DON CARLOS’ RANCHO.
Old Davy, the terror of the country, the destroyer of dogs, and winner
of goodness knows how many desperate battles--Old Davy the
invincible--had met his match at last in Frank Nelson, a boy of
sixteen. The young hunter had long enjoyed an enviable reputation,
dating as far back as his desperate fight with the moose, which had
taken place during the previous winter, while he and Archie were
sojourning at Uncle Joe’s cabin. Since that time he had been the hero
of as many scrapes as a boy of his age could well get into. He had
been lost on the prairie; stampeded with a herd of buffaloes; passed a
night in the camp of a band of blood-thirsty outlaws, who stole his
horse and threatened to tie him to a tree and leave him to the mercy
of the wolves; had three desperate encounters with a highwayman, and
been captured at last and held as a prisoner by him; and in all these
trying situations he had shown that he possessed a wonderful degree of
courage, and had always conducted himself in a way to draw forth the
highest praise from his friends the trappers. But all his former
exploits were as nothing compared with the feat he had just
accomplished. He had a reputation now that any farmer in that country
would have been proud to possess. He would be pointed out as the one
who had killed a monster which had held his own against all the men
and dogs that could be brought against him; and when he heard old
bear-hunters recounting their adventures, and boasting of their
achievements, he could hold his head as high as any of them.
That was what Frank thought half an hour after the fight was over;
but, when he stood there looking at his prize and at his
companions--at Archie, who sat on the ground beside the bear, with his
aching head resting on his hands, and at Dick, one or both of whom had
been saved by his lucky shot, he never reflected on the glory he had
won. He could not help thinking of what the consequences would have
been if he, in his excitement, had missed the bear, or failed to
disable him.
Never before had the boys engaged in so exciting a battle. It was far
ahead of any of their former hunts. It had been ended so fortunately,
too! Archie had a lame shoulder and a bruised nose, and for a few
minutes had been utterly unconscious of what was going on around him;
but he did not feel half so badly about it as Dick did over the trick
his horse had played upon him.
“I’ll fix him for that,” said the boy, with a threatening shake of his
head. “I’ll put him in one of father’s teams, and make him work for
his living. I don’t owe him any thanks for coming out of this fight
with a whole skin. After he has made a few trips between our rancho
and San Diego, hauling heavy loads of provisions, he’ll wish he had
behaved himself.”
“I’ll tell you what I am going to do with mine,” said Archie, with a
glance of contempt at the nag which had been the cause of his
misfortune: “I’ll leave him out of doors to-night, and let the
horse-thieves steal him.”
“I don’t see how you can be revenged on the horse by doing that,” said
Frank. “I don’t suppose it makes much difference to him who he has for
a master.”
“Who said I wanted to be revenged on the horse?” asked Archie. “I
don’t; but I’ll take a terrible revenge on the robbers. Perhaps the
fellow who gets this horse will try to jump him over a log, and the
horse will fall down with him, as he did with me, and smash the
robber’s nose, and knock his shoulder out of joint. That’s the way
I’ll get even with him.”
“Three cheers for the champion rifle-shot and bear-killer!” yelled
Johnny, for the twentieth time.
Again and again the ravine echoed with lusty shouts--even Archie
lifted his pale face and joined in with a feeble voice--and having
thus given vent to their enthusiasm, the boys pulled off their jackets
and began the work of removing the grizzly’s skin.
“That will be a valuable addition to our museum at home, won’t it?”
asked Archie, stretching himself out in the shade of a tree close by.
“When it is stuffed and mounted, it will be worth all our other
specimens put together. I’d give something to know what Dick Lewis
will have to say about it. Hallo!”
The boys looked up to see what had caused this exclamation, and
discovered the trapper standing at a little distance from them,
closely watching their operations. They had often seen him astonished,
but never before had they seen such a look of utter amazement as that
which now overspread his face. He stood with his body bent forward,
his neck stretched out, and his eyes almost starting from their
sockets. With one hand he held his horse, and in the other his rifle,
with the butt of which he was thumping the ground energetically, as if
giving emphasis to some thoughts that were passing through his mind.
His whole attitude and appearance indicated that he was little
prepared for the scene he was witnessing.
“Hallo, Dick!” exclaimed Johnny; “we’re glad to see you. You and old
Bob can just hang up your fiddles now. There’s a hunter in the
settlement who is a long way ahead of both of you.”
