thrown him into.</p> + +<p>Suddenly his hand came into contact with the handle of his six-shooter, +and a thrill of daring ran through him.</p> + +<p>He looked ahead at the back of the man riding only a few feet in advance +of him.</p> + +<p>Should he take the chance? He knew that Ted or Bud or any of the boys +would do so. Why not he?</p> + +<p>If the man was only human a bullet would soon settle the matter. But if +he should be a ghost or an emissary of the devil, as Carl strongly +suspected, nothing like a ball from a forty-five would do him harm.</p> + +<p>This had the effect of staying his hand, and the revolver stopped +halfway out of its holster.</p> + +<p>Then Carl thought of the boys, and what they would say if they knew that +he had not nerve enough to pot the enemy when he met him.</p> + +<p>Carl was not the bravest fellow in the world, and he was intensely +superstitious.</p> + +<p>Again the thoughts of the taunts of the other boys, should they ever +know that he lacked the nerve to take advantage of the moment, came to +him, and he gulped something hard that rose in his throat, and drew out +his revolver.</p> + +<p>At that moment the man in black turned and looked over his shoulder, his +dead face gleaming white, out of which shone those terrible black eyes.</p> + +<p>The revolver stopped suddenly in its upward course, and Carl's jaw +dropped as he stared in abject fear at that white and expressionless +face.</p> + +<p>Then the man in black turned his horrible face once more to the fore, +and rode on.</p> + +<p>Something inside of Carl seemed to snap, and a great glow of courage +swept over him. He fairly hated the sight of the grim rider in front of +him, who was taking him he knew not where, and whom he yet dreaded with +all his heart.</p> + +<p>Up came the revolver again, and, almost before he realized what he was +doing, Carl was firing, straight at the back in front of him.</p> + +<p>The target could not be fairer, that black mark against the snow.</p> + +<p>The first ball struck, for Carl heard the thud of it, as if it had +struck and sunk into something soft.</p> + +<p>The report of the weapon crashed through the still night, and was +carried far on the frosty air, reverberating and echoing back from the +distant mountains.</p> + +<p>But the creature in whose body the ball had lodged did not seem to know +it. The head was not turned, the body did not lurch or sway.</p> + +<p>Carl, now blind to everything but the terror that had taken possession +of him, fired again and again until every chamber in his revolver was +empty, pausing after every shot to note the effect.</p> + +<p>That every shot was fair he was sure, for he could hear the sound of the +impact of the bullet.</p> + +<p>The recipient of the bullets seemed not to know that they had been +fired, for he did not hasten or retard the progress of the horse, nor +did he take any personal notice that they gave him any discomfort.</p> + +<p>But when Carl ceased firing he threw his head backward, looking over his +shoulder again, and from that hideous face without nose or mouth came a +gurgling noise that was like, and yet not like, laughter.</p> + +<p>The laughter was worse on Carl's nerves than the silence, and he felt +himself grow sick at heart.</p> + +<p>How could he expect to fight or escape from a devil impervious to the +balls from a Colt forty-five?</p> + +<p>Then, to Carl's amazement and relief, the black horse sprang forward +over the snow so swiftly that it seemed as if it was flying rather than +running, but this probably was due to the uncertainty and the illusion +of the moonlight, and vanished into thin air, leaving Carl staring +open-mouthed.</p> + +<p>It was several minutes before Carl regained his senses and knew that he +was sitting with his revolver in his hand, staring into space and seeing +nothing.</p> + +<p>Then he rode slowly forward to the brink of a deep coulee.</p> + +<p>Here was where he had last seen the phantom rider, for such Carl had at +last come to regard him.</p> + +<p>Looking to the bottom of the coulee, Carl saw nothing but snow, where he +had expected to find a dead horse and rider.</p> + +<p>"Ach, vot a country," he wailed. "Vy did I effer come to it? Mutter, I +vish you vas here to hellup your Carlos."</p> + +<p>Then he heard a groan close at hand and looked about, expecting to see +the phantom rider by his side.</p> + +<p>A short distance off lay a black splotch on the snow.</p> + +<p>It resembled the prostrate form of a man. Had he, after all, killed his +horrible enemy? Cautiously he rode toward it. It was a man, and not the +phantom, and it looked very much like a cow-puncher, for it was clad in +leather coat and chaps, and there was a belt filled with cartridges, and +in the snow beside it lay a Colt forty-five.</p> + +<p>This at least was human, and Carl climbed stiffly from his saddle and +bent over it.</p> + +<p>He started back with a cry of surprise.</p> + +<p>The man in the snow was his line partner, Follansbee.</p> + +<p>That he was not dead was evident, for he groaned occasionally.</p> + +<p>It was up to Carl to get him to camp as soon as he could, and when he +tried to raise the insensible form he was stopped by a gush of blood +from a wound in the breast.</p> + +<p>But he heard a shot in the distance, then another, and another.</p> + +<p>The boys had heard his shots, and were riding toward him with all speed.</p> + +<p>Presently he heard the long yell, and in a few minutes Bud Morgan came +dashing toward him at top speed, and soon they were joined by Kit +Summers from sign camp No. 2, and the horror of the night was over for +Carl.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>CAUGHT IN THE ACT.</h3> + + +<p>Follansbee was carried to camp No. 2, where Bud, who was a pretty good +cow-camp surgeon, examined his wound. A ball from an automatic revolver +had struck him in the breast, but on account of the thickness of the +clothing he wore, and the fact that he had on a heavy vest of caribou +hide, in the pocket of which he carried a small memorandum book, the +ball had penetrated only a short distance.</p> + +<p>While he had lost a lot of blood, and the shock of the ball striking had +caused him to lose consciousness, he was not seriously hurt.</p> + +<p>It did not take Bud long to extract the bullet and stanch the flow of +blood, and Follansbee opened his eyes and looked about wildly.</p> + +<p>"Where is he?" he cried in terror.</p> + +<p>"Whar's who?" asked Bud.</p> + +<p>"The man what didn't have no face," cried the cow-puncher.</p> + +<p>"Carl chased him avay alretty," said Carl, bending over his partner.</p> + +<p>"All right, Carl. You saw him, too, did ye?"</p> + +<p>"Sheur I sawed him, mit mine own eyes."</p> + +<p>"Then it's all right," murmured Follansbee, sinking back on his bunk. "I +wuz afeared the boys wouldn't believe me if I told them what I saw."</p> + +<p>When Follansbee sank into a deep sleep, due to his weakness from loss of +blood, the three boys sat before the fire while Carl told of his +encounter with the faceless man, and of the six shots which he had fired +at him and the ineffective bullets which had struck his body.</p> + +<p>As the story was told a hush fell upon Bud and Kit. They were deeply +affected by the fact that this unknown and terrible menace was upon the +range which they were compelled to patrol, and which not even the balls +from a heavy weapon could kill.</p> + +<p>"I would hardly have believed it if both of you hadn't seen the +creature," said Kit. "It sounds too much like a pipe dream."</p> + +<p>It was morning before Bud and Carl left Kit's camp and rode to their +own. Follansbee was apparently all right, and exhibited no symptoms of +fever, for he had the iron constitution of a seasoned cow-puncher, who +almost invariably recovers as if by magic from a gunshot wound if the +missile does not penetrate a vital spot or splinter a bone.</p> + +<p>Follansbee, when he awoke from his sleep, told Kit of his meeting with +the "man without a face," as he called the man who had given him his +wound.</p> + +<p>"I wuz ridin' at a pretty good clip along the line to meet Carl," he +began, "when I see a feller standin' waitin' for me by the deep coulee, +about three miles south.</p> + +<p>"At first I thought it wuz Carl, but soon I see that it wuz too big fer +the Dutchman.</p> + +<p>"I slowed down a bit, fer I saw it wasn't any o' our outfit. Ye see I +had in mind what Ted said about that Sweet Grass Mountain gang, an' I +wuz some skittish.</p> + +<p>"As I rode along slowly the feller on the black hoss made a sign as if +he wanted me to foller him. But I didn't like the stunt, so I stops +still an' rubbers at him.</p> + +<p>"Two or three times he makes his motions, an' I don't do nothin' but +shake my head.</p> + +<p>"Kit, that wasn't no human bein'. It wuz ther devil as sure as shootin'. +I started to draw my gun, but shucks, I ain't got no chanct ter make a +move before thar was a crash, an' a blaze o' flame come from his chest, +right about the middle, an' I felt the ball strike me, I heard a queer +sorter laugh, like a man bubblin' with his mouth in a basin o' water, +an' then I went out, an' all I remember wuz fallin' out o' the saddle."</p> + +<p>About noon of that day, Ted and Stella rode over from the ranch house on +a tour of inspection, and stopped at Bud's camp, where they were told +the story of Carl's strange encounter with the man without a face, to +which he listened in troubled silence.</p> + +<p>When Carl was through with his story, Ted looked for a long time into +the fire without saying anything.</p> + +<p>"Well, what do you think?" asked Stella, at last.</p> + +<p>"I think it is the work of the Whipple gang," answered Ted.</p> + +<p>"But why should they shoot Follansbee?"</p> + +<p>"It is a piece of intimidation. Of course, they do not know us. Under +ordinary circumstances an apparition like that, followed by the shooting +of a man, would cause a panic among ignorant men on a ranch. It is a +cinch that the Whipple gang has got it in for us, and this is just the +beginning of it. You will soon see other evidences of their work."</p> + +<p>"But why should they hev it in fer us?" asked Bud. "We ain't never done +nothin' ter them."</p> + +<p>"I don't know, but I have several ideas."</p> + +<p>"What are they?"</p> + +<p>"There are two or three things to be considered. In the first place they +have it in for the ranch on general principles. You know Fred Sturgis +said in his letter that he and his boys had driven the gang away from +the ranch. That is reason number one. Then we are strangers in this part +of the country, and they have seen us and have us sized up for a lot of +boys, and, therefore, easy marks for them. Again, we have a big bunch of +cattle, which Whipple and his bunch think we will not be able to protect +against them.</p> + +<p>"They may have learned that we are deputy United States marshals. That +is enough to condemn us in their eyes. They are all old and fugitive +criminals, and if we knew them I think that we would find that they are +all wanted in one or more of the States and Territories, and that the +aggregate amount of rewards which have been offered for them, dead or +alive, would amount to a neat sum. They do not need marshals in this +part of the country. There may be other reasons why they will make war +on us, which we will learn later, but the ones I have mentioned are +sufficient for them to make themselves very troublesome."</p> + +<p>"So you think it is war, eh?" said Stella.</p> + +<p>"I do, and I think that you will be a shining mark for them when they +learn that you are here. For that reason I would warn you to be very +careful where you go about the ranch, and especially ask you not to ride +about alone, and to keep away from the mountains."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear, and just when I had planned to explore those mountains from +one end to the other," said Stella, with a pout.</p> + +<p>"Can't help it. You know what would happen if they should catch you and +spirit you off as Shan Rhue did in the Wichita Mountains."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know, I'm a lot of trouble to you, Ted, but you know I don't +mean to be."</p> + +<p>"Of course I know it, but if you run into danger, and expose yourself to +the attack of those who are avowedly our enemies, you run the chance of +being caught, and then, of course, it is our duty to get you out of +trouble."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll be good."</p> + +<p>"The attempted killing of Follansbee was no accident," continued Ted. +"It was the work of an exceedingly shrewd man, who knows the moral +effect of his strange and mysterious appearance."</p> + +<p>"Ain't it a ghost?" asked Carl, who had become all swelled up at the +thought that he had made a ghost run away from him.</p> + +<p>"I should say not."</p> + +<p>"Den vy shouldn't mine bullets haf killed him?"</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I don't know. That is why I say that he is a remarkably clever +man, and it is probably the cause of the power he wields that he is able +to do such things. It wouldn't surprise me any if some day we learned +that your visitor was none other than the renowned Whipple himself."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do about it?" asked Stella.</p> + +<p>"What can we do? We wouldn't know a single member of the gang if we were +to meet him. We don't know where they hang out, and if we did we know +nothing about the Sweet Grass Mountains, and could not go to where they +are. All we can do is to watch the ranch house and the cattle as a cat +watches a mouse, and if anything more, such as the shooting of +Follansbee, occurs, we will have to go on the warpath ourselves. But I +don't want to do that. We are out here to winter feed our cattle, and +not to fight."</p> + +<p>"Shore enuff, but yer kin bet yer breeches I'm not goin' ter let no cave +dweller or brush hider tromp onto my moccasins, an' turn ther other +cheek ter be tromped on. Ther first feller o' that outfit I cotch sashay +in' around me I'm goin' ter take a crack at him."</p> + +<p>"Go as far as you like when it comes to an act of aggression on the part +of one of them, but don't start anything, Bud, unless you can positively +bring it to a successful end."</p> + +<p>"I reckon I'm some of a fox myself. They ain't set no trap what I've put +my paw inter yet."</p> + +<p>Ted and Stella rode on to Kit's camp to see how Follansbee was getting +on, and found him doing nicely, but Stella laughed at the bandages Bud +had put on the wounded cow-puncher, and insisted on redressing the +wound.</p> + +<p>Stella was a master hand at bandaging, because she was deft of hand and +was naturally sympathetic.</p> + +<p>When she had finished with Follansbee, and had sewed his bandages so +that he could not rub or drag them off, he said he felt a hundred per +cent better already.</p> + +<p>Then they proceeded toward the mountains, where the third camp, under +the direction of Ben Tremont, was situated.</p> + +<p>It was almost the dying of the day when they left Ben's camp. He had not +heard of the attack on Follansbee, and Ted made it an occasion to warn +Ben against the attacks of the Whipple gang, as he was in the most +exposed place, being so near the mountains.</p> + +<p>When they turned their ponies' noses toward the south again it was to +ride through a part of the herd.</p> + +<p>Ted noticed that the cattle were feeding well and that there was plenty +of good, rich, well-cured grass, and that it was free of snow in big +enough patches to give the cattle ample room to graze.</p> + +<p>As they were riding along Stella drew rein.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with that steer over there, Ted?" she asked, pointing +to a steer that was dragging one of its hind legs.</p> + +<p>Ted looked at the steer in question, which was moving slowly forward.</p> + +<p>"See, there's another," cried Stella. "Why, I can see a dozen of them +all limping in the same manner."</p> + +<p>"That's strange," said Ted. "I wouldn't think anything of it if only one +steer had gone lame, but I can't understand a dozen."</p> + +<p>They rode slowly toward the lame steers.</p> + +<p>"Great guns," exclaimed Ted, bending low in his saddle to examine the +steers closely.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Stella excitedly.</p> + +<p>"This is terrible," said Ted. "If this keeps up we might as well shoot +all the cattle and let them lie out here on the prairie the prey to the +wolves. We will never get them back to Moon Valley."</p> + +<p>Stella looked at him with an expression of consternation on her face.</p> + +<p>"These cows and steers have been hamstrung," said Ted, with a tone of +suppressed rage in his voice. "Any man who would do a trick like that +ought to be shot down in his tracks like a mad dog."</p> + +<p>"Hamstrung! I don't understand."</p> + +<p>"Some inhuman brute has ridden up behind these crippled animals, and +with a sharp knife has cut the tendons or leaders behind the hoofs, or, +rather, in the ankles, laming them and preventing them from being able +to follow a drive. Where would we be in the spring if any large portion +of our beasts were so maimed?"</p> + +<p>"What a brutal thing to do!" exclaimed Stella, in indignation.</p> + +<p>"Hello, what's that?"</p> + +<p>Ted rose in his stirrups, standing and shading his eyes with his hand +against the glare of the setting sun on the snow. With the other hand he +was pointing off toward the east, where the cattle were milling +uneasily.</p> + +<p>"Something wrong over there," said Stella.</p> + +<p>They rode slowly in that direction to see what was disturbing the +cattle.</p> + +<p>As they went, Ted was looking for other hamstrung beasts.</p> + +<p>"By Jove! this is getting worse and more of it," he exclaimed. "See +there! That steer has had the tendons of his leg cut to-day. The wound +is fresh. It has hardly stopped bleeding. I wonder——"</p> + +<p>But before he had finished the sentence he applied the quirt to his pony +and was dashing through the herd, with Stella close behind.</p> + +<p>He had seen something strange and out of the way in the milling herd, +and while he thought he knew what it was he could hardly believe that it +could be true.</p> + +<p>As he rode he drew his revolver, and broke it to see that its chambers +were filled.</p> + +<p>Ted's face was pale and stern, and Stella saw at a glance that he was +terribly angry, and had the look in it that she had observed there +several times when he had seen animals being used with cruelty.</p> + +<p>As he dashed into the milling herd he gave a cry of rage.</p> + +<p>At the same moment a man sprang to an upright position in the midst of +the cattle, and gave a cry of surprise.</p> + +<p>Over his shoulders hung the fresh hide of a cow, with the skin of the +head and the horns protruding above his head.</p> + +<p>He gave one swift glance at Ted, then threw the hide to the ground and +set out at a run through the plunging beasts.</p> + +<p>Ted was hampered by the cattle getting in his way, and was not making +much progress, but he was beating the horned beasts aside with his +quirt.</p> + +<p>It was possible even yet that the man who was running from him would +escape, and this was what Ted was trying with all his might to prevent.</p> + +<p>Ted knew why the man was among the cattle protected from them by his +disguise of the cow's hide.</p> + +<p>He had been hamstringing them by the wholesale.</p> + +<p>In one day the inhuman brute could destroy for range use a whole herd.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, the cattle were growing wilder and wilder from the pain +caused by the hamstringer's knife, the wild career of the unmounted man +among them, and Ted and Stella pressing through them from the rear with +shouts and cracking quirts.</p> + +<p>"Great Scott! They'll get him!" shouted Ted, reining in his pony.</p> + +<p>The furious steers had turned their attention to the man on foot, and +were surging about him with angry bellowings, charging upon him, and +crowding him.</p> + +<p>He was in a very perilous position, and it was only that the cattle were +herded so close together that he had not gone down sooner.</p> + +<p>But once the cattle got him down he would be gored and trampled to +death. Nothing could save him.</p> + +<p>Ted and Stella were trying to force their way to his side, but were +unable to do so.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the fact the fellow had been caught in the act of +mutilating his cattle, Ted could not see him die without trying to save +him.</p> + +<p>Now they heard a cry of fear, and saw the man throw his arms up in the +air.</p> + +<p>The cattle were surging about him with wild and angry bovine cries, and +with a great tossing of horns, and leaps into the air.</p> + +<p>There were muffled yells of agony from beneath the tossing mass of +horns.</p> + +<p>"They've got him," muttered Ted. "They are wreaking their own revenge."</p> + +<p>"Are they killing him, Ted?" asked Stella.</p> + +<p>"They have got him down. The fool he was to go among them on foot. He +should have known better."</p> + +<p>Ted made another effort to get through the cattle, and at last succeeded +in making a lane for himself.</p> + +<p>"Stella," he shouted over his shoulder, "you stay where you are! This is +nothing for you to see. Better let me attend to this."</p> + +<p>Stella was aware that Ted always knew what he was talking about when he +warned her away from anything, and she made her way out of the herd.</p> + +<p>When Ted got to the spot where he had last seen the man, the cattle were +still milling, but were getting calmer, and had no hesitancy in +scattering when he rode among them slashing right and left with his +quirt and firing his revolver over their heads.</p> + +<p>When he had cleared an open space he rode back into it, and instantly +recoiled from the sight presented to him.</p> + +<p>On the ground lay the hamstringer, a mass of bloody clothes in which +were torn flesh and broken bones. He was quite dead, and had been not +only gored but had been trampled hundreds of times.</p> + +<p>The vengeance of the maimed animals was complete.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>A NIGHT RAID.</h3> + + +<p>Ted bent over the mangled body of the hamstringer and turned him over. +Then he leaped back with an exclamation of horror.</p> + +<p>He had recognized the miscreant.</p> + +<p>It was Sol Flatbush, the traitorous cow-puncher, member of the gang of +cattle rustlers and gamblers headed by Shan Rhue, who had run off about +five hundred head of cattle of the Circle S brand into the Wichita +Mountains in Indian Territory.</p> + +<p>But how had Sol Flatbush got into this part of the country? And where +was he stopping? It was evident that the cow-puncher and desperado had +hamstrung the cattle out of revenge for having been discovered and +driven out of the broncho boys' camp.</p> + +<p>Now that he was dead, however, Ted lost all his resentment, and was +genuinely sorry for the poor chap because of the horrible means of his +death.</p> + +<p>Ted hardly knew what to do with him. It were better if his friends could +take charge of his body and bury it, but where were his friends?</p> + +<p>Suddenly a thought occurred to Ted. Perhaps Sol Flatbush, following his +instincts and habits, had come north after he and Shan Rhue had been +outwitted by the boys at the Hole in the Wall in the Wichita Mountains, +and allied himself with the Whipple gang in the Sweet Grass Mountains.</p> + +<p>If this were true, the simplest thing to do was to send the body of +Flatbush to the gang. It would serve, Ted hoped, as a terrible warning +to the other members of the gang not to meddle with the affairs of the +broncho boys.</p> + +<p>Not far away Ted saw a pony, saddled and grazing quietly.</p> + +<p>Mounting his pony, he rode up to it. Tied to the cantle of the saddle +was a pair of blankets.</p> + +<p>This was the very thing! Ted carried the blankets to where the body of +Flatbush lay. Spreading them out, he rolled the remains of Flatbush into +them, and bound them securely with a rope.</p> + +<p>With some difficulty he lifted the bundle to the back of the outlaw's +pony, and bound it securely with a lariat.</p> + +<p>Then he tied the pony's reins to the horn of the saddle, gave the beast +a slash with his quirt, and it started, snorting and jumping, toward the +distant mountains.</p> + +<p>Thus was the body of Sol Flatbush sent to his friends.</p> + +<p>"What was it?" asked Stella, when Ted, having finished his gruesome +task, returned to her side.</p> + +<p>"The chap who was mutilating the cattle is dead," he replied. "The bulls +turned upon him and gored and trampled him to death."</p> + +<p>"Horrible! Do you know who he was?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I recognized him."</p> + +<p>"Is that a fact! Who was he?"</p> + +<p>"An old enemy of yours."</p> + +<p>"An enemy of mine! I didn't know I had one."</p> + +<p>"Not really of your own, for no one who knows you could feel any +animosity toward you, Stella. But you have enemies through me. Those who +would seek to hurt me do so by making trouble for you, knowing that they +can hurt me worse by injuring you than they could by torturing me +personally."</p> + +<p>"That's why you have so often warned me to be careful where I go alone."</p> + +<p>"That is why. It is not fair that you should be put to discomfort or in +danger of death merely because I make enemies by trying to force men to +obey the laws."</p> + +<p>"I understand. But who was the man who was killed?"</p> + +<p>"Sol Flatbush."</p> + +<p>"Sol Flatbush! How does it happen that he is in this country?"</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I don't know, unless he and Shan Rhue, after escaping from the +Wichita Mountains, came directly here, having previously been members of +the notorious Whipple gang."</p> + +<p>"Then I suppose we shall see Shan Rhue one of these days. Ted, I'm +afraid of that fellow. When they had me in the Hole in the Wall I heard +him make the most horrible threats against you."</p> + +<p>"Threats don't hurt, Stella. The threatened man lives long. You know the +old proverb: 'The man I most fear is he who says nothing, but smiles in +your face while he is planning to stab you in the back.'"</p> + +<p>They were turned toward the ranch house, and as darkness was falling +swiftly, conversation was suspended as they put their ponies to their +highest speed, galloping across the snow-covered range toward where they +could see the lantern of the house shining like a beacon through the +gloom.</p> + +<p>For the safety of the boys and the cow-punchers traveling toward the +ranch house in the dark, Ted had placed a large lantern on the top of +the flagstaff which stood in the front yard, so that it could be seen +for miles at night to guide wanderers.</p> + +<p>This had been suggested by his experience the first night they had spent +at the house.</p> + +<p>Those of the boys who were not riding line were stopping at the house, +and they were all in the big living room awaiting the coming of Ted and +Stella.</p> + +<p>When Stella was late in arriving at the house, Mrs. Graham began to grow +anxious and worried, and this was communicated to the others.</p> + +<p>But when they heard Ted's ringing yell outside, as he and Stella +galloped up, there were shouts of gladness inside, and the big door was +thrown open, allowing a broad path of light to fall across the prairie, +as two cow-punchers came bounding down the steps to take the ponies to +the corral.</p> + +<p>After supper Ted told of the maiming of the cattle and the death of Sol +Flatbush.</p> + +<p>It was part of the life at the ranch that bad news of any sort was never +told at the table during meals, and if any of the fellows had a +grievance or was in trouble he tried to keep that fact out of his face +and look as merry as he could while the others were eating. If he wanted +to tell his troubles later, and any one was willing to listen, all right +and good, but mealtime was glad time where the broncho boys and their +friends sat down together.</p> + +<p>While they were sitting before the great fireplace after supper, Clay +Whipple was looking into the flames with a preoccupied air.</p> + +<p>He had been silent all evening, an unusual thing for him, for usually he +injected humorously dry comments into general conversations.</p> + +<p>"What's the trouble, Clay?" asked Stella, who was always the first to +notice when one of the boys was not his usual self.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know," said Clay uneasily.</p> + +<p>"Reckon he's worryin' some on account o' this yere mountain bandit bein' +ther same name as him," laughed a cow-puncher named "Pike" Bander.</p> + +<p>"I reckon you're only joshin', Pike," said Clay quietly, but growing a +shade paler.</p> + +<p>"Why, shore, Clay. Yer didn't think I wuz in earnest?" Pike hastened to +say.</p> + +<p>Clay's Kentucky blood would not permit him to receive without resentment +any reflections against the South or the people of his family, while he +could stand any amount of personal joshing without growing in the least +touchy or angry.</p> + +<p>"Then what's the matter?" asked Ted, as Clay returned to his gloomy +contemplation of the fire.</p> + +<p>"I'm worried some, that's all," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Tell your troubles to the policeman, that's us."</p> + +<p>"Well, I might as well out with it. Only I don't want to appear as if I +was gettin' panicky over nothing."</p> + +<p>"What is it, Clay? You are so provoking when I am just dying to hear +about it," cried Stella with a laugh. "Out with it."</p> + +<p>"Injuns!" said Clay explosively.</p> + +<p>"Indians!"</p> + +<p>Every one around the fire sat up with a jump.</p> + +<p>Clay nodded his head slowly without taking his eyes from the fire.</p> + +<p>There was silence for a few minutes, for every one was turning this new +menace over in their minds.</p> + +<p>The danger from Indians in this far-away Northern country was very real. +It was not that the Indians would make any open or daring attacks, but +that they were lawless and fearless of the authority of the United +States, and despised the "buffalo soldiers" at the near-by army posts.</p> + +<p>"Buffalo soldiers" is a name of contempt given by the Indians to the +negro troops who had been stationed near the Blackfeet and Crow Indian +agencies, on account of their curly, woolly hair, which, in the +fantastic minds of the Indians, resembled the short, curly hair on the +shoulders of the buffalo.</p> + +<p>The negro troops were too near their own color to demand much respect +from the Indians.</p> + +<p>But the danger did not come so much from the reservation Indians, as +from the fugitive Indians who had left the reservations and had become +outlaws, allying themselves with the white bandits in the mountains, and +living by thievery from the ranchmen and sheep-herders.</p> + +<p>Some of these Indians had rallied around Running Bear, a young +Blackfeet, son of a chief, a graduate of the Indian School at Carlisle, +in Pennsylvania.</p> + +<p>Running Bear was a young fellow of magnificent physique, for he had been +a member of the famous Indian football team of Carlisle that had a year +or two previously cleared all white teams from the gridiron.</p> + +<p>Running Bear was well educated also, and a man of fine address and +manners, when he wished to be so. But he was unprincipled, and when he +returned to the tribe lost no time in breaking all the laws imposed by +the United States for the government and welfare of the Indians.</p> + +<p>This brought him into conflict with the Indian agent, and certain +penalties were imposed on him. This he would not stand, and soon +persuaded other of the young men of the tribe to mutiny against the +agent.</p> + +<p>This led to further trouble, and after committing some unforgivable +offense against the United States, Running Bear rallied his young men, +and they fled the reservation and the ways and protection of the white +men, and took to the mountains, where they lived by raiding the ranches +in the neighborhood, and maintaining a sort of defensive partnership +with Whipple's band of white outlaws.</p> + +<p>After a silence, during which every one was turning these facts over in +his mind, Ted turned to Clay, and said:</p> + +<p>"What about the Indians, Clay?"</p> + +<p>"I saw their tracks."</p> + +<p>"Where?"</p> + +<p>"In the coulee back of the house."</p> + +<p>"Near the house!" exclaimed Ted. "That's getting pretty close to home. +Did they see you?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon they did. I took a shot at one of them, an' he left a red +trail in the snow."</p> + +<p>"That's bad, Clay. You shouldn't have shot at him."</p> + +<p>"Shouldn't, eh? Well, you never saw a fellow from ole Kaintuck that +would stand up an' let a man shoot at him without sending his +compliments back—if he happened to be packin' his gun at the time."</p> + +<p>"Did they shoot at you, then?"</p> + +<p>"One of them did. It was like this: I was ridin' in from the west, where +I had seen a small bunch of strays which I turned back to the main herd. +As I was comin' up to the big coulee I saw something move against the +snow. At first I thought it was a grouse, and was just going to take a +shot at it when I looked again. Then, by jinks, I saw that it was the +head of an Indian shoved up over the edge of the coulee.</p> + +<p>"His back was turned to me, and he was watching the house. I pulled in +my pony and kept my eye on him for several minutes.</p> + +<p>"Then I saw Mrs. Graham come out of the house and stand for a moment on +the back porch.</p> + +<p>"The Indian rose up and brought a rifle to his shoulder. At that I let +out a yell, and he turned to me like a flash, and pulled his trigger. +But he was in too much of a hurry, an' the ball whistled over my head.</p> + +<p>"I had my gun out, an' blazed away. The Indian yawped as if he had been +hit, and disappeared. I got to the coulee as fast as I could, but he had +disappeared."</p> + +<p>"Was he the only one?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"I reckon not, for there were any number of moccasin tracks in the +coulee, and the footprints of white men or Indians who wore boots. There +was a splotch of blood where the Indian had been, and a red trail +leading to where there had been ponies. Then I came on to the house."</p> + +<p>Ted was thinking deeply. At last he raised his head.</p> + +<p>"This has been a day full of things that may mean a great deal to us," +he said. "Follansbee has been shot by a member of the Whipple gang, Sol +Flatbush was killed after mutilating our cattle, more Whipple gang; and +an Indian prowler has been shot, some more of the Whipple gang. Boys, +the war is on, and it depends on us whether it is going to last all +winter and cause us to lose all our cattle, or whether we are going to +be able to stamp it out right now. Which shall it be?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon we'd better get busy. It'll be easier ter do the job now than +fuss along with it all winter," said Pike Bander, who was an old +Northern cow-puncher, and had had lots of experience with the Indians in +Montana, the Dakotas, and Wyoming.</p> + +<p>"I think you're right, Pike," said Ted. "And now off to bed with you. +There'll be something doing to-morrow."</p> + +<p>In half an hour the house was dark, and every one was asleep.</p> + +<p>The moon which had been shining brightly during the early part of the +night had become obscured by a heavy bank of snow clouds, which had been +driven over the mountains by a north wind, and it had grown much darker +outside.</p> + +<p>In his sleep Ted seemed to hear the well-known voice of Sultan, +whinnying shrilly. It was a dream, and Ted tossed uneasily. But again +and again he heard Sultan's voice. It had a note of alarm in it, and Ted +knew that Sultan seldom gave an alarm of this sort unless something +serious was the matter. Ted's dream was of Indians, and the call of +Sultan was very natural, for the little black stallion hated Indians, +and whenever one came within smelling distance of him he grew uneasy and +fretful, and always gave voice to his fear.</p> + +<p>The dream had such a disquieting influence on Ted that it woke him, and +he sat up in bed grinning to himself in the dark to find that, after +all, it was only a dream, and that he was safe in bed.</p> + +<p>But what was that?</p> + +<p>He was awake now, and he distinctly heard Sultan. Then he had heard his +pet give a warning, even in his dream.</p> + +<p>Leaping from bed, Ted groped around the room, getting into his clothes, +without lighting the lamp.</p> + +<p>Grasping his rifle from the corner, and buckling on his belt and +holster, he left the room.</p> + +<p>As he passed Clay's room he entered and shook the sleeping Kentuckian, +who was on the floor with a bound. Ted told him of the continued voicing +of an alarm by Sultan, and Clay hurriedly dressed.</p> + +<p>They passed into the living room, and Ted went to the windows on one +side, while Clay went to the other side.</p> + +<p>Hidden by the curtains, they stood looking out on the snow-covered +plain.</p> + +<p>"Hist!" It was Clay trying to attract Ted's attention.</p> + +<p>Ted went swiftly to his side.</p> + +<p>"What's that down by the corral?" whispered Clay.</p> + +<p>Ted looked sharply.</p> + +<p>"It's the Indians," said Ted. "They're trying to steal our horses. +Sultan knows what he's about. Come on, we'll have to rush them."</p> + +<p>Ted heard a rustling noise behind him and turned.</p> + +<p>It was Stella, fully dressed, and with her rifle resting in the hollow +of her arm.</p> + +<p>"I heard Sultan, too," she said. "We'll have to hurry if we're going to +save the horses."</p> + +<p>"You go back to bed," said Ted. "Yi-yi-yipee!"</p> + +<p>His voice rang out in the old Moon Valley yell.</p> + +<p>It was like a fire bell to a fireman, and brought the boys out of their +beds like a shot, and they scrambled into their clothes and were in the +living room with their arms in a jiffy.</p> + +<p>In the corral a great commotion was taking place, to judge from the +noise that came to them.</p> + +<p>At the word of command they rushed through the door, and raced for the +corral, turning loose the long yell.</p> + +<p>They heard guttural shouts in the distance, and a band of ponies came +through the gateway of the corral, scattering over the prairie.</p> + +<p>Behind them rushed a band of Indians, who, seeing that there was no +further occasion for silence, gave forth whoops of defiance.</p> + +<p>Then Ted saw Sultan gallop out, and on his back was an Indian.</p> + +<p>This was more than Ted could stand, and his rifle flew to his shoulder. +There was a flash and a crash, and the Indian fell to the ground, over +which he writhed in agony.</p> + +<p>Ted whistled, and Sultan trotted to his side.</p> + +<p>The ponies had scattered, and the corral was empty.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE WAR PARTY.</h3> + + +<p>The Indians had fled in every direction.</p> + +<p>They had been foiled in their purpose of running the ponies off in a +band, as they had intended, by Ted's fortunate discovery of the raid.</p> + +<p>How to gather the ponies together again was the question that puzzled +Ted, for the broncho boys had no mounts with which to pursue the +would-be thieves.</p> + +<p>It was not long before the light appeared in the east, and by that time +Ted had ridden to Bud's sign camp, and thence to camp No. 2, and had +four more horsemen to assist him in the pony round-up.</p> + +<p>These worked unceasingly, riding the snowy prairie, picking up the +ponies which the Indians had not been able to round into a bunch to +drive to their rendezvous in the mountains.</p> + +<p>The attack upon them had been so sudden that they had taken no heed of +where they were going. It was every man for himself, with the broncho +boys' bullets for the hindmost.</p> + +<p>About noon Ted and the boys from the sign camps rode up to the ranch +house, driving before them a band of about twenty ponies which they had +found grazing on the prairie or seeking the shelter of the coulees.</p> + +<p>Not a sign of the marauding Indians had they seen.</p> + +<p>"Boys, as soon as we can get something to eat we're going after those +Indians," said Ted, dismounting and going into the house. "We've got +mounts for nearly all of us, now. A guard will be left at the house, +then we'll get on their trail. We can't afford to let this thing go. +Those Indians must be taught a lesson, so that they will get over the +idea that they can run in on us and take what they want just because we +are boys."</p> + +<p>"That's ther way ter talk," exclaimed Bud Morgan heartily. "Give 'em +what's comin' to 'em, an' give it to 'em good an' plenty."</p> + +<p>"I guess it won't be any snap to find them now," said Ben.</p> + +<p>"They've scattered. But we can trail them. They'll leave a track like +that of a moose, it will be so wide. They're in the hills somewhere, +laying for another opportunity to raid the corral. They need ponies to +ride, and beef to eat, and they have got the idea into their heads that +we were sent out here to cater to their wants. It's our business to fool +them."</p> + +<p>"Oh, hurry up," cried Stella. "I'm so anxious to get started I'm all in +a flutter."</p> + +<p>"Who said you were going?" asked Ted, with a smile. "This is no pleasure +trip. Trailing and fighting Indian outlaws is no matinée."</p> + +<p>"I should say not," said Stella coolly. "But it's work for the broncho +boys, and I'm one of them. Bud has promised to teach me the art of +following an Indian trail, and there never will be a better time than +this."</p> + +<p>Ted could only shrug his shoulders, as he turned away to see if McCall +was hurrying dinner. He knew that he would waste time arguing with the +spirited young woman, who was as good a cowgirl as he was a cowboy, and +for one of her sex quite as courageous.</p> + +<p>So eager were the boys to be off that they fairly bolted their food, and +rushed to the corral to saddle their cayuses.</p> + +<p>Then they saw to their arms, and each took his rifle in the boot of his +saddle.</p> + +<p>Sultan had had such a hard day's work since daylight, rounding up the +scattered ponies, that Ted left him in the corral, and decided to ride a +fresh horse. The only serviceable animal he could find was the worst +riding beast on the place, a vicious, half-broken Texas pony, which had +to be roped and held before the rider could mount.</p> + +<p>This, however, made little difference to Ted, who could ride anything +that would fit a saddle.</p> + +<p>While he held the saddle ready to throw it on Bingo's back Bud roped and +held the rearing, raging, bucking beast, who was busy kicking holes in +the air with his wicked heels.</p> + +<p>After maneuvering around the corral several times, Ted managed to dodge +the flying hoofs long enough to slip the saddle and tie the latigo.</p> + +<p>Then it was up to him to mount.</p> + +<p>Whenever he approached Bingo from the rear, dancing around to escape the +pony's battery, and got to the side where he could grasp the horn of his +saddle, Bingo would wheel in a circle away from him as if he was +fastened to a pivot.</p> + +<p>The performance was getting monotonous, for the boys were standing +around in a ring waiting to start.</p> + +<p>Ted was getting impatient also at the fool antics of the pony.</p> + +<p>"Stop your fooling," he said to Bingo. "When I do land on your back I'll +make you sorry you didn't stand still, my bucko."</p> + +<p>He stepped back several feet and stood looking at the pony, who, with +ears flattened and the whites of his eyes showing, stood still also, +waiting for further developments.</p> + +<p>He didn't know exactly what was coming, but wanted to be ready for it, +whatever it was to be.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Ted gave a short, swift run, leaped in the air, and before +Bingo could gather himself for a plunge, Ted was astraddle of the +saddle.</p> + +<p>Bingo remembered his part then, but he was too late, for simultaneously +he felt the sting of the quirt across his shoulder, and the prick of the +spur in his flank.</p> + +<p>A horse can think of only one thing at a time, while a mule can pay +attention to the mule-skinner's lash and think of forty-seven varieties +of devilment at the same time.</p> + +<p>In trying to keep his mind on the sting of the quirt and the prick of +the rowels at the same time, Bingo got rattled.</p> + +<p>He leaped high into the air, intending to fall backward, and crush his +rider. But Ted had been there before many times, and as he went up a +stinging blow across Bingo's withers brought him down in a hurry.</p> + +<p>Then he did some more plunging, but the spur in his side, and Ted's firm +seat, soon convinced him that it was wasting time to fool with Ted, and +he set off at a gallop across the prairie.</p> + +<p>With a ringing cheer the boys followed, and soon caught up with him.</p> + +<p>When they were together again, Ted paired the boys off to scout.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you how you will probably find it, fellows," said Ted. "The +Indians ride in different directions. Whenever you hit a trail follow +it, but go slow and keep your eyes peeled for an ambuscade. You will +find that eventually all the trails will lead to the same place. If we +are in luck, we will find them before they go on into the mountains, and +we may have a skirmish. I hope, however, that we will be able to settle +the matter without resorting to any shooting. Uncle Sam is mighty touchy +about any one killing his Indians except his soldiers, no matter what an +Indian does. We'll probably all come together where the Indians are. +Kit, you ride with me. You other fellows choose your partners. Bud, take +good care of Stella."</p> + +<p>"You kin bet yer active an' useful life I will," said Bud, as he and +Stella galloped off together.</p> + +<p>Bud and Kit rode away to the north, while the other broncho boys spread +out in pairs over the prairie.</p> + +<p>Ted had been riding an hour without crossing a track.</p> + +<p>"There's no use going in this direction any longer, Kit," he said. +"They've probably gone farther to the west. I guess we'd better strike +off that way, and take a chance of cutting them somewhere over there."</p> + +<p>They had paused on the bank of a small frozen stream lined with willows, +and Ted had dismounted to walk up and down the bank to find a place +where he could break a hole in the ice to water the ponies.</p> + +<p>"You'll have to rope Bingo and hold him when I go to get on," he said to +Kit before he got down.</p> + +<p>"All right," said Kit. "I'd get down and cut that hole in the ice +myself, only my arm might give me trouble again. I've got to be mighty +careful of it yet."</p> + +<p>As Ted was looking for a safe place to lead the ponies down to the +stream, with Bingo's bridle reins hanging over his arm, he was startled +by a snort from the brute, and a sudden back pull.</p> + +<p>He looked over his shoulder at the pony to see what was the matter with +it.</p> + +<p>Bingo was standing with his head high, his ears pointed forward, his +nostrils as red as if they were lined with red silk, and the whites of +his eyes like pieces of chalk, snorting as if in terror.</p> + +<p>Ted read the symptoms instantly.</p> + +<p>"He smells Indians," he muttered to himself.</p> + +<p>He looked around for Kit, and saw him far down the stream, struggling +vainly with the pony he was riding, which was running away in a panic of +fear.</p> + +<p>Kit was an expert and dauntless horseman, and not one of the broncho +boys except Ted could excel him in horsemanship, but with his wounded +arm he could not bring the brute under control.</p> + +<p>"That settles it with me," muttered Ted. "I'm going to have a time +getting on the back of this beast, for he will be worse than ever now +that he has scented Indians."</p> + +<p>He heard a noise behind him, and wheeled.</p> + +<p>Coming out of the willows a few hundred yards away were a score of +Indians, painted for war and all armed with rifles.</p> + +<p>With a hasty movement the leader of the broncho boys loosened his +revolvers and glanced to see if his rifle was ready for instant use.</p> + +<p>The Indians had stopped, as much surprised as Ted, and stood staring at +him in a stupid sort of way.</p> + +<p>Ted saw that if he was to escape being murdered now was his chance, and +turned to his pony.</p> + +<p>As he did so the Indians let out a whoop that frightened Bingo almost +into a fit, and, wheeling suddenly, he dashed away, almost dragging the +reins from Ted's grasp.</p> + +<p>But as he did so Ted was by his side, running with one hand clutching +the long mane.</p> + +<p>It was rough running over the rocks and hummocks with which the bank of +the stream was strewn, but Ted seemed to fly through space, so lightly +did his feet touch the ground.</p> + +<p>Rifle balls were now singing through the air above Ted, and on every +side, which only served to increase the speed with which Bingo was +running away from his enemies, the Indians.</p> + +<p>Bingo had been trained in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas to regard the +Indian as his natural enemy, and whenever he smelled one it was his most +earnest desire to get as far away as possible in the shortest space of +time.</p> + +<p>This was fortunate for Ted also.</p> + +<p>While it was not an easy matter for Ted to mount while the pony was +wheeling away from him, Ted was well educated in the cavalry drill as +used at West Point, and mounting a running horse was one of the easiest +of the many equestrian tricks with which he was familiar.</p> + +<p>When he thought he was far enough away from the Indians not to afford +them too good an aim for his body, he placed his hand on the cantle of +the saddle, gave a smart upward spring, and the impetus of his running +and the pony's speed took him through the air like a bird, and he +settled in the saddle as easily, almost, as if he would have sat down in +a chair.</p> + +<p>As he reached the saddle he, for the first time, threw a glance over his +shoulder.</p> + +<p>The Indians were in full pursuit, yelling like madmen.</p> + +<p>They were led by a young fellow dressed in a yellow buckskin shirt +elaborately beaded, and trimmed with fringe, while on his head was a +bonnet of eagle feathers, which trailed far behind him as he dashed on +far in advance of his followers.</p> + +<p>"Here's a chance to stop that chap," said Ted, swinging around in his +saddle and throwing his forty-five over his shoulder.</p> + +<p>The six-shooter cracked, and as the smoke floated away Ted saw that his +bullet had gone where he intended it to go.</p> + +<p>The pony on which the young Indian was riding stumbled and staggered +forward a few feet, then dropped.</p> + +<p>That brought the party to a halt, and Ted, turning his face forward, +galloped on.</p> + +<p>Kit had succeeded in mastering his pony and had brought it to a halt, +and, as the report of Ted's revolver reached his ears, he turned and +rode rapidly in that direction.</p> + +<p>As the two boys came together and found that they were unharmed and that +the war party of Indians had been halted, they dove into a coulee, +followed it a short distance, and climbed again to higher ground.</p> + +<p>The Indians were no longer in sight, and they set off at a gallop toward +the west.</p> + +<p>For half an hour they rode, when Ted suddenly pulled his pony to a stop.</p> + +<p>On a rise far away he saw a black, slowly moving mass, which, at first, +he had taken to be a band of buffalo, but when it strung out he +discovered that it was a party of men on horseback.</p> + +<p>As the sun was behind the riders, Ted could not distinguish whether or +not they were Indians or whites, as he could have done if the sun had +been shining upon them.</p> + +<p>"If it's Indians I don't want any more of it," he said.</p> + +<p>"I don't think they are Indians," said Kit. "Those fellows sit +straighter than Indians. I believe they are either our own boys, or +cavalry from the post."</p> + +<p>"I believe you are right," said Ted. "Let's fire a few shots to attract +their attention, and then ride to them."</p> + +<p>The shots were fired, and presently they heard several faint reports, +and knew that they had been heard and answered.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes they had ridden to where the party was standing on the +ridge of a rolling hill.</p> + +<p>They were the broncho boys under the leadership of Ben Tremont. They had +all come together on a broad trail that pointed toward the foothills in +the north, and, as they rode, had picked up one pair of scouts after +another.</p> + +<p>"Where are Bud and Stella?" asked Ted, running his eye over the party.</p> + +<p>"Haven't seen anything of them," said Ben, "although we have been +keeping a lookout for them. They rode farther to the west, and probably +will pick us up later. I think this trail leads into the hills, and that +we will find the Indians in camp not far away."</p> + +<p>This was Ted's belief also, and, taking the leadership, he ordered an +advance.</p> + +<p>"Halt!" Ted Strong had stopped his pony, and with his hand shading his +eyes, was looking steadily to the front.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Ben, riding to his side.</p> + +<p>"Smoke over the top of that hill right in front of us."</p> + +<p>Ted did not take his eyes from the spot.</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" he exclaimed. "The bunch of Indians who chased me have taken +a short cut and beaten us in. I saw a band of Indians cross in front of +us, and one pony carried double."</p> + +<p>"Then we have caught up with them."</p> + +<p>"I think so. Hold the boys here, I'm going forward to scout. When I +signal, come forward as fast as you can ride."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>A BATTLE OF QUIRTS.</h3> + + +<p>Ted turned Bingo over to one of the boys to care for, and crept forward +stealthily toward the hill behind which he had seen a thin thread of +blue smoke rising in the still air.</p> + +<p>No one but an Indian or a trained scout would build so small a fire. A +tenderfoot would have made one that roared and sent a vast cloud of +smoke toward the sky to attract any enemy that might be in the vicinity.</p> + +<p>But an Indian builds his fire in a space not much larger than the hollow +of his two hands, and manages to send up smoke that only a trained eye +could detect, and at the same time have heat enough with which to warm +himself and cook his food, with as little fuel as possible.</p> + +<p>As he went forward, Ted was surprised that he came upon no sign of a +camp guard.</p> + +<p>The Indians evidently thought that the boys would not have the courage +to follow them into their own country, and had grown careless.</p> + +<p>So much the better. It would give him a chance to learn how they were +situated before making an attack.</p> + +<p>He crept on his hands and knees to the ridge of the hill, and, removing +his hat, peered over the edge.</p> + +<p>Below in a small valley he saw about fifty Indians, who, from their +dress and their manner of painting their faces, he knew to be of various +tribes.</p> + +<p>He easily recognized in the band several Blackfeet, six or seven Crows, +some Sioux, who had come far north, and to his astonishment a few +Southern Indians, such as Caddos, Cheyennes, and Comanches.</p> + +<p>This alone was enough to convince him that the Indians were outlaws and +renegades, and that they were plunderers and thieves, as well; probably +murderers hiding out from the United States troops.</p> + +<p>In the circle about the fire he soon discovered the young fellow whose +pony he had shot beside the frozen stream.</p> + +<p>The young Indian, for he did not appear much older than Ted himself, was +holding forth to a number of other Indians.</p> + +<p>Probably he was boasting of his pursuit of the white boy, and the +unfortunate mishap that brought down his pony and prevented him from +bringing a white captive into camp.</p> + +<p>Not far away from this group Ted observed a man dressed in Indian garb, +who yet did not act like the other Indians. An Indian has a peculiar, +slouching walk, while this man strode about with the smarter, quicker, +springier tread of a white man.</p> + +<p>Presently the supposed Indian drew from his belt a pouch of tobacco and +some cigarette papers, and proceeded to roll a cigarette.</p> + +<p>Northern Indians do not roll cigarettes; they smoke pipes. It is only +the Indians of the Southwest who take their solace from tobacco through +the little homemade paper tubes.</p> + +<p>"That's a fellow who has been a cow-puncher," said Ted. "He's a white +man disguised as an Indian. Probably one of the Whipple gang. I've got +my opinion of a white man who will play Indian, and live with the dirty +scoundrels," said Ted to himself, with disgust.</p> + +<p>He had seen all that was necessary, and had laid his plan of attack in +his mind.</p> + +<p>Creeping down the hill, he threw his hand in the air as a signal for the +boys to come to him, also signaling for silence.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes they were by his side, and, while one of the fellows +held Bingo safely, Ted sprang into the saddle.</p> + +<p>"Now, fellows, we're going to ride around the end of this hill and plump +into the Indian camp. The snow will deaden the hoofbeats of the ponies, +but keep as still as possible. We'll surprise them, and probably be able +to settle the whole thing without firing a shot. But don't bet on it, +and keep your hands on your guns, but don't fire until they make the +first crack, then rush them and drive them into the hills, and bring +down all you can."</p> + +<p>With this advice they rode forward by twos, Ted and Ben in the lead.</p> + +<p>It did not take long to round the hill, and then, as suddenly as if they +had opened a door and stepped into a room, they were in the midst of the +Indians.</p> + +<p>No such surprising and sudden attack was ever made. The Indians stood as +if they were carved of wood as the boys rode up to them, staring +open-mouthed.</p> + +<p>Only one of them made a break—the young Indian whom Ted had dismounted.</p> + +<p>For several moments not a word was said.</p> + +<p>Ted saw instantly that the broncho boys had all the best of it, and that +the Indians had been taken completely by surprise, for not one of them +was armed. Their rifles and guns were either still on their saddles, and +the ponies were standing some distance away, or they were stacked beside +a ledge of rock twenty or more feet from the fire, where most of them +were congregated.</p> + +<p>The young fellow whom Ted had foiled stared for a moment with a look of +contempt and dislike.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he made a rush to where the guns were standing.</p> + +<p>"Stop!" Ted's voice rang out sharply. But the youth continued to run.</p> + +<p>"Stop, or I'll kill you!" shouted Ted again.</p> + +<p>Then an old Indian cried out something, in the tongue of the Blackfeet, +and the young fellow halted suddenly and came walking back with a sickly +look on his face.</p> + +<p>The old Indian who had stopped the youth now stepped a little ways +forward, and, holding up his hands in a peace sign, began to talk.</p> + +<p>"You are my brothers," he said, "and Flying Sun, the medicine man, +welcomes you to our camp."</p> + +<p>Ted held up his hands in a sign of peace also, but said nothing.</p> + +<p>"He's a darned old hypocrite," said Ben, in an aside to Ted. "He has +murder in those little red eyes of his, if ever a man had."</p> + +<p>"I'm on to him," said Ted. "Keep your eyes on that bunch, and give it to +them if they start anything treacherous."</p> + +<p>"My white brothers come with peace for their red brothers. Join us at +the fire. Warm yourselves; eat of our meat."</p> + +<p>"We are willing to be brothers," said Ted. "But one brother does not +steal the ponies from the corral of the other."</p> + +<p>"That was the work of the young men, and they are now sorry for it," +said the medicine man.</p> + +<p>Ted looked at the young fellow whom he had unhorsed, and saw that his +face was distended in a sarcastic smile.</p> + +<p>"The young brave yonder is the one who led the raid on my corral. He +does not look sorry," said Ted, pointing to the offender.</p> + +<p>Flying Sun threw a glance in the direction of the young man, and said a +few words sharply in the Blackfeet tongue.</p> + +<p>"Crazy Cow is young and the son of a chief. His blood is hot within him, +and he does not know what he does," said Flying Sun.</p> + +<p>Crazy Cow's face at once assumed a look of sadness.</p> + +<p>"I have not come for war," said Ted gravely, "but I want to warn you and +your tribe that I will not stand for any raids on our ranch. You will +find that we are good fighters, and that we can kill just as well as the +soldiers. The ranch is ours, and the cattle and horses are ours, and do +not belong to the young men of your tribe. They must leave us alone, or +we will be compelled to deal out justice to them in our own way, which +is a hard one."</p> + +<p>"Very well, my brother," said the wily old chief. "We desire to live in +peace with our white brothers. Your cattle and horses shall be sacred to +our young men."</p> + +<p>"I mean this," said Ted, looking at the old man severely. "Keep your +young men away from our ranch, or they will be killed."</p> + +<p>At this Crazy Cow drew himself up to his full height, and looked at Ted +with scorn.</p> + +<p>"Two can make killing," he said, in perfectly plain English.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps they can," said Ted quickly. "But I want to say to you +particularly, that if you are ever seen within the lines of the Long Tom +Ranch again you will be sorry that you ever were born. I have said +enough. Get on your horses and go. You are now on the ranch. Get beyond +it."</p> + +<p>The young Indian gave a short, harsh laugh, and strode toward a pony, +decorated after the fashion of war ponies with feathers and bits of red +flannel woven into his mane and tail.</p> + +<p>The other Indians were not slow to follow his example, and soon they +were all mounted.</p> + +<p>"Now look out for treachery," said Ted in an aside to the boys.</p> + +<p>"Keep your eyes peeled, fellows," said Ben, passing the word along back.</p> + +<p>"Ride up in open order so that we can surround that bunch if they get +gay," said Ted, in a low voice, and the boys rode out and scattered +themselves in a long line.</p> + +<p>The Indians were bunched pretty well together.</p> + +<p>It was a critical moment.</p> + +<p>The slightest suspicious move on the part of the boys might have alarmed +the Indians and started a fight.</p> + +<p>While the boys kept their hands on their weapons not one was drawn.</p> + +<p>The Indians rode off to a distance of a few hundred feet, then halted. +All had their rifles or guns in their hands, but not in a hostile way.</p> + +<p>They were well aware that the white boys were much better armed than +they, and were not in a temper to stand any foolishness.</p> + +<p>It seemed as if the Indians had stopped to say good-by before riding +away into the mountains.</p> + +<p>But when they stopped, Crazy Cow rode out from them a short distance and +stopped.</p> + +<p>"I am Crazy Cow," he said in a boastful way.</p> + +<p>This was in the manner of a personal challenge, as if he had said: "Who +the deuce are you? Knock the chip off my shoulder if you dare."</p> + +<p>Ted looked at him for a moment, for Crazy Cow was staring at him with an +impertinent look in his face.</p> + +<p>"I don't care who you are," said Ted, who was disgusted with the +fellow's airs. "If you were the chief himself, I would tell you to keep +away from my cows and ponies. What is the son of a chief? Nothing!"</p> + +<p>The tone in which Ted said this was such that the young Indian flushed a +deeper red, and grasped his rifle harder.</p> + +<p>"I am an educated Indian," said Crazy Cow, "and as good as any white +man. This is my country, and I shall go wherever I please."</p> + +<p>"Go where you will, except on my ranch. Keep off that."</p> + +<p>The Indian shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"I go where I please. You, whoever you are, have no right to prevent me +from going anywhere. Who are you to talk to me like that?"</p> + +<p>"My name is Ted Strong. I am a deputy United States marshal. Do you know +what that is?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I spit on them."</p> + +<p>"Well, here's one you won't spit on. That's a cinch. You ought to be +ashamed of yourself, a man who got his education free from the United +States, to talk that way."</p> + +<p>"Bah! I hate the United States which robbed my people of their lands, +and then made treaties only to break them. Since they have driven me +into the mountains they owe me a living, and I'm going to collect it."</p> + +<p>"Very well, only be careful how you do it. I have said enough."</p> + +<p>"Ted Strong talks big and much, but does nothing. He is a coward who is +afraid of the Indian."</p> + +<p>"I am not afraid of you. I think I have shown it."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but you ran when I surprised you by the stream."</p> + +<p>"My pony ran, and to keep from losing him I clung to him."</p> + +<p>"It was a good thing for you that he did run. If he hadn't, you would +never have gone home again, and the buzzards and vultures, assisted by +the prairie wolves, would have you by now."</p> + +<p>"Big talk means nothing. You are not a fighter, you are a squaw. You are +a fool and a boaster."</p> + +<p>"No, I am a chief, and a warrior. I have seen the blood of the white man +flow, and I drank it. I am brave."</p> + +<p>"You're full of hot air. Run along now; I'm disgusted with you."</p> + +<p>"Hah! White squaw afraid to fight. Go back to your camp, and cook the +meals and wash the clothes in the tub."</p> + +<p>Crazy Cow made motions, of scrubbing at a tub.</p> + +<p>At this the other Indians burst into laughter.</p> + +<p>"You are but an idle boaster, Crazy Cow. You make much noise like the +wind in the trees. That is all it amounts to. You do not make me feel +bad by what you say."</p> + +<p>Crazy Cow, seeing that he could not get Ted angry with his banter, tried +a new tack.</p> + +<p>"Hah, little bay pony," he cried, addressing Bingo. "Are you a squaw +pony?"</p> + +<p>He paused in a listening attitude as if he was paying close attention to +what the pony was saying.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you are ashamed to be ridden by a squaw who does not fight, but +only talks. Come over here, squaw pony, and be ridden by a man."</p> + +<p>Again his speech was greeted by the laughter of the Indians, to whom it +was interpreted by the disguised white man.</p> + +<p>"So you think I will not fight, eh? You think I am a squaw, do you?" +said Ted quietly.</p> + +<p>The Indian only laughed.</p> + +<p>"I will show you who is the squaw. I will thrash you with my quirt until +you cry out with pain. You may keep your gun. I am not afraid of it."</p> + +<p>"Now you begin to talk a little like a man. But you won't fight. Little +pony, you are ridden by a squaw. Why don't you throw him off and come to +me, who is a fighter?"</p> + +<p>"Fellows, stand fast," said Ted to the boys. "I'm going to give that +young buck such a licking as he never thought possible. If they don't +play fair, shoot."</p> + +<p>Ted threw his rifle to Ben, so that he would not be burdened by it, and +rode toward the Indian, who also threw his weapon to one of his +followers. In his right hand he carried a long, braided Indian whip of +thongs. It was a cruel weapon, for the Indian is cruel to everything in +his power, from his squaw to his dog.</p> + +<p>This he grasped firmly in his right hand, and awaited Ted's coming with +a satirical smile on his face.</p> + +<p>Ted had been coming on quietly, but when he was a few feet from Crazy +Cow he suddenly gave Bingo the spur, and the astonished horse reached +the Indian's side in two jumps.</p> + +<p>Without a moment's hesitation Ted reached forward and grasped the Indian +by a collar of leather which he wore laced around his throat, somewhat +after the fashion of the white linen chokers worn by young white men.</p> + +<p>Furiously the young Indian lashed out with his quirt, which struck Ted +across the shoulders, and made him wince with the burning sharpness of +it.</p> + +<p>But Ted was back at him like a flash, and his quirt sang through the air +and slapped upon the buckskin shirt worn by the Indian.</p> + +<p>Crazy Cow, whom the lash had not hurt in the least, only laughed.</p> + +<p>Ted saw that he might go on thrashing the Indian all day upon his shirt, +and that it would have no more effect than if he whipped a covering of +iron.</p> + +<p>The other Indians also saw the humor of the situation, and joined in the +laughter.</p> + +<p>Meantime, the Indian was plying his quirt with all his force, and every +time the lash struck Ted across the shoulders or neck it left a blue +welt.</p> + +<p>Whipping fights are common among the Indian lads, and are merely tests +of courage, and the power to endure pain without crying out. The Indian +boy who cries out unexpectedly at some particularly stinging blow is +called a squaw, and sent into Coventry by the others for varying lengths +of time, during which none of them will speak to him.</p> + +<p>Crazy Cow had often indulged in the whipping sport, and knew how to +wield the quirt most effectively.</p> + +<p>So the battle of the quirts went on, the blows falling as fast as their +arms could fly, but Ted plainly was getting the worst of it on account +of the protection which the buckskin shirt gave the Indian.</p> + +<p>Ted saw that this soon must change or he would be ignominiously beaten. +He had not shown that he suffered any pain from the blows he received, +although the Indians watched his face closely for any sign that he was +weakening.</p> + +<p>At last Ted thought that he had discovered a vulnerable spot.</p> + +<p>With a sudden wrench of his strong wrist upon the leather collar which +he grasped, he whipped Crazy Cow flat across his saddle and held him +there.</p> + +<p>Then with all his strength he brought his quirt across the seat of Crazy +Cow's blue flannel trousers, which were drawn tight, and upon the tender +part of the back of his legs.</p> + +<p>The Indian struggled furiously, but could not release himself, and all +the while the cruel blows were raining upon him.</p> + +<p>A huge burst of laughter rose from the broncho boys, but the Indians +could not see the joke, and with angry exclamations started forward to +rescue their young chief.</p> + +<p>But at this sign of hostility Ben Tremont let out a roar, and every +broncho boy threw his rifle to his shoulder, and the Indians shrank back +in silence.</p> + +<p>Ted thrashed the Indian until his yells of agony and his struggles +ceased, then threw him aside.</p> + +<p>"Go back to your people and tell them that you are no longer fit to be +chief. That you have been whipped with a quirt by a white boy until you +cried. It is you who are the squaw," said Ted, riding back to his party.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>SILVER FACE.</h3> + + +<p>As Ted released the badly punished young Indian and rode back to where +the boys were waiting for him, Crazy Cow painfully raised himself to a +sitting position in his saddle. But the pain was too great, and he +slowly and painfully slid to the ground. But the backs of his legs were +so seamed with welts that he could not walk.</p> + +<p>He was, indeed, an object for pity, but he had been defeated, and not +only that, but had been whipped on the most shameful spot, in Indian +fighting, and his friends would have none of him.</p> + +<p>When he looked toward them for sympathy they only pointed the finger of +scorn at him, and laughed.</p> + +<p>Now Ted rode out in front of the boys, and, raising his voice, said to +the Indians:</p> + +<p>"Go back to your village. Do not come to my ranch again. Next time it +will be something worse than quirts with which we fight, and dead men, +instead of squaws with sore legs, will be the result. Go!"</p> + +<p>The old medicine man turned his pony toward the mountains, and in a +guttural voice gave the command.</p> + +<p>Without a word, and without looking back, the Indians started on their +way, Crazy Cow following dejectedly on foot, leading his pony.</p> + +<p>He had been conquered and humiliated, but his heart burned with hatred +for the young white chief who had been the cause of it.</p> + +<p>When the Indians were out of sight, Ted returned to the boys.</p> + +<p>"Well, that's over for the present," he said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but we'll have trouble with those fellows later, you may be sure," +said Ben. "Look out for a ball or a knife in the back from Crazy Cow."</p> + +<p>"I don't fear him as much as I do the cunning and treachery of that old +villain, Flying Sun, who plans these raids and lets the young men +execute them while he stays back in a safe place."</p> + +<p>"What interests me more than anything else just now is Stella and Bud. I +propose that we drop everything else and hunt for them. You know that +since the appearance of the man without a face, and now this encounter +with the Indians, to say nothing of sending Sol Flatbush's body home on +his horse, the members of the Whipple gang will be pretty keen after +every member of our party."</p> + +<p>"True, Ben. We must be very careful of Stella from now on. I would not +have taken this ranch had I known that it was menaced by such a gang of +thieves as seems to be in the mountains."</p> + +<p>"Where had we better scout?" asked Ben.</p> + +<p>"Do you think Bud and Stella went farther west?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. As we started away from the ranch house I heard Bud say to Stella, +'When the gang came out of the corral just before daylight I saw that +most of them headed into the west. If we go that way we're sure to beat +the others to the trail.' Then I saw them slip away quietly back of the +house, and later they disappeared over a rise due west."</p> + +<p>"Then that's where we must look for them. Forward, fellows. We're going +to find Bud and Stella."</p> + +<p>"Do you think it is necessary for all of us to go?" asked Kit.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't. The ranch must have a guard of some sort. About half of +you turn back to the lines, and two of you ride to the ranch house to +see that all is well, and guard it."</p> + +<p>Ben sorted out the fellows who were to go back to the ranch, keeping all +the broncho boys to start on the hunt for the missing ones.</p> + +<p>No one felt exactly uneasy for the safety of Stella and Bud, but it was +proper, under the circumstances, to see that they were safe.</p> + +<p>"As before, we will split up into couples to search for Bud and Stella," +said Ted. "You better come with me this time, Ben."</p> + +<p>To the west of the line of the Long Tom Ranch the land became more +broken. At first the hills ceased to be rolling and broke off into +cañons, more or less deep, with sometimes sides that assumed the dignity +of precipices.</p> + +<p>The sides of the foothills were clothed in small tracts of scrubby pine +timber, and altogether it was not a pleasant country to travel over in +winter.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>When Bud and Stella left the ranch house, Stella was bubbling over with +joy at the prospect of being in the hunt for the Indians, and the +prospect of Bud teaching her the mysteries of the trail, particularly +the war trail.</p> + +<p>"Don't say a word," said Bud, with a wink, "an' we'll fool 'em all. Them +Injuns never went nowhere except inter ther east. I throwed out a blast +o' hot atmosphere erbout them goin' west. That wuz ter fool ole nosey +Ben, who had his neck stretched out like a spring chicken's ter hear +what was bein' said, an' git ther advantage o' my sooperior knowledge.</p> + +<p>"Well, when I see that I thort I'd give him somethin' ter chase, so I +hands out the west p'int, when I mean ter go ter ther east. When we +start out we'll ride ter ther west until we come ter ther first draw, +then foller it ter ther south until we come ter a break leadin' east, +then foller that, an' we'll be fust onter ther red man's tracks."</p> + +<p>"All right," laughed Stella. "That will be a good joke on Ben. He didn't +like it because he couldn't go with us."</p> + +<p>Now it will be seen that Bud's little fiction in the hearing of Ben was +not the proper thing, and, as it turned out, Bud was mighty sorry for +his apparently innocent fib before the end of the day, or the dawning of +the next.</p> + +<p>They did as Bud planned, and when they were well out of sight and +hearing of the other boys they turned to the east, and, when well out on +the prairie, turned their ponies' heads to the north.</p> + +<p>As they cantered across the prairie, on which the snow was like dry sand +and only about an inch deep, they could see bands of their cattle here +and there pawing the snow off the grass, or "rustling" for their fodder, +as the cowmen call it.</p> + +<p>"I shore believe thar's somethin' wrong on this yere range," Bud +remarked, after they had gone a few miles.</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked Stella.</p> + +<p>"Somethin' wrong with ther cattle."</p> + +<p>"In what way?"</p> + +<p>"Thar ain't half enough o' them here."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that some of them are gone?"</p> + +<p>"Yep. Thet's jest what I mean."</p> + +<p>"Strayed, probably?"</p> + +<p>"No. Stole."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense. Who could have stolen them? The Indians?"</p> + +<p>"No. I reckon not. The Injuns is keen after ponies. In the fust place +thar ain't nobody what kin wear out a pony as fast as an Injun. They +work their ponies ter death, starve 'em, beat ther hides off'n 'em, +neglect 'em, and when they're wore out turn 'em loose fer ther wolves. +Second, they kin run off a bunch o' ponies in a hurry, but they balk +some at rustlin' cattle because they move so slow. If we aire shy on +beeves ther white men has got 'em."</p> + +<p>"When we get back we ought to round the cattle up and count."</p> + +<p>"That's ther only way ter do it. I've got a pretty good eye fer a herd, +an' it's my idee thet we're losers here, an' that ther rustlers is +gittin' rich off'n us."</p> + +<p>About noon Bud pulled in his horse, and examined the snowy ground +carefully.</p> + +<p>He had struck a trail.</p> + +<p>Winding across the prairie in a northeasterly direction was a broad +trail, the tracks of many cattle and horses.</p> + +<p>"Here we are," said Bud. "Thar's whar some o' our cattle and several +ponies have passed."</p> + +<p>He got down to the ground, and, stooping over the trail, regarded it +carefully.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he straightened up.</p> + +<p>"This is not an Injun trail," he said.</p> + +<p>"It isn't?" asked Stella.</p> + +<p>"No. Here are the tracks of cattle, an' on top of them those of horses +ridden by white men."</p> + +<p>"How do you know they were not Indians?"</p> + +<p>"Here's an impression o' a horseshoe, an' here's another o' a different +size. These were made by animiles ridden by white men."</p> + +<p>"I can understand why you should know that they were white men's horses +because Indians do not shoe their ponies, but I'm blessed if I can see +how you know that white men were riding them."</p> + +<p>"Easy enough. These horses were ridden straight. An Indian, in spite of +stories to the contrary, is not a good horseman. He rides all over the +ground instead of straight ahead when he is going anywhere, seemin' as +if he wanted to get his money's worth of the ride. If it had been +Indians who were driving off these cattle, you would see pony tracks all +over the prairie about here."</p> + +<p>"Then we've struck the wrong trail."</p> + +<p>"Well, we've missed the Indians, but we've struck another and a better +lead. Ther boys under Ted will most likely git in ther trail o' ther +pony snatchers, but we're on another lay—cattle thieves."</p> + +<p>"This is something of a surprise, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"You bet. If we hadn't run ercross this yere trail we mightn't have got +on ter ther fact thet our steers wuz bein' lifted ontil so many o' them +wuz gone thet it would make a big hole in our herd."</p> + +<p>"Have they much the start of us?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon they have." Bud was down on his knees, looking closely at the +tracks.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he continued, "they went by here shortly after midnight."</p> + +<p>"How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"Against ther east side o' each o' these leetle depressions made by a +hoof is some fresh snow."</p> + +<p>"I don't see how that tells the time."</p> + +<p>"I do. Along about midnight last night a wind come up an' blew from ther +west fer half an hour. It drifted a little snow before it, which settled +inter these depressions an' banked up against ther east side o' these +tracks."</p> + +<p>"That seems reasonable. Bud, where did you learn all these things about +trailing?"</p> + +<p>"Never learned them nowhar. It's jest thinkin' about what yer see what +makes a scout an' trailer. These cattle is somewhar up in them hills +yon. They probably drove until sunup, an' then stopped ter give ther +critters a rest before shovin' them inter ther mountings."</p> + +<p>"Then I suppose we better hurry. We may be able to find out where they +are."</p> + +<p>"Righto, we'll mosey. I reckon we've struck a good thing."</p> + +<p>"How many beeves do you suppose there were in that steal?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I reckon fifty er sixty."</p> + +<p>"Whew! That's worth going after."</p> + +<p>Bud had mounted, and they galloped along the trail, which was broad and +deep. It led them through coulees and over hills and down into valleys, +and the sun was high and the trail apparently endless.</p> + +<p>"Bud, let us stop and eat our lunch. I'm hungry," said Stella.</p> + +<p>"All right. I'm a bit peckish myself," was the reply.</p> + +<p>They were in a narrow valley which was strewn with great bowlders, and +on the sides of the hills grew a great many scrub pines. Through the +center of it ran the broad trail.</p> + +<p>The lunch was tied to the cantle of Bud's saddle, while Stella carried a +canteen of coffee, for she was a great favorite of McCall, the cook, and +when she started out for the day he invariably put up the best lunch a +cow camp could afford.</p> + +<p>Bud, in the meantime, had found a spring on the hillside and had watered +the horses, then made a fire of pine boughs over which they heated the +coffee and warmed themselves. Then they began their luncheon.</p> + +<p>Bud was so busily appeasing his hunger that he did not say much, and did +not think it strange that Stella said nothing. They were seated on +opposite sides of the fire, and Bud, thinking that perhaps Stella might +need something, looked across at her.</p> + +<p>What he saw caused him to stare.</p> + +<p>Stella was looking over his head with an expression of horror on her +face. Her wide, staring eyes were filled with an unspeakable horror.</p> + +<p>Her hand was poised in mid-air, just as if she had been going to put +something into her mouth, when the action was arrested by the sight of +something that froze her with terror.</p> + +<p>"Stella, what's ther matter?" Bud managed to blurt out.</p> + +<p>Stella's lips moved, but no sound came from them. She was too frightened +to speak.</p> + +<p>Then Bud, observing the direction in which she was looking, turned his +head.</p> + +<p>In an instant he was on his feet. He had become very pale, and his hand +shook as he reached slowly toward his holster.</p> + +<p>Standing behind him was a creature such as he never had seen before.</p> + +<p>It was a man of great stature, clad entirely in black, over which was +thrown a long, black cloak.</p> + +<p>But the horror of the creature was the face. Out of an expressionless +mask of silver, without nose or mouth, gleamed a pair of fierce, black +eyes, that twinkled maliciously. Midway of the face were two holes, +nostrils through which he breathed.</p> + +<p>It was the man at whom Carl had fired his six harmless bullets—the man +with the silver face.</p> + +<p>Bud stood staring at him like one frozen, but Stella, when she saw that +Bud was as frightened as herself, was able to take her eyes away from +those terrible orbs that shone through the silver face, and regained her +composure, and now was able to look at him without terror and with +curiosity.</p> + +<p>There was something fascinating in that blank, rounded, shining, white +face, lighted only by those remarkable eyes.</p> + +<p>What was behind that mask? A face, or only a blank?</p> + +<p>Bud had somewhat recovered from the ague of terror into which the sudden +appearance of the man with the silver face had thrown him, for he was a +brave fellow, and not easily shaken from his courage.</p> + +<p>"What do you want?" he asked at last, but yet with a little tremor in +his voice.</p> + +<p>There was no answer, but the eyes continued to burn in a very suggestive +way. It seemed as if the man behind the mask was trying to speak, but +could not.</p> + +<p>Presently, however, he made a motion with his hand that told them to +follow him.</p> + +<p>"I'll be derned if we do," said Bud stubbornly. "Who aire yer, anyway, +an' what business hey yer buttin' in on us this away?"</p> + +<p>A strange, inarticulate, bubbling sound came from behind the silver +face, but Bud could not understand it.</p> + +<p>Again came the signal to follow.</p> + +<p>"Not on yer life," said Bud firmly. He drew his revolver, and a look of +decision came into his face. When Bud took on this look he meant +business.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bud, don't oppose the terrible creature," whispered Stella, to whom +fear had come again from looking on that blank but fascinating face.</p> + +<p>"No, by jing, I ain't goin' erlong with thet freak. If I could see his +face an' knowed who he wuz I might talk business."</p> + +<p>As he said this the eyes behind the silver mask fairly shot forth sparks +of anger, and again that horrible bubbling noise was heard.</p> + +<p>The creature raised his arm. There was a sudden rush, and Bud felt his +arms grasped from behind.</p> + +<p>But as this happened he had presence of mind enough to point his +revolver at the man in the silver mask and pull the trigger.</p> + +<p>The weapon crashed, and, as the smoke cleared away, Bud saw the thing of +horror still standing unharmed where he had been, although the revolver +had been pointed directly at his heart, while from behind the mask came +again that sickening, bubbling laugh.</p> + +<p>At another signal from the figure Bud was dragged a little way up the +hillside, and his wrists were securely tied, his arms embracing a tree.</p> + +<p>While this was being done Stella, too frightened to make an outcry, was +led away, and, looking over his shoulder, Bud saw her mount Magpie and +ride away surrounded by four men, led by the man with the silver face, +who bestrode a splendid black charger.</p> + +<p>Bud was left alone to survive, if he could, the perils of frost and +hungry wolves.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>LOST IN THE WILDERNESS.</h3> + + +<p>Stella could not keep her eyes from the silver mask of the man who rode +by her side. She was wondering continually at the mystery of him.</p> + +<p>For an hour or more they rode up one valley, then across a hill or +stretch of prairie, and through valleys again, the black mountains +coming nearer all the time, until at last they entered a forest of +pines, which they traversed until night began to fall.</p> + +<p>At a gesture from "Silver Face," as Stella had named the man who rode by +her side, the party came to a halt.</p> + +<p>Stella now saw that it was the intention to camp, for, while some of the +men cared for the horses, others cut down several small pine trees and +built a shelter of pine boughs, into which she was ushered, and before +which a blazing fire had been lighted.</p> + +<p>It had grown very cold, and Stella was grateful for the heat that filled +her shelter.</p> + +<p>One of the men had brought food, and a pan and coffeepot from a pack on +one of the horses, and now began to cook supper.</p> + +<p>Stella fully realized the peril of her situation, but particularly that +of Bud, who had been left alone, bound and helpless, in that wilderness.</p> + +<p>If he had not given the impression to the boys that he was going west +instead of east, things might have been easier for them, but now Bud +might perish of cold or be the prey of wild animals before Ted could +come to their rescue, which she was sure he would do soon.</p> + +<p>After she had eaten the supper which the man with the silver face +brought her with his own hands, she felt better and more cheered, and +began to take a brighter view of the situation.</p> + +<p>The floor of her lean-to shelter had been thickly strewn with pine +boughs, which were soft and aromatic, and Stella reclined upon them, and +gazed into the fire, listening to the strange sounds that filled the +forest, for the camp was absolutely quiet.</p> + +<p>After eating their supper the men had silently smoked their pipes and +then curled up on their blankets, which had been spread on mattresses of +pine boughs, and were asleep.</p> + +<p>Only Silver Face was awake, and he sat wrapped in his cloak near the +fire, his eyes taking on a fiercer gleam as the flickering lights struck +them.</p> + +<p>Stella wondered who he was. Evidently the mask concealed a horrible +mystery. Could he talk, and would not? Was that eerie, bubbling laugh of +his the only articulate sound he could make?</p> + +<p>Stella wished she knew more about him, and that he would talk to her.</p> + +<p>The night was growing on, but Stella did not feel like sleeping.</p> + +<p>Occasionally Silver Face arose and replenished the fire with resinous +pine logs, and for a while the flames leaped high, filling the woods +with strange shadows and ghostly, wavering spots of light.</p> + +<p>Then afar, it seemed, there sounded the night cries of wild animals, +timber wolves, those dreaded monsters of the lupus tribe, and +occasionally the scream of the cougar, like a woman in agony. Then, +close behind her shelter, there sounded a horrible, snarling shriek. It +was the night cry of a bobcat close at hand, attracted to the camp by +the scent of the meat which had been cooked for supper.</p> + +<p>It was so near and clear that for a moment Stella's heart seemed to stop +beating altogether, and she felt as if she would suffocate, and buried +her face in her hands, expecting every moment to feel the claws of the +terrible animal sink into the flesh of her back.</p> + +<p>But at the sound Silver Face leaped to his feet, and was coming swiftly +around the fire.</p> + +<p>Through the silver mask his eyes were gleaming wickedly.</p> + +<p>Stella heard him, and looked up. He was standing before her at the +corner of her shelter, his blank face turned toward the place from which +the cat's cry had come.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a strange thing happened. From the breast of the black garment +worn by Silver Face leaped a flame, followed by the crash of a revolver. +This was succeeded by another, and a third.</p> + +<p>The sleeping men had been aroused, and were sitting up in their +blankets, blinking stupidly.</p> + +<p>Behind her shelter Stella heard a thrashing among the frozen underbrush, +while Silver Face stood immovable, the blazing eyes in the mask staring +in that direction.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Stella was marveling at those shots which had seemed to +spring from his very body, and without the apparent use of his hands.</p> + +<p>But soon the noise in the brush ceased, and Silver Face stepped out of +sight.</p> + +<p>In a moment he was back, and threw into the circle of light about the +fire the body of an enormous mountain cat.</p> + +<p>The men had fallen back into their blankets and were sleeping again, +while Silver Face resumed his place before the fire.</p> + +<p>Soon Stella, began to yawn, and her eyes grew heavy with sleep.</p> + +<p>But she did not want to sleep. She had a foreboding that if she slept +she would be in danger.</p> + +<p>However, the dancing flames and the soft, comfortable heat which came +from the fire were too much for her resolution, and her head began to +droop, and presently her body sank gently down, and, as she pillowed her +head on her arm, she fell into a deep sleep.</p> + +<p>How long she slept she did not know, but when she awoke it was light.</p> + +<p>The fire had burned low, and she felt cold and numb.</p> + +<p>Staggering to her feet, she looked around. The camp was deserted.</p> + +<p>The men were gone, and so were the horses. Beside the fire was a +considerable pile of wood, and Stella hastily pulled the embers of the +fire together and threw several sticks upon it. As the fire blazed up +and she grew warmer, she tried to review the situation.</p> + +<p>Why had the men who had captured and brought her thus far deserted her? +Had they been frightened away by the proximity of the boys? No, it could +not have been that, for the boys were far away.</p> + +<p>Then a thought of horror flashed across her mind. She had been brought +here to perish in the wilderness. Probably Silver Face and his men, +desiring to wreak vengeance upon Ted, and feeling that keeping her a +prisoner would be too much of a burden, had brought her into this +dangerous place to leave her a prey to the wild animals that she knew +infested the forests.</p> + +<p>If they had only left her Magpie, she might have stood some chance of +escaping.</p> + +<p>But her fortitude soon returned to her. She was not dead yet, and, while +she had a fighting chance, she would not despair.</p> + +<p>Something of pity must have moved the men, for she found that they had +left her revolver and her rifle beside her in the lean-to, and that in a +pile not far from the fire was food enough to last her for several +meals.</p> + +<p>She set about cooking some breakfast, and caught herself singing as she +did so.</p> + +<p>After she had eaten she sat down in her shelter to think a way out of +her predicament.</p> + +<p>She was in the midst of a reverie when she was brought to her feet by +that most dreaded of sounds—the howl of the timber wolf.</p> + +<p>For a moment she stood trembling, trying to think what her best course +would be.</p> + +<p>The wolves had smelled the frying bacon from afar, and had been +attracted to it, for the scent had carried far in the clear air.</p> + +<p>From another direction came another wolf cry, and presently they seemed +to come from every direction.</p> + +<p>They were far away as yet, but the wolves were gathering.</p> + +<p>Without trying to reason further, Stella gathered up what food she could +carry, and, grasping her rifle, struck out into the forest in the +direction away from that from which the howls of the wolves came to her.</p> + +<p>Suddenly to one side appeared a slinking, gray form, which slunk along, +apparently dodging behind the trees, but following her.</p> + +<p>As it came from behind a tree in fair sight, she swung her rifle to her +shoulder and fired.</p> + +<p>It was a strike, for the wolf, with a howl of pain sprang in the air, +then rolled over on the snow and lay still.</p> + +<p>As the report of the shot reverberated back from the mountains, it was +followed by a perfect crescendo of wolf howls.</p> + +<p>They sounded louder and nearer now, and Stella's heart began to beat +rapidly with fear.</p> + +<p>Too well she knew what would happen if they caught her.</p> + +<p>But suddenly a thought came to her, and she stopped.</p> + +<p>Surely Ted and the boys would come to find her. They might even now be +on the way, and who could say they were not far away?</p> + +<p>If she could only send them a message to let them know that they were on +the right trail!</p> + +<p>Her face lighted up with an inspiration. She had the means.</p> + +<p>Breaking a stick from a low-growing tree, she began to write in the +snow:</p> + +<p>"I am followed by a wolf pack. Hurry." "Stella"</p> + +<p>These were the words she left behind her for Ted to read should he come +that way.</p> + +<p>Then she hurried on with all speed.</p> + +<p>Every few minutes the howls of the wolves assailed her ears as she +struggled on through the snow.</p> + +<p>Her burden of food was becoming very heavy, and she cast away a part of +it.</p> + +<p>Perhaps, she thought, it would serve to stop the wolves for a while when +they found it on her trail.</p> + +<p>Every moment seemed to bring the cries of the wolves nearer.</p> + +<p>They were following in her footsteps now, for the noise was all behind +her, not scattered over the forest, as it had been at first.</p> + +<p>The brutes had gathered into a pack, and Stella shuddered as she +pictured in her mind the gray band coming upon her with long, loping, +tireless strides; with red, long, lolling tongues and slavering, +sharp-fanged jaws.</p> + +<p>Presently she heard another noise behind her, and looked over her +shoulder.</p> + +<p>The sight that met her eyes caused her to almost faint.</p> + +<p>Not twenty yards behind her was an enormous gray wolf, loping along +easily but as swiftly as a horse.</p> + +<p>His eyes were blazing like green lamps, and his great body was scarred +and torn. Evidently he was the king of the pack.</p> + +<p>Stopping suddenly, she drew her revolver and fired two shots at him.</p> + +<p>He came to a halt with a snarl of rage and began biting at his shoulder.</p> + +<p>Then Stella turned and ran again, with the clamor of the pack close +behind her.</p> + +<p>But she was failing, and her run had become a painful stagger, and her +breath came in gasps.</p> + +<p>She was near the end, and she realized it. She fancied herself falling +into the midst of that ravenous crew and shuddered. What could she do to +save herself?</p> + +<p>Not far ahead was a tree with a forked branch growing low enough for her +to reach it if she still had strength to get so far. With almost a +superhuman effort she continued her flight toward it.</p> + +<p>As she reached it the great, gray king of the pack was only a few feet +behind her, so close that she could hear him pant from his long run.</p> + +<p>She reached up to the branch and tried to pull herself up, but it was an +impossible task burdened with food and rifle and her coat, which she had +removed at a time when she had stopped long enough to write another +message in the snow for Ted.</p> + +<p>She threw the rifle in the snow and tried it again, but she could not, +and then cast aside the food and the coat, and succeeded in clambering +into the sheltering nook just as the great wolf, leaping into the air, +swept past her, carrying in his teeth a shred of her skirt. She was +safe, but by a very narrow margin.</p> + +<p>She looked up into the tree, for the branch upon which she was perched +was so near the ground that she was not safe from the leaps of the +savage and famished brutes.</p> + +<p>But the next higher branch was far beyond her reach or her ability to +climb to.</p> + +<p>She must defend herself as best she could.</p> + +<p>Fortunately she had retained her revolver and had a good supply of +ammunition.</p> + +<p>As the old wolf leaped again she fired, and knew that the ball had +entered his neck. If she could shoot him often enough, she ought to kill +him after a while.</p> + +<p>But now the clamor was all about her. The pack had arrived, and was +leaping about the foot of the tree like waves upon a storm-tossed shore.</p> + +<p>Her red coat had been torn to shreds, and, in the fight over the food +she had cast aside, more than one of the brutes had met his death by the +razorlike teeth of his comrades.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, through the din about her, Stella lifted her head and +listened, while for a moment the wolves ceased leaping and howling and +stood listening also.</p> + +<p>From afar off, and very faintly, there came to her a subdued cheer. Her +heart leaped with hope. Could it be the boys who were signaling to her?</p> + +<p>But now the wolves, even more savage than before, were leaping at her, +their saber teeth snapping within an inch of her, as she fired into +their faces, and laughed as she saw them roll upon the snow in their +death agony.</p> + +<p>Again she heard a faint cry in the forest. Oh, if she should be wrong, +and it was not the dear old Moon Valley yell, she would die.</p> + +<p>Now the old king of the pack returned to the attack.</p> + +<p>He was bigger and stronger than any of the others, and when he snapped +at them with his terrible teeth they made way for him.</p> + +<p>He began a succession of leaps at her, and every time she planted a +bullet in his massive and seemingly invulnerable body.</p> + +<p>But each leap brought him closer to her perch.</p> + +<p>The next jump might be the one by which he would reach her, she thought, +and that surely would be the end, for, if he ever succeeded in getting +his hooked fangs fastened in her clothes, she would be pulled from the +tree in an eye twinkling, and she shuddered as she thought of the +sequel.</p> + +<p>The end seemed very near, and she had about given up hope of holding out +until the boys could reach her, when a well-known yell was wafted to her +on the frozen air. The boys had come.</p> + +<p>She felt the fangs of the king of the pack fasten in her skirt, and she +knew that she was being pulled out of her perch when, through the woods +came Ted and Bud and Ben, and the rest of her friends, yelling like mad +and amid a perfect fusillade of rifle shots.</p> + +<p>Then she began to slide out of the tree. But she did not reach the +ground, for Ted was there, and she slipped naturally and without harm +into his arms, as the last of the pack that remained alive escaped into +the forest.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3>WHO WHIPPLE WAS.</h3> + + +<p>There was great rejoicing when Stella so far recovered from the strain +which she had been undergoing, to learn that Bud was safe, although he +had passed a very uncomfortable as well as perilous night tied to a tree +with the cold numbing him, and wolves sniffing and snarling at him.</p> + +<p>These he had been able to keep off for several hours by kicking them +whenever they got close enough.</p> + +<p>But he was rapidly becoming exhausted when in the distance he heard +shouts.</p> + +<p>Ted and the boys had ridden to the west until they realized that it was +useless to go any farther, for they had not come upon the trail of Bud +and Stella, and Ted came to the conclusion that they had gone in the +opposite direction.</p> + +<p>But it was almost night when they turned their faces to the east, and +day was dawning when they heard Bud's cry for help, and rescued him by +driving the snarling pack from his heels.</p> + +<p>When they had heard his story about the man with the silver face and his +crew, and the fact that they had taken Stella away with them, the boys +waited only long enough to make a fire to thaw out Bud, and to make some +coffee, and took up the broad trail.</p> + +<p>When they came to the deserted camp they were almost sure that Stella +had gone on with her captors, and were about to follow the trail.</p> + +<p>Had they done so, Stella would have perished in the woods. But Ted had +one of his "hunches" that Stella was not far away, and rode around the +camp in a wide circle.</p> + +<p>He was soon rewarded by finding the prints of Stella's shoes in the +snow, and, concluding that she had in some manner escaped from her +captors, he called the boys together and started on her trail.</p> + +<p>They had not gone far when they, too, heard the howls of the wolf pack, +and knew that Stella was in great danger.</p> + +<p>Presently they came upon Stella's message in the snow and obeyed her +injunction to hurry.</p> + +<p>They had been compelled to leave their horses at the camp, for the +forest was too dense to permit them to ride.</p> + +<p>When Stella told them of her adventure and about Silver Face and the +stolen cattle, they decided to push forward on the trail, and, if +possible, regain their stolen property.</p> + +<p>At the camp they remounted, and, having to ride double where Bud and +Stella were concerned, made but slow progress.</p> + +<p>But the trail was broad and good, and they made good time as compared +with a slow cattle drive.</p> + +<p>Early in the afternoon Ted became conscious, in that remarkable way of +his, that not far ahead some one was on the trail.</p> + +<p>Stella was riding behind him, for the boys had taken turns in carrying +her so as not to burden any one horse too much, and he transferred her +to Kit's pony, and, telling the boys to move forward slowly, rode on +ahead to scout.</p> + +<p>Ted wanted to see for himself this wonderful Silver Face, who was +impervious to bullets, and who could fire them from his chest with no +apparent effort on his own part.</p> + +<p>Ted was also affected as the others had been who had seen him; that is, +by the mystery of the creature.</p> + +<p>He had ridden quite a distance ahead of the party, and had just entered +into the pass of a cañon which seemed to broaden out into a respectable +valley farther on, when he was brought to a halt by the scream of a +rifle ball close to his head.</p> + +<p>This was warning enough, and he scurried into the shelter of a huge rock +that jutted from the cañon wall.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes he emerged from it and rode back over the trail.</p> + +<p>When the party came up with him he told them of the shot.</p> + +<p>"It's my opinion," he said, "that Silver Face and his men and our cattle +are in that cañon or valley, but how to reach them I don't know."</p> + +<p>"S'pose we go scoutin' on ther hills above, an' take a look," said Bud. +"Stella an' ther boys can cache ther hosses an' hide, er come erlong +with us."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said Ted. And so they did. Hiding their horses in a thick +glade of cedar trees, they climbed in single file up the side of the +mountain, and were soon in an advantageous position, from which they had +a good view up and down the valley.</p> + +<p>A curious sight met their sight.</p> + +<p>In the center of the valley they saw their bunch of steers close herded +by several cowboys, while not far away two men were butchering one of +the steers.</p> + +<p>"They're going to have beef for dinner," said Ted, with a grin.</p> + +<p>"I hope it chokes 'em," growled Bud.</p> + +<p>"Or that they never get a chance to eat it at all," said Stella.</p> + +<p>Lounging around the fire were a party of Indians, but, though Ted could +not see from that distance whether or not they were the followers of +Crazy Cow, he thought most likely they were.</p> + +<p>The great figure of Silver Face could easily be picked out from among +his followers, even were it not from the reflected light from his silver +mask whenever the rays of the sun smote it.</p> + +<p>Close to the west wall of the valley, and huddled under its shelter, +were a number of Indian tepees, while farther on were several white +canvas tents.</p> + +<p>"Boys, we've stumbled upon the permanent camp or rendezvous of the +outlaw Indians, and the members of the Whipple gang," said Ted.</p> + +<p>As they were looking they saw a young woman, dressed as cowgirl, and +with long, blond hair hanging down her back, come out of one of the +tents, and look over the scene.</p> + +<p>Silver Face strode to her side, and then began a strange pantomime +between the pair with her hands. This convinced Stella that the man with +the silver mask was unable to talk.</p> + +<p>"I don't see how we are going to get at those fellows," said Ted.</p> + +<p>"They do seem to be pretty well fixed to defend themselves," said Ben, +who was lying flat on the rocky edge of the cañon wall, looking into the +scene below.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Ted," cried Stella, grasping the arm of the leader of the broncho +boys. "Look there. It is Magpie, my pony. There isn't another like him +in the world. We must get him back, Ted. Think of letting a dirty Indian +outlaw ride and abuse the splendid fellow."</p> + +<p>"All right, Stella," replied Ted. "Show us how to do it successfully, +and we'll go down and tackle the whole mess."</p> + +<p>"See, there's an Indian throwing his filthy blanket on Magpie's back. I +can't stand that."</p> + +<p>Stella put her rifle to her shoulder, and was about to pull the trigger +when Ted's hand closed down over the lock of the weapon.</p> + +<p>"Not on your life," he said. "This is not the time for anything like +that. If we were to get them after us right now we'd last about as long +as a snowball on a hot stove. Wait a while."</p> + +<p>While Stella said nothing she was angry clear through. It hurt her like +a blow to have her pony ridden by another.</p> + +<p>The Indian, having fastened his blanket on the pony's back to his +satisfaction, sprang upon his back, and began to lash him with a quirt.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the brute!" exclaimed Stella. "I hope Magpie throws and kills him +for his cruelty."</p> + +<p>Magpie wheeled and bucked under the unusual punishment, and the Indian +continued to beat him.</p> + +<p>"I can't stand it any longer," cried Stella, gnashing her pretty, small, +white teeth.</p> + +<p>This time she got her rifle to her shoulder, and, before she could be +restrained, had fired a shot. Perhaps Ted knew that the provocation was +great, for he did not interfere this time.</p> + +<p>At any rate, the ball flew close enough to knock the hat from the +Indian's head, and cause him to dismount and scurry to the shelter of +the rock wall.</p> + +<p>But it caused the greatest excitement in the camp.</p> + +<p>The man with the silver mask rushed forward, rapidly scanning the cliff +for whoever had fired the shot.</p> + +<p>He did not have long to search, for the smoke hovering over the spot +where Stella was lying on the top of the cliff was advertisement enough.</p> + +<p>A man by his side handed him a rifle, which he sighted, then took down +as a puff of smoke rose above him.</p> + +<p>Then there followed the smash of a bullet on the rock, a foot below +where Stella was lying.</p> + +<p>"Pretty close work," said Ted. "That fellow is a corking good shot. +Look, he's coming to shoot again. Duck! I'll bet he gets the range this +time."</p> + +<p>Every head went out of sight. Then came the sharp report of the rifle, +and the ball from it shattered the edge of the rock not far from +Stella's head.</p> + +<p>"That'll be about enough of that," said Ted, picking up his own +Winchester. "We'll have to stop that fellow's fun, or he'll end by +hurting some of us."</p> + +<p>Ted poked the barrel of his Winchester over the edge of the rock, +adjusted the sights, took a short aim, and fired.</p> + +<p>Then he looked to see the result of it, and saw the man with the silver +face drop his rifle, stagger to the side of the cañon, and sink down.</p> + +<p>"By jove! I got him," exclaimed Ted. "I believe that from here we can +drive that whole bunch out of the valley and get back our cattle and +horses, if we dodge back and shoot straight. We'll try it. Every fellow +get ready to fire."</p> + +<p>On seeing their leader fall, the men, both white and red, in the valley, +ran hither and yon in a state of great excitement.</p> + +<p>But when the boys began to fire systematically at them, kicking up the +snow about them with every shot, it became a veritable panic.</p> + +<p>Shouts of terror were heard, and, as the young woman raised the man with +the silver mask to his feet and helped him walk to the tent, the others +hastily saddled their ponies, and prepared to decamp.</p> + +<p>All the while the boys were pumping Winchester balls into them, and +occasionally a horse dropped, or with a yell a man would grasp a leg or +an arm and fall to the ground.</p> + +<p>"We've got them going," shouted Ted. "Keep it up until we get them on +the run."</p> + +<p>The boys fired their rifles until they got hot, then waited for them to +cool, and resumed firing.</p> + +<p>It was like bedlam in the valley, and not one of the men attempted to +retaliate by firing back. They were in a panic of fear.</p> + +<p>As soon as one got his horse saddled he dashed away toward the head of +the valley out of the way of those spiteful bullets which sang about +them like enraged hornets.</p> + +<p>Not one of them stopped to burden himself with his baggage, nor did they +pay any attention to the stolen cattle.</p> + +<p>They were in too much of a hurry to get away safely themselves.</p> + +<p>The Indians left their tepees standing, and ran for their lives.</p> + +<p>Soon the valley was clear of men. All that remained in sight were the +bunch of cattle, a small band of ponies in a rope corral, and the tepees +and tents.</p> + +<p>"I guess we're safe to go down now, and take possession of our own," +said Ted.</p> + +<p>"Don't forget that Silver Face and the young woman are in that tent," +said Stella warningly. "Look out for treachery."</p> + +<p>Without further delay the boys and Stella climbed down the mountain to +where their horses were, and, mounting, rode fearlessly into the valley.</p> + +<p>As they approached the tents the flap of one of them was pushed back and +the young woman came out.</p> + +<p>Her hand was raised for silence, and the tears were coursing down her +cheeks.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" she said. "He is dead."</p> + +<p>"Who is dead?" asked Ted, with the greatest respect.</p> + +<p>"Silver Face," was the answer.</p> + +<p>"Who was he?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"I don't know. I found him lying in the mountains almost dead from an +accident a few months ago, and nursed him back to life, but he never +spoke again, and he has never been able to let me know who he was."</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, but who are you?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"I?" said the woman, drawing herself up proudly. "I am Whipple."</p> + +<p>"What? Leader of the Whipple gang?" asked Ted, almost incredulously.</p> + +<p>"The same," said she. "I have laughed many times at the fear I inspired +among you ranchmen in the valley, and the officers of the law, to say +nothing of the soldiers. But that was because they had never seen me, +and believed me to be a man."</p> + +<p>They all looked their astonishment, for she was an exceedingly pretty +woman, and spoke in gentle tones.</p> + +<p>"But it is all over now," she continued sadly. "If those steers and +ponies are yours, take them. I am going to leave the mountains, and my +men are scattered and will leave also. I told them to go. And now that +Silver Face is no more, there is no reason why I should stay here."</p> + +<p>"You loved him?" asked Ted, nodding toward the tent.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered quietly. "He was my husband. When I had nursed him +back to life I sent my boys out and kidnaped a preacher. I had him +brought here blindfolded, and made him marry us, then sent him back, not +knowing where he had been."</p> + +<p>Ted and the boys looked their sympathy.</p> + +<p>"Can I be of any assistance to you in caring for him?" asked Stella, +very sweetly.</p> + +<p>A look of terror crossed the woman's face.</p> + +<p>"No, no," she cried. "Leave me with my dead. Take what belongs to you +and go."</p> + +<p>She retired into the tent, and they heard her weeping, and turned away.</p> + +<p>The boys started immediately on the back trail to the ranch, where they +arrived with their cattle and ponies.</p> + +<p>That was the last of the Whipple gang, for the members of it left the +country, and the outlaw Indians were gathered in by the troops and the +Indian police, and imprisoned on the reservations.</p> + +<p>But on winter evenings, as he sat before the big fire in the Long Tom +ranch house, his big snow camp, Ted Strong often turned over in his mind +the facts about the death of Silver Face, the man of mystery.</p> + +<p>Somehow, away down in his heart, he did not believe that the man with +the silver mask was dead, but that he would some day meet him again and +solve the mystery that surrounded him.</p> + +<p>In the early part of December, however, the members of the Moon Valley +outfit left the Long Tom Ranch for Phoenix, Arizona.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h3>AN UNEXPECTED GUEST.</h3> + + +<p>Although it was winter, the air was soft and pleasant, and at noon the +sun shone with some fervor.</p> + +<p>It was Arizona, and as Ted Strong sat on Sultan and gazed across the +wide valley, over which the sun's warm rays shimmered above the sand and +cactus, greasewood and sage toward a low-lying ranch house in the far +distance, it did not seem at all like Christmas.</p> + +<p>But it was Christmas Eve, in spite of the fact that there was no snow, +no sleigh bells, no apparent use for Santa Claus, and that roses were +blooming in yards where there was sufficient black earth for them to +thrive.</p> + +<p>Behind his saddle Ted had a great bundle wrapped in burlap and securely +tied.</p> + +<p>For many miles on the way Ted had cast anxious glances behind him, and +occasionally reached back to assure himself that he had not lost his +freight.</p> + +<p>This argued that it was a very precious burden.</p> + +<p>"I guess that must be the place," mused Ted, as he looked at the +apparently deserted house.</p> + +<p>Not a live creature was to be seen about the place, neither man, woman, +nor beast.</p> + +<p>"Cheerful-looking prospect for Christmas," Ted continued to soliloquize, +as those who travel or ride on mountain or plain in solitude often get +in the habit of doing.</p> + +<p>"Wonder where the folks are?" he continued. "Hope they got here all +right. But, of course, they did. Bud is too good a leader to let them +get off the trail. Besides, they have been long enough on the way to +have got here and back again." Again he paused, musing.</p> + +<p>"Well, Sultan, old chap, it has been a long, dry drive, hasn't it?"</p> + +<p>Sultan, on hearing his name, gave a toss of his head and a soft snicker, +and Ted's hand passed gently over his beautiful, glossy mane with a +caressing gesture.</p> + +<p>"Hello, here comes some one. Wonder who it is. That's the only sign of +life, except a few rattlesnakes and horned toads I've seen since I left +the railroad at San Carlos."</p> + +<p>Shading his eyes from the sun, Ted looked for several minutes at the +dark speck bobbing along in the distance, a mere shadow against the +yellow surface of the earth.</p> + +<p>"He's taking his time," muttered Ted. "Reckon he's wondering who I am, +and what I'm standing here for. It can't be one of our fellows. I guess +I'll just wait for him to come up and say howdy."</p> + +<p>There was a faint trail, or road, which skirted Sombrero Peak, the mass +of multicolored rock at Ted's back, over which he had come on his way +from San Carlos to the Bubbly Well ranch house, which he was now facing +in the distance. But where he was now standing the road branched off to +the west, while a fainter trail lay straight before him to the ranch +house.</p> + +<p>Bubbly Well was the ranch of Major Caruthers, an Englishman, and a +retired officer of the British army, who had come to America to pass his +remaining days in the open. He was a well-preserved man, tall, stalwart, +with white hair and a red, fresh-looking face, who could ride well and +was an excellent shot, but who knew nothing about the cattle business.</p> + +<p>Ted had met him in Phoenix, at the hotel, and had dropped into "cow +talk." When the English major learned that Ted knew so much about the +cattle business, he told of his ranch at Bubbly Well, confessing that +his own knowledge of steers, cows, round-ups, and the like was so +limited that, instead of making the ranch pay, it had been steadily +losing money for him.</p> + +<p>It was then that the major had invited Ted to visit him at the ranch, +look the situation over, and give expert advice how to better the +condition of things.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you what we'll do," said the major; "let's make up a +Christmas party for Bubbly Well. The holidays are so beastly lonely out +here, don't you know, and Christmas knocks me all of a heap. Come out +and help me make things cheerful."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to," Ted had said, "but I'm not a free agent. I am with a +party of friends, who are also my partners in the cattle business and +other enterprises. You see, my first duty is to them. I don't know what +their plans are."</p> + +<p>At this the major looked considerably crestfallen. Then Ted, as briefly +as he could, told the Englishman all about the broncho boys and their +plans and principles.</p> + +<p>As he talked, Major Caruthers occasionally interjected such exclamations +as "Extraordinary!" "Very remarkable!" "Fawncy!"