A CRACK AT FORTUNE
They were back at the X Bar X again. The cattle had been loaded and sent
rumbling toward Chicago. Things were quiet, and the punchers, except
those who were riding fence, occupied themselves with jobs about the
ranch.
Mr. Manley observed Teddy’s face, took a look at Silent, and said
nothing. He knew. And when he saw Teddy and Silent throwing a jackknife
into a small ring on the side of the bunk-house, trying to see who could
come closest to the center, he grinned widely and said to Mrs. Manley,
who stood with him on the porch of the ranch house:
“See it, Barbara? Reckon Teddy’s made a new friend.”
Mrs. Manley smiled and laid a hand on her husband’s arm.
“Bardwell,” she said, “men are inexplicable creatures! Teddy and that
other--Silent, they call him--had a fight, didn’t they?”
“And from all accounts it was some scrap! Why?” He was chuckling.
“It seems so strange that it should need that to bring them together. I
should think--”
“Now, watch out for that thinkin’ business. People have been known to
get headaches that-a-way,” the rancher chuckled again. “A good scrap
once in a while is better than a spring tonic. Say, Mother--” his voice
became serious--“Teddy and Roy haven’t said much, but I’ve got a hunch
they’re hankerin’ for something--or rather, to take a little trip.”
“A trip? Where?”
“Well--” he turned toward her--“if you ask me, I’d say they were achin’
to take a crack at Nugget Camp.”
“The place where that man--Pop’s cousin--was shot? Bardwell, we can’t
let them go there!”
“Now, sweetness, you got that wrong!” Mr. Manley protested. “Decker
didn’t get shot at the camp. He was ridin’ _away_ from it when he was
held up. There’s no real danger. An’ the work here is pretty well under
way. It would certainly be a grand experience for the boys.”
Mrs. Manley nodded and smiled.
“If you say so, Bardwell--and they aren’t really children any more, are
they?”
“Children!” The long mustache trembled and a twinkle came into the blue
eyes. “Children! Well, Mother, if you think they are--but we’ll let
that go. Then you don’t mind if I tell them?”
“About Nugget Camp? No, Bardwell, as you say, it will probably be good
for them--only I do hope they’ll be careful.”
“Now, Mother, you know they will! Never failed to come through anything
they started, did they? You watch ’em carry home a hat full of gold!” He
strode down the steps and went toward Teddy and Silent. They heard him
coming and turned.
“Where’s Roy?” Mr. Manley asked.
“Helping Pop do something or other,” Teddy replied. Silent stood a bit
to one side, his face expressionless.
“I’ve got something to tell him--to tell you, too, for that matter.
Things pretty well cleaned up around here?”
“Yes, sir.” Teddy realized that his father knew exactly the condition of
the ranch and recognized in the question an implication of his
responsibility. Teddy and Roy were the real bosses of the X Bar X. Mr.
Manley had put the affairs of the ranch into their hands.
“Well, then, I reckon it’s about time you an’ Roy took a trip, hey?” And
Mr. Manley grinned.
“A trip?” Understanding came quickly. “You mean Nugget Camp?”
“Uh-huh. What about it?”
“I guess you know how much Roy and I would like to try it,” Teddy said
eagerly. “But we haven’t said anything--we were needed here.”
“Yea! But now that we’ve got that shipment off, things are easin’ up
some. So, if you want to--”
“If we _want_ to! Wait till Roy hears this!” Teddy glanced over toward
Silent. “Say, Dad,” he said awkwardly, “could you spare Silent here?”
“Silent?” Mr. Manley gazed at the puncher. “You want to go too?”
“Well, you see it’s this way,” Silent answered uneasily. “I heard there
was two fellers hangin’ around Nugget Camp, that--I want to meet.” His
voice became tense. “That I want to meet real bad! An’ if it’s all the
same to you, I’d like to go along with Teddy an’ Roy, if they go. I’ve a
reason.”
Mr. Manley nodded. Roy had told him privately the story of Silent’s
recent tragedy, and the man understood and sympathized with the grim
puncher.
