INTO THE ENEMY'S CAMP
"Has Simms been warned that he'd better keep them out of this here
territory?" asked one.
"Yes."
"Who told him?"
"Bob Moore, who owns the Double X Ranch on the west side of the
range. I saw to that," announced the man with the beard.
Tad decided that he was the leader of the party, but it was not yet
clear what they were planning to do. Yet he knew that if he listened
long enough something was sure to be dropped that would give him a
clue to the mystery.
"Bob's mad as a trapped bear over it. Swears he'll kill every sheep
in the country before he'll let Simms drive in the new herd and
graze it here."
"Suppose you put it into his head proper like to do something?"
laughed one.
"Well, I did talk it over with him a bit," admitted the leader. "But
he wasn't hard to show."
"When is the thing coming off?"
"We haven't decided yet. We four will talk that over. Perhaps the
same night they get in. They'll be restless then and easy to
start."
"But won't the foreman corral the sheep?"
"Don't think so. Haven't room. They haven't fixed up a new
corral, because they expected to graze the sheep on north. That many
will clean up the range right straight ahead of us for more'n a
hundred miles, so that we cattle men won't have half a chance to
graze our cattle," grinned the spokesman of the party.
His companions laughed harshly.
"I reckon," answered another. "We'll have all the cattle men on
both sides of the Rosebud range so stirred up that they will pitch
into that flock like hyenas who haven't had a square meal since snow
fell last. When they break loose there's going to be fun, now I
tell you. That's the time we get busy. We ought to be able to get
a thousand of them anyhow. Before next morning we'll be so far down
toward the Big Horn range that they won't catch us. And besides,
after the cattle men get through killing mutton, a thousand more or
less won't be missed. It'll make a nice bunch to add to our flock.
If we work that a few times we'll have enough to make a shipment
worth while."
"So that's the game is it?" muttered Tad Butler. "Well, they won't
do it if I can help it." Yet be realized how powerless he was at
that moment to defeat their nefarious plans.
Somehow they were going to urge the real cattle men to use
highhanded measures to destroy Mr. Simms's flock. They were going to
scatter them, and then these men were going to make off with all
they could drive away. It did not seem to the listening boy that
such things were possible; yet Mr. Simms was authority for the
statement that such acts were not unknown in this far northern
state.
There were still many points that Tad was not clear on, but he had
heard enough to enable him to give the rancher a timely warning of
what they proposed to do.
The lad knew what that meant. It meant trouble. His sympathies had
been largely with the cattle men--he had looked down on the sheep
industry and for the reason that he knew only what the cattle men
had told him about it.
At that moment Tad Butler was experiencing a change of heart. That
they could plan ruthlessly to slaughter the inoffensive little
animals passed his comprehension. A remark below him caused the lad
to prick up his ears and listen intently.
"As I came over the Little Muddy this afternoon, I thought I saw
some sort of a camp in the foothills," said a voice. "Thought mebby
that might be the outfit, though I couldn't see what they were doing
on that side of the range."
"Oh," laughed the big man, "I know the one you mean. Yes, I took a
look at that outfit myself."
"Oh, he did, eh? Wonder we didn't see him," grunted Tad, realizing
that the men referred to the camp of the Pony Riders. "There was
something besides bears around there, I see."
"Find out what it was!"
"Yes, it seemed to be a camp of boys. There was only one man in the
bunch so far as I could see. He was a tall gent with whiskers that
hadn't been shaved for two weeks o' Sundays."
Tad could not repress a laugh.
"I wish the boys could hear that," he said, laughing softly. "That
hits off the Professor better than a real picture could do."
"Huh! What were they doing!"
"You can search me for the answer. I haven't got it," laughed the
big fellow. "We don't need to bother about them. They're out here
with some crazy idea in their tops. They can't interfere with our
plans any."
"You'd better not be too sure about that," chuckled Tad. "Perhaps
one of them may if he has the good luck to get out of here without
being discovered."
"What's the plan, Bluff?"
"So that's his name? I'll remember that," muttered Tad.
