A PENITENT PRISONER
By the time the raft grated on the pebbles of the mainland the moon had
begun to show over the horizon, and its light dissipated some of the
difficulties that confronted the boys in their undertaking. They rolled
Pedro onto the beach with difficulty, and sat down beside him for a
moment to rest.
The prisoner began to show some signs of coming to, and Injun was
for taking a huge rock and preventing any return to consciousness by
banging the man on the head with it. Whitey prevented this, however;
but he assured himself that Pedro was securely tied. By means of some
tough, but pliable vines that Injun got from the brush near at hand, he
not only bound Pedro's hands behind his back, but hobbled him so that
he could take a step of not more than a foot in length. In addition to
this, he put a slip-noose about the man's neck with a long leash; and
having Pedro thus trussed up, he awaited his returning consciousness
with some interest.
The outlaw took several short, gasping breaths, each longer than the
other, and at last, his eye-lids trembled and then opened, and he
looked at the two boys beside him. It took him a moment to realize his
situation. When he did, it was evident that he did not enjoy it, and he
looked malevolently at the boys. Injun brandished a huge club that he
picked up nearby.
"Had a 'nize, leetle' nap, didn't you, Pedro!" said Whitey, imitating
Pedro's taunting tone. "That dinner for 'ze feeshes' had to be
postponed, didn't it! Now, maybe you'd like to say a few prayers? How
about it?"
Pedro decided upon other tactics: "Pedro jus' play jok' on nize, leetle
boys! Pedro not hurt nize boys!"
"I know blame well you won't," said Whitey, "for the simple reason
that you can't! You're going to be 'ver' nize' from now on! Nice and
gentle! Come on," he said, rising, "you are due for a nice long walk
back to the ranch--it's only sixty miles and there's a hearty welcome
waiting for you there--your old friend Bill Jordan will be mighty glad
to see you!"
Pedro studied Whitey's face with his black, evil eyes. "Sure!" he said,
"I go--be ver' nize! Yo' ontie Pedro's foots so he walk!"
"Sure!" said Whitey, "I'm full of those tricks! I'll untie your
feet--when we get to the ranch! Get a move on!"
Pedro rose to his feet and started off as well as the hobble would let
him, but made rather a poor job of walking over the rough ground in the
semi-darkness. He made another appeal to have the hobble removed, but
he abandoned any further effort in that direction when Whitey said,
"Injun, if he turns around again or makes any bluff at falling down or
not being able to walk, you just belt him one over the head with that
club and see if it doesn't help him to walk better!"
"Me soak 'em!" said Injun, eagerly, and he gripped the club; he
evidently didn't see the use of waiting until Pedro did any of these
forbidden things, but was willing to hit him now and let him disobey
the rules afterward.
"'Twon't do to muss him up too much," protested Whitey. "The boys at
the ranch will want to hang a whole man, not a half of one; and if you
ever land on him with that club, we'll have to bury him right here!"
Injun indicated that such a proceeding wouldn't be any trouble at all
to him, but Whitey said it would take too long as they didn't have a
spade! What Pedro thought about it is not recorded.
After a considerable time and in spite of numberless
difficulties--Injun, being without any clothes whatever, suffered
somewhat from the briars and rough vines and branches--the strange
procession arrived at the glade where the horses had been left, and
found that the animals were still there. And while it would have done
Pedro good to have been compelled to walk back to the Bar O ranch, yet
Whitey figured that it would delay them unnecessarily, and, therefore,
he decided to tie the gentleman on the pack-horse. To do this, it would
be necessary to untie the hobbles that limited Pedro's leg-action, and
the vine was accordingly cut, releasing his legs, while Injun stood
over him with the club, ready to "soak 'em" at the first move. Whitey
looked at the gleaming bronze skin of Injun and asked, "Aren't you
cold, Injun?" Injun disclaimed any such feeling contemptuously.
"I thought," said Whitey, "that as long as we had his legs untied, you
might want a pair of pants?"
Injun experienced a startling reversal of form: "Ugh! Injun heap
cold!" he said with a tremendous show of shivering. And accordingly
the transfer was made, although Pedro put up an awful fuss, which was
entirely futile. True, the trousers were not a perfect fit, and they
were very wet and soggy; but they were a pair of trousers, and Injun
was not particular.
After drawing them on, he proceeded to investigate the pockets, and
took therefrom a very sizable roll of bills and several water-soaked
documents. There was not sufficient time or light to investigate the
character of the documents, but from the way Pedro took on, they were
evidently of some importance. He wheedled and whined and pleaded and
then cursed and threatened, but all that only confirmed the boys in
their determination to keep the stuff.
Under the persuasion of Injun's club, Pedro was soon seated on the
pack-horse, his legs bound very tight beneath the horse's belly and the
cavalcade started on their sixty-mile trip.
[Illustration: The cavalcade started on its sixty-mile trip]
The moon had risen and shed a full, silver flood over the woods and
the prairie, and it was almost as light as day. It is said that
moonlight will make almost anything look romantic; but it is hard to
believe that Pedro, clad in a wet, bedraggled coat and red flannel
underwear, and with a leash around his neck and his hands tied behind
his back, could have inspired anything but laughter in anybody. He
was "mad clear through" and his language was distinctly not fit for
publication--he had abandoned all efforts to wheedle by this time,
having discovered that he was not dealing with children, as he had at
one time supposed--and he proceeded to exhaust a very comprehensive
vocabulary of profanity in what sounded like six different languages.
Whitey stood it for some time, and then he said, "Now look here, Pedro,
if you say another word before sunrise, I'm going to put a gag into
that foul mouth of your's that'll keep you quiet. I wouldn't let even
these horses hear such talk! You told me to say my prayers, and now, I
think, under the circumstances, you better follow your own advice!"
And thus admonished, in addition to the fact that Whitey drew the
slip-noose a trifle tighter around Pedro's Adam's apple, that gentleman
proceeded to subside.
It would be idle to follow the incidents of the long ride to the Bar O
ranch--in fact, there was no incident worth noting. Pedro made several
efforts to talk himself out of his plight, and once, he tried to get
his hands out of the bonds that held them and almost succeeded. But
what good it would have done if he had succeeded, is not plain. The
boys had a sharp eye on him at all times, and his legs were firmly
bound beneath the horse. Besides, Injun was right on hand and ready
with the club, which would have had a very salutary effect on anybody.