BOB CAPTURED.
"Maybe I am doing a fool thing," Bob thought
as he urged the horse up the rough trail. "One thing's
dead sure. I've got to be mighty careful, because
I'm up against a bad bunch and no mistake."
For a half-hour he pushed on as fast as he dared
urge the horse, stopping to listen every few minutes.
But no sound, save the rustle of the tree-tops as
hey swayed in the light breeze, came to him. Whether
or not he was gaining on the man he could not tell,
but he had seen no sign of him when he reached the
top of the mountain.
"He must be making good time," he thought as
he paused to allow Satan to get his breath. "I
wonder how far they'll follow the trail." Then the
thought struck him that he was doing a very foolish
thing to expose himself there where there were no
trees to hide him from view and he at once started
to follow the trail down the other side. "I must
keep my eyes open for a side trail," he thought a
few minutes later as he again plunged into the thick
forest.
He had gone, perhaps, a mile from the top when
his eye caught sight of a narrow path running off
toward the north. The place where it branched off
the main trail was just beyond a huge pine tree and
was so well hidden that, had he not been on the
watch for just such a thing, he would never have
seen it.
"Now I wonder," he mused as he drew rein.
Then he slipped from the saddle and closely scrutinized
the entrance to the narrow path. There had
been no rain for several weeks and the ground was
very hard and dry, but his knowledge of woodcraft
stood him in good stead and he had little trouble
in reading that several horses had turned off there
not long since. The pathway was so narrow and
filled with rocks that it seemed to him almost
impossible that a horse could traverse if, and, after a
moment's thought, he decided to leave Satan there
and follow the new path on foot.
He led the horse into a deep thicket where there
was little likelihood that he would be seen by any
one passing along the trail and tied him to a small
sapling. Then he plunged into the narrow trail jumping
from rock to rock the better part of the time. He
figured that he could probably make better time on
foot than they would make on horseback, as they
would be obliged to go very slowly or risk breaking
a horse's leg. It got worse as he went along and
had it not been for unmistakable signs, which his
trained eye was able to read, he would not have
believed it possible that a horse could get over the
ground.
"I must be gaining on them," he thought after
he had covered what he judged was a mile from the
main trail.
A moment later a rattlesnake gave his ominous
warning only a foot or two in front of him as he
reared his ugly head above a rock and the boy
jumped to one side so quickly that he slipped from
a rock and came down in a heap, giving his right
foot a sharp wrench. The pain, for an instant, made
him sick but he crawled hastily backward until he
was several feet away.
"Here's a pretty kettle of fish," he thought as he
stood up and tested his weight on the injured leg.
To his great joy, however, he found that it was
only a slight sprain and that he could bear his weight
on it without causing a great amount of pain. For
a moment he seriously considered the advisability
of giving it up and going back, but he was not made
of the stuff that gives up easily and he determined
to push on for a while at least. But another sharp
rattle in front fold him that an enemy was protesting
his right of way. He had an automatic in his
pocket and, as he was a good shot, he knew that
there would be little difficulty in disposing of the
protestor were it not for the fact that the shot would
be certain to alarm the men somewhere ahead of
him.
"That would never do," he thought as he picked
up a stone about the size of his fist.
The snake's head was out of sight as he straightened
up but rose into view as he took a step forward.
The distance was about ten feet and he hurled the
stone with all his strength but, to his disappointment,
he missed. But he was more fortunate the
second time, the rock striking the snake's head fair
and square. The head went down out of sight
behind the rock and he could hear it thrashing about.
He waited a few minutes then, picking up another
larger rock, stepped cautiously forward. He had
no way of knowing how badly he had injured his
snakeship and, as the noise of the writhing had
stopped, he judged that he had either killed it or
else it was coiled ready to spring. So he tossed the
stone in the air in such a way that it fell just behind
the rock which hid the snake from his sight. It
made no sound when it struck from which he judged
that it must have landed on the snake. He waited a
moment longer and, hearing nothing, judged that
the sake must be dead. So he stepped nearer until
he could see over the rock.
The snake was dead, its head mashed to a jelly
by the second rock which had landed fairly on it.
It was a large one, fully as long as the one Sue had
shot earlier in the day.
"I'm going to keep those rattles," he said to
himself as he drew his knife from his pocket and cut
them off.
He could not make quite so fast time now as he
was obliged to favor his leg which now gave him
considerable pain when he bore his weight on it.
"If I don't meet up with something before long
I'll have to give it up, as I promised to turn up
before dark," he thought as he pulled out his watch
and noted that it was nearly four o'clock. "If I
don't strike something in another half-hour I'll turn
back. That'll give me time to get back before dark,
I guess."
