THE PURSUIT
All the servants seemed just now to find duties of importance in front
of the house or near it. They had no idea of missing the chance of
seeing these Gringoes, whom they held in contempt, thrown from their
horses.
Jim took the black and Jo was left the red, the easiest to manage even
if he seemed the liveliest. Jo was too quick for his horse and before he
could whirl to one side, he was in the saddle. Then his animal reared
and plunged but Jo sat on him as easily as a cowboy does his steed.
There was no mistaking his horsemanship. The servants were duly and
deeply disappointed.
But their hopes revived when they saw Jim tackle the black. He began
that steady sideways movement which Jim knew so well, whenever he tried
to put his foot in the stirrup. The servants began to smile, here would
be some fun. The "Black Devil," as they called the horse, had been known
to kill men, so they had pleasant anticipations. When Jim found that he
could not mount by the stirrup, he made a quick, powerful leap and was
in the saddle.
"Bravo!" cried the Senor Sebastian, but he knew that the fight had just
begun.
Jo looked on with interest and perfect confidence in brother Jim's
ability. The black stood perfectly stunned for a moment or two at being
so suddenly mounted, then he sprang into action. With his back in a hump
he shot into the air and came down stiff-legged.
Without loss of a second he went into the air again, higher than before.
From the corral the Mexican cowboys were looking at the duel between the
horse and the boy with lively interest.
"The Diablo will kill him," said one nonchalantly, blowing a puff of
smoke from his cigarette.
"Five dollars that the Gringo stays on," said a second. The wager was
made and others followed, for the Mexicans are inveterate gamblers. The
third time the horse pitched into the air, Jim swaying with the animal's
every motion as the trained cowboy does. Finding that he could not
dislodge his rider that way, the black rose on his hind legs to a
perpendicular position.
Jim knew the trick of old, and was prepared for it. As the horse started
to fall backwards, Jim who had been sticking like a leech, leaped
lightly to the ground and with all his strength, pulling upon the
bridle, slammed him to the ground. No sooner was the horse upon his feet
again than Jim was in the saddle.
Once more he tried that falling back trick and this time Jim brought him
down upon the damp earth with a thud that jarred things. The black devil
had had enough. He stood quivering and sweating, but for the time being
subdued.
"Bravo!" cried the Senor Sebastian again, and he shook his guest by the
hand warmly. "You are a true horseman. Now we shall go. We shall eat up
the miles."
The crowd of cowboys swung their hats in a salute to the Gringo, who
could conquer the black devil, while the house servants, disappointed at
the stranger's triumph, went back to their different tasks.
The three horsemen galloped away down the sloping pasture, the Spaniard
in advance as he knew the country and the most direct way to the coast.
His horse was a splendid sorrel, somewhat taller than the horse that Jim
rode. And he was a gallant figure in his leather riding suit and peaked
sombrero with a brilliant colored band around it.
Jim and Jo rode few yards behind the Spaniard and side by side. Jim felt
a certain exultation in his victory over the Black before people who
would have liked to have seen him defeated. It was exhilarating, too,
this plunging gallop ahead with a chance to rescue Tom and Juarez and to
get even with Captain Broom and his gang, who had taken away their
valuables and had given the boys such a cruel defeat.
"This is a fine horse," said Jim, "though he hasn't the stride of
Caliente."
"He is a beauty, when it comes to bucking," Jo commented. "There is
nothing the matter with this bay but my black can beat him for speed."
So they flew on, the speed of their steeds blowing back their horses'
manes, and the fresh air from the sea bringing a feeling of hope to
their hearts, that they would yet be able to overtake the pirates, and
rescue their comrades in distress. Their horses' feet were devouring the
miles.
"We stand a chance to get 'em at this rate," shouted Jim.
"Won't it be fine if we can all sit down to dinner tonight?" replied Jo.
"I bet that Tom and Juarez would enjoy a square meal with the Senor at
the ranch house. Ifs kind of nice to be civilized once in a while."
"You're right, it is," declared Jim emphatically.
