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diff --git a/old/69356-0.txt b/old/69356-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 9bbe1e1..0000000 --- a/old/69356-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6590 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The X Bar X boys on the ranch, by -James Cody Ferris - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The X Bar X boys on the ranch - -Author: James Cody Ferris - -Illustrator: Walter S Rogers - -Release Date: November 15, 2022 [eBook #69356] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at - https://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE X BAR X BOYS ON THE RANCH *** - - - -THE X BAR X BOYS ON THE RANCH - -[Illustration: DOWN TOWARD THE ROAD SWEPT THE RIDERS.] - --------------------------------------------------------------------- - -THE X BAR X BOYS ON THE RANCH - -BY - -JAMES CODY FERRIS - -Author of “The X Bar X Boys in Thunder Canyon,” -“The X Bar X Boys on Whirlpool River,” etc. - -ILLUSTRATED BY - -Walter S. Rogers - -NEW YORK - -GROSSET & DUNLAP - -PUBLISHERS - -Made in the United States of America - --------------------------------------------------------------------- - -WESTERN STORIES FOR BOYS - -By JAMES CODY FERRIS - -THE X BAR X BOYS BOOKS - - THE X BAR X BOYS ON THE RANCH - THE X BAR X BOYS IN THUNDER CANYON - THE X BAR X BOYS ON WHIRLPOOL RIVER - THE X BAR X BOYS ON BIG BISON TRAIL - THE X BAR X BOYS AT THE ROUND-UP - -(OTHER VOLUMES IN PREPARATION.) - -GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK - -Copyright, 1926, by - -GROSSET & DUNLAP - -The X Bar X Boys on the Ranch - --------------------------------------------------------------------- - -CONTENTS - - I The Road to Eagles - II A Disheartening Loss - III A Puncher in a Checked Shirt - IV A Clue - V Rimor’s Place - VI The Three Horsemen - VII Rattlers - VIII The Fall - IX Facing a Mountain Lion - X Searching - XI The Return - XII Visitors - XIII Norine Entertains - XIV Gus Comes Home - XV Planning a Dance - XVI Bug Eye’s Arrival - XVII Pursuit - XVIII The Man With the Scar - XIX Escape - XX The Decision - XXI News From the 8 X 8 - XXII The Storm - XXIII Discovery - XXIV Brand - XXV The Round-Up - --------------------------------------------------------------------- - -THE X BAR X BOYS ON THE RANCH - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE ROAD TO EAGLES - - -Two boys loped along the winding, dusty road on the way to Eagles. -One of them, astride a white-faced mustang, was leading a third -horse, a bay, which, though riderless, was saddled and bridled. The -day was hot; the road steep and tortuous; and the riderless horse, -with head held low, was doing his best to retard the procession. - -Taking a firmer hold of the leading rein, the boy gave it a jerk -forward. - -“Come up here, General!” he cried. “Where do you think you’re -going--to a funeral? Pretty near train time and we still have a good -stretch ahead of us!” - -His companion, a slightly older youth, riding a brown pony, turned -in his saddle. - -“Is he holding back on you, Teddy? Those Spanish bridles make -awfully poor leading. I think he’s got a sore mouth. And, if he has, -dad’ll find it out quick!” - -“Boy, don’t I know it! Why,” Teddy Manley added with a chuckling -laugh, “I bet dad could tell if General didn’t sleep well the night -before. He sure is crazy over this horse!” - -“I’ll tell a maverick he is!” cried Roy Manley. “Last thing he told -me before he left was to be sure to bring General in to meet him. -But as far as liking goes, you don’t exactly hate that Flash of -yours, I notice.” - -The other boy grinned and patted the side of his bronco. - -“Well,” he admitted, “I’m not saying much, but you have no right to -talk about falling in love with a horse. The way you treat Star -would make any one think he was made of cut glass! All the while -it’s easy now, Star, you might hurt yourself! Is that cinch-strap -too tight, Star? Here, let me brush that fly off your ear!’ Huh! Do -you tuck him in bed and kiss him good-night, Roy?” - -Roy Manley refused the bait. - -“I remember,” he said calmly, wiping the sweat from his upper lip -and leaving in its stead a streak of black dust, “when you first got -Flash. Dad gave him to you for your birthday. You were just a little -shaver then--” - -“Aw, donkey-dust! Who do you think you are--Methuselah? Just because -you’re a year older--” - -“You were just a little shaver then,” Roy went on imperturbably, -“and maybe you didn’t know what you were doing. You simply went into -ecstasy. Get that--ecstasy? Sixty-cent word. Yep, you jumped up and -down with glee, I’ll tell a maverick!” - -“Well, if I jumped up and down with glee, you, by golly, stood on -your head when dad gave you Star! Now laugh that off!” - -“We won’t argue about it,” Roy replied, with assumed dignity. “Baby, -this road is sure some dusty! Wind’s right at our backs, too. If I -took a drink of water now I’d turn into a mud-pie. Hey, Teddy, think -you can coax that cayuse you’re riding into something more than a -trickle? Maybe he’ll run, if you talk to him real nice.” - -Teddy Manley did not reply, but clucked softly to his mount. Flash -responded with a leap that caused General, the bay that Teddy was -leading, to toss his head in protest. - -“You’d better be careful,” Roy cautioned. “There’s only one man who -can boss General, and that’s dad. If the bay takes it into his head -to stop, he’ll _stop_, and neither one of us will be able to budge -him. Then dad’s train will pull in, and he’ll expect to find General -at the station waiting for him. And where’ll we be?” - -“Down in the cellar eating spinach,” Teddy answered, with a grin. -“Flash, here, won’t let General balk on us! will you, old boy?” and -Teddy leaned forward and rubbed the horse’s nose. Flash nuzzled his -master’s hand affectionately. - -“Why don’t you let up on that mush?” Roy asked in a disgusted tone. -“Go on, whisper pretty nothings in his ear! Talk about me and Star! -Why, when Gilly Froud--” - -Eyes blazing, Teddy turned swiftly on his brother. - -“Don’t mention that cur’s name to me,” he said thickly. “You know -what he did to Flash? He kicked him, that’s what he did! Kicked him! -And if dad hadn’t stopped me, I’d have--I’d have--” - -“Cool off, cool off,” Roy advised soothingly. “I don’t like Froud -any more than you do. You know that. Anyway, dad threw him off the -ranch, so let’s forget him. Come on, step on it. Dad’s train is due -soon.” - -Breathing heavily at the memory of Froud’s mistreatment of Flash, -Teddy pulled General’s leading rein and urged his own mount to a -faster pace. - -This Gilly Froud had been a hand on the X Bar X ranch, which was -owned by Mr. Manley, the father of Roy and Teddy. One day the ranch -owner had caught Froud abusing Flash. Teddy had come around the -corner of the bunkhouse at the same instant, and took in the scene -at a glance. White to the lips, the boy started for Froud. Mr. -Manley took one look at his son’s face, and, springing forward, -seized Teddy by the shoulders. Flash--Teddy’s Flash--had been -kicked, and Teddy had seen it. Mr. Manley tightened his grip on his -son’s shoulders. There was not going to be that sort of fight on his -ranch if he could prevent it. - -Teddy had come to his senses quickly, and Mr. Manley released him. -Then he turned and looked at Froud, whose face was sickly pale -underneath his tan. After this occurrence, Froud went away from that -ranch in something of a hurry. - -As Teddy recalled the incident, his fist clenched and he -unconsciously drew up on Flash’s rein. The horse snorted and shook -his head, as though he knew what was passing through his master’s -mind. - -“Always did hate a man who mistreated a horse,” Teddy murmured. -“Sure to be something else the matter with him. No decent fellow -would kick a pony.” - -“Still thinking about Gilly Froud?” Roy asked. “Come on, snap out of -it! Lots of nicer things to think about. For instance, that wrist -watch you bought at school. Baby, wait till Nick Looker finds out -you own a wrist watch! Maybe he won’t ride you a little!” - -Teddy grinned in reply, and pushed his sombrero back from his -forehead. It was certainly a hot day. - -The two Manley brothers, Teddy, aged fifteen, and Roy, one year -older, were at home, for a long time, they hoped, if not for good, -from the Hopper Boarding School, an institution just outside of -Denver. Teddy had the golden hair and blue eyes of his mother, -Barbara Manley, “the blonde angel of the West,” her husband often -jokingly called her. But the laugh that always went with this remark -deceived no one--least of all the boys. They caught the note of love -in their father’s voice, and it found an echo in their own hearts. - -“Jinks! She _is_ an angel!” - -Roy, the taller of the two, had hair as brown as the hills around -him, and eyes but a trifle lighter in hue. He it was who had -inherited from his mother a fondness for literature, and, though -this last was carefully concealed, a liking for poetry. - -Barbara Manley, before her marriage, had been a teacher of English -in a Denver school, and until she had met Bardwell Manley, poetry -had been her only sweetheart. Her eyes would shine with maternal -pride when she observed Roy reading a “book of silly verses,” as -Teddy called it. - -Yet Roy was a real boy. More, he was a real Western boy, which is -saying a great deal. He was one of the best shots on the X Bar X -ranch, and although Teddy had a slight edge on him when it came to -riding, Roy could “fork” an unbroken bronco almost as well as any -man on the ranch. In build the boys were much alike--lean, wiry -products of range life. - -Their father, Bardwell Manley, owned the X Bar X, a cattle ranch -some thirty hours’ ride “on the cars” west from Chicago on Rocky Run -River, a small stream. This ranch had been in the Manley family -since Temple Manley, the boys’ grandfather, now several years dead, -had settled there in 1868. - -Roy and Teddy, together with their sister, Belle Ada, a girl now -twelve years old, had, of course, lived much of their lives on the X -Bar X. But as soon as they became old enough Mrs. Manley had -insisted that the two brothers go away to study in Denver, and the -last three winters Roy and Teddy had spent at the Hopper Academy. - -Although their school days were happy enough, both boys were always -eager for summer to come, bringing with it vacation time, which -meant the ranch, with Flash and Star to gallop about on over many a -winding trail. Roy and Teddy had the real cowboy’s love for a good -pony and the wind-swept range. Though they did as well as most boys -at their studies and Roy rather better than the average, they were -both eager for the time to come when they could leave school and -follow in the footsteps of their father. - -It was now the third week since school had closed, and today the -boys were riding to Eagles, a railroad station twelve miles from the -X Bar X, to meet Mr. Manley, who had stipulated that they must bring -his own special mount, General, for him to ride back. Of course they -could have made the trip in an auto, but Mr. Manley always said he -preferred “hoss flesh to flivvers.” - -“Shucks! I don’t see the use of having an auto trail to Eagles when -dad rides General all the time,” Teddy half grumbled as he sank his -chin deeper into his neckerchief. “This is too blame dusty!” - -In the memory of some at the X Bar X, there had been a time when -this road, winding up the mountain, had been just a trail, hardly -wide enough for two horses abreast. But the auto had since invaded -the West, and had widened the path into a dusty highway. In the -opinion of Roy and Teddy Manley, it was a change for the worse. - -“Stop beefing,” challenged Roy, grinning. “Here! Take a look at that -and be thankful you’re allowed to live in the country!” - -The two boys had come to a turn in the road almost at the top of the -mountain. The horses stood, champing their bits, on a small plateau. -The road wound itself about the elevation on either side, stretching -out like a long, brown ribbon. To the left, where the highway made -its sharpest curve, was a small slope, and beyond this the mountain -seemed to have been shorn off with a giant axe, making a sheer drop -of some three hundred feet. - -Often and often the boys traveled this road, yet each time they -reached Bitter Cliff, as it was called, and looked off over that -vast stretch of country, they halted, fascinated anew by the beauty -of the scene before them. - -Down below, the whole range was spread out in a clear-cut panorama. -Far in the rear rose the ranch buildings of X Bar X; the mess-house, -where Sing Lung, the cook, invented the sometimes strange but always -very palatable combinations of food; the high-fenced corral, now -almost empty, for the cattle were out on the grazing ground; the -ranch house--the home of Roy and Teddy; the “bronco-peeler’s” -bunkhouse; and the Rocky Run River, like a streak of dull silver, -flowing placidly through a border of cottonwoods and willows about -half a mile from the ranch house. - -To the west, like another section of some great map, lay 8 X 8 -ranch, owned by Peter Ball, an old friend and neighbor of Bardwell -Manley. - -“She’s sure some view!” exclaimed Teddy, with a long, indrawn sigh -of peace and satisfaction. “Some view! Just as good as that picture -of the Great Open Spaces we’ve got hanging up in the school -auditorium.” - -“Huh! Comparing this to a _picture_!” Roy snorted. “Why, man, this -is _real_! As good as a picture! Huh!” - -“All right! All right!” Teddy said easily. “Then it isn’t! You can’t -get me sore,” he smiled amiably. - -“What isn’t?” demanded his brother. “You mean to tell me you’d speak -of a picture in our school auditorium in the same breath -with--with--” and Roy flung out his arm in a mute and helpless -gesture of finality. - -“All right, I said! Go easy with that arm of yours! You made General -jump then! But look! Isn’t the air clear? You can almost count the -horses down at 8 X 8!” - -“So you can. Well, we’d better be on our way. Dad won’t want to be -kept waiting. He’ll be anxious to climb aboard General again, after -a week of walking and flivvers in the city.” - -“My boy, that’s just what I’ve been thinking. You show remarkable -powers of perception. As soon as you can wake up that cayuse of -yours, we’ll be moving.” - - - - -CHAPTER II - -A DISHEARTENING LOSS - - -Clucking to their horses, the Manley boys proceeded toward Eagles. -The road led downward now, and the going was easier. - -“Speaking of the 8 X 8, did you hear what happened there?” Teddy -asked, as he pulled gently on General’s leading rein. - -“Yep! Twenty head of short-horn Durhams stolen; wasn’t it? Pete -ought to put better men to riding his cattle.” - -“Now, I don’t know,” Teddy replied slowly. “They’ve got some good -punchers over on the 8 X 8. Way I figure it, those rustlers are -mighty clever. They ride into a herd at night, cut out as many head -as they can handle, and drive ’em away before the riders can get to -them. But, by jinks, they’d better not try to get away with any of -the X Bar X cattle! They’ll have one sweet fight on their hands if -they do;” Teddy looked down at the side of his saddle where the -insignia X--X, burned in the leather, could be plainly seen. The X -Bar X was proud of its mark. It stood for many years of upright, -square dealing. - -Pop Burns, the oldest hand on the X Bar X ranch, claimed that he had -“invented” the brand for Temple Manley, the grandfather of Roy and -Teddy. Pop was inordinately boastful of this distinction, which he -had conferred on himself, and he never tired of telling newcomers -how he had happened to hit on the device of the “two sawbucks with a -piece of rail fence in between,” as he sometimes described it. So -vain was he of the mark that he placed it on everything -brandable--saddles, bridles, wagons, the autos, and all. Jim Casey -claimed he had even caught Pop marking Jim’s fancy vest with the X -Bar X, but this the veteran denied. - -“Yes, sir, there’ll certainly be something doing if those rustlers -take any of our stuff,” Teddy went on. “Pop would be on their necks -in a minute! I can just see the old geezer raving mad, and frothing -around about: ‘Steal one of my brands, will ye? I’ll get ye fer that -if it takes me ten years!’ Oh, baby!” and Teddy laughed. - -“That’s right!” Roy remarked. “But, say, I hope dad’s train is late. -If it isn’t, we’ll never make it! Come on, let’s hit it up!” - -The boys urged the horses to a faster pace, and, somewhat winded, -reached the station at Eagles in a cloud of dust, much of which -clung to them and their mounts, where they slipped from the saddles -with grunts of relief. They tied the three horses to a hitching rail -not far from the station and concealed from the highway and the -railroad office by a rough shack that served as freight and express -depot. - -“Yep, she’s late, all right,” announced Foley, the ticket agent, as -the boys tramped into the station. “All of thirty minutes behind -time. Your dad’s comin’ today, ain’t he? I see you got General out -there. Spotted him when ye swung around to tie up. That road to your -place must be some dusty, with the wind blowin’ up your back, hey?” - -“I’ll tell a maverick it is!” agreed Roy, and then he and his -brother, after a glance about the dingy waiting room, sauntered out -to look over the town. - -Perhaps “town” would be dignifying Eagles beyond its merits. There -was a main street, consisting of two restaurants, a post-office, six -stores and the railroad station. A little way down the track was a -large corral, used as a temporary retention place for dealers who -sent their steers to this point to be shipped. Often there would be -a delay of a day or more before sufficient cattle cars would arrive -at Eagles. - -It was the cattle that brought the station; the station brought the -town, and the town brought all sorts of things, one of which was now -leaning against the front of Rimor’s Place, hat pulled low over his -face, smoke from an invisible cigarette drifting lazily about his -head. - -Rimor’s Place was one of the two restaurants, although as an eating -house it failed to qualify. Yet its habitues were never heard to -complain of the quality of its food. The “hard-stuff” was good. - -“There’s a tough-looking baby,” Teddy said in a low voice, nodding -toward the figure of the man outside of Rimor’s. “Seems like his -breakfast had soured on him.” - -“It’s a rare bunch that hangs out at Duck Rimor’s,” Roy replied. -“They ought to close that place. Slim Dery’s restaurant is enough -for Eagles,” he declared emphatically. - -A short time later the brothers again stood on the station platform, -eagerly watching for the express from the city. It pulled in, and a -tall, well set-up man of perhaps fifty-five alighted. He wore a -heavy dark mustache, and beneath his broad sombrero his black hair -was here and there tinged with gray. As his foot struck the platform -he reached in his pocket, and by the time Roy and Teddy had greeted -him, a corncob pipe reposed in the corner of his mouth. - -“Hello there, Roy and Teddy! The two sons of the prairie come to -meet their father, who has been far away in the land of the -snicker-snackers! Greetings! Boys, I’ve got a surprise for you.” - -“What is it, Dad?” Roy asked, grinning at his father. - -“A whiffletree, hey, Dad?” Teddy inquired. - -“No, not a whiffletree. Nor a wham-wicker either. Behold! Nell and -Ethel, allow me to present my two dutiful sons, Roy and Teddy. -Pardon me, Theodore! Boys, this is Nell Willis, and this Ethel -Carew. They’re Peter Ball’s nieces.” - -The boys now saw two young girls, of about their own age, who had -just stepped from the train to the platform. Small hats were set -over piquant faces; laughing eyes looked into those of Roy and -Teddy. Somewhat in a daze, the boys acknowledged the introduction. - -“Yes,” went on Mr. Manley, tamping the tobacco gently down into his -pipe, “they’re Peter Ball’s nieces from New York, goin’ to visit the -8 X 8. Met ’em on the train. I used to know ’em a long time ago--” -applying a match to the pipe--“but they wouldn’t remember me. I want -’em both to come over and see your sister, Belle Ada,” he explained -to the boys. “Golly, it’s good to be back again!” Thereat, with a -contented sigh, he blew out a huge cloud of fragrant smoke. - -“Oh, we’d love to come!” one of the girls said, she whom Mr. Manley -had introduced as Nell Willis. Then she looked at Roy. “You know, -I’ve always wanted to come West. I think it’s so--so weird, don’t -you?” - -“Weird?” Roy repeated, as though to himself. “You mean--weird? Oh, -yes! Sure! Awfully weird! Yep! Sure is!” - -“And do you ride just all the time?” the other, Ethel Carew, asked -Teddy. - -“Who, me? Nope! Sit down to eat,” and Teddy grinned. Nice eyes the -girl had. - -“How’s your mother?” Mr. Manley interrupted. - -“Fine,” Roy answered, turning to his father. “She’ll be glad to see -you again. She’s been a little lonesome.” - -“No trouble?” his father asked quickly. “I heard something about -rustlers getting away with some of the 8 X 8 stock. Man on the train -told me. They haven’t been around our place, have they?” - -“Not that I know of,” Roy replied. “I guess mother’s been a bit -upset ever since--er--” He glanced over at Teddy, who was explaining -to Ethel Carew why they called a cowboy a puncher. “Ever since you -had that fuss with Gilly Froud,” Roy went on. “She’s always sort of -afraid he’ll come back and do some damage.” - -Mr. Manley scowled and removed his pipe from his mouth. - -“He better not let me catch him around the X Bar X,” he said -sternly. “And if he’s wise, he’ll steer clear of Teddy, too. Froud -may be big, but I wouldn’t bet a plugged nickel on him if Teddy ever -saw him kick Flash again.” - -“Oh, Mr. Manley, did I hear some one say something about rustlers?” -exclaimed Nell Willis. “I’d just _love_ to see a real, live rustler. -Did you ever shoot one, Mr. Manley?” - -“Who, me? Shoot a rustler?” Roy’s father demanded. Then he saw that -Nell was looking at Roy. “Oh, you mean him. I thought you were -talkin’ to me. That’s Roy, there.” - -The girl reddened slightly. - -“Roy, then! And you call me Nell. But tell me--did you ever shoot a -rustler--Roy?” - -“No, I can’t say that I did,” Roy answered, with a laugh. “But if -you’d like it, I’ll try to arrange to do it for you,” and he laughed -again. - -“Oh, no!” Nell replied with a pretended shiver. “I don’t want you to -do it. I just wondered if you _had_.” - -“Roy’s only joking,” Mr. Manley stated. “People back East think -we’ve got nothing to do but chase Indians and string up -hoss-thieves. Why, even if there were Indians runnin’ around loose, -we wouldn’t have time to chase ’em. We have plenty to do on a ranch -without lookin’ for trouble,” he declared. “That reminds me, -Teddy--who’s doin’ most of the outridin’ these days?” Outriding was -the process of investigating the condition of the stock on the -range. - -“Nat Raymond and Jim Casey, mostly,” Teddy answered. “Then, I -thought maybe it would be a good idea to have Nick Looker take a -hand, too. Since the rustlers started raiding the 8 X 8, I’ve been -kind of worried about our own cattle.” - -“Yes, have Nick do that,” replied the lad’s father approvingly. Mr. -Manley thought it best that his sons should assume responsibility -early in life. Accordingly, he gave each one the practical -management of the ranch on alternate weeks. This week Teddy had been -the foreman. - -“Well, no use standin’ out in the hot sun,” Mr. Manley continued, -with a glance at the fair skin of the two girls. He wondered how -long it would be before a coat of tan covered those pink-and-white -faces. “Roy, just cart the bags into the depot, will you? Some one -coming out from the 8 X 8 for you, I take it?” and he looked over at -Nell and Ethel. - -“We expect a car,” Ethel answered dubiously. “Although Uncle Peter -may send horses--” and she glanced down at her traveling dress. - -“Now, don’t worry about that,” Mr. Manley said, with a hearty laugh. -“We have autos out here, same as you have in New York. Pete’s got -two of the finest cars in the state, though mostly he uses flivvers. -You won’t have to fork no bronc--pardon me, I mean ride a horse.” - -Seizing the girls’ two bags, Roy carried them into the station while -the others followed more slowly. Mr. Manley had but a small hand -bag, and Teddy left this with the station agent to be brought over -later on the wagon. When the ranch-owner traveled, he wanted to be -ready to “light out in a hurry,” as he expressed it. Usually a clean -shirt and some collars completed his traveling kit. Mr. Manley had -lived in the West all his life, and had the Westerner’s contempt for -“dofunnies,” as unnecessary equipment was called. - -“But once you get used to a horse,” Mr. Manley went on, as he walked -toward the rear of the station, “you’ll never set foot inside an -auto again,” he assured the girls. “Now, I have a horse I call -General. Gentle, strong, and quick as a flash. Him, me, an’ this -corncob pipe have been through plenty of rough places together in -the last four years. Tell you, I wouldn’t trade General for ten of -the best mustangs in the state!” and he nodded his head decidedly, -so that little rings of smoke detached themselves from the bowl of -the pipe and drifted gently away. - -“I’m sure we’ll just love it out here,” Ethel remarked -enthusiastically. “Of course, we’ve both ridden in the city, but we -always used much smaller saddles than you use here,” she commented -as she saw a rider pause in front of Rimor’s Place. - -“Postage stamps!” Mr. Manley said, with a grin. “That’s what we call -those saddles out West. The kind we ride are real saddles. Like the -one I have on General, for instance. He wouldn’t know what to do if -some one pasted one of those English saddles on his back.” - -By this time they had reached the corner of the station. Back of the -freight station the three horses had been tied by Roy and Teddy. Mr. -Manley was in the lead. He turned suddenly and faced Nell and Ethel. - -“Now I’m goin’ to show you three of the prettiest ponies you ever -saw,” he declared. “Whenever I go to the city I always have Roy or -Teddy meet me with General, so’s I can ride back on him. I suppose -you tied ’em in the usual place, Teddy?” he asked. - -“I sure did, Dad,” Teddy answered. “Tied right on the old rail.” - -With a smile of anticipation on his face, Mr. Manley stepped -forward. Then he paused, and those behind him heard him give a gasp -of surprise. - -“Why,” he said in a puzzled tone, “what’s this? A joke?” - -Roy and Teddy stepped quickly forward. Their eyes stared at the -rail. Where the ponies had stood, there remained nothing but the -hoofprints in the soft dirt of the spot! - -The horses were gone! - - - - -CHAPTER III - -A PUNCHER IN A CHECKERED SHIRT - - -Roy craned his neck forward, eyes wide. Mr. Manley stood with hands -on hips, legs spread, staring intently at the vacant hitching rail. -The corncob pipe drooped at a downward angle. - -Teddy passed the back of his hand over his forehead, pushing back -his hat. - -“Why, that’s funny,” he said in a dazed voice. “They don’t seem to -be here.” - -“They--they must have wandered off,” Roy said uncertainly. “Queer. -They were all tied tight. I wonder--” - -“You mean to say they were here, and now they’re gone?” Mr. Manley -asked, a new note creeping into his voice. - -“The horses were here, all right,” Teddy declared unevenly. “I can’t -understand it.” - -“Well, I can!” Mr. Manley cried. His eyes were blazing. “They’ve -been stolen! Those ponies ain’t the kind to wander around, once -they’re tied up. They’ve been stolen an’ nothin’ less!” he -thundered. - -“What happened? Is something the matter?” Nell asked, as she and -Ethel faced Mr. Manley. - -“You bet there’s something the matter!” the cattleman roared. -“There’s a whole lot the matter! My hoss has been taken right from -under my nose--stolen from Eagles in broad daylight! What kind of a -town is this, anyway? Hey you!” He strode over to a cowboy who was -leaning against the door jamb at Rimor’s. Roy and Teddy realized -that he was the man they had noticed when they reached town. - -“You know anything about three hosses that were tied to that rail?” - -The puncher tilted his head back, and looked insolently out from -under the rim of his hat. - -“What hosses?” - -“_My_ hosses! Those boys over there tied them to the rail. Now -they’re gone! You see anything of ’em?” - -“Nope.” - -“How long you been here?” - -“Not so long.” - -“You were here when we rode in!” Teddy cried hotly, crossing the -street. “He must have seen them, Dad; he’s been there for half an -hour. The ponies were stolen while Roy and I came around to the -front of the station to watch for the train.” - -The puncher turned his head lazily and stared coldly at Teddy. - -“You’re, mebby, one of them correspondence school detectives, hey?” -he sneered. - -“Don’t get funny,” Teddy advised, his eyes narrowing. “Roy and I -both saw you here when we rode up. You know we tied the ponies to -that hitching rail. And you’ve been here ever since. The broncs are -gone. Who took them?” - -The cowboy removed the cigarette from his mouth and straightened. -Then he hitched up his belt and faced Teddy. - -“Listen, kid,” he said slowly, “I don’t know nothin’ about yore -horses. Mebby I was here all the time, an’ mebby I wasn’t. That’s my -business. But get this straight! No baby is goin’ to order me -around. I don’t know who you are, an’ I don’t give a hoot. I ain’t -in the habit of mindin’ broncs, an’ you can pack that behind the rim -of yore derby. Understand?” Deliberately he flicked his cigarette -toward Teddy, sending a shower of sparks into the boy’s face. -Turning abruptly he entered the restaurant. - -Eyes flashing, Teddy started forward. His father laid a hand on the -boy’s arm. - -“Not here,” he said in a tense voice. “Don’t start a fight here. You -know what Rimor’s is. We have women-folks along.” Unconsciously the -man slid his hand to his side, where in the old days would have hung -his gun. Now his hand came away empty. - -“All right, Dad--if you say so,” Teddy said through clenched teeth. -“But I’ll remember that bird! I’ll remember him!” It was difficult -for the boy to hold himself in check. He could not trust himself to -say more. - -Roy hurried over to his brother. - -“Come on, Teddy. Let’s go,” he said evenly. “Maybe Foley can tell us -something about the ponies.” - -At that moment the ticket agent came hurriedly across the street. - -“Somethin’ wrong, Bardwell?” he asked Mr. Manley. “Thought I heard -your voice takin’ a work-out.” - -“You did,” Mr. Manley answered grimly. “Our hosses are gone.” - -“Sho!” Foley looked across to the hitching rail. “By golly, they -are! I was outside and saw Teddy and Roy tie ’em up there, too! Now -that’s right queer. Where you suppose they went?” - -“They didn’t _go_ no place, Hank! They were stolen!” - -“Sho! You don’t say! Stolen!” Foley gave a long whistle, and, -removing his hat, scratched the bald spot on the top of his head. -“Mighty queer how they could be stolen with so many people around. -You ask anybody if they saw ’em?” - -Mr. Manley gave a short laugh. - -“I just had a sweet bit o’ conversation with one of your choice -characters,” he said. “Puncher that was standin’ right here all the -time an’ must have seen the broncs taken. He told us to go chase our -own hosses.” - -“What did he look like?” Foley asked in an interested tone. - -“Tall, kind of stringy looking,” Teddy answered quickly. “Squint -eyes. Checkered wool shirt. No vest. He’s inside Rimor’s now.” - -The ticket agent nodded sagely. - -“I know the waddy. Came to town about three days ago. Don’t know -where he sleeps, but he spends most of his time hanging around Duck -Rimor’s.” - -Teddy nodded. - -“Stranger here. From up around Montana, most likely. So he was -nasty, hey?” - -“He wasn’t any too polite, from what I saw,” Roy broke in. - -Mr. Manley looked over at Teddy. The boy was staring intently at the -door through which the puncher had disappeared. - -“We have got to get busy,” the cattle owner said in a loud voice. Of -a sudden his face darkened. Deliberately he tapped the tobacco out -from his pipe by knocking the bowl against the palm of