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THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG HORN RANCH
or
The Cowboys' Double Round-Up
by
ARTHUR M. WINFIELD
(Edward Stratemeyer)
Author of "The Rover Boys at School," "The Rover Boys
on Treasure Isle," "The Rover Boys at Colby Hall,"
"The Putnam Hall Cadets Series," etc.
Illustrated
[Illustration: ANDY AND FRED FOUND THE ROCKS ANYTHING BUT EASY TO ASCEND.
Rover Boys at Big Horn Ranch (Page 271)]
New York
Grosset & Dunlap
Publishers
Made in the United States of America
* * * * *
BOOKS BY ARTHUR M. WINFIELD
(Edward Stratemeyer)
THE FIRST ROVER BOYS SERIES
THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL
THE ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN
THE ROVER BOYS IN THE JUNGLE
THE ROVER BOYS OUT WEST
THE ROVER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES
THE ROVER BOYS IN THE MOUNTAINS
THE ROVER BOYS IN CAMP
THE ROVER BOYS ON LAND AND SEA
THE ROVER BOYS ON THE RIVER
THE ROVER BOYS ON THE PLAINS
THE ROVER BOYS IN SOUTHERN WATERS
THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM
THE ROVER BOYS ON TREASURE ISLE
THE ROVER BOYS AT COLLEGE
THE ROVER BOYS DOWN EAST
THE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIR
THE ROVER BOYS IN NEW YORK
THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA
THE ROVER BOYS IN BUSINESS
THE ROVER BOYS ON A TOUR
THE SECOND ROVER BOYS SERIES
THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALL
THE ROVER BOYS ON SNOWSHOE ISLAND
THE ROVER BOYS UNDER CANVAS
THE ROVER BOYS ON A HUNT
THE ROVER BOYS IN THE LAND OF LUCK
THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG HORN RANCH
THE PUTNAM HALL SERIES
THE CADETS OF PUTNAM HALL
THE RIVALS OF PUTNAM HALL
THE CHAMPIONS OF PUTNAM HALL
THE REBELLION OF PUTNAM HALL
CAMPING OUT DAYS AT PUTNAM HALL
THE MYSTERY AT PUTNAM HALL
12mo. Cloth. Illustrated.
Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York
Copyright, 1922, by
EDWARD STRATEMEYER
The Rover Boys at Big Horn Ranch
* * * * *
INTRODUCTION
My Dear Boys: This book is a complete story in itself, but forms the
sixth volume in a line issued under the general title, "The Second Rover
Boys Series for Young Americans."
As noted in some volumes of the first series, this line was started years
ago with the publication of "The Rover Boys at School," "On the Ocean,"
and "In the Jungle," in which I introduced my readers to Dick, Tom and
Sam Rover and their relatives and friends. The twenty volumes of the
First Series related the doings of these three Rover boys while attending
Putnam Hall Military Academy, Brill College, and while on numerous
outings.
Having finished their education, the three young men established
themselves in business and became married. Dick Rover was blessed with a
son and a daughter, as was also his brother Sam, while Tom became the
proud father of a pair of the liveliest kind of twin boys.
From their home in New York City the young Rovers were sent to a boarding
school, as related in the first volume of the Second Series, entitled
"The Rover Boys at Colby Hall." From that institution of learning the
scene was shifted to "Snowshoe Island," where the lads spent a mid-winter
outing. Then they rejoined their fellow-cadets and had some strenuous
doings while "Under Canvas." After that, in a volume entitled "The Rover
Boys on a Hunt," I related how they uncovered the mystery surrounding a
strange house in the woods. And following this came a trip to Texas and
Oklahoma, where, "In the Land of Luck," the boys aided Dick Rover in his
efforts to locate some valuable oil wells.
In the present volume the scene is shifted back to Colby Hall and then to
a ranch in the West where some remarkable happenings await our young
heroes.
From reports received I am assured that the sale of this line of books
has now passed the _three million_ mark! This is as astonishing as it is
gratifying. I sincerely trust that the reading of the volumes will do all
of the boys and girls good.
