[Illustration: Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders. _Frontispiece._]
Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders on the Old Apache Trail
_By_
JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A.M.
Author of The Grace Harlowe High School Series, The Grace Harlowe
College Girls Series, Grace Harlowe’s Problem, Grace Harlowe’s
Golden Summer, Grace Harlowe Overseas, Grace Harlowe
with the Red Cross in France, Grace Harlowe with the
U. S. Troops in the Argonne, Grace Harlowe with
the Marines at Chateau Thierry, Grace Harlowe
with the Yankee Shock Boys at St. Quentin,
Grace Harlowe with the American Army
on the Rhine, etc., etc.
Illustrated
PHILADELPHIA
HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY
COPYRIGHTED, 1921, BY
HOWARD E. ALTEMUS
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I--THE CALL OF THE WILD 11
The Overton girls plan for a summer outing in the saddle.
Hippy has a dark secret. “No weak lemonade trips for me,”
declares Emma Dean. A proposal that is both interesting
and alarming. Old friends reunited. A journey toward the
setting sun.
CHAPTER II--ON THE OVERLAND COACH 25
Grace Harlowe’s discovery. Overton girls vote for a night
ride on the old Deadwood stagecoach. “Play tricks on us and
you will be sorry.” Off for a novel ride. Inside passengers
register a violent protest. The coach threatens to fall to
pieces.
CHAPTER III--A THRILLING HALT 41
Hippy takes a new kind of “sideslip.” Grace hears of the
savage Apaches. Ike Fairweather is amazed. Elfreda issues
a solemn warning. “Something is going on here!” exclaims
Grace Harlowe under her breath. “All out, and keep your
hands up!”
CHAPTER IV--THE BATTLE WITH THE BANDITS 52
Highwaymen and Overton girls in a pitched battle. “The
cowards!” cries Grace Harlowe. Bandits discover their
mistake too late. Wounded and defeated, outlaws of the
Apache Trail throw away their weapons. Disaster overtakes
the Overton girls.
CHAPTER V--WANTED BY THE SHERIFF 63
The Deadwood stagecoach goes over a precipice and is
lost. Ike Fairweather’s rage beyond the power of words
to express. Grace gives her prisoners a stern warning. A
grilling journey on foot. A notorious bandit leader among
the captives.
CHAPTER VI--A SHOT WELL PLACED 74
Ike Fairweather joins the Overton party. Riders of the
Old Apache Trail. Lieutenant Wingate comes a cropper. A
succession of spills. The first night in camp. Hippy’s
oratory is checked by a bullet. “Put out the campfire!”
commands Grace Harlowe.
CHAPTER VII--A LIVELY NIGHT IN CAMP 84
The first casualty. A mysterious shot. The Overton camp is
put under guard. Rifle shots alarm the campers. A silence
“heavy with significance.” Ike Fairweather wings a night
prowler. Grace makes a startling discovery. “The ponies
have gone, Mr. Fairweather!”
CHAPTER VIII--HIPPY CALLS TO ARMS 94
Aroused by a low-spoken warning. Hurried preparations are
made to defend the camp. The battle opened with a thrilling
Indian war whoop. “Steady, girls! We’re going to catch it!”
Strategy that bore fruit. “We have ’em on the run!” cries
Hippy.
CHAPTER IX--A STARTLING DISCOVERY 101
Attackers lose heavily. Indians or white men--which? The
Overton girls enjoy a real picnic. Emma Dean is missing.
“Elfreda, get a rifle and come with me!” directs Grace
Harlowe incisively. “Something serious surely has happened
to Emma.”
CHAPTER X--A DOUBLE CAPTURE 110
Grace picks up the trail. The search continued deep into a
somber canyon. Signal shots are fired. A human voice sounds
close at hand. “Grace! Oh, Grace! Save me!” wails Emma
Dean. Overton girls in the hands of mountain outlaws.
CHAPTER XI--FOLLOWING A COLD TRAIL 123
“I tell you I heard Grace’s signal shots!” Lieutenant
Wingate fails to find a trace of the missing ones. Ike
noses out the trail. “Right here’s where they took to their
ponies.” A weird night journey. The guide confesses himself
beaten.
CHAPTER XII--AN INTERRUPTED INTERVIEW 131
Threats fail to disturb Grace Harlowe. A bandit’s wife
demands to know why Grace shot Con Bates. “I’m goin’ to see
thet you settle for thet little job.” Belle Bates meets her
match. “Drop thet gun, an’ do it quick!” commands a stern
voice behind Grace Harlowe.
