MORE TROUBLE AHEAD.
It turned out that what the dejected Skinny had said was the truth.
Even the ponies that had not taken part in the chase of Ally Sloper
were found to be showing plain signs of being sick. There could be no
doubt but what the sly fox had laid his plans carefully, and also found
an opportunity to carry the same out. He must have managed to give each
broncho something in his feed that would within a certain time weaken
him, especially if subjected to any violent exercise calculated to
start the animal sweating freely.
Those who had pursued the fleeing puncher had kept their own for a
short time, and then noticed that no matter how they urged their mounts
on they were being slowly distanced. The extravagant gestures of
derision on the part of Sloper also aroused suspicion; and when their
ponies began to show unmistakable signs of playing out, what seemed to
be the truth dawned upon them.
"It was a mighty clever ruse, I'm thinking," Jack remarked, as he and
his chums went out to see the sick ponies.
"Are they poisoned and will they all die?" Harry asked one of the
punchers, with keen regret in his voice, as he watched the actions of
the sick animals.
"Oh! we reckons it ain't so bad as that there," replied the cowboy,
"they been locoed with some weed that Ally, he must a carried around
with him, meanin' to use the same when the right time came along. But
Miss Haines she give us some stuff outen the Kunnel's medicine chest,
'case, yuh see, he's somethin' o' a vetranary surgeon; and they seem to
be pickin' up a bit a'ready."
An hour later the expected party was discovered heading for the ranch
buildings, but not a solitary puncher went circling out to meet them.
This fact must have given rise to considerable wonder on the part of
the two stockmen, who knew the ways of cow punchers so well. Their
astonishment was unbounded when they arrived at the stockade and saw
the herds penned up.
First of all, they greeted the scouts warmly. As Harry was the
representative of his father, whom the stockmen hoped to induce to join
them in putting more money into their enterprise, so as to enlarge the
scope of their business, it was only natural that he should be shown
the utmost consideration, in order that a favorable report be taken
back when he returned home.
But then Harry was the nephew of both stockmen, so to speak, and they
would have welcomed him warmly for that fact alone.
When they heard all that had happened and how the lucky finding of the
dead homing pigeon with its telltale message had betrayed the plans of
the conspirators, they could hardly express their feelings toward the
scouts.
Of course there followed the hasty moonlight ride out on the range, the
round-up of the cattle that was not ordered, the fight with the
rustlers, and last, but not least, the clever way in which Ally Sloper
had made his escape so as to avoid facing his late employers.
It was soon decided to keep the herds confined until the following
morning, when they would be driven forth once more to their several
grazing grounds. They must be guarded day and night for the time being,
and orders were given to all hands to shoot straight in case another
raid were attempted.
Colonel Haines was very angry over the way things were going. He feared
that if those reckless rustlers were allowed to hold forth in the strip
of land bordering the Colorado, they would continue to take toll from
the herds of the Double Cross Ranch, and that this might in some way
serve to make Harry carry an unfavorable report back to his rich father.
And so the stockmen put their heads together and decided that the time
had come to make a determined effort to rid the country of the lawless
cattle thieves. In the morning they would send a messenger to the
nearest town with a note to the sheriff, demanding that he come
straightway out with an armed posse and begin a systematic search for
the hiding place of the gang. It must be war to the knife after this
between the cow-punchers and the rustlers, who must be made to realize
that it would be too hot for them in that "neck of the woods."
In the morning everyone was up before sunrise, for there was plenty to
be attended to on this day. The four scouts determined to ride out in a
bunch with Chunky and see the prize herd taken back to the vicinity of
Washout Coulie. Then they could employ the balance of the day to suit
themselves, perhaps in looking for game that was to be found in the
hills near by.
The ponies had all recovered from their sickness. Whatever it had been
that the treacherous puncher had dosed them with, either the effect had
worn off or else the horse medicine which Mrs. Haines had taken from
her husband's chest must have counteracted the drug. No one was more
pleased to learn this fact than Harry, who had a very tender heart and
disliked to see even animals suffer.