his hand. -Then he placed the pipe in his pocket. - -“We have got to get busy,” he repeated in a quieter tone, “an’ -quick. General has been stolen. Flash an’ Star along with him. We’re -goin’ after the man that took ’em an’ get our hosses back.” He -turned and walked swiftly to the other side of the street, where the -two girls had been silently watching the scene. - -“I’m thinking that whoever stole your dad’s hoss made a poor -bargain,” Foley said to Roy. “I know Bardwell. I saw him look like -that before, when back in ninety-eight Slag Wallace shot a dog your -dad owned. Slag ain’t around now. Yep, the waddy who picked up -General is going to be mighty sorry.” - -Roy and Teddy followed their father without a word, leaving Foley -standing in the street, rubbing his bald spot with a puzzled air. - -Nell Willis and Ethel Carew were waiting, eyes full of questions. -Nell started the attack. - -“Did that cowman want to fight?” she asked, gazing full at Roy. “He -seemed awfully mean. Maybe he didn’t like to have us standing here -watching. But I simply couldn’t leave; could you, Ethel? It was so -thrilling! Did he have a gun? I didn’t see one. Why didn’t he answer -your questions about the horses?” - -“He had his reasons, I guess,” Roy answered a trifle shortly. Star -was gone, and here he stood listening to a lot of chatter. Still, -Nell was pretty! Maybe she had got scared when that puncher started -to act up. Roy’s eyes softened, and he looked at the girl with a new -interest. Probably she didn’t know much about the West. Why, her -face wasn’t even a little bit tanned! She seemed pale, even! Maybe -she _was_ scared! - -“I just hated that man when he threw that cigarette at you!” Ethel -burst out impetuously to Teddy. “That was an awfully mean thing to -do!” - -“I know it,” Teddy answered in a low voice. He turned to his father, -who was staring up the road. “Dad, we’ve got to get back and get -some more broncs. How are you figuring on going?” - -“Can’t you come with us?” Ethel asked. “Uncle Peter said he would -send a car. It must have been delayed, but I’m sure it will come.” - -“Yes, if Bug Eye brings a car for you, we can all pile in. Bug Eye -usually drives for old man--pardon me, I mean Mr. Ball.” - -“That’ll be fine!” Nell said enthusiastically. - -“Here comes something now,” Mr. Manley stated, peering up the road. -“Lots of dust, anyhow. Sounds like a flivver. Yes, that’s Bug Eye. -Tell the way he drives. All over the place.” - -With an elaborate jamming on of brakes and swinging of front wheels, -a car pulled up alongside of the waiting group. Following closely -was a cloud of dust, which enveloped the auto the moment it stopped. -From within the cloud came a voice: - -“Whoa there, you tin-plated drone, you! Pull up on yo’ busted axles! -Plant yo’ locoed wheels and stay set! Stop that shakin’! _Stop_ it, -I say! Boil me in oil, if I don’t rip yo’ carburetor right out o’ -you! Try to bounce the liver outta me, hey? Why, you salivated piece -of yaller-backed tin, I’ll-- Excuse _me_, ma’am!” - -The dust had blown away, disclosing the surprised face of Bug Eye -Wilson. - -“I shore didn’t know you was here,” he said to Nell and Ethel, with -an embarrassed grin. “I wouldn’t have talked like that if I’d knowed -ladies was around. I don’t never do such things. But this -hopper-necked, sawed off, lead mule--pardon _me_, ma’am! I forgot!” - -Nell and Ethel were doing their best to preserve straight faces, but -the task was almost too much for them. Ethel had to press a -handkerchief to her mouth, while her eyes watered with strangled -mirth. - -“You’re--you’re late, aren’t you?” Nell asked, trying to control her -voice. - -“Yes, ma’am. Got a puncture. Had to put on a new tire. Then -this--this--well, ma’am, you know what I mean!” - -“Yes, I guess I do,” Nell answered faintly. “But I’m glad you came. -Mr. Manley’s horses have been stolen, and he and Roy and Teddy are -going to ride back with us.” - -“Hey! What’s that?” Bug Eye turned swiftly toward the ranchman, the -grin fading suddenly from his face. “Broncs gone, honest?” - -“Sure have gone,” answered Mr. Manley laconically. “Hooked. Rustled. -Stolen. Whatever you’ve a mind to call it. And right off the main -street of Eagles!” he added bitterly. - -Of a sudden, he turned and walked rapidly down the street. - -“What’s the game, Dad?” asked Roy, not quite able to account for his -father’s action. - -“You stay there. I’ll be back in a minute,” Mr. Manley called over -his shoulder. “I want to see what I can find out about this.” - -In a moment he was out of sight behind the freight shed. The two -boys wanted to go with him, but Roy mentioned to Teddy that they had -been told to stay where they were. - -“I hope dad doesn’t get into a scrap,” murmured the older lad. - -“I don’t reckon he will,” remarked Bug Eye. “But if he does, all he -needs is to sing out, an’ we’ll all come runnin’!” - -The anxiety of Teddy and Roy was soon at an end, for in a few -minutes their father re-appeared. He looked tired and dusty, but -there was a grim smile on his face. - -“Some of the railroad men down at the corral saw ’em,” Mr. Manley -reported to his sons. “There were three fellows leading our three -horses away.” - -“Why didn’t they stop ’em?” Roy wanted to know. - -“They didn’t have any cause to, son. Thought the men owned the -horses, as was natural. Those fellows didn’t wear any brand to let -folks know they were rustlers.” - -“No, I reckon not,” agreed Teddy slowly. - -“Did you find out which way they went?” asked Roy eagerly. - -“Not much satisfaction in questioning those railroad fellows,” -answered Mr. Manley in discouraged tones. “They couldn’t follow an -elephant’s trail, much less notice which way hoss-thieves took. Some -say the scoundrels went one way and some say another. All they -appeared to notice was three shady-looking chaps leadin’ three -horses.” - -“Then there isn’t much chance of heading them off, is there?” asked -one of the girls. - -“I wouldn’t say that,” was Mr. Manley’s answer. “If they took the -back trail over the mountain there’s a chance that we can nab ’em -before they get into the rough going, if we make it quick. Once -there, though, it’s a toss-up if we ever see our ponies again, -boys!” - -His sons knew just how Mr. Manley felt over this loss. - -“The back trail!” mused Bug Eye. “Yes, if they went that way yo’-all -have a chance of headin’ ’em off. Ain’t this a fine town, though, -where a man can’t leave a hoss hitched for a few minutes without -some doggoned rustler steps up an’ rides it off? But better pile in -my flivver, Mr. Manley, an’ I’ll git ye back to yo’ ranch quicker’n -ef yo’ walked. You’ll want to saddle up an’ chase after them -thieves, I reckon!” - -“That’s right!” agreed the ranch-owner. “We’ll be glad of a lift.” - -“How long did you leave the horses here?” asked Nell. - -“Just while we were waiting for the train, which was late,” answered -Roy, while Bug Eye got out to crank the flivver, the self-starter of -which, he announced apologetically, “was on the cheese.” - -“And some one took them away from the rail to which they were tied?” -the girl went on. - -“Stepped right up to the rail and helped themselves,” said Teddy. - -“It’s a wonder some one didn’t see them.” - -“Well,” admitted Roy, “the rail isn’t in plain sight except from -certain places. And, I suppose, even if some one had seen the actual -theft taking place, they would think that it was the real owners of -the horses who were unhitching them.” - -“Maybe,” agreed his father doubtfully. “Anyway, no one seems to have -done anything toward stopping them.” - -“But there are some here who know more about it than they are -letting on,” murmured Teddy and he looked significantly across the -street toward Duck Rimor’s place. - -“It shore is too bad,” affirmed Bug Eye. “But pile in, everybody! -It’s going to be a tight squeeze, but these flivvers are made of -rubber, I guess. Got bags, ladies? All right, Teddy! Chuck ’em in -the back. Shore, put yo’ dad’s in there, too! All ready? Here we go! -Hang on!” - -The car started with a jerk, the transmission bands being worn thin. -Roy looked around from the front seat to see that they cleared the -edge of the station, which they did by the fraction of an inch. Bug -Eye was eccentric in his driving at times. - -As Roy gazed, he noticed a figure coming out of Duck Rimor’s. It was -the cowboy in the checkered shirt. Catching the ranch boy’s eyes, -the puncher grinned derisively and waved mockingly at the departing -auto. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -A CLUE - - -As the automobile careened along the dusty road, a strained silence -settled over the occupants. The only sounds were the muffled exhaust -of the motor and the squeaking and groaning of the springs as the -car bounced its way toward the X Bar X. - -Bug Eye and Roy were in the front seat and Mr. Manley and the two -girls were seated in the rear. Teddy was supporting himself upon a -rear door of the touring car, clenching the sides to hold his place -against the joltings of the flivver, and bent almost double to avoid -hitting the roof whenever Bug Eye dived into a particularly deep -rut. - -Thoughts of the loss of the ponies were uppermost in the minds of -all. Bug Eye, used to Western ways, did not press Mr. Manley as to -his plan of action. He knew the cattle owner would prefer to keep -whatever opinions he had until he reached the X Bar X and could get -his men together. Bug Eye, belonging to another outfit, could have -no concern in the matter until Mr. Manley asked for his help, at -which time the cowboy would lend willing aid. Such is the code of -the West. - -Ethel, wedged in between Nell and Mr. Manley, stole a glance at -Teddy as the boy braced himself upon the edge of the car door, his -shoulders hunched, his body swaying with the motion of the machine, -his eyes staring moodily out at the dust-covered bushes at the side -of the road. She noticed how hard and brown was the hand that -clenched the top of the door. The mouth, widened into a happy grin -when she had first seen it, was now drooped at the corners. The -bronzed forehead, below the sombrero, was drawn into a frown. - -Ethel nudged Nell with her elbow. - -“Doesn’t it seem quiet out here, after the city?” she murmured, with -another glance at Teddy. - -The boy looked at her quickly. - -“You mean us, I guess,” he said, grinning slightly. “We haven’t been -very polite, have we? But, you see, it kind of hurts to lose a pony -you’ve had for so long. I--” - -“Of course, I know just how you feel!” Ethel burst out impulsively. -“It’s a shame! You just go after those--those rustlers, and get your -horses back!” - -“We will,” Teddy answered grimly. “At least, we’ll do our best. But -there’s no use crying over spilt milk.” - -“That’s the way I feel about it, son,” Mr. Manley said quietly. -“We’ll do all we can to get the broncs back! When we’re ready, I -want you and Roy to come along with me. As soon as we reach home -we’ll get other ponies and be on our way.” He pulled the ends of his -mustache and settled down once more into silence. - -Teddy knew this mood of his father. He had seen it twice before, -once, years ago, when a puncher had knocked Roy down, and once when -a cowboy, with a misshapen idea of humor, had coaxed Teddy upon the -back of the worst horse on the ranch, a real “man-eater.” On each of -these occasions certain things had happened which directly affected -the person in error. - -When the car reached Bitter Cliff lookout, Bug Eye slowed down and -stopped for a moment. - -“Look there!” he said laconically, waving his arm in a wide gesture. - -Nell leaned forward, then uttered a slight exclamation. - -“What’s the matter?” Roy asked, smiling. - -“It’s so--so close and high!” the girl answered, with a motion of -her hands. “Why, it almost seems as though I could reach out and -touch the chimney of that house away off there!” - -“You try it,” Teddy said, with a chuckle. “That’s six miles away! -Those buildings are on the X Bar X ranch--our place. Over to the -west, where you see that other corral, is the 8 X 8, where you’re -going.” - -“Bug Eye,” Mr. Manley said gently, “if it’s all the same to you, -we’d better get goin’.” - -“Right!” Bug Eye answered. He advanced the gasoline control and the -flivver again shot forward. - -The moment they reached the ranch yard of the X Bar X, Mr. Manley -leaped from the car. A cowboy, who was leaning against the corral -fence, craned his neck forward in surprise. The boss riding in an -auto! - -“Nick,” Mr. Manley called sharply to the puncher, “our broncs have -been rustled. We’re goin’ out after ’em! You and Gus Tripp get your -ponies an’ three others for Roy an’ Teddy an’ me. Bring your guns.” -Short, terse sentences. Mr. Manley was no longer a cattle owner. He -was a cowboy, whose pony had been stolen. - -“Right!” Nick Looker answered. He disappeared around the corner of -the bunk-house. - -As Mr. Manley walked rapidly towards the ranch house, he called back -over his shoulder: - -“Nell an’ Ethel, we all expect you over for a visit. Excuse me -runnin’ away like this. Teddy, fetch in my bag.” - -“Dad means business,” Roy said in a low voice. “Having General -stolen has hit him pretty hard. There’s mother.” - -A woman’s figure appeared on the porch of the house, and in a moment -she was enfolded in Mr. Manley’s arms. Mrs. Manley’s eyes widened in -surprise when she saw the auto and missed the horses; and Mr. Manley -explained briefly what had occurred. Questions were trembling on her -lips, but she did not delay her husband with them. Mr. Manley kissed -her again, and, turning, rushed into the house. - -As Mrs. Manley walked toward the auto, Nell and Ethel could scarcely -believe that this radiant young-looking woman was the mother of two -big boys. - -“Welcome to the West,” she said, with a smile, as she extended a -hand to each of the girls. “Mr. Manley has told me who you are. This -is Ethel, isn’t it? And Nell?” Ethel instantly noticed how much, in -a curious way, both Roy and Teddy resembled her. Teddy had her -blonde hair and blue eyes. Roy had her sensitive, fine mouth. - -Belle Ada, the sister of Roy and Teddy, now came out of the house -and toward the car, evidently having been told by Mr. Manley that -there were visitors. As she was introduced, she mentally decided -that she liked Nell and Ethel. That was like Belle Ada--impulsive -and eager to make friends. - -“I’m afraid we’ll have to go now,” Nell said, after a few moments’ -conversation. “Uncle Peter will be waiting for us.” - -“But you will come over and visit me?” Belle Ada asked, her dark -eyes on the two girls. - -“Of course we will!” Ethel answered. “As soon as we can!” - -Teddy seized his father’s bag from the rear of the auto, and he and -Teddy shook hands with the girls. Bug Eye jammed down the pedal. The -car leaped forward. As it swung about, the girls leaned out and -waved farewells. - -“Pretty nice!” Roy said, as he watched the car being swallowed up in -a cloud of dust. “Pretty nice!” - -Mrs. Manley smiled. Then, remembering what her husband had told her -on the porch, the smile left her face. - -“Boys, you go in and speak to your father,” she said. “He wants to -tell you something. Belle and I will walk around to the garden and -wait until you come out. You--you will be careful if you ride with -him after those rustlers, won’t you?” Her eyes held an anxious -light. - -“Don’t worry, Mom!” Teddy cried, kissing his mother affectionately. -“We’ll be all right. There’s no danger!” - -The two boys walked stiffly toward the house. - -“Wonder what it is?” Teddy mused. “You know, I have a hunch that dad -found out more from those fellows down at the corral in Eagles than -he told.” - -“Maybe,” came from Roy. “We’ll soon know.” - -They met their father coming out of the front door. His “city -clothes” had been changed for a pair of leather chaps and a flannel -shirt, open at the neck. Across one arm he carried a rifle. - -“Want us, Dad?” Roy asked. - -“Yes. Before we start, I want to tell you something. Teddy, you -remember Gilly Froud, don’t you?” - -“I do,” Teddy remarked in a low voice. His eyes flashed. - -“Well, when I talked with those men down by the station, one of them -said he saw a man with a scar on his face leading our broncs. Did -Froud have a scar on his face?” - -“He sure did,” Teddy answered excitedly. “On the left side.” - -Mr. Manley thought for a moment. Then he said: - -“I kind o’ thought that’s how it was. Boys, we have a clue! We may -get those broncs back after all! Come on, let’s go! Nick! Where in -thunder is Nick? Bring those ponies around!” - - - - -CHAPTER V - -RIMOR’S PLACE - - -In response to this call, Nick Looker soon appeared astride a horse -and leading another. Mr. Manley hurried forward. - -“Where’s Gus?” he asked. - -“Comin’, boss. He’s bringin’ two more broncs.” - -“Yell to him to hurry up. We’ve delayed too much as it is.” - -Nick Looker turned in his saddle and let out a shout. - -“Gus! Bring them ponies here, fast!” Another puncher came riding up. -He led two horses, fully saddled. Suddenly, from behind the house, -came the sound of an excited voice. - -“Hey, wait a minute! Hey, boss! Wait!” - -“It’s Pop,” Teddy said. “Knew he’d show up before long.” - -A cowboy was running toward them. His wide hat was held in his hand, -disclosing a head almost without hair. His face was lined with -wrinkles. He wore a blue denim shirt. Wide trousers flapped -grotesquely about a pair of bowed legs. As he ran he waved both -arms, windmill fashion. - -“Wait a second, boss!” he called again. “I just heard about it! -Snakes! The fust time the old X Bar X brand has been stolen! Me, I’m -comin’ with you, ain’t I, boss? Ain’t I?” He reached Mr. Manley, -breathing hard. - -“Yes, Pop, you can come,” Mr. Manley answered. “Wondered how long -you’d be reachin’ here. Git your pinto an’ come on.” - -Pop Burns clapped his hat on his head, and made for the corral, to -return in a moment upon his horse. - -“All right, men!” he exclaimed. “After ’em! Snakes! No rustler kin -steal any X Bar X brand an’ get away with it!” - -Mr. Manley turned from the old wrangler to Roy. - -“Son,” he said slowly, “get your rifle. Bring Teddy’s out, too. -Hurry up!” - -The boy ran up the steps and into the building. Mr. Manley handed -his own gun to Teddy. - -“Hold this,” he ordered. “I’m going to say good-bye to your mother.” - -He made for the side of the house where Mrs. Manley and Belle Ada -were waiting in the garden. When he returned his face wore a grim -look. The time for action had come. - -Roy had brought the rifles, and he, Mr. Manley, and Teddy vaulted -into the saddle. The others, Pop, Nick, and Gus Tripp, were already -mounted. - -The news of the theft had gone the rounds of the ranch like -wildfire. Every puncher on the place, except those riding herd, were -watching from the top rail of the corral fence. Even Sing Lung, the -cook, deserted his kitchen and came to the door of the mess-house, -carrying in his hand a huge spoon. - -Mr. Manley gave a yell. Spurs raked the sides of the steeds. There -was the sound of hoofs on the hard earth. The six horses swung into -action. Down toward the road swept the riders. Past the corral, the -punchers astride the top rail yelling encouragement. Past the -mess-house, Sing Lung waving his spoon wildly and shouting Chinese -in a fluent stream. Out of the yard and into the road leading to -Eagles. A cloud of dust arose. The chase was on. - -“Take it easy for a while, boys,” Mr. Manley advised, as he pulled -his horse down to a slower pace. “There’s some things I want to tell -you. First of all, I want to say this. I see you all have got rifles -along. Well, don’t do any promiscuous shootin’. We want to get those -hosses back, but we don’t want any more trouble than we can help. -Savvy?” - -“We get you, boss,” Gus Tripp drawled. “No fireworks! Just clean up -this job, hey?” - -“Right!” Mr. Manley tugged at one end of his mustache. “Now there’s -something else. I reckon you all don’t know much about this -rustlin’. Here’s how it happened.” - -He told, as briefly as possible, how the horses had been stolen. - -“When I talked to the punchers down by the railroad corral, I got an -idea,” he continued. “You remember Gilly Froud, don’t you?” Short -nods came in answer. “Well, Froud had a scar on the left side of his -face. So did one of the men who stole our broncs, accordin’ to the -fellers I talked to. That mean anything?” he questioned. - -“Sure does, boss!” Pop Burns exclaimed excitedly. “Proves what I -been thinkin’ all along. This Froud is a rustler! I knowed that as -soon as I saw him tryin’ to carve out an X Bar X from a hunk of wood -one day down by the river. Came upon him sudden like, an’ he tried -to hide the wood on me. But I seen it. Seen the X Bar X brand, too.” - -“Did, hey?” Mr. Manley asked in an interested tone. “You never told -me that. But let it go. We know who to look for now. Golly, she’s -sure some dusty!” - -“I’ll tell a maverick!” Roy murmured, wiping his brow. - -The excitement of the first dash had somewhat worn off, and they -rode along now with a show of quiet determination. - -Mr. Manley and Roy were in the lead. Their horses took on that long, -easy gait that carries a cowboy comfortably over thirty miles of -prairie in a day. No one knew just how long this chase would last. - -Gus Tripp urged his mount closer to Mr. Manley’s. - -“Say, boss,” he drawled, “I suppose you heard about the 8 X 8 bein’ -visited?” - -“A little, Gus,” Mr. Manley answered. “Man on the train told me. Do -they know who the rustlers were?” - -“Well, they got kind of an idee. There’s been other ranches missin’ -stock in just the same way that the 8 X 8 lost theirs. They say the -same gang does all the jobs.” - -“They do, hey?” Mr. Manley considered. “I wonder--” He started, then -stopped. Whatever was in his mind he kept to himself. - -“Dad, are you figuring on stopping at Eagles?” Teddy called. “Maybe -we can find out something more from one or two of the men there.” - -“Don’t think so, son,” his father answered. “There’s a certain crowd -that hangs out in Eagles that I don’t particularly hanker for. I -guess you know who I mean.” - -“There’s one bird I’d like to see again,” Teddy remarked slowly. -“The puncher who was outside Rimor’s. He needs a lesson in -politeness.” - -Mr. Manley nodded. - -“We may meet him again. Seemed to me he knew more than he wanted to -tell. Still, he might have been just plain ugly. You can’t accuse a -man of bein’ a rustler because he won’t answer questions.” - -“Did some buckaroo answer you short?” Pop wanted to know, pushing -his hat farther back on his head. “Who was it?” - -“Don’t know,” Teddy replied. “He was leaning against Rimor’s Place -when the broncs were stolen. He must have seen them, sure! When we -asked him about them, he-- Well, never mind what he did. But he -didn’t tell us.” - -“Have on a checkered shirt?” Pop asked. “An’ no vest?” - -“Yes,” Teddy replied in a surprised tone. “How’d you know, Pop?” - -“I seen him,” was the brief answer. “He’s been stayin’ at Rimor’s. -Friend of Gilly Froud’s.” - -“He is?” Roy exclaimed excitedly. “Hear that, Dad?” - -“I heard,” Mr. Manley said briefly. “I had an idea I’d seen him -before. He rode out to the X Bar X one day and asked for Froud. When -I told him Froud was ridin’ cattle, he cut back for town. Yes, I -remember, now.” - -As they rode along, each man kept a sharp lookout for anything that -might indicate which way the rustlers had gone. There was not much -chance of finding a clue until they reached Eagles, yet they could -not afford to let any trace, no matter how slight, slip by -unnoticed. - -They saw no sign of the thieves, however, and when the six riders -swung into Eagles, Mr. Manley had a determined look on his face. He -had been talking to Roy and Teddy about the puncher in the checkered -shirt. Deciding to locate the man if he could and to find out just -how much the puncher knew of the taking of the horses, Mr. Manley -stopped in front of Rimor’s. - -“Goin’ in, boss?” Nick asked, a surprised look on his face. The boss -was not the type of man to frequent a place like Rimor’s. All the -men on the X Bar X knew he never took a drop of liquor. - -“Yes, I’m goin’ in, Nick,” Mr. Manley answered, his face set in -stern lines. “There’s a bucker in here that I want to talk to. I -guess you all know who I mean.” - -Nick nodded. Mr. Manley had told them of the cowboy in the checkered -shirt. - -“Want any company, boss?” Gus Tripp drawled. “Just say the word, an’ -we’ll come a-runnin’!” - -“No, thanks,” the cattle owner replied. “Teddy, hang on to this -rifle for me. Don’t want to look like a stick-up artist when I go in -the door. Roy, just grab this bronc’s rein, will you?” - -Mr. Manley slid from the saddle. - -“Sure you don’t want me to come with you, Dad?” Teddy asked, a bit -wistfully. - -“I know what you’re thinkin’ of,” his father answered, as he looked -up at his son. “But you’d better stay out here until I get what I -want. If I need help, you’ll know it!” he added meaningly. - -He walked toward Rimor’s, and, pushing open the door, entered. - -“Hope dad doesn’t get into any trouble,” Roy said, a frown upon his -face. “I’ve heard of some funny things that happened in Rimor’s.” - -“Now don’t you go worryin’ about your dad,” Pop Burns advised, -squinting his eyes at the door through which Mr. Manley had -disappeared. “He can take care of himself. There’s plenty in this -town that ’ud like to see the boss in trouble, ’cause he wouldn’t -agree to loadin’ them cattle scales at the corral over there. They -wanted to put lead weights on the bottom of the scale so the Durhams -would weigh ’bout half again what they really did. Your dad wouldn’t -have nothin’ to do with the scheme.” Pop removed his hat and -thwacked it in a dust-raising gesture across his leg. “But snakes! I -never did see the buckaroo that could catch your dad sleepin’. He’s -safe enough.” - -Still the veteran puncher stared intently at the door of Rimor’s. He -knew of the “hombre in the checkered shirt.” He knew him for a -“bad-actin’ bucker.” - -Nick and Gus were conversing in low tones as they sat on their -restless horses. Teddy rode up and down in front of Rimer’s Place. -Roy was bending over his broncho’s back, raising his left stirrup a -trifle. It was hard to get used to another horse, after owning Star. - -Pop Burns sat quietly in the saddle, facing the restaurant. A close -observer could have seen that his revolver was loose in its holster, -and the rifle he had removed from its case on the saddle was held -lightly in his hands, ready for action. - -Suddenly, from within the restaurant, came a cry of alarm. A -moment’s silence, and another cry of alarm rent the quiet air. - -Like a flash Pop Burns slipped from his saddle. - -“Come on, boys!” he yelled, making a dash for the door. “Inside! -Fast! We gotta help the boss!” - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE THREE HORSEMEN - - -When Mr. Manley entered Rimor’s he looked sharply about him. After -the bright sunshine of the street, the subdued light in the -restaurant, due to shaded windows, caused the cattleman to squint -his eyes. He hitched up his belt, from which, in a holster, hung a -heavy revolver, and walked forward. - -A bar, ostensibly for the serving of soft drinks, ran from the front -of Rimor’s place to the rear. To the right of this, on the other -side of the room, were a number of tables, three with signs on them, -“Reserved for Ladies.” These tables were the excuse for the title -“Restaurant.” - -An odor of staleness permeated the room. Flies buzzed lazily in the -hot, close air. When the ranchman entered the only other person in -the place was the bartender, an aproned figure with “New York” -plainly written on his patent leather shoes and slick plastered-down -hair. He sat on a chair in front of the bar, eagerly reading a -week-old copy of a Manhattan paper. - -As the cattleman approached, the barkeeper raised his eyes from the -paper and calmly surveyed Mr. Manley. - -“Well, Manley, what can I do for you?” he asked in a surly voice. -Bardwell Manley was no favorite with the Rimor outfit. - -“You might do a whole lot,” Mr. Manley replied slowly. “Then, again, -you might not. You know a puncher who hangs around here with a -checkered shirt?” - -“Do I know a puncher who hangs around here with a checkered shirt?” -the barkeeper repeated. “Well, now, I can’t say that I do. There’s -plenty of punchers that come in here, but I never knew one yet that -hung around with a checkered shirt. Sure it’s the puncher, and not a -collar that you’re lookin’ for?” - -Mr. Manley flushed beneath his tan, but he held himself in check. - -“I guess you know right enough what I mean,” he said genially. “So -you ain’t seen him, hey?” - -“No, I ain’t,” the man replied, with an accent of irony on the last -word. He resumed his reading. - -Mr. Manley stood for a moment looking down at the hunched figure -before him. He tightened his jaw, and little knobs of muscles showed -just below his ears. To those who knew Bardwell Manley, this was a -sign not to be ignored. - -“Mind if I take a look around?” the cattleman said easily. - -“Nope! Go as far as you like.” The barkeeper did not look up. - -Mr. Manley walked toward the rear of the place. As he did so, a man -stepped from a side door and confronted him. It was the cowboy in -the checkered shirt. - -“Lookin’ for some one?” he asked. - -“Was. Found him now,” Mr. Manley answered shortly. “I want to talk -to you. Do you know Gilly Froud?” - -“Suppose I do?” the puncher answered insolently. - -“This much. I think you know something about my broncs that were -stolen from the hitchin’ rail out there a while ago.” Mr. Manley -looked at the man keenly. - -“Yea?” The puncher drew a sack of tobacco and cigarette papers from -his shirt pocket. Deftly he rolled a cigarette and applied a match -to it. “Well, suppose I do?” he asked, blowing out a cloud of smoke. -His right hand slid inside his heavy shirt and toward his left -armpit. - -Mr. Manley saw the motion and his own hand flashed down to his side. -Suddenly there was a wild yell behind him, and an empty bottle -whizzed past his head. The barkeeper, seeing Mr. Manley going for -his gun, had picked up the bottle and aimed for the ranchman’s head. - -Swift as light Mr. Manley turned. His gun leaped from its holster, -and he brought down the butt end on the barkeeper’s wrist. - -The rascal’s right arm went limp. He uttered another yell and sank -back in alarm. - -At that moment the door burst open, and Pop, followed by Roy and -Teddy, leaped into the room. The barkeeper bent to pick up a bottle -with his left hand, but before he could reach it Roy kicked it into -the corner and shoved his revolver into the man’s ribs. Teddy, -seeing that his father was uninjured, made a dash for the man in the -checkered shirt. - -But the lad was too late. The puncher, realizing the turn affairs -had taken, disappeared through the side door, slamming it behind -him. When Teddy reached it and flung it open, the man was gone. It -would be useless, as well as foolhardly, to follow down that dark -passageway upon which the door gave entrance. Best to hunt for the -fellow outside the place, or to hope Gus and Nick, who had waited at -the front of the restaurant, had seen and stopped him. Teddy turned -back. - -“You all right, Dad?” Roy and Teddy asked in almost the same breath. - -“All right, boys,” their father answered cheerfully. “He never -touched me.” - -“What’ll we do with this varmint, boss?” Pop asked, poking the -barkeeper with the barrel of his gun. - -“I cracked him one on the wrist,” Mr. Manley said. “Guess we’ll let -him alone, Pop. He won’t do no harm for a long while yet. Say, -where’d that other hombre get to?” - -“He ducked out,” Teddy answered. “Went through a side door. I didn’t -chase him, because I didn’t know where he’d gone. I thought maybe -Nick or Gus would spot him.” - -“Maybe. I hope so. That bucker knows something about our ponies, or -I’m a ring-tailed doodlebug. Pop, quit pokin’ that geezer with your -gun. Hey, you--” this to the “geezer” sharply, “better have that arm -bandaged, or it’ll go bad on you.” This was characteristic of -Bardwell Manley--solicitous even of a man who had tried to attack -him from the back. - -“Boss, we better get out of here,” Pop declared. “If you want to -hunt them broncs, we ought to get goin’.” - -“As usual, Pop, your lips gives forth words of wisdom. We shall -leave. Stranger, you tend to that arm of yours.” - -Mr. Manley, followed by Teddy, Roy, and Pop, made for the door. -Outside, in the street, a crowd awaited them. That is, a crowd for -Eagles--population one hundred and fifty in a rush season. Three -cowboys, one woman, and five children stood staring curiously at the -four men as they emerged from Rimor’s Place. Nick and Gus Tripp were -prancing about on restless ponies, rifles held in readiness. As -these two saw the four men, their faces cleared and Nick yelled: - -“Everything O. K., boss?” - -“Yes!” Mr. Manley answered. Then, as his eye roved over the small -crowd in front of the restaurant, he added. “We were havin’ a little -argument, that’s all. It’s all over now.” - -The cowboys looked dubious at this explanation of the yelling, but -the gathered people slowly drifted away. The boys remounted their -ponies, which, like good Western horses, had stood quiet when the -reins were thrown over their heads and left dangling. - -Roy urged his animal over to Nick. - -“Say, Nick,” he said in a low voice, “you and Gus didn’t see -anything of a puncher in a checkered shirt busting out of Rimor’s, -did you?” - -“No, we didn’t, Roy,” Nick answered. - -“He the bucker what was doin’ the yelling?” Gus asked casually. It -would take a great deal to startle Gus out of his placid way. When -he acted, he acted quickly. When he did nothing, to quote himself, -he “did it just as slow as he knew how.” Gus was a product of New -Mexico. - -“He didn’t do any yelling,” Teddy answered. “That was done by the -New York plug-ugly they’ve got in there for a barkeeper. Dad taught -him a few things about the use of a revolver.” - -“Kill him?” Gus drawled, as though he were asking the time of day. - -“Certainly not!” Roy answered, startled. “He just clubbed him. Put -his right arm out of commission by a crack from the butt of his -gun.” - -Nick Looker nodded approvingly. Nick was young and fair-haired. He -had not the assumed callousness of Gus. He knew, though, that -beneath this pretended hardness, Gus had a heart as soft as a -woman’s. - -“We’ll be gettin’ on,” Mr. Manley said. He had heard Nick say he had -not seen “checkered shirt,” as Roy called the puncher, and he knew -there would be no use in delaying further. They could get no -information in Eagles. - -The six swung down the main street and out of the town. They were -riding directly away from the X Bar X and into a valley separating -Bitter Cliff Mountain from its neighbor, Mica Mountain. Here the -road lost its travel-worn appearance and dwindled into an uphill -trail. Up this trail the six men rode. - -Teddy and Roy were in the rear of the riders, about two hundred -yards from the rest. - -The trail turned now, and in a moment those ahead were out of sight -of the two boys. - -“Come on, let’s get along,” Roy said. “Dad’s hitting a good gait, -all right.” - -Touching spurs to the ponies, Roy and Teddy galloped forward. They -came to a fork in the trail, and here halted for a moment. - -“This way,” Teddy advised, with a gesture. “That other’s only a -little path. I rode over it just the other day.” - -Roy did not reply. He pulled his horse to a halt and stared up the -left trail. Seeing him stop, his brother did likewise. - -“What’s the matter, Roy?” Teddy asked in a puzzled tone. - -“Ahead there!” Roy exclaimed in a tense voice. “Those horses! See -them?” - -Teddy stared intently up the steep trail. Then he gave a yell. - -“Our broncs! Flash and Star and General, or I’m a Lottie Blue-bird! -Who’s ridin’ ’em? Let’s go get ’em!” - -A quarter of a mile above them, three men on three horses turned and -looked down the trail. For a moment they stood, watching Roy and -Teddy dashing toward them. Then, without a word, they wheeled and -disappeared around a bend. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -RATTLERS - - -Mr. Manley and the others did not hear Teddy’s yell. They were a -good distance away and this, with the creaking of saddles, the -beating of the horses’ feet on the hard ground of the trail, and the -talk of what had just happened in Rimor’s Place, made it practically -impossible for them to hear the boy’s cry. Hence they continued up -the other trail, confident that Roy and Teddy were riding behind -them. - -As the two boys dashed up the left fork, Teddy found himself -wishing, with a certain bitterness, that he had not given that yell. -Flash was just ahead. If Teddy had contained himself, it might have -been possible for him and Roy to have taken by surprise whoever was -riding the horses. Then he would have gotten Flash back. But now -there was only one thing to do--that was to ride! Ride after the -rustlers with all the skill and energy the two boys possessed. - -There was no time for talk. Both boys bent low in their saddles and -with expert hands guided the ponies up the treacherous, winding -trail. The only sounds were the breathing of the broncos and the -monotonous drubbing of their feet on the ground. Now and then a pony -would toss his head, and flecks of foam would fly backward. -Desperately the boys urged the horses on. General, Flash, and Star -were just ahead! They _must_ catch them! - -Roy groaned aloud when he thought of the sting of the quirt across -Star’s flank and the raking of the spurs as the rider above roweled -the pony in an effort to escape. Roy could almost see Star trembling -in surprised fright at this cruelty, his eyes misted with -reproachful agony. It would be the first time in his life he had -ever been beaten. Yet he would know it was not Roy on his back. He -would know it was a stranger who was sending those stabs of pain -through his body. - -Roy clenched his teeth in a fury of determination. Up, up--to the -right of that rock there--now to the left--the path turned -here--up--up--harder--faster! - -For a short space in front of them the trail lay open. Teddy shouted -something unintelligible, and Roy whipped his head around. Teddy was -motioning furiously, and, as Roy followed his brother’s gesture, he -saw General and his rider, who were in the rear of the other two -rustlers, leap off the trail and through the brush. - -“Mark that spot!” Teddy panted. “We turn there!” - -Roy sought to fasten his gaze on the place at the side of the path. -That bush,--that brown bush--he must keep his eyes on it! If they -lost it, Star would be lost too! - -It is not easy to rivet one’s attention on a spot on the road while -guiding one’s pony up a tortuous mountain trail. Roy’s mount, free -of the hand which seemed to lift him over those leg-wrenching holes, -faltered, stumbled, and, like a deer stricken with a hunter’s -bullet, crashed headlong to the ground. - -Automatically, Roy’s whole body relaxed as he flew through the air, -so that the shock would be distributed equally throughout his frame. -When he hit, his breath was jarred from him, but no bones were -broken. - -Teddy almost pulled his pony over backward in his effort to stop. He -leaped swiftly from his horse and ran to his brother’s side. - -“Roy! Roy!” he cried. “Are you hurt? Are you all right? Roy!” - -“All right, Teddy,” Roy gasped weakly, struggling to his feet. “Just -a--a--fall. Wind’s gone.” He bent over for a moment, gasping for -breath. When he straightened up, the lines of pain had disappeared -from his face. - -“Pretty lucky! Where’s that bronc? If his leg’s broken--” Then he -saw his pony standing in the underbrush, unhurt, but trembling -violently. Quickly he ran toward the steed and patted him gently. - -“Snap into it, Teddy! We won’t give up yet! There’s still a chance! -We’ve got to find Star and Flash! And if we can bring back General -for dad--” - -Without finishing his sentence, Roy vaulted into the saddle, and -once more the boys galloped up the mountain trail. Roy’s fall was -but an incident in the chase. - -When they came to the spot where they thought the thieves had turned -off, Roy pulled his horse to a halt. - -“Think this is it?” he asked Teddy. - -“I think so,” answered his brother. “We’ll take it--have to! Come -on!” - -As Teddy headed his horse off the trail and into the bush, he had a -queer feeling that this was all a vivid dream--that he and Roy had -been riding like this forever, on and on, mile after mile, over -mountains and through valleys. Chasing--what was it they were -chasing? Oh, yes! Flash! And Star and General! Why, of course. What -was the matter with him? He shook his head savagely. Was he a -tenderfoot that a ride like this should do him up? Why, he--around -that fallen tree, you bronc you! Not over it! Suddenly swift -realization came to Teddy. No wonder he felt weak! Here it was late -afternoon, and he had not had anything to eat since breakfast! - -“Feel all right, Roy?” he yelled, turning in his saddle. - -“Yes--pretty good! Kind of hungry!” - -“Me, too!” - -The comparative safety of the trail had given way to a heavy tangle -of underbrush which made the riding extremely dangerous. Still, the -boys had for consolation the fact that it was as bad for the -rustlers as it was for them. - -Gradually it came to Roy that the chase was hopeless unless they -could tell which way the thieves had gone. He motioned to Teddy to -stop, and the two boys listened intently. There was no sound of -cracking twigs, no noise of distant crashing of horses’ feet through -the forest. All was silent. - -“Seems like we’ve lost them,” Roy said, a note of despair in his -voice. - -Teddy settled deeper in his saddle and blew out his breath in a long -sigh. The world seemed especially dark at that moment. After that -long, hard ride, with success almost in their grasp, to have failed -now! The boy took off his hat and ran his fingers through his damp -hair, then let his arm drop heavily down to his side in a gesture of -despondency. - -“It’s tough luck!” he said in a dull voice. “Pretty tough luck! We -almost had ’em!” - -“If I hadn’t fallen we might have caught ’em,” Roy declared -regretfully. “I could kick myself! Pulling a stunt like that!” - -“Aw, it wasn’t your fault,” Teddy said in rough sympathy. He tried -to cover up the memory of how his heart had leaped into his throat -when Roy crashed to the ground. Teddy looked over at his brother. -Their eyes met. Then Roy knew how Teddy had felt while he, himself, -was lying in the brush. - -“Well, we can’t do much here,” Teddy said, moving uneasily in the -saddle. “Let’s go back. It’s getting late.” - -“I’ll tell a maverick it is! And I’m hungry. Besides, dad’ll be -worried. When we started up that left fork, I thought dad and the -rest might hear us and follow. But I guess they were too far ahead. -Well, the best thing we can do now is to find him and tell him what -we saw. Maybe we’ll be able to pick up the trail of our lost broncs -when we get back on the path.” - -Looking up at the sun to make sure of their direction, the boys rode -slowly back toward the path. After the excitement of the pursuit, -the reaction had set in, and both felt low in spirits. The fact that -they had had no dinner contributed not a little to their depression. - -The horses, heads held low, picked their way through the brush. -They, too, were tired and thirsty. - -For a long time neither of the boys spoke. At length Teddy licked -his lips and remarked: - -“I’m mighty dry, Roy. Seems to me there’s a spring around here -somewhere. Remember it?” - -“Sort of. Not just sure where it is, though. I’ll--” - -He stopped. To his ears came a peculiar buzzing, like the sound of -some giant locust. - -The horses heard it at the same instant, and they swerved about and -would have bolted but for the firm hands of their riders. Teddy -peered sharply down at a large gray boulder that lay half imbedded -in the soil, a deep, wide gash running from one end of it to the -other. - -Again came the buzzing noise, and now a strange, pungent odor -floated out, which told, plainer than words, what that sound meant. - -“Rattlers!” Teddy cried. “Sidewinders! A whole den of ’em!” - -“Kill ’em!” Roy yelled, drawing his rifle from its case on the -saddle. “Kill ’em! Pour lead into the varmints! Salivate ’em!” - -He leveled his rifle, and, as he did so, a veritable horde of -writhing, slimy, scaly creatures issued forth from the rocky -crevice, like a phalanx of some horrible, crawling army! - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE FALL - - -The woods echoed with the crack of the rifles as Roy and Teddy -opened fire on the rattlesnakes. The horses were prancing about in a -frenzy of fear, and it was almost impossible to take accurate aim, -but there were so many of the hissing creatures that this was not -necessary. The ground near the rock seemed literally covered with -the snakes, and a shot placed anywhere among them was nearly sure to -hit one. - -“Blow their heads off!” Teddy was yelling. “Pulverize ’em!” - -The boy had an intense hatred of rattlesnakes, like most Westerners, -and considered it a good deed to kill as many as possible. - -The rifles were spitting lead as fast as the boys could pump bullets -into the chambers and pull the triggers. The earth in front of them -was beginning to resemble a butcher’s block. Torn bodies of the -snakes were everywhere. - -“Don’t seem to know when they’ve had enough!” came from Teddy as he -pressed another clip into the rifle. “Golly, there must be a million -of ’em!” - -The angry buzz of the reptiles increased in intensity as more and -more of the serpents issued forth from the cleft rock. The horses -were whinnying in terror, and it needed all the skill the boys -possessed to keep them from bolting. And, indeed, the sight of the -deadly, wicked-looking, triangular heads of the snakes was a -terrifying spectacle. - -“There’s one less of ’em!” Roy cried, as he cut a large diamond-back -in half with a bullet. - -“Atta boy!” Teddy answered. “If this bronc of mine would hold still -for a minute, I could get that big one near that tree!” - -Roy looked to where his brother indicated and saw a huge snake lying -coiled with his head drawn back ready to strike. The boy raised his -rifle and took careful aim. Then a strange thing happened. - -Almost more swiftly than the eye could follow, the snake uncoiled -and glided toward Roy’s horse. But, suddenly, it stopped, raised its -head, and for a moment stood perfectly still, directly in front of -the two boys. The sound of rattling stopped as a radio that has been -turned off. In surprise, Roy held his hand and did not take -advantage of the splendid target offered, it seemed purposely, by -the snake. - -Teddy, however, was held in no such trance. Before him was a snake. -It was his duty to kill it. The boy raised the rifle to his shoulder -and squinted along the barrel. By almost a miracle, the horse -remained quiet. - -Roy watched the scene in a detached way, almost as though he was -part of an audience of a staged drama. It was the moment of -breathless suspense before the crisis. - -But this sense of unreality did not last long, for the silence was -shattered by the crack of Teddy’s gun. Roy looked down at the spot -where the snake had stopped, expecting to see it a mangled mass of -blood and skin. To his surprise, he saw the snake still in that -upraised, immobile position, as firm and steady as a rock. Teddy had -missed! - -He had no opportunity to correct this mistake. The huge serpent -sounded his rattles just once. Then he swiftly lowered his head to -the ground, as though bowing farewell, and, like a streak of light, -was gone. And where, before, the ground had been alive with the -forms of writhing diamond-backs, there remained only the torn bodies -of those the boys had killed. The other snakes had gone with their -leader. - -Teddy glanced at his brother, a sheepish look on his face. - -“I missed him, clean!” he said, sliding the rifle back into its case -on the saddle. “Roy, I would have bet anything that I drew a perfect -bead in his head. I had him lined up just right when I squeezed the -trigger. I can’t understand it,” and Teddy shook his head. - -“You missed, all right,” Roy answered, as though to himself. “He was -the king snake of that whole bunch! Wasn’t he a whopper, though? -Never saw such a big one! The way he stood there, with his head -raised looking right into your rifle barrel, he seemed -like--like--Ajax defying the lightning. You know, Teddy, I’m kind of -glad you did miss.” - -“Well, you soft-hearted bronco-peeler!” Teddy laughed. “Glad because -I didn’t kill a sidewinder! Wait till dad hears about that! And, -speaking of dad, we’d better get back to him. He doesn’t know where -we are, and he may worry. Let’s go!” - -“I only wish I hadn’t fallen,” Roy remarked in a low voice as they -rode along. “I’ll bet we would have had our broncs back now.” - -“Aw, forget it,” his brother declared. “It wasn’t your fault. -Anyway, they were a good bit ahead, and we might not have caught -them, even if you hadn’t fallen. And when we did, we’d have had a -fight on our hands, I’m thinking. Not that I’d mind it,” he added -quickly. “But if we got punctured, mother and dad would worry like -all get-out!” It hardly entered the boy’s mind that he might have -been killed if he and Roy had succeeded in forcing the rustlers to -the wall. - -“Where in thunder is that spring?” Roy asked in a petulant voice. -“Baby, I’m some dry! Next time I go chasing rustlers, I’ll bring -along a canteen, I’ll tell a maverick!” - -Teddy did not reply. He was thinking that perhaps they would not get -another chance to go after the rustlers. Certainly the men ahead -were moving fast. Star, General, and Flash had more stamina than any -other three horses he had ever seen. This meant that, in a pinch, -the thieves could ride them well out of the county before night. - -“Now you take that puncher in the checkered shirt,” Roy went on, -talking more to himself than to Teddy. “He’s a queer proposition. -When dad was knocking politeness into that barkeeper to keep him -from doing any plugging, old Checkered Shirt could have had things -to his own liking. Instead, he runs. Afraid, most likely.” Roy bent -lower in the saddle to avoid a tree branch which overhung the trail. -“Pop said he was a friend of Gilly Froud’s.” - -“I don’t care if he’s a friend of Black Mike, the Killer!” Teddy -burst out. “If he flicks a cigarette in my face again I’ll salivate -him!” - -Roy looked quickly at his brother. He knew the strain the younger -boy had been under, and felt that the best thing to do was to take -his mind off Flash and Checkered Shirt. - -“Say, Teddy,” he said in a loud voice, “what do you think of those -two girls dad met on the train?” - -Teddy glanced over and grinned. - -“Think I need a little cheering up, Roy?” he asked. “Well, maybe I -do. Now what was that you wanted to know?” - -“Say-y-y-y, you can’t get away with that!” Roy laughed. “You heard -me all right!” - -“Oh, yes--the girls! Why, I think they’re very nice.” - -“‘Very nice!’” Roy mimicked. “You don’t say! My boy,” and his voice -took on a paternal note, “I admire your restraint. But then, of -course, you know more girls than I do. To me--to me, they were as -the breath of springtime!” - -“Aw, dry up!” Teddy exclaimed sheepishly. “Stop that kidding! You -liked ’em as well as I did. Jimminy, I’m thirsty!” - -“Seems to me that spring is around here some place,” Roy declared, -pulling his horse up suddenly. - -“Let’s separate, and see if we can find it,” suggested Teddy. “I’ll -go down the mountain a way, and you go up. If you find it, yell, and -I’ll do the same if I locate it. If we miss it, we can meet here in -ten minutes.” - -Roy nodded his approval of the plan. He turned his steed to the -right, and started up the incline at an angle. Teddy watched him for -a moment, and then, licking his dry lips, faced in the opposite -direction. Chirping to his pony, he took a firm grip on the reins -and started the descent. - -Riding down an incline is never as easy as riding up. Teddy realized -this, and he guided the pony slowly down Mica Mountain. As he rode, -he turned his head from side to side, seeking for the spring. The -boy was getting more thirsty every moment. - -He came to a spot which seemed more treacherous than the rest. The -footing was of loose stone and very steep. Teddy seriously debated -whether it would not be better to dismount and lead the pony. - -Fate, in the guise of a hornet, decided the problem for him. As the -hornet thrust his poisoned lance into the pony’s flank, the horse -gave a snort of pain and leaped forward. Teddy made a grab for the -saddle horn, missed, and went flying through the air. He landed face -downward on a bed of knife-like stones, and, as the horse regained -his balance and trotted off, Teddy, with a wild yell, went sliding -down the mountainside! - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -FACING A MOUNTAIN LION - - -As Teddy Manley rolled and tumbled down the incline, sudden stabs of -searing, burning pain shot through his body. There was one thought -paramount in his mind--that he must stop himself soon or be dashed -to death on the rocks below. His fingers sought to grasp some solid -object, that he might cling to it; but with a sob the boy realized -that there was nothing here to seize except loose stones which -mocked his efforts by falling upon him in an avalanche. - -The thought came to him that perhaps this was the end--that he had -escaped all the other dangers of life, only to be killed, -ignominiously, so it seemed to him, by a fall down a mountain side. -Strangely enough, he could look at this picture with clear -imagination, even while his arms were pressing vainly the earth as -he shot downward. Never, it seemed, had he been able to think so -clearly. Flash, his pony, where was he now? Teddy hoped whoever had -him would treat him well. He deserved it. Flash was a good bronc. -None better. If only Roy hadn’t-- That small tree just below--reach -out and grab it--hold on--hold on-- - -With a breath-taking jolt, Teddy hit the tree and clutched -desperately at its slim trunk. For a second that seemed an eternity, -he clung there, hoping. Then a sharp crack, the tree gave way, and -Teddy slid down, down-- - -Below him a ledge of rock stuck its ugly lip out into space. Nice -drop, that--must be thirty feet. Those gray things at the bottom -must be boulders. Which one would he hit? Ah--h-- - -For one terrible moment Teddy hung on the edge. Then a swift -drop--and night closed about him with velvet wings. - -How long he had lain there unconscious, Teddy never learned. He -opened his eyes upon a sky ripped and torn by red lightning flashes. -Idly he lay on his back, staring upward at the unusual spectacle of -a thunder storm without thunder or rain, and with red lightning -instead of white. Queer, that! He’d have to tell Roy about it. Where -was Roy, by the way? He’d enjoy this. He always did like sunsets and -such things. Poetry, too! Funny fellow. Reading books of verses! -Like mom, maybe. She used to be a school teacher. Denver, or some -place like that. Jimminy, look at that streak of fire! All the way -across the sky! Watch for the next one, now. Why, was the storm -over? Certainly there were no more lightning flashes. Seemed to be -clearing up. Wow, what a headache! - -With a supreme effort that caused a wave of pain that almost -overpowered him, Teddy struggled to a sitting position. He looked -around him in a puzzled manner, trying hard to adjust his mind to -the scene about him. The sky was as blue as it always was, and there -was no sign of a storm. The red flashes had disappeared. In the -west, the sun, a huge ball of fire, was casting a radiance on the -forest below. It was nearly evening. - -Teddy shook his head to clear it, then pressed his hand to his lips -to keep back a cry of agony. He must not give in. But, for a moment, -the boy fell back upon the rock, breathing hard. - -When he raised himself again the searing sensations at the back of -his head had turned to dull, aching pain. Gingerly, the boy moved -first one leg, and then the other. They seemed all right. Neither of -his arms was broken. Taking a deep breath, Teddy determined to -stand. It was easy--just bend one leg under him, lean on his elbow, -and push upward. Then his head would have to come along, no matter -how much it wanted to lie quietly on the cool rocks. Now--one, two, -three! He was up! - -Wondering how long his legs would support him, Teddy leaned weakly -against a wall of rock. Steady, now! He’d have to figure this thing -out. Here he was in a prison of rock. On three sides there arose the -bare, hard granite. The front of this rocky cubicle was open, and -Teddy staggered to the edge and looked over. Below him yawned a -sheer drop of two or three hundred feet. Now the question was, how -in thunder did he get here? - -He had fallen, that was one sure thing. No doubt about that, Teddy -thought, as he looked ruefully at his torn clothes and bruised and -bleeding hands. But how did he get so sliced up? A fall would never -have done that. The fall could have caused that cut on his head, but -not these rents in his clothes. Why, he looked as though he’d been -put through a meat-chopper. - -If his head would stop whirling for a moment he might be able to -figure this out! Think, now. Thirsty--yes, he was thirsty. Awfully -thirsty. He must find some water. A spring. A spring! Why, he was -looking for a spring! That’s what happened! He and Roy were thirsty, -so they separated, trying to find that spring! Then that slide! - -A shudder passed over Teddy’s body. Memory returned with a rush, and -with it came desperate realization. He was trapped here, alone, and -he had no way to tell Roy and the others where he was! Suppose they -never found him? Suppose the horse he had fallen from wandered far -off and misled the others in their search? Teddy gave a shiver. Then -he straightened up. Have to cut that out. He had been in worse fixes -than this, and he always had gotten out all right. He would this -time, too. Dad and Roy would surely find him. If he only had some -water! He was burning up. - -He put his hand to his head and brought it away covered with a dark, -sticky substance. Blood! No wonder it ached so. He’d have to find -some water and bathe it. - -Over to the right was some sort of a depression in the rock. Perhaps -there was water there! Hope surging high within him, the ranch boy -staggered toward the spot and, with a cry of joy, flung himself face -downward beside a pool of sparkling water. He buried his face in it, -and drank in great gulps. - -The point of saturation being reached, Teddy stopped, and, tearing a -piece from his shirt, soaked it in the water and bathed his head. -The coolness felt wonderfully soothing, and, much refreshed, the boy -arose and considered matters. The situation seemed not half so -desperate as it had been before he had found the spring. - -True, night was approaching and the pangs of hunger were becoming -more severe. - -“Yet if one has water, one can go for a number of days without -food,” the boy murmured. “And I feel sure that help will come before -long.” - -Up to this point the boy had refrained from calling, both from a -feeling of weakness and the thought that it would do little good. -Now, however, he raised his head and sent a yell echoing up into the -stillness. He waited tensely for an answer. None came, and, after a -moment, he shouted again. But his head was beginning to whirl, and -he was compelled to sit down for a moment. - -“Can’t afford to do much of that,” he said grimly to himself. - -A thought came to him, and he drew his revolver, which, luckily, was -still in the holster at his side. He pointed it aloft and was about -to pull the trigger when he hesitated. Then, with a gesture of -despair, he shoved the gun back into the holster. He could not waste -the ammunition. If night caught him here, it was probable that he -would need all his bullets for defense against the animals which -might seek out that spring. They would not wantonly attack him, he -knew, but if they thought he was trying to keep them from water, -they might attempt to make an onset on him. The animals were all of -the cat family, but Teddy had seen some huge mountain lions in that -section. They could easily kill a defenseless man if they were so -minded. - -Feeling much stronger now, Teddy proceeded thoroughly to investigate -his “prison.” If there were a means of escape, it would be well to -find it before night settled, otherwise he would have to wait until -morning. He could take no chances on climbing up a cliff in the -dark, especially in his weakened condition. - -First he threw himself on his face at the edge of the cliff and -peered down. That way was closed to him--the rock was as smooth as a -shingled roof and it would be worse than folly to attempt a descent. -There was but one thing left--to climb up, if he could, and regain -the ledge from which he had fallen. - -At first glance, this seemed as hopeless as it would be to climb -down. But Teddy, born and reared in this country, knew that though -often these crags appear insurmountable they are not really so, for -by clinging to the vines which grow on them and getting a foothold -in small depressions worn by the action of the elements, one can -sometimes reach the top. Certainly, it was dangerous. Yet, Teddy -thought, he had just fallen from the very height he wished to -conquer. And, with a grim smile, he murmured: - -“What’s one fall more or less between friends?” - -Taking another long drink from the spring, Teddy began his tour of -inspection. The red of the sky had deepened to orange, and the boy -knew that at the most, he had but an hour of daylight left. If he -were going to make the attempt, now was the time. - -Tightening his belt, the boy walked over to the rocky wall. Here the -vines seemed heaviest, and Teddy experimented by seizing one of the -creepers and resting his weight on it. There was a crackling of wood -as it pulled away from the side of the cliff, but it held, and Teddy -determined to take the chance. - -He was just about to draw himself up when a noise behind him caused -him to hesitate. He did not immediately look around, for he was held -in that sort of helpless panic one feels when he realizes there is -something behind which one dreads to face. Hands upraised, clutching -the vine, Teddy stood motionless. But he must look behind him. He -had that queer feeling that he was not alone--that some one or -something was standing on the rocky floor, watching him. - -Suddenly, desperately, he jerked his head around. Then his face -blanched. Not ten feet from him, tail lashing angrily, was one of -the largest mountain lions he had ever seen! - - - - -CHAPTER X - -SEARCHING - - -When Roy Manley turned his horse up the mountain, he determined to -find that spring, and find it quick. Haste was imperative, for Mr. -Manley and the others had no means of knowing where he and Teddy -were. They might conclude the two boys had taken the left trail, but -certainly if Roy and Teddy did not join them soon, there would be -cause for worry. Chasing rustlers is not a pastime, it is dangerous -work. - -Roy realized the state of mind his father would be in, and just -touched the spurs to the pony’s side. Looking at the sun, the boy -decided that it must be nearly four o’clock. - -Roy ran his hand over the pony’s flank. - -“Not sweating much, are you?” he said. “Guess you need water, all -right. Chances are you haven’t had any since early this morning.” - -He halted the horse and peered closely at the ground. - -“Seems softer here. Hold still now, bronc, and I’ll look.” - -He threw the reins over the pony’s neck and dismounted. Leading the -horse, he made for a small clump of bushes. - -“Sure looks like there ought to be a spring around here,” he -declared. “I sort of remember this place. I’ll bet this is where -Teddy and I stopped last year on our way to Molten to look at those -cattle dad was thinking of buying.” - -Parting the bushes, he gazed within the space they enclosed. - -“Yay, boy! Water! Go to it, old fellow! Easy now. Don’t bust your -boiler.” - -Removing his hat, he scooped himself up a drink. He then stood -watching the pony drink the cool water. When the animal was -satisfied, which was not