SKIRMISHES
Bud did not need an interpreter to understand what the old cow puncher
meant. If he had been at all doubtful, a glance toward where Billee
pointed would have solved the mystery.
For, some miles down the creek was a cloud of dust, and, not only a
cloud of dust, but that which caused the haze--the sheep and their
herders.
"They've come back!" cried Bud. "And just where we didn't expect 'em."
"'Twould have been mighty poor policy on their part to come back where
we did expect 'em," dryly observed Billee. "It was their game to fool
us, and they did it."
"Then it was all a trick!" cried Bud.
"Reckon it was," agreed Billee with a grin, as Nort, Dick and the
others strolled out in readiness for breakfast.
"That poling of the river was all a bluff," said Nort.
"Oh, not exactly," declared Billee. "They used the poles to try to
find a place free from quicksands. Not findin' it opposite our fort,
they decided to try farther down. Then some smart Aleck among 'em--an'
we got to give 'em credit for it--thought of makin' it look as though
they were givin' up--retreatin', so to speak.
"That's the way it looked to us, and we crowed too soon, jest as I said
a minute ago. They kept on goin', circled around an' now there they
are, ready to cross Spur Creek farther away."
"But we can stop 'em there, same as we could here," said Dick.
"Yes, but we got to move our base of supplies an' that takes time,"
said Billee. "An' while we're doin' that they may make a
crossin'--that is, if they can avoid the quicksands. They may even
find a ford down there, so the sheep can walk over without havin' to
swim." In his excitement Billee dropped most of his final g's, and
clipped his other words.
"There is a ford there," declared Lanky, the tall, thin cowboy.
"Any quicksands?" Nort wanted to know.
"That I can't say. The sands shift so you can't tell where they are."
"Well, there's only one thing to do," declared Bud. "Some of us have
got to go down there and stop 'em from crossing. This is the first
skirmish of the fight."
"We'll come with you," offered Nort and Dick.
"Hold on a minute--don't be rash," counseled Old Billee. "It'll take
more'n you three lads to stop them Greasers and the sheep."
"Well, we're under your orders," Bud admitted, saluting the veteran.
"Well then, you three go," advised Billee, "and Snake and Kid will go
with you. We'll bring some grub down to you."
For it might be too late to wait until after breakfast, simple as that
meal was, and as quickly served as it could be. There was no time to
be lost. Bud and his boy-rancher cousins realized this.
Soon they were in their saddles, riding down the creek toward where the
sheep had been herded together on the southern side of the stream.
There were the same bunch of Greasers--the boys easily picked out and
recognized certain characters, even across the creek, which was wider
here and more shallow.
If Bud and the others expected to engage in a sharp fight as soon as
they reached the scene, they were disappointed. True, the sheep
herders became aware of their arrival, and there was some talk, and not
a little excitement, among the Greasers. But there were no hostile
acts, and no attempt was made to drive over any sheep.
"I wonder if there is a ford here?" said Yellin' Kid.
"I reckon there is," said Snake Purdee. "You can see where it has been
used," and he pointed to marks on their bank of the stream.
"They either know about this place, or they've made some tests and are
satisfied that it's safe," declared Bud.
"But if what Lanky says is true, though it may have been safe early
this morning, it might not be safe now," said Dick.
"That's true, but I think they'll take a chance," Bud declared. "There
isn't fodder enough on that side to last the sheep very long."
This was perfectly true, and it was evident that the herders would
endeavor to get their woolly charges on the other side of the stream as
soon as possible, to take advantage of the rich grazing on the open
range, newly made available to all comers.
"But I thought when the government opened new land it could only be
taken by citizens, or those about to become citizens," questioned Dick,
when, as they watched the sheep herders, they talked over the situation.
"That is the law," said Bud. "But down here you'll find the law
doesn't amount to much when a man wants a thing. He generally goes and
gets it, and thinks about the law afterward. That's why Dad has to do
what he is doing. If the law was as tight here as it is in the east,
he could get out an injunction, or something, against these herders,
and stand them off until he could find his papers proving his claim."
"Think he'll ever find 'em?" asked Nort.
Bud shook his head.
"It's hard telling," he answered.
Meanwhile there appeared to be "nothing doing" among the sheep herders.