It was about twenty minutes later when the sharp
crack of a rifle brought him to a quick stop.
"That wasn't very far away," he thought as he
listened.
Then, a moment later he heard the sound of a
man's voice off to his right. He was unable to
distinguish the words although, from the sound, he
could not be far away. The forest was very dense
and he felt sure that he could creep fairly close to
them without running much risk. So he turned from
the path and, moving with extreme caution, crept
from tree to tree, listening all the while. Soon he
heard the voice again and now it was nearer, so
near, in fact, that he had no difficulty in hearing
what he said.
"It's about time Red was gettin' here, don't you
think?" the voice asked.
"He'll get here all right, give him time," a second
voice replied.
"Wall, I don't like him bein' so confounded long
'bout it," the first voice growled.
"Aw, yer always a stewin' 'bout somethin' or
other. Why don't yer take things easy like I do?"
a third voice broke in.
All the time the boy was creeping nearer until
finally, peering out from behind a thick clump of
bushes, he could see the men sitting beneath the
limbs of a large tree while their tired horses were
hobbled only a few feet away. To his disappointment
there was no sign of any place which would
serve as a hiding place for stolen cattle. He watched
for a few minutes and then, judging that he had
probably learned all that he could and that he would
have barely time to get back to the ranch before
dark, he got carefully to his feet and was about to
start when, suddenly a pair of powerful arms were
thrown about him and he was borne to the ground.
He realized at once that it would be useless to resist,
so he kept quiet and after a moment the man seized
him by the collar and jerked him to his feet.
"So it's you, eh," he said roughly.
"It would seem so," Bob replied quietly.
"Perhaps yer won't be quite so fresh in answerin'
my questions now."
Bob made no reply and the man asked:
"What yer doing here?"
"I guess it's plain enough," Bob replied.
"It's plain enough ter me that you were spying
on us."
Bob knew that it would be useless to deny the
obvious fact, so he said nothing.
"Can't yer speak?" the man growled.
"I can, but what's the use?"
"I guess yer're right thar. I caught yer red-handed,
so ter speak. But come on an' we'll see
what the rest of the gang think about it."
Still keeping his great hand on Bob's collar he
half-dragged and half-led him to where the others
were waiting.
"What yer got thar, Red?" one of them called as
soon as they came in sight.
"Name it an' yer kin have it," Hains laughed.
Then as he came into their midst, he continued:
"I caught this feller a piece back thar watchin'
of yer. What'll we do with him?"
"Why, that the same boy that was with the girl
and other boy we found back a little way off the
main trail."
Both because he used better language than the
others and by his black hair and beard, Bob
recognized the speaker as the man who had found them
earlier in the day.
"So you met 'em?" Hains asked.
"Yes, and believe me the girl was as pretty as a
picture and she had some tongue, believe me."
"An' I 'spose that on account of her prutty face
yer let 'em go," Hains snapped.
"Not exactly on account of that," the man replied.
"But there didn't seem any reason not to."
"I 'spose not, but how 'bout this feller? Want
me ter let him go?"
"That's a different thing entirely," the man said.
"He was caught spying on us and that makes a
difference."
"I'll say it does, a heap of difference," one of the
other men broke in.
"Wall, boys, what'll we do with him?" Hains
demanded.
"Give him a necktie party," one proposed.
"String him up," another shouted.
"Aw jest put a bullet whar it'll do the most good,"
a third suggested.
Bob was scared. He knew that he was in the
hands of desperate men, men who would stop at
nothing if they thought their safety was threatened,
and his heart sank as he heard the suggestions from
the different members of the band. How he wished
he had listened to Sue and his brother and was safe
back at the ranch.
"He's only a kid," suggested the black-haired man.
"But he big enough ter tell what he's seen,"
another declared.
"Sure he is, but what has he seen?"
"He's seen us, ain't he?"
"And so have a lot others."
"Aw, what's the use o' arguin' 'bout it I'll do
the trick," a man who had not spoken before, said
as he drew an ugly-looking revolver from his belt,
and Bob gave an involuntary shudder.
"Hold on thar, Tim," Hains ordered and the man
replaced the gun, growling something which Bob did
not catch. "Let's get supper first an' then we'll tend
ter him. Now, kid, you stay put right thar and if
yer try to get away yer'll get a bullet that'll stop
yer. Get me?"
