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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44693 ***
+
+                          THE ADVENTURE GIRLS
+                               At K Bar O
+
+                                   By
+                              Clair Blank
+
+                     [Illustration: girl on horse]
+
+                        THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING
+                                COMPANY
+
+                      Akron, Ohio        New York
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+                           Copyright MCMXXXVI
+                    THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
+
+                     The Adventure Girls at K Bar O
+
+                  Made in the United States of America
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+                                CONTENTS
+
+                           I ARRIVAL             7
+                          II ROBBERY            14
+                         III GALE’S ADVENTURE   20
+                          IV DISCOVERY          33
+                           V PURSUIT            41
+                          VI GHOST CABIN        54
+                         VII LANDSLIDE          70
+                        VIII PRISONERS          81
+                          IX ON THE TRAIL       90
+                           X RUSTLERS          106
+                          XI SURPRISE          119
+                         XII GONE              128
+                        XIII RESCUE            139
+                         XIV TRAPPED           155
+                          XV CAPTURE           166
+                         XVI ALARM             175
+                        XVII REVENGE           189
+                       XVIII PREMONITION       204
+                         XIX HELP              214
+                          XX REWARD            225
+                         XXI ADIOS             240
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+                     The Adventure Girls at K-Bar-O
+
+
+                               Chapter I
+
+                                ARRIVAL
+
+
+The thing that went under the name of automobile wheezed into the
+ranchyard and rattled to a halt. With creaks and groans in every joint
+the car discharged its six very dusty, very weary occupants.
+
+At the same time, the screen door of the ranch house banged shut and a
+flying figure descended on the new arrivals.
+
+“Oh, Gale, but I’m glad to see you,” the girl from the ranch house
+declared hugging the foremost one of the visitors.
+
+Gale Howard returned the hug with equal warmth. The two were cousins,
+and Gale and her friends, The Adventure Girls, had traveled West to
+spend the summer on the K Bar O Ranch, owned by Gale’s uncle.
+
+“But don’t tell me you traveled all the way West in that!” Virginia
+Wilson murmured aghast, when the introductions and first greetings were
+over.
+
+“We wouldn’t have lived to tell the tale,” declared Carol Carter. “I
+never knew a car that had so many bumps in it.”
+
+“We came West to Phoenix on the train,” Gale explained. “It was there we
+bought the car and drove up here.”
+
+“You wouldn’t think we bought it second hand, would you?” Janet Gordon
+murmured.
+
+“No,” Phyllis Elton agreed with a twinkle in her eyes. “It looks as
+though we made it ourselves.”
+
+The last two of the new arrivals, Madge Reynolds and Valerie Wallace,
+who had been busy unstrapping luggage and tumbling bags onto the ground,
+turned now to the ranch girl.
+
+“What shall we do with our stuff?” Madge asked.
+
+“I suppose you will want to change from your traveling suits,” Virginia
+suggested, “so just bring along what you want now. Leave the rest here.
+Tom can bring it in later.”
+
+Tom was her elder brother and as the girls walked toward the ranch house
+he crossed the yard from the corral. Behind him came Gale’s uncle.
+Virginia called her mother and more greetings and introductions
+followed.
+
+“But how did you manage to leave home without a chaperon?” Virginia
+asked from her position on the bed in the room shared by Gale and
+Valerie.
+
+“It was all we could do to get away without one,” a laughing voice in
+the adjoining room declared, and Janet appeared on the threshold.
+
+“Finally our parents decided that Gale and Valerie, being the only sane
+and level-headed ones among us, could be trusted to see that we behaved
+properly,” Carol added, hanging over Janet’s shoulder.
+
+“That shows how much they really know Gale and Valerie,” added Janet
+mischievously. “If they had any sense at all, they would have appointed
+me guardian angel of the troupe.”
+
+“Then we would never have gotten this far,” Valerie declared, struggling
+to pull on a brown riding boot.
+
+“Yes, Virginia,” Gale laughed, “when we did let Janet drive for a little
+while, she ran us into a ditch, went the wrong way on a one way street
+in a little town below here, talked back to a policeman and nearly
+landed us all in jail.”
+
+“Yes, we had to let Gale drive thereafter for self preservation,” Carol
+murmured.
+
+“That is all the gratitude I get,” Janet mourned in an injured tone. “I
+do my best to make our trip a success and you don’t appreciate me.”
+
+“What? Aren’t you dressed yet?” Phyllis demanded as she and Madge
+entered the other girls’ room. “Slow pokes!” she teased.
+
+“Yes, do hurry,” Janet pleaded. “I want to get outside and see the horse
+I’m to ride.”
+
+“I’ll wager you don’t even know what side of a horse to get on,”
+declared Carol as the latter two disappeared into their own room.
+
+“Well--ah--um--we won’t go into that,” Janet evaded.
+
+Virginia laughed and the other girls smiled sympathetically.
+
+“Don’t mind anything they say,” Madge advised Virginia. “They don’t mean
+a word of it.”
+
+“I gathered that much,” Virginia said, rising as Janet and Carol
+returned, this time fully dressed and eager to get outside.
+
+The Adventure Girls were dressed alike in brown breeches, leather boots,
+and khaki shirts with brown silk ties to match. Some of them wore
+crushable felt hats while the others carried them. They had been
+delighted with the prospect of spending a summer in the open air on the
+ranch, looking forward to unknown adventures with keen anticipation. The
+six had dubbed themselves the Adventure Girls when on school hikes and
+outings they had usually managed to stir up some kind of excitement. It
+was their desire to spend their summer becoming better acquainted with
+the country out here, rather than spend their months free from school in
+loafing about home. They wanted to get out in the air, see new wonders,
+and enjoy new adventures.
+
+When, in response to a letter from Virginia, Gale had suggested to the
+other five girls that they come West and spend the summer in Arizona it
+had seemed delightful and intriguing, but not probable. Gradually the
+girls had won round parental objections and collected the things they
+would need. Now they were here, with a full summer of freedom before
+them.
+
+The K Bar O Ranch was one of the biggest in the state. This the girls
+did not fully realize until later, when they began to ride around the
+countryside. Henry Wilson, Virginia’s father, dealt in cattle and his
+herds were large and of the finest stock. There were horses too, and it
+was these that the girls were most interested in.
+
+Virginia led the way to the corral. Tom was there, talking to a cowboy
+and when he saw the girls, brought up three saddled mounts, the cowboy
+following with a string of four more. The western ponies were sturdy
+little animals, sure-footed and fast.
+
+The girls claimed their mounts and Gale and Valerie, already experienced
+riders, mounted their horses immediately.
+
+Janet looked her horse over with speculative eyes. “Well, horse,” she
+said, “I think we are about to become better acquainted and I hope you
+are as nice as you look.”
+
+“They’re all tame,” Tom assured the girls, assisting Carol into her
+saddle.
+
+“Hey,” Carol called to Janet. “You’ll never get on that way!”
+
+Virginia had her horse and by the time Tom had helped Janet into the
+saddle, the girls were moving forward. Virginia rode ahead with Gale,
+the two setting their ponies at an easy trot over the trail.
+
+“We won’t go far,” Virginia said, “it will be suppertime shortly and I
+know you wouldn’t want to miss it. The lunch you had wasn’t very
+substantial.”
+
+“And this Arizona air certainly gives one an appetite,” Gale declared.
+“What’s that?”
+
+They had come to the crest of a hill and in the green valley below could
+be seen a slowly moving herd of the K Bar O cattle. But it was not to
+the cows that Gale called her friend’s attention. Off to the left had
+sounded a series of sharp explosions, as a fusillade of rifle shots.
+
+Virginia had grown a little pale under her tan, and the hand that
+gripped her horse’s reins was clenched tightly, but she summoned a smile
+for Gale’s benefit.
+
+“Just some of the boys having target practice, I reckon,” she said
+easily.
+
+But Gale was not to be deceived. Target practice would not cause
+Virginia to appear suddenly so nervous. However, Gale did not press the
+subject at the time. She knew if there was something wrong at the K Bar
+O she would know it before long.
+
+
+
+
+                               Chapter II
+
+                                ROBBERY
+
+
+“I’m going into town, ride along?” Virginia asked, coming into the ranch
+house living room the next morning.
+
+“I will,” Gale said immediately.
+
+“And me,” agreed Valerie.
+
+“Did you say ride?” groaned Janet. “On a horse?”
+
+“Of course,” Virginia laughed.
+
+Janet made a wry face and with the greatest care eased herself into a
+chair piled with cushions.
+
+“Not this morning, my dear Virginia. I don’t believe the horse likes
+me.”
+
+Carol laughed from her position before the fireplace. “For once in my
+life I agree with Janet. You won’t get me on a horse today.”
+
+“I shall stay right here, too,” Madge murmured. “Somehow I appreciate
+comfort this morning.”
+
+“I’ll go with you,” Phyllis said, “if you will go nice and slowly.”
+
+Accordingly the four mounted and rode away, leaving the other three
+comfortably fixed with books and magazines. It was almost an hour’s ride
+into the little town of Coxton at the pace the girls went, but they
+enjoyed it. They found a lot of things to talk about and besides they
+were in no great hurry.
+
+“I’m going to get me a rope,” Gale proposed as the girls left their
+horses and mounted the sidewalk. “If I’m going to be a westerner, I’m
+going to learn to rope.”
+
+“And I want a pair of gloves,” Valerie added.
+
+“I have to see a man at the bank on business for Father,” Virginia said,
+“do you want to come along? Or do you want to do your shopping and meet
+me here in a few minutes?”
+
+“We’ll meet you here,” said Gale. “We won’t get lost,” she added with a
+smile, taking in the few stores and buildings on the single street the
+town afforded.
+
+“No danger,” laughed Virginia. “See you here then.”
+
+With a cheery wave of the hand she was off across the street. The girls
+sauntered along, regarding the stores and one of two lounging cowboys
+with interest.
+
+“I wish we’d seen an Indian,” murmured Phyllis. “Just to prove that we
+are in the West.”
+
+Valerie laughed. “I doubt if you would know one if you did. They don’t
+wear war paint any more, you know.”
+
+“Of course I’d know one,” Phyllis said indignantly. “I--look, there is a
+general store. Perhaps you can get your rope in there, Gale.”
+
+The girls mounted the single wooden step to the store and stepped into
+the queerest conglomeration of articles they had ever seen. It developed
+that Gale got her rope, Valerie got her gloves; in fact, they could get
+anything they wanted. Even postcards, of which they took a goodly
+supply.
+
+There were few people on the street when they left the store. An
+automobile drew up before the bank and two men stepped out, a third
+remained at the wheel.
+
+“Guess Virginia hasn’t come out of the bank yet,” Phyllis said, looking
+the length of the street and not seeing the western girl.
+
+The three of them strolled to the bank and waited outside. Suddenly from
+inside the bank came the sound of shots and a scream. Two men appeared
+in the doorway with drawn revolvers. One man faced the crowd on the
+street, the other the people in the bank. The people on the street had
+become tense, fearful.
+
+Valerie grasped one end of Gale’s rope and sprang across the pavement.
+Gale, realizing immediately her friend’s intention, grasped her end of
+the rope more securely. The bandits, running from the bank to their
+waiting car, tripped headlong over the rope. The first man’s gun flew
+one way and the black bag in which was the money from the bank flew the
+other.
+
+Phyllis reached over, picked up the gun, and leveled it calmly at the
+bandits. Valerie secured the black bag. It had been alarmingly easy and
+so quickly done that the spectators did not at first realize that a
+robbery had been committed and foiled almost on the same instant. Then
+there arose a buzz of excited talk while two men stepped from the group
+of spectators and took charge of the thieves. Unnoticed, the car that
+had been meant for the bandits’ means of escape, sprang away from the
+curb and was gone in a cloud of dust.
+
+In the bank all was disorder and excitement. One of the shots that had
+been fired was lodged in the teller who had attempted to resist the
+thieves. His condition was not serious, however, and he was able to add
+his incoherent story to the other tales told by the people who had been
+present.
+
+Virginia, when she joined the girls to go home, was flushed and excited.
+
+“You certainly acted quickly,” she declared admiringly. “The town owes
+you a vote of thanks. They would have gotten away sure if you hadn’t
+tripped them.”
+
+“Catching bandits is just one of the things we do,” laughed Phyllis.
+“You ought to really see us in action.”
+
+“I had use for my rope before I thought I would,” Gale said smilingly.
+“I haven’t even learned how to use it yet--when we catch two bandits.”
+
+Back at the ranch the three of the Adventure Girls would have said
+nothing about their part in the robbery, but Virginia promptly declared
+them heroines and told with harrowing details every bit of the robbery,
+including the shooting of the bank teller.
+
+The girls who had remained at home were utterly chagrined to think that
+they had missed any excitement whatever and promptly began to think of
+means to have some more.
+
+
+
+
+                              Chapter III
+
+                            GALE’S ADVENTURE
+
+
+The Arizona night was cool, the sky studded with stars. In the living
+room the girls from the East were toying with the radio and dancing.
+Gale and Valerie stepped out onto the porch into the cool darkness.
+Walking a short distance from the house they were enveloped in silence,
+interrupted only now and then by the noise from the radio. They
+sauntered to where a giant pine tree spread its sheltering branches
+overhead.
+
+Valerie coughed as she leaned against the sturdy trunk and a sympathetic
+gleam entered Gale’s eyes. The girls all knew that Valerie’s health was
+not of the best, and it was hoped that this month they were to spend
+here in Arizona would do her good. She liked fun and excitement as well
+as any of them, but she could not stand too much. She needed to build up
+a stranger constitution and her friends were sure the western air would
+help as no medicine could.
+
+“Nice, isn’t it?” Valerie asked dreamily.
+
+“So quiet!” Gale agreed. “It would be a relief to hear a noise.”
+
+In the distance a coyote howled mournfully and the girls shivered. Arm
+in arm they strolled toward the corral.
+
+“I wish Virginia’s parents would let us take that camping trip,” Valerie
+said. “It would be fun.”
+
+At supper Janet and Carol had proposed a camping trip which the others
+received with enthusiasm. The idea was to take their horses and camping
+equipment and go camping up in the mountains, or down across the desert
+to Mexico. The girls, Virginia included, and Tom were decidedly in favor
+of it, but Mr. Wilson had demurred. It was dangerous, he said, for a
+party of young people to go camping about the hills just now. Too many
+bandits and disturbances along the Mexican border. However, the girls
+had refused to drop the subject.
+
+“Are you sure it wouldn’t be too much for you?” Gale asked anxiously.
+“You can’t do too much, you know.”
+
+“We could take our time,” Valerie answered. “I think it would be good
+for me, sleeping in the open air and all.”
+
+The girls had been walking along the corral fence and now stopped in the
+darkness. Around the corner from them two men were talking. The girls
+recognized the voices of Mr. Wilson and Tom.
+
+“I tell you it would be a perfect cover for Jim and me,” Tom was saying
+excitedly.
+
+“But I don’t want to run the girls into danger,” Mr. Wilson insisted.
+
+In the darkness Gale and Valerie exchanged wondering glances. Their
+curiosity was caught and without realizing they were doing so, they
+eavesdropped.
+
+“No one would know,” Tom continued. “We could act as guides for the
+girls and at the same time perhaps discover a clue to the hideout of the
+rustlers.”
+
+“But it is dangerous, Tom,” Mr. Wilson said slowly.
+
+“Listen, Dad,” Tom said earnestly. “The rustlers have been stealing your
+cattle and a lot of other people’s for a long time, haven’t they?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“You admit that if a stop isn’t put to this robbing, soon it will ruin
+you?”
+
+“I’m getting desperate,” Mr. Wilson agreed heavily, “But I can’t permit
+you or Jim or any of those girls to run the risk.”
+
+“But I tell you there isn’t any risk,” Tom argued. “No one would ever
+suspect us. Even the girls won’t know. We will be just a camping party.”
+
+“But if someone should find out what you are doing--you would have no
+protection, there would be nothing you could do.”
+
+“We’ll figure something out,” Tom said. “Don’t you see, Dad? It is the
+best way to attempt to find the bandits. They would never suspect a
+party of girls.”
+
+The two voices trailed away as Tom and his father moved toward the
+cowboys’ bunkhouse. The girls stood perfectly still until they saw the
+bunkhouse door opened and closed again behind the two.
+
+“Well,” Valerie said, “it appears we are to be lures for rustlers.”
+
+“I knew there was something wrong here at the K Bar O,” Gale said
+thoughtfully as the girls walked toward the house. “So it’s cattle
+thieves. No wonder Virginia’s mother and father look constantly worried.
+Even Virginia herself seems to be always watching for something when we
+are out riding.”
+
+“We’d better say nothing to the others,” Valerie said as they mounted to
+the porch.
+
+“No,” Gale agreed. “If Uncle finally agrees to let us go on the trip, we
+are not to let on we know what Tom and his cowboy friend are up to.”
+
+“Just keep our eyes and ears open,” murmured Valerie.
+
+The next morning at breakfast Tom announced to the girls that his father
+had agreed to the proposed camping trip. The news was received with
+whoops of joy from Janet and Carol. Gale and Valerie exchanged a quiet
+glance.
+
+“We’ll take two tents for you girls,” Tom continued. “Jim, the rider who
+is going with us, and I will sleep in blankets. We’ll leave tomorrow.”
+
+A clatter of hoofs and shouting outside brought them all away from the
+breakfast table. A rider was flinging himself from his weary horse. Both
+the rider and the horse looked played out.
+
+“What’s up, Bert?” Mr. Wilson asked, striding from the ranch house and
+confronting the rider.
+
+The others eagerly crowded forward, intending to miss not one word. From
+the man’s appearance and the appearance of his horse something important
+had happened.
+
+“The two fellows who robbed the bank the other day broke outa jail last
+night and got clean away!” the rider said, mopping his face with a
+handkerchief. “I been out for hours with the Sheriff and his posse
+lookin’ for the trail. Didn’t come this way, did they?”
+
+Mr. Wilson shook his head. “If they did, Bert, we didn’t see ’em. Come
+in and have some breakfast?”
+
+“Shore will,” the man replied gratefully. “A fella gets all fired hungry
+ridin’ around.”
+
+“Didn’t the thieves leave any trail at all?” Tom asked when the man had
+joined them and they were all seated once more about the table.
+
+“Wal, son,” the rider said, “we figger they separated, one goin’ north
+and the other south. Leastways, they were seen apart. Hank Cordy saw one
+tryin’ to swim the creek. He chased him but the fella got away. That was
+the short, dark haired one. The tall one was seen ridin’ out this way.”
+
+“If he passed the K Bar O none of us saw him,” Mr. Wilson declared.
+
+“Wal,” the man sighed as he pushed his chair away from the table and the
+rest followed him into the ranch living room, “that was shore the most
+appetizin’ meal I ever ate. Reckon now I’ve got to be gettin’ along.”
+
+“We’ll let you know if we see anything of the robbers,” Tom called after
+him.
+
+Madge and Phyllis declared their intention of writing letters while
+Carol and Janet rode with Tom and Virginia out to the valley where the
+largest of the K Bar O’s herds was grazing. Valerie was not looking so
+well this morning and the other girls had coaxed her to lie down for a
+while. It would be a tragedy if she were not well enough for them to go
+on the proposed camping trip the next day.
+
+Gale, rope in hand, found her way to the corral where Jim, she knew him
+by no other name, the cowboy who was to accompany the girls on their
+trip, was waiting to give her her first lesson with the use of her
+lasso. She learned first to make the slip knot, how to coil her rope,
+then how to grasp it for throwing.
+
+“I never knew there was so much to it,” she declared after an hour had
+flown by.
+
+“It won’t take you long to learn,” he assured her.
+
+A little while later Mr. Wilson appeared and had an errand for Jim to
+do. Gale wandered off by herself across the valley and up the hillside.
+The sun was warm and it was tiring work climbing through the grass and
+tangled undergrowth, so when she came to a tree which offered a large
+patch of shade from the sun she sank down to rest. Pretty soon she lay
+back, her arms under her head, gazing up at the little spot of blue sky
+that she could see through the branches of the tree.
+
+Gale did not know when she fell asleep or for how long she slept, but
+when she opened her eyes the sun was blazing down into her face. It must
+be hours she thought instantly since she had sat down here to rest for a
+few minutes. Then the thought of what had awakened her made her prop
+herself up on an elbow and gaze around.
+
+Her throat went suddenly dry and a half smothered scream rose to her
+lips. It had been a heavy pressure on her right leg that had brought her
+back from her dreams, and now as she looked down at her foot horror
+overcame her. Its scaly body wound about her boot, the flat head swaying
+from side to side, was a huge rattlesnake. Gale dropped back on the
+grass with closed eyes, trying to erase from her mind the sight of that
+reptile, the bite of which meant death.
+
+What was she to do? Scream? There was no one about to hear her. She was
+too far from the ranch house to summon help by calling aloud. Raising
+her head a few inches she took one look and let it drop back again. The
+gimlet eyes of the snake were coming closer. It would not be long before
+it struck, or had it done so already? It could scarcely send its
+poisonous fangs through her heavy boot, she reminded herself
+desperately. But what was she to do? Nothing, she told herself
+hopelessly, a sinking in her heart. There was nothing she could do. She
+might struggle for her freedom, but she could not hope to avoid the
+darting, poisonous fangs of the snake. It would surely strike soon, and
+when it did----
+
+She caught her underlip between two rows of white teeth to quell the
+groan of helplessness. Tears of impotence sprang to her eyes. If only
+there were something she could do--some way she could---- Was it her
+imagination or did she hear a sound? Quickly she raised her head and a
+voice spoke from behind her.
+
+“Don’t move! Keep quiet!” the man, for it was a man’s voice, commanded.
+
+Gale wondered hysterically if he expected her to do anything else. She
+couldn’t move if she wanted to. Terror made her lifeless.
+
+“Please hurry!” she murmured.
+
+A revolver shot was her answer and when next she looked down at her boot
+she shivered. The sight of the headless, mutilated body was sickening.
+
+“Don’t look,” Jim whispered as he lifted Gale’s boot clear of the snake.
+“Did it bite you?”
+
+“I don’t think so,” Gale murmured fighting to control her nerves. Now
+that it was all over she felt as if she must scream. It was the natural
+reaction and as she stood up she leaned weakly against the tree. “How
+did--you happen--along just in time?”
+
+The cowboy replaced his revolver in the holster at his belt. It was the
+first time Gale had noticed that he wore a gun. How lucky it had been
+for her that he did!
+
+“I came lookin’ for you for some more practice with yore rope,” he
+drawled, as he sometimes did.
+
+“You saved my life,” Gale said gratefully.
+
+“Shucks,” the cowboy said, flushing deep red. “How did the snake ever
+come to wind itself about yore leg?”
+
+“I was asleep,” Gale said. “I’ll never forget the sight of that snake
+when I awoke. It was horrible!” She trembled involuntarily.
+
+Jim patted her shoulder with clumsy kindness. “Do you reckon you can
+come back to the house now?”
+
+“Of course,” Gale said and turned to follow him down the slope, sternly
+keeping her eyes away from that slippery, scaly, headless thing lying in
+the long grass.
+
+“Do you always wear a gun, Jim?” she asked. “I never noticed it before.”
+
+“No, Miss Gale, none of us cowboys do,” he answered. “Guns belong to the
+old, bad West. But here lately we been havin’ trouble and I kinda got
+used to havin’ one along when I go ridin’.”
+
+“Probably on account of the cattle thieves,” Gale said to herself. Aloud
+she said:
+
+“Trouble? What kind?”
+
+“Oh, like these bank robbers,” he said evasively. “There’s always
+somebody willin’ to steal and honest folk have to protect themselves.”
+
+“How did they get out of jail?” she asked as they reached the bottom of
+the hill and started along the trail to the ranch house.
+
+“Sawed clean through the bars on the window,” he answered. “Probably had
+help from outside.”
+
+“Has the Sheriff discovered either of them yet?”
+
+“I reckon not. The Sheriff is good at trailin’ crooks, but these fellas
+are probably experienced in hidin’ out. I ’spect they’re almost to the
+border by now.”
+
+“Which way are we going to travel tomorrow?” Gale asked.
+
+“Up into the hills would be the prettiest country,” he answered.
+
+At the corral fence they separated, Gale going on to the ranch house and
+Jim into the cowboys’ bunkhouse. The girls were on the porch, Janet and
+Carol perched at perilous angles on the railing, Virginia and Valerie on
+the top step, and Madge and Phyllis in chairs.
+
+“Where have you been?” Janet demanded.
+
+“What’s wrong?” Valerie asked.
+
+“Wrong?” Gale questioned. She did not realize that her recent experience
+with the deadly rattlesnake had left her face pale and a tinge of shadow
+in her eyes.
+
+“You look as though you had seen somebody’s ghost,” Carol declared.
+
+“I came near to being one,” Gale answered, squeezing between Valerie and
+Virginia.
+
+“What do you mean?” Madge asked. “Did you meet the bank robbers?”
+
+Gale described with all the terrifying details her adventure with the
+snake and the girls were all speechless with amazement. When she had
+finished they regarded her wonderingly, fully appreciating what a close
+call she had had.
+
+“I’ll bet that was the only rattlesnake in this part of the country for
+weeks,” Virginia declared. “But you would have to meet him.”
+
+“Hereafter you don’t go off by yourself,” Janet said determinedly.
+
+Gale laughed. “You needn’t caution me now. One experience is enough. You
+can be sure I won’t fall asleep like that again!”
+
+
+
+
+                               Chapter IV
+
+                               DISCOVERY
+
+
+The ranch house was astir early the next morning. The girls dashed about
+in mad last minute haste. Horses were saddled and waiting. The few
+necessities the girls were taking were rolled in slickers and strapped
+behind their saddles. Tents, cooking utensils, and eating supplies were
+loaded on two pack horses which Tom was to lead behind his own mount. As
+the girls were about to mount, Mr. Wilson called Gale and Phyllis over
+to where he was giving some last minute instructions to Tom and Jim.
+
+Mr. Wilson handed a small caliber revolver each to Gale and Phyllis.
+
+“What----” Phyllis began wonderingly.
+
+“I think you ought to have them for protection,” Mr. Wilson explained.
+“Against rattlesnakes--and jack rabbits. I’m trusting you two with these
+because I think you are the steadiest ones.”
+
+“Gale knows about the rattlesnakes,” Tom said smiling. “I’ll bet she
+would have given a fortune for a gun yesterday.”
+
+“I’ll say I would,” Gale said with a shudder. “But we will have to have
+some target practice, so we know which end of the gun to aim.”
+
+“Tom can take care of that,” Jim interposed, “he’s right handy with a
+gun.”
+
+“I don’t like this,” Phyllis said to Gale as the girls walked back to
+their horses. “Why should we need guns for protection? We are going on a
+peaceful trip.”
+
+“What with bank robbers running loose,” Gale smiled. “We might be glad
+we have them.”
+
+The guns were stored in the girls’ slickers and soon the party was ready
+to start. They waved gay farewells to Mr. and Mrs. Wilson as their
+horses trotted down the trail. Jim rode in front to guide them and
+directly behind him came Gale, Virginia, and Valerie. The other three
+Adventure Girls followed and Tom brought up the rear with the pack
+horses.
+
+The sun was slowly creeping higher in the sky pouring its warm rays on
+the world below. Three hours after their start the party halted for
+luncheon which they ate cold from their saddle bags, pushing on
+immediately. Jim had a camping place in mind and he wanted to make it in
+plenty of time to pitch their tents by the light of day.
+
+Gale and Virginia watched Valerie with growing alarm. The girl was
+looking paler and more tired with the passing of the minutes. But
+Valerie was too plucky to call a halt on her own account. Once she
+swayed visibly in her saddle. Gale, reining her horse in beside
+Valerie’s, put an anxious arm about her friend.
+
+“Too tired to go on, Val? Just say so. Jim won’t mind camping right
+here.”
+
+“No, don’t stop because of me,” Valerie pleaded. “I’ll stick it out.”
+
+She would stick it out, Gale agreed admiringly, but it would take all
+her courage to do so. Certainly Valerie deserved to conquer the ill
+health that was robbing her of so much of the zest of living.
+
+The horses mounted to the ridge of a hill and there Jim called a halt.
+He gestured with his arm to the valley below where a cool stream of
+water dashed over rocks on its way to join a bigger tributary.
+
+“There’s our camp site,” he said, beaming, “and we’ve made it with a
+good hour of daylight left.”
+
+“Thank goodness we made it at all!” Janet said vigorously, voicing the
+relief most of them felt. “I’ll be as stiff as a board tomorrow.”
+
+“I was going to suggest that we camp all day tomorrow,” Virginia added.
+“It looks like a nice spot, water and everything.”
+
+“As you say,” Tom said cheerily. “Let’s get going, Jim, down to our camp
+site. I want to get settled and smell something cooking over the fire.”
+
+It took them about ten minutes to work their way down to the little
+stream and when they descended from their horses there was a chorus of
+groans. All of them were stiff from their positions in the saddle. It
+was worse because it was the first time most of them had ever ridden all
+day.
+
+“Get the tents up first,” Virginia proposed. “You and Jim can do that,
+Tom, while we gather some wood for a fire.”
+
+After Tom and Jim had unsaddled the horses they set about erecting the
+girls’ tents. It was not long before a fire was crackling cheerily and
+bacon was spitting in a frying pan over the blaze.
+
+Directly the tents were erected and the girls’ beds made with a blanket
+spread over pine boughs, Valerie lay down utterly worn out. Gale brought
+her supper and then left her alone to fall asleep early and get as much
+rest as she could. The others gathered about the campfire, despite their
+weariness, to talk and to sing songs. Tom had his harmonica and it
+seemed the fire gave him inspiration for he played until the others
+begged for mercy.