Affectionately and sincerely yours,
Edward Stratemeyer.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. Snow and Snowballs 1
II. Something about the Rover Boys 13
III. What the Sneak Told 23
IV. Prisoners 35
V. By the Fishing-Pole Route 46
VI. A Touch of Mystery 58
VII. Something about a Sleighride Party 70
VIII. A Fight and a Challenge 82
IX. The Shooting Contest 93
X. Spouter's Secret 103
XI. The Election of Officers 113
XII. Bonfire Night 123
XIII. A Startling Discovery 133
XIV. The Parade 145
XV. Baseball 156
XVI. Spouter Is Cornered 166
XVII. Good-Bye to School 175
XVIII. On the Way West 184
XIX. In the Saddle 193
XX. At Big Horn Ranch 204
XXI. Hop Lung and the Fish 213
XXII. A Horse and a Snake 222
XXIII. Jarley Bangs 232
XXIV. A New Arrival 242
XXV. Professor Duke's Secret 254
XXVI. The Cattle Stampede 264
XXVII. The Mountain Lion 274
XXVIII. In the Cave 284
XXIX. A Confession 294
XXX. The Capture--Conclusion 303
THE ROVER BOYS AT
BIG HORN RANCH
CHAPTER I
SNOW AND SNOWBALLS
"Line up, fellows! No crowding ahead in this contest."
"Here, Jack, give me some elbow room if you want me to do any real
snowball throwing!" cried Fred Rover.
"All the elbow room you want," returned his cousin gayly.
"Remember the prize!" shouted Andy Rover to the cadets who were stringing
themselves out in a ragged line. "The first fellow to throw a snowball
over the top of the barn gets a sock doughnut."
"For gracious sake! what do you call a sock doughnut?" demanded Phil
Franklin, another cadet, as he paused in the act of rounding up a
snowball he was making.
"A sock doughnut is one with a big hole in it," answered Andy, with a
grin.
"Then my socks must be all of the doughnut variety," put in one of the
cadets dolefully. "They are always full of holes."
"Never mind the socks now!" cried Randy Rover. "Let's see who can put the
first snowball over the barn."
It was late in the afternoon of a day in January and a number of the
cadets of Colby Hall had been amusing themselves in the snow which
covered the ground to a depth of nearly a foot. They had started in to
snowballing each other, but had then grown more serious and had built
several snow forts and likewise two or three snowmen which later they had
taken great sport in knocking apart. Then some one had suggested that
they try their skill at seeing who could throw, the highest and farthest,
and this had led to the present contest.
"We'll mark off a line about a hundred feet from the main barn," Jack
Rover had announced. "And then we'll see who can throw highest over the
roof."
The four Rovers were accompanied by half a dozen of their chums and six
or eight others, and at the word from Jack the snowballs began to fly at
a lively rate, a few landing on the roof of the big barn and the majority
hitting the side.
"Say, look out that you don't break a window," warned Gif Garrison. "If
you do, you'll have an account to settle with Captain Dale."
"Here she goes!" yelled Dan Soppinger, and let fly with so much strength
that the snowball sailed up to the very ridgepole of the barn and
disappeared on the other side.
"Hurrah! Dan draws first blood!" shouted Jack.
"Huh! Dan didn't throw over the barn, he just slid over it," snickered
Randy.
Jack was hard at work making a small and perfectly round ball. Now,
taking careful aim, he let fly with all his might.
"There she goes fair and square," he announced with pardonable pride, as
the snowball cleared the top of the barn by several feet and disappeared
beyond.
The snowball had scarcely been thrown when two other balls thrown by Fred
and another cadet went sailing over the barn. Then those in the contest
seemed to acquire better skill, and soon nearly every one of them was
topping the barn with the missiles.
"Phew! some hot work, I'll say," panted Will Hendry, usually called Fatty
because he was the stoutest boy in the school.
"This exercise will do you good, Fatty," returned Fred. "You need to
reduce."
"If Fatty keeps on he'll be eating Colby Hall poor," announced Spouter
Powell.
"Huh! I don't eat any more than any of you," grumbled Fatty. "Fact is, I
hold myself down."
"Gee! listen to that, will you?" exclaimed Andy. "Fatty says he holds
himself down! And this morning I saw him storing away three helpings of
sausages and about 'steen dozen buckwheat cakes."
"Nothing of the kind! I didn't have a bit more than you had," growled
Hendry. He broke off suddenly. "Hello! what's up now?"