CHAPTER XIII--A STRUGGLE FOR LIFE 138
A case of shoot or be shot. “Run, Emma! Run!” A battle
of give and take. Grace gets a bullet wound. A dash for
freedom. The escape. Grace makes the best of a serious
situation. A blood-chilling wail of agony sounds close at
hand.
CHAPTER XIV--A NIGHT OF TERROR 150
“There it goes again!” Emma Dean gives way to her fears as
the wild, haunting wail is repeated. Two yellow eyes in the
dark. Grace fires a telling shot. Alarmed by signal shots
in the canyon. The two Overton girls witness a spirited
battle.
CHAPTER XV--IKE DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF 160
The end of a grilling hike. Western Jones wings the
bandits. Elfreda Briggs sews up Grace Harlowe’s wound. The
operation proves to be more than Ike and Emma can stand.
“Next time I shore’ll look t’other way,” avers the old
stagecoach driver.
CHAPTER XVI--A GLIMPSE INTO FAIRYLAND 166
Overton girls mess in the weird forest of Sahuaro. The
outfit selects a new name for itself. Lieutenant Wingate’s
speech rudely interrupted. The wonders of the Apache
Mountains are unfolded before the Overland Riders. Hippy’s
chest swells with pride.
CHAPTER XVII--GOING TO BED IN THE CLOUDS 175
Lieutenant Wingate loses his hat, and Ike Fairweather has a
narrow escape. Grace decides to explore the ancient cliff
dwellings. Being above the clouds gives the Overland Riders
a new thrill. An alarm arouses Grace at dead of night.
CHAPTER XVIII--THE HARDEST BLOW OF ALL 186
A jar and a crash. “Some one has run our wagon off the
trail into the canyon!” gasps Grace Harlowe. Hippy and the
bandits battle in a cloud. Grace takes a hand. Emma Dean
bewails the loss of her black silk skirt. Horses and riders
are now obliged to carry the Overlanders’ equipment.
CHAPTER XIX--HEROINES OF THE TRAIL 198
The arrival at Roosevelt Dam. Grace Harlowe meets an old
friend from the front. The fame of the Overland Riders has
preceded them. An Apache Indian engaged to care for the
ponies. An evening of real enjoyment at the mountain inn.
CHAPTER XX--THE MYSTERIOUS ARROW 205
Picnicking by the blue waters of Lake Roosevelt. “The end
of a perfect day!” Guests entertained at the Overland
Riders’ camp. Food, to Hippy, of greater moment than mere
Indians. The army spirit of freedom. A barbed messenger
drops into the camp of the Overlanders.
CHAPTER XXI--A NIGHT OF THRILLS 217
A warning of trouble to come. The storm breaks. “I think
we are going to catch it,” mutters Grace Harlowe. Tents
wrecked by the gale. The Overland camp is swept by bullets
from the mountains. Tea and crackers replace storm and
bullets. Guests have an exciting time.
CHAPTER XXII--RELICS OF AN ANCIENT RACE 228
A picnic in the home of the Cliff Dwellers. A guest faints
on the brink of the chasm. Grace prepares for her daring
descent. General Gordon protests. “Hold fast to the rope!”
All being ready, Grace Harlowe goes over the edge of the
precipice, a smile on her face.
CHAPTER XXIII--BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY 236
A dizzy descent through space. “Harlowe luck is with me!”
Grace explores the ancient community house. The mustiness
of centuries is on the air. “That smells like a dead fire!”
Grace Harlowe is startled by a human groan. The discovery.
CHAPTER XXIV--GRACE SOLVES THE MOUNTAIN MYSTERY 242
“Joe Smoky Face! What does this mean?” demands Grace. In
the bandits’ lair. A lonely vigil on the mountain. Grace
traps the bandits. “That is what I call good shooting,”
declares Grace Harlowe. Overland Riders at the journey’s
end.
GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS ON THE OLD APACHE TRAIL
CHAPTER I
THE CALL OF THE WILD
“I have asked you to visit me for a twofold reason,” announced Grace
Harlowe to her friends of the Overton Unit. “In other words, I have a
vacation proposal to make to you.”
“Which, translated into plain English, means that you wish to lead us
into new fields of adventure,” interjected Emma Dean.
“Perhaps,” smiled Grace.
“I suspected as much when I received your invitation to come here,”
nodded Elfreda Briggs.
“Curiosity has taken full possession of me, Grace. What is the big
idea?” urged Anne Nesbit eagerly.
“So far as I am concerned, no plans have been made,” replied Grace.
