THE FIGHT
Scrambling up the side of the gorge, slipping and sliding back,
almost like the frog in the well, Dick, Nort and the cowboys
reached Bud's side. He maintained his footing only by constantly
working his way upward, for the shale, at this point, was almost
like fine sand, and kept slipping down, taking the boy rancher
with it. But there were bushes growing here and there, and by
holding to these, taking care not to pull them out by the roots,
Bud managed to stay about where he had been when he made the
amazing discovery.
For it was an amazing discovery, as all the others admitted when
they reached his side, and looked through the fissure which had
been disclosed when Bud pulled out the big bush by which he tried
to save himself a fall.
"What is it?' cried Nort.
"And where are they?" demanded Dick.
"It's our cattle! They're inside there--a place like a football
stadium only there aren't any seats," explained Bud, breathlessly.
By this time he was surrounded by the others, all maintaining a
precarious foothold in the shifting shale. And what they saw
caused them all to join with Bud in wondering amazement.
For there, in what was a great natural bowl of the earth, with
partly sloping green sides, and with a floor covered by grass,
with a pool of sparkling water in the centre, were the missing
cattle! The whole of the big herd that had been driven away from
Happy Valley was there, it seemed. There they were, in that vast,
natural amphitheatre with food and water at hand, and, apparently,
as content as when they grazed on the range of the boy ranchers.
"By all the rattlers that ever rattled!" cried Snake. "We sure
have found 'em!"
"And they're all right, too!" added Yellin' Kid, as he gazed
through the crack which had been opened when Bud pulled out the
bush. For it was only through the crack that they were able to
view the steers contentedly feeding and drinking within that vast
bowl. That is what it was--bowl much more immense in size than
the one where Yale battles with Princeton and Harvard. More
immense than the Palmer Stadium at Old Nassau. The walls towered
higher, and it was greater in diameter. It was almost a perfect
bowl in shape--that is as perfect as so natural a formation could
be.
"But how did the cattle ever get in there!" exclaimed Nort.
"And how are we going to get them out?" asked Dick.
For it seemed, at first sight, that there was no entrance or
egress. And certainly nothing could get in over the top, or out
that way. For though the sides of the great, natural bowl were
green up to a certain distance, beyond that, and between the rim
and a point half way down, they were almost perpendicular in
straightness. And, being of rock, they would, it seemed, afford
scarcely a foot or hand-hold for the most expert "human fly."
"There must be a way in," declared Slim.
"And out, too," added Yellin' Kid. "Those rustlers never would
have driven th' steers in here unless there was some way of
getting 'em out."
"But what is this place, anyhow!" asked Nort. "It looks like the
Yale bowl, but it never could have been built by man."
"It wasn't," said Bud. "It's the crater of an extinct volcano. It
has been filled up, with land-slides, probably, and the winds and
the birds have brought grass seeds here, year after year, until
it makes a regular corral for cattle. There's water, too, which
isn't surprising. That's what it is, an old volcano crater. I
heard there was one around here, but I never had time to look for
it."
"Yes, I've heard of it myself," admitted Slim, "but I didn't think
it was like this. Let's have another look."
Dick and Nort moved aside to give the foreman a place of
advantage, and when he had looked through a spot where the crack
was wider he said: "I see where they can get th' cattle out.
Here, take a look, Bud," and Slim handed the ranch lad a pair of
field glasses that had been brought along in case of emergency.
They were of value now.
"Down at th' far end, and a little to the left of centre," Slim
directed Bud's gaze. "There's a sort of fence of trees piled up.
That's th' entrance all right--or one of 'em."
"You're right!" agreed Bud when he had taken a careful
observation. "But is there more than one!"
"Must be," said Slim. "The rustlers never drove th' cattle in
away around _there_. They sent 'em in from _this_ end. Th' trail
ends right here, an' it's here where th' rustlers drove th' cattle in."
"But where?" asked Bud. "There isn't a sign of an opening!"
