LONG DISTANCE PHONE MESSAGE
The sun was just appearing above a range of misty gray mountains far
across the desert on the eastern horizon when the three young riders
reached the top of the mesa trail and drew rein to watch while the
glory of the dawn flamed the mountain peaks with rose and gold.
“A wonderful day has come and surely that is a good omen,” Virginia
said. “I feel as excited as though something very unusual were about
to happen.”
Virg was right! Something very unusual and unexpected was about to
happen, but the nature of the something was very different from that
which they anticipated.
It was nearly noon when Douglas was reached and Malcolm declared
that the girls must go at once to the Inn and rest for several hours
before making the return trip. Virg consented, declaring, however,
that she wished to remain with Malcolm until she knew the result of
his endeavor to get in touch with the Wilson Ranch, so together the
three young people went to a long distance telephone. Red Riverton
postoffice soon responded and the postmistress inquired, “Do you say
that you wish to communicate, if possible, with someone from the
Wilson Ranch? Harry Wilson was in here about half an hour ago. He
always hitches his horse in front of the postoffice. Hold the wire
and I will see if it is still there.”
While Malcolm held the receiver he rapidly told the girls what the
communication had been.
“Oh, I do hope he hasn’t gone,” Virg said when Malcolm’s attention
was again called. “No, Harry Wilson hasn’t left town. His horse is
still in front. I will have a small boy stand there and tell Harry
to see me when he returns. Where will he be able to get in touch
with you?”
“Give the telephone number of the Inn,” Virginia said when her
brother turned to her for a suggestion.
This was done and the three young people hurried across the hall and
sat in the queer little parlor to await a call from Harry.
Several times the phone rang but it was always for someone else.
At last the lone clerk at the desk went away and while he was gone
the telephone rang imperatively several times in rapid succession.
Malcolm sprang up and answered it, then he beckoned to the girls.
“It’s for us,” he told them; then to Harry, who was at the other end
of the line, he said, “This is Malcolm Davis. Surely you remember
me, don’t you?
“I stayed several days at your place two years ago in September. I
thought you’d remember that. We had great fun that day, didn’t we?
Yes, I do plan coming up north again some time, but today I called
up to ask about our friend Tom. We are eager to get into
communication with him as soon as possible.
“He isn’t in town with you, is he? What? You don’t know where he is?
Has he left you? How long has he been gone? Over a week now? And no
trace of him has been found? There hasn’t been a storm, has there?
Hum! That certainly is serious. You are sending out a searching
party? When do they leave? I’ll try to get there. Yes, indeed. I’ll
start for your place as soon as I possibly can. Goodbye.”
“Malcolm, what is it? What has happened to Tom?” Virg asked her face
suddenly paled with anxiety.
The lad led the girls back to the stiff little parlor.
“Tom hasn’t deserted them, has he?” Virginia asked eagerly. “Oh,
brother, I am so sure he hasn’t proved untrustworthy.”
Malcolm shook his head. “Not that,” he said dismally. “I wish he had
deserted of his own free will. Anything would be better than that
which has happened. I’m terribly sorry now that I brought you girls
with me into town, but, of course, you must know the truth. Instead
of being untrustworthy, Tom may have risked his life to prove his
worthiness of a trust. Harry says that his father had five hundred
very valuable Merinos coming by rail and they wanted to send their
best man to meet them and drive the sheep in from the station, so
they selected Tom, and as there was need of two drivers for so large
a flock, little Francisco Quintano Mendoza accompanied him. Harry
expected that about three days would be required to drive the flock
through the mountain pass, stopping to graze and rest in the grassy
valleys, but four and then five days passed and Tom did not return.
“Harry had not accompanied them because his father was away at the
time and his mother alone on the ranch, but, at last he became so
anxious that his mother urged him to ride to Red Riverton. There he
found that the Merinos had arrived safely the week before and that
Tom and the small Mexican boy had driven them away about noon on the
day of their arrival, and that they had taken the beaten track
toward the mountains where they had been lost to sight when they
entered the Red Rock Pass.