“The original suggestion may have been mine--that is, the suggestion
that we get together for a real outing. From that nucleus, Hippy
says he has worked out a plan that promises entertainment, health
and adventure for the jaded Overton girls after their strenuous war
service. Hippy and Nora will be here in a few moments. He will tell you
all about it.”
“Dark mystery,” murmured Emma.
“Let me ask you girls something,” resumed Grace. “Since we returned
from France, where we all did our bit, has each of you been perfectly
contented with the simple life, well content to remain at home without
feeling one little moment’s yearning to see something stirring? Search
your innermost consciousness and tell me what you find there in answer
to my question.”
For a moment no one essayed an answer; then Elfreda spoke up.
“To be frank with you, Loyalheart, I have been perfectly miserable,”
declared Miss Briggs thoughtfully.
Grace nodded and smiled.
“In France, amid the activity and excitement of war, not to speak of
the peril, I was positive that once out of it, once back in my peaceful
home, I never again should feel the slightest inclination to wander,”
continued Elfreda. “For a few months, following my return from the war
zone, I really was contented, delightfully so, luxuriously so, I might
say, for I was ‘living the lazy life of Reilley,’ as the doughboys say.
“Well, finally I awakened from my dream. I was restless, ill at ease.
While away to war my law practice of course had gone to smash. It had
not met me at the train upon my return, either, and the way I felt
I didn’t care; but upon awakening I realized that what I needed was
activity. However, the sort of activity that my particular ailment
demanded was not at hand, and I was on the verge of doing something
desperate when your letter came asking me to join our friends at your
home to talk over a vacation trip. Grace Harlowe, you are a life saver.
That is the honest-to-goodness truth and the whole truth,” finished
Elfreda amid laughter.
“That is what I say, or rather what I probably should have said had I
the eloquence of our legal friend, Elfreda Briggs,” bubbled Emma. “Give
me excitement or I die!”
Grace glanced at Anne, who nodded and smiled.
“I follow where you lead, Loyalheart,” said Anne. “Too bad that the
rest of the Unit are unable to be with us, but those not otherwise
engaged are mostly roaming over the face of the earth, just as we are
proposing to do. By the way, what are we to do--where are we to go and
how?”
“We are all suffering a reaction from the war, but a strenuous few
weeks in the open surely will settle us down,” said Grace. “There come
Hippy and Nora. Now you will know all about it,” she added, stepping
to the veranda to greet the newcomers. “Welcome, Nora Wingate. How are
you, Lieutenant?”
“All present or accounted for,” answered Hippy jovially. “Happy to
meet you, ladies,” he greeted, bowing profoundly as he entered the
house. “I haven’t been so pleased over anything since I downed my first
Boche plane in France. There, there, Nora darling, don’t monopolize
the girls. Give your hero husband a chance. I take it that you are to
join out with us in our big mid-summer vacation?” questioned Hippy,
addressing himself to Emma Dean.
“Are you going to lead the party?” demanded Emma.
“I may have that honor.” Hippy bowed humbly.
“Count me out!” emphasized Emma.
“No, no, no,” protested Anne and Elfreda laughingly.
“Before jumping at conclusions perhaps it would be as well for us to
listen to Lieutenant Wingate’s plan,” suggested Grace, rising. “Dinner
is being served. Come! We can talk while we eat,” she added, leading
the way to the dining room whose windows overlooked the sloping green
lawns of Grace Harlowe’s much-loved home.
Elfreda, Anne and Emma had, within the hour, arrived at Haven Home
where Grace had been living quietly and restfully since her return from
France, in which country she and her friends of the Overton Unit had
been serving with the Red Cross during the closing year of the war.
Grace’s husband, Captain Tom Gray, was still in Russia where he had
been sent from France on a military mission, and Yvonne, her adopted
daughter, was a pupil in a private school in New England, so she felt
free to invite the girls of her Unit to join with her in a summer’s
outing that would offer both recreation and adventure.
Anne Nesbit, Elfreda Briggs and Emma Dean were the only members of the
Unit who had not already made their plans for the summer.
While Grace would have been pleased to have all the girls of the
Overton Unit join in her proposed outing, she was just as well pleased
that her invitation had not been more generally accepted. The present
party was of about the right size, as she reasoned it. Then again, the
members of the party had been close associates for many years; they
had shared their girlhood joys and sorrows; they had suffered together
in those desperate days in France when it seemed to them that the very
universe were rending itself asunder, and from all this had been born a
better understanding of each other and a greater love and respect.
It was, therefore, a happy gathering that sat down to dinner in Grace
Harlowe’s Oakdale home on that balmy mid-summer afternoon. For a time
there was chatter and laughter, the reviving of old college and war
memories, intermingled with occasional chaffing of Hippy Wingate,
always a shining mark for the Overton girls’ teasing.
