READY TO ACT.
The cattle had apparently quieted down, now that they were no longer
pestered with the shouts of the galloping punchers, coupled with the
snap of the cruel quirts. They had run far enough to be in a sweat, and
were doubtless glad of the chance to lie down in the coulie, to find the
rest they craved. Outside of an occasional "boo," or possibly a crash of
horns, there could be heard nothing that would indicate the presence
near by of a pretty large bunch of steers.
That ravine would afford the finest sort of a corral, with its narrow
neck, in which the fire had been built, around which the tired rustlers
were now grouped, taking things easy, and filled with exultation no
doubt because of their fine success in running off the herd without a
single shot having been fired, because Mr. Comstock dared not give
orders for his men to pursue, with that virago under his roof holding
him in check.
After a bit the boys dropped down on all fours, and started to crawl
along, since in the bright moonlight it was growing risky to stand
erect. Billie had some difficulty in flattening himself as much as he
thought necessary; indeed, it seemed to his excited fancy that he must
be towering there in a most discouraging way; and he feared that one of
the others in glancing back would notice it, and tell him he must
diminish his size or else drop out.
But as the ground was broken, and growing rougher every rod or so,
neither Donald nor Adrian thought anything of this; and Billie was
certainly making a good job of his "creep," they could see, all things
considered.
Of course the two would have preferred attempting the business by
themselves; but they knew that the fat chum would object to being left
out, and in fact absolutely refuse to play so unimportant a part in the
proceedings.
And if it did come to a showing of hands they might be glad to have a
third member of the party along, so as to overawe the foe by sheer force
of numbers. Besides, Billie carried a rifle, and knew how to use it too;
he had demonstrated that fact to the satisfaction of his chums more than
once; so that he could not be wholly ignored on such grounds.
They were by now close enough to the fire to be able to see the figures
around the blaze. Of course it was only natural for Donald to give
Adrian a sly punch in the side, and putting his lips close to the
other's ear whisper triumphantly the one word:
"Four!"
And Adrian on his part understood, for he must surely remember that the
other had taken the pains to declare it to be his opinion that the
rustler crowd could not number more than that many.
Still four husky men would seem like a pretty steep proposition for
three half-grown boys to attempt to subdue; and such indeed would have
been the case had it been the intention of Adrian and his chums to
boldly face the rustlers, and put the decision to a test of sheer
muscle, or the ability to shoot straight.
But Donald and his comrades believed they knew a way whereby the odds
were apt to turn in their favor. Strategy must take the place of brute
force. They would remain there in hiding until it was to be seen how
things were going to turn; and if the rustlers either drank heavily, or
else allowed sleep to overpower them.
In either case the plan of the boys was to creep noiselessly into their
camp, and in some way overpower them. Perhaps they could impress it upon
the minds of the astounded cattle thieves, when the critical moment
came, that the bushes near by were fairly bristling with guns held in
the hands of angry punchers; who would open fire, and riddle them like
sieves, unless they held up their hands and yielded themselves prisoner.
Once this was accomplished neither Donald nor Adrian had any fear but
what they would be able to manage things. They knew all about driving
cattle; and before leaving the desperadoes they could disarm them, thus
rendering them harmless, so far as doing any immediate injury was
concerned.
That this would only be the beginning of the war they could easily
guess. If the Walkers were as strongly entrenched as people said, they
would not be apt to give over their evil practices just because three
boys had come up from the Southwest, no matter if one of them did happen
to be the owner of the Bar-S Ranch, which for a year and more past they
had been systematically despoiling, because the hands of the unfortunate
manager were tied by his domestic difficulties.
Such resolute lads as these, however, were not apt to hold back once
they had embarked on a course, simply because there might be trouble
ahead. Both Adrian and Donald believed in meeting difficulties as they
came along, and trying to master them. They saw their duty, and tried to
do it, regardless of what might follow.
And Billie was one of the kind to say "me too," whenever the stronger
natures with which his fortunes were connected took a decided stand.
Having finally advanced, as far as seemed wise, the three boys lay there
and tried to figure out what was going on by the fire.
One of the rustlers must have been something like Billie, and always had
his appetite on tap, for he seemed to be busily engaged in cooking
something in the way of meat.
It chanced that the night air was setting toward them, a fact Donald had
noticed with more or less satisfaction, since it lessened the chances of
any slight sound that one of them might make being heard.