+
+As Gale and Phyllis lay down on their bed of boughs in the tent with
+Valerie, a coyote howled dismally in the distance. From afar came an
+answering cry.
+
+“I’ll never get used to that noise if I stay here a hundred years,”
+declared Phyllis. “It will keep me awake all night.”
+
+But five minutes after she had spoken Gale heard her regular breathing
+and knew she was asleep.
+
+The next morning the girls were awakened by the aroma of coffee and by
+Tom banging on the frying pan.
+
+“Wake up, sleepy-heads!” he roared.
+
+The girls tumbled from their tents stiff and only half awake. The cold
+creek water, dashed in their faces, though, served to put life into them
+with its tingling properties. Breakfast was more delicious than they had
+ever remembered that meal to be. Perhaps it was the invigorating air,
+the exercise of the day before, or the excitement prevailing over this
+trip, but they all had big appetites.
+
+“What are we going to do today?” Virginia asked.
+
+“I am going to rest, rest, and rest some more,” Janet said loudly, as if
+daring someone to contradict her. “I shall never, never forget that ride
+yesterday.”
+
+“I’m going to do the same,” Valerie declared. She was looking a little
+weary this morning, but she seemed in good spirits.
+
+“Me likewise!” vouchsafed Carol.
+
+“Well, I think I’d like to take a walk,” Madge said. “How about it,
+Virginia?”
+
+“Just the thing,” Virginia declared.
+
+“Jim and I are going to follow the creek a ways and see if there could
+possibly be any fish in it,” Tom said.
+
+The latter two started off and Madge and Virginia started to walk along
+the creek in the opposite direction.
+
+“Let’s cross the creek and see what’s over the hill on the other side,”
+proposed Phyllis to Gale.
+
+The two crossed the creek on a series of stones placed just right for
+the purpose. From the other side they waved gayly at their remaining
+camp mates and started forward. Here the undergrowth was thick. In her
+hand Gale held the gun Mr. Wilson had given her. It was not her
+intention to be confronted unprepared by any more rattlesnakes. Jim had
+explained the working mechanism of the little gun and Gale was sure she
+knew enough about it not to hurt herself at least.
+
+“Oh!” Phyllis jumped as something darted across in front of them.
+
+“Only a jack rabbit,” Gale laughed.
+
+“You never can tell,” Phyllis murmured, treading through the grass more
+warily. “I knew of a man once who tread on a snake.”
+
+“That’s not as bad as finding one wound around your leg,” Gale declared.
+“Look, what’s that up there?”
+
+Half hidden by a growth of cactus and tangled vines, yawned a dark
+cavernous hole.
+
+“Let’s investigate,” proposed Phyllis. “It rather looks like a cave. I
+didn’t know they had caves in Arizona.”
+
+“I know there were a lot of huge subterranean caves discovered in 1909,”
+Gale answered. “But I don’t know in what part of the state they were.
+Phyllis, look!” The last words had come with a gasp of incredulity.
+
+They were closer to the cave now and could clearly see the man who stood
+in the opening. He was gazing away from them, toward the other side of
+the valley.
+
+“One of the bank robbers!” Phyllis gasped.
+
+The man, as though he had heard her, turned and looked in their
+direction. The next minute he had turned and disappeared into the cave.
+
+“C’mon,” Phyllis said excitedly, “let’s see where he goes.”
+
+The girls covered the few remaining yards to the cave in a run. Once at
+the cave, caution overtook them. The desperado might be lying in wait
+for them, and it would be well for them to proceed slowly and carefully.
+
+As they entered the mouth of the cave, darkness, black and impenetrable,
+dropped on them like a cloak.
+
+
+
+
+                               Chapter V
+
+                                PURSUIT
+
+
+Gale’s left hand clasped tightly in that of Phyllis and with Gale
+holding her gun tightly and ready for instant action should the need
+arise, the two walked forward. They tried to make as little noise as
+possible, but though they walked on tiptoe, the sound echoed back to
+them dully. The ground underfoot was rough and uneven. On both sides of
+them the earth walls were damp and cold. The air was heavy and musty and
+the girls shivered as they tried to walk bravely forward. From up ahead
+of them came a sudden sound as of a boot heel striking against stone.
+
+“There he is!” Phyllis said in a sharp whisper. “What’ll we do?”
+
+“Follow him and see where he is hiding,” Gale returned.
+
+Slowly and with the utmost caution the girls crept forward. Once when
+they came to a turn in the passage they were unprepared for it and
+stumbled into the wall. Thereafter as they walked along, Phyllis kept
+one guiding hand against the wall. Suddenly her hand came in contact
+with something round and small set in a large niche in the wall.
+
+“Hold on, I’ve found something, Gale,” she said. “I wish we had a
+flashlight.”
+
+“What is it?”
+
+“I guess it’s a candle. It _is_ a candle, and it’s been lit recently,
+too, because the end is still warm and the wax isn’t hard yet.”
+
+“Keep it, maybe we’ll find some matches,” Gale laughed.
+
+They came to a turn in the passage and for a moment a little speck of
+light showed ahead of them. But suddenly it flickered and died out.
+
+“I’ll bet it was another candle,” Phyllis whispered. “But if that was
+the man we are after who blew it out, he is awf’ly far away from us.”
+
+Gale stood still and Phyllis stopped also. Over and about them was
+silence. As they stood there they seemed to imagine all sorts of sounds,
+footsteps, whispers from unseen antagonists, scurrying of mice in the
+passageway.
+
+“I don’t like this,” Phyllis said nervously. “Let’s go back to camp and
+get Tom or Jim.”
+
+“If you will lead the way out,” invited Gale.
+
+“You mean to say we are lost in here?”
+
+“Well, I haven’t the faintest knowledge in which direction the entrance
+lies,” Gale said candidly. “Do you?”
+
+“It is back of some place,” Phyllis said uneasily. “We’ve got to find
+it.”
+
+“We’ve got to find it if we want to get out,” Gale agreed. “Suppose we
+turn around and walk the other way.”
+
+A mocking laugh arose from somewhere in the passage and echoed loudly
+and weirdly. Both girls shivered from the ominous tone of it. They
+walked along, Phyllis’ hand against the wall to guide them, but soon her
+hand touched empty air.
+
+“There’s a turn here,” she cautioned.
+
+“It’s a cross passage,” Gale said. “Passages on both sides of us, but
+which one do we take?”
+
+Again that taunting laugh rumbled from behind them.
+
+“Whichever way we go, I hope it is away from him,” Phyllis declared
+trembling. “That laugh gives me the jitters, it is so melodramatic. Soon
+he will be telling us we are in his power.”
+
+Gale laughed nervously as the girls continued along the right hand
+passage. Phyllis stumbled wildly over something and shrieked madly as
+her exploring fingers came in contact with something cold and hard.
+
+“What is it?” Gale demanded.
+
+“It f-feels like a s-skull,” Phyllis murmured with difficulty.
+
+“Don’t be silly,” Gale said, repressing a shudder. “Probably only a
+rock. Come along, the girls will begin to worry about us soon.”
+
+“They would worry more if they knew we were lost in here,” Phyllis
+declared.
+
+They walked on for what seemed hours, straining their eyes into the
+darkness for that bit of light which would mean they were near the
+entrance, straining their ears to catch unfamiliar sounds.
+
+“G-Gale, do you really think we will find the way out?” Phyllis asked
+after a long while.
+
+“Of course,” Gale said staunchly, with far more cheerfulness than she
+felt. “We can’t stay in here forever.”
+
+“No,” Phyllis said and her voice shook uncontrollably. “Soon we would
+starve.”
+
+Gale, her own nerves on edge with the darkness and their hopeless search
+for the opening, recognized the hysteria in her friend’s voice. But
+before she could remonstrate, there arose that maddening, taunting
+laugh.
+
+“Gale,” Phyllis said hysterically, “I can’t stand it! I can’t! If we
+don’t find the entrance soon, I’ll----”
+
+Gale shook her sternly. “Phyllis! Pull yourself together! Don’t you see,
+that is just what he is trying to do, get us rattled? Of course we’ll
+find the entrance. We’ve got to, but for goodness sake don’t go to
+pieces now. Wait until we get back to camp and then we’ll scream and
+tear our hair.”
+
+The picture of the two of them screaming and tearing their hair was a
+little too much for Phyllis’ sense of humor and she laughed jerkily.
+
+“It wouldn’t be so bad,” she said, Gale’s arm about her shoulders, “if
+Relentless Rudolph would stop laughing.”
+
+“That’s a good name for him,” Gale smiled.
+
+They stood together in the darkness, trying to fathom a way out of their
+predicament.
+
+“Gale, do you suppose----” Phyllis began.
+
+“What?” her friend encouraged.
+
+“This sort of thing was what your uncle was thinking of when he gave us
+those revolvers?”
+
+“I shouldn’t be surprised,” Gale said slowly.
+
+“I wish I had mine now,” Phyllis wailed. “A lot of good it does us in my
+slicker.”
+
+“I’ve got mine,” Gale reminded her, “but we haven’t seen anything to
+shoot at yet.”
+
+“Why do you suppose he, Relentless Rudolph, is trying to scare us so?”
+was Phyllis’ next question.
+
+“I haven’t the faintest idea,” Gale answered. “Unless he is trying to
+scare us so we will be afraid to send the police after him.”
+
+“Not much chance,” Phyllis said indignantly. “I’d like to lead the
+police here, myself. If this cave didn’t give me the jitters,” she
+added. “Let’s get going--some place.”
+
+Hand in hand they started off again. This passage had a more hollow
+sound than the others. Their footsteps, for they no longer bothered to
+tread silently, sounded like thunder in their ears. The ground was
+getting more uneven and suddenly they bumped ignominiously into the
+wall.
+
+“That’s the end of that,” Phyllis said in a tired voice. “We’ll wear
+ourselves out before long.”
+
+They went back the way they had come and when they came to the cross
+passages, chose one going in the opposite direction. Their steps were
+lagging, and their eyes burned from straining them to catch one glimpse
+of daylight.
+
+“Phyllis! Look! The entrance!” Gale cried joyously.
+
+“Hurray! Let’s run!” Phyllis said eagerly.
+
+All their tiredness was gone now. They raced eagerly for the patch of
+light ahead of them and burst out upon a valley of green.
+
+“I was never so glad to leave any place,” Phyllis said, sinking down
+beneath a tree and leaning wearily against the trunk. “Rest a couple of
+minutes and then we’ll go back to camp.”
+
+“Phyllis,” Gale said slowly, gazing about them first this way and then
+that. “This isn’t the same place where we went in.”
+
+“No,” Phyllis agreed thoughtfully, after looking around, “it isn’t.
+Don’t tell me we’re lost again! At that,” she said calmly, “I’d rather
+be lost out here in the open than in those underground passages.”
+
+“Come on,” Gale said impatiently, “we can’t sit here all day. We have to
+find the camp.”
+
+The sun was high overhead. It was hours since they had left their camp
+site. What must the others be thinking? Had Tom or Jim started out to
+find them?
+
+“Maybe we could stay here and let ’em find us,” Phyllis said, relaxed
+and lazy.
+
+“We can’t stay here,” Gale said decidedly. She hit upon a sudden
+inspiration to make her friend bestir herself. “We are too close to the
+cave, the bandit might pursue us,” she added smilingly.
+
+That was enough. Phyllis jumped to her feet and started to climb over
+the uneven ground through the trees. At the top of the rise they saw
+their camp nestling beside the little creek in the valley. The
+subterranean passages they had been in led directly through the hill
+which they had started to climb earlier in the day. From where they
+stood now, they could see the partly hidden entrance which they had
+first discovered. On their way down the hillside they took particular
+care not to go near the mouth of the cave, lest they should see and be
+seen by the bank bandit.
+
+When they returned to the camp the others greeted them with mingled
+exclamations of curiosity and thankfulness.
+
+“We had about decided that you were lost,” Carol declared.
+
+“You would have been right----” Gale began.
+
+“Hold on!” Phyllis exclaimed. “Who is that with Jim?”
+
+The girls saw Jim approaching the campfire where they were all gathered,
+and with him was the man who two days before had brought the news of the
+escape of the bank bandits to the K Bar O.
+
+“Are you still hunting for the escaped robbers?” was Phyllis’ eager
+question the minute the two men came within hearing distance of the
+girls and Tom.
+
+“Shore!” he answered promptly.
+
+“Well,” Phyllis smiled over the sensation she knew her words would
+create, “we saw one of them this morning.”
+
+“You what? Where? Are you sure it was one of them?” The questions poured
+from all present.
+
+“Oh, we’re sure all right,” Phyllis said. “He scared us out of a month’s
+sleep. I’ve christened him Relentless Rudolph the way he followed us and
+laughed at us.”
+
+“Followed you? Laughed at you?” Janet echoed. “What _do_ you mean?”
+
+“Explain yourself,” urged Carol.
+
+So while the others listened Gale let Phyllis tell of their morning’s
+adventure. Phyllis recreated vividly with words the suspense they had
+felt while fumbling around in the dark of the passages. The other girls
+were quite beside themselves with excitement when she had finished.
+
+Armed with flashlights and the revolvers they always carried now Tom
+followed Jim and the special deputy into the cave when Gale and Phyllis
+had shown them the entrance.
+
+The girls returned to the camp to await the return of the three and
+their prisoner. They had no doubts that if the bandit was still in the
+cave, the three men would find him and bring him back to face justice.
+
+“But there might be another exit to the cave that you don’t know about,”
+Virginia mused to Phyllis and Gale. “Even now he might be miles away.”
+
+“Well,” Phyllis said uncomfortably, remembering the thief’s laughter,
+“the farther he stays away from me, the better.”
+
+“I hope nothing happens to Tom,” Virginia said with a worried frown for
+her brother. “If there is any danger, he is bound to rush right into
+it.”
+
+“Don’t worry,” Gale consoled her, “Tom is old enough to take care of
+himself. While we are waiting, I’m going to have some target practice so
+I’ll know how to handle this revolver.”
+
+“A good idea,” Phyllis declared jumping to her feet. “We’ll have a
+shooting match.”
+
+Virginia tacked a large piece of paper to a tree and paced off
+twenty-five feet. From her mark Gale tried her luck at hitting their
+target. When she had finished they discovered that one of her six
+bullets had just nicked the edge of the paper. The others had gone clear
+past the tree. Phyllis was not even as lucky. None of her tries was
+successful.
+
+“You couldn’t hit a barn door if you were inside the barn,” Carol
+teased.
+
+“You couldn’t do any better!” was Phyllis’ spirited retort. “Give us a
+chance, we’ll show you.”
+
+The sun fell farther and farther in the west. The girls nervously idled
+away the time, keeping anxious eyes on the hill opposite where they
+expected Tom and his companions to reappear. But the minutes flew and
+the others did not come. The sun dropped from sight, leaving a trail of
+glorious colors in his wake. From the east, night like a pearly gray
+blanket covered the sky.
+
+Virginia sliced bacon in the frying pan over the fire. Gale made coffee
+and soon inviting aromas of their supper drifted on the air.
+
+“The smell of food will bring Tom if nothing else does,” Virginia
+declared laughingly.
+
+But it grew later. Darkness with its impenetrable shadows closed down.
+The girls huddled about the campfire, watching the fantastic shadows the
+flames threw over the tents. They had had their supper and put aside
+things to be warmed when the others returned.
+
+“Do you suppose they could have gotten lost like we did?” Phyllis asked
+after a long and heavy silence.
+
+“They had flashlights,” put in Madge. “They shouldn’t have.”
+
+“Ah, but you don’t know that place!” Phyllis shivered, “It gives me the
+creeps to think of it.”
+
+“What’s that?” Virginia cried suddenly.
+
+They listened attentively. A stick cracked as a heavy foot trod on it.
+In the fitful firelight’s gleam they could see three shadowy figures
+crossing the creek.
+
+“Tom?” Virginia called uncertainly.
+
+“All safe,” Tom’s hearty voice assured her.
+
+“But where is the bandit?” Valerie asked excitedly.
+
+“That’s what we’d like to know,” grumbled Tom. “We searched that place
+all through but there was no one in there.”
+
+“But we did see him,” Phyllis insisted. “He must have escaped before you
+got there.”
+
+“That’s what we figgered,” Jim put in. “We found footprints of a man,
+but escaping the law seems to be that fella’s strong point.”
+
+“He won’t escape all the time,” murmured the deputy. “We’ll catch up
+with him some day.”
+
+The girls, Virginia and Gale, warmed the supper for the three men and
+before they all turned in for the night, the deputy took his leave,
+declaring he could not spend the night at their campfire, but had to be
+miles away by morning.
+
+The girls slept peacefully and dreamlessly, storing up energy for the
+day’s ride ahead of them, for it was Tom and Jim’s plan to continue on
+to a new camp site the next day.
+
+
+
+
+                               Chapter VI
+
+                              GHOST CABIN
+
+
+“Ah, me, the joys of camping in the open!” Carol said to the world at
+large.
+
+Rain had been steadily pouring down on the file of riders since early
+morning. Clad in shining slickers they were riding on through the
+downpour. It was decidedly uncomfortable and to make it worse, they had
+had to have a cold lunch because everything was soaked and neither Tom
+nor Jim could make a fire. Such conditions had led to Carol’s
+declaration.
+
+The others smiled but Janet was the only one who grumbled in reply.
+
+“When do we get to this cabin, Jim?” she called over the heads of Gale,
+Valerie and Virginia.
+
+Jim knew of a cabin where he promised them they could spend the night in
+comparative dryness and warmth. It was an old miner’s shack, long since
+deserted by its owner, but no matter how ramshackle and tumbledown, it
+beckoned as a heavenly haven to the wet, weary riders because it
+promised shelter from the rain.
+
+“In ’bout an hour, I reckon,” Jim replied. “Mebbe less.”
+
+“I hope it’s less,” Gale murmured to Virginia.
+
+Her cousin smiled at her. “Feeling disgusted with camping in the open? I
+wouldn’t blame you. This isn’t a nice experience for newcomers to our
+state.”
+
+“It isn’t me,” Gale said with a surprised glance, as though the mere
+thought of her own comfort had never entered her head. “It’s Val. She’s
+looking rather--peaked.”
+
+“She’s bearing up marvelously well,” Virginia replied with equal
+concern. “I hope today isn’t too much for her. I don’t want to spend
+more than one night in this cabin Jim is taking us to.”
+
+“Why not?” Gale asked.
+
+“Well,” Virginia shifted uncomfortably, “I--just don’t that’s all.”
+
+“Come on, out with it,” Gale said gayly. “Don’t go keeping secrets from
+me. Is the place haunted?” she asked hopefully.
+
+“It’s known as Ghost Cabin,” Virginia said reluctantly.
+
+“How interesting!” Gale declared. “Tell me more! How did it come by that
+name?”
+
+“It is near the entrance to an old silver mine,” Virginia explained.
+“Years ago this region was thought to hold valuable silver deposits.
+Some miners came and camped here. The owner of the cabin worked his mine
+for a year or so. Some people said he made a lot of money out of it. I
+don’t know. Anyway, the miner was found murdered in his cabin,
+supposedly killed by thieves.”
+
+“Where does the ghost come in?” Gale wanted to know.
+
+“The miner is supposed to come back to his cabin at night to wait for
+the thieves who murdered him,” Virginia told her.
+
+“Cheerful thought,” Gale grimaced wryly. “Do you suppose he’ll come
+tonight?”
+
+“I don’t know,” Virginia said doubtfully, albeit a bit hopefully. “It
+would be fun, wouldn’t it, to meet a ghost?”
+
+“A lot of fun,” Gale agreed dryly. “I’m not particularly fond of the
+things myself. I’ll have to pass this tale on to the others.”
+
+While they rode, Gale, with Virginia’s help, told the rest of the
+Adventure Girls the story about the cabin to which they were going. They
+were a little dubious about the night and its outcome, but all agreed it
+would be highly exciting. Tom and Jim promptly declared the tale a myth,
+that there were no such things as ghosts.
+
+“You’re just trying to spoil our prospect of an exciting evening,”
+declared Janet loftily to Tom. “I shall look for ghosts just the same.”
+
+“Go ahead,” he grinned, “and may you find a lot of them.”
+
+“Oh, not a lot,” she said hastily. “One healthy one is about all that I
+could handle.”
+
+“We’ll all be there to help you--handle him,” Carol assured her friend.
+“Don’t tell me we have finally reached our goal!” This last as the party
+rounded a clump of trees and through the rain saw a low, ramshackle
+cabin ahead of them. A little distance from the cabin was a shed and
+Carol demanded to know what it was.
+
+“Entrance to his mine,” Tom replied, “Don’t go near it or you will
+probably fall down a shaft or something.”
+
+Carol frowned on him. “I will not fall down anything,” she declared with
+dignity.
+
+“See that you don’t,” he laughed. “Come along, Ambitious,” he urged one
+of the pack horses who was lolling behind.
+
+Jim was the first to approach the cabin and when they crowded behind him
+there were mingled exclamations of disgust and disappointment. A layer
+of dust lay over everything and there were dirt and filth in abundance.
+But the sight of a fireplace and plenty of dry wood ready to flame up at
+the spurt of a match heartened them somewhat.
+
+“First of all,” Jim said, “I’ll sweep the place. There’s a makeshift
+broom over there in the corner. You all wait outside.”
+
+So there was nothing for the others to do but go back out into the rain
+until Jim and Tom could restore the place to some semblance of
+cleanliness.
+
+“We’ll tie the horses back of the cabin,” Virginia proposed, to keep
+them busy.
+
+“Feeling tired?” Gale asked anxiously of Valerie as the two walked side
+by side, leading their mounts.
+
+Valerie nodded, forcing a smile. “No worse than you, I expect.”
+
+Again Gale felt a thrill of admiration for her friend who was so
+cheerfully determined to fight her way back to strong, ruddy health.
+
+“The minute the cabin is respectable, you shall sit down and not stir
+again tonight,” she declared.
+
+“I’ll help get supper,” Valerie corrected.
+
+“No you won’t,” Gale said.
+
+“But I want to,” Valerie insisted. “I don’t want the girls to wait on
+me. I didn’t intend to be a burden when I came on this trip and I won’t
+be one!”
+
+“Darling, you could never be that!” Gale said tenderly. She continued
+humorously: “Here we want to give you service and you won’t have it. I
+wish somebody----”
+
+“All clear,” Tom called, and there was a sudden rush of wet figures for
+the poor sanctuary of the tumbledown shack.
+
+A fire crackled cheerily in the fireplace and the tired riders were
+gathered around it gratefully, yielding to the comfort of its warmth and
+to the laziness a good supper had instilled in them.
+
+“And still no ghosts,” Madge sighed, leaning her head cozily against
+Janet’s shoulder.
+
+“No, and I can’t say that I miss them,” that individual added, stifling
+a yawn.
+
+“It has stopped raining,” Jim volunteered from his post at the door.
+“Tom and I will put up a tent outside for the night.”
+
+“You girls can roll in your blankets on the floor here in front of the
+fire,” Tom continued. “We----”
+
+All of them came to attention. From somewhere, they were not certain of
+the exact position, came three slow, measured knocks.
+
+“Ah, the ghost has arrived!” murmured Carol.
+
+“Where was he?” demanded Virginia. “It sounded as though he were beneath
+the floor, but the place has no cellar.”
+
+“It came from the ceiling,” contradicted Phyllis.
+
+“Do you really think it is a ghost?” whispered Janet.
+
+The others motioned for silence as the knocks were resumed. Three more
+were followed by a low, gurgling scream that rose and wavered on the
+night air, dying slowly away. The girls exchanged glances, their faces
+white and troubled. Tom was frowning fiercely. Jim’s eyes were darting
+about the room to find the source of the ghostly knocks and scream.
+
+“This isn’t funny any more,” Janet said fearfully.
+
+“Do you think we can stay here all night?” Valerie added.
+
+“It will take more than knocks and a scream to scare us away,” Virginia
+declared staunchly.
+
+“But suppose it is the old miner come back to wait for the thieves?”
+Carol began. “What are----”
+
+Her voice died away as the distinct rattling of chains filled the air.
+
+“All the desired sound effects,” Tom growled.
+
+“It seemed to come from right under our feet,” Gale declared.
+
+“Rattling chains indeed!” sniffed Phyllis. “We can be sure it isn’t a
+real ghost now. He has too much to be true. Somebody is trying to scare
+us.”
+
+“You’re right,” Jim agreed.
+
+“But where is he? Why can’t we see him?” demanded Virginia.
+
+“He can’t be on the roof,” Tom said thoughtfully, “there is no
+cellar----”
+
+“He certainly isn’t here with us,” Carol declared. “There goes that
+scream again!” She shivered. “It gives me the creeps. Do you suppose he
+could be on the outside?”
+
+“No, he isn’t anywhere in sight,” Jim said firmly, returning from a
+quick circle of the cabin.
+
+“We haven’t heard him for some minutes now,” Virginia said
+encouragingly. “Maybe he has gone.”
+
+“Just a slight intermission,” murmured Janet calmly.
+
+They waited, but nothing happened. Tom and Jim set a tent up before the
+cabin. The girls spread their blankets before the fire, all but Valerie.
+The girls had insisted that she take possession of the low bunk the
+cabin afforded. It would be slightly more comfortable than the floor.
+
+She was tired, but rolled in her blanket in the silent cabin, Gale found
+she could not sleep. All desire for sleep had left her and her mind was
+active. The other girls were sleeping, she supposed Tom and Jim were
+too, out in their tent. But her ears magnified a thousandfold each
+crackling of a log and each creak of the floor sent expectant shivers
+along her spine. She realized then she was waiting for the ghost of the
+cabin to return. She was sure he would. No self-respecting ghost would
+stop after such a mild attempt to frighten them away if he was really
+anxious to be rid of them. But who was it that was playing ghost? The
+bank bandit? Hardly. Whoever it was, why did he want people to stay away
+from the cabin? From where she lay, she looked around at the room. She
+could see nothing that anyone might wish to keep from prying eyes.
+
+Quietly she threw back her blanket and stood up. Tiptoeing, she went to
+the door and stepped outside. Stentorian snores were coming from the
+little tent. Tom and Jim were in dreamland. Smiling, she leaned against
+the door and stared up at the stars overhead. The storm had cleared and
+there was not a cloud in the sky. The stars hung low like brightly
+lighted lanterns. The moon cast its silver light on the earth, causing
+huge black shadows under trees and behind the cabin and the shanty set
+apart.
+
+Standing in the darkness, the wind ruffling her hair, gray eyes alight
+with a hint of the brightness of the stars in their depth, Gale sighed
+with sheer enjoyment of the scene. She had never before realized that a
+spot such as this, away from the noise and the people of the world,
+could be so lovely. It was almost like standing on the edge of the
+world. Behind her towered high and mighty mountains, before her lay a
+sea of moon-swept valley. Born and brought up in the little town of
+Marchton, Gale had known some outdoor life, but never the breathless
+beauty and limitless quiet of a night in Arizona. Quiet had she thought?
+Far away a coyote howled and yet another. She shivered. The sound was
+so--uncivilized. The cry of that animal was like a call straight from
+the wild untamed world of which she knew nothing.
+
+Gale was staring at the dark little shanty that Tom had said was
+doubtless the entrance to the old miner’s mine. She wondered if the man
+had ever realized his dream of great wealth, the dream he doubtless had
+when he settled here and began to dig. A shadow, a moving shadow, had
+detached itself from the spot of darkness which was the shanty and was
+going toward a thick clump of trees. Instantly Gale stiffened to
+attention. Who was it? Certainly it was no ghost, for no ghost was ever
+so solid. Was it the one who had tried to frighten them from the cabin?
+Certainly he had not tried very hard. Perhaps he was coming back later
+for a second attempt. Were there more mysterious men in the shaft to the
+mine? Gale had a sudden impulse to call Tom or Jim to investigate that
+shadow. No, she would investigate it herself, she decided. The man was
+out of sight now, lost in the blackness of the trees and she moved
+forward.
+
+It was not far from the shadow of the cabin to the protecting darkness
+of the shanty and Gale covered it quickly. She did not want to be seen
+by that other sleuthing person. She preferred to do her detecting unseen
+and unknown. Her exploring fingers found the latch, consisting of a nail
+and a piece of string, and in a minute the shanty door swung to behind
+her. It was dark and silent in here. From her jacket pocket she took a
+small flashlight. Ever since she and Phyllis had been lost in the cave
+she had carried her light with her, rather than leaving it rolled in her
+slicker. Now she was glad she had it. The little circle of light
+revealed a pair of worn wooden steps leading downward. Gale listened
+intently and when she heard nothing that indicated another’s presence,
+descended into the passage. It was nothing like the big coal mines she
+had read and seen pictures of. It was merely a tunnel that had been
+hewed out of the ground with pick and shovel. If the ground had once
+held a fortune of silver, it gave no evidence of it now. She had to
+stoop, so low was the ceiling, as she picked her way along over rocks
+and débris.
+
+Suddenly the thin ray of light from her lamp wavered and she noticed
+that it had grown dim. The battery was growing weak and would not last
+much longer. She switched it off. She must save it so she would have at
+least enough light to find her way back to the entrance. That was where
+she made her mistake. Creeping along in darkness, she did not see the
+black hole ahead and when her foot touched empty air, fell head foremost
+down--down--several feet.
+
+For a moment she lay stunned with the unexpectedness of her fall. Too,
+the jar of landing had knocked all collected thought from her head.
+Slowly she sat up and felt for an injury. Nothing but bruises, thank
+goodness. She had dropped her flashlight and had to feel out with her
+hands along the damp earth until she found it. She hoped fervently that
+the drop had not put it entirely out of commission. No, when she pressed
+the little button, a feeble ray of light shot out. The light was bright
+enough to see that she had fallen into a pit of some sort that stretched
+away out behind her into darkness which the lamp would not penetrate.