“Girls,” finally announced Grace, “Hippy has a dark secret locked in
his heart, to be brought to light only when we girls are present.”
“I could see the moment he came in that he had,” interrupted Elfreda.
“Hippy always was a poor dissembler.”
“Yes, that’s what Nora says,” replied Hippy sheepishly.
“I believe that you girls are not all aware of the fact that Hippy is
now a man of affairs,” resumed Grace. “Therefore, his words must be
given weight accordingly. Hippy, being too modest to tell you about it
himself, I would have you all know that, upon his return from the war,
he found himself a rich man, following the death of a wealthy uncle
who was so proud of our Flying Lieutenant’s great achievements in the
war that he left Hippy all his worldly possessions. Our Hippy, it is
rumored, is now lying awake nights trying to devise new ways to spend
his fortune.”
“No, no, nothing like that,” protested Hippy Wingate, with a
disapproving shake of the head. “What I really am trying to figure out
is how _not_ to spend it--that is, not all at once. Of course, so far
as my dear friends are concerned, that is another matter,” added Hippy
quite seriously.
“My ancestors originated in Missouri. You will have to demonstrate,”
observed Emma Dean amid much laughter.
“What we are at the moment most interested in is the dark secret. You
have something to say to us,” reminded Miss Briggs.
“Yes, Hippy, do not keep us in suspense,” urged Grace.
“Go on, darling. They will walk out and leave you if you don’t start
pretty soon,” warned Nora.
“Ahem!” began Lieutenant Wingate.
“Are you going to make a speech?” demanded Emma apprehensively.
“What I am about to say will answer your question. Grace has been
suggesting that this outfit get together and spend the latter part of
the summer in the open. That set my brain in operation.”
“Your what?” interrupted Emma.
Grace laughed merrily, and then begged Hippy’s pardon.
“Upon my return from the war,” resumed Hippy, unheeding the
interruption, “my friend, Captain Jamieson, of the State Constabulary,
asked me to volunteer to serve in the troop with him on strike duty.
I did so. Girls, you have no idea of the joy I found in ‘packing
leather,’ as the horsemen call it--horseback riding. After that
experience with the troop, when Grace was speaking about an outing in
the open, it occurred to me that the Overton Unit might work off its
surplus energy in the saddle, and at the same time have a glorious
outing. Brown Eyes, tell them of your experience in the saddle.”
Grace related how, after having been made an honorary member of
the troop, she had taken up horseback riding and what a wonderful
revelation it had been to her.
“Take my word for it, too, Brown Eyes already is as fine a rider
as there is in the troop. The captain says she is a natural born
horsewoman,” declared Hippy with enthusiasm. “Even my Nora promises
that, hereafter, riding horseback is to be her own principal
recreation. How many of you girls ride?”
Elfreda and Anne said they had ridden some when younger, but not
recently. Emma Dean owned a pony, she said, but had not been on its
back in more than two years.
“Good!” exclaimed Lieutenant Wingate. “You all at least know how to
stick on leather, so we will proceed to the next stage of the journey.
My great secret is no longer a secret. You already know what I am about
to propose. Do you girls wish to join out with us for a month or so in
the saddle?”
“To go where?” questioned Elfreda.
“That is for us girls to decide upon,” interjected Grace. “The first
question to be settled is, who will go?”
“All in favor of taking a horseback trip say ‘aye’; contrary ‘no,’”
cried Hippy.
The answer was a chorus of ayes.
“The ayes have it! We go,” announced the lieutenant, smiling his
pleasure at the decision.
“Have you a suggestion to offer as to where we might go?” asked Anne.
“It was my thought that we might tour New England,” answered the
lieutenant.
“New England!” cried Emma Dean. “There isn’t any fun in doing that.
When I go out for adventure I wish the real thing. Adventure in New
England! Huh! It hasn’t existed in New England since the Indians put
down an arrow barrage on the Pilgrim Fathers. You will have to think of
something more exciting than New England if you expect me to go with
you.”
“Where do we get the saddle horses?” was Elfreda’s query.
“Hippy will arrange for that,” Grace informed her. “I agree with Emma
that, so long as we are going out for adventure, we should get as far
from the beaten paths as possible. Roughing it in the real meaning of
the term is what we girls need.”
“That is what I say,” cried Emma. “No weak lemonade trips for me. Give
me a wild west or give me an automobile.”
“I am certain that Loyalheart has a suggestion to offer,” said Miss
Briggs, nodding in Grace’s direction.
