A WYOMING HOLD-UP
The four men stepped forward toward the boys with the ropes in their
hands. The boys stood facing the crowd with unflinching eyes.
"I warn you!" shouted Seth.
"Wait!" Chester cried, stepping forward. "If you're doing this because
my friends won't tell why they are in the mountains of Wyoming, and why
they are out in the hills tonight, you may as well hold your hands. I'll
give you all the information on the subject you desire."
Will stepped forward and caught the boy by the arm.
"You know what it means to--to some one if you speak," he warned.
"But I'm not going to see you boys murdered before my eyes!"
"No more fairy tales go!" shouted a member of the sheriff's gang. "We
have an unpleasant duty to perform here and we're not going to shirk it.
As the sheriff says, outlaws are flocking to Wyoming because they are
hidden and protected by such people as you."
"But I can satisfy you as to the honesty of these boys," pleaded
Chester, "if you'll listen to me for five minutes."
"Nothing doing!" shouted the sheriff.
Again the men advanced with the ropes and again Seth lifted his revolver
in warning. The situation was a critical one.
During the second of silence which followed, a clatter of stones came
into the gulch from the rocky summit above, and all eyes were instantly
turned in that direction. As they looked the sheriff and his men dropped
their weapons to the ground and threw their hands into the air.
"That's right!" came a hoarse voice from above. "Throw down your weapons
and drop your belts at your feet. Now line up there in a row, you baby
snatchers! Never mind that funny business, there, you man with the red
whiskers. You'll drop in your tracks if you make another move! You are
the cowboy sheriff of the county, I understand, but you ought to be
training puppies for a dogshow. That's about your size."
In a moment every member of the sheriff's posse, including Seth, was
unarmed. As they stood meekly in a row the boys were ordered to take
their own weapons from the heap on the ground and walk away over the
ridge.
"Can you see who they are?" asked Will, as the boys moved slowly along.
"I can see only the outlines of their heads and the gleaming barrels of
their rifles," George answered. "Say," the boy went on, "didn't the
cowboys drop their weapons quick when they saw those shining muzzles?"
"They knew the other fellows had the drop on them, and I don't blame
them," Tommy cut in.
"Do you really think they are the train robbers?" asked Sandy, who was
being assisted up the slope by Will and George.
"They're the train robbers, all right!" insisted Tommy. "I can't see
their faces any more than you can, but I remember that voice! You
remember the night he was at our camp, and we were getting something to
eat? Well, I heard quite a lot of his conversation that night. Some of
it I liked and some of it I didn't, but I'm sure the man whose
conversation I heard that night is the same man who ordered the cowboy
officers to throw down their weapons."
"But why should they do a thing like that?" demanded Will.
"I don't know," replied George, "unless it is because train robbers have
a continual and perpetual grouch against officers of any kind."
"That must be the reason," Will admitted.
"Well, I'm glad they got us away!" said Tommy, as the five boys reached
the summit and looked down into the little valley, "but they sure put us
in bad with the cowboys from this time on. The cowboys, apparently with
good cause, were accusing us of standing in with the train robbers, and
now the train robbers have proven the point by butting in for our
protection."
"It's too bad," Will answered, "but I don't see how it can be helped. It
is particularly unfortunate at this time, because with the cowboys
opposing us we won't dare search the mountains for Chester's father."
"We'll find a way!" insisted Tommy. "We'll be sure to find a way."
When the boys turned down the slope which led to their camp, not very
far away, daylight was growing in the sky. They could see the figures of
the men who had rescued them creeping away to the south.
Shouts and exclamations of rage were coming over the ridge, and the boys
understood very well that in a short time the cowboys would be at their
camp, with stronger motive than ever for their destruction.
"We've got our guns," Will said as they walked along, "and we've got to
fight. That's all there is to it."
When the boys came to the side of the dying campfire they found two men
who seemed to be entire strangers sitting calmly in one of the tents,
dividing the contents of a great tin of roast beef, and also sharing a
huge loaf of bread. The light was still dim in the tent, and so Will
turned his electric on the rather domestic scene.
"What are you men doing in there?" he demanded.
"Eating!" was the calm reply.