"I wonder if there isn't a store around here where we could buy some
clothes," inquired Jo, anxiously. "We look too disreputable to appear in
polite society."
"Thinking about that girl, I suppose?" remarked Jim with brotherly
intuition.
"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you," replied Jo evasively. "How about
the Senorita down in Mexico who threw you the rose at the castle?" This
reference to the Senorita Cordova whom the Frontier Boys had rescued in
Mexico, checked Jim from getting too gay for he still had a tender place
in his memory for her.
The fog by this time was entirely dissipated, and they could see by
certain white or rather light spots in the clouds where the sun was
going to break through and an absolutely clear day would result. The
three riders had now reached the brush region that began a few miles
from the coast and they were compelled to go more slowly.
But if they had only known what was going on not more than two miles
away from where they were, they would not have slackened speed no
matter what risk they ran. For Captain Broom and his crew with the two
captives had arrived at the cove and old Pete and Jack Cales were going
into the cave for the boat.
There was a chance, but the Senor and his companions must hurry. Some
mishap to the pirates' expedition just at this point and the frontier
boys would win. Tom and Juarez might have sung the tune that they had
often sung before in camp.
"Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching,
Cheer up, comrades, they will come,
And beneath the starry flag
We will breathe the air again
Of freedom in our own beloved home."
But they did not know and they sat miserable and dejected upon the damp
sand of the beach, not knowing that Jim and Jo were coming nearer every
second. Then there came an accident, though a slight one, that gave the
pursuers a chance.
Old Pete was carrying one end of the boat. He was nervous, anyway, in
regard to the cave and its grewsome contents, thought he saw some dark
spectre coming for him out of the blackness of the cave and he dropped
his end of the boat and scudded for the beach.
The Captain was furious, giving him a blow that sent him spinning half
way down to the water, and he and the mate rushed back to see what
damage the boat had suffered. It was only slightly stove in, but every
second was precious. The pursuers were only a mile away.
Jim began to grow restless as they neared the coast. He seemed to feel
that they were nearing the enemy, and at his urging, the Spaniard, who
had an increased respect and liking for Jim ever since he had conquered
Black Diablo, put his horse to the gallop, and away they went along the
narrow winding path through the bushes.
The branches whipt them, but they paid no attention, but on they went;
it was evident that they made considerable racket and Captain Broom,
with a fierce burst of energy for which he was famous, got the boat
launched, the two prisoners in, and with himself and the mate at the
oars, made the boat leap forward over the lazy rolling swell towards the
graceful Sea Eagle.
When they had reached a point half-way to the vessel, the horsemen came
tearing through the last screen of brush onto the yellow sand. The enemy
had escaped by the skin of its teeth and it was heart-rending to see Tom
and Juarez being carried away from them at every stroke of the oars
towards their black prison. Jim put up his hands to his mouth and
yelled:
"We will rescue you, boys. Don't give up. We'll get 'em yet."
A derisive yell greeted this challenge and one of the men in the boat
fired at the group on the shore, but the bullet fell harmlessly short.
They did not dare to fire in return lest they hit either Tom or Juarez.
"They have steam up on board," observed Jim. "But I see one chance to do
some execution."
It was this. The Sea Eagle was anchored close under a cliff on the
northern side of the cove. So Jim slipped off his horse, for the way on
that side was impracticable except on foot. It was hard going at that,
especially as there were a good many cacti with their wretched thorns.
Jim stepped gingerly along over the rocks, gliding through the bushes
until at last he reached a point above the vessel where he could almost
look down upon her decks. The boat from the shore had just come
alongside and the prisoners were hustled into the cabin and the door
locked. Tom and Juarez were a dejected-looking pair and it made Jim's
heart ache to see them.
The Captain went upon the quarter-deck and gave an order to the man at
the wheel. The anchor had already been weighed. Slowly and gracefully
the Sea Eagle turned, and there stood Captain Broom, as big as life upon
the bridge. Why did not Jim fire? Because he had come to a certain wise
conclusion.