THE CAIRN
Professor Scott, the captain, Don and Ned were all sitting around a fire
in the living room discussing the next move to be made. To their intense
disappointment they had not found the missing boys upon their return to
the ranch, nor had they come across a single trace on their homeward
journey. They had just decided that a more vigorous hunt must be started
in the morning when Yappi hastily entered the living room.
“There is a large fire at the ranch of Senorita Mercedes, senor,” he
informed Ned.
The young man jumped to his feet in dismay. “Oh, I hope those fellows
haven’t set her ranch on fire!” he groaned. “Let’s see what is up.”
The entire party ran to the back door and looked across the plains in
the direction of the Mercedes ranch. Just as the mestizo had said, the
sky in that direction was red and they could see the flames against the
sky. But it was several feet south of the house.
“It isn’t the house,” decided Ned. “Perhaps they are just burning some
old rubbish.”
“Why should she select a hilltop to burn rubbish on?” asked the
professor, sensibly. “Does she usually burn things at night?”
“No,” admitted Ned. “There must surely be something wrong. Yappi, the
horses!”
The mestizo sprang around the house and went to the barn, from which he
soon led mounts for all of them. He was instructed to stay at the ranch
with the cook, in case the boys should return, and then the others threw
themselves on the animals and started off. Ned and Don rode well in
front, their anxiety making them impatient, while the professor and the
captain, who were not riders of note, lagged somewhat.
It was not a long journey to the ranch of the senorita, but to the boys
it seemed long, and when at last they ascended the last hill they drew a
breath of relief. They were now near enough to see that the blazing
beacon was a tar barrel, and the circumstances became more puzzling than
ever. But before they had much time to wonder about it they had topped
the rise and were looking down on the scene below.
The light from the blazing barrel showed them a curious scene. The
outlaws had realized that they must make one last desperate assault, and
at the present moment they were making it. Four men were close to the
front door, flat in the yard, a log rolled before them as a shield, over
which they were firing at the door, splintering the wood badly. They
were rolling the log before them as they advanced, and hoped in this
manner to get close enough to the door to make a determined rush. From
the interior of the house came occasional flashes of fire from three
rifles and from the corner of the barn came another.
While the relief party was taking this in the professor and the captain
joined them. The attacking party had not yet become aware of their
presence, and seeing that the moment was favorable Ned and Don charged
down the hill, the older men following. A single shot, fired by Ned,
told Sackett and company that help had arrived, and without even
stopping to offer resistance they fled in every direction.
The captain instantly discharged his gun at one of the fleeing men and
he went down in a heap. The professor shot Abel in the shoulder and Ned
and Don pounced on the same man, springing from their horses upon the
man. The fourth man, who was Sackett, ran to the thicket, made a single
bound into his saddle, and thundered away, passing close to Jim in his
corner of the barn, who fired at him but missed in the excitement.
Jim looked for an instant after the fleeing outlaw and then dashed
around the barn and entered it. The horses stood there, moving
restlessly, and he selected a fine looking steed and hastily saddled it.
Leading it from the barn he mounted and started off with all speed after
Sackett.
The slim edge of a moon was rising above the horizon and by its somewhat
sickly light Jim was able to follow the course of the bay pirate. The
man was making straight for the mountain and felt confident that he
would make it, but he was soon undeceived. The horse which Jim had
selected from the stables of the senorita was a high strung, fiery
animal, and he was eager to run. Jim needed no spur to keep him at top
speed, and the lead which the bandit had held was steadily cut down.
Seeing that he could not make the mountains before the pursuing boy was
well within gunshot the outlaw made for a patch of trees that stood
nearby. They were a little more than a mile before him, and consisted of
a fairly dense tangle of low bushes and trees. His idea was probably to
make a last stand there, Jim decided, and the race settled down grimly
in that direction.
Once Sackett turned and fired at Jim, but the shot went wide of the
mark, for the ground was uneven and the distance too great for accuracy.
From that time on he gave his attention to the task of escaping, bending
low over the neck of his steed and urging it on. The patch of trees was
now very near and Sackett well in the lead.
The outlaw drove his horse into the shelter of the little refuge at
headlong speed and vanished from Jim’s sight. Jim pulled the steed to a
halt and paused uncertainly. Sackett was in the thicket and armed, and
he knew better than to recklessly dash on. If his theory was right the
pirate was waiting for him to do that very thing, and it would be the
worst move he could make. So he sat quietly in the saddle, wondering
what his next move should be.