"Hi! Hi! What's the meaning o' this?" cried a voice from around one end
of the big barn, and a man, dressed in overalls and a heavy cap and
carrying a broom, appeared.
"Hello there, Bob Nixon!" cried Jack. "What's wrong?"
"There'll be a whole lot wrong if you fellows keep on throwing those
snowballs much farther," answered Bob Nixon, who was a chauffeur for the
Hall and who did all sorts of odd jobs in the winter time.
"Did we hit you?" questioned Phil Franklin.
"You sure did--on the back and on my hand," answered Nixon.
"We didn't know anybody was around on that side of the barn," announced
Andy.
"I don't suppose you did. But never mind me. What I want to know is, do
you fellows intend to smash all the glass in those hotbed frames out
yonder?"
"Great salt mackerel!" ejaculated Fred. "I forgot those hotbed frames
were there."
"Why, the glass is out of 'em, anyway, isn't it?" questioned Gif.
"It was out. But they've been setting some of 'em in again, getting ready
for some early stuff. You've sent those snowballs up to within ten or
fifteen feet of where the frames are located."
"Gosh! it's a good thing you told us of this," burst out Fatty Hendry.
"We might have had a nice lot of glassware to pay for."
"Not you, Fatty," grinned Andy. "You never even hit the top of the barn.
If you break any glass it will be in some of those basement windows."
"Come on up to the other end of the barn," suggested Gif. "Then the
snowballs will fly right out into the open field and do no harm."
"Well, I don't care where you throw 'em as long as you don't get into
mischief," answered Bob Nixon, and disappeared into the barn.
After that the cadets continued to throw over the structure for some
time. But then they gradually lost interest, and as the short winter day
was coming rapidly to an end some hurried into the Hall to do a little
extra school work before the bell should ring for supper.
"Well, what next?" questioned Fred Rover, when he and his three cousins
and Gif, Phil and Spouter found themselves left alone.
"I've got a great scheme for to-night if you fellows will help,"
announced Randy. He and his twin brother were always ready for a joke.
"What is it?" questioned Jack quickly.
"This snow is just soft enough for rolling some big balls, as we found
out this afternoon," answered his cousin. "What's the matter with making
a whole lot of big snowballs and placing 'em in some of the bedrooms
to-night?"
"Gee, that's the talk!" cried his twin merrily. "I'd like to place a
couple in Codfish's room."
"He certainly deserves 'em," added Fred. "He's getting to be just as big
a sneak as he ever was. All of our kindness to him seems to have been
useless."
"And I thought he was going to turn over a new leaf," declared Jack. "I
wonder if some of the other fellows haven't been teasing him and that has
made him go back to his old tricks."
"I know one person I'd like to treat to some big snowballs!" broke out
Fred. "That's Professor Duke."
"Oh, say! I'd like to square up with him myself," burst out Andy. "Gee!
he certainly did have it in for us yesterday."
"Professor Duke is certainly a sour one--much worse than Asa Lemm ever
dared to be," came from Gif.
"I was thinking of Duke when I mentioned it," said Randy. "You know he
has his room in our building instead of with the other professors in
Colonel Colby's residence."
"We don't want to get in bad with the colonel," remarked Fred seriously.
"Oh, I think we can fix it so that nobody will know who did it," returned
his cousin.
The matter was talked over for several minutes, and then, having agreed
on their plan for more fun, the Rover boys and their chums set to work
rolling a number of snowballs which were two feet or more in diameter.
These they placed close to the school building at a point where there was
a series of fire-escapes leading down from the upper halls of the
institution.
"We can let down the ladder just as soon as we're ready to turn the
trick," announced Randy. "I don't believe anybody will notice it, for it
will be dark and so cold that most everybody will be indoors."
"We've got to be on our guard to make certain that Codfish or Duke or
somebody else doesn't spot us," said Spouter Powell. "Of course it
wouldn't hurt if some of the regular fellows found us out, because they'd
keep it to themselves."
It must be confessed that the Rover boys were rather preoccupied in mind
during supper that evening. In fact, Andy grew so thoughtless that he
salted some eggs he was eating three times, so that when he finally came
to his senses the food had to be pushed aside. This happened just as
Professor Snopper Duke was passing, and the new teacher eyed the young
cadet suspiciously.
"What is the matter with that omelet, Rover?" he demanded, in his
high-pitched, nervous tone of voice.
