THE LURE OF THE RED FLAG.
"WHAT'S the matter?" demanded Elmer, as Ted came reeling into camp,
quite out of breath; but upon seeing that the other had a huge grin on
his face he knew the news he was bringing could not be so very serious
after all.
"Ty!" was all the runner could gasp at first.
"Yes, what about him?" Elmer exclaimed; while Landy laid a quivering
hand on Ted's arm and inquired:
"'Taint a rattlesnake, I hope, this time, Ted?"
The other shook his head in the negative.
"Bull!" he articulated.
"Oh, he means that our poor pard has been chewed up by a bulldog!" cried
Landy. "And Ty never did like dogs, either; only hot ones at the county
fair."
"No, no!" whispered Ted. "Gentleman cow, you thee, and the motht thavage
looking beatht ever. Wow!"
"A bull! Now I know what you mean," Landy went on, as the light of
understanding broke over his mottled countenance. "Some of these farmers
up here do keep terrors, and enter them in the exhibition for prizes.
But what did the bull do to our poor chum Ty?"
"Don't know; didn't ask Ty," replied the other, now beginning to get his
breath back again fairly well, so that his voice, lisp and all, was
audible. "You thee, I wath jutht about to thaunter acroth a field, when
I heard thome one yelling like the dickenth. Then I thaw a big red bull
pawing the grath at the foot of a tree; and there wath Ty, ath big ath
life, thitting up on a limb. That'th all I thaw, for the bull tharted
after me, and I got over the fenthe like fun."
The boys stared at each other; then a wide grin began to appear on their
faces. Since it seemed as though their chum had not been seriously
injured they could not resist the temptation to chuckle over the comical
aspect of the adventure.
"Say, perhaps the bull just went and heaved Ty up in that tree,"
suggested Landy.
"Oh, I hardly think it went as far as that," said Elmer. "The chances
are, Ty had plenty of warning, and climbed without any help from the
beast."
"But why would the bull hang around all the time?" asked the fat boy,
wonderingly. "Bulls don't feed on boys, do they?"
"Not very often," laughed Elmer. "But they do seem to hate a certain
color above all things on this earth. You remember that the Spaniards
use a red flag to make the bull attack in the ring?"
Then Landy saw a great light.
"Ty's famous old red sweater, that's what!" he shouted. "It's gone and
pulled him into a peck of trouble, for a fact. And just last night he
was blowing about what a great help it had been to him. Say, he must be
in a nice pickle now, hey?"
"Breakfast will have to wait a while," declared Elmer; "while the whole
bunch of us sally out to rescue our chum in distress. You know the rules
of the organization. Come on, fellows."
Even while speaking, Elmer had placed the coffee pot and the frying pan
aside, as far away from the fire as they could go without losing their
heat. Adam, Landy and Ted were apparently only too willing to accompany
him on his errand of mercy.
Following a trail that led through the woods, they finally came to an
open field. It had just one tree, and that growing some distance from
the high rail fence.
"There's the bull, just as Ted said," remarked Elmer, as they looked.
"And he's about the ugliest critter I ever laid eyes on, for a fact,"
remarked Landy. "My goodness! Look at him tossing up the dirt with those
nasty little black horns, would you! And he's punched holes through that
tin pail the farmer's women folks loaned us, too. I can see Ty now,
because of that nice red sweater he wears. He's waving at us, and there
he shouts!"
"Hey, call him off, fellers! Somebody go and coax him around to that
other end of the field. I want to come down. Been up here 'most an hour,
I guess, and I'm getting tired of it. Elmer, you know how to do the
business. Landy, s'pose you climb over and let him see you. He won't be
able to resist trying for such a fat prize!"
"Listen to his nerve, boys," complained Landy. "He wants me to sacrifice
myself on the altar of friendship for him. Just as if I could ever climb
over this fence again, if that holy terror came snorting and rampaging
for me! I guess not."
"No need to, Landy," laughed Elmer, as he noted the indignation of the
fat boy. "We'll find some way to get Ty out of his fix without taking
chances of your climbing a fence in one, two, three order."
"Hurry up!" came floating across the field from the tree, among the
branches of which the owner of the red sweater was waving frantically.
"Firtht thing to be done, he ought to get out of that thweater, don't
you think, Elmer?" inquired Ted.
"That's right, and I'll tell him so"; and, accordingly, raising his
voice, he informed Ty that if he expected them to do anything toward
effecting his rescue he must rid himself of the garment that was
exciting the fighting spirit in the bull.
