THE MISSING SADDLE
“Have you caught Prince?” Grace called this to her brother from the
tent where she and the other girls had been aroused by the commotion.
“Yes, I have him. He knew me almost at once,” answered Will. “But the
saddle is gone!”
“And the papers?” Grace faltered.
“Gone with it, I fancy. Too bad!”
“Maybe he just brushed the saddle off,” suggested Allen, who, with
Frank, had come out with a rope halter that had been provided in case
the “ghost hunt” was a success. “We’ll look around. I’ll get a
lantern.”
But a hasty search in the darkness revealed nothing. There was no sign
of a saddle.
“We’ll have to wait until morning,” sighed Will, as he tied Prince to a
tree. “Then we can see better, and look all around. Prince, old boy,
you knew me; didn’t you?” The handsome animal whinnied, and rubbed his
nose against Will’s arm.
“And so you played the part of a ghost, you rascal! Scaring the
girls——”
“We’ll never admit that,” called Betty from the tent.
There was nothing more to do that night, after making Prince secure.
The boys ate a little mid-night supper, and from the tent of the girls
came the odor of chocolate, which Grace insisted on making. Then, after
fitful slumbers, morning came.
Will was up early to examine Prince. He found the healed cut, where the
auto had struck, and there was evidence that the saddle had been on the
animal until recently. The iron stirrups would account for the sound
like chains.
“The saddle must be somewhere on this island,” declared Will. “I’m
going to find it.”
“How?” asked Allen, who had made a careful toilet, as Betty had
promised to go for a row with him.
“I’ll strap a pad on Prince, get on his back, and see where he takes
me. The way I figure is this. Prince never liked to be in the open. I’m
almost certain he has been staying in some sort of shelter—either a
cave, or an old cabin, or stable on the island. The saddle may have
come off there. Now he’ll most likely take me right to his stopping
place. Of course he may not, but it’s worth trying.”
“Indeed it is,” agreed Prank.
After a hasty breakfast Will put his plan to the test. Prince was fed
well, and with Frank and Allen to follow, Will leaped on his pet’s
back, and gave him free rein—or, rather, free halter, since there was
no bridle. The girls said they would take a walk around the island,
looking for the saddle as they went.
Prince, after a little hesitation, started off with Will on his back.
The splendid animal headed for the lake shore, and for a moment Will
was inclined to think that Prince was going to plunge in and swim to
some other island or the mainland. But Prince was only thirsty, and,
slaking that desire, he ambled along the shore for a mile or so, the
two young men following.
“Where can he be going?” asked Frank.
“Just let him alone,” counseled Will. “He knows what he is about.”
And so Prince did. He took a path he had evidently traveled many times
before, to judge by the hoof-marks, and presently came to a swampy
place at which Frank and Allen balked.
“Wait here,” advised Will. “I’ll soon be back. This is near one end of
the island. It must be here that Prince has his stable.”
And so it proved. Splashing through the swamp, Prince ascended a little
slope, pushed under some low tree branches that nearly brushed Will
from his back, and came to a halt before a tumbled-down cabin, that was
just about large enough for an improvised stable. Will leaped off, gave
a look inside, and uttered a shout of joy, for there, trampled on and
torn, broken and water-stained, was the saddle. A second later Will was
kneeling before it, exploring the saddle pockets.
“Here they are!” he cried, as he pulled out the missing papers. “I have
them, fellows!”
A hasty survey showed him that they were all there—somewhat stained and
torn, to be sure, but as good as ever for the purpose intended.
“This is great luck!” cried Will. He looked about him. Then he saw the
reason why Prince had made this place his headquarters. The former
occupant of the deserted cabin had left behind a quantity of salt, and
as all animals like, and need, this crystal, Prince had been attracted
to the place. It was like the old “buffalo licks.” Then, too, there was
shelter from storms.
“Prince, old man, you’re all right!” cried Will, as he put the papers
in his pockets. By dint of a little hasty repairing the saddle could be
used temporarily. It was evident that Prince had kept it on until
lately, and the dangling stirrups had caused the sound like rattling
chains. There was no sign of the bridle, however, but the halter would
answer. Will saddled his pet, and soon had rejoined Frank and Allen, to
whom he had shouted the good news. Then a hasty trip was made back to
camp.
“Oh, I’m so glad!” cried Grace. “Now I can really enjoy camping and
cruising. You must telephone papa at once.”
Which Will did, the whole party going over to Mr. Lagg’s store in the
motor boat.
“Yes, I have the papers safe,” Will told Mr. Ford. “Yes, I’ll mail them
at once. What’s that—Dodo—tell Mollie Dodo is over the operation and is
going to get well? I will—that’s good news! Hurrah!”
“Oh, thank the dear Lord!” murmured Mollie, and then she sobbed on
Betty’s shoulder.
“Well, I guess we are ready to start,” announced Grace. “I have the
chocolates. Who has the olives?”
“Chocolates and olives—the school girl’s delight!” mocked Will,
“Oh, you’ll be asking for some,” declared his sister.
“Chocolates and olives are good for the boys,
And to the girls they also bring joys.”
Thus remarked Mr. Lagg. The crowd of young people were in his store,
stocking up the _Gem_ for a resumption of her cruise on Rainbow Lake.
It was several days after the finding of the missing saddle and the
papers. The latter had been sent to Mr. Ford, Prince had been swum
across to the mainland and sent home, and the news about little Dodo
had been confirmed. The child would fully recover, and not even be
lame.
“Oh, what a fine time we’ve had!” exclaimed Grace, as she waltzed about
the store with Amy.
“Well, the summer isn’t over yet by any means,” spoke Mollie. “And
there is the glorious Fall to come. I wonder what we shall do then?”
And what they did do may be ascertained by reading the next volume of
this series, to be called “The Outdoor Girls in a Motor Car; Or, The
Haunted Mansion of Shadow Valley,” in which we will meet all our old
friends again, and some new ones.
“All aboard!” called Betty, as she led the way down to the dock where
the _Gem_ awaited them. Each one was carrying a bundle of supplies, for
they expected to cruise for about a week.
They boarded the motor boat. Betty threw over the lever of the
self-starter. The engine responded promptly. As the clutch slipped in,
white foam showed at the stern where the industrious propeller whirled
about. The _Gem_ slid away from the dock.
“Good-bye! Good-bye!” called the boys and girls to Mr. Lagg.
“Good-bye!” he answered, waving his red handkerchief at them. Then he
recited.
“As you sail o’er the bounding sea,
Pause now and then and think of me.
I’ve many things for man and beast,
From chocolate drops to compressed yeast.”
“Good!” shouted Will, laughing.
And Betty swung around the wheel to avoid the two boys whose canoe
Mollie had so strangely found, as the _Gem_, continued her cruise down
Rainbow Lake. And here, for a time, we, too, like Mr. Lagg, will say
farewell to our friends.
THE END