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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13717 ***
+
+[Illustration: cover of The Western Story Library No. 41, Ted Strong's
+Motor Car, by Edward C. Taylor]
+
+Ted Strong's Motor Car
+
+OR, FAST AND FURIOUS
+
+
+By EDWARD C. TAYLOR
+Author of the Ted Strong Stories
+
+1915
+
+
+
+
+Ted Strong's Motor Car
+
+CHAPTER 1.
+
+TALKING ABOUT SMART HOGS!
+
+
+Carl Schwartz burst into the living room of the Moon Valley Ranch house
+with fire in his eye and pathos in his voice:
+
+"As sheur as I standing here am, dot schwein I'm going to kill!"'
+
+"I'll jest bet yer a million dollars ter a piece o' custard pie yer
+don't," said Bud Morgan, rising from the lounge where he had been
+resting after a strenuous day in the big pasture.
+
+"I'll pet you," shouted Carl. "Der pig pelongs mit me der same as you."
+
+"Go ahead, then," said Bud, lying down again. "But I want ter tell yer
+this, and take it from me, it's ez straight ez an Injun's hair, yer kin
+kill yer own part o' thet hawg if yer want ter, but if my part dies I'll
+wallop yer plenty. I've spent too much time teachin' thet pig tricks ter
+lose it now."
+
+"Vich part der pig you own, anyvay?"
+
+"Ther best part; ther head."
+
+"Den I dake der tail. By Chiminy, I get skvare yet so soon. I cut der
+tail off, und dot vill make der pig not able to valk straight ven he
+can't der tail curl in der opposite direction. Den ve see how mooch der
+tricks he done. Vat?"
+
+"I'll hev ther law on yer if yer interfere with thet pig."
+
+"What's the matter with you two fellows?" asked Ted Strong, the leader
+of the broncho boys, who was writing some letters at the big oak table
+in the center of the room.
+
+"Der pig, he moost die," cried Carl tragically.
+
+"Why, what has 'Oof' done now?"
+
+"He has ate all mein gabbages," answered Carl, with almost a sob.
+
+"Well, s'posin' he hez," said Bud. "What in thunder is cabbages fer, if
+they ain't ter be et by pigs?"
+
+"Yes, you, but not fer dose kind of pig. Maybe you might eat dem und it
+vould be all right, but not der pig mit four feet."
+
+Carl had a small garden back of the ranch house, in which he had been
+raising cabbages, devoting all his spare time to them and good-naturedly
+taking the joshing the boys gave him. They were of the opinion that a
+cow-puncher was degrading himself by working in a garden.
+
+"Jumpin' sand hills, he'll be takin' up knittin' when winter comes on,
+an' makin' of his own socks," said Bud, in disgust.
+
+"No, he's going in for tatting," said Ben Tremont. "He's going to make a
+lot of doilies for the chairs so we won't soil the satin upholstery with
+our oily hair."
+
+As all the chairs in the living room were very plain, made of solid oak,
+with bullhide seats and backs, this remark was received with laughter.
+
+"Go aheadt!" said Carl. "Ven you ain'dt drough, let me know. I know your
+own bizziness. Ven der vinter comes und I haf dot deliciousness
+sauerkraut, und am eating it, und ven your mouts vater so dot you
+slobber like a colt off der clover, den--ah, den, I gifs you der ha-ha,
+ain'dt it? Den you see who der knitting und der tatting do, eh?"
+
+Carl laughed at the thought of how the boys would miss the sauerkraut
+which he was going to make. But now "Oof," the pet pig of the
+establishment, had eaten them nearly all, and was standing in his sty
+too full even for the utterance of his usual lazy grunt. He looked like
+an animated keg of sauerkraut with four pegs at the corners for him to
+stand on, so full was he of Carl's cherished and esculent cabbages.
+
+"How in the world did he get into the cabbage patch?" asked Ted. "I
+thought you had made it pig tight."
+
+"So did I," answered Carl. "No pig but vun mit der teufel inside him
+vould haf got der fence over."
+
+"Got over ther fence!" snorted Bud. "Why, yer feeble-minded son of a
+downtrodden race, thet thar pig couldn't hev got over ther fence without
+a balloon. Thet fence is six feet high. A deer couldn't jump it."
+
+"I didn't saying so. He cannot yump, dot pig. He cannot moof, so full
+mit gabbages are he. No, he didn't yump, he yoost sving himself over mit
+dot fence."
+
+"Slush! Yer gittin' plumb dotty. No pig could swing hisself over thet
+fence."
+
+"But it's der only vay vat he could, und Song, der Chineser cook, saw
+him did it."
+
+"You don't believe what a Chinyman tells yer, do yer?"
+
+"What did Song say? How did the pig do it?" asked the boys, roused to
+interest in the squabble by this statement.
+
+"Vell, Song he say dot he vos looking der vinder ouid und he saw der pig
+take der end of dot long rope vot hangs down mit der roof of der hay
+house in his teeth, und he svings on it some. Song say he t'ought it vas
+some of Pud's foolishment he vas teaching dot pig, und didn't no more
+look at him for a leetle vile. Ven he looked again der pig vas svinging
+avay oop high by der rope. Den I coom along und see der pig in der
+gabbages, und I takes me a stick und vallops him goot ofer der hams,
+und drife him his pen into."
+
+"Shucks! Is that all ther story? That don't prove nothin'. Thet pig,
+Oof, is a animile of high intelligence. He wuz needin' exercise before
+dinner. He found a hole in ther fence, er maybe he tunneled one fer
+hisself, an' he wuz jest kinder doin' some gymnasium work ter git up a
+good appetite. Yer cain't make me believe a Chinyman, nohow."
+
+"I don't know," said Ben thoughtfully, "pigs are mighty smart. He might
+have swung himself over by the rope, and, if so, I think he was entitled
+to his dinner as a reward for his ingenuity."
+
+"I don't pay for no pig's inchenoomity mit my gabbages," said Carl
+hotly. "Vere I get more gabbages fer der sauerkraut, tell me dot?"
+
+"Yer don't git no sauerkraut, that's all," growled Bud. "But speakin'
+about pigs bein' smart, I jest reckon they aire."
+
+"There are three animals that people persist in calling stupid, when
+they are only strong-minded and more intelligent than the other
+animals," said Kit Summers, quietly breaking into the conversation.
+
+"What aire they?" asked Bud.
+
+"The pig, the mule, and the goose," answered Kit.
+
+"Come ter think o' it, yer right ez a book," said Bud, rising from the
+lounge and joining the other boys in front of the fireplace. "Why, I
+remember onct down on the Pecos--"
+
+Ben Tremont rose lazily and stretched himself.
+
+"Well, so long, boys," he said. "If I ain't back for supper don't wait
+for me."
+
+"Whar yer goin'?" asked Bud, with a black look from under his brows.
+
+"I've got some work to do this evening, and I don't want to be getting
+drowsy," answered Ben, with a wink at Kit.
+
+"Go then, yer varmint," said Bud savagely. "This yere incerdent what
+I'm goin' ter relate is fer intelligent persons only."
+
+"In that case I shall have to remain," said Ben, throwing his huge bulk
+into a chair, that creaked like a house in a high wind.
+
+"How about that Pecos story?" said Ted.
+
+"'Tis erbout pigs."
+
+"I didn't know there were any pigs down in that country," said Ted, with
+a sly smile.
+
+"Oh, yes, there aire. Some folks calls them peccaries, an' others
+alludes ter them ez wild hawgs. Yer pays yer money an' chooses what yer
+likes best."
+
+"Well, what about them?"
+
+"'Tain't noways what ye'd call much o' a story, but it 'lustrates ther
+intelligence o' ther hawg, which in my 'pinion ez almost ez great ez
+thet o' some collidge gradooates what I hev mixed with."
+
+Bud stopped and looked hard at Ben, who seemed to be taking a nap in his
+big chair.
+
+With a snort of disgust Bud turned his back on the big fellow and began:
+
+"Me an' 'Peep-o'-day' Thompson wuz ridin' herd on a bunch o' cattle
+belongin' ter ole man Bradish. All we hed ter do wuz ter keep 'em from
+driftin' too fur, which nat'rally left us much time fer meditation an'
+conversation.
+
+"But it wa'n't long before I'd told all my stories, an' Peep bed plumb
+fergot I'd tole them ter him, an' wuz tellin' them all over ter me,
+claimin' they'd happened ter him.
+
+"I stood it fer a spell because I didn't want ter make no friction
+betwixt him an' me, but it made me sore jest ther same, because ther
+derned lump allays got ther story balled up so's I hed trouble in
+reconnizin' it sometimes. An' he inveribly got ther p'int o' ther story
+hindside fore, which made me jest bile. But when yer on a long watch
+with a feller, an' got ter see him from sunup ter moonrise, it's better
+ter overlook a lot o' things.
+
+"Well, 's I wuz sayin', we wuz on this stunt, an' had been out all o'
+three month, takin' turns cookin' an' watchin' so's one o' us could git
+erway from ther other fer a spell, an' go off an' sit down an' tell
+hisself what a awful chump ther other wuz, an' how yer hated him.
+
+"We hed a chuck wagon with us filled with flour, salt sowbelly an'
+saleratus, with some coffee an' a few pounds o' fine terbaccer fer
+makin' cigareets. I ain't sayin' nothin' erginst sowbelly ez ther
+national food o' ther plains an' ther staff o' life in farmin'
+communities, but ez a steady diet it begins ter pall when taken day in
+an' day out with nothin' ter wash it down with but weak coffee made
+outer alkali water.
+
+"I reckon both me an' Peep wuz gittin' tired o' one another's cookin',
+if ther truth wuz knowed, fer Peep could make ther wust biscuit I ever
+et.
+
+"My biscuit jest suited me ter a ty-ty, an' I reckon Peep felt ther same
+way erbout hisn. Every time we set down ter vittles, if it wuz my week
+ter cook, Peep w'd begin ter talk o' ther fine cookin' his wife uster do
+before she run erway with er Sant' Fe conductor down ter Raton, Noo Mex.
+He'd tell me how she'd make beef stoo an' hot biscuit thet would melt in
+yer mouth. 'I don't like them kind,' sez I, one day. 'I like somethin' I
+kin chew on. What'd ther Lord give us teeth fer if grub is ter melt in
+ther mouth? No, sir; give me mine gristle an' hide. Ther tougher they be
+ther better I like 'em,' sez I.
+
+"'Is thet thar meant ez a reflection on my wife?' sez Peep, bristlin'
+up.
+
+"'I never met yer wife,' sez I, 'an' we'll let thet part o' it pass, fer
+ye knows me well enough thet I never make no remarks erbout wimminfolks
+what ain't smooth an' complimentary. But I stands on ther
+gristle-an'-hide propersition ontil I'm ready ter fight fer it.'
+
+"Yer see, I wuz gettin' some peevish erbout Peep. Ole man Bradish hed
+left us alone tergether too long. It ain't right fer two fellers ter
+camp side by each fer so long without a third party buttin' in ter break
+ther monotony.
+
+"'All right,' sez he, unlimberin' his six foot three o' len'th from ther
+ground. 'Thet,' sez he, real dignified, 'is either a challenge or a
+invitation ter fight.'
+
+"'It be,' sez I. 'Either way yer wanter take it.'
+
+"We both riz up.
+
+"'How d'yer want it?' sez he.
+
+"'Please yerself,' sez I. 'Any ole holt is my fav'rite.'
+
+"'Anythin' goes, then,' sez he, makin' a rush at me.
+
+"Jest then we hear a turrible noise, gruntin', squealin', an' sich. We
+both stopped an' looked eround, an' thar stood watchin' us a big band o'
+wild hawgs.
+
+"'Fresh meat!' we both hollers simultaneous. At this ther hawgs ups an'
+runs.
+
+"It wuz my day off, an' hostilities stopped right thar ez I runs an'
+gits my rifle an' leaps my cayuse an' takes after ther hawgs, Peep
+hollerin' after me ez friendly ez yer please.
+
+"I chased them hawgs a couple o' miles ter ther river bank, whar they
+hid in ther canebrake. I couldn't get ther cayuse ter go in after them,
+so I gits down an' breaks my way in tryin' ter git a shot at one o'
+them, my mouth waterin' fer fresh pork so's I wuz almost wadin' in it.
+
+"Purty soon I come in sight o' them. A ole boar wuz in charge o' them,
+an' he wuz a hard-lookin' citizen, I want ter tell yer. He hed tushes
+five inches long an' both o' 'em ez sharp ez razors. I took a shot at
+him, but his hide wuz so tough thet ther ball just glanced off him, an'
+he made a break fer me. I turned an' fled. Ther river wuz not fur erway,
+an' I knowed thet if I beat them hawgs ter it I wuz safe.
+
+"I jest did it, an' waded out ez fur ez I could an' started ter swim.
+'When I gits ter ther other side I'll take some long shots at yer,'
+thinks I, 'an' we'll hev hawg meat yit.'
+
+"I gits out inter ther middle o' ther stream when I hears a puffin' an'
+a gruntin' behind me. I looks over my shoulder an' here comes ther whole
+herd swimmin' right after me as--"
+
+"That settles it," said Ben, as he rose with a snort of disgust.
+
+"What's ther matter with yer?" asked Bud calmly.
+
+"Yer story is what I thought it would be--wild and woolly and full of
+cockleburs."
+
+"How is thet ag'in?"
+
+"It's rotten. Don't you know, as long as you have been on earth, that
+swine cannot swim without committing suicide?"
+
+"Go ahead. Will you kindly tell us fer why, perfessor?"
+
+"Certainly. The hoofs of pigs are so sharp, and their forelegs are set
+so far under their bodies, that when they attempt to swim their hoofs
+strike their fat throats, cutting them, and they die from loss of
+blood."
+
+"Thet's c'rect, my son. Every schoolboy knows thet thar p'int in nat'ral
+history."
+
+"Then why are you insulting our intelligence by stating that a herd of
+hogs followed you into the water and swam after you? Now don't spring
+any such flower of your fancy on us as to say that the hogs all killed
+themselves crossing and that you and Peep-o'-day had all the fresh meat
+you wanted during the rest of your stay on the Pecos, for we won't
+stand for it. I don't believe there is any such thing as a Pecos,
+anyway."
+
+Bud looked so crestfallen that the other boys felt sorry for him.
+
+"You think you're smart, don't you?" said Kit, taking Bud's finish out
+of his own mouth. "You big chump, it wasn't your story, anyhow."
+
+"Don't worry, Kit," said Bud, smiling confidently. "Ben's so
+intellectooal thet it hurts him ter pack his knowledge eround in thet
+pinhead o' hisn. But he didn't finish ther story none. I knows ez well
+ez him thet hawgs can't swim fer ther reasons he give. But these yere
+hawgs I am tellin' erbout wuz different."
+
+"How was that?"
+
+"Yer see, thet thar ole boar wuz ez smart ez a copperation lawyer. He'd
+fixed them hawgs ter swim. First they got thar hoofs all balled up with
+gumbo, er sticky clay, then they worked ther dry grass inter ther clay
+and mixed 'em good an' stiff, lettin' 'em dry in ther sun. This made a
+hard ball on their toes thet jest slipped off their throats when they
+struck."
+
+Ben slipped into his chair with a grunt.
+
+"O' course, I didn't know thet when I was swimmin'," continued Bud, 'an'
+I thinks I've run ercross a new web-footed breed o' hawgs. When we come
+ter ther other side I waited fer them ter land, then I turns an' swims
+back, ther hawgs follerin'. Back ercross I goes erg'in, an' ther pork
+keeps right on my trail.
+
+"Purty soon I see they ain't swimmin' so spry, an' I allow they're
+gittin' some tired. Ther last time over ter our side o' ther river they
+come slow, an' I picks out ther kind o' pork I likes best, an' ez they
+land I nails what I want an' slits thar throats, an' I hev my pork. But
+when ther rest o' them lands they's full o' fight ez ever, an' I takes
+ter ther water ag'in, but they won't foller me. This seems strange, an'
+I looks ter see what ther matter is.
+
+"Ther ole boar wuz mighty smart, but he'd overlooked one p'int. He'd
+fergot thet ther water would melt his balls o' clay, which it did, an'
+they couldn't swim no more. I jest stood hip high in the water with my
+Winchester an' popped erway at them until they got tired an' run off,
+leavin' me enough fresh pork ter start a packin' house."
+
+A hollow groan escaped from Ben.
+
+"What's the use?" he moaned. "You can't beat him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+BUD'S BAD BRONCHOS.
+
+
+It was time for the fall round-up, and Stella had written from her
+uncle's ranch, in New Mexico, that she and her aunt, Mrs. Graham, were
+coming North to do their winter shopping in Denver, and would visit the
+Moon Valley Ranch to take part in the round-up and the festivities which
+the boys always held at that time.
+
+Her letter did not say when she would be there, but the boys knew her
+well enough to expect her at any moment following the letter.
+
+Therefore they were not surprised to hear a clear, high imitation of the
+Moon Valley yell one morning while they were all sitting at the
+breakfast table.
+
+They did not need to be told that Stella Fosdick had come, and without
+ado they sprang from the table, overturning chairs in their haste to get
+out of the house to greet her and her aunt.
+
+"Hello, boys!" she called from the carriage, in which she and Mrs.
+Graham had driven over from Soldier Butte. "You're a gallant lot of
+young fellows not to meet us at the station, particularly when I wrote
+you that I was coming this morning. I'm real mad." But her smiling face
+belied the statement.
+
+"You didn't say when you were coming," said big Ben, who was the first
+to reach the carriage step and was helping Mrs. Graham to descend. "If
+we had taken your general statement that you were coming, to meet you at
+the station we would have camped right there forever. Never can tell
+about your movements, young lady."
+
+"But I did write that I was coming this morning, and to meet us and
+take breakfast with us in the Butte."
+
+"We didn't get that letter. When did you write?"
+
+"Last night."
+
+"That's good. Always take time by the fetlock. We'll get that letter
+some time to-morrow. Why didn't you wait and write us to meet you after
+you got here?"
+
+"Saucy as ever, Ben. But we're positively starved. Hello, Song!" she
+called to the Chinese cook, who was standing on the veranda grinning
+like a heathen idol, "got anything good to eat?"
+
+"Yes, missee, plenty good glub. Mebbeso you likee some fried ham and
+eggs?" said Song, shaking hands with himself and bowing low.
+
+"Ham and eggs! No! Positively, no! I'll be turning into a ham and egg if
+I get any more of it. That's all the cook at the ranch knows how to do.
+Anything else?"
+
+"Yes, missee. Plenty paltlidge, what Misto Ted shootee lesterday. I
+cookee you some plenty quick."
+
+"All right, Song, cook us some partridges."
+
+The boys stood around in a group of admiring servitors waiting to carry
+Stella's hand bag and gun and saddle and other things with which she was
+burdened.
+
+Suddenly she looked toward the porch.
+
+"Who's that?" she asked breathlessly, pointing to a little girl who
+stood shyly beside a post looking on.
+
+"Why, that's Lilian," said Ted. "I didn't know you were up yet," he
+called to the little girl. "Come here, dear, and see Stella. You haven't
+forgotten Stella, have you?"
+
+"If it isn't Lilian!" cried Stella, rushing toward the child with
+wide-open arms and folding her within them.
+
+"I wouldn't have known you, honey," said Stella. "What have you boys
+been doing to her? She's improved so much. Where did you get all these
+clothes, and who takes care of her?"
+
+"Isn't she a little beauty?" asked Ted Strong proudly, patting the head
+of the blushing little girl.
+
+"But how did you do it?" persisted Stella.
+
+"Oh, I went over and saw Mrs. Bingham, the major's wife, at the fort,
+and asked her to come and advise us what to do. She came and was
+delighted with Lilian, and promised to oversee her wardrobe. She was
+going down to Omaha, and when she returned she had a trunk full of
+things for Lil. She also brought a colored woman to look after her, and
+Mirandy has proved a blessing and a treasure."
+
+"But the clothes didn't make themselves."
+
+"No, and none of us made them, either, although Bud said he could sew,
+and insisted upon trying. He cut up several yards of cloth, and at the
+end of the week, when we saw the product of his needle, he narrowly
+escaped lynching. If Lilian had not interceded for Uncle Bud, of whom
+she is very fond, I'm afraid we'd have no little Buddy now. No, we sent
+down to Omaha for a dressmaker and boarded her in town until she had Lil
+all fixed up, as becomes the heiress of the La Garita Mines."
+
+"Whose idea is this way of making the things?" demanded Stella, who was
+looking Lilian over with critical eyes.
+
+"Oh, we all had a finger in it. I sent away for a lot of fashion
+magazines and things of that sort, and we sat up nights as a board of
+strategy and picked out the sort of thing we wanted, and I reckon there
+isn't a better-dressed kid in the State."
+
+"I agree with you. Well, Ted Strong, you're a constant wonder to me.
+Where in the world did you learn to do all the things you do so well?"
+
+"The honeyed flatterer. Quit your joshing, Stella; hand it to Ben. He
+likes it, and the thicker it is the more he can stand of it."
+
+"Hello! Breakfast!" called Song from the veranda, and they all trooped
+back to the living room to finish breakfast and talk about the things
+they had passed through, and to lay plans for the coming round-up
+festivities.
+
+After breakfast Ted and Stella went out to the corral to look at the
+saddle stock.
+
+"Why, there's old 'Calamity Jane,'" cried Stella, as a bay pony came
+trotting across the corral and put its velvet nose in the hand she held
+out.
+
+"Jane knows you, all right," said Ted.
+
+"Sure. Why shouldn't she? I rode her all one season down here. I believe
+she wants me to choose her for my own again. Do you, Calamity, old
+girl?"
+
+Calamity Jane, which had at one time been the wickedest and stubbornest
+mare on the ranch, nickered and again rubbed Stella's hand with her
+nose.
+
+"Talk about your smart horses," said Stella. "Calamity can do everything
+except talk. Who's been riding her?"
+
+"Kit. He's wrangler, and he won't let any one on her. He's light, you
+know, and he was saving her for you. You'll find that she hasn't been
+spoiled at all."
+
+"Then, if Kit has been riding her, she's all right, for if there ever
+was a horseman it's Kit."
+
+"Isn't she getting fierce?" said a quiet voice behind them. "Say, she's
+getting to be one of these regular society jolliers. She didn't used to
+be that way."
+
+They wheeled around to see Kit, who had come up to them in his usual
+quiet manner.
+
+"Yes," said Ted. "She tried to hand me a package this morning."
+
+"You mean things. That's what a girl gets for being civil and
+confidential, and talking as she would like to fellows she thinks are
+her friends. I'm going back to the house. I don't like you very much
+this morning."
+
+The boys winked at one another.
+
+"Say, Kit, I want Sultan after a while. I'm going to ride down to the
+lower end of the ranch to look at that bunch of new horses," said Ted
+carelessly.
+
+"Oh, may I go with you?" asked Stella eagerly.
+
+"I thought you were mad at us, or I would have asked you."
+
+"I was only fooling. I'll be ready in ten minutes. Let's take Lilian
+with us."
+
+"That was what I was going to do. It is time for Lilian's regular riding
+lesson. I am trying to make her as good a rider and all-around cowgirl
+as you, Stella, but I doubt if ever she will."
+
+"Who is jollying now, Mister Ted?" cried Stella, with a laugh, but she
+was blushing with pleasure at the compliment.
+
+That is the difference between a boy and a girl. A healthy,
+well-conditioned boy becomes embarrassed and cross at a well-meant
+compliment spoken in the presence of another, believing that the person
+who is complimenting him is making fun of him in some unknown and covert
+way. But to a girl a compliment that is sincere is as grateful as dew to
+a rose, and Stella always felt much elated when Ted complimented her on
+her prowess in any of the arts of the range.
+
+They rode away with Lilian, who was learning to ride well for her age
+and experience under the best of riding teachers, Ted Strong.
+
+As they were nearing the lower pasture they observed a great commotion
+among the horses that were huddled in a fence corner.
+
+"Hello, what's going on there?" exclaimed Ted.
+
+"Looks like the worst sort of a riot," said Stella. "I believe those
+boys need help."
+
+They could see Bud and Ben and several cowboys circling around the
+bunch of ponies, evidently trying to get into it, and break it up and
+scatter it.
+
+"What's the row?" asked Ted, galloping up.
+
+"Thar's a cayuse in thar thet I'd plumb like ter electrocute," said Bud,
+who was mad clear through. "My, but he's got er bad dispersition."
+
+"Which one?" asked Ted, laughing. "From what I can see there isn't one
+of them you could call angelic."
+
+"Thar's ther meanest bunch o' horse meat thet ever come ter this man's
+ranch, bar none, an' ther prize devil o' ther lot is thet black demon in
+thar. He near broke my pony's leg a minute ago with a stem-windin' kick
+sech ez I never see before. Thet hoss is shore double-j'inted."
+
+The horses were bunched, heads in, heels out, around a splendid-looking
+black stallion, which was biting and kicking at everything that came
+near him.
+
+"Let him kick his foolish head off," said Ted, viewing the squealing,
+struggling throng.
+
+"I reckon they're just showin' off because Stella got here this
+mornin'," said Bud disgustedly. "They're tryin' ter knock us, Stella, by
+showin' yer thet we aire a bum lot o' horsemen fer not makin' them
+behave first off."
+
+Stella laughed and nodded. She understood.
+
+"Where did you pick up such a mean bunch of horses?" she asked.
+
+"Them hosses is intended fer ther tourneymint what takes place after
+ther round-up. We're goin' ter hev some roughridin' fer fair here, an'
+if we all git out with whole bones we shore kin send up a balloon in
+celebraytion."
+
+"But where did you get them? Were they bred mean on purpose?"
+
+"I reckon not. I bought 'em from ther wild range in Montana. They ain't
+seen men closer than a mile, except'n' it wuz Injuns, an' they don't
+count, until we butted in on 'em. They belonged ter ole man Stallings. I
+reckon you remember him, what we met on our way ter Fort Grant, when yer
+run erway an' got lost on Red Mesa."
+
+Stella nodded.
+
+"I wuz lookin' fer a bunch o' cow hosses. We sold a big run o' 'em ter a
+Newbrasky cowman who was short o' saddle stock, an' who said he'd heard
+we had the best-broke cow ponies in ther West, an' I reckon we had. He
+was willin' ter pay a good price fer our spare stock, an' we unloaded."
+
+"Then you will have to break in a lot of new ones. Isn't that a waste of
+time?"
+
+"Young woman, we're ranchmen, not rockin'-chair gents. It's part o' our
+business ter take somethin' what ain't much good, an' make it better.
+That's the way we earn our bread an' bacon."
+
+"So I see."
+
+"Ted says ter me ter go up inter Montana an' pick up a lot o' good,
+gingery hosses, an' I struck John Stallings. He says ter me, when I made
+my wants known, 'Go out on ther range an' he'p yerself,' says he.
+'They're all mine, an' Ted Strong an' his boys kin hev anythin' I've got
+except my fam'ly. But,' says he, 'you'll find some purty lively stock
+out there.'"
+
+"Well, you did," said Stella, laughing.
+
+"I reckon I picked out ther orneriest hosses in the whole West, an' I'm
+savin' them fer some o' these Smart-aleck cowboys who'll be here from
+ther ranches round, who think they kin ride," and he winked wisely.
+
+"Gracious, look there!" she cried. "What's Ted trying to do. He'll be
+hurt, Bud."
+
+"No, I reckon not, but I'll git in thar handy ter help him if he needs
+it. Keep the kid outer ther way if that bunch breaks."
+
+Ted had done what none of the others had succeeded in doing.
+
+He had forced his way into the very center of the bunch of wild horses,
+wheeling and doubling and riding like a circus performer, to avoid the
+batteries of flying heels, until he was close to the wicked black
+stallion, which was all that held the bunch together and prevented it
+from being broken up and driven to the upper end of the ranch, where it
+belonged.
+
+There was not a moment when he was not in danger. A chance kick might
+break his leg, or bring down his horse, in which event he must be kicked
+to death or badly hurt by being trampled on.
+
+But so far they had not been able to reach him.
+
+"Be careful, Ted," cried Stella.
+
+He waved his hand at her with a smile, and she hurried Lilian beyond the
+reach of danger.
+
+Ted wheeled his horse to face the black brute, which stood looking at
+him with wicked eyes, its ears flattened like those of a panther. In
+spite of its evil temper Ted admired it for its lithe beauty. It was as
+clean of limb as a thoroughbred, and its black skin shone like polished
+ebony. While he was looking at it thus it suddenly sprang at him, reared
+on its hind legs, striking at him like a boxer. Had he not wheeled on
+the instant it would have killed him. Ted was thoroughly angry, and went
+to the attack himself, beating the horse about the head with his quirt.
+When the horse rushed at him through a rain of blows across its nose Ted
+retreated beyond reach of its hoofs, then attacked it again.
+
+Suddenly the black horse wheeled and presented its heels, and Ted rode
+around it, lashing it well, everywhere the whip could reach.
+
+Although the horse continued to lash out with his heels he struck
+nothing, and always his enemy was at his side or in front.
+
+At last Ted resolved to bring the unequal combat to an end, as Sultan
+was tiring of the exercise, so instead of riding around the enraged
+horse, he pivoted with it, keeping in front of it all the time and
+whipping it on the nose.
+
+The "insurgent" stopped kicking at last and stood with drooping head,
+trying to shield its face from that cruel, relentless, stinging thing
+which the man creature wielded. He was cowed, but not conquered.
+
+Taking advantage of the moment, Ted drove him backward and clear of his
+companions. Seeing their leader retreat, the other horses broke their
+close formation, and allowed themselves to be driven down the valley,
+not without an occasional rebellious kick, however.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+STELLA GOES TO THE "RENT RAG."
+
+
+"Oh, joy, an' pickled pelicans!" said Bud Morgan, skipping onto the
+veranda one evening, when all the boys were sitting around Stella and
+Mrs. Graham.
+
+Bud had just returned from Soldier Butte, where he had been spending the
+afternoon.
+
+"What's devouring you now?" asked Ben Tremont. "Or is it just one of
+your weekly sillies?"
+
+"Who are yer alludin' at?" asked Bud loftily.
+
+"As you were going to say--" suggested Kit, looking at Bud.
+
+"Boys, thar's goin' ter be a 'rent rag' in the Butte ter-morrer night,
+an' we all have an urgent bid ter be present."
+
+"A what?" asked Stella.
+
+"A 'rent rag.'"
+
+"Who tore it?" asked Stella innocently.
+
+At this the boys laughed loud and long, then apologized when they saw
+Stella's embarrassment.
+
+"It ain't tore yet," said Bud, "but it's lierble ter be before ther rosy
+dawn."
+
+"What are you talking about?" said Stella impatiently. "I never saw such
+provoking boys. You say such strange things, then cackle over it as
+though there was a joke in it, which nobody seems to see except
+yourself."
+
+"A 'rent rag' is a--'rent rag,'" said Kit, trying to explain.
+
+"That sounds as sensible as the conundrum, 'Why is a hen?'" said Stella.
+"Must I ask the question and get caught? All right, here goes. What is a
+'rent rag'? Now, don't tell me, some one, that it is a rag that has been
+torn, for I exploded that one myself."
+
+"A 'rent rag,'" said Bud slowly and carefully, "is a rag for rent.
+A--a--er--well, it's a--"
+
+"Tell me, Ted," said the girl, turning to the leader of the outfit, who
+was leaning back in his chair smiling at the ridiculous conversation.
+
+"Well, as near as I can make out it is a bit of slang that means this:
+The word 'rag' is the slang for a public dance. When a man in town who
+is popular enough falls behind in paying his rent, through some
+misfortune or other, and owes so much he cannot hope to pay it, he hands
+out a flag that he wants help. In other words, it is an invitation to
+his friends to organize a public ball for his benefit. It depends upon
+his honesty and popularity whether or not they do so."
+
+"That's the strangest thing I ever heard of."
+
+"Well, if the thing goes through, a hall is rented and music is engaged,
+the cost of which is to be deducted from the money taken at the door.
+Then the man for whose benefit the ball is given and his wife prepare a
+lot of sandwiches, fried chicken, and other eatables, and a tub or two
+of lemonade, and help their profits along."
+
+"So that is a 'rent rag,' eh? Who is the man for whom the dance is to be
+given, Bud?" asked Stella.
+
+"A feller named Martin, whose wife has been sick all summer," answered
+Bud. "From what they say, I reckon he's all right. Jest ter be a good
+feller I bought ten tickets, at one bean per ticket."
+
+"Is that all they are?" asked Stella. "Only one bean? Gracious, they'll
+have to dispose of an awful lot of tickets to get enough beans to sell
+to pay their rent with! Why don't they make it something else? I'd like
+to contribute a dollar, at least. A bean a ticket, pshaw! How awfully
+cheap! I guess he doesn't owe much."
+
+At this remark the boys fairly cackled.
+
+"Now, what are you laughing at?" cried Stella, almost angry. "I seem to
+be more humorous to-night than I ever thought possible. I can hardly say
+a word but you all start to laugh at me."
+
+This was too much for the boys. They couldn't restrain themselves and
+went off into peals of laughter. When they saw the danger signals of two
+bright spots in Stella's cheeks, they realized that they had gone too
+far, and all hastily tried to explain. But Ted was before them, and
+quietly told Stella that in the expressive, if scarcely lucid, language
+of the day a "bean," in the sense in which Bud had used it, meant a
+dollar.
+
+"Such silly slang," said Stella, restored to good humor once more. "I
+don't mind slang if it's clever and reveals or conceals or twists a word
+in some sensible way, but a bean for a dollar--no, it won't do. The
+fellow who invented that should try again. The only fun I can see in
+slang is its aptness."
+
+The boys murmured something to the effect that it wasn't a particularly
+witty bit of slang, but they continued to grin at one another.
+
+"Suppose we all go to the 'rent rag,'" said Stella suddenly. "I never
+saw anything of the sort, and I'm crazy to go."
+
+"It's likely to be pretty rough, and break up in a row before its
+natural time," said Ted.
+
+"We'll only stay a short while," said Stella. "But I should like to do
+my share toward helping the poor fellow."
+
+"It's done already. I bought ten tickets. Thet's as much ez they expect
+from ther Moon Valley Ranch, an' it goes inter ther running expenses o'
+ther ranch, anyhow, in ther charity account."
+
+"I don't care, I want to go."
+
+"I move we go," said Ben. "It will add some tone to the proceedings."
+
+"Ben wants to air his spike-tailed coat and low-neck vest," said Kit.
+
+"Not for me," said Ben, laughing. "I wonder what those cow-punchers and
+miners and gamblers would do with a chap who sauntered in there in
+evening dress."
+
+"He shore would come up ter Stella's conception of a rent rag, which is
+a torn rag," said Kit.
+
+"Ted, won't we go?" pleaded Stella.
+
+"Sure, if you want to; you are our guest, and whatever you want, all you
+have to do is to ask for it," answered Ted.
+
+It was agreed that they should wear their everyday uniforms, and Stella
+was for going in her distinctive cowgirl costume, but this Mrs. Graham
+would not permit, and insisted that she should wear a frock which she
+had had made in Denver.
+
+When, the next night, Stella walked into the living room, where the boys
+were waiting to escort her and Mrs. Graham to the ball, there was a
+general exclamation of wonder and admiration, at which Stella hesitated
+with a blush, then came forward with smiling assurance.
+
+Instead of the bold and dashing Stella in her bifurcated riding skirt
+and bolero jacket, the boys saw a beautiful young woman in a pale-blue
+gown of silk and chiffon, with her pretty hair piled on top of her head,
+instead of flowing over her shoulders.
+
+For a moment they were awed. They had never seen her so, and perhaps had
+never thought of her as being a young lady. Most of them were content to
+regard her just as Stella, their girl pard, and to-night she had given
+them a surprise.
+
+At her throat was a superb sapphire set in a brooch, which had come out
+of the broncho boys' sapphire mines on Yogo Creek, and in her hair was
+an ornament of diamonds and rubies which the boys had made from jewels
+which had come as their share of the treasures of the Montezumas, which
+they had discovered beneath the castle of Chepultapec, near the city of
+Mexico.
+
+Altogether Stella was very stunning, and in their admiration of her in
+this new rĂ´le of society girl the boys were between two preferences, as
+she was now, and as they knew her in the saddle, throwing her lariat or
+handling her revolver.
+
+Most of them, however, came to the conclusion that she was still Stella,
+no matter what she wore.
+
+"Say, Stella, that's not fair," drawled Ben, "to dress up like that and
+make us wear our working togs. I've got a good mind to go and get into
+my spike."
+
+"If you do, I won't go," said Stella. "Unless the other boys wear theirs
+also. You and I would look fine going in there dressed up, and the other
+boys as they are now. No, I wouldn't have worn this dress if aunt hadn't
+insisted upon it, and this time I couldn't shake her determination. I
+hate it, and would much rather have my working clothes on. But, never
+mind, it won't be for long. How do you like me in this?" She revolved
+slowly before them.
+
+"Scrumptious!" said Ben appreciatively.
+
+"Prettier than a basket of peaches," ejaculated Kit.
+
+"Thar ain't nothin' in art er nature what kin show up more gaudy," said
+Bud. "Except, mebbe, it might be a pink rose in er garden at airly
+mornin' with ther dew on it."
+
+"Say, hasn't Bud got us all faded?" said Ben. "I didn't know the old
+sandpiper had so much poetry in his soul."
+
+"So perfectionately lofely a younk lady nefer did I saw," exclaimed
+Carl, clasping his hands and holding them before him, while he rolled
+his eyes toward the ceiling.
+
+"She's all thet," said Bud. "But come down ter airth. Stella ain't up
+among ther rafters."
+
+Ted had said nothing, and Stella looked at him. He was regarding her
+attentively.
+
+Her look said: "What do _you_ think?"
+
+He answered it with a look of admiration that satisfied her that he
+thought her perfect.
+
+"I think I like you best in the everyday clothes," he said quietly. "But
+that gown is as if you were made for it and it was made for you."
+
+The thought had come into Ted's mind that some day, in the far future,
+they would lose their girl pard, and society or duties elsewhere would
+claim her.
+
+Stella understood him and agreed with him.
+
+Soon they were ready to start for the ball. The carriage was got out and
+Carl volunteered to drive the horses, while the other boys rode.
+
+Just as they were about to start Stella cried: "Where is Jack Slate? I
+don't see him. Isn't he coming to the ball?"
+
+"Haven't saw him," said Bud. "I reckon he'll be moseyin' erlong after a
+while. We won't wait fer him. He knowed when we wuz goin' ter start."
+
+"He came in a little while ago from the lower pasture," said Kit, "and
+went to his room. He said he had been thrown by his horse, and that the
+jar had given him a headache."
+
+"Oh, don't let us wait for him," said Ben. "If he gets to feeling better
+he'll be along. You couldn't keep Jack away from a ball with an
+injunction."
+
+So they proceeded to town, the boys acting as outriders to the girl,
+whom they were convinced would be the belle of the ball.
+
+When they arrived at the hall in Soldier Butte they found the people
+flocking in, as Martin, the beneficiary, was a very popular fellow, and
+any man in hard luck in the West always gets all the help he needs, if
+he deserves it.
+
+Ted escorted Stella into the ballroom, while Ben followed with Mrs.
+Graham, the other boys taking the horses around to the corral.
+
+As Ted and Stella entered the room there was a hum of admiration, and
+conversation stopped as men and women craned their necks to look at the
+handsome couple.
+
+Ted was both proud and pleased, but a little bit embarrassed at the
+attention they received, while Stella held her head up proudly, with a
+look of indifference on her face, as if she had been used to admiration
+all her life.
+
+The ball certainly was a mixed affair.
+
+In one corner were a lot of army officers and their ladies.
+
+All down the sides of the ballroom cowboys were sitting with girls from
+the ranches. Town girls and boys had a corner to themselves. The
+gamblers flocked together, and miners and others wandered here and
+there, mixing with cavalrymen from the fort.
+
+When the boys returned from the corral they found that Mrs. Graham and
+Stella and their escorts had preëmpted a vacant corner.
+
+There was a piano in the room, but no one to play it. Soon, however, a
+fellow dressed after the cowboy fashion entered and took a seat on a
+raised platform, producing a fiddle from a green bag.
+
+A round of applause greeted him.
+
+He tuned his instrument, and after a few preliminary scrapes began to
+play a monotonous tune, repeating over and over again the same few bars.
+
+At the first scrape the cowboys and their girls leaped to the floor and
+began to dance, but none of the people from the fort cared to dance to
+such music.
+
+Suddenly the door flew open and a band of a dozen cow-punchers walked
+into the room, and were greeted by joyous shouts by the other cowboys in
+the hall.
+
+At their head was a handsome young fellow, slender and dark, with a
+resolute face and a pair of piercing eyes that flashed around the room
+for the purpose of seeing and locating his possible enemies.
+
+"Who is that?" asked Stella.
+
+"That's Billy Sudden," answered Ted.
+
+"And who is he?"
+
+"Foreman at 'Cow' Suggs' ranch. That's the Suggs bunch of cow-punchers.
+There'll be something doing here to-night."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"There are a lot of fellows in this part of the country who don't like
+Billy, and some of them are liable to tread on his feet."
+
+"Oh, is he quarrelsome?"
+
+"No, Billy is the best sort of a fellow, but he won't let any one hobble
+him. When he first went to the Dumb-bell Ranch, as the Circle-bar Circle
+is called, they took him for a kid and tried to run over him. He kicked
+them, then fired them, and they don't like him."
+
+"Did you see him look around the room?"
+
+"Yes, he has every man who is likely to make trouble for him spotted and
+located. But we won't wait long enough to see the trouble. I never did
+like trouble myself."
+
+"Well, for a chap who gets into it as often as you do--"
+
+"What's the trouble now, over there?" interrupted Ted, looking at the
+door.
+
+Around the entrance to the hall was a crowd of young town fellows led by
+a youth named Wiley Creviss, the son of the local banker, a dissipated
+and reckless young man, and a crowd of cow-punchers.
+
+They were shoving some one here and there, making a punching bag of him,
+at the same time laughing uproariously.
+
+Just then Ted saw the head of Jack Slate in the mix-up.
+
+"Excuse me," said Ted, turning to Stella. "Ben, take care of the ladies
+until I return."
+
+He strode across the floor toward the door.
+
+As he neared it he heard Billy Sudden say:
+
+"Be careful, there. That is one of Ted Strong's fellows."
+
+"I don't care if it is," said some one. "I'd give it to Strong just as
+hard if he was here."
+
+"Here I am," said Ted, pushing through the crowd.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE TROUBLE IS STARTED.
+
+
+The crowd of men and youths opened out in front of Ted, and he strode
+into the circle.
+
+There he saw Jack Slate in a much disheveled condition, dressed in his
+evening clothes.
+
+Ted gasped as he stared for an instant at the youth from Boston.
+
+He wanted to tell Jack that "it served him right," but that was not the
+part of loyalty, and in the presence of the enemy it did not make any
+difference to a broncho boy if his pard was right or wrong, if he was in
+need of help.
+
+"Where is the fellow who was going to throw me around?" asked Ted,
+looking into the faces about him.
+
+No one replied, although Ted waited for a moment or two before looking
+at Billy Sudden.
+
+Billy winked at him, but said nothing.
+
+"Seems as if somebody's sand has run out," said Ted contemptuously.
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said Wiley Creviss. "There's plenty of sand left if
+you need any to prevent your wheels from slipping downhill."
+
+"No, my sand box is always full," said Ted quietly. "But there is some
+sneak in this bunch who hasn't the nerve to back up his brag."
+
+"Are you talking to me?" said Creviss, swelling up as to chest.
+
+"Oh, are you the misguided chump whom I heard make the remark about
+pushing me about, as I came up?" said Ted, in a tone of surprise.
+
+The cowboys from Suggs' ranch were snickering.
+
+"Well, what if I was?"
+
+"I'm going to make you try it."
+
+"Oh, I can do it, all right."
+
+"Well, why don't you? I'm the easiest proposition you ever saw to be
+hazed by a bunch of hoodlums, such as you and your pals are!"
+
+"For two cents I'd punch your nose."
+
+"You're too cheap. I'll give you a heap more than that if you will. It's
+been so long since my nose was punched that it feels sort of lonesome.
+I'll pay you well for the job, if you succeed in pulling off the stunt."
+
+"You think you're the whole works because you've got a crowd of dudes
+around you. You're not the only dent in the can."
+
+Ted flushed at this allusion to his pards.
+
+"I'll put a dent in you if you open your face to remark about my friends
+again," he said, with some heat.
+
+"See here, you town rough, you better take in your slack and clear out
+for home, or you'll begin to taste the sorrows that come from
+inexperience and bad judgment," said Billy Sudden to Creviss.
+
+"It's up to you to mind your own business," snarled Creviss. "What are
+you but a lot of greasy cow-punchers. We haven't much use for your sort
+in this town, anyway."
+
+"Now, son, keep quiet and behave yourself," said Billy paternally. "If
+you get me riled I won't be as patient with you as Ted Strong has been.
+I'll fix you so as to keep two doctors busy the best part of the night."
+
+"What are you fellows butting in for, anyhow?" said Creviss angrily.
+"Can't this freak that comes here in a dress suit and tries to lord it
+over us take care of himself?"
+
+"Surest thing you know," drawled Jack Slate. "But there are ladies here,
+a thing you don't seem to realize. If you'll step outside, I'd be glad
+to whip you right and propah."
+
+"What's the use, Jack, of fussing with these rowdies?" said Ted. "Let it
+go until some other time."
+
+"You bet," said Creviss, courage returning when he heard Ted propose
+peace. "I guess you'd like to let it go forever."
+
+"That settles it," said Ted. "Go to him, Jack, and if you don't give him
+what's coming to him, I'll finish the job."
+
+"Git!" said Billy Sudden, opening the door and shoving Creviss out into
+the street. The rest followed.
+
+As Jack stepped into the open air he peeled off his swallow-tailed coat
+and threw it over Ted's arm.
+
+He had no sooner done so than Wiley Creviss made a rush at him from the
+front, while one of the crowd ran in on him from the rear.
+
+It seemed an unequal beginning, and Ted was preparing to take on the
+second fellow.
+
+But Jack had seen him out of the corner of his eye, and as he came on
+the Boston boy stepped backward and threw his right elbow up.
+
+It was a timely and masterly trick, for the sharp elbow caught Creviss'
+ally full in the nose, and he dropped like a limp rag to the ground,
+with a howl of anguish.
+
+At the same moment Jack swung his left. Creviss had struck at him and
+missed when he back-stepped, and coming on swiftly ran into Jack's fist
+with a thud that jarred him into a state of collapse.
+
+"Finish him!" shouted the cow-punchers, who stood about the fighters in
+a circle.
+
+"Go to him," said Ted, in a low voice. "I saw him signal his pal to
+tackle you from behind."
+
+Creviss had partially recovered from the blow and was getting ready for
+another rush, when Jack slipped in and to one side and hit like a
+blacksmith at the anvil.
+
+This time Creviss went down and out.
+
+"Hooray fer ther bantam!" shouted a big cow-puncher, slapping Jack on
+the back. "Say, I hear them say you're from Bosting. I'm goin' ter buy a
+hundred-pound sack o' beans myself ter-morrer an' begin trainin'. If
+beans'll do that fer you, a sack o' them will make me fit ter lick Jess
+Willard."
+
+But Jack was busy smoothing down his ruffled hair and pulling his white
+lawn tie around into its proper place, and when he had put on his coat
+he and Ted walked into the ballroom as calmly as if they had just
+stepped out to view the stars.
+
+"What was the trouble?" asked Stella, when they reached her side.
+
+"Some town rowdies became noisy, and they were put out," answered Ted
+carelessly.
+
+But Jack's dress suit was the joy of the cow-punchers, who had never
+seen anything like it before, although they all knew that it was the way
+well-groomed men dressed for evening in the big cities.
+
+"Say, pard," said a cowboy to Jack, as he crossed the room, "I axes yer
+pardon fer buttin' in, but yer lost ther front part o' yer coat tails."
+
+"That's all right," answered Jack. "Can't help it, don't you know. I
+left the blooming coat hanging on the line at home to air, and a goat
+came along and ate the front half of the tails off before I could get to
+it. I was just on my way to apologize to the master of ceremonies for
+it. You see, it is the only coat I have, and I was bound to come to the
+ball."
+
+"Ha, ha! that's on you, 'Honk,'" laughed the cowboy's friends, who had
+overheard the conversation, and Jack passed on, the boys alluding to him
+as a "game little shrimp," for the news of his summary punishment of
+Creviss had got abroad.
+
+But Jack was not through yet. He went into the men's dressing room to
+leave his hat. As he was coming out he was met by a crowd of town
+youths, friends of Creviss. There was no one else about.
+
+They scowled and sneered at Jack, and one of them bumped into him.
+
+"Heah, fellah, that will do," said Jack, with his Bostonese drawl.
+"You're solid; you're no sponge."
+
+"I ain't, eh?" answered the bully. "I'll tell yer, Mr. Slate, you're
+covered with bad marks what I don't like, an' I'm just the sponge to
+wipe them off."
+
+"Step lively, then," said Jack, "for I've an engagement to dance the
+next waltz."
+
+"I'll waltz you all you'll need this evenin'."
+
+But before he had finished speaking Ben Tremont stepped around the
+corner.
+
+"Hello, Jack! What is this I see?" said Ben. "Disgracing yourself by
+talking with these hoodlums."
+
+"Yas, deah boy," drawled Jack. "This--er, what shall I call
+him?--stopped me to tell me he was going to rub the marks off me, at the
+same time wittily making a pun on my name. I was just telling him to
+hurry, or I'd miss the next waltz."
+
+"Well, I'll take the job off your hands. Stella was asking for you a
+moment ago."
+
+"Yes, run along to your Stella," said the hoodlum. "I reckon she's
+pining for the sassiety o' another dude."
+
+That was where he made the mistake of his life.
+
+It didn't really make much difference what these fellows said about
+themselves, but the boys would not permit Stella's name to be bandied
+about by the roughs.
+
+So swiftly, that they didn't know what had happened to them, both Ben
+and Jack sailed into them.
+
+They went sprawling like tenpins before the ball as Ben jumped in among
+them and mowed them down with his powerful blows, while Jack, hovering
+like a torpedo boat around a battleship, sent in several of the telling
+blows Ted had taught him during the boxing lessons at Moon Valley.
+
+The fight was soon over, and Ben and Jack slipped quietly back into the
+ballroom, leaving a well-thrashed crowd to stanch bloody noses, and
+patch up swollen lips and black eyes as best they could.
+
+Meanwhile, a diversion had been created in the hall by the joshing that
+the Suggs' ranch outfit had directed toward the fiddler, who knew only
+one tune, and sawed that off for a waltz, quadrilles, and two-steps,
+without fear or favor.
+
+The musician had been engaged because he was a friend of the
+beneficiary, and had volunteered his services. As the ball grew more and
+more hilarious the cow-punchers felt the restraint of the folks from the
+fort and Moon Valley the less, and began to take it out of the fiddler,
+who paid no attention to them, but kept on scraping.
+
+Suddenly there was a crack from a revolver and the top of the fiddler's
+bow was knocked off, and the playing and dancing stopped simultaneously.
+
+There was more or less commotion, but the women did not scream or get
+panic-stricken. They were used to that sort of thing.
+
+Nobody knew who had fired the shot, but the cowboys and soldiers were
+mad clear through because there was no more music to dance by.
+
+The shot had come from the part of the hall in which the coatroom was
+situated, and directly afterward two slender young fellows climbed out a
+rear window, and a few moments later Billy Sudden and Clay Whipple came
+calmly through the front door and joined the throng about the musician,
+who said:
+
+"Honest, folks, I don't blame no hombre fer takin' a shot at thet fiddle
+bow o' mine, fer I never could make it work right. I know it was bum
+music, but it was the best I could do."
+
+Ted Strong had observed the quiet entrance of Billy and Clay directly
+after the shooting, and he put this and that together. He knew that both
+of them were finished musicians. Clay Whipple was an exceptionally good
+violin player, and Ted had often heard Billy Sudden make a piano fairly
+sing. Evidently they had got to the point where they could stand the
+fiddler's music no longer, and had put a stop to it.
+
+But for all the badness of the music the people should not be deprived
+of their dance.
+
+He hunted up the culprits, who were hovering on the outskirts of the
+crowd, listening to the threats against and denouncing the vandals who
+had "shot up" the fiddler.
+
+"See here, you hombres, I'm on to you," said Ted. "Now you've got to do
+the square thing. You've beaten the dancers out of the music, and you've
+got to get in and furnish it, or I'll tell these punchers who plugged
+the fiddler's bow."
+
+"How did you get on to it?" said Clay, with a grin.
+
+"Never mind. Is it a go?"
+
+"I reckon it'll have to be," said Clay, looking suggestively at Billy
+Sudden.
+
+"All right," said Billy.
+
+The cow-punchers, who had come to dance with the girls from the ranches,
+were growing angry, and were telling what they would do to the fellow
+who had spoiled their fun if they caught him, when Ted Strong stepped
+upon the platform, and, holding up his hand for silence, said:
+
+"Gentlemen, please do not get obstreperous. You shall have all the
+dancing you want. Ladies, please be patient; the music that is to follow
+is such as has never been heard at a dance in this part of the country.
+Mr. Clay Whipple, of the Moon Valley Ranch, and Mr. Billy Sudden, of
+the Dumb-bell Ranch, will play the violin and piano respectively. Both
+of them are cow-punchers, so don't take any liberties with them, or some
+one will get hurt."
+
+There was such cheering that the roof almost went off as Clay hunted up
+a violin and tuned it.
+
+Then began a waltz such as they had never heard, and in a moment the
+floor was covered with dancers, the officers in their uniforms, and the
+ladies in their light dresses, adding beauty to the scene. But the
+finest-looking couple on the floor was Stella and the leader of the
+broncho boys.
+
+Just before the dance began Bud approached Stella, and said:
+
+"See that gal over thar? Ther one with ther corn-silk bang? She is mine,
+an' I'm goin' ter dance this with her; see? She's ther kind o' girl I
+admire. She's shore corn-fed, an' some woman."
+
+"Don't you know who that is?" asked Stella.
+
+"'Deed an' I don't, but I soon will. Who is she?"
+
+"That's Sophy Cozak, from over on the Bohemian prairie. She's rich,
+Bud."
+
+"I don't care nothin' erbout thet. She's shaped up jest erbout right.
+Yaller hair, and soft as feathers. Watch my smoke."
+
+Bud sauntered over to the girl, who was really pretty and fat and pink.
+Apparently he was talking his usual nonsense to her, for she smiled,
+then arose from her chair, and went sailing around the room, Bud's
+partner in the waltz, and every time they passed Ted and Stella in the
+waltz Bud winked at them.
+
+Later, however, he met the irate escort of the girl, when he took her
+back to her seat, and they glared at one another for a moment; then the
+escort walked off, leaving Bud master of the situation.
+
+After this came the "sour-dough" quadrille, in which only old-timers
+were permitted to dance, and Bud led it with Mrs. "Cow" Suggs to the
+tune of "Turkey in the Straw."
+
+But finally, as the ball was drawing to a close, Ted heard Stella utter
+a slight scream, and saw her trying to draw her hand away from a young
+fellow, whose back was turned to him.
+
+He was across the room in an instant, and had the fellow by the
+shoulders and swung him around. It was Wiley Creviss, who had been
+drinking.
+
+"What has this cur been doing?" asked Ted.
+
+"He insisted on dancing with me, and when I told him I would not, he
+said he'd make me," answered Stella. "Then he caught hold of me, and I
+suppose I cried out, although I didn't mean to. That is what comes of
+wearing these clothes. If I'd had on my others, I'd have had my gun with
+me."
+
+Ted had heard enough. There was a window close by, which was about ten
+feet above the sidewalk. Ted rushed the struggling and cursing Creviss
+toward it, and by sheer strength lifted him to the sill and threw him
+out.
+
+"I guess we've had about enough of this," he said quietly, when he
+returned to Stella. "No more mixed balls for mine."
+
+As Ted was escorting Stella to the carriage, Billy Sudden ranged up
+alongside of him.
+
+"Look out for Creviss and his bunch on the way home. They're telling
+around what they're going to do with you. Want any help?"
+
+"No, I reckon not, Billy. Our bunch can take care of them."
+
+"They are going to try to kill you to-night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+SHOTS FROM THE DARK.
+
+
+As the broncho boys swung through the streets of Soldier Butte, after
+leaving the ball, Ted Strong was in the lead, and Bud, Ben, Kit, and
+Clay were riding on either side of the carriage, while Jack Slate, with
+his black coat tails flapping in the breeze, brought up the rear.
+
+They were passing an alley, at the corner of which an electric lamp shed
+a path of light across the street, when a revolver shot cracked out, and
+Ted's hat left his head.
+
+The ball had just grazed his scalp, and the merest fraction of an inch
+lower would have killed him.
+
+Instantly every one pulled up, and Ted, wheeling suddenly, rode at full
+speed for the mouth of the alley.
+
+As he did so another shot came from the alley.
+
+Ted's revolver was in his hand, and he fired at the spot where he had
+seen the flash from the muzzle of the assassin's weapon.
+
+He heard Mrs. Graham scream, and turned back to the side of the carriage
+only to find that one of the horses attached to it had been hit by the
+bullet, and was down, but that neither Stella nor Mrs. Graham had been
+injured, and he rode straight into the dark alley, followed by Bud and
+Kit, leaving Ben and the other boys to guard the carriage, for he did
+not know from what direction another attack might come.
+
+The alley was as dark as a pocket, and as Ted rode into it he well knew
+that he was taking his life in his hands.
+
+At the far end of the alley he heard the beat of feet running swiftly,
+and fired his revolver several times in that direction, and heard a yell
+of pain.
+
+"Come on, fellows," he called. "I think I got one of them that time."
+
+As he said this they saw two dark figures dart out of the alley into the
+street at the end opposite that at which the boys had entered, and they
+spurred in that direction.
+
+But when they came to the street there was no one in sight, but
+splotches of blood on the sidewalk testified to the fact that a wound
+had been inflicted upon some one.
+
+They rode up and down the block, but without discovering where their
+attackers had taken refuge.
+
+It was a low part of the town, and there was scarcely a house on either
+side of the street into which a criminal would not be taken and
+concealed.
+
+"We'll have to give it up," said Ted, at last. "We could hunt here all
+night without being any the wiser."
+
+Disappointed, they rode back, after tracing the bloodstains along the
+sidewalk to where they were lost in the dusty street.
+
+They found that the carriage horse had been so badly hurt that its
+recovery was impossible, and Ted mercifully put a bullet into its brain.
+
+The carriage was surrounded by people from the dance hall, who had been
+brought by the shots.
+
+Among them was Billy Sudden.
+
+"I reckon I called the turn," said he, as Ted came up.
+
+"You sure did," said Ted.
+
+"I ain't presuming to give advice none," said Billy, "but if it was me
+that got his sky piece knocked off and had a horse shot I believe I'd
+almost be tempted to round up this yere man's town and capture every
+hoodlum in it, and sweat them to find out who fired them shots."
+
+"It wouldn't do any good, Billy," said Ted. "The people in this town
+have got it in for the ranch people. They think the ranches are taking
+trade away from them. They'd sooner see the ranches split into farms of
+forty acres each. They'd have so many more farmers to rob that way."
+
+"I reckon so. But what are you going to do? I want to tell you that me
+and my boys stand with you till the burning pit freezes over, whenever
+and wherever you need us."
+
+"May have to call on you one of these days, but not now."
+
+"Ain't you going after that young imp, Creviss? Say, he's the meanest
+boy I ever saw. If I was his father I'd make him behave, or I'd bust him
+wide open."
+
+"I understand his father thinks Wiley is just smart and spirited, and is
+ready to back him up in anything he does."
+
+"Ought to make the old man popular."
+
+"Not so you can see it. But that boy is a tough citizen, and getting
+tougher every day."
+
+"I'm hearing a good deal about that kid these days. He trains with a
+bunch of bad ones over at Strongburg."
+
+"For instance?"
+
+"Lately he's been running with 'Skip' Riley, a crook who has the
+reputation of having made more money out of holding up trains than by
+working."
+
+"I know his record. How long has he been there?"
+
+"Several months. He came there from the Nebraska penitentiary, and he
+was smooth enough to work the reformed-criminal, first-offense racket on
+the women there until they finally got him a job in the fire department.
+He seems to be a hero in the eyes of a lot of tough young fellows here
+and in Strongburg, and they follow him in anything he suggests."
+
+"That's not a healthy proposition for a boy. Mr. Riley ought to be
+conducted out of town."
+
+"The worst of it is he has banded them into some sort of secret
+organization."
+
+"What do they call it?"
+
+"I did know, but I've plumb forgotten. There's a young fellow uptown
+whom I'm trying to keep straight on account of his folks back East. I
+know his sister." Ted could see Billy's face get red as he said this.
+"His name is Jack Farley. Perhaps you know him."
+
+Ted shook his head.
+
+"Well, he's a good kid, but he got into bad company at home and skipped.
+I corresponded once in a while with his sister, and she wrote me about
+him, and one day I run across him in a gambling house here. I hadn't
+seen him since he was a kid, but I knew him straight off because he
+looks so much like Kate--Miss Farley I mean--and I called him outside
+and had a talk with him. He was mighty uppy at first, and threw it into
+me so hard that I had to turn in and whale some sense into him."
+
+"That's one way of doing it," said Ted dryly.
+
+"It was the only way for him. He thought he'd get sympathy by writing
+home about it, but all he got was that they reckoned he deserved it or
+he wouldn't have got it. After that he was good. But he'd got in with
+that Creviss bunch and didn't seem able to get out of it, so I let him
+stay, only I made him come to me every day or two and tell me what he'd
+been up to, and that's as far as I've got."
+
+"Send him out to me."
+
+"He won't work on a ranch, or I'd had him out at the Dumb-bell long ago.
+He likes to work in town, so I got him a job, and so far he has stuck to
+it. But the gang keeps him from doing any good for himself. He knows the
+name of this organization of boys under Skip, and the next time I see
+him I'll find out what it is. Then you keep your eye peeled for it, for
+Creviss is one of the leaders, and I'm afraid, after to-night, he'll do
+all he can to make things lively for you. He's a mean, vindictive little
+cuss."
+
+"I'll keep a weather eye out for him, never fear. Thank you for the tip.
+This is the first time I've heard of the bunch, I've been away from the
+ranch so much lately."
+
+The boys had hitched Jack Slate's horse into the carriage, and he got on
+the seat with Carl, and they were ready to start.
+
+With an "Adios" to Billy Sudden and his boys, they were off, and arrived
+at the ranch house without further incident.
+
+Mrs. Graham and Stella had retired for the night, and the boys were
+sitting before the fire in the living room, for the night was chilly and
+Song had built up a good blaze against their return.
+
+Naturally, the conversation drifted to the shots fired at them from the
+alley.
+
+"While I wuz ambulatin' eround ter-night I overheard some conversation
+what wuz interestin'," remarked Bud, who was sprawling on a bearskin in
+front of the fire.
+
+"What was it?" asked Ted, who had been turning over in his mind what
+Billy Sudden had told him of the organization of tough boys under the
+guidance of the ex-convict.
+
+"I wuz standin' clost ter one o' ther winders what opens out onter ther
+alley when I hears two fellers talkin' below me," said Bud.
+
+"What were they saying?"
+
+"I wuzn't aimin' ter listen ter no one's privut conversation, but I
+caught your name, an' I tried ter hear what wuz said erbout yer."
+
+"Naturally."
+
+"One feller wuz talkin' pritty loud, ez if he'd been hittin' up ther
+tangle juice, an' ther other feller wuz tryin' ter make him put on ther
+soft pedal, what Clay calls talkin' pianissimo. But when the booze is in
+ther wit is out, an' ther feller would shut it down some fer a while,
+then he'd get a good lungful o' air an' bust out ergin."
+
+"What was it all about?"
+
+"Erbout runnin' us off'n ther reservation."
+
+"They'd have a fine chance to do that," said Ted, laughing.
+
+"It seems they hev some sort o' a club, ther 'Flyin' somethin' er
+other'--I couldn't jest catch what. To hear them fellers talk they're
+holy terrors."
+
+"How do they propose to run us off? Did you hear that?"
+
+"No; they didn't discuss ways an' means, but they said as how ther boss,
+they mentioned his name, but it's clear got erway from me, hed riz up on
+his hind legs an' hed give it out straight to ther gang thet ez long ez
+we wuz in ther country they couldn't do no good fer theirselfs,
+consequentially we must skidoo, ez they needed this part o' ther country
+fer their own elbowroom. They wuz real sassy erbout it, too."
+
+"I suppose they thought all they had to do was to serve notice on us,
+and we'd vacate."
+
+"I reckon thet's ther way they hed it chalked up."
+
+"Well, that bears out what Billy Sudden told me to-night after we were
+shot at."
+
+Then Ted related what Billy had told him about Skip Riley and his
+influence on the boys of Soldier Butte and Strongburg.
+
+"Thet thar's ther very feller they wuz talkin' erbout, thet Skip Riley.
+Now I recolict it, an' ther name o' their sweet-scented aggergation is
+ther 'Flyin' Demons.'"
+
+"Oh, mercy! Aren't they just awful?" said Ben, with a grin. "But which
+way are they expected to fly, toward you or from you?"
+
+"If they come monkeyin' eround these broad acres they'll be flyin' fer
+home," said Bud.
+
+"Or to jail, if we can prove what I believe against them," said Ted
+thoughtfully.
+
+"What is that?" asked Kit.
+
+"You haven't forgotten the mysterious robbery of the Strongburg Trust
+Company's office, have you?"
+
+"Nope."
+
+"You remember that a great many people to this day disbelieve that the
+office was robbed at all, because everything was found locked and
+barred, and the most careful examination showed that no one could have
+broken into the room from which a box containing twenty thousand dollars
+in currency and a package of negotiable bonds was stolen."
+
+"Shore, I remember. That's allays been ther greatest mystery in these
+parts."
+
+"You haven't forgotten the robbery soon afterward of the Soldier Butte
+post office and the disappearance of the registered mail pouch that came
+in on the train at two o'clock in the morning. It was thrown into the
+inner office by the carrier, and the office securely locked. Yet in the
+morning it could not be found, and there was nothing to show that the
+post office had been entered."
+
+"I reckon I haven't. We lost a bunch o' money in it ourselves."
+
+"But we got it back."
+
+"That's so, but the carrier is still in jail, awaitin' trial fer
+stealin' the sack, an' I don't believe he had any more ter do with it
+than I had."
+
+"And yet the most careful examination by the post-office inspectors
+failed to show that the place had been forcibly entered, and, although
+the carrier, Jim Bliss, had witnesses to show that he went into the post
+office with the sack, and came right out without it, still he is in
+jail, accused of stealing it," said Kit.
+
+"There are several other cases of mysterious robberies which I might
+cite, but those are enough," said Ted. "But the curious thing about it
+all is that the robbers left not the slightest trace, not a broken lock,
+not a mark to show that a window was forced or a hole bored. When the
+place is closed up at night there is the money, when it is opened in the
+morning the money is gone. And again, these robberies only occur when
+valuables are accidentally left out of the vaults."
+
+"It is curious. Everything yer say is true, but I never thought erlong
+it ez much ez you, an' I didn't figger out how near they wuz alike."
+
+"Well, what's your theory?" asked Ben. "You started to tell us."
+
+"Yes, who do you think committed these robberies?" asked Kit.
+
+"Who but a gang of bad boys under the leadership and tutelage of a
+criminal?" answered Ted. "Who but the gang of Strongburg and Soldier
+Butte young toughs who go by the silly name of 'The Flying Demons'? If
+they get gay around this ranch, we'll have to tie a can to them and head
+them for the reform school or the penitentiary."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE "FLYING DEMONS'" MESSAGE.
+
+
+When Ted Strong stepped out on the veranda the morning after the ball he
+found Stella staring curiously at a large, square piece of paper stuck
+on the wall of the ranch house.
+
+Nobody in the house had risen early, as they had all been up very late,
+except Song, the cook, who, when he saw that no one was disposed to turn
+out for an early breakfast, had gone out to work in the garden, in which
+he had with much skill raised an abundance of vegetables that year.
+
+"Good morning, Stella; what is so interesting?" said Ted.
+
+"It beats me," answered Stella. "I wonder if this is one of Ben's
+witticisms. If it is, he ought to be spanked."
+
+Ted was standing by her side, reading what had been printed on the
+paper.
+
+"H'm! this is good," said he, and read aloud, as if to himself, the
+following warning:
+
+     "TED STRONG AND BRONCHO BOYS: You ought to know by this time that
+     you are not wanted in this part of the country. Advise you to sell
+     out and skip. If you stay your lives will be made a hell on earth,
+     and we have the stuff that will do it. This is no bluff, as you
+     will find out if you disregard this word of friendly warning. You
+     will be given a short time to sell your stock, then git. This means
+     business.
+
+     "THE FLYING DEMONS."
+
+"That's a pretty good effort for a lot of kids," said Ted. "Wait, here's
+a watermark in the paper. Let's see what it is?"
+
+Ted took the paper from the wall and held it up to the light.
+
+In the paper was the representation of the fabulous monster, the
+griffin, and woven into the paper were the words "Griffin Bond."
+
+"That's as easy as shooting fish in a tub," said Ted, as he folded the
+paper and put it in his pocket.
+
+"The fellow who put that warning up certainly left his footprints behind
+him," said Stella, with a smile.
+
+"He did, but even without that I should have known the authors of it."
+
+"How?"
+
+Ted then told Stella the substance of the conversation between the boys
+the night before, and of his suspicions as to the guilt of Creviss and
+his gang in the mysterious robberies that had occurred in the two towns.
+"But," he concluded, "it is not up to me to get at the matter. It is
+work for the sheriff. However, if those boys try any of their
+foolishness with us, we'll turn in and send them to the reform school,
+where they belong."
+
+"They're certainly a bad lot. I was talking to a lady at the 'rent rag'
+last night, and she was telling me what a horrid boy young Creviss is."
+
+"I wish I knew at what time this notice was put up here. It must have
+been done in daylight, for it was getting light in the east when we
+turned in."
+
+"Perhaps some one was so quiet as to put it there while you were all
+inside talking."
+
+"I hardly think so, for we were all sitting near the fireplace, and the
+room was so warm that Kit opened the door, and it stood open until we
+separated to go to bed."
+
+"Sure you could have heard them? Some of you were talking pretty loud,
+for I heard you in my room just before I went to sleep."
+
+"Well, of course, I couldn't be certain about it; but I came out on the
+veranda to take a look at the sky just before I turned in, and I didn't
+see it then. Surely, as I turned to come back into the house my eye
+would have caught that big piece of white paper beside the door."
+
+"What time was it that the most important part of your conversation took
+place?"
+
+"Just before we broke up. I remember we were going over the mysterious
+robberies, and I expressed the opinion that they were the work of the
+gang under Skip Riley and Creviss."
+
+"That was probably the time the fellow who put up that notice was about.
+You see, if he followed you from Soldier Butte he wouldn't get here much
+earlier than that, for he wouldn't dare ride a pony the length of the
+valley at that time of the morning, so he had to walk from the south
+fence."
+
+"By Jove! I believe you are right."
+
+"If my theory is true, the fellow who brought the warning also carried
+back your conversation to the gang."
+
+"Then they surely will have something to fight us on."
+
+"Yes, fear that you will get on their trail will compel them to try to
+make their bluff good, as expressed in that message."
+
+"I'd give something to know when this thing was put up."
+
+"Let's see; it was about four o'clock when you turned in, wasn't it?"
+
+"Just about."
+
+"And just about that time Song gets up to cook for the boys in the bunk
+house who get out to relieve the night watch in the big pasture. Doesn't
+he?"
+
+"Those are the orders."
+
+"Then have Song in, and we'll ask him if he saw a strange man around the
+place when he got up. He might have seen him and thought nothing of it,
+and would never think of reporting it."
+
+"Good idea. Wait here and I will call him."
+
+In a few minutes the Chinaman came shuffling in from the garden."
+
+"See here, Song," said Ted. "Did you see a strange man here early this
+morning?"
+
+"Stlange man!" said Song meditatively, with a smile of innocence on his
+broad, yellow face. "No savvy stlange man."
+
+"Man no b'long here," said Stella,
+
+"Oh, yes, I savvy. No see stlange man."
+
+"What time you get up?"
+
+"Me gettee up fo' clock."
+
+"Did you go outside?"
+
+"Yes, me go out an' call cowbloy. Tell gettee up, P. D. Q. No gettee up,
+no bleakfast."
+
+"What did you see outside that you don't see every morning?"
+
+"Evely moling? No savvy."
+
+"Yesterday morning, day before that, day before that, all mornings."
+
+"Lesterday moling, evely moling?"
+
+"Oh, the deuce! You try him, Stella."
+
+"Say, Song, you see something makee you flaid this moling?" said Stella,
+imitating Song's pidgin English.
+
+"Oh, yes, me lookee out, plenty jump in."
+
+"What you see?"
+
+"Plenty wolf. He sneakee lound side house. I lun like devil."
+
+"What wolf look like?"
+
+"Plenty big wolf. When he see me he lise up on hind legee, and lun likee
+man."
+
+"Ah ha! There's your clew," said Stella, turning to Ted. "The fellow who
+posted this notice was disguised in a wolfskin so that he could sneak up
+to the house unnoticed by the Chinaman, or, if seen, he would make a
+bluff at scaring Song."
+
+"Stella, you're a wonder."
+
+"Say, Song, you no likee wolf?"
+
+"No, me plenty flaid wolf," answered the Chinaman, shaking his head
+violently.
+
+"All right, Song. I givee you shotgun. Next time you see wolf, plenty
+shoot. Savvy?"
+
+"All light. You givee me gun, I shootee wolf plenty. Makee go 'ki-yi'
+and lun belly fast."
+
+Song went away with a grin on his face like a crack in a piece of stale
+cheese.
+
+"Stella, you've solved it. I believe whoever put that message there
+heard our conversation, and at least they'll hate us a bit worse than
+before, if that is possible."
+
+"Let them bark, the wolves. I never was afraid of a wolf, anyhow. If you
+want to throw me into spasms show me a bobcat. That's the fighting
+animal."
+
+During breakfast the boys were shown the warning that had been posted
+beside the door, and it was decided to pay no attention to it, but to
+watch for the appearance of a messenger from the "Flying Demons," and if
+one was caught to make it hot for him.
+
+Ted had no doubt but Creviss and his gang would try to injure the
+broncho boys by every means in their power, but until they committed
+some overt act the boys could hardly afford to become the aggressors.
+
+For several days nothing happened, and the Moon Valley Ranch went the
+even tenor of its way.
+
+Preparations were under way for the fall round-up, and Ted had received
+letters from several heavy stock buyers that they would be present at
+that time to make their selections of such cattle as they desired to
+buy.
+
+It had always been the custom at the ranch to have an entertainment of
+some sort at the ranch afterward. This was started for the purpose of
+amusing the buyers with cowboy tricks and that sort of thing, but it had
+developed into something far greater, until now all the world was
+invited to the barbecue and the "doings" afterward. No one was barred
+who behaved himself.
+
+This year Ben Tremont had charge of the entertainment, and he was not
+limited as to expense, for every fellow was on his honor to provide the
+best entertainment for the least money.
+
+The manager's plans were generally kept secret from every one except Ted
+and Stella, who were the exceptional ones and were in every one's
+secrets and confidence.
+
+Ben had declared himself as to the superlative excellence of his show
+this year.
+
+"It's going to be hard to beat," said he, in boasting about it. "We've
+had some pretty good shows, but nothing like the one I'm getting up
+now."
+
+Kit had charge of the cowboy end of it, the races, the bronchobusting,
+the roping and tying contests; in fact, all the arena acts.
+
+This year Clay Whipple attended to the inner man, and was to provide a
+genuine old Southern barbecue, with trimmings.
+
+The round-up was to begin in less than a week, and the festivities were
+to follow immediately.
+
+Invitations had been sent broadcast into Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming,
+Idaho, Montana, and the Pacific coast States; everywhere, in fact, where
+the boys had friends, and from the responses received an enormous crowd
+would be present.
+
+Three days elapsed after the finding of the warning beside the door
+before anything more was heard from the Flying Demons.
+
+Then Ted found another message from them near the front door.
+
+It was as follows:
+
+     "TED STRONG AND OTHERS: You think you know who committed the
+     mysterious robberies, but you are on the wrong track. You will
+     never find out, while your secrets are known to us. This is warning
+     number two. The third and last will come soon; then look out.
+
+     "THE FLYING DEMONS."
+
+"Now, why in the world do they call themselves the Flying Demons?" asked
+Ted reflectively, as they were reading the second screed from their
+enemies. "It seems to me that there is the secret of the whole thing.
+You never can tell what a pack of boys like that are going to do. They
+are more to be feared than older criminals, for they have no judgment,
+and will rush into the most reckless things just to show off before one
+another."
+
+"Pay no attention to them," advised Stella. "That's what I think they
+are doing now--showing off. I doubt if they think they can frighten us,
+but they are afraid of us."
+
+"Oh, by the way," said Ted, suddenly thinking of something. "You
+remember I looked at the watermark on that first warning we received
+from these terrible demons. Well, this screed has the same
+mark--'Griffin Bond.' When I was in town to-day I went into the bank.
+Old man Creviss was behind the counter, and that precious son of his was
+beside him. I had a check cashed, and Mr. Creviss asked me why we didn't
+keep our bank account there. I told him we had thought something about
+it, but I didn't mention that we had decided not to. Then I asked him
+for a couple of sheets of paper on which to write a note, and he handed
+them to me. I took them to the window and held them up to the light to
+see the watermark."
+
+"And what was it?" asked Stella eagerly.
+
+"The griffin."
+
+"Then the paper on which these things were written came from the bank?"
+
+"They certainly did. After I had looked at the watermark I turned to
+young Creviss and looked him square in the eye. He turned as white as
+chalk, and his lip trembled."
+
+"He's a coward," said Stella positively. "Why didn't he bluff it out?"
+
+"He had nothing to stand on; but, as you say, he's a rank coward, and
+it's my opinion that it's only fear of Skip Riley that keeps him at it,
+anyway. At all events, I gave him a good scare, for instead of writing
+the note I folded up the paper and put it into my pocket. He stepped
+forward as if he would interfere and make me give the paper back, not
+having used it, but I gave him a glassy glare and walked out."
+
+"Then it was he who wrote the warnings."
+
+"Of course, and he knows that I have him dead to rights. That is another
+mark against me with the gang."
+
+"Better watch out."
+
+"They can have me if they can get me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+SONG SHOOTS A WOLF.
+
+
+Early one morning the broncho boys were startled out of their beds by
+the double explosion of a shotgun, followed by excited yells and screams
+of agony.
+
+"That Chinaman has shot somebody," thought Ted, as he rapidly skipped
+out of bed and pulled on his trousers.
+
+In the living room he met all the boys, as scantily clad as himself,
+hurrying out to see what the noise was all about.
+
+They could hear Song behind the house screaming in Chinese at the top of
+his voice, and in an ear-splitting falsetto, which showed that he was
+tremendously excited.
+
+Thither they rushed, and for a moment the ludicrous scene far
+outbalanced the seriousness of what had happened.
+
+On the ground was a young fellow about seventeen years of age. He was
+writhing with pain, and the blood was oozing through his clothes in
+fifty places.
+
+"Ha, ha!" shrieked Song. "Me shootee wolf, turnee into man light away.
+Ha, ha, me allee same plenty smart man, likee magician."
+
+"Yes, you're a hot magician," said Bud; "You've made this feller second
+cousin ter a porous plaster. That's what you've done."
+
+"Who is he, Song?" asked Ted.
+
+"Me no savvy him. Me comee out chicken house getee eggs fo' bleakfast. I
+cally gun, shotee plenty wolf all samee Mliss Stella say."
+
+"But this is not a wolf."
+
+"All samee wolf. I open chicken house do'. I see wolf. Plenty glowl at
+Song. I no likee gun. Shutee my eye. Pull tligger, an' gun goee off. All
+samee wolf no mo' glowlee, him yellee like thundeh. When smokee blow way
+wolf gonee, all samee man comee. I plenty magician, I thinkee."
+
+Ted looked in the chicken house, and on the floor lay the dried hide of
+a big gray wolf.
+
+Now he understood. The message had come the third time from the Flying
+Demons.
+
+"Kit, run around to the front door and see if there is a message there
+for us from our friends the Demons."
+
+In a moment Kit was back, holding a piece of paper in his hand.
+
+Ted took it from him, and read it.
+
+It was the third and last warning. It said:
+
+     "TED STRONG: We have warned you twice before to leave this part of
+     the country, but you have made no move to do so. This is the third
+     warning. If you are not away from here in a week the vengeance will
+     fall upon you. Beware!
+
+     "THE FLYING DEMONS."
+
+"Did you bring this?" asked Ted, of the wretched youth, who still lay
+upon the ground groaning from his numerous wounds.
+
+There was no reply. The fellow could only toss his head from side to
+side and rub his legs, into which the bulk of the shot had been fired by
+the excited Chinaman.
+
+"You won't answer, eh? Well, we'll find a way to make you. I'm glad
+you've given us a week," said Ted, laughing. "That will at least give us
+time to hold our round-up and festivities."
+
+"Oh, if I live through this I'll never go into anything like it again,"
+moaned the youth upon the ground.
+
+"Here, stand up," said Ted to him. "You're not badly hurt. You're only
+stung, twice. Get on your feet and we'll see what we can do for you.
+You're a long way from dead yet. What's your name?"
+
+"Jack Farley. Oh, if I could only be sure that I wasn't going to die!"
+exclaimed the youth.
+
+He was the young fellow Billy Sudden had spoken about.
+
+"We can't tell how badly you are hurt until you get up," said Ted.
+"Rise, and we'll go into the house and examine your wounds."
+
+Slowly young Farley got to his feet, but when he tried to walk he
+uttered a howl of pain, and sank down again.
+
+"Yellow all through," said Ben, in a tone of disgust.
+
+"Ever have about three ounces of duck shot pumped into yer system
+through yer hide?" asked Bud.
+
+"Never had."
+
+"Then yer don't know all ther joys o' life. I've had one ounce shot
+inter my leg, an' if ther contents o' two shells gives double ther pain
+one does, then excuse me. An' mine wuz only snipe shot, at that."
+
+"Pick him up, boys, and lay him on the lounge in my room," said Ted.
+"I'll take a look at him after a while, meantime some of you watch him
+to see that he doesn't get away. We need him for evidence."
+
+When Bud and Ben had carried the wounded boy into Ted's room and laid
+him on the lounge, Bud stood over him regarding him with interest.
+
+"I sorter envy yer, kid," he said at last.
+
+"You can have 'em, but I don't see why you envy me," said Farley.
+
+"I wuz thinkin' how happy you'll be all through these lonesome winter
+evenings, pickin' ther shot out o' yer legs."
+
+When Farley had been carried into the house, Ted called Kit to him and
+said:
+
+"Kit, I wish you'd ride over to Suggs' ranch and tell Billy Sudden that
+his protégé is over here with his hide peppered with bird shot, and ask
+him to ride over and take a look at him."
+
+During breakfast they related to Stella the story of Song's wolf hunt in
+the chicken house, and the result.
+
+Song was as proud as a peacock, and wore "the smile that won't come off"
+as he flitted around the table waiting on every one.
+
+"Say, Missee Stella," he said, "Song all samee one cowbloy now, eh? What
+you sayee?"
+
+"Yes, Song, you have certainly followed instructions. You got your wolf
+that time, sure. How you likee shootee?"
+
+"No likee, Missee Stella. Makee too much noisee, all samee too much
+plenty fiahclackers. Kickee like blazes. Plitty near knockee arm outee
+Song."
+
+The boys stripped Farley after breakfast, and found his legs in pretty
+bad condition. They looked as if Song's gun had been loaded with
+smallpox, and all of it had lodged in the lad's legs.
+
+"Boys, we'll have to take relays in picking the shot from our first
+victim," said Ted. "There's too much work here for one man."
+
+"He's a turrible-lookin' demon now with a hide full o' shot. Ther
+punctured demon of Demonville! Say, kid, I'd hate ter laugh at yer, but
+yer a sight. Why didn't yer fix it so's them two charges o' shot would
+hev been distributed among ther gang? Then yer could sit down o'
+evenings an' pick shot out o' one another instid o' plottin' agin' ther
+whites."
+
+"Let him be, Bud, he's having all he can do to think about these shots,
+as it is. The things for us to do now is to pick them out of him."
+
+"We'll let him count 'em ez they come out. That'll help take his mind
+off his troubles, but he'll hev ter hev a great head fer figgers."
+
+They went to work on him with their penknives, as most of the shot were
+just beneath the skin. But it was painful enough, at that, and every
+time a shot came out Farley groaned deeper. While they were engaged in
+this, to them, pleasing occupation, Billy Sudden arrived.
+
+"Hello, kid," he said to Farley. "So you got it at last. I could have
+told you to keep away from Ted Strong and his bunch. They're bad
+medicine for a herd o' mavericks like you to graze with. You tackled the
+wrong outfit. They're too many fer you, and if you'll all take a fool's
+advice you'll keep away, or else some of you will be looking through a
+griddle in a door up at the penitentiary."
+
+Farley made no reply, only hid his face and groaned at every extracted
+shot.
+
+"Say, kid, what about this gang you belong to?"
+
+The boy shook his head.
+
+"D'ye mean to say you're not going to tell me about it?"
+
+The boy nodded.
+
+"What's the reason you won't?"
+
+"The oath."
+
+"Slush with the oath. You had no business to take it. What'll the home
+folks think when I tell them about this. Shot by a Chinaman in the
+chicken house at dawn!"
+
+Billy paused to let the ignominy of it sink in. It did sound pretty bad
+and mean and cheap. There were no heroics in this, such as Farley had at
+first considered his rĂ´le.
+
+He hid his face on his arm, and his body shook. Billy had probed deep
+into his pride.
+
+"Well, come on," said Billy. "This is no time for a conspirator to do
+the baby act. I suppose you thought it was to be a spotlight scene where
+you stood in the center doing the heavy stunt, and all the rest sat on
+the bleachers and applauded. By gee! Peppered by a Chinaman, and with
+snipe shot, at that."
+
+"Oh, quit it!" said Farley. "I know I was a chump for sticking with
+those fellows, but I needed the money."
+
+"What money?"
+
+"My share of the--"
+
+"What?"
+
+"Oh, nothing."
+
+"Yes, there is something. What robbery was it you shared in?"
+
+"I didn't steal anything."
+
+"I suppose not. You did the dirty work of being lookout, or something
+like that, and they threw you the bone while they kept the meat and fat,
+eh?"
+
+"What shall I do with him?" asked Ted.
+
+"Keep him locked up as a hostage. That may bring those young fools to
+their senses," said Billy. "I'm disgusted with him for not making a
+clean breast of the whole foolish business, and if it wasn't for his
+sister, I'd toss him up in the air and forget him."
+
+The rest of the day was spent in picking shot out of Farley, and by
+evening he was relieved of the last one.
+
+"We'll put him in that empty room at the corner of the house, and take
+turns watching him through the night," said Ted.
+
+Until bedtime Farley sat in the living room with the rest of them, and
+they were unusually guarded in their conversation.
+
+When it came time to retire Farley was conducted to the room which was
+to be his prison, and it fell to Carl to take the first watch, and to
+call Ben at one o'clock.
+
+In the room there was a lounge and a pair of blankets for Farley, a
+table and a lamp, and a chair for the watch.
+
+"Whatever you do, don't go to sleep, Carl," said Ted. "The reason I'm
+putting you on the first watch is because you're such a sleepyhead."
+
+"Don'd vorry aboud me," said Carl, with a yawn. "I pet you I vas der
+sleepinglessness feller in der whole bunch. If he gets avay on my vatch
+it vill not be pecause I don'd sleep."
+
+"I guess you mean all right, but I swear I can't understand you. Only
+keep awake."
+
+"Oh, yah; I avake keeping all der time."
+
+Carl sat in the chair watching his prisoner, and soon saw Farley's chest
+heaving regularly and heard his deep breathing as he slept. Then things
+seemed to waver and fade away.
+
+Carl started up at hearing some one beating on the door, and sat rubbing
+his eyes. It was broad daylight.
+
+"All right, I'll get up pooty soon yet. Is preakfast retty?"
+
+"Here, open the door. This is Ted."
+
+"Vait a minute."
+
+Carl staggered sleepily to the door and unlocked it.
+
+"Where is your prisoner?" asked Ted, stalking into the room, and looking
+at the open window.
+
+"My vat? Ach, Gott in himmel, vat haf I dided? I am schoost coming
+avake. He iss gone! I haf slept on vatch. I am foreffer disgraced. Kill
+me, Ted! I haf no appetite to live any more alretty," cried Carl.
+
+Ted had been angry at discovering the escape of Farley, for he had
+conceived a plan to use him against Creviss. He had risen early, and
+when he found that all the boys were in bed except Carl, he immediately
+suspected the truth.
+
+But Carl's despairing manner turned him from anger.
+
+"Never mind, Carl," he said. "It was my fault for putting you on watch.
+You were not cut out for a watchman. Or, perhaps, you were, according
+to the funny papers, but not of prisoners."
+
+During breakfast Carl was compelled to endure the jokes of the boys at
+his failure to guard the prisoner, which he did with a lugubrious
+countenance; then, at a signal from Ted, the subject was dropped.
+
+About ten o'clock Billy Sudden rode up to the ranch house.
+
+There was something in his manner that betokened news of importance, and
+he strode unbidden into the living room, where Ted was sitting at his
+desk.
+
+"Where's the kid?" he asked abruptly.
+
+"Who, Farley?" asked Ted, looking up from his work.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Skipped."
+
+"What?"
+
+"I said skipped."
+
+"Great Scott! I'd give a hundred dollars if he hadn't."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"What time did he get away?"
+
+"Don't know, exactly. Carl was watching him, but he fell asleep almost
+as soon as they were in the room together, and didn't wake up until six
+o'clock this morning, and Farley was gone. No one knows how he got away
+or at what time. It might have been any time. He probably woke up in the
+night and saw that Carl was dead to the world, and opened the window,
+dropped to the ground, and hit the trail. That's all I know about it.
+But what makes you so anxious about it?"
+
+"Then you haven't heard the news?"
+
+"Guess not. What is it?"
+
+"The First National Bank was robbed last night."
+
+"Great guns! Creviss' bank! That's the United States depository!"
+
+"The same."
+
+"What are the details?"
+
+"I rode through town this morning on my way over here to see if being
+confined for the night wouldn't make the kid talk, when I saw a bunch of
+men standing in front of the bank. I butted in and asked what the
+excitement was, and they told me that the bank had been robbed."
+
+"But how?"
+
+"That's what nobody knows. When the cashier, Mr. Henson, got to the bank
+this morning everything apparently was all right. The doors and windows
+were fastened, and there was no sign anywhere that the bank had been
+forcibly entered. Of course, he didn't look at these things first. He
+went to the vault and opened it at the proper time and examined its
+contents casually. Everything seemed to be as usual. But when, a few
+minutes later, he went to get out the currency, it was all gone. He
+hadn't counted up when I left there, so no one knows the exact amount,
+but it was large."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE BATTLE WITH THE BULL.
+
+
+The excitement incident to the mysterious robbery of the Creviss bank
+was intense.
+
+How had it been done? This was the question that every one was asking
+his neighbor. But none could answer it.
+
+The evening before the robbery had taken place the bank had been closed
+by the cashier, and by Mr. Creviss himself.
+
+The money, books, and papers, with which the business of the day had
+been conducted, had been carried into the vault by the cashier, and Mr.
+Creviss, who was an unusually cautious man, looked into the vault after
+the cashier came out, to see that everything was in. Then he closed the
+vault doors, and turned the handle of the combination, setting the time
+lock, thus securing the doors from being opened until nine o'clock the
+next morning.
+
+The only way in which it could be opened, and an almost impossible way,
+at that, was by blowing it open.
+
+And yet the vault had been robbed, and the vault lock had apparently not
+been tampered with.
+
+It had the appearance of necromancy.
+
+Ted rode into town with Billy Sudden, arriving about noon.
+
+Billy rode on to the Dumb-bell Ranch, and Ted stopped at the bank. It
+seemed deserted. But as he entered the door he saw a big man, dressed in
+the flashy clothes affected by managers of cheap circuses and fake
+shows, standing at the end of the counter talking to Wiley Creviss.
+
+"I can't do anything with that check," Ted heard Creviss say. "You'll
+have to come in when the cashier is here. The safe is locked, and I
+can't get into it, anyway, and all the currency is in it. I'm only
+staying here until the cashier gets back from dinner."
+
+"When will that be?" asked the stranger.
+
+"In about half an hour."
+
+The stranger picked up his valise, which seemed to be heavy, and walked
+out grumbling about banks that closed up for dinner.
+
+Ted said nothing to Wiley, but he took a good look about the bank,
+disregarding the other lad's scowls.
+
+He observed that the vault door stood open, but that there was no money
+in sight, and the place had an air of desertion, as if business was
+slack.
+
+When Strong had seen all that he wanted of the apparent entrances to the
+bank that a criminal might use to force his way in, he left with two
+distinct impressions on his mind. One was that the vault door had been
+open when he came in, and that Wiley Creviss had abruptly closed it when
+he saw Ted staring at it. The other was the remarkable appearance of the
+showman, for without doubt he was that.
+
+As before, the mysterious robbery of the bank proved to be too hard a
+nut for the citizens to crack, and when they had thrashed out all the
+theories advanced and knocked them to pieces again, they forgot it.
+
+Not so Ted Strong. This succession of robberies, none of them leaving
+behind the slightest clew to the perpetrators, interested him. Its very
+difficulty of solution, which had made the lesser brains abandon it,
+compelled his attention and interest.
+
+Had it been his business to tackle the problem, he gladly would have
+done so. But the only Federal end to it was the robbery of the post
+office, which the inspectors of that department were working on, unless,
+perhaps, it might be found that the funds of the government for general
+purposes at Fort Rincon had been stolen. Then the case would come under
+the operations of the United States marshal's office.
+
+But other and more pressing things of a personal nature gradually took
+his attention from crime, and he devoted himself to the coming round-up.
+
+All the spare room in the Moon Valley Ranch house was occupied by
+visiting cattle buyers, who had come to the round-up. The rooms of the
+boys had been given up to guests, while they camped on the prairie
+behind the house.
+
+At last the great day came.
+
+Early in the morning the boys were out, and with them was Stella.
+
+Cow Suggs had loaned Ted his outfit for the day, and Ted was glad to
+have the boys, for there was no cleverer cowman in the country at a
+round-up, saving Ted himself, who was king of them all, and so conceded,
+than the dark, lithe cow-puncher, Billy Sudden, who had been through
+college and had traveled in Europe before he deserted the East for the
+toil, freedom, and excitement of the range.
+
+It was now time to round up all the stock on the Moon Valley Range, cut
+out the marketable stuff, and brand the yearlings.
+
+This is not only a troublesome task, but it is dangerous, and not a
+moment of the time until the task is accomplished but has its exciting
+adventures and escapes from death.
+
+The boys did not know exactly how many head of cattle they owned. They
+had been selling and replenishing their stock from time to time, and the
+increase of calves had been very large, for Moon Valley, situated in the
+lee of Dent du Chien, or Dog Tooth Mountain, with its rich grass, the
+richest in the Black Hills, and its abundance of fresh, clear spring
+water, was an ideal breeding place.
+
+There were on the ranch at that time several dangerous bulls, and this
+added to the hard work of the day, because the monarchs of the range did
+not like to be disturbed and have their following broken up and
+scattered.
+
+In the big pasture, which lay at the foot of Deni du Chien Mountain, was
+the largest herd in the valley.
+
+The king of this herd was known as "Gladiator." He was always looking
+for a fight, and never refused a challenge, whether from another bull or
+from what he considered his natural enemy, man.
+
+A man on foot in that pasture would have stood no more chance for his
+life than if he tried to stand in front of the engine that hauls the
+Empire State Express going at top speed. Gladiator would kill him just
+as quickly and as surely.
+
+So it was that strangers were kept out of the big pasture, whether they
+were mounted or not, unless they were escorted by some member of the
+broncho boys, or one of the older cowboys about the place. Stella, with
+her red bolero, nearly caused a tragedy one day by coming within the
+vision of Gladiator, who took the bolero for a challenge.
+
+Stella turned in time and fled, and had it not been for the fleetness of
+her pony and her own superb riding, there had been no more to relate of
+the adventures of the girl pard of the Moon Valley boys.
+
+The morning of the round-up Ted undertook personally to turn the herd to
+the rendezvous.
+
+Stella insisted upon accompanying him, and at last he was persuaded to
+give his consent, but only on the condition that she wear subdued
+colors, which she did, with skirt and jacket of a light-dun color.
+
+The herd was grazing in the noble range that stretched for miles along
+and across the valley in the shadow of the splendid mountain.
+
+It was widely scattered, and as the band of horsemen rode out toward it
+the cattle lifted their heads for a moment and took a quiet survey, then
+returned to their feeding.
+
+Not so Gladiator.
+
+The great white-and-black bull raised his head proudly, and his fierce,
+steady eyes regarded them without fear.
+
+Indeed, Gladiator knew no fear, whether of man or beast, wolf pack or
+mountain lion, serpent or bird of prey.
+
+He was monarch of that herd, and no one said him nay except Ted Strong,
+who ruled the ranch and all that was on it, by the general consent of
+his comrades and his own fitness for his rulership.
+
+Ted and Gladiator had had numerous differences, and it was the bull that
+had backed down every time.
+
+Yet he did not fear Ted. Rather he hated him because he could not
+conquer this quick, brave, and resourceful fellow.
+
+"That bull will be the death of you some of these days," said Stella to
+Ted once when Gladiator, resenting Ted's intrusion into the herd for the
+purpose of cutting out some calves, charged him. But Ted in the end
+threw the bull with his rope, humiliating him before all the herd. From
+that time forth Gladiator's eyes always became red with anger when he
+saw Ted, but he did not misbehave, because he respected Ted's lariat and
+quirt, and the strong arm that wielded them.
+
+When they got to the herd the boys circled it from behind, riding in
+slowly.
+
+Ted and Stella were on the left point, with Bud and Kit opposite.
+
+Bill Sudden was in the rear to drive, while the other Moon Valley
+cowboys and Billy Sudden's boys came in from the sides.
+
+At the first interruption of their grazing the cattle moved along
+sluggishly, but Gladiator did not move.
+
+The big bull stood his ground, with eyes gazing steadily at Ted and
+Stella, who were approaching him slowly and persistently.
+
+Suddenly Gladiator threw up his head and gave a low, menacing bellow.
+
+"The old chap is waking up," said Ted.
+
+"Be careful, Ted," said Stella. "He's not in very good humor."
+
+"I see he isn't. But if we go at him easily he'll be all right."
+
+"Don't take any chances with him alone, Ted."
+
+"Still, I'm not going to let him boss this job. He's got to lead this
+herd out, and that's all there is to it, for it's a cinch that they
+won't go without him."
+
+Stella knew that it was useless to say anything more, as when Ted made
+up his mind to do a thing, it would be done if everything broke.
+
+Billy Sudden had got the herd moving up from the rear, but the forward
+end of the herd was stagnant.
+
+Gladiator refused to budge, and stood with his stubborn forefeet planted
+on the sod, his head raised insolently.
+
+But it could be seen that his anger was working within him, and would
+soon break forth.
+
+Bud was working the cattle nearest him gently on the move, but when they
+saw that their leader was standing still they ceased their progress and
+began to crowd and mill, and the steers were getting reckless and
+beginning to throw their tails in the air and utter low, growling
+bellows.
+
+It was a critical moment. Who was to be the master must be decided
+quickly. If the bull conquered then the cattle would get to milling
+generally, and the mischief would be to pay.
+
+It would not take long for them to stampede, if the bull started the
+panic, or made a charge. Ted saw the danger, and knew that the condition
+must be treated diplomatically, which was the easier way, or with force,
+of which the outcome was most uncertain.
+
+It depended, in a measure, on the temper of the bull himself.
+
+The cattle were crowding up from the rear, and those nearest the bull
+were beginning to feel the pressure and were pushing toward Gladiator,
+who was fifteen feet in advance of the herd.
+
+When he noticed that the herd was moving, his anger increased, and he
+lowered his head and began to paw the ground.
+
+Ted held up his hand to Billy Sudden as a signal to cease pushing the
+animals, but they had got the impetus and would not stop.
+
+In a moment they had begun to crowd upon the bull, who, with legs
+planted stubbornly, would not be crowded, and began to gore aside those
+who were being pushed upon him.
+
+Ted saw instantly that this was going to result in disaster if not
+stopped, as the frightened steers, feeling Gladiator's sharp horns,
+turned back on the herd, and were pushing their way frantically into the
+center of it, while others, coming up, were forced upon the bull's
+horns.
+
+"Darn a stubborn bull, anyhow!" exclaimed Ted. "I've got to get in and
+put a stop to that, or Gladiator will have the herd to milling or
+running in less than ten minutes."
+
+"Be careful," was all Stella said, but there was a world of anxiety in
+her voice.
+
+"You better get out of the way, Stella," said Ted "Ride to the rear.
+You will see it all, and have just as much fun, and will be out of
+danger."
+
+"What are you going to do?"
+
+"I'm going to make that bull move along or bust a string."
+
+Ted's jaw was set with determination, and when Stella saw that she knew
+that it would be useless for her to say anything more.
+
+Ted loosened his rope, grasped his quirt firmly, and rode slowly toward
+the bull, while Stella signaled to Billy Sudden to ride up to the head
+of the herd.
+
+The boys, observing Ted's actions, knew what he was about to do, and
+ceased moving the cattle and sat on their horses to watch for the
+outcome of the contest.
+
+Most of them felt like spectators at a performance of a specially
+hazardous feat, and held their breath. But each was on the alert to rush
+to Ted's assistance the moment he seemed to need it.
+
+As the bull looked up, and saw Ted approaching him, he ceased pawing,
+and stood with watchful eyes. Occasionally he sent forth a challenging
+bellow. His tail was switching from side to side, like that of an angry
+cat.
+
+Ted was coming alertly. No one knew the danger of openly attacking the
+bull better than himself, and yet it must be done.
+
+It was rule or kill, so far as the bull was concerned, for if the boys
+could not manage him they would be compelled to kill him so that they
+might be able to handle the herd, substituting a more amiable bull in
+his place.
+
+A cowman cannot always tell what a bull is going to do when it is faced
+on the range. It may dodge the issue or it may attack, and Ted was wary
+enough to be on the watch for the latter contingency.
+
+Therefore, when Gladiator, without so much warning as the lowering of
+his head, sprang at Ted when he was not more than ten feet away, he
+covered the distance in two or three lumbering bounds, and Ted had just
+sufficient time to wheel his pony to one side to avoid being bowled
+over. But the horns of the bull struck the gaiter on his left leg, as it
+rushed past, and tore it off, almost unseating him. Stella, breathlessly
+watching the encounter, gasped as she saw Ted reel in his saddle. But
+she breathed easier as she saw him straighten up and turn his horse
+rapidly to face the bull again.
+
+With almost incredible agility, the bull turned and came rushing at Ted
+again, but the leader of the broncho boys rode swiftly away from him,
+tolling him away from the herd.
+
+Finally the bull stopped and began to paw the earth. Ted, to tempt him
+to another attack, directed Sultan toward him at full speed, intending
+to swerve when he got close to his bullship, and dodge him and infuriate
+him further, so that he would follow. He knew that Sultan could outrun
+Gladiator.
+
+But, as he got close to the bull, in spite of the warning cries from
+Stella and Bud, Gladiator swerved to meet the attack, and before the
+fleet-footed pony could escape he was struck, and went rolling over the
+ground.
+
+A cry of horror went up from the boys as they all dashed to the scene.
+Ted Strong was on the ground. The pony had scrambled to his feet, and
+stood trembling a few feet distant. The bull, with lowered head, was
+charging upon Ted.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+TED GETS AN ASSIGNMENT.
+
+
+To the horror-stricken onlookers it appeared that Ted's end had come. He
+lay prone upon the sod with his face turned to the sky, evidently
+stunned.
+
+The bull, with all the ferocity of his kind when goaded to anger, was
+charging upon him, his needle-like horns a few inches from the ground,
+and the foam flecking from his lips.
+
+Stella, her face white and drawn, was galloping toward him as fast as
+her pony could go, while Bud was lashing his pony to the height of its
+speed as he crossed the face of the herd. Billy Sudden was neck and neck
+with Stella, calling to her to hold back.
+
+Suddenly Ted Strong came to life, and looked over his shoulder.
+
+He saw his danger, and quick as thought he rolled over, away from the
+bull.
+
+But that was all. Every one could see that it would do no good. He could
+not expect to escape from the infuriated beast in that manner, and a
+hollow groan escaped the lips of more than one.
+
+Ted surely was doomed.
+
+The bull's horns caught Ted in the side as he continued to roll away
+from it, and it stopped for an instant, settling itself to toss him.
+Stella turned her head away with a muttered prayer, and even the
+cowboys, used to accidents in the round-up, gasped.
+
+But suddenly they saw a cloud of dust fly upward, and thought at first
+that Ted had fired his revolver into the face of the infuriated beast,
+and it seemed strange that they had not heard the report of the weapon.
+
+Then, miracle of miracles, the bull, with a snort of pain, threw up its
+head, and Ted was not impaled upon its horns.
+
+There was another cloud of dust, and the bull began backing away, slowly
+but surely, shaking its head, as if in pain.
+
+"Screamin' catamounts, did yer see thet, Stella?" cried Bud Morgan, as
+he rode alongside the girl,
+
+"What did he do?" asked Stella.
+
+"He's saved hisself by blindin' ther bull. He throwed dust inter its
+eyes. I'm dinged if I see how thet feller kin think o' things like thet
+when he's down an' out. Look at him!"
+
+As the bull rubbed its face in the grass Ted rolled over twice, then
+leaped to his feet and ran to where Sultan was awaiting him.
+
+A mighty cheer went up from the boys, and the color came back into
+Stella's face with a rush, but she could not have uttered a sound to
+save her life.
+
+In the meantime, the bull had recovered, having rubbed the dust from its
+eyes in the short grass, and looked about for its enemy.
+
+It caught sight of Ted in the act of mounting, and sprang toward him
+with the swiftness of a deer.
+
+Then Stella recovered her voice.
+
+"Run, Ted! Run!" she cried.
+
+But Ted had seen the necessity of that himself, and, wheeled Sultan and
+dashed off, looking over his shoulder at the enraged monster that was
+following him, while he rapidly uncoiled his lariat.
+
+Having run several hundred yards and outdistanced the bull, he turned
+and stopped with his rope in his hand, closely calculating the animal's
+distance and speed.
+
+Bud and Stella were following the bull closely, both of them preparing
+their lariats for the throw.
+
+As the bull charged, Ted's rope was seen to leave his hand and go
+sailing through the air in graceful loops and curves that lengthened out
+one after the other.
+
+One of the most difficult throws a cow-puncher can make with a lariat
+was that which Ted attempted. He had to calculate to a degree the speed
+with which the bull was advancing toward him, and that at which the rope
+was leaving him. To calculate the point where the two would come
+together would seem an almost impossible task.
+
+But so nicely had Ted estimated it, that the open noose fell over the
+bull's head and settled down, and, turning swiftly, Ted spurred Sultan
+to one side, and the bull, shaking his head and emitting short, angry
+bellows, rushed past.
+
+The intelligent pony had suddenly come to a stop, bracing himself for
+the shock, and when Gladiator came to the end of the rope he turned
+completely over, and landed on his back with a thud that shook the
+earth.
+
+Bud had galloped forward, and was about to throw himself from the saddle
+to tie the brute, when, with the agility of a cat, the bull was on its
+feet, shaking its head and stamping the earth in a perfect fury of anger
+and desperation. But it was by no means beaten, and ran at Bud, who took
+to his heels. When again it arrived at the end of the rope, it went head
+over heels, much to its loss of wind and dignity.
+
+This time it did not rise so briskly, and Ted gave it all the time it
+wanted.
+
+Suddenly Stella dashed out and rode toward the bull, and when a few feet
+from it curved off, with the angry brute in full pursuit. Had her pony
+stumbled it would have been all up with her, for Gladiator was wild with
+rage, and when it was again thrown its fury knew no bounds.
+
+"A few more throws like that will settle him, I think," shouted Ted.
+"Bait him again, Bud."
+
+Again Bud rode out, and the bull took after him as before, and, when he
+was jerked onto his back by the rope, he lay there.
+
+Ted rode rapidly up to him, and, detaching a rope which had been knotted
+around his waist, tied the bull's legs fore and aft, and the exhausted
+brute did not make an objection.
+
+For several minutes the bull lay panting, then it recovered.
+
+When it came to its normal condition at last, it struggled furiously to
+get to its feet, but each time it got up Ted jerked it to its side,
+standing close to it so that it could see him.
+
+Time and again it thus fruitlessly struggled.
+
+It seemed to realize suddenly that it had been a very foolish bull, and
+that it had met its master, who now stood over him ready to tumble him
+over at any moment.
+
+So he lay quite still, following Ted's movements with its great, dark
+eyes, out of which all the ferocity had vanished.
+
+Ted stepped up to it and patted its head, and it made no objection to
+these attentions. Then he began to untie the bonds that held its legs
+together.
+
+"Look out fer him, he's treacherous," called Bud.
+
+"He's all right," answered Ted. "I'll bet he'll eat out of my hand."
+
+When it felt that it was free again, the bull got slowly to his feet and
+walked sedately in the direction of the herd.
+
+"You've broken the spirit of that bull," said Stella.
+
+"You bet I have," said Ted. "That's just what he needed. He'll be a good
+bull now. If he isn't, I'll give him some more."
+
+Ted now rode to the head of the herd with Stella, and the other boys
+took their places.
+
+"All right, Billy. Send them forward," shouted Ted to the rear of the
+herd.
+
+Skillfully Ted set the herd to moving toward the south, where the other
+herds were gathering under the management of the boys.
+
+At first Gladiator threw up his head arrogantly, and did not stir.
+
+Ted again rode toward him, swinging his lariat. The bull saw him as well
+as the rope, and, recognizing the agents of his defeat, moved off
+briskly at the head of the herd.
+
+"Say," said Bud, across the head of the herd, "yer could slap that old
+duffer across the face with your hat, and he'd apologize."
+
+They were almost at the rendezvous, where thousands of cattle had been
+gathered into a huge herd, and in every direction could be seen dust
+clouds announcing that others were on the way.
+
+"Here comes Carl hotfoot," said Stella. "He looks as if something had
+happened, and he was an extra edition with 'a full account of the
+terrible disaster.'"
+
+"Hello, Carl! What is it?" asked Ted.
+
+"Der United States marshal vaiting for you on der veranda iss," answered
+Carl solemnly.
+
+"Well, what do I care?" asked Ted. "He's come at a mighty busy time if
+he just wants to swap a little conversation. Did he say what he wanted?"
+
+"No, but he say it is very important vork, an' for you to hurry."
+
+"My compliments to the marshal, and tell him I'm busy, and will see him
+as soon as I get through. You entertain him for a while."
+
+"But he der boss iss."
+
+"Not on this ranch. This is a free and unadulterated republic, where
+there are no bosses. Tell him to make himself at home, and I'll be
+there as soon as I can."
+
+Now the cattle were all rounded up, and the cutting out of the two and
+three-year olds began.
+
+This was intensely exciting work, in which Stella joined, as she was as
+skilled at it as any of the boys. Outside of the big herd, the cowboys
+were picking up the cut-outs and driving them to the branding pens, for
+many of them were acquired stock, and even many of the home yearlings
+had never been branded.
+
+Then the cows with calves were cut out, so that the youngsters might get
+a touch of life by feeling the sting of the hot iron with the Crescent V
+brand on it.
+
+The buyers were circulating in the herds, looking over the stock.
+
+Several of the buyers had brought their own cow-punchers with them, and
+these went to work cutting out the selections of their employers.
+
+The sky was thick with dust, and the air rang with the shouts of the
+cowboys and the lowing and bellowing of the cattle.
+
+The rattle of countless hoofs on the hard soil added to the din, and the
+cattle weaving in and out ceaselessly, and the dashing riding of the
+cowboys as they swooped out of the mass occasionally to drive back an
+escaping steer, made a scene of excitement, movement, and noise never
+seen anywhere, except at a Western cattle round-up and cut-out.
+
+Soon the work was pretty well in hand, and, leaving Bud Morgan as
+segundo, Ted went to the house to see the marshal.
+
+He found that officer sitting on the veranda, quietly smoking a cigar,
+an interested witness of the proceedings.
+
+"How are you, Mr. Easton?" said Ted, shaking hands with the marshal. "I
+must apologize for not coming sooner, but my hands were full."
+
+"So I see," said the marshal cordially. "I was watching you work out
+there. Say, I believe I'd like to be a cow-puncher if I wasn't so old."
+
+"It's a young man's job," said Ted, laughing; "and even at that it is
+about all a young fellow can stand at times. But this to-day is a mere
+picnic to what we are up against sometimes."
+
+"Well, you seem to be right in it."
+
+"Yes, I love my business. I wouldn't be anything in the world except a
+cow-puncher."
+
+"But, remember, you are also a government officer."
+
+"I never forget that. But, if it came to being compelled to quit one or
+the other of the occupations, I'd still be a cow-puncher, and let the
+marshalship go."
+
+"That's the very thing I came to see about."
+
+"You want my resignation?" asked Ted, his spirits falling to zero.
+
+"By no means," laughed the marshal. "Not that, but to ask you to
+undertake a somewhat difficult job. It transpires that when the Soldier
+Butte bank was robbed the other night, a large amount of money belonging
+to the government was taken. I didn't know this until early this
+afternoon, when I received a telegram from Washington to go after the
+robbers and land them."
+
+"That'll be somewhat of a job," said Ted, drawing his chair closer to
+the marshal, so that he couldn't be overheard by passing people.
+
+"I'm well aware of that, and that's the reason I come to you. You and
+your boys must undertake the duty of clearing up the mystery of the
+robbery, and, if possible, recovering the money."
+
+"I have a very probable theory as to who the robbers are, but it will be
+entirely another matter to fasten it on them."
+
+"I leave it all to you. I don't want to have anything to do with it. All
+I want are results."
+
+"But I shall not have time to tackle it for a day or two. Unfortunately
+our fall round-up is in progress, and, as this is the time we sell the
+product of our business, we can't leave it until everything is cleared
+up."
+
+"That's all right, Mr. Strong. But when you do get busy, don't come back
+home until you land the thieves."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+A VISITOR IN THE NIGHT.
+
+
+A great deal of money changed hands that day. The stock buyers had their
+wallets loaded with cash when they came a-buying, for, when they had cut
+out the cattle they wanted, and the price was struck, they were prepared
+to drive them off at once.
+
+The sales at the round-up had been large, and Ted and the boys sat up
+late that night, after those guests who had elected to remain over for
+the festivities of the next day were safely in bed, counting the money
+and going over the books.
+
+"It has been a mighty good year for us, boys," said Ted, as he
+contemplated the total of their sales.
+
+"Yes, and, best of all, it leaves us with all the old stock disposed of,
+and nothing but young and vigorous animals with which to begin building
+up again," said Kit, who had a great head for the cattle business and a
+faculty for seeing into the future.
+
+"What aire we goin' ter do with all this yere mazuma?" asked Bud,
+looking over the stacks of fifties, twenties, tens, and fives that lay
+on the table around which they were sitting in the living room, and
+which was flanked by piles of gold and a few hundred-dollar bills.
+
+"Can't get it into the bank until day after to-morrow," said Ted. "We'll
+be too busy to-morrow looking after our guests, and I don't suppose
+we'll be free until after the dance to-morrow night. Still, I'm not
+worrying about it. We know everybody here to-night, and I'll take care
+of it till we can ride over to Strongburg and bank it."
+
+Just then the door blew open with a bang, and big Ben scurried in,
+bringing with him a blast of prairie wind, crisp and chill from the
+mountain, that scattered the greenbacks all over the room, and two or
+three of the fives were blown into the fire and incinerated before any
+one could rescue them.
+
+"Close that door!" shouted Bud, grasping frantically at the money that
+was capering over the top of the table.
+
+Ben closed the door with a slam that shook the house.
+
+"'A fool and his money is soon parted,'" quoted Ben, when he saw the
+havoc wrought by the wind.
+
+"You bet," said Kit "Three fives blew into the fireplace, and are no
+more. We'll just charge them to your account."
+
+"Like dolly, you will!" said Ben.
+
+"If it hadn't been for you they wouldn't be there. What's the reason we
+won't?"
+
+"Because you won't. I didn't make the wind."
+
+"No, but consarn ye, ye let it in, an' ye're an accessory before er
+after ther fact. I reckon both," said Bud.
+
+"Let it go, boys," said Ted. "Pick up the bills, and we'll count and
+stack them again."
+
+"Where have you been, anyway?" asked Kit, addressing Ben.
+
+"Down beddin' my show for the night. They're about all in now. All
+except the music, which will be here in the morning," replied Ben. "I'm
+not at all stuck on myself, but--"
+
+"Oh, no, you've got a very poor opinion of yourself, I guess," said Kit.
+
+"But I want to say that I think I got the bunkie-doodelest show that
+ever paced the glimmering, gleaming, gloaming grass of Moon Valley."
+
+"Listen to the hombre explode," said Bud. "He's tryin' ter be a feeble
+imitation o' a real showman. I'll bet he shows up ter-morrer like a
+ringmaster in a sucuss, with high, shiny boots an' a long whip an a
+tall, slick hat, an' crack his whip an' say: 'What will ther leetle lady
+hev next?'"
+
+Ben blushed, for his ambitions in the show line, now that he had had a
+taste of it, had really been in that direction, only he wouldn't have
+had the boys know it for the world.
+
+"How about the show, anyhow, Ben?" asked Ted.
+
+"What have you got? You might as well let us know now."
+
+"Not on your autobiography," answered Ben haughtily. "I want to say,
+though, that your eyes will bulge like the knobs on a washstand drawer
+when you see what I've got, and then come to look at the bill for such a
+stupendous, striking, and singularly successful aggregation of freaks,
+acts, and divertisements embodied in this colossal and cataclysmic
+congregation of--"
+
+"Oh, cheese it," said Kit. "You give me the pip."
+
+"All right, have it your own way," sighed Ben. "This is what a fellow
+gets for serving his country, from Thomas Jefferson to John D.
+Rockefeller."
+
+"Come on," said Ted persuasively. "Loosen up and tell us what we are to
+have to-morrow. This is an executive session of the whole."
+
+"You're like a lot of kids the day before Christmas. You've just got to
+see what mamma's hidden in the closet," said Ben. "Well, I'll let you in
+on a little of it."
+
+"Shoot when you're ready," said Kit.
+
+"I was over at Strongburg about a month ago, and, knowing that I'd have
+to rustle up a show soon, I wrote to a theatrical agent in Chicago to
+let me know if he could furnish me with a good amusement company at
+small cost. He wrote me that he had the very thing, and offered me one
+of these bum 'wild west' shows, with a bunch of spavined ponies, a lot
+of imitation cowboys, fake Indians, and Coney Island target shooters."
+
+"An' yer didn't take 'em?" asked Bud, in surprise.
+
+"Tush! Well, I was up against it, when Morrison, the hotel man, told me
+that there was a showman in town, and perhaps I might get something out
+of him.
+
+"I hunted him up. He was a typical showman. Big fellow, large as a
+Noah's ark, dressed like a sunset, and loud as an eighteen-inch gun."
+
+"I saw the fellow in Soldier Butte the other day. He was talking to
+Wiley Creviss in the bank," said Ted. "You've described him more
+picturesquely than I should, but I'm convinced he's the same man."
+
+"I asked him what he had, and he told me he could furnish me on short
+notice anything from a three-ring circus to a hand organ and monkey,"
+continued Ben. "I told him how much money I wanted to spend, and he said
+he'd fix me up a show that would make everybody delighted, and I told
+him to go ahead. The show blew in to-night, and ran up their tents down
+near the corral."
+
+"How many have you got in it?"
+
+"I've got a balloon ascension for the afternoon, a giant and a midget, a
+magician, an Egyptian fortune teller, a trick mule, a Circassian beauty,
+and a strong man." Ben looked around proudly, and the boys burst into
+peals of laughter.
+
+"Have you scraped the mold off of them yet?" asked Kit.
+
+"How's that?" asked Ben haughtily.
+
+"Have you pulled the burs off the chestnuts?"
+
+"See here, what do you mean? Are you casting aspersions on my show?"
+
+"Not exactly, but I think you've been stung by some old stranded side
+show that was taking the tie route back home. Circassian beaut! Ho-ho,
+likewise ha-ha! and some more."
+
+"Ter say nothin' o' a Egyptian fortune teller from Popodunk, Ioway, an'
+a wild man from ther Quaker village. Oh! give me ther smellin' salts.
+I'm goin' ter hev ther histrikes," laughed Bud.
+
+"Haf you not got a echukated vooly pig und a feller vot 'eats 'em
+alife'?" asked Carl.
+
+"That's right, Dutchy. It's a bum show what ain't got them," laughed
+Bud.
+
+The boys were laughing until the house rang with it, and Stella poked
+her pretty head out of the door to ask to be told the joke. Bud
+complied, with many humorous embellishments.
+
+"Don't pay any attention to them, Ben," said Stella sympathetically,
+"I'll take in the show from start to finish."
+
+"Could friendship go any farther than that?" asked Kit pathetically.
+
+"Oh, you fellows give me a pain," said Ben, rising and stalking off to
+bed.
+
+He was soon followed by the others, Ted and Kit remaining behind to
+gather up the money and slip rubber bands around each of the packages of
+currency.
+
+"We ought to have a safe in the house, Ted," said Kit, looking over the
+pile of money. "We often have large sums of money in the house, and some
+time we might get robbed."
+
+"There's not much danger of that, Kit," answered Ted. "There are not
+many fellows who would have the nerve to come into this house. Too many
+guns, and too many fellows who are not afraid to shoot them. I'm not
+afraid."
+
+"What was that?"
+
+Kit was staring at the rear window.
+
+"What?"
+
+"I just looked up and thought I saw a face at the window."
+
+"You're getting imaginative."
+
+Just then the clock struck twelve.
+
+"No, I don't think so. I heard a slight cracking noise and looked up.
+Something white appeared at the window for an instant. It looked like
+the face of a child."
+
+"Nonsense. A child couldn't look through that window. It's seven feet
+from the ground."
+
+"Well, I suppose I was mistaken. Let's hide that money and go to bed."
+
+"Where shall we put it?"
+
+Kit looked around the room, then smiled.
+
+"Why, in the cubby-hole, of course. There's a safe for you. We haven't
+used it for so long that I'd almost forgotten it."
+
+"The very thing. Nobody'd find it there in a blue moon."
+
+They crossed over to a corner of the room and threw back the corner of a
+rug. Where the baseboard was mortised at the corner there appeared to
+have been a patch put in. Ted placed his hand against this, near the
+top, and it tipped back. It was hung on a pivot, and, as its top went in
+and the bottom came out, there was revealed a boxlike receptacle about
+two feet long and six inches deep.
+
+"This is a bully place," said Ted, placing the packages of money within
+it. "It is known to only five of us, and I'll bet that most of us have
+forgotten its very existence."
+
+The board was turned back into place and the rug spread out again.
+
+"Safe as in the Strongburg Bank," said Kit. "Well, me for the feathers.
+We're going to be kept humping to-morrow. _Buenas noches_."
+
+In a few minutes the big ranch house was dark and quiet; every person
+in it was sound asleep.
+
+Ted Strong had sunk into a deep and untroubled sleep, for his day had
+been very active, and he was tired when he lay down.
+
+But he had not been sleeping more than a half hour when he found himself
+sitting straight up in bed, very wide-awake, and wondering why.
+
+"Something wrong in the house," he muttered to himself.
+
+He sniffed the air to discover the smell of smoke. But it was not that.
+
+Had he locked up? He went over his actions just before retiring, and was
+sure that he had attended faithfully to everything.
+
+The money! The thought came to him like a blow.
+
+Something had happened to the money.
+
+He was out of bed in a jiffy and slipped into his trousers, and,
+grabbing his revolver from beneath his pillow, he opened the door and
+walked softly along the hall in his bare feet.
+
+The hall opened into the living room through an arch in which a
+portière, made of small pieces of bamboo strung together, was hung.
+
+As he looked cautiously into the living room his elbow struck this, and
+it rattled sharply in the stillness.
+
+He had heard a faint creak, and, as he peeped around the corner of the
+arch, he saw dimly the figure of a man near the door, evidently just in
+the act of opening it.
+
+With a succession of noiseless leaps Ted was across the room, and
+arrived at the door just as it swung open and the man was about to
+depart.
+
+But Ted was upon his back with the swiftness of a bobcat, and they came
+together to the floor with? a crash.
+
+The burglar was beneath, but this did not prevent him from fighting
+with a desperation that lent strength to his already strong and lithe
+body.
+
+He was slenderer and younger than Ted, who could feel it in the fellow's
+build as they struggled.
+
+"Let me out, or I'll kill you," said the burglar, and Ted saw the flash
+of a knife.
+
+At the same moment something rushed past them in the dark, and out of
+the door.
+
+As Ted saw it dimly it was small, and its motions were awkward and
+lumbering. He thought it was a dog, and was about to raise his revolver
+to fire at it when he thought better of it, as he did not want to arouse
+the household if he could conquer his man without making a noise.
+
+"Don't shoot," said the man, who had observed Ted's motion with the gun.
+
+At this extraordinary request Ted paused.
+
+He had twisted the man's wrist until he dropped the knife, and then
+shoved it beyond reach with the muzzle of his revolver.
+
+His strong left hand was in the nape of the fellow's neck, and Ted had
+his nose ground into the rug. He had found a gun in the fellow's hip
+pocket, and relieved him of it.
+
+Then Ted rose, and told his captive to get up
+
+Slowly he did so, and Ted made him move to the center of the room.
+
+Bud's golden head appeared around the corner of the doorway.
+
+Ted could just distinguish it.
+
+"Who's that?" asked Bud.
+
+"It's Ted. Come in and strike a light. I've caught something."
+
+In a moment a light flared up.
+
+"Jack Farley!" exclaimed Ted, in astonishment.
+
+"Yes, blast you, Jack Farley," replied the youth.
+
+"Couldn't keep away, eh?"
+
+"A feller'd think thet once was enough," said Bud.
+
+"I couldn't help myself. I had to come," growled Farley.
+
+"Well, this time you'll stay. You shan't abuse our hospitality again.
+Bud, get a rope and tie our friend. He's skittish, and is likely to run
+away if he's turned loose."
+
+Farley was soon tied securely.
+
+"Keep an eye on him, Bud," said Ted. "I want to look over the premises."
+
+Ted went directly to the corner and pushed back the pivot door, struck a
+match, and looked into the box.
+
+It was empty.
+
+Then, turning back to Farley, he searched him thoroughly.
+
+There was no money in his pockets.
+
+Ted called up Kit, and the three of them ransacked the living room
+thoroughly, but not a dollar could be found. "What did you do with the
+money you stole from that hole?" said Ted, gazing fiercely into Farley's
+eyes.
+
+"I haven't seen a dollar of it," was the reply.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+TED STRONG HAS A THEORY.
+
+
+After Farley had been securely locked up in a storeroom without windows,
+they went to bed, feeling secure that there would be no further attempt
+to enter the house that night.
+
+At breakfast they discussed the robbery after their guests had left the
+house.
+
+"I don't understand what became of the money," said Ted. "It looks to me
+like one of those mysterious robberies, and the capture of Farley puts
+it up to the Riley and Creviss gang. Now that we've been touched
+personally we will take some interest in the gang, and I have a large
+crayon picture of about a dozen hitherto respectable young fellows
+learning useful trades in a reformatory institution."
+
+"But that doesn't bring back our money, neither does it tell us how it
+was stolen or what became of it," said Ben.
+
+"I can't get a thing out of Farley," said Ted. "I tackled him this
+morning as soon as I got up, but he wouldn't open his mouth. My belief
+is that he is in deadly fear of some one, probably Skip Riley."
+
+"Well, we've got him where the hair is short, anyway," said Kit. "He was
+caught in the act, and will come out of prison an older and a wiser
+man."
+
+"What else besides Farley did you see in the room, Ted?" asked Stella.
+
+"I really couldn't say what it was," said Ted. "It was dark, and there
+was only the faintest kind of light outside from the stars. The room was
+perfectly dark. I was sitting on Farley's back holding him down. He had
+thrown the door open, and we were in the doorway, but there was a space
+between us and the door-jamb.
+
+"Suddenly I heard a faint noise beside me and could just see something
+scud past me onto the veranda."
+
+"What did it look like?"
+
+"It was about as high as a small dog, only shorter and thicker than a
+dog, and ran with a clumsy, heavy, sideways motion."
+
+"Are you sure it was a dog?"
+
+"No, I'm not sure, for I didn't see it plainly. All I could see was that
+it looked like some kind of an animal, but just what kind I couldn't
+determine."
+
+"Your description would lead me to believe that it was a coon."
+
+"No, I don't think it was a coon, or I would have been able to
+distinguish it by its smell."
+
+"I didn't know but that it might be a coon trained to steal and sneak
+out. I've heard of such things, and it is by no means impossible, for
+you know that coons, like crows, are natural-born thieves."
+
+"By Jove, that gives me an idea. I think it was a dog, and that its
+strange gait was due to the fact that the money had been tied upon him
+so that he would get away with it in case Farley was caught."
+
+"No, the dog theory is wrong. What about a trained monkey?" Stella
+looked around the table to see how this was taken.
+
+"C'rect!" shouted Bud. "Stella, yer struck ther problem a solar plexus
+thet time."
+
+"That does seem reasonable, and if it is true it solves the mysterious
+robberies of the Strongburg Trust Company's office, the post office, and
+Creviss' bank," said Ted.
+
+"It's worth looking into, anyway," said Ben. "Now I wonder if there is
+such a thing as a trained monkey in my marvelous and magnificent
+gathering of the splendors of the Orient out there. By Jove, I'm going
+through that camp with a fine-tooth comb, and if I find a monk, I'll
+habeas-corpus him, and we'll hang him to the rafters."
+
+"Well, mum's the word about the money," warned Ted. "We don't want this
+thing to leak out. If it does, there's a chance against us."
+
+Although they all felt pretty blue about the loss of the money, they had
+nothing but hearty welcomes and smiles for their guests, who began to
+arrive from all parts of the county, and from far-distant States and
+Territories, to help rejoice with the boys for a prosperous year, not
+knowing that all the prosperity had fallen into the hands of thieves.
+
+The grounds about the ranch house had been gayly decorated for the
+occasion. An enormous American flag flapped and snapped in the fresh
+breeze from the top of a tall staff in front of the house, and the Belle
+Fourche band was playing in a gayly decorated stand. The showmen had
+erected their tents, and already the boys and girls from the ranches and
+towns were going in and out, witnessing the wonders to be beheld in
+them.
+
+Stella was receiving her girl guests on the veranda, for she was a great
+favorite among the cowgirls in the country on account of her
+friendliness and unaffected ways.
+
+Mrs. Graham was welcoming the older women, while Ted and Jack Slate were
+shaking hands with the ranchmen and cowboys.
+
+Clay's fires were going well, and the steer and sheep were being roasted
+for the noontime feast.
+
+Ben had gone on a still-hunt among the tents belonging to the showman,
+and, while he found three small dogs, there was no sign of a monkey, and
+by adroit questioning he learned that they had had a monkey, but that
+it had died at Leadville, because the air in that altitude was too cold
+and rare for it.
+
+These facts he communicated to Ted, and seemed to explode the
+monkey-thief theory.
+
+During the morning there was a baseball game between the cowboys and the
+clerks from the stores in Soldier Butte and Strongburg, in which the
+score was forty-one to three in favor of the clerks. The cowboys
+couldn't play ball any more than a rabbit, encumbered as they were by
+their chaps, high-heeled boots, and spurs. It took a home-run hit to get
+one of them to first base.
+
+After dinner the cowboy sports were to come off.
+
+When Ted could get away from his duties as host for a few minutes he
+sauntered through the crowd, extending greetings to all whom he knew,
+but at the same time keeping a close watch over everything.
+
+The theft of the money from the cubby-hole had aroused in him all his
+detective instincts.
+
+He saw two or three of the young fellows who had been with Wiley Creviss
+the night of the ball, but he paid no attention to them. They were
+welcome to come to the festivities, and to remain so long as they
+behaved themselves.
+
+But he determined to have them watched.
+
+Soon he came upon some more of the Creviss gang and saw them mingle with
+several boys, whom he knew to be tough characters, from Strongburg.
+
+"The clan is gathering," he said to himself. "We're likely to have
+trouble with those fellows before the day is over. I'll put Bud next to
+them, and have the boys watch them."
+
+"Whom do you suppose I saw just now?"
+
+It was Stella's voice, and she was standing at his elbow.
+
+"Who?" he asked.
+
+"Wiley Creviss."
+
+"Is that so? I have been watching for him to come along. A lot of his
+fellows are here, and they are sticking pretty well together. Where did
+you see him?"
+
+"I told Ben I'd take in his show even if no one else did, and I've kept
+my promise. When I was in that biggest tent I suddenly came upon Creviss
+in close conversation with the boss showman. When they saw me looking at
+them they separated in a hurry, and Creviss left the tent."
+
+"H'm! I wonder if Ben knows this fellow who owns the show."
+
+"Don't know, I'm sure. It wouldn't be a bad scheme to find out something
+about him in view of the robbery last night."
+
+"You're right, Stella. Another thing I've been thinking about: I've been
+looking for Skip Riley, the Strongburg fireman, the supposed leader of
+the Flying Demons. If they are going to try any of their monkey business
+to-day he ought to be here."
+
+"Haven't you heard the news? I intended to tell you, but must have
+forgotten. The last time I was in Strongburg I heard that Riley had
+resigned, and left the town for the East."
+
+"I hadn't heard it. Then that puts it up to Creviss."
+
+"But who is the fellow who runs the show? Ben says his name is Colonel
+Ben Robinson, and that he is an old circusman down on his luck
+temporarily."
+
+"Look around and find out what you can. They will not suspect you if you
+ask questions as they would me. If you find out anything, let me know."
+
+"All right, Ted, I'll circulate, and report."
+
+Ted wandered over to the show tents, and entered them all, with kindly
+greetings to the performers, who all knew him as the leader of the
+broncho boys, and asked him if they could be excused from performing
+while the riding and other cowboy stunts were going forward, and Ted
+told them to lay off if they wanted to, as most of the guests would be
+out in the grand stand, anyhow.
+
+In the last tent he entered he found the strong man lifting weights
+against a lot of husky cow-punchers, and the giant and midget.
+
+But it was the midget that struck him most forcibly. He had a sly,
+cunning face and a bad eye, and when Ted came in he tried to hide behind
+the giant, who picked him up as one would a baby in arms. But the little
+fellow wriggled free and climbed down the big man like a monkey down a
+tree. Then he slipped across to the middle of the tent and shinned up
+the pole to the top, and hung there, looking down at Ted.
+
+"What's the matter with the little fellow?" Ted asked the giant.
+
+"Oh, he ain't got real good sense," rumbled the giant. "His brain
+stopped growing with his body, I reckon. But you can teach him tricks
+the same as you can a dog or a monkey, and he'll do them all right. I
+reckon he's afraid of you. He is of some people, the boss in
+particular."
+
+"How long have you been with the boss?"
+
+"Not very long. He just took the show over from the old boss a month
+ago. We were going to pieces over to Cheyenne, and he come along and
+bought us. He's been a showman in his time, but says he hasn't been in
+the biz for several years. He knows the biz, though, and has scads of
+money. We are well fed and get our salaries regular. Him and Prince
+Carl, that's the midget, are great pals. The midget sleeps in his tent,
+and the boss seldom lets him out of his sight."
+
+"Say, Bellows, how many times have I got to tell you not to stand there
+gassing with patrons of the show? Every one don't want to bother with
+your theories and troubles." Ted turned, to face the boss showman.
+
+"Oh, it's you, Mr. Strong?" he went on. "I didn't recognize your back.
+It's all right to talk to you. But I've got to call the giant down once
+in so often for taking up people's time, for he's an awful gabber."
+
+He walked away, but when Ted tried to get the giant to tell him some
+more about the midget and the boss, he would not say a word.
+
+But the giant had planted the seed of a theory in Ted's mind.
+
+Presently Ted saw Stella beckoning to him in the crowd, and forced his
+way to her side.
+
+She took his arm, and they got out of the crowd. Ted saw that she had
+something to communicate.
+
+"Well?" he said, smiling down on her.
+
+"There's going to be something doing here," said she. "The boss showman
+has been talking with several of the gang."
+
+"All right. Did you hear anything about Skip Riley?"
+
+"Yes. He's been gone from Strongburg about a month."
+
+"Learn anything else about him?"
+
+"Skip Riley is not his name at all."
+
+"That so? What is it? Did you learn?"
+
+"I was talking to a lady from Strongburg, one of those who got him a job
+on the fire department."
+
+"What did she know about him?"
+
+"She said that she was appointed a committee of one by the Ladies' Aid
+Society over there to look up the new fireman's career."
+
+"And I suppose she ran onto some hot stuff?"
+
+"It seems that the ex-convict, Skip Riley, had been a circus performer
+once upon a time, before he took to being a burglar."
+
+"Was burglary the crime for which he was put in prison?"
+
+"Yes, so she says. He was an aëronaut and acrobat."
+
+"Good! And what was his stage name? Did she say?"
+
+"Robinson--Ben Robinson. She says that she was told that he was quite
+famous in his day as a circus performer, but that he couldn't resist the
+temptation to steal, and so had to quit the business, as none of the
+circus proprietors would have him around."
+
+"Did she say where she got this information?"
+
+"Yes. It was sent to her by the warden of the penitentiary in which
+Riley was confined before he came to Strongburg."
+
+"Then her information is probably correct. Stella, thanks to you, we've
+got them dead to rights. We've solved the mystery hanging around all
+these recent robberies."
+
+"Nearly, but not quite. How were they accomplished?"
+
+"That I don't know positively, but I have a theory which I believe will
+turn out to be correct."
+
+"But about Riley?"
+
+"Ben Robinson, the proprietor of this show, and Skip Riley, burglar and
+ex-convict, are one and the same man."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+ALOFT AFTER A PRISONER.
+
+
+"All ready for the big show," cried Kit, riding up to Ted. "When will we
+begin the sports?"
+
+Ted looked over the grand stand, which was built around an arena in
+which the cowboy sports were to come off.
+
+This was the most important event of the day, for while bronchobusting
+and cattle roping are a cowboy's business, yet he finds unending
+amusement in doing these same things if his girl and friends are there
+to witness his skill.
+
+After some ordinary feats of trick riding by the visiting cowboys,
+several really dangerous steers were turned loose in the arena, and for
+several minutes a very fair imitation of a Spanish bullfight, minus the
+killing of the animals, took place.
+
+After several of the steers had been roped, thrown, and tied, there
+still remained in the arena a sullen and difficult brute, which was as
+tricky as a rat, and the boys gave him up one at a time.
+
+"Why don't you give the girls a chance at him?" shouted a cowgirl
+derisively, from the seats.
+
+"Any girl who wants to tackle him is at liberty to do so," Ted shouted
+back through his megaphone.
+
+Instantly three girls leaped into the arena, and borrowed ponies from
+their cowboy acquaintances.
+
+Ted motioned to Sophy Cozak, the pretty and buxom girl from the Bohemian
+prairie, whom Bud had admired at the dance; she rode forward on Bud's
+own particular horse, Ranger.
+
+Sophy had several brothers who had taught her the cow business, and she
+had few equals on the range.
+
+As she rode out she was greeted with a round of applause from her
+admirers. She gathered up her rope and sent the horse forward at an easy
+lope toward the steer, which looked at her a moment and trotted off.
+
+Sophy followed him, and made three casts of the rope, and every time the
+brute dodged it, and the rope fell to the ground.
+
+That settled it with Sophy, and she rode in, and another girl took her
+place. She, too, was unsuccessful, as was the third, and the audience
+was distinctly disappointed.
+
+"Ladies and gentlemen," cried Ted, through the megaphone. "It was not
+the intention of any one living on the Moon Valley Ranch to take part in
+these contests, but if there are no other young ladies in the grand
+stand who would like to try their ropes on the steer, we can produce one
+whom we think can rope and tie it at the first trial. I refer to Miss
+Stella Fosdick. I have not consulted her wishes in the matter, but will
+ask her if she will undertake it."
+
+At this a wild cheer went up, and Ted dashed out of the arena to find
+Stella. In a moment he was back, and announced that Miss Fosdick would
+try it.
+
+Presently Stella rode in on Custer at a hard gallop, gathering up her
+rope as she rode. There was a sort of gay self-confidence in her manner
+that captivated the throng, and the cheers split the air.
+
+Stella rode straight at the steer, which, seeing her approach; galloped
+down the arena with her in pursuit.
+
+Swinging her rope above her head, she chased it back until it was about
+in the middle of the field, and suddenly the rope left her hand
+unerringly and shot through the air, seemed to hesitate for an instant,
+then fell over the steer's head.
+
+Custer came to a stop the moment the rope left her hand, with his body
+well braced. The steer went to the end of the rope as fast as it could
+go, then was flung in the air, and lay upon his back sprawling like some
+ridiculous four-legged crab, while the girl leaped from her saddle, ran
+swiftly across the intervening space, tied his legs together, and held
+up her hand.
+
+The crowd fairly went wild with enthusiasm at her feat, as she mounted
+again, leaving the steer to the tender mercies of the cow-punchers, who
+flocked about her. Then she dashed out of the arena, waving her hat in
+recognition of the applause.
+
+Then the bunch of wild Montana horses, which never had felt the saddle,
+were driven in, and Ted offered a twenty-dollar gold piece to any
+puncher who could rope, saddle, and bridle, and ride one of the bronchos
+ten minutes without being thrown.
+
+"Easy money!" shouted the cowboys, flocking into the arena.
+
+The black, which had caused Ted so much trouble when the bunch first
+came to the ranch, was not with them. He was considered too dangerous an
+animal to be handled at an entertainment where there were so many women
+and children.
+
+Only two cow-punchers succeeded in even getting their saddles on the
+bronchos without throwing them and hog-tying them, and only one, Billy
+Sudden, stayed the required ten minutes, and he said afterward that it
+wasn't his fault, because the broncho wouldn't let him get off.
+
+Ted then announced that there was another animal in the herd that he
+would ask no man to ride, but that he would try to do so himself.
+
+Another great cheer went up as Ted rode away after the black demon, to
+whom the boys had given the name Lucifer, for his supposed resemblance
+to his satanic majesty.
+
+But it was found impossible to drive Lucifer into the arena.
+
+"Never mind," said Ted, "we'll throw the saddle on him here, and I'll
+ride him in."
+
+A crowd of men and boys was standing around, and Ted removed his saddle
+and handed it to a young fellow in the crowd to hold until he had thrown
+Lucifer. The animal was standing in the center of the circle, his wary
+eyes taking in the crowd, and letting fly with his heels at the approach
+of any one.
+
+"Now, Bud," called Ted, "ride in on him and rope him. You, Kit, get him
+by the leg and throw him, and I'll slip a bridle on him."
+
+It was not much of a trick to rope and hold him so that he couldn't
+kick. But when Ted tried to slip the bit between his teeth, he fought
+like the demon that he was, biting and kicking, so that he had to be
+thrown to his side and his head held down before the bridle could be put
+on him.
+
+Then he was allowed to rise. There was no doubt but that the horse was
+insane with rage and fear, and several cowmen came forward and tried to
+persuade Ted from attempting to ride him, but Ted was as obstinate as
+the horse, and said that he would conquer the black, or die in the
+attempt.
+
+He finally found the fellow who had been holding his saddle, although he
+had left his stand and was found back behind the crowd talking to a gang
+of young fellows, among whom Ted recognized several of Creviss'
+companions. This delayed and angered him, and he called the saddle
+bearer down for deserting his post, and was answered with sneers and
+laughter.
+
+After many trials, and the exertion of a great deal of patience, Ted got
+the saddle on Lucifer and hastily cinched, and as he sprang to the
+brute's back the ropes were loosed. With a bound and a snort of terror
+the black dashed forward, and it was with the greatest difficulty that
+Ted swung it so it went through the gates and into the arena without
+dashing him against the posts.
+
+Once inside the arena, the brute began to exhibit terrible ferocity.
+
+Stella and Bud had followed in his wake, and when the girl saw how the
+brute was behaving, she whispered to Bud:
+
+"That demon will kill him yet."
+
+"If he don't kill it," answered Bud.
+
+"Why did you let him ride it? I got there a moment too late, and he was
+already in the saddle, or I should have stopped it."
+
+"What could I do? He had told the people he would ride it, and that
+settled it with him."
+
+Lucifer was exercising all the tricks known to wild and terrified
+bronchos when they first feel saddle and bridle, and which seem to be
+inbred in them. He bucked, but there was never a horse that could buck
+Ted off. He reared, he kicked, rolled, and fell backward. But every time
+he stopped for a moment to note the result, there the unshakable enemy
+was on his back again. Clearly he was puzzled.
+
+Then a new paroxysm of rage would shake him, and he would go through the
+same performances again, but with no better success.
+
+Suddenly Ted brought his quirt down on the brute's flanks, and it leaped
+high into the air in an agony of fear and pain. It had felt that
+stinging thing before, and hated it.
+
+Then it started to run away from this terrible thing that bestrode its
+back.
+
+"By Heaven! it's running away," muttered Bud. "It'll be an act o'
+Providence if Ted isn't killed."
+
+Down the arena they dashed, Ted sitting in the saddle as if he and it
+and the stallion were all of a piece.
+
+When the brute came to the arena's end, and saw before him the shouting
+multitude, it suddenly swerved to come back, and Ted realized that
+something had happened to the saddle. It was slipping, and yet he was
+sure he had cinched it tight. Back they came tearing again, and passed
+Stella and Bud like a rocket.
+
+"Great guns!" cried Bud, "his saddle's loose. He's a goner now, shore."
+
+Every one saw Ted's danger, for Ted was leaning well over, and the
+saddle was on the horse's side. A hollow groan went up.
+
+At Bud's first words Stella was off after Ted like a shot.
+
+The horse, as every one could now see, was trying its best to kill Ted,
+and many of the spectators were positive that it would do so.
+
+Now the cinch had parted.
+
+"The cinch has broken," the shout went up. "It will kill him, sure!" Ted
+was now leaning far over on the horse's side, his left leg well under
+the horse's belly and his foot in the stirrup, while the heel of his
+left, boot was clinging to the edge of the tipped saddle. It was a most
+precarious position, for if the saddle slipped farther he would go under
+and be trampled and kicked to death before any one could reach him.
+
+The powerful brute was bent on Ted's destruction, and seemed about to
+accomplish it, when Stella galloped to his side, and, grasping his hand,
+held him safe.
+
+"The cinch is off," she called to him. "I'll help you up, then kick the
+saddle loose."
+
+Slowly but surely Ted worked himself up until he could release his foot
+from the stirrup. Then, with a sudden wrench that almost pulled Stella
+to the ground, he was again on top. With a kick he sent the saddle to
+the ground, and was riding bareback, while the brute stumbled and
+almost went to his knees as the saddle fell between his legs.
+
+But now Ted took charge of the situation. With quirt and spur he drove
+the beast here and there, punishing it, giving it no rest, allowing it
+to do nothing in its own way until it staggered and heaved and swayed
+with fatigue and lack of breath, and yet he urged it.
+
+"He'll kill that horse yet," said Billy Sudden.
+
+"No, he knows what that horse will stand, and he's going to make him
+stand it," said Bud.
+
+The people had never seen such riding as this, and when they realized
+that Ted had conquered the stallion and was now rubbing it in, they
+shouted until their throats cracked.
+
+At last the horse could go no farther, and Ted let it stop, as he
+slipped to the ground and gave the brute a slap with his hand.
+
+"I reckon you'll know better next time, old fellow," was all he said,
+and walked to where his saddle was lying.
+
+As he picked it up, he was seen to stop and look at the cinch carefully,
+then hurry to where the boys were awaiting him.
+
+"Fellows," he said solemnly, throwing the saddle on the ground, "that
+cinch did not break, it was cut."
+
+A dozen of the boys leaped to the ground and examined the cinch.
+
+It was true. The cinch had been cut almost through with a sharp knife,
+and the strain upon it had parted it. There could be no doubt as to what
+had been intended.
+
+As Stella came riding up, she shouted:
+
+"The cinch was cut. I saw it. Wiley Creviss did it. I didn't realize at
+the time what he was doing or know that it was Ted's saddle, and when I
+did find out, he was mounted and away."
+
+A howl of indignation went up at this.
+
+"Scatter out, boys, and round up Creviss," shouted Billy Sudden. "We
+know what to do with him when he's caught."
+
+Ted's adventure with Lucifer ended the performances in the arena, and,
+as the balloon was inflated and ready to ascend, the people flocked to
+where it was straining at the ropes.
+
+Ted had mounted Sultan again, and left the arena surrounded by Stella
+and the boys.
+
+"Who's going up in her?" asked Ted.
+
+"Ben Robinson, the boss," answered Ben.
+
+"Do you know who he is?" asked Ted.
+
+Ben stared at him without replying.
+
+"I'll tell you," said Ted. "He's Skip Riley, thief and ex-convict, the
+leader of the Flying Demons. He is the man who caused us to lose our
+money last night, and who engineered all the mysterious robberies
+hereabouts. Do you reckon he intends to come back?"
+
+Ben's eyes started from their sockets in surprise.
+
+"I--I don't know," he stammered. "By Jove! we must stop him. Maybe he's
+going to skip."
+
+The boys had crowded about Ted as he spoke.
+
+"We'll have to hurry if we get him," shouted Ben. "He's in the basket
+now."
+
+With shouts of warning Ted and the boys pushed their horses through the
+crowd, which rushed aside to let them through.
+
+They could see Skip Riley lift a large tin box into the basket from the
+ground. As he was getting ready to start there was a shrill cry, and the
+midget came waddling through the crowd and climbed over the side of the
+car and up Riley's body until it clung to his shoulder like a monkey. A
+great many of the thoughtless laughed at this. They did not understand
+the significance of the move.
+
+"Get ready to cut her loose," shouted Riley.
+
+Two or three men stood by with sharp knives in their hands.
+
+Riley saw Ted and the boys pushing rapidly through the crowd.
+
+"Cut her loose!" shouted Riley, and the balloon shot upward, amid the
+shouts of the people.
+
+"Too late,'" said Ben.
+
+"Not yet," cried Ted, spurring through the crowd.
+
+A long guide rope was dragging from the car of the balloon.
+
+"Follow me, Bud. The balance of you catch Creviss and the rest of them.
+I'm going with Riley."
+
+Before they knew exactly what he meant, Ted grasped the guide rope as it
+passed over his head, and was swung out of the saddle and dangled in the
+air, to the horror of the people, who expected to see him fall and be
+dashed to pieces at any minute, for the balloon had shot up rapidly and
+was now several hundred feet above the ground.
+
+But Riley, looking over the country and taking account of the direction
+in which the balloon was traveling, was unaware that he had taken on
+another passenger.
+
+Hand over hand Ted climbed steadily, until at last he reached the car
+and looked over the edge of it.
+
+Riley's back was toward him, and noiselessly Ted slipped over the side
+and into the basket.
+
+Then the midget happened to turn his head, and saw Ted and uttered a
+frightened cry, which brought Riley around so that he found himself
+looking into the cold, dark bore of Ted's forty-four.
+
+"Got you!" said Ted coolly.
+
+"How did you get here?" said Riley, trying to smile. "If I'd known that
+you wanted to come I'd have waited for you."
+
+"I don't think," said Ted. "But now we'll go down."
+
+"No, I've got to give the people a run for their money. We must go a
+little farther."
+
+"I said we'd go down."
+
+"But we can't until the gas gets cool and exhausts. I have no escape
+valve."
+
+"Then I'll shoot a hole in the bag. I guess we'll go down then."
+
+"For Heaven's sake, don't do that! You'd blow us all to pieces."
+
+"Then down with her. I mean what I say."
+
+Riley looked at Ted for a moment, then pulled a string. There followed a
+hissing noise, and the balloon began to sink, slowly at first, then more
+rapidly.
+
+Ted did not dare take his eyes off Riley to see how close they were to
+the ground. But he heard the Moon Valley long yell, and knew that they
+were near the earth, and that Bud Morgan was not far away.
+
+Suddenly the car bumped on the ground, bounced and struck again, then
+stopped, and Ted heard Bud's cheerful voice right behind him.
+
+"Jumpin' sand hills, so yer got him, eh? Come, climb out," said Bud to
+Riley, "we need yer on terry firmy."
+
+"Cover him, Bud, while I search him. If he makes a break, kill him. He's
+an ex-convict, so don't take any chances with him," said Ted.
+
+Riley yielded up a gun and a knife and then he was hustled out of the
+car, with the midget still clinging to him, and Ted took charge of the
+tin box.
+
+Billy Sudden and some of his men had come up, and so had Ben and Kit,
+and Riley was conducted back to the ranch house strongly guarded.
+
+Once inside with their prisoners and the boys, Ted closed the doors on
+the curious crowd. The first thing he did was to open the tin box. On
+top were the packages of bills stolen from the cubby-hole, and beneath
+it a large amount of money and the bonds taken from the Strongburg
+Trust Company, as well as registered letters from which the money had
+not yet been extracted, and a large amount of brand-new treasury notes
+which answered the description of the government funds stolen from
+Creviss' bank.
+
+"It's all here," said Ted, "and the evidence is complete."
+
+"But how did he manage to do it without leaving a mark or a broken lock
+behind him?" asked Ben.
+
+"How? By means of this," and Ted placed his hand on the head of the
+midget, who shrank from him with a snarling cry.
+
+"Still I don't understand it."
+
+"The day I saw him in the Creviss bank he marched out with the plunder
+under my very eyes. The day before the robbery this fellow went into the
+bank with the dwarf in his valise. Wiley Creviss was alone. The valise
+was opened, and the dwarf slipped out of the valise and into the vault,
+and concealed himself.
+
+"During the night the dwarf collected all the money and bonds he could,
+and made himself comfortable. When it came time for the bank to open in
+the morning he again concealed himself, and remained in hiding until
+noon, when Wiley Creviss again came on watch while the cashier went to
+dinner. Then Riley, here, entered with his valise, and the dwarf crept
+into it, and was carried out of the bank with the money."
+
+"But what had the midget to do with the theft of our money?"
+
+"That's simple. Farley and the dwarf were to do the job. The dwarf was
+sent up to the roof, for he can climb like a monkey, and came down the
+chimney and opened the door for Farley. That was a mistake, for they
+would not have been caught, except for Farley."
+
+"How did they know where you hid the money?"
+
+"The dwarf saw us through the window, and Kit saw him, but I thought it
+was all imagination. That was how they robbed the post office. The dwarf
+was lowered down the chimney. That is about the size of it. Am I
+correct, Riley?"
+
+"Correct enough, so far as I'm concerned. I guess it's back to 'the
+stir' for me. But this midget didn't know what he was doing, and ought
+to be sent to an asylum instead of the prison," said Riley.
+
+At that moment there was a great commotion without, and a crowd of
+cowboys rode up. In the center of the circle made by them was Wiley
+Creviss and several of his gang. In all, with Riley and the dwarf, there
+were eight of them in custody, and without ado they were hurried to the
+Strongburg jail.
+
+The United States marshal was in Strongburg when Ted came in with his
+prisoners.
+
+"What is all this, Strong?" asked the marshal.
+
+"That bank-robbing gang you ordered me to bring in," answered Ted.
+
+"You made quick work of it. Get any of the money?"
+
+"All of it. It is in the Strongburg bank. You see, they made the mistake
+of robbing us last night. But for that they would have got away, and we
+would have had a hard time catching them. As it was, they walked right
+in to us."
+
+Skip Riley went back to the penitentiary for a long term of years, and
+the midget was sent to an asylum for the feeble-minded.
+
+Jack Farley turned State's evidence, and Creviss and ten other young
+reprobates were sent to a reformatory.
+
+As for Lucifer, he turned out, next to Sultan and Custer, the best horse
+on the ranch.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE ANONYMOUS LETTER.
+
+
+A very short time after the capture of Skip Riley, Ted Strong was
+standing in the waiting room of the Union Station at St. Louis, the
+metropolis of Missouri, whither he had been summoned by a letter from
+the chief of the United States secret service.
+
+He was waiting for Bud Morgan, who had gone to the baggage room to
+inquire about a trunk which had become lost on the way from Moon Valley,
+and which contained a number of valuable papers, including both their
+commissions as deputy United States marshals.
+
+The enormous waiting room was crowded with passengers from the incoming
+trains, with which the numerous tracks were full from end to end.
+
+As Ted Strong leaned over the iron railing, looking down into the lower
+waiting room, he was conscious that a woman had stepped to his side.
+Glancing up sideways, he saw that close to him was a very beautiful
+young girl, who wore a traveling cloak of pearl gray, and a long feather
+boa, which the draft had blown across his sleeve.
+
+His glance intercepted one from her, and not wishing her to think that
+he was idly staring at her, he directed his gaze once more to the
+surging crowd below. As his eyes wandered over the throng, he saw a man
+look up, and make the most imperceptible gesture with his head.
+
+He did not know the man. Turning swiftly to the young lady at his side,
+he caught sight of a smile and a slight uplifting of her eyebrows.
+
+Undoubtedly a signal had passed between the two, and Ted, not wishing
+to be an eavesdropper, looked away again. But in the swift glance he had
+given the young girl--for now he saw that she was little else--he made a
+mental note of her. The gray eyes with the long, dark lashes, the oval
+face, beautiful in shape and of an ivory tint; the scarlet, curving
+lips, the slender, trim figure, and the strange, subtle perfume which
+she exhaled, one would never forget.
+
+He also noted the appearance of the man who had signaled the girl.
+
+The man was five feet seven inches in height; his face was well rounded,
+but not too fat. He had a brown, pointed beard; the eyes were pale,
+almost colorless; the forehead, broad and high, a fact which Ted noted
+when the man lifted his hat to wipe his brow. He had the air of a
+well-bred man of the world, and was probably a resident of New York.
+There was something familiar about the man that made Ted think that he
+had seen him before.
+
+Ted saw Bud come through the door into the waiting room from the midway
+of the station, look up and wave his hand, with a frown and a shake of
+the head that told him his pard's quest for the missing baggage had been
+fruitless.
+
+At the same time, the girl at his side seemed to bump into him, and as
+he turned to her she muttered an apology and hurried away. Although he
+followed her with his eyes a few moments, she was soon lost in the
+crowd.
+
+He slipped his hands into the pockets of his jacket, and, with his back
+to the railing, prepared to wait until Bud reached him.
+
+As his left hand sank into his pocket, his fingers came in contact with
+a piece of paper.
+
+He knew that he had not placed the paper in his pocket, and glanced
+around with his usual caution to see if any one was watching him. He saw
+that wonderful pair of gray eyes with the dark lashes--Irish eyes, he
+called them--watching him over the shoulders of a man a dozen feet away
+in the crowd. But the moment the woman realized that she was being
+observed, she disappeared.
+
+"Deuced strange," he muttered to himself, fumbling with the paper, which
+he had not withdrawn from his pocket. "That girl placed this paper in my
+pocket. I wonder why. There is something out of the way here, for the
+paper was not there before she stood beside me."
+
+One less wise than Ted, and not so modest, might have thought that the
+girl was trying to flirt with him. But to Ted there was something more
+important and mysterious than that in her actions.
+
+If he read them aright, she had placed the paper in his pocket when she
+apparently accidentally bumped into him, and had gone away only to come
+back to see if he had discovered it.
+
+Although he searched the crowd with eager eyes, he did not see her
+again, and was confident that she had disappeared as soon as she had
+accomplished her mission, which was to convey some message to him.
+
+Although he was somewhat curious to know what, if anything, was written
+on the paper, he restrained himself until he could be alone, for he did
+not know who might be in that crowd looking for just such a move on his
+part.
+
+Just then Bud brushed his way through the crowd and came up to Ted.
+
+"Them things ain't come yit," he said, in a tone of discontent, "an' me
+stranded in St. Looey with no more clean shirt than a rabbit."
+
+"You can easily get a clean shirt," said Ted, "but it's not so easy to
+get a new commission. That's what's worrying me, for there is no
+telling how soon we may need one."
+
+"Well, let's git out o' this mob, er I'll begin ter beller an' mill, an'
+if they don't git out o' my way I'll cause sech a stampede thet it'll
+take ther police all day ter round 'em up ag'in."
+
+Ted said nothing to Bud about the paper he had discovered in his pocket,
+but picked up his valise. They then made their way to the street and
+rode uptown in a car, where they registered at a quiet hotel.
+
+Ted went immediately to the room assigned to him, locked the door, and
+drew out the paper.
+
+He could not conceive what it would contain, for he was far above the
+vanity of thinking that the young woman who had stood by his side would
+interest herself in him enough to write him a silly note.
+
+"The man with the pointed beard!" thought Ted.
+
+Of course, it was he who had caused the note to be slipped into his
+pocket.
+
+But why?
+
+Taking a chair by the window, he slowly opened the note, observing at
+the time that the same fragrance came from it as had filled the air
+while the girl stood beside him in the station.
+
+It was a sheet of pale-blue letter paper folded three times.
+
+In the upper left-hand corner was an embossed crest, the head of a lion
+rampant, and beneath it a dainty monogram, which he made out to be
+"O. B. N.," or any one of the combinations of those letters. He could
+not tell which combination was the correct one.
+
+The writing was in a fashionable feminine hand, and written with a
+pencil.
+
+It was as follows:
+
+     "T. S.: This is a friendly warning from one who dare not
+     communicate with you personally, for reasons which you will
+     discover and understand later on, if things turn out as we"--the
+     word "we" had been scratched out and "I" written above
+     it--"anticipate. Be very careful while you are in St. Louis. Do not
+     go on the streets alone, and go armed. Your mission is known, and
+     you will be watched by persons who will seek to get you out of the
+     way. We--that is, I, also know of your mission, and take this means
+     of warning you of your danger, as you have done me services in the
+     past without knowing it. Now, the sting of this note lies in this,
+     and don't forget it, don't get into any fights, no matter what the
+     provocation, for I have it straight that that, is the lay to do
+     you. If you do so, not being able to avoid it, shoot straight, and
+     you will come out all right in the end. I will see to that part of
+     it at the right time.
+
+     "A FRIEND."
+
+Ted read the letter through three times, trying to clarify it, but each
+time his mind became more confused over it.
+
+What did it mean, and how could any stranger know his business when he
+had not told a soul about it?
+
+Even Bud did not know why they were in St. Louis; that is, he did not
+know the real reason. Ostensibly, they were there to inspect the local
+horse market.
+
+There was a loud rap on the door, and Ted went to it and unlocked it.
+Throwing the door open, he saw a stranger standing on the threshold,
+just about to step in.
+
+He looked at Ted in apparent surprise, then up at the number on the
+door, but his eyes fell to the letter which Ted still held in his hand,
+and he stared at it like one fascinated.
+
+Ted noticed this, and put the letter behind his back.
+
+As the stranger did not speak, Ted broke the spell by saying, in a
+sarcastic tone:
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Oh, I beg your pardon," said the stranger hastily, "but isn't Mr. Fowle
+in? I expected him to come to the door, and was surprised to see you,
+don't you know."
+
+"I don't know any Mr. Fowle," said Ted, with a smile that must have told
+the stranger that he was not taken in by the question.
+
+The fellow threw a quick glance around the room, but did not retreat
+from his place in the doorway.
+
+Ted was starting to shut the door, considering the incident closed, when
+the stranger, who was a large, powerful man, well dressed and with the
+air of a prosperous business man, started to enter.
+
+"This is not Mr. Fowle's room; it is mine," said Ted, blocking the way,
+
+"I'll just step in and wait for him," said the man. "The clerk
+downstairs said it was his room."
+
+"Wait a minute," said Ted sternly. "I don't know you, and I don't know
+Fowle. If you have any business with me, state it from the hall."
+
+The warning in the letter flashed through his mind.
+
+Suddenly the man sprang upon Ted, and they fell to the floor together.
+
+"Give me that letter, curse you!" hissed the man, "I saw you get it, and
+I saw it just now. Give it to me, I tell you."
+
+Ted had managed to put the letter back into his pocket. His right arm
+was twisted under his body, and he could not release it.
+
+He looked up into the face of the man, who was straddling his body, and
+saw a gleam of malignant hatred in his eyes.
+
+"Let me up, you cur," said Ted.
+
+"After I get the letter," was the reply.
+
+"It's a private letter, and not for you. Let me up!"
+
+Now Ted saw that the man had a knife in his hand--a long, keen knife,
+with a pearl hilt and a silver guard.
+
+"If you don't give me that letter at once, you'll not get another
+chance, but I'll have it," snarled the man.
+
+Ted began to struggle, but he soon saw that he could do nothing with one
+arm out of commission. The man was not only powerful, but heavy, and it
+was all Ted could do to more than wriggle his body.
+
+"I tell you you shan't have it," said Ted.
+
+The knife went above the man's head, and in the wielder's face was a
+look of the most diabolical hatred Ted had ever seen in a human
+countenance.
+
+"For the last time," said the man hoarsely.
+
+There was something about the fellow's actions that told Ted he was
+desperate, yet at the same time afraid of the act he was about to
+commit.
+
+The knife was about to descend when Ted cried out an alarm, the first he
+had sounded.
+
+He heard some one running in the hall. His assailant heard it, also, and
+hesitated, looking around with frightened eyes.
+
+"Yi-yipee!" It was Bud's voice, and Ted breathed a prayer of
+thankfulness.
+
+"I'll give it to you, anyhow," muttered the man, and again the knife
+went up in the air.
+
+But it did not make a strike, for at that moment Bud bounded into the
+room, and, taking in the situation with a lightning glance, his foot
+flew out, and the toe of his heavy boot struck the man on top of Ted
+fairly in the ribs. There was a cracking sound, and with a groan the
+fellow dropped the knife and struggled to his feet.
+
+Rushing at Bud, he bowled that doughty individual over like a tenpin,
+and dashed into the hall, along which he ran swiftly and lightly, for
+so large a man.
+
+When Bud had picked himself up and run to the stairway, he could hear
+the fellow clattering down the stairs three flights below.
+
+"Well, dash my hopes," said Bud, "if he didn't get clear away. He shore
+treated me like a leetle boy. But I reckon he's in sech a hurry because
+he's on his way ter a drug store fer a porious plaster fer them ribs o'
+hisn."
+
+Ted had picked himself up and was rubbing his arm, which had been
+strained by his falling on it.
+
+"What's this yere all erbout?" asked Bud. "I'm comin' up ter call on yer
+when I hears yer blat, an' I come runnin', an' what do I see? A large,
+pale stranger erbout ter explore yer system with er bowie. Yer mixin' in
+sassiety quicker'n usual, seems ter me."
+
+Ted had picked up the knife, which had fallen beneath the bed, and was
+looking at it.
+
+"I wonder where this came from," he said, turning it over in his hand.
+
+"Wherever it came from, it's a wicked-lookin' cuss," said Bud. "But what
+wuz ther feller goin' ter explore yer with it fer?"
+
+"This letter," said Ted, taking the crumpled paper from his pocket and
+handing it to Bud.
+
+"Jumpin' sand hills, ther plot thickens," said Bud, when he had finished
+reading it. "I don't seem ter be in it at all. What's it all erbout?
+Ye've got my coco whirlin' shore."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE ABANDONED MOTOR CAR.
+
+
+"I'll tell you," said Ted, "if you'll take a seat and keep quiet until I
+get the thing straightened out in my own mind, for the incidents of the
+past hour certainly have got me going."
+
+Bud sat down and waited patiently for Ted, who was thinking deeply.
+
+"I didn't tell you the precise object of our visit to St. Louis," began
+Ted, "not because I didn't trust your ability to keep a secret, but in
+order to keep every one else in the dark."
+
+"D'yer mean ter say that ye hev stalled me along ter this town ter give
+me a leetle airin', an' not ter sell hosses?" asked Bud indignantly.
+
+"Not exactly. I want to sell the horses for the top price, but there was
+something else behind it."
+
+"A large man astraddle o' ye with a keen an' bitin' bowie at yer throat.
+Yer must be hard up fer amoosement."
+
+"Not that, either," said Ted, laughing. "I manage to get all the
+amusement that's coming to me."
+
+"I'm still gropin' fer enlightenment."
+
+"Here goes, then. For a couple of months the trains on the Union
+Pacific, in Nebraska and Wyoming, have been running the gantlet between
+bands of train robbers. If a train missed being robbed at one place, it
+was almost sure to get it at another, especially if it carried wealth of
+any description."
+
+"But ther railroads is erbout ther biggest chumps ter stand fer all this
+monkeydoodle business o' train robbin' ez long ez they hev. Why don't
+they get inter ther exterminatin' business, an' clean up ther last o'
+them?"
+
+"Too busy making money, I guess. But this time it is not the railroads
+who are going after them."
+
+"Who is it, me an' you?"
+
+"Almost. By orders of the government."
+
+"That's more like it. I don't hev no love fer a train robber, fer all I
+ever come in contact with wuz a bunch o' cowardly murderers, who fight
+like rats when they're cornered, an' kill innercent express messengers
+fer amoosement er devilment. But if Uncle Sammy sez so, an' needs my
+help, he's got it right swift an' willin'."
+
+"Well, he seems to need it, for just before we left Moon Valley I
+received a letter from the United States secret service, telling me
+about the robberies, of which I had heard something, but not much, as
+they have been kept away from the newspapers as much as possible."
+
+"Hev there been so many of them?"
