RATTLERS
Mr. Manley and the others did not hear Teddy’s yell. They were a
good distance away and this, with the creaking of saddles, the
beating of the horses’ feet on the hard ground of the trail, and the
talk of what had just happened in Rimor’s Place, made it practically
impossible for them to hear the boy’s cry. Hence they continued up
the other trail, confident that Roy and Teddy were riding behind
them.
As the two boys dashed up the left fork, Teddy found himself
wishing, with a certain bitterness, that he had not given that yell.
Flash was just ahead. If Teddy had contained himself, it might have
been possible for him and Roy to have taken by surprise whoever was
riding the horses. Then he would have gotten Flash back. But now
there was only one thing to do--that was to ride! Ride after the
rustlers with all the skill and energy the two boys possessed.
There was no time for talk. Both boys bent low in their saddles and
with expert hands guided the ponies up the treacherous, winding
trail. The only sounds were the breathing of the broncos and the
monotonous drubbing of their feet on the ground. Now and then a pony
would toss his head, and flecks of foam would fly backward.
Desperately the boys urged the horses on. General, Flash, and Star
were just ahead! They _must_ catch them!
Roy groaned aloud when he thought of the sting of the quirt across
Star’s flank and the raking of the spurs as the rider above roweled
the pony in an effort to escape. Roy could almost see Star trembling
in surprised fright at this cruelty, his eyes misted with
reproachful agony. It would be the first time in his life he had
ever been beaten. Yet he would know it was not Roy on his back. He
would know it was a stranger who was sending those stabs of pain
through his body.
Roy clenched his teeth in a fury of determination. Up, up--to the
right of that rock there--now to the left--the path turned
here--up--up--harder--faster!
For a short space in front of them the trail lay open. Teddy shouted
something unintelligible, and Roy whipped his head around. Teddy was
motioning furiously, and, as Roy followed his brother’s gesture, he
saw General and his rider, who were in the rear of the other two
rustlers, leap off the trail and through the brush.
“Mark that spot!” Teddy panted. “We turn there!”
Roy sought to fasten his gaze on the place at the side of the path.
That bush,--that brown bush--he must keep his eyes on it! If they
lost it, Star would be lost too!
It is not easy to rivet one’s attention on a spot on the road while
guiding one’s pony up a tortuous mountain trail. Roy’s mount, free
of the hand which seemed to lift him over those leg-wrenching holes,
faltered, stumbled, and, like a deer stricken with a hunter’s
bullet, crashed headlong to the ground.
Automatically, Roy’s whole body relaxed as he flew through the air,
so that the shock would be distributed equally throughout his frame.
When he hit, his breath was jarred from him, but no bones were
broken.
Teddy almost pulled his pony over backward in his effort to stop. He
leaped swiftly from his horse and ran to his brother’s side.
“Roy! Roy!” he cried. “Are you hurt? Are you all right? Roy!”
“All right, Teddy,” Roy gasped weakly, struggling to his feet. “Just
a--a--fall. Wind’s gone.” He bent over for a moment, gasping for
breath. When he straightened up, the lines of pain had disappeared
from his face.
“Pretty lucky! Where’s that bronc? If his leg’s broken--” Then he
saw his pony standing in the underbrush, unhurt, but trembling
violently. Quickly he ran toward the steed and patted him gently.
“Snap into it, Teddy! We won’t give up yet! There’s still a chance!
We’ve got to find Star and Flash! And if we can bring back General
for dad--”
Without finishing his sentence, Roy vaulted into the saddle, and
once more the boys galloped up the mountain trail. Roy’s fall was
but an incident in the chase.
When they came to the spot where they thought the thieves had turned
off, Roy pulled his horse to a halt.
“Think this is it?” he asked Teddy.
“I think so,” answered his brother. “We’ll take it--have to! Come
on!”
As Teddy headed his horse off the trail and into the bush, he had a
queer feeling that this was all a vivid dream--that he and Roy had
been riding like this forever, on and on, mile after mile, over
mountains and through valleys. Chasing--what was it they were
chasing? Oh, yes! Flash! And Star and General! Why, of course. What
was the matter with him? He shook his head savagely. Was he a
tenderfoot that a ride like this should do him up? Why, he--around
that fallen tree, you bronc you! Not over it! Suddenly swift
realization came to Teddy. No wonder he felt weak! Here it was late
afternoon, and he had not had anything to eat since breakfast!
“Feel all right, Roy?” he yelled, turning in his saddle.
“Yes--pretty good! Kind of hungry!”
“Me, too!”
The comparative safety of the trail had given way to a heavy tangle
of underbrush which made the riding extremely dangerous. Still, the
boys had for consolation the fact that it was as bad for the
rustlers as it was for them.
Gradually it came to Roy that the chase was hopeless unless they
could tell which way the thieves had gone. He motioned to Teddy to
stop, and the two boys listened intently. There was no sound of
cracking twigs, no noise of distant crashing of horses’ feet through
the forest. All was silent.
“Seems like we’ve lost them,” Roy said, a note of despair in his
voice.
Teddy settled deeper in his saddle and blew out his breath in a long
sigh. The world seemed especially dark at that moment. After that
long, hard ride, with success almost in their grasp, to have failed
now! The boy took off his hat and ran his fingers through his damp
hair, then let his arm drop heavily down to his side in a gesture of
despondency.
“It’s tough luck!” he said in a dull voice. “Pretty tough luck! We
almost had ’em!”
“If I hadn’t fallen we might have caught ’em,” Roy declared
regretfully. “I could kick myself! Pulling a stunt like that!”
“Aw, it wasn’t your fault,” Teddy said in rough sympathy. He tried
to cover up the memory of how his heart had leaped into his throat
when Roy crashed to the ground. Teddy looked over at his brother.
Their eyes met. Then Roy knew how Teddy had felt while he, himself,
was lying in the brush.
“Well, we can’t do much here,” Teddy said, moving uneasily in the
saddle. “Let’s go back. It’s getting late.”
“I’ll tell a maverick it is! And I’m hungry. Besides, dad’ll be
worried. When we started up that left fork, I thought dad and the
rest might hear us and follow. But I guess they were too far ahead.
Well, the best thing we can do now is to find him and tell him what
we saw. Maybe we’ll be able to pick up the trail of our lost broncs
when we get back on the path.”
Looking up at the sun to make sure of their direction, the boys rode
slowly back toward the path. After the excitement of the pursuit,
the reaction had set in, and both felt low in spirits. The fact that
they had had no dinner contributed not a little to their depression.
The horses, heads held low, picked their way through the brush.
They, too, were tired and thirsty.
For a long time neither of the boys spoke. At length Teddy licked
his lips and remarked:
“I’m mighty dry, Roy. Seems to me there’s a spring around here
somewhere. Remember it?”
“Sort of. Not just sure where it is, though. I’ll--”
He stopped. To his ears came a peculiar buzzing, like the sound of
some giant locust.
The horses heard it at the same instant, and they swerved about and
would have bolted but for the firm hands of their riders. Teddy
peered sharply down at a large gray boulder that lay half imbedded
in the soil, a deep, wide gash running from one end of it to the
other.
Again came the buzzing noise, and now a strange, pungent odor
floated out, which told, plainer than words, what that sound meant.
“Rattlers!” Teddy cried. “Sidewinders! A whole den of ’em!”
“Kill ’em!” Roy yelled, drawing his rifle from its case on the
saddle. “Kill ’em! Pour lead into the varmints! Salivate ’em!”
He leveled his rifle, and, as he did so, a veritable horde of
writhing, slimy, scaly creatures issued forth from the rocky
crevice, like a phalanx of some horrible, crawling army!