Follow Us
With a bound, the boys were out of the corral and running toward the
house. As they came closer they saw a look of anxiety on their
mother’s face.
“What is it?” Roy shouted, not slacking his pace. “Is any one hurt?”
“No, not that! But I just went to your father’s desk to get a
blotter from the drawer, and a large sum of money is missing! It was
taken from his desk last night!”
The explanation of Mrs. Manley’s concern came as a relief, rather
than a shock, to Teddy and Roy. On that short journey from the
corral to the house, their minds had run the gamut of emotions--they
did not know what to expect. Since the true character of The Pup was
known to them, they had almost feared he had attempted to injure
some one within the house.
“How much was it, Mother?” Roy asked, as he reached the porch.
“About four hundred dollars. Your father drew it from the bank the
day before yesterday to pay the men with. He must have forgotten to
tell you about it, though he may have wanted to wait until he
returned before giving the boys their wages. Now it’s gone! The
drawer was forced and the money stolen. Do you think any of the
men--I don’t like to mention it, but--”
“Don’t worry, Mom, none of the boys did it,” Teddy assured her.
“We know who’s got it; but that won’t help much,” Roy said.
“You do?” Mrs. Manley’s eyes expressed her surprise. “How do you
know?”
“Because the money isn’t the only thing that’s missing. That pony
dad liked so well is gone, too.”
“The one Belle’s been riding--the one you broke?” A frown came to
Mrs. Manley’s face. “Your father will be sorry to hear that. Next to
his own horse, he liked that pony better than any on the place. But
tell me--who took him? And who took the money?”
“The Pup,” Roy declared, pressing his lips together.
“Joe Marino! The man Gus rode with!” Mrs. Manley shook her head
sadly. “I’m very sorry. I was afraid he would cause trouble of some
sort after your father discharged him. But are you sure?”
“I am!” Teddy exclaimed decidedly. “He came back last night, Mother.
I met him.” Wisely, the boy did not tell of his fight with the man.
“I told him to stay away from here, and, as I remember now, he was
near the corral when I caught him! He must have sneaked into dad’s
office, taken the money, and then he got the pony out. So-o-o
_that’s_ what he meant when he said his job here was finished!”
Teddy brought a fist down sharply into his open palm. “And I had him
in my hands! If I only had that chance over again, I’d certainly
make the most of it! Wonder how far away he is by now? Maybe we
could--”
“Cool off,” Roy advised. “No use to beef about a thing that’s
already happened. The thing to do is to find Joe Marino.”
“Are you certain it was he?” Mrs. Manley asked.
“We sure are!” came from Teddy. “How about it, Roy? Wouldn’t you bet
your bottom dollar that The Pup did this?”
Both his mother and Teddy waited for the reply. They had confidence
that Roy would not go off “half cocked,” a trait which Teddy had in
full measure. Besides this, with Mr. Manley gone, the mother and
younger brother leaned toward Roy as the natural head of the family.
“Marino,” Roy said slowly, “is the thief, or I’m a ring-tailed
doodle bird.”
“And there’s no two ways about it!” Teddy added. “Come on,
Roy--we’ll go get him! He’s got a payroll and a horse of ours!”
“But, boys--” Mrs. Manley began, when Roy threw an arm
affectionately over her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Mom,” he interjected. “Dad told us to stick, and stick
we do until he sends for us, payroll or no payroll. Teddy, you fly
off the handle too fast. You know what the orders were.”
“That’s right, too,” the younger lad said, a bit regretfully. “But
it sure does seem a shame to let a skunk get away so easily!”
“He won’t get away,” Roy asserted. “We’ll telephone in to the
sheriff at Hawley to be on the watch, in case he went that way. Then
maybe we can reach Nick’s friend at Eagles--the puncher he talked to
from the Whirlpool River Ranch. If he’s a friend of Nick’s, he’ll
help us out. Then, when dad comes back, we can start on the hunt.”
“Yea, but when’ll that be?” Teddy half grumbled. “A week, maybe. By
that time The Pup could be half way across the continent. Oh, I know
it’s the only thing to do,” he added quickly, as he saw Roy stare at
him. “But--oh, well, I guess you know how I feel!”
“It wasn’t your fault at all, Teddy,” Mrs. Manley consoled. “How
could you know that Marino was here to steal?”
“Aw, I might have guessed he’d try some stunt like that,” the boy
muttered. “After he--I mean when I saw him sneakin’ around. Well, we
live and learn. Anything else missing, Mother?”
“I don’t believe so, and I certainly hope not,” Mrs. Manley
answered. “A horse and four hundred dollars are quite enough. Do you
think--oh, I can’t think--Gus--”
“Not any!” Teddy exploded forcibly. “And that reminds me, Roy! That
conversation you heard behind the bunk-house! Marino was trying to
get Gus to go into this scheme with him and split the money. That’s
it, as sure as shooting! Nope, Mom, Gus had no finger in this! It
was Marino, all alone. I’ll lay anything on that.”