+
+"As I tell you, they have been so numerous as to lead one to believe
+that there was a chain of train robbers clear across the continent, and
+strong and capable robbers they have proved themselves to be."
+
+"Did they git much?"
+
+"They have got away with a vast amount of money belonging to
+individuals. They seem to have had information in advance of all the big
+shipments of treasure leaving San Francisco and Carson City, Nevada, as
+well as of private shipments."
+
+"Wise Injuns, eh?"
+
+"I should say so. They have even been able to spot shipments of United
+States gold en route from the mints in Frisco and Carson to Washington,
+and in two instances have got away with it."
+
+"Wow! There's where your Uncle Samuel reaches out his long arms and
+takes a hand in the game. How much did they get away with?"
+
+"The chief did not say. That is not for us to know, I guess, or he
+doesn't think it will make any difference with us in our enthusiasm for
+our work of running down and capturing that gang, or gangs, as the ease
+may be."
+
+"But it wouldn't do a feller no harm ter know. I'd feel a heap more
+skittish if I wuz runnin' after a million than if it wuz thirty cents."
+
+"There's something in that, but we won't let it interfere with the
+performance of our duty."
+
+"How does the chief put it up to us?"
+
+"He tells the facts briefly, and says: 'Go and get the robbers.'"
+
+"That's short an' ter ther p'int. Anything else?"
+
+"He says that the worst bunch of train robbers in ten years has been
+organized, with men operating on various railroads, and that from past
+performances it would seem that they had inside and powerful friends who
+were keeping them informed as to what trains to rob. In other words, the
+thing seems to be a syndicate of robbers operated and directed from a
+central point by men of brains and resource."
+
+"An' whar's ther central p'int?"
+
+"St. Louis."
+
+"Ah, I begins ter smell a mice. So yer gradooly led up ter this place,
+pretendin' ter sell hosses, eh?"
+
+"No; we'll kill two birds with one stone. We'll sell the horses if we
+can get our price for them, and it will be an excellent cloak to hide
+our real purpose, which is to try to get next to the headquarters of the
+train robbers."
+
+"Good idee. But how aire yer goin' ter go erbout it?"
+
+"To tell you the truth, I haven't an idea. We will have to do our own
+scouting. If the chief knew, it is not likely that he would employ us to
+find out."
+
+"Thet's so. Well, let's be on ther scout."
+
+"We'll still pose as ranchers with pony stock to sell, and let folks
+know it. We'll go over to the stockyards right now."
+
+"All right, but the stunt is ter keep our eyes peeled fer ther
+train-robber syndicate's office."
+
+"That's it. One never can tell when he will run onto just the thing he's
+looking for when he least expects it."
+
+"We're being shadowed," said Ted, a short time after they had left their
+hotel and were walking through the streets toward the bridge that spans
+the Mississippi River to East St. Louis.
+
+"How d'yer know?" asked Bud, sending a cautious eye around.
+
+"See that fellow with the checked suit, on the opposite side of the
+street?"
+
+"Uh-huh!"
+
+"He's on our trail. Don't give him a hint that we're on to him, and if
+he chases us all day he'll see that we are what we represent ourselves
+to be, just plain cow-punchers."
+
+"I'm on."
+
+The man in the checked suit got on the same trolley car with them at the
+bridge, and while they were walking through the stockyards they saw him
+frequently, not always in evidence, but always somewhere in their
+vicinity.
+
+They visited the offices of the commission merchants who dealt in
+horseflesh, and got their prices for the sort of stock the boys had to
+sell, and before the day was over they had disposed of six carloads of
+horses for immediate delivery.
+
+While they were talking the deal over with the purchaser, they noticed
+that the man in the checked suit hovered around, and Ted purposely
+permitted him to overhear part of the conversation about the delivery of
+the ponies.
+
+Ted then sent a telegram to Kit Summers, informing him of the sale, and
+telling him to select the sort of horses from the herds that were
+wanted, and to come through with them, bringing a sufficient number of
+the boys with him to protect the stock and deliver it.
+
+When the operator took the message and began to send it, Ted noticed
+that the man with the checked suit was leaning against the wall,
+apparently not paying any attention to what was going on. But Ted knew
+by the way he was holding his head that he was a telegraph operator
+also, and that he was reading the message as it went onto the wire.
+
+"Say, Bud, we've had enough of that gentleman for one day, haven't we?"
+
+"I shore hev."
+
+"Then let's give him the slip."
+
+"Easier said than done. Thet thar feller sticks like a leech ter a black
+eye."
+
+"I think we can do it."
+
+"And how?"
+
+"See that automobile over there? In front of that office."
+
+"I see a long, low, rakish craft painted like an Eyetalian sunset. If
+thet is yer means o' communication with ther other side o' ther river,
+oxcuse me."
+
+"Why, what's the matter with that? That's a mighty fine car."
+
+"I reckon it is, but walkin's good ernuf fer me."
+
+"But you'll never walk away from that shadow."
+
+"I'll bet I kin run erway from 'his checkers' before we're halfway ter
+St. Looey, even if I am a cow-puncher, an' muscle bound from straddlin'
+a saddle fer so many years."
+
+"What's the use, when we can run away from him in a gasoline wagon. That
+machine is standing in front of the office of Truax & Wells, and they
+have sold a lot of cattle for us in times past. It wouldn't surprise me
+if the car belonged to one or the other of them, and that if we asked
+for a lift to the other side they would be glad to let us have it."
+
+"All right, if you're so keen on it, tackle 'em. You'll find me game ter
+ride ther ole thing. I've rid everything from a goat ter a huffier, an'
+yer kin bet yer gold-plugged tooth I ain't goin' ter welsh fer no ole
+piece o' machinery."
+
+They entered the office, and were at once greeted by an elderly man, Mr.
+Truax, in a warm manner. After talking over things in general, Ted said:
+
+"That's a fine car of yours out there, Mr. Truax."
+
+"Funny thing about that car," said the commission merchant. "That's not
+my car, and nobody seems to know whose car it is."
+
+"That certainly is strange," said Ted. "How does it come to be standing
+out there?"
+
+"It was this way, and it's a good story, but none of the newspaper boys
+have been in to-day, and so I couldn't give it out: Right back of us
+here is a railroad station. There's an eastbound train through here at
+seven-thirty every morning. She was just pulling into the station this
+morning as I was unlocking the office door, and I heard a chugging
+behind me. I looked up, and here came the car with only one man in it.
+He pulls up short, picks up a bag, which was very heavy, for it was all
+he could do to stagger along with it.
+
+"The bell on the engine was ringing for the start when he runs through
+the arcade there as fast as he could with the heavy bag, and just
+catches the rear of the train as it comes along. He manages to hoist the
+bag onto the rear platform steps, and is running along trying to get on,
+and the train picking up speed with every revolution of the wheels. I
+thought sure he would be left, or killed, for he wouldn't let go, when
+the conductor came out on the rear platform, saw him, and jerked him
+aboard by the collar."
+
+"Didn't he say anything about his machine?" asked Ted.
+
+"Not a word. That's what I thought so strange about it. But, thinks I,
+some one will come for it after a while. Perhaps, thinks I, he was in
+such a hurry to make the train that he left home without a chauffeur,
+who will be along when he wakes up."
+
+"And no one has appeared?"
+
+"There she lays, just as he left her. When my partner came down, I spoke
+to him about it. He's a fan on motoring. That's his car over there; that
+white one. When I spoke to him about it, he went out and looked it over.
+
+"'That car don't belong here,' says he. 'There's no number of the maker
+on it, and everything that would serve to identify it has been taken
+off. Besides, I don't think the license number is on the square.'
+
+"That excited my curiosity, and I called up the license collector's
+office and asked him whose motor car No. 118 was. In a few minutes he
+calls me and says it belongs to Mr. Henry Inchcliffe, the banker. I gets
+Mr. Inchcliffe on the phone and asks him if his car is missing, and he
+says he can look out of the window as he is talking and see it beside
+the curb with his wife sitting in it. 'What is the color of your car?'
+says I. 'Dark green, picked in crimson. Why do you ask?' says he. I
+tells him that an abandoned car is standing in front of our place with
+his number on it. But he says he guesses not, for his number looms up
+like a sore thumb, hanging on the axle of his car in front of the bank,
+and I rings off. That's the story of the car."
+
+"Since it belongs to no one in particular, I've a mind to borrow it, and
+put it in a garage over on the other side. It'll be ruined if it stays
+out here in the weather," said Ted.
+
+"I don't care," said Mr. Truax. "It wasn't left in my care, and I
+haven't got much use for the blamed thing, anyhow. Take it along. If the
+owner comes and proves property, I suppose you'll give it up?"
+
+"Sure thing. I'll telephone you the name and address of the garage where
+I leave it, so that if there is any inquiry for it you may direct
+inquirers there. But I've got a hunch that this car was thrown away,
+having served its purpose."
+
+"Great Scott! that's a valuable thing to throw away."
+
+"Yes, but the man who abandoned it probably thought it a good
+sacrifice."
+
+"How is that?"
+
+"What do you suppose was in that bag he carried?"
+
+"Couldn't say, but it was pretty heavy."
+
+"It would hold a good deal of paper money, wouldn't it?"
+
+"If the bills were of big enough denomination, I should say you could
+pack away a million in it, for it was a powerful big sack."
+
+"Well, suppose the man whom you saw jump out of the car and get aboard
+the train had stolen the car, or even if he had owned it, and had made a
+big haul, and it was contingent upon his getting away with the money
+that he abandon the car."
+
+"That's possible. But there has been no big robbery to cover that part
+of the theory."
+
+"You don't know. There may have been a big robbery, and it has not been
+made public. Not all robberies are reported to the public. If they were,
+there would be slim chance for the authorities to catch the thieves."
+
+"Perhaps so. Say, Mr. Strong, you're a deputy United States marshal,
+ain't you?"
+
+"Yes. Both Mr. Morgan and I are in the government service."
+
+"I've been thinking over what you said about a possible robbery, and
+perhaps you've got it right. I believe you'd better take that car along.
+You might need it as evidence some day."
+
+"That occurred to me."
+
+"Can you run the pesky thing."
+
+"Yes; I learned to run a motor car long ago. It is, like everything else
+a fellow can know, mighty useful to me in my business."
+
+"All right, take her along."
+
+The man in the checked suit was nowhere in sight, but as Ted started up
+the abandoned motor car he came running out of a doorway.
+
+"Hi, there! Come back with that car!" he yelled, running after them in
+the middle of the road. But Ted let her out a couple of links, and in a
+moment the man in checks was out of sight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE LODGING-HOUSE BATTLE.
+
+
+"What aire ye goin' ter do with ther blamed thing, now yer got it?"
+asked Bud, as they sped across the Eads Bridge into St. Louis.
+
+"I haven't made up my mind yet. It certainly doesn't belong in this
+town, and if we use it here we will have to get a local license."
+
+"Jumpin' sand hills, yer not goin' ter run it yere?"
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Whoever owns it is li'ble ter come erlong some day, an--"
+
+"Then I'll give it to him, if he can prove it is his, but I don't think
+it will ever be claimed."
+
+"How's that?"
+
+"Because the owner is a thief, and if he finds it is in the hands of an
+officer he will let it go rather than face an investigation. Besides, I
+need it."
+
+"Ted Strong, aire yer goin' dotty over them derned smell wagons, too?"
+
+"No, I can't say that I am, but if I lived in a town like this, and
+could afford it, you bet I'd have one."
+
+"But where aire yer goin' ter keep it? We shore can't take it up ter our
+room."
+
+"Not exactly," laughed Ted. "You forget that we have friends in this
+man's town."
+
+"Not a whole heap."
+
+"What's the matter with Don Dorrington?"
+
+"By ginger, that's so. Ther young feller what was with us down in Mexico
+when we found ther jewels and things under ther president's palace."
+
+"Yes, and we're heading right for his house now."
+
+"What fer? Goin' ter try ter git him inter trouble, too?"
+
+Ted piloted the machine through the thronged downtown streets, and
+coming at last to Pine Street Boulevard, he let her out, and went
+skimming over the smooth pavement until he came to Newstead Avenue, and
+was ringing the bell of Don Dorrington's flat before the astonished Bud
+could recover his breath from the swift ride.
+
+Dorrington himself came to the door, having looked through the window
+and seen Ted arrive.
+
+"Well, by all that's glorious," exclaimed Don, as he grasped Ted by the
+hand. "Where are you from, and why? Hello, Bud, you old rascal! Get out
+of that car and come in. Where did you get the bubble?"
+
+Ted and Bud entered the house and were taken into Don's workroom, where
+he was soon put in possession of the facts concerning the motor car,
+although Ted said nothing about the real object of his visit lo St.
+Louis.
+
+"Well, what can I do for you?" asked Don.
+
+"Have you a place where I can store this car for a while?" asked Ted.
+
+"I sure have," said Don. "You can run it right into the basement from
+the back yard. When these flats were built it was intended that the
+basement be used as a garage, but so far none of the tenants have shown
+a disposition to get rich enough to buy one. No one will be able to get
+the machine out of there,"
+
+"That's the only thing I fear," said Ted. "It's a cinch that the owner,
+if he is a thief who has escaped with a pot of money, as I strongly
+suspect, will have his pals try to get it back. And I don't want them to
+get it until I have used it to try to trace them."
+
+"I'll bet a cooky ther feller with ther checked suit wuz after ther
+machine himself," said Bud. "When we eloped with it he came holler in'
+after us ter bring it back, but we gave him the glazed look an' left him
+fannin' ther air in our wake."
+
+The boys rolled the motor car into the basement, which was securely
+locked. Then Ted and Bud returned to town on a street car.
+
+As they got closer to the downtown section, they could hear the shouts
+of the newsboys announcing an "extra" newspaper in all the varieties of
+pronunciation of that word as it issues from the mouths of city
+"newsies."
+
+"Wonder what the 'extra' is all about?" said Ted.
+
+"Oh, same old thing, I reckon," said Bud. "'All erbout ther turribul
+disaster.' An' when yer buys a paper yer see in big letters at ther top,
+'Man Kills,' and down below it, 'Mother-in-law!' But in little type
+between them yer read ther follerin', to wit, 'Cat to spite.' I've been
+stung by them things before."
+
+"I'm going to buy one, anyway," laughed Ted. "I don't mind being stung
+for a cent."
+
+He beckoned to a newsboy, bought a paper, and opened it.
+
+"What's this?" he almost shouted.
+
+Great black letters sprawled across the top of the page.
+
+"Express Messenger Found Dead," was the first line, and below it was the
+confirmation of Ted's belief that a great robbery had taken place. It
+was "Forty Thousand Dollars Taken from the Safe."
+
+"There's the owner of the abandoned automobile, the fellow who boarded
+the train with the heavy grip," said Ted to Bud, who was staring over
+his shoulder.
+
+The article following the startling headlines told the circumstances of
+the robbery.
+
+The train that entered the Union Station at six o'clock that morning had
+been robbed in some mysterious manner between a junction a short
+distance out of St. Louis, where the express messenger had been seen
+alive by a fellow messenger in another car. When the car was opened in
+the station, after being switched to the express track, the messenger
+was found lying on the floor of the car with a bullet through his head.
+The safe had been blown open and its contents rifled.
+
+The express company had kept silent about the murder and robbery until
+late in the day, when the body of the messenger was found by a reporter
+in an undertaker's establishment.
+
+As for the other details, a policeman at the Union Station said that he
+had noticed a man come out of the waiting room carrying a grip that
+seemed more than ordinarily heavy. A red motor car was waiting outside
+the station, and the man got into it and drove away at a fast pace. The
+policeman had not noticed the number on the car.
+
+How the robber and murderer got into the express car was a mystery, as
+the car was locked when it was switched into the express track, and
+there were no marks of a violent entry on the outside of the car.
+
+"What aire yer goin' ter do erbout it?" asked Bud. "Aire yer goin' ter
+turn over ther motor car an' give yer infermation ter ther police?"
+
+"Not on your life," answered Ted. "At least, not yet. I'm going to work
+on it a bit myself first."
+
+"But won't Mr. Truax tip it off?"
+
+"I'll warn him not to."
+
+"But how erbout ther feller in ther check suit what wuz so kind an'
+attentive ter us?"
+
+"He's hiding out, now that the robbery has become public. I'm not afraid
+of him."
+
+"What's ther first move?"
+
+"Locate and identify the car."
+
+Ted called Mr. Truax up on the telephone. The commission merchant had
+read about the express robbery, and had connected the man in the red car
+with it, but promised to say nothing about it until Ted had had an
+opportunity to unravel the mystery.
+
+Ted lay awake a long time that night thinking the matter over, and in
+the morning awoke with a plan in his mind.
+
+"Well, hev yer determined what ter do erbout ther red car?" asked Bud at
+the breakfast table. "I'm shore gittin' sore at myself fer a loafer,
+sittin' eround here doin' nothin' but eat an' look at ther things in
+ther stores what I can't buy."
+
+"I've got a scheme that I'm going to try," answered Ted.
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"I'm going to run that car all over this town until I get some of the
+train-robbing syndicate anxious about it and to following it. Then I'm
+going to get on to their place of doing business and their methods."
+
+"Wish yer luck," was Bud's cheerless comment.
+
+Bud had been out wandering restlessly around the streets all morning,
+and Ted was writing letters. When he got through he thought about the
+missing trunk, and concluded that he would go to the Union Station to
+see if it had been received.
+
+The words of warning in the note not to go on the street alone were
+clear in his memory; but this he took to mean at night, for in a crowded
+street in the daytime he could see no danger.
+
+After he had waited an hour or more for Bud, and the yellow-haired
+cow-puncher had not returned, Ted decided to delay no longer, and
+started off at a brisk walk for the station, which was six or seven
+blocks distant.
+
+His hotel being on Pine Street, he chose that for his route.
+
+He had walked three blocks when he stopped to watch a man who was
+slightly in advance of him.
+
+It was the fellow he had seen in the checked suit.
+
+He had just come out of a saloon.
+
+In the middle of the block he stopped to talk with another man, who
+looked as if he worked on the railroad, and Ted loitered in a doorway
+until the two separated, and the man in the checked suit continued on
+his way.
+
+A block farther on Ted observed two men standing on the corner talking.
+A policeman stood on the opposite corner.
+
+The two men on the corner Ted knew instantly for "plain-clothes men," as
+the headquarters detectives are called.
+
+He was well aware that the police by this time were on the alert to find
+the express robber and murderer, and knew that every available man on
+the city detective force was on the watch, like a cat at a rat hole.
+
+To capture the train robber meant a reward and promotion.
+
+Ted stood on the corner opposite the detectives and watched proceedings.
+
+When the man in the checked suit had gone about ten paces beyond the
+detectives, one of them started after him, and the other signaled the
+policeman in uniform to cross over.
+
+The detective called to the man in the check suit to halt, but instead
+of obeying he started to run.
+
+But he had not gone more than ten feet when he was seized by the
+detective, and was dragged back to the corner.
+
+"Take him to the box, Casey," said the detective, turning his prisoner
+over to the policeman.
+
+At that moment the two detectives were joined by a third, and they
+entered into an earnest conversation, drawn closely together and looking
+over their shoulders occasionally in the direction of the house into
+which the man in the checked suit was about to enter when arrested.
+
+"I have stumbled right into it," said Ted to himself. "The check-suit
+man is the spy for the train robbers, and their headquarters are in that
+house. The detectives are going to raid it, and I'm in on it. This
+certainly is lucky."
+
+He was glad now that he had not waited for Bud.
+
+The three detectives moved slowly down the street, The policeman stood
+on the corner holding his man, waiting for the patrol wagon.
+
+The scene was vividly impressed on Ted's mind, for it had happened so
+quickly, so easily, so quietly, and not at all like his own strenuous
+times when he had gone after desperadoes in his capacity of deputy
+marshal.
+
+The detectives did not notice that they were being followed by a youth,
+and it is doubtful if they would have paid any attention to him if they
+had.
+
+The foot of the first detective was on the lower step of the stairway
+leading to the door of the suspected house when suddenly a shrill
+whistle cut the air from the direction of the corner, and Ted turned to
+see the policeman strike the man in the check suit a blow with his club.
+
+"Curse him, he's tipped us off," said the detective. "Come on, we've got
+to rush them now."
+
+Quickly the three sprang up the steps, threw the door open, and entered
+a long hall.
+
+"Back room," said one.
+
+Ted was following them as closely as he could without being noticed and
+warned away.
+
+He saw a big, fine-looking policeman entering by a back door.
+
+"That's it," said one of the detectives, motioning to a door.
+
+The policeman walked boldly to the door and threw it open.
+
+As he did so a shot rang out, and the policeman staggered back and
+fell, a crimson stain covering his face.
+
+He was dead before he struck the floor.
+
+Without a word, the three detectives ran to the door, and within a
+moment or two at least fifteen shots were fired within the room.
+
+They were so many and so close together that it sounded like a single
+crash. Then there was silence for a few moments, followed by a few
+desultory shots which seemed to pop viciously after the crash that had
+gone before.
+
+It all happened so suddenly that Ted had hardly time to think, and stood
+rooted to the spot until he was aroused by the cry of "Help!" in a
+feeble voice, and, drawing his revolver, he sprang into the room.
+
+As he did so, a shot rang out, and a ball sped close to his head.
+
+The room was so dense with suffocating powder smoke that he could not
+see across it, but he had seen the dull-red flash from the muzzle of a
+revolver and shot in that direction.
+
+"I'm done," he heard, followed by a deep groan.
+
+"Get me out of here," said a man, trying to struggle to his feet, and
+Ted hurried to his side. It was one of the detectives, and Ted helped
+him to his feet and supported him to the hall.
+
+"Let me down. I've got mine. Go in and help Dunnigan," said the wounded
+man. There was a spot, red and ever widening, on his breast.
+
+Ted laid him on the floor and reëntered the room. Another shot came in
+his direction, and missed, although he could feel the wind of it as it
+passed close to his head, and he returned it with two shots, and there
+was silence.
+
+The smoke had by this time cleared away somewhat, and Ted saw five men
+lying prone in the room.
+
+One of the detectives lay on his face across the bed, and Ted tried to
+raise him up, but he was a dead weight. Ted finally got him turned over
+on his back, and then he saw that the detective was dead.
+
+Kneeling on the floor with his head in his arms, which were thrown
+across a chair, was the third detective. He was breathing hard, and
+every time he moved the blood gushed from his mouth. He had been shot
+through the stomach.
+
+But on the other side of the bed lay three men, apparently all of them
+dead.
+
+While he was observing this there was a commotion in the hall, and a
+policeman rushed in, followed by a large man who wore an authoritative
+air.
+
+"Oh, this is too bad; this is too bad," he kept repeating, as he went
+from man to man. It was Chief of Detectives Desmond. Turning to the
+policeman, he said:
+
+"They've killed the boys, but the boys got the whole gang except two,
+'Checkers' out there, and a man in the red automobile."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE MAN IN THE YELLOW CAR.
+
+
+A patrol wagon full of policemen had dashed up in front of the house,
+and they came running down the hall, followed by a horde of eager
+reporters, who stood aghast at the slaughter of a few minutes.
+
+The only participant in the fight who could talk was the detective whom
+Ted had carried to the hall, and he was telling the chief of detectives
+in whispers what had occurred.
+
+"That young fellow followed us in," he said, pointing to Ted. "He took
+me out, and then went in and finished the gang. He's a game one, he is.
+I don't know who he is, but, by Jove! he's a game un."
+
+"Who were the gang?" asked the chief.
+
+"'Big Bill' Minnis, 'Bull' Dorgan, and 'Feathers' Lavin," was the reply.
+"Checkers we caught on the corner, and the other member of the gang,
+Dude Wilcox, got away. I guess it was him that rode off with the swag in
+the automobile, but where he went we couldn't get."
+
+"I can tell you about that," said Ted quietly to the chief.
+
+Desmond looked up at him curiously.
+
+"Not now," he said. "Don't go. I want to talk to you after a while. Now,
+brace up, Tom; you're going to come out all right. The ambulance is out
+here, and we'll get you to the hospital."
+
+"It ain't no use to jolly me, chief," said the man on the floor. "I'm
+all in. I'm bleedin' inside. I've seen too many fellows with a shot like
+this ever to have any hopes. Send for my wife and a priest. I ain't
+afraid to go, chief, but I hate to leave Maggie like this."
+
+"We'll take care of her, Tom. Get that off your mind."
+
+"All right, chief. If you say so, I know it'll be all right. Poor girl,
+it's hard luck for her."
+
+"That's right, Tom, but brace up and don't let her see that you're
+worried."
+
+A woman's scream sounded through the hall, and a slender, girlish figure
+pushed its way toward the prostrate man.
+
+"Tom," she cried, and knelt beside him. "Are you hit? Did they get you
+at last?"
+
+"Oh, I ain't bad, Maggie," said the dying detective bravely. "The
+chief's going to have me sent to the hospital, and I'll be all right in
+a week."
+
+But before midnight he died.
+
+An hour later Ted met the chief of detectives.
+
+"Get into my car," said the chief, "and come down to my office, and
+we'll have a talk."
+
+In a short time they were at the Four Courts, the big central police
+station of St. Louis, and when they were in the chief's private office
+and the door barred to intruders the great detective turned inquiringly
+to Ted.
+
+"Now, who are you, and how did you happen to be mixed up in that mess?"
+asked Desmond.
+
+"My name is Ted Strong," began Ted.
+
+Suddenly Chief Desmond sat up straight and looked at Ted sharply.
+
+"Not the leader of the broncho boys, are you?" he asked.
+
+"The same," said Ted.
+
+"I know about you. What were you doing near those detectives, that you
+should have got in so handily?"
+
+"I'm a deputy United States marshal, as perhaps you know."
+
+Desmond nodded. "Yes, I know," he said.
+
+"I was working on this very case," said Ted, "and I had got hold of one
+end of it, and was about to follow it to a conclusion, when I saw the
+man Checkers on the street, and was following him. He led me to the
+detectives. The minute I saw them and him, I knew there would be
+something doing."
+
+"What did you know of Checkers?"
+
+"Nothing at all, except that he knew somehow that I was working on the
+express-robbery cases, and yesterday he shadowed my partner and me to
+East St. Louis, where we left him behind in an automobile."
+
+Ted then told the chief how he had come about taking possession of the
+red car, to which Desmond listened carefully. When Ted had finished,
+Desmond rose and paced the room for a minute.
+
+"Young man, you've got the big end of the chase," he said. "Dude Wilcox
+is the man who we are positive killed the messenger and got away with
+the swag. If it were you who found out how he got away with it, you will
+have got the last of the gang."
+
+"Is that all there is to it?" asked Ted.
+
+"Lord bless you, no. That's only the bunch that has been working in St.
+Louis. The big end of it is operating from some town farther west.
+There's where Dude Wilcox came from. I don't know where they make their
+headquarters, and it is out of my territory. I have all I can do to take
+care of St. Louis."
+
+"The government officers were of the opinion that St. Louis was
+headquarters."
+
+"That was true up to a few weeks ago, but we made it so hot for them
+here that they emigrated."
+
+"Well, there's no use in my staying here any longer. I might as well
+hike out west. I'm not much good in a big town, anyway. I suppose you'll
+have no trouble in handling Checkers without any word from me."
+
+"Oh, yes. But let's have Checkers up and hear what he has to say for
+himself."
+
+The chief pushed a button and presently an officer entered.
+
+"Go down to the hold-over and bring Checkers to me," ordered the chief.
+
+In less than ten minutes the officer was back again.
+
+"The jailer says he has no such man, chief," was the report.
+
+"Where is he?"
+
+"I'll inquire."
+
+Back he came in a few minutes.
+
+"Casey had him on the corner waiting for the wagon, sir, but in the
+excitement during the fight Casey let go of Checkers for a moment, and
+he got away."
+
+Ted could see that the chief was very angry, but he controlled his
+temper admirably.
+
+"Very well," was all he said.
+
+He turned and gave Ted a sharp look.
+
+"If you stay around here much longer, you'll have to look out for
+Checkers. He's a dangerous man, as well with a knife as with a gun."
+
+"I guess I can take care of him," answered Ted.
+
+"You look as if you could, lad," said the chief.
+
+After a few more minutes of conversation regarding the red motor car,
+during which the chief advised Ted to keep the car until he was through
+with it, Ted took his leave, and returned to the hotel.
+
+There he found Bud pacing the floor.
+
+"Peevish porcupines," grunted the old cow-puncher, "but you've got
+yourself in up to ther neck in printer's ink."
+
+"How's that?" asked Ted.
+
+"Haven't you seen the evening papers?"
+
+"I've been too busy to look at them."
+
+"I reckon you be. Busier than a cranberry merchant. Look at this."
+
+Bud handed Ted a bundle of evening papers.
+
+Of course, the fight between the detectives and the bandits was given an
+immense amount of space in the extras which followed one another rapidly
+from the presses. In all of them were accounts of Ted's going to the
+rescue of the detectives, and the statement that balls from Ted's
+revolver had killed two of the gang.
+
+"Rubbish!" said Ted. "I didn't kill any bandits. I took a couple of
+shots at them after they had fired on me, that's all."
+
+"Well, yer won't be able to get away from these newspaper stories. If
+any of ther gang run across yer, they'll shore go after yer with a hard
+plank. Ye've placed ther black mark on yerself with ther gang."
+
+"All right. I can stand it if they can. I've got a few up my sleeve for
+them."
+
+Then Ted related exactly how the thing happened, and of his talk with
+Desmond.
+
+"And they let that fellow Checkers get away," sighed Ted. "The chief
+says he's the most dangerous of them all, and warned me to look out for
+him. Bud, I've got a hunch."
+
+"Let her flicker. I'm kinder stuck on yer hunches; they pay dividends
+right erlong."
+
+"The fellow in the check suit was the man who tried to stab me because I
+wouldn't let him see the anonymous letter. I don't know which was the
+real man, Checkers or the other. But there were many points of
+similarity between them, and when Checkers called for us to stop the
+automobile, it was the voice of the man who commanded me to give him the
+letter. Keep Checkers in your mind."
+
+The next morning they went out to Don Dorrington's house and got out the
+automobile.
+
+"We'll circulate around pretty well in this," said Ted, "and if
+Checkers is in town he'll spot us, and we may get a chance at him yet."
+
+"What do you want with him?"
+
+"I'm depending on him to lead us to headquarters."
+
+For an hour or more they rode about the town, making the machine as
+conspicuous as possible.
+
+"Bud, we're being followed," said Ted, nodding toward a yellow car that
+had been in evidence oftener than mere chance made possible.
+
+"Yep. I've had him spotted fer some time," answered Bud.
+
+"Why didn't you say something about it?" Ted laughed at Bud's silence.
+
+"Oh, I knew that you were on to it, too," was the characteristic reply.
+
+"What do you suppose he's chasing us for? He must know that he can't
+harm us."
+
+"He don't want us. He wants that red car. It's a beautiful piece of red
+evidence against him an' his gang. Yer see, it's ther best kinder a
+clew."
+
+"Right again. But he needn't think he can steal it, for he can't."
+
+They put the car up during the middle of the day.
+
+"We'll let it rest for a while," said Ted, as they ran it into a public
+garage. "This evening we'll take it out again, and if we're followed
+then we'll be sure that it is Checkers, and that he is on our trail."
+
+It was seven o'clock when they trundled forth again.
+
+A bright moonlight night made motoring highly enjoyable, and after they
+had run about for a couple of hours Bud got out, saying that he was
+tired of the sport, and would return to the hotel, and leave Ted to take
+the machine back to Don Dorrington's basement.
+
+They had been followed by the yellow car again, but in going through
+Forest Park they had managed to give their trailer the slip among the
+intricate roads and bypaths, and had seen nothing of him for half an
+hour.
+
+As soon as Ted had let Bud out, he hit up the speed, for the boulevard
+was comparatively free of traffic, and he fairly spun along to the
+western part of the city.
+
+Cutting off the boulevard, he entered upon a side street to make a short
+cut to Dorrington's house.
+
+He noticed, as he turned into the side street, a light-colored car
+standing close to the curb as he passed, but so many cars were standing
+in front of houses here and there that he paid no attention to it.
+
+But he had no sooner passed than the light-colored car glided after him
+noiselessly. Ted's own machine was making so much noise that he was not
+aware of the presence of another car until it was abreast of him, and so
+close that he could reach out his hand and touch it.
+
+He thought the car was trying to pass him close to the curb, and started
+to turn out to give it more steerage room.
+
+"Sheer off, there," he called, "until I can get out of here."
+
+Suddenly something wet struck him in the face. He gave a gasp, as a
+fearful suffocating pain filled his head and lungs, and he sank down
+into the bottom of the car, insensible.
+
+At the same instant the man in the other car reached over and throttled
+the red car, then stopped his own.
+
+Leaving his own car in the middle of the road, he leaped into the red
+car and gave her her full head.
+
+In half an hour the red car had left the city and was speeding along a
+smooth country road in the moonlight.
+
+Ted still lay in a stupor in the bottom of the car, and the only sound
+that came from him was an occasional gasp as his lungs, trying to
+recover from a shock, took in short gulps of air.
+
+It was midnight before the red car slowed down.
+
+Ahead in the moonlight rose the black bulk of a building.
+
+It presented the appearance of a country house of some pretensions.
+
+The house was dark. Not a light appeared at any of the windows.
+
+The red car approached it cautiously, running into the deep shadow cast
+by a high brick wall. A dog on the other side of the wall barked a
+warning.
+
+The man in the red car whistled softly in a peculiar way.
+
+A window was raised somewhere, and the whistle was answered by another.
+
+In a few minutes there was the sound of a man walking on a graveled
+path, then the creak of rusty iron and a gate swung open.
+
+"All right?" asked a voice at the gate.
+
+"You bet. Got them both," answered the man in the red machine.
+
+"Bully for you. Run her in."
+
+The red machine, with Ted still lying in the bottom, ran into a large
+yard, and the gate was closed again, and the car was stopped in front of
+the house.
+
+"Come, help me carry him in," said the man in the car. "He'll be coming
+around all right in a few minutes, then we may have some trouble with
+him, for he's the very devil to fight."
+
+Ted was dragged out of the car in no gentle manner, and carried into the
+house, which was unlighted save where the moonlight shone through the
+windows.
+
+"Into the strong room with him," said the man of the house.
+
+Ted was carried into a room and dumped upon a lounge. Then a light was
+struck, and both men bent over the prostrate form of the leader of the
+broncho boys.
+
+Both of them started back.
+
+"Whew! You must have given him an awful dose, Checkers," said the man of
+the house.
+
+"Had to do it, Dude. If I hadn't, I'd never got him here, that's a
+cinch."
+
+"Well, get his gun off before he comes to."
+
+Ted was stripped of his weapons, a glass of water was thrown into his
+face, and he began to regain consciousness.
+
+He had been shot down with an ammonia gun, and the powerful alkaloid gas
+had almost killed him. For a long time he breathed in gasps, but his
+splendid constitution pulled him through.
+
+When they saw that he was recovering, the two men left the room, after
+examining the iron-barred windows, and as they went out they locked and
+barred the door behind them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+MURDER IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE.
+
+
+Ted lay for a long time only half conscious.
+
+But gradually his senses returned, and he opened his eyes to find
+himself in darkness, trying hard to think what had happened to him.
+
+He knew that he had been felled by something powerful and terrible, that
+had knocked him in a heap so suddenly that he hardly knew what had
+happened to him.
+
+Slowly the consciousness of it all came to him. Some one in an
+automobile had ridden alongside him and thrown ammonia in his face.
+
+His eyes were still smarting with it, and he wondered, seeing no light,
+if it had blinded him, and he was now lying in the dark when there was
+light all around him.
+
+He struggled with this thought for a moment, because the idea of going
+blind was terrible to him.
+
+He wondered where he was, and felt around and learned that he was lying
+on a couch.
+
+Then he swung his feet to the floor and sat up. The ammonia had left him
+still weak, but gradually he became stronger, and got to his feet and
+began to explore the room with his fingers.
+
+He found a chair and a table, and presently came to the door, which he
+tried to open, but could not.
+
+Passing around the room, he arrived at the window, and, looking through
+the glass, saw a star, and thanked Heaven that he could see.
+
+He tried the fastenings of the window, unlocked it, and threw it up,
+stretching out his hand. The window was closed with iron bars.
+
+He had made the circuit of the room, and had discovered that he was
+securely shut in.
+
+He went back to the lounge and lay down to think matters over.
+
+He felt quite sure that the man Checkers had been his assailant. The
+warning had not been without reason, after all.
+
+As he lay quietly he heard footsteps in the next room. Two men evidently
+had entered it. They were talking, and occasionally, when their voices
+rose higher than usual, he could catch a word or two.
+
+From the tones of their voices he learned that the conversation was not
+of the most pleasant nature. They were quarreling about something.
+
+By degrees their voices grew higher, and occasionally Ted caught such
+words as "money," "half," "thousand," enough to tell him that they were
+dividing something.
+
+"They're quarreling over the swag," said Ted to himself. "Good! 'When
+thieves fall out, honest men get their dues,'" he quoted. "Keep it up,
+and I'll get you yet."
+
+They did keep it up.
+
+It was the voice of Checkers that rose high.
+
+"I tell you I'll have half or I'll split on you, if I go to the 'stir'
+for the rest of my life."
+
+"If you do split, you won't go to the 'stir.' The boys will kill you
+before you get the chance."
+
+"Well, what's your proposition?"
+
+"I'll give you five thousand. That's enough for putting me next to the
+train. What do you want? The earth? Didn't I do the dirty work? If I'd
+been caught, who'd have been soaked? You? I guess not. It would have
+been me who would have been killed, for I'm like the other fellows--I'd
+have fought until they killed me. You're not entitled to more than five
+thousand, and that's all you'll get."
+
+"I won't take it. Half or I squeal."
+
+"Squeal, then."
+
+There was a sudden trampling of feet in the other room, the crash of an
+overturning table, followed by a yell of death agony, and the thud of a
+falling body.
+
+"Great Scott, one of them is dead," said Ted, with a shudder.
+
+He was listening intently, and heard a scuffle of feet, then hurried
+footsteps died away and a door slammed somewhere.
+
+Deep silence followed.
+
+Then the horror of the situation burst upon Ted, The house had been
+deserted by the only living creature, except himself, who was left to
+starve to death in this prison, with a dead man in the next room.
+
+One or the other of the two men who had held him captive had done murder
+and escaped with the stolen money.
+
+Ted lay speculating which was dead and which had escaped, but he could
+make nothing of it.
+
+The night dragged wearily on for Ted could not sleep, for thinking of
+the dead man in the next room, and his own precarious position.
+
+He reviewed the chances of his being rescued. They were very slim,
+indeed.
+
+Bud and Chief Desmond would start a hunt for him about the city, but
+would not find him, and no one would think of looking for him in this
+deserted house.
+
+But at last the night passed, and Ted watched with a grateful heart the
+gradual dawning of the day.
+
+At last it was light enough to see, and he looked around the room.
+
+It was old-fashioned and high. Through the window he could see a bit of
+the high brick fence, and a few trees and long, tangled, dead grass.
+That was the extent of his view from the window.
+
+He examined the door, which was the only other means of exit from the
+room.
+
+It was very heavy, and made of oak. The lock on it was massive and
+old-fashioned, and set into the oak frame so that an examination of it
+dispelled all hope of getting it off.
+
+If he was to escape there was only one way, to cut a hole in the door.
+He felt for his knife. It was gone, and Ted wandered disconsolately to
+the couch and sat down to ponder. But the more he racked his brains the
+further he got from a plan of escape.
+
+The day dragged slowly on, but he would not sleep for fear that he might
+miss some one passing to whom he could call and bring assistance.
+
+Late in the afternoon he stepped to the window and looked at an apple
+tree in the grounds beyond. It was full of red apples, and he was very
+hungry, but they were not for him.
+
+He wondered that he had not heard any one pass along the road on the
+other side of the brick wall.
+
+Suddenly he noticed that the leaves in an apple tree were being
+violently agitated, although there was not a breath of wind stirring.
+
+Some one was in the tree, and his first impulse was to yell for help,
+then he reflected that if it was a boy pilfering apples the cry would
+scare him, and his only chance for rescue would be ruined by the boy
+running away.
+
+He would wait for the boy to come to the ground, and would then speak to
+him.
+
+But as he was watching the tree intently the movement of the leaves
+ceased, and soon he perceived a peering face and two dark, roguish eyes.
+They reminded him of a bird, so bright and inquiring were they.
+
+Ted smiled at the eyes, and thought he saw an answering twinkle in them.
+
+They disappeared after a few moments. The leaves shook again, and a boy
+of about ten years, incredibly ragged, with a dirty face, hands, and
+bare feet and legs, dropped to the ground. His head was covered with a
+tangled mop of brown hair in lieu of a hat.
+
+The boy stared at the window, all the while munching an apple, while
+from the bulges in his scant trousers it was evident that he had others
+for future consumption.
+
+"Hello, boy!" said Ted, with a friendly way.
+
+"Hello! Who are you?" said the boy, coming a few steps nearer, to get a
+better view.
+
+"Do you mean what's my name?"
+
+"Uh-huh!"
+
+"My name is Ted Strong. What's yours?"
+
+"Napoleon Bonaparte."
+
+Ted laughed at the solemnity of the boy when he gave this answer.
+
+"Well," said the boy, "it's just as much Napoleon as yours is Ted
+Strong."
+
+"But my name is Ted Strong."
+
+"Aw, come off."
+
+"All right, if you don't believe me, ask me any questions you like to
+prove it."
+
+"Where do you come from?"
+
+"Moon Valley, South Dakota."
+
+"That's right. What's the names of some of Ted Strong's fellers?"
+
+Ted named them all, the boy giving a nod after every name.
+
+"Now, what's the name of your horse? The one you ride most?"
+
+"Sultan. You seem to know something about me."
+
+"You bet. Well, maybe you're all right, but what are you doing here? I
+always thought you stayed out West--away out West."
+
+"Usually I do."
+
+"Then what are you doing in the haunted house?"
+
+"Is this a haunted house?"
+
+"You bet. There was a feller killed there once, and nobody will live in
+it no more."
+
+"Honest, now, what _is_ your name?"
+
+"My name's-- Say, are you sure enough Ted Strong?"
+
+"Certainly I am."
+
+The boy came closer, looking at Ted fixedly.
+
+"Gee, I wouldn't go inter that house fer a hundred million dollars."
+
+"I've been here all night, and it didn't scare me any."
+
+"That settles it. I reckon you must be Ted Strong. He's the only feller
+I ever heard of that wouldn't be scared to stay in a haunted house. How
+did you get there?"
+
+Without hesitation, Ted told the boy how he had been held up by a man in
+an automobile, and knocked out by ammonia fumes, and then locked up in
+the house. But he said nothing about the murdered man in the next room.
+
+"Now I've told you all about myself, it's only fair that you should tell
+me about yourself."
+
+"Oh, I ain't nothin'. I'm just 'Scrub.'"
+
+"Haven't you got any other name?"
+
+"Nary one that I know of that's fastened to me all the time."
+
+"How's that?"
+
+"When I'm living with old man Jones, I'm Scrub Jones, and when I'm with
+Mr. Foster, I'm Scrub Foster, and that way. I don't belong to nobody,
+an' I just live around doing chores for my keep. Just now I ain't got no
+place to stop, and I'm sleeping in hay-stacks and living on apples and
+turnips and potatoes, when I make a fire and bake 'em, and once in a
+while I trap a rabbit. But, gee, what a good time you must have!"
+
+"How would you like to go with me out to Moon Valley?"
+
+"Aw, quit your kiddin'."
+
+"I mean it I'd just like to take you out there and give you a good time
+for once in your life."
+
+"Would you? By golly, you can."
+
+"Then I'll tell you what to do. Go around to the front door and come in,
+and back to this room, and unlock the door and let me out, and we'll go
+together."
+
+"Gee, I wouldn't go into that house for four thousand barrels of
+hoarhound candy. Say, are you a prisoner?"
+
+"I am, and if you don't come in and let me out I can't take you with me
+to Moon Valley."
+
+"That's so. But I'm scared of the ghost."
+
+"Oh, so you're afraid, are you?"
+
+At this the boy flushed and fiddled with his toes in the grass.
+
+"No kid that's afraid could live in Moon Valley. He'd be scared to death
+in a week."
+
+"Are there ghosts there?"
+
+"There are no such things as ghosts. Bet you never saw one yourself."
+
+"No, I never did. But all the folks around here say there is ghosts in
+that house."
+
+"Well, say there are, they wouldn't come out in the daytime, would
+they?"
+
+"I reckon not. Gee, I'll come in."
+
+The boy disappeared like a flash, and in a few moments Ted heard the
+front door open, then a scream.
+
+"I'll bet he's found the dead man," said Ted, aloud, in a tone of
+annoyance. "That's just my luck."
+
+The door slammed, and all was silent. The boy evidently had run away,
+and Ted was left alone in the house with the dead man.
+
+Once more darkness descended upon the earth, and Ted took up another
+hole in his belt, and tried to believe that he was not hungry.
+
+About nine o'clock Ted, who was lying on the couch looking at the
+ceiling, saw a faint flicker of light pass across it, and sprang to his
+feet. It was the light cast by a lantern somewhere outside.
+
+He sprang to the window and looked out.
+
+Behind the brick wall he could see the reflection of a bobbing lantern,
+and hear the shuffle of many feet.
+
+"Ho, there!" he cried.
+
+The shuffle stopped, and a voice that was trembling with fear answered
+him.
+
+"Come in here, and let me out," called Ted.
+
+"We'll be thar in a minute," was the answer, and presently the front
+door was thrown open, followed by exclamations, as whoever had come in
+viewed the body in the next room.
+
+Then the voices were outside his door.
+
+"You open it an' go in," said a voice. "You're the constable."
+
+"Well, supposin' he's got a gun?" asked the constable tremulously.
+
+"Don't be afraid," said Ted. "I have no gun. They took everything away
+from me."
+
+"There! Ain't that enough? Open the door."
+
+Ted heard the bar being taken down, then the key grate in the lock, and
+the door was thrown open with a bang. He found himself looking into the
+barrels of a shotgun.
+
+"If yer makes a motion, I'll blow yer head plumb off, blame yer,"
+shouted the man with the gun.
+
+"Honest," said Ted, "I'm not armed."
+
+"How come yuh here?"
+
+"I was made insensible by ammonia fumes and brought here last night."
+
+"How come yuh ter kill that man in ther next room?"
+
+"I didn't kill him."
+
+"That's a likely story. I find yuh alone in ther house with him. Yuh'll
+hev ter answer ter ther magistrate fer this."
+
+"See here, my friend, how could I have killed that man, then come in
+here, and locked and barred the door on the outside?"
+
+"He's got yuh there, Si," said one of the men.
+
+"Look here," said Ted, showing his star. "I'm an officer of the law. The
+fellows who captured and brought me here were robbers, and I was on
+their trail. That's all there is to it. Now, let me pass. I want to see
+what is in the next room."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+STELLA ADOPTS A BROTHER.
+
+
+Taking up a lantern, Ted entered the room. Beside the overturned table
+lay the body of a man. It was not Checkers. There was nothing in the
+room except the table, two chairs, a broken lamp, which lay in a pool of
+kerosene on the floor, and the body of the murdered man.
+
+Wait, what was this?
+
+Beneath the table was a scrap of green.
+
+It was a bank bill, and, drawing it forth, Ted found it to be a
+fifty-dollar note issue'd by the First National Bank of Green River,
+Nebraska. A valuable clew, this.
+
+When he had searched the body of the dead man, and found several letters
+and a small memorandum book, he left the room and locked it.
+
+"Notify the coroner," said he to the constable, "and give him this key.
+If he wants me as a witness in his inquest, he will find me at the
+Stratford Hotel, in St. Louis."
+
+The constable promised to carry out Ted's instructions.
+
+"Where is that boy Scrub?" asked Ted.
+
+"Here I am," said the boy, emerging from the crowd.
+
+"Who knows anything about this boy?" Ted asked.
+
+"He's just a loose kid," said the constable. "His father died when he
+was young, and his mother left him a few years ago. Since then no one
+has claimed him."
+
+"Then I will. Do you want to come with me?" Ted asked the boy. "I will
+give you a good home and clothes, teach you something, and make a
+useful man of you. Is he a good boy?"
+
+Ted turned to the men about him.
+
+"Yes, Scrub is a good boy, only he never ain't had no chance," seemed to
+be the universal verdict.
+
+"Say the word, Scrub. Do you want to come with me?"
+
+"You bet," said Scrub fervently.
+
+"Good! Come along! We'll be getting back to St. Louis."
+
+"But yuh can't get back to-night. The last train has gone."
+
+"Never mind. I'll get there somehow. Some one lend me a lantern for a
+few minutes."
+
+Ted was given one, and he went out into the yard and outhouses to search
+for the red motor car. He could not find it anywhere.
+
+"Did any of you folks see a red automobile going down the road any time
+to-day?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, there's a red machine down in the lane running over to the Rock
+Road," said one of the men. "But I reckon it's bust."
+
+"Come on, Scrub, we'll take a look at it," said Ted, Leading off with
+the man who had seen the car, and followed by the whole crowd, Ted made
+his way to the lane.
+
+Standing in the middle of it was the red car with its No. 118 swaying
+from the rear axle in the wind.
+
+Evidently Checkers had started away in it, using it as a swift means of
+escape, but it had stopped, and, as he could go no farther in it, he had
+abandoned it in the road.
+
+Ted examined the machinery carefully, but could find nothing wrong with
+it until he discovered that it had exhausted its supply of gasoline.
+
+But he learned that the grocer at the village, half a mile away, had
+gasoline for sale, and two young fellows volunteered to go after some
+while Ted overhauled the car.
+
+In half an hour he was ready to start. He made Scrub get into the seat,
+and, shaking hands with the constable and shouting a merry good-by to
+the others, he started for St. Louis.
+
+It was past midnight when he drew up in front of the Stratford Hotel,
+hungry and tired. Scrub was fast asleep, and, taking him in his arms,
+Ted entered the hotel.
+
+As he stepped inside, the clerk stared at him as if he had seen a ghost.
+
+"How's everything?" asked Ted of the clerk.
+
+"Great Scott, where did you come from?" asked, the clerk, and added
+hastily: "Better hurry upstairs to your room. Everybody is crazy about
+your disappearance."
+
+Ted went up in the elevator with the boy still sleeping in his arms.
+There was a light in his room and a confused murmur of voices.
+
+Without the formality of a knock he opened the door and entered. As he
+appeared in the doorway there was silence for a moment, then such a
+bedlam of shouts and laughter burst forth that every one on the floor
+was aroused.
+
+"It's Ted! It's Ted!" they shouted, and crowded around him.
+
+The place was full of them. Across the room he saw the shining face of
+Stella, smiling a welcome at him. Ben and Kit, Carl, Clay, and all of
+them were there, and sitting at the table was the chief of detectives.
+
+"Hello! Holding a post-mortem over me?" asked Ted.
+
+"It comes pretty near that," said Bud. "Dog-gone you, what do you mean
+by goin' erway an' hidin' out on us that way? What in ther name o' Sam
+Hill an' Billy Patterson hev yer picked up now?" Bud was looking
+curiously at the bundle of rags in Ted's arms, for the boy still slept.
+
+"This is a new pard," said Ted. "If it hadn't been for this kid you'd
+probably never seen me again."
+
+"Erlucerdate," demanded Bud.
+
+"Not until some one goes out to the nearest restaurant and orders up a
+stack of grub for Scrub and me. I haven't had anything to eat or drink
+for thirty-six hours, and I'm almost all in, and this kid has been
+living on apples and water for a couple of weeks. Now, hustle somebody
+and let me put this kid on the bed---my back's nearly broke--or maybe
+it's my stomach, they're so close together now I can't tell which it is
+that hurts."
+
+While Ted was laying the boy on the bed he woke up, and, finding himself
+in a strange place, and a finer room than he had ever been in before,
+surrounded by a lot of rather boisterous young men, he leaped to the
+floor and started to the door. But Ted caught him by the arm and drew
+him back.
+
+"What's the matter with you, you young savage?" said Ted.
+
+"Oh, I'm all right now," said the boy. "When I woke up I got rattled, I
+guess, but as long as you're here it's all right."
+
+The food came up now borne by two waiters and piloted by Kit. There were
+oysters and steak and potatoes and biscuit and a lot of what Missouri
+folk call "fixin's," and a big pot of coffee.
+
+Scrub's eyes stood out like doorknobs as he viewed this wonderful array
+of things to eat. The table was cleared, the waiters set out the food,
+and the boys stood back to give Ted and the boy "room to swell," as Bud
+expressed it. The way they tucked into the good things was a caution.
+
+After their hunger was satisfied and the waiters had restored order to
+the table, Ted began the story of his adventures since he had let Bud
+out of the automobile. As he talked, Stella wooed the small boy to her
+side, and listened to the story with her arm around his shoulder, and
+long before it was done Scrub was her worshiper forever.
+
+Chief Desmond listened with close attention, and when Ted finished and
+exhibited the bill of the Green River Bank, which he examined carefully,
+he said:
+
+"Mr. Strong, you've beaten us all to it. I will go out to-morrow--I mean
+to-day, for it's one o'clock now--and view the body myself. If it is, as
+seems almost certain to be, Dude Wilcox, one of the most dangerous men
+in the West is gone, but he has left behind for us to fight, and you to
+find, the man Checkers. This bill is your clew to the gang, but it is a
+counterfeit. As I have the thing figured out, the gang knew that forty
+thousand dollars was going to be shipped, but for some reason or other
+they dared not hold up the train out there, and telegraphed the gang in
+St. Louis to get it. Dude was at the head of the bunch here, and as it
+was a one-man game so near to St. Louis, Dude was elected to pull it
+off, which he did to the queen's taste. Perhaps the bill you have is the
+only counterfeit in the lot. Perhaps not. That is for you to work out."
+
+"But how he managed to get away with the swag I haven't managed to
+figure out yet," said Ted.
+
+"Of course, I don't know either, but deducing facts from what I know of
+the gang's methods, and from long experience with gentlemen of the road,
+I would say that the members of the gang who were killed in their
+rendezvous in Pine Street by my unfortunate men were awaiting the
+arrival of Dude with the swag. Checkers had secret knowledge that you
+had been put on their trail, and when he saw you pick up that red car
+in East St. Louis he was sure that you knew about the robbery and that
+you were on to Dude."
+
+"That's likely," said Ted. "I hadn't thought of that."
+
+"Well, he got into communication with Dude, and warned him against
+coming to the Pine Street place. You see, they had another rendezvous
+out in the country, a haunted house, the reputation of which would keep
+prying country boys away from it."
+
+"Best sort of a place for a criminal hangout," said Ted.
+
+"You're right, and now that you have discovered it, I'll take pains to
+see that it's never used for such again. But, as I was going to say,
+Dude's intention was to get out of town, return, go to the Pine Street
+room, divide the swag, and skip. He probably left the train at Somerset,
+or some other little town down the line, hid in the cornfields until
+dusk, stole a horse and buggy, and drove across the country to the
+haunted house, and later was joined by Checkers, who had been trailing
+you, and later succeeded in getting you. Had it not been for the quarrel
+between Dude and Checkers, it is more than likely that you would have
+been murdered by Checkers. But one murder was enough for his nerve, and,
+forgetting you, he vamosed."
+
+The detective arose to take his departure, again congratulating Ted on
+the outcome of his adventure.
+
+"Keep your eye peeled for Checkers, and if you do run across him, have
+your gun at half cock," he said, and, bidding good night to all, went
+away.
+
+"And now, good fellows, all to bed," said Ted. "To-morrow we start for
+the West, and the capture of the head men of the train-robber syndicate,
+and the extermination of the business."
+
+In the morning, before the others were up, Ted made Scrub take a bath,
+and then they sallied forth to a clothing store. When they came out,
+instead of the ragged and dirty little boy, there walked proudly by
+Ted's side a fine, clean, fresh-looking lad in a well-fitting serge
+suit, and other appointments that transformed him completely.
+
+When they arrived at the hotel the boys professed not to know Scrub.
+
+"Hello, picked up another kid?" asked Bud. "I swow, yer allers goin'
+round pickin' up mavericks. I reckon yer aim ter brand this one as well
+ez ther one yer brought in last night."
+
+"Why, here's another kid," said Ben, looking over Scrub's new outfit
+with interest. "He don't look much like the one you brought in last
+night. I reckon that one has run away, I don't see him anywhere."
+
+Poor Scrub was standing first on one foot and then on the other, fairly
+squirming with embarrassment.
+
+Ted gave the boys the nod to cease teasing the boy.
+
+"Don't mind those fellows, they're only joshing," said Ted.
+
+"Oh, I don't mind it if they can get any fun out of it," said Scrub,
+with a smile. "Maybe, some day I can get back at them, when I know them
+better."
+
+Stella came down in the elevator at that moment, and, catching sight of
+Scrub, gave a little scream of astonishment at his altered appearance.
+
+"Goodness, what a fine-looking addition to the family!" she said,
+shaking hands with the boy, who blushed and looked pleased. "I don't
+like the name Scrub a bit. I'm going to change his name."
+
+"This isn't leap year, Stella," said Ben.
+
+"You hush! What name would you rather have than Scrub? That's no name
+for a broncho boy," she said to the boy.
+
+"I don't know," answered the boy. "What name do you like?"
+
+"I think she likes Ben better than any," said Ben, posing in a very
+handsome manner.
+
+"Don't listen to him, he's always teasing. You want something short and
+easy to say."
+
+"What's the matter with 'Say'?" said Ben. "That's always easy to
+remember. I notice that when a man wants to call another on the street
+he just hollers 'Say,' and half a dozen fellows turn around."
+
+"Then that makes it too common," decided Stella. "What name would you
+suggest, Ted? He's got to have two names."
+
+"Let us get one of the newspapers to start a voting contest on it."
+
+"Ben, if you don't stop your foolishness, I won't play," said Stella.
+
+"You name him, Stella," said Ted. "Anything you say goes."
+
+"Then we'll call him Dick, after my father," said Stella. "He never had
+a boy, and always wanted one. I'm going to adopt this boy as a brother.
+His name shall be Dick Fosdick. That sounds funny, doesn't it, but I
+didn't do it on purpose."
+
+There was a tear in her eye at the thought of her father, and the boys
+looked rather solemn, for while they hoped for the best, they didn't as
+yet know the lad, and perhaps they had saddled themselves with a future
+regret, but Stella trusted and believed in the little chap, who was very
+proud that at last he had thrown off and buried forever the name of
+Scrub.
+
+That evening they took the train for the West, their destination being
+Green River.
+
+The automobile Ted sent on by express that he might have it not only for
+use, for he was becoming attached to it, but as a clew to the detection
+of the express robbers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+EZRA, THE LIFE-SAVING GOAT.
+
+
+Ted had engaged several sections on the through sleeping car to North
+Platte, Nebraska, the old home of Colonel William Cody, known all over
+the world as "Buffalo Bill."
+
+But they were to leave the train at Green River, ostensibly to buy
+cattle for their ranch. This, of course, was to avert suspicion from
+their real purpose of hunting down the express robbers.
+
+For Mrs. Graham and Stella the stateroom of the car _Orizaba_ had been
+engaged, and the boys made it a sort of ceremonial chamber.
+
+The car was well filled with other passengers, many of them tourists on
+the way to Colorado or the Pacific coast, and they were much amused at
+the free-and-easy spirit with which the boys conducted themselves, and
+when it became generally known that they were the broncho boys, with Ted
+Strong at their head, they received a great deal of attention, which was
+not particularly to Ted's liking.
+
+As usual, wherever they were, Bud Morgan, Ben Tremont, and Carl Schwartz
+provided a fund of amusement for everybody.
+
+Little Dick Fosdick had never known such happiness as he was now
+experiencing. He worshiped Stella, admired Ted, and looked upon Bud as
+the greatest pal a boy ever had.
+
+He and Bud were inseparable, and Bud never tired of telling him yarns
+about cow-punching and Indian fighting, while the boy proved a
+breathless listener, hanging upon every word that fell from the
+yellow-haired cowboy's lips.
+
+He knew by heart many of the adventures through which Ted Strong had
+passed, and often surprised Ted by correcting some inaccuracy which,
+through a lapse of memory, Ted had made.
+
+They were sailing across Missouri toward the West, and the boy kept his
+face glued to the window, watching for the first glimpse of the golden
+West of his fancy. Just at present he saw only farms and little towns,
+through which the fast train whizzed without stopping.
+
+The boy knew this sort of country well, and was rather disappointed that
+the boundless prairie did not roll before him from horizon to horizon.
+
+Then he turned his attention to the luxury of the car, but being a
+healthy boy, this did not impress him long, and he turned to his heroes
+for relief.
+
+Bud was sitting comfortably sprawled out on two seats, singing softly to
+himself. Bud could not sing a little bit, but he thought he could, which
+served his purpose personally quite as well as if he could.
+
+Ben was in the seat behind him, reading. After a while Bud's music, or
+the lack of it, got on Ben's nerves, and he reached over and poked Bud
+on top of his golden head with the corner of his book.
+
+"Say," said he, "put on the soft pedal, won't you? Perhaps you can sing,
+and maybe some one told you you could, but take it from me you have no
+more voice or musical ability than a he-goat."
+
+"Oh, mercy!" retorted Bud. "Does my music annoy you?"
+
+"It certainly does," snapped Ben.
+
+"Then why don't yer move away?"
+
+"Bah! You're an old goat."
+
+"Thanks fer ther compliment, although yer don't mean it thet away. But
+when yer likens me ter a goat yer do me proud. If yer were more goatlike
+yerself ye'd be a heap more wiser."
+
+"I'm glad you like it. The pleasure's all yours. But if a fellow called
+me a goat, I know what I'd do."
+
+"Maybe, perhaps. But yer needn't be afraid that any one will liken yer
+ter a goat. Any self-respectin' goat would get sore at it. If I wuz ter
+pick out yer counterpart in ther animile world, I'd say yer most
+resembled the phillaloo?"
+
+"What's a phillaloo?"
+
+"A phillaloo is a cross between a penguin and a jassack."
+
+"Say, you long-haired lobster!" cried Ben, leaping to his feet,
+apparently in great anger, "don't you call me anything like that."
+
+"Well, didn't yer jest call me a goat?"
+
+"Yes, but--"
+
+"Then sit down an' git back ter yer love story; we're square. Nothin' is
+lost on both sides. But callin' me a goat don't make me sore none. I
+jest dote on goats. If I wasn't jest what I am, I'd sooner be a goat
+than a collidge gradooate."
+
+"I've heard about enough, if you're alluding to me."
+
+"Take it er leave it. But, ez I wuz goin' ter say before my conversation
+was cut inter by a loud an' empty noise, speakin' o' goats reminds me o'
+a time down on ther Pecos--"
+
+"By Jove! I'm going to ask the conductor to move me into another car.
+This is too much. I might, perhaps, stand for being called a phillaloo,
+but I swear I'll not be compelled to stay here and listen to one of
+those silly and impossible stories of this insane cow-puncher."
+
+At first some of the passengers thought that Bud and Ben were really
+angry at one another, but the wise ones soon saw that it was all bluff,
+as, of course, the broncho boys knew.
+
+But it was very real to Dick Fosdick, who had yet many things to learn
+about the boys and their ways, and while the little chap was far too
+clever naturally to show his feelings, he sided with Bud, and thought
+that Ben was very unreasonable, especially as the boys, and some of the
+passengers, had flocked around Bud, who appeared not to notice them.
+
+"I reckon, Dick, you'd like ter hear thet thar story erbout the time I
+lied down on ther Pecos in the summer o'--"
+
+"Conductor," said Ben, detaining that official as he was passing through
+the car, "is there no way of stopping the noise this person is making? I
+cannot take my nap on account of his chatter."
+
+Several persons who were not in the secret were for interfering in
+behalf of Bud and his story, which they wanted to hear, but were headed
+off by the conductor, who said:
+
+"Sorry, but I cannot interfere with the gentleman. He does not seem to
+be annoying the other passengers. If you wish to take a nap you are at
+liberty to go up ahead in the smoking car."
+
+At this Bud began to gloat.
+
+"I hear they've put a cattle car up next ter ther injine fer sech
+sensitive people like you. Yer might enj'y a leetle siesta on ther
+straw."
+
+Ben sank back into his seat, and began to snore gently.
+
+"What about the story down on the Pecos, Bud?" said Dick.
+
+"You'd like to hear it, eh? Then I'll tell it to you. Of course, the
+other folks may listen to it, but it is understood betwixt me an' you
+thet it's all yours, an' whatever goes inter their ears is jest ther
+leavin's. Is that a go?"
+
+The boy nodded eagerly, even though he didn't understand the drift of
+Bud's remarks.
+
+"What's the story about?" asked the boy.
+
+"The goat, my boy. Perhaps you don't know it, but the goat is one of
+the noblest animals what walks. He is also one o' ther smartest, an' in
+former years used ter be able ter talk, but ez soon ez he got ter be so
+popular in secret societies ther gift o' speech was withdrawed from him,
+so thet he wouldn't be able ter give erway ther secret things what he
+saw an' heard at ther meetin's."
+
+"But, Bud, are they really smart?" asked Dick.
+
+"Smart ain't no name fer it. All yer got ter do to find out if they're
+smart is ter look at their whiskers. The smartest o' all animiles is
+man, an' don't he wear whiskers? An' I want ter ast yer what other
+animile hez whiskers exceptin' ther goat. Ther goat knew what he was
+about when he begin ter raise whiskers. He says ter hisself--"
+
+"What bosh!" exclaimed Ben, snorting in his sleep.
+
+"Aire you addressin' yer remarks ter me?" asked Bud, looking over the
+back of the seat at Bud. But the only answer was a gentle snore.
+
+"What did he say?" asked Dick eagerly.
+
+"'Why,' says he, 'if they won't let me talk they can't keep me from
+bein' ez near a man ez I kin go; by gravy, I'll raise whiskers like
+Deacon Smith,' who was a member o' ther lodge in which ther goat
+officiated; and, by jinks, he did, an' ther fashion wuz follered, an'
+they wear them ter this day.
+
+"There ain't no question o' their smartness, an' their prominence. Ain't
+one o' ther signs o' the zodiac up in ther heavens named after ther
+goat--Capricornus is ther feller ter what I refer--an' them heathen
+chaps what wuz half man an' half goat? Didn't they come pretty near
+bein' ther whole thing?"
+
+"But about the Pecos?" inquired Dick, who was not partial to preaching,
+but wanted to get at the heart of the story.
+
+"Oh. yes. I wuz leadin' up ter it gradooal, fer what I'm goin' ter
+relate--if thet yap will choke off on thet moosical snore--"
+
+"Here, wake up, you're snoring so loud we can't hear ourselves holler,"
+said Kit, reaching over and shaking Ben.
+
+"I can't keep awake while that fellow persists in yarning away like a
+fanning machine. It's so monotonous I can't keep awake," and Ben
+stretched and yawned.
+
+"Let's get away from here and go to some other part of the car,"
+whispered Dick.
+
+"No, we'll just stay here an' spite him. He'll wake up after a while an'
+be glad to listen to ther story. So here goes!
+
+"I was punchin' cow's down on the Pecos one summer fer ther Crazy B
+Ranch. We had eight punchers in ther bunch, a good chuck wagon, an' easy
+work, so I wuz pretty well suited, an' thet summer I gained twelve
+pounds, even if it wuz a hundred an' forty in ther shade, which we hed
+forgotten ter bring along with us."
+
+"Forgotten to bring what?" asked the boy.
+
+"Our shade. Yer see, down in thet country ther sun is so strong thet
+every one carries his own shade, fer there isn't a tree in ther whole
+country big enough ter cast a shadder o' any sort. Out on ther ranches,
+at certain seasons o' ther year, they serve out shade ter ther men jest
+ther same ez they do bacon an' saleratus ter ther outfit thet goes out
+herdin'."
+
+Dick looked seriously at Bud for a moment, hardly knowing whether or not
+to doubt him, but Bud's face was as grave as a deacon's.
+
+"I don't understand it, I'm sure," he said. "But where do they get the
+shade to give to the men?"
+
+"That's easy enough. It's always gathered on dark nights, generally late
+in ther fall er in ther winter, so thet it'll be real cool."
+
+"But where do they get it?"
+
+"What--ther shade? Why, they just go out an' gather it off the ground in
+thin shapes, kinder longer than broad. It can be rolled up just like a
+blanket, an' carried behind ther saddle. It's gathered in ther cold
+months. Ye've heard o' ther 'cool shade.' Well, that's why they gather
+it late in the year. Summer shade is no good, because it's too warm."
+
+"But what is it like?"
+
+"Oh, it's black, an' I hear they strip it off close ter ther ground. We
+don't get no shade like it in this part o' ther country. Ther only place
+what hez it is ther West, whar it's needed most."
+
+"But how about the Pecos?"
+
+"Sho! I almost fergot it, didn't I, while teachin' yer something erbout
+ther way they do things in Arizony an' her sister-in-law, Noo Mexico?
+Now I'm off, shore.
+
+"Ping-pong Martin wuz in ther outfit thet year. Mebbe yer knows him?"
+Bud looked at the small boy inquiringly, much to his embarrassment.
+
+"No, sir, I never heard of him before."
+
+"Well, no matter, but this Ping-pong cuss, he had a personal friend, a
+goat, what couldn't no more be shook than a sore thumb, and had follered
+Ping off ter ther wars, so to speak.
+
+"Ping run off from home on ther quiet ter join our outfit, leavin' ther
+goat to home, locked up in ther barn. Ping thought he hed ther goat
+faded, but one day, when we wuz half asleep in our saddles, a feller
+over on ther other side come a-runnin' in.
+
+"'What's ther matter?' sez I.
+
+"Thar's a funny animile over here. He shore is ther devil, fer he wears
+horns, an' hez a face exactly like thet o' ole man Pillsbury. I ain't
+bettin' none it ain't him. But if it is Pillsbury, he better not go
+home lookin' like thet 'thout lettin' his wife know first.'
+
+"Ping an' me rode over ter ther other side, an' thar stood a goat,
+lookin' so nice an' socierble.
+
+"'Great hevings!' shouted Ping, makin' a rush fer ther goat, 'thet's my
+goat Ezra, ain't you?'"
+
+"Did the goat understand him?"
+
+"Did he understand him? Well, I should whisper sweetly. Why, thet goat
+jest jumped all over Ping, a-runnin' his whiskers inter his eyes, an'
+laughin', he wuz so glad ter see him. He'd traced Ping plumb ercross
+ther desert ter get ter us, an', o' course, we couldn't sic him home
+after that.
+
+"We all got ter love Ezra fer his lovely ways; that is, all except
+'Boney Bill' Henderson."
+
+"Why? Didn't the goat like him?"
+
+"Well, it wuz this way: Boney Bill had a habit o' beggin' ther grease
+from ther fryin' pan every night ter ile his boots. This made 'em good
+an' strong, ez well ez easy ter chew on. One night, Ezra bein' fond o'
+boots, finds 'em an' chews ther tops off'n 'em. They wuz ther only boots
+Bill hed, an' we wuz two hundred mile ter another pair, so Bill hed ter
+go through ther season barefoot, an' ther sun jest nacherly warped his
+feet out o' all shape.
+
+"But thet wuzn't what I wuz goin' ter tell yer erbout. That fall ther
+Utes went on ther warpath, an' wuz headin' our way, an' I want ter tell
+yer we wuz some scared. We hed several brushes with ther Injuns, an'
+ther courier we sent ter ther fort fer help wuz killed an' scalped.
+
+"Thar we wuz, in a little valley entirely surrounded by Injuns thirstin'
+fer our gore. How long we could hold out agin' 'em wuz ther problem. But
+whenever one o' 'em showed his head we took a pop at it, an' they
+returned ther compliment. We wuz prayin' fer ther comin' o' ther
+soldiers, which wuz ther only thing what could save us from a horrible
+death.
+
+"Ther Injuns got next ter ther fact thet our ammunition wuz runnin'
+short, an' they wuz gittin' some gay; sorter takin' advantage o' us in a
+way. I could see thet they wuz gettin' ready ter make a rush down inter
+ther valley an' massacree us all, an' we prepared ter sell our lives
+dearly.
+
+"One mornin' we missed Ezra, ther goat. I'll never fergit ther misery on
+ther face o' Ping-pong when he finds it out.
+
+"'Bud,' he says ter me, 'I'm goin' out ter find Ezra, an' if them Injuns
+hez got him, I'm goin' ter bust ther whole tribe wide open.'
+
+"I tried ter persuade him not ter go, but he will, so I goes with him.
+We sneaks up ther side o' ther hill, an' looks over ther ridge right
+down inter ther Injun village. The sight what met our gaze almost, but
+not quite, made me bust open with laughin'.
+
+"Ther Injuns wuz all down on their hands an' knees, bowin' ter Ezra, who
+wuz walkin' eround on his hind legs, sashayin' sideways an' noddin' his
+head jest like a live bock-beer sign. Yer see, ther Injuns hed never
+seen a goat before, an' when Ezra walks onto them, waggin' his whiskers
+in a wise sort o' way, they thinks he's some kind o' a god, er somethin'
+like that. But when he got up on his hind legs an' begin ter sashay thet
+settled it. They wuz shore o' it then.
+
+"We watched ther performance fer a while, then ther Injuns got up an'
+begin ter mosey. In an hour thar wuzn't a Injun within twenty mile. They
+jest hit ther high places fer home.
+
+"Thet wuz ther way Ezra saved our party. After thet he could hev et
+every boot in ther outfit, an' thar wouldn't hev been a kick."
+
+"What became of him?" asked Kit.
+
+"Oh, he went back home with Ping an' raised a large family, an' they
+wuz talkin' o' runnin' him fer ther legislature an account o' his
+whiskers an' his smartness."
+
+"He was a smart goat, wasn't he?" said Dick.
+
+"You bet. Thet's why I said that some goats wuz jest ez smart ez lots o'
+collidge gradooates what I hev met."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE COUNTERFEIT BANK NOTE.
+
+
+When they arose in the morning the train was speeding over the prairie,
+and Dick could hardly be pulled away from the window long enough to go
+to breakfast with Stella and Mrs. Graham, so great was his delight at
+being in the "really and truly" wild West.
+
+When they were all back in the car again, Ted, for the first time,
+noticed a large man, flashily dressed, who wore a flaming red necktie,
+and who evidently thought himself irresistible to the ladies.
+
+He walked up and down the aisle on the slightest pretext, ogling every
+pretty woman in the car, and Ted was getting very tired of it,
+especially as once or twice he had the impertinence to stop and look
+into the stateroom in which Stella and Mrs. Graham were sitting.
+
+"I'll take a fall out of that fellow if he keeps up that sort of thing
+much longer," said Ted, who was sitting beside Kit.
+
+"I was thinking of the same thing," said Kit. "He makes me tired. I
+wonder what he is, anyway?"
+
+"He has the make-up of a gambler or a saloon keeper," answered Ted. "He
+better keep away from me if he knows when he's well off."
+
+At a town farther down the line a young lady entered the car, and took a
+seat directly in front of Kit, who was alone, Ted having gone to the
+front of the train to consult the conductor about a mistake that had
+been made in their tickets.
+
+Presently the flashy man with the red necktie spied her and sauntered
+past her down the aisle. In a few moments he came back, twirling his
+black mustache, which evidently was dyed, and casting glances at the
+young lady.
+
+Stopping in front of her, he said:
+
+"Is this seat taken, lady?"
+
+The young lady looked up, and answered coldly:
+
+"No, sir; but there are plenty of other seats in the car which are
+unoccupied."
+
+"This one looks good to me," said the fellow, with a smile which was
+supposed to be very fetching.
+
+Without further excuse he plumped himself down in the seat beside her,
+and threw his arm familiarly over the back of it, at the same time
+hitching closer to her.
+
+Then he tried to draw her into conversation, but she turned from him and
+looked out of the window.
+
+But he persisted, and she showed that his attentions were annoying her.
+
+Kit watched the proceedings, and was boiling with anger, but he did not
+feel that he had the right to interfere until the young lady showed by
+her manner that she desired assistance.
+
+Presently the man said something to the young lady in a low voice that
+seemed to arouse her anger, for she rose hastily to her feet, her face
+burning.
+
+"Let me pass!" she said.
+
+"Don't leave me like this," said the fellow, blocking the way with his
+knees. "Sit down. We'll soon be good friends. You'll find me a good
+fellow."
+
+"I insist, sir, that you allow me to pass," said the girl, growing pale,
+her voice rising a little.
+
+Kit could stand it no longer. He reached over and tapped the fellow on
+the shoulder.
+
+"Allow the lady to pass," he said quietly.
+
+The hawk turned his head and sized Kit up. This did not take much time,
+for Kit was small and slender, his black eyes being the largest part of
+him, proportionately.
+
+"What the deuce have you got to do with this?" he sneered, looking
+savagely at Kit.
+
+"Just enough to make sure that you do it," said Kit, rising.
+
+"Well, I don't allow no pups like you to interfere with me. You sit down
+an' let this gal an' me attend to our own business, er I'll bend you an'
+tie you into a knot an' throw you out of the window."
+
+Kit did not reply, but he reached over and got the fellow by the coat
+collar and jerked him into the aisle, and, twisting him around, planted
+his toe between his coat tails with a force that sent him halfway down
+the length of the car.
+
+"You're on the wrong train," said Kit. "The cattle train is on the other
+track."
+
+The fellow soon regained his balance, and came rushing back like a
+charging bull.
+
+"You little snipe!" he roared, "I'll kill you for that."
+
+But as he got near Kit dodged into the space between the seats, and as
+the fellow rushed past, carried on by the momentum of his run, Kit swung
+at him with his right fist.
+
+It caught the fellow back of the ear, and the force behind the blow, as
+well as the rate at which he had been coming, sent him headlong between
+two seats, where he lay crumpled up like a rag.
+
+The commotion had attracted the attention of Bud and Ben, and they were
+by Kit's side in a moment.
+
+"Need any help?" asked Bud.
+
+"Not a bit," replied Kit. "I'm not very large, but no man of that sort
+can call me a pup."
+
+The fellow lay where he fell, and Bud warned away several passengers who
+wanted to go to his assistance.
+
+"He's all right," he said. "A crack like that never injured any one
+permanently, but sometimes it wakes them up ter ther foolishness of
+insulting a lady when ther broncho boys are around."
+
+Kit lifted his hat to the young lady.
+
+"Pardon me for making a disturbance," he said. "I don't think you'll be
+bothered again."
+
+The young lady was profuse in her thanks, and resumed her seat.
+
+Presently the fellow on the floor got up and sneaked into another car,
+without looking again at either Kit or the young lady.
+
+"Hello, Kit! What was it all about?" asked Ted entering the car.
+
+"Oh, I never could stand for red neckties, nohow," answered Kit
+apologetically.
+
+When the train stopped for dinner they all trooped into the station
+dining room, and secured for themselves a long table, around which they
+sat like a big and happy family.
+
+As Ted and Kit were walking along the platform toward the dining room
+Ted suddenly halted and stared at a man who was leaning against the wall
+of the station.
+
+"By Jove, I believe it's him!" he muttered.
+
+"Who's him?" asked Kit.
+
+"The express robber, Checkers," answered Ted. "And yet I'm not sure. If
+it is him it's one of the best disguises I ever saw. Look at your friend
+of the red necktie hurrying up to him. By Jove, they're a good pair! I
+wish I could hear that fellow in the checked suit speak."
+
+"That fellow will get caught up yet if he persists in wearing checked
+suits," said Kit. "It seems to be his badge, or a disease with him."
+
+"I suppose that's why they call him Checkers," said Ted. "I wish I knew.
+I'd take a chance at arresting him."
+
+At that moment the man in the checked suit looked up and caught Ted and
+Kit staring at him.
+
+Hastily calling the attention of the man with the red necktie to them,
+he hurried around the corner, and the other followed.
+
+Ted ran to the corner of the station, but all he could see of either was
+through a swirl of dust as the motor car in which they were riding flew
+up the street.
+
+"By crickey! I'll bet anything that was Checkers," grumbled Ted. "I'm
+always too late to get to him. But next time I'll take a long chance
+with him."
+
+The train pulled into Green River at eight o'clock that night, and they
+all went to the leading hotel, and Ted registered them as coming from
+the ranch.
+
+During the evening the boys mingled with the crowd in the hotel lobby,
+talking cattle, and met many of the representative women of the section.
+
+They were out after a bunch of stockers, and promised to be in the
+neighborhood for several days and to visit the ranches and look over the
+stock.
+
+One of the men whom they met was introduced to them as Colonel Billings,
+ranch owner and speculator in cattle.
+
+He was a middle-aged man of most pleasant features--benign,
+good-natured, and yet shrewd. He dressed well for a cowman, and from his
+pink, bald crown and gray chin whiskers down to his neat shoes, he
+looked the part of the prosperous business man.
+
+"I have a lot of stock such as I think you boys need out at my ranch,"
+he said to Ted, when he learned that they wanted to buy. "I'd like to
+have you bring your party out to the place and stay several days as my
+guests. You would then have plenty of time to look the stock over, and
+if you like them I'm sure we can strike a bargain."
+
+Ted thanked him and promised to go out to look at the stock, but as for
+the invitation for the whole party to stop at the ranch, he would have
+to consult the wishes of the party. He rather liked the colonel, who
+was, apparently, bluff and sincere.
+
+As Ted was on his way to the bank which had issued the bill which he had
+found in the haunted house, he stopped suddenly. He had just seen a
+young woman enter a store hurriedly, and look at him over her shoulder
+as she did so. She it was who had slipped the note of warning into his
+pocket in the Union Station, in St. Louis.
+
+Evidently she was trying to avoid him. But why? He wanted to thank her
+for that kindly service, and, quite naturally, he had some curiosity to
+know who she was.
+
+Without apparently hurrying he followed her into the store, and looked
+around for her. She was not in sight, and he walked up and down the
+aisles between the counters, but could not find her.
+
+Then he observed that there was a back door to the store, which opened
+onto an arcade. She had escaped him through that, and Ted looked up and
+down the arcade. At the far end, where it opened out into the public
+square, a carriage stood, and a young lady was getting into it.
+
+It was the young lady of the subtle perfume and the note.
+
+In a moment she was gone.
+
+He was not far from the bank, and giving the young woman no more
+thought, for he was sure he would see her again, for she seemed to be
+mixed up in his fortunes in some manner, he made his way to the
+financial institution and asked for the president.
+
+"You will find Mr. Norcross in his private office at the end of the
+corridor," said the clerk.
+
+At the door of the office Ted found a colored messenger, who stopped him
+and asked his business.
+
+"Is Mr. Norcross in his office?" asked Ted.
+
+"Yes, sah, but he is busy," answered the messenger.
+
+"Well, take my card in to him, and tell him I would like to see him
+when he is at leisure."
+
+The negro went away, and in a few moments returned to say that Mr.
+Norcross would be glad to see Mr. Strong presently.
+
+While Ted waited he stood looking out of the window into the street. The
+door behind him opened, and he turned.
+
+Walking rapidly down the corridor was the man with the pointed beard,
+whom he had seen in the Union Station in St. Louis give the signal to
+the girl who had slipped the note into his pocket.
+
+Ted stared after him. The mystery of the note was getting thicker. But
+he would try to think it out later.
+
+He found Mr. Norcross an elderly, but active man.
+
+"What can I do for you, Mr. Strong," said the banker, referring to Ted's
+card.
+
+"I come to you for information concerning a recent robbery and the
+murder of an express messenger in an express car in St. Louis," said
+Ted.
+
+"In what capacity do you come?"
+
+"As an officer of the government."
+
+"Oh, ah, rather young for such work, aren't you?"
+
+"Pardon, but that has nothing at all to do with it. I am a deputy United
+States marshal, and have received instructions to examine into certain
+matters regarding the recent robberies from express trains in this part
+of the country."
+
+"I suppose you have your credentials as an officer."
+
+"I think I can convince those who have the right to know that I am what
+I profess to be."
+
+"Very well. I meant no offense, but there have been so many violent
+things done out here, that naturally a banker desires to at least know
+something of his callers. What can I do for you?"
+
+"Did your bank make a shipment of currency to the East, last week?"
+
+"Yes, sir, that is a well-known fact."
+
+"What was the amount?"
+
+"Forty thousand dollars. It was to meet some paper which was due in St.
+Louis."
+
+"And it was stolen from the express car?"
+
+"Yes. The express company has reimbursed us for it."
+
+"What sort of currency was it?"
+
+"Mostly of our own issue."
+
+"Do you recognize this bill?"
+
+Ted took from his pocket the counterfeit bill of the bank, and handed it
+to the president, who looked at it a moment and handed it back.
+
+"Yes, that is one of the bills. The money sent was all in that series of
+numbers."
+
+Ted picked the bill up, and put it in his pocket.
+
+"Here, you mustn't take that," said the president. "That is the property
+of the bank. Give it to me. The express company will need it for
+evidence."
+
+"Then I will keep it. It will be safer with me."
+
+A suspicion had entered Ted's mind, which was strengthened by the
+conduct of the president, who was white-faced and trembling.
+
+"From your examination of the bill, you are positive that it was one of
+those shipped to St. Louis?"
+
+"I am not certain, of course, but as I said, it is within the series of
+numbers which we sent. Why do you ask?"
+
+"Because it is a counterfeit."
+
+The president sank down in his chair. He had suddenly become pale, and
+was trembling like a leaf.
+
+"What will you take for that bill, young man? Name your own price," said
+Mr. Norcross.
+
+"It is not for sale, and you have not money enough to buy it," replied
+Ted Strong.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+A CRIME WITHIN A CRIME.
+
+
+"Well, friend, have you decided to come out to my ranch, and look my
+stock over?"
+
+It was Colonel Billings, the genial ranchman, who addressed Ted, meeting
+him in the lobby of the hotel.
+
+"Yes, I think I will," answered Ted. "When will it be convenient for you
+to be there?"
+
+"I am going out to-morrow, and will be glad to see you and your
+friends."
+
+"There are a good many of us," said Ted, laughing.
+
+"The more the merrier. The house is large, and I could drop you all down
+into it, and the house would hardly know it."
+
+"How do we get out there?"
+
+"I see you have a couple of ladies with you, and I shall telephone over
+to my manager to send a carriage in for them, and horses for the use of
+you boys. How many horses and saddles will you need? There are plenty at
+the ranch."
+
+"We will need eight horses. One of the ladies prefers to ride, and we'll
+need a gentle pony for the small boy, whose experience is limited."
+
+"Sidesaddle for the lady?"
+
+"No," said Ted, with a grin, "this young lady will not use one. She is a
+cowgirl, and rides a man's saddle."
+
+"All right, my boy. The outfit will be here in the morning. By the way,
+I am going to have some other guests. I suppose you will not object."
+
+"Certainly not."
+
+"One of them is a young New Yorker, who has come West to invest in ranch
+property, and who has brought his sister with him. Charming people. The
+other is a rather uncouth person, but you will forgive his
+eccentricities, I am sure. To tell you the truth, he often grates on me,
+but I overlook it because he has lacked advantages. He made his money in
+the liquor business, in which he has been all his life. But he is a good
+fellow at heart, and is my partner in a way, having invested a large sum
+of money with me in cattle."
+
+"I shall be very glad to meet them, although, I'm afraid I shall not be
+able to see much of them, as I shall be very busy."
+
+"When you are under my roof, sir, you are as free as if you had been
+born there. I am glad you and your friends are coming. It does my old
+heart good to have young people around me. I will see you in the
+morning, and shall feel honored to escort you to my home."
+
+With this they parted.
+
+"Jolly old chap," said Ted to himself. "I know just how he feels about
+having a lot of people come to visit him. I like it myself."
+
+Stella had been out for a ride with little Dick. She had secured a
+couple of ponies from the stable connected with the hotel, and had given
+Dick his first riding lesson.
+
+Ted met them as they were dismounting in front of the hotel.
+
+"Ted, that boy is going to be a second edition of you in the saddle,"
+cried Stella enthusiastically. "I never saw such a seat for a kid. Why
+he takes to a horse like a young duck to water."
+
+"That's good," said Ted. "Do you like to ride, Scrub, I mean Dick?"
+
+The boy flushed at the name Scrub, but he recovered himself immediately.
+
+"Yes, it's fine," he answered. "I like horses, and they seem to take to
+me. I'd like to ride a horse all the time."
+
+"Well, you'll have all you want of it when you get out to Moon Valley,"
+said Ted. "Would you like to go out again? If you do, go ahead. I guess
+we can trust you not to break your neck."
+
+The boy smiled and nodded, and climbed into his saddle again, and was
+off.
+
+"Ted, that boy is going to be a credit to us all," said Stella. "But he
+must have an education. Although he speaks well and doesn't use much
+slang, that is, for a boy, he knows absolutely nothing that he hasn't
+picked up. He must go to school some day, but not now, for he hardly
+knows his alphabet, and as for other branches of knowledge, why, he
+doesn't know they exist, and he is as full of superstition as a Cocopo
+squaw. Wherever he got his beliefs, I can't imagine."
+
+"All right, Stella, he shall go to school. It doesn't really matter
+much, that he has never been to school before. He'll learn so fast that
+he'll make up for lost time, don't fear. That boy has a good head."
+
+"I'm going to teach him myself until he is able to take his place in
+school with boys of his own age. He's just crazy to learn."
+
+"His early education is up to you. I'm not afraid he will learn anything
+he shouldn't from you. Go at him slowly and sensibly. Don't try to stuff
+it all into him at once. Meanwhile, I'll teach him to ride, shoot, herd,
+rope, and all that, occasionally impressing upon him the cardinal
+principles of the broncho boys--truth, honesty, sincerity, courage, and
+kindness."
+
+"He'll be a fine fellow some of these days, Ted, and a good-looking and
+good-tempered one."
+
+"I think he will. Suppose we take a little walk, if you have nothing
+better to do. I want to get your opinion on some matters."
+
+"The very thing. I saw a pretty little park on the bank of a river.
+We'll walk there."
+
+"I have promised to go out to Colonel Billings' ranch to-morrow, and I
+took the liberty of accepting the invitation for you all, as there is
+nothing to do around here, and I have a hunch that something good will
+come of it."
+
+"I'll be glad to go. You know how much I like the town. I wouldn't care
+if I never saw one again."
+
+"It's all right, then. We'll start in the morning. I am more than
+anxious to go now, especially as Billings tells me he has invited
+several other people to be his guests."
+
+"Who are they?"
+
+"You remember the girl who slipped the note into my pocket in the St.
+Louis station, and the young fellow with the pointed beard. Well, I saw
+them both in town this morning. The girl ran away from me on the street,
+jumped into a carriage, and drove away."
+
+"There's nothing about you to cause a girl to run." Stella looked up at
+Ted in a teasing way.
+
+"That'll be all right," said he. "But a few minutes after I saw the
+fellow with the pointed beard coming out of the private office of
+Norcross, the president of the bank that was robbed of the forty
+thousand dollars. He went by me like a rocket, as if he were afraid of
+me."
+
+"Sure it was he?"
+
+"Positive. But the strange part of it was my interview with the banker.
+He acknowledged that the bank had been robbed of the money, and
+identified the bill dropped by Checkers in his flight, as one of the
+shipment, but when I announced that it was a counterfeit, he went all to
+pieces, and, after trying to bluff me into giving him the note, wanted
+to buy it, asking me to name my own price."
+
+"What does that mean, I wonder?"
+
+"It means, that this case of the robbery and the murder of the express
+messenger is not the simple thing I thought. There is a crime within a
+crime."
+
+"What in the world do you mean?"
+
+"Just this, Norcross, the banker, is mixed in the crime, and Heaven only
+knows how many more men quite as prominent as he. The express-robbing
+syndicate is a strong one, and hard to beat."
+
+"But you'll beat it yet. I know you."
+
+"Thank you for your faith and encouragement, Stella. But it's going to
+be a hard pull, and it will take all of us to do it."
+
+"What do you think of it now?"
+
+"My idea is, that the alleged forty thousand dollars was not real money
+at all, and that Norcross was trying to double-cross the very men he was
+standing in with."
+
+"Still, I hardly understand."
+
+"Well, Norcross agreed with the members of the syndicate to ship forty
+thousand dollars to St. Louis, which was to be stolen en route by the
+syndicate's own men. They would then have their forty thousand back, and
+the forty thousand which they could make the express company pay them.
+The original forty thousand would come back to Norcross, and he would
+get his share of the money which the express company would pay."
+
+"That was easy."
+
+"It would have been, but for the fact that Norcross insisted upon being
+insured for the use of his forty thousand in case anything else happened
+to it. In this way he got another large sum."
+
+"I see. But from what you have found out so far, I don't quite
+understand how you figure it out."
+
+"All I have to go by is my own way of deducing things. The forty
+thousand dollars which was to be stolen was supposed by the other
+members of the syndicate to be real money. It was for this that the
+syndicate insured Norcross. But, instead, he substituted counterfeits,
+if, indeed, most of the supposed money was not just blank paper."
+
+"He is a real financier, eh?"
+
+"Yes, but he didn't take into consideration that he had scoundrels just
+as shrewd as himself to deal with. For instance, I believe when the
+truth is known, it will be found out that the syndicate was going to
+beat Norcross. But that is mere supposition. The tug of war is coming
+soon. It will take place at the ranch of Colonel Billings."
+
+"I thought you believed in him."
+
+"I do. I have made a few inquiries about him. I wanted to find out what
+sort of a chap he was before taking you and your aunt out to his place.
+Every one speaks of him as one of the leading men in the county and
+State."
+
+"Then why should he be drawn into this mess?"
+
+"I think he has done it unconsciously. He has a partner who has invested
+money in Billings' cattle. Do you remember the fellow in the train whom
+Kit knocked down? The chap who insulted that pretty girl."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"From the description given me of one of his coming guests by the
+colonel, I believe the man with the red necktie is he."
+
+"What? That horrid thing."
+
+"I didn't tell you, but Kit and I saw him talking to a man at the
+station where we stopped for dinner, whom I am convinced was no other
+than Checkers himself."
+
+"Whew! That looks suspicious."
+
+"In addition to that, the colonel has invited a man and his sister to
+visit him while we are there. This man is a New Yorker; I don't know his
+name, but the colonel says he is out here to buy a ranch. Who do you
+suppose it is?"
+
+"Haven't an idea."
+
+"The girl who dropped the warning note into my pocket, and the young man
+with the pointed beard."
+
+"Whew! again."
+
+"Looks pretty complicated, doesn't it?"
+
+"Worse than that. Ted, are you sure about this Colonel Billings?"
+
+"One is sure of nothing in this world, but I have taken a fancy to
+Billings, and when I like a man he generally turns out all right, making
+allowances for minor faults and habits. Yes, I think I can trust
+Billings."
+
+"But not his friends. Ted, do you want to know what I think?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"I feel that the invitation out there is a trap to catch you, and
+possibly keep you away from the town."
+
+"Nonsense! Why should they want to keep me away from the town? There
+doesn't seem to be anything wrong in town that I could bother them in,
+except the Norcross incident, and if, as I suspect, he has duped his
+partners, he will say nothing to them about me."
+
+"Suppose they want to get out there to do away with you."
+
+"They wouldn't ask all of you out there with me in that case."
+
+"That is where you are mistaken. They are too shrewd to excite your
+suspicions by inviting you alone. It will not be hard for them to get
+you away from the ranch to look at some cattle and then kill you. Ted,
+you are too dangerous to them to be let alone."
+
+"Well, it can't be helped now, and being right in among them is a hope I
+did not expect to see realized so easily. But they will have no
+advantage over me, for none of the syndicate, I take it, know of the
+counterfeits as yet, except Norcross and the inevitable Checkers. But at
+that, I don't think they will resort to violence. We are too strong for
+them, at the ranch, at least I believe they will use diplomacy."
+
+"Well, we can play at the game ourselves. There, perhaps, I can help
+you."
+
+"You bet you can. But let us go down to the station and see if the red
+motor car, 118, has arrived yet."
+
+When they reached the station, Ted went to the express agent and asked
+for the car.
+
+"Yes," said the agent, "the car arrived this morning, Mr. Strong, and I
+delivered it according to your instructions. The charges are not paid
+yet. Your messenger said you would call later and settle for them, and,
+knowing you by reputation, I let it go."
+
+Ted was staring at the agent.
+
+"You delivered it according to my instructions?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"I didn't give any one an order for the car."
+
+"Why, you must have forgotten it. Here it is. I happened to see one of
+your boys down here, and called him to one side and asked him if it was
+your signature, and he very promptly identified it."
+
+"Let me see that order."
+
+The agent produced an order written on the note paper of the hotel.
+
+Ted stared at it incredulously.
+
+"It looks like my writing, but I didn't write it. I'll swear to that.
+Look at this, Stella. Is that my hand?"
+
+Stella looked at the paper studiously for a minute or two, then handed
+it back.
+
+"A casual look at it would deceive me, but you did not write it. It
+lacks several of your individualisms, and has others that are not
+yours."
+
+"That is right. This order is a forgery. I did not write it. The
+express-robber syndicate is getting bolder every minute. They'll come in
+and steal you some day," Ted said to the agent. "Notify your company
+that my car has been stolen, and that I want it restored to me."
+
+"Great Scott!" was all the agent could say.
+
+"What sort of looking chap was it that presented the order?" asked Ted.
+
+"Well, he was an ordinary-looking chap. He had on a--"
+
+"Checked suit?"
+
+"Yes, sir. How did you know?"
+
+"Checkers has come into his own at last," said Ted, turning to Stella.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+TED IN THE TOILS.
+
+
+The following morning an impressive cavalcade set out for the ranch of
+Colonel Billings, led by the genial owner himself. Behind him came Ted
+and Stella, between whom rode little Dick.
+
+Then came Mrs. Graham in a well-appointed carriage, and acting as her
+outriders and escorts were the boys. When they arrived at the ranch,
+after passing numerous herds of fine cattle on the way, they found one
+of the finest ranch houses in the West.
+
+It was a great, white modern structure that could be seen for miles
+across the level prairie, which showed hardly a single rise or
+depression in all the miles they had ridden.
+
+None of the guests whom the colonel had told Ted would be present
+accompanied the party. The colonel explained this by saying that other
+matters had detained them in town, and that he preferred to permit them
+to follow, rather than defer the pleasure of being their escort.
+
+This was said with so much sincerity that Ted could not doubt him. Mrs.
+Graham and Stella were ensconced in a large apartment on the first
+floor, with large windows opening upon a wide veranda.
+
+Both expressed themselves as delighted with their room, much to the
+gratification of their host. The broncho boys found quarters in the
+spacious second floor, which had as many rooms as the average hotel.
+
+"Well, what do you think of Colonel Billings now?" Ted asked of Stella,
+when they met on the broad lawn in front of the ranch house after they
+had seen their rooms.
+
+Stella simply shook her head.
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked Ted. "That you don't know, or that you
+don't care to say?"
+
+"I can't tell you yet, Ted. I like him somehow for his genial ways, and
+yet something tells me to beware."
+
+"Well, I'd sooner trust your intuition than my judgment. I'll keep an
+eye on him. And--yet, I feel the same as you in a way. But I hate to
+distrust any one."
+
+"I know you do, Ted, and that is why you get fooled on some people
+sometimes."
+
+"But not on all people all the time?"
+
+"That's it."
+
+"Then what does one's first impression amount to, anyway?"
+
+"Not much, unless they can make good a good first impression."
+
+"I'm not going to worry about him. The other fellows are the ones for
+that."
+
+"That's what I think."
+
+"I'm going to ride out over the range, and take a look at the cattle.
+Want to go along?"
+
+"Of course I do."
+
+They found their horses in the corral, and after telling Colonel
+Billings that they would be back for dinner, departed.
+
+"When you go through the west gate into the big pasture, look out for a
+big Hereford bull in there," Colonel Billings called after them.
+
+Ted nodded and waved his hand, and they were off. Colonel Billings
+certainly did have a splendid ranch. They rode for miles within the
+fences before they came to the west gate.
+
+"Think we better go any farther?" asked Ted, when they had come this
+far.
+
+"Yes. Let us go on," replied Stella. "We have plenty of time, and I
+would like to see just how big this ranch is."
+
+"Don't forget the red bull," said Ted, as he closed the gate behind
+them.
+
+"I've seen many a dangerous bull before," laughed Stella.
+
+"If we find him and he takes after us, keep on the far side of me. I
+don't much fancy that pony you're on."
+
+"I don't myself. I wish we had a bunch of Moon Valley ponies here to
+ride. I've never seen any that could come up to them."
+
+They were following a trail that led directly into the west. It was a
+cattle trail, and Ted's practiced eye told him that it led to water.
+Several miles to the west he saw the plain became broken.
+
+"There's water over there," he said.
+
+"That's where we'll find the cattle," answered Stella. "Do you want to
+go that far and look at them?"
+
+"I will if you think you can stand it."
+
+Stella looked at him scornfully.
+
+"I guess this beast will go the distance," she answered, giving the
+little gray a clip with her quirt, and galloping ahead of Ted, who was
+not slow to follow.
+
+As they proceeded the ground became more and more broken.
+
+"I believe there is a bit of 'bad land' over there," said Ted, pointing
+forward.
+
+Still they saw no cattle, although Colonel Billings had told him that
+morning that his greatest herd, the one he wished the boys to examine
+with the view to purchase, lay in the big west pasture.
+
+But all they could see so far was the broad stretch of green prairie and
+the low line of the rough land in the distance. Not a living thing was
+in sight.
+
+The only movement was the flying shadows of the white clouds over the
+prairie, and the waving of the deep, rich grass when a vagrant breeze
+swept by.
+
+But suddenly Ted pulled in his pony, and shaded his eyes with his hand,
+staring into the west.
+
+"What is it?" asked Stella, reining in.
+
+"I thought I saw something red shoot across the horizon to the west,
+where you see those gray rocks," answered Ted.
+
+"A cow--or, perhaps, the dangerous red bull," laughed Stella.
+
+"Nothing like that. It wasn't the right color. Did you ever see a
+scarlet cow?"
+
+"Never did."
+
+"Well, the thing I saw was scarlet, and it was not shaped like a cow."
+
+He was still looking intently into the west.
+
+"There it is again!" he exclaimed, unlimbering his field glasses.
+
+After a moment of intense scrutiny, he raised the glasses suddenly to
+his eyes.
+
+"By Jove!" he cried, "it's a motor car, and I believe it's 118."
+
+"Impossible!" cried Stella.
+
+"No, entirely possible," said Ted intensely. "Don't you see if it was
+this fellow Checkers who got the machine from the agent by false
+pretenses he would take it as far away from town as possible?"
+
+"Yes, I see that."
+
+"Then which direction would he take if, as I think, he is in league with
+the train-robbing syndicate, which we have persuaded ourselves to think
+made their headquarters at Green River, but in this direction? We have
+learned that others of those we believe to be in it are to be the guests
+of this ranch, and--"
+
+"I see. He could not well bring the red car to the ranch house."
+
+"That's it."
+
+"Then where do you suppose he's going with it?"
+
+"There's no better place to hide it than in those very 'bad lands,' if I
+am guessing right, at the rough land yonder."
+
+"True. What are you going to do about it?"
+
+"I'm going to find that red car and my friend, Checkers."
+
+"Not alone, Ted. You're going to get the other boys to help you, aren't
+you?"
+
+"Now is the accepted time. I'm going right away now. But it would be a
+good scheme for you to ride back to the ranch and tell Bud and the boys
+quietly what I am about, and have them come out in case I should need
+help."
+
+"I hate to see you ride away alone, Ted. You can't tell what there is
+over there. Better let me go along."
+
+"No, Stella, it would be no use. You know that I appreciate your courage
+and skill in every way, but this, probably, will be no work for girls."
+
+Stella pouted at this. She did not like the idea of the long ride back
+to the ranch house alone.
+
+She looked at Ted to see if he really was in earnest, and when she saw
+the look in his face she turned back with a wave of the hand and a "So
+long!" and started for the ranch house.
+
+"Tell Bud to bring three or four of the boys out here with him," shouted
+Ted after her. "Thank you, Stella."
+
+But she only nodded her head and pursued her way, and Ted, after looking
+after her for a moment, rode forward. He had not seen the red car for
+several minutes, it having disappeared behind a rocky butte.
+
+Having a fair horse, he gave it the gad and struck into a gallop. Soon
+he entered upon the rough land, and from a rise saw a stream below and a
+herd of cattle beyond, where the prairie began again; the railroad, and
+a small red station house, with two or three low buildings about it.
+
+He now understood that he had seen the red car on the far side of the
+ravine, through which the stream flowed, and went down to the stream,
+his horse sliding on its haunches amid a clatter of broken clay and
+pebbles.
+
+He was soon across and clambered up the other wall of the ravine, and
+there in the clay found the impression of the tires of the red car.
+
+"I'm all right now," he muttered to himself. "On the track of Checkers
+and the robbers' automobile. I wonder where it will end."
+
+He had no difficulty in following the tracks of the automobile for a
+considerable distance, when the ravine ran out on that side and the bank
+of the stream flattened; and he rode along it, following the trail with
+ease.
+
+Then the bank of the stream rose again, and the water flowed through a
+ravine, into which the red car had entered. It could not escape him, and
+Ted chuckled, and examined his revolver, loosening it well in its
+holster, for he had not forgotten the warning against Checkers given him
+by Chief Desmond.
+
+The ravine grew deeper as he advanced, and soon it became tolerably dark
+at the bottom where the high walls shut out the light. Suddenly his
+horse stumbled, and, as Ted shot over its head, he heard the twang of a
+broken wire that had been stretched across the path.
+
+He had fallen into a trap. As he struck the earth, he was stunned for a
+moment, then a heavy weight was upon him.
+
+He twisted around and felt for his revolver, but it had fallen from his
+holster, and he felt his arms grasped and a thong passed around his
+wrists, and then around his ankles.
+
+The weight was lifted from him and he rolled over on his back. Standing
+above him was the man whom he knew as Checkers.
+
+"Well, my lad, you delivered yourself like a lamb to the slaughter,"
+said Checkers, with a smile.
+
+Ted could say nothing. He was too busy wondering how easily he had
+fallen into the toils.
+
+"You went up against a tough proposition when yon tackled me," continued
+the man. "It would have been a good thing for you if you had never run
+across me. You know too much to be left alive. I shall see that you are
+properly taken care of."
+
+Checkers issued a shrill whistle.
+
+"Come," he said to Ted, "get to your feet."
+
+Ted arose as three men came around an elbow of the wall of the ravine.
+
+"Take care of this boy," said Checkers to them. "And if he escapes--"
+
+He finished the sentence with a smile that made the men wince.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+STELLA IMITATES SANTA CLAUS.
+
+
+"Come on, fellow," said one of the men, jerking Ted along by hops.
+
+"We'll attend to him all right, boss," said another.
+
+"He'll get all that's coming to him," said the third, with a grin that
+was almost as diabolical as that of Checkers.
+
+Around the elbow of the ravine wall, in a small cove was a log cabin
+with a lean-to shed, under which was sheltered the fatal red car which
+had lured him to captivity.
+
+The cabin was backed up against the wall of the ravine, and was small
+and dirty as to interior. A fire burned in a big stone fireplace at one
+end, filling the room with a suffocating smudge.
+
+The room was almost dark, but Ted, from the corner into which he had
+been flung, was soon able to make out that the men were cooking
+something over the glowing embers, at the same time taking swigs from a
+black bottle, and smoking reeking pipes of vile tobacco.
+
+After the food was cooked they began to eat, but did not offer Ted any
+of it, all the while making jokes at his expense, and vaguely hinting at
+his fate.
+
+Ted wished now that he had taken Stella's advice, and had not rushed in
+so rashly. Had he waited for Bud and two or three of the boys to come to
+his assistance, he could easily have caught the whole lot for their
+cabin was in a perfect pocket from which they could not have escaped.
+
+Who were these rough fellows with whom Checkers would not associate, for
+Ted could hear his archenemy pacing up and down outside, and he had not
+forgotten how he had addressed these men?
+
+Probably they were only ordinary villains who did the dirty work planned
+by the wiser heads of the syndicate. He wondered if the boys would be
+able to find him before they settled with him, as they had promised.
+
+After the men had finished their meal the voice of the leader summoned
+them outside. Ted could hear commands being given in a low voice, and
+mumbles from the men.
+
+It appeared from what Ted could gather from the tones of the voice,
+rather than from any words that he caught, that one of the men was
+protesting against what Checkers was ordering.
+
+Suddenly there was a cry of agony.
+
+"Don't do that, boss," said one of the men.
+
+"Shut up, or you'll get a taste of the same knife," came the voice of
+Checkers in a tone of rage. "When I say a thing must be done it is as
+good as done. Now go ahead and do as I tell you."
+
+"But, boss--"
+
+"Go on, and do it. Are you a coward? You've done it before," Ted heard
+Checkers say. "I'm going away now, and if you can't show me what I want
+when I get back, well--you know."
+
+In a moment Ted heard the chug of the motor car, then the grating of the
+tires on the earth as it started away.
+
+"Remember what I said," the voice of Checkers came floating back.
+
+"Say, Bill, this is a derned outrage," said one of the men outside. "I,
+fer one, am not in favor of standin' for it."
+
+"Well, if yer don't, you'll get the same," said other man.
+
+"I never see any one so handy with that bloomin' knife o' his."
+
+"Look out you don't get a taste o' it, then."
+
+"Is he dead, Bill?"
+
+There was a shuffling of feet outside, and Ted knew that they were
+turning a body over.
+
+"Yes, he's stone-dead."
+
+"Pore Dick! He had his faults, but he was a good pal."
+
+"He wuz, but too derned soft-hearted. He didn't want ter kill a feller
+in cold blood never."
+
+"An' yet he wa'n't no coward. I never see ther time Dick w'd refuse ter
+fight if ther other feller had some show, an' he wa'n't squeamish about
+holdin' up a train er runnin' off a bunch o' cattle, but I always hear
+him say thet he didn't take no stock in plain, straight murder."
+
+"That's so, but it's not murder, Tom, when yer kills ther feller what's
+yer enemy. Now, honor bright, is it?"
+
+"I dunno. I was brought up ter fight, an' fight like ther devil hisself
+when it come ter fightin', but I reckon I'm too much o' a derned coward
+ter murder cold."
+
+"Well, this is one o' ther times when it's got ter be did, an' I reckon
+we might as well be about it. Git ready."
+
+"No, sir, I'm not goin' ter do it."
+
+"Tom, yer a fool. Do yer know what'll happen when ther boss comes back
+an' finds out that it ain't been did?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"An' aire yer goin' ter resk it?"
+
+"I be."
+
+"Then ye're a bigger fool than I am. I'm goin' ter carry out orders.
+What's ther difference? A couple of good slashes an' it's all over."
+
+"But think o' the death cry, Bill. I've heerd too many o' them already.
+I hears them when I sleep and they wake me up."
+
+"Tom, yer talk ter me like a sick canary peeps. I always thought yer wuz
+a man."
+
+"An' don't yer think so now, Bill?"
+
+"Not from ther way yer talkin'."
+
+"Well, if yer has any doubts erbout it I'll give yer a chanct ter prove
+it, any way yer like."
+
+"Now, what's ther use o' talkin' that away, Tom? Dick's dead by ther
+hand o' ther boss. What's thar in it fer you or me if ther cub in thar
+dies er not? Be sensible."
+
+"It ain't matterin' a chaw o' terbaccer ter me whether he dies er not,
+but he's got a right ter die in a natural way, so to speak."
+
+"An' how is that, my Sunday-school friend?"
+
+"In a fair fight, by gosh!"
+
+"An' who's goin' ter give him a fair fight? I don't want none o' it."
+
+"So that's ther way yer built, is it, Bill? I always thought yer was a
+game man."
+
+"I reckon I be, but that's not in this question. Here's an enemy ter
+ther gang what lays bound in the cabin. Why should I resk my life in a
+fight with him er fer him. It's so derned easy fer a feller ter go in
+thar an' stick a knife inter him, an' then, yer see, it's all over
+with."
+
+"Yer wrong, Bill."
+
+"I'd sooner do that than have ther boss come back an' stick his knife
+inter me."
+
+"Aire yer afraid ter fight ther boss?"
+
+"He's ther only man I be afraid of."
+
+There was a long silence following this, and Ted understood the terrible
+power of Checkers over his men, and Desmond's warning.
+
+"Well, I'm tired o' chewin' erbout ther virtue o' killin' a man one way
+or another, an' I'm goin' ter foller orders. If you don't want ter jine
+in I reckon as how I'll have ter tell ther boss that yer flunked."
+
+There was no response to this, and a few moments elapsed in which Ted
+listened hopefully for his champion's voice.
+
+Suddenly something dropped in the fireplace, and Ted, straining his eyes
+in that direction, saw a tiny pair of tan riding boots come into view,
+followed by a tan skirt, and Stella dropped noiselessly into the room.
+
+She held up a warning finger as she saw Ted in the corner.
+
+"Sh, sh!" she whispered, as she felt for his bonds and cut them.
+
+Ted was on his feet on the instant, and Stella pressed a revolver into
+his hand.
+
+"I didn't go back to the ranch house, but followed you here. I saw the
+red car go out, and hid. Then I sneaked along until I heard those
+fellows quarreling. I was on the top of the bluff here, and guessed that
+you were inside the cabin, as I couldn't see you anywhere outside, so I
+just dropped in." As Stella whispered this she smiled, and Ted could
+only look his thanks.
+
+The fellow named Tom, who had been opposed to killing Ted, had evidently
+been doing some hard thinking, and the threat of his mate to expose him
+to Checkers evidently convinced him that he would rather be alive than
+perish for a mere sentiment.
+
+"All right, Bill," he said; "I don't like it, but we've got to share
+it."
+
+"Sure," said the other. "It'll be blow and blow. We both strike
+together."
+
+"Come on, then."
+
+"Now," said Ted, putting Stella behind him and crouching in the
+darkness.
+
+The two men entered the cabin noisily, knowing that they had nothing to
+fear from an unarmed boy bound hand and foot and lying in the corner
+with nothing to hope for.
+
+As they approached the corner they were surprised to see a stalwart
+young form arise suddenly and a pair of revolvers gleam through the
+darkness as a voice rang out commandingly:
+
+"Hands up!"
+
+The hands of both went up very promptly.
+
+"Drop those knives!"
+
+A pair of knives clattered to the floor.
+
+"Face about, both of you, and go out. The first to make a break gets a
+shot in the back."
+
+At Ted's command both men obeyed. When they were outside in the
+sunlight, Ted looked them over. Both had revolvers in their holsters.
+
+"Take their revolvers away from them, Stella," said Ted.
+
+As the girl moved forward to comply with the request of Ted Strong, the
+men stared at her in amazement.
+
+"Now, which of you is Tom?" asked Ted.
+
+"I am," said one of them.
+
+"You lie!" answered Ted. "I know you by your voice. You are not
+Tom:--you are Bill."
+
+"Yes, I'm Tom," said the other fellow.
+
+"That's right," said Ted.
+
+"Now, see here, Tom, if I give you the chance will you dig out of this
+and escape? It won't be very long before you are caught, anyway, and you
+know what that means."
+
+"You bet I will," said the fellow, who had protested against the murder
+of Ted.
+
+"All right, I'll give you the chance. I'll take your friend in charge
+myself. You can take down your hands, Tom."
+
+The fellow was in a state of wonderment as he did so.
+
+"Who are you, anyway?" asked the fellow called Bill.
+
+"I am Ted Strong."
+
+"Then it's all up. We're done for," said the train robber, in a resigned
+voice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+TED HOLDS A PROFITABLE BAG.
+
+
+Tom signaled to Ted to step aside, and, telling Stella to keep the other
+fellow covered with her revolver, Ted accompanied him.
+
+"Thank yer fer turnin' me loose," said Tom. "I've been tryin' ter get
+away fer months, but couldn't. Here's a tip: They're goin' ter rob ther
+Overland Express t'-night right out yon at that little station yer can
+see from ther top o' ther rise. Ther loot is ter be hid near Bubbly
+Spring until things blow over, but ther gang will come here. Thar's my
+tip. Good-by. I'm off."
+
+The fellow disappeared up the bank of the stream.
+
+Ted bound the other upon the back of his pony, which he found not far
+from the scene of his own downfall, and conveyed him to Green River,
+where he placed him in jail, with instructions that he should be allowed
+to communicate with no one.
+
+Then he and Stella returned to the Billings ranch house.
+
+"Say nothing whatever about our adventure," said Ted, as he and Stella
+rode along discussing the matter. "I think there will be something doing
+there to-night."
+
+When they got back to the ranch, Ted simply explained their absence by
+saying that they had ridden farther than they had at first intended.
+
+Ted was introduced to the other guests, who had arrived in his absence.
+There was Mr. Norcross, the banker, who looked a little sheepish when
+Ted shook hands with him and acted as if he had never seen him before.
+The man with the black mustache and the red necktie was Mr. Dennis
+Corrigan, of Chicago, and neither he nor the boys appeared to have seen
+him before. The young man with the pointed beard was Mr. van Belder, of
+New York.
+
+Colonel Billings was full of hospitable notions, and made the afternoon
+pass delightfully.
+
+"They tell me there is very good shooting in the neighborhood at times,"
+said Mr. Corrigan, as they all sat on the veranda in the afternoon.
+
+"Excellent," said the colonel. "At this time of the year the snipe
+shooting is fine."
+
+"What is the best time to shoot them?" asked Van Belder.
+
+"I should say after dark," said the host, with an imperceptible wink at
+Mr. Corrigan.
+
+"I don't see how you can shoot snipe after dark," said Ted.
+
+"You don't exactly shoot them," explained Mr. Corrigan. "It's this way,
+and a fine game, and often practiced in South Chicago: The party goes
+out, and one holds the bag while the rest go along and drive the birds
+in, and the fellow who holds the bag catches them in it. It's lots
+easier than shooting them, and you get more birds."
+
+"By Jove, that's a new experience to me!" said Ted. "I'd like to try
+it."
+
+Mr. van Belder looked at him curiously, but drawled that he thought it
+very fine sport. So it was agreed that that night they should go on a
+snipe-bagging expedition.
+
+The party was to be made up of Ted, who was eager to hold the bag for
+the snipe to run into; Mr. Corrigan, the colonel, Mr. van Belder, and a
+few others.
+
+Most of the boys declined absolutely to go.
+
+"Say, aire ye gittin' plumb dotty?" asked Bud, when he got Ted out of
+hearing. "Tell me, is it possible thet yer eyeteeth aire so far
+secreted up inter yer head thet yer don't know erbout baggin' snipe?"
+
+But all the answer Bud got was a wink.
+
+"Now, what hez ther hombre got up his sleeve, I wonder?" said Bud, as he
+wandered off.
+
+Ted and Stella had an animated conversation a few minutes later out of
+the sight and hearing of the others. But Stella walked off, smiling. She
+knew.
+
+It was just getting dark when the party left the ranch house.
+
+Ted carried a large, empty sack over his shoulder. With the organizers
+of the party went Bud, Ben, Kit, Carl, and Clay.
+
+The maddest person in the house that evening was Stella, because she
+couldn't go, too. But as she said good-by to the party from the steps of
+the ranch house she smiled comprehensively at Ted.
+
+A walk of a half mile brought the party to the edge of a small creek.
+
+"Now," said Mr. Corrigan, "here's where you wait with the bag while we
+go up to the creek and chase them down. You may have to wait a little
+while, and you must have patience."
+
+"Don't worry about me," answered Ted; "I have plenty of that. I'll be
+here when the snipe come down, and if any of them get away, charge them
+to me."
+
+After they had been gone some time Ted lit a match and looked at his
+watch. It was a quarter to nine.
+
+The Overland Express was due in Green River at nine-twenty. The little
+red station of Polifax would foe passed by ten minutes after she left
+Green River.
+
+While he was in Green River that afternoon Ted had been very careful to
+find the exact location of Bubbly Spring. He was more than two miles
+from it in his blind to wait for the snipe.
+
+As soon as the crashing of the feet of the snipe drivers and the shouts
+and laughter had died away, Ted left his hiding place and darted through
+the dark woods and swampy ground for Bubbly Spring.
+
+Long before he got there he heard the long screech of the whistle of the
+Overland Express announcing its approach at Green River, and a few
+minutes later its whistle that it was on its way. He had just reached
+Bubbly Spring and concealed himself in the bushes when the whistle gave
+a long shriek of danger.
+
+The signal of the train robbers had been given at Polifax. The engineer
+had seen the red light and had whistled to the trainmen that danger was
+ahead, and that he was going to stop.
+
+In a few moments Ted heard a few pops, and knew that the train robbers
+were firing their revolvers alongside of the train to prevent
+interference.
+
+What if the train robbers should fail?
+
+The train started up again, and Ted knew by that that nobody had been
+killed, and it added to his anxiety as to the success of the robbery. He
+wanted it to occur, for if he could secure the loot he could destroy the
+train robbers surely.
+
+All he wanted now was tangible evidence. He lay back breathlessly in the
+bushes, waiting. Soon he heard the rapid hoofbeats of horses, then a
+crashing in the bushes.
+
+These noises were approaching him rapidly. The crisis was at hand.
+
+In a moment the moon burst through the clouds, illuminating the little
+valley through which the small stream from the spring flowed, and Ted
+crept into closer cover. Then into the glade galloped ten men.
+
+Between two of them was swung a small, square thing, which was dropped
+at the foot of a cottonwood tree not a dozen feet from where Ted was
+concealed.
+
+A man leaped from the back of a horse. He had a spade in his hand, and
+as he advanced Ted drew in his breath sharply.
+
+It was Corrigan, the Chicago millionaire. Behind him was Norcross, the
+banker.
+
+Ted looked vainly for Checkers. If he had been with the robbers at the
+holdup, he had not come here with them. Meanwhile, the dirt was flying,
+and a hole was being dug at the foot of the cotton wood.
+
+After it was deep enough an iron box was dropped into it and covered
+with earth, and silently the men remounted and rode away.
+
+Ted waited about fifteen minutes to be sure that none of them would
+return. Then he dug into the freshly laid earth and soon had exhumed the
+iron box. It was somewhat of a heavy load, but he packed it manfully,
+and in about half an hour carried it in his bag into the living room of
+the ranch house.
+
+He was greeted with shouts of laughter from Corrigan and several of the
+others. But Stella looked at him anxiously, and he gave her a reassuring
+glance.
+
+"Ha, ha!" laughed Corrigan. "What do you think of snipe hunting now?"
+
+"It was a good joke," said the colonel, "but I'm sure you will take it
+good-naturedly."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Norcross, the banker. "It's quite a favorite amusement
+out here."
+
+Only the New Yorker said nothing, but gave Ted a peculiar glance. Ted
+looked around at the group with a foolish smile.
+
+"It was a good joke, gentlemen," said he, "and I have never been sore
+because I have been handed one."
+
+Another burst of satisfied laughter greeted this from the big
+three--Corrigan, Norcross, and the colonel. But Stella and the boys
+looked glum that Ted was being made the butt of a joke.
+
+Then Ted put his sack on the floor and opened it and lifted something
+out and placed it on the table. It was the iron box he had dug from the
+earth at Bubbly Spring, with the fresh earth still sticking to it.
+
+Corrigan's face turned white. Norcross had to lean against the corner of
+the table to keep from falling.
+
+Ted easily opened the lock of the box, and threw it open.
+
+"You left me to hold the bag, did you?" he asked of the astounded
+conspirators. "Well, what do you think of these for snipe?"
+
+The room was as quiet as a church.
+
+"Gentlemen, you are all under arrest. Boys, get into your saddles. We
+are going to ride to the rendezvous of the gang of robbers which
+to-night robbed the Overland Express and stole the money I have here,"
+and he lifted out package after package of stolen currency.
+
+Stella was laughing and waving her hat.
+
+"I knowed yer had somethin' up yer sleeve when yer consented ter go
+snipe huntin'! Yer ther limit," said Bud.
+
+Only Mr. van Belder of all the conspirators was calm. He ripped a beard
+from his face, and there stood Darby O'Neill, the United States secret
+agent!
+
+"Say, Ted, give me that counterfeit of the Green River National Bank. It
+is all I need to take Norcross away for a long term. I've been working
+on him for a long time, but you knocked the persimmon at last."
+
+"You had me guessing," said Ted. "When I got that note that was slipped
+into my pocket in St. Louis I ought to have guessed that it was you, but
+you are so clever at disguise that you always fool me."
+
+"But you've never fooled me yet," was the reply. "I've banked on you
+every time, and every time you've come back with the goods."
+
+"But who was the young lady who slipped me the note?"
+
+"My sister, who is a very clever girl detective, as you may know some
+day."
+
+After the boys had made secure the three men at the head of the train
+robbers' syndicate, they went to the cabin in which Ted had so nearly
+lost his life, and secured the rest of the robbers.
+
+Next morning at daylight they found the body of Checkers lying beside
+the fatal red car not far from the scene of the holdup. He had been
+killed by a stray shot fired by one of his own men.
+
+Thus was the train robbers' syndicate wiped out through the acumen and
+courage of Ted Strong, and the loyal backing of his comrades.
+
+The broncho boys decided that more stock was needed at the Moon Valley
+Ranch, and the entire outfit set out for No Man's Land, in northern
+Texas.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+THE MAGPIE PONY.
+
+
+"Say, podner, might I be so free an' onquisitive ez ter inquire ez ter
+whar yer got thet thar palfrey yer ridin'?"
+
+The speaker was a tall, gaunt old man with a tangled mass of grizzled
+whiskers, and the "podner" he addressed was Bud Morgan.
+
+"Yer might," answered Bud, eying the questioner keenly.
+
+"Well!"
+
+"Why don't yer?"
+
+"Oh, I see. Whar did yer git it?"
+
+"I traded a Waterbury watch fer it, an' ther feller what made ther trade
+throwed in a pack o' cigareets."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+"Anything else ye'd like ter know?"
+
+"Well, seein' ez yer so communicative, I'd like ter hev yer tell me how
+fur it's ter Yeller Fork."
+
+"Betwixt grub."
+
+"Come ergin."
+
+"Ez fur ez yer kin ride betwixt 'arly breakfast an' dinner."
+
+"Well, I'm obleegin' ter yer. I reckon we'll be hikin'."
+
+"Who's ther kid?"
+
+"Thet boy is my grandson. We come outer Missouri ter see what could be
+did in this yere new country, an' it's mighty hard sleddin'."
+
+"What's ther trouble?"
+
+"Well, stranger, so long ez yer kind ernuff ter inquire, I'll tell yer."
+
+"I'm listenin'."
+
+"I'm too old ter work at ther only thing what seems ter be out
+yere--cow-punchin'--an' ther kiddie is too young. Now, if 'twas farmin',
+we'd be in it."
+
+"Thar ain't no more farmin' out yere than a rabbit, thet's shore. What
+might yer bizness be at home?"
+
+"I'm a hoss trader."
+
+"Thar ought ter be somethin' doin' out yere fer yer, then. All thar is
+in this country is hosses an' cattle."
+
+"They ain't my kind o' hosses."
+
+"Yer don't seem ter fancy cow ponies, eh?"
+
+"I reckon they're all right in their way, podner, but they're a leetle
+too wild fer me to break, an' the kid's not strong enough."
+
+"Askin' questions seems ter be fash'n'ble. Whar did yer git thet magpie
+hoss?"
+
+Bud was looking over the old man's mount, a beautiful little
+black-and-white-spotted pony, as clean limbed as a racer, and with a
+round and compact body. It was a bizarre-looking little animal, with a
+long, black mane and tail, at the roots of which was a round, white
+spot. It was the sort of animal that would attract attention anywhere.
+
+"Magpie! Podner, I riz her from a colt."
+
+"She's shore a showy beast."
+
+"She is some on ther picture, ain't she?" asked the old man, looking the
+pony over admiringly.
+
+"She's all right, but--"
+
+"But what, podner?" The old man looked at Bud with a frown.
+
+"Well, I ain't none on knockin' another man's hoss, but I never see one
+o' them black-an'-white-spotted animiles what could do more than lope,
+an' out in this yere country hosses hez got ter run like a scared coyote
+ter be any good in ther cow business."
+
+"Yer reckon this yere Magpie can't run?" asked the old man, bristling.
+
+"I ain't said so."
+
+"Well, yer alluded ter a magpie hoss as couldn't do nothin' but lope."
+
+"I ain't never see none what could do much more."
+
+"You ain't never see Magpie split ther wind, then."
+
+"I ain't."
+
+"Mebbe ye'd like ter."
+
+"Mebbe I would."
+
+"I reckon yer thinks ther cow what yer a-straddlin' of now kin run
+some."
+
+"A leetle bit. But, yer see, when I got him he was a broken-down cow
+hoss what hed been ridden ter death an' fed on sand an' alkali water so
+long thet he wa'n't much good nohow."
+
+"Jest picked him up wanderin'?"
+
+"Not eggsactly. Yer see, it wuz this way: I was coming ercross Noo
+Mexico about a month back, when I runs foul o' a hombre what is all in.
+He hadn't et fer so long thet yer could see ther bumps made by his
+backbone through his shirt. I hed some grub in my war bag, an' I fed an'
+watered him. This yer nag wuz all in, too, an' he hed a long way ter go,
+so when ther feller ups an' perposes ter trade ponies I give him ther
+merry cachinnation."
+
+"Ther what?"
+
+"Ther laugh."
+
+"Go ahead, podner, yer shore hez a splendid education."
+
+"I see thet he'll never git ter whar he's goin' on ther nag, an' I
+thinks I'll do him a favor by sittin' him on a piece o' live hossmeat,
+an' I said I'd trade if he hed anythin' ter boot. Now, what do yer think
+he hed?"
+
+"I ain't got a notion."
+
+"A pack o' Mexican cigareets what burned like a bresh fire an' smelled
+like a wet dog under a stove."
+
+"Haw, haw! An' yer traded?"
+
+"I thought some fust, an' then I thinks what's ther odds? Thar's plenty
+o' hosses in camp, an' it'll probably save ther feller's life ter let
+him hev ther pony, what ain't none out o' ther common, so I says, 'It's
+a go, pard.' I clumb down an' we changed saddles, an' he handed over
+ther pack o' cigareets an' we went our ways."
+
+"Yer shore is a kind-hearted man."
+
+"I ain't, neither. I jest knows a hoss when I sees one."
+
+"Yer don't call thet a hoss yer a-straddlin', I hope?"
+
+"I shore do. He ain't much fer ter gaze on admirin', I agree, but he's a
+good little cayuse. I reckon, now, yer some proud o' thet magpie hoss."
+
+"I be. It kin outrun anythin' this side o' ther State o' Newbrasky."
+
+"P'r'aps yer lookin' fer a race ter see what ther best we've got in camp
+kin do, no?"
+
+"Thar ain't nary time what I won't run a race if I think thar's ary
+merit in my hossflesh. How erbout ther animile what yer sits on so
+graceful?"
+
+"Oh, I reckon he kin ride rings eround ther magpie hoss," said Bud, who
+was a trifle nettled at the old man's jeering tone.
+
+"Yer certain got a lot o' confidence in a dead one."
+
+"I reckernize ther fact that he ain't none pretty, but handsome is as
+handsome does. Hatrack is some shy on meat an' he's got a temper like a
+disappointed woman, ter say nothin' o' havin' had ther botts, ringbone,
+heaves, an' spavin', but he's a good nag, fer all thet, an' would be
+good-lookin' ernough if his wool wasn't wore off in so many places."
+
+"Haw, haw! He ain't what ye'd call a show animile."
+
+"He ain't, but, say, stranger, he _kin_ run."
+
+"What d'ye say ter a leetle brush betwixt Magpie an' yer Hatrack?"
+
+"I'm ther gamest thing what ever yer see when it comes ter a hoss
+race."
+
+"What'll we race fer?"
+
+"Nag an' nag. If yer beats me, yer takes Hatrack, an' if he gits away
+with ther spotted pony, why, yer turns her over ter me. Is it a go?"
+
+"If yer throw in a six-shooter fer odds."
+
+"All right, pard, jest ter show yer thet I ain't no shorthorn, I'll go
+yer. I've got a shooter in my war-bag up ter camp what'll kick ther arm
+outer yer socket every time yer pulls ther trigger, but she'll send a
+bullet through a six-inch oak beam."
+
+"Anything, so it's odds. I'll go yer. I reckon I could sell it fer a
+dollar er so."
+
+"I reckon yer could," said Bud sarcastically. "I wuz offered ten dollars
+fer it by a hombre down ter Las Vegas a month ago. But he was a husky
+feller, an' wanted a strong shooter. He wanted ter go out huntin' fer a
+feller with it, an' I wouldn't let him hev it. Is it a go, shore
+enough?"
+
+"It be."
+
+"All right; come over ter ther camp an' stay overnight, an' fill yer
+pale American hides with ther best grub what ever wuz cooked on ther
+range. Our cook is an artist."
+
+Bud led the way on his little, flea-bitten skeleton of a pony that
+snorted and reared, kicked, and showed the whites of its eyes when he
+woke it from the drooping position it had held while he was talking to
+the old man.
+
+In half an hour they were in sight, from the hill they had topped, of a
+vast band of cattle grazing in a broad valley.
+
+In a sheltered spot below the hill was a typical cow camp. A
+white-covered chuck wagon shone in the rays of the departing sun, and
+the smoke arose from the cook's fire, where he was baking biscuit in a
+Dutch oven, while the fragrant odors of frying bacon and steaming
+coffee filled the air.
+
+"What have you found this time?" asked Ben Tremont, as Bud came into
+camp.
+
+"This yere gent is a maverick from Missouri what I found wanderin'
+across the peerarie searchin' fer Yaller Fork, an' he hez bantered me
+ter a hoss race, I ast him ter come in an' stay overnight, an' eat, an'
+we'll run ther hosses in ther mornin'."
+
+"What horses?"
+
+"I'm goin' ter run Hatrack agin' thet magpie mare o' hisn, an' throw in
+a six-shooter with Hatrack if I lose."
+
+"Say, are you going altogether dippy?" growled Ben. "Why, that little
+mare will run away from you as if Hatrack was tied to a post."
+
+"Reckon so? Well, maybe I want to lose Hatrack, an' maybe all I want is
+ter capture thet magpie pony."
+
+"Oh, what a lovely pony!"
+
+Stella Fosdick had ridden into camp, and her exclamation of admiration
+for the magpie pony drew the attention of the boys to her.
+
+"D'ye like thet thar pony?" asked Bud.
+
+"I think it's beautiful," answered Stella enthusiastically.
+
+"Then it's yours."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"This old gent an' me is goin' ter hev a race in ther mornin', hoss fer
+hoss, an' when it's over ther magpie hoss is yours."
+
+A peal of rippling laughter greeted this.
+
+"See yere, gal, what is all this noise about?" asked Bud huffily. "If
+yer laughin' at ther idea o' Hatrack beatin' ther magpie hoss, don't yer
+do it, fer thet's showin' ignerance o' hossflesh, an' I thought yer wuz
+too well brought up at Moon Valley ter think thet pretty spots on a
+hoss hez anythin' ter do with his ability ter make a race er hold a
+cow."
+
+"Forgive me, Bud, I didn't mean to laugh at Hatrack, but, really, he
+doesn't look as if he could run any faster than a lame dog."
+
+"Oh, I reckon he'll git over ther ground fast ernough," said Bud, with a
+sly wink at the girl. "But he won't do it with me on his back. I'm a
+trifle heavy fer fast work. I'll hev ter git Kit ter pilot him, I
+reckon."
+
+"I reckon you won't," said Stella. "If any one rides him it will be me.
+I'm a good many pounds lighter than Kit."
+
+"All right, Stella. I wanted yer ter ride him, but I didn't like ter
+impose on good nature by askin' yer ter do it."
+
+"Why, I'd love to ride the race. You ought to know me by this time."
+
+"It's a go, an' if yer win, as win yer must, ther magpie hoss is yours."
+
+"Oh, Bud, you don't mean it! Then I'll certainly ride to win."
+
+So it was settled, and the old man and his grandson were accorded the
+hospitality of the camp.
+
+After a hearty supper, while they were all sitting around the fire, and
+the old man was telling stories of his trip into the Southwest, for the
+broncho boys were now herding a big bunch of range cattle in what is
+known as No Man's Land, an arm of northern Texas lying west of Oklahoma,
+and claimed by both, the day watch rode into camp, and, stripping their
+saddles from their ponies, turned them loose. Then the boys threw
+themselves upon the ground to rest after several hours of constant
+riding.
+
+One of the cowboys in the outfit, Sol Flatbush by name, stood staring at
+the old man and the boy.
+
+He was scratching his forelock in a meditative sort of way, as if
+trying to remember something.
+
+"What is it, Solly? I reckon what yer tryin' ter think of is that ye've
+forgot yer supper," said Bud.
+
+"No, 'tain't that," said the cow-puncher, staring harder at the old man.
+
+"Hear about ther race, Sol?" asked Ben.
+
+"Now, don't yer expect me ter ask yer what race an' then spring thet ole
+gag about ther 'human race.' I won't stand fer it. I've got troubles
+enough. Thet buckskin pony o' mine hez hed ther very divil in him all
+day, an' I ain't feelin' none too amiable."
+
+"This is on the square."
+
+"Well, cut loose."
+
+"Bud is going to race Hatrack against that magpie horse grazing out
+there, and throw in a six-shooter if the old gent wins."
+
+Sol Flatbush turned and looked at the magpie pony, then at the old man.
+Suddenly a gleam of intelligence illuminated his face, and he grinned.
+
+"Say, Bud, I wisht ye'd come over yere an' look at this buckskin's off
+hind foot, an' tell me what ye thinks o' it. He's been actin' powerful
+queer on it all day."
+
+Bud rose lazily and followed Sol out of camp. The buckskin was grazing
+peacefully a few hundred yards away, and as they walked toward it Sol
+Flatbush said:
+
+"Bud, d'ye know that ole maverick?"
+
+"I shore don't. Never even ast him his name," answered Bud.
+
+"Well, I do. That's ole 'Cap' Norris. He's a hoss sharp fer fair. He an'
+that boy don't do nothin' but ride the country with that magpie hoss,
+pickin' up races at cow camps an' ranches an' in towns. That hoss o'
+hisn is a 'ringer.' His real name is Idlewild, an' he's a perfessional
+race hoss. Boy, yer stung!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+"VAMOSE!"
+
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said Bud quietly, as Sol Flatbush made this
+announcement of the ability of Magpie, or Idlewild, as he was known
+elsewhere.
+
+"But I do," urged Sol. "I see that hoss run at Ponca City on ther Fo'th
+o' July a year ago, an' he jest run away from ther best Indian racers
+what ther Osages could bring over, an' yer knows they kin go some."
+
+"Sol, my son, don't git excited. Yer Uncle Bud knows what he's doin'
+when he's going inter this yere race. He ain't tellin' ther ole man, nor
+none o' you fellers, what thar is in thet Hatrack hoss."
+
+"Got somethin' up yer sleeve?"
+
+"I reckon I hev. If I was a bettin' man, I'd wager my share o' Moon
+Valley that Hatrack would win this yere race."
+
+"Sho; yer don't say!"
+
+"Ted seen him run. Ask him. Now, don't you worry none about me. I know a
+hoss when I see one standin' on its four legs. That magpie hoss is a
+good one, whether his name is Magpie or Idlewild. Ther name don't make
+him run no better. But Hatrack is some, too, an' I want that magpie pony
+for Stella. She ain't got no hoss of her own down yere, an' that spotted
+pony is jest ther sort o' showy hoss what a gal likes."
+
+"Well, I ain't wantin' ter be buttin' in none," said Sol, in a
+crestfallen way.
+
+"Yer ain't butted in none, Sol. I'm obliged ter yer fer givin' me ther
+tip erbout ther old sharp. When he fust braced me I sized him up fer a
+sharp, an' when he told me he was a hoss trader from Missouri I had a
+straight line on him."
+
+They returned to camp, where the old man was still regaling the boys
+with anecdotes, having proved himself a most entertaining story-teller.
+
+The boy sat close beside him listening, but never saying a word, except
+when he was addressed. He was small and slender, and evidently weighed
+much less than a hundred pounds.
+
+His face was small and thin, and apparently youthful, but his eyes were
+old and shrewd, and there was a crafty look about his face at times when
+the old man brought out a point in a story. Evidently he had heard these
+stories many times before. When he smiled it was in a sly and furtive
+way.
+
+Ted Strong had come in from riding around the herd, having inspected it
+before it was bedded down for the night. He had heard all about the
+proposed race, and smiled quietly as Ben joshed Bud about the loss of
+his pony Hatrack on the morrow.
+
+He had looked the boy over carefully, and his impression was not
+pleasant.
+
+"I tell yer what, boys," said the old man, when conversation began to
+lag. "S'posin' we put this race off until to-morrow afternoon, an' run
+it over at Snyder, across the line in Oklahomy?"
+
+"What's ther occasion?" asked Bud.
+
+"Jest ter give ther people over thar a chance ter see a real live race.
+Besides, I'm out o' money, an' I reckon we could have a reg'lar race,
+an' charge admission. That would enable me an' my grandson ter git back
+ter ole Missou' again. We ain't much use out here. What d'yer say?"
+
+"I ain't no professional racer," said Bud slowly, "an' I ain't in this
+race fer what I kin make out o' it. Yer made yer brag about yer hoss an'
+slurred mine, an' I'm jest game enough ter lose him if he can't beat
+that calcimined hoss o' yours, but I don't go in fer bettin' er none o'
+thet sort o' thing."
+
+"I ain't said nothin' about bettin'," said the old man, in an injured
+tone.
+
+"I know yer ain't, an' I ain't accused yer o' it none. What I wuz goin'
+ter say wuz thet if yer hard up an' need ther money ter take yer home
+I'm ther first feller ter jump in ter help yer."
+
+"We're all willing to help on a thing like that," said Ted.
+
+"Then ye'll consent ter pull off ther race in Snyder?" asked the old man
+eagerly.
+
+"I am, if ther other boys will consent ter it," said Bud.
+
+"All right with me," said Ted, and the other boys voiced their assent.
+
+It looked as if there was a good bit of fun in prospect.
+
+"Thanks, boys," said the old man, with a catch in his voice, as if he
+was deeply touched. "Ye'll do a good turn fer me an' little Bill here.
+Bill, we'll git home fer Christmas yit."
+
+"If you're going to make it a public race, you'll have to get over to
+Snyder early to make arrangements," said Ted.
+
+"I'll leave before sunup in ther mornin', an' we'll have the race at
+three o'clock. Is that all satisfactory?"
+
+This proved satisfactory to the boys, and, having agreed to be on hand
+in time with Hatrack, every one turned in.
+
+When the boys turned out in the morning the blankets which the old man
+and the boy had occupied were empty and cold, showing that they had
+departed long before daylight.
+
+"There's something fishy about that old chap," said Ben Tremont, as they
+were at breakfast.
+
+"Of course, there is," said Ted. "He's an old horse sharp. Sol Flatbush
+knows him. He wants a race in town, thinking he can draw us into
+betting. He doesn't know that we never gamble, but he evidently believes
+that in the excitement of the moment he will be able to get some of our
+money."
+
+"Well, he'll get fooled on that," said Ben.
+
+"He'll git fooled in several other ways, too," grunted Bud.
+
+After breakfast Bud went out and roped Hatrack, and after a tussle that
+lasted several strenuous minutes, brought him into camp. Hatrack
+certainly was a sorry-looking beast.
+
+His long, dirty, yellowish-brown hair was rumpled and fluffed up. His
+ribs showed sharp, and his tail was full of burs, while his short and
+scraggy mane was missing in spots.
+
+His flanks had been rubbed bare of hair where he had lain for many
+nights on the rocks and in the sands of the desert.
+
+"Well, dog my cats, if he ain't ther orneriest-lookin' beast what ever
+toted a saddle," said Bud, looking him over, as Hatrack stood with
+drooping head and ears.
+
+"Bud, he isn't worth making cat's meat out of," said Ben. "I guess you
+made that race to get rid of him. It's easier and more humane than
+shooting him or abandoning him to the prairie wolves."
+
+"Reckon so?" asked Bud, looking at Ben out of the corner of a twinkling
+eye.
+
+"Oh, dear me, but he's awfully ugly," said Stella, coming from the tent
+which she and her aunt, Mrs. Graham, occupied a short distance from the
+camp.
+
+She was as spick and span as a new dollar, nattily dressed in a
+bifurcated riding skirt, from beneath which peeped a pair of high tan
+riding boots.
+
+Her white Stetson had just the right curl of brim to be most becoming,
+and her wavy hair fell in profusion over her shoulders.
+
+She was pulling on a pair of fringed gauntlets, and her braided quirt,
+with a silver knob for a handle, hung by its thong from her slender
+wrist.
+
+"Now, see here, Stella, don't yer go ter feelin' knocky about yer mount,
+er yer won't hev no confidence in him, an' will lose. I want ter say ter
+yer right now that this hoss what looks like ther last rose o' summer,
+ther last run o' shad, an' ther breakin' up o' a hard winter in a last
+year's bird's nest, is all right, an' he can't lose this race. Ride him
+true, an' don't give him ther gad none. All yer got ter do is ter
+encourage him by a word now an' then, an' pilot him straight ter ther
+wire."
+
+"All right, Bud. I was only joking," laughed Stella. "It isn't the
+prettiest horse that wins the race. I know that well, but, you see, like
+every girl, I like pretty things, and a horse might as well look good as
+run fast. It has always seemed to me that the two go together."
+
+During the middle of the forenoon the broncho boys started for the town
+of Snyder to attend the race.
+
+Bud led Hatrack, and a troublesome job he had of it, for the animated
+skeleton objected to being on the halter, as any self-respecting range
+horse would, and he pulled back and sideways and almost dragged Bud from
+his saddle several times.
+
+"Ding bat yer," Bud would shout, "yer ornery, unsanctified, muley,
+harebrained, contaminated son o' a zebra, git down on yer feet an'
+foller. Ye'll git all that's comin' ter yer when ther race starts. Save
+yer sweat until then."
+
+But Hatrack thought differently, and before they were halfway to Snyder
+it took all the efforts of Bud in the lead and Ben, Kit, and Clay
+Whipple in the rear, to keep him moving in a forward direction.
+
+Only enough boys were left with the herd to keep it from scattering.
+Ted and Stella rode in the lead as they entered the town, which was
+crowded with a motley assemblage of cow-punchers, gamblers, and Indians
+in their gay blankets and with painted faces.
+
+The Indians of the plains are keen on horse racing, and among the
+various tribes are to be found some of the fleetest horses in the West,
+many of them trained to all the tricks of racing. An Indian jockey is
+the shrewdest of his class, and is an adept at all the tricks of the
+trade.
+
+"Hi! Look at the livin' skeleton!"
+
+Bud swung around in his saddle and stared at a cow-puncher standing on
+the sidewalk in Snyder, as he rode into town dragging behind him the
+dejected Hatrack, who looked as if he had been living on two oats for
+dinner and a spear of grass for supper all his life.
+
+He ambled along like a tired and footsore dog behind Bud, with his ears
+drooping and his toes kicking up the dust. He was a sad-looking animal,
+and the word having gone abroad that he was the horse that was to enter
+the race with Magpie, he was jeered from one end of the street to the
+other, as Bud led him to the corral at the edge of the town. Bud
+pretended to be angry at the joshing his steed received, but when he had
+turned his back upon the jokers he would wink gently to himself in a way
+that would have been puzzling to the supporters of the spotted horse.
+
+Cap Norris had done his work well.
+
+Every one in town knew of the coming race, and word had been sent to the
+ranches in the surrounding country, so that before noon the streets were
+crowded with people.
+
+"Say, fellows," said Ted, when the boys met at the hotel for dinner,
+"this fellow Norris is sure a sharp. That talk about his wanting to get
+enough money to take him back home was a lie. He's a gambler, and is in
+league with a bunch of gamblers in this town."
+
+"How do you know?" asked Ben.
+
+"How do I know? Why, man alive, they're betting on Magpie all over town.
+The tip seems to have gotten out that Bud Morgan and the broncho boys
+have a surprise up their sleeves, and that they are going to ring in
+another horse than Hatrack."
+
+"How is that?"
+
+"They believe we're going to slip in another horse, a professional
+racing horse with a record."
+
+"Let 'em think so. It won't be a professional race horse--at least, not
+in this country--that we will put in, but jest ole Hatrack, an' if he
+don't win the race by a city block I'll eat him, hoofs an' all."
+
+"Put us next, Bud," said Ben.
+
+"That's what," said Kit. "You've sure got a trick concealed somewhere.
+What is it?"
+
+"No, I haven't," said Bud. "But if I wuz a bettin' man I know what hoss
+I'd back to win."
+
+That was all the boys could get out of him on the subject, but they were
+convinced none the less that Bud had a secret concerning the horse, and
+that they would learn what it was in good time.
+
+The race was to be held at the fair grounds, and was to be a dash of
+three hundred yards.
+
+Cap Norris would not consent to a longer race, although Bud said he
+would run Hatrack any distance up to a quarter of a mile, but the
+innocent old man with the long whiskers objected to running his horse a
+long distance.
+
+As the hour approached for the race, the grounds began to fill up.
+Several races between Indian ponies took place to keep the crowd amused
+until the big race of the day was to come off.
+
+"They've been working us," said Ted, coming up to where Stella and the
+boys were standing beside Hatrack, which looked more sad and dejected
+than ever.
+
+"In what way?" asked Bud.
+
+"This race is a gambling game to get the money away from the innocents,"
+answered Ted. "They've had men going among the people from the country
+and the cow-punchers, telling them that it is a put-up job on our part,
+and that we're sure to win. In that way they have got a lot of people to
+bet on Hatrack. I've a good mind to draw out of it altogether and spoil
+their game."
+
+"For fear the innocents will lose their money?" asked Bud.
+
+"Yes. I don't want to be a party to robbing those fellows."
+
+"Don't you worry. If you want to punish Norris and his friends, don't
+interfere. Let it go on, I tell you. They'll be the worst-beaten lot o'
+crooks that ever robbed a town."
+
+"All right, Bud, if you say so."
+
+It was now time for the race of the day, and Bud and Norris marked off
+the course.
+
+Ben was appointed judge, with a large man, apparently a stranger in the
+town, who was chosen by Norris, and the two selected a third.
+
+The third man was a stranger to Ben, but he picked him out of the crowd,
+and the other judge accepted him.
+
+As Stella climbed into the saddle, Hatrack gave two or three kittenish
+jumps, and the crowd yelled. It had not expected this added feature to
+the race, a girl jockey.
+
+Shout after shout went up as she rode over the course slowly, Hatrack
+having settled down into his usual dejected manner. The cheers and some
+of the jeers that greeted him came from the men who had been induced to
+bet on him.
+
+"Now, Stella," said Bud, as Stella rode back again, "when you start,
+shout 'Vamose!' in Hatrack's ear. That's the word he has always been
+sent away with. Stick tight, an' let him go. Don't forget the word
+'Vamose!'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+THE GREAT CHIQUITA.
+
+
+Hatrack and Magpie were now brought up to the starting point.
+
+The boy who traveled with old man Norris was on the back of the latter
+horse, sitting in a regular jockey's saddle and stripped of all
+superfluous clothing.
+
+He was the typical jockey now. He had put away all the appearance of
+youth, and was a crafty and sly man.
+
+It was apparent that the whole outfit was in the racing business, and as
+the crowd looked at the discrepancy between the two horses, and observed
+that on the best-looking horse was a professional jockey, while on the
+crowbait was only a girl, something like a groan went up.
+
+But some of them were game, and cheered Stella to the echo.
+
+"You're all right!" shouted her supporters.
+
+"Hurrah fer ther girl jockey," yelled the cow-punchers. "I got a month's
+wages that says she'll win the race."
+
+But the other side had something to say, also. They made all sorts of
+fun of Hatrack, and roars of laughter went up as he ambled,
+stiff-legged, onto the course.
+
+Clay Whipple was chosen to start the race, and stood beside the track
+with a red flag in his hand. The two horses were jockeyed back and forth
+for several minutes.
+
+"Are you ready?" shouted Clay, as they came up.
+
+"No!" shouted Stella.
+
+"No!" answered the jockey.
+
+Back again they went, and came up neck and neck, the riders nodding to
+Clay.
+
+"Go!" cried Clay, bringing down the red flag with a swish through the
+air.
+
+"Vamose!" Stella's clear young voice rang out.
+
+Then an amazing thing happened. Hatrack seemed to be suddenly galvanized
+into life. He straightened out, and shot to the front with great, long
+horizontal leaps. His body seemed to be gliding close to the earth.
+
+His head was between his legs, and he was running like a greyhound.
+Stella was bent low upon his neck, and every moment or two she would
+shout in Spanish, "Go it! Vamose!" or, "You're winning! Vamose!"
+
+And winning Hatrack surely was. Now he was half a length ahead of the
+fleet Magpie, who was running the race of her life.
+
+Behind her Stella could hear the crowd yelling like mad. The air fairly
+shook with the shouts of the multitude as the two horses shot forward.
+But it was a short race, and seemed to Stella to have ended almost as
+soon as it began.
+
+As she flew past Bud, she got a fleeting glimpse of him jumping up and
+down in a very ecstasy of glee, and she knew that she had won, and began
+pulling in Hatrack. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that Magpie was
+already down to a walk a short distance from the wire, and that Cap
+Norris and the jockey were talking earnestly.
+
+In a moment she had Hatrack turned, and was going back to where Bud was
+waiting for her.
+
+"Bully for you, Stella," shouted Bud. "Yer rode a great race. Jest ez I
+wanted it run. Nobody couldn't hev done it better. I told yer ye'd win."
+
+"That was too easy," laughed Stella. "I wish it had been four times as
+long."
+
+"That makes it all the better."
+
+"How much did I beat him?"
+
+"A whole length."
+
+"That ought to be enough."
+
+"It was, but I'll bet a cooky they'll make a kick. These crooks always
+lay out to win, and won't race unless they can win. If they don't, they
+set up a cry of foul, or something of that sort."
+
+"But they can't do that in this case, because I didn't foul him."
+
+Stella became indignant at the very thought.
+
+"Sure you didn't, but that won't keep those wolves from claiming some
+sort of a foul."
+
+"You're not going to stand for it, are you?"
+
+"Not in a blue moon. I've got the boys posted. Here comes Norris and his
+jockey back."
+
+The old racing sharp walked up to Bud, leading Magpie.
+
+"Well, Magpie's mine," said Bud, not giving the other a chance to speak
+first. "Sorry for your sake that you lost, Cap, but the fortunes of
+racing often turn unexpectedly, eh?"
+
+"You haven't won," said the old man excitedly.
+
+"Oh, I reckon we won, all right," answered Bud lazily, although there
+was an ugly gleam in his eye.
+
+"No, sir, you didn't win fair. Thar wuz a foul at ther start. I see it,
+all right; I wasn't shore until I talked with my boy thar, an' he says
+as how ther young lady bumped him outer his stride jest ez they wuz
+gittin' off."
+
+"Oh, no, you can't work me like that, Cap. They were five feet apart
+when the flag fell."
+
+"I tell yer I see it with my own eyes. 'Twas a foul, an' I claim ther
+race, er it hez got ter be run over ag'in."
+
+"Never, on yer life. The race goes to the young lady. But I'm not going
+to stand here and chew the thing over with you. It's up to the judges."
+
+They all approached the judges' stand, where apparently a lively
+argument was in progress.
+
+Ben and the big man who had been chosen by Norris were talking
+excitedly, and the other man was listening.
+
+All about the stand an angry crowd of men was surging, all talking at
+once, so that nothing could be made out of the babel of shouts, except
+when some person with unusually good lungs made himself heard in a
+denunciation of one or the other riders.
+
+Ted had joined the crowd, waiting for the arrival of Bud and Stella. Bud
+was walking by the side of Stella, whose face showed the disappointment
+she felt at not being declared at once the winner.
+
+It was so evidently a job to steal the race from Hatrack that the leader
+of the broncho boys was both angry and disgusted.
+
+"This is what you get for having anything to do with this mob of
+gamblers and thieves," he said to Kit, who was standing by his side.
+
+"What's that you said, young feller?" said a man, edging up.
+
+"I wasn't talking to you, my friend," answered Ted coolly.
+
+"No, but you was talkin' at me," said the other.
+
+"Why, are you a thief and a gambler?" asked Ted, with a lifting of his
+eyebrows that expressed a great deal that he did not say.
+
+"I guess it's the other way around," answered the fellow, snarling.
+
+"I don't see how you make that out."
+
+"Well, I do. The gal bumped the rider o' Magpie."
+
+"She did nothing of the sort. I stood beside the starter of the race,
+and I was nearer to the horses than you were, and if any one could see
+them I could. The horses were several feet apart when they started."
+
+"Why, sure. You and your pals are interested in the bone heap that went
+in first through a foul."
+
+"That will be about enough of that."
+
+A bright red spot burned on each of Ted's cheeks, the danger signal of
+his wrath.
+
+"Now, see here, young fellow, you can't throw any bluff into me," said
+the fellow, approaching Ted with one shoulder raised.
+
+"You let him alone. He's all right, and has got as much right to talk as
+you have," said another man, elbowing his way up.
+
+He was one of those who had bet on Hatrack, and Ted recognized him as
+the foreman of the Running Water horse ranch.
+
+"Well, the gal stole the race fer these fellers, an' we ain't goin' ter
+stand fer it. They needn't think they kin bring any o' their gals in
+here to do their dirty work. They all look alike to us."
+
+"See here," said Ted coolly, "let me give you a piece of advice. Leave
+the young lady out of it, or I'll give you something else to think about
+for a while."
+
+"Rats fer you," said the fellow, snapping his fingers under Ted's nose.
+
+He picked himself from the ground ten feet away, wiping his bleeding
+nose and wondering what had happened to him.
+
+"Say, boy," said the foreman of the Running Water, "that was as pretty
+and clean a blow as ever I see. You can handle them mitts o' yours right
+handy."
+
+A score of men had rushed up and surrounded Ted and Kit, all shouting
+and gesticulating at the same time.
+
+Meantime, Ben was having his troubles in the judges' stand.
+
+He had, of course, decided in favor of Hatrack, while the big man had
+declared for a foul and no decision, and the third judge stood wavering.
+
+On the face of it the whole thing was a steal on the part of the
+gamblers, who had evidently decided beforehand that if the race went
+against them to claim a foul and bluff it through.
+
+But they had argued without their host. They did not know what they were
+opposing when they ran against Ted Strong.
+
+Ted was sorry that he had gone into the affair at all, but once in he
+was there to stick to the finish. The fellow whom he had knocked down
+had retired to the rear to attend to his broken nose, and to give his
+friends an opportunity to fight his battle.
+
+The foreman of the Running Water had disappeared. He had foreseen
+trouble when the gamblers got together, and attempted to force the race
+through, and had gone to collect the cow-punchers and others who had
+been induced to bet on Hatrack.
+
+Ted stood his ground patiently, waiting until a decision should be
+handed down by the judges before declaring himself.
+
+Stella was sitting in her saddle on Hatrack a few feet away from the
+stand watching the proceedings, and listening to the arguments on both
+sides made by the angry men.
+
+Bud and Kit stood on either side of her, to protect her from the remarks
+of the disgruntled gamblers.
+
+Suddenly a man pushed his way through the throng, mounted on a Spanish
+mule.
+
+He was a fine-looking man, dressed after the manner of the plainsman,
+and might have been either a cow-puncher in prosperity or a ranch owner.
+
+As the crowd made way for him he caught sight of Bud, and stopped and
+stared for several moments without speaking.
+
+Bud had not noticed him, but when he did look up he returned the stare,
+and his forehead was wrinkled in thought.
+
+Somewhere in the back part of his head he carried a picture of this
+man, but under different circumstances.
+
+Who could he be, and where had he been met, were the things that were
+puzzling Bud.
+
+"Hello, pard, you don't seem to place me," said the man on the Spanish
+mule. "But I haven't forgotten you by a dern sight. Think hard."
+
+"I've saw yer som'er's," said Bud thoughtfully, "but it wa'n't like
+this. You're som'er's in my picture gallery o' faces, but yer ain't ther
+same as when I saw yer last."
+
+"Right ye are," said the man. "How's Chiquita getting along?"
+
+"Ah, I've got yer now. How did yer come out? Middlin' well, ter jedge
+from ther mule yer ridin', an' yer ginral appearance o' prosperity."
+
+"You bet I be," said the man, "an' if it hadn't been fer you I wouldn't
+have been nowhere. I've come a long ways ter hunt yer up, ter thank yer,
+an' to get better acquainted with yer."
+
+"Well, ye've got me inter a heap o' trouble," said Bud, laughing.
+
+"So I see, an' I'll help yer get out o' it. What seems ter be the
+trouble?"
+
+"Well, old Chiquita, er Hatrack, ez ther boys in ther outfit calls him,
+won a race just now, an' ther gamblers won't stand by it. They sent out
+word that Hatrack was a sure winner, an'--"
+
+"Same old thing. Chiquita fooled them all."
+
+"I didn't know he could do it myself, but I remembered what you said
+about him, an' when an ole maverick come along an' banters me fer a race
+I jest took him up, an' this is how it come out. He took us fer a bunch
+o' gillies, an' used us to try to fleece the people."
+
+"What's his name?" asked the man on the Spanish mule softly.
+
+"Cap Norris."
+
+"Oh, ole Pap Norris, eh? Calls hisself Cap now, does he?"
+
+"That's what he does, an' he's a derned ole skin."
+
+"None skinnier. But where is he? I should like to see him."
+
+"He's sashayin' around here som'er's attendin' ter his dirty work.
+Lookin' after his grandson, little Willie, I reckon."
+
+"What, is that thief still hangin' on to him?"
+
+"Yes. I see you seem to know him."
+
+"Know him! Well, I should gurgle I do know him. I thought every hoss man
+in the country knew him. Little Willie, the orphaned grandson, is almost
+old enough to be a grandfather himself. He's an outlawed jockey, an' he
+an' Pap go about the country skinning countrymen and cow-punchers with
+his fake races. He never won a square race in his life. I should say I
+did know him. Here he comes now. Watch me wake him up."
+
+The old fellow was bustling up to the crowd.
+
+"See here, young fellow, get ther gal offen that hoss, he's mine, er as
+good as mine in a moment. The jedges are goin' ter award ther race ter
+me on account o' ther foul," he shouted to Bud.
+
+"I reckon ther hoss stays right with me," said Bud smoothly. "But I want
+ter tell yer thet yer better bring in that magpie hoss so's I kin git
+him quick. He ain't yours no more."
+
+"Come, come! None o' yer foolishness with me," blustered the old man.
+"Git ther gal off before she's pulled off."
+
+"You or any other man put your finger on thet young lady if yer dare,"
+said Bud. "Jest try it once if yer think I'm bluffin', men."
+
+"Hello, Pap," said the man on the Spanish mule. "Up ter yer ole tricks,
+I see."
+
+The old man looked up at the man on the mule, then turned pale and
+slunk away without another word.
+
+"Men," said the man on the mule, addressing the crowd, "you've been
+stung. This old bag o' bones is Chiquita, the best race horse ever
+produced in Mexico, an' I brought him over here, where I traded him for
+a plain cayuse an' gave something ter boot. If any o' you men know
+anything about hosses ye'll recognize ther great Chiquita, what made an'
+lost more money fer ther people o' Mexico than any one other thing. Pap
+didn't know it until he see me, then he suddenly remembered a little
+deal me an' him was in. I know this Magpie hoss well, an' it couldn't
+stand no more show of winnin' a race from Chiquita than a snail would.
+Take it from me that ye've been caught at yer own game, an' have been
+done."
+
+At the name of Chiquita a groan went up from the gamblers.
+
+"And who are you?" asked Bud.
+
+"Come nearer, an' I'll tell you in your ear," was the reply.
+
+Bud went close to him, and the man stooped in his saddle and whispered a
+word in his ear, at which the old cow-puncher looked startled, then
+burst into a fit of laughter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+TED'S GREAT VICTORY.
+
+
+"I tell you I'll never stand for it."
+
+The voice of big Ben Tremont could be heard roaring above the noise made
+by the crowd around the judges' stand.
+
+"It's a go. The race goes to Magpie on a foul."
+
+The big man in the stand made this announcement in a voice of thunder.
+
+"Bully for you, Shan Rhue!" yelled the gamblers, crowding to the stand
+in a body.
+
+At the same moment Bud caught Hatrack by the bridle and led him out of
+the crowd, for he knew what was impending.
+
+"I say it don't go," shouted Ben. "This man, who is in league with that
+old crook, Norris, declares a foul. I say there was no foul."
+
+"How does the other judge go?" called a voice.
+
+"He declines to give a voice in the matter," answered Ben.
+
+"Throw the coyote down here, and we'll help him make up his mind,"
+called the foreman of the Running Water. "If he's too much of a coward
+to decide for the right, we'll help him. Throw him over."
+
+The foreman of the Running Water was a formidable-looking man.
+
+He was tall and sinewy, with a seamed and scarred face, a map of many
+battles with the elements, the wild animals of mountain and plain, and
+with his fellow men.
+
+He was heavily armed, and the town gamblers knew him for a bad fighter
+when he was aroused.
+
+"Stick fer ther big show," he said to Ted, who was standing beside him.
+"I've got the boys bunched back there on the edge of the crowd. When it
+comes to a show-down we'll all be here. But it's no place fer wimmin an'
+children."
+
+"I don't want to get into a fight if we can help it," said Ted.
+
+"Yer ain't afraid o' these cattle, aire ye?" asked the foreman, looking
+at Ted curiously, but with a shade of disappointment in his eyes.
+
+"Not for a minute," said Ted, throwing a straight glance into the
+other's eyes. "There's nothing to be afraid of, that I can see. But
+what's the use if we can get at it in some other way?"
+
+"Well, I reckon yer right, bub," said the other slowly. "Some one is
+shore liable ter git hurt. But I'd sooner see ther whole crowd hurt than
+have this bunch o' thieves git away with their game."
+
+"They won't do that. Never fear."
+
+The crowd was now watching the men in the judges' stand.
+
+Evidently Ben and Shan Rhue were wrestling in spirit with the third
+judge, who was still wavering. He knew that the right was with Ben, but
+he was afraid of the big bully Shan, and the gamblers, who were most in
+evidence.
+
+He did not know that the cow-punchers and the townspeople who had bet on
+Hatrack were being organized on the outskirts of the crowd, and that Kit
+and Clay and the other broncho boys were with them to direct them to the
+attack when it might seem necessary to assert their rights.
+
+Suddenly there was a roar from the crowd. Shan Rhue had struck Ben
+Tremont a staggering blow. They heard Ben let out a roar like a wounded
+bull, as he threw the great bulk of his body upon the man who had struck
+him.
+
+Now they were wrestling, and the frail stand in which they were,
+fifteen feet above the ground, swayed with their struggle.
+
+"Kill him!" shouted the gamblers.
+
+"Throw him down here!"
+
+"Let us finish him!"
+
+"Stay with him, Shan!"
+
+These and other cries and threats were shouted by the mob. But Ted
+Strong said nothing. He was watching the struggle intently and quietly.
+
+He had no fear but that Ben would be able to hold his own. His great
+strength hardly matched that of Shan Rhue, who was a giant, and the most
+feared man in the Wichita Mountains. But Ben was more than his match in
+wrestling skill, and, moreover, he was younger and more supple for all
+his bulk, and his work on the football gridiron when in college had
+taught him tricks of the tackle of which the big bully did not dream.
+
+He had a hold on the bully now, and was gradually forcing him backward
+toward the frail railing that inclosed the floor of the stand.
+
+Ted saw his intention. It was to throw Shan Rhue against the railing,
+then spring away. Rhue evidently divined the same thing, for he
+struggled with all his force against it, striking Ben in the ribs and
+occasionally in the face.
+
+But his blows were not very effective, as Ben had him caught so closely
+that his blows lost their power. Thus the struggle went on for a few
+moments. Then, when it was least expected, there was a crash of breaking
+wood.
+
+A yell went up from the crowd as it surged back, and the gigantic body
+of Shan Rhue came hurtling through the railing, which went into
+splinters from the impact of his bulk.
+
+Shan Rhue grasped at the air, as with a roar he went over. He turned a
+complete somersault as he descended and landed on his shoulders. For a
+moment he lay quivering, half stunned.
+
+There was dead silence in the crowd and none dared go to his assistance.
+But presently the bully sat up and passed his hand over his eyes. With a
+roar of pain and rage he sprang to his feet and looked around.
+
+The nearest person to him was the leader of the broncho boys, who stood
+on the edge of the crowd, alert and smiling. Ted knew that it meant
+fight now.
+
+He was convinced that Ben was in the right, but right or wrong, Ben had
+started it, and it was now up to the broncho boys to see that their side
+did not get the worst of it.
+
+Realizing that Ted was an enemy, Shan Rhue made a rush at him. Those
+beside Ted turned and ran. But Ted did not move. He only stood a little
+tenser.
+
+It took but a moment for the bully to cross the distance that lay
+between him and Ted. His rush was like that of a bull, and as
+irresistible. But Ted did not propose to take the brunt of it. He knew
+several tricks better than that.
+
+As Rhue was about to launch himself upon Ted, the latter stepped lightly
+aside. So sure was Rhue of landing on Ted and bearing him to the ground
+that he had leaped into the air, and, finding nothing to stop his
+progress, was overbalanced. A sweep of Ted's foot completed it, for the
+legs of the bully were swept from under him, and he went to the sod on
+his face with a crash that seemed to shake the earth.
+
+Like an eagle upon its prey, Ted was on the back of the bully. The crowd
+shouted like mad, eager to go to the rescue of their champion. But Ted
+heard the voice of the foreman of Running Water high above the din.
+
+"It's the boy's fight, an' any man that breaks through the line will get
+a ball from my forty-four plumb through him. Stand back, you cattle!"
+
+"Let 'em go, fellers. Shan will kill him in a minute," shouted one of
+the gamblers.
+
+Shan Rhue had been badly shaken up by the jolt that had been his when he
+struck the ground. For several moments he did not stir, and Ted thought
+he had been knocked out.
