MISSING CATTLE
For a moment none of the cowboys made a move. They were too
frightened at what might happen to Trouble. If it had been one of
their own friends who had gone into the corral where the dangerous
bronco was standing, they would have known what to do.
They would have called for him to "Look out!" and the cowboy would
have kept away from the animal. But it was different with Trouble. To
him one horse was like another. He liked them all, and he never
thought any of them would kick or bite him. The bucking bronco was
most dangerous of all.
"Oh, Trouble!" exclaimed Janet softly.
"I--I'll get him!" whispered Teddy. "I can crawl in there and run
and get him before that bronco--"
"You stay right where you are, Curlytop!" exclaimed Jim Mason. "We
don't want you both hurt, and if you go in there now you might start
that crazy horse to kicking. Stay where you are. I'll get Trouble for
you."
"Maybe if I called to him he'd come," said Janet. She, too, spoke in
a whisper. In fact no one had made a noise since Trouble had been
seen crawling under the corral fence, close to the bucking bronco.
"No, don't call, Janet," said the foreman. "You might make the
bronco give a jump, and then he'd step on your little brother. That
horse is a savage one, and he's so excited now, from so many of the
cowboys having tried to ride him, that he might break loose and kick
Trouble. We've got to keep quiet."
The cowboys seemed to know this, for none of them said a word. They
kept very still and watched Trouble.
Baby William thought he was going to have a good time. He had
wandered out of the house when his mother was not looking. Seeing
Ted, Janet and the cowboys down by the corral, he made up his mind
that was the place for him.
"Maybe I get a horse wide," he said to himself, for he was about as
eager over horses as his sister or brother, and, so far, the only
rides he had had were when he sat in the saddle in front with them or
with his father, and went along very slowly indeed. For they dared
not let the horse go fast when Trouble was with them, and Trouble
wanted to go fast.
"Me go get wide myse'f," he murmured, and then, when no one was
looking, he slipped under the corral fence.
He was now toddling close to the heels of the bronco.
"Nice horsie," said Trouble in his sweetest voice. "I get on your
back an' have nice wide!"
Trouble always had hard work to sound the r in ride. "Wide" he
always called it.
Nearer and nearer he came to the bronco. The animal, without turning
its head, knew that someone was coming up behind. Many a time a
cowboy had tried to fool the savage horse that way, and leap into the
saddle without being seen. But Imp, as the bronco was named, knew all
those tricks.
He turned back his ears, and when a horse does that it is not a good
sign. Almost always it means he is going to bite or kick.
In this case Imp would have to kick, as Trouble was too far behind
to be bitten. And Imp did not seem to care that it was a little boy
who was behind, and not a big cowboy. Imp was going to do his worst.
But Jim Mason was getting ready to save Trouble. Going around to the
side, where he could not be seen so well, the foreman quickly leaped
over the fence. And then he ran swiftly toward Trouble, never saying
a word.
The bronco heard the sound of running feet. He turned his head
around to see who else was coming to bother him and then, before Imp
could do anything and before Trouble could reach and put his little
hands on the dangerous heels, the foreman caught up Baby William and
jumped back with him, out of the way in case Imp should kick.
And kick Imp did! His heels shot out as he laid his ears farther
back on his head and he gave a shrill scream, as horses can when they
are angry.
"No you don't! Not this time!" cried Jim Mason, as he ran back to
the fence with Trouble. "And you must never go into the corral or
near horses again, Trouble! Do you hear?" and the foreman spoke to
Baby William as though very angry indeed. But he had to do this, for
the little fellow must learn not to go into danger.
"Don't ever go in there again!" said the foreman, as he set Trouble
down on the ground in a safe place.
"No, me not go," was the answer, and Baby William's lips quivered as
though he were going to cry.
"Well, that's all right, old man!" said the foreman in kind tones.
For he loved children and did not even like to hurt their feelings.
"I didn't mean to scare you."
But he had scared Trouble, or, rather the sudden catching up of the
little fellow and the pony's scream had frightened him, and Janet's
baby brother began to cry, hiding his head in her dress.
But, after all, that was the best thing to make Trouble remember
that he must not go in the corral, and he had soon forgotten his
tears and was laughing at the funny tricks Imp cut up as Jim Mason
tried to ride him.