+
+She got to her feet and endeavored to shake some of the dirt from her
+clothes. It was a risk to go forward without a light, but a glance at
+the wall of dirt and rock had shown her that she could never hope to
+climb up to where she had been before her fall. There was no course but
+to explore this passage here and to hope that that mysterious shadow did
+not decide to come back into the mine immediately. But perhaps he had
+friends in here, friends that would not welcome her intrusion. The very
+thought that any minute she might stumble upon some mysterious, fearful
+unknown made her nervous and she proceeded with greater caution.
+
+Gale endeavored to readjust her sense of direction, which had been
+somewhat confused with her fall, to find in what direction this passage
+led. If she was correct, and she believed she was, it should lead across
+to directly beneath the cabin where her friends were sleeping. In that
+case, the man she had seen might have been the “ghost” who with his
+mysterious knocks and screams had frightened them. But, remembering the
+fall which she had had, how did he get down to this lower passage, and
+once down here, how did he get up again? She had not been able to find
+any means of gaining the higher level. She halted and switched her
+flashlight on again. The light was failing rapidly and she dared to keep
+it on only a moment. But in that moment she had switched it overhead and
+seen the row of four or five boards which she was sure were part of the
+floor of the cabin. She sought a rock and hurled it up against the
+boards, ducking as it rebounded back at her. She followed it with
+another and then another.
+
+“The ghost is back again,” said a nervous voice which she recognized as
+Janet’s.
+
+Certainly it was the floor of the cabin and she had discovered how the
+ghost had done his mysterious knocking. His voice from here would have
+been clearly audible to them, too, just as she could hear the girls now.
+
+“Gale’s gone!” she heard Valerie cry in alarm.
+
+“Gone!” the others echoed.
+
+She was just about to call out to reassure them when a sound in the
+passageway behind her made her hold her breath in suspense. Someone was
+coming along the tunnel. That must mean that the mysterious ghost had
+returned to do some more of his haunting. With quick and as quiet steps
+as possible, she retreated back the way she had come, and directly
+toward that unknown. Standing flattened against the earth wall, her
+heart thumping so she was sure he would hear it, Gale waited for the
+ghost to pass her. He did so, actually brushing against her in the
+darkness. He carried no flashlight and it was this fact alone that had
+saved her from discovery. Evidently he knew his way about in the
+darkness.
+
+Aided now by fear, she sped along the narrow, low tunnel to where she
+had had her fall. The man certainly had not been in here when she fell,
+hence there must be some way he had entered since. She had to find that
+entrance to gain her freedom. Now that the others had discovered her
+absence, they would be alarmed and a search would be begun. She must get
+back and reassure them. She must also send Tom and Jim to find this
+mysterious stranger.
+
+Flashing on the last faint rays of her flashlight, she saw the wall down
+which she had fallen and against it hung a crude rope ladder. So this
+was how he entered and left this lower tunnel! With one foot on the
+ladder, she slipped her flashlight into her jacket pocket. It had failed
+entirely now and she would have to depend on her memory to lead her to
+the entrance. It took but a few moments to climb the ladder and once at
+the top she pulled it up behind her. That would keep the ghost in the
+lower passage until Tom and Jim could come along and investigate him.
+There must be some reason why he “haunted” the cabin with his mysterious
+knocks.
+
+Swiftly as possible she went along the tunnel and after several minutes
+stumbled against the steps leading up to the door.
+
+
+
+
+                              Chapter VII
+
+                               LANDSLIDE
+
+
+“But I can’t understand how he got out!” Gale said again with a puzzled
+frown. “I purposely pulled the ladder up behind me to keep him in
+there.”
+
+“There must be another way out that’s all,” Tom said.
+
+“He’s gone and now we shall never know who the ghost was,” said Janet.
+
+Tom and Jim exchanged a fleeting glance that only Gale seemed to see.
+
+“Well, Gale gives a good imitation of a spook,” was Carol’s declaration.
+“Imagine, throwing rocks at the floor to scare us all out of our well
+earned sleep.”
+
+“I was only demonstrating how it was done for my own satisfaction,” Gale
+laughed.
+
+The nine of them were jogging along on their horses. They had had their
+breakfast while they discussed the disappearance of the ghost. For the
+man whom Gale had thought imprisoned in the lower tunnel had gone when
+Jim and Tom let themselves down on the rope ladder. They had not
+explored the tunnel to its full length so they were not sure, but they
+surmised that there must be another exit some place along the passage
+and it was this that the mysterious stranger had used. They had all
+endeavored to go back to sleep, but their rest was fitful and broken.
+They had eaten an early breakfast and now, two hours later, found them
+picking their way through cactus and undergrowth to the distant hills.
+
+“Git along little dogie, git along, git along,” Janet sang lustily.
+
+“I wish I had brought some cotton,” Carol commented darkly, “for my
+ears,” she added at Janet’s curious glance. “Then I wouldn’t have to
+listen to you sing.”
+
+“Oh, you don’t appreciate a good voice when you hear it,” was Janet’s
+retort.
+
+“A good voice, I do,” Carol declared, and moved her pony so that Gale
+was between her and Janet. “But who ever told you----”
+
+“What? Not another musical person?” Madge demanded as Tom blew
+vigorously on his harmonica.
+
+“If riding affects them like that,” Virginia laughed, “it is time we
+called a halt. What do you say, Jim?”
+
+“For ten minutes,” Jim nodded.
+
+They fell from their mounts, grateful for the respite. Tom promptly
+stretched out on the ground, his hat over his face to shut out the sun.
+Jim led the horses to a little stream of water as the girls stamped the
+stiffness out of their cramped legs.
+
+“Where’s Jim?” Virginia wanted to know at the end of the allotted ten
+minutes for Jim was not in sight. The horses were standing ready for
+their riders, but they could not proceed without the guide.
+
+Virginia went over and poked her brother into wakefulness.
+
+“What’s the matter?” he asked drowsily.
+
+“Jim hasn’t come back yet,” Virginia informed him, “and if we don’t get
+started, we won’t make our next campsite before dark.”
+
+Tom stretched lazily. “Well, stay here an’ I’ll find him.”
+
+Gale and Virginia mounted their horses and the others did likewise.
+
+“You know, I’m either going to wear the horse out or he is going to wear
+me out,” Janet declared with a grimace as she lowered herself into the
+saddle. “I’m afraid it is the latter.”
+
+They waited for fully fifteen minutes before either Tom or Jim came into
+sight. The horses had caught the impatience of their riders and were
+fidgeting to be off.
+
+“We thought you had deserted us for sure!” Virginia declared. “Where
+were you?”
+
+To Gale it seemed that the two men had the air of conspirators. There
+was a gleam in their eyes that had not been there before. The minute
+they came within earshot of the girls they stopped talking and came on
+silently.
+
+“Virginia,” Tom said immediately, “we want you to lead the girls to Bear
+Rock and have lunch. Wait there for us.”
+
+“But where are you going?” Virginia demanded.
+
+“Jim has found a trail that looks strange so we are going to follow it,”
+Tom explained. “But we’ll catch up to you at Bear Rock. You camp there
+until we come, understand?”
+
+“No,” Virginia said firmly. “I don’t understand. What is so strange
+about this trail? Why can’t we all ride that way?”
+
+“We couldn’t follow the trail with all of you along,” Tom declared. “It
+would be obliterated in no time.”
+
+“But, Tom, if we get lost up here we could never find each other again,”
+Virginia continued.
+
+“But Miss Virginia, you’ve been to Bear Rock lots of times,” Jim put in.
+“Yore Dad would want us to follow this trail, too. It shore looks mighty
+strange. You won’t get lost.”
+
+“You don’t know what you might be getting into,” Virginia said. “I think
+you should let that trail alone and mind your own business.”
+
+Tom shook his head, tightening his saddle strap.
+
+“We’re goin’ so you might as well save your breath. See you at Bear
+Rock,” he added as he and Jim swung their horses about and were off in a
+cloud of dust.
+
+The girls stared after them in surprise, then Virginia, with a shrug of
+her shoulders, turned her horse and led the way at an abrupt angle from
+the road taken by Jim and Tom. Gale undertook to bring up the rear with
+the pack horses. As the girls jogged forward, Phyllis rode directly
+behind Virginia with Janet and Carol following. Valerie had dropped
+behind with Gale.
+
+“Do you suppose that mysterious trail was left by the bank bandits?”
+Valerie murmured in a low tone to her friend.
+
+“I shouldn’t be surprised,” Gale answered. “You know, Val, that is what
+they are really looking for. I believe that is why Jim has a definite
+camping place in mind for each day and doesn’t let us loiter much along
+the way. He and Tom must think the rustlers and robbers are connected.”
+
+Valerie nodded. “Do you think the bandit might have been the man you saw
+at the mine last night?”
+
+Gale frowned. “I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about that. It might
+have been, but I can’t be sure because I didn’t get a close enough look
+at him. He might have been using the cabin as a hiding place.”
+
+“That’s why he tried to scare us away,” added Valerie. “I believe that’s
+it!”
+
+“What are you two chattering about?” Janet wanted to know.
+
+“About having broiled rattlesnake for supper,” Valerie retorted. “I’ve
+heard it is very good with mustard.”
+
+It was but a short ride to Bear Rock, so named because a huge boulder so
+resembled the head of a ferocious grizzly. Once there, the girls
+dismounted and gathered wood for a fire. They would eat a cold luncheon,
+but insisted on at least having hot coffee to drink. The horses were
+tethered and the girls gathered about the fire. Seated on stones, for
+the ground was still damp from the heavy rains of the day before, the
+girls waited for the two men to join them. They drank their coffee and
+had long finished their lunch before the clatter of hoofs reached them
+and Jim and Tom rode up.
+
+“We’ll have a new campsite tonight,” Tom said at once. “Jim and I want
+to do a little more sleuthing so we might as well go along and camp when
+it gets dark, no matter where we are.”
+
+“That’s better than leaving us behind at any rate,” Carol declared. “I’m
+rather anxious to get a look at this trail.”
+
+“Just a lot of hoof marks,” Tom answered blandly.
+
+That was all it proved to be and the girls were disappointed. They
+didn’t know what they had expected to find, but certainly more than
+this. Unexperienced in trail reading they didn’t realize what a wide,
+easy-to-read trail had been left. If they had, they might have been
+suspicious. Even so, Tom and Jim, western bred and experienced in
+trailing both men and animals, should have been suspicious. But they
+weren’t.
+
+In the northern region of Arizona are plateaus broken by high mountains.
+Between the foothills of a high range was a winding trail and it was
+this that the Adventure Girls and their friends followed, winding in and
+out through forests thick with pine trees and cottonwoods, jack rabbits
+darting across the trail, making the horses prance and rear, and the
+girls getting so weary they could hardly stay in their saddles.
+
+At last Jim called a halt beside a small stream. The sun was sinking
+swiftly. Darkness was creeping into the east. When they had pitched
+their tents and supper was started, the girls took time out to admire
+the scenery of their surroundings. They were camped on the base of a
+rugged plateau broken in two by a narrow pass through which they
+proposed to ride on the morrow. Overhanging the pass was a huge boulder,
+balanced precariously on the edge of the jutting cliff.
+
+“Just one push is all that needs to block up that whole pass,” Tom
+declared.
+
+“Let’s hope nobody pushes it tomorrow when we are going through there,”
+commented Janet cheerfully.
+
+“Let’s see what is on the other side of the mountain,” proposed Gale to
+Valerie.
+
+“All right,” she agreed readily, getting up from her knees where she had
+been putting another piece of wood on the fire.
+
+“Or are you too tired?” Gale asked suddenly, remembering that Val
+couldn’t keep going as incessantly as the rest of them.
+
+“Of course I’m not too tired for that short walk,” Val said stoutly.
+“Come along.”
+
+“When supper is ready give us a halloo,” directed Gale as the two
+started out.
+
+“You’re taking awful chances,” Carol declared mischievously, “we might
+eat all the supper without you.”
+
+“You had better not!” Gale warned laughingly.
+
+The two walked leisurely, enjoying the glorious hues of the sunset. In
+the west the sky was a maze of colors as the last rays of the sun
+flashed on the banked clouds. The gurgling of the little stream by which
+they walked was the only sound other than that of their footsteps that
+they heard. Yet Gale had the uncanny feeling that eyes were watching
+them. Once she turned to look back at the others in camp. They were all
+busy with something or other. No one was watching her and Val. Yet that
+peculiar feeling persisted.
+
+Directly beneath the overhanging boulder they paused to look up at it.
+It hung menacingly over them. They took a few steps forward when
+something made Gale look up again. Certainly her eyes had not played a
+trick on her! The rock had actually wavered. It was falling!
+
+“Run, Val, run,” she shouted, at the same time grasping her friend’s arm
+and pulling her along.
+
+“What in the world----” Valerie began.
+
+“The rock--it’s falling!” Gale panted.
+
+Thereafter she did not need to urge Val to exert speed to get away from
+the spot toward which the rock was rushing. The two of them flung
+themselves forward while certain destruction hurtled down almost on
+them. The boulder crashed into the earth with such force that it half
+buried itself. On top of it poured earth that had been loosened in its
+descent.
+
+“What if we had been under it?” gasped Val when the girls, at a safe
+distance, viewed the wreckage behind them.
+
+“We would look like pancakes now,” Gale said humorously. “With that
+landslide, can you tell me how we are going to get out of here for our
+supper?”
+
+Valerie looked around. What they had thought was a trail leading through
+the mountains was just a trail that led to the basin here, a valley on
+all sides of which rose steep hills. Their only means of entrance and
+exit had been through the pass, and now that was effectively stopped.
+
+“I wish we would have waited for supper,” Gale said, attempting to keep
+lighthearted.
+
+“You can join us,” said a suave voice behind the girls.
+
+They whirled and were grasped in rough hands.
+
+“Well, two are better ’n none, eh, boss?” a rumbling voice laughed.
+“Maybe we couldn’t get ’em all, but these two will do us.”
+
+Both Gale and Valerie struggled, but what was the use? They were soon
+subdued, not too gently, and led away, their hands tied behind their
+backs, to a cabin, hidden entirely from the trail in a clump of trees.
+
+
+
+
+                              Chapter VIII
+
+                               PRISONERS
+
+
+“What are you going to do with us?” Gale demanded, summoning as much
+courage to her voice as she could.
+
+In the untidy, sparsely furnished room on the first floor of the cabin
+the girls faced their abductors, three of the most dangerous, most
+crafty looking individuals they had ever seen. It was with a pang of
+fear that both Gale and Valerie recognized the leader as one of the
+bandits who had robbed the bank in Coxton.
+
+The leader leered at them with a wide grin. “You, my fine young ladies,
+are to be our safe ticket across the border.”
+
+“You mean--to hold us as hostages?” Gale asked.
+
+“Call it anything you like,” he retorted. “We’re goin’ to put the
+proposition up to your friends. If they don’t agree, you don’t go back
+to ’em--that’s all.”
+
+“You wouldn’t dare to harm us!” Gale said staunchly.
+
+He laughed and exchanged glances with the other two men.
+
+“Take ’em upstairs, Mike,” he ordered, and stamped from the cabin.
+
+None too gently one of the other outlaws pushed the girls before him to
+where a makeshift ladder led to a loft above the first floor. They
+entered through a trap door and it was slammed shut after them. A rusty
+bar slithered into place and they were prisoners.
+
+Gale endeavored to stand upright and sat down again abruptly as her head
+bumped against a beam in the ceiling.
+
+“Well, we’ve landed ourselves in a fine mess, haven’t we?” she grumbled.
+
+“What are we going to do, Gale?” Valerie asked.
+
+Gale heard the tremble in Val’s voice and frowned gloomily. It was all
+her fault that they were in this predicament. If she hadn’t suggested
+the walk they wouldn’t be here now, they would be back with their
+friends eating a good supper.
+
+“The first thing seems to be to get loose,” Gale said, keeping her voice
+perfectly normal. “Can you get your hands out?”
+
+“No,” Val said after a few moments of futile struggling. “They made a
+good job of it.”
+
+“Back up against me,” Gale directed, “and let me see if I can get the
+rope off your hands first.”
+
+Valerie did as directed, but it was impossible. Not able to see the knot
+and working under such a handicap was too hard. Gale had to give it up.
+Below them everything was silent. Had the men really gone to the camp of
+the girls’ friends as they said they intended to do? If so, there must
+be a way out of the valley other than climbing over all that newly
+fallen rock and dirt. The landslide hadn’t blocked them in then at any
+rate! If once they got out of this cabin, Gale knew they would be all
+right. She had the means in her possession to guarantee safe conduct of
+their abductors--or so she thought.
+
+In the wall just above their heads was a window, large enough for them
+to squeeze through Gale reflected when she saw it. Large enough to
+squeeze through if once they got their hands free and could open it.
+
+“Gale--even if we get free what will we do?” Valerie asked. “The window
+will be too high from the ground to jump. Then, too, those men will be
+back soon----”
+
+“If we get free,” Gale gritted through clenched teeth, tugging at the
+rope, “things will be simple. I’ve got my revolver in my boot.”
+
+“You haven’t!” Val gasped.
+
+Gale laughed. “Sure I have. I haven’t been without it since my uncle
+gave it to me. I intended to save it for rattlesnakes--but now we’ve got
+something else to use it on.”
+
+“You wouldn’t actually shoot one of them, would you?” Val asked.
+
+“What would you do?” Gale retorted. “With enough provocation, I s’pect I
+would. After all, they’re bandits--and we’re not exactly safe in their
+hands.”
+
+“You’re right!” Val said with sudden spirit. “Shoot the whole
+three--they need it. I wonder when they will be back?” she added
+tremulously.
+
+Gale had gained her feet, keeping her head low this time so as not to
+bump it, and standing with her back to the window, her exploring fingers
+had encountered the window catch.
+
+“Ouch!” she said suddenly.
+
+“What’s the matter?” Valerie demanded.
+
+“This window catch--it’s as sharp as a knife.” Endeavoring to turn the
+catch, her finger had been cut by the edge of the lock. “Sharp as a
+knife,” she murmured again under her breath. “Hold everything, Val!” she
+cried excitedly.
+
+It was an awkward, uncomfortable position Gale had to assume in order to
+be able to work the edge of the rope that bound her hands together over
+the catch. It was tiring and so slow, but it was accomplishing the task.
+The threads of the rope were being cut through and in a few moments she
+would be free. When finally the rope fell away, her arms were stiff and
+her wrists sore from where the rope had cut into the flesh. Then it was
+only a matter of minutes until she had Val free, too.
+
+“Listen!” Val said, rubbing her wrists to restore circulation.
+
+The sound of heavy footsteps and the murmur of voices drifted up to
+them. The three men reentered the room below and the girls held their
+breath. Almost subconsciously Gale secured her tiny revolver from the
+top of her boot and grasped it ready in her hand. But the trap door did
+not lift. No one came up to see if they were safe.
+
+“What are we going to do now?” Valerie whispered frantically.
+
+Gale went to the window and looked out. A porch had been added to the
+cabin and the roof sloped away from the window where she stood. With a
+protesting squeak the window swung inward when she opened it. The girls
+waited lest the faint noise attract the attention of their abductors.
+But the voices continued in their indistinguishable hum and in a minute
+Gale was through the window on the roof. She helped Valerie and the two
+of them clung to the window sill. Inch by inch they eased themselves
+over the short roof to the edge. There, Gale lay face downward and hung
+over.
+
+“You’ll fall!” Valerie hissed, holding firmly to her friend’s belt.
+
+“Shshsh,” Gale cautioned. “Are you good at sliding down a pole? Well,
+whether you are or not, you’re going to. I’ll go first and catch you,”
+she added humorously. “But don’t you fall on top of me!”
+
+Gale restored her revolver to her boot and swung her legs over the edge.
+For once in her life, Gale was thoroughly glad for her athletic training
+and gymnastic ability. Cautiously she transferred her hold from the edge
+of the porch roof to the pole around which her legs were locked. She
+lowered herself inch by inch, with some little damage by splinters, to
+the ground.
+
+“All right!” she called up to Valerie.
+
+Her friend’s legs appeared over the edge and in another minute Val had
+begun her descent of the pole. In a short time she was beside Gale and
+the two joined hands to run from the scene. But at the same moment, the
+cabin door was thrown open and slammed shut again behind the leader of
+the three men. He did not see the girls, but as they attempted to step
+back into the shadow of the trees, Gale stepped on a twig. It cracked as
+loudly as a pistol report in the silence.
+
+“Run, Val, toward the pass,” Gale said, her hand on her friend’s arm,
+urging her along.
+
+“But you----” Val protested.
+
+“I’m coming,” Gale said. “Go on,” she urged. “I’ll stop him from
+following us.”
+
+The leader was coming toward them now, to investigate that mysterious
+noise among the trees.
+
+“Who’s there?” he called. “Stop or I’ll shoot!”
+
+But the girls sped off through the trees. A bullet whistled through the
+leaves above their heads and abruptly they zigzagged from their course.
+They could hear the bandit crashing after them. They stumbled on,
+covering the ground as rapidly as they could. Somewhere ahead was the
+pass that had been blocked that afternoon, but surely they could find
+some way past or over it. Beyond the pass lay their friends and safety.
+The thought lent new vigor to them. Another bullet sped past them.
+
+Gale whirled and fired point blank at the shadow of their pursuer. A
+groan was her reward and the chase was effectively stopped. The shots
+had summoned the other two men who were thrashing about in a vain
+attempt to find the cause of the shooting. By the time they discovered
+their companion, the girls were farther away.
+
+Val had reached the blocked pass and was already endeavoring to climb up
+and over the landslide when Gale caught up with her. Gale assisted her
+chum as much as she could, for she could see that Val was nearing the
+end of her endurance. They were forced to rest to catch their breath
+several times, and each time they feared that the three bandits would be
+on their heels. But silence seemed to have settled over the valley and
+the cabin they had left behind. They heard nothing as they reached the
+rise of ground and began their slippery slide down the other side.
+
+Halfway down they met Tom and Jim, who were making an attempt to climb
+over the boulder and find the girls, and also to fathom the mystery of
+the shots they had heard.
+
+By the time the four arrived at the camp, Tom and Jim were supporting
+Valerie. The excitement had buoyed her up, but now that the suspense was
+past, Val was utterly worn out.
+
+
+
+
+                               Chapter IX
+
+                              ON THE TRAIL
+
+
+“Did you kill him, I hope?” Janet asked with keen excitement.
+
+Valerie was in her tent asleep while Gale, after a substantial supper,
+told the others of what had happened to them. She had come to the part
+in their escape when she stopped and fired at the bandit when Janet
+voiced her opinion.
+
+Gale shivered. “I hope I didn’t,” she declared. “I wouldn’t care to be a
+murderess.”
+
+“I think there is not much danger of that,” Tom reassured her. “Those
+fellows are pretty hard to kill.”
+
+“We were all nearly frantic,” Virginia said, a fond arm about Gale’s
+shoulders. “First we saw the rock fall and then when you didn’t come
+back--we didn’t know what to think or do!”
+
+“That’s something else,” Gale said, “that rock didn’t fall of its own
+accord. It was pushed.”
+
+“Are you sure?” Carol demanded.
+
+“I saw the man,” Gale said positively. “Something, I don’t know what,
+made me look up just as we were walking under it.”
+
+“That something saved you from being smashed flatter than a pancake,”
+Janet said wisely.
+
+“But who would push the rock?” Madge asked wonderingly. “Those men
+didn’t actually want to--murder you, did they?”
+
+Gale laughed nervously. “Let’s hope they didn’t; they might try again.”
+
+“Hereafter none of you go wandering away by yourselves from camp,” Jim
+said sternly. “To-morrow Tom and I will go see those fellows, since they
+didn’t come to see us,” he added grimly.
+
+“But you----” Virginia was beginning when her voice died away into
+silence.
+
+The thunder of hoofs echoed down into the valley to them. All eyes
+turned up to where the rim of the mountain was silhouetted against the
+moonlit sky. Three black mounted figures were picking their way slowly
+across the trail. In a moment they were swallowed up in the blackness of
+a forest as they made their way down to the valley some distance from
+the Adventure Girls’ camp.
+
+“Three of them,” Tom murmured. “Evidently you didn’t kill that fellow
+after all, Gale.”
+
+“And I’m afraid we won’t be able to get a look at them tomorrow,” Jim
+added. “We’ll follow their trail of course to see in what direction they
+are heading. I think, Virginia, you had better lead the girls back to
+the K Bar O. There is too much danger in these hills.”
+
+“Nothing doing,” Janet interrupted, flatly. “We like danger and we don’t
+want to go home. If you follow the bandits, so do we!”
+
+“I’m afraid we’re all agreed on that,” Gale nodded.
+
+“So you see it is useless for you to argue,” Virginia added, as Jim
+opened his mouth to protest.
+
+“But Dad wouldn’t like it, Virginia,” Tom said with a frown. “Jim and I
+are responsible for you girls. If anything happens----”
+
+“Nothing will,” Carol assured him. “We all bear charmed lives. We shall
+return to the K Bar O when our trip is over just as we started out,” she
+declared.
+
+“But what about Valerie?” Madge put in. “Do you think she can stand a
+lot of hard riding?”
+
+Gale grew thoughtful. “She came through tonight with never a protest. I
+believe Val can stand a lot more than we give her credit for.”
+
+Later, lying on her bed of pine boughs beside Phyllis, Gale thought of
+Valerie again. It had been strenuous, climbing down from the roof and
+later fleeing through the underbrush and over that huge boulder had been
+particularly wearying, without considering that they did it all on top
+of a day’s riding. Val had borne up marvelously well. True she had been
+near collapse at the end, but then she herself had not had much vitality
+left and she had always been stronger than Valerie. Yes sir, Val was in
+a much better physical condition than when they had started for the
+West.
+
+The morning, however, found Valerie not as robust as Gale’s optimistic
+thoughts had pictured her. Breaking camp was delayed until lunch time in
+order to give Val the benefit of a few more hours rest. After luncheon,
+the party saddled and mounted their horses. After a while, Jim picked up
+the trail of the outlaws and they followed it a short distance. But the
+bandits had evidently suspected a chase and rode their horses into a
+stream. From there all trace of trail was wiped out.
+
+Sunset found them miles from the scene of the girls’ adventure. Supper
+was prepared and after it had disappeared they sat about the campfire
+telling stories or singing songs. They retired early and were up with
+the first rays of the sun.
+
+Day after day they followed the same procedure. Their skins were getting
+tanned and their appetites were enormous.
+
+“I never thought I could eat so much,” wailed Janet, after a
+particularly hearty meal.
+
+“You’ll look like a baby elephant when we get back home,” prophesied
+Carol encouragingly.
+
+They rode like regular westerners now, and every day they appreciated
+more and more the beauty of the country through which they rode. If Jim
+had planned on showing them the loveliest scenery, he was running true
+to plan. The girls had never realized before that nature, untamed by
+man, could be so lovely. They never realized that just to sit and gaze
+at a sunset could bring such a thrill. In every way the country was
+affecting them. Physically they were healthier than they had ever been.
+Their mental outlook was brighter, more cheerful. Here in limitless
+space, mid tall mountains, they felt more drawn to one another. Their
+friendships grew and flourished.
+
+One day they camped close to the mighty Colorado River that flows
+through the Grand Canyon. The cliffs of sandstone and limestone, almost
+a mile high, were so rugged and majestic as to fill the girls with awe.
+All the colors of the rainbow were in the rocks and under the influence
+of the sun and the shadows cast by it, formed pictures of entrancing
+beauty, pictures too beautiful to ever be put down on canvas. Rain and
+wind had sculptured the cliffs into bewildering and fantastic forms
+which added to their brilliant coloring.
+
+“Doesn’t it make you feel tiny?” murmured Janet, scarcely above a
+whisper, afraid to disturb the great hush that hung over the Canyon.
+
+“The Canyon was first seen by white men in 1541,” Tom told them. “The
+Colorado River where it runs through the Canyon there is three hundred
+feet wide, and in times of freshets it’s a mighty torrent.”
+
+“You sound like a traditional guide book,” Janet told him.
+
+“It’s wonderful,” Valerie murmured, voicing the feelings of all of them.
+
+Another day found the Adventure Girls and their friends examining the
+colossal stone tree trunks of the Petrified Forest. Here they found more
+to awe and surprise them. Still another day found them at the rim of the
+Painted Desert, the desert with its multi-colored plains alive with
+somber, purple shadows.
+
+“I’m overwhelmed!” Carol declared. “From now on I shall be a strong
+advocate of See America First!”
+
+Valerie had out the little sketching block she always carried with her.
+With a strong talent for sketching and limitless subjects on which to
+try her skill, Val rode with her pencil and pad in her hands nearly all
+day. She wanted to take back home sketches of the spots that interested
+her most on this trip.
+
+“I’ll never be able to make it look as beautiful on paper as it really
+is,” she sighed. “No one could really hope to.”
+
+“I’d like to have one of the sketches you made of the Canyon the other
+day,” Gale said. “I intend to frame it and keep it as a memento.”
+
+“Isn’t it funny, Gale,” Val mused aloud, “how you never miss anything
+until you’ve seen it.”
+
+“You might feel as though you miss something,” Gale agreed, “but you
+don’t know what it is.”
+
+“I shall miss all this a lot when we go back East,” Val declared,
+looking about at the Arizona sunset. “Everything is so--big out here. I
+feel awf’ly small. When I think of the silly things we quarrel over in
+school and the things we think we can’t get along without in the city,
+it makes me ashamed of myself.”
+
+Gale laughed. “If you lived out here long enough, I’m afraid you would
+have a bad inferiority complex.”
+
+“No, but don’t you feel that way?” Val demanded. “Tomorrow we start for
+Monument Valley near Kayenta. That’s one hundred and seventy-five miles
+from the nearest telephone. Imagine what that means! Back home we don’t
+think anything of a telephone because nearly everybody has one.”
