ROY’S SUSPICIONS
As the Manley boys and their sister sat in the car munching sandwiches,
now and then Teddy would glance at his hand, which still showed the red
scratch, and shake his head in wonder that such a strange mistake could
have happened. It hardly seemed possible that one could imagine he had
been bitten by a rattler when there was no snake within miles, for all
they knew. Yet, the “whir-r-r” of that tin certainly did sound like the
warning of a side-winder. And when his hand had been injured at the same
time—what other conclusion could be drawn?
Of course both Roy and Teddy knew that a snake’s bite would usually be
nothing more than two small punctures in the flesh, yet if the hand was
being withdrawn when the fangs hit it, the flesh could easily be torn.
The two boys and their sister did not talk much of Teddy’s experience.
Somehow, it hardly seemed the thing to joke about, even though it had
turned out so fortunately. The laughter of the boys on discovering the
piece of tin was not born of true mirth, but was a natural outlet for
the strain they had been under.
It took some time for the travelers to recover their usual spirits, but
Sing Lung’s food helped a great deal, and when the sandwiches were
finished they set off once more toward the 8 X 8 with lighter hearts.
And as they proceeded, the reaction set in—a reaction of happy,
carefree joyousness. The boys thought of Nell and Curly, and, as always
happens after a period of depression, anticipation of coming pleasure
swelled to mountainous proportions in their minds. The whole world
suddenly appeared rose-colored, and the most prosaic things in it took
on a carnival aspect. The sun-drenched trees they passed seemed to smile
at them. It was no longer hot, but only pleasantly warm—a wonderful day
for anything.
“Yay, look at ole cottontail” Teddy yelled, pointing ahead. “Go get him,
Roy! Step on it!”
“Ri-i-i-ight!” sang out Roy, and pressed the accelerator. The car shot
forward, Belle mingling her laughter with that of her brothers.
“Ten dollars if you keep that cab in sight!” she called,
melodramatically pointing to the rabbit scurrying ahead. “And another
ten if you catch it before it reaches the ship! Don’t spare the horses!”
“Yes, ma’am!” came the answer. “I suppose Miss Vere De Vere is in it
with her uncle, who is kidnapping her so that he can get control of the
family fortune—the dir-r-r-rty rat!”
“And then some!” Belle laughed, her eyes sparkling. “Roy, you ought to
be on the stage. Say, you’d better slow down before you get another
blowout.”
Her brother saw the wisdom of this advice, and took on a slower pace
while the rabbit disappeared in the brush. The high spirits of the three
were by no means lessened when they reached the 8 X 8, and they piled
out with loud yells. Nell and Ethel ran into the yard when they heard
the uproar.
“The stage has arrived!” Teddy shouted, grinning. “Good morning, Ethel
and Nell. I hope our visit finds you well. It is with great pleasure we
see you again—and—and— Now what else did mother tell me to say?”
“Dry up, Teddy,” Roy laughed, walking toward the two girls. “Don’t mind
him. He gets that way every once in a while, but he’s harmless. How are
you, Nell and Ethel? We brought our little sister over to see you.”
“Little!” Belle laughed scornfully. “I’m almost as big as you are, Roy
Manley! And I can shoot almost as well as you can, too! Oh, Nell, what a
lovely dress! Where _did_ you get it!”
After Belle and the two boys had removed some of the stains of travel,
they all gathered in the dining room for lunch. Belle said that they had
had some sandwiches on the way, but Teddy quickly explained that they
were _very small_, and, anyway, one couldn’t live on sandwiches. And,
with this excuse for the coming slaughter, he and Roy proceeded to “go
to work” on the very excellent food before them.
In the afternoon, while the girls were resting, the two boys wandered
over toward the bunk-house to talk to Bug Eye, who was detailed to make
out a list of the things needed on the ranch before the fall round-up.
He was busily engaged when the brothers entered, and paused with his
pencil to the paper and looked up.
“Say,” he began, “is ‘saddle’ spelt ‘a-l’ or ‘e-l’?”
“The ‘X’ is silent, like in fish,” Teddy replied. “What are you doing,
Bug Eye? Writing notes to the cows?”
“Not any,” came from the puncher, as he stretched and yawned widely.
“The boss has got me to figerin’ out how much stuff we lost durin’ the
summer an’ how much we need. Some job! Rather be punchin’ dogies any
day. Say, what you boys been doin’ with yoreselves? Hear any more about
that gang from Hawley? Nick Looker told me about the note you got.”
Roy flung one leg over the table Bug Eye was writing on, and glanced
idly at the piece of paper scribbed over with figures.
“The jail in Hawley was cleaned out,” he said slowly. “You knew about
that?”