Jimmy enjoyed that morning ride greatly. He soon caught the spirit of
the range, and mounted on the back of his calico pony he drove this way
and that, shouting louder than any seasoned puncher, slapping his quirt
and doing bravely in assisting to keep the cattle bunched on the drive.
Everything seemed to be quiet around the coulie that had been the scene
of their spirited engagement with the rustler gang some thirty hours
and more previously.
After the severe lesson that had been taught the thieving pack, it was
firmly believed they would remain in hiding for some time now, waiting
for the excitement to blow over and the punchers to get careless again.
At the same time, when the scouts started to leave the coulie, bent on
skirmishing around to see if they could scare up anything worth while
in the shape of game, Chunky thought it his duty to warn them to keep
their eyes about them all the while.
"They're a slick article, boys," he remarked, seriously, for he had
already come to like the chums exceedingly, while the feeling of
interest was just as warm on their part; "and since they know by now
from Ally that 'twas you as spoiled their plans, they might have it in
for you. If so be you run up against any strange punchers, don't have
anything to do with the same. They might be rustlers, 'case you know
all these here cattle thieves has been on ranches, some time 'r other,
and got fired because they didn't play fair. Keep your eyes peeled all
the time."
"That's what all scouts mean to do, Chunky," advised Jimmy, promptly.
"Their motto is 'be prepared,' even if they don't always live up to the
same. But we'll try to keep our eyes on the watch for signs of trouble.
See you later, boys! So-long!"
Jimmy was rapidly picking up range ways. All he needed to make him a
regular puncher, he imagined, was a cowboy suit with sheepskin chaps
and a real range hat, to take the place of the campaign headgear that
as a scout he always wore.
Already the calico pony was showing signs of being conquered. Jimmy had
a masterful way about him, being a bit reckless, and the animal, no
doubt, began to understand that, as his new rider seemed bent on
keeping up the fight to the bitter end, it might be the best policy to
seem to yield. But Ned, still having in mind the white eyes that struck
him as treacherous, warned Jimmy not to trust his mount too far.
They rode for miles along the foot of the hills. Ned never failed to
keep track of the distance and the points of the compass. When they
considered that it was time to head toward home they could depend on
the scout master to tell them just where the ranch buildings lay, and
about how much distance separated them from home.
Up to that time they had not come across any signs of game, a fact that
caused Jimmy to express himself as very much disappointed; for their
lunch had been a scanty one, according to his mind, and he indulged in
high hopes that if they could only knock over an antelope or a deer
while the rest were resting, he could start a cooking fire and fix up a
little snack to allow him to hold out until suppertime arrived.
Ned, who had been closely observing their surroundings for some little
time now, gave it as his opinion that they might find something in the
shape of quarry if they left the plain and turned into the scrub that
covered the slope of the hills.
"It looks like our last chance for to-day, boys," he announced, "and
because our chum, Jimmy here, has set his heart so much on taking home
some game, we might make one more try. If nothing shows up in half an
hour we'll call the hunt off for to-day and come again some other time.
Are you all agreeable?"
There was no dissenting voice.
Half an hour may have seemed like a very short time to Jimmy, who
disliked to give anything up on which he had set his heart; but he
realized that Ned was always a better judge of things than he could
ever hope to be. Besides, their ponies had begun to exhibit slight
signs of weariness, not having fully recovered from the effects of the
weed they had eaten, and which had made them sick. As the ranch
buildings were a good many miles away, they must not force the ponies
too hard if they hoped to be home by sunset.
This was only the first of many trips the scouts had planned to cover
during their stay at the cattle ranch. They meant to exhaust the
resources of the country for good times, and Jack was figuring on
adding largely to his collection of wild animals' pictures while there.
He had interested Jimmy in the matter, so that he could count on
company and assistance in his excursions by day and night in search of
fitting subjects.
They turned their ponies at the brush and started to comb it, being
constantly on the watch for signs of a leaping deer aroused from a
noonday nap in the shade.
The going was inclined to be rough, so that they had to be careful not
to let their mounts trip and throw them.
Ned knew that what little air there was stirring came in their faces,
which was a favorable sign; but it is doubtful whether any of the
others noticed this fact, as they were not in the same class as the
scout master when it came to understanding the elements that go to make
a successful stalk.