"That's what I wanted you boys to meet me here for. I want you to
see all the ranchers before to-morrow night on both sides of the
Rosebud. Understand now, no blunt giving away of the game. You want
to start by telling them you hear Boss Simms is bringing in ten
thousand head of sheep, and that he's going to graze them up the
valley all the way over the free grass to the north. Tell them that
it'll be mighty poor picking for the cows and so on until you get
'em good and properly mad----"
"Yes, what then?"
"Better let the ranchers make threats first, then you can say that
you hear the others are going to teach Boss Simms a lesson and
stampede his flock to-morrow or next night. Say you hear the word
will go out when the mine is ready to touch a match to. You'll know
how to work it?"
"Sure thing, Bluff. Who do you want us to see?"
"I want you and Jake to take the west side of the mountains. Lazy
and I will take the east. Work it thoroughly and don't you go to
making any bad breaks. Right after the job is over, besides the
sheep we get for our own herd, there'll be a few thousand laying
dead around these parts. We'll take the contract to skin them for
the hides. That'll be another rake off. Do you follow me?"
"Yes."
"To-morrow night meet me at the Three Sisters and I'll be able to
give you your orders for the rest of the boys."
"You don't think they'll suspect you--that they'll be wise to what
the game is?" asked one of the men apprehensively.
"No fear of that. They'd never mix me up with any such deal as
that. I'm a respectable law abiding rancher, I am," laughed the man
with the red beard. "Don't you go to getting cold feet. That's the
sure way to get caught," admonished the leader.
"Want us to start now?"
"No, sure not. What's the use? We'd better turn in and get some
sleep. It'll be light enough by three o'clock in the morning. We'll
get a rasher of bacon and some hot coffee, then we'll light out for
the valley. You know you don't have to see Bob Moore. And better not
go near the Circle T Ranch. I'm not any too sure about those
fellows. We'll turn in now."
"I've heard enough to hang the whole bunch," thought Tad
Butler. "The trouble is I don't know who they are. But that does not
make so much difference. Only if I did know, Mr. Simms might be able
to have them arrested. As it is, I guess the best he can do is to
get ready to fight them off when they do come," reasoned the lad.
"Better stake the ponies nearer camp in case anything comes along. I
came across bear tracks a few miles to the east of here," the big
man advised them.
"So did I," thought Tad.
"I forgot to tell you that there'll be three or four Crow braves
with us on the raid as well as half a dozen Blackfeet?"
"Blackfeet? What are them redskins doing down here, off the
reservation?" demanded Jake.
"They're like all critters, think the pasture over the fence is
better'n their own," laughed Bluff. "Guess there's no need of any of
us keeping awake. We ain't likely to have any surprises."
The cowboy outlaw, however, was about to have the most surprising of
surprises that could have come to him at that time.
Tad, in his anxiety to catch every word that was uttered, had drawn
his body close up to the edge of the cliff, his head and shoulders
hanging well over.
In front of him, right down to the camp stretched a long, sloping
rock, whose smooth face, glistened in the light of the camp fire. As
the men rose to prepare for the night, Tad began pulling himself
cautiously back, bracing himself with one hand.
Suddenly the hand slipped. How it happened he was unable to tell
afterward, but instantly Tad was over the rock and tobogganing down
its side head first.
A spot rougher than the rest of the rock, caught in his clothes,
righting the boy's body, permitting him to shoot down the rest of
the way, feet first.
The Pony Rider Boy's presence of mind did not desert him for an
instant. It was not a long drop. He felt that he would land safely,
providing he did not turn again and land on his head instead of his
feet. It was a chance very liable to happen, as he knew from his
experience of a second before.
They heard him coming, but did not catch the significance of it.
"What's that!" exclaimed Bluff, springing up in alarm.
"I don----"
"Y-e-o-w!"
Tad had uttered the shrill scream. With great presence of mind he
hoped to take them so by surprise that they would hesitate for the
few seconds, and that in this delay he would be able to get away.
The lad's feet struck the ground, his body plunged forward and he
fell sprawling at the very feet of the men he was seeking to get
away from.
"Catch him! It's a man!" roared the leader.
With one accord they sprang for the prostrate form of Tad Butler.