DISCOVERY
Pulling their hats further down on their heads to keep the rain out
of their eyes, the two boys directed their ponies toward the cabin.
The horses were twitching nervously every time a streak of lightning
tore the rain-washed sky, and it took skillful hands to keep them
from running wild.
A blinding flash came just as they reached the cabin, and a tree not
a hundred yards away fell to the ground with a startling crash.
Teddy’s pony threw back his head and whinnied in terror.
“Close!” Roy yelled. “Watch that bronc of yours, Teddy! He’s a
sidewinder!”
The warning was unnecessary, for Teddy at the same moment seized the
horse’s mane with a firm hand. This had a quieting effect, and the
bronco lowered his head once more.
Now they were at the door of the dwelling, and both boys leaped from
their mounts. The cabin was a ramshackle affair, simply four walls
and a roof, with no porch. There was one window in the front and one
on the side, neither of which had an unbroken pane. But at least the
place afforded shelter, and tying their ponies to a pole which stood
at the rear, partly under the eaves, Teddy and Roy ran to the front
door.
Seizing the knob, Teddy pushed. The plank door flew open, and the
boys entered. The windows allowed some light to penetrate the
interior, but, even so, it was dark and dreary within. The boys saw
that four chairs were grouped about a rough table. On one side was a
couch that had long passed its days of usefulness. A stone fireplace
was built in one of the walls, and Roy noticed with relief that
there were several pieces of wood piled on the andirons. A door
opened into another room, evidently a bed chamber. Above were the
bare rafters, opening up to a peaked roof.
Teddy removed his sodden hat and whacked it on the table.
“Wow!” he gasped. “Some rain! Golly, I’m wet through!”
“So am I, I’ll tell a maverick!” Roy exclaimed. He looked about him
curiously. “We’re pretty lucky to stumble on this. Wonder who in
thunder ever lived here?”
“Some sheep-herder, most likely,” his brother declared. Walking to
the door he pushed it more firmly shut. “Thank goodness the roof
doesn’t leak! Say, look at the wood in the grate! Seems as if some
one had been here not so long ago and intended to come back.”
“Well, if he comes back now, he’ll find his wood being used,” Roy
said, with a chuckle. “Got a dry match, Teddy?”
Searching his pockets, Teddy found a box nearly full. The water had
not touched them, and in a few moments a fire was crackling merrily.
“This is gravy!” Teddy exclaimed, extending his hands to the warmth.
“Baby! Listen to that rain! We’d be about drowned if we were out in
that.”
“Ever see this place before?” Roy asked, as he took off his vest and
hung it on a chair. Neither of the boys wore coats, heavy shirts and
vests affording them all the protection they needed in that country
at this season.
“Nope. Don’t remember. Did you?”
“Don’t think so. Let’s see what’s in that other room.”
The door was a trifle hard to open, but Roy put his shoulder against
it and shoved. It gave under his weight, and he entered.
For a moment he stood staring.
“Well, what is it?” his brother asked, walking forward. “See a
ghost, or something?”
“Mighty funny,” Roy said in a puzzled tone, as though to himself.
“Take a look!”
He stepped aside, and Teddy peered in. What he saw caused him to
utter an exclamation.
On the side of the wall was a gun-rack. Hanging from it were seven
rifles, all well oiled and polished, as though they had been
recently taken care of. On the floor were several boxes of
cartridges. But, stranger than this and what had brought the cry of
surprise from Teddy, was a pile of queerly shaped implements in one
corner.
“Branding irons!” Roy ejaculated. “Branding irons, as sure as you’re
a foot high! Can you beat that?”
“They sure are!” Teddy cried excitedly. Bending over, he picked one
up. “Roy! See here!”
The older boy looked eagerly at the object in his brother’s hand. It
was a square piece of iron fastened to a wooden handle, and between
the handle and the plate was a piece of fluted and corrugated metal,
to allow rapid radiation of heat and prevent the burning of the
wood. Teddy turned the iron over. On the face, in raised characters,
was marked: 8 X 8.
“Pete Ball’s brand!” Roy exclaimed. “Now what--”
“If they had a sign on the door, ‘Horse Thieves,’ they couldn’t tell
us plainer than this,” Teddy interrupted.
