AT SQUARE Z RANCH
The startling announcement of “cattle thieves outside” galvanized Ned
and Bob into action.
Outside the shuffle of countless hoofs could be plainly heard, and
there was the murmur of men’s voices, though the words were not
distinguishable. In a whisper Jerry told what he had heard, while he
and his chums slipped on some of their clothes and got their revolvers.
“It’s the cattle thieves running off some of the Square Z stock as sure
as mustard!” declared Jerry.
“Think we can catch ’em?” murmured Bob.
“Well, we’ll make a good try, anyhow. At least we can scare ’em so
they’ll leave the cattle, and maybe we can round up the steers and save
’em.”
“What’s your plan?” asked Ned of his tall chum.
“Well, I guess it’s best to surprise ’em,” whispered Jerry. “That seems
to be the only way now, for we don’t know how many of ’em there may be.
Are you ready?”
“Ready,” assented the two others.
“Then out on the jump, fire in the air and give ’em the surprise of
their lives.”
But that plan was not destined to be carried out, for just as the three
boys, who had not awakened Professor Snodgrass, were about to leap
outside their shelter there came a sharp hail and the sound of a shot.
Jerry, who was at the flaps of the tent, saw a flash and sliver of
flame cut the blackness of the night.
“Throw up your hands, you in there!” came the sharp command.
“What is it?” asked a second voice in the darkness, as the boys slid
out of the tent.
“I can’t make out what it is, Gimp,” was the answer. “But I’ve got ’em
covered. And I’m a two-gun man,” he added evidently for the information
of the boys. “I can shoot as well with my left hand as with my right,
so be governed accordingly. Parson, you and Gimp ride up and see what
that outfit is. If I ain’t greatly mistook it’s what we’ve been lookin’
for, though how in the name of a chuck wagon they make use of that
contraption is more than I can remonstrate.”
“All right, Hinkee; but keep your big words for the round-up,” was the
laughing advice from somewhere out of the darkness.
The boys heard horses galloping toward them. The silence of the night
was further broken by the uneasy movement of a large bunch of cattle
that could dimly be observed off to the left.
“Take it easy now, whoever you are,” was the advice given by one of the
approaching horsemen. “We’ve both got guns that go off mighty easy, and
Hinkee Dee back there’s got two more.”
“Isn’t this rotten luck!” exclaimed Ned in disgust. “Just as we were
going to get them they get us!”
“They haven’t _got_ us yet,” observed Jerry, significantly in a low
voice.
“Are you going to fight?” asked Bob.
“Not with guns, no. But let’s wait and see who they are.”
“Cattle thieves! Who else?” asked Ned, indignantly.
The tramping of the horses ceased. The boys saw two mounted figures
confronting them as they stood outside the tent that was attached to
the rear of their car. Then a match flared and they blinked in the
glare.
“Sufferin’ horned toads!” came the explanation. “They’re nothin’ but
boys, and tenderfeet at that! Drop them guns, boys. It ain’t healthy
to play with men’s tools that way in this country! Drop ’em!” and the
command was not one to be lightly disregarded.
[Illustration: “THEY’RE NOTHIN’ BUT BOYS AND TENDERFEET AT THAT!”]
Ned, Bob and Jerry let their revolvers fall into the soft grass at
their feet.
“That’s better,” said the other man, who seemed to have lighted a small
torch. It was a patent pipe lighter, as they learned afterward.
“They’re sure enough young chaps,” was this man’s observation.
“That’s right, Gimp,” agreed the other, whom the boys guessed to be the
one who had been called “Parson.” “It’s all right, Hinkee!” he called
to the unseen third. “We’ve got ’em, such as they are. Ride up if you
can leave the cattle.”
“All right,” answered a voice from out of the distant gloom. “Are you
and Fatty there?”
“Yes,” was echoed.
“Well, look after the bunch. Don’t drive ’em any more until I say so.”
“There’s quite a crowd of ’em,” murmured Jerry.
“More’n enough to handle you--so be nice,” drawled the Parson. “If
you’ve got a light, maybe you’d better show it, and we can get this
business over with quicker. My fusee won’t burn forever.”
“I’ll light up,” said Jerry, moving to enter the tent again.
“And don’t light on a gun, whatever you do,” was the warning given in
ominous tones.
For an instant Ned and Bob thought Jerry was about to put into
execution some plan either to escape or to capture their captors. And
they were disappointed when he came out with a portable electric
lantern that gave good light.
“Now then, boys, give an account of yourselves!” sharply exclaimed the
third man who had ridden up. He seemed to be in command, though his
small size, in contrast to his companions, and his not very dignified
appellation of Hinkee Dee, seemed hardly in keeping with his leadership.
“Why should we account to you?” demanded Jerry, sparring for time.
“Because I said to!” was the curt response.
“Huh! This is a free country!” broke in Ned. “Besides, we’re not in the
habit of being ordered about by cattle thieves!”
The three men on their horses started and looked at one another.
“Cattle thieves!” ejaculated Hinkee Dee. “Cattle--huh!” and he seemed
too surprised for further observation.
“That’s what we’re hunting for,” went on Ned. “And we’d have had you,
only you were too quick for us. But----”
“Say, who do you think you are?” demanded Hinkee Dee in contemptuous
tones.
“I believe they really do take us for cattle thieves!” exclaimed
another of the cowboys.
There was some laughter, and Hinkee Dee remarked:
“Well, then it’s an even guess, for that’s what I think they are. Who
are you?” he shot out suddenly.
It dawned on Ned and his chums that they had, perhaps, made a mistake.
“Tell ’em who we are, and what we’re after,” suggested Bob, in a low
voice. “They might shoot without giving us a chance.”
Thereupon Ned explained, saying that he was the son of one of the
owners of the ranch, that they had come out to try to capture the
cattle rustlers but had lost their way.
“You’re not so _very_ much lost,” said Hinkee Dee, drawlingly. “You’re
on part of Square Z ranch now and we’re part of the outfit.”
“Are you, really?” asked Ned. “Not that I mean to doubt your word,” he
went on quickly, as he discerned a startled movement among the cowboys,
“but it seems very strange--meeting you at night this way.”
“Your outfit struck us as queer, too,” said one of the night-riders.
“We’ve sorter been on the lookout for rustlers, but we haven’t had any
luck trailing ’em.”
“And I don’t believe _they’ll_ have any better,” struck in the
sarcastic voice of Hinkee Dee. “I s’pose you’ve got something to prove
who you are?” he suggested, questioningly.