THE BLACK CLOUD
Billy Chase wheeled his horse to bring the animal head on toward the
fellow who had warned them away. The man halted, and seemed to be
considering matters.
"Well, are you going to leave?" he snarled, as he saw that his orders
were not likely to be obeyed.
"I don't see why we should," replied Billy, coolly. "We came out here
to look at my uncle's property, and----"
"Yes, but you're not on your uncle's land now!" fired back the man.
"This strip is owned by me and my friends, and it will be many a day
before Mr. Richfield Thornton gets control of it. Now you vamoose!"
"Hold on!" suddenly called Billy, as he saw that the man was bringing
his gun to bear.
"Hold on for what?" growled the man.
"Don't get rash--that's all," suggested Billy, still calmly.
"No, that gun might go off," added Frank, taking a hint from the cool
conduct of his chum.
"And it might hurt somebody," added Andy.
"Why--why--what do you mean?" snarled the man. "I tell you to get off
this land! Your uncle don't own it and he never will, if I have my way.
You haven't any right here, and in a little while this will be fenced
off so no one can come on. Now you leave in a hurry."
The boys looked at each other. Clearly they were "up against it," as
Andy said afterward. They knew that the land was in dispute and, though
they felt sure that Mr. Thornton had a good claim to it, they realized
that, for the time being, possession was nine points of the law.
"Supposing we don't go?" asked Billy, and Frank understood that his
chum was seeking to gain time, though for what reason he could not
fathom.
"If you don't you may get hurt," was the menacing answer. "My friends
won't stand for any nonsense."
"And how do you know just where my uncle's land ends, and what you
claim is yours begins?" went on Billy, and now the two Racer boys
understood their chum's reason for questioning the man. He hoped to
catch sight of the others who were with him. He wanted to see if he
could recognize any of them.
"How do I know?" asked the man with the gun. "Because it's all been
staked out; see?" and he pointed to a row of wooden pegs that marked
off a ten foot strip which led in through the open place in the dam.
"So that's who those fellows were that followed us the day we got
here," said Billy, in a low voice. "Surveyors--and they did their work
in a hurry, marked out the strip in dispute, and went back to town by a
different route."
"I guess that's right," agreed Frank.
"Well, are you going to vamoose?" asked the man, coming a pace nearer.
"I suppose we'll have to," agreed Billy. "But I want to tell you that
you fellows are making a big mistake. My uncle has a valid claim to
this land, and he'll enforce it, too. Then it will be you who'll have
to get out--not us."
"All right. When the time comes--if it ever does--we'll slide," sneered
the man.
"What's the trouble?" inquired a voice, and turning, the boys saw a
tall man, with a handsome, if evil face, leering at them.
"Oh, these kids think they can go where they like," said the man with
the gun. "I've warned 'em away, but they won't go."
"They won't; eh?" snapped the newcomer, who bestrode a big black horse.
"Well, I'll see about that."
"Oh, we're going, Rick Morton," said Billy, calmly. "We just rode out
here to see what was going on, and now we're going back. I'll tell my
uncle."
"Yes, and you can tell him if he comes out here I'll serve him as he
once served me!" snapped the big man.
"Oh, I suppose you mean horsewhipping," spoke Billy. "Well, I wouldn't
advise you to try it!"
"Now you march!" fairly yelled the big man, to whom the remembrance of
the horsewhipping did not seem pleasant.
"Come on, Buffalo," called Billy, to his horse. "I guess they don't
want us here."
"And we never will," added the man with the gun. "You can't dam up this
river, and flood our property. The courts'll stop you, or, if they
don't, we will ourselves. This dam will be torn down in another month."
"I don't believe so," answered Billy. "Come on, boys," and he motioned
with his head to Frank and Andy.
"Can't we do anything?" asked the younger Racer lad, who did not like
to thus easily give in.
"I say let's go around some other way," suggested Frank, who felt much
of the same spirit.
"It's no use," counselled Billy. "They've got the upper hand now. But
our time will come."
"Why, there's only two of 'em," said Frank. "I guess we could manage
'em if it came to a fight."
"No, it wouldn't be wise," said Billy. "Besides, look over there,"
and as they came opposite the opening in the dam where they could see
through to Golden Peak, they beheld a number of men on horses riding
about. "There are too many for us. They must have something big under
way. The best thing to do is to hurry back and tell my uncle. He may be
able to get ahead of 'em yet."
"And to think that we were almost there and had to turn back," said
Frank.
"We might have found the treasure," added Andy. "I wonder what those
fellows think it is, anyhow?"
"Oh it must be a deposit of gold ore; at least, that is the rumor,"
said Billy. "You see this section of the country is not far from
Colorado, and you know there is gold there. Maybe in the ancient
geological times, before this world was quite made, some gold ore got
into this mountain. I know it's been called Golden Peak for a good many
years. The Indians used to have that same name for it. But no one that
I ever heard of, except that man who went crazy, ever got any gold out
of it, though lots of prospectors have had a try for it.
"Now these fellows imagine there's a fortune in it and they don't want
my uncle to put it under water in his irrigation lake. But it's all
bosh!"
"It looks as if there'd be a fight over it," suggested Frank.
"Yes, and it's too bad," went on Billy. "We need the water for the
ranch, and so do the others who are depending on it. Yet, as long as
this dispute keeps up, we can't do anything."
They rode away in rather moody silence, followed by the searching gaze
of the two men on guard. Then the big man on the horse galloped back
through the opening in the dam to join his companions, leaving the
fellow with the gun near the rock.
"Is there any way we could get around and come to Golden Peak from the
back?" asked Andy.
"Yes, it could be done, but it's a long ride," said Billy. "Maybe we'll
take it, if these fellows stay here. But we'll see what my uncle says."
Much disappointed at the failure of their trip, the boys guided their
horses out of the valley to the higher part of the prairie. They talked
over what had happened, and Andy said he wished he had brought his gun
along.
"If we'd been armed," he said, "they wouldn't have been so ready to
order us off."
Billy shook his head.
"Firearms are bad business," he said. "This will be settled without
powder, I guess. But it sure is mean to have every thing held up, when
you know those fellows are in the wrong."
They rode on for several miles, and, when within a comparatively short
distance of the ranch, Frank, looking up, asked:
"What sort of a cloud is that over there, Billy?"
The Western lad turned in his saddle, and at the first glimpse of the
slate-colored mass, he cried:
"Ride! Ride for your lives, boys! That's a cyclone cloud as sure as
you're a foot high! And it's headed right this way! Ride for all you're
worth!"
[Illustration: "RIDE! RIDE FOR YOUR LIVES, BOYS!"]