“No! You don’t say!” Surprise was written on Bug Eye’s face. “You mean
to tell me them rustlers are loose again, after all the trouble we had
to round ’em up? Great snakes! How’d that happen, an’ when?”
“The other day,” Teddy answered, watching his brother closely. Roy
seemed intent on the paper spread on the table before him. “The sheriff
and his deputies were chasing some would-be gunmen out of town, and when
they came back the prisoners were gone. Probably away on a week-end
visit.”
“Now, what do you know about that?” Bug Eye shook his head. “Froud, too?
He gone?”
“Not quite,” Teddy replied, and told of Froud’s removal to another jail
before the delivery. “So he’s still sittin’ out of the sun!”
“Say, Bug Eye!” Roy exclaimed suddenly, “you got that wrong.” He pointed
to the paper. “That should be a capital R. If Mr. Ball is going to see
this paper, you might as well have it right. See? Make that a capital.”
“Shore,” Bug Eye replied, and laboriously effected the correction. Roy
watched him carefully. “Thanks, Roy. Guess that kind of slipped by me.
How long you boys goin’ to stay with us?”
Teddy answered, and the conversation came to a close when Roy suggested
that they were interrupting the puncher’s work. The two boys wandered
back toward the ranch house. The moment they were out of hearing of Bug
Eye, Teddy asked:
“Say, Roy, what was the big idea? You were watching that paper Bug Eye
was writing on pretty closely. And rawhide doesn’t start with a capital
R. How come?”
“Just a little plan of my own,” Roy replied vaguely. “That note, you
know. Signed Reltsur. I thought maybe—”
“That Bug Eye wrote it?” Teddy inquired in an incredulous voice. “Well,
for the love of Pete, what ever put that into your head? Bug Eye do a
thing like that? Not on your life!”
“I know it now,” Roy said shortly. “I don’t know why I suspected him.
Just one of those crazy ideas you get, I guess. That capital R seemed to
stick in my mind. Come on, I think Belle and the two girls are around
somewhere. Let’s go and see.”
Teddy shook his head slowly and followed his brother. What was getting
into Roy? Thinking Bug Eye wrote that note! Why, Bug Eye didn’t ride
slouched in the saddle! He forked a bronc like any other puncher in
those parts.
Then, a few days before, Roy had mentioned seeing the slouched rider
directly after the landslide when he was searching for Teddy. As though
the strange puncher could have had anything to do with that slide! Yes,
Roy was sure acting queer lately. As far as Teddy could see, there was
no reason for immediate worry. Even if the rustlers were out of jail and
determined on revenge, they might be forestalled by guarding the cattle
well. True, his father had declared he thought the thieves might try
other tactics. But, after all, what could they do? Suppose they had some
real gunmen in their crowd? They would scarcely take to shooting a man
in the back as he rode along.
The note had said the charge against the rustlers must not be pressed.
Well, they were out of jail now, and, as Mr. Manley had said, what more
did they want? Why should they bother to avenge themselves on men who
had only protected their own cattle? It didn’t seem reasonable. Yet,
Teddy thought, his father _was_ worried. Perhaps he knew more than he
had told. Teddy had never known his father to show worry unless there
was good reason for it. If he went to town carrying a gun, a thing he
had not done for years except the time he was actually running down the
horse thieves, he must anticipate trouble of some sort.
Teddy shrugged his shoulders and gave up the problem.
The two boys found Nell and Ethel showing Belle some new flowers that
had lately come up. As Teddy and Roy approached the girls turned.
“Want soma nice, fresh hunyons?” Ethel called out.
“Nope,” Teddy returned, grinning. “Taka some strumberries, you got.
What’s this, a garden party?”
“Tour of investigation,” Nell answered. “Oh, Roy, I want to show you
these sunflowers! Aren’t they beautiful?”
“I’ll tell a maverick!” Roy answered, and, as Nell looked up, she saw
that he was staring at her instead of at the sunflowers. She blushed,
and bent quickly over to examine closely some wild roses.
The time passed pleasantly, and dinner was soon announced. Roy lingered
at the door watching the sunset, which was especially brilliant
to-night, until Teddy and Belle each took an arm and pulled him in.
“But just look at those colors!” he persisted. “Why, no artist could
paint them! They look like—like flames from a forest fire.”
“Sure,” Teddy said, grinning at Ethel. “Or maybe like a ripe tomato
smashed against a white wall. Come on in and eat, you old dreamer. I’m
hungry. Then you can tell Nell how much the landslide looked like the
volcano scene in the ‘Fall of Pompeii.’”
Roy made a friendly pass at his brother, who ducked, and the two entered
and seated themselves at the table, which was decorated with flowers in
honor of their visit, and it was not long before the beauty of sunsets
was forgotten in the enjoyment of rare roast beef, carrots, and mashed
potatoes.