The trapper tied his horse to a limb of the nearest tree, and walked
toward the boys. “You amazin’ keerless feller!” said he, addressing
himself to Frank, “I b’lieve it’s my bounden duty to take this yere
ramrod out of my gun an’ give you the best kind of a wallopin’.”
“You had better be careful how you talk to him,” said Dick Thomas.
“He’s the man who killed Old Davy.”
“Don’t I know all about it?” exclaimed the trapper. “Didn’t I say to
myself this mornin’, when you fellers left the rancho, that somethin’
was goin’ to happen? Didn’t I saddle up my hoss an’ foller you, to
keep an eye on you, an’ haint you gone an’ fit an’ killed that ar’
grizzly bar afore I could find you, to lend you a helpin’ hand? You
have; an’ it beats any thing I ever heern tell on. The next thing I
know you will be foolin’ around among them hoss-thieves.”
This was the way Dick always lectured Frank and Archie whenever they
did any thing that astonished him, and a stranger, to have heard him
speak, would have supposed that somebody had ordered him to watch the
cousins closely, and keep them out of trouble; and that he had found
the task an exceedingly difficult one to perform. The stranger would
have believed, too, that he was very angry; but the boys knew that the
fierce scowl he had assumed was intended to conceal a very different
feeling--that he was highly elated over their victory, and that,
before a week had passed, he would tell it to every body in the
settlement. They knew, also, that the story would lose nothing in
passing through his hands; for, although Dick always confined himself
strictly to the truth when relating his own adventures, he did not
hesitate to exaggerate a little when recounting the exploits of his
“youngsters.”
“I wouldn’t be in Uncle Jeems’s boots fur nothin’,” said the trapper,
filling his pipe and looking severely at Frank. “He promised your
folks, afore we left Lawrence, that he would keep you out of all
danger, an’ bring you safe back to your hum; but how he’s a goin’ to
do it I can’t tell. I wouldn’t make no sich bargain as that ar’ with
no man, ’cause I couldn’t live up to it. What’s the matter with you,
little un?”
“I’ve got a broken head, and a lame shoulder, and a cracked nose, and
somehow I don’t feel all right,” replied Archie.
“Don’t! Wal, tell us all about it.”
The trapper settled back on his elbow to listen, and Dick Thomas, who
was a smooth-tongued fellow, related the story of their adventures
from beginning to end. As he proceeded, the scowl gradually faded from
the backwoodsman’s face; and when he told how Frank had stood there at
the log, and risked his life to secure the retreat of the others, Dick
slapped the young hero on the back so heartily that he felt the
effects of the blow for a quarter of an hour afterward. When the story
was finished, he unsheathed his long bowie and assisted the boys in
removing the grizzly’s skin; and as soon as this had been done, he
placed Archie on his horse, and led the way toward home.
Their morning’s work had sharpened the boys’ appetites, and the
excellent dinner which the housekeeper served up for them rapidly
disappeared before their attacks. Even Archie disposed of his full
share of the eatables, and after a hearty meal, pushed back his chair,
declaring that he was all right, and ready for any thing the others
had to propose, even if it was a fight with another Old Davy.
When the grizzly’s skin had been stretched upon a frame to dry, the
boys lounged about the house for an hour or two, talking over the
incidents of the morning; and then Johnny and Dick bade the cousins
good-by, and started for home. Archie was lonesome and restless after
they had gone. While Frank sat in his easychair, deeply interested in
some favorite author, Archie lay stretched out on the bed, tossing his
heels in the air, and scarcely knowing what to do with himself. His
lost horse was still uppermost in his mind, and he wanted to talk
about him, and about nothing else. There was Frank, as serene and
undisturbed as usual, poring over the pages of some dry book, when he
knew that the steed he valued so highly was within five miles of him!
Archie did not see how any body could read under such circumstances,
and he told his cousin so. He did not want to stay in the house
either; and, what was more, he wouldn’t. He wanted to go somewhere,
and do something.
“Well,” said Frank, laying down his book, “let’s hear what you have to
propose. I am quite at your service.”
“Suppose we beard the lion in his den,” said Archie.
“All right. Show me the lion.”
“O, I am not joking. Let’s visit Don Carlos. Mark my words now, Frank:
that old rascal knows more about the horse-thieves, than any body else
in the country. We are on pretty good terms with him, and perhaps he
will invite us to stay all night. If he does, we may be able to learn
something about the bridge of clouds, and the other strange things old
Bob saw there. Will you go?”