until he had again dipped his nose into the -spring, the boy patted him affectionately. - -“Some good, I’ll tell a maverick!” Roy exclaimed, with a sigh of -satisfaction as he wiped his lips on the back of his hand. “Come on -now, bronc! We have got to tell Teddy!” - -He replaced his hat, mounted, and again started down the mountain -toward the place he had agreed to meet his brother. Arriving there, -he cupped his hands to his mouth and let out a yell. - -“Yay-y-y-y, Teddy! Yay-y-y!” - -He paused for an answer, but none came. - -Again he called. - -“Yo-o-o-o, Ted! Come here! I found it!” - -He strained his ears for a reply, but the echo of his cry was the -only answer. - -“That’s funny,” he said, straightening in the saddle. A perplexed -frown came to his face. “Teddy oughtn’t to be out of earshot. He -said ten minutes, and it’s easily that, and more!” - -Rising in his stirrups, Roy peered through the trees. - -“I’m going to ride after him,” he declared after a further period of -waiting. “I don’t like this a little bit! When Teddy says ten -minutes, he means just that, and no longer. It’s a cinch he wouldn’t -delay when he knows we’ve got to get back to dad in a hurry.” - -He was just about to guide his horse down the mountain when the -sound of men’s voices caused him to turn swiftly in his saddle. An -idea came to him that these might be the rustlers, so he jumped his -horse off the trail and into the bushes at the side. The next moment -he gave a yell and swung the pony back on the path. Riding toward -him were his father, Nick Looker, Pop Burns, and Gus Tripp. - -“Roy!” Mr. Manley called. He spurred his bronco forward. “Where’ve -you been, son? We’ve been worried about you!” - -“It’s a long story,” Roy answered, forcing his mount toward his -father, adding: “Say, have you seen Teddy?” - -“Teddy? Why, no! I thought he was with you.” - -“He was, up to half an hour ago. Then we separated, trying to find a -spring. He hasn’t come back yet.” - -A look of alarm shadowed Mr. Manley’s face. He turned to the others. - -“You didn’t see Teddy, did you, anybody?” he asked. - -“Not me, boss,” Nick Looker answered. “We’ve been with you all the -time except when Pop and I fell behind, a ways back.” - -“I ain’t seen him,” Gus declared. “Pop, ain’t neither, I know. Have -you, Pop?” - -“Nope! Snakes! You don’t mean to tell me he’s lost? I can’t believe -that. Teddy wouldn’t get lost in these hills. He knows ’em like a -book.” - -“I don’t think he’s lost, either,” Roy said in a troubled tone. “I -don’t know what to think. He and I caught sight of the rustlers on -our broncs, Dad, and--” - -“You saw the galoots?” Pop burst out excitedly. “Where, Roy? How -long ago? Let’s go after ’em! Snakes!” - -“Go easy,” Gus drawled. “Let Roy tell it. Go ahead, Roy.” - -Roy “went ahead” and told his story, ending with the words: - -“I haven’t seen Teddy since. That’s all!” - -“That’s a-plenty,” Mr. Manley declared. “Where do you suppose Teddy -went, Roy? Oughtn’t he to be back by now?” - -“He should,” Roy replied. “As I told you, he said ten minutes. -Golly, I don’t know where he is, Dad! I’m worried. Something must -have happened to him.” - -“You don’t _know_ that,” Nick Looker broke in. “Don’t cross no -bridges till you come to ’em. Teddy’s all right!” - -“I hope so,” Mr. Manley replied moodily. “But I never knew Teddy to -stay away when he said he’d be back unless he couldn’t come. Well, -let’s not waste time here. We must find him.” - -“Want to spread out, boss?” Pop asked. “Better that way, hey?” - -“Right!” Mr. Manley answered shortly. “Roy, you come with me. Pop, -you and Gus ride to the left. Nick can take the right. Roy and I -will go straight down.” - -The men and the boy started on their search. Mr. Manley and Roy took -the very same path over which Teddy had traveled, though, of course, -they did not know this. - -“Mighty funny where he could have gone,” Roy remarked. “Jimminy! I -hope nothing happened to him. But it sure looks queer!” - -“Take Nick’s advice,” his father answered. “Teddy may be riding -around looking for us.” But Roy stole a quick glance at his father’s -face and saw the lines of worry. - -The ranchman knew what it meant to be lost in these hills with night -coming on. Then there was the added danger that Teddy had met the -horse-thieves. If one of them was really Billy Froud, Mr. Manley had -visions of Teddy riding straight at him and pulling him off Flash. -Somehow, Mr. Manley knew that Froud would be riding Flash if, -indeed, he was one of the rustlers. - -The rancher thought of the other two thieves as leveling their guns -at Teddy. Drawing his hand across his forehead in a quick gesture, -the ranchman forced his horse on. - -Suddenly Roy gave a cry. He pointed to something ahead. - -“There’s Teddy’s horse!” he exclaimed. “That’s Teddy’s horse, Dad! -But he isn’t on him! Ted must be around here somewhere! Hey-y-y -Teddy! Yo-o-o!” - -Father and son strained their ears for an answer. Silence! Then, -echoing among the hills like the single beat of a taut drum, came -the sound of a shot. With startled eyes the two looked at each -other. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE RETURN - - -Teddy Manley’s breath caught in his throat as he stood, his back to -the wall, arms outstretched, watching the mountain lion. The only -thing moving on that rocky plateau was the animal’s tail. While the -lion remained as firm and steady as a statue, its tail lashed back -and forth with grim significance. It seemed to Teddy that he could -not take his eyes off that waving tip. - -Then from the lion’s throat came a low growl, like the first mutter -of distant thunder, telling of a coming storm. With the sound, -Teddy’s brain threw off the shackles of fear. Swift as thought, the -boy’s hand flashed down to the gun at his side. The blue barrel came -out and up in a draw that would have left old Pop Burns gaping in -envious amazement. - -At the same instant the boy bent low and jumped to one side, holding -his gun before him, finger ready on the trigger. But the lion did -not spring. Instead, it whirled with the boy, and instantly was -again facing him, this time at a greater distance, Teddy having -backed away, once he was clear of the wall. - -Thoughts were flashing through the boy’s brain like subtitles on a -moving picture screen. Should he shoot and risk having the animal -charge if he missed? Would it be better to wait and see if the lion -would depart of its own accord? Perhaps the brute was frightened. -Given time, it might turn tail and make off without attacking. -Still, where had it come from? If it had leaped down from above, -Teddy would surely have heard it. Why, it must have been here when -Teddy had fallen! - -Still backing, the boy determined to let the lion decide the issue. -If it made off, very well. If it sprang--Teddy took in a bit more of -the trigger slack and raised the barrel just a trifle, so that it -pointed directly at the lion’s left eye. Ad least he would go under, -fighting. - -Suddenly the tail stopped its restless lashing. Teddy saw the -shoulder muscles of the beast move like ropes in silken sheathes. He -knew the moment had come. - -As the lion sprang, Teddy fired. In that small enclosure the roar of -the large automatic was deafening. - -When the lion landed, not five feet from Teddy, it turned its head -and began biting savagely at its left flank. Teddy’s bullet had only -wounded the animal. - -He fired again and jumped aside. The bullet hit the beast just below -the heart. Furious with pain, it whirled about and came at the boy. - -Now a hot, almost unreasoning, rage took possession of Teddy. - -“Come on, come on, you yellow coward!” he shouted wildly. “Fight! -Don’t lay down so soon! Fight, you sneak!” - -Teddy’s abstinence from food, his chase after the thieves, and the -fall down the mountainside had snapped his restraint. He knew -nothing, except that he was facing an enemy--something he must kill. -With an abandonment of fury, he fired his remaining shots in the -direction of the lion, threw his gun from him, and started forward, -fists clenched, eyes burning with a feverish light. - -“Now, you coward, we’re even!” he yelled. “Fight, if you’re not too -ornery. Let’s see what you’re made of! Come on! Think I’m afraid, -hey? I’ll show you! You yellow coward.” - -The strange spectacle of an unarmed boy advancing toward him with -something white wrapped around his head and making furious noises -with his mouth, caused the lion to hesitate. But only for a moment. -Then he leaped forward to meet this presumptuous being, and teach -him respect for tearing claws and knife-like teeth. - -Teddy braced himself for the shock. There was no thought of death in -his mind--only that he would soon be at grips with an enemy whom he -hated. - -Through a red mist, the boy saw the roaring beast launch itself into -the air. He saw the lips drawn back in a snarl of rage. He saw the -forefeet close together, white, curving claws projecting from small -rubber-like pads. He saw the eyes gleam wickedly. - -Teddy put up his hands to ward off that hurtling body, and at that -moment two sharp cracks came to his ears. He saw the lion’s body -twitch. Automatically he dodged, and the beast struck his shoulder, -dashing the boy to the ground. There was another crack, then -another. Teddy rose dazedly to his feet. He looked down. On the -rocky floor lay the lion--quivering, but stone dead. - -From above there came a cry. - -“We got him, Dad! Yay, Teddy! Are you all right? Teddy!” - -Putting his hand to his head, the boy glanced up. What he saw caused -quick tears of emotion to come to his eyes. Staring down at him, -their faces alight with eagerness, stood his father and Roy. - -“Dad! Roy!” Teddy cried weakly. He staggered to the wall and leaned -against it. There was a lump in his throat that choked him, and try -as he did, he could not keep the tears from starting to his eyes. -This would never do. What would they think of him? He shook his head -savagely and sunk his teeth into his lower lip. There, that helped! -He looked up again. - -“You sure timed your entrance,” he called, grinning bravely. “Quite -a show!” - -“Teddy, are you all right?” Mr. Manley shouted. - -“Sure! Come on down. The water’s fine.” His head was spinning -around, and the red rim of the sun was stretched into a long line of -fire across the sky. To his surprise, the boy suddenly found himself -sitting down. He laughed at the absurdity of this change, but it was -a weak laugh. - -Above him, Roy and Mr. Manley had seen the boy sway back and forth -for a moment, then fall to the ground. Swiftly Mr. Manley ran back -to where his pony was standing and detached a rope which hung from -the saddle horn. He tied one end around a tree, and dangling the -other end over the edge, he slid down, careless of the blistering -burns the strands inflicted on the palms of his hands. The moment he -hit bottom he ran to his son. - -“Teddy! Teddy boy!” he stammered. “That was a close one! If Roy and -I had missed--” He hunched down and threw one arm about his son’s -shoulders. Even Mr. Manley’s eyes were not quite dry. He had just -seen his son escape from a horrible death. - -“All right, Dad. I’m O. K. now,” Teddy said, resting one hand over -his father’s as it lay on his shoulder. “I’ll give you and Roy the -prize for marksmanship. You sure clipped the beast good!” - -“Hey, Dad, I’m coming down!” Roy yelled from above. “Is Teddy hurt?” - -“No!” Mr. Manley answered. “He’s not! You stay up there, Roy. Wait -for the rest! Yell at ’em!” - -“I can get up now,” Teddy declared. To prove it he struggled to his -feet, and promptly sat down again. - -“Golly, my legs are made of India-rubber!” he said, grinning. “What -do you know about that, Dad? Funny, hey?” - -“Sure,” Mr. Manley assented, smiling broadly now. He knew from the -change in Teddy’s voice that the boy was gaining control of his -nerves and would soon be himself again. “Just take it easy, son. -Here!” he ran to the spring and dipped his hat in the water. “Drink -this. Slow!” - -Teddy obeyed, and the merry-go-round on which the trees were riding -came gradually to a stop. - -The boy got to his feet again, and this time he stayed there. - -“Where’s my friend?” he asked, looking about. “Ah, there she is. A -beauty, hey, Dad?” he touched the dead mountain lion with his foot. -“Look at that hide! Say, do you think we can get her up out of here -and cart her along home?” - -“Don’t see why not,” his father answered. “Golly, boy, do you know -you went for this lion with your bare hands? Went right at her!” - -“Did I?” Teddy said indifferently. He kicked the carcass again. -“Must have been a little crazy, I guess. I didn’t know what it was -all about for a while.” - -He walked over toward the spring. Suddenly he uttered an -exclamation. - -“Well, for the love of Pete! Dad! Take a look at this! No wonder the -old lady wanted to fight. Can you beat this?” - -Mr. Manley hurried to his son’s side and bent over. In a scooped-out -hollow of the wall, partly screened by bushes, he saw two little, -yellow kittens. - -“Baby lions!” the ranch owner cried. “Say, Teddy, we’ve got to save -’em! We shot their mother, and now it’s up to us to help the babies -make a start in the world. We can--” - -“Hey-y-y, Dad!” came from above. “Here are Pop and Gus and Nick! -Want me to come down?” - -“No! You boys get ready to haul up!” Mr. Manley answered. “Teddy,” -he added, in a lower voice, “I want you to let them pull you up. Oh, -yes, I know you can climb it,” he said, interrupting his son’s -protest. “But, just for fun, let ’em pull you. They need the -exercise.” - -He fastened the rope below Teddy’s armpits and yelled to those above -to hoist away. Up Teddy went. In a moment he was safe upon the -ledge. Then came Mr. Manley’s turn; and with two, tawny, squirming -kittens held against his chest he made the ascent as Teddy had done. - -The last rays of the sun were sending a shower of gold over the -mountains as Roy’s hand clasped Teddy’s in a firm grip, that told, -louder than any words, what was in the heart of each. The two boys -were together again. Teddy had been saved from what had seemed -certain death. - -It was too late to look further for the horse thieves, and Mr. -Manley gave the word to start for home. Evening was upon them, and -as the two brothers rode along through the gathering dusk, side by -side, talking in low tones, each had a small, warm kitten cuddled on -his saddle. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -VISITORS - - -“Nick, why’n thunder don’t you give that mouth-organ of yourn to -Sing Lung an’ let him make soup out of it?” Gus Tripp drawled. - -The cowboys, Roy and Teddy among them, were sprawled in lazy -attitudes just outside the bunk-house. Several days had passed since -they had ridden after the horse thieves--days of fruitless searching -for the lost animals. - -Nick finished the last, plaintive strains of “Home, Sweet, Home,” -and removed the instrument from his lips. Noon mess had just been -concluded, and the men were resting a few moments before resuming -the work of the ranch. - -“Huh?” Nick grunted. “What was that, Gus?” - -“I say you ought to give that wind-wailer to Sing Lung to make soup -out of.” - -“Yea?” Nick tapped the harmonica gently on the palm of his hand. -“Maybe you figger the noise you make drinkin’ soup would turn into -music then, hey?” - -“Chalk up one for Nick,” Teddy grinned. Except for a small cut on -his head, the boy had completely recovered from his dangerous fall. - -“Notice you been practicin’ up quite a bit lately,” Jim Casey put -in. “Norine say she likes to hear you play, Nick?” he questioned. -Norine was Mrs. Moore’s daughter, Mrs. Moore being a widow who for -five years had been the cook and housekeeper at the ranch house. - -“That’s all right,” Nick returned. “Roy, tell us what Jim had on the -other night when he went callin’ over to the house. Go on, tell the -assembled multitude!” - -“A boiled shirt,” Roy answered, with a smile. “At first I didn’t -believe it was Jim, but when I went closer I heard him sing, and -then I knew it was him.” - -“There you are!” Nick arose and spread his arms in a wide gesture. -“The gentleman goes callin’ in a boiled shirt, an’ singin’! Could -anything be sweeter?” - -“Yes! Crackers an’ milk!” Pop Burns exclaimed. “But not much -sweeter. Tell you, I don’t know what this younger generation is -comin’ to. Nick learns to blow tunes on a hunk o’ tin. Jim sports a -boiled shirt. Gus--I don’t know what Gus does. I ain’t ketched him -yet. An’ all because a silly girl knows how to make goo-goo eyes!” - -“She ain’t a silly girl!” Explosions of indignation burst about -Pop’s ears. - -“She’s nice, let me tell you!” - -“You bet she is! Silly girl! Huh!” - -“She’s the purtiest girl I ever see!” - -“How’d you used to go callin’ on a girl, you old bronco-peeler? With -a six-gun hangin’ from yore belt an’ a bowie knife between yore -teeth?” - -“Yes!” Pop shouted, above the din. “I sure would! In my day we went -courtin’ in hats, not hair tonic!” - -“I suppose that’s why you got so much hair now!” Gus yelled, -doubling up with exaggerated laughter. “Boy, that dome of yourn -shines like a Mexican dollar!” - -Pop clamped his hat savagely back on his head, and then grinned. - -“Well, I suppose boys will be boys. ’Scuse me now. I got to work. -There’s some blocks behind the cook-house you children can amuse -yourselves with. You can build houses. But don’t build ’em too high. -They might fall on you an’ bust a finger nail or somethin’. Then -Norine wouldn’t like you no more!” Before they could answer him, the -veteran puncher tramped off. - -“Crazy old coot!” Nat Raymond said with a grin. “Always has the last -word! Well, let’s get goin’, boys. There’s plenty to do. Roy, you’re -the boss this week, ain’t you? Want me to ride down to Eagles and -see if our inoculation stuff has come in yet?” He had reference to -an antitoxin which cattle are given to prevent a disease called -blackleg. - -“Guess you’d better, Nat,” Roy said. “And while you’re there, take a -good look around. See if you can spot that puncher in a shirt -that--isn’t striped.” - -“I get you,” Nat returned. “An’ if I see a geezer with a scar on the -left side of his face I’ll let you know that, too.” Mr. Manley had -told the story of the robbery to all the men on the X Bar X. - -Roy and Teddy walked slowly over toward the corral. - -“How does the old head feel, Teddy?” Roy asked. - -“Pretty good. Aches a little now and then. But I’d rather have a -headache than an obituary notice. Roy, if you and dad hadn’t gotten -there when you did, I’d have had to be swept up with a shovel.” A -slight shudder passed over the boy. - -“Forget it,” Roy advised, laying a hand on his brother’s shoulder. -“It’s over now. Say, I’ve been thinking. I--” - -“So have I,” Teddy interrupted. “About Flash, mostly. I miss him, -Roy. Miss him like anything! If I ever catch the thief who took -him--” - -“I know,” and Roy nodded. “I feel the same about Star, and I guess -dad does about General, too. But we can’t do any good thinking about -it. When the time comes, we’ll act. The boys say that the gang who -rustled the cattle from the 8 X 8 is around again, and I’ve still -got a hunch those are the waddies who stole our broncs. We just have -to sit tight, Teddy, and do a little figuring. In the meantime, I’ve -got an idea that might interest you.” - -“Let’s hear it,” Teddy suggested. “Not about the broncs, is it?” - -“No,” Roy answered. “It’s about those two girls over at Pete Ball’s -place. Remember--Nell and Ethel?” - -“Well, now that you speak about it, I do,” Teddy drawled, with an -assumption of carelessness. “Why?” - -“Nothing, except that they’re coming over here.” - -“They are?” Teddy looked up with quick eagerness, then, as quickly, -turned away his head. “Well, that’ll be nice for you, Roy.” - -“You don’t say!” his brother laughed. “Nice for me, will it? How -about you?” - -“Oh, I guess I can stand it. How long can they stay?” - -“I notice you didn’t ask when they’re going home, did you?” Roy -asked. “‘How long can they stay!’ Teddy, my boy, your innocence is -sublime. Well, mother telephoned to Mrs. Ball this morning, and I -guess they’ll be here tonight or early tomorrow. Bug Eye will -probably bring them over.” - -The two boys had reached the corral, and Roy paused for a moment, -leaning against the rails. He peered at the horses within. Somehow, -the place did not seem the same without Star trotting over to nuzzle -his hand. - -“You mentioned something about rustlers at the 8 X 8,” Teddy -remarked, as he examined the initials cut in one of the rails. - -“Yes. Dad heard from Eagles that they might be the same thieves who -stole Flash, Star, and General. Don’t know who told him, but I -imagine it was one of the men who saw them ride our ponies away. You -know; the gang that hangs around the corral in town. Some of them -are pretty decent, and they’d help us if they could. There’s only a -certain bunch that’s got it in for dad because he wouldn’t go in for -that scheme of weighting the cattle scales, as Pop told us.” - -Teddy nodded. - -“I remember! I’ll bet Checkered Shirt is one of them, too. Well, -let’s get to work. You and I are going to ride fence, aren’t we? -Might as well get started. The better shape we keep the fence in, -the harder it will be for the rustlers to nab any of the X Bar X -stock, if they’re planning to do that. Golly, what’s this country -coming to? They claim the old West is gone, but if some of those -birds who say that would come here, they’d soon find out! But we can -do without rustlers, if we have to, I guess.” - -“I’ll tell a maverick we can!” Roy declared forcibly. “If they’re -part of the old West, let ’em go. I won’t keep ’em. Come on, grab a -bronc and let’s be on our way.” - -It was almost dark when the two boys returned from their work of -repairing the fence. As they dismounted and led the horses to the -watering trough, a familiar noise greeted their ears. It was the -rattle of a flivver, above which sounded a voice. - -“Made it, ladies! Got this tin bronco ridin’ right along, didn’t I? -Whoa! Grab a-holt, ladies, we’re goin’ to land, an’ there’s no -tellin’ what she’ll do when she hits ground again! Yow! There she -is. Ho-o-o-old up now, you snortin’ peanut-roaster!” - -“Bug Eye!” Roy exclaimed, with a grin, turning to his brother. - -“And he’s not alone, either!” Teddy remarked mischievously. “He was -talking to ‘ladies,’ Roy! Did you get that?” - -A girlish laugh punctuated Bug Eye’s further description of the -“peanut-roaster.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -NORINE ENTERTAINS - - -Leaving the horses to drink their fill at the watering trough, Roy -and Teddy hurried over towards the car, which had come to a stop -near the entrance to the ranch house. - -“Howdy, boys!” Bug Eye called, as he alighted and opened the rear -door. “The ladies was afraid I wouldn’t get here before dark. But -they needn’t have worried. I can make any place before dark! I got -you here O.K., didn’t I?” he asked proudly, as he helped Nell and -Ethel out of the auto. - -“You certainly did!” Nell answered, with a laugh. “Hello, Roy and -Teddy!” - -“Hello, Nell!” Roy greeted. - -“How are you, Ethel?” asked Teddy. “Have a good trip over?” - -“Sounds as though we just landed from an ocean voyage!” Ethel -laughed. “Yes, we had a fine trip, Teddy. Bug Eye is such a careful -driver that--” - -“_Careful_, ma’am?” Bug Eye interrupted, pushing his sombrero back -and wiping the perspiration from his forehead with the back of his -hand. “Careful? I guess you ain’t heard about the time--” - -“Here it comes,” Teddy remarked in an undertone. - -“About the time I was sent over to Eagles by the boss to bring back -a crate of eggs,” Bug Eye went on imperturbably. “You see--nope, -Roy, they didn’t bring no bags except them two pocket-books in the -rear; you can tote them in if you want. As I was sayin’, the boss -sent me down to Eagles to bring back a crate of eggs what was comin’ -in on the train. Now you know what a freight wrastler does to eggs. -‘Handle with care’ means ‘Treat ’em rough’ to baggage heavers. - -“Well, as soon as I saw them eggs I knew what had happened. The -yaller was drippin’ down the sides of the crate an’ there wasn’t a -whole egg in the lot. Thinks I, I’ll cart the box home, anyway, an’ -show the boss. So I shoves her in the back of this here bus an’ sets -out for the 8 X 8. Well, sir, believe it or not, when I hit the -ranch, every last one of them eggs was back in their shells, just as -they were the day the hens laid ’em! _Careful!_ Why--” - -“Whoa, Bug Eye, you’re going around a curve!” Teddy sang out. “Take -it easy! You’ll strain yourself! I guess the girls know by this time -what a careful driver you are.” - -“We do,” Nell said laughingly. “We didn’t even know we were riding!” - -With a nod of approval at this remark, Bug Eye once more took his -place behind the wheel, and with a shout of, “telephone if you need -anything and I’ll bring it over in the tin puddle-jumper,” the -puncher started with a rush back to the 8 X 8. - -“He’s quite a boy,” Roy remarked as, carrying the girls’ week-end -bags, or “pocket-books,” as Bug Eye called them, he led the way into -the house. Teddy went to put the horses in the corral for the night. - -“He surely is,” Nell replied to Roy. “Tell me, Roy, did you ever get -your horses back?” she went on, her face suddenly serious. - -“Never did--yet,” Roy answered. “We--Teddy and I--saw them being -ridden, and we chased after them, but they got away.” - -“And that fresh man in the checkered shirt!” Ethel exclaimed. “Have -you ever seen him again, Roy?” - -“Once,” was the grim answer. Hurriedly the boy opened the door and -stood aside to let the girls pass in. “Oh, Mother!” he called. -“Visitors!” - -The sound of light footsteps descending the stairs was heard -immediately, and in a moment Mrs. Manley appeared. She greeted the -girls warmly and said that Belle Ada would be ready in a moment. - -“Roy, turn on the lights, please, won’t you?” his mother asked. He -pushed a wall-button, and a soft glow immediately illuminated the -room. Then, as Mrs. Manley saw the girls glance up in apparent -surprise, she said, smiling a little: “Yes, we have electric -lights--and everything. Mr. Ball has them, also, as you must have -noticed. You see most of the ranchers around here have their own -gasoline motors which generate the current. But take off your -things, won’t you? You are tired and dusty, so come upstairs. Belle -is eager to see you.” - -Roy was hurrying to his own room to “slick up,” as he called it, -when Teddy burst into the house. - -“I just wanted to--” he began. Then, seeing his brother was alone, -he stopped in confusion. - -“Go on, tell me,” Roy jeered. “I make a fine audience. What was it -now?” - -“Nothing!” answered Teddy, his face a trifle red. “I--I forget what -I was going to say. Where you bound for in such a rush?” - -“Oh, I was just going to put on a clean shirt,” Roy responded -carelessly. “Have to dog-up a bit for supper.” - -“Uh-huh,” Teddy grunted, with a grin. “For supper! Sure! Have to get -dogged-up for supper. Guess I will, too.” Then his face took on a -more serious expression. “Say, Roy, you don’t think we’ll have to -stop looking for those thieves while the girls are here, do you?” - -“I’ll tell a maverick we won’t!” Roy exploded. “Not if dad has -anything to say about it, and I guess he has! He wants General back, -and he wants him bad. If any clue turns up, we’ll go right after the -rustlers!” - -The evening meal, with the two girls as guests, was a jolly one. Mr. -Manley was at his best, and his chuckling remarks kept the company -in a gale of laughter, though often he directed a sly remark toward -Roy or Teddy, which caused them to change the subject hurriedly. -Belle, following her father’s leads, contributed not a little to the -general hilarity. - -When the meal ended they all strolled into the living room of the -ranch, a large, well-lighted apartment with a huge oak table in the -center, on which were piled books and magazines. A stone hearth was -built into the wall, and a log fire was crackling away merrily, -lighted, Mr. Manley hastened to explain, with a sly grin at his -wife, “not for warmth but for effect.” Above the fireplace, was the -mounted head of a bison, set on a wooden panel. - -“Oh, I think this is simply gorgeous!” Ethel murmured as she looked -about her. “Belle, you don’t know how lucky you are to be able to -live in such a wonderful place!” - -“Maybe she wishes she could live in New York,” Teddy remarked, with -a glance at his sister. “Then she could go to parties and dances -every night--if she had any one to take her.” - -“I wouldn’t want to go to dances every night, Teddy Manley, and you -know it!” Belle answered. “Even if I did have some one to take me,” -and she pouted in mock anger. - -“There wouldn’t be much difficulty about that,” Nell declared, with -a look at Belle’s raven hair and lustrous, dark eyes. - -“So you think my girl would be the Belle-Ada of the town, hey?” Mr. -Manley laughed, as he ruffled his daughter’s hair with an -affectionate hand. “Well, maybe next year you can go to school in -New York if you want to, daughter.” - -“And leave you and mother?” Belle asked with wide eyes. “No! Not me, -Daddy!” - -“Of course she forgets all about Ted and me,” Roy said, grinning. -“We just _live_ here. Nell, what would you do with a sister like -that?” - -“Now don’t tease,” Mrs. Manley said, and smiled. “Bardwell, couldn’t -we have some sort of entertainment for the girls? Some of the -cowboys play musical instruments. Don’t you think they’d oblige us?” - -“Nick Looker!” exclaimed Teddy and Roy in the same breath. - -“What’s Nick do? Play on the linoleum?” Mr. Manley asked, with a -grin. - -“The mouth-organ, Dad,” Teddy replied seriously. “What do you say? -Shall we get him to perform? He’ll do it, I know.” - -“How about getting Norine to dance that Irish jig of hers?” Roy -suggested. “With Nick playing for her, she ought to be great!” - -“Yea, if Nick doesn’t get too bashful when he sees Norine,” Teddy -said. “But let’s try it. Shall we, Mother?” - -Hardly waiting for the assent he knew his mother would give, Teddy -made for the front door. - -“Belle,” he called over his shoulder, “you go and talk to Norine! -Tell her Nick loves to see her dance. Then she’ll come. Roy, grab -some of these chairs and cart ’em out on the porch. We can all sit -there. We’ll have a moonlight show!” - -“Wait! We’ll come with you!” Ethel declared, getting up. “Come on, -Nell, we can help too. Where are you going, Teddy?” - -“Going to root out Nick and the rest of ’em. Come along, both of -you, if you want to. See what the ranch yard looks like in -moonlight.” - -While Roy and Mr. Manley were bringing the chairs to the porch, -Teddy led the way toward the bunk-house. In the light of the full -moon the forms of the punchers dotting picturesquely the landscape -near the door of the shack could be seen. As the two girls -approached, plaintive wailings came to their ears. - - “A handsome young cowboy was dy-ing, - (dy-ing) - And as on the prairie he lay-- - (he lay--) - To the punchers who came round him sigh-ing, - (sigh-ing,) - These last dy-ing words he did say: - (he-e-e di-i-id say-y -y -y.) - - “‘Take his forefoot from out of my back-bone, - (back-bone) - His back te-eeth from out of my brain, - (my brain) - His hindfoot from out of my liver - (liver) - And assemble the bronco agai-ai-ai-ai-ain!’” - -“Hey, you birds, close up that butcher-shop!” Teddy called out. -“Don’t you keep union hours? Nick! Where’s Nick?” - -“Right here, Teddy, right here,” one of the figures replied, -separating himself from the group. “What’ll it be?” - -“Feel in the mood for a little mouth-organ solo tonight, Nick?” - -“Yep! Sure do! I just learnt a new piece. It’s an Irish dance, -and--” - -“Atta boy, Nick! Just what we want! Norine is going to jig for us.” - -“Oh, she is?” Ethel could see the young puncher hesitating. “Well, -Teddy, if you’ll wait just a second while I--” - -“He wants to get dooked out!” came a voice which Teddy recognized as -Pop’s. “What’d I tell you?” - -“Aw, dry up!” Nick growled playfully. “All right, Teddy, I’ll be -over in two minutes. Want the rest of these here pinto wrestlers?” - -“Sure! Everybody!” Teddy