“I reckon we can fix that,” he said after a moment. “Here’s what I
thought. Suppose you, Teddy, an’ Roy an’ Nick make up a party an’ stake
a few claims. I can spare you-all, I reckon. Four will be just about
right. An’ you can start to-morrow, if you want to.”
“That’s great, Dad!” Teddy exclaimed. “Silent, let’s get Roy.”
The two hurried off, Mr. Manley watching them go. His eyes were tender,
his lips half open.
“Teddy,” he muttered, “come back the way you go!” and he went into the
house.
When he heard the news, Roy was as excited as his brother. Bug Eye
declared that he was going straightway to ask Mr. Manley for time off.
“He don’t need me now,” the puncher from the 8 X 8 declared. “I might
just as well go with you fellows. Say, I know what! My boss said I could
take a vacation soon, an’ here’s where I take it! I was plannin’ to head
for Nugget Camp myself, then when Mr. Ball heard from yore dad, Teddy,
he asked me to fill in here, an’ of course I did. But things are
easy--lettin’ up. So I can go, me an’ my Tin Lizzie! You wait!”
He ran toward the ranch house to interview Mr. Manley, and returned in
five minutes with a broad grin on his face.
“O. K.,” he said loudly. “I’m with you! To-morrow mornin’ early I starts
for the 8 X 8 to get an outfit.”
“Say, Bug Eye, while you’re there, ask Jerry Decker a few questions,”
Roy suggested. “Where is a good place to locate, and so forth. He ought
to know. He was at Nugget Camp nearly two years.”
“An’ get him to tell you how much fun gold minin’ is,” Pop, strolling up
at that moment, said dryly. “Let him tell you about the picnic he had!”
“We’re not going for fun,” Teddy asserted. “Anyhow, Pop, you said there
was a good chance to get some gold.”
“Oh, I ain’t goin’ back on that. Silent, here, knows somethin’ about
minin’. Don’t you, Silent?”
The puncher nodded. “A little,” he said briefly. “I been on a few
rushes.”
“Jack Conroy gonna stay here?” Pop asked.
“Yep.” Silent lit a cigarette. “I asked him to. The whole ranch can’t
leave.”
“You’re right as rain there,” Pop agreed. “Then it’s you, Teddy, Roy,
and Nick?”
“Bug Eye is figuring on coming too,” Teddy said. “Going to bring his
flivver--hey, Bug Eye?”
“So that’s why you said you was goin’ back to-morrow,” Pop mused. “All I
heard was the part about askin’ Jerry to tell you where to locate. Well,
you’ll need all the advice you can get! It’s no joke, livin’ in a minin’
camp. Plenty can happen, an’ then some.”
“Maybe that’s the reason we’re going,” Teddy said, grinning.
“Me, I’m gonna’ get rich!” Bug Eye boasted. “Rich as Creosote. You-all
heard of him, ain’t you? He found a whole hill full o’ di’monds!”
“Save it for some cold night at Nugget Camp,” Teddy advised. “We’ll need
all the entertainment we can get.”
“Somethin’ tells me you’ll have plenty of entertainment,” Pop grunted.
“I gotta be goin’. Got things to do. See you before you leave.”
“Queer cuss,” Silent declared. It was the first observation he had made
in some minutes. “Good guy, though!”
“I’ll tell a maverick he is!” Roy agreed. “Pop’s all right. Don’t you
forget, Bug Eye, to ask Jerry Decker a few questions. I wouldn’t bother
him much if he isn’t feeling all right, but Pop told us he was much
better.”
“Sure, I know,” Bug Eye declared. “Leave it to me. Yay boy! Nugget Camp!
Gold! By golly, I’m gonna get me three new flivvers!”
“And then retire and live on the fat of the land, I suppose,” Teddy put
in. “Anyhow, we’ll take a crack at fortune!”
“Here’s hopin’ she smiles,” the puncher muttered. “In fact, I wouldn’t
kick if she grinned wide enough to split her mouth. See you later,
boys!”