“Yes, I have,” admitted Grace. “My advice is that we adopt Emma’s
suggestion and go west. Speaking for myself, there is one place out
there that always has held a great fascination for me. I refer to the
Old Apache Trail in Arizona. From what I have read of that part of the
country, one should be able to find adventure in a horseback journey
over the old trail. Going so far by train, before we start with horses,
will make it rather an expensive trip, but I do not believe it will be
beyond our means.”
Emma’s eyes widened.
“Indians? Are there Indians there?”
“Every bush hides a lurking Apache,” Lieutenant Wingate gravely
informed her.
“Oh!” exclaimed Emma under her breath.
“I do not believe it is quite so alarming as that,” laughed Grace.
“Even though there are Indians, we probably shall not be troubled by
them. Are there any further suggestions, girls?”
“The Apache Trail sounds interesting to me,” admitted Anne.
“Both interesting and alarming,” averred Elfreda. “However, we know
from past experiences that trouble always goes hand in hand with Grace
Harlowe, so we are fully prepared in advance for whatever may come to
us. What do we take with us, and how are we to dress?”
“It has occurred to me that we can wear our old army uniforms, without
insignia,” replied Grace. “They will be appropriate for riding, but we
should wear campaign hats in place of our overseas caps. Such changes
of clothing as we shall require can be carried in our steamer trunks
which we will send ahead by express. My advice is not to carry any
finery. Let us keep in the simple atmosphere at all times, bearing in
mind that this will not be a Pullman car outing after we reach our
starting point. How soon can you girls be ready?”
Elfreda said she would be prepared to leave in about ten days, having
some office legal matters to clear up before going away. The others
said they could be ready in even less time than that, so it was decided
that they should meet at Oakdale for the start for the west on August
first. Hippy, in the meantime, would, so far as possible, arrange by
correspondence for the horses they were to ride, and for such equipment
as had to do with his part in the preparations.
The following few days were busy ones for all, between riding
horseback, taking short gallops out into the country on such mounts
as they could find at livery stables, and planning for their vacation
in the saddle. On these rides, Hippy and Grace taught the others such
riding points as they had learned in their riding experiences, all
save Emma quickly adapting themselves to the saddle, so that the
week’s vacation at Haven Home lengthened to twelve days before Elfreda
and Emma entrained for home. Anne remained with Grace, there being no
reason why she should return home, as her husband, still in the service
of his country, was on the other side of the Atlantic.
In the intervening days before the start for the west, Hippy
corresponded by wire and letter, with the postmaster at Globe, Arizona,
who informed the lieutenant that there were two stock farms near that
place, where mounts suitable for the Overton girls’ needs might be
purchased or hired at reasonable prices. It was decided, however, that
no definite arrangement for horses should be made until Hippy had had
opportunity to look them over, with all the girls present to approve of
his selection.
Grace, having completed most of her preparations for their outing,
now made a brief journey to the city to visit Yvonne at her school,
returning home in time to welcome Elfreda and Emma, who arrived
at Oakdale looking trim and pretty in their new tailor-made serge
traveling suits. Grace looked her two friends over critically on their
arrival.
“Becoming, but not quite suitable for horseback riding,” she observed,
referring to their costumes.
“Our riding suits are in our steamer trunks,” explained Elfreda. “I
know--you said we were not to take any finery along, but surely, while
traveling on a train we should wear something other than our uniforms.”
Grace admitted that perhaps this would be advisable, and decided that
the party would be less conspicuous in traveling clothes.
It was a merry company at Haven Home that evening, the eve of the
Overton girls’ departure for the west on what, each one instinctively
felt, was destined to be an eventful journey. Several neighbors came in
and there was music, with Irish songs by Nora, a characteristic speech
from the lips of Lieutenant Wingate, followed by dancing, refreshments
and much chatter, until a late hour.
After the neighbors had said their good-byes the Overton girls put the
finishing touches to their packing and closed their trunks.
“To be opened when we reach Arizona,” announced Grace, placing her
trunk key in her purse, smiling at her friends with that rare smile
that so attracted people to her.
Quite a party was at the station to see the outfit off next morning,
though naturally the crowd was neither so great nor so boisterous
as when, upon her arrival home from the war, Grace Harlowe had been
literally carried from the train to her home, a heroine, not in
theory, but in fact, as the crosses of war of two nations, pinned to
her blouse, bore evidence.
Farewells were waved from car windows, the tall maples and spreading
elms of Haven Home melted into the distance as the journey toward the
setting sun was begun.
“Somehow I have a feeling that this vacation of ours is not to be
an unalloyed sweet summer’s dream,” sighed Elfreda Briggs, settling
herself resignedly for the journey.