“Of course. But I’ll tell you what it is: You are going to be
disappointed. We must not let Don Carlos know that we suspect any
thing, for if we do, we may get ourselves into trouble.”
“I guess we are smart enough to look out for that. We will listen to
his stories, and hear him rail at the robbers, and lament the loss of
his fine horses, and all that, and act as though we believed every
word of it. We mustn’t let Dick know where we are going,” added
Archie. “He would be sure to make a fuss about it, for he has somehow
got it into his head that he is our guardian in uncle’s absence.”
One would think that the cousins had already seen enough of excitement
and perilous adventure, to satisfy any two boys in the world; and
that, after their recent narrow escape from the clutches of Old Davy,
they would think twice before undertaking so dangerous an enterprise
as this, which Archie had called “bearding the lion in his den.” The
way they went about their preparations, however, showed that they were
in earnest, and that they were fully determined to learn more about
the mysterious rancho, that is, if there was any thing more to be
learned. Frank did not think there was. Of course the friendly old
Spaniard would insist that they should accept his hospitality for the
night, as he always did when they visited him. They had passed two or
three nights under his roof, without seeing or hearing any thing
unusual, and they would do it again. As for Don Carlos’ complicity
with the horse-thieves, that was all in Archie’s eye. It was only
another of the thousand-and-one foolish notions he was continually
getting into his head, and when morning came he would be obliged to
acknowledge the fact. Archie, on the other hand, had made up his mind
to see some queer sights during the night, if they remained at Don
Carlos’ rancho. He knew that he would have to fight somebody, and he
prepared for it by putting a small revolver into his pocket, as did
Frank, also. He was satisfied, too, that Bob had seen his horse go
into the Spaniard’s rancho; and, if he was still there, Archie would
have him out, or he would raise a fuss about the old fellow’s ears
that would make him think he had stirred up a hornet’s nest.
“Just think of it!” exclaimed Archie, indignantly. “Our horses are
being used every night by those robbers! O, you may smile and shake
your head as much as you please, but I _know_ it is so!” Frank thought
if his cousin’s convictions on this point were as strong as the blow
he struck the table to emphasize his words, they must have been very
powerful indeed. “Now, I can tell you in a few words just how this
matter stands,” continued Archie, “and one of these days you will see
that I am right. The robbers make their head-quarters at that rancho,
and ride Roderick and King James on their plundering expeditions. They
know that the animals are swift, and that if they are discovered they
can run away from their pursuers very easily. But my horse sha’n’t
engage in any such business. He is a good honest horse, and I am not
going to have him taught any bad habits.”
In a few minutes the boys were in their saddles, and galloping through
the grove toward the creek. They carried their rifles slung over their
shoulders by broad straps, their navy revolvers in their holsters, and
their small pistols in their pockets. They rode the same horses that
had carried them through the fight with the grizzly, Archie remarking
that although his nag was not much of a jumper, he was a good one to
go, and he might have occasion to use a fast horse before morning.
They succeeded in leaving the rancho without the trapper’s knowledge;
and in half an hour drew rein on the bank of the creek a short
distance from Don Carlos’ rancho.
The building was like a good many others in that country--there was
nothing remarkable about it, either in its appearance or history. It
had stood a siege, and there were plenty of bullet-marks about it; and
the same was true of the rancho in which Frank and Archie lived. It
was built in the form of a hollow-square; the rough stone walls were
five feet thick; and all the openings, except the port-holes, were
protected by heavy plank doors and shutters, through which a
rifle-ball could not penetrate. A tall flag-staff arose from the open
court in the center, and from it floated the Stars and Stripes. Don
Carlos was evidently patriotic.
The boys gazed long and earnestly at the building, and Archie was a
good deal disappointed because he did not see some signs of the
curious things the old trapper had witnessed there. They saw something
else, however, at least Frank did, and he called Archie’s attention to
it, by inquiring:
“Do you see the second port-hole from the right-hand side of the
building?”
“I do,” replied his cousin; “and I see something sticking out of it.
It looks to me like a spy-glass.”
“That’s just what it is. There is somebody in there watching us. And
wasn’t that flag flying at the mast-head when we first saw it?”
“Of course it was,” answered Archie, beginning to get excited, “and
now it is at half-mast. Now it is being hauled down altogether,” he
added, as the bunting disappeared behind the walls of the rancho.
“What can it mean? It must be a signal of some kind; and I--I--believe
I won’t go any farther. I’ll return home and report the matter.”
