UNCERTAINTIES
The quartette of girl chums from Lakeview Hall and Walter Mason, to
whom the girls at once revealed the contents of Juanita's letter,
were greatly excited over the Mexican treasure and the seekers
therefor.
Without doubt the Mexican girl at Honoragas had written the truth,
as she knew it, to Rhoda. Lobarto, the bandit, had met his death
five or six years before. It seemed quite probable that he should
have sent word to his relatives in the South of the existence of
his plunder and the place where he had been forced to cache it.
When he was chased out of American territory, the treasure he had
left behind would become a legacy for his relatives if they could
find it and were as inclined to dishonesty as Lobarto himself.
This nephew of the old bandit chief, Juan Sivello, seemed eager to
find the hidden treasure; and if he was really supplied with a
diagram indicating the location of the cache, Juan would probably
make a serious attempt to uncover it.
The question was, as Walter Mason very sensibly pointed out, having
come up to Rose Ranch for this particular purpose, would the
Mexicans endanger their plans by making a raid on the horses, and
so be chased away without securing the buried riches of Lobarto?
"Doesn't seem reasonable, after all, to me," said Walter, "that the
Mexicans your father and the cowboys set out in chase of are the
same crowd that Juanita says started up here to find the treasure.
There are two gangs of 'em."
"You may be right, Walter," said Rhoda.
"It sounds very reasonable," agreed Nan.
"You are a very smart boy, Walter," said Bess. "I don't see how you
do it."
Walter gave the last saucy Miss a grin as he pursued the topic:
"That fellow who scared you girls out of your seven wits at the
bears' den did not belong to the gang of horse thieves. That's a
cinch. They were a hundred miles to the southwest of that place,
for sure, and heading back to Mexico."
"Reckon you are right, Walter," again agreed Rhoda.
"Why, if that Mexican we saw--the man who lisped--was looking for
the buried treasure, perhaps it is right around that den. Maybe
Lobarto hid it in that hole."
"I told you that cave was haunted!" Grace cried.
"They say when the old pirates buried their loot they used to leave
a dead pirate to watch it," chuckled Bess.
"Believe me!" said Nan, with emphasis, "if that was a dead bandit
we heard shrieking in that cave, he must still be suffering a great
deal. But I scorn such superstitions. And I should like to go back
there with torches or lanterns and look for the treasure-trove
myself."
"Fine!" cried Bess. "I'll go."
"Not while that Mexican is around there," objected Grace.
"Why, he was much more afraid of Rhoda's gun than we were of him,"
Bess told her.
"I don't know how badly he was scared; but I know very well how
much I was frightened. Nothing would lead me back there--not even a
certainty of riches--unless we have a big crowd with us."
"I don't know that any harm is to be feared from that fellow,"
Rhoda said. "But until daddy returns and I talk with him, I won't
agree to any search. We want to know what these fellows are after,
it is true. But daddy will want a finger in the pie," and she
smiled.
So they had to possess their souls with patience while they awaited
the return of the ranchman. When Mr. Hammond came back on the
following day he confessed that the Mexican thieves had got away
and over the Border with the band of horses from the Long Bow
outfit.
"That big wind comin' up, and the rain followin', spoiled the trail
for us," the ranchman said. "Guess you believe now, children, what
I told you about our tornadoes, eh?"
"Including the poor pigs' tails being twisted the wrong way--yes,
sir," said Bess with gravity. "Oh, it's all true."
When Mr. Hammond heard of their adventures at the bears' den he
became serious at once. But it was not the strange noise they heard
that disturbed his serenity. It was regarding the unknown Mexican
lurking about the gulch.
"Got to look him up. Maybe nobody but some harmless critter. Can't
always tell. But there is one sure thing," added Mr. Hammond
slowly. "We crossed the trail of that gang of horse thieves where
they broke up into two parties. One party skirted the range, going
north. We followed the others because they were driving the stolen
critters.
"That's the upshot of it--the rats! If what this Mexican girl
friend of yours, Rhoda, says is so, that Sivello and his party made
a clean-up of the Long Bow horses, and the bulk of them started
back for the Border. Maybe their leader and his personal friends
came up this way, thinking to make another search for old Lobarto's
plunder.
"I swanny! I wish they'd find the stuff and get away with it. Every
once in a while a bunch of them comes up here and makes us trouble;
and the excuse is always that old Mex. treasure. My idea, they
always have their eyes on our cattle and horses. If they don't find
the gold, they pick up a few strays, and it always pays 'em for
makin' the trip up here."
"But can't you keep the Mexicans from coming here?" asked Walter.
"If they'd keep their thievin' hands off things, I wouldn't care if
they hunted the treasure all the time," said Mr. Hammond. "They'll
never find it."
"Oh, Daddy!" exclaimed Rhoda, "we were just thinking of hunting for
it ourselves. Can't we? Don't you believe--"
"No law against your huntin' for it all you want to," said her
father, laughing. "Go ahead. I didn't say you couldn't hunt for it;
I only said I did not think it would be found. Lobarto hid it too
well."
"But, Daddy! you don't encourage us," cried Rhoda. "And we are all
so interested. We want really to find the money so that Juanita and
her mother need not be poor."
"Well, well!" exclaimed the ranchman, "do you want me to go out and
bury some money, so you can find it?"
"No. But we want some of the boys to go with us. I want to search
that old bears' den, and the gulch there, and all about."
"Go to it, Honey-bird," he said, patting her shoulder. "You shall
have Hess and any other two boys you want. That's enough to handle
any little tad of Mexicans that may be hanging about up there. I'll
speak to Hess. Want to go to-morrow?"
This plan was agreed to. Of course the girls and Walter did not
want to rest after their exciting experiences at the round-up and
afterward.
"All you young people want to do," Mr. Hammond declared, "is to
keep moving!"
Walter made certain preparations for a search of the bears' den.
One of the cowpunchers chosen to accompany the party was a good
cook. Hesitation Kane took a pack horse with more of a camping
outfit than would have been the case had there not been four girls
in the party.
"I don't see," drawled Mr. Hammond, "how you girls manage to travel
at all without a Saratoga trunk apiece. Got your curlin'-tongs,
Rhoda? And be sure and take a lookin' glass and white gloves."
"Now, Daddy! you know you malign me," laughed his daughter. "And as
for these other girls, they fuss less than any girls you ever saw
from the East."
"I don't know. I'm kind of sorry for that pack horse," chuckled her
father, who delighted to plague them.
They might have made the trip to the gulch where the girls had
taken refuge from the tornado and returned the next day; but they
proposed to trail around the foothills for several days. Indeed,
even the cowboys in the party had become interested once more in
the buried treasure.
"It strikes us about once in so often," said the cook, as they
started away from the corrals, "and some of us git bit regular with
this treasure-hunting bug. Long's we know the treasure is somewhere
hid and there is a chance of finding it, we are bound to feel that
way. Then we waste the boss's time and wear ourselves out hunting
Lobarto's cache. Course, we won't never find it; but it is loads of
fun."
"I declare!" cried Rhoda, tossing her head, "you are just as
encouraging, Tom Collins, as daddy is. I never heard the like!"