“You’re probably right, Teddy,” Roy agreed, his face clearing. “At
least it’s an explanation of what I heard. Of course we can’t be
sure of that, though it sounds likely. The Pup may have had another
idea, and just formed the plan to rob our place on the spur of the
moment when he heard dad was away. Come on, let’s take a look at the
desk. That may tell us something.”
When they reached Mr. Manley’s office they saw in a moment that the
drawer of the desk had been pryed open with some sort of knife, and
the lock sprung. There were marks--small cuts--about the woodwork on
the edge of the desk. As Roy saw these, he looked at Teddy
significantly, but said nothing. He did not want his mother to know
of the knife episode.
A raised window on the side indicated how the intruder had gained
entrance. Such was the faith that Mr. Manley had in his men that he
never bothered to lock up at night, and this was the first time in
all the years he had been the owner of the X Bar X that his trust
had been violated. Perhaps it was carrying things to extremes to
allow a large sum of money to remain unprotected, but “the boss” was
ever an unreliable business man. It was this very quality which so
endeared him to his family and to his associates--the quality of his
lovable childishness. Yet there were those who could tell of another
nature which lay buried beneath this exterior--a nature which men of
evil character had learned to fear. When aroused, the boss of the X
Bar X was a “fightin’ fool,” as Pop expressed it.
Realizing that there was nothing more to be learned within the
office, Roy and Teddy returned to the ranch yard and informed the
men of what had occurred. There was a quick rush for “shootin’
irons,” which had to be forcibly quelled. There were many saddened
faces when Roy told them that they could not start in immediate
pursuit of the marauder, but must wait for the return of the boss.
“I hate to hang around here as much as you do,” he finished. “But
dad’ll be back soon, and then we’ll have our inning. There’s a bare
chance that some one else may pick up The Pup. If that happens,
we’ll be saved the trouble--although it would almost be a pleasure,”
and his lips shut tightly.
“An’ we ain’t to do nothin’?” Pop Burns asked wistfully.
“Not yet awhile. We can’t. If dad were only here, we could get up a
gang and go after him. But we’ve got to stay on the place. That was
the order, an’ I aim to see it’s enforced. Of course if when you are
on range you should see The Pup, well--”
“That’s enough, Roy,” Nat interrupted feelingly. “We’ll do the rest.
There ain’t no need for you to elucidate. But aside from that, if
you say we stick on the ranch, stick we do. But I hope the boss gets
back soon. Marino--the polecat! Rustlin’ one of our best horses! The
ole--” and Nat proceeded to lay bare the secrets of The Pup’s life
as he understood them.
The first excitement of the discovery over, the ranch settled down
to its usual workaday tasks. There was much to be done, and the men
were soon absorbed in their labor. There are dull times about a
ranch, but the early fall is not one of them, and thus it was that
when a rider, dusty, hot, and tired, loped into the ranch yard he
found it deserted. The only person in sight was Sing Lung, who sat
in the doorway of the cook house enjoying the morning sun, and
probably dreaming about the pleasanter and more picturesque lands
across the sea. But when he saw the horseman, a grin came to his
face and he waved a hand.
“’Lo, Nick,” he beamed. “Why you come back quick? Cows all fixee,
maybe yes?”
“Maybe no,” Nick answered shortly, “Rustle me some grub, pronto,
Sing. Where’s Roy an’ Teddy?”
“Horse pen, me t’ink. You find?”
With a grateful sigh, Nick slid from his horse and set out for the
corral.
“I been ridin’ most of the night,” he sang out over his shoulder,
“so let that grub be early and plenty.”
He found the boys engaged in replacing one of the corral rails. Roy
held one end of the new bar in place and Teddy was about to raise
the other when he saw the man on foot.
“Nick!” he exclaimed, and dropped the rail. “What in thunder--”
“Left yore dad last night late,” Nick interrupted wearily, “an’ rode
like a fool to get here. I got a message for you.”
He reached in his vest pocket and drew forth a soiled paper. Looking
at it with a glassy stare for a moment, he passed it over to Roy.
Wonderingly, the boy took it, and as Nick flung himself full length
upon the grass he opened it and read:
“Roy and Teddy:
“Got in bad jam. There’s been a slide near Whirlpool River, and the
cattle are in danger. Need your help. Take two men and come down the
river in a canoe, pronto. Follow us. Got to get the cows out of
there. Nick is foreman--he stays. Suggest that Bug Eye, if he’s
still there, come with you, and Pop. Only hurry up.
“Dad.”