"I didn't know but you were getting a hair-cut," grinned Tommy.
"Where'd you come from?" asked George, as the boys all gathered in front
of the flap.
"Look here, kids," one of the men said easily, "we've been traveling two
days and two nights, and we're hungry and sleepy. Just let us fill up on
this chuck and we'll tell you all about it."
"We really ought to go to sleep!" the other intruder suggested. "But, as
you seem anxious to know why we're consuming your provisions, I'll
relieve your minds of anxiety by saying that we met John Johnson half
way to Green River and he sent us in to tell you that he would arrange
for reinforcements for you as soon as he reached Green River. He said he
mentioned the fact to you when he was here, but you didn't seem to like
it, and so he said nothing more about it to you."
"He sent you in here just to tell us that?" demanded Will.
"Aw, tell him the truth," laughed the other.
"Well, then, I'll tell him the truth," replied the intruder, his mouth
full of bread and meat.
"We met Johnson while he was on his way out, and he told us to look in
on you boys as we passed and see if you were all right. He seemed to
have a notion in his head that you'd be apt to get into trouble of some
kind."
"Glad you came in," Will said, extending his hand, "I don't know how Mr.
Johnson came to think of it, but your coming here just now is something
in the nature of a miracle."
"Glad to be of any service!"
Then without explaining the purpose of their night mission into the
mountains, the boys explained the situation to the two strangers,
dwelling particularly on the fact that the sheriff's cowboys now had
good cause for believing that the lads really were associating with the
train robbers.
"I think the train robbers held the officers up more because they've got
a grouch against all policemen than for any other reason," Will said. "I
don't see why they should cut in order to save our lives. The sheriff
will get good and even with them for that!"
"Just a grouch against all the officers in the world!" laughed one of
the strangers. "All brigands feel that way."
"But you can see where it leaves us!" exclaimed George. "We can't have
any fun in the mountains with those fellows chasing us all the time, and
one of our friends is wandering around in the mountains nutty, with a
broken head, and we can't even go out and find him if this hostile
attitude of the cowboys continues."
"You think they'll follow you down to camp, do you?" asked one of the
men. "Of course the outlaws wouldn't hold them very long."
"Yes, I think they'll follow us down to camp and they won't lose any
time getting here, either," Will answered.
"Did you ever seen anything like it?" asked Tommy as, accompanied by
George, he started toward the provision box.
"Like what?" demanded the other.
"Why, this lone mountain valley becoming the center of population of the
United States!" exclaimed Tommy. "When we came in here, there wasn't a
soul in sight in the valley. And then the robbers came, and the
detectives came, and the cowboys came, and Johnson came, then we got
next to Chester, and now these two strangers come butting in. If this
isn't the center of population, I'd like to know where it is."
"It's a good thing we've got those old burros picketed out on the
grass," George observed. "In about two days more, we'll have to set sail
for Green River and load up with provisions. We've been running a public
eating house ever since we struck Wyoming. I wonder how long these
fellows are going to stay. If they remain more than one day, I'm going
to charge 'em for board or send them out fishing."
"When you want any fish," Tommy exclaimed, "you needn't send any strange
guys out to get 'em. I'll bring in all the fish you want!"
George chuckled, and Tommy threw an empty can at his head.
"When you go out fishing," George said in a moment, "just let us know,
and we'll send a guard out with you."
"Oh, just because I had a little trouble up on Lake Superior and down in
Florida, you think I can't catch fish!" complained Tommy. "You just wait
until we get this rumpus with the cowboy officers settled and I'll show
you whether I can catch fish or not."
"I wish we had some of that bear steak!" George suggested. "We're eating
the ham and eggs all up, and we're right in the middle of a game country
at that."
"Look here," Tommy suggested, "you go right on cooking ham and warming
up those shoestring potatoes, and I'll sneak over the ridge and bring
back about fifty pounds of bear." Besides, he went on, "I want to get
those hides before the wolverines get them, or any one sneaks them off."
Just as Tommy disappeared up the slope the cowboy officers were seen
rushing toward the camp, their weapons ready for use.
"I guess they think the train robbers are here," commented Will.