</p> + +<p>He was intensely interested in Ted's accounts of some of the adventures +which the members of the Moon Valley outfit had gone through, and when +Ted stopped, with an apology for having consumed so much time in talking +about himself and his friends, the major assured him that he could +listen with pleasure and profit all night if Ted could only go on +telling him such stories.</p> + +<p>"My boy, I have the very thing," said the major, after a moment's +thought.</p> + +<p>Ted looked at the Englishman inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"Do you think your friends, not knowing me, would accept an invitation +to spend Christmas at Bubbly Well, and as long thereafter as they can +and will?"</p> + +<p>"That's a very kind thought," said Ted. "You see, we generally contrive +to be at our Moon Valley Ranch at Christmas time, but this year we had +business in this part of the country, and could not finish it in time to +get back home, and were planning to get as much joy out of the day in +the hotel here as we could."</p> + +<p>"Christmas in a hotel!" exclaimed the major. "I can't think of anything +more dismal. I'd spend Christmas in my own place even if there wasn't +another live thing there, and nothing to eat but cheese and crackers."</p> + +<p>"I feel very much that way myself," laughed Ted.</p> + +<p>"Then you'll come?" asked the Englishman eagerly.</p> + +<p>"I think my friends will be very glad to accept the invitation," +answered Ted. "I am sure I should like to, personally, and I thank you +for the privilege and the honor."</p> + +<p>"Don't speak of it."</p> + +<p>They talked of other things; about sport, and about the dangers of +ranching in that country.</p> + +<p>Before they parted it was decided that the broncho boys should visit +Major Caruthers' ranch. They were to take their own mounts on the train +to the nearest railroad station to Bubbly Well, where they would be met +by one of the major's men as a guide.</p> + +<p>It was three days before Christmas when all of them, except Ted, arrived +at the ranch and were given a hearty welcome by the Englishman. That is, +all arrived there except the leader of the broncho boys, who had +remained in Phoenix to attend to some business details and do some +shopping, agreeing to follow them later and arrive at the ranch +Christmas Eve.</p> + +<p>At the opening of this chapter we find him within sight of Bubbly Well, +with a pack of Christmas presents for all hands on his back, waiting +patiently for the approaching rider.</p> + +<p>In the course of a few minutes, the stranger rode up, and, with a cold +and quiet greeting, pulled in his mount, a beautiful chestnut mare, and +looked Ted over from top to toe in a cool manner.</p> + +<p>He was a handsome young chap, dressed in such a manner that Ted could +not quite determine what he was. He had not the appearance of a +cow-puncher, nor was he a town man, for he was bronzed by the sun, and +he sat his mare like a born horseman.</p> + +<p>His clothes were dark, save for a tan vest which buttoned close around +his throat; his boots were of the very best quality, and fitted the calf +of his leg snugly, and on his head was an expensive Stetson, with the +skin of a rattlesnake for a band.</p> + +<p>But it was his face that affected Ted with a sort of dislike that yet +had something of fascination in it, while at the same time it puzzled +him, it was such a strange mixture of good and bad.</p> + +<p>"Can you tell me what ranch house that is over there, and who owns it?" +said the stranger, in a well-bred manner that yet had the freedom of the +West in it.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Ted. "That is the Bubbly Well Ranch, and it is owned by +Major Caruthers."</p> + +<p>A strange expression passed over the young fellow's face.</p> + +<p>"Jack Caruthers—do you happen to know?"</p> + +<p>"I have never heard him called Jack," said Ted, smiling. "He signs +himself 'John Stairs Caruthers.'"</p> + +<p>"It must be the same," said the young fellow musingly.</p> + +<p>"Do you know him?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"Well, no. That is, not exactly." The stranger thought a moment. "I +suppose I'll have to put up somewhere for the night; it's a dickens of a +way to anywhere out here. I started from Rodeo, across the mountain, +early this morning, thinking I could make it to San Carlos by night, +but——"</p> + +<p>"You couldn't get there before morning if you rode at top speed," said +Ted, as the other hesitated.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to the ranch house?" asked the stranger suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Do you think your friend would put me up for the night?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't a doubt of it. And to-morrow, too. You know this is Christmas +Eve."</p> + +<p>"So it is. I hadn't thought of it. My name is Farnsworth—Hilary +Farnsworth."</p> + +<p>The young fellow looked defiantly at Ted, who had started slightly at +the name.</p> + +<p>"Do you want to take me to the house now?" asked Farnsworth, with a +slightly contemptuous smile.</p> + +<p>So this was Farnsworth. "Fancy" Farnsworth, as he was called in the +Southwest. Ted looked at him with new interest, and the other stared +back with his gray eyes, which were as handsome as a woman's, and yet +had in their depths a wicked, cruel gleam.</p> + +<p>"I don't see why not," said Ted.</p> + +<p>"You know me?" asked Farnsworth, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"By reputation."</p> + +<p>"May I ask your name?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly. I beg your pardon. I am Ted Strong."</p> + +<p>At this Farnsworth suddenly pulled his horse to its haunches, at the +same time throwing his hand backward, and, with almost incredible +rapidity, whipping out a revolver.</p> + +<p>His face was white, and had as suddenly assumed an expression in which +fear and determination were equally present.</p> + +<p>"No, you don't!" he said slowly and coldly. "You don't get me that way. +I'm not as easy as that."</p> + +<p>Ted had made no move to draw his revolver, and was smiling in an amused +sort of way.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I don't want you," he said.</p> + +<p>"You're a deputy United States marshal, aren't you?"</p> + +<p>"I am, but I'm not after you."</p> + +<p>"Then you haven't heard?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing about you recently. When I was in this part of the country +before I heard——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, you can always hear a lot about a fellow in this rotten part of the +world—except the truth. Then you haven't heard the latest news from +Rodeo?"</p> + +<p>"Not a word."</p> + +<p>"And you don't want to arrest me?"</p> + +<p>"Not now. I wouldn't know what to arrest you for, and I haven't seen a +United States warrant for months."</p> + +<p>"I believe I can trust you. You seem to be a square chap, in spite of +what I've heard of you. But I want to tell you one thing: I've got eyes +in the back of my head, and there isn't a quicker man on the draw in +Arizona, so no monkey business. This is not a boast, but a warning."</p> + +<p>"I have nothing against you now," said Ted quietly; "but if I ever have, +you'll know it, and have your chance. But I don't see any use in +standing here in the sun palavering. Let's hike to the house yonder. +I've been riding since daybreak without a drink, and I'd like to sample +the major's famous Bubbly Well."</p> + +<p>Farnsworth looked sharply at Ted for a moment, then replaced his +revolver, and signaled to lead the way.</p> + +<p>They rode in silence along the trail toward the ranch house for several +minutes.</p> + +<p>"How shall I introduce you to the major—as Farnsworth?" asked Ted, at +last.</p> + +<p>Farnsworth paused to think before replying.</p> + +<p>"I think not," he said at last. "If I am to stay there for the night, +there may as well be no unpleasant feeling. Call me anything you like +but that, and I will fall in with it. They may know something about me, +and, while I would be safe while Major Caruthers considered me a guest, +still, it might cause some restraint."</p> + +<p>"Probably you are right. How will Mr. Dickson do?"</p> + +<p>"As good as any. Say, Strong, you're a brick! I won't forget this."</p> + +<p>"This is a sort of truce. Anyway, it's Christmas, and a fellow should +put away malice at such a time."</p> + +<p>"Have you malice toward me?"</p> + +<p>"No, I can't say that I have. But I have heard things about you that +haven't prepossessed me in your favor."</p> + +<p>"Have you ever thought that perhaps you have heard more than the truth?"</p> + +<p>"Of course; I know that men are usually painted worse than they are."</p> + +<p>"That's true. It's especially true with regard to myself."</p> + +<p>For a moment Ted said nothing. He was running over in his mind several +of the stories he had heard about this handsome and daring young fellow.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll take your word for it because it's Christmas," he said at +last.</p> + +<p>"I'll make you believe that I'm telling the truth before our +acquaintance ends," said Farnsworth. As Ted looked into his eyes he saw +that they had changed in expression. Now they were bold and brave and +truthful, where before Ted had seen only a cold, cruel, relentless look.</p> + +<p>Ted threw back his head, and the Moon Valley yell issued from his mouth.</p> + +<p>It instantly transformed the slumbering ranch house. Out of doors, from +around corners, and even as if they sprang out of the ground, appeared +the broncho boys, and the air fairly rang with their shouts of welcome.</p> + +<p>"That's the way I'd like to be greeted," said Farnsworth, a little +bitterly.</p> + +<p>"Then why don't you fix it so that you are?" asked Ted, smiling.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h3>CHRISTMAS AT BUBBLY WELL.</h3> + + +<p>Ted introduced Farnsworth as Mr. Dickson, whom he had met on the road, +and the boys made the newcomer welcome in their usual characteristic +style.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes Major Caruthers rode up to the house, and Ted brought +Farnsworth forward. From the question Farnsworth had put to him when he +had first mentioned the owner of the Bubbly Well Ranch, Ted was anxious +to see the meeting between the two men.</p> + +<p>Major Caruthers received the young fellow cordially, and told him, with +true Western hospitality, that he was welcome to stay as long as he +wished.</p> + +<p>But Ted was watching Farnsworth.</p> + +<p>As he put out his hand to grasp the major's, a peculiar look crossed his +face. It was rather wistful, too, and it seemed as if he wanted to say +much more than the few formal words of thanks which he returned in +exchange for the major's greeting.</p> + +<p>Ted looked curiously at the two men, and started with surprise at a +peculiar resemblance Farnsworth bore to the older man.</p> + +<p>Ted had not particularly noticed the major's face and eyes before, but +now he noticed that his eyes bore a remarkable resemblance to those of +Farnsworth.</p> + +<p>There was a resemblance, too, in the shape of the head and the turn of +the jaw, but there it ended; and Ted surmised that the major must be at +least fifteen or twenty years older than the stranger.</p> + +<p>During the rest of the day there was much mystery about the house that +always precedes Christmas.</p> + +<p>Stella was particularly busy, and flew here and there, whispering with +Bud, who seemed to be in some secret with her.</p> + +<p>Behind the big ranch living room was a bedroom which had been used for +casual guests.</p> + +<p>Stella had possession of it, and had taken the bed down and banished it +until after the holidays.</p> + +<p>Within this room certain mysterious things were going on, and whenever +Stella or Bud left it, the door was always locked behind them.</p> + +<p>Not all the teasing of Ben and Kit, nor their efforts to get past the +door, were successful in finding out what was going on.</p> + +<p>Along toward evening, Bud, who had not met Farnsworth, or Dickson, as he +was known to Bubbly Well, came across that young man pacing up and down +the veranda alone.</p> + +<p>When Bud saw him he stopped as if shot, took a long look, and then +passed on.</p> + +<p>But he set out to find Ted, which he did at last at the corral.</p> + +<p>"See here, Ted," said the golden-haired cow-puncher, "whar did yer pick +up ther maverick what's up at ther house? I hear he come with yer."</p> + +<p>"I met him on the road, and he wanted to know if the major would put him +up for the night, and I told him I thought he would be welcome," +answered Ted.</p> + +<p>"Of course he'd be welcome. Ther major would welcome a yaller dog with +ther mange, out in this yere lonely place. But say, boy, does yer know +what yer brought?"</p> + +<p>"Why? I don't understand you exactly, I'm afraid."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yer do. Who is that feller? He's not Dickson. Who is he?"</p> + +<p>"Search me."</p> + +<p>"That's what I'm tryin' ter do, an' if yer don't give up peaceful, I'm +goin' through yer, minute."</p> + +<p>"Do you know who he is?"</p> + +<p>"I've got my suspicions. I see a feller up to Phoenix what's ther dead +ringer fer him, an' his name wasn't Dickson then."</p> + +<p>"What was it?"</p> + +<p>"It was Fancy Farnsworth."</p> + +<p>"I guess you're on, Bud. But Mr. Farnsworth asked me to keep it dark, +and, as it is Christmas, I consented to do so. Remember, this is the +time for brotherly love and peace toward all men. It wasn't much to do, +and I invented the name of Dickson for him myself. What's the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothin', if yer like ter bring cattle like that ter our Chrismus +festivities. Fer me, I wouldn't."</p> + +<p>"I guess he's not as bad as that."</p> + +<p>"He's worse."</p> + +<p>"Explain."</p> + +<p>"Well, if yer don't know, I will, an' let yer chew on it, an' see if yer +want ter take any chances on him. Now, Farnsworth ain't his real name, +neither. D'y'ever hear tell o' ther Somber Pass massacree, where a +tenderfoot immigrant named Spooner an' his family was killed, an' their +wagons an' horses, an' a pile o' money what Spooner had brought with him +ter start a cattle ranch an' buy stock with, wuz taken? D'y'ever hear +tell o' that?"</p> + +<p>"Sure. It's part of the history of the Territory."</p> + +<p>"D'y'ever hear any suspicions cast upon nobody?"</p> + +<p>"I never did. That is, I never heard any one specifically charged with +the crime. Did you?"</p> + +<p>"I did, an' his other name was Farnsworth, only that wasn't ther name he +went by at that time. He's ther feller who was p'inted out ter me as +ther devil what led ther band o' cutthroats what killed ther Spooner +family fer a measly few thousands o' dollars. That's what I meant if yer +knew who yer was bringin' ter yer happy home."</p> + +<p>"Why, that crime was committed five years ago, and Dickson or +Farnsworth, as he calls himself, was too young then to be engaged in +anything of that sort."</p> + +<p>"He looks young, but he ain't. He's ther feller. Look out fer him, Ted."</p> + +<p>"Don't you tip off who he is, Bud. I brought him here because it is +Christmas, and he's going to stay. He's going to get a square deal here +if I have to fight for him."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I won't say nothin', but I'd like ter slip a pair o' handcuffs onto +them smooth, white wrists o' hisn, jest ther same. But why is he here? +What's he doin' in this part o' ther country?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, Bud. He asked me when he met me and knew who I was if I +had heard the news about him. I hadn't, and told him so, but he did not +volunteer any information on the subject."</p> + +<p>"Whar did he come from? Did he tell you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he said he had come from Rodeo; starting early this morning."</p> + +<p>"Then look fer a big piece o' news from Rodeo right soon."</p> + +<p>"How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"I know this, if Farnsworth left Rodeo airly this mornin' thar was some +good reason fer it. I reckon it's a killin'. But he's a chump ter stop +off here. If anything has been pulled off at Rodeo, ther whole country +will be out after him, fer Fancy, so called fer his passion fer good +clothes an' high-colored poker chips, they don't like none too well, +he's too almighty quick an' slick with his six-shooter, hez got a list +o' killin's ter his credit as long as yer arm."</p> + +<p>"Well, he's here; let's forget it until after breakfast. But as long as +he's here as a guest, he gets all the protection I can give him."</p> + +<p>Supper that night was a very merry function in the Bubbly Well ranch +house, full of mysterious whisperings and jokes which were only +understood by two or three at a time.</p> + +<p>Mr. Dickson, as the latest guest, occupied a seat at the left hand of +the host, and Ted again noticed the remarkable resemblance between the +two, although it did not seem to be apparent to the others; at least, no +one mentioned it.</p> + +<p>After supper was over, and the Chinese cook and waiter had cleared the +room, the major brought out a violin, and asked if any one could play +it.</p> + +<p>"Clay kin jest make a fiddle sing!" shouted Bud, dragging the modest +Kentuckian forward.</p> + +<p>There was a piano in the living room, and Stella and Clay went to it, +and while Clay played the violin, Stella accompanied him.</p> + +<p>Lively airs were demanded, and the ranch house fairly rang with the +clapping of feet as Bud and Carl and Kit danced reels and jigs and cake +walks, and the laughter of the boys at Bud's jokes and Carl's lingual +mistakes.</p> + +<p>But at last they became tired of music. It was ten o'clock, and the +major disappeared for a few minutes, then entered, leading the way for +the two Chinamen, who bore between them baskets of rosy apples, dishes +of nuts and raisins and candies, and pitchers of cider.</p> + +<p>Although the day had been warm enough in the sun, the night was cool, +and the fire that leaped high in the fireplace made the room cozy and +comfortable, and one could well imagine that outside was the snow +glistening under the stars, and hear the far-away jingle of the sleigh +bells.</p> + +<p>They sat around the fireplace eating apples and cracking nuts, talking +nonsense and laughing at Bud's comic antics, until even Farnsworth +relaxed from the air of anxiety he had borne all evening, and once or +twice laughed.</p> + +<p>But Bud kept his eye on him, for he was distrustful of him, and believed +that he was up to some trick.</p> + +<p>At the end of the living room, between two massive deer heads, hung a +big clock, and, while they were still cracking nuts and jokes it began +to toll the hour of midnight.</p> + +<p>Instantly every one was on his or her feet shouting "Merry Christmas!" +and shaking hands all around. Farnsworth was not neglected because he +was a stranger, and Stella was the very first to wish him happiness on +this Christmas Day.</p> + +<p>Ted was the last to press forward and with all sincerity wished him +happiness, and, as he did so, he noticed that the young fellow was very +pale, and that his eyes were filled with unshed tears as he looked from +Ted to the major, who was fairly beaming with happiness and joy at the +great success of his Christmas Eve party, which, he said, was the finest +ever held in Arizona.</p> + +<p>Then Clay sat down to the piano and began to play a march, and Bud, with +a great flourish, unlocked and threw open the door of the guest room.</p> + +<p>Every one started back in surprise, while a shout went up that shook the +roof; but the old major hadn't a word to say. He simply stared, growing +pale and red by turns. He was deeply affected, and Farnsworth had +retired to a far corner, with his face buried in his hands. What +memories stirred him that this desperate young man should be so shaken?</p> + +<p>Inside the room all was aglow with myriads of candles which sparkled +from a small pine tree, which was hung with numerous packages and +strings of popcorn. Now every one understood the mysterious movements of +Bud and Stella.</p> + +<p>But the most marvelous thing of all was the enormous figure of Santa +Claus, dressed in a coat of red, liberally trimmed with fur, and a long +beard sweeping his breast, sitting on the back of a splendid little bay +pony that was none too quiet in the midst of the light and noise.</p> + +<p>"Where did it all come from?" asked Ted of Stella, as they were standing +together admiring the tree.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bud and I thought it out for a surprise for you and the boys before +we left Phoenix, and one afternoon, when you were busy, we went shopping +and brought all these things. If we hadn't come here, we were going to +have the tree in the dining room of the hotel," she answered.</p> + +<p>"It was a great idea, and just like you, Stella. It has made this like +Christmas, indeed. We couldn't have had a better one at Moon Valley."</p> + +<p>"But look at Major Caruthers," said Stella, pulling Ted by the sleeve.</p> + +<p>The old major was actually on the verge of tears.</p> + +<p>"I have never been so near the dear home of my boyhood as this evening, +with all you happy, generous young people around me," he said.</p> + +<p>"Who in the world is Santa Claus?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"Why, just Santa Claus, you goose," said Stella, laughing.</p> + +<p>But now Santa Claus got down from the pony's back and stepped to the +front of the tree. Every one gathered around and kept silent.</p> + +<p>"Good evening, children," he said, in a gruff and husky voice.</p> + +<p>"Ach, it iss Kris Krinkle!" shouted Carl Schwartz, in glee. "Py Chiminy, +ain't he noble? How you vas, Kris?"</p> + +<p>"Children, I have a few seasonable gifts for you which I will give you +before I hurry away, for I have many more young friends whom I must +visit before the dawn. But first I will turn over to my young friend Ted +Strong this beautiful pony, which has been intrusted to me by Major +Caruthers." He led the pony forward and thrust the bridle into Ted's +hand.</p> + +<p>Ted was so astonished that he did not know what to say, but managed at +last to mumble his thanks to his host.</p> + +<p>For Stella there was a beautiful necklace of New Mexican turquoises from +the major, who also had not forgotten one of the boys.</p> + +<p>Then mysterious packages, well wrapped, were handed off the tree, and as +they were opened, shouts of laughter greeted them, for nearly every one +of them contained something meant as a joke on the recipient.</p> + +<p>Carl got a noble-looking parcel, and when he opened it, found a nice red +bologna sausage. Every one screamed with laughter, but Carl promptly +turned the joke by taking out his knife and cutting up and devouring the +sausage.</p> + +<p>There was a lemon for Kit from Ben, and a Joe Miller joke book, full of +antiquated chestnuts, for Bud, who proceeded to get square by reading +all the most ancient ones, such as the chicken crossing the road, and +similar gems.</p> + +<p>While the laughter and fun were at their height there was a sound on the +veranda, and they all stopped to listen.</p> + +<p>Ted instinctively turned to where Farnsworth was sitting alone in the +corner, for there had been no presents for him, and saw him sitting up, +listening intently.</p> + +<p>Being a guilty man, or, at least, aware that he was being pursued, he +was alert.</p> + +<p>"What's the row out there?" asked the major, who was loath to have the +evening's fun disturbed by outsiders.</p> + +<p>"Don't know," said Ted. "Sounded like some one walking on the veranda +and trying the door."</p> + +<p>He had no sooner spoken when the door was thrust open and four men +sprang into the room and looked around.</p> + +<p>At the same instant, Farnsworth leaped to his feet, drawing his revolver +and backing into the center of the room.</p> + +<p>Farnsworth was as pale as paper, but his eyes flashed fire as he glanced +swiftly around.</p> + +<p>Apparently there was no way of escape, for the intruders barred the only +outside door.</p> + +<p>The sudden entrance into the brilliant light had temporarily blinded the +men, so that they stood uncertainly for a few moments, looking from one +to the other of the figures that almost filled the room.</p> + +<p>Major Caruthers now stepped in front of them, his face red with anger.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by intruding on me like this?" he thundered.</p> + +<p>For answer, one of the men threw back his coat and displayed the star of +a deputy United States marshal.</p> + +<p>"We're officers," he said gruffly, "an' we want Fancy Farnsworth."</p> + +<p>"You've come to the wrong place," said the major.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, we haven't. We traced him right here, an' he's in this house."</p> + +<p>"What crime has he committed?"</p> + +<p>"He killed a woman over at Rodeo last night."</p> + +<p>An exclamation of horror arose from all parts of the room.</p> + +<p>"There he is! Get him!" almost screamed one of the men, pointing to the +pale but resolute figure standing under the chandelier.</p> + +<p>There was a rush, and confusion indescribable followed.</p> + +<p>Crash went the chandelier, shattered into a thousand pieces by a dozen +bullets.</p> + +<p>Rushing, struggling forms turned the smoke-filled room into a perfect +bedlam.</p> + +<p>Two of the intruders went to the floor, sent there by swift and powerful +right-handers from Ted.</p> + +<p>But they were up and rushing through the room in the direction of the +Christmas tree.</p> + +<p>There Santa Claus met them, and again they were bowled over.</p> + +<p>Ted saw the slender, black-clothed figure of Farnsworth slip past him in +the smoke.</p> + +<p>Then followed the sharp hoofbeats of a pony on the wooden floor, a crash +of glass, and the swift patter on the earth outside, and all was still.</p> + +<p>Farnsworth had leaped upon the back of Ted's Christmas-gift pony and +escaped.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<h3>THE THUGGEE CORD.</h3> + + +<p>Several moments following the dramatic and sensational escape of the +Christmas guest passed in silence, to be broken at last by Kit.</p> + +<p>"That was about the smoothest get-away I ever saw," he said, with a +grin, for he had assisted in it by deftly tripping the chief deputy +while he was on the way to intercept the pony.</p> + +<p>"What in thunder did they want to stop my star performance for?" asked +Santa Claus, pulling off his beard and revealing the rubicund face of +Ben Tremont, who was slowly baking beneath the heavy robes and hairy +disguise.</p> + +<p>"Well, he's gone, and only taken a pony and a window with him," said the +major, "and he's welcome to both. And now, you men, we'll try to +dispense with your company. You see, this is a private party, and had I +known that you were in this part of the country, I probably would have +invited you to be present. But I regret to say that the guest list is +full."</p> + +<p>The leader of the posse of deputy marshals looked up with a scowl. +Apparently, he was mad clear through at the sudden and unexpected loss +of his prospective prisoner.</p> + +<p>As he looked about his eye encountered that of Ted Strong, in which he +saw laughter, which did not tend to lessen his anger.</p> + +<p>"I've a good mind to arrest the whole bunch of you for conspiring at the +escape of a United States prisoner," he growled.</p> + +<p>"You'd stand a fine show to do that," said Ted quietly. "On the other +hand, I've a mind to arrest you for the forcible entry of this house."</p> + +<p>"You have, have you?" sneered the other. "You make me laugh, young +feller. You couldn't arrest a fly!"</p> + +<p>Ted threw open his coat and showed that he, too, wore a star.</p> + +<p>The leader of the posse leaned forward to read the authority on it.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" he asked huskily.</p> + +<p>"I am Ted Strong."</p> + +<p>"Then why didn't you stop Fancy Farnsworth?"</p> + +<p>"What for? I have no knowledge of his having committed a crime, and, +besides, I have no warrant for him. Have you?"</p> + +<p>"No. Didn't have time to get one. But that makes no difference. He +killed a woman, and as soon as I heard of it I got my posse together an' +hit his trail. If it hadn't been for you fellows I'd have got him."</p> + +<p>"I don't think you would."</p> + +<p>"Why wouldn't I?"</p> + +<p>"Because he'd have killed two or three of you first."</p> + +<p>"What about this crime, and why are you so sure he committed it?" asked +Major Caruthers. "I thought him a fine, gentlemanly, quiet young fellow, +and I'm somewhat of a judge of men myself. I can hardly believe that a +man of that stamp could commit so terrible a crime as woman murder. That +is the lowest degree of killing."</p> + +<p>"He done it, just the same," said the deputy marshal positively.</p> + +<p>"Why are you so sure?" asked Ted, taking up the interrogation.</p> + +<p>"Well, in the first place, he skipped the town just before the body of +the woman was found. He was seen to ride out of town along the road on +which her house stood."</p> + +<p>"Is that all the evidence you have against him?"</p> + +<p>"No; he was seen coming out of the house about three hours before he was +seen leaving town."</p> + +<p>"H'm! Is that all?"</p> + +<p>"It comes pretty near enough. But, besides that, it was known that the +woman, who was young and beautiful, had recently received a lot of money +as her share in a mine, and that the money had been taken to her that +morning by one of her partners."</p> + +<p>"And it is believed that the young fellow you call Fancy Farnsworth +killed the woman for her money?"</p> + +<p>"Sure."</p> + +<p>"In what shape was the money? Currency, gold dust, ingots, or gold +coins?"</p> + +<p>"It was in ingots."</p> + +<p>"Anybody know how much of it there was?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; her partner, Billy Slocum, was at the hotel, intendin' to go back +to the mine to-day, and I went to see him."</p> + +<p>"And did he give you any idea of how much the gold weighed?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it weighed about thirty pounds. Billy brought it in on his saddle, +and he said it weighed quite considerable."</p> + +<p>"But Farnsworth, as you call him, had nothing of the sort when he +arrived here."</p> + +<p>"That may be. He'd be too foxy to do that. He's cached it somewhere in +the mountains, most likely."</p> + +<p>"How was the woman killed?"</p> + +<p>"She was strangled by a cord."</p> + +<p>"What was her name?"</p> + +<p>"Helen Mowbray."</p> + +<p>"What sort of a woman was she?"</p> + +<p>"She was a mystery to most the folks at Rodeo, an' all over the +mountains, for that matter. Nobody knew where she came from. She didn't +mix much with the folks, but lived in a swell house, what she had built +for herself, with only two servants, a Japanese man and woman."</p> + +<p>"Was she rich?"</p> + +<p>"Said to be. Had interests in a good many mines, an' owned the Cristobal +Turquoise Mine."</p> + +<p>"Anybody ever learn where her mail came from?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, she frequently got letters from England, and occasionally sent +large drafts to a bank in London to her credit."</p> + +<p>"How do you know this?"</p> + +<p>"Early this morning, when the crime was discovered, and every one was +talking about it, Mr. Rossington, the banker, told that much to a crowd +at the hotel."</p> + +<p>"Had she any particular friend in Rodeo?"</p> + +<p>"Only Farnsworth, who came to the town at intervals and put up at the +hotel. When he was in town he generally spent an hour or two at her +house in the afternoon or evening, and then faded away as mysteriously +as he came."</p> + +<p>"Did he appear to be in love with her?"</p> + +<p>"All I know about that is what I have heard since Miss Mowbray's death."</p> + +<p>"There has been gossip, then?"</p> + +<p>"Not what you would call gossip, exactly. Only folks who had seen them +riding and driving together a few times seemed to think that, while she +was very much in love with him, he never made any fuss over her."</p> + +<p>"How long have you known Farnsworth?"</p> + +<p>"About three years. Ever since he has been traveling through this part +of Arizona."</p> + +<p>"Don't you know that he is a very undemonstrative man, and that if he +really cared for any one he is not the sort to exhibit it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I reckon Fancy is a cold sort of a proposition."</p> + +<p>"How have you got him sized up?"</p> + +<p>"I'd hardly know how to tell it. He's some of a mystery to me, and he +ain't never let no one as I know of snuggle beneath his jacket."</p> + +<p>"But, as an officer, you must have kept some sort of tab on him."</p> + +<p>"Sure. I know Fancy as well as most. I always looked upon him as a +crook, and a very dangerous man with a gun."</p> + +<p>"Has he ever been convicted of a crime?"</p> + +<p>"Ain't never been able to land him. Generally he gets away by some slick +trick, just as he did to-night, or he bluffs off the fellows who go +after him with his guns."</p> + +<p>"Has any crime ever been fastened on him so positively that there was no +doubt that he committed it?"</p> + +<p>"Can't say there was; but that don't cut no ice, for he's been in +several killings where no gun got busy but his, an' we've been able to +track him right up to crimes, but there we lose him. He's too slick to +get caught."</p> + +<p>"Something like the murder of Miss Mowbray? He is seen leaving the +vicinity of the murder, and is immediately suspected of the crime, +although probably fifty other men in the town were near the house or on +the road before the murder was discovered, eh?"</p> + +<p>"That's true enough. I passed the house myself on my way home, just +before midnight."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you arrest yourself as a suspect? But how was the murder +discovered?"</p> + +<p>"Some one passing saw a flame at the corner of the house, and, looking +through a window, saw that the house was afire. He gave the alarm, and +the blaze, which was in a corner of the library, was put out before much +damage was done."</p> + +<p>"Then the body was discovered, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; a fireman found it in the bedroom on the floor."</p> + +<p>"In what condition?"</p> + +<p>"She was dressed for bed, and around her neck a cord was tied so +tightly, in a peculiar slipknot, that she could not breathe, and her +face was black and her tongue protruding."</p> + +<p>"Simply strangled to death, eh?"</p> + +<p>"That's about it, I reckon."</p> + +<p>"What became of the two Japanese?"</p> + +<p>"Disappeared."</p> + +<p>"Where are the ingots of gold?"</p> + +<p>"Gone."</p> + +<p>"What became of the cord by which she was strangled?"</p> + +<p>"I have it."</p> + +<p>"How does it happen that you have it?"</p> + +<p>"At the alarm of fire I left my home and ran to the scene. As I entered +the house by the front door, one of the firemen came running out of the +bedroom, crying that he had found a dead woman. I ran into the room, and +saw Miss Mowbray lying on her face on the floor, at the foot of the +bed."</p> + +<p>"She was dead then, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"I thought so. I placed my hand on her bare shoulder, and it was cold."</p> + +<p>"She had been dead several hours, then?"</p> + +<p>"Two or three hours, perhaps, but maybe less, for the room in which she +lay was cold, there being no fire in it or in the adjoining rooms."</p> + +<p>"What did you do when you found that she was dead?"</p> + +<p>"I turned the body over, and saw by the discoloration of her face and +the protruding tongue that she had been strangled. Then I discovered the +cord, which was sunken deeply into the flesh of her throat, and so +hidden that I would not have discovered it had I not seen the end of +it."</p> + +<p>"What did you do with it?"</p> + +<p>"In the hope that she might not be dead, and that something might be +done to revive her, I managed, with great difficulty, to get the cord +untied and off her neck."</p> + +<p>"What authority did you have for that? I suppose you know that it is the +coroner's duty to do things of that sort?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; but, besides being a deputy marshal, I am also deputy coroner."</p> + +<p>"I see. What did you do with the cord?"</p> + +<p>"I don't remember. Oh, yes. I think I put it in my pocket. Yes, here it +is."</p> + +<p>"Let me see it. Why, this is very peculiar. Do you know what sort of a +cord this is?"</p> + +<p>"I don't. I never saw one like it before."</p> + +<p>"I have. Notice its thickness, and how closely it is woven, and that it +is strong as a piece of wire."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I noticed that when I found it. What sort of cord is it?"</p> + +<p>"Japanese."</p> + +<p>"Japanese, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and a very rare sort of Japanese cord, too, fortunately."</p> + +<p>"Why fortunately?"</p> + +<p>"This is the cord that is used by the Japanese and East Indian secret +societies known as the Thugs or Thuggees."</p> + +<p>"How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"I have seen cords like this before in the Orient, where they were used +by Japanese murderers."</p> + +<p>The cord passed from hand to hand as the major and the boys examined it +with curiosity and some degree of horror, while Stella positively +refused to handle it, or even look at it.</p> + +<p>"Tell me more about Miss Mowbray's servants," said Ted, again taking up +his line of interrogation. "What were the names of the two Japanese?"</p> + +<p>"The man was called Ban Joy, but generally was known as Joy."</p> + +<p>"Was he pretty well known in the town?"</p> + +<p>"No, he was uncommunicative, and spoke very little English. The only +persons who had much to do with him were the storekeepers of whom he +bought supplies for the house."</p> + +<p>"And the woman?"</p> + +<p>"Her name was Itsu San, I believe. I only saw her once, and that was in +the yard back of the house. She appeared young, and was very pretty for +a Jap, I guess. She is the first Jap woman I ever saw."</p> + +<p>"What were her duties?"</p> + +<p>"She was Miss Mowbray's maid, while Joy was the cook."</p> + +<p>"And you say they are gone?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I saw Joy about eight o'clock, but when I searched the house after +the discovery of the body they were not there, and I could find nothing +that belonged to them."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do now?"</p> + +<p>"I'm going to hit Farnsworth's trail, and I won't leave it till I run +him down and send him to the gallows."</p> + +<p>"I don't think you will."</p> + +<p>"I won't, eh? Why shouldn't I?"</p> + +<p>"Because Farnsworth did not murder Miss Mowbray."</p> + +<p>"Then who did?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know; probably the Japanese, but I'm not too sure of that. I +believe you will pick up a surprise at the end of the string you are +following. At any rate, me for Farnsworth, and I give you fair warning +that I'm going to help him all I can until I am persuaded of his guilt."</p> + +<p>"That's a fine way for a deputy United States marshal to talk."</p> + +<p>"A better way than you are talking, for it is as much our duty to +protect men from injustice as it is to bring them to justice."</p> + +<p>"That's enough of you for me then. I'll say good night. Come on, boys."</p> + +<p>The four deputy United States marshals marched in single file from the +house, mounted their horses, and rode away into the west just as the sun +poked its head above the eastern horizon.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<h3>A LETTER FROM THE DEAD.</h3> + + +<p>Ted was brooding over the appearance of Farnsworth, and the startling +events which followed, and particularly the crime at Rodeo, of which the +young fellow had fallen under suspicion.</p> + +<p>Ted believed that Farnsworth was innocent of the crime.</p> + +<p>But his flight from the town, and the question he had put to Ted when +they met in the road, as to whether Ted had heard the news from Rodeo, +were enough to convict him in the mind of any person prone to suspicion.</p> + +<p>But Ted looked at matters of this sort differently than most people. In +the first place, his experience had taught him that actions which seemed +most suspicious often proved most innocent.</p> + +<p>That Farnsworth knew of the murder of Helen Mowbray before he quitted +Rodeo his question to Ted left no doubt, and the shadow of suspicion +under which he had lived was reason enough for him to leave the town +before its discovery. He knew the dangerous temper of the people, and +that it would take very little to arouse them against him, and +precipitate them into a lynching, with himself as the central figure.</p> + +<p>Ted had heard that Fancy Farnsworth was the worst man in Arizona, and +that he had the most ungovernable temper, the quickest eye, and swiftest +"draw" of a gun in the Territory.</p> + +<p>He was a gambler against whom nobody seemed to be able to cope, for he +invariably won. It had been said that he was not a straight gambler, but +those who said it did so only once, as they were incapable of saying it +twice, for by that time they had been shot full of holes by the card +sharper.</p> + +<p>Why it was that Farnsworth always escaped punishment at the hands of the +authorities no one knew, except that they lacked the nerve to force +prosecution against him, and that he invariably had a good excuse for +killing a man; at least, one that made good in that rough country, where +every man was of a size because all carried revolvers.</p> + +<p>But even while Ted believed that Farnsworth was innocent of the murder +of Miss Mowbray, he felt that some day he and the dashing young fellow +would meet on the battlefield as enemies.</p> + +<p>But it was the strange resemblance between him and Major Caruthers that +affected Ted more than anything else, and he often wondered that the +major had not noticed it himself.</p> + +<p>Major Caruthers found Ted on the veranda turning these things over in +his mind after breakfast. Coming to his side, the old gentleman threw +his arm around Ted's shoulder and said:</p> + +<p>"Ted, I'm rather worried about that young chap Dickson, or Farnsworth, +whichever he is. I was greatly attracted to him, and intended to invite +him to stay with us several days, when those deputy marshals entered and +accused him of a crime that horrifies me. Somehow, I feel that he is +guilty, although I want to believe in his innocence, as you so bravely +advocated when we all were too cowardly to do so. But if he was +innocent, why did he not stay and face his accusers, and go back to +Rodeo with the marshals and prove himself innocent?"</p> + +<p>"He never would have got as far as Rodeo," said Ted quietly.</p> + +<p>"Why not? He was under arrest and in the guard and custody of four +deputy marshals, officers of the United States."</p> + +<p>"They would have prevailed no more than if they had been dummies, which +I strongly suspect they were."</p> + +<p>"Um, how is that?"</p> + +<p>"They were sent out from Rodeo as marshals, but the mob that would have +met Farnsworth at the outskirts of the town, to hang him, was the real +boss. Those marshals would no more dare defy that mob than they would +fly. In the first place, they were not of the real stuff, as was proved +by their conduct when they entered your house and saw Farnsworth in the +middle of the floor and dared not go to him."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad he got away, but I am sorry he had to steal your pony to +do it."</p> + +<p>"That's all right about the pony. I'm betting I'll get it back one of +these days. And, besides, there was nothing else for him to do."</p> + +<p>"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the major. "That was the neatest thing I ever saw, +the way he got into that saddle and deliberately put that pony at the +window."</p> + +<p>"It sure was nervy," said Ted, with a reminiscent smile.</p> + +<p>"Wasn't it the most dramatic thing you ever saw? I can see it yet. +Farnsworth dodging those deputies and their bullets, and before any one +knew what his plan was, leaping upon the pony and jumping through the +glass. By Jove, it was fine. I never was so excited in my life."</p> + +<p>"It certainly was very dramatic. Almost like a thing one would see in +the theater."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but a lot more exciting, because it was the real thing. By the +way, Ted, there was something about that young fellow that I cannot +explain to myself. I was quite strangely affected when he took me by the +hand. And every time I looked at him it gave me a feeling as if he was +somehow mixed up in my life, or would be in the future."</p> + +<p>"That is strange. I wonder who he is. His name is not Dickson, nor is it +Farnsworth. Of course, there is a mystery behind him somewhere, and he +has a name which he is concealing. Suppose we take a look through his +effects. He had a saddlebag in which there may be something by which we +can identify him."</p> + +<p>"Very well. I don't believe it would be unfair to him to do so. You +know, we might be able to help him if we know his real name and +address."</p> + +<p>They went into the room which had been assigned to Farnsworth, but which +he had had no opportunity to occupy.</p> + +<p>In one corner they found his saddle, a very ornamental and expensive +piece of horse furniture, trimmed with silver and made of the most +expensive leather.</p> + +<p>Beside it lay a bag which could be fastened to the cantle of the saddle.</p> + +<p>It fastened with a snap lock, which was easily opened, and then Ted, at +a nod from the major, began to turn out its contents.</p> + +<p>First came a pair of silver-mounted hairbrushes and several toilet +articles, showing that even in the desert young Farnsworth did not +neglect his personal appearance. There were some clean shirts and +handkerchiefs, and in the bottom of the bag another leather case.</p> + +<p>"If he has anything by which he may be identified, it is in here," said +Ted. "But this is locked. Shall I force it?"</p> + +<p>"I believe you'd better," answered the major.</p> + +<p>"I don't care much about doing it," said Ted, "but as it is to help him +I suppose I might as well."</p> + +<p>The major nodded, and with the blade of his knife Ted soon had the bag +open.</p> + +<p>The first thing he came to was a photograph of a beautiful woman, at +which he looked intently for a few moments.</p> + +<p>It seemed to him that he had seen her, or some one very like her, +somewhere before.</p> + +<p>Then he passed it over to the major, and reached his hand into the bag +once more.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he was interrupted by a startled cry, in which there was a tone +of pain and surprise, from the major.</p> + +<p>Looking up, he saw that the major was as white as a sheet, and that his +hand trembled violently.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" Ted asked, striding to the major's side.</p> + +<p>But Major Caruthers was too shaken by emotion to reply at once.</p> + +<p>He continued to stare at the picture with devouring eyes, his face +alternately flushing and paling. He was gasping as if he would speak, +but the words would not come.</p> + +<p>"Do you know her?" asked Ted gently.</p> + +<p>The major nodded his head for reply.</p> + +<p>"What else do you find?" he managed to ask finally.</p> + +<p>Ted emptied the contents of the bag upon the bed.</p> + +<p>Among them was a package of old letters carefully tied.</p> + +<p>"Look at those letters," commanded the major hoarsely.</p> + +<p>Ted untied the string, and took one letter from the pack and opened it. +It had been opened and folded so many times that it was with difficulty +that Ted could open it now without having it fall to pieces.</p> + +<p>"You read it before I do," said the major, who was suffering from a +great, nervous strain, and showed it in his face and trembling hand.</p> + +<p>Ted spread it on the bed and bent over it.</p> + +<p>In the upper left-hand corner was a faded crest of a tower, over which +was a coronet.</p> + +<p>"My dear, wandering boy," the letter began, "I do not know where you +are, or if you are well and alive, or are in trouble, for I have not +heard from you for many months. I am sending this at random into that +great America in the hope that it may reach you some day to tell you +that your mother is constantly thinking of you. Your brother Jack is +still in India with his regiment, but will soon retire and come home. +Your sister Helen and her husband are I know not where. Mowbray turned +out very badly, as your father believed he would, and he had to run from +his creditors, and the enemies he had made through his dishonest +practices. I don't know where they are, but it is my belief that they +have gone to America. I wonder if you will ever run across them? If you +do, tell Helen to leave the beast and come home, and both her father and +I will forgive, and she can take her place here as if she had never met +him. And this leads me to tell you that your father has greatly changed +since you left us, and has even said that he was sorry for his +harshness, and wished you had stayed with us. We are very lonely with +all of our children away from us. Come back to your mother, and all will +be different."</p> + +<p>There were many expressions of mother love in the letter, which was +signed and dated from The Towers, Huntingdon, several years before.</p> + +<p>After reading the letter Ted passed it to the major without comment, and +walked to the window, that he might not be a witness to his emotion.</p> + +<p>He was now very sure that by the strangest of circumstances Major +Caruthers had come across a bit of personal history, and that it was +giving him a heart-tearing experience.</p> + +<p>In a moment he heard the sound of a sob behind him, followed by others, +which, however, subsided gradually, and he heard his name called.</p> + +<p>Ted came to where the major sat on the side of the bed, holding the +photograph in his hand.</p> + +<p>"It is the picture of my sister," he said quietly, for he was now the +master of his emotions.</p> + +<p>"Then Farnsworth is your brother," said Ted.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my brother, poor chap," answered the major, gulping down a sob.</p> + +<p>"It is strange, very strange," muttered Ted, almost to himself. "I felt +sure you were related, there was such a strong resemblance between you."</p> + +<p>"I didn't notice it. Why didn't you speak of it?"</p> + +<p>"Farnsworth knew that you were his brother, and I have no doubt he would +have made himself known to you had he not been compelled to flee before +the deputy marshals. I know that he was deeply affected at meeting you, +and saw that he hesitated to make himself known."</p> + +<p>"I didn't know him. I had not seen Fred since he was a little boy, when +I went into the service. Then he went away to school, and I to India. I +am much older than he, so we did not meet. When I returned to England +from India he had disappeared on account of a foolish row with our +father. Our only sister, Helen, had married a scamp against the wishes +of the family, and had left England also. Shortly after that both our +parents died, and I came to America with the intention of finding both +my sister and brother, and this is how it has turned out."</p> + +<p>Tears were coursing down the major's pale cheeks.</p> + +<p>"Don't you see how it is?" he asked, holding out the photograph to Ted.</p> + +<p>Suddenly it dawned upon Ted, and he took the photograph and gazed at it +eagerly.</p> + +<p>It was Helen Mowbray, the sister of the major and of Farnsworth, or Fred +Caruthers, to give him his real name—the woman who had been strangled +to death in her house at Rodeo.</p> + +<p>This was a shock indeed.</p> + +<p>The complications which had arisen in these few hours were sufficient to +shatter the strongest nerves, and Ted himself trembled a little at the +possibilities unfolded by this unforeseen and unexpected knowledge, +while it entirely unnerved the major, and left him as weak as a child.</p> + +<p>What was to be done? It was not likely that Fred Caruthers could be +found at once. That he knew that it was his sister who had been +murdered, and that he was charged with the crime, would be sufficient to +spur him on and on, his brain and heart filled with horror. And that he +had just found his brother, who might have given him all the moral +support he needed at such a time, only to be driven from him by the fear +of mob law, which he knew would give him no chance whatever for his +life, was an additional sting.</p> + +<p>The major sat on the edge of the bed with drooping head, holding in one +hand the letter from his dead mother, and in the other the photograph of +his murdered sister.</p> + +<p>He was too dazed with the suddenness of the shock with which the +revelation had come to him to stir.</p> + +<p>Ted saw that he must be roused from this immediately.</p> + +<p>"Come," he said, placing his hand gently, on the major's shoulder, "we +must do something at once."</p> + +<p>"What can we do?" asked the major, in a stifled voice.</p> + +<p>"In the first place, we must ride to Rodeo with all speed. Do not forget +that your sister lies there dead, and that it is your duty to care for +her."</p> + +<p>"Of course. I had forgotten. All the ghosts of the past crowded in upon +me until I forgot my duty to the dead. We will go at once. Will you take +charge of things? I am not able yet to do so."</p> + +<p>"Certainly. Leave it all to me."</p> + +<p>Ted left the major with his relics of the dead and the revelations of +the present to compose himself, while he went out to make arrangements +for the ride to Rodeo.</p> + +<p>Ted knew the difficulties and prejudices they would meet when they got +to Rodeo, and feared that before the unpleasant details attending the +burial of the dead woman were finished they might clash with the +authorities or the townspeople.</p> + +<p>Therefore, he decided that they should go well able to defend their +rights, and, calling the boys together, he told them as briefly as +possible the story of the major and his newly found brother and sister, +as the reader knows it.</p> + +<p>"Now, fellows, we must help the major straighten out this tangle, bury +the dead, defend the innocent, and punish the guilty," he said gravely. +"Arm yourselves and saddle, ready to take the road to Rodeo as quickly +as you can."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<h3>BESIEGED.</h3> + + +<p>The broncho boys galloped into the town of Rodeo early in the afternoon, +having put their horses to full speed, only stopping now and then to +give them a blow.</p> + +<p>Ted had done his best to restore the major to whatever cheerfulness was +possible under the circumstances, and the sturdy Englishman had regained +his courage and forcefulness.</p> + +<p>As they were riding up the main street, Ted in the lead, flanked by +Stella and Major Caruthers, they saw one of the deputy marshals who had +so unceremoniously entered the ranch house at Bubbly Well to arrest +Farnsworth look hard at them, then set off on a run down a side street.</p> + +<p>"That fellow has gone to give warning of our approach," said Ted.</p> + +<p>"Well, let him. What difference does it make to us?" asked the major.</p> + +<p>"It may mean something to us before we get through here," said Ted.</p> + +<p>"I imagine they will be suspicious of us," said Stella. "At least, they +know that we are not their friends, since we went to such trouble to +defend their favorite victim."</p> + +<p>"True," said the major. "But we are strong enough to meet them, and we +feel that we have the right on our side."</p> + +<p>"What shall we do first?" said Ted, deferring to the major's wishes in +the matter.</p> + +<p>"Who has charge of the body of my sister, do you suppose?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Probably the coroner."</p> + +<p>"Very well, let's look him up at once. That, of course, will be my first +care."</p> + +<p>It did not take them long to find the coroner, who told them that the +deputy marshals had taken possession of the house, the property, and the +remains of the dead woman, to be held for the appearance of some friend +of hers, who had notified them to do so.</p> + +<p>"Who is this friend?" asked the major stiffly.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I don't know. You'll have to see the deputy marshals. The +inquest has been held, and I have nothing more to do with the affair."</p> + +<p>"Now for the deputy marshals," said the major, who had recovered +possession of himself, and was now all decision.</p> + +<p>They went immediately to the chief deputy, who was also deputy coroner, +and whose name, they learned, was Jack Burk.</p> + +<p>But they could not find him, neither were any of his men to be found, +although Ted was convinced that he was in town.</p> + +<p>"There is only one thing to do," said Ted.</p> + +<p>"What is that?" asked the major.</p> + +<p>"Go to the house, and take possession of it yourself."</p> + +<p>"But suppose we find it in the hands of the authorities?"</p> + +<p>"That makes no difference to me. The remains of your sister belong to +you, and you have the first right to her and her possessions."</p> + +<p>"But her husband? I do not know where he is, or whether he is dead or +alive."</p> + +<p>"As long as he is not here, it is up to you, major, to assume whatever +authority is necessary."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you are right. But we cannot gain our point without some show +of force."</p> + +<p>"I know it, and have come prepared for it. The broncho boys will back +you to the limit. Do whatever you think best, major, and you will find +the boys and myself right behind you."</p> + +<p>"Then we will go to the house," said the major firmly.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes Ted and the major dismounted before a handsome house on +the outskirts of the town. It was surrounded by a high stone wall, and +the gate, which was of iron, was locked.</p> + +<p>Ted shook the gate vigorously, and called out for admittance.</p> + +<p>Presently the door of the house was opened a crack, and a voice demanded +to know what was wanted.</p> + +<p>"Come and unlock the gate," demanded Ted.</p> + +<p>After a moment's hesitation the door slammed, and there was silence.</p> + +<p>"Evidently whoever is in charge of the house does not intend to open to +us," said Ted, "and I suppose this will have to be the first act of +aggression on our part. Shall I smash our way in?"</p> + +<p>"By all means," responded the major. "I don't propose to stay out here +and cool my heels in front of my sister's house at the behest of a +stranger."</p> + +<p>"That's enough for me."</p> + +<p>Ted picked up a big stone from the road, and with a vigorous blow or two +shattered the massive iron lock, and the gate swung open.</p> + +<p>Ted and the major entered the garden in front of the house and walked up +the path.</p> + +<p>As they were about to ascend the steps to the veranda they were stopped +by a voice.</p> + +<p>"Halt! What do you want?"</p> + +<p>"We want entrance to the house," said the major.</p> + +<p>"You can't get in without an order from Deputy Marshal Burk," said the +voice behind the door.</p> + +<p>"The deuce I can't!" growled the major, whose fighting blood was coming +up at this opposition. "Do you know who I am?"</p> + +<p>"No, and it don't make no difference who you are. Them's my orders from +the chief."</p> + +<p>"I am the brother of Miss Mowbray."</p> + +<p>A silence followed this.</p> + +<p>"Can't help it," said the voice again. "I can't let you in."</p> + +<p>"Open that door instantly, or we'll break it in."</p> + +<p>"If you try that you'll be sorry. I warn you, I am armed, and have +orders to shoot."</p> + +<p>"Shoot, and be jiggered!" shouted the major, who was thoroughly angry by +this time, for he was not used to having his orders disobeyed.</p> + +<p>"I will if you attempt to break into this house. If you get an order +I'll let you in. Without an order you get in only after I am down and +out."</p> + +<p>"Stay here, major. I'll be back in a few minutes."</p> + +<p>Ted Strong was angry also at the delay, and at once suspected that Burk, +the deputy marshal, had some sinister reason for putting the house in +charge of one of his men, but he could not imagine what it was unless +his purpose was not honest.</p> + +<p>Ted's experience had taught him that all men in authority as deputy +United States marshals were not honest, and that they often used their +office to graft.</p> + +<p>He had no faith in Burk, whose looks and actions he had distrusted at +their first meeting. If Burk knew that the broncho boys were in town it +would be sufficient excuse for him to annoy and impede their movements +all he could.</p> + +<p>No doubt Burk knew that they would come to Rodeo in the interests of +Farnsworth, but he did not believe that the deputy marshal knew anything +of the newly discovered relationship between Major Caruthers, the dead +woman, and the so-called Farnsworth.</p> + +<p>What, then, was his reason for holding the house and the remains of the +murdered woman against all comers?</p> + +<p>There were two inferences: Loot of the woman's house, unprotected by +friends and relatives, and the awaiting of the woman's husband.</p> + +<p>Ted had thought out these two possibilities thoroughly. He had no doubt +that there were many valuables in the house, for the woman was reputed +rich, secretive, and probably kept her personal property about her. From +what the major had said the husband, Mowbray, evidently had been cast +off by Helen Mowbray on account of his rascalities, and, being a bird of +prey, would swoop down upon her property as soon as he learned of her +death.</p> + +<p>Could it be that Burk was holding the house awaiting Mowbray's arrival?</p> + +<p>With these thoughts running through his mind Ted had gone around to the +back of the house to find, if possible, something with which to smash in +the door.</p> + +<p>In a shed he found a sledge, and returned to where the major was still +arguing with the guard inside.</p> + +<p>"Open or we'll break in the door," called Ted, in a stern voice.</p> + +<p>"Take the advice of a fool, and leave the door alone," answered the +guard.</p> + +<p>"Then, for the last time, will you open?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>Ted swung the sledge and brought it down with all his strength on the +lock of the door.</p> + +<p>There followed a crash, and the door flew open suddenly.</p> + +<p>Then came another crash; this time from a revolver, and a ball whistled +past Ted, penetrating the brim of his hat and burying itself in the door +casing.</p> + +<p>But it was not repeated, for before the guard could wink twice a +tan-colored figure shot through the opening, and he fell to the floor +with a smash that shook the house, and looked up to find a stalwart +youth astride of him, slowly shutting off his wind with strong and +inexorable fingers.</p> + +<p>Then he was relieved of his revolver, and before he could indicate that +he was willing to surrender he found himself trussed like a fowl, with +his arms behind his back, and the hall full of young fellows.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you let me know that you had brought a regiment with you?" +he said sullenly. "Maybe I'd have let you in."</p> + +<p>"You had your chance to open, and was a fool not to take it," said Ted.</p> + +<p>"I believe you."</p> + +<p>The major had left the party and walked into a room on the left, and in +a moment they heard sobs issuing from it. He had found the remains of +his sister, and, at a signal from Ted, the boys hustled the deputy +marshal into the back part of the house and retired, leaving the major +alone with his dead sister.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes Ted heard his name called, and went into the room where +the major was standing beside a bed, on which was a form covered with a +sheet.</p> + +<p>"We must get ready to remove her to my house," said the major, in a +hushed voice.</p> + +<p>"Leave it to me," said Ted. "I will take charge of everything."</p> + +<p>"And I want you to help me search the house, for I intend to remove all +the valuables she left to Bubbly Well until such time as the courts can +handle her property. I don't propose that it shall fall into alien +hands."</p> + +<p>In the room at the foot of the bed was a small steel safe, which Ted +found was fastened with a combination lock. He knelt before it with his +ear to the lock, turning the handle of the combination, listening to the +click of the tumblers, while the major searched the drawers of the +handsome dressing case and other articles of furniture in the room.</p> + +<p>Everywhere were evidences that Helen Mowbray had been very wealthy.</p> + +<p>On top of the dressing case were sets of gold and silver toilet +articles, and ornaments, boxes, and bottles handsomely chased in silver +and gold, and set with jewels.</p> + +<p>In one of the drawers the major found a bunch of keys, probably to open +other drawers in the console and other articles of furniture.</p> + +<p>"I have it, major," said Ted quietly, as he flung open the door of the +safe.</p> + +<p>"See what is in it, Ted," said the major.</p> + +<p>In the bottom of the safe lay a pile of gold ingots representing a value +of many thousands of dollars. A drawer was filled with bank notes of +large denomination. Other drawers were crowded full of the stocks of +mines and other enterprises.</p> + +<p>"Whew!" said Ted, as he revealed the dead woman's possessions. "Did you +know she was so rich?"</p> + +<p>"I had no idea of it," answered the major. "Helen was always a capable +woman, and when she left England my father gave her her patrimony +outright, that he might never be compelled to see or communicate with +her husband again, and this looks as if she had increased it many +times."</p> + +<p>"This would have made fine plunder for the thieving fellows who had +taken possession of the place if fate, in the hands of your younger +brother, had not turned up to put you in command."</p> + +<p>"What else do you find?"</p> + +<p>"Here is a package addressed 'To be sent to The Towers, Huntingdon, +England, to Robert Caruthers, Esquire, or Major John Stairs Caruthers, +upon my death, unopened.'"</p> + +<p>"Give it to me," said the major huskily, thrusting the package into his +pocket.</p> + +<p>"And here's a bank book," said Ted. "It bears the name of the Bank of +London."</p> + +<p>He handed it to the major, who put it also into his pocket.</p> + +<p>"Anything else?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"That is all."</p> + +<p>"Then take this bunch of keys and examine the contents of the drawers."</p> + +<p>The first drawer of the console which Ted unlocked and opened was full +of jewels, rich and beautiful, a fortune in themselves.</p> + +<p>"Poor girl," said the major, in a low voice. "Why did she risk murder by +keeping such a fortune about her?"</p> + +<p>"Probably she didn't want some particular person to know that she was so +rich," suggested Ted.</p> + +<p>Drawer after drawer revealed other valuables, such as priceless laces +and articles of gold and silver.</p> + +<p>"We must get all this away as soon as possible, and guard it carefully," +said the major.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is a great temptation, I sup——"</p> + +<p>As Ted was speaking he chanced to look up.</p> + +<p>Framed in the window was a face.</p> + +<p>But as Ted met the blazing eyes in the face it vanished, and he ran into +the hall and out onto the veranda, but could see no one in the garden.</p> + +<p>At that moment, however, he was brought back into the house with a jump +by the sudden slamming of the back door of the house and a cry of +warning from Bud, followed by shouts from the other boys. Then a shot +outside, and a crash of glass.</p> + +<p>The house was being besieged.</p> + +<p>He heard a rush in the garden, and turned to see several men race around +the corner of the house toward the front door.</p> + +<p>They had almost reached it when he slammed it in their faces, putting +his shoulder to it, and calling for help.</p> + +<p>In the lead of the besiegers he recognized the face he had seen at the +window.</p> + +<p>As he was still holding the door against those who were striving to push +it in from without there was a shot through one of the panels, and +Strong sank to the floor insensible.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<h3>TED SAVES THE HOUSE.</h3> + + +<p>But as Ted Strong fell to the floor there was a rush through the hall, +and in a moment he was surrounded by the broncho boys, who held the door +while Bud and Ben picked Ted up and laid him on a sofa.</p> + +<p>As he was laid down Ted opened his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Barricade that door with the furniture," he commanded. "Never mind me. +I'm all right. Defend the house first. We must not let the thieves get +Helen Mowbray's property."</p> + +<p>While several of the fellows held their shoulders to the door, which was +bulging with the power without to force it in, Bud and Ben carried a +heavy sideboard across the room and placed it against the door.</p> + +<p>This held it for a while until other heavy articles made it secure.</p> + +<p>They had no more than finished their work when a shot crashed through a +pane of glass in the dining room in which Ted lay, attended by Stella, +who was trying to stanch the blood from a wound in his side.</p> + +<p>Kit gave a muffled groan, and put his hand to his arm. The blood was +trickling through his fingers.</p> + +<p>"Keep out of range of the windows everybody," shouted Ted, from the +lounge.</p> + +<p>"Them fellers is quick an' peevish!" shouted Bud. "I'm goin' ter git one +er two, shore's my name ain't John Henry Thomas Quackenbush."</p> + +<p>There was a stairway in the hall, and Bud went up the steps three at a +time.</p> + +<p>They heard his step overhead, then his voice in a roar of angry +surprise.</p> + +<p>"Jumpin' sand-hill fleas!" he yelled. "So that's yer game, is it?"</p> + +<p>Outside there was a crash, and through the window they saw a falling +ladder; then two men hurtling through the air.</p> + +<p>In a moment there was a thud on the earth, and yells of agony.</p> + +<p>"They were trying to surprise us from above, but good old Bud got there +in time to fool them," said Ted. "Bully for him. Ben, go up and help +him. He may need it."</p> + +<p>Several shots outside broke the silence that followed the fall of the +ladder, and the breaking of glass in the upper windows.</p> + +<p>Then came a fusillade in the upper rooms.</p> + +<p>"Bud and Ben are giving them as good as they send," muttered Ted.</p> + +<p>From the yells that came from the garden the shots from above had +evidently done some execution, for they were followed by a rush of feet, +then silence.</p> + +<p>"Look out, Kit," said Ted, "and see what's doing. But be careful; do not +expose yourself."</p> + +<p>"No one in sight," said Kit, peering around the corner of the window +casing, having first put his hat in an exposed position to draw fire if +there were any sharpshooters on guard outside.</p> + +<p>"Wait! Great Scott, they're going to set fire to the house!" yelled Kit, +running from the room.</p> + +<p>In spite of the protestations of Stella, Ted staggered to his feet and +followed Kit.</p> + +<p>He swayed from weakness as he ran, but appeared to grow stronger with +the excitement.</p> + +<p>Two men had rushed to the shelter of the side of the house, and were now +safe from shots from the windows.</p> + +<p>One of them had trundled before him a tar barrel, while the other had +his arms full of shavings.</p> + +<p>This was the sight that had caused Kit's exclamation.</p> + +<p>"Gee whiz, this is bad," said Kit. "In a minute they'll have the stuff +blazing, and the house will go in this wind as if it was made of oiled +paper. What are we to do?"</p> + +<p>Ted, who was holding himself up against a table to keep from falling, +thought a moment.</p> + +<p>"They're watching for us to stick our heads out of a window to take a +shot at those fire bugs, and, if we do, that's the end," said Ted to +himself. "But we must get them before the house catches."</p> + +<p>Suddenly he straightened up. A spasm of pain crossed his face, and he +clutched his side.</p> + +<p>"Ted, you must not exert yourself," said Stella, springing toward him. +"Ted, remember you are wounded; you do not know how badly."</p> + +<p>"I'm all right," answered Ted, with a grim smile. "Let me alone for a +while, Stella. Then you can fuss over me all you like. I've got to think +of some way to circumvent those devils."</p> + +<p>Suddenly he drew his revolver from its holster.</p> + +<p>"I have it," he said briskly. "It's taking a risk, but it must be done. +If they set the house afire it's all off with us. Kit, stand ready to +throw open the door when I give the word. Then shield me from shots from +the shrubbery on the opposite side of the garden. The gang is hiding +behind those bushes."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?" asked Stella breathlessly.</p> + +<p>"I'm going out to stop those fellows with the tar barrel."</p> + +<p>"You are not. I will not let you," cried Stella.</p> + +<p>Ted gave Stella a peculiar look that she had never seen in his face +before, and she rather quailed from it, it was so full of authority and +force.</p> + +<p>"Sorry, Stella, to do anything against your wishes," he said quietly. +"But some one must do it, and Kit is wounded in his pistol arm, and the +other boys are busy."</p> + +<p>"Oh, fiddle!" cried Stella. "You are wounded yourself."</p> + +<p>"But I'm going, just the same. Stand ready, Kit."</p> + +<p>Kit sprang to the door.</p> + +<p>Already they could smell the burning tar.</p> + +<p>"Hi, deir der puilding firing up alretty," shouted Carl, bursting into +the room, pale with apprehension.</p> + +<p>"All right, Carl. Stand back from the door, and do as Kit tells you," +said Ted. Then, with a look at Stella, which seemed to ask her +forgiveness for acting against her wishes, he got ready for a rush.</p> + +<p>"Open!" he yelled.</p> + +<p>Kit threw the door wide, and Ted Strong sprang out into the garden, and +ran swiftly along toward the rear, keeping close to the wall.</p> + +<p>He was firing toward the shrubbery as he ran, and those on guard inside +heard yells of agony.</p> + +<p>Evidently Ted was making good with his bullets.</p> + +<p>There came a return fire from the shrubbery, directed not at the open +door, but at the flying figure of Ted.</p> + +<p>Stella, Kit, and Carl poured a hot fusillade into the bushes, but did +not seem able to silence the fire from them.</p> + +<p>Then Stella did a foolhardy thing. Without a word of warning she leaped +through the doorway, and stood on the step outside, looking after Ted.</p> + +<p>She saw him running weakly toward the corner of the house, where two men +were bending over the tar barrel, into which they had put the shavings.</p> + +<p>They had set fire to the shavings, and were lifting the barrel to place +it against the side of the house.</p> + +<p>And now the barrel was blazing like a gasoline torch, and the flame was +licking the side of the house.</p> + +<p>But Ted was upon them. They did not see him, as their backs were toward +him, and in a minute both had gone sprawling over the barrel, falling in +a heap on the ground.</p> + +<p>In a flash Ted had sent the barrel rolling down the yard, and with a +piece of canvas, which he had picked up from the ground, was beating out +the flames which were creeping up the side of the house.</p> + +<p>But the men were on their feet now, and, seeing the cause of their +discomfiture, they ran toward Ted with howls of rage, and reached his +side as Stella, who had started toward Ted when she saw that the men +were about to attack him, was still some distance off.</p> + +<p>Ted was not aware of the presence of the men until they were directly +behind him. Then he turned, only to be met with a blow on the head with +the butt of a pistol, and he sank to the ground with a groan.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Kit, whose duty it was to cover Ted's attack on the house +burners from the doorway, was not able to get a shot because Stella's +body was between him and the corner of the house.</p> + +<p>As Ted went down with a groan Stella drew her revolver and blazed away.</p> + +<p>At her first shot one of the men ran off, limping and yelping like a +kicked cur.</p> + +<p>The other, conscious that the bullets from her revolver were singing +unpleasantly near to his head, made a dash for the shrubbery.</p> + +<p>Bending over Ted, Stella tried to see how badly he was hurt.</p> + +<p>"You reckless boy," she was saying. "See how you run into danger. Now +you have two wounds for me to nurse, if you are not killed."</p> + +<p>She was trying to lift him to a sitting posture when she felt herself +grasped around the waist, and before she could make a motion in her own +defense, was borne swiftly across the yard, and into the shrubbery.</p> + +<p>Her scream rang out piercingly, and the boys ran in a body into the +garden.</p> + +<p>But by the time they got there Stella was out of sight, and they were +met with a fusillade of bullets from the shrubbery, causing them to +retreat into the house again and close the door.</p> + +<p>None of them had noticed Ted lying unconscious at the corner of the +house.</p> + +<p>They were no sooner out of sight than three men sped from the shrubbery +across the yard, and, seizing Ted by the heels and shoulders, ran back +with him into the place of concealment.</p> + +<p>As they threw Ted down on the grass none too gently, the pain brought +him back to life and wrung a groan from him.</p> + +<p>When he opened his eyes he saw Stella sitting beside him trying to hold +his head from the ground.</p> + +<p>Several men were there, too, lying flat, peering underneath the +shrubbery toward the house.</p> + +<p>Every man was armed either with a rifle or a revolver, and occasionally +one or the other of them would fire a shot at the house, which would be +answered by the boys.</p> + +<p>"They fire too high," muttered Ted to himself, "because they do not know +that these rascals are lying flat. Every ball goes a foot too high. Wish +I could let them know, but then they would probably hit Stella or me."</p> + +<p>Lying beside him was Burk, the deputy marshal, his greenish-gray eyes +looking coldly at the house, and whenever he saw a chance for a shot his +rifle flew to his shoulder.</p> + +<p>He became conscious that Ted was looking at him, and turned with a grin +on his face.</p> + +<p>"So we got you at last, eh?" he said to Ted, with a sneer. "You thought +you could put this thing through because you are a deputy United States +marshal, did you? Well, you won't be a marshal much longer."</p> + +<p>"I think I'll be longer at the job than you will," Ted replied slowly.</p> + +<p>"Not after your attempt to loot a dead woman's house while her body +still lies there under guard of a United States officer."</p> + +<p>This caused Ted to think of the situation in a different light. True, he +believed that Burk was a crook, and that it was he who was conspiring to +rob the house, but he had authority on his side, while Ted's belief, +after all, was based on surmise, and he would have difficulty in proving +anything criminal against the marshal. At the same time, he did not fear +for his own part in the affair, because behind him was the brother of +the dead woman.</p> + +<p>"I say, Burk, I'm tired of this nonsense, lying here and potting away at +the house," said a drawling voice, the owner of which could not be seen, +being hidden behind the shrubbery.</p> + +<p>"Can't help it," answered Burk. "We've got to take our time. The house +is full of them, and they can shoot some."</p> + +<p>"Rot! So can we. I propose that we rush them. But first I want the +pleasure of putting my revolver against the head of that young bully +there and the girl, and getting rid of them. Think what's at stake. We +must get away from here soon."</p> + +<p>"Don't talk nonsense," growled Burk, in reply.</p> + +<p>"I'm getting tired of it, I tell you. Three of our men are wounded now, +and that red-headed beggar is going to die, and he was such a good +cook."</p> + +<p>The speaker laughed unpleasantly at his gruesome joke.</p> + +<p>"Well, we can't do it now, because we don't know how they're situated. +We'd have had them when they all rushed out a few minutes ago if you +hadn't shot at them so soon, and driven them indoors again. Why didn't +you let them get into the open, where we could have shot them down?"</p> + +<p>Stella shuddered at the cold-blooded tone in which these men discussed +the killing of the boys, but Ted only smiled, for he knew that Burk was +at heart a coward, and that he did not care to rush, nor would he stand +a rush should one come.</p> + +<p>He wished he was back in the house and knew the enemy's situation as +well as he did now. He would not give them time to run very far.</p> + +<p>If he could communicate to the boys in some manner the exact situation, +he felt confident that the thing would be over in a very short time.</p> + +<p>"I say, Strong, I've a proposition to make to you," said Burk, after a +silence.</p> + +<p>"Well, out with it," said Ted coldly.</p> + +<p>"There's no use of any more of us being hurt or killed," said Burk, +looking at Ted out of the corner of his eye.</p> + +<p>"Then why don't you quit shooting and vamose?"</p> + +<p>"That's not for me to do," said Burk hotly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I see. You want us to quit, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Sure. You're the fellows who broke in there over our guard. But if +you'll call your fellows off and get out of the house, I'll agree to +turn you and the young lady loose. But nothing must be taken from the +house."</p> + +<p>"That seems right generous of you," said Ted, with a sarcastic smile, +which Burk didn't see because his head was turned the other way.</p> + +<p>"It's a darned more than you deserve, but I don't want any more of my +fellows shot up."</p> + +<p>"What do you want me to do?"</p> + +<p>"Just step out there and holler to your boys to quit firing, and tell +them that you're going to quit, and then——"</p> + +<p>Ted just laughed, and Burk turned upon him with a scowl.</p> + +<p>At that moment there was a cheer from the direction of the house; then a +few scattering shots from the men in the shrubbery.</p> + +<p>Ted heard the doors of the house open, and the swift patter of running +feet. The old Moon Valley yell was in his ears. All the men in the +shrubbery had sprung to their feet, and were running wildly about. A man +crawled through the bushes—the man with the face he had seen at the +window.</p> + +<p>As he crawled close to Ted the expression of his face was awful to +contemplate.</p> + +<p>Such fiendish, murderous hatred he had never seen in a human countenance +before.</p> + +<p>When he was so close to Ted that he could hear his feverish breathing, +the man suddenly thrust forward a pistol until the muzzle was within an +inch of Ted's head.</p> + +<p>Ted struggled to grapple with him, but he had grown so stiff from his +wound that he could hardly stir. He was looking death close in the face.</p> + +<p>The man was just about to pull the trigger when close at hand the +major's voice rang out in an exclamation of amazement:</p> + +<p>"Mowbray! You here?"</p> + +<p>The man with the pistol sprang to his feet and faced Major Caruthers for +a second. Then, with a wild cry of fear, he sprang away through the +shrubbery and escaped.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<h3>HELEN MOWBRAY'S WILL.</h3> + + +<p>By the time one could have counted ten there was not a man of Burk's +force in sight, but, on looking down the road where it led to the plain +that lay before the mountains, the dust of their retreat hung in the +air.</p> + +<p>"We've got 'em on ther run," said Bud, throwing his hat into the air +with a joyous yawp. "Sufferin' tomcats, but them fellers has their +nerve, aber nit."</p> + +<p>Ben and the major had carried Ted into the house, and the major, who was +a good surgeon, had Ted's coat off and was examining his wound.</p> + +<p>When the shot had been fired through the door at him the ball had been +deflected by a piece of iron, and, instead of penetrating his heart, as +it surely would have done otherwise, it struck a rib and ran around +toward the back, coming out near the spine, and, although an extremely +painful wound, it was not at all serious.</p> + +<p>A ball had passed through the fleshy part of Kit's forearm, but when the +major had washed it in warm water and dressed it, it ceased to pain, and +he could use it handily. But Ted's wound was different, and the impact +of the ball on the rib had made him so sore that he could not breathe +without suffering agony.</p> + +<p>Stella had one of the boys make a fire for her, and, having found the +house well stored with provisions, she began to cook supper for them, +for they were all tired and hungry.</p> + +<p>It was evening before they knew it, and it was decided to stay at the +house all night, keeping a careful guard against the return of Burk and +Mowbray.</p> + +<p>"I never was so surprised in my life as when I saw Mowbray in the bushes +out there just in the act of murdering you," said the major after +supper, as he sat on the sofa beside Ted.</p> + +<p>"It was a surprising meeting," said Ted. "I had no idea he was in this +part of the country. His was the face I saw at the window when we had +all that money and gold and jewels out."</p> + +<p>"Then he knows we have found it?"</p> + +<p>"Sure. He knows we have it, and if he is the chap I think he is, he'll +not rest until he gets it, or—something else."</p> + +<p>"Meaning?"</p> + +<p>"Death or imprisonment."</p> + +<p>"He richly deserves either, or both. He made the life of my sister most +unpleasant."</p> + +<p>"By the way, major, what do you know about him? It might be handy to +know something in the future if he tries to make trouble."</p> + +<p>"Precious little."</p> + +<p>"Oh, by the way, have you looked into that packet I took from the safe +and handed you? The one addressed to your father, I take it, or to +yourself."</p> + +<p>"Haven't thought of it until now. Must take a look at it, by Jove. It +may tell us a lot we want to know."</p> + +<p>The major pulled the envelope from his pocket, and after examining the +writing on it closely for a moment tore off the end of it and drew out +several business-like documents.</p> + +<p>"You'll excuse me, Strong, while I look these over, won't you?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Certainly. Don't mind me," replied Ted, sinking back comfortably among +the cushions.</p> + +<p>As the major's eyes traveled over the documents they began to light up +with a new intelligence. Then a look of pain followed, and the tears ran +slowly down his cheeks.</p> + +<p>Finally he turned to Ted:</p> + +<p>"It is her will, and some history of her adventures in this country +since she left home, and an account of the abuse and indignities heaped +upon her by her husband, Mowbray, from whom she was divorced some months +ago."</p> + +<p>"Then Mowbray has no right to her property?"</p> + +<p>"Not a penny's worth. I shall not bore you by reading all she says on +the subject. She tells how he beat her after stealing from her all he +could. Then she goes on to tell of his crimes."</p> + +<p>"He is a bad egg, then," said Ted, as the major paused.</p> + +<p>"You would scarcely believe how bad he was if I were to read the story +of his career."</p> + +<p>"I suppose he had been bothering her since in order to get more money +from her."</p> + +<p>"Yes, she says that he made her life miserable, and that he often +threatened to kill her if she didn't give him all she had."</p> + +<p>"Hearing of her death, he came here to steal everything he could lay his +hands on; is that it? But I don't quite see why the authorities here, +knowing of her divorce from him, would permit him to take possession of +her effects, from any ownership in which the courts had barred him."</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose the people here knew anything about it, for she says in +this paper that she got her divorce secretly, and that there was no +publicity about it. She simply had her lawyers notify Mowbray to that +effect, at which time she sent him ten thousand dollars in settlement of +all claims against her, which he agreed to accept with that +understanding. But later he wrote her a letter in which he said that the +agreement meant nothing to him, and that he would expect more."</p> + +<p>"But why didn't she make the fact that he was no longer her husband +public? It would have saved this trouble."</p> + +<p>"She didn't want the news of it to travel to our parents in England. +That was her pride."</p> + +<p>"I see. Does she leave him anything in her will?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Her will is a curious document. It was evidently made immediately +after her divorce from Mowbray, and leaves all her property to our +mother, and, after her death, to my brother and myself, with a small +bequest to silence Mowbray. But there is a codicil which leads me to +believe that she had heard of mother's death, in which event she leaves +almost everything to her brother, Frederic Caruthers. He is the one +known as Fancy Farnsworth."</p> + +<p>"Nothing to you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, but not so much as to Fred, whom she puts in my care, asking +me to see that he is properly treated and that he gets the justice which +is his due."</p> + +<p>"Evidently she knew, then, that he has many enemies who were trying to +put him within the clutches of the law."</p> + +<p>"Evidently. But there is a section which I do not understand."</p> + +<p>"Read it. Perhaps we can figure it out between us."</p> + +<p>"All right, I will. The paragraph is as follows: 'I desire that my elder +brother, John Stairs Caruthers, shall take charge of my property in the +event that the said Frederic Caruthers shall not be present when my will +is opened, and that he shall be found as speedily as possible. For +several years Frederic Caruthers has been my only protector, defending +me from the abuse and greed of my former husband, and, further, +sustaining my credit and honor by assuming the misdeeds of Mowbray, to +his own discredit and danger. Had it not been for his watchful care, I +would long ago have been stripped of all I have been able to accumulate, +and have been in my grave at the hands of Mowbray. But of this latter I +am in constant dread, and I feel such will yet be my fate. If my dead +body is found with marks of violence on it, and my house robbed, it will +have been the work of said Mowbray. Therefore, in the way of a tardy +reward for the loyalty, care, protection, and love given me by my +brother, Frederic Caruthers, I leave to him the bulk of my property, +personal and real, in mining stocks, jewels, money, and the turquoise +beds in New Mexico, as well as the San Fernando Ranch. I especially +charge my brother John Stairs Caruthers to find his brother, and to +defend him and clear his name, should it be necessary, and to put him in +full possession of his property.'"</p> + +<p>As the major finished reading he looked at Ted inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"Well, what do you make of it?" he asked. "I confess it puzzles me."</p> + +<p>"I can see through it. But you have your work cut out for you, major."</p> + +<p>"In what way?"</p> + +<p>"You will find this fellow Mowbray a hard customer."</p> + +<p>"Pshaw! I am not afraid of him."</p> + +<p>"Neither am I, for that matter; but it is not he alone that is to be +feared in this matter."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Just this: Mowbray evidently is an archvillain, but he could not do all +his dirty work alone."</p> + +<p>"You think he has accomplices, then?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly. And of the most dangerous sort."</p> + +<p>"For instance?"</p> + +<p>"I have been thinking the matter over, and I am convinced that Mowbray +has got about him the most dangerous sort of a gang to carry on his work +for him. Do you know if he is a man of any particular force and +cleverness?"</p> + +<p>"When I knew him, which was before I went to India, he was already +beginning to practice his shady transactions in England, but he had +never been directly caught at it. This led to the greatest opposition on +the part of my family to his marriage to my sister."</p> + +<p>"But, in spite of it, she married him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; she had an idea that he was abused and misrepresented, and flew to +his defense by secretly marrying him. After that he got worse and bolder +until he was caught not only cheating at cards, but actually stealing by +means of forgery and in other ways, and they had to flee from England."</p> + +<p>"Then, of course, he is a master in crime by this time."</p> + +<p>"It would not surprise me to learn it. But you spoke of his being +especially dangerous because of the men he had gathered about him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and I mean it. I am sure now that in his gang are several men who +are especially dangerous, because they can defy the law without much +risk of running counter to it."</p> + +<p>"I don't see how one man can break the law with less danger of +punishment than another."</p> + +<p>"It is this way: Mowbray has in his gang several deputy United States +marshals. These men have advance information of any action to be taken +by the law against the suspected perpetrators of crime. This information +is at once at the disposal of Mowbray, and he can escape the +consequences of his crimes without difficulty. He is protected, also, by +his partners rigging up accusations against innocent persons, and +convicting them by manufacturing evidence against them."</p> + +<p>"What a villainous system!"</p> + +<p>"It is. And it is just this thing that has enabled Mowbray to prey on +his wife for so long a time."</p> + +<p>The major uttered an exclamation of anger.</p> + +<p>"Another thing," continued Ted: "I am sure now that it was these very +pals of Mowbray that made the accusations against your brother, known as +Farnsworth, at the instance of Mowbray. They nursed public resentment +against the young fellow until every hand was against him, and he was +forced to become an outlaw, or fall into the hands of the authorities +and be forced into prison, or to the gallows, through the perjury of +these same deputy marshals. It is an infamous thing, and I am going to +try to sift it to the bottom and clear your brother, and see that +Mowbray gets what's coming to him."</p> + +<p>"You are very good, and I shall never forget what you have done for me +already."</p> + +<p>"That's all right. It's my duty as an officer of the United States in +this Territory of Arizona to do it. Never fear; there will be more to +this than the beginning, and a race is not won until it is ended."</p> + +<p>All night one or the other of the boys patrolled the grounds, hiding in +the shrubbery, ready to give the alarm should any of Mowbray's party +return to attack the house and capture the treasure.</p> + +<p>But dawn broke without an alarm, and the boys were astir, making ready +for the abandonment of the house and the return to the Bubbly Well +Ranch.</p> + +<p>Ted was feeling so much better after a good night's rest that he was +able to climb into his saddle and go into the town.</p> + +<p>His object was to get a wagon and a span of mules in which to transport +the remains of Helen Mowbray and the valuables she had left behind to +her brother's house.</p> + +<p>At a livery stable he met the proprietor, a garrulous old man, whom, +when he had explained his mission, looked at him strangely before +speaking.</p> + +<p>"What's doin' at the Mowbray house?" he asked. "We all uptown was some +curious last evenin' when we heard so much shootin'."</p> + +<p>"Nothing much," said Ted. "Just a little pistol practice."</p> + +<p>The old man grinned.</p> + +<p>"Yuh musta kep' ther targets warm some from ther way ther poppin' +sounded up yere," he said dryly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it was rather warm for a while. Well, can I have the wagon, and a +driver to bring it back?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know whether I can spare one or not. Yuh see, it's some +dangerous ter take sides in this town."</p> + +<p>"I don't want you to take my side. All I want is to complete a business +transaction with you. I want you to hire me a wagon and team for a day. +You understand what I want?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but, yuh see, that would be considered as givin' succor ter ther +enemy."</p> + +<p>"I don't understand why."</p> + +<p>"It's this way: Judge Harris owns this stable an' rents it to me by ther +month. He could kick me out to-morrow if he wanted to. He's a queer +dick, an' him an' Burk, what, I understand, was at ther Mowbray house +yesterday, and what had ter run away, is as close as two sheets o' +sticky fly paper."</p> + +<p>"He is, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; an' the coroner, the jailer, the mayor, the sheriff, an' everybody +else what has any power er authority, is in the same boat. They all hang +together, an' they're all friends o' Mr. Mowbray. Lord Mowbray they +calls him."</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha!" thought Ted. "If that is the case, it behooves us to get out +of town and to Bubbly Well with our property as soon as we can."</p> + +<p>After some further talk Ted was still unable to get the old man to rent +him a wagon. Then he changed his tactics.</p> + +<p>"Well," he said, in a firm voice, "if you won't rent me the wagon and +team I'll be obliged to confiscate it for the United States."</p> + +<p>"Eh, how is that?"</p> + +<p>"I said I would take it for the uses of the United States. Come, roll it +out and hitch up before I have to resort to violence."</p> + +<p>"I don't know you, bub. I'm from Missouri. You'll have to show me."</p> + +<p>Ted exposed his star of authority.</p> + +<p>"Does that go?" he asked. "Because if it don't, this will."</p> + +<p>His revolver was out of its holster like a flash, much to the surprise +of the liveryman, who had been somewhat of a bad man himself in his day, +and gun plays were not uncommon at Rodeo.</p> + +<p>He gazed mildly into the bore of the big, silver-mounted forty-five, and +then murmured:</p> + +<p>"It goes, pal."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<h3>KNIFE AND FANG.</h3> + + +<p>Several days had passed since the fight at Helen Mowbray's house, and +Ted Strong and the broncho boys were again at the Bubbly Well Ranch.</p> + +<p>The remains of Helen Mowbray had been laid to rest near the major's +ranch house in a little lot surrounded by a low fence, and her treasure +was safely stored away in the safe in the major's bedroom.</p> + +<p>The period of their visit to the ranch house was past, but still they +stayed to help the major to get word of his brother Frederic Caruthers, +alias Fancy Farnsworth, alleged to be the worst man in Arizona.</p> + +<p>Where he might be none knew, of course, but Ted was of the opinion that +he was still somewhere in Arizona, and not far away, either.</p> + +<p>He could not have told why he believed so, but he had one of his +"hunches" to that effect, and believed it as surely as if he knew it for +a fact.</p> + +<p>Ted had seen his hunches turn out true so often that he did not attempt +now to distrust them.</p> + +<p>Somehow, he felt that everything was to come out all right some day, and +that he would find Farnsworth, or Frederic Caruthers, to be more exact, +and Ted always reproached himself when he thought of the young fellow by +his false name.</p> + +<p>One morning Ted awoke before the dawn, sitting upright in bed, listening +for a sound, but heard nothing unusual.</p> + +<p>This was one of Ted's habits—to be aroused by some unknown sense in the +night when danger threatened.</p> + +<p>Hearing nothing, he got out of bed, and sat on its edge and listened +again.</p> + +<p>"Wonder what waked me?" he muttered to himself. He was not in the least +sleepy, as he would have been if he had wakened naturally.</p> + +<p>"I don't think I was dreaming," he continued to mumble to himself. "And +it wasn't a noise. Must have been a hunch. Guess I'll get up and see if +there's anything wrong about here."</p> + +<p>He slipped swiftly into his clothes, and sauntered through the living +room.</p> + +<p>It was just beginning to get light outside, and the windows were gray, +while all else in the room was still dark.</p> + +<p>He opened the door and stepped out into the chill morning.</p> + +<p>Then he heard a noise, but so faint that it couldn't have been that +which had disturbed him from his sound sleep, he thought.</p> + +<p>But as the sound came nearer on the clear, thin morning air, and he +recognized it and realized its significance, he knew that it was this +fine, almost indistinguishable sound that had penetrated in some +mysterious manner to his inner ear and called him from his sleep.</p> + +<p>It was the cry of a hungry and angry wolf.</p> + +<p>At last he located the sound off to the east, but as yet he could see +nothing, for it was not yet light enough, and a thin mist, like a +mirage, hung over the surface of the sandy prairie and obscured the +view.</p> + +<p>For a long time he stood listening to the long-drawn and savage howl, +thinned out by the distance and mist, but he knew that it was coming +nearer, and that the animal that was making it was not only hungry, but +that it was a master wolf. It was none of the gaunt, half-starved, +cowardly brutes that follow in the pack and take what the master wolf +leaves of the scraps of the murdered calf or sick cow or sheep which the +leaders of the pack have pulled down.</p> + +<p>He had heard before the yells of these kings of the packs of savage +prairie wolves, and they were masterful indeed, and could easily be +distinguished above the feebler pipings of the wolf rabble.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the sun came up and the mists disappeared as by magic, and it +was light.</p> + +<p>Ted looked steadily toward the place from which the howls had come when +it was dark, and saw a spot against the earth.</p> + +<p>It was either a pony or a cow, and it was in trouble, for it came on +very uncertainly, running sideways, stopping for a moment to kick, then +running on again.</p> + +<p>Ted immediately saw what was the matter. It was being pursued by the +wolves he had heard.</p> + +<p>The wolves were running with it, perhaps had been chasing it all night, +and were snapping it its heels, trying to hamstring it.</p> + +<p>He thought it was a small, lean cow from this distance, and wondered at +its courage, and if it would last until it got close enough to where +there were human beings to be safe from further pursuit.</p> + +<p>At first he thought of going inside and putting on his coat and boots +and getting his arms and starting out toward it on his pony. But this +was too much trouble, and he stood watching the tragedy of the plain, +hoping for the plucky animal that was doing its best to outrun and +outwit the wolves, for they were close enough now for him to see that +there were four of the gray devils of the prairie.</p> + +<p>But only one of them was worthy of a second look—a great, gray brute +much larger than his mates and twice as courageous.</p> + +<p>Ted thought it strange that the wolf king was not doing as the others +did; that is, running up behind their victim and making a slash at his +legs with their razorlike fangs, then retreating with a whining howl +when they felt the heels of the poor brute they were tormenting.</p> + +<p>No, the big wolf was leaping high into the air from the side, evidently +trying to reach something that was fastened to the pony's back—for now +Ted was able to distinguish what it was.</p> + +<p>It was a bay pony, rather small, and almost all in with fatigue.</p> + +<p>Something baggy was tied to its back, which resembled a bundle of old +clothes.</p> + +<p>Once, as he watched, Ted saw the pony go to its knees, actually tired +out and weak.</p> + +<p>But it was up again, and struggling bravely on again.</p> + +<p>"Plucky little beggar," muttered Ted, in admiration. "Wish I had taken +my first hunch and ridden out to help it. By Jove, it's not too late +yet!"</p> + +<p>Without going into the house Ted jumped to the ground and ran out to +meet the pony and its enemies.</p> + +<p>It did not occur to him that he was not armed until he was halfway to +them. Then he felt in his pocket and found his big-bladed knife.</p> + +<p>Taking this out, he sprang open the big blade and carried it loosely.</p> + +<p>He had stooped and picked up a large stone, which he carried in his +hand.</p> + +<p>When he came close enough he hurled the stone at the wolves, and a dull +thud, followed by a shrill, dog-like howl of pain, told him that he had +countered on the rib plate of one of the nasty brutes. Then he let out a +wild yell, and three of the wolves turned and fled.</p> + +<p>Not so the king of the pack.</p> + +<p>He stopped for a moment and stared at Ted with his pale-green eyes. +Then, with a long howl of defiance, he sprang again at the pony, which +had picked up courage at hearing a human voice and was coming on more +briskly.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Ted recognized the pony.</p> + +<p>It was the major's Christmas gift, and Ted once more gave voice to an +exultant yell, which only served to increase the fury of the wolf's +attack at whatever was fastened to the pony's back.</p> + +<p>Ted knew that Fred Caruthers, as he tried always to call the young +brother of the major, would send the pony back some day, and now his +faith had been rewarded.</p> + +<p>When he became aware of the identity of the pony he ran faster, and was +soon within a few feet of it.</p> + +<p>He naturally expected that the wolf would now beat a retreat, as wolves +met singly and in this fashion generally turn tail and split the wind +for home when attacked by man.</p> + +<p>But the big wolf simply turned his attention from the pony to the boy, +and stood as if carved out of gray granite, his head held high in the +air, and his eyes blazing like two pale-green lights.</p> + +<p>"By Jove, I think the brute is going to stand and fight!" said Ted to +himself.</p> + +<p>Taking advantage of the situation, the pony trotted past Ted, who +scarcely gave it a look, and went on to the corral back of the house.</p> + +<p>"So it's going to be a fight," said Ted, advancing cautiously toward the +wolf. "All right, old chap; I'll give you something to think about, if I +do not leave you on the ground entirely incapable of thinking. I wish +I'd gone after my Winchester now. That would have made it too short, +though. Come on, now. All I have is a short knife blade against four +sharp fangs, and you are as brave as the devil himself."</p> + +<p>The wolf had not stirred except that his nose was constantly working as +he sniffed the air for Ted.</p> + +<p>Ted knew that a wolf that will stand and fight a man by himself is +possessed of more than ordinary courage and brains, and, therefore, he +was on the lookout for the tricks of the fight.</p> + +<p>It was well that he was so versed, for before he was quite ready for it +the wolf, without a sound, leaped straight through the air at his +throat. He had just time to dodge aside, and make a vicious swipe with +his knife.</p> + +<p>But his blade did not touch the wolf, whose leap carried him several +feet past Ted. Had the wolf succeeded in striking Ted, they would +inevitably have gone down together, and Ted would have had none the best +of it.</p> + +<p>But the battle between Ted, the skilled huntsman and wolf exterminator, +and the wily wolf, whose scarred hide told of many battles with bull and +dog, wild cat and man, serpent of the desert, and the eagles of the +mountains, when, in his dire hunger, he had raided their families.</p> + +<p>The wolf slid a few feet, then swung himself around like a top and came +at Ted again.</p> + +<p>Ted was wiser this time, and dodged just out of the way. At the same +time he gave a vicious side lunge with the knife, and he felt it enter +the wolf's hide. There was a ripping sound, and he knew he had added a +scar to the brute's large collection.</p> + +<p>The wolf was now thoroughly angry, and snarled its fury as it wheeled +once more to the attack.</p> + +<p>Ted turned to meet it as it rushed toward him, but as he did so he heard +a shout from the ranch house and turned his head in that direction for +an instant.</p> + +<p>But that instant was the critical one, and before he could get around +again to face the wolf it was upon him.</p> + +<p>Ted felt it strike his chest a mighty blow with its head, and staggered +backward.</p> + +<p>It suddenly came to him that if he got under the wolf its teeth surely +would get to his throat, and that one snap of those saber-sharp teeth +would settle the business for him.</p> + +<p>He tried to protect his throat with his left arm as he felt himself +toppling, but could not get it up far enough because the wolf's body and +head interposed.</p> + +<p>But he was slashing away with his knife in a frenzy of despair, and, +apparently, was doing some execution, for every time he struck the wolf +let out a little whine of angry pain.</p> + +<p>But the wolf had all the best of it now, and as Ted's foot slipped on +some pieces of dry grass he went down with the heavy brute on top of +him.</p> + +<p>He could feel it nuzzling at his neck for a toothhold on his throat, but +he kept his chin pressed close to his neck, and, although the wolf +chewed his shirt to pieces, it had found no room to get its teeth into +the boy's flesh.</p> + +<p>Ted had no time now to play with the knife. It was not up to him to +conquer the wolf now, but to keep it from taking his life.</p> + +<p>Had his revolver been with him he could have ended the fight with a +couple of shots, even if the brute seemed to have a dozen lives, for he +knew that had any one of the knife thrusts which he had planted in the +wolf's body been given to an ordinary specimen of the species the fight +would have been over long since.</p> + +<p>The wolf was standing on him, and its weight crushed him.</p> + +<p>All he could do in self-defense was to try to get the wolf by the throat +with his bare hands and to choke it.</p> + +<p>But the hair about its throat was a thick, almost impenetrable mass of +heavy, thick-growing bristles, on which Ted's hands had apparently no +effect at all.</p> + +<p>Ted was in a pretty tight place, and he fully realized it.</p> + +<p>The wolf was working hard to get at his windpipe, and the teeth were +getting closer and closer to the vital spot.</p> + +<p>Ted's arm, where he tried in vain to get it between himself and the +wolf, was gashed in a dozen places, and the blood was all over him. His +clothes had long since been torn into shreds.</p> + +<p>The wolf was getting tired also, as well it might, for, probably it had +been running all night, and had been long without food, so that it was +no discredit to its enormous strength that it was weak and weary.</p> + +<p>But neither was Ted as strong as usual, for the ball which had creased +his rib had cost him lots of blood.</p> + +<p>In the hearts of both of them, however, there was strength enough, and +it was that which kept them fighting long after both of them were tired +and winded.</p> + +<p>The wolf knew, as well as did Ted, that if it ever got to his throat +there would be strength enough for it; the strength that comes from +blood.</p> + +<p>Ted was wishing that some one would come.</p> + +<p>He had heard a cry. Why didn't whoever had called out come at once?</p> + +<p>He couldn't last more than a minute longer, and the strong, murky smell +of the beast was turning him faint, as the wolf seemed to be gaining in +strength and savagery.</p> + +<p>Presently he knew the reason. He felt that his side was wet.</p> + +<p>His wound had opened again, and he was bleeding.</p> + +<p>The wolf had smelled his blood, and it had renewed its strength and +courage, while it weakened and took the life out of Ted.</p> + +<p>Suddenly there was a crash of hoofs on the sod. Stella's clear voice +rang out, and the swish of a quirt came through the air.</p> + +<p>That was all Ted remembered, except that he felt relieved of the weight +of the wolf, which was running like a streak of gray lightning toward +the hills.</p> + +<p>His eyes opened, and he saw Stella bending over him, and managed to +stagger to his feet, congratulating himself as his hand went to his +throat that he had at least saved it from the white fangs of his enemy.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<h3>'WARE THE GRAY WOLVES.</h3> + + +<p>As Ted and Stella were walking slowly back toward the house they heard a +series of shouts from the direction of the corral.</p> + +<p>They then saw Kit at the corral gate waving frantically to them.</p> + +<p>"Something wrong there," said Ted. "I'll get up behind you, and we'll +hurry to the corral."</p> + +<p>He jumped upon the pony's back, and Stella rode as fast as possible to +where Kit stood holding the gate of the corral.</p> + +<p>Inside the corral was a scene of confusion.</p> + +<p>The ponies were running around and leaping in the air, snorting and +edging away from the little bay pony which had come across the plain +chased by the wolves.</p> + +<p>As Ted rode up to the corral fence he looked through the bars, then +started back in surprise with an exclamation.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Stella.</p> + +<p>"A man tied to the back of the pony," replied Ted.</p> + +<p>"Who?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell. I cannot see his face."</p> + +<p>"Open the gate, Kit, and let me in," said Stella, gathering up her +reins.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to catch that pony and bring him out. That man will be +smashed to death in there by the other ponies if he isn't gotten out +soon."</p> + +<p>"Go ahead, but be careful."</p> + +<p>Kit swung the gate open, and Stella dashed into the corral.</p> + +<p>The ponies were running around the corral, following the line of the +fence, and in the center of the bunch was the little bay pony with the +inert, and probably dead, body of a man hanging head downward on the +pony's flank, rolling horribly, and in constant danger of being hit by +the flying heels of the other ponies, who were frantic at the smell of +blood.</p> + +<p>Stella rode among the ponies, following the circle with them, all the +while edging in more and more until she was close to the little bay.</p> + +<p>Then she was able to see the face of the man tied to its back.</p> + +<p>"It's Farnsworth," she shouted to Ted, who was standing on the fence +watching her movements.</p> + +<p>"Get him out as soon as you can," Ted answered.</p> + +<p>Stella rode to the pony's side, and managed to get hold of the bridle +close to the bit.</p> + +<p>Then she maneuvered for an opening by which she could lead the +frightened animal out of the bunch.</p> + +<p>"Get ready to open the gate," she called at last, and Kit stood with his +hand on it.</p> + +<p>As she came around again she began pushing the bay pony outward.</p> + +<p>"Now!" she cried, swinging her own pony against the other with a prick +of the spur, and breaking through the galloping bunch.</p> + +<p>The next moment she and a half dozen of the frightened ponies swept +through the gate, and as Kit closed it again Ted ran forward and caught +the bay pony.</p> + +<p>"Hurry him to the house," he said, running beside the bay.</p> + +<p>His long yell brought the boys and the major to the veranda, and when +they saw Ted running beside the bay pony, with Stella and Kit following, +they rushed out to help.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked the major, as Ted drew up to the veranda.</p> + +<p>"Your brother," answered Ted gently, indicating the inert body tied to +the pony's back.</p> + +<p>"Get him off and into the house," said the major brusquely, his face +white with apprehension.</p> + +<p>Bud and Ben were working as for their lives at the rope by which the +body of Frederic Caruthers was bound to the pony's back.</p> + +<p>Soon they had him released, and between them bore the limp form into the +living room and laid it on a lounge.</p> + +<p>The clothes on the body were torn into strips, and the flesh was gashed +in numerous places. This was the work of the wolf's teeth, which, during +the chase, had repeatedly leaped at the unconscious man, trying to drag +him from the pony's back.</p> + +<p>"These wounds are not the worst," said Ted, looking down at Caruthers. +"Off with his clothes, boys, and let us see where his real hurt is."</p> + +<p>It did not take long for the boys to get Caruthers' rags stripped from +his body, and Ted bent over him, examining him closely.</p> + +<p>"Ah, here it is," he said, as he turned Caruthers over.</p> + +<p>"What?" asked the major, crowding in.</p> + +<p>"Here in the back," said Ted, pointing to a small, round, bluish hole +just under Caruthers' right shoulder blade.</p> + +<p>"By Jove, he's been shot through the body. That's what brought him to +this."</p> + +<p>"But how did it happen, I wonder, that he was tied to the back of the +pony?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"We'll never know until he tells us, probably," said the major. "If, +indeed, he ever is able to do that," he continued, after a slight pause, +looking sorrowfully at the young fellow, who seemed to have breathed his +last.</p> + +<p>But Ted's ear was pressed close to his heart, and his fingers sought the +wounded man's pulse.</p> + +<p>In a moment he straightened up.</p> + +<p>"He's alive—only alive, and no more. But perhaps we can save him yet," +he said. "Hustle, fellows! Stella, get me some hot water as soon as +possible. Bud, arrange a cot in my room near the window. Major, if you +have any brandy, let me have some. Kit, get the bandages ready and +prepare some carbolated water. All alive now."</p> + +<p>Ted's vigorous action was followed by the others, and in a few minutes +Caruthers was stretched out on the cot in Ted's room.</p> + +<p>At the movement the wound began to bleed, which was a good sign, and Ted +proceeded to wash it with warm water, and began to probe for the ball, +to ascertain, if possible, how deep it had gone.</p> + +<p>As he was engaged in probing a slight groan came from between the blue +lips of the victim.</p> + +<p>"All right, I've found it," said Ted, in a low voice to the major, who +was bending anxiously over the body of his brother.</p> + +<p>"It's all right," continued Ted reassuringly. "It didn't go in very +deep, and if he can hold out for a moment or two I think I can get it +out. I've taken out worse ones than this."</p> + +<p>Ted continued to work with the probe, and occasionally Caruthers stirred +and groaned.</p> + +<p>Then came a gentle tug, and the bullet rolled out of the wound upon the +sheet.</p> + +<p>It was followed by a spurt of blood, which Ted looked at closely.</p> + +<p>"No danger," he said. "It is not arterial blood. Give me the water, and +then the bandages."</p> + +<p>With deft and practiced fingers Ted bound up the wound as well as a +surgeon might.</p> + +<p>"Now for a sip of the brandy, and we'll have him around all right," said +the young amateur surgeon.</p> + +<p>He forced a teaspoonful of the ardent spirits between the pale lips of +the wounded man, which was followed by a spluttering cough, then a long +sigh, and Caruthers opened his eyes.</p> + +<p>For a moment he glanced around, and with a faint smile closed his eyes +again, and sank into a gentle sleep.</p> + +<p>"Bully!" exclaimed Ted, with satisfaction. "He'll get well now, I think, +but he had a close call. A little longer on the back of that pony, +jostled and being tossed around, would have finished him in spite of his +splendid physique."</p> + +<p>"What shall we do now?" asked the major.</p> + +<p>"There is nothing we can do except care for him faithfully, and nurse +him. Some one will have to watch him, and give him his medicine, which I +shall prepare from your medicine chest, major."</p> + +<p>"Let me nurse him," exclaimed Stella, who had come into the room in time +to hear this.</p> + +<p>"The very thing, if you don't mind," said Ted.</p> + +<p>"Mind! I should like to. And you know that I can nurse some," said +Stella proudly.</p> + +<p>"I know it from experience. Keep him quiet. Don't let him talk, and +whenever he gets restless give him a spoonful of his medicine. He +mustn't be allowed to toss around, for that would start internal +bleeding. He is not out of the woods by a long shot. When he is well +will be time enough for him to do his talking, and tell us what happened +to him. Now, fellows, we'll clear out and give nurse and patient a fair +show."