+
+“Yes, and just think, I haven’t had a chocolate soda since I came out
+here,” chimed in Janet, coming up behind them. “I hope I shall survive.”
+
+“You look as though you might pull through,” Valerie laughed.
+
+“Come and get it!” Tom called and there was a concerted rush for the
+makeshift supper table.
+
+Day after day they rode through cañons and winding intermittent gullies,
+shallow basins, and dry washes. They followed trails through thick
+sagebrush and cottonwoods, over dry beds of streams and sunken deserts,
+marveling how the dull gray and olive of the sagebrush and trees
+mingled. They learned that many of the mountains were extinct volcanoes
+and admired the brilliant colored sandstone and shale formations. Once
+or twice they ran into heavy thunderstorms that turned dried-up streams
+into rushing torrents of muddy swirling waters.
+
+They explored with keen interest Monument Valley with the spire-like
+rock of El Capitan at its head, and its fantastic flat topped pillars
+rising thousands of feet into the air. A day’s ride from Kayenta the
+riders came upon Betatakin, one of the most interesting, although least
+known, of the cliff dwellings, standing silent within its mammoth cave.
+
+“Just think, hundreds of people lived and died here a thousand years
+ago,” Virginia commented.
+
+“I’m glad we don’t live in houses like these,” Janet said, as she
+climbed up the worn stone steps to the next level. “I’ve no desire to
+climb all these steps every time I want to go home.”
+
+“If you walked in your sleep it was just too bad,” added Carol, looking
+back down at the stones over which they had come.
+
+“It gives me an appetite,” Madge complained. “When do we eat?”
+
+“The sooner the better,” put in Phyllis.
+
+For hours the girls prowled around in the dark houses of the cliff
+dwellers, taking their time to examine everything of interest. The next
+day they resumed their riding, heading south toward the K Bar O.
+
+During the days Gale and Phyllis had a lot of practice with their
+revolvers and now could succeed in coming fairly close to the bull’s eye
+every time they tried. Gale, too, was becoming proficient with her rope.
+Jim spent hours teaching her and she proved an apt pupil.
+
+Riding with Virginia behind Jim as they swung along the trail, Gale was
+looking up at the trees and the blue sky, thinking how she would hate to
+leave all this when it came time for the Adventure Girls to go back
+East.
+
+“Look out, Jim!” Virginia screamed suddenly.
+
+There was a snarl and a streak of yellow leaped from the low-hanging
+limb of a tree. Jim’s horse reared wildly and plunged away as its rider
+was dragged from the saddle by the impact of the cougar’s weight.
+
+For a second none of the riders could do anything but check their
+mounts. All the horses threatened to run away and careened wildly,
+almost unseating their riders. Meanwhile, Jim was thrashing about on the
+ground, struggling for his life while his companions watched helplessly.
+
+“Quiet, boy,” Gale said, a soothing hand on her trembling pony’s neck.
+With her other hand she unfastened her rope.
+
+“Look out, I’m going to shoot,” Tom said, raising his rifle to his
+shoulder.
+
+“Don’t!” Carol cried. “You might hit Jim.”
+
+“But the beast is killing him,” Janet said with a shudder. “Somebody do
+something!”
+
+Despite Carol’s warning, Tom discharged his gun and succeeded only in
+frightening the ponies more. Jim was fighting madly to keep the sharp
+claws and teeth away from his face and throat.
+
+Once more Gale spoke to her pony and patted him reassuringly. He jerked
+nervously under her hand, but he was by far the quietest one of the
+beasts. During the days in the saddle Gale had learned the tricks and
+tendencies of her mount and she had instilled a trust in him for his
+rider. Now, though he longed to flee from this spot with its danger, he
+stood quietly obedient to her voice and touch. In her hand Gale held her
+coiled rope. Tom had dismounted and handed the reins of his horse and of
+the pack horses to Carol and was edging nearer to those thrashing
+figures on the ground. Virginia, too, had dismounted.
+
+At the first opportune moment, Gale’s rope slithered out and fell over
+the two. The loop caught a hind leg of the cougar. Immediately it
+tightened and the snapping teeth were diverted from Jim to the rope
+about its leg.
+
+“Go it, boy!” Gale urged her horse.
+
+The horse darted forward. Behind her the rope pulled the cougar clear
+from Jim. The pony sped down the trail, its rider bent low in the
+saddle, the rope dragging the squirming, struggling mountain lion over
+the stony ground. Gale did not slow her mount till she was sure that the
+animal was dead. Then she turned her horse and trotted him slowly back
+to the group.
+
+Tom and Virginia were busy with Jim. The cowboy’s shirt hung in ribbons,
+and the flesh of his shoulders and arms was streaming with blood. He had
+a long scratch along his cheek, but otherwise he was safe and sound.
+
+“Never thought that rope trainin’ would come in so handy,” he grinned at
+her. “Reckon I owe you a heap for pullin’ that fella offa me, Miss
+Gale.”
+
+“Is he dead?” Janet asked tremulously with a glance for the dust covered
+thing at the end of Gale’s rope.
+
+“If he isn’t, he ought to be,” Gale replied, dismounting. “Are you hurt
+much, Jim?”
+
+The cowboy insisted that they should not stop their day’s ride on his
+account. After Tom’s first aid treatment had been administered and Jim
+remounted his horse, they started forward again. Tom had cut the cougar
+loose from Gale’s rope and pulled him to one side of the trail.
+
+“That’s what I like about the country out here,” Janet said to no one in
+particular. “Always something doing. Any time at all you might step on a
+rattlesnake or get jumped on by a ferocious animal. Nice country!” she
+declared with a grin.
+
+“Pleasant thoughts you have,” Carol laughed. “It’s no worse than back
+home. There we have to dodge street cars and taxi cabs.”
+
+“Give me the taxi cabs,” Madge murmured. “They at least give you a
+warning.”
+
+It was late when they stopped for their camp. Riding and excitement had
+whetted their appetites and while they ate, Tom and Jim told them of
+other experiences each had had with animals in the surrounding country.
+Jim took the whole affair as all part of the day, and refused to declare
+himself a bit thrilled over it.
+
+“At least we’ll have something to talk about when we get home,” Phyllis
+smiled.
+
+“We’ve got a lot to talk about,” Valerie declared. “We’ve met nearly
+everything the West can produce, haven’t we?”
+
+“Nearly,” Virginia laughed. “Do you feel like going home now?”
+
+“No!” came unanimously from all the girls.
+
+“Well, whether you like it or not, we are,” Tom declared. “Tomorrow we
+get back on K Bar O soil. Two more days and we’ll be at the ranch
+house.”
+
+“We’ve got to go home, our supplies are running low,” Virginia
+explained.
+
+“Can we go on another trip then?” Carol asked immediately.
+
+“If we have enough time,” Valerie commented. “The days have gone so
+quickly. We’ll be going home soon.”
+
+“We’ll refuse to think of that,” Phyllis said firmly. “Let’s hear some
+more of your experiences,” she suggested to Jim and Tom.
+
+For another hour while the fire crackled and shadows danced over the
+tents and figures around it, Jim entertained them with memories of the
+range lands. Valerie and Phyllis retired first. After them went the
+other four girls. Gale alone remained beside the fire with her cousin
+and the cowboy.
+
+“Tom----” Gale began hesitantly.
+
+“Yes?” Tom encouraged, tossing another log on the fire.
+
+“That trail we passed just before we camped--was it the bandits’?” she
+asked.
+
+Tom and Jim exchanged a fleeting glance.
+
+“What made you think of them?” Tom asked.
+
+“Before we started on this trip,” Gale said, “Valerie and I overheard
+you and your dad talking about rustlers. We didn’t mean to listen, but
+we did. Had that trail today anything to do with them? I thought you
+both looked worried when you saw it.”
+
+“We were worried,” Jim admitted. “It was a fresh trail and the same men
+who held you prisoner that night in the hills, made that trail. We
+thought we had lost them sure, but it doesn’t look that way.”
+
+“What are you going to do?” Gale wanted to know.
+
+“Nothing,” Tom said promptly. “We are going to take you girls safely
+back to the K Bar O.”
+
+“The bandits are probably making for the border into Mexico,” Jim
+murmured. “The Sheriff and his men will catch ’em.”
+
+Tom laughed. “They haven’t done much catching so far. I’ll bet the
+bandits get clean away.”
+
+“Then there is nothing to worry about,” Gale said.
+
+“No, nothing to worry about,” agreed Tom.
+
+When Gale had entered the tent she shared with Valerie and Phyllis, she
+went immediately to sleep and did not know that long after she retired,
+Tom and Jim talked seriously and long about the possibility of meeting
+the rustlers before they reached the ranch safely.
+
+
+
+
+                               Chapter X
+
+                                RUSTLERS
+
+
+“Oh, how I love to get up in the morning,” sang Janet between yawns as
+she stumbled from the tent with Carol close behind her. “Hullo, are we
+getting company?”
+
+Two cowboys on dust covered, lathered ponies had dashed into the camp
+circle and pulled their mounts up short beside the campfire. Jim who had
+been on his knees poking at the ashes to stir the flames to life got up
+slowly with a wide grin of welcome. Tom joined the four and Virginia,
+coming from the tent, greeted them also.
+
+“Let’s get an earful,” Carol proposed. “Evidently they are riders from
+the K Bar O.”
+
+“Then ya didn’ see anythin’ of ’em?” one of the new arrivals was
+murmuring to Tom.
+
+“Not a thing, Lem,” Tom replied with a serious frown. “How many did they
+get?”
+
+“Close to a hundred head, I reckon,” Lem declared viciously.
+
+“By now they are across the border,” Virginia murmured. “Why did you
+look for them up here near the hills?”
+
+“A couple of the boys went toward the border,” Lem’s partner answered.
+“We found a trail leadin’ up this way.”
+
+“They didn’t pass near here or we would have seen them,” Virginia said
+again and her brother and Jim nodded in agreement.
+
+“Then we got to be goin’ farther,” Lem said remounting his pony.
+
+“But can’t you wait and have a bite of breakfast?” Tom wanted to know.
+
+“Not now, son,” Lem replied. “We’ll eat a cold snack from our saddle
+bags. We want to find those birds before the trail is gone.”
+
+“Wish you luck,” Jim sang out as the ponies darted forward.
+
+“Who were they?” Phyllis asked as she, with Gale and Valerie, appeared.
+
+“Riders from the Lazy K,” Virginia answered. “Rustlers stole close to a
+hundred cattle last night. They were following them.”
+
+“But they didn’t bring the cattle up this way, did they?” Carol put in.
+
+“No, but the boys figured some of the riders came this way. I hope they
+catch ’em,” Virginia said viciously. “We’re probably due for a raid
+tonight.”
+
+Jim and Tom said nothing as they busied themselves getting breakfast
+ready. Whatever thoughts they may have had on the subject, they kept to
+themselves.
+
+Breakfast was eaten, for the most part, in silence. Even when camp was
+struck and they started on their way again, there was not the usual
+light-hearted banter and teasing. Each one realized that the situation
+at the K Bar O and other ranches was coming to a head. Rustlers had been
+busy too long. Now the ranchers were acting. Instead of going to the
+ranch for safety from rustlers and bandits, it seemed that the girls
+were running into more trouble. Jim led the way, silent and foreboding.
+Tom brought up the rear with the pack horses. He too was silent and
+grim. It was their attitude that brought home to the girls just how
+serious the situation was.
+
+Along about noon Jim’s horse developed a limp that necessitated their
+moving more slowly. After deliberation they decided to camp for the rest
+of the day and night. Perhaps by the morrow Jim’s horse would be well
+again and they could travel at an increased pace. Now there was an
+undisguised desire to get back to the ranch house prevalent with all of
+them. Things were undoubtedly happening there and the girls wanted to be
+in on the excitement. They thought it high time the ranchers got busy
+and did something about their stolen cattle. The authorities had failed
+to capture the thieves so it was up to the ranchers themselves.
+
+After camp was made Val took her sketching board and went off by herself
+to draw. Gale had not unsaddled her horse and now she mounted him for a
+ride.
+
+“Not that there is much to see,” Virginia laughed when Gale started out.
+“Just sagebrush, rocks, and trees.”
+
+Gale liked to be alone sometimes and now she did not feel the need of
+the companionship of any of her friends. Once in a while the other girls
+thought her a little strange when she went off by herself. But there was
+nothing strange about her. Gale was the sort of person who is not
+dependent upon other people. She could spend a whole day by herself and
+not be bored with her own company. She couldn’t see why some people had
+to always travel with a crowd, always have a lot of other people with
+them. She could enjoy a walk, a movie, or a ride just as much alone as
+with others. Of course it was fun to travel with a group, but she
+enjoyed a day all to herself quite as much. When she was alone she could
+really think.
+
+Gale reined her horse in and looked back at the valley she had just
+left. She could see all her friends like moving spots against the dull
+gray and olive background. On the other side, the way she faced, a long
+flat plain stretched out to the right while on the left was a forest of
+cottonwoods and fir trees. There was a narrow trail leading down from
+her position on the crest of the hill through the woods and she urged
+her horse forward. As she rode, she had to bend low in the saddle to
+keep from being slapped in the face by low hanging branches.
+Occasionally she saw a rabbit or a squirrel, but for the most part
+everything was still.
+
+Her horse was young and frisky and jogged along with light, prancing
+step. Gale was enjoying herself hugely with no thought of the passing of
+time. Her surroundings were quiet and inspiring and, as usual with Gale
+in such circumstances, she was dreaming of a thousand and one things
+other than the present. When the girls got back to Marchton they would
+start their last year in the Marchton High School. The next year they
+started college. As yet the girls had not firmly decided on the school
+to which they would go after high school days. They were concerned now
+with ideas of what to do and be when they were finally all through with
+school. They all firmly resolved that they wanted careers, but just what
+those careers were to be was a little undecided. Of course it was
+understood that Val would continue with her art. She was really the only
+one of them all that had a talent of any kind to which she could cling.
+Long and repeatedly the girls had discussed the subject of careers. What
+_could_ they be? Artists? Only Val could do justice to that branch of
+work. Actresses then? Well, perhaps Phyllis would go in for the Drama.
+Madge, Carol, and Janet were totally at sea, as was Gale herself.
+
+Gale had always thought she might like to be a doctor. But just the
+thought of all the years of study and preparation ahead of her was a
+little disheartening. She liked the study of medicine and had always
+been interested in it. At first she thought of being a nurse, but now
+she didn’t like that idea. The thought of being a doctor was much more
+intriguing. Doctors led such fascinating lives, she thought. In her rush
+of enthusiasm and ardor she didn’t reckon with the long, tedious hours
+the doctor devotes to his patients, nor the fact that he has little free
+time for himself. Then, too, she would like to be a sculptor. She liked
+to model things in clay and she was sure she could chisel interesting
+things from marble if given the chance. She sighed and urged her horse
+along a little faster. It was really quite a problem deciding what to
+be. At any rate, whatever she went into, she wanted to go into it full
+of enthusiasm and willingness to work and do her best. She had no
+intention of idling her life away. She wanted to do something, to be
+somebody, to be proud of her achievements whatever they might be. She
+was resolved that she would forge ahead to success and make a name for
+herself. After all, why not? Other people had started out with nothing
+and made themselves famous.
+
+A huge drop of water on the back of her neck brought her back sharply to
+the problem at hand. Riding along and musing with herself, she had not
+noticed the dark clouds that had gathered overhead from nowhere. Now as
+her horse came out into an open clearing, rain began pouring down. She
+could not hope to get back to camp before the worst of the storm broke.
+If this heavy downpour continued, she would be drenched in a minute.
+Wildly she looked about for shelter of some kind. Through the trees to
+the left she saw a log cabin, not much of a building, but enough to
+afford shelter in the storm. To the rear she found a sheltered hitching
+post where she tied her mount and ran back to the main cabin.
+
+One step inside she stopped and glanced around. She had had the
+strangest premonition when she stepped over the threshold. It was as if
+she had a warning of something dreadful about to happen. The room--there
+was only one--was empty of all but its meager furnishings, a table and
+two makeshift chairs standing before the fireplace. A saddle and rifle
+lay in one corner. On the table were a few dirty dishes. Someone had
+been here lately, if they were not here now. She had seen no horse when
+she tethered her own, but there was a saddle and, more ominous still,
+the rifle. Where was the owner?
+
+The rain was teeming down outside and she went to the window to stare
+out. A regular cloudburst! Tomorrow a lot of the little streams they had
+passed would be raging, swirling rivers. She was glad this cabin had
+been here or else she would have been drenched. She smiled as she
+thought of how her camp mates might be receiving this sudden rain. They
+would no doubt be huddled in the waterproof tents, but nevertheless they
+would be fuming with disgust. It was no pleasure camping out when it
+rained. She looked up at the gray skies, impatient to be off and away
+from this cabin that filled her with that strange, unreasonable fear.
+Why should she feel fear the moment she stepped into the place? There
+was no one here. Not a thing to frighten her. Yet she was filled with a
+strange uneasiness. Evidently her horse had felt it too, for when she
+had tied him he whinnied faintly and nudged her arm with mute appeal.
+She had thought nothing of it at the time, but now it came back to her
+with ominous warning. Animals had keen instinct and the horse had felt a
+distrust of this place. She wished heartily it would stop raining so she
+could go on. She didn’t want to get wet and she didn’t want to stay
+here.
+
+She shook her shoulders impatiently and went over to inspect the rifle
+in the corner. Probably she was imagining things. It was the first time
+she had let her imagination make her afraid of anything. She was being
+silly she told herself again sternly. Most likely this cabin had been
+deserted for a long time. But when she picked up the rifle she knew that
+wasn’t so. The rifle was clean and recently oiled. Too, it was loaded.
+It was the same make rifle as Tom carried in his saddle sheath and quite
+without knowing why she took the cartridges out of the barrel to examine
+them. At the same moment she looked up through the window to the trail
+she had so recently left for this shelter.
+
+Terror gripped her for a moment. Horsemen were issuing from the thick
+growth of trees and there was no disputing the identity of the first
+man. It was the bank bandit who had held Val and her prisoners in that
+other cabin. She dropped the rifle over the saddle where it had been and
+looked about wildly for a means of escape. Were they close enough to see
+her if she slipped out of the door? Of course they were! In the rear
+wall was a window. She placed a chair beneath it and a moment later was
+squeezing through the opening. Rain or no rain, she preferred to get wet
+to remaining in the cabin to receive those men. How had they managed to
+elude the Sheriff and his men so long? Were the bank bandits connected
+with the rustlers who had been stealing cattle from the K Bar O? Gale
+made a shrewd guess that they were.
+
+When she jumped from the window to the wet earth Gale ran immediately to
+where her pony was tied and, slipping her arm through the reins, led him
+back into the woods to the rear of the cabin. She was sure the thick
+growth of trees and brush would shield them from view and that proved to
+be the case. The trees overhead were a little protection from the rain,
+but even so, when she had been in the open five minutes she was soaked.
+She had left her slicker in the camp and now she wished fervently she
+had let it remain rolled behind her saddle. She heard the thunder of
+hoofs and sound of voices as the men she had eluded dismounted at the
+cabin and entered it. Surprised, she looked down at her hand. She still
+had the two shells from the rifle clutched in her fingers. She had
+departed in such haste that she didn’t have time to replace them;
+indeed, she had not even thought of them. Now she shoved them deep into
+her breeches’ pocket and huddled beside her horse.
+
+It would be better to get into the saddle and ride than to stand here in
+the rain, but she was sure the sound of her horse’s hoofs would be
+clearly audible to those men in the cabin and they would be sure to
+investigate. Too, she had an idea. It would be a big help to her uncle
+if she could, in some fashion, determine if these were the men who were
+stealing cattle from the ranchers. Perhaps, now that she had stumbled
+upon their cache, she could spy on them and learn something of interest
+to the authorities. It was worth trying. She would wait until it grew
+dark and then sneak up and endeavor to listen to their conversation and
+to obtain a glimpse of the men within the cabin.
+
+Her horse whinnied softly and she put an admonishing hand on his muzzle
+while her heart raced with apprehension. Suppose one of the men heard
+him and came to see---- But they were undoubtedly too busy and besides,
+they might think it one of their own horses. Still, it would be best to
+be on the safe side. She led her horse farther into the woods and there
+tied him to a cottonwood. She was hungry. She remembered she had had
+only a light lunch but she remembered, too, that she had put something
+in her saddle bag just in case she wanted an afternoon snack. It came in
+handy now. She found two lumps of sugar, also, which the horse promptly
+snuggled from her hand.
+
+Another thought came to her and she bent down to her boot. Her little
+revolver still nestled in its customary place. She might have use for it
+tonight, she reflected. Suppose the men were the rustlers and suppose
+she did make sure of that fact. How was she to notify the authorities?
+By the time she got back to her camp and told Jim and Tom and they
+summoned the Sheriff or some of his men the rustlers would have ample
+time to get away. What was she to do? With a shrug of her shoulders she
+dismissed the thought. Everything would take care of itself she was
+sure.
+
+
+
+
+                               Chapter XI
+
+                                SURPRISE
+
+
+The rain had stopped. Darkness was over the world and stars blinked
+solemnly from their heavenly nest. The rain had brought coolness and a
+light wind that stirred the leaves of the trees.
+
+Round the campfire were gathered all the girls but the absent Gale. Tom
+was collecting firewood and Jim was making sure the horses were secure
+for the night.
+
+“Where do you suppose Gale can be?” Janet asked again.
+
+“I wonder,” agreed Phyllis. “This is the first time in my acquaintance
+with her that she ever missed a meal.”
+
+“I’m beginning to be worried,” Virginia confessed. “I don’t see why she
+stayed away so long.”
+
+“You don’t suppose--something could have happened to her?” Valerie asked
+hesitantly.
+
+“What for instance?” Madge demanded.
+
+“Well, her horse might have run away or----”
+
+“Nonsense!” Carol said crisply. “Gale’s horse is the tamest one of the
+bunch. I’ll bet she is having an adventure and a high old time.”
+
+“But where can she be?” insisted Valerie.
+
+Minutes passed into hours and hours passed and still that question was
+not answered. The camp was thoroughly alarmed now. They were certain
+Gale was in trouble or had lost her way in the strange country. Any
+number of things might have happened, and their thoughts ran rampant.
+The girls could see that Tom and Jim were as disturbed as they. For the
+last half hour Jim had, almost lovingly, been cleaning his revolver.
+There was something ominous in just the sight of him toying with his
+weapon. What was he thinking?
+
+“What are we going to do?” Valerie asked finally.
+
+It was time for the girls to retire for it had been planned to ride
+early on the morrow. But now, with Gale missing, their plans were
+interrupted. None felt that she could sleep if they did go to bed.
+
+“You girls might as well go to bed,” Tom said practically. “Jim and I
+will wait until dawn and then go out and pick up Gale’s trail. It would
+be no use going now, for we could find nothing in the darkness.”
+
+They realized that he spoke the truth but still it was hard to sit idle
+when they were longing to know what was happening to their comrade.
+Reluctantly Madge, Carol, Janet and Virginia went to their tent. Valerie
+and Phyllis followed slowly to theirs. Tom and Jim rolled in their
+blankets by the fire, close together so they could talk in low whispers.
+The light wind stirred the flames and sent them reaching high into the
+air. A moment more and they died down to smouldering embers. Silence
+gradually settled down over the tents and those two Indian-like figures
+on the ground.
+
+The camp was asleep or so it seemed. Not one occupant of the tents or
+Tom or Jim saw the two figures that stood on the outer edge of the
+circle of light and smiled over the serenity which gripped the camp.
+Big, burly men they were, used to hard riding and hard living. The
+leather chaps they wore and their heavy khaki shirts were covered with
+dust. About their waists hung heavy holster and cartridge belts. Figures
+of menace they were, menace to the peace of the Adventure Girls’ camp.
+In their eyes, cold and relentless, was reflected the low, burning
+embers of the campfire as the two took in every detail. They seemed to
+have no desire to disturb the sleeping campers, just to note the lay of
+the land, as it were. When their silent inspection was finished they
+turned and melted into the darkness from whence they had come.
+
+In the tent she shared now with only Phyllis, Valerie lay wakeful and
+restless. Her thoughts were contemplating a hundred and one things that
+might have happened to Gale. The two had been friends for a long, long
+time and now the thought that her chum might be in trouble or danger,
+perhaps, made Valerie long to be off to her assistance. She lay staring
+at the black tent roof. Beside her Phyllis lay calm, breathing
+regularly, already in the land of dreams. Valerie wished she could
+smother her own troublesome thoughts and go to sleep. Tom and Jim knew
+what they were about and if they said it was no use hunting for Gale
+before morning, there simply was no use that was all. She realized that
+they could scarcely find a sign of Gale in the pitch blackness of the
+Arizona night. They thought that Gale might have lost her way and could
+not return to the camp. Valerie seriously doubted that. Gale could find
+her way about better than any of them. She seemed to possess a sixth
+sense that enabled her to remember any route or trail of open country
+that she had once taken. Valerie was sure Gale had not lost her way.
+Instead, there was some other reason why she hadn’t returned to the
+camp.
+
+Valerie’s memory was particularly fresh with scenes of the night she and
+Gale had been prisoners of the bank bandit. Had something similar
+happened to Gale tonight? There was scarcely any other reason she should
+stay away from camp. Valerie wondered if Gale still had her little
+revolver with her. At least she had some little protection with that.
+
+Valerie sat up and ruffled her hair restlessly. A moment later she stood
+at the open tent flap. She could see Tom and Jim rolled snugly in their
+blankets. What was that? For an instant she thought a shadow appeared on
+the other side of the camp circle. A minute later she changed her mind.
+It must have been a sudden spurt of the fire that threw a flickering
+shadow over the sagebrush. She stepped out and let the flap close behind
+her. There was no use to waken Phyllis or the others just because she
+couldn’t sleep. She breathed deeply of the cool night air and marveled
+at the thrill she felt. It was a thrill to note the difference in
+herself. How changed she was since the first day they had camped in the
+open. The sun and the usually dry air had wrought wonders, wonders that
+had seemed impossible to even Valerie herself. She had often wondered if
+she would ever feel the glow of vigorous health. Now she felt like a new
+person. That annoying cough had entirely disappeared. She wondered if
+the other girls realized what a transformation had taken place within
+her. It had been a severe struggle, the hardest battle she had ever
+fought, but she had won. The weeks of riding and camping, eating and
+sleeping outdoors, had tanned her skin and put a sparkle in her eyes.
+Too, she had gained weight. No more was she utterly exhausted at the end
+of a day’s hard ride. No more were the other girls livelier than she.
+Now she felt equal to any situation that might arise.
+
+She had walked from the camp a ways to drink in the beauty of the night.
+Unconsciously she had taken the same route Gale had ridden earlier in
+the day. Ahead of her was the rise over which Gale had gone. Valerie
+strolled along. The moon came out and threw dark shadows under the trees
+and brush. Glancing up suddenly, Valerie was startled. She was sure she
+had seen a figure step behind a group of trees ahead of her. She laughed
+at her own fears. Nervousness wasn’t usually one of her traits. It must
+be that Gale’s disappearance was preying on her mind. She was beginning
+to imagine ominous sounds and sights. She frowned at the thought of Gale
+and kicked an unoffending pebble from her path. She might as well go
+back and try to sleep. There was no use wandering about like a lost
+sheep. If the others discovered her absence they would be alarmed and
+there was no cause to create a disturbance.
+
+She decided to walk to the top of the rise and take a look at the plain
+that stretched away to the right. She liked to see the plains in the
+moonlight; it all looked as though the earth had been sprinkled with
+silver dust. Then she would go back to camp, probably to lay awake until
+dawn, she thought darkly. It was no use to argue about it. She worried
+about Gale and about what might have happened. With rustlers and bank
+robbers in the vicinity, what might not have happened? Too, there was
+something about Tom and Jim that made her apprehensive. They seemed to
+be waiting for something. Their whole attitude was one of preparedness,
+but for what? Did they expect the outlaws to come to the girls’ camp?
+The men would hardly do that she thought with a smile. Why should they?
+
+She came to the rise of ground and stood there in the moonlight,
+overlooking the plain. For a moment her eyes were somewhat dazzled by
+the brilliance of the moonlight. Then she discerned a low cloud of dust
+rolling along the horizon. Small dark figures she discerned. What could
+it be? She knew, Jim had told them, that a herd of the K Bar O was
+somewhere off there to the right. But were the riders moving the cattle
+tonight? They were moving swiftly, too, she could tell.
+
+Another thought occurred to her and her eyes narrowed with suspicion.
+Could it be rustlers? Rustlers stealing another herd of K Bar O cattle?
+It was possible, she declared to herself. The regular riders would
+scarcely be moving the cattle so swiftly so late at night. There was no
+reason they should. On the other hand, if it were rustlers, and if it
+were K Bar O cattle, where were the regular riders? Didn’t they keep a
+close watch these nights when there was such danger in the air? If she
+were Gale’s uncle, she would put extra men on in an endeavor to catch
+the thieves. Suppose there was trickery among the hired hands? Suppose
+one of the riders whom Mr. Wilson trusted was in league with the
+outlaws? It was quite possible. The man could very easily fix it so the
+rustlers would have a clear hand. Was that what was happening? She
+frowned thoughtfully. At any rate, she was sure that it was rustlers
+moving K Bar O cattle and she was going to tell Jim and Tom about it.
+
+She turned and her heart froze in her throat. Before her two men stepped
+forward to block the path. Rough hands seized her and she was lifted
+bodily from the ground. Kicking and squirming she let out a piercing
+scream to summon the help of her camp mates. Just one scream, no more
+was she allowed. She was roughly and effectively silenced and carried to
+where two horses stood docilely among the trees. Her captors mounted and
+she was swung up in front of one of them across the saddle. It was no
+use to fight. Her captors were much stronger than she and there was no
+course but to submit in stormy but, she hoped, dignified silence as the
+two horses started away.