+
+Many of the men in the crowd knew things about Shan Rhue which Ted did
+not.
+
+Rhue was considered the strongest man in the Southwest at that time. He
+was barely forty years old, in the prime of his life, and a man who had
+never dissipated. But he was a thoroughly bad man for all that, and the
+number of men whom he had killed had been forgotten.
+
+His feats of strength were the talk of barrooms and bunk houses. He had
+been seen many times to break horseshoes with his hands, and as for
+bending a bar of iron by striking the muscles of his forearm with it,
+that was one of his ordinary tricks.
+
+But the thing of which he was proudest was his ability to buck a man off
+his back. In this feat he barred none, no matter how heavy. He would get
+on his hands and knees, place a surcingle around his body under his arms
+for his rider to hold on by, and then proceed to buck.
+
+It would seem impossible for a man to stick to him under such
+circumstances, and no one had been found yet who could do so.
+
+Thus it was that those of the crowd who had witnessed this feat
+sometimes in a fight, and more often in friendly contest, looked to see
+Ted sailing through the air, and then the finish, for Shan Rhue was a
+merciless enemy.
+
+Ted was now straddling the prostrate bully, who was breathing heavily,
+his body heaving as his lungs tried to get back into commission.
+
+Presently he was all right again, and, feeling a weight upon him, shook
+himself. This not having the effect of relieving him of his burden, he
+twisted his head around and saw Ted sitting on him.
+
+With a growl like a wounded bear he slowly lifted himself to the height
+of his arms, then slowly rose to his knees.
+
+"By golly, he's goin' ter buck him off," shouted one in the crowd.
+
+"Look out fer some fun, lads," cried another.
+
+"He'll kill ther kid sure," said a third.
+
+In a moment Ted realized what was coming off. The hold he had on the
+back of Shan Rhue was none of the most secure at best, but he got a
+clutch on the fellow's shirt under the arm, just back of the armpits,
+and he felt that he had in his fingers great bunches of the bully's
+muscles.
+
+By the merest chance he had secured the only hold by which he could hope
+to stick to the giant's back. Then the fun began. Shan Rhue plunged back
+and forth, sideways and up and down.
+
+The movement was incessant. He reared and pitched, and, having cunning
+and intelligence, he was able to distinguish when Ted's seat was least
+secure and take advantage of it.
+
+Ted had ridden many bucking bronchos, but Shan Rhue beat any of them in
+the surprises which he furnished. But Ted stuck grimly to him.
+
+He knew that if the bully succeeded in throwing him off his life would
+not be worth a rushlight, for Shan was a rough fighter and would not
+hesitate to kick him brutally, if he did not shoot him to death before
+the boys could come to his assistance.
+
+Thus the struggle went on for several minutes, Shan doing his utmost and
+Ted hanging on. But the big fellow was getting winded by his exertions.
+
+He was not in the best condition, for all his tremendous power. He was
+going fast, and Ted was badly shaken up and out of breath, also. If
+Shan held out a few minutes longer Ted must be thrown, for his hold on
+the muscles under his antagonist's arms had begun to loosen, and he
+dared not let go for an instant to get a fresh grip.
+
+It was close to the finish, and the crowd knew it.
+
+"He's goin', Shan. A few more will finish him," shouted the gamblers.
+
+"Stick to him, Ted. He's almost in," cried the boys.
+
+Ted took heart at this, although his body was racked with pains, caused
+by the innumerable wrenchings to which it had been subjected.
+
+Suddenly Shan Rhue was all in. His body flattened out upon the ground,
+and he lay there panting laboriously. Ted sprang to his feet gasping.
+Thus for a few minutes both remained, amid intense silence from the
+crowd.
+
+Shan Rhue's body was heaving painfully. It was evident that he had never
+had before a struggle like this.
+
+Little by little he recovered, but Ted's recovery was quicker than that
+of the man. His youth and strength were responsible for this.
+
+But finally Shan Rhue was himself again, and suddenly he leaped to his
+feet and glared around. His eyes fell upon Ted, and he looked him up and
+down in a sort of amazement.
+
+Had this stripling accomplished what older and stronger men had failed
+in?
+
+Shan Rhue could hardly believe it, but it took some of the conceit out
+of him at that. However, his anger at Ted had not been in the least
+assuaged by the fact that the first honors had gone to this youth who
+now stood watching him with a smile on his lips, but with the light of
+battle in his eyes.
+
+With a sneer Shan Rhue rushed at Ted. This time he would annihilate him.
+
+But Ted was crouching, awaiting him. His muscles were like steel
+springs. His breath had come to him again, and he was ready to fight for
+his life, for it had come to that now. Suddenly there was a smack, sharp
+and clear in the silence that hung over the crowd.
+
+Shan Rhue staggered back on his heels. The blow from Ted's fist had
+struck him fairly below the eye. Before he could recover Ted was upon
+him like a panther.
+
+One, two, three, blows fell with a sharp, sickening sound upon the face
+and throat of the famous Shan Rhue, as he lurched backward, vainly
+trying to defend himself.
+
+His body went to the earth with a crash, and he lay there moaning and
+quivering, beaten, discredited, and no more the hero, for he had been
+conquered by a boy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+KIT MAKES A CAPTURE.
+
+
+Shan Rhue lay prostrate for a long time, but no one went to his
+assistance. As he fell the gamblers raised a shout, and made a motion to
+attack Ted.
+
+But the foreman of Running Water sprang in front of them, and as if by
+magic the broncho boys and the cow-punchers and other supporters of
+Hatrack were by his side.
+
+Ted had leaped to the fore and was standing shoulder to shoulder with
+the foreman of Running Water. He heard a ripple of laughter, and looked
+up to see Stella standing by his side.
+
+"Bully for you, Ted," she said. "You did that fine."
+
+Ted smiled back at her, then turned his eyes upon the surprised and
+angry gamblers. There was something there that demanded all his
+attention. The gamblers only needed a leader to make them a dangerous
+proposition.
+
+But their leader was down and out by reason of a few neat and handy
+blows, and none other had the courage to come to the front. It was the
+psychological moment.
+
+Ted Strong took advantage of it. Without a moment's hesitation, he
+stepped in front of the foreman of Running Water, who moved back to give
+him the place of vantage.
+
+Ted had not even taken his six-shooter from its holster, but stood with
+his hands resting lightly on his hips, while his eyes roved inquiringly
+over the menacing crowd.
+
+"Any of you gentlemen like to have some of the same sort of medicine?"
+he asked, nodding toward the prostrate Rhue.
+
+There was no reply.
+
+"Because if any of you would, I, or any of my friends, will be glad to
+accommodate you," he added.
+
+An ominous growl came from some one back in the crowd.
+
+"Would you like some of it?" asked Ted, turning suddenly in that
+direction.
+
+He waited for several moments for an answer, but none came.
+
+"Now, you fellows, I want to say that this incident is closed," said he
+firmly. "You are beaten every way from the jack, as you would say. You
+put up this race to skin innocent parties, and you thought to use my
+friends for your purposes, and have failed. The face was fairly won by
+our horse, and that goes. If any man doubts it, I will prove it to him
+by any means he wishes, from fists up to howitzers. You have made a lot
+of fools of yourselves by allowing an old crook like Norris to play in
+with you. I haven't a bit of sympathy for you. I'm glad you lost your
+money, and I'd feel gladder if you all went broke. This is the end of
+this adventure. Where's Norris? We want that magpie horse which we won."
+
+The men dispersed after this speech, which closed with a ringing cheer
+from the broncho boys and the cow-punchers and other friends of Hatrack.
+
+But Norris could not be found. He and the horse and the jockey had
+disappeared. Ted rounded the boys up, and all were present except Kit.
+
+"Where's Kit?" he asked.
+
+"Don't know," said Bud. "He was around here a few minutes ago. Reckon
+he's somewhere about."
+
+The crowd having dispersed uptown, a search was made for Kit, but he
+could not be found.
+
+"I wonder if some of that gang hasn't got square with us by some foul
+play on Kit," said Ted. "It would be like the coyotes. Kit was the
+smallest of the lot, and naturally the cowards would pick him."
+
+"Kit's small, all right," said Stella stoutly, for she and Kit were
+great friends, and Stella was always one to stick up for those she
+liked. "If they pick Kit for his size, and think they have got an easy
+thing, they will find that they have gathered up a red-hot Chile pepper.
+He'll give them the hottest fight they ever had, as long as he lasts."
+
+"Hurray fer you, Stella," exclaimed Bud. "You speak for fair. Kit's not
+much on size, but he's a whirlwind."
+
+Shan Rhue was slowly getting on his feet. His broad, brutal face was
+badly discolored where Ted's fists had come in contact with it.
+
+One of his eyes was bloodshot and rapidly taking on a green-and-purple
+hue, and his upper lip stuck out like an overhanging roof. As he looked
+around and saw that the broncho boys were alone, and that he had been
+left to recover as best he might by those whom he had called his friends
+and supporters, he growled deep in his chest.
+
+"The skunks," he muttered, between his swollen lips. "They'd make me
+fight an' steal fer them, an' then leave me in the hole, would they?
+Well, I'll make them hump fer this."
+
+Then he looked unsteadily at Ted out of his good eye, as if he was
+wondering how it all had happened. But while his glance was not as
+belligerent as it had been, still there was nothing but hatred in his
+expression.
+
+Ted eyed him back fearlessly, but this time his hand rested upon the
+handle of his revolver, and Stella, by his side, was on the alert also.
+Shan Rhue was not one to be trusted, especially after he had met defeat.
+After staring for a moment he spoke.
+
+"I reckon yer beat me fair, young feller," he said, "although I don't
+know yet how yer did it. But I want ter say ter yer now that this ain't
+the end, by no means."
+
+"That's all right," said Ted easily. "You keep out of my way, and you
+will be all right."
+
+"I go where I please, an' do what I please, an' ask ther right o' no
+man," retorted Shan Rhue truculently.
+
+"All right, go where you please, but don't run afoul of me," said Ted
+sharply. "I don't want to have anything to do with such cattle as you,
+and I don't propose to. Keep off my trail if you know when you're well
+off. This is a friendly tip--take it or leave it."
+
+"I don't want none o' yer tips," growled Shan Rhue. "Ye've beaten me,
+an' I hate yer. Look out fer me next time, that's all."
+
+"Yes, that's all. Skidoo! You're not pretty to look at."
+
+Ted turned his back upon the defeated bully, but Stella did not, and had
+Shan Rhue made a motion toward his gun there would have been one with a
+pearl handle and trimmed with silver in commission in an instant.
+
+With a long, malignant look after Ted, the bully turned and hobbled
+slowly from the fair grounds.
+
+"I'm going to start on the trail of Norris," said Ted. "Want to come
+along, Stella?"
+
+"You bet I do," said the girl. "Wait till I catch my pony."
+
+"Ben, you and Bud ride through the town and see if you can't get on to
+the movements of that old rip Norris, also, and look out for Kit. If we
+don't get Norris, and make him give up that magpie pony, our work has
+not been half done. As long as we have won out all around, we might as
+well have the fruits of our victory," said Ted.
+
+"What'll we do to ther coyote?" asked Bud.
+
+"Part his coat tails and give him a good, swift kick," answered Ted.
+"But don't get into any fights with these town gamblers. We can't afford
+anything of that sort, you know."
+
+"All righty; but I'd shore like ter git a crack at some o' them
+mavericks," said Bud grudgingly.
+
+"They're all licked in their minds already," said Ted. "Of course,
+they're sore at losing their money, and if a dozen or more of them were
+to tackle you, you'd have a hard time getting away with it. When the
+fight comes off, if ever it does, we all want to be in on it."
+
+They parted, and Ted and Stella rode into the town.
+
+"Say, friend, have you seen anything of that old skin Norris?" asked
+Ted, meeting one of the Running Water outfit on the street.
+
+"Yep. I wuz jest goin' ter look yer up an' post yer," was the reply.
+
+"Which way did he go, or is he still in town?"
+
+"Jest after yer put ther finish onto Shan--an', say, that wuz a beaut,
+if any one should ask you--I see Norris an' ther jock makin' fer ther
+gate, leadin' ther magpie bronc. I thinks they're goin' ter put him in
+ther corral fer yer, an' didn't pay much 'tention ter him."
+
+"Then he's up at the corral?"
+
+"No, he ain't. He's foggin' along to'rds ther Wichita Mountains as fast
+as he kin go."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"I met one o' our outfit a bit ago, an' he was sore because yer let ther
+old feller git away with ther magpie, after yer won him fair. Yer see,
+he thinks ye flunked on collectin' ther pony."
+
+"Not on your life. We don't do business that way."
+
+"That's what I was thinkin', so I ast him whichever way ther ole man was
+headin'. He says inter ther east, tickity-brindle."
+
+"Which road?"
+
+"Right out ther east end o' ther main street."
+
+"Thank you, pard."
+
+"Yer almighty welcome. Good luck. If yer ketch up with ther coyote,
+bring him in an' let us have a good squint at him."
+
+"Oh, I'll bring him in, all right, if I get him."
+
+"So long!"
+
+"So long! Come on, Stella, we'll have to kick dust if we're going to
+connect with that old party."
+
+They dashed down the street, followed by an equal mingling of smiles and
+frowns. Smiles from the cow-punchers and townspeople whose champion he
+had been, and frowns from the gamblers.
+
+But they saw neither, for they were intent upon their business. They
+made a mighty handsome couple as they dashed along, for they were well
+mounted and both were perfect riders.
+
+Many a young girl walking along the street looked enviously after
+Stella, and wished she could ride as well and was as beautiful. And many
+a lad looked after his ideal of a hero of the West, dashing and brave
+Ted Strong, who had so lately vanquished the bully who had been feared
+of all men, and who could ride like a centaur, and shoot perfectly.
+
+It did not take long for them to clear the town, and dash out onto the
+prairie road which led into the Wichita Mountains.
+
+They did not spare their horses, for Ted knew that if Norris once
+succeeded in reaching the mountains it would be almost impossible to
+find him among the many fastnesses and deep and rough cañons which
+abound in those most picturesque hills and peaks.
+
+While Ted knew the Wichita Mountains well, he was also aware that even
+the most expert scout did not know all about them, and that there were
+places in them that had never been explored, unless, perhaps, by
+renegade Indians and white outlaws, with which the mountains had at
+times been infested.
+
+They had ridden an hour or more when Ted pulled in his pony.
+
+"No use riding our ponies to death the first heat," he said to Stella,
+with a smile.
+
+"My cayuse is good for another hour," said Stella; "I can tell by the
+way he's going under me."
+
+"Yours would last because you're such a light and easy rider. You take
+weight off a pony. But I'm a good deal heavier, and I can feel this
+fellow tiring, although he'd go until he dropped in his tracks if I'd
+let him."
+
+They walked their ponies over the springy sod beside the road, which was
+becoming fainter the farther they got from the town. In the distance
+they could see the mountains, a dark mass against the sky.
+
+"Some one on the road," said Stella, pointing ahead.
+
+"It is a little hazy. Dust, I guess," said Ted. "I think we better hit
+it up a bit. Perhaps it is Norris and his precious 'grandson,' and if it
+is we'll get to them before they get to the mountains."
+
+They put their ponies, at a lope, and seemed to be catching up with the
+dust cloud rapidly. Soon they were able to distinguish two riders.
+
+"By Jove, I believe we are on the right track," said Ted.
+
+Stella's bright eyes had been watching the riders in front of them for
+some time.
+
+"Ted, it's not Norris. There are two riders, one behind the other, and
+they are coming this way," she said.
+
+Ted reined in his pony, and took a long look.
+
+"You're right, Stella," he said. "But, perhaps, we can get some news of
+the fugitives from them."
+
+Again they spurred forward.
+
+"Ted, that's Kit, as sure as you live," cried Stella, "I'd know him
+anywhere."
+
+In a few minutes they were within hailing distance, and Ted gave the
+long yell, which was answered, and in a few minutes they were reining in
+beside Kit. Behind him, securely bound to the back of Magpie, was old
+man Norris, who looked very crestfallen.
+
+"Hello, Kit, you rascal, I see that you got him," said Ted.
+
+"You bet, and a merry chase I had after him," answered Kit.
+
+"Why, Kit, what's the matter with your arm?" cried Stella.
+
+Kit's arm was hanging by his side, and his coat sleeve near his shoulder
+was stained with blood.
+
+"Shot!" answered Kit laconically.
+
+"Bad?" asked Stella anxiously.
+
+"Not so very. Just touched the bone. But it has been bleeding like the
+deuce."
+
+"Ted, take charge of the prisoner. Kit, get off that horse and let me
+see that wound."
+
+Stella's commands were promptly obeyed, and Kit groaned slightly as
+Stella helped him off with his coat and cut away his sleeve. He had
+received a nasty flesh wound near the shoulder, made by a ball of large
+caliber, which had passed clear through.
+
+As soon as she had washed the wound with water from Ted's canteen, and
+had bound it up, Kit felt much more comfortable.
+
+"How did it happen?" asked Stella.
+
+"I heard that the old man and the jockey had made a sneak from the
+grounds when Ted was having his fun with the big fellow, and I got my
+bronc and followed them. I came up with them a ways back, and made the
+old duffer halt, but the jock potted me and got away. That's all."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+KIT'S TROUBLESOME PRISONER.
+
+
+"Kit, you're the most reckless boy I ever knew," said Stella, as he
+climbed into his saddle with some effort, for his arm was stiff and
+swollen, and it was all he could do to keep from groaning with every
+jump of his pony.
+
+"What in the world made you start after them alone?" asked Ted.
+
+"Well, you were busy with the big bully, and, although I felt certain
+that you would get the best of him in the end, I thought it wouldn't be
+good policy to take any of the boys with me, in case there should be a
+general fight. I know you would need all the fellows."
+
+"Well, but, dog-gone you, you ought to have taken some one," said Ted.
+"How did you know but the old man and the jockey were not dangerous
+fellows? Men in their business are generally bad actors when it comes to
+a scrimmage."
+
+"Oh, I thought I could handle them," laughed Kit. "And I could, too,
+only I got careless, and let that jockey get the drop on me. The old man
+knuckled under gracefully when I presented my card."
+
+"Did you get the old man after you were shot?"
+
+"Yes. You see, this was how it was: I got sight of them a short ways
+ahead of me. They were evidently saving their horses, for they were
+traveling slowly."
+
+"Didn't they get next that they were being followed?"
+
+"I don't think so. They saw only one rider, and I suppose they thought
+that if they were pursued at all it would be by several men, and they
+were confident that with their horses they could run away from anything
+we had except Hatrack."
+
+"It's a wonder they didn't light out quick."
+
+"I think they figured to save their horses until they were sure they
+were being followed."
+
+"Then what happened?"
+
+"I saw them look back at me several times, but they did not hit up their
+speed any."
+
+"Were you fogging along pretty fast?"
+
+"Not so very. You see, I didn't want them to think that I was on their
+trail. I went just fast enough to overtake them gradually. If they had
+got on to me they would have been out of sight before I could gather up
+my reins."
+
+"Foxy Kit," said Stella.
+
+"And they let you come right up with them?" asked Ted.
+
+"Yep. I was right up on them before they got on to me."
+
+"They recognized you, eh?"
+
+"They did when I was about twenty feet away. Then I heard the old man
+holler, 'It's one o' them dern broncho boys.'"
+
+"And then what?"
+
+"Well, you see, I didn't have my gun out, and, as he says that, the
+jockey pulls and fires one shot, which landed in my arm. Then, before I
+can reach around and get my gun out with my left hand, he gets away. But
+the action was too quick for the old man, and he sat still until I had
+him covered, when I had sent a couple of balls after the jock to make
+him hit up the pace a bit."
+
+"The old man was easy, eh?"
+
+"Easiest kind. But he might have got away from me if he had the nerve."
+
+"Well, Kit, you did a great stunt. I'm mighty glad you landed the old
+coot. But I don't know what to do with him now that we have him."
+
+"Well, we better take him to town, anyway. He'd get lost if we turned
+him loose out here. Let his friends take care of him, when he gets
+there."
+
+"All right; let's move on."
+
+Not much was said as they made their way back to town. Old man Norris
+did not open his mouth, but looked dejected and sad, as if he was
+brooding over what would happen to him when he arrived at his
+destination. He was plainly uneasy, and probably wished they would turn
+him loose.
+
+When they were within a mile of the town they saw a cloud of dust
+approaching them rapidly, and watched it curiously. It was a horseman,
+fogging along at a rapid pace.
+
+Finally out of the dust emerged Bud Morgan, and as he came abreast of
+them he pulled his horse down on its haunches.
+
+"Howdy?" he said.
+
+"How?" answered the others.
+
+"So yer got ther ole pelican, eh?" said Bud, with a grin.
+
+"Kit did," said Ted.
+
+"Bully for you, Kit," said Bud heartily. "I was in town, an' a feller
+from over to Running Water told me you and Stella had come out this way,
+an' I follered. What's the matter with your arm, Kit?"
+
+"Got a shot through it."
+
+"Sho! Did that old pirate give it to you?"
+
+"No, the jockey, and then he flew."
+
+"I've got a good mind to go after him, an' bring him in."
+
+"Wouldn't do any good. At the rate he was going when I sent a message
+after him, he's clear into the suburbs of Chicago by this time."
+
+They were soon on the outskirts of the town, and as they entered the
+main street they saw a crowd of men coming toward them.
+
+"Here comes a reception committee," said Ted. "Wonder who they are, and
+what they want."
+
+"By Jove, there's that big fellow Shan Rhue," exclaimed Kit. "I wonder
+what he's after."
+
+"I thought he had enough o' our kind o' medicine not to want ter tackle
+us so soon again," said Bud.
+
+"I don't like the looks of that gang," said Ted.
+
+"Neither do I," said Stella. "I've a hunch that they mean mischief."
+
+"In what way?" asked Ted.
+
+"Well, I can't exactly define the feeling I have, but somehow I think
+they don't want _us_."
+
+"Eh? Whom do they want?"
+
+For reply Stella made a motion toward Norris. Ted looked at her
+thoughtfully for a moment, then comprehended.
+
+"I see," he said seriously. "Well, they won't get him."
+
+"Bud, where are the other boys?" asked Stella.
+
+"Uptown som'er's. Why?" said Bud.
+
+"They ought to be here," said the girl seriously. "I think we'll be
+needing them soon."
+
+"I tumble, an' I'll jest fog on ahead an' gather them up."
+
+"Yes," said Ted. "and while you're about it see if you can't find that
+foreman of the Running Water Ranch, and have him round up his boys or a
+few good fellows who will back us up if it comes to trouble. I don't
+know what his name is, do you?"
+
+"Yes, his name is Andy Bowles, an' he's as good as three ordinary men."
+
+"Then fly. There's no telling what's coming off."
+
+Bud gave his pony the rowels, and in a moment was out of sight in a
+cloud of dust. Ted and the others rode steadily forward, the two
+parties approaching nearer every moment.
+
+The party headed by Shan Rhue had taken to the middle of the road, and
+soon they had come together, and both halted. For a moment nothing was
+said.
+
+Ted was in advance, holding the reins of the pony on which Norris was
+tied hand and foot, Stella was on one side of Norris, and Kit on the
+other.
+
+"Well?" said Ted inquiringly, as they came face to face.
+
+He looked directly at Shan Rhue as he said it, then allowed his eyes to
+wander over the crowd. In it he saw some of the toughest characters in
+that part of the country.
+
+They were men who bore the reputation of being cattle rustlers on
+provocation, and who had been suspected of horse stealing and other
+crimes.
+
+"We want that man," said Shan Rhue shortly and roughly.
+
+"Is that so?" said Ted, with feigned surprise.
+
+"Yes, that's so," was the surly reply.
+
+"Then why didn't you go out and get him?"
+
+"We left that to you," said Shan, with a nasty laugh.
+
+"Then you'll still leave him to me."
+
+"Well, we want him, and that's all there is to it."
+
+"What do you want with him?"
+
+"We'll show you when we get him."
+
+"It's a cinch you won't get him until you do show me."
+
+"Now, I don't want to have any trouble with you, young feller, but--"
+
+"I shouldn't think you would."
+
+At this retort a snicker went up in the crowd, and Shan turned upon his
+followers with a brow like a thundercloud. But he said nothing, as the
+snicker subsided as soon as it began.
+
+"And I don't want any of your lip, either. Give us the old man
+peaceable, an' you can go."
+
+"Say, that's real good of you. But I want to tell you one thing, Shan
+Rhue, before you lose any more breath in conversation, you don't get him
+unless you tell me what you propose doing with him, and perhaps not
+then. It's up to me to say who gets him, or what is done with him. You
+seem to forget that he's my prisoner, not yours."
+
+"Well, I'll tell you what we're going to do with him," said the bully,
+with a blustering air. "We're goin' to hang him as high as that
+telegraph pole out thar."
+
+"Bet you anything you've got you don't," said Ted, with a pleasant
+smile.
+
+There was a murmur of anger in the crowd.
+
+"Don't let them get me," wailed old Norris.
+
+"Dry up!" said Stella sternly. "Don't you see he's trying to save you."
+
+"Why do you want to hang this old man?" asked Ted.
+
+"Because he whipsawed us all. He's the only one who got any money out of
+that race. We gave him five hundred dollars to pull it off. He was
+broke, and couldn't have bet a cent on it, anyway. That's why. He said
+his horse would win in a walk, and every one of us went broke on it."
+
+"Good! I'm glad to hear it," said Ted heartily. "You ought to have lost.
+But I'll tell you one thing, the old man really thought his horse would
+win. He didn't know that Bud's horse was the old Mexican racer,
+Chiquita; neither did any of us except Bud, who kept the matter to
+himself, and there you are. The old man is a professional skin, I'm free
+to confess, but he was out to skin us, not you. You've got nothing
+against him. You were beaten by gambler's luck, and now you're not game
+to stand by it. But there is one sure thing, you'll not get old Norris
+from me until you kill me. That's a cinch."
+
+"You're a game kid, all right," said Shan Rhue, "but you're committing
+suicide with that kind o' talk. I didn't lose so much myself, an' I
+ain't got nothin' agin' the ole man; it's you I'm after--"
+
+"Why didn't you come alone if you wanted me? Was it necessary for you to
+bring a whole posse with you?"
+
+"Now, the less I hear of that kind o' talk, the easier it will be for
+you. Hand over the old gaffer, an' go your way peaceful. You'll get that
+much chance."
+
+"Thank you for nothing. I stay by the old man."
+
+Farther up the street Ted saw a commotion out of which evolved a party
+of men moving in his direction. He had no doubt it was Bud and Andy
+Bowles, the foreman of the Running Water Ranch.
+
+"For the last time, give up that man!" commanded Shan Rhue.
+
+"No."
+
+"Then we'll take him."
+
+Kit had cut the old man's bonds, and thrust a revolver into his hand.
+
+"Fight for your life," he said.
+
+With a roar the mob was upon them. Revolvers were drawn, and as they
+rushed forward the dauntless three surrounded Norris--three against
+fifty.
+
+"Halt!" cried Ted. "The first man to lay a hand on any of us is a dead
+one."
+
+"Go on an' take him. I'll attend to the kid," shouted Shan Rhue.
+
+"Get him!" "String him up!" "Lynch the old thief!"
+
+These were the cries with which the mob advanced.
+
+Out of the mob came several shots. Ted heard a cry of pain behind him,
+and turned to see Stella reel in her saddle, pale to the lips, with her
+hand pressing her head, Then she fell.
+
+With a cry of horror and rage, Ted turned toward her, but just then he
+felt himself seized and dragged from his saddle. Something struck him on
+the back of the head, and all became black.
+
+But as he was going off into unconsciousness he heard a shout. It was
+the old Moon Valley yell, and he knew that Norris would be safe.
+
+Bud was coming with reënforcements. Ted had dropped to the road under
+the feet of the terrified ponies, and it was a miracle that he was not
+trampled to death.
+
+All about him the fight was going on.
+
+Bud and Andy Bowles, and about twenty men whom they had hastily got
+together, had come to the rescue, and the gamblers' gang was soon on the
+run. They had not been able to get near Norris, for Kit had fought them
+off with his one good arm until, finding themselves attacked in the
+rear, the would-be lynchers ran for their lives.
+
+The fight was swift and decisive, and several men lay in the dust when
+it was over, for Andy Bowles and Bud and Ben had fought like tigers.
+
+When Ted recovered consciousness again he found himself lying in the
+road beside Shan Rhue, who had been knocked senseless by a blow from the
+butt of Bud's pistol.
+
+Ted staggered to his feet.
+
+"Where's Stella?" he cried.
+
+The other boys looked around. Just before the fight began they had seen
+her, Kit, and the old man, but now she was gone.
+
+"Stella was wounded," cried Ted. "Where is she? Scatter, men, and find
+her. She cannot be far away. If anything has happened to her, some one
+will suffer."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+STELLA A CAPTIVE.
+
+We will leave Ted and the broncho boys, to follow the misadventures of
+Stella.
+
+After securing Magpie, which was taken back to the cow camp by Kit, who,
+much against his inclinations, was compelled to go into retirement until
+his arm healed, Ted released old man Norris, who secured a pony and rode
+rapidly out of town.
+
+When Stella fell from the back of her pony to the road she became
+insensible. A ball from the weapon of one of Shan Rhue's gang had
+clipped a lock of hair from her forehead, creasing the skull. By a
+miracle her life was saved, for the merest fraction of an inch lay
+between her and death.
+
+During the hurly-burly of the fight, and as Ted was grasped in the
+powerful arms of Shan Rhue, one of the gang rushed up to her as she lay
+in the dust and picked her up.
+
+He was a powerful man, and carried Stella's light body as if she had
+been a child. That he was not seen by some member of the Running Water
+outfit was due to the fact that they were too busily engaged in fighting
+to pay attention to anything else.
+
+When Stella regained her senses she was conscious of a racking headache,
+and, placing her hand to her forehead, brought it away wet and sticky.
+It was quite dark, and she groaned feebly. The pain was excruciating,
+and the motion of her body made her deathly sick.
+
+She felt around her, and her hand came in contact with a cold, hard, yet
+yielding substance. Then she heard the rumble of wheels, and knew that
+she was in a vehicle of some sort. The motion of the couch on which she
+was lying was such that she came to the conclusion that she was in one
+of those old stagecoaches hung on leather springs, which were so much in
+use in the West before the advent of the railroads.
+
+As her mind grew clearer she tried to remember all that had occurred.
+Suddenly it flashed upon her. The capture of old Norris, the attempt of
+Shan Rhue and his gang to take him away to lynch him, and the beginning
+of the fight. How it had been finished she did not know.
+
+Neither did she know whether or not she was in the care of her friends
+or in the custody of her enemies. Probably the latter, for if Ted and
+the boys were taking her somewhere, surely she would have more
+attention, and the blood would have been washed from the wound on her
+forehead.
+
+The curtains of the stage were down, and she did not know whether it was
+day or night.
+
+Outside she heard the voices of men.
+
+"Hurry up them mules, Bill," a man's voice came to her gruffly.
+
+"Can't get any more out o' them. We've come nigh twenty mile on the run.
+I tell you, the mules is 'most all in," said a man, evidently the driver
+of the stage.
+
+"Well, we ain't got much farther to go," said the other. "But we got to
+get there before moondown, er we'll be up against it."
+
+"What time is the bunch goin' to be at the lone tree?"
+
+"Ten o'clock."
+
+"Then we've got just about an hour, eh?"
+
+"Just about. But we're a long ways off yet. Git all y'u can out o' them
+mules. Kill 'em if y'u have to get them there on time."
+
+"They're doin' all they can. Y'u don't want me to kill them before we
+get there, do y'u?" asked the driver crossly.
+
+"No, but if y'u miss the bunch y'u know what will happen. Shan ain't
+much on the sweet temper since the kid bumped him so hard, an' he don't
+like y'u too well, nohow. I'm just givin' y'u a friendly tip."
+
+"Keep it. I ain't so stuck on Shan myself as I used to be."
+
+"Only don't let him know it. We ain't none of us in love with him, an'
+yet we come up an' eat out o' his hand when he calls us, just like a lot
+o' hound dogs."
+
+The conversation told Stella the truth she had dreaded. She had been
+captured by Shan Rhue's ruffians, and she knew that she was in a
+precarious predicament, for she could hope for no mercy from Ted's
+merciless and beaten enemy.
+
+She would be used to punish Ted, and she sighed at the thought of what
+grief her disappearance would cause her aunt and the boys.
+
+Suddenly the curtain on the window was drawn aside. It was bright
+moonlight without, and in it she saw the villainous face of a man
+looking in upon her.
+
+Her eyes met his, and she uttered an exclamation.
+
+"Hello!" he exclaimed, in surprise. "Come to, have y'u?"
+
+Stella made no reply.
+
+"Thought fer a while that y'u'd slipped over the Great Divide," the
+fellow continued.
+
+"No fault of yours that I didn't," said Stella weakly, for the pain and
+nausea to which she was being subjected had taken all her strength.
+
+"I ain't had nothin' to do with it, lady. I'm just guidin' the outfit. I
+don't know y'u, er how y'u got hurt. Feelin' better?"
+
+"I would be much better if I could get out and walk. The motion of this
+carriage makes me deathly sick."
+
+"Can't let y'u do that, lady. We're in too much of a hurry to stop
+now."
+
+"But you might let me have a drink of water. I am dying of thirst."
+
+"I reckon I can do that."
+
+The flap over the stage window dropped, and in a moment she heard hushed
+voices outside. Then a canteen was thrust through the window.
+
+"Take all y'u want, lady, an' drink hearty," said her guide.
+
+Stella wet her handkerchief and bathed her throbbing forehead, then took
+a deep draft, and felt much refreshed.
+
+"Here's your canteen," she said.
+
+Again the flap was thrust aside, and the ugly face looked in upon her
+with a leer.
+
+"Where are we, and where are we going?" asked Stella.
+
+"We're in the Wich--"
+
+"Hey, Jack, stow that," cried the driver.
+
+"But it won't do no harm--"
+
+"You know what the orders is," said the other significantly.
+
+"Sorry I can't tell y'u, lady. Orders is orders."
+
+"Oh, well, I don't suppose it would do me any good to know where I am,
+anyway, but you might as well tell me what you are going to do with me.
+It would relieve my anxiety, and make me feel better."
+
+"There ain't no harm comin' to y'u, lady, while I am with y'u," said the
+fellow, with a hateful leer that made Stella shudder.
+
+"Thank you," she said faintly, as with a sigh she laid her head back
+again with her wet handkerchief on her brow.
+
+So the stage rumbled on for almost an hour, with Stella the prey of
+sickness and pain. She doubted if she could have walked even if she had
+been permitted to leave the stage.
+
+But as she lay there she thought, and from the scraps of conversation
+she had heard, and from what her guide was about to tell her when he was
+interrupted by the driver, she knew that she had been captured and
+abducted during the fight by Shan Rhue's men, and that she was in the
+Wichita Mountains.
+
+That much, at least, she knew, but what caused her much anxiety was that
+she did not know the result of the fight.
+
+She came to the conclusion that the broncho boys and their friends must
+have lost in the encounter, else she would not be in her present
+predicament.
+
+But what of poor old Norris, for in spite of his rascality she was sorry
+that he had fallen into the hands of the ruthless Shan Rhue.
+
+"Keep off to the left," shouted the guide. "We're almost there. Down
+into that coulee y'u go. There ain't another crossin' this side o' three
+mile, an' we ain't got time to go so far out o' our way."
+
+"Say, we're liable to turn over down there. Better get the gal out, an'
+let her walk down. I can get safe up the other side."
+
+"All right. Stop 'er."
+
+The stage stopped, and the cessation of the swaying, swinging motion was
+a blessed relief to the tortured girl.
+
+"Come on out," said the guide, as he threw the door open. "We'll have to
+ask you to walk to the bottom o' this coulee, if y'u don't want to be
+scrambled about on the bottom o' the coach."
+
+Stella was glad to get out, but when her feet were on the ground she
+swayed and staggered like a drunken person from sheer sickness and
+weakness.
+
+Beside her was her guide on his horse, and she was compelled to lean
+against it for a moment until she recovered herself.
+
+The stage had gone lumbering and swaying down the bank of the coulee,
+and before it reached the bottom it turned on its side.
+
+The driver leaped in safety to the ground, and the guide went scrambling
+down the bank to his assistance.
+
+The mules were plunging and kicking, and threatened to break their
+harness to pieces.
+
+Stella was mutely thankful that she had not been in the stage when it
+went over, as she sat down on a rock to rest and watch the efforts of
+the swearing and angry men to right the stage.
+
+Once she thought of trying to escape while the men were engrossed in
+their work, and she arose eagerly.
+
+But when she got to her feet she realized the impossibility of such a
+thing, for she almost fell. Then she sank down again, and resigned
+herself to her fate.
+
+But soon the stage was put back on its wheels again, and the guide
+called to her to come down.
+
+This was a slow and painful operation, during which the driver swore
+impatiently at the delay. But she accomplished it, and crawled into the
+stage and sank down on the pallet which had been made for her with the
+seat cushions.
+
+Now they were off again, faster than before, and with correspondingly
+more discomfort to Stella. Oh, if the journey would only end, she
+thought.
+
+"Here we are," she heard the guide's voice in a shout.
+
+The stage stopped, and Stella heard a rush of feet.
+
+"Got her?" some one demanded gruffly.
+
+"Yep, but she's all in," replied the guide. "Her forehead was creased by
+a bullet, an' the trip has about finished her."
+
+"Can't help that. Get her out. We've got to be moving. The soldiers are
+out to-night."
+
+"What's the matter?"
+
+"Injuns.".
+
+"Uprisin'?"
+
+"Not yet, but the agent over to Fort Sill has a tip that they are
+putting on paint."
+
+"What's the trouble?"
+
+"Somethin' about beef issue. The last cows issued to the Injuns were no
+good, an' the Injuns made a kick, an' the agent told them to go to the
+deuce. Old Flatnose an' his son Moonface, the Apache chiefs, have always
+been bad actors, an' now they are tryin' to scare up a muss."
+
+"Reckon they'll do it?"
+
+"The commandant at Fort Sill seems to think they will, for he's got two
+companies out on the scout."
+
+"The boys better look out, then. The Injuns don't like the gang over at
+the Hole in the Wall none too good."
+
+"We stand all right with Flatnose and his son, an' it's their band
+that's actin' bad."
+
+"Well, y'u better get a move on y'u. The moon will be down in an hour."
+
+"Get the gal out, then, an' we'll be movin'."
+
+"All right," said the guide, poking his head into the coach. "Here's
+where you get out. Boss said to treat her well," he continued, turning
+to the man with whom he had been talking.
+
+"Oh, we'll do that, all right," was the reply.
+
+Stella scrambled painfully out of the coach. All about her were mounted
+men, both whites and Indians. There were a score or more of them.
+
+"Can you ride?" asked one of them of Stella.
+
+"Yes," she replied, "if you don't go too fast. I'm sick and weak."
+
+"We'll do the best we can," said the man shortly.
+
+Then he called back to his followers:
+
+"Jake, bring up that spare hoss."
+
+In a moment, and with a staggering weakness, Stella climbed into the
+saddle. With a man on each side of her, she took up the march again.
+
+Through dark defiles in the black mountains the cavalcade made its way,
+Stella clinging to the saddle, and often in danger of falling off.
+Presently they came into a glade, or park, which was surrounded by
+towering mountain walls. For half an hour they traversed this, then came
+to the end, and before them yawned an opening in the wall less than ten
+feet wide.
+
+They entered this, and after traversing it a short distance Stella found
+herself in a circular chamber in the mountains with the starry sky for a
+roof. Several fires were burning in the chamber, around which Indians
+and white men were sprawling, playing cards, talking, or silently
+smoking.
+
+In one corner was a corral, in which many horses were confined.
+
+"You can get down now," said the leader of the party that had conducted
+her to the place. "There is a shelter for you over there."
+
+He pointed to a small tent on the farther side of the chamber.
+
+"You will be perfectly safe here. You do not seem well. I will send you
+assistance."
+
+"Where am I?" asked Stella.
+
+"You are a prisoner in the Hole in the Wall," was the reply.
+
+"Then Heaven help me," said Stella, sobbing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+A HOLE IN THE HERD.
+
+
+The herd of cattle which Ted and the broncho boys were herding in No
+Man's Land he had branded Circle S, named after Stella.
+
+There were more than two thousand head of them, which Ted was feeding on
+the rich range grasses of the Southwest to drive to the Moon Valley
+Ranch to winter, for it was well known to cowmen that a Southern or
+Southwestern beef animal will do better for a winter on the Northern
+range.
+
+After Stella's disappearance Ted and the boys searched every nook and
+cranny of the town of Snyder, but were unable to get the slightest trace
+of her. Dividing into bands, they scoured the country roundabout, being
+assisted by the cow-punchers and the ranchers in the neighborhood.
+
+But Stella had disappeared as if the earth had opened and swallowed her.
+With all his ingenuity, backed by the strong desire he had to find her,
+Ted was making no headway, and he hardly slept or ate during the long
+days and nights, but was in the saddle almost continuously.
+
+Naturally, he suspected Shan Rhue of knowing something about Stella's
+absence, if, indeed, he was not actually responsible for it.
+
+But he could not fasten anything on the man whom he had come to regard
+as his greatest enemy, and whom he knew hated him. Whenever he sought
+Shan Rhue, he was always to be found at his haunts.
+
+Tired of the inaction, Ted met Shan Rhue on the street one day, and
+resolved to have it out with him.
+
+"Shan Rhue, I want to speak with you," said Ted, stopping him.
+
+"Well, what is it you want?" asked Shan Rhue.
+
+"I want you to tell me where Stella is," said Ted.
+
+Shan Rhue stared at him in apparent amazement.
+
+"How should I know where she is?" asked Shan Rhue, with a wicked
+twinkling in his eye.
+
+"I don't know," answered Ted; "but I think you do know."
+
+"So I supposed, from the way in which you have had me followed. I
+suppose you miss her a good deal."
+
+"Her aunt, Mrs. Graham, is distraught with grief and anxiety. Surely you
+have no fight on her, or on Miss Fosdick, either, that you should keep
+them apart."
+
+"No. I have no fight with a woman. But why should I know where the young
+lady is?"
+
+"There are several reasons why you should have had her taken away. But I
+think the principal reason is that you think you can get square with me
+by doing so."
+
+"There might be something in that. Mind me, I am not confessing that I
+took her away, or that I know who did take her away, or where she is.
+You have seen me in town every day since the little trouble we had over
+that old thief Norris, haven't you?"
+
+"Yes, but that tells me nothing. It might not be necessary for you to
+leave this town to have her hidden somewhere."
+
+"But you and your friends searched the town from one end to the other,
+and you did not find her."
+
+"True, but for all that I am satisfied that you know where she is.
+Suppose we call it off, and that you tell me where she is."
+
+"If I knew, I would not tell you," said Shan Rhue, his voice intense
+with hatred.
+
+"What do you mean? Are you such a coward that you will punish a woman
+for your spite against a man? I did not think that of you. I believe
+Stella Fosdick was carried off by you, of your men, acting under your
+instructions."
+
+Shan Rhue's only reply was a sneering laugh.
+
+"If I discover that what I say is true," said Ted, in a low voice so
+full of purpose that it was in itself a warning, "you will be the
+sorriest man in all this country. I will make you suffer by it even as
+you have caused suffering to others."
+
+"So you have suffered, eh? That is good! Now I am a little better
+satisfied. But my debt to you is not yet paid. There are other things in
+store for you."
+
+"What do you mean, you dog? By Heaven, I know now that you did cause her
+abduction, and I shall find her. You cannot keep me away from the place
+in which you have hidden her. I shall find her if she is at the end of
+the earth. When I do find her, if anything has harmed her, you, Shan
+Rhue, gambler, thief, and murderer, shall pay for it, and pay heavier
+than for any amusement you have had in all your miserable lying,
+thieving career."
+
+As the epithets addressed to Shan Rhue left Ted's lips, the bully sprang
+back, and made a motion to draw his six-shooter.
+
+But before he had his hand on his hip his eyes were looking into the
+bore of Ted's forty-four. Instead of drawing a gun, therefore, he pulled
+out his handkerchief and wiped his dry lips.
+
+Shan Rhue feared Ted Strong.
+
+"Remember," said Ted, before turning away, "I know that you have
+spirited Stella Fosdick away. But I shall find her, and when I am sure
+of it you better leave the country before I reach the place where you
+are, for as sure as I am standing here I will make my previous
+experience with you so tame that you will be glad to crawl in the dust
+on your face to be forgiven."
+
+"Ha, ha!" laughed Shan Rhue. "So it hurts as bad as that, eh? Good!"
+
+He went away laughing, and it was all Ted could do to control himself,
+and keep from leaping upon him and punching him. Instead, he jumped into
+his saddle and rode Sultan like the wind out to the cow camp.
+
+For several days he had paid no attention to the herd, leaving it under
+the general direction of Bud, while he stayed in town trying to hear
+some news of Stella, or was riding all over the country with one or
+another of the boys, searching for her.
+
+As he rode into camp with disappointment and dejection written on his
+face, he was met by Mrs. Graham, who had grown pale and wan with
+anxiety.
+
+"Any news of her?" she asked Ted.
+
+"None, but I haven't given up hope by any means. Don't worry so, Mrs.
+Graham. I think I am on the track at last, and that we shall soon have
+her with us again."
+
+But Mrs. Graham only walked away with the tears coursing down her
+cheeks. The herd was grazing to the west of the camp, and Ted rode out
+to it, and to where Bud was sitting quietly in his saddle watching it.
+
+There was an air of dejection about Bud, also. Indeed, every fellow in
+the outfit was secretly worrying and grieving for Stella.
+
+"Say, Ted," said Bud, as Ted rode up, "I think thar's somethin' wrong
+with ther dogies."
+
+Cow-punchers call the small Southwestern cattle "dogies."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Ted. "I was looking them over this morning.
+Rode through the bunch. They seemed to be all right then."
+
+"Oh, they're eatin' well, an' aire as likely a lot o' beef ez ever I
+see," replied Bud.
+
+"Well, what then?"
+
+"Thar ain't so many o' them ez there wuz, er my eye hez gone back on
+me."
+
+"Any of them get away?"
+
+"I figger it so."
+
+"What have you found out?"
+
+"Some one is liftin' our cattle. That's what I mean."
+
+"Great Scott! What makes you think so?"
+
+"Ted, ther herd has shrunk."
+
+"You judge by the eye, I suppose."
+
+"Yes. That is the only way I have o' judgin'. We hev never had a count
+o' them since we drove them onto this range."
+
+"How many do you think we are shy?"
+
+"My eye tells me erbout five hundred."
+
+"Great guns! How could five hundred head get away from us? And right
+under our noses, too."
+
+"Easy enough. You must remember that since Stella has been gone we've
+paid no more attention to the herd than if we didn't own them."
+
+"That's true. As for myself, I confess that I've given them no
+attention. And I've kept you fellows so busy that we've left the cattle
+to take care of themselves, almost."
+
+"Well, it's time we woke up ter ther situation, er soon we won't hev no
+more cattle than a rabbit."
+
+"That's so. We'll run a count of them in the morning."
+
+"It's shore got me puzzled. I can't think whar they could hev gone."
+
+"Strayed, possibly."
+
+"P'r'aps. Ever hear o' there bein' any rustlers in this part o' ther
+country?"
+
+"No, I never have. But there are some pretty bad citizens in this
+section, who, if they never have rustled cattle, certainly are capable
+of it."
+
+"Alludin' to who?"
+
+"Well, there's Shan Rhue and his gang, for instance."
+
+"They're pretty bad actors, fer shore. But I ain't positive thet they're
+ther kind what would rustle. They're jest plain town thieves an'
+gamblers. They ain't cow-punchers. It gen'rally is fellers what has been
+in ther cow business at some time er another what rustles stock."
+
+"Oh, it doesn't take much of a man to steal cattle. A thieving gambler
+could do it as well as another."
+
+"But our brand and ear crop? They shore couldn't get away from them."
+
+"They're not so hard, Bud. A good man could run our stock out of this
+part of the country and alter the brand without any trouble."
+
+"Shore, ther brand is not so hard to alter."
+
+"Let's ride back to camp and look at the brand book, and see if any one
+has a similar brand to ours, or one that they could alter without
+trouble. But, remember, I'm not going to give myself any uneasiness in
+the matter, and I think we will find the herd all there. I can't see how
+so many cattle as you think could get away from us."
+
+"I do."
+
+"In what manner could they?"
+
+"Well, yer see, thar ain't ary o' us fellers been ridin' herd at night
+since Stella was taken away."
+
+"Yes; go on."
+
+"Ther fellers what hev been guardin' ther herd at night we picked up
+around here when we drove ther herd up from ther South."
+
+"True. They were all local cow-punchers. I realize that we have made a
+mistake. One of us ought to have had charge of every night watch since
+we have been on this range."
+
+"Shore. It's a cinch they wouldn't attempt to run 'em off in ther
+daytime."
+
+"That's the idea. It would be as easy as shooting fish in a rain barrel
+for a crooked night foreman to drift a few cattle away from the herd in
+the dark, to be picked up by fellows waiting on the outside, and driven
+into the hills until the brands and marks could be changed."
+
+They were at the camp now, and Ted got out the brand book and turned its
+leaves over in an attempt to find a brand similar to their own, the
+Circle S, which was a circle with the letter S in the center.
+
+In every Western State or Territory in which cattle-raising is a
+business the law makes it imperative that every ranchman who uses the
+open range shall select a brand for his cattle which is registered. This
+brand is his own, and every head of cattle found with his brand on it
+belongs to him.
+
+On the open range the cattle get mixed more or less, and in the spring
+there is a general round-up of the cattle, after the calves have been
+born and are following their mothers.
+
+The cow-punchers go into the vast herds and drive out the calves. Of
+course, the mother follows the calf, lowing piteously for it.
+
+When the cow is out with the calf, it can be plainly seen to whom she
+belongs by the brand on her. Her owner, or his men or representatives,
+promptly throw her and the calf into their own herd, and later put their
+brand on the calf.
+
+Calves which are motherless and are unbranded are known as mavericks,
+and belong to whoever finds them. The cowman who finds a maverick
+promptly puts his own brand on it and it belongs to him.
+
+The safety of the system is in choosing a brand that cannot be easily
+altered, and which will not be easily confounded with the brand of
+another.
+
+When the boys had chosen the brand Circle S for this herd in honor of
+Stella, they had spoken of this, and Bud had remarked that it would be
+easily altered by making an eight of the S, but they had found no Circle
+8 in the brand book, and took the chance, especially as Stella now
+insisted upon having no other brand for the herd than Circle S, her "own
+brand," as she called it.
+
+Ted and Bud could find no brand in the Texas or Oklahoma brand books at
+all like theirs, and dismissed the matter from their minds.
+
+The next morning early all hands turned out for a count of the herd. The
+herd was split, and the broncho boys took turns at the count, as the
+bunches of cattle were split and driven slowly past them on the point.
+
+From the books, there should be two thousand three hundred cattle, or
+thereabouts, in the herd. A few cattle more or less would not have been
+surprising, for a great herd of cattle will, like a magnet, draw to it
+all the individual strays in the country roundabout.
+
+It was well in the afternoon before the count was finished, and the boys
+rode into camp to count up and compare with the books. Ted totaled the
+figures, while the boys hung eagerly over him to learn the result.
+
+"Well, what d'yer make it?" asked Bud, as Ted, with an expression of
+perplexity on his face, looked up from his work.
+
+"The count is seventeen hundred and fifty," answered Ted slowly.
+
+"Gee! And that's how many shy?"
+
+"Five hundred and fifty. Bud, you have a good eye."
+
+"Orter hev. I've been runnin' my eye over herds fer many a year. So,
+we've been done out o' more'n five hundred head, eh? Well, Stella comes
+fust, an' then ther man what thinks he kin rustle cattle from the
+broncho boys had better take a runnin' jump outer this man's country."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+LITTLE DICK IN TROUBLE.
+
+
+Little Dick Fosdick had been forgotten by Ted and the broncho boys in
+their anxiety over the absence of Stella.
+
+They had seen him around the camp, but as it was impossible for him to
+accompany them on their hard rides, he had been left to his own devices.
+
+He spent his days riding with one of the cowboys on the herd, and
+grieving in his own way for Stella.
+
+He was a sensible little chap, and seldom complained at his loneliness.
+His life alone had made him patient, and he took it out in thinking.
+
+He was now well able to take care of himself, although Stella insisted
+in "mothering" him when she was in camp.
+
+Little Dick, as most of the boys called him, felt himself quite a man,
+for he could now catch his own pony and saddle it whenever he wanted to
+ride, and no one paid any attention to him as he came and went.
+
+Ted had bought for him a little, wiry bay cayuse, and both he and Stella
+had taught him to ride, and Dick could now throw a rope with reasonable
+accuracy and speed.
+
+Ted had given him a small revolver, and they had had great fun learning
+to shoot at a target, which was usually a bleached skull of a cow that
+had died long since on the prairie, and its bones picked clean by the
+coyotes.
+
+Dick's revolver was only of thirty-two caliber, as befitted his
+strength, but the youngster had a good eye and the steady nerves of
+youth, and he soon got so that he could hit the skull with reasonable
+accuracy.
+
+"Putting the shot through the eye" was one of the jokes of these
+shooting tournaments, in which Stella, and sometimes Bud, joined.
+
+One day when they were shooting at a skull target, Bud missed--probably
+intentionally, for Bud was a crack shot.
+
+Dick jumped up and down in glee, for he had just knocked a chip of bone
+from the skull himself.
+
+"Bud missed! Bud missed!" he shouted, in glee. "Bud, you're an old
+tenderfoot. Couldn't hit a skull as big as the head of a barrel a
+hundred feet away."
+
+"Didn't miss, neither," said Bud, in a tone of mock anger. "There's
+where you're fooled. That is what I call a good shot. See that left eye
+hole? Well, I aimed at that, and the bullet went through it. Ha! That's
+where the joke is on you." He grinned, and winked at Stella.
+
+A few minutes later Dick shot and missed the skull.
+
+"Yah!" shouted Bud. "Goody! You missed. You shoot like a hayseed.
+Couldn't hit a skull as big as the head of a barrel."
+
+"That's where you're left," said the boy. "See that right eye hole?
+That's what I aimed at."
+
+The laugh was on Bud.
+
+"All right, kiddie," he laughed. "You're on. We'd be in a dickens of a
+fix if that ole cow hadn't left two eye holes when she died."
+
+So it was that Dick had made great progress in the rudiments of a
+cow-puncher's life, and it exactly suited him, but, in the meanwhile,
+Stella was teaching him to read, and telling him the story of the rise
+and grandeur of his own country, and of the lands that lay beyond the
+seas.
+
+So it was that Dick was unconsciously getting a better education than if
+he had gone to school, for he had a mind for the absorption of all sorts
+of knowledge like a sponge, and once a thing was told him he never
+forgot it.
+
+The morning of the count he had started onto the range with the other
+boys, but as there would be great confusion, and perhaps danger of a
+stampede, Ted sent him back to camp.
+
+"Run on back, Dick," Ted said kindly. "I'm afraid that pony of yours
+isn't quick enough to get out of the way if these dogies should take it
+into their heads to act ugly."
+
+Dick never thought of rebelling when Ted spoke, for he knew that Ted was
+boss, and that he knew what was good for him.
+
+"All right, Ted," he said. "Would it be any harm if I took a ride away
+from the camp?"
+
+"Of course not, Dick," answered Ted kindly. He felt a little sore at
+himself for sending the boy away, but he knew that it was for the best.
+There would be plenty of time and many occasions for Dick to run into
+danger when he grew up.
+
+Dick went back to camp, which was deserted save for Bill McCall, the
+cook, who was asleep under the chuck wagon, and Mrs. Graham, who was
+lying down in her tent.
+
+Dick buckled on his belt and holster, and, mounting his pony Spraddle,
+set out for a long ride across the prairie.
+
+In the boot of his saddle rested his little Remington, a present from
+Stella. He was going to look for an antelope, and he thought how proud
+Ted would be if he brought one back with him.
+
+He knew how hard it was to get close enough to an antelope to shoot it,
+but he had just enough gameness to think that he could get one if he
+came within range of it.
+
+Anyhow, there were coyotes and jack rabbits.
+
+He rode across the prairie at a smart gallop, occasionally changing his
+course to chase a jack rabbit, which generally disappeared over a rise
+in the ground like a streak of gray dust, and was seen no more.
+
+At noon he stopped for a few minutes to eat the biscuit and piece of
+bacon which he had taken from the rear of the chuck wagon before setting
+forth. He found a spring not far away, and, having given Spraddle a
+good, deep drink, and filling his small canteen, which was tied to the
+cantle of his saddle, he set forth again.
+
+It was about two o'clock when he came in sight of the first real game of
+the day. On the top of the rise ahead of him he saw an animal about the
+size of a dog. As he rode toward it, it raised its head and gave a long,
+low, mournful howl.
+
+"Coyote," exclaimed Dick to himself breathlessly. "I'll get that fellow,
+and take him back to camp. Won't Ted be surprised when he sees it?"
+
+He took his Remington out of the boot, slipped in the necessary
+cartridges to fill the magazine, and rode forward slowly and cautiously.
+
+The coyote watched him sharply, occasionally raising its head to utter
+its mournful cry. When Dick thought he had got within shooting distance,
+he stopped Spraddle, took a good, long aim at the coyote, and fired.
+
+The ball kicked up the dust several feet in advance of the coyote,
+which, with another howl, this time one of derision, as it seemed to
+Dick, turned and trotted away.
+
+"That was a bum shot," muttered Dick. "I'm glad Ted or Stella did not
+see it. Better luck next time."
+
+The coyote ran a short distance, then stopped and looked over its
+shoulder to see if Dick was following, and, seeing that he was, took up
+its lope again.
+
+It had got some distance from Dick, when, on the top of another rise,
+it stopped again, and Dick heard once more its luring cry.
+
+It seemed to be an invitation to follow him. Dick had not paid any
+attention to the direction in which he was going, and had kept no track
+of time.
+
+That he was following game, and that he intended to get it if it took
+all day, was all he thought of. Soon the coyote stopped again, and
+looked at Dick in a tantalizing sort of way, and again Dick approached
+it cautiously.
+
+When he thought he was within range, he raised his Remington, and,
+taking a long, deliberate aim, fired. Again he missed. But he had the
+satisfaction of seeing that the ball had struck the earth several feet
+nearer the coyote than the first.
+
+The coyote realized it, too, for he did not wait for another invitation,
+but started on his way in a hurry, with Dick riding pell-mell after him.
+
+Dick for the first time realized that the day was going when he noticed
+the long shadow cast by himself and the pony on the prairie sod. He had
+not the slightest idea how far he had come, and there crept into his
+mind a sort of dread.
+
+He pulled Spraddle down to a walk, and looked about him. Behind him
+there was no trace of the cow camp, nothing but the everlasting rise and
+fall of the prairie.
+
+But ahead was the ragged line of the blue mountains. These he knew to be
+the Wichita Mountains, for, although he had never seen them before, he
+had heard the boys talking about them in camp.
+
+Then he saw the coyote on a hill a little ways ahead, looking at him in
+the most aggravating way. The coyote's lips were curled back from his
+teeth in a contemptuous sort of a smile, it seemed to Dick, and as he
+started forward again the coyote threw up its head and actually laughed
+at him.
+
+That settled it with Dick. No coyote that ever trotted the plains could
+laugh at him, but as this thought came to him he felt the dread of being
+lost on the prairie, or even having to stay alone in this waste all
+night.
+
+Dick had heard the boys talk of the danger of being alone at night, for
+there were wolves and other animals that would daunt a man, to say
+nothing of a small boy.
+
+He thought he would follow the coyote only long enough to get another
+shot at him, and then retrace his way back to the camp. By putting
+Spraddle through his paces he ought to be able to reach it before dark.
+
+So he set forth again in the wake of the coyote, which was becoming more
+and more aggravating every minute. Suddenly the coyote disappeared
+altogether. It had done this before when it had gone down into the
+trough between two of the great, rolling swales of the prairie, but
+always it had come into sight again in a few minutes.
+
+This time, however, it did not, and Dick wondered why.
+
+In a few minutes he understood why, for he found himself at the edge of
+a coulee which had been washed deep by the storms of many winters.
+
+Dick looked up and down the coulee for the wolf, and saw a form, gray
+and lithe, slinking among the bowlders with which it was filled. Dick
+forced Spraddle down the steep bank of the coulee, and was soon at the
+bottom.
+
+Hastily he set after the coyote, but suddenly stopped, for a man stepped
+from behind a shoulder of rock and clay and caught his bridle.
+
+Spraddle stopped so quickly that Dick was almost unseated. But he soon
+recovered himself, and stared in amazement at the man who had thus
+stopped him.
+
+He was an Indian.
+
+Dick had often seen Indians in the towns through which the broncho boys
+had passed, and occasionally they had come into the camps they had
+established on the drive of the herd up from Texas.
+
+But this was the first time Dick had ever come in contact with an Indian
+when he was alone. For a moment his heart stopped beating, for he was
+afraid.
+
+"How?" grunted the Indian.
+
+It was all Dick could do to reply with a feeble, quavering "How?"
+
+Many times around the camp fire, with the boys all about, when Bud was
+telling one of his tales of Indians, Dick had thought what he would do
+if he ever came in contact with a real, live, sure-enough redskin, and
+always he had thought how brave he would be. But now that he had
+actually met one, he felt his nerve ooze away.
+
+However, the Indian was not aware of it, for Dick had a way of keeping
+his feelings to himself, and he seldom showed whether he was surprised
+or angry, although he never hesitated to let his friends know his
+pleasure at their kindness, or gratitude for what they did for him.
+
+He was looking at the Indian steadily, taking stock of him, and this is
+what he saw: A broad, dirty face, in which burned two small, narrow
+eyes. The cheek bones were prominent, and on each one was a spot of red
+paint. The long, black, coarse hair was braided with pieces of otter
+fur, and covered with an old cavalry cap, in which was stuck a crow's
+wing feather, and around his neck hung a small, round pocket mirror
+attached to a red string, by way of ornament.
+
+The Indian wore a dirty cotton shirt and a pair of brown overalls, and
+his feet were covered with green moccasins, decorated with small tubes
+of tin, which jingled every time he took a step.
+
+A belt and holster hung at his hip, and the handle of a Colt forty-four
+was within easy reach.
+
+"White papoose where go?" asked the Indian, showing a row of sharpened
+teeth.
+
+"Hunt coyote," replied Dick, in a voice that trembled.
+
+"Heap fool. No catch coyote," said the Indian, reaching over and lifting
+Dick's Remington from the saddle.
+
+He sighted it, turned it around in his hand, and then coolly slung it
+over his shoulder.
+
+"Here, give that to me," said Dick sturdily. With this act of theft all
+his courage came back to him. No dirty Indian should have the rifle
+Stella had given him.
+
+But the Indian only grinned.
+
+"Me heap brave," said the Indian. "Me Pokopokowo."
+
+He looked at Dick as if he expected the boy to be deeply impressed.
+
+"I don't care who you are. I want my rifle," cried Dick.
+
+"Papoose heap fool. Get off pony." The Indian was scowling now, and
+looked very ferocious, and once more Dick's courage oozed. The Indian
+did not seem to be a bit frightened.
+
+As Dick was slow in descending from the saddle, the Indian grasped him
+by the arm and jerked him to the ground.
+
+Dick was as angry as he ever got, but was sensible enough to know that
+he could not fight the Indian, and that all he could do was to escape as
+rapidly as possible.
+
+He turned and ran up the coulee.
+
+But he had not gone far when he was overtaken, and knocked flat with a
+cuff on the side of the head. As he rose slowly with his head ringing,
+Pokopokowo grasped him by the shoulder, and bound his hands behind him.
+
+In a moment he was back at the pony's side, and was thrown upon its
+back, but not in the saddle. This was occupied by the Indian, who
+directed it down the coulee, and in the direction of the mountains.
+
+Dick Fosdick was a prisoner.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+A MESSAGE FROM STELLA.
+
+
+Dick had some difficulty in keeping his seat on the pony's back, for he
+could not hold on to the cantle of the saddle, and Spraddle wabbled
+dreadfully, as he stumbled among the bowlders in the coulee.
+
+But before long they were out on the prairie again, and Dick observed
+that they were headed toward the mountains.
+
+They had several miles to go to reach the mountains, and it was just
+getting dusk when they entered upon a broad and beautiful valley, which,
+as it ran east and west, was flooded with the light from the setting
+sun.
+
+Here the Indian turned in the saddle and looked at Dick with a
+malevolent smile.
+
+"Turn white boy loose," he grunted.
+
+Dick twisted around, and the Indian untied the cord that bound his
+wrists.
+
+"White boy try to run away, I kill um," said the Indian, showing his
+teeth in a horrible look of ferocity that chilled Dick to the bone.
+
+"All right," he said; "I'll not try to run away again."
+
+"Kill um if do," growled the Indian, hissing, at the pony, which is the
+Indian way of making a pony go forward, and means the same as a white
+man's "Get up!"
+
+Dick was dreadfully hungry, but he said nothing, clinging to the cantle
+of the saddle with both hands, for the pony was now loping.
+
+They had gone up the valley for several miles, when suddenly the Indian
+turned aside down a dark and narrow defile, still at a lope.
+
+Even Dick realized the danger of this, for the floor of the defile was
+covered with large, loose stones, over which Spraddle was continually
+stumbling, for he had come a long way and was tired, besides the added
+weight of the Indian was more than he was accustomed to carry.
+
+It had grown very dark, and Dick could not see the pony's ears when he
+twisted around to look past the Indian.
+
+He knew that it was to be a moonlight night, but the moon was not up
+yet, and would not be for an hour or more. In fact, it was doubtful if
+the light of the moon would penetrate to the bottom of the defile until
+it was high in the heavens, so deep was the defile and so steep its
+walls.
+
+Dick had given up wondering and worrying, and had forced himself to be
+content with his situation, as he knew that he could not better it any.
+
+Suddenly he became aware that the Indian was asleep, for he was drooping
+in the saddle, and was breathing deeply and steadily.
+
+Now, thought Dick, was the time to escape, if any. He tried to slip from
+the pony's back, but in an instant the Indian was awake, and, reaching
+around, grasped Dick's wrist, twisting it until the boy gave a sharp cry
+of pain.
+
+The Indian slipped from the back of the pony, and again bound Dick's
+wrists behind him, and with a grunt climbed into the saddle and urged
+Spraddle on, slapping him across the face with the end of the rein.
+
+"Don't you do that," cried Dick, who never abused Spraddle himself, and
+couldn't stand it to see any one else, particularly a dirty Indian, beat
+his pet.
+
+"White boy shut up, or Pokopokowo beat him plenty," growled the Indian.
+
+"If you dare beat me, Ted Strong will fix you when he gets you," said
+Dick hotly.
+
+But the Indian only laughed, and continued to beat poor Spraddle over
+the face, to the pain and anger of Dick, who, however, realized that he
+was absolutely helpless.
+
+But Pokopokowo was soon to be paid for his cruelty, and by poor Spraddle
+himself.
+
+Spraddle, stung by the blows, was stumbling along at a good pace over
+the bowlders that lay in his way, with the Indian urging him faster all
+the time.
+
+Suddenly there was a great heave. Spraddle went down, almost turning a
+somersault, as his tired feet struck a larger bowlder than he had
+encountered before.
+
+The Indian, who was dozing again, shot over his head as if from a
+catapult, and Dick went sprawling forward over the saddle onto the neck
+of the pony.
+
+Fortunately, the pony righted itself in time to save Dick from a hard
+fall, and he stayed on Spraddle's back, talking to him gently.
+
+At the sound of Dick's voice the pony became quiet, and Dick half
+sprawled, half fell to the ground. The boy was in a pretty bad fix, for
+the Indian had tied his hands securely. He thought of ways by which he
+might cut the cord, but it seemed hopeless. He had heard somewhere of
+bound men releasing themselves by wearing their bonds asunder against
+the rough edge of a rock, and determined to try it for himself.
+
+If he could only get his hands free, he might escape yet. Backing up to
+the wall of the cañon, he felt with his hands for a rock, and soon knew
+that he was against one. As he sawed his hands back and forth, he was
+listening for some sound from the Indian, but heard none.
+
+Could it be that the fall had killed Pokopokowo?
+
+To his joy, he felt the cord part, and his hands were free. At that
+moment there came a flood of light into the defile, for the moon had
+risen overhead.
+
+Lying on the floor of the defile, lay the Indian, with a deep gash
+across his forehead, where it had struck a sharp rock. His ugly face was
+covered with blood, making it additionally hideous.
+
+By the side of the Indian lay Dick's precious rifle, and he stooped to
+pick it up. As he did so, something glistened beside it, and Dick picked
+it up.
+
+It was the little, round mirror that the Indian had worn around his
+neck. Dick pocketed it for proof of his adventure when he should again
+reach camp, and, picking up his rifle, climbed upon Spraddle's back,
+turned him around, and drove down the defile.
+
+When he reached the open valley it was as bright as day, and under his
+coaxing and kind words the tired little pony, relieved of the Indian's
+weight, picked up his feet and set forth at a brisk pace into the west,
+in which direction Dick knew the cow camp lay.
+
+It was almost daylight when Bill McCall, the cook, roused from his
+blankets to begin the preparations for breakfast. He leaped to his feet
+and listened.
+
+Not far away he heard the sound of the pony's footsteps approaching.
+Bill was an old cow-puncher, and he knew instantly that the pony was
+tired, and that he was under saddle, and also that the saddle was
+occupied.
+
+The footsteps came nearer, and just as they were close to the camp
+daylight came on with a rush, as it does on the plains, and Bill gave a
+great shout of joy which brought every puncher in camp scrambling out of
+his blankets, for there rode in a very tired little boy on a very tired
+little, pony.
+
+The boy was pale and tired from hunger and his long hours in the saddle,
+and it was all the pony could do to stagger in.
+
+"It's little Dick," shouted Bud. "Well, jumpin' sand hills, whar
+you-all been all night? Takin' a leetle pleasure pasear?"
+
+"Oh, Bud, I'm so tired and hungry," said Dick, as Bud lifted him from
+the saddle.
+
+"Here you, Bill, git busy in a hurry. This kid ain't hed nothin' ter eat
+in a week. He's 'most starved. Bile yer coffee double-quick, an' git up
+a mess o' bacon an' flapjacks pretty dern pronto, if yer don't want me
+ter git inter yer wool."
+
+Bud was rubbing the cold and chafed wrists of the boy beside the fire,
+which one of the boys had replenished. The boys surrounded little Dick
+with many inquiries, but Bud shooed them away.
+
+"Don't yer answer a bloomin' question until yer gits yer system packed
+with cooky's best grub. I reckon, now, yer could eat erbout eighteen o'
+them twelve-inch flapjacks what Bill makes, an' drink somethin' like a
+gallon o' ther fust coffee what comes out o' ther pot."
+
+Little Dick smiled, as he watched with glistening eyes the rapid
+movements of Bill McCall as he hustled over his fire, the air redolent
+with the odors of coffee and bacon and griddle cakes, so that his mouth
+fairly watered.
+
+When Bill shouted breakfast, Ted and Bud sat Dick down and loaded his
+plate with good things, which he caused to disappear in a hurry.
+
+But after a while he was stuffed like a Christmas turkey, and put his
+tin plate away with a sigh, and absolutely cleaned.
+
+"Now," said Ted, when he saw this good sign, "where have you been all
+day and all night? We've been scared about you. Thought we had lost you,
+too."
+
+Dick went ahead with his story from the very beginning, and told of the
+downfall of Pokopokowo, and his escape, and of his all-night ride into
+the west, to accidentally stumble, at daylight, into camp.
+
+The boys listened in amazement to this record of courage on the part of
+its youngest member, and some seemed to doubt the Indian part of it.
+
+"Sho, yer dreamin', kid," said Sol Flatbush, the cow-puncher. "Thar
+ain't no Injuns like that in this yere part o' ther country. Why, an
+Injun wouldn't dare carry off a kid like that."
+
+"You don't believe it, eh?" exclaimed Dick hotly.
+
+"I believe yer," said Bud soothingly, for the boy was very nervous from
+being up all night and his hard ride, which would have taxed the
+energies of a grown man. "Don't yer mind what thet ole pelican says. He
+ain't got no more sense than a last year's bird's nest, nohow."
+
+"The Indian had this around his neck," said Dick, "and when he fell it
+came loose from his neck, and I picked it up, for I thought some one
+might think I wasn't telling the truth. Now, I'm tired, and I can't keep
+my eyes open."
+
+His head began to nod, and his eyes closed.
+
+Bud picked him up and carried him to a pair of blankets which had been
+spread on the shady side of Mrs. Graham's tent, and laid him down and
+left him dead to the world.
+
+Dick had placed the little, round looking-glass in Ted's hand.
+
+As he took it, Ted uttered an exclamation.
+
+"By Jove," he exclaimed, "I believe this is the little glass Stella used
+to carry in her pocket. Why, what is this?"
+
+Ted was holding the little mirror up to the sky, apparently in an
+endeavor to look through it.
+
+"What is it?" asked Bud, approaching the fire.
+
+"Dick has brought back Stella's little pocket mirror," said Ted. "I'd
+know it anywhere. But the back has been torn off it."
+
+"Tooken off ther neck o' an Injun?" said Bud, dropping his usual jolly
+manner. "I thought yer said thar wa'n't no bad Injuns eround yere, Sol
+Flatbush. What d'yer make o' that?"
+
+Sol Flatbush got a little pale.
+
+"Thar ain't none," he said. "All ther Injuns on the reservation is
+peaceable. They knows they couldn't do no monkey business with all them
+sojers at Fort Sill."
+
+"Yet here's a kid run off with by an Injun, and he brings back a pocket
+mirror what belonged to Stella Fosdick. Sol Flatbush, ye've got ter give
+a better defense o' ther Injuns than that."
+
+"What hev I got ter do with ther Injuns?" asked Flatbush defiantly.
+
+"Search me. But ye've made a wrong diagnosis, an' I don't like yer brand
+o' talk none. I think myself thet yer too friendly ter ther redskins."
+
+"What d'ye mean?" cried Flatbush, springing to his feet.
+
+"I mean thet I don't trust yer none. I think ye're a skunk, an' I don't
+like ter see yer face eround this yere camp. How much do this outfit owe
+yer?"
+
+"Three months' wage," answered the cow-puncher sourly.
+
+Bud went down into his leather pouch and extracted a roll of bills, and
+skinned off several.
+
+"Thar it is. Skidoo! An' don't try ter mingle with this outfit none
+hereafter. Thar'll be a new foreman o' ther night herd what ain't got so
+many friends in this yere locality."
+
+"What d'yer mean by that?" Flatbush's hand sprang to his side.
+
+But Bud was quicker, and in the flash of an eye had the muzzle of his
+six-shooter under the nose of the night foreman, who shrank from it.
+
+"I mean thet yer a crook, an' I'll give yer jest three minutes ter rope
+yer hoss an' git."
+
+Flatbush turned and hurried to the remuda, caught and saddled his horse,
+and rode out of camp.
+
+"I've had my eye on that maverick fer quite some time," said Bud,
+turning to the boys after he had watched Flatbush fade into the
+distance. "I've suspected him o' turnin' off our cattle every night. I
+haven't caught him at it, or thar wouldn't've been no necessity o'
+chasin' him out. He'd've gone feet foremost."
+
+"What do you think of it, Bud?" asked Ted, handing the little mirror
+over to the golden-haired puncher.
+
+Bud took it in his hand, and looked at it a long time.
+
+"It shore is Stella's," he said. "I reckernize it by this leetle dent on
+ther side o' it."
+
+He was holding it in the palm of his hand, looking down at it intently.
+
+"Hello, what's this?" Bud held the mirror against the sleeve of his blue
+shirt.
+
+"Pipin' pelicans," he muttered, "if thar ain't some kind o' a pitcher on
+it."
+
+Ted went to his side and looked at the mirror.
+
+"I believe you're right," he said. "Let me look at it."
+
+"What do you make of it?" asked Bud.
+
+All the boys crowded around, watching Ted eagerly.
+
+"This is evidently intended for the picture of a stone wall," said Ted,
+"and that wavy line behind it is meant for mountains."
+
+"What's that?" asked Bud, pointing to the picture.
+
+"I guess it is meant for a hole in the stone wall," said Ted.
+
+"Wow!" said Bud. "That's as easy as livin' on a farm. Don't yer see? It
+is a message from the Hole in the Wall."
+
+"By Jove, you're right. The Hole in the Wall in the Wichita Mountains."
+
+"What is that right below it?"
+
+"It looks like a star. It is a star."
+
+"It is Stella's signature," said Ben. "Stella is the Latin for star.
+Don't you see, she has sent this message out from the Hole in the Wall,
+where she is a prisoner? It's as plain as day to me."
+
+"You're right," shouted Ted. "Into your saddles, boys; we're off to the
+Hole in the Wall at once."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+"HOLE IN THE WALL."
+
+
+"Kit, you will stay and take care of the herd," said Ted, just before
+the boys galloped off.
+
+"All right, but I'd mighty well like to go with you," said Kit, who,
+although he was eager to be in the fight that he knew would come off if
+Ted found that Shan Rhue had anything to do with the abduction of
+Stella, was not one to get disgruntled.
+
+Ted would have been well pleased to have Kit with him, but Kit's arm was
+not yet well enough to risk in a possible rough-and-tumble adventure.
+
+"Say, Ted," Kit called after the leader of the broncho boys.
+
+"What?" asked Ted, riding back.
+
+"Don't you think you better take Stella's pony, Magpie, along with you?
+She'll have to have something to ride coming back."
+
+He did not say "if you find her," for he knew that if she was anywhere
+in the Wichita Mountains Ted would find her.
+
+"Glad you spoke of it," said Ted.
+
+It did not take long to rope the magpie pony and throw Stella's saddle
+on it.
+
+Now they were off into the northeast, where the Wichita Mountains lay.
+None of them knew just where the Hole in the Wall was, but Ted felt
+confident of finding it if there was such a place.
+
+They rode so hard, only stopping at noon to water the ponies, that early
+in the afternoon they entered the mountains.
+
+As they were going up the valley they saw the flying figure of a man on
+horseback coming toward them.
+
+As he approached, they saw that he was a cavalryman.
+
+"Hello, what's up?" said Bud. "I never see a sojer goin' so fast, except
+there was somethin' doin'."
+
+A few minutes later the soldier rode up to them.
+
+He proved to be a sergeant of cavalry.
+
+"Where are you going?" he asked, pulling his horse to its haunches.
+
+"What's that ter you?" asked Bud jovially.
+
+"Just this: The Indians are threatening to rise, perhaps to-night,
+perhaps not until to-morrow. But when they do, this will be no place for
+white men."
+
+"Where is the place called the Hole in the Wall?" asked Ted.
+
+"Do you want to go there, or do you want to avoid it?" asked the
+sergeant.
+
+"We want to go there as soon as we can."
+
+"I'd advise you to keep away until the troops get there and clean things
+up."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"That is where the dissatisfied Indians are camped. I do not know it
+officially, but I understand that Flatnose and Moonface, the two chiefs,
+are there now, and that the orders from Washington are to send us in to
+drive them out."
+
+"When is this to take place?"
+
+"The Indians have made no open declaration of war as yet, but it is
+looked for at any time."
+
+"How will it be announced?"
+
+"By the signal fires on the hills. A detachment of our men picked up
+early this morning a wounded Indian, named Pokopokowo. He was wounded,
+and was taken to the post surgeon to be cared for. He has just confessed
+that it is the intention of the Indians to rise and kill all the white
+settlers they can lay their hands on. I am on my way to send out the
+alarm."
+
+"And you say the Indians are camped at the Hole in the Wall?"
+
+"Yes, the detachment sent out early this morning were on a scouting
+expedition when they picked up Pokopokowo."
+
+"Where is this Hole in the Wall, and how do you get there?"
+
+"You are bound to go there? I would advise you not to."
+
+"We must go. A young lady belonging to our party has been captured and
+taken there. We did not know there were any Indians there, but only
+white outlaws."
+
+"That is different. I suppose you must go. But why don't you wait and go
+in with the troops? The Hole in the Wall is the rendezvous for all the
+white outlaws in this part of the country, and they are believed to be
+in league with the Indians, and will use the uprising of the Indians as
+a cover under which to run off all the stock in the country."
+
+"There is no use of our waiting for the troops when the young lady is in
+there, we don't know under what indignities. The troops put off
+attacking the Indians as long as they can for the sake of policy. We are
+all deputy United States marshals, and we get quicker action. Tell us
+where the Hole in the Wall is, and we will go in and get our own. The
+troops can do what they please later."
+
+"Weil, pardner, you talk straight, and you feel about the young lady as
+I would if she was a friend of mine. But they are a bad bunch in there."
+
+"I appreciate your warning, but it will not stop us."
+
+"All right; go ahead, and good luck to you. About a mile farther on you
+will come to a narrow defile leading to the north, cutting the range.
+That leads into a broad valley, at the west end of which is the place
+called the Hole in the Wall. It is practically impregnable. It is
+entered by a narrow passage which one man could hold against an army.
+It can be approached at night by riding down the valley, dismounting,
+and crawling over the mountain until you are above the Hole in the Wall,
+when every man can be wiped out by a few rifles."
+
+"Thanks, sergeant. We will take to the hills."
+
+With mutual good wishes, they parted, and the boys were soon riding in
+single file up the defile.
+
+In the valley they secreted themselves and their horses, while Ted and
+Bud went forward to reconnoiter. It was rapidly growing dark in the
+mountains as Ted and Bud crawled along the mountain paths toward the end
+of the valley.
+
+Suddenly Ted placed his hand on Bud's arm.
+
+"Some one right ahead of us," he whispered.
+
+"Sentinel, I reckon," answered Bud.
+
+Ted nodded: "You stay here. I'm going forward. I'll be back soon."
+
+Ted glided away into the gloom. Presently Bud heard a muffled cry. Then
+all was still again.
+
+He waited a few minutes, and was about to go forward, when he heard a
+slight rustle beside him, and there stood Ted.
+
+"It was a guard," he said. "I jumped him, and gagged him, but he gave me
+a pretty good fight. I've rolled him away where his pals won't find him.
+I guess we can go on now, but we must go slowly and quietly. I don't
+know how many more of them are about."
+
+"Get a line on where the hole is?"
+
+"Yes, we're on the right track. It is ahead of us."
+
+On they went, and, having proceeded about half a mile, they suddenly
+became aware of the neighing of horses and the voices of men, which
+seemed to come from beneath them, and it was not long before they saw a
+glare of light against the rocks not far ahead.
+
+They went more cautiously now, crawling forward on their hands and
+knees. Ted, in advance, soon threw up his hand and lay flat on the
+rocks, and Bud crawled to his side.
+
+They found themselves looking down into a circular little valley, in
+reality a hole in the wall of the mountain.
+
+Several camp fires were burning here and there, and about fifty Indians
+and white men were lounging about.
+
+Near the rear wall was a small tent, before which sat a fat old squaw.
+
+As Ted was looking, the flap of the tent was pushed aside, and Ted
+clutched Bud's arm, for Stella had come forth, and stood looking up at
+the sky.
+
+"By Jove, if we could only attract her attention," muttered Ted.
+
+"It would help her a lot if she knew we were so close to her," said Bud.
+
+The glare from the fires flaring upward fell full upon their faces, and
+they knew that if she looked in their direction she would not fail to
+see them.
+
+They saw her cast her eyes all around the sky, and in their direction.
+Ted dared not make a noise, but he nodded his head several times so that
+she would know who it was, should she chance to see him.
+
+Evidently she did not, for she turned away, and again her eyes swung
+around in the circle with her back to them.
+
+"I've a mind to throw somethin' down at her, and attract her attention
+ter us," said Bud.
+
+"And have every one of those cutthroats get on to us. Don't you do it,"
+said Ted.
+
+In a moment Stella looked up again, and this time they saw her start,
+then stare fixedly at them. Ted nodded his head again, and this time she
+made a gesture that told them that she had seen them, and knew that they
+were there.
+
+"Duck yer head quick," said Bud, rapidly getting out of sight himself.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Ted.
+
+"I saw Shan Rhue walking toward Stella."
+
+"But she saw us, just before she ducked into her tent. Now it's up to us
+to get her out of there."
+
+"You bet. But it will be a big job to get in there."
+
+"I've got a plan that ought to work out."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"You go back and get the boys. Put Ben and Clay down in the valley to
+hold the entrance to the Hole in the Wall. Bring the rest up here.
+Hurry! I'll stay here on guard. If any man attempts to touch Stella,
+I'll pot him from here. Bring your lariat with you."
+
+Bud hurried away as he was bid, and in the course of half an hour,
+during which Ted, looking over the edge of the Hole, saw the men
+preparing to retire for the night, he returned with seven of the boys.
+
+"Now, fellows," said Ted, "I'm going down into the hole to send Stella
+up on the rope."
+
+"Jeering jackals!" exclaimed Bud. "Don't you ever do that. It means sure
+death ter you, an' p'r'aps ter Stella, too."
+
+"No, I don't think so. At any rate, I'm going to take a chance. It will
+be up to you fellows to keep the bunch down there busy while I'm at
+work. Three of you will stay on this side of the hole, and four on the
+other. If you do your firing right, you will keep those fellows jumping
+from side to side so fast that they won't have any time for me."
+
+"I see yer scheme, but I wouldn't like ter undertake it myself."
+
+"Did you bring the rope?"
+
+"Here it is," said Bud, unwinding it from around his waist.
+
+Ted took it from him while the boys distributed themselves in their
+firing positions as he had directed.
+
+Ted looped the rope under his arms. "You'll lower me down, Bud," he
+said. "Maybe I'll come up hand over hand if I can, and you will pull
+away when I give the rope two jerks."
+
+He took another look over the edge. All the men were rolled up in their
+blankets asleep, except an old Indian who sat crouched over the fire.
+
+Ted carefully lowered himself over the edge for the descent.
+
+Down he went slowly and quietly, and soon his feet touched the ground
+just back of Stella's tent.
+
+"Hiss-t!" He gave a low, sibilant warning of his presence, and in a
+moment the corner of the tent moved aside, and he saw Stella's bright
+eyes looking into his. He motioned her to come out, and the flap was
+gently lowered again.
+
+In a few moments, which seemed hours, the flap was raised again, and
+Stella crawled forth.
+
+"Oh, Ted," she whispered, pressing his hand. He held up a warning finger
+as he rapidly tied the rope beneath her arms.
+
+"Bud will pull you up. Good luck," he whispered.
+
+"Are you going to stay down here?" she whispered back.
+
+"Yes, I must. Hurry!" He gave the rope two jerks, and it at once began
+to tighten, and Stella's feet left the ground as she slowly ascended
+skyward.
+
+Ted, concealed against the wall back of the tent, saw her go up and up.
+She was more than halfway to the top when an old Indian woman crawled
+out of the tent, and, casting her eyes aloft, saw Stella.
+
+A sudden scream rang through the hole. It was the Indian's warning. The
+rope began to go faster, and before the sleepy men in the hole had been
+able to sit up and rub their eyes, Ted saw Stella reach the top and
+disappear over its edge.
+
+But the old Indian woman had run among the men crying out something in
+her native tongue. Evidently she was telling of the escape of Stella,
+for in an instant all sleep vanished and the place was full of men
+running about or staring up at the edge of the wall over which Stella
+had gone.
+
+Then Shan Rhue came forth, swearing horribly. He caught the old squaw by
+the arm and threw her down.
+
+"So you let the white squaw go, did you?" he asked. "And how much was
+you paid for it?" But the poor old wretch only shrank closer to the
+ground and moaned her protests that she had nothing to do with the
+escape of the white squaw.
+
+Shan Rhue strode toward the tent, behind which Ted was crouching with
+his hand on his revolver.
+
+Shan Rhue threw open the front of the tent and looked within. Then he
+straightened up, and caught a glimpse of Ted, whom he did not at first
+recognize in the gloom.
+
+He reached in his powerful right arm to pull the intruder out, and
+looked into the muzzle of Ted's six-shooter, behind which he now saw
+Ted's smiling face.
+
+At that he straightened up with a loud laugh that filled the Hole in the
+Wall and reverberated from side to side.
+
+"Well, of all the luck," he shouted. "This has worked out just as I
+expected. I knew that if I got ther gal in yere that you'd be after her,
+an' here you are. Well, my bucko, you remember what I said about getting
+even with you. Now is the time. You've come to the end."
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said Ted coolly. "I'm a long ways from a dead one
+yet. Be careful what you do. This six-shooter of mine is mighty
+sensitive on the trigger."
+
+He heard a soft, swishing noise behind him, and knew that Bud was
+lowering the rope again. As he thrust his gun forward into the face of
+Shan Rhue, the bully backed away a few feet.
+
+At that moment the rope swung down in front of his face, and, hastily
+putting his revolver into his pocket, Ted grasped it and went sailing up
+into the air hand over hand, assisted by Bud and Carl, who were pulling
+on the rope for all they were worth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+THE ALTERED BRAND.
+
+
+As Ted went up into the air, Shan Rhue shouted a command, and the white
+men in the Hole in the Wall ran to him.
+
+"That boy must not get to the top," he shouted. "I want him."
+
+"What will we do?" asked one of them.
+
+"Here, Sol Flatbush, you are the best shot of us all. See if you can't
+bring him down. But don't shoot him. I need him for other things. Shoot
+the rope in two."
+
+This was easier said than done, for the rope was so high that it was
+almost out of the light cast by the fires.
+
+Flatbush was, indeed, a splendid shot, and he fired twice at the rope
+with his revolver, but missed each time on account of the uncertain
+light and the swaying motion of the rope.
+
+"Give me my rifle," he called, and one of the men fetched it for him.
+
+Ted was within fifteen feet of the top when Flatbush, leaning against
+the opposite wall, took deliberate aim and fired.
+
+At the second shot Ted, who was aware that some one was trying to cut
+the rope, felt it vibrate suddenly beneath his hand.
+
+Before the last thread was severed he reached up and began to climb,
+hand over hand. In a few seconds he was at the top, and the boys were
+helping him over the edge.
+
+For a moment or two he could say nothing; he could only listen to the
+yells of rage and disappointment below. Now he was surrounded by his
+friends, and Stella was free. Away on a mountain peak a light flared
+up.
+
+"What does that mean?" asked Stella, pointing to it.
+
+"It is the signal that the Indians have gone on the warpath," said Ted.
+"The sergeant was right. It is up to us now to do stunts."
+
+"In what way?" asked Stella.
+
+"We must keep those Indians and renegades confined in the Hole in the
+Wall. If we can keep them there until the arrival of the troops we can
+end the uprising without shedding a drop of blood. See, there is another
+fire!"
+
+Ted pointed to a blaze upon another peak, and this was followed by
+others until there was a ring of fires on the crests of the mountains
+for miles around.
+
+"It is up to us to do a good thing here," he said. "Bud, take two or
+three of the boys and go to Ben's assistance. Hold the mouth to the
+entrance to the hole at all hazards. From what the sergeant said I have
+no doubt but the troops will be here at least by daylight. We will keep
+them busy down there from this place."
+
+Bud hurried away with two of the boys, and Ted and the others composed
+themselves to await developments. In the meantime, Stella told Ted the
+details of her capture. Since she had been a prisoner she had been well
+treated, so far as most of the men were concerned, although Shan Rhue
+had insisted on seeing her every day, and had told her that he was going
+to take her away to the North and make her marry him. She had defied
+him, and had scorned him so scathingly that he had put many petty
+persecutions on her, and had deprived her of her liberty for revenge.
+
+"How did you happen to find me?" asked Stella, after she told all that
+had happened to her.
+
+"Little Dick was captured by an Indian, and while he was being brought
+here the pony Spraddle stumbled and threw him. A small looking-glass
+which was slung around his neck fell off, and Dick picked it up and
+brought it to camp."
+
+"The Indian was Pokopokowo," said Stella.
+
+"That was his name."
+
+"I tried in every way to get a message out to you, but it seemed
+impossible. Then I hit upon the mirror, ripped the back off it, and made
+my cryptogram on it with a pin. I let Pokopokowo see it, and when he saw
+that there was a picture on it, and I told him it was good medicine, he
+wanted it. Of course, I let him take it, hoping that it would be taken
+outside, and that you would chance to see it, and so learn where I was."
+
+"It was a very clever idea, and I doubt but for the mirror we should
+have been able to get here in time. It was little Dick who saved you."
+
+"Yes, little Dick and big Ted. Ted, you are wonderful!"
+
+Below, in the hole, there were signs of activity. Men were rushing here
+and there, saddling horses, packing mules, filling their cartridge
+belts, and getting ready for some sort of action.
+
+"They have seen the war fires on the hills," said Ted, "and are getting
+ready for their raid upon the settlers. Evidently they do not know that
+the gate to the outside is guarded, and they think that we are gone,
+having succeeded in getting you."
+
+Having finished their preparations for departure, an old Indian rode
+forth on a pony decorated with eagle feathers.
+
+"That is old Flatnose, the head chief," said Ted.
+
+Flatnose was painted for war, and as he rode toward the passage from the
+Hole in the Wall he swung his rifle above his head and shouted a
+guttural command, at which a war whoop, shrill and terrifying, went up
+from the Indians, followed by a hoarse shout from the white renegades.
+
+"Now, we'll see some fun," whispered Ted to Stella, who was lying on the
+crest of the hole beside him, watching the proceedings below. "I guess
+Bud has got there by this time, and is ready to protect the opening out
+to the valley."
+
+Only a few minutes had passed before there came to their ears a volley
+of rifle shots, followed by yells of fear, and the whites and Indians
+came rushing back into the hole, scrambling and falling over one another
+in confusion.
+
+"I thought so," chuckled Ted. "They are trapped and they know it. They
+can defend the hole against all comers by that passage, but it didn't
+seem to occur to them that they might be made prisoners by the same
+means."
+
+The inmates of the hole were in the confusion of terror, but at last
+Flatnose and his son, Moonface, succeeded in pacifying them, and a
+consultation was under way.
+
+"Where is Shan Rhue?" asked Stella. "I haven't seen him for some time."
+
+"That's so," answered Ted. "I don't see him." He scanned the hole
+carefully, but Shan Rhue was not there.
+
+"Is there any secret passage by which he might escape?" asked Ted.
+
+"Do you see that little shelter of canvas over against the wall?" said
+Stella.
+
+Ted nodded.
+
+"I believe there is a way out there known only to Shan Rhue. That is
+where he slept," she continued.
+
+"Then he has escaped by it. Sol Flatbush is not in evidence, either.
+I'll bet a cooky they've skipped."
+
+It was getting light in the east, and the Indians rode once more into
+the passage, firing their rifles. Then they charged.
+
+But soon they came rushing back; the boys at the entrance had again
+repulsed them.
+
+From far away came the soft but clear call of a bugle.
+
+"The troops!" cried Ted, springing to his feet. "The cavalry is coming
+from Fort Sill. This thing will soon be over now."
+
+He and Stella went to the edge of the cliff overlooking the valley, and
+far away saw a dark mass, in the midst of which they caught the flash of
+the rising sun on polished swords and carbines, and a gleam of color
+from the flag that fluttered in the fresh morning breeze.
+
+The Indians in the hole had heard the bugle also, and now there was
+confusion indescribable. On came the troops, and Ted and Stella went
+down to meet them.
+
+Captain Hendry was in command, and it did not take him long to get in
+possession of the facts.
+
+"So you've got them bottled up, eh?" he said to Ted.
+
+"Yes; all you have to do is to make them surrender," answered Ted.
+
+"Which I don't think will be such an easy thing."
+
+"I don't think you'll have any trouble about it. Come with me, and bring
+a firing squad of your men."
+
+The captain gave the order, and followed Ted to where he could look down
+into the hole.
+
+Then the captain laughed. "You have done better than I expected," he
+said.
+
+Raising his voice, Captain Hendry shouted:
+
+"Flatnose, you know me. This is Captain Hendry. I have got you in that
+hole like a rat in a trap. If you are wise, you will throw down your
+arms and surrender. I have my men here with me, and if you do not
+surrender, we will have to shoot you to death one by one. Will you
+surrender?"
+
+The old chief looked up and saw the captain leaning over the edge above.
+For several minutes he stared upward, then he threw his rifle to the
+ground and gave a hoarse command, and his followers threw their arms
+upon that of their leader.
+
+One of the troopers ran down into the valley with a command, while those
+above lay flat on the edge with their carbines in a ring pointed at the
+throng below.
+
+In a few minutes the bugle sounded again, and the troops were seen
+marching into the hole. The war was at an end without a fatal shot
+having been fired.
+
+As Captain Hendry marched away with his prisoners, he thanked Ted for
+the great service which he had done the government by holding the
+Indians and renegades until the arrival of the troops.
+
+"Well, that's over," said Ted, as the last of them faded out of sight at
+the end of the valley. "But _our_ work is just begun. We've got to find
+those five hundred head of stolen Circle S cattle."
+
+"I suggest that we take a look behind that shelter of Shan Rhue's, and
+see if there is a passage leading from it," said Stella.
+
+"Good idea," said Ted, and they climbed down into the valley and entered
+the Hole in the Wall, where the other boys were waiting for them.
+
+Ted went at once to the shelter, which was only a piece of canvas which
+had been at one time a wagon cover, and tore it away.
+
+There was revealed a hole in the rock wall, and beside it a small mound
+of earth.
+
+Evidently the hole had been known to the white desperadoes who had used
+the hole as a hiding place for many years, and that it had been their
+habit to conceal it by means of a stopper of earth. This Shan and Sol
+had removed, and had made their escape while the Indians and renegades
+were preparing for their raid on the settlements.
+
+Ted at once showed it to the other boys, and it was decided to follow
+the passage and find out what was at the other end.
+
+The hole was so small that Ted was compelled to enter it on his hands
+and knees. Bud followed him, and then came Stella. Ben remained with
+Carl to guard the entrance in case any of the white renegades should
+return.
+
+A short distance in, the passage, or tunnel, became larger, and soon
+opened out into a natural cave, so that they were able to assume an
+upright position.
+
+Ted lighted his pocket electric searchlight and led the way. They walked
+for some distance when they saw a gleam of light ahead, and a few
+minutes later walked out of the cave into another valley, larger than
+that which they had just left.
+
+"Great Scott! Look at that," said Ted, pointing to where a large herd of
+cattle was grazing.
+
+"What?" asked Stella, who could see nothing unusual in a bunch of cattle
+grazing in the valley.
+
+"I believe they're ours."
+
+Ted strode toward the cattle, which seemed to become uneasy at seeing a
+man on foot, which range cattle will not tolerate.
+
+"Don't go any closer, Ted," said Stella. "Wait until Bud goes back after
+the horses."
+
+"I just want to get a glimpse of the brand. By Jove, here's our lost
+Circle S brand, I believe. But look at it. It has been altered."
+
+"How?"
+
+"See those two perpendicular lines drawn through the S, making the brand
+Circle Dollar-mark. That's a most ingenious thing. It has been done with
+a running iron. The fellow who stole our cattle has just changed it by
+running a curved hot iron through the S."
+
+"Yer shore right," said Bud. "That Circle Dollar brand hez been
+registered somewhere. It's up to us ter find out who registered it, an'
+we've got ther thief. I'll skip out fer ther hosses an' ther boys. I
+reckon we kin git in here by ridin' across ther backbone o' ther hills."
+
+"All right, get back as soon as you can, and we'll wait for you in the
+cave."
+
+Bud and the boys were back within half an hour, having found a pass into
+the valley through the hills which inclosed it.
+
+"It's as plain as the face of the sun to me," said Ted, when they were
+mounted and were riding toward the cattle. "Shan Rhue would have had
+those cattle over the border in a day or two, had he not been so unwise
+as to have abducted Stella. It's up to us now to get that bunch back to
+the herd."
+
+It did not take the boys long to get the bunch together, and Ted and
+Stella rode out to the front of it to point it down the valley, while
+the other boys started back to the rear to drive up.
+
+Suddenly they heard yells in the rear, accompanied by pistol shots and
+the cracking of quirts. In an instant the herd was up with distended
+eyeballs and lifted tails. The poison of fear was in them.
+
+Looking back, Ted saw several men riding toward the herd at a terrific
+pace. At the head of the band rode Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush.
+
+Then a remarkable thing happened: Every man of them produced a red
+blanket. They dashed among the cattle waving the blankets in the faces
+of the now terrified cattle.
+
+"Look out for trouble," shouted Ted, for he saw at once the intention of
+Shan Rhue. It was to stampede the herd.
+
+The effort was immediately successful, for the terrified animals, with
+a deafening roar that expressed abject fear, started forward on a
+gallop, with a front as resistless as the prow of a battleship.
+
+Stella was on the side of the herd opposite Ted.
+
+She heard his warning cry, and then looked back at the herd. If she
+stayed where she was, there was no escape from death, for by her side
+was the sheer wall of the valley. There was only one way to safety, to
+ride across to the side of Ted.
+
+She gave one look, then started.
+
+Stella rode quartering the path of the stampede, and would have made it
+in safety had it not been for a prairie-dog hole, into which her pony's
+foot went. Magpie went down. The thundering host of frantic cattle was
+upon her when she felt herself caught in mid-air.
+
+The thought of death was still ringing in her head, and everything swam
+before her eyes.
+
+"You're all right! Stick close!" It was the reassuring voice of Ted,
+who, at the imminent risk of his own life, had ridden out and plucked
+her from the jaws of death.
+
+Behind them, as Sultan, straining every nerve and muscle to carry them
+to safety, galloped ahead of the cattle, the boys rode into the ruck,
+beating the brutes with their quirts in an endeavor to stop them.
+
+But they went a mile before they began to slow down, and Ted was able to
+deflect the course of Sultan, who was beginning to tire from the double
+burden and the terrific pace.
+
+But at last the steers calmed down, and permitted themselves to be
+driven quietly to where the rest of the herd were grazing.
+
+As soon as Ted had restored the stolen cattle, he and Bud started back
+into the valley in search of Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush, but, although
+they searched everywhere, the renegades could not be found.
+
+In the cave through which they had come from the Hole in the Wall they
+found a running branding iron, and fastened to the wall the following
+notice:
+
+     "To TED STRONG AND OTHERS: You win this time, but there will be
+     others, and I am a lucky man in the end. You can't beat me.
+
+     "S. R."
+
+Later they discovered that Shan Rhue had recently registered in Colorado
+the Circle Dollar brand, and evidently it was his purpose to steal
+nearly all of the Circle S herd.
+
+But although he escaped with his lieutenant, Sol Flatbush, the men of
+his band, who had been captured by the soldiers, were convicted and sent
+to prison for long terms, after they had confessed that Shan Rhue's
+organization had made a business of rustling cattle all through the
+Southwest for many years.
+
+Ted received several letters from the authorities in Washington
+commending his services in averting an uprising of the Indians, and the
+capture of the white renegades, but while this was gratifying, he felt
+disappointed that Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush were not in prison, also.
+However, Ted believed in the motto, "I bide my time," and he felt in his
+bones that some time in the future his path and that of the bully, Shan
+Rhue, would cross again.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+     No. 42 of the WESTERN STORY LIBRARY, by Edward C. Taylor, is
+     entitled "Ted Strong in Montana."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Ted Strong's Motor Car, by Edward C. Taylor
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13717 ***
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+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13717 ***</div>
+
+<center>
+<img src='images/cover.jpg' width='415' height='600' alt="cover of The Western Story Library No. 41, Ted Strong's
+Motor Car, by Edward C. Taylor" title="cover of The Western Story Library No. 41, Ted Strong's
+Motor Car, by Edward C. Taylor">
+</center>
+
+<h1>Ted Strong's Motor Car</h1>
+
+<h3>OR, FAST AND FURIOUS</h3>
+
+<h2>By EDWARD C. TAYLOR</h2>
+
+<h4>Author of the Ted Strong Stories</h4>
+<br />
+
+<h4>STREET &amp; SMITH CORPORATION<br />
+PUBLISHERS</h4>
+
+<h4>1915</h4>
+
+<br />
+
+<h3>Table of Contents</h3>
+<h4> <a href='#CHAPTER_I'>CHAPTER I.&mdash;TALKING ABOUT SMART HOGS!</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_II'>CHAPTER II.&mdash;BUD'S BAD BRONCHOS.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_III'>CHAPTER III.&mdash;STELLA GOES TO THE &quot;RENT RAG.&quot;</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_IV'>CHAPTER IV.&mdash;THE TROUBLE IS STARTED.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_V'>CHAPTER V.&mdash;SHOTS FROM THE DARK.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_VI'>CHAPTER VI.&mdash;THE &quot;FLYING DEMONS'&quot; MESSAGE.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_VII'>CHAPTER VII.&mdash;SONG SHOOTS A WOLF.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_VIII'>CHAPTER VIII.&mdash;THE BATTLE WITH THE BULL.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_IX'>CHAPTER IX.&mdash;TED GETS AN ASSIGNMENT.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_X'>CHAPTER X.&mdash;A VISITOR IN THE NIGHT.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XI'>CHAPTER XI.&mdash;TED STRONG HAS A THEORY.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XII'>CHAPTER XII.&mdash;ALOFT AFTER A PRISONER.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XIII'>CHAPTER XIII.&mdash;THE ANONYMOUS LETTER.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XIV'>CHAPTER XIV.&mdash;THE ABANDONED MOTOR CAR.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XV'>CHAPTER XV.&mdash;THE LODGING-HOUSE BATTLE.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XVI'>CHAPTER XVI.&mdash;THE MAN IN THE YELLOW CAR.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XVII'>CHAPTER XVII.&mdash;MURDER IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XVIII'>CHAPTER XVIII.&mdash;STELLA ADOPTS A BROTHER.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XIX'>CHAPTER XIX.&mdash;EZRA, THE LIFE-SAVING GOAT.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XX'>CHAPTER XX.&mdash;THE COUNTERFEIT BANK NOTE.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXI'>CHAPTER XXI.&mdash;A CRIME WITHIN A CRIME.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXII'>CHAPTER XXII.&mdash;TED IN THE TOILS.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXIII'>CHAPTER XXIII.&mdash;STELLA IMITATES SANTA CLAUS.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXIV'>CHAPTER XXIV.&mdash;TED HOLDS A PROFITABLE BAG.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXV'>CHAPTER XXV.&mdash;THE MAGPIE PONY.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXVI'>CHAPTER XXVI&mdash;&quot;VAMOSE!&quot;</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXVII'>CHAPTER XXVII.&mdash;THE GREAT CHIQUITA.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXVIII'>CHAPTER XXVIII&mdash;TED'S GREAT VICTORY.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXIX'>CHAPTER XXIX.&mdash;KIT MAKES A CAPTURE.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXX'>CHAPTER XXX.&mdash;KIT'S TROUBLESOME PRISONER.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXXI'>CHAPTER XXXI.&mdash;STELLA A CAPTIVE.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXXII'>CHAPTER XXXII.&mdash;A HOLE IN THE HERD.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIII'>CHAPTER XXXIII.&mdash;LITTLE DICK IN TROUBLE.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIV'>CHAPTER XXXIV.&mdash;A MESSAGE FROM STELLA.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXXV'>CHAPTER XXXV.&mdash;&quot;HOLE IN THE WALL.&quot;</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVI'>CHAPTER XXXVI.&mdash;THE ALTERED BRAND.</a></h4>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<a name='Ted_Strongs_Motor_Car'></a><h1>Ted Strong's Motor Car</h1>
+
+<a name='CHAPTER_I'></a><h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h3>TALKING ABOUT SMART HOGS!</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Carl Schwartz burst into the living room of the Moon Valley Ranch house
+with fire in his eye and pathos in his voice:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As sheur as I standing here am, dot schwein I'm going to kill!&quot;'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll jest bet yer a million dollars ter a piece o' custard pie yer
+don't,&quot; said Bud Morgan, rising from the lounge where he had been
+resting after a strenuous day in the big pasture.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll pet you,&quot; shouted Carl. &quot;Der pig pelongs mit me der same as you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go ahead, then,&quot; said Bud, lying down again. &quot;But I want ter tell yer
+this, and take it from me, it's ez straight ez an Injun's hair, yer kin
+kill yer own part o' thet hawg if yer want ter, but if my part dies I'll
+wallop yer plenty. I've spent too much time teachin' thet pig tricks ter
+lose it now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Vich part der pig you own, anyvay?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ther best part; ther head.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Den I dake der tail. By Chiminy, I get skvare yet so soon. I cut der
+tail off, und dot vill make der pig not able to valk straight ven he
+can't der tail curl in der opposite direction. Den ve see how mooch der
+tricks he done. Vat?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll hev ther law on yer if yer interfere with thet pig.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the matter with you two fellows?&quot; asked Ted Strong, the leader
+of the broncho boys, who was writing some letters at the big oak table
+in the center of the room.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Der pig, he moost die,&quot; cried Carl tragically.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, what has 'Oof' done now?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He has ate all mein gabbages,&quot; answered Carl, with almost a sob.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, s'posin' he hez,&quot; said Bud. &quot;What in thunder is cabbages fer, if
+they ain't ter be et by pigs?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, you, but not fer dose kind of pig. Maybe you might eat dem und it
+vould be all right, but not der pig mit four feet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Carl had a small garden back of the ranch house, in which he had been
+raising cabbages, devoting all his spare time to them and good-naturedly
+taking the joshing the boys gave him. They were of the opinion that a
+cow-puncher was degrading himself by working in a garden.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jumpin' sand hills, he'll be takin' up knittin' when winter comes on,
+an' makin' of his own socks,&quot; said Bud, in disgust.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, he's going in for tatting,&quot; said Ben Tremont. &quot;He's going to make a
+lot of doilies for the chairs so we won't soil the satin upholstery with
+our oily hair.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As all the chairs in the living room were very plain, made of solid oak,
+with bullhide seats and backs, this remark was received with laughter.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go aheadt!&quot; said Carl. &quot;Ven you ain'dt drough, let me know. I know your
+own bizziness. Ven der vinter comes und I haf dot deliciousness
+sauerkraut, und am eating it, und ven your mouts vater so dot you
+slobber like a colt off der clover, den&mdash;ah, den, I gifs you der ha-ha,
+ain'dt it? Den you see who der knitting und der tatting do, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Carl laughed at the thought of how the boys would miss the sauerkraut
+which he was going to make. But now &quot;Oof,&quot; the pet pig of the
+establishment, had eaten them nearly all, and was standing in his sty
+too full even for the utterance of his usual lazy grunt. He looked like
+an animated keg of sauerkraut with four pegs at the corners for him to
+stand on, so full was he of Carl's cherished and esculent cabbages.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How in the world did he get into the cabbage patch?&quot; asked Ted. &quot;I
+thought you had made it pig tight.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So did I,&quot; answered Carl. &quot;No pig but vun mit der teufel inside him
+vould haf got der fence over.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Got over ther fence!&quot; snorted Bud. &quot;Why, yer feeble-minded son of a
+downtrodden race, thet thar pig couldn't hev got over ther fence without
+a balloon. Thet fence is six feet high. A deer couldn't jump it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't saying so. He cannot yump, dot pig. He cannot moof, so full
+mit gabbages are he. No, he didn't yump, he yoost sving himself over mit
+dot fence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Slush! Yer gittin' plumb dotty. No pig could swing hisself over thet
+fence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But it's der only vay vat he could, und Song, der Chineser cook, saw
+him did it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You don't believe what a Chinyman tells yer, do yer?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did Song say? How did the pig do it?&quot; asked the boys, roused to
+interest in the squabble by this statement.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Vell, Song he say dot he vos looking der vinder ouid und he saw der pig
+take der end of dot long rope vot hangs down mit der roof of der hay
+house in his teeth, und he svings on it some. Song say he t'ought it vas
+some of Pud's foolishment he vas teaching dot pig, und didn't no more
+look at him for a leetle vile. Ven he looked again der pig vas svinging
+avay oop high by der rope. Den I coom along und see der pig in der
+gabbages, und I takes me a stick und vallops him goot ofer der hams,
+und drife him his pen into.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Shucks! Is that all ther story? That don't prove nothin'. Thet pig,
+Oof, is a animile of high intelligence. He wuz needin' exercise before
+dinner. He found a hole in ther fence, er maybe he tunneled one fer
+hisself, an' he wuz jest kinder doin' some gymnasium work ter git up a
+good appetite. Yer cain't make me believe a Chinyman, nohow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't know,&quot; said Ben thoughtfully, &quot;pigs are mighty smart. He might
+have swung himself over by the rope, and, if so, I think he was entitled
+to his dinner as a reward for his ingenuity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't pay for no pig's inchenoomity mit my gabbages,&quot; said Carl
+hotly. &quot;Vere I get more gabbages fer der sauerkraut, tell me dot?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer don't git no sauerkraut, that's all,&quot; growled Bud. &quot;But speakin'
+about pigs bein' smart, I jest reckon they aire.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are three animals that people persist in calling stupid, when
+they are only strong-minded and more intelligent than the other
+animals,&quot; said Kit Summers, quietly breaking into the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What aire they?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The pig, the mule, and the goose,&quot; answered Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come ter think o' it, yer right ez a book,&quot; said Bud, rising from the
+lounge and joining the other boys in front of the fireplace. &quot;Why, I
+remember onct down on the Pecos&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ben Tremont rose lazily and stretched himself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, so long, boys,&quot; he said. &quot;If I ain't back for supper don't wait
+for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whar yer goin'?&quot; asked Bud, with a black look from under his brows.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've got some work to do this evening, and I don't want to be getting
+drowsy,&quot; answered Ben, with a wink at Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go then, yer varmint,&quot; said Bud savagely. &quot;This yere incerdent what
+I'm goin' ter relate is fer intelligent persons only.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In that case I shall have to remain,&quot; said Ben, throwing his huge bulk
+into a chair, that creaked like a house in a high wind.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How about that Pecos story?&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Tis erbout pigs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't know there were any pigs down in that country,&quot; said Ted, with
+a sly smile.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes, there aire. Some folks calls them peccaries, an' others
+alludes ter them ez wild hawgs. Yer pays yer money an' chooses what yer
+likes best.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what about them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Tain't noways what ye'd call much o' a story, but it 'lustrates ther
+intelligence o' ther hawg, which in my 'pinion ez almost ez great ez
+thet o' some collidge gradooates what I hev mixed with.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud stopped and looked hard at Ben, who seemed to be taking a nap in his
+big chair.</p>
+
+<p>With a snort of disgust Bud turned his back on the big fellow and began:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Me an' 'Peep-o'-day' Thompson wuz ridin' herd on a bunch o' cattle
+belongin' ter ole man Bradish. All we hed ter do wuz ter keep 'em from
+driftin' too fur, which nat'rally left us much time fer meditation an'
+conversation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But it wa'n't long before I'd told all my stories, an' Peep bed plumb
+fergot I'd tole them ter him, an' wuz tellin' them all over ter me,
+claimin' they'd happened ter him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I stood it fer a spell because I didn't want ter make no friction
+betwixt him an' me, but it made me sore jest ther same, because ther
+derned lump allays got ther story balled up so's I hed trouble in
+reconnizin' it sometimes. An' he inveribly got ther p'int o' ther story
+hindside fore, which made me jest bile. But when yer on a long watch
+with a feller, an' got ter see him from sunup ter moonrise, it's better
+ter overlook a lot o' things.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, 's I wuz sayin', we wuz on this stunt, an' had been out all o'
+three month, takin' turns cookin' an' watchin' so's one o' us could git
+erway from ther other fer a spell, an' go off an' sit down an' tell
+hisself what a awful chump ther other wuz, an' how yer hated him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We hed a chuck wagon with us filled with flour, salt sowbelly an'
+saleratus, with some coffee an' a few pounds o' fine terbaccer fer
+makin' cigareets. I ain't sayin' nothin' erginst sowbelly ez ther
+national food o' ther plains an' ther staff o' life in farmin'
+communities, but ez a steady diet it begins ter pall when taken day in
+an' day out with nothin' ter wash it down with but weak coffee made
+outer alkali water.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon both me an' Peep wuz gittin' tired o' one another's cookin',
+if ther truth wuz knowed, fer Peep could make ther wust biscuit I ever
+et.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My biscuit jest suited me ter a ty-ty, an' I reckon Peep felt ther same
+way erbout hisn. Every time we set down ter vittles, if it wuz my week
+ter cook, Peep w'd begin ter talk o' ther fine cookin' his wife uster do
+before she run erway with er Sant' Fe conductor down ter Raton, Noo Mex.
+He'd tell me how she'd make beef stoo an' hot biscuit thet would melt in
+yer mouth. 'I don't like them kind,' sez I, one day. 'I like somethin' I
+kin chew on. What'd ther Lord give us teeth fer if grub is ter melt in
+ther mouth? No, sir; give me mine gristle an' hide. Ther tougher they be
+ther better I like 'em,' sez I.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Is thet thar meant ez a reflection on my wife?' sez Peep, bristlin'
+up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'I never met yer wife,' sez I, 'an' we'll let thet part o' it pass, fer
+ye knows me well enough thet I never make no remarks erbout wimminfolks
+what ain't smooth an' complimentary. But I stands on ther
+gristle-an'-hide propersition ontil I'm ready ter fight fer it.'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer see, I wuz gettin' some peevish erbout Peep. Ole man Bradish hed
+left us alone tergether too long. It ain't right fer two fellers ter
+camp side by each fer so long without a third party buttin' in ter break
+ther monotony.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'All right,' sez he, unlimberin' his six foot three o' len'th from ther
+ground. 'Thet,' sez he, real dignified, 'is either a challenge or a
+invitation ter fight.'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'It be,' sez I. 'Either way yer wanter take it.'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We both riz up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'How d'yer want it?' sez he.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Please yerself,' sez I. 'Any ole holt is my fav'rite.'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Anythin' goes, then,' sez he, makin' a rush at me.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jest then we hear a turrible noise, gruntin', squealin', an' sich. We
+both stopped an' looked eround, an' thar stood watchin' us a big band o'
+wild hawgs.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Fresh meat!' we both hollers simultaneous. At this ther hawgs ups an'
+runs.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It wuz my day off, an' hostilities stopped right thar ez I runs an'
+gits my rifle an' leaps my cayuse an' takes after ther hawgs, Peep
+hollerin' after me ez friendly ez yer please.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I chased them hawgs a couple o' miles ter ther river bank, whar they
+hid in ther canebrake. I couldn't get ther cayuse ter go in after them,
+so I gits down an' breaks my way in tryin' ter git a shot at one o'
+them, my mouth waterin' fer fresh pork so's I wuz almost wadin' in it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Purty soon I come in sight o' them. A ole boar wuz in charge o' them,
+an' he wuz a hard-lookin' citizen, I want ter tell yer. He hed tushes
+five inches long an' both o' 'em ez sharp ez razors. I took a shot at
+him, but his hide wuz so tough thet ther ball just glanced off him, an'
+he made a break fer me. I turned an' fled. Ther river wuz not fur erway,
+an' I knowed thet if I beat them hawgs ter it I wuz safe.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I jest did it, an' waded out ez fur ez I could an' started ter swim.
+'When I gits ter ther other side I'll take some long shots at yer,'
+thinks I, 'an' we'll hev hawg meat yit.'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I gits out inter ther middle o' ther stream when I hears a puffin' an'
+a gruntin' behind me. I looks over my shoulder an' here comes ther whole
+herd swimmin' right after me as&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That settles it,&quot; said Ben, as he rose with a snort of disgust.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's ther matter with yer?&quot; asked Bud calmly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer story is what I thought it would be&mdash;wild and woolly and full of
+cockleburs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How is thet ag'in?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's rotten. Don't you know, as long as you have been on earth, that
+swine cannot swim without committing suicide?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go ahead. Will you kindly tell us fer why, perfessor?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Certainly. The hoofs of pigs are so sharp, and their forelegs are set
+so far under their bodies, that when they attempt to swim their hoofs
+strike their fat throats, cutting them, and they die from loss of
+blood.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thet's c'rect, my son. Every schoolboy knows thet thar p'int in nat'ral
+history.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then why are you insulting our intelligence by stating that a herd of
+hogs followed you into the water and swam after you? Now don't spring
+any such flower of your fancy on us as to say that the hogs all killed
+themselves crossing and that you and Peep-o'-day had all the fresh meat
+you wanted during the rest of your stay on the Pecos, for we won't
+stand for it. I don't believe there is any such thing as a Pecos,
+anyway.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud looked so crestfallen that the other boys felt sorry for him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You think you're smart, don't you?&quot; said Kit, taking Bud's finish out
+of his own mouth. &quot;You big chump, it wasn't your story, anyhow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't worry, Kit,&quot; said Bud, smiling confidently. &quot;Ben's so
+intellectooal thet it hurts him ter pack his knowledge eround in thet
+pinhead o' hisn. But he didn't finish ther story none. I knows ez well
+ez him thet hawgs can't swim fer ther reasons he give. But these yere
+hawgs I am tellin' erbout wuz different.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How was that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer see, thet thar ole boar wuz ez smart ez a copperation lawyer. He'd
+fixed them hawgs ter swim. First they got thar hoofs all balled up with
+gumbo, er sticky clay, then they worked ther dry grass inter ther clay
+and mixed 'em good an' stiff, lettin' 'em dry in ther sun. This made a
+hard ball on their toes thet jest slipped off their throats when they
+struck.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ben slipped into his chair with a grunt.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;O' course, I didn't know thet when I was swimmin',&quot; continued Bud, 'an'
+I thinks I've run ercross a new web-footed breed o' hawgs. When we come
+ter ther other side I waited fer them ter land, then I turns an' swims
+back, ther hawgs follerin'. Back ercross I goes erg'in, an' ther pork
+keeps right on my trail.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Purty soon I see they ain't swimmin' so spry, an' I allow they're
+gittin' some tired. Ther last time over ter our side o' ther river they
+come slow, an' I picks out ther kind o' pork I likes best, an' ez they
+land I nails what I want an' slits thar throats, an' I hev my pork. But
+when ther rest o' them lands they's full o' fight ez ever, an' I takes
+ter ther water ag'in, but they won't foller me. This seems strange, an'
+I looks ter see what ther matter is.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ther ole boar wuz mighty smart, but he'd overlooked one p'int. He'd
+fergot thet ther water would melt his balls o' clay, which it did, an'
+they couldn't swim no more. I jest stood hip high in the water with my
+Winchester an' popped erway at them until they got tired an' run off,
+leavin' me enough fresh pork ter start a packin' house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A hollow groan escaped from Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the use?&quot; he moaned. &quot;You can't beat him.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_II'></a><h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3>BUD'S BAD BRONCHOS.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>It was time for the fall round-up, and Stella had written from her
+uncle's ranch, in New Mexico, that she and her aunt, Mrs. Graham, were
+coming North to do their winter shopping in Denver, and would visit the
+Moon Valley Ranch to take part in the round-up and the festivities which
+the boys always held at that time.</p>
+
+<p>Her letter did not say when she would be there, but the boys knew her
+well enough to expect her at any moment following the letter.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore they were not surprised to hear a clear, high imitation of the
+Moon Valley yell one morning while they were all sitting at the
+breakfast table.</p>
+
+<p>They did not need to be told that Stella Fosdick had come, and without
+ado they sprang from the table, overturning chairs in their haste to get
+out of the house to greet her and her aunt.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, boys!&quot; she called from the carriage, in which she and Mrs.
+Graham had driven over from Soldier Butte. &quot;You're a gallant lot of
+young fellows not to meet us at the station, particularly when I wrote
+you that I was coming this morning. I'm real mad.&quot; But her smiling face
+belied the statement.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You didn't say when you were coming,&quot; said big Ben, who was the first
+to reach the carriage step and was helping Mrs. Graham to descend. &quot;If
+we had taken your general statement that you were coming, to meet you at
+the station we would have camped right there forever. Never can tell
+about your movements, young lady.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I did write that I was coming this morning, and to meet us and
+take breakfast with us in the Butte.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We didn't get that letter. When did you write?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Last night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's good. Always take time by the fetlock. We'll get that letter
+some time to-morrow. Why didn't you wait and write us to meet you after
+you got here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Saucy as ever, Ben. But we're positively starved. Hello, Song!&quot; she
+called to the Chinese cook, who was standing on the veranda grinning
+like a heathen idol, &quot;got anything good to eat?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, missee, plenty good glub. Mebbeso you likee some fried ham and
+eggs?&quot; said Song, shaking hands with himself and bowing low.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ham and eggs! No! Positively, no! I'll be turning into a ham and egg if
+I get any more of it. That's all the cook at the ranch knows how to do.
+Anything else?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, missee. Plenty paltlidge, what Misto Ted shootee lesterday. I
+cookee you some plenty quick.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Song, cook us some partridges.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boys stood around in a group of admiring servitors waiting to carry
+Stella's hand bag and gun and saddle and other things with which she was
+burdened.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly she looked toward the porch.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who's that?&quot; she asked breathlessly, pointing to a little girl who
+stood shyly beside a post looking on.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, that's Lilian,&quot; said Ted. &quot;I didn't know you were up yet,&quot; he
+called to the little girl. &quot;Come here, dear, and see Stella. You haven't
+forgotten Stella, have you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If it isn't Lilian!&quot; cried Stella, rushing toward the child with
+wide-open arms and folding her within them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wouldn't have known you, honey,&quot; said Stella. &quot;What have you boys
+been doing to her? She's improved so much. Where did you get all these
+clothes, and who takes care of her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Isn't she a little beauty?&quot; asked Ted Strong proudly, patting the head
+of the blushing little girl.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But how did you do it?&quot; persisted Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I went over and saw Mrs. Bingham, the major's wife, at the fort,
+and asked her to come and advise us what to do. She came and was
+delighted with Lilian, and promised to oversee her wardrobe. She was
+going down to Omaha, and when she returned she had a trunk full of
+things for Lil. She also brought a colored woman to look after her, and
+Mirandy has proved a blessing and a treasure.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But the clothes didn't make themselves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, and none of us made them, either, although Bud said he could sew,
+and insisted upon trying. He cut up several yards of cloth, and at the
+end of the week, when we saw the product of his needle, he narrowly
+escaped lynching. If Lilian had not interceded for Uncle Bud, of whom
+she is very fond, I'm afraid we'd have no little Buddy now. No, we sent
+down to Omaha for a dressmaker and boarded her in town until she had Lil
+all fixed up, as becomes the heiress of the La Garita Mines.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whose idea is this way of making the things?&quot; demanded Stella, who was
+looking Lilian over with critical eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, we all had a finger in it. I sent away for a lot of fashion
+magazines and things of that sort, and we sat up nights as a board of
+strategy and picked out the sort of thing we wanted, and I reckon there
+isn't a better-dressed kid in the State.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I agree with you. Well, Ted Strong, you're a constant wonder to me.
+Where in the world did you learn to do all the things you do so well?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The honeyed flatterer. Quit your joshing, Stella; hand it to Ben. He
+likes it, and the thicker it is the more he can stand of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello! Breakfast!&quot; called Song from the veranda, and they all trooped
+back to the living room to finish breakfast and talk about the things
+they had passed through, and to lay plans for the coming round-up
+festivities.</p>
+
+<p>After breakfast Ted and Stella went out to the corral to look at the
+saddle stock.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, there's old 'Calamity Jane,'&quot; cried Stella, as a bay pony came
+trotting across the corral and put its velvet nose in the hand she held
+out.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jane knows you, all right,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sure. Why shouldn't she? I rode her all one season down here. I believe
+she wants me to choose her for my own again. Do you, Calamity, old
+girl?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Calamity Jane, which had at one time been the wickedest and stubbornest
+mare on the ranch, nickered and again rubbed Stella's hand with her
+nose.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Talk about your smart horses,&quot; said Stella. &quot;Calamity can do everything
+except talk. Who's been riding her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Kit. He's wrangler, and he won't let any one on her. He's light, you
+know, and he was saving her for you. You'll find that she hasn't been
+spoiled at all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then, if Kit has been riding her, she's all right, for if there ever
+was a horseman it's Kit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Isn't she getting fierce?&quot; said a quiet voice behind them. &quot;Say, she's
+getting to be one of these regular society jolliers. She didn't used to
+be that way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They wheeled around to see Kit, who had come up to them in his usual
+quiet manner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Ted. &quot;She tried to hand me a package this morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You mean things. That's what a girl gets for being civil and
+confidential, and talking as she would like to fellows she thinks are
+her friends. I'm going back to the house. I don't like you very much
+this morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boys winked at one another.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Kit, I want Sultan after a while. I'm going to ride down to the
+lower end of the ranch to look at that bunch of new horses,&quot; said Ted
+carelessly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, may I go with you?&quot; asked Stella eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I thought you were mad at us, or I would have asked you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was only fooling. I'll be ready in ten minutes. Let's take Lilian
+with us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was what I was going to do. It is time for Lilian's regular riding
+lesson. I am trying to make her as good a rider and all-around cowgirl
+as you, Stella, but I doubt if ever she will.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who is jollying now, Mister Ted?&quot; cried Stella, with a laugh, but she
+was blushing with pleasure at the compliment.</p>
+
+<p>That is the difference between a boy and a girl. A healthy,
+well-conditioned boy becomes embarrassed and cross at a well-meant
+compliment spoken in the presence of another, believing that the person
+who is complimenting him is making fun of him in some unknown and covert
+way. But to a girl a compliment that is sincere is as grateful as dew to
+a rose, and Stella always felt much elated when Ted complimented her on
+her prowess in any of the arts of the range.</p>
+
+<p>They rode away with Lilian, who was learning to ride well for her age
+and experience under the best of riding teachers, Ted Strong.</p>
+
+<p>As they were nearing the lower pasture they observed a great commotion
+among the horses that were huddled in a fence corner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, what's going on there?&quot; exclaimed Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Looks like the worst sort of a riot,&quot; said Stella. &quot;I believe those
+boys need help.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They could see Bud and Ben and several cowboys circling around the
+bunch of ponies, evidently trying to get into it, and break it up and
+scatter it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the row?&quot; asked Ted, galloping up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar's a cayuse in thar thet I'd plumb like ter electrocute,&quot; said Bud,
+who was mad clear through. &quot;My, but he's got er bad dispersition.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Which one?&quot; asked Ted, laughing. &quot;From what I can see there isn't one
+of them you could call angelic.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar's ther meanest bunch o' horse meat thet ever come ter this man's
+ranch, bar none, an' ther prize devil o' ther lot is thet black demon in
+thar. He near broke my pony's leg a minute ago with a stem-windin' kick
+sech ez I never see before. Thet hoss is shore double-j'inted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The horses were bunched, heads in, heels out, around a splendid-looking
+black stallion, which was biting and kicking at everything that came
+near him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let him kick his foolish head off,&quot; said Ted, viewing the squealing,
+struggling throng.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon they're just showin' off because Stella got here this
+mornin',&quot; said Bud disgustedly. &quot;They're tryin' ter knock us, Stella, by
+showin' yer thet we aire a bum lot o' horsemen fer not makin' them
+behave first off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella laughed and nodded. She understood.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where did you pick up such a mean bunch of horses?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Them hosses is intended fer ther tourneymint what takes place after
+ther round-up. We're goin' ter hev some roughridin' fer fair here, an'
+if we all git out with whole bones we shore kin send up a balloon in
+celebraytion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But where did you get them? Were they bred mean on purpose?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon not. I bought 'em from ther wild range in Montana. They ain't
+seen men closer than a mile, except'n' it wuz Injuns, an' they don't
+count, until we butted in on 'em. They belonged ter ole man Stallings. I
+reckon you remember him, what we met on our way ter Fort Grant, when yer
+run erway an' got lost on Red Mesa.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wuz lookin' fer a bunch o' cow hosses. We sold a big run o' 'em ter a
+Newbrasky cowman who was short o' saddle stock, an' who said he'd heard
+we had the best-broke cow ponies in ther West, an' I reckon we had. He
+was willin' ter pay a good price fer our spare stock, an' we unloaded.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then you will have to break in a lot of new ones. Isn't that a waste of
+time?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Young woman, we're ranchmen, not rockin'-chair gents. It's part o' our
+business ter take somethin' what ain't much good, an' make it better.
+That's the way we earn our bread an' bacon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So I see.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted says ter me ter go up inter Montana an' pick up a lot o' good,
+gingery hosses, an' I struck John Stallings. He says ter me, when I made
+my wants known, 'Go out on ther range an' he'p yerself,' says he.
+'They're all mine, an' Ted Strong an' his boys kin hev anythin' I've got
+except my fam'ly. But,' says he, 'you'll find some purty lively stock
+out there.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, you did,&quot; said Stella, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon I picked out ther orneriest hosses in the whole West, an' I'm
+savin' them fer some o' these Smart-aleck cowboys who'll be here from
+ther ranches round, who think they kin ride,&quot; and he winked wisely.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Gracious, look there!&quot; she cried. &quot;What's Ted trying to do. He'll be
+hurt, Bud.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I reckon not, but I'll git in thar handy ter help him if he needs
+it. Keep the kid outer ther way if that bunch breaks.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted had done what none of the others had succeeded in doing.</p>
+
+<p>He had forced his way into the very center of the bunch of wild horses,
+wheeling and doubling and riding like a circus performer, to avoid the
+batteries of flying heels, until he was close to the wicked black
+stallion, which was all that held the bunch together and prevented it
+from being broken up and driven to the upper end of the ranch, where it
+belonged.</p>
+
+<p>There was not a moment when he was not in danger. A chance kick might
+break his leg, or bring down his horse, in which event he must be kicked
+to death or badly hurt by being trampled on.</p>
+
+<p>But so far they had not been able to reach him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Be careful, Ted,&quot; cried Stella.</p>
+
+<p>He waved his hand at her with a smile, and she hurried Lilian beyond the
+reach of danger.</p>
+
+<p>Ted wheeled his horse to face the black brute, which stood looking at
+him with wicked eyes, its ears flattened like those of a panther. In
+spite of its evil temper Ted admired it for its lithe beauty. It was as
+clean of limb as a thoroughbred, and its black skin shone like polished
+ebony. While he was looking at it thus it suddenly sprang at him, reared
+on its hind legs, striking at him like a boxer. Had he not wheeled on
+the instant it would have killed him. Ted was thoroughly angry, and went
+to the attack himself, beating the horse about the head with his quirt.
+When the horse rushed at him through a rain of blows across its nose Ted
+retreated beyond reach of its hoofs, then attacked it again.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the black horse wheeled and presented its heels, and Ted rode
+around it, lashing it well, everywhere the whip could reach.</p>
+
+<p>Although the horse continued to lash out with his heels he struck
+nothing, and always his enemy was at his side or in front.</p>
+
+<p>At last Ted resolved to bring the unequal combat to an end, as Sultan
+was tiring of the exercise, so instead of riding around the enraged
+horse, he pivoted with it, keeping in front of it all the time and
+whipping it on the nose.</p>
+
+<p>The &quot;insurgent&quot; stopped kicking at last and stood with drooping head,
+trying to shield its face from that cruel, relentless, stinging thing
+which the man creature wielded. He was cowed, but not conquered.</p>
+
+<p>Taking advantage of the moment, Ted drove him backward and clear of his
+companions. Seeing their leader retreat, the other horses broke their
+close formation, and allowed themselves to be driven down the valley,
+not without an occasional rebellious kick, however.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_III'></a><h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h3>STELLA GOES TO THE &quot;RENT RAG.&quot;</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, joy, an' pickled pelicans!&quot; said Bud Morgan, skipping onto the
+veranda one evening, when all the boys were sitting around Stella and
+Mrs. Graham.</p>
+
+<p>Bud had just returned from Soldier Butte, where he had been spending the
+afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's devouring you now?&quot; asked Ben Tremont. &quot;Or is it just one of
+your weekly sillies?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who are yer alludin' at?&quot; asked Bud loftily.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As you were going to say&mdash;&quot; suggested Kit, looking at Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Boys, thar's goin' ter be a 'rent rag' in the Butte ter-morrer night,
+an' we all have an urgent bid ter be present.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A what?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A 'rent rag.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who tore it?&quot; asked Stella innocently.</p>
+
+<p>At this the boys laughed loud and long, then apologized when they saw
+Stella's embarrassment.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It ain't tore yet,&quot; said Bud, &quot;but it's lierble ter be before ther rosy
+dawn.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What are you talking about?&quot; said Stella impatiently. &quot;I never saw such
+provoking boys. You say such strange things, then cackle over it as
+though there was a joke in it, which nobody seems to see except
+yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A 'rent rag' is a&mdash;'rent rag,'&quot; said Kit, trying to explain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That sounds as sensible as the conundrum, 'Why is a hen?'&quot; said Stella.
+&quot;Must I ask the question and get caught? All right, here goes. What is a
+'rent rag'? Now, don't tell me, some one, that it is a rag that has been
+torn, for I exploded that one myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A 'rent rag,'&quot; said Bud slowly and carefully, &quot;is a rag for rent.
+A&mdash;a&mdash;er&mdash;well, it's a&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tell me, Ted,&quot; said the girl, turning to the leader of the outfit, who
+was leaning back in his chair smiling at the ridiculous conversation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, as near as I can make out it is a bit of slang that means this:
+The word 'rag' is the slang for a public dance. When a man in town who
+is popular enough falls behind in paying his rent, through some
+misfortune or other, and owes so much he cannot hope to pay it, he hands
+out a flag that he wants help. In other words, it is an invitation to
+his friends to organize a public ball for his benefit. It depends upon
+his honesty and popularity whether or not they do so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's the strangest thing I ever heard of.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, if the thing goes through, a hall is rented and music is engaged,
+the cost of which is to be deducted from the money taken at the door.
+Then the man for whose benefit the ball is given and his wife prepare a
+lot of sandwiches, fried chicken, and other eatables, and a tub or two
+of lemonade, and help their profits along.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So that is a 'rent rag,' eh? Who is the man for whom the dance is to be
+given, Bud?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A feller named Martin, whose wife has been sick all summer,&quot; answered
+Bud. &quot;From what they say, I reckon he's all right. Jest ter be a good
+feller I bought ten tickets, at one bean per ticket.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is that all they are?&quot; asked Stella. &quot;Only one bean? Gracious, they'll
+have to dispose of an awful lot of tickets to get enough beans to sell
+to pay their rent with! Why don't they make it something else? I'd like
+to contribute a dollar, at least. A bean a ticket, pshaw! How awfully
+cheap! I guess he doesn't owe much.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this remark the boys fairly cackled.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, what are you laughing at?&quot; cried Stella, almost angry. &quot;I seem to
+be more humorous to-night than I ever thought possible. I can hardly say
+a word but you all start to laugh at me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This was too much for the boys. They couldn't restrain themselves and
+went off into peals of laughter. When they saw the danger signals of two
+bright spots in Stella's cheeks, they realized that they had gone too
+far, and all hastily tried to explain. But Ted was before them, and
+quietly told Stella that in the expressive, if scarcely lucid, language
+of the day a &quot;bean,&quot; in the sense in which Bud had used it, meant a
+dollar.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Such silly slang,&quot; said Stella, restored to good humor once more. &quot;I
+don't mind slang if it's clever and reveals or conceals or twists a word
+in some sensible way, but a bean for a dollar&mdash;no, it won't do. The
+fellow who invented that should try again. The only fun I can see in
+slang is its aptness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boys murmured something to the effect that it wasn't a particularly
+witty bit of slang, but they continued to grin at one another.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Suppose we all go to the 'rent rag,'&quot; said Stella suddenly. &quot;I never
+saw anything of the sort, and I'm crazy to go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's likely to be pretty rough, and break up in a row before its
+natural time,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll only stay a short while,&quot; said Stella. &quot;But I should like to do
+my share toward helping the poor fellow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's done already. I bought ten tickets. Thet's as much ez they expect
+from ther Moon Valley Ranch, an' it goes inter ther running expenses o'
+ther ranch, anyhow, in ther charity account.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't care, I want to go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I move we go,&quot; said Ben. &quot;It will add some tone to the proceedings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ben wants to air his spike-tailed coat and low-neck vest,&quot; said Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not for me,&quot; said Ben, laughing. &quot;I wonder what those cow-punchers and
+miners and gamblers would do with a chap who sauntered in there in
+evening dress.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He shore would come up ter Stella's conception of a rent rag, which is
+a torn rag,&quot; said Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted, won't we go?&quot; pleaded Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sure, if you want to; you are our guest, and whatever you want, all you
+have to do is to ask for it,&quot; answered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>It was agreed that they should wear their everyday uniforms, and Stella
+was for going in her distinctive cowgirl costume, but this Mrs. Graham
+would not permit, and insisted that she should wear a frock which she
+had had made in Denver.</p>
+
+<p>When, the next night, Stella walked into the living room, where the boys
+were waiting to escort her and Mrs. Graham to the ball, there was a
+general exclamation of wonder and admiration, at which Stella hesitated
+with a blush, then came forward with smiling assurance.</p>
+
+<p>Instead of the bold and dashing Stella in her bifurcated riding skirt
+and bolero jacket, the boys saw a beautiful young woman in a pale-blue
+gown of silk and chiffon, with her pretty hair piled on top of her head,
+instead of flowing over her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment they were awed. They had never seen her so, and perhaps had
+never thought of her as being a young lady. Most of them were content to
+regard her just as Stella, their girl pard, and to-night she had given
+them a surprise.</p>
+
+<p>At her throat was a superb sapphire set in a brooch, which had come out
+of the broncho boys' sapphire mines on Yogo Creek, and in her hair was
+an ornament of diamonds and rubies which the boys had made from jewels
+which had come as their share of the treasures of the Montezumas, which
+they had discovered beneath the castle of Chepultapec, near the city of
+Mexico.</p>
+
+<p>Altogether Stella was very stunning, and in their admiration of her in
+this new r&ocirc;le of society girl the boys were between two preferences, as
+she was now, and as they knew her in the saddle, throwing her lariat or
+handling her revolver.</p>
+
+<p>Most of them, however, came to the conclusion that she was still Stella,
+no matter what she wore.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Stella, that's not fair,&quot; drawled Ben, &quot;to dress up like that and
+make us wear our working togs. I've got a good mind to go and get into
+my spike.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If you do, I won't go,&quot; said Stella. &quot;Unless the other boys wear theirs
+also. You and I would look fine going in there dressed up, and the other
+boys as they are now. No, I wouldn't have worn this dress if aunt hadn't
+insisted upon it, and this time I couldn't shake her determination. I
+hate it, and would much rather have my working clothes on. But, never
+mind, it won't be for long. How do you like me in this?&quot; She revolved
+slowly before them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Scrumptious!&quot; said Ben appreciatively.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Prettier than a basket of peaches,&quot; ejaculated Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar ain't nothin' in art er nature what kin show up more gaudy,&quot; said
+Bud. &quot;Except, mebbe, it might be a pink rose in er garden at airly
+mornin' with ther dew on it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, hasn't Bud got us all faded?&quot; said Ben. &quot;I didn't know the old
+sandpiper had so much poetry in his soul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So perfectionately lofely a younk lady nefer did I saw,&quot; exclaimed
+Carl, clasping his hands and holding them before him, while he rolled
+his eyes toward the ceiling.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She's all thet,&quot; said Bud. &quot;But come down ter airth. Stella ain't up
+among ther rafters.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted had said nothing, and Stella looked at him. He was regarding her
+attentively.</p>
+
+<p>Her look said: &quot;What do <i>you</i> think?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He answered it with a look of admiration that satisfied her that he
+thought her perfect.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think I like you best in the everyday clothes,&quot; he said quietly. &quot;But
+that gown is as if you were made for it and it was made for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The thought had come into Ted's mind that some day, in the far future,
+they would lose their girl pard, and society or duties elsewhere would
+claim her.</p>
+
+<p>Stella understood him and agreed with him.</p>
+
+<p>Soon they were ready to start for the ball. The carriage was got out and
+Carl volunteered to drive the horses, while the other boys rode.</p>
+
+<p>Just as they were about to start Stella cried: &quot;Where is Jack Slate? I
+don't see him. Isn't he coming to the ball?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haven't saw him,&quot; said Bud. &quot;I reckon he'll be moseyin' erlong after a
+while. We won't wait fer him. He knowed when we wuz goin' ter start.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He came in a little while ago from the lower pasture,&quot; said Kit, &quot;and
+went to his room. He said he had been thrown by his horse, and that the
+jar had given him a headache.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, don't let us wait for him,&quot; said Ben. &quot;If he gets to feeling better
+he'll be along. You couldn't keep Jack away from a ball with an
+injunction.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So they proceeded to town, the boys acting as outriders to the girl,
+whom they were convinced would be the belle of the ball.</p>
+
+<p>When they arrived at the hall in Soldier Butte they found the people
+flocking in, as Martin, the beneficiary, was a very popular fellow, and
+any man in hard luck in the West always gets all the help he needs, if
+he deserves it.</p>
+
+<p>Ted escorted Stella into the ballroom, while Ben followed with Mrs.
+Graham, the other boys taking the horses around to the corral.</p>
+
+<p>As Ted and Stella entered the room there was a hum of admiration, and
+conversation stopped as men and women craned their necks to look at the
+handsome couple.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was both proud and pleased, but a little bit embarrassed at the
+attention they received, while Stella held her head up proudly, with a
+look of indifference on her face, as if she had been used to admiration
+all her life.</p>
+
+<p>The ball certainly was a mixed affair.</p>
+
+<p>In one corner were a lot of army officers and their ladies.</p>
+
+<p>All down the sides of the ballroom cowboys were sitting with girls from
+the ranches. Town girls and boys had a corner to themselves. The
+gamblers flocked together, and miners and others wandered here and
+there, mixing with cavalrymen from the fort.</p>
+
+<p>When the boys returned from the corral they found that Mrs. Graham and
+Stella and their escorts had pre&euml;mpted a vacant corner.</p>
+
+<p>There was a piano in the room, but no one to play it. Soon, however, a
+fellow dressed after the cowboy fashion entered and took a seat on a
+raised platform, producing a fiddle from a green bag.</p>
+
+<p>A round of applause greeted him.</p>
+
+<p>He tuned his instrument, and after a few preliminary scrapes began to
+play a monotonous tune, repeating over and over again the same few bars.</p>
+
+<p>At the first scrape the cowboys and their girls leaped to the floor and
+began to dance, but none of the people from the fort cared to dance to
+such music.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the door flew open and a band of a dozen cow-punchers walked
+into the room, and were greeted by joyous shouts by the other cowboys in
+the hall.</p>
+
+<p>At their head was a handsome young fellow, slender and dark, with a
+resolute face and a pair of piercing eyes that flashed around the room
+for the purpose of seeing and locating his possible enemies.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who is that?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's Billy Sudden,&quot; answered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And who is he?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Foreman at 'Cow' Suggs' ranch. That's the Suggs bunch of cow-punchers.
+There'll be something doing here to-night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are a lot of fellows in this part of the country who don't like
+Billy, and some of them are liable to tread on his feet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, is he quarrelsome?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, Billy is the best sort of a fellow, but he won't let any one hobble
+him. When he first went to the Dumb-bell Ranch, as the Circle-bar Circle
+is called, they took him for a kid and tried to run over him. He kicked
+them, then fired them, and they don't like him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did you see him look around the room?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, he has every man who is likely to make trouble for him spotted and
+located. But we won't wait long enough to see the trouble. I never did
+like trouble myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, for a chap who gets into it as often as you do&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the trouble now, over there?&quot; interrupted Ted, looking at the
+door.</p>
+
+<p>Around the entrance to the hall was a crowd of young town fellows led by
+a youth named Wiley Creviss, the son of the local banker, a dissipated
+and reckless young man, and a crowd of cow-punchers.</p>
+
+<p>They were shoving some one here and there, making a punching bag of him,
+at the same time laughing uproariously.</p>
+
+<p>Just then Ted saw the head of Jack Slate in the mix-up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Excuse me,&quot; said Ted, turning to Stella. &quot;Ben, take care of the ladies
+until I return.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He strode across the floor toward the door.</p>
+
+<p>As he neared it he heard Billy Sudden say:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Be careful, there. That is one of Ted Strong's fellows.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't care if it is,&quot; said some one. &quot;I'd give it to Strong just as
+hard if he was here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here I am,&quot; said Ted, pushing through the crowd.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_IV'></a><h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE TROUBLE IS STARTED.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>The crowd of men and youths opened out in front of Ted, and he strode
+into the circle.</p>
+
+<p>There he saw Jack Slate in a much disheveled condition, dressed in his
+evening clothes.</p>
+
+<p>Ted gasped as he stared for an instant at the youth from Boston.</p>
+
+<p>He wanted to tell Jack that &quot;it served him right,&quot; but that was not the
+part of loyalty, and in the presence of the enemy it did not make any
+difference to a broncho boy if his pard was right or wrong, if he was in
+need of help.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where is the fellow who was going to throw me around?&quot; asked Ted,
+looking into the faces about him.</p>
+
+<p>No one replied, although Ted waited for a moment or two before looking
+at Billy Sudden.</p>
+
+<p>Billy winked at him, but said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Seems as if somebody's sand has run out,&quot; said Ted contemptuously.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I don't know,&quot; said Wiley Creviss. &quot;There's plenty of sand left if
+you need any to prevent your wheels from slipping downhill.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, my sand box is always full,&quot; said Ted quietly. &quot;But there is some
+sneak in this bunch who hasn't the nerve to back up his brag.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you talking to me?&quot; said Creviss, swelling up as to chest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, are you the misguided chump whom I heard make the remark about
+pushing me about, as I came up?&quot; said Ted, in a tone of surprise.</p>
+
+<p>The cowboys from Suggs' ranch were snickering.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what if I was?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm going to make you try it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I can do it, all right.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, why don't you? I'm the easiest proposition you ever saw to be
+hazed by a bunch of hoodlums, such as you and your pals are!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;For two cents I'd punch your nose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're too cheap. I'll give you a heap more than that if you will. It's
+been so long since my nose was punched that it feels sort of lonesome.
+I'll pay you well for the job, if you succeed in pulling off the stunt.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You think you're the whole works because you've got a crowd of dudes
+around you. You're not the only dent in the can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted flushed at this allusion to his pards.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll put a dent in you if you open your face to remark about my friends
+again,&quot; he said, with some heat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See here, you town rough, you better take in your slack and clear out
+for home, or you'll begin to taste the sorrows that come from
+inexperience and bad judgment,&quot; said Billy Sudden to Creviss.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's up to you to mind your own business,&quot; snarled Creviss. &quot;What are
+you but a lot of greasy cow-punchers. We haven't much use for your sort
+in this town, anyway.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, son, keep quiet and behave yourself,&quot; said Billy paternally. &quot;If
+you get me riled I won't be as patient with you as Ted Strong has been.
+I'll fix you so as to keep two doctors busy the best part of the night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What are you fellows butting in for, anyhow?&quot; said Creviss angrily.
+&quot;Can't this freak that comes here in a dress suit and tries to lord it
+over us take care of himself?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Surest thing you know,&quot; drawled Jack Slate. &quot;But there are ladies here,
+a thing you don't seem to realize. If you'll step outside, I'd be glad
+to whip you right and propah.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the use, Jack, of fussing with these rowdies?&quot; said Ted. &quot;Let it
+go until some other time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet,&quot; said Creviss, courage returning when he heard Ted propose
+peace. &quot;I guess you'd like to let it go forever.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That settles it,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Go to him, Jack, and if you don't give him
+what's coming to him, I'll finish the job.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Git!&quot; said Billy Sudden, opening the door and shoving Creviss out into
+the street. The rest followed.</p>
+
+<p>As Jack stepped into the open air he peeled off his swallow-tailed coat
+and threw it over Ted's arm.</p>
+
+<p>He had no sooner done so than Wiley Creviss made a rush at him from the
+front, while one of the crowd ran in on him from the rear.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed an unequal beginning, and Ted was preparing to take on the
+second fellow.</p>
+
+<p>But Jack had seen him out of the corner of his eye, and as he came on
+the Boston boy stepped backward and threw his right elbow up.</p>
+
+<p>It was a timely and masterly trick, for the sharp elbow caught Creviss'
+ally full in the nose, and he dropped like a limp rag to the ground,
+with a howl of anguish.</p>
+
+<p>At the same moment Jack swung his left. Creviss had struck at him and
+missed when he back-stepped, and coming on swiftly ran into Jack's fist
+with a thud that jarred him into a state of collapse.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Finish him!&quot; shouted the cow-punchers, who stood about the fighters in
+a circle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go to him,&quot; said Ted, in a low voice. &quot;I saw him signal his pal to
+tackle you from behind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Creviss had partially recovered from the blow and was getting ready for
+another rush, when Jack slipped in and to one side and hit like a
+blacksmith at the anvil.</p>
+
+<p>This time Creviss went down and out.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hooray fer ther bantam!&quot; shouted a big cow-puncher, slapping Jack on
+the back. &quot;Say, I hear them say you're from Bosting. I'm goin' ter buy a
+hundred-pound sack o' beans myself ter-morrer an' begin trainin'. If
+beans'll do that fer you, a sack o' them will make me fit ter lick Jess
+Willard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But Jack was busy smoothing down his ruffled hair and pulling his white
+lawn tie around into its proper place, and when he had put on his coat
+he and Ted walked into the ballroom as calmly as if they had just
+stepped out to view the stars.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What was the trouble?&quot; asked Stella, when they reached her side.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Some town rowdies became noisy, and they were put out,&quot; answered Ted
+carelessly.</p>
+
+<p>But Jack's dress suit was the joy of the cow-punchers, who had never
+seen anything like it before, although they all knew that it was the way
+well-groomed men dressed for evening in the big cities.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, pard,&quot; said a cowboy to Jack, as he crossed the room, &quot;I axes yer
+pardon fer buttin' in, but yer lost ther front part o' yer coat tails.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's all right,&quot; answered Jack. &quot;Can't help it, don't you know. I
+left the blooming coat hanging on the line at home to air, and a goat
+came along and ate the front half of the tails off before I could get to
+it. I was just on my way to apologize to the master of ceremonies for
+it. You see, it is the only coat I have, and I was bound to come to the
+ball.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ha, ha! that's on you, 'Honk,'&quot; laughed the cowboy's friends, who had
+overheard the conversation, and Jack passed on, the boys alluding to him
+as a &quot;game little shrimp,&quot; for the news of his summary punishment of
+Creviss had got abroad.</p>
+
+<p>But Jack was not through yet. He went into the men's dressing room to
+leave his hat. As he was coming out he was met by a crowd of town
+youths, friends of Creviss. There was no one else about.</p>
+
+<p>They scowled and sneered at Jack, and one of them bumped into him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Heah, fellah, that will do,&quot; said Jack, with his Bostonese drawl.
+&quot;You're solid; you're no sponge.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't, eh?&quot; answered the bully. &quot;I'll tell yer, Mr. Slate, you're
+covered with bad marks what I don't like, an' I'm just the sponge to
+wipe them off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Step lively, then,&quot; said Jack, &quot;for I've an engagement to dance the
+next waltz.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll waltz you all you'll need this evenin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But before he had finished speaking Ben Tremont stepped around the
+corner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, Jack! What is this I see?&quot; said Ben. &quot;Disgracing yourself by
+talking with these hoodlums.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yas, deah boy,&quot; drawled Jack. &quot;This&mdash;er, what shall I call
+him?&mdash;stopped me to tell me he was going to rub the marks off me, at the
+same time wittily making a pun on my name. I was just telling him to
+hurry, or I'd miss the next waltz.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I'll take the job off your hands. Stella was asking for you a
+moment ago.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, run along to your Stella,&quot; said the hoodlum. &quot;I reckon she's
+pining for the sassiety o' another dude.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>That was where he made the mistake of his life.</p>
+
+<p>It didn't really make much difference what these fellows said about
+themselves, but the boys would not permit Stella's name to be bandied
+about by the roughs.</p>
+
+<p>So swiftly, that they didn't know what had happened to them, both Ben
+and Jack sailed into them.</p>
+
+<p>They went sprawling like tenpins before the ball as Ben jumped in among
+them and mowed them down with his powerful blows, while Jack, hovering
+like a torpedo boat around a battleship, sent in several of the telling
+blows Ted had taught him during the boxing lessons at Moon Valley.</p>
+
+<p>The fight was soon over, and Ben and Jack slipped quietly back into the
+ballroom, leaving a well-thrashed crowd to stanch bloody noses, and
+patch up swollen lips and black eyes as best they could.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, a diversion had been created in the hall by the joshing that
+the Suggs' ranch outfit had directed toward the fiddler, who knew only
+one tune, and sawed that off for a waltz, quadrilles, and two-steps,
+without fear or favor.</p>
+
+<p>The musician had been engaged because he was a friend of the
+beneficiary, and had volunteered his services. As the ball grew more and
+more hilarious the cow-punchers felt the restraint of the folks from the
+fort and Moon Valley the less, and began to take it out of the fiddler,
+who paid no attention to them, but kept on scraping.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there was a crack from a revolver and the top of the fiddler's
+bow was knocked off, and the playing and dancing stopped simultaneously.</p>
+
+<p>There was more or less commotion, but the women did not scream or get
+panic-stricken. They were used to that sort of thing.</p>
+
+<p>Nobody knew who had fired the shot, but the cowboys and soldiers were
+mad clear through because there was no more music to dance by.</p>
+
+<p>The shot had come from the part of the hall in which the coatroom was
+situated, and directly afterward two slender young fellows climbed out a
+rear window, and a few moments later Billy Sudden and Clay Whipple came
+calmly through the front door and joined the throng about the musician,
+who said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Honest, folks, I don't blame no hombre fer takin' a shot at thet fiddle
+bow o' mine, fer I never could make it work right. I know it was bum
+music, but it was the best I could do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted Strong had observed the quiet entrance of Billy and Clay directly
+after the shooting, and he put this and that together. He knew that both
+of them were finished musicians. Clay Whipple was an exceptionally good
+violin player, and Ted had often heard Billy Sudden make a piano fairly
+sing. Evidently they had got to the point where they could stand the
+fiddler's music no longer, and had put a stop to it.</p>
+
+<p>But for all the badness of the music the people should not be deprived
+of their dance.</p>
+
+<p>He hunted up the culprits, who were hovering on the outskirts of the
+crowd, listening to the threats against and denouncing the vandals who
+had &quot;shot up&quot; the fiddler.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See here, you hombres, I'm on to you,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Now you've got to do
+the square thing. You've beaten the dancers out of the music, and you've
+got to get in and furnish it, or I'll tell these punchers who plugged
+the fiddler's bow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How did you get on to it?&quot; said Clay, with a grin.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Never mind. Is it a go?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon it'll have to be,&quot; said Clay, looking suggestively at Billy
+Sudden.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right,&quot; said Billy.</p>
+
+<p>The cow-punchers, who had come to dance with the girls from the ranches,
+were growing angry, and were telling what they would do to the fellow
+who had spoiled their fun if they caught him, when Ted Strong stepped
+upon the platform, and, holding up his hand for silence, said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Gentlemen, please do not get obstreperous. You shall have all the
+dancing you want. Ladies, please be patient; the music that is to follow
+is such as has never been heard at a dance in this part of the country.
+Mr. Clay Whipple, of the Moon Valley Ranch, and Mr. Billy Sudden, of
+the Dumb-bell Ranch, will play the violin and piano respectively. Both
+of them are cow-punchers, so don't take any liberties with them, or some
+one will get hurt.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was such cheering that the roof almost went off as Clay hunted up
+a violin and tuned it.</p>
+
+<p>Then began a waltz such as they had never heard, and in a moment the
+floor was covered with dancers, the officers in their uniforms, and the
+ladies in their light dresses, adding beauty to the scene. But the
+finest-looking couple on the floor was Stella and the leader of the
+broncho boys.</p>
+
+<p>Just before the dance began Bud approached Stella, and said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See that gal over thar? Ther one with ther corn-silk bang? She is mine,
+an' I'm goin' ter dance this with her; see? She's ther kind o' girl I
+admire. She's shore corn-fed, an' some woman.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't you know who that is?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Deed an' I don't, but I soon will. Who is she?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's Sophy Cozak, from over on the Bohemian prairie. She's rich,
+Bud.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't care nothin' erbout thet. She's shaped up jest erbout right.
+Yaller hair, and soft as feathers. Watch my smoke.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud sauntered over to the girl, who was really pretty and fat and pink.
+Apparently he was talking his usual nonsense to her, for she smiled,
+then arose from her chair, and went sailing around the room, Bud's
+partner in the waltz, and every time they passed Ted and Stella in the
+waltz Bud winked at them.</p>
+
+<p>Later, however, he met the irate escort of the girl, when he took her
+back to her seat, and they glared at one another for a moment; then the
+escort walked off, leaving Bud master of the situation.</p>
+
+<p>After this came the &quot;sour-dough&quot; quadrille, in which only old-timers
+were permitted to dance, and Bud led it with Mrs. &quot;Cow&quot; Suggs to the
+tune of &quot;Turkey in the Straw.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But finally, as the ball was drawing to a close, Ted heard Stella utter
+a slight scream, and saw her trying to draw her hand away from a young
+fellow, whose back was turned to him.</p>
+
+<p>He was across the room in an instant, and had the fellow by the
+shoulders and swung him around. It was Wiley Creviss, who had been
+drinking.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What has this cur been doing?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He insisted on dancing with me, and when I told him I would not, he
+said he'd make me,&quot; answered Stella. &quot;Then he caught hold of me, and I
+suppose I cried out, although I didn't mean to. That is what comes of
+wearing these clothes. If I'd had on my others, I'd have had my gun with
+me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted had heard enough. There was a window close by, which was about ten
+feet above the sidewalk. Ted rushed the struggling and cursing Creviss
+toward it, and by sheer strength lifted him to the sill and threw him
+out.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I guess we've had about enough of this,&quot; he said quietly, when he
+returned to Stella. &quot;No more mixed balls for mine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As Ted was escorting Stella to the carriage, Billy Sudden ranged up
+alongside of him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look out for Creviss and his bunch on the way home. They're telling
+around what they're going to do with you. Want any help?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I reckon not, Billy. Our bunch can take care of them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They are going to try to kill you to-night.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_V'></a><h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h3>SHOTS FROM THE DARK.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>As the broncho boys swung through the streets of Soldier Butte, after
+leaving the ball, Ted Strong was in the lead, and Bud, Ben, Kit, and
+Clay were riding on either side of the carriage, while Jack Slate, with
+his black coat tails flapping in the breeze, brought up the rear.</p>
+
+<p>They were passing an alley, at the corner of which an electric lamp shed
+a path of light across the street, when a revolver shot cracked out, and
+Ted's hat left his head.</p>
+
+<p>The ball had just grazed his scalp, and the merest fraction of an inch
+lower would have killed him.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly every one pulled up, and Ted, wheeling suddenly, rode at full
+speed for the mouth of the alley.</p>
+
+<p>As he did so another shot came from the alley.</p>
+
+<p>Ted's revolver was in his hand, and he fired at the spot where he had
+seen the flash from the muzzle of the assassin's weapon.</p>
+
+<p>He heard Mrs. Graham scream, and turned back to the side of the carriage
+only to find that one of the horses attached to it had been hit by the
+bullet, and was down, but that neither Stella nor Mrs. Graham had been
+injured, and he rode straight into the dark alley, followed by Bud and
+Kit, leaving Ben and the other boys to guard the carriage, for he did
+not know from what direction another attack might come.</p>
+
+<p>The alley was as dark as a pocket, and as Ted rode into it he well knew
+that he was taking his life in his hands.</p>
+
+<p>At the far end of the alley he heard the beat of feet running swiftly,
+and fired his revolver several times in that direction, and heard a yell
+of pain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come on, fellows,&quot; he called. &quot;I think I got one of them that time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As he said this they saw two dark figures dart out of the alley into the
+street at the end opposite that at which the boys had entered, and they
+spurred in that direction.</p>
+
+<p>But when they came to the street there was no one in sight, but
+splotches of blood on the sidewalk testified to the fact that a wound
+had been inflicted upon some one.</p>
+
+<p>They rode up and down the block, but without discovering where their
+attackers had taken refuge.</p>
+
+<p>It was a low part of the town, and there was scarcely a house on either
+side of the street into which a criminal would not be taken and
+concealed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll have to give it up,&quot; said Ted, at last. &quot;We could hunt here all
+night without being any the wiser.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Disappointed, they rode back, after tracing the bloodstains along the
+sidewalk to where they were lost in the dusty street.</p>
+
+<p>They found that the carriage horse had been so badly hurt that its
+recovery was impossible, and Ted mercifully put a bullet into its brain.</p>
+
+<p>The carriage was surrounded by people from the dance hall, who had been
+brought by the shots.</p>
+
+<p>Among them was Billy Sudden.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon I called the turn,&quot; said he, as Ted came up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You sure did,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't presuming to give advice none,&quot; said Billy, &quot;but if it was me
+that got his sky piece knocked off and had a horse shot I believe I'd
+almost be tempted to round up this yere man's town and capture every
+hoodlum in it, and sweat them to find out who fired them shots.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It wouldn't do any good, Billy,&quot; said Ted. &quot;The people in this town
+have got it in for the ranch people. They think the ranches are taking
+trade away from them. They'd sooner see the ranches split into farms of
+forty acres each. They'd have so many more farmers to rob that way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon so. But what are you going to do? I want to tell you that me
+and my boys stand with you till the burning pit freezes over, whenever
+and wherever you need us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;May have to call on you one of these days, but not now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ain't you going after that young imp, Creviss? Say, he's the meanest
+boy I ever saw. If I was his father I'd make him behave, or I'd bust him
+wide open.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I understand his father thinks Wiley is just smart and spirited, and is
+ready to back him up in anything he does.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ought to make the old man popular.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not so you can see it. But that boy is a tough citizen, and getting
+tougher every day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm hearing a good deal about that kid these days. He trains with a
+bunch of bad ones over at Strongburg.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;For instance?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Lately he's been running with 'Skip' Riley, a crook who has the
+reputation of having made more money out of holding up trains than by
+working.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know his record. How long has he been there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Several months. He came there from the Nebraska penitentiary, and he
+was smooth enough to work the reformed-criminal, first-offense racket on
+the women there until they finally got him a job in the fire department.
+He seems to be a hero in the eyes of a lot of tough young fellows here
+and in Strongburg, and they follow him in anything he suggests.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's not a healthy proposition for a boy. Mr. Riley ought to be
+conducted out of town.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The worst of it is he has banded them into some sort of secret
+organization.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do they call it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did know, but I've plumb forgotten. There's a young fellow uptown
+whom I'm trying to keep straight on account of his folks back East. I
+know his sister.&quot; Ted could see Billy's face get red as he said this.
+&quot;His name is Jack Farley. Perhaps you know him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, he's a good kid, but he got into bad company at home and skipped.
+I corresponded once in a while with his sister, and she wrote me about
+him, and one day I run across him in a gambling house here. I hadn't
+seen him since he was a kid, but I knew him straight off because he
+looks so much like Kate&mdash;Miss Farley I mean&mdash;and I called him outside
+and had a talk with him. He was mighty uppy at first, and threw it into
+me so hard that I had to turn in and whale some sense into him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's one way of doing it,&quot; said Ted dryly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was the only way for him. He thought he'd get sympathy by writing
+home about it, but all he got was that they reckoned he deserved it or
+he wouldn't have got it. After that he was good. But he'd got in with
+that Creviss bunch and didn't seem able to get out of it, so I let him
+stay, only I made him come to me every day or two and tell me what he'd
+been up to, and that's as far as I've got.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Send him out to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He won't work on a ranch, or I'd had him out at the Dumb-bell long ago.
+He likes to work in town, so I got him a job, and so far he has stuck to
+it. But the gang keeps him from doing any good for himself. He knows the
+name of this organization of boys under Skip, and the next time I see
+him I'll find out what it is. Then you keep your eye peeled for it, for
+Creviss is one of the leaders, and I'm afraid, after to-night, he'll do
+all he can to make things lively for you. He's a mean, vindictive little
+cuss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll keep a weather eye out for him, never fear. Thank you for the tip.
+This is the first time I've heard of the bunch, I've been away from the
+ranch so much lately.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boys had hitched Jack Slate's horse into the carriage, and he got on
+the seat with Carl, and they were ready to start.</p>
+
+<p>With an &quot;Adios&quot; to Billy Sudden and his boys, they were off, and arrived
+at the ranch house without further incident.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Graham and Stella had retired for the night, and the boys were
+sitting before the fire in the living room, for the night was chilly and
+Song had built up a good blaze against their return.</p>
+
+<p>Naturally, the conversation drifted to the shots fired at them from the
+alley.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;While I wuz ambulatin' eround ter-night I overheard some conversation
+what wuz interestin',&quot; remarked Bud, who was sprawling on a bearskin in
+front of the fire.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What was it?&quot; asked Ted, who had been turning over in his mind what
+Billy Sudden had told him of the organization of tough boys under the
+guidance of the ex-convict.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wuz standin' clost ter one o' ther winders what opens out onter ther
+alley when I hears two fellers talkin' below me,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What were they saying?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wuzn't aimin' ter listen ter no one's privut conversation, but I
+caught your name, an' I tried ter hear what wuz said erbout yer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Naturally.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;One feller wuz talkin' pritty loud, ez if he'd been hittin' up ther
+tangle juice, an' ther other feller wuz tryin' ter make him put on ther
+soft pedal, what Clay calls talkin' pianissimo. But when the booze is in
+ther wit is out, an' ther feller would shut it down some fer a while,
+then he'd get a good lungful o' air an' bust out ergin.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What was it all about?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Erbout runnin' us off'n ther reservation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They'd have a fine chance to do that,&quot; said Ted, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It seems they hev some sort o' a club, ther 'Flyin' somethin' er
+other'&mdash;I couldn't jest catch what. To hear them fellers talk they're
+holy terrors.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How do they propose to run us off? Did you hear that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No; they didn't discuss ways an' means, but they said as how ther boss,
+they mentioned his name, but it's clear got erway from me, hed riz up on
+his hind legs an' hed give it out straight to ther gang thet ez long ez
+we wuz in ther country they couldn't do no good fer theirselfs,
+consequentially we must skidoo, ez they needed this part o' ther country
+fer their own elbowroom. They wuz real sassy erbout it, too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I suppose they thought all they had to do was to serve notice on us,
+and we'd vacate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon thet's ther way they hed it chalked up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, that bears out what Billy Sudden told me to-night after we were
+shot at.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then Ted related what Billy had told him about Skip Riley and his
+influence on the boys of Soldier Butte and Strongburg.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thet thar's ther very feller they wuz talkin' erbout, thet Skip Riley.