Bob did not doubt that the man meant exactly
what he said and he sank down on a rock with a
sigh which he could not repress. Not that he had
given up hope, but he could not help feeling that his
situation was desperate in the extreme. Perhaps
after all, he thought, the men were only trying to
scare him. He tried to force himself to believe that
such was the case but got little comfort from the
hope. Closing his eyes for a moment he breathed
a silent prayer for protection and, somehow, after
that he felt better.
By this time the men had a big fire going and all
were busy getting ready the meal except Hains and
the black-haired man. They were talking earnestly
together a little apart from the rest, and it seemed
to the watching boy that the black-haired man was
urging the other to some course of action. But, if
so, it appeared that his argument was not meeting
with much success, for Hains frequently shook his
head and finally turned away and went to where
the horses were hobbled and carefully looked each
one over as though to satisfy himself that none
could wander away.
The entire party seemed, for the time at least, to
have forgotten all about the boy, for no one paid
the slightest attention to him. He watched them
carefully and, had it not been for his injured leg,
he told himself, he would have made the attempt to
slip away into the dense woods, trusting that he
might get enough of a start before he was missed to
enable him to escape.
But hampered, as he knew he would be, with the
sprain, he dared not risk it. So he waited as
patiently as possible, wondering what the outcome
would be. Finally the supper, consisting of lamb,
which they had roasted over the fire, potatoes and
hot coffee, was ready and the men began to eat
hungrily, still completely ignoring him. Again he
was minded to attempt to get away, but the fear
of the injured leg again held him back. He pulled
out his watch and saw that it was well past six
o'clock and he began to feel hungry.
After what seemed a long time, one of the men,
at an order from Hains, came to him bearing a
good-sized hunk of meat and a couple of potatoes
on a piece of birch bark, and a tin cup about
half-filled with coffee.
"Here yer are, Kid," he said. "Eat, drink and be
merry, for ter-morrow, who knows."
He sat the food down on the ground and turned
back. Bob picked it up and, although there was
neither knife, fork or spoon, he managed to eat it
all. The potatoes were a bit soggy, but the meat
was good and he was surprised at the quality of the
coffee.
"The fellow who made that coffee knows his job
all right," he said to himself as he drained the last
of it.
Greatly to his surprise the men, after they had
cleaned up after the meal, continued to pay not the
slightest attention to him, and soon dusk began to
steal over the forest. He could see that a number
of the men were playing cards on a blanket, which
they had spread on the ground in front of the fire,
while others, rolled up in their blankets, for it was
beginning to grow cool, were already fast asleep.
Apparently it was their intention to pass the night
there, and he began to wonder if, after all, it would
not be best to make the attempt to escape. He could
hardly suppose that they had forgotten him, but
he could see no indication that they were aware of
his existence.
He had seen neither Hains or the black-haired
man since he had eaten and he wondered what had
become of them. Were one or both of them concealed
somewhere where they could watch him? If
he made the attempt to get away would it be to give
them the chance for which they were waiting?
"It's a toss up either way," he thought. "If they
intend to put me out of business they'll do it sooner
or later unless I give them the slip, so I don't know
that I'd be much worse off even if I don't succeed.
I'm going to make a stab at it just as soon as it gets
a bit darker."
The game of cards evidently was getting more and
more exciting and he could hear the men as they
made their bids and often a violent oath broke from
the lips of first one and then another as the card went
against them.
Darkness settled rapidly and, a few minutes after
he had made his decision, he was able to see only a
few feet from where he sat unless he looked toward
the fire.
"As well now as any time," he thought as, without
making the slightest sound, he began to hitch
himself farther away from the fire. He moved three
or four feet and then stopped and listened, watching
the men to see if they were aware of his movements.
But the game went on with no abatement and foot
by foot he increased the distance between them and
him. At no instant would he have been in the least
surprised to have felt those powerful arms close about
him or even to have felt the impact of a bullet. But
nothing happened and soon he felt that he was
far enough away to get up and run for it. Although
he was in the dense forest the trees were not very
close together and there was little or no underbrush,
which enabled him, even in the darkness, to make
fairly good speed, and at the end of another ten
minutes, he felt that he was reasonably safe, at least
so far as they were concerned.
But he well knew that not yet was he out of the
woods, either literally or figuratively speaking. Could
he find his way back to where he had left Satan? He
was not so sure that he could, but he thanked God
that he had, at least, escaped from what had at the
time, seemed almost certain death. If he only had
a flashlight, he thought as he slowed down his pace
and began to hunt for the narrow trail which led to
the main path. Once he found that he felt that he
would be reasonably safe and he thought that he
was moving in the right direction but could not be
certain. He knew how difficult it was to maintain
a correct sense of direction in the woods, especially
at night.