answered. “Over to the front porch as soon -as you’re ready.” - -When Teddy and the two girls reached the house, they found that a -row of chairs had been placed on one end of the porch. Norine was -waiting, and, after being introduced to the girls, she shyly told -them: - -“I knew a boy once that came from New York. He had curly hair and -finger nails that glistened just like Pop Burns’ head. Oh, he was -lovely! Did you know him, at all?” - -Nell and Ethel confessed that they did not, by that description. - -“But then we haven’t seen Pop’s head yet, so we can’t just say.” - -Norine laughed merrily, and began a torrent of questions about New -York that was only stopped by the arrival of Nick and his fellows. - -“All set, boys?” Mr. Manley called out. - -“All set, boss!” Nick repeated. “Is--er--Miss Norine--er--ready?” - -“I am that, Nick!” was the answer. “An’ when you blow into that -pipe-organ, think of something else besides horses an’ cows! Think -of that moon up there, an’ maybe you can make music!” - -“He’s not thinking of cows just at present,” Roy remarked in a low -voice to Nell. “See him watch Norine!” - -Then Nick put his instrument to his lips and began to blow; slowly -at first, then faster. Norine took up the dance. - -Nick must have been thinking of the moon, for it was real music that -came from that cheap mouth-organ. As the strains of “Rory O’More” -floated out into the night air, the ranch house disappeared and, to -the girl’s mother, even the silvered prairie, and Norine was dancing -upon the grassy heath of Ireland. Mrs. Moore stood in the doorway, a -proud look in her eye, her head swaying from side to side, her foot -gently tapping the doorsill. This was _her_ girl that was dancing! - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -GUS COMES HOME - - -Roy and Teddy were showing the two girls around the X Bar X the next -morning. - -“Here is where the bronco-busters do their stuff,” announced Teddy, -when they came to the corral. “Rad Sell, who’s out on the range just -at present, is one of the best leather-stickers we’ve got on the -place.” - -“Oh, Teddy, I wish we could see him tame a wild horse! Don’t you, -Nell?” Ethel asked, eyes wide with curiosity. “Of course we’ve seen -it done many times in the moving pictures, but--” - -Teddy laughed heartily. - -“When Rad climbs aboard some of those fresh ponies, he doesn’t stay -in one place long enough to have a picture taken of him. How about -it, Roy?” - -“That’s right,” his brother agreed. “Remember the time he broke -Tiger? First they tore around the corral like a cyclone. Then, all -of a sudden, Tiger took a look at the fence, pulled back, and the -next second he was over and running wild for the mountains. That was -before dad had this other rail put on. No horse in the world could -jump it now.” - -“What happened then?” Nell inquired eagerly. - -“Oh, nothing much,” Roy said carelessly. “Rad had a long ride, and -when he got back Tiger had turned into a lamb. He’s one of the best -saddle horses on the ranch now. You can ride him later, if you want -to.” - -“No, thanks,” Nell laughed. “I’d rather not, if you don’t mind.” She -walked on a little way, and then said: “Look, here’s a notice of -some sort. What is it about?” - -Tacked upon one of the rails of the corral was a piece of paper, -written on in heavy, black letters. Teddy and Roy gazed at it -curiously. - -“Never saw it before,” Teddy remarked in a puzzled tone. Then he -came closer and read the words: - - - ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD - - FOR THE CAPTURE OF THE THIEVES THAT STOLE THREE BRONCOS - BELONGING TO THE X--X FROM THE HITCHING RAIL AT EAGLES. - - -“That’s mighty funny,” Roy mused. “I wonder--” - -“Lookin’ at my sign?” exclaimed a voice behind them, and Mr. Manley, -together with Belle, came toward the corral. “I put that up early -this morning. Belle Ada suggested it. Don’t know whether it’ll help -or not, but I’d give a lot more than that to get General back. What -say, boys?” - -“I’ll tell a maverick!” Roy declared. “So would Teddy and I be glad -to get Star and Flash back. Think it’ll encourage the boys, Dad?” - -“Well, I don’t know,” Mr. Manley answered slowly. “I happened to -hear Jim Casey and Gus Tripp talkin’ about the theft, an’ the way -they feel they’d run themselves ragged to locate those rustlers. Pop -would, too--he still sees red because the X Bar X brand was stolen. -So I guess they’ll do the best they can, without that reward being -offered.” - -“Yes, but, Daddy, wouldn’t it be nice to give something to the boys -if they did catch the thieves?” Belle asked. “And then, too, I think -they’d look just a _little bit_ harder, if they knew they’d get a -hundred dollars when they found the horses. Now, wouldn’t they?” - -“Mebby--mebby,” Mr. Manley agreed. “Won’t do any harm to try. Well, -are the boys showin’ you around the place?” he asked, turning to -Nell. - -“Yes, and it’s perfectly thrilling!” Ethel broke in. “I’d just adore -it if I could live here always.” - -“Have you shown them the kittens we brought back?” Mr. Manley -inquired of Teddy, winking one eye. - -“Not yet, Dad,” his son returned. “We were just going over there -when we saw this notice of yours.” - -“What kind of kittens?” Ethel wanted to know. - -“You’ll see!” Belle Ada exclaimed. “And I’ll bet you never saw any -like them in your life before! Come on--they’re near the -bunk-house.” - -The two city girls bent eagerly over the large, wire cage that stood -in the shelter of the bunk-house wall. When they saw the soft, furry -little creatures romping about inside, Nell gave a cry of delight -and was about to reach down and pet them when Roy caught her hand. - -“I wouldn’t do that,” the boy warned. “Their teeth and claws are -growing pretty fast. You might get nipped.” - -“What kind of kittens are they?” Ethel wanted to know. - -“Mountain lions,” answered Mr. Manley. “Real mountain lions! We shot -their mother, and we figgered we ought to give the youngsters a -start in life. So we brought ’em over here.” - -“Aren’t they cute?” came from Nell. “When they grow up, maybe you -can tame them.” - -“And maybe _not_,” Teddy retorted grimly. “The only tame mountain -lion I ever saw was a dead one. When these grow up they go to the -circus, hey, Dad?” - -“If they live,” answered Mr. Manley. - -“Now,” said Roy, as he pushed the cage further out into the sun, -“we’ll show you our famous cook, Sing Lung. This way, ladies and -gentlemen! This way for the big show!” - -They strolled to the front of the mess-house, and Teddy stuck his -head inside. - -“Hey, Sing Lung!” he called. “Come here a minute, will you? You have -visitors.” - -Sing Lung, his face wreathed in an expansive smile, shuffled -forward. - -“Hillo,” he greeted them genially. “How you? Nice day?” - -“Keep him talking a while,” Teddy said in a low voice to Roy. “I’ll -get his fiddle.” - -“Sing Lung, this is Miss Carew, and this is Miss Willis. They are -staying at the 8 X 8,” explained Roy. - -“Glad to see you.” The cook smiled and extended his two clasped -hands in the oriental welcome. “You velly pletty--almost pletty like -Belle Ada,” and he grinned widely. To his mind few girls had reached -Belle’s perfection of beauty. - -“Thanks,” Nell answered, blushing a little. It was a new experience -to be complimented with a reservation in favor of another’s beauty. - -“Sing Lung, tell the ladies what you give the punchers for mess,” -Mr. Manley said, with a wink to the cook. - -“Mice,” Sing Lung declared, nodding his head. “Little white mice, -velly tendle; bleckfast, dinna, suppa! Yep! Me catchee! You like I -makie you mice stew? Maybe mice flied?” - -“Heavens, no!” Ethel said, with a shudder. “Mr. Manley, I think -that’s _terrible_! Do the men really _like_ to eat mice?” - -Belle and Roy could hold in no longer. They exploded into a hearty -laugh. Nell and Ethel saw the joke immediately, and could not -refrain from laughing too. - -“I think you’re mean to tease us,” Ethel exclaimed, pouting in mock -anger. “We are awfully green, aren’t we? I might have known you were -only fooling!” - -“Never mind,” Belle consoled the Eastern girls. “If you stay out -here long enough, you’ll be a real Westerner. Then you can go back -to New York and ride a horse down Broadway.” - -At this moment Teddy returned with a black box. - -“Here, Sing Lung,” he said, thrusting it toward the Chinese cook. -“Give us a tune, won’t you? The girls have heard, all the way back -in New York, what a player you are.” - -“Me not so good,” and the cook grinned modestly, eyeing the box -enviously, however. - -“Sure you are!” Roy declared. “You play, Sing Lung, and then we’ll -leave it to the girls. Hey?” - -“Oh, please, Sing Lung!” coaxed Belle Ada. - -“Well--” the cook hesitated, but it was plain to be seen that he was -more than willing to oblige. Teddy at last settled the question by -forcing the box into the cook’s hands. - -With a look of almost reverence on his face, Sing Lung opened the -box--and, as he did so, there sprang from it a mouse! - -With a yell, the cook dropped the case and dashed into the -mess-house, from which there immediately issued an explosion of -high-fire Cantonese. The two girls, who had looked at the little -rodent with simple curiosity and with none of the fright which -members of the feminine sex are supposed to exhibit on such -occasions, laughed merrily at the strange spectacle of a Chinese -running from a mouse. - -“He’s scared to death of mice,” Roy said, a wide grin on his face. -“When I heard him talking about serving them to the punchers, I -thought I’d try a little kidding myself. He’s got a trap back there -that he catches the mice in, so I took one out and put it in his -fiddle-box.” - -“Poor old Sing Lung! I don’t think much of your joke!” declared -Belle Ada. - -“You’d better tell him the danger’s over, or he’ll go through the -roof,” Mr. Manley declared, with a chuckle. “Teddy, you go in and -bring him out, will you? Say Roy chased the mouse away.” - -While the others--all but Belle Ada--looked on in amusement, Teddy -braved the storm of cyclonic, oriental language and entered the cook -house. - -“All right, Sing Lung,” they heard him say. “Mouse gone. You can -come down now.” Then, in an aside to the others: “Golly, he’s -crawled onto a shelf and curled up!” - -Reverting to English for a moment, the cook screamed: - -“All lite! All lite! You say all lite when little lat he inside my -fi’il? I no clazy! All lite! Ha! Maybe you puttee little lat in -fi’il, hey?” - -“It wasn’t a rat, it was a mouse, Sing Lung, and it’s gone now. So -come on down.” - -“You say so--yes?” - -“Yes, I say so. Come on down.” - -The cook descended cautiously to the floor and looked about him. -Finding that the mouse was not in sight, he blew on his finger tips -and, with a grin on his face, went to the door. - -“She’s gone, I guess,” he said calmly. “Me no like ’um. Poison! Now, -you, li’l Belle, you hand me fi’il; yes?” - -“He knows if you give it to him, there won’t be any mice in it,” Mr. -Manley laughed. “Go ahead, Belle Ada, give it to him.” - -With a smile, Belle picked up the case, and, taking the -queer-looking instrument out, she handed the two-stringed Chinese -fiddle to Sing Lung. He took it gingerly, and, after receiving the -bow, got ready to play. - -“Now you’ll hear some real laundry music,” Roy said in a low voice -to Nell. “Don’t laugh. Make believe you like it,” he warned. - -Sing Lung slowly drew the bow across the strings. He evoked a -peculiar, wailing noise, more akin to a sick cat on the back fence -than to anything else to which the girls had ever listened, so they -said later. - -There was a sudden interruption. The sound of a rapidly approaching -horse was heard, and all looked up in surprise. Gus Tripp was riding -toward them, his steed in a lather. - -As he came closer Mr. Manley noticed that Gus slumped oddly in his -saddle. At the sight the cattle owner ran quickly forward. Gus held -up his right arm in a mute gesture. - -From his fingers blood was dripping! - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -PLANNING A DANCE - - -“Gus!” exclaimed Mr. Manley. “What happened?” Teddy and Roy looked -anxiously at the rider. - -“Had a little accident, boss,” Gus replied, a wry smile on his -somewhat pale face. “Mebby if you an’ I was to take a little walk--” - -Mr. Manley nodded quickly, understandingly, and turned to the girls. - -“Belle Ada,” he said swiftly, “suppose you show Nell an’ Ethel the -garden? I know they’d like to see it.” - -Sensing the reason behind her father’s suggestion, Belle led the way -toward the side of the ranch house. Gus turned in his saddle and -watched the three girls depart. When they were out of sight and -hearing, he took a long breath, swayed in the saddle, then gritted -his teeth and straightened up. Roy walked over to him and, reaching -up, seized him around the waist and practically lifted him from his -horse. - -“Let’s see that wound, Gus,” Mr. Manley demanded. His teeth set -grimly in his lower lip, the puncher thrust the injured arm forward. - -The cattle owner took hold of it gently and bent over it. Then he -gave a cry. - -“It’s a gunshot wound! You’ve been plugged, Gus!” - -“Cor-rect.” Gus turned his head wearily. “Teddy, I wonder if you’d -cut this here sleeve off me? You see it’s kind o’ stuck, an’ when I -pull it--” - -“Sure, Gus!” the boy answered with a note of pity in his voice. -“Have it off in a jiffy.” - -Opening his jackknife, Teddy slit the sleeve loose just below the -armpit. As gently as he could, he peeled the cloth away from the -wound. Gus winced, but uttered never a word until the sleeve was -off. Then he heaved a sigh and said laconically: - -“Thanks, Teddy! Feels better now. Much obliged.” - -Sing Lung, who stood watching the scene with wide eyes, now scurried -into the cookhouse and returned in a moment with a stool. - -“Gus,” he said, “you sittee down. Feel bettah. I gettee you dlink!” -Entering the kitchen once more, the Chinese came back with a cup of -water. Gus drank it gratefully. - -“You’re a fine cook, Sing Lung,” the injured man drawled, handing -the cup back. The sun-tanned red had returned to his cheeks, but Mr. -Manley noticed that there was just a bit too much color there now. - -“Yep, a fine cook,” Gus repeated, as though to himself. “A fine -cook! Only--you can’t bake _bread_.” - -“Here, Gus,” Roy said in a loud voice, “snap out of that! Does your -arm hurt much? What happened?” - -“What--this?” Gus held up the arm and examined it as if it belonged -to another man. “Naw, she don’t hurt. Feels kind of funny, that’s -all. Well, I’ll tell you what happened.” Taking another deep breath, -the cowboy regained control of himself with an obvious effort and -went on: - -“You know I went down to Eagles for the mail.” Mr. Manley turned to -Sing Lung and said something in a low voice. The cook disappeared, -to return in a moment with a white shirt. While Gus talked, Mr. -Manley was using strips of this as a bandage to stop the bleeding. - -“For the mail,” Gus repeated. “When I reached town I tied my bronc -up an’ stopped for a second outside Rimor’s Place, thinkin’ of -Checkered Shirt. But I thought there was no use in goin’ in there to -look, ’cause, even if I did find him, I didn’t have nothin’ on him. -So I started for the post-office.” He hesitated, while Mr. Manley -wound the improvised bandage tightly about the arm. “Well,” he -continued, “just then Rimor’s door swung open and a puncher came -out. He took a quick look at me, turned around, an’ ducked back -again. Boss, that’s plenty tight! Where was I? Yea--he ran in again. - -“Thinks I, I’ve seen that buckeroo some place before. Then it hits -me like a load of bricks. It was Gilly Froud!” - -Teddy and Roy started back. Mr. Manley looked up into the eyes of -the injured man. - -“Go ahead, Gus,” the cattle owner said tensely. “What else?” - -“Well, I couldn’t let a chance like that slip by, so I made a jump -for the door an’ followed. The second I got inside, I seen my -mistake. Froud was leanin’ against the bar, gun out, starin’ my way. -We had a few words about them stolen horses, an’ all of a sudden -before I could make a move he blazed at me an’ put my arm out of -commish. I couldn’t do nothin’ then, crippled like that, except let -out a few of my opinions about Froud, but he only laughed an’ tole -me to bring my army next time. So I hopped back on Axlegrease an’ -come home. Here’s yore mail.” - -Reaching inside his shirt, Gus drew out several letters. He made as -though to hand them to Mr. Manley. Suddenly his body went limp. His -head dropped forward, and the envelopes fell from his nerveless -fingers. Roy leaped forward just in time to keep the cowboy from -pitching off the stool to the ground. - -“The nervy fellow!” Teddy said slowly, looking first at the letters -and then at the still form of Gus. “Gets shot, goes to the -post-office for the mail, an’ rides twelve miles back home with his -arm still bleeding!” The boy looked at the unconscious man with open -admiration. Then, bending swiftly down, he seized the puncher’s -shoulders. “Where’ll we take him?” he asked of his father. “In -here?” motioning toward the cook-house. - -“No, better take him to the house,” Mr. Manley suggested, looking at -Gus closely. “He’s out, cold! No wonder! Ridin’ twelve miles under -that sun with a hole ripped in his arm! He sure is a nervy boy!” - -“I’ll tell a maverick!” Roy exploded. “Come on, Teddy, we’ll lift -him over to the house. Sing Lung, you run ahead and tell mother to -get a bed ready. And talk English, not Chinese.” - -“Me fixee! Me fixee!” Sing Lung chattered, setting out on a run. - -With Teddy at his shoulders and Roy at his feet, Gus was soon being -carried toward the ranch house. Mr. Manley walked alongside, holding -the injured arm so that it should not hang down. - -Gus was soon resting quietly in a bed upstairs. Teddy telephoned for -the doctor, but Mrs. Manley took no chances of blood poisoning -setting in while waiting for the physician. She dressed the arm -herself, with swift, sure fingers. Later, when the medical man -arrived, he declared that no professional nurse could have done a -better job. - -Leaving the cowboy resting quietly, Mr. Manley and his two sons -walked toward the corral. - -“There’s one thing sure,” the rancher declared, “and this is that -Froud is the one who stole our broncs! And another thing--I have an -idea that he’s one of the gang of rustlers that have been operatin’ -hereabouts. Bug Eye said he saw a scar-faced man ridin’ away from -the 8 X 8 the very day their cattle was stolen. And I’ll lay money -it was Froud!” - -“Didn’t I tell you?” cried Teddy excitedly, turning to Roy. “Froud! -He’s in that gang sure as fate! And so is Checkered Shirt! I can’t -give you a reason for saying that, but I’ll bet it’s so, just the -same.” - -Mr. Manley looked over at his son. - -“You mean that bad egg who was standin’ outside Rimor’s the day -General an’ Flash an’ Star were rustled? The one I wanted to talk to -later? The chap who vamoosed?” - -“That’s the one, Dad! Yes sir, he and Froud are together on these -shady deals, I’ll bet a gold mine!” - -“Mebby,” Mr. Manley said slowly, “mebby.” He rested his foot against -the lower rail of the corral fence. “But we can’t do anything just -yet. Froud ain’t in town now, that’s sure. Wouldn’t do any good to -ride after him. What we’ve got to do, is to get him when he doesn’t -know we’re comin’. I don’t mind sayin’ I’ll have him for shootin’ -Gus.” - -Slow in speech, slow to declare what he intended to do, both Teddy -and Roy recognized fixed determination in their father’s tone. -Froud’s days of freedom were numbered. It might take time, but the -boys knew that Mr. Manley would never rest until he had placed Froud -behind bars--or put him permanently out of commission. - -When the other punchers heard that Gus had been shot, they were loud -in their declarations of vengeance upon Froud. Gus was well liked by -all the boys on the X Bar X, and each puncher vowed: - -“I’ll square it up for you, Gus!” - -Pop, especially, was wild with anger at the rustler. He asserted -that: - -“Shootin’ a man is worse than stealin’ the X Bar X brand,” which, -for Pop, was the criterion of mean and despicable actions. - -Nell and Ethel had been persuaded to stay several days longer than -they had intended, Belle meeting the objection that they “had no -clothes,” by the statement that on a ranch they needed none, and as -Norine offered to wash any needed linen over night, the excuse of -“no clothes” was taken from them. - -Truth to tell, Roy and Teddy were as insistent as was their sister -that the girls stay. Having found that Nell and Ethel were no -strangers to horses, Teddy and Roy took them for many miles over the -mountainous land about the X Bar X, showing the real West. Ethel, or -“Curly,” as Teddy called her because of her light, tousled, bobbed -hair, was a tireless rider, and she and Teddy had many happy jaunts -over the prairie. In Teddy’s language, she was “a regular fellow.” - -One afternoon, a few days following the incident of the wounding of -Gus, found Nell, Ethel, Belle and the two boys listening to Nick -play his mouth-organ in accompaniment with Sing Lung, who caused -varied and sundry noises to come from his “fi’il.” It was a slow -day. The chores of the ranch having been attended to, Mr. Manley was -waiting for something definite to lead him before starting the hunt -for Gilly Froud. He had, of course, reported the shooting of Gus to -the sheriff of Easton, a fairly large town to the south of Eagles, -and aid in capturing the horse thieves had been promised. Mr. Manley -was doubtful as to the efficacy of this help, but he determined to -give the law a chance before acting. - -Nick and Sing Lung were in the midst of “Oh, Susannah,” when Belle -and Ethel suddenly exclaimed in the same breath: - -“Let’s have a dance!” - -“What’s that, a chorus?” Teddy asked, with a grin. “You two have -been practicing, I can see that!” - -“No, we just thought of it!” Ethel declared. “Wasn’t that funny, -Belle, both saying it together?” - -With a laugh, Belle agreed. - -“But I really mean it,” she added. “We could use the living room and -push all the furniture to one side. Would you play for us, Nick?” - -“Sure would, ma’am!” Nick declared, with a grin. “An’ Jim Casey can -shake an accordion a little--or a whole lot, accordin’ to him,” and -he chuckled noiselessly. - -“And Sing Lung could play his fiddle!” Nell exclaimed. “That _would_ -be great!” - -“Then it’s settled!” Belle cried. “A cowboy dance! Teddy, you can be -master of ceremonies. Roy can be manager. We’ll have it tomorrow -night!” - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -BUG EYE’S ARRIVAL - - -As Nick Looker said, “The day that the dance was to be that night -dawned bright an’ fair.” - -As manager of the entertainment, Roy had to see to it that the floor -was prepared, the furniture moved, and everything made ready for the -great occasion. Although Gus Tripp, because he had a slight fever, -was forbidden by the doctor to take part in the festivities, he -played the part of critical adviser to the rest of the punchers. -From his bedside, he became a director of manly fashions, with the -success of a Beau Brummel. Ethel overheard him speak to Jim Casey, -who had approached him with a question concerning the wearing of a -“diamond” stickpin in a green tie: - -“Well, now, Jim, you gotta to use restraint in yore manner of -dress.” Gus declared. “The correctly appointed gentleman don’t -never wear loud clothes. As George Beaumont Fletcher says, when you -come outer a drawing-room--that’s a high-hat name fer picture -gallery--no one ought to be able to tell what you had on. That don’t -mean you should go in a bathin’ suit. It means you should be able to -march in front of a herd of yearlings without stampedin’ ’em. Now -let me see that pin, Jim. Put her in the tie. Now--jest stand over a -bit more--by the window. There! Um--no, I’m afraid not, Jim. She -don’t match. She _clashes_! Yore dress should be like a symfunny -ochestry, Jim. Everything’s gotta match. Now if you was to put that -pin in a _red_ tie, instead of a _green_ one, she might do O. K. -Yep--a _red_ tie is what you need! Then come back an’ let me see how -she looks.” - -There were few who dared dispute Gus’s taste in the matter of -clothes, but among these insurgents was Pop Burns. He flatly refused -to listen to Gus. - -“I ain’t no dude,” Pop proclaimed forcibly. “If I can’t put on -decent clothes to go to a jamboree without a New Mexican buckeroo -tellin’ me, I’ll dry up an’ blow away. I suppose if Gus didn’t have -a busted arm, he’d be puttin’ on spats an’ carryin’ a cane. Huh! I -goes like a man, not like a bloomin’ fashion dummy!” - -But for all Pop’s protests, the preparations went forward with -gusto. Strange to relate, the general store at Eagles was completely -stripped of green ties. To Teddy, this was a mystery until he -happened to hear Norine humming “The Wearing of the Green.” Then -Teddy nodded his head sagely and grinned. - -The first thing Nell and Ethel had thought of after it had been -decided to have the dance was, naturally, their “party dresses.” -Each girl had brought one evening gown with her, but these were -fifteen miles away at the 8 X 8. Belle it was who solved the -problem. - -“If Teddy or Roy were to ride over for them, they would probably -crush the dresses flat before they got here,” Belle declared. “But I -know what we _can_ do--we can telephone Bug Eye to bring them over -in the flivver. Then they’d get here in plenty of time.” - -The two guests fell in with this idea enthusiastically, and asked -their uncle by phone to have his man drive over with the dresses. -Mr. Ball readily agreed, declaring Bug Eye would have them there by -evening unless he got caught in a cyclone. - -By late afternoon, the living room had been made ready for the -dance. Belle, Ethel and Nell had, under the direction of Mrs. -Manley, decorated the apartment in truly festive style. Brightly -colored streamers of silk hung from the ceiling, and Roy or Teddy -did not even guess they were Belle’s old hair-ribbons tied together. -Flowers were placed in every available spot, chairs were arranged -along the walls, and in one corner a platform of boards was erected -for the orchestra, which was to consist of Nick Looker, with his -mouth-organ, Sing Lung, violinist extraordinary, and Jim Casey, -“Maestro of the accordion.” Teddy’s offer to be a trap-drummer, with -tin pans for drums, was declined with thanks. - -An hour before supper Nell and Belle Ada were in Belle’s room, -trying to decide which of Belle’s light summer dresses she was to -wear. Teddy, Roy, and Ethel were walking in the direction of the -mess-house, to see if the orchestra was prepared to “execute” the -dance numbers. As the three neared the kitchen, a determined voice -reached their ears. Teddy held up his hand and they listened. - -“I tell you that ain’t the proper way!” Nick was declaring loudly. -“Now watch me, you iggernant punchers.” - -Teddy, Roy, and Ethel stole nearer and peeped through the door. What -they saw caused Ethel to clap her hand to her mouth to avoid -bursting into laughter. - -The cowboys were standing about in attitudes of rapt attention. In -the center was Sing Lung, a tablecloth around his waist, an old, -faded, blue-cloth hat on his head, and a simpering grin on his face. -The interpretation was obvious. He was made up to resemble a girl! -Toward him walked Nick Looker, his right hand resting on his chest, -his head bent deferentially. - -Striding to within a pace of the cook, Nick bowed low. - -“I begs you to excuse the liberty,” he said with a precious accent, -“but may I have the honor of this jig?” - -“_Dance_, not _jig_, you Indian!” Rad Sell roared. “A gentleman -don’t never ask a lady to _jig_!” - -Nick turned a haughty look upon the interrupter. - -“Who’s doin’ this askin’; you or me?” he demanded coldly. - -“All right! All right! Go ahead in yore own dumb way! You’ll learn!” - -“I’m tryin’ to learn you birds!” Nick exclaimed. “I know how! Now -look! You goes up to Norine an’--I mean you goes up to the lady an’ -bows. Then you says: ‘Pardon me fer takin’ the liberty, ma’am, but -mahvis dance?’” - -“What? What was that last?” - -“Mahvis dance! Didn’t you ever hear that, you iggernant -bronco-busters? That’s what you say when you want to waltz--you say -‘mahvis dance, please’?” - -“But what’s it _mean_?” Nat Raymond demanded. - -“I don’t know what it means,” Nick answered. “But you _gotta_ say -it. All the tony gents do. ‘Mahvis dance?’ Like that.” - -“What on earth can he mean?” Ethel asked in a whisper of the boys. -“I never heard anything like it in my life! And will you look at -Sing Lung! Honestly, I--” - -“Sh-h-h!” Teddy warned, with a grin. “This is good! Listen! Maybe -we’ll find out what he means later.” - -So intent were the punchers on the etiquette of the ballroom, as -expounded by Mr. Nick Looker, that they never glanced in the -direction of the door. With suppressed mirth that threatened to -break all bounds at any moment, Ethel, Roy, and Teddy watched the -scene. - -“Now what I do?” Sing Lung wanted to know. “I mebby kiss you, hey?” - -“No! No!” Nick roared, his face a fiery red. “You don’t do nothin’ -of the kind! You say ‘Cern’ly, pleecetuh!’ That’s all. Go on, say -it.” - -“Celn’ly, pleecetuh,” simpered Sing Lung. - -“That’s right! Here, Nat, you try it. Don’t forget, Sing is a lady, -even though he don’t know it. Go ahead!” - -With an exaggerated gait, Nat Raymond strutted forward. Bowing down, -he said to Sing Lung: - -“Askin’ your liberty fer a-takin’ of the pardon, ma’am, -but--but--Nick, why in thunder don’t you dry up and blow away! I -can’t remember that crazy thing you say!” - -“Celn’ly, pleecetuh!” Sing Lung replied. He was doing his part. - -Nick threw his hat on the floor in disgust. - -“Mahvis dance, you bonehead!” he shouted. “Mahvis dance! Mahvis -dance! Can’t you remember that?” - -Roy could hold in no longer. He burst out in a roar of laughter. - -“I know what he means now!” he gasped. “Oh, for Pete’s sake! He -means, ‘_May I have this dance!