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diff --git a/old/44693.txt b/old/44693.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ff27acd --- /dev/null +++ b/old/44693.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6295 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventure Girls at K Bar O, by Clair Blank + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Adventure Girls at K Bar O + +Author: Clair Blank + +Release Date: January 18, 2014 [EBook #44693] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURE GIRLS AT K BAR O *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + 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 debris. + +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 canyons 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, Senor," 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?" + +"_Si_," 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 +protege. + +"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 THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURE GIRLS AT K BAR O *** + +***** This file should be named 44693.txt or 44693.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/6/9/44693/ + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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