+Now I recolict it, an' ther name o' their sweet-scented aggergation is
+ther 'Flyin' Demons.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, mercy! Aren't they just awful?&quot; said Ben, with a grin. &quot;But which
+way are they expected to fly, toward you or from you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If they come monkeyin' eround these broad acres they'll be flyin' fer
+home,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Or to jail, if we can prove what I believe against them,&quot; said Ted
+thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is that?&quot; asked Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You haven't forgotten the mysterious robbery of the Strongburg Trust
+Company's office, have you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nope.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You remember that a great many people to this day disbelieve that the
+office was robbed at all, because everything was found locked and
+barred, and the most careful examination showed that no one could have
+broken into the room from which a box containing twenty thousand dollars
+in currency and a package of negotiable bonds was stolen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Shore, I remember. That's allays been ther greatest mystery in these
+parts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You haven't forgotten the robbery soon afterward of the Soldier Butte
+post office and the disappearance of the registered mail pouch that came
+in on the train at two o'clock in the morning. It was thrown into the
+inner office by the carrier, and the office securely locked. Yet in the
+morning it could not be found, and there was nothing to show that the
+post office had been entered.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon I haven't. We lost a bunch o' money in it ourselves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But we got it back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's so, but the carrier is still in jail, awaitin' trial fer
+stealin' the sack, an' I don't believe he had any more ter do with it
+than I had.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And yet the most careful examination by the post-office inspectors
+failed to show that the place had been forcibly entered, and, although
+the carrier, Jim Bliss, had witnesses to show that he went into the post
+office with the sack, and came right out without it, still he is in
+jail, accused of stealing it,&quot; said Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are several other cases of mysterious robberies which I might
+cite, but those are enough,&quot; said Ted. &quot;But the curious thing about it
+all is that the robbers left not the slightest trace, not a broken lock,
+not a mark to show that a window was forced or a hole bored. When the
+place is closed up at night there is the money, when it is opened in the
+morning the money is gone. And again, these robberies only occur when
+valuables are accidentally left out of the vaults.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is curious. Everything yer say is true, but I never thought erlong
+it ez much ez you, an' I didn't figger out how near they wuz alike.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what's your theory?&quot; asked Ben. &quot;You started to tell us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, who do you think committed these robberies?&quot; asked Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who but a gang of bad boys under the leadership and tutelage of a
+criminal?&quot; answered Ted. &quot;Who but the gang of Strongburg and Soldier
+Butte young toughs who go by the silly name of 'The Flying Demons'? If
+they get gay around this ranch, we'll have to tie a can to them and head
+them for the reform school or the penitentiary.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_VI'></a><h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE &quot;FLYING DEMONS'&quot; MESSAGE.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>When Ted Strong stepped out on the veranda the morning after the ball he
+found Stella staring curiously at a large, square piece of paper stuck
+on the wall of the ranch house.</p>
+
+<p>Nobody in the house had risen early, as they had all been up very late,
+except Song, the cook, who, when he saw that no one was disposed to turn
+out for an early breakfast, had gone out to work in the garden, in which
+he had with much skill raised an abundance of vegetables that year.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good morning, Stella; what is so interesting?&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It beats me,&quot; answered Stella. &quot;I wonder if this is one of Ben's
+witticisms. If it is, he ought to be spanked.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted was standing by her side, reading what had been printed on the
+paper.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;H'm! this is good,&quot; said he, and read aloud, as if to himself, the
+following warning:</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;TED STRONG AND BRONCHO BOYS: You ought to know by this time that
+     you are not wanted in this part of the country. Advise you to sell
+     out and skip. If you stay your lives will be made a hell on earth,
+     and we have the stuff that will do it. This is no bluff, as you
+     will find out if you disregard this word of friendly warning. You
+     will be given a short time to sell your stock, then git. This means
+     business.</p>
+
+<p>     &quot;THE FLYING DEMONS.&quot;</p></div>
+
+<p>&quot;That's a pretty good effort for a lot of kids,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Wait, here's
+a watermark in the paper. Let's see what it is?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted took the paper from the wall and held it up to the light.</p>
+
+<p>In the paper was the representation of the fabulous monster, the
+griffin, and woven into the paper were the words &quot;Griffin Bond.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's as easy as shooting fish in a tub,&quot; said Ted, as he folded the
+paper and put it in his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The fellow who put that warning up certainly left his footprints behind
+him,&quot; said Stella, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He did, but even without that I should have known the authors of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted then told Stella the substance of the conversation between the boys
+the night before, and of his suspicions as to the guilt of Creviss and
+his gang in the mysterious robberies that had occurred in the two towns.
+&quot;But,&quot; he concluded, &quot;it is not up to me to get at the matter. It is
+work for the sheriff. However, if those boys try any of their
+foolishness with us, we'll turn in and send them to the reform school,
+where they belong.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They're certainly a bad lot. I was talking to a lady at the 'rent rag'
+last night, and she was telling me what a horrid boy young Creviss is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wish I knew at what time this notice was put up here. It must have
+been done in daylight, for it was getting light in the east when we
+turned in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps some one was so quiet as to put it there while you were all
+inside talking.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hardly think so, for we were all sitting near the fireplace, and the
+room was so warm that Kit opened the door, and it stood open until we
+separated to go to bed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sure you could have heard them? Some of you were talking pretty loud,
+for I heard you in my room just before I went to sleep.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, of course, I couldn't be certain about it; but I came out on the
+veranda to take a look at the sky just before I turned in, and I didn't
+see it then. Surely, as I turned to come back into the house my eye
+would have caught that big piece of white paper beside the door.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What time was it that the most important part of your conversation took
+place?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Just before we broke up. I remember we were going over the mysterious
+robberies, and I expressed the opinion that they were the work of the
+gang under Skip Riley and Creviss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was probably the time the fellow who put up that notice was about.
+You see, if he followed you from Soldier Butte he wouldn't get here much
+earlier than that, for he wouldn't dare ride a pony the length of the
+valley at that time of the morning, so he had to walk from the south
+fence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove! I believe you are right.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If my theory is true, the fellow who brought the warning also carried
+back your conversation to the gang.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then they surely will have something to fight us on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, fear that you will get on their trail will compel them to try to
+make their bluff good, as expressed in that message.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'd give something to know when this thing was put up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let's see; it was about four o'clock when you turned in, wasn't it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Just about.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And just about that time Song gets up to cook for the boys in the bunk
+house who get out to relieve the night watch in the big pasture. Doesn't
+he?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Those are the orders.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then have Song in, and we'll ask him if he saw a strange man around the
+place when he got up. He might have seen him and thought nothing of it,
+and would never think of reporting it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good idea. Wait here and I will call him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes the Chinaman came shuffling in from the garden.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See here, Song,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Did you see a strange man here early this
+morning?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stlange man!&quot; said Song meditatively, with a smile of innocence on his
+broad, yellow face. &quot;No savvy stlange man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Man no b'long here,&quot; said Stella,</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes, I savvy. No see stlange man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What time you get up?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Me gettee up fo' clock.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did you go outside?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, me go out an' call cowbloy. Tell gettee up, P.&nbsp;D.&nbsp;Q. No gettee up,
+no bleakfast.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did you see outside that you don't see every morning?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Evely moling? No savvy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yesterday morning, day before that, day before that, all mornings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Lesterday moling, evely moling?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, the deuce! You try him, Stella.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Song, you see something makee you flaid this moling?&quot; said Stella,
+imitating Song's pidgin English.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes, me lookee out, plenty jump in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What you see?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Plenty wolf. He sneakee lound side house. I lun like devil.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What wolf look like?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Plenty big wolf. When he see me he lise up on hind legee, and lun likee
+man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ah ha! There's your clew,&quot; said Stella, turning to Ted. &quot;The fellow who
+posted this notice was disguised in a wolfskin so that he could sneak up
+to the house unnoticed by the Chinaman, or, if seen, he would make a
+bluff at scaring Song.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stella, you're a wonder.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Song, you no likee wolf?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, me plenty flaid wolf,&quot; answered the Chinaman, shaking his head
+violently.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Song. I givee you shotgun. Next time you see wolf, plenty
+shoot. Savvy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All light. You givee me gun, I shootee wolf plenty. Makee go 'ki-yi'
+and lun belly fast.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Song went away with a grin on his face like a crack in a piece of stale
+cheese.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stella, you've solved it. I believe whoever put that message there
+heard our conversation, and at least they'll hate us a bit worse than
+before, if that is possible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let them bark, the wolves. I never was afraid of a wolf, anyhow. If you
+want to throw me into spasms show me a bobcat. That's the fighting
+animal.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>During breakfast the boys were shown the warning that had been posted
+beside the door, and it was decided to pay no attention to it, but to
+watch for the appearance of a messenger from the &quot;Flying Demons,&quot; and if
+one was caught to make it hot for him.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had no doubt but Creviss and his gang would try to injure the
+broncho boys by every means in their power, but until they committed
+some overt act the boys could hardly afford to become the aggressors.</p>
+
+<p>For several days nothing happened, and the Moon Valley Ranch went the
+even tenor of its way.</p>
+
+<p>Preparations were under way for the fall round-up, and Ted had received
+letters from several heavy stock buyers that they would be present at
+that time to make their selections of such cattle as they desired to
+buy.</p>
+
+<p>It had always been the custom at the ranch to have an entertainment of
+some sort at the ranch afterward. This was started for the purpose of
+amusing the buyers with cowboy tricks and that sort of thing, but it had
+developed into something far greater, until now all the world was
+invited to the barbecue and the &quot;doings&quot; afterward. No one was barred
+who behaved himself.</p>
+
+<p>This year Ben Tremont had charge of the entertainment, and he was not
+limited as to expense, for every fellow was on his honor to provide the
+best entertainment for the least money.</p>
+
+<p>The manager's plans were generally kept secret from every one except Ted
+and Stella, who were the exceptional ones and were in every one's
+secrets and confidence.</p>
+
+<p>Ben had declared himself as to the superlative excellence of his show
+this year.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's going to be hard to beat,&quot; said he, in boasting about it. &quot;We've
+had some pretty good shows, but nothing like the one I'm getting up
+now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Kit had charge of the cowboy end of it, the races, the bronchobusting,
+the roping and tying contests; in fact, all the arena acts.</p>
+
+<p>This year Clay Whipple attended to the inner man, and was to provide a
+genuine old Southern barbecue, with trimmings.</p>
+
+<p>The round-up was to begin in less than a week, and the festivities were
+to follow immediately.</p>
+
+<p>Invitations had been sent broadcast into Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming,
+Idaho, Montana, and the Pacific coast States; everywhere, in fact, where
+the boys had friends, and from the responses received an enormous crowd
+would be present.</p>
+
+<p>Three days elapsed after the finding of the warning beside the door
+before anything more was heard from the Flying Demons.</p>
+
+<p>Then Ted found another message from them near the front door.</p>
+
+<p>It was as follows:</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;TED STRONG AND OTHERS: You think you know who committed the
+     mysterious robberies, but you are on the wrong track. You will
+     never find out, while your secrets are known to us. This is warning
+     number two. The third and last will come soon; then look out.</p>
+
+<p>     &quot;THE FLYING DEMONS.&quot;</p></div>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, why in the world do they call themselves the Flying Demons?&quot; asked
+Ted reflectively, as they were reading the second screed from their
+enemies. &quot;It seems to me that there is the secret of the whole thing.
+You never can tell what a pack of boys like that are going to do. They
+are more to be feared than older criminals, for they have no judgment,
+and will rush into the most reckless things just to show off before one
+another.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pay no attention to them,&quot; advised Stella. &quot;That's what I think they
+are doing now&mdash;showing off. I doubt if they think they can frighten us,
+but they are afraid of us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, by the way,&quot; said Ted, suddenly thinking of something. &quot;You
+remember I looked at the watermark on that first warning we received
+from these terrible demons. Well, this screed has the same
+mark&mdash;'Griffin Bond.' When I was in town to-day I went into the bank.
+Old man Creviss was behind the counter, and that precious son of his was
+beside him. I had a check cashed, and Mr. Creviss asked me why we didn't
+keep our bank account there. I told him we had thought something about
+it, but I didn't mention that we had decided not to. Then I asked him
+for a couple of sheets of paper on which to write a note, and he handed
+them to me. I took them to the window and held them up to the light to
+see the watermark.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And what was it?&quot; asked Stella eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The griffin.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then the paper on which these things were written came from the bank?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They certainly did. After I had looked at the watermark I turned to
+young Creviss and looked him square in the eye. He turned as white as
+chalk, and his lip trembled.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's a coward,&quot; said Stella positively. &quot;Why didn't he bluff it out?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He had nothing to stand on; but, as you say, he's a rank coward, and
+it's my opinion that it's only fear of Skip Riley that keeps him at it,
+anyway. At all events, I gave him a good scare, for instead of writing
+the note I folded up the paper and put it into my pocket. He stepped
+forward as if he would interfere and make me give the paper back, not
+having used it, but I gave him a glassy glare and walked out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then it was he who wrote the warnings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course, and he knows that I have him dead to rights. That is another
+mark against me with the gang.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Better watch out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They can have me if they can get me.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_VII'></a><h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h3>SONG SHOOTS A WOLF.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Early one morning the broncho boys were startled out of their beds by
+the double explosion of a shotgun, followed by excited yells and screams
+of agony.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That Chinaman has shot somebody,&quot; thought Ted, as he rapidly skipped
+out of bed and pulled on his trousers.</p>
+
+<p>In the living room he met all the boys, as scantily clad as himself,
+hurrying out to see what the noise was all about.</p>
+
+<p>They could hear Song behind the house screaming in Chinese at the top of
+his voice, and in an ear-splitting falsetto, which showed that he was
+tremendously excited.</p>
+
+<p>Thither they rushed, and for a moment the ludicrous scene far
+outbalanced the seriousness of what had happened.</p>
+
+<p>On the ground was a young fellow about seventeen years of age. He was
+writhing with pain, and the blood was oozing through his clothes in
+fifty places.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ha, ha!&quot; shrieked Song. &quot;Me shootee wolf, turnee into man light away.
+Ha, ha, me allee same plenty smart man, likee magician.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, you're a hot magician,&quot; said Bud; &quot;You've made this feller second
+cousin ter a porous plaster. That's what you've done.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who is he, Song?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Me no savvy him. Me comee out chicken house getee eggs fo' bleakfast. I
+cally gun, shotee plenty wolf all samee Mliss Stella say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But this is not a wolf.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All samee wolf. I open chicken house do'. I see wolf. Plenty glowl at
+Song. I no likee gun. Shutee my eye. Pull tligger, an' gun goee off. All
+samee wolf no mo' glowlee, him yellee like thundeh. When smokee blow way
+wolf gonee, all samee man comee. I plenty magician, I thinkee.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted looked in the chicken house, and on the floor lay the dried hide of
+a big gray wolf.</p>
+
+<p>Now he understood. The message had come the third time from the Flying
+Demons.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Kit, run around to the front door and see if there is a message there
+for us from our friends the Demons.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a moment Kit was back, holding a piece of paper in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>Ted took it from him, and read it.</p>
+
+<p>It was the third and last warning. It said:</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;TED STRONG: We have warned you twice before to leave this part of
+     the country, but you have made no move to do so. This is the third
+     warning. If you are not away from here in a week the vengeance will
+     fall upon you. Beware!</p>
+
+<p>     &quot;THE FLYING DEMONS.&quot;</p></div>
+
+<p>&quot;Did you bring this?&quot; asked Ted, of the wretched youth, who still lay
+upon the ground groaning from his numerous wounds.</p>
+
+<p>There was no reply. The fellow could only toss his head from side to
+side and rub his legs, into which the bulk of the shot had been fired by
+the excited Chinaman.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You won't answer, eh? Well, we'll find a way to make you. I'm glad
+you've given us a week,&quot; said Ted, laughing. &quot;That will at least give us
+time to hold our round-up and festivities.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, if I live through this I'll never go into anything like it again,&quot;
+moaned the youth upon the ground.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here, stand up,&quot; said Ted to him. &quot;You're not badly hurt. You're only
+stung, twice. Get on your feet and we'll see what we can do for you.
+You're a long way from dead yet. What's your name?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jack Farley. Oh, if I could only be sure that I wasn't going to die!&quot;
+exclaimed the youth.</p>
+
+<p>He was the young fellow Billy Sudden had spoken about.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We can't tell how badly you are hurt until you get up,&quot; said Ted.
+&quot;Rise, and we'll go into the house and examine your wounds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Slowly young Farley got to his feet, but when he tried to walk he
+uttered a howl of pain, and sank down again.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yellow all through,&quot; said Ben, in a tone of disgust.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ever have about three ounces of duck shot pumped into yer system
+through yer hide?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Never had.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then yer don't know all ther joys o' life. I've had one ounce shot
+inter my leg, an' if ther contents o' two shells gives double ther pain
+one does, then excuse me. An' mine wuz only snipe shot, at that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pick him up, boys, and lay him on the lounge in my room,&quot; said Ted.
+&quot;I'll take a look at him after a while, meantime some of you watch him
+to see that he doesn't get away. We need him for evidence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Bud and Ben had carried the wounded boy into Ted's room and laid
+him on the lounge, Bud stood over him regarding him with interest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I sorter envy yer, kid,&quot; he said at last.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You can have 'em, but I don't see why you envy me,&quot; said Farley.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wuz thinkin' how happy you'll be all through these lonesome winter
+evenings, pickin' ther shot out o' yer legs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Farley had been carried into the house, Ted called Kit to him and
+said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Kit, I wish you'd ride over to Suggs' ranch and tell Billy Sudden that
+his prot&eacute;g&eacute; is over here with his hide peppered with bird shot, and ask
+him to ride over and take a look at him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>During breakfast they related to Stella the story of Song's wolf hunt in
+the chicken house, and the result.</p>
+
+<p>Song was as proud as a peacock, and wore &quot;the smile that won't come off&quot;
+as he flitted around the table waiting on every one.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Missee Stella,&quot; he said, &quot;Song all samee one cowbloy now, eh? What
+you sayee?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, Song, you have certainly followed instructions. You got your wolf
+that time, sure. How you likee shootee?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No likee, Missee Stella. Makee too much noisee, all samee too much
+plenty fiahclackers. Kickee like blazes. Plitty near knockee arm outee
+Song.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boys stripped Farley after breakfast, and found his legs in pretty
+bad condition. They looked as if Song's gun had been loaded with
+smallpox, and all of it had lodged in the lad's legs.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Boys, we'll have to take relays in picking the shot from our first
+victim,&quot; said Ted. &quot;There's too much work here for one man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's a turrible-lookin' demon now with a hide full o' shot. Ther
+punctured demon of Demonville! Say, kid, I'd hate ter laugh at yer, but
+yer a sight. Why didn't yer fix it so's them two charges o' shot would
+hev been distributed among ther gang? Then yer could sit down o'
+evenings an' pick shot out o' one another instid o' plottin' agin' ther
+whites.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let him be, Bud, he's having all he can do to think about these shots,
+as it is. The things for us to do now is to pick them out of him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll let him count 'em ez they come out. That'll help take his mind
+off his troubles, but he'll hev ter hev a great head fer figgers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They went to work on him with their penknives, as most of the shot were
+just beneath the skin. But it was painful enough, at that, and every
+time a shot came out Farley groaned deeper. While they were engaged in
+this, to them, pleasing occupation, Billy Sudden arrived.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, kid,&quot; he said to Farley. &quot;So you got it at last. I could have
+told you to keep away from Ted Strong and his bunch. They're bad
+medicine for a herd o' mavericks like you to graze with. You tackled the
+wrong outfit. They're too many fer you, and if you'll all take a fool's
+advice you'll keep away, or else some of you will be looking through a
+griddle in a door up at the penitentiary.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Farley made no reply, only hid his face and groaned at every extracted
+shot.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, kid, what about this gang you belong to?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boy shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;D'ye mean to say you're not going to tell me about it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boy nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the reason you won't?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The oath.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Slush with the oath. You had no business to take it. What'll the home
+folks think when I tell them about this. Shot by a Chinaman in the
+chicken house at dawn!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Billy paused to let the ignominy of it sink in. It did sound pretty bad
+and mean and cheap. There were no heroics in this, such as Farley had at
+first considered his r&ocirc;le.</p>
+
+<p>He hid his face on his arm, and his body shook. Billy had probed deep
+into his pride.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, come on,&quot; said Billy. &quot;This is no time for a conspirator to do
+the baby act. I suppose you thought it was to be a spotlight scene where
+you stood in the center doing the heavy stunt, and all the rest sat on
+the bleachers and applauded. By gee! Peppered by a Chinaman, and with
+snipe shot, at that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, quit it!&quot; said Farley. &quot;I know I was a chump for sticking with
+those fellows, but I needed the money.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What money?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My share of the&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, nothing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, there is something. What robbery was it you shared in?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't steal anything.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I suppose not. You did the dirty work of being lookout, or something
+like that, and they threw you the bone while they kept the meat and fat,
+eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What shall I do with him?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Keep him locked up as a hostage. That may bring those young fools to
+their senses,&quot; said Billy. &quot;I'm disgusted with him for not making a
+clean breast of the whole foolish business, and if it wasn't for his
+sister, I'd toss him up in the air and forget him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The rest of the day was spent in picking shot out of Farley, and by
+evening he was relieved of the last one.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll put him in that empty room at the corner of the house, and take
+turns watching him through the night,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Until bedtime Farley sat in the living room with the rest of them, and
+they were unusually guarded in their conversation.</p>
+
+<p>When it came time to retire Farley was conducted to the room which was
+to be his prison, and it fell to Carl to take the first watch, and to
+call Ben at one o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>In the room there was a lounge and a pair of blankets for Farley, a
+table and a lamp, and a chair for the watch.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whatever you do, don't go to sleep, Carl,&quot; said Ted. &quot;The reason I'm
+putting you on the first watch is because you're such a sleepyhead.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don'd vorry aboud me,&quot; said Carl, with a yawn. &quot;I pet you I vas der
+sleepinglessness feller in der whole bunch. If he gets avay on my vatch
+it vill not be pecause I don'd sleep.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I guess you mean all right, but I swear I can't understand you. Only
+keep awake.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yah; I avake keeping all der time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Carl sat in the chair watching his prisoner, and soon saw Farley's chest
+heaving regularly and heard his deep breathing as he slept. Then things
+seemed to waver and fade away.</p>
+
+<p>Carl started up at hearing some one beating on the door, and sat rubbing
+his eyes. It was broad daylight.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, I'll get up pooty soon yet. Is preakfast retty?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here, open the door. This is Ted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Vait a minute.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Carl staggered sleepily to the door and unlocked it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where is your prisoner?&quot; asked Ted, stalking into the room, and looking
+at the open window.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My vat? Ach, Gott in himmel, vat haf I dided? I am schoost coming
+avake. He iss gone! I haf slept on vatch. I am foreffer disgraced. Kill
+me, Ted! I haf no appetite to live any more alretty,&quot; cried Carl.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had been angry at discovering the escape of Farley, for he had
+conceived a plan to use him against Creviss. He had risen early, and
+when he found that all the boys were in bed except Carl, he immediately
+suspected the truth.</p>
+
+<p>But Carl's despairing manner turned him from anger.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Never mind, Carl,&quot; he said. &quot;It was my fault for putting you on watch.
+You were not cut out for a watchman. Or, perhaps, you were, according
+to the funny papers, but not of prisoners.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>During breakfast Carl was compelled to endure the jokes of the boys at
+his failure to guard the prisoner, which he did with a lugubrious
+countenance; then, at a signal from Ted, the subject was dropped.</p>
+
+<p>About ten o'clock Billy Sudden rode up to the ranch house.</p>
+
+<p>There was something in his manner that betokened news of importance, and
+he strode unbidden into the living room, where Ted was sitting at his
+desk.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where's the kid?&quot; he asked abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who, Farley?&quot; asked Ted, looking up from his work.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Skipped.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I said skipped.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great Scott! I'd give a hundred dollars if he hadn't.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What time did he get away?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't know, exactly. Carl was watching him, but he fell asleep almost
+as soon as they were in the room together, and didn't wake up until six
+o'clock this morning, and Farley was gone. No one knows how he got away
+or at what time. It might have been any time. He probably woke up in the
+night and saw that Carl was dead to the world, and opened the window,
+dropped to the ground, and hit the trail. That's all I know about it.
+But what makes you so anxious about it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then you haven't heard the news?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Guess not. What is it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The First National Bank was robbed last night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great guns! Creviss' bank! That's the United States depository!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The same.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What are the details?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I rode through town this morning on my way over here to see if being
+confined for the night wouldn't make the kid talk, when I saw a bunch of
+men standing in front of the bank. I butted in and asked what the
+excitement was, and they told me that the bank had been robbed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But how?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's what nobody knows. When the cashier, Mr. Henson, got to the bank
+this morning everything apparently was all right. The doors and windows
+were fastened, and there was no sign anywhere that the bank had been
+forcibly entered. Of course, he didn't look at these things first. He
+went to the vault and opened it at the proper time and examined its
+contents casually. Everything seemed to be as usual. But when, a few
+minutes later, he went to get out the currency, it was all gone. He
+hadn't counted up when I left there, so no one knows the exact amount,
+but it was large.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_VIII'></a><h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE BATTLE WITH THE BULL.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>The excitement incident to the mysterious robbery of the Creviss bank
+was intense.</p>
+
+<p>How had it been done? This was the question that every one was asking
+his neighbor. But none could answer it.</p>
+
+<p>The evening before the robbery had taken place the bank had been closed
+by the cashier, and by Mr. Creviss himself.</p>
+
+<p>The money, books, and papers, with which the business of the day had
+been conducted, had been carried into the vault by the cashier, and Mr.
+Creviss, who was an unusually cautious man, looked into the vault after
+the cashier came out, to see that everything was in. Then he closed the
+vault doors, and turned the handle of the combination, setting the time
+lock, thus securing the doors from being opened until nine o'clock the
+next morning.</p>
+
+<p>The only way in which it could be opened, and an almost impossible way,
+at that, was by blowing it open.</p>
+
+<p>And yet the vault had been robbed, and the vault lock had apparently not
+been tampered with.</p>
+
+<p>It had the appearance of necromancy.</p>
+
+<p>Ted rode into town with Billy Sudden, arriving about noon.</p>
+
+<p>Billy rode on to the Dumb-bell Ranch, and Ted stopped at the bank. It
+seemed deserted. But as he entered the door he saw a big man, dressed in
+the flashy clothes affected by managers of cheap circuses and fake
+shows, standing at the end of the counter talking to Wiley Creviss.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can't do anything with that check,&quot; Ted heard Creviss say. &quot;You'll
+have to come in when the cashier is here. The safe is locked, and I
+can't get into it, anyway, and all the currency is in it. I'm only
+staying here until the cashier gets back from dinner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When will that be?&quot; asked the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In about half an hour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The stranger picked up his valise, which seemed to be heavy, and walked
+out grumbling about banks that closed up for dinner.</p>
+
+<p>Ted said nothing to Wiley, but he took a good look about the bank,
+disregarding the other lad's scowls.</p>
+
+<p>He observed that the vault door stood open, but that there was no money
+in sight, and the place had an air of desertion, as if business was
+slack.</p>
+
+<p>When Strong had seen all that he wanted of the apparent entrances to the
+bank that a criminal might use to force his way in, he left with two
+distinct impressions on his mind. One was that the vault door had been
+open when he came in, and that Wiley Creviss had abruptly closed it when
+he saw Ted staring at it. The other was the remarkable appearance of the
+showman, for without doubt he was that.</p>
+
+<p>As before, the mysterious robbery of the bank proved to be too hard a
+nut for the citizens to crack, and when they had thrashed out all the
+theories advanced and knocked them to pieces again, they forgot it.</p>
+
+<p>Not so Ted Strong. This succession of robberies, none of them leaving
+behind the slightest clew to the perpetrators, interested him. Its very
+difficulty of solution, which had made the lesser brains abandon it,
+compelled his attention and interest.</p>
+
+<p>Had it been his business to tackle the problem, he gladly would have
+done so. But the only Federal end to it was the robbery of the post
+office, which the inspectors of that department were working on, unless,
+perhaps, it might be found that the funds of the government for general
+purposes at Fort Rincon had been stolen. Then the case would come under
+the operations of the United States marshal's office.</p>
+
+<p>But other and more pressing things of a personal nature gradually took
+his attention from crime, and he devoted himself to the coming round-up.</p>
+
+<p>All the spare room in the Moon Valley Ranch house was occupied by
+visiting cattle buyers, who had come to the round-up. The rooms of the
+boys had been given up to guests, while they camped on the prairie
+behind the house.</p>
+
+<p>At last the great day came.</p>
+
+<p>Early in the morning the boys were out, and with them was Stella.</p>
+
+<p>Cow Suggs had loaned Ted his outfit for the day, and Ted was glad to
+have the boys, for there was no cleverer cowman in the country at a
+round-up, saving Ted himself, who was king of them all, and so conceded,
+than the dark, lithe cow-puncher, Billy Sudden, who had been through
+college and had traveled in Europe before he deserted the East for the
+toil, freedom, and excitement of the range.</p>
+
+<p>It was now time to round up all the stock on the Moon Valley Range, cut
+out the marketable stuff, and brand the yearlings.</p>
+
+<p>This is not only a troublesome task, but it is dangerous, and not a
+moment of the time until the task is accomplished but has its exciting
+adventures and escapes from death.</p>
+
+<p>The boys did not know exactly how many head of cattle they owned. They
+had been selling and replenishing their stock from time to time, and the
+increase of calves had been very large, for Moon Valley, situated in the
+lee of Dent du Chien, or Dog Tooth Mountain, with its rich grass, the
+richest in the Black Hills, and its abundance of fresh, clear spring
+water, was an ideal breeding place.</p>
+
+<p>There were on the ranch at that time several dangerous bulls, and this
+added to the hard work of the day, because the monarchs of the range did
+not like to be disturbed and have their following broken up and
+scattered.</p>
+
+<p>In the big pasture, which lay at the foot of Deni du Chien Mountain, was
+the largest herd in the valley.</p>
+
+<p>The king of this herd was known as &quot;Gladiator.&quot; He was always looking
+for a fight, and never refused a challenge, whether from another bull or
+from what he considered his natural enemy, man.</p>
+
+<p>A man on foot in that pasture would have stood no more chance for his
+life than if he tried to stand in front of the engine that hauls the
+Empire State Express going at top speed. Gladiator would kill him just
+as quickly and as surely.</p>
+
+<p>So it was that strangers were kept out of the big pasture, whether they
+were mounted or not, unless they were escorted by some member of the
+broncho boys, or one of the older cowboys about the place. Stella, with
+her red bolero, nearly caused a tragedy one day by coming within the
+vision of Gladiator, who took the bolero for a challenge.</p>
+
+<p>Stella turned in time and fled, and had it not been for the fleetness of
+her pony and her own superb riding, there had been no more to relate of
+the adventures of the girl pard of the Moon Valley boys.</p>
+
+<p>The morning of the round-up Ted undertook personally to turn the herd to
+the rendezvous.</p>
+
+<p>Stella insisted upon accompanying him, and at last he was persuaded to
+give his consent, but only on the condition that she wear subdued
+colors, which she did, with skirt and jacket of a light-dun color.</p>
+
+<p>The herd was grazing in the noble range that stretched for miles along
+and across the valley in the shadow of the splendid mountain.</p>
+
+<p>It was widely scattered, and as the band of horsemen rode out toward it
+the cattle lifted their heads for a moment and took a quiet survey, then
+returned to their feeding.</p>
+
+<p>Not so Gladiator.</p>
+
+<p>The great white-and-black bull raised his head proudly, and his fierce,
+steady eyes regarded them without fear.</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, Gladiator knew no fear, whether of man or beast, wolf pack or
+mountain lion, serpent or bird of prey.</p>
+
+<p>He was monarch of that herd, and no one said him nay except Ted Strong,
+who ruled the ranch and all that was on it, by the general consent of
+his comrades and his own fitness for his rulership.</p>
+
+<p>Ted and Gladiator had had numerous differences, and it was the bull that
+had backed down every time.</p>
+
+<p>Yet he did not fear Ted. Rather he hated him because he could not
+conquer this quick, brave, and resourceful fellow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That bull will be the death of you some of these days,&quot; said Stella to
+Ted once when Gladiator, resenting Ted's intrusion into the herd for the
+purpose of cutting out some calves, charged him. But Ted in the end
+threw the bull with his rope, humiliating him before all the herd. From
+that time forth Gladiator's eyes always became red with anger when he
+saw Ted, but he did not misbehave, because he respected Ted's lariat and
+quirt, and the strong arm that wielded them.</p>
+
+<p>When they got to the herd the boys circled it from behind, riding in
+slowly.</p>
+
+<p>Ted and Stella were on the left point, with Bud and Kit opposite.</p>
+
+<p>Bill Sudden was in the rear to drive, while the other Moon Valley
+cowboys and Billy Sudden's boys came in from the sides.</p>
+
+<p>At the first interruption of their grazing the cattle moved along
+sluggishly, but Gladiator did not move.</p>
+
+<p>The big bull stood his ground, with eyes gazing steadily at Ted and
+Stella, who were approaching him slowly and persistently.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Gladiator threw up his head and gave a low, menacing bellow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The old chap is waking up,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Be careful, Ted,&quot; said Stella. &quot;He's not in very good humor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see he isn't. But if we go at him easily he'll be all right.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't take any chances with him alone, Ted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Still, I'm not going to let him boss this job. He's got to lead this
+herd out, and that's all there is to it, for it's a cinch that they
+won't go without him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella knew that it was useless to say anything more, as when Ted made
+up his mind to do a thing, it would be done if everything broke.</p>
+
+<p>Billy Sudden had got the herd moving up from the rear, but the forward
+end of the herd was stagnant.</p>
+
+<p>Gladiator refused to budge, and stood with his stubborn forefeet planted
+on the sod, his head raised insolently.</p>
+
+<p>But it could be seen that his anger was working within him, and would
+soon break forth.</p>
+
+<p>Bud was working the cattle nearest him gently on the move, but when they
+saw that their leader was standing still they ceased their progress and
+began to crowd and mill, and the steers were getting reckless and
+beginning to throw their tails in the air and utter low, growling
+bellows.</p>
+
+<p>It was a critical moment. Who was to be the master must be decided
+quickly. If the bull conquered then the cattle would get to milling
+generally, and the mischief would be to pay.</p>
+
+<p>It would not take long for them to stampede, if the bull started the
+panic, or made a charge. Ted saw the danger, and knew that the condition
+must be treated diplomatically, which was the easier way, or with force,
+of which the outcome was most uncertain.</p>
+
+<p>It depended, in a measure, on the temper of the bull himself.</p>
+
+<p>The cattle were crowding up from the rear, and those nearest the bull
+were beginning to feel the pressure and were pushing toward Gladiator,
+who was fifteen feet in advance of the herd.</p>
+
+<p>When he noticed that the herd was moving, his anger increased, and he
+lowered his head and began to paw the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Ted held up his hand to Billy Sudden as a signal to cease pushing the
+animals, but they had got the impetus and would not stop.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment they had begun to crowd upon the bull, who, with legs
+planted stubbornly, would not be crowded, and began to gore aside those
+who were being pushed upon him.</p>
+
+<p>Ted saw instantly that this was going to result in disaster if not
+stopped, as the frightened steers, feeling Gladiator's sharp horns,
+turned back on the herd, and were pushing their way frantically into the
+center of it, while others, coming up, were forced upon the bull's
+horns.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Darn a stubborn bull, anyhow!&quot; exclaimed Ted. &quot;I've got to get in and
+put a stop to that, or Gladiator will have the herd to milling or
+running in less than ten minutes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Be careful,&quot; was all Stella said, but there was a world of anxiety in
+her voice.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You better get out of the way, Stella,&quot; said Ted &quot;Ride to the rear.
+You will see it all, and have just as much fun, and will be out of
+danger.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What are you going to do?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm going to make that bull move along or bust a string.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted's jaw was set with determination, and when Stella saw that she knew
+that it would be useless for her to say anything more.</p>
+
+<p>Ted loosened his rope, grasped his quirt firmly, and rode slowly toward
+the bull, while Stella signaled to Billy Sudden to ride up to the head
+of the herd.</p>
+
+<p>The boys, observing Ted's actions, knew what he was about to do, and
+ceased moving the cattle and sat on their horses to watch for the
+outcome of the contest.</p>
+
+<p>Most of them felt like spectators at a performance of a specially
+hazardous feat, and held their breath. But each was on the alert to rush
+to Ted's assistance the moment he seemed to need it.</p>
+
+<p>As the bull looked up, and saw Ted approaching him, he ceased pawing,
+and stood with watchful eyes. Occasionally he sent forth a challenging
+bellow. His tail was switching from side to side, like that of an angry
+cat.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was coming alertly. No one knew the danger of openly attacking the
+bull better than himself, and yet it must be done.</p>
+
+<p>It was rule or kill, so far as the bull was concerned, for if the boys
+could not manage him they would be compelled to kill him so that they
+might be able to handle the herd, substituting a more amiable bull in
+his place.</p>
+
+<p>A cowman cannot always tell what a bull is going to do when it is faced
+on the range. It may dodge the issue or it may attack, and Ted was wary
+enough to be on the watch for the latter contingency.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, when Gladiator, without so much warning as the lowering of
+his head, sprang at Ted when he was not more than ten feet away, he
+covered the distance in two or three lumbering bounds, and Ted had just
+sufficient time to wheel his pony to one side to avoid being bowled
+over. But the horns of the bull struck the gaiter on his left leg, as it
+rushed past, and tore it off, almost unseating him. Stella, breathlessly
+watching the encounter, gasped as she saw Ted reel in his saddle. But
+she breathed easier as she saw him straighten up and turn his horse
+rapidly to face the bull again.</p>
+
+<p>With almost incredible agility, the bull turned and came rushing at Ted
+again, but the leader of the broncho boys rode swiftly away from him,
+tolling him away from the herd.</p>
+
+<p>Finally the bull stopped and began to paw the earth. Ted, to tempt him
+to another attack, directed Sultan toward him at full speed, intending
+to swerve when he got close to his bullship, and dodge him and infuriate
+him further, so that he would follow. He knew that Sultan could outrun
+Gladiator.</p>
+
+<p>But, as he got close to the bull, in spite of the warning cries from
+Stella and Bud, Gladiator swerved to meet the attack, and before the
+fleet-footed pony could escape he was struck, and went rolling over the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>A cry of horror went up from the boys as they all dashed to the scene.
+Ted Strong was on the ground. The pony had scrambled to his feet, and
+stood trembling a few feet distant. The bull, with lowered head, was
+charging upon Ted.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_IX'></a><h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<h3>TED GETS AN ASSIGNMENT.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>To the horror-stricken onlookers it appeared that Ted's end had come. He
+lay prone upon the sod with his face turned to the sky, evidently
+stunned.</p>
+
+<p>The bull, with all the ferocity of his kind when goaded to anger, was
+charging upon him, his needle-like horns a few inches from the ground,
+and the foam flecking from his lips.</p>
+
+<p>Stella, her face white and drawn, was galloping toward him as fast as
+her pony could go, while Bud was lashing his pony to the height of its
+speed as he crossed the face of the herd. Billy Sudden was neck and neck
+with Stella, calling to her to hold back.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Ted Strong came to life, and looked over his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>He saw his danger, and quick as thought he rolled over, away from the
+bull.</p>
+
+<p>But that was all. Every one could see that it would do no good. He could
+not expect to escape from the infuriated beast in that manner, and a
+hollow groan escaped the lips of more than one.</p>
+
+<p>Ted surely was doomed.</p>
+
+<p>The bull's horns caught Ted in the side as he continued to roll away
+from it, and it stopped for an instant, settling itself to toss him.
+Stella turned her head away with a muttered prayer, and even the
+cowboys, used to accidents in the round-up, gasped.</p>
+
+<p>But suddenly they saw a cloud of dust fly upward, and thought at first
+that Ted had fired his revolver into the face of the infuriated beast,
+and it seemed strange that they had not heard the report of the weapon.</p>
+
+<p>Then, miracle of miracles, the bull, with a snort of pain, threw up its
+head, and Ted was not impaled upon its horns.</p>
+
+<p>There was another cloud of dust, and the bull began backing away, slowly
+but surely, shaking its head, as if in pain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Screamin' catamounts, did yer see thet, Stella?&quot; cried Bud Morgan, as
+he rode alongside the girl,</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did he do?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's saved hisself by blindin' ther bull. He throwed dust inter its
+eyes. I'm dinged if I see how thet feller kin think o' things like thet
+when he's down an' out. Look at him!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As the bull rubbed its face in the grass Ted rolled over twice, then
+leaped to his feet and ran to where Sultan was awaiting him.</p>
+
+<p>A mighty cheer went up from the boys, and the color came back into
+Stella's face with a rush, but she could not have uttered a sound to
+save her life.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime, the bull had recovered, having rubbed the dust from its
+eyes in the short grass, and looked about for its enemy.</p>
+
+<p>It caught sight of Ted in the act of mounting, and sprang toward him
+with the swiftness of a deer.</p>
+
+<p>Then Stella recovered her voice.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Run, Ted! Run!&quot; she cried.</p>
+
+<p>But Ted had seen the necessity of that himself, and, wheeled Sultan and
+dashed off, looking over his shoulder at the enraged monster that was
+following him, while he rapidly uncoiled his lariat.</p>
+
+<p>Having run several hundred yards and outdistanced the bull, he turned
+and stopped with his rope in his hand, closely calculating the animal's
+distance and speed.</p>
+
+<p>Bud and Stella were following the bull closely, both of them preparing
+their lariats for the throw.</p>
+
+<p>As the bull charged, Ted's rope was seen to leave his hand and go
+sailing through the air in graceful loops and curves that lengthened out
+one after the other.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most difficult throws a cow-puncher can make with a lariat
+was that which Ted attempted. He had to calculate to a degree the speed
+with which the bull was advancing toward him, and that at which the rope
+was leaving him. To calculate the point where the two would come
+together would seem an almost impossible task.</p>
+
+<p>But so nicely had Ted estimated it, that the open noose fell over the
+bull's head and settled down, and, turning swiftly, Ted spurred Sultan
+to one side, and the bull, shaking his head and emitting short, angry
+bellows, rushed past.</p>
+
+<p>The intelligent pony had suddenly come to a stop, bracing himself for
+the shock, and when Gladiator came to the end of the rope he turned
+completely over, and landed on his back with a thud that shook the
+earth.</p>
+
+<p>Bud had galloped forward, and was about to throw himself from the saddle
+to tie the brute, when, with the agility of a cat, the bull was on its
+feet, shaking its head and stamping the earth in a perfect fury of anger
+and desperation. But it was by no means beaten, and ran at Bud, who took
+to his heels. When again it arrived at the end of the rope, it went head
+over heels, much to its loss of wind and dignity.</p>
+
+<p>This time it did not rise so briskly, and Ted gave it all the time it
+wanted.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Stella dashed out and rode toward the bull, and when a few feet
+from it curved off, with the angry brute in full pursuit. Had her pony
+stumbled it would have been all up with her, for Gladiator was wild with
+rage, and when it was again thrown its fury knew no bounds.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A few more throws like that will settle him, I think,&quot; shouted Ted.
+&quot;Bait him again, Bud.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Again Bud rode out, and the bull took after him as before, and, when he
+was jerked onto his back by the rope, he lay there.</p>
+
+<p>Ted rode rapidly up to him, and, detaching a rope which had been knotted
+around his waist, tied the bull's legs fore and aft, and the exhausted
+brute did not make an objection.</p>
+
+<p>For several minutes the bull lay panting, then it recovered.</p>
+
+<p>When it came to its normal condition at last, it struggled furiously to
+get to its feet, but each time it got up Ted jerked it to its side,
+standing close to it so that it could see him.</p>
+
+<p>Time and again it thus fruitlessly struggled.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed to realize suddenly that it had been a very foolish bull, and
+that it had met its master, who now stood over him ready to tumble him
+over at any moment.</p>
+
+<p>So he lay quite still, following Ted's movements with its great, dark
+eyes, out of which all the ferocity had vanished.</p>
+
+<p>Ted stepped up to it and patted its head, and it made no objection to
+these attentions. Then he began to untie the bonds that held its legs
+together.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look out fer him, he's treacherous,&quot; called Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's all right,&quot; answered Ted. &quot;I'll bet he'll eat out of my hand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When it felt that it was free again, the bull got slowly to his feet and
+walked sedately in the direction of the herd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You've broken the spirit of that bull,&quot; said Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet I have,&quot; said Ted. &quot;That's just what he needed. He'll be a good
+bull now. If he isn't, I'll give him some more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted now rode to the head of the herd with Stella, and the other boys
+took their places.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Billy. Send them forward,&quot; shouted Ted to the rear of the
+herd.</p>
+
+<p>Skillfully Ted set the herd to moving toward the south, where the other
+herds were gathering under the management of the boys.</p>
+
+<p>At first Gladiator threw up his head arrogantly, and did not stir.</p>
+
+<p>Ted again rode toward him, swinging his lariat. The bull saw him as well
+as the rope, and, recognizing the agents of his defeat, moved off
+briskly at the head of the herd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say,&quot; said Bud, across the head of the herd, &quot;yer could slap that old
+duffer across the face with your hat, and he'd apologize.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They were almost at the rendezvous, where thousands of cattle had been
+gathered into a huge herd, and in every direction could be seen dust
+clouds announcing that others were on the way.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here comes Carl hotfoot,&quot; said Stella. &quot;He looks as if something had
+happened, and he was an extra edition with 'a full account of the
+terrible disaster.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, Carl! What is it?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Der United States marshal vaiting for you on der veranda iss,&quot; answered
+Carl solemnly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what do I care?&quot; asked Ted. &quot;He's come at a mighty busy time if
+he just wants to swap a little conversation. Did he say what he wanted?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, but he say it is very important vork, an' for you to hurry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My compliments to the marshal, and tell him I'm busy, and will see him
+as soon as I get through. You entertain him for a while.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But he der boss iss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not on this ranch. This is a free and unadulterated republic, where
+there are no bosses. Tell him to make himself at home, and I'll be
+there as soon as I can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Now the cattle were all rounded up, and the cutting out of the two and
+three-year olds began.</p>
+
+<p>This was intensely exciting work, in which Stella joined, as she was as
+skilled at it as any of the boys. Outside of the big herd, the cowboys
+were picking up the cut-outs and driving them to the branding pens, for
+many of them were acquired stock, and even many of the home yearlings
+had never been branded.</p>
+
+<p>Then the cows with calves were cut out, so that the youngsters might get
+a touch of life by feeling the sting of the hot iron with the Crescent V
+brand on it.</p>
+
+<p>The buyers were circulating in the herds, looking over the stock.</p>
+
+<p>Several of the buyers had brought their own cow-punchers with them, and
+these went to work cutting out the selections of their employers.</p>
+
+<p>The sky was thick with dust, and the air rang with the shouts of the
+cowboys and the lowing and bellowing of the cattle.</p>
+
+<p>The rattle of countless hoofs on the hard soil added to the din, and the
+cattle weaving in and out ceaselessly, and the dashing riding of the
+cowboys as they swooped out of the mass occasionally to drive back an
+escaping steer, made a scene of excitement, movement, and noise never
+seen anywhere, except at a Western cattle round-up and cut-out.</p>
+
+<p>Soon the work was pretty well in hand, and, leaving Bud Morgan as
+segundo, Ted went to the house to see the marshal.</p>
+
+<p>He found that officer sitting on the veranda, quietly smoking a cigar,
+an interested witness of the proceedings.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How are you, Mr. Easton?&quot; said Ted, shaking hands with the marshal. &quot;I
+must apologize for not coming sooner, but my hands were full.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So I see,&quot; said the marshal cordially. &quot;I was watching you work out
+there. Say, I believe I'd like to be a cow-puncher if I wasn't so old.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's a young man's job,&quot; said Ted, laughing; &quot;and even at that it is
+about all a young fellow can stand at times. But this to-day is a mere
+picnic to what we are up against sometimes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, you seem to be right in it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I love my business. I wouldn't be anything in the world except a
+cow-puncher.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But, remember, you are also a government officer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I never forget that. But, if it came to being compelled to quit one or
+the other of the occupations, I'd still be a cow-puncher, and let the
+marshalship go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's the very thing I came to see about.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You want my resignation?&quot; asked Ted, his spirits falling to zero.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By no means,&quot; laughed the marshal. &quot;Not that, but to ask you to
+undertake a somewhat difficult job. It transpires that when the Soldier
+Butte bank was robbed the other night, a large amount of money belonging
+to the government was taken. I didn't know this until early this
+afternoon, when I received a telegram from Washington to go after the
+robbers and land them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That'll be somewhat of a job,&quot; said Ted, drawing his chair closer to
+the marshal, so that he couldn't be overheard by passing people.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm well aware of that, and that's the reason I come to you. You and
+your boys must undertake the duty of clearing up the mystery of the
+robbery, and, if possible, recovering the money.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have a very probable theory as to who the robbers are, but it will be
+entirely another matter to fasten it on them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I leave it all to you. I don't want to have anything to do with it. All
+I want are results.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I shall not have time to tackle it for a day or two. Unfortunately
+our fall round-up is in progress, and, as this is the time we sell the
+product of our business, we can't leave it until everything is cleared
+up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's all right, Mr. Strong. But when you do get busy, don't come back
+home until you land the thieves.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_X'></a><h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<h3>A VISITOR IN THE NIGHT.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>A great deal of money changed hands that day. The stock buyers had their
+wallets loaded with cash when they came a-buying, for, when they had cut
+out the cattle they wanted, and the price was struck, they were prepared
+to drive them off at once.</p>
+
+<p>The sales at the round-up had been large, and Ted and the boys sat up
+late that night, after those guests who had elected to remain over for
+the festivities of the next day were safely in bed, counting the money
+and going over the books.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It has been a mighty good year for us, boys,&quot; said Ted, as he
+contemplated the total of their sales.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, and, best of all, it leaves us with all the old stock disposed of,
+and nothing but young and vigorous animals with which to begin building
+up again,&quot; said Kit, who had a great head for the cattle business and a
+faculty for seeing into the future.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What aire we goin' ter do with all this yere mazuma?&quot; asked Bud,
+looking over the stacks of fifties, twenties, tens, and fives that lay
+on the table around which they were sitting in the living room, and
+which was flanked by piles of gold and a few hundred-dollar bills.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Can't get it into the bank until day after to-morrow,&quot; said Ted. &quot;We'll
+be too busy to-morrow looking after our guests, and I don't suppose
+we'll be free until after the dance to-morrow night. Still, I'm not
+worrying about it. We know everybody here to-night, and I'll take care
+of it till we can ride over to Strongburg and bank it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Just then the door blew open with a bang, and big Ben scurried in,
+bringing with him a blast of prairie wind, crisp and chill from the
+mountain, that scattered the greenbacks all over the room, and two or
+three of the fives were blown into the fire and incinerated before any
+one could rescue them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Close that door!&quot; shouted Bud, grasping frantically at the money that
+was capering over the top of the table.</p>
+
+<p>Ben closed the door with a slam that shook the house.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'A fool and his money is soon parted,'&quot; quoted Ben, when he saw the
+havoc wrought by the wind.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet,&quot; said Kit &quot;Three fives blew into the fireplace, and are no
+more. We'll just charge them to your account.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Like dolly, you will!&quot; said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If it hadn't been for you they wouldn't be there. What's the reason we
+won't?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because you won't. I didn't make the wind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, but consarn ye, ye let it in, an' ye're an accessory before er
+after ther fact. I reckon both,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let it go, boys,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Pick up the bills, and we'll count and
+stack them again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where have you been, anyway?&quot; asked Kit, addressing Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Down beddin' my show for the night. They're about all in now. All
+except the music, which will be here in the morning,&quot; replied Ben. &quot;I'm
+not at all stuck on myself, but&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no, you've got a very poor opinion of yourself, I guess,&quot; said Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I want to say that I think I got the bunkie-doodelest show that
+ever paced the glimmering, gleaming, gloaming grass of Moon Valley.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Listen to the hombre explode,&quot; said Bud. &quot;He's tryin' ter be a feeble
+imitation o' a real showman. I'll bet he shows up ter-morrer like a
+ringmaster in a sucuss, with high, shiny boots an' a long whip an a
+tall, slick hat, an' crack his whip an' say: 'What will ther leetle lady
+hev next?'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ben blushed, for his ambitions in the show line, now that he had had a
+taste of it, had really been in that direction, only he wouldn't have
+had the boys know it for the world.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How about the show, anyhow, Ben?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What have you got? You might as well let us know now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not on your autobiography,&quot; answered Ben haughtily. &quot;I want to say,
+though, that your eyes will bulge like the knobs on a washstand drawer
+when you see what I've got, and then come to look at the bill for such a
+stupendous, striking, and singularly successful aggregation of freaks,
+acts, and divertisements embodied in this colossal and cataclysmic
+congregation of&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, cheese it,&quot; said Kit. &quot;You give me the pip.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, have it your own way,&quot; sighed Ben. &quot;This is what a fellow
+gets for serving his country, from Thomas Jefferson to John D.
+Rockefeller.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come on,&quot; said Ted persuasively. &quot;Loosen up and tell us what we are to
+have to-morrow. This is an executive session of the whole.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're like a lot of kids the day before Christmas. You've just got to
+see what mamma's hidden in the closet,&quot; said Ben. &quot;Well, I'll let you in
+on a little of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Shoot when you're ready,&quot; said Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was over at Strongburg about a month ago, and, knowing that I'd have
+to rustle up a show soon, I wrote to a theatrical agent in Chicago to
+let me know if he could furnish me with a good amusement company at
+small cost. He wrote me that he had the very thing, and offered me one
+of these bum 'wild west' shows, with a bunch of spavined ponies, a lot
+of imitation cowboys, fake Indians, and Coney Island target shooters.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An' yer didn't take 'em?&quot; asked Bud, in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tush! Well, I was up against it, when Morrison, the hotel man, told me
+that there was a showman in town, and perhaps I might get something out
+of him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hunted him up. He was a typical showman. Big fellow, large as a
+Noah's ark, dressed like a sunset, and loud as an eighteen-inch gun.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I saw the fellow in Soldier Butte the other day. He was talking to
+Wiley Creviss in the bank,&quot; said Ted. &quot;You've described him more
+picturesquely than I should, but I'm convinced he's the same man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I asked him what he had, and he told me he could furnish me on short
+notice anything from a three-ring circus to a hand organ and monkey,&quot;
+continued Ben. &quot;I told him how much money I wanted to spend, and he said
+he'd fix me up a show that would make everybody delighted, and I told
+him to go ahead. The show blew in to-night, and ran up their tents down
+near the corral.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How many have you got in it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've got a balloon ascension for the afternoon, a giant and a midget, a
+magician, an Egyptian fortune teller, a trick mule, a Circassian beauty,
+and a strong man.&quot; Ben looked around proudly, and the boys burst into
+peals of laughter.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you scraped the mold off of them yet?&quot; asked Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How's that?&quot; asked Ben haughtily.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you pulled the burs off the chestnuts?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See here, what do you mean? Are you casting aspersions on my show?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not exactly, but I think you've been stung by some old stranded side
+show that was taking the tie route back home. Circassian beaut! Ho-ho,
+likewise ha-ha! and some more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ter say nothin' o' a Egyptian fortune teller from Popodunk, Ioway, an'
+a wild man from ther Quaker village. Oh! give me ther smellin' salts.
+I'm goin' ter hev ther histrikes,&quot; laughed Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haf you not got a echukated vooly pig und a feller vot 'eats 'em
+alife'?&quot; asked Carl.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's right, Dutchy. It's a bum show what ain't got them,&quot; laughed
+Bud.</p>
+
+<p>The boys were laughing until the house rang with it, and Stella poked
+her pretty head out of the door to ask to be told the joke. Bud
+complied, with many humorous embellishments.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't pay any attention to them, Ben,&quot; said Stella sympathetically,
+&quot;I'll take in the show from start to finish.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Could friendship go any farther than that?&quot; asked Kit pathetically.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, you fellows give me a pain,&quot; said Ben, rising and stalking off to
+bed.</p>
+
+<p>He was soon followed by the others, Ted and Kit remaining behind to
+gather up the money and slip rubber bands around each of the packages of
+currency.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We ought to have a safe in the house, Ted,&quot; said Kit, looking over the
+pile of money. &quot;We often have large sums of money in the house, and some
+time we might get robbed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There's not much danger of that, Kit,&quot; answered Ted. &quot;There are not
+many fellows who would have the nerve to come into this house. Too many
+guns, and too many fellows who are not afraid to shoot them. I'm not
+afraid.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What was that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Kit was staring at the rear window.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I just looked up and thought I saw a face at the window.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're getting imaginative.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Just then the clock struck twelve.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I don't think so. I heard a slight cracking noise and looked up.
+Something white appeared at the window for an instant. It looked like
+the face of a child.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nonsense. A child couldn't look through that window. It's seven feet
+from the ground.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I suppose I was mistaken. Let's hide that money and go to bed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where shall we put it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Kit looked around the room, then smiled.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, in the cubby-hole, of course. There's a safe for you. We haven't
+used it for so long that I'd almost forgotten it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The very thing. Nobody'd find it there in a blue moon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They crossed over to a corner of the room and threw back the corner of a
+rug. Where the baseboard was mortised at the corner there appeared to
+have been a patch put in. Ted placed his hand against this, near the
+top, and it tipped back. It was hung on a pivot, and, as its top went in
+and the bottom came out, there was revealed a boxlike receptacle about
+two feet long and six inches deep.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is a bully place,&quot; said Ted, placing the packages of money within
+it. &quot;It is known to only five of us, and I'll bet that most of us have
+forgotten its very existence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The board was turned back into place and the rug spread out again.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Safe as in the Strongburg Bank,&quot; said Kit. &quot;Well, me for the feathers.
+We're going to be kept humping to-morrow. <i>Buenas noches</i>.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes the big ranch house was dark and quiet; every person
+in it was sound asleep.</p>
+
+<p>Ted Strong had sunk into a deep and untroubled sleep, for his day had
+been very active, and he was tired when he lay down.</p>
+
+<p>But he had not been sleeping more than a half hour when he found himself
+sitting straight up in bed, very wide-awake, and wondering why.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Something wrong in the house,&quot; he muttered to himself.</p>
+
+<p>He sniffed the air to discover the smell of smoke. But it was not that.</p>
+
+<p>Had he locked up? He went over his actions just before retiring, and was
+sure that he had attended faithfully to everything.</p>
+
+<p>The money! The thought came to him like a blow.</p>
+
+<p>Something had happened to the money.</p>
+
+<p>He was out of bed in a jiffy and slipped into his trousers, and,
+grabbing his revolver from beneath his pillow, he opened the door and
+walked softly along the hall in his bare feet.</p>
+
+<p>The hall opened into the living room through an arch in which a
+porti&egrave;re, made of small pieces of bamboo strung together, was hung.</p>
+
+<p>As he looked cautiously into the living room his elbow struck this, and
+it rattled sharply in the stillness.</p>
+
+<p>He had heard a faint creak, and, as he peeped around the corner of the
+arch, he saw dimly the figure of a man near the door, evidently just in
+the act of opening it.</p>
+
+<p>With a succession of noiseless leaps Ted was across the room, and
+arrived at the door just as it swung open and the man was about to
+depart.</p>
+
+<p>But Ted was upon his back with the swiftness of a bobcat, and they came
+together to the floor with? a crash.</p>
+
+<p>The burglar was beneath, but this did not prevent him from fighting
+with a desperation that lent strength to his already strong and lithe
+body.</p>
+
+<p>He was slenderer and younger than Ted, who could feel it in the fellow's
+build as they struggled.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me out, or I'll kill you,&quot; said the burglar, and Ted saw the flash
+of a knife.</p>
+
+<p>At the same moment something rushed past them in the dark, and out of
+the door.</p>
+
+<p>As Ted saw it dimly it was small, and its motions were awkward and
+lumbering. He thought it was a dog, and was about to raise his revolver
+to fire at it when he thought better of it, as he did not want to arouse
+the household if he could conquer his man without making a noise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't shoot,&quot; said the man, who had observed Ted's motion with the gun.</p>
+
+<p>At this extraordinary request Ted paused.</p>
+
+<p>He had twisted the man's wrist until he dropped the knife, and then
+shoved it beyond reach with the muzzle of his revolver.</p>
+
+<p>His strong left hand was in the nape of the fellow's neck, and Ted had
+his nose ground into the rug. He had found a gun in the fellow's hip
+pocket, and relieved him of it.</p>
+
+<p>Then Ted rose, and told his captive to get up</p>
+
+<p>Slowly he did so, and Ted made him move to the center of the room.</p>
+
+<p>Bud's golden head appeared around the corner of the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>Ted could just distinguish it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who's that?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's Ted. Come in and strike a light. I've caught something.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a moment a light flared up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jack Farley!&quot; exclaimed Ted, in astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, blast you, Jack Farley,&quot; replied the youth.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Couldn't keep away, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A feller'd think thet once was enough,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I couldn't help myself. I had to come,&quot; growled Farley.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, this time you'll stay. You shan't abuse our hospitality again.
+Bud, get a rope and tie our friend. He's skittish, and is likely to run
+away if he's turned loose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Farley was soon tied securely.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Keep an eye on him, Bud,&quot; said Ted. &quot;I want to look over the premises.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted went directly to the corner and pushed back the pivot door, struck a
+match, and looked into the box.</p>
+
+<p>It was empty.</p>
+
+<p>Then, turning back to Farley, he searched him thoroughly.</p>
+
+<p>There was no money in his pockets.</p>
+
+<p>Ted called up Kit, and the three of them ransacked the living room
+thoroughly, but not a dollar could be found. &quot;What did you do with the
+money you stole from that hole?&quot; said Ted, gazing fiercely into Farley's
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I haven't seen a dollar of it,&quot; was the reply.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XI'></a><h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<h3>TED STRONG HAS A THEORY.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>After Farley had been securely locked up in a storeroom without windows,
+they went to bed, feeling secure that there would be no further attempt
+to enter the house that night.</p>
+
+<p>At breakfast they discussed the robbery after their guests had left the
+house.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't understand what became of the money,&quot; said Ted. &quot;It looks to me
+like one of those mysterious robberies, and the capture of Farley puts
+it up to the Riley and Creviss gang. Now that we've been touched
+personally we will take some interest in the gang, and I have a large
+crayon picture of about a dozen hitherto respectable young fellows
+learning useful trades in a reformatory institution.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But that doesn't bring back our money, neither does it tell us how it
+was stolen or what became of it,&quot; said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can't get a thing out of Farley,&quot; said Ted. &quot;I tackled him this
+morning as soon as I got up, but he wouldn't open his mouth. My belief
+is that he is in deadly fear of some one, probably Skip Riley.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, we've got him where the hair is short, anyway,&quot; said Kit. &quot;He was
+caught in the act, and will come out of prison an older and a wiser
+man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What else besides Farley did you see in the room, Ted?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I really couldn't say what it was,&quot; said Ted. &quot;It was dark, and there
+was only the faintest kind of light outside from the stars. The room was
+perfectly dark. I was sitting on Farley's back holding him down. He had
+thrown the door open, and we were in the doorway, but there was a space
+between us and the door-jamb.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Suddenly I heard a faint noise beside me and could just see something
+scud past me onto the veranda.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did it look like?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was about as high as a small dog, only shorter and thicker than a
+dog, and ran with a clumsy, heavy, sideways motion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you sure it was a dog?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I'm not sure, for I didn't see it plainly. All I could see was that
+it looked like some kind of an animal, but just what kind I couldn't
+determine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Your description would lead me to believe that it was a coon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I don't think it was a coon, or I would have been able to
+distinguish it by its smell.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't know but that it might be a coon trained to steal and sneak
+out. I've heard of such things, and it is by no means impossible, for
+you know that coons, like crows, are natural-born thieves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove, that gives me an idea. I think it was a dog, and that its
+strange gait was due to the fact that the money had been tied upon him
+so that he would get away with it in case Farley was caught.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, the dog theory is wrong. What about a trained monkey?&quot; Stella
+looked around the table to see how this was taken.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;C'rect!&quot; shouted Bud. &quot;Stella, yer struck ther problem a solar plexus
+thet time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That does seem reasonable, and if it is true it solves the mysterious
+robberies of the Strongburg Trust Company's office, the post office, and
+Creviss' bank,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's worth looking into, anyway,&quot; said Ben. &quot;Now I wonder if there is
+such a thing as a trained monkey in my marvelous and magnificent
+gathering of the splendors of the Orient out there. By Jove, I'm going
+through that camp with a fine-tooth comb, and if I find a monk, I'll
+habeas-corpus him, and we'll hang him to the rafters.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, mum's the word about the money,&quot; warned Ted. &quot;We don't want this
+thing to leak out. If it does, there's a chance against us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Although they all felt pretty blue about the loss of the money, they had
+nothing but hearty welcomes and smiles for their guests, who began to
+arrive from all parts of the county, and from far-distant States and
+Territories, to help rejoice with the boys for a prosperous year, not
+knowing that all the prosperity had fallen into the hands of thieves.</p>
+
+<p>The grounds about the ranch house had been gayly decorated for the
+occasion. An enormous American flag flapped and snapped in the fresh
+breeze from the top of a tall staff in front of the house, and the Belle
+Fourche band was playing in a gayly decorated stand. The showmen had
+erected their tents, and already the boys and girls from the ranches and
+towns were going in and out, witnessing the wonders to be beheld in
+them.</p>
+
+<p>Stella was receiving her girl guests on the veranda, for she was a great
+favorite among the cowgirls in the country on account of her
+friendliness and unaffected ways.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Graham was welcoming the older women, while Ted and Jack Slate were
+shaking hands with the ranchmen and cowboys.</p>
+
+<p>Clay's fires were going well, and the steer and sheep were being roasted
+for the noontime feast.</p>
+
+<p>Ben had gone on a still-hunt among the tents belonging to the showman,
+and, while he found three small dogs, there was no sign of a monkey, and
+by adroit questioning he learned that they had had a monkey, but that
+it had died at Leadville, because the air in that altitude was too cold
+and rare for it.</p>
+
+<p>These facts he communicated to Ted, and seemed to explode the
+monkey-thief theory.</p>
+
+<p>During the morning there was a baseball game between the cowboys and the
+clerks from the stores in Soldier Butte and Strongburg, in which the
+score was forty-one to three in favor of the clerks. The cowboys
+couldn't play ball any more than a rabbit, encumbered as they were by
+their chaps, high-heeled boots, and spurs. It took a home-run hit to get
+one of them to first base.</p>
+
+<p>After dinner the cowboy sports were to come off.</p>
+
+<p>When Ted could get away from his duties as host for a few minutes he
+sauntered through the crowd, extending greetings to all whom he knew,
+but at the same time keeping a close watch over everything.</p>
+
+<p>The theft of the money from the cubby-hole had aroused in him all his
+detective instincts.</p>
+
+<p>He saw two or three of the young fellows who had been with Wiley Creviss
+the night of the ball, but he paid no attention to them. They were
+welcome to come to the festivities, and to remain so long as they
+behaved themselves.</p>
+
+<p>But he determined to have them watched.</p>
+
+<p>Soon he came upon some more of the Creviss gang and saw them mingle with
+several boys, whom he knew to be tough characters, from Strongburg.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The clan is gathering,&quot; he said to himself. &quot;We're likely to have
+trouble with those fellows before the day is over. I'll put Bud next to
+them, and have the boys watch them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whom do you suppose I saw just now?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was Stella's voice, and she was standing at his elbow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wiley Creviss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is that so? I have been watching for him to come along. A lot of his
+fellows are here, and they are sticking pretty well together. Where did
+you see him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I told Ben I'd take in his show even if no one else did, and I've kept
+my promise. When I was in that biggest tent I suddenly came upon Creviss
+in close conversation with the boss showman. When they saw me looking at
+them they separated in a hurry, and Creviss left the tent.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;H'm! I wonder if Ben knows this fellow who owns the show.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't know, I'm sure. It wouldn't be a bad scheme to find out something
+about him in view of the robbery last night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're right, Stella. Another thing I've been thinking about: I've been
+looking for Skip Riley, the Strongburg fireman, the supposed leader of
+the Flying Demons. If they are going to try any of their monkey business
+to-day he ought to be here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haven't you heard the news? I intended to tell you, but must have
+forgotten. The last time I was in Strongburg I heard that Riley had
+resigned, and left the town for the East.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hadn't heard it. Then that puts it up to Creviss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But who is the fellow who runs the show? Ben says his name is Colonel
+Ben Robinson, and that he is an old circusman down on his luck
+temporarily.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look around and find out what you can. They will not suspect you if you
+ask questions as they would me. If you find out anything, let me know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Ted, I'll circulate, and report.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted wandered over to the show tents, and entered them all, with kindly
+greetings to the performers, who all knew him as the leader of the
+broncho boys, and asked him if they could be excused from performing
+while the riding and other cowboy stunts were going forward, and Ted
+told them to lay off if they wanted to, as most of the guests would be
+out in the grand stand, anyhow.</p>
+
+<p>In the last tent he entered he found the strong man lifting weights
+against a lot of husky cow-punchers, and the giant and midget.</p>
+
+<p>But it was the midget that struck him most forcibly. He had a sly,
+cunning face and a bad eye, and when Ted came in he tried to hide behind
+the giant, who picked him up as one would a baby in arms. But the little
+fellow wriggled free and climbed down the big man like a monkey down a
+tree. Then he slipped across to the middle of the tent and shinned up
+the pole to the top, and hung there, looking down at Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the matter with the little fellow?&quot; Ted asked the giant.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, he ain't got real good sense,&quot; rumbled the giant. &quot;His brain
+stopped growing with his body, I reckon. But you can teach him tricks
+the same as you can a dog or a monkey, and he'll do them all right. I
+reckon he's afraid of you. He is of some people, the boss in
+particular.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How long have you been with the boss?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not very long. He just took the show over from the old boss a month
+ago. We were going to pieces over to Cheyenne, and he come along and
+bought us. He's been a showman in his time, but says he hasn't been in
+the biz for several years. He knows the biz, though, and has scads of
+money. We are well fed and get our salaries regular. Him and Prince
+Carl, that's the midget, are great pals. The midget sleeps in his tent,
+and the boss seldom lets him out of his sight.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Bellows, how many times have I got to tell you not to stand there
+gassing with patrons of the show? Every one don't want to bother with
+your theories and troubles.&quot; Ted turned, to face the boss showman.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, it's you, Mr. Strong?&quot; he went on. &quot;I didn't recognize your back.
+It's all right to talk to you. But I've got to call the giant down once
+in so often for taking up people's time, for he's an awful gabber.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He walked away, but when Ted tried to get the giant to tell him some
+more about the midget and the boss, he would not say a word.</p>
+
+<p>But the giant had planted the seed of a theory in Ted's mind.</p>
+
+<p>Presently Ted saw Stella beckoning to him in the crowd, and forced his
+way to her side.</p>
+
+<p>She took his arm, and they got out of the crowd. Ted saw that she had
+something to communicate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well?&quot; he said, smiling down on her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There's going to be something doing here,&quot; said she. &quot;The boss showman
+has been talking with several of the gang.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right. Did you hear anything about Skip Riley?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. He's been gone from Strongburg about a month.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Learn anything else about him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Skip Riley is not his name at all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That so? What is it? Did you learn?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was talking to a lady from Strongburg, one of those who got him a job
+on the fire department.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did she know about him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She said that she was appointed a committee of one by the Ladies' Aid
+Society over there to look up the new fireman's career.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And I suppose she ran onto some hot stuff?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It seems that the ex-convict, Skip Riley, had been a circus performer
+once upon a time, before he took to being a burglar.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Was burglary the crime for which he was put in prison?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, so she says. He was an a&euml;ronaut and acrobat.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good! And what was his stage name? Did she say?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Robinson&mdash;Ben Robinson. She says that she was told that he was quite
+famous in his day as a circus performer, but that he couldn't resist the
+temptation to steal, and so had to quit the business, as none of the
+circus proprietors would have him around.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did she say where she got this information?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. It was sent to her by the warden of the penitentiary in which
+Riley was confined before he came to Strongburg.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then her information is probably correct. Stella, thanks to you, we've
+got them dead to rights. We've solved the mystery hanging around all
+these recent robberies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nearly, but not quite. How were they accomplished?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That I don't know positively, but I have a theory which I believe will
+turn out to be correct.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But about Riley?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ben Robinson, the proprietor of this show, and Skip Riley, burglar and
+ex-convict, are one and the same man.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<h3>ALOFT AFTER A PRISONER.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;All ready for the big show,&quot; cried Kit, riding up to Ted. &quot;When will we
+begin the sports?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted looked over the grand stand, which was built around an arena in
+which the cowboy sports were to come off.</p>
+
+<p>This was the most important event of the day, for while bronchobusting
+and cattle roping are a cowboy's business, yet he finds unending
+amusement in doing these same things if his girl and friends are there
+to witness his skill.</p>
+
+<p>After some ordinary feats of trick riding by the visiting cowboys,
+several really dangerous steers were turned loose in the arena, and for
+several minutes a very fair imitation of a Spanish bullfight, minus the
+killing of the animals, took place.</p>
+
+<p>After several of the steers had been roped, thrown, and tied, there
+still remained in the arena a sullen and difficult brute, which was as
+tricky as a rat, and the boys gave him up one at a time.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why don't you give the girls a chance at him?&quot; shouted a cowgirl
+derisively, from the seats.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Any girl who wants to tackle him is at liberty to do so,&quot; Ted shouted
+back through his megaphone.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly three girls leaped into the arena, and borrowed ponies from
+their cowboy acquaintances.</p>
+
+<p>Ted motioned to Sophy Cozak, the pretty and buxom girl from the Bohemian
+prairie, whom Bud had admired at the dance; she rode forward on Bud's
+own particular horse, Ranger.</p>
+
+<p>Sophy had several brothers who had taught her the cow business, and she
+had few equals on the range.</p>
+
+<p>As she rode out she was greeted with a round of applause from her
+admirers. She gathered up her rope and sent the horse forward at an easy
+lope toward the steer, which looked at her a moment and trotted off.</p>
+
+<p>Sophy followed him, and made three casts of the rope, and every time the
+brute dodged it, and the rope fell to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>That settled it with Sophy, and she rode in, and another girl took her
+place. She, too, was unsuccessful, as was the third, and the audience
+was distinctly disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ladies and gentlemen,&quot; cried Ted, through the megaphone. &quot;It was not
+the intention of any one living on the Moon Valley Ranch to take part in
+these contests, but if there are no other young ladies in the grand
+stand who would like to try their ropes on the steer, we can produce one
+whom we think can rope and tie it at the first trial. I refer to Miss
+Stella Fosdick. I have not consulted her wishes in the matter, but will
+ask her if she will undertake it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this a wild cheer went up, and Ted dashed out of the arena to find
+Stella. In a moment he was back, and announced that Miss Fosdick would
+try it.</p>
+
+<p>Presently Stella rode in on Custer at a hard gallop, gathering up her
+rope as she rode. There was a sort of gay self-confidence in her manner
+that captivated the throng, and the cheers split the air.</p>
+
+<p>Stella rode straight at the steer, which, seeing her approach; galloped
+down the arena with her in pursuit.</p>
+
+<p>Swinging her rope above her head, she chased it back until it was about
+in the middle of the field, and suddenly the rope left her hand
+unerringly and shot through the air, seemed to hesitate for an instant,
+then fell over the steer's head.</p>
+
+<p>Custer came to a stop the moment the rope left her hand, with his body
+well braced. The steer went to the end of the rope as fast as it could
+go, then was flung in the air, and lay upon his back sprawling like some
+ridiculous four-legged crab, while the girl leaped from her saddle, ran
+swiftly across the intervening space, tied his legs together, and held
+up her hand.</p>
+
+<p>The crowd fairly went wild with enthusiasm at her feat, as she mounted
+again, leaving the steer to the tender mercies of the cow-punchers, who
+flocked about her. Then she dashed out of the arena, waving her hat in
+recognition of the applause.</p>
+
+<p>Then the bunch of wild Montana horses, which never had felt the saddle,
+were driven in, and Ted offered a twenty-dollar gold piece to any
+puncher who could rope, saddle, and bridle, and ride one of the bronchos
+ten minutes without being thrown.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Easy money!&quot; shouted the cowboys, flocking into the arena.</p>
+
+<p>The black, which had caused Ted so much trouble when the bunch first
+came to the ranch, was not with them. He was considered too dangerous an
+animal to be handled at an entertainment where there were so many women
+and children.</p>
+
+<p>Only two cow-punchers succeeded in even getting their saddles on the
+bronchos without throwing them and hog-tying them, and only one, Billy
+Sudden, stayed the required ten minutes, and he said afterward that it
+wasn't his fault, because the broncho wouldn't let him get off.</p>
+
+<p>Ted then announced that there was another animal in the herd that he
+would ask no man to ride, but that he would try to do so himself.</p>
+
+<p>Another great cheer went up as Ted rode away after the black demon, to
+whom the boys had given the name Lucifer, for his supposed resemblance
+to his satanic majesty.</p>
+
+<p>But it was found impossible to drive Lucifer into the arena.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Never mind,&quot; said Ted, &quot;we'll throw the saddle on him here, and I'll
+ride him in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A crowd of men and boys was standing around, and Ted removed his saddle
+and handed it to a young fellow in the crowd to hold until he had thrown
+Lucifer. The animal was standing in the center of the circle, his wary
+eyes taking in the crowd, and letting fly with his heels at the approach
+of any one.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, Bud,&quot; called Ted, &quot;ride in on him and rope him. You, Kit, get him
+by the leg and throw him, and I'll slip a bridle on him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was not much of a trick to rope and hold him so that he couldn't
+kick. But when Ted tried to slip the bit between his teeth, he fought
+like the demon that he was, biting and kicking, so that he had to be
+thrown to his side and his head held down before the bridle could be put
+on him.</p>
+
+<p>Then he was allowed to rise. There was no doubt but that the horse was
+insane with rage and fear, and several cowmen came forward and tried to
+persuade Ted from attempting to ride him, but Ted was as obstinate as
+the horse, and said that he would conquer the black, or die in the
+attempt.</p>
+
+<p>He finally found the fellow who had been holding his saddle, although he
+had left his stand and was found back behind the crowd talking to a gang
+of young fellows, among whom Ted recognized several of Creviss'
+companions. This delayed and angered him, and he called the saddle
+bearer down for deserting his post, and was answered with sneers and
+laughter.</p>
+
+<p>After many trials, and the exertion of a great deal of patience, Ted got
+the saddle on Lucifer and hastily cinched, and as he sprang to the
+brute's back the ropes were loosed. With a bound and a snort of terror
+the black dashed forward, and it was with the greatest difficulty that
+Ted swung it so it went through the gates and into the arena without
+dashing him against the posts.</p>
+
+<p>Once inside the arena, the brute began to exhibit terrible ferocity.</p>
+
+<p>Stella and Bud had followed in his wake, and when the girl saw how the
+brute was behaving, she whispered to Bud:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That demon will kill him yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If he don't kill it,&quot; answered Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why did you let him ride it? I got there a moment too late, and he was
+already in the saddle, or I should have stopped it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What could I do? He had told the people he would ride it, and that
+settled it with him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Lucifer was exercising all the tricks known to wild and terrified
+bronchos when they first feel saddle and bridle, and which seem to be
+inbred in them. He bucked, but there was never a horse that could buck
+Ted off. He reared, he kicked, rolled, and fell backward. But every time
+he stopped for a moment to note the result, there the unshakable enemy
+was on his back again. Clearly he was puzzled.</p>
+
+<p>Then a new paroxysm of rage would shake him, and he would go through the
+same performances again, but with no better success.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Ted brought his quirt down on the brute's flanks, and it leaped
+high into the air in an agony of fear and pain. It had felt that
+stinging thing before, and hated it.</p>
+
+<p>Then it started to run away from this terrible thing that bestrode its
+back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Heaven! it's running away,&quot; muttered Bud. &quot;It'll be an act o'
+Providence if Ted isn't killed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Down the arena they dashed, Ted sitting in the saddle as if he and it
+and the stallion were all of a piece.</p>
+
+<p>When the brute came to the arena's end, and saw before him the shouting
+multitude, it suddenly swerved to come back, and Ted realized that
+something had happened to the saddle. It was slipping, and yet he was
+sure he had cinched it tight. Back they came tearing again, and passed
+Stella and Bud like a rocket.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great guns!&quot; cried Bud, &quot;his saddle's loose. He's a goner now, shore.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Every one saw Ted's danger, for Ted was leaning well over, and the
+saddle was on the horse's side. A hollow groan went up.</p>
+
+<p>At Bud's first words Stella was off after Ted like a shot.</p>
+
+<p>The horse, as every one could now see, was trying its best to kill Ted,
+and many of the spectators were positive that it would do so.</p>
+
+<p>Now the cinch had parted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The cinch has broken,&quot; the shout went up. &quot;It will kill him, sure!&quot; Ted
+was now leaning far over on the horse's side, his left leg well under
+the horse's belly and his foot in the stirrup, while the heel of his
+left, boot was clinging to the edge of the tipped saddle. It was a most
+precarious position, for if the saddle slipped farther he would go under
+and be trampled and kicked to death before any one could reach him.</p>
+
+<p>The powerful brute was bent on Ted's destruction, and seemed about to
+accomplish it, when Stella galloped to his side, and, grasping his hand,
+held him safe.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The cinch is off,&quot; she called to him. &quot;I'll help you up, then kick the
+saddle loose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Slowly but surely Ted worked himself up until he could release his foot
+from the stirrup. Then, with a sudden wrench that almost pulled Stella
+to the ground, he was again on top. With a kick he sent the saddle to
+the ground, and was riding bareback, while the brute stumbled and
+almost went to his knees as the saddle fell between his legs.</p>
+
+<p>But now Ted took charge of the situation. With quirt and spur he drove
+the beast here and there, punishing it, giving it no rest, allowing it
+to do nothing in its own way until it staggered and heaved and swayed
+with fatigue and lack of breath, and yet he urged it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He'll kill that horse yet,&quot; said Billy Sudden.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, he knows what that horse will stand, and he's going to make him
+stand it,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>The people had never seen such riding as this, and when they realized
+that Ted had conquered the stallion and was now rubbing it in, they
+shouted until their throats cracked.</p>
+
+<p>At last the horse could go no farther, and Ted let it stop, as he
+slipped to the ground and gave the brute a slap with his hand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon you'll know better next time, old fellow,&quot; was all he said,
+and walked to where his saddle was lying.</p>
+
+<p>As he picked it up, he was seen to stop and look at the cinch carefully,
+then hurry to where the boys were awaiting him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Fellows,&quot; he said solemnly, throwing the saddle on the ground, &quot;that
+cinch did not break, it was cut.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A dozen of the boys leaped to the ground and examined the cinch.</p>
+
+<p>It was true. The cinch had been cut almost through with a sharp knife,
+and the strain upon it had parted it. There could be no doubt as to what
+had been intended.</p>
+
+<p>As Stella came riding up, she shouted:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The cinch was cut. I saw it. Wiley Creviss did it. I didn't realize at
+the time what he was doing or know that it was Ted's saddle, and when I
+did find out, he was mounted and away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A howl of indignation went up at this.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Scatter out, boys, and round up Creviss,&quot; shouted Billy Sudden. &quot;We
+know what to do with him when he's caught.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted's adventure with Lucifer ended the performances in the arena, and,
+as the balloon was inflated and ready to ascend, the people flocked to
+where it was straining at the ropes.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had mounted Sultan again, and left the arena surrounded by Stella
+and the boys.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who's going up in her?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ben Robinson, the boss,&quot; answered Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you know who he is?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Ben stared at him without replying.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll tell you,&quot; said Ted. &quot;He's Skip Riley, thief and ex-convict, the
+leader of the Flying Demons. He is the man who caused us to lose our
+money last night, and who engineered all the mysterious robberies
+hereabouts. Do you reckon he intends to come back?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ben's eyes started from their sockets in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I&mdash;I don't know,&quot; he stammered. &quot;By Jove! we must stop him. Maybe he's
+going to skip.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boys had crowded about Ted as he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll have to hurry if we get him,&quot; shouted Ben. &quot;He's in the basket
+now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>With shouts of warning Ted and the boys pushed their horses through the
+crowd, which rushed aside to let them through.</p>
+
+<p>They could see Skip Riley lift a large tin box into the basket from the
+ground. As he was getting ready to start there was a shrill cry, and the
+midget came waddling through the crowd and climbed over the side of the
+car and up Riley's body until it clung to his shoulder like a monkey. A
+great many of the thoughtless laughed at this. They did not understand
+the significance of the move.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Get ready to cut her loose,&quot; shouted Riley.</p>
+
+<p>Two or three men stood by with sharp knives in their hands.</p>
+
+<p>Riley saw Ted and the boys pushing rapidly through the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Cut her loose!&quot; shouted Riley, and the balloon shot upward, amid the
+shouts of the people.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Too late,'&quot; said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not yet,&quot; cried Ted, spurring through the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>A long guide rope was dragging from the car of the balloon.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Follow me, Bud. The balance of you catch Creviss and the rest of them.
+I'm going with Riley.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Before they knew exactly what he meant, Ted grasped the guide rope as it
+passed over his head, and was swung out of the saddle and dangled in the
+air, to the horror of the people, who expected to see him fall and be
+dashed to pieces at any minute, for the balloon had shot up rapidly and
+was now several hundred feet above the ground.</p>
+
+<p>But Riley, looking over the country and taking account of the direction
+in which the balloon was traveling, was unaware that he had taken on
+another passenger.</p>
+
+<p>Hand over hand Ted climbed steadily, until at last he reached the car
+and looked over the edge of it.</p>
+
+<p>Riley's back was toward him, and noiselessly Ted slipped over the side
+and into the basket.</p>
+
+<p>Then the midget happened to turn his head, and saw Ted and uttered a
+frightened cry, which brought Riley around so that he found himself
+looking into the cold, dark bore of Ted's forty-four.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Got you!&quot; said Ted coolly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How did you get here?&quot; said Riley, trying to smile. &quot;If I'd known that
+you wanted to come I'd have waited for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't think,&quot; said Ted. &quot;But now we'll go down.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I've got to give the people a run for their money. We must go a
+little farther.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I said we'd go down.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But we can't until the gas gets cool and exhausts. I have no escape
+valve.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I'll shoot a hole in the bag. I guess we'll go down then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;For Heaven's sake, don't do that! You'd blow us all to pieces.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then down with her. I mean what I say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Riley looked at Ted for a moment, then pulled a string. There followed a
+hissing noise, and the balloon began to sink, slowly at first, then more
+rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>Ted did not dare take his eyes off Riley to see how close they were to
+the ground. But he heard the Moon Valley long yell, and knew that they
+were near the earth, and that Bud Morgan was not far away.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the car bumped on the ground, bounced and struck again, then
+stopped, and Ted heard Bud's cheerful voice right behind him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jumpin' sand hills, so yer got him, eh? Come, climb out,&quot; said Bud to
+Riley, &quot;we need yer on terry firmy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Cover him, Bud, while I search him. If he makes a break, kill him. He's
+an ex-convict, so don't take any chances with him,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Riley yielded up a gun and a knife and then he was hustled out of the
+car, with the midget still clinging to him, and Ted took charge of the
+tin box.</p>
+
+<p>Billy Sudden and some of his men had come up, and so had Ben and Kit,
+and Riley was conducted back to the ranch house strongly guarded.</p>
+
+<p>Once inside with their prisoners and the boys, Ted closed the doors on
+the curious crowd. The first thing he did was to open the tin box. On
+top were the packages of bills stolen from the cubby-hole, and beneath
+it a large amount of money and the bonds taken from the Strongburg
+Trust Company, as well as registered letters from which the money had
+not yet been extracted, and a large amount of brand-new treasury notes
+which answered the description of the government funds stolen from
+Creviss' bank.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's all here,&quot; said Ted, &quot;and the evidence is complete.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But how did he manage to do it without leaving a mark or a broken lock
+behind him?&quot; asked Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How? By means of this,&quot; and Ted placed his hand on the head of the
+midget, who shrank from him with a snarling cry.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Still I don't understand it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The day I saw him in the Creviss bank he marched out with the plunder
+under my very eyes. The day before the robbery this fellow went into the
+bank with the dwarf in his valise. Wiley Creviss was alone. The valise
+was opened, and the dwarf slipped out of the valise and into the vault,
+and concealed himself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;During the night the dwarf collected all the money and bonds he could,
+and made himself comfortable. When it came time for the bank to open in
+the morning he again concealed himself, and remained in hiding until
+noon, when Wiley Creviss again came on watch while the cashier went to
+dinner. Then Riley, here, entered with his valise, and the dwarf crept
+into it, and was carried out of the bank with the money.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But what had the midget to do with the theft of our money?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's simple. Farley and the dwarf were to do the job. The dwarf was
+sent up to the roof, for he can climb like a monkey, and came down the
+chimney and opened the door for Farley. That was a mistake, for they
+would not have been caught, except for Farley.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How did they know where you hid the money?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The dwarf saw us through the window, and Kit saw him, but I thought it
+was all imagination. That was how they robbed the post office. The dwarf
+was lowered down the chimney. That is about the size of it. Am I
+correct, Riley?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Correct enough, so far as I'm concerned. I guess it's back to 'the
+stir' for me. But this midget didn't know what he was doing, and ought
+to be sent to an asylum instead of the prison,&quot; said Riley.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment there was a great commotion without, and a crowd of
+cowboys rode up. In the center of the circle made by them was Wiley
+Creviss and several of his gang. In all, with Riley and the dwarf, there
+were eight of them in custody, and without ado they were hurried to the
+Strongburg jail.</p>
+
+<p>The United States marshal was in Strongburg when Ted came in with his
+prisoners.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is all this, Strong?&quot; asked the marshal.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That bank-robbing gang you ordered me to bring in,&quot; answered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You made quick work of it. Get any of the money?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All of it. It is in the Strongburg bank. You see, they made the mistake
+of robbing us last night. But for that they would have got away, and we
+would have had a hard time catching them. As it was, they walked right
+in to us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Skip Riley went back to the penitentiary for a long term of years, and
+the midget was sent to an asylum for the feeble-minded.</p>
+
+<p>Jack Farley turned State's evidence, and Creviss and ten other young
+reprobates were sent to a reformatory.</p>
+
+<p>As for Lucifer, he turned out, next to Sultan and Custer, the best horse
+on the ranch.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ANONYMOUS LETTER.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>A very short time after the capture of Skip Riley, Ted Strong was
+standing in the waiting room of the Union Station at St. Louis, the
+metropolis of Missouri, whither he had been summoned by a letter from
+the chief of the United States secret service.</p>
+
+<p>He was waiting for Bud Morgan, who had gone to the baggage room to
+inquire about a trunk which had become lost on the way from Moon Valley,
+and which contained a number of valuable papers, including both their
+commissions as deputy United States marshals.</p>
+
+<p>The enormous waiting room was crowded with passengers from the incoming
+trains, with which the numerous tracks were full from end to end.</p>
+
+<p>As Ted Strong leaned over the iron railing, looking down into the lower
+waiting room, he was conscious that a woman had stepped to his side.
+Glancing up sideways, he saw that close to him was a very beautiful
+young girl, who wore a traveling cloak of pearl gray, and a long feather
+boa, which the draft had blown across his sleeve.</p>
+
+<p>His glance intercepted one from her, and not wishing her to think that
+he was idly staring at her, he directed his gaze once more to the
+surging crowd below. As his eyes wandered over the throng, he saw a man
+look up, and make the most imperceptible gesture with his head.</p>
+
+<p>He did not know the man. Turning swiftly to the young lady at his side,
+he caught sight of a smile and a slight uplifting of her eyebrows.</p>
+
+<p>Undoubtedly a signal had passed between the two, and Ted, not wishing
+to be an eavesdropper, looked away again. But in the swift glance he had
+given the young girl&mdash;for now he saw that she was little else&mdash;he made a
+mental note of her. The gray eyes with the long, dark lashes, the oval
+face, beautiful in shape and of an ivory tint; the scarlet, curving
+lips, the slender, trim figure, and the strange, subtle perfume which
+she exhaled, one would never forget.</p>
+
+<p>He also noted the appearance of the man who had signaled the girl.</p>
+
+<p>The man was five feet seven inches in height; his face was well rounded,
+but not too fat. He had a brown, pointed beard; the eyes were pale,
+almost colorless; the forehead, broad and high, a fact which Ted noted
+when the man lifted his hat to wipe his brow. He had the air of a
+well-bred man of the world, and was probably a resident of New York.
+There was something familiar about the man that made Ted think that he
+had seen him before.</p>
+
+<p>Ted saw Bud come through the door into the waiting room from the midway
+of the station, look up and wave his hand, with a frown and a shake of
+the head that told him his pard's quest for the missing baggage had been
+fruitless.</p>
+
+<p>At the same time, the girl at his side seemed to bump into him, and as
+he turned to her she muttered an apology and hurried away. Although he
+followed her with his eyes a few moments, she was soon lost in the
+crowd.</p>
+
+<p>He slipped his hands into the pockets of his jacket, and, with his back
+to the railing, prepared to wait until Bud reached him.</p>
+
+<p>As his left hand sank into his pocket, his fingers came in contact with
+a piece of paper.</p>
+
+<p>He knew that he had not placed the paper in his pocket, and glanced
+around with his usual caution to see if any one was watching him. He saw
+that wonderful pair of gray eyes with the dark lashes&mdash;Irish eyes, he
+called them&mdash;watching him over the shoulders of a man a dozen feet away
+in the crowd. But the moment the woman realized that she was being
+observed, she disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Deuced strange,&quot; he muttered to himself, fumbling with the paper, which
+he had not withdrawn from his pocket. &quot;That girl placed this paper in my
+pocket. I wonder why. There is something out of the way here, for the
+paper was not there before she stood beside me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>One less wise than Ted, and not so modest, might have thought that the
+girl was trying to flirt with him. But to Ted there was something more
+important and mysterious than that in her actions.</p>
+
+<p>If he read them aright, she had placed the paper in his pocket when she
+apparently accidentally bumped into him, and had gone away only to come
+back to see if he had discovered it.</p>
+
+<p>Although he searched the crowd with eager eyes, he did not see her
+again, and was confident that she had disappeared as soon as she had
+accomplished her mission, which was to convey some message to him.</p>
+
+<p>Although he was somewhat curious to know what, if anything, was written
+on the paper, he restrained himself until he could be alone, for he did
+not know who might be in that crowd looking for just such a move on his
+part.</p>
+
+<p>Just then Bud brushed his way through the crowd and came up to Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Them things ain't come yit,&quot; he said, in a tone of discontent, &quot;an' me
+stranded in St. Looey with no more clean shirt than a rabbit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You can easily get a clean shirt,&quot; said Ted, &quot;but it's not so easy to
+get a new commission. That's what's worrying me, for there is no
+telling how soon we may need one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, let's git out o' this mob, er I'll begin ter beller an' mill, an'
+if they don't git out o' my way I'll cause sech a stampede thet it'll
+take ther police all day ter round 'em up ag'in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted said nothing to Bud about the paper he had discovered in his pocket,
+but picked up his valise. They then made their way to the street and
+rode uptown in a car, where they registered at a quiet hotel.</p>
+
+<p>Ted went immediately to the room assigned to him, locked the door, and
+drew out the paper.</p>
+
+<p>He could not conceive what it would contain, for he was far above the
+vanity of thinking that the young woman who had stood by his side would
+interest herself in him enough to write him a silly note.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The man with the pointed beard!&quot; thought Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, it was he who had caused the note to be slipped into his
+pocket.</p>
+
+<p>But why?</p>
+
+<p>Taking a chair by the window, he slowly opened the note, observing at
+the time that the same fragrance came from it as had filled the air
+while the girl stood beside him in the station.</p>
+
+<p>It was a sheet of pale-blue letter paper folded three times.</p>
+
+<p>In the upper left-hand corner was an embossed crest, the head of a lion
+rampant, and beneath it a dainty monogram, which he made out to be
+&quot;O.&nbsp;B.&nbsp;N.,&quot; or any one of the combinations of those letters. He could
+not tell which combination was the correct one.</p>
+
+<p>The writing was in a fashionable feminine hand, and written with a
+pencil.</p>
+
+<p>It was as follows:</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;T.&nbsp;S.: This is a friendly warning from one who dare not
+     communicate with you personally, for reasons which you will
+     discover and understand later on, if things turn out as we&quot;&mdash;the
+     word &quot;we&quot; had been scratched out and &quot;I&quot; written above
+     it&mdash;&quot;anticipate. Be very careful while you are in St. Louis. Do not
+     go on the streets alone, and go armed. Your mission is known, and
+     you will be watched by persons who will seek to get you out of the
+     way. We&mdash;that is, I, also know of your mission, and take this means
+     of warning you of your danger, as you have done me services in the
+     past without knowing it. Now, the sting of this note lies in this,
+     and don't forget it, don't get into any fights, no matter what the
+     provocation, for I have it straight that that, is the lay to do
+     you. If you do so, not being able to avoid it, shoot straight, and
+     you will come out all right in the end. I will see to that part of
+     it at the right time.</p>
+
+<p>     &quot;A FRIEND.&quot;</p></div>
+
+<p>Ted read the letter through three times, trying to clarify it, but each
+time his mind became more confused over it.</p>
+
+<p>What did it mean, and how could any stranger know his business when he
+had not told a soul about it?</p>
+
+<p>Even Bud did not know why they were in St. Louis; that is, he did not
+know the real reason. Ostensibly, they were there to inspect the local
+horse market.</p>
+
+<p>There was a loud rap on the door, and Ted went to it and unlocked it.
+Throwing the door open, he saw a stranger standing on the threshold,
+just about to step in.</p>
+
+<p>He looked at Ted in apparent surprise, then up at the number on the
+door, but his eyes fell to the letter which Ted still held in his hand,
+and he stared at it like one fascinated.</p>
+
+<p>Ted noticed this, and put the letter behind his back.</p>
+
+<p>As the stranger did not speak, Ted broke the spell by saying, in a
+sarcastic tone:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I beg your pardon,&quot; said the stranger hastily, &quot;but isn't Mr. Fowle
+in? I expected him to come to the door, and was surprised to see you,
+don't you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't know any Mr. Fowle,&quot; said Ted, with a smile that must have told
+the stranger that he was not taken in by the question.</p>
+
+<p>The fellow threw a quick glance around the room, but did not retreat
+from his place in the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was starting to shut the door, considering the incident closed, when
+the stranger, who was a large, powerful man, well dressed and with the
+air of a prosperous business man, started to enter.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is not Mr. Fowle's room; it is mine,&quot; said Ted, blocking the way,</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll just step in and wait for him,&quot; said the man. &quot;The clerk
+downstairs said it was his room.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wait a minute,&quot; said Ted sternly. &quot;I don't know you, and I don't know
+Fowle. If you have any business with me, state it from the hall.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The warning in the letter flashed through his mind.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the man sprang upon Ted, and they fell to the floor together.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Give me that letter, curse you!&quot; hissed the man, &quot;I saw you get it, and
+I saw it just now. Give it to me, I tell you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted had managed to put the letter back into his pocket. His right arm
+was twisted under his body, and he could not release it.</p>
+
+<p>He looked up into the face of the man, who was straddling his body, and
+saw a gleam of malignant hatred in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me up, you cur,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;After I get the letter,&quot; was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's a private letter, and not for you. Let me up!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Now Ted saw that the man had a knife in his hand&mdash;a long, keen knife,
+with a pearl hilt and a silver guard.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If you don't give me that letter at once, you'll not get another
+chance, but I'll have it,&quot; snarled the man.</p>
+
+<p>Ted began to struggle, but he soon saw that he could do nothing with one
+arm out of commission. The man was not only powerful, but heavy, and it
+was all Ted could do to more than wriggle his body.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tell you you shan't have it,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>The knife went above the man's head, and in the wielder's face was a
+look of the most diabolical hatred Ted had ever seen in a human
+countenance.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;For the last time,&quot; said the man hoarsely.</p>
+
+<p>There was something about the fellow's actions that told Ted he was
+desperate, yet at the same time afraid of the act he was about to
+commit.</p>
+
+<p>The knife was about to descend when Ted cried out an alarm, the first he
+had sounded.</p>
+
+<p>He heard some one running in the hall. His assailant heard it, also, and
+hesitated, looking around with frightened eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yi-yipee!&quot; It was Bud's voice, and Ted breathed a prayer of
+thankfulness.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll give it to you, anyhow,&quot; muttered the man, and again the knife
+went up in the air.</p>
+
+<p>But it did not make a strike, for at that moment Bud bounded into the
+room, and, taking in the situation with a lightning glance, his foot
+flew out, and the toe of his heavy boot struck the man on top of Ted
+fairly in the ribs. There was a cracking sound, and with a groan the
+fellow dropped the knife and struggled to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>Rushing at Bud, he bowled that doughty individual over like a tenpin,
+and dashed into the hall, along which he ran swiftly and lightly, for
+so large a man.</p>
+
+<p>When Bud had picked himself up and run to the stairway, he could hear
+the fellow clattering down the stairs three flights below.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, dash my hopes,&quot; said Bud, &quot;if he didn't get clear away. He shore
+treated me like a leetle boy. But I reckon he's in sech a hurry because
+he's on his way ter a drug store fer a porious plaster fer them ribs o'
+hisn.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted had picked himself up and was rubbing his arm, which had been
+strained by his falling on it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's this yere all erbout?&quot; asked Bud. &quot;I'm comin' up ter call on yer
+when I hears yer blat, an' I come runnin', an' what do I see? A large,
+pale stranger erbout ter explore yer system with er bowie. Yer mixin' in
+sassiety quicker'n usual, seems ter me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted had picked up the knife, which had fallen beneath the bed, and was
+looking at it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wonder where this came from,&quot; he said, turning it over in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wherever it came from, it's a wicked-lookin' cuss,&quot; said Bud. &quot;But what
+wuz ther feller goin' ter explore yer with it fer?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This letter,&quot; said Ted, taking the crumpled paper from his pocket and
+handing it to Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jumpin' sand hills, ther plot thickens,&quot; said Bud, when he had finished
+reading it. &quot;I don't seem ter be in it at all. What's it all erbout?
+Ye've got my coco whirlin' shore.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIV'></a><h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ABANDONED MOTOR CAR.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;I'll tell you,&quot; said Ted, &quot;if you'll take a seat and keep quiet until I
+get the thing straightened out in my own mind, for the incidents of the
+past hour certainly have got me going.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud sat down and waited patiently for Ted, who was thinking deeply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't tell you the precise object of our visit to St. Louis,&quot; began
+Ted, &quot;not because I didn't trust your ability to keep a secret, but in
+order to keep every one else in the dark.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;D'yer mean ter say that ye hev stalled me along ter this town ter give
+me a leetle airin', an' not ter sell hosses?&quot; asked Bud indignantly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not exactly. I want to sell the horses for the top price, but there was
+something else behind it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A large man astraddle o' ye with a keen an' bitin' bowie at yer throat.
+Yer must be hard up fer amoosement.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not that, either,&quot; said Ted, laughing. &quot;I manage to get all the
+amusement that's coming to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm still gropin' fer enlightenment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here goes, then. For a couple of months the trains on the Union
+Pacific, in Nebraska and Wyoming, have been running the gantlet between
+bands of train robbers. If a train missed being robbed at one place, it
+was almost sure to get it at another, especially if it carried wealth of
+any description.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But ther railroads is erbout ther biggest chumps ter stand fer all this
+monkeydoodle business o' train robbin' ez long ez they hev. Why don't
+they get inter ther exterminatin' business, an' clean up ther last o'
+them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Too busy making money, I guess. But this time it is not the railroads
+who are going after them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who is it, me an' you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Almost. By orders of the government.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's more like it. I don't hev no love fer a train robber, fer all I
+ever come in contact with wuz a bunch o' cowardly murderers, who fight
+like rats when they're cornered, an' kill innercent express messengers
+fer amoosement er devilment. But if Uncle Sammy sez so, an' needs my
+help, he's got it right swift an' willin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, he seems to need it, for just before we left Moon Valley I
+received a letter from the United States secret service, telling me
+about the robberies, of which I had heard something, but not much, as
+they have been kept away from the newspapers as much as possible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hev there been so many of them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As I tell you, they have been so numerous as to lead one to believe
+that there was a chain of train robbers clear across the continent, and
+strong and capable robbers they have proved themselves to be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did they git much?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They have got away with a vast amount of money belonging to
+individuals. They seem to have had information in advance of all the big
+shipments of treasure leaving San Francisco and Carson City, Nevada, as
+well as of private shipments.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wise Injuns, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should say so. They have even been able to spot shipments of United
+States gold en route from the mints in Frisco and Carson to Washington,
+and in two instances have got away with it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wow! There's where your Uncle Samuel reaches out his long arms and
+takes a hand in the game. How much did they get away with?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The chief did not say. That is not for us to know, I guess, or he
+doesn't think it will make any difference with us in our enthusiasm for
+our work of running down and capturing that gang, or gangs, as the ease
+may be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But it wouldn't do a feller no harm ter know. I'd feel a heap more
+skittish if I wuz runnin' after a million than if it wuz thirty cents.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There's something in that, but we won't let it interfere with the
+performance of our duty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How does the chief put it up to us?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He tells the facts briefly, and says: 'Go and get the robbers.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's short an' ter ther p'int. Anything else?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He says that the worst bunch of train robbers in ten years has been
+organized, with men operating on various railroads, and that from past
+performances it would seem that they had inside and powerful friends who
+were keeping them informed as to what trains to rob. In other words, the
+thing seems to be a syndicate of robbers operated and directed from a
+central point by men of brains and resource.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An' whar's ther central p'int?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;St. Louis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ah, I begins ter smell a mice. So yer gradooly led up ter this place,
+pretendin' ter sell hosses, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No; we'll kill two birds with one stone. We'll sell the horses if we
+can get our price for them, and it will be an excellent cloak to hide
+our real purpose, which is to try to get next to the headquarters of the
+train robbers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good idee. But how aire yer goin' ter go erbout it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;To tell you the truth, I haven't an idea. We will have to do our own
+scouting. If the chief knew, it is not likely that he would employ us to
+find out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thet's so. Well, let's be on ther scout.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll still pose as ranchers with pony stock to sell, and let folks
+know it. We'll go over to the stockyards right now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, but the stunt is ter keep our eyes peeled fer ther
+train-robber syndicate's office.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's it. One never can tell when he will run onto just the thing he's
+looking for when he least expects it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We're being shadowed,&quot; said Ted, a short time after they had left their
+hotel and were walking through the streets toward the bridge that spans
+the Mississippi River to East St. Louis.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How d'yer know?&quot; asked Bud, sending a cautious eye around.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See that fellow with the checked suit, on the opposite side of the
+street?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uh-huh!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's on our trail. Don't give him a hint that we're on to him, and if
+he chases us all day he'll see that we are what we represent ourselves
+to be, just plain cow-punchers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The man in the checked suit got on the same trolley car with them at the
+bridge, and while they were walking through the stockyards they saw him
+frequently, not always in evidence, but always somewhere in their
+vicinity.</p>
+
+<p>They visited the offices of the commission merchants who dealt in
+horseflesh, and got their prices for the sort of stock the boys had to
+sell, and before the day was over they had disposed of six carloads of
+horses for immediate delivery.</p>
+
+<p>While they were talking the deal over with the purchaser, they noticed
+that the man in the checked suit hovered around, and Ted purposely
+permitted him to overhear part of the conversation about the delivery of
+the ponies.</p>
+
+<p>Ted then sent a telegram to Kit Summers, informing him of the sale, and
+telling him to select the sort of horses from the herds that were
+wanted, and to come through with them, bringing a sufficient number of
+the boys with him to protect the stock and deliver it.</p>
+
+<p>When the operator took the message and began to send it, Ted noticed
+that the man with the checked suit was leaning against the wall,
+apparently not paying any attention to what was going on. But Ted knew
+by the way he was holding his head that he was a telegraph operator
+also, and that he was reading the message as it went onto the wire.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Bud, we've had enough of that gentleman for one day, haven't we?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shore hev.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then let's give him the slip.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Easier said than done. Thet thar feller sticks like a leech ter a black
+eye.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think we can do it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And how?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See that automobile over there? In front of that office.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see a long, low, rakish craft painted like an Eyetalian sunset. If
+thet is yer means o' communication with ther other side o' ther river,
+oxcuse me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, what's the matter with that? That's a mighty fine car.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon it is, but walkin's good ernuf fer me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you'll never walk away from that shadow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll bet I kin run erway from 'his checkers' before we're halfway ter
+St. Looey, even if I am a cow-puncher, an' muscle bound from straddlin'
+a saddle fer so many years.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the use, when we can run away from him in a gasoline wagon. That
+machine is standing in front of the office of Truax &amp; Wells, and they
+have sold a lot of cattle for us in times past. It wouldn't surprise me
+if the car belonged to one or the other of them, and that if we asked
+for a lift to the other side they would be glad to let us have it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, if you're so keen on it, tackle 'em. You'll find me game ter
+ride ther ole thing. I've rid everything from a goat ter a huffier, an'
+yer kin bet yer gold-plugged tooth I ain't goin' ter welsh fer no ole
+piece o' machinery.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They entered the office, and were at once greeted by an elderly man, Mr.
+Truax, in a warm manner. After talking over things in general, Ted said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's a fine car of yours out there, Mr. Truax.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Funny thing about that car,&quot; said the commission merchant. &quot;That's not
+my car, and nobody seems to know whose car it is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That certainly is strange,&quot; said Ted. &quot;How does it come to be standing
+out there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was this way, and it's a good story, but none of the newspaper boys
+have been in to-day, and so I couldn't give it out: Right back of us
+here is a railroad station. There's an eastbound train through here at
+seven-thirty every morning. She was just pulling into the station this
+morning as I was unlocking the office door, and I heard a chugging
+behind me. I looked up, and here came the car with only one man in it.
+He pulls up short, picks up a bag, which was very heavy, for it was all
+he could do to stagger along with it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The bell on the engine was ringing for the start when he runs through
+the arcade there as fast as he could with the heavy bag, and just
+catches the rear of the train as it comes along. He manages to hoist the
+bag onto the rear platform steps, and is running along trying to get on,
+and the train picking up speed with every revolution of the wheels. I
+thought sure he would be left, or killed, for he wouldn't let go, when
+the conductor came out on the rear platform, saw him, and jerked him
+aboard by the collar.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Didn't he say anything about his machine?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not a word. That's what I thought so strange about it. But, thinks I,
+some one will come for it after a while. Perhaps, thinks I, he was in
+such a hurry to make the train that he left home without a chauffeur,
+who will be along when he wakes up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And no one has appeared?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There she lays, just as he left her. When my partner came down, I spoke
+to him about it. He's a fan on motoring. That's his car over there; that
+white one. When I spoke to him about it, he went out and looked it over.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'That car don't belong here,' says he. 'There's no number of the maker
+on it, and everything that would serve to identify it has been taken
+off. Besides, I don't think the license number is on the square.'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That excited my curiosity, and I called up the license collector's
+office and asked him whose motor car No. 118 was. In a few minutes he
+calls me and says it belongs to Mr. Henry Inchcliffe, the banker. I gets
+Mr. Inchcliffe on the phone and asks him if his car is missing, and he
+says he can look out of the window as he is talking and see it beside
+the curb with his wife sitting in it. 'What is the color of your car?'
+says I. 'Dark green, picked in crimson. Why do you ask?' says he. I
+tells him that an abandoned car is standing in front of our place with
+his number on it. But he says he guesses not, for his number looms up
+like a sore thumb, hanging on the axle of his car in front of the bank,
+and I rings off. That's the story of the car.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Since it belongs to no one in particular, I've a mind to borrow it, and
+put it in a garage over on the other side. It'll be ruined if it stays
+out here in the weather,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't care,&quot; said Mr. Truax. &quot;It wasn't left in my care, and I
+haven't got much use for the blamed thing, anyhow. Take it along. If the
+owner comes and proves property, I suppose you'll give it up?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sure thing. I'll telephone you the name and address of the garage where
+I leave it, so that if there is any inquiry for it you may direct
+inquirers there. But I've got a hunch that this car was thrown away,
+having served its purpose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great Scott! that's a valuable thing to throw away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, but the man who abandoned it probably thought it a good
+sacrifice.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How is that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you suppose was in that bag he carried?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Couldn't say, but it was pretty heavy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It would hold a good deal of paper money, wouldn't it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If the bills were of big enough denomination, I should say you could
+pack away a million in it, for it was a powerful big sack.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, suppose the man whom you saw jump out of the car and get aboard
+the train had stolen the car, or even if he had owned it, and had made a
+big haul, and it was contingent upon his getting away with the money
+that he abandon the car.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's possible. But there has been no big robbery to cover that part
+of the theory.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You don't know. There may have been a big robbery, and it has not been
+made public. Not all robberies are reported to the public. If they were,
+there would be slim chance for the authorities to catch the thieves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps so. Say, Mr. Strong, you're a deputy United States marshal,
+ain't you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. Both Mr. Morgan and I are in the government service.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've been thinking over what you said about a possible robbery, and
+perhaps you've got it right. I believe you'd better take that car along.
+You might need it as evidence some day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That occurred to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Can you run the pesky thing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes; I learned to run a motor car long ago. It is, like everything else
+a fellow can know, mighty useful to me in my business.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, take her along.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The man in the checked suit was nowhere in sight, but as Ted started up
+the abandoned motor car he came running out of a doorway.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hi, there! Come back with that car!&quot; he yelled, running after them in
+the middle of the road. But Ted let her out a couple of links, and in a
+moment the man in checks was out of sight.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XV'></a><h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE LODGING-HOUSE BATTLE.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;What aire ye goin' ter do with ther blamed thing, now yer got it?&quot;
+asked Bud, as they sped across the Eads Bridge into St. Louis.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I haven't made up my mind yet. It certainly doesn't belong in this
+town, and if we use it here we will have to get a local license.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jumpin' sand hills, yer not goin' ter run it yere?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why not?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whoever owns it is li'ble ter come erlong some day, an&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I'll give it to him, if he can prove it is his, but I don't think
+it will ever be claimed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How's that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because the owner is a thief, and if he finds it is in the hands of an
+officer he will let it go rather than face an investigation. Besides, I
+need it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted Strong, aire yer goin' dotty over them derned smell wagons, too?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I can't say that I am, but if I lived in a town like this, and
+could afford it, you bet I'd have one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But where aire yer goin' ter keep it? We shore can't take it up ter our
+room.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not exactly,&quot; laughed Ted. &quot;You forget that we have friends in this
+man's town.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not a whole heap.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the matter with Don Dorrington?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By ginger, that's so. Ther young feller what was with us down in Mexico
+when we found ther jewels and things under ther president's palace.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, and we're heading right for his house now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What fer? Goin' ter try ter git him inter trouble, too?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted piloted the machine through the thronged downtown streets, and
+coming at last to Pine Street Boulevard, he let her out, and went
+skimming over the smooth pavement until he came to Newstead Avenue, and
+was ringing the bell of Don Dorrington's flat before the astonished Bud
+could recover his breath from the swift ride.</p>
+
+<p>Dorrington himself came to the door, having looked through the window
+and seen Ted arrive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, by all that's glorious,&quot; exclaimed Don, as he grasped Ted by the
+hand. &quot;Where are you from, and why? Hello, Bud, you old rascal! Get out
+of that car and come in. Where did you get the bubble?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted and Bud entered the house and were taken into Don's workroom, where
+he was soon put in possession of the facts concerning the motor car,
+although Ted said nothing about the real object of his visit lo St.
+Louis.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what can I do for you?&quot; asked Don.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you a place where I can store this car for a while?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I sure have,&quot; said Don. &quot;You can run it right into the basement from
+the back yard. When these flats were built it was intended that the
+basement be used as a garage, but so far none of the tenants have shown
+a disposition to get rich enough to buy one. No one will be able to get
+the machine out of there,&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's the only thing I fear,&quot; said Ted. &quot;It's a cinch that the owner,
+if he is a thief who has escaped with a pot of money, as I strongly
+suspect, will have his pals try to get it back. And I don't want them to
+get it until I have used it to try to trace them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll bet a cooky ther feller with ther checked suit wuz after ther
+machine himself,&quot; said Bud. &quot;When we eloped with it he came holler in'
+after us ter bring it back, but we gave him the glazed look an' left him
+fannin' ther air in our wake.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boys rolled the motor car into the basement, which was securely
+locked. Then Ted and Bud returned to town on a street car.</p>
+
+<p>As they got closer to the downtown section, they could hear the shouts
+of the newsboys announcing an &quot;extra&quot; newspaper in all the varieties of
+pronunciation of that word as it issues from the mouths of city
+&quot;newsies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wonder what the 'extra' is all about?&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, same old thing, I reckon,&quot; said Bud. &quot;'All erbout ther turribul
+disaster.' An' when yer buys a paper yer see in big letters at ther top,
+'Man Kills,' and down below it, 'Mother-in-law!' But in little type
+between them yer read ther follerin', to wit, 'Cat to spite.' I've been
+stung by them things before.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm going to buy one, anyway,&quot; laughed Ted. &quot;I don't mind being stung
+for a cent.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He beckoned to a newsboy, bought a paper, and opened it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's this?&quot; he almost shouted.</p>
+
+<p>Great black letters sprawled across the top of the page.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Express Messenger Found Dead,&quot; was the first line, and below it was the
+confirmation of Ted's belief that a great robbery had taken place. It
+was &quot;Forty Thousand Dollars Taken from the Safe.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There's the owner of the abandoned automobile, the fellow who boarded
+the train with the heavy grip,&quot; said Ted to Bud, who was staring over
+his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>The article following the startling headlines told the circumstances of
+the robbery.</p>
+
+<p>The train that entered the Union Station at six o'clock that morning had
+been robbed in some mysterious manner between a junction a short
+distance out of St. Louis, where the express messenger had been seen
+alive by a fellow messenger in another car. When the car was opened in
+the station, after being switched to the express track, the messenger
+was found lying on the floor of the car with a bullet through his head.
+The safe had been blown open and its contents rifled.</p>
+
+<p>The express company had kept silent about the murder and robbery until
+late in the day, when the body of the messenger was found by a reporter
+in an undertaker's establishment.</p>
+
+<p>As for the other details, a policeman at the Union Station said that he
+had noticed a man come out of the waiting room carrying a grip that
+seemed more than ordinarily heavy. A red motor car was waiting outside
+the station, and the man got into it and drove away at a fast pace. The
+policeman had not noticed the number on the car.</p>
+
+<p>How the robber and murderer got into the express car was a mystery, as
+the car was locked when it was switched into the express track, and
+there were no marks of a violent entry on the outside of the car.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What aire yer goin' ter do erbout it?&quot; asked Bud. &quot;Aire yer goin' ter
+turn over ther motor car an' give yer infermation ter ther police?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not on your life,&quot; answered Ted. &quot;At least, not yet. I'm going to work
+on it a bit myself first.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But won't Mr. Truax tip it off?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll warn him not to.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But how erbout ther feller in ther check suit what wuz so kind an'
+attentive ter us?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's hiding out, now that the robbery has become public. I'm not afraid
+of him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's ther first move?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Locate and identify the car.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted called Mr. Truax up on the telephone. The commission merchant had
+read about the express robbery, and had connected the man in the red car
+with it, but promised to say nothing about it until Ted had had an
+opportunity to unravel the mystery.</p>
+
+<p>Ted lay awake a long time that night thinking the matter over, and in
+the morning awoke with a plan in his mind.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, hev yer determined what ter do erbout ther red car?&quot; asked Bud at
+the breakfast table. &quot;I'm shore gittin' sore at myself fer a loafer,
+sittin' eround here doin' nothin' but eat an' look at ther things in
+ther stores what I can't buy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've got a scheme that I'm going to try,&quot; answered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm going to run that car all over this town until I get some of the
+train-robbing syndicate anxious about it and to following it. Then I'm
+going to get on to their place of doing business and their methods.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wish yer luck,&quot; was Bud's cheerless comment.</p>
+
+<p>Bud had been out wandering restlessly around the streets all morning,
+and Ted was writing letters. When he got through he thought about the
+missing trunk, and concluded that he would go to the Union Station to
+see if it had been received.</p>
+
+<p>The words of warning in the note not to go on the street alone were
+clear in his memory; but this he took to mean at night, for in a crowded
+street in the daytime he could see no danger.</p>
+
+<p>After he had waited an hour or more for Bud, and the yellow-haired
+cow-puncher had not returned, Ted decided to delay no longer, and
+started off at a brisk walk for the station, which was six or seven
+blocks distant.</p>
+
+<p>His hotel being on Pine Street, he chose that for his route.</p>
+
+<p>He had walked three blocks when he stopped to watch a man who was
+slightly in advance of him.</p>
+
+<p>It was the fellow he had seen in the checked suit.</p>
+
+<p>He had just come out of a saloon.</p>
+
+<p>In the middle of the block he stopped to talk with another man, who
+looked as if he worked on the railroad, and Ted loitered in a doorway
+until the two separated, and the man in the checked suit continued on
+his way.</p>
+
+<p>A block farther on Ted observed two men standing on the corner talking.
+A policeman stood on the opposite corner.</p>
+
+<p>The two men on the corner Ted knew instantly for &quot;plain-clothes men,&quot; as
+the headquarters detectives are called.</p>
+
+<p>He was well aware that the police by this time were on the alert to find
+the express robber and murderer, and knew that every available man on
+the city detective force was on the watch, like a cat at a rat hole.</p>
+
+<p>To capture the train robber meant a reward and promotion.</p>
+
+<p>Ted stood on the corner opposite the detectives and watched proceedings.</p>
+
+<p>When the man in the checked suit had gone about ten paces beyond the
+detectives, one of them started after him, and the other signaled the
+policeman in uniform to cross over.</p>
+
+<p>The detective called to the man in the check suit to halt, but instead
+of obeying he started to run.</p>
+
+<p>But he had not gone more than ten feet when he was seized by the
+detective, and was dragged back to the corner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Take him to the box, Casey,&quot; said the detective, turning his prisoner
+over to the policeman.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the two detectives were joined by a third, and they
+entered into an earnest conversation, drawn closely together and looking
+over their shoulders occasionally in the direction of the house into
+which the man in the checked suit was about to enter when arrested.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have stumbled right into it,&quot; said Ted to himself. &quot;The check-suit
+man is the spy for the train robbers, and their headquarters are in that
+house. The detectives are going to raid it, and I'm in on it. This
+certainly is lucky.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He was glad now that he had not waited for Bud.</p>
+
+<p>The three detectives moved slowly down the street, The policeman stood
+on the corner holding his man, waiting for the patrol wagon.</p>
+
+<p>The scene was vividly impressed on Ted's mind, for it had happened so
+quickly, so easily, so quietly, and not at all like his own strenuous
+times when he had gone after desperadoes in his capacity of deputy
+marshal.</p>
+
+<p>The detectives did not notice that they were being followed by a youth,
+and it is doubtful if they would have paid any attention to him if they
+had.</p>
+
+<p>The foot of the first detective was on the lower step of the stairway
+leading to the door of the suspected house when suddenly a shrill
+whistle cut the air from the direction of the corner, and Ted turned to
+see the policeman strike the man in the check suit a blow with his club.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Curse him, he's tipped us off,&quot; said the detective. &quot;Come on, we've got
+to rush them now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Quickly the three sprang up the steps, threw the door open, and entered
+a long hall.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Back room,&quot; said one.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was following them as closely as he could without being noticed and
+warned away.</p>
+
+<p>He saw a big, fine-looking policeman entering by a back door.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's it,&quot; said one of the detectives, motioning to a door.</p>
+
+<p>The policeman walked boldly to the door and threw it open.</p>
+
+<p>As he did so a shot rang out, and the policeman staggered back and
+fell, a crimson stain covering his face.</p>
+
+<p>He was dead before he struck the floor.</p>
+
+<p>Without a word, the three detectives ran to the door, and within a
+moment or two at least fifteen shots were fired within the room.</p>
+
+<p>They were so many and so close together that it sounded like a single
+crash. Then there was silence for a few moments, followed by a few
+desultory shots which seemed to pop viciously after the crash that had
+gone before.</p>
+
+<p>It all happened so suddenly that Ted had hardly time to think, and stood
+rooted to the spot until he was aroused by the cry of &quot;Help!&quot; in a
+feeble voice, and, drawing his revolver, he sprang into the room.</p>
+
+<p>As he did so, a shot rang out, and a ball sped close to his head.</p>
+
+<p>The room was so dense with suffocating powder smoke that he could not
+see across it, but he had seen the dull-red flash from the muzzle of a
+revolver and shot in that direction.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm done,&quot; he heard, followed by a deep groan.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Get me out of here,&quot; said a man, trying to struggle to his feet, and
+Ted hurried to his side. It was one of the detectives, and Ted helped
+him to his feet and supported him to the hall.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me down. I've got mine. Go in and help Dunnigan,&quot; said the wounded
+man. There was a spot, red and ever widening, on his breast.</p>
+
+<p>Ted laid him on the floor and re&euml;ntered the room. Another shot came in
+his direction, and missed, although he could feel the wind of it as it
+passed close to his head, and he returned it with two shots, and there
+was silence.</p>
+
+<p>The smoke had by this time cleared away somewhat, and Ted saw five men
+lying prone in the room.</p>
+
+<p>One of the detectives lay on his face across the bed, and Ted tried to
+raise him up, but he was a dead weight. Ted finally got him turned over
+on his back, and then he saw that the detective was dead.</p>
+
+<p>Kneeling on the floor with his head in his arms, which were thrown
+across a chair, was the third detective. He was breathing hard, and
+every time he moved the blood gushed from his mouth. He had been shot
+through the stomach.</p>
+
+<p>But on the other side of the bed lay three men, apparently all of them
+dead.</p>
+
+<p>While he was observing this there was a commotion in the hall, and a
+policeman rushed in, followed by a large man who wore an authoritative
+air.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, this is too bad; this is too bad,&quot; he kept repeating, as he went
+from man to man. It was Chief of Detectives Desmond. Turning to the
+policeman, he said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They've killed the boys, but the boys got the whole gang except two,
+'Checkers' out there, and a man in the red automobile.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVI'></a><h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE MAN IN THE YELLOW CAR.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>A patrol wagon full of policemen had dashed up in front of the house,
+and they came running down the hall, followed by a horde of eager
+reporters, who stood aghast at the slaughter of a few minutes.</p>
+
+<p>The only participant in the fight who could talk was the detective whom
+Ted had carried to the hall, and he was telling the chief of detectives
+in whispers what had occurred.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That young fellow followed us in,&quot; he said, pointing to Ted. &quot;He took
+me out, and then went in and finished the gang. He's a game one, he is.
+I don't know who he is, but, by Jove! he's a game un.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who were the gang?&quot; asked the chief.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Big Bill' Minnis, 'Bull' Dorgan, and 'Feathers' Lavin,&quot; was the reply.
+&quot;Checkers we caught on the corner, and the other member of the gang,
+Dude Wilcox, got away. I guess it was him that rode off with the swag in
+the automobile, but where he went we couldn't get.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can tell you about that,&quot; said Ted quietly to the chief.</p>
+
+<p>Desmond looked up at him curiously.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not now,&quot; he said. &quot;Don't go. I want to talk to you after a while. Now,
+brace up, Tom; you're going to come out all right. The ambulance is out
+here, and we'll get you to the hospital.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It ain't no use to jolly me, chief,&quot; said the man on the floor. &quot;I'm
+all in. I'm bleedin' inside. I've seen too many fellows with a shot like
+this ever to have any hopes. Send for my wife and a priest. I ain't
+afraid to go, chief, but I hate to leave Maggie like this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll take care of her, Tom. Get that off your mind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, chief. If you say so, I know it'll be all right. Poor girl,
+it's hard luck for her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's right, Tom, but brace up and don't let her see that you're
+worried.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A woman's scream sounded through the hall, and a slender, girlish figure
+pushed its way toward the prostrate man.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tom,&quot; she cried, and knelt beside him. &quot;Are you hit? Did they get you
+at last?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I ain't bad, Maggie,&quot; said the dying detective bravely. &quot;The
+chief's going to have me sent to the hospital, and I'll be all right in
+a week.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But before midnight he died.</p>
+
+<p>An hour later Ted met the chief of detectives.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Get into my car,&quot; said the chief, &quot;and come down to my office, and
+we'll have a talk.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a short time they were at the Four Courts, the big central police
+station of St. Louis, and when they were in the chief's private office
+and the door barred to intruders the great detective turned inquiringly
+to Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, who are you, and how did you happen to be mixed up in that mess?&quot;
+asked Desmond.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My name is Ted Strong,&quot; began Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Chief Desmond sat up straight and looked at Ted sharply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not the leader of the broncho boys, are you?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The same,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know about you. What were you doing near those detectives, that you
+should have got in so handily?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm a deputy United States marshal, as perhaps you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Desmond nodded. &quot;Yes, I know,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was working on this very case,&quot; said Ted, &quot;and I had got hold of one
+end of it, and was about to follow it to a conclusion, when I saw the
+man Checkers on the street, and was following him. He led me to the
+detectives. The minute I saw them and him, I knew there would be
+something doing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did you know of Checkers?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nothing at all, except that he knew somehow that I was working on the
+express-robbery cases, and yesterday he shadowed my partner and me to
+East St. Louis, where we left him behind in an automobile.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted then told the chief how he had come about taking possession of the
+red car, to which Desmond listened carefully. When Ted had finished,
+Desmond rose and paced the room for a minute.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Young man, you've got the big end of the chase,&quot; he said. &quot;Dude Wilcox
+is the man who we are positive killed the messenger and got away with
+the swag. If it were you who found out how he got away with it, you will
+have got the last of the gang.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is that all there is to it?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Lord bless you, no. That's only the bunch that has been working in St.
+Louis. The big end of it is operating from some town farther west.
+There's where Dude Wilcox came from. I don't know where they make their
+headquarters, and it is out of my territory. I have all I can do to take
+care of St. Louis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The government officers were of the opinion that St. Louis was
+headquarters.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was true up to a few weeks ago, but we made it so hot for them
+here that they emigrated.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, there's no use in my staying here any longer. I might as well
+hike out west. I'm not much good in a big town, anyway. I suppose you'll
+have no trouble in handling Checkers without any word from me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes. But let's have Checkers up and hear what he has to say for
+himself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The chief pushed a button and presently an officer entered.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go down to the hold-over and bring Checkers to me,&quot; ordered the chief.</p>
+
+<p>In less than ten minutes the officer was back again.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The jailer says he has no such man, chief,&quot; was the report.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where is he?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll inquire.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Back he came in a few minutes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Casey had him on the corner waiting for the wagon, sir, but in the
+excitement during the fight Casey let go of Checkers for a moment, and
+he got away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted could see that the chief was very angry, but he controlled his
+temper admirably.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very well,&quot; was all he said.</p>
+
+<p>He turned and gave Ted a sharp look.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If you stay around here much longer, you'll have to look out for
+Checkers. He's a dangerous man, as well with a knife as with a gun.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I guess I can take care of him,&quot; answered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You look as if you could, lad,&quot; said the chief.</p>
+
+<p>After a few more minutes of conversation regarding the red motor car,
+during which the chief advised Ted to keep the car until he was through
+with it, Ted took his leave, and returned to the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>There he found Bud pacing the floor.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Peevish porcupines,&quot; grunted the old cow-puncher, &quot;but you've got
+yourself in up to ther neck in printer's ink.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How's that?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haven't you seen the evening papers?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've been too busy to look at them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon you be. Busier than a cranberry merchant. Look at this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud handed Ted a bundle of evening papers.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, the fight between the detectives and the bandits was given an
+immense amount of space in the extras which followed one another rapidly
+from the presses. In all of them were accounts of Ted's going to the
+rescue of the detectives, and the statement that balls from Ted's
+revolver had killed two of the gang.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Rubbish!&quot; said Ted. &quot;I didn't kill any bandits. I took a couple of
+shots at them after they had fired on me, that's all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, yer won't be able to get away from these newspaper stories. If
+any of ther gang run across yer, they'll shore go after yer with a hard
+plank. Ye've placed ther black mark on yerself with ther gang.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right. I can stand it if they can. I've got a few up my sleeve for
+them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then Ted related exactly how the thing happened, and of his talk with
+Desmond.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And they let that fellow Checkers get away,&quot; sighed Ted. &quot;The chief
+says he's the most dangerous of them all, and warned me to look out for
+him. Bud, I've got a hunch.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let her flicker. I'm kinder stuck on yer hunches; they pay dividends
+right erlong.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The fellow in the check suit was the man who tried to stab me because I
+wouldn't let him see the anonymous letter. I don't know which was the
+real man, Checkers or the other. But there were many points of
+similarity between them, and when Checkers called for us to stop the
+automobile, it was the voice of the man who commanded me to give him the
+letter. Keep Checkers in your mind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The next morning they went out to Don Dorrington's house and got out the
+automobile.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll circulate around pretty well in this,&quot; said Ted, &quot;and if
+Checkers is in town he'll spot us, and we may get a chance at him yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you want with him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm depending on him to lead us to headquarters.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For an hour or more they rode about the town, making the machine as
+conspicuous as possible.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bud, we're being followed,&quot; said Ted, nodding toward a yellow car that
+had been in evidence oftener than mere chance made possible.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yep. I've had him spotted fer some time,&quot; answered Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why didn't you say something about it?&quot; Ted laughed at Bud's silence.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I knew that you were on to it, too,&quot; was the characteristic reply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you suppose he's chasing us for? He must know that he can't
+harm us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He don't want us. He wants that red car. It's a beautiful piece of red
+evidence against him an' his gang. Yer see, it's ther best kinder a
+clew.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Right again. But he needn't think he can steal it, for he can't.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They put the car up during the middle of the day.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll let it rest for a while,&quot; said Ted, as they ran it into a public
+garage. &quot;This evening we'll take it out again, and if we're followed
+then we'll be sure that it is Checkers, and that he is on our trail.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was seven o'clock when they trundled forth again.</p>
+
+<p>A bright moonlight night made motoring highly enjoyable, and after they
+had run about for a couple of hours Bud got out, saying that he was
+tired of the sport, and would return to the hotel, and leave Ted to take
+the machine back to Don Dorrington's basement.</p>
+
+<p>They had been followed by the yellow car again, but in going through
+Forest Park they had managed to give their trailer the slip among the
+intricate roads and bypaths, and had seen nothing of him for half an
+hour.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Ted had let Bud out, he hit up the speed, for the boulevard
+was comparatively free of traffic, and he fairly spun along to the
+western part of the city.</p>
+
+<p>Cutting off the boulevard, he entered upon a side street to make a short
+cut to Dorrington's house.</p>
+
+<p>He noticed, as he turned into the side street, a light-colored car
+standing close to the curb as he passed, but so many cars were standing
+in front of houses here and there that he paid no attention to it.</p>
+
+<p>But he had no sooner passed than the light-colored car glided after him
+noiselessly. Ted's own machine was making so much noise that he was not
+aware of the presence of another car until it was abreast of him, and so
+close that he could reach out his hand and touch it.</p>
+
+<p>He thought the car was trying to pass him close to the curb, and started
+to turn out to give it more steerage room.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sheer off, there,&quot; he called, &quot;until I can get out of here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly something wet struck him in the face. He gave a gasp, as a
+fearful suffocating pain filled his head and lungs, and he sank down
+into the bottom of the car, insensible.</p>
+
+<p>At the same instant the man in the other car reached over and throttled
+the red car, then stopped his own.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving his own car in the middle of the road, he leaped into the red
+car and gave her her full head.</p>
+
+<p>In half an hour the red car had left the city and was speeding along a
+smooth country road in the moonlight.</p>
+
+<p>Ted still lay in a stupor in the bottom of the car, and the only sound
+that came from him was an occasional gasp as his lungs, trying to
+recover from a shock, took in short gulps of air.</p>
+
+<p>It was midnight before the red car slowed down.</p>
+
+<p>Ahead in the moonlight rose the black bulk of a building.</p>
+
+<p>It presented the appearance of a country house of some pretensions.</p>
+
+<p>The house was dark. Not a light appeared at any of the windows.</p>
+
+<p>The red car approached it cautiously, running into the deep shadow cast
+by a high brick wall. A dog on the other side of the wall barked a
+warning.</p>
+
+<p>The man in the red car whistled softly in a peculiar way.</p>
+
+<p>A window was raised somewhere, and the whistle was answered by another.</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes there was the sound of a man walking on a graveled
+path, then the creak of rusty iron and a gate swung open.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right?&quot; asked a voice at the gate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet. Got them both,&quot; answered the man in the red machine.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bully for you. Run her in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The red machine, with Ted still lying in the bottom, ran into a large
+yard, and the gate was closed again, and the car was stopped in front of
+the house.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come, help me carry him in,&quot; said the man in the car. &quot;He'll be coming
+around all right in a few minutes, then we may have some trouble with
+him, for he's the very devil to fight.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted was dragged out of the car in no gentle manner, and carried into the
+house, which was unlighted save where the moonlight shone through the
+windows.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Into the strong room with him,&quot; said the man of the house.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was carried into a room and dumped upon a lounge. Then a light was
+struck, and both men bent over the prostrate form of the leader of the
+broncho boys.</p>
+
+<p>Both of them started back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whew! You must have given him an awful dose, Checkers,&quot; said the man of
+the house.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Had to do it, Dude. If I hadn't, I'd never got him here, that's a
+cinch.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, get his gun off before he comes to.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted was stripped of his weapons, a glass of water was thrown into his
+face, and he began to regain consciousness.</p>
+
+<p>He had been shot down with an ammonia gun, and the powerful alkaloid gas
+had almost killed him. For a long time he breathed in gasps, but his
+splendid constitution pulled him through.</p>
+
+<p>When they saw that he was recovering, the two men left the room, after
+examining the iron-barred windows, and as they went out they locked and
+barred the door behind them.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+
+<h3>MURDER IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Ted lay for a long time only half conscious.</p>
+
+<p>But gradually his senses returned, and he opened his eyes to find
+himself in darkness, trying hard to think what had happened to him.</p>
+
+<p>He knew that he had been felled by something powerful and terrible, that
+had knocked him in a heap so suddenly that he hardly knew what had
+happened to him.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly the consciousness of it all came to him. Some one in an
+automobile had ridden alongside him and thrown ammonia in his face.</p>
+
+<p>His eyes were still smarting with it, and he wondered, seeing no light,
+if it had blinded him, and he was now lying in the dark when there was
+light all around him.</p>
+
+<p>He struggled with this thought for a moment, because the idea of going
+blind was terrible to him.</p>
+
+<p>He wondered where he was, and felt around and learned that he was lying
+on a couch.</p>
+
+<p>Then he swung his feet to the floor and sat up. The ammonia had left him
+still weak, but gradually he became stronger, and got to his feet and
+began to explore the room with his fingers.</p>
+
+<p>He found a chair and a table, and presently came to the door, which he
+tried to open, but could not.</p>
+
+<p>Passing around the room, he arrived at the window, and, looking through
+the glass, saw a star, and thanked Heaven that he could see.</p>
+
+<p>He tried the fastenings of the window, unlocked it, and threw it up,
+stretching out his hand. The window was closed with iron bars.</p>
+
+<p>He had made the circuit of the room, and had discovered that he was
+securely shut in.</p>
+
+<p>He went back to the lounge and lay down to think matters over.</p>
+
+<p>He felt quite sure that the man Checkers had been his assailant. The
+warning had not been without reason, after all.</p>
+
+<p>As he lay quietly he heard footsteps in the next room. Two men evidently
+had entered it. They were talking, and occasionally, when their voices
+rose higher than usual, he could catch a word or two.</p>
+
+<p>From the tones of their voices he learned that the conversation was not
+of the most pleasant nature. They were quarreling about something.</p>
+
+<p>By degrees their voices grew higher, and occasionally Ted caught such
+words as &quot;money,&quot; &quot;half,&quot; &quot;thousand,&quot; enough to tell him that they were
+dividing something.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They're quarreling over the swag,&quot; said Ted to himself. &quot;Good! 'When
+thieves fall out, honest men get their dues,'&quot; he quoted. &quot;Keep it up,
+and I'll get you yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They did keep it up.</p>
+
+<p>It was the voice of Checkers that rose high.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tell you I'll have half or I'll split on you, if I go to the 'stir'
+for the rest of my life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If you do split, you won't go to the 'stir.' The boys will kill you
+before you get the chance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what's your proposition?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll give you five thousand. That's enough for putting me next to the
+train. What do you want? The earth? Didn't I do the dirty work? If I'd
+been caught, who'd have been soaked? You? I guess not. It would have
+been me who would have been killed, for I'm like the other fellows&mdash;I'd
+have fought until they killed me. You're not entitled to more than five
+thousand, and that's all you'll get.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I won't take it. Half or I squeal.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Squeal, then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was a sudden trampling of feet in the other room, the crash of an
+overturning table, followed by a yell of death agony, and the thud of a
+falling body.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great Scott, one of them is dead,&quot; said Ted, with a shudder.</p>
+
+<p>He was listening intently, and heard a scuffle of feet, then hurried
+footsteps died away and a door slammed somewhere.</p>
+
+<p>Deep silence followed.</p>
+
+<p>Then the horror of the situation burst upon Ted, The house had been
+deserted by the only living creature, except himself, who was left to
+starve to death in this prison, with a dead man in the next room.</p>
+
+<p>One or the other of the two men who had held him captive had done murder
+and escaped with the stolen money.</p>
+
+<p>Ted lay speculating which was dead and which had escaped, but he could
+make nothing of it.</p>
+
+<p>The night dragged wearily on for Ted could not sleep, for thinking of
+the dead man in the next room, and his own precarious position.</p>
+
+<p>He reviewed the chances of his being rescued. They were very slim,
+indeed.</p>
+
+<p>Bud and Chief Desmond would start a hunt for him about the city, but
+would not find him, and no one would think of looking for him in this
+deserted house.</p>
+
+<p>But at last the night passed, and Ted watched with a grateful heart the
+gradual dawning of the day.</p>
+
+<p>At last it was light enough to see, and he looked around the room.</p>
+
+<p>It was old-fashioned and high. Through the window he could see a bit of
+the high brick fence, and a few trees and long, tangled, dead grass.
+That was the extent of his view from the window.</p>
+
+<p>He examined the door, which was the only other means of exit from the
+room.</p>
+
+<p>It was very heavy, and made of oak. The lock on it was massive and
+old-fashioned, and set into the oak frame so that an examination of it
+dispelled all hope of getting it off.</p>
+
+<p>If he was to escape there was only one way, to cut a hole in the door.
+He felt for his knife. It was gone, and Ted wandered disconsolately to
+the couch and sat down to ponder. But the more he racked his brains the
+further he got from a plan of escape.</p>
+
+<p>The day dragged slowly on, but he would not sleep for fear that he might
+miss some one passing to whom he could call and bring assistance.</p>
+
+<p>Late in the afternoon he stepped to the window and looked at an apple
+tree in the grounds beyond. It was full of red apples, and he was very
+hungry, but they were not for him.</p>
+
+<p>He wondered that he had not heard any one pass along the road on the
+other side of the brick wall.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly he noticed that the leaves in an apple tree were being
+violently agitated, although there was not a breath of wind stirring.</p>
+
+<p>Some one was in the tree, and his first impulse was to yell for help,
+then he reflected that if it was a boy pilfering apples the cry would
+scare him, and his only chance for rescue would be ruined by the boy
+running away.</p>
+
+<p>He would wait for the boy to come to the ground, and would then speak to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>But as he was watching the tree intently the movement of the leaves
+ceased, and soon he perceived a peering face and two dark, roguish eyes.
+They reminded him of a bird, so bright and inquiring were they.</p>
+
+<p>Ted smiled at the eyes, and thought he saw an answering twinkle in them.</p>
+
+<p>They disappeared after a few moments. The leaves shook again, and a boy
+of about ten years, incredibly ragged, with a dirty face, hands, and
+bare feet and legs, dropped to the ground. His head was covered with a
+tangled mop of brown hair in lieu of a hat.</p>
+
+<p>The boy stared at the window, all the while munching an apple, while
+from the bulges in his scant trousers it was evident that he had others
+for future consumption.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, boy!&quot; said Ted, with a friendly way.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello! Who are you?&quot; said the boy, coming a few steps nearer, to get a
+better view.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you mean what's my name?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uh-huh!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My name is Ted Strong. What's yours?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Napoleon Bonaparte.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted laughed at the solemnity of the boy when he gave this answer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said the boy, &quot;it's just as much Napoleon as yours is Ted
+Strong.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But my name is Ted Strong.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Aw, come off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, if you don't believe me, ask me any questions you like to
+prove it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where do you come from?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Moon Valley, South Dakota.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's right. What's the names of some of Ted Strong's fellers?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted named them all, the boy giving a nod after every name.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, what's the name of your horse? The one you ride most?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sultan. You seem to know something about me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet. Well, maybe you're all right, but what are you doing here? I
+always thought you stayed out West&mdash;away out West.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Usually I do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then what are you doing in the haunted house?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is this a haunted house?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet. There was a feller killed there once, and nobody will live in
+it no more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Honest, now, what <i>is</i> your name?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My name's&mdash; Say, are you sure enough Ted Strong?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Certainly I am.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boy came closer, looking at Ted fixedly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Gee, I wouldn't go inter that house fer a hundred million dollars.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've been here all night, and it didn't scare me any.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That settles it. I reckon you must be Ted Strong. He's the only feller
+I ever heard of that wouldn't be scared to stay in a haunted house. How
+did you get there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Without hesitation, Ted told the boy how he had been held up by a man in
+an automobile, and knocked out by ammonia fumes, and then locked up in
+the house. But he said nothing about the murdered man in the next room.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now I've told you all about myself, it's only fair that you should tell
+me about yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I ain't nothin'. I'm just 'Scrub.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haven't you got any other name?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nary one that I know of that's fastened to me all the time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How's that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When I'm living with old man Jones, I'm Scrub Jones, and when I'm with
+Mr. Foster, I'm Scrub Foster, and that way. I don't belong to nobody,
+an' I just live around doing chores for my keep. Just now I ain't got no
+place to stop, and I'm sleeping in hay-stacks and living on apples and
+turnips and potatoes, when I make a fire and bake 'em, and once in a
+while I trap a rabbit. But, gee, what a good time you must have!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How would you like to go with me out to Moon Valley?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Aw, quit your kiddin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I mean it I'd just like to take you out there and give you a good time
+for once in your life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Would you? By golly, you can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I'll tell you what to do. Go around to the front door and come in,
+and back to this room, and unlock the door and let me out, and we'll go
+together.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Gee, I wouldn't go into that house for four thousand barrels of
+hoarhound candy. Say, are you a prisoner?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am, and if you don't come in and let me out I can't take you with me
+to Moon Valley.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's so. But I'm scared of the ghost.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, so you're afraid, are you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this the boy flushed and fiddled with his toes in the grass.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No kid that's afraid could live in Moon Valley. He'd be scared to death
+in a week.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are there ghosts there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are no such things as ghosts. Bet you never saw one yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I never did. But all the folks around here say there is ghosts in
+that house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, say there are, they wouldn't come out in the daytime, would
+they?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon not. Gee, I'll come in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boy disappeared like a flash, and in a few moments Ted heard the
+front door open, then a scream.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll bet he's found the dead man,&quot; said Ted, aloud, in a tone of
+annoyance. &quot;That's just my luck.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The door slammed, and all was silent. The boy evidently had run away,
+and Ted was left alone in the house with the dead man.</p>
+
+<p>Once more darkness descended upon the earth, and Ted took up another
+hole in his belt, and tried to believe that he was not hungry.</p>
+
+<p>About nine o'clock Ted, who was lying on the couch looking at the
+ceiling, saw a faint flicker of light pass across it, and sprang to his
+feet. It was the light cast by a lantern somewhere outside.</p>
+
+<p>He sprang to the window and looked out.</p>
+
+<p>Behind the brick wall he could see the reflection of a bobbing lantern,
+and hear the shuffle of many feet.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ho, there!&quot; he cried.</p>
+
+<p>The shuffle stopped, and a voice that was trembling with fear answered
+him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come in here, and let me out,&quot; called Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll be thar in a minute,&quot; was the answer, and presently the front
+door was thrown open, followed by exclamations, as whoever had come in
+viewed the body in the next room.</p>
+
+<p>Then the voices were outside his door.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You open it an' go in,&quot; said a voice. &quot;You're the constable.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, supposin' he's got a gun?&quot; asked the constable tremulously.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't be afraid,&quot; said Ted. &quot;I have no gun. They took everything away
+from me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There! Ain't that enough? Open the door.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted heard the bar being taken down, then the key grate in the lock, and
+the door was thrown open with a bang. He found himself looking into the
+barrels of a shotgun.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If yer makes a motion, I'll blow yer head plumb off, blame yer,&quot;
+shouted the man with the gun.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Honest,&quot; said Ted, &quot;I'm not armed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How come yuh here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was made insensible by ammonia fumes and brought here last night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How come yuh ter kill that man in ther next room?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't kill him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's a likely story. I find yuh alone in ther house with him. Yuh'll
+hev ter answer ter ther magistrate fer this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See here, my friend, how could I have killed that man, then come in
+here, and locked and barred the door on the outside?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's got yuh there, Si,&quot; said one of the men.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look here,&quot; said Ted, showing his star. &quot;I'm an officer of the law. The
+fellows who captured and brought me here were robbers, and I was on
+their trail. That's all there is to it. Now, let me pass. I want to see
+what is in the next room.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVIII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>STELLA ADOPTS A BROTHER.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Taking up a lantern, Ted entered the room. Beside the overturned table
+lay the body of a man. It was not Checkers. There was nothing in the
+room except the table, two chairs, a broken lamp, which lay in a pool of
+kerosene on the floor, and the body of the murdered man.</p>
+
+<p>Wait, what was this?</p>
+
+<p>Beneath the table was a scrap of green.</p>
+
+<p>It was a bank bill, and, drawing it forth, Ted found it to be a
+fifty-dollar note issue'd by the First National Bank of Green River,
+Nebraska. A valuable clew, this.</p>
+
+<p>When he had searched the body of the dead man, and found several letters
+and a small memorandum book, he left the room and locked it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Notify the coroner,&quot; said he to the constable, &quot;and give him this key.
+If he wants me as a witness in his inquest, he will find me at the
+Stratford Hotel, in St. Louis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The constable promised to carry out Ted's instructions.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where is that boy Scrub?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here I am,&quot; said the boy, emerging from the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who knows anything about this boy?&quot; Ted asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's just a loose kid,&quot; said the constable. &quot;His father died when he
+was young, and his mother left him a few years ago. Since then no one
+has claimed him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I will. Do you want to come with me?&quot; Ted asked the boy. &quot;I will
+give you a good home and clothes, teach you something, and make a
+useful man of you. Is he a good boy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted turned to the men about him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, Scrub is a good boy, only he never ain't had no chance,&quot; seemed to
+be the universal verdict.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say the word, Scrub. Do you want to come with me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet,&quot; said Scrub fervently.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good! Come along! We'll be getting back to St. Louis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But yuh can't get back to-night. The last train has gone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Never mind. I'll get there somehow. Some one lend me a lantern for a
+few minutes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted was given one, and he went out into the yard and outhouses to search
+for the red motor car. He could not find it anywhere.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did any of you folks see a red automobile going down the road any time
+to-day?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, there's a red machine down in the lane running over to the Rock
+Road,&quot; said one of the men. &quot;But I reckon it's bust.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come on, Scrub, we'll take a look at it,&quot; said Ted, Leading off with
+the man who had seen the car, and followed by the whole crowd, Ted made
+his way to the lane.</p>
+
+<p>Standing in the middle of it was the red car with its No. 118 swaying
+from the rear axle in the wind.</p>
+
+<p>Evidently Checkers had started away in it, using it as a swift means of
+escape, but it had stopped, and, as he could go no farther in it, he had
+abandoned it in the road.</p>
+
+<p>Ted examined the machinery carefully, but could find nothing wrong with
+it until he discovered that it had exhausted its supply of gasoline.</p>
+
+<p>But he learned that the grocer at the village, half a mile away, had
+gasoline for sale, and two young fellows volunteered to go after some
+while Ted overhauled the car.</p>
+
+<p>In half an hour he was ready to start. He made Scrub get into the seat,
+and, shaking hands with the constable and shouting a merry good-by to
+the others, he started for St. Louis.</p>
+
+<p>It was past midnight when he drew up in front of the Stratford Hotel,
+hungry and tired. Scrub was fast asleep, and, taking him in his arms,
+Ted entered the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>As he stepped inside, the clerk stared at him as if he had seen a ghost.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How's everything?&quot; asked Ted of the clerk.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great Scott, where did you come from?&quot; asked, the clerk, and added
+hastily: &quot;Better hurry upstairs to your room. Everybody is crazy about
+your disappearance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted went up in the elevator with the boy still sleeping in his arms.
+There was a light in his room and a confused murmur of voices.</p>
+
+<p>Without the formality of a knock he opened the door and entered. As he
+appeared in the doorway there was silence for a moment, then such a
+bedlam of shouts and laughter burst forth that every one on the floor
+was aroused.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's Ted! It's Ted!&quot; they shouted, and crowded around him.</p>
+
+<p>The place was full of them. Across the room he saw the shining face of
+Stella, smiling a welcome at him. Ben and Kit, Carl, Clay, and all of
+them were there, and sitting at the table was the chief of detectives.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello! Holding a post-mortem over me?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It comes pretty near that,&quot; said Bud. &quot;Dog-gone you, what do you mean
+by goin' erway an' hidin' out on us that way? What in ther name o' Sam
+Hill an' Billy Patterson hev yer picked up now?&quot; Bud was looking
+curiously at the bundle of rags in Ted's arms, for the boy still slept.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is a new pard,&quot; said Ted. &quot;If it hadn't been for this kid you'd
+probably never seen me again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Erlucerdate,&quot; demanded Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not until some one goes out to the nearest restaurant and orders up a
+stack of grub for Scrub and me. I haven't had anything to eat or drink
+for thirty-six hours, and I'm almost all in, and this kid has been
+living on apples and water for a couple of weeks. Now, hustle somebody
+and let me put this kid on the bed&mdash;-my back's nearly broke&mdash;or maybe
+it's my stomach, they're so close together now I can't tell which it is
+that hurts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>While Ted was laying the boy on the bed he woke up, and, finding himself
+in a strange place, and a finer room than he had ever been in before,
+surrounded by a lot of rather boisterous young men, he leaped to the
+floor and started to the door. But Ted caught him by the arm and drew
+him back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the matter with you, you young savage?&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I'm all right now,&quot; said the boy. &quot;When I woke up I got rattled, I
+guess, but as long as you're here it's all right.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The food came up now borne by two waiters and piloted by Kit. There were
+oysters and steak and potatoes and biscuit and a lot of what Missouri
+folk call &quot;fixin's,&quot; and a big pot of coffee.</p>
+
+<p>Scrub's eyes stood out like doorknobs as he viewed this wonderful array
+of things to eat. The table was cleared, the waiters set out the food,
+and the boys stood back to give Ted and the boy &quot;room to swell,&quot; as Bud
+expressed it. The way they tucked into the good things was a caution.</p>
+
+<p>After their hunger was satisfied and the waiters had restored order to
+the table, Ted began the story of his adventures since he had let Bud
+out of the automobile. As he talked, Stella wooed the small boy to her
+side, and listened to the story with her arm around his shoulder, and
+long before it was done Scrub was her worshiper forever.</p>
+
+<p>Chief Desmond listened with close attention, and when Ted finished and
+exhibited the bill of the Green River Bank, which he examined carefully,
+he said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Strong, you've beaten us all to it. I will go out to-morrow&mdash;I mean
+to-day, for it's one o'clock now&mdash;and view the body myself. If it is, as
+seems almost certain to be, Dude Wilcox, one of the most dangerous men
+in the West is gone, but he has left behind for us to fight, and you to
+find, the man Checkers. This bill is your clew to the gang, but it is a
+counterfeit. As I have the thing figured out, the gang knew that forty
+thousand dollars was going to be shipped, but for some reason or other
+they dared not hold up the train out there, and telegraphed the gang in
+St. Louis to get it. Dude was at the head of the bunch here, and as it
+was a one-man game so near to St. Louis, Dude was elected to pull it
+off, which he did to the queen's taste. Perhaps the bill you have is the
+only counterfeit in the lot. Perhaps not. That is for you to work out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But how he managed to get away with the swag I haven't managed to
+figure out yet,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course, I don't know either, but deducing facts from what I know of
+the gang's methods, and from long experience with gentlemen of the road,
+I would say that the members of the gang who were killed in their
+rendezvous in Pine Street by my unfortunate men were awaiting the
+arrival of Dude with the swag. Checkers had secret knowledge that you
+had been put on their trail, and when he saw you pick up that red car
+in East St. Louis he was sure that you knew about the robbery and that
+you were on to Dude.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's likely,&quot; said Ted. &quot;I hadn't thought of that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, he got into communication with Dude, and warned him against
+coming to the Pine Street place. You see, they had another rendezvous
+out in the country, a haunted house, the reputation of which would keep
+prying country boys away from it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Best sort of a place for a criminal hangout,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're right, and now that you have discovered it, I'll take pains to
+see that it's never used for such again. But, as I was going to say,
+Dude's intention was to get out of town, return, go to the Pine Street
+room, divide the swag, and skip. He probably left the train at Somerset,
+or some other little town down the line, hid in the cornfields until
+dusk, stole a horse and buggy, and drove across the country to the
+haunted house, and later was joined by Checkers, who had been trailing
+you, and later succeeded in getting you. Had it not been for the quarrel
+between Dude and Checkers, it is more than likely that you would have
+been murdered by Checkers. But one murder was enough for his nerve, and,
+forgetting you, he vamosed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The detective arose to take his departure, again congratulating Ted on
+the outcome of his adventure.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Keep your eye peeled for Checkers, and if you do run across him, have
+your gun at half cock,&quot; he said, and, bidding good night to all, went
+away.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And now, good fellows, all to bed,&quot; said Ted. &quot;To-morrow we start for
+the West, and the capture of the head men of the train-robber syndicate,
+and the extermination of the business.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the morning, before the others were up, Ted made Scrub take a bath,
+and then they sallied forth to a clothing store. When they came out,
+instead of the ragged and dirty little boy, there walked proudly by
+Ted's side a fine, clean, fresh-looking lad in a well-fitting serge
+suit, and other appointments that transformed him completely.</p>
+
+<p>When they arrived at the hotel the boys professed not to know Scrub.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, picked up another kid?&quot; asked Bud. &quot;I swow, yer allers goin'
+round pickin' up mavericks. I reckon yer aim ter brand this one as well
+ez ther one yer brought in last night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, here's another kid,&quot; said Ben, looking over Scrub's new outfit
+with interest. &quot;He don't look much like the one you brought in last
+night. I reckon that one has run away, I don't see him anywhere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Poor Scrub was standing first on one foot and then on the other, fairly
+squirming with embarrassment.</p>
+
+<p>Ted gave the boys the nod to cease teasing the boy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't mind those fellows, they're only joshing,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I don't mind it if they can get any fun out of it,&quot; said Scrub,
+with a smile. &quot;Maybe, some day I can get back at them, when I know them
+better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella came down in the elevator at that moment, and, catching sight of
+Scrub, gave a little scream of astonishment at his altered appearance.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Goodness, what a fine-looking addition to the family!&quot; she said,
+shaking hands with the boy, who blushed and looked pleased. &quot;I don't
+like the name Scrub a bit. I'm going to change his name.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This isn't leap year, Stella,&quot; said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You hush! What name would you rather have than Scrub? That's no name
+for a broncho boy,&quot; she said to the boy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't know,&quot; answered the boy. &quot;What name do you like?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think she likes Ben better than any,&quot; said Ben, posing in a very
+handsome manner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't listen to him, he's always teasing. You want something short and
+easy to say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the matter with 'Say'?&quot; said Ben. &quot;That's always easy to
+remember. I notice that when a man wants to call another on the street
+he just hollers 'Say,' and half a dozen fellows turn around.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then that makes it too common,&quot; decided Stella. &quot;What name would you
+suggest, Ted? He's got to have two names.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let us get one of the newspapers to start a voting contest on it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ben, if you don't stop your foolishness, I won't play,&quot; said Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You name him, Stella,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Anything you say goes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then we'll call him Dick, after my father,&quot; said Stella. &quot;He never had
+a boy, and always wanted one. I'm going to adopt this boy as a brother.
+His name shall be Dick Fosdick. That sounds funny, doesn't it, but I
+didn't do it on purpose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was a tear in her eye at the thought of her father, and the boys
+looked rather solemn, for while they hoped for the best, they didn't as
+yet know the lad, and perhaps they had saddled themselves with a future
+regret, but Stella trusted and believed in the little chap, who was very
+proud that at last he had thrown off and buried forever the name of
+Scrub.</p>
+
+<p>That evening they took the train for the West, their destination being
+Green River.</p>
+
+<p>The automobile Ted sent on by express that he might have it not only for
+use, for he was becoming attached to it, but as a clew to the detection
+of the express robbers.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIX'></a><h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
+
+<h3>EZRA, THE LIFE-SAVING GOAT.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Ted had engaged several sections on the through sleeping car to North
+Platte, Nebraska, the old home of Colonel William Cody, known all over
+the world as &quot;Buffalo Bill.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But they were to leave the train at Green River, ostensibly to buy
+cattle for their ranch. This, of course, was to avert suspicion from
+their real purpose of hunting down the express robbers.</p>
+
+<p>For Mrs. Graham and Stella the stateroom of the car <i>Orizaba</i> had been
+engaged, and the boys made it a sort of ceremonial chamber.</p>
+
+<p>The car was well filled with other passengers, many of them tourists on
+the way to Colorado or the Pacific coast, and they were much amused at
+the free-and-easy spirit with which the boys conducted themselves, and
+when it became generally known that they were the broncho boys, with Ted
+Strong at their head, they received a great deal of attention, which was
+not particularly to Ted's liking.</p>
+
+<p>As usual, wherever they were, Bud Morgan, Ben Tremont, and Carl Schwartz
+provided a fund of amusement for everybody.</p>
+
+<p>Little Dick Fosdick had never known such happiness as he was now
+experiencing. He worshiped Stella, admired Ted, and looked upon Bud as
+the greatest pal a boy ever had.</p>
+
+<p>He and Bud were inseparable, and Bud never tired of telling him yarns
+about cow-punching and Indian fighting, while the boy proved a
+breathless listener, hanging upon every word that fell from the
+yellow-haired cowboy's lips.</p>
+
+<p>He knew by heart many of the adventures through which Ted Strong had
+passed, and often surprised Ted by correcting some inaccuracy which,
+through a lapse of memory, Ted had made.</p>
+
+<p>They were sailing across Missouri toward the West, and the boy kept his
+face glued to the window, watching for the first glimpse of the golden
+West of his fancy. Just at present he saw only farms and little towns,
+through which the fast train whizzed without stopping.</p>
+
+<p>The boy knew this sort of country well, and was rather disappointed that
+the boundless prairie did not roll before him from horizon to horizon.</p>
+
+<p>Then he turned his attention to the luxury of the car, but being a
+healthy boy, this did not impress him long, and he turned to his heroes
+for relief.</p>
+
+<p>Bud was sitting comfortably sprawled out on two seats, singing softly to
+himself. Bud could not sing a little bit, but he thought he could, which
+served his purpose personally quite as well as if he could.</p>
+
+<p>Ben was in the seat behind him, reading. After a while Bud's music, or
+the lack of it, got on Ben's nerves, and he reached over and poked Bud
+on top of his golden head with the corner of his book.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say,&quot; said he, &quot;put on the soft pedal, won't you? Perhaps you can sing,
+and maybe some one told you you could, but take it from me you have no
+more voice or musical ability than a he-goat.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, mercy!&quot; retorted Bud. &quot;Does my music annoy you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It certainly does,&quot; snapped Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then why don't yer move away?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bah! You're an old goat.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thanks fer ther compliment, although yer don't mean it thet away. But
+when yer likens me ter a goat yer do me proud. If yer were more goatlike
+yerself ye'd be a heap more wiser.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm glad you like it. The pleasure's all yours. But if a fellow called
+me a goat, I know what I'd do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Maybe, perhaps. But yer needn't be afraid that any one will liken yer
+ter a goat. Any self-respectin' goat would get sore at it. If I wuz ter
+pick out yer counterpart in ther animile world, I'd say yer most
+resembled the phillaloo?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's a phillaloo?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A phillaloo is a cross between a penguin and a jassack.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, you long-haired lobster!&quot; cried Ben, leaping to his feet,
+apparently in great anger, &quot;don't you call me anything like that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, didn't yer jest call me a goat?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, but&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then sit down an' git back ter yer love story; we're square. Nothin' is
+lost on both sides. But callin' me a goat don't make me sore none. I
+jest dote on goats. If I wasn't jest what I am, I'd sooner be a goat
+than a collidge gradooate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've heard about enough, if you're alluding to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Take it er leave it. But, ez I wuz goin' ter say before my conversation
+was cut inter by a loud an' empty noise, speakin' o' goats reminds me o'
+a time down on ther Pecos&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove! I'm going to ask the conductor to move me into another car.
+This is too much. I might, perhaps, stand for being called a phillaloo,
+but I swear I'll not be compelled to stay here and listen to one of
+those silly and impossible stories of this insane cow-puncher.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At first some of the passengers thought that Bud and Ben were really
+angry at one another, but the wise ones soon saw that it was all bluff,
+as, of course, the broncho boys knew.</p>
+
+<p>But it was very real to Dick Fosdick, who had yet many things to learn
+about the boys and their ways, and while the little chap was far too
+clever naturally to show his feelings, he sided with Bud, and thought
+that Ben was very unreasonable, especially as the boys, and some of the
+passengers, had flocked around Bud, who appeared not to notice them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon, Dick, you'd like ter hear thet thar story erbout the time I
+lied down on ther Pecos in the summer o'&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Conductor,&quot; said Ben, detaining that official as he was passing through
+the car, &quot;is there no way of stopping the noise this person is making? I
+cannot take my nap on account of his chatter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Several persons who were not in the secret were for interfering in
+behalf of Bud and his story, which they wanted to hear, but were headed
+off by the conductor, who said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sorry, but I cannot interfere with the gentleman. He does not seem to
+be annoying the other passengers. If you wish to take a nap you are at
+liberty to go up ahead in the smoking car.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this Bud began to gloat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hear they've put a cattle car up next ter ther injine fer sech
+sensitive people like you. Yer might enj'y a leetle siesta on ther
+straw.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ben sank back into his seat, and began to snore gently.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What about the story down on the Pecos, Bud?&quot; said Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You'd like to hear it, eh? Then I'll tell it to you. Of course, the
+other folks may listen to it, but it is understood betwixt me an' you
+thet it's all yours, an' whatever goes inter their ears is jest ther
+leavin's. Is that a go?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boy nodded eagerly, even though he didn't understand the drift of
+Bud's remarks.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the story about?&quot; asked the boy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The goat, my boy. Perhaps you don't know it, but the goat is one of
+the noblest animals what walks. He is also one o' ther smartest, an' in
+former years used ter be able ter talk, but ez soon ez he got ter be so
+popular in secret societies ther gift o' speech was withdrawed from him,
+so thet he wouldn't be able ter give erway ther secret things what he
+saw an' heard at ther meetin's.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But, Bud, are they really smart?&quot; asked Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Smart ain't no name fer it. All yer got ter do to find out if they're
+smart is ter look at their whiskers. The smartest o' all animiles is
+man, an' don't he wear whiskers? An' I want ter ast yer what other
+animile hez whiskers exceptin' ther goat. Ther goat knew what he was
+about when he begin ter raise whiskers. He says ter hisself&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What bosh!&quot; exclaimed Ben, snorting in his sleep.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Aire you addressin' yer remarks ter me?&quot; asked Bud, looking over the
+back of the seat at Bud. But the only answer was a gentle snore.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did he say?&quot; asked Dick eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Why,' says he, 'if they won't let me talk they can't keep me from
+bein' ez near a man ez I kin go; by gravy, I'll raise whiskers like
+Deacon Smith,' who was a member o' ther lodge in which ther goat
+officiated; and, by jinks, he did, an' ther fashion wuz follered, an'
+they wear them ter this day.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There ain't no question o' their smartness, an' their prominence. Ain't
+one o' ther signs o' the zodiac up in ther heavens named after ther
+goat&mdash;Capricornus is ther feller ter what I refer&mdash;an' them heathen
+chaps what wuz half man an' half goat? Didn't they come pretty near
+bein' ther whole thing?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But about the Pecos?&quot; inquired Dick, who was not partial to preaching,
+but wanted to get at the heart of the story.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh. yes. I wuz leadin' up ter it gradooal, fer what I'm goin' ter
+relate&mdash;if thet yap will choke off on thet moosical snore&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here, wake up, you're snoring so loud we can't hear ourselves holler,&quot;
+said Kit, reaching over and shaking Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can't keep awake while that fellow persists in yarning away like a
+fanning machine. It's so monotonous I can't keep awake,&quot; and Ben
+stretched and yawned.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let's get away from here and go to some other part of the car,&quot;
+whispered Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, we'll just stay here an' spite him. He'll wake up after a while an'
+be glad to listen to ther story. So here goes!</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was punchin' cow's down on the Pecos one summer fer ther Crazy B
+Ranch. We had eight punchers in ther bunch, a good chuck wagon, an' easy
+work, so I wuz pretty well suited, an' thet summer I gained twelve
+pounds, even if it wuz a hundred an' forty in ther shade, which we hed
+forgotten ter bring along with us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Forgotten to bring what?&quot; asked the boy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Our shade. Yer see, down in thet country ther sun is so strong thet
+every one carries his own shade, fer there isn't a tree in ther whole
+country big enough ter cast a shadder o' any sort. Out on ther ranches,
+at certain seasons o' ther year, they serve out shade ter ther men jest
+ther same ez they do bacon an' saleratus ter ther outfit thet goes out
+herdin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick looked seriously at Bud for a moment, hardly knowing whether or not
+to doubt him, but Bud's face was as grave as a deacon's.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't understand it, I'm sure,&quot; he said. &quot;But where do they get the
+shade to give to the men?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's easy enough. It's always gathered on dark nights, generally late
+in ther fall er in ther winter, so thet it'll be real cool.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But where do they get it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What&mdash;ther shade? Why, they just go out an' gather it off the ground in
+thin shapes, kinder longer than broad. It can be rolled up just like a
+blanket, an' carried behind ther saddle. It's gathered in ther cold
+months. Ye've heard o' ther 'cool shade.' Well, that's why they gather
+it late in the year. Summer shade is no good, because it's too warm.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But what is it like?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, it's black, an' I hear they strip it off close ter ther ground. We
+don't get no shade like it in this part o' ther country. Ther only place
+what hez it is ther West, whar it's needed most.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But how about the Pecos?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sho! I almost fergot it, didn't I, while teachin' yer something erbout
+ther way they do things in Arizony an' her sister-in-law, Noo Mexico?
