ANOTHER DISCOVERY
For several minutes the ranch owners discussed the suggestion and
finally decided to act on it unless circumstances should make a
change advisable.
Having settled the matter, they rode to the fire and aroused the
sleeping cowboys, being joined a few minutes later by Bill, Sandy
and the others. Soon the men of the Half-Moon were saddling their
ponies.
"Queer we don't meet Ned anywhere," Bill exclaimed. "I see from
the bags he's been here, Pete."
"He got here all right, but he didn't like to go back very well.
Had a bad case of nerves, so he took down the white awning."
"It's just as well," returned Mr. Wilder. Then, finding that the
men were impatient to be on the move, he gave the command to start
and they rode toward the Long Creek bottoms.
When Tom and Larry awoke it was bright daylight.
"Why it's nine o'clock," exclaimed Larry in amazement as he looked
at his watch.
Hastily the brothers dressed and then went to see if Horace was in
his room or had played some joke on them in letting them sleep. To
their relief, they found him in bed.
"Hey, you, get up!" cried Tom. "You're a fine one to be in charge
of the Half-Moon Ranch. If you stay in bed much longer, it will be
dark."
Deeply chagrined to think he had overslept, Horace leaped to the
floor, and soon the three boys were ready for breakfast.
At the sound of their voices Mrs. Wilder had ordered Hop Joy to
bring in their food, and as the lads entered the dining-room she
was awaiting them.
"Why didn't you call us?" protested Horace.
"Because I thought you were all tired and that sleep would do you
good."
"And I suppose if Larry or Tom hadn't happened to wake up, you
would have let us sleep all day?"
"I suppose I should," said his mother, smiling. "When you are in
bed I know that you are safe."
"You must not worry about us, Mrs. Wilder," interposed Larry. "I
always tell mother that we are old enough to take care of
ourselves. So I wish you would feel the same. I think it would
save you no end of anxiety."
"Undoubtedly. But I never can think of my Horace except as my
baby."
"Huh! I'm a pretty husky baby," grunted the boy. "See here,
mother, I'm fifteen now, so I wish you'd stop calling me your baby.
When a fellow has been put in charge of the Half-Moon herd he
doesn't like to be called a baby."
"I'll try to remember," returned Mrs. Wilder gently. Yet there was
a wistfulness in her voice that caused Horace to look up, and, at
the sight of her face, he left his chair, ran and put his arm
around her neck, exclaiming:
"If you want to call me baby, you can, Momsy! I don't care. Tom
and Larry are the right stuff and they won't laugh."
Ere either of the brothers could reply Hop Joy appeared.
"Ned he goee pool," he announced. "Say if you boys wantee go, you
hully."
"Tell him to bring up Blackhawk, Lightning and Lady Belle. Then
put up some food for us, Hop Joy. Plenty of it, mind."
As the Chinaman glided from the room Mrs. Wilder asked:
"Why do you take anything except for lunch, son?"
"Because I think we will spend the night at the pool. Larry and
Tom want to see the will-o'-the-wisps, and we maybe able to catch
some fish early to-morrow morning. You know father always says
early morning is the only time to fish in the pool."
"Well, I don't suppose it will do any harm for you to be gone over
night. Only be careful. I shall worry if you are not back before
dusk tomorrow night."
Permission to pass the night obtained, the comrades quickly
collected their rifles and some fishing tackle, mounted the ponies
Ned had brought up and rode away.
After learning from their companion that he had found Pete and the
herd at the pool when he arrived, the lads indulged in speculation
as to when and where the pursuers would come across the raiders and
the chances of recovering the cattle.
Of a sudden, remembering his discussion, with his brother the night
before, Larry asked:
"How do you stop a stampede, Ned?"
"You generally don't," replied the man with a grin.
"But you try, don't you? I'm sure I've read of cowboys stopping
stampedes."
"I guess they do it easier in story books then than on the plains.
The best way to stop a stampede is not to let it start. Still, if
there's enough boys on hand, I suppose it could be done. The only
way, though, would be to ride down the leaders and turn them round.
"As I said, if there are enough boys on hand when the trouble
breaks, they can get them to milling, which is going round and
round in a circle until the cattle get tired out. But it takes a
mighty lively bunch of cow-punchers to do it."
After riding for two hours they came in sight of the cattle, and
the two brothers quickened their pace, eager to see them at close
range.
"Steady now. Don't go riding at them like a pack of Indians or you
will have all the stampede you want to see," exclaimed Ned. "My,
but they surely are restless!"
This last remark was caused by some of the steers which raised
their heads at the approach of the riders, then turned and dashed
back to the body of the herd.
"Oh, dear! I'm afraid we've started them," said Horace.
"Pull in your horses!" commanded Ned. "The main bunch is all
right. If we come up to them slow, there won't be any trouble."
Obeying instantly, the boys reined their horses to a walk and
reached the pool without causing further alarm among the cattle.
"So this is where the ghosts live, is it?" asked Tom, gazing from a
little knoll at a placid body of water about one hundred feet long
by twice as many wide, surrounded by reeds.
"Maybe you won't laugh so much to-night," declared their friend and
then, because he did not like to be joked about his belief that the
place was haunted, he added: "Come on, let's see if we can find
which direction father and the boys took."
The chance to try if they could track any one on the prairie
appealed to the others, and they started to ride around the pool.
"I can see where they had a camp fire!" cried Tom, pointing toward
a pile of white ashes.
"Here's where the grass is all tramped down. Look, there's a
regular path right for the mountains."
"No, this is the way they went, to the south, here," returned Larry.
Each boy was firm in his declaration that he had found the trail
and to prove it they dismounted and began to examine the ground.
"I'm right. I can see horse tracks!" cried Larry. "This is the
way they took, isn't it, Ned?" Thus appealed to, both Horace and
the man rode up.
"Larry's right," announced Ned, after a few moments observation,
"Then what caused my tracks?" demanded Tom. "Here are horse
tracks, too, only most of the hoofprints are made by cattle."
"Oh, you can't tell a cow from a pony print," taunted Horace.
"Come over and see for yourself," retorted Tom.
Examination proving that he was right, his friend exclaimed:
"That was made by the boys coming up."
"But the tracks are all going toward the mountains. They certainly
wouldn't drive any cattle away with them. You don't--you don't
suppose it's another raid, do you?" and Tom glanced at Ned.
"Yes."