NIPPING A MUTINY.
Once Chunky knew what was expected of him, and he proved that he could
do things with a hurricane rush. Most cow-punchers are of his stripe,
and speed is a mania on the range.
"First thing I'll run out some ponies for you young fellers to mount,"
he told the scouts, as he turned to leave the verandah where the short
talk had taken place.
"Me for a piebald mustang!" called out Jimmy, "I've somehow had that in
my mind ever since I set eyes on that speckled pony belongin' to Amos.
Fix me up that way, if you want to see me happy, Mister Chunky."
And greatly to Jimmy's delight, he was later on given just such a mount
as he called for; though as for Ned, he did not wholly fancy the
peculiar whitish eyes that were a feature of the fancy looking beast.
He imagined that the animal had an ugly temper, if crossed, and hoped
that Jimmy might not rue the day he yearned for a mottled cow pony.
Meanwhile the big bell had been clanged that would serve as a signal to
tell all on the place that their presence was immediately desired. They
came trooping out of the bunk house and from the direction of the
corral, where it chanced they had been busily engaged at the time.
Curiosity could be seen stamped on most of their bronzed faces. Ned
looked for the man called Ally Sloper, and who had been described to
him so cleverly that he fancied he could pick him out among the throng.
Even if he had not been advised beforehand, he knew he could have
settled upon the man; because, while nearly all the others seemed jolly
and carefree, his face bore a dark frown.
Ned believed the man suspected something; that he feared this hasty and
unusual summons might interfere with the cunning scheme engineered for
that night. And while not appearing to watch the puncher at all, Ned
could easily see that he made frequent signals, when he thought himself
unobserved, to several others, whom Ned also marked down as the secret
allies of the rustler's spy.
These things, while seemingly unimportant, were really of considerable
consequence, because much depended on their keeping the traitors from
communicating with their friends in the hills.
"Is that Sloper with the hat on the back of his head?" he asked Chunky,
in a low tone, as the men were coming up.
"Yes, and the one with him is Lefty Louie; that sneak trailin' along at
his heels is Coyote Smith. Bob Caruso is the feller larfin' right now,
and which makes him look like he could swallow a heifer easy; and
Tinplate George is at the end of the bunch, limpin' some, 'count of a
fling he got yesterday with a buckin' broncho. Got 'em all sized up
now, have ye, Ned?"
"Yes, and tell Mrs. Haines to start the circus right away, Chunky," was
the reply.
The rancher's wife had been nervously waiting for a sign. She now
stepped forward and held up her hand, so that all noise ceased, and the
men listened eagerly, for their curiosity had been greatly excited.
"During the absence of Colonel Haines and Mr. Henshaw, you are to take
your orders from this young man here, Ned Nestor, and through Chunky,
who will act as temporary foreman. An emergency has arisen, making it
very necessary that all our herds be rounded up immediately and driven
into the big corral, where they can be guarded to-night. Ask no
questions, but do your duty as employees of this ranch. That is all I
wish to say, and I feel sure that every one of you will understand that
I am in consultation with those I have put in charge and that it is my
wishes they are carrying out."
The punchers stared at each other. They could, of course, give a pretty
good guess what this must mean, for the only real danger that could be
feared at this time of year would be from rustlers.
As a rule, they were a jolly lot of carefree fellows, willing to work
double one day and loaf the next, as the occasion arose; it was all in
the line of business with them.
Ned had been watching Ally Sloper out of the tail of his eye. He saw
the man scowl like a pirate of the Spanish Main. Of course, this was
going to interfere seriously with all the well-laid plans between the
spies and their rustler allies. They may have waited a long time for
this very chance, when both proprietors of the ranch would be away at
the same time; and, now that it had come, to be balked in their designs
was enough to throw such a tempestuous man into a fury.
"He's going to make trouble right away, Ned," whispered Jack in the ear
of the scout master.
"Let him try it, and see what he runs up against, that's all," Ned
replied, as he watched Ally Sloper pushing his way to the front.