“What good will that do?” asked Frank.
“Why, when uncle comes back, he can raise a crowd of men, and storm
the old villain.”
“I don’t think he would do it. He would want the very strongest
evidence before he would consent to assault a peaceable settler in his
own dwelling, and that is something we haven’t got yet. Of course we
can say that we saw somebody watching us through a spy-glass, and
that the flag was hauled down when we came in sight; but that doesn’t
prove any thing. If we should go home with that story, every body
would laugh at us.”
“It is proof enough for me,” said Archie, “and I don’t care about
trusting myself inside that rancho. I believe I’ll go back.”
“And I will go on,” said his cousin, riding down the bank toward the
ford. “If Don Carlos asks me to stay all night, I’ll do it: and I
shall feel as safe under his roof as I would at home.”
Archie pulled off his sombrero, and scratched his head in deep
perplexity. He did not want to go home without Frank, and neither did
he want to go with him into the rancho. The hauling down of the flag
had made him timid. If it was not a signal, why was it pulled down at
that time of day--two hours before sunset? If he had never been
satisfied before that there was something wrong with Don Carlos, he
was now. Beyond a doubt he was connected with the robbers--he was
their leader, perhaps--and when he and Frank went into the rancho,
they would find themselves surrounded by a crowd of villainous
Mexicans, broken-down miners, and other desperate characters, who
would never allow them to go out again. Worse than all, they could not
hope for assistance, for they had left the rancho without telling any
one where they were going; and when their absence was discovered,
their friends would not know where to look for them.
“Frank,” exclaimed Archie, “are you really going in there?”
“I am, if I can get in,” replied his cousin, who was by this time half
way across the ford. “Come on. I want to satisfy you that you have
been wrongfully accusing an honest man.”
“And I’ll show you that I haven’t,” said Archie, galloping down the
bank of the creek, and into the water. “If you are bound to go on, of
course I shall stick to you.”
While the boys were riding toward the rancho they kept their eyes
fastened on the port-hole, and saw that the person with the spy-glass
closely followed all their movements. They discovered nothing else
that looked suspicious, however, and when they dashed through the
gate-way and drew up in the court, the reception they met with, from
the proprietor of the rancho, went a long way toward convincing Archie
that he had made a great mistake.
Don Carlos was a small, slim man, with a very sallow face, a long,
hooked nose, and an immense gray mustache, which covered all the lower
part of his face. He called himself a Spaniard: but he looked more
like a German Jew, and talked exactly like one. He was as polite as a
Frenchman; and when the boys rode up to the porch, he pulled off his
sombrero, and stood bowing and scraping to them until they dismounted
from their horses.
“Ach! here ish my goot leetle poys!” he exclaimed, in his broken
English. “I peen so glad to see you. You shall shtay mit me now all
night, of course, aint it? Peppo!” he added, in a louder tone,
addressing a young Mexican who stood at a little distance, looking
on--“you von grand rascal! dake dis horses to dem shtables. I do so
hope dem horse-dieves won’t shteal ’em pefore mornings. Valk right in
de house, leetle poys.”
“The more I see of this old fellow, the more I am convinced that he is
a Dutchman,” thought Archie, as he followed Frank and the Don into
the rancho. “I’ve met a good many Spaniards since I have been in
California, but I never heard one talk like that.”
Their host conducted them through a long wide hall, the walls of which
were ornamented with old-fashioned pictures and implements of the
chase, and ushered them into an elegantly-furnished room, where he
left them to take care of themselves; telling them that his herdsmen
were out collecting a drove of cattle to be sent to San Diego, and
that it was necessary that he should superintend their operations. If
the boys wanted to read, there were plenty of books on the
center-table; and if they did not feel like sitting still, they might
walk about the rancho, and see if they could find any thing to amuse
them. Supper would be ready at sunset; he would then be back, and
would pass the evening with them.
“What do you think now, Archie?” asked Frank, when the Don had gone
out. “Is this the sort of a reception a robber would be likely to
extend to visitors? Do you suppose that if there was any thing wrong
here, he would have allowed us the freedom of the house so readily?”
“He does that merely to blind us,” replied his cousin. “He is more
polite and attentive than he used to be, and that makes me suspicious.
If we don’t wish ourselves a thousand miles from here before morning,
I will make you a present of my horse when I get him.”
Frank recalled these words a few hours afterward, and told himself
that Archie had more sense than he had ever given him credit for.