+Now I'm off, shore.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ping-pong Martin wuz in ther outfit thet year. Mebbe yer knows him?&quot;
+Bud looked at the small boy inquiringly, much to his embarrassment.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, sir, I never heard of him before.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, no matter, but this Ping-pong cuss, he had a personal friend, a
+goat, what couldn't no more be shook than a sore thumb, and had follered
+Ping off ter ther wars, so to speak.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ping run off from home on ther quiet ter join our outfit, leavin' ther
+goat to home, locked up in ther barn. Ping thought he hed ther goat
+faded, but one day, when we wuz half asleep in our saddles, a feller
+over on ther other side come a-runnin' in.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'What's ther matter?' sez I.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar's a funny animile over here. He shore is ther devil, fer he wears
+horns, an' hez a face exactly like thet o' ole man Pillsbury. I ain't
+bettin' none it ain't him. But if it is Pillsbury, he better not go
+home lookin' like thet 'thout lettin' his wife know first.'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ping an' me rode over ter ther other side, an' thar stood a goat,
+lookin' so nice an' socierble.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Great hevings!' shouted Ping, makin' a rush fer ther goat, 'thet's my
+goat Ezra, ain't you?'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did the goat understand him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did he understand him? Well, I should whisper sweetly. Why, thet goat
+jest jumped all over Ping, a-runnin' his whiskers inter his eyes, an'
+laughin', he wuz so glad ter see him. He'd traced Ping plumb ercross
+ther desert ter get ter us, an', o' course, we couldn't sic him home
+after that.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We all got ter love Ezra fer his lovely ways; that is, all except
+'Boney Bill' Henderson.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why? Didn't the goat like him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, it wuz this way: Boney Bill had a habit o' beggin' ther grease
+from ther fryin' pan every night ter ile his boots. This made 'em good
+an' strong, ez well ez easy ter chew on. One night, Ezra bein' fond o'
+boots, finds 'em an' chews ther tops off'n 'em. They wuz ther only boots
+Bill hed, an' we wuz two hundred mile ter another pair, so Bill hed ter
+go through ther season barefoot, an' ther sun jest nacherly warped his
+feet out o' all shape.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But thet wuzn't what I wuz goin' ter tell yer erbout. That fall ther
+Utes went on ther warpath, an' wuz headin' our way, an' I want ter tell
+yer we wuz some scared. We hed several brushes with ther Injuns, an'
+ther courier we sent ter ther fort fer help wuz killed an' scalped.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar we wuz, in a little valley entirely surrounded by Injuns thirstin'
+fer our gore. How long we could hold out agin' 'em wuz ther problem. But
+whenever one o' 'em showed his head we took a pop at it, an' they
+returned ther compliment. We wuz prayin' fer ther comin' o' ther
+soldiers, which wuz ther only thing what could save us from a horrible
+death.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ther Injuns got next ter ther fact thet our ammunition wuz runnin'
+short, an' they wuz gittin' some gay; sorter takin' advantage o' us in a
+way. I could see thet they wuz gettin' ready ter make a rush down inter
+ther valley an' massacree us all, an' we prepared ter sell our lives
+dearly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;One mornin' we missed Ezra, ther goat. I'll never fergit ther misery on
+ther face o' Ping-pong when he finds it out.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Bud,' he says ter me, 'I'm goin' out ter find Ezra, an' if them Injuns
+hez got him, I'm goin' ter bust ther whole tribe wide open.'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tried ter persuade him not ter go, but he will, so I goes with him.
+We sneaks up ther side o' ther hill, an' looks over ther ridge right
+down inter ther Injun village. The sight what met our gaze almost, but
+not quite, made me bust open with laughin'.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ther Injuns wuz all down on their hands an' knees, bowin' ter Ezra, who
+wuz walkin' eround on his hind legs, sashayin' sideways an' noddin' his
+head jest like a live bock-beer sign. Yer see, ther Injuns hed never
+seen a goat before, an' when Ezra walks onto them, waggin' his whiskers
+in a wise sort o' way, they thinks he's some kind o' a god, er somethin'
+like that. But when he got up on his hind legs an' begin ter sashay thet
+settled it. They wuz shore o' it then.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We watched ther performance fer a while, then ther Injuns got up an'
+begin ter mosey. In an hour thar wuzn't a Injun within twenty mile. They
+jest hit ther high places fer home.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thet wuz ther way Ezra saved our party. After thet he could hev et
+every boot in ther outfit, an' thar wouldn't hev been a kick.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What became of him?&quot; asked Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, he went back home with Ping an' raised a large family, an' they
+wuz talkin' o' runnin' him fer ther legislature an account o' his
+whiskers an' his smartness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He was a smart goat, wasn't he?&quot; said Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet. Thet's why I said that some goats wuz jest ez smart ez lots o'
+collidge gradooates what I hev met.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XX'></a><h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE COUNTERFEIT BANK NOTE.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>When they arose in the morning the train was speeding over the prairie,
+and Dick could hardly be pulled away from the window long enough to go
+to breakfast with Stella and Mrs. Graham, so great was his delight at
+being in the &quot;really and truly&quot; wild West.</p>
+
+<p>When they were all back in the car again, Ted, for the first time,
+noticed a large man, flashily dressed, who wore a flaming red necktie,
+and who evidently thought himself irresistible to the ladies.</p>
+
+<p>He walked up and down the aisle on the slightest pretext, ogling every
+pretty woman in the car, and Ted was getting very tired of it,
+especially as once or twice he had the impertinence to stop and look
+into the stateroom in which Stella and Mrs. Graham were sitting.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll take a fall out of that fellow if he keeps up that sort of thing
+much longer,&quot; said Ted, who was sitting beside Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was thinking of the same thing,&quot; said Kit. &quot;He makes me tired. I
+wonder what he is, anyway?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He has the make-up of a gambler or a saloon keeper,&quot; answered Ted. &quot;He
+better keep away from me if he knows when he's well off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At a town farther down the line a young lady entered the car, and took a
+seat directly in front of Kit, who was alone, Ted having gone to the
+front of the train to consult the conductor about a mistake that had
+been made in their tickets.</p>
+
+<p>Presently the flashy man with the red necktie spied her and sauntered
+past her down the aisle. In a few moments he came back, twirling his
+black mustache, which evidently was dyed, and casting glances at the
+young lady.</p>
+
+<p>Stopping in front of her, he said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is this seat taken, lady?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The young lady looked up, and answered coldly:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, sir; but there are plenty of other seats in the car which are
+unoccupied.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This one looks good to me,&quot; said the fellow, with a smile which was
+supposed to be very fetching.</p>
+
+<p>Without further excuse he plumped himself down in the seat beside her,
+and threw his arm familiarly over the back of it, at the same time
+hitching closer to her.</p>
+
+<p>Then he tried to draw her into conversation, but she turned from him and
+looked out of the window.</p>
+
+<p>But he persisted, and she showed that his attentions were annoying her.</p>
+
+<p>Kit watched the proceedings, and was boiling with anger, but he did not
+feel that he had the right to interfere until the young lady showed by
+her manner that she desired assistance.</p>
+
+<p>Presently the man said something to the young lady in a low voice that
+seemed to arouse her anger, for she rose hastily to her feet, her face
+burning.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me pass!&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't leave me like this,&quot; said the fellow, blocking the way with his
+knees. &quot;Sit down. We'll soon be good friends. You'll find me a good
+fellow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I insist, sir, that you allow me to pass,&quot; said the girl, growing pale,
+her voice rising a little.</p>
+
+<p>Kit could stand it no longer. He reached over and tapped the fellow on
+the shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Allow the lady to pass,&quot; he said quietly.</p>
+
+<p>The hawk turned his head and sized Kit up. This did not take much time,
+for Kit was small and slender, his black eyes being the largest part of
+him, proportionately.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What the deuce have you got to do with this?&quot; he sneered, looking
+savagely at Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Just enough to make sure that you do it,&quot; said Kit, rising.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I don't allow no pups like you to interfere with me. You sit down
+an' let this gal an' me attend to our own business, er I'll bend you an'
+tie you into a knot an' throw you out of the window.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Kit did not reply, but he reached over and got the fellow by the coat
+collar and jerked him into the aisle, and, twisting him around, planted
+his toe between his coat tails with a force that sent him halfway down
+the length of the car.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're on the wrong train,&quot; said Kit. &quot;The cattle train is on the other
+track.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The fellow soon regained his balance, and came rushing back like a
+charging bull.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You little snipe!&quot; he roared, &quot;I'll kill you for that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But as he got near Kit dodged into the space between the seats, and as
+the fellow rushed past, carried on by the momentum of his run, Kit swung
+at him with his right fist.</p>
+
+<p>It caught the fellow back of the ear, and the force behind the blow, as
+well as the rate at which he had been coming, sent him headlong between
+two seats, where he lay crumpled up like a rag.</p>
+
+<p>The commotion had attracted the attention of Bud and Ben, and they were
+by Kit's side in a moment.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Need any help?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not a bit,&quot; replied Kit. &quot;I'm not very large, but no man of that sort
+can call me a pup.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The fellow lay where he fell, and Bud warned away several passengers who
+wanted to go to his assistance.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's all right,&quot; he said. &quot;A crack like that never injured any one
+permanently, but sometimes it wakes them up ter ther foolishness of
+insulting a lady when ther broncho boys are around.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Kit lifted his hat to the young lady.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pardon me for making a disturbance,&quot; he said. &quot;I don't think you'll be
+bothered again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The young lady was profuse in her thanks, and resumed her seat.</p>
+
+<p>Presently the fellow on the floor got up and sneaked into another car,
+without looking again at either Kit or the young lady.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, Kit! What was it all about?&quot; asked Ted entering the car.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I never could stand for red neckties, nohow,&quot; answered Kit
+apologetically.</p>
+
+<p>When the train stopped for dinner they all trooped into the station
+dining room, and secured for themselves a long table, around which they
+sat like a big and happy family.</p>
+
+<p>As Ted and Kit were walking along the platform toward the dining room
+Ted suddenly halted and stared at a man who was leaning against the wall
+of the station.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove, I believe it's him!&quot; he muttered.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who's him?&quot; asked Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The express robber, Checkers,&quot; answered Ted. &quot;And yet I'm not sure. If
+it is him it's one of the best disguises I ever saw. Look at your friend
+of the red necktie hurrying up to him. By Jove, they're a good pair! I
+wish I could hear that fellow in the checked suit speak.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That fellow will get caught up yet if he persists in wearing checked
+suits,&quot; said Kit. &quot;It seems to be his badge, or a disease with him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I suppose that's why they call him Checkers,&quot; said Ted. &quot;I wish I knew.
+I'd take a chance at arresting him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the man in the checked suit looked up and caught Ted and
+Kit staring at him.</p>
+
+<p>Hastily calling the attention of the man with the red necktie to them,
+he hurried around the corner, and the other followed.</p>
+
+<p>Ted ran to the corner of the station, but all he could see of either was
+through a swirl of dust as the motor car in which they were riding flew
+up the street.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By crickey! I'll bet anything that was Checkers,&quot; grumbled Ted. &quot;I'm
+always too late to get to him. But next time I'll take a long chance
+with him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The train pulled into Green River at eight o'clock that night, and they
+all went to the leading hotel, and Ted registered them as coming from
+the ranch.</p>
+
+<p>During the evening the boys mingled with the crowd in the hotel lobby,
+talking cattle, and met many of the representative women of the section.</p>
+
+<p>They were out after a bunch of stockers, and promised to be in the
+neighborhood for several days and to visit the ranches and look over the
+stock.</p>
+
+<p>One of the men whom they met was introduced to them as Colonel Billings,
+ranch owner and speculator in cattle.</p>
+
+<p>He was a middle-aged man of most pleasant features&mdash;benign,
+good-natured, and yet shrewd. He dressed well for a cowman, and from his
+pink, bald crown and gray chin whiskers down to his neat shoes, he
+looked the part of the prosperous business man.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have a lot of stock such as I think you boys need out at my ranch,&quot;
+he said to Ted, when he learned that they wanted to buy. &quot;I'd like to
+have you bring your party out to the place and stay several days as my
+guests. You would then have plenty of time to look the stock over, and
+if you like them I'm sure we can strike a bargain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted thanked him and promised to go out to look at the stock, but as for
+the invitation for the whole party to stop at the ranch, he would have
+to consult the wishes of the party. He rather liked the colonel, who
+was, apparently, bluff and sincere.</p>
+
+<p>As Ted was on his way to the bank which had issued the bill which he had
+found in the haunted house, he stopped suddenly. He had just seen a
+young woman enter a store hurriedly, and look at him over her shoulder
+as she did so. She it was who had slipped the note of warning into his
+pocket in the Union Station, in St. Louis.</p>
+
+<p>Evidently she was trying to avoid him. But why? He wanted to thank her
+for that kindly service, and, quite naturally, he had some curiosity to
+know who she was.</p>
+
+<p>Without apparently hurrying he followed her into the store, and looked
+around for her. She was not in sight, and he walked up and down the
+aisles between the counters, but could not find her.</p>
+
+<p>Then he observed that there was a back door to the store, which opened
+onto an arcade. She had escaped him through that, and Ted looked up and
+down the arcade. At the far end, where it opened out into the public
+square, a carriage stood, and a young lady was getting into it.</p>
+
+<p>It was the young lady of the subtle perfume and the note.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment she was gone.</p>
+
+<p>He was not far from the bank, and giving the young woman no more
+thought, for he was sure he would see her again, for she seemed to be
+mixed up in his fortunes in some manner, he made his way to the
+financial institution and asked for the president.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You will find Mr. Norcross in his private office at the end of the
+corridor,&quot; said the clerk.</p>
+
+<p>At the door of the office Ted found a colored messenger, who stopped him
+and asked his business.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is Mr. Norcross in his office?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, sah, but he is busy,&quot; answered the messenger.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, take my card in to him, and tell him I would like to see him
+when he is at leisure.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The negro went away, and in a few moments returned to say that Mr.
+Norcross would be glad to see Mr. Strong presently.</p>
+
+<p>While Ted waited he stood looking out of the window into the street. The
+door behind him opened, and he turned.</p>
+
+<p>Walking rapidly down the corridor was the man with the pointed beard,
+whom he had seen in the Union Station in St. Louis give the signal to
+the girl who had slipped the note into his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>Ted stared after him. The mystery of the note was getting thicker. But
+he would try to think it out later.</p>
+
+<p>He found Mr. Norcross an elderly, but active man.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What can I do for you, Mr. Strong,&quot; said the banker, referring to Ted's
+card.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I come to you for information concerning a recent robbery and the
+murder of an express messenger in an express car in St. Louis,&quot; said
+Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In what capacity do you come?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As an officer of the government.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, ah, rather young for such work, aren't you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pardon, but that has nothing at all to do with it. I am a deputy United
+States marshal, and have received instructions to examine into certain
+matters regarding the recent robberies from express trains in this part
+of the country.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I suppose you have your credentials as an officer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think I can convince those who have the right to know that I am what
+I profess to be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very well. I meant no offense, but there have been so many violent
+things done out here, that naturally a banker desires to at least know
+something of his callers. What can I do for you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did your bank make a shipment of currency to the East, last week?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, sir, that is a well-known fact.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What was the amount?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Forty thousand dollars. It was to meet some paper which was due in St.
+Louis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And it was stolen from the express car?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. The express company has reimbursed us for it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What sort of currency was it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mostly of our own issue.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you recognize this bill?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted took from his pocket the counterfeit bill of the bank, and handed it
+to the president, who looked at it a moment and handed it back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, that is one of the bills. The money sent was all in that series of
+numbers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted picked the bill up, and put it in his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here, you mustn't take that,&quot; said the president. &quot;That is the property
+of the bank. Give it to me. The express company will need it for
+evidence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I will keep it. It will be safer with me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A suspicion had entered Ted's mind, which was strengthened by the
+conduct of the president, who was white-faced and trembling.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;From your examination of the bill, you are positive that it was one of
+those shipped to St. Louis?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am not certain, of course, but as I said, it is within the series of
+numbers which we sent. Why do you ask?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because it is a counterfeit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The president sank down in his chair. He had suddenly become pale, and
+was trembling like a leaf.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What will you take for that bill, young man? Name your own price,&quot; said
+Mr. Norcross.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is not for sale, and you have not money enough to buy it,&quot; replied
+Ted Strong.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXI'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2>
+
+<h3>A CRIME WITHIN A CRIME.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;Well, friend, have you decided to come out to my ranch, and look my
+stock over?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was Colonel Billings, the genial ranchman, who addressed Ted, meeting
+him in the lobby of the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I think I will,&quot; answered Ted. &quot;When will it be convenient for you
+to be there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am going out to-morrow, and will be glad to see you and your
+friends.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are a good many of us,&quot; said Ted, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The more the merrier. The house is large, and I could drop you all down
+into it, and the house would hardly know it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How do we get out there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see you have a couple of ladies with you, and I shall telephone over
+to my manager to send a carriage in for them, and horses for the use of
+you boys. How many horses and saddles will you need? There are plenty at
+the ranch.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We will need eight horses. One of the ladies prefers to ride, and we'll
+need a gentle pony for the small boy, whose experience is limited.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sidesaddle for the lady?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Ted, with a grin, &quot;this young lady will not use one. She is a
+cowgirl, and rides a man's saddle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, my boy. The outfit will be here in the morning. By the way,
+I am going to have some other guests. I suppose you will not object.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Certainly not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;One of them is a young New Yorker, who has come West to invest in ranch
+property, and who has brought his sister with him. Charming people. The
+other is a rather uncouth person, but you will forgive his
+eccentricities, I am sure. To tell you the truth, he often grates on me,
+but I overlook it because he has lacked advantages. He made his money in
+the liquor business, in which he has been all his life. But he is a good
+fellow at heart, and is my partner in a way, having invested a large sum
+of money with me in cattle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shall be very glad to meet them, although, I'm afraid I shall not be
+able to see much of them, as I shall be very busy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When you are under my roof, sir, you are as free as if you had been
+born there. I am glad you and your friends are coming. It does my old
+heart good to have young people around me. I will see you in the
+morning, and shall feel honored to escort you to my home.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>With this they parted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jolly old chap,&quot; said Ted to himself. &quot;I know just how he feels about
+having a lot of people come to visit him. I like it myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella had been out for a ride with little Dick. She had secured a
+couple of ponies from the stable connected with the hotel, and had given
+Dick his first riding lesson.</p>
+
+<p>Ted met them as they were dismounting in front of the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted, that boy is going to be a second edition of you in the saddle,&quot;
+cried Stella enthusiastically. &quot;I never saw such a seat for a kid. Why
+he takes to a horse like a young duck to water.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's good,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Do you like to ride, Scrub, I mean Dick?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boy flushed at the name Scrub, but he recovered himself immediately.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, it's fine,&quot; he answered. &quot;I like horses, and they seem to take to
+me. I'd like to ride a horse all the time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, you'll have all you want of it when you get out to Moon Valley,&quot;
+said Ted. &quot;Would you like to go out again? If you do, go ahead. I guess
+we can trust you not to break your neck.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boy smiled and nodded, and climbed into his saddle again, and was
+off.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted, that boy is going to be a credit to us all,&quot; said Stella. &quot;But he
+must have an education. Although he speaks well and doesn't use much
+slang, that is, for a boy, he knows absolutely nothing that he hasn't
+picked up. He must go to school some day, but not now, for he hardly
+knows his alphabet, and as for other branches of knowledge, why, he
+doesn't know they exist, and he is as full of superstition as a Cocopo
+squaw. Wherever he got his beliefs, I can't imagine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Stella, he shall go to school. It doesn't really matter
+much, that he has never been to school before. He'll learn so fast that
+he'll make up for lost time, don't fear. That boy has a good head.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm going to teach him myself until he is able to take his place in
+school with boys of his own age. He's just crazy to learn.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;His early education is up to you. I'm not afraid he will learn anything
+he shouldn't from you. Go at him slowly and sensibly. Don't try to stuff
+it all into him at once. Meanwhile, I'll teach him to ride, shoot, herd,
+rope, and all that, occasionally impressing upon him the cardinal
+principles of the broncho boys&mdash;truth, honesty, sincerity, courage, and
+kindness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He'll be a fine fellow some of these days, Ted, and a good-looking and
+good-tempered one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think he will. Suppose we take a little walk, if you have nothing
+better to do. I want to get your opinion on some matters.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The very thing. I saw a pretty little park on the bank of a river.
+We'll walk there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have promised to go out to Colonel Billings' ranch to-morrow, and I
+took the liberty of accepting the invitation for you all, as there is
+nothing to do around here, and I have a hunch that something good will
+come of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll be glad to go. You know how much I like the town. I wouldn't care
+if I never saw one again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's all right, then. We'll start in the morning. I am more than
+anxious to go now, especially as Billings tells me he has invited
+several other people to be his guests.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who are they?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You remember the girl who slipped the note into my pocket in the St.
+Louis station, and the young fellow with the pointed beard. Well, I saw
+them both in town this morning. The girl ran away from me on the street,
+jumped into a carriage, and drove away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There's nothing about you to cause a girl to run.&quot; Stella looked up at
+Ted in a teasing way.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That'll be all right,&quot; said he. &quot;But a few minutes after I saw the
+fellow with the pointed beard coming out of the private office of
+Norcross, the president of the bank that was robbed of the forty
+thousand dollars. He went by me like a rocket, as if he were afraid of
+me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sure it was he?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Positive. But the strange part of it was my interview with the banker.
+He acknowledged that the bank had been robbed of the money, and
+identified the bill dropped by Checkers in his flight, as one of the
+shipment, but when I announced that it was a counterfeit, he went all to
+pieces, and, after trying to bluff me into giving him the note, wanted
+to buy it, asking me to name my own price.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What does that mean, I wonder?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It means, that this case of the robbery and the murder of the express
+messenger is not the simple thing I thought. There is a crime within a
+crime.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What in the world do you mean?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Just this, Norcross, the banker, is mixed in the crime, and Heaven only
+knows how many more men quite as prominent as he. The express-robbing
+syndicate is a strong one, and hard to beat.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you'll beat it yet. I know you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thank you for your faith and encouragement, Stella. But it's going to
+be a hard pull, and it will take all of us to do it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you think of it now?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My idea is, that the alleged forty thousand dollars was not real money
+at all, and that Norcross was trying to double-cross the very men he was
+standing in with.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Still, I hardly understand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, Norcross agreed with the members of the syndicate to ship forty
+thousand dollars to St. Louis, which was to be stolen en route by the
+syndicate's own men. They would then have their forty thousand back, and
+the forty thousand which they could make the express company pay them.
+The original forty thousand would come back to Norcross, and he would
+get his share of the money which the express company would pay.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was easy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It would have been, but for the fact that Norcross insisted upon being
+insured for the use of his forty thousand in case anything else happened
+to it. In this way he got another large sum.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see. But from what you have found out so far, I don't quite
+understand how you figure it out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All I have to go by is my own way of deducing things. The forty
+thousand dollars which was to be stolen was supposed by the other
+members of the syndicate to be real money. It was for this that the
+syndicate insured Norcross. But, instead, he substituted counterfeits,
+if, indeed, most of the supposed money was not just blank paper.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He is a real financier, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, but he didn't take into consideration that he had scoundrels just
+as shrewd as himself to deal with. For instance, I believe when the
+truth is known, it will be found out that the syndicate was going to
+beat Norcross. But that is mere supposition. The tug of war is coming
+soon. It will take place at the ranch of Colonel Billings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I thought you believed in him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do. I have made a few inquiries about him. I wanted to find out what
+sort of a chap he was before taking you and your aunt out to his place.
+Every one speaks of him as one of the leading men in the county and
+State.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then why should he be drawn into this mess?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think he has done it unconsciously. He has a partner who has invested
+money in Billings' cattle. Do you remember the fellow in the train whom
+Kit knocked down? The chap who insulted that pretty girl.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;From the description given me of one of his coming guests by the
+colonel, I believe the man with the red necktie is he.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What? That horrid thing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't tell you, but Kit and I saw him talking to a man at the
+station where we stopped for dinner, whom I am convinced was no other
+than Checkers himself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whew! That looks suspicious.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In addition to that, the colonel has invited a man and his sister to
+visit him while we are there. This man is a New Yorker; I don't know his
+name, but the colonel says he is out here to buy a ranch. Who do you
+suppose it is?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haven't an idea.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The girl who dropped the warning note into my pocket, and the young man
+with the pointed beard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whew! again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Looks pretty complicated, doesn't it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Worse than that. Ted, are you sure about this Colonel Billings?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;One is sure of nothing in this world, but I have taken a fancy to
+Billings, and when I like a man he generally turns out all right, making
+allowances for minor faults and habits. Yes, I think I can trust
+Billings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But not his friends. Ted, do you want to know what I think?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Certainly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I feel that the invitation out there is a trap to catch you, and
+possibly keep you away from the town.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nonsense! Why should they want to keep me away from the town? There
+doesn't seem to be anything wrong in town that I could bother them in,
+except the Norcross incident, and if, as I suspect, he has duped his
+partners, he will say nothing to them about me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Suppose they want to get out there to do away with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They wouldn't ask all of you out there with me in that case.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is where you are mistaken. They are too shrewd to excite your
+suspicions by inviting you alone. It will not be hard for them to get
+you away from the ranch to look at some cattle and then kill you. Ted,
+you are too dangerous to them to be let alone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, it can't be helped now, and being right in among them is a hope I
+did not expect to see realized so easily. But they will have no
+advantage over me, for none of the syndicate, I take it, know of the
+counterfeits as yet, except Norcross and the inevitable Checkers. But at
+that, I don't think they will resort to violence. We are too strong for
+them, at the ranch, at least I believe they will use diplomacy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, we can play at the game ourselves. There, perhaps, I can help
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet you can. But let us go down to the station and see if the red
+motor car, 118, has arrived yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When they reached the station, Ted went to the express agent and asked
+for the car.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said the agent, &quot;the car arrived this morning, Mr. Strong, and I
+delivered it according to your instructions. The charges are not paid
+yet. Your messenger said you would call later and settle for them, and,
+knowing you by reputation, I let it go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted was staring at the agent.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You delivered it according to my instructions?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't give any one an order for the car.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, you must have forgotten it. Here it is. I happened to see one of
+your boys down here, and called him to one side and asked him if it was
+your signature, and he very promptly identified it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me see that order.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The agent produced an order written on the note paper of the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>Ted stared at it incredulously.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It looks like my writing, but I didn't write it. I'll swear to that.
+Look at this, Stella. Is that my hand?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella looked at the paper studiously for a minute or two, then handed
+it back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A casual look at it would deceive me, but you did not write it. It
+lacks several of your individualisms, and has others that are not
+yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is right. This order is a forgery. I did not write it. The
+express-robber syndicate is getting bolder every minute. They'll come in
+and steal you some day,&quot; Ted said to the agent. &quot;Notify your company
+that my car has been stolen, and that I want it restored to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great Scott!&quot; was all the agent could say.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What sort of looking chap was it that presented the order?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, he was an ordinary-looking chap. He had on a&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Checked suit?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, sir. How did you know?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Checkers has come into his own at last,&quot; said Ted, turning to Stella.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXII.</h2>
+
+<h3>TED IN THE TOILS.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>The following morning an impressive cavalcade set out for the ranch of
+Colonel Billings, led by the genial owner himself. Behind him came Ted
+and Stella, between whom rode little Dick.</p>
+
+<p>Then came Mrs. Graham in a well-appointed carriage, and acting as her
+outriders and escorts were the boys. When they arrived at the ranch,
+after passing numerous herds of fine cattle on the way, they found one
+of the finest ranch houses in the West.</p>
+
+<p>It was a great, white modern structure that could be seen for miles
+across the level prairie, which showed hardly a single rise or
+depression in all the miles they had ridden.</p>
+
+<p>None of the guests whom the colonel had told Ted would be present
+accompanied the party. The colonel explained this by saying that other
+matters had detained them in town, and that he preferred to permit them
+to follow, rather than defer the pleasure of being their escort.</p>
+
+<p>This was said with so much sincerity that Ted could not doubt him. Mrs.
+Graham and Stella were ensconced in a large apartment on the first
+floor, with large windows opening upon a wide veranda.</p>
+
+<p>Both expressed themselves as delighted with their room, much to the
+gratification of their host. The broncho boys found quarters in the
+spacious second floor, which had as many rooms as the average hotel.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what do you think of Colonel Billings now?&quot; Ted asked of Stella,
+when they met on the broad lawn in front of the ranch house after they
+had seen their rooms.</p>
+
+<p>Stella simply shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you mean by that?&quot; asked Ted. &quot;That you don't know, or that you
+don't care to say?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can't tell you yet, Ted. I like him somehow for his genial ways, and
+yet something tells me to beware.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I'd sooner trust your intuition than my judgment. I'll keep an
+eye on him. And&mdash;yet, I feel the same as you in a way. But I hate to
+distrust any one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know you do, Ted, and that is why you get fooled on some people
+sometimes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But not on all people all the time?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then what does one's first impression amount to, anyway?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not much, unless they can make good a good first impression.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm not going to worry about him. The other fellows are the ones for
+that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's what I think.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm going to ride out over the range, and take a look at the cattle.
+Want to go along?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course I do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They found their horses in the corral, and after telling Colonel
+Billings that they would be back for dinner, departed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When you go through the west gate into the big pasture, look out for a
+big Hereford bull in there,&quot; Colonel Billings called after them.</p>
+
+<p>Ted nodded and waved his hand, and they were off. Colonel Billings
+certainly did have a splendid ranch. They rode for miles within the
+fences before they came to the west gate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Think we better go any farther?&quot; asked Ted, when they had come this
+far.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. Let us go on,&quot; replied Stella. &quot;We have plenty of time, and I
+would like to see just how big this ranch is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't forget the red bull,&quot; said Ted, as he closed the gate behind
+them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've seen many a dangerous bull before,&quot; laughed Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If we find him and he takes after us, keep on the far side of me. I
+don't much fancy that pony you're on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't myself. I wish we had a bunch of Moon Valley ponies here to
+ride. I've never seen any that could come up to them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They were following a trail that led directly into the west. It was a
+cattle trail, and Ted's practiced eye told him that it led to water.
+Several miles to the west he saw the plain became broken.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There's water over there,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's where we'll find the cattle,&quot; answered Stella. &quot;Do you want to
+go that far and look at them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I will if you think you can stand it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella looked at him scornfully.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I guess this beast will go the distance,&quot; she answered, giving the
+little gray a clip with her quirt, and galloping ahead of Ted, who was
+not slow to follow.</p>
+
+<p>As they proceeded the ground became more and more broken.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I believe there is a bit of 'bad land' over there,&quot; said Ted, pointing
+forward.</p>
+
+<p>Still they saw no cattle, although Colonel Billings had told him that
+morning that his greatest herd, the one he wished the boys to examine
+with the view to purchase, lay in the big west pasture.</p>
+
+<p>But all they could see so far was the broad stretch of green prairie and
+the low line of the rough land in the distance. Not a living thing was
+in sight.</p>
+
+<p>The only movement was the flying shadows of the white clouds over the
+prairie, and the waving of the deep, rich grass when a vagrant breeze
+swept by.</p>
+
+<p>But suddenly Ted pulled in his pony, and shaded his eyes with his hand,
+staring into the west.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is it?&quot; asked Stella, reining in.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I thought I saw something red shoot across the horizon to the west,
+where you see those gray rocks,&quot; answered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A cow&mdash;or, perhaps, the dangerous red bull,&quot; laughed Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nothing like that. It wasn't the right color. Did you ever see a
+scarlet cow?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Never did.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, the thing I saw was scarlet, and it was not shaped like a cow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He was still looking intently into the west.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There it is again!&quot; he exclaimed, unlimbering his field glasses.</p>
+
+<p>After a moment of intense scrutiny, he raised the glasses suddenly to
+his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove!&quot; he cried, &quot;it's a motor car, and I believe it's 118.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Impossible!&quot; cried Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, entirely possible,&quot; said Ted intensely. &quot;Don't you see if it was
+this fellow Checkers who got the machine from the agent by false
+pretenses he would take it as far away from town as possible?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I see that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then which direction would he take if, as I think, he is in league with
+the train-robbing syndicate, which we have persuaded ourselves to think
+made their headquarters at Green River, but in this direction? We have
+learned that others of those we believe to be in it are to be the guests
+of this ranch, and&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see. He could not well bring the red car to the ranch house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then where do you suppose he's going with it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There's no better place to hide it than in those very 'bad lands,' if I
+am guessing right, at the rough land yonder.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;True. What are you going to do about it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm going to find that red car and my friend, Checkers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not alone, Ted. You're going to get the other boys to help you, aren't
+you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now is the accepted time. I'm going right away now. But it would be a
+good scheme for you to ride back to the ranch and tell Bud and the boys
+quietly what I am about, and have them come out in case I should need
+help.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hate to see you ride away alone, Ted. You can't tell what there is
+over there. Better let me go along.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, Stella, it would be no use. You know that I appreciate your courage
+and skill in every way, but this, probably, will be no work for girls.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella pouted at this. She did not like the idea of the long ride back
+to the ranch house alone.</p>
+
+<p>She looked at Ted to see if he really was in earnest, and when she saw
+the look in his face she turned back with a wave of the hand and a &quot;So
+long!&quot; and started for the ranch house.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tell Bud to bring three or four of the boys out here with him,&quot; shouted
+Ted after her. &quot;Thank you, Stella.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But she only nodded her head and pursued her way, and Ted, after looking
+after her for a moment, rode forward. He had not seen the red car for
+several minutes, it having disappeared behind a rocky butte.</p>
+
+<p>Having a fair horse, he gave it the gad and struck into a gallop. Soon
+he entered upon the rough land, and from a rise saw a stream below and a
+herd of cattle beyond, where the prairie began again; the railroad, and
+a small red station house, with two or three low buildings about it.</p>
+
+<p>He now understood that he had seen the red car on the far side of the
+ravine, through which the stream flowed, and went down to the stream,
+his horse sliding on its haunches amid a clatter of broken clay and
+pebbles.</p>
+
+<p>He was soon across and clambered up the other wall of the ravine, and
+there in the clay found the impression of the tires of the red car.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm all right now,&quot; he muttered to himself. &quot;On the track of Checkers
+and the robbers' automobile. I wonder where it will end.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He had no difficulty in following the tracks of the automobile for a
+considerable distance, when the ravine ran out on that side and the bank
+of the stream flattened; and he rode along it, following the trail with
+ease.</p>
+
+<p>Then the bank of the stream rose again, and the water flowed through a
+ravine, into which the red car had entered. It could not escape him, and
+Ted chuckled, and examined his revolver, loosening it well in its
+holster, for he had not forgotten the warning against Checkers given him
+by Chief Desmond.</p>
+
+<p>The ravine grew deeper as he advanced, and soon it became tolerably dark
+at the bottom where the high walls shut out the light. Suddenly his
+horse stumbled, and, as Ted shot over its head, he heard the twang of a
+broken wire that had been stretched across the path.</p>
+
+<p>He had fallen into a trap. As he struck the earth, he was stunned for a
+moment, then a heavy weight was upon him.</p>
+
+<p>He twisted around and felt for his revolver, but it had fallen from his
+holster, and he felt his arms grasped and a thong passed around his
+wrists, and then around his ankles.</p>
+
+<p>The weight was lifted from him and he rolled over on his back. Standing
+above him was the man whom he knew as Checkers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, my lad, you delivered yourself like a lamb to the slaughter,&quot;
+said Checkers, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>Ted could say nothing. He was too busy wondering how easily he had
+fallen into the toils.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You went up against a tough proposition when yon tackled me,&quot; continued
+the man. &quot;It would have been a good thing for you if you had never run
+across me. You know too much to be left alive. I shall see that you are
+properly taken care of.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Checkers issued a shrill whistle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come,&quot; he said to Ted, &quot;get to your feet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted arose as three men came around an elbow of the wall of the ravine.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Take care of this boy,&quot; said Checkers to them. &quot;And if he escapes&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He finished the sentence with a smile that made the men wince.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>STELLA IMITATES SANTA CLAUS.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;Come on, fellow,&quot; said one of the men, jerking Ted along by hops.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll attend to him all right, boss,&quot; said another.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He'll get all that's coming to him,&quot; said the third, with a grin that
+was almost as diabolical as that of Checkers.</p>
+
+<p>Around the elbow of the ravine wall, in a small cove was a log cabin
+with a lean-to shed, under which was sheltered the fatal red car which
+had lured him to captivity.</p>
+
+<p>The cabin was backed up against the wall of the ravine, and was small
+and dirty as to interior. A fire burned in a big stone fireplace at one
+end, filling the room with a suffocating smudge.</p>
+
+<p>The room was almost dark, but Ted, from the corner into which he had
+been flung, was soon able to make out that the men were cooking
+something over the glowing embers, at the same time taking swigs from a
+black bottle, and smoking reeking pipes of vile tobacco.</p>
+
+<p>After the food was cooked they began to eat, but did not offer Ted any
+of it, all the while making jokes at his expense, and vaguely hinting at
+his fate.</p>
+
+<p>Ted wished now that he had taken Stella's advice, and had not rushed in
+so rashly. Had he waited for Bud and two or three of the boys to come to
+his assistance, he could easily have caught the whole lot for their
+cabin was in a perfect pocket from which they could not have escaped.</p>
+
+<p>Who were these rough fellows with whom Checkers would not associate, for
+Ted could hear his archenemy pacing up and down outside, and he had not
+forgotten how he had addressed these men?</p>
+
+<p>Probably they were only ordinary villains who did the dirty work planned
+by the wiser heads of the syndicate. He wondered if the boys would be
+able to find him before they settled with him, as they had promised.</p>
+
+<p>After the men had finished their meal the voice of the leader summoned
+them outside. Ted could hear commands being given in a low voice, and
+mumbles from the men.</p>
+
+<p>It appeared from what Ted could gather from the tones of the voice,
+rather than from any words that he caught, that one of the men was
+protesting against what Checkers was ordering.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there was a cry of agony.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't do that, boss,&quot; said one of the men.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Shut up, or you'll get a taste of the same knife,&quot; came the voice of
+Checkers in a tone of rage. &quot;When I say a thing must be done it is as
+good as done. Now go ahead and do as I tell you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But, boss&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go on, and do it. Are you a coward? You've done it before,&quot; Ted heard
+Checkers say. &quot;I'm going away now, and if you can't show me what I want
+when I get back, well&mdash;you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a moment Ted heard the chug of the motor car, then the grating of the
+tires on the earth as it started away.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Remember what I said,&quot; the voice of Checkers came floating back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Bill, this is a derned outrage,&quot; said one of the men outside. &quot;I,
+fer one, am not in favor of standin' for it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, if yer don't, you'll get the same,&quot; said other man.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I never see any one so handy with that bloomin' knife o' his.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look out you don't get a taste o' it, then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is he dead, Bill?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was a shuffling of feet outside, and Ted knew that they were
+turning a body over.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, he's stone-dead.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pore Dick! He had his faults, but he was a good pal.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He wuz, but too derned soft-hearted. He didn't want ter kill a feller
+in cold blood never.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An' yet he wa'n't no coward. I never see ther time Dick w'd refuse ter
+fight if ther other feller had some show, an' he wa'n't squeamish about
+holdin' up a train er runnin' off a bunch o' cattle, but I always hear
+him say thet he didn't take no stock in plain, straight murder.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's so, but it's not murder, Tom, when yer kills ther feller what's
+yer enemy. Now, honor bright, is it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I dunno. I was brought up ter fight, an' fight like ther devil hisself
+when it come ter fightin', but I reckon I'm too much o' a derned coward
+ter murder cold.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, this is one o' ther times when it's got ter be did, an' I reckon
+we might as well be about it. Git ready.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, sir, I'm not goin' ter do it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tom, yer a fool. Do yer know what'll happen when ther boss comes back
+an' finds out that it ain't been did?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An' aire yer goin' ter resk it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then ye're a bigger fool than I am. I'm goin' ter carry out orders.
+What's ther difference? A couple of good slashes an' it's all over.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But think o' the death cry, Bill. I've heerd too many o' them already.
+I hears them when I sleep and they wake me up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tom, yer talk ter me like a sick canary peeps. I always thought yer wuz
+a man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An' don't yer think so now, Bill?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not from ther way yer talkin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, if yer has any doubts erbout it I'll give yer a chanct ter prove
+it, any way yer like.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, what's ther use o' talkin' that away, Tom? Dick's dead by ther
+hand o' ther boss. What's thar in it fer you or me if ther cub in thar
+dies er not? Be sensible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It ain't matterin' a chaw o' terbaccer ter me whether he dies er not,
+but he's got a right ter die in a natural way, so to speak.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An' how is that, my Sunday-school friend?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In a fair fight, by gosh!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An' who's goin' ter give him a fair fight? I don't want none o' it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So that's ther way yer built, is it, Bill? I always thought yer was a
+game man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon I be, but that's not in this question. Here's an enemy ter
+ther gang what lays bound in the cabin. Why should I resk my life in a
+fight with him er fer him. It's so derned easy fer a feller ter go in
+thar an' stick a knife inter him, an' then, yer see, it's all over
+with.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer wrong, Bill.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'd sooner do that than have ther boss come back an' stick his knife
+inter me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Aire yer afraid ter fight ther boss?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's ther only man I be afraid of.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was a long silence following this, and Ted understood the terrible
+power of Checkers over his men, and Desmond's warning.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I'm tired o' chewin' erbout ther virtue o' killin' a man one way
+or another, an' I'm goin' ter foller orders. If you don't want ter jine
+in I reckon as how I'll have ter tell ther boss that yer flunked.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was no response to this, and a few moments elapsed in which Ted
+listened hopefully for his champion's voice.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly something dropped in the fireplace, and Ted, straining his eyes
+in that direction, saw a tiny pair of tan riding boots come into view,
+followed by a tan skirt, and Stella dropped noiselessly into the room.</p>
+
+<p>She held up a warning finger as she saw Ted in the corner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sh, sh!&quot; she whispered, as she felt for his bonds and cut them.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was on his feet on the instant, and Stella pressed a revolver into
+his hand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't go back to the ranch house, but followed you here. I saw the
+red car go out, and hid. Then I sneaked along until I heard those
+fellows quarreling. I was on the top of the bluff here, and guessed that
+you were inside the cabin, as I couldn't see you anywhere outside, so I
+just dropped in.&quot; As Stella whispered this she smiled, and Ted could
+only look his thanks.</p>
+
+<p>The fellow named Tom, who had been opposed to killing Ted, had evidently
+been doing some hard thinking, and the threat of his mate to expose him
+to Checkers evidently convinced him that he would rather be alive than
+perish for a mere sentiment.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Bill,&quot; he said; &quot;I don't like it, but we've got to share
+it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sure,&quot; said the other. &quot;It'll be blow and blow. We both strike
+together.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come on, then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now,&quot; said Ted, putting Stella behind him and crouching in the
+darkness.</p>
+
+<p>The two men entered the cabin noisily, knowing that they had nothing to
+fear from an unarmed boy bound hand and foot and lying in the corner
+with nothing to hope for.</p>
+
+<p>As they approached the corner they were surprised to see a stalwart
+young form arise suddenly and a pair of revolvers gleam through the
+darkness as a voice rang out commandingly:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hands up!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The hands of both went up very promptly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Drop those knives!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A pair of knives clattered to the floor.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Face about, both of you, and go out. The first to make a break gets a
+shot in the back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At Ted's command both men obeyed. When they were outside in the
+sunlight, Ted looked them over. Both had revolvers in their holsters.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Take their revolvers away from them, Stella,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>As the girl moved forward to comply with the request of Ted Strong, the
+men stared at her in amazement.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, which of you is Tom?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am,&quot; said one of them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You lie!&quot; answered Ted. &quot;I know you by your voice. You are not
+Tom:&mdash;you are Bill.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I'm Tom,&quot; said the other fellow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's right,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, see here, Tom, if I give you the chance will you dig out of this
+and escape? It won't be very long before you are caught, anyway, and you
+know what that means.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet I will,&quot; said the fellow, who had protested against the murder
+of Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, I'll give you the chance. I'll take your friend in charge
+myself. You can take down your hands, Tom.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The fellow was in a state of wonderment as he did so.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who are you, anyway?&quot; asked the fellow called Bill.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am Ted Strong.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then it's all up. We're done for,&quot; said the train robber, in a resigned
+voice.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIV'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>TED HOLDS A PROFITABLE BAG.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Tom signaled to Ted to step aside, and, telling Stella to keep the other
+fellow covered with her revolver, Ted accompanied him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thank yer fer turnin' me loose,&quot; said Tom. &quot;I've been tryin' ter get
+away fer months, but couldn't. Here's a tip: They're goin' ter rob ther
+Overland Express t'-night right out yon at that little station yer can
+see from ther top o' ther rise. Ther loot is ter be hid near Bubbly
+Spring until things blow over, but ther gang will come here. Thar's my
+tip. Good-by. I'm off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The fellow disappeared up the bank of the stream.</p>
+
+<p>Ted bound the other upon the back of his pony, which he found not far
+from the scene of his own downfall, and conveyed him to Green River,
+where he placed him in jail, with instructions that he should be allowed
+to communicate with no one.</p>
+
+<p>Then he and Stella returned to the Billings ranch house.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say nothing whatever about our adventure,&quot; said Ted, as he and Stella
+rode along discussing the matter. &quot;I think there will be something doing
+there to-night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When they got back to the ranch, Ted simply explained their absence by
+saying that they had ridden farther than they had at first intended.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was introduced to the other guests, who had arrived in his absence.
+There was Mr. Norcross, the banker, who looked a little sheepish when
+Ted shook hands with him and acted as if he had never seen him before.
+The man with the black mustache and the red necktie was Mr. Dennis
+Corrigan, of Chicago, and neither he nor the boys appeared to have seen
+him before. The young man with the pointed beard was Mr. van Belder, of
+New York.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Billings was full of hospitable notions, and made the afternoon
+pass delightfully.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They tell me there is very good shooting in the neighborhood at times,&quot;
+said Mr. Corrigan, as they all sat on the veranda in the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Excellent,&quot; said the colonel. &quot;At this time of the year the snipe
+shooting is fine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is the best time to shoot them?&quot; asked Van Belder.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should say after dark,&quot; said the host, with an imperceptible wink at
+Mr. Corrigan.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't see how you can shoot snipe after dark,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You don't exactly shoot them,&quot; explained Mr. Corrigan. &quot;It's this way,
+and a fine game, and often practiced in South Chicago: The party goes
+out, and one holds the bag while the rest go along and drive the birds
+in, and the fellow who holds the bag catches them in it. It's lots
+easier than shooting them, and you get more birds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove, that's a new experience to me!&quot; said Ted. &quot;I'd like to try
+it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. van Belder looked at him curiously, but drawled that he thought it
+very fine sport. So it was agreed that that night they should go on a
+snipe-bagging expedition.</p>
+
+<p>The party was to be made up of Ted, who was eager to hold the bag for
+the snipe to run into; Mr. Corrigan, the colonel, Mr. van Belder, and a
+few others.</p>
+
+<p>Most of the boys declined absolutely to go.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, aire ye gittin' plumb dotty?&quot; asked Bud, when he got Ted out of
+hearing. &quot;Tell me, is it possible thet yer eyeteeth aire so far
+secreted up inter yer head thet yer don't know erbout baggin' snipe?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But all the answer Bud got was a wink.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, what hez ther hombre got up his sleeve, I wonder?&quot; said Bud, as he
+wandered off.</p>
+
+<p>Ted and Stella had an animated conversation a few minutes later out of
+the sight and hearing of the others. But Stella walked off, smiling. She
+knew.</p>
+
+<p>It was just getting dark when the party left the ranch house.</p>
+
+<p>Ted carried a large, empty sack over his shoulder. With the organizers
+of the party went Bud, Ben, Kit, Carl, and Clay.</p>
+
+<p>The maddest person in the house that evening was Stella, because she
+couldn't go, too. But as she said good-by to the party from the steps of
+the ranch house she smiled comprehensively at Ted.</p>
+
+<p>A walk of a half mile brought the party to the edge of a small creek.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now,&quot; said Mr. Corrigan, &quot;here's where you wait with the bag while we
+go up to the creek and chase them down. You may have to wait a little
+while, and you must have patience.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't worry about me,&quot; answered Ted; &quot;I have plenty of that. I'll be
+here when the snipe come down, and if any of them get away, charge them
+to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After they had been gone some time Ted lit a match and looked at his
+watch. It was a quarter to nine.</p>
+
+<p>The Overland Express was due in Green River at nine-twenty. The little
+red station of Polifax would foe passed by ten minutes after she left
+Green River.</p>
+
+<p>While he was in Green River that afternoon Ted had been very careful to
+find the exact location of Bubbly Spring. He was more than two miles
+from it in his blind to wait for the snipe.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the crashing of the feet of the snipe drivers and the shouts
+and laughter had died away, Ted left his hiding place and darted through
+the dark woods and swampy ground for Bubbly Spring.</p>
+
+<p>Long before he got there he heard the long screech of the whistle of the
+Overland Express announcing its approach at Green River, and a few
+minutes later its whistle that it was on its way. He had just reached
+Bubbly Spring and concealed himself in the bushes when the whistle gave
+a long shriek of danger.</p>
+
+<p>The signal of the train robbers had been given at Polifax. The engineer
+had seen the red light and had whistled to the trainmen that danger was
+ahead, and that he was going to stop.</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments Ted heard a few pops, and knew that the train robbers
+were firing their revolvers alongside of the train to prevent
+interference.</p>
+
+<p>What if the train robbers should fail?</p>
+
+<p>The train started up again, and Ted knew by that that nobody had been
+killed, and it added to his anxiety as to the success of the robbery. He
+wanted it to occur, for if he could secure the loot he could destroy the
+train robbers surely.</p>
+
+<p>All he wanted now was tangible evidence. He lay back breathlessly in the
+bushes, waiting. Soon he heard the rapid hoofbeats of horses, then a
+crashing in the bushes.</p>
+
+<p>These noises were approaching him rapidly. The crisis was at hand.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment the moon burst through the clouds, illuminating the little
+valley through which the small stream from the spring flowed, and Ted
+crept into closer cover. Then into the glade galloped ten men.</p>
+
+<p>Between two of them was swung a small, square thing, which was dropped
+at the foot of a cottonwood tree not a dozen feet from where Ted was
+concealed.</p>
+
+<p>A man leaped from the back of a horse. He had a spade in his hand, and
+as he advanced Ted drew in his breath sharply.</p>
+
+<p>It was Corrigan, the Chicago millionaire. Behind him was Norcross, the
+banker.</p>
+
+<p>Ted looked vainly for Checkers. If he had been with the robbers at the
+holdup, he had not come here with them. Meanwhile, the dirt was flying,
+and a hole was being dug at the foot of the cotton wood.</p>
+
+<p>After it was deep enough an iron box was dropped into it and covered
+with earth, and silently the men remounted and rode away.</p>
+
+<p>Ted waited about fifteen minutes to be sure that none of them would
+return. Then he dug into the freshly laid earth and soon had exhumed the
+iron box. It was somewhat of a heavy load, but he packed it manfully,
+and in about half an hour carried it in his bag into the living room of
+the ranch house.</p>
+
+<p>He was greeted with shouts of laughter from Corrigan and several of the
+others. But Stella looked at him anxiously, and he gave her a reassuring
+glance.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ha, ha!&quot; laughed Corrigan. &quot;What do you think of snipe hunting now?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was a good joke,&quot; said the colonel, &quot;but I'm sure you will take it
+good-naturedly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Mr. Norcross, the banker. &quot;It's quite a favorite amusement
+out here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Only the New Yorker said nothing, but gave Ted a peculiar glance. Ted
+looked around at the group with a foolish smile.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was a good joke, gentlemen,&quot; said he, &quot;and I have never been sore
+because I have been handed one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Another burst of satisfied laughter greeted this from the big
+three&mdash;Corrigan, Norcross, and the colonel. But Stella and the boys
+looked glum that Ted was being made the butt of a joke.</p>
+
+<p>Then Ted put his sack on the floor and opened it and lifted something
+out and placed it on the table. It was the iron box he had dug from the
+earth at Bubbly Spring, with the fresh earth still sticking to it.</p>
+
+<p>Corrigan's face turned white. Norcross had to lean against the corner of
+the table to keep from falling.</p>
+
+<p>Ted easily opened the lock of the box, and threw it open.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You left me to hold the bag, did you?&quot; he asked of the astounded
+conspirators. &quot;Well, what do you think of these for snipe?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The room was as quiet as a church.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Gentlemen, you are all under arrest. Boys, get into your saddles. We
+are going to ride to the rendezvous of the gang of robbers which
+to-night robbed the Overland Express and stole the money I have here,&quot;
+and he lifted out package after package of stolen currency.</p>
+
+<p>Stella was laughing and waving her hat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I knowed yer had somethin' up yer sleeve when yer consented ter go
+snipe huntin'! Yer ther limit,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>Only Mr. van Belder of all the conspirators was calm. He ripped a beard
+from his face, and there stood Darby O'Neill, the United States secret
+agent!</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Ted, give me that counterfeit of the Green River National Bank. It
+is all I need to take Norcross away for a long term. I've been working
+on him for a long time, but you knocked the persimmon at last.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You had me guessing,&quot; said Ted. &quot;When I got that note that was slipped
+into my pocket in St. Louis I ought to have guessed that it was you, but
+you are so clever at disguise that you always fool me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you've never fooled me yet,&quot; was the reply. &quot;I've banked on you
+every time, and every time you've come back with the goods.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But who was the young lady who slipped me the note?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My sister, who is a very clever girl detective, as you may know some
+day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After the boys had made secure the three men at the head of the train
+robbers' syndicate, they went to the cabin in which Ted had so nearly
+lost his life, and secured the rest of the robbers.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning at daylight they found the body of Checkers lying beside
+the fatal red car not far from the scene of the holdup. He had been
+killed by a stray shot fired by one of his own men.</p>
+
+<p>Thus was the train robbers' syndicate wiped out through the acumen and
+courage of Ted Strong, and the loyal backing of his comrades.</p>
+
+<p>The broncho boys decided that more stock was needed at the Moon Valley
+Ranch, and the entire outfit set out for No Man's Land, in northern
+Texas.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXV'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXV.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE MAGPIE PONY.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;Say, podner, might I be so free an' onquisitive ez ter inquire ez ter
+whar yer got thet thar palfrey yer ridin'?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The speaker was a tall, gaunt old man with a tangled mass of grizzled
+whiskers, and the &quot;podner&quot; he addressed was Bud Morgan.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer might,&quot; answered Bud, eying the questioner keenly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why don't yer?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I see. Whar did yer git it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I traded a Waterbury watch fer it, an' ther feller what made ther trade
+throwed in a pack o' cigareets.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Anything else ye'd like ter know?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, seein' ez yer so communicative, I'd like ter hev yer tell me how
+fur it's ter Yeller Fork.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Betwixt grub.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come ergin.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ez fur ez yer kin ride betwixt 'arly breakfast an' dinner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I'm obleegin' ter yer. I reckon we'll be hikin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who's ther kid?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thet boy is my grandson. We come outer Missouri ter see what could be
+did in this yere new country, an' it's mighty hard sleddin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's ther trouble?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, stranger, so long ez yer kind ernuff ter inquire, I'll tell yer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm listenin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm too old ter work at ther only thing what seems ter be out
+yere&mdash;cow-punchin'&mdash;an' ther kiddie is too young. Now, if 'twas farmin',
+we'd be in it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar ain't no more farmin' out yere than a rabbit, thet's shore. What
+might yer bizness be at home?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm a hoss trader.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar ought ter be somethin' doin' out yere fer yer, then. All thar is
+in this country is hosses an' cattle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They ain't my kind o' hosses.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer don't seem ter fancy cow ponies, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon they're all right in their way, podner, but they're a leetle
+too wild fer me to break, an' the kid's not strong enough.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Askin' questions seems ter be fash'n'ble. Whar did yer git thet magpie
+hoss?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud was looking over the old man's mount, a beautiful little
+black-and-white-spotted pony, as clean limbed as a racer, and with a
+round and compact body. It was a bizarre-looking little animal, with a
+long, black mane and tail, at the roots of which was a round, white
+spot. It was the sort of animal that would attract attention anywhere.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Magpie! Podner, I riz her from a colt.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She's shore a showy beast.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She is some on ther picture, ain't she?&quot; asked the old man, looking the
+pony over admiringly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She's all right, but&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But what, podner?&quot; The old man looked at Bud with a frown.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I ain't none on knockin' another man's hoss, but I never see one
+o' them black-an'-white-spotted animiles what could do more than lope,
+an' out in this yere country hosses hez got ter run like a scared coyote
+ter be any good in ther cow business.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer reckon this yere Magpie can't run?&quot; asked the old man, bristling.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't said so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, yer alluded ter a magpie hoss as couldn't do nothin' but lope.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't never see none what could do much more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You ain't never see Magpie split ther wind, then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mebbe ye'd like ter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mebbe I would.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon yer thinks ther cow what yer a-straddlin' of now kin run
+some.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A leetle bit. But, yer see, when I got him he was a broken-down cow
+hoss what hed been ridden ter death an' fed on sand an' alkali water so
+long thet he wa'n't much good nohow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jest picked him up wanderin'?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not eggsactly. Yer see, it wuz this way: I was coming ercross Noo
+Mexico about a month back, when I runs foul o' a hombre what is all in.
+He hadn't et fer so long thet yer could see ther bumps made by his
+backbone through his shirt. I hed some grub in my war bag, an' I fed an'
+watered him. This yer nag wuz all in, too, an' he hed a long way ter go,
+so when ther feller ups an' perposes ter trade ponies I give him ther
+merry cachinnation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ther what?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ther laugh.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go ahead, podner, yer shore hez a splendid education.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see thet he'll never git ter whar he's goin' on ther nag, an' I
+thinks I'll do him a favor by sittin' him on a piece o' live hossmeat,
+an' I said I'd trade if he hed anythin' ter boot. Now, what do yer think
+he hed?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't got a notion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A pack o' Mexican cigareets what burned like a bresh fire an' smelled
+like a wet dog under a stove.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haw, haw! An' yer traded?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I thought some fust, an' then I thinks what's ther odds? Thar's plenty
+o' hosses in camp, an' it'll probably save ther feller's life ter let
+him hev ther pony, what ain't none out o' ther common, so I says, 'It's
+a go, pard.' I clumb down an' we changed saddles, an' he handed over
+ther pack o' cigareets an' we went our ways.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer shore is a kind-hearted man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't, neither. I jest knows a hoss when I sees one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer don't call thet a hoss yer a-straddlin', I hope?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shore do. He ain't much fer ter gaze on admirin', I agree, but he's a
+good little cayuse. I reckon, now, yer some proud o' thet magpie hoss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I be. It kin outrun anythin' this side o' ther State o' Newbrasky.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;P'r'aps yer lookin' fer a race ter see what ther best we've got in camp
+kin do, no?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar ain't nary time what I won't run a race if I think thar's ary
+merit in my hossflesh. How erbout ther animile what yer sits on so
+graceful?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I reckon he kin ride rings eround ther magpie hoss,&quot; said Bud, who
+was a trifle nettled at the old man's jeering tone.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer certain got a lot o' confidence in a dead one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckernize ther fact that he ain't none pretty, but handsome is as
+handsome does. Hatrack is some shy on meat an' he's got a temper like a
+disappointed woman, ter say nothin' o' havin' had ther botts, ringbone,
+heaves, an' spavin', but he's a good nag, fer all thet, an' would be
+good-lookin' ernough if his wool wasn't wore off in so many places.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haw, haw! He ain't what ye'd call a show animile.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He ain't, but, say, stranger, he <i>kin</i> run.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What d'ye say ter a leetle brush betwixt Magpie an' yer Hatrack?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm ther gamest thing what ever yer see when it comes ter a hoss
+race.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What'll we race fer?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nag an' nag. If yer beats me, yer takes Hatrack, an' if he gits away
+with ther spotted pony, why, yer turns her over ter me. Is it a go?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If yer throw in a six-shooter fer odds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, pard, jest ter show yer thet I ain't no shorthorn, I'll go
+yer. I've got a shooter in my war-bag up ter camp what'll kick ther arm
+outer yer socket every time yer pulls ther trigger, but she'll send a
+bullet through a six-inch oak beam.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Anything, so it's odds. I'll go yer. I reckon I could sell it fer a
+dollar er so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon yer could,&quot; said Bud sarcastically. &quot;I wuz offered ten dollars
+fer it by a hombre down ter Las Vegas a month ago. But he was a husky
+feller, an' wanted a strong shooter. He wanted ter go out huntin' fer a
+feller with it, an' I wouldn't let him hev it. Is it a go, shore
+enough?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right; come over ter ther camp an' stay overnight, an' fill yer
+pale American hides with ther best grub what ever wuz cooked on ther
+range. Our cook is an artist.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud led the way on his little, flea-bitten skeleton of a pony that
+snorted and reared, kicked, and showed the whites of its eyes when he
+woke it from the drooping position it had held while he was talking to
+the old man.</p>
+
+<p>In half an hour they were in sight, from the hill they had topped, of a
+vast band of cattle grazing in a broad valley.</p>
+
+<p>In a sheltered spot below the hill was a typical cow camp. A
+white-covered chuck wagon shone in the rays of the departing sun, and
+the smoke arose from the cook's fire, where he was baking biscuit in a
+Dutch oven, while the fragrant odors of frying bacon and steaming
+coffee filled the air.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What have you found this time?&quot; asked Ben Tremont, as Bud came into
+camp.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This yere gent is a maverick from Missouri what I found wanderin'
+across the peerarie searchin' fer Yaller Fork, an' he hez bantered me
+ter a hoss race, I ast him ter come in an' stay overnight, an' eat, an'
+we'll run ther hosses in ther mornin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What horses?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm goin' ter run Hatrack agin' thet magpie mare o' hisn, an' throw in
+a six-shooter with Hatrack if I lose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, are you going altogether dippy?&quot; growled Ben. &quot;Why, that little
+mare will run away from you as if Hatrack was tied to a post.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Reckon so? Well, maybe I want to lose Hatrack, an' maybe all I want is
+ter capture thet magpie pony.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, what a lovely pony!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella Fosdick had ridden into camp, and her exclamation of admiration
+for the magpie pony drew the attention of the boys to her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;D'ye like thet thar pony?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think it's beautiful,&quot; answered Stella enthusiastically.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then it's yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you mean?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This old gent an' me is goin' ter hev a race in ther mornin', hoss fer
+hoss, an' when it's over ther magpie hoss is yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A peal of rippling laughter greeted this.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See yere, gal, what is all this noise about?&quot; asked Bud huffily. &quot;If
+yer laughin' at ther idea o' Hatrack beatin' ther magpie hoss, don't yer
+do it, fer thet's showin' ignerance o' hossflesh, an' I thought yer wuz
+too well brought up at Moon Valley ter think thet pretty spots on a
+hoss hez anythin' ter do with his ability ter make a race er hold a
+cow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Forgive me, Bud, I didn't mean to laugh at Hatrack, but, really, he
+doesn't look as if he could run any faster than a lame dog.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I reckon he'll git over ther ground fast ernough,&quot; said Bud, with a
+sly wink at the girl. &quot;But he won't do it with me on his back. I'm a
+trifle heavy fer fast work. I'll hev ter git Kit ter pilot him, I
+reckon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon you won't,&quot; said Stella. &quot;If any one rides him it will be me.
+I'm a good many pounds lighter than Kit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Stella. I wanted yer ter ride him, but I didn't like ter
+impose on good nature by askin' yer ter do it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, I'd love to ride the race. You ought to know me by this time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's a go, an' if yer win, as win yer must, ther magpie hoss is yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, Bud, you don't mean it! Then I'll certainly ride to win.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So it was settled, and the old man and his grandson were accorded the
+hospitality of the camp.</p>
+
+<p>After a hearty supper, while they were all sitting around the fire, and
+the old man was telling stories of his trip into the Southwest, for the
+broncho boys were now herding a big bunch of range cattle in what is
+known as No Man's Land, an arm of northern Texas lying west of Oklahoma,
+and claimed by both, the day watch rode into camp, and, stripping their
+saddles from their ponies, turned them loose. Then the boys threw
+themselves upon the ground to rest after several hours of constant
+riding.</p>
+
+<p>One of the cowboys in the outfit, Sol Flatbush by name, stood staring at
+the old man and the boy.</p>
+
+<p>He was scratching his forelock in a meditative sort of way, as if
+trying to remember something.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is it, Solly? I reckon what yer tryin' ter think of is that ye've
+forgot yer supper,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, 'tain't that,&quot; said the cow-puncher, staring harder at the old man.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hear about ther race, Sol?&quot; asked Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, don't yer expect me ter ask yer what race an' then spring thet ole
+gag about ther 'human race.' I won't stand fer it. I've got troubles
+enough. Thet buckskin pony o' mine hez hed ther very divil in him all
+day, an' I ain't feelin' none too amiable.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is on the square.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, cut loose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bud is going to race Hatrack against that magpie horse grazing out
+there, and throw in a six-shooter if the old gent wins.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Sol Flatbush turned and looked at the magpie pony, then at the old man.
+Suddenly a gleam of intelligence illuminated his face, and he grinned.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Bud, I wisht ye'd come over yere an' look at this buckskin's off
+hind foot, an' tell me what ye thinks o' it. He's been actin' powerful
+queer on it all day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud rose lazily and followed Sol out of camp. The buckskin was grazing
+peacefully a few hundred yards away, and as they walked toward it Sol
+Flatbush said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bud, d'ye know that ole maverick?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shore don't. Never even ast him his name,&quot; answered Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I do. That's ole 'Cap' Norris. He's a hoss sharp fer fair. He an'
+that boy don't do nothin' but ride the country with that magpie hoss,
+pickin' up races at cow camps an' ranches an' in towns. That hoss o'
+hisn is a 'ringer.' His real name is Idlewild, an' he's a perfessional
+race hoss. Boy, yer stung!&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVI'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXVI</h2>
+
+<h3>&quot;VAMOSE!&quot;</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I don't know,&quot; said Bud quietly, as Sol Flatbush made this
+announcement of the ability of Magpie, or Idlewild, as he was known
+elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I do,&quot; urged Sol. &quot;I see that hoss run at Ponca City on ther Fo'th
+o' July a year ago, an' he jest run away from ther best Indian racers
+what ther Osages could bring over, an' yer knows they kin go some.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sol, my son, don't git excited. Yer Uncle Bud knows what he's doin'
+when he's going inter this yere race. He ain't tellin' ther ole man, nor
+none o' you fellers, what thar is in thet Hatrack hoss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Got somethin' up yer sleeve?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon I hev. If I was a bettin' man, I'd wager my share o' Moon
+Valley that Hatrack would win this yere race.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sho; yer don't say!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted seen him run. Ask him. Now, don't you worry none about me. I know a
+hoss when I see one standin' on its four legs. That magpie hoss is a
+good one, whether his name is Magpie or Idlewild. Ther name don't make
+him run no better. But Hatrack is some, too, an' I want that magpie pony
+for Stella. She ain't got no hoss of her own down yere, an' that spotted
+pony is jest ther sort o' showy hoss what a gal likes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I ain't wantin' ter be buttin' in none,&quot; said Sol, in a
+crestfallen way.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer ain't butted in none, Sol. I'm obliged ter yer fer givin' me ther
+tip erbout ther old sharp. When he fust braced me I sized him up fer a
+sharp, an' when he told me he was a hoss trader from Missouri I had a
+straight line on him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They returned to camp, where the old man was still regaling the boys
+with anecdotes, having proved himself a most entertaining story-teller.</p>
+
+<p>The boy sat close beside him listening, but never saying a word, except
+when he was addressed. He was small and slender, and evidently weighed
+much less than a hundred pounds.</p>
+
+<p>His face was small and thin, and apparently youthful, but his eyes were
+old and shrewd, and there was a crafty look about his face at times when
+the old man brought out a point in a story. Evidently he had heard these
+stories many times before. When he smiled it was in a sly and furtive
+way.</p>
+
+<p>Ted Strong had come in from riding around the herd, having inspected it
+before it was bedded down for the night. He had heard all about the
+proposed race, and smiled quietly as Ben joshed Bud about the loss of
+his pony Hatrack on the morrow.</p>
+
+<p>He had looked the boy over carefully, and his impression was not
+pleasant.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tell yer what, boys,&quot; said the old man, when conversation began to
+lag. &quot;S'posin' we put this race off until to-morrow afternoon, an' run
+it over at Snyder, across the line in Oklahomy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's ther occasion?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jest ter give ther people over thar a chance ter see a real live race.
+Besides, I'm out o' money, an' I reckon we could have a reg'lar race,
+an' charge admission. That would enable me an' my grandson ter git back
+ter ole Missou' again. We ain't much use out here. What d'yer say?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't no professional racer,&quot; said Bud slowly, &quot;an' I ain't in this
+race fer what I kin make out o' it. Yer made yer brag about yer hoss an'
+slurred mine, an' I'm jest game enough ter lose him if he can't beat
+that calcimined hoss o' yours, but I don't go in fer bettin' er none o'
+thet sort o' thing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't said nothin' about bettin',&quot; said the old man, in an injured
+tone.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know yer ain't, an' I ain't accused yer o' it none. What I wuz goin'
+ter say wuz thet if yer hard up an' need ther money ter take yer home
+I'm ther first feller ter jump in ter help yer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We're all willing to help on a thing like that,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then ye'll consent ter pull off ther race in Snyder?&quot; asked the old man
+eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am, if ther other boys will consent ter it,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right with me,&quot; said Ted, and the other boys voiced their assent.</p>
+
+<p>It looked as if there was a good bit of fun in prospect.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thanks, boys,&quot; said the old man, with a catch in his voice, as if he
+was deeply touched. &quot;Ye'll do a good turn fer me an' little Bill here.
+Bill, we'll git home fer Christmas yit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If you're going to make it a public race, you'll have to get over to
+Snyder early to make arrangements,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll leave before sunup in ther mornin', an' we'll have the race at
+three o'clock. Is that all satisfactory?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This proved satisfactory to the boys, and, having agreed to be on hand
+in time with Hatrack, every one turned in.</p>
+
+<p>When the boys turned out in the morning the blankets which the old man
+and the boy had occupied were empty and cold, showing that they had
+departed long before daylight.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There's something fishy about that old chap,&quot; said Ben Tremont, as they
+were at breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course, there is,&quot; said Ted. &quot;He's an old horse sharp. Sol Flatbush
+knows him. He wants a race in town, thinking he can draw us into
+betting. He doesn't know that we never gamble, but he evidently believes
+that in the excitement of the moment he will be able to get some of our
+money.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, he'll get fooled on that,&quot; said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He'll git fooled in several other ways, too,&quot; grunted Bud.</p>
+
+<p>After breakfast Bud went out and roped Hatrack, and after a tussle that
+lasted several strenuous minutes, brought him into camp. Hatrack
+certainly was a sorry-looking beast.</p>
+
+<p>His long, dirty, yellowish-brown hair was rumpled and fluffed up. His
+ribs showed sharp, and his tail was full of burs, while his short and
+scraggy mane was missing in spots.</p>
+
+<p>His flanks had been rubbed bare of hair where he had lain for many
+nights on the rocks and in the sands of the desert.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, dog my cats, if he ain't ther orneriest-lookin' beast what ever
+toted a saddle,&quot; said Bud, looking him over, as Hatrack stood with
+drooping head and ears.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bud, he isn't worth making cat's meat out of,&quot; said Ben. &quot;I guess you
+made that race to get rid of him. It's easier and more humane than
+shooting him or abandoning him to the prairie wolves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Reckon so?&quot; asked Bud, looking at Ben out of the corner of a twinkling
+eye.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, dear me, but he's awfully ugly,&quot; said Stella, coming from the tent
+which she and her aunt, Mrs. Graham, occupied a short distance from the
+camp.</p>
+
+<p>She was as spick and span as a new dollar, nattily dressed in a
+bifurcated riding skirt, from beneath which peeped a pair of high tan
+riding boots.</p>
+
+<p>Her white Stetson had just the right curl of brim to be most becoming,
+and her wavy hair fell in profusion over her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>She was pulling on a pair of fringed gauntlets, and her braided quirt,
+with a silver knob for a handle, hung by its thong from her slender
+wrist.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, see here, Stella, don't yer go ter feelin' knocky about yer mount,
+er yer won't hev no confidence in him, an' will lose. I want ter say ter
+yer right now that this hoss what looks like ther last rose o' summer,
+ther last run o' shad, an' ther breakin' up o' a hard winter in a last
+year's bird's nest, is all right, an' he can't lose this race. Ride him
+true, an' don't give him ther gad none. All yer got ter do is ter
+encourage him by a word now an' then, an' pilot him straight ter ther
+wire.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Bud. I was only joking,&quot; laughed Stella. &quot;It isn't the
+prettiest horse that wins the race. I know that well, but, you see, like
+every girl, I like pretty things, and a horse might as well look good as
+run fast. It has always seemed to me that the two go together.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>During the middle of the forenoon the broncho boys started for the town
+of Snyder to attend the race.</p>
+
+<p>Bud led Hatrack, and a troublesome job he had of it, for the animated
+skeleton objected to being on the halter, as any self-respecting range
+horse would, and he pulled back and sideways and almost dragged Bud from
+his saddle several times.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ding bat yer,&quot; Bud would shout, &quot;yer ornery, unsanctified, muley,
+harebrained, contaminated son o' a zebra, git down on yer feet an'
+foller. Ye'll git all that's comin' ter yer when ther race starts. Save
+yer sweat until then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But Hatrack thought differently, and before they were halfway to Snyder
+it took all the efforts of Bud in the lead and Ben, Kit, and Clay
+Whipple in the rear, to keep him moving in a forward direction.</p>
+
+<p>Only enough boys were left with the herd to keep it from scattering.
+Ted and Stella rode in the lead as they entered the town, which was
+crowded with a motley assemblage of cow-punchers, gamblers, and Indians
+in their gay blankets and with painted faces.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians of the plains are keen on horse racing, and among the
+various tribes are to be found some of the fleetest horses in the West,
+many of them trained to all the tricks of racing. An Indian jockey is
+the shrewdest of his class, and is an adept at all the tricks of the
+trade.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hi! Look at the livin' skeleton!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud swung around in his saddle and stared at a cow-puncher standing on
+the sidewalk in Snyder, as he rode into town dragging behind him the
+dejected Hatrack, who looked as if he had been living on two oats for
+dinner and a spear of grass for supper all his life.</p>
+
+<p>He ambled along like a tired and footsore dog behind Bud, with his ears
+drooping and his toes kicking up the dust. He was a sad-looking animal,
+and the word having gone abroad that he was the horse that was to enter
+the race with Magpie, he was jeered from one end of the street to the
+other, as Bud led him to the corral at the edge of the town. Bud
+pretended to be angry at the joshing his steed received, but when he had
+turned his back upon the jokers he would wink gently to himself in a way
+that would have been puzzling to the supporters of the spotted horse.</p>
+
+<p>Cap Norris had done his work well.</p>
+
+<p>Every one in town knew of the coming race, and word had been sent to the
+ranches in the surrounding country, so that before noon the streets were
+crowded with people.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, fellows,&quot; said Ted, when the boys met at the hotel for dinner,
+&quot;this fellow Norris is sure a sharp. That talk about his wanting to get
+enough money to take him back home was a lie. He's a gambler, and is in
+league with a bunch of gamblers in this town.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How do you know?&quot; asked Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How do I know? Why, man alive, they're betting on Magpie all over town.
+The tip seems to have gotten out that Bud Morgan and the broncho boys
+have a surprise up their sleeves, and that they are going to ring in
+another horse than Hatrack.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How is that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They believe we're going to slip in another horse, a professional
+racing horse with a record.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let 'em think so. It won't be a professional race horse&mdash;at least, not
+in this country&mdash;that we will put in, but jest ole Hatrack, an' if he
+don't win the race by a city block I'll eat him, hoofs an' all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Put us next, Bud,&quot; said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's what,&quot; said Kit. &quot;You've sure got a trick concealed somewhere.
+What is it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I haven't,&quot; said Bud. &quot;But if I wuz a bettin' man I know what hoss
+I'd back to win.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>That was all the boys could get out of him on the subject, but they were
+convinced none the less that Bud had a secret concerning the horse, and
+that they would learn what it was in good time.</p>
+
+<p>The race was to be held at the fair grounds, and was to be a dash of
+three hundred yards.</p>
+
+<p>Cap Norris would not consent to a longer race, although Bud said he
+would run Hatrack any distance up to a quarter of a mile, but the
+innocent old man with the long whiskers objected to running his horse a
+long distance.</p>
+
+<p>As the hour approached for the race, the grounds began to fill up.
+Several races between Indian ponies took place to keep the crowd amused
+until the big race of the day was to come off.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They've been working us,&quot; said Ted, coming up to where Stella and the
+boys were standing beside Hatrack, which looked more sad and dejected
+than ever.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In what way?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This race is a gambling game to get the money away from the innocents,&quot;
+answered Ted. &quot;They've had men going among the people from the country
+and the cow-punchers, telling them that it is a put-up job on our part,
+and that we're sure to win. In that way they have got a lot of people to
+bet on Hatrack. I've a good mind to draw out of it altogether and spoil
+their game.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;For fear the innocents will lose their money?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. I don't want to be a party to robbing those fellows.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't you worry. If you want to punish Norris and his friends, don't
+interfere. Let it go on, I tell you. They'll be the worst-beaten lot o'
+crooks that ever robbed a town.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Bud, if you say so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was now time for the race of the day, and Bud and Norris marked off
+the course.</p>
+
+<p>Ben was appointed judge, with a large man, apparently a stranger in the
+town, who was chosen by Norris, and the two selected a third.</p>
+
+<p>The third man was a stranger to Ben, but he picked him out of the crowd,
+and the other judge accepted him.</p>
+
+<p>As Stella climbed into the saddle, Hatrack gave two or three kittenish
+jumps, and the crowd yelled. It had not expected this added feature to
+the race, a girl jockey.</p>
+
+<p>Shout after shout went up as she rode over the course slowly, Hatrack
+having settled down into his usual dejected manner. The cheers and some
+of the jeers that greeted him came from the men who had been induced to
+bet on him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, Stella,&quot; said Bud, as Stella rode back again, &quot;when you start,
+shout 'Vamose!' in Hatrack's ear. That's the word he has always been
+sent away with. Stick tight, an' let him go. Don't forget the word
+'Vamose!'&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE GREAT CHIQUITA.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Hatrack and Magpie were now brought up to the starting point.</p>
+
+<p>The boy who traveled with old man Norris was on the back of the latter
+horse, sitting in a regular jockey's saddle and stripped of all
+superfluous clothing.</p>
+
+<p>He was the typical jockey now. He had put away all the appearance of
+youth, and was a crafty and sly man.</p>
+
+<p>It was apparent that the whole outfit was in the racing business, and as
+the crowd looked at the discrepancy between the two horses, and observed
+that on the best-looking horse was a professional jockey, while on the
+crowbait was only a girl, something like a groan went up.</p>
+
+<p>But some of them were game, and cheered Stella to the echo.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're all right!&quot; shouted her supporters.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hurrah fer ther girl jockey,&quot; yelled the cow-punchers. &quot;I got a month's
+wages that says she'll win the race.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But the other side had something to say, also. They made all sorts of
+fun of Hatrack, and roars of laughter went up as he ambled,
+stiff-legged, onto the course.</p>
+
+<p>Clay Whipple was chosen to start the race, and stood beside the track
+with a red flag in his hand. The two horses were jockeyed back and forth
+for several minutes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you ready?&quot; shouted Clay, as they came up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No!&quot; shouted Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No!&quot; answered the jockey.</p>
+
+<p>Back again they went, and came up neck and neck, the riders nodding to
+Clay.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go!&quot; cried Clay, bringing down the red flag with a swish through the
+air.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Vamose!&quot; Stella's clear young voice rang out.</p>
+
+<p>Then an amazing thing happened. Hatrack seemed to be suddenly galvanized
+into life. He straightened out, and shot to the front with great, long
+horizontal leaps. His body seemed to be gliding close to the earth.</p>
+
+<p>His head was between his legs, and he was running like a greyhound.
+Stella was bent low upon his neck, and every moment or two she would
+shout in Spanish, &quot;Go it! Vamose!&quot; or, &quot;You're winning! Vamose!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And winning Hatrack surely was. Now he was half a length ahead of the
+fleet Magpie, who was running the race of her life.</p>
+
+<p>Behind her Stella could hear the crowd yelling like mad. The air fairly
+shook with the shouts of the multitude as the two horses shot forward.
+But it was a short race, and seemed to Stella to have ended almost as
+soon as it began.</p>
+
+<p>As she flew past Bud, she got a fleeting glimpse of him jumping up and
+down in a very ecstasy of glee, and she knew that she had won, and began
+pulling in Hatrack. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that Magpie was
+already down to a walk a short distance from the wire, and that Cap
+Norris and the jockey were talking earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment she had Hatrack turned, and was going back to where Bud was
+waiting for her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bully for you, Stella,&quot; shouted Bud. &quot;Yer rode a great race. Jest ez I
+wanted it run. Nobody couldn't hev done it better. I told yer ye'd win.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was too easy,&quot; laughed Stella. &quot;I wish it had been four times as
+long.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That makes it all the better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How much did I beat him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A whole length.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That ought to be enough.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was, but I'll bet a cooky they'll make a kick. These crooks always
+lay out to win, and won't race unless they can win. If they don't, they
+set up a cry of foul, or something of that sort.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But they can't do that in this case, because I didn't foul him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella became indignant at the very thought.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sure you didn't, but that won't keep those wolves from claiming some
+sort of a foul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're not going to stand for it, are you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not in a blue moon. I've got the boys posted. Here comes Norris and his
+jockey back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The old racing sharp walked up to Bud, leading Magpie.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, Magpie's mine,&quot; said Bud, not giving the other a chance to speak
+first. &quot;Sorry for your sake that you lost, Cap, but the fortunes of
+racing often turn unexpectedly, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You haven't won,&quot; said the old man excitedly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I reckon we won, all right,&quot; answered Bud lazily, although there
+was an ugly gleam in his eye.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, sir, you didn't win fair. Thar wuz a foul at ther start. I see it,
+all right; I wasn't shore until I talked with my boy thar, an' he says
+as how ther young lady bumped him outer his stride jest ez they wuz
+gittin' off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no, you can't work me like that, Cap. They were five feet apart
+when the flag fell.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tell yer I see it with my own eyes. 'Twas a foul, an' I claim ther
+race, er it hez got ter be run over ag'in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Never, on yer life. The race goes to the young lady. But I'm not going
+to stand here and chew the thing over with you. It's up to the judges.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They all approached the judges' stand, where apparently a lively
+argument was in progress.</p>
+
+<p>Ben and the big man who had been chosen by Norris were talking
+excitedly, and the other man was listening.</p>
+
+<p>All about the stand an angry crowd of men was surging, all talking at
+once, so that nothing could be made out of the babel of shouts, except
+when some person with unusually good lungs made himself heard in a
+denunciation of one or the other riders.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had joined the crowd, waiting for the arrival of Bud and Stella. Bud
+was walking by the side of Stella, whose face showed the disappointment
+she felt at not being declared at once the winner.</p>
+
+<p>It was so evidently a job to steal the race from Hatrack that the leader
+of the broncho boys was both angry and disgusted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is what you get for having anything to do with this mob of
+gamblers and thieves,&quot; he said to Kit, who was standing by his side.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's that you said, young feller?&quot; said a man, edging up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wasn't talking to you, my friend,&quot; answered Ted coolly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, but you was talkin' at me,&quot; said the other.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, are you a thief and a gambler?&quot; asked Ted, with a lifting of his
+eyebrows that expressed a great deal that he did not say.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I guess it's the other way around,&quot; answered the fellow, snarling.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't see how you make that out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I do. The gal bumped the rider o' Magpie.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She did nothing of the sort. I stood beside the starter of the race,
+and I was nearer to the horses than you were, and if any one could see
+them I could. The horses were several feet apart when they started.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, sure. You and your pals are interested in the bone heap that went
+in first through a foul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That will be about enough of that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A bright red spot burned on each of Ted's cheeks, the danger signal of
+his wrath.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, see here, young fellow, you can't throw any bluff into me,&quot; said
+the fellow, approaching Ted with one shoulder raised.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You let him alone. He's all right, and has got as much right to talk as
+you have,&quot; said another man, elbowing his way up.</p>
+
+<p>He was one of those who had bet on Hatrack, and Ted recognized him as
+the foreman of the Running Water horse ranch.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, the gal stole the race fer these fellers, an' we ain't goin' ter
+stand fer it. They needn't think they kin bring any o' their gals in
+here to do their dirty work. They all look alike to us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See here,&quot; said Ted coolly, &quot;let me give you a piece of advice. Leave
+the young lady out of it, or I'll give you something else to think about
+for a while.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Rats fer you,&quot; said the fellow, snapping his fingers under Ted's nose.</p>
+
+<p>He picked himself from the ground ten feet away, wiping his bleeding
+nose and wondering what had happened to him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, boy,&quot; said the foreman of the Running Water, &quot;that was as pretty
+and clean a blow as ever I see. You can handle them mitts o' yours right
+handy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A score of men had rushed up and surrounded Ted and Kit, all shouting
+and gesticulating at the same time.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime, Ben was having his troubles in the judges' stand.</p>
+
+<p>He had, of course, decided in favor of Hatrack, while the big man had
+declared for a foul and no decision, and the third judge stood wavering.</p>
+
+<p>On the face of it the whole thing was a steal on the part of the
+gamblers, who had evidently decided beforehand that if the race went
+against them to claim a foul and bluff it through.</p>
+
+<p>But they had argued without their host. They did not know what they were
+opposing when they ran against Ted Strong.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was sorry that he had gone into the affair at all, but once in he
+was there to stick to the finish. The fellow whom he had knocked down
+had retired to the rear to attend to his broken nose, and to give his
+friends an opportunity to fight his battle.</p>
+
+<p>The foreman of the Running Water had disappeared. He had foreseen
+trouble when the gamblers got together, and attempted to force the race
+through, and had gone to collect the cow-punchers and others who had
+been induced to bet on Hatrack.</p>
+
+<p>Ted stood his ground patiently, waiting until a decision should be
+handed down by the judges before declaring himself.</p>
+
+<p>Stella was sitting in her saddle on Hatrack a few feet away from the
+stand watching the proceedings, and listening to the arguments on both
+sides made by the angry men.</p>
+
+<p>Bud and Kit stood on either side of her, to protect her from the remarks
+of the disgruntled gamblers.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly a man pushed his way through the throng, mounted on a Spanish
+mule.</p>
+
+<p>He was a fine-looking man, dressed after the manner of the plainsman,
+and might have been either a cow-puncher in prosperity or a ranch owner.</p>
+
+<p>As the crowd made way for him he caught sight of Bud, and stopped and
+stared for several moments without speaking.</p>
+
+<p>Bud had not noticed him, but when he did look up he returned the stare,
+and his forehead was wrinkled in thought.</p>
+
+<p>Somewhere in the back part of his head he carried a picture of this
+man, but under different circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>Who could he be, and where had he been met, were the things that were
+puzzling Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, pard, you don't seem to place me,&quot; said the man on the Spanish
+mule. &quot;But I haven't forgotten you by a dern sight. Think hard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've saw yer som'er's,&quot; said Bud thoughtfully, &quot;but it wa'n't like
+this. You're som'er's in my picture gallery o' faces, but yer ain't ther
+same as when I saw yer last.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Right ye are,&quot; said the man. &quot;How's Chiquita getting along?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ah, I've got yer now. How did yer come out? Middlin' well, ter jedge
+from ther mule yer ridin', an' yer ginral appearance o' prosperity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet I be,&quot; said the man, &quot;an' if it hadn't been fer you I wouldn't
+have been nowhere. I've come a long ways ter hunt yer up, ter thank yer,
+an' to get better acquainted with yer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, ye've got me inter a heap o' trouble,&quot; said Bud, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So I see, an' I'll help yer get out o' it. What seems ter be the
+trouble?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, old Chiquita, er Hatrack, ez ther boys in ther outfit calls him,
+won a race just now, an' ther gamblers won't stand by it. They sent out
+word that Hatrack was a sure winner, an'&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Same old thing. Chiquita fooled them all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't know he could do it myself, but I remembered what you said
+about him, an' when an ole maverick come along an' banters me fer a race
+I jest took him up, an' this is how it come out. He took us fer a bunch
+o' gillies, an' used us to try to fleece the people.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's his name?&quot; asked the man on the Spanish mule softly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Cap Norris.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, ole Pap Norris, eh? Calls hisself Cap now, does he?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's what he does, an' he's a derned ole skin.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;None skinnier. But where is he? I should like to see him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's sashayin' around here som'er's attendin' ter his dirty work.
+Lookin' after his grandson, little Willie, I reckon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What, is that thief still hangin' on to him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. I see you seem to know him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Know him! Well, I should gurgle I do know him. I thought every hoss man
+in the country knew him. Little Willie, the orphaned grandson, is almost
+old enough to be a grandfather himself. He's an outlawed jockey, an' he
+an' Pap go about the country skinning countrymen and cow-punchers with
+his fake races. He never won a square race in his life. I should say I
+did know him. Here he comes now. Watch me wake him up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The old fellow was bustling up to the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See here, young fellow, get ther gal offen that hoss, he's mine, er as
+good as mine in a moment. The jedges are goin' ter award ther race ter
+me on account o' ther foul,&quot; he shouted to Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon ther hoss stays right with me,&quot; said Bud smoothly. &quot;But I want
+ter tell yer thet yer better bring in that magpie hoss so's I kin git
+him quick. He ain't yours no more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come, come! None o' yer foolishness with me,&quot; blustered the old man.
+&quot;Git ther gal off before she's pulled off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You or any other man put your finger on thet young lady if yer dare,&quot;
+said Bud. &quot;Jest try it once if yer think I'm bluffin', men.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, Pap,&quot; said the man on the Spanish mule. &quot;Up ter yer ole tricks,
+I see.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The old man looked up at the man on the mule, then turned pale and
+slunk away without another word.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Men,&quot; said the man on the mule, addressing the crowd, &quot;you've been
+stung. This old bag o' bones is Chiquita, the best race horse ever
+produced in Mexico, an' I brought him over here, where I traded him for
+a plain cayuse an' gave something ter boot. If any o' you men know
+anything about hosses ye'll recognize ther great Chiquita, what made an'
+lost more money fer ther people o' Mexico than any one other thing. Pap
+didn't know it until he see me, then he suddenly remembered a little
+deal me an' him was in. I know this Magpie hoss well, an' it couldn't
+stand no more show of winnin' a race from Chiquita than a snail would.
+Take it from me that ye've been caught at yer own game, an' have been
+done.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At the name of Chiquita a groan went up from the gamblers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And who are you?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come nearer, an' I'll tell you in your ear,&quot; was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>Bud went close to him, and the man stooped in his saddle and whispered a
+word in his ear, at which the old cow-puncher looked startled, then
+burst into a fit of laughter.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVIII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXVIII</h2>
+
+<h3>TED'S GREAT VICTORY.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;I tell you I'll never stand for it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The voice of big Ben Tremont could be heard roaring above the noise made
+by the crowd around the judges' stand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's a go. The race goes to Magpie on a foul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The big man in the stand made this announcement in a voice of thunder.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bully for you, Shan Rhue!&quot; yelled the gamblers, crowding to the stand
+in a body.</p>
+
+<p>At the same moment Bud caught Hatrack by the bridle and led him out of
+the crowd, for he knew what was impending.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I say it don't go,&quot; shouted Ben. &quot;This man, who is in league with that
+old crook, Norris, declares a foul. I say there was no foul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How does the other judge go?&quot; called a voice.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He declines to give a voice in the matter,&quot; answered Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Throw the coyote down here, and we'll help him make up his mind,&quot;
+called the foreman of the Running Water. &quot;If he's too much of a coward
+to decide for the right, we'll help him. Throw him over.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The foreman of the Running Water was a formidable-looking man.</p>
+
+<p>He was tall and sinewy, with a seamed and scarred face, a map of many
+battles with the elements, the wild animals of mountain and plain, and
+with his fellow men.</p>
+
+<p>He was heavily armed, and the town gamblers knew him for a bad fighter
+when he was aroused.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stick fer ther big show,&quot; he said to Ted, who was standing beside him.
+&quot;I've got the boys bunched back there on the edge of the crowd. When it
+comes to a show-down we'll all be here. But it's no place fer wimmin an'
+children.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't want to get into a fight if we can help it,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer ain't afraid o' these cattle, aire ye?&quot; asked the foreman, looking
+at Ted curiously, but with a shade of disappointment in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not for a minute,&quot; said Ted, throwing a straight glance into the
+other's eyes. &quot;There's nothing to be afraid of, that I can see. But
+what's the use if we can get at it in some other way?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I reckon yer right, bub,&quot; said the other slowly. &quot;Some one is
+shore liable ter git hurt. But I'd sooner see ther whole crowd hurt than
+have this bunch o' thieves git away with their game.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They won't do that. Never fear.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The crowd was now watching the men in the judges' stand.</p>
+
+<p>Evidently Ben and Shan Rhue were wrestling in spirit with the third
+judge, who was still wavering. He knew that the right was with Ben, but
+he was afraid of the big bully Shan, and the gamblers, who were most in
+evidence.</p>
+
+<p>He did not know that the cow-punchers and the townspeople who had bet on
+Hatrack were being organized on the outskirts of the crowd, and that Kit
+and Clay and the other broncho boys were with them to direct them to the
+attack when it might seem necessary to assert their rights.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there was a roar from the crowd. Shan Rhue had struck Ben
+Tremont a staggering blow. They heard Ben let out a roar like a wounded
+bull, as he threw the great bulk of his body upon the man who had struck
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Now they were wrestling, and the frail stand in which they were,
+fifteen feet above the ground, swayed with their struggle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Kill him!&quot; shouted the gamblers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Throw him down here!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let us finish him!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stay with him, Shan!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>These and other cries and threats were shouted by the mob. But Ted
+Strong said nothing. He was watching the struggle intently and quietly.</p>
+
+<p>He had no fear but that Ben would be able to hold his own. His great
+strength hardly matched that of Shan Rhue, who was a giant, and the most
+feared man in the Wichita Mountains. But Ben was more than his match in
+wrestling skill, and, moreover, he was younger and more supple for all
+his bulk, and his work on the football gridiron when in college had
+taught him tricks of the tackle of which the big bully did not dream.</p>
+
+<p>He had a hold on the bully now, and was gradually forcing him backward
+toward the frail railing that inclosed the floor of the stand.</p>
+
+<p>Ted saw his intention. It was to throw Shan Rhue against the railing,
+then spring away. Rhue evidently divined the same thing, for he
+struggled with all his force against it, striking Ben in the ribs and
+occasionally in the face.</p>
+
+<p>But his blows were not very effective, as Ben had him caught so closely
+that his blows lost their power. Thus the struggle went on for a few
+moments. Then, when it was least expected, there was a crash of breaking
+wood.</p>
+
+<p>A yell went up from the crowd as it surged back, and the gigantic body
+of Shan Rhue came hurtling through the railing, which went into
+splinters from the impact of his bulk.</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue grasped at the air, as with a roar he went over. He turned a
+complete somersault as he descended and landed on his shoulders. For a
+moment he lay quivering, half stunned.</p>
+
+<p>There was dead silence in the crowd and none dared go to his assistance.
+But presently the bully sat up and passed his hand over his eyes. With a
+roar of pain and rage he sprang to his feet and looked around.</p>
+
+<p>The nearest person to him was the leader of the broncho boys, who stood
+on the edge of the crowd, alert and smiling. Ted knew that it meant
+fight now.</p>
+
+<p>He was convinced that Ben was in the right, but right or wrong, Ben had
+started it, and it was now up to the broncho boys to see that their side
+did not get the worst of it.</p>
+
+<p>Realizing that Ted was an enemy, Shan Rhue made a rush at him. Those
+beside Ted turned and ran. But Ted did not move. He only stood a little
+tenser.</p>
+
+<p>It took but a moment for the bully to cross the distance that lay
+between him and Ted. His rush was like that of a bull, and as
+irresistible. But Ted did not propose to take the brunt of it. He knew
+several tricks better than that.</p>
+
+<p>As Rhue was about to launch himself upon Ted, the latter stepped lightly
+aside. So sure was Rhue of landing on Ted and bearing him to the ground
+that he had leaped into the air, and, finding nothing to stop his
+progress, was overbalanced. A sweep of Ted's foot completed it, for the
+legs of the bully were swept from under him, and he went to the sod on
+his face with a crash that seemed to shake the earth.</p>
+
+<p>Like an eagle upon its prey, Ted was on the back of the bully. The crowd
+shouted like mad, eager to go to the rescue of their champion. But Ted
+heard the voice of the foreman of Running Water high above the din.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's the boy's fight, an' any man that breaks through the line will get
+a ball from my forty-four plumb through him. Stand back, you cattle!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let 'em go, fellers. Shan will kill him in a minute,&quot; shouted one of
+the gamblers.</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue had been badly shaken up by the jolt that had been his when he
+struck the ground. For several moments he did not stir, and Ted thought
+he had been knocked out.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the men in the crowd knew things about Shan Rhue which Ted did
+not.</p>
+
+<p>Rhue was considered the strongest man in the Southwest at that time. He
+was barely forty years old, in the prime of his life, and a man who had
+never dissipated. But he was a thoroughly bad man for all that, and the
+number of men whom he had killed had been forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>His feats of strength were the talk of barrooms and bunk houses. He had
+been seen many times to break horseshoes with his hands, and as for
+bending a bar of iron by striking the muscles of his forearm with it,
+that was one of his ordinary tricks.</p>
+
+<p>But the thing of which he was proudest was his ability to buck a man off
+his back. In this feat he barred none, no matter how heavy. He would get
+on his hands and knees, place a surcingle around his body under his arms
+for his rider to hold on by, and then proceed to buck.</p>
+
+<p>It would seem impossible for a man to stick to him under such
+circumstances, and no one had been found yet who could do so.</p>
+
+<p>Thus it was that those of the crowd who had witnessed this feat
+sometimes in a fight, and more often in friendly contest, looked to see
+Ted sailing through the air, and then the finish, for Shan Rhue was a
+merciless enemy.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was now straddling the prostrate bully, who was breathing heavily,
+his body heaving as his lungs tried to get back into commission.</p>
+
+<p>Presently he was all right again, and, feeling a weight upon him, shook
+himself. This not having the effect of relieving him of his burden, he
+twisted his head around and saw Ted sitting on him.</p>
+
+<p>With a growl like a wounded bear he slowly lifted himself to the height
+of his arms, then slowly rose to his knees.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By golly, he's goin' ter buck him off,&quot; shouted one in the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look out fer some fun, lads,&quot; cried another.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He'll kill ther kid sure,&quot; said a third.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment Ted realized what was coming off. The hold he had on the
+back of Shan Rhue was none of the most secure at best, but he got a
+clutch on the fellow's shirt under the arm, just back of the armpits,
+and he felt that he had in his fingers great bunches of the bully's
+muscles.</p>
+
+<p>By the merest chance he had secured the only hold by which he could hope
+to stick to the giant's back. Then the fun began. Shan Rhue plunged back
+and forth, sideways and up and down.</p>
+
+<p>The movement was incessant. He reared and pitched, and, having cunning
+and intelligence, he was able to distinguish when Ted's seat was least
+secure and take advantage of it.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had ridden many bucking bronchos, but Shan Rhue beat any of them in
+the surprises which he furnished. But Ted stuck grimly to him.</p>
+
+<p>He knew that if the bully succeeded in throwing him off his life would
+not be worth a rushlight, for Shan was a rough fighter and would not
+hesitate to kick him brutally, if he did not shoot him to death before
+the boys could come to his assistance.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the struggle went on for several minutes, Shan doing his utmost and
+Ted hanging on. But the big fellow was getting winded by his exertions.</p>
+
+<p>He was not in the best condition, for all his tremendous power. He was
+going fast, and Ted was badly shaken up and out of breath, also. If
+Shan held out a few minutes longer Ted must be thrown, for his hold on
+the muscles under his antagonist's arms had begun to loosen, and he
+dared not let go for an instant to get a fresh grip.</p>
+
+<p>It was close to the finish, and the crowd knew it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's goin', Shan. A few more will finish him,&quot; shouted the gamblers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stick to him, Ted. He's almost in,&quot; cried the boys.</p>
+
+<p>Ted took heart at this, although his body was racked with pains, caused
+by the innumerable wrenchings to which it had been subjected.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Shan Rhue was all in. His body flattened out upon the ground,
+and he lay there panting laboriously. Ted sprang to his feet gasping.
+Thus for a few minutes both remained, amid intense silence from the
+crowd.</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue's body was heaving painfully. It was evident that he had never
+had before a struggle like this.</p>
+
+<p>Little by little he recovered, but Ted's recovery was quicker than that
+of the man. His youth and strength were responsible for this.</p>
+
+<p>But finally Shan Rhue was himself again, and suddenly he leaped to his
+feet and glared around. His eyes fell upon Ted, and he looked him up and
+down in a sort of amazement.</p>
+
+<p>Had this stripling accomplished what older and stronger men had failed
+in?</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue could hardly believe it, but it took some of the conceit out
+of him at that. However, his anger at Ted had not been in the least
+assuaged by the fact that the first honors had gone to this youth who
+now stood watching him with a smile on his lips, but with the light of
+battle in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>With a sneer Shan Rhue rushed at Ted. This time he would annihilate him.</p>
+
+<p>But Ted was crouching, awaiting him. His muscles were like steel
+springs. His breath had come to him again, and he was ready to fight for
+his life, for it had come to that now. Suddenly there was a smack, sharp
+and clear in the silence that hung over the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue staggered back on his heels. The blow from Ted's fist had
+struck him fairly below the eye. Before he could recover Ted was upon
+him like a panther.</p>
+
+<p>One, two, three, blows fell with a sharp, sickening sound upon the face
+and throat of the famous Shan Rhue, as he lurched backward, vainly
+trying to defend himself.</p>
+
+<p>His body went to the earth with a crash, and he lay there moaning and
+quivering, beaten, discredited, and no more the hero, for he had been
+conquered by a boy.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIX'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2>
+
+<h3>KIT MAKES A CAPTURE.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Shan Rhue lay prostrate for a long time, but no one went to his
+assistance. As he fell the gamblers raised a shout, and made a motion to
+attack Ted.</p>
+
+<p>But the foreman of Running Water sprang in front of them, and as if by
+magic the broncho boys and the cow-punchers and other supporters of
+Hatrack were by his side.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had leaped to the fore and was standing shoulder to shoulder with
+the foreman of Running Water. He heard a ripple of laughter, and looked
+up to see Stella standing by his side.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bully for you, Ted,&quot; she said. &quot;You did that fine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted smiled back at her, then turned his eyes upon the surprised and
+angry gamblers. There was something there that demanded all his
+attention. The gamblers only needed a leader to make them a dangerous
+proposition.</p>
+
+<p>But their leader was down and out by reason of a few neat and handy
+blows, and none other had the courage to come to the front. It was the
+psychological moment.</p>
+
+<p>Ted Strong took advantage of it. Without a moment's hesitation, he
+stepped in front of the foreman of Running Water, who moved back to give
+him the place of vantage.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had not even taken his six-shooter from its holster, but stood with
+his hands resting lightly on his hips, while his eyes roved inquiringly
+over the menacing crowd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Any of you gentlemen like to have some of the same sort of medicine?&quot;
+he asked, nodding toward the prostrate Rhue.</p>
+
+<p>There was no reply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because if any of you would, I, or any of my friends, will be glad to
+accommodate you,&quot; he added.</p>
+
+<p>An ominous growl came from some one back in the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Would you like some of it?&quot; asked Ted, turning suddenly in that
+direction.</p>
+
+<p>He waited for several moments for an answer, but none came.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, you fellows, I want to say that this incident is closed,&quot; said he
+firmly. &quot;You are beaten every way from the jack, as you would say. You
+put up this race to skin innocent parties, and you thought to use my
+friends for your purposes, and have failed. The face was fairly won by
+our horse, and that goes. If any man doubts it, I will prove it to him
+by any means he wishes, from fists up to howitzers. You have made a lot
+of fools of yourselves by allowing an old crook like Norris to play in
+with you. I haven't a bit of sympathy for you. I'm glad you lost your
+money, and I'd feel gladder if you all went broke. This is the end of
+this adventure. Where's Norris? We want that magpie horse which we won.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The men dispersed after this speech, which closed with a ringing cheer
+from the broncho boys and the cow-punchers and other friends of Hatrack.</p>
+
+<p>But Norris could not be found. He and the horse and the jockey had
+disappeared. Ted rounded the boys up, and all were present except Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where's Kit?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't know,&quot; said Bud. &quot;He was around here a few minutes ago. Reckon
+he's somewhere about.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The crowd having dispersed uptown, a search was made for Kit, but he
+could not be found.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wonder if some of that gang hasn't got square with us by some foul
+play on Kit,&quot; said Ted. &quot;It would be like the coyotes. Kit was the
+smallest of the lot, and naturally the cowards would pick him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Kit's small, all right,&quot; said Stella stoutly, for she and Kit were
+great friends, and Stella was always one to stick up for those she
+liked. &quot;If they pick Kit for his size, and think they have got an easy
+thing, they will find that they have gathered up a red-hot Chile pepper.
+He'll give them the hottest fight they ever had, as long as he lasts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hurray fer you, Stella,&quot; exclaimed Bud. &quot;You speak for fair. Kit's not
+much on size, but he's a whirlwind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue was slowly getting on his feet. His broad, brutal face was
+badly discolored where Ted's fists had come in contact with it.</p>
+
+<p>One of his eyes was bloodshot and rapidly taking on a green-and-purple
+hue, and his upper lip stuck out like an overhanging roof. As he looked
+around and saw that the broncho boys were alone, and that he had been
+left to recover as best he might by those whom he had called his friends
+and supporters, he growled deep in his chest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The skunks,&quot; he muttered, between his swollen lips. &quot;They'd make me
+fight an' steal fer them, an' then leave me in the hole, would they?
+Well, I'll make them hump fer this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then he looked unsteadily at Ted out of his good eye, as if he was
+wondering how it all had happened. But while his glance was not as
+belligerent as it had been, still there was nothing but hatred in his
+expression.</p>
+
+<p>Ted eyed him back fearlessly, but this time his hand rested upon the
+handle of his revolver, and Stella, by his side, was on the alert also.
+Shan Rhue was not one to be trusted, especially after he had met defeat.
+After staring for a moment he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon yer beat me fair, young feller,&quot; he said, &quot;although I don't
+know yet how yer did it. But I want ter say ter yer now that this ain't
+the end, by no means.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's all right,&quot; said Ted easily. &quot;You keep out of my way, and you
+will be all right.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I go where I please, an' do what I please, an' ask ther right o' no
+man,&quot; retorted Shan Rhue truculently.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, go where you please, but don't run afoul of me,&quot; said Ted
+sharply. &quot;I don't want to have anything to do with such cattle as you,
+and I don't propose to. Keep off my trail if you know when you're well
+off. This is a friendly tip&mdash;take it or leave it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't want none o' yer tips,&quot; growled Shan Rhue. &quot;Ye've beaten me,
+an' I hate yer. Look out fer me next time, that's all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, that's all. Skidoo! You're not pretty to look at.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted turned his back upon the defeated bully, but Stella did not, and had
+Shan Rhue made a motion toward his gun there would have been one with a
+pearl handle and trimmed with silver in commission in an instant.</p>
+
+<p>With a long, malignant look after Ted, the bully turned and hobbled
+slowly from the fair grounds.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm going to start on the trail of Norris,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Want to come
+along, Stella?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet I do,&quot; said the girl. &quot;Wait till I catch my pony.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ben, you and Bud ride through the town and see if you can't get on to
+the movements of that old rip Norris, also, and look out for Kit. If we
+don't get Norris, and make him give up that magpie pony, our work has
+not been half done. As long as we have won out all around, we might as
+well have the fruits of our victory,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What'll we do to ther coyote?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Part his coat tails and give him a good, swift kick,&quot; answered Ted.
+&quot;But don't get into any fights with these town gamblers. We can't afford
+anything of that sort, you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All righty; but I'd shore like ter git a crack at some o' them
+mavericks,&quot; said Bud grudgingly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They're all licked in their minds already,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Of course,
+they're sore at losing their money, and if a dozen or more of them were
+to tackle you, you'd have a hard time getting away with it. When the
+fight comes off, if ever it does, we all want to be in on it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They parted, and Ted and Stella rode into the town.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, friend, have you seen anything of that old skin Norris?&quot; asked
+Ted, meeting one of the Running Water outfit on the street.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yep. I wuz jest goin' ter look yer up an' post yer,&quot; was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Which way did he go, or is he still in town?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jest after yer put ther finish onto Shan&mdash;an', say, that wuz a beaut,
+if any one should ask you&mdash;I see Norris an' ther jock makin' fer ther
+gate, leadin' ther magpie bronc. I thinks they're goin' ter put him in
+ther corral fer yer, an' didn't pay much 'tention ter him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then he's up at the corral?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, he ain't. He's foggin' along to'rds ther Wichita Mountains as fast
+as he kin go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How do you know?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I met one o' our outfit a bit ago, an' he was sore because yer let ther
+old feller git away with ther magpie, after yer won him fair. Yer see,
+he thinks ye flunked on collectin' ther pony.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not on your life. We don't do business that way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's what I was thinkin', so I ast him whichever way ther ole man was
+headin'. He says inter ther east, tickity-brindle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Which road?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Right out ther east end o' ther main street.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thank you, pard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer almighty welcome. Good luck. If yer ketch up with ther coyote,
+bring him in an' let us have a good squint at him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I'll bring him in, all right, if I get him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So long!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So long! Come on, Stella, we'll have to kick dust if we're going to
+connect with that old party.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They dashed down the street, followed by an equal mingling of smiles and
+frowns. Smiles from the cow-punchers and townspeople whose champion he
+had been, and frowns from the gamblers.</p>
+
+<p>But they saw neither, for they were intent upon their business. They
+made a mighty handsome couple as they dashed along, for they were well
+mounted and both were perfect riders.</p>
+
+<p>Many a young girl walking along the street looked enviously after
+Stella, and wished she could ride as well and was as beautiful. And many
+a lad looked after his ideal of a hero of the West, dashing and brave
+Ted Strong, who had so lately vanquished the bully who had been feared
+of all men, and who could ride like a centaur, and shoot perfectly.</p>
+
+<p>It did not take long for them to clear the town, and dash out onto the
+prairie road which led into the Wichita Mountains.</p>
+
+<p>They did not spare their horses, for Ted knew that if Norris once
+succeeded in reaching the mountains it would be almost impossible to
+find him among the many fastnesses and deep and rough ca&ntilde;ons which
+abound in those most picturesque hills and peaks.</p>
+
+<p>While Ted knew the Wichita Mountains well, he was also aware that even
+the most expert scout did not know all about them, and that there were
+places in them that had never been explored, unless, perhaps, by
+renegade Indians and white outlaws, with which the mountains had at
+times been infested.</p>
+
+<p>They had ridden an hour or more when Ted pulled in his pony.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No use riding our ponies to death the first heat,&quot; he said to Stella,
+with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My cayuse is good for another hour,&quot; said Stella; &quot;I can tell by the
+way he's going under me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yours would last because you're such a light and easy rider. You take
+weight off a pony. But I'm a good deal heavier, and I can feel this
+fellow tiring, although he'd go until he dropped in his tracks if I'd
+let him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They walked their ponies over the springy sod beside the road, which was
+becoming fainter the farther they got from the town. In the distance
+they could see the mountains, a dark mass against the sky.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Some one on the road,&quot; said Stella, pointing ahead.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is a little hazy. Dust, I guess,&quot; said Ted. &quot;I think we better hit
+it up a bit. Perhaps it is Norris and his precious 'grandson,' and if it
+is we'll get to them before they get to the mountains.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They put their ponies, at a lope, and seemed to be catching up with the
+dust cloud rapidly. Soon they were able to distinguish two riders.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove, I believe we are on the right track,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Stella's bright eyes had been watching the riders in front of them for
+some time.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted, it's not Norris. There are two riders, one behind the other, and
+they are coming this way,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>Ted reined in his pony, and took a long look.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're right, Stella,&quot; he said. &quot;But, perhaps, we can get some news of
+the fugitives from them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Again they spurred forward.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted, that's Kit, as sure as you live,&quot; cried Stella, &quot;I'd know him
+anywhere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes they were within hailing distance, and Ted gave the
+long yell, which was answered, and in a few minutes they were reining in
+beside Kit. Behind him, securely bound to the back of Magpie, was old
+man Norris, who looked very crestfallen.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, Kit, you rascal, I see that you got him,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet, and a merry chase I had after him,&quot; answered Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, Kit, what's the matter with your arm?&quot; cried Stella.</p>
+
+<p>Kit's arm was hanging by his side, and his coat sleeve near his shoulder
+was stained with blood.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Shot!&quot; answered Kit laconically.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bad?&quot; asked Stella anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not so very. Just touched the bone. But it has been bleeding like the
+deuce.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted, take charge of the prisoner. Kit, get off that horse and let me
+see that wound.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella's commands were promptly obeyed, and Kit groaned slightly as
+Stella helped him off with his coat and cut away his sleeve. He had
+received a nasty flesh wound near the shoulder, made by a ball of large
+caliber, which had passed clear through.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as she had washed the wound with water from Ted's canteen, and
+had bound it up, Kit felt much more comfortable.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How did it happen?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I heard that the old man and the jockey had made a sneak from the
+grounds when Ted was having his fun with the big fellow, and I got my
+bronc and followed them. I came up with them a ways back, and made the
+old duffer halt, but the jock potted me and got away. That's all.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXX'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXX.</h2>
+
+<h3>KIT'S TROUBLESOME PRISONER.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;Kit, you're the most reckless boy I ever knew,&quot; said Stella, as he
+climbed into his saddle with some effort, for his arm was stiff and
+swollen, and it was all he could do to keep from groaning with every
+jump of his pony.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What in the world made you start after them alone?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, you were busy with the big bully, and, although I felt certain
+that you would get the best of him in the end, I thought it wouldn't be
+good policy to take any of the boys with me, in case there should be a
+general fight. I know you would need all the fellows.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, but, dog-gone you, you ought to have taken some one,&quot; said Ted.
+&quot;How did you know but the old man and the jockey were not dangerous
+fellows? Men in their business are generally bad actors when it comes to
+a scrimmage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I thought I could handle them,&quot; laughed Kit. &quot;And I could, too,
+only I got careless, and let that jockey get the drop on me. The old man
+knuckled under gracefully when I presented my card.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did you get the old man after you were shot?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. You see, this was how it was: I got sight of them a short ways
+ahead of me. They were evidently saving their horses, for they were
+traveling slowly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Didn't they get next that they were being followed?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't think so. They saw only one rider, and I suppose they thought
+that if they were pursued at all it would be by several men, and they
+were confident that with their horses they could run away from anything
+we had except Hatrack.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's a wonder they didn't light out quick.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think they figured to save their horses until they were sure they
+were being followed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then what happened?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I saw them look back at me several times, but they did not hit up their
+speed any.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Were you fogging along pretty fast?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not so very. You see, I didn't want them to think that I was on their
+trail. I went just fast enough to overtake them gradually. If they had
+got on to me they would have been out of sight before I could gather up
+my reins.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Foxy Kit,&quot; said Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And they let you come right up with them?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yep. I was right up on them before they got on to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They recognized you, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They did when I was about twenty feet away. Then I heard the old man
+holler, 'It's one o' them dern broncho boys.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And then what?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, you see, I didn't have my gun out, and, as he says that, the
+jockey pulls and fires one shot, which landed in my arm. Then, before I
+can reach around and get my gun out with my left hand, he gets away. But
+the action was too quick for the old man, and he sat still until I had
+him covered, when I had sent a couple of balls after the jock to make
+him hit up the pace a bit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The old man was easy, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Easiest kind. But he might have got away from me if he had the nerve.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, Kit, you did a great stunt. I'm mighty glad you landed the old
+coot. But I don't know what to do with him now that we have him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, we better take him to town, anyway. He'd get lost if we turned
+him loose out here. Let his friends take care of him, when he gets
+there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right; let's move on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Not much was said as they made their way back to town. Old man Norris
+did not open his mouth, but looked dejected and sad, as if he was
+brooding over what would happen to him when he arrived at his
+destination. He was plainly uneasy, and probably wished they would turn
+him loose.</p>
+
+<p>When they were within a mile of the town they saw a cloud of dust
+approaching them rapidly, and watched it curiously. It was a horseman,
+fogging along at a rapid pace.</p>
+
+<p>Finally out of the dust emerged Bud Morgan, and as he came abreast of
+them he pulled his horse down on its haunches.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Howdy?&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How?&quot; answered the others.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So yer got ther ole pelican, eh?&quot; said Bud, with a grin.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Kit did,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bully for you, Kit,&quot; said Bud heartily. &quot;I was in town, an' a feller
+from over to Running Water told me you and Stella had come out this way,
+an' I follered. What's the matter with your arm, Kit?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Got a shot through it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sho! Did that old pirate give it to you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, the jockey, and then he flew.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've got a good mind to go after him, an' bring him in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wouldn't do any good. At the rate he was going when I sent a message
+after him, he's clear into the suburbs of Chicago by this time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They were soon on the outskirts of the town, and as they entered the
+main street they saw a crowd of men coming toward them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here comes a reception committee,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Wonder who they are, and
+what they want.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove, there's that big fellow Shan Rhue,&quot; exclaimed Kit. &quot;I wonder
+what he's after.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I thought he had enough o' our kind o' medicine not to want ter tackle
+us so soon again,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't like the looks of that gang,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Neither do I,&quot; said Stella. &quot;I've a hunch that they mean mischief.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In what way?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I can't exactly define the feeling I have, but somehow I think
+they don't want <i>us</i>.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Eh? Whom do they want?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For reply Stella made a motion toward Norris. Ted looked at her
+thoughtfully for a moment, then comprehended.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see,&quot; he said seriously. &quot;Well, they won't get him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bud, where are the other boys?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uptown som'er's. Why?&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They ought to be here,&quot; said the girl seriously. &quot;I think we'll be
+needing them soon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tumble, an' I'll jest fog on ahead an' gather them up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Ted. &quot;and while you're about it see if you can't find that
+foreman of the Running Water Ranch, and have him round up his boys or a
+few good fellows who will back us up if it comes to trouble. I don't
+know what his name is, do you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, his name is Andy Bowles, an' he's as good as three ordinary men.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then fly. There's no telling what's coming off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud gave his pony the rowels, and in a moment was out of sight in a
+cloud of dust. Ted and the others rode steadily forward, the two
+parties approaching nearer every moment.</p>
+
+<p>The party headed by Shan Rhue had taken to the middle of the road, and
+soon they had come together, and both halted. For a moment nothing was
+said.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was in advance, holding the reins of the pony on which Norris was
+tied hand and foot, Stella was on one side of Norris, and Kit on the
+other.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well?&quot; said Ted inquiringly, as they came face to face.</p>
+
+<p>He looked directly at Shan Rhue as he said it, then allowed his eyes to
+wander over the crowd. In it he saw some of the toughest characters in
+that part of the country.</p>
+
+<p>They were men who bore the reputation of being cattle rustlers on
+provocation, and who had been suspected of horse stealing and other
+crimes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We want that man,&quot; said Shan Rhue shortly and roughly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is that so?&quot; said Ted, with feigned surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, that's so,&quot; was the surly reply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then why didn't you go out and get him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We left that to you,&quot; said Shan, with a nasty laugh.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then you'll still leave him to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, we want him, and that's all there is to it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you want with him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll show you when we get him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's a cinch you won't get him until you do show me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, I don't want to have any trouble with you, young feller, but&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shouldn't think you would.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this retort a snicker went up in the crowd, and Shan turned upon his
+followers with a brow like a thundercloud. But he said nothing, as the
+snicker subsided as soon as it began.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And I don't want any of your lip, either. Give us the old man
+peaceable, an' you can go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, that's real good of you. But I want to tell you one thing, Shan
+Rhue, before you lose any more breath in conversation, you don't get him
+unless you tell me what you propose doing with him, and perhaps not
+then. It's up to me to say who gets him, or what is done with him. You
+seem to forget that he's my prisoner, not yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I'll tell you what we're going to do with him,&quot; said the bully,
+with a blustering air. &quot;We're goin' to hang him as high as that
+telegraph pole out thar.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bet you anything you've got you don't,&quot; said Ted, with a pleasant
+smile.</p>
+
+<p>There was a murmur of anger in the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't let them get me,&quot; wailed old Norris.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dry up!&quot; said Stella sternly. &quot;Don't you see he's trying to save you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why do you want to hang this old man?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because he whipsawed us all. He's the only one who got any money out of
+that race. We gave him five hundred dollars to pull it off. He was
+broke, and couldn't have bet a cent on it, anyway. That's why. He said
+his horse would win in a walk, and every one of us went broke on it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good! I'm glad to hear it,&quot; said Ted heartily. &quot;You ought to have lost.
+But I'll tell you one thing, the old man really thought his horse would
+win. He didn't know that Bud's horse was the old Mexican racer,
+Chiquita; neither did any of us except Bud, who kept the matter to
+himself, and there you are. The old man is a professional skin, I'm free
+to confess, but he was out to skin us, not you. You've got nothing
+against him. You were beaten by gambler's luck, and now you're not game
+to stand by it. But there is one sure thing, you'll not get old Norris
+from me until you kill me. That's a cinch.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're a game kid, all right,&quot; said Shan Rhue, &quot;but you're committing
+suicide with that kind o' talk. I didn't lose so much myself, an' I
+ain't got nothin' agin' the ole man; it's you I'm after&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why didn't you come alone if you wanted me? Was it necessary for you to
+bring a whole posse with you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, the less I hear of that kind o' talk, the easier it will be for
+you. Hand over the old gaffer, an' go your way peaceful. You'll get that
+much chance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thank you for nothing. I stay by the old man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Farther up the street Ted saw a commotion out of which evolved a party
+of men moving in his direction. He had no doubt it was Bud and Andy
+Bowles, the foreman of the Running Water Ranch.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;For the last time, give up that man!&quot; commanded Shan Rhue.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then we'll take him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Kit had cut the old man's bonds, and thrust a revolver into his hand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Fight for your life,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>With a roar the mob was upon them. Revolvers were drawn, and as they
+rushed forward the dauntless three surrounded Norris&mdash;three against
+fifty.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Halt!&quot; cried Ted. &quot;The first man to lay a hand on any of us is a dead
+one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go on an' take him. I'll attend to the kid,&quot; shouted Shan Rhue.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Get him!&quot; &quot;String him up!&quot; &quot;Lynch the old thief!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>These were the cries with which the mob advanced.</p>
+
+<p>Out of the mob came several shots. Ted heard a cry of pain behind him,
+and turned to see Stella reel in her saddle, pale to the lips, with her
+hand pressing her head, Then she fell.</p>
+
+<p>With a cry of horror and rage, Ted turned toward her, but just then he
+felt himself seized and dragged from his saddle. Something struck him on
+the back of the head, and all became black.</p>
+
+<p>But as he was going off into unconsciousness he heard a shout. It was
+the old Moon Valley yell, and he knew that Norris would be safe.</p>
+
+<p>Bud was coming with re&euml;nforcements. Ted had dropped to the road under
+the feet of the terrified ponies, and it was a miracle that he was not
+trampled to death.</p>
+
+<p>All about him the fight was going on.</p>
+
+<p>Bud and Andy Bowles, and about twenty men whom they had hastily got
+together, had come to the rescue, and the gamblers' gang was soon on the
+run. They had not been able to get near Norris, for Kit had fought them
+off with his one good arm until, finding themselves attacked in the
+rear, the would-be lynchers ran for their lives.</p>
+
+<p>The fight was swift and decisive, and several men lay in the dust when
+it was over, for Andy Bowles and Bud and Ben had fought like tigers.</p>
+
+<p>When Ted recovered consciousness again he found himself lying in the
+road beside Shan Rhue, who had been knocked senseless by a blow from the
+butt of Bud's pistol.</p>
+
+<p>Ted staggered to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where's Stella?&quot; he cried.</p>
+
+<p>The other boys looked around. Just before the fight began they had seen
+her, Kit, and the old man, but now she was gone.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stella was wounded,&quot; cried Ted. &quot;Where is she? Scatter, men, and find
+her. She cannot be far away. If anything has happened to her, some one
+will suffer.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXI'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2>
+
+<h3>STELLA A CAPTIVE.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>We will leave Ted and the broncho boys, to follow the misadventures of
+Stella.</p>
+
+<p>After securing Magpie, which was taken back to the cow camp by Kit, who,
+much against his inclinations, was compelled to go into retirement until
+his arm healed, Ted released old man Norris, who secured a pony and rode
+rapidly out of town.</p>
+
+<p>When Stella fell from the back of her pony to the road she became
+insensible. A ball from the weapon of one of Shan Rhue's gang had
+clipped a lock of hair from her forehead, creasing the skull. By a
+miracle her life was saved, for the merest fraction of an inch lay
+between her and death.</p>
+
+<p>During the hurly-burly of the fight, and as Ted was grasped in the
+powerful arms of Shan Rhue, one of the gang rushed up to her as she lay
+in the dust and picked her up.</p>
+
+<p>He was a powerful man, and carried Stella's light body as if she had
+been a child. That he was not seen by some member of the Running Water
+outfit was due to the fact that they were too busily engaged in fighting
+to pay attention to anything else.</p>
+
+<p>When Stella regained her senses she was conscious of a racking headache,
+and, placing her hand to her forehead, brought it away wet and sticky.
+It was quite dark, and she groaned feebly. The pain was excruciating,
+and the motion of her body made her deathly sick.</p>
+
+<p>She felt around her, and her hand came in contact with a cold, hard, yet
+yielding substance. Then she heard the rumble of wheels, and knew that
+she was in a vehicle of some sort. The motion of the couch on which she
+was lying was such that she came to the conclusion that she was in one
+of those old stagecoaches hung on leather springs, which were so much in
+use in the West before the advent of the railroads.</p>
+
+<p>As her mind grew clearer she tried to remember all that had occurred.
+Suddenly it flashed upon her. The capture of old Norris, the attempt of
+Shan Rhue and his gang to take him away to lynch him, and the beginning
+of the fight. How it had been finished she did not know.</p>
+
+<p>Neither did she know whether or not she was in the care of her friends
+or in the custody of her enemies. Probably the latter, for if Ted and
+the boys were taking her somewhere, surely she would have more
+attention, and the blood would have been washed from the wound on her
+forehead.</p>
+
+<p>The curtains of the stage were down, and she did not know whether it was
+day or night.</p>
+
+<p>Outside she heard the voices of men.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hurry up them mules, Bill,&quot; a man's voice came to her gruffly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Can't get any more out o' them. We've come nigh twenty mile on the run.
+I tell you, the mules is 'most all in,&quot; said a man, evidently the driver
+of the stage.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, we ain't got much farther to go,&quot; said the other. &quot;But we got to
+get there before moondown, er we'll be up against it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What time is the bunch goin' to be at the lone tree?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ten o'clock.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then we've got just about an hour, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Just about. But we're a long ways off yet. Git all y'u can out o' them
+mules. Kill 'em if y'u have to get them there on time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They're doin' all they can. Y'u don't want me to kill them before we
+get there, do y'u?&quot; asked the driver crossly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, but if y'u miss the bunch y'u know what will happen. Shan ain't
+much on the sweet temper since the kid bumped him so hard, an' he don't
+like y'u too well, nohow. I'm just givin' y'u a friendly tip.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Keep it. I ain't so stuck on Shan myself as I used to be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Only don't let him know it. We ain't none of us in love with him, an'
+yet we come up an' eat out o' his hand when he calls us, just like a lot
+o' hound dogs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The conversation told Stella the truth she had dreaded. She had been
+captured by Shan Rhue's ruffians, and she knew that she was in a
+precarious predicament, for she could hope for no mercy from Ted's
+merciless and beaten enemy.</p>
+
+<p>She would be used to punish Ted, and she sighed at the thought of what
+grief her disappearance would cause her aunt and the boys.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the curtain on the window was drawn aside. It was bright
+moonlight without, and in it she saw the villainous face of a man
+looking in upon her.</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes met his, and she uttered an exclamation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello!&quot; he exclaimed, in surprise. &quot;Come to, have y'u?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella made no reply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thought fer a while that y'u'd slipped over the Great Divide,&quot; the
+fellow continued.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No fault of yours that I didn't,&quot; said Stella weakly, for the pain and
+nausea to which she was being subjected had taken all her strength.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't had nothin' to do with it, lady. I'm just guidin' the outfit. I
+don't know y'u, er how y'u got hurt. Feelin' better?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I would be much better if I could get out and walk. The motion of this
+carriage makes me deathly sick.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Can't let y'u do that, lady. We're in too much of a hurry to stop
+now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you might let me have a drink of water. I am dying of thirst.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon I can do that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The flap over the stage window dropped, and in a moment she heard hushed
+voices outside. Then a canteen was thrust through the window.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Take all y'u want, lady, an' drink hearty,&quot; said her guide.</p>
+
+<p>Stella wet her handkerchief and bathed her throbbing forehead, then took
+a deep draft, and felt much refreshed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here's your canteen,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>Again the flap was thrust aside, and the ugly face looked in upon her
+with a leer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where are we, and where are we going?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We're in the Wich&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hey, Jack, stow that,&quot; cried the driver.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But it won't do no harm&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You know what the orders is,&quot; said the other significantly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sorry I can't tell y'u, lady. Orders is orders.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, well, I don't suppose it would do me any good to know where I am,
+anyway, but you might as well tell me what you are going to do with me.
+It would relieve my anxiety, and make me feel better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There ain't no harm comin' to y'u, lady, while I am with y'u,&quot; said the
+fellow, with a hateful leer that made Stella shudder.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thank you,&quot; she said faintly, as with a sigh she laid her head back
+again with her wet handkerchief on her brow.</p>
+
+<p>So the stage rumbled on for almost an hour, with Stella the prey of
+sickness and pain. She doubted if she could have walked even if she had
+been permitted to leave the stage.</p>
+
+<p>But as she lay there she thought, and from the scraps of conversation
+she had heard, and from what her guide was about to tell her when he was
+interrupted by the driver, she knew that she had been captured and
+abducted during the fight by Shan Rhue's men, and that she was in the
+Wichita Mountains.</p>
+
+<p>That much, at least, she knew, but what caused her much anxiety was that
+she did not know the result of the fight.</p>
+
+<p>She came to the conclusion that the broncho boys and their friends must
+have lost in the encounter, else she would not be in her present
+predicament.</p>
+
+<p>But what of poor old Norris, for in spite of his rascality she was sorry
+that he had fallen into the hands of the ruthless Shan Rhue.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Keep off to the left,&quot; shouted the guide. &quot;We're almost there. Down
+into that coulee y'u go. There ain't another crossin' this side o' three
+mile, an' we ain't got time to go so far out o' our way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, we're liable to turn over down there. Better get the gal out, an'
+let her walk down. I can get safe up the other side.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right. Stop 'er.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The stage stopped, and the cessation of the swaying, swinging motion was
+a blessed relief to the tortured girl.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come on out,&quot; said the guide, as he threw the door open. &quot;We'll have to
+ask you to walk to the bottom o' this coulee, if y'u don't want to be
+scrambled about on the bottom o' the coach.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella was glad to get out, but when her feet were on the ground she
+swayed and staggered like a drunken person from sheer sickness and
+weakness.</p>
+
+<p>Beside her was her guide on his horse, and she was compelled to lean
+against it for a moment until she recovered herself.</p>
+
+<p>The stage had gone lumbering and swaying down the bank of the coulee,
+and before it reached the bottom it turned on its side.</p>
+
+<p>The driver leaped in safety to the ground, and the guide went scrambling
+down the bank to his assistance.</p>
+
+<p>The mules were plunging and kicking, and threatened to break their
+harness to pieces.</p>
+
+<p>Stella was mutely thankful that she had not been in the stage when it
+went over, as she sat down on a rock to rest and watch the efforts of
+the swearing and angry men to right the stage.</p>
+
+<p>Once she thought of trying to escape while the men were engrossed in
+their work, and she arose eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>But when she got to her feet she realized the impossibility of such a
+thing, for she almost fell. Then she sank down again, and resigned
+herself to her fate.</p>
+
+<p>But soon the stage was put back on its wheels again, and the guide
+called to her to come down.</p>
+
+<p>This was a slow and painful operation, during which the driver swore
+impatiently at the delay. But she accomplished it, and crawled into the
+stage and sank down on the pallet which had been made for her with the
+seat cushions.</p>
+
+<p>Now they were off again, faster than before, and with correspondingly
+more discomfort to Stella. Oh, if the journey would only end, she
+thought.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here we are,&quot; she heard the guide's voice in a shout.</p>
+
+<p>The stage stopped, and Stella heard a rush of feet.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Got her?&quot; some one demanded gruffly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yep, but she's all in,&quot; replied the guide. &quot;Her forehead was creased by
+a bullet, an' the trip has about finished her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Can't help that. Get her out. We've got to be moving. The soldiers are
+out to-night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the matter?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Injuns.&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uprisin'?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not yet, but the agent over to Fort Sill has a tip that they are
+putting on paint.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the trouble?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Somethin' about beef issue. The last cows issued to the Injuns were no
+good, an' the Injuns made a kick, an' the agent told them to go to the
+deuce. Old Flatnose an' his son Moonface, the Apache chiefs, have always
+been bad actors, an' now they are tryin' to scare up a muss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Reckon they'll do it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The commandant at Fort Sill seems to think they will, for he's got two
+companies out on the scout.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The boys better look out, then. The Injuns don't like the gang over at
+the Hole in the Wall none too good.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We stand all right with Flatnose and his son, an' it's their band
+that's actin' bad.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, y'u better get a move on y'u. The moon will be down in an hour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Get the gal out, then, an' we'll be movin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right,&quot; said the guide, poking his head into the coach. &quot;Here's
+where you get out. Boss said to treat her well,&quot; he continued, turning
+to the man with whom he had been talking.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, we'll do that, all right,&quot; was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>Stella scrambled painfully out of the coach. All about her were mounted
+men, both whites and Indians. There were a score or more of them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Can you ride?&quot; asked one of them of Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; she replied, &quot;if you don't go too fast. I'm sick and weak.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll do the best we can,&quot; said the man shortly.</p>
+
+<p>Then he called back to his followers:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jake, bring up that spare hoss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a moment, and with a staggering weakness, Stella climbed into the
+saddle. With a man on each side of her, she took up the march again.</p>
+
+<p>Through dark defiles in the black mountains the cavalcade made its way,
+Stella clinging to the saddle, and often in danger of falling off.
+Presently they came into a glade, or park, which was surrounded by
+towering mountain walls. For half an hour they traversed this, then came
+to the end, and before them yawned an opening in the wall less than ten
+feet wide.</p>
+
+<p>They entered this, and after traversing it a short distance Stella found
+herself in a circular chamber in the mountains with the starry sky for a
+roof. Several fires were burning in the chamber, around which Indians
+and white men were sprawling, playing cards, talking, or silently
+smoking.</p>
+
+<p>In one corner was a corral, in which many horses were confined.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You can get down now,&quot; said the leader of the party that had conducted
+her to the place. &quot;There is a shelter for you over there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He pointed to a small tent on the farther side of the chamber.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You will be perfectly safe here. You do not seem well. I will send you
+assistance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where am I?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are a prisoner in the Hole in the Wall,&quot; was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then Heaven help me,&quot; said Stella, sobbing.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXII.</h2>
+
+<h3>A HOLE IN THE HERD.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>The herd of cattle which Ted and the broncho boys were herding in No
+Man's Land he had branded Circle S, named after Stella.</p>
+
+<p>There were more than two thousand head of them, which Ted was feeding on
+the rich range grasses of the Southwest to drive to the Moon Valley
+Ranch to winter, for it was well known to cowmen that a Southern or
+Southwestern beef animal will do better for a winter on the Northern
+range.</p>
+
+<p>After Stella's disappearance Ted and the boys searched every nook and
+cranny of the town of Snyder, but were unable to get the slightest trace
+of her. Dividing into bands, they scoured the country roundabout, being
+assisted by the cow-punchers and the ranchers in the neighborhood.</p>
+
+<p>But Stella had disappeared as if the earth had opened and swallowed her.
+With all his ingenuity, backed by the strong desire he had to find her,
+Ted was making no headway, and he hardly slept or ate during the long
+days and nights, but was in the saddle almost continuously.</p>
+
+<p>Naturally, he suspected Shan Rhue of knowing something about Stella's
+absence, if, indeed, he was not actually responsible for it.</p>
+
+<p>But he could not fasten anything on the man whom he had come to regard
+as his greatest enemy, and whom he knew hated him. Whenever he sought
+Shan Rhue, he was always to be found at his haunts.</p>
+
+<p>Tired of the inaction, Ted met Shan Rhue on the street one day, and
+resolved to have it out with him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Shan Rhue, I want to speak with you,&quot; said Ted, stopping him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what is it you want?&quot; asked Shan Rhue.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I want you to tell me where Stella is,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue stared at him in apparent amazement.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How should I know where she is?&quot; asked Shan Rhue, with a wicked
+twinkling in his eye.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't know,&quot; answered Ted; &quot;but I think you do know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So I supposed, from the way in which you have had me followed. I
+suppose you miss her a good deal.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Her aunt, Mrs. Graham, is distraught with grief and anxiety. Surely you
+have no fight on her, or on Miss Fosdick, either, that you should keep
+them apart.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No. I have no fight with a woman. But why should I know where the young
+lady is?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are several reasons why you should have had her taken away. But I
+think the principal reason is that you think you can get square with me
+by doing so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There might be something in that. Mind me, I am not confessing that I
+took her away, or that I know who did take her away, or where she is.
+You have seen me in town every day since the little trouble we had over
+that old thief Norris, haven't you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, but that tells me nothing. It might not be necessary for you to
+leave this town to have her hidden somewhere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you and your friends searched the town from one end to the other,
+and you did not find her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;True, but for all that I am satisfied that you know where she is.
+Suppose we call it off, and that you tell me where she is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If I knew, I would not tell you,&quot; said Shan Rhue, his voice intense
+with hatred.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you mean? Are you such a coward that you will punish a woman
+for your spite against a man? I did not think that of you. I believe
+Stella Fosdick was carried off by you, of your men, acting under your
+instructions.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue's only reply was a sneering laugh.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If I discover that what I say is true,&quot; said Ted, in a low voice so
+full of purpose that it was in itself a warning, &quot;you will be the
+sorriest man in all this country. I will make you suffer by it even as
+you have caused suffering to others.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So you have suffered, eh? That is good! Now I am a little better
+satisfied. But my debt to you is not yet paid. There are other things in
+store for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you mean, you dog? By Heaven, I know now that you did cause her
+abduction, and I shall find her. You cannot keep me away from the place
+in which you have hidden her. I shall find her if she is at the end of
+the earth. When I do find her, if anything has harmed her, you, Shan
+Rhue, gambler, thief, and murderer, shall pay for it, and pay heavier
+than for any amusement you have had in all your miserable lying,
+thieving career.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As the epithets addressed to Shan Rhue left Ted's lips, the bully sprang
+back, and made a motion to draw his six-shooter.</p>
+
+<p>But before he had his hand on his hip his eyes were looking into the
+bore of Ted's forty-four. Instead of drawing a gun, therefore, he pulled
+out his handkerchief and wiped his dry lips.</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue feared Ted Strong.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Remember,&quot; said Ted, before turning away, &quot;I know that you have
+spirited Stella Fosdick away. But I shall find her, and when I am sure
+of it you better leave the country before I reach the place where you
+are, for as sure as I am standing here I will make my previous
+experience with you so tame that you will be glad to crawl in the dust
+on your face to be forgiven.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ha, ha!&quot; laughed Shan Rhue. &quot;So it hurts as bad as that, eh? Good!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He went away laughing, and it was all Ted could do to control himself,
+and keep from leaping upon him and punching him. Instead, he jumped into
+his saddle and rode Sultan like the wind out to the cow camp.</p>
+
+<p>For several days he had paid no attention to the herd, leaving it under
+the general direction of Bud, while he stayed in town trying to hear
+some news of Stella, or was riding all over the country with one or
+another of the boys, searching for her.</p>
+
+<p>As he rode into camp with disappointment and dejection written on his
+face, he was met by Mrs. Graham, who had grown pale and wan with
+anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Any news of her?&quot; she asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;None, but I haven't given up hope by any means. Don't worry so, Mrs.
+Graham. I think I am on the track at last, and that we shall soon have
+her with us again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But Mrs. Graham only walked away with the tears coursing down her
+cheeks. The herd was grazing to the west of the camp, and Ted rode out
+to it, and to where Bud was sitting quietly in his saddle watching it.</p>
+
+<p>There was an air of dejection about Bud, also. Indeed, every fellow in
+the outfit was secretly worrying and grieving for Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Ted,&quot; said Bud, as Ted rode up, &quot;I think thar's somethin' wrong
+with ther dogies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Cow-punchers call the small Southwestern cattle &quot;dogies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you mean?&quot; asked Ted. &quot;I was looking them over this morning.
+Rode through the bunch. They seemed to be all right then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, they're eatin' well, an' aire as likely a lot o' beef ez ever I
+see,&quot; replied Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what then?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar ain't so many o' them ez there wuz, er my eye hez gone back on
+me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Any of them get away?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I figger it so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What have you found out?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Some one is liftin' our cattle. That's what I mean.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great Scott! What makes you think so?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted, ther herd has shrunk.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You judge by the eye, I suppose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. That is the only way I have o' judgin'. We hev never had a count
+o' them since we drove them onto this range.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How many do you think we are shy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My eye tells me erbout five hundred.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great guns! How could five hundred head get away from us? And right
+under our noses, too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Easy enough. You must remember that since Stella has been gone we've
+paid no more attention to the herd than if we didn't own them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's true. As for myself, I confess that I've given them no
+attention. And I've kept you fellows so busy that we've left the cattle
+to take care of themselves, almost.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, it's time we woke up ter ther situation, er soon we won't hev no
+more cattle than a rabbit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's so. We'll run a count of them in the morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's shore got me puzzled. I can't think whar they could hev gone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Strayed, possibly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;P'r'aps. Ever hear o' there bein' any rustlers in this part o' ther
+country?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I never have. But there are some pretty bad citizens in this
+section, who, if they never have rustled cattle, certainly are capable
+of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Alludin' to who?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, there's Shan Rhue and his gang, for instance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They're pretty bad actors, fer shore. But I ain't positive thet they're
+ther kind what would rustle. They're jest plain town thieves an'
+gamblers. They ain't cow-punchers. It gen'rally is fellers what has been
+in ther cow business at some time er another what rustles stock.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, it doesn't take much of a man to steal cattle. A thieving gambler
+could do it as well as another.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But our brand and ear crop? They shore couldn't get away from them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They're not so hard, Bud. A good man could run our stock out of this
+part of the country and alter the brand without any trouble.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Shore, ther brand is not so hard to alter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let's ride back to camp and look at the brand book, and see if any one
+has a similar brand to ours, or one that they could alter without
+trouble. But, remember, I'm not going to give myself any uneasiness in
+the matter, and I think we will find the herd all there. I can't see how
+so many cattle as you think could get away from us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In what manner could they?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, yer see, thar ain't ary o' us fellers been ridin' herd at night
+since Stella was taken away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes; go on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ther fellers what hev been guardin' ther herd at night we picked up
+around here when we drove ther herd up from ther South.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;True. They were all local cow-punchers. I realize that we have made a
+mistake. One of us ought to have had charge of every night watch since
+we have been on this range.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Shore. It's a cinch they wouldn't attempt to run 'em off in ther
+daytime.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's the idea. It would be as easy as shooting fish in a rain barrel
+for a crooked night foreman to drift a few cattle away from the herd in
+the dark, to be picked up by fellows waiting on the outside, and driven
+into the hills until the brands and marks could be changed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They were at the camp now, and Ted got out the brand book and turned its
+leaves over in an attempt to find a brand similar to their own, the
+Circle S, which was a circle with the letter S in the center.</p>
+
+<p>In every Western State or Territory in which cattle-raising is a
+business the law makes it imperative that every ranchman who uses the
+open range shall select a brand for his cattle which is registered. This
+brand is his own, and every head of cattle found with his brand on it
+belongs to him.</p>
+
+<p>On the open range the cattle get mixed more or less, and in the spring
+there is a general round-up of the cattle, after the calves have been
+born and are following their mothers.</p>
+
+<p>The cow-punchers go into the vast herds and drive out the calves. Of
+course, the mother follows the calf, lowing piteously for it.</p>
+
+<p>When the cow is out with the calf, it can be plainly seen to whom she
+belongs by the brand on her. Her owner, or his men or representatives,
+promptly throw her and the calf into their own herd, and later put their
+brand on the calf.</p>
+
+<p>Calves which are motherless and are unbranded are known as mavericks,
+and belong to whoever finds them. The cowman who finds a maverick
+promptly puts his own brand on it and it belongs to him.</p>
+
+<p>The safety of the system is in choosing a brand that cannot be easily
+altered, and which will not be easily confounded with the brand of
+another.</p>
+
+<p>When the boys had chosen the brand Circle S for this herd in honor of
+Stella, they had spoken of this, and Bud had remarked that it would be
+easily altered by making an eight of the S, but they had found no Circle
+8 in the brand book, and took the chance, especially as Stella now
+insisted upon having no other brand for the herd than Circle S, her &quot;own
+brand,&quot; as she called it.</p>
+
+<p>Ted and Bud could find no brand in the Texas or Oklahoma brand books at
+all like theirs, and dismissed the matter from their minds.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning early all hands turned out for a count of the herd. The
+herd was split, and the broncho boys took turns at the count, as the
+bunches of cattle were split and driven slowly past them on the point.</p>
+
+<p>From the books, there should be two thousand three hundred cattle, or
+thereabouts, in the herd. A few cattle more or less would not have been
+surprising, for a great herd of cattle will, like a magnet, draw to it
+all the individual strays in the country roundabout.</p>
+
+<p>It was well in the afternoon before the count was finished, and the boys
+rode into camp to count up and compare with the books. Ted totaled the
+figures, while the boys hung eagerly over him to learn the result.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what d'yer make it?&quot; asked Bud, as Ted, with an expression of
+perplexity on his face, looked up from his work.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The count is seventeen hundred and fifty,&quot; answered Ted slowly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Gee! And that's how many shy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Five hundred and fifty. Bud, you have a good eye.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Orter hev. I've been runnin' my eye over herds fer many a year. So,
+we've been done out o' more'n five hundred head, eh? Well, Stella comes
+fust, an' then ther man what thinks he kin rustle cattle from the
+broncho boys had better take a runnin' jump outer this man's country.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXIII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>LITTLE DICK IN TROUBLE.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Little Dick Fosdick had been forgotten by Ted and the broncho boys in
+their anxiety over the absence of Stella.</p>
+
+<p>They had seen him around the camp, but as it was impossible for him to
+accompany them on their hard rides, he had been left to his own devices.</p>
+
+<p>He spent his days riding with one of the cowboys on the herd, and
+grieving in his own way for Stella.</p>
+
+<p>He was a sensible little chap, and seldom complained at his loneliness.
+His life alone had made him patient, and he took it out in thinking.</p>
+
+<p>He was now well able to take care of himself, although Stella insisted
+in &quot;mothering&quot; him when she was in camp.</p>
+
+<p>Little Dick, as most of the boys called him, felt himself quite a man,
+for he could now catch his own pony and saddle it whenever he wanted to
+ride, and no one paid any attention to him as he came and went.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had bought for him a little, wiry bay cayuse, and both he and Stella
+had taught him to ride, and Dick could now throw a rope with reasonable
+accuracy and speed.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had given him a small revolver, and they had had great fun learning
+to shoot at a target, which was usually a bleached skull of a cow that
+had died long since on the prairie, and its bones picked clean by the
+coyotes.</p>
+
+<p>Dick's revolver was only of thirty-two caliber, as befitted his
+strength, but the youngster had a good eye and the steady nerves of
+youth, and he soon got so that he could hit the skull with reasonable
+accuracy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Putting the shot through the eye&quot; was one of the jokes of these
+shooting tournaments, in which Stella, and sometimes Bud, joined.</p>
+
+<p>One day when they were shooting at a skull target, Bud missed&mdash;probably
+intentionally, for Bud was a crack shot.</p>
+
+<p>Dick jumped up and down in glee, for he had just knocked a chip of bone
+from the skull himself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bud missed! Bud missed!&quot; he shouted, in glee. &quot;Bud, you're an old
+tenderfoot. Couldn't hit a skull as big as the head of a barrel a
+hundred feet away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Didn't miss, neither,&quot; said Bud, in a tone of mock anger. &quot;There's
+where you're fooled. That is what I call a good shot. See that left eye
+hole? Well, I aimed at that, and the bullet went through it. Ha! That's
+where the joke is on you.&quot; He grinned, and winked at Stella.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes later Dick shot and missed the skull.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yah!&quot; shouted Bud. &quot;Goody! You missed. You shoot like a hayseed.
+Couldn't hit a skull as big as the head of a barrel.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's where you're left,&quot; said the boy. &quot;See that right eye hole?
+That's what I aimed at.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The laugh was on Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, kiddie,&quot; he laughed. &quot;You're on. We'd be in a dickens of a
+fix if that ole cow hadn't left two eye holes when she died.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So it was that Dick had made great progress in the rudiments of a
+cow-puncher's life, and it exactly suited him, but, in the meanwhile,
+Stella was teaching him to read, and telling him the story of the rise
+and grandeur of his own country, and of the lands that lay beyond the
+seas.</p>
+
+<p>So it was that Dick was unconsciously getting a better education than if
+he had gone to school, for he had a mind for the absorption of all sorts
+of knowledge like a sponge, and once a thing was told him he never
+forgot it.</p>
+
+<p>The morning of the count he had started onto the range with the other
+boys, but as there would be great confusion, and perhaps danger of a
+stampede, Ted sent him back to camp.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Run on back, Dick,&quot; Ted said kindly. &quot;I'm afraid that pony of yours
+isn't quick enough to get out of the way if these dogies should take it
+into their heads to act ugly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick never thought of rebelling when Ted spoke, for he knew that Ted was
+boss, and that he knew what was good for him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Ted,&quot; he said. &quot;Would it be any harm if I took a ride away
+from the camp?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course not, Dick,&quot; answered Ted kindly. He felt a little sore at
+himself for sending the boy away, but he knew that it was for the best.
+There would be plenty of time and many occasions for Dick to run into
+danger when he grew up.</p>
+
+<p>Dick went back to camp, which was deserted save for Bill McCall, the
+cook, who was asleep under the chuck wagon, and Mrs. Graham, who was
+lying down in her tent.</p>
+
+<p>Dick buckled on his belt and holster, and, mounting his pony Spraddle,
+set out for a long ride across the prairie.</p>
+
+<p>In the boot of his saddle rested his little Remington, a present from
+Stella. He was going to look for an antelope, and he thought how proud
+Ted would be if he brought one back with him.</p>
+
+<p>He knew how hard it was to get close enough to an antelope to shoot it,
+but he had just enough gameness to think that he could get one if he
+came within range of it.</p>
+
+<p>Anyhow, there were coyotes and jack rabbits.</p>
+
+<p>He rode across the prairie at a smart gallop, occasionally changing his
+course to chase a jack rabbit, which generally disappeared over a rise
+in the ground like a streak of gray dust, and was seen no more.</p>
+
+<p>At noon he stopped for a few minutes to eat the biscuit and piece of
+bacon which he had taken from the rear of the chuck wagon before setting
+forth. He found a spring not far away, and, having given Spraddle a
+good, deep drink, and filling his small canteen, which was tied to the
+cantle of his saddle, he set forth again.</p>
+
+<p>It was about two o'clock when he came in sight of the first real game of
+the day. On the top of the rise ahead of him he saw an animal about the
+size of a dog. As he rode toward it, it raised its head and gave a long,
+low, mournful howl.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Coyote,&quot; exclaimed Dick to himself breathlessly. &quot;I'll get that fellow,
+and take him back to camp. Won't Ted be surprised when he sees it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He took his Remington out of the boot, slipped in the necessary
+cartridges to fill the magazine, and rode forward slowly and cautiously.</p>
+
+<p>The coyote watched him sharply, occasionally raising its head to utter
+its mournful cry. When Dick thought he had got within shooting distance,
+he stopped Spraddle, took a good, long aim at the coyote, and fired.</p>
+
+<p>The ball kicked up the dust several feet in advance of the coyote,
+which, with another howl, this time one of derision, as it seemed to
+Dick, turned and trotted away.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was a bum shot,&quot; muttered Dick. &quot;I'm glad Ted or Stella did not
+see it. Better luck next time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The coyote ran a short distance, then stopped and looked over its
+shoulder to see if Dick was following, and, seeing that he was, took up
+its lope again.</p>
+
+<p>It had got some distance from Dick, when, on the top of another rise,
+it stopped again, and Dick heard once more its luring cry.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed to be an invitation to follow him. Dick had not paid any
+attention to the direction in which he was going, and had kept no track
+of time.</p>
+
+<p>That he was following game, and that he intended to get it if it took
+all day, was all he thought of. Soon the coyote stopped again, and
+looked at Dick in a tantalizing sort of way, and again Dick approached
+it cautiously.</p>
+
+<p>When he thought he was within range, he raised his Remington, and,
+taking a long, deliberate aim, fired. Again he missed. But he had the
+satisfaction of seeing that the ball had struck the earth several feet
+nearer the coyote than the first.</p>
+
+<p>The coyote realized it, too, for he did not wait for another invitation,
+but started on his way in a hurry, with Dick riding pell-mell after him.</p>
+
+<p>Dick for the first time realized that the day was going when he noticed
+the long shadow cast by himself and the pony on the prairie sod. He had
+not the slightest idea how far he had come, and there crept into his
+mind a sort of dread.</p>
+
+<p>He pulled Spraddle down to a walk, and looked about him. Behind him
+there was no trace of the cow camp, nothing but the everlasting rise and
+fall of the prairie.</p>
+
+<p>But ahead was the ragged line of the blue mountains. These he knew to be
+the Wichita Mountains, for, although he had never seen them before, he
+had heard the boys talking about them in camp.</p>
+
+<p>Then he saw the coyote on a hill a little ways ahead, looking at him in
+the most aggravating way. The coyote's lips were curled back from his
+teeth in a contemptuous sort of a smile, it seemed to Dick, and as he
+started forward again the coyote threw up its head and actually laughed
+at him.</p>
+
+<p>That settled it with Dick. No coyote that ever trotted the plains could
+laugh at him, but as this thought came to him he felt the dread of being
+lost on the prairie, or even having to stay alone in this waste all
+night.</p>
+
+<p>Dick had heard the boys talk of the danger of being alone at night, for
+there were wolves and other animals that would daunt a man, to say
+nothing of a small boy.</p>
+
+<p>He thought he would follow the coyote only long enough to get another
+shot at him, and then retrace his way back to the camp. By putting
+Spraddle through his paces he ought to be able to reach it before dark.</p>
+
+<p>So he set forth again in the wake of the coyote, which was becoming more
+and more aggravating every minute. Suddenly the coyote disappeared
+altogether. It had done this before when it had gone down into the
+trough between two of the great, rolling swales of the prairie, but
+always it had come into sight again in a few minutes.</p>
+
+<p>This time, however, it did not, and Dick wondered why.</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes he understood why, for he found himself at the edge of
+a coulee which had been washed deep by the storms of many winters.</p>
+
+<p>Dick looked up and down the coulee for the wolf, and saw a form, gray
+and lithe, slinking among the bowlders with which it was filled. Dick
+forced Spraddle down the steep bank of the coulee, and was soon at the
+bottom.</p>
+
+<p>Hastily he set after the coyote, but suddenly stopped, for a man stepped
+from behind a shoulder of rock and clay and caught his bridle.</p>
+
+<p>Spraddle stopped so quickly that Dick was almost unseated. But he soon
+recovered himself, and stared in amazement at the man who had thus
+stopped him.</p>
+
+<p>He was an Indian.</p>
+
+<p>Dick had often seen Indians in the towns through which the broncho boys
+had passed, and occasionally they had come into the camps they had
+established on the drive of the herd up from Texas.</p>
+
+<p>But this was the first time Dick had ever come in contact with an Indian
+when he was alone. For a moment his heart stopped beating, for he was
+afraid.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How?&quot; grunted the Indian.</p>
+
+<p>It was all Dick could do to reply with a feeble, quavering &quot;How?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Many times around the camp fire, with the boys all about, when Bud was
+telling one of his tales of Indians, Dick had thought what he would do
+if he ever came in contact with a real, live, sure-enough redskin, and
+always he had thought how brave he would be. But now that he had
+actually met one, he felt his nerve ooze away.</p>
+
+<p>However, the Indian was not aware of it, for Dick had a way of keeping
+his feelings to himself, and he seldom showed whether he was surprised
+or angry, although he never hesitated to let his friends know his
+pleasure at their kindness, or gratitude for what they did for him.</p>
+
+<p>He was looking at the Indian steadily, taking stock of him, and this is
+what he saw: A broad, dirty face, in which burned two small, narrow
+eyes. The cheek bones were prominent, and on each one was a spot of red
+paint. The long, black, coarse hair was braided with pieces of otter
+fur, and covered with an old cavalry cap, in which was stuck a crow's
+wing feather, and around his neck hung a small, round pocket mirror
+attached to a red string, by way of ornament.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian wore a dirty cotton shirt and a pair of brown overalls, and
+his feet were covered with green moccasins, decorated with small tubes
+of tin, which jingled every time he took a step.</p>
+
+<p>A belt and holster hung at his hip, and the handle of a Colt forty-four
+was within easy reach.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;White papoose where go?&quot; asked the Indian, showing a row of sharpened
+teeth.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hunt coyote,&quot; replied Dick, in a voice that trembled.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Heap fool. No catch coyote,&quot; said the Indian, reaching over and lifting
+Dick's Remington from the saddle.</p>
+
+<p>He sighted it, turned it around in his hand, and then coolly slung it
+over his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here, give that to me,&quot; said Dick sturdily. With this act of theft all
+his courage came back to him. No dirty Indian should have the rifle
+Stella had given him.</p>
+
+<p>But the Indian only grinned.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Me heap brave,&quot; said the Indian. &quot;Me Pokopokowo.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He looked at Dick as if he expected the boy to be deeply impressed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't care who you are. I want my rifle,&quot; cried Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Papoose heap fool. Get off pony.&quot; The Indian was scowling now, and
+looked very ferocious, and once more Dick's courage oozed. The Indian
+did not seem to be a bit frightened.</p>
+
+<p>As Dick was slow in descending from the saddle, the Indian grasped him
+by the arm and jerked him to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Dick was as angry as he ever got, but was sensible enough to know that
+he could not fight the Indian, and that all he could do was to escape as
+rapidly as possible.</p>
+
+<p>He turned and ran up the coulee.</p>
+
+<p>But he had not gone far when he was overtaken, and knocked flat with a
+cuff on the side of the head. As he rose slowly with his head ringing,
+Pokopokowo grasped him by the shoulder, and bound his hands behind him.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment he was back at the pony's side, and was thrown upon its
+back, but not in the saddle. This was occupied by the Indian, who
+directed it down the coulee, and in the direction of the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Fosdick was a prisoner.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXIV'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>A MESSAGE FROM STELLA.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Dick had some difficulty in keeping his seat on the pony's back, for he
+could not hold on to the cantle of the saddle, and Spraddle wabbled
+dreadfully, as he stumbled among the bowlders in the coulee.</p>
+
+<p>But before long they were out on the prairie again, and Dick observed
+that they were headed toward the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>They had several miles to go to reach the mountains, and it was just
+getting dusk when they entered upon a broad and beautiful valley, which,
+as it ran east and west, was flooded with the light from the setting
+sun.</p>
+
+<p>Here the Indian turned in the saddle and looked at Dick with a
+malevolent smile.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Turn white boy loose,&quot; he grunted.</p>
+
+<p>Dick twisted around, and the Indian untied the cord that bound his
+wrists.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;White boy try to run away, I kill um,&quot; said the Indian, showing his
+teeth in a horrible look of ferocity that chilled Dick to the bone.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right,&quot; he said; &quot;I'll not try to run away again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Kill um if do,&quot; growled the Indian, hissing, at the pony, which is the
+Indian way of making a pony go forward, and means the same as a white
+man's &quot;Get up!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick was dreadfully hungry, but he said nothing, clinging to the cantle
+of the saddle with both hands, for the pony was now loping.</p>
+
+<p>They had gone up the valley for several miles, when suddenly the Indian
+turned aside down a dark and narrow defile, still at a lope.</p>
+
+<p>Even Dick realized the danger of this, for the floor of the defile was
+covered with large, loose stones, over which Spraddle was continually
+stumbling, for he had come a long way and was tired, besides the added
+weight of the Indian was more than he was accustomed to carry.</p>
+
+<p>It had grown very dark, and Dick could not see the pony's ears when he
+twisted around to look past the Indian.</p>
+
+<p>He knew that it was to be a moonlight night, but the moon was not up
+yet, and would not be for an hour or more. In fact, it was doubtful if
+the light of the moon would penetrate to the bottom of the defile until
+it was high in the heavens, so deep was the defile and so steep its
+walls.</p>
+
+<p>Dick had given up wondering and worrying, and had forced himself to be
+content with his situation, as he knew that he could not better it any.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly he became aware that the Indian was asleep, for he was drooping
+in the saddle, and was breathing deeply and steadily.</p>
+
+<p>Now, thought Dick, was the time to escape, if any. He tried to slip from
+the pony's back, but in an instant the Indian was awake, and, reaching
+around, grasped Dick's wrist, twisting it until the boy gave a sharp cry
+of pain.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian slipped from the back of the pony, and again bound Dick's
+wrists behind him, and with a grunt climbed into the saddle and urged
+Spraddle on, slapping him across the face with the end of the rein.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't you do that,&quot; cried Dick, who never abused Spraddle himself, and
+couldn't stand it to see any one else, particularly a dirty Indian, beat
+his pet.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;White boy shut up, or Pokopokowo beat him plenty,&quot; growled the Indian.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If you dare beat me, Ted Strong will fix you when he gets you,&quot; said
+Dick hotly.</p>
+
+<p>But the Indian only laughed, and continued to beat poor Spraddle over
+the face, to the pain and anger of Dick, who, however, realized that he
+was absolutely helpless.</p>
+
+<p>But Pokopokowo was soon to be paid for his cruelty, and by poor Spraddle
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>Spraddle, stung by the blows, was stumbling along at a good pace over
+the bowlders that lay in his way, with the Indian urging him faster all
+the time.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there was a great heave. Spraddle went down, almost turning a
+somersault, as his tired feet struck a larger bowlder than he had
+encountered before.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian, who was dozing again, shot over his head as if from a
+catapult, and Dick went sprawling forward over the saddle onto the neck
+of the pony.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately, the pony righted itself in time to save Dick from a hard
+fall, and he stayed on Spraddle's back, talking to him gently.</p>
+
+<p>At the sound of Dick's voice the pony became quiet, and Dick half
+sprawled, half fell to the ground. The boy was in a pretty bad fix, for
+the Indian had tied his hands securely. He thought of ways by which he
+might cut the cord, but it seemed hopeless. He had heard somewhere of
+bound men releasing themselves by wearing their bonds asunder against
+the rough edge of a rock, and determined to try it for himself.</p>
+
+<p>If he could only get his hands free, he might escape yet. Backing up to
+the wall of the ca&ntilde;on, he felt with his hands for a rock, and soon knew
+that he was against one. As he sawed his hands back and forth, he was
+listening for some sound from the Indian, but heard none.</p>
+
+<p>Could it be that the fall had killed Pokopokowo?</p>
+
+<p>To his joy, he felt the cord part, and his hands were free. At that
+moment there came a flood of light into the defile, for the moon had
+risen overhead.</p>
+
+<p>Lying on the floor of the defile, lay the Indian, with a deep gash
+across his forehead, where it had struck a sharp rock. His ugly face was
+covered with blood, making it additionally hideous.</p>
+
+<p>By the side of the Indian lay Dick's precious rifle, and he stooped to
+pick it up. As he did so, something glistened beside it, and Dick picked
+it up.</p>
+
+<p>It was the little, round mirror that the Indian had worn around his
+neck. Dick pocketed it for proof of his adventure when he should again
+reach camp, and, picking up his rifle, climbed upon Spraddle's back,
+turned him around, and drove down the defile.</p>
+
+<p>When he reached the open valley it was as bright as day, and under his
+coaxing and kind words the tired little pony, relieved of the Indian's
+weight, picked up his feet and set forth at a brisk pace into the west,
+in which direction Dick knew the cow camp lay.</p>
+
+<p>It was almost daylight when Bill McCall, the cook, roused from his
+blankets to begin the preparations for breakfast. He leaped to his feet
+and listened.</p>
+
+<p>Not far away he heard the sound of the pony's footsteps approaching.