</p> + +<p>For several days Caruthers hung between life and death. Most of the time +he was in a state of delirium, during which he continually muttered +something about "joy." When Stella told Ted about this he was greatly +puzzled. What had the poor chap to do with joy?</p> + +<p>Then it suddenly occurred to him that Caruthers meant Ban Joy, Helen +Mowbray's Japanese servant, who was called Joy for short.</p> + +<p>"He wants to tell us about that Jap," said Ted. "Evidently he knows +something about the murder of his sister, and wants us to find the Jap."</p> + +<p>"Thar's nothin' doin' until he gets over his fever an' is strong ernough +ter talk," said Bud, "So ther best thing ter do is not ter mind what he +says, but ter git him over his fever."</p> + +<p>Stella was well-nigh worn out, but she would not consent to leave the +bedside of the sick man, except at short intervals, when Ted or Bud, who +were the best nurses among the boys, took her place that she might get +some much-needed sleep.</p> + +<p>That night Caruthers awoke from a long sleep and looked up at Stella.</p> + +<p>"Where am I?" he asked, in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"You are with friends," she replied gently. "Hush, you are not strong +enough to talk."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am. I am all right now. Whose house am I in?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"You are in Major Caruthers' house."</p> + +<p>"I am glad. Is Ted Strong here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Send him to me. I must talk to him. How long have I been here?"</p> + +<p>"About a week."</p> + +<p>"Hurry. It may be too late."</p> + +<p>Stella saw that Caruthers' head was clear, and that he had something +important to communicate, and that it would not be well with him if he +were permitted to worry, so she went out, and presently Ted entered the +room.</p> + +<p>"Well, old chap, you look fit," he said, giving Caruthers' hand a gentle +pressure.</p> + +<p>"I'll be all right in a day or two. But I must talk with you. Tell me, +have the Gray Wolves been here yet, and have you driven them off?" said +Caruthers excitedly.</p> + +<p>Ted was sure now that the patient had relapsed back into his delirious +talk, and tried to soothe him.</p> + +<p>"I'm all right," said Caruthers impatiently. "I know what I'm saying. I +don't mean the pack that chased me."</p> + +<p>"No, we have not been attacked by wolves," Ted answered.</p> + +<p>"Then you will be. Have you seen Joy—Ban Joy, the Jap, I mean?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"That is strange. He should have been here if he got away."</p> + +<p>"I'm up in the air as to what you mean. If you are strong enough, +perhaps you'd better tell what you mean, beginning at the time you left +us, and telling it as briefly as possible."</p> + +<p>"All right. But first give me a dose of that medicine."</p> + +<p>Ted administered the medicine, which was a mild stimulant, and Caruthers +began:</p> + +<p>"When I jumped through the window, I did so, not because I was afraid of +the four men, but to save you from trouble. I knew that the fellows had +been sent to get me, not by the authorities, but by my brother-in-law +Mowbray. You know about him?"</p> + +<p>Ted nodded, and Caruthers went on:</p> + +<p>"I went directly to Sombrero Peak. I knew they would look for me in +another place. I was right, but I had not foreseen another thing. When I +was in hiding I was surprised by the sudden appearance of Ban Joy and +his sister Itsu San, the servants of my sister. They, too, had fled from +Mowbray and his gang of murderers.</p> + +<p>"This was somewhat inconvenient for me, for I knew that Mowbray, while +he would not probably get on my track until I could communicate with +you, would easily track the Japanese, and I was not in any position to +defend myself and them, for I was out of ammunition, having lost my +cartridge belt. But I found a small cave and fortified it as well as +possible, and awaited the coming of the Gray Wolves."</p> + +<p>"The Gray Wolves?" said Ted, with interrogation in his voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is what Mowbray and his thieves and murderers call +themselves. You will know why, I'm thinking, before long.</p> + +<p>"But to proceed: We continued to live in the cave for a few days, Joy +contriving to trap rabbits and birds, upon which we lived. Then, in a +moment of foolhardiness, I determined to go out and see if I could find +out whether we had been followed, and at the same time try to get to San +Carlos and supply myself with a Winchester and some cartridges, for I +knew that, if I was properly armed, I could stand off the gang.</p> + +<p>"Well, I saddled the little pony and started out, after telling Joy to +come here if I didn't return. I scouted cautiously among the hills, +trying to find the pass on the other side of the peak which led out to +San Carlos.</p> + +<p>"To make a long story short, I rode right into the trap, and was caught +by the Gray Wolves. I had six shells in my revolver, and as they +surrounded me I fought for my life, and I am glad to say I got three of +them before they got me. But I couldn't hit Mowbray, although I tried my +best to do so. He seemed to bear a charmed life. As soon as I had fired +my last shot I wheeled the pony and fled. Up to this time I had not been +hit, but just as I was getting safely away, having jumped through the +men surrounding me, clubbing them to the earth with the butt of my +pistol, I turned to look back. I saw Mowbray bring down his rifle and +take deliberate aim at me, and I shuddered, because Mowbray is one of +the finest shots in the world. Then I heard the report of his weapon, +and felt the sting of the bullet. He had aimed to strike my heart, but +the turn of my body saved me."</p> + +<p>"But how did you come to be tied to the pony's back?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"When I was struck by the bullet I felt myself going. I knew that very +soon I would lose consciousness, and in that event I would soon be +captured, so it behooved me, while I still retained my senses, to save +myself. There was a lariat hanging to the horn of the saddle, and I +proceeded to tie myself to the pony's back as well as I could. You see, +I knew that the pony would go home when he found himself free.</p> + +<p>"I was no sooner well tied to the pony's back when I heard the howl of +the wolves, and recognized the voice of White Fang."</p> + +<p>"White Fang?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, the master of the pack. Have you not heard of him. He is well +known in this part of the country—a wolf with almost human +intelligence, fierce, a perfect devil of an animal, to whose pack every +ranch in this country has paid heavy tribute. You will know more about +him if you stay here. He is the devil in the hide of an animal.</p> + +<p>"Well, I resigned myself to my fate, with a prayer that the little pony +would get me to the Bubbly Well Ranch before the wolves pulled me from +his back. And he did."</p> + +<p>"But you said something about the Gray Wolves visiting us?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. They will be here. Prepare to defend your lives and the house. +They know I am here, and they know that you have my sister's treasure. +That is what they want."</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?"</p> + +<p>"Joy told me, and more, which you will learn later. But I feel faint, +and can talk no more. 'Ware the Gray Wolves!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<h3>THE WOLFSKIN.</h3> + + +<p>Frederic Caruthers' warning was received seriously.</p> + +<p>Ted and the boys consulted about the defense of the house, for the news +of the Gray Wolves was not much of a surprise to Ted, who had all along +felt that they were sure to be attacked by Mowbray and his men when they +found that Major Caruthers and the broncho boys had emptied the Mowbray +house of all its valuables.</p> + +<p>The fact that there was an organized body of murderers and thieves under +Mowbray called the Gray Wolves was not inappropriate.</p> + +<p>But if the Gray Wolves came to the attack, the boys were prepared to +receive and deal with them as they would with any band of marauding +animals.</p> + +<p>"We'll establish a guard at once," said Ted, "and it will stand as +organized until this thing is settled."</p> + +<p>"It will have to be kept up night and day," said Ben Tremont. "If these +chaps are as clever as I think they will probably seek to do us harm by +day as well as night."</p> + +<p>"Thar's sense in thet thar," said Bud. "Better make it two watches."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Ted. "Ben will have charge of the day watch, and take +six of the boys, whom he will detail for duty as he thinks best."</p> + +<p>"How do you want to arrange the hours?" asked Ben.</p> + +<p>"Suit yourself about that, but I would suggest that the day be divided +from six o'clock to six o'clock, day and night."</p> + +<p>"Suits me," said Ben. "That will give my six boys a stunt of two hours +each, which will make it easy for every one, and insure a constant and +careful watch."</p> + +<p>"Bud, you will be captain of the night watch," said Ted. "How do you +want to arrange it?"</p> + +<p>"I would patrol ther house outside," said Bud. "And my fellers would +work in pairs. I should think Ben's men could do their best work from +the cupola on top o' ther house, usin' ther major's spyglass ter keep +tabs on ther horizon in every direction. At night, we can only watch +close to the house outside."</p> + +<p>"That sounds all right. Get your first guard established at once. We +don't know how close they may be to us right now."</p> + +<p>Kit was sent into the cupola with the spyglass and a Winchester with its +magazine full, to take the first watch.</p> + +<p>It was not necessary to give Kit any instructions, for he was a most +intelligent guard.</p> + +<p>He had not been on watch more than an hour when he whistled to Ted, who +was crossing the yard on his way to the corral.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" said Ted, stopping and looking up.</p> + +<p>"I wish you'd come up here a moment. I see something which puzzles me +mightily. It's kind of uncanny," replied Kit.</p> + +<p>Ted laughed at Kit's fancy, but went into the house and climbed into the +cupola.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" he asked, taking his place beside Kit.</p> + +<p>"Take the glass and look along my arm to where my finger is pointing, +and tell me what you see."</p> + +<p>Ted did so, and, after looking for several moments, took down the glass +and said:</p> + +<p>"It looks to me like a wounded wolf. I never saw a wolf make such +strange motions."</p> + +<p>"Quick! Look again. What do you see?"</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" said Ted slowly. "If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have +believed it. That is a wolf all right, but it seems to be waving +something white at us. It doesn't seem to be able to move along. I +wonder what it is."</p> + +<p>"Some trick, probably. Remember what Frederic Caruthers said about the +Gray Wolves' visit, and the cleverness of the fellows?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. What do you think of it?"</p> + +<p>"I think it is a lure to excite our curiosity, and get us to go out +there and fall into a trap."</p> + +<p>"That sounds reasonable."</p> + +<p>"You will notice that the wolf is just over the top of a rise on the +prairie. The question is, What is beyond the rise, in the hollow?"</p> + +<p>"I'm going out to find out."</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't if I were you, Ted."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid it's a trap, and that you'll fall into it."</p> + +<p>"We'll never find out what it is if we don't go out there."</p> + +<p>"That's a cinch, and that's just what they want you to do."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm going."</p> + +<p>Kit knew that when Ted said anything in the tone of voice he had just +used he meant it, and that it was useless to argue with him.</p> + +<p>"All right, go as far as you like," he said. "I'll keep my eye on you, +and if anything happens I'll sound the warning."</p> + +<p>Stella and the other members of the Moon Valley outfit were resting +against the time when they would be called to duty, and only Kit was +there to see Ted catch Sultan out of the corral, saddle him, and ride +away.</p> + +<p>Ted rode slowly across the prairie to where he had seen the wolf.</p> + +<p>But the wolf had disappeared from view just as Ted started from the +corral, and Kit could see it no more. He took this for a bad omen. +Evidently, the wolf had seen that he had lured a rider from the ranch +house, and, having accomplished its purpose, it was no longer necessary +to expose itself to attack.</p> + +<p>As Ted drew nearer to the spot where he had seen the wolf he went more +slowly, and carefully examined his revolvers, and swung his knife sheath +loose, so that he could get at that weapon quickly, if it became +necessary.</p> + +<p>Although he looked carefully to the front, he could not see the wolf.</p> + +<p>Kit saw that Ted had missed the place where the wolf had been seen, and +that he was too far to the right. He observed, also, that Ted was going +cautiously, and that he was preparing for an attack, and he was sure +that Ted would be able to take care of himself against fair odds.</p> + +<p>Now Ted went forward again and soon gained the top of the rise.</p> + +<p>He went very cautiously, peering over the edge.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he sprang back and whipped out his revolver, and slowly let +himself out of his saddle.</p> + +<p>"Ted's found him," muttered Kit in the cupola to Stella, who had climbed +up to his side to learn how the watch was going.</p> + +<p>"Let me have the glass, Kit," she said.</p> + +<p>Kit handed it to her, and she trained it on the figure of Ted, who was +creeping along the top of the hill.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Kit, he sees the wolf," cried Stella, interpreting for Kit's +benefit the little drama being enacted for their benefit on the far-away +hilltop.</p> + +<p>"What's he doing now?" asked Kit, who was growing impatient from seeing +nothing except the changing expressions on Stella's face.</p> + +<p>"Nothing!"</p> + +<p>"Pshaw!"</p> + +<p>"Ha!" Stella gave forth an excited little exclamation.</p> + +<p>"What is it? Give me the glass."</p> + +<p>"Go away!" Stella pushed off Kit's hand that was reaching out for the +glass.</p> + +<p>"Now he's gone. He's out of sight. No; I can see his head. It's going up +and down."</p> + +<p>A long pause.</p> + +<p>"Well, what's doing?" said Kit eagerly, and somewhat impatiently.</p> + +<p>"Can't see a thing."</p> + +<p>"Oh, rats! Let me look."</p> + +<p>"Keep quiet. I see his head now."</p> + +<p>"Is that all? What's he doing?"</p> + +<p>"Here he comes. I can see his shoulders all bent over."</p> + +<p>"Is he hurt?"</p> + +<p>"Of course not, silly."</p> + +<p>"Then why is he bent over?"</p> + +<p>"I believe he's carrying something. Yes. He has something in his arms. +Goodness, gracious me!"</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"Why, he's carrying a wolf in his arms. But what a funny wolf."</p> + +<p>"I insist upon having the glass. I'm the fellow on watch."</p> + +<p>"Kit, you're very rude. Don't bother me. Don't you see through me? Am I +not telling you everything that occurs?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, what's the use?" Kit shrugged his shoulders in a disgusted way, as +if he were expressing the futility of arguing with a woman, and wishing +that she were a boy, so that he could punch her head and take back his +glass again.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with the wolf?" Kit asked at last, in a sulky tone.</p> + +<p>"If you get mad at me, Kit, I won't talk to you." Stella took down the +glass for a moment and looked at Kit severely.</p> + +<p>"All right, fire away, but tell me what's going on, for Heaven's sake. +Don't break off in the middle that way."</p> + +<p>"It's an awful big wolf, and its hide don't fit it. Its legs stick out +of the skin, and I can see one of its feet. Gracious, it has a queer +sort of a boot on it, and this wolf has human hands."</p> + +<p>"Stella, quit your fooling. What is going on out there? This is serious. +It's no time for nonsense."</p> + +<p>"I'm not fooling. I'm quite in earnest. Now Ted's lifting the queer +thing onto the saddle, and holding it there."</p> + +<p>"Has he killed the wolf, or man, or wolf man, or woman, or whatever +crazy thing it is? I knew there was something queer about it," exclaimed +Kit.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I don't know whether he killed it or not. I couldn't see +through the hill."</p> + +<p>"What's he doing now?"</p> + +<p>"He has started toward the house, leading the pony and holding the thing +in the saddle. Here! Take your old glass! I'm going to ride out and see +what it's all about."</p> + +<p>She thrust the spyglass into Kit's hand, and, with a merry laugh at his +look of disgust, disappeared through the scuttle, and a few minutes +later he saw her riding like mad across the prairie toward Ted.</p> + +<p>In the course of a half hour they were both back at the house, and Kit's +curiosity led him to desert his post to find out what Ted's strange +burden was.</p> + +<p>Ted lifted something from his saddle and carried it into the house very +tenderly.</p> + +<p>Stella was very silent, and followed Ted closely, helping as well as she +could to uphold his burden.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Kit.</p> + +<p>"A girl," answered Stella curtly.</p> + +<p>"A girl?"</p> + +<p>Stella paid no attention to him, but rushed ahead of Ted, and led the +way to her own room.</p> + +<p>"This way, Ted," she cried. "She must be brought in here."</p> + +<p>Ted did as he was told, and laid the strange thing he carried on +Stella's bed, and stepped back to look at it.</p> + +<p>It was the skin of an enormous gray wolf, which all but enveloped a +human form. Between the opening in the head, where once had been the +cruel jaws of the wolf, peeped a pretty, brown face. But the eyes were +closed. And a little, brown hand swung inertly from the place where a +wolf's paw once had been; while below was a dainty foot, incased in a +Japanese stocking divided, like a mitten, for the big toe.</p> + +<p>"Who, or what is it?" asked Kit, looking curiously down at the strange +object.</p> + +<p>"I think it must be Itsu San, the little Japanese girl who was Helen +Mowbray's maid," answered Ted.</p> + +<p>"Great Scott, how did she happen in this fix?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. We'll have to wait until she recovers."</p> + +<p>"Is she hurt?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think so. I think she is merely exhausted by fatigue, hunger, +and fear."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Stella was busy cutting away the wolfskin in which the +Japanese girl was concealed and entangled.</p> + +<p>The commotion had brought the boys into the room, and they gazed with +wonder at the sight.</p> + +<p>"Now, you chaps clear out," said Stella, pushing them gently toward the +door. "Do you want to scare the poor thing into fits when she comes to? +The sight of all you fellows will frighten her worse than ever."</p> + +<p>The boys hastened to leave the room, and Stella had just closed the door +upon them when Itsu San, for it was she, opened her eyes and gave a +little scream of joy when she saw that she was safe, and in the presence +of a very pretty and kind-looking American girl of her own age.</p> + +<p>"Don't be frightened," said Stella.</p> + +<p>"I not no fright now," said Itsu San, with a charming smile, that was +like that of a happy baby.</p> + +<p>"How in the world did you come to be in this horrid thing?" asked +Stella, kicking the wolfskin, which she had thrown to the floor.</p> + +<p>"I come to give warn," answered the Japanese girl.</p> + +<p>"About what?"</p> + +<p>"The Gray Wolves."</p> + +<p>"Go ahead and tell me."</p> + +<p>"The Gray Wolves catch my blother. I hide, and hear them talk and say +they kill all evelybody here."</p> + +<p>"When?"</p> + +<p>"Mebbe so to-night. Mebbe so to-mollow."</p> + +<p>"Who said that?"</p> + +<p>"The devil man."</p> + +<p>"Who is he?"</p> + +<p>"Mistah Mowbray."</p> + +<p>"Mowbray and his men found you and your brother in the place where you +were hiding, and took your brother after you had succeeded in hiding. Is +that it?"</p> + +<p>Itsu San nodded for reply.</p> + +<p>"You heard them talking among themselves, and Mowbray planned to attack +this house, and kill us all?"</p> + +<p>Again the Japanese girl nodded.</p> + +<p>"When they had gone you found this wolfskin, and, thinking that it was +the only way in which to escape, you crawled into it, and crept all the +way here, playing wolf, to warn us?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I crawled to their camp, and heard them talk. I tried to get close +to my blother, to cut him loose, but they saw me and drove me away, and +shot at me."</p> + +<p>"Mercy! But I don't see why they didn't see through your disguise. It +wouldn't fool any one."</p> + +<p>"It was the half dark."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes. But why didn't you get out of the skin when you came within +sight of the house?"</p> + +<p>"I not have the strength. I climb the hill and see the house. Then I +fall down, and not can rise again. All what I can do is to wave my +handkerchief. Then I faint."</p> + +<p>"You are a brave and lovely girl, and I already love you like a sister," +said Stella warmly. "You shall stay here, and need not be afraid. We +will be ready for the Gray Wolves, and they will not kill either us or +you. Your warning comes just in time."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<h3>BAGGING THE GRAY WOLVES.</h3> + + +<p>That night Ted Strong went on watch himself in the cupola, while Bud and +Clay Whipple marched around the house in opposite directions.</p> + +<p>Until the threatened attack took place Ted determined that he would +watch the house personally, in addition to the regular guard.</p> + +<p>About midnight Ted heard a slight noise out on the prairie.</p> + +<p>The night was bright and frosty, and the stars shone with a peculiarly +brilliant radiance, seemingly larger, brighter, and nearer the earth +than in more northern climes.</p> + +<p>Instantly his acute senses located the place whence the noise had come.</p> + +<p>It was merely a slight rustling, but as there was no wind Ted knew +instantly that it had been made by some creature.</p> + +<p>His eyes, fixed on the spot, soon became accustomed to the faint light, +and he saw an indistinct form that was so near the color of the earth +that a pair of eyes not so sharp as his would have failed to detect it.</p> + +<p>So indistinct was it that it looked almost like a wraith of grayish-blue +smoke by the starlight.</p> + +<p>Presently, as he still stared closely at it, he saw another form much +like it steal through the dead grass toward it.</p> + +<p>Then, over the hills on the east, rose the moon in its first quarter, +shedding a pale light over the prairie.</p> + +<p>Ted was now able to see that there was a pack of wolves, instead of two, +as he at first thought.</p> + +<p>The boys on the ground could not see the wolves on account of the tufts +of grass that scattered over the prairie, and, had they seen them, would +not have been able to distinguish one from the other.</p> + +<p>It seemed strange to Ted that the wolves had not yet given voice. It was +unusual for wolves to come so near a ranch house in numbers without +giving warning by howling.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the reason why they did not dawned upon him.</p> + +<p>They were not wolves, but men in wolves' clothing.</p> + +<p>Ted chuckled at the thought.</p> + +<p>The "wolves" did not know yet that they were discovered, for they could +not see Ted in his cupola watch-house, although they could easily see +Bud and Clay as they walked around the house, now in the full light of +the moon.</p> + +<p>Ted was suddenly startled by hearing a noise to the left, and at the +same time he heard Bud stop in his march. Evidently he had been +attracted by the sound also.</p> + +<p>As Ted looked he saw the cause of the noise. It was a wolf, larger than +the others, which had crept closer to the house.</p> + +<p>As he was looking at it he was astonished to see it rise up.</p> + +<p>Then he caught the glint of a revolver barrel in the moonlight.</p> + +<p>In an instant he knew the meaning of it.</p> + +<p>With the precision of a machine his own rifle rose to his shoulder, and, +without a second's hesitation, a streak of flame belched from it, +followed by the roar of the report.</p> + +<p>Looking closely through the smoke, Ted saw the "wolf" straighten up to +the full stature of a man, then fall to the ground, over which it went +writhing and tossing, while at the same time the most human of yells +expressing agony came from it.</p> + +<p>This was the signal for the other "wolves" to howl, and the most +unearthly noise come from all sides of the house.</p> + +<p>These were followed by a perfect fusillade of rifle and revolver shots +from everywhere, most of them aimed at the cupola.</p> + +<p>But as soon as Ted had fired the shot that had brought down the man wolf +he had jumped through the scuttle into the attic of the house, and the +balls harmlessly riddled the cupola.</p> + +<p>From a window on the second floor Ted saw a score or more of forms leap +into prominence; the forms of men who cast aside their skins of wolf, +and who had turned their wolfish howls into the scarcely less fiendish +yells of men.</p> + +<p>At the sight he rushed downstairs, and found the boys hastily gathering +in the dark living room, arming themselves from the gun rack, and taking +their places beside the windows.</p> + +<p>In the middle of the room stood the major, supporting with one arm the +unsteady form of his brother Frederic, who had risen at the first alarm +in spite of his wound, and who insisted upon fighting with the rest.</p> + +<p>"The Gray Wolves have come," he said. "They will be hard to drive off. +But you must do it, or go yourselves."</p> + +<p>Stella and the young Japanese girl were standing at one of the windows +peering fearfully out.</p> + +<p>"Come away from there, Stella," said Ted. "They might see you and fire."</p> + +<p>"All right, Ted, but you can bet that I will be in this somewhere," said +Stella. "It's my business to defend this girl, and I'm going to do it."</p> + +<p>Ted smiled, but said nothing, and passed on around the room, seeing that +the boys were properly placed to resist the attack when it came.</p> + +<p>Outside all was quiet again. The howls had ceased, and not a man was in +evidence anywhere. It was the calm before the storm.</p> + +<p>"What's the plan?" said Bud, coming up to Ted, for he and Clay had run +into the house at Ted's shot from the cupola.</p> + +<p>"I hardly know," answered Ted. "My plan is somewhat upset. I thought at +first that they were going to attack us immediately in this room. But +they seem to have changed their minds."</p> + +<p>"I've got a hunch," said Bud, scratching his head in a meditative way.</p> + +<p>"Let us have it. That's what we need now."</p> + +<p>"They're creeping up on us. I see one o' them a minute ago. They're +countin' on gettin' up ter ther house before we expect 'em, an' then +pourin' a volley inter us, an' puttin' us out o' business quick."</p> + +<p>"That would be like that brute Mowbray."</p> + +<p>"I've got it figgered that way. Now, s'posin' we fool 'em by not bein' +here. They sneak until they git so's they kin fire through ther windows +without any danger ter themselves, an' run away. But we ain't here."</p> + +<p>"Where will we be?"</p> + +<p>"Comin' up on them from behind."</p> + +<p>"That's the stuff. Notify the boys at once. We'll get behind the house +and creep up on them through the grass. We'll fool them at their own +game."</p> + +<p>As silently as ghosts the broncho boys deserted the living room and went +to the back door. After carefully reconnoitering the situation without, +Ted softly opened the door, and led the boys into the shadow of the +house, and they crept away through the tall grass.</p> + +<p>Only Frederic Caruthers and Stella and the Japanese girl remained in the +house.</p> + +<p>Skirting the house grounds, the boys were soon out on the prairie, +giving their enemies a wide berth.</p> + +<p>Raising his head slightly from behind a tuft of grass, Ted took stock of +the position of the enemy.</p> + +<p>In the shadow of the house beneath the windows of the living room he +could see the still darker shadows of the Gray Wolves.</p> + +<p>Leading the boys into a semicircle from which at a word of command they +could rush the house, Ted passed this word along the line:</p> + +<p>"If they enter the house, as they probably will, we will close in +quietly, rush the house, and capture them inside. Let none of them +escape, and make no noise."</p> + +<p>They had not many minutes to wait before the Gray Wolves began to get +uneasy.</p> + +<p>Evidently they expected some movement within the house, and the +continued silence puzzled them.</p> + +<p>But suddenly, like the scream of a tempest, the still air was shattered +with wild yells and pistol shots, followed by the crash of breaking +glass.</p> + +<p>The Gray Wolves had stormed the house, breaking in the windows, smashing +in the front door, and making all the noise they could, with the object +of frightening the inmates into a condition where they would be unable +to defend themselves.</p> + +<p>Stella, with young Caruthers and Itsu San, had locked themselves into a +back room, which they could defend for a few minutes at least against +all comers.</p> + +<p>As the Gray Wolves attacked the house Ted gave the word to advance, and +they moved forward as one man, crouching behind the grass tufts to be +out of sight of any guard the Wolves might have set.</p> + +<p>It took not more than a minute or two to reach the side of the house, +and look through the windows.</p> + +<p>Inside the living room men could be seen running back and forth, +searching for the broncho boys and the treasure.</p> + +<p>Finally a wild yell told Ted that the safe had been found.</p> + +<p>"That's good," said Ted to Bud. "They're at the safe. It will take all +their attention for a while. They don't know, poor fools, that the +treasure has been carried out and buried elsewhere. There's where we'll +bag most of them. When we get in, boys, look out for Mowbray. Don't let +him escape."</p> + +<p>At a signal the boys climbed into the living room, which was now +deserted, for the Wolves had scattered all over the house. Most of them +were in the major's room working on the safe.</p> + +<p>They had tried to move it from the house, but it proved too heavy for +them, and they were now trying to break it open with an ax which they +had found in one of the lower rooms.</p> + +<p>Ted had heard the blows as they beat upon the lock, and in the din it +was not a difficult thing for the broncho boys to get into the house +without being heard.</p> + +<p>Several of the Wolves, in searching the lower part of the house, had +discovered the locked room in which Stella and the other two were in +hiding.</p> + +<p>They had attempted to batter down the door, only to be driven from it by +shots sent at them by Stella and Caruthers.</p> + +<p>"Trouble back there, Bud," said Ted. "I guess some one is trying to get +at Stella. Take a couple of the boys, and go back and stop it."</p> + +<p>"What are you goin' ter do?" asked Bud, who was afraid the rescuing +assignment would cut him out of the fight above stairs.</p> + +<p>Just at that moment there was a tremendous explosion overhead, the crash +of glass and the triumphant yells of the Gray Wolves.</p> + +<p>"I'm going upstairs," yelled Ted. "When you've driven off or captured +these fellows down here, come up."</p> + +<p>At this he dashed away for the broad stairs that led to the upper story, +followed by the broncho boys and Major Caruthers.</p> + +<p>They had just reached the landing above when the yell of triumph turned +to one of baffled rage, for the Wolves had found that the safe was +empty.</p> + +<p>Ted Strong, with a look such as a conquering warrior might wear, burst +into the room where the Wolves were clustered around the empty safe.</p> + +<p>Behind him followed the boys.</p> + +<p>"Surrender!" shouted Ted.</p> + +<p>The Gray Wolves wheeled to look into a perfect battery of rifles. Not to +surrender meant death. To attempt to raise a hand would bring a shot, or +a dozen.</p> + +<p>The Gray Wolves realized that they were in a trap, and that if they made +the least resistance they would be shot down.</p> + +<p>"Throw your guns on the floor!" commanded Ted.</p> + +<p>He was obeyed.</p> + +<p>"Gather up those guns," said Ted. Bud and Clay stepped forward, and +gathered in the rifles and revolvers.</p> + +<p>Ted's eyes were running over the group of prisoners trying to pick out +Mowbray, when suddenly there was a smashing of glass, and, as he turned +in that direction, he saw a form taking a flying leap through the window +to the ground, and, quick as a flash, he fired and rushed to the window.</p> + +<p>But when he got there his only reward was the sight of a man on +horseback headed for the hills, swaying dangerously in his saddle.</p> + +<p>Mowbray had escaped, but he had taken with him an unpleasant reminder of +Ted Strong.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<h3>WHITE FANG LEADS HOME.</h3> + + +<p>Ted herded the Gray Wolves into one of the rooms and placed guards at +the door and at the outside windows.</p> + +<p>The desperadoes were thoroughly cowed. Burk was so frightened that he +was willing to do anything Ted said, and cringed to the leader of the +broncho boys like a thrashed cur.</p> + +<p>"What are you goin' to do with us?" he asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to put you where you will no longer disgrace the office you +held by the authority of the United States," said Ted promptly. "You +will get all you deserve."</p> + +<p>"Let me down easy," begged Burk.</p> + +<p>"You don't deserve it. You will be in jail as soon as it gets light +enough to march you to Rodeo."</p> + +<p>The first thing for Ted to do was to get rid of his prisoners, then to +go after Mowbray, the archcriminal, and bring him to justice, and to +arrest Ban Joy, the Japanese thug, whom he was convinced was the +murderer of Helen Mowbray.</p> + +<p>There was one more thing that demanded his attention for the safety of +the live stock as well as the people of the Bubbly Well Ranch, and that +was the destruction of White Fang, the demon wolf that was as well known +in that part of the country as a destructive agency as Mowbray, the +thief and murderer, himself.</p> + +<p>For years White Fang had preyed upon the ranchmen, exacting a heavy toll +in cattle and sheep. Every huntsman in the country had taken to the +chase for him, but the cunning old rascal had outwitted or out-footed +them all.</p> + +<p>The following afternoon the broncho boys, led by Ted Strong, marched up +the main street of Rodeo to the jail with a score of desperadoes bound +to their horses.</p> + +<p>When they appeared a great many of the townspeople, friends of the +prisoners, gathered and made a demonstration to take them away from the +boys.</p> + +<p>Ted immediately formed the boys in a circle about the prisoners.</p> + +<p>With rifles trained upon the crowd the broncho boys held them off while +Ted spoke to them quietly, but with a force that carried conviction. He +told the people just what the prisoners had done, and what he expected +to prove against them, hinting that there were other men in the town who +would join them in jail if what he suspected proved to be true. Later in +the day a strange thing happened: Several men in high office disappeared +from the town, and were never seen there more.</p> + +<p>Having turned his prisoners over to the sheriff, the boys rode back to +the Bubbly Well Ranch, feeling safe from further depredations for a time +at least.</p> + +<p>On the lower part of the ranch the wolves had been playing havoc with +the calves and the yearlings, and the major's cowboys were continually +bringing in news of the depredations of the pack.</p> + +<p>The pack was led by old White Fang, the cowboys said, and they could do +nothing with him. Whatever traps they laid for him were upset by the +cunning of the old rascal, and he made life miserable for the men +responsible for the cattle.</p> + +<p>"What are we going to do about him?" said the major one day to Ted. "I +suppose we'd better organize a big hunt, and drive the wolves out of the +country."</p> + +<p>"No use," said Ted. "The old beggar would hide in the mountains until it +was over, and then renew the attack on you."</p> + +<p>"What do you propose, then?"</p> + +<p>"I'm going out after him myself, and I'll not come back until I get +him."</p> + +<p>Stella, who was curled up in a big chair in the living room reading, +looked up quickly when Ted said this, and smiled out of the corner of +her mouth, for she scented sport in this.</p> + +<p>"I think I'll go along," said the major.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to have you, major, but it won't do this time. You are too +heavy a rider. It will take a light rider to turn the trick with White +Fang," answered Ted, and the major looked a bit taken back.</p> + +<p>But Stella chuckled to herself. If it took a light rider, she was in +that class.</p> + +<p>Later in the day she saw Ted and Bud go toward the corral. Ted carried +in his hand a new, strong Mexican lariat.</p> + +<p>She watched them a few minutes before she realized their mission.</p> + +<p>"I believe they're going on the wolf hunt," she said to herself, "and +without me." Her eyes flashed. "We'll see about that."</p> + +<p>She ran into her room, and soon emerged ready for a ride. But when she +got on the veranda Ted and Bud were galloping away across the prairie.</p> + +<p>Without hesitating she ran to the corral, caught her pony and saddled +it, and was in pursuit.</p> + +<p>Ted heard the clatter of her pony's feet and turned to see her coming at +whirlwind speed, and slowed up to wait for her.</p> + +<p>"Ha, ha!" she cried, as she came up with them, her face wreathed in +smiles. "Thought you'd go without me, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Didn't think you'd care about such a commonplace thing as chasing a +wolf," said Ted.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm going," she answered, putting her pony into a gallop.</p> + +<p>They rode for the lower pasture, which ran up into the foothills of +Sombrero Peak, where the recent depredations of the wolves had been +bothering the cow-punchers.</p> + +<p>They passed small herds of cattle grazing here and there, attended by +herders, who waved their hands to the trio as they swept past.</p> + +<p>As they were entering the foothills Ted's keen eye caught sight of a +slinking form on the rise of a hill running parallel with their path.</p> + +<p>He reined in suddenly and looked long at it.</p> + +<p>"By Jove, I believe that's our game over there," he said. "Take a look +at it, Bud and Stella. Don't you think that is White Fang?"</p> + +<p>"It shore is, er his twin brother," said Bud, to which Stella nodded +acquiescence.</p> + +<p>"Take it easy," said Ted. "We'll ride toward him, and when we get as +close as we can without his bolting, put your spurs to it and chase him +for all you're worth. He can run like a scared rabbit."</p> + +<p>They rode easily toward the wolf, who looked up at them with a wise, +sidewise twist of his hoary old head, but did not increase his speed +any.</p> + +<p>"He's tolling us into the hills where he can easily get lost," said Ted. +"Don't let him do it! Head him off! Turn him back to the prairie."</p> + +<p>Diverging, they rode parallel with White Fang again, and, before he +suspected their maneuver, they were ahead of him, and began to close in.</p> + +<p>But finally White Fang stopped and watched them for a moment, then +deliberately turned and set off on the back trail at a smart lope along +the ridge he had come.</p> + +<p>"I wish we had a couple of Russian wolfhounds here," said Ted, as the +three were breezing along in the trail of White Fang. "That would make +it something like a chase."</p> + +<p>"I'm bettin' that ole galoot will give us somethin' ter do before we +ketch up with him, at that," said Bud.</p> + +<p>"Close up on him," said Ted. "He's having too good a time."</p> + +<p>They let their horses out a notch or two, and closed up on White Fang, +who was off the ridge by this time, and galloping across the prairie.</p> + +<p>The old wolf did not seem to have as much steam in him as usual, and +loped along in easy fashion, occasionally looking over his shoulder at +them, apparently gauging the distance and their speed.</p> + +<p>"The only way to get close to him is to spurt when he isn't thinking +about it," said Ted. "Let 'em out!"</p> + +<p>A prick of the spur sent their horses forward on the leap.</p> + +<p>Ted was coiling his rope in his hand ready for a cast, and Stella and +Bud followed his example.</p> + +<p>"When we get close enough to throw, scatter out, and be ready to let +your rope go if either of us misses. All ready now!"</p> + +<p>Ted dashed forward, swinging his rope around his head, and when he was +close enough he made a beautiful cast and the rope went through the air +as true as a bullet, hovering in a sinuous loop above White Fang. But +just as it was about to settle the wily old rascal dodged to one side, +and the rope fell into the sand.</p> + +<p>"He's a cute chap," shouted Ted, bringing in his rope without slackening +his speed, while Bud's rope flew through the air and missed the wolf by +about a foot.</p> + +<p>Stella was in a bad position to throw, and withheld her rope.</p> + +<p>Again they closed in upon the wolf, who had begun to grow more wary and +had hit up his speed, dodging and turning on his trail, making some +swift turns and nimble feats of horsemanship necessary to keep within +roping distance of him.</p> + +<p>In this manner a dozen or more unsuccessful casts were made.</p> + +<p>At last Ted got tired of the hide-and-seek game, and determined to end +it.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to get him this time," he shouted, gathering his rope firmly. +"Back me up!"</p> + +<p>He dashed at White Fang, with Bud and Stella on either side of him. +Swinging his rope about his head, Ted watched his opportunity.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the loop left his hand and shot as unerringly toward the wolf +as if it had left the muzzle of a rifle.</p> + +<p>It soared through the air like a thing of life, twisting as gracefully +and sinuously as a serpent. For an instant the wide loop hovered over +the gray, swiftly running animal. Then it fell suddenly, and settled +over and around the seemingly doomed animal.</p> + +<p>But White Fang, king of the pack, was too old a villain to be caught so +easily. He leaped through the loop of Ted's lariat like a circus +performer through a hoop.</p> + +<p>But Stella's rope whizzed through the air and caught the old fellow +unawares.</p> + +<p>Then it seemed as if all the forces of wild nature had been turned +loose.</p> + +<p>The wolf leaped into the air as he felt the rope tighten around his +neck, and threw himself here and there with a violence inconceivable, +snapping at the rope and trying to sever it. But Stella's lariat was of +Mexican rawhide, and even White Fang's sharp teeth had no effect on it.</p> + +<p>The rope tightened and slacked in the struggle, and, had it been of +ordinary texture, it would never have stood the strain.</p> + +<p>Ted had ridden up to the plunging beast, and began to belabor it with +his quirt, to take the spirit out of it. The wolf had never felt the +sting of a whip before. It was such a new experience to it that it +stopped bucking in sheer amazement. But Ted did not discontinue, and the +wolf slunk upon the ground, its wild nature thoroughly tamed for the +time.</p> + +<p>"Stop!" cried Stella. "Let us see what he will do now."</p> + +<p>Ted rode away, and the wolf sat up on its haunches, and, lifting its +head toward the mountains, gave a long, wailing, dismal howl.</p> + +<p>"He knows he's done for," said Ted. "That's his death song."</p> + +<p>"Let him do what he will," cried Stella.</p> + +<p>Presently White Fang rose, tried to shake the rope from his neck, and +when he found that he could not do so, got up and started on a trot +toward the mountains.</p> + +<p>"Follow him," cried Ted. "He's leading us home. Who can say what we will +find there?"</p> + +<p>They followed the wolf through coulees and over rocky ridges in the +foothills, and through a cañon at the base of Sombrero Peak.</p> + +<p>They climbed rocky paths, higher and higher up the side of the peak. +White Fang's captors followed him silently. No more did he try to escape +from the rope. He seemed to have given up hope, and was going home to +die.</p> + +<p>At last they arrived at the wall of a precipice, along which ran a +narrow ledge just wide enough for their ponies to travel.</p> + +<p>The path was well worn, as if many animals, including men, had passed +that way.</p> + +<p>Suddenly it dawned upon Ted where the wolf was leading.</p> + +<p>Where but to the rendezvous of the band of the Gray Wolves?</p> + +<p>He straightened up and looked to his revolvers, and then the wolf slunk +around a bend on the cliff's side and walked into a cave.</p> + +<p>Ted followed him closely, and stopped in the entrance in amazement. Just +within sat Mowbray propped against the side wall, his face drawn and +haggard, his eyes half glazed with approaching death.</p> + +<p>But he stirred as Ted appeared, and groped about for his revolver.</p> + +<p>"Stop!" cried Ted. "The game's up!"</p> + +<p>Mowbray's hand dropped weakly by his side, as the wolf slunk to him and +licked his face, at which the dying man raised his arm and placed it +around the neck of the king of the pack, the most savage wolf in +Arizona.</p> + +<p>Ted could not but respect this strange exhibition of animal affection, +so unusual.</p> + +<p>There was a moaning cry from the depths of the cave, and Ted dismounted +and went in to see what had caused it.</p> + +<p>Chained to a rock he found the emaciated body of the Jap, Ban Joy, whom +he suspected of being the murderer of Helen Mowbray. Here was luck. The +wolf had led him to the two men whom he most wanted to capture.</p> + +<p>"Now, Joy, I want you to tell me the truth," said Ted, when he had +released the Japanese. "Did you murder Miss Mowbray, and why did you do +it?"</p> + +<p>The Jap looked at him with growing intelligence in his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Me no kill. Mistah Mowbray kill with cord. I see him, and he tly to +kill me."</p> + +<p>Ted looked at Mowbray, who had straightened up and was listening.</p> + +<p>Then he nodded his head, and signaled to Ted to give him a drink of +water. After he had drunk he seemed stronger.</p> + +<p>"Come here," he said, in a hoarse whisper. Ted went to his side.</p> + +<p>"I might as well confess," he said. "It will make the end easier. I will +be dead in a few minutes, for I am mortally wounded. I would have +released that poor devil of a Japanese, but I hadn't the strength to go +to him."</p> + +<p>"Take it easy," said Ted.</p> + +<p>"I murdered Helen Mowbray by strangling her with a cord," he said, after +a pause. "I did it because I had gambled away everything I had and +needed money—and she wouldn't give it to me.</p> + +<p>"I lived for many years in India, and there I became a member of the +sect known as the Thugs, who use a cord to strangle their victims. She +cast me off, and when she refused to help me I became enraged and killed +her. I am sorry now, for she was a fine woman, but I needed money."</p> + +<p>"Then Farnsworth had nothing to do with it?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"Nothing."</p> + +<p>"Tell me another thing. Did Farnsworth, so called, have anything to do +with the murder of the Spooner family in Somber Pass?"</p> + +<p>"No, I and my men did that. Farnsworth has led a pretty clean life. He +has stood for the crimes I committed for the sake of his sister. +Wherever and whenever I got into a scrape I used his name, and put the +crimes I committed upon him, and he stood for them on account of his +sister's name."</p> + +<p>"Is he a bad man? Has he killed many men?"</p> + +<p>"Only such as he had to, to defend his sister's name. I say it was I who +was guilty of the crimes charged to him. I hate him, and always have +done so, but I am dying, and it is only fair play to clear him."</p> + +<p>"That is all I want to know," said Ted, trying to make the man more +comfortable. But he was beyond help, and in less than a half hour he +sighed, and his wicked spirit passed away.</p> + +<p>Ted and Bud buried him on the mountainside, and, after releasing White +Fang, watched it for a few moments.</p> + +<p>It went to the edge of a peak overlooking a deep chasm, and there sat on +its haunches howling dismally.</p> + +<p>Then, to the amazement of all, it straightened up and leaped far out, +turning over and over in its descent until it fell in the rocky bottom +of the chasm, crushed and broken.</p> + +<p>Ted and the broncho boys, together with Stella, remained at the Bubbly +Well Ranch until well into the winter, when the entire party returned to +the Moon Valley Ranch to spend several uneventful weeks.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + +<h3>TED'S INDEPENDENCE.</h3> + + +<p>"Is this the Moon Valley outfit?"</p> + +<p>A young cavalry officer galloped up to the head of a beef trail that +strung backward for the better part of a mile, the cattle plodding on +wearily, guarded by a dozen or more tired and cross cow-punchers.</p> + +<p>"It is, lieutenant," answered Ted Strong, eying the epaulets on the +officer's tunic, and reading his rank.</p> + +<p>The lieutenant was in anything but a pleasant frame of mind, and looked +sneeringly at Ted, and at the tired cattle behind him.</p> + +<p>"Well, another fifteen minutes' delay would have cost you the contract," +he said. "It seems to me that you have been taking your time. Don't you +know that a government contract means business, and that to-day doesn't +mean to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>This was said in such an uppish and unpleasant manner that Ted could +scarce restrain an angry reply, for he was tired out with the long +drive, which had been unusually full of dangers and vexatious delays.</p> + +<p>But instead of making a sharp answer he merely smiled at the officer, +and said:</p> + +<p>"Yes, I understand all about government contracts and the penalties for +not living up to them. But I am within the government reservation, and +here are my cattle, and I have, as you say, fifteen minutes to spare."</p> + +<p>"Well, we consider that you are overdue, as you should have been here in +time to have the cattle inspected and formally accepted before the time +allowance elapsed."</p> + +<p>"Nothing in the contract that says so," said Ted, still pleasantly.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's usage, and that goes in the army."</p> + +<p>"I'm not in the army."</p> + +<p>"I don't want any words with you on the matter. It is sufficient that +you are late, and that you have been the cause of a great deal of worry +and annoyance."</p> + +<p>Ted was beginning to get angry at the officer's tone and looks.</p> + +<p>He turned from the lieutenant to the herd, and shouted:</p> + +<p>"Bud, round 'em up and bed 'em. This is as far as we go to-night."</p> + +<p>"No, you don't," said the lieutenant. "You will drive into the +quarantine pasture, where your stock will be inspected in the morning."</p> + +<p>Ted paid no attention to him, and the rounding up of the herd began as +he had ordered, while the lieutenant fumed and fussed and swore.</p> + +<p>At last he could stand it no longer, and dashed away from Ted's side to +where Bud was superintending the work of the cow-punchers.</p> + +<p>"Here, none of that," he said brusquely to Bud, who looked even more +disreputable than Ted.</p> + +<p>"See here, who are you alludin' at?" asked Bud, wheeling around on him.</p> + +<p>"I'm talking to you. I want those cattle driven in to the pasture, and I +want no delay or nonsense about it," cried the officer angrily.</p> + +<p>"Now, run along, little soldier boy, don't yer see I'm busy?" Bud looked +at the officer with a tolerant pity.</p> + +<p>Ted now rode up and interfered.</p> + +<p>"I'm capable of giving all the orders necessary to my men," he said +gently. "You will please not interfere."</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" asked the lieutenant, with a sneer.</p> + +<p>"My name is Ted Strong."</p> + +<p>The lieutenant looked at him with some curiosity and respect.</p> + +<p>"Oh," he said. "I thought perhaps you were some kind of a foreman. My +name is Lieutenant Barrows."</p> + +<p>Ted acknowledged it with a slight bow.</p> + +<p>"I am in charge of this delivery of beef to the department, and as you +are already late I wish you to send this herd further into the +reservation."</p> + +<p>"I am sorry I cannot comply with your wish," said Ted, "but it will be +impossible to-night. The cattle made a forced march to-day, and are +tired out, and, besides, they have just been watered, and have only time +to graze a full feed before they bed. I am explaining all this to show +you that my action in not doing what you wish was not through spite, but +in the best interests of both the government and ourselves."</p> + +<p>"It is my duty to inspect the animals, and——"</p> + +<p>"I can't help that. The cattle do not go forward a foot farther +to-night. I will get them into the pasture early in the morning."</p> + +<p>"That will be too late," said the officer curtly. "I shall inform the +commandant of the post, Colonel Croffut, that you are late and that you +refuse to obey orders."</p> + +<p>"Confound your impudence, who are you to give orders to me?" asked Ted, +mad in a minute.</p> + +<p>"As I told you, I am the inspector, and it seems to me that it would be +good policy, to say the least, to cater to my wishes somewhat."</p> + +<p>"What do I care for your wishes? Less than that, if I am doing the right +thing and stand within my own rights;" and he snapped his fingers.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you may be sorry."</p> + +<p>"That's my affair."</p> + +<p>"Very well. I am to understand that you refuse to move the cattle on +to-night."</p> + +<p>"You've got it right."</p> + +<p>The lieutenant bowed, and, turning, rode slowly away with an ugly scowl +on his face.</p> + +<p>"I reckon Little Bright Eyes has got it in fer you now," said Bud, who +had ridden up in time to hear this part of the conversation. "He's +aimin' ter do some dirty work, I reckon."</p> + +<p>"Oh, bother him! He got me all worked up and angry, and that always +makes me feel bad. I wish he had happened to be somewhere else. Forget +him! We'll drive the herd in early in the morning. He couldn't have +inspected the beeves this evening, anyway."</p> + +<p>It took some little time to get the big herd in shape for the night, and +Ted was washing himself and putting on some clean clothes when a soldier +dashed up on a horse and asked for Mr. Strong.</p> + +<p>"I am Strong," said Ted, rubbing his head and neck vigorously with a +rough towel.</p> + +<p>The soldier looked at Ted in some surprise, as the colonel had alluded +to him as the "government beef contractor."</p> + +<p>"Well?" said Ted.</p> + +<p>"I guess it's your father I want," said the soldier.</p> + +<p>"Guess again. There's no such person here."</p> + +<p>"Are you the beef contractor?"</p> + +<p>"Surest thing you know. What do you want?"</p> + +<p>"Colonel's compliments, sir, and the colonel would like to have you call +at his quarters at the first convenient moment."</p> + +<p>"What about? These beef cattle?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, sir; I didn't hear him say."</p> + +<p>"All right. Tell him I'll be there in a few minutes. Where is his +house?"</p> + +<p>"Last house on the right-hand side of the parade, as you go in."</p> + +<p>Ted nodded, and went on dressing himself. He was as tired as a dog, but +he supposed the commandant wanted to talk to him about the cattle, and +he would have to go.</p> + +<p>As he rode up to the commandant's quarters he saw a young man and a very +pretty girl talking on the veranda, and when he had ascended the steps +he saw that the man was none other than Lieutenant Barrows.</p> + +<p>He was just about to ring the bell when the girl looked at him, and her +eyes brightened because Ted Strong, straight and stalwart, with his +fine, handsome head and straightforward, honest eyes, was a person very +good to look at.</p> + +<p>"Do you wish to see papa?" she asked, coming forward.</p> + +<p>"Colonel Croffut expressed a desire to speak with me," answered Ted, +lifting his hat.</p> + +<p>"If you will wait a moment I will call him," said Miss Croffut, for, of +course, Ted had guessed who she was from her question.</p> + +<p>She tripped into the hall, and called to her father, and then entered a +room, and was followed by the commandant himself.</p> + +<p>"So you are Ted Strong, the beef contractor," said Colonel Croffut, +looking Ted over.</p> + +<p>The colonel was a big man with a pink face and a brusque manner.</p> + +<p>"I am," said Ted coolly.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me. Take a seat. You needn't go, Hallie. Keep your seat, +Barrows." The colonel motioned Ted into a chair, and took one himself.</p> + +<p>For several minutes he sat blowing clouds of smoke into the air from his +cigar, but saying nothing.</p> + +<p>Miss Croffut and Lieutenant Barrows continued their conversation about +lawn tennis and riding, as if Ted were not there, but the lieutenant +observed that Miss Croffut's eyes strayed often toward Ted, and it made +him irritable.</p> + +<p>"See here, young man," said the colonel, turning suddenly upon Ted in a +manner that in another person would indicate that the commandant was +very angry. "What do you mean by sending such a message to me?"</p> + +<p>"I sent no message to you," said Ted quietly. "I didn't even know your +name until your striker mentioned it to me a few minutes ago."</p> + +<p>Had Ted looked at the young lady at the other end of the veranda he +would have seen an irrepressible smile flit across her features, as she +looked at her father.</p> + +<p>"That was a facer for dad," she whispered to Lieutenant Barrows, who +frowned. "The idea of telling papa that he had never heard of him, the +great warrior and Indian fighter, Colonel Croffut."</p> + +<p>The colonel stared at Ted with a sort of amazement for a moment, and +grunted:</p> + +<p>"Well, you're likely to know a great deal more about me before we're +through with one another."</p> + +<p>"I hope so," said Ted pleasantly. "But what is your business with me?"</p> + +<p>"I'll speak of it when I come to it," said the old soldier.</p> + +<p>"Then you'll have to be quick about it, for I've been in the saddle +continuously for six weeks, and I'm tired. Besides, I've got a day's +work to do before I turn in to-night."</p> + +<p>There was something crisp and business-like in Ted's speech, and not at +all impertinent, that caused the colonel to look at him again.</p> + +<p>"What's this I hear about your refusal to accede to our just demand that +the cattle intended to fill your contract be turned into our pasture?" +asked the colonel sharply.</p> + +<p>"Only this," answered Ted: "I arrived here just in time, with my stock +worn out from forced marches. I had just let them have all the water +they could drink, and it was necessary that they should have a good feed +in order to rest well to-night to be in condition to stand inspection +to-morrow. I was well within my rights in deciding not to move them any +farther to-night."</p> + +<p>"I understand that you were impertinent to the officer who made this +request to you," thundered the colonel.</p> + +<p>Ted laughed softly to himself.</p> + +<p>"If I was impertinent to him I was there and perfectly responsible, +personally, for my conduct. It was wholly unofficial, and I cannot see +why he should come to you with it."</p> + +<p>Ted looked at the lieutenant, who had flushed angrily.</p> + +<p>The girl looked from Ted to Barrows, and then at her father.</p> + +<p>"That is not the question, sir. He represents the army in his person +when he comes to you on the army's business."</p> + +<p>"Well, I can't fight the whole army," said Ted, laughing, "but I can +certainly take care of myself in all ordinary matters."</p> + +<p>Barrows half rose in his chair as if he was going to resent Ted's +remark.</p> + +<p>"Sit down, Barrows," said the colonel explosively. "The young man is +right as far as that is concerned. Now, sir, I've half a mind not to +accept your beef at all. I consider that you have not properly filled +the contract."</p> + +<p>"I certainly have," said Ted stoutly. "The beef was on the government +reservation fifteen minutes before the time limit according to the +acknowledgment of Lieutenant Barrows himself."</p> + +<p>"I said no such thing," almost shouted the lieutenant.</p> + +<p>"Be careful," said Ted. "That is giving me the lie direct. Several of my +men heard you say so."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Barrows, please be quiet," said Miss Croffut. "I shall go in."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, Miss Croffut," said Ted, rising and bowing. "I had +no intention of carrying on a quarrel in your presence. Colonel, I shall +be glad to discuss this matter with you in your office if you wish, but +not here. I have no quarrel with you, and I do not propose to, if I can +avoid it."</p> + +<p>"I presume you mean that you would quarrel with me," said Barrows, +blustering up.</p> + +<p>"I have no objection in the world, but not in a lady's presence," said +Ted, turning from him carelessly.</p> + +<p>"I don't like your attitude at all, Mr. Strong," said the colonel. "That +is not my idea of army discipline, in fact, sir——"</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, colonel," said an officer, bustling up, "don't forget that +to-morrow is beef-issue day to the Indians, and that we must have three +hundred head before noon to-morrow. There is not a hoof in the +government pasture."</p> + +<p>Barrows was trying to attract the other officer's attention with +vigorous shakes of his head, which Ted, although his back was toward +Barrows, saw reflected in the window.</p> + +<p>What could the matter be? Were they so short of beef at the post and a +beef issue coming off, and then attempt to bluff him with their army +rulings? He saw through it all, and now he would stand pat, and take +nobody's bluff.</p> + +<p>The officer walked away at a signal from the colonel, who turned to Ted.</p> + +<p>"I want you to go back to your herd and drive it into the government +pasture at once, do you hear, at once?" he said in a tone of great +severity.</p> + +<p>"I think not," said Ted. "The herd stays where it is until morning, or +if it must be driven at all it will be over the way it came."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, sir?"</p> + +<p>"I mean that I forfeit the contract. The cattle are mine to do with as I +please. I shall immediately proceed to drive them off the reservation."</p> + +<p>"But that will ruin you."</p> + +<p>"That's my business. Good evening, sir."</p> + +<p>"Wait a moment. Don't you know that we must have the beef; that there is +an Indian beef issue to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't know it until a moment ago. Now I know a lot more than I did +when I came here."</p> + +<p>"Confound it, boy, there'll be an Indian uprising if we don't give them +their beef to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"That's for you to take care of. Good evening. The contract is declared +off."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> + +<h3>A COMPROMISE.</h3> + + +<p>Ted hurried back to the cow camp.</p> + +<p>"Stuff's off," he shouted, when he came within shouting distance. The +boys, who were lounging around the fire, resting from their arduous +drive, sprang to their feet.</p> + +<p>"What's the row?" asked big Ben Tremont.</p> + +<p>"They insist upon our driving the herd about five miles farther into the +reservation to-night, so that that lazy lieutenant who is to do the +inspecting in the morning will have as little trouble as possible. I +refused to do it, and they tried to run a sandy on me, but I wouldn't +stand for it. If they'd been white to me I would have had the cattle in +there if it took me all night."</p> + +<p>"That duck o' a lootenant wuz a trifle gay," said Bud. "He tried to run +a blazer on yer Uncle Dudley, but I told him to run along, an' I reckon +he'll have no Christmas present for me this year."</p> + +<p>"Did you tell the boss there was nothing doing in the moving line?" +asked Ben.</p> + +<p>"You bet I did," answered Ted. "That gay lieutenant who was here ran at +once to the boss with his tale of woe, and the boss threw his chest out +at me and tried the little-boy game on me. He thought he had me bluffed +when in comes another officer, who told him that a beef issue to the +Indians was due to-morrow, and that there wasn't an animal in the post +pasture."</p> + +<p>"Wow!" exclaimed Bud. "That means trouble for some one, unless they can +dig up something to take its place, for an Indian who has his mouth made +up fer fresh meat is lierble ter become rantankerous if he don't get +it."</p> + +<p>"I guess that's why they were so anxious to get the beef up to the +pasture to-night," said Kit.</p> + +<p>"Of course. When I heard that all my nerve came back to me, and I +decided that I would give those officers a lesson."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?" asked Ben.</p> + +<p>"Drive the herd off the reservation."</p> + +<p>"Gee, that will put us in the hole bad."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know. We'll trail them a little farther north, keep them a +few months on free range, then drive them to the railroad and slide them +into Chicago on a rising market. I had the whole thing figured out in +case we got here too late, which I expected to do on account of our +being held back by dry weather and too much water, coming in streaks."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to have been there when you were throwing your bluff into the +colonel. I suppose he had the surprise of his life."</p> + +<p>"He looked like it. By Jove, he has a mighty pretty daughter, if he is a +grouch himself."</p> + +<p>"Seem to have an eye for beauty yourself."</p> + +<p>"Not as keen as yours." Ben blushed when Ted said this, for Ben was +always having a new girl and talking about her.</p> + +<p>"I noticed her because she was so pleasant, and so different from her +father, and that fellow Barrows, who seems to be very soft on her."</p> + +<p>"Well, we have no fight with the ladies of the post," said Ben.</p> + +<p>"How did it end?" asked Kit, who always wanted results.</p> + +<p>"I simply told them that they couldn't have the cattle now, and walked +away."</p> + +<p>"That must have been a facer."</p> + +<p>"Seemed to be, for the colonel called after me to know if I was aware +that if the beef issue didn't come off there would probably be an Indian +uprising, and I told him it was up to him."</p> + +<p>"Well, I suppose it's hike," said Bud, pulling on his boots.</p> + +<p>"Yes, get the dogies up, and we'll trail them back until we are out of +the reservation. It's not far."</p> + +<p>The boys mounted, and rode among the cattle, getting them to their feet.</p> + +<p>Soon the herd was moving slowly along the back trail, with Ted and Bud +pointing them out.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, from the woods to the right rode a band of horsemen in the +dark, for the sun had long since gone down.</p> + +<p>"What's this? A holdup?" asked Bud.</p> + +<p>"Can't tell yet. By Jove, I believe they are soldiers. I wonder if they +are going to try to stop us."</p> + +<p>"S'posing they try it?"</p> + +<p>"We'll have to ride it out. I wouldn't be held up on the reservation now +for anything. That would spoil it all. They would do anything they +wanted with us if we stood for that, and throw out a lot of legitimate +stock to get square with us."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"If they're soldiers, and try to keep us in, you ride back and start the +herd to stampeding. Let the soldiers take care of themselves. If they're +regular cavalry, they will be able to ride well enough to get out of the +way."</p> + +<p>"Bully idea. O' course, we can't help it if the cattle get scared at +them bright uniforms, an' git ter runnin'." Bud chuckled at the thought.</p> + +<p>"Halt!"</p> + +<p>The voice of Lieutenant Barrows rang out commandingly.</p> + +<p>"Now's your chance, Bud," said Ted. "Mind you, get them started good and +plenty. I don't care if they run five miles."</p> + +<p>Presently, from the rear of the herd came a shout of warning, and the +herd increased its speed from a lazy walk into a trot.</p> + +<p>Back in the darkness the cowboys were riding through the herd hurrying +up the cattle with their quirts.</p> + +<p>From a trot they broke into a gallop, and this soon grew into a perfect +rout, for cattle are easily frightened at night.</p> + +<p>As soon as Ted saw that the cattle were going to run, sure enough, he +dashed across the intervening space to where the dark forms were +standing in the path of the oncoming cattle.</p> + +<p>He saw at once that it was Lieutenant Barrows and a squad of cavalrymen, +and that they were armed with carbines. He resented this, as the +lieutenant had no business to arm his men in this way for such an +errand.</p> + +<p>As Ted rode up, he shouted:</p> + +<p>"Get out of the way, if you don't want to be trampled to death."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, you scoundrel?" shouted Barrows. "Halt, when I give +the command, or take the consequences."</p> + +<p>"Out of the way, you fool!" shouted Ted, as he swept past. "Don't you +see that the cattle are stampeding?"</p> + +<p>If the lieutenant did not know it, being so recently out of West Point, +the men did, for with a yell they turned and rode like mad for the side +lines.</p> + +<p>Then, for the first time, the young officer, hearing the sullen bellow +of the cattle and the thunder of the hoofs, turned and followed Ted.</p> + +<p>But the leaders were almost upon him, and, realizing that death was +following him fast, he gave an agonizing cry.</p> + +<p>Ted heard the cry, and understood its import.</p> + +<p>While he disliked and despised the bullying officer, he had no desire to +see harm come to him.</p> + +<p>The lieutenant's horse, while a good-enough cavalry animal in times of +peace, was not the match of the cow ponies, and was already badly +winded, as well as frightened, and was losing ground steadily.</p> + +<p>"Bear off to the right!" shouted Ted repeatedly. But the officer was +evidently too frightened or rattled to understand, and kept blundering +along.</p> + +<p>Ted saw that disaster was sure to follow in a short while if Barrows +didn't change his tactics.</p> + +<p>The herd was going at regulation stampede speed now, but this did not +cause Ted to think of his own danger when he deliberately turned Sultan +and came galloping back upon the advancing sea of sharp horns.</p> + +<p>In a moment he was beside Barrows, wheeled suddenly, and began to ride +against the cavalry horse, forcing it to one side, and urging it on with +lashes of his quirt.</p> + +<p>At last he got the heavy brute going the way he wanted and soon it was +out of danger, as the frantic herd swept by with a roar like that of a +lightning express rushing over a culvert.</p> + +<p>Barrows was sitting on his trembling horse, pale, and with beads of +perspiration standing out on his forehead.</p> + +<p>"You did that on purpose, curse you," snarled the lieutenant. "You made +those cattle run."</p> + +<p>Ted looked at him in astonishment. He thought at least that the soldier +would murmur some few words of gratitude for having been saved from a +horrible death.</p> + +<p>"You're a grateful chap, I must say," said Ted. "You weren't far from +kingdom come then, I can tell you."</p> + +<p>"I'll see that you are punished for this," said Barrows, wheeling his +horse and riding out of sight in the direction of the post.</p> + +<p>It was two hours before the boys headed the cattle and got them to +milling, and then broke them up and succeeded in getting them bedded +down.</p> + +<p>As they got a new camp fire made, and were lying around it, Bud said, +with a laugh:</p> + +<p>"That was a mighty slick trick o' yours, Ted. It certainly took ther +herd off ther reservation in a hurry."</p> + +<p>"I don't see yet why it was necessary to stampede them," said Ben, who +was sore at having had to do so much work getting the herd together +again.</p> + +<p>"Can't, eh?" said Bud. "That's all er collidge eddication done fer yer? +Why, if we hadn't got them cattle off'n thar pretty pronto, thet thar +lootenant would hev bagged every animile on foot. But Ted, he foresee +what they wuz up ter, an' ther simplest way wuz ter run 'em off in a +fake stampede. It done ther work, too, fer we're out o' ther reservation +whar they can't touch us."</p> + +<p>Except for the night guard, the boys rolled themselves in their blankets +and were soon sound asleep.</p> + +<p>The next morning Ted began to drift the herd slowly into the north, +where there was plenty of free range. They were still well within view +of the fort.</p> + +<p>It was almost time for the beef issue at the post, and Ted and Bud, +walking their ponies slowly along in the lead of the herd, were talking +about it.</p> + +<p>"Wonder they ain't been out to head us off this morning?" said Bud.</p> + +<p>"They know they cannot take forcible possession of our cattle when we +are off the reservation," answered Ted. "Hello, what's that heading this +way?"</p> + +<p>Coming toward them from the direction of the fort, several riders were +kicking up the dust in lively fashion.</p> + +<p>As they got nearer the riders revealed themselves as four soldiers, +accompanied by two ladies.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Ted pulled in his pony, and grasped Bud's arm.</p> + +<p>"If that don't look like Stella I'll eat my saddle blanket fried in +butter," he said.</p> + +<p>"Shore do look some like her," answered Bud, "an' that's ther same +little ole red jacket what she wears."</p> + +<p>In a few moments they heard Stella's hail, and answered it.</p> + +<p>Then up galloped Stella and Miss Croffut, accompanied by the commandant +of the post, Lieutenant Barrows, and two other officers, a captain and a +major.</p> + +<p>After greeting the boys, and formally introducing Miss Croffut, Stella +told them that from their last telegram she thought she might be able to +catch them at Fort Felton, and had not hesitated in coming on, +particularly as she happened to know Miss Croffut.</p> + +<p>"What's this trouble you fellows have been getting into with the folks +at the fort?" asked Stella.</p> + +<p>"We're not having any trouble, but we had some in the night when the +dogies stampeded us," replied Ted, with an almost imperceptible wink at +her.</p> + +<p>"None of my business, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"None in the least."</p> + +<p>"See here, Mr. Strong," the colonel broke in, "I suppose I was somewhat +hasty last night in talking with you, especially as you had arrived on +time. I wish you'd turn back, and let us have those cattle."</p> + +<p>"Like to if you'd said so a little earlier, but since morning, and the +expiration of the contract, beef has gone up."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I mean that you haven't money enough to buy these cattle. What's the +matter? Want a few head to feed to the Indians?"</p> + +<p>"We want the whole herd, but as you have guessed the truth, we must have +a few head to keep those crazy Indians from making trouble. They have +heard that the cattle are gone, and I'm afraid that they will break +loose and murder a lot of settlers to get even with Uncle Sam."</p> + +<p>"What are the troops for?"</p> + +<p>"We wouldn't dare go after them without orders from Washington."</p> + +<p>"Well, you started it, and I would advise you to go on to the finish."</p> + +<p>"If we don't get enough cattle to feed the Indians the post is ruined."</p> + +<p>"You should have thought of that contingency when you sent your amiable +young assistant out to me." He looked at Barrows.</p> + +<p>"Well, I apologize for him. He was dead wrong, but so was I."</p> + +<p>"Nothing doing! You would have given me the worst of it if I had been +chump enough not to know the cow business as I do. But these cattle are +due on the high range in a few days, and we must be moving on. Adios."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Strong, please do let us have enough cattle for those poor +Indians. The squaws and babies and growing children are actually +starving, for the government has kept them on short allowance lately. +Let a few head go to us."</p> + +<p>Ted said nothing for several moments, during which they all looked at +him anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Ted, be a good fellow," said Stella, with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"All right," said Ted. "How many do you want cut out?" Ted was looking +at the colonel.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to have the whole herd," answered the colonel.</p> + +<p>"They're not for sale. They're going up to the high range for the rest +of the summer, then to market, and I hope it will be a fairer one than +this. But for the sake of the young ladies, who have more influence with +this bunch in a minute than all the officers at Fort Felton have in a +year, I'll cut out enough for the beef issue. How many head do you need +for the Indians?"</p> + +<p>"About five hundred," answered the colonel, in a very different voice +from that he had used the night before.</p> + +<p>"Bud, cut out, count, and deliver five hundred head at the post pasture. +Stella, we're going on. Where's your aunt?"</p> + +<p>"Up at the post. Say, Ted Strong, don't believe for a minute that I'm +not going, too. I'll get a wagon for auntie, and we'll hit your trail in +a couple of hours."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> + +<h3>THE BEEF ISSUE.</h3> + + +<p>When Bud and the boys rode into the herd to cut out the five hundred +head of cattle, the four officers went away to inspect the animals as +they came out, leaving Ted to talk to the two girls.</p> + +<p>Nothing was said about the unpleasant interview on the colonel's veranda +the evening before, but Stella laughingly told how she had decided at +the last moment to follow the fortunes of the boys, and had dragged her +aunt off to Montana without giving her time to think about it.</p> + +<p>While they were chatting the colonel rode up.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Strong, I wish you would come up to headquarters and get your +voucher for these cattle before you go. I should like you to dine with +us, also."</p> + +<p>"Please do, Ted," said Stella. "Then you can ride back to camp with aunt +and I. I have been trying to persuade Hallie to join our party for a +week or two, and experience the joys and excitement of the cattle +trail."</p> + +<p>"I should like very much to go with you, but——"</p> + +<p>Miss Croffut looked at her father with some apprehension.</p> + +<p>"If Mrs. Graham will consent to add to her burdens as a chaperon I have +no objections," said the colonel whose manner toward Ted had been simply +reversed by the independence and manliness the broncho boys had +exhibited.</p> + +<p>"We should be very glad to have you with us, Miss Croffut," said Ted. +"And if you have never been on the long drive I believe you would find +much that would interest you."</p> + +<p>"Then it's all settled," cried Stella. "I'm sure aunt would be delighted +to have you, and you will like the boys. They are like a lot of brothers +to me, only they are better than most brothers, for they let me do what +I please, and are a help instead of a nuisance."</p> + +<p>They all laughed at Stella's estimate of the usefulness of brothers, and +rode away toward the fort, Ted leading the way with Miss Croffut, whom +he found to be an exceedingly interesting companion, and who expressed +her love for riding and other outdoor sports.</p> + +<p>"We're going to see the beef issue," Stella called to Ted.</p> + +<p>"All right," he answered. "It will be some time before the cattle are up +to the pens, and, in the meantime, we'll leave you there, and ride over +to headquarters and settle the business end of it."</p> + +<p>The girls were left at the office of the Indian agent near the place +where the cattle were to be issued to the Indians.</p> + +<p>Scattered over the prairie near the agent's office were the members of +the tribe, waiting patiently for their portion of the fresh meat, which, +at certain times of the year, Uncle Sam doled out to them.</p> + +<p>It was a savage sight. Here and there were the smoke-browned tepees of +the Indians, before which sat the squaws and papooses, and the old men +and women.</p> + +<p>The bucks, heads of families, strode back and forth majestically, with +their rifles and old muskets in the hollow of their arms, while the +young men and half-grown boys dashed here and there on their ponies.</p> + +<p>It was an animated scene, and the two girls looked at it curiously, for +neither of them had seen anything like it before.</p> + +<p>While they were looking out of the window a shadow darkened the doorway, +and they looked up to see a tall young buck Indian standing on the +threshold.</p> + +<p>He was very tall for a Northern Indian, and his broad, bronze-colored +face, with its high cheek bones, and prominent, aquiline nose, with the +black, beady eyes between, and the wide, loose-lipped mouth beneath, +caused Miss Croffut to shudder unknowingly.</p> + +<p>To her there was something repulsive about the fellow. But Stella looked +at him boldly and inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"How?" grunted the Indian.</p> + +<p>"What you want?" asked Stella, in a business-like way.</p> + +<p>"Me want agent," he answered, with a leer, which evidently he intended +for a smile of fascination.</p> + +<p>"Not here," said Stella sharply.</p> + +<p>"Where go?"</p> + +<p>"Get out."</p> + +<p>The Indian stared at her with an expression of amazement, which +gradually turned to one of admiration.</p> + +<p>"Heap good-looking squaw," he grunted.</p> + +<p>"Get out," said Stella again.</p> + +<p>She was not frightened, only disgusted.</p> + +<p>"Me Running Bear. Heap big chief. Heap rich. Heap brave. Running Bear +want white squaw. Heap other wives cook for white squaw. Make plenty red +dress."</p> + +<p>When the Indian had first entered the room Stella thought that there was +something decidedly familiar about the redskin, but when the name +"Running Bear" fell from his lips, her worst fears were confirmed—this +was the Indian with whom Ted had had trouble during the winter, when he +had broken up the Whipple gang.</p> + +<p>As he strode into the middle of the room, with his hand on the butt of +the revolver that hung on his left hip, Miss Croffut uttered a faint +scream.</p> + +<p>Stella was not exactly frightened, but she felt that there might be some +danger in being in the room with this Indian brute, with not a white man +in hailing distance.</p> + +<p>When he got nearer she smelled liquor. Running Bear had been drinking, +and Stella knew that a drinking Indian is a crazy Indian who will do +things he never would dream of doing when he is sober.</p> + +<p>She unconsciously felt for her own revolver, but it was not at her side. +Then she remembered that she had left it at the colonel's house when she +had started out that morning.</p> + +<p>She eyed the Indian closely as he advanced farther into the room, and +saw that in the Indian's eyes there was a strange gleam. He reminded her +of a snake about to devour its prey, as he moved toward her, almost +imperceptibly, seeming not to move, and yet getting closer to her all +the time.</p> + +<p>Now he was quite close to her, and Hallie Croffut was sitting back in +her chair gazing at the Indian with an expression of frozen horror on +her face.</p> + +<p>"White squaw give Running Bear a kiss," gurgled the brute.</p> + +<p>Stella tried to scream, but her throat refused to give forth a sound. It +was like the nightmare when one tries to scream for terror of the awful +shape that is about to menace, but cannot utter a sound.</p> + +<p>Somewhere outside she heard her name. It was Ted calling to her, but she +could not answer.</p> + +<p>Now the Indian was only a step away, and had reached out his arms to +grasp her.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the door flew open, and there stood Ted Strong. But only for an +instant.</p> + +<p>With one leap he was into the room, and as the Indian turned, with that +beastly leer still on his face, Ted was upon him.</p> + +<p>Catching the Indian by the collar, he swung him around, while at the +same time his left arm flew forward, and his fist struck the Indian's +jaw with a smash that sent his head back, and wrung a groan from him. +Again and again the fist encountered the Indian's face, rocking his head +horribly, until it hung upon his shoulder, and then, with an exclamation +of disgust, Ted flung the brute from him, and the inert body rolled into +a corner, where it lay still.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Ted," exclaimed Stella, "that Indian is Running Bear, with whom you +had trouble when putting the Whipple gang out of business."</p> + +<p>"I know it, but I don't think he'll bother us any more. Come, girls," +said Ted, "it's time to go out and see the beef issue. They're reading +the names now, and the bucks are assembling."</p> + +<p>Outside a strange scene was being enacted. A clerk from the Indian +agent's office was sitting on top of the fence of the cattle corral +reading the names of the Indians from a large book.</p> + +<p>"Na-to-no-mah, John Fisher!" called the clerk, and a middle-aged Indian +stepped forward listlessly and stood aside.</p> + +<p>"The first name is his Indian or tribe name," explained Ted. "The name +John Fisher is the name given him in Washington, so that the clerks will +not get him mixed with an Indian whose name is similar."</p> + +<p>So the reading went on, and after each name the clerk said "one" or +"two," meaning that the owner of the name was entitled to one or two +cows, according to the number of members of his family.</p> + +<p>"Running Bear!" called the clerk.</p> + +<p>There was no answer.</p> + +<p>"Running Bear! Where is Running Bear?" The clerk looked around +anxiously, for Running Bear was a prominent Indian, and was entitled to +three cows, or as many as he could graft, and was never known to miss a +beef issue. There were murmurs of wonder among the Indians at the +absence of Running Bear, and the clerk was about to mark off his name, +when he staggered out of the agent's house, groggy from the punishment +he had received, with one eye a vivid green, and holding on to his jaw +as if he was afraid of losing it.</p> + +<p>"Ah, there you are, Running Bear," said the clerk. "You look as if you +had collided with a streak of lightning. What's the matter?"</p> + +<p>But the Indian only shook his head and pressed his jaw harder.</p> + +<p>"Reckon you've got the toothache, eh? Well, when you get your teeth +fastened into a piece of fresh bull meat you'll be all right."</p> + +<p>Running Bear gave one look, in which all the concentrated hatred of a +lifetime was to be seen. Then he turned away and went out to his tepee, +where one of his squaws bound his jaw in a wet cloth.</p> + +<p>But the roll had been called, and the Indians stood expectant close to +the gate of the corral.</p> + +<p>While the clerk stood up on the fence with his list he repeated the +names and the number of cattle to which each Indian was entitled, and +men inside the corral opened the gate and drove them out.</p> + +<p>As a frightened cow or angry steer was loosed from the corral it was met +with shouts, wild and blood-curdling, from all the Indians, and its +owner sprang upon his pony and took after the poor beast, driving it +into the open beyond, and away from the house and corral.</p> + +<p>"Now begins the chase," said Ted. "We'll get out here where we will have +a good view, but I don't think you will care to see much of it. It gets +to be pretty—well, pretty raw after a while."</p> + +<p>"Why don't they kill their beef in a slaughterhouse and give them the +meat, instead of turning the animals over to them alive?" asked Stella.</p> + +<p>"The Indians wouldn't stand for that," answered Ted. "This is the only +sport they have in a year's time. You see, they are not permitted to +leave the reservations to go far away to hunt big game, and they take it +out in hunting, or playing they are hunting, these miserable cows."</p> + +<p>"I don't see any fun in that," said Miss Croffut.</p> + +<p>"You haven't the imagination of an Indian. You see, they make believe +they are hunting buffalo again, and the chase is quite as exciting to +them as if they were doing the real thing."</p> + +<p>By this time the prairie was covered with steers and cows, lumbering +along in front of the Indians, who were pursuing them with shrill cries, +shooting at them with bows and arrows or with rifles, striving always to +wound them, but not to kill them too soon, for if they killed them right +away they would miss the fun of the chase.</p> + +<p>This made the beef issue a carnival of brutality, and Ted soon saw that +the girls were getting tired of it.</p> + +<p>In the center of the great circle in which there were several dozen +cattle running around aimlessly, pursued by a yelling, exultant, +bloodthirsty band of Indians, were several wounded steers and cows, +which had gone down and were unable to rise. Several groups of Indians, +squatting on the rim of the circle, were shooting at them.</p> + +<p>This was dangerous business, and the white spectators moved back out of +range.</p> + +<p>The shooting was very reckless at times, and the Indian agent had to +protest to the soldiers, who, under Lieutenant Barrows, had the issue in +charge.</p> + +<p>Ted and the two girls were sitting on their ponies, watching the show +from a position of safety, as they were out of line of any of the +shooting parties.</p> + +<p>Without warning a ball sang through the air, clipped through the mane of +Ted's pony, and pierced the sleeve of Ted's jacket, passing out between +him and Miss Croffut, who was by his side.</p> + +<p>As Ted looked up hastily he caught a gleam of blue across the circle as +it dodged behind the group of yelling and shooting Indians.</p> + +<p>Ted glanced at Stella, and saw a look in her eyes which plainly said:</p> + +<p>"Did you see it, too?" And Ted nodded.</p> + +<p>Miss Croffut had screamed as the ball went past, and Ted's pony, burned +by it, reared.</p> + +<p>"Let's get out of this," said Ted quietly. "Those Indians are beginning +to shoot wildly, and some one is going to get accidentally hit. I wonder +that the soldiers don't regulate it better."</p> + +<p>"They are afraid of getting the Indians angry," explained Miss Croffut. +"The war department allows them to do as they please at this function, +to keep them quiet at other times."</p> + +<p>But most of the poor dumb brutes had succumbed to this slow method of +butchering, and the squaws, with horrible cries, rushed into the field, +every one to the steer which her lord and master had killed, and the +hideous rites of skinning and cutting up the animals was begun by the +women, who were even more bloodthirsty than the men.</p> + +<p>"Come, we don't want to see this," said Ted, and led the way from the +field.</p> + +<p>"It is time for dinner," said Miss Croffut. "Then we must get ready for +the trail. We will get a wagon from the storekeeper—a regular camp +wagon with beds and a tent. Papa will arrange it all, and he will detail +an orderly to drive it for us, and care for our things."</p> + +<p>"That will be fine for you and aunt, but for me—the saddle and the camp +fire," said Stella.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2> + +<h3>A SLAP ON THE FACE.</h3> + + +<p>As they were riding toward the post they were joined by Ben, Bud, Kit, +Clay, and Carl, who came riding up like Cossacks, and were presented to +Miss Croffut, on either side of whom they fell into place, and began to +talk animatedly and enthusiastically about the coming trail.</p> + +<p>Ben expanded mightily in the presence of a new girl, while quiet Kit +contented himself by slipping in a witty remark that was pointed enough +to puncture Ben's gas bag of grand talk once in a while, to the great +amusement of the army girl, who had never before met such fine, free, +and easy, yet gentlemanly, fellows.</p> + +<p>Ted and Stella were riding together behind them.</p> + +<p>"Did you see him?" asked Stella at last, looking up at Ted.</p> + +<p>"See who?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"The man who shot at you, trying to murder you, and cast the blame on +the Indians," she replied directly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that was an accident," said Ted. "I saw a flash of a blue coat over +where the shot came from, but it was probably an Indian with a blue +shirt on."</p> + +<p>"And you didn't see who it was?" she asked again wonderingly.</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Don't you even suspect?"</p> + +<p>"Hadn't thought of it."</p> + +<p>"Suppose it was not an accident, who do you think would be most likely +to try to shoot you from ambush, and make it appear an accident?"</p> + +<p>Ted thought a moment. Could it be possible that it was not an accident? +For a few minutes after the ball had plowed its way through their little +party he had thought perhaps it might have been sent at them +accidentally, as the Indians were doing some pretty wild shooting, and +then again he almost believed it to be an intentional shot. It could not +have come closer to him from such a distance, and yet so narrowly missed +his heart, unless it was intended for him.</p> + +<p>"Let me see," he mused. "Why, of course," he said, with a smile. "I +didn't think of it before. It must have been that Indian, Running Bear, +who was trying to get square for the punching I gave him."</p> + +<p>"Ted, you're as blind as a rat," said Stella.</p> + +<p>"Did you see the fellow who shot at me?"</p> + +<p>"I did. Got a good, square, sure-enough look."</p> + +<p>"Who was it?"</p> + +<p>For a moment Stella did not reply.</p> + +<p>"You'll hardly believe it," she answered, at last.</p> + +<p>"I'll believe you. I don't know that you ever told me anything that was +not the truth."</p> + +<p>"But it seems so incredible, that I would hardly believe it if I had not +seen it with my own eyes."</p> + +<p>"Well, out with it."</p> + +<p>"It was Lieutenant Barrows."</p> + +<p>"Stella! You can't mean it."</p> + +<p>Ted stopped his pony, and stood staring at the girl.</p> + +<p>"It was he who fired the shot. I am positive of it. I saw him do it, and +was just about to cry out a warning when the bullet struck your pony and +passed through your coat sleeve, and he dodged out of sight."</p> + +<p>"The hideous cur!" exclaimed Ted, who was the apostle of fair play, and +who always felt bitterly when he saw another practice false, and +especially an officer, who was supposed to uphold all the best standards +for a gentleman. In fact, "an officer and a gentleman" were synonymous +to him.</p> + +<p>"It seems incredible," he said, at last. "I didn't think he was much of +a chap, he has not had much experience, and I thought he would grow out +of his bad habits."</p> + +<p>"He's horrible," exclaimed Stella impatiently. "But that is not the +worst of it. Hallie is engaged to marry him some day. Think of it!"</p> + +<p>"Too bad. Of course she must know nothing of this. She must believe that +it was an accident."</p> + +<p>"Of course. Unless she mentions it we will say nothing about it, and +I'll tell her that you do not care to have anything said about it."</p> + +<p>"That's the thing. Pretty bad outlook for her."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and the worst of it is, she's crazy about him, and the colonel, +her father, is very much in favor of the marriage, and is doing +everything he can to bring it about. You see, Barrows is very rich."</p> + +<p>"Is he the son of Barrows, the railroad multi-millionaire, do you know?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Hallie told me all about it. She says his father is going to have +him promoted through his influence in Washington to be military attaché +to one of our embassies in Europe. He has completely dazzled her with +his wealth, and the prospects ahead of her."</p> + +<p>"Too bad."</p> + +<p>"And she is such a sweet and sensible girl, but she has no mother, and +the other ladies at the post, especially Mrs. Calhoun, the major's wife, +have put a lot of nonsense into her head."</p> + +<p>"Well, if she comes with us, we'll try to get some of it out."</p> + +<p>"It looks as if Ben was trying to do that now," said Stella, pointing to +where Ben was talking to the girl, who was laughing happily.</p> + +<p>"Yes, or putting a lot of another brand into it."</p> + +<p>"Don't they make a handsome couple. Ben is such a fine-looking chap in +the saddle. I wish he would do something to cut out Barrows."</p> + +<p>"Look out. Don't you go to meddling in this affair," laughed Ted. "Well, +here we are at the colonel's. I reckon he didn't count on this addition +to his table."</p> + +<p>As they rode up to the others, Hallie Croffut was insisting that the +other boys remain for dinner, and the colonel, hearing the contention +from his chair on the veranda, came down to add his invitation to that +of his daughter.</p> + +<p>So it was that they all stayed, and just before dinner was announced +Lieutenant Barrows rode up and joined the group.</p> + +<p>He was hot and dusty, and in a bad temper. He acknowledged the +introductions to the boys superciliously, and barely nodded to Ted.</p> + +<p>Hallie looked at him with a puzzled frown, but said nothing, and entered +the house with Stella.</p> + +<p>During dinner Ben sat at the left hand of Hallie, with Barrows opposite.</p> + +<p>Ben was in his usual good spirits, and was so easy and gentlemanly in +his deportment, in spite of his rough clothes, that Stella was quite +proud of him.</p> + +<p>While he kept Hallie in a constant gale of laughter by his witty +remarks, Barrows did nothing but scowl at him, when he was not casting +sinister glances at Ted, who, however, never looked at him.</p> + +<p>After dinner the girls rushed away to get ready for the trip, and the +boys went out on the veranda to wait for them, while the colonel and +Barrows went into the library, ostensibly to talk over business of the +post, as Barrows was officer of the day.</p> + +<p>But presently Ted heard the voices of the two men rising above the +normal pitch.</p> + +<p>"I seriously object to Hallie going with such people."</p> + +<p>The voice was Barrows', and it was angry.</p> + +<p>"But they are all right," said the colonel. "I know Strong well by +reputation, and the Grahams are old friends of mine. Knew them for years +when I was in New Mexico. Hallie and Stella went to school together. +There can be no objection on that score."</p> + +<p>"But this cad Strong is nothing but a common cow-puncher, and his +companions are even worse."</p> + +<p>"They're worth more than you are financially," said the colonel. "That +is, they have made more individually than you have made. I'm not saying +what your father gives, or will give you. And that counts for +something."</p> + +<p>"Well, there is no use saying anything more about it if you are willing +to give your consent to Hallie traveling in the company of, and camping +with, such a low blackguard as that fellow Strong."</p> + +<p>"You dare not call him that to his face," came an indignant voice. +Evidently Stella had entered the library in time to hear Barrows' +speech.</p> + +<p>"I am surprised to hear you speak in that manner of one of my guests," +came the voice of Hallie Croffut. "Papa, I'm going with Stella. At first +I hesitated to leave you and Clarence here alone, but now I am decided. +You will not be very lonely, and I shall be very safe and happy with +Stella and dear Mrs. Graham, who is like an own aunt to me, and with +those gentlemen, the broncho boys. Good-by, daddy. We'll be back soon."</p> + +<p>"So his name's Clarence, eh?" said Bud Morgan, on the veranda. "Well, +wouldn't that jar yer?"</p> + +<p>In the library Hallie was kissing her father good-by, and then offered +her hand to Barrows.</p> + +<p>"Good-by, Clarence," she said. "I hope you'll be in a better frame of +mind when I get back."</p> + +<p>"I want to talk to you privately before you go," said Barrows, in a +sulky voice.</p> + +<p>"It is not necessary," answered the girl.</p> + +<p>"But I insist upon it. It is my right."</p> + +<p>"You have no rights I do not give you. This is good-by."</p> + +<p>"I'll make you regret this yet. I'll——"</p> + +<p>"Hold hard, Barrows. Remember, you are in my house, and that you are +talking to my daughter. Threats to a girl do not come gracefully from a +gentleman." The colonel evidently had sprung to his feet, and his voice +was cold and harsh.</p> + +<p>"Very well, I will not threaten. I will execute."</p> + +<p>The young officer strode from the room and through the hall, pausing to +pick up his cap.</p> + +<p>At the door he came face to face with Ted Strong, who was standing there +quietly, waiting for the moment when he should think his presence would +be necessary in the library.</p> + +<p>As the two came face to face, Barrows stopped and looked into Ted's eyes +with a look of intense hatred. He was as white as a sheet, and his lips +trembled.</p> + +<p>"So you have been acting the eavesdropper, eh?" Barrows said, with a +sneer. "I hope you heard all I said about you, and that is not all I +think, either. Would you like to hear some more."</p> + +<p>"I don't care what you think about me. That will do me no harm. But if +you desire to retain your beauty I would advise you to keep it to +yourself. You probably know what I think of you, you cowardly assassin." +Ted spoke these words in a tone intended only for the ears of Barrows +himself.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" stammered the young officer, pale as death.</p> + +<p>"You know. You missed my heart at the beef issue by an inch or two, but +you were seen, you cur, and you can't lie out of it. If I were to tell +it, you would be drummed out of the army, and every place else where +there are square men. Keep away from me and mine in every way, and +especially with your filthy tongue. If you do not, I'll break you."</p> + +<p>Barrows uttered an unspeakable epithet to Ted under his breath.</p> + +<p>A loud crack sounded far enough to reach the ears of those in the +library, and bring the broncho boys to their feet. Across the white face +of Lieutenant Barrows were the crimson finger marks left by Ted Strong.</p> + +<p>Without a word the lieutenant swung on his heel, and walked down the +steps, mounted his horse, and rode away.</p> + +<p>In the doorway stood a young girl who looked at his going with wide +eyes. She was very pale, but as Barrows rode away without a word or a +glance backward, a flush slowly mounted to her forehead.</p> + +<p>She turned and threw her arms around the neck of Stella, for it was +Hallie Croffut who had seen the blow delivered.</p> + +<p>"He didn't even offer to resent the blow," sobbed Hallie. "Is it +possible that he is a coward?"</p> + +<p>"There, dear, I wouldn't worry about him," said Stella soothingly. "It +was very wrong for Ted to do so."</p> + +<p>Ted, who was standing near, also watching the departing lieutenant with +some surprise, heard these words and turned to look at the girls.</p> + +<p>He smiled, however, when he heard Stella trying to comfort Hallie by +blaming him, for over the shoulder of the crying girl his girl pard +winked at him with a smile that assured him that, no matter what she +said, she thought that whatever happened he was all right.</p> + +<p>"Say," drawled Bud to the other boys, "Ted put ther bloom o' youth on +Clarence's cheek, didn't he?"</p> + +<p>"He certainly did," said Ben, "and probably saved Clarence from getting +a good, stout punch on the nose from me."</p> + +<p>Ben held up for inspection a fist as big as a picnic ham, and worked it +around as if it was fitted to a toggle joint.</p> + +<p>"He didn't get all that was coming to him, either," said Kit. "If ever +there was a cad he's got the job."</p> + +<p>"And seems to be swelled up over it, too," said Clay.</p> + +<p>"Ach, yes, dot iss der vay mit dem army offichers," sighed Carl. "Dey +vas so conspicuousness in deir uniforms dot dey vos ridiculousness."</p> + +<p>"Say, Dutch, you want ter look out or you'll blow out all o' yer teeth +some o' these days sayin' them words," warned Bud.</p> + +<p>"Well, it isn't such a good joke as it seems," said Kit reflectively. "A +young fellow in the army, and with the backing he has, can make it +pretty disagreeable for fellows like us living and doing business in a +country where an army post is part of the civil government. Have you +thought of that?"</p> + +<p>"Kit's right," said Ted. "I guess we've made an enemy. But I'll be +mighty glad of it if it serves to accomplish one thing."</p> + +<p>"What's that?" asked Ben.</p> + +<p>"If it will keep him away from Hallie Croffut," was the answer.</p> + +<p>"I reckon there's others who will help attend to that," said Ben +sturdily, whereat several of the boys smiled. Ben was forever coming to +the rescue of maidens in distress, especially if they were more than +merely pretty.</p> + +<p>"We've all got to do our share at cheering the poor girl up," said Kit, +with a sly glance at Ted, who grinned.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess I'm large and strong enough to carry my own burdens," said +Ben. "I've managed to pack a good many of them' so far without getting +round-shouldered."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and without losing your appetite."</p> + +<p>"Hush, boys," cautioned Ted. "Here come the girls."</p> + +<p>Stella came out of the house, bearing in her arms a lot of shawls and +bundles, followed by Mrs. Graham and Hallie Croffut.</p> + +<p>"When you see me coming at this stage of the game loaded down like this +you'd know for sure that Auntie Graham was going on a roughing trip."</p> + +<p>"That's all right," said Kit. "Mrs. Graham can take whatever she likes +on the trips, if she'll only go along."</p> + +<p>"You're a nice boy, Kit, to say such nice things," said Mrs. Graham, +smiling. "But you're all nice boys to take an old lady like me with you, +and stand for all my laziness and tantrums."</p> + +<p>"That's right, auntie, you keep on with that line of talk, and you'll +get these fellows so spoiled that I'll have to begin training them all +over again. I just had them so that they were going along all right. But +you mustn't let them know they're nice, or they'll quit being nice right +there. Come, fellows, help carry Auntie Graham's things down to the +wagon. We've got to get started pretty pronto."</p> + +<p>They were all ready to start when an orderly dashed up on horseback, and +handed Hallie a letter, saluted, and rode off.</p> + +<p>The girl tore open the envelope, and read its contents.</p> + +<p>"What shall I do?" she asked, handing the letter to Ted.</p> + +<p>Ted's eyes ran over it rapidly.</p> + +<p>"Forget it," he answered, crumpling the note in his hand and throwing it +away.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2> + +<h3>RUNNING BEAR'S SQUAW.</h3> + + +<p>As they rode away to join the herd, which had been moving slowly +northward, Hallie and Stella rode together, and Hallie was telling her +friend what she felt, and what she thought about her break with +Lieutenant Barrows.</p> + +<p>"That note was the most impertinent thing I ever read," Hallie was +saying.</p> + +<p>"What was it all about? Ted did not think it was of much importance," +said Stella.</p> + +<p>"And yet it was all about him."</p> + +<p>"You don't say so. What was it?"</p> + +<p>Stella was not very curious about the letter, for she was too free and +independent to care what an enemy said of her or her friends. She had +that intense loyalty of character that put tried and chosen friends +before all the world, and she believed and stuck to her friends through +all and above all. But this was a characteristic of all the broncho +boys.</p> + +<p>She didn't believe that anything any one could write about Ted Strong +could hurt him, at least it could not with her.</p> + +<p>"It forbade me going with you on this trip, and said some awful things +about Mr. Strong," said Hallie.</p> + +<p>"Is that all?"</p> + +<p>"It said that Ted was a scoundrel, and that he felt it his duty to +expose him, and that, moreover, Ted had declared himself his enemy, and +he was going to get the bitterest sort of revenge for the insult Ted had +offered him. And—and a lot more."</p> + +<p>"If he wanted revenge, why didn't he take it while he had the chance? +Anyway, Ted doesn't seem to be very much afraid, so I'm not going to +worry."</p> + +<p>Ted realized that he had made a bitter and dangerous enemy.</p> + +<p>Barrows would be dangerous because he would not fight in the open, but +would stab him in the back. The way in which he had taken the slap on +the face proved that he was an open coward, but secretly was brave +enough in his blows. The shot fired by him at the beef issue was proof +enough for that.</p> + +<p>But Ted, while he determined to keep his eyes open, was not borrowing +trouble, and soon put Barrows and his enmity out of his mind.</p> + +<p>They caught up with the herd in the middle of the afternoon, and Hallie, +who had never seen so many cattle before in her life, was delighted with +the experience she was about to undergo.</p> + +<p>The weather was splendid, and Stella rode up and down with her along the +line, introducing such of the boys as had not met her, and teaching her +the points of the cattle business.</p> + +<p>Finally, Hallie got hold of Bud, who volunteered to teach her how to +shoot and throw a lariat, and she was perfectly happy, and soon forgot +the unpleasant occurrences at her home before she left.</p> + +<p>Stella was just spoiling for a good, hard gallop, and tried to get Ted +to go with her in a race across the prairie, but he politely but firmly +declined the honor, on account, as he explained, that he was responsible +for the safety of several thousand head of cattle, and as he had been up +against one failure with them so far he did not propose to face another +because of neglect.</p> + +<p>"All right, Smarty," said Stella. "You don't have to go. But you'll be +sorry if anything happens to me."</p> + +<p>"Stay with the herd, Stella," he said. "What's the use of tearing off +alone across the prairie?"</p> + +<p>"Not very much, as a matter of fact, but if you'd been shut up in a poky +old hotel for a couple of weeks, and only going out with your aunt to +shop around in stuffy dry-goods stores, you'd like to get out for a +breezer yourself," she said.</p> + +<p>"I reckon I would, but don't go far, and get back before dark."</p> + +<p>She waved her hand to him gayly, gave Magpie a flick with her whip, and +went flying across the country.</p> + +<p>"Hi, Stella!" shouted Kit. "Where you goin'?"</p> + +<p>But she was already out of hearing.</p> + +<p>"Let her go," said Ted. "She's got one of her crazy riding spells on, +and she'll just have to ride it out of her."</p> + +<p>In a few minutes she was a speck on the horizon.</p> + +<p>"That girl can ride some," said Kit, looking regretfully after her. Kit +could "ride some" himself, and this afternoon he just felt like a good +breeze across the turf, and no one suited him for a riding companion +like Stella, for she was so fearless and bold, and never balked at a +chance.</p> + +<p>But Stella was gone, and the drive settled down to a steady thing.</p> + +<p>We will leave the herd for the present to follow the fortunes of Stella, +whose ride that afternoon had so much to do with fashioning the +immediate fortunes of Ted Strong and the broncho boys.</p> + +<p>As Stella was borne exultingly along through the clear, sharp air of the +Montana uplands, she was singing in a high, sweet voice the cowboy song, +"The Wolf Hunt."</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Over the hills on a winter's morn,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the rosy glow of a day just born,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With the eager hounds so fleet and strong,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On the gray wolf's track we jog along."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>As she paused at the end of the first verse she thought she heard an +echo of it. It seemed that off to the north somewhere she had heard an +eerie "Ai-i-e!" But she listened attentively, bringing Magpie to a stop, +and hearing it no more, concluded that she had been mistaken.</p> + +<p>Then she galloped on, still singing at the top of her voice from sheer +happiness and good spirits, the other verses of the wolf song, and, +although she paused frequently for the repetition of the cry, she did +not hear it until she had sung the refrain for the last time:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The race is o'er, the battle won,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The wolf lies dying in the sun;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His midnight raids are of the past,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He's met the conquering foe at last.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Well done, brave hounds! Thy savage prey<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Was shrewdly caught and killed to-day."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>As she stopped and looked around her at the brown, rocky hills, once +more she heard that shrill and heart-searching wail.</p> + +<p>"What can it be?" muttered Stella, reining in her horse. "Is it a woman, +or is it a beast trying to lure me on? It sounds like a woman in +distress, and yet cougars can cry like that, also."</p> + +<p>She meditated a moment, and then decided to take a chance.</p> + +<p>She would search out the creature that had sent forth that desolate cry.</p> + +<p>"Ai-i-e!" cried Stella, imitating the other.</p> + +<p>"Ai-i-e!" came the reply.</p> + +<p>It came from the north, and seemed only a short distance away.</p> + +<p>Slowly Stella crept forward up the rocky hillside, pausing now and then +to listen.</p> + +<p>Once more she heard the wail. This time it seemed to be under her very +feet, and, guarding against treachery, she drew her revolver, and walked +softly on.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she stopped in amazement. At her feet lay a young Indian girl.</p> + +<p>She was lying on a blanket, and the yellow front of her deerskin tunic +was stained with blood.</p> + +<p>Without an instant's hesitation Stella was on her knees beside the girl, +working with swift and gentle fingers to unfasten the tunic.</p> + +<p>As she did so the girl opened her eyes, and, seeing Stella, smiled.</p> + +<p>Then her Indian stoicism failed her, and she uttered a groan and +fainted.</p> + +<p>"Poor thing," muttered Stella. "Poor, wounded, wild thing. Here lies the +wild wolf 'dying in the sun,' as the song says. I wonder if she knew the +song."</p> + +<p>But by this time she had opened the tunic and saw a bullet wound on the +brown skin, through which the blood was oozing steadily.</p> + +<p>She stood up and looked around for a water sign, and not far away +discovered a little clump of willows, which advertised a spring.</p> + +<p>She hurried to it and filled her hat to the brim with the cool fluid and +rushed back to the wounded Indian girl, who had not yet recovered from +her fainting fit.</p> + +<p>Stella bathed her head, washed her wound, and then poured some of the +water between her lips.</p> + +<p>At that the girl opened her eyes, and, with another smile, opened her +lips as if to speak.</p> + +<p>"Rest now, dear," said Stella, with so much pity and love in her voice +that the girl could only smile once more, and gratefully close her eyes.</p> + +<p>It did not take Stella long to improvise bandages from some of her own +garments, which she tore into strips, and bound up the wound so that it +stopped bleeding at last.</p> + +<p>Another drink of water so refreshed the Indian girl that she tried to +rise, but Stella gently forced her back, and told her to rest.</p> + +<p>Stella never rode away from camp without taking food in a small bag, +which was attached to the cantle of her saddle.</p> + +<p>She now bethought herself of it, and hurried away for it.</p> + +<p>The Indian girl was ravenously hungry, and her faintness was as much due +to her abstinence from food as from the loss of blood.</p> + +<p>But when she had eaten she appeared much stronger.</p> + +<p>"What is your name?" asked Stella.</p> + +<p>The girl looked up at her and smiled.</p> + +<p>"I am Singing Bird, daughter of Cloud Chief," she answered.</p> + +<p>"You can speak English well," said Stella, at which the girl looked +pleased.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I went to the Indian school, and learned to speak and to sing +hymns."</p> + +<p>"How do you come to be here?"</p> + +<p>"My man shot me."</p> + +<p>"What?" cried Stella, in a horrified tone. "Your man shot you? What do +you mean by that?"</p> + +<p>"I am Running Bear's squaw."</p> + +<p>"You are married to Running Bear?"</p> + +<p>The girl nodded her head.</p> + +<p>"And did Running Bear shoot you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. He shot me and left me to die."</p> + +<p>"The horrible brute. What did he shoot you for?"</p> + +<p>"He said he had too many squaws, and wanted a white squaw."</p> + +<p>"Couldn't he have sent you away without trying to kill you?"</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't tell him something."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that was the reason, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he married me at the school for my secret, and when I wouldn't +tell him he began to hate me."</p> + +<p>"Tell me about it. How long have you been married to him?"</p> + +<p>"Five months."</p> + +<p>"I thought you were rather young to be a wife. How old are you?"</p> + +<p>"I am seventeen."</p> + +<p>"Where is your home; where does your father live?"</p> + +<p>"My father is in the Far North. I cannot go to him any more now. My man +has turned me out and tried to kill me, but yet I live. But there is +nothing for me now but to die."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, you are not going to die. You are going to live with me until +you are well, then you can say what you are going to do."</p> + +<p>"The white lady is too good to an Indian girl."</p> + +<p>"No, that is only right. How do you feel now? Do you think you could +travel if I was to help you into my saddle?"</p> + +<p>"I will do what my sister wishes," said the Indian girl simply, trying +to rise. But the effort was too much for her, and she sank back, the +blood spurting freshly from the wound.</p> + +<p>"That won't do," said Stella, easing the girl back, and rolling up her +jacket and placing it under her head. "You are not able to leave here +yet. At least, you cannot ride."</p> + +<p>The Indian girl was perfectly passive under Stella's guidance, and did +not think of having a will of her own.</p> + +<p>"I wish one of the boys had come with me," Stella said to herself. +"Something always happens when I go away alone. I must get word to them +somehow."</p> + +<p>"I am going to fire my revolver to bring help," said she to Singing +Bird. "You will not be frightened."</p> + +<p>The other girl shook her head.</p> + +<p>Stella fired her revolver three times, and waited for an answer, but +none came.</p> + +<p>After waiting a while longer, she fired three more shots.</p> + +<p>"No shoot again. Need bullets for wolves. Come around soon," said +Singing Bird.</p> + +<p>The day was going fast, and soon it would be dark. She could not leave +the girl to go for help, for with the dark the wolves would come.</p> + +<p>Singing Bird had fallen into a feverish doze, and Stella arose and +gathered up some dry wood from about the spring, and carried it to where +the girl was lying.</p> + +<p>Stella had some matches in her outfit, and when it got dark she intended +lighting the fire, hoping that the boys would see it when they came to +look for her when she did not return at dark.</p> + +<p>Again she brought water from the spring, and sat down beside her +new-found friend to bathe her head and reduce her fever.