Still no game obliged them by jumping out of some shady covert, which
Jimmy considered mighty mean, when his stomach was fairly clamoring for
food. When the nature of their surroundings showed a considerable
change, and instead of mere brush and a scraggy growth of trees they
found rocks surrounding them, with miniature canyons opening up all
around, Ned began to think they had gone far enough.
He yielded, however, to Jimmy's pleading when the latter suggested that
they fasten the ponies in a thicket and advance a short distance on
foot.
"It looks good to me up yonder," Jimmy was saying feverishly. "I'm most
sure now I glimpsed somethin' movin', which might have been a browsin'
Rocky Mountain big horn sheep, if they have such down here; or, again
p'raps, it was a grizzly bear, or a four-legged venison feedin'. Let's
take a turn up there and if we don't raise a solitary thing, why, I'll
give in and go back home empty-handed, feelin' like a dog with his tail
between his legs."
Ned certainly would not think of letting Jimmy make that little
excursion alone, nor did he feel like allowing only one other to
accompany the would-be mighty hunter. Chunky had warned them
particularly against getting scattered while exploring the country
roundabout.
"Where one goes all must follow!" he said, positively.
"Bully for you, Ned," Jimmy declared joyously. "The more the merrier
they say; and Jack and me'll be glad to have the whole bunch along."
"How about the ponies, Ned; do you think it is safe to leave them
here?" Harry wanted to know, a little anxious about the safety of their
mounts; because a twelve-mile hike did not appeal to him just then.
"I don't think anything or anybody would be apt to bother them," Jack
remarked, although no one had asked his opinion on the subject.
"Sure they won't," asserted the eager Jimmy, making his jaws work as
though in imagination he were already enjoying a tender venison steak
alongside of a splendid camp fire.
"We'll have to risk a little," Ned admitted, as he dismounted, and once
more looked to see that his rifle was in condition for immediate use.
They found places where the ponies could be tied, and the animals
evidently did not object to the rest in the least, if their actions
were any judge.
"'Tis meself that's thinkin' the dope Ally Sloper gave Spot here, as
I've renamed Satan, must have taken the heart out of the critter,
because he's been as gentle as you please all day," Jimmy remarked, as
he patted the calico pony; but Ned only shook his head without making
any reply, for he had seen the ears flattened and noted the
half-inclination on the part of the pony to bite at the hand that was
caressing its wet neck and withers.
Presently they started up the canyon toward the spot where Jimmy still
declared he believed he had seen an object move, which must be game of
some sort. All conversation having been positively tabooed by Ned,
Jimmy could only take it out in sundry grins and vigorous nods of his
head as they proceeded.
Everybody was tuned up to a tense state of excitement as they reached
the bend of the rock wall and then carefully crept around the same.
Unless Jimmy had made a mistake, or was willfully deceiving them, they
must speedily discover the animal he claimed to have sighted. All sorts
of speculations were doubtless rife in their minds concerning its
nature; one hoped it would prove to be a deer; another may have had a
monster grizzly in view while caressing his repeating rifle; while
Jack, who carried his little camera along with him, would have been
highly pleased could he have snapped off a big-horn sheep in the act of
leaping from crag to crag somewhere up there along the high canyon
walls.
Nothing loomed up, though Ned went further than his prudence dictated,
in order to satisfy Jimmy. The latter's face had fallen forty-five
degrees, and he was shaking his head gloomily as he stared around,
looking in vain for favorable signs.
Ned was even about to open his mouth and give the order that would take
the little party back to where they had left their mounts tied, when he
heard something like a stone falling back of him.
Remembering that the canyon had narrowed there, like the neck of a
bottle, Ned turned suddenly on his heels. If he expected to discover
any sort of wild game slinking off, he was greatly in error. What he
did see caused a spasm of alarm to dart through the scout master's
brave heart.
Up on a shelf of rock, just over the narrow part of the defile, several
figures of men could be seen. They looked like ordinary cowboys, but
when Ned recognized Ally Sloper and Coyote Smith, yes, and Lefty Louie
as well among them, he understood that instead they were a part of the
rustler gang that he and his chums had been instrumental in cheating
out of their intended prey!