This current of air brought the odor of cooking to their nostrils, and
Billie was heard to give several vigorous sniffs that called for a
warning kick on the part of Donald, just ahead of the fat boy; whereupon
Billie subsided, shaking his head as though he thought it pretty hard
lines when a fellow had to lie there, taking in all that delicious
fragrance, and not getting even a single bite of the fare.
When it was seen that the other three rustlers were passing a suspicious
black bottle around, and taking frequent potations, the boys began to
have strong hopes that things might be made easy for them after all;
because they knew that when alcohol once gets a firm grip on a man's
brain he is hardly apt to bother himself about what is taking place
around him until the effect of his potations wears away.
If only those three men would be so accommodating as to stupefy
themselves in quick order, while thus celebrating their successful raid,
Donald thought they surely could manage to get the upper hand of the
remaining fellow. By that time perhaps he might have eaten so much
cooked meat as to be drowsy, and fall a victim almost as easily as the
other three.
The minutes passed, and nothing occurred by that fire unnoticed by the
sharp eyes of the trio of hidden lads. Billie was forever poking up his
head to look, and then quickly drawing it down again in sudden alarm
because he fancied he saw one of the rustlers staring in his direction.
But of course that was pure imagination, because they lay far away and
among the shadows of the trees, so that even the keenest vision possible
was not apt to discover their hiding-place.
After half an hour of this sort of thing Billie felt like hugging
himself, for he saw the three fellows who had been drinking so heavily
giving positive signs of wanting to roll over and go to sleep. Billie
would have liked ever so much to communicate his feeling of satisfaction
to one of his companions, because it was always a punishment for him to
be kept from talking in some fashion; but whenever he gave the least
sign of wanting to whisper Donald would give him a cruel kick, and in
this way warn him that silence was golden just then. So the poor fellow
had to take it out in telling himself what he thought, and how he hoped
now they could soon be making a move looking to the capture of the
rustler gang.
Two of the punchers seemed to have succumbed. They lay there just as
they had fallen over, and were oblivious to all that was going on.
The third man, who seemed to be something of a leader among them,
probably realizing that his own condition was not all that it should be,
was shaking his finger in front of the face of the fellow who was still
eating, as though giving him to understand that the safety of the camp
was going to depend on him.
Billie hoped that he too would lie down and go to sleep. Unless a move
took place very soon now he feared that it would be too late for him to
get even a bite of that cooked meat which had been tantalizing him for
some time; because there did not seem to be any end to that horrible
glutton's appetite; and there was only one more piece left right then.
Still, he realized that his chums were not likely to hurry things just
to oblige his desire, when they might be running unnecessary risks in so
doing. Patience was something Billie had to cultivate; he told himself
that a dozen times, and in spite of it was just as eagerly watching the
motions of that perpetual eater by the fire as before, still hoping for
the best.
He knew that the other two boys were whispering together, and hoped it
might be with regard to making an advance. True, the time that must be
consumed in this movement would like as not enable that greedy fellow to
make away with the very last piece of cooked meat; but at any rate it
would be some satisfaction to be able to jump on him, and give him the
scare of his life. If he could not secure the plunder he would take it
out some other way; for Billie seemed to have cultivated a most unusual
dislike to that particular fellow.
Yes, Donald was twisting his head around right now, and beckoning with
his hand, which must surely mean that they were going to raid the camp.
Billie felt a thrill of excitement pass through him. He imagined that
this was the fighting spirit that some of his ancestors had shown on
battlefields both during the Revolution and the Civil War. He hoped that
the Winkle honor was safe in his hands, and that he would not turn out
to have coward blood in his veins, for he was very proud of his family.
The three boys crept along, gradually closing in on the fire that still
burned cheerily. But Billie shut his teeth hard whenever he looked up
and discovered that the sentry was still munching steadily away. He
believed that if the supply only held out the man would be able to sit
there for hours and hours, constantly decreasing the visible supply of
provisions. But thank goodness! his time had almost come. The "Avengers"
were on the track, Billie told himself, and that terrible appetite of
his was fated to be soon cut short.
Creeping along in this fashion the three boys found themselves close
behind the sentry who was paying far more attention to his task of
finishing up the meat he had cooked than he was to guarding the camp.
Finally Donald arose to his feet, still crouching, and gave the signal.