_’ Wow! Hold me up, somebody! Mahvis -dance! Jimminy! I’m going to cave in, sure! Nick, you old--” and -vainly Roy struggled for breath. - -Like a flash, every head turned in the direction of the door. Nick -grinned in embarrassment. Sing Lung, with a yell, tore off the apron -and hat. - -“I’m sorry, Nick, but I couldn’t help it!” Roy gasped. “We just -happened to hear what you said. Sing, you sure are one fine lady! -Excuse me, boys, but I just have to--” and he went off in another -gale of merriment. - -Ethel and Teddy were doing their best to preserve straight faces, -but the strain was too much. They, too, started to laugh. - -“Sure, go ahead!” Nick said, with a grin. “We don’t mind it. I was -just showin’ the boys how to act tonight. You see, they don’t know -nothin’ about polite society, an’ I--” - -“Yea, I suppose you know it all!” Pop Burns burst out. “Teddy, -what’s that crazy thing this coot’s been tellin’ us. What does -‘mahvis dance’ mean?” - -“It means ‘may I have this dance!’” Teddy answered. “Nick, you take -the first prize. Where did you ever hear that?” - -“What, mahvis dance?” Nick asked. “Why, that’s what those New -Yorkers said over at Easton when they had that dance fer the benefit -of the starvin’ Negroes or somethin’. I went to it, so I know. But -these hyenas, here, don’t pay no attention to me!” - -“You just go on explaining to them, Nick,” Ethel advised, with a -smile. “You’re perfectly right. ‘Mahvis dance’ is correct.” - -“There, I told you!” Nick exclaimed triumphantly. “Now mebby you’ll -listen! I _knew_ I was right!” - -“He’s your friend for life,” Roy declared, with a grin, as he, -Ethel, and Teddy walked back to the house, leaving the cowboys to -“professor” Nick Looker. “Say, this dance will be a riot! I’ll bet -every one of those boys, except, maybe, Pop Burns, is in love with -Norine! There’s going to be some wild struggle to decide who has the -first waltz with her!” - -Supper at the X Bar X was quickly concluded, and the hour for the -dance approached. By dint of much coaxing, Gus obtained permission -to sit on the side and watch. - -“Won’t hurt me a bit,” he proclaimed. “I feel fine! Arm don’t hurt -a-tall.” - -As the darkness deepened, Nell and Ethel became somewhat worried -about their evening dresses. Surely Bug Eye should have been here by -now. Mr. Manley went to the phone and called up the 8 X 8. When he -returned his face wore a puzzled look. - -“Pete Ball says Bug Eye started three hours ago. He’s got your -dresses in the flivver, an’ said he should have reached here by six -o’clock. Something must have happened to him--a puncture, or a -blowout. We’ll just have to wait, that’s all.” - -A half hour went by, and still no Bug Eye. Nell and Ethel began to -grow restless. The party would be a total failure without their -evening dresses, they felt. - -“Do you think he’ll come?” Nell asked Mr. Manley, over and over -again. - -“Unless he’s hurt, he will,” the cattle owner responded. “I guess -he’ll get here before the dance starts. We’ll wait till late before -the music begins.” - -But when nine o’clock arrived and there was still no sign of Bug Eye -with the dresses, it was decided to go ahead. Ethel and Nell were -disappointed, but they made the best of it. Belle and her mother -lent them some scarfs and accessories, but they did not have dresses -that would fit either of the visitors. - -“I guess we’ll just have to go without party gowns,” Nell sighed -regretfully. “But it would have been such fun if we could only be -dressed up like you, Belle!” - -“Never mind, the boys won’t know the difference,” Belle consoled -them. “And certainly Teddy and Roy won’t mind. You can have just as -much fun in knockabout dresses. Anyway, Bug Eye might still arrive.” - -By nine-thirty all hope of getting the dresses was abandoned, and -the “orchestra” started to tune up. Sing Lung drew his bow across -the fiddle strings. Nick let out a blast on his mouth-organ. Jim -Casey sent into the air a long, wailing note from his accordion. - -Every person on the ranch had gathered in the living room. Pop Burns -had his shoes polished until they rivaled the high-lights of his -bald head. Gus Tripp sat proudly in the seat of honor at the side of -the room, his arm swathed in bandages. Rad Sell was resplendent in a -new yellow-striped shirt. Also it was noticed that Nick Looker had -given up the idea of a diamond stickpin. He had on a green tie, as -did every other hand on the ranch. The punchers were waiting eagerly -for the music to start. And, Teddy noted gleefully, Norine stood -demurely in a corner, garbed in a _red_ dress! - -Mr. and Mrs. Manley watched the scene with happy smiles. They were -parents of children almost grown, but there were no younger people -in that room than those two. - -Teddy walked to the middle of the floor. - -“Ladies and gentlemen!” he exclaimed pompously. “The dance is about -to begin! Orchestra, are you all ready?” - -“All set, Teddy!” - -“We’re ready!” - -“We can do music when you say yes!” - -“Then choose your partners!” - -There was a wild rush. From the orchestra burst forth a strange -medley of sounds. Heavy shoes shuffled over the floor. Norine, -surrounded by eager punchers, laughed with delight. - -Just then the outer door burst suddenly open. There was a quick -shout. The music stopped in a harsh discord. All eyes were focused -upon the entrance. - -Leaning against the jamb, panting brokenly, his clothes covered with -dust, stood Bug Eye. He looked around him wearily. - -“Boys,” he gasped, “I’ve been robbed! The flivver’s gone! A gang of -rustlers held me up! I had to walk for miles to get here! The -thieves--they took the flivver, dresses, and everything, and left me -flat! An’, by golly, I know who done it, too!” - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -PURSUIT - - -Slowly the import of what Bug Eye had said was realized by every one -in the Manleys’ living room. Teddy ran forward. Roy was not a moment -behind him. - -“Sit down here, Bug Eye!” the younger boy cried, thrusting a chair -toward the swaying man. With a gasp of relief, Bug Eye sank into it. - -“I’m sure some tired,” he declared slowly, “_and_ thirsty! If I -could have--” - -“Just a second!” Roy hurried to the pitcher of water which stood on -a table in a corner. “Here! Take it easy now. There’s ice in it.” - -Bug Eye drank in great gulps, grunting with satisfaction. When he -had finished he leaned back in his chair and looked at the ring of -anxious faces. Even the orchestra had deserted its post and stood -with the others, eagerly waiting for the story of the robbery. - -“Are you hurt at all, Bug Eye?” Mr. Manley asked. “Anything we can -get you?” - -“No, I’m O. K. now, thanks,” the man answered. “I was just thirsty -and winded. Why, those double-distilled, knock-kneed, ornery bunch -of tin mule-stealers, drat their hides, made me walk all the way -from Sanborn’s Point!” - -“He’s all right,” Teddy said to Roy, with a grin. “The same old Bug -Eye! Listen to him rave!” - -Having gotten some of the accumulated feeling out of his system, the -puncher ended with a vigorous “whoosh!” and started his story. - -“Well, when the boss got your message,” he said, nodding toward Nell -and Ethel, “he told me to get set for a trip to the X Bar X. So I -filled the ole puddle-jumper up with oil, gas, an’ water. Long about -four o’clock the boss gives me two boxes an’ tells me to treat ’em -careful. Roy, hand me that pitcher again, will you?” The young -fellow complied, and after another drink Bug Eye went on: - -“So I throws ’em in the back. I means I puts ’em in the back. Then -Mrs. Ball comes out an’ gives me another box, a small one, which she -tells me to be _very_ careful of. Says it’s a present for Miss Belle -here.” And Bug Eye nodded once more. “So I puts that with the -dresses--Mrs. Ball tells me what was in the other boxes, so I -wouldn’t sit on ’em by mistake,” he apologized. - -“Then I starts out. Got along fine till I reached Sanborn’s -Point--you know where that is, hey Teddy? Well, I shoots her the -gas, so’s I can make the hill on high. But nothin’ doin’. ’Bout half -way up she stalls, an’ I shoves her in low gear. Just as I do that, -I hear a yell, an’ three men with masks jumps from the bushes, guns -out, business ends toward me, an’ tells me to stop!” - -There was a buzz of excited comment, and questions were shot at Bug -Eye with machine-gun rapidity. He simply shook his head and went on. - -“Now, boys, give me time! I’m tellin’ it as fast as I know how. As I -said, they tells me to stop. So I stops, not bein’ crazy. They pulls -me from the front seat an’ pushes me into the bushes. Then they hop -in, one of ’em behind the wheel, one of ’em keepin’ me covered. The -other watches out the side. - -“An’ up they go--up the hill an’ down the other side, with flivver, -dresses, present, an’ all!” - -“But, Bug Eye, you said something about knowing who did it!” Roy -exclaimed. “Could you recognize the men?” - -Bug Eye looked up at his questioner. He leaned forward in his chair, -his elbows resting on his knees. - -“One of them,” he said slowly and deliberately, “had a scar on the -left side of his face!” - -“Gilly--” Teddy burst out, and then stopped. His father cast a -warning glance at him. - -“Thought you said they had masks on?” Mr. Manley remarked. - -“They did; but they was only half-masks,” Bug Eye explained. “I -could see the scar below.” - -“Do you know any one with a scar on the left side of his face?” the -cattle owner questioned, looking sharply at the seated man. - -Before he replied, Bug Eye got to his feet. His fists were clenched. - -“I’ll say I do!” he roared. “An’ I got good reason, too! That’s the -hombre that’s been rustlin’ our cattle, an’ you can’t tell me any -different.” - -“Why do you say that?” Teddy asked, leaning forward. - -“Because I seen him!” Bug Eye exclaimed. “That’s why! I was on the -range that day the bunch was cut from our herd. I saw ’em go, too, -an’ made a dash for the rustlers. But they got away. There was one -buckeroo who took a pot shot at me, an’ I saw him close! He was the -one with the scar on his face, an’ he’s the one who stole that -flivver, or I’m a Siamese twin!” - -“You don’t know his name, do you?” Roy demanded excitedly. - -“You mean what he _calls_ himself? No, I don’t! An’ I don’t want to -either! I don’t need no introduction to a rattlesnake to shoot him!” - -In the excitement, Gus Tripp had arisen and was listening with the -rest. Now he walked forward and held out his uninjured hand to the -driver of the stolen flivver. - -“Shake, Bug Eye,” he said solemnly. “You an’ me are together on -that. I’m lookin’ fer that very same rattlesnake!” - -“What happened to you?” Bug Eye asked, in surprise. - -“Little accident,” and Gus grinned sardonically. “Accident caused by -that hombre with the scar on his face you tell about bein’ -interested in. He shot me.” - -“Yea? You don’t say! Well, by golly, we’ll get him! Shake!” - -“Here, we’re in on this!” Pop Burns cried, stepping forward. “He -stole three of our best horses, each one with the purtiest X Bar X -brand on it you ever see, ’cause I branded ’em myself!” - -“What do you say, boys?” Mr. Manley cried, turning to the punchers. -“Do we go after ’em? Hey?” - -“You bet!” came his answer in a roaring chorus. “Let’s go! Nick, -throw that mouth-organ of yours out the window! We got business!” - -“All right, boys! On our way!” - -There was a rush for the door. Decorations were scattered -ruthlessly. Chairs were tossed aside. And where, but a moment -before, was a crowd of jostling, happy, overdressed cowpunchers, now -stood only Mrs. Manley, Belle, Ethel, Nell and Norine, looks of -anxiety on their faces. Even Gus Tripp had gone with the rest. - -“Our evening dresses!” Ethel exclaimed mournfully. “We can say -good-bye to them, I guess!” - -“You may get them back!” Belle insisted. “When dad goes after some -one he usually lands him; doesn’t he, Mother?” - -Mrs. Manley did not reply. She stood twisting her handkerchief into -a tight knot. In her heart was a prayer that her two boys and her -husband would come through safely. - -Outside, Teddy, Roy, and the others were running for the corral. - -“Hold on! Wait a minute!” Mr. Manley called. “We can’t all go! Gus, -where in thunder do you think you’re bound for? Come back here! Want -to be in bed two days more?” - -“Aw, please, boss!” Gus coaxed. “I’m all right, honest! I want to -get a crack at the guy who laid me up! Can’t I come, boss?” - -“No!” Mr. Manley said with finality. “You’re too good a man to lose. -You get back into the house. Anyway, we have to keep some men here. -Teddy, Roy, Nick, Pop, Jim, Bug Eye an’ I will do the chasin’. The -rest of you punchers hang around here. Can’t tell but that Fr--I -mean the thieves who stole the flivver--may have done it to draw us -away from the X Bar X. We have to keep our heads up. They’re not -goin’ to pull off any more robberies if I can help it! Climb aboard -your broncs, boys, an’ let’s go! Nick, get a mount for Bug Eye.” - -Without stopping to change their resplendent attire for something -more serviceable, the X Bar X punchers whom Mr. Manley had named -flung themselves on to their horses. White shirt fronts stuck out -grotesquely from vivid-colored vests. Green ties flaunted free in -the night wind. “City trousers” tickled the horses’ sides. Yet from -each belt hung a heavy revolver. - -“Step on it!” Mr. Manley yelled as they swept out of the yard. “All -you’ve got, boys! Don’t waste any time! We’ll get those rustlers, or -know the reason why! No slip-ups this time!” - -Across the moonlit range the riders galloped. Men and boys leaned -forward in their saddles. On each face was a look of grim -determination. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -THE MAN WITH THE SCAR - - -High above the riders, the full moon shone, a white orb set in the -velvet blackness of the sky, lighting the scene with a silvery -radiance. Soon the buildings of the X Bar X were left behind and the -horsemen raced swiftly over the open range. Bug Eye was in the lead, -and he made straight for the spot where he had been held up. - -Teddy and Roy were riding side by side, a short distance behind -their father. - -“If we’re able to trail the thieves, we may find out something about -our horses!” Teddy yelled to his brother. - -“Hope so,” Roy returned. “It’ll be a good night’s work if we do.” - -On and on they rode. There was little time for conversation, as the -ponies were flashing along at their best speed. They came to an up -grade, at the top of which was Sanborn’s Point. As they neared their -destination, Mr. Manley called to Teddy: - -“You an’ Roy stick close to Bug Eye. I’m going to come in from the -left, and see if I can spot the rustlers.” - -Teddy nodded and spurred his mount onward. Shouting to Nick and Pop -to follow him, Mr. Manley wheeled about in a semicircle. The rest -followed Bug Eye. - -“Almost there!” Bug Eye yelled to Roy. “Where’s yore dad goin’?” - -“He’s circling around to the left, so he can cut in! There’s a trail -that leads to Hawley--guess you know the one I mean--and dad’s -figuring on cutting the thieves off, if they went that way!” - -“Good idee!” - -With a final dash, Bug Eye’s party reached Sanborn’s Point. Bug Eye -held up his hand, and all pulled the horses back. - -“Right here is where she happened,” the puncher said. “I was coming -up the hill, and when I got here they jumped me. Then they went over -this rise in the flivver, an’ I lost sight of ’em. See! There’s the -tracks of the wheels! Boy, I’m sure thankful there’s a moon! Now we -can foller them tracks, an’ we may run into the galoots after all!” - -As Bug Eye had said, the imprints of the tires led over the hill. -Slowly the punchers followed them, and when the rise was topped -Teddy gave a yell. - -“The tracks go left from here! Just the way dad went! Come on--let’s -go!” - -Leaving the road, the men followed the tire trail off to the left. -In the soft soil this was not a hard thing to do, and they could -ride faster now and still keep the tracks in sight. - -“If we ever catch up to them waddies, they’ll wish they’d never seen -that tin mule!” Bug Eye vowed. “Makin’ me walk all them miles! -What’d they want with a Lizzie, anyhow? Did they think I was -carryin’ dust or somethin’? By golly, I bet they took the car out of -plain cussedness! They don’t want that flivver any more than the man -in the moon!” - -“Seems like you’re right, there,” Roy agreed. “But you never can -tell. We’ve got a little account to settle with scar-face, and the -sooner we square it the better.” - -“Say, Bug Eye, you didn’t happen to notice whether one of those men -who robbed you had on a checkered shirt, did you?” Teddy called out -as he rode along. - -“Checkered shirt? Well, now that you mention it, I do remember just -that! Long, stringy sort of ranger, with a peaked hat? Yep! Why did -you ask that, Teddy?” - -“Tell you later, Bug Eye,” the boy answered. He felt that this was -no time for explanations, when they were riding hard to catch the -man who had taken Flash. Teddy was sorry the flivver had been -stolen. “But,” he said to himself, “what’s a flivver compared to -Flash?” - -Jim Casey, who was riding slightly in the rear, suddenly gave a -yell. - -“Here’s somethin’ like a box at the side of the road!” he called. -Bug Eye looked to where Jim was pointing, and then jumped off his -pony. He ran toward the object, and, bending over, he examined it -carefully. - -“We’re on the right trail, boys!” he exclaimed. “This here is the -box Mrs. Ball gave me fer yore sister, Teddy. But it’s empty, now. -Whatever was in it, the thieves took. Well, that’s some help! Roy, -we ought to meet up with yore dad soon, unless he made a powerful -wide circle.” - -Remounting again, Bug Eye and the rest resumed their chase. Ahead of -them they spied three horsemen. - -“There’s dad now!” Roy cried, forcing his mount onward. “Yay, Dad! -Find anything?” - -“Not yet! But we’ve not finished! How’d you make out?” - -“We got a clue, boss!” Jim Casey answered. “I spotted a box in the -road an’ Bug Eye says it was in the flivver with him. So the thieves -must have come this way.” - -Roy spurred his horse close to his father’s. - -“Another thing, Dad,” the boy remarked in a low voice. “Bug Eye said -that one of the hold-up men had on a checkered shirt!” - -“You don’t say!” Mr. Manley appeared startled. “But of course we -have to remember that there’s probably more than one checkered shirt -around here, though I don’t recall ever seein’ one as loud as the -one we noticed at Eagles. Roy, that’s right interestin’ news!” - -“Do we go on, boss?” Nick Looker asked. - -“We sure do!” the ranch owner answered forcibly. “We’ll trail that -flivver till we get it, by jinks!” - -Once more the riders started off. The night was growing misty now, -and the tracks were harder to see, so that the punchers had to -proceed more slowly. Once Pop Burns thought he saw the car at one -side, but it proved to be only a large boulder. - -After riding some five or six miles, Mr. Manley called to his party -to halt. - -“There’s something fishy about this,” the cattle owner declared. -“These tracks don’t seems to get any place! An’ by the way, there’s -more than one car in this part of the country, though I can’t think -why any one would take this trail unless they wanted to get away in -a hurry. Let’s spread out, and cover more ground. Even if we do find -the flivver, it won’t help us much. It’s a cinch the thieves aren’t -going to hang around it, once it stops; an’ it can’t go on forever. -How much gas did it have in the tank, Bug Eye?” - -“Plenty, Mr. Manley. I filled her up just before I started.” - -“Then the rustlers can lead us a merry chase. Now I have an idea -that they may have left one man to drive the flivver, so as to fool -us into following the tracks, while the other two--and I’ll bet -they’re the two we want to get--took a side path. Yep, boys, we -ought to separate. We can cover more ground then.” - -“Say when, boss,” Nick Looker exclaimed. “We’ll rake this range with -a fine comb!” - -“Well, let’s get started then! Every man for himself! Spread out! If -you get into trouble, fire three shots. But don’t get too far apart, -so the fellow next to you couldn’t hear them. I’ll be the center -man, and you can deploy on me. Open up now, boys, an’ let’s go!” - -With a yell to the horses, the chase started anew. Teddy and Roy -took the left and right of Mr. Manley, each riding out straight for -a quarter of a mile, and then turning. The others rode the same -distance from the man nearest to him, until there was a long line -streaked across the prairie. The ground was fairly level here, and -there were few trees, the growth being mostly sage bush. - -More clouds had obscured the face of the moon, making the night -dark. Roy tried to keep an even interval from his father and the man -on his right, but he found that this was impossible, so he rode -forward hoping he might catch a glimpse of the rustlers. - -A slight grade rose ahead of him, and he urged his mount up it. A -little to his left he saw a small clump of trees. Deciding to ride -close to these, Roy pulled his horse over. As he did so, he uttered -an exclamation. - -Out of the group of trees had ridden a man on horseback. He turned, -and saw Roy coming toward him. Wheeling his bronco about, he -re-entered the shadow of the grove. - -Roy leaped his steed forward to the edge of the wooded section. He -heard the sound of a creaking saddle and turned swiftly. His hand -flashed down to his gun. - -But he was too late. Not two feet from his head was the blue barrel -of a revolver, held in a steady grasp. - -“Welcome, stranger!” a sardonic voice exclaimed. - -At that moment the moon slid from behind a cloud, lighting the scene -with its pale glow. And, like some vision of the night, motionless -and tense, a horseman sat facing Roy. The man’s head was turned -slightly to the right, and on the left cheek Roy saw a deep scar. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -ESCAPE - - -It was not fright that held Roy motionless, but a realization of the -hopelessness of resistance. A slight tightening of the crooked -finger that touched the trigger would send a ball of lead tearing -through his body, and at the short range there could be but one -result. It seemed best to Roy that he bide his time. - -“Nice of you to call on me like this,” Gilly Froud went on, in that -sinister, mocking tone. “An’ I begs you’ll excuse the looks of the -place. We ain’t quite ready to receive visitors, yet.” - -“What did you do with our horses and with Bug Eye’s flivver?” Roy -asked, looking straight at the man. - -This Froud was no weakling. He sat hunched over in his saddle, huge -shoulders bent forward. The arm which supported the gun wavered not -an inch, but held firm as a rock. - -“Don’t start askin’ questions,” Froud growled. “It won’t do you no -good, ’cause I don’t know nothin’ about yore hosses. I heard you had -’em stolen from the hitchin’ rail at Eagles. Well, any one who’s -fool enough to leave a hoss unguarded in that town, should have him -stolen!” - -“That’s a lie, Froud, and you know it!” Roy said hotly. “They’d -never have been touched if it hadn’t been for you--and that pal of -yours in the checkered shirt.” - -“Hey? What’s that?” Froud exclaimed in a startled voice. The muzzle -of the gun pointed downward for a moment, but Froud quickly brought -it to bear again upon the boy. “What do you know about a man in a -checkered shirt? Speak up!” - -“Enough,” Roy ventured grimly. He was watching the rustler closely, -ready to take advantage of any chance offered. But Froud did not -relax his vigilance. - -“What’s his name, this bird in the--er--striped shirt?” the former -cowboy from the X Bar X demanded. - -“I don’t know his name, but I know him!” the boy exclaimed. “And I -know he’s one of your gang, too!” - -“So you don’t know his name, hey?” Froud appeared relieved. “Well, -he’s no friend o’ mine. He travels with a different outfit than what -I do. Here--” - -Froud suddenly peered out from the trees. The next moment he jammed -the gun into Roy’s ribs. - -“You make a sound an’ I’ll drill you sure!” he whispered fiercely. - -Cautiously, Roy turned his head. Not fifty feet away was his brother -Teddy, riding slowly along past the grove. - -“Quiet!” Froud ordered softly between set teeth. “If you want to see -how two ounces of lead feels between yore ribs, just yell! By golly, -I’ll blow yore liver right out o’ you!” - -Roy recognized the desperate ring in the rustler’s voice and knew -that the least move on his part would result in his death. Froud was -seized with a sort of panic, and at the slightest sign from Teddy -that the latter knew of his brother’s plight, the rascal would start -shooting. - -As Roy saw his brother pass out of sight, he felt the pressure of -the gun at his side relax, and Froud unconsciously sighed with -relief. - -“I’m takin’ no chances,” he whispered in Roy’s ear. “Don’t you talk -till I say so! Do you hear?” - -A moment more, and the sound of Teddy’s horse died away in the -distance. - -“Guess he’s gone,” Froud declared. “But I don’t want no funny work, -savvy? Don’t think that because I haven’t got this gun stuck in yore -ribs that I ain’t got you covered. You keep both yore hands on the -pommel of yore saddle--no lower.” - -“If you didn’t steal our broncs, what’s the idea of being so -touchy?” Roy asked in as innocent a voice as he could summon. “Why -not let me ride on and try to find the thieves who took Bug Eye’s -flivver?” - -“That’s my business!” Froud retorted savagely. “When I wants advice -from you, I’ll ask for it, see? I ain’t forgot how your old man -kicked me off the X Bar X!” - -“He had a right to!” Roy cried angrily. “You were mistreating Flash, -and you know it! Dad didn’t want a man of your type about the -place.” - -“Oh, he didn’t, hey?” Froud growled. An ugly frown came to his face. -“He’s pretty pertic’lar, ain’t he? That bronc of yore brother’s -needed a good lickin’, and I was givin’ it to him. I was -interrupted. But since then I--” he stopped suddenly. - -“You finished it, you mean!” Roy exclaimed, his fists clenched. -“Froud, if you’ll drop that gun I’ll have it out with you right -here!” - -“Nice little hero!” Froud sneered. “College boy wants to fight bold -bad man, does he? G’wan, you little rat! I could break you in two! -Now shut up! I don’t know where your broncs are, an’ that’s the end -of that! You can see I ain’t ridin’ Flash, or either of the other -two. This is my own hoss. Satisfied?” - -“I’ll have to be, I guess,” the boy said in a low voice. - -“Now yore talkin’ sense! Say, how many of yore crowd is ridin’ -tonight?” - -“Seven.” - -“Seven, hey! I reckon you’d better come with me. It’ll be morning -soon; then you can ride back. If I turn you loose now, yore liable -to get to the rest. Not that I’ve got anything to be afraid of!” the -man added quickly. “But that brother of yours is hot-headed, and I -wouldn’t put it past him to take a pot shot at me fer what I done to -Flash. So come along.” - -“Where?” - -“See that clump of quakermasts over yonder? Head fer them.” - -Against his will, Roy was forced to ride forward, while Froud -trailed him closely, gun still in readiness. A faint glimmer of gray -appeared in the east, betokening the coming dawn. - -Froud knew he must put much territory between him and his pursuers -before daylight, so he urged the horses on to a faster gait. Roy -rode silently, hoping that his chance might come before he got too -far away from the others to give the alarm. But as the two rode -along, this hope dwindled, and the boy knew that, even if he did -escape, he would not be able to reach the others in time to give -chase to Froud. - -Angry thoughts were milling in the boy’s mind as they neared the -group of quakermasts. Turning his head slightly, Roy saw that they -had reached a section of the country known as Harver’s Gully. The -light in the east was stronger now, and Roy could make out the Rocky -Run River a few miles to the north. Further up the stream was the X -Bar X, but if one followed the course of Rocky Run, winding as it -did, it would require a ride of some three or four hours to reach -the Manley ranch. - -Roy knew that a steep hill arose beyond these trees. He wondered if -Froud would make for this, but the next moment his captor ordered -him to pull his horse up. - -“We’re stayin’ here a spell,” Froud said shortly. He rode closer to -Roy. “So you think I travel with a man who wears a checkered shirt, -hey?” - -Startled by this question, apparently coming from a clear sky, Roy -did not reply for a moment. - -“Answer me!” growled Froud. He thrust his left hand out and seized -the boy by the throat. - -Like a flash, Roy realized his intention. For reasons of his own, -Froud wanted Roy out of the way. If he could get him to draw, he -could kill him in cold blood, and then say that he shot in -self-defense. The fact that Roy had his gun in his hand would -corroborate his story. - -With anger surging within him at the cowardly trick, Roy sat -perfectly still. Froud wound his fingers about the boy’s throat and, -with a sneering laugh, made as if to choke him. Then with a grunt as -if of contempt he took his hand away. - -“You’re not worth it,” he snarled. “You an’ that sissy brother of -yores ought to be travelin’ with a nurse!” - -He looked keenly at Roy, but the young rancher did not reply. He -stared long and steadily back at Froud. - -“So you know Checkered Shirt, hey?” the rustler mused. “Well, I -don’t! I never saw him in my life! Get that? I don’t know who he -is!” Realizing that, by this very denial, forcible as it was, he -admitted the thing he was repudiating, Froud stopped. - -“You think yore pretty clever, don’t you?” he demanded. - -Roy made no answer. He kept staring at Froud. - -“Answer me, you rat! Thought you’d corner me an’ make me confess to -a thing I never did, hey?” - -“You’re the best judge of that,” Roy replied coldly. - -For a moment Froud glared at the boy. Then, with a snarl of rage, he -leaped his horse forward. - -This was the chance Roy had been playing for. Digging his heels into -his pony’s side, he met Froud head on. There was a wild yell. The -boy threw himself on one side of his saddle at the very moment that -Froud fired. Roy felt his horse twitch beneath him, and knew the -pony had been hit. But the horse remained on its feet. Now the boy -had his own gun out, and, taking as careful aim as he could in that -poor light, he fired. The cattle rustler’s face went white, and his -right arm dangled helplessly. - -But the rustler was not beaten yet, and, in a moment, had -transferred his gun from his right to his left hand. He fired again, -and Roy felt a sudden sting on his left ear. The boy took aim once -more, and again pulled the trigger. - -This time he missed completely, but Froud had had enough. Wheeling -his horse about, he made off at a gallop. - -Roy watched him go. He could not bring himself to shoot a man in the -back, and Froud probably counted on this. He also knew that Roy -would not follow, for, with a wounded horse, he had small chance of -catching the rustler. - -Roy put his hand to his ear. - -“Got it,” the boy said as he saw a dark stain of blood. “Go on, run, -you horse thief! I’ll get you later!” - -Roy then remembered that he had felt his pony wince, and the boy -dismounted to learn the extent of the bronco’s hurt. It was merely -superficial, Roy noted with relief, and while the horse would have -to travel slowly, there was no danger from the wound. He had been -hit in the right flank. - -The sun was high above the horizon when Roy rode into the yard of -the X Bar X. He was tired and thirsty. His face was bloody from the -wound in his ear. His horse was limping painfully. - -As Roy looked up, he saw his father running toward him. - -“All right, Dad,” the boy called cheerfully. “I’ve quite a story to -tell! No, I’m not hurt. Just got a nick in the ear. Did you find the -flivver?” - -“Roy!” Mr. Manley exclaimed. “Son, I’m glad you’re back! Your -mother’s been awful worried--an’ so have I! What happened?” - -“Well, I found Froud, for one thing. But wait till I get a drink and -some food in me, and I’ll tell you all about it.” - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -THE DECISION - - -Roy’s breakfast was flavored with the tale of his moonlight ride to -Harver’s Gully. Between bites he told the story of his meeting with -Froud and of the rustler’s strange insistence that he did not know -Checkered Shirt. - -“You say Froud wasn’t riding one of our horses?” Teddy asked. - -“No. He was sitting on a bronc I never saw before. One of his own, -or maybe one he rustled from another outfit. Somehow, he seemed -puzzled after he had me covered, as if he didn’t know what to do -with me. Took him a mighty long time to decide to bring me to -Harver’s Gully.” - -Neither Mr. Manley nor Teddy had yet taken to their beds, having -reached the X Bar X but an hour before Roy. All night they had spent -in looking for the missing youth, and at last they had decided he -might have returned home. They were about to start on another search -when Roy rode into the yard. - -“Say, Dad, did you find that flivver?” Roy asked, leaning back in -his chair with a satisfied sigh. A strip of adhesive tape marked the -spot where the bullet had torn his ear. - -“We did,” the ranchman stated. “Teddy marked it in a ditch. Wasn’t -hardly worth sweepin’ up. They’d stripped it clean and smashed the -motor to pieces with a wrench. Bug Eye was seein’ red. He could -hardly talk. By golly, if the same gang is doin’ all this dirty -work, they’ve got an awful lot to settle for!” - -“I’ll tell a maverick they have!” Roy declared hotly. “And they’ll -settle, too! Froud made a mistake when he brought me over to -Harver’s Gully. I’ve got an idea that the gang’s headquarters is -around there some place. Teddy, you and I will have to take a ride -over there soon. It’s right on a deep part of the river, you know, -and we might get a few fish--though the kind of fish I’d like to get -can’t be caught with a hook and line.” - -It was eight o’clock before Roy threw himself upon his bed and gave -himself over to the blissful luxury of complete relaxation. The -others who had joined in the chase, including of course Mr. Manley -and Teddy, were likewise catching up on some sleep. At twelve -o’clock the ranch yard presented a strangely deserted appearance. -When usually the cowboys would be yelling loudly for Sing