Soon he was sure that, had he been going in the
right direction, he ought to have reached it and
turned sharply to the left. He was walking very
slowly now, both on account of the injured leg which
was giving him considerable pain every time he
stepped on it, and because he knew that should he
cross it without being aware of it, the chances were
that he would not find it, at least, until morning.
For another fifteen minutes he pushed on and then
stopped suddenly. Was that a shout he heard? He
listened and almost at once the sound was repeated.
Someone was calling and the shout was answered
by another not very far away. They had missed him
and were searching the woods.
A shudder passed through him as he thought what
would probably happen to him if they again got him
into their clutches. Another shout, which sounded
only a short distance in front of him answered
almost immediately from off at his right, made him
realize that his enemies had him nearly if not quite
surrounded. Unless he found some way of safety very
soon he would be caught for sure. He could now
and then see flashes of light as his pursuers made
use of their electric torches. He had not the
slightest idea of which way to go and, for a moment,
despair settled on him. It seemed impossible that he
could escape. Then as he took a step forward, his
cap was brushed from his head by the limb of a tree.
As he stooped to recover it, an idea struck him.
Although it was so dark that he could see but a few
feet he could tell that the tree in front of him was
thick-branched and, in another minute, he was
rapidly making his way toward the top. The tree was
tall and he did not stop until he was so near the top
that the trunk was only a few inches through. Then,
straddling a limb, he crouched as close to the trunk
as he could get and waited. He had done all he
could and he breathed a fervent prayer that they
would not find him.
As he crouched there he could hear the men calling
one to the other and all the time they were coming
nearer. Flashes of light stabbed the darkness
but, so dense were the branches beneath him, he only
caught an occasional glimpse like the gleam of a
firefly. Soon he was aware that two of them had
met directly beneath him, and strained his ears to
hear what they were saying.
"I told Pete to keep an eye on him," were the first
words he could distinguish, and he thought it was
Hains' voice.
"I guess Pete got too much interested in his cards,"
the other said.
"Wall, I'll larn him ter get mixed up with other
things when I tell him to do sumpin'."
"I wouldn't be too hard on Pete, Red. The kid
isn't worth it and after all, what does it matter if he
does get away. It's already known that we are in
the country and what he could tell wouldn't hurt
us any."
From the language as well as the voice Bob knew
that it was the black-haired man talking. He was
the only one in the gang who, so far as he had heard,
used decent English and he wondered how the man
came to be associated with such a crowd.
"'Tain't that I mind the kid so much, but it's the
principle o' the thing that makes me mad. Long's
I'm boss they've got to mind what I say."
"That's right so far as it goes, but I warn you
that you'll make a big mistake if you go to rubbing
Pete the wrong way just now. He doesn't like you
any too much and the all the boys do like him. First
thing you know he'll get the drop on you and then
your rule will be over."
"Aw, what yer givin' us? I tell yer I kin handle
a dozen Petes and any o' the rest of 'em, fer that
matter."
"All right, have it your own way," the other replied
nonchalantly. "But don't forget that I warned
you."
At this moment two more of the gang joined them
and Bob heard one of the newcomers say:
"I guess the kid's flew der coup."
"Looks like it," Hains replied in a sullen tone.
"Where's Pete?"
"Dunno."
"Wall, I guess we might's well get back ter camp.
'Tain't much use huntin' round here in the dark."
Bob breathed a deep sigh of relief as he heard the
men move off in the darkness. For some time he
could hear them talking and shouting as they called
to others of the gang. Gradually their voices grew
fainter and soon all was still and he deemed it safe
to descend. But when he reached the ground he
found that he had entirely lost his sense of direction
and had not the slightest idea as to which way to go.
"Guess the safest thing will be to stay right here
till morning," he concluded after thinking the matter
over for some time. "If I start out I'll be just as
apt to blunder into their camp again as I am to find
that trail."
A glance at the luminous face of his watch told
him that it was nearly ten o'clock. The sky had
clouded over and it was steadily growing colder, but
he was dressed fairly warm in his woolen shirt and
knew there was little danger of catching cold.
"I don't knew whether to chance it on the ground
or to roost up in that tree," he thought as he groped
about on the ground to find a soft spot. Finally he
found a place about twenty feet from the tree which
he had climbed which was thick with dry moss and
decided to risk it. His foot was giving him considerable
pain and he quickly pulled off his shoe and
stocking and felt of the ankle. It was pretty sore
and he judged that it was swollen slightly, but he
was thankful that it was no worse. For some time
the ache in his ankle kept him awake but finally
wearied nature asserted itself and he slept.