+
+
+
+
+                              Chapter XII
+
+                                  GONE
+
+
+Phyllis reached out a hand. “Awake, Val?” But when there was no answer
+and her hand encountered empty air she sat up alarmed. “Val?” she called
+softly. Still there was no answer and Phyllis went to the tent flap and
+stepped out. Everywhere was silence. “Val!” she called again.
+
+“What’s the matter?” a soft voice spoke behind her and Virginia joined
+her.
+
+Phyllis smiled. “Can’t you sleep either?”
+
+“No,” Virginia answered. “But--Val. Where is she?”
+
+“She isn’t in the tent. I thought she might have stepped out here,”
+Phyllis said with a thoughtful frown. “But I don’t see her. I wonder
+where she can be?”
+
+“Probably went for a walk,” Virginia smiled. “I suppose she was thinking
+of Gale. I wish it was morning,” she added uneasily.
+
+“What do you honestly think has happened to Gale?” Phyllis asked.
+
+“I wish I knew,” Virginia said with a sigh. “I wish I knew,” she
+repeated.
+
+“Will you two chatterboxes please go to sleep?” Tom yawned from his
+blankets. “Regular night owls, that’s what you are.”
+
+“We can’t sleep,” Virginia said, seating herself cross-legged on the
+ground beside her brother. “And there is no reason you should either,”
+she added mischievously.
+
+“Go away!” her brother implored. “We have to get up at dawn.”
+
+“Anything wrong?” Jim asked, sitting up and shaking off his blanket.
+“Girls all right?”
+
+“Val has gone for a walk,” Phyllis informed him. “How long ago I don’t
+know.”
+
+“I wish----” Virginia was beginning when she stopped.
+
+From the darkness behind them came a piercing scream. It echoed like
+thunder through the sleeping stillness of the valley. It brought the
+remaining girls tumbling from their tent. The four by the campfire
+exchanged startled, incredible glances.
+
+“That was Val’s voice!” Phyllis said with an effort.
+
+“Come on, Jim!” Tom was already disappearing into the sagebrush. Behind
+him was Jim and the girls trailed after. No one proposed to be left
+alone in camp.
+
+But, uncertain as they were of the exact spot from whence the scream had
+come, they thrashed about in the darkness finding nothing. Finally Tom
+held up a commanding hand for silence.
+
+“Listen!” he ordered.
+
+There was borne to them on the night air the pounding of hoofs. For a
+time they were heard and then the sound died slowly into silence.
+
+“Horses!” Janet said incredibly. “But who--why--who screamed?” she
+demanded.
+
+Jim was off at top speed for the spot where the horses must have been
+when they started. When the rest joined him he was bending over
+examining hoof marks with the aid of a burning pine faggot. He stamped
+the torch out when he saw the girls and turned to lead the way back to
+camp. There he bent serious glances upon all of them.
+
+“Tom,” he said finally, “saddle your horse and ride to the ranch for
+yore father and some men. Don’t lose any time about it either. There’s
+something mighty funny goin’ on up here and we’re goin’ to need help.”
+
+The girls exchanged frightened glances.
+
+“What do you think, Jim?” Virginia asked.
+
+“I think, I know,” he corrected himself, “those riders we heard were the
+bandits we’ve been runnin’ across ever since we came on this trip. I
+think they’ve got Miss Valerie just as they’ve probably got yore other
+friend.”
+
+“You mean--Gale?” Carol asked in a whisper.
+
+“I shore do and unless we do something mighty prompt there’s no tellin’
+what’ll happen.”
+
+Tom had hastily thrown his saddle on his horse and now he led the
+creature into the circle of firelight. In his hand he carried his
+revolver. Gravely he handed it to Virginia.
+
+“You might need it before I get back,” he said.
+
+“But you----” Virginia protested.
+
+“I’ll get another,” he said calmly. “You’ll stick to the camp, Jim?” he
+asked turning to the cowboy.
+
+“I can’t do nothin’ until you and yore Dad come,” Jim replied. “One
+wouldn’t have a chance against a couple of those fellows.”
+
+“Right you are!” Tom agreed and swung himself into the saddle. “I’ll
+probably be back sometime about noon,” he said and was off.
+
+As long as they could hear them, the girls listened to the rumbling beat
+of his horse’s hoofs. When silence settled down on the valley again they
+looked expectantly at Jim and Virginia. The latter two were westerners,
+versed in the ways of the West. Surely they could tell the girls what
+they could do. It was inconceivable that they should sit idle for hours
+and hours, just waiting for Tom and his companions to come.
+
+“Can’t we do something?” Madge asked, voicing the desire of all of them.
+
+“We can make sure that nobody enters or leaves this camp without all of
+us knowing it,” Jim said sternly.
+
+“What could Val have been thinking of to wander off like that?” Virginia
+added worriedly.
+
+“She probably didn’t think there was anything to fear,” Phyllis
+defended. “What are we to do?” she asked of Jim.
+
+“Get your revolver,” he said crisply.
+
+Phyllis bent down and pulled it from her boot. She had taken the
+suggestion from Gale, and now she was never without it.
+
+“We’ll have to watch the camp,” Virginia said practically. “Is that your
+idea, Jim?”
+
+“Yes. I’ll take a spot here in the shadows.” Jim indicated the direction
+from which Val’s scream had come. He stationed Virginia and Phyllis on
+both sides of the camp. The others, unarmed, could go back to bed or do
+as they pleased as long as there was no noise and they didn’t leave the
+camp.
+
+“As though we could sleep,” Janet sniffed disdainfully when bed was
+suggested.
+
+“I’m going to sit with Virginia,” Madge said and departed to take up her
+post in the shadows at Virginia’s side.
+
+Carol and Janet went off to join Phyllis and so once more silence
+descended on the Adventure Girls’ camp.
+
+Virginia and Madge sat with their backs against a tree, facing the camp.
+Protected by the heavy shadows all around them, the girls could see the
+camp site clearly, but anyone coming stealthily onto the camp could not
+see them.
+
+“Why do you suppose Jim thinks it necessary to guard the camp?” Madge
+whispered.
+
+“It looks as though those bandits were interested in us for some
+reason,” Virginia murmured. “Why should they kidnap two of the girls, as
+Jim thinks they did, unless for some special reason?”
+
+Madge thought this over for a moment. “But what reason could they have?”
+she asked at length.
+
+“I don’t know,” Virginia answered.
+
+It was strange. The girls had done nothing to warrant this attack on
+them by the outlaws. Or had they? They couldn’t tell what Gale or Val
+might have found after they left the camp. Perhaps they had stumbled on
+the hiding place of the bandits and now were being held prisoner by
+those very outlaws. Virginia half smiled to herself. The girls had come
+out for a restful, interesting summer and they had stumbled into a feud
+of bandits and rustlers.
+
+She hoped fervently that Tom, riding hard toward the K Bar O, was safe.
+Since he had given her his gun, it left him unarmed and if he should
+come face to face with any of the rustlers---- She turned her thoughts
+sternly away from that subject. She had faith in Tom’s ability to take
+care of himself. He was no child, he was older than she, and he knew the
+range land and its secrets. The only time he had left the ranch was when
+he had been away to school. After graduation he had returned eagerly to
+his interrupted western life. Virginia settled herself more comfortably.
+No, Tom would be all right. It was not him she should worry about, but
+the two girls who had disappeared so mysteriously.
+
+Since she was ten and Gale nine, Virginia had not seen her cousin until
+that day weeks before when the ramshackle car had puffed into the ranch
+yard and its occupants had piled gratefully from it. They had exchanged
+letters faithfully, but they never really knew each other until they
+started on this camping trip. Riding, eating, sleeping, laughing
+together in the vast silence and beauty of Virginia’s native state, the
+two cousins had grown close. Now Virginia knew and admired her cousin
+tremendously. She recognized in Gale the same high ideals and love of
+truth and sincerity that she herself cherished. There was in Gale, too,
+a spirit of mischievous recklessness and courage that delighted
+Virginia. In Gale’s gray eyes there burned a continual spark and her red
+lips were always laughing. She liked Gale, honestly and whole-heartedly.
+She wanted to be one of her firmest friends, because she was sure Gale
+would be loyal and unselfish to those who won her deepest friendship.
+
+Smothering a yawn, Virginia glanced at Madge beside her and received a
+sunny smile. She smiled in answer and folded her arms. She liked all the
+girls that had come West with Gale. What a fine name they had chosen for
+themselves. The Adventure Girls! The very words spoke of fun, mystery,
+and excitement. They must have countless good times. All of them were
+capable of stirring up mischief and excitement. She wondered how so many
+different natures had ever come together. She must ask Gale sometime how
+they had first formed their group.
+
+The darkness was like a heavy blanket and the faint wind was soothing.
+The trees stirred faintly overhead. The few remaining embers of the
+campfire in front of them glowed like a small red eye through the
+blackness. Each faint sound was like a roar in their ears. Their nerves
+were on edge and magnified each whisper of a leaf or cracking of a twig.
+The stars overhead were fading and the moonlight was waning. Far, far in
+the east the first faint streaks of daylight were creeping into the sky.
+
+Virginia straightened up, startled. She had been asleep! That was her
+first chagrining thought. Jim had put her on guard and she had fallen
+asleep. Madge grinned at her when they glanced at one another.
+
+“Have a good nap?” she asked laughingly.
+
+Virginia laughed too. “Why didn’t you wake me?” she demanded.
+
+“What for?” Madge asked blandly. “Nothing happened. In fact,” she
+giggled, “I’ve a sneaking suspicion that I was asleep too.”
+
+“Wouldn’t we make fine night watchmen?” Virginia laughed.
+
+Jim had stepped into the circle of the camp and now he called them.
+“Might as well have breakfast,” he suggested practically.
+
+“When should Tom get back?” Phyllis asked.
+
+“It’s a long ride to the ranch house,” Jim said, poking at the fire.
+“Best he could do would be sometime this afternoon.”
+
+The girls said nothing but each felt a sinking of the heart at the big
+delay it meant. It would be hours yet before they could start looking
+for their comrades.
+
+They had breakfast, consisting mainly of steaming hot coffee and warmed
+biscuits; but at that, they felt better, more cheerful, after a little
+food. They could look upon Gale’s and Val’s absence with more fortitude
+and confidence in the good fortune of their friends. Both absent girls
+were resourceful and quick-witted. Perhaps nothing serious had happened
+to them after all.
+
+The girls were wondering what to do with themselves during the hours
+they must spend when the galloping of hoof beats was heard. Their hearts
+beat faster. Was it Tom and men from the ranch or--could it possibly be
+the bandits?
+
+
+
+
+                              Chapter XIII
+
+                                 RESCUE
+
+
+Darkness found Gale in much the same position she had occupied through
+the rainstorm, standing beside her horse and gently stroking his nozzle.
+The rain had stopped but she was uncomfortably wet. She wondered whether
+this was a climate where one caught colds easily. If so, she would
+probably have a dandy tomorrow. The horse shifted his feet impatiently
+and nudged her shoulder.
+
+She smiled at him. “Impatient to be off, old boy? So am I. Something
+tells me that this is going to be a night of excitement. I wonder if I’m
+being foolhardy in spying on these fellows. I might be, you know,” she
+said seriously to the horse. He nodded his head as though in agreement.
+“Oh, so you think I’m foolhardy, do you? But on the other hand, I might
+be able to help Uncle. What do you think, old fellow?”
+
+The horse shook his head and whinnied softly. “Please don’t do that,”
+she said hastily, a hand on his nose. “If you make such a noise you
+might bring those men out to investigate and that wouldn’t be lucky for
+either you or me.”
+
+The stars came out and with them the moon. The bright moonlight made
+Gale frown in annoyance. Any other time she would have marveled at the
+white radiance of Mr. Moon, but now it was indiscreet. The cabin where
+she was to do her spying stood squarely in the center of a large patch
+of moonlight. There would be no skulking in darkness close to it. If she
+hoped to get close enough to peer in a window or to hear what was being
+said, she would not only have to cross that moonlit space but to stand
+in the white light, clearly visible to anyone coming to the cabin. Well,
+she had made up her mind what she wanted to do and now she was going
+through with it.
+
+She wondered what her friends were thinking at her absence. She wished
+there was some way she could let them know she was safe and sound. But
+in an hour or two she would be on her way back to them with information
+that might be valuable. She wished she had a good supper, though. That
+was what ailed her horse too, he was hungry.
+
+Through the trees she could see that there was a light in the cabin and
+smoke curled from the chimney. Loud voices too, could be heard. Perhaps
+they were planning something this very minute. Making sure her horse was
+securely tied to a tree, Gale started slowly toward the cabin. It would
+be a ticklish business and goodness knew what might happen if she was
+caught. She approached the rear of the cabin but it was no good to take
+up a post here. The window was too high for her to see in and the voices
+were merely an indistinguishable blur through the thick wall.
+
+Before the cabin stood six horses, reins hanging and their heads drooped
+forward. Six horses! That meant there were six riders in the cabin.
+Coming around the corner of the cabin, Gale trod heavily on a twig and
+it snapped loudly. She stood still on the verge of flight, her heart
+racing. But when no one came she realized that they were making too much
+noise to hear such a slight sound. Evidently it was an occasion for
+celebration for they all seemed in high spirits.
+
+The window where she had meant to make her observations was closed but
+the door stood ajar. It was perilous looking in at the window, for any
+moment one of them might glance toward the glass and see her. Gale
+discovered that, pressed flat against the wall beside the open door, she
+could hear everything being said, though she could not see the
+occupants. It was the latter position that she took. Making herself as
+flat as possible against the rough logs, so there was scarcely risk of
+detection as long as the men remained indoors, Gale strained her ears to
+make sense of the conversation.
+
+Suddenly their voices lowered, tones became confiding and mysterious.
+Now Gale could distinguish only snatches of what was being said. She
+slid a little closer to the open door.
+
+“Pedro will stay here,” one man said sternly. “Three of you will tend to
+the cows and the two of us will scout around to that dude camp and see
+what’s goin’ on.”
+
+Gale wondered if there was another party of easterners camping in the
+hills, or did those words “dude camp” apply to her and her friends?
+Quite possibly they did. But why were these men interested in what they
+did?
+
+“They’re too near the cattle to suit me,” one of the other outlaws said
+in a deep rumbling voice. “Suppose they see us? Then they’ll be able to
+give a nice little description to the Sheriff.”
+
+He didn’t sound like an original westerner, Gale thought. More like a
+gangster of the movie type. Another voice joined in, soft and slurring.
+A Mexican, probably a half-breed, she decided mentally. For a while she
+could catch no more of what they said and then only a word here and
+there. But finally she knew enough that they planned to steal more of
+the K Bar O cattle. Should she go now and tell Jim and Tom so they could
+forestall the thieves? No, she would wait longer. Perhaps there was
+something more she could learn. Where they were taking the cattle for
+instance. As though in reply to her thoughts, the Mexican spoke again.
+
+“You should have the cows across the border by morning.”
+
+But there seemed to be some little dispute about this. Three of the men
+started arguing. There was a step near her and a man’s shadow fell on
+the ground where the light from the doorway streamed out. He was
+standing in the doorway looking across to the trees. If he turned an
+inch more in her direction he would see her. Gale held her breath and
+leaned stiffly against the wall. He must hear her heart beating so
+loudly. It sounded like thunder in her own ears. Tossing his cigarette
+out to the ground the man turned and stepped back into the cabin again.
+Gale almost sank to the ground in sheer relief. Pure luck, that was all
+it had been, that kept the man from sensing her presence. If he had
+stepped just a bit farther out, or turned just a bit more in her
+direction, she would have been discovered. And then what would have
+happened? She refused to think about that. Cautiously she moved a few
+paces away from the door. There was no need for her to invite exposure.
+
+Heavy steps sounded in the cabin and with lightning rapidity Gale
+disappeared around the corner of the building and none too soon. Two of
+the riders strode to their horses and mounted.
+
+“Follow in an hour, Shorty,” one of them called and the two departed.
+
+Were they the two who were going to investigate the camp, she wondered.
+She hoped her friends would have some warning of the men’s approach and
+were able to prepare themselves. She would like to have followed them
+but she meant to stick here and see what happened. The rustlers were
+leaving one man at the cabin. Why? What further than robbery did they
+plot? Were they planning to return here and use the cabin as their
+hiding place after the K Bar O cattle were safely across the border? If
+that was it, she wanted to know so she could send the Sheriff and his
+men here and be sure it was no wild goose chase.
+
+The moon was high overhead and moving slowly toward the west. Gale had
+no means of knowing what time it was for she wore no wrist watch, but
+she judged it to be about midnight. She would say it was an hour since
+the two riders had left, but still the other three had not followed
+them. The four of them were having a high old time, she reflected as a
+loud laugh floated out to her. She seated herself on the ground and
+leaned against the wall. Might as well be comfortable while she waited
+for something to happen. She was at the side, safe from immediate
+discovery should they come out without warning. But it would be better
+not to remain seated here, should she hear them, for it might just
+happen that they would come around this side.
+
+Suddenly the loud talking came to an end and there was a scraping as of
+chairs on the floor. Three men came to the door and walked leisurely to
+their horses. Gale was peeping around from the back of the cabin now and
+she watched them as they rode away. There remained now only one man in
+the cabin. Cautiously she went around to the window at the front. Slowly
+she brought her eyes up to the level of the windowsill and gazed in. The
+Mexican--she had been right as to his nationality she realized now--sat
+before the fireplace, his chair tilted back, his feet propped on the
+table. In his hands he held a stick of wood and a knife and he whistled
+as he sent the chips flying. His profile was toward Gale and she
+shivered at the ugliness of his countenance.
+
+“Wouldn’t like to meet him in a dark alley,” she reflected to herself as
+she studied him. A long scar ran down his cheek, making his profile even
+more repulsive than it would ordinarily have been. “Something definite
+with which to identify him, that scar,” she told herself as she left the
+window.
+
+The moon as it moved westward caused a dark, heavy shadow on the far
+side of the cabin and Gale stepped into its protecting blackness. A
+sudden thought of her horse occurred to her and she went back to where
+he was tied to see if he was secure and safe. There was no telling when
+she might want him in a hurry. She might have to leave suddenly, she
+thought humorously. She returned to the cabin and sat down in the
+protecting shadow. She wondered if there was a harder thing in the world
+than the job of waiting. Her eyes were growing uncomfortably heavy and
+the danger of falling asleep was very near. She smothered a yawn and
+stood up. If she fell asleep now!
+
+What was that? The gallop of hoofs? It was. And they were coming to the
+cabin here. Who was it? The outlaws coming back from their nightly
+marauding? Or could it, by some inconceivable magic, be Tom or Jim
+looking for her? Somehow she had not expected them to. At any rate not
+at night. Of course if she didn’t return to camp by the morning, no
+doubt they would go out to look for her. But she planned to be safely
+among them by morning. Meanwhile, those horses were drawing nearer. At
+last they came into the moonlight from the direction she herself had
+come early that afternoon.
+
+There were two horses but it looked as though one horse was carrying a
+double load. Gale’s interest was aroused. Who was it? The horses were
+pulled up short in front of the cabin and Gale flattened herself against
+the wall. She did not have as good a view of the new arrivals as she
+might have wished for, but she could catch glimpses of them and she
+could hear their voices. Right now they seemed anything but pleased.
+They were having trouble with something--or someone.
+
+“Let me go!”
+
+Out of the thin air, it seemed to Gale, she heard Valerie’s voice.
+Valerie here! How did she get here? Was she on the horse with one of the
+outlaws? That must be the explanation of the double burden one of the
+horses was carrying. In some way, the men had kidnapped Valerie and
+brought her here. Gale rejoiced inwardly now that she had stayed, but
+her heart leapt and her hands clenched the next second when she heard
+what sounded like a slap and a half smothered scream from Valerie.
+
+“Maybe that’ll keep you quiet for a while,” one of the men said.
+
+Gale longed to rush out and interfere on Valerie’s behalf but she knew
+how foolish that would be. She could only wait for an opportunity and
+pray that they did not seriously harm Val. That it should be Valerie
+made it all the more tragic in Gale’s estimation. If it had been Phyllis
+or Madge or Virginia, one more able to stand rough handling and
+hardship, Gale would have been more optimistic about her chances. But
+with Val she was worried. She, Gale, had to help her friend, but how?
+
+Carefully she approached her post by the window and looked in. Valerie
+was seated in a chair by the fireplace and the Mexican was approaching
+with two straps from the saddle lying in the corner. He proceeded to
+strap Val’s hands to the chair posts. The other two riders watched him
+for a moment and then came toward the door. Gale hastily retreated and
+did not appear again until their horses were lost in the black trees.
+Back at the window she watched, while the Mexican walked slowly around
+his captive, deliberately appraising her. The door was closed and she
+could not hear what was being said, but it was evident that Valerie was
+saying uncomplimentary things for the breed’s face was growing blacker
+and blacker with rage.
+
+It was Gale’s intention to call the Mexican from the cabin on some ruse
+and while he was out slip in and cut Val free. But for that purpose she
+would need a knife. She ran back to her horse. In her saddle bag she
+carried a knife and, while she was here, it would be just as well to
+move her horse up closer to the cabin. If she and Val had to make a dash
+for it, it would be well not to have to run too far. Leaving her horse
+standing at the rim of the open space where the cabin was, she
+approached the window again. Now she had to think of a ruse to get the
+Mexican out of the cabin.
+
+The light in the cabin was from the fire in the fireplace and from two
+lanterns which cast a sickly yellow glow over the occupants of the
+building and the meager furnishings. Gale could see the Mexican bending
+over Val, leering at her. She could see Val’s bright eyes and flushed
+cheeks. Whatever the Mexican was saying to taunt her, it had thoroughly
+aroused Val’s temper. She saw Val’s lips move and wished desperately
+that she might hear what the girl said. But the walls of the cabin were
+thick and the windows and doors closed, effectively smothering all
+sound. The Mexican’s hand shot out and struck Val a heavy blow across
+the cheek, bringing a dark red stain to the white skin.
+
+Gale saw Val’s head droop until her chin rested on her chest. What was
+wrong? Was she going to cry now, of all times? It was just what the
+Mexican wanted, to make her grovel. Evidently the Mexican thought he had
+subdued all signs of rebellion in his fair prisoner for he bent closer
+with a sneering smile. But it was a trick! When the Mexican bent over,
+Val’s foot shot up and kicked him hard in the pit of the stomach. He
+stumbled backward, doubled over in pain.
+
+Gale could have danced in delight. Three cheers for Val! Her fighting
+blood was up. Gale found herself a little surprised at Val’s daring. Val
+had more courage than the girls had given her credit for. But now would
+come a reckoning. The Mexican was straightening up, his face still
+contorted with pain, and drawing a knife from his belt. He took two
+steps toward Val, caressing the knife with loving fingers. If Val was
+afraid, she gave no sign of it and for that Gale admired her all the
+more. She was quite well aware that had she been in Val’s place she
+would have been scared green. The Mexican looked awfully intent on doing
+a bit of carving.
+
+As for Val, she was frightened. The light in the half-breed’s eyes and
+the way he held the knife sent little shivers up her back. She twisted
+vainly at the bonds about her hands. Must she sit here while he stuck
+his knife into her? But for all her terror, she gave no sign of it. Her
+head was high and her gaze steady.
+
+“Ah! You are brave my leetle one!” the Mexican said with his slurring
+accent. “But you weel not be so brave w’en I have--what eez that?”
+
+To Val’s ears it sounded like hoofbeats. She prayed earnestly that it
+was. Even if it was but the other two bandits coming back, it would
+delay the Mexican’s knife a little longer.
+
+Gale, recognizing that the Mexican sought revenge for that kick and was
+intent upon securing that revenge with his knife, cast about quickly for
+some means of getting him from the cabin. Her eyes came round from the
+window to the Mexican’s horse standing meekly a few paces away. She
+crossed to him, pulled the reins up over his head and gave him a sharp
+slap on the flank. The horse started forward with a jerk and Gale
+disappeared around the side of the cabin. With the sound of the
+hoofbeats the door of the cabin was pulled open and the Mexican stepped
+to the ground. Gale could see him staring after his horse, but he made
+no effort to chase the animal as she had hoped he would. He stood there
+for several minutes until the horse had disappeared and then with a
+smothered exclamation of disgust or wrath stalked back into the cabin.
+Her ruse had failed. He didn’t apparently care what happened to his
+horse. Now what was she going to do? Val needed help and she, Gale, must
+do something. She didn’t have time to go for Jim or Tom. She would have
+to handle the Mexican herself, and hope that she and Val would have a
+fighting chance. If he should foil her attempt at rescue, then they
+would both be his helpless prisoners and anything might happen! She
+laughed nervously at her own lack of confidence. She wasn’t very
+optimistic at any rate. However, they would see--what they would see.
+
+She peeped in the window again. The Mexican was wiping the blade of his
+knife carefully on his shirt sleeve. She knew he was so deliberately
+cool and slow just to keep Valerie in suspense and to undermine her
+courage. She looked at her friend. Valerie’s color had faded a bit and
+her eyes were a little more luminous, but not with fear. She saw Val’s
+lips move again but she didn’t know that Val had said:
+
+“Well, why don’t you get it over with?”
+
+“In time, my leetle one, in time,” Pedro laughed.
+
+“If you don’t hurry my friends might arrive and spoil your little
+party,” Valerie continued imperturbably.
+
+He laughed again. “They weel not come here, my friend.”
+
+“Yes they will,” Valerie said coolly, “and when they do, you will look
+very handsome--at the end of a rope.”
+
+“Rope?” he pretended not to understand her.
+
+“Yes, a rope,” Valerie said bluntly, “for they will hang you to the
+highest limb of the nearest tree and your friends with you!”
+
+He laughed, albeit a tiny gleam of fear had flickered for a moment in
+his eyes.
+
+“But I weel not be here,” he said smoothly. “And you, my preety flower,
+will not be able to tell them w’ere I have gone.”
+
+Valerie swallowed with difficulty. The fellow was getting on her nerves.
+He knew her story about her friends coming had been a bluff and he was
+gloating over the fact. If something didn’t happen soon, her nerve would
+go to pieces.
+
+
+
+
+                              Chapter XIV
+
+                                TRAPPED
+
+
+Gale, her revolver clasped firmly in her right hand, and the knife with
+which she was to free Valerie secure in her left, crept forward to the
+door. What if the door was bolted on the inside? That would spoil
+everything! With her foot she pushed on the heavy panels and, creaking
+protestingly, the door swung inward.
+
+The Mexican had wheeled sharply when the door first moved, and now he
+stared in amazement at the slender girl on the threshold and then at the
+business-like revolver in her hand.
+
+“Oh, Gale!” was all that Valerie could manage to utter, so great was her
+joy and relief.
+
+“Hands up, Señor,” Gale commanded.
+
+The knife clattered to the floor as the Mexican obediently raised his
+arms above his head. Gale walked forward to Valerie.
+
+“O. K., Val?”
+
+“Yes--now,” Val said, with answering smile.
+
+The Mexican, thinking to catch Gale off guard, slowly lowered his arms,
+but she was watching him.
+
+“Reach for the sky, you!” she said savagely. “I’m not afraid to shoot,
+so be careful.”
+
+But the Mexican, his pride outraged that such a slip of a girl should
+dare oppose him, lunged forward and caught Gale’s wrist in his hand.
+Gale’s finger pressed the trigger, but the bullet sped harmlessly past
+him. His fingers were like steel talons about her wrist, hurting so she
+had to drop the revolver. It fell to the floor by her foot and a kick
+sent it spinning into the corner. At the same time she pulled herself
+free of the man and darted to the other side of the rickety table. He
+retrieved his knife from the floor and took a few catlike steps toward
+her.
+
+Gale retreated until she stumbled against a stool. She gripped it firmly
+and watched her enemy.
+
+“Don’t come near me!” she warned.
+
+Forgotten was the knife she still had. Now she had another plan of
+defense and, desperate as it was, she meant to use it. The Mexican came
+nearer and she swung the stool up with a crashing blow against his head.
+It was an effective means of subduing him, for he crumpled to the floor
+without a sound.
+
+“That was the one I owed him,” Val muttered.
+
+Gale shivered, and turning away, secured her gun and went across to Val,
+her back deliberately upon her fallen enemy. It took but a moment to
+slash Valerie’s bonds.
+
+“Oh, Gale!” Valerie said, almost sobbing, her head on Gale’s shoulder.
+Now that there was no longer any reason for her to be brave, reaction
+had set in. “It was--horrible!”
+
+“You were marvelous!” Gale said soothingly.
+
+“I was scared!” Val contradicted with a nervous laugh. “And now I’m
+acting like a silly goose. Oh, Gale, how did you get here? Where did you
+come from?”
+
+“I was here all the time,” Gale said, “ever since this afternoon. But
+we’ll have explanations later. Come along, we have to get out of here.”
+
+“Slowly my young friends!” an oily voice spoke behind Gale.
+
+The latter could see Val’s face whiten with sudden terror. She heard her
+catch her breath and felt her tremble.
+
+“Gale--he was shamming--it was a trick. He’s got a gun!” Val whispered
+brokenly.
+
+Gale put Valerie from her and turned about. The Mexican was peering
+along the barrel of a rifle leveled at them. Her gaze went beyond him to
+the corner where lay the saddle and where, this afternoon, she had found
+the same rifle he now held. Her hand went into her breeches pocket and
+she smiled broadly.
+
+The more the Mexican glowered over the gun at them, the more Gale
+smiled. Valerie watched her friend with amazement. Had the evening’s
+events mentally unbalanced Gale? It was no situation at which to laugh.