Lung to -hurry up with that grub, now from the bunk-house sounded only the -snores of punchers sunk deep in slumber. Those who had not gone on -the night ride stayed as silent as possible, out of respect for -their fatigued brothers. But it would have taken a salvo of -twenty-one guns to awaken those buckers. - -At four o’clock Roy opened his eyes full upon a beam of sunlight -that shot through his window and played upon his face. Automatically -he turned upon his side, then saw that in the bed across from him -Teddy still slept peacefully. Reaching over, Roy gently raised the -window shade, so that the sun now shone upon Teddy. The boy moved -restlessly, threw his hand over his eyes, then turned and saw his -brother grinning at him. - -“What time?” he asked in a monotone. - -“Six-thirty! You going to sleep all day? I’ve been up hours. Had -lunch and went for a ride with Curly.” - -“Curly? You mean Nell?” - -“No, I mean Ethel. Why?” - -“Oh, nothing.” Then, when he saw the grin on his brother’s face, -Teddy turned to the wall with a snort of disgust. - -“Don’t be silly! You just woke up yourself. Six-thirty! Humph! I’ll -bet it’s about twelve o’clock. Well--” as he looked at a watch on -the chair beside him--“it’s only a little after four, anyway. I knew -you were kidding.” - -“Yes, you did! I noticed that as soon as I said I’d been riding with -Curly. But say, we’d better get up.” - -“Wait a minute. I want to ask you a few questions about Froud, Roy. -You say he got sore when you mentioned Checkered Shirt?” - -“I’ll tell a maverick he did! There’s something up between those -two. I wish we could come across that hombre in the cross-word -puzzle laundry-piece!” - -“He probably’s got another by now. Even rustlers have got to change -their shirts once in a while. But, seriously, what made you think -that Harver’s Gully is headquarters for Froud’s gang?” - -“Because, didn’t he head right for there? And then when we got there -he seemed sort of sorry he’d come. He thought I knew too much for -the good of his health. Golly, Ted, when you rode by that grove of -trees I sure held my breath! Froud had his gun stuck hard into my -ribs, and if you had taken it into your head to ride in I’d be -strummin’ a harp right now.” - -“Oh, well, if I had come in, Froud might have beat it off. Can’t -tell. Roy, you should have seen that flivver! The top was ripped -completely off. Two tires were flat. The motor was a wreck. It -looked as though it had been struck by lightning.” - -“Wonder what they did all that for? I suppose you didn’t find the -dresses Mrs. Ball sent over?” - -“Not a trace. Looked like a spite job to me. Bug Eye said the same. -If he ever catches the gang who held him up, he’ll spite ’em!” - -“Did he go back to the 8 X 8?” - -“No; he’s asleep in the bunk-house. He wants to have another look -for the thieves, I guess. If his boss thinks it’s the same gang that -stole his cattle, he’ll let Bug Eye search all he wants to--and -maybe help him. I’ve got a hunch that something is bound to break -soon. The people around these parts are pretty sick and tired of -having those roughnecks play fast and loose with their property.” - -“You said a mouthful! Come on! Let’s hit the deck. We’ve got plenty -to do.” - -“Think we ought to have another go at the dance tonight?” - -“Not me! Anyway, the evening dresses of Nell and Ethel are lost, and -so they won’t be so keen for it. We’ll just let it slide. Things are -going to be pretty lively here from now on. There won’t be much time -for dancing.” - -Springing from his bed, Roy walked to the bathroom and doused his -head and face with cold water. Teddy did the same, and after -“slicking up” a bit the two boys made for the yard. Mr. Manley was -standing talking to Nick Looker when Roy and Teddy approached. - -“Roy,” his father called, “c’mere a second, will you? Want to ask -you some more about that scar-faced friend of yours. Whereabouts in -Harver’s Gully did he take you?” - -“Well, there’s a grove of quakermasts down on the near side of the -river. If you keep on going, you’d come to a small rise, from which -you could see for a good distance on either side. I rode over there -only last fall.” - -“Yore dad said you had an idee the rustlers hang out around there,” -Nick stated. “That so, Roy?” - -“I don’t know whether it’s so or not, Nick; but that’s what I think. -As I told dad, Froud seemed kind of sorry he’d brought me to the -gully. Then he ducked as soon as he could without waiting to fight -it out with me, though I winged him in the arm after he’d nicked me -here,” and Roy pointed to his ear. “He’s got to have that arm of his -treated some place, or he’ll get poisoned. The nearest doctor is -over at Hawley. Say, I think I’ll--” - -“Telephone to him to hold a man with a wounded arm?” Teddy -interrupted. “I thought of that, too. Go ahead, Roy. Myself, I don’t -figure much on getting Froud that way. But it won’t do any harm to -try.” - -Mr. Manley said they would wait there while Roy telephoned. When the -boy returned his face bore a disappointed look. - -“Doc said he’d been there early this morning and gone,” Roy -declared. “We might have had a chance if I had called up sooner. -Well--” - -“The doc couldn’t have held him,” Mr. Manley broke in. “Suppose it -happened to be the wrong man? Doc ’ud be in a fine fix then. No, -boys, we’ve got to work this thing out for ourselves. No use foolin’ -around. The thing to do is to ride that varmint down an’ snub his -horns so he can’t do no more damage. Seems to me he’s got a streak -of real meanness in him. Didn’t do him no good a-tall to steal that -flivver. He just wanted to act up. Well, his time will come. An’ -when it does, he’s got an awful lot to account for!” - -Bug Eye made his appearance at six o’clock. He had slept off his -wild anger at finding his flivver wantonly wrecked, but still the -indignity of being made to walk all those miles to the X Bar X -smouldered within him. A cowboy’s legs are not for walking, they are -to keep him steady on a horse. - -Upon being told of Roy’s adventure with Froud, Bug Eye asked Mr. -Manley for a horse to ride after the rustler, but he was persuaded -to calm down and sit tight for a bit. - -“This waitin’ gets on my nerves,” he proclaimed to the world in -general. “If I had my way, I’d get a gang together an’ stick so -close to that hoss-thief’s neck that his feet would bust through the -soles of his shoes.” - -“Yea, an’ have his head for cover, pronto,” Nick sneered, “with -twenty head of yore cattle, our three horses, an’ Pete knows how -much else. Then where’d we be? No sir, the thing to do is to go -about this thing like you was eatin’ custard pie. Soft an’ easy, but -sure to get there. We don’t want no more flare-backs. Twice we -almost stumbled on their heels, an’ both times they stepped out o’ -their shoes an’ vamoosed right quick. Why, Teddy an’ Roy got within -shootin’ distance of Froud up on Mica Mountain, but it didn’t do no -good, an’ it wasn’t the boys’ fault that they got away, either. So -when we get ’em, we want to get ’em good. None of this half-way -business for us.” - -This seemed the general consensus of opinion at the X Bar X, and -nothing was done immediately except to notify the sheriff at Hawley -that a hold-up had occurred and that some property was stolen from a -car. - -“Though I might as well have told a cigar store Indian for all the -good it’ll do,” Mr. Manley declared, with a grim laugh. “That -sheriff is more politics than he is sheriff. Whatever roundin’ up of -thieves we want done, we’ve got to do ourselves.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -NEWS FROM THE 8 X 8 - - -The next morning Peter Ball sent a car for Nell and Ethel, and, -together with Bug Eye, the girls went back to the 8 X 8. Roy and -Teddy were sorry to see them go, as was Belle Ada, but they consoled -themselves with the thought that they could easily ride over to the -Ball ranch later and see them. It was arranged that Belle should go -on a visit to the 8 X 8 before the summer was over. - -The business of ranching was taken up once more at the X Bar X, -although an undercurrent of vigilance seemed to be ever present. -Days of being without Star and Flash did not seem to console the -boys appreciably for their loss. Rather, as each day passed they -realized more and more keenly that Flash and Star had meant a great -deal to them. Mr. Manley, although he did not dwell on the -misfortune of losing General, as did Roy and Teddy over their -ponies, yet wished heartily that he had the bronco back. - -Gus Tripp’s arm healed rapidly, and he was in the saddle again -within a week, looking, as he said, whiter than he had since he was -four years old. Otherwise he was little the worse for his -experience. Of course the arm was still bandaged but Gus said that -was only a reminder, “like you’d tie a string around yore finger, -so’s not to fergit somethin’.” When asked what it was that he wanted -to remember, he answered vaguely that it had something to do with -rattlesnakes. - -Several times Nick and Pop had ridden into Eagles, watching for -Checkered Shirt, but the man seemed to have left that part of the -country. No one in town had seen him for a week. The barkeeper at -Rimor’s had likewise disappeared for the time being. - -One morning Roy and Teddy determined to go fishing. The day was just -right for the sport, cloudy, and they had hopes of bringing home a -mess of mountain trout. By common consent, the boys agreed to ride -to Harver’s Gully and cast along that part of Rock Run River which -flowed by the spot. - -Having arrived at the gully, the two boys rode slowly through the -grove of quakermasts where Roy had been held captive. Then they -mounted the hill on the other side and looked sharply about them. - -“Don’t see much of importance, do you?” Teddy queried. - -“Not much. Guess I was mistaken. But it looked queer, I’ll tell a -maverick! I thought sure we’d find something hereabouts.” - -“After all, it was only a hunch,” Teddy stated. “Most of the time -they go wrong. Come on, let’s give the fish a whirl. Pop said -they’re running fine.” - -Riding down the incline, the boys came once more to the river. At -this time of year it was a sizable stream, the snow on the -mountains, having melted and run down, had swelled it to almost a -flood stage. The water hissed merrily against the lines as Teddy and -Roy cast. - -For some minutes neither got a strike. Then Roy, who was up-stream -from his brother, suddenly saw his line go taut. - -“Strike!” he called out, and Teddy, abandoning his own casting, ran -toward Roy. - -“Feels like a whale!” the boy sang out. “Hand me that net, Ted!” - -There was haste to oblige, and Roy played his fish carefully. The -trout seemed not unused to the ways of anglers, for it did not dash -aimlessly about, but with short, purposeful spurts prevented the -young rancher from taking in much line. - -“Looks as if you were in for a fight!” Teddy exclaimed, watching -with interest the contest between his brother and the fish. “He’s no -amateur at this business, that trout! He knows his stuff!” - -“I’ll tell a maverick he does!” Roy said, breathing hard. “Golly, he -must weigh a ton! He’s _some_ scrapper!” - -Suddenly the line swayed down, hanging loosely. - -“Now’s your chance!” Teddy shouted. “Reel in! Reel in!” - -Roy needed no such advice, for he was reeling in as fast as he -could. Then, with a slight twang, the line tightened. Roy was still -taking in slack when it happened, and he could not stop in time. -There was a quick jerk, and the frayed end of the cord dangled from -the tip of the rod. The fish had won. - -Roy threw the pole down in annoyance. - -“Thought I had him, sure!” he declared. “Ever see a fish act like -that before? Wise as they make ’em! He just waited until I started -to reel in, then stopped short and broke the line. Well, he sure -timed it pretty. My respects to a clever fish,” and he removed his -hat and made a mock bow. - -“But he’s carrying quite a weight of line,” Teddy said, with a -chuckle. “He’ll have that to remember you by, Roy.” - -“Like fun he will!” his brother cried. “He knows his apples, that -fish. He’ll just swim around a stump a few times, tangle the line in -it, give a jerk and he’s free. I know that kind. Some of ’em can -speak Greek and Latin.” - -The boys fished with fair luck for an hour or so longer, Teddy -landing two large ones and Roy three smaller trout. The “whopper” -that had struck Roy’s line did not return, though the ranch lad had -coaxed him with all the brightly colored flies in his packet. - -“Getting sort of late,” Teddy remarked, as he stood on the bank -adjusting a hook. “What say we cut for home? We’ve got quite a ride -ahead of us, you know. Let’s get started.” - -Roy nodded. - -“I just want to make one more cast. Something tells me that the big -fellow I hooked first is still hanging around. If he is, and wants -some more fun, I’ll give it to him! Just once more, Teddy.” - -The boy drew back his rod for a cast. His arm still bent back, Teddy -caught his wrist. Roy looked up in surprise. - -“What--” he began. Then he saw the look on his brother’s face and -stopped. - -“Keep quiet!” Teddy whispered. “Through the bushes there! See? A man -on horseback!” - -Roy stared intently. But he did not get a good view of the intruder, -for the sound of a pony breaking trail came to the ears of the boys -at that moment, and the horse and rider disappeared. - -“Roy, I’ll bet anything that was Froud!” Teddy exclaimed excitedly. -“And he was on Flash, too! I’d know that horse among a million! -Golly, that settles it! Froud is the thief!” - -“Are you sure it _was_ Froud?” Roy asked. “I didn’t get a good look -at him--but what I saw didn’t look a great deal like Scar Face!” - -“He did to me!” Teddy insisted. Then the boy stepped from the side -of the stream into the woods. He parted the bushes, and glanced -about. - -“Not a sign of him,” he said regretfully. “Let’s get our broncs, -Roy, and ride around here! There may be something to that theory of -yours about the gang’s headquarters.” - -The boys ran quickly to where they had left the horses. Teddy half -expected to find them gone, but they were not, and, in a moment, the -two young ranchers were mounted, having taken their rods apart and -slipped them into a case as they ran. - -They rode toward the place they had seen the figure and examined the -earth for hoofprints. These they easily discovered. - -“He went this way,” Roy declared, pointing. “We can ride along and -see what we can find. It’s toward home, anyway.” - -“I’ll bet anything that was Froud on Flash!” Teddy remarked, almost -to himself. “When he saw us he beat it. Let’s follow up these -tracks, Roy.” - -The boys cantered along, eyes upon the ground, easily tracing the -marks in the soft earth near the side of the stream. For about a -mile they rode. Then they were halted. The tracks led directly down -into the stream. - -“That stops us,” Roy declared, in a disappointed tone. “He may have -gone any place from here. Most likely he doubled back and crossed to -the other side. Well, that’s that! Another failure!” - -“But I’m sure it was Flash he was on!” Teddy said in a positive -voice. “I couldn’t be mistaken there. We’ll hurry back and tell dad. -Maybe he’ll want to go after the skunk.” - -The day was drawing to a close, and the two boys started homeward. -Roy had not forgotten the fish, and these hung from the pommel of -the saddle, giving the horse many uneasy moments trying to figure -what those cold things were that kept tapping him on the side. - -Teddy was really disappointed that they had not succeeded in -catching the lone horseman, but Roy still had his doubts about the -fellow being Froud. Little was said concerning the incident, -however, until the boys reached the ranch yard of the X Bar X. - -There all was confusion. Punchers were rushing about, catching their -ponies and throwing saddles on with almost indecent haste. The -corral was nearly empty of horses. Mr. Manley stood in the center of -the yard issuing orders. - -As the brothers rode up they eyed this strange scene with puzzled -frowns. - -“For Pete’s sake, what’s all the shooting for?” Teddy inquired. - -“Blamed if I know!” Roy answered. “Looks as if everybody was going -some place! Hey, Dad, what’s the trouble? Why all the fuss?” - -“Didn’t you hear?” Mr. Manley called out. “Where’ve you been-- Oh, -that’s right, you’ve been fishin’. Well, we got some bad news from -the 8 X 8.” - -“What do you mean?” came from Teddy quickly. “Have they been raided -again?” - -“That’s just what happened!” the boys’ father declared. “Rustlers -got away with a hundred head of their cattle last night, an’ plugged -two of their men! We’re ridin’ out after the thieves--the whole 8 X -8 outfit an’ us! This time we stay ridin’ till we round up that -gang, too.” - -Teddy and Roy looked at each other. Had the figure they had seen at -Harver’s Gully anything to do with this new outrage? - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -THE STORM - - -“Going to start now, Dad?” Teddy asked. - -“Yes--right away! Can’t afford to lose any more time. The bunch from -8 X 8 is due any minute now, an’ we’re goin’ to start from here. -We’ll work in shifts--one gang take the trail tonight, and another -in the mornin’. In that way we’ll ride the rustlers down before they -have a chance to cache the cattle. We want to prevent those thieves -from driving the Durhams to a hiding place. If we keep on the jump, -we may be able to get ’em before they make their way to a retreat.” - -Mr. Manley hurried toward the corral. The two boys dismounted and -led their horses to the hitching rail, thinking they might need them -soon. - -“A hundred head of Durhams!” Roy mused. “Those fellows sure work -fast! Mighty funny they didn’t start something with the X Bar X -herd.” - -“Guess they thought that the 8 X 8 outfit would be easier to raid. -It looks like it was, too. What kind of men has Pete Ball got riding -his cattle to let rustlers raid their herd twice in a month?” - -“Well, as I said before, that gang is pretty clever. They’re no -amateurs at the game, and I’ll bet they’ve got half the men in -Eagles in league with them, especially those who hang around -Rimor’s. Say, do you suppose dad wants us to come with him?” - -“Wait here while I ask him.” - -Teddy walked rapidly toward his father. It was in his mind to tell -his parent of the occurrence at Harver’s Gully, but when he thought -it over he realized that it would be but a slender clue and might -lead the pursuers astray. Looking back, he could not be absolutely -sure that that man was Gilly Froud, however much he appeared to be. - -“No, son, I want you an’ Roy to stay around here,” Mr. Manley -replied in answer to Teddy’s question. “Mother is a bit worried, and -she’ll feel a lot safer if you two are here. You an’ Roy can go out -with the morning bunch--that is, if we don’t spot the rustlers -before that. Belle Ada has to get to the 8 X 8 in the morning, too, -as she promised Nell and Ethel she’d come over. Myself, I’d rather -she’d wait a few days, but she wants to go, so I’ll let her. You and -Roy can take her over, can’t you? You can join in the chase later.” - -“Sure, Dad, if you say so. We’ll do whatever seems best to you.” - -Having communicated to Roy his father’s advice, Teddy put the two -ponies away for the night. He really wanted to ride with the rest, -but he knew it would be better for him to stay at home until his -father returned. - -Six men from Peter Ball’s place arrived just before supper, and -after a hurried meal, the chase for the horse thieves started. - -This time there was none of the wild rushing of the former pursuit. -The men clucked quietly to their horses, and, led by Mr. Manley, -they rode out of the yard. They were on a grim business, and each -felt the responsibility of his position. They were banded together -to wipe out a gang of rustlers. A stern task was ahead of them, and -they simply proceeded toward it. - -With most of the punchers riding away with Mr. Manley, the ranch -yard of the X Bar X was now a quiet spot. For some minutes Roy and -Teddy stood in silence, watching the dust settle. The sky was -overcast, and the usual glory of the western sunset was missing. A -drizzle of rain was falling, and, turning about, Teddy and Roy -entered the ranch house, to eat in more leisurely manner than those -who had gone on the chase. - -Supper was rather a dreary meal. Try as she would, Mrs. Manley could -not altogether conceal her anxiety for the safety of her husband. - -Teddy reached across the table and laid his hand over his mother’s. - -“Cheer up, Mom,” he said, with a smile. “Dad’s all right. You’ll see -him come rushing in here in the morning, saying that they caught the -rustlers and is there any coffee and beans left.” - -“Oh, I hope so,” Mrs. Manley replied, smiling slightly. “It is -foolish of me to worry, and I won’t do it any more. Certainly your -father can take care of himself. Belle, dear, do be careful of that -pitcher! Roy, pour your sister some milk. I know she’ll spill it, -reaching in that fashion.” - -There were those at the X Bar X who did not sleep much that night. -Mr. Manley might return at any time and tell of success--or failure. -Many times Teddy and Roy leaped up from their beds, where they were -lying fully dressed, and ran to the window, only to find that the -noise they had heard was the wind blowing a shingle across the yard -or a horse in the corral rubbing against the rails. The drizzle -stopped, though the sky remained cloudy and a cold wind blew. - -At one o’clock the boys heard a tapping on their door. Opening it -quickly, they found their mother standing there. - -“I wondered if you were asleep,” she said, with a little smile. -“Now, this won’t do at all. We can’t have you wasting your strength, -you know. Come down to the kitchen with me, and I’ll make some -cocoa. Then you’re going to take off your things and get in -bed--even if I have to tuck you in as I used to, not so long ago. In -the morning you have to take Belle over to the 8 X 8, and, after -that, there’ll be plenty of work to do. So you need all the rest you -can get. Come now, we’ll get the cocoa made, then it’s to bed with -both of you!” - -“But don’t you want us to wait up for dad, Mother?” - -“No, Roy. When he comes I’ll call you. You must get your sleep. My, -listen to that wind!” - -After a warming drink, Teddy and Roy, in obedience to their mother’s -laughing orders, hopped into bed. Both declared that they wouldn’t -sleep a wink, but, somehow, they could not keep their eyes open, and -two o’clock found them deep in slumber. Mrs. Manley it was who -watched at the window for the returning horsemen, her hands clasped -tightly. - -The day was three hours old when Teddy and Roy opened their eyes. -Roy was the first one out of bed, and, practically throwing his -clothes on, he made for the door. Teddy was a close second, and they -descended the stairs together. - -Their mother was waiting in the dining room. She put her finger to -her lips and said in a low voice: - -“Don’t make too much noise, boys. Your father is asleep right above. -He came in at five o’clock.” - -“Did he--did he--” Teddy began tensely. - -Mrs. Manley shook her head. - -“No luck, boys. He wants you to take Belle over to Peter Ball’s -place as soon as you can and to hurry back. I wish she would wait -until this business is over. Still, I won’t be foolish and start to -worry. She is so eager to visit Nell and Ethel that I haven’t the -heart to say she can’t. There is not a great deal of opportunity for -social life out here. Anyway, I want her to become well acquainted -with the two girls, for she may go to New York next winter and -she’ll be happier if she has friends there. When do you want to -start?” - -“As soon as Belle can, Mother,” Boy answered. “Dad is all right, -then?” - -“Just tired. He could hardly keep his eyes open, poor man. And he’s -doing all this to help a friend, too!” - -“Dad would do more for a friend than he would for himself,” Roy said -softly. “Golly, I hope we catch those rustlers! Boy, how I hope it! -Teddy, can’t you feel old Flash under you once more? And Star! Come -on, Ted, let’s hurry so we can get back soon! Mom, how soon before -Belle will be ready?” - -Mrs. Manley smiled at her son. It was like him to think more of -getting his horse back than of capturing the rustlers--the mother -knew the great affection that existed between Roy and Star and -between Teddy and Flash. Yet, when she thought of the dangers of the -chase, her face sobered. Still she did not forbid them to go. She -knew that her boys must learn to be men. - -The two brothers and their sister were soon ready to start. -Cautioning them to be careful, Mrs. Manley kissed them good-bye. -They were going on horse back, Belle having her own favorite pony -which she could not think of leaving behind. - -As they set out, Teddy looked up at the sky. - -“More rain,” he remarked thoughtfully. “Makes trailing that much -harder. Belle, were you up when dad came in?” - -“No. But I heard him. He said the men never got a glimpse of the -thieves. Then he said something about Harver’s Gully, but I didn’t -quite catch that.” - -“He did?” Roy asked excitedly. “What was it, Belle? Think!” - -“I didn’t hear it all, Roy, because he shut the door just then.” - -“I wonder if they rode over that way!” Teddy exclaimed. “Roy, the -more I think of that man we saw, the more I’m sure it was Froud!” - -“You saw Gilly Froud?” Belle asked, her eyes wide. - -“We weren’t sure,” Teddy said quickly. Then he changed the subject -and suggested that they hurry, as the clouds were getting heavier. - -They reached the 8 X 8 after a long ride, finding it in much the -same condition as their own ranch. That is, most of the punchers -were on the range, trying to get track of their stolen cattle. Bug -Eye Wilson remained, “to keep the cook company,” as he said, much as -he had wanted to ride with the rest. His time would come later -unless the rustlers were caught soon. - -There was an attitude of quiet determination about the men on the 8 -X 8. Teddy noticed that the punchers who remained were talking in -low tones and with none of their accustomed banter. - -“They’re all business,” Roy remarked to Teddy. “If those rustlers -get away this time they’re pretty clever. This last trick they -pulled was one too many. They’ve got the whole country on their -necks now.” - -Needless to say, Nell and Ethel were delighted to see Belle, and -also her brothers. But Roy and Teddy could scarcely stay long enough -to say “hello.” They were anxious to get back, see their father, and -join in the chase. - -The sky was blacker than ever when they turned and started for home. -The wind had increased in violence, and the boys bent low in their -saddles as they rode. - -Three miles out Roy gave a yell. - -“Here she comes! She’s goin’ to be a pip, too! Wow!” - -With a sullen roar the storm struck. The rain fell in torrents and -the wind whipped the boys’ faces stingingly. - -“We’ve got to find shelter!” Teddy shouted. “Can’t ride in this! The -broncs will fall, sure, and maybe break a leg! Then we’ll be out of -luck!” - -Bracing themselves against the furious blasts, the boys galloped on, -searching for some sort of protection. The lightning was flashing -almost continually, so they wisely kept out of the vicinity of large -trees. - -Suddenly Teddy gave a shout. - -“There’s something ahead! Looks like a house! Let’s head for that!” - -The boys forced their broncos onward. Through the dashing rain they -could see the outlines of a shack. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -DISCOVERY - - -Pulling their hats further down on their heads to keep the rain out -of their eyes, the two boys directed their ponies toward the cabin. -The horses were twitching nervously every time a streak of lightning -tore the rain-washed sky, and it took skillful hands to keep them -from running wild. - -A blinding flash came just as they reached the cabin, and a tree not -a hundred yards away fell to the ground with a startling crash. -Teddy’s pony threw back his head and whinnied in terror. - -“Close!” Roy yelled. “Watch that bronc of yours, Teddy! He’s a -sidewinder!” - -The warning was unnecessary, for Teddy at the same moment seized the -horse’s mane with a firm hand. This had a quieting effect, and the -bronco lowered his head once more. - -Now they were at the door of the dwelling, and both boys leaped from -their mounts. The cabin was a ramshackle affair, simply four walls -and a roof, with no porch. There was one window in the front and one -on the side, neither of which had an unbroken pane. But at least the -place afforded shelter, and tying their ponies to a pole which stood -at the rear, partly under the eaves, Teddy and Roy ran to the front -door. - -Seizing the knob, Teddy pushed. The plank door flew open, and the -boys entered. The windows allowed some light to penetrate the -interior, but, even so, it was dark and dreary within. The boys saw -that four chairs were grouped about a rough table. On one side was a -couch that had long passed its days of usefulness. A stone fireplace -was built in one of the walls, and Roy noticed with relief that -there were several pieces of wood piled on the andirons. A door -opened into another room, evidently a bed chamber. Above were the -bare rafters, opening up to a peaked roof. - -Teddy removed his sodden hat and whacked it on the table. - -“Wow!” he gasped. “Some rain! Golly, I’m wet through!” - -“So am I, I’ll tell a maverick!” Roy exclaimed. He looked about him -curiously. “We’re pretty lucky to stumble on this. Wonder who in -thunder ever lived here?” - -“Some sheep-herder, most likely,” his brother declared. Walking to -the door he pushed it more firmly shut. “Thank goodness the roof -doesn’t leak! Say, look at the wood in the grate! Seems as if some -one had been here not so long ago and intended to come back.” - -“Well, if he comes back now, he’ll find his wood being used,” Roy -said, with a chuckle. “Got a dry match, Teddy?” - -Searching his pockets, Teddy found a box nearly full. The water had -not touched them, and in a few moments a fire was crackling merrily. - -“This is gravy!” Teddy exclaimed, extending his hands to the warmth. -“Baby! Listen to that rain! We’d be about drowned if we were out in -that.” - -“Ever see this place before?” Roy asked, as he took off his vest and -hung it on a chair. Neither of the boys wore coats, heavy shirts and -vests affording them all the protection they needed in that country -at this season. - -“Nope. Don’t remember. Did you?” - -“Don’t think so. Let’s see what’s in that other room.” - -The door was a trifle hard to open, but Roy put his shoulder against -it and shoved. It gave under his weight, and he entered. - -For a moment he stood staring. - -“Well, what is it?” his brother asked, walking forward. “See a -ghost, or something?” - -“Mighty funny,” Roy said in a puzzled tone, as though to himself. -“Take a look!” - -He stepped aside, and Teddy peered in. What he saw caused him to -utter an exclamation. - -On the side of the wall was a gun-rack. Hanging from it were seven -rifles, all well oiled and polished, as though they had been -recently taken care of. On the floor were several boxes of -cartridges. But, stranger than this and what had brought the cry of -surprise from Teddy, was a pile of queerly shaped implements in one -corner. - -“Branding irons!” Roy ejaculated. “Branding irons, as sure as you’re -a foot high! Can you beat that?” - -“They sure are!” Teddy cried excitedly. Bending over, he picked one -up. “Roy! See here!” - -The older boy looked eagerly at the object in his brother’s hand. It -was a square piece of iron fastened to a wooden handle, and between -the handle and the plate was a piece of fluted and corrugated metal, -to allow rapid radiation of heat and prevent the burning of the -wood. Teddy turned the iron over. On the face, in raised characters, -was marked: 8 X 8. - -“Pete Ball’s brand!” Roy exclaimed. “Now what--” - -“If they had a sign on the door, ‘Horse Thieves,’ they couldn’t tell -us plainer than this,” Teddy interrupted. - -“But this is an 8 X 8 branding iron,” put in Roy slowly. “They -wouldn’t want to brand the cattle they stole with the same brand.” - -Instead of replying, Teddy picked up another one of the irons. This -had a small circle at each end and four curves between. - -“I’ll bet this is a fake branding iron!” cried the younger ranch lad -triumphantly. “Don’t you see, Roy? They can stamp this fake iron -directly over the 8 X 8 and that will make an entirely different -brand, having a three-leafed clover at each end with a curved rope -uniting them.” - -“Say, I’ve heard something about that before!” came quickly from the -older boy. “Don’t you remember dad’s talking once about the Rope and -Clover brand which was used by some rustlers in upper Montana? I’ll -bet this is the same kind of outfit!” - -“It certainly looks that way!” - -The two brothers examined the fake iron and the real one with care, -and then Teddy turned to his brother. - -“The question is--what is to be done?” he demanded. - -“Well, what can we do? Seems like it’s raining harder than ever now. -Even if we did cut for home and tell the gang what we’ve found, what -good would it do? It’s a cinch those rustlers won’t come back when -they know we’re watching this cabin.” - -“But do they have to know that? Why can’t we get the bunch, sneak -back, and lay for those horse and cattle thieves? They’ll return -sooner or later, because their guns and stuff are here.” - -Roy thought for a moment. - -“It’s a chance,” he said finally. “Of course, they may come back -while we’re gone and cart their things away. But we’ve got to risk -that. The only thing is, if we stayed here ourselves we’d be sure to -see them and maybe we could follow them to their hiding place where -they keep the cattle. Then we’d have them cold--our horses too. That -is, if this is the same bunch that stole Star and Flash and -General.” - -“Don’t you worry about that! There’s only one gang of rustlers about -here, and they do all the jobs. And Froud is one of them, I’ll bet! -So is Checkered Shirt.” Teddy tossed the branding iron into the -corner. “But if we did stay here, and even if the rustlers did -return, how do we know they’d lead us to their cache? And suppose -they caught us and we got plugged? That whole gang would head for -the border, pronto, and drive their stolen cattle before them. -They’d take our broncs with them, most likely, and that’d be the -end. Nope, Roy, we’d better get the rest of our fellows and try to -capture the thieves when they come back here.” - -Roy walked to the door, which had blown partly closed, and flung it -open savagely. - -“I sure hate to leave here!” he declared, his mouth pressed into a -thin line. “This bunch has got our broncos, I know it! What I’d like -to do would be to wait here till they showed up, then with these -rifles, make ’em tell where the horses are. I’m getting sick and -tired of this waiting business. Can’t tell what they’ve done to -Star! If I find he’s been beaten--” - -“Take it easy, Roy,” Teddy said softly. “You’re doing the very thing -you always tell me not to do--lose my temper. That won’t get us any -place. I want Flash back as much as you want Star, but we’ve got to -go at it carefully. Snap out of it now!” - -“Guess you’re right,” Roy replied, with a slight grin. “I got sore -for a minute, seeing those irons and things and thinking of Star. -We’ll start for home and tell dad what we found, collect Nick and -the rest and mosey back here as fast as we can. Baby! I hope the -rustlers are here then! Come on, Teddy, let’s go! Rain or no rain, -we’ll nab those thieves!” - -Roy grabbed his vest from the back of the chair and made for the -front door. He was just about to dash out into the storm when Teddy -caught his arm. - -“Think we better put the fire out?” the boy asked. “If they come -back and find that going, they’ll know something’s up and they’ll -move plenty quick!” - -“Right!” Roy exclaimed approvingly. “You’re sure using the old bean, -Teddy. Out she goes!” - -Seizing a poker that stood by the side of the grate, Roy scattered -the embers. He was about to ask Teddy to get some water when a -slight sound at the door made both boys turn quickly. - -Startled, they watched the slow twisting of the door knob. Roy took -a firmer grip on the poker. Softly the door opened, a crack at -first, then wider. Of a sudden, it was flung hard against the wall, -and Teddy and Roy started back. - -In the door way stood a man. His peaked hat was pulled low over his -eyes. His face was sickly pale, the cheeks were sunken in. His -shoulders drooped forward, his arms hung weakly down at his sides. -His checkered shirt was ripped open on the left shoulder. Water -dripped from him in great drops. And, as Teddy watched, he saw that -these drops were tinged with red. