AN ULTIMATUM
Just outside the house a whistle sounded. Neither Roy nor Teddy heard
it. They stood facing Mrs. Ball, their faces a sickly white beneath
their tan. Slowly Teddy’s hands clenched until his nails dug into his
palms. Roy took a quick breath, which sounded like a gasp in the silence
of that room.
Mrs. Ball swayed slightly, and Roy took a swift step forward.
“It’s—it’s all right,” he said uncertainly. “Don’t—get excited. I
think—I—”
“Gone!” The word seemed wrung from the woman’s bloodless lips.
“Belle—Ethel—Nell—gone! I tell you they’re gone!
Where—where—they’re gone—”
She seemed about to faint, and Teddy and Roy sprang to her side. At that
moment a step sounded in the doorway and a man’s voice boomed a
greeting, only to be cut off sharply as Peter Ball took in the scene
with a rapid glance. When his wife saw him, she came to herself somewhat
and flung herself sobbing into his arms.
“Oh, Pete!” she moaned, “something terrible has happened. The girls—our
nieces—and Belle Ada—who were here—”
“Now, now, Sera, just take things easy,” Mr. Ball soothed. He looked
quickly at Roy and Teddy, a frantic question in his eyes.
“You see, Mr. Ball,” Teddy stammered, “we thought Belle and the other
girls were still here, and we came over to get them and Mrs. Ball told
us that they had left for our place on Saturday with a man who had a
note—”
“Do you mean to say he wasn’t one of your father’s men?” Mr. Ball
demanded, holding his wife close and staring incredulously at the boys.
“Why, he had a note from your mother! Sera—Sera—” He looked down at
his wife. “Where is that note? Have you got it?”
“It’s—it’s upstairs,” Mrs. Ball murmured, her voice choked with tears.
Suddenly she straightened, and, with a determined motion, drew her hands
over her eyes. “Wait here—I’ll get it,” and she hurried toward the
stairs.
Roy fingered his hat uncertainly.
“I don’t know what to say, Mr. Ball,” he muttered. “We haven’t heard
from the girls and we thought they were still here. I can’t imagine—”
Teddy gave a short laugh, and his brother and Mr. Ball turned to him in
surprise. Then they saw that he was staring fixedly at the wall, a
strained look on his face. The laugh had come from between clenched
teeth.
“I’ve got an idea,” Teddy said slowly. “I’ve got a hunch—and—and if
it’s true, I’ll—” Suddenly he raised both hands and shouted:
“Pull a rotten trick like that, will you? The dirty thieves! Kidnappers!
Girl stealers! We’ll get ours, will we? Not this time! Reltsur! I
know—I know—”
“Teddy!”
Roy seized his brother’s arm in a grip of steel.
“Teddy, stop it! Teddy! Snap out of it now! You don’t know anything!
You’re just guessing! Stop that yelling!”
Teddy put his hand to his head. For a moment he shook as though with the
ague, then took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I—I didn’t mean to shout. Didn’t know what I
was doing, I guess. Don’t mind me—”
Mr. Ball stepped forward and laid a friendly hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“I know just how you feel, son,” he said kindly. “But don’t get worked
up. The girls may be all right. It may be just a joke, or—or something.
Take it easy, son. When my wife comes down— Did you get it, Sera?” he
broke off eagerly.
Silently his wife handed him a slip of paper. Mr. Ball glanced at it and
passed it to Roy. Together the two boys stared at the writing.
It was short and addressed to Mrs. Peter Ball. It ran:
“This will introduce Jack Richmond, who is driving for us now.
He has come to bring Belle Ada home. Can’t Nell and Ethel visit
with us for a while? We should love to have them. They can all
pile in the car with Jack, and he’ll bring them over to our
ranch. Please say yes.
“BARBARA HAVENS MANLEY.”
For a long moment the boys gazed at the note. Then Teddy reached out and
took it from his brother’s unresisting hand.