+At least she didn’t see the funny side.
+
+“Gale! What’s the matter?” Val asked, shaking Gale’s arm vigorously.
+“Are you crazy? He’ll shoot!”
+
+“No, he won’t,” Gale said, shaking her head. “He can’t. The gun isn’t
+loaded.” For an instant the rifle wavered. “Look for yourself,” she
+invited, hoping desperately that it _hadn’t_ been reloaded.
+
+Pedro did so and with a muttered exclamation of disgust flung the gun
+aside.
+
+“And now we’ll let you take Val’s place,” Gale said, leveling her
+revolver at him. “Come on, sit down there!”
+
+It took but a moment to fasten him as securely as Valerie had been. He
+glared at them all the while.
+
+“W’en I am free I will keel you!” he promised balefully.
+
+“Ah, but you won’t be free,” Gale assured him happily. “The Sheriff will
+take care of that.”
+
+“You t’ink so, eh?” he laughed. “The gringo jail cannot hol’ me!”
+
+“Sure of yourself, aren’t you?” was Gale’s opinion.
+
+He nodded. “I know. An’ I weel fin’ you and wit’ my knife I weel slash
+so----”
+
+“Never mind the details,” Valerie interrupted. “Come on, Gale, let’s
+leave him.”
+
+“Right you are,” Gale said cheerily. “Well, Pedro, the next time we see
+you I hope you are behind bars.”
+
+“I weel not be,” he said confidently.
+
+Outside was the sound of voices. Valerie turned startled eyes to Gale.
+The Mexican laughed and then Gale understood why he had talked so loud
+and confidently. He had talked to cover the sound of approaching horses
+and he had succeeded. His friends had returned and they were trapped.
+
+Gale’s mind worked with lightning rapidity. If their plans had worked
+only two outlaws were to return here. The other three would be busy
+taking cattle across the border into Mexico. But even two----
+
+“What will we do, Gale?” Valerie’s voice was steady. The emergency had
+brought back her courage.
+
+Gale thrust her revolver into Val’s hand and snatched up the rifle. She
+brought the shells from her pocket and loaded it.
+
+“Get on the other side of the door,” she directed her friend. “We have
+to take ’em by surprise or else----”
+
+Valerie shivered. “Yes,” she agreed, “or else!”
+
+“Steady,” Gale warned, “here they come.”
+
+There was a ring of a bootheel as the two men approached the cabin
+unsuspectingly. Gale was on one side of the doorway and Val on the
+other. As the men stepped into the room and stopped aghast at the sight
+of the Mexican, the girls stepped forward. The two, taken utterly
+unaware by the pressure of the gun muzzles in their backs, raised their
+hands obediently.
+
+“Face the wall,” Gale ordered, and the two turned meekly. She knew if
+she gave them time to overcome their surprise they would not be so
+docile. Cautiously she reached forward and secured first one man’s gun
+and then the other. While Valerie watched the two, Gale emptied the
+guns, put the shells into her pocket and tossed the revolvers onto the
+table.
+
+“What shall we do with them?” Valerie asked nervously, indicating the
+two men standing, faces to the wall, at the rear of the cabin.
+
+“That’s what I’m wondering,” Gale murmured with a frown. “I suppose one
+should watch them while one goes back to camp for Tom and Jim.”
+
+“Well,” Val said firmly, “I’m sure I couldn’t find the way back to the
+camp, and I refuse to stay here alone! So what?”
+
+“Indeed, so what?” Gale returned. “We have to do one or the other. Stand
+still there!” she warned, as one of the outlaws made as though to turn
+around. “Don’t forget I’ve got a gun and I know how to use it.”
+
+“It’s almost morning,” Val said.
+
+Through the window they could see the sky growing lighter as night faded
+into dawn. One of the bandits turned about.
+
+“See here you----”
+
+“Keep quiet,” Gale commanded, “and turn around.”
+
+“No kid is gonna tell me what to do,” the man returned. “I’ll----”
+
+Deliberately Gale raised her gun and fired a bullet into the wall over
+his head. “I might hit you next time,” she said sweetly.
+
+The man turned then with a muttered exclamation that only his companion
+heard. The two of them stood with their faces to the wall while the
+girls held a conference.
+
+“We have to do something,” Valerie said. “And in a hurry too,” she
+added.
+
+“What’s that?” Gale asked.
+
+Val went to the window and looked out. Coming into view between the
+trees were riders, about six of them and all of them carried rifles
+across their saddles.
+
+“Horses,” Val answered in a low, worried tone. “I wonder if their pals
+are to come back this morning?”
+
+“Maybe some of them,” Gale replied uneasily. “Now what will we do? I
+wish we had never got mixed up in this.”
+
+“No more than I do,” Val agreed. “Well?” she asked.
+
+“Can you recognize any of the riders?” Gale wanted to know.
+
+“No,” Val answered, gazing out the window. “They are not coming toward
+the cabin now. They seem to be having a conference about what to do.”
+
+“If they come on here we are lost,” Gale declared. “We’ll have to stop
+them.”
+
+Val turned to watch the outlaws while Gale took a look out the window.
+There were men in the distance, but they were indistinguishable in the
+gray light of dawn and because of the thickness of the trees. While she
+watched, they started forward toward the cabin. She raised her rifle and
+fired a bullet that raised a spurt of dust in front of the advancing
+horses. That had the desired effect. The men retreated to the trees
+again. There they seemed to spread out fanlike.
+
+“Going to surround the place,” she said to Val. “We’re trapped all
+right. We might as well invite them in now.”
+
+“We won’t give up without a fight,” Val said staunchly.
+
+At the moment she spoke a well-planted bullet shook the center panel of
+the door. The girls exchanged looks.
+
+“I don’t think it will be much of a fight,” Gale said. “We have only one
+rifle bullet left. That won’t be much help.”
+
+“I’d like to know who it is,” Valerie said with a frown. “If it is these
+fellows’ friends why did they stop before they got to the cabin in the
+first place?”
+
+Another bullet thudded into the door. The outlaws looked about uneasily.
+
+“Why don’t you go out and meet your friends,” one of them demanded of
+Gale.
+
+She regarded him with a shrewd glance. “Our friends?” she murmured. “Are
+you sure you weren’t expecting anybody?”
+
+“Shore, the King of England,” the other man drawled loftily.
+
+“Do you suppose it could be our friends?” Valerie asked.
+
+“Too many,” Gale said immediately, but she was uncertain.
+
+Were the outlaws as uneasy over these new arrivals as they seemed? Or
+was it pretense to trick the girls? Gale wished she knew. To her the
+terror of the outlaws seemed real enough. There was no mistaking the
+fear on the face of Pedro when a bullet entered through the window and
+pinged against the fireplace alarmingly close to him. They feared these
+men, but why? Were the new arrivals officers of the law or a band of
+rival outlaws? Were there such things as rival groups of bandits?
+
+Gale pulled Val against the wall beside her. It was safest out of range
+of any gun that might shoot in the window. Suddenly from the rear of the
+cabin came a shout. Another voice took it up. A hasty glance out the
+window showed men running from cover and toward the door.
+
+“Use your gun,” screamed one of the outlaws.
+
+“No,” Gale said firmly. “We’ll see who they are--first!”
+
+
+
+
+                               Chapter XV
+
+                                CAPTURE
+
+
+Walking to the door Gale threw it open and stepped into the arms of the
+two men who rushed forward. She recognized them with a great
+overwhelming joy.
+
+“Tom! Jim! How on earth did you get here? Who----”
+
+“We’ve brought the Sheriff and his men,” Tom said breathlessly. “Looks
+as though you had the situation well in hand,” he added after he had
+greeted Valerie and taken in the sight of Pedro and the other two.
+
+The Sheriff with two of his deputies crowded into the room and took
+charge of the three bandits.
+
+“Reckon you’ll do no more rustlin’ cattle or robbin’ banks,” the Sheriff
+said, as he snapped handcuffs on the bigger of the two, while one of his
+men did the same with Pedro.
+
+“Ya can’t keep me in jail,” the man returned. “An’ when I get out--I’m
+goin’ after these two kids!”
+
+“Threats won’t get you anywhere,” Tom said practically. “Well, girls,
+want to go back to camp? Your chums are pretty worried about you.”
+
+Valerie and Gale mounted the latter’s horse and Tom took them back to
+camp. Jim remained with the Sheriff to see the prisoners started on
+their way to the K Bar O and from there to Coxton. Later he would join
+the Adventure Girls again.
+
+“Who shot at us from the window?” Tom demanded as they jogged along.
+
+Gale grinned. “I did. How did I know it was help? I thought it was some
+more bandits.”
+
+“And you were taking no chances, eh?” Tom laughed.
+
+“But how did you know we were in the cabin?” Valerie asked him next.
+
+“Recognized Gale’s horse standing in back,” Tom replied. “How did you
+get there in the first place?”
+
+“When the rain came on yesterday I was looking for shelter,” Gale
+explained. “I got in there and just had time to crawl out the back
+window when I saw the men ride up. I decided to hang around and see if I
+could learn anything about the cattle that are being stolen from your
+Dad. I did. I heard them plotting to steal some more last night and
+drive them over the border into Mexico. Then all but the Mexican went
+away. Along about midnight two men came back and had Val with them. From
+then on things moved fast.”
+
+“I saw the rustlers last night, Tom,” Valerie chimed in. “At least I
+think it was them. They were rounding up a herd of cattle and I turned
+to come back to camp and tell you when two men grabbed me and took me to
+that cabin. There the Mexican managed to scare me out of a year’s
+growth--until Gale came along.”
+
+“I left the camp last night for the ranch and to get Dad and some men,”
+Tom added his bit. “I met the Sheriff and three of his deputies riding
+out to meet us and this morning we picked up the trail of the two men
+who had kidnapped you, Valerie. You know what happened after that. Oh,
+yes, Dad and some of the boys got the three who were after the cows last
+night.” He smiled. “I want to hear what happened all night and how you
+managed to trick those fellows, but I’ll be patient until we get back to
+camp and you’ve had some breakfast. I suppose you are hungry?”
+
+“Are we!” Gale and Valerie echoed together.
+
+“And I’m so sleepy I could sleep standing up,” Gale declared.
+
+“You and me both,” Valerie murmured.
+
+The three of them soon after rode up to the camp. The girls pounced on
+the two adventurers and welcomed them with open arms. While they were
+waited on and served with breakfast they told their story and the other
+girls declared it thrilling. After the last bite of breakfast Gale and
+Val went to their tent so sleepy they could scarcely keep their eyes
+open. They slept the sleep of utter exhaustion for ten hours. When they
+awoke the sky was aglow with sunset colors and the other girls were
+waiting with their supper.
+
+“We are going to ride tonight,” Virginia informed them as the two
+appeared. “While you were snoozing we had a nap, too, so we could ride
+by moonlight.”
+
+“Grand,” Gale declared.
+
+“We thought you would never wake up,” Janet complained. “How could you
+sleep so long?”
+
+“A clear conscience is the secret, my dear,” Valerie declared with a
+laugh. “I’ll bet you never slept as soundly as we did.”
+
+“And why shouldn’t I?” Janet demanded in a loud voice. “I’ve nothing on
+my conscience----”
+
+“How about the time you spilt ink on the professor’s desk? And the time
+you rang the fire gong when there was no cause, and the time----” Carol
+was enumerating when Janet interrupted.
+
+“They should keep you awake,” Madge added mischievously.
+
+“You’ve committed just as many crimes,” Janet defended quickly.
+
+“I’ll wager they have,” Virginia said with a sympathetic arm about
+Janet’s shoulders. “Well, Tom?” she said to her brother who was
+approaching from the horses. “All set to go?”
+
+“As soon as we take down the other tent,” he agreed. “How’re you,
+girls?” the last was to Gale and Valerie.
+
+“Fine as a fiddle!” Valerie declared.
+
+Indeed she appeared to be. Gale had at first watched her friend with
+some trepidation, remembering the strenuous events of last night.
+Before, Valerie had always been worn out, utterly exhausted after any
+excitement or nerve strain. Now she was as calm and steady as any of
+them. It was borne home to them all that Valerie had surely won her long
+fight for health.
+
+Val herself was the happiest as it was natural that she should be. She,
+too, had been anxious as to the results of last night’s adventure. This
+morning when she and Gale had gone to bed, tired as she had been, she
+had feared an undoing of all the good work these weeks in the sun and
+air had done. But now, to her own amazement as well as to the surprise
+of her friends, she felt more fit, more cheerful than she had done for
+many months. It was a continual joy to her to be able to ride and
+compete equally with her friends, to know that she was as capable of
+meeting an emergency as any of them.
+
+“Oh, Val!” Phyllis said, hugging her exultantly. “You look marvelous
+this morning.”
+
+“Indeed she does,” Gale agreed, as the three of them walked to their
+horses.
+
+“I feel it too,” Val declared.
+
+“All the credit goes to beautiful Arizona,” Phyllis said cheerily.
+
+“No it doesn’t,” Val said sturdily. “You girls deserve a vote of thanks
+on my behalf. I hereby express it,” she said gayly.
+
+“Who is getting thanked and for what?” Janet interrupted, overtaking the
+three while Madge, Carol, and Virginia lagged behind.
+
+“I’m offering all the Adventure Girls a vote of thanks for helping me
+back to health,” Valerie said.
+
+“And we claim we didn’t have anything to do with it,” Gale said
+immediately. “It was sheer grit on Val’s part that she won out.”
+
+“I’m inclined to agree with you,” Janet said to Gale. “She has been
+wonderful, hasn’t she?”
+
+“My word!” Valerie laughed. “I’m getting a lot of bouquets. You will
+bring on a rainstorm with such compliments.”
+
+“It’s the truth,” Phyllis asserted. “And our trip has served its
+purpose.”
+
+“What do you mean?” Valerie demanded suspiciously. “Was this Arizona
+trip planned for my especial benefit?”
+
+“Well, you see--we--ah----” Phyllis floundered.
+
+“Phyllis Elton!” Janet sighed. “You never open your mouth but you put
+your foot in it!”
+
+“Well, I couldn’t help it,” Phyllis grumbled. “Val shouldn’t be so
+suspicious.”
+
+“Gale,” Valerie commanded, “tell me what this is all about. What does
+she mean by the trip has served its purpose? Tell me!” she insisted as
+Gale hesitated.
+
+“Why--um--you see, Val, we--got together and sort of talked it over and
+we decided----”
+
+“You all decided to spend your summer out here so I could get well,” Val
+said, a suspicion of tears in her voice. “Was there ever a girl had such
+friends?”
+
+“Bosh!” Janet said crisply, immediately dispersing all sentiment. “We
+did it for ourselves. Aren’t we the Adventure Girls and didn’t we come,
+out for some more adventures? But so far,” she added humorously, “you
+and Gale have been doing all the adventuring. Getting kidnapped and----”
+
+“And almost run through by a Mexican and his knife,” finished Valerie.
+“Well, from now on, Janet, I cheerfully resign all my adventures in your
+favor.”
+
+“Can I count on that?” Janet asked when the other girls joined them.
+
+“We are on our way home, girls,” sighed Carol, “and all our adventuring
+is over for another summer. Dear me, winter and school are dull times,
+don’t you think?”
+
+“Yes!”
+
+“No!” came simultaneously from Janet and Phyllis.
+
+Carol had not spoken the whole truth. They were on their last long ride
+of the summer, but their adventures were not over, and this they were
+shortly to discover for themselves.
+
+
+
+
+                              Chapter XVI
+
+                                 ALARM
+
+
+The moonlight turned the ground to silver dust and gave the girls the
+appearance of ghostly white riders as, single file, they started on
+their journey back to the K Bar O ranch house. They were feeling a
+trifle sad and regretful that it was almost time to leave these wide
+open spaces they had grown to love, when all thought of the approaching
+parting was jogged out of them.
+
+Janet, who had been riding behind Gale, turned her horse from the line
+to come up beside Phyllis. At the same moment something, presumably a
+squirrel or jack rabbit, darted across from the side of the trail in
+front of her horse. She had been riding with loose reins, her horse’s
+head drooping forward, and now, when her horse reared in sudden fright,
+she was almost unseated. The horse stood for a moment balanced on his
+hind legs, pawing the air wildly with his forehoofs, then came down to
+earth and raced away, Janet trying frantically to retrieve her reins.
+
+Jim had joined them again for the return to the ranch house, and now the
+minute he saw Janet’s horse was a runaway, urged his own mount after the
+girl’s. Tom was a close second, with Gale right behind him. The others
+strung out behind the first three, all bent on catching the runaway or
+saving Janet from an accident.
+
+The wild dash of her horse, taking her utterly by surprise, had knocked
+all thought from Janet’s head and now she could do nothing but cling
+grimly to her seat. Darn the horse! she thought exasperatedly. He was
+supposed to be tame and used to the wild life of the plains and hills,
+yet a little jack rabbit could scare him out of his wits! She flung a
+hasty glance over her shoulder and saw her friends bearing down on her.
+But as if her own horse decided he didn’t want to be caught, he put on a
+sudden spurt and widened the distance.
+
+Janet could see the reins dangling over the horse’s head, just out of
+her reach. Murmuring soothingly in his ear, Janet endeavored to catch
+the elusive reins but failed. One hand clinging desperately to the
+pommel on her saddle, Janet rose in her stirrups. For an instant she
+felt the reins in her fingers and then she had lost them again. She was
+quite well aware what the consequences would be if her horse threw her.
+She might suddenly find herself with a broken shoulder or arm or a
+fractured skull. The thought wasn’t at all pleasant and she set her
+teeth grimly, determined to stop the fool horse before something did
+happen to both of them.
+
+They were coming out onto a wide plain where her horse had the best
+chance of all to run himself out. But she didn’t propose to stick to him
+until he was tired. She wanted him stopped now before he jolted all her
+bones loose. Clinging to the saddle and rising in her stirrups she
+leaned as far forward as possible. The horse lurched suddenly and it was
+by the merest piece of luck that she wasn’t thrown off on her face. But
+she clung to her saddle and persisted in her attempt to reach the reins.
+Finally her fingers closed on the left rein and she hung onto it
+desperately. She pulled with all her strength but the horse didn’t
+slacken in speed, not a fraction. He seemed bent on reaching some
+invisible object ahead and nothing could swerve him from his purpose.
+Janet braced her feet squarely in the stirrups, put both hands on the
+rein and continued to pull.
+
+Phyllis, who was behind Gale in the race to reach Janet, saw the runaway
+swerve suddenly, an act all of them had been unprepared for. Janet’s
+horse raced parallel to its pursuers and it was a moment of lost
+precious time before either Jim or Tom could change the course of their
+own mounts. Phyllis, by the time Jim was after Janet again, had sent her
+horse at an abrupt angle from the group. If Janet’s horse did not swerve
+again, and she herself kept on at the present line, the two were bound
+to come together. Perhaps if they collided it would bring Janet’s horse
+to a halt, she reflected with a bit of humor.
+
+For all of Janet’s tugging at the rein her horse was adamant. He did not
+slacken his speed until he began to feel tired. He had swerved from his
+course, but he would not stop. Janet, her whole attention claimed by the
+horse under her, did not see Phyllis until horse and rider loomed up
+before her. She felt herself suddenly hurled over her horse’s head as he
+made a mad attempt to stop himself, and the next second she found
+herself on top of Phyllis on the ground.
+
+Janet rolled off her friend and sat up. She felt herself all over to be
+sure she was still in one piece. It had been quite a jolt, that landing
+on the ground. Then she turned to Phyllis. Her chum had not stirred and
+Janet feared the girl might be seriously hurt.
+
+“I say, Phyll, are you all right?” Janet asked anxiously.
+
+Phyllis opened her eyes and grinned through the dust and grime she had
+acquired when she pitched headlong to the ground.
+
+“Yes,” she said thickly through a mouth full of dust. “I s’pose I’m all
+right, but you knocked all the wind out of me. I also saw several stars
+I never knew existed. But we stopped him, didn’t we?” she demanded,
+gazing at Janet’s horse which was standing meekly beside Phyllis’ own,
+all trace of rebellion gone.
+
+“He ought to stop now, the crazy thing,” Janet said, getting stiffly to
+her feet. “You know, Phyll,” she said with a laugh, “you aren’t at all
+soft to land on. I’m all bumps and bruises.”
+
+“You can be glad I was here to land on,” Phyllis said, “you might have
+picked a cactus, you know.”
+
+“It isn’t everybody has a runaway,” Janet said with satisfaction. “I’ve
+certainly something to write home about now,” she declared, as the two
+turned to greet their friends.
+
+“All right?” Gale asked anxiously as the others flung themselves from
+their horses and gathered solicitously around.
+
+“Yes, but I’m going to sue Janet for damages,” Phyllis declared, rubbing
+a bruised place tenderly. “She had no right to knock me off my horse.”
+
+“You had no business running into me,” Janet laughed in turn.
+
+“Our hearts were in our mouths when we saw Janet fly through the air
+over her horse’s head,” Val declared.
+
+“She floats through the air with the greatest of ease----” Carol started
+to sing when Janet glared at her.
+
+“Riding, especially runaways, gives me an appetite,” Virginia said.
+“Suppose we have a bite of lunch.”
+
+“You are indeed my friend,” Janet declared to Virginia. “You always know
+just what I need.”
+
+A half hour later the ride was resumed. Janet and Phyllis, to the
+amusement of their friends, both lowered themselves gingerly into their
+saddles. Their experience had left them jolted and bruised and before
+much riding they began to coax the others to camp for the rest of the
+night.
+
+“We might as well,” Tom said. “It’s already nearing morning and this
+afternoon will see us at the K Bar O even if we take our time.”
+
+They camped on the plains and decided not to put the tents up for the
+few hours that they meant to remain there. The girls rolled in blankets,
+feet toward the campfire, and in a few moments all but Gale and Virginia
+were dozing.
+
+Lying flat on her back, the earth warm beneath her, staring up at the
+stars overhead, Gale felt suddenly tiny, so infinitesimal. The plain was
+so wide, the sky so near, the stars so bright----
+
+“What are you thinking about?” Virginia asked from beside her.
+
+“The stars,” Gale answered. “Didn’t somebody call them the windows of
+heaven?”
+
+“Are you looking for the angels with their golden harps?” Virginia
+laughed.
+
+“Yes,” Gale agreed with a smile. “Do you think I’ll see any?”
+
+“Never can tell,” Virginia said, smothering a yawn. “Which one is your
+wagon hitched to?”
+
+“Which angel?” queried Gale.
+
+“No, silly, which star?”
+
+“That one up there, see it? The little one, all sparkly. Oh!” Gale
+laughed, “It winked at me.”
+
+“Not very big,” Virginia commented, squinting at the sky. “Whyn’t you
+pick a big one?”
+
+“Wait until it grows up,” Gale murmured. “Just like me, wait until I
+grow up!”
+
+“Won’t that be sompin’,” Virginia giggled. “What are you going to be? A
+female Lindbergh?”
+
+“Never can tell,” Gale said. “Maybe I’ll be another Columbus.”
+
+“I don’t know whether there are any lands left to discover, so you might
+have a little difficulty along that line,” was Virginia’s opinion.
+“Meanwhile--I’m getting sleepy.”
+
+She fell silent and Gale, too, pulled her blanket closer for a cool wind
+had sprung up. The last thing she remembered before Tom brought them all
+wide awake with a loud banging on the frying pan was the wild, untamed
+howl of a coyote.
+
+With the first dancing rays of the sun, the riders were up and about
+their business. Packs securely fastened on the pack horses and the girls
+mounted, they started on their way. As always when riding their spirits
+rose with the sun. Tom was playing his harmonica and Janet and Carol
+both insisted on giving voice to the tune Tom was playing until the
+other girls threatened dire punishment unless they stopped.
+
+Noon found them riding into the valley with the K Bar O ranch house just
+ahead of them. To the girls it seemed as though there were a great many
+men gathered about the bunkhouse and the corral. The very air seemed
+tinged with suspense and mystery. Unconscious that they did so, all the
+riders spurred their horses on at an increased pace. Why should there be
+such activity where usually there were peace and orderliness unless
+something had happened? It was as if a cloud of trouble had descended on
+the K Bar O.
+
+“I wonder what’s the matter?” Virginia murmured to Gale. “I hope nothing
+has happened----”
+
+“We’ll soon find out,” Gale answered as the horses trotted up to the
+corral and the girls dismounted. “Look, isn’t that the Sheriff?”
+
+“Hello, there, youngsters!” Gale’s uncle came forward and at his heels
+came Sheriff Colman.
+
+“What’s up, Dad?” Tom asked anxiously.
+
+The Sheriff looked a bit sheepish and Mr. Wilson frowned in annoyance.
+
+“It’s the--rustlers,” the Sheriff said finally. “They’ve
+escaped--vamoosed!”
+
+“Gone?” Valerie asked incredibly. “But how----”
+
+“We locked ’em in the bunkhouse last night; when we came to the
+bunkhouse--they were gone.”
+
+“The three of them?” Virginia asked.
+
+Mr. Wilson nodded. “We think they are hiding somewhere around the ranch.
+They couldn’t have gone far.”
+
+Carol cocked a speculative eye in the direction of Gale and Valerie. “I
+wouldn’t want to be in your shoes with the three of them loose.”
+
+“You’re cheerful,” Gale told her.
+
+“It does make me rather uncomfortable,” Valerie said, uneasily glancing
+over her shoulder as if she expected the Mexican to rise up behind her.
+
+“Don’t let their threats frighten you,” the Sheriff said heartily.
+“There are enough of my deputies here on the ranch to subdue an army.
+You’ll be safe.”
+
+“I hope so,” Valerie said, but her tone wasn’t very confident.
+
+“How about some lunch?” Tom put in. “You can tell us about what’s
+happened then.”
+
+“Where’s Mother?” Virginia asked.
+
+“She’s gone into town to stay with the Johnsons a few days--until we
+find these bandits,” her father replied. “I wish you girls hadn’t come
+back right now.”
+
+“We thought we were coming to peace and quiet,” Phyllis laughed.
+“Instead we walk into a----”
+
+“Riot,” supplied Janet.
+
+Luncheon was a spasmodic affair, interrupted by deputies wanting a
+consultation with the Sheriff, and with discussions as to where the men
+might be hiding. The hours between luncheon and dinner passed and still
+the outlaws were not found. They eluded capture with the elusiveness of
+ghosts. The Sheriff was angry and chagrined. It didn’t speak well for
+his prowess as an officer of the law to have criminals escape him so
+constantly.
+
+The girls were worried. Each believed that the bandits would try to seek
+revenge on the two who had been responsible for their capture. Valerie
+especially had unpleasant memories of Pedro and his knife.
+
+Gale and Virginia alone held the opinion that the outlaws wouldn’t
+linger near the ranch when there were so many officers about. Why should
+they risk their freedom for revenge? It seemed silly to fear the angry
+threats made when the Sheriff and his men captured the bandits. Those
+kind of men were notoriously brave talkers, but when it came to putting
+their deeds into words they were slow in action. Gale believed their
+bluster had been a mere attempt to cover up their fear of the law. She
+refused to be worried over their escape.
+
+“I’ll wager they are in Mexico by now,” she said confidently to Valerie
+as the two stood at the window of their room preparatory to jumping into
+bed.
+
+“The Sheriff doesn’t think so,” Valerie said bluntly. “Or if he does,
+why didn’t he follow them?”
+
+“Because they didn’t leave a trail,” a jolly voice said behind them and
+Janet and Carol trailed into the room through the communicating door.
+Both were clad in flowing pajamas and robes and seated themselves
+cross-legged on the bed.
+
+“I happen to know,” Carol said in a mysterious whisper, “that the
+Sheriff and his men trailed the outlaws to the creek and there the trail
+was lost.”
+
+“Isn’t that always the way?” Janet said wearily. “I thought we were
+going to have some excitement but all the fun is over before we get
+here.”
+
+In answer to her words a volley of shots rang out from the ranch yard.
+
+Valerie frowned on her friend. “All the fun is over, eh? I wonder what
+that was?”
+
+“I’m going to find out,” Gale said and ran from the room with Valerie at
+her heels.
+
+Carol and Janet remained calmly on the bed. When Gale and Valerie
+returned Janet looked up in inquiry.
+
+“Merely one of the patrolling sentries shooting at a shadow,” Gale said
+dryly.
+
+“Hm,” Janet yawned. “Those fellows are so nervous if they suddenly
+looked in a mirror they would shoot themselves!”
+
+“How come you didn’t run when you heard the shooting?” Valerie wanted to
+know. “For all you know it might have been a lot of excitement.”
+
+Janet shook her head. “I’ve got a sixth sense that tells me when there
+is excitement in the air.”
+
+“It doesn’t tell you when your horse is going to run away though, does
+it?” Carol asked teasingly.
+
+“Please,” Janet begged, “that is a painful subject. Let’s not talk of
+it--I’ve still got a couple of bruises. I’m going to bed,” she announced
+suddenly.
+
+“It’s about time,” Carol declared, jumping up.
+
+“Why do you say that?” Janet demanded. “If you’re so sleepy why didn’t
+you go hours ago?”
+
+“Because I can’t go without you, darling,” Carol said sweetly. “I can’t
+sleep even if I do, because when you come in you are sure to fall over
+something and scare all sleep out of me.”
+
+“I do not,” Janet protested.
+
+When the two, still arguing, had closed the door to their room Gale and
+Valerie prepared for bed.
+
+“I shall probably dream of Pedro,” Valerie said as she jumped between
+the covers. “That fellow haunts me!”
+
+“Nonsense,” Gale laughed. “Don’t let your mind dwell on it. Anyway,” she
+sighed, “we’ll be going home in three days and then you can get all the
+sleep you like.”
+
+“Just the same,” Val murmured, “I won’t ever forget that knife.”