+Bill was an old cow-puncher, and he knew instantly that the pony was
+tired, and that he was under saddle, and also that the saddle was
+occupied.</p>
+
+<p>The footsteps came nearer, and just as they were close to the camp
+daylight came on with a rush, as it does on the plains, and Bill gave a
+great shout of joy which brought every puncher in camp scrambling out of
+his blankets, for there rode in a very tired little boy on a very tired
+little, pony.</p>
+
+<p>The boy was pale and tired from hunger and his long hours in the saddle,
+and it was all the pony could do to stagger in.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's little Dick,&quot; shouted Bud. &quot;Well, jumpin' sand hills, whar
+you-all been all night? Takin' a leetle pleasure pasear?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, Bud, I'm so tired and hungry,&quot; said Dick, as Bud lifted him from
+the saddle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here you, Bill, git busy in a hurry. This kid ain't hed nothin' ter eat
+in a week. He's 'most starved. Bile yer coffee double-quick, an' git up
+a mess o' bacon an' flapjacks pretty dern pronto, if yer don't want me
+ter git inter yer wool.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud was rubbing the cold and chafed wrists of the boy beside the fire,
+which one of the boys had replenished. The boys surrounded little Dick
+with many inquiries, but Bud shooed them away.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't yer answer a bloomin' question until yer gits yer system packed
+with cooky's best grub. I reckon, now, yer could eat erbout eighteen o'
+them twelve-inch flapjacks what Bill makes, an' drink somethin' like a
+gallon o' ther fust coffee what comes out o' ther pot.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Little Dick smiled, as he watched with glistening eyes the rapid
+movements of Bill McCall as he hustled over his fire, the air redolent
+with the odors of coffee and bacon and griddle cakes, so that his mouth
+fairly watered.</p>
+
+<p>When Bill shouted breakfast, Ted and Bud sat Dick down and loaded his
+plate with good things, which he caused to disappear in a hurry.</p>
+
+<p>But after a while he was stuffed like a Christmas turkey, and put his
+tin plate away with a sigh, and absolutely cleaned.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now,&quot; said Ted, when he saw this good sign, &quot;where have you been all
+day and all night? We've been scared about you. Thought we had lost you,
+too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick went ahead with his story from the very beginning, and told of the
+downfall of Pokopokowo, and his escape, and of his all-night ride into
+the west, to accidentally stumble, at daylight, into camp.</p>
+
+<p>The boys listened in amazement to this record of courage on the part of
+its youngest member, and some seemed to doubt the Indian part of it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sho, yer dreamin', kid,&quot; said Sol Flatbush, the cow-puncher. &quot;Thar
+ain't no Injuns like that in this yere part o' ther country. Why, an
+Injun wouldn't dare carry off a kid like that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You don't believe it, eh?&quot; exclaimed Dick hotly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I believe yer,&quot; said Bud soothingly, for the boy was very nervous from
+being up all night and his hard ride, which would have taxed the
+energies of a grown man. &quot;Don't yer mind what thet ole pelican says. He
+ain't got no more sense than a last year's bird's nest, nohow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The Indian had this around his neck,&quot; said Dick, &quot;and when he fell it
+came loose from his neck, and I picked it up, for I thought some one
+might think I wasn't telling the truth. Now, I'm tired, and I can't keep
+my eyes open.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>His head began to nod, and his eyes closed.</p>
+
+<p>Bud picked him up and carried him to a pair of blankets which had been
+spread on the shady side of Mrs. Graham's tent, and laid him down and
+left him dead to the world.</p>
+
+<p>Dick had placed the little, round looking-glass in Ted's hand.</p>
+
+<p>As he took it, Ted uttered an exclamation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove,&quot; he exclaimed, &quot;I believe this is the little glass Stella used
+to carry in her pocket. Why, what is this?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted was holding the little mirror up to the sky, apparently in an
+endeavor to look through it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is it?&quot; asked Bud, approaching the fire.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dick has brought back Stella's little pocket mirror,&quot; said Ted. &quot;I'd
+know it anywhere. But the back has been torn off it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tooken off ther neck o' an Injun?&quot; said Bud, dropping his usual jolly
+manner. &quot;I thought yer said thar wa'n't no bad Injuns eround yere, Sol
+Flatbush. What d'yer make o' that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Sol Flatbush got a little pale.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar ain't none,&quot; he said. &quot;All ther Injuns on the reservation is
+peaceable. They knows they couldn't do no monkey business with all them
+sojers at Fort Sill.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yet here's a kid run off with by an Injun, and he brings back a pocket
+mirror what belonged to Stella Fosdick. Sol Flatbush, ye've got ter give
+a better defense o' ther Injuns than that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What hev I got ter do with ther Injuns?&quot; asked Flatbush defiantly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Search me. But ye've made a wrong diagnosis, an' I don't like yer brand
+o' talk none. I think myself thet yer too friendly ter ther redskins.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What d'ye mean?&quot; cried Flatbush, springing to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I mean thet I don't trust yer none. I think ye're a skunk, an' I don't
+like ter see yer face eround this yere camp. How much do this outfit owe
+yer?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Three months' wage,&quot; answered the cow-puncher sourly.</p>
+
+<p>Bud went down into his leather pouch and extracted a roll of bills, and
+skinned off several.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar it is. Skidoo! An' don't try ter mingle with this outfit none
+hereafter. Thar'll be a new foreman o' ther night herd what ain't got so
+many friends in this yere locality.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What d'yer mean by that?&quot; Flatbush's hand sprang to his side.</p>
+
+<p>But Bud was quicker, and in the flash of an eye had the muzzle of his
+six-shooter under the nose of the night foreman, who shrank from it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I mean thet yer a crook, an' I'll give yer jest three minutes ter rope
+yer hoss an' git.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Flatbush turned and hurried to the remuda, caught and saddled his horse,
+and rode out of camp.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've had my eye on that maverick fer quite some time,&quot; said Bud,
+turning to the boys after he had watched Flatbush fade into the
+distance. &quot;I've suspected him o' turnin' off our cattle every night. I
+haven't caught him at it, or thar wouldn't've been no necessity o'
+chasin' him out. He'd've gone feet foremost.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you think of it, Bud?&quot; asked Ted, handing the little mirror
+over to the golden-haired puncher.</p>
+
+<p>Bud took it in his hand, and looked at it a long time.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It shore is Stella's,&quot; he said. &quot;I reckernize it by this leetle dent on
+ther side o' it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He was holding it in the palm of his hand, looking down at it intently.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, what's this?&quot; Bud held the mirror against the sleeve of his blue
+shirt.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pipin' pelicans,&quot; he muttered, &quot;if thar ain't some kind o' a pitcher on
+it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted went to his side and looked at the mirror.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I believe you're right,&quot; he said. &quot;Let me look at it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you make of it?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>All the boys crowded around, watching Ted eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is evidently intended for the picture of a stone wall,&quot; said Ted,
+&quot;and that wavy line behind it is meant for mountains.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's that?&quot; asked Bud, pointing to the picture.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I guess it is meant for a hole in the stone wall,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wow!&quot; said Bud. &quot;That's as easy as livin' on a farm. Don't yer see? It
+is a message from the Hole in the Wall.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove, you're right. The Hole in the Wall in the Wichita Mountains.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is that right below it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It looks like a star. It is a star.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is Stella's signature,&quot; said Ben. &quot;Stella is the Latin for star.
+Don't you see, she has sent this message out from the Hole in the Wall,
+where she is a prisoner? It's as plain as day to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're right,&quot; shouted Ted. &quot;Into your saddles, boys; we're off to the
+Hole in the Wall at once.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXV'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXV.</h2>
+
+<h3>&quot;HOLE IN THE WALL.&quot;</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;Kit, you will stay and take care of the herd,&quot; said Ted, just before
+the boys galloped off.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, but I'd mighty well like to go with you,&quot; said Kit, who,
+although he was eager to be in the fight that he knew would come off if
+Ted found that Shan Rhue had anything to do with the abduction of
+Stella, was not one to get disgruntled.</p>
+
+<p>Ted would have been well pleased to have Kit with him, but Kit's arm was
+not yet well enough to risk in a possible rough-and-tumble adventure.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Ted,&quot; Kit called after the leader of the broncho boys.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What?&quot; asked Ted, riding back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't you think you better take Stella's pony, Magpie, along with you?
+She'll have to have something to ride coming back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He did not say &quot;if you find her,&quot; for he knew that if she was anywhere
+in the Wichita Mountains Ted would find her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Glad you spoke of it,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>It did not take long to rope the magpie pony and throw Stella's saddle
+on it.</p>
+
+<p>Now they were off into the northeast, where the Wichita Mountains lay.
+None of them knew just where the Hole in the Wall was, but Ted felt
+confident of finding it if there was such a place.</p>
+
+<p>They rode so hard, only stopping at noon to water the ponies, that early
+in the afternoon they entered the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>As they were going up the valley they saw the flying figure of a man on
+horseback coming toward them.</p>
+
+<p>As he approached, they saw that he was a cavalryman.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, what's up?&quot; said Bud. &quot;I never see a sojer goin' so fast, except
+there was somethin' doin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes later the soldier rode up to them.</p>
+
+<p>He proved to be a sergeant of cavalry.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where are you going?&quot; he asked, pulling his horse to its haunches.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's that ter you?&quot; asked Bud jovially.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Just this: The Indians are threatening to rise, perhaps to-night,
+perhaps not until to-morrow. But when they do, this will be no place for
+white men.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where is the place called the Hole in the Wall?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you want to go there, or do you want to avoid it?&quot; asked the
+sergeant.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We want to go there as soon as we can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'd advise you to keep away until the troops get there and clean things
+up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is where the dissatisfied Indians are camped. I do not know it
+officially, but I understand that Flatnose and Moonface, the two chiefs,
+are there now, and that the orders from Washington are to send us in to
+drive them out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When is this to take place?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The Indians have made no open declaration of war as yet, but it is
+looked for at any time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How will it be announced?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By the signal fires on the hills. A detachment of our men picked up
+early this morning a wounded Indian, named Pokopokowo. He was wounded,
+and was taken to the post surgeon to be cared for. He has just confessed
+that it is the intention of the Indians to rise and kill all the white
+settlers they can lay their hands on. I am on my way to send out the
+alarm.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you say the Indians are camped at the Hole in the Wall?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, the detachment sent out early this morning were on a scouting
+expedition when they picked up Pokopokowo.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where is this Hole in the Wall, and how do you get there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are bound to go there? I would advise you not to.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We must go. A young lady belonging to our party has been captured and
+taken there. We did not know there were any Indians there, but only
+white outlaws.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is different. I suppose you must go. But why don't you wait and go
+in with the troops? The Hole in the Wall is the rendezvous for all the
+white outlaws in this part of the country, and they are believed to be
+in league with the Indians, and will use the uprising of the Indians as
+a cover under which to run off all the stock in the country.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is no use of our waiting for the troops when the young lady is in
+there, we don't know under what indignities. The troops put off
+attacking the Indians as long as they can for the sake of policy. We are
+all deputy United States marshals, and we get quicker action. Tell us
+where the Hole in the Wall is, and we will go in and get our own. The
+troops can do what they please later.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Weil, pardner, you talk straight, and you feel about the young lady as
+I would if she was a friend of mine. But they are a bad bunch in there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I appreciate your warning, but it will not stop us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right; go ahead, and good luck to you. About a mile farther on you
+will come to a narrow defile leading to the north, cutting the range.
+That leads into a broad valley, at the west end of which is the place
+called the Hole in the Wall. It is practically impregnable. It is
+entered by a narrow passage which one man could hold against an army.
+It can be approached at night by riding down the valley, dismounting,
+and crawling over the mountain until you are above the Hole in the Wall,
+when every man can be wiped out by a few rifles.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thanks, sergeant. We will take to the hills.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>With mutual good wishes, they parted, and the boys were soon riding in
+single file up the defile.</p>
+
+<p>In the valley they secreted themselves and their horses, while Ted and
+Bud went forward to reconnoiter. It was rapidly growing dark in the
+mountains as Ted and Bud crawled along the mountain paths toward the end
+of the valley.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Ted placed his hand on Bud's arm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Some one right ahead of us,&quot; he whispered.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sentinel, I reckon,&quot; answered Bud.</p>
+
+<p>Ted nodded: &quot;You stay here. I'm going forward. I'll be back soon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted glided away into the gloom. Presently Bud heard a muffled cry. Then
+all was still again.</p>
+
+<p>He waited a few minutes, and was about to go forward, when he heard a
+slight rustle beside him, and there stood Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was a guard,&quot; he said. &quot;I jumped him, and gagged him, but he gave me
+a pretty good fight. I've rolled him away where his pals won't find him.
+I guess we can go on now, but we must go slowly and quietly. I don't
+know how many more of them are about.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Get a line on where the hole is?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, we're on the right track. It is ahead of us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>On they went, and, having proceeded about half a mile, they suddenly
+became aware of the neighing of horses and the voices of men, which
+seemed to come from beneath them, and it was not long before they saw a
+glare of light against the rocks not far ahead.</p>
+
+<p>They went more cautiously now, crawling forward on their hands and
+knees. Ted, in advance, soon threw up his hand and lay flat on the
+rocks, and Bud crawled to his side.</p>
+
+<p>They found themselves looking down into a circular little valley, in
+reality a hole in the wall of the mountain.</p>
+
+<p>Several camp fires were burning here and there, and about fifty Indians
+and white men were lounging about.</p>
+
+<p>Near the rear wall was a small tent, before which sat a fat old squaw.</p>
+
+<p>As Ted was looking, the flap of the tent was pushed aside, and Ted
+clutched Bud's arm, for Stella had come forth, and stood looking up at
+the sky.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove, if we could only attract her attention,&quot; muttered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It would help her a lot if she knew we were so close to her,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>The glare from the fires flaring upward fell full upon their faces, and
+they knew that if she looked in their direction she would not fail to
+see them.</p>
+
+<p>They saw her cast her eyes all around the sky, and in their direction.
+Ted dared not make a noise, but he nodded his head several times so that
+she would know who it was, should she chance to see him.</p>
+
+<p>Evidently she did not, for she turned away, and again her eyes swung
+around in the circle with her back to them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've a mind to throw somethin' down at her, and attract her attention
+ter us,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And have every one of those cutthroats get on to us. Don't you do it,&quot;
+said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment Stella looked up again, and this time they saw her start,
+then stare fixedly at them. Ted nodded his head again, and this time she
+made a gesture that told them that she had seen them, and knew that they
+were there.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Duck yer head quick,&quot; said Bud, rapidly getting out of sight himself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the matter?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I saw Shan Rhue walking toward Stella.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But she saw us, just before she ducked into her tent. Now it's up to us
+to get her out of there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet. But it will be a big job to get in there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've got a plan that ought to work out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You go back and get the boys. Put Ben and Clay down in the valley to
+hold the entrance to the Hole in the Wall. Bring the rest up here.
+Hurry! I'll stay here on guard. If any man attempts to touch Stella,
+I'll pot him from here. Bring your lariat with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud hurried away as he was bid, and in the course of half an hour,
+during which Ted, looking over the edge of the Hole, saw the men
+preparing to retire for the night, he returned with seven of the boys.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, fellows,&quot; said Ted, &quot;I'm going down into the hole to send Stella
+up on the rope.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jeering jackals!&quot; exclaimed Bud. &quot;Don't you ever do that. It means sure
+death ter you, an' p'r'aps ter Stella, too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I don't think so. At any rate, I'm going to take a chance. It will
+be up to you fellows to keep the bunch down there busy while I'm at
+work. Three of you will stay on this side of the hole, and four on the
+other. If you do your firing right, you will keep those fellows jumping
+from side to side so fast that they won't have any time for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see yer scheme, but I wouldn't like ter undertake it myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did you bring the rope?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here it is,&quot; said Bud, unwinding it from around his waist.</p>
+
+<p>Ted took it from him while the boys distributed themselves in their
+firing positions as he had directed.</p>
+
+<p>Ted looped the rope under his arms. &quot;You'll lower me down, Bud,&quot; he
+said. &quot;Maybe I'll come up hand over hand if I can, and you will pull
+away when I give the rope two jerks.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He took another look over the edge. All the men were rolled up in their
+blankets asleep, except an old Indian who sat crouched over the fire.</p>
+
+<p>Ted carefully lowered himself over the edge for the descent.</p>
+
+<p>Down he went slowly and quietly, and soon his feet touched the ground
+just back of Stella's tent.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hiss-t!&quot; He gave a low, sibilant warning of his presence, and in a
+moment the corner of the tent moved aside, and he saw Stella's bright
+eyes looking into his. He motioned her to come out, and the flap was
+gently lowered again.</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments, which seemed hours, the flap was raised again, and
+Stella crawled forth.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, Ted,&quot; she whispered, pressing his hand. He held up a warning finger
+as he rapidly tied the rope beneath her arms.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bud will pull you up. Good luck,&quot; he whispered.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you going to stay down here?&quot; she whispered back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I must. Hurry!&quot; He gave the rope two jerks, and it at once began
+to tighten, and Stella's feet left the ground as she slowly ascended
+skyward.</p>
+
+<p>Ted, concealed against the wall back of the tent, saw her go up and up.
+She was more than halfway to the top when an old Indian woman crawled
+out of the tent, and, casting her eyes aloft, saw Stella.</p>
+
+<p>A sudden scream rang through the hole. It was the Indian's warning. The
+rope began to go faster, and before the sleepy men in the hole had been
+able to sit up and rub their eyes, Ted saw Stella reach the top and
+disappear over its edge.</p>
+
+<p>But the old Indian woman had run among the men crying out something in
+her native tongue. Evidently she was telling of the escape of Stella,
+for in an instant all sleep vanished and the place was full of men
+running about or staring up at the edge of the wall over which Stella
+had gone.</p>
+
+<p>Then Shan Rhue came forth, swearing horribly. He caught the old squaw by
+the arm and threw her down.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So you let the white squaw go, did you?&quot; he asked. &quot;And how much was
+you paid for it?&quot; But the poor old wretch only shrank closer to the
+ground and moaned her protests that she had nothing to do with the
+escape of the white squaw.</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue strode toward the tent, behind which Ted was crouching with
+his hand on his revolver.</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue threw open the front of the tent and looked within. Then he
+straightened up, and caught a glimpse of Ted, whom he did not at first
+recognize in the gloom.</p>
+
+<p>He reached in his powerful right arm to pull the intruder out, and
+looked into the muzzle of Ted's six-shooter, behind which he now saw
+Ted's smiling face.</p>
+
+<p>At that he straightened up with a loud laugh that filled the Hole in the
+Wall and reverberated from side to side.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, of all the luck,&quot; he shouted. &quot;This has worked out just as I
+expected. I knew that if I got ther gal in yere that you'd be after her,
+an' here you are. Well, my bucko, you remember what I said about getting
+even with you. Now is the time. You've come to the end.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I don't know,&quot; said Ted coolly. &quot;I'm a long ways from a dead one
+yet. Be careful what you do. This six-shooter of mine is mighty
+sensitive on the trigger.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He heard a soft, swishing noise behind him, and knew that Bud was
+lowering the rope again. As he thrust his gun forward into the face of
+Shan Rhue, the bully backed away a few feet.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the rope swung down in front of his face, and, hastily
+putting his revolver into his pocket, Ted grasped it and went sailing up
+into the air hand over hand, assisted by Bud and Carl, who were pulling
+on the rope for all they were worth.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXVI'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ALTERED BRAND.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>As Ted went up into the air, Shan Rhue shouted a command, and the white
+men in the Hole in the Wall ran to him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That boy must not get to the top,&quot; he shouted. &quot;I want him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What will we do?&quot; asked one of them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here, Sol Flatbush, you are the best shot of us all. See if you can't
+bring him down. But don't shoot him. I need him for other things. Shoot
+the rope in two.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This was easier said than done, for the rope was so high that it was
+almost out of the light cast by the fires.</p>
+
+<p>Flatbush was, indeed, a splendid shot, and he fired twice at the rope
+with his revolver, but missed each time on account of the uncertain
+light and the swaying motion of the rope.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Give me my rifle,&quot; he called, and one of the men fetched it for him.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was within fifteen feet of the top when Flatbush, leaning against
+the opposite wall, took deliberate aim and fired.</p>
+
+<p>At the second shot Ted, who was aware that some one was trying to cut
+the rope, felt it vibrate suddenly beneath his hand.</p>
+
+<p>Before the last thread was severed he reached up and began to climb,
+hand over hand. In a few seconds he was at the top, and the boys were
+helping him over the edge.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment or two he could say nothing; he could only listen to the
+yells of rage and disappointment below. Now he was surrounded by his
+friends, and Stella was free. Away on a mountain peak a light flared
+up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What does that mean?&quot; asked Stella, pointing to it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is the signal that the Indians have gone on the warpath,&quot; said Ted.
+&quot;The sergeant was right. It is up to us now to do stunts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In what way?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We must keep those Indians and renegades confined in the Hole in the
+Wall. If we can keep them there until the arrival of the troops we can
+end the uprising without shedding a drop of blood. See, there is another
+fire!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted pointed to a blaze upon another peak, and this was followed by
+others until there was a ring of fires on the crests of the mountains
+for miles around.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is up to us to do a good thing here,&quot; he said. &quot;Bud, take two or
+three of the boys and go to Ben's assistance. Hold the mouth to the
+entrance to the hole at all hazards. From what the sergeant said I have
+no doubt but the troops will be here at least by daylight. We will keep
+them busy down there from this place.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud hurried away with two of the boys, and Ted and the others composed
+themselves to await developments. In the meantime, Stella told Ted the
+details of her capture. Since she had been a prisoner she had been well
+treated, so far as most of the men were concerned, although Shan Rhue
+had insisted on seeing her every day, and had told her that he was going
+to take her away to the North and make her marry him. She had defied
+him, and had scorned him so scathingly that he had put many petty
+persecutions on her, and had deprived her of her liberty for revenge.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How did you happen to find me?&quot; asked Stella, after she told all that
+had happened to her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Little Dick was captured by an Indian, and while he was being brought
+here the pony Spraddle stumbled and threw him. A small looking-glass
+which was slung around his neck fell off, and Dick picked it up and
+brought it to camp.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The Indian was Pokopokowo,&quot; said Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was his name.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tried in every way to get a message out to you, but it seemed
+impossible. Then I hit upon the mirror, ripped the back off it, and made
+my cryptogram on it with a pin. I let Pokopokowo see it, and when he saw
+that there was a picture on it, and I told him it was good medicine, he
+wanted it. Of course, I let him take it, hoping that it would be taken
+outside, and that you would chance to see it, and so learn where I was.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was a very clever idea, and I doubt but for the mirror we should
+have been able to get here in time. It was little Dick who saved you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, little Dick and big Ted. Ted, you are wonderful!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Below, in the hole, there were signs of activity. Men were rushing here
+and there, saddling horses, packing mules, filling their cartridge
+belts, and getting ready for some sort of action.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They have seen the war fires on the hills,&quot; said Ted, &quot;and are getting
+ready for their raid upon the settlers. Evidently they do not know that
+the gate to the outside is guarded, and they think that we are gone,
+having succeeded in getting you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Having finished their preparations for departure, an old Indian rode
+forth on a pony decorated with eagle feathers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is old Flatnose, the head chief,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Flatnose was painted for war, and as he rode toward the passage from the
+Hole in the Wall he swung his rifle above his head and shouted a
+guttural command, at which a war whoop, shrill and terrifying, went up
+from the Indians, followed by a hoarse shout from the white renegades.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, we'll see some fun,&quot; whispered Ted to Stella, who was lying on the
+crest of the hole beside him, watching the proceedings below. &quot;I guess
+Bud has got there by this time, and is ready to protect the opening out
+to the valley.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Only a few minutes had passed before there came to their ears a volley
+of rifle shots, followed by yells of fear, and the whites and Indians
+came rushing back into the hole, scrambling and falling over one another
+in confusion.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I thought so,&quot; chuckled Ted. &quot;They are trapped and they know it. They
+can defend the hole against all comers by that passage, but it didn't
+seem to occur to them that they might be made prisoners by the same
+means.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The inmates of the hole were in the confusion of terror, but at last
+Flatnose and his son, Moonface, succeeded in pacifying them, and a
+consultation was under way.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where is Shan Rhue?&quot; asked Stella. &quot;I haven't seen him for some time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's so,&quot; answered Ted. &quot;I don't see him.&quot; He scanned the hole
+carefully, but Shan Rhue was not there.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is there any secret passage by which he might escape?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you see that little shelter of canvas over against the wall?&quot; said
+Stella.</p>
+
+<p>Ted nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I believe there is a way out there known only to Shan Rhue. That is
+where he slept,&quot; she continued.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then he has escaped by it. Sol Flatbush is not in evidence, either.
+I'll bet a cooky they've skipped.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was getting light in the east, and the Indians rode once more into
+the passage, firing their rifles. Then they charged.</p>
+
+<p>But soon they came rushing back; the boys at the entrance had again
+repulsed them.</p>
+
+<p>From far away came the soft but clear call of a bugle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The troops!&quot; cried Ted, springing to his feet. &quot;The cavalry is coming
+from Fort Sill. This thing will soon be over now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He and Stella went to the edge of the cliff overlooking the valley, and
+far away saw a dark mass, in the midst of which they caught the flash of
+the rising sun on polished swords and carbines, and a gleam of color
+from the flag that fluttered in the fresh morning breeze.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians in the hole had heard the bugle also, and now there was
+confusion indescribable. On came the troops, and Ted and Stella went
+down to meet them.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Hendry was in command, and it did not take him long to get in
+possession of the facts.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So you've got them bottled up, eh?&quot; he said to Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes; all you have to do is to make them surrender,&quot; answered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Which I don't think will be such an easy thing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't think you'll have any trouble about it. Come with me, and bring
+a firing squad of your men.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain gave the order, and followed Ted to where he could look down
+into the hole.</p>
+
+<p>Then the captain laughed. &quot;You have done better than I expected,&quot; he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>Raising his voice, Captain Hendry shouted:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Flatnose, you know me. This is Captain Hendry. I have got you in that
+hole like a rat in a trap. If you are wise, you will throw down your
+arms and surrender. I have my men here with me, and if you do not
+surrender, we will have to shoot you to death one by one. Will you
+surrender?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The old chief looked up and saw the captain leaning over the edge above.
+For several minutes he stared upward, then he threw his rifle to the
+ground and gave a hoarse command, and his followers threw their arms
+upon that of their leader.</p>
+
+<p>One of the troopers ran down into the valley with a command, while those
+above lay flat on the edge with their carbines in a ring pointed at the
+throng below.</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes the bugle sounded again, and the troops were seen
+marching into the hole. The war was at an end without a fatal shot
+having been fired.</p>
+
+<p>As Captain Hendry marched away with his prisoners, he thanked Ted for
+the great service which he had done the government by holding the
+Indians and renegades until the arrival of the troops.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, that's over,&quot; said Ted, as the last of them faded out of sight at
+the end of the valley. &quot;But <i>our</i> work is just begun. We've got to find
+those five hundred head of stolen Circle S cattle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I suggest that we take a look behind that shelter of Shan Rhue's, and
+see if there is a passage leading from it,&quot; said Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good idea,&quot; said Ted, and they climbed down into the valley and entered
+the Hole in the Wall, where the other boys were waiting for them.</p>
+
+<p>Ted went at once to the shelter, which was only a piece of canvas which
+had been at one time a wagon cover, and tore it away.</p>
+
+<p>There was revealed a hole in the rock wall, and beside it a small mound
+of earth.</p>
+
+<p>Evidently the hole had been known to the white desperadoes who had used
+the hole as a hiding place for many years, and that it had been their
+habit to conceal it by means of a stopper of earth. This Shan and Sol
+had removed, and had made their escape while the Indians and renegades
+were preparing for their raid on the settlements.</p>
+
+<p>Ted at once showed it to the other boys, and it was decided to follow
+the passage and find out what was at the other end.</p>
+
+<p>The hole was so small that Ted was compelled to enter it on his hands
+and knees. Bud followed him, and then came Stella. Ben remained with
+Carl to guard the entrance in case any of the white renegades should
+return.</p>
+
+<p>A short distance in, the passage, or tunnel, became larger, and soon
+opened out into a natural cave, so that they were able to assume an
+upright position.</p>
+
+<p>Ted lighted his pocket electric searchlight and led the way. They walked
+for some distance when they saw a gleam of light ahead, and a few
+minutes later walked out of the cave into another valley, larger than
+that which they had just left.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great Scott! Look at that,&quot; said Ted, pointing to where a large herd of
+cattle was grazing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What?&quot; asked Stella, who could see nothing unusual in a bunch of cattle
+grazing in the valley.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I believe they're ours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted strode toward the cattle, which seemed to become uneasy at seeing a
+man on foot, which range cattle will not tolerate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't go any closer, Ted,&quot; said Stella. &quot;Wait until Bud goes back after
+the horses.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I just want to get a glimpse of the brand. By Jove, here's our lost
+Circle S brand, I believe. But look at it. It has been altered.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See those two perpendicular lines drawn through the S, making the brand
+Circle Dollar-mark. That's a most ingenious thing. It has been done with
+a running iron. The fellow who stole our cattle has just changed it by
+running a curved hot iron through the S.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer shore right,&quot; said Bud. &quot;That Circle Dollar brand hez been
+registered somewhere. It's up to us ter find out who registered it, an'
+we've got ther thief. I'll skip out fer ther hosses an' ther boys. I
+reckon we kin git in here by ridin' across ther backbone o' ther hills.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, get back as soon as you can, and we'll wait for you in the
+cave.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud and the boys were back within half an hour, having found a pass into
+the valley through the hills which inclosed it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's as plain as the face of the sun to me,&quot; said Ted, when they were
+mounted and were riding toward the cattle. &quot;Shan Rhue would have had
+those cattle over the border in a day or two, had he not been so unwise
+as to have abducted Stella. It's up to us now to get that bunch back to
+the herd.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It did not take the boys long to get the bunch together, and Ted and
+Stella rode out to the front of it to point it down the valley, while
+the other boys started back to the rear to drive up.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly they heard yells in the rear, accompanied by pistol shots and
+the cracking of quirts. In an instant the herd was up with distended
+eyeballs and lifted tails. The poison of fear was in them.</p>
+
+<p>Looking back, Ted saw several men riding toward the herd at a terrific
+pace. At the head of the band rode Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush.</p>
+
+<p>Then a remarkable thing happened: Every man of them produced a red
+blanket. They dashed among the cattle waving the blankets in the faces
+of the now terrified cattle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look out for trouble,&quot; shouted Ted, for he saw at once the intention of
+Shan Rhue. It was to stampede the herd.</p>
+
+<p>The effort was immediately successful, for the terrified animals, with
+a deafening roar that expressed abject fear, started forward on a
+gallop, with a front as resistless as the prow of a battleship.</p>
+
+<p>Stella was on the side of the herd opposite Ted.</p>
+
+<p>She heard his warning cry, and then looked back at the herd. If she
+stayed where she was, there was no escape from death, for by her side
+was the sheer wall of the valley. There was only one way to safety, to
+ride across to the side of Ted.</p>
+
+<p>She gave one look, then started.</p>
+
+<p>Stella rode quartering the path of the stampede, and would have made it
+in safety had it not been for a prairie-dog hole, into which her pony's
+foot went. Magpie went down. The thundering host of frantic cattle was
+upon her when she felt herself caught in mid-air.</p>
+
+<p>The thought of death was still ringing in her head, and everything swam
+before her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're all right! Stick close!&quot; It was the reassuring voice of Ted,
+who, at the imminent risk of his own life, had ridden out and plucked
+her from the jaws of death.</p>
+
+<p>Behind them, as Sultan, straining every nerve and muscle to carry them
+to safety, galloped ahead of the cattle, the boys rode into the ruck,
+beating the brutes with their quirts in an endeavor to stop them.</p>
+
+<p>But they went a mile before they began to slow down, and Ted was able to
+deflect the course of Sultan, who was beginning to tire from the double
+burden and the terrific pace.</p>
+
+<p>But at last the steers calmed down, and permitted themselves to be
+driven quietly to where the rest of the herd were grazing.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Ted had restored the stolen cattle, he and Bud started back
+into the valley in search of Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush, but, although
+they searched everywhere, the renegades could not be found.</p>
+
+<p>In the cave through which they had come from the Hole in the Wall they
+found a running branding iron, and fastened to the wall the following
+notice:</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;To TED STRONG AND OTHERS: You win this time, but there will be
+     others, and I am a lucky man in the end. You can't beat me.</p>
+
+<p>     &quot;S.&nbsp;R.&quot;</p></div>
+
+<p>Later they discovered that Shan Rhue had recently registered in Colorado
+the Circle Dollar brand, and evidently it was his purpose to steal
+nearly all of the Circle S herd.</p>
+
+<p>But although he escaped with his lieutenant, Sol Flatbush, the men of
+his band, who had been captured by the soldiers, were convicted and sent
+to prison for long terms, after they had confessed that Shan Rhue's
+organization had made a business of rustling cattle all through the
+Southwest for many years.</p>
+
+<p>Ted received several letters from the authorities in Washington
+commending his services in averting an uprising of the Indians, and the
+capture of the white renegades, but while this was gratifying, he felt
+disappointed that Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush were not in prison, also.
+However, Ted believed in the motto, &quot;I bide my time,&quot; and he felt in his
+bones that some time in the future his path and that of the bully, Shan
+Rhue, would cross again.</p>
+<br />
+
+<center>THE END.</center>
+
+<br />
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>No. 42 of the WESTERN STORY LIBRARY, by Edward C. Taylor, is
+     entitled &quot;Ted Strong in Montana.&quot;</p></div>
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13717 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
+
+
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+
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+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #13717 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13717)
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Ted Strong's Motor Car, by Edward C. Taylor
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Ted Strong's Motor Car
+
+Author: Edward C. Taylor
+
+Release Date: October 11, 2004 [EBook #13717]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TED STRONG'S MOTOR CAR ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven desJardins and PG Distributed Proofreaders.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: cover of The Western Story Library No. 41, Ted Strong's
+Motor Car, by Edward C. Taylor]
+
+Ted Strong's Motor Car
+
+OR, FAST AND FURIOUS
+
+
+By EDWARD C. TAYLOR
+Author of the Ted Strong Stories
+
+1915
+
+
+
+
+Ted Strong's Motor Car
+
+CHAPTER 1.
+
+TALKING ABOUT SMART HOGS!
+
+
+Carl Schwartz burst into the living room of the Moon Valley Ranch house
+with fire in his eye and pathos in his voice:
+
+"As sheur as I standing here am, dot schwein I'm going to kill!"'
+
+"I'll jest bet yer a million dollars ter a piece o' custard pie yer
+don't," said Bud Morgan, rising from the lounge where he had been
+resting after a strenuous day in the big pasture.
+
+"I'll pet you," shouted Carl. "Der pig pelongs mit me der same as you."
+
+"Go ahead, then," said Bud, lying down again. "But I want ter tell yer
+this, and take it from me, it's ez straight ez an Injun's hair, yer kin
+kill yer own part o' thet hawg if yer want ter, but if my part dies I'll
+wallop yer plenty. I've spent too much time teachin' thet pig tricks ter
+lose it now."
+
+"Vich part der pig you own, anyvay?"
+
+"Ther best part; ther head."
+
+"Den I dake der tail. By Chiminy, I get skvare yet so soon. I cut der
+tail off, und dot vill make der pig not able to valk straight ven he
+can't der tail curl in der opposite direction. Den ve see how mooch der
+tricks he done. Vat?"
+
+"I'll hev ther law on yer if yer interfere with thet pig."
+
+"What's the matter with you two fellows?" asked Ted Strong, the leader
+of the broncho boys, who was writing some letters at the big oak table
+in the center of the room.
+
+"Der pig, he moost die," cried Carl tragically.
+
+"Why, what has 'Oof' done now?"
+
+"He has ate all mein gabbages," answered Carl, with almost a sob.
+
+"Well, s'posin' he hez," said Bud. "What in thunder is cabbages fer, if
+they ain't ter be et by pigs?"
+
+"Yes, you, but not fer dose kind of pig. Maybe you might eat dem und it
+vould be all right, but not der pig mit four feet."
+
+Carl had a small garden back of the ranch house, in which he had been
+raising cabbages, devoting all his spare time to them and good-naturedly
+taking the joshing the boys gave him. They were of the opinion that a
+cow-puncher was degrading himself by working in a garden.
+
+"Jumpin' sand hills, he'll be takin' up knittin' when winter comes on,
+an' makin' of his own socks," said Bud, in disgust.
+
+"No, he's going in for tatting," said Ben Tremont. "He's going to make a
+lot of doilies for the chairs so we won't soil the satin upholstery with
+our oily hair."
+
+As all the chairs in the living room were very plain, made of solid oak,
+with bullhide seats and backs, this remark was received with laughter.
+
+"Go aheadt!" said Carl. "Ven you ain'dt drough, let me know. I know your
+own bizziness. Ven der vinter comes und I haf dot deliciousness
+sauerkraut, und am eating it, und ven your mouts vater so dot you
+slobber like a colt off der clover, den--ah, den, I gifs you der ha-ha,
+ain'dt it? Den you see who der knitting und der tatting do, eh?"
+
+Carl laughed at the thought of how the boys would miss the sauerkraut
+which he was going to make. But now "Oof," the pet pig of the
+establishment, had eaten them nearly all, and was standing in his sty
+too full even for the utterance of his usual lazy grunt. He looked like
+an animated keg of sauerkraut with four pegs at the corners for him to
+stand on, so full was he of Carl's cherished and esculent cabbages.
+
+"How in the world did he get into the cabbage patch?" asked Ted. "I
+thought you had made it pig tight."
+
+"So did I," answered Carl. "No pig but vun mit der teufel inside him
+vould haf got der fence over."
+
+"Got over ther fence!" snorted Bud. "Why, yer feeble-minded son of a
+downtrodden race, thet thar pig couldn't hev got over ther fence without
+a balloon. Thet fence is six feet high. A deer couldn't jump it."
+
+"I didn't saying so. He cannot yump, dot pig. He cannot moof, so full
+mit gabbages are he. No, he didn't yump, he yoost sving himself over mit
+dot fence."
+
+"Slush! Yer gittin' plumb dotty. No pig could swing hisself over thet
+fence."
+
+"But it's der only vay vat he could, und Song, der Chineser cook, saw
+him did it."
+
+"You don't believe what a Chinyman tells yer, do yer?"
+
+"What did Song say? How did the pig do it?" asked the boys, roused to
+interest in the squabble by this statement.
+
+"Vell, Song he say dot he vos looking der vinder ouid und he saw der pig
+take der end of dot long rope vot hangs down mit der roof of der hay
+house in his teeth, und he svings on it some. Song say he t'ought it vas
+some of Pud's foolishment he vas teaching dot pig, und didn't no more
+look at him for a leetle vile. Ven he looked again der pig vas svinging
+avay oop high by der rope. Den I coom along und see der pig in der
+gabbages, und I takes me a stick und vallops him goot ofer der hams,
+und drife him his pen into."
+
+"Shucks! Is that all ther story? That don't prove nothin'. Thet pig,
+Oof, is a animile of high intelligence. He wuz needin' exercise before
+dinner. He found a hole in ther fence, er maybe he tunneled one fer
+hisself, an' he wuz jest kinder doin' some gymnasium work ter git up a
+good appetite. Yer cain't make me believe a Chinyman, nohow."
+
+"I don't know," said Ben thoughtfully, "pigs are mighty smart. He might
+have swung himself over by the rope, and, if so, I think he was entitled
+to his dinner as a reward for his ingenuity."
+
+"I don't pay for no pig's inchenoomity mit my gabbages," said Carl
+hotly. "Vere I get more gabbages fer der sauerkraut, tell me dot?"
+
+"Yer don't git no sauerkraut, that's all," growled Bud. "But speakin'
+about pigs bein' smart, I jest reckon they aire."
+
+"There are three animals that people persist in calling stupid, when
+they are only strong-minded and more intelligent than the other
+animals," said Kit Summers, quietly breaking into the conversation.
+
+"What aire they?" asked Bud.
+
+"The pig, the mule, and the goose," answered Kit.
+
+"Come ter think o' it, yer right ez a book," said Bud, rising from the
+lounge and joining the other boys in front of the fireplace. "Why, I
+remember onct down on the Pecos--"
+
+Ben Tremont rose lazily and stretched himself.
+
+"Well, so long, boys," he said. "If I ain't back for supper don't wait
+for me."
+
+"Whar yer goin'?" asked Bud, with a black look from under his brows.
+
+"I've got some work to do this evening, and I don't want to be getting
+drowsy," answered Ben, with a wink at Kit.
+
+"Go then, yer varmint," said Bud savagely. "This yere incerdent what
+I'm goin' ter relate is fer intelligent persons only."
+
+"In that case I shall have to remain," said Ben, throwing his huge bulk
+into a chair, that creaked like a house in a high wind.
+
+"How about that Pecos story?" said Ted.
+
+"'Tis erbout pigs."
+
+"I didn't know there were any pigs down in that country," said Ted, with
+a sly smile.
+
+"Oh, yes, there aire. Some folks calls them peccaries, an' others
+alludes ter them ez wild hawgs. Yer pays yer money an' chooses what yer
+likes best."
+
+"Well, what about them?"
+
+"'Tain't noways what ye'd call much o' a story, but it 'lustrates ther
+intelligence o' ther hawg, which in my 'pinion ez almost ez great ez
+thet o' some collidge gradooates what I hev mixed with."
+
+Bud stopped and looked hard at Ben, who seemed to be taking a nap in his
+big chair.
+
+With a snort of disgust Bud turned his back on the big fellow and began:
+
+"Me an' 'Peep-o'-day' Thompson wuz ridin' herd on a bunch o' cattle
+belongin' ter ole man Bradish. All we hed ter do wuz ter keep 'em from
+driftin' too fur, which nat'rally left us much time fer meditation an'
+conversation.
+
+"But it wa'n't long before I'd told all my stories, an' Peep bed plumb
+fergot I'd tole them ter him, an' wuz tellin' them all over ter me,
+claimin' they'd happened ter him.
+
+"I stood it fer a spell because I didn't want ter make no friction
+betwixt him an' me, but it made me sore jest ther same, because ther
+derned lump allays got ther story balled up so's I hed trouble in
+reconnizin' it sometimes. An' he inveribly got ther p'int o' ther story
+hindside fore, which made me jest bile. But when yer on a long watch
+with a feller, an' got ter see him from sunup ter moonrise, it's better
+ter overlook a lot o' things.
+
+"Well, 's I wuz sayin', we wuz on this stunt, an' had been out all o'
+three month, takin' turns cookin' an' watchin' so's one o' us could git
+erway from ther other fer a spell, an' go off an' sit down an' tell
+hisself what a awful chump ther other wuz, an' how yer hated him.
+
+"We hed a chuck wagon with us filled with flour, salt sowbelly an'
+saleratus, with some coffee an' a few pounds o' fine terbaccer fer
+makin' cigareets. I ain't sayin' nothin' erginst sowbelly ez ther
+national food o' ther plains an' ther staff o' life in farmin'
+communities, but ez a steady diet it begins ter pall when taken day in
+an' day out with nothin' ter wash it down with but weak coffee made
+outer alkali water.
+
+"I reckon both me an' Peep wuz gittin' tired o' one another's cookin',
+if ther truth wuz knowed, fer Peep could make ther wust biscuit I ever
+et.
+
+"My biscuit jest suited me ter a ty-ty, an' I reckon Peep felt ther same
+way erbout hisn. Every time we set down ter vittles, if it wuz my week
+ter cook, Peep w'd begin ter talk o' ther fine cookin' his wife uster do
+before she run erway with er Sant' Fe conductor down ter Raton, Noo Mex.
+He'd tell me how she'd make beef stoo an' hot biscuit thet would melt in
+yer mouth. 'I don't like them kind,' sez I, one day. 'I like somethin' I
+kin chew on. What'd ther Lord give us teeth fer if grub is ter melt in
+ther mouth? No, sir; give me mine gristle an' hide. Ther tougher they be
+ther better I like 'em,' sez I.
+
+"'Is thet thar meant ez a reflection on my wife?' sez Peep, bristlin'
+up.
+
+"'I never met yer wife,' sez I, 'an' we'll let thet part o' it pass, fer
+ye knows me well enough thet I never make no remarks erbout wimminfolks
+what ain't smooth an' complimentary. But I stands on ther
+gristle-an'-hide propersition ontil I'm ready ter fight fer it.'
+
+"Yer see, I wuz gettin' some peevish erbout Peep. Ole man Bradish hed
+left us alone tergether too long. It ain't right fer two fellers ter
+camp side by each fer so long without a third party buttin' in ter break
+ther monotony.
+
+"'All right,' sez he, unlimberin' his six foot three o' len'th from ther
+ground. 'Thet,' sez he, real dignified, 'is either a challenge or a
+invitation ter fight.'
+
+"'It be,' sez I. 'Either way yer wanter take it.'
+
+"We both riz up.
+
+"'How d'yer want it?' sez he.
+
+"'Please yerself,' sez I. 'Any ole holt is my fav'rite.'
+
+"'Anythin' goes, then,' sez he, makin' a rush at me.
+
+"Jest then we hear a turrible noise, gruntin', squealin', an' sich. We
+both stopped an' looked eround, an' thar stood watchin' us a big band o'
+wild hawgs.
+
+"'Fresh meat!' we both hollers simultaneous. At this ther hawgs ups an'
+runs.
+
+"It wuz my day off, an' hostilities stopped right thar ez I runs an'
+gits my rifle an' leaps my cayuse an' takes after ther hawgs, Peep
+hollerin' after me ez friendly ez yer please.
+
+"I chased them hawgs a couple o' miles ter ther river bank, whar they
+hid in ther canebrake. I couldn't get ther cayuse ter go in after them,
+so I gits down an' breaks my way in tryin' ter git a shot at one o'
+them, my mouth waterin' fer fresh pork so's I wuz almost wadin' in it.
+
+"Purty soon I come in sight o' them. A ole boar wuz in charge o' them,
+an' he wuz a hard-lookin' citizen, I want ter tell yer. He hed tushes
+five inches long an' both o' 'em ez sharp ez razors. I took a shot at
+him, but his hide wuz so tough thet ther ball just glanced off him, an'
+he made a break fer me. I turned an' fled. Ther river wuz not fur erway,
+an' I knowed thet if I beat them hawgs ter it I wuz safe.
+
+"I jest did it, an' waded out ez fur ez I could an' started ter swim.
+'When I gits ter ther other side I'll take some long shots at yer,'
+thinks I, 'an' we'll hev hawg meat yit.'
+
+"I gits out inter ther middle o' ther stream when I hears a puffin' an'
+a gruntin' behind me. I looks over my shoulder an' here comes ther whole
+herd swimmin' right after me as--"
+
+"That settles it," said Ben, as he rose with a snort of disgust.
+
+"What's ther matter with yer?" asked Bud calmly.
+
+"Yer story is what I thought it would be--wild and woolly and full of
+cockleburs."
+
+"How is thet ag'in?"
+
+"It's rotten. Don't you know, as long as you have been on earth, that
+swine cannot swim without committing suicide?"
+
+"Go ahead. Will you kindly tell us fer why, perfessor?"
+
+"Certainly. The hoofs of pigs are so sharp, and their forelegs are set
+so far under their bodies, that when they attempt to swim their hoofs
+strike their fat throats, cutting them, and they die from loss of
+blood."
+
+"Thet's c'rect, my son. Every schoolboy knows thet thar p'int in nat'ral
+history."
+
+"Then why are you insulting our intelligence by stating that a herd of
+hogs followed you into the water and swam after you? Now don't spring
+any such flower of your fancy on us as to say that the hogs all killed
+themselves crossing and that you and Peep-o'-day had all the fresh meat
+you wanted during the rest of your stay on the Pecos, for we won't
+stand for it. I don't believe there is any such thing as a Pecos,
+anyway."
+
+Bud looked so crestfallen that the other boys felt sorry for him.
+
+"You think you're smart, don't you?" said Kit, taking Bud's finish out
+of his own mouth. "You big chump, it wasn't your story, anyhow."
+
+"Don't worry, Kit," said Bud, smiling confidently. "Ben's so
+intellectooal thet it hurts him ter pack his knowledge eround in thet
+pinhead o' hisn. But he didn't finish ther story none. I knows ez well
+ez him thet hawgs can't swim fer ther reasons he give. But these yere
+hawgs I am tellin' erbout wuz different."
+
+"How was that?"
+
+"Yer see, thet thar ole boar wuz ez smart ez a copperation lawyer. He'd
+fixed them hawgs ter swim. First they got thar hoofs all balled up with
+gumbo, er sticky clay, then they worked ther dry grass inter ther clay
+and mixed 'em good an' stiff, lettin' 'em dry in ther sun. This made a
+hard ball on their toes thet jest slipped off their throats when they
+struck."
+
+Ben slipped into his chair with a grunt.
+
+"O' course, I didn't know thet when I was swimmin'," continued Bud, 'an'
+I thinks I've run ercross a new web-footed breed o' hawgs. When we come
+ter ther other side I waited fer them ter land, then I turns an' swims
+back, ther hawgs follerin'. Back ercross I goes erg'in, an' ther pork
+keeps right on my trail.
+
+"Purty soon I see they ain't swimmin' so spry, an' I allow they're
+gittin' some tired. Ther last time over ter our side o' ther river they
+come slow, an' I picks out ther kind o' pork I likes best, an' ez they
+land I nails what I want an' slits thar throats, an' I hev my pork. But
+when ther rest o' them lands they's full o' fight ez ever, an' I takes
+ter ther water ag'in, but they won't foller me. This seems strange, an'
+I looks ter see what ther matter is.
+
+"Ther ole boar wuz mighty smart, but he'd overlooked one p'int. He'd
+fergot thet ther water would melt his balls o' clay, which it did, an'
+they couldn't swim no more. I jest stood hip high in the water with my
+Winchester an' popped erway at them until they got tired an' run off,
+leavin' me enough fresh pork ter start a packin' house."
+
+A hollow groan escaped from Ben.
+
+"What's the use?" he moaned. "You can't beat him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+BUD'S BAD BRONCHOS.
+
+
+It was time for the fall round-up, and Stella had written from her
+uncle's ranch, in New Mexico, that she and her aunt, Mrs. Graham, were
+coming North to do their winter shopping in Denver, and would visit the
+Moon Valley Ranch to take part in the round-up and the festivities which
+the boys always held at that time.
+
+Her letter did not say when she would be there, but the boys knew her
+well enough to expect her at any moment following the letter.
+
+Therefore they were not surprised to hear a clear, high imitation of the
+Moon Valley yell one morning while they were all sitting at the
+breakfast table.
+
+They did not need to be told that Stella Fosdick had come, and without
+ado they sprang from the table, overturning chairs in their haste to get
+out of the house to greet her and her aunt.
+
+"Hello, boys!" she called from the carriage, in which she and Mrs.
+Graham had driven over from Soldier Butte. "You're a gallant lot of
+young fellows not to meet us at the station, particularly when I wrote
+you that I was coming this morning. I'm real mad." But her smiling face
+belied the statement.
+
+"You didn't say when you were coming," said big Ben, who was the first
+to reach the carriage step and was helping Mrs. Graham to descend. "If
+we had taken your general statement that you were coming, to meet you at
+the station we would have camped right there forever. Never can tell
+about your movements, young lady."
+
+"But I did write that I was coming this morning, and to meet us and
+take breakfast with us in the Butte."
+
+"We didn't get that letter. When did you write?"
+
+"Last night."
+
+"That's good. Always take time by the fetlock. We'll get that letter
+some time to-morrow. Why didn't you wait and write us to meet you after
+you got here?"
+
+"Saucy as ever, Ben. But we're positively starved. Hello, Song!" she
+called to the Chinese cook, who was standing on the veranda grinning
+like a heathen idol, "got anything good to eat?"
+
+"Yes, missee, plenty good glub. Mebbeso you likee some fried ham and
+eggs?" said Song, shaking hands with himself and bowing low.
+
+"Ham and eggs! No! Positively, no! I'll be turning into a ham and egg if
+I get any more of it. That's all the cook at the ranch knows how to do.
+Anything else?"
+
+"Yes, missee. Plenty paltlidge, what Misto Ted shootee lesterday. I
+cookee you some plenty quick."
+
+"All right, Song, cook us some partridges."
+
+The boys stood around in a group of admiring servitors waiting to carry
+Stella's hand bag and gun and saddle and other things with which she was
+burdened.
+
+Suddenly she looked toward the porch.
+
+"Who's that?" she asked breathlessly, pointing to a little girl who
+stood shyly beside a post looking on.
+
+"Why, that's Lilian," said Ted. "I didn't know you were up yet," he
+called to the little girl. "Come here, dear, and see Stella. You haven't
+forgotten Stella, have you?"
+
+"If it isn't Lilian!" cried Stella, rushing toward the child with
+wide-open arms and folding her within them.
+
+"I wouldn't have known you, honey," said Stella. "What have you boys
+been doing to her? She's improved so much. Where did you get all these
+clothes, and who takes care of her?"
+
+"Isn't she a little beauty?" asked Ted Strong proudly, patting the head
+of the blushing little girl.
+
+"But how did you do it?" persisted Stella.
+
+"Oh, I went over and saw Mrs. Bingham, the major's wife, at the fort,
+and asked her to come and advise us what to do. She came and was
+delighted with Lilian, and promised to oversee her wardrobe. She was
+going down to Omaha, and when she returned she had a trunk full of
+things for Lil. She also brought a colored woman to look after her, and
+Mirandy has proved a blessing and a treasure."
+
+"But the clothes didn't make themselves."
+
+"No, and none of us made them, either, although Bud said he could sew,
+and insisted upon trying. He cut up several yards of cloth, and at the
+end of the week, when we saw the product of his needle, he narrowly
+escaped lynching. If Lilian had not interceded for Uncle Bud, of whom
+she is very fond, I'm afraid we'd have no little Buddy now. No, we sent
+down to Omaha for a dressmaker and boarded her in town until she had Lil
+all fixed up, as becomes the heiress of the La Garita Mines."
+
+"Whose idea is this way of making the things?" demanded Stella, who was
+looking Lilian over with critical eyes.
+
+"Oh, we all had a finger in it. I sent away for a lot of fashion
+magazines and things of that sort, and we sat up nights as a board of
+strategy and picked out the sort of thing we wanted, and I reckon there
+isn't a better-dressed kid in the State."
+
+"I agree with you. Well, Ted Strong, you're a constant wonder to me.
+Where in the world did you learn to do all the things you do so well?"
+
+"The honeyed flatterer. Quit your joshing, Stella; hand it to Ben. He
+likes it, and the thicker it is the more he can stand of it."
+
+"Hello! Breakfast!" called Song from the veranda, and they all trooped
+back to the living room to finish breakfast and talk about the things
+they had passed through, and to lay plans for the coming round-up
+festivities.
+
+After breakfast Ted and Stella went out to the corral to look at the
+saddle stock.
+
+"Why, there's old 'Calamity Jane,'" cried Stella, as a bay pony came
+trotting across the corral and put its velvet nose in the hand she held
+out.
+
+"Jane knows you, all right," said Ted.
+
+"Sure. Why shouldn't she? I rode her all one season down here. I believe
+she wants me to choose her for my own again. Do you, Calamity, old
+girl?"
+
+Calamity Jane, which had at one time been the wickedest and stubbornest
+mare on the ranch, nickered and again rubbed Stella's hand with her
+nose.
+
+"Talk about your smart horses," said Stella. "Calamity can do everything
+except talk. Who's been riding her?"
+
+"Kit. He's wrangler, and he won't let any one on her. He's light, you
+know, and he was saving her for you. You'll find that she hasn't been
+spoiled at all."
+
+"Then, if Kit has been riding her, she's all right, for if there ever
+was a horseman it's Kit."
+
+"Isn't she getting fierce?" said a quiet voice behind them. "Say, she's
+getting to be one of these regular society jolliers. She didn't used to
+be that way."
+
+They wheeled around to see Kit, who had come up to them in his usual
+quiet manner.
+
+"Yes," said Ted. "She tried to hand me a package this morning."
+
+"You mean things. That's what a girl gets for being civil and
+confidential, and talking as she would like to fellows she thinks are
+her friends. I'm going back to the house. I don't like you very much
+this morning."
+
+The boys winked at one another.
+
+"Say, Kit, I want Sultan after a while. I'm going to ride down to the
+lower end of the ranch to look at that bunch of new horses," said Ted
+carelessly.
+
+"Oh, may I go with you?" asked Stella eagerly.
+
+"I thought you were mad at us, or I would have asked you."
+
+"I was only fooling. I'll be ready in ten minutes. Let's take Lilian
+with us."
+
+"That was what I was going to do. It is time for Lilian's regular riding
+lesson. I am trying to make her as good a rider and all-around cowgirl
+as you, Stella, but I doubt if ever she will."
+
+"Who is jollying now, Mister Ted?" cried Stella, with a laugh, but she
+was blushing with pleasure at the compliment.
+
+That is the difference between a boy and a girl. A healthy,
+well-conditioned boy becomes embarrassed and cross at a well-meant
+compliment spoken in the presence of another, believing that the person
+who is complimenting him is making fun of him in some unknown and covert
+way. But to a girl a compliment that is sincere is as grateful as dew to
+a rose, and Stella always felt much elated when Ted complimented her on
+her prowess in any of the arts of the range.
+
+They rode away with Lilian, who was learning to ride well for her age
+and experience under the best of riding teachers, Ted Strong.
+
+As they were nearing the lower pasture they observed a great commotion
+among the horses that were huddled in a fence corner.
+
+"Hello, what's going on there?" exclaimed Ted.
+
+"Looks like the worst sort of a riot," said Stella. "I believe those
+boys need help."
+
+They could see Bud and Ben and several cowboys circling around the
+bunch of ponies, evidently trying to get into it, and break it up and
+scatter it.
+
+"What's the row?" asked Ted, galloping up.
+
+"Thar's a cayuse in thar thet I'd plumb like ter electrocute," said Bud,
+who was mad clear through. "My, but he's got er bad dispersition."
+
+"Which one?" asked Ted, laughing. "From what I can see there isn't one
+of them you could call angelic."
+
+"Thar's ther meanest bunch o' horse meat thet ever come ter this man's
+ranch, bar none, an' ther prize devil o' ther lot is thet black demon in
+thar. He near broke my pony's leg a minute ago with a stem-windin' kick
+sech ez I never see before. Thet hoss is shore double-j'inted."
+
+The horses were bunched, heads in, heels out, around a splendid-looking
+black stallion, which was biting and kicking at everything that came
+near him.
+
+"Let him kick his foolish head off," said Ted, viewing the squealing,
+struggling throng.
+
+"I reckon they're just showin' off because Stella got here this
+mornin'," said Bud disgustedly. "They're tryin' ter knock us, Stella, by
+showin' yer thet we aire a bum lot o' horsemen fer not makin' them
+behave first off."
+
+Stella laughed and nodded. She understood.
+
+"Where did you pick up such a mean bunch of horses?" she asked.
+
+"Them hosses is intended fer ther tourneymint what takes place after
+ther round-up. We're goin' ter hev some roughridin' fer fair here, an'
+if we all git out with whole bones we shore kin send up a balloon in
+celebraytion."
+
+"But where did you get them? Were they bred mean on purpose?"
+
+"I reckon not. I bought 'em from ther wild range in Montana. They ain't
+seen men closer than a mile, except'n' it wuz Injuns, an' they don't
+count, until we butted in on 'em. They belonged ter ole man Stallings. I
+reckon you remember him, what we met on our way ter Fort Grant, when yer
+run erway an' got lost on Red Mesa."
+
+Stella nodded.
+
+"I wuz lookin' fer a bunch o' cow hosses. We sold a big run o' 'em ter a
+Newbrasky cowman who was short o' saddle stock, an' who said he'd heard
+we had the best-broke cow ponies in ther West, an' I reckon we had. He
+was willin' ter pay a good price fer our spare stock, an' we unloaded."
+
+"Then you will have to break in a lot of new ones. Isn't that a waste of
+time?"
+
+"Young woman, we're ranchmen, not rockin'-chair gents. It's part o' our
+business ter take somethin' what ain't much good, an' make it better.
+That's the way we earn our bread an' bacon."
+
+"So I see."
+
+"Ted says ter me ter go up inter Montana an' pick up a lot o' good,
+gingery hosses, an' I struck John Stallings. He says ter me, when I made
+my wants known, 'Go out on ther range an' he'p yerself,' says he.
+'They're all mine, an' Ted Strong an' his boys kin hev anythin' I've got
+except my fam'ly. But,' says he, 'you'll find some purty lively stock
+out there.'"
+
+"Well, you did," said Stella, laughing.
+
+"I reckon I picked out ther orneriest hosses in the whole West, an' I'm
+savin' them fer some o' these Smart-aleck cowboys who'll be here from
+ther ranches round, who think they kin ride," and he winked wisely.
+
+"Gracious, look there!" she cried. "What's Ted trying to do. He'll be
+hurt, Bud."
+
+"No, I reckon not, but I'll git in thar handy ter help him if he needs
+it. Keep the kid outer ther way if that bunch breaks."
+
+Ted had done what none of the others had succeeded in doing.
+
+He had forced his way into the very center of the bunch of wild horses,
+wheeling and doubling and riding like a circus performer, to avoid the
+batteries of flying heels, until he was close to the wicked black
+stallion, which was all that held the bunch together and prevented it
+from being broken up and driven to the upper end of the ranch, where it
+belonged.
+
+There was not a moment when he was not in danger. A chance kick might
+break his leg, or bring down his horse, in which event he must be kicked
+to death or badly hurt by being trampled on.
+
+But so far they had not been able to reach him.
+
+"Be careful, Ted," cried Stella.
+
+He waved his hand at her with a smile, and she hurried Lilian beyond the
+reach of danger.
+
+Ted wheeled his horse to face the black brute, which stood looking at
+him with wicked eyes, its ears flattened like those of a panther. In
+spite of its evil temper Ted admired it for its lithe beauty. It was as
+clean of limb as a thoroughbred, and its black skin shone like polished
+ebony. While he was looking at it thus it suddenly sprang at him, reared
+on its hind legs, striking at him like a boxer. Had he not wheeled on
+the instant it would have killed him. Ted was thoroughly angry, and went
+to the attack himself, beating the horse about the head with his quirt.
+When the horse rushed at him through a rain of blows across its nose Ted
+retreated beyond reach of its hoofs, then attacked it again.
+
+Suddenly the black horse wheeled and presented its heels, and Ted rode
+around it, lashing it well, everywhere the whip could reach.
+
+Although the horse continued to lash out with his heels he struck
+nothing, and always his enemy was at his side or in front.
+
+At last Ted resolved to bring the unequal combat to an end, as Sultan
+was tiring of the exercise, so instead of riding around the enraged
+horse, he pivoted with it, keeping in front of it all the time and
+whipping it on the nose.
+
+The "insurgent" stopped kicking at last and stood with drooping head,
+trying to shield its face from that cruel, relentless, stinging thing
+which the man creature wielded. He was cowed, but not conquered.
+
+Taking advantage of the moment, Ted drove him backward and clear of his
+companions. Seeing their leader retreat, the other horses broke their
+close formation, and allowed themselves to be driven down the valley,
+not without an occasional rebellious kick, however.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+STELLA GOES TO THE "RENT RAG."
+
+
+"Oh, joy, an' pickled pelicans!" said Bud Morgan, skipping onto the
+veranda one evening, when all the boys were sitting around Stella and
+Mrs. Graham.
+
+Bud had just returned from Soldier Butte, where he had been spending the
+afternoon.
+
+"What's devouring you now?" asked Ben Tremont. "Or is it just one of
+your weekly sillies?"
+
+"Who are yer alludin' at?" asked Bud loftily.
+
+"As you were going to say--" suggested Kit, looking at Bud.
+
+"Boys, thar's goin' ter be a 'rent rag' in the Butte ter-morrer night,
+an' we all have an urgent bid ter be present."
+
+"A what?" asked Stella.
+
+"A 'rent rag.'"
+
+"Who tore it?" asked Stella innocently.
+
+At this the boys laughed loud and long, then apologized when they saw
+Stella's embarrassment.
+
+"It ain't tore yet," said Bud, "but it's lierble ter be before ther rosy
+dawn."
+
+"What are you talking about?" said Stella impatiently. "I never saw such
+provoking boys. You say such strange things, then cackle over it as
+though there was a joke in it, which nobody seems to see except
+yourself."
+
+"A 'rent rag' is a--'rent rag,'" said Kit, trying to explain.
+
+"That sounds as sensible as the conundrum, 'Why is a hen?'" said Stella.
+"Must I ask the question and get caught? All right, here goes. What is a
+'rent rag'? Now, don't tell me, some one, that it is a rag that has been
+torn, for I exploded that one myself."
+
+"A 'rent rag,'" said Bud slowly and carefully, "is a rag for rent.
+A--a--er--well, it's a--"
+
+"Tell me, Ted," said the girl, turning to the leader of the outfit, who
+was leaning back in his chair smiling at the ridiculous conversation.
+
+"Well, as near as I can make out it is a bit of slang that means this:
+The word 'rag' is the slang for a public dance. When a man in town who
+is popular enough falls behind in paying his rent, through some
+misfortune or other, and owes so much he cannot hope to pay it, he hands
+out a flag that he wants help. In other words, it is an invitation to
+his friends to organize a public ball for his benefit. It depends upon
+his honesty and popularity whether or not they do so."
+
+"That's the strangest thing I ever heard of."
+
+"Well, if the thing goes through, a hall is rented and music is engaged,
+the cost of which is to be deducted from the money taken at the door.
+Then the man for whose benefit the ball is given and his wife prepare a
+lot of sandwiches, fried chicken, and other eatables, and a tub or two
+of lemonade, and help their profits along."
+
+"So that is a 'rent rag,' eh? Who is the man for whom the dance is to be
+given, Bud?" asked Stella.
+
+"A feller named Martin, whose wife has been sick all summer," answered
+Bud. "From what they say, I reckon he's all right. Jest ter be a good
+feller I bought ten tickets, at one bean per ticket."
+
+"Is that all they are?" asked Stella. "Only one bean? Gracious, they'll
+have to dispose of an awful lot of tickets to get enough beans to sell
+to pay their rent with! Why don't they make it something else? I'd like
+to contribute a dollar, at least. A bean a ticket, pshaw! How awfully
+cheap! I guess he doesn't owe much."
+
+At this remark the boys fairly cackled.
+
+"Now, what are you laughing at?" cried Stella, almost angry. "I seem to
+be more humorous to-night than I ever thought possible. I can hardly say
+a word but you all start to laugh at me."
+
+This was too much for the boys. They couldn't restrain themselves and
+went off into peals of laughter. When they saw the danger signals of two
+bright spots in Stella's cheeks, they realized that they had gone too
+far, and all hastily tried to explain. But Ted was before them, and
+quietly told Stella that in the expressive, if scarcely lucid, language
+of the day a "bean," in the sense in which Bud had used it, meant a
+dollar.
+
+"Such silly slang," said Stella, restored to good humor once more. "I
+don't mind slang if it's clever and reveals or conceals or twists a word
+in some sensible way, but a bean for a dollar--no, it won't do. The
+fellow who invented that should try again. The only fun I can see in
+slang is its aptness."
+
+The boys murmured something to the effect that it wasn't a particularly
+witty bit of slang, but they continued to grin at one another.
+
+"Suppose we all go to the 'rent rag,'" said Stella suddenly. "I never
+saw anything of the sort, and I'm crazy to go."
+
+"It's likely to be pretty rough, and break up in a row before its
+natural time," said Ted.
+
+"We'll only stay a short while," said Stella. "But I should like to do
+my share toward helping the poor fellow."
+
+"It's done already. I bought ten tickets. Thet's as much ez they expect
+from ther Moon Valley Ranch, an' it goes inter ther running expenses o'
+ther ranch, anyhow, in ther charity account."
+
+"I don't care, I want to go."
+
+"I move we go," said Ben. "It will add some tone to the proceedings."
+
+"Ben wants to air his spike-tailed coat and low-neck vest," said Kit.
+
+"Not for me," said Ben, laughing. "I wonder what those cow-punchers and
+miners and gamblers would do with a chap who sauntered in there in
+evening dress."
+
+"He shore would come up ter Stella's conception of a rent rag, which is
+a torn rag," said Kit.
+
+"Ted, won't we go?" pleaded Stella.
+
+"Sure, if you want to; you are our guest, and whatever you want, all you
+have to do is to ask for it," answered Ted.
+
+It was agreed that they should wear their everyday uniforms, and Stella
+was for going in her distinctive cowgirl costume, but this Mrs. Graham
+would not permit, and insisted that she should wear a frock which she
+had had made in Denver.
+
+When, the next night, Stella walked into the living room, where the boys
+were waiting to escort her and Mrs. Graham to the ball, there was a
+general exclamation of wonder and admiration, at which Stella hesitated
+with a blush, then came forward with smiling assurance.
+
+Instead of the bold and dashing Stella in her bifurcated riding skirt
+and bolero jacket, the boys saw a beautiful young woman in a pale-blue
+gown of silk and chiffon, with her pretty hair piled on top of her head,
+instead of flowing over her shoulders.
+
+For a moment they were awed. They had never seen her so, and perhaps had
+never thought of her as being a young lady. Most of them were content to
+regard her just as Stella, their girl pard, and to-night she had given
+them a surprise.
+
+At her throat was a superb sapphire set in a brooch, which had come out
+of the broncho boys' sapphire mines on Yogo Creek, and in her hair was
+an ornament of diamonds and rubies which the boys had made from jewels
+which had come as their share of the treasures of the Montezumas, which
+they had discovered beneath the castle of Chepultapec, near the city of
+Mexico.
+
+Altogether Stella was very stunning, and in their admiration of her in
+this new rôle of society girl the boys were between two preferences, as
+she was now, and as they knew her in the saddle, throwing her lariat or
+handling her revolver.
+
+Most of them, however, came to the conclusion that she was still Stella,
+no matter what she wore.
+
+"Say, Stella, that's not fair," drawled Ben, "to dress up like that and
+make us wear our working togs. I've got a good mind to go and get into
+my spike."
+
+"If you do, I won't go," said Stella. "Unless the other boys wear theirs
+also. You and I would look fine going in there dressed up, and the other
+boys as they are now. No, I wouldn't have worn this dress if aunt hadn't
+insisted upon it, and this time I couldn't shake her determination. I
+hate it, and would much rather have my working clothes on. But, never
+mind, it won't be for long. How do you like me in this?" She revolved
+slowly before them.
+
+"Scrumptious!" said Ben appreciatively.
+
+"Prettier than a basket of peaches," ejaculated Kit.
+
+"Thar ain't nothin' in art er nature what kin show up more gaudy," said
+Bud. "Except, mebbe, it might be a pink rose in er garden at airly
+mornin' with ther dew on it."
+
+"Say, hasn't Bud got us all faded?" said Ben. "I didn't know the old
+sandpiper had so much poetry in his soul."
+
+"So perfectionately lofely a younk lady nefer did I saw," exclaimed
+Carl, clasping his hands and holding them before him, while he rolled
+his eyes toward the ceiling.
+
+"She's all thet," said Bud. "But come down ter airth. Stella ain't up
+among ther rafters."
+
+Ted had said nothing, and Stella looked at him. He was regarding her
+attentively.
+
+Her look said: "What do _you_ think?"
+
+He answered it with a look of admiration that satisfied her that he
+thought her perfect.
+
+"I think I like you best in the everyday clothes," he said quietly. "But
+that gown is as if you were made for it and it was made for you."
+
+The thought had come into Ted's mind that some day, in the far future,
+they would lose their girl pard, and society or duties elsewhere would
+claim her.
+
+Stella understood him and agreed with him.
+
+Soon they were ready to start for the ball. The carriage was got out and
+Carl volunteered to drive the horses, while the other boys rode.
+
+Just as they were about to start Stella cried: "Where is Jack Slate? I
+don't see him. Isn't he coming to the ball?"
+
+"Haven't saw him," said Bud. "I reckon he'll be moseyin' erlong after a
+while. We won't wait fer him. He knowed when we wuz goin' ter start."
+
+"He came in a little while ago from the lower pasture," said Kit, "and
+went to his room. He said he had been thrown by his horse, and that the
+jar had given him a headache."
+
+"Oh, don't let us wait for him," said Ben. "If he gets to feeling better
+he'll be along. You couldn't keep Jack away from a ball with an
+injunction."
+
+So they proceeded to town, the boys acting as outriders to the girl,
+whom they were convinced would be the belle of the ball.
+
+When they arrived at the hall in Soldier Butte they found the people
+flocking in, as Martin, the beneficiary, was a very popular fellow, and
+any man in hard luck in the West always gets all the help he needs, if
+he deserves it.
+
+Ted escorted Stella into the ballroom, while Ben followed with Mrs.
+Graham, the other boys taking the horses around to the corral.
+
+As Ted and Stella entered the room there was a hum of admiration, and
+conversation stopped as men and women craned their necks to look at the
+handsome couple.
+
+Ted was both proud and pleased, but a little bit embarrassed at the
+attention they received, while Stella held her head up proudly, with a
+look of indifference on her face, as if she had been used to admiration
+all her life.
+
+The ball certainly was a mixed affair.
+
+In one corner were a lot of army officers and their ladies.
+
+All down the sides of the ballroom cowboys were sitting with girls from
+the ranches. Town girls and boys had a corner to themselves. The
+gamblers flocked together, and miners and others wandered here and
+there, mixing with cavalrymen from the fort.
+
+When the boys returned from the corral they found that Mrs. Graham and
+Stella and their escorts had preëmpted a vacant corner.
+
+There was a piano in the room, but no one to play it. Soon, however, a
+fellow dressed after the cowboy fashion entered and took a seat on a
+raised platform, producing a fiddle from a green bag.
+
+A round of applause greeted him.
+
+He tuned his instrument, and after a few preliminary scrapes began to
+play a monotonous tune, repeating over and over again the same few bars.
+
+At the first scrape the cowboys and their girls leaped to the floor and
+began to dance, but none of the people from the fort cared to dance to
+such music.
+
+Suddenly the door flew open and a band of a dozen cow-punchers walked
+into the room, and were greeted by joyous shouts by the other cowboys in
+the hall.
+
+At their head was a handsome young fellow, slender and dark, with a
+resolute face and a pair of piercing eyes that flashed around the room
+for the purpose of seeing and locating his possible enemies.
+
+"Who is that?" asked Stella.
+
+"That's Billy Sudden," answered Ted.
+
+"And who is he?"
+
+"Foreman at 'Cow' Suggs' ranch. That's the Suggs bunch of cow-punchers.
+There'll be something doing here to-night."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"There are a lot of fellows in this part of the country who don't like
+Billy, and some of them are liable to tread on his feet."
+
+"Oh, is he quarrelsome?"
+
+"No, Billy is the best sort of a fellow, but he won't let any one hobble
+him. When he first went to the Dumb-bell Ranch, as the Circle-bar Circle
+is called, they took him for a kid and tried to run over him. He kicked
+them, then fired them, and they don't like him."
+
+"Did you see him look around the room?"
+
+"Yes, he has every man who is likely to make trouble for him spotted and
+located. But we won't wait long enough to see the trouble. I never did
+like trouble myself."
+
+"Well, for a chap who gets into it as often as you do--"
+
+"What's the trouble now, over there?" interrupted Ted, looking at the
+door.
+
+Around the entrance to the hall was a crowd of young town fellows led by
+a youth named Wiley Creviss, the son of the local banker, a dissipated
+and reckless young man, and a crowd of cow-punchers.
+
+They were shoving some one here and there, making a punching bag of him,
+at the same time laughing uproariously.
+
+Just then Ted saw the head of Jack Slate in the mix-up.
+
+"Excuse me," said Ted, turning to Stella. "Ben, take care of the ladies
+until I return."
+
+He strode across the floor toward the door.
+
+As he neared it he heard Billy Sudden say:
+
+"Be careful, there. That is one of Ted Strong's fellows."
+
+"I don't care if it is," said some one. "I'd give it to Strong just as
+hard if he was here."
+
+"Here I am," said Ted, pushing through the crowd.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE TROUBLE IS STARTED.
+
+
+The crowd of men and youths opened out in front of Ted, and he strode
+into the circle.
+
+There he saw Jack Slate in a much disheveled condition, dressed in his
+evening clothes.
+
+Ted gasped as he stared for an instant at the youth from Boston.
+
+He wanted to tell Jack that "it served him right," but that was not the
+part of loyalty, and in the presence of the enemy it did not make any
+difference to a broncho boy if his pard was right or wrong, if he was in
+need of help.
+
+"Where is the fellow who was going to throw me around?" asked Ted,
+looking into the faces about him.
+
+No one replied, although Ted waited for a moment or two before looking
+at Billy Sudden.
+
+Billy winked at him, but said nothing.
+
+"Seems as if somebody's sand has run out," said Ted contemptuously.
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said Wiley Creviss. "There's plenty of sand left if
+you need any to prevent your wheels from slipping downhill."
+
+"No, my sand box is always full," said Ted quietly. "But there is some
+sneak in this bunch who hasn't the nerve to back up his brag."
+
+"Are you talking to me?" said Creviss, swelling up as to chest.
+
+"Oh, are you the misguided chump whom I heard make the remark about
+pushing me about, as I came up?" said Ted, in a tone of surprise.
+
+The cowboys from Suggs' ranch were snickering.
+
+"Well, what if I was?"
+
+"I'm going to make you try it."
+
+"Oh, I can do it, all right."
+
+"Well, why don't you? I'm the easiest proposition you ever saw to be
+hazed by a bunch of hoodlums, such as you and your pals are!"
+
+"For two cents I'd punch your nose."
+
+"You're too cheap. I'll give you a heap more than that if you will. It's
+been so long since my nose was punched that it feels sort of lonesome.
+I'll pay you well for the job, if you succeed in pulling off the stunt."
+
+"You think you're the whole works because you've got a crowd of dudes
+around you. You're not the only dent in the can."
+
+Ted flushed at this allusion to his pards.
+
+"I'll put a dent in you if you open your face to remark about my friends
+again," he said, with some heat.
+
+"See here, you town rough, you better take in your slack and clear out
+for home, or you'll begin to taste the sorrows that come from
+inexperience and bad judgment," said Billy Sudden to Creviss.
+
+"It's up to you to mind your own business," snarled Creviss. "What are
+you but a lot of greasy cow-punchers. We haven't much use for your sort
+in this town, anyway."
+
+"Now, son, keep quiet and behave yourself," said Billy paternally. "If
+you get me riled I won't be as patient with you as Ted Strong has been.
+I'll fix you so as to keep two doctors busy the best part of the night."
+
+"What are you fellows butting in for, anyhow?" said Creviss angrily.
+"Can't this freak that comes here in a dress suit and tries to lord it
+over us take care of himself?"
+
+"Surest thing you know," drawled Jack Slate. "But there are ladies here,
+a thing you don't seem to realize. If you'll step outside, I'd be glad
+to whip you right and propah."
+
+"What's the use, Jack, of fussing with these rowdies?" said Ted. "Let it
+go until some other time."
+
+"You bet," said Creviss, courage returning when he heard Ted propose
+peace. "I guess you'd like to let it go forever."
+
+"That settles it," said Ted. "Go to him, Jack, and if you don't give him
+what's coming to him, I'll finish the job."
+
+"Git!" said Billy Sudden, opening the door and shoving Creviss out into
+the street. The rest followed.
+
+As Jack stepped into the open air he peeled off his swallow-tailed coat
+and threw it over Ted's arm.
+
+He had no sooner done so than Wiley Creviss made a rush at him from the
+front, while one of the crowd ran in on him from the rear.
+
+It seemed an unequal beginning, and Ted was preparing to take on the
+second fellow.
+
+But Jack had seen him out of the corner of his eye, and as he came on
+the Boston boy stepped backward and threw his right elbow up.
+
+It was a timely and masterly trick, for the sharp elbow caught Creviss'
+ally full in the nose, and he dropped like a limp rag to the ground,
+with a howl of anguish.
+
+At the same moment Jack swung his left. Creviss had struck at him and
+missed when he back-stepped, and coming on swiftly ran into Jack's fist
+with a thud that jarred him into a state of collapse.
+
+"Finish him!" shouted the cow-punchers, who stood about the fighters in
+a circle.
+
+"Go to him," said Ted, in a low voice. "I saw him signal his pal to
+tackle you from behind."
+
+Creviss had partially recovered from the blow and was getting ready for
+another rush, when Jack slipped in and to one side and hit like a
+blacksmith at the anvil.
+
+This time Creviss went down and out.
+
+"Hooray fer ther bantam!" shouted a big cow-puncher, slapping Jack on
+the back. "Say, I hear them say you're from Bosting. I'm goin' ter buy a
+hundred-pound sack o' beans myself ter-morrer an' begin trainin'. If
+beans'll do that fer you, a sack o' them will make me fit ter lick Jess
+Willard."
+
+But Jack was busy smoothing down his ruffled hair and pulling his white
+lawn tie around into its proper place, and when he had put on his coat
+he and Ted walked into the ballroom as calmly as if they had just
+stepped out to view the stars.
+
+"What was the trouble?" asked Stella, when they reached her side.
+
+"Some town rowdies became noisy, and they were put out," answered Ted
+carelessly.
+
+But Jack's dress suit was the joy of the cow-punchers, who had never
+seen anything like it before, although they all knew that it was the way
+well-groomed men dressed for evening in the big cities.
+
+"Say, pard," said a cowboy to Jack, as he crossed the room, "I axes yer
+pardon fer buttin' in, but yer lost ther front part o' yer coat tails."
+
+"That's all right," answered Jack. "Can't help it, don't you know. I
+left the blooming coat hanging on the line at home to air, and a goat
+came along and ate the front half of the tails off before I could get to
+it. I was just on my way to apologize to the master of ceremonies for
+it. You see, it is the only coat I have, and I was bound to come to the
+ball."
+
+"Ha, ha! that's on you, 'Honk,'" laughed the cowboy's friends, who had
+overheard the conversation, and Jack passed on, the boys alluding to him
+as a "game little shrimp," for the news of his summary punishment of
+Creviss had got abroad.
+
+But Jack was not through yet. He went into the men's dressing room to
+leave his hat. As he was coming out he was met by a crowd of town
+youths, friends of Creviss. There was no one else about.
+
+They scowled and sneered at Jack, and one of them bumped into him.
+
+"Heah, fellah, that will do," said Jack, with his Bostonese drawl.
+"You're solid; you're no sponge."
+
+"I ain't, eh?" answered the bully. "I'll tell yer, Mr. Slate, you're
+covered with bad marks what I don't like, an' I'm just the sponge to
+wipe them off."
+
+"Step lively, then," said Jack, "for I've an engagement to dance the
+next waltz."
+
+"I'll waltz you all you'll need this evenin'."
+
+But before he had finished speaking Ben Tremont stepped around the
+corner.
+
+"Hello, Jack! What is this I see?" said Ben. "Disgracing yourself by
+talking with these hoodlums."
+
+"Yas, deah boy," drawled Jack. "This--er, what shall I call
+him?--stopped me to tell me he was going to rub the marks off me, at the
+same time wittily making a pun on my name. I was just telling him to
+hurry, or I'd miss the next waltz."
+
+"Well, I'll take the job off your hands. Stella was asking for you a
+moment ago."
+
+"Yes, run along to your Stella," said the hoodlum. "I reckon she's
+pining for the sassiety o' another dude."
+
+That was where he made the mistake of his life.
+
+It didn't really make much difference what these fellows said about
+themselves, but the boys would not permit Stella's name to be bandied
+about by the roughs.
+
+So swiftly, that they didn't know what had happened to them, both Ben
+and Jack sailed into them.
+
+They went sprawling like tenpins before the ball as Ben jumped in among
+them and mowed them down with his powerful blows, while Jack, hovering
+like a torpedo boat around a battleship, sent in several of the telling
+blows Ted had taught him during the boxing lessons at Moon Valley.
+
+The fight was soon over, and Ben and Jack slipped quietly back into the
+ballroom, leaving a well-thrashed crowd to stanch bloody noses, and
+patch up swollen lips and black eyes as best they could.
+
+Meanwhile, a diversion had been created in the hall by the joshing that
+the Suggs' ranch outfit had directed toward the fiddler, who knew only
+one tune, and sawed that off for a waltz, quadrilles, and two-steps,
+without fear or favor.
+
+The musician had been engaged because he was a friend of the
+beneficiary, and had volunteered his services. As the ball grew more and
+more hilarious the cow-punchers felt the restraint of the folks from the
+fort and Moon Valley the less, and began to take it out of the fiddler,
+who paid no attention to them, but kept on scraping.
+
+Suddenly there was a crack from a revolver and the top of the fiddler's
+bow was knocked off, and the playing and dancing stopped simultaneously.
+
+There was more or less commotion, but the women did not scream or get
+panic-stricken. They were used to that sort of thing.
+
+Nobody knew who had fired the shot, but the cowboys and soldiers were
+mad clear through because there was no more music to dance by.
+
+The shot had come from the part of the hall in which the coatroom was
+situated, and directly afterward two slender young fellows climbed out a
+rear window, and a few moments later Billy Sudden and Clay Whipple came
+calmly through the front door and joined the throng about the musician,
+who said:
+
+"Honest, folks, I don't blame no hombre fer takin' a shot at thet fiddle
+bow o' mine, fer I never could make it work right. I know it was bum
+music, but it was the best I could do."
+
+Ted Strong had observed the quiet entrance of Billy and Clay directly
+after the shooting, and he put this and that together. He knew that both
+of them were finished musicians. Clay Whipple was an exceptionally good
+violin player, and Ted had often heard Billy Sudden make a piano fairly
+sing. Evidently they had got to the point where they could stand the
+fiddler's music no longer, and had put a stop to it.
+
+But for all the badness of the music the people should not be deprived
+of their dance.
+
+He hunted up the culprits, who were hovering on the outskirts of the
+crowd, listening to the threats against and denouncing the vandals who
+had "shot up" the fiddler.
+
+"See here, you hombres, I'm on to you," said Ted. "Now you've got to do
+the square thing. You've beaten the dancers out of the music, and you've
+got to get in and furnish it, or I'll tell these punchers who plugged
+the fiddler's bow."
+
+"How did you get on to it?" said Clay, with a grin.
+
+"Never mind. Is it a go?"
+
+"I reckon it'll have to be," said Clay, looking suggestively at Billy
+Sudden.
+
+"All right," said Billy.
+
+The cow-punchers, who had come to dance with the girls from the ranches,
+were growing angry, and were telling what they would do to the fellow
+who had spoiled their fun if they caught him, when Ted Strong stepped
+upon the platform, and, holding up his hand for silence, said:
+
+"Gentlemen, please do not get obstreperous. You shall have all the
+dancing you want. Ladies, please be patient; the music that is to follow
+is such as has never been heard at a dance in this part of the country.
+Mr. Clay Whipple, of the Moon Valley Ranch, and Mr. Billy Sudden, of
+the Dumb-bell Ranch, will play the violin and piano respectively. Both
+of them are cow-punchers, so don't take any liberties with them, or some
+one will get hurt."
+
+There was such cheering that the roof almost went off as Clay hunted up
+a violin and tuned it.
+
+Then began a waltz such as they had never heard, and in a moment the
+floor was covered with dancers, the officers in their uniforms, and the
+ladies in their light dresses, adding beauty to the scene. But the
+finest-looking couple on the floor was Stella and the leader of the
+broncho boys.
+
+Just before the dance began Bud approached Stella, and said:
+
+"See that gal over thar? Ther one with ther corn-silk bang? She is mine,
+an' I'm goin' ter dance this with her; see? She's ther kind o' girl I
+admire. She's shore corn-fed, an' some woman."
+
+"Don't you know who that is?" asked Stella.
+
+"'Deed an' I don't, but I soon will. Who is she?"
+
+"That's Sophy Cozak, from over on the Bohemian prairie. She's rich,
+Bud."
+
+"I don't care nothin' erbout thet. She's shaped up jest erbout right.
+Yaller hair, and soft as feathers. Watch my smoke."
+
+Bud sauntered over to the girl, who was really pretty and fat and pink.
+Apparently he was talking his usual nonsense to her, for she smiled,
+then arose from her chair, and went sailing around the room, Bud's
+partner in the waltz, and every time they passed Ted and Stella in the
+waltz Bud winked at them.
+
+Later, however, he met the irate escort of the girl, when he took her
+back to her seat, and they glared at one another for a moment; then the
+escort walked off, leaving Bud master of the situation.
+
+After this came the "sour-dough" quadrille, in which only old-timers
+were permitted to dance, and Bud led it with Mrs. "Cow" Suggs to the
+tune of "Turkey in the Straw."
+
+But finally, as the ball was drawing to a close, Ted heard Stella utter
+a slight scream, and saw her trying to draw her hand away from a young
+fellow, whose back was turned to him.
+
+He was across the room in an instant, and had the fellow by the
+shoulders and swung him around. It was Wiley Creviss, who had been
+drinking.
+
+"What has this cur been doing?" asked Ted.
+
+"He insisted on dancing with me, and when I told him I would not, he
+said he'd make me," answered Stella. "Then he caught hold of me, and I
+suppose I cried out, although I didn't mean to. That is what comes of
+wearing these clothes. If I'd had on my others, I'd have had my gun with
+me."
+
+Ted had heard enough. There was a window close by, which was about ten
+feet above the sidewalk. Ted rushed the struggling and cursing Creviss
+toward it, and by sheer strength lifted him to the sill and threw him
+out.
+
+"I guess we've had about enough of this," he said quietly, when he
+returned to Stella. "No more mixed balls for mine."
+
+As Ted was escorting Stella to the carriage, Billy Sudden ranged up
+alongside of him.
+
+"Look out for Creviss and his bunch on the way home. They're telling
+around what they're going to do with you. Want any help?"
+
+"No, I reckon not, Billy. Our bunch can take care of them."
+
+"They are going to try to kill you to-night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+SHOTS FROM THE DARK.
+
+
+As the broncho boys swung through the streets of Soldier Butte, after
+leaving the ball, Ted Strong was in the lead, and Bud, Ben, Kit, and
+Clay were riding on either side of the carriage, while Jack Slate, with
+his black coat tails flapping in the breeze, brought up the rear.
+
+They were passing an alley, at the corner of which an electric lamp shed
+a path of light across the street, when a revolver shot cracked out, and
+Ted's hat left his head.
+
+The ball had just grazed his scalp, and the merest fraction of an inch
+lower would have killed him.
+
+Instantly every one pulled up, and Ted, wheeling suddenly, rode at full
+speed for the mouth of the alley.
+
+As he did so another shot came from the alley.
+
+Ted's revolver was in his hand, and he fired at the spot where he had
+seen the flash from the muzzle of the assassin's weapon.
+
+He heard Mrs. Graham scream, and turned back to the side of the carriage
+only to find that one of the horses attached to it had been hit by the
+bullet, and was down, but that neither Stella nor Mrs. Graham had been
+injured, and he rode straight into the dark alley, followed by Bud and
+Kit, leaving Ben and the other boys to guard the carriage, for he did
+not know from what direction another attack might come.
+
+The alley was as dark as a pocket, and as Ted rode into it he well knew
+that he was taking his life in his hands.
+
+At the far end of the alley he heard the beat of feet running swiftly,
+and fired his revolver several times in that direction, and heard a yell
+of pain.
+
+"Come on, fellows," he called. "I think I got one of them that time."
+
+As he said this they saw two dark figures dart out of the alley into the
+street at the end opposite that at which the boys had entered, and they
+spurred in that direction.
+
+But when they came to the street there was no one in sight, but
+splotches of blood on the sidewalk testified to the fact that a wound
+had been inflicted upon some one.
+
+They rode up and down the block, but without discovering where their
+attackers had taken refuge.
+
+It was a low part of the town, and there was scarcely a house on either
+side of the street into which a criminal would not be taken and
+concealed.
+
+"We'll have to give it up," said Ted, at last. "We could hunt here all
+night without being any the wiser."
+
+Disappointed, they rode back, after tracing the bloodstains along the
+sidewalk to where they were lost in the dusty street.
+
+They found that the carriage horse had been so badly hurt that its
+recovery was impossible, and Ted mercifully put a bullet into its brain.
+
+The carriage was surrounded by people from the dance hall, who had been
+brought by the shots.
+
+Among them was Billy Sudden.
+
+"I reckon I called the turn," said he, as Ted came up.
+
+"You sure did," said Ted.
+
+"I ain't presuming to give advice none," said Billy, "but if it was me
+that got his sky piece knocked off and had a horse shot I believe I'd
+almost be tempted to round up this yere man's town and capture every
+hoodlum in it, and sweat them to find out who fired them shots."
+
+"It wouldn't do any good, Billy," said Ted. "The people in this town
+have got it in for the ranch people. They think the ranches are taking
+trade away from them. They'd sooner see the ranches split into farms of
+forty acres each. They'd have so many more farmers to rob that way."
+
+"I reckon so. But what are you going to do? I want to tell you that me
+and my boys stand with you till the burning pit freezes over, whenever
+and wherever you need us."
+
+"May have to call on you one of these days, but not now."
+
+"Ain't you going after that young imp, Creviss? Say, he's the meanest
+boy I ever saw. If I was his father I'd make him behave, or I'd bust him
+wide open."
+
+"I understand his father thinks Wiley is just smart and spirited, and is
+ready to back him up in anything he does."
+
+"Ought to make the old man popular."
+
+"Not so you can see it. But that boy is a tough citizen, and getting
+tougher every day."
+
+"I'm hearing a good deal about that kid these days. He trains with a
+bunch of bad ones over at Strongburg."
+
+"For instance?"
+
+"Lately he's been running with 'Skip' Riley, a crook who has the
+reputation of having made more money out of holding up trains than by
+working."
+
+"I know his record. How long has he been there?"
+
+"Several months. He came there from the Nebraska penitentiary, and he
+was smooth enough to work the reformed-criminal, first-offense racket on
+the women there until they finally got him a job in the fire department.
+He seems to be a hero in the eyes of a lot of tough young fellows here
+and in Strongburg, and they follow him in anything he suggests."
+
+"That's not a healthy proposition for a boy. Mr. Riley ought to be
+conducted out of town."
+
+"The worst of it is he has banded them into some sort of secret
+organization."
+
+"What do they call it?"
+
+"I did know, but I've plumb forgotten. There's a young fellow uptown
+whom I'm trying to keep straight on account of his folks back East. I
+know his sister." Ted could see Billy's face get red as he said this.
+"His name is Jack Farley. Perhaps you know him."
+
+Ted shook his head.
+
+"Well, he's a good kid, but he got into bad company at home and skipped.
+I corresponded once in a while with his sister, and she wrote me about
+him, and one day I run across him in a gambling house here. I hadn't
+seen him since he was a kid, but I knew him straight off because he
+looks so much like Kate--Miss Farley I mean--and I called him outside
+and had a talk with him. He was mighty uppy at first, and threw it into
+me so hard that I had to turn in and whale some sense into him."
+
+"That's one way of doing it," said Ted dryly.
+
+"It was the only way for him. He thought he'd get sympathy by writing
+home about it, but all he got was that they reckoned he deserved it or
+he wouldn't have got it. After that he was good. But he'd got in with
+that Creviss bunch and didn't seem able to get out of it, so I let him
+stay, only I made him come to me every day or two and tell me what he'd
+been up to, and that's as far as I've got."
+
+"Send him out to me."
+
+"He won't work on a ranch, or I'd had him out at the Dumb-bell long ago.
+He likes to work in town, so I got him a job, and so far he has stuck to
+it. But the gang keeps him from doing any good for himself. He knows the
+name of this organization of boys under Skip, and the next time I see
+him I'll find out what it is. Then you keep your eye peeled for it, for
+Creviss is one of the leaders, and I'm afraid, after to-night, he'll do
+all he can to make things lively for you. He's a mean, vindictive little
+cuss."
+
+"I'll keep a weather eye out for him, never fear. Thank you for the tip.
+This is the first time I've heard of the bunch, I've been away from the
+ranch so much lately."
+
+The boys had hitched Jack Slate's horse into the carriage, and he got on
+the seat with Carl, and they were ready to start.
+
+With an "Adios" to Billy Sudden and his boys, they were off, and arrived
+at the ranch house without further incident.
+
+Mrs. Graham and Stella had retired for the night, and the boys were
+sitting before the fire in the living room, for the night was chilly and
+Song had built up a good blaze against their return.
+
+Naturally, the conversation drifted to the shots fired at them from the
+alley.
+
+"While I wuz ambulatin' eround ter-night I overheard some conversation
+what wuz interestin'," remarked Bud, who was sprawling on a bearskin in
+front of the fire.
+
+"What was it?" asked Ted, who had been turning over in his mind what
+Billy Sudden had told him of the organization of tough boys under the
+guidance of the ex-convict.
+
+"I wuz standin' clost ter one o' ther winders what opens out onter ther
+alley when I hears two fellers talkin' below me," said Bud.
+
+"What were they saying?"
+
+"I wuzn't aimin' ter listen ter no one's privut conversation, but I
+caught your name, an' I tried ter hear what wuz said erbout yer."
+
+"Naturally."
+
+"One feller wuz talkin' pritty loud, ez if he'd been hittin' up ther
+tangle juice, an' ther other feller wuz tryin' ter make him put on ther
+soft pedal, what Clay calls talkin' pianissimo. But when the booze is in
+ther wit is out, an' ther feller would shut it down some fer a while,
+then he'd get a good lungful o' air an' bust out ergin."
+
+"What was it all about?"
+
+"Erbout runnin' us off'n ther reservation."
+
+"They'd have a fine chance to do that," said Ted, laughing.
+
+"It seems they hev some sort o' a club, ther 'Flyin' somethin' er
+other'--I couldn't jest catch what. To hear them fellers talk they're
+holy terrors."
+
+"How do they propose to run us off? Did you hear that?"
+
+"No; they didn't discuss ways an' means, but they said as how ther boss,
+they mentioned his name, but it's clear got erway from me, hed riz up on
+his hind legs an' hed give it out straight to ther gang thet ez long ez
+we wuz in ther country they couldn't do no good fer theirselfs,
+consequentially we must skidoo, ez they needed this part o' ther country
+fer their own elbowroom. They wuz real sassy erbout it, too."
+
+"I suppose they thought all they had to do was to serve notice on us,
+and we'd vacate."
+
+"I reckon thet's ther way they hed it chalked up."
+
+"Well, that bears out what Billy Sudden told me to-night after we were
+shot at."
+
+Then Ted related what Billy had told him about Skip Riley and his
+influence on the boys of Soldier Butte and Strongburg.
+
+"Thet thar's ther very feller they wuz talkin' erbout, thet Skip Riley.
+Now I recolict it, an' ther name o' their sweet-scented aggergation is
+ther 'Flyin' Demons.'"
+
+"Oh, mercy! Aren't they just awful?" said Ben, with a grin. "But which
+way are they expected to fly, toward you or from you?"
+
+"If they come monkeyin' eround these broad acres they'll be flyin' fer
+home," said Bud.
+
+"Or to jail, if we can prove what I believe against them," said Ted
+thoughtfully.
+
+"What is that?" asked Kit.
+
+"You haven't forgotten the mysterious robbery of the Strongburg Trust
+Company's office, have you?"
+
+"Nope."
+
+"You remember that a great many people to this day disbelieve that the
+office was robbed at all, because everything was found locked and
+barred, and the most careful examination showed that no one could have
+broken into the room from which a box containing twenty thousand dollars
+in currency and a package of negotiable bonds was stolen."
+
+"Shore, I remember. That's allays been ther greatest mystery in these
+parts."
+
+"You haven't forgotten the robbery soon afterward of the Soldier Butte
+post office and the disappearance of the registered mail pouch that came
+in on the train at two o'clock in the morning. It was thrown into the
+inner office by the carrier, and the office securely locked. Yet in the
+morning it could not be found, and there was nothing to show that the
+post office had been entered."
+
+"I reckon I haven't. We lost a bunch o' money in it ourselves."
+
+"But we got it back."
+
+"That's so, but the carrier is still in jail, awaitin' trial fer
+stealin' the sack, an' I don't believe he had any more ter do with it
+than I had."
+
+"And yet the most careful examination by the post-office inspectors
+failed to show that the place had been forcibly entered, and, although
+the carrier, Jim Bliss, had witnesses to show that he went into the post
+office with the sack, and came right out without it, still he is in
+jail, accused of stealing it," said Kit.
+
+"There are several other cases of mysterious robberies which I might
+cite, but those are enough," said Ted. "But the curious thing about it
+all is that the robbers left not the slightest trace, not a broken lock,
+not a mark to show that a window was forced or a hole bored. When the
+place is closed up at night there is the money, when it is opened in the
+morning the money is gone. And again, these robberies only occur when
+valuables are accidentally left out of the vaults."
+
+"It is curious. Everything yer say is true, but I never thought erlong
+it ez much ez you, an' I didn't figger out how near they wuz alike."
+
+"Well, what's your theory?" asked Ben. "You started to tell us."
+
+"Yes, who do you think committed these robberies?" asked Kit.
+
+"Who but a gang of bad boys under the leadership and tutelage of a
+criminal?" answered Ted. "Who but the gang of Strongburg and Soldier
+Butte young toughs who go by the silly name of 'The Flying Demons'? If
+they get gay around this ranch, we'll have to tie a can to them and head
+them for the reform school or the penitentiary."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE "FLYING DEMONS'" MESSAGE.
+
+
+When Ted Strong stepped out on the veranda the morning after the ball he
+found Stella staring curiously at a large, square piece of paper stuck
+on the wall of the ranch house.
+
+Nobody in the house had risen early, as they had all been up very late,
+except Song, the cook, who, when he saw that no one was disposed to turn
+out for an early breakfast, had gone out to work in the garden, in which
+he had with much skill raised an abundance of vegetables that year.
+
+"Good morning, Stella; what is so interesting?" said Ted.
+
+"It beats me," answered Stella. "I wonder if this is one of Ben's
+witticisms. If it is, he ought to be spanked."
+
+Ted was standing by her side, reading what had been printed on the
+paper.
+
+"H'm! this is good," said he, and read aloud, as if to himself, the
+following warning:
+
+     "TED STRONG AND BRONCHO BOYS: You ought to know by this time that
+     you are not wanted in this part of the country. Advise you to sell
+     out and skip. If you stay your lives will be made a hell on earth,
+     and we have the stuff that will do it. This is no bluff, as you
+     will find out if you disregard this word of friendly warning. You
+     will be given a short time to sell your stock, then git. This means
+     business.
+
+     "THE FLYING DEMONS."
+
+"That's a pretty good effort for a lot of kids," said Ted. "Wait, here's
+a watermark in the paper. Let's see what it is?"
+
+Ted took the paper from the wall and held it up to the light.
+
+In the paper was the representation of the fabulous monster, the
+griffin, and woven into the paper were the words "Griffin Bond."
+
+"That's as easy as shooting fish in a tub," said Ted, as he folded the
+paper and put it in his pocket.
+
+"The fellow who put that warning up certainly left his footprints behind
+him," said Stella, with a smile.
+
+"He did, but even without that I should have known the authors of it."
+
+"How?"
+
+Ted then told Stella the substance of the conversation between the boys
+the night before, and of his suspicions as to the guilt of Creviss and
+his gang in the mysterious robberies that had occurred in the two towns.
+"But," he concluded, "it is not up to me to get at the matter. It is
+work for the sheriff. However, if those boys try any of their
+foolishness with us, we'll turn in and send them to the reform school,
+where they belong."
+
+"They're certainly a bad lot. I was talking to a lady at the 'rent rag'
+last night, and she was telling me what a horrid boy young Creviss is."
+
+"I wish I knew at what time this notice was put up here. It must have
+been done in daylight, for it was getting light in the east when we
+turned in."
+
+"Perhaps some one was so quiet as to put it there while you were all
+inside talking."
+
+"I hardly think so, for we were all sitting near the fireplace, and the
+room was so warm that Kit opened the door, and it stood open until we
+separated to go to bed."
+
+"Sure you could have heard them? Some of you were talking pretty loud,
+for I heard you in my room just before I went to sleep."
+
+"Well, of course, I couldn't be certain about it; but I came out on the
+veranda to take a look at the sky just before I turned in, and I didn't
+see it then. Surely, as I turned to come back into the house my eye
+would have caught that big piece of white paper beside the door."
+
+"What time was it that the most important part of your conversation took
+place?"
+
+"Just before we broke up. I remember we were going over the mysterious
+robberies, and I expressed the opinion that they were the work of the
+gang under Skip Riley and Creviss."
+
+"That was probably the time the fellow who put up that notice was about.
+You see, if he followed you from Soldier Butte he wouldn't get here much
+earlier than that, for he wouldn't dare ride a pony the length of the
+valley at that time of the morning, so he had to walk from the south
+fence."
+
+"By Jove! I believe you are right."
+
+"If my theory is true, the fellow who brought the warning also carried
+back your conversation to the gang."
+
+"Then they surely will have something to fight us on."
+
+"Yes, fear that you will get on their trail will compel them to try to
+make their bluff good, as expressed in that message."
+
+"I'd give something to know when this thing was put up."
+
+"Let's see; it was about four o'clock when you turned in, wasn't it?"
+
+"Just about."
+
+"And just about that time Song gets up to cook for the boys in the bunk
+house who get out to relieve the night watch in the big pasture. Doesn't
+he?"
+
+"Those are the orders."
+
+"Then have Song in, and we'll ask him if he saw a strange man around the
+place when he got up. He might have seen him and thought nothing of it,
+and would never think of reporting it."
+
+"Good idea. Wait here and I will call him."
+
+In a few minutes the Chinaman came shuffling in from the garden."
+
+"See here, Song," said Ted. "Did you see a strange man here early this
+morning?"
+
+"Stlange man!" said Song meditatively, with a smile of innocence on his
+broad, yellow face. "No savvy stlange man."
+
+"Man no b'long here," said Stella,
+
+"Oh, yes, I savvy. No see stlange man."
+
+"What time you get up?"
+
+"Me gettee up fo' clock."
+
+"Did you go outside?"
+
+"Yes, me go out an' call cowbloy. Tell gettee up, P. D. Q. No gettee up,
+no bleakfast."
+
+"What did you see outside that you don't see every morning?"
+
+"Evely moling? No savvy."
+
+"Yesterday morning, day before that, day before that, all mornings."
+
+"Lesterday moling, evely moling?"
+
+"Oh, the deuce! You try him, Stella."
+
+"Say, Song, you see something makee you flaid this moling?" said Stella,
+imitating Song's pidgin English.
+
+"Oh, yes, me lookee out, plenty jump in."
+
+"What you see?"
+
+"Plenty wolf. He sneakee lound side house. I lun like devil."
+
+"What wolf look like?"
+
+"Plenty big wolf. When he see me he lise up on hind legee, and lun likee
+man."
+
+"Ah ha! There's your clew," said Stella, turning to Ted. "The fellow who
+posted this notice was disguised in a wolfskin so that he could sneak up
+to the house unnoticed by the Chinaman, or, if seen, he would make a
+bluff at scaring Song."
+
+"Stella, you're a wonder."
+
+"Say, Song, you no likee wolf?"
+
+"No, me plenty flaid wolf," answered the Chinaman, shaking his head
+violently.
+
+"All right, Song. I givee you shotgun. Next time you see wolf, plenty
+shoot. Savvy?"
+
+"All light. You givee me gun, I shootee wolf plenty. Makee go 'ki-yi'
+and lun belly fast."
+
+Song went away with a grin on his face like a crack in a piece of stale
+cheese.
+
+"Stella, you've solved it. I believe whoever put that message there
+heard our conversation, and at least they'll hate us a bit worse than
+before, if that is possible."
+
+"Let them bark, the wolves. I never was afraid of a wolf, anyhow. If you
+want to throw me into spasms show me a bobcat. That's the fighting
+animal."
+
+During breakfast the boys were shown the warning that had been posted
+beside the door, and it was decided to pay no attention to it, but to
+watch for the appearance of a messenger from the "Flying Demons," and if
+one was caught to make it hot for him.
+
+Ted had no doubt but Creviss and his gang would try to injure the
+broncho boys by every means in their power, but until they committed
+some overt act the boys could hardly afford to become the aggressors.
+
+For several days nothing happened, and the Moon Valley Ranch went the
+even tenor of its way.
+
+Preparations were under way for the fall round-up, and Ted had received
+letters from several heavy stock buyers that they would be present at
+that time to make their selections of such cattle as they desired to
+buy.
+
+It had always been the custom at the ranch to have an entertainment of
+some sort at the ranch afterward. This was started for the purpose of
+amusing the buyers with cowboy tricks and that sort of thing, but it had
+developed into something far greater, until now all the world was
+invited to the barbecue and the "doings" afterward. No one was barred
+who behaved himself.
+
+This year Ben Tremont had charge of the entertainment, and he was not
+limited as to expense, for every fellow was on his honor to provide the
+best entertainment for the least money.
+
+The manager's plans were generally kept secret from every one except Ted
+and Stella, who were the exceptional ones and were in every one's
+secrets and confidence.
+
+Ben had declared himself as to the superlative excellence of his show
+this year.
+
+"It's going to be hard to beat," said he, in boasting about it. "We've
+had some pretty good shows, but nothing like the one I'm getting up
+now."
+
+Kit had charge of the cowboy end of it, the races, the bronchobusting,
+the roping and tying contests; in fact, all the arena acts.
+
+This year Clay Whipple attended to the inner man, and was to provide a
+genuine old Southern barbecue, with trimmings.
+
+The round-up was to begin in less than a week, and the festivities were
+to follow immediately.
+
+Invitations had been sent broadcast into Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming,
+Idaho, Montana, and the Pacific coast States; everywhere, in fact, where
+the boys had friends, and from the responses received an enormous crowd
+would be present.
+
+Three days elapsed after the finding of the warning beside the door
+before anything more was heard from the Flying Demons.
+
+Then Ted found another message from them near the front door.
+
+It was as follows:
+
+     "TED STRONG AND OTHERS: You think you know who committed the
+     mysterious robberies, but you are on the wrong track. You will
+     never find out, while your secrets are known to us. This is warning
+     number two. The third and last will come soon; then look out.
+
+     "THE FLYING DEMONS."
+
+"Now, why in the world do they call themselves the Flying Demons?" asked
+Ted reflectively, as they were reading the second screed from their
+enemies. "It seems to me that there is the secret of the whole thing.
+You never can tell what a pack of boys like that are going to do. They
+are more to be feared than older criminals, for they have no judgment,
+and will rush into the most reckless things just to show off before one
+another."
+
+"Pay no attention to them," advised Stella. "That's what I think they
+are doing now--showing off. I doubt if they think they can frighten us,
+but they are afraid of us."
+
+"Oh, by the way," said Ted, suddenly thinking of something. "You
+remember I looked at the watermark on that first warning we received
+from these terrible demons. Well, this screed has the same
+mark--'Griffin Bond.' When I was in town to-day I went into the bank.
+Old man Creviss was behind the counter, and that precious son of his was
+beside him. I had a check cashed, and Mr. Creviss asked me why we didn't
+keep our bank account there. I told him we had thought something about
+it, but I didn't mention that we had decided not to. Then I asked him
+for a couple of sheets of paper on which to write a note, and he handed
+them to me. I took them to the window and held them up to the light to
+see the watermark."
+
+"And what was it?" asked Stella eagerly.
+
+"The griffin."
+
+"Then the paper on which these things were written came from the bank?"
+
+"They certainly did. After I had looked at the watermark I turned to
+young Creviss and looked him square in the eye. He turned as white as
+chalk, and his lip trembled."
+
+"He's a coward," said Stella positively. "Why didn't he bluff it out?"
+
+"He had nothing to stand on; but, as you say, he's a rank coward, and
+it's my opinion that it's only fear of Skip Riley that keeps him at it,
+anyway. At all events, I gave him a good scare, for instead of writing
+the note I folded up the paper and put it into my pocket. He stepped
+forward as if he would interfere and make me give the paper back, not
+having used it, but I gave him a glassy glare and walked out."
+
+"Then it was he who wrote the warnings."
+
+"Of course, and he knows that I have him dead to rights. That is another
+mark against me with the gang."
+
+"Better watch out."
+
+"They can have me if they can get me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+SONG SHOOTS A WOLF.
+
+
+Early one morning the broncho boys were startled out of their beds by
+the double explosion of a shotgun, followed by excited yells and screams
+of agony.
+
+"That Chinaman has shot somebody," thought Ted, as he rapidly skipped
+out of bed and pulled on his trousers.
+
+In the living room he met all the boys, as scantily clad as himself,
+hurrying out to see what the noise was all about.
+
+They could hear Song behind the house screaming in Chinese at the top of
+his voice, and in an ear-splitting falsetto, which showed that he was
+tremendously excited.
+
+Thither they rushed, and for a moment the ludicrous scene far
+outbalanced the seriousness of what had happened.
+
+On the ground was a young fellow about seventeen years of age. He was
+writhing with pain, and the blood was oozing through his clothes in
+fifty places.
+
+"Ha, ha!" shrieked Song. "Me shootee wolf, turnee into man light away.
+Ha, ha, me allee same plenty smart man, likee magician."
+
+"Yes, you're a hot magician," said Bud; "You've made this feller second
+cousin ter a porous plaster. That's what you've done."
+
+"Who is he, Song?" asked Ted.
+
+"Me no savvy him. Me comee out chicken house getee eggs fo' bleakfast. I
+cally gun, shotee plenty wolf all samee Mliss Stella say."
+
+"But this is not a wolf."
+
+"All samee wolf. I open chicken house do'. I see wolf. Plenty glowl at
+Song. I no likee gun. Shutee my eye. Pull tligger, an' gun goee off. All
+samee wolf no mo' glowlee, him yellee like thundeh. When smokee blow way
+wolf gonee, all samee man comee. I plenty magician, I thinkee."
+
+Ted looked in the chicken house, and on the floor lay the dried hide of
+a big gray wolf.
+
+Now he understood. The message had come the third time from the Flying
+Demons.
+
+"Kit, run around to the front door and see if there is a message there
+for us from our friends the Demons."
+
+In a moment Kit was back, holding a piece of paper in his hand.
+
+Ted took it from him, and read it.
+
+It was the third and last warning. It said:
+
+     "TED STRONG: We have warned you twice before to leave this part of
+     the country, but you have made no move to do so. This is the third
+     warning. If you are not away from here in a week the vengeance will
+     fall upon you. Beware!
+
+     "THE FLYING DEMONS."
+
+"Did you bring this?" asked Ted, of the wretched youth, who still lay
+upon the ground groaning from his numerous wounds.
+
+There was no reply. The fellow could only toss his head from side to
+side and rub his legs, into which the bulk of the shot had been fired by
+the excited Chinaman.
+
+"You won't answer, eh? Well, we'll find a way to make you. I'm glad
+you've given us a week," said Ted, laughing. "That will at least give us
+time to hold our round-up and festivities."
+
+"Oh, if I live through this I'll never go into anything like it again,"
+moaned the youth upon the ground.
+
+"Here, stand up," said Ted to him. "You're not badly hurt. You're only
+stung, twice. Get on your feet and we'll see what we can do for you.
+You're a long way from dead yet. What's your name?"
+
+"Jack Farley. Oh, if I could only be sure that I wasn't going to die!"
+exclaimed the youth.
+
+He was the young fellow Billy Sudden had spoken about.
+
+"We can't tell how badly you are hurt until you get up," said Ted.
+"Rise, and we'll go into the house and examine your wounds."
+
+Slowly young Farley got to his feet, but when he tried to walk he
+uttered a howl of pain, and sank down again.
+
+"Yellow all through," said Ben, in a tone of disgust.
+
+"Ever have about three ounces of duck shot pumped into yer system
+through yer hide?" asked Bud.
+
+"Never had."
+
+"Then yer don't know all ther joys o' life. I've had one ounce shot
+inter my leg, an' if ther contents o' two shells gives double ther pain
+one does, then excuse me. An' mine wuz only snipe shot, at that."
+
+"Pick him up, boys, and lay him on the lounge in my room," said Ted.
+"I'll take a look at him after a while, meantime some of you watch him
+to see that he doesn't get away. We need him for evidence."
+
+When Bud and Ben had carried the wounded boy into Ted's room and laid
+him on the lounge, Bud stood over him regarding him with interest.
+
+"I sorter envy yer, kid," he said at last.
+
+"You can have 'em, but I don't see why you envy me," said Farley.
+
+"I wuz thinkin' how happy you'll be all through these lonesome winter
+evenings, pickin' ther shot out o' yer legs."
+
+When Farley had been carried into the house, Ted called Kit to him and
+said:
+
+"Kit, I wish you'd ride over to Suggs' ranch and tell Billy Sudden that
+his protégé is over here with his hide peppered with bird shot, and ask
+him to ride over and take a look at him."
+
+During breakfast they related to Stella the story of Song's wolf hunt in
+the chicken house, and the result.
+
+Song was as proud as a peacock, and wore "the smile that won't come off"
+as he flitted around the table waiting on every one.
+
+"Say, Missee Stella," he said, "Song all samee one cowbloy now, eh? What
+you sayee?"
+
+"Yes, Song, you have certainly followed instructions. You got your wolf
+that time, sure. How you likee shootee?"
+
+"No likee, Missee Stella. Makee too much noisee, all samee too much
+plenty fiahclackers. Kickee like blazes. Plitty near knockee arm outee
+Song."
+
+The boys stripped Farley after breakfast, and found his legs in pretty
+bad condition. They looked as if Song's gun had been loaded with
+smallpox, and all of it had lodged in the lad's legs.
+
+"Boys, we'll have to take relays in picking the shot from our first
+victim," said Ted. "There's too much work here for one man."
+
+"He's a turrible-lookin' demon now with a hide full o' shot. Ther
+punctured demon of Demonville! Say, kid, I'd hate ter laugh at yer, but
+yer a sight. Why didn't yer fix it so's them two charges o' shot would
+hev been distributed among ther gang? Then yer could sit down o'
+evenings an' pick shot out o' one another instid o' plottin' agin' ther
+whites."
+
+"Let him be, Bud, he's having all he can do to think about these shots,
+as it is. The things for us to do now is to pick them out of him."
+
+"We'll let him count 'em ez they come out. That'll help take his mind
+off his troubles, but he'll hev ter hev a great head fer figgers."
+
+They went to work on him with their penknives, as most of the shot were
+just beneath the skin. But it was painful enough, at that, and every
+time a shot came out Farley groaned deeper. While they were engaged in
+this, to them, pleasing occupation, Billy Sudden arrived.
+
+"Hello, kid," he said to Farley. "So you got it at last. I could have
+told you to keep away from Ted Strong and his bunch. They're bad
+medicine for a herd o' mavericks like you to graze with. You tackled the
+wrong outfit. They're too many fer you, and if you'll all take a fool's
+advice you'll keep away, or else some of you will be looking through a
+griddle in a door up at the penitentiary."
+
+Farley made no reply, only hid his face and groaned at every extracted
+shot.
+
+"Say, kid, what about this gang you belong to?"
+
+The boy shook his head.
+
+"D'ye mean to say you're not going to tell me about it?"
+
+The boy nodded.
+
+"What's the reason you won't?"
+
+"The oath."
+
+"Slush with the oath. You had no business to take it. What'll the home
+folks think when I tell them about this. Shot by a Chinaman in the
+chicken house at dawn!"
+
+Billy paused to let the ignominy of it sink in. It did sound pretty bad
+and mean and cheap. There were no heroics in this, such as Farley had at
+first considered his rôle.
+
+He hid his face on his arm, and his body shook. Billy had probed deep
+into his pride.
+
+"Well, come on," said Billy. "This is no time for a conspirator to do
+the baby act. I suppose you thought it was to be a spotlight scene where
+you stood in the center doing the heavy stunt, and all the rest sat on
+the bleachers and applauded. By gee! Peppered by a Chinaman, and with
+snipe shot, at that."
+
+"Oh, quit it!" said Farley. "I know I was a chump for sticking with
+those fellows, but I needed the money."
+
+"What money?"
+
+"My share of the--"
+
+"What?"
+
+"Oh, nothing."
+
+"Yes, there is something. What robbery was it you shared in?"
+
+"I didn't steal anything."
+
+"I suppose not. You did the dirty work of being lookout, or something
+like that, and they threw you the bone while they kept the meat and fat,
+eh?"
+
+"What shall I do with him?" asked Ted.
+
+"Keep him locked up as a hostage. That may bring those young fools to
+their senses," said Billy. "I'm disgusted with him for not making a
+clean breast of the whole foolish business, and if it wasn't for his
+sister, I'd toss him up in the air and forget him."
+
+The rest of the day was spent in picking shot out of Farley, and by
+evening he was relieved of the last one.
+
+"We'll put him in that empty room at the corner of the house, and take
+turns watching him through the night," said Ted.
+
+Until bedtime Farley sat in the living room with the rest of them, and
+they were unusually guarded in their conversation.
+
+When it came time to retire Farley was conducted to the room which was
+to be his prison, and it fell to Carl to take the first watch, and to
+call Ben at one o'clock.
+
+In the room there was a lounge and a pair of blankets for Farley, a
+table and a lamp, and a chair for the watch.
+
+"Whatever you do, don't go to sleep, Carl," said Ted. "The reason I'm
+putting you on the first watch is because you're such a sleepyhead."
+
+"Don'd vorry aboud me," said Carl, with a yawn. "I pet you I vas der
+sleepinglessness feller in der whole bunch. If he gets avay on my vatch
+it vill not be pecause I don'd sleep."
+
+"I guess you mean all right, but I swear I can't understand you. Only
+keep awake."
+
+"Oh, yah; I avake keeping all der time."
+
+Carl sat in the chair watching his prisoner, and soon saw Farley's chest
+heaving regularly and heard his deep breathing as he slept. Then things
+seemed to waver and fade away.
+
+Carl started up at hearing some one beating on the door, and sat rubbing
+his eyes. It was broad daylight.
+
+"All right, I'll get up pooty soon yet. Is preakfast retty?"
+
+"Here, open the door. This is Ted."
+
+"Vait a minute."
+
+Carl staggered sleepily to the door and unlocked it.
+
+"Where is your prisoner?" asked Ted, stalking into the room, and looking
+at the open window.
+
+"My vat? Ach, Gott in himmel, vat haf I dided? I am schoost coming
+avake. He iss gone! I haf slept on vatch. I am foreffer disgraced. Kill
+me, Ted! I haf no appetite to live any more alretty," cried Carl.
+
+Ted had been angry at discovering the escape of Farley, for he had
+conceived a plan to use him against Creviss. He had risen early, and
+when he found that all the boys were in bed except Carl, he immediately
+suspected the truth.
+
+But Carl's despairing manner turned him from anger.
+
+"Never mind, Carl," he said. "It was my fault for putting you on watch.
+You were not cut out for a watchman. Or, perhaps, you were, according
+to the funny papers, but not of prisoners."
+
+During breakfast Carl was compelled to endure the jokes of the boys at
+his failure to guard the prisoner, which he did with a lugubrious
+countenance; then, at a signal from Ted, the subject was dropped.
+
+About ten o'clock Billy Sudden rode up to the ranch house.
+
+There was something in his manner that betokened news of importance, and
+he strode unbidden into the living room, where Ted was sitting at his
+desk.
+
+"Where's the kid?" he asked abruptly.
+
+"Who, Farley?" asked Ted, looking up from his work.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Skipped."
+
+"What?"
+
+"I said skipped."
+
+"Great Scott! I'd give a hundred dollars if he hadn't."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"What time did he get away?"
+
+"Don't know, exactly. Carl was watching him, but he fell asleep almost
+as soon as they were in the room together, and didn't wake up until six
+o'clock this morning, and Farley was gone. No one knows how he got away
+or at what time. It might have been any time. He probably woke up in the
+night and saw that Carl was dead to the world, and opened the window,
+dropped to the ground, and hit the trail. That's all I know about it.
+But what makes you so anxious about it?"
+
+"Then you haven't heard the news?"
+
+"Guess not. What is it?"
+
+"The First National Bank was robbed last night."
+
+"Great guns! Creviss' bank! That's the United States depository!"
+
+"The same."
+
+"What are the details?"
+
+"I rode through town this morning on my way over here to see if being
+confined for the night wouldn't make the kid talk, when I saw a bunch of
+men standing in front of the bank. I butted in and asked what the
+excitement was, and they told me that the bank had been robbed."
+
+"But how?"
+
+"That's what nobody knows. When the cashier, Mr. Henson, got to the bank
+this morning everything apparently was all right. The doors and windows
+were fastened, and there was no sign anywhere that the bank had been
+forcibly entered. Of course, he didn't look at these things first. He
+went to the vault and opened it at the proper time and examined its
+contents casually. Everything seemed to be as usual. But when, a few
+minutes later, he went to get out the currency, it was all gone. He
+hadn't counted up when I left there, so no one knows the exact amount,
+but it was large."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE BATTLE WITH THE BULL.
+
+
+The excitement incident to the mysterious robbery of the Creviss bank
+was intense.
+
+How had it been done? This was the question that every one was asking
+his neighbor. But none could answer it.
+
+The evening before the robbery had taken place the bank had been closed
+by the cashier, and by Mr. Creviss himself.
+
+The money, books, and papers, with which the business of the day had
+been conducted, had been carried into the vault by the cashier, and Mr.
+Creviss, who was an unusually cautious man, looked into the vault after
+the cashier came out, to see that everything was in. Then he closed the
+vault doors, and turned the handle of the combination, setting the time
+lock, thus securing the doors from being opened until nine o'clock the
+next morning.
+
+The only way in which it could be opened, and an almost impossible way,
+at that, was by blowing it open.
+
+And yet the vault had been robbed, and the vault lock had apparently not
+been tampered with.
+
+It had the appearance of necromancy.
+
+Ted rode into town with Billy Sudden, arriving about noon.
+
+Billy rode on to the Dumb-bell Ranch, and Ted stopped at the bank. It
+seemed deserted. But as he entered the door he saw a big man, dressed in
+the flashy clothes affected by managers of cheap circuses and fake
+shows, standing at the end of the counter talking to Wiley Creviss.
+
+"I can't do anything with that check," Ted heard Creviss say. "You'll
+have to come in when the cashier is here. The safe is locked, and I
+can't get into it, anyway, and all the currency is in it. I'm only
+staying here until the cashier gets back from dinner."
+
+"When will that be?" asked the stranger.
+
+"In about half an hour."
+
+The stranger picked up his valise, which seemed to be heavy, and walked
+out grumbling about banks that closed up for dinner.
+
+Ted said nothing to Wiley, but he took a good look about the bank,
+disregarding the other lad's scowls.
+
+He observed that the vault door stood open, but that there was no money
+in sight, and the place had an air of desertion, as if business was
+slack.
+
+When Strong had seen all that he wanted of the apparent entrances to the
+bank that a criminal might use to force his way in, he left with two
+distinct impressions on his mind. One was that the vault door had been
+open when he came in, and that Wiley Creviss had abruptly closed it when
+he saw Ted staring at it. The other was the remarkable appearance of the
+showman, for without doubt he was that.
+
+As before, the mysterious robbery of the bank proved to be too hard a
+nut for the citizens to crack, and when they had thrashed out all the
+theories advanced and knocked them to pieces again, they forgot it.
+
+Not so Ted Strong. This succession of robberies, none of them leaving
+behind the slightest clew to the perpetrators, interested him. Its very
+difficulty of solution, which had made the lesser brains abandon it,
+compelled his attention and interest.
+
+Had it been his business to tackle the problem, he gladly would have
+done so. But the only Federal end to it was the robbery of the post
+office, which the inspectors of that department were working on, unless,
+perhaps, it might be found that the funds of the government for general
+purposes at Fort Rincon had been stolen. Then the case would come under
+the operations of the United States marshal's office.
+
+But other and more pressing things of a personal nature gradually took
+his attention from crime, and he devoted himself to the coming round-up.
+
+All the spare room in the Moon Valley Ranch house was occupied by
+visiting cattle buyers, who had come to the round-up. The rooms of the
+boys had been given up to guests, while they camped on the prairie
+behind the house.
+
+At last the great day came.
+
+Early in the morning the boys were out, and with them was Stella.
+
+Cow Suggs had loaned Ted his outfit for the day, and Ted was glad to
+have the boys, for there was no cleverer cowman in the country at a
+round-up, saving Ted himself, who was king of them all, and so conceded,
+than the dark, lithe cow-puncher, Billy Sudden, who had been through
+college and had traveled in Europe before he deserted the East for the
+toil, freedom, and excitement of the range.
+
+It was now time to round up all the stock on the Moon Valley Range, cut
+out the marketable stuff, and brand the yearlings.
+
+This is not only a troublesome task, but it is dangerous, and not a
+moment of the time until the task is accomplished but has its exciting
+adventures and escapes from death.
+
+The boys did not know exactly how many head of cattle they owned. They
+had been selling and replenishing their stock from time to time, and the
+increase of calves had been very large, for Moon Valley, situated in the
+lee of Dent du Chien, or Dog Tooth Mountain, with its rich grass, the
+richest in the Black Hills, and its abundance of fresh, clear spring
+water, was an ideal breeding place.
+
+There were on the ranch at that time several dangerous bulls, and this
+added to the hard work of the day, because the monarchs of the range did
+not like to be disturbed and have their following broken up and
+scattered.
+
+In the big pasture, which lay at the foot of Deni du Chien Mountain, was
+the largest herd in the valley.
+
+The king of this herd was known as "Gladiator." He was always looking
+for a fight, and never refused a challenge, whether from another bull or
+from what he considered his natural enemy, man.
+
+A man on foot in that pasture would have stood no more chance for his
+life than if he tried to stand in front of the engine that hauls the
+Empire State Express going at top speed. Gladiator would kill him just
+as quickly and as surely.
+
+So it was that strangers were kept out of the big pasture, whether they
+were mounted or not, unless they were escorted by some member of the
+broncho boys, or one of the older cowboys about the place. Stella, with
+her red bolero, nearly caused a tragedy one day by coming within the
+vision of Gladiator, who took the bolero for a challenge.
+
+Stella turned in time and fled, and had it not been for the fleetness of
+her pony and her own superb riding, there had been no more to relate of
+the adventures of the girl pard of the Moon Valley boys.
+
+The morning of the round-up Ted undertook personally to turn the herd to
+the rendezvous.
+
+Stella insisted upon accompanying him, and at last he was persuaded to
+give his consent, but only on the condition that she wear subdued
+colors, which she did, with skirt and jacket of a light-dun color.
+
+The herd was grazing in the noble range that stretched for miles along
+and across the valley in the shadow of the splendid mountain.
+
+It was widely scattered, and as the band of horsemen rode out toward it
+the cattle lifted their heads for a moment and took a quiet survey, then
+returned to their feeding.
+
+Not so Gladiator.
+
+The great white-and-black bull raised his head proudly, and his fierce,
+steady eyes regarded them without fear.
+
+Indeed, Gladiator knew no fear, whether of man or beast, wolf pack or
+mountain lion, serpent or bird of prey.
+
+He was monarch of that herd, and no one said him nay except Ted Strong,
+who ruled the ranch and all that was on it, by the general consent of
+his comrades and his own fitness for his rulership.
+
+Ted and Gladiator had had numerous differences, and it was the bull that
+had backed down every time.
+
+Yet he did not fear Ted. Rather he hated him because he could not
+conquer this quick, brave, and resourceful fellow.
+
+"That bull will be the death of you some of these days," said Stella to
+Ted once when Gladiator, resenting Ted's intrusion into the herd for the
+purpose of cutting out some calves, charged him. But Ted in the end
+threw the bull with his rope, humiliating him before all the herd. From
+that time forth Gladiator's eyes always became red with anger when he
+saw Ted, but he did not misbehave, because he respected Ted's lariat and
+quirt, and the strong arm that wielded them.
+
+When they got to the herd the boys circled it from behind, riding in
+slowly.
+
+Ted and Stella were on the left point, with Bud and Kit opposite.
+
+Bill Sudden was in the rear to drive, while the other Moon Valley
+cowboys and Billy Sudden's boys came in from the sides.
+
+At the first interruption of their grazing the cattle moved along
+sluggishly, but Gladiator did not move.
+
+The big bull stood his ground, with eyes gazing steadily at Ted and
+Stella, who were approaching him slowly and persistently.
+
+Suddenly Gladiator threw up his head and gave a low, menacing bellow.
+
+"The old chap is waking up," said Ted.
+
+"Be careful, Ted," said Stella. "He's not in very good humor."
+
+"I see he isn't. But if we go at him easily he'll be all right."
+
+"Don't take any chances with him alone, Ted."
+
+"Still, I'm not going to let him boss this job. He's got to lead this
+herd out, and that's all there is to it, for it's a cinch that they
+won't go without him."
+
+Stella knew that it was useless to say anything more, as when Ted made
+up his mind to do a thing, it would be done if everything broke.
+
+Billy Sudden had got the herd moving up from the rear, but the forward
+end of the herd was stagnant.
+
+Gladiator refused to budge, and stood with his stubborn forefeet planted
+on the sod, his head raised insolently.
+
+But it could be seen that his anger was working within him, and would
+soon break forth.
+
+Bud was working the cattle nearest him gently on the move, but when they
+saw that their leader was standing still they ceased their progress and
+began to crowd and mill, and the steers were getting reckless and
+beginning to throw their tails in the air and utter low, growling
+bellows.
+
+It was a critical moment. Who was to be the master must be decided
+quickly. If the bull conquered then the cattle would get to milling
+generally, and the mischief would be to pay.
+
+It would not take long for them to stampede, if the bull started the
+panic, or made a charge. Ted saw the danger, and knew that the condition
+must be treated diplomatically, which was the easier way, or with force,
+of which the outcome was most uncertain.
+
+It depended, in a measure, on the temper of the bull himself.
+
+The cattle were crowding up from the rear, and those nearest the bull
+were beginning to feel the pressure and were pushing toward Gladiator,
+who was fifteen feet in advance of the herd.
+
+When he noticed that the herd was moving, his anger increased, and he
+lowered his head and began to paw the ground.
+
+Ted held up his hand to Billy Sudden as a signal to cease pushing the
+animals, but they had got the impetus and would not stop.
+
+In a moment they had begun to crowd upon the bull, who, with legs
+planted stubbornly, would not be crowded, and began to gore aside those
+who were being pushed upon him.
+
+Ted saw instantly that this was going to result in disaster if not
+stopped, as the frightened steers, feeling Gladiator's sharp horns,
+turned back on the herd, and were pushing their way frantically into the
+center of it, while others, coming up, were forced upon the bull's
+horns.
+
+"Darn a stubborn bull, anyhow!" exclaimed Ted. "I've got to get in and
+put a stop to that, or Gladiator will have the herd to milling or
+running in less than ten minutes."
+
+"Be careful," was all Stella said, but there was a world of anxiety in
+her voice.
+
+"You better get out of the way, Stella," said Ted "Ride to the rear.
+You will see it all, and have just as much fun, and will be out of
+danger."
+
+"What are you going to do?"
+
+"I'm going to make that bull move along or bust a string."
+
+Ted's jaw was set with determination, and when Stella saw that she knew
+that it would be useless for her to say anything more.
+
+Ted loosened his rope, grasped his quirt firmly, and rode slowly toward
+the bull, while Stella signaled to Billy Sudden to ride up to the head
+of the herd.
+
+The boys, observing Ted's actions, knew what he was about to do, and
+ceased moving the cattle and sat on their horses to watch for the
+outcome of the contest.
+
+Most of them felt like spectators at a performance of a specially
+hazardous feat, and held their breath. But each was on the alert to rush
+to Ted's assistance the moment he seemed to need it.
+
+As the bull looked up, and saw Ted approaching him, he ceased pawing,
+and stood with watchful eyes. Occasionally he sent forth a challenging
+bellow. His tail was switching from side to side, like that of an angry
+cat.
+
+Ted was coming alertly. No one knew the danger of openly attacking the
+bull better than himself, and yet it must be done.
+
+It was rule or kill, so far as the bull was concerned, for if the boys
+could not manage him they would be compelled to kill him so that they
+might be able to handle the herd, substituting a more amiable bull in
+his place.
+
+A cowman cannot always tell what a bull is going to do when it is faced
+on the range. It may dodge the issue or it may attack, and Ted was wary
+enough to be on the watch for the latter contingency.
+
+Therefore, when Gladiator, without so much warning as the lowering of
+his head, sprang at Ted when he was not more than ten feet away, he
+covered the distance in two or three lumbering bounds, and Ted had just
+sufficient time to wheel his pony to one side to avoid being bowled
+over. But the horns of the bull struck the gaiter on his left leg, as it
+rushed past, and tore it off, almost unseating him. Stella, breathlessly
+watching the encounter, gasped as she saw Ted reel in his saddle. But
+she breathed easier as she saw him straighten up and turn his horse
+rapidly to face the bull again.
+
+With almost incredible agility, the bull turned and came rushing at Ted
+again, but the leader of the broncho boys rode swiftly away from him,
+tolling him away from the herd.
+
+Finally the bull stopped and began to paw the earth. Ted, to tempt him
+to another attack, directed Sultan toward him at full speed, intending
+to swerve when he got close to his bullship, and dodge him and infuriate
+him further, so that he would follow. He knew that Sultan could outrun
+Gladiator.
+
+But, as he got close to the bull, in spite of the warning cries from
+Stella and Bud, Gladiator swerved to meet the attack, and before the
+fleet-footed pony could escape he was struck, and went rolling over the
+ground.
+
+A cry of horror went up from the boys as they all dashed to the scene.
+Ted Strong was on the ground. The pony had scrambled to his feet, and
+stood trembling a few feet distant. The bull, with lowered head, was
+charging upon Ted.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+TED GETS AN ASSIGNMENT.
+
+
+To the horror-stricken onlookers it appeared that Ted's end had come. He
+lay prone upon the sod with his face turned to the sky, evidently
+stunned.
+
+The bull, with all the ferocity of his kind when goaded to anger, was
+charging upon him, his needle-like horns a few inches from the ground,
+and the foam flecking from his lips.
+
+Stella, her face white and drawn, was galloping toward him as fast as
+her pony could go, while Bud was lashing his pony to the height of its
+speed as he crossed the face of the herd. Billy Sudden was neck and neck
+with Stella, calling to her to hold back.
+
+Suddenly Ted Strong came to life, and looked over his shoulder.
+
+He saw his danger, and quick as thought he rolled over, away from the
+bull.
+
+But that was all. Every one could see that it would do no good. He could
+not expect to escape from the infuriated beast in that manner, and a
+hollow groan escaped the lips of more than one.
+
+Ted surely was doomed.
+
+The bull's horns caught Ted in the side as he continued to roll away
+from it, and it stopped for an instant, settling itself to toss him.
+Stella turned her head away with a muttered prayer, and even the
+cowboys, used to accidents in the round-up, gasped.
+
+But suddenly they saw a cloud of dust fly upward, and thought at first
+that Ted had fired his revolver into the face of the infuriated beast,
+and it seemed strange that they had not heard the report of the weapon.
+
+Then, miracle of miracles, the bull, with a snort of pain, threw up its
+head, and Ted was not impaled upon its horns.
+
+There was another cloud of dust, and the bull began backing away, slowly
+but surely, shaking its head, as if in pain.
+
+"Screamin' catamounts, did yer see thet, Stella?" cried Bud Morgan, as
+he rode alongside the girl,
+
+"What did he do?" asked Stella.
+
+"He's saved hisself by blindin' ther bull. He throwed dust inter its
+eyes. I'm dinged if I see how thet feller kin think o' things like thet
+when he's down an' out. Look at him!"
+
+As the bull rubbed its face in the grass Ted rolled over twice, then
+leaped to his feet and ran to where Sultan was awaiting him.
+
+A mighty cheer went up from the boys, and the color came back into
+Stella's face with a rush, but she could not have uttered a sound to
+save her life.
+
+In the meantime, the bull had recovered, having rubbed the dust from its
+eyes in the short grass, and looked about for its enemy.
+
+It caught sight of Ted in the act of mounting, and sprang toward him
+with the swiftness of a deer.
+
+Then Stella recovered her voice.
+
+"Run, Ted! Run!" she cried.
+
+But Ted had seen the necessity of that himself, and, wheeled Sultan and
+dashed off, looking over his shoulder at the enraged monster that was
+following him, while he rapidly uncoiled his lariat.
+
+Having run several hundred yards and outdistanced the bull, he turned
+and stopped with his rope in his hand, closely calculating the animal's
+distance and speed.
+
+Bud and Stella were following the bull closely, both of them preparing
+their lariats for the throw.
+
+As the bull charged, Ted's rope was seen to leave his hand and go
+sailing through the air in graceful loops and curves that lengthened out
+one after the other.
+
+One of the most difficult throws a cow-puncher can make with a lariat
+was that which Ted attempted. He had to calculate to a degree the speed
+with which the bull was advancing toward him, and that at which the rope
+was leaving him. To calculate the point where the two would come
+together would seem an almost impossible task.
+
+But so nicely had Ted estimated it, that the open noose fell over the
+bull's head and settled down, and, turning swiftly, Ted spurred Sultan
+to one side, and the bull, shaking his head and emitting short, angry
+bellows, rushed past.
+
+The intelligent pony had suddenly come to a stop, bracing himself for
+the shock, and when Gladiator came to the end of the rope he turned
+completely over, and landed on his back with a thud that shook the
+earth.
+
+Bud had galloped forward, and was about to throw himself from the saddle
+to tie the brute, when, with the agility of a cat, the bull was on its
+feet, shaking its head and stamping the earth in a perfect fury of anger
+and desperation. But it was by no means beaten, and ran at Bud, who took
+to his heels. When again it arrived at the end of the rope, it went head
+over heels, much to its loss of wind and dignity.
+
+This time it did not rise so briskly, and Ted gave it all the time it
+wanted.
+
+Suddenly Stella dashed out and rode toward the bull, and when a few feet
+from it curved off, with the angry brute in full pursuit. Had her pony
+stumbled it would have been all up with her, for Gladiator was wild with
+rage, and when it was again thrown its fury knew no bounds.
+
+"A few more throws like that will settle him, I think," shouted Ted.
+"Bait him again, Bud."
+
+Again Bud rode out, and the bull took after him as before, and, when he
+was jerked onto his back by the rope, he lay there.
+
+Ted rode rapidly up to him, and, detaching a rope which had been knotted
+around his waist, tied the bull's legs fore and aft, and the exhausted
+brute did not make an objection.
+
+For several minutes the bull lay panting, then it recovered.
+
+When it came to its normal condition at last, it struggled furiously to
+get to its feet, but each time it got up Ted jerked it to its side,
+standing close to it so that it could see him.
+
+Time and again it thus fruitlessly struggled.
+
+It seemed to realize suddenly that it had been a very foolish bull, and
+that it had met its master, who now stood over him ready to tumble him
+over at any moment.
+
+So he lay quite still, following Ted's movements with its great, dark
+eyes, out of which all the ferocity had vanished.
+
+Ted stepped up to it and patted its head, and it made no objection to
+these attentions. Then he began to untie the bonds that held its legs
+together.
+
+"Look out fer him, he's treacherous," called Bud.
+
+"He's all right," answered Ted. "I'll bet he'll eat out of my hand."
+
+When it felt that it was free again, the bull got slowly to his feet and
+walked sedately in the direction of the herd.
+
+"You've broken the spirit of that bull," said Stella.
+
+"You bet I have," said Ted. "That's just what he needed. He'll be a good
+bull now. If he isn't, I'll give him some more."
+
+Ted now rode to the head of the herd with Stella, and the other boys
+took their places.
+
+"All right, Billy. Send them forward," shouted Ted to the rear of the
+herd.
+
+Skillfully Ted set the herd to moving toward the south, where the other
+herds were gathering under the management of the boys.
+
+At first Gladiator threw up his head arrogantly, and did not stir.
+
+Ted again rode toward him, swinging his lariat. The bull saw him as well
+as the rope, and, recognizing the agents of his defeat, moved off
+briskly at the head of the herd.
+
+"Say," said Bud, across the head of the herd, "yer could slap that old
+duffer across the face with your hat, and he'd apologize."
+
+They were almost at the rendezvous, where thousands of cattle had been
+gathered into a huge herd, and in every direction could be seen dust
+clouds announcing that others were on the way.
+
+"Here comes Carl hotfoot," said Stella. "He looks as if something had
+happened, and he was an extra edition with 'a full account of the
+terrible disaster.'"
+
+"Hello, Carl! What is it?" asked Ted.
+
+"Der United States marshal vaiting for you on der veranda iss," answered
+Carl solemnly.
+
+"Well, what do I care?" asked Ted. "He's come at a mighty busy time if
+he just wants to swap a little conversation. Did he say what he wanted?"
+
+"No, but he say it is very important vork, an' for you to hurry."
+
+"My compliments to the marshal, and tell him I'm busy, and will see him
+as soon as I get through. You entertain him for a while."
+
+"But he der boss iss."
+
+"Not on this ranch. This is a free and unadulterated republic, where
+there are no bosses. Tell him to make himself at home, and I'll be
+there as soon as I can."
+
+Now the cattle were all rounded up, and the cutting out of the two and
+three-year olds began.
+
+This was intensely exciting work, in which Stella joined, as she was as
+skilled at it as any of the boys. Outside of the big herd, the cowboys
+were picking up the cut-outs and driving them to the branding pens, for
+many of them were acquired stock, and even many of the home yearlings
+had never been branded.
+
+Then the cows with calves were cut out, so that the youngsters might get
+a touch of life by feeling the sting of the hot iron with the Crescent V
+brand on it.
+
+The buyers were circulating in the herds, looking over the stock.
+
+Several of the buyers had brought their own cow-punchers with them, and
+these went to work cutting out the selections of their employers.
+
+The sky was thick with dust, and the air rang with the shouts of the
+cowboys and the lowing and bellowing of the cattle.
+
+The rattle of countless hoofs on the hard soil added to the din, and the
+cattle weaving in and out ceaselessly, and the dashing riding of the
+cowboys as they swooped out of the mass occasionally to drive back an
+escaping steer, made a scene of excitement, movement, and noise never
+seen anywhere, except at a Western cattle round-up and cut-out.
+
+Soon the work was pretty well in hand, and, leaving Bud Morgan as
+segundo, Ted went to the house to see the marshal.
+
+He found that officer sitting on the veranda, quietly smoking a cigar,
+an interested witness of the proceedings.
+
+"How are you, Mr. Easton?" said Ted, shaking hands with the marshal. "I
+must apologize for not coming sooner, but my hands were full."
+
+"So I see," said the marshal cordially. "I was watching you work out
+there. Say, I believe I'd like to be a cow-puncher if I wasn't so old."
+
+"It's a young man's job," said Ted, laughing; "and even at that it is
+about all a young fellow can stand at times. But this to-day is a mere
+picnic to what we are up against sometimes."
+
+"Well, you seem to be right in it."
+
+"Yes, I love my business. I wouldn't be anything in the world except a
+cow-puncher."
+
+"But, remember, you are also a government officer."
+
+"I never forget that. But, if it came to being compelled to quit one or
+the other of the occupations, I'd still be a cow-puncher, and let the
+marshalship go."
+
+"That's the very thing I came to see about."
+
+"You want my resignation?" asked Ted, his spirits falling to zero.
+
+"By no means," laughed the marshal. "Not that, but to ask you to
+undertake a somewhat difficult job. It transpires that when the Soldier
+Butte bank was robbed the other night, a large amount of money belonging
+to the government was taken. I didn't know this until early this
+afternoon, when I received a telegram from Washington to go after the
+robbers and land them."
+
+"That'll be somewhat of a job," said Ted, drawing his chair closer to
+the marshal, so that he couldn't be overheard by passing people.
+
+"I'm well aware of that, and that's the reason I come to you. You and
+your boys must undertake the duty of clearing up the mystery of the
+robbery, and, if possible, recovering the money."
+
+"I have a very probable theory as to who the robbers are, but it will be
+entirely another matter to fasten it on them."
+
+"I leave it all to you. I don't want to have anything to do with it. All
+I want are results."
+
+"But I shall not have time to tackle it for a day or two. Unfortunately
+our fall round-up is in progress, and, as this is the time we sell the
+product of our business, we can't leave it until everything is cleared
+up."
+
+"That's all right, Mr. Strong. But when you do get busy, don't come back
+home until you land the thieves."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+A VISITOR IN THE NIGHT.
+
+
+A great deal of money changed hands that day. The stock buyers had their
+wallets loaded with cash when they came a-buying, for, when they had cut
+out the cattle they wanted, and the price was struck, they were prepared
+to drive them off at once.
+
+The sales at the round-up had been large, and Ted and the boys sat up
+late that night, after those guests who had elected to remain over for
+the festivities of the next day were safely in bed, counting the money
+and going over the books.
+
+"It has been a mighty good year for us, boys," said Ted, as he
+contemplated the total of their sales.
+
+"Yes, and, best of all, it leaves us with all the old stock disposed of,
+and nothing but young and vigorous animals with which to begin building
+up again," said Kit, who had a great head for the cattle business and a
+faculty for seeing into the future.
+
+"What aire we goin' ter do with all this yere mazuma?" asked Bud,
+looking over the stacks of fifties, twenties, tens, and fives that lay
+on the table around which they were sitting in the living room, and
+which was flanked by piles of gold and a few hundred-dollar bills.
+
+"Can't get it into the bank until day after to-morrow," said Ted. "We'll
+be too busy to-morrow looking after our guests, and I don't suppose
+we'll be free until after the dance to-morrow night. Still, I'm not
+worrying about it. We know everybody here to-night, and I'll take care
+of it till we can ride over to Strongburg and bank it."
+
+Just then the door blew open with a bang, and big Ben scurried in,
+bringing with him a blast of prairie wind, crisp and chill from the
+mountain, that scattered the greenbacks all over the room, and two or
+three of the fives were blown into the fire and incinerated before any
+one could rescue them.
+
+"Close that door!" shouted Bud, grasping frantically at the money that
+was capering over the top of the table.
+
+Ben closed the door with a slam that shook the house.
+
+"'A fool and his money is soon parted,'" quoted Ben, when he saw the
+havoc wrought by the wind.
+
+"You bet," said Kit "Three fives blew into the fireplace, and are no
+more. We'll just charge them to your account."
+
+"Like dolly, you will!" said Ben.
+
+"If it hadn't been for you they wouldn't be there. What's the reason we
+won't?"
+
+"Because you won't. I didn't make the wind."
+
+"No, but consarn ye, ye let it in, an' ye're an accessory before er
+after ther fact. I reckon both," said Bud.
+
+"Let it go, boys," said Ted. "Pick up the bills, and we'll count and
+stack them again."
+
+"Where have you been, anyway?" asked Kit, addressing Ben.
+
+"Down beddin' my show for the night. They're about all in now. All
+except the music, which will be here in the morning," replied Ben. "I'm
+not at all stuck on myself, but--"
+
+"Oh, no, you've got a very poor opinion of yourself, I guess," said Kit.
+
+"But I want to say that I think I got the bunkie-doodelest show that
+ever paced the glimmering, gleaming, gloaming grass of Moon Valley."
+
+"Listen to the hombre explode," said Bud. "He's tryin' ter be a feeble
+imitation o' a real showman. I'll bet he shows up ter-morrer like a
+ringmaster in a sucuss, with high, shiny boots an' a long whip an a
+tall, slick hat, an' crack his whip an' say: 'What will ther leetle lady
+hev next?'"
+
+Ben blushed, for his ambitions in the show line, now that he had had a
+taste of it, had really been in that direction, only he wouldn't have
+had the boys know it for the world.
+
+"How about the show, anyhow, Ben?" asked Ted.
+
+"What have you got? You might as well let us know now."
+
+"Not on your autobiography," answered Ben haughtily. "I want to say,
+though, that your eyes will bulge like the knobs on a washstand drawer
+when you see what I've got, and then come to look at the bill for such a
+stupendous, striking, and singularly successful aggregation of freaks,
+acts, and divertisements embodied in this colossal and cataclysmic
+congregation of--"
+
+"Oh, cheese it," said Kit. "You give me the pip."
+
+"All right, have it your own way," sighed Ben. "This is what a fellow
+gets for serving his country, from Thomas Jefferson to John D.
+Rockefeller."
+
+"Come on," said Ted persuasively. "Loosen up and tell us what we are to
+have to-morrow. This is an executive session of the whole."
+
+"You're like a lot of kids the day before Christmas. You've just got to
+see what mamma's hidden in the closet," said Ben. "Well, I'll let you in
+on a little of it."
+
+"Shoot when you're ready," said Kit.
+
+"I was over at Strongburg about a month ago, and, knowing that I'd have
+to rustle up a show soon, I wrote to a theatrical agent in Chicago to
+let me know if he could furnish me with a good amusement company at
+small cost. He wrote me that he had the very thing, and offered me one
+of these bum 'wild west' shows, with a bunch of spavined ponies, a lot
+of imitation cowboys, fake Indians, and Coney Island target shooters."
+
+"An' yer didn't take 'em?" asked Bud, in surprise.
+
+"Tush! Well, I was up against it, when Morrison, the hotel man, told me
+that there was a showman in town, and perhaps I might get something out
+of him.
+
+"I hunted him up. He was a typical showman. Big fellow, large as a
+Noah's ark, dressed like a sunset, and loud as an eighteen-inch gun."
+
+"I saw the fellow in Soldier Butte the other day. He was talking to
+Wiley Creviss in the bank," said Ted. "You've described him more
+picturesquely than I should, but I'm convinced he's the same man."
+
+"I asked him what he had, and he told me he could furnish me on short
+notice anything from a three-ring circus to a hand organ and monkey,"
+continued Ben. "I told him how much money I wanted to spend, and he said
+he'd fix me up a show that would make everybody delighted, and I told
+him to go ahead. The show blew in to-night, and ran up their tents down
+near the corral."
+
+"How many have you got in it?"
+
+"I've got a balloon ascension for the afternoon, a giant and a midget, a
+magician, an Egyptian fortune teller, a trick mule, a Circassian beauty,
+and a strong man." Ben looked around proudly, and the boys burst into
+peals of laughter.
+
+"Have you scraped the mold off of them yet?" asked Kit.
+
+"How's that?" asked Ben haughtily.
+
+"Have you pulled the burs off the chestnuts?"
+
+"See here, what do you mean? Are you casting aspersions on my show?"
+
+"Not exactly, but I think you've been stung by some old stranded side
+show that was taking the tie route back home. Circassian beaut! Ho-ho,
+likewise ha-ha! and some more."
+
+"Ter say nothin' o' a Egyptian fortune teller from Popodunk, Ioway, an'
+a wild man from ther Quaker village. Oh! give me ther smellin' salts.
+I'm goin' ter hev ther histrikes," laughed Bud.
+
+"Haf you not got a echukated vooly pig und a feller vot 'eats 'em
+alife'?" asked Carl.
+
+"That's right, Dutchy. It's a bum show what ain't got them," laughed
+Bud.
+
+The boys were laughing until the house rang with it, and Stella poked
+her pretty head out of the door to ask to be told the joke. Bud
+complied, with many humorous embellishments.
+
+"Don't pay any attention to them, Ben," said Stella sympathetically,
+"I'll take in the show from start to finish."
+
+"Could friendship go any farther than that?" asked Kit pathetically.
+
+"Oh, you fellows give me a pain," said Ben, rising and stalking off to
+bed.
+
+He was soon followed by the others, Ted and Kit remaining behind to
+gather up the money and slip rubber bands around each of the packages of
+currency.
+
+"We ought to have a safe in the house, Ted," said Kit, looking over the
+pile of money. "We often have large sums of money in the house, and some
+time we might get robbed."
+
+"There's not much danger of that, Kit," answered Ted. "There are not
+many fellows who would have the nerve to come into this house. Too many
+guns, and too many fellows who are not afraid to shoot them. I'm not
+afraid."
+
+"What was that?"
+
+Kit was staring at the rear window.
+
+"What?"
+
+"I just looked up and thought I saw a face at the window."
+
+"You're getting imaginative."
+
+Just then the clock struck twelve.
+
+"No, I don't think so. I heard a slight cracking noise and looked up.
+Something white appeared at the window for an instant. It looked like
+the face of a child."
+
+"Nonsense. A child couldn't look through that window. It's seven feet
+from the ground."
+
+"Well, I suppose I was mistaken. Let's hide that money and go to bed."
+
+"Where shall we put it?"
+
+Kit looked around the room, then smiled.
+
+"Why, in the cubby-hole, of course. There's a safe for you. We haven't
+used it for so long that I'd almost forgotten it."
+
+"The very thing. Nobody'd find it there in a blue moon."
+
+They crossed over to a corner of the room and threw back the corner of a
+rug. Where the baseboard was mortised at the corner there appeared to
+have been a patch put in. Ted placed his hand against this, near the
+top, and it tipped back. It was hung on a pivot, and, as its top went in
+and the bottom came out, there was revealed a boxlike receptacle about
+two feet long and six inches deep.
+
+"This is a bully place," said Ted, placing the packages of money within
+it. "It is known to only five of us, and I'll bet that most of us have
+forgotten its very existence."
+
+The board was turned back into place and the rug spread out again.
+
+"Safe as in the Strongburg Bank," said Kit. "Well, me for the feathers.
+We're going to be kept humping to-morrow. _Buenas noches_."
+
+In a few minutes the big ranch house was dark and quiet; every person
+in it was sound asleep.
+
+Ted Strong had sunk into a deep and untroubled sleep, for his day had
+been very active, and he was tired when he lay down.
+
+But he had not been sleeping more than a half hour when he found himself
+sitting straight up in bed, very wide-awake, and wondering why.
+
+"Something wrong in the house," he muttered to himself.
+
+He sniffed the air to discover the smell of smoke. But it was not that.
+
+Had he locked up? He went over his actions just before retiring, and was
+sure that he had attended faithfully to everything.
+
+The money! The thought came to him like a blow.
+
+Something had happened to the money.
+
+He was out of bed in a jiffy and slipped into his trousers, and,
+grabbing his revolver from beneath his pillow, he opened the door and
+walked softly along the hall in his bare feet.
+
+The hall opened into the living room through an arch in which a
+portière, made of small pieces of bamboo strung together, was hung.
+
+As he looked cautiously into the living room his elbow struck this, and
+it rattled sharply in the stillness.
+
+He had heard a faint creak, and, as he peeped around the corner of the
+arch, he saw dimly the figure of a man near the door, evidently just in
+the act of opening it.
+
+With a succession of noiseless leaps Ted was across the room, and
+arrived at the door just as it swung open and the man was about to
+depart.
+
+But Ted was upon his back with the swiftness of a bobcat, and they came
+together to the floor with? a crash.
+
+The burglar was beneath, but this did not prevent him from fighting
+with a desperation that lent strength to his already strong and lithe
+body.
+
+He was slenderer and younger than Ted, who could feel it in the fellow's
+build as they struggled.
+
+"Let me out, or I'll kill you," said the burglar, and Ted saw the flash
+of a knife.
+
+At the same moment something rushed past them in the dark, and out of
+the door.
+
+As Ted saw it dimly it was small, and its motions were awkward and
+lumbering. He thought it was a dog, and was about to raise his revolver
+to fire at it when he thought better of it, as he did not want to arouse
+the household if he could conquer his man without making a noise.
+
+"Don't shoot," said the man, who had observed Ted's motion with the gun.
+
+At this extraordinary request Ted paused.
+
+He had twisted the man's wrist until he dropped the knife, and then
+shoved it beyond reach with the muzzle of his revolver.
+
+His strong left hand was in the nape of the fellow's neck, and Ted had
+his nose ground into the rug. He had found a gun in the fellow's hip
+pocket, and relieved him of it.
+
+Then Ted rose, and told his captive to get up
+
+Slowly he did so, and Ted made him move to the center of the room.
+
+Bud's golden head appeared around the corner of the doorway.
+
+Ted could just distinguish it.
+
+"Who's that?" asked Bud.
+
+"It's Ted. Come in and strike a light. I've caught something."
+
+In a moment a light flared up.
+
+"Jack Farley!" exclaimed Ted, in astonishment.
+
+"Yes, blast you, Jack Farley," replied the youth.
+
+"Couldn't keep away, eh?"
+
+"A feller'd think thet once was enough," said Bud.
+
+"I couldn't help myself. I had to come," growled Farley.
+
+"Well, this time you'll stay. You shan't abuse our hospitality again.
+Bud, get a rope and tie our friend. He's skittish, and is likely to run
+away if he's turned loose."
+
+Farley was soon tied securely.
+
+"Keep an eye on him, Bud," said Ted. "I want to look over the premises."
+
+Ted went directly to the corner and pushed back the pivot door, struck a
+match, and looked into the box.
+
+It was empty.
+
+Then, turning back to Farley, he searched him thoroughly.
+
+There was no money in his pockets.
+
+Ted called up Kit, and the three of them ransacked the living room
+thoroughly, but not a dollar could be found. "What did you do with the
+money you stole from that hole?" said Ted, gazing fiercely into Farley's
+eyes.
+
+"I haven't seen a dollar of it," was the reply.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+TED STRONG HAS A THEORY.
+
+
+After Farley had been securely locked up in a storeroom without windows,
+they went to bed, feeling secure that there would be no further attempt
+to enter the house that night.
+
+At breakfast they discussed the robbery after their guests had left the
+house.
+
+"I don't understand what became of the money," said Ted. "It looks to me
+like one of those mysterious robberies, and the capture of Farley puts
+it up to the Riley and Creviss gang. Now that we've been touched
+personally we will take some interest in the gang, and I have a large
+crayon picture of about a dozen hitherto respectable young fellows
+learning useful trades in a reformatory institution."
+
+"But that doesn't bring back our money, neither does it tell us how it
+was stolen or what became of it," said Ben.
+
+"I can't get a thing out of Farley," said Ted. "I tackled him this
+morning as soon as I got up, but he wouldn't open his mouth. My belief
+is that he is in deadly fear of some one, probably Skip Riley."
+
+"Well, we've got him where the hair is short, anyway," said Kit. "He was
+caught in the act, and will come out of prison an older and a wiser
+man."
+
+"What else besides Farley did you see in the room, Ted?" asked Stella.
+
+"I really couldn't say what it was," said Ted. "It was dark, and there
+was only the faintest kind of light outside from the stars. The room was
+perfectly dark. I was sitting on Farley's back holding him down. He had
+thrown the door open, and we were in the doorway, but there was a space
+between us and the door-jamb.
+
+"Suddenly I heard a faint noise beside me and could just see something
+scud past me onto the veranda."
+
+"What did it look like?"
+
+"It was about as high as a small dog, only shorter and thicker than a
+dog, and ran with a clumsy, heavy, sideways motion."
+
+"Are you sure it was a dog?"
+
+"No, I'm not sure, for I didn't see it plainly. All I could see was that
+it looked like some kind of an animal, but just what kind I couldn't
+determine."
+
+"Your description would lead me to believe that it was a coon."
+
+"No, I don't think it was a coon, or I would have been able to
+distinguish it by its smell."
+
+"I didn't know but that it might be a coon trained to steal and sneak
+out. I've heard of such things, and it is by no means impossible, for
+you know that coons, like crows, are natural-born thieves."
+
+"By Jove, that gives me an idea. I think it was a dog, and that its
+strange gait was due to the fact that the money had been tied upon him
+so that he would get away with it in case Farley was caught."
+
+"No, the dog theory is wrong. What about a trained monkey?" Stella
+looked around the table to see how this was taken.
+
+"C'rect!" shouted Bud. "Stella, yer struck ther problem a solar plexus
+thet time."
+
+"That does seem reasonable, and if it is true it solves the mysterious
+robberies of the Strongburg Trust Company's office, the post office, and
+Creviss' bank," said Ted.
+
+"It's worth looking into, anyway," said Ben. "Now I wonder if there is
+such a thing as a trained monkey in my marvelous and magnificent
+gathering of the splendors of the Orient out there. By Jove, I'm going
+through that camp with a fine-tooth comb, and if I find a monk, I'll
+habeas-corpus him, and we'll hang him to the rafters."
+
+"Well, mum's the word about the money," warned Ted. "We don't want this
+thing to leak out. If it does, there's a chance against us."
+
+Although they all felt pretty blue about the loss of the money, they had
+nothing but hearty welcomes and smiles for their guests, who began to
+arrive from all parts of the county, and from far-distant States and
+Territories, to help rejoice with the boys for a prosperous year, not
+knowing that all the prosperity had fallen into the hands of thieves.
+
+The grounds about the ranch house had been gayly decorated for the
+occasion. An enormous American flag flapped and snapped in the fresh
+breeze from the top of a tall staff in front of the house, and the Belle
+Fourche band was playing in a gayly decorated stand. The showmen had
+erected their tents, and already the boys and girls from the ranches and
+towns were going in and out, witnessing the wonders to be beheld in
+them.
+
+Stella was receiving her girl guests on the veranda, for she was a great
+favorite among the cowgirls in the country on account of her
+friendliness and unaffected ways.
+
+Mrs. Graham was welcoming the older women, while Ted and Jack Slate were
+shaking hands with the ranchmen and cowboys.
+
+Clay's fires were going well, and the steer and sheep were being roasted
+for the noontime feast.
+
+Ben had gone on a still-hunt among the tents belonging to the showman,
+and, while he found three small dogs, there was no sign of a monkey, and
+by adroit questioning he learned that they had had a monkey, but that
+it had died at Leadville, because the air in that altitude was too cold
+and rare for it.
+
+These facts he communicated to Ted, and seemed to explode the
+monkey-thief theory.
+
+During the morning there was a baseball game between the cowboys and the
+clerks from the stores in Soldier Butte and Strongburg, in which the
+score was forty-one to three in favor of the clerks. The cowboys
+couldn't play ball any more than a rabbit, encumbered as they were by
+their chaps, high-heeled boots, and spurs. It took a home-run hit to get
+one of them to first base.
+
+After dinner the cowboy sports were to come off.
+
+When Ted could get away from his duties as host for a few minutes he
+sauntered through the crowd, extending greetings to all whom he knew,
+but at the same time keeping a close watch over everything.
+
+The theft of the money from the cubby-hole had aroused in him all his
+detective instincts.
+
+He saw two or three of the young fellows who had been with Wiley Creviss
+the night of the ball, but he paid no attention to them. They were
+welcome to come to the festivities, and to remain so long as they
+behaved themselves.
+
+But he determined to have them watched.
+
+Soon he came upon some more of the Creviss gang and saw them mingle with
+several boys, whom he knew to be tough characters, from Strongburg.
+
+"The clan is gathering," he said to himself. "We're likely to have
+trouble with those fellows before the day is over. I'll put Bud next to
+them, and have the boys watch them."
+
+"Whom do you suppose I saw just now?"
+
+It was Stella's voice, and she was standing at his elbow.
+
+"Who?" he asked.
+
+"Wiley Creviss."
+
+"Is that so? I have been watching for him to come along. A lot of his
+fellows are here, and they are sticking pretty well together. Where did
+you see him?"
+
+"I told Ben I'd take in his show even if no one else did, and I've kept
+my promise. When I was in that biggest tent I suddenly came upon Creviss
+in close conversation with the boss showman. When they saw me looking at
+them they separated in a hurry, and Creviss left the tent."
+
+"H'm! I wonder if Ben knows this fellow who owns the show."
+
+"Don't know, I'm sure. It wouldn't be a bad scheme to find out something
+about him in view of the robbery last night."
+
+"You're right, Stella. Another thing I've been thinking about: I've been
+looking for Skip Riley, the Strongburg fireman, the supposed leader of
+the Flying Demons. If they are going to try any of their monkey business
+to-day he ought to be here."
+
+"Haven't you heard the news? I intended to tell you, but must have
+forgotten. The last time I was in Strongburg I heard that Riley had
+resigned, and left the town for the East."
+
+"I hadn't heard it. Then that puts it up to Creviss."
+
+"But who is the fellow who runs the show? Ben says his name is Colonel
+Ben Robinson, and that he is an old circusman down on his luck
+temporarily."
+
+"Look around and find out what you can. They will not suspect you if you
+ask questions as they would me. If you find out anything, let me know."
+
+"All right, Ted, I'll circulate, and report."
+
+Ted wandered over to the show tents, and entered them all, with kindly
+greetings to the performers, who all knew him as the leader of the
+broncho boys, and asked him if they could be excused from performing
+while the riding and other cowboy stunts were going forward, and Ted
+told them to lay off if they wanted to, as most of the guests would be
+out in the grand stand, anyhow.
+
+In the last tent he entered he found the strong man lifting weights
+against a lot of husky cow-punchers, and the giant and midget.
+
+But it was the midget that struck him most forcibly. He had a sly,
+cunning face and a bad eye, and when Ted came in he tried to hide behind
+the giant, who picked him up as one would a baby in arms. But the little
+fellow wriggled free and climbed down the big man like a monkey down a
+tree. Then he slipped across to the middle of the tent and shinned up
+the pole to the top, and hung there, looking down at Ted.
+
+"What's the matter with the little fellow?" Ted asked the giant.
+
+"Oh, he ain't got real good sense," rumbled the giant. "His brain
+stopped growing with his body, I reckon. But you can teach him tricks
+the same as you can a dog or a monkey, and he'll do them all right. I
+reckon he's afraid of you. He is of some people, the boss in
+particular."
+
+"How long have you been with the boss?"
+
+"Not very long. He just took the show over from the old boss a month
+ago. We were going to pieces over to Cheyenne, and he come along and
+bought us. He's been a showman in his time, but says he hasn't been in
+the biz for several years. He knows the biz, though, and has scads of
+money. We are well fed and get our salaries regular. Him and Prince
+Carl, that's the midget, are great pals. The midget sleeps in his tent,
+and the boss seldom lets him out of his sight."
+
+"Say, Bellows, how many times have I got to tell you not to stand there
+gassing with patrons of the show? Every one don't want to bother with
+your theories and troubles." Ted turned, to face the boss showman.
+
+"Oh, it's you, Mr. Strong?" he went on. "I didn't recognize your back.
+It's all right to talk to you. But I've got to call the giant down once
+in so often for taking up people's time, for he's an awful gabber."
+
+He walked away, but when Ted tried to get the giant to tell him some
+more about the midget and the boss, he would not say a word.
+
+But the giant had planted the seed of a theory in Ted's mind.
+
+Presently Ted saw Stella beckoning to him in the crowd, and forced his
+way to her side.
+
+She took his arm, and they got out of the crowd. Ted saw that she had
+something to communicate.
+
+"Well?" he said, smiling down on her.
+
+"There's going to be something doing here," said she. "The boss showman
+has been talking with several of the gang."
+
+"All right. Did you hear anything about Skip Riley?"
+
+"Yes. He's been gone from Strongburg about a month."
+
+"Learn anything else about him?"
+
+"Skip Riley is not his name at all."
+
+"That so? What is it? Did you learn?"
+
+"I was talking to a lady from Strongburg, one of those who got him a job
+on the fire department."
+
+"What did she know about him?"
+
+"She said that she was appointed a committee of one by the Ladies' Aid
+Society over there to look up the new fireman's career."
+
+"And I suppose she ran onto some hot stuff?"
+
+"It seems that the ex-convict, Skip Riley, had been a circus performer
+once upon a time, before he took to being a burglar."
+
+"Was burglary the crime for which he was put in prison?"
+
+"Yes, so she says. He was an aëronaut and acrobat."
+
+"Good! And what was his stage name? Did she say?"
+
+"Robinson--Ben Robinson. She says that she was told that he was quite
+famous in his day as a circus performer, but that he couldn't resist the
+temptation to steal, and so had to quit the business, as none of the
+circus proprietors would have him around."
+
+"Did she say where she got this information?"
+
+"Yes. It was sent to her by the warden of the penitentiary in which
+Riley was confined before he came to Strongburg."
+
+"Then her information is probably correct. Stella, thanks to you, we've
+got them dead to rights. We've solved the mystery hanging around all
+these recent robberies."
+
+"Nearly, but not quite. How were they accomplished?"
+
+"That I don't know positively, but I have a theory which I believe will
+turn out to be correct."
+
+"But about Riley?"
+
+"Ben Robinson, the proprietor of this show, and Skip Riley, burglar and
+ex-convict, are one and the same man."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+ALOFT AFTER A PRISONER.
+
+
+"All ready for the big show," cried Kit, riding up to Ted. "When will we
+begin the sports?"
+
+Ted looked over the grand stand, which was built around an arena in
+which the cowboy sports were to come off.
+
+This was the most important event of the day, for while bronchobusting
+and cattle roping are a cowboy's business, yet he finds unending
+amusement in doing these same things if his girl and friends are there
+to witness his skill.
+
+After some ordinary feats of trick riding by the visiting cowboys,
+several really dangerous steers were turned loose in the arena, and for
+several minutes a very fair imitation of a Spanish bullfight, minus the
+killing of the animals, took place.