Somehow the other four did not follow him. They were wise enough to
realize that such a move might expose them to suspicion. If Sloper
chose to protest against being sent out on the range at this late hour
of the day, that was his privilege; but there was no necessity for them
to show their hand so early in the game. They knew what the anger of
cow-punchers was like and had a healthy respect for it.
Before the advancing man could get near enough to say anything, Chunky
began to speak as though he did not notice this aggressive movement.
"I'll head one party, and with me will go Arizona Tom, Dutchy, Ally
Sloper and two of the visitors at the ranch. Skinny will take another
party to bring in the herd from the alfalfa prairie," and so he went on
apportioning the men, placing one he could positively trust at the head
of each detachment, and making sure that each squad held a "suspect."
It had all been well laid out, and in the strongest bunch, consisting
of seven riders, two of the unfaithful lot had been included. Each
party had been given a particular herd to manage, so that the work
could be carried out in systematic order.
Of course, Chunky intended to give the several leaders a quiet tip
before they started out, so that they could keep an eye on the suspects
and thwart any move that looked as though they meant to slip away, or
send warning to their friends in the hills.
Sloper had stood and listened to what Chunky said. Evidently it
confirmed what suspicions he may have already had concerning the
breaking up of their plot. And he would have been a stupid man not to
have connected the coming of the scouts with this sudden move, looking
to a round-up that had not been ordered by the proprietors of the big
ranch.
Some of the men had started to hurry away; others stood there in a
half-hesitating way, as though they had noticed the belligerent
attitude of Ally Sloper and wished to see what he meant to do. He may
have given trouble on other past occasions and was only kept on account
of his acknowledged skill as a puncher.
"Hold on there, Chunky, I want to say as I aint agoin' out on the range
with ye this time. I reckons as how I've done a good hard day's work
a'ready. 'Sides that, take it from me straight that I don't mean to
look to a _kid_ like this here newcomer for my boss. I'm alayin' down
on the job for onct, see?"
"No, I don't see, Sloper," returned the emaciated puncher, facing the
other, a gleam in his eyes that was not nice to watch. "Are you sick?"
"What, me? Did ye ever know me to be sick? No, 'taint that. I jest
don't keer to work any more to-day. I'm agoin' to the bunk house an'
lie down to smoke."
"You're goin' out on the range with me, Sloper, hear that?" gritted
Chunky, as he faced the other defiantly. "You heard the rancher's wife
give her orders; and, also, the fact that she says as how we are all to
look to this young chap as her representative; likewise that I'm to
advise him, seein' as how he ain't well up in range ways. I've selected
_you_ to be in my party. I want you for a good many reasons, one o'
which are that you ain't got anything on me when it comes to roundin'
up longhorns. So make up your mind you're agoin' out and help git that
prize herd in from the Washout Coulie."
"I don't take my orders from any snip like that, I tell you, and I
ain't agoin' to stand for you bein' foreman here, Chunky, understand
that!" the mutineer rasped, while four other punchers moved a little
closer and waited to see how their ally came through, before they tried
to copy his tactics; if he succeeded, they could follow suit; whereas,
should he make a failure, they were at liberty to draw back and hold
their horses for a more convenient season.
"Oh! is that so, Sloper?" remarked the tall puncher, quickly, "an' tell
me how you expect to keep from goin' out on the range with my party?"
"I throw up my job right here, see?" almost shouted Sloper. "You get
what I says, don't you? You can't order me around, when I'm a free
agent. And I ain't workin' for the Double Cross people any more. I'm
done."
"Oh! yes, you are," sneered Chunky. "We'll just look into that, Sloper.
I reckons as how Colonel Job fixed things so he could count on _your_
services a certain time. You're under contract here. Mrs. Haines, kin
you tell me how much longer Sloper's agreement to work for the owners
of the Double Cross Ranch, or whoever they chose to app'nt foreman
here, has to run?"
"Just two months more," replied the colonel's wife, who kept the books
of the ranch and, therefore, knew all about the dealings with all the
hands.
"That settles it then, Sloper," said Chunky. "We need your services
right bad to git them cattle into the stockade. And let me tell you
right here, you're agoin' out on the range with us now and work
alongside the rest of the boys, or somethin' is likely to happen right
suddent."
