[Illustration: “IN HER HAND THE WOMAN HELD A LONG BARRELED RIFLE”
_The X Bar X Boys in Thunder Canyon._ _Frontispiece_—(_Page 150_)]
THE X BAR X BOYS
IN THUNDER CANYON
BY
JAMES CODY FERRIS
AUTHOR OF “THE X BAR X BOYS ON THE RANCH,”
“THE X BAR X BOYS ON WHIRLPOOL RIVER,” ETC.
_ILLUSTRATED BY_
WALTER S. ROGERS
NEW YORK
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS
Made in the United States of America
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WESTERN STORIES FOR BOYS
By JAMES CODY FERRIS
THE X BAR X BOYS BOOKS
THE X BAR X BOYS ON THE RANCH
THE X BAR X BOYS IN THUNDER CANYON
THE X BAR X BOYS ON WHIRLPOOL RIVER
THE X BAR X BOYS ON BIG BISON TRAIL
THE X BAR X BOYS AT THE ROUND-UP
(OTHER VOLUMES IN PREPARATION)
——
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
──────────────────────────────────────
Copyright, 1926, by
GROSSET & DUNLAP
_All Rights Reserved_
The X Bar X Boys in Thunder Canyon
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I THE LANDSLIDE 1
II A MISSING BROTHER 10
III THE SLOUCHING RIDER 19
IV A MESSAGE IN THE NIGHT 28
V THE JUMPING BUCKER 38
VI BAD NEWS 49
VII A FLIVVER MESSENGER 57
VIII A GREAT FEAR 66
IX ROY’S SUSPICIONS 77
X A MAN IN THE CORRAL 86
XI NICK’S TRICK 94
XII THE GIRLS ARE GONE 103
XIII AN ULTIMATUM 114
XIV OFF ON THE CHASE 121
XV AN UNEXPECTED CLEW 135
XVI A WOMAN THREATENS 143
XVII CAPTIVES 151
XVIII BUG EYE SINGS 160
XIX INTO THE CAVE 168
XX AN ATTEMPT THAT FAILED 176
XXI THE RECKLESS RIDER 184
XXII RETRIBUTION 191
XXIII ON TO THE RESCUE 197
XXIV OUT OF BONDAGE 203
XXV THE MORNING JOY 210
X BAR X BOYS IN THUNDER CANYON
CHAPTER I
THE LANDSLIDE
Raising his head in a gesture of disdain that was almost human, the
horse walked stiff-legged around a porcupine that lay in the center of
the trail.
“Steering clear of needles, Flash?” said his rider, laughing cheerfully.
“Say, Roy,” he called to his companion, who sat astride a chestnut
mustang, “is it true that porcupines can shoot their quills?”
“Bunk!” answered Roy Manley briefly. “Pure bunk, Teddy. You don’t mean
to say you believed that, do you?”
“Well, now, that’s a question,” Teddy Manley replied, a veiled twinkle
in his eyes. “Some say one thing, some say another. Pop Burns told me a
porcupine shot him full of quills from ten feet away.”
“Pop Burns!” Roy snorted. “He could convince an Eskimo that ice was made
of rock candy. You ought to know Pop by this time.”
The two brothers pulled their horses to a halt and gazed curiously at
the small, quilled animal. The boys were alike in build, both being
lean, wiry products of ranch life. Teddy Manley, fifteen years old, one
year younger than Roy, had light hair and blue eyes, favoring his
mother, Mrs. Bardwell Manley, in these respects. Roy took after his
father in the matter of eyes and hair—both of these being brown.
Roy ran his hand over the ears of Star, his pony. From any other, this
would have been cause for immediate proceedings tending toward the
unseating of the rider, but now Star whinnied affectionately.
“Tell you what,” Roy declared. “Let’s bring this sticker home with us
and get Pop to explain how it shoots its quills.”
“Good idea,” Teddy answered, grinning. “You’re elected, Roy. How are you
going to carry it?”
“Humph! Never thought of that,” the brother demurred. “If we had
something we could wrap it up in—”
“Or if we had a wagon,” Teddy went on. He was deriving much amusement
from Roy’s serious attention to the problem at hand. Quieter, and
looking at life through graver eyes than Teddy, Roy would frequently
devote himself to the solemn consideration of a question which Teddy
would dismiss with a light laugh. Roy’s nature was drawn from his
mother, who, before her marriage to Bardwell Manley, had been a
schoolteacher in Denver.
“Why don’t you tie him to Star’s tail?” asked Teddy, his face a study in
innocence.
“Why don’t I? A fine suggestion!” his brother burst out. “Why don’t you
carry him under your arm? You’ve got a leather vest on—you won’t get
stuck.”
Teddy assumed to consider this proposition. He dismounted and walked
toward the porcupine. Bending over, he peered closely at the curled-up
animal.
“Looks as if he were dead,” the boy said finally.
“He’s not dead,” Roy declared convincingly. “You try to pat him on the
head if you think so. He just curls up so you’ll let him alone.”
“Like a steam roller?”
“Yea, like a steam roller,” answered Roy, with a grin. “If you think I’m
going to ask why, you’re mistaken. Go on, pick him up, Teddy. He won’t
hurt you. He likes children.”
“Then why don’t you take a crack at him?” the other boy demanded. The
one year’s difference in their ages was a touchy point with Teddy.
“Too busy. I have to hold your horse or he’ll slide down the mountain
side.”
The two boys were returning from a ride across the country. They had
been investigating some land that their father, who was the owner of the
X Bar X Ranch, was thinking of purchasing for grazing ground. They had
stayed longer than they had intended, and, wishing to reach home before
night, had taken a short cut over Mica Mountain. The riding was not of
the best, especially at this time of year when the warm summer sun had
melted the snows on the peaks and the water, flowing down, was loosening
the top soil. But the brothers were willing to chance a possible
accident for the sake of arriving home “in time for grub.”