The foreman, after he had carried Trouble safely out of the way,
went back in the corral and jumped on the bucking bronco's back. Then
Imp did all he could to get the man out of the saddle.
Around and around the corral dashed the cow pony, and when he found
that Jim stuck on the horse began jumping up in the air--bucking as
the cowboys call it. Even that did not shake the foreman to the
ground.
Then, suddenly, the horse fell down. But it was not an accident. He
did it on purpose, and then he began to roll over, thinking this,
surely, would get that man off his back.
It did. But when Imp tried to roll over on the foreman, to hurt him,
Jim Mason just laughed and jumped out of the way. He knew Imp would
probably do this and he was ready for him.
Jim watched Imp, and as soon as the bronco stopped rolling and stood
up again the foreman jumped into the saddle. This was too much for
Imp. He made up his mind he could not get rid of such a good rider,
so the horse settled down and galloped around the corral as he ought
to do.
"Hurray! Jim rides him after all!" cried some of the cowboys.
"I told you I'd stick to him" said the foreman with a laugh.
"I wish I could ride that way," said Teddy, with a little sigh when
Jim came out of the corral and left Imp to have a rest.
"Well, maybe you will some day," said the foreman. "You've got a
good start, and there's no better place to learn to ride ponyback
than at Ring Rosy Ranch."
One warm, pleasant afternoon, when they had played about the house
for some time, amusing themselves at the games they were wont to pass
the time with in the East, Jan called to her brother:
"Let's go and take a ride on our ponies!"
"All right," agreed Teddy. "Where'll we go?"
"Oh, not very far. Mother told us we mustn't go very far when we're
alone."
"That was before we knew how to ride," declared the little boy. "I
guess we ride good enough now to take long rides."
"But not now," insisted Jan. "We'll only go for a little way, or I'm
not going to play."
"All right," Teddy agreed. "We won't go very far."
So they went out to the stable where their ponies were kept, and
there one of the cowboys kindly saddled Clipclap and Star Face for
the little Curlytops. Uncle Frank had given orders to his men that
they were to let the children have the ponies whenever it was safe to
ride, and this was one of the nicest days of the summer.
"Don't let 'em run away with you!" laughed the cowboy, as he helped
Jan and Ted into their saddles.
"Oh, Clipclap and Star Pace won't run away!" declared the little
girl. "They're too nice."
"Yes, they are nice ponies," agreed the cowboy. "Well, good-bye and
good luck."
Biding up to the house, to tell their mother they were going for a
ride, but would keep within sight or calling distance, Ted and Jan
were soon guiding their ponies across the prairie.
The children had soon learned to sit well in the saddles, and knew
how to guide their ponies. And the little animals were very safe.
"Somehow or other, I don't feel at all worried here when the
children are out of my sight--I mean Teddy and Janet," said Mrs.
Martin to her husband, when the Curlytops had ridden away.
"Yes, Uncle Frank's ranch does seem a safe place for them," Mr.
Martin answered. "Lots of 'down East' people think the West is a
dangerous place. Well, maybe it is in spots, but it is very nice
here."
On over the prairies rode Teddy and Janet. Now and then the little
girl would stop her pony and look back.
"What are you looking for?" Teddy asked. "Do you think Trouble is
following us?"
"No, but we mustn't go too far from the house. We must stay in sight
of it, mother said."
"Well, we will," promised Ted.
But, after a while, perhaps it was because it was so nice to ride
along on the ponies' backs, or because the little animals went faster
than Ted or Janet imagined--I don't know just how it did happen, but,
all at once, Jan looked back and gave a cry.
"Why, what's the matter, Jan?" asked Teddy.
"We--we're lost!" gasped the little girl. "I can't see Uncle Frank's
house anywhere!"
It was true enough. None of the ranch buildings were in sight, and
for a moment Ted, too, was frightened. Then as his pony moved on, a
little ahead of Jan's, the boy gave a cry of delight.
"There it is! I can see the house!" he said. "We're not lost. We
were just down in a hollow I guess."
And so it was. The prairies, though they look level, are made up of
little hills and valleys, or hollows. Down in between two hills one
might be very near a house and yet not see it.