</p> + +<p>As darkness fell she heard vague rustlings in the tall grass, and looked +carefully about. In the dim light she saw pale-green lights moving +about, and knew that the wolves had smelled blood, and were gathering. +But she was not afraid. She knew that she could keep them away with the +fire and her revolver.</p> + +<p>One of the wolves came quite close to the little camp and set up a howl, +and the Indian girl awoke.</p> + +<p>"White girl go to her friends," she said to Stella. "Leave Singing Bird +to die as the Great Manitou intended."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, I will not. I will stay with you until my friends come to me, +and then we will take you with us and nurse you."</p> + +<p>Stella thought it was time to light the fire, and as its flames leaped +high, she felt more at ease.</p> + +<p>When the wolves came close to the camp she fired her revolver at them, +and drove them away.</p> + +<p>The hours passed silently, Stella rising occasionally to replenish the +fire and look at Singing Bird, who seemed to be sleeping. As a matter of +fact, the young Indian, who had been reared out-of-doors, and was +perfectly healthy, was recovering rapidly from her wound, although had +it not been for Stella she would probably not have survived the night, +for what the chill night air would not have done the wolves would have +finished.</p> + +<p>It was long past midnight when out of the west rose a clear, welcome +shout that sounded as the sweetest music to her ear, the Moon Valley +yell, and she answered it, while the Indian girl sat up and smiled at +her.</p> + +<p>They had been found at last.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX.</h2> + +<h3>"THE WOOFER" APPEARS.</h3> + + +<p>Presently Stella heard the clatter of many pony hoofs on the turf, then +a succession of yells, and Ted, Ben, and Bud galloped into the circle of +light made by her fire.</p> + +<p>"Hello, what have we here?" asked Ted, riding up and flinging himself +from the saddle.</p> + +<p>"I found this Indian girl, Singing Bird, daughter of Cloud Chief, lying +here with a wound in her breast that would have killed an ordinary +mortal, but I think she is getting better."</p> + +<p>"We got worried about you when you did not return for supper, and +started out to find you. If we hadn't seen the reflection of your fire +against the sky we would have passed you by. How did this happen?"</p> + +<p>"She tells me she is the squaw of Running Bear, with whom you had an +argument at the beef issue."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I remember him. What about him? Why is he not here to take care of +his wife?"</p> + +<p>"He shot her and left her here to die, because he was tired of her, and, +she says, because she would not reveal to him a secret."</p> + +<p>"He certainly is a precious scoundrel, and deserves worse than I gave +him, and if I ever meet him again I won't do a thing to him."</p> + +<p>"But we must get this girl to a camp where she can be cared for, Ted. It +is cruel to leave her here on the cold ground when she can have a cot +and plenty of blankets."</p> + +<p>"I don't know how we are going to manage it to-night."</p> + +<p>"One of you can ride back to camp, and get the wagon and a lantern, and +come back for her. She ought to have better attention than I can give +her here."</p> + +<p>"That's all right. Bud, ride back to camp and get the wagon out, and +fill it with blankets and my medicine chest, and get back here as soon +as your team will bring you."</p> + +<p>Ben had sauntered down to where the willows were seen, and soon returned +with a big armful of wood, which he tossed upon the fire, then sat just +outside the blaze and popped away with his revolver at the little balls +of pale-green light, the wolves' eyes, which he saw floating among the +tall grass, and he always knew when he had made a bull's-eye by the +howl, and the thrashing around that followed it.</p> + +<p>Ted sat with Stella, watching the Indian girl, who had again fallen into +a deep sleep.</p> + +<p>"Did she say what her secret is?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't ask her, and I don't intend to. If she wants to confide in +me, well and good, but I am not a sharer of other peoples' troubles or +secrets. I have as many of my own as I can take care of."</p> + +<p>It was almost dawn when they heard the rumble of wagon wheels, and Bud +drove over the top of the hill, and came toward them.</p> + +<p>"By my Aunt Hester's black cat's tail, I never had sech a time gittin' a +team hitched up as this one. It took me an hour to ketch 'em out o' ther +pony herd, and yer talks about drivers, I'd jest as soon try ter drive +two bolts o' red-hot chain lightning. But I've got all ther ginger +worked outer 'em now, an' I reckon that nigh bay will not never buck no +more."</p> + +<p>"Now we'll see if she can be moved," said Ted. "I think we can lift her +right on the blanket on which she is lying, and into the wagon, if you +will lend a hand, Stella."</p> + +<p>Each of the four took a corner of the blanket, and with some difficulty, +for Singing Bird suffered excruciating pain with every motion, they got +her into the wagon and started for the camp, driving slowly over the +rough ground.</p> + +<p>It was almost daylight when they reached camp, where willing hands +helped to make the girl comfortable in a tent which Ted rigged up.</p> + +<p>Then Ted and Stella went to work with all their surgical skill, and soon +had Singing Bird's wound properly dressed. Stella stood guard over her, +and nursed her as tenderly as if the Indian had been a sister of her +blood.</p> + +<p>Ted had stayed the herd until Singing Bird should be well enough to get +up. The pasturage was fine, and after their arduous drive Ted thought +that it would do the cattle no harm to have a long rest.</p> + +<p>He was undecided what to do with the Indian girl. It was not altogether +practicable to take her with them, and it did not seem to be the humane +thing to leave her behind to again fall into the hands of her brutal +Indian husband.</p> + +<p>At last one morning Stella announced that Singing Bird was almost well. +On account of her health and generally fine physical condition she had +made rapid progress toward recovery.</p> + +<p>"What are we going to do with her?" asked Ted, when Stella announced +that Singing Bird was well enough to travel.</p> + +<p>"I don't know what she wants to do," said Stella. "One thing I am sure +of, I am not going to see her come to any harm. I have grown very fond +of her, for she is a sweet, good girl."</p> + +<p>"Let us ask her what she wants to do. I suppose we shall have to abide +by her decision, for we cannot turn her adrift."</p> + +<p>Singing Bird was sitting in front of her tent in the sun, watching the +cowboys sitting around their camp, weaving horsehair bridles, cleaning +their guns, mending their clothes, and doing other things that fall to +the leisure of a cow camp.</p> + +<p>"Singing Bird, you are well now, and able to travel," said Stella, +sitting down on the grass.</p> + +<p>The girl looked at her and then at Ted with an expression of alarm in +her face. They both saw that she feared what was coming.</p> + +<p>"What do you want to do, Singing Bird? We must be on the trail again, +for we have a long way to go to the big pasture to the north," Stella +continued.</p> + +<p>"I want to stay with you, sister," said the Indian girl simply. "I will +die if you send me away. I will slave for you if you will only let me +stay near you. I have no one else on earth. My husband has cast me out; +my father will not have me back; the white man does not want the Indian. +I am alone in the world. You have saved my life. I am your slave."</p> + +<p>"That settles it," said Stella, with the hint of tears in her eyes. "You +shall stay with me, dear. Ted, get ready to move the herd whenever you +are ready. Singing Bird goes with me."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Ted, glad that the matter was so easily disposed of. +"You can do whatever you want to with this outfit. If you say she goes, +why, she goes."</p> + +<p>He went out to where the boys were to give orders for getting the herd +on the move again.</p> + +<p>"We'll hit the trail in the morning," he said. "It will take some time +to break camp, and we might as well stay around here the rest of to-day +and get an early start in the morning."</p> + +<p>Far out on the prairie they heard a cheery shout, and saw coming toward +them a horseman, driving before him a bunch of six steers.</p> + +<p>"Git on to ther new herd crossin' our trail," said Bud derisively. +"Jumpin' sand, hills, but thet feller hez a big bunch o' cattle."</p> + +<p>"Wonder where he got them all. He's surely a big drover," said Kit.</p> + +<p>But the stranger hustled the six steers into the camp, and pulled up a +scrawny little cayuse, and, taking off his hat with a flourish to Stella +and Hallie, who had joined the boys, said:</p> + +<p>"Your pardon, ladies an' gents, but what may be ther brand that is +burned inter ther hides o' yer esteemed cattle?"</p> + +<p>Ted looked at him questioningly, and saw a tall, thin, bronzed +individual, dressed in a most unusual costume for a cow-puncher, for +such he evidently was from the manner in which he had driven the cattle, +and the way in which he sat and handled his horse.</p> + +<p>He had a strange face, half humorous and half sinister. One moment he +would be merry and gay, but in an instant, and for an instant only, it +would change to suspicion and caution. He was lean of frame, but very +muscular, and his eyes were of a keen, piercing blue.</p> + +<p>"Any particular reason for wanting to know?" asked Ted quizzically, +smiling up at the tatterdemalion of a cowboy.</p> + +<p>"Well, I reckon," was the drawling reply. "I picked up six strays out +here a ways, an' they don't belong ter no brand in this yere part o' +ther country, so I suspicions they belong ter some pilgrims' road brand. +Now, yours is ther only bunch o' trail cattle what's passed this way +recently, an' me, bein' wise ter ther ways o' ther plains, hez ther +hunch thet they might be yours. Right cute o' me, wa'n't it?"</p> + +<p>Ted laughed at the chap's half-humorous, half-serious manner.</p> + +<p>"Our brand is the Lazy Z," he replied.</p> + +<p>"Then them critters aire yourn. Look 'em over, an' if they don't belong +ter you, hand 'em back, an' I'll make 'em ther noocleus o' a herd o' my +own."</p> + +<p>Ted rode up to the six strays, which were peacefully grazing not far +away, and examined the brand. They belonged to the herd, all right, and +he said so.</p> + +<p>"Well, stranger, much obliged to you for picking them up and bringing +them in," said Ted. "Now, what can I do for you? Those critters are +worth a hundred dollars or more to this outfit. I'll split with you."</p> + +<p>"No, you won't, stranger, seein' it's all ther same ter you. I may be a +measly, fleabitten, hongry, lone maverick o' ther plains, but thar's one +thing I ain't, an' that's a 'lost and found' department, 'suitable +reward offered, an' no questions asked.' When I picks up a man's strays +I hands 'em in if I can find him, or if I was so blame' hongry I +couldn't resist ther temptation I might butcher one fer ther sake o' +sinkin' my molars inter a tenderloin steak. But thet's ther wust a +feller could say fer me. If ther critters aire yours, take 'em, an' +welcome."</p> + +<p>"All right, pardner," said Ted, who had taken a fancy to the fellow. "At +least, you'll eat with us."</p> + +<p>"Shore I'll break bread. I'm as hongry ez a shipwrecked sailor. When +does ther tocsin sound?"</p> + +<p>"The dinner bell will ring in about half an hour. Get down and turn your +cayuse out to graze, and join us about the fire."</p> + +<p>"Which means ter open ther mouth o' my war bag, an' give up my +pedigree."</p> + +<p>"Something like that," said Ted, with a laugh.</p> + +<p>The ungainly cow-puncher slid out of his saddle like an eel, and slipped +the saddle and bridle off his pony, and, giving it a slap on the haunch, +sent it out to eat.</p> + +<p>Throwing his horse furniture on the ground near the fire, he squatted in +the ring of boys about, and proceeded to roll a cigarette in a leisurely +way.</p> + +<p>"Say, hombre," he said, looking at Ted. "You've got a mighty tidy outfit +yere."</p> + +<p>Ted nodded, and continued to watch the stranger's face.</p> + +<p>"Which outfit mought it be?" asked the cow-puncher, picking a live coal +out of the fire and placing the end of his cigarette against it.</p> + +<p>"Moon Valley, Black Hills," said Ted.</p> + +<p>"An' your name mought be——"</p> + +<p>"Ted Strong."</p> + +<p>The stranger paused with his cigarette halfway to his lips, and lifted +his eyebrows.</p> + +<p>"Sho! Yer don't say?"</p> + +<p>"But I do."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm right proud ter meet up with yer, an' be able ter do yer a +small service. My handle is numerous, not because I've ever had any +serious reason ter change ther one my daddy give me, but because ther +cow-punchers has a most humorous way o' hitchin' whatever label they +thinks fits onter a man."</p> + +<p>"What's your present label?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"Ther cognomen what I packs with me now is sure fantastical. I'm known +on ther Western free range as 'The Woofer.'"</p> + +<p>"'The Woofer'? That's a strange name."</p> + +<p>"It ain't my real name, which is 'Tennessee Al.'"</p> + +<p>"How did you come to be named 'The Woofer'?"</p> + +<p>"Well, it's jest a piece o' foolishness," said the cow-puncher, laughing +at the recollection of it.</p> + +<p>"Tell us about it."</p> + +<p>"Well, it was this away: About two year ago last Chrismus I wuz punchin' +cows over on Coburn's ranch. Chrismus Eve ther boys got some cagy, an' +we all decided ter go inter Cut Bank, ther tradin' town some ten mile +away, an' cellybrate. It wuz a bad night, with ther wind blowin' out o' +ther nor'west, an' ther promise o' a bliz.</p> + +<p>"Wallace Coburn balks some at ther boys leavin' ther cattle, fer he sees +thet thar's some danger o' their driftin' in ther night. But yer don't +can up a lot o' cow-punchers Chrismus Eve when they wants ter go, so +finally he grunts out that we kin go, an' off we starts.</p> + +<p>"'Fleshy' Wheeler, so called because he wa'n't no bigger round nor a +lemonade straw, kep' a saloon in Cut Bank, an' thar wuz ter be a day. +Well, we-all went ter ther dance, which progressed beautiful, when one +o' ther boys come in an' announces that a big herd o' cattle had drifted +through ther town while we wuz trippin' ther light fantastic toe, and +that one o' ther critters had fallen inter ther town well.</p> + +<p>"Naturally, ther town people objected ter havin' range cow mixed in with +their drinkin' water, an' hinted strong that it wuz up ter us +cow-punchers ter git it out, at ther same time emphasizin' their +invitation with a lot o' shiny six-shooters.</p> + +<p>"Well, we goes inter caucus, an' decided thet ther cow belongs ter ther +Coburn outfit, an' that we're too humane ter let a pore critter stay in +a well Chrismus Eve, when joy an' peace an' merriment is reignin' +everywhere.</p> + +<p>"Now, as you-all knows, when a cow is hauled out o' a bog or a well she +don't feel no gratitood, she jest gits mad plumb through an' h'ists her +tail, an' runs fer ther fust thing she sees afoot, with her horns ready +fer immediate business.</p> + +<p>"Before we goes out ter git ther cow outer ther well, we tells Fleshy +ter stand guard at the door, an' when ther cow charges, ter let us in, +then slam ther door in ther cow's face. He agrees.</p> + +<p>"We ropes ther cow, an' altogether pulls her out an' puts her on terry +firmy. Then we hits it up fer ther house, with ther cow as mad as a +woman scorned, an' only two jumps behind me, what is ther last man ter +git under way.</p> + +<p>"Ther boys hits ther house, an' Fleshy lets 'em in, but me, bein' some +feet behind, he doesn't see, at least, that's ther way he explains ter +me later, an' he slams ther door in my face jest ez ther cow arrives.</p> + +<p>"My only chance is ter keep runnin', an' I starts around ther house, +hopin' that when I gits ter ther door ag'in Fleshy will have discovered +his mistake, an' have it open hospitablelike fer me, but cold feet fer +ther cow.</p> + +<p>"But, no, ther door is closed an' bolted, an' I start on another lap +around ther house with Mrs. Cow a-snortin' an' a-blowin' in my immediate +vicinity, an' comin' fast. Every time I hit ther ground with my hoofs I +grunted 'woof.' I wuz gittin' winded, what with runnin' an' yellin', so +thet I wuz gruntin' 'woof' most all ther time.</p> + +<p>"Inside, all wuz merriment, an' me runnin' fer my life, fer ther cow wuz +most industrious, an' didn't know what it wuz ter git tired.</p> + +<p>"Well, ter make a long tale short, I kept runnin' an' gruntin' 'woof' at +every jump, ther sweat runnin' down an' freezin' on my clothes, until +mornin', when ther cow gits tired an' goes away. Then ther boys comes +out an' finds me, an' says they're mighty surprised ter see me, havin' +conclooded that I'd gone home.</p> + +<p>"'We hear somethin' goin' "woof" all night, an' thought it wuz ther +cow,' says Fleshy, 'an' we didn't dast open ther door fer fear she'd +want ter come in, an' as there wuz ladies there, it wouldn't do. Wuz +that you what was woofin' all night?'</p> + +<p>"After that I wuzn't nothin' ter them boys but 'The Woofer.'"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2> + +<h3>SINGING BIRD'S SECRET.</h3> + + +<p>The boys laughed at the story, for Woofer, as they began to call him +immediately, told it in a most comical manner. They all took to him +immensely, and regarded him as quite an acquisition to the camp.</p> + +<p>Dinner was announced by McCall, the cook, and Woofer certainly did +justice to it, being, as Bud remarked in an aside to Hallie, "holler all +the way down to his toes." He confessed that he had had nothing to eat +but a little mud, which he had absorbed when he got a drink at a water +hole, since the noon of the day before.</p> + +<p>Ted had been thinking about the man. It would do no harm to have another +puncher in the outfit, and would relieve the night guard, which at times +was a little overworked.</p> + +<p>"Say, Woofer, you won't take a reward for bringing in our strays, how +would you like a job with this outfit?" he said.</p> + +<p>"I don't want you to think I'm workin' ther grub line," said the +cow-puncher quickly.</p> + +<p>When a cow-puncher is said to be working the grub line, he is known as a +thriftless cowman who cannot hold a job long anywhere, and who travels +from ranch to ranch, staying only long enough at each to get fed up, +then passing on with a few dollars in his pocket, to repeat the +operation elsewhere.</p> + +<p>"Certainly not," answered Ted. "If I believed that I wouldn't offer you +the job."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Woofer. "This outfit looks good to me, an' I'll jine, +an' go ter work instanter."</p> + +<p>"You're on the pay roll, then."</p> + +<p>Woofer proved quickly that he knew the business thoroughly, and when, +the next morning, the herd got under way, he took the left point, with +Bud on the right, and headed the herd into the north.</p> + +<p>For several days life on the trail was monotonous. Whenever Ted could be +spared from the herd he and Stella and Hallie Croffut, and sometimes Ben +or Kit, took long rides off the trail with their rifles, after a +pronghorn or black-tail deer, and frequently they had venison for +supper.</p> + +<p>The life was most fascinating to Hallie, who enjoyed every minute of it, +and had seemingly forgotten the unpleasant features of her start with +the party.</p> + +<p>Singing Bird rode in the wagon, with Mrs. Graham, waiting on that lady +in the capacity of maid. Stella had undertaken to teach her the duty of +maid, and the girl soon did for Mrs. Graham what had taken a great deal +of Stella's time.</p> + +<p>The Indian girl was devoted to Stella, and whenever she was near, +followed the pretty white girl with eyes in which shone devotion and +affection.</p> + +<p>She had made herself so useful, and was so self-effacing that every one +wondered how they had ever been able to get along without her.</p> + +<p>Stella had conceived a real affection for her, she was so gentle and +sweet of manner.</p> + +<p>They had long talks together in the evenings, sitting away from the +fire, the Indian girl telling her white friend all about the life led by +the Indians, their wrongs at the hands of the white men, their religious +beliefs, their songs, and their folklore.</p> + +<p>And, more important than all, she taught Stella the language of the +Blackfeet and the Sioux. Stella was a good scholar, and it was +surprising how rapidly she picked up the Indian tongues. Later she was +to feel gratitude to the Indian girl for this knowledge.</p> + +<p>For several days Stella had noticed that Singing Bird was uneasy and +apparently unhappy, and it worried her.</p> + +<p>She spoke to Ted about it, and he was of the opinion that the Indian +girl was getting homesick, that her wild nature was asserting itself, +and that she was experiencing a longing to be among her own people +again, and free from the conventions of civilized life.</p> + +<p>Stella did not think so, and determined to speak to Singing Bird about +it at the first good opportunity.</p> + +<p>One day the chance came as they were walking together in a wood near +which they had camped.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter with you, sister?" asked Stella kindly. "Is it that +you are not satisfied with our ways, and that you want to leave us?"</p> + +<p>Singing Bird looked at her with troubled eyes, in which the tears soon +began to well up.</p> + +<p>"My sister knows that I love her," she said, "and that I would not leave +her unless she wishes me to."</p> + +<p>She looked at Stella inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"No, I want you to stay. But if you are troubled, you must tell me as +one sister would tell another."</p> + +<p>"I will tell you," said the Indian girl simply, "and I would have told +you long ago, only that I did not want to trouble you, nor make trouble +for any one else in the camp."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by making trouble for any one else in the camp?"</p> + +<p>"I mean that the new man who drives the cows is a bad man. Beware of +him."</p> + +<p>"You mean the man called Woofer?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is he whom I mean. He is the traitor, and he doesn't like the +master, Ted Strong."</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?"</p> + +<p>"From what he has said to me. He is the bad man."</p> + +<p>"But tell me all about it. I didn't know that he had talked to you, +even. Why did you not tell me this before?"</p> + +<p>"The white man threatened to kill me if I told."</p> + +<p>"Now you must tell me all."</p> + +<p>"We will sit down here, for there is much to tell."</p> + +<p>Singing Bird took a seat upon a fallen tree, and Stella sat down beside +her.</p> + +<p>"Proceed," said Stella, "and leave nothing out."</p> + +<p>"When he first came to the camp, I wished he would not stay," began +Singing Bird, "but every one seemed to think he was the good man, and +who am I to say anything against the wishes of my friends who saved my +life and made me a home?"</p> + +<p>"Did you know him then?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I have seen him at the white soldiers' fort. He is the friend of +Running Bear. He is a bad man, who steals other men's cattle."</p> + +<p>"But he brought ours back to us."</p> + +<p>"That was a trick to get into your camp. He is as cunning as a bad +Indian. One day he came to me when no one was about, and told me that he +had seen my husband, Running Bear, and that I must go back to him. I was +frightened, but told him I would not do so. Then he begged me to tell +him the secret I have. I told him I could not do it."</p> + +<p>"You have never told me that secret."</p> + +<p>"But I will. Always I have intended to do so."</p> + +<p>"When you are ready. But go on."</p> + +<p>"Then he told me that if I would tell him the secret he would marry me +himself." The Indian girl flushed. "You know, sister, that it is a great +thing for an Indian girl to marry a white man."</p> + +<p>"But you are already the wife of Running Bear," said Stella, who was +puzzled.</p> + +<p>"That is the Indian marriage, and soon broken. But when I told him I +didn't want to marry him, he got very angry. I told him I was going to +stay with you, and he said that if I did I would be killed with all the +rest of you; that it was coming, and that Mr. Strong had many enemies +who were stronger than all of you."</p> + +<p>"Did he hint when this was going to take place?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, when we get to the Far North."</p> + +<p>"Did he say anything else?"</p> + +<p>"He told me that if I didn't go with him to-night he would kill me when +I slept."</p> + +<p>"We shall see about that," said Stella spiritedly. "But why is all this +fuss being made about you and your secret? It must be something very +important."</p> + +<p>"Yes, to the white man, but not to the Indian."</p> + +<p>"Then why did Running Bear shoot you because you would not tell him?"</p> + +<p>"He wanted to sell the secret to a white man for whisky."</p> + +<p>"Who is the white man? Do you know?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. But I do not like to tell."</p> + +<p>"You have told me so much, you must tell me the rest."</p> + +<p>"The white man is a soldier at the fort."</p> + +<p>"A common soldier?"</p> + +<p>"No, a chief, who carries a sword."</p> + +<p>"Oh, an officer. What is his name?"</p> + +<p>"He is called Barrows."</p> + +<p>"Oh! And he offered Running Bear whisky for your secret? That is bad."</p> + +<p>"Yes. Chief Barrows wants the secret, and he has sent the man who drives +cows here to make me tell it."</p> + +<p>"Singing Bird, you must tell me the secret."</p> + +<p>"I will."</p> + +<p>Stella settled herself to hear the Indian girl's story.</p> + +<p>"It began when I was a little child," said Singing Bird. "One time when +my father's tribe was hunting, we came to a place where a lot of white +men were digging in the sands of the big, muddy river."</p> + +<p>"Was that the Missouri?"</p> + +<p>"The white men call it so. We camped beside them, and one day I saw them +washing out of the sand little grains of yellow metal, which they +thought much of, although the Indians would rather have iron, the black +metal."</p> + +<p>"They were hunting for gold."</p> + +<p>"Yes. In their talk with my father they said that somewhere up the river +was the mother of the gold, where all this came from. They asked my +father if he knew where it was.</p> + +<p>"Now, my father had found where there was plenty of the yellow metal. +But he, too, was shrewd, and, seeing that the white men prized it so +highly, he thought he would go back and get the gold, and sell it to the +white men for iron and shot and powder and blankets.</p> + +<p>"The white men guessed that he knew where the mother of gold was, and +asked him. But he refused to tell them, and went away.</p> + +<p>"The white men followed us for days. One evening I was with my mother, +and heard my father tell her where the yellow metal was on the opposite +side of the river, pointing to a great sycamore tree that grew on the +river bank. 'Beneath that tree lies much of the yellow metal,' he said +to her, and I saw the tree, and knew what he said was true.</p> + +<p>"That night the white men came to our camp and had a long talk with my +father, trying to make him tell where the mother gold was, and, when he +would not, suddenly they fell upon the camp, and, after killing some of +the young men, drove my father and the others away. At the first shot my +mother ran away into the woods with me."</p> + +<p>"That was horrible," interjected Stella.</p> + +<p>"As my mother ran, she was shot in the back, but she kept on running +until she was out of sight before she fell.</p> + +<p>"Then the white men went away, and I lay there with my mother until she +breathed no more and was cold.</p> + +<p>"I cried for a long time because it was dark and cold, and I could hear +the wild animals in the woods all about me.</p> + +<p>"This frightened me, and I began to call 'Ai-i-e!' which is the Indian +way of lamentation, and I cried louder all the time to keep the wild +animals from me."</p> + +<p>"And did no one hear you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. In the night I heard a noise in the wood, and it was the noise of +a man walking, an Indian man, for it was soft, made by moccasins. Then I +cried louder, and soon my father came and picked both me and my mother +up in his arms and carried us away into the woods, where he buried my +mother, and went away into the North again.</p> + +<p>"But as I grew up, I thought often about the mother gold and the place +where it was hidden by the Great Spirit, for so I had heard my father +say. Once when I spoke of it to my father he told me never to speak of +it to him again, for it was cursed, having taken away from him his son, +who was killed by the white men, and my mother.</p> + +<p>"So never did I talk of it. But when Running Bear heard of it from some +of the old men who had been with my father, and heard that I was the +only one of all the tribe who knew where it was, he began to court me, +and then bought me of my father for twenty ponies.</p> + +<p>"We had not been married long when he asked me to take him to the place +of gold, but my father told me not to do so, and I did not. Then he +began to beat me, and tried to kill me, but the secret is still mine.</p> + +<p>"In time others heard that I possessed the great secret of the hiding +place of the mother gold, for when Running Bear was drunk he would boast +that his squaw was the richest woman in the world, because of her +secret, and many men have tried to get it from me. Then the army chief, +who carries the sword, got hungry for the gold, and gave Running Bear +plenty of whisky to make me tell where it was, and now he has sent +Woofer to make me tell, or to kill me."</p> + +<p>"Will you tell Ted Strong where the mother gold is hidden?" asked +Stella.</p> + +<p>"I will, if you wish me to. But it is accursed."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense. That is only a superstition. Now that you have told me, all +will be well. Be careful, and do not let Woofer see you alone, and if he +lays his hand on you, scream for me. We will now go back to the camp."</p> + +<p>As the two girls walked away with their arms around one another's +waists, a tall, gaunt man rose from behind a dead tree not far away, and +over his face spread a shrewd smile.</p> + +<p>It was Woofer.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a>CHAPTER XXXII.</h2> + +<h3>A NIGHT CHASE.</h3> + + +<p>The tent occupied by Singing Bird was pitched some distance from that +occupied by Mrs. Graham and the two girls, Stella and Hallie, and when +she had attended to the wants of Mrs. Graham, she retired to it.</p> + +<p>It was early in the evening, and when she saw that her friend had +retired, Stella sought out Ted, and told him the story she had heard +that afternoon.</p> + +<p>At first Ted was inclined to be somewhat incredulous about Woofer's +share in it as told by the Indian girl, but when he thought it over and +put together certain facts which had come to his attention, and recalled +questions, apparently innocent at the time they were asked, which Woofer +had put to him from time to time, he began to suspect that the merry +cow-puncher was, after all, merely acting a part.</p> + +<p>Ted took Bud into consultation, and the three went over the matter +carefully.</p> + +<p>If it were true that Barrows was after the gold, he had a double cause +to do injury to the broncho boys.</p> + +<p>There could be no doubt that Barrows, by virtue of his position, was +capable of being a very dangerous foe, especially in this part of the +country where the boys were virtually alone, and where they had no +friends, and were compelled to rely absolutely upon themselves.</p> + +<p>That their doings were probably known to Barrows by means of a system of +espionage conducted by Woofer, who, Ted now recalled, was in the habit +of leaving the camp for long, solitary rides at intervals. What could be +easier than when Woofer heard them talking about their plans to ride out +and meet a courier sent by Barrows to get the information?</p> + +<p>Ted resolved not only to fight Barrows with his own weapons, and to a +finish, but to interfere with his plans to get the gold in the mine to +which Singing Bird only could guide them.</p> + +<p>It was necessary, therefore, to guard the Indian girl closely, and this +he proposed to do, and when he had rid the camp of Woofer, and scoured +the country for Barrows' spies and sent them off, he would proceed to +the mine.</p> + +<p>As it was, they were headed in the direction of the Missouri River, and +it would not be at all out of their way, or interfere with their +business.</p> + +<p>Woofer was sitting with the boys around the camp fire, regaling them +with stories of cow-punching in various parts of the country, and making +of himself a most agreeable companion, and Ted, watching him carefully, +could see nothing guilty or suspicious about him.</p> + +<p>But that didn't prevent him from keeping his eyes open.</p> + +<p>Gradually the camp settled down for the night.</p> + +<p>Stella went to bed after she had peeped into the tent occupied by +Singing Bird, and satisfied herself that she was sleeping quietly and +safely.</p> + +<p>One by one the boys rolled themselves in their blankets beside the fire, +and dropped into deep slumber.</p> + +<p>Woofer had said good night among the first, saying that he was very +tired, and would "crawl into the wool," as he expressed it.</p> + +<p>Only the night guard was awake, as they rode around and around the +sleeping herd, their voices breaking out softly into song as a restless +steer arose and sniffed the air and began to walk around.</p> + +<p>Ted was lying in his blankets, breathing softly and deeply, evidently +sound asleep.</p> + +<p>Overhead the stars sparkled brightly, casting a radiance upon the earth +that made things several feet distant perfectly observable.</p> + +<p>Woofer's blankets had been spread at the edge of the circle farthest +from the fire. Ted also slept on the outer rim, and not more than ten +feet from Woofer.</p> + +<p>It was past midnight, as Ted could tell by the stars, for he was not +asleep, although feigning to be.</p> + +<p>He lay facing the place where Woofer was circled up in his blankets, +when he saw the cow-puncher raise his head cautiously, not more than an +inch or two, and look around.</p> + +<p>Ted closed his eyelids to a mere crack, for the light from the fire +shone on his face, and in that position watched Woofer's movements.</p> + +<p>Woofer was very sly and cautious. Ted had observed that he had +ostentatiously pulled off his boots when he lay down. Now he could see +by the movements of the blankets that he was pulling them on again out +of sight.</p> + +<p>"That fellow is going to get up in a minute," thought Ted, "and I think +I know just what he is going to do."</p> + +<p>He had not long to wait, for presently Woofer crawled out of his +blankets on the far side, and began to wriggle away on his belly, like a +snake.</p> + +<p>Ted still kept his eyes upon him.</p> + +<p>Once Woofer stopped and looked back to see if his escape from camp had +been observed, or if any one was stirring.</p> + +<p>Ted had not moved, and apparently was as sound asleep as ever.</p> + +<p>Reassured that no one had seen him leave his blankets, Woofer proceeded +until he was without the radius of the camp fire's glow, when he rose to +an upright position.</p> + +<p>But Ted could still follow him by the starlight.</p> + +<p>Evidently believing himself safe, Woofer did not again look around, but +walked slowly and silently toward the tents, which were plainly to be +seen about fifty feet distant from the fire.</p> + +<p>The tent in which the Indian girl was sleeping was farther from the fire +than that occupied by Mrs. Graham and her two charges.</p> + +<p>Ted had slipped from his blankets at the moment when Woofer rose to his +feet, and was creeping along, close to the ground paralleling Woofer's +progress, but about twenty feet to the left.</p> + +<p>Woofer arrived at the Indian girl's shelter and stopped, and seemed to +be listening.</p> + +<p>This gave Ted time to creep nearer.</p> + +<p>He saw the cow-puncher lift the flap of the tent and look within, still +listening carefully for anything that would tell him that Singing Bird +was awake.</p> + +<p>Ted was not more than ten feet away when Woofer disappeared.</p> + +<p>He had entered the tent.</p> + +<p>Suddenly from within it there came a muffled cry, then the tent began to +pitch and toss. Evidently a savage struggle was going on within.</p> + +<p>But it was all so silent that had Ted not been within striking distance +of it, he would not have heard anything of it.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the tent flew apart, and Woofer appeared, carrying in his arms +the insensible form of the Indian girl.</p> + +<p>Woofer was a very powerful man, and he ran swiftly from the tent bearing +the girl in his arms as if she were a child.</p> + +<p>Ted dashed after him. It did not occur to him to raise an alarm.</p> + +<p>But as swiftly as he ran, Woofer had the better of him, for a few +strides took him out of Ted's sight.</p> + +<p>Ted stopped and listened, blaming himself for not closing with Woofer +sooner.</p> + +<p>Not a sound of Woofer's retreat came to his ears.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he heard a nicker at his elbow almost, and looked around. It +was Sultan, who had smelled him, and had come to him, and was now +rubbing his velvety nose against Ted's sleeve.</p> + +<p>In an inspiration Ted leaped upon his back, and caught the headstall, +which he always left on Sultan when he turned him loose in the night so +that he could get him in a hurry should there be a night alarm of any +sort.</p> + +<p>An idea came to him as soon as he felt Sultan under him.</p> + +<p>Woofer undoubtedly had thought to have a horse saddled and ready waiting +for him somewhere near the camp. If he could only get Sultan to call to +it and get an answer, he would soon find him.</p> + +<p>He had no sooner conceived the thought when Sultan whinneyed like a +trumpet call.</p> + +<p>From a distance came an answering cry. It was the voice of Magpie, and +Ted knew it well. Stella's little black-and-white mare and Sultan were +the greatest friends, and when she heard him call, she replied.</p> + +<p>Woofer was about to steal the most valuable and swiftest of the animals, +except Sultan. That was another reason why Ted was now so keen on the +chase. He turned Sultan's head in the direction of Magpie's call, and +the little stallion galloped away like the wind.</p> + +<p>Ted had no bridle, but that was not necessary, for he and Sultan +understood one another so well that a slight pressure of the rider's +knees was all the guidance the horse needed.</p> + +<p>Again came Magpie's shrill call, and this time Sultan nickered and +fairly flew. Somewhere ahead, in the darkness, Ted heard for the first +time the hoofbeats of the pony, and knew that Woofer had reached it and +was away.</p> + +<p>"Follow her; catch her, Sultan," called Ted, and Sultan seemed to +understand, and let himself out to his full stride, although he missed +the firm, guiding hand on the bridle.</p> + +<p>Magpie was put to her utmost, but she was heavily handicapped by +carrying double for a race against Sultan, who was not even burdened by +the heavy saddle he usually bore.</p> + +<p>So it was that Sultan steadily gained on the little mare, who was not +disposed to do her utmost even under whip and spur, which Woofer did not +spare.</p> + +<p>They were now racing in the dark along the ridge of a deep coulee, the +wall on the right of which went down steeply to a depth of thirty or +more feet.</p> + +<p>Ted could not see the way, but he knew that they were riding a perilous +path, and that a slip of the foot or a rolling rock might cost them +their lives.</p> + +<p>But he knew Sultan's feet were sure, and that unless an accident which +could not be avoided took place, they were safe.</p> + +<p>He had so gained on Woofer that he could now see him dimly outlined +against the sky in advance of him.</p> + +<p>If it were only level ground on which he could urge Sultan, it would not +be a matter of more than a few minutes before he would be up with him.</p> + +<p>But evidently Woofer saw him, also, for there was the flash of a +revolver, and a ball sang past Ted's head.</p> + +<p>He dared not fire in return for fear of hitting Singing Bird.</p> + +<p>But the race must end soon, for Ted was steadily gaining.</p> + +<p>At length they swept down from the ridge and into the coulee, along the +level bottom of which they galloped, Sultan always edging up, closer and +closer to Magpie, who evidently was slowing down.</p> + +<p>Now Ted spoke to Sultan and urged him for the first time, and the +gallant little beast spurted forward, and in an instant's time was +abreast of the other horse.</p> + +<p>Ted's eyes were almost put out by a blinding flash, and there was a +deafening roar.</p> + +<p>Woofer had placed his forty-five close to his head, leaning far out of +his saddle, and fired.</p> + +<p>By same interposition of Providence, however, the ball went past his +head, singeing his hair, and he bent forward and struck Woofer on the +head with the butt of his own weapon.</p> + +<p>Woofer seemed to shrink in the saddle, like a wet rag, and the Indian +girl was slipping from his arms to the ground when Ted seized her and +transferred her to his own saddle.</p> + +<p>At the same moment the insensible form of Woofer slipped to the ground.</p> + +<p>Feeling herself free of her burden, Magpie came to a stop, and trotted +back to where Ted was waiting for her, and rubbed noses with Sultan.</p> + +<p>The Indian girl had been rendered unconscious by a blow on the head in +the tent, and was just recovering as Ted rescued her from a fall to the +ground.</p> + +<p>Presently she opened her eyes, and, not knowing what had taken place +within the last few minutes, she tried to struggle out of Ted's arms, at +the same time uttering shrill screams, and trying to use her finger +nails on his face. She was fighting like a wild cat, and it was all Ted +could do to prevent her from injuring him, while he was trying to get +her quiet enough to realize the change in her fortunes.</p> + +<p>Finally she recognized his voice and ceased to struggle, but sat up and +looked at him in amazement.</p> + +<p>"It is I, Singing Bird," said he. "I followed you and took you away from +Woofer. You are safe."</p> + +<p>Then she saw it was so, and remained quiet.</p> + +<p>He let her slip to the ground, and then assisted her to mount Magpie, +and thus they rode slowly back to camp.</p> + +<p>Before going Ted got down from Sultan's back and found Woofer, who was +lying where he fell. He was not in a serious condition, but Ted knew +that he would suffer from a severe headache when he awoke. Then he would +have to take care of himself, alone on the vast prairie without a horse. +But it was his own lookout, and perhaps it would teach him a much-needed +lesson.</p> + +<p>When they reached camp the night guard was changing, and, seeing Ted and +the Indian girl come riding in together, the boys aroused the whole camp +with their eager questions.</p> + +<p>Ted told them briefly all that had happened during the attempted +abduction of Singing Bird, but the time was not ripe to divulge the +burden of the Indian girl's story of the gold in the mother lode.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE LOCOED STEER.</h3> + + +<p>The daring attempt to abduct the Indian girl made a strong impression on +every one of the Moon Valley outfit, and they resolved that they would +not be caught napping in that manner again.</p> + +<p>The herd continued to move forward slowly toward the north, with nothing +to vary the monotony.</p> + +<p>The long, grassy slopes of Montana furnished the best of feed, and the +country was plentifully watered with clear, flashing mountain streams, +and, all in all, it was an ideal cow country.</p> + +<p>The herd was now well up toward the northeast corner of Montana, and not +far away was the Missouri, near the banks of which Ted intended to hold +the cattle until they were in fine condition, and then drive them by +easy stages to the railroad.</p> + +<p>One day Bud rode up to Ted with a very serious face, so unusual a thing +that Ted looked at him with a grin.</p> + +<p>"What's the grouch about now, Bud?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I ain't got no grouch," answered Bud.</p> + +<p>"No? You look as if some one had handed you a lemon."</p> + +<p>"No lemons in mine, but I jest got a hunch that this yere outfit is +being follered, an' that thar's some dirty work doin'."</p> + +<p>"What makes you think that?"</p> + +<p>"I found a couple o' dead steers back a bit with our brand on them."</p> + +<p>"Great Scott! What seemed the matter with them?"</p> + +<p>"All swelled up."</p> + +<p>"Poison?"</p> + +<p>"That's what makes them swell up. There's no disease in ther herd, what +I kin diskiver. All healthy enough. But some o' them is showin' signs o' +loco, an' thar ain't no loco weed on this range."</p> + +<p>"That's mighty strange. I hadn't noticed it. What do you think of it?"</p> + +<p>"I believe that dog Woofer is follerin' us, an' has been spreadin' +poison o' some kind on ther range what either kills or makes ther steers +crazy."</p> + +<p>"If that is true, it is the most serious thing that has come our way in +a long time. It wouldn't take much of that sort of work to put the whole +bunch out of business and leave us with not enough cattle to pay to +drive back to the road."</p> + +<p>"That's right. We'd be in a pretty fix with the best o' our herd rottin' +out here on the prairie. And about all we've got is tied up in it, too."</p> + +<p>"What do you think is behind it?"</p> + +<p>"Barrows, the dirty little coward of an officer back there at Fort +Felton, striking back-hand blows at us through his money, by hirin' +crooks and murderers to do his dirty work. There's more than one man at +work at this."</p> + +<p>"I've no doubt you're right. By Jove! I'm going to take a look at the +situation myself."</p> + +<p>"Be careful about goin' too far away from the herd alone."</p> + +<p>"I will; and, say, warn Stella and Miss Croffut about going out of sight +of the herd, and to always fire a signal if strange men approach them +when away from camp."</p> + +<p>"I'll put everybody on, and warn them to be on their guard."</p> + +<p>As Ted rode on, he turned the matter over in his mind.</p> + +<p>Not knowing exactly if poison had been given the cattle, or if they had +eaten of a poisonous weed, of which he had no knowledge, Ted was in a +quandary. But it was questions like this that came before cowmen on the +range, and it was the successful ones who solved them.</p> + +<p>Ted felt, therefore, that it was up to him to get at the cause of the +trouble which had unexpectedly come to him.</p> + +<p>If he was being followed by a band of cattle poisoners who worked in the +night, the sooner he knew it the better, for he could then lay plans to +put them out of their nefarious business.</p> + +<p>As he rode, he came across three swollen bodies of steers, and examined +them. Clearly they had been poisoned, as Bud had said.</p> + +<p>Far out on the range he saw a lone steer. Thinking that it was a stray, +he rode toward it, with the intention of driving it back toward the +herd.</p> + +<p>For a herd steer, it was acting in an unaccountable manner. At times it +galloped away in a frantic sort of way, throwing its head from side to +side, then as suddenly stopping, and, with drooping head, standing +quietly. Then away it would go again, charging at some unseen foe, only +to become stupid once more.</p> + +<p>"Something wrong with that brute," said Ted to himself. "Either it has +got into a nest of rattlesnakes and has been bitten and is charging +them, or it is locoed. We'll soon see."</p> + +<p>He kept on fearlessly toward the steer, which continued its strange +conduct.</p> + +<p>When he was still several feet away the steer noticed him for the first +time, apparently. It lowered its head and looked at him in a dazed sort +of way.</p> + +<p>This steer was known as Blue Eyes, on account of the curious bluish +patch of hair that grew around one of its eyes. It had always been known +as a particularly intelligent and tractable beast.</p> + +<p>But now it was a very demon, with gleaming, blood-shot eyes and pawing +hoofs, uttering deep, guttural bellows, and throwing the sand up over +its back to the accompaniment of its thrashing tail.</p> + +<p>"You look pretty dangerous, old fellow," muttered Ted, stopping his pony +and gazing at it from a safe distance.</p> + +<p>"No signs of rattlesnakes around here, or I'd smell them," soliloquized +Ted. "Wonder what's the matter with you."</p> + +<p>For answer, the steer gave an extra flip to its tail, and, without +further warning, charged upon Ted with head down and wicked horns +gleaming like bayonets. Ted's horse gave a snort of fear, and trembled +in every muscle.</p> + +<p>Ted at once realized his danger, and wheeled his horse like a +bullfighter as Blue Eyes dashed past him, its horn scraping his leg.</p> + +<p>"It's fight or run," thought Ted, "with a poor chance to get away from +the brute. When they're in that condition they can run like an +automobile."</p> + +<p>Again the steer, having recovered itself, turned to the attack.</p> + +<p>"I'll have to put a few bullets into that brute, if this thing keeps up +much longer. It's just crazy enough not to be afraid of a man on +horseback, besides, it's a good deal more active than usual." Ted's +thoughts were keeping time with the swift actions of the brute, which +was wheeling and charging like mad, so that it took all his agility and +superb horsemanship to keep clear of it.</p> + +<p>Now the horse was getting tired, and was almost useless because it was +losing whatever sense it had had, and was becoming awkward and +unmanageable.</p> + +<p>The steer stood off for several minutes looking at Ted in a lowering +way, but when Ted tried to run from it, it was close to his heels in a +minute, and he had to simply throw the horse to one side, bringing it to +its knees, to avoid the brute.</p> + +<p>"That settles it," said Ted, taking his forty-five from its holster and +advancing slowly upon the frantic steer.</p> + +<p>As it started to charge again he fired directly at the middle of its +forehead.</p> + +<p>But the animal was hardly staggered, as the missile flattened on its +skull and fell harmlessly to the ground.</p> + +<p>"This won't do," said Ted. "I've got to get into this game myself. No +more peek-a-boo goes with Blue Eyes. I'll do the tackling for a while."</p> + +<p>He wheeled out of the way, then turned suddenly and rode after the +steer, firing four balls in rapid succession into its body.</p> + +<p>But this did not seem to affect the animal's spirits at all, and Ted +rode off a short distance and reloaded.</p> + +<p>When he turned again toward the beast it was charging, and was so close +to him that he hardly had time to get out of its way.</p> + +<p>He might have made it had not the horse caught the smell of blood, which +was running from the steer in several places.</p> + +<p>This rattled him so that he lost his footing, and the next instant he +was struck on the withers by the steer's horns and went rolling over and +over on the prairie, while Ted Strong flew from his back, and landed +heavily on the sod, with his revolver knocked from his hand.</p> + +<p>The locoed steer stood a few feet away pawing the earth and looking at +him with dim eyes, all blood-shot and crazy, not making a move toward +him, yet always seeming about to do so.</p> + +<p>Stealthily, inch by inch, Ted crawled toward where his forty-five lay on +the ground.</p> + +<p>It was six feet from where he lay to that gun, and he prayed silently +that he could reach it before the steer changed its mind and rushed him.</p> + +<p>He knew it would do no good for him to rise and go toward the weapon. If +he did, the steer would immediately rush him, and that would be the end +of things for him, for he would stand no chance whatever against that +terrible beast, crazed, and powerful beyond its ordinary strength.</p> + +<p>As long as he crept gently the steer seemed not to notice him.</p> + +<p>Now he was within five feet of the revolver with his arm stretched out +at full length. It was only four feet now, and still the steer did not +make any move to attack him.</p> + +<p>He was trying to think where he would shoot it. In the throat, ranging +so that the bullet would pierce its heart; or through the eye, and so +reach its brain.</p> + +<p>Now his fingers closed around the weapon, and he clutched it +convulsively, leaping to his feet like an acrobat.</p> + +<p>At the same moment the steer, bellowing like an insane thing, charged +upon him, and he fired into its blue eye.</p> + +<p>The ball pierced the brain and killed the brute instantly, but did not +stop the headlong flight of it, and before Ted could step out of its +way, it struck him with the force of a locomotive. As he went to the +ground, the dead steer fell on top of him.</p> + +<p>Ted's fight with the steer had been seen, and across the prairie two +flying figures simply split the air. When they reached the side of the +prostrate steer, they flung themselves to the earth and flew to the +rescue of Ted. One was Stella and the other was Bud.</p> + +<p>"Is he dead?" asked Stella breathlessly.</p> + +<p>"I reckon not," answered the cow-puncher, who, secretly, was very much +afraid he was; he didn't see how Ted could help being dead, having been +charged by a steer, and having gone down beneath its weight.</p> + +<p>He was struggling like a demon to lift the heavy animal from Ted's body.</p> + +<p>The bulk of the steer was lying across Ted's chest, whose face was black +from the congestion, so that Stella dared not look at him.</p> + +<p>"Pump yer gun fer all it's worth," commanded Bud, in a rough voice. +"Keep shootin' till yer bring 'em on ther run. We've got ter get him +from under this steer soon, er he'll be all in."</p> + +<p>Stella had snatched her Winchester from the boot of her saddle, and +fired it in rapid succession into the air until the magazine was empty. +Then she refilled it, and began shooting again.</p> + +<p>Presently she heard answering shots from the direction of the camp, and +in a few minutes several horsemen came tearing over the top of a distant +hill, to disappear into a valley and come into sight again on a nearer +hill. Soon, with a shout that fairly split the air, six of the boys, led +by Ben and Kit, threw themselves from their saddles in front of her.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" they yelled in unison.</p> + +<p>"Throw that steer off Ted," she commanded.</p> + +<p>Then they saw what the matter was, and altogether they hoisted the +steer, and Ted was freed of the terrible weight.</p> + +<p>He was scarcely breathing, for the wind had been completely knocked out +of him. Ben laid him flat on his back, and, straddling him, with his +knees on the ground, began to work Ted's arms with an upward, backward, +and outward motion, as if he was restoring the breath to a half-drowned +person. Soon a flush came into Ted's face, and he gave a gasp, and his +breath came in short, painful inhalations. As Ben continued the +exercise, his breathing became regular, and he opened his eyes with +surprise, to see so many of his friends about him, and particularly big +Ben straddling him and apparently holding him down. He thought at first +that Ben was responsible for his prostrate condition, or that he had +struck him.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing?" Ted said angrily. "Let me up, dog-gone you."</p> + +<p>But when he saw the dead steer on the ground beside him he remembered +what had happened, and sat up and laughed with the others.</p> + +<p>It did not take him long to recover after this.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to try to find out what caused this beast to go mad," said +Ted. "There's certainly something wrong about it."</p> + +<p>"How are you going to find that out?" asked Ben.</p> + +<p>"I don't know yet, but I will," Ted answered. "Come on, two or three of +you fellows. The rest of you ride back to the camp. You may be needed +there. We can't guard things too closely these days."</p> + +<p>The party separated, and Ted, with Bud, Ben, and Kit, rode away, but +they had gone only a little ways when they heard a noise behind them. It +was Stella galloping toward them.</p> + +<p>"I'm going, too," she said, and go she did.</p> + +<p>Riding about half a mile west they came to a deep coulee, into which +they descended and followed its course for a short distance, when +suddenly Ted held up his hand as a signal to halt.</p> + +<p>"I smell burning paper," he said, and, getting down from his saddle, +went forward alone on foot, as silently as an Indian.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he bent forward, examining something on the ground, and +motioned the others forward. They rode to his side, and saw him looking +at a small, dead camp fire.</p> + +<p>"Some one camped here last night," he said, thrusting his hand into the +warm ashes. "And whoever it was burned papers in it before he went away +this morning; the smell of them is still in the air." But no nose in the +party was keen-scented enough to detect it except Ted's.</p> + +<p>Ted was still pawing among the ashes, when a change in expression swept +over his face, and soon he pulled out several small pieces of charred +paper. They were only burned on their curled-up edges, and Ted saw that +they were covered with writing, evidently part of a letter.</p> + +<p>"What's this?" he exclaimed, after he had spread them out, and studied +them attentively. "Here are some words. There is not very much sense in +them, though."</p> + +<p>"What do they read?" asked Stella.</p> + +<p>"This is all I can make out of it: 'I *end you *** **nds of ***is **een. +***tter it on *** *rass. nce rr ws,'. Sounds as crazy as the steer, +doesn't it?"</p> + +<p>"That's as easy as living on a farm," said Stella, who had been looking +over Ted's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"All right, Miss Smarty, what is it?" said Ted laughingly.</p> + +<p>"See, it's part of instructions to some one, and the way I read it is +like this: 'I send you so many pounds'—I don't know just how many, but +from the spaces the weight is expressed in three letters or three +figures. The next is presumably a poison, although I wouldn't have +thought of it if you hadn't spoken of it. What does two words, the first +ending in 'is' and the other in 'een' mean, I wonder?"</p> + +<p>They all scratched their heads for an answer.</p> + +<p>"Why, sure, I have it," said Ted. "It is Paris green."</p> + +<p>"That's it. Clever boy. Then there's 'tter,' which simply shouts +'scatter' at you. After that 'rass.' That's not hard. It reads so far: +'I send you, say six, pounds of Paris green,' although it must have been +more than that. 'Scatter it on the grass.'"</p> + +<p>"But the rest of it. That will stump you," said Ben.</p> + +<p>"That's what caused me to get next to it first. It's Clarence Barrows, +as sure as you're born!"</p> + +<p>"Stella, you're right, by jinks!" shouted Bud. "Ther sweet-scented +Lieutenant Barrows has sent men out yere ter poison our critters, and +we've caught him with ther goods on."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h2> + +<h3>THE BOBWHITE'S CALL.</h3> + + +<p>The discovery that Lieutenant Barrows had lent himself to such an +enormous crime in the sight of all cowmen as to attempt to poison a herd +of cattle, served to keep them all silent as they rode homeward, but +around the fire that night their tongues loosened as they discussed it.</p> + +<p>They told Hallie Croffut nothing about it, as they wished to save her +pain, for as far as any of them knew she was still betrothed to +Lieutenant Barrows, who was proving himself an enemy indeed.</p> + +<p>"I see how it is, and how easy," said Ted. "They have been following us +ever since we have been on the trail, but from a secure distance, +generally riding parallel with us, out of sight in coulees, watching us +continually."</p> + +<p>"But how could they poison our cattle, without our seeing some of them +sometimes?" asked Kit.</p> + +<p>"Easy enough. Probably there are only two of them, for more would be in +the way, and run more risk of being seen."</p> + +<p>"But about the poisoning part of it? I don't understand how they could +do it."</p> + +<p>"That's easy, too. They are probably a day ahead of us all the time, +guessing at our probable direction of march. If they guess it wrong, +they try it over again, for they are never more than a mile or so away. +When they pick out a place where they think we will graze, they scatter +the Paris green on the grass for the cattle to lick up. It takes a +good-sized dose of the poison to affect so large an animal as a steer, +and that is probably why we have not lost more of our stock by that +means. They could never get quite enough, that is, the most of them, to +kill them. Such as are dead did get enough to make them loco first, and +kill them afterward."</p> + +<p>"Another thing," said Kit: "We have had several heavy rains in the early +morning lately, and that has served to run the poison off."</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't wonder, also, if they haven't missed our route several +times, and left the Paris green to poison some other herd," said Stella.</p> + +<p>"Their salvation, I am convinced, is also due to the peculiar quality of +the water they have found to drink. Who knows but that it is a perfect +antidote for the Paris green?" said Ben wisely.</p> + +<p>"Oh, slush!" interposed Bud. "I reckon ther truth is they haven't begun +ter poison in right earnest yet. From ther letter, I would think that +they had just received the stuff and were trying it out before they +begin the big poisoning stunt. I'll bet Woofer is the chief actor, and +that he's just met ther feller what brought ther poison out with him. +Having found that it worked on a few o' ther cattle, they'll spread it +on thick ahead o' us. An' ther wust part o' it is, thar don't seem no +way ter circumvent 'em, onless we go hunt fer 'em, an' put 'em out er +business quick."</p> + +<p>"Well said, Bud," was Ted's comment. "There's no way of discovering the +confounded stuff. We can't go ahead with a microscope and a chemical +laboratory to analyze every blade of grass along the route for Paris +green. The best we can do is to take our chances and keep going north. +But I think we'd better establish outside picket lines which will stay +well in advance, and off to the flanks. If it can be done, this system +will succeed in at least frightening them off for a while. Everybody +prepare to stand extra hours in the saddle."</p> + +<p>A line of outriders was established at once, and the herd pushed on, and +for several days there were no evidences that any more of the cattle had +been poisoned.</p> + +<p>They were nearing the river, as they could tell by the gradual sloping +of the land to the east, and the flatness of the country.</p> + +<p>One afternoon about four o'clock Brock, one of the hired cow-punchers, +came riding into camp as fast as his horse would run, and fell out of +the saddle. He had been shot through the leg, and was almost insensible +from loss of blood when he succeeded in getting in.</p> + +<p>When he was able to speak, he said to Ted:</p> + +<p>"I was riding picket about two miles off to the west. As I topped a hill +I saw a body of men about a quarter of a mile away. With my glasses I +saw that they were soldiers, and wondered what they were doing so far +from a post, as there isn't one nearer here than Fort Felton."</p> + +<p>"Soldiers, eh?" asked Ted. "Cavalry or infantry?"</p> + +<p>"Cavalry."</p> + +<p>"How many of them were there?"</p> + +<p>"I should say about fifty."</p> + +<p>"Did they see you?"</p> + +<p>"They must have seen me, for I saw them brought to a halt, and remain +that way for several minutes, while the officer was looking at me +through his binoculars. After they had satisfied themselves as to what I +was, they galloped to the north, and I soon lost sight of them behind +the hills."</p> + +<p>"I wonder what troops are doing out here. I haven't heard of any trouble +with the Indians, and there is no gang of outlaws this far north that it +would take troops to subdue."</p> + +<p>Stella looked at Ted significantly, and he read her thoughts.</p> + +<p>Could it be that Lieutenant Barrows had been able to use his influence, +or his cunning, to bring a detachment of troops so far away from the +post to attend to his own personal affairs, while ostensibly on the +government's business?</p> + +<p>He dismissed the thought, however, as soon as it was conceived. It +appeared to be too ridiculous.</p> + +<p>However, they were all on their guard now. They realized that there were +others on the range, and they were aware that a powerful and vindictive +enemy was close at hand.</p> + +<p>"How did you come to receive the shot in the leg?" asked Ted, breaking +the silence.</p> + +<p>"As I turned to ride to camp to report what I had seen, something moved +down in the coulee. At first I thought it might be a wolf or coyote, but +as I drove the pony into it a shot was fired, and it got me in the leg. +I didn't wait for any more, as I did not know how many men there might +be, and I deemed it wise to get to camp alive with the news."</p> + +<p>"The poisoners!" was Ted's brief comment.</p> + +<p>"They've got us pretty well hemmed in," said Ben. "They mean business."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but we'll break through, and beat them yet," said Ted, with +conviction.</p> + +<p>But they were a long ways from being out of danger yet as they were soon +to know.</p> + +<p>That evening Ted, accompanied by Stella and Hallie, rode out of camp. +Ted wanted to spy out the land in advance to see if there were any signs +of the troops and the poisoners.</p> + +<p>They were riding along out of sight of the camp, talking cheerfully and +feeling perfectly safe, when they were brought to a sudden stop by a +command, "Halt!" given in a gruff tone.</p> + +<p>They stared in amazement when they saw that they were surrounded by a +detachment of soldiers, and that the command had been given by a +sergeant. A dozen carbines were leveled at them.</p> + +<p>"What's the meaning of this?" asked Ted, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Orders for your arrest," answered the sergeant gruffly. "Disarm the +man."</p> + +<p>Several soldiers stepped to Ted's side, and the one who attempted to +take Ted's rifle from its boot on the saddle received a kick on the +chest that sent him sprawling on his back.</p> + +<p>But as the kick was delivered, and before he could do anything further +in his defense, Ted was struck a ringing blow on the head with the butt +of a carbine, and was dragged from the saddle.</p> + +<p>As he went down he heard a shout of alarm.</p> + +<p>"Don't shoot!" he heard the sergeant cry. "Let her go. We don't want +her, anyway."</p> + +<p>Then Ted knew that Stella had escaped, to carry the news back to the +boys, and to bring assistance.</p> + +<p>"I wish the Indian girl had been along," the sergeant said to one of the +men. "We'd have all we wanted, then."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'll get her later," was the reply.</p> + +<p>Ted was hoisted to his feet in no gentle manner, and then he discovered +that his arms had been bound. Sitting on her pony was Hallie Croffut, +pale but calm, regarding the scene with an expression of contempt.</p> + +<p>"What is the meaning of this, Brown?" she asked, addressing the sergeant</p> + +<p>"Orders from a s'perior officer, miss," said the sergeant +apologetically, saluting respectfully.</p> + +<p>"Well, you and your superior officer will be sorry for this day's work +when the colonel hears of it," was all she said.</p> + +<p>The sergeant saluted again, and ordered the men to march.</p> + +<p>Ted was lifted into his saddle, and, in the center of the detachment, +was marched away.</p> + +<p>They rode thus for several miles, when, in the gathering dusk, Ted saw +ahead of him a small cabin.</p> + +<p>In a few moments they were in front of it, and Ted and Hallie were +assisted to the ground and bade to enter.</p> + +<p>In the center of the room, seated at a table, was Lieutenant Barrows, +who scowled at Ted, but hadn't the courage, apparently, to look at his +fiancée.</p> + +<p>Hallie Croffut did not address him, but he felt the glance of scorn she +gave him, for he winced under it.</p> + +<p>"For what am I arrested?" asked Ted coolly.</p> + +<p>"You will discover when your trial comes," was the cold reply.</p> + +<p>"And why have you dared to detain me?" asked Hallie.</p> + +<p>"Your father's orders, Miss Croffut," he said almost inaudibly.</p> + +<p>"I believe that you are lying. If you are, Heaven help you, for there is +not a decent man in all the army who will not hound you to disgrace. To +think that you would countenance this outrage against your colonel's +daughter is almost past belief. But now I know you for what you are, you +cur."</p> + +<p>Barrows went white as a sheet as she said this, and his lip curled back +from his teeth, like those of an angry dog, as he half rose to his feet +with a gesture as if he would strike her. But he thought better of it, +and sank back.</p> + +<p>"Brown, take them away," he said to the sergeant. "I will hold you +personally responsible for them."</p> + +<p>The sergeant saluted, and, catching Ted by the elbow, marched him into +the next room.</p> + +<p>Hallie Croffut started to follow him, when she was stayed by Barrows.</p> + +<p>"Hallie, won't you come back with me?" he pleaded. "If you will, I will +release Strong and let the rest of it go."</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't trust you out of my sight," said the girl. "Oh, how happy I +am that I have found you out in time. You are the most miserable +specimen of a man I ever heard of, and to think that you have called +yourself an officer and a gentleman. But this is the last for you. If +you were brave enough you ought to kill yourself to save the army from +the disgrace of having had you in it."</p> + +<p>"Curse you!" he cried, in impotent rage. "If you were not a woman I +would knock you down."</p> + +<p>"If you feel like it, don't let so small a matter that I am a girl and +your colonel's daughter interfere with your pleasure. Strike me!"</p> + +<p>But Barrows only stared at her with a white face, and with a muttered +curse left the room.</p> + +<p>"This way, miss," said the sergeant. She entered the room into which Ted +had been taken, but he was not there.</p> + +<p>In the middle of the floor was an open trapdoor.</p> + +<p>"I must ask you to go down there," said the sergeant. "You will find a +ladder. You will be safe, and it is not for long. We start for the post +soon, I am told."</p> + +<p>Hallie made no reply, but did as she was bid.</p> + +<p>The cellar was as dark as a pocket, and she could see absolutely nothing +as her feet touched the earth floor.</p> + +<p>But she found a box, and sat down upon it. The trap was closed, a bolt +shot in it, and she was in Stygian darkness.</p> + +<p>She was terribly frightened at first, but there were no rats in the +cellar, which she had at first feared, and she fell to thinking what it +all meant. Surely the army must have gone entirely mad that she, Hallie +Croffut, its pet, should be under arrest in a dark and musty cellar.</p> + +<p>But presently her heart stopped beating. In a far corner she heard a +faint noise.</p> + +<p>Something else was in the place with her. What could it be? Where was +Ted? What did it all mean?</p> + +<p>Then she heard a groan, and an uneasy movement.</p> + +<p>"Who is it?" Hallie asked, in a trembling voice.</p> + +<p>"Is that you, Hallie?" It was Ted's voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is I. Where are you?"</p> + +<p>"Over here in the corner. Those brutes threw me down the ladder, and it +stunned me. Come here. Perhaps you can untie my hands. Then we will see +what chance there is for escape."</p> + +<p>Ted was soon released, and, climbing the ladder, tried the trapdoor, but +found it securely fastened.</p> + +<p>There had been no sound above them for some time, and Ted came to the +conclusion that the soldiers were gone.</p> + +<p>He was right. When the prisoners had been thrust into the cellar, +Barrows and his men rode away, leaving them alone.</p> + +<p>Hours dragged along in the dark, and they scarcely spoke to one another, +both lost in their thoughts.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Ted started up. Outside he heard a whistle, and he listened for +it to be repeated. It was the whistle of the bobwhite. He knew that +there were no quail in this region at this time of the year. He knew, +too, that it was an Indian signal which Stella and Singing Bird had used +between them. Could it be that Stella was outside, and that she was +signaling the house, and thinking it occupied, did not dare come to it? +He answered it as well as he could, knowing, however, that the sound +would not get beyond the cellar.</p> + +<p>For several minutes the whistling continued, then stopped. What if they +had gone away?</p> + +<p>After a long time, it seemed, he heard a stealthy noise overhead. Some +one was crawling through the window. Then there was a light step +overhead.</p> + +<p>"Ted! Hallie! Where are you?" It was Stella calling to them, and they +both raised their voices in a joyous shout. Then the bolt slipped, and +the trap was raised.</p> + +<p>"Come up out of there," cried Stella, "unless you like it. Singing Bird +and I started out after you. I met her on the way, and she trailed you +here. She has just started back for the boys."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a>CHAPTER XXXV.</h2> + +<h3>A DUEL WITH LARIATS.</h3> + + +<p>Outside it was night, and beyond the clearing the woods were dark. Both +Ted's and Hallie's horses were gone, and it would be impossible for them +to start back toward the camp without them.</p> + +<p>"We'd better hide in the woods until morning," said Stella. "Singing +Bird will guide the boys here. Besides, we do not know when that brave +warrior Barrows will return with his soldiers."</p> + +<p>"That is a good idea," said Ted, and they crossed the clearing to the +woods, and found a place of concealment from which they could see all +that took place at the house.</p> + +<p>The night was far advanced, and the girls were sleeping on a couch of +dried pine needles, which Ted had gathered for them.</p> + +<p>Ted was on watch to shield them from harm, and to drive away the animals +of the night.</p> + +<p>He was half asleep himself, sitting with his back to a tree with his +head on his arms, which were crossed on his knees.</p> + +<p>An unusual sound brought him to his senses instantly, and he was +listening intently.</p> + +<p>He heard the sound of horses' feet, and the subdued rumble of men +talking.</p> + +<p>There were only two horses, and they were coming on uncertainly.</p> + +<p>Evidently their riders did not know their way, and were feeling along in +the dark, which was intense.</p> + +<p>"It ought to be along here somewhere."</p> + +<p>It was the voice of Woofer.</p> + +<p>"Well, I hope it is," said another voice, "I'm tired of this night +riding. When did the boss say he'd be here?"</p> + +<p>"Early in ther mornin'. He's goin' ter make an attack on ther cow camp +ter-night, an' what he don't kill he's goin' ter bring here, an' +stampede ther cattle an' scatter them all over ther range."</p> + +<p>Woofer laughed as he said it.</p> + +<p>"I don't care much what he does," he continued, "if he'll only turn over +ther Injun gal ter me. That'll be ernuff fer you an' me, I reckon."</p> + +<p>"Then what's he goin' ter do?"</p> + +<p>"He's goin' ter take that Croffut gal, he's jest crazy about her, an' +hike her off ter ther coast, an' put her aboard a private yacht he's got +there, an' that'll be ther last o' her in this community."</p> + +<p>"What's goin' ter happen ter ther rest o' them?"</p> + +<p>"He's got er nice little deal fixed up fer Ted Strong. He wuz tellin' me +thet if I wanted it, ther job was mine. I reckon I'll take it," and +Woofer laughed heartily.</p> + +<p>"You're ter be ther executioner, eh?"</p> + +<p>"That's about ther size o' it."</p> + +<p>"An' yer hate yer job, eh?" This was greeted with uproarious laughter.</p> + +<p>"Like a kid hates candy."</p> + +<p>"What's it goin' ter be?"</p> + +<p>"A little rope play, I reckon."</p> + +<p>"That's yer long suit. Hello, what's this? Here we are at the cabin."</p> + +<p>Ted heard the men dismount and enter the cabin, and then their voices +roaring with rage.</p> + +<p>"They've escaped, darn 'em!" they heard Woofer shout. "Hey, there, turn +out an' hunt 'em! Ther boss will be wild when he finds this out."</p> + +<p>"Hunt fer 'em nothin', in this dark? Yer wouldn't find 'em in a blue +moon. Why, it was all we could do ter find ther cabin."</p> + +<p>"Well, they can't git far away. We'll find 'em in ther mornin'."</p> + +<p>They retired to the cabin again, and slammed the door.</p> + +<p>"Did you hear that?"</p> + +<p>Stella's hand was on Ted's arm, and she whispered to him in an awed sort +of voice.</p> + +<p>"You awake?" he said. "Yes, I heard it, but don't let it worry you. They +won't get us very soon."</p> + +<p>They heard Hallie sobbing quietly.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, dear?" asked Stella. "Don't be frightened."</p> + +<p>"Suppose he does," sobbed Hallie.</p> + +<p>"Suppose who does what?" asked Stella, throwing her arms around her +friend.</p> + +<p>"Suppose Lieutenant Barrows does get me and takes me away on a boat. Oh, +I shall kill myself!"</p> + +<p>"Never fear," said Ted. "He won't do that. Why, the whole army would be +up in arms and after him before he got fifty miles."</p> + +<p>Hallie took comfort in this, and slept again, while Ted and Stella +remained on guard.</p> + +<p>As the night wore on, they both became very sleepy, and they must have +dropped into a doze, for when they awoke at the sound of a loud laugh, +the sun was shining brightly, and they were surrounded by soldiers, and +Woofer was looking down at them with a sneering laugh.</p> + +<p>"Jest like ther babes in ther woods," he shouted, and the soldiers +laughed with him.</p> + +<p>Ted was on his feet in an instant, feeling for his revolver, but it was +not in its accustomed place, and he suddenly remembered that it had been +taken from him by the soldiers the night before.</p> + +<p>"Whar's ther lootenant?" asked Woofer. "He'd be glad ter see this +tablow."</p> + +<p>"He's gone out inter ther woods ter walk his mad off. When he got within +strikin' distance o' ther cow camp last night his sand run out, and he +started back. Then when he found that his birds had flown that was ther +last kick what sent him down."</p> + +<p>"What's he goin' ter do now."</p> + +<p>"I reckon he'll make ther best o' what he's got now. Come, git up." +Woofer spoke roughly to the two girls, and they arose. "Come along back +to the cabin. Ther lootenant will be mighty glad ter see yer. One o' you +sour doughs hunt up ther lootenant an' tell him ther lost is found."</p> + +<p>Ted saw that resistance was useless, and, taking the girls by the hand, +he crossed the wide clearing between the woods and the cabin; at the +door of which they arrived just as Barrows strode up.</p> + +<p>One of the soldiers was busy preparing breakfast, and the others were +grouped around jesting about their night's work.</p> + +<p>The two girls were sent into the room in which Ted and Hallie had been +taken the night before, but Ted was not confined, and was allowed to +walk up and down in front of the cabin.</p> + +<p>Barrows did not attempt to hold conversation with any of them, but sat +at his table with his head in his hand, thinking moodily.</p> + +<p>Evidently Barrows was an arrant coward. He had set out with the +intention of ruining the Moon Valley herd, and killing all who attempted +to resist him, but his courage had failed him.</p> + +<p>Ted saw hope in this, if the boys would only arrive on time.</p> + +<p>He thought over the conversation he had heard the night before on the +arrival of Woofer and his companion at the cabin, with regard to his own +fate. Evidently it meant something out of the ordinary, for it seemed to +have given extreme pleasure to Woofer, for it was evidently the +intention that all the advantage was to be with the cow-puncher. Well, +it didn't matter much, so long as he had the ghost of a show himself. He +was willing to take a long chance.</p> + +<p>Breakfast was announced, and, as the soldiers sat down to eat, the cook +came out with three tin plates on which there were bacon and bread, and +tin cups of coffee for the prisoners, and they sat down together in the +shade of the cabin and ate their food gratefully, for they were very +hungry.</p> + +<p>The meal was soon over, and Woofer began to strut up and down in front +of the cabin.</p> + +<p>"I reckon here's where I get my revenge, ain't it, lootenant?" he said, +stopping in front of Barrows.</p> + +<p>"Do what you please with him," said Barrows crossly, "but leave the +girls alone."</p> + +<p>"I don't want but one gal, an' she's copper colored," laughed Woofer +insultingly, walking to his horse, which was already saddled.</p> + +<p>"Now, young feller," he said to Ted, "I'm goin' ter give yer a chance +fer yer white alley. I'm goin' ter try ter rope yer while yer dodges me. +If I get yer, why—I'll drag yer, see?"</p> + +<p>Ted saw that he was to have no chance for his life whatever.</p> + +<p>He was to be afoot, while the other man was to ride and try to rope him, +and, if he succeeded, drag him to death over the rough ground.</p> + +<p>"Do you call that a chance for my life?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"As much as you'll get," answered Woofer, with a canine grin. "Get out +an' take a fightin' chance, or I'll rope yer an' drag yer without it."</p> + +<p>Ted looked around the circle of grinning faces about him, and saw that +there was no mercy for him. He must make the best fight he could.</p> + +<p>Woofer had ridden out into the open and was coiling his rope in his hand +ready for a cast.</p> + +<p>As Ted walked out he saw in the grove the horses of the soldiers, and +among them Sultan bridled and saddled, and a thought flashed through his +mind that before the duel was ended he might find use for his beautiful +stallion.</p> + +<p>As soon as Ted was in the open, Woofer began to circle around him on a +lope, steadily increasing the pony's speed, at the same time keeping the +rope swinging about his head.</p> + +<p>Ted wheeled on his heels, always keeping his face to the horseman, the +pivot, as it were, of this little spectacle. Near the cabin stood the +soldiers, watching the play with interest. Stella and Hallie were at one +side, their eyes fastened on the scene with a sort of fascinated horror. +Stella knew well the danger of the bout. In the doorway of the cabin +Lieutenant Barrows leaned indifferently, smoking a cigarette, and +watching the uneven contest with slight interest in its outcome, and +with no regard whatever for the thing which all gentlemen hold sacred, +that is, fair play.</p> + +<p>Around and around rode Woofer, waiting for a good chance for a cast, but +always finding Ted alert. But suddenly the rope flew from his hand with +unerring accuracy, and Ted had just time to dodge it. It had been as +swift and almost as deadly as the strike of a rattlesnake.</p> + +<p>With a confident smile, Woofer drew in his rope again, coiling it, and +making ready for another cast.</p> + +<p>Again he circled and cast, and this time the rope settled over Ted's +shoulders, and a great shout went up from the soldiers.</p> + +<p>But before Woofer could tighten it Ted managed to wriggle out of it, and +again Woofer drew it in.</p> + +<p>Ted realized the danger in which he would stand if ever Woofer succeeded +in getting him fast.</p> + +<p>Suddenly his hand came in contact with something hard in his pocket. It +was his knife, and he surreptitiously inserted his hand, and opened it, +then drew it out concealed in his palm. He felt sure that if it was +discovered that even this chance would be taken from him.</p> + +<p>Again and again Woofer cast and Ted dodged, and the soldiers were +getting tired of the monotony of it, and began to deride Woofer for not +being able to get Ted.</p> + +<p>This aroused the man to anger, and the next time he sent the rope over +Ted's shoulders, and drew it taut. A wild cry went up as Ted was being +dragged along as fast as he could run, and Stella turned white and gave +a cry of fear.</p> + +<p>But Ted reached up, just as he was about to be carried off his feet, and +cut the rope in two.</p> + +<p>At this a yell of protest rose from Woofer, but the men had at last +turned with sympathy to Ted.</p> + +<p>"Let him have the knife," they cried. "You have the horse and the rope."</p> + +<p>Woofer was forced to be content, and he slowly dragged the rope back +again, and made a new noose.</p> + +<p>He was getting rattled, while Ted was gaining courage, and the rope did +not come as accurately as when Woofer had not begun to grow weary.</p> + +<p>The soldiers were now addressing rough pleasantries at Woofer, who was +growing angry and trying harder than ever to rope Ted and drag him to +death.</p> + +<p>Then, quite unexpectedly, the rope settled over Ted's arms, for he had +grown a little careless, and his eyes had been directed toward the top +of the hill behind the cabin, where he had seen something that caused +his eyes to open with wonder.</p> + +<p>But when he felt himself being dragged along on a run he came to his +senses. Stooping his head, he managed to get the knife between his +teeth. Then he went along the rope, gathering it in his hands as he +went, as if he were climbing it hand over hand.</p> + +<p>A shout of joy went up from the two girls at this, for they saw his +purpose.</p> + +<p>On he went, the rope coming into his hand and being coiled on his arm. +Woofer all the while was urging on his pony, trying to throw Ted off his +feet.</p> + +<p>Ted had now gathered in about thirty feet of the rope, or about half of +it.</p> + +<p>Woofer saw his game, and swore horribly, as he tried in vain to throw +Ted.</p> + +<p>When he thought he had enough rope, Ted bent his head once more, and his +fingers grasped the knife with which he cut the rope and was free.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a shrill whistle left his lips, and there was a nickering +answer as Sultan left the other horses and came galloping to his side.</p> + +<p>Stella threw up her hat and shouted, and the soldiers followed her +example.</p> + +<p>As Sultan galloped on, Ted leaped into the saddle, and began to make a +noose in his lariat, for he now was equally armed with his enemy.</p> + +<p>But Woofer was game, and came galloping back. He didn't know how good a +roper Ted was, but he felt confidence in himself.</p> + +<p>Around they went, circling like horsemen in a circus ring, with watchful +eyes and whirling lariats.</p> + +<p>But suddenly Ted's rope left his hand before Woofer could divine his +meaning, and pinioned the cow-puncher.</p> + +<p>At the same moment Ted gave Sultan a prick with the spur, and the little +stallion leaped into the air.</p> + +<p>Woofer left his saddle and struck the ground with a bump that knocked +the wind out of him.</p> + +<p>This was not to the liking of the soldiers, who ran howling toward Ted.</p> + +<p>"Drag him from his horse," they shouted.</p> + +<p>"No, yer don't. Fair play fer all!" a clear voice rang out above the +din, and the soldiers turned toward the hill behind the cabin.</p> + +<p>On the summit stood Bud Morgan, his long, fair hair floating in the +breeze, and on either side of him ten cow-punchers with their +Winchesters trained upon the unarmed soldiers, whose carbines were +stacked in the house.</p> + +<p>"Three cheers for the broncho boys!" yelled Stella shrilly. "You can't +beat 'em anyway you try."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h2> + +<h3>THE MOTHER LODE.</h3> + + +<p>As the boys swarmed down the hill to where Ted and the girls were +standing apart from the soldiers, who stood staring at them in +amazement, they let out the Moon Valley yell, and acted as though they +were a victorious army taking possession of a conquered city.</p> + +<p>Lieutenant Barrows stood in the doorway in open-mouthed amazement at the +change of scene, in which he and his men were not the captors, but the +captured.</p> + +<p>He started to bluster by ordering Hallie to get ready to accompany him +back to her father.</p> + +<p>"I shall not go," she said positively. "I don't believe that my father +sent for me."</p> + +<p>"I know he didn't," said Ted firmly.</p> + +<p>"What do you know about it?" asked Barrows, with a sneer.</p> + +<p>"I know that it was your intention to kidnap Miss Croffut and take her +to the coast, where you would board a yacht and carry her out of the +country."</p> + +<p>"That's a——" began Barrows.</p> + +<p>"Don't let the word lie pass your lips as applied to me, or I'll jam it +down your throat," said Ted, advancing toward the officer, who turned +pale and retreated.</p> + +<p>"You shouldn't tell your intentions to such irresponsible persons as the +Woofer, here. He told all about it early this morning so loud that the +whole of Montana might have heard it if they had been awake. I heard it, +and if Woofer denies saying that you did say so, then he's a liar, and +I'm personally responsible for everything I say."</p> + +<p>"I did say so, and I heard the lieutenant say so," said Woofer +defiantly.</p> + +<p>"Another thing, I have in my pocketbook scraps of a letter written by +you in which you say you have sent Paris green out to poison our cattle, +and you did succeed in a way, but not as you wished. Barrows, your game +is played. You are at the end. I shall see that the proper authorities +get all the details of this, and you know what will happen then. You +will be chased out of the army like a mad dog, and all the influence you +can bring to bear will not serve you."</p> + +<p>Barrows was looking at Ted with terror in his eyes.</p> + +<p>"My advice to you is to skip before the army gets on to you," continued +Ted. "Disappear. Obliterate yourself. It will be easier for you to be +thought a deserter than what will be thought of you if what we know +about you goes back to the post."</p> + +<p>Barrows stepped back into the cabin, and Ted walked to where he could +keep his eye on the soldier.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he jumped into the cabin and wrenched a pistol out of Barrows' +hand.</p> + +<p>"No, you don't," he cried angrily. "You can't pay for this by +self-murder. You've got to live to pay for your meanness."</p> + +<p>Barrows submitted to be disarmed by Ted. He stood looking for a moment +at Hallie, and for a moment it seemed as if he would speak to her. Then, +with a cry of agony, he rushed across the open, leaped upon his horse, +and, plunging into the grove, was lost to sight.</p> + +<p>"Sergeant, now you know what to do," said Ted. "There's only one thing +for you to do. Hike for the post and tell the commandant anything you +like to explain the absence of Barrows. But be sure to say to the +colonel that his daughter is safe and well and prefers to stay with Miss +Fosdick and her friends. I don't know how deeply you are mixed up in +this cattle-poisoning, girl-abducting scheme of Barrows, but I give you +the benefit of the doubt."</p> + +<p>"Sure, sir, I didn't know anything about the cattle poisoning, nor do +any of the men, and as for abducting the young lady, all I knew about it +was that we were sent by the colonel to bring her back, that is, the +lieutenant said so. We was to arrest you for stealin' cattle from the +gover'ment. But I don't see as we can do anything, now that the officer +in charge is gone. All right, sir, I'll tell the colonel all what you +said, an' somethin' that's been layin' hard on my stomach ever since I +got wise to the officer what's not in charge no more. Men, get ready to +march."</p> + +<p>The soldiers saddled their horses, and got ready to start on the march +back to Fort Felton.</p> + +<p>When they were ready to start, Ted walked up to Woofer and the man who +had come in with him in the night.</p> + +<p>"Woofer," said he, "strike the back trail, and don't look around. You +are not wanted in this part of the country. Remember, we are all deputy +United States marshals, and not in the least afraid to use our +authority. Hike!"</p> + +<p>"All right, pardner, if you say you don't like our sassiety we won't +force it on you. We'd like good company back to Felton, anyhow, an' the +sojers has plenty o' grub. Adios!"</p> + +<p>With a wave of the hand, the sergeant led his column out of the +clearing, and, climbing the hill, struck into the southwest, where lay +the fort.</p> + +<p>When they were gone Singing Bird came out of the woods in which she had +been hiding, for she was in mortal terror of Woofer.</p> + +<p>When she knew that Woofer was in the vicinity she had run into the woods +and immediately climbed into a tall pine tree that grew on the hill, +where she was sure he would not be able to find her.</p> + +<p>Now, when she came forth, she ran to Stella, in a very much excited +state.</p> + +<p>"Sister," she cried. "I have found it!"</p> + +<p>"Found what?" asked Stella, in surprise at the girl's emotion, for +usually she had the stoicism of her Indian blood.</p> + +<p>"I have found the place of the secret, the place of the mother gold," +cried Singing Bird, trembling with excitement.</p> + +<p>"I have seen it, the place where my mother lay," she continued, when her +excitement had somewhat passed away.</p> + +<p>"How?" asked the puzzled Stella.</p> + +<p>"When I climbed the tree I saw the big, muddy river lying over there. I +looked about. It seemed that I had seen it the same before. Then I +remembered the night the white men killed my mother, and it all came +back to me. Woofer was one of the men. He knew that we were coming near +to it."</p> + +<p>"How did you recognize it as the place?" asked Stella.</p> + +<p>"By the tree across the river, and by the bluffs, and the turn of the +river. Oh, I know it. You can't fool Indian on signs like that."</p> + +<p>The boys were standing around listening eagerly, for this was the first +time they had heard of the "mother gold." Briefly Ted related the story +told by Singing Bird about the gold in the river, and how her father +found the mother lode.</p> + +<p>"I'm fer gettin' thar as soon as we kin," said Bud Morgan. "Whenever I +smell gold I git tired o' ther smell o' cows."</p> + +<p>"Looks good to me," said Ben.</p> + +<p>"Me, too," said Kit, and the other boys raised a shout for the mother +lode and the excitement of finding gold.</p> + +<p>"But the cattle?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"We'll drive them down into this valley, where part of the force can +easily watch them, while the other part is engaged in the fascinating +sport of gold hunting. Me for the gold." Thus Stella delivered herself, +and that seemed to settle it.</p> + +<p>Accordingly the cattle were driven down from the plain and into the +beautiful grassy valley, with the Missouri flowing at the foot of it. +Then they pitched their camp.</p> + +<p>Singing Bird had gone into the woods on an exploring mission to find, if +she could, the grave in which her father had buried her mother the day +after the fight with the white miners, and had been gone an hour or +more, when she came hurrying back, trembling like an aspen.</p> + +<p>Rushing up to Ted, she fell at his feet.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter now?" he asked, in a kindly way.</p> + +<p>"I have seen him," she cried. "Save me! Save me!"</p> + +<p>"Whom have you seen?" asked Ted.</p> + +<p>"Running Bear. I go into the woods, and I see moccasin tracks; fresh +ones. They are large and new, made this day. I run away from them. Then +I see an Indian hiding behind the trees, always following me, and I +turned and ran for the camp. He followed me until he saw the camp, when +he turned and ran the other way."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure it was Running Bear?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I am sure. I know Running Bear. He was my husband."</p> + +<p>"Well, do not be afraid. Running Bear will not hurt you. But don't go +away from the camp."</p> + +<p>Ted told the boys that the Indian was on their trail, looking for the +mine himself, but that he would probably track them until they found it, +and then try to take it from them by pressing to his service a band of +Indians, which he could very well do.</p> + +<p>When Stella went to look for Singing Bird that evening she could not be +found. The alarm was passed to the boys, and a thorough search of the +camp was begun, but the girl could not be found.</p> + +<p>"She has done what I told her not to do," said Ted. "She has left camp, +and that precious rascal has captured her. But he will not wring her +secret from her. I am convinced that she would die first."</p> + +<p>"But what are we going to do about her?" asked Stella. "We can't let her +remain where she is."</p> + +<p>"Where is she?" he asked whimsically.</p> + +<p>"Where is she?" Stella repeated the question excitedly. "Do you suppose +that I would be here if I knew. I don't know where she is, but I'm going +to find out."</p> + +<p>"Not to-night, Stella, surely."</p> + +<p>"Yes, to-night. Right now."</p> + +<p>"But——"</p> + +<p>"There's no buts in this at all. Who wants to help me find Singing +Bird?"</p> + +<p>Every fellow in the outfit stepped forward.</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess that's enough," she said, laughing. "But, I want you and +Kit. The others can stay behind and 'tend the herd. We'll be back when +we return." She waved a merry hand to the others, and the three strode +into the woods, Bud bending eagerly forward to find the trail.</p> + +<p>Presently Bud struck a moccasin trail, and they followed it until it +mingled with another.</p> + +<p>The first was undoubtedly that of Singing Bird. The other was that of a +big man, or of a man with a big foot.</p> + +<p>"I reckon she come out here ter find her mother's grave, an' met up with +ther bully, her husband. Here they seem ter hev had a struggle, and then +thar is only one track, but deeper, showin' that he was carryin' weight. +I reckon he put his hand over her mouth an' carried her off by main +strength."</p> + +<p>"Poor Singing Bird," murmured Stella. "If she has really fallen into the +hands of that brute, it's a sure thing that she'll be killed this time, +and now we're bound to follow her and get her."</p> + +<p>"That's interfering between a man and his wife," said Kit.</p> + +<p>"I don't care. She's mine now, for I saved her life. She said so."</p> + +<p>"All right, Stella, we'll find her if we swaller our chewin' gum. +Forward!" Bud led the way, always with his eyes on the ground.</p> + +<p>After traversing a few hundred yards he stopped.</p> + +<p>"Here they're walkin' side by side again," he said, "and they're going +toward the river."</p> + +<p>They hastened on to the bank of the river, and there all trace of them +was lost at the water's edge.</p> + +<p>"They've crossed over, but not in a boat," said Bud. "I don't see how +they could do it if they didn't swim. There isn't the sign o' a boat +around here."</p> + +<p>"Then over the river we go," said Stella. "But the question is, how?"</p> + +<p>"I'll swim it," said Bud. "And if I find any trace of them over there, +I'll holler."</p> + +<p>Bud threw his guns on the bank and plunged into the water, and in a few +minutes was across, for so near the headwaters it was not wide.</p> + +<p>They saw him scouting along the shore, and presently he waved his hand +at them, and pointed to the ground.</p> + +<p>"He's found them," said Kit. "But how are we to get over?"</p> + +<p>Kit ran up and down the shore, and soon found several logs, which he +towed to where Stella was waiting, and fastened them together into a +raft.</p> + +<p>"There you are," he said. "Climb aboard, and I'll ferry you across."</p> + +<p>Stella did so, and in a few minutes they were on the other side.</p> + +<p>Bud showed them the tracks of Singing Bird, and they followed them into +the woods.</p> + +<p>Close beside the track was a huge stump of a sycamore tree, and Stella +elected to sit down beside it and wait until they returned, as she was +pretty tired. The boys passed on with the warning to fire her revolver +three times if anything should alarm her.</p> + +<p>As she sat beside the stump, she picked up a stick, and began poking in +the earth at her feet. As she did so, there was a rumbling sound beneath +her, and the world seemed to be slipping from her. This was followed by +a rush of earth and a clatter of stones, and Stella went down with it.</p> + +<p>She did not fall more than ten feet, however, before she stopped, a +little shaken but unhurt.</p> + +<p>When she had recovered somewhat, she looked about her.</p> + +<p>Then she gave a little shriek of joy. It seemed as if she had fallen +into a regular nest of pure gold, for the glittering grains were +everywhere about her, on her clothes and in her hair.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she recalled everything. She had found the mother lode that the +Indian girl had told of.</p> + +<p>Drawing her revolver, she fired three shots, the danger signal, and +immediately it was answered by three shots, but from the side of the +river she had just quitted.</p> + +<p>This surprised her, but in a moment she heard a shout. It was Ted. +Evidently thinking that something might befall her, he had followed, and +in a few moments she heard him splashing in the water.</p> + +<p>"Hello!" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Here I am, Ted," cried Stella, and in a moment she saw his face +outlined above her in the opening of the hole.</p> + +<p>"How the deuce did you get there?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I just dropped in to take a look around, and what do you think I +found? I've found gold by the bushel. Ted, this is the mother lode."</p> + +<p>Ben, Carl, and Clay were with Ted, and soon Bud and Kit, who had heard +the shots, came hurrying back.</p> + +<p>When they heard what had happened they were much surprised.</p> + +<p>"But this cannot be the place. Where is the sycamore tree Singing Bird +said was a landmark?" said Ted.</p> + +<p>They had pulled Stella out of the hole, and now she pointed to the big, +old stump.</p> + +<p>"That is what's left of it," she said. "If I hadn't that hunch to sit +down here, we wouldn't have found the mother lode in a blue moon."</p> + +<p>As they were speaking they heard a sound behind them, and turned to see +Running Bear. He had crept up to them so silently that not one of them +had heard him until he was a step away.</p> + +<p>"Ugh!" he grunted. "White boy go away. This my country."</p> + +<p>"Go to your grandmother," said Ted. "Where is Singing Bird?"</p> + +<p>"She in Running Bear wigwam. Mebbe so you like Singing Bird. You can +have same go away."</p> + +<p>"What, and leave you in possession of all this gold? Not likely."</p> + +<p>"Then Running Bear make you. Hate white boy. Not make play this time."</p> + +<p>Before Ted was aware of his intention, the Indian had sprung upon him +from the side. He was immensely powerful, and forced Ted backward toward +the edge of the pit, evidently with the intention of breaking his neck +by the fall.</p> + +<p>But Ted managed to get a good hold at last, and forced him back +gradually.</p> + +<p>Then Running Bear came at him with greater strength, and again they +wrestled perilously near the edge of the pit.</p> + +<p>Running Bear took advantage of Ted's trip over the loose tree roots, and +slowly forced him backward, in spite of his herculean efforts, to the +pit's edge.</p> + +<p>He had bent Ted's head back until his neck cracked, and if he threw him +into the pit, it likely would kill him.</p> + +<p>From where they stood, on the opposite side of the pit, none of the boys +could get a shot at Running Bear without endangering the life of Ted.</p> + +<p>It was a pretty tight situation, and the boys were really alarmed for +Ted's safety, when out of the woods ran an apparition—a woman so +covered with blood as to be unrecognizable. But Stella uttered a scream. +She had seen that it was Singing Bird, who had been terribly injured by +her brute of a husband, who had evidently tortured her to get from her +the information she possessed about the mother lode.</p> + +<p>Before any one could divine what she was about to do, the Indian girl +had sprung toward Running Bear and plunged a long, keen knife into his +back to the hilt.</p> + +<p>It was an Indian's revenge. She had given him blood for blood.</p> + +<p>Running Bear staggered backward, then suddenly wheeled, caught the knife +from the girl's hand, and was about to plunge it into her, when he fell +forward on his face and lay quite still.</p> + +<p>Singing Bird weaved back and forth for a moment, then she, too, sank to +the ground.</p> + +<p>When the horror of the sudden tragedy passed from them sufficiently, the +boys rushed to the side of the unhappy couple, but they both were dead.</p> + +<p>That was the tragedy of the "Mother Lode Mine" on the upper Missouri, +which became the property of the Moon Valley Company, and which paid +enormously until it worked out, for it was only a pocket, thus putting +an end to the placer mining on the islands farther down the river.</p> + +<p>The rest is soon told. Barrows was never heard of again, for he knew +that if he returned to take a court-martial for his misconduct, he would +have fared badly.</p> + +<p>That fall the officers at the post sent word to Ted that if his cattle +were for sale they would be glad to buy them at his own figure, so that +his independence in repudiating the first contract was a good thing +after all, for, besides the profits which came from Stella's gold mine, +the herd paid handsomely. But Stella never forgot Singing Bird, whose +gentle life paid the penalty for the greed for gold. Not far from the +mine she was buried, and a stone carved with the story of her death +still marks the place where she was laid to rest.</p> + + +<p>THE END.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<h3>WESTERN STORY LIBRARY</h3> + +<h4>For Everyone Who Likes Adventure.</h4> + +<p>"Ted Strong's Contract" is the title of the next volume in the +<span class="smcap">Western Story Library</span>, No. 43, a story of wild adventure in the +far West written by Edward C. Taylor.</p> + +<p>Ted Strong and his band of bronco-busters have most exciting adventures +in this line of attractive, big books, and furnish the reader with an +almost unlimited number of thrills.</p> + +<p>If you like a really good Western cowboy story, then this line is made +expressly for you.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TED STRONG IN MONTANA***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 19951-h.txt or 19951-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/9/5/19951">http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/9/5/19951</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/19951.txt b/19951.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a59e0a2 --- /dev/null +++ b/19951.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13012 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ted Strong in Montana, by Edward C. Taylor + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Ted Strong in Montana + With Lariat and Spur + + +Author: Edward C. Taylor + + + +Release Date: November 28, 2006 [eBook #19951] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TED STRONG IN MONTANA*** + + +E-text prepared by Steven desJardins, Mary Meehan, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net/) + + + +TED STRONG IN MONTANA + +Or + +With Lariat and Spur + +by + +EDWARD C. TAYLOR + +Author of the Ted Strong Stories + +1915 + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER I. THE BIG SNOW. + CHAPTER II. THE LONG TOM RANCH. + CHAPTER III. THE SIGN-CAMP GHOST. + CHAPTER IV. THE BIG COON TREE. + CHAPTER V. THE PHANTOM LINE RIDER. + CHAPTER VI. CAUGHT IN THE ACT. + CHAPTER VII. A NIGHT RAID. + CHAPTER VIII. THE WAR PARTY. + CHAPTER IX. A BATTLE OF QUIRTS. + CHAPTER X. SILVER FACE. + CHAPTER XI. LOST IN THE WILDERNESS. + CHAPTER XII. WHO WHIPPLE WAS. + CHAPTER XIII. AN UNEXPECTED GUEST. + CHAPTER XIV. CHRISTMAS AT BUBBLY WELL. + CHAPTER XV. THE THUGGEE CORD. + CHAPTER XVI. A LETTER FROM THE DEAD. + CHAPTER XVII. BESIEGED. + CHAPTER XVIII. TED SAVES THE HOUSE. + CHAPTER XIX. HELEN MOWBRAY'S WILL. + CHAPTER XX. KNIFE AND FANG. + CHAPTER XXI. 'WARE THE GRAY WOLVES. + CHAPTER XXII. THE WOLFSKIN. + CHAPTER XXIII. BAGGING THE GRAY WOLVES. + CHAPTER XXIV. WHITE FANG LEADS HOME. + CHAPTER XXV. TED'S INDEPENDENCE. + CHAPTER XXVI. A COMPROMISE. + CHAPTER XXVII. THE BEEF ISSUE. + CHAPTER XXVIII. A SLAP ON THE FACE. + CHAPTER XXIX. RUNNING BEAR'S SQUAW. + CHAPTER XXX. "THE WOOFER" APPEARS. + CHAPTER XXXI. SINGING BIRD'S SECRET. + CHAPTER XXXII. A NIGHT CHASE. + CHAPTER XXXIII. THE LOCOED STEER. + CHAPTER XXXIV. THE BOBWHITE'S CALL. + CHAPTER XXXV. A DUEL WITH LARIATS. + CHAPTER XXXVI. THE MOTHER LODE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE BIG SNOW. + + +"We're going to have snow to-night!" + +Ted Strong, leader of the broncho boys, was sitting on the back of +Sultan, his noble little black stallion, on the ridge of a prairie +swell, looking at a lowering sky. + +Out of the northwest a chilling wind, damp and raw, was sweeping +dull-gray clouds before it. + +Ted had addressed his remark to Bud Morgan, his chum and able +lieutenant, who threw a glance at the clouds and grunted. + +"I reckon we be," he muttered, "an' I'm free ter say I'm dern sorry ter +hear it." + +"It's hard luck," resumed Ted. "If we had got away a week earlier, or +hadn't been held up by the high water at Poplar Fork, we would have been +at the ranch now, and settled for the winter." + +"Thar's no telling whar an 'if' won't land yer sometimes. If we hadn't +started we wouldn't hev been here at all. But here we aire, an' we'll +hev ter git out o' it." + +"Think we better push on, or make camp?" asked Ted. + +"Got ter make camp fer ther night somewhere," answered Bud. "But I wisht +ther storm hed held off till ter-morrer this time; we'd hev been within +hootin' distance o' ther Long Tom Ranch." + +"Suppose we push on a few hours more. We can camp down in the dark if we +must. If the snow gets deep before ye reach the high ground you know +what it means." + +"I shore do. I wuz all through a big snow in this yere man's country a +few years back, an' it wuz some fierce." + +"All right. Ride back and drive them up. I'll point. We'll drive until +it gets too dark. Tell the wagons to move up." + +Bud wheeled his pony and dashed to the rear of the great herd of cattle +that was coming on at a snail's pace. + +The cattle were lowing uneasily. They knew even better than the men that +a storm was coming, and they dreaded it. + +This was the big Circle S herd which the broncho boys had bought in +Texas in the spring of that year, and which they had herded and driven +northward throughout the summer to winter on the Montana plateau, later +to be driven to Moon Valley, and there put into condition for the +market. + +Various things had delayed the arrival of the herd on their winter +grounds. A detention of several days at a time by flood, by a stampede, +and by fights with rustlers, had brought the cattle several weeks late +to their winter grounds. + +Ted Strong had determined to try the experiment of wintering Southern +cattle in the Montana country in order to harden them and improve the +quality of the beef. + +The broncho boys had a large order to fill for the government the +following summer, and it was to accomplish their contract that they had +bought the Texas cattle and driven them north to the Long Tom Ranch in +northern Montana. + +Now that they were within a few miles of it, and still on the low +ground, it appeared that a big snow was inevitable, which might +frustrate all their plans and cause them great loss. + +But Ted Strong did not complain. It was a condition which he could not +have foreseen, and, being close at hand, there was nothing for them to +do but meet it with all the fortitude at their command. + +Soon the herd began to move forward, being crowded by the broncho boys +and the force of cow-punchers whom they had employed to assist them. + +Stella Fosdick, who, with her aunt, Mrs. Walter Graham, had accompanied +the boys on their drive, now came galloping up to Ted. She had been +riding beside the carriage in which her aunt had been comfortably +traveling. + +"Going to keep on, Ted?" she asked. + +"Yes. Got to do it. Those clouds are full of snow. If it catches us down +here we're likely to be snowed in, and if we do it's all up with the +Circle S," he replied. + +"That's bad." + +"Oh, I guess we'll pull through all right, if we can keep the cows +moving; but it is not going to be very comfortable for your aunt or you. +We'll have to drive until the cattle refuse to move farther." + +"I can stand it, and aunt will have to. She's getting a little anxious, +though, and asked me to ride ahead to learn when we're going to stop. +Poor auntie likes her comfort. I often wonder why she became the wife of +a ranchman." + +"Or why she consents to traipse all over the country with you," laughed +Ted. + +"Ted, she absolutely cannot refuse me a thing." + +"So I see. You've got her hypnotized--as, indeed, you have all the rest +of us. But ride back and cheer her up all you can. I told McCall, the +cook, to make some good, strong coffee and to serve it to any of the +boys who wanted it, as it will be some time before we can have supper. +Have Mac take her a cup of good, strong coffee and something to eat. +That may make her a little more cheerful." + +"I'll do it. But don't you want some coffee, too?" + +"Not for me. I've got something else to do right here. This is going to +be a race between the herd and the snow clouds, and it means a whole lot +to us." + +"Afraid of being snowed in?" + +"You bet. If this bunch of cattle gets snowed in I see our finish. We'll +lose half of them before we get to the grass." + +"I don't know a thing about the Northern range, and I can't see how +you're going to bring that herd through to spring. It would take +thousands of tons of hay, and I don't know how much corn to feed them." + +Ted laughed. + +"I see you don't know much about the North," he said. "But what should a +girl brought up in Texas know of wintering cattle in the snow? You see, +it's this way: Montana is the best winter cattle range in the United +States. + +"The winds from the mountains sweep the snow, which is dry and loose, +from the high, level ground, exposing the grass which has been cured on +the ground, and which makes the best kind of feed. Then there is plenty +of water, and the deep coulees, with which the country is cut up, afford +ample protection for the cattle during storms. + +"Occasionally there comes warm winds from the northwest. These are +called chinook winds, because they come from the direction of the +country of the Chinook Indians. They are warm and balmy, and melt the +snow as if by magic. Their warmth is caused by having come in contact +with the Japanese stream, which crosses the Pacific Ocean, after being +warmed in the sunny East, and which strikes the shores of North America +along about south Alaska. This stream is called by the Japanese, Kuro +Siwo. It is the equivalent of the Gulf Stream, which leaves the Gulf of +Mexico to cross the Atlantic and warm the shores of Great Britain." + +"Quite a lecture," said Stella, laughing. + +"I didn't mean to lecture," replied Ted, laughing also, "but I wanted +you to know why it is that it is a good thing to winter cattle in this +north country. In the first place it puts strength and stamina into the +cattle, and makes the beef better, and all the conditions of which I +have spoken make it possible to keep cattle on the open range out here, +where one would think they would perish of cold and starvation. But it +is no picnic to run a winter range, as we will all learn before spring +comes again." + +"I understand now, and I'm sure I shall enjoy the experience. But I must +go back to aunt and jolly her up, for she is easily discouraged, and she +is no more used to rough winters than I." + +"She'll be all right when we get to Long Tom, for there is a bully ranch +house there, and she'll be as snug as a bug in a rug when we get +settled." + +The cattle were going forward over the gentle, rising ground, being +pushed by the punchers in the rear and the fellows on the side lines, +while Ted and Kit were pointing them in the direction of a tall butte, +which they could see in the distance, rising needlelike and black +against the gray sky. + +This was Long Tom Butte, after which the ranch, which Ted had leased, +had been named. + +Suddenly, Ted felt something wet on his cheek, and looked up. A +snowflake, big and floating lazily down, had struck him. + +Others followed it, and soon there were myriads of big, wet snowflakes +falling slowly through the air. + +The cattle began to hurry, and were lowing in a distressing way. Their +instinct told them to seek shelter, and they were telling their drovers +as much in their own fashion. + +For a half hour the snow continued to come down, wet and soft. + +But suddenly the wind changed in temperature. Before it had been raw and +damp. Now it became sharp and frosty. + +The snow changed quickly from heavy, wet flakes, to small, dry, sharp +particles, which, driven by a strong wind, which had veered around into +the north, stung the faces of the boys like needles, and worried the +cattle, which seemed to want to lag in their pace. + +"Kit, go back and tell the boys to keep pushing harder. The cattle want +to stop, and if they quit now it's all up. There's a blizzard coming. If +we can keep them at it an hour longer, we will be in the lee of the +buttes, and there's a deep coulee into which we can drive and hold them +until morning." + +At Ted's command Kit dashed toward the rear, and repeated the order, and +the cow-punchers rode into the herd with shouts and with active lashing +of their quirts, and the beasts picked up their pace again and hurried +forward through the snow, which had begun to whiten the ground. + +Kit returned to Ted's side. + +"What do you think of it?" he asked. + +"If we had an hour more of daylight, I think we could make it," said +Ted. + +"Any doubt of it?" + +"Well, when it becomes dark we'll lose sight of Long Tom, and we're +likely to drift, because, unless the cattle are driven into the storm, +they'll turn tail to it and go the other way." + +"I can't see Long Tom now." + +"I can, although the snow almost blots it out. There it is right in the +northwest. I can just make it out. The herd is drifting south of it now. +Better get over on your point, and head them up this way a bit." + +Soon the herd was driving forward in the right direction again. + +But suddenly the darkness came down like of pall of black smoke, +shutting out everything, and the wind increased in violence, rising with +a howl and a shriek like some enormous and terrible animal in rage. + +"It's all off," said Ted to himself, with a sigh. + +The cattle came to a stop. + +"Keep them going!" shouted Ted, riding back frantically along the line. + +The cow-punchers dashed among the animals, shouting and beating them +with their quirts, and managed to get them started again, but it was +only for a short time, for again they stopped, bellowing, the leaders +milling and throwing everything into confusion. + +"That settles it," shouted Ted to Bud. "They're going to drift all night +if we don't stop them." + +"Dern ther luck, I says," growled Bud. "How fur aire we from ther +ranch?" + +"The worst of it is we're right on it. The ranch house isn't more than +three miles from here, and if we could have got there we would have been +all right. By morning we may be ten miles away, if we let the herd +drift, and we'll have a dickens of a time getting the brutes back +through the snow." + +"What aire we goin' ter do with the wimminfolks?" + +"I'm going to try to get them to the ranch house. You boys will have to +make a snow camp, and hold the herd from drifting at all odds. Don't let +them sneak on you. Keep pushing them from the south. You see, they're +all turned that way now with their tails to the wind. As soon as they +get cold they will begin to move. Don't let 'em do it." + +"All right, Ted. We'll do the best we can. You take care o' ther +wimminfolks. So long, an' good luck." + +Ted rode back to where Mrs. Graham was shivering in the closed wagon the +boys had provided for her, and Stella was sitting her pony by her side, +trying to encourage her. + +Carl Schwartz was the jehu of the outfit, and sat on the driver's seat, +a fair imitation of a snow man. + +"Carl, get a move on you. We're going to try to make the Long Tom ranch +house," said Ted. "I'll lead, and you follow. If you lose sight of me, +yell to me and I'll come back. I've got my pocket searchlight, and will +send you back a flash now and then." + +Carl was half frozen and would have been pleased to get down and walk +the rest of the distance, but he knew the danger that surrounded them, +and simply yelled back "Yah!" and gathered up the reins for a start. + +"Come on, Stella," said Ted. "We're going to try to make the ranch +house." + +Without a word Stella followed him, and the little caravan struck into +the teeth of the snow-laden wind, which was now blowing half a gale. + +The wagon moved slowly through the snow, which was getting deeper every +minute, and was like heavy sand. + +Every few minutes Carl's voice could be heard, and Ted called back to +him. + +Ted was traveling entirely by instinct, for it was so dark that he could +not see a foot in front of them. + +So they struggled on for an hour, halting occasionally to give the +horses a breathing spell, then drove obstinately forward again. + +"We should have been at the ranch house long ago," shouted Ted at last, +pulling in his panting horse. + +"Then we're lost, I suppose," shouted Stella in return. + +"Looks that way." + +"What are you going to do?" + +"Stop for the rest of the night." + +"I wouldn't. Keep on until the horses won't go any farther." + +"All right, if you think best." + +On they went again for a half hour more, and Ted was beginning to +believe it was folly to go any farther when his pony stumbled and almost +fell. + +In front of them loomed a darkness more intense than before. + +Ted scrambled from the back of his pony and led it forward. The pony had +stumbled over the horse block at the very door of the Long Tom ranch +house. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE LONG TOM RANCH. + + +Ted and Stella raised such a shout that Carl pulled his horses up just +in time to keep them from trying to climb upon the veranda. + +With the aid of his searchlight Ted had found the door and entered the +house, followed by Stella. + +In the big, front living room they found a lamp, which they lighted and +looked around. + +The house had been left ready for occupancy, and in the great, wide +fireplace logs were piled high ready to be burned. + +In a moment Ted had a fire leaping high up the chimney, then hastened +out to the carriage. + +Carl had scrambled down from the seat of the carriage, and was so cold +and numb that he couldn't walk, while Mrs. Graham had to be carried into +the house by Ted and placed before the fire to thaw out. + +Soon the room was comfortable, and Ted, who had set out on a tour of +inspection, found that the kitchen was well stored with food. + +He started a fire, and soon had coffee and bacon cooking. + +Outside the storm continued to rage through the night, but all within +was tight and warm, and Stella and her aunt retired to their comfortable +bedrooms. But Ted sat up through the night. + +He had considered starting back through the storm to the herd, but +thought better of it, for Bud was perfectly capable of doing all that +could be done with the cattle until daylight came to their rescue. + +While daylight was struggling up through the leaden eastern sky the wind +died down as suddenly as it had risen, and the snow ceased falling. + +Ted had fallen into a doze in a chair in front of the fire, but a stray +sunbeam coming through a window fell upon his closed eyelids, and he +awoke with a start. For a minute he could not think where he was. Then +the cheery voice of Stella fell upon his ears. Somewhere in the distance +she was singing, and he sprang to his feet and looked about him. + +It came to him that he was at the Long Tom, and he remembered having +left the Circle S herd out in the blizzard. + +This stirred him to action, and he went back to the kitchen with the +intention of lighting the fire and getting breakfast. + +He stopped in the doorway in astonishment. Stella, with her sleeves +rolled to the elbows, was busily engaged at the stove, singing as she +worked. + +"Good morning," said Ted. "You beat me to it. Why didn't you wake me up +and put me to work?" + +"Hello!" said Stella cheerily. "You looked so tired sitting in that +chair that I thought I'd let you sleep. At any rate, cooking breakfast +is no work for a boy in a house. Get ready. Breakfast will be on the +table in a minute. What do you think I found in the shed behind the +house? A mountain sheep already dressed, and hung up for us. The fellow +who left this house for us certainly was a good one. He knew we'd come +in hungry, and left everything ready for us." + +"That was just like Fred Sturgis. He's one of the best fellows in the +world. He's the owner of the ranch. Young New York fellow. Wanted to +spend the winter in the East. That's how I was able to get the ranch. +But I'll bet he'll be back here before the snow melts. You couldn't keep +him off the range for any length of time." + +"He certainly has good taste. The house is almost as nice as the Moon +Valley house, but nothing is quite as nice as that." + +Mrs. Graham and Carl were roused, and they were soon sitting down to +chops from a mountain sheep and corn bread which Stella had made; and +they all voted that winter life in Montana promised to be a very jolly +thing. + +When Ted went outdoors the whole world was simply a glittering waste +where the sun shone on, and was reflected back from the vast field of +snow. + +Sultan was in the sheltered corral, and as Ted threw the saddle on his +back he reared and jumped about like a playful kitten. + +"Quit your cavorting about, you rascal," said Ted, as Sultan wheeled +away from the saddle with a playful snort, at the same time reaching +around and trying to nip Ted's shoulder with his teeth. + +"My, but you're feeling gay this morning," said Ted. "Here, hold still, +won't you? How do you suppose I'm ever going to get this saddle on you +if you don't stand still?" + +But the cold weather and the bright sunshine had filled Sultan with +ginger, and he was as full of play as a small boy when he wakes up some +early winter morning and sees the ground covered with the first snow, +and remembers the sled that has lain in the woodshed all summer. + +But at last the saddle was on, and then Ted had his hands full getting +into it. + +"Gee, but you're skittish this morning," said Ted, giving Sultan a +vigorous slap on the haunch. "But just you wait a few minutes until I +get on you. I'll take some of that out of you." + +But when he tried to find the stirrup with his toe, Sultan wheeled away +from him with a little kick that was as dainty as that of a professional +dancer. + +But at last Ted made a leap and landed safely upon Sultan's back, and +gave him a slap with the loose end of his rein. The little horse gave a +leap like a kangaroo, and dashed through the gateway of the corral and +across the white prairie, running like a quarter horse. + +The herd was nowhere in sight, but in the far distance Ted saw a thin +blue stream of smoke rising in the still, frosty air. + +He knew it to be the camp fire of McCall, and that breakfast was going +forward at the cow camp in the snow. + +Heading Sultan toward it, Ted rushed on through the stimulating air of a +Northern winter, and soon came in sight of the chuck wagon, and several +of the boys standing around a fire. + +As he dashed forward he raised the long yell, which was gleefully +answered, and soon he was at the camp. + +This was where he and Stella had started from the night before. + +Turning his eyes back in the direction he had come, Ted could see the +smoke rising from the chimney of the ranch house, although the house +itself was hidden behind a swell in the surface of the prairie. + +Had he only known it, he might have driven the herd right up to the +ranch house during the night. As it was, he saw now that he and Stella, +with the carriage, had ridden for almost two hours in the night, +traveling in a circle, and by the merest chance had stumbled upon the +ranch house. + +"Hello, fellows!" he shouted as he rode up. "Where are the dogies?" + +"Oh, to blazes and gone!" exclaimed big Ben, who was trying to thaw out +his boots at the fire. + +"Where?" asked Ted anxiously. + +"Away off yonder." Ben pointed disconsolately toward the south. + +"Are they all right?" + +"All right, nothing. They're up to their bellies in snow in a coulee, +and won't stir. They're the sickest-looking lot of beef critters you +ever saw. We've been working with them ever since daylight, then Bud +sent us along to thaw out and get some chuck into us, and hurry back so +that the other fellows could get limbered up some. Find the house?" + +"Yes, accidentally stumbled on to it. Bully place, and the womenfolks +are comfortably settled." + +"Looks like it," grunted Ben, pointing to the north. + +Ted looked in that direction and saw a spotted pony leaping toward them, +and above it a dash of scarlet. It was Stella, riding like the wind on +Magpie. + +"Have any trouble with the critters in the night?" asked Ted. + +"Did we? Well, I should howl. After you got under way they began to +drift before the wind. We fought them all night, and if we'd let them go +they'd been plumb into Colorado by this time. I don't want any more such +nights in mine." + +"That was only a starter, my friend. That was a picnic compared to what +you may have to go up against before the daisies bloom again." + +"Chuck!" yelled McCall, beating on the bottom of a griddle with a big +iron spoon. + +The fellows left the fire in a hurry and, squatting in the snow with a +tin cup full of steaming coffee and a plate heaped with fried bacon and +griddle cakes, were soon too busy to remember their weariness. + +Stella had ridden up, her cheeks glowing, and her eyes sparkling with +the frost and the exercise. + +"Why didn't you wait for me?" she cried to Ted. "You're a mean thing. +Thought you'd leave me behind, but here I am." She made a little face at +Ted. + +"I thought you'd rather stay indoors to-day on account of the cold," +stammered Ted. + +"Well, change your line of thought. There's going to be nothing to keep +me indoors in this country, and don't you forget it. If I've got to stay +indoors, I'll go South." + +As soon as the boys had finished breakfast they were ready for another +day's work. + +"Come on, fellows," shouted Ted. "Let's hurry to where the critters are, +and send the other boys back. Mac, cook up another breakfast for them." + +They were in the saddle in a jiffy, and scurrying toward the south as +fast as their ponies could carry them. + +Ted found the herd bogged in a shallow coulee that was filled to the top +with snow, in which they stood up to their bellies, lowing from fright, +hunger, and thirst. + +They were packed in a solid mass, and could not get out on the other +side because the wall of the coulee was too steep for them to clamber +up, as they might have done had it not been for the deep snow with which +it was drifted full. + +As a matter of fact, though, the coulee had saved the herd from drifting +many miles in the night. + +But how to get them out was the question that perplexed Bud, and with +the arrival of Ted he thankfully turned the task over to him. + +"Hike for the chuck wagon, boys," shouted Ted, as he came up. + +"Well, I should smile to ejaculate," said Bud, "we're as hollow an' cold +as a rifle bar'l. I'll turn this leetle summer matinee over ter you, my +friend, not wishin' you any harm." + +"Go ahead and enjoy yourselves," said Ted. "But as soon as you have +filled up and warmed up come back. As soon as we get the bunch out of +this hole it will be a snap to get them near the ranch house. If we'd +only known it, we could have made it in half an hour more last night." + +When Bud had ridden away Ted took stock of the situation, and found that +he had a difficult problem to solve. + +Under ordinary circumstances it would have been easy to snake the cattle +out of the coulee by roping them around the horns and dragging them out +with the ponies, but it was utterly impossible to do that with a couple +of thousand of them. + +While he was looking things over he became aware that Stella had ridden +away. He looked anxiously after her, for he knew her propensity for +getting into trouble when she rode alone. Soon she dropped out of sight +behind a swell in the prairie with a flash in the sunlight of her +scarlet jacket. + +Ted was still studying the situation, riding up and down the edge of the +coulee, trying to figure out some plan of rescue, and noting the cattle +that were down, and which were rapidly being trampled to death by the +other beasts, or being smothered by the snow. + +The prospect was not a pleasing one to the young cow boss, for he saw +the profits of the venture fading away hourly. + +Suddenly a faint, shrill yell reached his ears, and he wheeled his pony +in the direction from which it came. + +Stella's scarlet jacket was coming toward him in a whirlwind of flying +snow, and he rushed toward her. + +What could have happened to her? He looked in vain for whatever was +pursuing her, and saw that she was not being followed, but was swinging +her arm above her head with a triumphant gesture. + +He slowed his pony down, and soon she dashed to his side. + +"You fellows are certainly a bright lot of cow-punchers," she exclaimed. + +"What's the matter now?" asked Ted gloomily. + +"Didn't any of you think of scouting down the coulee?" + +"I confess I didn't." + +"You ought to be laid off the job for a week." + +"Why?" + +"You can get those cattle out of that hole in an hour." + +"We can! How do you know?" + +"The coulee runs out about a mile to the west, and straight to the +north, up a wide swale, lies the ranch house in full view." + +"Stella, you're all right. But the cattle are bogged, and they can't +move even down the coulee." + +"I believe they can." + +"How?" + +"When the other boys come back from breakfast all of you jump into the +coulee and tramp the snow down as much as you can ahead of the leaders. +Then start them up." + +"Bully for you, Stella; you're a better cow-puncher than any of us." + +"No, I'm not, but because I don't know as much about it I go at it in a +woman's way, which is a roundabout way, and nearly always foolish to +look at, but sometimes does the work." + +This suggestion had the effect of taking a great load from Ted's +shoulders, for if he did not succeed in getting the herd out before +night they would freeze solid in their molds of snow, and then he would +never get half of them out alive. + +Presently Bud and the other boys came winging back from breakfast, and +Ted told them of the plan for releasing the cattle, at the same time +praising Stella and giving her all the credit for the idea. + +"Peevish peppers, but I'm a tenderfoot," grunted Bud. "Why in Sam Hill +didn't I think o' that myself? I reckon I'm gettin' too old fer ther cow +business. I ought ter be milkin' cows at some dairy farm." + +The boys followed Stella's suggestion, and, leaping into the coulee, +wheeled their ponies about until they had a well-beaten road for several +hundred feet toward the west. + +Then, cutting out a bunch of about fifty steers, led by a wise old +fellow, the herd leader, whom they called Baldy on account of the spot +of white hair between his horns, drove them along the path. After +getting the bunch going well, the boys drove them with yells and the +lashing of quirts into the deep snow ahead, and would not let them stop. + +Another bunch was driven up, and soon there was a smooth road along the +bottom of the coulee to the open ground, over which the cattle passed to +safety. + +Stella's good common sense had saved the herd. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE SIGN-CAMP GHOST. + + +As the last of the herd came out of the coulee to the open ground, a +cheer went up for Stella, who blushed rosy-red, and told the boys to +hush. + +Then the drive to the big pasture began, word having been sent to McCall +to follow with the chuck wagon. + +The big pasture ran north from the home pasture, which was near the +ranch house. + +It comprised thousands of acres, and was so high that nearly always it +was free of snow, which the strong winds coming down from the mountains +swept as clear as if a gigantic broom had been used. + +Back of the pasture lay a range of low mountains, the Sweet Grass they +were called, in which several high buttes towered like sentinels. + +The Sweet Grass Mountains had the reputation of harboring a great many +"bad men," both whites and Indians, who had forsaken the Blackfeet +Indian reservation to the west. + +The mountain valleys afforded a splendid protection for the cattle, as +did the numerous coulees with which the country was seamed. + +The big pasture of the Long Tom was reputed to be the best winter +feeding ground in Montana. The grass was high and nutritious, and there +were plenty of water holes. + +Once on the pasture the cattle scattered into smaller herds, each under +the leadership of a bull, while the steers drifted off by themselves. + +All that was necessary to care for the herd was to ride the lines of the +pasture, and keep the cattle on their own feeding grounds, prevent them +from straying, and hunt down the packs of wolves which preyed upon the +weak cows and young cattle. + +At stated intervals along the lines of the pasture were cabins, known as +"sign camps," in which the line riders lived. + +The first sign camp out of the home pasture was eight miles distant, and +the next was under the lee of the mountains, on the west line. + +As Ted directed the drive of the herd to the big pasture, on the south +and west line of which the first sign camp was situated, he cut out part +of the herd and held it back, while the remainder of the cattle went +forward. + +At the first sign camp Bud and Carl were dropped, for they were to ride +the line to the north and east from that point. + +Bud was glad to get some rest, and with a wave of the hand went on his +way to the camp to await the arrival of Carl, who had ridden back to the +ranch house for his blankets and other supplies. + +During the day the chuck wagon, following the instructions of Ted, +stopped at the sign camp, and left a supply of provisions and Bud's +blankets. + +Bud looked out the window of the cabin, and saw that the herd was +grazing quietly, for the cattle were very hungry, and as they were safe +for the time being, he rolled himself in his blankets and was soon +sleeping soundly. + +He awoke on hearing a fumbling at the door, and sat up. + +It was pitch dark, and he had slept nearly all day. + +Unlimbering his six-shooter, he called, "Who's thar?" + +"Ach, Pud, it's me alretty," came the muffled reply. + +"So it's you, Carl. Why don't you come in?" + +"Der door open, Pud, please. I my arrums full mit dings have." + +Bud sprang from his blankets and threw the door open, admitting a cold +blast and a flurry of snow. + +"Ugh!" he ejaculated, with a shudder. "Come in, yer fat wad o' Dutch. +What yer waitin' fer?" + +"Someding has my hat stolen off mit my head." Carl's voice expressed +both perplexity and awe. + +Evidently something unusual had happened, and Bud put on his hat and +stepped outside. + +He had no sooner passed through the doorway than his own hat was +snatched from his head. + +He drew his revolver, leaped into the open, and looked about him. + +There was no one in sight except Carl, who was standing near him with +his arms full of blankets and bundles. + +Carl could not have played the trick on him, and there was not wind +enough to have blown the hat away. Anyhow, it had been snatched from his +head by a hand and not by the wind. + +There was something uncanny about this. + +It was still light enough to see out in the open, and the snow-covered +ground reflected light enough to have discovered an intruder had one +been there. + +Bud ran around the house, but could find no person, and there were no +tracks of a man's foot in the snow. + +"Jumpin' sand hills, but that's queer," said Bud, coming back to where +Carl was still standing in the snow before the door, staring about in a +bewildered way. "Gosh ding yer, Carl, I believe yer swiped my hat, an' +if yer don't give it up I'll plant my toe whar it'll be felt +onpleasantly." + +"Honest, Pud, I ain't your hat taking," said Carl distressfully. "Vhy, I +my hat losing too, yet." + +"That's so, an' yer loaded down with truck. Throw them things inter ther +house an' help me hunt ther thief. Don' be standin' thar like a +sausage." + +"Don'd you calling me a sissage," said Carl wrathfully. "I ain't feeling +mooch as having fun mit you now. I bring all dese dings mit der saddle +on, und I lose two or three every dime der pony makes his jumpings, und +get down kvick to pick dem up maype as fifty dimes." + +"Oh, all right. Quit yer bellyachin', an' come an' help. We can't get +along without hats. That's a cinch." + +Carl retired into the house with his bundles. + +"Wow! Stop it, cuss ye," yelled Bud, as Carl came out of the cabin. + +"I ain't didding noding," said Carl, backing away as Bud rushed upon +him. + +"Yer did, yer fat galoot. Yer pulled my hair 'most out by ther roots." + +"I ain't pulling no hairs," Carl persisted. + +"Then who done it? Yer ther only person what I can see. It's a cinch +some one pulled my hair." + +"Say, Pud." + +"What?" + +"Let us camp outside." + +"What, an' freeze ter death before mornin'? Nixy. Not fer me." + +"Ain't you heard about der shack?" + +"No, I ain't, an' I don't want ter. What I'm after now is ther galoot +what got our hats an' pulled my hair." + +"Ain't you heard about der ghost?" + +"Ghost!" + +Bud was staring at Carl with his jaw dropped. + +"Yah. Dis is a ghost haus, filled mit ghostesses." + +"Don't you go making any monkey talks at me. There ain't no sich things +as ghosts. That'll do fer ter frighten kids with, but not fer me." + +"Den who tooken our hats, und who your golden locks pulled?" + +"That's so. Who took them? Tell me, who put all thet dope about this +bein' a haunted house in ther shell what yer calls yer head?" + +"Bill Simms, der cow-puncher vot we picked up on der drive, +informationed me about it. He says a man was kilt in dis shack, und dot +he valks aroundt mit it ven der night cooms." + +"That Bill Simms is ther worst liar in forty States. He tried ter fill +me with wild dreams about a feller what rides ther line on this yere +ranch what can stand havin' ther contents o' a six-shooter pumped inter +him, an' it don't feaze him none." + +"Yah. Dot's der ghostes vot runs dis shack. I don'd vant ter stay here, +Pud. Please let us camp out in der snow." + +"Why, yer doodle, can't ther ghost come out yere jest ez easy ez he kin' +go inter ther house--that is, if he's a sure-enough ghost?" + +"Yah, I guess he can. Vat vill ve didding?" + +"I don't care what you do, but I'm goin' inter ther shack ter start up +ther fire an' get warm. I don't care what you do, but I'm 'most froze." + +"Don't leaf me alone, dear Pud. Please, I imploring you." + +"Come on, then." + +Bud stepped inside, and, as he did so, he uttered an exclamation of +surprise. + +Both the purloined hats lay in the middle of the floor. + +"There, didn't I told you?" exclaimed Carl, in an awed voice. + +Bud simply stared at the hats. + +"Nopody but a ghostes could haf did dat." + +Bud looked around the room, and then up at the ceiling. + +Then he burst into a roar of laughter. + +"Thar's ther ghost," he shouted, grasping Carl by the arm and twisting +him around so that he could see. + +In the corner just below the ceiling were two sharp, green points of +light that glowed in the faint radiance cast by the fire, which had sunk +to embers. + +"Ach, mutter, save your liddle Carl. It vor der ghostes." + +"That ain't no ghost," said Bud scornfully. "Ain't you never hear tell +how ghosts look? They're all white an' long an' skinny, an' when they +walk they carry chains what clanks, an'----" + +"Oh, Pud, stop. Don't say it some more. My plood vas chilling now so I +ain't aple to svallow in my troat alretty. I vas so scared as nefer vas +I." + +"Yer a cheerful roommate, I must say. See, ther ghost is gone." + +"I ain't nefer goin' ter be happy some more. I haf seen a ghost. I vill +die, I am sure." + +"Yer kin bet on that ez a shore thing, an' I reckon I will, too." + +"Listen!" Carl grasped Bud by the arm with the clutch of despair. + +There was a faint and stealthy noise on the roof. + +Both stood for a few moments listening breathlessly. + +Then they heard a faint, far-away wail, like that of a banshee. + +Carl threw his arms around Bud in an agony of fear. + +"Dere it iss. Ve are gone. All iss lost." + +Again the gruesome wail came to them, this time louder and clearer, and +in a moment or two a hand was at the door. The latch clicked softly, and +the door swung slowly open. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE BIG COON TREE. + + +"Hello, what's the matter with you fellows? Are you going to have a +waltz, or is it going to be a two-step, or a catch-as-catch-can +wrestling match? Perhaps you've suddenly grown very fond of one +another." + +It was Ted who spoke, standing in the doorway, laughing as if he would +burst his buttons off, at the strange tableau in the middle of the +floor, Carl clinging to Bud, who was trying to shake him off. + +"Let loose o' me," shouted Bud. "Why, ther feller's plumb daffy on +ghosts. He says as how this shack is haunted, an' he's plumb loco." + +"Yah. Didn't we just hear der ghostes yell mit der outside?" said Carl, +who had been thrust away from his clutch on Bud, and was standing in the +middle of the floor, trembling like one with the ague. + +"Ha, ha!" laughed Ted. "Ghost, eh? It was me calling to the cattle, and +sending them back from the line." + +"Yah, aber I seen mit mine own eyes der green ones oof der ghost up in +dot corner, und heart him on der roof." + +"Come outside, and I'll show you the footprints of the ghost," said Ted, +leading the way. + +Out in the snow by the side of the cabin Ted showed them several tracks, +something like a small hand, which ended at the wall of the cabin. + +"That's where the ghost went up," said Ted. "Let's climb the wall, and +see what is on the roof." + +It was easy climbing up the log wall, for there were plenty of +footholds. + +When they were high enough to look over the edge of the roof, Bud gave +an exclamation of surprise, and then burst out laughing, in which Ted +joined. + +But Carl could not see the joke. + +"It's a vild cat," he shouted, scrambling to the ground. + +"It ain't, neither," asseverated Bud. "It's a bully little ole pet coon. +That's what it is." + +He held out his hand, and the coon, making a queer little chuckling +noise, came slowly toward him as he held out his finger, which the +sharp-eyed little beast clasped in its fingerlike paw and pulled. + +Bud reached out, tucked it under his arm, and climbed down with it. + +"This yere coon was a pet ter ther fellers what rid line yere before," +said Bud, when they were in the cabin again. "He's been hangin' eround +ever since, an' when he saw us he thought it wuz his ole pardners come +back. He's been taught ter swipe hats an' drop 'em down inter ther house +through ther chimbley hole. That accounts fer it, an' I reckon he's ther +whole ghost." + +"Yah, mebbe I dinks so," said Carl, who looked rather sheepish at his +exhibition of fear. + +"He's a smart little piece," said Ted. "By the way, Carl, get busy with +the pots and pans. I'm going to stay to supper and sleep here to-night. +I've got the cattle and the boys planted, and it is too far to go on to +the ranch house to-night. Stella and Kit went back an hour ago." + +Carl went to work to cook supper, while Bud played with the coon, which +was as full of tricks as a monkey, and kept the boys laughing all the +time. + +"A coon is a mighty smart animile," said Bud as they sat down to supper. + +"So I've heard," said Ted. "But I've never seen many of them." + +"Dere is no such beast in Chermany," Carl put in proudly. + +"That's so," said Bud. "Ameriky is the land o' ther free, an' ther home +o' ther coon. Never went coon huntin', did yer, Ted?" + +"I never did." + +"Well, ye've missed some mighty good fun. Down in Missouri is whar ther +coon grows wild an' independent, an' ther ain't one o' them what's come +o' age what ain't as smart as ary congressman you ever see." + +"I've heard something about coon hunting," said Ted. + +"It's great down in Missouri. Thar's whar ther coon trees grow." + +"Vat such foolishment for?" said Carl, with a sneer. "Coons don't grow +mit trees on." + +"Nobody said they could, but they live in trees, yer loony. A ole gum +tree what's holler is ther home o' ther coon. Thar's whar ther best coon +dogs come from, too. Ever hunt coons with a dog?" continued Bud. + +"Never did," said Ted. "It seems too picayunish fer me. I like bigger +game than that. Besides, I don't care much fer hunting in the +nighttime." + +"Do they hunt mit der coons in der nighttime?" asked Carl, who was +beginning to be interested. + +"Shore! That's ther time ter tree 'em. My Uncle Fletcher out in ole +Missou, we ust ter call him ole Unc' Fletch, had four or five coon dogs +that was ther cream o' the coon-huntin' canines in several counties, an' +Unc' Fletch was out near every night chasin' coons." + +"Many of them there?" asked Ted. + +"Ther country was overrun with 'em. They ust ter eat all ther roastin' +ears o' corn in ther bottom lands, an' git away with more chickens than +ever those that raised 'em did, until it got so that ther farmers said +they was only raisin' corn an' chickens ter keep ther coons fat." + +"No money in that." + +"Not much. But I wuz goin' ter tell yer what happened ter Unc' Fletch +one night ter show how plenty coons wuz in his section. + +"One night he starts out with his best coon dog, Ballyhoo, so called +because he made sech a noise when he treed a coon. + +"Bally runs acrost ther scent o' a coon an' takes after it. Unc' Fletch +trails along, an' Ballyhoo stops at a big sycamore tree. But there don't +seem ter be no hole, an' after unc' looks around, an' can't find +nothin', he calls Ballyhoo off, an' they start through ther woods ag'in. + +"Pretty soon Ballyhoo scents another coon, an', by jing, it leads them +ter ther same sycamore. About twenty times that night they strikes ther +scent, an' every time it stops at the same tree. + +"Now, Unc' Fletch wuz some o' a woodman, an' he says it ain't nat'ral +fer ther dog ter tree so many coons at ther same place, an' wonders if +thar is somethin' wrong with ther dog, if he's gone daffy, er whether +it's jest an onusual smart coon what has gone out jest ter have a joke +by runnin' them ter ther same tree every time. + +"While he is contemplatin' thus he is leanin' with his back ter ther +tree. Pritty soon he thinks he'll go home, an' he starts away sorter +disgustedlike with ther night's sport, an', by gee, he finds he's caught +by ther tail o' his coat an' can't break loose. + +"He tries ter get away, but he's shore fast. He reaches around, an' ther +tree hez got hold o' him all right, an' bein' some superstitious, Unc' +Fletch begins ter git some scared. Then he ricollects about hearin' the +colored folks talk about the haunted coon tree." + +"Coons is ghostes, not?" asked Carl. + +"Wait an' you'll hear," continued Bud. "Long about this time, Ballyhoo +begins ter howl in ther most sad an' lonesome way, an' that don't make +Unc' Fletch feel any better. Jest as he's thinkin' about hollerin' fer +help----" + +"Why didn't he skin out of his coat, and leave it sticking to the tree?" +asked Ted. + +"I ast him ther same question, an' he says as how he was too plumb +scared ter do sich a thing. But jest as he was goin' ter holler he finds +that he's loose, an' all his spunk comes back again. + +"Then he begun ter be curious ter find out what it was that held him +fast. He lights a fire an' gets a torch ter examine ther tree, but can't +find nothin' that would hev cotched him thataway. + +"But as he's lookin' ther strangest thing happens. Ther tree opens a +crack runnin' all ther way from ther roots up as far as Unc' Fletch kin +see. Ther crack is big ernuff ter put yer finger in, but Unc' Fletch +doesn't do no such fool trick ez that. + +"In less than a minnit ther crack closes up ag'in, an' thar ain't no +sign o' it. Now this is some puzzlin' ter Unc' Fletch, an' he hez some +more o' them funny feelin's erbout ghosts, an' them things. + +"While he's still watchin' ther tree, ther crack opens again, then +closes an' opens an' closes, same as if it wuz breathin'. This makes +Unc' Fletch some riled, fer he wa'n't never a feller what can stand +bein' made a joke of, an' he thinks ther ghost in ther tree is havin' +fun with him." + +"What did he do?" asked Ted, when Bud stopped and looked reflectively +into the fire. + +"Well, he starts out ter make a fool out o' ther ghost, if it is a +ghost, er outer ther tree, if it is jest a tree what is triflin' with +him. + +"He has his ax with him, fer every real coon hunter always carries an ax +ter chop down ther tree when he finds a coon in it. But he wa'n't goin' +ter chop down this tree none." + +"What did he want with the ax, then?" + +"I'll soon tell yer. First he chops down a small tree, an' he makes a +wedge with an edge erbout ther size o' yer little finger, an' he waits +until ther tree breathes ergin. Then he slips ther wedge in, an' hammers +it home. + +"'Ha, ha!' says he ter ther tree, 'ye'll make monkey-shines with me, +holdin' me by ther coat tails, will yer?' An' all ther time he is +choppin' out another wedge, bigger than ther first. + +"As he keeps choppin' out, an' shovin' bigger an' bigger wedges inter +ther crack, he hears noises comin' from ther tree like what he ain't +never heard before. But ther tree is beginnin' ter give out crackin' +noises, too, like as if it was splittin'. + +"While this is goin' on Ballyhoo is makin' a terrible fuss, an' jest +tryin' ter tear ther tree down with his claws. At last ther tree busts +plumb open, an' what d'yer think Unc' Fletch sees?" + +Neither Ted nor Carl replied. What the tree contained was a thing +unguessable, but Carl's eyes were as big as saucers as he stared at Bud, +awaiting the solution of the mystery. + +"What did it contain?" asked Ted at last. + +"It was plumb full o' coons," said Bud solemnly. "Thar must 'a' been two +hundred coons in that tree. It was a regular coon hotel. They made it a +sort o' winter colony. Every coon fer miles eround made it home." + +"But that doesn't explain the crack in the tree and the strange way in +which it opened and closed." + +"That's easy now that yer knows that the tree was holler an' plumb full +o' coons." + +"I don't see it yet." + +"Why, it wuz like this: Every time them coons drew a long breath it +expanded ther tree so that it opened a crack, an' when their lungs +filled the crack opened wide. Then, when they let out thar breath ag'in, +ther crack closed tight ag'in. Unc' Fletch happened ter lean up ag'in +ther tree jest ez ther crack closed, an' that's how his coat tails got +caught." + +"And what became of all those coons?" asked Ted. + +"Yer see they got inter ther tree through a hole in ther top. Unc' +Fletch didn't dare leave ther tree alone, so he tied a note ter Ballyhoo +an' sent him back ter ther village fer a carpenter. When ther carpenter +come they put a roof on ther tree an' made a door at ther bottom, an' +let ther coons out one at a time. By this means they got every dodgasted +coon in them woods, an' Unc' Fletch's bounties was enough ter enable him +ter lift ther mortgage on ther farm." + +"I guess that will do for to-night," said Ted, laughing. "I'm going to +hit the blankets, for it's up at daylight for all of us. I only hope +your pet coon does not attract so many others as to turn this sign camp +into a coon hotel." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE PHANTOM LINE RIDER. + + +For several days the weather remained fine, and the cattle were able to +get accustomed to their new range and become hardened. + +The boys at the sign camps took things easy. In each sign camp were two +boys, one of whom rode days, and the other nights, when it was necessary +in bad weather to hold the cattle from drifting. + +In order to keep in touch with one another the riders started from their +camps and met midway between, in order to exchange notes as to the +condition of the cattle and other things necessary to the welfare of the +whole herd. + +There was another reason for this constant interchange of communication +between the camps. + +Ted had received a warning from the town of Bubbly Creek, a small cattle +station, about twenty miles from the Long Tom Ranch, where there was a +cattleman's hotel, a few saloons, and an outfitting store, to look out +for the Whipple gang, which had its rendezvous in the Sweet Grass +Mountains. + +Fred Sturgis, in the last letter Ted had received from him, had also +mentioned this gang of thieves and desperadoes, whose operations +extended from Canada, into which they made extensive raids when the +Canadian Mounted Police happened to be out of that part of the country, +as far south as the central portion of Montana. + +"I have had considerable trouble with the Whipple gang myself," Sturgis +wrote, "but as yet I have never seen but one member of the gang to know +it. I have had plenty of cattle stolen, and have always attributed the +thefts to the Whipples. All I know about the gang is that it was founded +by a fellow named Whipple, an outlaw on the scout, who attracted to +himself a desperate gang of fugitives from justice who had taken refuge +in the Sweet Grass Mountains. + +"I have never seen Whipple himself, but from those who claim to know him +he is described as an enormous man of prodigious strength, and a perfect +brute, who has forced his men into absolute subjection by his acts of +brutality toward them. + +"With Whipple are a number of bad Indians, who have fled from the +various reservations in Montana after having committed all sorts of +crimes, from theft to murder. It is said that these are more to be +feared than the white men, for they are terribly cruel, and when they +get a victim he is tortured with all the horrible rites of the true +savage. They know that the moment they are caught that is the end for +them, so that they are reckless to the verge of insanity. + +"I tell you these things, believing that you already know what ranching +in northern Montana means, and with every confidence in Ted Strong's +ability to take care of himself, and meet conditions when they appear. +All I can say is, go after them if they molest you. I and my boys fought +them so successfully that they gave us a wide berth toward the end. But +when they learn that new hands have taken hold of the Long Tom they may +think that they can start their funny business again. + +"Knowing your reputation, and the ability you have shown in the past in +wiping out, or at least breaking up and scattering, bands of bad men, I +leave the Long Tom in your hands with the hope that when I take it over +again in the spring there will be no more Whipple gang, and that the +Sweet Grass Mountains will be as safe as one's own dooryard. + +"A word in your ear about the Sweet Grass Mountains: It is known to a +few men in Montana, and a few others in various parts of the country +that somewhere in those mountains are rich mines of gold and copper, and +at various times men have brought out beautiful and valuable specimens +of sapphires and rubies in the rough, not knowing what they were, having +picked them up solely because they were beautiful and unusual. + +"If it were not for the Whipple gang the mountains would have been +opened up to the prospectors long ago. Several prospectors, unheedful of +the warnings, have gone in, but none have ever come out of the Sweet +Grass Mountains. + +"Whoever is at the head of the Whipple gang possesses more than the +usual share of brains, courage, and luck. Keep your eye peeled, and good +fortune to you." + +This letter had been read to the boys one night in camp, and all were +instructed to look out for strangers on the ranch and to inform +themselves of the business of such. + +One night Carl started from the sign camp to ride north to meet the +rider from sign camp No. 2, which lay nearer the mountains. + +The camp in which Bud and Carl were stationed was camp No. 1. + +The distance between the camps was about six miles, so that each rider +had to go about three miles to meet. + +The night was clear and cold, and the air fairly sparkled with the frost +in the brilliant white moonlight. It was a glorious night, and Carl, in +a leather coat lined with fleece, and with a fur cap upon his head, and +his feet in thick felts, started away from the camp on his ride. + +There was no wind, but the temperature was very low. + +To the north the Sweet Grass Mountains loomed, a black mass against the +sky, while all about the world was carpeted with snow. + +Carl had not progressed more than a mile from his camp when he saw a +dark object against the snow some distance in front of him. + +At first he thought it might be a bush or a rock, so still it was in the +moonlight. + +But he could not remember of ever having seen either a rock or a bush in +that part of the range. + +Then he wondered if he was late at the meeting place, and that the other +line rider had got tired of waiting for him, and had ridden forward upon +his line to meet him. + +This stimulated him to greater speed, and he pricked up his pony. + +But as he got nearer the black blot on the snow there seemed to be +something unusual about it, and he unconsciously slowed his animal down +to a walk. + +At last he got within hailing distance, and saw that it was a man on +horseback that he had been approaching. + +The man on night duty at the second sign camp was a cow-puncher named +Follansbee, a short, reckless, yet amiable fellow, whom Carl knew well. + +The rider who was awaiting him was an unusually large man, and bestrode +an enormous horse. The two were as if they had been carved from ebony, +as they stood silent and absolutely still, outlined sharply against the +dazzlingly white background. + +Something inside of Carl began to sink as he went on, slower and slower, +his hand gripping the reins tightly, and holding back on them. + +"Vot it is?" he was saying over and over to himself. "Vot it is? Dot is +not Billy Follansbee. Dot man vould make dree times of Follansbee, nit?" + +Cold fear was slowly stealing over Carl, and he wanted in his heart to +turn and ride the other way. + +But something seemed to draw him forward, and, try as he would, he could +not bring himself to turn back. + +The man on the black horse could not be a member of the Long Tom force, +for Carl knew every one of them well, as a fellow will who has camped +with them for months on a cattle drive. + +Now Carl was near enough to see the man's face, and he peered eagerly +forward to get a glimpse of it. + +Then his heart sank lower yet, for the man's face was as white as the +snow beyond. There were no features; neither nose, nor mouth, nor +eyebrows, only a pair of black eyes gleamed out of that dead-white face. + +Carl clutched at the horn of his saddle to keep from falling, he was so +frightened. + +"Vot it is?" he kept repeating to himself. + +His pony stopped of its own volition directly in front of this black +apparition, and Carl swayed in his saddle and would have fallen out of +it had he not clung to it with the unconscious strength of despair. + +"Iss dot you, Follansbee?" asked Carl, in a weak, thin voice, well +knowing that it was not his line partner, but trying to break the spell +of fear that held him. + +There was no reply, but the gleaming black eyes never left his own, nor +did the figure on the horse move a hair's breadth. + +"Vy don't you say someding?" said Carl, his voice sounding like the +piping noise of the wind through a keyhole. "Speak someding." + +Then it suddenly struck Carl that the man could not speak, because in +that white, immovable face there was no mouth to speak with, only those +black, blazing eyes. + +"If you can't speak, make motionings," said Carl, in an imploring voice. + +The sinister figure on the black horse slowly raised his arm, and +motioned Carl toward him, at the same time swinging his black horse +around and riding toward the mountains. + +Chilled to the heart, Carl obeyed the signal, and sent his pony forward. + +The man, apparition, demon, or whatever it was, sent his horse into a +gallop, and Carl, with no volition on his own part, followed at the same +speed. + +But with the black and menacing eyes of the man with the dead face away +from his own, some small part of courage oozed back into Carl again, and +he remembered Ted's injunction to question every stranger met on the +range, and if he did not give a satisfactory answer to drive him off. + +But Carl had not got over the fright the sight of that face and eyes had +thrown him into. + +Suddenly his hand came into contact with the handle of his six-shooter, +and a thrill of daring ran through him. + +He looked ahead at the back of the man riding only a few feet in advance +of him. + +Should he take the chance? He knew that Ted or Bud or any of the boys +would do so. Why not he? + +If the man was only human a bullet would soon settle the matter. But if +he should be a ghost or an emissary of the devil, as Carl strongly +suspected, nothing like a ball from a forty-five would do him harm. + +This had the effect of staying his hand, and the revolver stopped +halfway out of its holster. + +Then Carl thought of the boys, and what they would say if they knew that +he had not nerve enough to pot the enemy when he met him. + +Carl was not the bravest fellow in the world, and he was intensely +superstitious. + +Again the thoughts of the taunts of the other boys, should they ever +know that he lacked the nerve to take advantage of the moment, came to +him, and he gulped something hard that rose in his throat, and drew out +his revolver. + +At that moment the man in black turned and looked over his shoulder, his +dead face gleaming white, out of which shone those terrible black eyes. + +The revolver stopped suddenly in its upward course, and Carl's jaw +dropped as he stared in abject fear at that white and expressionless +face. + +Then the man in black turned his horrible face once more to the fore, +and rode on. + +Something inside of Carl seemed to snap, and a great glow of courage +swept over him. He fairly hated the sight of the grim rider in front of +him, who was taking him he knew not where, and whom he yet dreaded with +all his heart. + +Up came the revolver again, and, almost before he realized what he was +doing, Carl was firing, straight at the back in front of him. + +The target could not be fairer, that black mark against the snow. + +The first ball struck, for Carl heard the thud of it, as if it had +struck and sunk into something soft. + +The report of the weapon crashed through the still night, and was +carried far on the frosty air, reverberating and echoing back from the +distant mountains. + +But the creature in whose body the ball had lodged did not seem to know +it. The head was not turned, the body did not lurch or sway. + +Carl, now blind to everything but the terror that had taken possession +of him, fired again and again until every chamber in his revolver was +empty, pausing after every shot to note the effect. + +That every shot was fair he was sure, for he could hear the sound of the +impact of the bullet. + +The recipient of the bullets seemed not to know that they had been +fired, for he did not hasten or retard the progress of the horse, nor +did he take any personal notice that they gave him any discomfort. + +But when Carl ceased firing he threw his head backward, looking over his +shoulder again, and from that hideous face without nose or mouth came a +gurgling noise that was like, and yet not like, laughter. + +The laughter was worse on Carl's nerves than the silence, and he felt +himself grow sick at heart. + +How could he expect to fight or escape from a devil impervious to the +balls from a Colt forty-five? + +Then, to Carl's amazement and relief, the black horse sprang forward +over the snow so swiftly that it seemed as if it was flying rather than +running, but this probably was due to the uncertainty and the illusion +of the moonlight, and vanished into thin air, leaving Carl staring +open-mouthed. + +It was several minutes before Carl regained his senses and knew that he +was sitting with his revolver in his hand, staring into space and seeing +nothing. + +Then he rode slowly forward to the brink of a deep coulee. + +Here was where he had last seen the phantom rider, for such Carl had at +last come to regard him. + +Looking to the bottom of the coulee, Carl saw nothing but snow, where he +had expected to find a dead horse and rider. + +"Ach, vot a country," he wailed. "Vy did I effer come to it? Mutter, I +vish you vas here to hellup your Carlos." + +Then he heard a groan close at hand and looked about, expecting to see +the phantom rider by his side. + +A short distance off lay a black splotch on the snow. + +It resembled the prostrate form of a man. Had he, after all, killed his +horrible enemy? Cautiously he rode toward it. It was a man, and not the +phantom, and it looked very much like a cow-puncher, for it was clad in +leather coat and chaps, and there was a belt filled with cartridges, and +in the snow beside it lay a Colt forty-five. + +This at least was human, and Carl climbed stiffly from his saddle and +bent over it. + +He started back with a cry of surprise. + +The man in the snow was his line partner, Follansbee. + +That he was not dead was evident, for he groaned occasionally. + +It was up to Carl to get him to camp as soon as he could, and when he +tried to raise the insensible form he was stopped by a gush of blood +from a wound in the breast. + +But he heard a shot in the distance, then another, and another. + +The boys had heard his shots, and were riding toward him with all speed. + +Presently he heard the long yell, and in a few minutes Bud Morgan came +dashing toward him at top speed, and soon they were joined by Kit +Summers from sign camp No. 2, and the horror of the night was over for +Carl. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +CAUGHT IN THE ACT. + + +Follansbee was carried to camp No. 2, where Bud, who was a pretty good +cow-camp surgeon, examined his wound. A ball from an automatic revolver +had struck him in the breast, but on account of the thickness of the +clothing he wore, and the fact that he had on a heavy vest of caribou +hide, in the pocket of which he carried a small memorandum book, the +ball had penetrated only a short distance. + +While he had lost a lot of blood, and the shock of the ball striking had +caused him to lose consciousness, he was not seriously hurt. + +It did not take Bud long to extract the bullet and stanch the flow of +blood, and Follansbee opened his eyes and looked about wildly. + +"Where is he?" he cried in terror. + +"Whar's who?" asked Bud. + +"The man what didn't have no face," cried the cow-puncher. + +"Carl chased him avay alretty," said Carl, bending over his partner. + +"All right, Carl. You saw him, too, did ye?" + +"Sheur I sawed him, mit mine own eyes." + +"Then it's all right," murmured Follansbee, sinking back on his bunk. "I +wuz afeared the boys wouldn't believe me if I told them what I saw." + +When Follansbee sank into a deep sleep, due to his weakness from loss of +blood, the three boys sat before the fire while Carl told of his +encounter with the faceless man, and of the six shots which he had fired +at him and the ineffective bullets which had struck his body. + +As the story was told a hush fell upon Bud and Kit. They were deeply +affected by the fact that this unknown and terrible menace was upon the +range which they were compelled to patrol, and which not even the balls +from a heavy weapon could kill. + +"I would hardly have believed it if both of you hadn't seen the +creature," said Kit. "It sounds too much like a pipe dream." + +It was morning before Bud and Carl left Kit's camp and rode to their +own. Follansbee was apparently all right, and exhibited no symptoms of +fever, for he had the iron constitution of a seasoned cow-puncher, who +almost invariably recovers as if by magic from a gunshot wound if the +missile does not penetrate a vital spot or splinter a bone. + +Follansbee, when he awoke from his sleep, told Kit of his meeting with +the "man without a face," as he called the man who had given him his +wound. + +"I wuz ridin' at a pretty good clip along the line to meet Carl," he +began, "when I see a feller standin' waitin' for me by the deep coulee, +about three miles south. + +"At first I thought it wuz Carl, but soon I see that it wuz too big fer +the Dutchman. + +"I slowed down a bit, fer I saw it wasn't any o' our outfit. Ye see I +had in mind what Ted said about that Sweet Grass Mountain gang, an' I +wuz some skittish. + +"As I rode along slowly the feller on the black hoss made a sign as if +he wanted me to foller him. But I didn't like the stunt, so I stops +still an' rubbers at him. + +"Two or three times he makes his motions, an' I don't do nothin' but +shake my head. + +"Kit, that wasn't no human bein'. It wuz ther devil as sure as shootin'. +I started to draw my gun, but shucks, I ain't got no chanct ter make a +move before thar was a crash, an' a blaze o' flame come from his chest, +right about the middle, an' I felt the ball strike me, I heard a queer +sorter laugh, like a man bubblin' with his mouth in a basin o' water, +an' then I went out, an' all I remember wuz fallin' out o' the saddle." + +About noon of that day, Ted and Stella rode over from the ranch house on +a tour of inspection, and stopped at Bud's camp, where they were told +the story of Carl's strange encounter with the man without a face, to +which he listened in troubled silence. + +When Carl was through with his story, Ted looked for a long time into +the fire without saying anything. + +"Well, what do you think?" asked Stella, at last. + +"I think it is the work of the Whipple gang," answered Ted. + +"But why should they shoot Follansbee?" + +"It is a piece of intimidation. Of course, they do not know us. Under +ordinary circumstances an apparition like that, followed by the shooting +of a man, would cause a panic among ignorant men on a ranch. It is a +cinch that the Whipple gang has got it in for us, and this is just the +beginning of it. You will soon see other evidences of their work." + +"But why should they hev it in fer us?" asked Bud. "We ain't never done +nothin' ter them." + +"I don't know, but I have several ideas." + +"What are they?" + +"There are two or three things to be considered. In the first place they +have it in for the ranch on general principles. You know Fred Sturgis +said in his letter that he and his boys had driven the gang away from +the ranch. That is reason number one. Then we are strangers in this part +of the country, and they have seen us and have us sized up for a lot of +boys, and, therefore, easy marks for them. Again, we have a big bunch of +cattle, which Whipple and his bunch think we will not be able to protect +against them. + +"They may have learned that we are deputy United States marshals. That +is enough to condemn us in their eyes. They are all old and fugitive +criminals, and if we knew them I think that we would find that they are +all wanted in one or more of the States and Territories, and that the +aggregate amount of rewards which have been offered for them, dead or +alive, would amount to a neat sum. They do not need marshals in this +part of the country. There may be other reasons why they will make war +on us, which we will learn later, but the ones I have mentioned are +sufficient for them to make themselves very troublesome." + +"So you think it is war, eh?" said Stella. + +"I do, and I think that you will be a shining mark for them when they +learn that you are here. For that reason I would warn you to be very +careful where you go about the ranch, and especially ask you not to ride +about alone, and to keep away from the mountains." + +"Oh, dear, and just when I had planned to explore those mountains from +one end to the other," said Stella, with a pout. + +"Can't help it. You know what would happen if they should catch you and +spirit you off as Shan Rhue did in the Wichita Mountains." + +"Yes, I know, I'm a lot of trouble to you, Ted, but you know I don't +mean to be." + +"Of course I know it, but if you run into danger, and expose yourself to +the attack of those who are avowedly our enemies, you run the chance of +being caught, and then, of course, it is our duty to get you out of +trouble." + +"Well, I'll be good." + +"The attempted killing of Follansbee was no accident," continued Ted. +"It was the work of an exceedingly shrewd man, who knows the moral +effect of his strange and mysterious appearance." + +"Ain't it a ghost?" asked Carl, who had become all swelled up at the +thought that he had made a ghost run away from him. + +"I should say not." + +"Den vy shouldn't mine bullets haf killed him?" + +"I'm sure I don't know. That is why I say that he is a remarkably clever +man, and it is probably the cause of the power he wields that he is able +to do such things. It wouldn't surprise me any if some day we learned +that your visitor was none other than the renowned Whipple himself." + +"What are you going to do about it?" asked Stella. + +"What can we do? We wouldn't know a single member of the gang if we were +to meet him. We don't know where they hang out, and if we did we know +nothing about the Sweet Grass Mountains, and could not go to where they +are. All we can do is to watch the ranch house and the cattle as a cat +watches a mouse, and if anything more, such as the shooting of +Follansbee, occurs, we will have to go on the warpath ourselves. But I +don't want to do that. We are out here to winter feed our cattle, and +not to fight." + +"Shore enuff, but yer kin bet yer breeches I'm not goin' ter let no cave +dweller or brush hider tromp onto my moccasins, an' turn ther other +cheek ter be tromped on. Ther first feller o' that outfit I cotch sashay +in' around me I'm goin' ter take a crack at him." + +"Go as far as you like when it comes to an act of aggression on the part +of one of them, but don't start anything, Bud, unless you can positively +bring it to a successful end." + +"I reckon I'm some of a fox myself. They ain't set no trap what I've put +my paw inter yet." + +Ted and Stella rode on to Kit's camp to see how Follansbee was getting +on, and found him doing nicely, but Stella laughed at the bandages Bud +had put on the wounded cow-puncher, and insisted on redressing the +wound. + +Stella was a master hand at bandaging, because she was deft of hand and +was naturally sympathetic. + +When she had finished with Follansbee, and had sewed his bandages so +that he could not rub or drag them off, he said he felt a hundred per +cent better already. + +Then they proceeded toward the mountains, where the third camp, under +the direction of Ben Tremont, was situated. + +It was almost the dying of the day when they left Ben's camp. He had not +heard of the attack on Follansbee, and Ted made it an occasion to warn +Ben against the attacks of the Whipple gang, as he was in the most +exposed place, being so near the mountains. + +When they turned their ponies' noses toward the south again it was to +ride through a part of the herd. + +Ted noticed that the cattle were feeding well and that there was plenty +of good, rich, well-cured grass, and that it was free of snow in big +enough patches to give the cattle ample room to graze. + +As they were riding along Stella drew rein. + +"What's the matter with that steer over there, Ted?" she asked, pointing +to a steer that was dragging one of its hind legs. + +Ted looked at the steer in question, which was moving slowly forward. + +"See, there's another," cried Stella. "Why, I can see a dozen of them +all limping in the same manner." + +"That's strange," said Ted. "I wouldn't think anything of it if only one +steer had gone lame, but I can't understand a dozen." + +They rode slowly toward the lame steers. + +"Great guns," exclaimed Ted, bending low in his saddle to examine the +steers closely. + +"What is it?" asked Stella excitedly. + +"This is terrible," said Ted. "If this keeps up we might as well shoot +all the cattle and let them lie out here on the prairie the prey to the +wolves. We will never get them back to Moon Valley." + +Stella looked at him with an expression of consternation on her face. + +"These cows and steers have been hamstrung," said Ted, with a tone of +suppressed rage in his voice. "Any man who would do a trick like that +ought to be shot down in his tracks like a mad dog." + +"Hamstrung! I don't understand." + +"Some inhuman brute has ridden up behind these crippled animals, and +with a sharp knife has cut the tendons or leaders behind the hoofs, or, +rather, in the ankles, laming them and preventing them from being able +to follow a drive. Where would we be in the spring if any large portion +of our beasts were so maimed?" + +"What a brutal thing to do!" exclaimed Stella, in indignation. + +"Hello, what's that?" + +Ted rose in his stirrups, standing and shading his eyes with his hand +against the glare of the setting sun on the snow. With the other hand he +was pointing off toward the east, where the cattle were milling +uneasily. + +"Something wrong over there," said Stella. + +They rode slowly in that direction to see what was disturbing the +cattle. + +As they went, Ted was looking for other hamstrung beasts. + +"By Jove! this is getting worse and more of it," he exclaimed. "See +there! That steer has had the tendons of his leg cut to-day. The wound +is fresh. It has hardly stopped bleeding. I wonder----" + +But before he had finished the sentence he applied the quirt to his pony +and was dashing through the herd, with Stella close behind. + +He had seen something strange and out of the way in the milling herd, +and while he thought he knew what it was he could hardly believe that it +could be true. + +As he rode he drew his revolver, and broke it to see that its chambers +were filled. + +Ted's face was pale and stern, and Stella saw at a glance that he was +terribly angry, and had the look in it that she had observed there +several times when he had seen animals being used with cruelty. + +As he dashed into the milling herd he gave a cry of rage. + +At the same moment a man sprang to an upright position in the midst of +the cattle, and gave a cry of surprise. + +Over his shoulders hung the fresh hide of a cow, with the skin of the +head and the horns protruding above his head. + +He gave one swift glance at Ted, then threw the hide to the ground and +set out at a run through the plunging beasts. + +Ted was hampered by the cattle getting in his way, and was not making +much progress, but he was beating the horned beasts aside with his +quirt. + +It was possible even yet that the man who was running from him would +escape, and this was what Ted was trying with all his might to prevent. + +Ted knew why the man was among the cattle protected from them by his +disguise of the cow's hide. + +He had been hamstringing them by the wholesale. + +In one day the inhuman brute could destroy for range use a whole herd. + +In the meantime, the cattle were growing wilder and wilder from the pain +caused by the hamstringer's knife, the wild career of the unmounted man +among them, and Ted and Stella pressing through them from the rear with +shouts and cracking quirts. + +"Great Scott! They'll get him!" shouted Ted, reining in his pony. + +The furious steers had turned their attention to the man on foot, and +were surging about him with angry bellowings, charging upon him, and +crowding him. + +He was in a very perilous position, and it was only that the cattle were +herded so close together that he had not gone down sooner. + +But once the cattle got him down he would be gored and trampled to +death. Nothing could save him. + +Ted and Stella were trying to force their way to his side, but were +unable to do so. + +Notwithstanding the fact the fellow had been caught in the act of +mutilating his cattle, Ted could not see him die without trying to save +him. + +Now they heard a cry of fear, and saw the man throw his arms up in the +air. + +The cattle were surging about him with wild and angry bovine cries, and +with a great tossing of horns, and leaps into the air. + +There were muffled yells of agony from beneath the tossing mass of +horns. + +"They've got him," muttered Ted. "They are wreaking their own revenge." + +"Are they killing him, Ted?" asked Stella. + +"They have got him down. The fool he was to go among them on foot. He +should have known better." + +Ted made another effort to get through the cattle, and at last succeeded +in making a lane for himself. + +"Stella," he shouted over his shoulder, "you stay where you are! This is +nothing for you to see. Better let me attend to this." + +Stella was aware that Ted always knew what he was talking about when he +warned her away from anything, and she made her way out of the herd. + +When Ted got to the spot where he had last seen the man, the cattle were +still milling, but were getting calmer, and had no hesitancy in +scattering when he rode among them slashing right and left with his +quirt and firing his revolver over their heads. + +When he had cleared an open space he rode back into it, and instantly +recoiled from the sight presented to him. + +On the ground lay the hamstringer, a mass of bloody clothes in which +were torn flesh and broken bones. He was quite dead, and had been not +only gored but had been trampled hundreds of times. + +The vengeance of the maimed animals was complete. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A NIGHT RAID. + + +Ted bent over the mangled body of the hamstringer and turned him over. +Then he leaped back with an exclamation of horror. + +He had recognized the miscreant. + +It was Sol Flatbush, the traitorous cow-puncher, member of the gang of +cattle rustlers and gamblers headed by Shan Rhue, who had run off about +five hundred head of cattle of the Circle S brand into the Wichita +Mountains in Indian Territory. + +But how had Sol Flatbush got into this part of the country? And where +was he stopping? It was evident that the cow-puncher and desperado had +hamstrung the cattle out of revenge for having been discovered and +driven out of the broncho boys' camp. + +Now that he was dead, however, Ted lost all his resentment, and was +genuinely sorry for the poor chap because of the horrible means of his +death. + +Ted hardly knew what to do with him. It were better if his friends could +take charge of his body and bury it, but where were his friends? + +Suddenly a thought occurred to Ted. Perhaps Sol Flatbush, following his +instincts and habits, had come north after he and Shan Rhue had been +outwitted by the boys at the Hole in the Wall in the Wichita Mountains, +and allied himself with the Whipple gang in the Sweet Grass Mountains. + +If this were true, the simplest thing to do was to send the body of +Flatbush to the gang. It would serve, Ted hoped, as a terrible warning +to the other members of the gang not to meddle with the affairs of the +broncho boys. + +Not far away Ted saw a pony, saddled and grazing quietly. + +Mounting his pony, he rode up to it. Tied to the cantle of the saddle +was a pair of blankets. + +This was the very thing! Ted carried the blankets to where the body of +Flatbush lay. Spreading them out, he rolled the remains of Flatbush into +them, and bound them securely with a rope. + +With some difficulty he lifted the bundle to the back of the outlaw's +pony, and bound it securely with a lariat. + +Then he tied the pony's reins to the horn of the saddle, gave the beast +a slash with his quirt, and it started, snorting and jumping, toward the +distant mountains. + +Thus was the body of Sol Flatbush sent to his friends. + +"What was it?" asked Stella, when Ted, having finished his gruesome +task, returned to her side. + +"The chap who was mutilating the cattle is dead," he replied. "The bulls +turned upon him and gored and trampled him to death." + +"Horrible! Do you know who he was?" + +"Yes, I recognized him." + +"Is that a fact! Who was he?" + +"An old enemy of yours." + +"An enemy of mine! I didn't know I had one." + +"Not really of your own, for no one who knows you could feel any +animosity toward you, Stella. But you have enemies through me. Those who +would seek to hurt me do so by making trouble for you, knowing that they +can hurt me worse by injuring you than they could by torturing me +personally." + +"That's why you have so often warned me to be careful where I go alone." + +"That is why. It is not fair that you should be put to discomfort or in +danger of death merely because I make enemies by trying to force men to +obey the laws." + +"I understand. But who was the man who was killed?" + +"Sol Flatbush." + +"Sol Flatbush! How does it happen that he is in this country?" + +"I'm sure I don't know, unless he and Shan Rhue, after escaping from the +Wichita Mountains, came directly here, having previously been members of +the notorious Whipple gang." + +"Then I suppose we shall see Shan Rhue one of these days. Ted, I'm +afraid of that fellow. When they had me in the Hole in the Wall I heard +him make the most horrible threats against you." + +"Threats don't hurt, Stella. The threatened man lives long. You know the +old proverb: 'The man I most fear is he who says nothing, but smiles in +your face while he is planning to stab you in the back.'" + +They were turned toward the ranch house, and as darkness was falling +swiftly, conversation was suspended as they put their ponies to their +highest speed, galloping across the snow-covered range toward where they +could see the lantern of the house shining like a beacon through the +gloom. + +For the safety of the boys and the cow-punchers traveling toward the +ranch house in the dark, Ted had placed a large lantern on the top of +the flagstaff which stood in the front yard, so that it could be seen +for miles at night to guide wanderers. + +This had been suggested by his experience the first night they had spent +at the house. + +Those of the boys who were not riding line were stopping at the house, +and they were all in the big living room awaiting the coming of Ted and +Stella. + +When Stella was late in arriving at the house, Mrs. Graham began to grow +anxious and worried, and this was communicated to the others. + +But when they heard Ted's ringing yell outside, as he and Stella +galloped up, there were shouts of gladness inside, and the big door was +thrown open, allowing a broad path of light to fall across the prairie, +as two cow-punchers came bounding down the steps to take the ponies to +the corral. + +After supper Ted told of the maiming of the cattle and the death of Sol +Flatbush. + +It was part of the life at the ranch that bad news of any sort was never +told at the table during meals, and if any of the fellows had a +grievance or was in trouble he tried to keep that fact out of his face +and look as merry as he could while the others were eating. If he wanted +to tell his troubles later, and any one was willing to listen, all right +and good, but mealtime was glad time where the broncho boys and their +friends sat down together. + +While they were sitting before the great fireplace after supper, Clay +Whipple was looking into the flames with a preoccupied air. + +He had been silent all evening, an unusual thing for him, for usually he +injected humorously dry comments into general conversations. + +"What's the trouble, Clay?" asked Stella, who was always the first to +notice when one of the boys was not his usual self. + +"Oh, I don't know," said Clay uneasily. + +"Reckon he's worryin' some on account o' this yere mountain bandit bein' +ther same name as him," laughed a cow-puncher named "Pike" Bander. + +"I reckon you're only joshin', Pike," said Clay quietly, but growing a +shade paler. + +"Why, shore, Clay. Yer didn't think I wuz in earnest?" Pike hastened to +say. + +Clay's Kentucky blood would not permit him to receive without resentment +any reflections against the South or the people of his family, while he +could stand any amount of personal joshing without growing in the least +touchy or angry. + +"Then what's the matter?" asked Ted, as Clay returned to his gloomy +contemplation of the fire. + +"I'm worried some, that's all," was the reply. + +"Tell your troubles to the policeman, that's us." + +"Well, I might as well out with it. Only I don't want to appear as if I +was gettin' panicky over nothing." + +"What is it, Clay? You are so provoking when I am just dying to hear +about it," cried Stella with a laugh. "Out with it." + +"Injuns!" said Clay explosively. + +"Indians!" + +Every one around the fire sat up with a jump. + +Clay nodded his head slowly without taking his eyes from the fire. + +There was silence for a few minutes, for every one was turning this new +menace over in their minds. + +The danger from Indians in this far-away Northern country was very real. +It was not that the Indians would make any open or daring attacks, but +that they were lawless and fearless of the authority of the United +States, and despised the "buffalo soldiers" at the near-by army posts. + +"Buffalo soldiers" is a name of contempt given by the Indians to the +negro troops who had been stationed near the Blackfeet and Crow Indian +agencies, on account of their curly, woolly hair, which, in the +fantastic minds of the Indians, resembled the short, curly hair on the +shoulders of the buffalo. + +The negro troops were too near their own color to demand much respect +from the Indians. + +But the danger did not come so much from the reservation Indians, as +from the fugitive Indians who had left the reservations and had become +outlaws, allying themselves with the white bandits in the mountains, and +living by thievery from the ranchmen and sheep-herders. + +Some of these Indians had rallied around Running Bear, a young +Blackfeet, son of a chief, a graduate of the Indian School at Carlisle, +in Pennsylvania. + +Running Bear was a young fellow of magnificent physique, for he had been +a member of the famous Indian football team of Carlisle that had a year +or two previously cleared all white teams from the gridiron. + +Running Bear was well educated also, and a man of fine address and +manners, when he wished to be so. But he was unprincipled, and when he +returned to the tribe lost no time in breaking all the laws imposed by +the United States for the government and welfare of the Indians. + +This brought him into conflict with the Indian agent, and certain +penalties were imposed on him. This he would not stand, and soon +persuaded other of the young men of the tribe to mutiny against the +agent. + +This led to further trouble, and after committing some unforgivable +offense against the United States, Running Bear rallied his young men, +and they fled the reservation and the ways and protection of the white +men, and took to the mountains, where they lived by raiding the ranches +in the neighborhood, and maintaining a sort of defensive partnership +with Whipple's band of white outlaws. + +After a silence, during which every one was turning these facts over in +his mind, Ted turned to Clay, and said: + +"What about the Indians, Clay?" + +"I saw their tracks." + +"Where?" + +"In the coulee back of the house." + +"Near the house!" exclaimed Ted. "That's getting pretty close to home. +Did they see you?" + +"I reckon they did. I took a shot at one of them, an' he left a red +trail in the snow." + +"That's bad, Clay. You shouldn't have shot at him." + +"Shouldn't, eh? Well, you never saw a fellow from ole Kaintuck that +would stand up an' let a man shoot at him without sending his +compliments back--if he happened to be packin' his gun at the time." + +"Did they shoot at you, then?" + +"One of them did. It was like this: I was ridin' in from the west, where +I had seen a small bunch of strays which I turned back to the main herd. +As I was comin' up to the big coulee I saw something move against the +snow. At first I thought it was a grouse, and was just going to take a +shot at it when I looked again. Then, by jinks, I saw that it was the +head of an Indian shoved up over the edge of the coulee. + +"His back was turned to me, and he was watching the house. I pulled in +my pony and kept my eye on him for several minutes. + +"Then I saw Mrs. Graham come out of the house and stand for a moment on +the back porch. + +"The Indian rose up and brought a rifle to his shoulder. At that I let +out a yell, and he turned to me like a flash, and pulled his trigger. +But he was in too much of a hurry, an' the ball whistled over my head. + +"I had my gun out, an' blazed away. The Indian yawped as if he had been +hit, and disappeared. I got to the coulee as fast as I could, but he had +disappeared." + +"Was he the only one?" asked Ted. + +"I reckon not, for there were any number of moccasin tracks in the +coulee, and the footprints of white men or Indians who wore boots. There +was a splotch of blood where the Indian had been, and a red trail +leading to where there had been ponies. Then I came on to the house." + +Ted was thinking deeply. At last he raised his head. + +"This has been a day full of things that may mean a great deal to us," +he said. "Follansbee has been shot by a member of the Whipple gang, Sol +Flatbush was killed after mutilating our cattle, more Whipple gang; and +an Indian prowler has been shot, some more of the Whipple gang. Boys, +the war is on, and it depends on us whether it is going to last all +winter and cause us to lose all our cattle, or whether we are going to +be able to stamp it out right now. Which shall it be?" + +"I reckon we'd better get busy. It'll be easier ter do the job now than +fuss along with it all winter," said Pike Bander, who was an old +Northern cow-puncher, and had had lots of experience with the Indians in +Montana, the Dakotas, and Wyoming. + +"I think you're right, Pike," said Ted. "And now off to bed with you. +There'll be something doing to-morrow." + +In half an hour the house was dark, and every one was asleep. + +The moon which had been shining brightly during the early part of the +night had become obscured by a heavy bank of snow clouds, which had been +driven over the mountains by a north wind, and it had grown much darker +outside. + +In his sleep Ted seemed to hear the well-known voice of Sultan, +whinnying shrilly. It was a dream, and Ted tossed uneasily. But again +and again he heard Sultan's voice. It had a note of alarm in it, and Ted +knew that Sultan seldom gave an alarm of this sort unless something +serious was the matter. Ted's dream was of Indians, and the call of +Sultan was very natural, for the little black stallion hated Indians, +and whenever one came within smelling distance of him he grew uneasy and +fretful, and always gave voice to his fear. + +The dream had such a disquieting influence on Ted that it woke him, and +he sat up in bed grinning to himself in the dark to find that, after +all, it was only a dream, and that he was safe in bed. + +But what was that? + +He was awake now, and he distinctly heard Sultan. Then he had heard his +pet give a warning, even in his dream. + +Leaping from bed, Ted groped around the room, getting into his clothes, +without lighting the lamp. + +Grasping his rifle from the corner, and buckling on his belt and +holster, he left the room. + +As he passed Clay's room he entered and shook the sleeping Kentuckian, +who was on the floor with a bound. Ted told him of the continued voicing +of an alarm by Sultan, and Clay hurriedly dressed. + +They passed into the living room, and Ted went to the windows on one +side, while Clay went to the other side. + +Hidden by the curtains, they stood looking out on the snow-covered +plain. + +"Hist!" It was Clay trying to attract Ted's attention. + +Ted went swiftly to his side. + +"What's that down by the corral?" whispered Clay. + +Ted looked sharply. + +"It's the Indians," said Ted. "They're trying to steal our horses. +Sultan knows what he's about. Come on, we'll have to rush them." + +Ted heard a rustling noise behind him and turned. + +It was Stella, fully dressed, and with her rifle resting in the hollow +of her arm. + +"I heard Sultan, too," she said. "We'll have to hurry if we're going to +save the horses." + +"You go back to bed," said Ted. "Yi-yi-yipee!" + +His voice rang out in the old Moon Valley yell. + +It was like a fire bell to a fireman, and brought the boys out of their +beds like a shot, and they scrambled into their clothes and were in the +living room with their arms in a jiffy. + +In the corral a great commotion was taking place, to judge from the +noise that came to them. + +At the word of command they rushed through the door, and raced for the +corral, turning loose the long yell. + +They heard guttural shouts in the distance, and a band of ponies came +through the gateway of the corral, scattering over the prairie. + +Behind them rushed a band of Indians, who, seeing that there was no +further occasion for silence, gave forth whoops of defiance. + +Then Ted saw Sultan gallop out, and on his back was an Indian. + +This was more than Ted could stand, and his rifle flew to his shoulder. +There was a flash and a crash, and the Indian fell to the ground, over +which he writhed in agony. + +Ted whistled, and Sultan trotted to his side. + +The ponies had scattered, and the corral was empty. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE WAR PARTY. + + +The Indians had fled in every direction. + +They had been foiled in their purpose of running the ponies off in a +band, as they had intended, by Ted's fortunate discovery of the raid. + +How to gather the ponies together again was the question that puzzled +Ted, for the broncho boys had no mounts with which to pursue the +would-be thieves. + +It was not long before the light appeared in the east, and by that time +Ted had ridden to Bud's sign camp, and thence to camp No. 2, and had +four more horsemen to assist him in the pony round-up. + +These worked unceasingly, riding the snowy prairie, picking up the +ponies which the Indians had not been able to round into a bunch to +drive to their rendezvous in the mountains. + +The attack upon them had been so sudden that they had taken no heed of +where they were going. It was every man for himself, with the broncho +boys' bullets for the hindmost. + +About noon Ted and the boys from the sign camps rode up to the ranch +house, driving before them a band of about twenty ponies which they had +found grazing on the prairie or seeking the shelter of the coulees. + +Not a sign of the marauding Indians had they seen. + +"Boys, as soon as we can get something to eat we're going after those +Indians," said Ted, dismounting and going into the house. "We've got +mounts for nearly all of us, now. A guard will be left at the house, +then we'll get on their trail. We can't afford to let this thing go. +Those Indians must be taught a lesson, so that they will get over the +idea that they can run in on us and take what they want just because we +are boys." + +"That's ther way ter talk," exclaimed Bud Morgan heartily. "Give 'em +what's comin' to 'em, an' give it to 'em good an' plenty." + +"I guess it won't be any snap to find them now," said Ben. + +"They've scattered. But we can trail them. They'll leave a track like +that of a moose, it will be so wide. They're in the hills somewhere, +laying for another opportunity to raid the corral. They need ponies to +ride, and beef to eat, and they have got the idea into their heads that +we were sent out here to cater to their wants. It's our business to fool +them." + +"Oh, hurry up," cried Stella. "I'm so anxious to get started I'm all in +a flutter." + +"Who said you were going?" asked Ted, with a smile. "This is no pleasure +trip. Trailing and fighting Indian outlaws is no matinee." + +"I should say not," said Stella coolly. "But it's work for the broncho +boys, and I'm one of them. Bud has promised to teach me the art of +following an Indian trail, and there never will be a better time than +this." + +Ted could only shrug his shoulders, as he turned away to see if McCall +was hurrying dinner. He knew that he would waste time arguing with the +spirited young woman, who was as good a cowgirl as he was a cowboy, and +for one of her sex quite as courageous. + +So eager were the boys to be off that they fairly bolted their food, and +rushed to the corral to saddle their cayuses. + +Then they saw to their arms, and each took his rifle in the boot of his +saddle. + +Sultan had had such a hard day's work since daylight, rounding up the +scattered ponies, that Ted left him in the corral, and decided to ride a +fresh horse. The only serviceable animal he could find was the worst +riding beast on the place, a vicious, half-broken Texas pony, which had +to be roped and held before the rider could mount. + +This, however, made little difference to Ted, who could ride anything +that would fit a saddle. + +While he held the saddle ready to throw it on Bingo's back Bud roped and +held the rearing, raging, bucking beast, who was busy kicking holes in +the air with his wicked heels. + +After maneuvering around the corral several times, Ted managed to dodge +the flying hoofs long enough to slip the saddle and tie the latigo. + +Then it was up to him to mount. + +Whenever he approached Bingo from the rear, dancing around to escape the +pony's battery, and got to the side where he could grasp the horn of his +saddle, Bingo would wheel in a circle away from him as if he was +fastened to a pivot. + +The performance was getting monotonous, for the boys were standing +around in a ring waiting to start. + +Ted was getting impatient also at the fool antics of the pony. + +"Stop your fooling," he said to Bingo. "When I do land on your back I'll +make you sorry you didn't stand still, my bucko." + +He stepped back several feet and stood looking at the pony, who, with +ears flattened and the whites of his eyes showing, stood still also, +waiting for further developments. + +He didn't know exactly what was coming, but wanted to be ready for it, +whatever it was to be. + +Suddenly Ted gave a short, swift run, leaped in the air, and before +Bingo could gather himself for a plunge, Ted was astraddle of the +saddle. + +Bingo remembered his part then, but he was too late, for simultaneously +he felt the sting of the quirt across his shoulder, and the prick of the +spur in his flank. + +A horse can think of only one thing at a time, while a mule can pay +attention to the mule-skinner's lash and think of forty-seven varieties +of devilment at the same time. + +In trying to keep his mind on the sting of the quirt and the prick of +the rowels at the same time, Bingo got rattled. + +He leaped high into the air, intending to fall backward, and crush his +rider. But Ted had been there before many times, and as he went up a +stinging blow across Bingo's withers brought him down in a hurry. + +Then he did some more plunging, but the spur in his side, and Ted's firm +seat, soon convinced him that it was wasting time to fool with Ted, and +he set off at a gallop across the prairie. + +With a ringing cheer the boys followed, and soon caught up with him. + +When they were together again, Ted paired the boys off to scout. + +"I'll tell you how you will probably find it, fellows," said Ted. "The +Indians ride in different directions. Whenever you hit a trail follow +it, but go slow and keep your eyes peeled for an ambuscade. You will +find that eventually all the trails will lead to the same place. If we +are in luck, we will find them before they go on into the mountains, and +we may have a skirmish. I hope, however, that we will be able to settle +the matter without resorting to any shooting. Uncle Sam is mighty touchy +about any one killing his Indians except his soldiers, no matter what an +Indian does. We'll probably all come together where the Indians are. +Kit, you ride with me. You other fellows choose your partners. Bud, take +good care of Stella." + +"You kin bet yer active an' useful life I will," said Bud, as he and +Stella galloped off together. + +Bud and Kit rode away to the north, while the other broncho boys spread +out in pairs over the prairie. + +Ted had been riding an hour without crossing a track. + +"There's no use going in this direction any longer, Kit," he said. +"They've probably gone farther to the west. I guess we'd better strike +off that way, and take a chance of cutting them somewhere over there." + +They had paused on the bank of a small frozen stream lined with willows, +and Ted had dismounted to walk up and down the bank to find a place +where he could break a hole in the ice to water the ponies. + +"You'll have to rope Bingo and hold him when I go to get on," he said to +Kit before he got down. + +"All right," said Kit. "I'd get down and cut that hole in the ice +myself, only my arm might give me trouble again. I've got to be mighty +careful of it yet." + +As Ted was looking for a safe place to lead the ponies down to the +stream, with Bingo's bridle reins hanging over his arm, he was startled +by a snort from the brute, and a sudden back pull. + +He looked over his shoulder at the pony to see what was the matter with +it. + +Bingo was standing with his head high, his ears pointed forward, his +nostrils as red as if they were lined with red silk, and the whites of +his eyes like pieces of chalk, snorting as if in terror. + +Ted read the symptoms instantly. + +"He smells Indians," he muttered to himself. + +He looked around for Kit, and saw him far down the stream, struggling +vainly with the pony he was riding, which was running away in a panic of +fear. + +Kit was an expert and dauntless horseman, and not one of the broncho +boys except Ted could excel him in horsemanship, but with his wounded +arm he could not bring the brute under control. + +"That settles it with me," muttered Ted. "I'm going to have a time +getting on the back of this beast, for he will be worse than ever now +that he has scented Indians." + +He heard a noise behind him, and wheeled. + +Coming out of the willows a few hundred yards away were a score of +Indians, painted for war and all armed with rifles. + +With a hasty movement the leader of the broncho boys loosened his +revolvers and glanced to see if his rifle was ready for instant use. + +The Indians had stopped, as much surprised as Ted, and stood staring at +him in a stupid sort of way. + +Ted saw that if he was to escape being murdered now was his chance, and +turned to his pony. + +As he did so the Indians let out a whoop that frightened Bingo almost +into a fit, and, wheeling suddenly, he dashed away, almost dragging the +reins from Ted's grasp. + +But as he did so Ted was by his side, running with one hand clutching +the long mane. + +It was rough running over the rocks and hummocks with which the bank of +the stream was strewn, but Ted seemed to fly through space, so lightly +did his feet touch the ground. + +Rifle balls were now singing through the air above Ted, and on every +side, which only served to increase the speed with which Bingo was +running away from his enemies, the Indians. + +Bingo had been trained in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas to regard the +Indian as his natural enemy, and whenever he smelled one it was his most +earnest desire to get as far away as possible in the shortest space of +time. + +This was fortunate for Ted also. + +While it was not an easy matter for Ted to mount while the pony was +wheeling away from him, Ted was well educated in the cavalry drill as +used at West Point, and mounting a running horse was one of the easiest +of the many equestrian tricks with which he was familiar. + +When he thought he was far enough away from the Indians not to afford +them too good an aim for his body, he placed his hand on the cantle of +the saddle, gave a smart upward spring, and the impetus of his running +and the pony's speed took him through the air like a bird, and he +settled in the saddle as easily, almost, as if he would have sat down in +a chair. + +As he reached the saddle he, for the first time, threw a glance over his +shoulder. + +The Indians were in full pursuit, yelling like madmen. + +They were led by a young fellow dressed in a yellow buckskin shirt +elaborately beaded, and trimmed with fringe, while on his head was a +bonnet of eagle feathers, which trailed far behind him as he dashed on +far in advance of his followers. + +"Here's a chance to stop that chap," said Ted, swinging around in his +saddle and throwing his forty-five over his shoulder. + +The six-shooter cracked, and as the smoke floated away Ted saw that his +bullet had gone where he intended it to go. + +The pony on which the young Indian was riding stumbled and staggered +forward a few feet, then dropped. + +That brought the party to a halt, and Ted, turning his face forward, +galloped on. + +Kit had succeeded in mastering his pony and had brought it to a halt, +and, as the report of Ted's revolver reached his ears, he turned and +rode rapidly in that direction. + +As the two boys came together and found that they were unharmed and that +the war party of Indians had been halted, they dove into a coulee, +followed it a short distance, and climbed again to higher ground. + +The Indians were no longer in sight, and they set off at a gallop toward +the west. + +For half an hour they rode, when Ted suddenly pulled his pony to a stop. + +On a rise far away he saw a black, slowly moving mass, which, at first, +he had taken to be a band of buffalo, but when it strung out he +discovered that it was a party of men on horseback. + +As the sun was behind the riders, Ted could not distinguish whether or +not they were Indians or whites, as he could have done if the sun had +been shining upon them. + +"If it's Indians I don't want any more of it," he said. + +"I don't think they are Indians," said Kit. "Those fellows sit +straighter than Indians. I believe they are either our own boys, or +cavalry from the post." + +"I believe you are right," said Ted. "Let's fire a few shots to attract +their attention, and then ride to them." + +The shots were fired, and presently they heard several faint reports, +and knew that they had been heard and answered. + +In a few minutes they had ridden to where the party was standing on the +ridge of a rolling hill. + +They were the broncho boys under the leadership of Ben Tremont. They had +all come together on a broad trail that pointed toward the foothills in +the north, and, as they rode, had picked up one pair of scouts after +another. + +"Where are Bud and Stella?" asked Ted, running his eye over the party. + +"Haven't seen anything of them," said Ben, "although we have been +keeping a lookout for them. They rode farther to the west, and probably +will pick us up later. I think this trail leads into the hills, and that +we will find the Indians in camp not far away." + +This was Ted's belief also, and, taking the leadership, he ordered an +advance. + +"Halt!" Ted Strong had stopped his pony, and with his hand shading his +eyes, was looking steadily to the front. + +"What is it?" asked Ben, riding to his side. + +"Smoke over the top of that hill right in front of us." + +Ted did not take his eyes from the spot. + +"By Jove!" he exclaimed. "The bunch of Indians who chased me have taken +a short cut and beaten us in. I saw a band of Indians cross in front of +us, and one pony carried double." + +"Then we have caught up with them." + +"I think so. Hold the boys here, I'm going forward to scout. When I +signal, come forward as fast as you can ride." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A BATTLE OF QUIRTS. + + +Ted turned Bingo over to one of the boys to care for, and crept forward +stealthily toward the hill behind which he had seen a thin thread of +blue smoke rising in the still air. + +No one but an Indian or a trained scout would build so small a fire. A +tenderfoot would have made one that roared and sent a vast cloud of +smoke toward the sky to attract any enemy that might be in the vicinity. + +But an Indian builds his fire in a space not much larger than the hollow +of his two hands, and manages to send up smoke that only a trained eye +could detect, and at the same time have heat enough with which to warm +himself and cook his food, with as little fuel as possible. + +As he went forward, Ted was surprised that he came upon no sign of a +camp guard. + +The Indians evidently thought that the boys would not have the courage +to follow them into their own country, and had grown careless. + +So much the better. It would give him a chance to learn how they were +situated before making an attack. + +He crept on his hands and knees to the ridge of the hill, and, removing +his hat, peered over the edge. + +Below in a small valley he saw about fifty Indians, who, from their +dress and their manner of painting their faces, he knew to be of various +tribes. + +He easily recognized in the band several Blackfeet, six or seven Crows, +some Sioux, who had come far north, and to his astonishment a few +Southern Indians, such as Caddos, Cheyennes, and Comanches. + +This alone was enough to convince him that the Indians were outlaws and +renegades, and that they were plunderers and thieves, as well; probably +murderers hiding out from the United States troops. + +In the circle about the fire he soon discovered the young fellow whose +pony he had shot beside the frozen stream. + +The young Indian, for he did not appear much older than Ted himself, was +holding forth to a number of other Indians. + +Probably he was boasting of his pursuit of the white boy, and the +unfortunate mishap that brought down his pony and prevented him from +bringing a white captive into camp. + +Not far away from this group Ted observed a man dressed in Indian garb, +who yet did not act like the other Indians. An Indian has a peculiar, +slouching walk, while this man strode about with the smarter, quicker, +springier tread of a white man. + +Presently the supposed Indian drew from his belt a pouch of tobacco and +some cigarette papers, and proceeded to roll a cigarette. + +Northern Indians do not roll cigarettes; they smoke pipes. It is only +the Indians of the Southwest who take their solace from tobacco through +the little homemade paper tubes. + +"That's a fellow who has been a cow-puncher," said Ted. "He's a white +man disguised as an Indian. Probably one of the Whipple gang. I've got +my opinion of a white man who will play Indian, and live with the dirty +scoundrels," said Ted to himself, with disgust. + +He had seen all that was necessary, and had laid his plan of attack in +his mind. + +Creeping down the hill, he threw his hand in the air as a signal for the +boys to come to him, also signaling for silence. + +In a few minutes they were by his side, and, while one of the fellows +held Bingo safely, Ted sprang into the saddle. + +"Now, fellows, we're going to ride around the end of this hill and plump +into the Indian camp. The snow will deaden the hoofbeats of the ponies, +but keep as still as possible. We'll surprise them, and probably be able +to settle the whole thing without firing a shot. But don't bet on it, +and keep your hands on your guns, but don't fire until they make the +first crack, then rush them and drive them into the hills, and bring +down all you can." + +With this advice they rode forward by twos, Ted and Ben in the lead. + +It did not take long to round the hill, and then, as suddenly as if they +had opened a door and stepped into a room, they were in the midst of the +Indians. + +No such surprising and sudden attack was ever made. The Indians stood as +if they were carved of wood as the boys rode up to them, staring +open-mouthed. + +Only one of them made a break--the young Indian whom Ted had dismounted. + +For several moments not a word was said. + +Ted saw instantly that the broncho boys had all the best of it, and that +the Indians had been taken completely by surprise, for not one of them +was armed. Their rifles and guns were either still on their saddles, and +the ponies were standing some distance away, or they were stacked beside +a ledge of rock twenty or more feet from the fire, where most of them +were congregated. + +The young fellow whom Ted had foiled stared for a moment with a look of +contempt and dislike. + +Suddenly he made a rush to where the guns were standing. + +"Stop!" Ted's voice rang out sharply. But the youth continued to run. + +"Stop, or I'll kill you!" shouted Ted again. + +Then an old Indian cried out something, in the tongue of the Blackfeet, +and the young fellow halted suddenly and came walking back with a sickly +look on his face. + +The old Indian who had stopped the youth now stepped a little ways +forward, and, holding up his hands in a peace sign, began to talk. + +"You are my brothers," he said, "and Flying Sun, the medicine man, +welcomes you to our camp." + +Ted held up his hands in a sign of peace also, but said nothing. + +"He's a darned old hypocrite," said Ben, in an aside to Ted. "He has +murder in those little red eyes of his, if ever a man had." + +"I'm on to him," said Ted. "Keep your eyes on that bunch, and give it to +them if they start anything treacherous." + +"My white brothers come with peace for their red brothers. Join us at +the fire. Warm yourselves; eat of our meat." + +"We are willing to be brothers," said Ted. "But one brother does not +steal the ponies from the corral of the other." + +"That was the work of the young men, and they are now sorry for it," +said the medicine man. + +Ted looked at the young fellow whom he had unhorsed, and saw that his +face was distended in a sarcastic smile. + +"The young brave yonder is the one who led the raid on my corral. He +does not look sorry," said Ted, pointing to the offender. + +Flying Sun threw a glance in the direction of the young man, and said a +few words sharply in the Blackfeet tongue. + +"Crazy Cow is young and the son of a chief. His blood is hot within him, +and he does not know what he does," said Flying Sun. + +Crazy Cow's face at once assumed a look of sadness. + +"I have not come for war," said Ted gravely, "but I want to warn you and +your tribe that I will not stand for any raids on our ranch. You will +find that we are good fighters, and that we can kill just as well as the +soldiers. The ranch is ours, and the cattle and horses are ours, and do +not belong to the young men of your tribe. They must leave us alone, or +we will be compelled to deal out justice to them in our own way, which +is a hard one." + +"Very well, my brother," said the wily old chief. "We desire to live in +peace with our white brothers. Your cattle and horses shall be sacred to +our young men." + +"I mean this," said Ted, looking at the old man severely. "Keep your +young men away from our ranch, or they will be killed." + +At this Crazy Cow drew himself up to his full height, and looked at Ted +with scorn. + +"Two can make killing," he said, in perfectly plain English. + +"Perhaps they can," said Ted quickly. "But I want to say to you +particularly, that if you are ever seen within the lines of the Long Tom +Ranch again you will be sorry that you ever were born. I have said +enough. Get on your horses and go. You are now on the ranch. Get beyond +it." + +The young Indian gave a short, harsh laugh, and strode toward a pony, +decorated after the fashion of war ponies with feathers and bits of red +flannel woven into his mane and tail. + +The other Indians were not slow to follow his example, and soon they +were all mounted. + +"Now look out for treachery," said Ted in an aside to the boys. + +"Keep your eyes peeled, fellows," said Ben, passing the word along back. + +"Ride up in open order so that we can surround that bunch if they get +gay," said Ted, in a low voice, and the boys rode out and scattered +themselves in a long line. + +The Indians were bunched pretty well together. + +It was a critical moment. + +The slightest suspicious move on the part of the boys might have alarmed +the Indians and started a fight. + +While the boys kept their hands on their weapons not one was drawn. + +The Indians rode off to a distance of a few hundred feet, then halted. +All had their rifles or guns in their hands, but not in a hostile way. + +They were well aware that the white boys were much better armed than +they, and were not in a temper to stand any foolishness. + +It seemed as if the Indians had stopped to say good-by before riding +away into the mountains. + +But when they stopped, Crazy Cow rode out from them a short distance and +stopped. + +"I am Crazy Cow," he said in a boastful way. + +This was in the manner of a personal challenge, as if he had said: "Who +the deuce are you? Knock the chip off my shoulder if you dare." + +Ted looked at him for a moment, for Crazy Cow was staring at him with an +impertinent look in his face. + +"I don't care who you are," said Ted, who was disgusted with the +fellow's airs. "If you were the chief himself, I would tell you to keep +away from my cows and ponies. What is the son of a chief? Nothing!" + +The tone in which Ted said this was such that the young Indian flushed a +deeper red, and grasped his rifle harder. + +"I am an educated Indian," said Crazy Cow, "and as good as any white +man. This is my country, and I shall go wherever I please." + +"Go where you will, except on my ranch. Keep off that." + +The Indian shrugged his shoulders. + +"I go where I please. You, whoever you are, have no right to prevent me +from going anywhere. Who are you to talk to me like that?" + +"My name is Ted Strong. I am a deputy United States marshal. Do you know +what that is?" + +"Yes. I spit on them." + +"Well, here's one you won't spit on. That's a cinch. You ought to be +ashamed of yourself, a man who got his education free from the United +States, to talk that way." + +"Bah! I hate the United States which robbed my people of their lands, +and then made treaties only to break them. Since they have driven me +into the mountains they owe me a living, and I'm going to collect it." + +"Very well, only be careful how you do it. I have said enough." + +"Ted Strong talks big and much, but does nothing. He is a coward who is +afraid of the Indian." + +"I am not afraid of you. I think I have shown it." + +"Yes, but you ran when I surprised you by the stream." + +"My pony ran, and to keep from losing him I clung to him." + +"It was a good thing for you that he did run. If he hadn't, you would +never have gone home again, and the buzzards and vultures, assisted by +the prairie wolves, would have you by now." + +"Big talk means nothing. You are not a fighter, you are a squaw. You are +a fool and a boaster." + +"No, I am a chief, and a warrior. I have seen the blood of the white man +flow, and I drank it. I am brave." + +"You're full of hot air. Run along now; I'm disgusted with you." + +"Hah! White squaw afraid to fight. Go back to your camp, and cook the +meals and wash the clothes in the tub." + +Crazy Cow made motions, of scrubbing at a tub. + +At this the other Indians burst into laughter. + +"You are but an idle boaster, Crazy Cow. You make much noise like the +wind in the trees. That is all it amounts to. You do not make me feel +bad by what you say." + +Crazy Cow, seeing that he could not get Ted angry with his banter, tried +a new tack. + +"Hah, little bay pony," he cried, addressing Bingo. "Are you a squaw +pony?" + +He paused in a listening attitude as if he was paying close attention to +what the pony was saying. + +"Yes, you are ashamed to be ridden by a squaw who does not fight, but +only talks. Come over here, squaw pony, and be ridden by a man." + +Again his speech was greeted by the laughter of the Indians, to whom it +was interpreted by the disguised white man. + +"So you think I will not fight, eh? You think I am a squaw, do you?" +said Ted quietly. + +The Indian only laughed. + +"I will show you who is the squaw. I will thrash you with my quirt until +you cry out with pain. You may keep your gun. I am not afraid of it." + +"Now you begin to talk a little like a man. But you won't fight. Little +pony, you are ridden by a squaw. Why don't you throw him off and come to +me, who is a fighter?" + +"Fellows, stand fast," said Ted to the boys. "I'm going to give that +young buck such a licking as he never thought possible. If they don't +play fair, shoot." + +Ted threw his rifle to Ben, so that he would not be burdened by it, and +rode toward the Indian, who also threw his weapon to one of his +followers. In his right hand he carried a long, braided Indian whip of +thongs. It was a cruel weapon, for the Indian is cruel to everything in +his power, from his squaw to his dog. + +This he grasped firmly in his right hand, and awaited Ted's coming with +a satirical smile on his face. + +Ted had been coming on quietly, but when he was a few feet from Crazy +Cow he suddenly gave Bingo the spur, and the astonished horse reached +the Indian's side in two jumps. + +Without a moment's hesitation Ted reached forward and grasped the Indian +by a collar of leather which he wore laced around his throat, somewhat +after the fashion of the white linen chokers worn by young white men. + +Furiously the young Indian lashed out with his quirt, which struck Ted +across the shoulders, and made him wince with the burning sharpness of +it. + +But Ted was back at him like a flash, and his quirt sang through the air +and slapped upon the buckskin shirt worn by the Indian. + +Crazy Cow, whom the lash had not hurt in the least, only laughed. + +Ted saw that he might go on thrashing the Indian all day upon his shirt, +and that it would have no more effect than if he whipped a covering of +iron. + +The other Indians also saw the humor of the situation, and joined in the +laughter. + +Meantime, the Indian was plying his quirt with all his force, and every +time the lash struck Ted across the shoulders or neck it left a blue +welt. + +Whipping fights are common among the Indian lads, and are merely tests +of courage, and the power to endure pain without crying out. The Indian +boy who cries out unexpectedly at some particularly stinging blow is +called a squaw, and sent into Coventry by the others for varying lengths +of time, during which none of them will speak to him. + +Crazy Cow had often indulged in the whipping sport, and knew how to +wield the quirt most effectively. + +So the battle of the quirts went on, the blows falling as fast as their +arms could fly, but Ted plainly was getting the worst of it on account +of the protection which the buckskin shirt gave the Indian. + +Ted saw that this soon must change or he would be ignominiously beaten. +He had not shown that he suffered any pain from the blows he received, +although the Indians watched his face closely for any sign that he was +weakening. + +At last Ted thought that he had discovered a vulnerable spot. + +With a sudden wrench of his strong wrist upon the leather collar which +he grasped, he whipped Crazy Cow flat across his saddle and held him +there. + +Then with all his strength he brought his quirt across the seat of Crazy +Cow's blue flannel trousers, which were drawn tight, and upon the tender +part of the back of his legs. + +The Indian struggled furiously, but could not release himself, and all +the while the cruel blows were raining upon him. + +A huge burst of laughter rose from the broncho boys, but the Indians +could not see the joke, and with angry exclamations started forward to +rescue their young chief. + +But at this sign of hostility Ben Tremont let out a roar, and every +broncho boy threw his rifle to his shoulder, and the Indians shrank back +in silence. + +Ted thrashed the Indian until his yells of agony and his struggles +ceased, then threw him aside. + +"Go back to your people and tell them that you are no longer fit to be +chief. That you have been whipped with a quirt by a white boy until you +cried. It is you who are the squaw," said Ted, riding back to his party. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +SILVER FACE. + + +As Ted released the badly punished young Indian and rode back to where +the boys were waiting for him, Crazy Cow painfully raised himself to a +sitting position in his saddle. But the pain was too great, and he +slowly and painfully slid to the ground. But the backs of his legs were +so seamed with welts that he could not walk. + +He was, indeed, an object for pity, but he had been defeated, and not +only that, but had been whipped on the most shameful spot, in Indian +fighting, and his friends would have none of him. + +When he looked toward them for sympathy they only pointed the finger of +scorn at him, and laughed. + +Now Ted rode out in front of the boys, and, raising his voice, said to +the Indians: + +"Go back to your village. Do not come to my ranch again. Next time it +will be something worse than quirts with which we fight, and dead men, +instead of squaws with sore legs, will be the result. Go!" + +The old medicine man turned his pony toward the mountains, and in a +guttural voice gave the command. + +Without a word, and without looking back, the Indians started on their +way, Crazy Cow following dejectedly on foot, leading his pony. + +He had been conquered and humiliated, but his heart burned with hatred +for the young white chief who had been the cause of it. + +When the Indians were out of sight, Ted returned to the boys. + +"Well, that's over for the present," he said. + +"Yes, but we'll have trouble with those fellows later, you may be sure," +said Ben. "Look out for a ball or a knife in the back from Crazy Cow." + +"I don't fear him as much as I do the cunning and treachery of that old +villain, Flying Sun, who plans these raids and lets the young men +execute them while he stays back in a safe place." + +"What interests me more than anything else just now is Stella and Bud. I +propose that we drop everything else and hunt for them. You know that +since the appearance of the man without a face, and now this encounter +with the Indians, to say nothing of sending Sol Flatbush's body home on +his horse, the members of the Whipple gang will be pretty keen after +every member of our party." + +"True, Ben. We must be very careful of Stella from now on. I would not +have taken this ranch had I known that it was menaced by such a gang of +thieves as seems to be in the mountains." + +"Where had we better scout?" asked Ben. + +"Do you think Bud and Stella went farther west?" + +"Yes. As we started away from the ranch house I heard Bud say to Stella, +'When the gang came out of the corral just before daylight I saw that +most of them headed into the west. If we go that way we're sure to beat +the others to the trail.' Then I saw them slip away quietly back of the +house, and later they disappeared over a rise due west." + +"Then that's where we must look for them. Forward, fellows. We're going +to find Bud and Stella." + +"Do you think it is necessary for all of us to go?" asked Kit. + +"No, I don't. The ranch must have a guard of some sort. About half of +you turn back to the lines, and two of you ride to the ranch house to +see that all is well, and guard it." + +Ben sorted out the fellows who were to go back to the ranch, keeping all +the broncho boys to start on the hunt for the missing ones. + +No one felt exactly uneasy for the safety of Stella and Bud, but it was +proper, under the circumstances, to see that they were safe. + +"As before, we will split up into couples to search for Bud and Stella," +said Ted. "You better come with me this time, Ben." + +To the west of the line of the Long Tom Ranch the land became more +broken. At first the hills ceased to be rolling and broke off into +canons, more or less deep, with sometimes sides that assumed the dignity +of precipices. + +The sides of the foothills were clothed in small tracts of scrubby pine +timber, and altogether it was not a pleasant country to travel over in +winter. + + * * * * * + +When Bud and Stella left the ranch house, Stella was bubbling over with +joy at the prospect of being in the hunt for the Indians, and the +prospect of Bud teaching her the mysteries of the trail, particularly +the war trail. + +"Don't say a word," said Bud, with a wink, "an' we'll fool 'em all. Them +Injuns never went nowhere except inter ther east. I throwed out a blast +o' hot atmosphere erbout them goin' west. That wuz ter fool ole nosey +Ben, who had his neck stretched out like a spring chicken's ter hear +what was bein' said, an' git ther advantage o' my sooperior knowledge. + +"Well, when I see that I thort I'd give him somethin' ter chase, so I +hands out the west p'int, when I mean ter go ter ther east. When we +start out we'll ride ter ther west until we come ter ther first draw, +then foller it ter ther south until we come ter a break leadin' east, +then foller that, an' we'll be fust onter ther red man's tracks." + +"All right," laughed Stella. "That will be a good joke on Ben. He didn't +like it because he couldn't go with us." + +Now it will be seen that Bud's little fiction in the hearing of Ben was +not the proper thing, and, as it turned out, Bud was mighty sorry for +his apparently innocent fib before the end of the day, or the dawning of +the next. + +They did as Bud planned, and when they were well out of sight and +hearing of the other boys they turned to the east, and, when well out on +the prairie, turned their ponies' heads to the north. + +As they cantered across the prairie, on which the snow was like dry sand +and only about an inch deep, they could see bands of their cattle here +and there pawing the snow off the grass, or "rustling" for their fodder, +as the cowmen call it. + +"I shore believe thar's somethin' wrong on this yere range," Bud +remarked, after they had gone a few miles. + +"Why?" asked Stella. + +"Somethin' wrong with ther cattle." + +"In what way?" + +"Thar ain't half enough o' them here." + +"Do you mean that some of them are gone?" + +"Yep. Thet's jest what I mean." + +"Strayed, probably?" + +"No. Stole." + +"Nonsense. Who could have stolen them? The Indians?" + +"No. I reckon not. The Injuns is keen after ponies. In the fust place +thar ain't nobody what kin wear out a pony as fast as an Injun. They +work their ponies ter death, starve 'em, beat ther hides off'n 'em, +neglect 'em, and when they're wore out turn 'em loose fer ther wolves. +Second, they kin run off a bunch o' ponies in a hurry, but they balk +some at rustlin' cattle because they move so slow. If we aire shy on +beeves ther white men has got 'em." + +"When we get back we ought to round the cattle up and count." + +"That's ther only way ter do it. I've got a pretty good eye fer a herd, +an' it's my idee thet we're losers here, an' that ther rustlers is +gittin' rich off'n us." + +About noon Bud pulled in his horse, and examined the snowy ground +carefully. + +He had struck a trail. + +Winding across the prairie in a northeasterly direction was a broad +trail, the tracks of many cattle and horses. + +"Here we are," said Bud. "Thar's whar some o' our cattle and several +ponies have passed." + +He got down to the ground, and, stooping over the trail, regarded it +carefully. + +Suddenly he straightened up. + +"This is not an Injun trail," he said. + +"It isn't?" asked Stella. + +"No. Here are the tracks of cattle, an' on top of them those of horses +ridden by white men." + +"How do you know they were not Indians?" + +"Here's an impression o' a horseshoe, an' here's another o' a different +size. These were made by animiles ridden by white men." + +"I can understand why you should know that they were white men's horses +because Indians do not shoe their ponies, but I'm blessed if I can see +how you know that white men were riding them." + +"Easy enough. These horses were ridden straight. An Indian, in spite of +stories to the contrary, is not a good horseman. He rides all over the +ground instead of straight ahead when he is going anywhere, seemin' as +if he wanted to get his money's worth of the ride. If it had been +Indians who were driving off these cattle, you would see pony tracks all +over the prairie about here." + +"Then we've struck the wrong trail." + +"Well, we've missed the Indians, but we've struck another and a better +lead. Ther boys under Ted will most likely git in ther trail o' ther +pony snatchers, but we're on another lay--cattle thieves." + +"This is something of a surprise, isn't it?" + +"You bet. If we hadn't run ercross this yere trail we mightn't have got +on ter ther fact thet our steers wuz bein' lifted ontil so many o' them +wuz gone thet it would make a big hole in our herd." + +"Have they much the start of us?" + +"I reckon they have." Bud was down on his knees, looking closely at the +tracks. + +"Yes," he continued, "they went by here shortly after midnight." + +"How do you know?" + +"Against ther east side o' each o' these leetle depressions made by a +hoof is some fresh snow." + +"I don't see how that tells the time." + +"I do. Along about midnight last night a wind come up an' blew from ther +west fer half an hour. It drifted a little snow before it, which settled +inter these depressions an' banked up against ther east side o' these +tracks." + +"That seems reasonable. Bud, where did you learn all these things about +trailing?" + +"Never learned them nowhar. It's jest thinkin' about what yer see what +makes a scout an' trailer. These cattle is somewhar up in them hills +yon. They probably drove until sunup, an' then stopped ter give ther +critters a rest before shovin' them inter ther mountings." + +"Then I suppose we better hurry. We may be able to find out where they +are." + +"Righto, we'll mosey. I reckon we've struck a good thing." + +"How many beeves do you suppose there were in that steal?" + +"Oh, I reckon fifty er sixty." + +"Whew! That's worth going after." + +Bud had mounted, and they galloped along the trail, which was broad and +deep. It led them through coulees and over hills and down into valleys, +and the sun was high and the trail apparently endless. + +"Bud, let us stop and eat our lunch. I'm hungry," said Stella. + +"All right. I'm a bit peckish myself," was the reply. + +They were in a narrow valley which was strewn with great bowlders, and +on the sides of the hills grew a great many scrub pines. Through the +center of it ran the broad trail. + +The lunch was tied to the cantle of Bud's saddle, while Stella carried a +canteen of coffee, for she was a great favorite of McCall, the cook, and +when she started out for the day he invariably put up the best lunch a +cow camp could afford. + +Bud, in the meantime, had found a spring on the hillside and had watered +the horses, then made a fire of pine boughs over which they heated the +coffee and warmed themselves. Then they began their luncheon. + +Bud was so busily appeasing his hunger that he did not say much, and did +not think it strange that Stella said nothing. They were seated on +opposite sides of the fire, and Bud, thinking that perhaps Stella might +need something, looked across at her. + +What he saw caused him to stare. + +Stella was looking over his head with an expression of horror on her +face. Her wide, staring eyes were filled with an unspeakable horror. + +Her hand was poised in mid-air, just as if she had been going to put +something into her mouth, when the action was arrested by the sight of +something that froze her with terror. + +"Stella, what's ther matter?" Bud managed to blurt out. + +Stella's lips moved, but no sound came from them. She was too frightened +to speak. + +Then Bud, observing the direction in which she was looking, turned his +head. + +In an instant he was on his feet. He had become very pale, and his hand +shook as he reached slowly toward his holster. + +Standing behind him was a creature such as he never had seen before. + +It was a man of great stature, clad entirely in black, over which was +thrown a long, black cloak. + +But the horror of the creature was the face. Out of an expressionless +mask of silver, without nose or mouth, gleamed a pair of fierce, black +eyes, that twinkled maliciously. Midway of the face were two holes, +nostrils through which he breathed. + +It was the man at whom Carl had fired his six harmless bullets--the man +with the silver face. + +Bud stood staring at him like one frozen, but Stella, when she saw that +Bud was as frightened as herself, was able to take her eyes away from +those terrible orbs that shone through the silver face, and regained her +composure, and now was able to look at him without terror and with +curiosity. + +There was something fascinating in that blank, rounded, shining, white +face, lighted only by those remarkable eyes. + +What was behind that mask? A face, or only a blank? + +Bud had somewhat recovered from the ague of terror into which the sudden +appearance of the man with the silver face had thrown him, for he was a +brave fellow, and not easily shaken from his courage. + +"What do you want?" he asked at last, but yet with a little tremor in +his voice. + +There was no answer, but the eyes continued to burn in a very suggestive +way. It seemed as if the man behind the mask was trying to speak, but +could not. + +Presently, however, he made a motion with his hand that told them to +follow him. + +"I'll be derned if we do," said Bud stubbornly. "Who aire yer, anyway, +an' what business hey yer buttin' in on us this away?" + +A strange, inarticulate, bubbling sound came from behind the silver +face, but Bud could not understand it. + +Again came the signal to follow. + +"Not on yer life," said Bud firmly. He drew his revolver, and a look of +decision came into his face. When Bud took on this look he meant +business. + +"Oh, Bud, don't oppose the terrible creature," whispered Stella, to whom +fear had come again from looking on that blank but fascinating face. + +"No, by jing, I ain't goin' erlong with thet freak. If I could see his +face an' knowed who he wuz I might talk business." + +As he said this the eyes behind the silver mask fairly shot forth sparks +of anger, and again that horrible bubbling noise was heard. + +The creature raised his arm. There was a sudden rush, and Bud felt his +arms grasped from behind. + +But as this happened he had presence of mind enough to point his +revolver at the man in the silver mask and pull the trigger. + +The weapon crashed, and, as the smoke cleared away, Bud saw the thing of +horror still standing unharmed where he had been, although the revolver +had been pointed directly at his heart, while from behind the mask came +again that sickening, bubbling laugh. + +At another signal from the figure Bud was dragged a little way up the +hillside, and his wrists were securely tied, his arms embracing a tree. + +While this was being done Stella, too frightened to make an outcry, was +led away, and, looking over his shoulder, Bud saw her mount Magpie and +ride away surrounded by four men, led by the man with the silver face, +who bestrode a splendid black charger. + +Bud was left alone to survive, if he could, the perils of frost and +hungry wolves. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +LOST IN THE WILDERNESS. + + +Stella could not keep her eyes from the silver mask of the man who rode +by her side. She was wondering continually at the mystery of him. + +For an hour or more they rode up one valley, then across a hill or +stretch of prairie, and through valleys again, the black mountains +coming nearer all the time, until at last they entered a forest of +pines, which they traversed until night began to fall. + +At a gesture from "Silver Face," as Stella had named the man who rode by +her side, the party came to a halt. + +Stella now saw that it was the intention to camp, for, while some of the +men cared for the horses, others cut down several small pine trees and +built a shelter of pine boughs, into which she was ushered, and before +which a blazing fire had been lighted. + +It had grown very cold, and Stella was grateful for the heat that filled +her shelter. + +One of the men had brought food, and a pan and coffeepot from a pack on +one of the horses, and now began to cook supper. + +Stella fully realized the peril of her situation, but particularly that +of Bud, who had been left alone, bound and helpless, in that wilderness. + +If he had not given the impression to the boys that he was going west +instead of east, things might have been easier for them, but now Bud +might perish of cold or be the prey of wild animals before Ted could +come to their rescue, which she was sure he would do soon. + +After she had eaten the supper which the man with the silver face +brought her with his own hands, she felt better and more cheered, and +began to take a brighter view of the situation. + +The floor of her lean-to shelter had been thickly strewn with pine +boughs, which were soft and aromatic, and Stella reclined upon them, and +gazed into the fire, listening to the strange sounds that filled the +forest, for the camp was absolutely quiet. + +After eating their supper the men had silently smoked their pipes and +then curled up on their blankets, which had been spread on mattresses of +pine boughs, and were asleep. + +Only Silver Face was awake, and he sat wrapped in his cloak near the +fire, his eyes taking on a fiercer gleam as the flickering lights struck +them. + +Stella wondered who he was. Evidently the mask concealed a horrible +mystery. Could he talk, and would not? Was that eerie, bubbling laugh of +his the only articulate sound he could make? + +Stella wished she knew more about him, and that he would talk to her. + +The night was growing on, but Stella did not feel like sleeping. + +Occasionally Silver Face arose and replenished the fire with resinous +pine logs, and for a while the flames leaped high, filling the woods +with strange shadows and ghostly, wavering spots of light. + +Then afar, it seemed, there sounded the night cries of wild animals, +timber wolves, those dreaded monsters of the lupus tribe, and +occasionally the scream of the cougar, like a woman in agony. Then, +close behind her shelter, there sounded a horrible, snarling shriek. It +was the night cry of a bobcat close at hand, attracted to the camp by +the scent of the meat which had been cooked for supper. + +It was so near and clear that for a moment Stella's heart seemed to stop +beating altogether, and she felt as if she would suffocate, and buried +her face in her hands, expecting every moment to feel the claws of the +terrible animal sink into the flesh of her back. + +But at the sound Silver Face leaped to his feet, and was coming swiftly +around the fire. + +Through the silver mask his eyes were gleaming wickedly. + +Stella heard him, and looked up. He was standing before her at the +corner of her shelter, his blank face turned toward the place from which +the cat's cry had come. + +Suddenly a strange thing happened. From the breast of the black garment +worn by Silver Face leaped a flame, followed by the crash of a revolver. +This was succeeded by another, and a third. + +The sleeping men had been aroused, and were sitting up in their +blankets, blinking stupidly. + +Behind her shelter Stella heard a thrashing among the frozen underbrush, +while Silver Face stood immovable, the blazing eyes in the mask staring +in that direction. + +Meanwhile, Stella was marveling at those shots which had seemed to +spring from his very body, and without the apparent use of his hands. + +But soon the noise in the brush ceased, and Silver Face stepped out of +sight. + +In a moment he was back, and threw into the circle of light about the +fire the body of an enormous mountain cat. + +The men had fallen back into their blankets and were sleeping again, +while Silver Face resumed his place before the fire. + +Soon Stella, began to yawn, and her eyes grew heavy with sleep. + +But she did not want to sleep. She had a foreboding that if she slept +she would be in danger. + +However, the dancing flames and the soft, comfortable heat which came +from the fire were too much for her resolution, and her head began to +droop, and presently her body sank gently down, and, as she pillowed her +head on her arm, she fell into a deep sleep. + +How long she slept she did not know, but when she awoke it was light. + +The fire had burned low, and she felt cold and numb. + +Staggering to her feet, she looked around. The camp was deserted. + +The men were gone, and so were the horses. Beside the fire was a +considerable pile of wood, and Stella hastily pulled the embers of the +fire together and threw several sticks upon it. As the fire blazed up +and she grew warmer, she tried to review the situation. + +Why had the men who had captured and brought her thus far deserted her? +Had they been frightened away by the proximity of the boys? No, it could +not have been that, for the boys were far away. + +Then a thought of horror flashed across her mind. She had been brought +here to perish in the wilderness. Probably Silver Face and his men, +desiring to wreak vengeance upon Ted, and feeling that keeping her a +prisoner would be too much of a burden, had brought her into this +dangerous place to leave her a prey to the wild animals that she knew +infested the forests. + +If they had only left her Magpie, she might have stood some chance of +escaping. + +But her fortitude soon returned to her. She was not dead yet, and, while +she had a fighting chance, she would not despair. + +Something of pity must have moved the men, for she found that they had +left her revolver and her rifle beside her in the lean-to, and that in a +pile not far from the fire was food enough to last her for several +meals. + +She set about cooking some breakfast, and caught herself singing as she +did so. + +After she had eaten she sat down in her shelter to think a way out of +her predicament. + +She was in the midst of a reverie when she was brought to her feet by +that most dreaded of sounds--the howl of the timber wolf. + +For a moment she stood trembling, trying to think what her best course +would be. + +The wolves had smelled the frying bacon from afar, and had been +attracted to it, for the scent had carried far in the clear air. + +From another direction came another wolf cry, and presently they seemed +to come from every direction. + +They were far away as yet, but the wolves were gathering. + +Without trying to reason further, Stella gathered up what food she could +carry, and, grasping her rifle, struck out into the forest in the +direction away from that from which the howls of the wolves came to her. + +Suddenly to one side appeared a slinking, gray form, which slunk along, +apparently dodging behind the trees, but following her. + +As it came from behind a tree in fair sight, she swung her rifle to her +shoulder and fired. + +It was a strike, for the wolf, with a howl of pain sprang in the air, +then rolled over on the snow and lay still. + +As the report of the shot reverberated back from the mountains, it was +followed by a perfect crescendo of wolf howls. + +They sounded louder and nearer now, and Stella's heart began to beat +rapidly with fear. + +Too well she knew what would happen if they caught her. + +But suddenly a thought came to her, and she stopped. + +Surely Ted and the boys would come to find her. They might even now be +on the way, and who could say they were not far away? + +If she could only send them a message to let them know that they were on +the right trail! + +Her face lighted up with an inspiration. She had the means. + +Breaking a stick from a low-growing tree, she began to write in the +snow: + +"I am followed by a wolf pack. Hurry." "Stella" + +These were the words she left behind her for Ted to read should he come +that way. + +Then she hurried on with all speed. + +Every few minutes the howls of the wolves assailed her ears as she +struggled on through the snow. + +Her burden of food was becoming very heavy, and she cast away a part of +it. + +Perhaps, she thought, it would serve to stop the wolves for a while when +they found it on her trail. + +Every moment seemed to bring the cries of the wolves nearer. + +They were following in her footsteps now, for the noise was all behind +her, not scattered over the forest, as it had been at first. + +The brutes had gathered into a pack, and Stella shuddered as she +pictured in her mind the gray band coming upon her with long, loping, +tireless strides; with red, long, lolling tongues and slavering, +sharp-fanged jaws. + +Presently she heard another noise behind her, and looked over her +shoulder. + +The sight that met her eyes caused her to almost faint. + +Not twenty yards behind her was an enormous gray wolf, loping along +easily but as swiftly as a horse. + +His eyes were blazing like green lamps, and his great body was scarred +and torn. Evidently he was the king of the pack. + +Stopping suddenly, she drew her revolver and fired two shots at him. + +He came to a halt with a snarl of rage and began biting at his shoulder. + +Then Stella turned and ran again, with the clamor of the pack close +behind her. + +But she was failing, and her run had become a painful stagger, and her +breath came in gasps. + +She was near the end, and she realized it. She fancied herself falling +into the midst of that ravenous crew and shuddered. What could she do to +save herself? + +Not far ahead was a tree with a forked branch growing low enough for her +to reach it if she still had strength to get so far. With almost a +superhuman effort she continued her flight toward it. + +As she reached it the great, gray king of the pack was only a few feet +behind her, so close that she could hear him pant from his long run. + +She reached up to the branch and tried to pull herself up, but it was an +impossible task burdened with food and rifle and her coat, which she had +removed at a time when she had stopped long enough to write another +message in the snow for Ted. + +She threw the rifle in the snow and tried it again, but she could not, +and then cast aside the food and the coat, and succeeded in clambering +into the sheltering nook just as the great wolf, leaping into the air, +swept past her, carrying in his teeth a shred of her skirt. She was +safe, but by a very narrow margin. + +She looked up into the tree, for the branch upon which she was perched +was so near the ground that she was not safe from the leaps of the +savage and famished brutes. + +But the next higher branch was far beyond her reach or her ability to +climb to. + +She must defend herself as best she could. + +Fortunately she had retained her revolver and had a good supply of +ammunition. + +As the old wolf leaped again she fired, and knew that the ball had +entered his neck. If she could shoot him often enough, she ought to kill +him after a while. + +But now the clamor was all about her. The pack had arrived, and was +leaping about the foot of the tree like waves upon a storm-tossed shore. + +Her red coat had been torn to shreds, and, in the fight over the food +she had cast aside, more than one of the brutes had met his death by the +razorlike teeth of his comrades. + +Suddenly, through the din about her, Stella lifted her head and +listened, while for a moment the wolves ceased leaping and howling and +stood listening also. + +From afar off, and very faintly, there came to her a subdued cheer. Her +heart leaped with hope. Could it be the boys who were signaling to her? + +But now the wolves, even more savage than before, were leaping at her, +their saber teeth snapping within an inch of her, as she fired into +their faces, and laughed as she saw them roll upon the snow in their +death agony. + +Again she heard a faint cry in the forest. Oh, if she should be wrong, +and it was not the dear old Moon Valley yell, she would die. + +Now the old king of the pack returned to the attack. + +He was bigger and stronger than any of the others, and when he snapped +at them with his terrible teeth they made way for him. + +He began a succession of leaps at her, and every time she planted a +bullet in his massive and seemingly invulnerable body. + +But each leap brought him closer to her perch. + +The next jump might be the one by which he would reach her, she thought, +and that surely would be the end, for, if he ever succeeded in getting +his hooked fangs fastened in her clothes, she would be pulled from the +tree in an eye twinkling, and she shuddered as she thought of the +sequel. + +The end seemed very near, and she had about given up hope of holding out +until the boys could reach her, when a well-known yell was wafted to her +on the frozen air. The boys had come. + +She felt the fangs of the king of the pack fasten in her skirt, and she +knew that she was being pulled out of her perch when, through the woods +came Ted and Bud and Ben, and the rest of her friends, yelling like mad +and amid a perfect fusillade of rifle shots. + +Then she began to slide out of the tree. But she did not reach the +ground, for Ted was there, and she slipped naturally and without harm +into his arms, as the last of the pack that remained alive escaped into +the forest. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +WHO WHIPPLE WAS. + + +There was great rejoicing when Stella so far recovered from the strain +which she had been undergoing, to learn that Bud was safe, although he +had passed a very uncomfortable as well as perilous night tied to a tree +with the cold numbing him, and wolves sniffing and snarling at him. + +These he had been able to keep off for several hours by kicking them +whenever they got close enough. + +But he was rapidly becoming exhausted when in the distance he heard +shouts. + +Ted and the boys had ridden to the west until they realized that it was +useless to go any farther, for they had not come upon the trail of Bud +and Stella, and Ted came to the conclusion that they had gone in the +opposite direction. + +But it was almost night when they turned their faces to the east, and +day was dawning when they heard Bud's cry for help, and rescued him by +driving the snarling pack from his heels. + +When they had heard his story about the man with the silver face and his +crew, and the fact that they had taken Stella away with them, the boys +waited only long enough to make a fire to thaw out Bud, and to make some +coffee, and took up the broad trail. + +When they came to the deserted camp they were almost sure that Stella +had gone on with her captors, and were about to follow the trail. + +Had they done so, Stella would have perished in the woods. But Ted had +one of his "hunches" that Stella was not far away, and rode around the +camp in a wide circle. + +He was soon rewarded by finding the prints of Stella's shoes in the +snow, and, concluding that she had in some manner escaped from her +captors, he called the boys together and started on her trail. + +They had not gone far when they, too, heard the howls of the wolf pack, +and knew that Stella was in great danger. + +Presently they came upon Stella's message in the snow and obeyed her +injunction to hurry. + +They had been compelled to leave their horses at the camp, for the +forest was too dense to permit them to ride. + +When Stella told them of her adventure and about Silver Face and the +stolen cattle, they decided to push forward on the trail, and, if +possible, regain their stolen property. + +At the camp they remounted, and, having to ride double where Bud and +Stella were concerned, made but slow progress. + +But the trail was broad and good, and they made good time as compared +with a slow cattle drive. + +Early in the afternoon Ted became conscious, in that remarkable way of +his, that not far ahead some one was on the trail. + +Stella was riding behind him, for the boys had taken turns in carrying +her so as not to burden any one horse too much, and he transferred her +to Kit's pony, and, telling the boys to move forward slowly, rode on +ahead to scout. + +Ted wanted to see for himself this wonderful Silver Face, who was +impervious to bullets, and who could fire them from his chest with no +apparent effort on his own part. + +Ted was also affected as the others had been who had seen him; that is, +by the mystery of the creature. + +He had ridden quite a distance ahead of the party, and had just entered +into the pass of a canon which seemed to broaden out into a respectable +valley farther on, when he was brought to a halt by the scream of a +rifle ball close to his head. + +This was warning enough, and he scurried into the shelter of a huge rock +that jutted from the canon wall. + +In a few minutes he emerged from it and rode back over the trail. + +When the party came up with him he told them of the shot. + +"It's my opinion," he said, "that Silver Face and his men and our cattle +are in that canon or valley, but how to reach them I don't know." + +"S'pose we go scoutin' on ther hills above, an' take a look," said Bud. +"Stella an' ther boys can cache ther hosses an' hide, er come erlong +with us." + +"Very well," said Ted. And so they did. Hiding their horses in a thick +glade of cedar trees, they climbed in single file up the side of the +mountain, and were soon in an advantageous position, from which they had +a good view up and down the valley. + +A curious sight met their sight. + +In the center of the valley they saw their bunch of steers close herded +by several cowboys, while not far away two men were butchering one of +the steers. + +"They're going to have beef for dinner," said Ted, with a grin. + +"I hope it chokes 'em," growled Bud. + +"Or that they never get a chance to eat it at all," said Stella. + +Lounging around the fire were a party of Indians, but, though Ted could +not see from that distance whether or not they were the followers of +Crazy Cow, he thought most likely they were. + +The great figure of Silver Face could easily be picked out from among +his followers, even were it not from the reflected light from his silver +mask whenever the rays of the sun smote it. + +Close to the west wall of the valley, and huddled under its shelter, +were a number of Indian tepees, while farther on were several white +canvas tents. + +"Boys, we've stumbled upon the permanent camp or rendezvous of the +outlaw Indians, and the members of the Whipple gang," said Ted. + +As they were looking they saw a young woman, dressed as cowgirl, and +with long, blond hair hanging down her back, come out of one of the +tents, and look over the scene. + +Silver Face strode to her side, and then began a strange pantomime +between the pair with her hands. This convinced Stella that the man with +the silver mask was unable to talk. + +"I don't see how we are going to get at those fellows," said Ted. + +"They do seem to be pretty well fixed to defend themselves," said Ben, +who was lying flat on the rocky edge of the canon wall, looking into the +scene below. + +"Oh, Ted," cried Stella, grasping the arm of the leader of the broncho +boys. "Look there. It is Magpie, my pony. There isn't another like him +in the world. We must get him back, Ted. Think of letting a dirty Indian +outlaw ride and abuse the splendid fellow." + +"All right, Stella," replied Ted. "Show us how to do it successfully, +and we'll go down and tackle the whole mess." + +"See, there's an Indian throwing his filthy blanket on Magpie's back. I +can't stand that." + +Stella put her rifle to her shoulder, and was about to pull the trigger +when Ted's hand closed down over the lock of the weapon. + +"Not on your life," he said. "This is not the time for anything like +that. If we were to get them after us right now we'd last about as long +as a snowball on a hot stove. Wait a while." + +While Stella said nothing she was angry clear through. It hurt her like +a blow to have her pony ridden by another. + +The Indian, having fastened his blanket on the pony's back to his +satisfaction, sprang upon his back, and began to lash him with a quirt. + +"Oh, the brute!" exclaimed Stella. "I hope Magpie throws and kills him +for his cruelty." + +Magpie wheeled and bucked under the unusual punishment, and the Indian +continued to beat him. + +"I can't stand it any longer," cried Stella, gnashing her pretty, small, +white teeth. + +This time she got her rifle to her shoulder, and, before she could be +restrained, had fired a shot. Perhaps Ted knew that the provocation was +great, for he did not interfere this time. + +At any rate, the ball flew close enough to knock the hat from the +Indian's head, and cause him to dismount and scurry to the shelter of +the rock wall. + +But it caused the greatest excitement in the camp. + +The man with the silver mask rushed forward, rapidly scanning the cliff +for whoever had fired the shot. + +He did not have long to search, for the smoke hovering over the spot +where Stella was lying on the top of the cliff was advertisement enough. + +A man by his side handed him a rifle, which he sighted, then took down +as a puff of smoke rose above him. + +Then there followed the smash of a bullet on the rock, a foot below +where Stella was lying. + +"Pretty close work," said Ted. "That fellow is a corking good shot. +Look, he's coming to shoot again. Duck! I'll bet he gets the range this +time." + +Every head went out of sight. Then came the sharp report of the rifle, +and the ball from it shattered the edge of the rock not far from +Stella's head. + +"That'll be about enough of that," said Ted, picking up his own +Winchester. "We'll have to stop that fellow's fun, or he'll end by +hurting some of us." + +Ted poked the barrel of his Winchester over the edge of the rock, +adjusted the sights, took a short aim, and fired. + +Then he looked to see the result of it, and saw the man with the silver +face drop his rifle, stagger to the side of the canon, and sink down. + +"By jove! I got him," exclaimed Ted. "I believe that from here we can +drive that whole bunch out of the valley and get back our cattle and +horses, if we dodge back and shoot straight. We'll try it. Every fellow +get ready to fire." + +On seeing their leader fall, the men, both white and red, in the valley, +ran hither and yon in a state of great excitement. + +But when the boys began to fire systematically at them, kicking up the +snow about them with every shot, it became a veritable panic. + +Shouts of terror were heard, and, as the young woman raised the man with +the silver mask to his feet and helped him walk to the tent, the others +hastily saddled their ponies, and prepared to decamp. + +All the while the boys were pumping Winchester balls into them, and +occasionally a horse dropped, or with a yell a man would grasp a leg or +an arm and fall to the ground. + +"We've got them going," shouted Ted. "Keep it up until we get them on +the run." + +The boys fired their rifles until they got hot, then waited for them to +cool, and resumed firing. + +It was like bedlam in the valley, and not one of the men attempted to +retaliate by firing back. They were in a panic of fear. + +As soon as one got his horse saddled he dashed away toward the head of +the valley out of the way of those spiteful bullets which sang about +them like enraged hornets. + +Not one of them stopped to burden himself with his baggage, nor did they +pay any attention to the stolen cattle. + +They were in too much of a hurry to get away safely themselves. + +The Indians left their tepees standing, and ran for their lives. + +Soon the valley was clear of men. All that remained in sight were the +bunch of cattle, a small band of ponies in a rope corral, and the tepees +and tents. + +"I guess we're safe to go down now, and take possession of our own," +said Ted. + +"Don't forget that Silver Face and the young woman are in that tent," +said Stella warningly. "Look out for treachery." + +Without further delay the boys and Stella climbed down the mountain to +where their horses were, and, mounting, rode fearlessly into the valley. + +As they approached the tents the flap of one of them was pushed back and +the young woman came out. + +Her hand was raised for silence, and the tears were coursing down her +cheeks. + +"Hush!" she said. "He is dead." + +"Who is dead?" asked Ted, with the greatest respect. + +"Silver Face," was the answer. + +"Who was he?" asked Ted. + +"I don't know. I found him lying in the mountains almost dead from an +accident a few months ago, and nursed him back to life, but he never +spoke again, and he has never been able to let me know who he was." + +"Pardon me, but who are you?" asked Ted. + +"I?" said the woman, drawing herself up proudly. "I am Whipple." + +"What? Leader of the Whipple gang?" asked Ted, almost incredulously. + +"The same," said she. "I have laughed many times at the fear I inspired +among you ranchmen in the valley, and the officers of the law, to say +nothing of the soldiers. But that was because they had never seen me, +and believed me to be a man." + +They all looked their astonishment, for she was an exceedingly pretty +woman, and spoke in gentle tones. + +"But it is all over now," she continued sadly. "If those steers and +ponies are yours, take them. I am going to leave the mountains, and my +men are scattered and will leave also. I told them to go. And now that +Silver Face is no more, there is no reason why I should stay here." + +"You loved him?" asked Ted, nodding toward the tent. + +"Yes," she answered quietly. "He was my husband. When I had nursed him +back to life I sent my boys out and kidnaped a preacher. I had him +brought here blindfolded, and made him marry us, then sent him back, not +knowing where he had been." + +Ted and the boys looked their sympathy. + +"Can I be of any assistance to you in caring for him?" asked Stella, +very sweetly. + +A look of terror crossed the woman's face. + +"No, no," she cried. "Leave me with my dead. Take what belongs to you +and go." + +She retired into the tent, and they heard her weeping, and turned away. + +The boys started immediately on the back trail to the ranch, where they +arrived with their cattle and ponies. + +That was the last of the Whipple gang, for the members of it left the +country, and the outlaw Indians were gathered in by the troops and the +Indian police, and imprisoned on the reservations. + +But on winter evenings, as he sat before the big fire in the Long Tom +ranch house, his big snow camp, Ted Strong often turned over in his mind +the facts about the death of Silver Face, the man of mystery. + +Somehow, away down in his heart, he did not believe that the man with +the silver mask was dead, but that he would some day meet him again and +solve the mystery that surrounded him. + +In the early part of December, however, the members of the Moon Valley +outfit left the Long Tom Ranch for Phoenix, Arizona. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +AN UNEXPECTED GUEST. + + +Although it was winter, the air was soft and pleasant, and at noon the +sun shone with some fervor. + +It was Arizona, and as Ted Strong sat on Sultan and gazed across the +wide valley, over which the sun's warm rays shimmered above the sand and +cactus, greasewood and sage toward a low-lying ranch house in the far +distance, it did not seem at all like Christmas. + +But it was Christmas Eve, in spite of the fact that there was no snow, +no sleigh bells, no apparent use for Santa Claus, and that roses were +blooming in yards where there was sufficient black earth for them to +thrive. + +Behind his saddle Ted had a great bundle wrapped in burlap and securely +tied. + +For many miles on the way Ted had cast anxious glances behind him, and +occasionally reached back to assure himself that he had not lost his +freight. + +This argued that it was a very precious burden. + +"I guess that must be the place," mused Ted, as he looked at the +apparently deserted house. + +Not a live creature was to be seen about the place, neither man, woman, +nor beast. + +"Cheerful-looking prospect for Christmas," Ted continued to soliloquize, +as those who travel or ride on mountain or plain in solitude often get +in the habit of doing. + +"Wonder where the folks are?" he continued. "Hope they got here all +right. But, of course, they did. Bud is too good a leader to let them +get off the trail. Besides, they have been long enough on the way to +have got here and back again." Again he paused, musing. + +"Well, Sultan, old chap, it has been a long, dry drive, hasn't it?" + +Sultan, on hearing his name, gave a toss of his head and a soft snicker, +and Ted's hand passed gently over his beautiful, glossy mane with a +caressing gesture. + +"Hello, here comes some one. Wonder who it is. That's the only sign of +life, except a few rattlesnakes and horned toads I've seen since I left +the railroad at San Carlos." + +Shading his eyes from the sun, Ted looked for several minutes at the +dark speck bobbing along in the distance, a mere shadow against the +yellow surface of the earth. + +"He's taking his time," muttered Ted. "Reckon he's wondering who I am, +and what I'm standing here for. It can't be one of our fellows. I guess +I'll just wait for him to come up and say howdy." + +There was a faint trail, or road, which skirted Sombrero Peak, the mass +of multicolored rock at Ted's back, over which he had come on his way +from San Carlos to the Bubbly Well ranch house, which he was now facing +in the distance. But where he was now standing the road branched off to +the west, while a fainter trail lay straight before him to the ranch +house. + +Bubbly Well was the ranch of Major Caruthers, an Englishman, and a +retired officer of the British army, who had come to America to pass his +remaining days in the open. He was a well-preserved man, tall, stalwart, +with white hair and a red, fresh-looking face, who could ride well and +was an excellent shot, but who knew nothing about the cattle business. + +Ted had met him in Phoenix, at the hotel, and had dropped into "cow +talk." When the English major learned that Ted knew so much about the +cattle business, he told of his ranch at Bubbly Well, confessing that +his own knowledge of steers, cows, round-ups, and the like was so +limited that, instead of making the ranch pay, it had been steadily +losing money for him. + +It was then that the major had invited Ted to visit him at the ranch, +look the situation over, and give expert advice how to better the +condition of things. + +"I'll tell you what we'll do," said the major; "let's make up a +Christmas party for Bubbly Well. The holidays are so beastly lonely out +here, don't you know, and Christmas knocks me all of a heap. Come out +and help me make things cheerful." + +"I'd like to," Ted had said, "but I'm not a free agent. I am with a +party of friends, who are also my partners in the cattle business and +other enterprises. You see, my first duty is to them. I don't know what +their plans are." + +At this the major looked considerably crestfallen. Then Ted, as briefly +as he could, told the Englishman all about the broncho boys and their +plans and principles. + +As he talked, Major Caruthers occasionally interjected such exclamations +as "Extraordinary!" "Very remarkable!" "Fawncy!" + +He was intensely interested in Ted's accounts of some of the adventures +which the members of the Moon Valley outfit had gone through, and when +Ted stopped, with an apology for having consumed so much time in talking +about himself and his friends, the major assured him that he could +listen with pleasure and profit all night if Ted could only go on +telling him such stories. + +"My boy, I have the very thing," said the major, after a moment's +thought. + +Ted looked at the Englishman inquiringly. + +"Do you think your friends, not knowing me, would accept an invitation +to spend Christmas at Bubbly Well, and as long thereafter as they can +and will?" + +"That's a very kind thought," said Ted. "You see, we generally contrive +to be at our Moon Valley Ranch at Christmas time, but this year we had +business in this part of the country, and could not finish it in time to +get back home, and were planning to get as much joy out of the day in +the hotel here as we could." + +"Christmas in a hotel!" exclaimed the major. "I can't think of anything +more dismal. I'd spend Christmas in my own place even if there wasn't +another live thing there, and nothing to eat but cheese and crackers." + +"I feel very much that way myself," laughed Ted. + +"Then you'll come?" asked the Englishman eagerly. + +"I think my friends will be very glad to accept the invitation," +answered Ted. "I am sure I should like to, personally, and I thank you +for the privilege and the honor." + +"Don't speak of it." + +They talked of other things; about sport, and about the dangers of +ranching in that country. + +Before they parted it was decided that the broncho boys should visit +Major Caruthers' ranch. They were to take their own mounts on the train +to the nearest railroad station to Bubbly Well, where they would be met +by one of the major's men as a guide. + +It was three days before Christmas when all of them, except Ted, arrived +at the ranch and were given a hearty welcome by the Englishman. That is, +all arrived there except the leader of the broncho boys, who had +remained in Phoenix to attend to some business details and do some +shopping, agreeing to follow them later and arrive at the ranch +Christmas Eve. + +At the opening of this chapter we find him within sight of Bubbly Well, +with a pack of Christmas presents for all hands on his back, waiting +patiently for the approaching rider. + +In the course of a few minutes, the stranger rode up, and, with a cold +and quiet greeting, pulled in his mount, a beautiful chestnut mare, and +looked Ted over from top to toe in a cool manner. + +He was a handsome young chap, dressed in such a manner that Ted could +not quite determine what he was. He had not the appearance of a +cow-puncher, nor was he a town man, for he was bronzed by the sun, and +he sat his mare like a born horseman. + +His clothes were dark, save for a tan vest which buttoned close around +his throat; his boots were of the very best quality, and fitted the calf +of his leg snugly, and on his head was an expensive Stetson, with the +skin of a rattlesnake for a band. + +But it was his face that affected Ted with a sort of dislike that yet +had something of fascination in it, while at the same time it puzzled +him, it was such a strange mixture of good and bad. + +"Can you tell me what ranch house that is over there, and who owns it?" +said the stranger, in a well-bred manner that yet had the freedom of the +West in it. + +"Yes," answered Ted. "That is the Bubbly Well Ranch, and it is owned by +Major Caruthers." + +A strange expression passed over the young fellow's face. + +"Jack Caruthers--do you happen to know?" + +"I have never heard him called Jack," said Ted, smiling. "He signs +himself 'John Stairs Caruthers.'" + +"It must be the same," said the young fellow musingly. + +"Do you know him?" asked Ted. + +"Well, no. That is, not exactly." The stranger thought a moment. "I +suppose I'll have to put up somewhere for the night; it's a dickens of a +way to anywhere out here. I started from Rodeo, across the mountain, +early this morning, thinking I could make it to San Carlos by night, +but----" + +"You couldn't get there before morning if you rode at top speed," said +Ted, as the other hesitated. + +"Are you going to the ranch house?" asked the stranger suddenly. + +"Yes." + +"Do you think your friend would put me up for the night?" + +"I haven't a doubt of it. And to-morrow, too. You know this is Christmas +Eve." + +"So it is. I hadn't thought of it. My name is Farnsworth--Hilary +Farnsworth." + +The young fellow looked defiantly at Ted, who had started slightly at +the name. + +"Do you want to take me to the house now?" asked Farnsworth, with a +slightly contemptuous smile. + +So this was Farnsworth. "Fancy" Farnsworth, as he was called in the +Southwest. Ted looked at him with new interest, and the other stared +back with his gray eyes, which were as handsome as a woman's, and yet +had in their depths a wicked, cruel gleam. + +"I don't see why not," said Ted. + +"You know me?" asked Farnsworth, with a smile. + +"By reputation." + +"May I ask your name?" + +"Certainly. I beg your pardon. I am Ted Strong." + +At this Farnsworth suddenly pulled his horse to its haunches, at the +same time throwing his hand backward, and, with almost incredible +rapidity, whipping out a revolver. + +His face was white, and had as suddenly assumed an expression in which +fear and determination were equally present. + +"No, you don't!" he said slowly and coldly. "You don't get me that way. +I'm not as easy as that." + +Ted had made no move to draw his revolver, and was smiling in an amused +sort of way. + +"I'm sure I don't want you," he said. + +"You're a deputy United States marshal, aren't you?" + +"I am, but I'm not after you." + +"Then you haven't heard?" + +"Nothing about you recently. When I was in this part of the country +before I heard----" + +"Oh, you can always hear a lot about a fellow in this rotten part of the +world--except the truth. Then you haven't heard the latest news from +Rodeo?" + +"Not a word." + +"And you don't want to arrest me?" + +"Not now. I wouldn't know what to arrest you for, and I haven't seen a +United States warrant for months." + +"I believe I can trust you. You seem to be a square chap, in spite of +what I've heard of you. But I want to tell you one thing: I've got eyes +in the back of my head, and there isn't a quicker man on the draw in +Arizona, so no monkey business. This is not a boast, but a warning." + +"I have nothing against you now," said Ted quietly; "but if I ever have, +you'll know it, and have your chance. But I don't see any use in +standing here in the sun palavering. Let's hike to the house yonder. +I've been riding since daybreak without a drink, and I'd like to sample +the major's famous Bubbly Well." + +Farnsworth looked sharply at Ted for a moment, then replaced his +revolver, and signaled to lead the way. + +They rode in silence along the trail toward the ranch house for several +minutes. + +"How shall I introduce you to the major--as Farnsworth?" asked Ted, at +last. + +Farnsworth paused to think before replying. + +"I think not," he said at last. "If I am to stay there for the night, +there may as well be no unpleasant feeling. Call me anything you like +but that, and I will fall in with it. They may know something about me, +and, while I would be safe while Major Caruthers considered me a guest, +still, it might cause some restraint." + +"Probably you are right. How will Mr. Dickson do?" + +"As good as any. Say, Strong, you're a brick! I won't forget this." + +"This is a sort of truce. Anyway, it's Christmas, and a fellow should +put away malice at such a time." + +"Have you malice toward me?" + +"No, I can't say that I have. But I have heard things about you that +haven't prepossessed me in your favor." + +"Have you ever thought that perhaps you have heard more than the truth?" + +"Of course; I know that men are usually painted worse than they are." + +"That's true. It's especially true with regard to myself." + +For a moment Ted said nothing. He was running over in his mind several +of the stories he had heard about this handsome and daring young fellow. + +"Well, I'll take your word for it because it's Christmas," he said at +last. + +"I'll make you believe that I'm telling the truth before our +acquaintance ends," said Farnsworth. As Ted looked into his eyes he saw +that they had changed in expression. Now they were bold and brave and +truthful, where before Ted had seen only a cold, cruel, relentless look. + +Ted threw back his head, and the Moon Valley yell issued from his mouth. + +It instantly transformed the slumbering ranch house. Out of doors, from +around corners, and even as if they sprang out of the ground, appeared +the broncho boys, and the air fairly rang with their shouts of welcome. + +"That's the way I'd like to be greeted," said Farnsworth, a little +bitterly. + +"Then why don't you fix it so that you are?" asked Ted, smiling. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +CHRISTMAS AT BUBBLY WELL. + + +Ted introduced Farnsworth as Mr. Dickson, whom he had met on the road, +and the boys made the newcomer welcome in their usual characteristic +style. + +In a few minutes Major Caruthers rode up to the house, and Ted brought +Farnsworth forward. From the question Farnsworth had put to him when he +had first mentioned the owner of the Bubbly Well Ranch, Ted was anxious +to see the meeting between the two men. + +Major Caruthers received the young fellow cordially, and told him, with +true Western hospitality, that he was welcome to stay as long as he +wished. + +But Ted was watching Farnsworth. + +As he put out his hand to grasp the major's, a peculiar look crossed his +face. It was rather wistful, too, and it seemed as if he wanted to say +much more than the few formal words of thanks which he returned in +exchange for the major's greeting. + +Ted looked curiously at the two men, and started with surprise at a +peculiar resemblance Farnsworth bore to the older man. + +Ted had not particularly noticed the major's face and eyes before, but +now he noticed that his eyes bore a remarkable resemblance to those of +Farnsworth. + +There was a resemblance, too, in the shape of the head and the turn of +the jaw, but there it ended; and Ted surmised that the major must be at +least fifteen or twenty years older than the stranger. + +During the rest of the day there was much mystery about the house that +always precedes Christmas. + +Stella was particularly busy, and flew here and there, whispering with +Bud, who seemed to be in some secret with her. + +Behind the big ranch living room was a bedroom which had been used for +casual guests. + +Stella had possession of it, and had taken the bed down and banished it +until after the holidays. + +Within this room certain mysterious things were going on, and whenever +Stella or Bud left it, the door was always locked behind them. + +Not all the teasing of Ben and Kit, nor their efforts to get past the +door, were successful in finding out what was going on. + +Along toward evening, Bud, who had not met Farnsworth, or Dickson, as he +was known to Bubbly Well, came across that young man pacing up and down +the veranda alone. + +When Bud saw him he stopped as if shot, took a long look, and then +passed on. + +But he set out to find Ted, which he did at last at the corral. + +"See here, Ted," said the golden-haired cow-puncher, "whar did yer pick +up ther maverick what's up at ther house? I hear he come with yer." + +"I met him on the road, and he wanted to know if the major would put him +up for the night, and I told him I thought he would be welcome," +answered Ted. + +"Of course he'd be welcome. Ther major would welcome a yaller dog with +ther mange, out in this yere lonely place. But say, boy, does yer know +what yer brought?" + +"Why? I don't understand you exactly, I'm afraid." + +"Yes, yer do. Who is that feller? He's not Dickson. Who is he?" + +"Search me." + +"That's what I'm tryin' ter do, an' if yer don't give up peaceful, I'm +goin' through yer, minute." + +"Do you know who he is?" + +"I've got my suspicions. I see a feller up to Phoenix what's ther dead +ringer fer him, an' his name wasn't Dickson then." + +"What was it?" + +"It was Fancy Farnsworth." + +"I guess you're on, Bud. But Mr. Farnsworth asked me to keep it dark, +and, as it is Christmas, I consented to do so. Remember, this is the +time for brotherly love and peace toward all men. It wasn't much to do, +and I invented the name of Dickson for him myself. What's the matter?" + +"Oh, nothin', if yer like ter bring cattle like that ter our Chrismus +festivities. Fer me, I wouldn't." + +"I guess he's not as bad as that." + +"He's worse." + +"Explain." + +"Well, if yer don't know, I will, an' let yer chew on it, an' see if yer +want ter take any chances on him. Now, Farnsworth ain't his real name, +neither. D'y'ever hear tell o' ther Somber Pass massacree, where a +tenderfoot immigrant named Spooner an' his family was killed, an' their +wagons an' horses, an' a pile o' money what Spooner had brought with him +ter start a cattle ranch an' buy stock with, wuz taken? D'y'ever hear +tell o' that?" + +"Sure. It's part of the history of the Territory." + +"D'y'ever hear any suspicions cast upon nobody?" + +"I never did. That is, I never heard any one specifically charged with +the crime. Did you?" + +"I did, an' his other name was Farnsworth, only that wasn't ther name he +went by at that time. He's ther feller who was p'inted out ter me as +ther devil what led ther band o' cutthroats what killed ther Spooner +family fer a measly few thousands o' dollars. That's what I meant if yer +knew who yer was bringin' ter yer happy home." + +"Why, that crime was committed five years ago, and Dickson or +Farnsworth, as he calls himself, was too young then to be engaged in +anything of that sort." + +"He looks young, but he ain't. He's ther feller. Look out fer him, Ted." + +"Don't you tip off who he is, Bud. I brought him here because it is +Christmas, and he's going to stay. He's going to get a square deal here +if I have to fight for him." + +"Oh, I won't say nothin', but I'd like ter slip a pair o' handcuffs onto +them smooth, white wrists o' hisn, jest ther same. But why is he here? +What's he doin' in this part o' ther country?" + +"I don't know, Bud. He asked me when he met me and knew who I was if I +had heard the news about him. I hadn't, and told him so, but he did not +volunteer any information on the subject." + +"Whar did he come from? Did he tell you?" + +"Yes, he said he had come from Rodeo; starting early this morning." + +"Then look fer a big piece o' news from Rodeo right soon." + +"How do you know?" + +"I know this, if Farnsworth left Rodeo airly this mornin' thar was some +good reason fer it. I reckon it's a killin'. But he's a chump ter stop +off here. If anything has been pulled off at Rodeo, ther whole country +will be out after him, fer Fancy, so called fer his passion fer good +clothes an' high-colored poker chips, they don't like none too well, +he's too almighty quick an' slick with his six-shooter, hez got a list +o' killin's ter his credit as long as yer arm." + +"Well, he's here; let's forget it until after breakfast. But as long as +he's here as a guest, he gets all the protection I can give him." + +Supper that night was a very merry function in the Bubbly Well ranch +house, full of mysterious whisperings and jokes which were only +understood by two or three at a time. + +Mr. Dickson, as the latest guest, occupied a seat at the left hand of +the host, and Ted again noticed the remarkable resemblance between the +two, although it did not seem to be apparent to the others; at least, no +one mentioned it. + +After supper was over, and the Chinese cook and waiter had cleared the +room, the major brought out a violin, and asked if any one could play +it. + +"Clay kin jest make a fiddle sing!" shouted Bud, dragging the modest +Kentuckian forward. + +There was a piano in the living room, and Stella and Clay went to it, +and while Clay played the violin, Stella accompanied him. + +Lively airs were demanded, and the ranch house fairly rang with the +clapping of feet as Bud and Carl and Kit danced reels and jigs and cake +walks, and the laughter of the boys at Bud's jokes and Carl's lingual +mistakes. + +But at last they became tired of music. It was ten o'clock, and the +major disappeared for a few minutes, then entered, leading the way for +the two Chinamen, who bore between them baskets of rosy apples, dishes +of nuts and raisins and candies, and pitchers of cider. + +Although the day had been warm enough in the sun, the night was cool, +and the fire that leaped high in the fireplace made the room cozy and +comfortable, and one could well imagine that outside was the snow +glistening under the stars, and hear the far-away jingle of the sleigh +bells. + +They sat around the fireplace eating apples and cracking nuts, talking +nonsense and laughing at Bud's comic antics, until even Farnsworth +relaxed from the air of anxiety he had borne all evening, and once or +twice laughed. + +But Bud kept his eye on him, for he was distrustful of him, and believed +that he was up to some trick. + +At the end of the living room, between two massive deer heads, hung a +big clock, and, while they were still cracking nuts and jokes it began +to toll the hour of midnight. + +Instantly every one was on his or her feet shouting "Merry Christmas!" +and shaking hands all around. Farnsworth was not neglected because he +was a stranger, and Stella was the very first to wish him happiness on +this Christmas Day. + +Ted was the last to press forward and with all sincerity wished him +happiness, and, as he did so, he noticed that the young fellow was very +pale, and that his eyes were filled with unshed tears as he looked from +Ted to the major, who was fairly beaming with happiness and joy at the +great success of his Christmas Eve party, which, he said, was the finest +ever held in Arizona. + +Then Clay sat down to the piano and began to play a march, and Bud, with +a great flourish, unlocked and threw open the door of the guest room. + +Every one started back in surprise, while a shout went up that shook the +roof; but the old major hadn't a word to say. He simply stared, growing +pale and red by turns. He was deeply affected, and Farnsworth had +retired to a far corner, with his face buried in his hands. What +memories stirred him that this desperate young man should be so shaken? + +Inside the room all was aglow with myriads of candles which sparkled +from a small pine tree, which was hung with numerous packages and +strings of popcorn. Now every one understood the mysterious movements of +Bud and Stella. + +But the most marvelous thing of all was the enormous figure of Santa +Claus, dressed in a coat of red, liberally trimmed with fur, and a long +beard sweeping his breast, sitting on the back of a splendid little bay +pony that was none too quiet in the midst of the light and noise. + +"Where did it all come from?" asked Ted of Stella, as they were standing +together admiring the tree. + +"Oh, Bud and I thought it out for a surprise for you and the boys before +we left Phoenix, and one afternoon, when you were busy, we went shopping +and brought all these things. If we hadn't come here, we were going to +have the tree in the dining room of the hotel," she answered. + +"It was a great idea, and just like you, Stella. It has made this like +Christmas, indeed. We couldn't have had a better one at Moon Valley." + +"But look at Major Caruthers," said Stella, pulling Ted by the sleeve. + +The old major was actually on the verge of tears. + +"I have never been so near the dear home of my boyhood as this evening, +with all you happy, generous young people around me," he said. + +"Who in the world is Santa Claus?" asked Ted. + +"Why, just Santa Claus, you goose," said Stella, laughing. + +But now Santa Claus got down from the pony's back and stepped to the +front of the tree. Every one gathered around and kept silent. + +"Good evening, children," he said, in a gruff and husky voice. + +"Ach, it iss Kris Krinkle!" shouted Carl Schwartz, in glee. "Py Chiminy, +ain't he noble? How you vas, Kris?" + +"Children, I have a few seasonable gifts for you which I will give you +before I hurry away, for I have many more young friends whom I must +visit before the dawn. But first I will turn over to my young friend Ted +Strong this beautiful pony, which has been intrusted to me by Major +Caruthers." He led the pony forward and thrust the bridle into Ted's +hand. + +Ted was so astonished that he did not know what to say, but managed at +last to mumble his thanks to his host. + +For Stella there was a beautiful necklace of New Mexican turquoises from +the major, who also had not forgotten one of the boys. + +Then mysterious packages, well wrapped, were handed off the tree, and as +they were opened, shouts of laughter greeted them, for nearly every one +of them contained something meant as a joke on the recipient. + +Carl got a noble-looking parcel, and when he opened it, found a nice red +bologna sausage. Every one screamed with laughter, but Carl promptly +turned the joke by taking out his knife and cutting up and devouring the +sausage. + +There was a lemon for Kit from Ben, and a Joe Miller joke book, full of +antiquated chestnuts, for Bud, who proceeded to get square by reading +all the most ancient ones, such as the chicken crossing the road, and +similar gems. + +While the laughter and fun were at their height there was a sound on the +veranda, and they all stopped to listen. + +Ted instinctively turned to where Farnsworth was sitting alone in the +corner, for there had been no presents for him, and saw him sitting up, +listening intently. + +Being a guilty man, or, at least, aware that he was being pursued, he +was alert. + +"What's the row out there?" asked the major, who was loath to have the +evening's fun disturbed by outsiders. + +"Don't know," said Ted. "Sounded like some one walking on the veranda +and trying the door." + +He had no sooner spoken when the door was thrust open and four men +sprang into the room and looked around. + +At the same instant, Farnsworth leaped to his feet, drawing his revolver +and backing into the center of the room. + +Farnsworth was as pale as paper, but his eyes flashed fire as he glanced +swiftly around. + +Apparently there was no way of escape, for the intruders barred the only +outside door. + +The sudden entrance into the brilliant light had temporarily blinded the +men, so that they stood uncertainly for a few moments, looking from one +to the other of the figures that almost filled the room. + +Major Caruthers now stepped in front of them, his face red with anger. + +"What do you mean by intruding on me like this?" he thundered. + +For answer, one of the men threw back his coat and displayed the star of +a deputy United States marshal. + +"We're officers," he said gruffly, "an' we want Fancy Farnsworth." + +"You've come to the wrong place," said the major. + +"Oh, no, we haven't. We traced him right here, an' he's in this house." + +"What crime has he committed?" + +"He killed a woman over at Rodeo last night." + +An exclamation of horror arose from all parts of the room. + +"There he is! Get him!" almost screamed one of the men, pointing to the +pale but resolute figure standing under the chandelier. + +There was a rush, and confusion indescribable followed. + +Crash went the chandelier, shattered into a thousand pieces by a dozen +bullets. + +Rushing, struggling forms turned the smoke-filled room into a perfect +bedlam. + +Two of the intruders went to the floor, sent there by swift and powerful +right-handers from Ted. + +But they were up and rushing through the room in the direction of the +Christmas tree. + +There Santa Claus met them, and again they were bowled over. + +Ted saw the slender, black-clothed figure of Farnsworth slip past him in +the smoke. + +Then followed the sharp hoofbeats of a pony on the wooden floor, a crash +of glass, and the swift patter on the earth outside, and all was still. + +Farnsworth had leaped upon the back of Ted's Christmas-gift pony and +escaped. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE THUGGEE CORD. + + +Several moments following the dramatic and sensational escape of the +Christmas guest passed in silence, to be broken at last by Kit. + +"That was about the smoothest get-away I ever saw," he said, with a +grin, for he had assisted in it by deftly tripping the chief deputy +while he was on the way to intercept the pony. + +"What in thunder did they want to stop my star performance for?" asked +Santa Claus, pulling off his beard and revealing the rubicund face of +Ben Tremont, who was slowly baking beneath the heavy robes and hairy +disguise. + +"Well, he's gone, and only taken a pony and a window with him," said the +major, "and he's welcome to both. And now, you men, we'll try to +dispense with your company. You see, this is a private party, and had I +known that you were in this part of the country, I probably would have +invited you to be present. But I regret to say that the guest list is +full." + +The leader of the posse of deputy marshals looked up with a scowl. +Apparently, he was mad clear through at the sudden and unexpected loss +of his prospective prisoner. + +As he looked about his eye encountered that of Ted Strong, in which he +saw laughter, which did not tend to lessen his anger. + +"I've a good mind to arrest the whole bunch of you for conspiring at the +escape of a United States prisoner," he growled. + +"You'd stand a fine show to do that," said Ted quietly. "On the other +hand, I've a mind to arrest you for the forcible entry of this house." + +"You have, have you?" sneered the other. "You make me laugh, young +feller. You couldn't arrest a fly!" + +Ted threw open his coat and showed that he, too, wore a star. + +The leader of the posse leaned forward to read the authority on it. + +"Who are you?" he asked huskily. + +"I am Ted Strong." + +"Then why didn't you stop Fancy Farnsworth?" + +"What for? I have no knowledge of his having committed a crime, and, +besides, I have no warrant for him. Have you?" + +"No. Didn't have time to get one. But that makes no difference. He +killed a woman, and as soon as I heard of it I got my posse together an' +hit his trail. If it hadn't been for you fellows I'd have got him." + +"I don't think you would." + +"Why wouldn't I?" + +"Because he'd have killed two or three of you first." + +"What about this crime, and why are you so sure he committed it?" asked +Major Caruthers. "I thought him a fine, gentlemanly, quiet young fellow, +and I'm somewhat of a judge of men myself. I can hardly believe that a +man of that stamp could commit so terrible a crime as woman murder. That +is the lowest degree of killing." + +"He done it, just the same," said the deputy marshal positively. + +"Why are you so sure?" asked Ted, taking up the interrogation. + +"Well, in the first place, he skipped the town just before the body of +the woman was found. He was seen to ride out of town along the road on +which her house stood." + +"Is that all the evidence you have against him?" + +"No; he was seen coming out of the house about three hours before he was +seen leaving town." + +"H'm! Is that all?" + +"It comes pretty near enough. But, besides that, it was known that the +woman, who was young and beautiful, had recently received a lot of money +as her share in a mine, and that the money had been taken to her that +morning by one of her partners." + +"And it is believed that the young fellow you call Fancy Farnsworth +killed the woman for her money?" + +"Sure." + +"In what shape was the money? Currency, gold dust, ingots, or gold +coins?" + +"It was in ingots." + +"Anybody know how much of it there was?" + +"Yes; her partner, Billy Slocum, was at the hotel, intendin' to go back +to the mine to-day, and I went to see him." + +"And did he give you any idea of how much the gold weighed?" + +"Yes, it weighed about thirty pounds. Billy brought it in on his saddle, +and he said it weighed quite considerable." + +"But Farnsworth, as you call him, had nothing of the sort when he +arrived here." + +"That may be. He'd be too foxy to do that. He's cached it somewhere in +the mountains, most likely." + +"How was the woman killed?" + +"She was strangled by a cord." + +"What was her name?" + +"Helen Mowbray." + +"What sort of a woman was she?" + +"She was a mystery to most the folks at Rodeo, an' all over the +mountains, for that matter. Nobody knew where she came from. She didn't +mix much with the folks, but lived in a swell house, what she had built +for herself, with only two servants, a Japanese man and woman." + +"Was she rich?" + +"Said to be. Had interests in a good many mines, an' owned the Cristobal +Turquoise Mine." + +"Anybody ever learn where her mail came from?" + +"Yes, she frequently got letters from England, and occasionally sent +large drafts to a bank in London to her credit." + +"How do you know this?" + +"Early this morning, when the crime was discovered, and every one was +talking about it, Mr. Rossington, the banker, told that much to a crowd +at the hotel." + +"Had she any particular friend in Rodeo?" + +"Only Farnsworth, who came to the town at intervals and put up at the +hotel. When he was in town he generally spent an hour or two at her +house in the afternoon or evening, and then faded away as mysteriously +as he came." + +"Did he appear to be in love with her?" + +"All I know about that is what I have heard since Miss Mowbray's death." + +"There has been gossip, then?" + +"Not what you would call gossip, exactly. Only folks who had seen them +riding and driving together a few times seemed to think that, while she +was very much in love with him, he never made any fuss over her." + +"How long have you known Farnsworth?" + +"About three years. Ever since he has been traveling through this part +of Arizona." + +"Don't you know that he is a very undemonstrative man, and that if he +really cared for any one he is not the sort to exhibit it?" + +"Yes, I reckon Fancy is a cold sort of a proposition." + +"How have you got him sized up?" + +"I'd hardly know how to tell it. He's some of a mystery to me, and he +ain't never let no one as I know of snuggle beneath his jacket." + +"But, as an officer, you must have kept some sort of tab on him." + +"Sure. I know Fancy as well as most. I always looked upon him as a +crook, and a very dangerous man with a gun." + +"Has he ever been convicted of a crime?" + +"Ain't never been able to land him. Generally he gets away by some slick +trick, just as he did to-night, or he bluffs off the fellows who go +after him with his guns." + +"Has any crime ever been fastened on him so positively that there was no +doubt that he committed it?" + +"Can't say there was; but that don't cut no ice, for he's been in +several killings where no gun got busy but his, an' we've been able to +track him right up to crimes, but there we lose him. He's too slick to +get caught." + +"Something like the murder of Miss Mowbray? He is seen leaving the +vicinity of the murder, and is immediately suspected of the crime, +although probably fifty other men in the town were near the house or on +the road before the murder was discovered, eh?" + +"That's true enough. I passed the house myself on my way home, just +before midnight." + +"Why don't you arrest yourself as a suspect? But how was the murder +discovered?" + +"Some one passing saw a flame at the corner of the house, and, looking +through a window, saw that the house was afire. He gave the alarm, and +the blaze, which was in a corner of the library, was put out before much +damage was done." + +"Then the body was discovered, I suppose?" + +"Yes; a fireman found it in the bedroom on the floor." + +"In what condition?" + +"She was dressed for bed, and around her neck a cord was tied so +tightly, in a peculiar slipknot, that she could not breathe, and her +face was black and her tongue protruding." + +"Simply strangled to death, eh?" + +"That's about it, I reckon." + +"What became of the two Japanese?" + +"Disappeared." + +"Where are the ingots of gold?" + +"Gone." + +"What became of the cord by which she was strangled?" + +"I have it." + +"How does it happen that you have it?" + +"At the alarm of fire I left my home and ran to the scene. As I entered +the house by the front door, one of the firemen came running out of the +bedroom, crying that he had found a dead woman. I ran into the room, and +saw Miss Mowbray lying on her face on the floor, at the foot of the +bed." + +"She was dead then, I suppose?" + +"I thought so. I placed my hand on her bare shoulder, and it was cold." + +"She had been dead several hours, then?" + +"Two or three hours, perhaps, but maybe less, for the room in which she +lay was cold, there being no fire in it or in the adjoining rooms." + +"What did you do when you found that she was dead?" + +"I turned the body over, and saw by the discoloration of her face and +the protruding tongue that she had been strangled. Then I discovered the +cord, which was sunken deeply into the flesh of her throat, and so +hidden that I would not have discovered it had I not seen the end of +it." + +"What did you do with it?" + +"In the hope that she might not be dead, and that something might be +done to revive her, I managed, with great difficulty, to get the cord +untied and off her neck." + +"What authority did you have for that? I suppose you know that it is the +coroner's duty to do things of that sort?" + +"Yes; but, besides being a deputy marshal, I am also deputy coroner." + +"I see. What did you do with the cord?" + +"I don't remember. Oh, yes. I think I put it in my pocket. Yes, here it +is." + +"Let me see it. Why, this is very peculiar. Do you know what sort of a +cord this is?" + +"I don't. I never saw one like it before." + +"I have. Notice its thickness, and how closely it is woven, and that it +is strong as a piece of wire." + +"Yes, I noticed that when I found it. What sort of cord is it?" + +"Japanese." + +"Japanese, eh?" + +"Yes, and a very rare sort of Japanese cord, too, fortunately." + +"Why fortunately?" + +"This is the cord that is used by the Japanese and East Indian secret +societies known as the Thugs or Thuggees." + +"How do you know?" + +"I have seen cords like this before in the Orient, where they were used +by Japanese murderers." + +The cord passed from hand to hand as the major and the boys examined it +with curiosity and some degree of horror, while Stella positively +refused to handle it, or even look at it. + +"Tell me more about Miss Mowbray's servants," said Ted, again taking up +his line of interrogation. "What were the names of the two Japanese?" + +"The man was called Ban Joy, but generally was known as Joy." + +"Was he pretty well known in the town?" + +"No, he was uncommunicative, and spoke very little English. The only +persons who had much to do with him were the storekeepers of whom he +bought supplies for the house." + +"And the woman?" + +"Her name was Itsu San, I believe. I only saw her once, and that was in +the yard back of the house. She appeared young, and was very pretty for +a Jap, I guess. She is the first Jap woman I ever saw." + +"What were her duties?" + +"She was Miss Mowbray's maid, while Joy was the cook." + +"And you say they are gone?" + +"Yes. I saw Joy about eight o'clock, but when I searched the house after +the discovery of the body they were not there, and I could find nothing +that belonged to them." + +"What are you going to do now?" + +"I'm going to hit Farnsworth's trail, and I won't leave it till I run +him down and send him to the gallows." + +"I don't think you will." + +"I won't, eh? Why shouldn't I?" + +"Because Farnsworth did not murder Miss Mowbray." + +"Then who did?" + +"I don't know; probably the Japanese, but I'm not too sure of that. I +believe you will pick up a surprise at the end of the string you are +following. At any rate, me for Farnsworth, and I give you fair warning +that I'm going to help him all I can until I am persuaded of his guilt." + +"That's a fine way for a deputy United States marshal to talk." + +"A better way than you are talking, for it is as much our duty to +protect men from injustice as it is to bring them to justice." + +"That's enough of you for me then. I'll say good night. Come on, boys." + +The four deputy United States marshals marched in single file from the +house, mounted their horses, and rode away into the west just as the sun +poked its head above the eastern horizon. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +A LETTER FROM THE DEAD. + + +Ted was brooding over the appearance of Farnsworth, and the startling +events which followed, and particularly the crime at Rodeo, of which the +young fellow had fallen under suspicion. + +Ted believed that Farnsworth was innocent of the crime. + +But his flight from the town, and the question he had put to Ted when +they met in the road, as to whether Ted had heard the news from Rodeo, +were enough to convict him in the mind of any person prone to suspicion. + +But Ted looked at matters of this sort differently than most people. In +the first place, his experience had taught him that actions which seemed +most suspicious often proved most innocent. + +That Farnsworth knew of the murder of Helen Mowbray before he quitted +Rodeo his question to Ted left no doubt, and the shadow of suspicion +under which he had lived was reason enough for him to leave the town +before its discovery. He knew the dangerous temper of the people, and +that it would take very little to arouse them against him, and +precipitate them into a lynching, with himself as the central figure. + +Ted had heard that Fancy Farnsworth was the worst man in Arizona, and +that he had the most ungovernable temper, the quickest eye, and swiftest +"draw" of a gun in the Territory. + +He was a gambler against whom nobody seemed to be able to cope, for he +invariably won. It had been said that he was not a straight gambler, but +those who said it did so only once, as they were incapable of saying it +twice, for by that time they had been shot full of holes by the card +sharper. + +Why it was that Farnsworth always escaped punishment at the hands of the +authorities no one knew, except that they lacked the nerve to force +prosecution against him, and that he invariably had a good excuse for +killing a man; at least, one that made good in that rough country, where +every man was of a size because all carried revolvers. + +But even while Ted believed that Farnsworth was innocent of the murder +of Miss Mowbray, he felt that some day he and the dashing young fellow +would meet on the battlefield as enemies. + +But it was the strange resemblance between him and Major Caruthers that +affected Ted more than anything else, and he often wondered that the +major had not noticed it himself. + +Major Caruthers found Ted on the veranda turning these things over in +his mind after breakfast. Coming to his side, the old gentleman threw +his arm around Ted's shoulder and said: + +"Ted, I'm rather worried about that young chap Dickson, or Farnsworth, +whichever he is. I was greatly attracted to him, and intended to invite +him to stay with us several days, when those deputy marshals entered and +accused him of a crime that horrifies me. Somehow, I feel that he is +guilty, although I want to believe in his innocence, as you so bravely +advocated when we all were too cowardly to do so. But if he was +innocent, why did he not stay and face his accusers, and go back to +Rodeo with the marshals and prove himself innocent?" + +"He never would have got as far as Rodeo," said Ted quietly. + +"Why not? He was under arrest and in the guard and custody of four +deputy marshals, officers of the United States." + +"They would have prevailed no more than if they had been dummies, which +I strongly suspect they were." + +"Um, how is that?" + +"They were sent out from Rodeo as marshals, but the mob that would have +met Farnsworth at the outskirts of the town, to hang him, was the real +boss. Those marshals would no more dare defy that mob than they would +fly. In the first place, they were not of the real stuff, as was proved +by their conduct when they entered your house and saw Farnsworth in the +middle of the floor and dared not go to him." + +"Well, I'm glad he got away, but I am sorry he had to steal your pony to +do it." + +"That's all right about the pony. I'm betting I'll get it back one of +these days. And, besides, there was nothing else for him to do." + +"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the major. "That was the neatest thing I ever saw, +the way he got into that saddle and deliberately put that pony at the +window." + +"It sure was nervy," said Ted, with a reminiscent smile. + +"Wasn't it the most dramatic thing you ever saw? I can see it yet. +Farnsworth dodging those deputies and their bullets, and before any one +knew what his plan was, leaping upon the pony and jumping through the +glass. By Jove, it was fine. I never was so excited in my life." + +"It certainly was very dramatic. Almost like a thing one would see in +the theater." + +"Yes, but a lot more exciting, because it was the real thing. By the +way, Ted, there was something about that young fellow that I cannot +explain to myself. I was quite strangely affected when he took me by the +hand. And every time I looked at him it gave me a feeling as if he was +somehow mixed up in my life, or would be in the future." + +"That is strange. I wonder who he is. His name is not Dickson, nor is it +Farnsworth. Of course, there is a mystery behind him somewhere, and he +has a name which he is concealing. Suppose we take a look through his +effects. He had a saddlebag in which there may be something by which we +can identify him." + +"Very well. I don't believe it would be unfair to him to do so. You +know, we might be able to help him if we know his real name and +address." + +They went into the room which had been assigned to Farnsworth, but which +he had had no opportunity to occupy. + +In one corner they found his saddle, a very ornamental and expensive +piece of horse furniture, trimmed with silver and made of the most +expensive leather. + +Beside it lay a bag which could be fastened to the cantle of the saddle. + +It fastened with a snap lock, which was easily opened, and then Ted, at +a nod from the major, began to turn out its contents. + +First came a pair of silver-mounted hairbrushes and several toilet +articles, showing that even in the desert young Farnsworth did not +neglect his personal appearance. There were some clean shirts and +handkerchiefs, and in the bottom of the bag another leather case. + +"If he has anything by which he may be identified, it is in here," said +Ted. "But this is locked. Shall I force it?" + +"I believe you'd better," answered the major. + +"I don't care much about doing it," said Ted, "but as it is to help him +I suppose I might as well." + +The major nodded, and with the blade of his knife Ted soon had the bag +open. + +The first thing he came to was a photograph of a beautiful woman, at +which he looked intently for a few moments. + +It seemed to him that he had seen her, or some one very like her, +somewhere before. + +Then he passed it over to the major, and reached his hand into the bag +once more. + +Suddenly he was interrupted by a startled cry, in which there was a tone +of pain and surprise, from the major. + +Looking up, he saw that the major was as white as a sheet, and that his +hand trembled violently. + +"What is it?" Ted asked, striding to the major's side. + +But Major Caruthers was too shaken by emotion to reply at once. + +He continued to stare at the picture with devouring eyes, his face +alternately flushing and paling. He was gasping as if he would speak, +but the words would not come. + +"Do you know her?" asked Ted gently. + +The major nodded his head for reply. + +"What else do you find?" he managed to ask finally. + +Ted emptied the contents of the bag upon the bed. + +Among them was a package of old letters carefully tied. + +"Look at those letters," commanded the major hoarsely. + +Ted untied the string, and took one letter from the pack and opened it. +It had been opened and folded so many times that it was with difficulty +that Ted could open it now without having it fall to pieces. + +"You read it before I do," said the major, who was suffering from a +great, nervous strain, and showed it in his face and trembling hand. + +Ted spread it on the bed and bent over it. + +In the upper left-hand corner was a faded crest of a tower, over which +was a coronet. + +"My dear, wandering boy," the letter began, "I do not know where you +are, or if you are well and alive, or are in trouble, for I have not +heard from you for many months. I am sending this at random into that +great America in the hope that it may reach you some day to tell you +that your mother is constantly thinking of you. Your brother Jack is +still in India with his regiment, but will soon retire and come home. +Your sister Helen and her husband are I know not where. Mowbray turned +out very badly, as your father believed he would, and he had to run from +his creditors, and the enemies he had made through his dishonest +practices. I don't know where they are, but it is my belief that they +have gone to America. I wonder if you will ever run across them? If you +do, tell Helen to leave the beast and come home, and both her father and +I will forgive, and she can take her place here as if she had never met +him. And this leads me to tell you that your father has greatly changed +since you left us, and has even said that he was sorry for his +harshness, and wished you had stayed with us. We are very lonely with +all of our children away from us. Come back to your mother, and all will +be different." + +There were many expressions of mother love in the letter, which was +signed and dated from The Towers, Huntingdon, several years before. + +After reading the letter Ted passed it to the major without comment, and +walked to the window, that he might not be a witness to his emotion. + +He was now very sure that by the strangest of circumstances Major +Caruthers had come across a bit of personal history, and that it was +giving him a heart-tearing experience. + +In a moment he heard the sound of a sob behind him, followed by others, +which, however, subsided gradually, and he heard his name called. + +Ted came to where the major sat on the side of the bed, holding the +photograph in his hand. + +"It is the picture of my sister," he said quietly, for he was now the +master of his emotions. + +"Then Farnsworth is your brother," said Ted. + +"Yes, my brother, poor chap," answered the major, gulping down a sob. + +"It is strange, very strange," muttered Ted, almost to himself. "I felt +sure you were related, there was such a strong resemblance between you." + +"I didn't notice it. Why didn't you speak of it?" + +"Farnsworth knew that you were his brother, and I have no doubt he would +have made himself known to you had he not been compelled to flee before +the deputy marshals. I know that he was deeply affected at meeting you, +and saw that he hesitated to make himself known." + +"I didn't know him. I had not seen Fred since he was a little boy, when +I went into the service. Then he went away to school, and I to India. I +am much older than he, so we did not meet. When I returned to England +from India he had disappeared on account of a foolish row with our +father. Our only sister, Helen, had married a scamp against the wishes +of the family, and had left England also. Shortly after that both our +parents died, and I came to America with the intention of finding both +my sister and brother, and this is how it has turned out." + +Tears were coursing down the major's pale cheeks. + +"Don't you see how it is?" he asked, holding out the photograph to Ted. + +Suddenly it dawned upon Ted, and he took the photograph and gazed at it +eagerly. + +It was Helen Mowbray, the sister of the major and of Farnsworth, or Fred +Caruthers, to give him his real name--the woman who had been strangled +to death in her house at Rodeo. + +This was a shock indeed. + +The complications which had arisen in these few hours were sufficient to +shatter the strongest nerves, and Ted himself trembled a little at the +possibilities unfolded by this unforeseen and unexpected knowledge, +while it entirely unnerved the major, and left him as weak as a child. + +What was to be done? It was not likely that Fred Caruthers could be +found at once. That he knew that it was his sister who had been +murdered, and that he was charged with the crime, would be sufficient to +spur him on and on, his brain and heart filled with horror. And that he +had just found his brother, who might have given him all the moral +support he needed at such a time, only to be driven from him by the fear +of mob law, which he knew would give him no chance whatever for his +life, was an additional sting. + +The major sat on the edge of the bed with drooping head, holding in one +hand the letter from his dead mother, and in the other the photograph of +his murdered sister. + +He was too dazed with the suddenness of the shock with which the +revelation had come to him to stir. + +Ted saw that he must be roused from this immediately. + +"Come," he said, placing his hand gently, on the major's shoulder, "we +must do something at once." + +"What can we do?" asked the major, in a stifled voice. + +"In the first place, we must ride to Rodeo with all speed. Do not forget +that your sister lies there dead, and that it is your duty to care for +her." + +"Of course. I had forgotten. All the ghosts of the past crowded in upon +me until I forgot my duty to the dead. We will go at once. Will you take +charge of things? I am not able yet to do so." + +"Certainly. Leave it all to me." + +Ted left the major with his relics of the dead and the revelations of +the present to compose himself, while he went out to make arrangements +for the ride to Rodeo. + +Ted knew the difficulties and prejudices they would meet when they got +to Rodeo, and feared that before the unpleasant details attending the +burial of the dead woman were finished they might clash with the +authorities or the townspeople. + +Therefore, he decided that they should go well able to defend their +rights, and, calling the boys together, he told them as briefly as +possible the story of the major and his newly found brother and sister, +as the reader knows it. + +"Now, fellows, we must help the major straighten out this tangle, bury +the dead, defend the innocent, and punish the guilty," he said gravely. +"Arm yourselves and saddle, ready to take the road to Rodeo as quickly +as you can." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +BESIEGED. + + +The broncho boys galloped into the town of Rodeo early in the afternoon, +having put their horses to full speed, only stopping now and then to +give them a blow. + +Ted had done his best to restore the major to whatever cheerfulness was +possible under the circumstances, and the sturdy Englishman had regained +his courage and forcefulness. + +As they were riding up the main street, Ted in the lead, flanked by +Stella and Major Caruthers, they saw one of the deputy marshals who had +so unceremoniously entered the ranch house at Bubbly Well to arrest +Farnsworth look hard at them, then set off on a run down a side street. + +"That fellow has gone to give warning of our approach," said Ted. + +"Well, let him. What difference does it make to us?" asked the major. + +"It may mean something to us before we get through here," said Ted. + +"I imagine they will be suspicious of us," said Stella. "At least, they +know that we are not their friends, since we went to such trouble to +defend their favorite victim." + +"True," said the major. "But we are strong enough to meet them, and we +feel that we have the right on our side." + +"What shall we do first?" said Ted, deferring to the major's wishes in +the matter. + +"Who has charge of the body of my sister, do you suppose?" he asked. + +"Probably the coroner." + +"Very well, let's look him up at once. That, of course, will be my first +care." + +It did not take them long to find the coroner, who told them that the +deputy marshals had taken possession of the house, the property, and the +remains of the dead woman, to be held for the appearance of some friend +of hers, who had notified them to do so. + +"Who is this friend?" asked the major stiffly. + +"I'm sure I don't know. You'll have to see the deputy marshals. The +inquest has been held, and I have nothing more to do with the affair." + +"Now for the deputy marshals," said the major, who had recovered +possession of himself, and was now all decision. + +They went immediately to the chief deputy, who was also deputy coroner, +and whose name, they learned, was Jack Burk. + +But they could not find him, neither were any of his men to be found, +although Ted was convinced that he was in town. + +"There is only one thing to do," said Ted. + +"What is that?" asked the major. + +"Go to the house, and take possession of it yourself." + +"But suppose we find it in the hands of the authorities?" + +"That makes no difference to me. The remains of your sister belong to +you, and you have the first right to her and her possessions." + +"But her husband? I do not know where he is, or whether he is dead or +alive." + +"As long as he is not here, it is up to you, major, to assume whatever +authority is necessary." + +"Perhaps you are right. But we cannot gain our point without some show +of force." + +"I know it, and have come prepared for it. The broncho boys will back +you to the limit. Do whatever you think best, major, and you will find +the boys and myself right behind you." + +"Then we will go to the house," said the major firmly. + +In a few minutes Ted and the major dismounted before a handsome house on +the outskirts of the town. It was surrounded by a high stone wall, and +the gate, which was of iron, was locked. + +Ted shook the gate vigorously, and called out for admittance. + +Presently the door of the house was opened a crack, and a voice demanded +to know what was wanted. + +"Come and unlock the gate," demanded Ted. + +After a moment's hesitation the door slammed, and there was silence. + +"Evidently whoever is in charge of the house does not intend to open to +us," said Ted, "and I suppose this will have to be the first act of +aggression on our part. Shall I smash our way in?" + +"By all means," responded the major. "I don't propose to stay out here +and cool my heels in front of my sister's house at the behest of a +stranger." + +"That's enough for me." + +Ted picked up a big stone from the road, and with a vigorous blow or two +shattered the massive iron lock, and the gate swung open. + +Ted and the major entered the garden in front of the house and walked up +the path. + +As they were about to ascend the steps to the veranda they were stopped +by a voice. + +"Halt! What do you want?" + +"We want entrance to the house," said the major. + +"You can't get in without an order from Deputy Marshal Burk," said the +voice behind the door. + +"The deuce I can't!" growled the major, whose fighting blood was coming +up at this opposition. "Do you know who I am?" + +"No, and it don't make no difference who you are. Them's my orders from +the chief." + +"I am the brother of Miss Mowbray." + +A silence followed this. + +"Can't help it," said the voice again. "I can't let you in." + +"Open that door instantly, or we'll break it in." + +"If you try that you'll be sorry. I warn you, I am armed, and have +orders to shoot." + +"Shoot, and be jiggered!" shouted the major, who was thoroughly angry by +this time, for he was not used to having his orders disobeyed. + +"I will if you attempt to break into this house. If you get an order +I'll let you in. Without an order you get in only after I am down and +out." + +"Stay here, major. I'll be back in a few minutes." + +Ted Strong was angry also at the delay, and at once suspected that Burk, +the deputy marshal, had some sinister reason for putting the house in +charge of one of his men, but he could not imagine what it was unless +his purpose was not honest. + +Ted's experience had taught him that all men in authority as deputy +United States marshals were not honest, and that they often used their +office to graft. + +He had no faith in Burk, whose looks and actions he had distrusted at +their first meeting. If Burk knew that the broncho boys were in town it +would be sufficient excuse for him to annoy and impede their movements +all he could. + +No doubt Burk knew that they would come to Rodeo in the interests of +Farnsworth, but he did not believe that the deputy marshal knew anything +of the newly discovered relationship between Major Caruthers, the dead +woman, and the so-called Farnsworth. + +What, then, was his reason for holding the house and the remains of the +murdered woman against all comers? + +There were two inferences: Loot of the woman's house, unprotected by +friends and relatives, and the awaiting of the woman's husband. + +Ted had thought out these two possibilities thoroughly. He had no doubt +that there were many valuables in the house, for the woman was reputed +rich, secretive, and probably kept her personal property about her. From +what the major had said the husband, Mowbray, evidently had been cast +off by Helen Mowbray on account of his rascalities, and, being a bird of +prey, would swoop down upon her property as soon as he learned of her +death. + +Could it be that Burk was holding the house awaiting Mowbray's arrival? + +With these thoughts running through his mind Ted had gone around to the +back of the house to find, if possible, something with which to smash in +the door. + +In a shed he found a sledge, and returned to where the major was still +arguing with the guard inside. + +"Open or we'll break in the door," called Ted, in a stern voice. + +"Take the advice of a fool, and leave the door alone," answered the +guard. + +"Then, for the last time, will you open?" + +"No." + +Ted swung the sledge and brought it down with all his strength on the +lock of the door. + +There followed a crash, and the door flew open suddenly. + +Then came another crash; this time from a revolver, and a ball whistled +past Ted, penetrating the brim of his hat and burying itself in the door +casing. + +But it was not repeated, for before the guard could wink twice a +tan-colored figure shot through the opening, and he fell to the floor +with a smash that shook the house, and looked up to find a stalwart +youth astride of him, slowly shutting off his wind with strong and +inexorable fingers. + +Then he was relieved of his revolver, and before he could indicate that +he was willing to surrender he found himself trussed like a fowl, with +his arms behind his back, and the hall full of young fellows. + +"Why didn't you let me know that you had brought a regiment with you?" +he said sullenly. "Maybe I'd have let you in." + +"You had your chance to open, and was a fool not to take it," said Ted. + +"I believe you." + +The major had left the party and walked into a room on the left, and in +a moment they heard sobs issuing from it. He had found the remains of +his sister, and, at a signal from Ted, the boys hustled the deputy +marshal into the back part of the house and retired, leaving the major +alone with his dead sister. + +In a few minutes Ted heard his name called, and went into the room where +the major was standing beside a bed, on which was a form covered with a +sheet. + +"We must get ready to remove her to my house," said the major, in a +hushed voice. + +"Leave it to me," said Ted. "I will take charge of everything." + +"And I want you to help me search the house, for I intend to remove all +the valuables she left to Bubbly Well until such time as the courts can +handle her property. I don't propose that it shall fall into alien +hands." + +In the room at the foot of the bed was a small steel safe, which Ted +found was fastened with a combination lock. He knelt before it with his +ear to the lock, turning the handle of the combination, listening to the +click of the tumblers, while the major searched the drawers of the +handsome dressing case and other articles of furniture in the room. + +Everywhere were evidences that Helen Mowbray had been very wealthy. + +On top of the dressing case were sets of gold and silver toilet +articles, and ornaments, boxes, and bottles handsomely chased in silver +and gold, and set with jewels. + +In one of the drawers the major found a bunch of keys, probably to open +other drawers in the console and other articles of furniture. + +"I have it, major," said Ted quietly, as he flung open the door of the +safe. + +"See what is in it, Ted," said the major. + +In the bottom of the safe lay a pile of gold ingots representing a value +of many thousands of dollars. A drawer was filled with bank notes of +large denomination. Other drawers were crowded full of the stocks of +mines and other enterprises. + +"Whew!" said Ted, as he revealed the dead woman's possessions. "Did you +know she was so rich?" + +"I had no idea of it," answered the major. "Helen was always a capable +woman, and when she left England my father gave her her patrimony +outright, that he might never be compelled to see or communicate with +her husband again, and this looks as if she had increased it many +times." + +"This would have made fine plunder for the thieving fellows who had +taken possession of the place if fate, in the hands of your younger +brother, had not turned up to put you in command." + +"What else do you find?" + +"Here is a package addressed 'To be sent to The Towers, Huntingdon, +England, to Robert Caruthers, Esquire, or Major John Stairs Caruthers, +upon my death, unopened.'" + +"Give it to me," said the major huskily, thrusting the package into his +pocket. + +"And here's a bank book," said Ted. "It bears the name of the Bank of +London." + +He handed it to the major, who put it also into his pocket. + +"Anything else?" he asked. + +"That is all." + +"Then take this bunch of keys and examine the contents of the drawers." + +The first drawer of the console which Ted unlocked and opened was full +of jewels, rich and beautiful, a fortune in themselves. + +"Poor girl," said the major, in a low voice. "Why did she risk murder by +keeping such a fortune about her?" + +"Probably she didn't want some particular person to know that she was so +rich," suggested Ted. + +Drawer after drawer revealed other valuables, such as priceless laces +and articles of gold and silver. + +"We must get all this away as soon as possible, and guard it carefully," +said the major. + +"Yes, it is a great temptation, I sup----" + +As Ted was speaking he chanced to look up. + +Framed in the window was a face. + +But as Ted met the blazing eyes in the face it vanished, and he ran into +the hall and out onto the veranda, but could see no one in the garden. + +At that moment, however, he was brought back into the house with a jump +by the sudden slamming of the back door of the house and a cry of +warning from Bud, followed by shouts from the other boys. Then a shot +outside, and a crash of glass. + +The house was being besieged. + +He heard a rush in the garden, and turned to see several men race around +the corner of the house toward the front door. + +They had almost reached it when he slammed it in their faces, putting +his shoulder to it, and calling for help. + +In the lead of the besiegers he recognized the face he had seen at the +window. + +As he was still holding the door against those who were striving to push +it in from without there was a shot through one of the panels, and +Strong sank to the floor insensible. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +TED SAVES THE HOUSE. + + +But as Ted Strong fell to the floor there was a rush through the hall, +and in a moment he was surrounded by the broncho boys, who held the door +while Bud and Ben picked Ted up and laid him on a sofa. + +As he was laid down Ted opened his eyes. + +"Barricade that door with the furniture," he commanded. "Never mind me. +I'm all right. Defend the house first. We must not let the thieves get +Helen Mowbray's property." + +While several of the fellows held their shoulders to the door, which was +bulging with the power without to force it in, Bud and Ben carried a +heavy sideboard across the room and placed it against the door. + +This held it for a while until other heavy articles made it secure. + +They had no more than finished their work when a shot crashed through a +pane of glass in the dining room in which Ted lay, attended by Stella, +who was trying to stanch the blood from a wound in his side. + +Kit gave a muffled groan, and put his hand to his arm. The blood was +trickling through his fingers. + +"Keep out of range of the windows everybody," shouted Ted, from the +lounge. + +"Them fellers is quick an' peevish!" shouted Bud. "I'm goin' ter git one +er two, shore's my name ain't John Henry Thomas Quackenbush." + +There was a stairway in the hall, and Bud went up the steps three at a +time. + +They heard his step overhead, then his voice in a roar of angry +surprise. + +"Jumpin' sand-hill fleas!" he yelled. "So that's yer game, is it?" + +Outside there was a crash, and through the window they saw a falling +ladder; then two men hurtling through the air. + +In a moment there was a thud on the earth, and yells of agony. + +"They were trying to surprise us from above, but good old Bud got there +in time to fool them," said Ted. "Bully for him. Ben, go up and help +him. He may need it." + +Several shots outside broke the silence that followed the fall of the +ladder, and the breaking of glass in the upper windows. + +Then came a fusillade in the upper rooms. + +"Bud and Ben are giving them as good as they send," muttered Ted. + +From the yells that came from the garden the shots from above had +evidently done some execution, for they were followed by a rush of feet, +then silence. + +"Look out, Kit," said Ted, "and see what's doing. But be careful; do not +expose yourself." + +"No one in sight," said Kit, peering around the corner of the window +casing, having first put his hat in an exposed position to draw fire if +there were any sharpshooters on guard outside. + +"Wait! Great Scott, they're going to set fire to the house!" yelled Kit, +running from the room. + +In spite of the protestations of Stella, Ted staggered to his feet and +followed Kit. + +He swayed from weakness as he ran, but appeared to grow stronger with +the excitement. + +Two men had rushed to the shelter of the side of the house, and were now +safe from shots from the windows. + +One of them had trundled before him a tar barrel, while the other had +his arms full of shavings. + +This was the sight that had caused Kit's exclamation. + +"Gee whiz, this is bad," said Kit. "In a minute they'll have the stuff +blazing, and the house will go in this wind as if it was made of oiled +paper. What are we to do?" + +Ted, who was holding himself up against a table to keep from falling, +thought a moment. + +"They're watching for us to stick our heads out of a window to take a +shot at those fire bugs, and, if we do, that's the end," said Ted to +himself. "But we must get them before the house catches." + +Suddenly he straightened up. A spasm of pain crossed his face, and he +clutched his side. + +"Ted, you must not exert yourself," said Stella, springing toward him. +"Ted, remember you are wounded; you do not know how badly." + +"I'm all right," answered Ted, with a grim smile. "Let me alone for a +while, Stella. Then you can fuss over me all you like. I've got to think +of some way to circumvent those devils." + +Suddenly he drew his revolver from its holster. + +"I have it," he said briskly. "It's taking a risk, but it must be done. +If they set the house afire it's all off with us. Kit, stand ready to +throw open the door when I give the word. Then shield me from shots from +the shrubbery on the opposite side of the garden. The gang is hiding +behind those bushes." + +"What are you going to do?" asked Stella breathlessly. + +"I'm going out to stop those fellows with the tar barrel." + +"You are not. I will not let you," cried Stella. + +Ted gave Stella a peculiar look that she had never seen in his face +before, and she rather quailed from it, it was so full of authority and +force. + +"Sorry, Stella, to do anything against your wishes," he said quietly. +"But some one must do it, and Kit is wounded in his pistol arm, and the +other boys are busy." + +"Oh, fiddle!" cried Stella. "You are wounded yourself." + +"But I'm going, just the same. Stand ready, Kit." + +Kit sprang to the door. + +Already they could smell the burning tar. + +"Hi, deir der puilding firing up alretty," shouted Carl, bursting into +the room, pale with apprehension. + +"All right, Carl. Stand back from the door, and do as Kit tells you," +said Ted. Then, with a look at Stella, which seemed to ask her +forgiveness for acting against her wishes, he got ready for a rush. + +"Open!" he yelled. + +Kit threw the door wide, and Ted Strong sprang out into the garden, and +ran swiftly along toward the rear, keeping close to the wall. + +He was firing toward the shrubbery as he ran, and those on guard inside +heard yells of agony. + +Evidently Ted was making good with his bullets. + +There came a return fire from the shrubbery, directed not at the open +door, but at the flying figure of Ted. + +Stella, Kit, and Carl poured a hot fusillade into the bushes, but did +not seem able to silence the fire from them. + +Then Stella did a foolhardy thing. Without a word of warning she leaped +through the doorway, and stood on the step outside, looking after Ted. + +She saw him running weakly toward the corner of the house, where two men +were bending over the tar barrel, into which they had put the shavings. + +They had set fire to the shavings, and were lifting the barrel to place +it against the side of the house. + +And now the barrel was blazing like a gasoline torch, and the flame was +licking the side of the house. + +But Ted was upon them. They did not see him, as their backs were toward +him, and in a minute both had gone sprawling over the barrel, falling in +a heap on the ground. + +In a flash Ted had sent the barrel rolling down the yard, and with a +piece of canvas, which he had picked up from the ground, was beating out +the flames which were creeping up the side of the house. + +But the men were on their feet now, and, seeing the cause of their +discomfiture, they ran toward Ted with howls of rage, and reached his +side as Stella, who had started toward Ted when she saw that the men +were about to attack him, was still some distance off. + +Ted was not aware of the presence of the men until they were directly +behind him. Then he turned, only to be met with a blow on the head with +the butt of a pistol, and he sank to the ground with a groan. + +Meanwhile, Kit, whose duty it was to cover Ted's attack on the house +burners from the doorway, was not able to get a shot because Stella's +body was between him and the corner of the house. + +As Ted went down with a groan Stella drew her revolver and blazed away. + +At her first shot one of the men ran off, limping and yelping like a +kicked cur. + +The other, conscious that the bullets from her revolver were singing +unpleasantly near to his head, made a dash for the shrubbery. + +Bending over Ted, Stella tried to see how badly he was hurt. + +"You reckless boy," she was saying. "See how you run into danger. Now +you have two wounds for me to nurse, if you are not killed." + +She was trying to lift him to a sitting posture when she felt herself +grasped around the waist, and before she could make a motion in her own +defense, was borne swiftly across the yard, and into the shrubbery. + +Her scream rang out piercingly, and the boys ran in a body into the +garden. + +But by the time they got there Stella was out of sight, and they were +met with a fusillade of bullets from the shrubbery, causing them to +retreat into the house again and close the door. + +None of them had noticed Ted lying unconscious at the corner of the +house. + +They were no sooner out of sight than three men sped from the shrubbery +across the yard, and, seizing Ted by the heels and shoulders, ran back +with him into the place of concealment. + +As they threw Ted down on the grass none too gently, the pain brought +him back to life and wrung a groan from him. + +When he opened his eyes he saw Stella sitting beside him trying to hold +his head from the ground. + +Several men were there, too, lying flat, peering underneath the +shrubbery toward the house. + +Every man was armed either with a rifle or a revolver, and occasionally +one or the other of them would fire a shot at the house, which would be +answered by the boys. + +"They fire too high," muttered Ted to himself, "because they do not know +that these rascals are lying flat. Every ball goes a foot too high. Wish +I could let them know, but then they would probably hit Stella or me." + +Lying beside him was Burk, the deputy marshal, his greenish-gray eyes +looking coldly at the house, and whenever he saw a chance for a shot his +rifle flew to his shoulder. + +He became conscious that Ted was looking at him, and turned with a grin +on his face. + +"So we got you at last, eh?" he said to Ted, with a sneer. "You thought +you could put this thing through because you are a deputy United States +marshal, did you? Well, you won't be a marshal much longer." + +"I think I'll be longer at the job than you will," Ted replied slowly. + +"Not after your attempt to loot a dead woman's house while her body +still lies there under guard of a United States officer." + +This caused Ted to think of the situation in a different light. True, he +believed that Burk was a crook, and that it was he who was conspiring to +rob the house, but he had authority on his side, while Ted's belief, +after all, was based on surmise, and he would have difficulty in proving +anything criminal against the marshal. At the same time, he did not fear +for his own part in the affair, because behind him was the brother of +the dead woman. + +"I say, Burk, I'm tired of this nonsense, lying here and potting away at +the house," said a drawling voice, the owner of which could not be seen, +being hidden behind the shrubbery. + +"Can't help it," answered Burk. "We've got to take our time. The house +is full of them, and they can shoot some." + +"Rot! So can we. I propose that we rush them. But first I want the +pleasure of putting my revolver against the head of that young bully +there and the girl, and getting rid of them. Think what's at stake. We +must get away from here soon." + +"Don't talk nonsense," growled Burk, in reply. + +"I'm getting tired of it, I tell you. Three of our men are wounded now, +and that red-headed beggar is going to die, and he was such a good +cook." + +The speaker laughed unpleasantly at his gruesome joke. + +"Well, we can't do it now, because we don't know how they're situated. +We'd have had them when they all rushed out a few minutes ago if you +hadn't shot at them so soon, and driven them indoors again. Why didn't +you let them get into the open, where we could have shot them down?" + +Stella shuddered at the cold-blooded tone in which these men discussed +the killing of the boys, but Ted only smiled, for he knew that Burk was +at heart a coward, and that he did not care to rush, nor would he stand +a rush should one come. + +He wished he was back in the house and knew the enemy's situation as +well as he did now. He would not give them time to run very far. + +If he could communicate to the boys in some manner the exact situation, +he felt confident that the thing would be over in a very short time. + +"I say, Strong, I've a proposition to make to you," said Burk, after a +silence. + +"Well, out with it," said Ted coldly. + +"There's no use of any more of us being hurt or killed," said Burk, +looking at Ted out of the corner of his eye. + +"Then why don't you quit shooting and vamose?" + +"That's not for me to do," said Burk hotly. + +"Oh, I see. You want us to quit, eh?" + +"Sure. You're the fellows who broke in there over our guard. But if +you'll call your fellows off and get out of the house, I'll agree to +turn you and the young lady loose. But nothing must be taken from the +house." + +"That seems right generous of you," said Ted, with a sarcastic smile, +which Burk didn't see because his head was turned the other way. + +"It's a darned more than you deserve, but I don't want any more of my +fellows shot up." + +"What do you want me to do?" + +"Just step out there and holler to your boys to quit firing, and tell +them that you're going to quit, and then----" + +Ted just laughed, and Burk turned upon him with a scowl. + +At that moment there was a cheer from the direction of the house; then a +few scattering shots from the men in the shrubbery. + +Ted heard the doors of the house open, and the swift patter of running +feet. The old Moon Valley yell was in his ears. All the men in the +shrubbery had sprung to their feet, and were running wildly about. A man +crawled through the bushes--the man with the face he had seen at the +window. + +As he crawled close to Ted the expression of his face was awful to +contemplate. + +Such fiendish, murderous hatred he had never seen in a human countenance +before. + +When he was so close to Ted that he could hear his feverish breathing, +the man suddenly thrust forward a pistol until the muzzle was within an +inch of Ted's head. + +Ted struggled to grapple with him, but he had grown so stiff from his +wound that he could hardly stir. He was looking death close in the face. + +The man was just about to pull the trigger when close at hand the +major's voice rang out in an exclamation of amazement: + +"Mowbray! You here?" + +The man with the pistol sprang to his feet and faced Major Caruthers for +a second. Then, with a wild cry of fear, he sprang away through the +shrubbery and escaped. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +HELEN MOWBRAY'S WILL. + + +By the time one could have counted ten there was not a man of Burk's +force in sight, but, on looking down the road where it led to the plain +that lay before the mountains, the dust of their retreat hung in the +air. + +"We've got 'em on ther run," said Bud, throwing his hat into the air +with a joyous yawp. "Sufferin' tomcats, but them fellers has their +nerve, aber nit." + +Ben and the major had carried Ted into the house, and the major, who was +a good surgeon, had Ted's coat off and was examining his wound. + +When the shot had been fired through the door at him the ball had been +deflected by a piece of iron, and, instead of penetrating his heart, as +it surely would have done otherwise, it struck a rib and ran around +toward the back, coming out near the spine, and, although an extremely +painful wound, it was not at all serious. + +A ball had passed through the fleshy part of Kit's forearm, but when the +major had washed it in warm water and dressed it, it ceased to pain, and +he could use it handily. But Ted's wound was different, and the impact +of the ball on the rib had made him so sore that he could not breathe +without suffering agony. + +Stella had one of the boys make a fire for her, and, having found the +house well stored with provisions, she began to cook supper for them, +for they were all tired and hungry. + +It was evening before they knew it, and it was decided to stay at the +house all night, keeping a careful guard against the return of Burk and +Mowbray. + +"I never was so surprised in my life as when I saw Mowbray in the bushes +out there just in the act of murdering you," said the major after +supper, as he sat on the sofa beside Ted. + +"It was a surprising meeting," said Ted. "I had no idea he was in this +part of the country. His was the face I saw at the window when we had +all that money and gold and jewels out." + +"Then he knows we have found it?" + +"Sure. He knows we have it, and if he is the chap I think he is, he'll +not rest until he gets it, or--something else." + +"Meaning?" + +"Death or imprisonment." + +"He richly deserves either, or both. He made the life of my sister most +unpleasant." + +"By the way, major, what do you know about him? It might be handy to +know something in the future if he tries to make trouble." + +"Precious little." + +"Oh, by the way, have you looked into that packet I took from the safe +and handed you? The one addressed to your father, I take it, or to +yourself." + +"Haven't thought of it until now. Must take a look at it, by Jove. It +may tell us a lot we want to know." + +The major pulled the envelope from his pocket, and after examining the +writing on it closely for a moment tore off the end of it and drew out +several business-like documents. + +"You'll excuse me, Strong, while I look these over, won't you?" he said. + +"Certainly. Don't mind me," replied Ted, sinking back comfortably among +the cushions. + +As the major's eyes traveled over the documents they began to light up +with a new intelligence. Then a look of pain followed, and the tears ran +slowly down his cheeks. + +Finally he turned to Ted: + +"It is her will, and some history of her adventures in this country +since she left home, and an account of the abuse and indignities heaped +upon her by her husband, Mowbray, from whom she was divorced some months +ago." + +"Then Mowbray has no right to her property?" + +"Not a penny's worth. I shall not bore you by reading all she says on +the subject. She tells how he beat her after stealing from her all he +could. Then she goes on to tell of his crimes." + +"He is a bad egg, then," said Ted, as the major paused. + +"You would scarcely believe how bad he was if I were to read the story +of his career." + +"I suppose he had been bothering her since in order to get more money +from her." + +"Yes, she says that he made her life miserable, and that he often +threatened to kill her if she didn't give him all she had." + +"Hearing of her death, he came here to steal everything he could lay his +hands on; is that it? But I don't quite see why the authorities here, +knowing of her divorce from him, would permit him to take possession of +her effects, from any ownership in which the courts had barred him." + +"I don't suppose the people here knew anything about it, for she says in +this paper that she got her divorce secretly, and that there was no +publicity about it. She simply had her lawyers notify Mowbray to that +effect, at which time she sent him ten thousand dollars in settlement of +all claims against her, which he agreed to accept with that +understanding. But later he wrote her a letter in which he said that the +agreement meant nothing to him, and that he would expect more." + +"But why didn't she make the fact that he was no longer her husband +public? It would have saved this trouble." + +"She didn't want the news of it to travel to our parents in England. +That was her pride." + +"I see. Does she leave him anything in her will?" + +"Yes. Her will is a curious document. It was evidently made immediately +after her divorce from Mowbray, and leaves all her property to our +mother, and, after her death, to my brother and myself, with a small +bequest to silence Mowbray. But there is a codicil which leads me to +believe that she had heard of mother's death, in which event she leaves +almost everything to her brother, Frederic Caruthers. He is the one +known as Fancy Farnsworth." + +"Nothing to you?" + +"Oh, yes, but not so much as to Fred, whom she puts in my care, asking +me to see that he is properly treated and that he gets the justice which +is his due." + +"Evidently she knew, then, that he has many enemies who were trying to +put him within the clutches of the law." + +"Evidently. But there is a section which I do not understand." + +"Read it. Perhaps we can figure it out between us." + +"All right, I will. The paragraph is as follows: 'I desire that my elder +brother, John Stairs Caruthers, shall take charge of my property in the +event that the said Frederic Caruthers shall not be present when my will +is opened, and that he shall be found as speedily as possible. For +several years Frederic Caruthers has been my only protector, defending +me from the abuse and greed of my former husband, and, further, +sustaining my credit and honor by assuming the misdeeds of Mowbray, to +his own discredit and danger. Had it not been for his watchful care, I +would long ago have been stripped of all I have been able to accumulate, +and have been in my grave at the hands of Mowbray. But of this latter I +am in constant dread, and I feel such will yet be my fate. If my dead +body is found with marks of violence on it, and my house robbed, it will +have been the work of said Mowbray. Therefore, in the way of a tardy +reward for the loyalty, care, protection, and love given me by my +brother, Frederic Caruthers, I leave to him the bulk of my property, +personal and real, in mining stocks, jewels, money, and the turquoise +beds in New Mexico, as well as the San Fernando Ranch. I especially +charge my brother John Stairs Caruthers to find his brother, and to +defend him and clear his name, should it be necessary, and to put him in +full possession of his property.'" + +As the major finished reading he looked at Ted inquiringly. + +"Well, what do you make of it?" he asked. "I confess it puzzles me." + +"I can see through it. But you have your work cut out for you, major." + +"In what way?" + +"You will find this fellow Mowbray a hard customer." + +"Pshaw! I am not afraid of him." + +"Neither am I, for that matter; but it is not he alone that is to be +feared in this matter." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Just this: Mowbray evidently is an archvillain, but he could not do all +his dirty work alone." + +"You think he has accomplices, then?" + +"Exactly. And of the most dangerous sort." + +"For instance?" + +"I have been thinking the matter over, and I am convinced that Mowbray +has got about him the most dangerous sort of a gang to carry on his work +for him. Do you know if he is a man of any particular force and +cleverness?" + +"When I knew him, which was before I went to India, he was already +beginning to practice his shady transactions in England, but he had +never been directly caught at it. This led to the greatest opposition on +the part of my family to his marriage to my sister." + +"But, in spite of it, she married him?" + +"Yes; she had an idea that he was abused and misrepresented, and flew to +his defense by secretly marrying him. After that he got worse and bolder +until he was caught not only cheating at cards, but actually stealing by +means of forgery and in other ways, and they had to flee from England." + +"Then, of course, he is a master in crime by this time." + +"It would not surprise me to learn it. But you spoke of his being +especially dangerous because of the men he had gathered about him?" + +"Yes, and I mean it. I am sure now that in his gang are several men who +are especially dangerous, because they can defy the law without much +risk of running counter to it." + +"I don't see how one man can break the law with less danger of +punishment than another." + +"It is this way: Mowbray has in his gang several deputy United States +marshals. These men have advance information of any action to be taken +by the law against the suspected perpetrators of crime. This information +is at once at the disposal of Mowbray, and he can escape the +consequences of his crimes without difficulty. He is protected, also, by +his partners rigging up accusations against innocent persons, and +convicting them by manufacturing evidence against them." + +"What a villainous system!" + +"It is. And it is just this thing that has enabled Mowbray to prey on +his wife for so long a time." + +The major uttered an exclamation of anger. + +"Another thing," continued Ted: "I am sure now that it was these very +pals of Mowbray that made the accusations against your brother, known as +Farnsworth, at the instance of Mowbray. They nursed public resentment +against the young fellow until every hand was against him, and he was +forced to become an outlaw, or fall into the hands of the authorities +and be forced into prison, or to the gallows, through the perjury of +these same deputy marshals. It is an infamous thing, and I am going to +try to sift it to the bottom and clear your brother, and see that +Mowbray gets what's coming to him." + +"You are very good, and I shall never forget what you have done for me +already." + +"That's all right. It's my duty as an officer of the United States in +this Territory of Arizona to do it. Never fear; there will be more to +this than the beginning, and a race is not won until it is ended." + +All night one or the other of the boys patrolled the grounds, hiding in +the shrubbery, ready to give the alarm should any of Mowbray's party +return to attack the house and capture the treasure. + +But dawn broke without an alarm, and the boys were astir, making ready +for the abandonment of the house and the return to the Bubbly Well +Ranch. + +Ted was feeling so much better after a good night's rest that he was +able to climb into his saddle and go into the town. + +His object was to get a wagon and a span of mules in which to transport +the remains of Helen Mowbray and the valuables she had left behind to +her brother's house. + +At a livery stable he met the proprietor, a garrulous old man, whom, +when he had explained his mission, looked at him strangely before +speaking. + +"What's doin' at the Mowbray house?" he asked. "We all uptown was some +curious last evenin' when we heard so much shootin'." + +"Nothing much," said Ted. "Just a little pistol practice." + +The old man grinned. + +"Yuh musta kep' ther targets warm some from ther way ther poppin' +sounded up yere," he said dryly. + +"Yes, it was rather warm for a while. Well, can I have the wagon, and a +driver to bring it back?" + +"I don't know whether I can spare one or not. Yuh see, it's some +dangerous ter take sides in this town." + +"I don't want you to take my side. All I want is to complete a business +transaction with you. I want you to hire me a wagon and team for a day. +You understand what I want?" + +"Yes, but, yuh see, that would be considered as givin' succor ter ther +enemy." + +"I don't understand why." + +"It's this way: Judge Harris owns this stable an' rents it to me by ther +month. He could kick me out to-morrow if he wanted to. He's a queer +dick, an' him an' Burk, what, I understand, was at ther Mowbray house +yesterday, and what had ter run away, is as close as two sheets o' +sticky fly paper." + +"He is, eh?" + +"Yes; an' the coroner, the jailer, the mayor, the sheriff, an' everybody +else what has any power er authority, is in the same boat. They all hang +together, an' they're all friends o' Mr. Mowbray. Lord Mowbray they +calls him." + +"Ah, ha!" thought Ted. "If that is the case, it behooves us to get out +of town and to Bubbly Well with our property as soon as we can." + +After some further talk Ted was still unable to get the old man to rent +him a wagon. Then he changed his tactics. + +"Well," he said, in a firm voice, "if you won't rent me the wagon and +team I'll be obliged to confiscate it for the United States." + +"Eh, how is that?" + +"I said I would take it for the uses of the United States. Come, roll it +out and hitch up before I have to resort to violence." + +"I don't know you, bub. I'm from Missouri. You'll have to show me." + +Ted exposed his star of authority. + +"Does that go?" he asked. "Because if it don't, this will." + +His revolver was out of its holster like a flash, much to the surprise +of the liveryman, who had been somewhat of a bad man himself in his day, +and gun plays were not uncommon at Rodeo. + +He gazed mildly into the bore of the big, silver-mounted forty-five, and +then murmured: + +"It goes, pal." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +KNIFE AND FANG. + + +Several days had passed since the fight at Helen Mowbray's house, and +Ted Strong and the broncho boys were again at the Bubbly Well Ranch. + +The remains of Helen Mowbray had been laid to rest near the major's +ranch house in a little lot surrounded by a low fence, and her treasure +was safely stored away in the safe in the major's bedroom. + +The period of their visit to the ranch house was past, but still they +stayed to help the major to get word of his brother Frederic Caruthers, +alias Fancy Farnsworth, alleged to be the worst man in Arizona. + +Where he might be none knew, of course, but Ted was of the opinion that +he was still somewhere in Arizona, and not far away, either. + +He could not have told why he believed so, but he had one of his +"hunches" to that effect, and believed it as surely as if he knew it for +a fact. + +Ted had seen his hunches turn out true so often that he did not attempt +now to distrust them. + +Somehow, he felt that everything was to come out all right some day, and +that he would find Farnsworth, or Frederic Caruthers, to be more exact, +and Ted always reproached himself when he thought of the young fellow by +his false name. + +One morning Ted awoke before the dawn, sitting upright in bed, listening +for a sound, but heard nothing unusual. + +This was one of Ted's habits--to be aroused by some unknown sense in the +night when danger threatened. + +Hearing nothing, he got out of bed, and sat on its edge and listened +again. + +"Wonder what waked me?" he muttered to himself. He was not in the least +sleepy, as he would have been if he had wakened naturally. + +"I don't think I was dreaming," he continued to mumble to himself. "And +it wasn't a noise. Must have been a hunch. Guess I'll get up and see if +there's anything wrong about here." + +He slipped swiftly into his clothes, and sauntered through the living +room. + +It was just beginning to get light outside, and the windows were gray, +while all else in the room was still dark. + +He opened the door and stepped out into the chill morning. + +Then he heard a noise, but so faint that it couldn't have been that +which had disturbed him from his sound sleep, he thought. + +But as the sound came nearer on the clear, thin morning air, and he +recognized it and realized its significance, he knew that it was this +fine, almost indistinguishable sound that had penetrated in some +mysterious manner to his inner ear and called him from his sleep. + +It was the cry of a hungry and angry wolf. + +At last he located the sound off to the east, but as yet he could see +nothing, for it was not yet light enough, and a thin mist, like a +mirage, hung over the surface of the sandy prairie and obscured the +view. + +For a long time he stood listening to the long-drawn and savage howl, +thinned out by the distance and mist, but he knew that it was coming +nearer, and that the animal that was making it was not only hungry, but +that it was a master wolf. It was none of the gaunt, half-starved, +cowardly brutes that follow in the pack and take what the master wolf +leaves of the scraps of the murdered calf or sick cow or sheep which the +leaders of the pack have pulled down. + +He had heard before the yells of these kings of the packs of savage +prairie wolves, and they were masterful indeed, and could easily be +distinguished above the feebler pipings of the wolf rabble. + +Suddenly the sun came up and the mists disappeared as by magic, and it +was light. + +Ted looked steadily toward the place from which the howls had come when +it was dark, and saw a spot against the earth. + +It was either a pony or a cow, and it was in trouble, for it came on +very uncertainly, running sideways, stopping for a moment to kick, then +running on again. + +Ted immediately saw what was the matter. It was being pursued by the +wolves he had heard. + +The wolves were running with it, perhaps had been chasing it all night, +and were snapping it its heels, trying to hamstring it. + +He thought it was a small, lean cow from this distance, and wondered at +its courage, and if it would last until it got close enough to where +there were human beings to be safe from further pursuit. + +At first he thought of going inside and putting on his coat and boots +and getting his arms and starting out toward it on his pony. But this +was too much trouble, and he stood watching the tragedy of the plain, +hoping for the plucky animal that was doing its best to outrun and +outwit the wolves, for they were close enough now for him to see that +there were four of the gray devils of the prairie. + +But only one of them was worthy of a second look--a great, gray brute +much larger than his mates and twice as courageous. + +Ted thought it strange that the wolf king was not doing as the others +did; that is, running up behind their victim and making a slash at his +legs with their razorlike fangs, then retreating with a whining howl +when they felt the heels of the poor brute they were tormenting. + +No, the big wolf was leaping high into the air from the side, evidently +trying to reach something that was fastened to the pony's back--for now +Ted was able to distinguish what it was. + +It was a bay pony, rather small, and almost all in with fatigue. + +Something baggy was tied to its back, which resembled a bundle of old +clothes. + +Once, as he watched, Ted saw the pony go to its knees, actually tired +out and weak. + +But it was up again, and struggling bravely on again. + +"Plucky little beggar," muttered Ted, in admiration. "Wish I had taken +my first hunch and ridden out to help it. By Jove, it's not too late +yet!" + +Without going into the house Ted jumped to the ground and ran out to +meet the pony and its enemies. + +It did not occur to him that he was not armed until he was halfway to +them. Then he felt in his pocket and found his big-bladed knife. + +Taking this out, he sprang open the big blade and carried it loosely. + +He had stooped and picked up a large stone, which he carried in his +hand. + +When he came close enough he hurled the stone at the wolves, and a dull +thud, followed by a shrill, dog-like howl of pain, told him that he had +countered on the rib plate of one of the nasty brutes. Then he let out a +wild yell, and three of the wolves turned and fled. + +Not so the king of the pack. + +He stopped for a moment and stared at Ted with his pale-green eyes. +Then, with a long howl of defiance, he sprang again at the pony, which +had picked up courage at hearing a human voice and was coming on more +briskly. + +Suddenly Ted recognized the pony. + +It was the major's Christmas gift, and Ted once more gave voice to an +exultant yell, which only served to increase the fury of the wolf's +attack at whatever was fastened to the pony's back. + +Ted knew that Fred Caruthers, as he tried always to call the young +brother of the major, would send the pony back some day, and now his +faith had been rewarded. + +When he became aware of the identity of the pony he ran faster, and was +soon within a few feet of it. + +He naturally expected that the wolf would now beat a retreat, as wolves +met singly and in this fashion generally turn tail and split the wind +for home when attacked by man. + +But the big wolf simply turned his attention from the pony to the boy, +and stood as if carved out of gray granite, his head held high in the +air, and his eyes blazing like two pale-green lights. + +"By Jove, I think the brute is going to stand and fight!" said Ted to +himself. + +Taking advantage of the situation, the pony trotted past Ted, who +scarcely gave it a look, and went on to the corral back of the house. + +"So it's going to be a fight," said Ted, advancing cautiously toward the +wolf. "All right, old chap; I'll give you something to think about, if I +do not leave you on the ground entirely incapable of thinking. I wish +I'd gone after my Winchester now. That would have made it too short, +though. Come on, now. All I have is a short knife blade against four +sharp fangs, and you are as brave as the devil himself." + +The wolf had not stirred except that his nose was constantly working as +he sniffed the air for Ted. + +Ted knew that a wolf that will stand and fight a man by himself is +possessed of more than ordinary courage and brains, and, therefore, he +was on the lookout for the tricks of the fight. + +It was well that he was so versed, for before he was quite ready for it +the wolf, without a sound, leaped straight through the air at his +throat. He had just time to dodge aside, and make a vicious swipe with +his knife. + +But his blade did not touch the wolf, whose leap carried him several +feet past Ted. Had the wolf succeeded in striking Ted, they would +inevitably have gone down together, and Ted would have had none the best +of it. + +But the battle between Ted, the skilled huntsman and wolf exterminator, +and the wily wolf, whose scarred hide told of many battles with bull and +dog, wild cat and man, serpent of the desert, and the eagles of the +mountains, when, in his dire hunger, he had raided their families. + +The wolf slid a few feet, then swung himself around like a top and came +at Ted again. + +Ted was wiser this time, and dodged just out of the way. At the same +time he gave a vicious side lunge with the knife, and he felt it enter +the wolf's hide. There was a ripping sound, and he knew he had added a +scar to the brute's large collection. + +The wolf was now thoroughly angry, and snarled its fury as it wheeled +once more to the attack. + +Ted turned to meet it as it rushed toward him, but as he did so he heard +a shout from the ranch house and turned his head in that direction for +an instant. + +But that instant was the critical one, and before he could get around +again to face the wolf it was upon him. + +Ted felt it strike his chest a mighty blow with its head, and staggered +backward. + +It suddenly came to him that if he got under the wolf its teeth surely +would get to his throat, and that one snap of those saber-sharp teeth +would settle the business for him. + +He tried to protect his throat with his left arm as he felt himself +toppling, but could not get it up far enough because the wolf's body and +head interposed. + +But he was slashing away with his knife in a frenzy of despair, and, +apparently, was doing some execution, for every time he struck the wolf +let out a little whine of angry pain. + +But the wolf had all the best of it now, and as Ted's foot slipped on +some pieces of dry grass he went down with the heavy brute on top of +him. + +He could feel it nuzzling at his neck for a toothhold on his throat, but +he kept his chin pressed close to his neck, and, although the wolf +chewed his shirt to pieces, it had found no room to get its teeth into +the boy's flesh. + +Ted had no time now to play with the knife. It was not up to him to +conquer the wolf now, but to keep it from taking his life. + +Had his revolver been with him he could have ended the fight with a +couple of shots, even if the brute seemed to have a dozen lives, for he +knew that had any one of the knife thrusts which he had planted in the +wolf's body been given to an ordinary specimen of the species the fight +would have been over long since. + +The wolf was standing on him, and its weight crushed him. + +All he could do in self-defense was to try to get the wolf by the throat +with his bare hands and to choke it. + +But the hair about its throat was a thick, almost impenetrable mass of +heavy, thick-growing bristles, on which Ted's hands had apparently no +effect at all. + +Ted was in a pretty tight place, and he fully realized it. + +The wolf was working hard to get at his windpipe, and the teeth were +getting closer and closer to the vital spot. + +Ted's arm, where he tried in vain to get it between himself and the +wolf, was gashed in a dozen places, and the blood was all over him. His +clothes had long since been torn into shreds. + +The wolf was getting tired also, as well it might, for, probably it had +been running all night, and had been long without food, so that it was +no discredit to its enormous strength that it was weak and weary. + +But neither was Ted as strong as usual, for the ball which had creased +his rib had cost him lots of blood. + +In the hearts of both of them, however, there was strength enough, and +it was that which kept them fighting long after both of them were tired +and winded. + +The wolf knew, as well as did Ted, that if it ever got to his throat +there would be strength enough for it; the strength that comes from +blood. + +Ted was wishing that some one would come. + +He had heard a cry. Why didn't whoever had called out come at once? + +He couldn't last more than a minute longer, and the strong, murky smell +of the beast was turning him faint, as the wolf seemed to be gaining in +strength and savagery. + +Presently he knew the reason. He felt that his side was wet. + +His wound had opened again, and he was bleeding. + +The wolf had smelled his blood, and it had renewed its strength and +courage, while it weakened and took the life out of Ted. + +Suddenly there was a crash of hoofs on the sod. Stella's clear voice +rang out, and the swish of a quirt came through the air. + +That was all Ted remembered, except that he felt relieved of the weight +of the wolf, which was running like a streak of gray lightning toward +the hills. + +His eyes opened, and he saw Stella bending over him, and managed to +stagger to his feet, congratulating himself as his hand went to his +throat that he had at least saved it from the white fangs of his enemy. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +'WARE THE GRAY WOLVES. + + +As Ted and Stella were walking slowly back toward the house they heard a +series of shouts from the direction of the corral. + +They then saw Kit at the corral gate waving frantically to them. + +"Something wrong there," said Ted. "I'll get up behind you, and we'll +hurry to the corral." + +He jumped upon the pony's back, and Stella rode as fast as possible to +where Kit stood holding the gate of the corral. + +Inside the corral was a scene of confusion. + +The ponies were running around and leaping in the air, snorting and +edging away from the little bay pony which had come across the plain +chased by the wolves. + +As Ted rode up to the corral fence he looked through the bars, then +started back in surprise with an exclamation. + +"What is it?" asked Stella. + +"A man tied to the back of the pony," replied Ted. + +"Who?" + +"I cannot tell. I cannot see his face." + +"Open the gate, Kit, and let me in," said Stella, gathering up her +reins. + +"What are you going to do?" asked Ted. + +"I'm going to catch that pony and bring him out. That man will be +smashed to death in there by the other ponies if he isn't gotten out +soon." + +"Go ahead, but be careful." + +Kit swung the gate open, and Stella dashed into the corral. + +The ponies were running around the corral, following the line of the +fence, and in the center of the bunch was the little bay pony with the +inert, and probably dead, body of a man hanging head downward on the +pony's flank, rolling horribly, and in constant danger of being hit by +the flying heels of the other ponies, who were frantic at the smell of +blood. + +Stella rode among the ponies, following the circle with them, all the +while edging in more and more until she was close to the little bay. + +Then she was able to see the face of the man tied to its back. + +"It's Farnsworth," she shouted to Ted, who was standing on the fence +watching her movements. + +"Get him out as soon as you can," Ted answered. + +Stella rode to the pony's side, and managed to get hold of the bridle +close to the bit. + +Then she maneuvered for an opening by which she could lead the +frightened animal out of the bunch. + +"Get ready to open the gate," she called at last, and Kit stood with his +hand on it. + +As she came around again she began pushing the bay pony outward. + +"Now!" she cried, swinging her own pony against the other with a prick +of the spur, and breaking through the galloping bunch. + +The next moment she and a half dozen of the frightened ponies swept +through the gate, and as Kit closed it again Ted ran forward and caught +the bay pony. + +"Hurry him to the house," he said, running beside the bay. + +His long yell brought the boys and the major to the veranda, and when +they saw Ted running beside the bay pony, with Stella and Kit following, +they rushed out to help. + +"What is it?" asked the major, as Ted drew up to the veranda. + +"Your brother," answered Ted gently, indicating the inert body tied to +the pony's back. + +"Get him off and into the house," said the major brusquely, his face +white with apprehension. + +Bud and Ben were working as for their lives at the rope by which the +body of Frederic Caruthers was bound to the pony's back. + +Soon they had him released, and between them bore the limp form into the +living room and laid it on a lounge. + +The clothes on the body were torn into strips, and the flesh was gashed +in numerous places. This was the work of the wolf's teeth, which, during +the chase, had repeatedly leaped at the unconscious man, trying to drag +him from the pony's back. + +"These wounds are not the worst," said Ted, looking down at Caruthers. +"Off with his clothes, boys, and let us see where his real hurt is." + +It did not take long for the boys to get Caruthers' rags stripped from +his body, and Ted bent over him, examining him closely. + +"Ah, here it is," he said, as he turned Caruthers over. + +"What?" asked the major, crowding in. + +"Here in the back," said Ted, pointing to a small, round, bluish hole +just under Caruthers' right shoulder blade. + +"By Jove, he's been shot through the body. That's what brought him to +this." + +"But how did it happen, I wonder, that he was tied to the back of the +pony?" asked Ted. + +"We'll never know until he tells us, probably," said the major. "If, +indeed, he ever is able to do that," he continued, after a slight pause, +looking sorrowfully at the young fellow, who seemed to have breathed his +last. + +But Ted's ear was pressed close to his heart, and his fingers sought the +wounded man's pulse. + +In a moment he straightened up. + +"He's alive--only alive, and no more. But perhaps we can save him yet," +he said. "Hustle, fellows! Stella, get me some hot water as soon as +possible. Bud, arrange a cot in my room near the window. Major, if you +have any brandy, let me have some. Kit, get the bandages ready and +prepare some carbolated water. All alive now." + +Ted's vigorous action was followed by the others, and in a few minutes +Caruthers was stretched out on the cot in Ted's room. + +At the movement the wound began to bleed, which was a good sign, and Ted +proceeded to wash it with warm water, and began to probe for the ball, +to ascertain, if possible, how deep it had gone. + +As he was engaged in probing a slight groan came from between the blue +lips of the victim. + +"All right, I've found it," said Ted, in a low voice to the major, who +was bending anxiously over the body of his brother. + +"It's all right," continued Ted reassuringly. "It didn't go in very +deep, and if he can hold out for a moment or two I think I can get it +out. I've taken out worse ones than this." + +Ted continued to work with the probe, and occasionally Caruthers stirred +and groaned. + +Then came a gentle tug, and the bullet rolled out of the wound upon the +sheet. + +It was followed by a spurt of blood, which Ted looked at closely. + +"No danger," he said. "It is not arterial blood. Give me the water, and +then the bandages." + +With deft and practiced fingers Ted bound up the wound as well as a +surgeon might. + +"Now for a sip of the brandy, and we'll have him around all right," said +the young amateur surgeon. + +He forced a teaspoonful of the ardent spirits between the pale lips of +the wounded man, which was followed by a spluttering cough, then a long +sigh, and Caruthers opened his eyes. + +For a moment he glanced around, and with a faint smile closed his eyes +again, and sank into a gentle sleep. + +"Bully!" exclaimed Ted, with satisfaction. "He'll get well now, I think, +but he had a close call. A little longer on the back of that pony, +jostled and being tossed around, would have finished him in spite of his +splendid physique." + +"What shall we do now?" asked the major. + +"There is nothing we can do except care for him faithfully, and nurse +him. Some one will have to watch him, and give him his medicine, which I +shall prepare from your medicine chest, major." + +"Let me nurse him," exclaimed Stella, who had come into the room in time +to hear this. + +"The very thing, if you don't mind," said Ted. + +"Mind! I should like to. And you know that I can nurse some," said +Stella proudly. + +"I know it from experience. Keep him quiet. Don't let him talk, and +whenever he gets restless give him a spoonful of his medicine. He +mustn't be allowed to toss around, for that would start internal +bleeding. He is not out of the woods by a long shot. When he is well +will be time enough for him to do his talking, and tell us what happened +to him. Now, fellows, we'll clear out and give nurse and patient a fair +show." + +For several days Caruthers hung between life and death. Most of the time +he was in a state of delirium, during which he continually muttered +something about "joy." When Stella told Ted about this he was greatly +puzzled. What had the poor chap to do with joy? + +Then it suddenly occurred to him that Caruthers meant Ban Joy, Helen +Mowbray's Japanese servant, who was called Joy for short. + +"He wants to tell us about that Jap," said Ted. "Evidently he knows +something about the murder of his sister, and wants us to find the Jap." + +"Thar's nothin' doin' until he gets over his fever an' is strong ernough +ter talk," said Bud, "So ther best thing ter do is not ter mind what he +says, but ter git him over his fever." + +Stella was well-nigh worn out, but she would not consent to leave the +bedside of the sick man, except at short intervals, when Ted or Bud, who +were the best nurses among the boys, took her place that she might get +some much-needed sleep. + +That night Caruthers awoke from a long sleep and looked up at Stella. + +"Where am I?" he asked, in a low voice. + +"You are with friends," she replied gently. "Hush, you are not strong +enough to talk." + +"Yes, I am. I am all right now. Whose house am I in?" he asked. + +"You are in Major Caruthers' house." + +"I am glad. Is Ted Strong here?" + +"Yes." + +"Send him to me. I must talk to him. How long have I been here?" + +"About a week." + +"Hurry. It may be too late." + +Stella saw that Caruthers' head was clear, and that he had something +important to communicate, and that it would not be well with him if he +were permitted to worry, so she went out, and presently Ted entered the +room. + +"Well, old chap, you look fit," he said, giving Caruthers' hand a gentle +pressure. + +"I'll be all right in a day or two. But I must talk with you. Tell me, +have the Gray Wolves been here yet, and have you driven them off?" said +Caruthers excitedly. + +Ted was sure now that the patient had relapsed back into his delirious +talk, and tried to soothe him. + +"I'm all right," said Caruthers impatiently. "I know what I'm saying. I +don't mean the pack that chased me." + +"No, we have not been attacked by wolves," Ted answered. + +"Then you will be. Have you seen Joy--Ban Joy, the Jap, I mean?" + +"No." + +"That is strange. He should have been here if he got away." + +"I'm up in the air as to what you mean. If you are strong enough, +perhaps you'd better tell what you mean, beginning at the time you left +us, and telling it as briefly as possible." + +"All right. But first give me a dose of that medicine." + +Ted administered the medicine, which was a mild stimulant, and Caruthers +began: + +"When I jumped through the window, I did so, not because I was afraid of +the four men, but to save you from trouble. I knew that the fellows had +been sent to get me, not by the authorities, but by my brother-in-law +Mowbray. You know about him?" + +Ted nodded, and Caruthers went on: + +"I went directly to Sombrero Peak. I knew they would look for me in +another place. I was right, but I had not foreseen another thing. When I +was in hiding I was surprised by the sudden appearance of Ban Joy and +his sister Itsu San, the servants of my sister. They, too, had fled from +Mowbray and his gang of murderers. + +"This was somewhat inconvenient for me, for I knew that Mowbray, while +he would not probably get on my track until I could communicate with +you, would easily track the Japanese, and I was not in any position to +defend myself and them, for I was out of ammunition, having lost my +cartridge belt. But I found a small cave and fortified it as well as +possible, and awaited the coming of the Gray Wolves." + +"The Gray Wolves?" said Ted, with interrogation in his voice. + +"Yes, that is what Mowbray and his thieves and murderers call +themselves. You will know why, I'm thinking, before long. + +"But to proceed: We continued to live in the cave for a few days, Joy +contriving to trap rabbits and birds, upon which we lived. Then, in a +moment of foolhardiness, I determined to go out and see if I could find +out whether we had been followed, and at the same time try to get to San +Carlos and supply myself with a Winchester and some cartridges, for I +knew that, if I was properly armed, I could stand off the gang. + +"Well, I saddled the little pony and started out, after telling Joy to +come here if I didn't return. I scouted cautiously among the hills, +trying to find the pass on the other side of the peak which led out to +San Carlos. + +"To make a long story short, I rode right into the trap, and was caught +by the Gray Wolves. I had six shells in my revolver, and as they +surrounded me I fought for my life, and I am glad to say I got three of +them before they got me. But I couldn't hit Mowbray, although I tried my +best to do so. He seemed to bear a charmed life. As soon as I had fired +my last shot I wheeled the pony and fled. Up to this time I had not been +hit, but just as I was getting safely away, having jumped through the +men surrounding me, clubbing them to the earth with the butt of my +pistol, I turned to look back. I saw Mowbray bring down his rifle and +take deliberate aim at me, and I shuddered, because Mowbray is one of +the finest shots in the world. Then I heard the report of his weapon, +and felt the sting of the bullet. He had aimed to strike my heart, but +the turn of my body saved me." + +"But how did you come to be tied to the pony's back?" asked Ted. + +"When I was struck by the bullet I felt myself going. I knew that very +soon I would lose consciousness, and in that event I would soon be +captured, so it behooved me, while I still retained my senses, to save +myself. There was a lariat hanging to the horn of the saddle, and I +proceeded to tie myself to the pony's back as well as I could. You see, +I knew that the pony would go home when he found himself free. + +"I was no sooner well tied to the pony's back when I heard the howl of +the wolves, and recognized the voice of White Fang." + +"White Fang?" + +"Yes, the master of the pack. Have you not heard of him. He is well +known in this part of the country--a wolf with almost human +intelligence, fierce, a perfect devil of an animal, to whose pack every +ranch in this country has paid heavy tribute. You will know more about +him if you stay here. He is the devil in the hide of an animal. + +"Well, I resigned myself to my fate, with a prayer that the little pony +would get me to the Bubbly Well Ranch before the wolves pulled me from +his back. And he did." + +"But you said something about the Gray Wolves visiting us?" + +"Yes. They will be here. Prepare to defend your lives and the house. +They know I am here, and they know that you have my sister's treasure. +That is what they want." + +"How do you know that?" + +"Joy told me, and more, which you will learn later. But I feel faint, +and can talk no more. 'Ware the Gray Wolves!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE WOLFSKIN. + + +Frederic Caruthers' warning was received seriously. + +Ted and the boys consulted about the defense of the house, for the news +of the Gray Wolves was not much of a surprise to Ted, who had all along +felt that they were sure to be attacked by Mowbray and his men when they +found that Major Caruthers and the broncho boys had emptied the Mowbray +house of all its valuables. + +The fact that there was an organized body of murderers and thieves under +Mowbray called the Gray Wolves was not inappropriate. + +But if the Gray Wolves came to the attack, the boys were prepared to +receive and deal with them as they would with any band of marauding +animals. + +"We'll establish a guard at once," said Ted, "and it will stand as +organized until this thing is settled." + +"It will have to be kept up night and day," said Ben Tremont. "If these +chaps are as clever as I think they will probably seek to do us harm by +day as well as night." + +"Thar's sense in thet thar," said Bud. "Better make it two watches." + +"All right," said Ted. "Ben will have charge of the day watch, and take +six of the boys, whom he will detail for duty as he thinks best." + +"How do you want to arrange the hours?" asked Ben. + +"Suit yourself about that, but I would suggest that the day be divided +from six o'clock to six o'clock, day and night." + +"Suits me," said Ben. "That will give my six boys a stunt of two hours +each, which will make it easy for every one, and insure a constant and +careful watch." + +"Bud, you will be captain of the night watch," said Ted. "How do you +want to arrange it?" + +"I would patrol ther house outside," said Bud. "And my fellers would +work in pairs. I should think Ben's men could do their best work from +the cupola on top o' ther house, usin' ther major's spyglass ter keep +tabs on ther horizon in every direction. At night, we can only watch +close to the house outside." + +"That sounds all right. Get your first guard established at once. We +don't know how close they may be to us right now." + +Kit was sent into the cupola with the spyglass and a Winchester with its +magazine full, to take the first watch. + +It was not necessary to give Kit any instructions, for he was a most +intelligent guard. + +He had not been on watch more than an hour when he whistled to Ted, who +was crossing the yard on his way to the corral. + +"What is it?" said Ted, stopping and looking up. + +"I wish you'd come up here a moment. I see something which puzzles me +mightily. It's kind of uncanny," replied Kit. + +Ted laughed at Kit's fancy, but went into the house and climbed into the +cupola. + +"What is it?" he asked, taking his place beside Kit. + +"Take the glass and look along my arm to where my finger is pointing, +and tell me what you see." + +Ted did so, and, after looking for several moments, took down the glass +and said: + +"It looks to me like a wounded wolf. I never saw a wolf make such +strange motions." + +"Quick! Look again. What do you see?" + +"By Jove!" said Ted slowly. "If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have +believed it. That is a wolf all right, but it seems to be waving +something white at us. It doesn't seem to be able to move along. I +wonder what it is." + +"Some trick, probably. Remember what Frederic Caruthers said about the +Gray Wolves' visit, and the cleverness of the fellows?" + +"Yes. What do you think of it?" + +"I think it is a lure to excite our curiosity, and get us to go out +there and fall into a trap." + +"That sounds reasonable." + +"You will notice that the wolf is just over the top of a rise on the +prairie. The question is, What is beyond the rise, in the hollow?" + +"I'm going out to find out." + +"I wouldn't if I were you, Ted." + +"Why?" + +"I'm afraid it's a trap, and that you'll fall into it." + +"We'll never find out what it is if we don't go out there." + +"That's a cinch, and that's just what they want you to do." + +"Well, I'm going." + +Kit knew that when Ted said anything in the tone of voice he had just +used he meant it, and that it was useless to argue with him. + +"All right, go as far as you like," he said. "I'll keep my eye on you, +and if anything happens I'll sound the warning." + +Stella and the other members of the Moon Valley outfit were resting +against the time when they would be called to duty, and only Kit was +there to see Ted catch Sultan out of the corral, saddle him, and ride +away. + +Ted rode slowly across the prairie to where he had seen the wolf. + +But the wolf had disappeared from view just as Ted started from the +corral, and Kit could see it no more. He took this for a bad omen. +Evidently, the wolf had seen that he had lured a rider from the ranch +house, and, having accomplished its purpose, it was no longer necessary +to expose itself to attack. + +As Ted drew nearer to the spot where he had seen the wolf he went more +slowly, and carefully examined his revolvers, and swung his knife sheath +loose, so that he could get at that weapon quickly, if it became +necessary. + +Although he looked carefully to the front, he could not see the wolf. + +Kit saw that Ted had missed the place where the wolf had been seen, and +that he was too far to the right. He observed, also, that Ted was going +cautiously, and that he was preparing for an attack, and he was sure +that Ted would be able to take care of himself against fair odds. + +Now Ted went forward again and soon gained the top of the rise. + +He went very cautiously, peering over the edge. + +Suddenly he sprang back and whipped out his revolver, and slowly let +himself out of his saddle. + +"Ted's found him," muttered Kit in the cupola to Stella, who had climbed +up to his side to learn how the watch was going. + +"Let me have the glass, Kit," she said. + +Kit handed it to her, and she trained it on the figure of Ted, who was +creeping along the top of the hill. + +"Oh, Kit, he sees the wolf," cried Stella, interpreting for Kit's +benefit the little drama being enacted for their benefit on the far-away +hilltop. + +"What's he doing now?" asked Kit, who was growing impatient from seeing +nothing except the changing expressions on Stella's face. + +"Nothing!" + +"Pshaw!" + +"Ha!" Stella gave forth an excited little exclamation. + +"What is it? Give me the glass." + +"Go away!" Stella pushed off Kit's hand that was reaching out for the +glass. + +"Now he's gone. He's out of sight. No; I can see his head. It's going up +and down." + +A long pause. + +"Well, what's doing?" said Kit eagerly, and somewhat impatiently. + +"Can't see a thing." + +"Oh, rats! Let me look." + +"Keep quiet. I see his head now." + +"Is that all? What's he doing?" + +"Here he comes. I can see his shoulders all bent over." + +"Is he hurt?" + +"Of course not, silly." + +"Then why is he bent over?" + +"I believe he's carrying something. Yes. He has something in his arms. +Goodness, gracious me!" + +"What is it?" + +"Why, he's carrying a wolf in his arms. But what a funny wolf." + +"I insist upon having the glass. I'm the fellow on watch." + +"Kit, you're very rude. Don't bother me. Don't you see through me? Am I +not telling you everything that occurs?" + +"Oh, what's the use?" Kit shrugged his shoulders in a disgusted way, as +if he were expressing the futility of arguing with a woman, and wishing +that she were a boy, so that he could punch her head and take back his +glass again. + +"What's the matter with the wolf?" Kit asked at last, in a sulky tone. + +"If you get mad at me, Kit, I won't talk to you." Stella took down the +glass for a moment and looked at Kit severely. + +"All right, fire away, but tell me what's going on, for Heaven's sake. +Don't break off in the middle that way." + +"It's an awful big wolf, and its hide don't fit it. Its legs stick out +of the skin, and I can see one of its feet. Gracious, it has a queer +sort of a boot on it, and this wolf has human hands." + +"Stella, quit your fooling. What is going on out there? This is serious. +It's no time for nonsense." + +"I'm not fooling. I'm quite in earnest. Now Ted's lifting the queer +thing onto the saddle, and holding it there." + +"Has he killed the wolf, or man, or wolf man, or woman, or whatever +crazy thing it is? I knew there was something queer about it," exclaimed +Kit. + +"I'm sure I don't know whether he killed it or not. I couldn't see +through the hill." + +"What's he doing now?" + +"He has started toward the house, leading the pony and holding the thing +in the saddle. Here! Take your old glass! I'm going to ride out and see +what it's all about." + +She thrust the spyglass into Kit's hand, and, with a merry laugh at his +look of disgust, disappeared through the scuttle, and a few minutes +later he saw her riding like mad across the prairie toward Ted. + +In the course of a half hour they were both back at the house, and Kit's +curiosity led him to desert his post to find out what Ted's strange +burden was. + +Ted lifted something from his saddle and carried it into the house very +tenderly. + +Stella was very silent, and followed Ted closely, helping as well as she +could to uphold his burden. + +"What is it?" asked Kit. + +"A girl," answered Stella curtly. + +"A girl?" + +Stella paid no attention to him, but rushed ahead of Ted, and led the +way to her own room. + +"This way, Ted," she cried. "She must be brought in here." + +Ted did as he was told, and laid the strange thing he carried on +Stella's bed, and stepped back to look at it. + +It was the skin of an enormous gray wolf, which all but enveloped a +human form. Between the opening in the head, where once had been the +cruel jaws of the wolf, peeped a pretty, brown face. But the eyes were +closed. And a little, brown hand swung inertly from the place where a +wolf's paw once had been; while below was a dainty foot, incased in a +Japanese stocking divided, like a mitten, for the big toe. + +"Who, or what is it?" asked Kit, looking curiously down at the strange +object. + +"I think it must be Itsu San, the little Japanese girl who was Helen +Mowbray's maid," answered Ted. + +"Great Scott, how did she happen in this fix?" + +"I don't know. We'll have to wait until she recovers." + +"Is she hurt?" + +"I don't think so. I think she is merely exhausted by fatigue, hunger, +and fear." + +Meanwhile, Stella was busy cutting away the wolfskin in which the +Japanese girl was concealed and entangled. + +The commotion had brought the boys into the room, and they gazed with +wonder at the sight. + +"Now, you chaps clear out," said Stella, pushing them gently toward the +door. "Do you want to scare the poor thing into fits when she comes to? +The sight of all you fellows will frighten her worse than ever." + +The boys hastened to leave the room, and Stella had just closed the door +upon them when Itsu San, for it was she, opened her eyes and gave a +little scream of joy when she saw that she was safe, and in the presence +of a very pretty and kind-looking American girl of her own age. + +"Don't be frightened," said Stella. + +"I not no fright now," said Itsu San, with a charming smile, that was +like that of a happy baby. + +"How in the world did you come to be in this horrid thing?" asked +Stella, kicking the wolfskin, which she had thrown to the floor. + +"I come to give warn," answered the Japanese girl. + +"About what?" + +"The Gray Wolves." + +"Go ahead and tell me." + +"The Gray Wolves catch my blother. I hide, and hear them talk and say +they kill all evelybody here." + +"When?" + +"Mebbe so to-night. Mebbe so to-mollow." + +"Who said that?" + +"The devil man." + +"Who is he?" + +"Mistah Mowbray." + +"Mowbray and his men found you and your brother in the place where you +were hiding, and took your brother after you had succeeded in hiding. Is +that it?" + +Itsu San nodded for reply. + +"You heard them talking among themselves, and Mowbray planned to attack +this house, and kill us all?" + +Again the Japanese girl nodded. + +"When they had gone you found this wolfskin, and, thinking that it was +the only way in which to escape, you crawled into it, and crept all the +way here, playing wolf, to warn us?" + +"Yes. I crawled to their camp, and heard them talk. I tried to get close +to my blother, to cut him loose, but they saw me and drove me away, and +shot at me." + +"Mercy! But I don't see why they didn't see through your disguise. It +wouldn't fool any one." + +"It was the half dark." + +"Oh, yes. But why didn't you get out of the skin when you came within +sight of the house?" + +"I not have the strength. I climb the hill and see the house. Then I +fall down, and not can rise again. All what I can do is to wave my +handkerchief. Then I faint." + +"You are a brave and lovely girl, and I already love you like a sister," +said Stella warmly. "You shall stay here, and need not be afraid. We +will be ready for the Gray Wolves, and they will not kill either us or +you. Your warning comes just in time." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +BAGGING THE GRAY WOLVES. + + +That night Ted Strong went on watch himself in the cupola, while Bud and +Clay Whipple marched around the house in opposite directions. + +Until the threatened attack took place Ted determined that he would +watch the house personally, in addition to the regular guard. + +About midnight Ted heard a slight noise out on the prairie. + +The night was bright and frosty, and the stars shone with a peculiarly +brilliant radiance, seemingly larger, brighter, and nearer the earth +than in more northern climes. + +Instantly his acute senses located the place whence the noise had come. + +It was merely a slight rustling, but as there was no wind Ted knew +instantly that it had been made by some creature. + +His eyes, fixed on the spot, soon became accustomed to the faint light, +and he saw an indistinct form that was so near the color of the earth +that a pair of eyes not so sharp as his would have failed to detect it. + +So indistinct was it that it looked almost like a wraith of grayish-blue +smoke by the starlight. + +Presently, as he still stared closely at it, he saw another form much +like it steal through the dead grass toward it. + +Then, over the hills on the east, rose the moon in its first quarter, +shedding a pale light over the prairie. + +Ted was now able to see that there was a pack of wolves, instead of two, +as he at first thought. + +The boys on the ground could not see the wolves on account of the tufts +of grass that scattered over the prairie, and, had they seen them, would +not have been able to distinguish one from the other. + +It seemed strange to Ted that the wolves had not yet given voice. It was +unusual for wolves to come so near a ranch house in numbers without +giving warning by howling. + +Suddenly the reason why they did not dawned upon him. + +They were not wolves, but men in wolves' clothing. + +Ted chuckled at the thought. + +The "wolves" did not know yet that they were discovered, for they could +not see Ted in his cupola watch-house, although they could easily see +Bud and Clay as they walked around the house, now in the full light of +the moon. + +Ted was suddenly startled by hearing a noise to the left, and at the +same time he heard Bud stop in his march. Evidently he had been +attracted by the sound also. + +As Ted looked he saw the cause of the noise. It was a wolf, larger than +the others, which had crept closer to the house. + +As he was looking at it he was astonished to see it rise up. + +Then he caught the glint of a revolver barrel in the moonlight. + +In an instant he knew the meaning of it. + +With the precision of a machine his own rifle rose to his shoulder, and, +without a second's hesitation, a streak of flame belched from it, +followed by the roar of the report. + +Looking closely through the smoke, Ted saw the "wolf" straighten up to +the full stature of a man, then fall to the ground, over which it went +writhing and tossing, while at the same time the most human of yells +expressing agony came from it. + +This was the signal for the other "wolves" to howl, and the most +unearthly noise come from all sides of the house. + +These were followed by a perfect fusillade of rifle and revolver shots +from everywhere, most of them aimed at the cupola. + +But as soon as Ted had fired the shot that had brought down the man wolf +he had jumped through the scuttle into the attic of the house, and the +balls harmlessly riddled the cupola. + +From a window on the second floor Ted saw a score or more of forms leap +into prominence; the forms of men who cast aside their skins of wolf, +and who had turned their wolfish howls into the scarcely less fiendish +yells of men. + +At the sight he rushed downstairs, and found the boys hastily gathering +in the dark living room, arming themselves from the gun rack, and taking +their places beside the windows. + +In the middle of the room stood the major, supporting with one arm the +unsteady form of his brother Frederic, who had risen at the first alarm +in spite of his wound, and who insisted upon fighting with the rest. + +"The Gray Wolves have come," he said. "They will be hard to drive off. +But you must do it, or go yourselves." + +Stella and the young Japanese girl were standing at one of the windows +peering fearfully out. + +"Come away from there, Stella," said Ted. "They might see you and fire." + +"All right, Ted, but you can bet that I will be in this somewhere," said +Stella. "It's my business to defend this girl, and I'm going to do it." + +Ted smiled, but said nothing, and passed on around the room, seeing that +the boys were properly placed to resist the attack when it came. + +Outside all was quiet again. The howls had ceased, and not a man was in +evidence anywhere. It was the calm before the storm. + +"What's the plan?" said Bud, coming up to Ted, for he and Clay had run +into the house at Ted's shot from the cupola. + +"I hardly know," answered Ted. "My plan is somewhat upset. I thought at +first that they were going to attack us immediately in this room. But +they seem to have changed their minds." + +"I've got a hunch," said Bud, scratching his head in a meditative way. + +"Let us have it. That's what we need now." + +"They're creeping up on us. I see one o' them a minute ago. They're +countin' on gettin' up ter ther house before we expect 'em, an' then +pourin' a volley inter us, an' puttin' us out o' business quick." + +"That would be like that brute Mowbray." + +"I've got it figgered that way. Now, s'posin' we fool 'em by not bein' +here. They sneak until they git so's they kin fire through ther windows +without any danger ter themselves, an' run away. But we ain't here." + +"Where will we be?" + +"Comin' up on them from behind." + +"That's the stuff. Notify the boys at once. We'll get behind the house +and creep up on them through the grass. We'll fool them at their own +game." + +As silently as ghosts the broncho boys deserted the living room and went +to the back door. After carefully reconnoitering the situation without, +Ted softly opened the door, and led the boys into the shadow of the +house, and they crept away through the tall grass. + +Only Frederic Caruthers and Stella and the Japanese girl remained in the +house. + +Skirting the house grounds, the boys were soon out on the prairie, +giving their enemies a wide berth. + +Raising his head slightly from behind a tuft of grass, Ted took stock of +the position of the enemy. + +In the shadow of the house beneath the windows of the living room he +could see the still darker shadows of the Gray Wolves. + +Leading the boys into a semicircle from which at a word of command they +could rush the house, Ted passed this word along the line: + +"If they enter the house, as they probably will, we will close in +quietly, rush the house, and capture them inside. Let none of them +escape, and make no noise." + +They had not many minutes to wait before the Gray Wolves began to get +uneasy. + +Evidently they expected some movement within the house, and the +continued silence puzzled them. + +But suddenly, like the scream of a tempest, the still air was shattered +with wild yells and pistol shots, followed by the crash of breaking +glass. + +The Gray Wolves had stormed the house, breaking in the windows, smashing +in the front door, and making all the noise they could, with the object +of frightening the inmates into a condition where they would be unable +to defend themselves. + +Stella, with young Caruthers and Itsu San, had locked themselves into a +back room, which they could defend for a few minutes at least against +all comers. + +As the Gray Wolves attacked the house Ted gave the word to advance, and +they moved forward as one man, crouching behind the grass tufts to be +out of sight of any guard the Wolves might have set. + +It took not more than a minute or two to reach the side of the house, +and look through the windows. + +Inside the living room men could be seen running back and forth, +searching for the broncho boys and the treasure. + +Finally a wild yell told Ted that the safe had been found. + +"That's good," said Ted to Bud. "They're at the safe. It will take all +their attention for a while. They don't know, poor fools, that the +treasure has been carried out and buried elsewhere. There's where we'll +bag most of them. When we get in, boys, look out for Mowbray. Don't let +him escape." + +At a signal the boys climbed into the living room, which was now +deserted, for the Wolves had scattered all over the house. Most of them +were in the major's room working on the safe. + +They had tried to move it from the house, but it proved too heavy for +them, and they were now trying to break it open with an ax which they +had found in one of the lower rooms. + +Ted had heard the blows as they beat upon the lock, and in the din it +was not a difficult thing for the broncho boys to get into the house +without being heard. + +Several of the Wolves, in searching the lower part of the house, had +discovered the locked room in which Stella and the other two were in +hiding. + +They had attempted to batter down the door, only to be driven from it by +shots sent at them by Stella and Caruthers. + +"Trouble back there, Bud," said Ted. "I guess some one is trying to get +at Stella. Take a couple of the boys, and go back and stop it." + +"What are you goin' ter do?" asked Bud, who was afraid the rescuing +assignment would cut him out of the fight above stairs. + +Just at that moment there was a tremendous explosion overhead, the crash +of glass and the triumphant yells of the Gray Wolves. + +"I'm going upstairs," yelled Ted. "When you've driven off or captured +these fellows down here, come up." + +At this he dashed away for the broad stairs that led to the upper story, +followed by the broncho boys and Major Caruthers. + +They had just reached the landing above when the yell of triumph turned +to one of baffled rage, for the Wolves had found that the safe was +empty. + +Ted Strong, with a look such as a conquering warrior might wear, burst +into the room where the Wolves were clustered around the empty safe. + +Behind him followed the boys. + +"Surrender!" shouted Ted. + +The Gray Wolves wheeled to look into a perfect battery of rifles. Not to +surrender meant death. To attempt to raise a hand would bring a shot, or +a dozen. + +The Gray Wolves realized that they were in a trap, and that if they made +the least resistance they would be shot down. + +"Throw your guns on the floor!" commanded Ted. + +He was obeyed. + +"Gather up those guns," said Ted. Bud and Clay stepped forward, and +gathered in the rifles and revolvers. + +Ted's eyes were running over the group of prisoners trying to pick out +Mowbray, when suddenly there was a smashing of glass, and, as he turned +in that direction, he saw a form taking a flying leap through the window +to the ground, and, quick as a flash, he fired and rushed to the window. + +But when he got there his only reward was the sight of a man on +horseback headed for the hills, swaying dangerously in his saddle. + +Mowbray had escaped, but he had taken with him an unpleasant reminder of +Ted Strong. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +WHITE FANG LEADS HOME. + + +Ted herded the Gray Wolves into one of the rooms and placed guards at +the door and at the outside windows. + +The desperadoes were thoroughly cowed. Burk was so frightened that he +was willing to do anything Ted said, and cringed to the leader of the +broncho boys like a thrashed cur. + +"What are you goin' to do with us?" he asked Ted. + +"I'm going to put you where you will no longer disgrace the office you +held by the authority of the United States," said Ted promptly. "You +will get all you deserve." + +"Let me down easy," begged Burk. + +"You don't deserve it. You will be in jail as soon as it gets light +enough to march you to Rodeo." + +The first thing for Ted to do was to get rid of his prisoners, then to +go after Mowbray, the archcriminal, and bring him to justice, and to +arrest Ban Joy, the Japanese thug, whom he was convinced was the +murderer of Helen Mowbray. + +There was one more thing that demanded his attention for the safety of +the live stock as well as the people of the Bubbly Well Ranch, and that +was the destruction of White Fang, the demon wolf that was as well known +in that part of the country as a destructive agency as Mowbray, the +thief and murderer, himself. + +For years White Fang had preyed upon the ranchmen, exacting a heavy toll +in cattle and sheep. Every huntsman in the country had taken to the +chase for him, but the cunning old rascal had outwitted or out-footed +them all. + +The following afternoon the broncho boys, led by Ted Strong, marched up +the main street of Rodeo to the jail with a score of desperadoes bound +to their horses. + +When they appeared a great many of the townspeople, friends of the +prisoners, gathered and made a demonstration to take them away from the +boys. + +Ted immediately formed the boys in a circle about the prisoners. + +With rifles trained upon the crowd the broncho boys held them off while +Ted spoke to them quietly, but with a force that carried conviction. He +told the people just what the prisoners had done, and what he expected +to prove against them, hinting that there were other men in the town who +would join them in jail if what he suspected proved to be true. Later in +the day a strange thing happened: Several men in high office disappeared +from the town, and were never seen there more. + +Having turned his prisoners over to the sheriff, the boys rode back to +the Bubbly Well Ranch, feeling safe from further depredations for a time +at least. + +On the lower part of the ranch the wolves had been playing havoc with +the calves and the yearlings, and the major's cowboys were continually +bringing in news of the depredations of the pack. + +The pack was led by old White Fang, the cowboys said, and they could do +nothing with him. Whatever traps they laid for him were upset by the +cunning of the old rascal, and he made life miserable for the men +responsible for the cattle. + +"What are we going to do about him?" said the major one day to Ted. "I +suppose we'd better organize a big hunt, and drive the wolves out of the +country." + +"No use," said Ted. "The old beggar would hide in the mountains until it +was over, and then renew the attack on you." + +"What do you propose, then?" + +"I'm going out after him myself, and I'll not come back until I get +him." + +Stella, who was curled up in a big chair in the living room reading, +looked up quickly when Ted said this, and smiled out of the corner of +her mouth, for she scented sport in this. + +"I think I'll go along," said the major. + +"I'd like to have you, major, but it won't do this time. You are too +heavy a rider. It will take a light rider to turn the trick with White +Fang," answered Ted, and the major looked a bit taken back. + +But Stella chuckled to herself. If it took a light rider, she was in +that class. + +Later in the day she saw Ted and Bud go toward the corral. Ted carried +in his hand a new, strong Mexican lariat. + +She watched them a few minutes before she realized their mission. + +"I believe they're going on the wolf hunt," she said to herself, "and +without me." Her eyes flashed. "We'll see about that." + +She ran into her room, and soon emerged ready for a ride. But when she +got on the veranda Ted and Bud were galloping away across the prairie. + +Without hesitating she ran to the corral, caught her pony and saddled +it, and was in pursuit. + +Ted heard the clatter of her pony's feet and turned to see her coming at +whirlwind speed, and slowed up to wait for her. + +"Ha, ha!" she cried, as she came up with them, her face wreathed in +smiles. "Thought you'd go without me, eh?" + +"Didn't think you'd care about such a commonplace thing as chasing a +wolf," said Ted. + +"Well, I'm going," she answered, putting her pony into a gallop. + +They rode for the lower pasture, which ran up into the foothills of +Sombrero Peak, where the recent depredations of the wolves had been +bothering the cow-punchers. + +They passed small herds of cattle grazing here and there, attended by +herders, who waved their hands to the trio as they swept past. + +As they were entering the foothills Ted's keen eye caught sight of a +slinking form on the rise of a hill running parallel with their path. + +He reined in suddenly and looked long at it. + +"By Jove, I believe that's our game over there," he said. "Take a look +at it, Bud and Stella. Don't you think that is White Fang?" + +"It shore is, er his twin brother," said Bud, to which Stella nodded +acquiescence. + +"Take it easy," said Ted. "We'll ride toward him, and when we get as +close as we can without his bolting, put your spurs to it and chase him +for all you're worth. He can run like a scared rabbit." + +They rode easily toward the wolf, who looked up at them with a wise, +sidewise twist of his hoary old head, but did not increase his speed +any. + +"He's tolling us into the hills where he can easily get lost," said Ted. +"Don't let him do it! Head him off! Turn him back to the prairie." + +Diverging, they rode parallel with White Fang again, and, before he +suspected their maneuver, they were ahead of him, and began to close in. + +But finally White Fang stopped and watched them for a moment, then +deliberately turned and set off on the back trail at a smart lope along +the ridge he had come. + +"I wish we had a couple of Russian wolfhounds here," said Ted, as the +three were breezing along in the trail of White Fang. "That would make +it something like a chase." + +"I'm bettin' that ole galoot will give us somethin' ter do before we +ketch up with him, at that," said Bud. + +"Close up on him," said Ted. "He's having too good a time." + +They let their horses out a notch or two, and closed up on White Fang, +who was off the ridge by this time, and galloping across the prairie. + +The old wolf did not seem to have as much steam in him as usual, and +loped along in easy fashion, occasionally looking over his shoulder at +them, apparently gauging the distance and their speed. + +"The only way to get close to him is to spurt when he isn't thinking +about it," said Ted. "Let 'em out!" + +A prick of the spur sent their horses forward on the leap. + +Ted was coiling his rope in his hand ready for a cast, and Stella and +Bud followed his example. + +"When we get close enough to throw, scatter out, and be ready to let +your rope go if either of us misses. All ready now!" + +Ted dashed forward, swinging his rope around his head, and when he was +close enough he made a beautiful cast and the rope went through the air +as true as a bullet, hovering in a sinuous loop above White Fang. But +just as it was about to settle the wily old rascal dodged to one side, +and the rope fell into the sand. + +"He's a cute chap," shouted Ted, bringing in his rope without slackening +his speed, while Bud's rope flew through the air and missed the wolf by +about a foot. + +Stella was in a bad position to throw, and withheld her rope. + +Again they closed in upon the wolf, who had begun to grow more wary and +had hit up his speed, dodging and turning on his trail, making some +swift turns and nimble feats of horsemanship necessary to keep within +roping distance of him. + +In this manner a dozen or more unsuccessful casts were made. + +At last Ted got tired of the hide-and-seek game, and determined to end +it. + +"I'm going to get him this time," he shouted, gathering his rope firmly. +"Back me up!" + +He dashed at White Fang, with Bud and Stella on either side of him. +Swinging his rope about his head, Ted watched his opportunity. + +Suddenly the loop left his hand and shot as unerringly toward the wolf +as if it had left the muzzle of a rifle. + +It soared through the air like a thing of life, twisting as gracefully +and sinuously as a serpent. For an instant the wide loop hovered over +the gray, swiftly running animal. Then it fell suddenly, and settled +over and around the seemingly doomed animal. + +But White Fang, king of the pack, was too old a villain to be caught so +easily. He leaped through the loop of Ted's lariat like a circus +performer through a hoop. + +But Stella's rope whizzed through the air and caught the old fellow +unawares. + +Then it seemed as if all the forces of wild nature had been turned +loose. + +The wolf leaped into the air as he felt the rope tighten around his +neck, and threw himself here and there with a violence inconceivable, +snapping at the rope and trying to sever it. But Stella's lariat was of +Mexican rawhide, and even White Fang's sharp teeth had no effect on it. + +The rope tightened and slacked in the struggle, and, had it been of +ordinary texture, it would never have stood the strain. + +Ted had ridden up to the plunging beast, and began to belabor it with +his quirt, to take the spirit out of it. The wolf had never felt the +sting of a whip before. It was such a new experience to it that it +stopped bucking in sheer amazement. But Ted did not discontinue, and the +wolf slunk upon the ground, its wild nature thoroughly tamed for the +time. + +"Stop!" cried Stella. "Let us see what he will do now." + +Ted rode away, and the wolf sat up on its haunches, and, lifting its +head toward the mountains, gave a long, wailing, dismal howl. + +"He knows he's done for," said Ted. "That's his death song." + +"Let him do what he will," cried Stella. + +Presently White Fang rose, tried to shake the rope from his neck, and +when he found that he could not do so, got up and started on a trot +toward the mountains. + +"Follow him," cried Ted. "He's leading us home. Who can say what we will +find there?" + +They followed the wolf through coulees and over rocky ridges in the +foothills, and through a canon at the base of Sombrero Peak. + +They climbed rocky paths, higher and higher up the side of the peak. +White Fang's captors followed him silently. No more did he try to escape +from the rope. He seemed to have given up hope, and was going home to +die. + +At last they arrived at the wall of a precipice, along which ran a +narrow ledge just wide enough for their ponies to travel. + +The path was well worn, as if many animals, including men, had passed +that way. + +Suddenly it dawned upon Ted where the wolf was leading. + +Where but to the rendezvous of the band of the Gray Wolves? + +He straightened up and looked to his revolvers, and then the wolf slunk +around a bend on the cliff's side and walked into a cave. + +Ted followed him closely, and stopped in the entrance in amazement. Just +within sat Mowbray propped against the side wall, his face drawn and +haggard, his eyes half glazed with approaching death. + +But he stirred as Ted appeared, and groped about for his revolver. + +"Stop!" cried Ted. "The game's up!" + +Mowbray's hand dropped weakly by his side, as the wolf slunk to him and +licked his face, at which the dying man raised his arm and placed it +around the neck of the king of the pack, the most savage wolf in +Arizona. + +Ted could not but respect this strange exhibition of animal affection, +so unusual. + +There was a moaning cry from the depths of the cave, and Ted dismounted +and went in to see what had caused it. + +Chained to a rock he found the emaciated body of the Jap, Ban Joy, whom +he suspected of being the murderer of Helen Mowbray. Here was luck. The +wolf had led him to the two men whom he most wanted to capture. + +"Now, Joy, I want you to tell me the truth," said Ted, when he had +released the Japanese. "Did you murder Miss Mowbray, and why did you do +it?" + +The Jap looked at him with growing intelligence in his eyes. + +"Me no kill. Mistah Mowbray kill with cord. I see him, and he tly to +kill me." + +Ted looked at Mowbray, who had straightened up and was listening. + +Then he nodded his head, and signaled to Ted to give him a drink of +water. After he had drunk he seemed stronger. + +"Come here," he said, in a hoarse whisper. Ted went to his side. + +"I might as well confess," he said. "It will make the end easier. I will +be dead in a few minutes, for I am mortally wounded. I would have +released that poor devil of a Japanese, but I hadn't the strength to go +to him." + +"Take it easy," said Ted. + +"I murdered Helen Mowbray by strangling her with a cord," he said, after +a pause. "I did it because I had gambled away everything I had and +needed money--and she wouldn't give it to me. + +"I lived for many years in India, and there I became a member of the +sect known as the Thugs, who use a cord to strangle their victims. She +cast me off, and when she refused to help me I became enraged and killed +her. I am sorry now, for she was a fine woman, but I needed money." + +"Then Farnsworth had nothing to do with it?" asked Ted. + +"Nothing." + +"Tell me another thing. Did Farnsworth, so called, have anything to do +with the murder of the Spooner family in Somber Pass?" + +"No, I and my men did that. Farnsworth has led a pretty clean life. He +has stood for the crimes I committed for the sake of his sister. +Wherever and whenever I got into a scrape I used his name, and put the +crimes I committed upon him, and he stood for them on account of his +sister's name." + +"Is he a bad man? Has he killed many men?" + +"Only such as he had to, to defend his sister's name. I say it was I who +was guilty of the crimes charged to him. I hate him, and always have +done so, but I am dying, and it is only fair play to clear him." + +"That is all I want to know," said Ted, trying to make the man more +comfortable. But he was beyond help, and in less than a half hour he +sighed, and his wicked spirit passed away. + +Ted and Bud buried him on the mountainside, and, after releasing White +Fang, watched it for a few moments. + +It went to the edge of a peak overlooking a deep chasm, and there sat on +its haunches howling dismally. + +Then, to the amazement of all, it straightened up and leaped far out, +turning over and over in its descent until it fell in the rocky bottom +of the chasm, crushed and broken. + +Ted and the broncho boys, together with Stella, remained at the Bubbly +Well Ranch until well into the winter, when the entire party returned to +the Moon Valley Ranch to spend several uneventful weeks. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +TED'S INDEPENDENCE. + + +"Is this the Moon Valley outfit?" + +A young cavalry officer galloped up to the head of a beef trail that +strung backward for the better part of a mile, the cattle plodding on +wearily, guarded by a dozen or more tired and cross cow-punchers. + +"It is, lieutenant," answered Ted Strong, eying the epaulets on the +officer's tunic, and reading his rank. + +The lieutenant was in anything but a pleasant frame of mind, and looked +sneeringly at Ted, and at the tired cattle behind him. + +"Well, another fifteen minutes' delay would have cost you the contract," +he said. "It seems to me that you have been taking your time. Don't you +know that a government contract means business, and that to-day doesn't +mean to-morrow?" + +This was said in such an uppish and unpleasant manner that Ted could +scarce restrain an angry reply, for he was tired out with the long +drive, which had been unusually full of dangers and vexatious delays. + +But instead of making a sharp answer he merely smiled at the officer, +and said: + +"Yes, I understand all about government contracts and the penalties for +not living up to them. But I am within the government reservation, and +here are my cattle, and I have, as you say, fifteen minutes to spare." + +"Well, we consider that you are overdue, as you should have been here in +time to have the cattle inspected and formally accepted before the time +allowance elapsed." + +"Nothing in the contract that says so," said Ted, still pleasantly. + +"Well, it's usage, and that goes in the army." + +"I'm not in the army." + +"I don't want any words with you on the matter. It is sufficient that +you are late, and that you have been the cause of a great deal of worry +and annoyance." + +Ted was beginning to get angry at the officer's tone and looks. + +He turned from the lieutenant to the herd, and shouted: + +"Bud, round 'em up and bed 'em. This is as far as we go to-night." + +"No, you don't," said the lieutenant. "You will drive into the +quarantine pasture, where your stock will be inspected in the morning." + +Ted paid no attention to him, and the rounding up of the herd began as +he had ordered, while the lieutenant fumed and fussed and swore. + +At last he could stand it no longer, and dashed away from Ted's side to +where Bud was superintending the work of the cow-punchers. + +"Here, none of that," he said brusquely to Bud, who looked even more +disreputable than Ted. + +"See here, who are you alludin' at?" asked Bud, wheeling around on him. + +"I'm talking to you. I want those cattle driven in to the pasture, and I +want no delay or nonsense about it," cried the officer angrily. + +"Now, run along, little soldier boy, don't yer see I'm busy?" Bud looked +at the officer with a tolerant pity. + +Ted now rode up and interfered. + +"I'm capable of giving all the orders necessary to my men," he said +gently. "You will please not interfere." + +"Who are you?" asked the lieutenant, with a sneer. + +"My name is Ted Strong." + +The lieutenant looked at him with some curiosity and respect. + +"Oh," he said. "I thought perhaps you were some kind of a foreman. My +name is Lieutenant Barrows." + +Ted acknowledged it with a slight bow. + +"I am in charge of this delivery of beef to the department, and as you +are already late I wish you to send this herd further into the +reservation." + +"I am sorry I cannot comply with your wish," said Ted, "but it will be +impossible to-night. The cattle made a forced march to-day, and are +tired out, and, besides, they have just been watered, and have only time +to graze a full feed before they bed. I am explaining all this to show +you that my action in not doing what you wish was not through spite, but +in the best interests of both the government and ourselves." + +"It is my duty to inspect the animals, and----" + +"I can't help that. The cattle do not go forward a foot farther +to-night. I will get them into the pasture early in the morning." + +"That will be too late," said the officer curtly. "I shall inform the +commandant of the post, Colonel Croffut, that you are late and that you +refuse to obey orders." + +"Confound your impudence, who are you to give orders to me?" asked Ted, +mad in a minute. + +"As I told you, I am the inspector, and it seems to me that it would be +good policy, to say the least, to cater to my wishes somewhat." + +"What do I care for your wishes? Less than that, if I am doing the right +thing and stand within my own rights;" and he snapped his fingers. + +"Perhaps you may be sorry." + +"That's my affair." + +"Very well. I am to understand that you refuse to move the cattle on +to-night." + +"You've got it right." + +The lieutenant bowed, and, turning, rode slowly away with an ugly scowl +on his face. + +"I reckon Little Bright Eyes has got it in fer you now," said Bud, who +had ridden up in time to hear this part of the conversation. "He's +aimin' ter do some dirty work, I reckon." + +"Oh, bother him! He got me all worked up and angry, and that always +makes me feel bad. I wish he had happened to be somewhere else. Forget +him! We'll drive the herd in early in the morning. He couldn't have +inspected the beeves this evening, anyway." + +It took some little time to get the big herd in shape for the night, and +Ted was washing himself and putting on some clean clothes when a soldier +dashed up on a horse and asked for Mr. Strong. + +"I am Strong," said Ted, rubbing his head and neck vigorously with a +rough towel. + +The soldier looked at Ted in some surprise, as the colonel had alluded +to him as the "government beef contractor." + +"Well?" said Ted. + +"I guess it's your father I want," said the soldier. + +"Guess again. There's no such person here." + +"Are you the beef contractor?" + +"Surest thing you know. What do you want?" + +"Colonel's compliments, sir, and the colonel would like to have you call +at his quarters at the first convenient moment." + +"What about? These beef cattle?" + +"I don't know, sir; I didn't hear him say." + +"All right. Tell him I'll be there in a few minutes. Where is his +house?" + +"Last house on the right-hand side of the parade, as you go in." + +Ted nodded, and went on dressing himself. He was as tired as a dog, but +he supposed the commandant wanted to talk to him about the cattle, and +he would have to go. + +As he rode up to the commandant's quarters he saw a young man and a very +pretty girl talking on the veranda, and when he had ascended the steps +he saw that the man was none other than Lieutenant Barrows. + +He was just about to ring the bell when the girl looked at him, and her +eyes brightened because Ted Strong, straight and stalwart, with his +fine, handsome head and straightforward, honest eyes, was a person very +good to look at. + +"Do you wish to see papa?" she asked, coming forward. + +"Colonel Croffut expressed a desire to speak with me," answered Ted, +lifting his hat. + +"If you will wait a moment I will call him," said Miss Croffut, for, of +course, Ted had guessed who she was from her question. + +She tripped into the hall, and called to her father, and then entered a +room, and was followed by the commandant himself. + +"So you are Ted Strong, the beef contractor," said Colonel Croffut, +looking Ted over. + +The colonel was a big man with a pink face and a brusque manner. + +"I am," said Ted coolly. + +"Excuse me. Take a seat. You needn't go, Hallie. Keep your seat, +Barrows." The colonel motioned Ted into a chair, and took one himself. + +For several minutes he sat blowing clouds of smoke into the air from his +cigar, but saying nothing. + +Miss Croffut and Lieutenant Barrows continued their conversation about +lawn tennis and riding, as if Ted were not there, but the lieutenant +observed that Miss Croffut's eyes strayed often toward Ted, and it made +him irritable. + +"See here, young man," said the colonel, turning suddenly upon Ted in a +manner that in another person would indicate that the commandant was +very angry. "What do you mean by sending such a message to me?" + +"I sent no message to you," said Ted quietly. "I didn't even know your +name until your striker mentioned it to me a few minutes ago." + +Had Ted looked at the young lady at the other end of the veranda he +would have seen an irrepressible smile flit across her features, as she +looked at her father. + +"That was a facer for dad," she whispered to Lieutenant Barrows, who +frowned. "The idea of telling papa that he had never heard of him, the +great warrior and Indian fighter, Colonel Croffut." + +The colonel stared at Ted with a sort of amazement for a moment, and +grunted: + +"Well, you're likely to know a great deal more about me before we're +through with one another." + +"I hope so," said Ted pleasantly. "But what is your business with me?" + +"I'll speak of it when I come to it," said the old soldier. + +"Then you'll have to be quick about it, for I've been in the saddle +continuously for six weeks, and I'm tired. Besides, I've got a day's +work to do before I turn in to-night." + +There was something crisp and business-like in Ted's speech, and not at +all impertinent, that caused the colonel to look at him again. + +"What's this I hear about your refusal to accede to our just demand that +the cattle intended to fill your contract be turned into our pasture?" +asked the colonel sharply. + +"Only this," answered Ted: "I arrived here just in time, with my stock +worn out from forced marches. I had just let them have all the water +they could drink, and it was necessary that they should have a good feed +in order to rest well to-night to be in condition to stand inspection +to-morrow. I was well within my rights in deciding not to move them any +farther to-night." + +"I understand that you were impertinent to the officer who made this +request to you," thundered the colonel. + +Ted laughed softly to himself. + +"If I was impertinent to him I was there and perfectly responsible, +personally, for my conduct. It was wholly unofficial, and I cannot see +why he should come to you with it." + +Ted looked at the lieutenant, who had flushed angrily. + +The girl looked from Ted to Barrows, and then at her father. + +"That is not the question, sir. He represents the army in his person +when he comes to you on the army's business." + +"Well, I can't fight the whole army," said Ted, laughing, "but I can +certainly take care of myself in all ordinary matters." + +Barrows half rose in his chair as if he was going to resent Ted's +remark. + +"Sit down, Barrows," said the colonel explosively. "The young man is +right as far as that is concerned. Now, sir, I've half a mind not to +accept your beef at all. I consider that you have not properly filled +the contract." + +"I certainly have," said Ted stoutly. "The beef was on the government +reservation fifteen minutes before the time limit according to the +acknowledgment of Lieutenant Barrows himself." + +"I said no such thing," almost shouted the lieutenant. + +"Be careful," said Ted. "That is giving me the lie direct. Several of my +men heard you say so." + +"Mr. Barrows, please be quiet," said Miss Croffut. "I shall go in." + +"I beg your pardon, Miss Croffut," said Ted, rising and bowing. "I had +no intention of carrying on a quarrel in your presence. Colonel, I shall +be glad to discuss this matter with you in your office if you wish, but +not here. I have no quarrel with you, and I do not propose to, if I can +avoid it." + +"I presume you mean that you would quarrel with me," said Barrows, +blustering up. + +"I have no objection in the world, but not in a lady's presence," said +Ted, turning from him carelessly. + +"I don't like your attitude at all, Mr. Strong," said the colonel. "That +is not my idea of army discipline, in fact, sir----" + +"Excuse me, colonel," said an officer, bustling up, "don't forget that +to-morrow is beef-issue day to the Indians, and that we must have three +hundred head before noon to-morrow. There is not a hoof in the +government pasture." + +Barrows was trying to attract the other officer's attention with +vigorous shakes of his head, which Ted, although his back was toward +Barrows, saw reflected in the window. + +What could the matter be? Were they so short of beef at the post and a +beef issue coming off, and then attempt to bluff him with their army +rulings? He saw through it all, and now he would stand pat, and take +nobody's bluff. + +The officer walked away at a signal from the colonel, who turned to Ted. + +"I want you to go back to your herd and drive it into the government +pasture at once, do you hear, at once?" he said in a tone of great +severity. + +"I think not," said Ted. "The herd stays where it is until morning, or +if it must be driven at all it will be over the way it came." + +"What do you mean, sir?" + +"I mean that I forfeit the contract. The cattle are mine to do with as I +please. I shall immediately proceed to drive them off the reservation." + +"But that will ruin you." + +"That's my business. Good evening, sir." + +"Wait a moment. Don't you know that we must have the beef; that there is +an Indian beef issue to-morrow?" + +"I didn't know it until a moment ago. Now I know a lot more than I did +when I came here." + +"Confound it, boy, there'll be an Indian uprising if we don't give them +their beef to-morrow." + +"That's for you to take care of. Good evening. The contract is declared +off." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +A COMPROMISE. + + +Ted hurried back to the cow camp. + +"Stuff's off," he shouted, when he came within shouting distance. The +boys, who were lounging around the fire, resting from their arduous +drive, sprang to their feet. + +"What's the row?" asked big Ben Tremont. + +"They insist upon our driving the herd about five miles farther into the +reservation to-night, so that that lazy lieutenant who is to do the +inspecting in the morning will have as little trouble as possible. I +refused to do it, and they tried to run a sandy on me, but I wouldn't +stand for it. If they'd been white to me I would have had the cattle in +there if it took me all night." + +"That duck o' a lootenant wuz a trifle gay," said Bud. "He tried to run +a blazer on yer Uncle Dudley, but I told him to run along, an' I reckon +he'll have no Christmas present for me this year." + +"Did you tell the boss there was nothing doing in the moving line?" +asked Ben. + +"You bet I did," answered Ted. "That gay lieutenant who was here ran at +once to the boss with his tale of woe, and the boss threw his chest out +at me and tried the little-boy game on me. He thought he had me bluffed +when in comes another officer, who told him that a beef issue to the +Indians was due to-morrow, and that there wasn't an animal in the post +pasture." + +"Wow!" exclaimed Bud. "That means trouble for some one, unless they can +dig up something to take its place, for an Indian who has his mouth made +up fer fresh meat is lierble ter become rantankerous if he don't get +it." + +"I guess that's why they were so anxious to get the beef up to the +pasture to-night," said Kit. + +"Of course. When I heard that all my nerve came back to me, and I +decided that I would give those officers a lesson." + +"What are you going to do?" asked Ben. + +"Drive the herd off the reservation." + +"Gee, that will put us in the hole bad." + +"Oh, I don't know. We'll trail them a little farther north, keep them a +few months on free range, then drive them to the railroad and slide them +into Chicago on a rising market. I had the whole thing figured out in +case we got here too late, which I expected to do on account of our +being held back by dry weather and too much water, coming in streaks." + +"I'd like to have been there when you were throwing your bluff into the +colonel. I suppose he had the surprise of his life." + +"He looked like it. By Jove, he has a mighty pretty daughter, if he is a +grouch himself." + +"Seem to have an eye for beauty yourself." + +"Not as keen as yours." Ben blushed when Ted said this, for Ben was +always having a new girl and talking about her. + +"I noticed her because she was so pleasant, and so different from her +father, and that fellow Barrows, who seems to be very soft on her." + +"Well, we have no fight with the ladies of the post," said Ben. + +"How did it end?" asked Kit, who always wanted results. + +"I simply told them that they couldn't have the cattle now, and walked +away." + +"That must have been a facer." + +"Seemed to be, for the colonel called after me to know if I was aware +that if the beef issue didn't come off there would probably be an Indian +uprising, and I told him it was up to him." + +"Well, I suppose it's hike," said Bud, pulling on his boots. + +"Yes, get the dogies up, and we'll trail them back until we are out of +the reservation. It's not far." + +The boys mounted, and rode among the cattle, getting them to their feet. + +Soon the herd was moving slowly along the back trail, with Ted and Bud +pointing them out. + +Suddenly, from the woods to the right rode a band of horsemen in the +dark, for the sun had long since gone down. + +"What's this? A holdup?" asked Bud. + +"Can't tell yet. By Jove, I believe they are soldiers. I wonder if they +are going to try to stop us." + +"S'posing they try it?" + +"We'll have to ride it out. I wouldn't be held up on the reservation now +for anything. That would spoil it all. They would do anything they +wanted with us if we stood for that, and throw out a lot of legitimate +stock to get square with us." + +"What do you mean?" + +"If they're soldiers, and try to keep us in, you ride back and start the +herd to stampeding. Let the soldiers take care of themselves. If they're +regular cavalry, they will be able to ride well enough to get out of the +way." + +"Bully idea. O' course, we can't help it if the cattle get scared at +them bright uniforms, an' git ter runnin'." Bud chuckled at the thought. + +"Halt!" + +The voice of Lieutenant Barrows rang out commandingly. + +"Now's your chance, Bud," said Ted. "Mind you, get them started good and +plenty. I don't care if they run five miles." + +Presently, from the rear of the herd came a shout of warning, and the +herd increased its speed from a lazy walk into a trot. + +Back in the darkness the cowboys were riding through the herd hurrying +up the cattle with their quirts. + +From a trot they broke into a gallop, and this soon grew into a perfect +rout, for cattle are easily frightened at night. + +As soon as Ted saw that the cattle were going to run, sure enough, he +dashed across the intervening space to where the dark forms were +standing in the path of the oncoming cattle. + +He saw at once that it was Lieutenant Barrows and a squad of cavalrymen, +and that they were armed with carbines. He resented this, as the +lieutenant had no business to arm his men in this way for such an +errand. + +As Ted rode up, he shouted: + +"Get out of the way, if you don't want to be trampled to death." + +"What do you mean, you scoundrel?" shouted Barrows. "Halt, when I give +the command, or take the consequences." + +"Out of the way, you fool!" shouted Ted, as he swept past. "Don't you +see that the cattle are stampeding?" + +If the lieutenant did not know it, being so recently out of West Point, +the men did, for with a yell they turned and rode like mad for the side +lines. + +Then, for the first time, the young officer, hearing the sullen bellow +of the cattle and the thunder of the hoofs, turned and followed Ted. + +But the leaders were almost upon him, and, realizing that death was +following him fast, he gave an agonizing cry. + +Ted heard the cry, and understood its import. + +While he disliked and despised the bullying officer, he had no desire to +see harm come to him. + +The lieutenant's horse, while a good-enough cavalry animal in times of +peace, was not the match of the cow ponies, and was already badly +winded, as well as frightened, and was losing ground steadily. + +"Bear off to the right!" shouted Ted repeatedly. But the officer was +evidently too frightened or rattled to understand, and kept blundering +along. + +Ted saw that disaster was sure to follow in a short while if Barrows +didn't change his tactics. + +The herd was going at regulation stampede speed now, but this did not +cause Ted to think of his own danger when he deliberately turned Sultan +and came galloping back upon the advancing sea of sharp horns. + +In a moment he was beside Barrows, wheeled suddenly, and began to ride +against the cavalry horse, forcing it to one side, and urging it on with +lashes of his quirt. + +At last he got the heavy brute going the way he wanted and soon it was +out of danger, as the frantic herd swept by with a roar like that of a +lightning express rushing over a culvert. + +Barrows was sitting on his trembling horse, pale, and with beads of +perspiration standing out on his forehead. + +"You did that on purpose, curse you," snarled the lieutenant. "You made +those cattle run." + +Ted looked at him in astonishment. He thought at least that the soldier +would murmur some few words of gratitude for having been saved from a +horrible death. + +"You're a grateful chap, I must say," said Ted. "You weren't far from +kingdom come then, I can tell you." + +"I'll see that you are punished for this," said Barrows, wheeling his +horse and riding out of sight in the direction of the post. + +It was two hours before the boys headed the cattle and got them to +milling, and then broke them up and succeeded in getting them bedded +down. + +As they got a new camp fire made, and were lying around it, Bud said, +with a laugh: + +"That was a mighty slick trick o' yours, Ted. It certainly took ther +herd off ther reservation in a hurry." + +"I don't see yet why it was necessary to stampede them," said Ben, who +was sore at having had to do so much work getting the herd together +again. + +"Can't, eh?" said Bud. "That's all er collidge eddication done fer yer? +Why, if we hadn't got them cattle off'n thar pretty pronto, thet thar +lootenant would hev bagged every animile on foot. But Ted, he foresee +what they wuz up ter, an' ther simplest way wuz ter run 'em off in a +fake stampede. It done ther work, too, fer we're out o' ther reservation +whar they can't touch us." + +Except for the night guard, the boys rolled themselves in their blankets +and were soon sound asleep. + +The next morning Ted began to drift the herd slowly into the north, +where there was plenty of free range. They were still well within view +of the fort. + +It was almost time for the beef issue at the post, and Ted and Bud, +walking their ponies slowly along in the lead of the herd, were talking +about it. + +"Wonder they ain't been out to head us off this morning?" said Bud. + +"They know they cannot take forcible possession of our cattle when we +are off the reservation," answered Ted. "Hello, what's that heading this +way?" + +Coming toward them from the direction of the fort, several riders were +kicking up the dust in lively fashion. + +As they got nearer the riders revealed themselves as four soldiers, +accompanied by two ladies. + +Suddenly Ted pulled in his pony, and grasped Bud's arm. + +"If that don't look like Stella I'll eat my saddle blanket fried in +butter," he said. + +"Shore do look some like her," answered Bud, "an' that's ther same +little ole red jacket what she wears." + +In a few moments they heard Stella's hail, and answered it. + +Then up galloped Stella and Miss Croffut, accompanied by the commandant +of the post, Lieutenant Barrows, and two other officers, a captain and a +major. + +After greeting the boys, and formally introducing Miss Croffut, Stella +told them that from their last telegram she thought she might be able to +catch them at Fort Felton, and had not hesitated in coming on, +particularly as she happened to know Miss Croffut. + +"What's this trouble you fellows have been getting into with the folks +at the fort?" asked Stella. + +"We're not having any trouble, but we had some in the night when the +dogies stampeded us," replied Ted, with an almost imperceptible wink at +her. + +"None of my business, I suppose?" + +"None in the least." + +"See here, Mr. Strong," the colonel broke in, "I suppose I was somewhat +hasty last night in talking with you, especially as you had arrived on +time. I wish you'd turn back, and let us have those cattle." + +"Like to if you'd said so a little earlier, but since morning, and the +expiration of the contract, beef has gone up." + +"What do you mean?" + +"I mean that you haven't money enough to buy these cattle. What's the +matter? Want a few head to feed to the Indians?" + +"We want the whole herd, but as you have guessed the truth, we must have +a few head to keep those crazy Indians from making trouble. They have +heard that the cattle are gone, and I'm afraid that they will break +loose and murder a lot of settlers to get even with Uncle Sam." + +"What are the troops for?" + +"We wouldn't dare go after them without orders from Washington." + +"Well, you started it, and I would advise you to go on to the finish." + +"If we don't get enough cattle to feed the Indians the post is ruined." + +"You should have thought of that contingency when you sent your amiable +young assistant out to me." He looked at Barrows. + +"Well, I apologize for him. He was dead wrong, but so was I." + +"Nothing doing! You would have given me the worst of it if I had been +chump enough not to know the cow business as I do. But these cattle are +due on the high range in a few days, and we must be moving on. Adios." + +"Oh, Mr. Strong, please do let us have enough cattle for those poor +Indians. The squaws and babies and growing children are actually +starving, for the government has kept them on short allowance lately. +Let a few head go to us." + +Ted said nothing for several moments, during which they all looked at +him anxiously. + +"Come on, Ted, be a good fellow," said Stella, with a laugh. + +"All right," said Ted. "How many do you want cut out?" Ted was looking +at the colonel. + +"I'd like to have the whole herd," answered the colonel. + +"They're not for sale. They're going up to the high range for the rest +of the summer, then to market, and I hope it will be a fairer one than +this. But for the sake of the young ladies, who have more influence with +this bunch in a minute than all the officers at Fort Felton have in a +year, I'll cut out enough for the beef issue. How many head do you need +for the Indians?" + +"About five hundred," answered the colonel, in a very different voice +from that he had used the night before. + +"Bud, cut out, count, and deliver five hundred head at the post pasture. +Stella, we're going on. Where's your aunt?" + +"Up at the post. Say, Ted Strong, don't believe for a minute that I'm +not going, too. I'll get a wagon for auntie, and we'll hit your trail in +a couple of hours." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +THE BEEF ISSUE. + + +When Bud and the boys rode into the herd to cut out the five hundred +head of cattle, the four officers went away to inspect the animals as +they came out, leaving Ted to talk to the two girls. + +Nothing was said about the unpleasant interview on the colonel's veranda +the evening before, but Stella laughingly told how she had decided at +the last moment to follow the fortunes of the boys, and had dragged her +aunt off to Montana without giving her time to think about it. + +While they were chatting the colonel rode up. + +"Mr. Strong, I wish you would come up to headquarters and get your +voucher for these cattle before you go. I should like you to dine with +us, also." + +"Please do, Ted," said Stella. "Then you can ride back to camp with aunt +and I. I have been trying to persuade Hallie to join our party for a +week or two, and experience the joys and excitement of the cattle +trail." + +"I should like very much to go with you, but----" + +Miss Croffut looked at her father with some apprehension. + +"If Mrs. Graham will consent to add to her burdens as a chaperon I have +no objections," said the colonel whose manner toward Ted had been simply +reversed by the independence and manliness the broncho boys had +exhibited. + +"We should be very glad to have you with us, Miss Croffut," said Ted. +"And if you have never been on the long drive I believe you would find +much that would interest you." + +"Then it's all settled," cried Stella. "I'm sure aunt would be delighted +to have you, and you will like the boys. They are like a lot of brothers +to me, only they are better than most brothers, for they let me do what +I please, and are a help instead of a nuisance." + +They all laughed at Stella's estimate of the usefulness of brothers, and +rode away toward the fort, Ted leading the way with Miss Croffut, whom +he found to be an exceedingly interesting companion, and who expressed +her love for riding and other outdoor sports. + +"We're going to see the beef issue," Stella called to Ted. + +"All right," he answered. "It will be some time before the cattle are up +to the pens, and, in the meantime, we'll leave you there, and ride over +to headquarters and settle the business end of it." + +The girls were left at the office of the Indian agent near the place +where the cattle were to be issued to the Indians. + +Scattered over the prairie near the agent's office were the members of +the tribe, waiting patiently for their portion of the fresh meat, which, +at certain times of the year, Uncle Sam doled out to them. + +It was a savage sight. Here and there were the smoke-browned tepees of +the Indians, before which sat the squaws and papooses, and the old men +and women. + +The bucks, heads of families, strode back and forth majestically, with +their rifles and old muskets in the hollow of their arms, while the +young men and half-grown boys dashed here and there on their ponies. + +It was an animated scene, and the two girls looked at it curiously, for +neither of them had seen anything like it before. + +While they were looking out of the window a shadow darkened the doorway, +and they looked up to see a tall young buck Indian standing on the +threshold. + +He was very tall for a Northern Indian, and his broad, bronze-colored +face, with its high cheek bones, and prominent, aquiline nose, with the +black, beady eyes between, and the wide, loose-lipped mouth beneath, +caused Miss Croffut to shudder unknowingly. + +To her there was something repulsive about the fellow. But Stella looked +at him boldly and inquiringly. + +"How?" grunted the Indian. + +"What you want?" asked Stella, in a business-like way. + +"Me want agent," he answered, with a leer, which evidently he intended +for a smile of fascination. + +"Not here," said Stella sharply. + +"Where go?" + +"Get out." + +The Indian stared at her with an expression of amazement, which +gradually turned to one of admiration. + +"Heap good-looking squaw," he grunted. + +"Get out," said Stella again. + +She was not frightened, only disgusted. + +"Me Running Bear. Heap big chief. Heap rich. Heap brave. Running Bear +want white squaw. Heap other wives cook for white squaw. Make plenty red +dress." + +When the Indian had first entered the room Stella thought that there was +something decidedly familiar about the redskin, but when the name +"Running Bear" fell from his lips, her worst fears were confirmed--this +was the Indian with whom Ted had had trouble during the winter, when he +had broken up the Whipple gang. + +As he strode into the middle of the room, with his hand on the butt of +the revolver that hung on his left hip, Miss Croffut uttered a faint +scream. + +Stella was not exactly frightened, but she felt that there might be some +danger in being in the room with this Indian brute, with not a white man +in hailing distance. + +When he got nearer she smelled liquor. Running Bear had been drinking, +and Stella knew that a drinking Indian is a crazy Indian who will do +things he never would dream of doing when he is sober. + +She unconsciously felt for her own revolver, but it was not at her side. +Then she remembered that she had left it at the colonel's house when she +had started out that morning. + +She eyed the Indian closely as he advanced farther into the room, and +saw that in the Indian's eyes there was a strange gleam. He reminded her +of a snake about to devour its prey, as he moved toward her, almost +imperceptibly, seeming not to move, and yet getting closer to her all +the time. + +Now he was quite close to her, and Hallie Croffut was sitting back in +her chair gazing at the Indian with an expression of frozen horror on +her face. + +"White squaw give Running Bear a kiss," gurgled the brute. + +Stella tried to scream, but her throat refused to give forth a sound. It +was like the nightmare when one tries to scream for terror of the awful +shape that is about to menace, but cannot utter a sound. + +Somewhere outside she heard her name. It was Ted calling to her, but she +could not answer. + +Now the Indian was only a step away, and had reached out his arms to +grasp her. + +Suddenly the door flew open, and there stood Ted Strong. But only for an +instant. + +With one leap he was into the room, and as the Indian turned, with that +beastly leer still on his face, Ted was upon him. + +Catching the Indian by the collar, he swung him around, while at the +same time his left arm flew forward, and his fist struck the Indian's +jaw with a smash that sent his head back, and wrung a groan from him. +Again and again the fist encountered the Indian's face, rocking his head +horribly, until it hung upon his shoulder, and then, with an exclamation +of disgust, Ted flung the brute from him, and the inert body rolled into +a corner, where it lay still. + +"Oh, Ted," exclaimed Stella, "that Indian is Running Bear, with whom you +had trouble when putting the Whipple gang out of business." + +"I know it, but I don't think he'll bother us any more. Come, girls," +said Ted, "it's time to go out and see the beef issue. They're reading +the names now, and the bucks are assembling." + +Outside a strange scene was being enacted. A clerk from the Indian +agent's office was sitting on top of the fence of the cattle corral +reading the names of the Indians from a large book. + +"Na-to-no-mah, John Fisher!" called the clerk, and a middle-aged Indian +stepped forward listlessly and stood aside. + +"The first name is his Indian or tribe name," explained Ted. "The name +John Fisher is the name given him in Washington, so that the clerks will +not get him mixed with an Indian whose name is similar." + +So the reading went on, and after each name the clerk said "one" or +"two," meaning that the owner of the name was entitled to one or two +cows, according to the number of members of his family. + +"Running Bear!" called the clerk. + +There was no answer. + +"Running Bear! Where is Running Bear?" The clerk looked around +anxiously, for Running Bear was a prominent Indian, and was entitled to +three cows, or as many as he could graft, and was never known to miss a +beef issue. There were murmurs of wonder among the Indians at the +absence of Running Bear, and the clerk was about to mark off his name, +when he staggered out of the agent's house, groggy from the punishment +he had received, with one eye a vivid green, and holding on to his jaw +as if he was afraid of losing it. + +"Ah, there you are, Running Bear," said the clerk. "You look as if you +had collided with a streak of lightning. What's the matter?" + +But the Indian only shook his head and pressed his jaw harder. + +"Reckon you've got the toothache, eh? Well, when you get your teeth +fastened into a piece of fresh bull meat you'll be all right." + +Running Bear gave one look, in which all the concentrated hatred of a +lifetime was to be seen. Then he turned away and went out to his tepee, +where one of his squaws bound his jaw in a wet cloth. + +But the roll had been called, and the Indians stood expectant close to +the gate of the corral. + +While the clerk stood up on the fence with his list he repeated the +names and the number of cattle to which each Indian was entitled, and +men inside the corral opened the gate and drove them out. + +As a frightened cow or angry steer was loosed from the corral it was met +with shouts, wild and blood-curdling, from all the Indians, and its +owner sprang upon his pony and took after the poor beast, driving it +into the open beyond, and away from the house and corral. + +"Now begins the chase," said Ted. "We'll get out here where we will have +a good view, but I don't think you will care to see much of it. It gets +to be pretty--well, pretty raw after a while." + +"Why don't they kill their beef in a slaughterhouse and give them the +meat, instead of turning the animals over to them alive?" asked Stella. + +"The Indians wouldn't stand for that," answered Ted. "This is the only +sport they have in a year's time. You see, they are not permitted to +leave the reservations to go far away to hunt big game, and they take it +out in hunting, or playing they are hunting, these miserable cows." + +"I don't see any fun in that," said Miss Croffut. + +"You haven't the imagination of an Indian. You see, they make believe +they are hunting buffalo again, and the chase is quite as exciting to +them as if they were doing the real thing." + +By this time the prairie was covered with steers and cows, lumbering +along in front of the Indians, who were pursuing them with shrill cries, +shooting at them with bows and arrows or with rifles, striving always to +wound them, but not to kill them too soon, for if they killed them right +away they would miss the fun of the chase. + +This made the beef issue a carnival of brutality, and Ted soon saw that +the girls were getting tired of it. + +In the center of the great circle in which there were several dozen +cattle running around aimlessly, pursued by a yelling, exultant, +bloodthirsty band of Indians, were several wounded steers and cows, +which had gone down and were unable to rise. Several groups of Indians, +squatting on the rim of the circle, were shooting at them. + +This was dangerous business, and the white spectators moved back out of +range. + +The shooting was very reckless at times, and the Indian agent had to +protest to the soldiers, who, under Lieutenant Barrows, had the issue in +charge. + +Ted and the two girls were sitting on their ponies, watching the show +from a position of safety, as they were out of line of any of the +shooting parties. + +Without warning a ball sang through the air, clipped through the mane of +Ted's pony, and pierced the sleeve of Ted's jacket, passing out between +him and Miss Croffut, who was by his side. + +As Ted looked up hastily he caught a gleam of blue across the circle as +it dodged behind the group of yelling and shooting Indians. + +Ted glanced at Stella, and saw a look in her eyes which plainly said: + +"Did you see it, too?" And Ted nodded. + +Miss Croffut had screamed as the ball went past, and Ted's pony, burned +by it, reared. + +"Let's get out of this," said Ted quietly. "Those Indians are beginning +to shoot wildly, and some one is going to get accidentally hit. I wonder +that the soldiers don't regulate it better." + +"They are afraid of getting the Indians angry," explained Miss Croffut. +"The war department allows them to do as they please at this function, +to keep them quiet at other times." + +But most of the poor dumb brutes had succumbed to this slow method of +butchering, and the squaws, with horrible cries, rushed into the field, +every one to the steer which her lord and master had killed, and the +hideous rites of skinning and cutting up the animals was begun by the +women, who were even more bloodthirsty than the men. + +"Come, we don't want to see this," said Ted, and led the way from the +field. + +"It is time for dinner," said Miss Croffut. "Then we must get ready for +the trail. We will get a wagon from the storekeeper--a regular camp +wagon with beds and a tent. Papa will arrange it all, and he will detail +an orderly to drive it for us, and care for our things." + +"That will be fine for you and aunt, but for me--the saddle and the camp +fire," said Stella. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +A SLAP ON THE FACE. + + +As they were riding toward the post they were joined by Ben, Bud, Kit, +Clay, and Carl, who came riding up like Cossacks, and were presented to +Miss Croffut, on either side of whom they fell into place, and began to +talk animatedly and enthusiastically about the coming trail. + +Ben expanded mightily in the presence of a new girl, while quiet Kit +contented himself by slipping in a witty remark that was pointed enough +to puncture Ben's gas bag of grand talk once in a while, to the great +amusement of the army girl, who had never before met such fine, free, +and easy, yet gentlemanly, fellows. + +Ted and Stella were riding together behind them. + +"Did you see him?" asked Stella at last, looking up at Ted. + +"See who?" asked Ted. + +"The man who shot at you, trying to murder you, and cast the blame on +the Indians," she replied directly. + +"Oh, that was an accident," said Ted. "I saw a flash of a blue coat over +where the shot came from, but it was probably an Indian with a blue +shirt on." + +"And you didn't see who it was?" she asked again wonderingly. + +"No." + +"Don't you even suspect?" + +"Hadn't thought of it." + +"Suppose it was not an accident, who do you think would be most likely +to try to shoot you from ambush, and make it appear an accident?" + +Ted thought a moment. Could it be possible that it was not an accident? +For a few minutes after the ball had plowed its way through their little +party he had thought perhaps it might have been sent at them +accidentally, as the Indians were doing some pretty wild shooting, and +then again he almost believed it to be an intentional shot. It could not +have come closer to him from such a distance, and yet so narrowly missed +his heart, unless it was intended for him. + +"Let me see," he mused. "Why, of course," he said, with a smile. "I +didn't think of it before. It must have been that Indian, Running Bear, +who was trying to get square for the punching I gave him." + +"Ted, you're as blind as a rat," said Stella. + +"Did you see the fellow who shot at me?" + +"I did. Got a good, square, sure-enough look." + +"Who was it?" + +For a moment Stella did not reply. + +"You'll hardly believe it," she answered, at last. + +"I'll believe you. I don't know that you ever told me anything that was +not the truth." + +"But it seems so incredible, that I would hardly believe it if I had not +seen it with my own eyes." + +"Well, out with it." + +"It was Lieutenant Barrows." + +"Stella! You can't mean it." + +Ted stopped his pony, and stood staring at the girl. + +"It was he who fired the shot. I am positive of it. I saw him do it, and +was just about to cry out a warning when the bullet struck your pony and +passed through your coat sleeve, and he dodged out of sight." + +"The hideous cur!" exclaimed Ted, who was the apostle of fair play, and +who always felt bitterly when he saw another practice false, and +especially an officer, who was supposed to uphold all the best standards +for a gentleman. In fact, "an officer and a gentleman" were synonymous +to him. + +"It seems incredible," he said, at last. "I didn't think he was much of +a chap, he has not had much experience, and I thought he would grow out +of his bad habits." + +"He's horrible," exclaimed Stella impatiently. "But that is not the +worst of it. Hallie is engaged to marry him some day. Think of it!" + +"Too bad. Of course she must know nothing of this. She must believe that +it was an accident." + +"Of course. Unless she mentions it we will say nothing about it, and +I'll tell her that you do not care to have anything said about it." + +"That's the thing. Pretty bad outlook for her." + +"Yes, and the worst of it is, she's crazy about him, and the colonel, +her father, is very much in favor of the marriage, and is doing +everything he can to bring it about. You see, Barrows is very rich." + +"Is he the son of Barrows, the railroad multi-millionaire, do you know?" + +"Yes, Hallie told me all about it. She says his father is going to have +him promoted through his influence in Washington to be military attache +to one of our embassies in Europe. He has completely dazzled her with +his wealth, and the prospects ahead of her." + +"Too bad." + +"And she is such a sweet and sensible girl, but she has no mother, and +the other ladies at the post, especially Mrs. Calhoun, the major's wife, +have put a lot of nonsense into her head." + +"Well, if she comes with us, we'll try to get some of it out." + +"It looks as if Ben was trying to do that now," said Stella, pointing to +where Ben was talking to the girl, who was laughing happily. + +"Yes, or putting a lot of another brand into it." + +"Don't they make a handsome couple. Ben is such a fine-looking chap in +the saddle. I wish he would do something to cut out Barrows." + +"Look out. Don't you go to meddling in this affair," laughed Ted. "Well, +here we are at the colonel's. I reckon he didn't count on this addition +to his table." + +As they rode up to the others, Hallie Croffut was insisting that the +other boys remain for dinner, and the colonel, hearing the contention +from his chair on the veranda, came down to add his invitation to that +of his daughter. + +So it was that they all stayed, and just before dinner was announced +Lieutenant Barrows rode up and joined the group. + +He was hot and dusty, and in a bad temper. He acknowledged the +introductions to the boys superciliously, and barely nodded to Ted. + +Hallie looked at him with a puzzled frown, but said nothing, and entered +the house with Stella. + +During dinner Ben sat at the left hand of Hallie, with Barrows opposite. + +Ben was in his usual good spirits, and was so easy and gentlemanly in +his deportment, in spite of his rough clothes, that Stella was quite +proud of him. + +While he kept Hallie in a constant gale of laughter by his witty +remarks, Barrows did nothing but scowl at him, when he was not casting +sinister glances at Ted, who, however, never looked at him. + +After dinner the girls rushed away to get ready for the trip, and the +boys went out on the veranda to wait for them, while the colonel and +Barrows went into the library, ostensibly to talk over business of the +post, as Barrows was officer of the day. + +But presently Ted heard the voices of the two men rising above the +normal pitch. + +"I seriously object to Hallie going with such people." + +The voice was Barrows', and it was angry. + +"But they are all right," said the colonel. "I know Strong well by +reputation, and the Grahams are old friends of mine. Knew them for years +when I was in New Mexico. Hallie and Stella went to school together. +There can be no objection on that score." + +"But this cad Strong is nothing but a common cow-puncher, and his +companions are even worse." + +"They're worth more than you are financially," said the colonel. "That +is, they have made more individually than you have made. I'm not saying +what your father gives, or will give you. And that counts for +something." + +"Well, there is no use saying anything more about it if you are willing +to give your consent to Hallie traveling in the company of, and camping +with, such a low blackguard as that fellow Strong." + +"You dare not call him that to his face," came an indignant voice. +Evidently Stella had entered the library in time to hear Barrows' +speech. + +"I am surprised to hear you speak in that manner of one of my guests," +came the voice of Hallie Croffut. "Papa, I'm going with Stella. At first +I hesitated to leave you and Clarence here alone, but now I am decided. +You will not be very lonely, and I shall be very safe and happy with +Stella and dear Mrs. Graham, who is like an own aunt to me, and with +those gentlemen, the broncho boys. Good-by, daddy. We'll be back soon." + +"So his name's Clarence, eh?" said Bud Morgan, on the veranda. "Well, +wouldn't that jar yer?" + +In the library Hallie was kissing her father good-by, and then offered +her hand to Barrows. + +"Good-by, Clarence," she said. "I hope you'll be in a better frame of +mind when I get back." + +"I want to talk to you privately before you go," said Barrows, in a +sulky voice. + +"It is not necessary," answered the girl. + +"But I insist upon it. It is my right." + +"You have no rights I do not give you. This is good-by." + +"I'll make you regret this yet. I'll----" + +"Hold hard, Barrows. Remember, you are in my house, and that you are +talking to my daughter. Threats to a girl do not come gracefully from a +gentleman." The colonel evidently had sprung to his feet, and his voice +was cold and harsh. + +"Very well, I will not threaten. I will execute." + +The young officer strode from the room and through the hall, pausing to +pick up his cap. + +At the door he came face to face with Ted Strong, who was standing there +quietly, waiting for the moment when he should think his presence would +be necessary in the library. + +As the two came face to face, Barrows stopped and looked into Ted's eyes +with a look of intense hatred. He was as white as a sheet, and his lips +trembled. + +"So you have been acting the eavesdropper, eh?" Barrows said, with a +sneer. "I hope you heard all I said about you, and that is not all I +think, either. Would you like to hear some more." + +"I don't care what you think about me. That will do me no harm. But if +you desire to retain your beauty I would advise you to keep it to +yourself. You probably know what I think of you, you cowardly assassin." +Ted spoke these words in a tone intended only for the ears of Barrows +himself. + +"What do you mean?" stammered the young officer, pale as death. + +"You know. You missed my heart at the beef issue by an inch or two, but +you were seen, you cur, and you can't lie out of it. If I were to tell +it, you would be drummed out of the army, and every place else where +there are square men. Keep away from me and mine in every way, and +especially with your filthy tongue. If you do not, I'll break you." + +Barrows uttered an unspeakable epithet to Ted under his breath. + +A loud crack sounded far enough to reach the ears of those in the +library, and bring the broncho boys to their feet. Across the white face +of Lieutenant Barrows were the crimson finger marks left by Ted Strong. + +Without a word the lieutenant swung on his heel, and walked down the +steps, mounted his horse, and rode away. + +In the doorway stood a young girl who looked at his going with wide +eyes. She was very pale, but as Barrows rode away without a word or a +glance backward, a flush slowly mounted to her forehead. + +She turned and threw her arms around the neck of Stella, for it was +Hallie Croffut who had seen the blow delivered. + +"He didn't even offer to resent the blow," sobbed Hallie. "Is it +possible that he is a coward?" + +"There, dear, I wouldn't worry about him," said Stella soothingly. "It +was very wrong for Ted to do so." + +Ted, who was standing near, also watching the departing lieutenant with +some surprise, heard these words and turned to look at the girls. + +He smiled, however, when he heard Stella trying to comfort Hallie by +blaming him, for over the shoulder of the crying girl his girl pard +winked at him with a smile that assured him that, no matter what she +said, she thought that whatever happened he was all right. + +"Say," drawled Bud to the other boys, "Ted put ther bloom o' youth on +Clarence's cheek, didn't he?" + +"He certainly did," said Ben, "and probably saved Clarence from getting +a good, stout punch on the nose from me." + +Ben held up for inspection a fist as big as a picnic ham, and worked it +around as if it was fitted to a toggle joint. + +"He didn't get all that was coming to him, either," said Kit. "If ever +there was a cad he's got the job." + +"And seems to be swelled up over it, too," said Clay. + +"Ach, yes, dot iss der vay mit dem army offichers," sighed Carl. "Dey +vas so conspicuousness in deir uniforms dot dey vos ridiculousness." + +"Say, Dutch, you want ter look out or you'll blow out all o' yer teeth +some o' these days sayin' them words," warned Bud. + +"Well, it isn't such a good joke as it seems," said Kit reflectively. "A +young fellow in the army, and with the backing he has, can make it +pretty disagreeable for fellows like us living and doing business in a +country where an army post is part of the civil government. Have you +thought of that?" + +"Kit's right," said Ted. "I guess we've made an enemy. But I'll be +mighty glad of it if it serves to accomplish one thing." + +"What's that?" asked Ben. + +"If it will keep him away from Hallie Croffut," was the answer. + +"I reckon there's others who will help attend to that," said Ben +sturdily, whereat several of the boys smiled. Ben was forever coming to +the rescue of maidens in distress, especially if they were more than +merely pretty. + +"We've all got to do our share at cheering the poor girl up," said Kit, +with a sly glance at Ted, who grinned. + +"Oh, I guess I'm large and strong enough to carry my own burdens," said +Ben. "I've managed to pack a good many of them' so far without getting +round-shouldered." + +"Yes, and without losing your appetite." + +"Hush, boys," cautioned Ted. "Here come the girls." + +Stella came out of the house, bearing in her arms a lot of shawls and +bundles, followed by Mrs. Graham and Hallie Croffut. + +"When you see me coming at this stage of the game loaded down like this +you'd know for sure that Auntie Graham was going on a roughing trip." + +"That's all right," said Kit. "Mrs. Graham can take whatever she likes +on the trips, if she'll only go along." + +"You're a nice boy, Kit, to say such nice things," said Mrs. Graham, +smiling. "But you're all nice boys to take an old lady like me with you, +and stand for all my laziness and tantrums." + +"That's right, auntie, you keep on with that line of talk, and you'll +get these fellows so spoiled that I'll have to begin training them all +over again. I just had them so that they were going along all right. But +you mustn't let them know they're nice, or they'll quit being nice right +there. Come, fellows, help carry Auntie Graham's things down to the +wagon. We've got to get started pretty pronto." + +They were all ready to start when an orderly dashed up on horseback, and +handed Hallie a letter, saluted, and rode off. + +The girl tore open the envelope, and read its contents. + +"What shall I do?" she asked, handing the letter to Ted. + +Ted's eyes ran over it rapidly. + +"Forget it," he answered, crumpling the note in his hand and throwing it +away. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +RUNNING BEAR'S SQUAW. + + +As they rode away to join the herd, which had been moving slowly +northward, Hallie and Stella rode together, and Hallie was telling her +friend what she felt, and what she thought about her break with +Lieutenant Barrows. + +"That note was the most impertinent thing I ever read," Hallie was +saying. + +"What was it all about? Ted did not think it was of much importance," +said Stella. + +"And yet it was all about him." + +"You don't say so. What was it?" + +Stella was not very curious about the letter, for she was too free and +independent to care what an enemy said of her or her friends. She had +that intense loyalty of character that put tried and chosen friends +before all the world, and she believed and stuck to her friends through +all and above all. But this was a characteristic of all the broncho +boys. + +She didn't believe that anything any one could write about Ted Strong +could hurt him, at least it could not with her. + +"It forbade me going with you on this trip, and said some awful things +about Mr. Strong," said Hallie. + +"Is that all?" + +"It said that Ted was a scoundrel, and that he felt it his duty to +expose him, and that, moreover, Ted had declared himself his enemy, and +he was going to get the bitterest sort of revenge for the insult Ted had +offered him. And--and a lot more." + +"If he wanted revenge, why didn't he take it while he had the chance? +Anyway, Ted doesn't seem to be very much afraid, so I'm not going to +worry." + +Ted realized that he had made a bitter and dangerous enemy. + +Barrows would be dangerous because he would not fight in the open, but +would stab him in the back. The way in which he had taken the slap on +the face proved that he was an open coward, but secretly was brave +enough in his blows. The shot fired by him at the beef issue was proof +enough for that. + +But Ted, while he determined to keep his eyes open, was not borrowing +trouble, and soon put Barrows and his enmity out of his mind. + +They caught up with the herd in the middle of the afternoon, and Hallie, +who had never seen so many cattle before in her life, was delighted with +the experience she was about to undergo. + +The weather was splendid, and Stella rode up and down with her along the +line, introducing such of the boys as had not met her, and teaching her +the points of the cattle business. + +Finally, Hallie got hold of Bud, who volunteered to teach her how to +shoot and throw a lariat, and she was perfectly happy, and soon forgot +the unpleasant occurrences at her home before she left. + +Stella was just spoiling for a good, hard gallop, and tried to get Ted +to go with her in a race across the prairie, but he politely but firmly +declined the honor, on account, as he explained, that he was responsible +for the safety of several thousand head of cattle, and as he had been up +against one failure with them so far he did not propose to face another +because of neglect. + +"All right, Smarty," said Stella. "You don't have to go. But you'll be +sorry if anything happens to me." + +"Stay with the herd, Stella," he said. "What's the use of tearing off +alone across the prairie?" + +"Not very much, as a matter of fact, but if you'd been shut up in a poky +old hotel for a couple of weeks, and only going out with your aunt to +shop around in stuffy dry-goods stores, you'd like to get out for a +breezer yourself," she said. + +"I reckon I would, but don't go far, and get back before dark." + +She waved her hand to him gayly, gave Magpie a flick with her whip, and +went flying across the country. + +"Hi, Stella!" shouted Kit. "Where you goin'?" + +But she was already out of hearing. + +"Let her go," said Ted. "She's got one of her crazy riding spells on, +and she'll just have to ride it out of her." + +In a few minutes she was a speck on the horizon. + +"That girl can ride some," said Kit, looking regretfully after her. Kit +could "ride some" himself, and this afternoon he just felt like a good +breeze across the turf, and no one suited him for a riding companion +like Stella, for she was so fearless and bold, and never balked at a +chance. + +But Stella was gone, and the drive settled down to a steady thing. + +We will leave the herd for the present to follow the fortunes of Stella, +whose ride that afternoon had so much to do with fashioning the +immediate fortunes of Ted Strong and the broncho boys. + +As Stella was borne exultingly along through the clear, sharp air of the +Montana uplands, she was singing in a high, sweet voice the cowboy song, +"The Wolf Hunt." + + "Over the hills on a winter's morn, + In the rosy glow of a day just born, + With the eager hounds so fleet and strong, + On the gray wolf's track we jog along." + +As she paused at the end of the first verse she thought she heard an +echo of it. It seemed that off to the north somewhere she had heard an +eerie "Ai-i-e!" But she listened attentively, bringing Magpie to a stop, +and hearing it no more, concluded that she had been mistaken. + +Then she galloped on, still singing at the top of her voice from sheer +happiness and good spirits, the other verses of the wolf song, and, +although she paused frequently for the repetition of the cry, she did +not hear it until she had sung the refrain for the last time: + + "The race is o'er, the battle won, + The wolf lies dying in the sun; + His midnight raids are of the past, + He's met the conquering foe at last. + Well done, brave hounds! Thy savage prey + Was shrewdly caught and killed to-day." + +As she stopped and looked around her at the brown, rocky hills, once +more she heard that shrill and heart-searching wail. + +"What can it be?" muttered Stella, reining in her horse. "Is it a woman, +or is it a beast trying to lure me on? It sounds like a woman in +distress, and yet cougars can cry like that, also." + +She meditated a moment, and then decided to take a chance. + +She would search out the creature that had sent forth that desolate cry. + +"Ai-i-e!" cried Stella, imitating the other. + +"Ai-i-e!" came the reply. + +It came from the north, and seemed only a short distance away. + +Slowly Stella crept forward up the rocky hillside, pausing now and then +to listen. + +Once more she heard the wail. This time it seemed to be under her very +feet, and, guarding against treachery, she drew her revolver, and walked +softly on. + +Suddenly she stopped in amazement. At her feet lay a young Indian girl. + +She was lying on a blanket, and the yellow front of her deerskin tunic +was stained with blood. + +Without an instant's hesitation Stella was on her knees beside the girl, +working with swift and gentle fingers to unfasten the tunic. + +As she did so the girl opened her eyes, and, seeing Stella, smiled. + +Then her Indian stoicism failed her, and she uttered a groan and +fainted. + +"Poor thing," muttered Stella. "Poor, wounded, wild thing. Here lies the +wild wolf 'dying in the sun,' as the song says. I wonder if she knew the +song." + +But by this time she had opened the tunic and saw a bullet wound on the +brown skin, through which the blood was oozing steadily. + +She stood up and looked around for a water sign, and not far away +discovered a little clump of willows, which advertised a spring. + +She hurried to it and filled her hat to the brim with the cool fluid and +rushed back to the wounded Indian girl, who had not yet recovered from +her fainting fit. + +Stella bathed her head, washed her wound, and then poured some of the +water between her lips. + +At that the girl opened her eyes, and, with another smile, opened her +lips as if to speak. + +"Rest now, dear," said Stella, with so much pity and love in her voice +that the girl could only smile once more, and gratefully close her eyes. + +It did not take Stella long to improvise bandages from some of her own +garments, which she tore into strips, and bound up the wound so that it +stopped bleeding at last. + +Another drink of water so refreshed the Indian girl that she tried to +rise, but Stella gently forced her back, and told her to rest. + +Stella never rode away from camp without taking food in a small bag, +which was attached to the cantle of her saddle. + +She now bethought herself of it, and hurried away for it. + +The Indian girl was ravenously hungry, and her faintness was as much due +to her abstinence from food as from the loss of blood. + +But when she had eaten she appeared much stronger. + +"What is your name?" asked Stella. + +The girl looked up at her and smiled. + +"I am Singing Bird, daughter of Cloud Chief," she answered. + +"You can speak English well," said Stella, at which the girl looked +pleased. + +"Yes, I went to the Indian school, and learned to speak and to sing +hymns." + +"How do you come to be here?" + +"My man shot me." + +"What?" cried Stella, in a horrified tone. "Your man shot you? What do +you mean by that?" + +"I am Running Bear's squaw." + +"You are married to Running Bear?" + +The girl nodded her head. + +"And did Running Bear shoot you?" + +"Yes. He shot me and left me to die." + +"The horrible brute. What did he shoot you for?" + +"He said he had too many squaws, and wanted a white squaw." + +"Couldn't he have sent you away without trying to kill you?" + +"I wouldn't tell him something." + +"Oh, that was the reason, eh?" + +"Yes, he married me at the school for my secret, and when I wouldn't +tell him he began to hate me." + +"Tell me about it. How long have you been married to him?" + +"Five months." + +"I thought you were rather young to be a wife. How old are you?" + +"I am seventeen." + +"Where is your home; where does your father live?" + +"My father is in the Far North. I cannot go to him any more now. My man +has turned me out and tried to kill me, but yet I live. But there is +nothing for me now but to die." + +"Indeed, you are not going to die. You are going to live with me until +you are well, then you can say what you are going to do." + +"The white lady is too good to an Indian girl." + +"No, that is only right. How do you feel now? Do you think you could +travel if I was to help you into my saddle?" + +"I will do what my sister wishes," said the Indian girl simply, trying +to rise. But the effort was too much for her, and she sank back, the +blood spurting freshly from the wound. + +"That won't do," said Stella, easing the girl back, and rolling up her +jacket and placing it under her head. "You are not able to leave here +yet. At least, you cannot ride." + +The Indian girl was perfectly passive under Stella's guidance, and did +not think of having a will of her own. + +"I wish one of the boys had come with me," Stella said to herself. +"Something always happens when I go away alone. I must get word to them +somehow." + +"I am going to fire my revolver to bring help," said she to Singing +Bird. "You will not be frightened." + +The other girl shook her head. + +Stella fired her revolver three times, and waited for an answer, but +none came. + +After waiting a while longer, she fired three more shots. + +"No shoot again. Need bullets for wolves. Come around soon," said +Singing Bird. + +The day was going fast, and soon it would be dark. She could not leave +the girl to go for help, for with the dark the wolves would come. + +Singing Bird had fallen into a feverish doze, and Stella arose and +gathered up some dry wood from about the spring, and carried it to where +the girl was lying. + +Stella had some matches in her outfit, and when it got dark she intended +lighting the fire, hoping that the boys would see it when they came to +look for her when she did not return at dark. + +Again she brought water from the spring, and sat down beside her +new-found friend to bathe her head and reduce her fever. + +As darkness fell she heard vague rustlings in the tall grass, and looked +carefully about. In the dim light she saw pale-green lights moving +about, and knew that the wolves had smelled blood, and were gathering. +But she was not afraid. She knew that she could keep them away with the +fire and her revolver. + +One of the wolves came quite close to the little camp and set up a howl, +and the Indian girl awoke. + +"White girl go to her friends," she said to Stella. "Leave Singing Bird +to die as the Great Manitou intended." + +"Indeed, I will not. I will stay with you until my friends come to me, +and then we will take you with us and nurse you." + +Stella thought it was time to light the fire, and as its flames leaped +high, she felt more at ease. + +When the wolves came close to the camp she fired her revolver at them, +and drove them away. + +The hours passed silently, Stella rising occasionally to replenish the +fire and look at Singing Bird, who seemed to be sleeping. As a matter of +fact, the young Indian, who had been reared out-of-doors, and was +perfectly healthy, was recovering rapidly from her wound, although had +it not been for Stella she would probably not have survived the night, +for what the chill night air would not have done the wolves would have +finished. + +It was long past midnight when out of the west rose a clear, welcome +shout that sounded as the sweetest music to her ear, the Moon Valley +yell, and she answered it, while the Indian girl sat up and smiled at +her. + +They had been found at last. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +"THE WOOFER" APPEARS. + + +Presently Stella heard the clatter of many pony hoofs on the turf, then +a succession of yells, and Ted, Ben, and Bud galloped into the circle of +light made by her fire. + +"Hello, what have we here?" asked Ted, riding up and flinging himself +from the saddle. + +"I found this Indian girl, Singing Bird, daughter of Cloud Chief, lying +here with a wound in her breast that would have killed an ordinary +mortal, but I think she is getting better." + +"We got worried about you when you did not return for supper, and +started out to find you. If we hadn't seen the reflection of your fire +against the sky we would have passed you by. How did this happen?" + +"She tells me she is the squaw of Running Bear, with whom you had an +argument at the beef issue." + +"Yes, I remember him. What about him? Why is he not here to take care of +his wife?" + +"He shot her and left her here to die, because he was tired of her, and, +she says, because she would not reveal to him a secret." + +"He certainly is a precious scoundrel, and deserves worse than I gave +him, and if I ever meet him again I won't do a thing to him." + +"But we must get this girl to a camp where she can be cared for, Ted. It +is cruel to leave her here on the cold ground when she can have a cot +and plenty of blankets." + +"I don't know how we are going to manage it to-night." + +"One of you can ride back to camp, and get the wagon and a lantern, and +come back for her. She ought to have better attention than I can give +her here." + +"That's all right. Bud, ride back to camp and get the wagon out, and +fill it with blankets and my medicine chest, and get back here as soon +as your team will bring you." + +Ben had sauntered down to where the willows were seen, and soon returned +with a big armful of wood, which he tossed upon the fire, then sat just +outside the blaze and popped away with his revolver at the little balls +of pale-green light, the wolves' eyes, which he saw floating among the +tall grass, and he always knew when he had made a bull's-eye by the +howl, and the thrashing around that followed it. + +Ted sat with Stella, watching the Indian girl, who had again fallen into +a deep sleep. + +"Did she say what her secret is?" asked Ted. + +"No, I didn't ask her, and I don't intend to. If she wants to confide in +me, well and good, but I am not a sharer of other peoples' troubles or +secrets. I have as many of my own as I can take care of." + +It was almost dawn when they heard the rumble of wagon wheels, and Bud +drove over the top of the hill, and came toward them. + +"By my Aunt Hester's black cat's tail, I never had sech a time gittin' a +team hitched up as this one. It took me an hour to ketch 'em out o' ther +pony herd, and yer talks about drivers, I'd jest as soon try ter drive +two bolts o' red-hot chain lightning. But I've got all ther ginger +worked outer 'em now, an' I reckon that nigh bay will not never buck no +more." + +"Now we'll see if she can be moved," said Ted. "I think we can lift her +right on the blanket on which she is lying, and into the wagon, if you +will lend a hand, Stella." + +Each of the four took a corner of the blanket, and with some difficulty, +for Singing Bird suffered excruciating pain with every motion, they got +her into the wagon and started for the camp, driving slowly over the +rough ground. + +It was almost daylight when they reached camp, where willing hands +helped to make the girl comfortable in a tent which Ted rigged up. + +Then Ted and Stella went to work with all their surgical skill, and soon +had Singing Bird's wound properly dressed. Stella stood guard over her, +and nursed her as tenderly as if the Indian had been a sister of her +blood. + +Ted had stayed the herd until Singing Bird should be well enough to get +up. The pasturage was fine, and after their arduous drive Ted thought +that it would do the cattle no harm to have a long rest. + +He was undecided what to do with the Indian girl. It was not altogether +practicable to take her with them, and it did not seem to be the humane +thing to leave her behind to again fall into the hands of her brutal +Indian husband. + +At last one morning Stella announced that Singing Bird was almost well. +On account of her health and generally fine physical condition she had +made rapid progress toward recovery. + +"What are we going to do with her?" asked Ted, when Stella announced +that Singing Bird was well enough to travel. + +"I don't know what she wants to do," said Stella. "One thing I am sure +of, I am not going to see her come to any harm. I have grown very fond +of her, for she is a sweet, good girl." + +"Let us ask her what she wants to do. I suppose we shall have to abide +by her decision, for we cannot turn her adrift." + +Singing Bird was sitting in front of her tent in the sun, watching the +cowboys sitting around their camp, weaving horsehair bridles, cleaning +their guns, mending their clothes, and doing other things that fall to +the leisure of a cow camp. + +"Singing Bird, you are well now, and able to travel," said Stella, +sitting down on the grass. + +The girl looked at her and then at Ted with an expression of alarm in +her face. They both saw that she feared what was coming. + +"What do you want to do, Singing Bird? We must be on the trail again, +for we have a long way to go to the big pasture to the north," Stella +continued. + +"I want to stay with you, sister," said the Indian girl simply. "I will +die if you send me away. I will slave for you if you will only let me +stay near you. I have no one else on earth. My husband has cast me out; +my father will not have me back; the white man does not want the Indian. +I am alone in the world. You have saved my life. I am your slave." + +"That settles it," said Stella, with the hint of tears in her eyes. "You +shall stay with me, dear. Ted, get ready to move the herd whenever you +are ready. Singing Bird goes with me." + +"All right," said Ted, glad that the matter was so easily disposed of. +"You can do whatever you want to with this outfit. If you say she goes, +why, she goes." + +He went out to where the boys were to give orders for getting the herd +on the move again. + +"We'll hit the trail in the morning," he said. "It will take some time +to break camp, and we might as well stay around here the rest of to-day +and get an early start in the morning." + +Far out on the prairie they heard a cheery shout, and saw coming toward +them a horseman, driving before him a bunch of six steers. + +"Git on to ther new herd crossin' our trail," said Bud derisively. +"Jumpin' sand, hills, but thet feller hez a big bunch o' cattle." + +"Wonder where he got them all. He's surely a big drover," said Kit. + +But the stranger hustled the six steers into the camp, and pulled up a +scrawny little cayuse, and, taking off his hat with a flourish to Stella +and Hallie, who had joined the boys, said: + +"Your pardon, ladies an' gents, but what may be ther brand that is +burned inter ther hides o' yer esteemed cattle?" + +Ted looked at him questioningly, and saw a tall, thin, bronzed +individual, dressed in a most unusual costume for a cow-puncher, for +such he evidently was from the manner in which he had driven the cattle, +and the way in which he sat and handled his horse. + +He had a strange face, half humorous and half sinister. One moment he +would be merry and gay, but in an instant, and for an instant only, it +would change to suspicion and caution. He was lean of frame, but very +muscular, and his eyes were of a keen, piercing blue. + +"Any particular reason for wanting to know?" asked Ted quizzically, +smiling up at the tatterdemalion of a cowboy. + +"Well, I reckon," was the drawling reply. "I picked up six strays out +here a ways, an' they don't belong ter no brand in this yere part o' +ther country, so I suspicions they belong ter some pilgrims' road brand. +Now, yours is ther only bunch o' trail cattle what's passed this way +recently, an' me, bein' wise ter ther ways o' ther plains, hez ther +hunch thet they might be yours. Right cute o' me, wa'n't it?" + +Ted laughed at the chap's half-humorous, half-serious manner. + +"Our brand is the Lazy Z," he replied. + +"Then them critters aire yourn. Look 'em over, an' if they don't belong +ter you, hand 'em back, an' I'll make 'em ther noocleus o' a herd o' my +own." + +Ted rode up to the six strays, which were peacefully grazing not far +away, and examined the brand. They belonged to the herd, all right, and +he said so. + +"Well, stranger, much obliged to you for picking them up and bringing +them in," said Ted. "Now, what can I do for you? Those critters are +worth a hundred dollars or more to this outfit. I'll split with you." + +"No, you won't, stranger, seein' it's all ther same ter you. I may be a +measly, fleabitten, hongry, lone maverick o' ther plains, but thar's one +thing I ain't, an' that's a 'lost and found' department, 'suitable +reward offered, an' no questions asked.' When I picks up a man's strays +I hands 'em in if I can find him, or if I was so blame' hongry I +couldn't resist ther temptation I might butcher one fer ther sake o' +sinkin' my molars inter a tenderloin steak. But thet's ther wust a +feller could say fer me. If ther critters aire yours, take 'em, an' +welcome." + +"All right, pardner," said Ted, who had taken a fancy to the fellow. "At +least, you'll eat with us." + +"Shore I'll break bread. I'm as hongry ez a shipwrecked sailor. When +does ther tocsin sound?" + +"The dinner bell will ring in about half an hour. Get down and turn your +cayuse out to graze, and join us about the fire." + +"Which means ter open ther mouth o' my war bag, an' give up my +pedigree." + +"Something like that," said Ted, with a laugh. + +The ungainly cow-puncher slid out of his saddle like an eel, and slipped +the saddle and bridle off his pony, and, giving it a slap on the haunch, +sent it out to eat. + +Throwing his horse furniture on the ground near the fire, he squatted in +the ring of boys about, and proceeded to roll a cigarette in a leisurely +way. + +"Say, hombre," he said, looking at Ted. "You've got a mighty tidy outfit +yere." + +Ted nodded, and continued to watch the stranger's face. + +"Which outfit mought it be?" asked the cow-puncher, picking a live coal +out of the fire and placing the end of his cigarette against it. + +"Moon Valley, Black Hills," said Ted. + +"An' your name mought be----" + +"Ted Strong." + +The stranger paused with his cigarette halfway to his lips, and lifted +his eyebrows. + +"Sho! Yer don't say?" + +"But I do." + +"Well, I'm right proud ter meet up with yer, an' be able ter do yer a +small service. My handle is numerous, not because I've ever had any +serious reason ter change ther one my daddy give me, but because ther +cow-punchers has a most humorous way o' hitchin' whatever label they +thinks fits onter a man." + +"What's your present label?" asked Ted. + +"Ther cognomen what I packs with me now is sure fantastical. I'm known +on ther Western free range as 'The Woofer.'" + +"'The Woofer'? That's a strange name." + +"It ain't my real name, which is 'Tennessee Al.'" + +"How did you come to be named 'The Woofer'?" + +"Well, it's jest a piece o' foolishness," said the cow-puncher, laughing +at the recollection of it. + +"Tell us about it." + +"Well, it was this away: About two year ago last Chrismus I wuz punchin' +cows over on Coburn's ranch. Chrismus Eve ther boys got some cagy, an' +we all decided ter go inter Cut Bank, ther tradin' town some ten mile +away, an' cellybrate. It wuz a bad night, with ther wind blowin' out o' +ther nor'west, an' ther promise o' a bliz. + +"Wallace Coburn balks some at ther boys leavin' ther cattle, fer he sees +thet thar's some danger o' their driftin' in ther night. But yer don't +can up a lot o' cow-punchers Chrismus Eve when they wants ter go, so +finally he grunts out that we kin go, an' off we starts. + +"'Fleshy' Wheeler, so called because he wa'n't no bigger round nor a +lemonade straw, kep' a saloon in Cut Bank, an' thar wuz ter be a day. +Well, we-all went ter ther dance, which progressed beautiful, when one +o' ther boys come in an' announces that a big herd o' cattle had drifted +through ther town while we wuz trippin' ther light fantastic toe, and +that one o' ther critters had fallen inter ther town well. + +"Naturally, ther town people objected ter havin' range cow mixed in with +their drinkin' water, an' hinted strong that it wuz up ter us +cow-punchers ter git it out, at ther same time emphasizin' their +invitation with a lot o' shiny six-shooters. + +"Well, we goes inter caucus, an' decided thet ther cow belongs ter ther +Coburn outfit, an' that we're too humane ter let a pore critter stay in +a well Chrismus Eve, when joy an' peace an' merriment is reignin' +everywhere. + +"Now, as you-all knows, when a cow is hauled out o' a bog or a well she +don't feel no gratitood, she jest gits mad plumb through an' h'ists her +tail, an' runs fer ther fust thing she sees afoot, with her horns ready +fer immediate business. + +"Before we goes out ter git ther cow outer ther well, we tells Fleshy +ter stand guard at the door, an' when ther cow charges, ter let us in, +then slam ther door in ther cow's face. He agrees. + +"We ropes ther cow, an' altogether pulls her out an' puts her on terry +firmy. Then we hits it up fer ther house, with ther cow as mad as a +woman scorned, an' only two jumps behind me, what is ther last man ter +git under way. + +"Ther boys hits ther house, an' Fleshy lets 'em in, but me, bein' some +feet behind, he doesn't see, at least, that's ther way he explains ter +me later, an' he slams ther door in my face jest ez ther cow arrives. + +"My only chance is ter keep runnin', an' I starts around ther house, +hopin' that when I gits ter ther door ag'in Fleshy will have discovered +his mistake, an' have it open hospitablelike fer me, but cold feet fer +ther cow. + +"But, no, ther door is closed an' bolted, an' I start on another lap +around ther house with Mrs. Cow a-snortin' an' a-blowin' in my immediate +vicinity, an' comin' fast. Every time I hit ther ground with my hoofs I +grunted 'woof.' I wuz gittin' winded, what with runnin' an' yellin', so +thet I wuz gruntin' 'woof' most all ther time. + +"Inside, all wuz merriment, an' me runnin' fer my life, fer ther cow wuz +most industrious, an' didn't know what it wuz ter git tired. + +"Well, ter make a long tale short, I kept runnin' an' gruntin' 'woof' at +every jump, ther sweat runnin' down an' freezin' on my clothes, until +mornin', when ther cow gits tired an' goes away. Then ther boys comes +out an' finds me, an' says they're mighty surprised ter see me, havin' +conclooded that I'd gone home. + +"'We hear somethin' goin' "woof" all night, an' thought it wuz ther +cow,' says Fleshy, 'an' we didn't dast open ther door fer fear she'd +want ter come in, an' as there wuz ladies there, it wouldn't do. Wuz +that you what was woofin' all night?' + +"After that I wuzn't nothin' ter them boys but 'The Woofer.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +SINGING BIRD'S SECRET. + + +The boys laughed at the story, for Woofer, as they began to call him +immediately, told it in a most comical manner. They all took to him +immensely, and regarded him as quite an acquisition to the camp. + +Dinner was announced by McCall, the cook, and Woofer certainly did +justice to it, being, as Bud remarked in an aside to Hallie, "holler all +the way down to his toes." He confessed that he had had nothing to eat +but a little mud, which he had absorbed when he got a drink at a water +hole, since the noon of the day before. + +Ted had been thinking about the man. It would do no harm to have another +puncher in the outfit, and would relieve the night guard, which at times +was a little overworked. + +"Say, Woofer, you won't take a reward for bringing in our strays, how +would you like a job with this outfit?" he said. + +"I don't want you to think I'm workin' ther grub line," said the +cow-puncher quickly. + +When a cow-puncher is said to be working the grub line, he is known as a +thriftless cowman who cannot hold a job long anywhere, and who travels +from ranch to ranch, staying only long enough at each to get fed up, +then passing on with a few dollars in his pocket, to repeat the +operation elsewhere. + +"Certainly not," answered Ted. "If I believed that I wouldn't offer you +the job." + +"All right," said Woofer. "This outfit looks good to me, an' I'll jine, +an' go ter work instanter." + +"You're on the pay roll, then." + +Woofer proved quickly that he knew the business thoroughly, and when, +the next morning, the herd got under way, he took the left point, with +Bud on the right, and headed the herd into the north. + +For several days life on the trail was monotonous. Whenever Ted could be +spared from the herd he and Stella and Hallie Croffut, and sometimes Ben +or Kit, took long rides off the trail with their rifles, after a +pronghorn or black-tail deer, and frequently they had venison for +supper. + +The life was most fascinating to Hallie, who enjoyed every minute of it, +and had seemingly forgotten the unpleasant features of her start with +the party. + +Singing Bird rode in the wagon, with Mrs. Graham, waiting on that lady +in the capacity of maid. Stella had undertaken to teach her the duty of +maid, and the girl soon did for Mrs. Graham what had taken a great deal +of Stella's time. + +The Indian girl was devoted to Stella, and whenever she was near, +followed the pretty white girl with eyes in which shone devotion and +affection. + +She had made herself so useful, and was so self-effacing that every one +wondered how they had ever been able to get along without her. + +Stella had conceived a real affection for her, she was so gentle and +sweet of manner. + +They had long talks together in the evenings, sitting away from the +fire, the Indian girl telling her white friend all about the life led by +the Indians, their wrongs at the hands of the white men, their religious +beliefs, their songs, and their folklore. + +And, more important than all, she taught Stella the language of the +Blackfeet and the Sioux. Stella was a good scholar, and it was +surprising how rapidly she picked up the Indian tongues. Later she was +to feel gratitude to the Indian girl for this knowledge. + +For several days Stella had noticed that Singing Bird was uneasy and +apparently unhappy, and it worried her. + +She spoke to Ted about it, and he was of the opinion that the Indian +girl was getting homesick, that her wild nature was asserting itself, +and that she was experiencing a longing to be among her own people +again, and free from the conventions of civilized life. + +Stella did not think so, and determined to speak to Singing Bird about +it at the first good opportunity. + +One day the chance came as they were walking together in a wood near +which they had camped. + +"What is the matter with you, sister?" asked Stella kindly. "Is it that +you are not satisfied with our ways, and that you want to leave us?" + +Singing Bird looked at her with troubled eyes, in which the tears soon +began to well up. + +"My sister knows that I love her," she said, "and that I would not leave +her unless she wishes me to." + +She looked at Stella inquiringly. + +"No, I want you to stay. But if you are troubled, you must tell me as +one sister would tell another." + +"I will tell you," said the Indian girl simply, "and I would have told +you long ago, only that I did not want to trouble you, nor make trouble +for any one else in the camp." + +"What do you mean by making trouble for any one else in the camp?" + +"I mean that the new man who drives the cows is a bad man. Beware of +him." + +"You mean the man called Woofer?" + +"Yes, it is he whom I mean. He is the traitor, and he doesn't like the +master, Ted Strong." + +"How do you know that?" + +"From what he has said to me. He is the bad man." + +"But tell me all about it. I didn't know that he had talked to you, +even. Why did you not tell me this before?" + +"The white man threatened to kill me if I told." + +"Now you must tell me all." + +"We will sit down here, for there is much to tell." + +Singing Bird took a seat upon a fallen tree, and Stella sat down beside +her. + +"Proceed," said Stella, "and leave nothing out." + +"When he first came to the camp, I wished he would not stay," began +Singing Bird, "but every one seemed to think he was the good man, and +who am I to say anything against the wishes of my friends who saved my +life and made me a home?" + +"Did you know him then?" + +"Yes. I have seen him at the white soldiers' fort. He is the friend of +Running Bear. He is a bad man, who steals other men's cattle." + +"But he brought ours back to us." + +"That was a trick to get into your camp. He is as cunning as a bad +Indian. One day he came to me when no one was about, and told me that he +had seen my husband, Running Bear, and that I must go back to him. I was +frightened, but told him I would not do so. Then he begged me to tell +him the secret I have. I told him I could not do it." + +"You have never told me that secret." + +"But I will. Always I have intended to do so." + +"When you are ready. But go on." + +"Then he told me that if I would tell him the secret he would marry me +himself." The Indian girl flushed. "You know, sister, that it is a great +thing for an Indian girl to marry a white man." + +"But you are already the wife of Running Bear," said Stella, who was +puzzled. + +"That is the Indian marriage, and soon broken. But when I told him I +didn't want to marry him, he got very angry. I told him I was going to +stay with you, and he said that if I did I would be killed with all the +rest of you; that it was coming, and that Mr. Strong had many enemies +who were stronger than all of you." + +"Did he hint when this was going to take place?" + +"Yes, when we get to the Far North." + +"Did he say anything else?" + +"He told me that if I didn't go with him to-night he would kill me when +I slept." + +"We shall see about that," said Stella spiritedly. "But why is all this +fuss being made about you and your secret? It must be something very +important." + +"Yes, to the white man, but not to the Indian." + +"Then why did Running Bear shoot you because you would not tell him?" + +"He wanted to sell the secret to a white man for whisky." + +"Who is the white man? Do you know?" + +"Yes. But I do not like to tell." + +"You have told me so much, you must tell me the rest." + +"The white man is a soldier at the fort." + +"A common soldier?" + +"No, a chief, who carries a sword." + +"Oh, an officer. What is his name?" + +"He is called Barrows." + +"Oh! And he offered Running Bear whisky for your secret? That is bad." + +"Yes. Chief Barrows wants the secret, and he has sent the man who drives +cows here to make me tell it." + +"Singing Bird, you must tell me the secret." + +"I will." + +Stella settled herself to hear the Indian girl's story. + +"It began when I was a little child," said Singing Bird. "One time when +my father's tribe was hunting, we came to a place where a lot of white +men were digging in the sands of the big, muddy river." + +"Was that the Missouri?" + +"The white men call it so. We camped beside them, and one day I saw them +washing out of the sand little grains of yellow metal, which they +thought much of, although the Indians would rather have iron, the black +metal." + +"They were hunting for gold." + +"Yes. In their talk with my father they said that somewhere up the river +was the mother of the gold, where all this came from. They asked my +father if he knew where it was. + +"Now, my father had found where there was plenty of the yellow metal. +But he, too, was shrewd, and, seeing that the white men prized it so +highly, he thought he would go back and get the gold, and sell it to the +white men for iron and shot and powder and blankets. + +"The white men guessed that he knew where the mother of gold was, and +asked him. But he refused to tell them, and went away. + +"The white men followed us for days. One evening I was with my mother, +and heard my father tell her where the yellow metal was on the opposite +side of the river, pointing to a great sycamore tree that grew on the +river bank. 'Beneath that tree lies much of the yellow metal,' he said +to her, and I saw the tree, and knew what he said was true. + +"That night the white men came to our camp and had a long talk with my +father, trying to make him tell where the mother gold was, and, when he +would not, suddenly they fell upon the camp, and, after killing some of +the young men, drove my father and the others away. At the first shot my +mother ran away into the woods with me." + +"That was horrible," interjected Stella. + +"As my mother ran, she was shot in the back, but she kept on running +until she was out of sight before she fell. + +"Then the white men went away, and I lay there with my mother until she +breathed no more and was cold. + +"I cried for a long time because it was dark and cold, and I could hear +the wild animals in the woods all about me. + +"This frightened me, and I began to call 'Ai-i-e!' which is the Indian +way of lamentation, and I cried louder all the time to keep the wild +animals from me." + +"And did no one hear you?" + +"Yes. In the night I heard a noise in the wood, and it was the noise of +a man walking, an Indian man, for it was soft, made by moccasins. Then I +cried louder, and soon my father came and picked both me and my mother +up in his arms and carried us away into the woods, where he buried my +mother, and went away into the North again. + +"But as I grew up, I thought often about the mother gold and the place +where it was hidden by the Great Spirit, for so I had heard my father +say. Once when I spoke of it to my father he told me never to speak of +it to him again, for it was cursed, having taken away from him his son, +who was killed by the white men, and my mother. + +"So never did I talk of it. But when Running Bear heard of it from some +of the old men who had been with my father, and heard that I was the +only one of all the tribe who knew where it was, he began to court me, +and then bought me of my father for twenty ponies. + +"We had not been married long when he asked me to take him to the place +of gold, but my father told me not to do so, and I did not. Then he +began to beat me, and tried to kill me, but the secret is still mine. + +"In time others heard that I possessed the great secret of the hiding +place of the mother gold, for when Running Bear was drunk he would boast +that his squaw was the richest woman in the world, because of her +secret, and many men have tried to get it from me. Then the army chief, +who carries the sword, got hungry for the gold, and gave Running Bear +plenty of whisky to make me tell where it was, and now he has sent +Woofer to make me tell, or to kill me." + +"Will you tell Ted Strong where the mother gold is hidden?" asked +Stella. + +"I will, if you wish me to. But it is accursed." + +"Nonsense. That is only a superstition. Now that you have told me, all +will be well. Be careful, and do not let Woofer see you alone, and if he +lays his hand on you, scream for me. We will now go back to the camp." + +As the two girls walked away with their arms around one another's +waists, a tall, gaunt man rose from behind a dead tree not far away, and +over his face spread a shrewd smile. + +It was Woofer. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +A NIGHT CHASE. + + +The tent occupied by Singing Bird was pitched some distance from that +occupied by Mrs. Graham and the two girls, Stella and Hallie, and when +she had attended to the wants of Mrs. Graham, she retired to it. + +It was early in the evening, and when she saw that her friend had +retired, Stella sought out Ted, and told him the story she had heard +that afternoon. + +At first Ted was inclined to be somewhat incredulous about Woofer's +share in it as told by the Indian girl, but when he thought it over and +put together certain facts which had come to his attention, and recalled +questions, apparently innocent at the time they were asked, which Woofer +had put to him from time to time, he began to suspect that the merry +cow-puncher was, after all, merely acting a part. + +Ted took Bud into consultation, and the three went over the matter +carefully. + +If it were true that Barrows was after the gold, he had a double cause +to do injury to the broncho boys. + +There could be no doubt that Barrows, by virtue of his position, was +capable of being a very dangerous foe, especially in this part of the +country where the boys were virtually alone, and where they had no +friends, and were compelled to rely absolutely upon themselves. + +That their doings were probably known to Barrows by means of a system of +espionage conducted by Woofer, who, Ted now recalled, was in the habit +of leaving the camp for long, solitary rides at intervals. What could be +easier than when Woofer heard them talking about their plans to ride out +and meet a courier sent by Barrows to get the information? + +Ted resolved not only to fight Barrows with his own weapons, and to a +finish, but to interfere with his plans to get the gold in the mine to +which Singing Bird only could guide them. + +It was necessary, therefore, to guard the Indian girl closely, and this +he proposed to do, and when he had rid the camp of Woofer, and scoured +the country for Barrows' spies and sent them off, he would proceed to +the mine. + +As it was, they were headed in the direction of the Missouri River, and +it would not be at all out of their way, or interfere with their +business. + +Woofer was sitting with the boys around the camp fire, regaling them +with stories of cow-punching in various parts of the country, and making +of himself a most agreeable companion, and Ted, watching him carefully, +could see nothing guilty or suspicious about him. + +But that didn't prevent him from keeping his eyes open. + +Gradually the camp settled down for the night. + +Stella went to bed after she had peeped into the tent occupied by +Singing Bird, and satisfied herself that she was sleeping quietly and +safely. + +One by one the boys rolled themselves in their blankets beside the fire, +and dropped into deep slumber. + +Woofer had said good night among the first, saying that he was very +tired, and would "crawl into the wool," as he expressed it. + +Only the night guard was awake, as they rode around and around the +sleeping herd, their voices breaking out softly into song as a restless +steer arose and sniffed the air and began to walk around. + +Ted was lying in his blankets, breathing softly and deeply, evidently +sound asleep. + +Overhead the stars sparkled brightly, casting a radiance upon the earth +that made things several feet distant perfectly observable. + +Woofer's blankets had been spread at the edge of the circle farthest +from the fire. Ted also slept on the outer rim, and not more than ten +feet from Woofer. + +It was past midnight, as Ted could tell by the stars, for he was not +asleep, although feigning to be. + +He lay facing the place where Woofer was circled up in his blankets, +when he saw the cow-puncher raise his head cautiously, not more than an +inch or two, and look around. + +Ted closed his eyelids to a mere crack, for the light from the fire +shone on his face, and in that position watched Woofer's movements. + +Woofer was very sly and cautious. Ted had observed that he had +ostentatiously pulled off his boots when he lay down. Now he could see +by the movements of the blankets that he was pulling them on again out +of sight. + +"That fellow is going to get up in a minute," thought Ted, "and I think +I know just what he is going to do." + +He had not long to wait, for presently Woofer crawled out of his +blankets on the far side, and began to wriggle away on his belly, like a +snake. + +Ted still kept his eyes upon him. + +Once Woofer stopped and looked back to see if his escape from camp had +been observed, or if any one was stirring. + +Ted had not moved, and apparently was as sound asleep as ever. + +Reassured that no one had seen him leave his blankets, Woofer proceeded +until he was without the radius of the camp fire's glow, when he rose to +an upright position. + +But Ted could still follow him by the starlight. + +Evidently believing himself safe, Woofer did not again look around, but +walked slowly and silently toward the tents, which were plainly to be +seen about fifty feet distant from the fire. + +The tent in which the Indian girl was sleeping was farther from the fire +than that occupied by Mrs. Graham and her two charges. + +Ted had slipped from his blankets at the moment when Woofer rose to his +feet, and was creeping along, close to the ground paralleling Woofer's +progress, but about twenty feet to the left. + +Woofer arrived at the Indian girl's shelter and stopped, and seemed to +be listening. + +This gave Ted time to creep nearer. + +He saw the cow-puncher lift the flap of the tent and look within, still +listening carefully for anything that would tell him that Singing Bird +was awake. + +Ted was not more than ten feet away when Woofer disappeared. + +He had entered the tent. + +Suddenly from within it there came a muffled cry, then the tent began to +pitch and toss. Evidently a savage struggle was going on within. + +But it was all so silent that had Ted not been within striking distance +of it, he would not have heard anything of it. + +Suddenly the tent flew apart, and Woofer appeared, carrying in his arms +the insensible form of the Indian girl. + +Woofer was a very powerful man, and he ran swiftly from the tent bearing +the girl in his arms as if she were a child. + +Ted dashed after him. It did not occur to him to raise an alarm. + +But as swiftly as he ran, Woofer had the better of him, for a few +strides took him out of Ted's sight. + +Ted stopped and listened, blaming himself for not closing with Woofer +sooner. + +Not a sound of Woofer's retreat came to his ears. + +Suddenly he heard a nicker at his elbow almost, and looked around. It +was Sultan, who had smelled him, and had come to him, and was now +rubbing his velvety nose against Ted's sleeve. + +In an inspiration Ted leaped upon his back, and caught the headstall, +which he always left on Sultan when he turned him loose in the night so +that he could get him in a hurry should there be a night alarm of any +sort. + +An idea came to him as soon as he felt Sultan under him. + +Woofer undoubtedly had thought to have a horse saddled and ready waiting +for him somewhere near the camp. If he could only get Sultan to call to +it and get an answer, he would soon find him. + +He had no sooner conceived the thought when Sultan whinneyed like a +trumpet call. + +From a distance came an answering cry. It was the voice of Magpie, and +Ted knew it well. Stella's little black-and-white mare and Sultan were +the greatest friends, and when she heard him call, she replied. + +Woofer was about to steal the most valuable and swiftest of the animals, +except Sultan. That was another reason why Ted was now so keen on the +chase. He turned Sultan's head in the direction of Magpie's call, and +the little stallion galloped away like the wind. + +Ted had no bridle, but that was not necessary, for he and Sultan +understood one another so well that a slight pressure of the rider's +knees was all the guidance the horse needed. + +Again came Magpie's shrill call, and this time Sultan nickered and +fairly flew. Somewhere ahead, in the darkness, Ted heard for the first +time the hoofbeats of the pony, and knew that Woofer had reached it and +was away. + +"Follow her; catch her, Sultan," called Ted, and Sultan seemed to +understand, and let himself out to his full stride, although he missed +the firm, guiding hand on the bridle. + +Magpie was put to her utmost, but she was heavily handicapped by +carrying double for a race against Sultan, who was not even burdened by +the heavy saddle he usually bore. + +So it was that Sultan steadily gained on the little mare, who was not +disposed to do her utmost even under whip and spur, which Woofer did not +spare. + +They were now racing in the dark along the ridge of a deep coulee, the +wall on the right of which went down steeply to a depth of thirty or +more feet. + +Ted could not see the way, but he knew that they were riding a perilous +path, and that a slip of the foot or a rolling rock might cost them +their lives. + +But he knew Sultan's feet were sure, and that unless an accident which +could not be avoided took place, they were safe. + +He had so gained on Woofer that he could now see him dimly outlined +against the sky in advance of him. + +If it were only level ground on which he could urge Sultan, it would not +be a matter of more than a few minutes before he would be up with him. + +But evidently Woofer saw him, also, for there was the flash of a +revolver, and a ball sang past Ted's head. + +He dared not fire in return for fear of hitting Singing Bird. + +But the race must end soon, for Ted was steadily gaining. + +At length they swept down from the ridge and into the coulee, along the +level bottom of which they galloped, Sultan always edging up, closer and +closer to Magpie, who evidently was slowing down. + +Now Ted spoke to Sultan and urged him for the first time, and the +gallant little beast spurted forward, and in an instant's time was +abreast of the other horse. + +Ted's eyes were almost put out by a blinding flash, and there was a +deafening roar. + +Woofer had placed his forty-five close to his head, leaning far out of +his saddle, and fired. + +By same interposition of Providence, however, the ball went past his +head, singeing his hair, and he bent forward and struck Woofer on the +head with the butt of his own weapon. + +Woofer seemed to shrink in the saddle, like a wet rag, and the Indian +girl was slipping from his arms to the ground when Ted seized her and +transferred her to his own saddle. + +At the same moment the insensible form of Woofer slipped to the ground. + +Feeling herself free of her burden, Magpie came to a stop, and trotted +back to where Ted was waiting for her, and rubbed noses with Sultan. + +The Indian girl had been rendered unconscious by a blow on the head in +the tent, and was just recovering as Ted rescued her from a fall to the +ground. + +Presently she opened her eyes, and, not knowing what had taken place +within the last few minutes, she tried to struggle out of Ted's arms, at +the same time uttering shrill screams, and trying to use her finger +nails on his face. She was fighting like a wild cat, and it was all Ted +could do to prevent her from injuring him, while he was trying to get +her quiet enough to realize the change in her fortunes. + +Finally she recognized his voice and ceased to struggle, but sat up and +looked at him in amazement. + +"It is I, Singing Bird," said he. "I followed you and took you away from +Woofer. You are safe." + +Then she saw it was so, and remained quiet. + +He let her slip to the ground, and then assisted her to mount Magpie, +and thus they rode slowly back to camp. + +Before going Ted got down from Sultan's back and found Woofer, who was +lying where he fell. He was not in a serious condition, but Ted knew +that he would suffer from a severe headache when he awoke. Then he would +have to take care of himself, alone on the vast prairie without a horse. +But it was his own lookout, and perhaps it would teach him a much-needed +lesson. + +When they reached camp the night guard was changing, and, seeing Ted and +the Indian girl come riding in together, the boys aroused the whole camp +with their eager questions. + +Ted told them briefly all that had happened during the attempted +abduction of Singing Bird, but the time was not ripe to divulge the +burden of the Indian girl's story of the gold in the mother lode. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +THE LOCOED STEER. + + +The daring attempt to abduct the Indian girl made a strong impression on +every one of the Moon Valley outfit, and they resolved that they would +not be caught napping in that manner again. + +The herd continued to move forward slowly toward the north, with nothing +to vary the monotony. + +The long, grassy slopes of Montana furnished the best of feed, and the +country was plentifully watered with clear, flashing mountain streams, +and, all in all, it was an ideal cow country. + +The herd was now well up toward the northeast corner of Montana, and not +far away was the Missouri, near the banks of which Ted intended to hold +the cattle until they were in fine condition, and then drive them by +easy stages to the railroad. + +One day Bud rode up to Ted with a very serious face, so unusual a thing +that Ted looked at him with a grin. + +"What's the grouch about now, Bud?" he asked. + +"I ain't got no grouch," answered Bud. + +"No? You look as if some one had handed you a lemon." + +"No lemons in mine, but I jest got a hunch that this yere outfit is +being follered, an' that thar's some dirty work doin'." + +"What makes you think that?" + +"I found a couple o' dead steers back a bit with our brand on them." + +"Great Scott! What seemed the matter with them?" + +"All swelled up." + +"Poison?" + +"That's what makes them swell up. There's no disease in ther herd, what +I kin diskiver. All healthy enough. But some o' them is showin' signs o' +loco, an' thar ain't no loco weed on this range." + +"That's mighty strange. I hadn't noticed it. What do you think of it?" + +"I believe that dog Woofer is follerin' us, an' has been spreadin' +poison o' some kind on ther range what either kills or makes ther steers +crazy." + +"If that is true, it is the most serious thing that has come our way in +a long time. It wouldn't take much of that sort of work to put the whole +bunch out of business and leave us with not enough cattle to pay to +drive back to the road." + +"That's right. We'd be in a pretty fix with the best o' our herd rottin' +out here on the prairie. And about all we've got is tied up in it, too." + +"What do you think is behind it?" + +"Barrows, the dirty little coward of an officer back there at Fort +Felton, striking back-hand blows at us through his money, by hirin' +crooks and murderers to do his dirty work. There's more than one man at +work at this." + +"I've no doubt you're right. By Jove! I'm going to take a look at the +situation myself." + +"Be careful about goin' too far away from the herd alone." + +"I will; and, say, warn Stella and Miss Croffut about going out of sight +of the herd, and to always fire a signal if strange men approach them +when away from camp." + +"I'll put everybody on, and warn them to be on their guard." + +As Ted rode on, he turned the matter over in his mind. + +Not knowing exactly if poison had been given the cattle, or if they had +eaten of a poisonous weed, of which he had no knowledge, Ted was in a +quandary. But it was questions like this that came before cowmen on the +range, and it was the successful ones who solved them. + +Ted felt, therefore, that it was up to him to get at the cause of the +trouble which had unexpectedly come to him. + +If he was being followed by a band of cattle poisoners who worked in the +night, the sooner he knew it the better, for he could then lay plans to +put them out of their nefarious business. + +As he rode, he came across three swollen bodies of steers, and examined +them. Clearly they had been poisoned, as Bud had said. + +Far out on the range he saw a lone steer. Thinking that it was a stray, +he rode toward it, with the intention of driving it back toward the +herd. + +For a herd steer, it was acting in an unaccountable manner. At times it +galloped away in a frantic sort of way, throwing its head from side to +side, then as suddenly stopping, and, with drooping head, standing +quietly. Then away it would go again, charging at some unseen foe, only +to become stupid once more. + +"Something wrong with that brute," said Ted to himself. "Either it has +got into a nest of rattlesnakes and has been bitten and is charging +them, or it is locoed. We'll soon see." + +He kept on fearlessly toward the steer, which continued its strange +conduct. + +When he was still several feet away the steer noticed him for the first +time, apparently. It lowered its head and looked at him in a dazed sort +of way. + +This steer was known as Blue Eyes, on account of the curious bluish +patch of hair that grew around one of its eyes. It had always been known +as a particularly intelligent and tractable beast. + +But now it was a very demon, with gleaming, blood-shot eyes and pawing +hoofs, uttering deep, guttural bellows, and throwing the sand up over +its back to the accompaniment of its thrashing tail. + +"You look pretty dangerous, old fellow," muttered Ted, stopping his pony +and gazing at it from a safe distance. + +"No signs of rattlesnakes around here, or I'd smell them," soliloquized +Ted. "Wonder what's the matter with you." + +For answer, the steer gave an extra flip to its tail, and, without +further warning, charged upon Ted with head down and wicked horns +gleaming like bayonets. Ted's horse gave a snort of fear, and trembled +in every muscle. + +Ted at once realized his danger, and wheeled his horse like a +bullfighter as Blue Eyes dashed past him, its horn scraping his leg. + +"It's fight or run," thought Ted, "with a poor chance to get away from +the brute. When they're in that condition they can run like an +automobile." + +Again the steer, having recovered itself, turned to the attack. + +"I'll have to put a few bullets into that brute, if this thing keeps up +much longer. It's just crazy enough not to be afraid of a man on +horseback, besides, it's a good deal more active than usual." Ted's +thoughts were keeping time with the swift actions of the brute, which +was wheeling and charging like mad, so that it took all his agility and +superb horsemanship to keep clear of it. + +Now the horse was getting tired, and was almost useless because it was +losing whatever sense it had had, and was becoming awkward and +unmanageable. + +The steer stood off for several minutes looking at Ted in a lowering +way, but when Ted tried to run from it, it was close to his heels in a +minute, and he had to simply throw the horse to one side, bringing it to +its knees, to avoid the brute. + +"That settles it," said Ted, taking his forty-five from its holster and +advancing slowly upon the frantic steer. + +As it started to charge again he fired directly at the middle of its +forehead. + +But the animal was hardly staggered, as the missile flattened on its +skull and fell harmlessly to the ground. + +"This won't do," said Ted. "I've got to get into this game myself. No +more peek-a-boo goes with Blue Eyes. I'll do the tackling for a while." + +He wheeled out of the way, then turned suddenly and rode after the +steer, firing four balls in rapid succession into its body. + +But this did not seem to affect the animal's spirits at all, and Ted +rode off a short distance and reloaded. + +When he turned again toward the beast it was charging, and was so close +to him that he hardly had time to get out of its way. + +He might have made it had not the horse caught the smell of blood, which +was running from the steer in several places. + +This rattled him so that he lost his footing, and the next instant he +was struck on the withers by the steer's horns and went rolling over and +over on the prairie, while Ted Strong flew from his back, and landed +heavily on the sod, with his revolver knocked from his hand. + +The locoed steer stood a few feet away pawing the earth and looking at +him with dim eyes, all blood-shot and crazy, not making a move toward +him, yet always seeming about to do so. + +Stealthily, inch by inch, Ted crawled toward where his forty-five lay on +the ground. + +It was six feet from where he lay to that gun, and he prayed silently +that he could reach it before the steer changed its mind and rushed him. + +He knew it would do no good for him to rise and go toward the weapon. If +he did, the steer would immediately rush him, and that would be the end +of things for him, for he would stand no chance whatever against that +terrible beast, crazed, and powerful beyond its ordinary strength. + +As long as he crept gently the steer seemed not to notice him. + +Now he was within five feet of the revolver with his arm stretched out +at full length. It was only four feet now, and still the steer did not +make any move to attack him. + +He was trying to think where he would shoot it. In the throat, ranging +so that the bullet would pierce its heart; or through the eye, and so +reach its brain. + +Now his fingers closed around the weapon, and he clutched it +convulsively, leaping to his feet like an acrobat. + +At the same moment the steer, bellowing like an insane thing, charged +upon him, and he fired into its blue eye. + +The ball pierced the brain and killed the brute instantly, but did not +stop the headlong flight of it, and before Ted could step out of its +way, it struck him with the force of a locomotive. As he went to the +ground, the dead steer fell on top of him. + +Ted's fight with the steer had been seen, and across the prairie two +flying figures simply split the air. When they reached the side of the +prostrate steer, they flung themselves to the earth and flew to the +rescue of Ted. One was Stella and the other was Bud. + +"Is he dead?" asked Stella breathlessly. + +"I reckon not," answered the cow-puncher, who, secretly, was very much +afraid he was; he didn't see how Ted could help being dead, having been +charged by a steer, and having gone down beneath its weight. + +He was struggling like a demon to lift the heavy animal from Ted's body. + +The bulk of the steer was lying across Ted's chest, whose face was black +from the congestion, so that Stella dared not look at him. + +"Pump yer gun fer all it's worth," commanded Bud, in a rough voice. +"Keep shootin' till yer bring 'em on ther run. We've got ter get him +from under this steer soon, er he'll be all in." + +Stella had snatched her Winchester from the boot of her saddle, and +fired it in rapid succession into the air until the magazine was empty. +Then she refilled it, and began shooting again. + +Presently she heard answering shots from the direction of the camp, and +in a few minutes several horsemen came tearing over the top of a distant +hill, to disappear into a valley and come into sight again on a nearer +hill. Soon, with a shout that fairly split the air, six of the boys, led +by Ben and Kit, threw themselves from their saddles in front of her. + +"What's the matter?" they yelled in unison. + +"Throw that steer off Ted," she commanded. + +Then they saw what the matter was, and altogether they hoisted the +steer, and Ted was freed of the terrible weight. + +He was scarcely breathing, for the wind had been completely knocked out +of him. Ben laid him flat on his back, and, straddling him, with his +knees on the ground, began to work Ted's arms with an upward, backward, +and outward motion, as if he was restoring the breath to a half-drowned +person. Soon a flush came into Ted's face, and he gave a gasp, and his +breath came in short, painful inhalations. As Ben continued the +exercise, his breathing became regular, and he opened his eyes with +surprise, to see so many of his friends about him, and particularly big +Ben straddling him and apparently holding him down. He thought at first +that Ben was responsible for his prostrate condition, or that he had +struck him. + +"What are you doing?" Ted said angrily. "Let me up, dog-gone you." + +But when he saw the dead steer on the ground beside him he remembered +what had happened, and sat up and laughed with the others. + +It did not take him long to recover after this. + +"I'm going to try to find out what caused this beast to go mad," said +Ted. "There's certainly something wrong about it." + +"How are you going to find that out?" asked Ben. + +"I don't know yet, but I will," Ted answered. "Come on, two or three of +you fellows. The rest of you ride back to the camp. You may be needed +there. We can't guard things too closely these days." + +The party separated, and Ted, with Bud, Ben, and Kit, rode away, but +they had gone only a little ways when they heard a noise behind them. It +was Stella galloping toward them. + +"I'm going, too," she said, and go she did. + +Riding about half a mile west they came to a deep coulee, into which +they descended and followed its course for a short distance, when +suddenly Ted held up his hand as a signal to halt. + +"I smell burning paper," he said, and, getting down from his saddle, +went forward alone on foot, as silently as an Indian. + +Suddenly he bent forward, examining something on the ground, and +motioned the others forward. They rode to his side, and saw him looking +at a small, dead camp fire. + +"Some one camped here last night," he said, thrusting his hand into the +warm ashes. "And whoever it was burned papers in it before he went away +this morning; the smell of them is still in the air." But no nose in the +party was keen-scented enough to detect it except Ted's. + +Ted was still pawing among the ashes, when a change in expression swept +over his face, and soon he pulled out several small pieces of charred +paper. They were only burned on their curled-up edges, and Ted saw that +they were covered with writing, evidently part of a letter. + +"What's this?" he exclaimed, after he had spread them out, and studied +them attentively. "Here are some words. There is not very much sense in +them, though." + +"What do they read?" asked Stella. + +"This is all I can make out of it: 'I *end you *** **nds of ***is **een. +***tter it on *** *rass. nce rr ws,'. Sounds as crazy as the steer, +doesn't it?" + +"That's as easy as living on a farm," said Stella, who had been looking +over Ted's shoulder. + +"All right, Miss Smarty, what is it?" said Ted laughingly. + +"See, it's part of instructions to some one, and the way I read it is +like this: 'I send you so many pounds'--I don't know just how many, but +from the spaces the weight is expressed in three letters or three +figures. The next is presumably a poison, although I wouldn't have +thought of it if you hadn't spoken of it. What does two words, the first +ending in 'is' and the other in 'een' mean, I wonder?" + +They all scratched their heads for an answer. + +"Why, sure, I have it," said Ted. "It is Paris green." + +"That's it. Clever boy. Then there's 'tter,' which simply shouts +'scatter' at you. After that 'rass.' That's not hard. It reads so far: +'I send you, say six, pounds of Paris green,' although it must have been +more than that. 'Scatter it on the grass.'" + +"But the rest of it. That will stump you," said Ben. + +"That's what caused me to get next to it first. It's Clarence Barrows, +as sure as you're born!" + +"Stella, you're right, by jinks!" shouted Bud. "Ther sweet-scented +Lieutenant Barrows has sent men out yere ter poison our critters, and +we've caught him with ther goods on." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +THE BOBWHITE'S CALL. + + +The discovery that Lieutenant Barrows had lent himself to such an +enormous crime in the sight of all cowmen as to attempt to poison a herd +of cattle, served to keep them all silent as they rode homeward, but +around the fire that night their tongues loosened as they discussed it. + +They told Hallie Croffut nothing about it, as they wished to save her +pain, for as far as any of them knew she was still betrothed to +Lieutenant Barrows, who was proving himself an enemy indeed. + +"I see how it is, and how easy," said Ted. "They have been following us +ever since we have been on the trail, but from a secure distance, +generally riding parallel with us, out of sight in coulees, watching us +continually." + +"But how could they poison our cattle, without our seeing some of them +sometimes?" asked Kit. + +"Easy enough. Probably there are only two of them, for more would be in +the way, and run more risk of being seen." + +"But about the poisoning part of it? I don't understand how they could +do it." + +"That's easy, too. They are probably a day ahead of us all the time, +guessing at our probable direction of march. If they guess it wrong, +they try it over again, for they are never more than a mile or so away. +When they pick out a place where they think we will graze, they scatter +the Paris green on the grass for the cattle to lick up. It takes a +good-sized dose of the poison to affect so large an animal as a steer, +and that is probably why we have not lost more of our stock by that +means. They could never get quite enough, that is, the most of them, to +kill them. Such as are dead did get enough to make them loco first, and +kill them afterward." + +"Another thing," said Kit: "We have had several heavy rains in the early +morning lately, and that has served to run the poison off." + +"I wouldn't wonder, also, if they haven't missed our route several +times, and left the Paris green to poison some other herd," said Stella. + +"Their salvation, I am convinced, is also due to the peculiar quality of +the water they have found to drink. Who knows but that it is a perfect +antidote for the Paris green?" said Ben wisely. + +"Oh, slush!" interposed Bud. "I reckon ther truth is they haven't begun +ter poison in right earnest yet. From ther letter, I would think that +they had just received the stuff and were trying it out before they +begin the big poisoning stunt. I'll bet Woofer is the chief actor, and +that he's just met ther feller what brought ther poison out with him. +Having found that it worked on a few o' ther cattle, they'll spread it +on thick ahead o' us. An' ther wust part o' it is, thar don't seem no +way ter circumvent 'em, onless we go hunt fer 'em, an' put 'em out er +business quick." + +"Well said, Bud," was Ted's comment. "There's no way of discovering the +confounded stuff. We can't go ahead with a microscope and a chemical +laboratory to analyze every blade of grass along the route for Paris +green. The best we can do is to take our chances and keep going north. +But I think we'd better establish outside picket lines which will stay +well in advance, and off to the flanks. If it can be done, this system +will succeed in at least frightening them off for a while. Everybody +prepare to stand extra hours in the saddle." + +A line of outriders was established at once, and the herd pushed on, and +for several days there were no evidences that any more of the cattle had +been poisoned. + +They were nearing the river, as they could tell by the gradual sloping +of the land to the east, and the flatness of the country. + +One afternoon about four o'clock Brock, one of the hired cow-punchers, +came riding into camp as fast as his horse would run, and fell out of +the saddle. He had been shot through the leg, and was almost insensible +from loss of blood when he succeeded in getting in. + +When he was able to speak, he said to Ted: + +"I was riding picket about two miles off to the west. As I topped a hill +I saw a body of men about a quarter of a mile away. With my glasses I +saw that they were soldiers, and wondered what they were doing so far +from a post, as there isn't one nearer here than Fort Felton." + +"Soldiers, eh?" asked Ted. "Cavalry or infantry?" + +"Cavalry." + +"How many of them were there?" + +"I should say about fifty." + +"Did they see you?" + +"They must have seen me, for I saw them brought to a halt, and remain +that way for several minutes, while the officer was looking at me +through his binoculars. After they had satisfied themselves as to what I +was, they galloped to the north, and I soon lost sight of them behind +the hills." + +"I wonder what troops are doing out here. I haven't heard of any trouble +with the Indians, and there is no gang of outlaws this far north that it +would take troops to subdue." + +Stella looked at Ted significantly, and he read her thoughts. + +Could it be that Lieutenant Barrows had been able to use his influence, +or his cunning, to bring a detachment of troops so far away from the +post to attend to his own personal affairs, while ostensibly on the +government's business? + +He dismissed the thought, however, as soon as it was conceived. It +appeared to be too ridiculous. + +However, they were all on their guard now. They realized that there were +others on the range, and they were aware that a powerful and vindictive +enemy was close at hand. + +"How did you come to receive the shot in the leg?" asked Ted, breaking +the silence. + +"As I turned to ride to camp to report what I had seen, something moved +down in the coulee. At first I thought it might be a wolf or coyote, but +as I drove the pony into it a shot was fired, and it got me in the leg. +I didn't wait for any more, as I did not know how many men there might +be, and I deemed it wise to get to camp alive with the news." + +"The poisoners!" was Ted's brief comment. + +"They've got us pretty well hemmed in," said Ben. "They mean business." + +"Yes, but we'll break through, and beat them yet," said Ted, with +conviction. + +But they were a long ways from being out of danger yet as they were soon +to know. + +That evening Ted, accompanied by Stella and Hallie, rode out of camp. +Ted wanted to spy out the land in advance to see if there were any signs +of the troops and the poisoners. + +They were riding along out of sight of the camp, talking cheerfully and +feeling perfectly safe, when they were brought to a sudden stop by a +command, "Halt!" given in a gruff tone. + +They stared in amazement when they saw that they were surrounded by a +detachment of soldiers, and that the command had been given by a +sergeant. A dozen carbines were leveled at them. + +"What's the meaning of this?" asked Ted, with a smile. + +"Orders for your arrest," answered the sergeant gruffly. "Disarm the +man." + +Several soldiers stepped to Ted's side, and the one who attempted to +take Ted's rifle from its boot on the saddle received a kick on the +chest that sent him sprawling on his back. + +But as the kick was delivered, and before he could do anything further +in his defense, Ted was struck a ringing blow on the head with the butt +of a carbine, and was dragged from the saddle. + +As he went down he heard a shout of alarm. + +"Don't shoot!" he heard the sergeant cry. "Let her go. We don't want +her, anyway." + +Then Ted knew that Stella had escaped, to carry the news back to the +boys, and to bring assistance. + +"I wish the Indian girl had been along," the sergeant said to one of the +men. "We'd have all we wanted, then." + +"Oh, we'll get her later," was the reply. + +Ted was hoisted to his feet in no gentle manner, and then he discovered +that his arms had been bound. Sitting on her pony was Hallie Croffut, +pale but calm, regarding the scene with an expression of contempt. + +"What is the meaning of this, Brown?" she asked, addressing the sergeant + +"Orders from a s'perior officer, miss," said the sergeant +apologetically, saluting respectfully. + +"Well, you and your superior officer will be sorry for this day's work +when the colonel hears of it," was all she said. + +The sergeant saluted again, and ordered the men to march. + +Ted was lifted into his saddle, and, in the center of the detachment, +was marched away. + +They rode thus for several miles, when, in the gathering dusk, Ted saw +ahead of him a small cabin. + +In a few moments they were in front of it, and Ted and Hallie were +assisted to the ground and bade to enter. + +In the center of the room, seated at a table, was Lieutenant Barrows, +who scowled at Ted, but hadn't the courage, apparently, to look at his +fiancee. + +Hallie Croffut did not address him, but he felt the glance of scorn she +gave him, for he winced under it. + +"For what am I arrested?" asked Ted coolly. + +"You will discover when your trial comes," was the cold reply. + +"And why have you dared to detain me?" asked Hallie. + +"Your father's orders, Miss Croffut," he said almost inaudibly. + +"I believe that you are lying. If you are, Heaven help you, for there is +not a decent man in all the army who will not hound you to disgrace. To +think that you would countenance this outrage against your colonel's +daughter is almost past belief. But now I know you for what you are, you +cur." + +Barrows went white as a sheet as she said this, and his lip curled back +from his teeth, like those of an angry dog, as he half rose to his feet +with a gesture as if he would strike her. But he thought better of it, +and sank back. + +"Brown, take them away," he said to the sergeant. "I will hold you +personally responsible for them." + +The sergeant saluted, and, catching Ted by the elbow, marched him into +the next room. + +Hallie Croffut started to follow him, when she was stayed by Barrows. + +"Hallie, won't you come back with me?" he pleaded. "If you will, I will +release Strong and let the rest of it go." + +"I wouldn't trust you out of my sight," said the girl. "Oh, how happy I +am that I have found you out in time. You are the most miserable +specimen of a man I ever heard of, and to think that you have called +yourself an officer and a gentleman. But this is the last for you. If +you were brave enough you ought to kill yourself to save the army from +the disgrace of having had you in it." + +"Curse you!" he cried, in impotent rage. "If you were not a woman I +would knock you down." + +"If you feel like it, don't let so small a matter that I am a girl and +your colonel's daughter interfere with your pleasure. Strike me!" + +But Barrows only stared at her with a white face, and with a muttered +curse left the room. + +"This way, miss," said the sergeant. She entered the room into which Ted +had been taken, but he was not there. + +In the middle of the floor was an open trapdoor. + +"I must ask you to go down there," said the sergeant. "You will find a +ladder. You will be safe, and it is not for long. We start for the post +soon, I am told." + +Hallie made no reply, but did as she was bid. + +The cellar was as dark as a pocket, and she could see absolutely nothing +as her feet touched the earth floor. + +But she found a box, and sat down upon it. The trap was closed, a bolt +shot in it, and she was in Stygian darkness. + +She was terribly frightened at first, but there were no rats in the +cellar, which she had at first feared, and she fell to thinking what it +all meant. Surely the army must have gone entirely mad that she, Hallie +Croffut, its pet, should be under arrest in a dark and musty cellar. + +But presently her heart stopped beating. In a far corner she heard a +faint noise. + +Something else was in the place with her. What could it be? Where was +Ted? What did it all mean? + +Then she heard a groan, and an uneasy movement. + +"Who is it?" Hallie asked, in a trembling voice. + +"Is that you, Hallie?" It was Ted's voice. + +"Yes, it is I. Where are you?" + +"Over here in the corner. Those brutes threw me down the ladder, and it +stunned me. Come here. Perhaps you can untie my hands. Then we will see +what chance there is for escape." + +Ted was soon released, and, climbing the ladder, tried the trapdoor, but +found it securely fastened. + +There had been no sound above them for some time, and Ted came to the +conclusion that the soldiers were gone. + +He was right. When the prisoners had been thrust into the cellar, +Barrows and his men rode away, leaving them alone. + +Hours dragged along in the dark, and they scarcely spoke to one another, +both lost in their thoughts. + +Suddenly Ted started up. Outside he heard a whistle, and he listened for +it to be repeated. It was the whistle of the bobwhite. He knew that +there were no quail in this region at this time of the year. He knew, +too, that it was an Indian signal which Stella and Singing Bird had used +between them. Could it be that Stella was outside, and that she was +signaling the house, and thinking it occupied, did not dare come to it? +He answered it as well as he could, knowing, however, that the sound +would not get beyond the cellar. + +For several minutes the whistling continued, then stopped. What if they +had gone away? + +After a long time, it seemed, he heard a stealthy noise overhead. Some +one was crawling through the window. Then there was a light step +overhead. + +"Ted! Hallie! Where are you?" It was Stella calling to them, and they +both raised their voices in a joyous shout. Then the bolt slipped, and +the trap was raised. + +"Come up out of there," cried Stella, "unless you like it. Singing Bird +and I started out after you. I met her on the way, and she trailed you +here. She has just started back for the boys." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +A DUEL WITH LARIATS. + + +Outside it was night, and beyond the clearing the woods were dark. Both +Ted's and Hallie's horses were gone, and it would be impossible for them +to start back toward the camp without them. + +"We'd better hide in the woods until morning," said Stella. "Singing +Bird will guide the boys here. Besides, we do not know when that brave +warrior Barrows will return with his soldiers." + +"That is a good idea," said Ted, and they crossed the clearing to the +woods, and found a place of concealment from which they could see all +that took place at the house. + +The night was far advanced, and the girls were sleeping on a couch of +dried pine needles, which Ted had gathered for them. + +Ted was on watch to shield them from harm, and to drive away the animals +of the night. + +He was half asleep himself, sitting with his back to a tree with his +head on his arms, which were crossed on his knees. + +An unusual sound brought him to his senses instantly, and he was +listening intently. + +He heard the sound of horses' feet, and the subdued rumble of men +talking. + +There were only two horses, and they were coming on uncertainly. + +Evidently their riders did not know their way, and were feeling along in +the dark, which was intense. + +"It ought to be along here somewhere." + +It was the voice of Woofer. + +"Well, I hope it is," said another voice, "I'm tired of this night +riding. When did the boss say he'd be here?" + +"Early in ther mornin'. He's goin' ter make an attack on ther cow camp +ter-night, an' what he don't kill he's goin' ter bring here, an' +stampede ther cattle an' scatter them all over ther range." + +Woofer laughed as he said it. + +"I don't care much what he does," he continued, "if he'll only turn over +ther Injun gal ter me. That'll be ernuff fer you an' me, I reckon." + +"Then what's he goin' ter do?" + +"He's goin' ter take that Croffut gal, he's jest crazy about her, an' +hike her off ter ther coast, an' put her aboard a private yacht he's got +there, an' that'll be ther last o' her in this community." + +"What's goin' ter happen ter ther rest o' them?" + +"He's got er nice little deal fixed up fer Ted Strong. He wuz tellin' me +thet if I wanted it, ther job was mine. I reckon I'll take it," and +Woofer laughed heartily. + +"You're ter be ther executioner, eh?" + +"That's about ther size o' it." + +"An' yer hate yer job, eh?" This was greeted with uproarious laughter. + +"Like a kid hates candy." + +"What's it goin' ter be?" + +"A little rope play, I reckon." + +"That's yer long suit. Hello, what's this? Here we are at the cabin." + +Ted heard the men dismount and enter the cabin, and then their voices +roaring with rage. + +"They've escaped, darn 'em!" they heard Woofer shout. "Hey, there, turn +out an' hunt 'em! Ther boss will be wild when he finds this out." + +"Hunt fer 'em nothin', in this dark? Yer wouldn't find 'em in a blue +moon. Why, it was all we could do ter find ther cabin." + +"Well, they can't git far away. We'll find 'em in ther mornin'." + +They retired to the cabin again, and slammed the door. + +"Did you hear that?" + +Stella's hand was on Ted's arm, and she whispered to him in an awed sort +of voice. + +"You awake?" he said. "Yes, I heard it, but don't let it worry you. They +won't get us very soon." + +They heard Hallie sobbing quietly. + +"What's the matter, dear?" asked Stella. "Don't be frightened." + +"Suppose he does," sobbed Hallie. + +"Suppose who does what?" asked Stella, throwing her arms around her +friend. + +"Suppose Lieutenant Barrows does get me and takes me away on a boat. Oh, +I shall kill myself!" + +"Never fear," said Ted. "He won't do that. Why, the whole army would be +up in arms and after him before he got fifty miles." + +Hallie took comfort in this, and slept again, while Ted and Stella +remained on guard. + +As the night wore on, they both became very sleepy, and they must have +dropped into a doze, for when they awoke at the sound of a loud laugh, +the sun was shining brightly, and they were surrounded by soldiers, and +Woofer was looking down at them with a sneering laugh. + +"Jest like ther babes in ther woods," he shouted, and the soldiers +laughed with him. + +Ted was on his feet in an instant, feeling for his revolver, but it was +not in its accustomed place, and he suddenly remembered that it had been +taken from him by the soldiers the night before. + +"Whar's ther lootenant?" asked Woofer. "He'd be glad ter see this +tablow." + +"He's gone out inter ther woods ter walk his mad off. When he got within +strikin' distance o' ther cow camp last night his sand run out, and he +started back. Then when he found that his birds had flown that was ther +last kick what sent him down." + +"What's he goin' ter do now." + +"I reckon he'll make ther best o' what he's got now. Come, git up." +Woofer spoke roughly to the two girls, and they arose. "Come along back +to the cabin. Ther lootenant will be mighty glad ter see yer. One o' you +sour doughs hunt up ther lootenant an' tell him ther lost is found." + +Ted saw that resistance was useless, and, taking the girls by the hand, +he crossed the wide clearing between the woods and the cabin; at the +door of which they arrived just as Barrows strode up. + +One of the soldiers was busy preparing breakfast, and the others were +grouped around jesting about their night's work. + +The two girls were sent into the room in which Ted and Hallie had been +taken the night before, but Ted was not confined, and was allowed to +walk up and down in front of the cabin. + +Barrows did not attempt to hold conversation with any of them, but sat +at his table with his head in his hand, thinking moodily. + +Evidently Barrows was an arrant coward. He had set out with the +intention of ruining the Moon Valley herd, and killing all who attempted +to resist him, but his courage had failed him. + +Ted saw hope in this, if the boys would only arrive on time. + +He thought over the conversation he had heard the night before on the +arrival of Woofer and his companion at the cabin, with regard to his own +fate. Evidently it meant something out of the ordinary, for it seemed to +have given extreme pleasure to Woofer, for it was evidently the +intention that all the advantage was to be with the cow-puncher. Well, +it didn't matter much, so long as he had the ghost of a show himself. He +was willing to take a long chance. + +Breakfast was announced, and, as the soldiers sat down to eat, the cook +came out with three tin plates on which there were bacon and bread, and +tin cups of coffee for the prisoners, and they sat down together in the +shade of the cabin and ate their food gratefully, for they were very +hungry. + +The meal was soon over, and Woofer began to strut up and down in front +of the cabin. + +"I reckon here's where I get my revenge, ain't it, lootenant?" he said, +stopping in front of Barrows. + +"Do what you please with him," said Barrows crossly, "but leave the +girls alone." + +"I don't want but one gal, an' she's copper colored," laughed Woofer +insultingly, walking to his horse, which was already saddled. + +"Now, young feller," he said to Ted, "I'm goin' ter give yer a chance +fer yer white alley. I'm goin' ter try ter rope yer while yer dodges me. +If I get yer, why--I'll drag yer, see?" + +Ted saw that he was to have no chance for his life whatever. + +He was to be afoot, while the other man was to ride and try to rope him, +and, if he succeeded, drag him to death over the rough ground. + +"Do you call that a chance for my life?" asked Ted. + +"As much as you'll get," answered Woofer, with a canine grin. "Get out +an' take a fightin' chance, or I'll rope yer an' drag yer without it." + +Ted looked around the circle of grinning faces about him, and saw that +there was no mercy for him. He must make the best fight he could. + +Woofer had ridden out into the open and was coiling his rope in his hand +ready for a cast. + +As Ted walked out he saw in the grove the horses of the soldiers, and +among them Sultan bridled and saddled, and a thought flashed through his +mind that before the duel was ended he might find use for his beautiful +stallion. + +As soon as Ted was in the open, Woofer began to circle around him on a +lope, steadily increasing the pony's speed, at the same time keeping the +rope swinging about his head. + +Ted wheeled on his heels, always keeping his face to the horseman, the +pivot, as it were, of this little spectacle. Near the cabin stood the +soldiers, watching the play with interest. Stella and Hallie were at one +side, their eyes fastened on the scene with a sort of fascinated horror. +Stella knew well the danger of the bout. In the doorway of the cabin +Lieutenant Barrows leaned indifferently, smoking a cigarette, and +watching the uneven contest with slight interest in its outcome, and +with no regard whatever for the thing which all gentlemen hold sacred, +that is, fair play. + +Around and around rode Woofer, waiting for a good chance for a cast, but +always finding Ted alert. But suddenly the rope flew from his hand with +unerring accuracy, and Ted had just time to dodge it. It had been as +swift and almost as deadly as the strike of a rattlesnake. + +With a confident smile, Woofer drew in his rope again, coiling it, and +making ready for another cast. + +Again he circled and cast, and this time the rope settled over Ted's +shoulders, and a great shout went up from the soldiers. + +But before Woofer could tighten it Ted managed to wriggle out of it, and +again Woofer drew it in. + +Ted realized the danger in which he would stand if ever Woofer succeeded +in getting him fast. + +Suddenly his hand came in contact with something hard in his pocket. It +was his knife, and he surreptitiously inserted his hand, and opened it, +then drew it out concealed in his palm. He felt sure that if it was +discovered that even this chance would be taken from him. + +Again and again Woofer cast and Ted dodged, and the soldiers were +getting tired of the monotony of it, and began to deride Woofer for not +being able to get Ted. + +This aroused the man to anger, and the next time he sent the rope over +Ted's shoulders, and drew it taut. A wild cry went up as Ted was being +dragged along as fast as he could run, and Stella turned white and gave +a cry of fear. + +But Ted reached up, just as he was about to be carried off his feet, and +cut the rope in two. + +At this a yell of protest rose from Woofer, but the men had at last +turned with sympathy to Ted. + +"Let him have the knife," they cried. "You have the horse and the rope." + +Woofer was forced to be content, and he slowly dragged the rope back +again, and made a new noose. + +He was getting rattled, while Ted was gaining courage, and the rope did +not come as accurately as when Woofer had not begun to grow weary. + +The soldiers were now addressing rough pleasantries at Woofer, who was +growing angry and trying harder than ever to rope Ted and drag him to +death. + +Then, quite unexpectedly, the rope settled over Ted's arms, for he had +grown a little careless, and his eyes had been directed toward the top +of the hill behind the cabin, where he had seen something that caused +his eyes to open with wonder. + +But when he felt himself being dragged along on a run he came to his +senses. Stooping his head, he managed to get the knife between his +teeth. Then he went along the rope, gathering it in his hands as he +went, as if he were climbing it hand over hand. + +A shout of joy went up from the two girls at this, for they saw his +purpose. + +On he went, the rope coming into his hand and being coiled on his arm. +Woofer all the while was urging on his pony, trying to throw Ted off his +feet. + +Ted had now gathered in about thirty feet of the rope, or about half of +it. + +Woofer saw his game, and swore horribly, as he tried in vain to throw +Ted. + +When he thought he had enough rope, Ted bent his head once more, and his +fingers grasped the knife with which he cut the rope and was free. + +Suddenly a shrill whistle left his lips, and there was a nickering +answer as Sultan left the other horses and came galloping to his side. + +Stella threw up her hat and shouted, and the soldiers followed her +example. + +As Sultan galloped on, Ted leaped into the saddle, and began to make a +noose in his lariat, for he now was equally armed with his enemy. + +But Woofer was game, and came galloping back. He didn't know how good a +roper Ted was, but he felt confidence in himself. + +Around they went, circling like horsemen in a circus ring, with watchful +eyes and whirling lariats. + +But suddenly Ted's rope left his hand before Woofer could divine his +meaning, and pinioned the cow-puncher. + +At the same moment Ted gave Sultan a prick with the spur, and the little +stallion leaped into the air. + +Woofer left his saddle and struck the ground with a bump that knocked +the wind out of him. + +This was not to the liking of the soldiers, who ran howling toward Ted. + +"Drag him from his horse," they shouted. + +"No, yer don't. Fair play fer all!" a clear voice rang out above the +din, and the soldiers turned toward the hill behind the cabin. + +On the summit stood Bud Morgan, his long, fair hair floating in the +breeze, and on either side of him ten cow-punchers with their +Winchesters trained upon the unarmed soldiers, whose carbines were +stacked in the house. + +"Three cheers for the broncho boys!" yelled Stella shrilly. "You can't +beat 'em anyway you try." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +THE MOTHER LODE. + + +As the boys swarmed down the hill to where Ted and the girls were +standing apart from the soldiers, who stood staring at them in +amazement, they let out the Moon Valley yell, and acted as though they +were a victorious army taking possession of a conquered city. + +Lieutenant Barrows stood in the doorway in open-mouthed amazement at the +change of scene, in which he and his men were not the captors, but the +captured. + +He started to bluster by ordering Hallie to get ready to accompany him +back to her father. + +"I shall not go," she said positively. "I don't believe that my father +sent for me." + +"I know he didn't," said Ted firmly. + +"What do you know about it?" asked Barrows, with a sneer. + +"I know that it was your intention to kidnap Miss Croffut and take her +to the coast, where you would board a yacht and carry her out of the +country." + +"That's a----" began Barrows. + +"Don't let the word lie pass your lips as applied to me, or I'll jam it +down your throat," said Ted, advancing toward the officer, who turned +pale and retreated. + +"You shouldn't tell your intentions to such irresponsible persons as the +Woofer, here. He told all about it early this morning so loud that the +whole of Montana might have heard it if they had been awake. I heard it, +and if Woofer denies saying that you did say so, then he's a liar, and +I'm personally responsible for everything I say." + +"I did say so, and I heard the lieutenant say so," said Woofer +defiantly. + +"Another thing, I have in my pocketbook scraps of a letter written by +you in which you say you have sent Paris green out to poison our cattle, +and you did succeed in a way, but not as you wished. Barrows, your game +is played. You are at the end. I shall see that the proper authorities +get all the details of this, and you know what will happen then. You +will be chased out of the army like a mad dog, and all the influence you +can bring to bear will not serve you." + +Barrows was looking at Ted with terror in his eyes. + +"My advice to you is to skip before the army gets on to you," continued +Ted. "Disappear. Obliterate yourself. It will be easier for you to be +thought a deserter than what will be thought of you if what we know +about you goes back to the post." + +Barrows stepped back into the cabin, and Ted walked to where he could +keep his eye on the soldier. + +Suddenly he jumped into the cabin and wrenched a pistol out of Barrows' +hand. + +"No, you don't," he cried angrily. "You can't pay for this by +self-murder. You've got to live to pay for your meanness." + +Barrows submitted to be disarmed by Ted. He stood looking for a moment +at Hallie, and for a moment it seemed as if he would speak to her. Then, +with a cry of agony, he rushed across the open, leaped upon his horse, +and, plunging into the grove, was lost to sight. + +"Sergeant, now you know what to do," said Ted. "There's only one thing +for you to do. Hike for the post and tell the commandant anything you +like to explain the absence of Barrows. But be sure to say to the +colonel that his daughter is safe and well and prefers to stay with Miss +Fosdick and her friends. I don't know how deeply you are mixed up in +this cattle-poisoning, girl-abducting scheme of Barrows, but I give you +the benefit of the doubt." + +"Sure, sir, I didn't know anything about the cattle poisoning, nor do +any of the men, and as for abducting the young lady, all I knew about it +was that we were sent by the colonel to bring her back, that is, the +lieutenant said so. We was to arrest you for stealin' cattle from the +gover'ment. But I don't see as we can do anything, now that the officer +in charge is gone. All right, sir, I'll tell the colonel all what you +said, an' somethin' that's been layin' hard on my stomach ever since I +got wise to the officer what's not in charge no more. Men, get ready to +march." + +The soldiers saddled their horses, and got ready to start on the march +back to Fort Felton. + +When they were ready to start, Ted walked up to Woofer and the man who +had come in with him in the night. + +"Woofer," said he, "strike the back trail, and don't look around. You +are not wanted in this part of the country. Remember, we are all deputy +United States marshals, and not in the least afraid to use our +authority. Hike!" + +"All right, pardner, if you say you don't like our sassiety we won't +force it on you. We'd like good company back to Felton, anyhow, an' the +sojers has plenty o' grub. Adios!" + +With a wave of the hand, the sergeant led his column out of the +clearing, and, climbing the hill, struck into the southwest, where lay +the fort. + +When they were gone Singing Bird came out of the woods in which she had +been hiding, for she was in mortal terror of Woofer. + +When she knew that Woofer was in the vicinity she had run into the woods +and immediately climbed into a tall pine tree that grew on the hill, +where she was sure he would not be able to find her. + +Now, when she came forth, she ran to Stella, in a very much excited +state. + +"Sister," she cried. "I have found it!" + +"Found what?" asked Stella, in surprise at the girl's emotion, for +usually she had the stoicism of her Indian blood. + +"I have found the place of the secret, the place of the mother gold," +cried Singing Bird, trembling with excitement. + +"I have seen it, the place where my mother lay," she continued, when her +excitement had somewhat passed away. + +"How?" asked the puzzled Stella. + +"When I climbed the tree I saw the big, muddy river lying over there. I +looked about. It seemed that I had seen it the same before. Then I +remembered the night the white men killed my mother, and it all came +back to me. Woofer was one of the men. He knew that we were coming near +to it." + +"How did you recognize it as the place?" asked Stella. + +"By the tree across the river, and by the bluffs, and the turn of the +river. Oh, I know it. You can't fool Indian on signs like that." + +The boys were standing around listening eagerly, for this was the first +time they had heard of the "mother gold." Briefly Ted related the story +told by Singing Bird about the gold in the river, and how her father +found the mother lode. + +"I'm fer gettin' thar as soon as we kin," said Bud Morgan. "Whenever I +smell gold I git tired o' ther smell o' cows." + +"Looks good to me," said Ben. + +"Me, too," said Kit, and the other boys raised a shout for the mother +lode and the excitement of finding gold. + +"But the cattle?" asked Ted. + +"We'll drive them down into this valley, where part of the force can +easily watch them, while the other part is engaged in the fascinating +sport of gold hunting. Me for the gold." Thus Stella delivered herself, +and that seemed to settle it. + +Accordingly the cattle were driven down from the plain and into the +beautiful grassy valley, with the Missouri flowing at the foot of it. +Then they pitched their camp. + +Singing Bird had gone into the woods on an exploring mission to find, if +she could, the grave in which her father had buried her mother the day +after the fight with the white miners, and had been gone an hour or +more, when she came hurrying back, trembling like an aspen. + +Rushing up to Ted, she fell at his feet. + +"What's the matter now?" he asked, in a kindly way. + +"I have seen him," she cried. "Save me! Save me!" + +"Whom have you seen?" asked Ted. + +"Running Bear. I go into the woods, and I see moccasin tracks; fresh +ones. They are large and new, made this day. I run away from them. Then +I see an Indian hiding behind the trees, always following me, and I +turned and ran for the camp. He followed me until he saw the camp, when +he turned and ran the other way." + +"Are you sure it was Running Bear?" + +"Oh, yes, I am sure. I know Running Bear. He was my husband." + +"Well, do not be afraid. Running Bear will not hurt you. But don't go +away from the camp." + +Ted told the boys that the Indian was on their trail, looking for the +mine himself, but that he would probably track them until they found it, +and then try to take it from them by pressing to his service a band of +Indians, which he could very well do. + +When Stella went to look for Singing Bird that evening she could not be +found. The alarm was passed to the boys, and a thorough search of the +camp was begun, but the girl could not be found. + +"She has done what I told her not to do," said Ted. "She has left camp, +and that precious rascal has captured her. But he will not wring her +secret from her. I am convinced that she would die first." + +"But what are we going to do about her?" asked Stella. "We can't let her +remain where she is." + +"Where is she?" he asked whimsically. + +"Where is she?" Stella repeated the question excitedly. "Do you suppose +that I would be here if I knew. I don't know where she is, but I'm going +to find out." + +"Not to-night, Stella, surely." + +"Yes, to-night. Right now." + +"But----" + +"There's no buts in this at all. Who wants to help me find Singing +Bird?" + +Every fellow in the outfit stepped forward. + +"Well, I guess that's enough," she said, laughing. "But, I want you and +Kit. The others can stay behind and 'tend the herd. We'll be back when +we return." She waved a merry hand to the others, and the three strode +into the woods, Bud bending eagerly forward to find the trail. + +Presently Bud struck a moccasin trail, and they followed it until it +mingled with another. + +The first was undoubtedly that of Singing Bird. The other was that of a +big man, or of a man with a big foot. + +"I reckon she come out here ter find her mother's grave, an' met up with +ther bully, her husband. Here they seem ter hev had a struggle, and then +thar is only one track, but deeper, showin' that he was carryin' weight. +I reckon he put his hand over her mouth an' carried her off by main +strength." + +"Poor Singing Bird," murmured Stella. "If she has really fallen into the +hands of that brute, it's a sure thing that she'll be killed this time, +and now we're bound to follow her and get her." + +"That's interfering between a man and his wife," said Kit. + +"I don't care. She's mine now, for I saved her life. She said so." + +"All right, Stella, we'll find her if we swaller our chewin' gum. +Forward!" Bud led the way, always with his eyes on the ground. + +After traversing a few hundred yards he stopped. + +"Here they're walkin' side by side again," he said, "and they're going +toward the river." + +They hastened on to the bank of the river, and there all trace of them +was lost at the water's edge. + +"They've crossed over, but not in a boat," said Bud. "I don't see how +they could do it if they didn't swim. There isn't the sign o' a boat +around here." + +"Then over the river we go," said Stella. "But the question is, how?" + +"I'll swim it," said Bud. "And if I find any trace of them over there, +I'll holler." + +Bud threw his guns on the bank and plunged into the water, and in a few +minutes was across, for so near the headwaters it was not wide. + +They saw him scouting along the shore, and presently he waved his hand +at them, and pointed to the ground. + +"He's found them," said Kit. "But how are we to get over?" + +Kit ran up and down the shore, and soon found several logs, which he +towed to where Stella was waiting, and fastened them together into a +raft. + +"There you are," he said. "Climb aboard, and I'll ferry you across." + +Stella did so, and in a few minutes they were on the other side. + +Bud showed them the tracks of Singing Bird, and they followed them into +the woods. + +Close beside the track was a huge stump of a sycamore tree, and Stella +elected to sit down beside it and wait until they returned, as she was +pretty tired. The boys passed on with the warning to fire her revolver +three times if anything should alarm her. + +As she sat beside the stump, she picked up a stick, and began poking in +the earth at her feet. As she did so, there was a rumbling sound beneath +her, and the world seemed to be slipping from her. This was followed by +a rush of earth and a clatter of stones, and Stella went down with it. + +She did not fall more than ten feet, however, before she stopped, a +little shaken but unhurt. + +When she had recovered somewhat, she looked about her. + +Then she gave a little shriek of joy. It seemed as if she had fallen +into a regular nest of pure gold, for the glittering grains were +everywhere about her, on her clothes and in her hair. + +Suddenly she recalled everything. She had found the mother lode that the +Indian girl had told of. + +Drawing her revolver, she fired three shots, the danger signal, and +immediately it was answered by three shots, but from the side of the +river she had just quitted. + +This surprised her, but in a moment she heard a shout. It was Ted. +Evidently thinking that something might befall her, he had followed, and +in a few moments she heard him splashing in the water. + +"Hello!" he cried. + +"Here I am, Ted," cried Stella, and in a moment she saw his face +outlined above her in the opening of the hole. + +"How the deuce did you get there?" he asked. + +"Oh, I just dropped in to take a look around, and what do you think I +found? I've found gold by the bushel. Ted, this is the mother lode." + +Ben, Carl, and Clay were with Ted, and soon Bud and Kit, who had heard +the shots, came hurrying back. + +When they heard what had happened they were much surprised. + +"But this cannot be the place. Where is the sycamore tree Singing Bird +said was a landmark?" said Ted. + +They had pulled Stella out of the hole, and now she pointed to the big, +old stump. + +"That is what's left of it," she said. "If I hadn't that hunch to sit +down here, we wouldn't have found the mother lode in a blue moon." + +As they were speaking they heard a sound behind them, and turned to see +Running Bear. He had crept up to them so silently that not one of them +had heard him until he was a step away. + +"Ugh!" he grunted. "White boy go away. This my country." + +"Go to your grandmother," said Ted. "Where is Singing Bird?" + +"She in Running Bear wigwam. Mebbe so you like Singing Bird. You can +have same go away." + +"What, and leave you in possession of all this gold? Not likely." + +"Then Running Bear make you. Hate white boy. Not make play this time." + +Before Ted was aware of his intention, the Indian had sprung upon him +from the side. He was immensely powerful, and forced Ted backward toward +the edge of the pit, evidently with the intention of breaking his neck +by the fall. + +But Ted managed to get a good hold at last, and forced him back +gradually. + +Then Running Bear came at him with greater strength, and again they +wrestled perilously near the edge of the pit. + +Running Bear took advantage of Ted's trip over the loose tree roots, and +slowly forced him backward, in spite of his herculean efforts, to the +pit's edge. + +He had bent Ted's head back until his neck cracked, and if he threw him +into the pit, it likely would kill him. + +From where they stood, on the opposite side of the pit, none of the boys +could get a shot at Running Bear without endangering the life of Ted. + +It was a pretty tight situation, and the boys were really alarmed for +Ted's safety, when out of the woods ran an apparition--a woman so +covered with blood as to be unrecognizable. But Stella uttered a scream. +She had seen that it was Singing Bird, who had been terribly injured by +her brute of a husband, who had evidently tortured her to get from her +the information she possessed about the mother lode. + +Before any one could divine what she was about to do, the Indian girl +had sprung toward Running Bear and plunged a long, keen knife into his +back to the hilt. + +It was an Indian's revenge. She had given him blood for blood. + +Running Bear staggered backward, then suddenly wheeled, caught the knife +from the girl's hand, and was about to plunge it into her, when he fell +forward on his face and lay quite still. + +Singing Bird weaved back and forth for a moment, then she, too, sank to +the ground. + +When the horror of the sudden tragedy passed from them sufficiently, the +boys rushed to the side of the unhappy couple, but they both were dead. + +That was the tragedy of the "Mother Lode Mine" on the upper Missouri, +which became the property of the Moon Valley Company, and which paid +enormously until it worked out, for it was only a pocket, thus putting +an end to the placer mining on the islands farther down the river. + +The rest is soon told. Barrows was never heard of again, for he knew +that if he returned to take a court-martial for his misconduct, he would +have fared badly. + +That fall the officers at the post sent word to Ted that if his cattle +were for sale they would be glad to buy them at his own figure, so that +his independence in repudiating the first contract was a good thing +after all, for, besides the profits which came from Stella's gold mine, +the herd paid handsomely. But Stella never forgot Singing Bird, whose +gentle life paid the penalty for the greed for gold. Not far from the +mine she was buried, and a stone carved with the story of her death +still marks the place where she was laid to rest. + + +THE END. + + + + * * * * * + + + + +WESTERN STORY LIBRARY + +For Everyone Who Likes Adventure. + +"Ted Strong's Contract" is the title of the next volume in the +Western Story Library, No. 43, a story of wild adventure in the +far West written by Edward C. Taylor. + +Ted Strong and his band of bronco-busters have most exciting adventures +in this line of attractive, big books, and furnish the reader with an +almost unlimited number of thrills. + +If you like a really good Western cowboy story, then this line is made +expressly for you. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TED STRONG IN MONTANA*** + + +******* This file should be named 19951.txt or 19951.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/9/5/19951 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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