Of course that went against the grain of Ty; but when the others refused
to make the first move until he had complied, he went about the task
with evident ill humor.
"But he ain't leaving it hanging in the tree, Elmer," announced Landy,
whose eyesight seemed to be all right this morning, however defective it
may have been on the previous evening after his engagement with that
poison vine. "He's stuffing it inside his shirt, I do declare!"
"Well, that doesn't matter," the patrol leader remarked; "so long as he
gets rid of it. And now, boys, you stay here to help him over when he
comes. I'm going to go around to the other side and tempt the bull.
Fortunately I've got a red bandana handkerchief myself, which I wear
cowboy style around my neck; and that ought to be a good enough bait for
Mr. Bull."
"Oh, be careful, Elmer; don't stay in the field too long, because he
might get you," pleaded Landy.
"You let Elmer alone," said Ted. "He knowth hith buthineth all right. He
cometh from the ranch country, where they breed bullth. All right,
Elmer; we'll get buthy when Ty getth here. Good luck to you!"
Elmer, when a little distance away, stopped to hold a short talk with
the boy up in the tree. It happened that the border of the field varied,
and this spot was a trifle closer than any other.
"Now, listen, Ty," he shouted, after he had succeeded in attracting the
attention of the other; "I'm going over to that spot that's farthest
away. When the bull gets a good start for me, you slip down, and run for
all you're worth straight to where the other fellows are waiting. Try
and keep the trunk of the tree between you and the bull all you can. And
if he chases you too hard, throw that red sweater aside. He may stop to
toss it a few times, and that'll give you a chance to make the fence. Do
you understand?"
"Yes, it's all clear enough; but hold his attention as long as you can,
Elmer, because it looks like a whole mile over to that fence!" Ty called
back.
So Elmer kept on around the field. The place he had selected as the
scene of operations was exactly opposite where he had left the other
three fellows; and he considered this a favorable circumstance, indeed,
as it increased the chances of the boy in the tree.
When he had finally arrived, Elmer took the red bandana handkerchief
from his neck, and climbed over the fence. Of course, not being a
professional bullfighter, he did not mean to get far away from his base,
and expected to make good use of that same fence when the crisis came.
Immediately he began to shout and wave that defiant banner, the bull
took notice. Since the color that he detested so heartily seemed to have
been transferred from the boy in the tree to the one on the ground, so
the interest of the bull changed.
He instantly started on a mad run toward Elmer, galloping along in a way
that seemed to indicate a desire to be out after business.
"Get down, quick, Ty, and run for all you're worth!" shouted Elmer,
still waving his bandana, and at the same time trying to correctly
gauge the speed of his enemy, so that he could get out of harm's way in
ample time.
"Jump, Elmer!" shrieked Landy, who was perched on the top of the fence
across the field, and could not tell just how close the bull had arrived
to his chum.
Ty had meanwhile dropped out of the tree, and was heading for them as
fast as his nimble legs, aided by his fright, could carry him. But as he
had said, it was quite some distance, and his heart seemed to be in his
mouth every second of the time he was in transit.
"There! Elmer's made for the fence at last!" cried Landy. "Oh, look at
that rush of the bull, would you! But Elmer was too quick for him, and
he's over the fence and out. Oh, my, just hear that crash when the old
bull banged into the fence! Now, will you be good, you monster? He's
looking around, and I just hope he don't see poor old Ty making this
way!"
"Py chimineddy! He's goming pack!" declared Adam.
"He is, and like a whirlwind, too!" gasped Landy. "Oh! now we won't be
able to help our chum a little bit. Run faster, Ty; let out another
kink! He's after you!"
Evidently there was no need to tell poor Ty that dismal fact, for he had
been taking frequent observations over his left shoulder as he galloped
along. Perhaps he did let out another "kink," as Landy expressed it; but
if so, the fact was not very noticeable, so rapidly was the bull
overtaking him.
But Ty had not forgotten that last instruction given him by the one who
knew bulls from the ground up, their little weaknesses as well as their
ferocious habits. The friendly fence, with his three anxious chums
perched on the top rail, was not so very far away; but to his eyes it
seemed a long distance, and he just knew he could never make it before
being overtaken.
In vain did Landy, Adam and Ted wave their arms, shouting at the top of
their voices, in the hope of attracting the attention of the animal; or
perhaps alarming him; he kept doggedly on, aiming straight for the
fleeing boy, whose legs by this time seemed to wabble under him,
possibly through sheer fright.