+
+When the lights were out and sleep had come to the girls, Gale slept
+dreamlessly, peacefully. But Valerie tossed and fretted, pursued in her
+dreams by Pedro and his knife, which, with the fantasy of dreams, had
+grown to new and large proportions.
+
+
+
+
+                              Chapter XVII
+
+                                REVENGE
+
+
+Their horses were fresh and eager and the girls had a hard time holding
+them into a leisurely walk on the way back from town. Gale and
+Valerie--the other girls had remained at the ranch house to pack some of
+their things, for they were to leave for the East day after
+tomorrow--were the only ones who had felt eager for an early morning
+ride. Tom had saddled their horses for them and the girls had ridden
+into Coxton to get a last look at the little western town. They made
+some trifling purchases in the general store and now were on their way
+back to the ranch.
+
+The sun shone down, its brilliance sending little dust eddies up from
+the road. At the roadside a bird twittered.
+
+“Funny,” Valerie said, “I never thought of them as having birds in
+Arizona.”
+
+Gale laughed. “Why shouldn’t they?”
+
+“I don’t know. It just never occurred to me. Did it you?”
+
+“I read about them in an encyclopedia,” Gale confessed laughingly. “I’m
+afraid that is the way most of us become acquainted with places we’ve
+never seen. It’s a very unsatisfying way.”
+
+“I suppose you have an idea in your head to go to see all the places in
+the world some day?”
+
+“How did you guess?” Gale demanded gayly. “That is just what I’ve been
+keeping up my sleeve. Do you possess the same secret yen?”
+
+“I do,” Val said smilingly. “But the places I want to see are a little
+far to walk and there’s not much hope of my going any other way.”
+
+They turned off the trail into the ranch yard and Janet hailed them
+frantically.
+
+“Hi there! Come and hear the news!” she called.
+
+“What is it?” Gale asked as they dismounted and left their horses’ reins
+dangling.
+
+“Hear ye, hear ye,” Carol chanted, “the Sheriff is about to capture the
+famous outlaws.”
+
+“Just like he did several times,” Val said dryly.
+
+“This time he is not going to let them out of his sight one minute until
+they are sentenced and on their way to a federal prison,” Janet said.
+
+“How does he propose to catch them?” Gale asked, sitting astride the
+banister.
+
+“A little while ago,” Janet said, her voice a confidential whisper, “a
+rider came from across the valley somewhere. He says one of the bandits
+was seen about five miles on the other side of Coxton.”
+
+“Only seen!” Valerie echoed.
+
+“Is that all?” Gale added. “I thought they at least had the three of
+them tied to a tree or something.”
+
+“Let me finish!” Janet said. “He also said that they have Pedro--he fell
+off his horse and hurt himself--or something,” she added vaguely.
+“Anyway they’ve got him.”
+
+“Let’s hope they keep him,” Val said heartily. “Why doesn’t the Sheriff
+go get him?”
+
+“He is,” Carol interrupted. “He and his men are getting their horses
+ready now. We’re going, too,” she continued. “We coaxed and coaxed until
+Mr. Wilson said we might ride along if we didn’t get in the way.
+Everybody’s going,” she added.
+
+“Well, I’m not!” Val said positively. “Everybody can go that wants to.
+I’m staying right here!”
+
+“Oh, Val,” Janet began coaxingly.
+
+“I’m staying with Val,” Gale agreed. “Nine chances out of ten it will be
+a wild goose chase anyway.”
+
+“You’re going to miss all the fun,” Carol threatened.
+
+“I don’t mind,” Val said. “Besides, I don’t want even one more glimpse
+of Pedro or I’ll dream about him again.”
+
+“Oh, but everybody is going,” Janet said, “Virginia--Madge--Tom--us,”
+she enumerated.
+
+“You’ll be quite alone,” added Carol.
+
+“We don’t mind,” Gale assured them.
+
+From the house came Virginia and Phyllis and Madge. Their voices were
+added to Janet’s and Carol’s, but Gale and Valerie remained firm in
+their decision to remain at the ranch. The girls trailed off to the
+corral to get their mounts. Valerie and Gale walked with them and joined
+Mr. Wilson, Tom, and the Sheriff where they were talking.
+
+“Going along?” Tom asked.
+
+“No,” Gale shook her head. “We’re of the opinion it is all a wild goose
+chase so we’re staying here.”
+
+“I rather agree with you,” he said in a low tone, “but it is up to the
+Sheriff to follow every lead you know or the people will say he is
+shirking his duty. I don’t believe those fellows are even in the United
+States any more,” he continued. “Anyway, it won’t take long to make
+sure.”
+
+“I hope it is true,” Valerie said. “I’ve had the jitters ever since
+those fellows got away again.”
+
+“Well, Val, I’ll give Pedro your regards when I see him,” Carol said as
+the girls rode up.
+
+“You don’t have to bother,” Val said hastily.
+
+“You better come along,” Janet laughed. “My sixth sense tells me we are
+due for some excitement.”
+
+“No,” Val said. “I’m going to stay here and make fudge.”
+
+“Now why didn’t you tell me that sooner?” Tom said aggrievedly. “Fudge
+is my weakness.”
+
+“We’ll save you some,” Gale promised. “Adios!”
+
+The girls and the Sheriff, with his men and Mr. Wilson and Tom, rode
+away in a cloud of dust. Valerie and Gale leaned on the corral fence,
+watching them out of sight. Then they turned and proceeded leisurely up
+to the house.
+
+“I wish them luck,” Valerie declared. “And now for the fudge!”
+
+The K Bar O possessed a very fine Chinese cook who did the cooking for
+the ranch house, as well as the bunkhouse, and he presided in solitary
+estate over the kitchen and its equipment. Loo Wong had very definite
+ideas about who was privileged to set foot in his domestic kingdom, and
+Mrs. Wilson was the only one whom he greeted with his wide smile. The
+“boss-lady” was welcome at any time, but woe to the others who tried to
+muss up his kitchen.
+
+Now as the girls entered the ranch house and approached the kitchen they
+went on tiptoe. Together they peeped around the door. Everything was
+spick and span, but Loo Wong was nowhere in sight.
+
+“It seems the coast is clear,” smiled Gale.
+
+“Ah, but if Loo Wong returns there will be fireworks,” Val declared.
+“However, here goes.”
+
+From the closet Valerie brought the pan and the necessary ingredients
+while Gale sat on the edge of the table and watched. The brown mixture
+was on the stove and a delicious odor filled the room. When Valerie took
+the pan from the fire to beat the fudge Gale stuck an experimental
+finger in it for a taste.
+
+“Ouch!” she cried.
+
+Valerie giggled. “You might have known it was hot,” she said
+unsympathetically.
+
+“Just the same, it tastes good,” Gale declared. “When can I have a
+piece?”
+
+“When it gets cold!” Valerie said. “Come along, young lady,” she said,
+leading Gale into the other room. “Let it alone for a while.”
+
+The girls took magazines and settled themselves for the rest of the
+afternoon. The silence was undisturbed but for the occasional rustling
+of paper when a page was turned. Val got up and turned on the radio.
+Soft music filtered into the room.
+
+“Imagine,” Gale smiled lazily from her comfortable position, “way out
+here we can dance to music from California or New York.”
+
+“Hm,” Val answered, executing a few intricate steps from sheer joy and
+happiness.
+
+“Val,” Gale continued teasingly, coaxingly, “how about that fudge? It is
+a shame to leave it all by itself in the kitchen.”
+
+“It ought to be cold enough now,” was Val’s opinion and there was a
+concerted rush for the kitchen.
+
+With appropriate ceremony Val cut the candy and each of them chose a
+piece.
+
+“Ah,” Gale murmured. “It is delicious, delightful, de----” Her voice
+died slowly away.
+
+Standing in the doorway was Loo Wong looking mightily unpleased and
+angry. He took in the two girls and then the dirty dishes piled on the
+sink. With difficulty Gale swallowed the last remaining bit of her fudge
+as Loo Wong took a further step toward them.
+
+“We’ll wash the dishes,” Val said hastily, seeking to placate him.
+
+Gale held out the fudge. “H-Have a piece,” she invited.
+
+Loo Wong looked from one girl to the other. Slowly he reached out and
+took a piece of candy. Wonderingly he bit into it and a slow grin spread
+over his yellow face.
+
+“Missy alle same fline cook,” he declared. “You teach Loo Wong?”
+
+If the girls had looked at each other they would have laughed so neither
+glanced at the other. Both of them had expected dire results for mussing
+Wong’s kitchen, but instead he wanted them to teach him to make fudge.
+
+Gale, inwardly shaking with mirth, sat on the table and watched while
+Val instructed the Chinaman. Loo Wong might be adept at making flapjacks
+and other western specialties, but when it came to candy he wasn’t so
+artful. He insisted on doing things wrong and Val was becoming
+exasperated. But finally it was done, and set out to cool. Loo Wong, the
+grin of a delighted child on his face, hands hidden in voluptuous
+sleeves, bowed low and went out to the bunkhouse to start supper.
+
+“I wouldn’t have missed that for anything,” Gale declared with a hearty
+laugh. “When he first came in I expected no less than murder.
+Instead----”
+
+“We better wash the dishes,” Val declared. “He might take it into his
+head to come back. It was funny, wasn’t it?” she murmured laughingly.
+“He looked so serious all the time, too. And you,” she said, “you
+wouldn’t help me explain it to him.”
+
+Gale laughed. “He asked you. Besides, I was enjoying myself,” she added.
+
+“There!” Val sighed when the dishes were clean and tucked away in their
+proper places. “Now everything is just as we found it.”
+
+“I’m going back to my magazine,” Gale declared. “I wonder when the girls
+will get back?”
+
+Above the music on the radio a knock sounded.
+
+“Maybe Loo Wong has returned,” Val said with a laugh, jumping up and
+going to the kitchen.
+
+At the same time another knock came on the front door.
+
+“What is this?” she heard Gale murmur as she got up to see who was
+there.
+
+Val pulled open the kitchen door and stumbled back in amazement. Terror
+gripped her heart and her hands were suddenly cold. She caught at the
+table for support.
+
+“What do you want--here?” she asked through dry lips.
+
+The man who stood on the threshold advanced slowly into the room and
+closed the door behind him. All too well she had recognized him. It was
+Pedro, the Mexican who had sworn revenge. He was here, the Sheriff
+hadn’t caught him. Slowly she began to back away toward the other room.
+Perhaps together she and Gale could do something. Possessed solely with
+an unreasoning terror she turned and fled into the living room where she
+flung herself on Gale.
+
+“Gale--what’ll we do?” she demanded wildly.
+
+“Keep your chin up,” Gale said into Val’s ear. “It seems we have two
+visitors.”
+
+“Two?” Val said in surprise. “Who--oh!”
+
+While Pedro entered from the kitchen, Val faced the other man whom Gale
+had been forced to let in at the front door. It was the bank bandit, the
+same man who with his partner they had held up in the cabin when the
+Sheriff arrested the three. The man who had boasted that no jail could
+hold him. It seemed he had spoken the truth for here he was again, free.
+
+Pedro looked across at his companion who was fingering a horsehair rope
+and smiled. That smile made the girls’ blood run cold. It was like an
+evil shadow of what was to come.
+
+Gale felt Val’s hand tighten convulsively on hers. She looked at her
+friend. Poor Val, she looked scared to death. Gale hoped she didn’t show
+her own fright as plainly. Somehow, the knowledge that Valerie was
+frightened and was counting on her, Gale, for help, served to banish
+some of Gale’s own terror. When one was terror-stricken, one couldn’t
+think clearly and goodness knew, they were in need of some straight,
+clear thinking at this moment. How had these men eluded the police so
+long? How _had_ they managed to keep in the vicinity and remain hidden
+from their pursuers?
+
+“How--how did you get here?” Gale said nervously. “We thought----”
+
+“We were miles away, eh?” the outlaw said with a loud laugh. “We
+couldn’t leave without payin’ a final visit to you. It was easy to get
+your friends off the ranch.”
+
+“But what if we had gone with them?” Gale demanded, wishing desperately
+that they _had_ gone with the others.
+
+“We’d have tried another way,” he said calmly. “You ride alone
+sometimes.”
+
+“But it is nicer so,” Pedro put in. “No one will hear you--scream!”
+
+Valerie, who had been listening in frightened and worried silence, now
+permitted herself a gleam of triumph. They supposed no one would hear,
+did they? Loo Wong was in the bunkhouse. In fact, he might at any moment
+come here to the big ranch house. And surely he would hear? Val smiled
+to herself. Both girls had pretty good lungs and once they let out a
+yell, Loo Wong would have to have bad ears indeed not to hear them!
+
+“Loo Wong,” Val said in the barest of whispers to Gale.
+
+Gale nudged her friend in understanding. It was well that they did have
+a faint hope of help, but it would not do to let these men know of Loo
+Wong. They had come here bloodthirsty and revengeful. What would happen
+before they left? Of that she scarcely dared to think. The outlaw was
+fingering his rope again, in a most unpleasant manner. What was he
+contemplating? She shivered at the malicious look on his face. They
+might try anything, they were utterly ruthless. She wished frantically
+that there was some way in which they might summon Loo Wong.
+
+“No, as I said, we couldn’t leave without paying a visit to you,” the
+outlaw continued. “Did you ever see anybody horsewhipped?” he asked
+next.
+
+Gale paled at the suggestion. “You can’t mean to--you must be mad!” she
+said.
+
+“Oh, an’ I might as well tell you, there’s no use yellin’ for that crazy
+cook o’ the Wilsons. My pal is takin’ care of him.”
+
+That took all the wind out of the girls’ sails. It was the final blow.
+Now they were certainly cornered. All their friends away and Loo
+Wong--incapacitated.
+
+“Are you mad to come here like this?” Gale said stormily. She had
+decided it was better to put up a staunch front. “You know what will
+happen when you are caught, and you will be caught! The Sheriff will
+shoot you on sight!”
+
+“We won’t be here,” the man said confidently. “Tonight we’re leavin’ the
+country for good, eh, Pedro?”
+
+“_Sí_,” replied his companion with a wide grin. “We go ver’ fast.”
+
+“Not fast enough to get away,” Gale said confidently. “And when they
+catch you----”
+
+“That’s enough! They’re not goin’ to catch us,” he repeated, jerking his
+rope between his hands and taking a firm grip on the handle.
+
+Gale wished suddenly that they had not come to Arizona at all this
+summer. But then when they had started out who had thought things might
+come to this? The West nowadays was supposed to be calm and orderly,
+with no traces of the old-time Billy the Kid and his confederates. They
+had wanted adventures and now they were certainly getting them.
+
+“I wonder if Janet’s sixth sense told her of this,” Val murmured, with a
+dry attempt at humor.
+
+“Ever since you landed here things have been poppin’,” the outlaw
+resumed, fixing a stern eye on Gale. “First you grab the bank money and
+land us in jail. Then you hand us over to the Sheriff again.”
+
+“And we’ll do it a third time,” Gale said.
+
+“Not when we get through,” the man assured her. “I reckon we’ve got a
+little score to settle and we’re goin’ to do it--now!”
+
+
+
+
+                             Chapter XVIII
+
+                              PREMONITION
+
+
+The Adventure Girls, with their companions, rode along briskly through
+the bright sunshine. They were all anxious to reach the spot where the
+outlaws had been as soon as possible so they did not dawdle along the
+way.
+
+“Gale and Val don’t know what they’re missing,” Janet declared as they
+jogged along. “It’s not every day you can join in a chase for bandits.”
+
+“But just think of them lounging around eating big chunks of fudge,”
+Carol said mischievously.
+
+Janet frowned on her. “Must you give voice to such disturbing thoughts?
+If they don’t save me a piece, I’ll never forgive them,” she added
+darkly.
+
+“What’s the matter with you?” Virginia asked Phyllis as the latter rode
+along between Virginia and Tom.
+
+“I?” Phyllis laughed, “I’ve got a funny feeling that I’d like to run
+back to the ranch. Call it a premonition or----”
+
+“A hunch,” supplied Tom. “Well, it’s about time we called a halt. I’m
+thirsty,” he declared, sliding from his saddle and approaching the
+little stream beside which the party had halted.
+
+The afternoon was wearing fast away and long shadows were appearing
+under the trees.
+
+“Say, Sheriff, when do you reckon we’ll find these fellows?” Tom wanted
+to know.
+
+“’Bout two, three hours yet,” the Sheriff replied.
+
+“That means we’ll be riding back to the ranch in the moonlight,” put in
+Madge.
+
+“For which three cheers,” added Janet. “I like night riding.”
+
+When they remounted, Phyllis declared her intention of returning to the
+ranch house. It took a bit of determination to persuade the others to
+leave her, but she was firm about it and finally watched them ride off
+without her. Then she turned her horse and headed back to the K Bar O.
+She was in no hurry now, so she let her pony proceed at a leisurely
+walk.
+
+It was strange, this feeling she had, that she should go back to her
+friends. She could not tell why she should feel so. There was certainly
+nothing that could happen to them at the ranch. Yet she had that queer
+feeling that there was something doing, something in which she should
+have a part.
+
+She looked up at the setting sun. It would be dark before she reached
+the ranch house and, she plotted mischievously, she would surprise Gale
+and Valerie. Pounce on them all unaware. Behind her sounded the beat of
+hoofs and Tom rode into sight.
+
+“Hi, there!” he called. “Wait up for a pal.”
+
+“Going home, too?” she demanded.
+
+“Yep,” he nodded, reining his horse in beside hers. “I thought you might
+get lost, so I’ll be your guide.”
+
+“Was it me or was it Val’s fudge,” Phyllis asked suspiciously, “that
+made you decide to come along?”
+
+“Well now,” Tom drawled, a twinkle in his eye, “I reckon the fudge was
+an added inducement.”
+
+“I thought so,” laughed Phyllis.
+
+“That hunch of yours must have been strong to take you back to the
+ranch,” Tom declared after a while.
+
+“It’s strange,” Phyllis frowned. “I can’t account for it.”
+
+“Hunches are funny things,” Tom agreed. “Sometimes they’re right and
+sometimes--well, sometimes they’re not so good.”
+
+“Do you get them?” Phyllis asked.
+
+“Lots of times,” he agreed. “I remember once a couple years ago, I was
+out night riding with the herd. I made up my mind to return to the ranch
+in the middle of the night. I came to a fork in the trail and a hunch
+told me to take the trail to the right, so I did. Well, all of a sudden
+my horse balked and refused to budge another step. He was right stubborn
+about it too. I reckon I called him everything I could think of and used
+my whip a lot, too. But he just set back on his haunches and refused to
+go on.
+
+“It was so dark I couldn’t see a thing of what was ahead an’ thought
+maybe Dusty was afraid of something. Usually he was the best-behaved
+horse on the K Bar O.”
+
+“What did you do?” Phyllis asked interestedly.
+
+“I got down and took out my flashlight. I got a habit of carryin’ a
+light with me, and turned it ahead of us. Did my hair stand on end! Here
+I had been trying to drive him off a sixty-foot cliff. All he would have
+had to take was one step to land us both in kingdom come.”
+
+“He had good reason to be stubborn,” Phyllis murmured in awe. “I didn’t
+know horses had such sense!”
+
+“Yep, you can trust a horse’s judgment in preference to a man’s
+sometimes,” Tom said. “Especially in the country out here.”
+
+They rode along, chatting amiably, while the sun sank farther and
+farther out of sight.
+
+“Boy, am I hungry!” Tom declared. “I hope Loo Wong has supper ready.”
+
+“But he doesn’t know we’re coming,” Phyllis reminded him.
+
+“Surely Gale and Val intend to eat,” Tom said. “There will be enough for
+us, too.”
+
+When they rode into the ranch yard it was dark and the windows of the
+bunkhouse and the ranch house were gleaming yellow. Three horses stood
+saddled by the corral. When Phyllis and Tom rode up and dismounted, Tom
+went across and examined the horses curiously. He was back at Phyllis’
+side in a moment.
+
+“Something funny going on here,” he said in a low undertone. “The place
+is too quiet to be natural.”
+
+“My hunch was right,” Phyllis murmured in return. “But what is it? Don’t
+you know those three horses?”
+
+“No, never saw ’em before,” he answered. “Let’s go to the bunkhouse and
+see if we can find Loo Wong.”
+
+Cautiously they crossed the ranch yard and peered in the bunkhouse
+window. Phyllis involuntarily caught her breath at what they saw.
+
+Loo Wong was seated against the wall and directly in front of him,
+across the table, his back to the window and door, sat another man, a
+dirty, unkempt individual. The latter had his feet propped on the table
+and a rifle aimed squarely at Loo Wong’s head. Loo Wong was glaring
+fruitlessly at his enemy. The situation was highly injurious to his
+oriental pride and this disgusting individual was keeping him from his
+duties in the kitchen. Wong was properly angry, but he had no desire to
+resort to violence and perhaps end up with a bullet in him from the
+other’s gun, so he submitted impassively.
+
+“What can we do?” Phyllis demanded of Tom.
+
+Neither of the two was armed, but it was imperative that they rescue Loo
+Wong and determine what, if anything, had happened to Gale and Valerie.
+Tom pulled his hat, the usual ten gallon size, farther down on his
+forehead and grinned maliciously.
+
+“You stay here,” he directed in a tone that brooked no argument.
+
+Around by the door was piled firewood. Loo Wong was negligent in
+carrying his wood into the kitchen and usually commissioned one of the
+cowboys to do it, but today no one had bothered. Tom chose a piece that
+would be admirable as a club and approached the door.
+
+Not by a glance or a sound did Loo Wong betray himself when he saw the
+door slowly open and the face of the young boss appear. He kept his
+almond eyes fixed on the man opposite him, hands hidden in his
+enveloping sleeves, face perfectly impassive. What was going on in his
+mind it was impossible to tell.
+
+Phyllis, watching at the window, wondered how in the world he managed to
+sit so perfectly still. She, herself, was almost dancing in impatience.
+She expected to see the outlaw whirl about and shoot at Tom any minute.
+It was impossible that he could be wholly ignorant of Tom’s presence.
+She held her breath as Tom shut the door behind him and approached
+catlike to his prey. She saw the man suddenly straighten in his chair
+and stand up. He turned and at the same time Tom hurled himself forward.
+The man fired his rifle and Phyllis instinctively ducked. It was
+fortunate that she did, for the bullet crashed through the glass over
+her head. When she cautiously raised her eyes to the window again, the
+outlaw was on the floor and Loo Wong was grinning at Tom.
+
+Phyllis left the window and ran to the door. She wanted to get up to the
+ranch house and see if Gale and Val were safe and sound, but she wanted
+company, for something told her she might run into trouble. Ever since
+she had seen that man guarding Loo Wong, she had a secret conviction
+that the girls were in trouble. If they were, it was up to her, Tom, and
+Loo Wong, to get them out of it. The Sheriff and the others wouldn’t be
+back for hours yet.
+
+“That’ll hold him for a while,” Tom declared as she appeared. He dusted
+his hands and turned to the Chinese cook. “What happened, Wong?”
+
+Laboriously and in his funny English, Loo Wong proceeded to acquaint the
+others with the details of how the man had surprised him at work and
+held him prisoner at the point of a gun. Of the two girls in the ranch
+house, he knew nothing. He had not known the man who accosted him had
+had companions.
+
+“When did he come, Loo Wong?” Tom asked.
+
+“Mebbe one, almost one hour,” the Chinaman said with a shrug of his
+shoulders. “Time flies.”
+
+“Don’t you think we better go up to the house?” Phyllis asked Tom
+worriedly.
+
+“Yes, come along, Wong!” Tom said turning to the door.
+
+“One moment, please,” the Chinaman said and disappeared into the
+kitchen.
+
+“What do you suppose he is after?” Phyllis asked impatiently.
+
+“I don’t know,” Tom said with a half smile. “He has a funny idea in his
+head, I suppose.”
+
+He was as anxious as Phyllis to get to the ranch house. He believed,
+now, that the hunt the Sheriff and the others had gone on was a hoax.
+For some reason the outlaws had come here to the ranch, of that he was
+certain, and he thanked his stars he had decided to return to the K Bar
+O with Phyllis. He knew the men, on the day the Sheriff had arrested
+them, had sworn to get even with the two girls who were responsible for
+their capture, but he had not dreamed that they would attempt
+anything--above all, here at the ranch. He tried not to seem worried in
+front of Phyllis, but he was.
+
+Loo Wong appeared from the kitchen brandishing his meat cleaver. The
+wide, sharp blade gleamed dully in the lamplight.
+
+“Don’t aim that thing at me,” Tom laughed. “What are you going to do
+with it?”
+
+“Show blandits tlwo, thlee thing,” Loo Wong said gravely.
+
+“You’ll show them two or three stars if you hit them with that,” Phyllis
+declared. “Let’s go, Tom.”
+
+The three stepped from the bunkhouse and started across the yard. From
+the house ahead of them came a crash and the light in the front room
+went out. A shout arose, then another.
+
+“Stay here, Phyllis,” Tom said, starting forward at a run. “Come along,
+Wong.”
+
+“Velly fast!” responded the Chinaman, his cleaver clasped tightly in his
+hand, ready to smash the first thing that accosted him.
+
+
+
+
+                              Chapter XIX
+
+                                  HELP
+
+
+The horsehair whip was heavy and long. It cracked ominously as the
+outlaw swung it once around his head and brought it down on the floor.
+
+Val jumped as it snapped scarcely six inches from her ankle. Two high
+spots of color burned in her cheeks and her eyes were blazing. She was
+beginning to conquer her terror and to feel exasperated with the
+situation, it was so like a melodramatic “thriller” of the movies. She
+was sure these men wouldn’t dare use the whip on them, but--she glanced
+apprehensively at Pedro, and saw his knife once more between his
+caressing fingers. Darn the man! Did he always have to look so much like
+a--pirate? Mentally she decided that was just the appearance he gave,
+ragged, dirty, daring--a pirate who was ready to make his victims walk
+the plank. Val wished frantically that their friends would return and
+upset the outlaws’ plans. Of course they wouldn’t dare to harm Gale and
+her, but just the same she wanted to be rid of them.
+
+Gale was not as confident of escape from injury as Val. She believed the
+men were determined to seek the revenge which they claimed. Their
+threatening appearance certainly did not belie their words. The sight of
+the whip curled in the leader’s hand was enough to convince Gale of
+their purpose. They intended to use the whip on the girls, and unless
+something happened to interfere----
+
+Gale was glad Val was conquering her terror. It seemed after the first
+surprise and terror were over, Val rallied surprisingly. Now she was
+standing beside Gale, calm and haughty. If the two of them kept their
+wits about them, they might be able to find a means of escape from the
+situation. But how? They could not look for help from their friends
+because they were still miles away. It was up to them to either take the
+horsewhipping, or to rebel and overthrow the tyranny of these two
+bandits. With lightning glances, Gale looked about the room for
+something, anything that might help, for she was determined to fight.
+
+The girls were standing before an open window. The night breeze faintly
+rustled the curtain. Before them was the lamp that lighted the room,
+standing on a table among books and magazines. At one end of the room,
+effectively blocked by Pedro, was the door to the dining room and the
+kitchen beyond. At the other side of the room was the front door by
+which the chief outlaw had entered. A dash to either of the doors would
+be useless.
+
+Pedro watched with a pleased grin while his companion stepped closer to
+the girls. Instinctively the girls gave ground until they were flat
+against the wall--by the window.
+
+“Val,” Gale whispered.
+
+“Yes?”
+
+“Can you jump out the window in a minute?”
+
+“Half a minute,” Val said at once. “But what----”
+
+“Get ready,” Gale murmured urgently.
+
+Gale had an idea. True it was a long chance, but it might work. If the
+room was suddenly plunged in darkness, the outlaws would momentarily be
+nonplussed. That moment was all they needed. Once outside they might
+have a chance of outrunning or tricking their pursuers. If they stayed
+here in the room, the whip was bound to fall on them. As it was, the
+bandit was swinging it viciously and it took agility to avoid the
+stinging lash.
+
+Obedient to Gale’s command to get ready to drop out of the window, Val
+half turned to face the wall.
+
+“Don’t think you can get out that way,” the outlaw said. “We’ve got you
+now and we’re going to settle a few things!” He swung the whip and it
+descended with a crack on Val’s shoulders.
+
+At the same time Gale launched herself forward and with one sweep of her
+arm knocked the lamp to the floor. With a ringing crash, the room was
+plunged into darkness. She heard Pedro shout to his partner as she saw
+Val’s figure outlined against the window when her friend climbed over
+the sill. It all happened in a split second and Gale sprang to the front
+door which the outlaw had deserted when he sprang after Valerie. But ere
+she reached the door Pedro was behind her and a heavy hand on her
+shoulder pulled her stumbling back into the room. She eluded him and
+sprang away. She had the advantage of the bandits, for she knew the
+Wilson living room and she knew what to avoid but the men didn’t. They
+thrashed about, stumbling over the furniture and muttering angrily.
+Sliding along the wall she reached the dining room door and slipped
+through while the men still sought her in the darkness.
+
+She stepped into the silence of the other room and bumped into someone.
+She drew back with a stifled exclamation. Had the men stationed another
+of their friends in here?
+
+“Gale?” a voice demanded.
+
+“Tom! Quick, they’ll get away!” she said.
+
+“How many are there?” he asked.
+
+“Two. Oh, do be careful!”
+
+“Phyllis and Val are outside, go out to them,” he said and pushed her to
+one side. He and Phyllis and Wong had met Valerie when she dropped from
+the window.
+
+In quick strides he entered the living room and in another minute had
+flung himself on one of the men. Together they struggled in the
+darkness. Loo Wong had come up silently behind Gale and now he followed
+Tom into the confusion.
+
+“They’ll kill each other,” Phyllis declared nervously as she and Val
+joined Gale.