They had gathered their flocks together and were making a rough camp,
as if they intended to stay for some time.
Then, about an hour later, Billee arrived with a couple of his cowboys,
bringing food for Bud and his comrades--food that was greatly
appreciated, for it was a long time since supper the night before.
The boy ranchers ate and waited. Still there was no action on the part
of the Greasers. They appeared content to wait for something to "turn
up," as Mr. Micawber would say.
"What are we going to do when they start to cross?" asked Nort.
"That's so--we'd better make a plan," added Dick.
"Shall we fire at the men, their horses or the sheep?" Bud wanted to
know.
"Fire at everything and everybody!" decided Snake vindictively. "We've
got to break up the first rush."
"And yet it seems too bad to kill innocent animals," went on Bud. "Do
you know, I have an idea!" he cried.
"No? Really?" asked Dick with a playful attempt at sarcasm.
"Sure I have," Bud went on. "What we want to do is to drive them back,
isn't if?"
"That's it," said Billee. "We not only want to drive 'em back, but we
want to discourage 'em from coming over again."
"Then I think I know what will do the trick!" went on Bud. "It won't
be powder and bullets, either," he added. "We won't have to kill
anything or anybody."
"How you going to do it?" asked Snake, a bit skeptical.
"I'll show you," said Bud. "Wait until I make one."
His companions wondered what his scheme might be. The older cowboys
were great believers in the efficacy of the .45, and they had their
guns ready.
But Bud busied himself with some things he took from a bundle he
carried on his saddle. Dick and Nort saw their cousin had some strong
rubber bands, bits of cord, squares of leather and a Y-shaped branch he
cut from a cottonwood tree.
"Say, are you making a sling shot?" asked Dick.
"That's just what I'm making," answered Bud. "If we each have a
slingshot, and a supply of stones, I think we can turn the Greasers and
their horses, as well as the sheep back without killing any of 'em!"
For a moment they regarded Bud in silence. Then Nort cried:
"I believe it'll work!"
And as Bud finished his sling shot and sent a stone zipping into the
creek with a vicious "ping!" Billee cried:
"That's the best trick yet. I think it'll work! I hated to shoot to
kill, but I didn't see any way out of it. Now we can sting 'em enough
with stones to turn 'em, especially as they'll be in the water. Bud, I
think it'll work."
"I don't want to throw a monkey wrench in the gears," said Snake
softly, "but it 'pears to me that while we're shootin' harmless stones
they'll be firin' real bullets. An' where will we be then?"
"We don't run any more risks than if we were firing bullets, too," said
Bud. "And I think with them having to guide their horses in the water,
look out for quicksands and drive the frightened sheep over, we can
demoralize 'em with these slingshots."
"Sure you can!" cried Billee Dobb. "Come on," he ordered. "Every man
make a slinger. It's like the old Bible story of David and Goliath.
But how'd you happen to have those rubber bands, Bud?"
"Oh, I got 'em to make a model airship," the boy confessed, "but I
didn't find time. I've been lugging 'em around this last week. Now
they'll come in handy."
In a short time each cowboy had made himself a slingshot, of the style
you boys have, doubtless, often constructed. With strong rubber bands
they send a stone with great force.
The slingshots were no sooner made, and a supply of ammunition secured
from the edge of the creek, than an unusual movement was observed among
the sheep herders. Some of them separated from the main body, and
began driving a flock of the lambs, rams and ewes toward the creek.
"Ready for the first skirmish!" cried Old Billee.
"Let her come!" sang out Yellin' Kid.
Nearer to the edge of Spur Creek approached the sheep herders. The
animals bleated and tried to turn back, but the dogs barked at them and
snapping whips whirled viciously over their backs. Then, too, they
were urged on with horses at their heels.
"They're coming right over," said Dick to his brother and cousin, the
three boy ranchers being close together.
"And not one of 'em has a gun out," added Bud. "I reckon they are
making this a sort of test so they can claim we fired on 'em first if
it comes up in a law court. Well, we aren't exactly _firing_ at 'em,"
he chuckled. "We're just _stoning_ 'em."
"And we'd better begin to stone!" cried Nort.
He drew back the strong rubber bands of his sling. In the leather
piece was a round pebble. Nort took aim at one of the approaching
Mexicans.
The skirmishing was about to begin.