"Because they closed it after them," went on the foreman. "I
begin to see it now. There must have been a break in the wall of
the old crater right about here. They drove th' cattle in an' it
was an easy matter t' let some of th' dirt slide down an' fill it
up again. Let's take a look with a view t' seein' if I'm right."
It is easier to find a clue when you know just what you are
looking for. And it did not take long for the experienced eyes of
the cow punchers to discover where earth and shale from above had
been recently dislodged and allowed to slide down to cover what
must have been the same sort of natural opening into the side of
the wall as that at the far end, closed by a fence of trees. This
was to keep the cattle in without men being needed to ride herd.
"Yes, it does look as if they'd taken 'em in here," said Bud,
when it was found that the trail of the steers led to the foot of
the crater wall, where all signs stopped. "If we had looked up a
little, instead of sticking so close to the ground, we might have
seen this clue before."
"All in good time," observed Slim. "The question is, now, how can
we get in there?"
"It will be easy enough," suggested Nort. "All you'll have to do
will be to enlarge the crack we looked through."
"That's all right for us getting inside that crater," observed
Dick, "but what about our horses? They can't scramble up there."
"Then what can we do?" asked Bud. "Ride around to the other
entrance?"
"That would take too long," answered the foreman. "I fancy that
Del Pinzo and his gang are on their way to this natural corral
now, t' drive out th' cattle they stole from us. We've got t' get
ahead of 'em!"
"But how?" Bud wanted to know.
"I think we can dig out enough of th' shale an' dirt they slid
int' th' opening, so that we can get th' horses through," Slim
answered. "We ought t' have shovels, but we can use sticks t' dig
with. It will take longer, but it's the best we can do."
Little time was lost in putting this plan into operation. With a
hatchet, which formed part of their camp equipment, some strong
poles were cut from one of the few trees that grew on the slope
of the gorge, and with these digging operations began. It was
slow work, but many hands were engaged and soon an opening was
made so that entrance could be had to the original crack in the
rocky side of the bowl. For it was by this crack that the cattle
had been driven in. And the crack had only been partly filled
with broken rock and earth to conceal it from view.
"Yes, they did come in this way!" cried Bud as he and the others
urged their horses through the opening and into the bowl proper--the
crater of the extinct volcano. "Look, plenty of signs!" There
was no doubt of it. The rustlers had driven the cattle into the
defile, hazed them along until they reached the opening into this
great natural hiding place, and then the rest was easy.
The animals had been run into this solitary place, passing
through the narrow, fissure-like opening in the rocky wall, a
crack similar to, but larger, than the opening through which Bud
had made his discovery. Then shale and dirt had been started, in
a miniature avalanche, down the side of the slope, effectually
hiding the means by which the cattle were secreted away.
"No wonder we thought an airship had been used," commented Dick.
Before them lay the vast crater of the old volcano, inactive for
centuries. Nature had covered the hard lava with a layer of soil
in which grew rich grass. And nature had further made the place
an ideal corral for cattle by supplying a large spring of water.
It was a "rustler's paradise," to quote Slim Degnan.
As the boy ranchers rode into the amphitheatre, the cattle at the
far end, and in the middle, stopped grazing to look at them.
"We're friends of yours!" called Bud, waving his hat in the joy
at finding his lost stock.
"Yes, but here come some fellows who aren't!" shouted Yellin'
Kid.
"Where?" asked Bud, quickly.
"There!" Kid pointed to the far end of the crater, if one may use
the word "end" in referring to a circular bowl.
The cowboy posse saw, riding at top speed into the great
depression, a crowd of men, who, as they came nearer, could be
recognized as the Del Pinzo gang. The Greaser leader was not in
evidence, however.
"They're after the cattle!" cried Nort.
"Well, they won't get 'em without a fight!" shouted Bud.
He drew his weapon, an example followed by the others, and as the
two parties, one representing law and order and the other the
wild, reckless element, started toward each other, the fight
began.