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -BRAND - - -The man looked at the two boys with dull eyes. He opened his mouth -as though to speak, then put his hand to his head. He swayed -uncertainly for a moment, gave a little cough, and pitched headlong -to the floor. - -“He’s hurt!” Roy cried, springing forward. “Teddy, shut that door! -Help me lift him nearer the fire! Golly, he’s bleedin’ like a stuck -pig!” - -Together the boys carried the wounded man closer to the warmth of -the fire. Luckily it still had some live embers, and Roy quickly -piled these together and added fresh wood so that they flamed once -more. - -Teddy noticed that the man’s lips were blue and his closed eyes were -sunk deep in his head. The boy leaned over and swiftly opened the -man’s shirt. From the top of the left shoulder to the breast ran a -red gash. - -“Knifed!” Roy exclaimed. “If we don’t stop that bleeding soon, he’ll -cash in!” - -“A tourniquet--it’s the only chance,” came from Teddy. “Can you make -one?” - -“Think so--though the cut is in a mighty tough place.” Always at his -best in emergencies, Roy ran to the other room and twisted the -wooden handle off one of the branding irons. Then, with his -jackknife, he cut the injured man’s sleeve off at the shoulder, and -bound it about the man’s chest and shoulder so that it pressed -against the main arteries. He inserted the handle of the iron under -the cloth, and twisted. - -Slowly the blood stopped flowing. - -“Got it!” Roy cried triumphantly. “Now I’ve got to hold this until -she clots. I don’t think any of the large arteries are cut, but it -won’t do to take a chance. Teddy--” he added in a questioning voice. - -His brother nodded. - -“I know. Recognized him as soon as he came in. Checkered Shirt!” - -“Well, he’s harmless now. That’s a terrible wound. Wonder how it -happened!” - -Teddy shook his head. - -“Hard to say. Poor geezer, I feel sorry for him, even if he is one -of Frond’s gang. He stands a fair chance of passing out, and we -can’t do much for him. Want me to try to get help while you watch -here? If we could find a doctor in time--” - -The ranch boy stopped. The man’s eyes opened and his lips moved -feebly. Roy bent closer. - -“What is it?” he asked gently. “Just take it easy now. You’re all -right. Just lie quiet.” - -“Froud--Froud--” the man whispered. “Stabbed me--” - -Roy looked up with startled eyes. - -“Did you hear that?” he demanded. “He says Froud stabbed him! Yes, -I’m listening.” - -“Knifed me--” the man faltered. He struggled to sit up, but Roy -prevented this. The man’s fist clenched and his voice came more -strongly. - -“The rat!” he cried. “Cut me--without givin’ me no chance. I’ll get -him for this!” He expelled his breath in a long sigh. “Water,” he -gasped. “Water. Pump in back.” - -Teddy nodded, and ran to the rear. He returned in a moment with a -tin cup full of water and held it to the man’s lips. After drinking -deep, the man turned his head from side to side. - -“Better now,” he declared in a weak voice. Then his eyes caught -Teddy’s face. “I know you! Manley--Bard Manley’s son, ain’t you? -And--” He looked at Roy and a slight grin twisted his mouth. “Well, -if this ain’t the beatenest! Bein’ helped by the very guys -who--who--” he stopped. - -“Whose horses you stole?” Teddy finished. “Is that what you mean?” - -The man shook his head. - -“Not me! I didn’t rustle yore hosses. But what I was goin’ to--to--” -a fit of coughing wracked his whole frame. Roy tightened the -tourniquet slightly, so that the bleeding would not begin again. -When the man regained control of himself Teddy gave him another -drink, and he grinned his gratitude. Then, for the first time, he -noticed the stick of wood entwined in the improvised bandage. He -looked at it curiously. - -“Where’d you get that?” he asked. - -“Guess you know,” Roy declared shortly. “It’s the handle to an 8 X 8 -branding iron.” - -A flicker of amusement appeared in the man’s eyes. Then he started -to laugh. Weakly at first, then louder, until Teddy feared he might -be becoming delirious. But in a moment the laughter ceased, to give -way to a sardonic smile. - -“Ain’t that luck for you?” He looked at the stick once more. “Savin’ -my life with a rustler’s branding iron! An’ me--I’m the rustler! Can -you beat it?” - -“Never mind that now,” Teddy said. “What were you saying when that -cough hit you?” - -“Give me a chance, will you?” the man snarled. “Here I am dyin’, -maybe, an’ you keep askin’ questions! It’s funny, though--it sure is -funny--” - -“You won’t die unless you get strung up,” Roy asserted coolly. -“Better come clean. Who are you? Do you know where our horses are?” - -For a moment the man did not answer. He appeared to be turning -something over in his mind. Then suddenly he hammered his fist on -the floor, and raised himself on one elbow. - -“I’ll tell,” he said forcibly. “I’ll tell you the whole thing! I’m -done with Gilly Froud--the rat! He tried his best to kill me! Now -listen!” - -The fire flared up, and Roy and Teddy bent over the injured man. -Outside the rain had stopped, but the sky was still overcast, so -that shadows thrown by the dancing flames played cheerily about in -the dim light of the room. A horse whinnied softly, but neither Roy -nor Teddy heard it. The man on the floor took a deep breath and -continued: - -“My name--never mind my name. You wouldn’t know it, anyway. My -business you gotta know--I’m a rustler.” He paused for a moment. - -“One of Gilly Froud’s gang?” Roy asked eagerly. - -“Gilly Froud’s gang? No! You think that sneak has got nerve enough -to boss a bunch of rustlers? He was one of my gang until now, an’ I -hope he gets it good! Thought he could kill me an’ take all the -cattle for himself--left me for dead an’ rode away. But I fooled -him! I ain’t dead yet, by a long shot! I waited till I saw him go, -then I started on foot--he’d taken my bronc. Somehow I couldn’t stop -this bleedin’, an’ I got weaker. Then it started to rain, an’ I -said, ‘Well, here goes nothin’.’ I made for this shack, thinkin’ I’d -come here an’ die, where I kept my brandin’ irons--an’ right good -irons they are, too, if I do say it myself! I wanted to take one -more look at ’em. Had an idea that the 8 X 8 brand wasn’t just -perfect, an’ I wanted to find out before I passed on. You see, we -sometimes have to use the old iron with the new.” He looked up at -Roy, who was holding the wooden handle of the tourniquet. “Was it -all right? Does that curl on the eight look real?” - -“It does,” Roy answered, glancing down with a puzzled expression. A -man who thought he was dying wanting to take a last look at the -irons with which he branded stolen horses! - -“Glad of that,” the wounded man said, with a sigh. “I never made a -mistake on an iron in my life, an’ I just wanted to satisfy myself -before I kicked the bucket. Well, I guess you know the rest. Here I -am. What are you goin’ to do with me?” - -“But our horses!” Teddy demanded. “Where are they?” - -“Oh, they’re safe. We got ’em corralled with the cattle. I said I -didn’t steal ’em, and I didn’t. But I saw ’em stolen. I was leanin’ -against Rimor’s Place that day you met me. It was Froud that took -yore broncs. He said yore dad kicked him off yore ranch, an’ he -wanted to get even. I tole him to ferget it, but he wouldn’t. Said -he’d get square if it was the last thing he ever did--that he wanted -to finish beatin’ a certain hoss. It was this that turned me against -him. I may be a rustler, but I never beat no hoss! Nor hurt one!” - -“Did Froud beat the pony?” Teddy asked, his eyes gleaming with a -strange light. “Did he?” - -“Started to. I seen him, an’ made him quit. Guess he got sore at me -then, an’ decided to do me an’ keep the cattle we rustled fer -himself!” - -Teddy looked at the man sympathetically. - -“You wouldn’t let him whip Flash? I’ll remember that. Go ahead. Tell -us where our ponies are.” - -“Will you let me go if I do?” the man asked cunningly. - -Roy glanced at his brother. Teddy knew what was in Roy’s mind, for -it was in his own, too. They could get Flash, Star, and General -back. Also, they might recapture the cattle stolen from the 8 X 8. -If they could get Froud, too, and jail him, together with the other -rustlers, the country would be rid of a band of rascals. - -On the other hand, here was the man who had confessed that he was -the ringleader. If they let him go, he might start another gang and -create more disturbance. - -“Will you promise to give up horse stealing if we do?” Roy demanded. - -The man looked up. His eyes seemed strangely as though they were -laughing, but his mouth never moved. - -“Now, wait a second, buddy. You don’t know what yore askin’. Me, I -been a rustler fer years, an’ I don’t know nothin’ else. I can copy -any brandin’ iron an’ I can work a brand over into another so you’d -never know the difference. There ain’t nobody who can do that as -well as me, if I do say it myself. Me, I ain’t a hoss thief. I’m a -brand-iron artist.” He grinned widely. “But I’ll tell you what. You -let me go, an’ I’ll tell you where yore broncs are and where all the -cattle we stole from this section is hidden. An’ then I’ll -promise--an’ I ain’t never went back on my word yet--that I’ll leave -this state an’ never come back.” - -Roy stared him straight in the eyes. They stared back, unwavering, -sincere. - -“I believe you,” the boy declared. “Spill it. You go free.” - -A broad smile came over the man’s face. He thrust out his hand, and -the boys grasped it in turn. - -“Listen,” he said eagerly, “an’ listen good. Froud is plannin’ to -raid yore father’s herd tonight. He’s goin’ to cut the fence on the -north side an’ get as many Durhams as he can an’ drive ’em to -Cottonwood Bowl, over near Harver’s Gully. That’s where yore broncs -are. I was supposed to be in on this, ’cause I planned it. But he’ll -go through with it all right. I know him. He’s money-mad! He held up -a flivver the other night just ’cause he thought it was carryin’ -jewelry. I didn’t want to have nothin’ to do with it, but I rode -along to see there wouldn’t be no unnecessary shootin’. I ain’t no -sneak thief--nor a murderer, neither. Maybe you know about the -flivver? From the 8 X 8, it was.” - -Both boys nodded. - -“Go ahead!” Teddy exclaimed. “Just where is this Cottonwood Bowl?” - -The man chuckled. - -“You’d never find it in a million years if you didn’t know where to -look,” Checkered Shirt went on. “I discovered it, an’ you couldn’t -get a better place fer hidin’ cattle if you tried. First you head -fer Harver’s Gully. You know where that is, hey? Well, there’s a -hill on the other side. Don’t go up that. Foller the river to the -left, and you’ll come to a big rock. Climb that. Then you’ll see -soon enough where the Bowl is. Baby, it’s sweet, sweet!” - -“An’ you’ll find yore broncs with the short-horns from the 8 X 8. -The brand ain’t been changed yet. The way I work, I make an iron -just like the original. Then I teases the letters into somethin’ -else till even the owner wouldn’t know his own brand. But I got to -have the original exact to do it. That’s why I asked you if--” - -“Yes, but we haven’t time! What else about that raid on our ranch?” -Teddy interrupted. - -“It’s tonight, like I told you! On the north side of the fence! -An’, boys, I hope you get Froud! Go to it!” - -Teddy straightened up. - -“Roy, here’s our chance to get our horses back and capture Froud! -We’ve got to get to dad! You--er--” - -“Call me Brand,” the man said, with a grin. - -“Brand, can you ride? Will you go with us?” - -Brand shook his head. - -“I stay here. Just cart some water for me, and you’ll find some -bread an’ meat in a closet in back. An’ you might hand me down a -rifle, just in case. I’ll be all right. I’ll rest up, an’ you can -bring a doc when you come back. Then when I feel better, I’ll be -ridin’ on. Snap to it now. You ain’t got much time.” - -For a moment Roy hesitated. Gently he unwound the tourniquet. The -bleeding had stopped, and the cut seemed to be closing. If the -fellow who called himself Brand kept quiet for a while, there was -every chance that the injury would soon mend. - -Teddy fetched the water and food and laid them by the side of the -man, together with a rifle and a box of cartridges. Then he jerked a -blanket off the couch and threw it over the figure on the floor. -This done, the boys prepared to leave. - -“So long, boys! Remember me to Froud--with an ounce of lead! Ride’ -em, buckers! Go get ’em!” - -Teddy and Roy made for the door. In a moment they were on their -ponies. - -A cold wind cut their faces as they raced across the range. Night -was fast approaching. The prairie lay like a sodden blanket beneath -a gray sky. - -In the cabin they had just left, a man pulled himself across the -floor and into the next room. His hand reached out toward a pile of -branding irons, and his fingers closed over the one without a -handle. Clutching this, he struggled back to the fire, and held it -to catch the glow of the dying embers. His fingers passed gently -over the raised surface. Then with a sigh of satisfaction he sank -back and watched the last sparks fade into blackness. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - -THE ROUND-UP - - -The first stars were peeping from a cloud-strewn sky when Roy and -Teddy rode into the yards of the X Bar X. Without waiting to tie up -their horses, they rushed into the house. Mrs. Manley was talking to -Norine in the living room. - -“Mother!” Teddy exclaimed, “where’s dad? Is he in?” - -“Just went toward the corral, Teddy,” Mrs. Manley answered. Then, as -she saw Teddy’s face, she asked: “What happened? Is Belle all right? -She didn’t--” - -“Nothing like that at all, Mom!” Roy cried, giving her a quick hug. -“We’ve got good news. We know where our horses are!” - -“Do you, now?” Norine broke in, her eyes alight. “Then I’m glad! I -missed those ponies, so I did!” - -“You’d better hurry after your father,” Mrs. Manley admonished. -“He’s riding again tonight after the rustlers. I do wish this were -over!” - -“It will be soon, Mom!” declared Teddy, “Don’t worry now--we’ll have -that gang before morning!” - -“But, boys, you’re all wet! You really must get some dry clothes -on!” - -“When we find dad, Mom! Want to reach him before he leaves! Come on, -Teddy!” - -The boys rushed from the room. Mrs. Manley turned to Norine with -something very much akin to pride in her eyes. Her boys were already -men! - -Teddy reached his father just as the ranchman was throwing a saddle -on a bronco. The boys told their story quickly. - -“tonight, hey?” Mr. Manley pondered. “Well, sons, you sure did a -fine piece of work. Now for the round-up of those rustlers! Teddy, -go to the bunk-house and tell the boys to get over here, pronto! -Tell ’em to bring guns! Then you an’ Roy get some food in you an’ -some dry clothes on. This is the last act, boys! We ring the curtain -down on that gang tonight!” - -Later, a small crowd of men sat on restless horses. From each belt -hung a heavy revolver, and in more than a few saddlecases reposed -long-barreled rifles. Nick Looker was there, and Pop Burns and Gus -Tripp, now recovered, and Jim Casey, and four other punchers. Teddy -and Roy were on either side of their father. - -“Boys,” Mr. Manley called, “we’re set! To the north fence--and don’t -make any noise! When you get there lay low. Keep your broncs still. -When I see the rustlers I’ll fire one shot--then close in, an’ close -in quick! Understand? Then let’s go!” - -There was a clatter of hoofs as the horses galloped over the ground. -During that ride hardly a word was spoken. Then the wait began. Time -seemed to stand still. The shadowy clouds disappeared, and the moon -shone forth, silhouetting the group of watching punchers. A breeze -sighed through the branches of a small grove of evergreens. Now and -then a pony whinnied nervously, to be instantly quieted by a firm -hand on his nostrils. - -“Snakes, this is like waitin’ for an explosion when yore sittin’ on -top of th’ dynamite!” whispered Pop, who was close to Roy. “If -somethin’ don’t happen soon--” - -Roy raised his hand. From the west seven riders came flashing over -the moon-flooded prairie, straight for the fence. The leader leaped -from his horse and, pulling something from his pocket, rested his -hand on the top wire. There was a sharp crack as the strand parted. - -A single shot rang out. Then a yell. - -“Get ’em, boys!” Roy shouted. “They’re our meat! Get the one with -the pliers in his hand--that’s Froud!” - -Ponies sprang forward. Guns leaped from holsters and were leveled at -the astounded rustlers. Three of the latter turned in a flash and -rode off like the wind, rifles cracking them a farewell. - -The man on foot looked about him desperately. In the moonlight the -scar on his face seemed like a small, silver snake crawling up his -face. He saw himself being surrounded by determined cowboys with -murderous guns in their hands. - -With a cowardly yell, his courage fled and he fell to his knees. - -“Don’t shoot!” he begged, his whole body shaking. “Don’t shoot me! -These men made me do it! They forced me into it! I ain’t done -nothin’. I swear I ain’t! I even killed the head of this gang, -Brand! You ought to let me off for doin’ that!” - -Teddy looked down at the groveling figure. He turned and glanced at -the other rustlers, who, realizing that the game was up, stood -quietly by, hands held high in the air. - -“Brave leader you’ve got,” the boy said. - -One of the men looked down with a contemptuous sneer. - -“Him? He ain’t no leader. He’s a yeller dog! Wait an’ I’ll fix him -for you. Hear what he said about Brand? I knew somethin’ was up. The -rat said Brand told him to go ahead with the raid an’ he’d meet us -at the Bowl. So you killed Brand, did you? Well, kiss yoreself -good-bye, ’cause yore sure goin’ on a long journey!” - -The man’s hand flashed down to his side. There was a crack, and a -tongue of flame belched from the muzzle. Froud gave a shrill scream -and gripped his left shoulder at the same moment that Roy and Nick -rode closer and covered the fellow who had shot. - -But the man did not fire again. - -“I’m gettin’ pretty poor,” he said in a sad voice. “Don’t worry, -son, I won’t do no more shootin’. Here, take the gun. I won’t have -no use for it where I’m goin’. ’Bout time I had a rest, I guess. -First time I ever failed to kill a snake with one shot. And at ten -paces, too! Yo’re lucky, Froud! Look at him wiggle! Let’s hear you -sound yore rattles, you cussed sidewinder!” - -“That’ll do,” Mr. Manley said sternly, riding up. “You almost had a -charge of murder against you--though it don’t seem like murder to -shoot a snake. Froud, stop that yellin’! You ain’t killed! Get on -your feet. Let’s see.” Mr. Manley dismounted, and, ripping the man’s -shirt open, disclosed a small gash in the fleshy part of the -shoulder. - -“You snivilin’ coward!” the cattle owner cried. “All that shoutin’ -over a scratch! Get on your bronc now, an’ be quick about it! We’re -ridin’ in. Nick an’ Gus, stay in back. Keep your guns out. The rest -of you ride close. If any one makes a break, shoot an’ shoot -straight! Here’s where this rustlin’ stops, once an’ for all! We’ll -find out from these rats who those were who got away. Then they -won’t dare show their faces around here again.” - -“Don’t let him get near me,” Froud whined, pointing at the man who -had shot him. “He’ll kill me if he can! He was Brand’s friend--” - -“An’ you knifed Brand,” Mr. Manley finished, with a fierce frown. -“You rat! You ought to be strung up!” - -“But it ain’t murder to kill a rustler, is it?” Froud asked eagerly. -“It ain’t! I could get a reward fer doin’ it, couldn’t I? He’s -wanted! The police in three states want him! So if I show you his -body I get the reward, don’t I? Don’t I?” - -Mr. Manley looked at him. - -“Froud,” he said slowly, “I seen some snakes in my time. At least, -till now I thought I had. I can’t blame that bucker for shootin’ -you. Too bad he wasn’t a better shot. Froud, listen to this! Brand -ain’t dead! He’s alive, an’ he’s lookin’ for you!” - -Froud’s face went livid. He swayed in his saddle. - -“He--he--ain’t dead?” he stammered. “But--I--” - -“You tried your best! But it wasn’t quite good enough, an’ my boys -here saved his life. He got to that cabin of yours, an’ Roy an’ -Teddy bound up his wound. He told everything, an’ he’ll be in the -saddle again in two weeks. Froud, you’re a marked man!” - -The rustler caught at the saddle horn. He trembled as though with -the ague, and wet his lips with his tongue. He strove to speak, but -the words would not come. - -“Save ’em,” Nick Looker said in a contemptuous voice. “You might -need later all the talk you got. Come on now! Ride on! We ain’t got -all night. All right, boss? Do we go?” - -“We go, Nick! An’ don’t worry about watchin’ Froud. If he starts to -fall off, you might prop him back on again. Boys, we’re off! We’re -headin’ home with a rare cargo! Let’s go!” - -The procession of horsemen filed into the yard of the X Bar X just -as the gray dawn was breaking. On all but four of the riders were -happy grins. One of these four sagged low in the saddle. Frequently -his tongue ran over his dry lips. And on the side of his face a -scar, like a small snake, shone livid against his sickly pallor. - -Teddy and Roy could hardly wait to ride to Cottonwood Bowl. -Swallowing a hasty breakfast, they started, together with Nick and -Pop. Mr. Manley stayed at the ranch to guard the prisoners until the -sheriff from Hawley could take them into custody. - -As the riders reached the spot Brand had described, Teddy mounted -the rock and parted the brush which grew on top. He looked over. -Then he gave a yell. - -“Flash! And Star and General! Running around like colts! Take a -look, Roy! Take a look! Baby! Let’s get down there quick! Here’s the -path around to the left! Come on, Roy! Hurry up! Wow, you old bronc -you! Be with you in a minute!” - -“Just like kids,” Nick said to Pop, with a grin, as the two brothers -ran down the path toward the enclosure. “They’re crazy to get their -ponies under them, an’ I don’t know as I blame ’em! Golly--watch -’em! Look at Roy! By jimminy, he’s _kissin’_ the bronc! Now he’s -on--so is Teddy! Yay, boy! See ’em go! Ride ’em, cowboy! Yay!” - -Around the Bowl the boys flashed, milling the small herd of cattle -like veterans. Then they broke the cows and ran them out of the Bowl -into the path. Aided by Nick and Pop, they started the drive for the -X Bar X, leading General and their other horses. - -“Take a look at him!” Roy exclaimed, patting Star’s side. “Skin -shines like satin! Must have taken good care of you, bronc! That’s -another thing we’ve got to thank Checkered Shirt for. Golly, it’s -good to be astride again!” - -“Same here!” Teddy cried. “Gee, I never expected to see this ole -horse again! Did I, you crazy coot, you? Nope, he says! Never did! -See him nod his head? Atta baby! Speak up!” - -“Yo’re sure happy, ain’t you?” Pop grinned. - -“I’ll tell a maverick!” Roy exploded. “Why shouldn’t we be? An’ wait -till dad sees General! Boy! He won’t be _very_ glad!” - -At last they reached the X Bar X with the cattle. It was a long, -dusty, hot ride, but to Teddy and Roy it was just a pleasure jaunt. -The cattle were placed in the X Bar X corral until Mr. Ball should -send for them. Mr. Manley was overjoyed to see General again, and -insisted on riding with the two boys back to the cabin where they -had left Checkered Shirt, although Mrs. Manley was sure they would -fall asleep in their saddles. They decided that it would be better -to bring the wounded man back to the ranch if he could be moved, -rather than to waste time getting a doctor to the out-of-the-way -cabin. - -To his wife’s objection that he needed rest, Mr. Manley answered: - -“Don’t worry about us, Barbara. We won’t fall asleep. Not on these -broncs! Hey, Teddy? Nick, when the sheriff comes, tell a few of the -boys to saddle up and help him bring those four galoots to Hawley. -Guess they won’t give you no trouble. All right, boys, let’s go!” - -When Mr. Manley and his two sons reached the cabin they noticed that -the door was open. Dismounting, they walked in. - -The shack was deserted. On the floor in front of the fireplace was a -branding iron, resting on a piece of paper. Bending over, Teddy -picked the paper up. On it were the words: - - “Thanks fer helpin me out. Sorry I got to leev so soon, - but I gess you no wy. My cut is mos better. Think Ill tak - yore advice an quit rustlin. I just noticed the X on this - iron ain’t korreck. The top is to large. So Im quittin. - So long. Good luck to you. - “Brand.” - -“Can you beat that?” Roy said, with a chuckle. “Stopping because he -made a mistake in a branding iron! Funny rustler, isn’t he? I sort -of like him, though. He’s no coward. Well, we may as well start -back. Baby, I’m getting sleepy! Wait!” He seized the iron that lay -on the floor. “For a souvenir. We’ll remember this summer, anyway! -So long, Checkered Shirt! Good luck to you, too!” - -Indeed, the summer did linger long in the boys’ memories. More -exciting times were in store for them, as will be told in the next -book, called “The X Bar X Boys in Thunder Canyon.” But they never -forgot their adventures while chasing the rustlers and looking for -their stolen horses. - -As they mounted and turned their faces toward home, Roy looked over -at Teddy. Mr. Manley smiled, for he knew what was coming. - -“Want to ride over to see Curly tomorrow?” the boy asked, with a -grin. - -Teddy smiled casually. - -“My boy,” he said, “your innocence is sublime! We will ride to see -Nell, and maybe Ethel will be there. How about that?” - -“Race you to that bush!” Roy returned. “Come on, Dad! Get in this! -Let’s see what General can do!” - -With a yell the three started. Over the prairie they raced, their -laughter ringing high. - -Neck and neck the three ponies reached the bush, and with happy -hearts the two boys and their father rode homeward. - - THE END - --------------------------------------------------------------------- - - This Isn’t All! - -Would you like to know what became of the good friends you have -made in this book? - -Would you like to read other stories continuing their adventures -and experiences, or other books quite as entertaining by the same -author? - -On the _reverse side_ of the wrapper which comes with this book, -you will find a wonderful list of stories which you can buy at the -same store where you got this book. - - Don’t throw away the Wrapper - -Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want some day to have. -But in case you do mislay it, write to the Publishers for a -complete catalog. - --------------------------------------------------------------------- - -THE TOM SWIFT SERIES - -By VICTOR APPLETON - -Uniform Style of Binding. 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Once the whole party became lost in the maze - of cavelike tombs far underground. - - DON STURDY ACROSS THE NORTH POLE; - Or, Cast Away in the Land of Ice. - - Don and his uncles joined an expedition bound by air across the - north pole. A great polar blizzard nearly wrecks the airship. - - DON STURDY IN THE LAND OF VOLCANOES; - Or, The Trail of the Ten Thousand Smokes. - - An absorbing tale of adventures among the volcanoes of Alaska - in a territory but recently explored. A story that will make - Don dearer to his readers than ever. - -Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York - --------------------------------------------------------------------- - -THE RADIO BOYS SERIES - -(Trademark Registered) - -By ALLEN CHAPMAN - -Author of the “Railroad Series,” Etc. - -Individual Colored Wrappers. 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