"Now we're all right," went on Teddy.
"Yes," agreed Janet "We're not lost anymore."
So they rode on a little farther, the ponies now and then stopping
to crop a bit of the sweet grass, when, all of a sudden, Teddy, who
was still a little ahead of his sister, called:
"Look there, Jan!"
"Where?"
Teddy pointed. His sister saw several men on horseback--at least
that is what they looked like--coming toward them. Something about
the figures seemed a bit strange to the children. Ted and Jan looked
at one another and then back toward the ranch houses, which, they
made sure, were not out of sight this time.
"Are they cowboys?" asked Jan of her brother.
"They--they don't just look like 'em," he said. "I mean like Uncle
Frank's cowboys."
"That's what I thought," Janet added. "They look like they had
blankets on--some of 'em."
She and Teddy sat on their ponies' backs and kept looking at the
other figures. They were coming nearer, that was sure, and as they
came closer it was more and more certain to the Curlytops that some
of the strangers on the horses were wrapped in blankets.
"Oh, I know what they are!" suddenly cried Janet.
"What?"
"In--Indians!" faltered Janet. "Oh, Teddy, if they should be _wild_
Indians!"
"Pooh!" exclaimed Teddy, trying to speak bravely. "Uncle Frank said
there weren't any very wild Indians near his ranch."
"Maybe these ones wasn't near the ranch before, but they're coming
near now," said Janet, so excited the words tumbled out all mixed-up
like. "I'm going home!"
"I--I guess I'll go with you," added Teddy, as he turned his pony's
head about. "We'd better tell Uncle Frank the Indians are coming.
Maybe they want more of his horses."
"Oh, he won't let 'em have any!" cried Janet. "But they _are_ Indians
sure enough!" she went on, as she took a look over her shoulder.
And there was no doubt about it. As the group of riders came closer
to the children, whose ponies did not go as fast as the larger
horses, it was seen that they were indeed Indians, many of them
wrapped in blankets. There were men, women, boys and girls, and some
of the smaller children were carried wrapped tightly to their
mothers' backs.
Tip to the ranch rode Teddy and Jan as fast as their ponies would
take them without tossing off the Curlytops.
"Oh, Uncle Frank!" cried Teddy. "They 're coming!"
"A lot of 'em!" shouted Janet.
"What's that?" asked the ranchman. "Who are coming?"
"Indians to take more of your ponies!" Teddy gasped.
For a time there was some little excitement on the ranch, until one
of the cowboys, riding out to see the Indians, came back and said
they were not "wild" ones, but a band that went about selling baskets
and other things they made. They did no harm, and for a time camped
near the ranch, the children, even Trouble, going over to see them.
But for some time the Curlytops did not forget the fright their first
view of the Indians gave them.
In the days that followed Teddy and Janet had many rides on Clipclap
and Star Face, their two nice ponies. Sometimes they were allowed to
go a little way over the prairies by themselves. But when they went
for a long ride Uncle Frank, Jim Mason, their father or some of the
cowboys were with them.
"After a while maybe I'll learn how to ride so I can go off with you
and help get the Indians that stole your horses. Do you think I can,
Uncle Frank?" asked Teddy one day.
"Well, maybe, Curlytop. We surely must find those Indians, for I
don't like to lose all those horses. As soon as I get some of my work
done I'll have another look for them."
And then, a few days later, more bad news came to Uncle Frank. With
his cowboys he was getting some cattle ready to ship away to a
distant city, from where they were to be sent still farther away in a
train of cattle cars, when a cowboy, who seemed much excited, came
riding up to the corral.
He looked very tired and warm, for the weather was hot, and his
horse was covered with flecks of foam, as though it had been ridden
hard and far.
"What's the matter, Henry?" asked Uncle Frank.
"Indian thieves!" was the answer. "A band of the Indians have run
away with a lot of your best cattle!"
"They have?" cried Uncle Frank. "How do you know?"
"I saw 'em, and I chased 'em. But they got away from me. Maybe if we
start right out now we can catch 'em and get back the cattle."
"Then we'll go!" cried Uncle Frank.
Teddy and Janet were very much excited when they saw the cowboys
saddling their mustangs ready for the chase.