"Nothing the matter with it, sir," answered Andy. "Only I somehow forgot
and salted it too much."
"Really!" returned Snopper Duke sarcastically. "Is that the way you waste
food?"
"No, sir. It was only a mistake," answered Andy meekly.
"You ought to be made to eat that omelet," continued the professor
severely. "Don't let such a thing happen again." And then, with his eyes
rolling around among the other cadets to see if anything else might be
wrong, he passed slowly down among the tables of the mess hall.
"Oh, isn't he a perfect little lamb!" murmured Randy. "So awfully
tender-hearted!"
"Somebody ought to wring his neck," grumbled his twin.
"Just the same, Andy, you'd better be careful how you handle the
salt-shaker after this," put in Jack.
After the meal the Rovers and their chums mingled with the other cadets
and informed two or three of what was in the wind, and as a consequence
there was quite some excitement noticeable when a little later the crowd,
with the exception of Randy, slipped out of the school building by a side
door. Randy ran upstairs, to appear presently on the lower landing of the
fire-escape. Here was suspended a heavy iron ladder in such a fashion
that it could be easily shoved out so that one end would drop to the
ground.
Soon the crowd of cadets appeared in the snow below him, and then, with a
warning to them to get out of the way, Randy let down the ladder and then
came down himself.
"All clear upstairs," he announced. "Not a soul in sight."
"One of us ought to stay on guard up there to give warning in case it's
necessary," announced Spouter.
"Well, suppose you go up," returned Jack.
"I'd just as soon help with the snowballs," returned Spouter. "But if you
want me to go I'll do so." And a moment later he disappeared up the
ladder and into the school building through a window which had been
thrown open.
The cadets on the ground found it no easy task to raise the big snowballs
up the ladder. They tried it first with nothing but their hands, but soon
found they could do much better by dumping a snowball into a big overcoat
and then hauling it up by the sleeves and the tail of the garment. They
worked as rapidly as possible, and soon had eight of the snowballs raised
to the platform of the fire-escape.
"How about it? Everything clear?" questioned Randy, as he came into the
corridor where Spouter was on guard.
"All clear so far," was the reply. "A few of the fellows are in their
rooms, but no one that we are going to bother."
"Then let's get those snowballs inside and distribute 'em."
In a few minutes the snowballs were gotten inside the building, and then
two were rolled and pushed over to the room occupied by Henry Stowell, a
cadet commonly called Codfish on account of the broadness of his mouth.
Luck was with them, for the door was unlocked, so that they had little
trouble in rolling the snowballs inside, where they were placed one on
either side of the single bed the cadet occupied.
After this the cadets rolled several of the balls to various other rooms,
one being placed in the tub of a bathroom.
"I've saved the biggest of the snowballs," whispered Randy. "That's the
one we must place in Professor Duke's room."
The professor's room was around in another corridor, and to get to this
the cadets had to roll the big snowball directly past the top of the
broad stairs leading to the hall below. They had the snowball in a
position right at the head of the stairs when Spouter, who was leaning
over the upper railing on guard, gave a sudden hiss of warning.
"Somebody coming!" he announced in a whisper. "And unless I'm mistaken,
it's Professor Duke!"
"Gosh! I hope he doesn't catch us," returned Gif Garrison. "Maybe we had
better run for it."
"Here he comes right for the stairs!" put in Jack, as he saw the familiar
form pass a light in the lower hall.
The cadets did not know just what to do, and while they paused to
consider, Professor Duke started up the long, straight stairs. He was
evidently in deep thought and did not look above him.
"Run, fellows! Run!" whispered Andy excitedly, and then, as the others
started away he attempted to follow. But the floor was wet from the
melting snow, and down he came flat on his back, both feet hitting the
big snowball squarely.
The movement was sufficient to send the snowball directly to the edge of
the top step. Here, as Andy scrambled to his feet, it hovered for a
moment, then began to slide down the stairs, gathering speed from step to
step.
"Hi! Hi! What is this?" those above heard Snopper Duke ejaculate. And the
next instant the teacher set up a yell of alarm as the big snowball hit
him in the stomach and hurled him to one side. Then the snowball passed
on down the stairs, slid across the lower hallway, and shot directly
through the open door leading to Colonel Colby's private office!