+
+“Tom has a hefty punch and I hope he uses it,” Valerie said
+determinedly. “I--oh!”
+
+A revolver shot had crashed through the sound of struggle and there was
+an accompanying groan.
+
+“Tom?” Gale called uncertainly.
+
+When there was no answer she crept forward and into the living room.
+Suddenly all had become quiet and she scarcely dared to press the switch
+to light the overhead lights for fear of what she might see. The light
+disclosed Tom swaying over the prostrate form of the chief bandit, while
+Loo Wong sat calmly on Pedro’s chest, brandishing his meat cleaver.
+
+“You’re hurt, Tom!” Gale said running forward.
+
+“Just a scratch in the arm,” he answered. “I reckon we got these fellows
+this time.”
+
+“Alle same velly blad business,” was Loo Wong’s opinion.
+
+“Let me fix your arm, Tom,” Gale said.
+
+“It’ll be all right,” he assured her.
+
+But Gale insisted and after cutting away the bloody sleeve cleansed and
+wrapped the wound in clean bandages. As he had said it was not severe,
+but it was better that they should take no chances.
+
+After Gale’s first-aid treatment was over, Tom and Loo Wong locked the
+two desperadoes with their partner in the bunkhouse and there they
+stayed until the Sheriff returned.
+
+The others returned to the ranch house to set the living room to rights.
+It was a wreck, table overturned, lamp broken, magazines torn, and
+chairs upside down.
+
+“It looks as though a cyclone had hit the place,” Phyllis declared.
+
+“I’ll send your Mother a lamp when I get home,” Gale promised Tom. “It
+was my idea to put the place in darkness.”
+
+“You don’t have to bother,” he said laughingly. “You’ll probably get a
+reward for capturing those fellows. We’ll let the Sheriff buy the lamp.”
+
+“You and Loo Wong deserve the reward,” Val put in. “We didn’t do a
+thing.”
+
+“You captured them that time in the cabin,” Tom said. “That’s what the
+reward is for. I don’t want any money. You can have every bit--to find
+some new adventures with,” he added laughingly.
+
+By the time the others arrived home some semblance of order had been
+restored but much of the furniture still showed signs of rough usage.
+
+“It was all a wild goose chase,” Janet greeted them, sinking into the
+first convenient chair. “I wish I had stayed home with you. Is there any
+fudge left?”
+
+“Plenty,” Valerie said. “Didn’t you have any excitement?” she asked
+sweetly.
+
+“Nary a crumb,” Carol declared. “For once Janet’s sixth sense was
+totally wrong.”
+
+“You mean it led in the wrong direction,” Phyllis said. “You didn’t need
+to chase off after the excitement. It came to the ranch.”
+
+“What are you talking about?” demanded Madge.
+
+“What happened to Tom?” Virginia continued as her brother and the
+Sheriff and Mr. Wilson left the ranch house and walked toward the
+bunkhouse.
+
+“Did he fall off his horse?” added Janet.
+
+“He was shot,” Phyllis said innocently, gleefully noting the sensation
+her words created.
+
+“What’s this?” Carol asked, rousing herself from a comfortable position.
+“Did I hear aright? Shot? How? By whom? And why?”
+
+“Haven’t you noticed the living room is slightly awry?” Gale demanded.
+
+“We thought maybe you were having football practice or something with
+the lamp,” Carol commented. “What happened?”
+
+“Well, you see it was this way,” Valerie began mischievously, to keep
+them in suspense. “I was making fudge in the kitchen and you know how
+fussy Loo Wong is about his kitchen.”
+
+“Don’t we!” Virginia agreed. “Did he catch you?”
+
+“Yes, he did,” Gale laughed.
+
+“And asked me to teach him to make fudge,” Valerie added.
+
+“But what has that to do with mussing the living room?” Janet demanded.
+“I don’t see the point.”
+
+“Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you, it was after that that the bank robbers
+called on us,” Valerie said nonchalantly.
+
+“The bank robbers called on you,” Carol said slowly. “Are you joking?”
+
+“No,” Gale assured her. “You’ll find three of them carefully subdued and
+locked in the bunkhouse.”
+
+“One of them shot Tom,” Virginia said rather than asked.
+
+“Exactly,” Phyllis agreed. “That was during the fight.”
+
+“Fight? Don’t be so aggravating!” stormed Janet. “Give us the details!”
+
+“All right,” Valerie said laughingly, “we’ll tell you, and maybe next
+time you will stay with us for your excitement.”
+
+Phyllis told of her and Tom’s arrival at the ranch house and Gale and
+Valerie took turns describing what had happened at the ranch house. The
+other girls were half glad and half sorry that they had been absent.
+They were glad they had not had to face the two bandits, but at the same
+time sorry because they had missed the excitement.
+
+“Gosh,” mourned Janet, “nothing happens when we are around.”
+
+“Never mind,” consoled Valerie, “Tom says we will get a reward and you
+can help us spend it.”
+
+“Hurrah! How much do you get?” demanded Carol brightly.
+
+“I don’t know,” Gale answered. “Anyway, we shall probably have to wait
+until the prisoners are safely in jail. That means we won’t be able to
+go home day after tomorrow.”
+
+“Oh well, if we stay another day or two it doesn’t make any difference,”
+Madge said, dismissing that subject abruptly. “What do you propose to do
+with your reward?”
+
+“We hadn’t thought about it,” Valerie said. “We shall all have to put
+our heads together and think of something--not anything crazy!” she said
+with a glance at Janet and Carol.
+
+“Do you insinuate that anything crazy might come from our heads?” the
+latter two demanded crisply.
+
+“I have known such times,” Val laughed.
+
+“My friend, you wound me deeply,” Janet said with mock tears. “My
+thoughts are always for the betterment of humanity.”
+
+Carol coughed loudly over a smothered giggle. “Quite so,” she agreed.
+“But that doesn’t settle the question of what to do with the reward.”
+
+“Perhaps we better wait and see if there really is a reward,” Gale
+suggested dryly.
+
+“Meanwhile, let’s eat,” Carol proposed and the rest were unanimous in
+agreement.
+
+They all trooped to the kitchen, but there found Loo Wong already in the
+throes of making a late lunch and there was nothing they could do to
+help him so they went back to the living room to wait and to talk.
+
+
+
+
+                               Chapter XX
+
+                                 REWARD
+
+
+The sun was warm and dazzling. Gale felt uncomfortably hot as she rode
+along. The creak of saddle leather and the clop clop of her horse’s
+hoofs were all the sounds that disturbed the stillness. Somehow she had
+lost the others when she stopped some distance back and now she rode
+alone.
+
+It was the day the Adventure Girls had planned to leave for home, but
+they hadn’t carried out their plans. Yesterday the notorious bandits
+had, under heavy guard, left for a federal prison. The Sheriff had
+bestowed the reward, one thousand dollars, upon the Adventure Girls. Now
+the question was, what were they to do with it? They had all agreed upon
+using it for some worthy cause rather than keeping it for themselves,
+but they couldn’t find a worthy cause.
+
+Dismounting from her horse, Gale let him drink from a tiny brooklet. A
+low, cheerily whistled tune caught her attention and she looked about
+for the whistler. Several yards from her, industriously whittling a
+wooden twig, sat a small boy, with ragged clothes and tangled curly
+hair. His eyes, when he looked up at Gale, were as blue as the skies
+overhead.
+
+“’Lo,” he said with an engaging grin.
+
+“Hello,” she replied smilingly, dropping down beside him.
+
+“Fine horse, that,” he declared. “You’re from the K Bar O, aintcha?”
+
+“That’s right,” she answered. “Who are you?”
+
+“I’m Bobby,” he answered brightly.
+
+She accepted this wondering who in the world Bobby might be. “You live
+around here?” she asked.
+
+“On t’other side of the hill,” he replied. “You’re just visitin’, huh?”
+
+“Yes, I live in the East.”
+
+“Where?”
+
+“In Marchton, that’s a little town near the Atlantic Ocean,” she
+replied.
+
+“What’s an ocean?” he wanted to know.
+
+“Why an ocean is a--um--a big body of water,” she said.
+
+“Somethin’ like a lake, huh?”
+
+“Something like it, only much bigger,” she assured him. “Don’t you learn
+about oceans in school?”
+
+“I don’t go to school,” he replied.
+
+“Why not?” Gale asked.
+
+“Cause my Mother hasn’t any money for my clothes or books,” he answered
+brightly. “Anyway, I’m goin’ to be a cowboy when I get big and I don’t
+haveta know much for that.”
+
+“Wouldn’t you like to go to school?” she persisted.
+
+He bent over his knife and the wood he was whittling. “Aw, shucks,” he
+said. “Course I would. But I can’t. I talk to the riders a lot an’ Tom
+and Virginia too. They tell me stories and Virginia teaches me
+’rithmetic sometimes.”
+
+Gale wondered why Virginia had never mentioned the little boy to the
+Adventure Girls. Then she remembered when they had first arrived
+Virginia had casually talked about him, but the girls had gone off on
+their camping trip and he had not been mentioned again. Gale liked him,
+he seemed a bright little fellow, quick to learn and to imitate.
+
+“I can ride an’ fish an’ shoot,” he bragged. “Course I don’t know much
+outa books, but I’ll get along.”
+
+Gale marveled that a youngster, scarcely eight, could be so optimistic
+and have such a cheerful acceptance of his destiny. She felt a trifle
+guilty that she didn’t have such philosophy about the things she wanted
+but couldn’t have.
+
+“Do you have a horse of your own?” she asked.
+
+“No,” he admitted, “but Tom loans me one lots of times.”
+
+“Want to take a ride on mine?” she asked.
+
+His eyes sparkled joyfully at the suggestion and he murmured a bashful
+“Gee!”
+
+“Go ahead,” she invited. “I’ll wait here for you.”
+
+His legs didn’t reach to the stirrups, but horse and rider seemed welded
+together as Bobby urged the roan across the valley. At first Gale was
+afraid he might be unseated, but she soon discovered she need have no
+fear. Bobby was a born rider, and knew as much about sticking in the
+saddle as Gale herself.
+
+“He sure can run,” Bobby panted as he jumped off beside Gale and handed
+her the reins.
+
+“He sure can,” she replied with a smile. She held out her hand and Bobby
+placed his in it. “Goodbye, Bobby,” she said cheerfully. “Maybe I’ll see
+you again before I go home.”
+
+“I live in the cabin over by the creek,” he said. “Ma an’ me’ll be glad
+to see ya,” he declared.
+
+“Oh, and Bobby,” she said, pausing, one foot in the stirrup. “If a fairy
+gave you a wish what would you wish?”
+
+“I’d wish to go to school,” he answered promptly. “Are you a fairy?” he
+added.
+
+“Hardly,” Gale said, “but I might meet one and I’ll tell her about you.”
+
+As she rode away she looked back at the sturdy little figure standing
+gazing after her. He was such an oldish little chap for his years. What
+a pity he had to waste his active little brain because his mother had no
+money to send him to the country school. What Gale admired was his
+fortitude and readiness to accept the little good things that did come
+his way.
+
+She had an idea in her head and all the way back to the ranch house it
+persisted in teasing her. But what would the other girls think of her
+idea? That she meant to find out as soon as possible. She dismounted at
+the corral and Jim came forward to take her horse. On the porch of the
+ranch house were gathered the Adventure Girls with Virginia.
+
+“Aha, run away from us, will you?” accused Janet.
+
+“You lost me,” Gale replied.
+
+“We have been discussing ways of spending your reward,” Carol informed
+her. “We have about decided to save it for another trip out here next
+summer.”
+
+“To meet some more bandits,” interposed Valerie dryly.
+
+“That might not happen in another hundred years,” Virginia declared.
+“You would have to pick the summer that we were having trouble. Other
+years all is peaceful and serene.”
+
+“Look,” Phyllis said laughingly, “if we hadn’t come out you might still
+be having trouble. We cleared everything up.”
+
+“Of course,” Virginia laughed teasingly. “You’re good!”
+
+“What do you think, Gale?” Madge asked.
+
+“Hm?” Gale brought her gaze back from the tops of the far pine trees on
+the horizon. “About what?”
+
+“You weren’t listening,” Janet accused.
+
+Gale laughed. “No, I wasn’t,” she confessed. “What were you saying?”
+
+“Don’t listen to them,” Val interrupted. “Each one has a worse idea how
+to spend the thousand dollars.”
+
+“Haven’t you an idea that will put our minds at rest?” Phyllis demanded
+of Gale. “We really have to do something, you know. We start for home
+tomorrow and we haven’t much time.”
+
+“Don’t you have a plan, Gale?” Janet demanded. “You must have, everybody
+else does. Come now, confess!”
+
+“Yes,” Gale said, “I have a plan, and I’m wondering what you would think
+of it.”
+
+“Well, we can’t think a thing unless you tell us what it is,” Carol said
+practically.
+
+“Yes, Gale, tell us,” Phyllis agreed. “Yours will probably be the best.
+The rest of these weak minded people will soon suggest buying an
+airplane.”
+
+“I resent that!” Janet said loudly. “What is the matter with an
+airplane?”
+
+“Not a thing,” Phyllis consoled her. “I just----”
+
+“Suppose we let Gale talk?” Madge cut in.
+
+“This afternoon when I lost you girls I met a little boy. A cute little
+chap. About eight, I should say. He has the most trusting blue eyes and
+curliest hair----”
+
+“Are you going to adopt him?” interposed Carol.
+
+“Silly,” Gale said. “Let me finish. I talked to him quite a while. He is
+awf’ly cunning and smart--as smart as any of you,” she added wickedly.
+
+“He must be smart to compare with us,” Janet declared modestly.
+
+“Hush!” Valerie commanded. “Go on, Gale.”
+
+“He asked me where I lived and I told him a little town on the coast of
+the Atlantic Ocean. He wanted to know what an ocean was.”
+
+“I hope you could tell him,” Carol murmured mischievously.
+
+“I wish you could have seen him, girls. He is positively thirsting for
+knowledge. But he can’t go to school because his mother has no money
+with which to send him. It is a shame because an education would
+certainly not be lost on him. It made my heart ache just to see him and
+to hear him tell about how fortunate he was that Tom and Virginia and
+the other cowboys told him stories and taught him a little of arithmetic
+and spelling. He is so cheerful with what he has, his riding and fishing
+and hunting. He could be such a fine man because he has an insatiable
+ambition.
+
+“I thought we might give him the thousand dollars. It would see him
+through the little country school here and by the time he is older he
+might be able to earn more. It would be such a good use to which to put
+our money. We could always remember how happy we made one little boy. It
+is something he wants more than anything else in the world. Just to look
+at him made me want it, too.
+
+“Of course all you girls have a share in the reward and it is up to you
+to do as you please, but I can tell you if you should agree with me
+Bobby would love it--and you,” she finished.
+
+“Hurrah for Bobby!” Carol said loudly. “I want to meet him.”
+
+“Didn’t I say Gale’s plan would be the best?” Phyllis demanded, hugging
+Gale affectionately. “You always seem to know just what we’d like,” she
+told her chum.
+
+Virginia hugged Gale too. “You’re a darling, Gale, to think of Bobby. I
+know he’ll be tickled pink. Let’s go tell him now.”
+
+With one accord the girls ran to the corral and saddled their horses.
+Virginia, who had been to see Bobby often before, led the way to the
+broken down little cabin.
+
+Gale had the check for the thousand dollars and the girls all agreed
+that she should be the one to present their gift to the little boy.
+
+Before the cabin, its door hanging ajar on one rusty hinge, the girls
+dismounted. Virginia sent a ringing halloo into the interior and Bobby
+soon appeared. He gravely informed his visitors that his mother wasn’t
+home. He greeted Gale with a wide grin and smiled shyly at the other
+girls, who were all delighted with the appearance of their little
+protégé.
+
+“Bobby, honey,” Virginia said, “Gale has something to tell you.”
+
+“Yes, Bobby,” Gale said smiling broadly, “remember me telling you I
+might meet a fairy when I was riding back to the ranch?”
+
+“Did you?” he demanded eagerly.
+
+“I did,” Gale said gravely. “I told her all about you and how fine a man
+you are. I told her you wanted more than anything in the world to go to
+school and what do you think?”
+
+“What?” Bobby asked, his wide, earnest gaze fixed on Gale’s face.
+
+“She gave me this.” Gale handed Bobby the check and at his puzzled
+expression continued: “It is worth a whole lot of money, enough to send
+you to school for a couple of years.”
+
+He looked dazedly from one smiling face to the other and back at Gale.
+“I’m goin’ to school?” he said in a dazed voice.
+
+“Yes, darling, as soon as it opens for the term,” Gale said.
+
+To their surprise his lip puckered and he flung himself on Gale, hiding
+his face on her shoulder with a smothered sob. Across his blond head,
+Gale and Virginia exchanged a smiling glance, tears not far from the
+surface of either pair of clear eyes.
+
+“Bobby,” Gale murmured, “aren’t you glad? Don’t you want to go to
+school?”
+
+“Course I do,” he said, choking, “t-that’s why I’m cryin’.”
+
+“Gosh,” Carol said when the girls rode away, leaving an ecstatic,
+beaming Bobby behind them. “I never knew it was so nice to play Santa
+Claus. We’ll have to do it often,” she said slyly tucking her
+handkerchief back into her pocket.
+
+“I’m so glad you suggested giving the money to Bobby, Gale,” Val said, a
+suspicious thickness in her voice.
+
+“So am I,” Janet declared, “but hang it all, I almost cried with him.”
+
+“I guess we never realized before how fortunate we were,” Phyllis said,
+contemplating the blue sky overhead. “Didn’t it do something to you just
+now? I feel all sort of big inside. Like--like I wanted to be nice to
+everybody in the world.”
+
+“It does make you happy just to make somebody else happy,” Madge agreed.
+“He is such a cunning little chap.”
+
+“And worthy of anything we might do for him,” Virginia declared. “His
+mother has raised him with the best manners of any youngster in
+Arizona.”
+
+“What happened to his father?” Valerie asked.
+
+“He used to work in a silver mine,” Virginia said. “He and several other
+men owned it in partnership. Bobby’s father was killed trying to rescue
+one of the other men from a cave-in or something. I don’t know the exact
+facts. Bobby’s mother is wonderful with sewing and my mother and some
+other ladies from Coxton keep her supplied. That is the only way they
+get along.”
+
+“I wish we had had two thousand dollars,” Janet said.
+
+“But if Bobby’s father owned a silver mine why don’t they have money?”
+Madge asked.
+
+“The mine never amounted to much,” Virginia answered. “It was only a
+small vein of silver and it didn’t last very long.”
+
+The girls returned to the ranch house, each with a little warm glow in
+her heart. Making Bobby happy as they had done, had shown each one how
+much happiness there is in giving joy to some one else.
+
+The Wilsons had prepared a festive program for their guests’ last night
+at the ranch. There were music and dancing and chatter and laughter. The
+hilarity kept up for hours.
+
+“You know,” Janet said, “I feel like celebrating tonight--for Bobby.”
+
+“Strange as it may seem, I was thinking the same thing,” Phyllis
+declared.
+
+“I used to get the jitters every time I thought of Pedro and his knife,”
+Val confided to Gale in a secluded dark corner of the porch where they
+had gone for a breath of air between spurts of gaiety. “Now I’m glad we
+did meet them as we did.”
+
+“Why?” Gale wanted to know.
+
+“Well, look what we did with the money,” Val said. “It was worth all our
+adventures to see that little boy’s face this afternoon.”
+
+“He was just about overwhelmed,” Gale smiled softly. “It is amazing that
+he could be so starved for knowledge and contact with other youngsters
+his age.”
+
+“Tomorrow we shall leave all this,” Val said, motioning to the trees and
+sky, lit by the giant yellow moon and sparkling stars, and the ranch
+house and the corral.
+
+“Wasn’t it a worth while summer, though?” Gale asked. “We’re all so much
+better able to cope with the studies and struggles we’ll have this, our
+last term, in high school.”
+
+“Where are you going to college?” Val asked suddenly.
+
+“Why--I don’t know----” Gale said vaguely. “I want to go to Briarhurst.
+I don’t know if I shall, though.”
+
+“That’s my aim, too. I shall probably----”
+
+“Say, aren’t you having a good time?” Carol demanded through the window.
+
+“Sure we are,” Val declared.
+
+“Then come in and join the party,” Carol commanded.
+
+“The queen commands,” laughed Gale. “We have to obey.”
+
+The two went back to the living room and danced some more. The noise
+kept up until the wee hours of the morning when, out of sheer necessity,
+the girls went off to bed. Each had a vague suspicion that they would
+not be able to get up the next morning and get the early start on which
+they had planned.
+
+
+
+
+                              Chapter XXI
+
+                                 ADIOS
+
+
+Their fears were confirmed. About ten o’clock the next morning Gale and
+Valerie managed to leave their beds for breakfast. But when they
+appeared in the dining room they discovered that they were the first and
+only ones to make their appearance. Mrs. Wilson despatched Valerie to
+bestir Phyllis and Madge and Gale departed to rouse Carol and Janet.
+
+She knocked loudly on their door but all remained blissfully quiet. She
+peeped around the corner of the door and beheld her two friends curled
+like kittens, enjoying their nap.
+
+“Hey!” she yelled. “Last call for breakfast.”
+
+“Huh?” Carol cocked one sleepy eye in her direction while Janet remained
+in dreamland.
+
+“I said,” Gale repeated painstakingly, “it is the last call for
+breakfast.”
+
+“I don’t want any,” Carol said, turning over and burying her head in the
+covers.
+
+“Come on, get up,” Gale urged, shaking her friend, “we want to get an
+early start.”
+
+“Let’s go home tomorrow,” Carol begged. “I wanta sleep.”
+
+“We have to leave today,” Gale insisted. “There can be no more putting
+it off. Come on, turn out, or I’ll pour cold water on you!” she
+threatened.
+
+At that declaration Carol managed to sit up, but she was half asleep as
+she tried to struggle out of her pajamas.
+
+“Lazy bones, get out of there,” Gale demanded of Janet.
+
+The latter squinted frowningly at Gale. “Must you bother me?” she
+demanded. “Go away!”
+
+“Not until you get up and dress,” Gale said calmly. “We’ve got to get
+started.”
+
+“I want my breakfast,” Janet said.
+
+“Well, you won’t get a bite unless you get up this minute!” Gale
+declared vigorously.
+
+“In that case,” Janet yawned, “I reckon I’ll do without it. Good night.”
+
+Gale went to the door. “Virginia,” she called, “bring me a bucket of
+cold water. The colder the better!”
+
+“What’s that for?” Janet demanded.
+
+“To pour on you,” Gale said calmly.
+
+“I’m up!” Janet declared, tossing back the covers and jumping out of
+bed.
+
+She was up, but it took her and Carol at least another half an hour to
+complete their dressing. When finally they appeared for breakfast, it
+was lunch time. After lunch there was frantic last minute scrambling to
+collect baggage.
+
+The old car in which they had arrived at the K Bar O was brought to the
+front of the ranch house and there the girls viewed it with frowns.
+
+“That tire is certainly flat,” Carol declared. “It looks like a deflated
+pancake.”
+
+“Jim and I’ll have it fixed in no time,” Tom offered.
+
+“Brothers are good for something,” Janet murmured satisfactorily to
+Virginia.
+
+“Where’s Phyllis?” Gale asked.
+
+“I don’t know,” Janet said. “Isn’t she in the house with Val?”
+
+Gale went into the living room and called but neither Phyllis nor
+Valerie answered.
+
+“Perhaps she is down at the corral kissing her horse goodbye,” suggested
+Carol brightly.
+
+“Go see,” Janet said.
+
+“Go yourself,” Carol murmured lazily.
+
+“I have it,” Janet said. “We’ll both go. Maybe Loo Wong has an extra
+piece of cake,” she whispered in Carol’s ear.
+
+“The way those two departed I’ll bet they were thinking of food,” Madge
+commented.
+
+“Phyllis isn’t down at the corral and neither is Val,” Janet informed
+them when, after a lengthy absence, she and Carol returned.
+
+“Were you eating anything?” Madge demanded suspiciously.
+
+“Of course not,” Carol said with dignity. “Didn’t we just have lunch?”
+
+“Then wipe that chocolate icing off your tie,” Madge said laughingly.
+
+“Look. Here they come. What in the world is Phyllis carrying?” Carol
+demanded wonderingly.
+
+“A cactus,” Janet giggled. “What are you going to do with that?” she
+asked.
+
+“Take it home with me,” Phyllis grinned, “for a souvenir. You can sit on
+it in the car,” she invited.
+
+“Thoughtful of you,” Janet grimaced.
+
+“There’s your tire all fixed,” Tom said, dusting himself off as he
+straightened up from his work.
+
+“Gee, I’m glad it went flat here and not ten miles away,” Phyllis
+sighed. “Just think, we might have had to fix it.”
+
+“I hope the old thing holds together until we reach Phoenix,” Janet
+said, looking the car over. “I wouldn’t want to walk.”
+
+“Why that car is good for years yet,” Carol declared, a twinkle in her
+eye.
+
+“Sure, if it just sits in the garage,” agreed Phyllis.
+
+“It’s getting rusty already,” Janet said.
+
+“Well, there is one consolation,” Carol murmured, “the horn can never
+rust away.”
+
+“Why not?” Janet wanted to know.
+
+“Because it’ll break up in honks!” Carol answered.
+
+Carol had been sitting on the porch step with Janet, but suddenly she
+found herself catapulted into the dust.
+
+“That’s for that terrible joke,” Janet said firmly. “Another one like
+that and we will make you ride on the rear bumper.”
+
+“We better get going,” Madge put in. “It is getting late.”
+
+The girls had had such a good time and they had grown fond of Virginia.
+It was hard to say goodbye.
+
+“I wish you were coming East with us,” Gale said sadly.
+
+“Couldn’t you?” Phyllis asked eagerly.
+
+Virginia shook her head. “No can do. But maybe I can visit you some
+time. I hope you can come out here again, too.”
+
+“You will let us know how Bobby gets along in school?” Val asked. “We’ll
+want to know.”
+
+“Of course,” Virginia assured them. “I want you all to write to me, too.
+Don’t forget.”
+
+After their goodbyes were over the girls piled into the car, Gale at the
+wheel. Ineffectively she pressed her foot on the starter. There was a
+whirr but the engine refused to break into the longed-for roar. The
+girls exchanged exasperated glances.
+
+“I suppose we’ll have to get out and push,” Carol groaned.
+
+“Nothing doing!” Janet balked at the suggestion. “What’s the matter with
+the old thing anyway, Gale?”
+
+Gale replied with a shrug of her shoulders and climbed out. She opened
+the engine hood and looked at the complicated array of gadgets. She knew
+a little, not much, about an automobile engine.
+
+“Everything looks all right,” Tom declared. “I’ll get under and see
+what’s what.”
+
+“How’s it?” Phyllis asked, leaning over the door.
+
+“A couple bolts loose,” Tom yelled back.
+
+Several minutes later Tom reappeared, streaked with grease but
+triumphant.
+
+“Try it now,” he suggested.
+
+But the car refused to obey the summons to action.
+
+“Lizzie certainly isn’t a lady!” Janet declared impatiently. “Maybe she
+wants to be coaxed.”
+
+“I’ve got it!” Gale said suddenly with a snap of her fingers.
+
+“Goodness, hold onto it whatever it is,” Phyllis begged.
+
+Gale grinned sheepishly. “We should have thought of it, sooner. I’ll
+wager we haven’t any gas.”
+
+Tom looked at the tank and laughed. “Dry as the desert,” he declared.
+“But there is a five-gallon can in the bunkhouse. I’ll get it.”
+
+The gas tank was filled and the engine responded readily now to Gale’s
+pressure on the starter. They said their goodbyes again.
+
+“Goodbye, goodbye, parting is such sweet sorrow,” Janet said
+sorrowfully, clinging to Virginia’s hand.
+
+“Now I know it is time to go,” Carol said. “When Janet quotes
+Shakespeare things will begin to happen.”
+
+The car rattled and wheezed as it began to move.
+
+“Hey, hold everything,” Phyllis called to Gale. “Here comes Loo Wong.”
+
+Once more their departure was halted. Loo Wong had packed a lunch and he
+proceeded to present it to Janet with a low bow and a wide grin.
+
+“Loo Wong wish many happiness. Bid all tloubles goodbye fo’lever.”
+
+“Same to you, Loo Wong, and many of ’em,” Janet declared. “Girls, what
+would we have done without Loo Wong?”
+
+“We couldn’t do without him,” Carol declared. “He makes the best
+pancakes I’ve ever eaten.”
+
+“Don’t forget how to make fudge, Loo Wong,” Valerie called.
+
+The Chinaman bobbed up and down, hands hidden in wide sleeves and his
+face wreathed in smiles.
+
+“This time it is really goodbye,” Gale called. “Don’t forget to write,
+Virginia!”
+
+The car wheezed and rattled out of the ranch yard onto the dusty road.
+Handkerchiefs fluttered until the car was swallowed up in a cloud of
+dust and the ranch house was hidden from view. They had a long trip
+ahead of them and they settled down comfortably for their last glimpse
+of Arizona scenery.
+
+“Ah, now let’s eat,” proposed Janet. “Ouch!” Unwittingly she had leaned
+against the cactus plant Phyllis had stored in with the baggage.
+
+“Get along, Liza,” Gale said, patting the steering wheel encouragingly
+as the engine coughed. “Don’t let us down now,” she pleaded.
+
+So, with the girls hoping that the old car would hold together until
+they reached Phoenix where they would take the train to the East, let us
+leave the Adventure Girls. Those who have enjoyed the six girls’
+adventures may join them again in “The Adventure Girls in the Air,” when
+they have some exciting times with airplanes and find themselves in new
+and surprising situations.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Adventure Girls at K Bar O, by Clair Blank
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44693 ***