“But this is an 8 X 8 branding iron,” put in Roy slowly. “They
wouldn’t want to brand the cattle they stole with the same brand.”
Instead of replying, Teddy picked up another one of the irons. This
had a small circle at each end and four curves between.
“I’ll bet this is a fake branding iron!” cried the younger ranch lad
triumphantly. “Don’t you see, Roy? They can stamp this fake iron
directly over the 8 X 8 and that will make an entirely different
brand, having a three-leafed clover at each end with a curved rope
uniting them.”
“Say, I’ve heard something about that before!” came quickly from the
older boy. “Don’t you remember dad’s talking once about the Rope and
Clover brand which was used by some rustlers in upper Montana? I’ll
bet this is the same kind of outfit!”
“It certainly looks that way!”
The two brothers examined the fake iron and the real one with care,
and then Teddy turned to his brother.
“The question is--what is to be done?” he demanded.
“Well, what can we do? Seems like it’s raining harder than ever now.
Even if we did cut for home and tell the gang what we’ve found, what
good would it do? It’s a cinch those rustlers won’t come back when
they know we’re watching this cabin.”
“But do they have to know that? Why can’t we get the bunch, sneak
back, and lay for those horse and cattle thieves? They’ll return
sooner or later, because their guns and stuff are here.”
Roy thought for a moment.
“It’s a chance,” he said finally. “Of course, they may come back
while we’re gone and cart their things away. But we’ve got to risk
that. The only thing is, if we stayed here ourselves we’d be sure to
see them and maybe we could follow them to their hiding place where
they keep the cattle. Then we’d have them cold--our horses too. That
is, if this is the same bunch that stole Star and Flash and
General.”
“Don’t you worry about that! There’s only one gang of rustlers about
here, and they do all the jobs. And Froud is one of them, I’ll bet!
So is Checkered Shirt.” Teddy tossed the branding iron into the
corner. “But if we did stay here, and even if the rustlers did
return, how do we know they’d lead us to their cache? And suppose
they caught us and we got plugged? That whole gang would head for
the border, pronto, and drive their stolen cattle before them.
They’d take our broncs with them, most likely, and that’d be the
end. Nope, Roy, we’d better get the rest of our fellows and try to
capture the thieves when they come back here.”
Roy walked to the door, which had blown partly closed, and flung it
open savagely.
“I sure hate to leave here!” he declared, his mouth pressed into a
thin line. “This bunch has got our broncos, I know it! What I’d like
to do would be to wait here till they showed up, then with these
rifles, make ’em tell where the horses are. I’m getting sick and
tired of this waiting business. Can’t tell what they’ve done to
Star! If I find he’s been beaten--”
“Take it easy, Roy,” Teddy said softly. “You’re doing the very thing
you always tell me not to do--lose my temper. That won’t get us any
place. I want Flash back as much as you want Star, but we’ve got to
go at it carefully. Snap out of it now!”
“Guess you’re right,” Roy replied, with a slight grin. “I got sore
for a minute, seeing those irons and things and thinking of Star.
We’ll start for home and tell dad what we found, collect Nick and
the rest and mosey back here as fast as we can. Baby! I hope the
rustlers are here then! Come on, Teddy, let’s go! Rain or no rain,
we’ll nab those thieves!”
Roy grabbed his vest from the back of the chair and made for the
front door. He was just about to dash out into the storm when Teddy
caught his arm.
“Think we better put the fire out?” the boy asked. “If they come
back and find that going, they’ll know something’s up and they’ll
move plenty quick!”
“Right!” Roy exclaimed approvingly. “You’re sure using the old bean,
Teddy. Out she goes!”
Seizing a poker that stood by the side of the grate, Roy scattered
the embers. He was about to ask Teddy to get some water when a
slight sound at the door made both boys turn quickly.
Startled, they watched the slow twisting of the door knob. Roy took
a firmer grip on the poker. Softly the door opened, a crack at
first, then wider. Of a sudden, it was flung hard against the wall,
and Teddy and Roy started back.
In the door way stood a man. His peaked hat was pulled low over his
eyes. His face was sickly pale, the cheeks were sunken in. His
shoulders drooped forward, his arms hung weakly down at his sides.
His checkered shirt was ripped open on the left shoulder. Water
dripped from him in great drops. And, as Teddy watched, he saw that
these drops were tinged with red.