He carelessly let his hand slip around to the butt of his gun while
saying this. Jimmy and, perhaps Harry, anticipated seeing some
fireworks, because they thought Sloper was a gunfighter; but Ned could
read character better and he had already decided that the man had a
craven soul back of all his bluster. So he was not at all surprised to
see him quail before the steady gaze of Chunky.
"This is a raw deal you're givin' me, Chunky!" he muttered.
"I'm doin' jest what Colonel Job'd do if he was on the spot, and one of
his contract men tried to lay down on him," retorted the other
positively. "After he gits back, if you care to take it up with him, ye
kin do it. But while I'm runnin' things, alongside o' this younker
here, you'll do your part, or I'll know the reason why. Now, boys, git
your ponies and we'll be off. Thar's a heap o' hard work to do afore we
kin take things easy."
He managed matters so that he could say a few words to Skinny and the
other two dependable punchers who had been placed in charge of the
third and fourth parties.
They were told to keep a watchful eye on the suspected ones, though
there was no time to explain just why. But, after all, there could be
but one reason for giving this warning, and Skinny, as well as the
other leaders, were able to figure it out. They had already guessed
that news had come concerning a contemplated foray on the part of
rustlers and that these men were suspected of being hand in glove with
the lawless night runners of cattle.
There was presently a bustling scene as the punchers saddled their
ponies and prepared for hard work out on the range.
Chunky managed to keep close to Ally Sloper all of the time and the
man, seeing this, did not dare venture anything like flight, lest he be
followed by a shower of bullets.
Orders were given for ponies for the four scouts and it was not long
before they found themselves mounted on frisky bronchos, which it took
all their skill to manage. But fortunately all of them had done
considerable riding in times past, so that they did themselves credit.
And doubtless the punchers had picked animals that, according to their
way of thinking, were exceedingly docile, though quite lively enough to
suit Ned and his chums.
There was Jimmy grinning from the back of a beautifully spotted animal,
and apparently as happy as any one could be. He had found a way to
sling his gun, so as to have both hands free to manage the mount; and,
truth to tell, there were times when Jimmy was apt to wish he had a
third hand in the bargain, for the calico pony proved to be the most
unruly one of the quartette.
All this was done in a comparatively short time, because each puncher
looked out for himself. Harry and Jack were to accompany Skinny's
bunch, while Jimmy and Ned meant to be with Chunky. This arrangement
satisfied the scout master, who felt that if there was anything going
on it was apt to be in connection with that detachment which had Ally
Sloper on its roll call. And, as usual, Ned wanted to be on the firing
line when things were happening.
Owing to various causes Chunky's bunch was the last to get away. In
three separate directions could be seen little clouds of alkali dust in
which the reckless riders had vanished, heading for the feeding grounds
of the herds, to which they had been assigned.
As these lay some miles away, and the task of rounding up the cattle,
as well as driving them on the return trip, would consume considerable
time, it was not expected that the first of the herds would reach the
stockade until the moon was several hours high.
When Ned and Jimmy galloped forth, keeping close to the other four
riders, they turned in the saddle to wave to the stockman's wife, who
stood on the piazza, to see the last of them off, with the Chinese cook
close by, and also a couple of women, who were also employed in the
house.
The scout master believed he had reason to feel satisfied, because he
had been allowed to balk the treacherous designs of those who would
have sacrificed the property of their employer by sending word to the
cattle rustlers. But as his eye wandered over to where the sullen Ally
Sloper sat his saddle, Ned knew that this was hardly the end. A man of
his double nature was not apt to throw up his hands and acknowledge
himself beaten, just because he had been knocked down in the first
round.
"He'll bear close watching," was Ned's mental comment, "and even then
chances are he may find a way to slip us, when the excitement of
rounding-up the steers and the cows is on. But once we get the herd
started home, I don't believe he'd be able to do us any great harm, if
he did skip out. Still, Chunky is dealing with the hound and I mustn't
interfere."