“That writing,” he murmured, still with bent head. “It looks familiar.
I’ve seen it before—” He glanced swiftly up. “Roy! do you recognize it?
That capital R?”
Roy peered at the note again. Then his eyes narrowed.
“Reltsur!”
“That’s who! The one who sent the note to dad! So, that’s his game, is
it? Well, he won’t get far! The dog, I’ll—” Teddy stopped, breathing
hard. He lowered his voice.
“I hate to say it, Mr. Ball, but I think Belle and the others have been
stolen—kidnapped!”
A shocked silence came over those in the room. It seemed too incredible.
It was not to be believed that anything like this could happen. Why,
only last week the three girls were standing in the garden just outside
the window. Belle had picked a wild rose and had twined it in her lovely
black hair. She and Nell and Ethel had stood there, as the boys
approached, and Ethel had said “Want some nice, fresh—”
There, in the garden, were the roses. Their sweet scent drifted in
through the open window. A light breeze sprang up, moving the screen
door, so that the hinges creaked. Out in the yard a horse whinnied
softly.
Peter Ball gulped noisily.
“Stolen, hey?” he said in a harsh voice. “You sure of that?”
“This note is written in the same hand that wrote a warning to dad,” Roy
was talking fast. “Two weeks ago, at night, a rider passed our
bunk-house, where Teddy and I and some of the boys were standing, and
flung us a message tied to a stick. It said if dad pressed the charge
against the rustlers, who were in jail at Hawley, he’d get his. Then we
heard the rustlers had escaped. And now this—” He motioned toward the
paper Teddy still held in his hand.
“The man who sent the note threatened your dad?” Mr. Ball demanded, a
fierce frown on his face.
“That’s what,” Teddy answered in a dull voice. “And it looks like he’d
made good, too. Got us standing flat-footed,” he added bitterly.
“The man who came here was a—a rustler?” Mrs. Ball gasped.
“Now, Sera, just take it easy,” Mr. Ball boomed. He patted his wife’s
shoulder awkwardly. “Suppose you have a lie-down on the couch for a
while? Remember what the doctor said about your heart. Boys, you and
I—”
“I won’t lie down!” Mrs. Ball exclaimed, her face flushed. “I’m going
after those kidnappers, that’s what I’m going to do! Pete, you get me a
gun! No man is going to steal three girls right from under my nose—not
while I’m healthy! You just forget about my heart! It’s as good as it
ever was! I guess I haven’t lived in the West all my life for nothing! I
guess I haven’t forgotten how to shoot, either! Pete, I’m going to ride
with you!” She pushed back a loose strand of hair and stood gasping for
breath.
Pete Ball shook his head slowly.
“No, Sera,” he said gently. “I’m afraid not. I know how much you want
to, but some one has got to stay here and take charge of things. You can
do more to help in that way than any other. It’s just possible that the
girls might escape and make their way back here. You see what I mean,
don’t you, Sera?” He looked at her anxiously.
After a moment Mrs. Ball nodded.
“Guess you’re right, Pete,” she said heavily. “I was crazy to think you
could be bothered with a woman along. But when I think of Nell, Ethel
and Belle being taken by that bunch of gunmen to heaven knows where,
I—I—”
Then she stopped and walked over to her husband. She rested her hands on
his shoulders and looked in his eyes.
“Pete,” she said in a low voice, “listen to me! You know I love you
better than anything in the world. We’ve been together now for
twenty-six years. We’ve seen this old ranch grow up from a little cattle
farm to a place we can be proud of. We’ve had lots of hard times, you
and I, and we’ve weathered them all. I’d rather die myself than have
anything happen to you. But now—” her voice rose, and took on a vibrant
tone—“Pete, bring back those girls! They were our guests. They were
under our very roof, under our protection, and I love every one of them
like a daughter. If you have to give your own life to do it, Pete,
bring—back—those—girls!”