+
+After several of the steers had been roped, thrown, and tied, there
+still remained in the arena a sullen and difficult brute, which was as
+tricky as a rat, and the boys gave him up one at a time.
+
+"Why don't you give the girls a chance at him?" shouted a cowgirl
+derisively, from the seats.
+
+"Any girl who wants to tackle him is at liberty to do so," Ted shouted
+back through his megaphone.
+
+Instantly three girls leaped into the arena, and borrowed ponies from
+their cowboy acquaintances.
+
+Ted motioned to Sophy Cozak, the pretty and buxom girl from the Bohemian
+prairie, whom Bud had admired at the dance; she rode forward on Bud's
+own particular horse, Ranger.
+
+Sophy had several brothers who had taught her the cow business, and she
+had few equals on the range.
+
+As she rode out she was greeted with a round of applause from her
+admirers. She gathered up her rope and sent the horse forward at an easy
+lope toward the steer, which looked at her a moment and trotted off.
+
+Sophy followed him, and made three casts of the rope, and every time the
+brute dodged it, and the rope fell to the ground.
+
+That settled it with Sophy, and she rode in, and another girl took her
+place. She, too, was unsuccessful, as was the third, and the audience
+was distinctly disappointed.
+
+"Ladies and gentlemen," cried Ted, through the megaphone. "It was not
+the intention of any one living on the Moon Valley Ranch to take part in
+these contests, but if there are no other young ladies in the grand
+stand who would like to try their ropes on the steer, we can produce one
+whom we think can rope and tie it at the first trial. I refer to Miss
+Stella Fosdick. I have not consulted her wishes in the matter, but will
+ask her if she will undertake it."
+
+At this a wild cheer went up, and Ted dashed out of the arena to find
+Stella. In a moment he was back, and announced that Miss Fosdick would
+try it.
+
+Presently Stella rode in on Custer at a hard gallop, gathering up her
+rope as she rode. There was a sort of gay self-confidence in her manner
+that captivated the throng, and the cheers split the air.
+
+Stella rode straight at the steer, which, seeing her approach; galloped
+down the arena with her in pursuit.
+
+Swinging her rope above her head, she chased it back until it was about
+in the middle of the field, and suddenly the rope left her hand
+unerringly and shot through the air, seemed to hesitate for an instant,
+then fell over the steer's head.
+
+Custer came to a stop the moment the rope left her hand, with his body
+well braced. The steer went to the end of the rope as fast as it could
+go, then was flung in the air, and lay upon his back sprawling like some
+ridiculous four-legged crab, while the girl leaped from her saddle, ran
+swiftly across the intervening space, tied his legs together, and held
+up her hand.
+
+The crowd fairly went wild with enthusiasm at her feat, as she mounted
+again, leaving the steer to the tender mercies of the cow-punchers, who
+flocked about her. Then she dashed out of the arena, waving her hat in
+recognition of the applause.
+
+Then the bunch of wild Montana horses, which never had felt the saddle,
+were driven in, and Ted offered a twenty-dollar gold piece to any
+puncher who could rope, saddle, and bridle, and ride one of the bronchos
+ten minutes without being thrown.
+
+"Easy money!" shouted the cowboys, flocking into the arena.
+
+The black, which had caused Ted so much trouble when the bunch first
+came to the ranch, was not with them. He was considered too dangerous an
+animal to be handled at an entertainment where there were so many women
+and children.
+
+Only two cow-punchers succeeded in even getting their saddles on the
+bronchos without throwing them and hog-tying them, and only one, Billy
+Sudden, stayed the required ten minutes, and he said afterward that it
+wasn't his fault, because the broncho wouldn't let him get off.
+
+Ted then announced that there was another animal in the herd that he
+would ask no man to ride, but that he would try to do so himself.
+
+Another great cheer went up as Ted rode away after the black demon, to
+whom the boys had given the name Lucifer, for his supposed resemblance
+to his satanic majesty.
+
+But it was found impossible to drive Lucifer into the arena.
+
+"Never mind," said Ted, "we'll throw the saddle on him here, and I'll
+ride him in."
+
+A crowd of men and boys was standing around, and Ted removed his saddle
+and handed it to a young fellow in the crowd to hold until he had thrown
+Lucifer. The animal was standing in the center of the circle, his wary
+eyes taking in the crowd, and letting fly with his heels at the approach
+of any one.
+
+"Now, Bud," called Ted, "ride in on him and rope him. You, Kit, get him
+by the leg and throw him, and I'll slip a bridle on him."
+
+It was not much of a trick to rope and hold him so that he couldn't
+kick. But when Ted tried to slip the bit between his teeth, he fought
+like the demon that he was, biting and kicking, so that he had to be
+thrown to his side and his head held down before the bridle could be put
+on him.
+
+Then he was allowed to rise. There was no doubt but that the horse was
+insane with rage and fear, and several cowmen came forward and tried to
+persuade Ted from attempting to ride him, but Ted was as obstinate as
+the horse, and said that he would conquer the black, or die in the
+attempt.
+
+He finally found the fellow who had been holding his saddle, although he
+had left his stand and was found back behind the crowd talking to a gang
+of young fellows, among whom Ted recognized several of Creviss'
+companions. This delayed and angered him, and he called the saddle
+bearer down for deserting his post, and was answered with sneers and
+laughter.
+
+After many trials, and the exertion of a great deal of patience, Ted got
+the saddle on Lucifer and hastily cinched, and as he sprang to the
+brute's back the ropes were loosed. With a bound and a snort of terror
+the black dashed forward, and it was with the greatest difficulty that
+Ted swung it so it went through the gates and into the arena without
+dashing him against the posts.
+
+Once inside the arena, the brute began to exhibit terrible ferocity.
+
+Stella and Bud had followed in his wake, and when the girl saw how the
+brute was behaving, she whispered to Bud:
+
+"That demon will kill him yet."
+
+"If he don't kill it," answered Bud.
+
+"Why did you let him ride it? I got there a moment too late, and he was
+already in the saddle, or I should have stopped it."
+
+"What could I do? He had told the people he would ride it, and that
+settled it with him."
+
+Lucifer was exercising all the tricks known to wild and terrified
+bronchos when they first feel saddle and bridle, and which seem to be
+inbred in them. He bucked, but there was never a horse that could buck
+Ted off. He reared, he kicked, rolled, and fell backward. But every time
+he stopped for a moment to note the result, there the unshakable enemy
+was on his back again. Clearly he was puzzled.
+
+Then a new paroxysm of rage would shake him, and he would go through the
+same performances again, but with no better success.
+
+Suddenly Ted brought his quirt down on the brute's flanks, and it leaped
+high into the air in an agony of fear and pain. It had felt that
+stinging thing before, and hated it.
+
+Then it started to run away from this terrible thing that bestrode its
+back.
+
+"By Heaven! it's running away," muttered Bud. "It'll be an act o'
+Providence if Ted isn't killed."
+
+Down the arena they dashed, Ted sitting in the saddle as if he and it
+and the stallion were all of a piece.
+
+When the brute came to the arena's end, and saw before him the shouting
+multitude, it suddenly swerved to come back, and Ted realized that
+something had happened to the saddle. It was slipping, and yet he was
+sure he had cinched it tight. Back they came tearing again, and passed
+Stella and Bud like a rocket.
+
+"Great guns!" cried Bud, "his saddle's loose. He's a goner now, shore."
+
+Every one saw Ted's danger, for Ted was leaning well over, and the
+saddle was on the horse's side. A hollow groan went up.
+
+At Bud's first words Stella was off after Ted like a shot.
+
+The horse, as every one could now see, was trying its best to kill Ted,
+and many of the spectators were positive that it would do so.
+
+Now the cinch had parted.
+
+"The cinch has broken," the shout went up. "It will kill him, sure!" Ted
+was now leaning far over on the horse's side, his left leg well under
+the horse's belly and his foot in the stirrup, while the heel of his
+left, boot was clinging to the edge of the tipped saddle. It was a most
+precarious position, for if the saddle slipped farther he would go under
+and be trampled and kicked to death before any one could reach him.
+
+The powerful brute was bent on Ted's destruction, and seemed about to
+accomplish it, when Stella galloped to his side, and, grasping his hand,
+held him safe.
+
+"The cinch is off," she called to him. "I'll help you up, then kick the
+saddle loose."
+
+Slowly but surely Ted worked himself up until he could release his foot
+from the stirrup. Then, with a sudden wrench that almost pulled Stella
+to the ground, he was again on top. With a kick he sent the saddle to
+the ground, and was riding bareback, while the brute stumbled and
+almost went to his knees as the saddle fell between his legs.
+
+But now Ted took charge of the situation. With quirt and spur he drove
+the beast here and there, punishing it, giving it no rest, allowing it
+to do nothing in its own way until it staggered and heaved and swayed
+with fatigue and lack of breath, and yet he urged it.
+
+"He'll kill that horse yet," said Billy Sudden.
+
+"No, he knows what that horse will stand, and he's going to make him
+stand it," said Bud.
+
+The people had never seen such riding as this, and when they realized
+that Ted had conquered the stallion and was now rubbing it in, they
+shouted until their throats cracked.
+
+At last the horse could go no farther, and Ted let it stop, as he
+slipped to the ground and gave the brute a slap with his hand.
+
+"I reckon you'll know better next time, old fellow," was all he said,
+and walked to where his saddle was lying.
+
+As he picked it up, he was seen to stop and look at the cinch carefully,
+then hurry to where the boys were awaiting him.
+
+"Fellows," he said solemnly, throwing the saddle on the ground, "that
+cinch did not break, it was cut."
+
+A dozen of the boys leaped to the ground and examined the cinch.
+
+It was true. The cinch had been cut almost through with a sharp knife,
+and the strain upon it had parted it. There could be no doubt as to what
+had been intended.
+
+As Stella came riding up, she shouted:
+
+"The cinch was cut. I saw it. Wiley Creviss did it. I didn't realize at
+the time what he was doing or know that it was Ted's saddle, and when I
+did find out, he was mounted and away."
+
+A howl of indignation went up at this.
+
+"Scatter out, boys, and round up Creviss," shouted Billy Sudden. "We
+know what to do with him when he's caught."
+
+Ted's adventure with Lucifer ended the performances in the arena, and,
+as the balloon was inflated and ready to ascend, the people flocked to
+where it was straining at the ropes.
+
+Ted had mounted Sultan again, and left the arena surrounded by Stella
+and the boys.
+
+"Who's going up in her?" asked Ted.
+
+"Ben Robinson, the boss," answered Ben.
+
+"Do you know who he is?" asked Ted.
+
+Ben stared at him without replying.
+
+"I'll tell you," said Ted. "He's Skip Riley, thief and ex-convict, the
+leader of the Flying Demons. He is the man who caused us to lose our
+money last night, and who engineered all the mysterious robberies
+hereabouts. Do you reckon he intends to come back?"
+
+Ben's eyes started from their sockets in surprise.
+
+"I--I don't know," he stammered. "By Jove! we must stop him. Maybe he's
+going to skip."
+
+The boys had crowded about Ted as he spoke.
+
+"We'll have to hurry if we get him," shouted Ben. "He's in the basket
+now."
+
+With shouts of warning Ted and the boys pushed their horses through the
+crowd, which rushed aside to let them through.
+
+They could see Skip Riley lift a large tin box into the basket from the
+ground. As he was getting ready to start there was a shrill cry, and the
+midget came waddling through the crowd and climbed over the side of the
+car and up Riley's body until it clung to his shoulder like a monkey. A
+great many of the thoughtless laughed at this. They did not understand
+the significance of the move.
+
+"Get ready to cut her loose," shouted Riley.
+
+Two or three men stood by with sharp knives in their hands.
+
+Riley saw Ted and the boys pushing rapidly through the crowd.
+
+"Cut her loose!" shouted Riley, and the balloon shot upward, amid the
+shouts of the people.
+
+"Too late,'" said Ben.
+
+"Not yet," cried Ted, spurring through the crowd.
+
+A long guide rope was dragging from the car of the balloon.
+
+"Follow me, Bud. The balance of you catch Creviss and the rest of them.
+I'm going with Riley."
+
+Before they knew exactly what he meant, Ted grasped the guide rope as it
+passed over his head, and was swung out of the saddle and dangled in the
+air, to the horror of the people, who expected to see him fall and be
+dashed to pieces at any minute, for the balloon had shot up rapidly and
+was now several hundred feet above the ground.
+
+But Riley, looking over the country and taking account of the direction
+in which the balloon was traveling, was unaware that he had taken on
+another passenger.
+
+Hand over hand Ted climbed steadily, until at last he reached the car
+and looked over the edge of it.
+
+Riley's back was toward him, and noiselessly Ted slipped over the side
+and into the basket.
+
+Then the midget happened to turn his head, and saw Ted and uttered a
+frightened cry, which brought Riley around so that he found himself
+looking into the cold, dark bore of Ted's forty-four.
+
+"Got you!" said Ted coolly.
+
+"How did you get here?" said Riley, trying to smile. "If I'd known that
+you wanted to come I'd have waited for you."
+
+"I don't think," said Ted. "But now we'll go down."
+
+"No, I've got to give the people a run for their money. We must go a
+little farther."
+
+"I said we'd go down."
+
+"But we can't until the gas gets cool and exhausts. I have no escape
+valve."
+
+"Then I'll shoot a hole in the bag. I guess we'll go down then."
+
+"For Heaven's sake, don't do that! You'd blow us all to pieces."
+
+"Then down with her. I mean what I say."
+
+Riley looked at Ted for a moment, then pulled a string. There followed a
+hissing noise, and the balloon began to sink, slowly at first, then more
+rapidly.
+
+Ted did not dare take his eyes off Riley to see how close they were to
+the ground. But he heard the Moon Valley long yell, and knew that they
+were near the earth, and that Bud Morgan was not far away.
+
+Suddenly the car bumped on the ground, bounced and struck again, then
+stopped, and Ted heard Bud's cheerful voice right behind him.
+
+"Jumpin' sand hills, so yer got him, eh? Come, climb out," said Bud to
+Riley, "we need yer on terry firmy."
+
+"Cover him, Bud, while I search him. If he makes a break, kill him. He's
+an ex-convict, so don't take any chances with him," said Ted.
+
+Riley yielded up a gun and a knife and then he was hustled out of the
+car, with the midget still clinging to him, and Ted took charge of the
+tin box.
+
+Billy Sudden and some of his men had come up, and so had Ben and Kit,
+and Riley was conducted back to the ranch house strongly guarded.
+
+Once inside with their prisoners and the boys, Ted closed the doors on
+the curious crowd. The first thing he did was to open the tin box. On
+top were the packages of bills stolen from the cubby-hole, and beneath
+it a large amount of money and the bonds taken from the Strongburg
+Trust Company, as well as registered letters from which the money had
+not yet been extracted, and a large amount of brand-new treasury notes
+which answered the description of the government funds stolen from
+Creviss' bank.
+
+"It's all here," said Ted, "and the evidence is complete."
+
+"But how did he manage to do it without leaving a mark or a broken lock
+behind him?" asked Ben.
+
+"How? By means of this," and Ted placed his hand on the head of the
+midget, who shrank from him with a snarling cry.
+
+"Still I don't understand it."
+
+"The day I saw him in the Creviss bank he marched out with the plunder
+under my very eyes. The day before the robbery this fellow went into the
+bank with the dwarf in his valise. Wiley Creviss was alone. The valise
+was opened, and the dwarf slipped out of the valise and into the vault,
+and concealed himself.
+
+"During the night the dwarf collected all the money and bonds he could,
+and made himself comfortable. When it came time for the bank to open in
+the morning he again concealed himself, and remained in hiding until
+noon, when Wiley Creviss again came on watch while the cashier went to
+dinner. Then Riley, here, entered with his valise, and the dwarf crept
+into it, and was carried out of the bank with the money."
+
+"But what had the midget to do with the theft of our money?"
+
+"That's simple. Farley and the dwarf were to do the job. The dwarf was
+sent up to the roof, for he can climb like a monkey, and came down the
+chimney and opened the door for Farley. That was a mistake, for they
+would not have been caught, except for Farley."
+
+"How did they know where you hid the money?"
+
+"The dwarf saw us through the window, and Kit saw him, but I thought it
+was all imagination. That was how they robbed the post office. The dwarf
+was lowered down the chimney. That is about the size of it. Am I
+correct, Riley?"
+
+"Correct enough, so far as I'm concerned. I guess it's back to 'the
+stir' for me. But this midget didn't know what he was doing, and ought
+to be sent to an asylum instead of the prison," said Riley.
+
+At that moment there was a great commotion without, and a crowd of
+cowboys rode up. In the center of the circle made by them was Wiley
+Creviss and several of his gang. In all, with Riley and the dwarf, there
+were eight of them in custody, and without ado they were hurried to the
+Strongburg jail.
+
+The United States marshal was in Strongburg when Ted came in with his
+prisoners.
+
+"What is all this, Strong?" asked the marshal.
+
+"That bank-robbing gang you ordered me to bring in," answered Ted.
+
+"You made quick work of it. Get any of the money?"
+
+"All of it. It is in the Strongburg bank. You see, they made the mistake
+of robbing us last night. But for that they would have got away, and we
+would have had a hard time catching them. As it was, they walked right
+in to us."
+
+Skip Riley went back to the penitentiary for a long term of years, and
+the midget was sent to an asylum for the feeble-minded.
+
+Jack Farley turned State's evidence, and Creviss and ten other young
+reprobates were sent to a reformatory.
+
+As for Lucifer, he turned out, next to Sultan and Custer, the best horse
+on the ranch.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE ANONYMOUS LETTER.
+
+
+A very short time after the capture of Skip Riley, Ted Strong was
+standing in the waiting room of the Union Station at St. Louis, the
+metropolis of Missouri, whither he had been summoned by a letter from
+the chief of the United States secret service.
+
+He was waiting for Bud Morgan, who had gone to the baggage room to
+inquire about a trunk which had become lost on the way from Moon Valley,
+and which contained a number of valuable papers, including both their
+commissions as deputy United States marshals.
+
+The enormous waiting room was crowded with passengers from the incoming
+trains, with which the numerous tracks were full from end to end.
+
+As Ted Strong leaned over the iron railing, looking down into the lower
+waiting room, he was conscious that a woman had stepped to his side.
+Glancing up sideways, he saw that close to him was a very beautiful
+young girl, who wore a traveling cloak of pearl gray, and a long feather
+boa, which the draft had blown across his sleeve.
+
+His glance intercepted one from her, and not wishing her to think that
+he was idly staring at her, he directed his gaze once more to the
+surging crowd below. As his eyes wandered over the throng, he saw a man
+look up, and make the most imperceptible gesture with his head.
+
+He did not know the man. Turning swiftly to the young lady at his side,
+he caught sight of a smile and a slight uplifting of her eyebrows.
+
+Undoubtedly a signal had passed between the two, and Ted, not wishing
+to be an eavesdropper, looked away again. But in the swift glance he had
+given the young girl--for now he saw that she was little else--he made a
+mental note of her. The gray eyes with the long, dark lashes, the oval
+face, beautiful in shape and of an ivory tint; the scarlet, curving
+lips, the slender, trim figure, and the strange, subtle perfume which
+she exhaled, one would never forget.
+
+He also noted the appearance of the man who had signaled the girl.
+
+The man was five feet seven inches in height; his face was well rounded,
+but not too fat. He had a brown, pointed beard; the eyes were pale,
+almost colorless; the forehead, broad and high, a fact which Ted noted
+when the man lifted his hat to wipe his brow. He had the air of a
+well-bred man of the world, and was probably a resident of New York.
+There was something familiar about the man that made Ted think that he
+had seen him before.
+
+Ted saw Bud come through the door into the waiting room from the midway
+of the station, look up and wave his hand, with a frown and a shake of
+the head that told him his pard's quest for the missing baggage had been
+fruitless.
+
+At the same time, the girl at his side seemed to bump into him, and as
+he turned to her she muttered an apology and hurried away. Although he
+followed her with his eyes a few moments, she was soon lost in the
+crowd.
+
+He slipped his hands into the pockets of his jacket, and, with his back
+to the railing, prepared to wait until Bud reached him.
+
+As his left hand sank into his pocket, his fingers came in contact with
+a piece of paper.
+
+He knew that he had not placed the paper in his pocket, and glanced
+around with his usual caution to see if any one was watching him. He saw
+that wonderful pair of gray eyes with the dark lashes--Irish eyes, he
+called them--watching him over the shoulders of a man a dozen feet away
+in the crowd. But the moment the woman realized that she was being
+observed, she disappeared.
+
+"Deuced strange," he muttered to himself, fumbling with the paper, which
+he had not withdrawn from his pocket. "That girl placed this paper in my
+pocket. I wonder why. There is something out of the way here, for the
+paper was not there before she stood beside me."
+
+One less wise than Ted, and not so modest, might have thought that the
+girl was trying to flirt with him. But to Ted there was something more
+important and mysterious than that in her actions.
+
+If he read them aright, she had placed the paper in his pocket when she
+apparently accidentally bumped into him, and had gone away only to come
+back to see if he had discovered it.
+
+Although he searched the crowd with eager eyes, he did not see her
+again, and was confident that she had disappeared as soon as she had
+accomplished her mission, which was to convey some message to him.
+
+Although he was somewhat curious to know what, if anything, was written
+on the paper, he restrained himself until he could be alone, for he did
+not know who might be in that crowd looking for just such a move on his
+part.
+
+Just then Bud brushed his way through the crowd and came up to Ted.
+
+"Them things ain't come yit," he said, in a tone of discontent, "an' me
+stranded in St. Looey with no more clean shirt than a rabbit."
+
+"You can easily get a clean shirt," said Ted, "but it's not so easy to
+get a new commission. That's what's worrying me, for there is no
+telling how soon we may need one."
+
+"Well, let's git out o' this mob, er I'll begin ter beller an' mill, an'
+if they don't git out o' my way I'll cause sech a stampede thet it'll
+take ther police all day ter round 'em up ag'in."
+
+Ted said nothing to Bud about the paper he had discovered in his pocket,
+but picked up his valise. They then made their way to the street and
+rode uptown in a car, where they registered at a quiet hotel.
+
+Ted went immediately to the room assigned to him, locked the door, and
+drew out the paper.
+
+He could not conceive what it would contain, for he was far above the
+vanity of thinking that the young woman who had stood by his side would
+interest herself in him enough to write him a silly note.
+
+"The man with the pointed beard!" thought Ted.
+
+Of course, it was he who had caused the note to be slipped into his
+pocket.
+
+But why?
+
+Taking a chair by the window, he slowly opened the note, observing at
+the time that the same fragrance came from it as had filled the air
+while the girl stood beside him in the station.
+
+It was a sheet of pale-blue letter paper folded three times.
+
+In the upper left-hand corner was an embossed crest, the head of a lion
+rampant, and beneath it a dainty monogram, which he made out to be
+"O. B. N.," or any one of the combinations of those letters. He could
+not tell which combination was the correct one.
+
+The writing was in a fashionable feminine hand, and written with a
+pencil.
+
+It was as follows:
+
+     "T. S.: This is a friendly warning from one who dare not
+     communicate with you personally, for reasons which you will
+     discover and understand later on, if things turn out as we"--the
+     word "we" had been scratched out and "I" written above
+     it--"anticipate. Be very careful while you are in St. Louis. Do not
+     go on the streets alone, and go armed. Your mission is known, and
+     you will be watched by persons who will seek to get you out of the
+     way. We--that is, I, also know of your mission, and take this means
+     of warning you of your danger, as you have done me services in the
+     past without knowing it. Now, the sting of this note lies in this,
+     and don't forget it, don't get into any fights, no matter what the
+     provocation, for I have it straight that that, is the lay to do
+     you. If you do so, not being able to avoid it, shoot straight, and
+     you will come out all right in the end. I will see to that part of
+     it at the right time.
+
+     "A FRIEND."
+
+Ted read the letter through three times, trying to clarify it, but each
+time his mind became more confused over it.
+
+What did it mean, and how could any stranger know his business when he
+had not told a soul about it?
+
+Even Bud did not know why they were in St. Louis; that is, he did not
+know the real reason. Ostensibly, they were there to inspect the local
+horse market.
+
+There was a loud rap on the door, and Ted went to it and unlocked it.
+Throwing the door open, he saw a stranger standing on the threshold,
+just about to step in.
+
+He looked at Ted in apparent surprise, then up at the number on the
+door, but his eyes fell to the letter which Ted still held in his hand,
+and he stared at it like one fascinated.
+
+Ted noticed this, and put the letter behind his back.
+
+As the stranger did not speak, Ted broke the spell by saying, in a
+sarcastic tone:
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Oh, I beg your pardon," said the stranger hastily, "but isn't Mr. Fowle
+in? I expected him to come to the door, and was surprised to see you,
+don't you know."
+
+"I don't know any Mr. Fowle," said Ted, with a smile that must have told
+the stranger that he was not taken in by the question.
+
+The fellow threw a quick glance around the room, but did not retreat
+from his place in the doorway.
+
+Ted was starting to shut the door, considering the incident closed, when
+the stranger, who was a large, powerful man, well dressed and with the
+air of a prosperous business man, started to enter.
+
+"This is not Mr. Fowle's room; it is mine," said Ted, blocking the way,
+
+"I'll just step in and wait for him," said the man. "The clerk
+downstairs said it was his room."
+
+"Wait a minute," said Ted sternly. "I don't know you, and I don't know
+Fowle. If you have any business with me, state it from the hall."
+
+The warning in the letter flashed through his mind.
+
+Suddenly the man sprang upon Ted, and they fell to the floor together.
+
+"Give me that letter, curse you!" hissed the man, "I saw you get it, and
+I saw it just now. Give it to me, I tell you."
+
+Ted had managed to put the letter back into his pocket. His right arm
+was twisted under his body, and he could not release it.
+
+He looked up into the face of the man, who was straddling his body, and
+saw a gleam of malignant hatred in his eyes.
+
+"Let me up, you cur," said Ted.
+
+"After I get the letter," was the reply.
+
+"It's a private letter, and not for you. Let me up!"
+
+Now Ted saw that the man had a knife in his hand--a long, keen knife,
+with a pearl hilt and a silver guard.
+
+"If you don't give me that letter at once, you'll not get another
+chance, but I'll have it," snarled the man.
+
+Ted began to struggle, but he soon saw that he could do nothing with one
+arm out of commission. The man was not only powerful, but heavy, and it
+was all Ted could do to more than wriggle his body.
+
+"I tell you you shan't have it," said Ted.
+
+The knife went above the man's head, and in the wielder's face was a
+look of the most diabolical hatred Ted had ever seen in a human
+countenance.
+
+"For the last time," said the man hoarsely.
+
+There was something about the fellow's actions that told Ted he was
+desperate, yet at the same time afraid of the act he was about to
+commit.
+
+The knife was about to descend when Ted cried out an alarm, the first he
+had sounded.
+
+He heard some one running in the hall. His assailant heard it, also, and
+hesitated, looking around with frightened eyes.
+
+"Yi-yipee!" It was Bud's voice, and Ted breathed a prayer of
+thankfulness.
+
+"I'll give it to you, anyhow," muttered the man, and again the knife
+went up in the air.
+
+But it did not make a strike, for at that moment Bud bounded into the
+room, and, taking in the situation with a lightning glance, his foot
+flew out, and the toe of his heavy boot struck the man on top of Ted
+fairly in the ribs. There was a cracking sound, and with a groan the
+fellow dropped the knife and struggled to his feet.
+
+Rushing at Bud, he bowled that doughty individual over like a tenpin,
+and dashed into the hall, along which he ran swiftly and lightly, for
+so large a man.
+
+When Bud had picked himself up and run to the stairway, he could hear
+the fellow clattering down the stairs three flights below.
+
+"Well, dash my hopes," said Bud, "if he didn't get clear away. He shore
+treated me like a leetle boy. But I reckon he's in sech a hurry because
+he's on his way ter a drug store fer a porious plaster fer them ribs o'
+hisn."
+
+Ted had picked himself up and was rubbing his arm, which had been
+strained by his falling on it.
+
+"What's this yere all erbout?" asked Bud. "I'm comin' up ter call on yer
+when I hears yer blat, an' I come runnin', an' what do I see? A large,
+pale stranger erbout ter explore yer system with er bowie. Yer mixin' in
+sassiety quicker'n usual, seems ter me."
+
+Ted had picked up the knife, which had fallen beneath the bed, and was
+looking at it.
+
+"I wonder where this came from," he said, turning it over in his hand.
+
+"Wherever it came from, it's a wicked-lookin' cuss," said Bud. "But what
+wuz ther feller goin' ter explore yer with it fer?"
+
+"This letter," said Ted, taking the crumpled paper from his pocket and
+handing it to Bud.
+
+"Jumpin' sand hills, ther plot thickens," said Bud, when he had finished
+reading it. "I don't seem ter be in it at all. What's it all erbout?
+Ye've got my coco whirlin' shore."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE ABANDONED MOTOR CAR.
+
+
+"I'll tell you," said Ted, "if you'll take a seat and keep quiet until I
+get the thing straightened out in my own mind, for the incidents of the
+past hour certainly have got me going."
+
+Bud sat down and waited patiently for Ted, who was thinking deeply.
+
+"I didn't tell you the precise object of our visit to St. Louis," began
+Ted, "not because I didn't trust your ability to keep a secret, but in
+order to keep every one else in the dark."
+
+"D'yer mean ter say that ye hev stalled me along ter this town ter give
+me a leetle airin', an' not ter sell hosses?" asked Bud indignantly.
+
+"Not exactly. I want to sell the horses for the top price, but there was
+something else behind it."
+
+"A large man astraddle o' ye with a keen an' bitin' bowie at yer throat.
+Yer must be hard up fer amoosement."
+
+"Not that, either," said Ted, laughing. "I manage to get all the
+amusement that's coming to me."
+
+"I'm still gropin' fer enlightenment."
+
+"Here goes, then. For a couple of months the trains on the Union
+Pacific, in Nebraska and Wyoming, have been running the gantlet between
+bands of train robbers. If a train missed being robbed at one place, it
+was almost sure to get it at another, especially if it carried wealth of
+any description."
+
+"But ther railroads is erbout ther biggest chumps ter stand fer all this
+monkeydoodle business o' train robbin' ez long ez they hev. Why don't
+they get inter ther exterminatin' business, an' clean up ther last o'
+them?"
+
+"Too busy making money, I guess. But this time it is not the railroads
+who are going after them."
+
+"Who is it, me an' you?"
+
+"Almost. By orders of the government."
+
+"That's more like it. I don't hev no love fer a train robber, fer all I
+ever come in contact with wuz a bunch o' cowardly murderers, who fight
+like rats when they're cornered, an' kill innercent express messengers
+fer amoosement er devilment. But if Uncle Sammy sez so, an' needs my
+help, he's got it right swift an' willin'."
+
+"Well, he seems to need it, for just before we left Moon Valley I
+received a letter from the United States secret service, telling me
+about the robberies, of which I had heard something, but not much, as
+they have been kept away from the newspapers as much as possible."
+
+"Hev there been so many of them?"
+
+"As I tell you, they have been so numerous as to lead one to believe
+that there was a chain of train robbers clear across the continent, and
+strong and capable robbers they have proved themselves to be."
+
+"Did they git much?"
+
+"They have got away with a vast amount of money belonging to
+individuals. They seem to have had information in advance of all the big
+shipments of treasure leaving San Francisco and Carson City, Nevada, as
+well as of private shipments."
+
+"Wise Injuns, eh?"
+
+"I should say so. They have even been able to spot shipments of United
+States gold en route from the mints in Frisco and Carson to Washington,
+and in two instances have got away with it."
+
+"Wow! There's where your Uncle Samuel reaches out his long arms and
+takes a hand in the game. How much did they get away with?"
+
+"The chief did not say. That is not for us to know, I guess, or he
+doesn't think it will make any difference with us in our enthusiasm for
+our work of running down and capturing that gang, or gangs, as the ease
+may be."
+
+"But it wouldn't do a feller no harm ter know. I'd feel a heap more
+skittish if I wuz runnin' after a million than if it wuz thirty cents."
+
+"There's something in that, but we won't let it interfere with the
+performance of our duty."
+
+"How does the chief put it up to us?"
+
+"He tells the facts briefly, and says: 'Go and get the robbers.'"
+
+"That's short an' ter ther p'int. Anything else?"
+
+"He says that the worst bunch of train robbers in ten years has been
+organized, with men operating on various railroads, and that from past
+performances it would seem that they had inside and powerful friends who
+were keeping them informed as to what trains to rob. In other words, the
+thing seems to be a syndicate of robbers operated and directed from a
+central point by men of brains and resource."
+
+"An' whar's ther central p'int?"
+
+"St. Louis."
+
+"Ah, I begins ter smell a mice. So yer gradooly led up ter this place,
+pretendin' ter sell hosses, eh?"
+
+"No; we'll kill two birds with one stone. We'll sell the horses if we
+can get our price for them, and it will be an excellent cloak to hide
+our real purpose, which is to try to get next to the headquarters of the
+train robbers."
+
+"Good idee. But how aire yer goin' ter go erbout it?"
+
+"To tell you the truth, I haven't an idea. We will have to do our own
+scouting. If the chief knew, it is not likely that he would employ us to
+find out."
+
+"Thet's so. Well, let's be on ther scout."
+
+"We'll still pose as ranchers with pony stock to sell, and let folks
+know it. We'll go over to the stockyards right now."
+
+"All right, but the stunt is ter keep our eyes peeled fer ther
+train-robber syndicate's office."
+
+"That's it. One never can tell when he will run onto just the thing he's
+looking for when he least expects it."
+
+"We're being shadowed," said Ted, a short time after they had left their
+hotel and were walking through the streets toward the bridge that spans
+the Mississippi River to East St. Louis.
+
+"How d'yer know?" asked Bud, sending a cautious eye around.
+
+"See that fellow with the checked suit, on the opposite side of the
+street?"
+
+"Uh-huh!"
+
+"He's on our trail. Don't give him a hint that we're on to him, and if
+he chases us all day he'll see that we are what we represent ourselves
+to be, just plain cow-punchers."
+
+"I'm on."
+
+The man in the checked suit got on the same trolley car with them at the
+bridge, and while they were walking through the stockyards they saw him
+frequently, not always in evidence, but always somewhere in their
+vicinity.
+
+They visited the offices of the commission merchants who dealt in
+horseflesh, and got their prices for the sort of stock the boys had to
+sell, and before the day was over they had disposed of six carloads of
+horses for immediate delivery.
+
+While they were talking the deal over with the purchaser, they noticed
+that the man in the checked suit hovered around, and Ted purposely
+permitted him to overhear part of the conversation about the delivery of
+the ponies.
+
+Ted then sent a telegram to Kit Summers, informing him of the sale, and
+telling him to select the sort of horses from the herds that were
+wanted, and to come through with them, bringing a sufficient number of
+the boys with him to protect the stock and deliver it.
+
+When the operator took the message and began to send it, Ted noticed
+that the man with the checked suit was leaning against the wall,
+apparently not paying any attention to what was going on. But Ted knew
+by the way he was holding his head that he was a telegraph operator
+also, and that he was reading the message as it went onto the wire.
+
+"Say, Bud, we've had enough of that gentleman for one day, haven't we?"
+
+"I shore hev."
+
+"Then let's give him the slip."
+
+"Easier said than done. Thet thar feller sticks like a leech ter a black
+eye."
+
+"I think we can do it."
+
+"And how?"
+
+"See that automobile over there? In front of that office."
+
+"I see a long, low, rakish craft painted like an Eyetalian sunset. If
+thet is yer means o' communication with ther other side o' ther river,
+oxcuse me."
+
+"Why, what's the matter with that? That's a mighty fine car."
+
+"I reckon it is, but walkin's good ernuf fer me."
+
+"But you'll never walk away from that shadow."
+
+"I'll bet I kin run erway from 'his checkers' before we're halfway ter
+St. Looey, even if I am a cow-puncher, an' muscle bound from straddlin'
+a saddle fer so many years."
+
+"What's the use, when we can run away from him in a gasoline wagon. That
+machine is standing in front of the office of Truax & Wells, and they
+have sold a lot of cattle for us in times past. It wouldn't surprise me
+if the car belonged to one or the other of them, and that if we asked
+for a lift to the other side they would be glad to let us have it."
+
+"All right, if you're so keen on it, tackle 'em. You'll find me game ter
+ride ther ole thing. I've rid everything from a goat ter a huffier, an'
+yer kin bet yer gold-plugged tooth I ain't goin' ter welsh fer no ole
+piece o' machinery."
+
+They entered the office, and were at once greeted by an elderly man, Mr.
+Truax, in a warm manner. After talking over things in general, Ted said:
+
+"That's a fine car of yours out there, Mr. Truax."
+
+"Funny thing about that car," said the commission merchant. "That's not
+my car, and nobody seems to know whose car it is."
+
+"That certainly is strange," said Ted. "How does it come to be standing
+out there?"
+
+"It was this way, and it's a good story, but none of the newspaper boys
+have been in to-day, and so I couldn't give it out: Right back of us
+here is a railroad station. There's an eastbound train through here at
+seven-thirty every morning. She was just pulling into the station this
+morning as I was unlocking the office door, and I heard a chugging
+behind me. I looked up, and here came the car with only one man in it.
+He pulls up short, picks up a bag, which was very heavy, for it was all
+he could do to stagger along with it.
+
+"The bell on the engine was ringing for the start when he runs through
+the arcade there as fast as he could with the heavy bag, and just
+catches the rear of the train as it comes along. He manages to hoist the
+bag onto the rear platform steps, and is running along trying to get on,
+and the train picking up speed with every revolution of the wheels. I
+thought sure he would be left, or killed, for he wouldn't let go, when
+the conductor came out on the rear platform, saw him, and jerked him
+aboard by the collar."
+
+"Didn't he say anything about his machine?" asked Ted.
+
+"Not a word. That's what I thought so strange about it. But, thinks I,
+some one will come for it after a while. Perhaps, thinks I, he was in
+such a hurry to make the train that he left home without a chauffeur,
+who will be along when he wakes up."
+
+"And no one has appeared?"
+
+"There she lays, just as he left her. When my partner came down, I spoke
+to him about it. He's a fan on motoring. That's his car over there; that
+white one. When I spoke to him about it, he went out and looked it over.
+
+"'That car don't belong here,' says he. 'There's no number of the maker
+on it, and everything that would serve to identify it has been taken
+off. Besides, I don't think the license number is on the square.'
+
+"That excited my curiosity, and I called up the license collector's
+office and asked him whose motor car No. 118 was. In a few minutes he
+calls me and says it belongs to Mr. Henry Inchcliffe, the banker. I gets
+Mr. Inchcliffe on the phone and asks him if his car is missing, and he
+says he can look out of the window as he is talking and see it beside
+the curb with his wife sitting in it. 'What is the color of your car?'
+says I. 'Dark green, picked in crimson. Why do you ask?' says he. I
+tells him that an abandoned car is standing in front of our place with
+his number on it. But he says he guesses not, for his number looms up
+like a sore thumb, hanging on the axle of his car in front of the bank,
+and I rings off. That's the story of the car."
+
+"Since it belongs to no one in particular, I've a mind to borrow it, and
+put it in a garage over on the other side. It'll be ruined if it stays
+out here in the weather," said Ted.
+
+"I don't care," said Mr. Truax. "It wasn't left in my care, and I
+haven't got much use for the blamed thing, anyhow. Take it along. If the
+owner comes and proves property, I suppose you'll give it up?"
+
+"Sure thing. I'll telephone you the name and address of the garage where
+I leave it, so that if there is any inquiry for it you may direct
+inquirers there. But I've got a hunch that this car was thrown away,
+having served its purpose."
+
+"Great Scott! that's a valuable thing to throw away."
+
+"Yes, but the man who abandoned it probably thought it a good
+sacrifice."
+
+"How is that?"
+
+"What do you suppose was in that bag he carried?"
+
+"Couldn't say, but it was pretty heavy."
+
+"It would hold a good deal of paper money, wouldn't it?"
+
+"If the bills were of big enough denomination, I should say you could
+pack away a million in it, for it was a powerful big sack."
+
+"Well, suppose the man whom you saw jump out of the car and get aboard
+the train had stolen the car, or even if he had owned it, and had made a
+big haul, and it was contingent upon his getting away with the money
+that he abandon the car."
+
+"That's possible. But there has been no big robbery to cover that part
+of the theory."
+
+"You don't know. There may have been a big robbery, and it has not been
+made public. Not all robberies are reported to the public. If they were,
+there would be slim chance for the authorities to catch the thieves."
+
+"Perhaps so. Say, Mr. Strong, you're a deputy United States marshal,
+ain't you?"
+
+"Yes. Both Mr. Morgan and I are in the government service."
+
+"I've been thinking over what you said about a possible robbery, and
+perhaps you've got it right. I believe you'd better take that car along.
+You might need it as evidence some day."
+
+"That occurred to me."
+
+"Can you run the pesky thing."
+
+"Yes; I learned to run a motor car long ago. It is, like everything else
+a fellow can know, mighty useful to me in my business."
+
+"All right, take her along."
+
+The man in the checked suit was nowhere in sight, but as Ted started up
+the abandoned motor car he came running out of a doorway.
+
+"Hi, there! Come back with that car!" he yelled, running after them in
+the middle of the road. But Ted let her out a couple of links, and in a
+moment the man in checks was out of sight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE LODGING-HOUSE BATTLE.
+
+
+"What aire ye goin' ter do with ther blamed thing, now yer got it?"
+asked Bud, as they sped across the Eads Bridge into St. Louis.
+
+"I haven't made up my mind yet. It certainly doesn't belong in this
+town, and if we use it here we will have to get a local license."
+
+"Jumpin' sand hills, yer not goin' ter run it yere?"
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Whoever owns it is li'ble ter come erlong some day, an--"
+
+"Then I'll give it to him, if he can prove it is his, but I don't think
+it will ever be claimed."
+
+"How's that?"
+
+"Because the owner is a thief, and if he finds it is in the hands of an
+officer he will let it go rather than face an investigation. Besides, I
+need it."
+
+"Ted Strong, aire yer goin' dotty over them derned smell wagons, too?"
+
+"No, I can't say that I am, but if I lived in a town like this, and
+could afford it, you bet I'd have one."
+
+"But where aire yer goin' ter keep it? We shore can't take it up ter our
+room."
+
+"Not exactly," laughed Ted. "You forget that we have friends in this
+man's town."
+
+"Not a whole heap."
+
+"What's the matter with Don Dorrington?"
+
+"By ginger, that's so. Ther young feller what was with us down in Mexico
+when we found ther jewels and things under ther president's palace."
+
+"Yes, and we're heading right for his house now."
+
+"What fer? Goin' ter try ter git him inter trouble, too?"
+
+Ted piloted the machine through the thronged downtown streets, and
+coming at last to Pine Street Boulevard, he let her out, and went
+skimming over the smooth pavement until he came to Newstead Avenue, and
+was ringing the bell of Don Dorrington's flat before the astonished Bud
+could recover his breath from the swift ride.
+
+Dorrington himself came to the door, having looked through the window
+and seen Ted arrive.
+
+"Well, by all that's glorious," exclaimed Don, as he grasped Ted by the
+hand. "Where are you from, and why? Hello, Bud, you old rascal! Get out
+of that car and come in. Where did you get the bubble?"
+
+Ted and Bud entered the house and were taken into Don's workroom, where
+he was soon put in possession of the facts concerning the motor car,
+although Ted said nothing about the real object of his visit lo St.
+Louis.
+
+"Well, what can I do for you?" asked Don.
+
+"Have you a place where I can store this car for a while?" asked Ted.
+
+"I sure have," said Don. "You can run it right into the basement from
+the back yard. When these flats were built it was intended that the
+basement be used as a garage, but so far none of the tenants have shown
+a disposition to get rich enough to buy one. No one will be able to get
+the machine out of there,"
+
+"That's the only thing I fear," said Ted. "It's a cinch that the owner,
+if he is a thief who has escaped with a pot of money, as I strongly
+suspect, will have his pals try to get it back. And I don't want them to
+get it until I have used it to try to trace them."
+
+"I'll bet a cooky ther feller with ther checked suit wuz after ther
+machine himself," said Bud. "When we eloped with it he came holler in'
+after us ter bring it back, but we gave him the glazed look an' left him
+fannin' ther air in our wake."
+
+The boys rolled the motor car into the basement, which was securely
+locked. Then Ted and Bud returned to town on a street car.
+
+As they got closer to the downtown section, they could hear the shouts
+of the newsboys announcing an "extra" newspaper in all the varieties of
+pronunciation of that word as it issues from the mouths of city
+"newsies."
+
+"Wonder what the 'extra' is all about?" said Ted.
+
+"Oh, same old thing, I reckon," said Bud. "'All erbout ther turribul
+disaster.' An' when yer buys a paper yer see in big letters at ther top,
+'Man Kills,' and down below it, 'Mother-in-law!' But in little type
+between them yer read ther follerin', to wit, 'Cat to spite.' I've been
+stung by them things before."
+
+"I'm going to buy one, anyway," laughed Ted. "I don't mind being stung
+for a cent."
+
+He beckoned to a newsboy, bought a paper, and opened it.
+
+"What's this?" he almost shouted.
+
+Great black letters sprawled across the top of the page.
+
+"Express Messenger Found Dead," was the first line, and below it was the
+confirmation of Ted's belief that a great robbery had taken place. It
+was "Forty Thousand Dollars Taken from the Safe."
+
+"There's the owner of the abandoned automobile, the fellow who boarded
+the train with the heavy grip," said Ted to Bud, who was staring over
+his shoulder.
+
+The article following the startling headlines told the circumstances of
+the robbery.
+
+The train that entered the Union Station at six o'clock that morning had
+been robbed in some mysterious manner between a junction a short
+distance out of St. Louis, where the express messenger had been seen
+alive by a fellow messenger in another car. When the car was opened in
+the station, after being switched to the express track, the messenger
+was found lying on the floor of the car with a bullet through his head.
+The safe had been blown open and its contents rifled.
+
+The express company had kept silent about the murder and robbery until
+late in the day, when the body of the messenger was found by a reporter
+in an undertaker's establishment.
+
+As for the other details, a policeman at the Union Station said that he
+had noticed a man come out of the waiting room carrying a grip that
+seemed more than ordinarily heavy. A red motor car was waiting outside
+the station, and the man got into it and drove away at a fast pace. The
+policeman had not noticed the number on the car.
+
+How the robber and murderer got into the express car was a mystery, as
+the car was locked when it was switched into the express track, and
+there were no marks of a violent entry on the outside of the car.
+
+"What aire yer goin' ter do erbout it?" asked Bud. "Aire yer goin' ter
+turn over ther motor car an' give yer infermation ter ther police?"
+
+"Not on your life," answered Ted. "At least, not yet. I'm going to work
+on it a bit myself first."
+
+"But won't Mr. Truax tip it off?"
+
+"I'll warn him not to."
+
+"But how erbout ther feller in ther check suit what wuz so kind an'
+attentive ter us?"
+
+"He's hiding out, now that the robbery has become public. I'm not afraid
+of him."
+
+"What's ther first move?"
+
+"Locate and identify the car."
+
+Ted called Mr. Truax up on the telephone. The commission merchant had
+read about the express robbery, and had connected the man in the red car
+with it, but promised to say nothing about it until Ted had had an
+opportunity to unravel the mystery.
+
+Ted lay awake a long time that night thinking the matter over, and in
+the morning awoke with a plan in his mind.
+
+"Well, hev yer determined what ter do erbout ther red car?" asked Bud at
+the breakfast table. "I'm shore gittin' sore at myself fer a loafer,
+sittin' eround here doin' nothin' but eat an' look at ther things in
+ther stores what I can't buy."
+
+"I've got a scheme that I'm going to try," answered Ted.
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"I'm going to run that car all over this town until I get some of the
+train-robbing syndicate anxious about it and to following it. Then I'm
+going to get on to their place of doing business and their methods."
+
+"Wish yer luck," was Bud's cheerless comment.
+
+Bud had been out wandering restlessly around the streets all morning,
+and Ted was writing letters. When he got through he thought about the
+missing trunk, and concluded that he would go to the Union Station to
+see if it had been received.
+
+The words of warning in the note not to go on the street alone were
+clear in his memory; but this he took to mean at night, for in a crowded
+street in the daytime he could see no danger.
+
+After he had waited an hour or more for Bud, and the yellow-haired
+cow-puncher had not returned, Ted decided to delay no longer, and
+started off at a brisk walk for the station, which was six or seven
+blocks distant.
+
+His hotel being on Pine Street, he chose that for his route.
+
+He had walked three blocks when he stopped to watch a man who was
+slightly in advance of him.
+
+It was the fellow he had seen in the checked suit.
+
+He had just come out of a saloon.
+
+In the middle of the block he stopped to talk with another man, who
+looked as if he worked on the railroad, and Ted loitered in a doorway
+until the two separated, and the man in the checked suit continued on
+his way.
+
+A block farther on Ted observed two men standing on the corner talking.
+A policeman stood on the opposite corner.
+
+The two men on the corner Ted knew instantly for "plain-clothes men," as
+the headquarters detectives are called.
+
+He was well aware that the police by this time were on the alert to find
+the express robber and murderer, and knew that every available man on
+the city detective force was on the watch, like a cat at a rat hole.
+
+To capture the train robber meant a reward and promotion.
+
+Ted stood on the corner opposite the detectives and watched proceedings.
+
+When the man in the checked suit had gone about ten paces beyond the
+detectives, one of them started after him, and the other signaled the
+policeman in uniform to cross over.
+
+The detective called to the man in the check suit to halt, but instead
+of obeying he started to run.
+
+But he had not gone more than ten feet when he was seized by the
+detective, and was dragged back to the corner.
+
+"Take him to the box, Casey," said the detective, turning his prisoner
+over to the policeman.
+
+At that moment the two detectives were joined by a third, and they
+entered into an earnest conversation, drawn closely together and looking
+over their shoulders occasionally in the direction of the house into
+which the man in the checked suit was about to enter when arrested.
+
+"I have stumbled right into it," said Ted to himself. "The check-suit
+man is the spy for the train robbers, and their headquarters are in that
+house. The detectives are going to raid it, and I'm in on it. This
+certainly is lucky."
+
+He was glad now that he had not waited for Bud.
+
+The three detectives moved slowly down the street, The policeman stood
+on the corner holding his man, waiting for the patrol wagon.
+
+The scene was vividly impressed on Ted's mind, for it had happened so
+quickly, so easily, so quietly, and not at all like his own strenuous
+times when he had gone after desperadoes in his capacity of deputy
+marshal.
+
+The detectives did not notice that they were being followed by a youth,
+and it is doubtful if they would have paid any attention to him if they
+had.
+
+The foot of the first detective was on the lower step of the stairway
+leading to the door of the suspected house when suddenly a shrill
+whistle cut the air from the direction of the corner, and Ted turned to
+see the policeman strike the man in the check suit a blow with his club.
+
+"Curse him, he's tipped us off," said the detective. "Come on, we've got
+to rush them now."
+
+Quickly the three sprang up the steps, threw the door open, and entered
+a long hall.
+
+"Back room," said one.
+
+Ted was following them as closely as he could without being noticed and
+warned away.
+
+He saw a big, fine-looking policeman entering by a back door.
+
+"That's it," said one of the detectives, motioning to a door.
+
+The policeman walked boldly to the door and threw it open.
+
+As he did so a shot rang out, and the policeman staggered back and
+fell, a crimson stain covering his face.
+
+He was dead before he struck the floor.
+
+Without a word, the three detectives ran to the door, and within a
+moment or two at least fifteen shots were fired within the room.
+
+They were so many and so close together that it sounded like a single
+crash. Then there was silence for a few moments, followed by a few
+desultory shots which seemed to pop viciously after the crash that had
+gone before.
+
+It all happened so suddenly that Ted had hardly time to think, and stood
+rooted to the spot until he was aroused by the cry of "Help!" in a
+feeble voice, and, drawing his revolver, he sprang into the room.
+
+As he did so, a shot rang out, and a ball sped close to his head.
+
+The room was so dense with suffocating powder smoke that he could not
+see across it, but he had seen the dull-red flash from the muzzle of a
+revolver and shot in that direction.
+
+"I'm done," he heard, followed by a deep groan.
+
+"Get me out of here," said a man, trying to struggle to his feet, and
+Ted hurried to his side. It was one of the detectives, and Ted helped
+him to his feet and supported him to the hall.
+
+"Let me down. I've got mine. Go in and help Dunnigan," said the wounded
+man. There was a spot, red and ever widening, on his breast.
+
+Ted laid him on the floor and reëntered the room. Another shot came in
+his direction, and missed, although he could feel the wind of it as it
+passed close to his head, and he returned it with two shots, and there
+was silence.
+
+The smoke had by this time cleared away somewhat, and Ted saw five men
+lying prone in the room.
+
+One of the detectives lay on his face across the bed, and Ted tried to
+raise him up, but he was a dead weight. Ted finally got him turned over
+on his back, and then he saw that the detective was dead.
+
+Kneeling on the floor with his head in his arms, which were thrown
+across a chair, was the third detective. He was breathing hard, and
+every time he moved the blood gushed from his mouth. He had been shot
+through the stomach.
+
+But on the other side of the bed lay three men, apparently all of them
+dead.
+
+While he was observing this there was a commotion in the hall, and a
+policeman rushed in, followed by a large man who wore an authoritative
+air.
+
+"Oh, this is too bad; this is too bad," he kept repeating, as he went
+from man to man. It was Chief of Detectives Desmond. Turning to the
+policeman, he said:
+
+"They've killed the boys, but the boys got the whole gang except two,
+'Checkers' out there, and a man in the red automobile."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE MAN IN THE YELLOW CAR.
+
+
+A patrol wagon full of policemen had dashed up in front of the house,
+and they came running down the hall, followed by a horde of eager
+reporters, who stood aghast at the slaughter of a few minutes.
+
+The only participant in the fight who could talk was the detective whom
+Ted had carried to the hall, and he was telling the chief of detectives
+in whispers what had occurred.
+
+"That young fellow followed us in," he said, pointing to Ted. "He took
+me out, and then went in and finished the gang. He's a game one, he is.
+I don't know who he is, but, by Jove! he's a game un."
+
+"Who were the gang?" asked the chief.
+
+"'Big Bill' Minnis, 'Bull' Dorgan, and 'Feathers' Lavin," was the reply.
+"Checkers we caught on the corner, and the other member of the gang,
+Dude Wilcox, got away. I guess it was him that rode off with the swag in
+the automobile, but where he went we couldn't get."
+
+"I can tell you about that," said Ted quietly to the chief.
+
+Desmond looked up at him curiously.
+
+"Not now," he said. "Don't go. I want to talk to you after a while. Now,
+brace up, Tom; you're going to come out all right. The ambulance is out
+here, and we'll get you to the hospital."
+
+"It ain't no use to jolly me, chief," said the man on the floor. "I'm
+all in. I'm bleedin' inside. I've seen too many fellows with a shot like
+this ever to have any hopes. Send for my wife and a priest. I ain't
+afraid to go, chief, but I hate to leave Maggie like this."
+
+"We'll take care of her, Tom. Get that off your mind."
+
+"All right, chief. If you say so, I know it'll be all right. Poor girl,
+it's hard luck for her."
+
+"That's right, Tom, but brace up and don't let her see that you're
+worried."
+
+A woman's scream sounded through the hall, and a slender, girlish figure
+pushed its way toward the prostrate man.
+
+"Tom," she cried, and knelt beside him. "Are you hit? Did they get you
+at last?"
+
+"Oh, I ain't bad, Maggie," said the dying detective bravely. "The
+chief's going to have me sent to the hospital, and I'll be all right in
+a week."
+
+But before midnight he died.
+
+An hour later Ted met the chief of detectives.
+
+"Get into my car," said the chief, "and come down to my office, and
+we'll have a talk."
+
+In a short time they were at the Four Courts, the big central police
+station of St. Louis, and when they were in the chief's private office
+and the door barred to intruders the great detective turned inquiringly
+to Ted.
+
+"Now, who are you, and how did you happen to be mixed up in that mess?"
+asked Desmond.
+
+"My name is Ted Strong," began Ted.
+
+Suddenly Chief Desmond sat up straight and looked at Ted sharply.
+
+"Not the leader of the broncho boys, are you?" he asked.
+
+"The same," said Ted.
+
+"I know about you. What were you doing near those detectives, that you
+should have got in so handily?"
+
+"I'm a deputy United States marshal, as perhaps you know."
+
+Desmond nodded. "Yes, I know," he said.
+
+"I was working on this very case," said Ted, "and I had got hold of one
+end of it, and was about to follow it to a conclusion, when I saw the
+man Checkers on the street, and was following him. He led me to the
+detectives. The minute I saw them and him, I knew there would be
+something doing."
+
+"What did you know of Checkers?"
+
+"Nothing at all, except that he knew somehow that I was working on the
+express-robbery cases, and yesterday he shadowed my partner and me to
+East St. Louis, where we left him behind in an automobile."
+
+Ted then told the chief how he had come about taking possession of the
+red car, to which Desmond listened carefully. When Ted had finished,
+Desmond rose and paced the room for a minute.
+
+"Young man, you've got the big end of the chase," he said. "Dude Wilcox
+is the man who we are positive killed the messenger and got away with
+the swag. If it were you who found out how he got away with it, you will
+have got the last of the gang."
+
+"Is that all there is to it?" asked Ted.
+
+"Lord bless you, no. That's only the bunch that has been working in St.
+Louis. The big end of it is operating from some town farther west.
+There's where Dude Wilcox came from. I don't know where they make their
+headquarters, and it is out of my territory. I have all I can do to take
+care of St. Louis."
+
+"The government officers were of the opinion that St. Louis was
+headquarters."
+
+"That was true up to a few weeks ago, but we made it so hot for them
+here that they emigrated."
+
+"Well, there's no use in my staying here any longer. I might as well
+hike out west. I'm not much good in a big town, anyway. I suppose you'll
+have no trouble in handling Checkers without any word from me."
+
+"Oh, yes. But let's have Checkers up and hear what he has to say for
+himself."
+
+The chief pushed a button and presently an officer entered.
+
+"Go down to the hold-over and bring Checkers to me," ordered the chief.
+
+In less than ten minutes the officer was back again.
+
+"The jailer says he has no such man, chief," was the report.
+
+"Where is he?"
+
+"I'll inquire."
+
+Back he came in a few minutes.
+
+"Casey had him on the corner waiting for the wagon, sir, but in the
+excitement during the fight Casey let go of Checkers for a moment, and
+he got away."
+
+Ted could see that the chief was very angry, but he controlled his
+temper admirably.
+
+"Very well," was all he said.
+
+He turned and gave Ted a sharp look.
+
+"If you stay around here much longer, you'll have to look out for
+Checkers. He's a dangerous man, as well with a knife as with a gun."
+
+"I guess I can take care of him," answered Ted.
+
+"You look as if you could, lad," said the chief.
+
+After a few more minutes of conversation regarding the red motor car,
+during which the chief advised Ted to keep the car until he was through
+with it, Ted took his leave, and returned to the hotel.
+
+There he found Bud pacing the floor.
+
+"Peevish porcupines," grunted the old cow-puncher, "but you've got
+yourself in up to ther neck in printer's ink."
+
+"How's that?" asked Ted.
+
+"Haven't you seen the evening papers?"
+
+"I've been too busy to look at them."
+
+"I reckon you be. Busier than a cranberry merchant. Look at this."
+
+Bud handed Ted a bundle of evening papers.
+
+Of course, the fight between the detectives and the bandits was given an
+immense amount of space in the extras which followed one another rapidly
+from the presses. In all of them were accounts of Ted's going to the
+rescue of the detectives, and the statement that balls from Ted's
+revolver had killed two of the gang.
+
+"Rubbish!" said Ted. "I didn't kill any bandits. I took a couple of
+shots at them after they had fired on me, that's all."
+
+"Well, yer won't be able to get away from these newspaper stories. If
+any of ther gang run across yer, they'll shore go after yer with a hard
+plank. Ye've placed ther black mark on yerself with ther gang."
+
+"All right. I can stand it if they can. I've got a few up my sleeve for
+them."
+
+Then Ted related exactly how the thing happened, and of his talk with
+Desmond.
+
+"And they let that fellow Checkers get away," sighed Ted. "The chief
+says he's the most dangerous of them all, and warned me to look out for
+him. Bud, I've got a hunch."
+
+"Let her flicker. I'm kinder stuck on yer hunches; they pay dividends
+right erlong."
+
+"The fellow in the check suit was the man who tried to stab me because I
+wouldn't let him see the anonymous letter. I don't know which was the
+real man, Checkers or the other. But there were many points of
+similarity between them, and when Checkers called for us to stop the
+automobile, it was the voice of the man who commanded me to give him the
+letter. Keep Checkers in your mind."
+
+The next morning they went out to Don Dorrington's house and got out the
+automobile.
+
+"We'll circulate around pretty well in this," said Ted, "and if
+Checkers is in town he'll spot us, and we may get a chance at him yet."
+
+"What do you want with him?"
+
+"I'm depending on him to lead us to headquarters."
+
+For an hour or more they rode about the town, making the machine as
+conspicuous as possible.
+
+"Bud, we're being followed," said Ted, nodding toward a yellow car that
+had been in evidence oftener than mere chance made possible.
+
+"Yep. I've had him spotted fer some time," answered Bud.
+
+"Why didn't you say something about it?" Ted laughed at Bud's silence.
+
+"Oh, I knew that you were on to it, too," was the characteristic reply.
+
+"What do you suppose he's chasing us for? He must know that he can't
+harm us."
+
+"He don't want us. He wants that red car. It's a beautiful piece of red
+evidence against him an' his gang. Yer see, it's ther best kinder a
+clew."
+
+"Right again. But he needn't think he can steal it, for he can't."
+
+They put the car up during the middle of the day.
+
+"We'll let it rest for a while," said Ted, as they ran it into a public
+garage. "This evening we'll take it out again, and if we're followed
+then we'll be sure that it is Checkers, and that he is on our trail."
+
+It was seven o'clock when they trundled forth again.
+
+A bright moonlight night made motoring highly enjoyable, and after they
+had run about for a couple of hours Bud got out, saying that he was
+tired of the sport, and would return to the hotel, and leave Ted to take
+the machine back to Don Dorrington's basement.
+
+They had been followed by the yellow car again, but in going through
+Forest Park they had managed to give their trailer the slip among the
+intricate roads and bypaths, and had seen nothing of him for half an
+hour.
+
+As soon as Ted had let Bud out, he hit up the speed, for the boulevard
+was comparatively free of traffic, and he fairly spun along to the
+western part of the city.
+
+Cutting off the boulevard, he entered upon a side street to make a short
+cut to Dorrington's house.
+
+He noticed, as he turned into the side street, a light-colored car
+standing close to the curb as he passed, but so many cars were standing
+in front of houses here and there that he paid no attention to it.
+
+But he had no sooner passed than the light-colored car glided after him
+noiselessly. Ted's own machine was making so much noise that he was not
+aware of the presence of another car until it was abreast of him, and so
+close that he could reach out his hand and touch it.
+
+He thought the car was trying to pass him close to the curb, and started
+to turn out to give it more steerage room.
+
+"Sheer off, there," he called, "until I can get out of here."
+
+Suddenly something wet struck him in the face. He gave a gasp, as a
+fearful suffocating pain filled his head and lungs, and he sank down
+into the bottom of the car, insensible.
+
+At the same instant the man in the other car reached over and throttled
+the red car, then stopped his own.
+
+Leaving his own car in the middle of the road, he leaped into the red
+car and gave her her full head.
+
+In half an hour the red car had left the city and was speeding along a
+smooth country road in the moonlight.
+
+Ted still lay in a stupor in the bottom of the car, and the only sound
+that came from him was an occasional gasp as his lungs, trying to
+recover from a shock, took in short gulps of air.
+
+It was midnight before the red car slowed down.
+
+Ahead in the moonlight rose the black bulk of a building.
+
+It presented the appearance of a country house of some pretensions.
+
+The house was dark. Not a light appeared at any of the windows.
+
+The red car approached it cautiously, running into the deep shadow cast
+by a high brick wall. A dog on the other side of the wall barked a
+warning.
+
+The man in the red car whistled softly in a peculiar way.
+
+A window was raised somewhere, and the whistle was answered by another.
+
+In a few minutes there was the sound of a man walking on a graveled
+path, then the creak of rusty iron and a gate swung open.
+
+"All right?" asked a voice at the gate.
+
+"You bet. Got them both," answered the man in the red machine.
+
+"Bully for you. Run her in."
+
+The red machine, with Ted still lying in the bottom, ran into a large
+yard, and the gate was closed again, and the car was stopped in front of
+the house.
+
+"Come, help me carry him in," said the man in the car. "He'll be coming
+around all right in a few minutes, then we may have some trouble with
+him, for he's the very devil to fight."
+
+Ted was dragged out of the car in no gentle manner, and carried into the
+house, which was unlighted save where the moonlight shone through the
+windows.
+
+"Into the strong room with him," said the man of the house.
+
+Ted was carried into a room and dumped upon a lounge. Then a light was
+struck, and both men bent over the prostrate form of the leader of the
+broncho boys.
+
+Both of them started back.
+
+"Whew! You must have given him an awful dose, Checkers," said the man of
+the house.
+
+"Had to do it, Dude. If I hadn't, I'd never got him here, that's a
+cinch."
+
+"Well, get his gun off before he comes to."
+
+Ted was stripped of his weapons, a glass of water was thrown into his
+face, and he began to regain consciousness.
+
+He had been shot down with an ammonia gun, and the powerful alkaloid gas
+had almost killed him. For a long time he breathed in gasps, but his
+splendid constitution pulled him through.
+
+When they saw that he was recovering, the two men left the room, after
+examining the iron-barred windows, and as they went out they locked and
+barred the door behind them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+MURDER IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE.
+
+
+Ted lay for a long time only half conscious.
+
+But gradually his senses returned, and he opened his eyes to find
+himself in darkness, trying hard to think what had happened to him.
+
+He knew that he had been felled by something powerful and terrible, that
+had knocked him in a heap so suddenly that he hardly knew what had
+happened to him.
+
+Slowly the consciousness of it all came to him. Some one in an
+automobile had ridden alongside him and thrown ammonia in his face.
+
+His eyes were still smarting with it, and he wondered, seeing no light,
+if it had blinded him, and he was now lying in the dark when there was
+light all around him.
+
+He struggled with this thought for a moment, because the idea of going
+blind was terrible to him.
+
+He wondered where he was, and felt around and learned that he was lying
+on a couch.
+
+Then he swung his feet to the floor and sat up. The ammonia had left him
+still weak, but gradually he became stronger, and got to his feet and
+began to explore the room with his fingers.
+
+He found a chair and a table, and presently came to the door, which he
+tried to open, but could not.
+
+Passing around the room, he arrived at the window, and, looking through
+the glass, saw a star, and thanked Heaven that he could see.
+
+He tried the fastenings of the window, unlocked it, and threw it up,
+stretching out his hand. The window was closed with iron bars.
+
+He had made the circuit of the room, and had discovered that he was
+securely shut in.
+
+He went back to the lounge and lay down to think matters over.
+
+He felt quite sure that the man Checkers had been his assailant. The
+warning had not been without reason, after all.
+
+As he lay quietly he heard footsteps in the next room. Two men evidently
+had entered it. They were talking, and occasionally, when their voices
+rose higher than usual, he could catch a word or two.
+
+From the tones of their voices he learned that the conversation was not
+of the most pleasant nature. They were quarreling about something.
+
+By degrees their voices grew higher, and occasionally Ted caught such
+words as "money," "half," "thousand," enough to tell him that they were
+dividing something.
+
+"They're quarreling over the swag," said Ted to himself. "Good! 'When
+thieves fall out, honest men get their dues,'" he quoted. "Keep it up,
+and I'll get you yet."
+
+They did keep it up.
+
+It was the voice of Checkers that rose high.
+
+"I tell you I'll have half or I'll split on you, if I go to the 'stir'
+for the rest of my life."
+
+"If you do split, you won't go to the 'stir.' The boys will kill you
+before you get the chance."
+
+"Well, what's your proposition?"
+
+"I'll give you five thousand. That's enough for putting me next to the
+train. What do you want? The earth? Didn't I do the dirty work? If I'd
+been caught, who'd have been soaked? You? I guess not. It would have
+been me who would have been killed, for I'm like the other fellows--I'd
+have fought until they killed me. You're not entitled to more than five
+thousand, and that's all you'll get."
+
+"I won't take it. Half or I squeal."
+
+"Squeal, then."
+
+There was a sudden trampling of feet in the other room, the crash of an
+overturning table, followed by a yell of death agony, and the thud of a
+falling body.
+
+"Great Scott, one of them is dead," said Ted, with a shudder.
+
+He was listening intently, and heard a scuffle of feet, then hurried
+footsteps died away and a door slammed somewhere.
+
+Deep silence followed.
+
+Then the horror of the situation burst upon Ted, The house had been
+deserted by the only living creature, except himself, who was left to
+starve to death in this prison, with a dead man in the next room.
+
+One or the other of the two men who had held him captive had done murder
+and escaped with the stolen money.
+
+Ted lay speculating which was dead and which had escaped, but he could
+make nothing of it.
+
+The night dragged wearily on for Ted could not sleep, for thinking of
+the dead man in the next room, and his own precarious position.
+
+He reviewed the chances of his being rescued. They were very slim,
+indeed.
+
+Bud and Chief Desmond would start a hunt for him about the city, but
+would not find him, and no one would think of looking for him in this
+deserted house.
+
+But at last the night passed, and Ted watched with a grateful heart the
+gradual dawning of the day.
+
+At last it was light enough to see, and he looked around the room.
+
+It was old-fashioned and high. Through the window he could see a bit of
+the high brick fence, and a few trees and long, tangled, dead grass.
+That was the extent of his view from the window.
+
+He examined the door, which was the only other means of exit from the
+room.
+
+It was very heavy, and made of oak. The lock on it was massive and
+old-fashioned, and set into the oak frame so that an examination of it
+dispelled all hope of getting it off.
+
+If he was to escape there was only one way, to cut a hole in the door.
+He felt for his knife. It was gone, and Ted wandered disconsolately to
+the couch and sat down to ponder. But the more he racked his brains the
+further he got from a plan of escape.
+
+The day dragged slowly on, but he would not sleep for fear that he might
+miss some one passing to whom he could call and bring assistance.
+
+Late in the afternoon he stepped to the window and looked at an apple
+tree in the grounds beyond. It was full of red apples, and he was very
+hungry, but they were not for him.
+
+He wondered that he had not heard any one pass along the road on the
+other side of the brick wall.
+
+Suddenly he noticed that the leaves in an apple tree were being
+violently agitated, although there was not a breath of wind stirring.
+
+Some one was in the tree, and his first impulse was to yell for help,
+then he reflected that if it was a boy pilfering apples the cry would
+scare him, and his only chance for rescue would be ruined by the boy
+running away.
+
+He would wait for the boy to come to the ground, and would then speak to
+him.
+
+But as he was watching the tree intently the movement of the leaves
+ceased, and soon he perceived a peering face and two dark, roguish eyes.
+They reminded him of a bird, so bright and inquiring were they.
+
+Ted smiled at the eyes, and thought he saw an answering twinkle in them.
+
+They disappeared after a few moments. The leaves shook again, and a boy
+of about ten years, incredibly ragged, with a dirty face, hands, and
+bare feet and legs, dropped to the ground. His head was covered with a
+tangled mop of brown hair in lieu of a hat.
+
+The boy stared at the window, all the while munching an apple, while
+from the bulges in his scant trousers it was evident that he had others
+for future consumption.
+
+"Hello, boy!" said Ted, with a friendly way.
+
+"Hello! Who are you?" said the boy, coming a few steps nearer, to get a
+better view.
+
+"Do you mean what's my name?"
+
+"Uh-huh!"
+
+"My name is Ted Strong. What's yours?"
+
+"Napoleon Bonaparte."
+
+Ted laughed at the solemnity of the boy when he gave this answer.
+
+"Well," said the boy, "it's just as much Napoleon as yours is Ted
+Strong."
+
+"But my name is Ted Strong."
+
+"Aw, come off."
+
+"All right, if you don't believe me, ask me any questions you like to
+prove it."
+
+"Where do you come from?"
+
+"Moon Valley, South Dakota."
+
+"That's right. What's the names of some of Ted Strong's fellers?"
+
+Ted named them all, the boy giving a nod after every name.
+
+"Now, what's the name of your horse? The one you ride most?"
+
+"Sultan. You seem to know something about me."
+
+"You bet. Well, maybe you're all right, but what are you doing here? I
+always thought you stayed out West--away out West."
+
+"Usually I do."
+
+"Then what are you doing in the haunted house?"
+
+"Is this a haunted house?"
+
+"You bet. There was a feller killed there once, and nobody will live in
+it no more."
+
+"Honest, now, what _is_ your name?"
+
+"My name's-- Say, are you sure enough Ted Strong?"
+
+"Certainly I am."
+
+The boy came closer, looking at Ted fixedly.
+
+"Gee, I wouldn't go inter that house fer a hundred million dollars."
+
+"I've been here all night, and it didn't scare me any."
+
+"That settles it. I reckon you must be Ted Strong. He's the only feller
+I ever heard of that wouldn't be scared to stay in a haunted house. How
+did you get there?"
+
+Without hesitation, Ted told the boy how he had been held up by a man in
+an automobile, and knocked out by ammonia fumes, and then locked up in
+the house. But he said nothing about the murdered man in the next room.
+
+"Now I've told you all about myself, it's only fair that you should tell
+me about yourself."
+
+"Oh, I ain't nothin'. I'm just 'Scrub.'"
+
+"Haven't you got any other name?"
+
+"Nary one that I know of that's fastened to me all the time."
+
+"How's that?"
+
+"When I'm living with old man Jones, I'm Scrub Jones, and when I'm with
+Mr. Foster, I'm Scrub Foster, and that way. I don't belong to nobody,
+an' I just live around doing chores for my keep. Just now I ain't got no
+place to stop, and I'm sleeping in hay-stacks and living on apples and
+turnips and potatoes, when I make a fire and bake 'em, and once in a
+while I trap a rabbit. But, gee, what a good time you must have!"
+
+"How would you like to go with me out to Moon Valley?"
+
+"Aw, quit your kiddin'."
+
+"I mean it I'd just like to take you out there and give you a good time
+for once in your life."
+
+"Would you? By golly, you can."
+
+"Then I'll tell you what to do. Go around to the front door and come in,
+and back to this room, and unlock the door and let me out, and we'll go
+together."
+
+"Gee, I wouldn't go into that house for four thousand barrels of
+hoarhound candy. Say, are you a prisoner?"
+
+"I am, and if you don't come in and let me out I can't take you with me
+to Moon Valley."
+
+"That's so. But I'm scared of the ghost."
+
+"Oh, so you're afraid, are you?"
+
+At this the boy flushed and fiddled with his toes in the grass.
+
+"No kid that's afraid could live in Moon Valley. He'd be scared to death
+in a week."
+
+"Are there ghosts there?"
+
+"There are no such things as ghosts. Bet you never saw one yourself."
+
+"No, I never did. But all the folks around here say there is ghosts in
+that house."
+
+"Well, say there are, they wouldn't come out in the daytime, would
+they?"
+
+"I reckon not. Gee, I'll come in."
+
+The boy disappeared like a flash, and in a few moments Ted heard the
+front door open, then a scream.
+
+"I'll bet he's found the dead man," said Ted, aloud, in a tone of
+annoyance. "That's just my luck."
+
+The door slammed, and all was silent. The boy evidently had run away,
+and Ted was left alone in the house with the dead man.
+
+Once more darkness descended upon the earth, and Ted took up another
+hole in his belt, and tried to believe that he was not hungry.
+
+About nine o'clock Ted, who was lying on the couch looking at the
+ceiling, saw a faint flicker of light pass across it, and sprang to his
+feet. It was the light cast by a lantern somewhere outside.
+
+He sprang to the window and looked out.
+
+Behind the brick wall he could see the reflection of a bobbing lantern,
+and hear the shuffle of many feet.
+
+"Ho, there!" he cried.
+
+The shuffle stopped, and a voice that was trembling with fear answered
+him.
+
+"Come in here, and let me out," called Ted.
+
+"We'll be thar in a minute," was the answer, and presently the front
+door was thrown open, followed by exclamations, as whoever had come in
+viewed the body in the next room.
+
+Then the voices were outside his door.
+
+"You open it an' go in," said a voice. "You're the constable."
+
+"Well, supposin' he's got a gun?" asked the constable tremulously.
+
+"Don't be afraid," said Ted. "I have no gun. They took everything away
+from me."
+
+"There! Ain't that enough? Open the door."
+
+Ted heard the bar being taken down, then the key grate in the lock, and
+the door was thrown open with a bang. He found himself looking into the
+barrels of a shotgun.
+
+"If yer makes a motion, I'll blow yer head plumb off, blame yer,"
+shouted the man with the gun.
+
+"Honest," said Ted, "I'm not armed."
+
+"How come yuh here?"
+
+"I was made insensible by ammonia fumes and brought here last night."
+
+"How come yuh ter kill that man in ther next room?"
+
+"I didn't kill him."
+
+"That's a likely story. I find yuh alone in ther house with him. Yuh'll
+hev ter answer ter ther magistrate fer this."
+
+"See here, my friend, how could I have killed that man, then come in
+here, and locked and barred the door on the outside?"
+
+"He's got yuh there, Si," said one of the men.
+
+"Look here," said Ted, showing his star. "I'm an officer of the law. The
+fellows who captured and brought me here were robbers, and I was on
+their trail. That's all there is to it. Now, let me pass. I want to see
+what is in the next room."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+STELLA ADOPTS A BROTHER.
+
+
+Taking up a lantern, Ted entered the room. Beside the overturned table
+lay the body of a man. It was not Checkers. There was nothing in the
+room except the table, two chairs, a broken lamp, which lay in a pool of
+kerosene on the floor, and the body of the murdered man.
+
+Wait, what was this?
+
+Beneath the table was a scrap of green.
+
+It was a bank bill, and, drawing it forth, Ted found it to be a
+fifty-dollar note issue'd by the First National Bank of Green River,
+Nebraska. A valuable clew, this.
+
+When he had searched the body of the dead man, and found several letters
+and a small memorandum book, he left the room and locked it.
+
+"Notify the coroner," said he to the constable, "and give him this key.
+If he wants me as a witness in his inquest, he will find me at the
+Stratford Hotel, in St. Louis."
+
+The constable promised to carry out Ted's instructions.
+
+"Where is that boy Scrub?" asked Ted.
+
+"Here I am," said the boy, emerging from the crowd.
+
+"Who knows anything about this boy?" Ted asked.
+
+"He's just a loose kid," said the constable. "His father died when he
+was young, and his mother left him a few years ago. Since then no one
+has claimed him."
+
+"Then I will. Do you want to come with me?" Ted asked the boy. "I will
+give you a good home and clothes, teach you something, and make a
+useful man of you. Is he a good boy?"
+
+Ted turned to the men about him.
+
+"Yes, Scrub is a good boy, only he never ain't had no chance," seemed to
+be the universal verdict.
+
+"Say the word, Scrub. Do you want to come with me?"
+
+"You bet," said Scrub fervently.
+
+"Good! Come along! We'll be getting back to St. Louis."
+
+"But yuh can't get back to-night. The last train has gone."
+
+"Never mind. I'll get there somehow. Some one lend me a lantern for a
+few minutes."
+
+Ted was given one, and he went out into the yard and outhouses to search
+for the red motor car. He could not find it anywhere.
+
+"Did any of you folks see a red automobile going down the road any time
+to-day?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, there's a red machine down in the lane running over to the Rock
+Road," said one of the men. "But I reckon it's bust."
+
+"Come on, Scrub, we'll take a look at it," said Ted, Leading off with
+the man who had seen the car, and followed by the whole crowd, Ted made
+his way to the lane.
+
+Standing in the middle of it was the red car with its No. 118 swaying
+from the rear axle in the wind.
+
+Evidently Checkers had started away in it, using it as a swift means of
+escape, but it had stopped, and, as he could go no farther in it, he had
+abandoned it in the road.
+
+Ted examined the machinery carefully, but could find nothing wrong with
+it until he discovered that it had exhausted its supply of gasoline.
+
+But he learned that the grocer at the village, half a mile away, had
+gasoline for sale, and two young fellows volunteered to go after some
+while Ted overhauled the car.
+
+In half an hour he was ready to start. He made Scrub get into the seat,
+and, shaking hands with the constable and shouting a merry good-by to
+the others, he started for St. Louis.
+
+It was past midnight when he drew up in front of the Stratford Hotel,
+hungry and tired. Scrub was fast asleep, and, taking him in his arms,
+Ted entered the hotel.
+
+As he stepped inside, the clerk stared at him as if he had seen a ghost.
+
+"How's everything?" asked Ted of the clerk.
+
+"Great Scott, where did you come from?" asked, the clerk, and added
+hastily: "Better hurry upstairs to your room. Everybody is crazy about
+your disappearance."
+
+Ted went up in the elevator with the boy still sleeping in his arms.
+There was a light in his room and a confused murmur of voices.
+
+Without the formality of a knock he opened the door and entered. As he
+appeared in the doorway there was silence for a moment, then such a
+bedlam of shouts and laughter burst forth that every one on the floor
+was aroused.
+
+"It's Ted! It's Ted!" they shouted, and crowded around him.
+
+The place was full of them. Across the room he saw the shining face of
+Stella, smiling a welcome at him. Ben and Kit, Carl, Clay, and all of
+them were there, and sitting at the table was the chief of detectives.
+
+"Hello! Holding a post-mortem over me?" asked Ted.
+
+"It comes pretty near that," said Bud. "Dog-gone you, what do you mean
+by goin' erway an' hidin' out on us that way? What in ther name o' Sam
+Hill an' Billy Patterson hev yer picked up now?" Bud was looking
+curiously at the bundle of rags in Ted's arms, for the boy still slept.
+
+"This is a new pard," said Ted. "If it hadn't been for this kid you'd
+probably never seen me again."
+
+"Erlucerdate," demanded Bud.
+
+"Not until some one goes out to the nearest restaurant and orders up a
+stack of grub for Scrub and me. I haven't had anything to eat or drink
+for thirty-six hours, and I'm almost all in, and this kid has been
+living on apples and water for a couple of weeks. Now, hustle somebody
+and let me put this kid on the bed---my back's nearly broke--or maybe
+it's my stomach, they're so close together now I can't tell which it is
+that hurts."
+
+While Ted was laying the boy on the bed he woke up, and, finding himself
+in a strange place, and a finer room than he had ever been in before,
+surrounded by a lot of rather boisterous young men, he leaped to the
+floor and started to the door. But Ted caught him by the arm and drew
+him back.
+
+"What's the matter with you, you young savage?" said Ted.
+
+"Oh, I'm all right now," said the boy. "When I woke up I got rattled, I
+guess, but as long as you're here it's all right."
+
+The food came up now borne by two waiters and piloted by Kit. There were
+oysters and steak and potatoes and biscuit and a lot of what Missouri
+folk call "fixin's," and a big pot of coffee.
+
+Scrub's eyes stood out like doorknobs as he viewed this wonderful array
+of things to eat. The table was cleared, the waiters set out the food,
+and the boys stood back to give Ted and the boy "room to swell," as Bud
+expressed it. The way they tucked into the good things was a caution.
+
+After their hunger was satisfied and the waiters had restored order to
+the table, Ted began the story of his adventures since he had let Bud
+out of the automobile. As he talked, Stella wooed the small boy to her
+side, and listened to the story with her arm around his shoulder, and
+long before it was done Scrub was her worshiper forever.
+
+Chief Desmond listened with close attention, and when Ted finished and
+exhibited the bill of the Green River Bank, which he examined carefully,
+he said:
+
+"Mr. Strong, you've beaten us all to it. I will go out to-morrow--I mean
+to-day, for it's one o'clock now--and view the body myself. If it is, as
+seems almost certain to be, Dude Wilcox, one of the most dangerous men
+in the West is gone, but he has left behind for us to fight, and you to
+find, the man Checkers. This bill is your clew to the gang, but it is a
+counterfeit. As I have the thing figured out, the gang knew that forty
+thousand dollars was going to be shipped, but for some reason or other
+they dared not hold up the train out there, and telegraphed the gang in
+St. Louis to get it. Dude was at the head of the bunch here, and as it
+was a one-man game so near to St. Louis, Dude was elected to pull it
+off, which he did to the queen's taste. Perhaps the bill you have is the
+only counterfeit in the lot. Perhaps not. That is for you to work out."
+
+"But how he managed to get away with the swag I haven't managed to
+figure out yet," said Ted.
+
+"Of course, I don't know either, but deducing facts from what I know of
+the gang's methods, and from long experience with gentlemen of the road,
+I would say that the members of the gang who were killed in their
+rendezvous in Pine Street by my unfortunate men were awaiting the
+arrival of Dude with the swag. Checkers had secret knowledge that you
+had been put on their trail, and when he saw you pick up that red car
+in East St. Louis he was sure that you knew about the robbery and that
+you were on to Dude."
+
+"That's likely," said Ted. "I hadn't thought of that."
+
+"Well, he got into communication with Dude, and warned him against
+coming to the Pine Street place. You see, they had another rendezvous
+out in the country, a haunted house, the reputation of which would keep
+prying country boys away from it."
+
+"Best sort of a place for a criminal hangout," said Ted.
+
+"You're right, and now that you have discovered it, I'll take pains to
+see that it's never used for such again. But, as I was going to say,
+Dude's intention was to get out of town, return, go to the Pine Street
+room, divide the swag, and skip. He probably left the train at Somerset,
+or some other little town down the line, hid in the cornfields until
+dusk, stole a horse and buggy, and drove across the country to the
+haunted house, and later was joined by Checkers, who had been trailing
+you, and later succeeded in getting you. Had it not been for the quarrel
+between Dude and Checkers, it is more than likely that you would have
+been murdered by Checkers. But one murder was enough for his nerve, and,
+forgetting you, he vamosed."
+
+The detective arose to take his departure, again congratulating Ted on
+the outcome of his adventure.
+
+"Keep your eye peeled for Checkers, and if you do run across him, have
+your gun at half cock," he said, and, bidding good night to all, went
+away.
+
+"And now, good fellows, all to bed," said Ted. "To-morrow we start for
+the West, and the capture of the head men of the train-robber syndicate,
+and the extermination of the business."
+
+In the morning, before the others were up, Ted made Scrub take a bath,
+and then they sallied forth to a clothing store. When they came out,
+instead of the ragged and dirty little boy, there walked proudly by
+Ted's side a fine, clean, fresh-looking lad in a well-fitting serge
+suit, and other appointments that transformed him completely.
+
+When they arrived at the hotel the boys professed not to know Scrub.
+
+"Hello, picked up another kid?" asked Bud. "I swow, yer allers goin'
+round pickin' up mavericks. I reckon yer aim ter brand this one as well
+ez ther one yer brought in last night."
+
+"Why, here's another kid," said Ben, looking over Scrub's new outfit
+with interest. "He don't look much like the one you brought in last
+night. I reckon that one has run away, I don't see him anywhere."
+
+Poor Scrub was standing first on one foot and then on the other, fairly
+squirming with embarrassment.
+
+Ted gave the boys the nod to cease teasing the boy.
+
+"Don't mind those fellows, they're only joshing," said Ted.
+
+"Oh, I don't mind it if they can get any fun out of it," said Scrub,
+with a smile. "Maybe, some day I can get back at them, when I know them
+better."
+
+Stella came down in the elevator at that moment, and, catching sight of
+Scrub, gave a little scream of astonishment at his altered appearance.
+
+"Goodness, what a fine-looking addition to the family!" she said,
+shaking hands with the boy, who blushed and looked pleased. "I don't
+like the name Scrub a bit. I'm going to change his name."
+
+"This isn't leap year, Stella," said Ben.
+
+"You hush! What name would you rather have than Scrub? That's no name
+for a broncho boy," she said to the boy.
+
+"I don't know," answered the boy. "What name do you like?"
+
+"I think she likes Ben better than any," said Ben, posing in a very
+handsome manner.
+
+"Don't listen to him, he's always teasing. You want something short and
+easy to say."
+
+"What's the matter with 'Say'?" said Ben. "That's always easy to
+remember. I notice that when a man wants to call another on the street
+he just hollers 'Say,' and half a dozen fellows turn around."
+
+"Then that makes it too common," decided Stella. "What name would you
+suggest, Ted? He's got to have two names."
+
+"Let us get one of the newspapers to start a voting contest on it."
+
+"Ben, if you don't stop your foolishness, I won't play," said Stella.
+
+"You name him, Stella," said Ted. "Anything you say goes."
+
+"Then we'll call him Dick, after my father," said Stella. "He never had
+a boy, and always wanted one. I'm going to adopt this boy as a brother.
+His name shall be Dick Fosdick. That sounds funny, doesn't it, but I
+didn't do it on purpose."
+
+There was a tear in her eye at the thought of her father, and the boys
+looked rather solemn, for while they hoped for the best, they didn't as
+yet know the lad, and perhaps they had saddled themselves with a future
+regret, but Stella trusted and believed in the little chap, who was very
+proud that at last he had thrown off and buried forever the name of
+Scrub.
+
+That evening they took the train for the West, their destination being
+Green River.
+
+The automobile Ted sent on by express that he might have it not only for
+use, for he was becoming attached to it, but as a clew to the detection
+of the express robbers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+EZRA, THE LIFE-SAVING GOAT.
+
+
+Ted had engaged several sections on the through sleeping car to North
+Platte, Nebraska, the old home of Colonel William Cody, known all over
+the world as "Buffalo Bill."
+
+But they were to leave the train at Green River, ostensibly to buy
+cattle for their ranch. This, of course, was to avert suspicion from
+their real purpose of hunting down the express robbers.
+
+For Mrs. Graham and Stella the stateroom of the car _Orizaba_ had been
+engaged, and the boys made it a sort of ceremonial chamber.
+
+The car was well filled with other passengers, many of them tourists on
+the way to Colorado or the Pacific coast, and they were much amused at
+the free-and-easy spirit with which the boys conducted themselves, and
+when it became generally known that they were the broncho boys, with Ted
+Strong at their head, they received a great deal of attention, which was
+not particularly to Ted's liking.
+
+As usual, wherever they were, Bud Morgan, Ben Tremont, and Carl Schwartz
+provided a fund of amusement for everybody.
+
+Little Dick Fosdick had never known such happiness as he was now
+experiencing. He worshiped Stella, admired Ted, and looked upon Bud as
+the greatest pal a boy ever had.
+
+He and Bud were inseparable, and Bud never tired of telling him yarns
+about cow-punching and Indian fighting, while the boy proved a
+breathless listener, hanging upon every word that fell from the
+yellow-haired cowboy's lips.
+
+He knew by heart many of the adventures through which Ted Strong had
+passed, and often surprised Ted by correcting some inaccuracy which,
+through a lapse of memory, Ted had made.
+
+They were sailing across Missouri toward the West, and the boy kept his
+face glued to the window, watching for the first glimpse of the golden
+West of his fancy. Just at present he saw only farms and little towns,
+through which the fast train whizzed without stopping.
+
+The boy knew this sort of country well, and was rather disappointed that
+the boundless prairie did not roll before him from horizon to horizon.
+
+Then he turned his attention to the luxury of the car, but being a
+healthy boy, this did not impress him long, and he turned to his heroes
+for relief.
+
+Bud was sitting comfortably sprawled out on two seats, singing softly to
+himself. Bud could not sing a little bit, but he thought he could, which
+served his purpose personally quite as well as if he could.
+
+Ben was in the seat behind him, reading. After a while Bud's music, or
+the lack of it, got on Ben's nerves, and he reached over and poked Bud
+on top of his golden head with the corner of his book.
+
+"Say," said he, "put on the soft pedal, won't you? Perhaps you can sing,
+and maybe some one told you you could, but take it from me you have no
+more voice or musical ability than a he-goat."
+
+"Oh, mercy!" retorted Bud. "Does my music annoy you?"
+
+"It certainly does," snapped Ben.
+
+"Then why don't yer move away?"
+
+"Bah! You're an old goat."
+
+"Thanks fer ther compliment, although yer don't mean it thet away. But
+when yer likens me ter a goat yer do me proud. If yer were more goatlike
+yerself ye'd be a heap more wiser."
+
+"I'm glad you like it. The pleasure's all yours. But if a fellow called
+me a goat, I know what I'd do."
+
+"Maybe, perhaps. But yer needn't be afraid that any one will liken yer
+ter a goat. Any self-respectin' goat would get sore at it. If I wuz ter
+pick out yer counterpart in ther animile world, I'd say yer most
+resembled the phillaloo?"
+
+"What's a phillaloo?"
+
+"A phillaloo is a cross between a penguin and a jassack."
+
+"Say, you long-haired lobster!" cried Ben, leaping to his feet,
+apparently in great anger, "don't you call me anything like that."
+
+"Well, didn't yer jest call me a goat?"
+
+"Yes, but--"
+
+"Then sit down an' git back ter yer love story; we're square. Nothin' is
+lost on both sides. But callin' me a goat don't make me sore none. I
+jest dote on goats. If I wasn't jest what I am, I'd sooner be a goat
+than a collidge gradooate."
+
+"I've heard about enough, if you're alluding to me."
+
+"Take it er leave it. But, ez I wuz goin' ter say before my conversation
+was cut inter by a loud an' empty noise, speakin' o' goats reminds me o'
+a time down on ther Pecos--"
+
+"By Jove! I'm going to ask the conductor to move me into another car.
+This is too much. I might, perhaps, stand for being called a phillaloo,
+but I swear I'll not be compelled to stay here and listen to one of
+those silly and impossible stories of this insane cow-puncher."
+
+At first some of the passengers thought that Bud and Ben were really
+angry at one another, but the wise ones soon saw that it was all bluff,
+as, of course, the broncho boys knew.
+
+But it was very real to Dick Fosdick, who had yet many things to learn
+about the boys and their ways, and while the little chap was far too
+clever naturally to show his feelings, he sided with Bud, and thought
+that Ben was very unreasonable, especially as the boys, and some of the
+passengers, had flocked around Bud, who appeared not to notice them.
+
+"I reckon, Dick, you'd like ter hear thet thar story erbout the time I
+lied down on ther Pecos in the summer o'--"
+
+"Conductor," said Ben, detaining that official as he was passing through
+the car, "is there no way of stopping the noise this person is making? I
+cannot take my nap on account of his chatter."
+
+Several persons who were not in the secret were for interfering in
+behalf of Bud and his story, which they wanted to hear, but were headed
+off by the conductor, who said:
+
+"Sorry, but I cannot interfere with the gentleman. He does not seem to
+be annoying the other passengers. If you wish to take a nap you are at
+liberty to go up ahead in the smoking car."
+
+At this Bud began to gloat.
+
+"I hear they've put a cattle car up next ter ther injine fer sech
+sensitive people like you. Yer might enj'y a leetle siesta on ther
+straw."
+
+Ben sank back into his seat, and began to snore gently.
+
+"What about the story down on the Pecos, Bud?" said Dick.
+
+"You'd like to hear it, eh? Then I'll tell it to you. Of course, the
+other folks may listen to it, but it is understood betwixt me an' you
+thet it's all yours, an' whatever goes inter their ears is jest ther
+leavin's. Is that a go?"
+
+The boy nodded eagerly, even though he didn't understand the drift of
+Bud's remarks.
+
+"What's the story about?" asked the boy.
+
+"The goat, my boy. Perhaps you don't know it, but the goat is one of
+the noblest animals what walks. He is also one o' ther smartest, an' in
+former years used ter be able ter talk, but ez soon ez he got ter be so
+popular in secret societies ther gift o' speech was withdrawed from him,
+so thet he wouldn't be able ter give erway ther secret things what he
+saw an' heard at ther meetin's."
+
+"But, Bud, are they really smart?" asked Dick.
+
+"Smart ain't no name fer it. All yer got ter do to find out if they're
+smart is ter look at their whiskers. The smartest o' all animiles is
+man, an' don't he wear whiskers? An' I want ter ast yer what other
+animile hez whiskers exceptin' ther goat. Ther goat knew what he was
+about when he begin ter raise whiskers. He says ter hisself--"
+
+"What bosh!" exclaimed Ben, snorting in his sleep.
+
+"Aire you addressin' yer remarks ter me?" asked Bud, looking over the
+back of the seat at Bud. But the only answer was a gentle snore.
+
+"What did he say?" asked Dick eagerly.
+
+"'Why,' says he, 'if they won't let me talk they can't keep me from
+bein' ez near a man ez I kin go; by gravy, I'll raise whiskers like
+Deacon Smith,' who was a member o' ther lodge in which ther goat
+officiated; and, by jinks, he did, an' ther fashion wuz follered, an'
+they wear them ter this day.
+
+"There ain't no question o' their smartness, an' their prominence. Ain't
+one o' ther signs o' the zodiac up in ther heavens named after ther
+goat--Capricornus is ther feller ter what I refer--an' them heathen
+chaps what wuz half man an' half goat? Didn't they come pretty near
+bein' ther whole thing?"
+
+"But about the Pecos?" inquired Dick, who was not partial to preaching,
+but wanted to get at the heart of the story.
+
+"Oh. yes. I wuz leadin' up ter it gradooal, fer what I'm goin' ter
+relate--if thet yap will choke off on thet moosical snore--"
+
+"Here, wake up, you're snoring so loud we can't hear ourselves holler,"
+said Kit, reaching over and shaking Ben.
+
+"I can't keep awake while that fellow persists in yarning away like a
+fanning machine. It's so monotonous I can't keep awake," and Ben
+stretched and yawned.
+
+"Let's get away from here and go to some other part of the car,"
+whispered Dick.
+
+"No, we'll just stay here an' spite him. He'll wake up after a while an'
+be glad to listen to ther story. So here goes!
+
+"I was punchin' cow's down on the Pecos one summer fer ther Crazy B
+Ranch. We had eight punchers in ther bunch, a good chuck wagon, an' easy
+work, so I wuz pretty well suited, an' thet summer I gained twelve
+pounds, even if it wuz a hundred an' forty in ther shade, which we hed
+forgotten ter bring along with us."
+
+"Forgotten to bring what?" asked the boy.
+
+"Our shade. Yer see, down in thet country ther sun is so strong thet
+every one carries his own shade, fer there isn't a tree in ther whole
+country big enough ter cast a shadder o' any sort. Out on ther ranches,
+at certain seasons o' ther year, they serve out shade ter ther men jest
+ther same ez they do bacon an' saleratus ter ther outfit thet goes out
+herdin'."
+
+Dick looked seriously at Bud for a moment, hardly knowing whether or not
+to doubt him, but Bud's face was as grave as a deacon's.
+
+"I don't understand it, I'm sure," he said. "But where do they get the
+shade to give to the men?"
+
+"That's easy enough. It's always gathered on dark nights, generally late
+in ther fall er in ther winter, so thet it'll be real cool."
+
+"But where do they get it?"
+
+"What--ther shade? Why, they just go out an' gather it off the ground in
+thin shapes, kinder longer than broad. It can be rolled up just like a
+blanket, an' carried behind ther saddle. It's gathered in ther cold
+months. Ye've heard o' ther 'cool shade.' Well, that's why they gather
+it late in the year. Summer shade is no good, because it's too warm."
+
+"But what is it like?"
+
+"Oh, it's black, an' I hear they strip it off close ter ther ground. We
+don't get no shade like it in this part o' ther country. Ther only place
+what hez it is ther West, whar it's needed most."
+
+"But how about the Pecos?"
+
+"Sho! I almost fergot it, didn't I, while teachin' yer something erbout
+ther way they do things in Arizony an' her sister-in-law, Noo Mexico?
+Now I'm off, shore.
+
+"Ping-pong Martin wuz in ther outfit thet year. Mebbe yer knows him?"
+Bud looked at the small boy inquiringly, much to his embarrassment.
+
+"No, sir, I never heard of him before."
+
+"Well, no matter, but this Ping-pong cuss, he had a personal friend, a
+goat, what couldn't no more be shook than a sore thumb, and had follered
+Ping off ter ther wars, so to speak.
+
+"Ping run off from home on ther quiet ter join our outfit, leavin' ther
+goat to home, locked up in ther barn. Ping thought he hed ther goat
+faded, but one day, when we wuz half asleep in our saddles, a feller
+over on ther other side come a-runnin' in.
+
+"'What's ther matter?' sez I.
+
+"Thar's a funny animile over here. He shore is ther devil, fer he wears
+horns, an' hez a face exactly like thet o' ole man Pillsbury. I ain't
+bettin' none it ain't him. But if it is Pillsbury, he better not go
+home lookin' like thet 'thout lettin' his wife know first.'
+
+"Ping an' me rode over ter ther other side, an' thar stood a goat,
+lookin' so nice an' socierble.
+
+"'Great hevings!' shouted Ping, makin' a rush fer ther goat, 'thet's my
+goat Ezra, ain't you?'"
+
+"Did the goat understand him?"
+
+"Did he understand him? Well, I should whisper sweetly. Why, thet goat
+jest jumped all over Ping, a-runnin' his whiskers inter his eyes, an'
+laughin', he wuz so glad ter see him. He'd traced Ping plumb ercross
+ther desert ter get ter us, an', o' course, we couldn't sic him home
+after that.
+
+"We all got ter love Ezra fer his lovely ways; that is, all except
+'Boney Bill' Henderson."
+
+"Why? Didn't the goat like him?"
+
+"Well, it wuz this way: Boney Bill had a habit o' beggin' ther grease
+from ther fryin' pan every night ter ile his boots. This made 'em good
+an' strong, ez well ez easy ter chew on. One night, Ezra bein' fond o'
+boots, finds 'em an' chews ther tops off'n 'em. They wuz ther only boots
+Bill hed, an' we wuz two hundred mile ter another pair, so Bill hed ter
+go through ther season barefoot, an' ther sun jest nacherly warped his
+feet out o' all shape.
+
+"But thet wuzn't what I wuz goin' ter tell yer erbout. That fall ther
+Utes went on ther warpath, an' wuz headin' our way, an' I want ter tell
+yer we wuz some scared. We hed several brushes with ther Injuns, an'
+ther courier we sent ter ther fort fer help wuz killed an' scalped.
+
+"Thar we wuz, in a little valley entirely surrounded by Injuns thirstin'
+fer our gore. How long we could hold out agin' 'em wuz ther problem. But
+whenever one o' 'em showed his head we took a pop at it, an' they
+returned ther compliment. We wuz prayin' fer ther comin' o' ther
+soldiers, which wuz ther only thing what could save us from a horrible
+death.
+
+"Ther Injuns got next ter ther fact thet our ammunition wuz runnin'
+short, an' they wuz gittin' some gay; sorter takin' advantage o' us in a
+way. I could see thet they wuz gettin' ready ter make a rush down inter
+ther valley an' massacree us all, an' we prepared ter sell our lives
+dearly.
+
+"One mornin' we missed Ezra, ther goat. I'll never fergit ther misery on
+ther face o' Ping-pong when he finds it out.
+
+"'Bud,' he says ter me, 'I'm goin' out ter find Ezra, an' if them Injuns
+hez got him, I'm goin' ter bust ther whole tribe wide open.'
+
+"I tried ter persuade him not ter go, but he will, so I goes with him.
+We sneaks up ther side o' ther hill, an' looks over ther ridge right
+down inter ther Injun village. The sight what met our gaze almost, but
+not quite, made me bust open with laughin'.
+
+"Ther Injuns wuz all down on their hands an' knees, bowin' ter Ezra, who
+wuz walkin' eround on his hind legs, sashayin' sideways an' noddin' his
+head jest like a live bock-beer sign. Yer see, ther Injuns hed never
+seen a goat before, an' when Ezra walks onto them, waggin' his whiskers
+in a wise sort o' way, they thinks he's some kind o' a god, er somethin'
+like that. But when he got up on his hind legs an' begin ter sashay thet
+settled it. They wuz shore o' it then.
+
+"We watched ther performance fer a while, then ther Injuns got up an'
+begin ter mosey. In an hour thar wuzn't a Injun within twenty mile. They
+jest hit ther high places fer home.
+
+"Thet wuz ther way Ezra saved our party. After thet he could hev et
+every boot in ther outfit, an' thar wouldn't hev been a kick."
+
+"What became of him?" asked Kit.
+
+"Oh, he went back home with Ping an' raised a large family, an' they
+wuz talkin' o' runnin' him fer ther legislature an account o' his
+whiskers an' his smartness."
+
+"He was a smart goat, wasn't he?" said Dick.
+
+"You bet. Thet's why I said that some goats wuz jest ez smart ez lots o'
+collidge gradooates what I hev met."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE COUNTERFEIT BANK NOTE.
+
+
+When they arose in the morning the train was speeding over the prairie,
+and Dick could hardly be pulled away from the window long enough to go
+to breakfast with Stella and Mrs. Graham, so great was his delight at
+being in the "really and truly" wild West.
+
+When they were all back in the car again, Ted, for the first time,
+noticed a large man, flashily dressed, who wore a flaming red necktie,
+and who evidently thought himself irresistible to the ladies.
+
+He walked up and down the aisle on the slightest pretext, ogling every
+pretty woman in the car, and Ted was getting very tired of it,
+especially as once or twice he had the impertinence to stop and look
+into the stateroom in which Stella and Mrs. Graham were sitting.
+
+"I'll take a fall out of that fellow if he keeps up that sort of thing
+much longer," said Ted, who was sitting beside Kit.
+
+"I was thinking of the same thing," said Kit. "He makes me tired. I
+wonder what he is, anyway?"
+
+"He has the make-up of a gambler or a saloon keeper," answered Ted. "He
+better keep away from me if he knows when he's well off."
+
+At a town farther down the line a young lady entered the car, and took a
+seat directly in front of Kit, who was alone, Ted having gone to the
+front of the train to consult the conductor about a mistake that had
+been made in their tickets.
+
+Presently the flashy man with the red necktie spied her and sauntered
+past her down the aisle. In a few moments he came back, twirling his
+black mustache, which evidently was dyed, and casting glances at the
+young lady.
+
+Stopping in front of her, he said:
+
+"Is this seat taken, lady?"
+
+The young lady looked up, and answered coldly:
+
+"No, sir; but there are plenty of other seats in the car which are
+unoccupied."
+
+"This one looks good to me," said the fellow, with a smile which was
+supposed to be very fetching.
+
+Without further excuse he plumped himself down in the seat beside her,
+and threw his arm familiarly over the back of it, at the same time
+hitching closer to her.
+
+Then he tried to draw her into conversation, but she turned from him and
+looked out of the window.
+
+But he persisted, and she showed that his attentions were annoying her.
+
+Kit watched the proceedings, and was boiling with anger, but he did not
+feel that he had the right to interfere until the young lady showed by
+her manner that she desired assistance.
+
+Presently the man said something to the young lady in a low voice that
+seemed to arouse her anger, for she rose hastily to her feet, her face
+burning.
+
+"Let me pass!" she said.
+
+"Don't leave me like this," said the fellow, blocking the way with his
+knees. "Sit down. We'll soon be good friends. You'll find me a good
+fellow."
+
+"I insist, sir, that you allow me to pass," said the girl, growing pale,
+her voice rising a little.
+
+Kit could stand it no longer. He reached over and tapped the fellow on
+the shoulder.
+
+"Allow the lady to pass," he said quietly.
+
+The hawk turned his head and sized Kit up. This did not take much time,
+for Kit was small and slender, his black eyes being the largest part of
+him, proportionately.
+
+"What the deuce have you got to do with this?" he sneered, looking
+savagely at Kit.
+
+"Just enough to make sure that you do it," said Kit, rising.
+
+"Well, I don't allow no pups like you to interfere with me. You sit down
+an' let this gal an' me attend to our own business, er I'll bend you an'
+tie you into a knot an' throw you out of the window."
+
+Kit did not reply, but he reached over and got the fellow by the coat
+collar and jerked him into the aisle, and, twisting him around, planted
+his toe between his coat tails with a force that sent him halfway down
+the length of the car.
+
+"You're on the wrong train," said Kit. "The cattle train is on the other
+track."
+
+The fellow soon regained his balance, and came rushing back like a
+charging bull.
+
+"You little snipe!" he roared, "I'll kill you for that."
+
+But as he got near Kit dodged into the space between the seats, and as
+the fellow rushed past, carried on by the momentum of his run, Kit swung
+at him with his right fist.
+
+It caught the fellow back of the ear, and the force behind the blow, as
+well as the rate at which he had been coming, sent him headlong between
+two seats, where he lay crumpled up like a rag.
+
+The commotion had attracted the attention of Bud and Ben, and they were
+by Kit's side in a moment.
+
+"Need any help?" asked Bud.
+
+"Not a bit," replied Kit. "I'm not very large, but no man of that sort
+can call me a pup."
+
+The fellow lay where he fell, and Bud warned away several passengers who
+wanted to go to his assistance.
+
+"He's all right," he said. "A crack like that never injured any one
+permanently, but sometimes it wakes them up ter ther foolishness of
+insulting a lady when ther broncho boys are around."
+
+Kit lifted his hat to the young lady.
+
+"Pardon me for making a disturbance," he said. "I don't think you'll be
+bothered again."
+
+The young lady was profuse in her thanks, and resumed her seat.
+
+Presently the fellow on the floor got up and sneaked into another car,
+without looking again at either Kit or the young lady.
+
+"Hello, Kit! What was it all about?" asked Ted entering the car.
+
+"Oh, I never could stand for red neckties, nohow," answered Kit
+apologetically.
+
+When the train stopped for dinner they all trooped into the station
+dining room, and secured for themselves a long table, around which they
+sat like a big and happy family.
+
+As Ted and Kit were walking along the platform toward the dining room
+Ted suddenly halted and stared at a man who was leaning against the wall
+of the station.
+
+"By Jove, I believe it's him!" he muttered.
+
+"Who's him?" asked Kit.
+
+"The express robber, Checkers," answered Ted. "And yet I'm not sure. If
+it is him it's one of the best disguises I ever saw. Look at your friend
+of the red necktie hurrying up to him. By Jove, they're a good pair! I
+wish I could hear that fellow in the checked suit speak."
+
+"That fellow will get caught up yet if he persists in wearing checked
+suits," said Kit. "It seems to be his badge, or a disease with him."
+
+"I suppose that's why they call him Checkers," said Ted. "I wish I knew.
+I'd take a chance at arresting him."
+
+At that moment the man in the checked suit looked up and caught Ted and
+Kit staring at him.
+
+Hastily calling the attention of the man with the red necktie to them,
+he hurried around the corner, and the other followed.
+
+Ted ran to the corner of the station, but all he could see of either was
+through a swirl of dust as the motor car in which they were riding flew
+up the street.
+
+"By crickey! I'll bet anything that was Checkers," grumbled Ted. "I'm
+always too late to get to him. But next time I'll take a long chance
+with him."
+
+The train pulled into Green River at eight o'clock that night, and they
+all went to the leading hotel, and Ted registered them as coming from
+the ranch.
+
+During the evening the boys mingled with the crowd in the hotel lobby,
+talking cattle, and met many of the representative women of the section.
+
+They were out after a bunch of stockers, and promised to be in the
+neighborhood for several days and to visit the ranches and look over the
+stock.
+
+One of the men whom they met was introduced to them as Colonel Billings,
+ranch owner and speculator in cattle.
+
+He was a middle-aged man of most pleasant features--benign,
+good-natured, and yet shrewd. He dressed well for a cowman, and from his
+pink, bald crown and gray chin whiskers down to his neat shoes, he
+looked the part of the prosperous business man.
+
+"I have a lot of stock such as I think you boys need out at my ranch,"
+he said to Ted, when he learned that they wanted to buy. "I'd like to
+have you bring your party out to the place and stay several days as my
+guests. You would then have plenty of time to look the stock over, and
+if you like them I'm sure we can strike a bargain."
+
+Ted thanked him and promised to go out to look at the stock, but as for
+the invitation for the whole party to stop at the ranch, he would have
+to consult the wishes of the party. He rather liked the colonel, who
+was, apparently, bluff and sincere.
+
+As Ted was on his way to the bank which had issued the bill which he had
+found in the haunted house, he stopped suddenly. He had just seen a
+young woman enter a store hurriedly, and look at him over her shoulder
+as she did so. She it was who had slipped the note of warning into his
+pocket in the Union Station, in St. Louis.
+
+Evidently she was trying to avoid him. But why? He wanted to thank her
+for that kindly service, and, quite naturally, he had some curiosity to
+know who she was.
+
+Without apparently hurrying he followed her into the store, and looked
+around for her. She was not in sight, and he walked up and down the
+aisles between the counters, but could not find her.
+
+Then he observed that there was a back door to the store, which opened
+onto an arcade. She had escaped him through that, and Ted looked up and
+down the arcade. At the far end, where it opened out into the public
+square, a carriage stood, and a young lady was getting into it.
+
+It was the young lady of the subtle perfume and the note.
+
+In a moment she was gone.
+
+He was not far from the bank, and giving the young woman no more
+thought, for he was sure he would see her again, for she seemed to be
+mixed up in his fortunes in some manner, he made his way to the
+financial institution and asked for the president.
+
+"You will find Mr. Norcross in his private office at the end of the
+corridor," said the clerk.
+
+At the door of the office Ted found a colored messenger, who stopped him
+and asked his business.
+
+"Is Mr. Norcross in his office?" asked Ted.
+
+"Yes, sah, but he is busy," answered the messenger.
+
+"Well, take my card in to him, and tell him I would like to see him
+when he is at leisure."
+
+The negro went away, and in a few moments returned to say that Mr.
+Norcross would be glad to see Mr. Strong presently.
+
+While Ted waited he stood looking out of the window into the street. The
+door behind him opened, and he turned.
+
+Walking rapidly down the corridor was the man with the pointed beard,
+whom he had seen in the Union Station in St. Louis give the signal to
+the girl who had slipped the note into his pocket.
+
+Ted stared after him. The mystery of the note was getting thicker. But
+he would try to think it out later.
+
+He found Mr. Norcross an elderly, but active man.
+
+"What can I do for you, Mr. Strong," said the banker, referring to Ted's
+card.
+
+"I come to you for information concerning a recent robbery and the
+murder of an express messenger in an express car in St. Louis," said
+Ted.
+
+"In what capacity do you come?"
+
+"As an officer of the government."
+
+"Oh, ah, rather young for such work, aren't you?"
+
+"Pardon, but that has nothing at all to do with it. I am a deputy United
+States marshal, and have received instructions to examine into certain
+matters regarding the recent robberies from express trains in this part
+of the country."
+
+"I suppose you have your credentials as an officer."
+
+"I think I can convince those who have the right to know that I am what
+I profess to be."
+
+"Very well. I meant no offense, but there have been so many violent
+things done out here, that naturally a banker desires to at least know
+something of his callers. What can I do for you?"
+
+"Did your bank make a shipment of currency to the East, last week?"
+
+"Yes, sir, that is a well-known fact."
+
+"What was the amount?"
+
+"Forty thousand dollars. It was to meet some paper which was due in St.
+Louis."
+
+"And it was stolen from the express car?"
+
+"Yes. The express company has reimbursed us for it."
+
+"What sort of currency was it?"
+
+"Mostly of our own issue."
+
+"Do you recognize this bill?"
+
+Ted took from his pocket the counterfeit bill of the bank, and handed it
+to the president, who looked at it a moment and handed it back.
+
+"Yes, that is one of the bills. The money sent was all in that series of
+numbers."
+
+Ted picked the bill up, and put it in his pocket.
+
+"Here, you mustn't take that," said the president. "That is the property
+of the bank. Give it to me. The express company will need it for
+evidence."
+
+"Then I will keep it. It will be safer with me."
+
+A suspicion had entered Ted's mind, which was strengthened by the
+conduct of the president, who was white-faced and trembling.
+
+"From your examination of the bill, you are positive that it was one of
+those shipped to St. Louis?"
+
+"I am not certain, of course, but as I said, it is within the series of
+numbers which we sent. Why do you ask?"
+
+"Because it is a counterfeit."
+
+The president sank down in his chair. He had suddenly become pale, and
+was trembling like a leaf.
+
+"What will you take for that bill, young man? Name your own price," said
+Mr. Norcross.
+
+"It is not for sale, and you have not money enough to buy it," replied
+Ted Strong.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+A CRIME WITHIN A CRIME.
+
+
+"Well, friend, have you decided to come out to my ranch, and look my
+stock over?"
+
+It was Colonel Billings, the genial ranchman, who addressed Ted, meeting
+him in the lobby of the hotel.
+
+"Yes, I think I will," answered Ted. "When will it be convenient for you
+to be there?"
+
+"I am going out to-morrow, and will be glad to see you and your
+friends."
+
+"There are a good many of us," said Ted, laughing.
+
+"The more the merrier. The house is large, and I could drop you all down
+into it, and the house would hardly know it."
+
+"How do we get out there?"
+
+"I see you have a couple of ladies with you, and I shall telephone over
+to my manager to send a carriage in for them, and horses for the use of
+you boys. How many horses and saddles will you need? There are plenty at
+the ranch."
+
+"We will need eight horses. One of the ladies prefers to ride, and we'll
+need a gentle pony for the small boy, whose experience is limited."
+
+"Sidesaddle for the lady?"
+
+"No," said Ted, with a grin, "this young lady will not use one. She is a
+cowgirl, and rides a man's saddle."
+
+"All right, my boy. The outfit will be here in the morning. By the way,
+I am going to have some other guests. I suppose you will not object."
+
+"Certainly not."
+
+"One of them is a young New Yorker, who has come West to invest in ranch
+property, and who has brought his sister with him. Charming people. The
+other is a rather uncouth person, but you will forgive his
+eccentricities, I am sure. To tell you the truth, he often grates on me,
+but I overlook it because he has lacked advantages. He made his money in
+the liquor business, in which he has been all his life. But he is a good
+fellow at heart, and is my partner in a way, having invested a large sum
+of money with me in cattle."
+
+"I shall be very glad to meet them, although, I'm afraid I shall not be
+able to see much of them, as I shall be very busy."
+
+"When you are under my roof, sir, you are as free as if you had been
+born there. I am glad you and your friends are coming. It does my old
+heart good to have young people around me. I will see you in the
+morning, and shall feel honored to escort you to my home."
+
+With this they parted.
+
+"Jolly old chap," said Ted to himself. "I know just how he feels about
+having a lot of people come to visit him. I like it myself."
+
+Stella had been out for a ride with little Dick. She had secured a
+couple of ponies from the stable connected with the hotel, and had given
+Dick his first riding lesson.
+
+Ted met them as they were dismounting in front of the hotel.
+
+"Ted, that boy is going to be a second edition of you in the saddle,"
+cried Stella enthusiastically. "I never saw such a seat for a kid. Why
+he takes to a horse like a young duck to water."
+
+"That's good," said Ted. "Do you like to ride, Scrub, I mean Dick?"
+
+The boy flushed at the name Scrub, but he recovered himself immediately.
+
+"Yes, it's fine," he answered. "I like horses, and they seem to take to
+me. I'd like to ride a horse all the time."
+
+"Well, you'll have all you want of it when you get out to Moon Valley,"
+said Ted. "Would you like to go out again? If you do, go ahead. I guess
+we can trust you not to break your neck."
+
+The boy smiled and nodded, and climbed into his saddle again, and was
+off.
+
+"Ted, that boy is going to be a credit to us all," said Stella. "But he
+must have an education. Although he speaks well and doesn't use much
+slang, that is, for a boy, he knows absolutely nothing that he hasn't
+picked up. He must go to school some day, but not now, for he hardly
+knows his alphabet, and as for other branches of knowledge, why, he
+doesn't know they exist, and he is as full of superstition as a Cocopo
+squaw. Wherever he got his beliefs, I can't imagine."
+
+"All right, Stella, he shall go to school. It doesn't really matter
+much, that he has never been to school before. He'll learn so fast that
+he'll make up for lost time, don't fear. That boy has a good head."
+
+"I'm going to teach him myself until he is able to take his place in
+school with boys of his own age. He's just crazy to learn."
+
+"His early education is up to you. I'm not afraid he will learn anything
+he shouldn't from you. Go at him slowly and sensibly. Don't try to stuff
+it all into him at once. Meanwhile, I'll teach him to ride, shoot, herd,
+rope, and all that, occasionally impressing upon him the cardinal
+principles of the broncho boys--truth, honesty, sincerity, courage, and
+kindness."
+
+"He'll be a fine fellow some of these days, Ted, and a good-looking and
+good-tempered one."
+
+"I think he will. Suppose we take a little walk, if you have nothing
+better to do. I want to get your opinion on some matters."
+
+"The very thing. I saw a pretty little park on the bank of a river.
+We'll walk there."
+
+"I have promised to go out to Colonel Billings' ranch to-morrow, and I
+took the liberty of accepting the invitation for you all, as there is
+nothing to do around here, and I have a hunch that something good will
+come of it."
+
+"I'll be glad to go. You know how much I like the town. I wouldn't care
+if I never saw one again."
+
+"It's all right, then. We'll start in the morning. I am more than
+anxious to go now, especially as Billings tells me he has invited
+several other people to be his guests."
+
+"Who are they?"
+
+"You remember the girl who slipped the note into my pocket in the St.
+Louis station, and the young fellow with the pointed beard. Well, I saw
+them both in town this morning. The girl ran away from me on the street,
+jumped into a carriage, and drove away."
+
+"There's nothing about you to cause a girl to run." Stella looked up at
+Ted in a teasing way.
+
+"That'll be all right," said he. "But a few minutes after I saw the
+fellow with the pointed beard coming out of the private office of
+Norcross, the president of the bank that was robbed of the forty
+thousand dollars. He went by me like a rocket, as if he were afraid of
+me."
+
+"Sure it was he?"
+
+"Positive. But the strange part of it was my interview with the banker.
+He acknowledged that the bank had been robbed of the money, and
+identified the bill dropped by Checkers in his flight, as one of the
+shipment, but when I announced that it was a counterfeit, he went all to
+pieces, and, after trying to bluff me into giving him the note, wanted
+to buy it, asking me to name my own price."
+
+"What does that mean, I wonder?"
+
+"It means, that this case of the robbery and the murder of the express
+messenger is not the simple thing I thought. There is a crime within a
+crime."
+
+"What in the world do you mean?"
+
+"Just this, Norcross, the banker, is mixed in the crime, and Heaven only
+knows how many more men quite as prominent as he. The express-robbing
+syndicate is a strong one, and hard to beat."
+
+"But you'll beat it yet. I know you."
+
+"Thank you for your faith and encouragement, Stella. But it's going to
+be a hard pull, and it will take all of us to do it."
+
+"What do you think of it now?"
+
+"My idea is, that the alleged forty thousand dollars was not real money
+at all, and that Norcross was trying to double-cross the very men he was
+standing in with."
+
+"Still, I hardly understand."
+
+"Well, Norcross agreed with the members of the syndicate to ship forty
+thousand dollars to St. Louis, which was to be stolen en route by the
+syndicate's own men. They would then have their forty thousand back, and
+the forty thousand which they could make the express company pay them.
+The original forty thousand would come back to Norcross, and he would
+get his share of the money which the express company would pay."
+
+"That was easy."
+
+"It would have been, but for the fact that Norcross insisted upon being
+insured for the use of his forty thousand in case anything else happened
+to it. In this way he got another large sum."
+
+"I see. But from what you have found out so far, I don't quite
+understand how you figure it out."
+
+"All I have to go by is my own way of deducing things. The forty
+thousand dollars which was to be stolen was supposed by the other
+members of the syndicate to be real money. It was for this that the
+syndicate insured Norcross. But, instead, he substituted counterfeits,
+if, indeed, most of the supposed money was not just blank paper."
+
+"He is a real financier, eh?"
+
+"Yes, but he didn't take into consideration that he had scoundrels just
+as shrewd as himself to deal with. For instance, I believe when the
+truth is known, it will be found out that the syndicate was going to
+beat Norcross. But that is mere supposition. The tug of war is coming
+soon. It will take place at the ranch of Colonel Billings."
+
+"I thought you believed in him."
+
+"I do. I have made a few inquiries about him. I wanted to find out what
+sort of a chap he was before taking you and your aunt out to his place.
+Every one speaks of him as one of the leading men in the county and
+State."
+
+"Then why should he be drawn into this mess?"
+
+"I think he has done it unconsciously. He has a partner who has invested
+money in Billings' cattle. Do you remember the fellow in the train whom
+Kit knocked down? The chap who insulted that pretty girl."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"From the description given me of one of his coming guests by the
+colonel, I believe the man with the red necktie is he."
+
+"What? That horrid thing."
+
+"I didn't tell you, but Kit and I saw him talking to a man at the
+station where we stopped for dinner, whom I am convinced was no other
+than Checkers himself."
+
+"Whew! That looks suspicious."
+
+"In addition to that, the colonel has invited a man and his sister to
+visit him while we are there. This man is a New Yorker; I don't know his
+name, but the colonel says he is out here to buy a ranch. Who do you
+suppose it is?"
+
+"Haven't an idea."
+
+"The girl who dropped the warning note into my pocket, and the young man
+with the pointed beard."
+
+"Whew! again."
+
+"Looks pretty complicated, doesn't it?"
+
+"Worse than that. Ted, are you sure about this Colonel Billings?"
+
+"One is sure of nothing in this world, but I have taken a fancy to
+Billings, and when I like a man he generally turns out all right, making
+allowances for minor faults and habits. Yes, I think I can trust
+Billings."
+
+"But not his friends. Ted, do you want to know what I think?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"I feel that the invitation out there is a trap to catch you, and
+possibly keep you away from the town."
+
+"Nonsense! Why should they want to keep me away from the town? There
+doesn't seem to be anything wrong in town that I could bother them in,
+except the Norcross incident, and if, as I suspect, he has duped his
+partners, he will say nothing to them about me."
+
+"Suppose they want to get out there to do away with you."
+
+"They wouldn't ask all of you out there with me in that case."
+
+"That is where you are mistaken. They are too shrewd to excite your
+suspicions by inviting you alone. It will not be hard for them to get
+you away from the ranch to look at some cattle and then kill you. Ted,
+you are too dangerous to them to be let alone."
+
+"Well, it can't be helped now, and being right in among them is a hope I
+did not expect to see realized so easily. But they will have no
+advantage over me, for none of the syndicate, I take it, know of the
+counterfeits as yet, except Norcross and the inevitable Checkers. But at
+that, I don't think they will resort to violence. We are too strong for
+them, at the ranch, at least I believe they will use diplomacy."
+
+"Well, we can play at the game ourselves. There, perhaps, I can help
+you."
+
+"You bet you can. But let us go down to the station and see if the red
+motor car, 118, has arrived yet."
+
+When they reached the station, Ted went to the express agent and asked
+for the car.
+
+"Yes," said the agent, "the car arrived this morning, Mr. Strong, and I
+delivered it according to your instructions. The charges are not paid
+yet. Your messenger said you would call later and settle for them, and,
+knowing you by reputation, I let it go."
+
+Ted was staring at the agent.
+
+"You delivered it according to my instructions?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"I didn't give any one an order for the car."
+
+"Why, you must have forgotten it. Here it is. I happened to see one of
+your boys down here, and called him to one side and asked him if it was
+your signature, and he very promptly identified it."
+
+"Let me see that order."
+
+The agent produced an order written on the note paper of the hotel.
+
+Ted stared at it incredulously.
+
+"It looks like my writing, but I didn't write it. I'll swear to that.
+Look at this, Stella. Is that my hand?"
+
+Stella looked at the paper studiously for a minute or two, then handed
+it back.
+
+"A casual look at it would deceive me, but you did not write it. It
+lacks several of your individualisms, and has others that are not
+yours."
+
+"That is right. This order is a forgery. I did not write it. The
+express-robber syndicate is getting bolder every minute. They'll come in
+and steal you some day," Ted said to the agent. "Notify your company
+that my car has been stolen, and that I want it restored to me."
+
+"Great Scott!" was all the agent could say.
+
+"What sort of looking chap was it that presented the order?" asked Ted.
+
+"Well, he was an ordinary-looking chap. He had on a--"
+
+"Checked suit?"
+
+"Yes, sir. How did you know?"
+
+"Checkers has come into his own at last," said Ted, turning to Stella.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+TED IN THE TOILS.
+
+
+The following morning an impressive cavalcade set out for the ranch of
+Colonel Billings, led by the genial owner himself. Behind him came Ted
+and Stella, between whom rode little Dick.
+
+Then came Mrs. Graham in a well-appointed carriage, and acting as her
+outriders and escorts were the boys. When they arrived at the ranch,
+after passing numerous herds of fine cattle on the way, they found one
+of the finest ranch houses in the West.
+
+It was a great, white modern structure that could be seen for miles
+across the level prairie, which showed hardly a single rise or
+depression in all the miles they had ridden.
+
+None of the guests whom the colonel had told Ted would be present
+accompanied the party. The colonel explained this by saying that other
+matters had detained them in town, and that he preferred to permit them
+to follow, rather than defer the pleasure of being their escort.
+
+This was said with so much sincerity that Ted could not doubt him. Mrs.
+Graham and Stella were ensconced in a large apartment on the first
+floor, with large windows opening upon a wide veranda.
+
+Both expressed themselves as delighted with their room, much to the
+gratification of their host. The broncho boys found quarters in the
+spacious second floor, which had as many rooms as the average hotel.
+
+"Well, what do you think of Colonel Billings now?" Ted asked of Stella,
+when they met on the broad lawn in front of the ranch house after they
+had seen their rooms.
+
+Stella simply shook her head.
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked Ted. "That you don't know, or that you
+don't care to say?"
+
+"I can't tell you yet, Ted. I like him somehow for his genial ways, and
+yet something tells me to beware."
+
+"Well, I'd sooner trust your intuition than my judgment. I'll keep an
+eye on him. And--yet, I feel the same as you in a way. But I hate to
+distrust any one."
+
+"I know you do, Ted, and that is why you get fooled on some people
+sometimes."
+
+"But not on all people all the time?"
+
+"That's it."
+
+"Then what does one's first impression amount to, anyway?"
+
+"Not much, unless they can make good a good first impression."
+
+"I'm not going to worry about him. The other fellows are the ones for
+that."
+
+"That's what I think."
+
+"I'm going to ride out over the range, and take a look at the cattle.
+Want to go along?"
+
+"Of course I do."
+
+They found their horses in the corral, and after telling Colonel
+Billings that they would be back for dinner, departed.
+
+"When you go through the west gate into the big pasture, look out for a
+big Hereford bull in there," Colonel Billings called after them.
+
+Ted nodded and waved his hand, and they were off. Colonel Billings
+certainly did have a splendid ranch. They rode for miles within the
+fences before they came to the west gate.
+
+"Think we better go any farther?" asked Ted, when they had come this
+far.
+
+"Yes. Let us go on," replied Stella. "We have plenty of time, and I
+would like to see just how big this ranch is."
+
+"Don't forget the red bull," said Ted, as he closed the gate behind
+them.
+
+"I've seen many a dangerous bull before," laughed Stella.
+
+"If we find him and he takes after us, keep on the far side of me. I
+don't much fancy that pony you're on."
+
+"I don't myself. I wish we had a bunch of Moon Valley ponies here to
+ride. I've never seen any that could come up to them."
+
+They were following a trail that led directly into the west. It was a
+cattle trail, and Ted's practiced eye told him that it led to water.
+Several miles to the west he saw the plain became broken.
+
+"There's water over there," he said.
+
+"That's where we'll find the cattle," answered Stella. "Do you want to
+go that far and look at them?"
+
+"I will if you think you can stand it."
+
+Stella looked at him scornfully.
+
+"I guess this beast will go the distance," she answered, giving the
+little gray a clip with her quirt, and galloping ahead of Ted, who was
+not slow to follow.
+
+As they proceeded the ground became more and more broken.
+
+"I believe there is a bit of 'bad land' over there," said Ted, pointing
+forward.
+
+Still they saw no cattle, although Colonel Billings had told him that
+morning that his greatest herd, the one he wished the boys to examine
+with the view to purchase, lay in the big west pasture.
+
+But all they could see so far was the broad stretch of green prairie and
+the low line of the rough land in the distance. Not a living thing was
+in sight.
+
+The only movement was the flying shadows of the white clouds over the
+prairie, and the waving of the deep, rich grass when a vagrant breeze
+swept by.
+
+But suddenly Ted pulled in his pony, and shaded his eyes with his hand,
+staring into the west.
+
+"What is it?" asked Stella, reining in.
+
+"I thought I saw something red shoot across the horizon to the west,
+where you see those gray rocks," answered Ted.
+
+"A cow--or, perhaps, the dangerous red bull," laughed Stella.
+
+"Nothing like that. It wasn't the right color. Did you ever see a
+scarlet cow?"
+
+"Never did."
+
+"Well, the thing I saw was scarlet, and it was not shaped like a cow."
+
+He was still looking intently into the west.
+
+"There it is again!" he exclaimed, unlimbering his field glasses.
+
+After a moment of intense scrutiny, he raised the glasses suddenly to
+his eyes.
+
+"By Jove!" he cried, "it's a motor car, and I believe it's 118."
+
+"Impossible!" cried Stella.
+
+"No, entirely possible," said Ted intensely. "Don't you see if it was
+this fellow Checkers who got the machine from the agent by false
+pretenses he would take it as far away from town as possible?"
+
+"Yes, I see that."
+
+"Then which direction would he take if, as I think, he is in league with
+the train-robbing syndicate, which we have persuaded ourselves to think
+made their headquarters at Green River, but in this direction? We have
+learned that others of those we believe to be in it are to be the guests
+of this ranch, and--"
+
+"I see. He could not well bring the red car to the ranch house."
+
+"That's it."
+
+"Then where do you suppose he's going with it?"
+
+"There's no better place to hide it than in those very 'bad lands,' if I
+am guessing right, at the rough land yonder."
+
+"True. What are you going to do about it?"
+
+"I'm going to find that red car and my friend, Checkers."
+
+"Not alone, Ted. You're going to get the other boys to help you, aren't
+you?"
+
+"Now is the accepted time. I'm going right away now. But it would be a
+good scheme for you to ride back to the ranch and tell Bud and the boys
+quietly what I am about, and have them come out in case I should need
+help."
+
+"I hate to see you ride away alone, Ted. You can't tell what there is
+over there. Better let me go along."
+
+"No, Stella, it would be no use. You know that I appreciate your courage
+and skill in every way, but this, probably, will be no work for girls."
+
+Stella pouted at this. She did not like the idea of the long ride back
+to the ranch house alone.
+
+She looked at Ted to see if he really was in earnest, and when she saw
+the look in his face she turned back with a wave of the hand and a "So
+long!" and started for the ranch house.
+
+"Tell Bud to bring three or four of the boys out here with him," shouted
+Ted after her. "Thank you, Stella."
+
+But she only nodded her head and pursued her way, and Ted, after looking
+after her for a moment, rode forward. He had not seen the red car for
+several minutes, it having disappeared behind a rocky butte.
+
+Having a fair horse, he gave it the gad and struck into a gallop. Soon
+he entered upon the rough land, and from a rise saw a stream below and a
+herd of cattle beyond, where the prairie began again; the railroad, and
+a small red station house, with two or three low buildings about it.
+
+He now understood that he had seen the red car on the far side of the
+ravine, through which the stream flowed, and went down to the stream,
+his horse sliding on its haunches amid a clatter of broken clay and
+pebbles.
+
+He was soon across and clambered up the other wall of the ravine, and
+there in the clay found the impression of the tires of the red car.
+
+"I'm all right now," he muttered to himself. "On the track of Checkers
+and the robbers' automobile. I wonder where it will end."
+
+He had no difficulty in following the tracks of the automobile for a
+considerable distance, when the ravine ran out on that side and the bank
+of the stream flattened; and he rode along it, following the trail with
+ease.
+
+Then the bank of the stream rose again, and the water flowed through a
+ravine, into which the red car had entered. It could not escape him, and
+Ted chuckled, and examined his revolver, loosening it well in its
+holster, for he had not forgotten the warning against Checkers given him
+by Chief Desmond.
+
+The ravine grew deeper as he advanced, and soon it became tolerably dark
+at the bottom where the high walls shut out the light. Suddenly his
+horse stumbled, and, as Ted shot over its head, he heard the twang of a
+broken wire that had been stretched across the path.
+
+He had fallen into a trap. As he struck the earth, he was stunned for a
+moment, then a heavy weight was upon him.
+
+He twisted around and felt for his revolver, but it had fallen from his
+holster, and he felt his arms grasped and a thong passed around his
+wrists, and then around his ankles.
+
+The weight was lifted from him and he rolled over on his back. Standing
+above him was the man whom he knew as Checkers.
+
+"Well, my lad, you delivered yourself like a lamb to the slaughter,"
+said Checkers, with a smile.
+
+Ted could say nothing. He was too busy wondering how easily he had
+fallen into the toils.
+
+"You went up against a tough proposition when yon tackled me," continued
+the man. "It would have been a good thing for you if you had never run
+across me. You know too much to be left alive. I shall see that you are
+properly taken care of."
+
+Checkers issued a shrill whistle.
+
+"Come," he said to Ted, "get to your feet."
+
+Ted arose as three men came around an elbow of the wall of the ravine.
+
+"Take care of this boy," said Checkers to them. "And if he escapes--"
+
+He finished the sentence with a smile that made the men wince.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+STELLA IMITATES SANTA CLAUS.
+
+
+"Come on, fellow," said one of the men, jerking Ted along by hops.
+
+"We'll attend to him all right, boss," said another.
+
+"He'll get all that's coming to him," said the third, with a grin that
+was almost as diabolical as that of Checkers.
+
+Around the elbow of the ravine wall, in a small cove was a log cabin
+with a lean-to shed, under which was sheltered the fatal red car which
+had lured him to captivity.
+
+The cabin was backed up against the wall of the ravine, and was small
+and dirty as to interior. A fire burned in a big stone fireplace at one
+end, filling the room with a suffocating smudge.
+
+The room was almost dark, but Ted, from the corner into which he had
+been flung, was soon able to make out that the men were cooking
+something over the glowing embers, at the same time taking swigs from a
+black bottle, and smoking reeking pipes of vile tobacco.
+
+After the food was cooked they began to eat, but did not offer Ted any
+of it, all the while making jokes at his expense, and vaguely hinting at
+his fate.
+
+Ted wished now that he had taken Stella's advice, and had not rushed in
+so rashly. Had he waited for Bud and two or three of the boys to come to
+his assistance, he could easily have caught the whole lot for their
+cabin was in a perfect pocket from which they could not have escaped.
+
+Who were these rough fellows with whom Checkers would not associate, for
+Ted could hear his archenemy pacing up and down outside, and he had not
+forgotten how he had addressed these men?
+
+Probably they were only ordinary villains who did the dirty work planned
+by the wiser heads of the syndicate. He wondered if the boys would be
+able to find him before they settled with him, as they had promised.
+
+After the men had finished their meal the voice of the leader summoned
+them outside. Ted could hear commands being given in a low voice, and
+mumbles from the men.
+
+It appeared from what Ted could gather from the tones of the voice,
+rather than from any words that he caught, that one of the men was
+protesting against what Checkers was ordering.
+
+Suddenly there was a cry of agony.
+
+"Don't do that, boss," said one of the men.
+
+"Shut up, or you'll get a taste of the same knife," came the voice of
+Checkers in a tone of rage. "When I say a thing must be done it is as
+good as done. Now go ahead and do as I tell you."
+
+"But, boss--"
+
+"Go on, and do it. Are you a coward? You've done it before," Ted heard
+Checkers say. "I'm going away now, and if you can't show me what I want
+when I get back, well--you know."
+
+In a moment Ted heard the chug of the motor car, then the grating of the
+tires on the earth as it started away.
+
+"Remember what I said," the voice of Checkers came floating back.
+
+"Say, Bill, this is a derned outrage," said one of the men outside. "I,
+fer one, am not in favor of standin' for it."
+
+"Well, if yer don't, you'll get the same," said other man.
+
+"I never see any one so handy with that bloomin' knife o' his."
+
+"Look out you don't get a taste o' it, then."
+
+"Is he dead, Bill?"
+
+There was a shuffling of feet outside, and Ted knew that they were
+turning a body over.
+
+"Yes, he's stone-dead."
+
+"Pore Dick! He had his faults, but he was a good pal."
+
+"He wuz, but too derned soft-hearted. He didn't want ter kill a feller
+in cold blood never."
+
+"An' yet he wa'n't no coward. I never see ther time Dick w'd refuse ter
+fight if ther other feller had some show, an' he wa'n't squeamish about
+holdin' up a train er runnin' off a bunch o' cattle, but I always hear
+him say thet he didn't take no stock in plain, straight murder."
+
+"That's so, but it's not murder, Tom, when yer kills ther feller what's
+yer enemy. Now, honor bright, is it?"
+
+"I dunno. I was brought up ter fight, an' fight like ther devil hisself
+when it come ter fightin', but I reckon I'm too much o' a derned coward
+ter murder cold."
+
+"Well, this is one o' ther times when it's got ter be did, an' I reckon
+we might as well be about it. Git ready."
+
+"No, sir, I'm not goin' ter do it."
+
+"Tom, yer a fool. Do yer know what'll happen when ther boss comes back
+an' finds out that it ain't been did?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"An' aire yer goin' ter resk it?"
+
+"I be."
+
+"Then ye're a bigger fool than I am. I'm goin' ter carry out orders.
+What's ther difference? A couple of good slashes an' it's all over."
+
+"But think o' the death cry, Bill. I've heerd too many o' them already.
+I hears them when I sleep and they wake me up."
+
+"Tom, yer talk ter me like a sick canary peeps. I always thought yer wuz
+a man."
+
+"An' don't yer think so now, Bill?"
+
+"Not from ther way yer talkin'."
+
+"Well, if yer has any doubts erbout it I'll give yer a chanct ter prove
+it, any way yer like."
+
+"Now, what's ther use o' talkin' that away, Tom? Dick's dead by ther
+hand o' ther boss. What's thar in it fer you or me if ther cub in thar
+dies er not? Be sensible."
+
+"It ain't matterin' a chaw o' terbaccer ter me whether he dies er not,
+but he's got a right ter die in a natural way, so to speak."
+
+"An' how is that, my Sunday-school friend?"
+
+"In a fair fight, by gosh!"
+
+"An' who's goin' ter give him a fair fight? I don't want none o' it."
+
+"So that's ther way yer built, is it, Bill? I always thought yer was a
+game man."
+
+"I reckon I be, but that's not in this question. Here's an enemy ter
+ther gang what lays bound in the cabin. Why should I resk my life in a
+fight with him er fer him. It's so derned easy fer a feller ter go in
+thar an' stick a knife inter him, an' then, yer see, it's all over
+with."
+
+"Yer wrong, Bill."
+
+"I'd sooner do that than have ther boss come back an' stick his knife
+inter me."
+
+"Aire yer afraid ter fight ther boss?"
+
+"He's ther only man I be afraid of."
+
+There was a long silence following this, and Ted understood the terrible
+power of Checkers over his men, and Desmond's warning.
+
+"Well, I'm tired o' chewin' erbout ther virtue o' killin' a man one way
+or another, an' I'm goin' ter foller orders. If you don't want ter jine
+in I reckon as how I'll have ter tell ther boss that yer flunked."
+
+There was no response to this, and a few moments elapsed in which Ted
+listened hopefully for his champion's voice.
+
+Suddenly something dropped in the fireplace, and Ted, straining his eyes
+in that direction, saw a tiny pair of tan riding boots come into view,
+followed by a tan skirt, and Stella dropped noiselessly into the room.
+
+She held up a warning finger as she saw Ted in the corner.
+
+"Sh, sh!" she whispered, as she felt for his bonds and cut them.
+
+Ted was on his feet on the instant, and Stella pressed a revolver into
+his hand.
+
+"I didn't go back to the ranch house, but followed you here. I saw the
+red car go out, and hid. Then I sneaked along until I heard those
+fellows quarreling. I was on the top of the bluff here, and guessed that
+you were inside the cabin, as I couldn't see you anywhere outside, so I
+just dropped in." As Stella whispered this she smiled, and Ted could
+only look his thanks.
+
+The fellow named Tom, who had been opposed to killing Ted, had evidently
+been doing some hard thinking, and the threat of his mate to expose him
+to Checkers evidently convinced him that he would rather be alive than
+perish for a mere sentiment.
+
+"All right, Bill," he said; "I don't like it, but we've got to share
+it."
+
+"Sure," said the other. "It'll be blow and blow. We both strike
+together."
+
+"Come on, then."
+
+"Now," said Ted, putting Stella behind him and crouching in the
+darkness.
+
+The two men entered the cabin noisily, knowing that they had nothing to
+fear from an unarmed boy bound hand and foot and lying in the corner
+with nothing to hope for.
+
+As they approached the corner they were surprised to see a stalwart
+young form arise suddenly and a pair of revolvers gleam through the
+darkness as a voice rang out commandingly:
+
+"Hands up!"
+
+The hands of both went up very promptly.
+
+"Drop those knives!"
+
+A pair of knives clattered to the floor.
+
+"Face about, both of you, and go out. The first to make a break gets a
+shot in the back."
+
+At Ted's command both men obeyed. When they were outside in the
+sunlight, Ted looked them over. Both had revolvers in their holsters.
+
+"Take their revolvers away from them, Stella," said Ted.
+
+As the girl moved forward to comply with the request of Ted Strong, the
+men stared at her in amazement.
+
+"Now, which of you is Tom?" asked Ted.
+
+"I am," said one of them.
+
+"You lie!" answered Ted. "I know you by your voice. You are not
+Tom:--you are Bill."
+
+"Yes, I'm Tom," said the other fellow.
+
+"That's right," said Ted.
+
+"Now, see here, Tom, if I give you the chance will you dig out of this
+and escape? It won't be very long before you are caught, anyway, and you
+know what that means."
+
+"You bet I will," said the fellow, who had protested against the murder
+of Ted.
+
+"All right, I'll give you the chance. I'll take your friend in charge
+myself. You can take down your hands, Tom."
+
+The fellow was in a state of wonderment as he did so.
+
+"Who are you, anyway?" asked the fellow called Bill.
+
+"I am Ted Strong."
+
+"Then it's all up. We're done for," said the train robber, in a resigned
+voice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+TED HOLDS A PROFITABLE BAG.
+
+
+Tom signaled to Ted to step aside, and, telling Stella to keep the other
+fellow covered with her revolver, Ted accompanied him.
+
+"Thank yer fer turnin' me loose," said Tom. "I've been tryin' ter get
+away fer months, but couldn't. Here's a tip: They're goin' ter rob ther
+Overland Express t'-night right out yon at that little station yer can
+see from ther top o' ther rise. Ther loot is ter be hid near Bubbly
+Spring until things blow over, but ther gang will come here. Thar's my
+tip. Good-by. I'm off."
+
+The fellow disappeared up the bank of the stream.
+
+Ted bound the other upon the back of his pony, which he found not far
+from the scene of his own downfall, and conveyed him to Green River,
+where he placed him in jail, with instructions that he should be allowed
+to communicate with no one.
+
+Then he and Stella returned to the Billings ranch house.
+
+"Say nothing whatever about our adventure," said Ted, as he and Stella
+rode along discussing the matter. "I think there will be something doing
+there to-night."
+
+When they got back to the ranch, Ted simply explained their absence by
+saying that they had ridden farther than they had at first intended.
+
+Ted was introduced to the other guests, who had arrived in his absence.
+There was Mr. Norcross, the banker, who looked a little sheepish when
+Ted shook hands with him and acted as if he had never seen him before.
+The man with the black mustache and the red necktie was Mr. Dennis
+Corrigan, of Chicago, and neither he nor the boys appeared to have seen
+him before. The young man with the pointed beard was Mr. van Belder, of
+New York.
+
+Colonel Billings was full of hospitable notions, and made the afternoon
+pass delightfully.
+
+"They tell me there is very good shooting in the neighborhood at times,"
+said Mr. Corrigan, as they all sat on the veranda in the afternoon.
+
+"Excellent," said the colonel. "At this time of the year the snipe
+shooting is fine."
+
+"What is the best time to shoot them?" asked Van Belder.
+
+"I should say after dark," said the host, with an imperceptible wink at
+Mr. Corrigan.
+
+"I don't see how you can shoot snipe after dark," said Ted.
+
+"You don't exactly shoot them," explained Mr. Corrigan. "It's this way,
+and a fine game, and often practiced in South Chicago: The party goes
+out, and one holds the bag while the rest go along and drive the birds
+in, and the fellow who holds the bag catches them in it. It's lots
+easier than shooting them, and you get more birds."
+
+"By Jove, that's a new experience to me!" said Ted. "I'd like to try
+it."
+
+Mr. van Belder looked at him curiously, but drawled that he thought it
+very fine sport. So it was agreed that that night they should go on a
+snipe-bagging expedition.
+
+The party was to be made up of Ted, who was eager to hold the bag for
+the snipe to run into; Mr. Corrigan, the colonel, Mr. van Belder, and a
+few others.
+
+Most of the boys declined absolutely to go.
+
+"Say, aire ye gittin' plumb dotty?" asked Bud, when he got Ted out of
+hearing. "Tell me, is it possible thet yer eyeteeth aire so far
+secreted up inter yer head thet yer don't know erbout baggin' snipe?"
+
+But all the answer Bud got was a wink.
+
+"Now, what hez ther hombre got up his sleeve, I wonder?" said Bud, as he
+wandered off.
+
+Ted and Stella had an animated conversation a few minutes later out of
+the sight and hearing of the others. But Stella walked off, smiling. She
+knew.
+
+It was just getting dark when the party left the ranch house.
+
+Ted carried a large, empty sack over his shoulder. With the organizers
+of the party went Bud, Ben, Kit, Carl, and Clay.
+
+The maddest person in the house that evening was Stella, because she
+couldn't go, too. But as she said good-by to the party from the steps of
+the ranch house she smiled comprehensively at Ted.
+
+A walk of a half mile brought the party to the edge of a small creek.
+
+"Now," said Mr. Corrigan, "here's where you wait with the bag while we
+go up to the creek and chase them down. You may have to wait a little
+while, and you must have patience."
+
+"Don't worry about me," answered Ted; "I have plenty of that. I'll be
+here when the snipe come down, and if any of them get away, charge them
+to me."
+
+After they had been gone some time Ted lit a match and looked at his
+watch. It was a quarter to nine.
+
+The Overland Express was due in Green River at nine-twenty. The little
+red station of Polifax would foe passed by ten minutes after she left
+Green River.
+
+While he was in Green River that afternoon Ted had been very careful to
+find the exact location of Bubbly Spring. He was more than two miles
+from it in his blind to wait for the snipe.
+
+As soon as the crashing of the feet of the snipe drivers and the shouts
+and laughter had died away, Ted left his hiding place and darted through
+the dark woods and swampy ground for Bubbly Spring.
+
+Long before he got there he heard the long screech of the whistle of the
+Overland Express announcing its approach at Green River, and a few
+minutes later its whistle that it was on its way. He had just reached
+Bubbly Spring and concealed himself in the bushes when the whistle gave
+a long shriek of danger.
+
+The signal of the train robbers had been given at Polifax. The engineer
+had seen the red light and had whistled to the trainmen that danger was
+ahead, and that he was going to stop.
+
+In a few moments Ted heard a few pops, and knew that the train robbers
+were firing their revolvers alongside of the train to prevent
+interference.
+
+What if the train robbers should fail?
+
+The train started up again, and Ted knew by that that nobody had been
+killed, and it added to his anxiety as to the success of the robbery. He
+wanted it to occur, for if he could secure the loot he could destroy the
+train robbers surely.
+
+All he wanted now was tangible evidence. He lay back breathlessly in the
+bushes, waiting. Soon he heard the rapid hoofbeats of horses, then a
+crashing in the bushes.
+
+These noises were approaching him rapidly. The crisis was at hand.
+
+In a moment the moon burst through the clouds, illuminating the little
+valley through which the small stream from the spring flowed, and Ted
+crept into closer cover. Then into the glade galloped ten men.
+
+Between two of them was swung a small, square thing, which was dropped
+at the foot of a cottonwood tree not a dozen feet from where Ted was
+concealed.
+
+A man leaped from the back of a horse. He had a spade in his hand, and
+as he advanced Ted drew in his breath sharply.
+
+It was Corrigan, the Chicago millionaire. Behind him was Norcross, the
+banker.
+
+Ted looked vainly for Checkers. If he had been with the robbers at the
+holdup, he had not come here with them. Meanwhile, the dirt was flying,
+and a hole was being dug at the foot of the cotton wood.
+
+After it was deep enough an iron box was dropped into it and covered
+with earth, and silently the men remounted and rode away.
+
+Ted waited about fifteen minutes to be sure that none of them would
+return. Then he dug into the freshly laid earth and soon had exhumed the
+iron box. It was somewhat of a heavy load, but he packed it manfully,
+and in about half an hour carried it in his bag into the living room of
+the ranch house.
+
+He was greeted with shouts of laughter from Corrigan and several of the
+others. But Stella looked at him anxiously, and he gave her a reassuring
+glance.
+
+"Ha, ha!" laughed Corrigan. "What do you think of snipe hunting now?"
+
+"It was a good joke," said the colonel, "but I'm sure you will take it
+good-naturedly."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Norcross, the banker. "It's quite a favorite amusement
+out here."
+
+Only the New Yorker said nothing, but gave Ted a peculiar glance. Ted
+looked around at the group with a foolish smile.
+
+"It was a good joke, gentlemen," said he, "and I have never been sore
+because I have been handed one."
+
+Another burst of satisfied laughter greeted this from the big
+three--Corrigan, Norcross, and the colonel. But Stella and the boys
+looked glum that Ted was being made the butt of a joke.
+
+Then Ted put his sack on the floor and opened it and lifted something
+out and placed it on the table. It was the iron box he had dug from the
+earth at Bubbly Spring, with the fresh earth still sticking to it.
+
+Corrigan's face turned white. Norcross had to lean against the corner of
+the table to keep from falling.
+
+Ted easily opened the lock of the box, and threw it open.
+
+"You left me to hold the bag, did you?" he asked of the astounded
+conspirators. "Well, what do you think of these for snipe?"
+
+The room was as quiet as a church.
+
+"Gentlemen, you are all under arrest. Boys, get into your saddles. We
+are going to ride to the rendezvous of the gang of robbers which
+to-night robbed the Overland Express and stole the money I have here,"
+and he lifted out package after package of stolen currency.
+
+Stella was laughing and waving her hat.
+
+"I knowed yer had somethin' up yer sleeve when yer consented ter go
+snipe huntin'! Yer ther limit," said Bud.
+
+Only Mr. van Belder of all the conspirators was calm. He ripped a beard
+from his face, and there stood Darby O'Neill, the United States secret
+agent!
+
+"Say, Ted, give me that counterfeit of the Green River National Bank. It
+is all I need to take Norcross away for a long term. I've been working
+on him for a long time, but you knocked the persimmon at last."
+
+"You had me guessing," said Ted. "When I got that note that was slipped
+into my pocket in St. Louis I ought to have guessed that it was you, but
+you are so clever at disguise that you always fool me."
+
+"But you've never fooled me yet," was the reply. "I've banked on you
+every time, and every time you've come back with the goods."
+
+"But who was the young lady who slipped me the note?"
+
+"My sister, who is a very clever girl detective, as you may know some
+day."
+
+After the boys had made secure the three men at the head of the train
+robbers' syndicate, they went to the cabin in which Ted had so nearly
+lost his life, and secured the rest of the robbers.
+
+Next morning at daylight they found the body of Checkers lying beside
+the fatal red car not far from the scene of the holdup. He had been
+killed by a stray shot fired by one of his own men.
+
+Thus was the train robbers' syndicate wiped out through the acumen and
+courage of Ted Strong, and the loyal backing of his comrades.
+
+The broncho boys decided that more stock was needed at the Moon Valley
+Ranch, and the entire outfit set out for No Man's Land, in northern
+Texas.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+THE MAGPIE PONY.
+
+
+"Say, podner, might I be so free an' onquisitive ez ter inquire ez ter
+whar yer got thet thar palfrey yer ridin'?"
+
+The speaker was a tall, gaunt old man with a tangled mass of grizzled
+whiskers, and the "podner" he addressed was Bud Morgan.
+
+"Yer might," answered Bud, eying the questioner keenly.
+
+"Well!"
+
+"Why don't yer?"
+
+"Oh, I see. Whar did yer git it?"
+
+"I traded a Waterbury watch fer it, an' ther feller what made ther trade
+throwed in a pack o' cigareets."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+"Anything else ye'd like ter know?"
+
+"Well, seein' ez yer so communicative, I'd like ter hev yer tell me how
+fur it's ter Yeller Fork."
+
+"Betwixt grub."
+
+"Come ergin."
+
+"Ez fur ez yer kin ride betwixt 'arly breakfast an' dinner."
+
+"Well, I'm obleegin' ter yer. I reckon we'll be hikin'."
+
+"Who's ther kid?"
+
+"Thet boy is my grandson. We come outer Missouri ter see what could be
+did in this yere new country, an' it's mighty hard sleddin'."
+
+"What's ther trouble?"
+
+"Well, stranger, so long ez yer kind ernuff ter inquire, I'll tell yer."
+
+"I'm listenin'."
+
+"I'm too old ter work at ther only thing what seems ter be out
+yere--cow-punchin'--an' ther kiddie is too young. Now, if 'twas farmin',
+we'd be in it."
+
+"Thar ain't no more farmin' out yere than a rabbit, thet's shore. What
+might yer bizness be at home?"
+
+"I'm a hoss trader."
+
+"Thar ought ter be somethin' doin' out yere fer yer, then. All thar is
+in this country is hosses an' cattle."
+
+"They ain't my kind o' hosses."
+
+"Yer don't seem ter fancy cow ponies, eh?"
+
+"I reckon they're all right in their way, podner, but they're a leetle
+too wild fer me to break, an' the kid's not strong enough."
+
+"Askin' questions seems ter be fash'n'ble. Whar did yer git thet magpie
+hoss?"
+
+Bud was looking over the old man's mount, a beautiful little
+black-and-white-spotted pony, as clean limbed as a racer, and with a
+round and compact body. It was a bizarre-looking little animal, with a
+long, black mane and tail, at the roots of which was a round, white
+spot. It was the sort of animal that would attract attention anywhere.
+
+"Magpie! Podner, I riz her from a colt."
+
+"She's shore a showy beast."
+
+"She is some on ther picture, ain't she?" asked the old man, looking the
+pony over admiringly.
+
+"She's all right, but--"
+
+"But what, podner?" The old man looked at Bud with a frown.
+
+"Well, I ain't none on knockin' another man's hoss, but I never see one
+o' them black-an'-white-spotted animiles what could do more than lope,
+an' out in this yere country hosses hez got ter run like a scared coyote
+ter be any good in ther cow business."
+
+"Yer reckon this yere Magpie can't run?" asked the old man, bristling.
+
+"I ain't said so."
+
+"Well, yer alluded ter a magpie hoss as couldn't do nothin' but lope."
+
+"I ain't never see none what could do much more."
+
+"You ain't never see Magpie split ther wind, then."
+
+"I ain't."
+
+"Mebbe ye'd like ter."
+
+"Mebbe I would."
+
+"I reckon yer thinks ther cow what yer a-straddlin' of now kin run
+some."
+
+"A leetle bit. But, yer see, when I got him he was a broken-down cow
+hoss what hed been ridden ter death an' fed on sand an' alkali water so
+long thet he wa'n't much good nohow."
+
+"Jest picked him up wanderin'?"
+
+"Not eggsactly. Yer see, it wuz this way: I was coming ercross Noo
+Mexico about a month back, when I runs foul o' a hombre what is all in.
+He hadn't et fer so long thet yer could see ther bumps made by his
+backbone through his shirt. I hed some grub in my war bag, an' I fed an'
+watered him. This yer nag wuz all in, too, an' he hed a long way ter go,
+so when ther feller ups an' perposes ter trade ponies I give him ther
+merry cachinnation."
+
+"Ther what?"
+
+"Ther laugh."
+
+"Go ahead, podner, yer shore hez a splendid education."
+
+"I see thet he'll never git ter whar he's goin' on ther nag, an' I
+thinks I'll do him a favor by sittin' him on a piece o' live hossmeat,
+an' I said I'd trade if he hed anythin' ter boot. Now, what do yer think
+he hed?"
+
+"I ain't got a notion."
+
+"A pack o' Mexican cigareets what burned like a bresh fire an' smelled
+like a wet dog under a stove."
+
+"Haw, haw! An' yer traded?"
+
+"I thought some fust, an' then I thinks what's ther odds? Thar's plenty
+o' hosses in camp, an' it'll probably save ther feller's life ter let
+him hev ther pony, what ain't none out o' ther common, so I says, 'It's
+a go, pard.' I clumb down an' we changed saddles, an' he handed over
+ther pack o' cigareets an' we went our ways."
+
+"Yer shore is a kind-hearted man."
+
+"I ain't, neither. I jest knows a hoss when I sees one."
+
+"Yer don't call thet a hoss yer a-straddlin', I hope?"
+
+"I shore do. He ain't much fer ter gaze on admirin', I agree, but he's a
+good little cayuse. I reckon, now, yer some proud o' thet magpie hoss."
+
+"I be. It kin outrun anythin' this side o' ther State o' Newbrasky."
+
+"P'r'aps yer lookin' fer a race ter see what ther best we've got in camp
+kin do, no?"
+
+"Thar ain't nary time what I won't run a race if I think thar's ary
+merit in my hossflesh. How erbout ther animile what yer sits on so
+graceful?"
+
+"Oh, I reckon he kin ride rings eround ther magpie hoss," said Bud, who
+was a trifle nettled at the old man's jeering tone.
+
+"Yer certain got a lot o' confidence in a dead one."
+
+"I reckernize ther fact that he ain't none pretty, but handsome is as
+handsome does. Hatrack is some shy on meat an' he's got a temper like a
+disappointed woman, ter say nothin' o' havin' had ther botts, ringbone,
+heaves, an' spavin', but he's a good nag, fer all thet, an' would be
+good-lookin' ernough if his wool wasn't wore off in so many places."
+
+"Haw, haw! He ain't what ye'd call a show animile."
+
+"He ain't, but, say, stranger, he _kin_ run."
+
+"What d'ye say ter a leetle brush betwixt Magpie an' yer Hatrack?"
+
+"I'm ther gamest thing what ever yer see when it comes ter a hoss
+race."
+
+"What'll we race fer?"
+
+"Nag an' nag. If yer beats me, yer takes Hatrack, an' if he gits away
+with ther spotted pony, why, yer turns her over ter me. Is it a go?"
+
+"If yer throw in a six-shooter fer odds."
+
+"All right, pard, jest ter show yer thet I ain't no shorthorn, I'll go
+yer. I've got a shooter in my war-bag up ter camp what'll kick ther arm
+outer yer socket every time yer pulls ther trigger, but she'll send a
+bullet through a six-inch oak beam."
+
+"Anything, so it's odds. I'll go yer. I reckon I could sell it fer a
+dollar er so."
+
+"I reckon yer could," said Bud sarcastically. "I wuz offered ten dollars
+fer it by a hombre down ter Las Vegas a month ago. But he was a husky
+feller, an' wanted a strong shooter. He wanted ter go out huntin' fer a
+feller with it, an' I wouldn't let him hev it. Is it a go, shore
+enough?"
+
+"It be."
+
+"All right; come over ter ther camp an' stay overnight, an' fill yer
+pale American hides with ther best grub what ever wuz cooked on ther
+range. Our cook is an artist."
+
+Bud led the way on his little, flea-bitten skeleton of a pony that
+snorted and reared, kicked, and showed the whites of its eyes when he
+woke it from the drooping position it had held while he was talking to
+the old man.
+
+In half an hour they were in sight, from the hill they had topped, of a
+vast band of cattle grazing in a broad valley.
+
+In a sheltered spot below the hill was a typical cow camp. A
+white-covered chuck wagon shone in the rays of the departing sun, and
+the smoke arose from the cook's fire, where he was baking biscuit in a
+Dutch oven, while the fragrant odors of frying bacon and steaming
+coffee filled the air.
+
+"What have you found this time?" asked Ben Tremont, as Bud came into
+camp.
+
+"This yere gent is a maverick from Missouri what I found wanderin'
+across the peerarie searchin' fer Yaller Fork, an' he hez bantered me
+ter a hoss race, I ast him ter come in an' stay overnight, an' eat, an'
+we'll run ther hosses in ther mornin'."
+
+"What horses?"
+
+"I'm goin' ter run Hatrack agin' thet magpie mare o' hisn, an' throw in
+a six-shooter with Hatrack if I lose."
+
+"Say, are you going altogether dippy?" growled Ben. "Why, that little
+mare will run away from you as if Hatrack was tied to a post."
+
+"Reckon so? Well, maybe I want to lose Hatrack, an' maybe all I want is
+ter capture thet magpie pony."
+
+"Oh, what a lovely pony!"
+
+Stella Fosdick had ridden into camp, and her exclamation of admiration
+for the magpie pony drew the attention of the boys to her.
+
+"D'ye like thet thar pony?" asked Bud.
+
+"I think it's beautiful," answered Stella enthusiastically.
+
+"Then it's yours."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"This old gent an' me is goin' ter hev a race in ther mornin', hoss fer
+hoss, an' when it's over ther magpie hoss is yours."
+
+A peal of rippling laughter greeted this.
+
+"See yere, gal, what is all this noise about?" asked Bud huffily. "If
+yer laughin' at ther idea o' Hatrack beatin' ther magpie hoss, don't yer
+do it, fer thet's showin' ignerance o' hossflesh, an' I thought yer wuz
+too well brought up at Moon Valley ter think thet pretty spots on a
+hoss hez anythin' ter do with his ability ter make a race er hold a
+cow."
+
+"Forgive me, Bud, I didn't mean to laugh at Hatrack, but, really, he
+doesn't look as if he could run any faster than a lame dog."
+
+"Oh, I reckon he'll git over ther ground fast ernough," said Bud, with a
+sly wink at the girl. "But he won't do it with me on his back. I'm a
+trifle heavy fer fast work. I'll hev ter git Kit ter pilot him, I
+reckon."
+
+"I reckon you won't," said Stella. "If any one rides him it will be me.
+I'm a good many pounds lighter than Kit."
+
+"All right, Stella. I wanted yer ter ride him, but I didn't like ter
+impose on good nature by askin' yer ter do it."
+
+"Why, I'd love to ride the race. You ought to know me by this time."
+
+"It's a go, an' if yer win, as win yer must, ther magpie hoss is yours."
+
+"Oh, Bud, you don't mean it! Then I'll certainly ride to win."
+
+So it was settled, and the old man and his grandson were accorded the
+hospitality of the camp.
+
+After a hearty supper, while they were all sitting around the fire, and
+the old man was telling stories of his trip into the Southwest, for the
+broncho boys were now herding a big bunch of range cattle in what is
+known as No Man's Land, an arm of northern Texas lying west of Oklahoma,
+and claimed by both, the day watch rode into camp, and, stripping their
+saddles from their ponies, turned them loose. Then the boys threw
+themselves upon the ground to rest after several hours of constant
+riding.
+
+One of the cowboys in the outfit, Sol Flatbush by name, stood staring at
+the old man and the boy.
+
+He was scratching his forelock in a meditative sort of way, as if
+trying to remember something.
+
+"What is it, Solly? I reckon what yer tryin' ter think of is that ye've
+forgot yer supper," said Bud.
+
+"No, 'tain't that," said the cow-puncher, staring harder at the old man.
+
+"Hear about ther race, Sol?" asked Ben.
+
+"Now, don't yer expect me ter ask yer what race an' then spring thet ole
+gag about ther 'human race.' I won't stand fer it. I've got troubles
+enough. Thet buckskin pony o' mine hez hed ther very divil in him all
+day, an' I ain't feelin' none too amiable."
+
+"This is on the square."
+
+"Well, cut loose."
+
+"Bud is going to race Hatrack against that magpie horse grazing out
+there, and throw in a six-shooter if the old gent wins."
+
+Sol Flatbush turned and looked at the magpie pony, then at the old man.
+Suddenly a gleam of intelligence illuminated his face, and he grinned.
+
+"Say, Bud, I wisht ye'd come over yere an' look at this buckskin's off
+hind foot, an' tell me what ye thinks o' it. He's been actin' powerful
+queer on it all day."
+
+Bud rose lazily and followed Sol out of camp. The buckskin was grazing
+peacefully a few hundred yards away, and as they walked toward it Sol
+Flatbush said:
+
+"Bud, d'ye know that ole maverick?"
+
+"I shore don't. Never even ast him his name," answered Bud.
+
+"Well, I do. That's ole 'Cap' Norris. He's a hoss sharp fer fair. He an'
+that boy don't do nothin' but ride the country with that magpie hoss,
+pickin' up races at cow camps an' ranches an' in towns. That hoss o'
+hisn is a 'ringer.' His real name is Idlewild, an' he's a perfessional
+race hoss. Boy, yer stung!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+"VAMOSE!"
+
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said Bud quietly, as Sol Flatbush made this
+announcement of the ability of Magpie, or Idlewild, as he was known
+elsewhere.
+
+"But I do," urged Sol. "I see that hoss run at Ponca City on ther Fo'th
+o' July a year ago, an' he jest run away from ther best Indian racers
+what ther Osages could bring over, an' yer knows they kin go some."
+
+"Sol, my son, don't git excited. Yer Uncle Bud knows what he's doin'
+when he's going inter this yere race. He ain't tellin' ther ole man, nor
+none o' you fellers, what thar is in thet Hatrack hoss."
+
+"Got somethin' up yer sleeve?"
+
+"I reckon I hev. If I was a bettin' man, I'd wager my share o' Moon
+Valley that Hatrack would win this yere race."
+
+"Sho; yer don't say!"