It was impossible for Sackett to escape to the mountains without being
seen for Jim could see all around the thicket, and if the man tried to
slip from the other side and continue his flight Jim would surely spot
him. And yet, his object in running into the brush also puzzled Jim.
What could he gain by that? In a few minutes the others would come up
and they would be able to charge him and take him prisoner. It seemed to
Jim that there was some deep scheme in the head of the outlaw, and so he
watched with all his senses alert, keeping well out of gunshot.
In this position Don and Ned found him when they galloped up a half hour
later. Don fairly threw himself on his brother in his joy and Ned was
equally enthusiastic. Jim was in rags but was a welcome sight to Don.
Jim explained the position of the outlaw in the thicket and they were
undecided. No sound had come from the thicket all the time that Jim had
been stationed there, and no one had left the place. Ned decided that
they had better spread out and rush the cover.
“If we rush the woods on three sides we’ll have him,” he said. “He can’t
shoot at all three of us at once, and we can fairly hurl ourselves into
the place. By coming up on three different points we can prevent him
from running out of one side of the thicket while we charge in another.”
“We must rush the thicket in a zigzag course,” Don put in. “If we don’t,
we’re likely to be shot.”
Agreeing on a gunshot for signal purposes the three boys took up
positions on three sides of the silent thicket and looked to their
rifles. Each one could see the other and at last Ned discharged his gun.
At top speed they bore down on the thicket, driving the horses in an
irregular line.
To their astonishment there was no shot or sound from the thicket and
they entered it together, to find it empty of life except for Sackett’s
horse, which was quietly grazing close to the edge of the brush. The
patch inclosed by trees was about twenty-five feet in diameter and was
nothing more than a mere cluster of trees and bushes. The only thing to
be seen, beside the horse, was a huge pile of stones. They jumped from
the horses and looked at each other in perplexity.
“Now, where in the world did that man go?” demanded Ned, holding his
rifle in instant readiness.
“You can search me!” answered Don, in bewilderment. “He’s not in the
trees, is he?”
Ned looked quickly up and then shook his head. “No, there isn’t room
enough in these trees for anyone to hide themselves. He must be in the
place, because he certainly didn’t walk out while we were there.”
“He didn’t get away before you came, either,” Jim said. “I kept an eagle
eye on the place, and he couldn’t have made it without my seeing him.”
“Well, he’s gone,” said Ned, walking to the horse and examining it.
“Just vanished into thin air.”
Don was looking at the heap of stones. It was a high cairn, composed of
stones which had been heaped there generations ago for some unknown
reason, and moss had grown over the mound. Stones of a larger size made
up the bottom and smaller stones lay above these. Near the base of it he
found a straight slab with some Spanish lettering cut upon it.
“What is written on this stone?” he asked Ned. The young engineer bent
over the stone, lighted a match and read the inscription.
“I can’t make it all out,” he replied, as the match expired in his hand.
“But it seems to be the burial place of someone of importance. They had
a custom once of taking a distinguished man and piling a cairn of stones
over his grave. Sometimes the custom was for anyone who came past to add
a stone to the pile and in that way it grew larger. This is one of those
piles, and someone is buried down at the bottom of it.”
“All of which doesn’t bring us any nearer Mr. Sackett,” murmured Jim.
“I’d give anything to know where that gentleman went to!”
“It just seems silly!” said Ned, impatiently. “You chase him in here and
he simply disappears. That isn’t logical.”
“Look here!” cried Don, who had been moving around the pile of stones,
and who was now on the other side. “Shouldn’t all of these stones be
covered with moss?”
“I suppose so,” Ned replied. “Why.”
“Because they aren’t covered with moss on this side. The stones here are
different than the others, and seem to be looser. Come here and give me
a hand.”
The other two boys hastened to Don’s side and found that he was right.
The stones to which he pointed had a brighter look than the others, and
where the chinks and crevices of the other rocks had long since been
stopped up by moss, these rocks were singularly free. Moreover, they
were not well placed, and the boys were struck by the same idea.
“Ah, ha!” exclaimed Ned, as he began to tear away the upper stones. “I
think I see a thing or two! Help me with these stones.”
The other two went to work with a will and soon the stones were pulled
out and tossed to one side. To their intense satisfaction a large
opening was revealed.
“Just as we thought, the opening of a tunnel!” exclaimed Don.