“Harry then visited the sheriff and together with several men, they
rode to the pass, but although they could see many hoof-prints in
the soft mud where a spring kept the ground ever moist, they could
not trace them on the desert where the winds often changed the
surface of the sand.
“The sheriff and his men seemed to believe that Tom has turned
rustler and that he had spirited away the valuable Merinos for his
own gain, but to this suggestion Harry would not listen. He knew Tom
to be absolutely trustworthy, he declared, but since he had no
better theory to offer, the men left him still unconvinced.
“The father has now returned and at his suggestion a large party of
men are to start on a wide circling round-up of the entire sheep
raising section of the state, hoping in that way to come upon some
evidence that may at least solve the mystery if it does not enable
them to recover the lost sheep. They need more assistance, Harry
tells me, and so I promised to go to him as soon as I possibly can.”
“Oh dear! Oh dear!” Virg exclaimed, unshed tears in her eyes, “I
shall never forgive myself for having sent Tom north if harm has
befallen him.”
“My theory,” Malcolm continued, “is that a band of thieves,
rustlers, knew that the very valuable shipment of Merinos was due,
and that they were lying in wait in the pass for Tom and in some
manner they have spirited away both the flock and the drivers. I
believe that this will be proved true when we round up that entire
section.”
Then looking at Virginia anxiously, he added, “I ought to go north
from here, as I can follow the state road and reach Red Riverton at
least half a day sooner than I could from home but I do not like to
leave you girls unprotected. I wish—”
He stopped speaking and stared at someone who had just entered the
Inn. Then excusing himself, he hurried out.
The persons whom Malcolm had seen were no other than his good
neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Dartley. They were surprised to see the
young man and note his very evident excitement. Hurriedly Malcolm
explained the situation. “Of course we will look after the girls,”
the kindly Mrs. Dartley declared, then, going into the prim little
parlor, she held out both plump, freckled hands as she said
sympathetically, “You poor dears! I just know how worried you are
about your friend Tom, but you’ll feel better, I’m sure, to have
Malcolm help in the search. My husband and I drove in with the
buggy. We’ll be going back about 3 o’clock, and you can ride along
with us as far as the sand hills. You won’t mind going the rest of
the way to V. M . alone, I know, because you ride it so often.”
The girls assured Mrs. Dartley that they would be in their saddles
at the hour of 3 and that good woman then bustled away to do the
shopping that had brought her into town.
Malcolm returned and took his sister’s hand. “Virginia,” he said
earnestly, “don’t grieve yet, I honestly believe that we are going
to find Tom somewhere, unharmed and being worthy of the trust that
was placed in him.”
After dining together at the Inn, Malcolm departed. When he was
gone, the girls wandered out to look about the stores and make a few
purchases and pass away the time until 3.
That hour at last arrived and Virginia and Margaret were waiting in
their saddles, when the Dartley equipage appeared from the stables.
The girls were not very talkative and the kind woman, realizing that
they were greatly worried about their friend whom she herself knew
little, did not expect them to talk and the long journey was made
almost in absolute silence.
When the sand hills were reached, it was growing dusk. “My, but you
two girls must be all tired out,” Mrs. Dartley said as her husband
drew rein. “You’ve been in the saddle most all day, being as you
left home before sunrise, but Uncle Tex will have a good supper
waiting for you and then you get right into bed. Young folks like
you two rest up easy and tomorrow you’ll be as bright as ever.
Telephone to me, Virgie, if you need anything or hear any news.”
“Yes, I will Mrs. Dartley, and thank you for escorting us this far.
Goodnight! Goodnight!”
Then the girls started down the trail toward V. M. through the
gathering dusk. “How I do hope it will be a good night for our Tom,”
Virginia said, “wherever he is.” Then, as they dismounted at the
home corral, she added, “Oh, if only I were a man so that I might
join in the search.”
Virginia little dreamed of the very important part she was to play
even though she were only a girl.