“Don’t worry about Flash!” Teddy exclaimed. “He could stand on the side
of a house. Well, what’s the news? Are we going to take old Needleback
home with us?”
“Sure! Wrap him in—” Roy stopped suddenly. He tilted his head forward
in a listening attitude.
“Thunder,” Teddy remarked. “I heard it, too. Come on, let’s be on our
way. Never mind the porcupine.” He walked over to Flash and rested his
hand on the pommel of the saddle. As he did so the rolling noise was
repeated, this time much louder.
“Thunder nothing!” Roy cried. “There’s not a cloud in the sky. That’s up
the mountain some place.”
“Well, whatever it is, I don’t like the sound of it!” came from Teddy,
as he vaulted into the saddle. “Makes my flesh creep. I’m tired, I
guess. We’ve been riding ever since early morning. That’s the longest
stretch I’ve been on a horse since that night we chased the rustlers all
over creation. Baby, that was _some_ time! Wonder what happened to the
three men who got away?”
“Oh, I suppose they left the country,” Roy answered, as he guided his
bronco down the steep trail. “Birds like that don’t linger long in one
place, especially when they know that place isn’t healthy for them. The
four we put in jail are there for a good stretch, I hope—though that
jail in Hawley isn’t any too strong.”
“You said it! Well, if they escape, they escape, that’s all. But they’d
better not try any more funny work around here. Dad’ll salivate ’em.
Jimminy! I wonder what that noise was that we heard. It’s got me kind of
leery.”
“Rocks falling, most likely. Don’t know what else it could be. I know it
isn’t thunder. Come on, get a wiggle on. Be dark soon. Watch your step,
this footing isn’t any too good.”
Keeping firm hands on the reins, the two ranch boys proceeded down the
mountain side. The ground was covered with a loose shale, and the
mountain on this side was nearly devoid of trees. It would not do to
urge the horses to a faster gait than they naturally took, for a fall
here meant a nasty slide.
“I hear Nell and Ethel are going to stay at the 8 X 8 most of this
coming winter,” Roy remarked casually, as he guided Star around a large
rock. He referred to two New York girls with whom the brothers had
become acquainted some time before.
“You don’t say!” his brother returned, in a bantering tone. “I suppose
the news just trickled out! You didn’t ask mother to ’phone over to Mrs.
Ball and find out, did you? Oh, no! Well, let’s have it all. Why are
they going to stay all winter, Mr. Bones?”
“Aw, dry up,” Roy said, laughing, albeit his face was a trifle red.
“Trying to kid me, aren’t you? How’s Curly, Ted? Have you heard from her
lately?”
“No, I haven’t!” and Teddy in his turn became flustered. “But I know why
they are going to stay all winter, even if you don’t. Their folks went
abroad. Mr. Carew had to settle an estate with ramifications in Italy,
and Mr. and Mrs. Willis went with him and his wife.”
“Oh-ho! Our little detective on the job! Say, don’t try to kid me. After
that you haven’t got a word to say! Star, take it easy! This pony must
want to get home in a hurry.” Roy steadied his grip on the reins.
“Guess he didn’t like that noise any more than we did,” Teddy suggested.
“These horses know almost as much as we do, they’ve been with us so
long. It was sure tough when the rustlers stole them, wasn’t it? Great
to have them back, though.”
“I’ll tell a maverick it is! And we’re lucky those rustlers—especially
Froud—didn’t ride ’em to death. Checkered Shirt prevented Froud from
injuring them, I guess. Wonder what became of him!”
“Can’t imagine. He turned out to be a pretty decent sort of a hombre
after all, didn’t he? Well, I wish him luck. He certainly did us a
favor.”
Teddy was referring to the leader of a gang of rustlers who had turned
friendly when the brothers saved him from death and had in consequence
helped them recover their ponies, which had been stolen by Gilly Froud
to revenge himself against Mr. Manley for his discharge by the ranch
owner.
As the brothers rode down the trail, Roy frequently turned in his saddle
and gazed up the mountain. Finally Teddy asked:
“What’s the idea, Roy? Why the interested stare? Expect to see a friend
of yours?”
“Not any. But I’m still curious about that noise. Seems to have stopped,
and I’d like to know what it really was.”
“Thought you said it was rocks falling down the mountain?”
“Well, it probably was. But that doesn’t prove anything. Suppose it was
a landslide? It might be, you know. And landslides aren’t things you can
fool with.”
“A landslide on Mica Mountain? Forget it! Never knew one to happen yet.
Golly, look at that buzzard! Wish I had a rifle along; bet I could knock
him for a loup.”
Roy turned again in his saddle. Evidently he had not heard Teddy’s
remark about the bird circling overhead, for he did not reply. Instead
he listened intently.
“Say, what’s the matter with you?” Teddy demanded, as he watched his
brother. “You give me the willies. Why don’t you—”
Roy held up his hand.
“Listen!” he commanded. “Hear that?”
To the boys’ ears came that same queer rumbling noise. Now it did not
decrease as it had before, but grew louder and louder. The brothers
faced each other, paling beneath their tan.
Suddenly a stone hit the ground with a crash directly in front of
Teddy’s horse. The thunder increased in volume—it seemed almost at
their heels. Then another stone fell—and another!
Like a flash, both boys turned. What they saw caused their breath to
stick in their throats and their hearts to beat madly.
The whole mountain side seemed to have been torn loose. Huge boulders
were tumbling toward them. The few trees that dotted the landscape were
uprooted and toppled with majestic force. The air was filled with flying
pieces of rock!
Above all rose that sullen, deep-throated roar like a giant in anger.