+
+"Ted seen him run. Ask him. Now, don't you worry none about me. I know a
+hoss when I see one standin' on its four legs. That magpie hoss is a
+good one, whether his name is Magpie or Idlewild. Ther name don't make
+him run no better. But Hatrack is some, too, an' I want that magpie pony
+for Stella. She ain't got no hoss of her own down yere, an' that spotted
+pony is jest ther sort o' showy hoss what a gal likes."
+
+"Well, I ain't wantin' ter be buttin' in none," said Sol, in a
+crestfallen way.
+
+"Yer ain't butted in none, Sol. I'm obliged ter yer fer givin' me ther
+tip erbout ther old sharp. When he fust braced me I sized him up fer a
+sharp, an' when he told me he was a hoss trader from Missouri I had a
+straight line on him."
+
+They returned to camp, where the old man was still regaling the boys
+with anecdotes, having proved himself a most entertaining story-teller.
+
+The boy sat close beside him listening, but never saying a word, except
+when he was addressed. He was small and slender, and evidently weighed
+much less than a hundred pounds.
+
+His face was small and thin, and apparently youthful, but his eyes were
+old and shrewd, and there was a crafty look about his face at times when
+the old man brought out a point in a story. Evidently he had heard these
+stories many times before. When he smiled it was in a sly and furtive
+way.
+
+Ted Strong had come in from riding around the herd, having inspected it
+before it was bedded down for the night. He had heard all about the
+proposed race, and smiled quietly as Ben joshed Bud about the loss of
+his pony Hatrack on the morrow.
+
+He had looked the boy over carefully, and his impression was not
+pleasant.
+
+"I tell yer what, boys," said the old man, when conversation began to
+lag. "S'posin' we put this race off until to-morrow afternoon, an' run
+it over at Snyder, across the line in Oklahomy?"
+
+"What's ther occasion?" asked Bud.
+
+"Jest ter give ther people over thar a chance ter see a real live race.
+Besides, I'm out o' money, an' I reckon we could have a reg'lar race,
+an' charge admission. That would enable me an' my grandson ter git back
+ter ole Missou' again. We ain't much use out here. What d'yer say?"
+
+"I ain't no professional racer," said Bud slowly, "an' I ain't in this
+race fer what I kin make out o' it. Yer made yer brag about yer hoss an'
+slurred mine, an' I'm jest game enough ter lose him if he can't beat
+that calcimined hoss o' yours, but I don't go in fer bettin' er none o'
+thet sort o' thing."
+
+"I ain't said nothin' about bettin'," said the old man, in an injured
+tone.
+
+"I know yer ain't, an' I ain't accused yer o' it none. What I wuz goin'
+ter say wuz thet if yer hard up an' need ther money ter take yer home
+I'm ther first feller ter jump in ter help yer."
+
+"We're all willing to help on a thing like that," said Ted.
+
+"Then ye'll consent ter pull off ther race in Snyder?" asked the old man
+eagerly.
+
+"I am, if ther other boys will consent ter it," said Bud.
+
+"All right with me," said Ted, and the other boys voiced their assent.
+
+It looked as if there was a good bit of fun in prospect.
+
+"Thanks, boys," said the old man, with a catch in his voice, as if he
+was deeply touched. "Ye'll do a good turn fer me an' little Bill here.
+Bill, we'll git home fer Christmas yit."
+
+"If you're going to make it a public race, you'll have to get over to
+Snyder early to make arrangements," said Ted.
+
+"I'll leave before sunup in ther mornin', an' we'll have the race at
+three o'clock. Is that all satisfactory?"
+
+This proved satisfactory to the boys, and, having agreed to be on hand
+in time with Hatrack, every one turned in.
+
+When the boys turned out in the morning the blankets which the old man
+and the boy had occupied were empty and cold, showing that they had
+departed long before daylight.
+
+"There's something fishy about that old chap," said Ben Tremont, as they
+were at breakfast.
+
+"Of course, there is," said Ted. "He's an old horse sharp. Sol Flatbush
+knows him. He wants a race in town, thinking he can draw us into
+betting. He doesn't know that we never gamble, but he evidently believes
+that in the excitement of the moment he will be able to get some of our
+money."
+
+"Well, he'll get fooled on that," said Ben.
+
+"He'll git fooled in several other ways, too," grunted Bud.
+
+After breakfast Bud went out and roped Hatrack, and after a tussle that
+lasted several strenuous minutes, brought him into camp. Hatrack
+certainly was a sorry-looking beast.
+
+His long, dirty, yellowish-brown hair was rumpled and fluffed up. His
+ribs showed sharp, and his tail was full of burs, while his short and
+scraggy mane was missing in spots.
+
+His flanks had been rubbed bare of hair where he had lain for many
+nights on the rocks and in the sands of the desert.
+
+"Well, dog my cats, if he ain't ther orneriest-lookin' beast what ever
+toted a saddle," said Bud, looking him over, as Hatrack stood with
+drooping head and ears.
+
+"Bud, he isn't worth making cat's meat out of," said Ben. "I guess you
+made that race to get rid of him. It's easier and more humane than
+shooting him or abandoning him to the prairie wolves."
+
+"Reckon so?" asked Bud, looking at Ben out of the corner of a twinkling
+eye.
+
+"Oh, dear me, but he's awfully ugly," said Stella, coming from the tent
+which she and her aunt, Mrs. Graham, occupied a short distance from the
+camp.
+
+She was as spick and span as a new dollar, nattily dressed in a
+bifurcated riding skirt, from beneath which peeped a pair of high tan
+riding boots.
+
+Her white Stetson had just the right curl of brim to be most becoming,
+and her wavy hair fell in profusion over her shoulders.
+
+She was pulling on a pair of fringed gauntlets, and her braided quirt,
+with a silver knob for a handle, hung by its thong from her slender
+wrist.
+
+"Now, see here, Stella, don't yer go ter feelin' knocky about yer mount,
+er yer won't hev no confidence in him, an' will lose. I want ter say ter
+yer right now that this hoss what looks like ther last rose o' summer,
+ther last run o' shad, an' ther breakin' up o' a hard winter in a last
+year's bird's nest, is all right, an' he can't lose this race. Ride him
+true, an' don't give him ther gad none. All yer got ter do is ter
+encourage him by a word now an' then, an' pilot him straight ter ther
+wire."
+
+"All right, Bud. I was only joking," laughed Stella. "It isn't the
+prettiest horse that wins the race. I know that well, but, you see, like
+every girl, I like pretty things, and a horse might as well look good as
+run fast. It has always seemed to me that the two go together."
+
+During the middle of the forenoon the broncho boys started for the town
+of Snyder to attend the race.
+
+Bud led Hatrack, and a troublesome job he had of it, for the animated
+skeleton objected to being on the halter, as any self-respecting range
+horse would, and he pulled back and sideways and almost dragged Bud from
+his saddle several times.
+
+"Ding bat yer," Bud would shout, "yer ornery, unsanctified, muley,
+harebrained, contaminated son o' a zebra, git down on yer feet an'
+foller. Ye'll git all that's comin' ter yer when ther race starts. Save
+yer sweat until then."
+
+But Hatrack thought differently, and before they were halfway to Snyder
+it took all the efforts of Bud in the lead and Ben, Kit, and Clay
+Whipple in the rear, to keep him moving in a forward direction.
+
+Only enough boys were left with the herd to keep it from scattering.
+Ted and Stella rode in the lead as they entered the town, which was
+crowded with a motley assemblage of cow-punchers, gamblers, and Indians
+in their gay blankets and with painted faces.
+
+The Indians of the plains are keen on horse racing, and among the
+various tribes are to be found some of the fleetest horses in the West,
+many of them trained to all the tricks of racing. An Indian jockey is
+the shrewdest of his class, and is an adept at all the tricks of the
+trade.
+
+"Hi! Look at the livin' skeleton!"
+
+Bud swung around in his saddle and stared at a cow-puncher standing on
+the sidewalk in Snyder, as he rode into town dragging behind him the
+dejected Hatrack, who looked as if he had been living on two oats for
+dinner and a spear of grass for supper all his life.
+
+He ambled along like a tired and footsore dog behind Bud, with his ears
+drooping and his toes kicking up the dust. He was a sad-looking animal,
+and the word having gone abroad that he was the horse that was to enter
+the race with Magpie, he was jeered from one end of the street to the
+other, as Bud led him to the corral at the edge of the town. Bud
+pretended to be angry at the joshing his steed received, but when he had
+turned his back upon the jokers he would wink gently to himself in a way
+that would have been puzzling to the supporters of the spotted horse.
+
+Cap Norris had done his work well.
+
+Every one in town knew of the coming race, and word had been sent to the
+ranches in the surrounding country, so that before noon the streets were
+crowded with people.
+
+"Say, fellows," said Ted, when the boys met at the hotel for dinner,
+"this fellow Norris is sure a sharp. That talk about his wanting to get
+enough money to take him back home was a lie. He's a gambler, and is in
+league with a bunch of gamblers in this town."
+
+"How do you know?" asked Ben.
+
+"How do I know? Why, man alive, they're betting on Magpie all over town.
+The tip seems to have gotten out that Bud Morgan and the broncho boys
+have a surprise up their sleeves, and that they are going to ring in
+another horse than Hatrack."
+
+"How is that?"
+
+"They believe we're going to slip in another horse, a professional
+racing horse with a record."
+
+"Let 'em think so. It won't be a professional race horse--at least, not
+in this country--that we will put in, but jest ole Hatrack, an' if he
+don't win the race by a city block I'll eat him, hoofs an' all."
+
+"Put us next, Bud," said Ben.
+
+"That's what," said Kit. "You've sure got a trick concealed somewhere.
+What is it?"
+
+"No, I haven't," said Bud. "But if I wuz a bettin' man I know what hoss
+I'd back to win."
+
+That was all the boys could get out of him on the subject, but they were
+convinced none the less that Bud had a secret concerning the horse, and
+that they would learn what it was in good time.
+
+The race was to be held at the fair grounds, and was to be a dash of
+three hundred yards.
+
+Cap Norris would not consent to a longer race, although Bud said he
+would run Hatrack any distance up to a quarter of a mile, but the
+innocent old man with the long whiskers objected to running his horse a
+long distance.
+
+As the hour approached for the race, the grounds began to fill up.
+Several races between Indian ponies took place to keep the crowd amused
+until the big race of the day was to come off.
+
+"They've been working us," said Ted, coming up to where Stella and the
+boys were standing beside Hatrack, which looked more sad and dejected
+than ever.
+
+"In what way?" asked Bud.
+
+"This race is a gambling game to get the money away from the innocents,"
+answered Ted. "They've had men going among the people from the country
+and the cow-punchers, telling them that it is a put-up job on our part,
+and that we're sure to win. In that way they have got a lot of people to
+bet on Hatrack. I've a good mind to draw out of it altogether and spoil
+their game."
+
+"For fear the innocents will lose their money?" asked Bud.
+
+"Yes. I don't want to be a party to robbing those fellows."
+
+"Don't you worry. If you want to punish Norris and his friends, don't
+interfere. Let it go on, I tell you. They'll be the worst-beaten lot o'
+crooks that ever robbed a town."
+
+"All right, Bud, if you say so."
+
+It was now time for the race of the day, and Bud and Norris marked off
+the course.
+
+Ben was appointed judge, with a large man, apparently a stranger in the
+town, who was chosen by Norris, and the two selected a third.
+
+The third man was a stranger to Ben, but he picked him out of the crowd,
+and the other judge accepted him.
+
+As Stella climbed into the saddle, Hatrack gave two or three kittenish
+jumps, and the crowd yelled. It had not expected this added feature to
+the race, a girl jockey.
+
+Shout after shout went up as she rode over the course slowly, Hatrack
+having settled down into his usual dejected manner. The cheers and some
+of the jeers that greeted him came from the men who had been induced to
+bet on him.
+
+"Now, Stella," said Bud, as Stella rode back again, "when you start,
+shout 'Vamose!' in Hatrack's ear. That's the word he has always been
+sent away with. Stick tight, an' let him go. Don't forget the word
+'Vamose!'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+THE GREAT CHIQUITA.
+
+
+Hatrack and Magpie were now brought up to the starting point.
+
+The boy who traveled with old man Norris was on the back of the latter
+horse, sitting in a regular jockey's saddle and stripped of all
+superfluous clothing.
+
+He was the typical jockey now. He had put away all the appearance of
+youth, and was a crafty and sly man.
+
+It was apparent that the whole outfit was in the racing business, and as
+the crowd looked at the discrepancy between the two horses, and observed
+that on the best-looking horse was a professional jockey, while on the
+crowbait was only a girl, something like a groan went up.
+
+But some of them were game, and cheered Stella to the echo.
+
+"You're all right!" shouted her supporters.
+
+"Hurrah fer ther girl jockey," yelled the cow-punchers. "I got a month's
+wages that says she'll win the race."
+
+But the other side had something to say, also. They made all sorts of
+fun of Hatrack, and roars of laughter went up as he ambled,
+stiff-legged, onto the course.
+
+Clay Whipple was chosen to start the race, and stood beside the track
+with a red flag in his hand. The two horses were jockeyed back and forth
+for several minutes.
+
+"Are you ready?" shouted Clay, as they came up.
+
+"No!" shouted Stella.
+
+"No!" answered the jockey.
+
+Back again they went, and came up neck and neck, the riders nodding to
+Clay.
+
+"Go!" cried Clay, bringing down the red flag with a swish through the
+air.
+
+"Vamose!" Stella's clear young voice rang out.
+
+Then an amazing thing happened. Hatrack seemed to be suddenly galvanized
+into life. He straightened out, and shot to the front with great, long
+horizontal leaps. His body seemed to be gliding close to the earth.
+
+His head was between his legs, and he was running like a greyhound.
+Stella was bent low upon his neck, and every moment or two she would
+shout in Spanish, "Go it! Vamose!" or, "You're winning! Vamose!"
+
+And winning Hatrack surely was. Now he was half a length ahead of the
+fleet Magpie, who was running the race of her life.
+
+Behind her Stella could hear the crowd yelling like mad. The air fairly
+shook with the shouts of the multitude as the two horses shot forward.
+But it was a short race, and seemed to Stella to have ended almost as
+soon as it began.
+
+As she flew past Bud, she got a fleeting glimpse of him jumping up and
+down in a very ecstasy of glee, and she knew that she had won, and began
+pulling in Hatrack. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that Magpie was
+already down to a walk a short distance from the wire, and that Cap
+Norris and the jockey were talking earnestly.
+
+In a moment she had Hatrack turned, and was going back to where Bud was
+waiting for her.
+
+"Bully for you, Stella," shouted Bud. "Yer rode a great race. Jest ez I
+wanted it run. Nobody couldn't hev done it better. I told yer ye'd win."
+
+"That was too easy," laughed Stella. "I wish it had been four times as
+long."
+
+"That makes it all the better."
+
+"How much did I beat him?"
+
+"A whole length."
+
+"That ought to be enough."
+
+"It was, but I'll bet a cooky they'll make a kick. These crooks always
+lay out to win, and won't race unless they can win. If they don't, they
+set up a cry of foul, or something of that sort."
+
+"But they can't do that in this case, because I didn't foul him."
+
+Stella became indignant at the very thought.
+
+"Sure you didn't, but that won't keep those wolves from claiming some
+sort of a foul."
+
+"You're not going to stand for it, are you?"
+
+"Not in a blue moon. I've got the boys posted. Here comes Norris and his
+jockey back."
+
+The old racing sharp walked up to Bud, leading Magpie.
+
+"Well, Magpie's mine," said Bud, not giving the other a chance to speak
+first. "Sorry for your sake that you lost, Cap, but the fortunes of
+racing often turn unexpectedly, eh?"
+
+"You haven't won," said the old man excitedly.
+
+"Oh, I reckon we won, all right," answered Bud lazily, although there
+was an ugly gleam in his eye.
+
+"No, sir, you didn't win fair. Thar wuz a foul at ther start. I see it,
+all right; I wasn't shore until I talked with my boy thar, an' he says
+as how ther young lady bumped him outer his stride jest ez they wuz
+gittin' off."
+
+"Oh, no, you can't work me like that, Cap. They were five feet apart
+when the flag fell."
+
+"I tell yer I see it with my own eyes. 'Twas a foul, an' I claim ther
+race, er it hez got ter be run over ag'in."
+
+"Never, on yer life. The race goes to the young lady. But I'm not going
+to stand here and chew the thing over with you. It's up to the judges."
+
+They all approached the judges' stand, where apparently a lively
+argument was in progress.
+
+Ben and the big man who had been chosen by Norris were talking
+excitedly, and the other man was listening.
+
+All about the stand an angry crowd of men was surging, all talking at
+once, so that nothing could be made out of the babel of shouts, except
+when some person with unusually good lungs made himself heard in a
+denunciation of one or the other riders.
+
+Ted had joined the crowd, waiting for the arrival of Bud and Stella. Bud
+was walking by the side of Stella, whose face showed the disappointment
+she felt at not being declared at once the winner.
+
+It was so evidently a job to steal the race from Hatrack that the leader
+of the broncho boys was both angry and disgusted.
+
+"This is what you get for having anything to do with this mob of
+gamblers and thieves," he said to Kit, who was standing by his side.
+
+"What's that you said, young feller?" said a man, edging up.
+
+"I wasn't talking to you, my friend," answered Ted coolly.
+
+"No, but you was talkin' at me," said the other.
+
+"Why, are you a thief and a gambler?" asked Ted, with a lifting of his
+eyebrows that expressed a great deal that he did not say.
+
+"I guess it's the other way around," answered the fellow, snarling.
+
+"I don't see how you make that out."
+
+"Well, I do. The gal bumped the rider o' Magpie."
+
+"She did nothing of the sort. I stood beside the starter of the race,
+and I was nearer to the horses than you were, and if any one could see
+them I could. The horses were several feet apart when they started."
+
+"Why, sure. You and your pals are interested in the bone heap that went
+in first through a foul."
+
+"That will be about enough of that."
+
+A bright red spot burned on each of Ted's cheeks, the danger signal of
+his wrath.
+
+"Now, see here, young fellow, you can't throw any bluff into me," said
+the fellow, approaching Ted with one shoulder raised.
+
+"You let him alone. He's all right, and has got as much right to talk as
+you have," said another man, elbowing his way up.
+
+He was one of those who had bet on Hatrack, and Ted recognized him as
+the foreman of the Running Water horse ranch.
+
+"Well, the gal stole the race fer these fellers, an' we ain't goin' ter
+stand fer it. They needn't think they kin bring any o' their gals in
+here to do their dirty work. They all look alike to us."
+
+"See here," said Ted coolly, "let me give you a piece of advice. Leave
+the young lady out of it, or I'll give you something else to think about
+for a while."
+
+"Rats fer you," said the fellow, snapping his fingers under Ted's nose.
+
+He picked himself from the ground ten feet away, wiping his bleeding
+nose and wondering what had happened to him.
+
+"Say, boy," said the foreman of the Running Water, "that was as pretty
+and clean a blow as ever I see. You can handle them mitts o' yours right
+handy."
+
+A score of men had rushed up and surrounded Ted and Kit, all shouting
+and gesticulating at the same time.
+
+Meantime, Ben was having his troubles in the judges' stand.
+
+He had, of course, decided in favor of Hatrack, while the big man had
+declared for a foul and no decision, and the third judge stood wavering.
+
+On the face of it the whole thing was a steal on the part of the
+gamblers, who had evidently decided beforehand that if the race went
+against them to claim a foul and bluff it through.
+
+But they had argued without their host. They did not know what they were
+opposing when they ran against Ted Strong.
+
+Ted was sorry that he had gone into the affair at all, but once in he
+was there to stick to the finish. The fellow whom he had knocked down
+had retired to the rear to attend to his broken nose, and to give his
+friends an opportunity to fight his battle.
+
+The foreman of the Running Water had disappeared. He had foreseen
+trouble when the gamblers got together, and attempted to force the race
+through, and had gone to collect the cow-punchers and others who had
+been induced to bet on Hatrack.
+
+Ted stood his ground patiently, waiting until a decision should be
+handed down by the judges before declaring himself.
+
+Stella was sitting in her saddle on Hatrack a few feet away from the
+stand watching the proceedings, and listening to the arguments on both
+sides made by the angry men.
+
+Bud and Kit stood on either side of her, to protect her from the remarks
+of the disgruntled gamblers.
+
+Suddenly a man pushed his way through the throng, mounted on a Spanish
+mule.
+
+He was a fine-looking man, dressed after the manner of the plainsman,
+and might have been either a cow-puncher in prosperity or a ranch owner.
+
+As the crowd made way for him he caught sight of Bud, and stopped and
+stared for several moments without speaking.
+
+Bud had not noticed him, but when he did look up he returned the stare,
+and his forehead was wrinkled in thought.
+
+Somewhere in the back part of his head he carried a picture of this
+man, but under different circumstances.
+
+Who could he be, and where had he been met, were the things that were
+puzzling Bud.
+
+"Hello, pard, you don't seem to place me," said the man on the Spanish
+mule. "But I haven't forgotten you by a dern sight. Think hard."
+
+"I've saw yer som'er's," said Bud thoughtfully, "but it wa'n't like
+this. You're som'er's in my picture gallery o' faces, but yer ain't ther
+same as when I saw yer last."
+
+"Right ye are," said the man. "How's Chiquita getting along?"
+
+"Ah, I've got yer now. How did yer come out? Middlin' well, ter jedge
+from ther mule yer ridin', an' yer ginral appearance o' prosperity."
+
+"You bet I be," said the man, "an' if it hadn't been fer you I wouldn't
+have been nowhere. I've come a long ways ter hunt yer up, ter thank yer,
+an' to get better acquainted with yer."
+
+"Well, ye've got me inter a heap o' trouble," said Bud, laughing.
+
+"So I see, an' I'll help yer get out o' it. What seems ter be the
+trouble?"
+
+"Well, old Chiquita, er Hatrack, ez ther boys in ther outfit calls him,
+won a race just now, an' ther gamblers won't stand by it. They sent out
+word that Hatrack was a sure winner, an'--"
+
+"Same old thing. Chiquita fooled them all."
+
+"I didn't know he could do it myself, but I remembered what you said
+about him, an' when an ole maverick come along an' banters me fer a race
+I jest took him up, an' this is how it come out. He took us fer a bunch
+o' gillies, an' used us to try to fleece the people."
+
+"What's his name?" asked the man on the Spanish mule softly.
+
+"Cap Norris."
+
+"Oh, ole Pap Norris, eh? Calls hisself Cap now, does he?"
+
+"That's what he does, an' he's a derned ole skin."
+
+"None skinnier. But where is he? I should like to see him."
+
+"He's sashayin' around here som'er's attendin' ter his dirty work.
+Lookin' after his grandson, little Willie, I reckon."
+
+"What, is that thief still hangin' on to him?"
+
+"Yes. I see you seem to know him."
+
+"Know him! Well, I should gurgle I do know him. I thought every hoss man
+in the country knew him. Little Willie, the orphaned grandson, is almost
+old enough to be a grandfather himself. He's an outlawed jockey, an' he
+an' Pap go about the country skinning countrymen and cow-punchers with
+his fake races. He never won a square race in his life. I should say I
+did know him. Here he comes now. Watch me wake him up."
+
+The old fellow was bustling up to the crowd.
+
+"See here, young fellow, get ther gal offen that hoss, he's mine, er as
+good as mine in a moment. The jedges are goin' ter award ther race ter
+me on account o' ther foul," he shouted to Bud.
+
+"I reckon ther hoss stays right with me," said Bud smoothly. "But I want
+ter tell yer thet yer better bring in that magpie hoss so's I kin git
+him quick. He ain't yours no more."
+
+"Come, come! None o' yer foolishness with me," blustered the old man.
+"Git ther gal off before she's pulled off."
+
+"You or any other man put your finger on thet young lady if yer dare,"
+said Bud. "Jest try it once if yer think I'm bluffin', men."
+
+"Hello, Pap," said the man on the Spanish mule. "Up ter yer ole tricks,
+I see."
+
+The old man looked up at the man on the mule, then turned pale and
+slunk away without another word.
+
+"Men," said the man on the mule, addressing the crowd, "you've been
+stung. This old bag o' bones is Chiquita, the best race horse ever
+produced in Mexico, an' I brought him over here, where I traded him for
+a plain cayuse an' gave something ter boot. If any o' you men know
+anything about hosses ye'll recognize ther great Chiquita, what made an'
+lost more money fer ther people o' Mexico than any one other thing. Pap
+didn't know it until he see me, then he suddenly remembered a little
+deal me an' him was in. I know this Magpie hoss well, an' it couldn't
+stand no more show of winnin' a race from Chiquita than a snail would.
+Take it from me that ye've been caught at yer own game, an' have been
+done."
+
+At the name of Chiquita a groan went up from the gamblers.
+
+"And who are you?" asked Bud.
+
+"Come nearer, an' I'll tell you in your ear," was the reply.
+
+Bud went close to him, and the man stooped in his saddle and whispered a
+word in his ear, at which the old cow-puncher looked startled, then
+burst into a fit of laughter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+TED'S GREAT VICTORY.
+
+
+"I tell you I'll never stand for it."
+
+The voice of big Ben Tremont could be heard roaring above the noise made
+by the crowd around the judges' stand.
+
+"It's a go. The race goes to Magpie on a foul."
+
+The big man in the stand made this announcement in a voice of thunder.
+
+"Bully for you, Shan Rhue!" yelled the gamblers, crowding to the stand
+in a body.
+
+At the same moment Bud caught Hatrack by the bridle and led him out of
+the crowd, for he knew what was impending.
+
+"I say it don't go," shouted Ben. "This man, who is in league with that
+old crook, Norris, declares a foul. I say there was no foul."
+
+"How does the other judge go?" called a voice.
+
+"He declines to give a voice in the matter," answered Ben.
+
+"Throw the coyote down here, and we'll help him make up his mind,"
+called the foreman of the Running Water. "If he's too much of a coward
+to decide for the right, we'll help him. Throw him over."
+
+The foreman of the Running Water was a formidable-looking man.
+
+He was tall and sinewy, with a seamed and scarred face, a map of many
+battles with the elements, the wild animals of mountain and plain, and
+with his fellow men.
+
+He was heavily armed, and the town gamblers knew him for a bad fighter
+when he was aroused.
+
+"Stick fer ther big show," he said to Ted, who was standing beside him.
+"I've got the boys bunched back there on the edge of the crowd. When it
+comes to a show-down we'll all be here. But it's no place fer wimmin an'
+children."
+
+"I don't want to get into a fight if we can help it," said Ted.
+
+"Yer ain't afraid o' these cattle, aire ye?" asked the foreman, looking
+at Ted curiously, but with a shade of disappointment in his eyes.
+
+"Not for a minute," said Ted, throwing a straight glance into the
+other's eyes. "There's nothing to be afraid of, that I can see. But
+what's the use if we can get at it in some other way?"
+
+"Well, I reckon yer right, bub," said the other slowly. "Some one is
+shore liable ter git hurt. But I'd sooner see ther whole crowd hurt than
+have this bunch o' thieves git away with their game."
+
+"They won't do that. Never fear."
+
+The crowd was now watching the men in the judges' stand.
+
+Evidently Ben and Shan Rhue were wrestling in spirit with the third
+judge, who was still wavering. He knew that the right was with Ben, but
+he was afraid of the big bully Shan, and the gamblers, who were most in
+evidence.
+
+He did not know that the cow-punchers and the townspeople who had bet on
+Hatrack were being organized on the outskirts of the crowd, and that Kit
+and Clay and the other broncho boys were with them to direct them to the
+attack when it might seem necessary to assert their rights.
+
+Suddenly there was a roar from the crowd. Shan Rhue had struck Ben
+Tremont a staggering blow. They heard Ben let out a roar like a wounded
+bull, as he threw the great bulk of his body upon the man who had struck
+him.
+
+Now they were wrestling, and the frail stand in which they were,
+fifteen feet above the ground, swayed with their struggle.
+
+"Kill him!" shouted the gamblers.
+
+"Throw him down here!"
+
+"Let us finish him!"
+
+"Stay with him, Shan!"
+
+These and other cries and threats were shouted by the mob. But Ted
+Strong said nothing. He was watching the struggle intently and quietly.
+
+He had no fear but that Ben would be able to hold his own. His great
+strength hardly matched that of Shan Rhue, who was a giant, and the most
+feared man in the Wichita Mountains. But Ben was more than his match in
+wrestling skill, and, moreover, he was younger and more supple for all
+his bulk, and his work on the football gridiron when in college had
+taught him tricks of the tackle of which the big bully did not dream.
+
+He had a hold on the bully now, and was gradually forcing him backward
+toward the frail railing that inclosed the floor of the stand.
+
+Ted saw his intention. It was to throw Shan Rhue against the railing,
+then spring away. Rhue evidently divined the same thing, for he
+struggled with all his force against it, striking Ben in the ribs and
+occasionally in the face.
+
+But his blows were not very effective, as Ben had him caught so closely
+that his blows lost their power. Thus the struggle went on for a few
+moments. Then, when it was least expected, there was a crash of breaking
+wood.
+
+A yell went up from the crowd as it surged back, and the gigantic body
+of Shan Rhue came hurtling through the railing, which went into
+splinters from the impact of his bulk.
+
+Shan Rhue grasped at the air, as with a roar he went over. He turned a
+complete somersault as he descended and landed on his shoulders. For a
+moment he lay quivering, half stunned.
+
+There was dead silence in the crowd and none dared go to his assistance.
+But presently the bully sat up and passed his hand over his eyes. With a
+roar of pain and rage he sprang to his feet and looked around.
+
+The nearest person to him was the leader of the broncho boys, who stood
+on the edge of the crowd, alert and smiling. Ted knew that it meant
+fight now.
+
+He was convinced that Ben was in the right, but right or wrong, Ben had
+started it, and it was now up to the broncho boys to see that their side
+did not get the worst of it.
+
+Realizing that Ted was an enemy, Shan Rhue made a rush at him. Those
+beside Ted turned and ran. But Ted did not move. He only stood a little
+tenser.
+
+It took but a moment for the bully to cross the distance that lay
+between him and Ted. His rush was like that of a bull, and as
+irresistible. But Ted did not propose to take the brunt of it. He knew
+several tricks better than that.
+
+As Rhue was about to launch himself upon Ted, the latter stepped lightly
+aside. So sure was Rhue of landing on Ted and bearing him to the ground
+that he had leaped into the air, and, finding nothing to stop his
+progress, was overbalanced. A sweep of Ted's foot completed it, for the
+legs of the bully were swept from under him, and he went to the sod on
+his face with a crash that seemed to shake the earth.
+
+Like an eagle upon its prey, Ted was on the back of the bully. The crowd
+shouted like mad, eager to go to the rescue of their champion. But Ted
+heard the voice of the foreman of Running Water high above the din.
+
+"It's the boy's fight, an' any man that breaks through the line will get
+a ball from my forty-four plumb through him. Stand back, you cattle!"
+
+"Let 'em go, fellers. Shan will kill him in a minute," shouted one of
+the gamblers.
+
+Shan Rhue had been badly shaken up by the jolt that had been his when he
+struck the ground. For several moments he did not stir, and Ted thought
+he had been knocked out.
+
+Many of the men in the crowd knew things about Shan Rhue which Ted did
+not.
+
+Rhue was considered the strongest man in the Southwest at that time. He
+was barely forty years old, in the prime of his life, and a man who had
+never dissipated. But he was a thoroughly bad man for all that, and the
+number of men whom he had killed had been forgotten.
+
+His feats of strength were the talk of barrooms and bunk houses. He had
+been seen many times to break horseshoes with his hands, and as for
+bending a bar of iron by striking the muscles of his forearm with it,
+that was one of his ordinary tricks.
+
+But the thing of which he was proudest was his ability to buck a man off
+his back. In this feat he barred none, no matter how heavy. He would get
+on his hands and knees, place a surcingle around his body under his arms
+for his rider to hold on by, and then proceed to buck.
+
+It would seem impossible for a man to stick to him under such
+circumstances, and no one had been found yet who could do so.
+
+Thus it was that those of the crowd who had witnessed this feat
+sometimes in a fight, and more often in friendly contest, looked to see
+Ted sailing through the air, and then the finish, for Shan Rhue was a
+merciless enemy.
+
+Ted was now straddling the prostrate bully, who was breathing heavily,
+his body heaving as his lungs tried to get back into commission.
+
+Presently he was all right again, and, feeling a weight upon him, shook
+himself. This not having the effect of relieving him of his burden, he
+twisted his head around and saw Ted sitting on him.
+
+With a growl like a wounded bear he slowly lifted himself to the height
+of his arms, then slowly rose to his knees.
+
+"By golly, he's goin' ter buck him off," shouted one in the crowd.
+
+"Look out fer some fun, lads," cried another.
+
+"He'll kill ther kid sure," said a third.
+
+In a moment Ted realized what was coming off. The hold he had on the
+back of Shan Rhue was none of the most secure at best, but he got a
+clutch on the fellow's shirt under the arm, just back of the armpits,
+and he felt that he had in his fingers great bunches of the bully's
+muscles.
+
+By the merest chance he had secured the only hold by which he could hope
+to stick to the giant's back. Then the fun began. Shan Rhue plunged back
+and forth, sideways and up and down.
+
+The movement was incessant. He reared and pitched, and, having cunning
+and intelligence, he was able to distinguish when Ted's seat was least
+secure and take advantage of it.
+
+Ted had ridden many bucking bronchos, but Shan Rhue beat any of them in
+the surprises which he furnished. But Ted stuck grimly to him.
+
+He knew that if the bully succeeded in throwing him off his life would
+not be worth a rushlight, for Shan was a rough fighter and would not
+hesitate to kick him brutally, if he did not shoot him to death before
+the boys could come to his assistance.
+
+Thus the struggle went on for several minutes, Shan doing his utmost and
+Ted hanging on. But the big fellow was getting winded by his exertions.
+
+He was not in the best condition, for all his tremendous power. He was
+going fast, and Ted was badly shaken up and out of breath, also. If
+Shan held out a few minutes longer Ted must be thrown, for his hold on
+the muscles under his antagonist's arms had begun to loosen, and he
+dared not let go for an instant to get a fresh grip.
+
+It was close to the finish, and the crowd knew it.
+
+"He's goin', Shan. A few more will finish him," shouted the gamblers.
+
+"Stick to him, Ted. He's almost in," cried the boys.
+
+Ted took heart at this, although his body was racked with pains, caused
+by the innumerable wrenchings to which it had been subjected.
+
+Suddenly Shan Rhue was all in. His body flattened out upon the ground,
+and he lay there panting laboriously. Ted sprang to his feet gasping.
+Thus for a few minutes both remained, amid intense silence from the
+crowd.
+
+Shan Rhue's body was heaving painfully. It was evident that he had never
+had before a struggle like this.
+
+Little by little he recovered, but Ted's recovery was quicker than that
+of the man. His youth and strength were responsible for this.
+
+But finally Shan Rhue was himself again, and suddenly he leaped to his
+feet and glared around. His eyes fell upon Ted, and he looked him up and
+down in a sort of amazement.
+
+Had this stripling accomplished what older and stronger men had failed
+in?
+
+Shan Rhue could hardly believe it, but it took some of the conceit out
+of him at that. However, his anger at Ted had not been in the least
+assuaged by the fact that the first honors had gone to this youth who
+now stood watching him with a smile on his lips, but with the light of
+battle in his eyes.
+
+With a sneer Shan Rhue rushed at Ted. This time he would annihilate him.
+
+But Ted was crouching, awaiting him. His muscles were like steel
+springs. His breath had come to him again, and he was ready to fight for
+his life, for it had come to that now. Suddenly there was a smack, sharp
+and clear in the silence that hung over the crowd.
+
+Shan Rhue staggered back on his heels. The blow from Ted's fist had
+struck him fairly below the eye. Before he could recover Ted was upon
+him like a panther.
+
+One, two, three, blows fell with a sharp, sickening sound upon the face
+and throat of the famous Shan Rhue, as he lurched backward, vainly
+trying to defend himself.
+
+His body went to the earth with a crash, and he lay there moaning and
+quivering, beaten, discredited, and no more the hero, for he had been
+conquered by a boy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+KIT MAKES A CAPTURE.
+
+
+Shan Rhue lay prostrate for a long time, but no one went to his
+assistance. As he fell the gamblers raised a shout, and made a motion to
+attack Ted.
+
+But the foreman of Running Water sprang in front of them, and as if by
+magic the broncho boys and the cow-punchers and other supporters of
+Hatrack were by his side.
+
+Ted had leaped to the fore and was standing shoulder to shoulder with
+the foreman of Running Water. He heard a ripple of laughter, and looked
+up to see Stella standing by his side.
+
+"Bully for you, Ted," she said. "You did that fine."
+
+Ted smiled back at her, then turned his eyes upon the surprised and
+angry gamblers. There was something there that demanded all his
+attention. The gamblers only needed a leader to make them a dangerous
+proposition.
+
+But their leader was down and out by reason of a few neat and handy
+blows, and none other had the courage to come to the front. It was the
+psychological moment.
+
+Ted Strong took advantage of it. Without a moment's hesitation, he
+stepped in front of the foreman of Running Water, who moved back to give
+him the place of vantage.
+
+Ted had not even taken his six-shooter from its holster, but stood with
+his hands resting lightly on his hips, while his eyes roved inquiringly
+over the menacing crowd.
+
+"Any of you gentlemen like to have some of the same sort of medicine?"
+he asked, nodding toward the prostrate Rhue.
+
+There was no reply.
+
+"Because if any of you would, I, or any of my friends, will be glad to
+accommodate you," he added.
+
+An ominous growl came from some one back in the crowd.
+
+"Would you like some of it?" asked Ted, turning suddenly in that
+direction.
+
+He waited for several moments for an answer, but none came.
+
+"Now, you fellows, I want to say that this incident is closed," said he
+firmly. "You are beaten every way from the jack, as you would say. You
+put up this race to skin innocent parties, and you thought to use my
+friends for your purposes, and have failed. The face was fairly won by
+our horse, and that goes. If any man doubts it, I will prove it to him
+by any means he wishes, from fists up to howitzers. You have made a lot
+of fools of yourselves by allowing an old crook like Norris to play in
+with you. I haven't a bit of sympathy for you. I'm glad you lost your
+money, and I'd feel gladder if you all went broke. This is the end of
+this adventure. Where's Norris? We want that magpie horse which we won."
+
+The men dispersed after this speech, which closed with a ringing cheer
+from the broncho boys and the cow-punchers and other friends of Hatrack.
+
+But Norris could not be found. He and the horse and the jockey had
+disappeared. Ted rounded the boys up, and all were present except Kit.
+
+"Where's Kit?" he asked.
+
+"Don't know," said Bud. "He was around here a few minutes ago. Reckon
+he's somewhere about."
+
+The crowd having dispersed uptown, a search was made for Kit, but he
+could not be found.
+
+"I wonder if some of that gang hasn't got square with us by some foul
+play on Kit," said Ted. "It would be like the coyotes. Kit was the
+smallest of the lot, and naturally the cowards would pick him."
+
+"Kit's small, all right," said Stella stoutly, for she and Kit were
+great friends, and Stella was always one to stick up for those she
+liked. "If they pick Kit for his size, and think they have got an easy
+thing, they will find that they have gathered up a red-hot Chile pepper.
+He'll give them the hottest fight they ever had, as long as he lasts."
+
+"Hurray fer you, Stella," exclaimed Bud. "You speak for fair. Kit's not
+much on size, but he's a whirlwind."
+
+Shan Rhue was slowly getting on his feet. His broad, brutal face was
+badly discolored where Ted's fists had come in contact with it.
+
+One of his eyes was bloodshot and rapidly taking on a green-and-purple
+hue, and his upper lip stuck out like an overhanging roof. As he looked
+around and saw that the broncho boys were alone, and that he had been
+left to recover as best he might by those whom he had called his friends
+and supporters, he growled deep in his chest.
+
+"The skunks," he muttered, between his swollen lips. "They'd make me
+fight an' steal fer them, an' then leave me in the hole, would they?
+Well, I'll make them hump fer this."
+
+Then he looked unsteadily at Ted out of his good eye, as if he was
+wondering how it all had happened. But while his glance was not as
+belligerent as it had been, still there was nothing but hatred in his
+expression.
+
+Ted eyed him back fearlessly, but this time his hand rested upon the
+handle of his revolver, and Stella, by his side, was on the alert also.
+Shan Rhue was not one to be trusted, especially after he had met defeat.
+After staring for a moment he spoke.
+
+"I reckon yer beat me fair, young feller," he said, "although I don't
+know yet how yer did it. But I want ter say ter yer now that this ain't
+the end, by no means."
+
+"That's all right," said Ted easily. "You keep out of my way, and you
+will be all right."
+
+"I go where I please, an' do what I please, an' ask ther right o' no
+man," retorted Shan Rhue truculently.
+
+"All right, go where you please, but don't run afoul of me," said Ted
+sharply. "I don't want to have anything to do with such cattle as you,
+and I don't propose to. Keep off my trail if you know when you're well
+off. This is a friendly tip--take it or leave it."
+
+"I don't want none o' yer tips," growled Shan Rhue. "Ye've beaten me,
+an' I hate yer. Look out fer me next time, that's all."
+
+"Yes, that's all. Skidoo! You're not pretty to look at."
+
+Ted turned his back upon the defeated bully, but Stella did not, and had
+Shan Rhue made a motion toward his gun there would have been one with a
+pearl handle and trimmed with silver in commission in an instant.
+
+With a long, malignant look after Ted, the bully turned and hobbled
+slowly from the fair grounds.
+
+"I'm going to start on the trail of Norris," said Ted. "Want to come
+along, Stella?"
+
+"You bet I do," said the girl. "Wait till I catch my pony."
+
+"Ben, you and Bud ride through the town and see if you can't get on to
+the movements of that old rip Norris, also, and look out for Kit. If we
+don't get Norris, and make him give up that magpie pony, our work has
+not been half done. As long as we have won out all around, we might as
+well have the fruits of our victory," said Ted.
+
+"What'll we do to ther coyote?" asked Bud.
+
+"Part his coat tails and give him a good, swift kick," answered Ted.
+"But don't get into any fights with these town gamblers. We can't afford
+anything of that sort, you know."
+
+"All righty; but I'd shore like ter git a crack at some o' them
+mavericks," said Bud grudgingly.
+
+"They're all licked in their minds already," said Ted. "Of course,
+they're sore at losing their money, and if a dozen or more of them were
+to tackle you, you'd have a hard time getting away with it. When the
+fight comes off, if ever it does, we all want to be in on it."
+
+They parted, and Ted and Stella rode into the town.
+
+"Say, friend, have you seen anything of that old skin Norris?" asked
+Ted, meeting one of the Running Water outfit on the street.
+
+"Yep. I wuz jest goin' ter look yer up an' post yer," was the reply.
+
+"Which way did he go, or is he still in town?"
+
+"Jest after yer put ther finish onto Shan--an', say, that wuz a beaut,
+if any one should ask you--I see Norris an' ther jock makin' fer ther
+gate, leadin' ther magpie bronc. I thinks they're goin' ter put him in
+ther corral fer yer, an' didn't pay much 'tention ter him."
+
+"Then he's up at the corral?"
+
+"No, he ain't. He's foggin' along to'rds ther Wichita Mountains as fast
+as he kin go."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"I met one o' our outfit a bit ago, an' he was sore because yer let ther
+old feller git away with ther magpie, after yer won him fair. Yer see,
+he thinks ye flunked on collectin' ther pony."
+
+"Not on your life. We don't do business that way."
+
+"That's what I was thinkin', so I ast him whichever way ther ole man was
+headin'. He says inter ther east, tickity-brindle."
+
+"Which road?"
+
+"Right out ther east end o' ther main street."
+
+"Thank you, pard."
+
+"Yer almighty welcome. Good luck. If yer ketch up with ther coyote,
+bring him in an' let us have a good squint at him."
+
+"Oh, I'll bring him in, all right, if I get him."
+
+"So long!"
+
+"So long! Come on, Stella, we'll have to kick dust if we're going to
+connect with that old party."
+
+They dashed down the street, followed by an equal mingling of smiles and
+frowns. Smiles from the cow-punchers and townspeople whose champion he
+had been, and frowns from the gamblers.
+
+But they saw neither, for they were intent upon their business. They
+made a mighty handsome couple as they dashed along, for they were well
+mounted and both were perfect riders.
+
+Many a young girl walking along the street looked enviously after
+Stella, and wished she could ride as well and was as beautiful. And many
+a lad looked after his ideal of a hero of the West, dashing and brave
+Ted Strong, who had so lately vanquished the bully who had been feared
+of all men, and who could ride like a centaur, and shoot perfectly.
+
+It did not take long for them to clear the town, and dash out onto the
+prairie road which led into the Wichita Mountains.
+
+They did not spare their horses, for Ted knew that if Norris once
+succeeded in reaching the mountains it would be almost impossible to
+find him among the many fastnesses and deep and rough cañons which
+abound in those most picturesque hills and peaks.
+
+While Ted knew the Wichita Mountains well, he was also aware that even
+the most expert scout did not know all about them, and that there were
+places in them that had never been explored, unless, perhaps, by
+renegade Indians and white outlaws, with which the mountains had at
+times been infested.
+
+They had ridden an hour or more when Ted pulled in his pony.
+
+"No use riding our ponies to death the first heat," he said to Stella,
+with a smile.
+
+"My cayuse is good for another hour," said Stella; "I can tell by the
+way he's going under me."
+
+"Yours would last because you're such a light and easy rider. You take
+weight off a pony. But I'm a good deal heavier, and I can feel this
+fellow tiring, although he'd go until he dropped in his tracks if I'd
+let him."
+
+They walked their ponies over the springy sod beside the road, which was
+becoming fainter the farther they got from the town. In the distance
+they could see the mountains, a dark mass against the sky.
+
+"Some one on the road," said Stella, pointing ahead.
+
+"It is a little hazy. Dust, I guess," said Ted. "I think we better hit
+it up a bit. Perhaps it is Norris and his precious 'grandson,' and if it
+is we'll get to them before they get to the mountains."
+
+They put their ponies, at a lope, and seemed to be catching up with the
+dust cloud rapidly. Soon they were able to distinguish two riders.
+
+"By Jove, I believe we are on the right track," said Ted.
+
+Stella's bright eyes had been watching the riders in front of them for
+some time.
+
+"Ted, it's not Norris. There are two riders, one behind the other, and
+they are coming this way," she said.
+
+Ted reined in his pony, and took a long look.
+
+"You're right, Stella," he said. "But, perhaps, we can get some news of
+the fugitives from them."
+
+Again they spurred forward.
+
+"Ted, that's Kit, as sure as you live," cried Stella, "I'd know him
+anywhere."
+
+In a few minutes they were within hailing distance, and Ted gave the
+long yell, which was answered, and in a few minutes they were reining in
+beside Kit. Behind him, securely bound to the back of Magpie, was old
+man Norris, who looked very crestfallen.
+
+"Hello, Kit, you rascal, I see that you got him," said Ted.
+
+"You bet, and a merry chase I had after him," answered Kit.
+
+"Why, Kit, what's the matter with your arm?" cried Stella.
+
+Kit's arm was hanging by his side, and his coat sleeve near his shoulder
+was stained with blood.
+
+"Shot!" answered Kit laconically.
+
+"Bad?" asked Stella anxiously.
+
+"Not so very. Just touched the bone. But it has been bleeding like the
+deuce."
+
+"Ted, take charge of the prisoner. Kit, get off that horse and let me
+see that wound."
+
+Stella's commands were promptly obeyed, and Kit groaned slightly as
+Stella helped him off with his coat and cut away his sleeve. He had
+received a nasty flesh wound near the shoulder, made by a ball of large
+caliber, which had passed clear through.
+
+As soon as she had washed the wound with water from Ted's canteen, and
+had bound it up, Kit felt much more comfortable.
+
+"How did it happen?" asked Stella.
+
+"I heard that the old man and the jockey had made a sneak from the
+grounds when Ted was having his fun with the big fellow, and I got my
+bronc and followed them. I came up with them a ways back, and made the
+old duffer halt, but the jock potted me and got away. That's all."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+KIT'S TROUBLESOME PRISONER.
+
+
+"Kit, you're the most reckless boy I ever knew," said Stella, as he
+climbed into his saddle with some effort, for his arm was stiff and
+swollen, and it was all he could do to keep from groaning with every
+jump of his pony.
+
+"What in the world made you start after them alone?" asked Ted.
+
+"Well, you were busy with the big bully, and, although I felt certain
+that you would get the best of him in the end, I thought it wouldn't be
+good policy to take any of the boys with me, in case there should be a
+general fight. I know you would need all the fellows."
+
+"Well, but, dog-gone you, you ought to have taken some one," said Ted.
+"How did you know but the old man and the jockey were not dangerous
+fellows? Men in their business are generally bad actors when it comes to
+a scrimmage."
+
+"Oh, I thought I could handle them," laughed Kit. "And I could, too,
+only I got careless, and let that jockey get the drop on me. The old man
+knuckled under gracefully when I presented my card."
+
+"Did you get the old man after you were shot?"
+
+"Yes. You see, this was how it was: I got sight of them a short ways
+ahead of me. They were evidently saving their horses, for they were
+traveling slowly."
+
+"Didn't they get next that they were being followed?"
+
+"I don't think so. They saw only one rider, and I suppose they thought
+that if they were pursued at all it would be by several men, and they
+were confident that with their horses they could run away from anything
+we had except Hatrack."
+
+"It's a wonder they didn't light out quick."
+
+"I think they figured to save their horses until they were sure they
+were being followed."
+
+"Then what happened?"
+
+"I saw them look back at me several times, but they did not hit up their
+speed any."
+
+"Were you fogging along pretty fast?"
+
+"Not so very. You see, I didn't want them to think that I was on their
+trail. I went just fast enough to overtake them gradually. If they had
+got on to me they would have been out of sight before I could gather up
+my reins."
+
+"Foxy Kit," said Stella.
+
+"And they let you come right up with them?" asked Ted.
+
+"Yep. I was right up on them before they got on to me."
+
+"They recognized you, eh?"
+
+"They did when I was about twenty feet away. Then I heard the old man
+holler, 'It's one o' them dern broncho boys.'"
+
+"And then what?"
+
+"Well, you see, I didn't have my gun out, and, as he says that, the
+jockey pulls and fires one shot, which landed in my arm. Then, before I
+can reach around and get my gun out with my left hand, he gets away. But
+the action was too quick for the old man, and he sat still until I had
+him covered, when I had sent a couple of balls after the jock to make
+him hit up the pace a bit."
+
+"The old man was easy, eh?"
+
+"Easiest kind. But he might have got away from me if he had the nerve."
+
+"Well, Kit, you did a great stunt. I'm mighty glad you landed the old
+coot. But I don't know what to do with him now that we have him."
+
+"Well, we better take him to town, anyway. He'd get lost if we turned
+him loose out here. Let his friends take care of him, when he gets
+there."
+
+"All right; let's move on."
+
+Not much was said as they made their way back to town. Old man Norris
+did not open his mouth, but looked dejected and sad, as if he was
+brooding over what would happen to him when he arrived at his
+destination. He was plainly uneasy, and probably wished they would turn
+him loose.
+
+When they were within a mile of the town they saw a cloud of dust
+approaching them rapidly, and watched it curiously. It was a horseman,
+fogging along at a rapid pace.
+
+Finally out of the dust emerged Bud Morgan, and as he came abreast of
+them he pulled his horse down on its haunches.
+
+"Howdy?" he said.
+
+"How?" answered the others.
+
+"So yer got ther ole pelican, eh?" said Bud, with a grin.
+
+"Kit did," said Ted.
+
+"Bully for you, Kit," said Bud heartily. "I was in town, an' a feller
+from over to Running Water told me you and Stella had come out this way,
+an' I follered. What's the matter with your arm, Kit?"
+
+"Got a shot through it."
+
+"Sho! Did that old pirate give it to you?"
+
+"No, the jockey, and then he flew."
+
+"I've got a good mind to go after him, an' bring him in."
+
+"Wouldn't do any good. At the rate he was going when I sent a message
+after him, he's clear into the suburbs of Chicago by this time."
+
+They were soon on the outskirts of the town, and as they entered the
+main street they saw a crowd of men coming toward them.
+
+"Here comes a reception committee," said Ted. "Wonder who they are, and
+what they want."
+
+"By Jove, there's that big fellow Shan Rhue," exclaimed Kit. "I wonder
+what he's after."
+
+"I thought he had enough o' our kind o' medicine not to want ter tackle
+us so soon again," said Bud.
+
+"I don't like the looks of that gang," said Ted.
+
+"Neither do I," said Stella. "I've a hunch that they mean mischief."
+
+"In what way?" asked Ted.
+
+"Well, I can't exactly define the feeling I have, but somehow I think
+they don't want _us_."
+
+"Eh? Whom do they want?"
+
+For reply Stella made a motion toward Norris. Ted looked at her
+thoughtfully for a moment, then comprehended.
+
+"I see," he said seriously. "Well, they won't get him."
+
+"Bud, where are the other boys?" asked Stella.
+
+"Uptown som'er's. Why?" said Bud.
+
+"They ought to be here," said the girl seriously. "I think we'll be
+needing them soon."
+
+"I tumble, an' I'll jest fog on ahead an' gather them up."
+
+"Yes," said Ted. "and while you're about it see if you can't find that
+foreman of the Running Water Ranch, and have him round up his boys or a
+few good fellows who will back us up if it comes to trouble. I don't
+know what his name is, do you?"
+
+"Yes, his name is Andy Bowles, an' he's as good as three ordinary men."
+
+"Then fly. There's no telling what's coming off."
+
+Bud gave his pony the rowels, and in a moment was out of sight in a
+cloud of dust. Ted and the others rode steadily forward, the two
+parties approaching nearer every moment.
+
+The party headed by Shan Rhue had taken to the middle of the road, and
+soon they had come together, and both halted. For a moment nothing was
+said.
+
+Ted was in advance, holding the reins of the pony on which Norris was
+tied hand and foot, Stella was on one side of Norris, and Kit on the
+other.
+
+"Well?" said Ted inquiringly, as they came face to face.
+
+He looked directly at Shan Rhue as he said it, then allowed his eyes to
+wander over the crowd. In it he saw some of the toughest characters in
+that part of the country.
+
+They were men who bore the reputation of being cattle rustlers on
+provocation, and who had been suspected of horse stealing and other
+crimes.
+
+"We want that man," said Shan Rhue shortly and roughly.
+
+"Is that so?" said Ted, with feigned surprise.
+
+"Yes, that's so," was the surly reply.
+
+"Then why didn't you go out and get him?"
+
+"We left that to you," said Shan, with a nasty laugh.
+
+"Then you'll still leave him to me."
+
+"Well, we want him, and that's all there is to it."
+
+"What do you want with him?"
+
+"We'll show you when we get him."
+
+"It's a cinch you won't get him until you do show me."
+
+"Now, I don't want to have any trouble with you, young feller, but--"
+
+"I shouldn't think you would."
+
+At this retort a snicker went up in the crowd, and Shan turned upon his
+followers with a brow like a thundercloud. But he said nothing, as the
+snicker subsided as soon as it began.
+
+"And I don't want any of your lip, either. Give us the old man
+peaceable, an' you can go."
+
+"Say, that's real good of you. But I want to tell you one thing, Shan
+Rhue, before you lose any more breath in conversation, you don't get him
+unless you tell me what you propose doing with him, and perhaps not
+then. It's up to me to say who gets him, or what is done with him. You
+seem to forget that he's my prisoner, not yours."
+
+"Well, I'll tell you what we're going to do with him," said the bully,
+with a blustering air. "We're goin' to hang him as high as that
+telegraph pole out thar."
+
+"Bet you anything you've got you don't," said Ted, with a pleasant
+smile.
+
+There was a murmur of anger in the crowd.
+
+"Don't let them get me," wailed old Norris.
+
+"Dry up!" said Stella sternly. "Don't you see he's trying to save you."
+
+"Why do you want to hang this old man?" asked Ted.
+
+"Because he whipsawed us all. He's the only one who got any money out of
+that race. We gave him five hundred dollars to pull it off. He was
+broke, and couldn't have bet a cent on it, anyway. That's why. He said
+his horse would win in a walk, and every one of us went broke on it."
+
+"Good! I'm glad to hear it," said Ted heartily. "You ought to have lost.
+But I'll tell you one thing, the old man really thought his horse would
+win. He didn't know that Bud's horse was the old Mexican racer,
+Chiquita; neither did any of us except Bud, who kept the matter to
+himself, and there you are. The old man is a professional skin, I'm free
+to confess, but he was out to skin us, not you. You've got nothing
+against him. You were beaten by gambler's luck, and now you're not game
+to stand by it. But there is one sure thing, you'll not get old Norris
+from me until you kill me. That's a cinch."
+
+"You're a game kid, all right," said Shan Rhue, "but you're committing
+suicide with that kind o' talk. I didn't lose so much myself, an' I
+ain't got nothin' agin' the ole man; it's you I'm after--"
+
+"Why didn't you come alone if you wanted me? Was it necessary for you to
+bring a whole posse with you?"
+
+"Now, the less I hear of that kind o' talk, the easier it will be for
+you. Hand over the old gaffer, an' go your way peaceful. You'll get that
+much chance."
+
+"Thank you for nothing. I stay by the old man."
+
+Farther up the street Ted saw a commotion out of which evolved a party
+of men moving in his direction. He had no doubt it was Bud and Andy
+Bowles, the foreman of the Running Water Ranch.
+
+"For the last time, give up that man!" commanded Shan Rhue.
+
+"No."
+
+"Then we'll take him."
+
+Kit had cut the old man's bonds, and thrust a revolver into his hand.
+
+"Fight for your life," he said.
+
+With a roar the mob was upon them. Revolvers were drawn, and as they
+rushed forward the dauntless three surrounded Norris--three against
+fifty.
+
+"Halt!" cried Ted. "The first man to lay a hand on any of us is a dead
+one."
+
+"Go on an' take him. I'll attend to the kid," shouted Shan Rhue.
+
+"Get him!" "String him up!" "Lynch the old thief!"
+
+These were the cries with which the mob advanced.
+
+Out of the mob came several shots. Ted heard a cry of pain behind him,
+and turned to see Stella reel in her saddle, pale to the lips, with her
+hand pressing her head, Then she fell.
+
+With a cry of horror and rage, Ted turned toward her, but just then he
+felt himself seized and dragged from his saddle. Something struck him on
+the back of the head, and all became black.
+
+But as he was going off into unconsciousness he heard a shout. It was
+the old Moon Valley yell, and he knew that Norris would be safe.
+
+Bud was coming with reënforcements. Ted had dropped to the road under
+the feet of the terrified ponies, and it was a miracle that he was not
+trampled to death.
+
+All about him the fight was going on.
+
+Bud and Andy Bowles, and about twenty men whom they had hastily got
+together, had come to the rescue, and the gamblers' gang was soon on the
+run. They had not been able to get near Norris, for Kit had fought them
+off with his one good arm until, finding themselves attacked in the
+rear, the would-be lynchers ran for their lives.
+
+The fight was swift and decisive, and several men lay in the dust when
+it was over, for Andy Bowles and Bud and Ben had fought like tigers.
+
+When Ted recovered consciousness again he found himself lying in the
+road beside Shan Rhue, who had been knocked senseless by a blow from the
+butt of Bud's pistol.
+
+Ted staggered to his feet.
+
+"Where's Stella?" he cried.
+
+The other boys looked around. Just before the fight began they had seen
+her, Kit, and the old man, but now she was gone.
+
+"Stella was wounded," cried Ted. "Where is she? Scatter, men, and find
+her. She cannot be far away. If anything has happened to her, some one
+will suffer."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+STELLA A CAPTIVE.
+
+We will leave Ted and the broncho boys, to follow the misadventures of
+Stella.
+
+After securing Magpie, which was taken back to the cow camp by Kit, who,
+much against his inclinations, was compelled to go into retirement until
+his arm healed, Ted released old man Norris, who secured a pony and rode
+rapidly out of town.
+
+When Stella fell from the back of her pony to the road she became
+insensible. A ball from the weapon of one of Shan Rhue's gang had
+clipped a lock of hair from her forehead, creasing the skull. By a
+miracle her life was saved, for the merest fraction of an inch lay
+between her and death.
+
+During the hurly-burly of the fight, and as Ted was grasped in the
+powerful arms of Shan Rhue, one of the gang rushed up to her as she lay
+in the dust and picked her up.
+
+He was a powerful man, and carried Stella's light body as if she had
+been a child. That he was not seen by some member of the Running Water
+outfit was due to the fact that they were too busily engaged in fighting
+to pay attention to anything else.
+
+When Stella regained her senses she was conscious of a racking headache,
+and, placing her hand to her forehead, brought it away wet and sticky.
+It was quite dark, and she groaned feebly. The pain was excruciating,
+and the motion of her body made her deathly sick.
+
+She felt around her, and her hand came in contact with a cold, hard, yet
+yielding substance. Then she heard the rumble of wheels, and knew that
+she was in a vehicle of some sort. The motion of the couch on which she
+was lying was such that she came to the conclusion that she was in one
+of those old stagecoaches hung on leather springs, which were so much in
+use in the West before the advent of the railroads.
+
+As her mind grew clearer she tried to remember all that had occurred.
+Suddenly it flashed upon her. The capture of old Norris, the attempt of
+Shan Rhue and his gang to take him away to lynch him, and the beginning
+of the fight. How it had been finished she did not know.
+
+Neither did she know whether or not she was in the care of her friends
+or in the custody of her enemies. Probably the latter, for if Ted and
+the boys were taking her somewhere, surely she would have more
+attention, and the blood would have been washed from the wound on her
+forehead.
+
+The curtains of the stage were down, and she did not know whether it was
+day or night.
+
+Outside she heard the voices of men.
+
+"Hurry up them mules, Bill," a man's voice came to her gruffly.
+
+"Can't get any more out o' them. We've come nigh twenty mile on the run.
+I tell you, the mules is 'most all in," said a man, evidently the driver
+of the stage.
+
+"Well, we ain't got much farther to go," said the other. "But we got to
+get there before moondown, er we'll be up against it."
+
+"What time is the bunch goin' to be at the lone tree?"
+
+"Ten o'clock."
+
+"Then we've got just about an hour, eh?"
+
+"Just about. But we're a long ways off yet. Git all y'u can out o' them
+mules. Kill 'em if y'u have to get them there on time."
+
+"They're doin' all they can. Y'u don't want me to kill them before we
+get there, do y'u?" asked the driver crossly.
+
+"No, but if y'u miss the bunch y'u know what will happen. Shan ain't
+much on the sweet temper since the kid bumped him so hard, an' he don't
+like y'u too well, nohow. I'm just givin' y'u a friendly tip."
+
+"Keep it. I ain't so stuck on Shan myself as I used to be."
+
+"Only don't let him know it. We ain't none of us in love with him, an'
+yet we come up an' eat out o' his hand when he calls us, just like a lot
+o' hound dogs."
+
+The conversation told Stella the truth she had dreaded. She had been
+captured by Shan Rhue's ruffians, and she knew that she was in a
+precarious predicament, for she could hope for no mercy from Ted's
+merciless and beaten enemy.
+
+She would be used to punish Ted, and she sighed at the thought of what
+grief her disappearance would cause her aunt and the boys.
+
+Suddenly the curtain on the window was drawn aside. It was bright
+moonlight without, and in it she saw the villainous face of a man
+looking in upon her.
+
+Her eyes met his, and she uttered an exclamation.
+
+"Hello!" he exclaimed, in surprise. "Come to, have y'u?"
+
+Stella made no reply.
+
+"Thought fer a while that y'u'd slipped over the Great Divide," the
+fellow continued.
+
+"No fault of yours that I didn't," said Stella weakly, for the pain and
+nausea to which she was being subjected had taken all her strength.
+
+"I ain't had nothin' to do with it, lady. I'm just guidin' the outfit. I
+don't know y'u, er how y'u got hurt. Feelin' better?"
+
+"I would be much better if I could get out and walk. The motion of this
+carriage makes me deathly sick."
+
+"Can't let y'u do that, lady. We're in too much of a hurry to stop
+now."
+
+"But you might let me have a drink of water. I am dying of thirst."
+
+"I reckon I can do that."
+
+The flap over the stage window dropped, and in a moment she heard hushed
+voices outside. Then a canteen was thrust through the window.
+
+"Take all y'u want, lady, an' drink hearty," said her guide.
+
+Stella wet her handkerchief and bathed her throbbing forehead, then took
+a deep draft, and felt much refreshed.
+
+"Here's your canteen," she said.
+
+Again the flap was thrust aside, and the ugly face looked in upon her
+with a leer.
+
+"Where are we, and where are we going?" asked Stella.
+
+"We're in the Wich--"
+
+"Hey, Jack, stow that," cried the driver.
+
+"But it won't do no harm--"
+
+"You know what the orders is," said the other significantly.
+
+"Sorry I can't tell y'u, lady. Orders is orders."
+
+"Oh, well, I don't suppose it would do me any good to know where I am,
+anyway, but you might as well tell me what you are going to do with me.
+It would relieve my anxiety, and make me feel better."
+
+"There ain't no harm comin' to y'u, lady, while I am with y'u," said the
+fellow, with a hateful leer that made Stella shudder.
+
+"Thank you," she said faintly, as with a sigh she laid her head back
+again with her wet handkerchief on her brow.
+
+So the stage rumbled on for almost an hour, with Stella the prey of
+sickness and pain. She doubted if she could have walked even if she had
+been permitted to leave the stage.
+
+But as she lay there she thought, and from the scraps of conversation
+she had heard, and from what her guide was about to tell her when he was
+interrupted by the driver, she knew that she had been captured and
+abducted during the fight by Shan Rhue's men, and that she was in the
+Wichita Mountains.
+
+That much, at least, she knew, but what caused her much anxiety was that
+she did not know the result of the fight.
+
+She came to the conclusion that the broncho boys and their friends must
+have lost in the encounter, else she would not be in her present
+predicament.
+
+But what of poor old Norris, for in spite of his rascality she was sorry
+that he had fallen into the hands of the ruthless Shan Rhue.
+
+"Keep off to the left," shouted the guide. "We're almost there. Down
+into that coulee y'u go. There ain't another crossin' this side o' three
+mile, an' we ain't got time to go so far out o' our way."
+
+"Say, we're liable to turn over down there. Better get the gal out, an'
+let her walk down. I can get safe up the other side."
+
+"All right. Stop 'er."
+
+The stage stopped, and the cessation of the swaying, swinging motion was
+a blessed relief to the tortured girl.
+
+"Come on out," said the guide, as he threw the door open. "We'll have to
+ask you to walk to the bottom o' this coulee, if y'u don't want to be
+scrambled about on the bottom o' the coach."
+
+Stella was glad to get out, but when her feet were on the ground she
+swayed and staggered like a drunken person from sheer sickness and
+weakness.
+
+Beside her was her guide on his horse, and she was compelled to lean
+against it for a moment until she recovered herself.
+
+The stage had gone lumbering and swaying down the bank of the coulee,
+and before it reached the bottom it turned on its side.
+
+The driver leaped in safety to the ground, and the guide went scrambling
+down the bank to his assistance.
+
+The mules were plunging and kicking, and threatened to break their
+harness to pieces.
+
+Stella was mutely thankful that she had not been in the stage when it
+went over, as she sat down on a rock to rest and watch the efforts of
+the swearing and angry men to right the stage.
+
+Once she thought of trying to escape while the men were engrossed in
+their work, and she arose eagerly.
+
+But when she got to her feet she realized the impossibility of such a
+thing, for she almost fell. Then she sank down again, and resigned
+herself to her fate.
+
+But soon the stage was put back on its wheels again, and the guide
+called to her to come down.
+
+This was a slow and painful operation, during which the driver swore
+impatiently at the delay. But she accomplished it, and crawled into the
+stage and sank down on the pallet which had been made for her with the
+seat cushions.
+
+Now they were off again, faster than before, and with correspondingly
+more discomfort to Stella. Oh, if the journey would only end, she
+thought.
+
+"Here we are," she heard the guide's voice in a shout.
+
+The stage stopped, and Stella heard a rush of feet.
+
+"Got her?" some one demanded gruffly.
+
+"Yep, but she's all in," replied the guide. "Her forehead was creased by
+a bullet, an' the trip has about finished her."
+
+"Can't help that. Get her out. We've got to be moving. The soldiers are
+out to-night."
+
+"What's the matter?"
+
+"Injuns.".
+
+"Uprisin'?"
+
+"Not yet, but the agent over to Fort Sill has a tip that they are
+putting on paint."
+
+"What's the trouble?"
+
+"Somethin' about beef issue. The last cows issued to the Injuns were no
+good, an' the Injuns made a kick, an' the agent told them to go to the
+deuce. Old Flatnose an' his son Moonface, the Apache chiefs, have always
+been bad actors, an' now they are tryin' to scare up a muss."
+
+"Reckon they'll do it?"
+
+"The commandant at Fort Sill seems to think they will, for he's got two
+companies out on the scout."
+
+"The boys better look out, then. The Injuns don't like the gang over at
+the Hole in the Wall none too good."
+
+"We stand all right with Flatnose and his son, an' it's their band
+that's actin' bad."
+
+"Well, y'u better get a move on y'u. The moon will be down in an hour."
+
+"Get the gal out, then, an' we'll be movin'."
+
+"All right," said the guide, poking his head into the coach. "Here's
+where you get out. Boss said to treat her well," he continued, turning
+to the man with whom he had been talking.
+
+"Oh, we'll do that, all right," was the reply.
+
+Stella scrambled painfully out of the coach. All about her were mounted
+men, both whites and Indians. There were a score or more of them.
+
+"Can you ride?" asked one of them of Stella.
+
+"Yes," she replied, "if you don't go too fast. I'm sick and weak."
+
+"We'll do the best we can," said the man shortly.
+
+Then he called back to his followers:
+
+"Jake, bring up that spare hoss."
+
+In a moment, and with a staggering weakness, Stella climbed into the
+saddle. With a man on each side of her, she took up the march again.
+
+Through dark defiles in the black mountains the cavalcade made its way,
+Stella clinging to the saddle, and often in danger of falling off.
+Presently they came into a glade, or park, which was surrounded by
+towering mountain walls. For half an hour they traversed this, then came
+to the end, and before them yawned an opening in the wall less than ten
+feet wide.
+
+They entered this, and after traversing it a short distance Stella found
+herself in a circular chamber in the mountains with the starry sky for a
+roof. Several fires were burning in the chamber, around which Indians
+and white men were sprawling, playing cards, talking, or silently
+smoking.
+
+In one corner was a corral, in which many horses were confined.
+
+"You can get down now," said the leader of the party that had conducted
+her to the place. "There is a shelter for you over there."
+
+He pointed to a small tent on the farther side of the chamber.
+
+"You will be perfectly safe here. You do not seem well. I will send you
+assistance."
+
+"Where am I?" asked Stella.
+
+"You are a prisoner in the Hole in the Wall," was the reply.
+
+"Then Heaven help me," said Stella, sobbing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+A HOLE IN THE HERD.
+
+
+The herd of cattle which Ted and the broncho boys were herding in No
+Man's Land he had branded Circle S, named after Stella.
+
+There were more than two thousand head of them, which Ted was feeding on
+the rich range grasses of the Southwest to drive to the Moon Valley
+Ranch to winter, for it was well known to cowmen that a Southern or
+Southwestern beef animal will do better for a winter on the Northern
+range.
+
+After Stella's disappearance Ted and the boys searched every nook and
+cranny of the town of Snyder, but were unable to get the slightest trace
+of her. Dividing into bands, they scoured the country roundabout, being
+assisted by the cow-punchers and the ranchers in the neighborhood.
+
+But Stella had disappeared as if the earth had opened and swallowed her.
+With all his ingenuity, backed by the strong desire he had to find her,
+Ted was making no headway, and he hardly slept or ate during the long
+days and nights, but was in the saddle almost continuously.
+
+Naturally, he suspected Shan Rhue of knowing something about Stella's
+absence, if, indeed, he was not actually responsible for it.
+
+But he could not fasten anything on the man whom he had come to regard
+as his greatest enemy, and whom he knew hated him. Whenever he sought
+Shan Rhue, he was always to be found at his haunts.
+
+Tired of the inaction, Ted met Shan Rhue on the street one day, and
+resolved to have it out with him.
+
+"Shan Rhue, I want to speak with you," said Ted, stopping him.
+
+"Well, what is it you want?" asked Shan Rhue.
+
+"I want you to tell me where Stella is," said Ted.
+
+Shan Rhue stared at him in apparent amazement.
+
+"How should I know where she is?" asked Shan Rhue, with a wicked
+twinkling in his eye.
+
+"I don't know," answered Ted; "but I think you do know."
+
+"So I supposed, from the way in which you have had me followed. I
+suppose you miss her a good deal."
+
+"Her aunt, Mrs. Graham, is distraught with grief and anxiety. Surely you
+have no fight on her, or on Miss Fosdick, either, that you should keep
+them apart."
+
+"No. I have no fight with a woman. But why should I know where the young
+lady is?"
+
+"There are several reasons why you should have had her taken away. But I
+think the principal reason is that you think you can get square with me
+by doing so."
+
+"There might be something in that. Mind me, I am not confessing that I
+took her away, or that I know who did take her away, or where she is.
+You have seen me in town every day since the little trouble we had over
+that old thief Norris, haven't you?"
+
+"Yes, but that tells me nothing. It might not be necessary for you to
+leave this town to have her hidden somewhere."
+
+"But you and your friends searched the town from one end to the other,
+and you did not find her."
+
+"True, but for all that I am satisfied that you know where she is.
+Suppose we call it off, and that you tell me where she is."
+
+"If I knew, I would not tell you," said Shan Rhue, his voice intense
+with hatred.
+
+"What do you mean? Are you such a coward that you will punish a woman
+for your spite against a man? I did not think that of you. I believe
+Stella Fosdick was carried off by you, of your men, acting under your
+instructions."
+
+Shan Rhue's only reply was a sneering laugh.
+
+"If I discover that what I say is true," said Ted, in a low voice so
+full of purpose that it was in itself a warning, "you will be the
+sorriest man in all this country. I will make you suffer by it even as
+you have caused suffering to others."
+
+"So you have suffered, eh? That is good! Now I am a little better
+satisfied. But my debt to you is not yet paid. There are other things in
+store for you."
+
+"What do you mean, you dog? By Heaven, I know now that you did cause her
+abduction, and I shall find her. You cannot keep me away from the place
+in which you have hidden her. I shall find her if she is at the end of
+the earth. When I do find her, if anything has harmed her, you, Shan
+Rhue, gambler, thief, and murderer, shall pay for it, and pay heavier
+than for any amusement you have had in all your miserable lying,
+thieving career."
+
+As the epithets addressed to Shan Rhue left Ted's lips, the bully sprang
+back, and made a motion to draw his six-shooter.
+
+But before he had his hand on his hip his eyes were looking into the
+bore of Ted's forty-four. Instead of drawing a gun, therefore, he pulled
+out his handkerchief and wiped his dry lips.
+
+Shan Rhue feared Ted Strong.
+
+"Remember," said Ted, before turning away, "I know that you have
+spirited Stella Fosdick away. But I shall find her, and when I am sure
+of it you better leave the country before I reach the place where you
+are, for as sure as I am standing here I will make my previous
+experience with you so tame that you will be glad to crawl in the dust
+on your face to be forgiven."
+
+"Ha, ha!" laughed Shan Rhue. "So it hurts as bad as that, eh? Good!"
+
+He went away laughing, and it was all Ted could do to control himself,
+and keep from leaping upon him and punching him. Instead, he jumped into
+his saddle and rode Sultan like the wind out to the cow camp.
+
+For several days he had paid no attention to the herd, leaving it under
+the general direction of Bud, while he stayed in town trying to hear
+some news of Stella, or was riding all over the country with one or
+another of the boys, searching for her.
+
+As he rode into camp with disappointment and dejection written on his
+face, he was met by Mrs. Graham, who had grown pale and wan with
+anxiety.
+
+"Any news of her?" she asked Ted.
+
+"None, but I haven't given up hope by any means. Don't worry so, Mrs.
+Graham. I think I am on the track at last, and that we shall soon have
+her with us again."
+
+But Mrs. Graham only walked away with the tears coursing down her
+cheeks. The herd was grazing to the west of the camp, and Ted rode out
+to it, and to where Bud was sitting quietly in his saddle watching it.
+
+There was an air of dejection about Bud, also. Indeed, every fellow in
+the outfit was secretly worrying and grieving for Stella.
+
+"Say, Ted," said Bud, as Ted rode up, "I think thar's somethin' wrong
+with ther dogies."
+
+Cow-punchers call the small Southwestern cattle "dogies."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Ted. "I was looking them over this morning.
+Rode through the bunch. They seemed to be all right then."
+
+"Oh, they're eatin' well, an' aire as likely a lot o' beef ez ever I
+see," replied Bud.
+
+"Well, what then?"
+
+"Thar ain't so many o' them ez there wuz, er my eye hez gone back on
+me."
+
+"Any of them get away?"
+
+"I figger it so."
+
+"What have you found out?"
+
+"Some one is liftin' our cattle. That's what I mean."
+
+"Great Scott! What makes you think so?"
+
+"Ted, ther herd has shrunk."
+
+"You judge by the eye, I suppose."
+
+"Yes. That is the only way I have o' judgin'. We hev never had a count
+o' them since we drove them onto this range."
+
+"How many do you think we are shy?"
+
+"My eye tells me erbout five hundred."
+
+"Great guns! How could five hundred head get away from us? And right
+under our noses, too."
+
+"Easy enough. You must remember that since Stella has been gone we've
+paid no more attention to the herd than if we didn't own them."
+
+"That's true. As for myself, I confess that I've given them no
+attention. And I've kept you fellows so busy that we've left the cattle
+to take care of themselves, almost."
+
+"Well, it's time we woke up ter ther situation, er soon we won't hev no
+more cattle than a rabbit."
+
+"That's so. We'll run a count of them in the morning."
+
+"It's shore got me puzzled. I can't think whar they could hev gone."
+
+"Strayed, possibly."
+
+"P'r'aps. Ever hear o' there bein' any rustlers in this part o' ther
+country?"
+
+"No, I never have. But there are some pretty bad citizens in this
+section, who, if they never have rustled cattle, certainly are capable
+of it."
+
+"Alludin' to who?"
+
+"Well, there's Shan Rhue and his gang, for instance."
+
+"They're pretty bad actors, fer shore. But I ain't positive thet they're
+ther kind what would rustle. They're jest plain town thieves an'
+gamblers. They ain't cow-punchers. It gen'rally is fellers what has been
+in ther cow business at some time er another what rustles stock."
+
+"Oh, it doesn't take much of a man to steal cattle. A thieving gambler
+could do it as well as another."
+
+"But our brand and ear crop? They shore couldn't get away from them."
+
+"They're not so hard, Bud. A good man could run our stock out of this
+part of the country and alter the brand without any trouble."
+
+"Shore, ther brand is not so hard to alter."
+
+"Let's ride back to camp and look at the brand book, and see if any one
+has a similar brand to ours, or one that they could alter without
+trouble. But, remember, I'm not going to give myself any uneasiness in
+the matter, and I think we will find the herd all there. I can't see how
+so many cattle as you think could get away from us."
+
+"I do."
+
+"In what manner could they?"
+
+"Well, yer see, thar ain't ary o' us fellers been ridin' herd at night
+since Stella was taken away."
+
+"Yes; go on."
+
+"Ther fellers what hev been guardin' ther herd at night we picked up
+around here when we drove ther herd up from ther South."
+
+"True. They were all local cow-punchers. I realize that we have made a
+mistake. One of us ought to have had charge of every night watch since
+we have been on this range."
+
+"Shore. It's a cinch they wouldn't attempt to run 'em off in ther
+daytime."
+
+"That's the idea. It would be as easy as shooting fish in a rain barrel
+for a crooked night foreman to drift a few cattle away from the herd in
+the dark, to be picked up by fellows waiting on the outside, and driven
+into the hills until the brands and marks could be changed."
+
+They were at the camp now, and Ted got out the brand book and turned its
+leaves over in an attempt to find a brand similar to their own, the
+Circle S, which was a circle with the letter S in the center.
+
+In every Western State or Territory in which cattle-raising is a
+business the law makes it imperative that every ranchman who uses the
+open range shall select a brand for his cattle which is registered. This
+brand is his own, and every head of cattle found with his brand on it
+belongs to him.
+
+On the open range the cattle get mixed more or less, and in the spring
+there is a general round-up of the cattle, after the calves have been
+born and are following their mothers.
+
+The cow-punchers go into the vast herds and drive out the calves. Of
+course, the mother follows the calf, lowing piteously for it.
+
+When the cow is out with the calf, it can be plainly seen to whom she
+belongs by the brand on her. Her owner, or his men or representatives,
+promptly throw her and the calf into their own herd, and later put their
+brand on the calf.
+
+Calves which are motherless and are unbranded are known as mavericks,
+and belong to whoever finds them. The cowman who finds a maverick
+promptly puts his own brand on it and it belongs to him.
+
+The safety of the system is in choosing a brand that cannot be easily
+altered, and which will not be easily confounded with the brand of
+another.
+
+When the boys had chosen the brand Circle S for this herd in honor of
+Stella, they had spoken of this, and Bud had remarked that it would be
+easily altered by making an eight of the S, but they had found no Circle
+8 in the brand book, and took the chance, especially as Stella now
+insisted upon having no other brand for the herd than Circle S, her "own
+brand," as she called it.
+
+Ted and Bud could find no brand in the Texas or Oklahoma brand books at
+all like theirs, and dismissed the matter from their minds.
+
+The next morning early all hands turned out for a count of the herd. The
+herd was split, and the broncho boys took turns at the count, as the
+bunches of cattle were split and driven slowly past them on the point.
+
+From the books, there should be two thousand three hundred cattle, or
+thereabouts, in the herd. A few cattle more or less would not have been
+surprising, for a great herd of cattle will, like a magnet, draw to it
+all the individual strays in the country roundabout.
+
+It was well in the afternoon before the count was finished, and the boys
+rode into camp to count up and compare with the books. Ted totaled the
+figures, while the boys hung eagerly over him to learn the result.
+
+"Well, what d'yer make it?" asked Bud, as Ted, with an expression of
+perplexity on his face, looked up from his work.
+
+"The count is seventeen hundred and fifty," answered Ted slowly.
+
+"Gee! And that's how many shy?"
+
+"Five hundred and fifty. Bud, you have a good eye."
+
+"Orter hev. I've been runnin' my eye over herds fer many a year. So,
+we've been done out o' more'n five hundred head, eh? Well, Stella comes
+fust, an' then ther man what thinks he kin rustle cattle from the
+broncho boys had better take a runnin' jump outer this man's country."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+LITTLE DICK IN TROUBLE.
+
+
+Little Dick Fosdick had been forgotten by Ted and the broncho boys in
+their anxiety over the absence of Stella.
+
+They had seen him around the camp, but as it was impossible for him to
+accompany them on their hard rides, he had been left to his own devices.
+
+He spent his days riding with one of the cowboys on the herd, and
+grieving in his own way for Stella.
+
+He was a sensible little chap, and seldom complained at his loneliness.
+His life alone had made him patient, and he took it out in thinking.
+
+He was now well able to take care of himself, although Stella insisted
+in "mothering" him when she was in camp.
+
+Little Dick, as most of the boys called him, felt himself quite a man,
+for he could now catch his own pony and saddle it whenever he wanted to
+ride, and no one paid any attention to him as he came and went.
+
+Ted had bought for him a little, wiry bay cayuse, and both he and Stella
+had taught him to ride, and Dick could now throw a rope with reasonable
+accuracy and speed.
+
+Ted had given him a small revolver, and they had had great fun learning
+to shoot at a target, which was usually a bleached skull of a cow that
+had died long since on the prairie, and its bones picked clean by the
+coyotes.
+
+Dick's revolver was only of thirty-two caliber, as befitted his
+strength, but the youngster had a good eye and the steady nerves of
+youth, and he soon got so that he could hit the skull with reasonable
+accuracy.
+
+"Putting the shot through the eye" was one of the jokes of these
+shooting tournaments, in which Stella, and sometimes Bud, joined.
+
+One day when they were shooting at a skull target, Bud missed--probably
+intentionally, for Bud was a crack shot.
+
+Dick jumped up and down in glee, for he had just knocked a chip of bone
+from the skull himself.
+
+"Bud missed! Bud missed!" he shouted, in glee. "Bud, you're an old
+tenderfoot. Couldn't hit a skull as big as the head of a barrel a
+hundred feet away."
+
+"Didn't miss, neither," said Bud, in a tone of mock anger. "There's
+where you're fooled. That is what I call a good shot. See that left eye
+hole? Well, I aimed at that, and the bullet went through it. Ha! That's
+where the joke is on you." He grinned, and winked at Stella.
+
+A few minutes later Dick shot and missed the skull.
+
+"Yah!" shouted Bud. "Goody! You missed. You shoot like a hayseed.
+Couldn't hit a skull as big as the head of a barrel."
+
+"That's where you're left," said the boy. "See that right eye hole?
+That's what I aimed at."
+
+The laugh was on Bud.
+
+"All right, kiddie," he laughed. "You're on. We'd be in a dickens of a
+fix if that ole cow hadn't left two eye holes when she died."
+
+So it was that Dick had made great progress in the rudiments of a
+cow-puncher's life, and it exactly suited him, but, in the meanwhile,
+Stella was teaching him to read, and telling him the story of the rise
+and grandeur of his own country, and of the lands that lay beyond the
+seas.
+
+So it was that Dick was unconsciously getting a better education than if
+he had gone to school, for he had a mind for the absorption of all sorts
+of knowledge like a sponge, and once a thing was told him he never
+forgot it.
+
+The morning of the count he had started onto the range with the other
+boys, but as there would be great confusion, and perhaps danger of a
+stampede, Ted sent him back to camp.
+
+"Run on back, Dick," Ted said kindly. "I'm afraid that pony of yours
+isn't quick enough to get out of the way if these dogies should take it
+into their heads to act ugly."
+
+Dick never thought of rebelling when Ted spoke, for he knew that Ted was
+boss, and that he knew what was good for him.
+
+"All right, Ted," he said. "Would it be any harm if I took a ride away
+from the camp?"
+
+"Of course not, Dick," answered Ted kindly. He felt a little sore at
+himself for sending the boy away, but he knew that it was for the best.
+There would be plenty of time and many occasions for Dick to run into
+danger when he grew up.
+
+Dick went back to camp, which was deserted save for Bill McCall, the
+cook, who was asleep under the chuck wagon, and Mrs. Graham, who was
+lying down in her tent.
+
+Dick buckled on his belt and holster, and, mounting his pony Spraddle,
+set out for a long ride across the prairie.
+
+In the boot of his saddle rested his little Remington, a present from
+Stella. He was going to look for an antelope, and he thought how proud
+Ted would be if he brought one back with him.
+
+He knew how hard it was to get close enough to an antelope to shoot it,
+but he had just enough gameness to think that he could get one if he
+came within range of it.
+
+Anyhow, there were coyotes and jack rabbits.
+
+He rode across the prairie at a smart gallop, occasionally changing his
+course to chase a jack rabbit, which generally disappeared over a rise
+in the ground like a streak of gray dust, and was seen no more.
+
+At noon he stopped for a few minutes to eat the biscuit and piece of
+bacon which he had taken from the rear of the chuck wagon before setting
+forth. He found a spring not far away, and, having given Spraddle a
+good, deep drink, and filling his small canteen, which was tied to the
+cantle of his saddle, he set forth again.
+
+It was about two o'clock when he came in sight of the first real game of
+the day. On the top of the rise ahead of him he saw an animal about the
+size of a dog. As he rode toward it, it raised its head and gave a long,
+low, mournful howl.
+
+"Coyote," exclaimed Dick to himself breathlessly. "I'll get that fellow,
+and take him back to camp. Won't Ted be surprised when he sees it?"
+
+He took his Remington out of the boot, slipped in the necessary
+cartridges to fill the magazine, and rode forward slowly and cautiously.
+
+The coyote watched him sharply, occasionally raising its head to utter
+its mournful cry. When Dick thought he had got within shooting distance,
+he stopped Spraddle, took a good, long aim at the coyote, and fired.
+
+The ball kicked up the dust several feet in advance of the coyote,
+which, with another howl, this time one of derision, as it seemed to
+Dick, turned and trotted away.
+
+"That was a bum shot," muttered Dick. "I'm glad Ted or Stella did not
+see it. Better luck next time."
+
+The coyote ran a short distance, then stopped and looked over its
+shoulder to see if Dick was following, and, seeing that he was, took up
+its lope again.
+
+It had got some distance from Dick, when, on the top of another rise,
+it stopped again, and Dick heard once more its luring cry.
+
+It seemed to be an invitation to follow him. Dick had not paid any
+attention to the direction in which he was going, and had kept no track
+of time.
+
+That he was following game, and that he intended to get it if it took
+all day, was all he thought of. Soon the coyote stopped again, and
+looked at Dick in a tantalizing sort of way, and again Dick approached
+it cautiously.
+
+When he thought he was within range, he raised his Remington, and,
+taking a long, deliberate aim, fired. Again he missed. But he had the
+satisfaction of seeing that the ball had struck the earth several feet
+nearer the coyote than the first.
+
+The coyote realized it, too, for he did not wait for another invitation,
+but started on his way in a hurry, with Dick riding pell-mell after him.
+
+Dick for the first time realized that the day was going when he noticed
+the long shadow cast by himself and the pony on the prairie sod. He had
+not the slightest idea how far he had come, and there crept into his
+mind a sort of dread.
+
+He pulled Spraddle down to a walk, and looked about him. Behind him
+there was no trace of the cow camp, nothing but the everlasting rise and
+fall of the prairie.
+
+But ahead was the ragged line of the blue mountains. These he knew to be
+the Wichita Mountains, for, although he had never seen them before, he
+had heard the boys talking about them in camp.
+
+Then he saw the coyote on a hill a little ways ahead, looking at him in
+the most aggravating way. The coyote's lips were curled back from his
+teeth in a contemptuous sort of a smile, it seemed to Dick, and as he
+started forward again the coyote threw up its head and actually laughed
+at him.
+
+That settled it with Dick. No coyote that ever trotted the plains could
+laugh at him, but as this thought came to him he felt the dread of being
+lost on the prairie, or even having to stay alone in this waste all
+night.
+
+Dick had heard the boys talk of the danger of being alone at night, for
+there were wolves and other animals that would daunt a man, to say
+nothing of a small boy.
+
+He thought he would follow the coyote only long enough to get another
+shot at him, and then retrace his way back to the camp. By putting
+Spraddle through his paces he ought to be able to reach it before dark.
+
+So he set forth again in the wake of the coyote, which was becoming more
+and more aggravating every minute. Suddenly the coyote disappeared
+altogether. It had done this before when it had gone down into the
+trough between two of the great, rolling swales of the prairie, but
+always it had come into sight again in a few minutes.
+
+This time, however, it did not, and Dick wondered why.
+
+In a few minutes he understood why, for he found himself at the edge of
+a coulee which had been washed deep by the storms of many winters.
+
+Dick looked up and down the coulee for the wolf, and saw a form, gray
+and lithe, slinking among the bowlders with which it was filled. Dick
+forced Spraddle down the steep bank of the coulee, and was soon at the
+bottom.
+
+Hastily he set after the coyote, but suddenly stopped, for a man stepped
+from behind a shoulder of rock and clay and caught his bridle.
+
+Spraddle stopped so quickly that Dick was almost unseated. But he soon
+recovered himself, and stared in amazement at the man who had thus
+stopped him.
+
+He was an Indian.
+
+Dick had often seen Indians in the towns through which the broncho boys
+had passed, and occasionally they had come into the camps they had
+established on the drive of the herd up from Texas.
+
+But this was the first time Dick had ever come in contact with an Indian
+when he was alone. For a moment his heart stopped beating, for he was
+afraid.
+
+"How?" grunted the Indian.
+
+It was all Dick could do to reply with a feeble, quavering "How?"
+
+Many times around the camp fire, with the boys all about, when Bud was
+telling one of his tales of Indians, Dick had thought what he would do
+if he ever came in contact with a real, live, sure-enough redskin, and
+always he had thought how brave he would be. But now that he had
+actually met one, he felt his nerve ooze away.
+
+However, the Indian was not aware of it, for Dick had a way of keeping
+his feelings to himself, and he seldom showed whether he was surprised
+or angry, although he never hesitated to let his friends know his
+pleasure at their kindness, or gratitude for what they did for him.
+
+He was looking at the Indian steadily, taking stock of him, and this is
+what he saw: A broad, dirty face, in which burned two small, narrow
+eyes. The cheek bones were prominent, and on each one was a spot of red
+paint. The long, black, coarse hair was braided with pieces of otter
+fur, and covered with an old cavalry cap, in which was stuck a crow's
+wing feather, and around his neck hung a small, round pocket mirror
+attached to a red string, by way of ornament.
+
+The Indian wore a dirty cotton shirt and a pair of brown overalls, and
+his feet were covered with green moccasins, decorated with small tubes
+of tin, which jingled every time he took a step.
+
+A belt and holster hung at his hip, and the handle of a Colt forty-four
+was within easy reach.
+
+"White papoose where go?" asked the Indian, showing a row of sharpened
+teeth.
+
+"Hunt coyote," replied Dick, in a voice that trembled.
+
+"Heap fool. No catch coyote," said the Indian, reaching over and lifting
+Dick's Remington from the saddle.
+
+He sighted it, turned it around in his hand, and then coolly slung it
+over his shoulder.
+
+"Here, give that to me," said Dick sturdily. With this act of theft all
+his courage came back to him. No dirty Indian should have the rifle
+Stella had given him.
+
+But the Indian only grinned.
+
+"Me heap brave," said the Indian. "Me Pokopokowo."
+
+He looked at Dick as if he expected the boy to be deeply impressed.
+
+"I don't care who you are. I want my rifle," cried Dick.
+
+"Papoose heap fool. Get off pony." The Indian was scowling now, and
+looked very ferocious, and once more Dick's courage oozed. The Indian
+did not seem to be a bit frightened.
+
+As Dick was slow in descending from the saddle, the Indian grasped him
+by the arm and jerked him to the ground.
+
+Dick was as angry as he ever got, but was sensible enough to know that
+he could not fight the Indian, and that all he could do was to escape as
+rapidly as possible.
+
+He turned and ran up the coulee.
+
+But he had not gone far when he was overtaken, and knocked flat with a
+cuff on the side of the head. As he rose slowly with his head ringing,
+Pokopokowo grasped him by the shoulder, and bound his hands behind him.
+
+In a moment he was back at the pony's side, and was thrown upon its
+back, but not in the saddle. This was occupied by the Indian, who
+directed it down the coulee, and in the direction of the mountains.
+
+Dick Fosdick was a prisoner.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+A MESSAGE FROM STELLA.
+
+
+Dick had some difficulty in keeping his seat on the pony's back, for he
+could not hold on to the cantle of the saddle, and Spraddle wabbled
+dreadfully, as he stumbled among the bowlders in the coulee.
+
+But before long they were out on the prairie again, and Dick observed
+that they were headed toward the mountains.
+
+They had several miles to go to reach the mountains, and it was just
+getting dusk when they entered upon a broad and beautiful valley, which,
+as it ran east and west, was flooded with the light from the setting
+sun.
+
+Here the Indian turned in the saddle and looked at Dick with a
+malevolent smile.
+
+"Turn white boy loose," he grunted.
+
+Dick twisted around, and the Indian untied the cord that bound his
+wrists.
+
+"White boy try to run away, I kill um," said the Indian, showing his
+teeth in a horrible look of ferocity that chilled Dick to the bone.
+
+"All right," he said; "I'll not try to run away again."
+
+"Kill um if do," growled the Indian, hissing, at the pony, which is the
+Indian way of making a pony go forward, and means the same as a white
+man's "Get up!"
+
+Dick was dreadfully hungry, but he said nothing, clinging to the cantle
+of the saddle with both hands, for the pony was now loping.
+
+They had gone up the valley for several miles, when suddenly the Indian
+turned aside down a dark and narrow defile, still at a lope.
+
+Even Dick realized the danger of this, for the floor of the defile was
+covered with large, loose stones, over which Spraddle was continually
+stumbling, for he had come a long way and was tired, besides the added
+weight of the Indian was more than he was accustomed to carry.
+
+It had grown very dark, and Dick could not see the pony's ears when he
+twisted around to look past the Indian.
+
+He knew that it was to be a moonlight night, but the moon was not up
+yet, and would not be for an hour or more. In fact, it was doubtful if
+the light of the moon would penetrate to the bottom of the defile until
+it was high in the heavens, so deep was the defile and so steep its
+walls.
+
+Dick had given up wondering and worrying, and had forced himself to be
+content with his situation, as he knew that he could not better it any.
+
+Suddenly he became aware that the Indian was asleep, for he was drooping
+in the saddle, and was breathing deeply and steadily.
+
+Now, thought Dick, was the time to escape, if any. He tried to slip from
+the pony's back, but in an instant the Indian was awake, and, reaching
+around, grasped Dick's wrist, twisting it until the boy gave a sharp cry
+of pain.
+
+The Indian slipped from the back of the pony, and again bound Dick's
+wrists behind him, and with a grunt climbed into the saddle and urged
+Spraddle on, slapping him across the face with the end of the rein.
+
+"Don't you do that," cried Dick, who never abused Spraddle himself, and
+couldn't stand it to see any one else, particularly a dirty Indian, beat
+his pet.
+
+"White boy shut up, or Pokopokowo beat him plenty," growled the Indian.
+
+"If you dare beat me, Ted Strong will fix you when he gets you," said
+Dick hotly.
+
+But the Indian only laughed, and continued to beat poor Spraddle over
+the face, to the pain and anger of Dick, who, however, realized that he
+was absolutely helpless.
+
+But Pokopokowo was soon to be paid for his cruelty, and by poor Spraddle
+himself.
+
+Spraddle, stung by the blows, was stumbling along at a good pace over
+the bowlders that lay in his way, with the Indian urging him faster all
+the time.
+
+Suddenly there was a great heave. Spraddle went down, almost turning a
+somersault, as his tired feet struck a larger bowlder than he had
+encountered before.
+
+The Indian, who was dozing again, shot over his head as if from a
+catapult, and Dick went sprawling forward over the saddle onto the neck
+of the pony.
+
+Fortunately, the pony righted itself in time to save Dick from a hard
+fall, and he stayed on Spraddle's back, talking to him gently.
+
+At the sound of Dick's voice the pony became quiet, and Dick half
+sprawled, half fell to the ground. The boy was in a pretty bad fix, for
+the Indian had tied his hands securely. He thought of ways by which he
+might cut the cord, but it seemed hopeless. He had heard somewhere of
+bound men releasing themselves by wearing their bonds asunder against
+the rough edge of a rock, and determined to try it for himself.
+
+If he could only get his hands free, he might escape yet. Backing up to
+the wall of the cañon, he felt with his hands for a rock, and soon knew
+that he was against one. As he sawed his hands back and forth, he was
+listening for some sound from the Indian, but heard none.
+
+Could it be that the fall had killed Pokopokowo?
+
+To his joy, he felt the cord part, and his hands were free. At that
+moment there came a flood of light into the defile, for the moon had
+risen overhead.
+
+Lying on the floor of the defile, lay the Indian, with a deep gash
+across his forehead, where it had struck a sharp rock. His ugly face was
+covered with blood, making it additionally hideous.
+
+By the side of the Indian lay Dick's precious rifle, and he stooped to
+pick it up. As he did so, something glistened beside it, and Dick picked
+it up.
+
+It was the little, round mirror that the Indian had worn around his
+neck. Dick pocketed it for proof of his adventure when he should again
+reach camp, and, picking up his rifle, climbed upon Spraddle's back,
+turned him around, and drove down the defile.
+
+When he reached the open valley it was as bright as day, and under his
+coaxing and kind words the tired little pony, relieved of the Indian's
+weight, picked up his feet and set forth at a brisk pace into the west,
+in which direction Dick knew the cow camp lay.
+
+It was almost daylight when Bill McCall, the cook, roused from his
+blankets to begin the preparations for breakfast. He leaped to his feet
+and listened.
+
+Not far away he heard the sound of the pony's footsteps approaching.
+Bill was an old cow-puncher, and he knew instantly that the pony was
+tired, and that he was under saddle, and also that the saddle was
+occupied.
+
+The footsteps came nearer, and just as they were close to the camp
+daylight came on with a rush, as it does on the plains, and Bill gave a
+great shout of joy which brought every puncher in camp scrambling out of
+his blankets, for there rode in a very tired little boy on a very tired
+little, pony.
+
+The boy was pale and tired from hunger and his long hours in the saddle,
+and it was all the pony could do to stagger in.
+
+"It's little Dick," shouted Bud. "Well, jumpin' sand hills, whar
+you-all been all night? Takin' a leetle pleasure pasear?"
+
+"Oh, Bud, I'm so tired and hungry," said Dick, as Bud lifted him from
+the saddle.
+
+"Here you, Bill, git busy in a hurry. This kid ain't hed nothin' ter eat
+in a week. He's 'most starved. Bile yer coffee double-quick, an' git up
+a mess o' bacon an' flapjacks pretty dern pronto, if yer don't want me
+ter git inter yer wool."
+
+Bud was rubbing the cold and chafed wrists of the boy beside the fire,
+which one of the boys had replenished. The boys surrounded little Dick
+with many inquiries, but Bud shooed them away.
+
+"Don't yer answer a bloomin' question until yer gits yer system packed
+with cooky's best grub. I reckon, now, yer could eat erbout eighteen o'
+them twelve-inch flapjacks what Bill makes, an' drink somethin' like a
+gallon o' ther fust coffee what comes out o' ther pot."
+
+Little Dick smiled, as he watched with glistening eyes the rapid
+movements of Bill McCall as he hustled over his fire, the air redolent
+with the odors of coffee and bacon and griddle cakes, so that his mouth
+fairly watered.
+
+When Bill shouted breakfast, Ted and Bud sat Dick down and loaded his
+plate with good things, which he caused to disappear in a hurry.
+
+But after a while he was stuffed like a Christmas turkey, and put his
+tin plate away with a sigh, and absolutely cleaned.
+
+"Now," said Ted, when he saw this good sign, "where have you been all
+day and all night? We've been scared about you. Thought we had lost you,
+too."
+
+Dick went ahead with his story from the very beginning, and told of the
+downfall of Pokopokowo, and his escape, and of his all-night ride into
+the west, to accidentally stumble, at daylight, into camp.
+
+The boys listened in amazement to this record of courage on the part of
+its youngest member, and some seemed to doubt the Indian part of it.
+
+"Sho, yer dreamin', kid," said Sol Flatbush, the cow-puncher. "Thar
+ain't no Injuns like that in this yere part o' ther country. Why, an
+Injun wouldn't dare carry off a kid like that."
+
+"You don't believe it, eh?" exclaimed Dick hotly.
+
+"I believe yer," said Bud soothingly, for the boy was very nervous from
+being up all night and his hard ride, which would have taxed the
+energies of a grown man. "Don't yer mind what thet ole pelican says. He
+ain't got no more sense than a last year's bird's nest, nohow."
+
+"The Indian had this around his neck," said Dick, "and when he fell it
+came loose from his neck, and I picked it up, for I thought some one
+might think I wasn't telling the truth. Now, I'm tired, and I can't keep
+my eyes open."
+
+His head began to nod, and his eyes closed.
+
+Bud picked him up and carried him to a pair of blankets which had been
+spread on the shady side of Mrs. Graham's tent, and laid him down and
+left him dead to the world.
+
+Dick had placed the little, round looking-glass in Ted's hand.
+
+As he took it, Ted uttered an exclamation.
+
+"By Jove," he exclaimed, "I believe this is the little glass Stella used
+to carry in her pocket. Why, what is this?"
+
+Ted was holding the little mirror up to the sky, apparently in an
+endeavor to look through it.
+
+"What is it?" asked Bud, approaching the fire.
+
+"Dick has brought back Stella's little pocket mirror," said Ted. "I'd
+know it anywhere. But the back has been torn off it."
+
+"Tooken off ther neck o' an Injun?" said Bud, dropping his usual jolly
+manner. "I thought yer said thar wa'n't no bad Injuns eround yere, Sol
+Flatbush. What d'yer make o' that?"
+
+Sol Flatbush got a little pale.
+
+"Thar ain't none," he said. "All ther Injuns on the reservation is
+peaceable. They knows they couldn't do no monkey business with all them
+sojers at Fort Sill."
+
+"Yet here's a kid run off with by an Injun, and he brings back a pocket
+mirror what belonged to Stella Fosdick. Sol Flatbush, ye've got ter give
+a better defense o' ther Injuns than that."
+
+"What hev I got ter do with ther Injuns?" asked Flatbush defiantly.
+
+"Search me. But ye've made a wrong diagnosis, an' I don't like yer brand
+o' talk none. I think myself thet yer too friendly ter ther redskins."
+
+"What d'ye mean?" cried Flatbush, springing to his feet.
+
+"I mean thet I don't trust yer none. I think ye're a skunk, an' I don't
+like ter see yer face eround this yere camp. How much do this outfit owe
+yer?"
+
+"Three months' wage," answered the cow-puncher sourly.
+
+Bud went down into his leather pouch and extracted a roll of bills, and
+skinned off several.
+
+"Thar it is. Skidoo! An' don't try ter mingle with this outfit none
+hereafter. Thar'll be a new foreman o' ther night herd what ain't got so
+many friends in this yere locality."
+
+"What d'yer mean by that?" Flatbush's hand sprang to his side.
+
+But Bud was quicker, and in the flash of an eye had the muzzle of his
+six-shooter under the nose of the night foreman, who shrank from it.
+
+"I mean thet yer a crook, an' I'll give yer jest three minutes ter rope
+yer hoss an' git."
+
+Flatbush turned and hurried to the remuda, caught and saddled his horse,
+and rode out of camp.
+
+"I've had my eye on that maverick fer quite some time," said Bud,
+turning to the boys after he had watched Flatbush fade into the
+distance. "I've suspected him o' turnin' off our cattle every night. I
+haven't caught him at it, or thar wouldn't've been no necessity o'
+chasin' him out. He'd've gone feet foremost."
+
+"What do you think of it, Bud?" asked Ted, handing the little mirror
+over to the golden-haired puncher.
+
+Bud took it in his hand, and looked at it a long time.
+
+"It shore is Stella's," he said. "I reckernize it by this leetle dent on
+ther side o' it."
+
+He was holding it in the palm of his hand, looking down at it intently.
+
+"Hello, what's this?" Bud held the mirror against the sleeve of his blue
+shirt.
+
+"Pipin' pelicans," he muttered, "if thar ain't some kind o' a pitcher on
+it."
+
+Ted went to his side and looked at the mirror.
+
+"I believe you're right," he said. "Let me look at it."
+
+"What do you make of it?" asked Bud.
+
+All the boys crowded around, watching Ted eagerly.
+
+"This is evidently intended for the picture of a stone wall," said Ted,
+"and that wavy line behind it is meant for mountains."
+
+"What's that?" asked Bud, pointing to the picture.
+
+"I guess it is meant for a hole in the stone wall," said Ted.
+
+"Wow!" said Bud. "That's as easy as livin' on a farm. Don't yer see? It
+is a message from the Hole in the Wall."
+
+"By Jove, you're right. The Hole in the Wall in the Wichita Mountains."
+
+"What is that right below it?"
+
+"It looks like a star. It is a star."
+
+"It is Stella's signature," said Ben. "Stella is the Latin for star.
+Don't you see, she has sent this message out from the Hole in the Wall,
+where she is a prisoner? It's as plain as day to me."
+
+"You're right," shouted Ted. "Into your saddles, boys; we're off to the
+Hole in the Wall at once."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+"HOLE IN THE WALL."
+
+
+"Kit, you will stay and take care of the herd," said Ted, just before
+the boys galloped off.
+
+"All right, but I'd mighty well like to go with you," said Kit, who,
+although he was eager to be in the fight that he knew would come off if
+Ted found that Shan Rhue had anything to do with the abduction of
+Stella, was not one to get disgruntled.
+
+Ted would have been well pleased to have Kit with him, but Kit's arm was
+not yet well enough to risk in a possible rough-and-tumble adventure.
+
+"Say, Ted," Kit called after the leader of the broncho boys.
+
+"What?" asked Ted, riding back.
+
+"Don't you think you better take Stella's pony, Magpie, along with you?
+She'll have to have something to ride coming back."
+
+He did not say "if you find her," for he knew that if she was anywhere
+in the Wichita Mountains Ted would find her.
+
+"Glad you spoke of it," said Ted.
+
+It did not take long to rope the magpie pony and throw Stella's saddle
+on it.
+
+Now they were off into the northeast, where the Wichita Mountains lay.
+None of them knew just where the Hole in the Wall was, but Ted felt
+confident of finding it if there was such a place.
+
+They rode so hard, only stopping at noon to water the ponies, that early
+in the afternoon they entered the mountains.
+
+As they were going up the valley they saw the flying figure of a man on
+horseback coming toward them.
+
+As he approached, they saw that he was a cavalryman.
+
+"Hello, what's up?" said Bud. "I never see a sojer goin' so fast, except
+there was somethin' doin'."
+
+A few minutes later the soldier rode up to them.
+
+He proved to be a sergeant of cavalry.
+
+"Where are you going?" he asked, pulling his horse to its haunches.
+
+"What's that ter you?" asked Bud jovially.
+
+"Just this: The Indians are threatening to rise, perhaps to-night,
+perhaps not until to-morrow. But when they do, this will be no place for
+white men."
+
+"Where is the place called the Hole in the Wall?" asked Ted.
+
+"Do you want to go there, or do you want to avoid it?" asked the
+sergeant.
+
+"We want to go there as soon as we can."
+
+"I'd advise you to keep away until the troops get there and clean things
+up."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"That is where the dissatisfied Indians are camped. I do not know it
+officially, but I understand that Flatnose and Moonface, the two chiefs,
+are there now, and that the orders from Washington are to send us in to
+drive them out."
+
+"When is this to take place?"
+
+"The Indians have made no open declaration of war as yet, but it is
+looked for at any time."
+
+"How will it be announced?"
+
+"By the signal fires on the hills. A detachment of our men picked up
+early this morning a wounded Indian, named Pokopokowo. He was wounded,
+and was taken to the post surgeon to be cared for. He has just confessed
+that it is the intention of the Indians to rise and kill all the white
+settlers they can lay their hands on. I am on my way to send out the
+alarm."
+
+"And you say the Indians are camped at the Hole in the Wall?"
+
+"Yes, the detachment sent out early this morning were on a scouting
+expedition when they picked up Pokopokowo."
+
+"Where is this Hole in the Wall, and how do you get there?"
+
+"You are bound to go there? I would advise you not to."
+
+"We must go. A young lady belonging to our party has been captured and
+taken there. We did not know there were any Indians there, but only
+white outlaws."
+
+"That is different. I suppose you must go. But why don't you wait and go
+in with the troops? The Hole in the Wall is the rendezvous for all the
+white outlaws in this part of the country, and they are believed to be
+in league with the Indians, and will use the uprising of the Indians as
+a cover under which to run off all the stock in the country."
+
+"There is no use of our waiting for the troops when the young lady is in
+there, we don't know under what indignities. The troops put off
+attacking the Indians as long as they can for the sake of policy. We are
+all deputy United States marshals, and we get quicker action. Tell us
+where the Hole in the Wall is, and we will go in and get our own. The
+troops can do what they please later."
+
+"Weil, pardner, you talk straight, and you feel about the young lady as
+I would if she was a friend of mine. But they are a bad bunch in there."
+
+"I appreciate your warning, but it will not stop us."
+
+"All right; go ahead, and good luck to you. About a mile farther on you
+will come to a narrow defile leading to the north, cutting the range.
+That leads into a broad valley, at the west end of which is the place
+called the Hole in the Wall. It is practically impregnable. It is
+entered by a narrow passage which one man could hold against an army.
+It can be approached at night by riding down the valley, dismounting,
+and crawling over the mountain until you are above the Hole in the Wall,
+when every man can be wiped out by a few rifles."
+
+"Thanks, sergeant. We will take to the hills."
+
+With mutual good wishes, they parted, and the boys were soon riding in
+single file up the defile.
+
+In the valley they secreted themselves and their horses, while Ted and
+Bud went forward to reconnoiter. It was rapidly growing dark in the
+mountains as Ted and Bud crawled along the mountain paths toward the end
+of the valley.
+
+Suddenly Ted placed his hand on Bud's arm.
+
+"Some one right ahead of us," he whispered.
+
+"Sentinel, I reckon," answered Bud.
+
+Ted nodded: "You stay here. I'm going forward. I'll be back soon."
+
+Ted glided away into the gloom. Presently Bud heard a muffled cry. Then
+all was still again.
+
+He waited a few minutes, and was about to go forward, when he heard a
+slight rustle beside him, and there stood Ted.
+
+"It was a guard," he said. "I jumped him, and gagged him, but he gave me
+a pretty good fight. I've rolled him away where his pals won't find him.
+I guess we can go on now, but we must go slowly and quietly. I don't
+know how many more of them are about."
+
+"Get a line on where the hole is?"
+
+"Yes, we're on the right track. It is ahead of us."
+
+On they went, and, having proceeded about half a mile, they suddenly
+became aware of the neighing of horses and the voices of men, which
+seemed to come from beneath them, and it was not long before they saw a
+glare of light against the rocks not far ahead.
+
+They went more cautiously now, crawling forward on their hands and
+knees. Ted, in advance, soon threw up his hand and lay flat on the
+rocks, and Bud crawled to his side.
+
+They found themselves looking down into a circular little valley, in
+reality a hole in the wall of the mountain.
+
+Several camp fires were burning here and there, and about fifty Indians
+and white men were lounging about.
+
+Near the rear wall was a small tent, before which sat a fat old squaw.
+
+As Ted was looking, the flap of the tent was pushed aside, and Ted
+clutched Bud's arm, for Stella had come forth, and stood looking up at
+the sky.
+
+"By Jove, if we could only attract her attention," muttered Ted.
+
+"It would help her a lot if she knew we were so close to her," said Bud.
+
+The glare from the fires flaring upward fell full upon their faces, and
+they knew that if she looked in their direction she would not fail to
+see them.
+
+They saw her cast her eyes all around the sky, and in their direction.
+Ted dared not make a noise, but he nodded his head several times so that
+she would know who it was, should she chance to see him.
+
+Evidently she did not, for she turned away, and again her eyes swung
+around in the circle with her back to them.
+
+"I've a mind to throw somethin' down at her, and attract her attention
+ter us," said Bud.
+
+"And have every one of those cutthroats get on to us. Don't you do it,"
+said Ted.
+
+In a moment Stella looked up again, and this time they saw her start,
+then stare fixedly at them. Ted nodded his head again, and this time she
+made a gesture that told them that she had seen them, and knew that they
+were there.
+
+"Duck yer head quick," said Bud, rapidly getting out of sight himself.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Ted.
+
+"I saw Shan Rhue walking toward Stella."
+
+"But she saw us, just before she ducked into her tent. Now it's up to us
+to get her out of there."
+
+"You bet. But it will be a big job to get in there."
+
+"I've got a plan that ought to work out."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"You go back and get the boys. Put Ben and Clay down in the valley to
+hold the entrance to the Hole in the Wall. Bring the rest up here.
+Hurry! I'll stay here on guard. If any man attempts to touch Stella,
+I'll pot him from here. Bring your lariat with you."
+
+Bud hurried away as he was bid, and in the course of half an hour,
+during which Ted, looking over the edge of the Hole, saw the men
+preparing to retire for the night, he returned with seven of the boys.
+
+"Now, fellows," said Ted, "I'm going down into the hole to send Stella
+up on the rope."
+
+"Jeering jackals!" exclaimed Bud. "Don't you ever do that. It means sure
+death ter you, an' p'r'aps ter Stella, too."
+
+"No, I don't think so. At any rate, I'm going to take a chance. It will
+be up to you fellows to keep the bunch down there busy while I'm at
+work. Three of you will stay on this side of the hole, and four on the
+other. If you do your firing right, you will keep those fellows jumping
+from side to side so fast that they won't have any time for me."
+
+"I see yer scheme, but I wouldn't like ter undertake it myself."
+
+"Did you bring the rope?"
+
+"Here it is," said Bud, unwinding it from around his waist.
+
+Ted took it from him while the boys distributed themselves in their
+firing positions as he had directed.
+
+Ted looped the rope under his arms. "You'll lower me down, Bud," he
+said. "Maybe I'll come up hand over hand if I can, and you will pull
+away when I give the rope two jerks."
+
+He took another look over the edge. All the men were rolled up in their
+blankets asleep, except an old Indian who sat crouched over the fire.
+
+Ted carefully lowered himself over the edge for the descent.
+
+Down he went slowly and quietly, and soon his feet touched the ground
+just back of Stella's tent.
+
+"Hiss-t!" He gave a low, sibilant warning of his presence, and in a
+moment the corner of the tent moved aside, and he saw Stella's bright
+eyes looking into his. He motioned her to come out, and the flap was
+gently lowered again.
+
+In a few moments, which seemed hours, the flap was raised again, and
+Stella crawled forth.
+
+"Oh, Ted," she whispered, pressing his hand. He held up a warning finger
+as he rapidly tied the rope beneath her arms.
+
+"Bud will pull you up. Good luck," he whispered.
+
+"Are you going to stay down here?" she whispered back.
+
+"Yes, I must. Hurry!" He gave the rope two jerks, and it at once began
+to tighten, and Stella's feet left the ground as she slowly ascended
+skyward.
+
+Ted, concealed against the wall back of the tent, saw her go up and up.
+She was more than halfway to the top when an old Indian woman crawled
+out of the tent, and, casting her eyes aloft, saw Stella.
+
+A sudden scream rang through the hole. It was the Indian's warning. The
+rope began to go faster, and before the sleepy men in the hole had been
+able to sit up and rub their eyes, Ted saw Stella reach the top and
+disappear over its edge.
+
+But the old Indian woman had run among the men crying out something in
+her native tongue. Evidently she was telling of the escape of Stella,
+for in an instant all sleep vanished and the place was full of men
+running about or staring up at the edge of the wall over which Stella
+had gone.
+
+Then Shan Rhue came forth, swearing horribly. He caught the old squaw by
+the arm and threw her down.
+
+"So you let the white squaw go, did you?" he asked. "And how much was
+you paid for it?" But the poor old wretch only shrank closer to the
+ground and moaned her protests that she had nothing to do with the
+escape of the white squaw.
+
+Shan Rhue strode toward the tent, behind which Ted was crouching with
+his hand on his revolver.
+
+Shan Rhue threw open the front of the tent and looked within. Then he
+straightened up, and caught a glimpse of Ted, whom he did not at first
+recognize in the gloom.
+
+He reached in his powerful right arm to pull the intruder out, and
+looked into the muzzle of Ted's six-shooter, behind which he now saw
+Ted's smiling face.
+
+At that he straightened up with a loud laugh that filled the Hole in the
+Wall and reverberated from side to side.
+
+"Well, of all the luck," he shouted. "This has worked out just as I
+expected. I knew that if I got ther gal in yere that you'd be after her,
+an' here you are. Well, my bucko, you remember what I said about getting
+even with you. Now is the time. You've come to the end."
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said Ted coolly. "I'm a long ways from a dead one
+yet. Be careful what you do. This six-shooter of mine is mighty
+sensitive on the trigger."
+
+He heard a soft, swishing noise behind him, and knew that Bud was
+lowering the rope again. As he thrust his gun forward into the face of
+Shan Rhue, the bully backed away a few feet.
+
+At that moment the rope swung down in front of his face, and, hastily
+putting his revolver into his pocket, Ted grasped it and went sailing up
+into the air hand over hand, assisted by Bud and Carl, who were pulling
+on the rope for all they were worth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+THE ALTERED BRAND.
+
+
+As Ted went up into the air, Shan Rhue shouted a command, and the white
+men in the Hole in the Wall ran to him.
+
+"That boy must not get to the top," he shouted. "I want him."
+
+"What will we do?" asked one of them.
+
+"Here, Sol Flatbush, you are the best shot of us all. See if you can't
+bring him down. But don't shoot him. I need him for other things. Shoot
+the rope in two."
+
+This was easier said than done, for the rope was so high that it was
+almost out of the light cast by the fires.
+
+Flatbush was, indeed, a splendid shot, and he fired twice at the rope
+with his revolver, but missed each time on account of the uncertain
+light and the swaying motion of the rope.
+
+"Give me my rifle," he called, and one of the men fetched it for him.
+
+Ted was within fifteen feet of the top when Flatbush, leaning against
+the opposite wall, took deliberate aim and fired.
+
+At the second shot Ted, who was aware that some one was trying to cut
+the rope, felt it vibrate suddenly beneath his hand.
+
+Before the last thread was severed he reached up and began to climb,
+hand over hand. In a few seconds he was at the top, and the boys were
+helping him over the edge.
+
+For a moment or two he could say nothing; he could only listen to the
+yells of rage and disappointment below. Now he was surrounded by his
+friends, and Stella was free. Away on a mountain peak a light flared
+up.
+
+"What does that mean?" asked Stella, pointing to it.
+
+"It is the signal that the Indians have gone on the warpath," said Ted.
+"The sergeant was right. It is up to us now to do stunts."
+
+"In what way?" asked Stella.
+
+"We must keep those Indians and renegades confined in the Hole in the
+Wall. If we can keep them there until the arrival of the troops we can
+end the uprising without shedding a drop of blood. See, there is another
+fire!"
+
+Ted pointed to a blaze upon another peak, and this was followed by
+others until there was a ring of fires on the crests of the mountains
+for miles around.
+
+"It is up to us to do a good thing here," he said. "Bud, take two or
+three of the boys and go to Ben's assistance. Hold the mouth to the
+entrance to the hole at all hazards. From what the sergeant said I have
+no doubt but the troops will be here at least by daylight. We will keep
+them busy down there from this place."
+
+Bud hurried away with two of the boys, and Ted and the others composed
+themselves to await developments. In the meantime, Stella told Ted the
+details of her capture. Since she had been a prisoner she had been well
+treated, so far as most of the men were concerned, although Shan Rhue
+had insisted on seeing her every day, and had told her that he was going
+to take her away to the North and make her marry him. She had defied
+him, and had scorned him so scathingly that he had put many petty
+persecutions on her, and had deprived her of her liberty for revenge.
+
+"How did you happen to find me?" asked Stella, after she told all that
+had happened to her.
+
+"Little Dick was captured by an Indian, and while he was being brought
+here the pony Spraddle stumbled and threw him. A small looking-glass
+which was slung around his neck fell off, and Dick picked it up and
+brought it to camp."
+
+"The Indian was Pokopokowo," said Stella.
+
+"That was his name."
+
+"I tried in every way to get a message out to you, but it seemed
+impossible. Then I hit upon the mirror, ripped the back off it, and made
+my cryptogram on it with a pin. I let Pokopokowo see it, and when he saw
+that there was a picture on it, and I told him it was good medicine, he
+wanted it. Of course, I let him take it, hoping that it would be taken
+outside, and that you would chance to see it, and so learn where I was."
+
+"It was a very clever idea, and I doubt but for the mirror we should
+have been able to get here in time. It was little Dick who saved you."
+
+"Yes, little Dick and big Ted. Ted, you are wonderful!"
+
+Below, in the hole, there were signs of activity. Men were rushing here
+and there, saddling horses, packing mules, filling their cartridge
+belts, and getting ready for some sort of action.
+
+"They have seen the war fires on the hills," said Ted, "and are getting
+ready for their raid upon the settlers. Evidently they do not know that
+the gate to the outside is guarded, and they think that we are gone,
+having succeeded in getting you."
+
+Having finished their preparations for departure, an old Indian rode
+forth on a pony decorated with eagle feathers.
+
+"That is old Flatnose, the head chief," said Ted.
+
+Flatnose was painted for war, and as he rode toward the passage from the
+Hole in the Wall he swung his rifle above his head and shouted a
+guttural command, at which a war whoop, shrill and terrifying, went up
+from the Indians, followed by a hoarse shout from the white renegades.
+
+"Now, we'll see some fun," whispered Ted to Stella, who was lying on the
+crest of the hole beside him, watching the proceedings below. "I guess
+Bud has got there by this time, and is ready to protect the opening out
+to the valley."
+
+Only a few minutes had passed before there came to their ears a volley
+of rifle shots, followed by yells of fear, and the whites and Indians
+came rushing back into the hole, scrambling and falling over one another
+in confusion.
+
+"I thought so," chuckled Ted. "They are trapped and they know it. They
+can defend the hole against all comers by that passage, but it didn't
+seem to occur to them that they might be made prisoners by the same
+means."
+
+The inmates of the hole were in the confusion of terror, but at last
+Flatnose and his son, Moonface, succeeded in pacifying them, and a
+consultation was under way.
+
+"Where is Shan Rhue?" asked Stella. "I haven't seen him for some time."
+
+"That's so," answered Ted. "I don't see him." He scanned the hole
+carefully, but Shan Rhue was not there.
+
+"Is there any secret passage by which he might escape?" asked Ted.
+
+"Do you see that little shelter of canvas over against the wall?" said
+Stella.
+
+Ted nodded.
+
+"I believe there is a way out there known only to Shan Rhue. That is
+where he slept," she continued.
+
+"Then he has escaped by it. Sol Flatbush is not in evidence, either.
+I'll bet a cooky they've skipped."
+
+It was getting light in the east, and the Indians rode once more into
+the passage, firing their rifles. Then they charged.
+
+But soon they came rushing back; the boys at the entrance had again
+repulsed them.
+
+From far away came the soft but clear call of a bugle.
+
+"The troops!" cried Ted, springing to his feet. "The cavalry is coming
+from Fort Sill. This thing will soon be over now."
+
+He and Stella went to the edge of the cliff overlooking the valley, and
+far away saw a dark mass, in the midst of which they caught the flash of
+the rising sun on polished swords and carbines, and a gleam of color
+from the flag that fluttered in the fresh morning breeze.
+
+The Indians in the hole had heard the bugle also, and now there was
+confusion indescribable. On came the troops, and Ted and Stella went
+down to meet them.
+
+Captain Hendry was in command, and it did not take him long to get in
+possession of the facts.
+
+"So you've got them bottled up, eh?" he said to Ted.
+
+"Yes; all you have to do is to make them surrender," answered Ted.
+
+"Which I don't think will be such an easy thing."
+
+"I don't think you'll have any trouble about it. Come with me, and bring
+a firing squad of your men."
+
+The captain gave the order, and followed Ted to where he could look down
+into the hole.
+
+Then the captain laughed. "You have done better than I expected," he
+said.
+
+Raising his voice, Captain Hendry shouted:
+
+"Flatnose, you know me. This is Captain Hendry. I have got you in that
+hole like a rat in a trap. If you are wise, you will throw down your
+arms and surrender. I have my men here with me, and if you do not
+surrender, we will have to shoot you to death one by one. Will you
+surrender?"
+
+The old chief looked up and saw the captain leaning over the edge above.
+For several minutes he stared upward, then he threw his rifle to the
+ground and gave a hoarse command, and his followers threw their arms
+upon that of their leader.
+
+One of the troopers ran down into the valley with a command, while those
+above lay flat on the edge with their carbines in a ring pointed at the
+throng below.
+
+In a few minutes the bugle sounded again, and the troops were seen
+marching into the hole. The war was at an end without a fatal shot
+having been fired.
+
+As Captain Hendry marched away with his prisoners, he thanked Ted for
+the great service which he had done the government by holding the
+Indians and renegades until the arrival of the troops.
+
+"Well, that's over," said Ted, as the last of them faded out of sight at
+the end of the valley. "But _our_ work is just begun. We've got to find
+those five hundred head of stolen Circle S cattle."
+
+"I suggest that we take a look behind that shelter of Shan Rhue's, and
+see if there is a passage leading from it," said Stella.
+
+"Good idea," said Ted, and they climbed down into the valley and entered
+the Hole in the Wall, where the other boys were waiting for them.
+
+Ted went at once to the shelter, which was only a piece of canvas which
+had been at one time a wagon cover, and tore it away.
+
+There was revealed a hole in the rock wall, and beside it a small mound
+of earth.
+
+Evidently the hole had been known to the white desperadoes who had used
+the hole as a hiding place for many years, and that it had been their
+habit to conceal it by means of a stopper of earth. This Shan and Sol
+had removed, and had made their escape while the Indians and renegades
+were preparing for their raid on the settlements.
+
+Ted at once showed it to the other boys, and it was decided to follow
+the passage and find out what was at the other end.
+
+The hole was so small that Ted was compelled to enter it on his hands
+and knees. Bud followed him, and then came Stella. Ben remained with
+Carl to guard the entrance in case any of the white renegades should
+return.
+
+A short distance in, the passage, or tunnel, became larger, and soon
+opened out into a natural cave, so that they were able to assume an
+upright position.
+
+Ted lighted his pocket electric searchlight and led the way. They walked
+for some distance when they saw a gleam of light ahead, and a few
+minutes later walked out of the cave into another valley, larger than
+that which they had just left.
+
+"Great Scott! Look at that," said Ted, pointing to where a large herd of
+cattle was grazing.
+
+"What?" asked Stella, who could see nothing unusual in a bunch of cattle
+grazing in the valley.
+
+"I believe they're ours."
+
+Ted strode toward the cattle, which seemed to become uneasy at seeing a
+man on foot, which range cattle will not tolerate.
+
+"Don't go any closer, Ted," said Stella. "Wait until Bud goes back after
+the horses."
+
+"I just want to get a glimpse of the brand. By Jove, here's our lost
+Circle S brand, I believe. But look at it. It has been altered."
+
+"How?"
+
+"See those two perpendicular lines drawn through the S, making the brand
+Circle Dollar-mark. That's a most ingenious thing. It has been done with
+a running iron. The fellow who stole our cattle has just changed it by
+running a curved hot iron through the S."
+
+"Yer shore right," said Bud. "That Circle Dollar brand hez been
+registered somewhere. It's up to us ter find out who registered it, an'
+we've got ther thief. I'll skip out fer ther hosses an' ther boys. I
+reckon we kin git in here by ridin' across ther backbone o' ther hills."
+
+"All right, get back as soon as you can, and we'll wait for you in the
+cave."
+
+Bud and the boys were back within half an hour, having found a pass into
+the valley through the hills which inclosed it.
+
+"It's as plain as the face of the sun to me," said Ted, when they were
+mounted and were riding toward the cattle. "Shan Rhue would have had
+those cattle over the border in a day or two, had he not been so unwise
+as to have abducted Stella. It's up to us now to get that bunch back to
+the herd."
+
+It did not take the boys long to get the bunch together, and Ted and
+Stella rode out to the front of it to point it down the valley, while
+the other boys started back to the rear to drive up.
+
+Suddenly they heard yells in the rear, accompanied by pistol shots and
+the cracking of quirts. In an instant the herd was up with distended
+eyeballs and lifted tails. The poison of fear was in them.
+
+Looking back, Ted saw several men riding toward the herd at a terrific
+pace. At the head of the band rode Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush.
+
+Then a remarkable thing happened: Every man of them produced a red
+blanket. They dashed among the cattle waving the blankets in the faces
+of the now terrified cattle.
+
+"Look out for trouble," shouted Ted, for he saw at once the intention of
+Shan Rhue. It was to stampede the herd.
+
+The effort was immediately successful, for the terrified animals, with
+a deafening roar that expressed abject fear, started forward on a
+gallop, with a front as resistless as the prow of a battleship.
+
+Stella was on the side of the herd opposite Ted.
+
+She heard his warning cry, and then looked back at the herd. If she
+stayed where she was, there was no escape from death, for by her side
+was the sheer wall of the valley. There was only one way to safety, to
+ride across to the side of Ted.
+
+She gave one look, then started.
+
+Stella rode quartering the path of the stampede, and would have made it
+in safety had it not been for a prairie-dog hole, into which her pony's
+foot went. Magpie went down. The thundering host of frantic cattle was
+upon her when she felt herself caught in mid-air.
+
+The thought of death was still ringing in her head, and everything swam
+before her eyes.
+
+"You're all right! Stick close!" It was the reassuring voice of Ted,
+who, at the imminent risk of his own life, had ridden out and plucked
+her from the jaws of death.
+
+Behind them, as Sultan, straining every nerve and muscle to carry them
+to safety, galloped ahead of the cattle, the boys rode into the ruck,
+beating the brutes with their quirts in an endeavor to stop them.
+
+But they went a mile before they began to slow down, and Ted was able to
+deflect the course of Sultan, who was beginning to tire from the double
+burden and the terrific pace.
+
+But at last the steers calmed down, and permitted themselves to be
+driven quietly to where the rest of the herd were grazing.
+
+As soon as Ted had restored the stolen cattle, he and Bud started back
+into the valley in search of Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush, but, although
+they searched everywhere, the renegades could not be found.
+
+In the cave through which they had come from the Hole in the Wall they
+found a running branding iron, and fastened to the wall the following
+notice:
+
+     "To TED STRONG AND OTHERS: You win this time, but there will be
+     others, and I am a lucky man in the end. You can't beat me.
+
+     "S. R."
+
+Later they discovered that Shan Rhue had recently registered in Colorado
+the Circle Dollar brand, and evidently it was his purpose to steal
+nearly all of the Circle S herd.
+
+But although he escaped with his lieutenant, Sol Flatbush, the men of
+his band, who had been captured by the soldiers, were convicted and sent
+to prison for long terms, after they had confessed that Shan Rhue's
+organization had made a business of rustling cattle all through the
+Southwest for many years.
+
+Ted received several letters from the authorities in Washington
+commending his services in averting an uprising of the Indians, and the
+capture of the white renegades, but while this was gratifying, he felt
+disappointed that Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush were not in prison, also.
+However, Ted believed in the motto, "I bide my time," and he felt in his
+bones that some time in the future his path and that of the bully, Shan
+Rhue, would cross again.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+     No. 42 of the WESTERN STORY LIBRARY, by Edward C. Taylor, is
+     entitled "Ted Strong in Montana."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Ted Strong's Motor Car, by Edward C. Taylor
+
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Ted Strong's Motor Car, by Edward C. Taylor
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Ted Strong's Motor Car
+
+Author: Edward C. Taylor
+
+Release Date: October 11, 2004 [EBook #13717]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TED STRONG'S MOTOR CAR ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven desJardins and PG Distributed Proofreaders.
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+<center>
+<img src='images/cover.jpg' width='415' height='600' alt="cover of The Western Story Library No. 41, Ted Strong's
+Motor Car, by Edward C. Taylor" title="cover of The Western Story Library No. 41, Ted Strong's
+Motor Car, by Edward C. Taylor">
+</center>
+
+<h1>Ted Strong's Motor Car</h1>
+
+<h3>OR, FAST AND FURIOUS</h3>
+
+<h2>By EDWARD C. TAYLOR</h2>
+
+<h4>Author of the Ted Strong Stories</h4>
+<br />
+
+<h4>STREET &amp; SMITH CORPORATION<br />
+PUBLISHERS</h4>
+
+<h4>1915</h4>
+
+<br />
+
+<h3>Table of Contents</h3>
+<h4> <a href='#CHAPTER_I'>CHAPTER I.&mdash;TALKING ABOUT SMART HOGS!</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_II'>CHAPTER II.&mdash;BUD'S BAD BRONCHOS.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_III'>CHAPTER III.&mdash;STELLA GOES TO THE &quot;RENT RAG.&quot;</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_IV'>CHAPTER IV.&mdash;THE TROUBLE IS STARTED.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_V'>CHAPTER V.&mdash;SHOTS FROM THE DARK.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_VI'>CHAPTER VI.&mdash;THE &quot;FLYING DEMONS'&quot; MESSAGE.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_VII'>CHAPTER VII.&mdash;SONG SHOOTS A WOLF.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_VIII'>CHAPTER VIII.&mdash;THE BATTLE WITH THE BULL.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_IX'>CHAPTER IX.&mdash;TED GETS AN ASSIGNMENT.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_X'>CHAPTER X.&mdash;A VISITOR IN THE NIGHT.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XI'>CHAPTER XI.&mdash;TED STRONG HAS A THEORY.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XII'>CHAPTER XII.&mdash;ALOFT AFTER A PRISONER.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XIII'>CHAPTER XIII.&mdash;THE ANONYMOUS LETTER.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XIV'>CHAPTER XIV.&mdash;THE ABANDONED MOTOR CAR.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XV'>CHAPTER XV.&mdash;THE LODGING-HOUSE BATTLE.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XVI'>CHAPTER XVI.&mdash;THE MAN IN THE YELLOW CAR.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XVII'>CHAPTER XVII.&mdash;MURDER IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XVIII'>CHAPTER XVIII.&mdash;STELLA ADOPTS A BROTHER.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XIX'>CHAPTER XIX.&mdash;EZRA, THE LIFE-SAVING GOAT.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XX'>CHAPTER XX.&mdash;THE COUNTERFEIT BANK NOTE.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXI'>CHAPTER XXI.&mdash;A CRIME WITHIN A CRIME.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXII'>CHAPTER XXII.&mdash;TED IN THE TOILS.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXIII'>CHAPTER XXIII.&mdash;STELLA IMITATES SANTA CLAUS.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXIV'>CHAPTER XXIV.&mdash;TED HOLDS A PROFITABLE BAG.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXV'>CHAPTER XXV.&mdash;THE MAGPIE PONY.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXVI'>CHAPTER XXVI&mdash;&quot;VAMOSE!&quot;</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXVII'>CHAPTER XXVII.&mdash;THE GREAT CHIQUITA.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXVIII'>CHAPTER XXVIII&mdash;TED'S GREAT VICTORY.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXIX'>CHAPTER XXIX.&mdash;KIT MAKES A CAPTURE.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXX'>CHAPTER XXX.&mdash;KIT'S TROUBLESOME PRISONER.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXXI'>CHAPTER XXXI.&mdash;STELLA A CAPTIVE.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXXII'>CHAPTER XXXII.&mdash;A HOLE IN THE HERD.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIII'>CHAPTER XXXIII.&mdash;LITTLE DICK IN TROUBLE.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIV'>CHAPTER XXXIV.&mdash;A MESSAGE FROM STELLA.</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXXV'>CHAPTER XXXV.&mdash;&quot;HOLE IN THE WALL.&quot;</a><br />
+ <a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVI'>CHAPTER XXXVI.&mdash;THE ALTERED BRAND.</a></h4>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<a name='Ted_Strongs_Motor_Car'></a><h1>Ted Strong's Motor Car</h1>
+
+<a name='CHAPTER_I'></a><h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h3>TALKING ABOUT SMART HOGS!</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Carl Schwartz burst into the living room of the Moon Valley Ranch house
+with fire in his eye and pathos in his voice:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As sheur as I standing here am, dot schwein I'm going to kill!&quot;'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll jest bet yer a million dollars ter a piece o' custard pie yer
+don't,&quot; said Bud Morgan, rising from the lounge where he had been
+resting after a strenuous day in the big pasture.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll pet you,&quot; shouted Carl. &quot;Der pig pelongs mit me der same as you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go ahead, then,&quot; said Bud, lying down again. &quot;But I want ter tell yer
+this, and take it from me, it's ez straight ez an Injun's hair, yer kin
+kill yer own part o' thet hawg if yer want ter, but if my part dies I'll
+wallop yer plenty. I've spent too much time teachin' thet pig tricks ter
+lose it now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Vich part der pig you own, anyvay?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ther best part; ther head.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Den I dake der tail. By Chiminy, I get skvare yet so soon. I cut der
+tail off, und dot vill make der pig not able to valk straight ven he
+can't der tail curl in der opposite direction. Den ve see how mooch der
+tricks he done. Vat?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll hev ther law on yer if yer interfere with thet pig.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the matter with you two fellows?&quot; asked Ted Strong, the leader
+of the broncho boys, who was writing some letters at the big oak table
+in the center of the room.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Der pig, he moost die,&quot; cried Carl tragically.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, what has 'Oof' done now?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He has ate all mein gabbages,&quot; answered Carl, with almost a sob.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, s'posin' he hez,&quot; said Bud. &quot;What in thunder is cabbages fer, if
+they ain't ter be et by pigs?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, you, but not fer dose kind of pig. Maybe you might eat dem und it
+vould be all right, but not der pig mit four feet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Carl had a small garden back of the ranch house, in which he had been
+raising cabbages, devoting all his spare time to them and good-naturedly
+taking the joshing the boys gave him. They were of the opinion that a
+cow-puncher was degrading himself by working in a garden.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jumpin' sand hills, he'll be takin' up knittin' when winter comes on,
+an' makin' of his own socks,&quot; said Bud, in disgust.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, he's going in for tatting,&quot; said Ben Tremont. &quot;He's going to make a
+lot of doilies for the chairs so we won't soil the satin upholstery with
+our oily hair.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As all the chairs in the living room were very plain, made of solid oak,
+with bullhide seats and backs, this remark was received with laughter.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go aheadt!&quot; said Carl. &quot;Ven you ain'dt drough, let me know. I know your
+own bizziness. Ven der vinter comes und I haf dot deliciousness
+sauerkraut, und am eating it, und ven your mouts vater so dot you
+slobber like a colt off der clover, den&mdash;ah, den, I gifs you der ha-ha,
+ain'dt it? Den you see who der knitting und der tatting do, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Carl laughed at the thought of how the boys would miss the sauerkraut
+which he was going to make. But now &quot;Oof,&quot; the pet pig of the
+establishment, had eaten them nearly all, and was standing in his sty
+too full even for the utterance of his usual lazy grunt. He looked like
+an animated keg of sauerkraut with four pegs at the corners for him to
+stand on, so full was he of Carl's cherished and esculent cabbages.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How in the world did he get into the cabbage patch?&quot; asked Ted. &quot;I
+thought you had made it pig tight.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So did I,&quot; answered Carl. &quot;No pig but vun mit der teufel inside him
+vould haf got der fence over.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Got over ther fence!&quot; snorted Bud. &quot;Why, yer feeble-minded son of a
+downtrodden race, thet thar pig couldn't hev got over ther fence without
+a balloon. Thet fence is six feet high. A deer couldn't jump it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't saying so. He cannot yump, dot pig. He cannot moof, so full
+mit gabbages are he. No, he didn't yump, he yoost sving himself over mit
+dot fence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Slush! Yer gittin' plumb dotty. No pig could swing hisself over thet
+fence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But it's der only vay vat he could, und Song, der Chineser cook, saw
+him did it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You don't believe what a Chinyman tells yer, do yer?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did Song say? How did the pig do it?&quot; asked the boys, roused to
+interest in the squabble by this statement.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Vell, Song he say dot he vos looking der vinder ouid und he saw der pig
+take der end of dot long rope vot hangs down mit der roof of der hay
+house in his teeth, und he svings on it some. Song say he t'ought it vas
+some of Pud's foolishment he vas teaching dot pig, und didn't no more
+look at him for a leetle vile. Ven he looked again der pig vas svinging
+avay oop high by der rope. Den I coom along und see der pig in der
+gabbages, und I takes me a stick und vallops him goot ofer der hams,
+und drife him his pen into.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Shucks! Is that all ther story? That don't prove nothin'. Thet pig,
+Oof, is a animile of high intelligence. He wuz needin' exercise before
+dinner. He found a hole in ther fence, er maybe he tunneled one fer
+hisself, an' he wuz jest kinder doin' some gymnasium work ter git up a
+good appetite. Yer cain't make me believe a Chinyman, nohow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't know,&quot; said Ben thoughtfully, &quot;pigs are mighty smart. He might
+have swung himself over by the rope, and, if so, I think he was entitled
+to his dinner as a reward for his ingenuity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't pay for no pig's inchenoomity mit my gabbages,&quot; said Carl
+hotly. &quot;Vere I get more gabbages fer der sauerkraut, tell me dot?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer don't git no sauerkraut, that's all,&quot; growled Bud. &quot;But speakin'
+about pigs bein' smart, I jest reckon they aire.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are three animals that people persist in calling stupid, when
+they are only strong-minded and more intelligent than the other
+animals,&quot; said Kit Summers, quietly breaking into the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What aire they?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The pig, the mule, and the goose,&quot; answered Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come ter think o' it, yer right ez a book,&quot; said Bud, rising from the
+lounge and joining the other boys in front of the fireplace. &quot;Why, I
+remember onct down on the Pecos&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ben Tremont rose lazily and stretched himself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, so long, boys,&quot; he said. &quot;If I ain't back for supper don't wait
+for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whar yer goin'?&quot; asked Bud, with a black look from under his brows.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've got some work to do this evening, and I don't want to be getting
+drowsy,&quot; answered Ben, with a wink at Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go then, yer varmint,&quot; said Bud savagely. &quot;This yere incerdent what
+I'm goin' ter relate is fer intelligent persons only.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In that case I shall have to remain,&quot; said Ben, throwing his huge bulk
+into a chair, that creaked like a house in a high wind.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How about that Pecos story?&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Tis erbout pigs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't know there were any pigs down in that country,&quot; said Ted, with
+a sly smile.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes, there aire. Some folks calls them peccaries, an' others
+alludes ter them ez wild hawgs. Yer pays yer money an' chooses what yer
+likes best.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what about them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Tain't noways what ye'd call much o' a story, but it 'lustrates ther
+intelligence o' ther hawg, which in my 'pinion ez almost ez great ez
+thet o' some collidge gradooates what I hev mixed with.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud stopped and looked hard at Ben, who seemed to be taking a nap in his
+big chair.</p>
+
+<p>With a snort of disgust Bud turned his back on the big fellow and began:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Me an' 'Peep-o'-day' Thompson wuz ridin' herd on a bunch o' cattle
+belongin' ter ole man Bradish. All we hed ter do wuz ter keep 'em from
+driftin' too fur, which nat'rally left us much time fer meditation an'
+conversation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But it wa'n't long before I'd told all my stories, an' Peep bed plumb
+fergot I'd tole them ter him, an' wuz tellin' them all over ter me,
+claimin' they'd happened ter him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I stood it fer a spell because I didn't want ter make no friction
+betwixt him an' me, but it made me sore jest ther same, because ther
+derned lump allays got ther story balled up so's I hed trouble in
+reconnizin' it sometimes. An' he inveribly got ther p'int o' ther story
+hindside fore, which made me jest bile. But when yer on a long watch
+with a feller, an' got ter see him from sunup ter moonrise, it's better
+ter overlook a lot o' things.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, 's I wuz sayin', we wuz on this stunt, an' had been out all o'
+three month, takin' turns cookin' an' watchin' so's one o' us could git
+erway from ther other fer a spell, an' go off an' sit down an' tell
+hisself what a awful chump ther other wuz, an' how yer hated him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We hed a chuck wagon with us filled with flour, salt sowbelly an'
+saleratus, with some coffee an' a few pounds o' fine terbaccer fer
+makin' cigareets. I ain't sayin' nothin' erginst sowbelly ez ther
+national food o' ther plains an' ther staff o' life in farmin'
+communities, but ez a steady diet it begins ter pall when taken day in
+an' day out with nothin' ter wash it down with but weak coffee made
+outer alkali water.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon both me an' Peep wuz gittin' tired o' one another's cookin',
+if ther truth wuz knowed, fer Peep could make ther wust biscuit I ever
+et.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My biscuit jest suited me ter a ty-ty, an' I reckon Peep felt ther same
+way erbout hisn. Every time we set down ter vittles, if it wuz my week
+ter cook, Peep w'd begin ter talk o' ther fine cookin' his wife uster do
+before she run erway with er Sant' Fe conductor down ter Raton, Noo Mex.
+He'd tell me how she'd make beef stoo an' hot biscuit thet would melt in
+yer mouth. 'I don't like them kind,' sez I, one day. 'I like somethin' I
+kin chew on. What'd ther Lord give us teeth fer if grub is ter melt in
+ther mouth? No, sir; give me mine gristle an' hide. Ther tougher they be
+ther better I like 'em,' sez I.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Is thet thar meant ez a reflection on my wife?' sez Peep, bristlin'
+up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'I never met yer wife,' sez I, 'an' we'll let thet part o' it pass, fer
+ye knows me well enough thet I never make no remarks erbout wimminfolks
+what ain't smooth an' complimentary. But I stands on ther
+gristle-an'-hide propersition ontil I'm ready ter fight fer it.'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer see, I wuz gettin' some peevish erbout Peep. Ole man Bradish hed
+left us alone tergether too long. It ain't right fer two fellers ter
+camp side by each fer so long without a third party buttin' in ter break
+ther monotony.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'All right,' sez he, unlimberin' his six foot three o' len'th from ther
+ground. 'Thet,' sez he, real dignified, 'is either a challenge or a
+invitation ter fight.'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'It be,' sez I. 'Either way yer wanter take it.'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We both riz up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'How d'yer want it?' sez he.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Please yerself,' sez I. 'Any ole holt is my fav'rite.'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Anythin' goes, then,' sez he, makin' a rush at me.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jest then we hear a turrible noise, gruntin', squealin', an' sich. We
+both stopped an' looked eround, an' thar stood watchin' us a big band o'
+wild hawgs.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Fresh meat!' we both hollers simultaneous. At this ther hawgs ups an'
+runs.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It wuz my day off, an' hostilities stopped right thar ez I runs an'
+gits my rifle an' leaps my cayuse an' takes after ther hawgs, Peep
+hollerin' after me ez friendly ez yer please.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I chased them hawgs a couple o' miles ter ther river bank, whar they
+hid in ther canebrake. I couldn't get ther cayuse ter go in after them,
+so I gits down an' breaks my way in tryin' ter git a shot at one o'
+them, my mouth waterin' fer fresh pork so's I wuz almost wadin' in it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Purty soon I come in sight o' them. A ole boar wuz in charge o' them,
+an' he wuz a hard-lookin' citizen, I want ter tell yer. He hed tushes
+five inches long an' both o' 'em ez sharp ez razors. I took a shot at
+him, but his hide wuz so tough thet ther ball just glanced off him, an'
+he made a break fer me. I turned an' fled. Ther river wuz not fur erway,
+an' I knowed thet if I beat them hawgs ter it I wuz safe.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I jest did it, an' waded out ez fur ez I could an' started ter swim.
+'When I gits ter ther other side I'll take some long shots at yer,'
+thinks I, 'an' we'll hev hawg meat yit.'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I gits out inter ther middle o' ther stream when I hears a puffin' an'
+a gruntin' behind me. I looks over my shoulder an' here comes ther whole
+herd swimmin' right after me as&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That settles it,&quot; said Ben, as he rose with a snort of disgust.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's ther matter with yer?&quot; asked Bud calmly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer story is what I thought it would be&mdash;wild and woolly and full of
+cockleburs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How is thet ag'in?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's rotten. Don't you know, as long as you have been on earth, that
+swine cannot swim without committing suicide?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go ahead. Will you kindly tell us fer why, perfessor?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Certainly. The hoofs of pigs are so sharp, and their forelegs are set
+so far under their bodies, that when they attempt to swim their hoofs
+strike their fat throats, cutting them, and they die from loss of
+blood.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thet's c'rect, my son. Every schoolboy knows thet thar p'int in nat'ral
+history.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then why are you insulting our intelligence by stating that a herd of
+hogs followed you into the water and swam after you? Now don't spring
+any such flower of your fancy on us as to say that the hogs all killed
+themselves crossing and that you and Peep-o'-day had all the fresh meat
+you wanted during the rest of your stay on the Pecos, for we won't
+stand for it. I don't believe there is any such thing as a Pecos,
+anyway.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud looked so crestfallen that the other boys felt sorry for him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You think you're smart, don't you?&quot; said Kit, taking Bud's finish out
+of his own mouth. &quot;You big chump, it wasn't your story, anyhow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't worry, Kit,&quot; said Bud, smiling confidently. &quot;Ben's so
+intellectooal thet it hurts him ter pack his knowledge eround in thet
+pinhead o' hisn. But he didn't finish ther story none. I knows ez well
+ez him thet hawgs can't swim fer ther reasons he give. But these yere
+hawgs I am tellin' erbout wuz different.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How was that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer see, thet thar ole boar wuz ez smart ez a copperation lawyer. He'd
+fixed them hawgs ter swim. First they got thar hoofs all balled up with
+gumbo, er sticky clay, then they worked ther dry grass inter ther clay
+and mixed 'em good an' stiff, lettin' 'em dry in ther sun. This made a
+hard ball on their toes thet jest slipped off their throats when they
+struck.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ben slipped into his chair with a grunt.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;O' course, I didn't know thet when I was swimmin',&quot; continued Bud, 'an'
+I thinks I've run ercross a new web-footed breed o' hawgs. When we come
+ter ther other side I waited fer them ter land, then I turns an' swims
+back, ther hawgs follerin'. Back ercross I goes erg'in, an' ther pork
+keeps right on my trail.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Purty soon I see they ain't swimmin' so spry, an' I allow they're
+gittin' some tired. Ther last time over ter our side o' ther river they
+come slow, an' I picks out ther kind o' pork I likes best, an' ez they
+land I nails what I want an' slits thar throats, an' I hev my pork. But
+when ther rest o' them lands they's full o' fight ez ever, an' I takes
+ter ther water ag'in, but they won't foller me. This seems strange, an'
+I looks ter see what ther matter is.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ther ole boar wuz mighty smart, but he'd overlooked one p'int. He'd
+fergot thet ther water would melt his balls o' clay, which it did, an'
+they couldn't swim no more. I jest stood hip high in the water with my
+Winchester an' popped erway at them until they got tired an' run off,
+leavin' me enough fresh pork ter start a packin' house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A hollow groan escaped from Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the use?&quot; he moaned. &quot;You can't beat him.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_II'></a><h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3>BUD'S BAD BRONCHOS.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>It was time for the fall round-up, and Stella had written from her
+uncle's ranch, in New Mexico, that she and her aunt, Mrs. Graham, were
+coming North to do their winter shopping in Denver, and would visit the
+Moon Valley Ranch to take part in the round-up and the festivities which
+the boys always held at that time.</p>
+
+<p>Her letter did not say when she would be there, but the boys knew her
+well enough to expect her at any moment following the letter.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore they were not surprised to hear a clear, high imitation of the
+Moon Valley yell one morning while they were all sitting at the
+breakfast table.</p>
+
+<p>They did not need to be told that Stella Fosdick had come, and without
+ado they sprang from the table, overturning chairs in their haste to get
+out of the house to greet her and her aunt.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, boys!&quot; she called from the carriage, in which she and Mrs.
+Graham had driven over from Soldier Butte. &quot;You're a gallant lot of
+young fellows not to meet us at the station, particularly when I wrote
+you that I was coming this morning. I'm real mad.&quot; But her smiling face
+belied the statement.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You didn't say when you were coming,&quot; said big Ben, who was the first
+to reach the carriage step and was helping Mrs. Graham to descend. &quot;If
+we had taken your general statement that you were coming, to meet you at
+the station we would have camped right there forever. Never can tell
+about your movements, young lady.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I did write that I was coming this morning, and to meet us and
+take breakfast with us in the Butte.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We didn't get that letter. When did you write?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Last night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's good. Always take time by the fetlock. We'll get that letter
+some time to-morrow. Why didn't you wait and write us to meet you after
+you got here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Saucy as ever, Ben. But we're positively starved. Hello, Song!&quot; she
+called to the Chinese cook, who was standing on the veranda grinning
+like a heathen idol, &quot;got anything good to eat?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, missee, plenty good glub. Mebbeso you likee some fried ham and
+eggs?&quot; said Song, shaking hands with himself and bowing low.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ham and eggs! No! Positively, no! I'll be turning into a ham and egg if
+I get any more of it. That's all the cook at the ranch knows how to do.
+Anything else?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, missee. Plenty paltlidge, what Misto Ted shootee lesterday. I
+cookee you some plenty quick.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Song, cook us some partridges.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boys stood around in a group of admiring servitors waiting to carry
+Stella's hand bag and gun and saddle and other things with which she was
+burdened.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly she looked toward the porch.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who's that?&quot; she asked breathlessly, pointing to a little girl who
+stood shyly beside a post looking on.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, that's Lilian,&quot; said Ted. &quot;I didn't know you were up yet,&quot; he
+called to the little girl. &quot;Come here, dear, and see Stella. You haven't
+forgotten Stella, have you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If it isn't Lilian!&quot; cried Stella, rushing toward the child with
+wide-open arms and folding her within them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wouldn't have known you, honey,&quot; said Stella. &quot;What have you boys
+been doing to her? She's improved so much. Where did you get all these
+clothes, and who takes care of her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Isn't she a little beauty?&quot; asked Ted Strong proudly, patting the head
+of the blushing little girl.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But how did you do it?&quot; persisted Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I went over and saw Mrs. Bingham, the major's wife, at the fort,
+and asked her to come and advise us what to do. She came and was
+delighted with Lilian, and promised to oversee her wardrobe. She was
+going down to Omaha, and when she returned she had a trunk full of
+things for Lil. She also brought a colored woman to look after her, and
+Mirandy has proved a blessing and a treasure.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But the clothes didn't make themselves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, and none of us made them, either, although Bud said he could sew,
+and insisted upon trying. He cut up several yards of cloth, and at the
+end of the week, when we saw the product of his needle, he narrowly
+escaped lynching. If Lilian had not interceded for Uncle Bud, of whom
+she is very fond, I'm afraid we'd have no little Buddy now. No, we sent
+down to Omaha for a dressmaker and boarded her in town until she had Lil
+all fixed up, as becomes the heiress of the La Garita Mines.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whose idea is this way of making the things?&quot; demanded Stella, who was
+looking Lilian over with critical eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, we all had a finger in it. I sent away for a lot of fashion
+magazines and things of that sort, and we sat up nights as a board of
+strategy and picked out the sort of thing we wanted, and I reckon there
+isn't a better-dressed kid in the State.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I agree with you. Well, Ted Strong, you're a constant wonder to me.
+Where in the world did you learn to do all the things you do so well?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The honeyed flatterer. Quit your joshing, Stella; hand it to Ben. He
+likes it, and the thicker it is the more he can stand of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello! Breakfast!&quot; called Song from the veranda, and they all trooped
+back to the living room to finish breakfast and talk about the things
+they had passed through, and to lay plans for the coming round-up
+festivities.</p>
+
+<p>After breakfast Ted and Stella went out to the corral to look at the
+saddle stock.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, there's old 'Calamity Jane,'&quot; cried Stella, as a bay pony came
+trotting across the corral and put its velvet nose in the hand she held
+out.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jane knows you, all right,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sure. Why shouldn't she? I rode her all one season down here. I believe
+she wants me to choose her for my own again. Do you, Calamity, old
+girl?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Calamity Jane, which had at one time been the wickedest and stubbornest
+mare on the ranch, nickered and again rubbed Stella's hand with her
+nose.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Talk about your smart horses,&quot; said Stella. &quot;Calamity can do everything
+except talk. Who's been riding her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Kit. He's wrangler, and he won't let any one on her. He's light, you
+know, and he was saving her for you. You'll find that she hasn't been
+spoiled at all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then, if Kit has been riding her, she's all right, for if there ever
+was a horseman it's Kit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Isn't she getting fierce?&quot; said a quiet voice behind them. &quot;Say, she's
+getting to be one of these regular society jolliers. She didn't used to
+be that way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They wheeled around to see Kit, who had come up to them in his usual
+quiet manner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Ted. &quot;She tried to hand me a package this morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You mean things. That's what a girl gets for being civil and
+confidential, and talking as she would like to fellows she thinks are
+her friends. I'm going back to the house. I don't like you very much
+this morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boys winked at one another.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Kit, I want Sultan after a while. I'm going to ride down to the
+lower end of the ranch to look at that bunch of new horses,&quot; said Ted
+carelessly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, may I go with you?&quot; asked Stella eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I thought you were mad at us, or I would have asked you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was only fooling. I'll be ready in ten minutes. Let's take Lilian
+with us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was what I was going to do. It is time for Lilian's regular riding
+lesson. I am trying to make her as good a rider and all-around cowgirl
+as you, Stella, but I doubt if ever she will.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who is jollying now, Mister Ted?&quot; cried Stella, with a laugh, but she
+was blushing with pleasure at the compliment.</p>
+
+<p>That is the difference between a boy and a girl. A healthy,
+well-conditioned boy becomes embarrassed and cross at a well-meant
+compliment spoken in the presence of another, believing that the person
+who is complimenting him is making fun of him in some unknown and covert
+way. But to a girl a compliment that is sincere is as grateful as dew to
+a rose, and Stella always felt much elated when Ted complimented her on
+her prowess in any of the arts of the range.</p>
+
+<p>They rode away with Lilian, who was learning to ride well for her age
+and experience under the best of riding teachers, Ted Strong.</p>
+
+<p>As they were nearing the lower pasture they observed a great commotion
+among the horses that were huddled in a fence corner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, what's going on there?&quot; exclaimed Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Looks like the worst sort of a riot,&quot; said Stella. &quot;I believe those
+boys need help.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They could see Bud and Ben and several cowboys circling around the
+bunch of ponies, evidently trying to get into it, and break it up and
+scatter it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the row?&quot; asked Ted, galloping up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar's a cayuse in thar thet I'd plumb like ter electrocute,&quot; said Bud,
+who was mad clear through. &quot;My, but he's got er bad dispersition.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Which one?&quot; asked Ted, laughing. &quot;From what I can see there isn't one
+of them you could call angelic.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar's ther meanest bunch o' horse meat thet ever come ter this man's
+ranch, bar none, an' ther prize devil o' ther lot is thet black demon in
+thar. He near broke my pony's leg a minute ago with a stem-windin' kick
+sech ez I never see before. Thet hoss is shore double-j'inted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The horses were bunched, heads in, heels out, around a splendid-looking
+black stallion, which was biting and kicking at everything that came
+near him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let him kick his foolish head off,&quot; said Ted, viewing the squealing,
+struggling throng.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon they're just showin' off because Stella got here this
+mornin',&quot; said Bud disgustedly. &quot;They're tryin' ter knock us, Stella, by
+showin' yer thet we aire a bum lot o' horsemen fer not makin' them
+behave first off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella laughed and nodded. She understood.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where did you pick up such a mean bunch of horses?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Them hosses is intended fer ther tourneymint what takes place after
+ther round-up. We're goin' ter hev some roughridin' fer fair here, an'
+if we all git out with whole bones we shore kin send up a balloon in
+celebraytion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But where did you get them? Were they bred mean on purpose?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon not. I bought 'em from ther wild range in Montana. They ain't
+seen men closer than a mile, except'n' it wuz Injuns, an' they don't
+count, until we butted in on 'em. They belonged ter ole man Stallings. I
+reckon you remember him, what we met on our way ter Fort Grant, when yer
+run erway an' got lost on Red Mesa.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wuz lookin' fer a bunch o' cow hosses. We sold a big run o' 'em ter a
+Newbrasky cowman who was short o' saddle stock, an' who said he'd heard
+we had the best-broke cow ponies in ther West, an' I reckon we had. He
+was willin' ter pay a good price fer our spare stock, an' we unloaded.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then you will have to break in a lot of new ones. Isn't that a waste of
+time?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Young woman, we're ranchmen, not rockin'-chair gents. It's part o' our
+business ter take somethin' what ain't much good, an' make it better.
+That's the way we earn our bread an' bacon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So I see.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted says ter me ter go up inter Montana an' pick up a lot o' good,
+gingery hosses, an' I struck John Stallings. He says ter me, when I made
+my wants known, 'Go out on ther range an' he'p yerself,' says he.
+'They're all mine, an' Ted Strong an' his boys kin hev anythin' I've got
+except my fam'ly. But,' says he, 'you'll find some purty lively stock
+out there.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, you did,&quot; said Stella, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon I picked out ther orneriest hosses in the whole West, an' I'm
+savin' them fer some o' these Smart-aleck cowboys who'll be here from
+ther ranches round, who think they kin ride,&quot; and he winked wisely.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Gracious, look there!&quot; she cried. &quot;What's Ted trying to do. He'll be
+hurt, Bud.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I reckon not, but I'll git in thar handy ter help him if he needs
+it. Keep the kid outer ther way if that bunch breaks.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted had done what none of the others had succeeded in doing.</p>
+
+<p>He had forced his way into the very center of the bunch of wild horses,
+wheeling and doubling and riding like a circus performer, to avoid the
+batteries of flying heels, until he was close to the wicked black
+stallion, which was all that held the bunch together and prevented it
+from being broken up and driven to the upper end of the ranch, where it
+belonged.</p>
+
+<p>There was not a moment when he was not in danger. A chance kick might
+break his leg, or bring down his horse, in which event he must be kicked
+to death or badly hurt by being trampled on.</p>
+
+<p>But so far they had not been able to reach him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Be careful, Ted,&quot; cried Stella.</p>
+
+<p>He waved his hand at her with a smile, and she hurried Lilian beyond the
+reach of danger.</p>
+
+<p>Ted wheeled his horse to face the black brute, which stood looking at
+him with wicked eyes, its ears flattened like those of a panther. In
+spite of its evil temper Ted admired it for its lithe beauty. It was as
+clean of limb as a thoroughbred, and its black skin shone like polished
+ebony. While he was looking at it thus it suddenly sprang at him, reared
+on its hind legs, striking at him like a boxer. Had he not wheeled on
+the instant it would have killed him. Ted was thoroughly angry, and went
+to the attack himself, beating the horse about the head with his quirt.
+When the horse rushed at him through a rain of blows across its nose Ted
+retreated beyond reach of its hoofs, then attacked it again.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the black horse wheeled and presented its heels, and Ted rode
+around it, lashing it well, everywhere the whip could reach.</p>
+
+<p>Although the horse continued to lash out with his heels he struck
+nothing, and always his enemy was at his side or in front.</p>
+
+<p>At last Ted resolved to bring the unequal combat to an end, as Sultan
+was tiring of the exercise, so instead of riding around the enraged
+horse, he pivoted with it, keeping in front of it all the time and
+whipping it on the nose.</p>
+
+<p>The &quot;insurgent&quot; stopped kicking at last and stood with drooping head,
+trying to shield its face from that cruel, relentless, stinging thing
+which the man creature wielded. He was cowed, but not conquered.</p>
+
+<p>Taking advantage of the moment, Ted drove him backward and clear of his
+companions. Seeing their leader retreat, the other horses broke their
+close formation, and allowed themselves to be driven down the valley,
+not without an occasional rebellious kick, however.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_III'></a><h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h3>STELLA GOES TO THE &quot;RENT RAG.&quot;</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, joy, an' pickled pelicans!&quot; said Bud Morgan, skipping onto the
+veranda one evening, when all the boys were sitting around Stella and
+Mrs. Graham.</p>
+
+<p>Bud had just returned from Soldier Butte, where he had been spending the
+afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's devouring you now?&quot; asked Ben Tremont. &quot;Or is it just one of
+your weekly sillies?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who are yer alludin' at?&quot; asked Bud loftily.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As you were going to say&mdash;&quot; suggested Kit, looking at Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Boys, thar's goin' ter be a 'rent rag' in the Butte ter-morrer night,
+an' we all have an urgent bid ter be present.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A what?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A 'rent rag.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who tore it?&quot; asked Stella innocently.</p>
+
+<p>At this the boys laughed loud and long, then apologized when they saw
+Stella's embarrassment.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It ain't tore yet,&quot; said Bud, &quot;but it's lierble ter be before ther rosy
+dawn.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What are you talking about?&quot; said Stella impatiently. &quot;I never saw such
+provoking boys. You say such strange things, then cackle over it as
+though there was a joke in it, which nobody seems to see except
+yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A 'rent rag' is a&mdash;'rent rag,'&quot; said Kit, trying to explain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That sounds as sensible as the conundrum, 'Why is a hen?'&quot; said Stella.
+&quot;Must I ask the question and get caught? All right, here goes. What is a
+'rent rag'? Now, don't tell me, some one, that it is a rag that has been
+torn, for I exploded that one myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A 'rent rag,'&quot; said Bud slowly and carefully, &quot;is a rag for rent.
+A&mdash;a&mdash;er&mdash;well, it's a&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tell me, Ted,&quot; said the girl, turning to the leader of the outfit, who
+was leaning back in his chair smiling at the ridiculous conversation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, as near as I can make out it is a bit of slang that means this:
+The word 'rag' is the slang for a public dance. When a man in town who
+is popular enough falls behind in paying his rent, through some
+misfortune or other, and owes so much he cannot hope to pay it, he hands
+out a flag that he wants help. In other words, it is an invitation to
+his friends to organize a public ball for his benefit. It depends upon
+his honesty and popularity whether or not they do so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's the strangest thing I ever heard of.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, if the thing goes through, a hall is rented and music is engaged,
+the cost of which is to be deducted from the money taken at the door.
+Then the man for whose benefit the ball is given and his wife prepare a
+lot of sandwiches, fried chicken, and other eatables, and a tub or two
+of lemonade, and help their profits along.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So that is a 'rent rag,' eh? Who is the man for whom the dance is to be
+given, Bud?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A feller named Martin, whose wife has been sick all summer,&quot; answered
+Bud. &quot;From what they say, I reckon he's all right. Jest ter be a good
+feller I bought ten tickets, at one bean per ticket.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is that all they are?&quot; asked Stella. &quot;Only one bean? Gracious, they'll
+have to dispose of an awful lot of tickets to get enough beans to sell
+to pay their rent with! Why don't they make it something else? I'd like
+to contribute a dollar, at least. A bean a ticket, pshaw! How awfully
+cheap! I guess he doesn't owe much.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this remark the boys fairly cackled.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, what are you laughing at?&quot; cried Stella, almost angry. &quot;I seem to
+be more humorous to-night than I ever thought possible. I can hardly say
+a word but you all start to laugh at me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This was too much for the boys. They couldn't restrain themselves and
+went off into peals of laughter. When they saw the danger signals of two
+bright spots in Stella's cheeks, they realized that they had gone too
+far, and all hastily tried to explain. But Ted was before them, and
+quietly told Stella that in the expressive, if scarcely lucid, language
+of the day a &quot;bean,&quot; in the sense in which Bud had used it, meant a
+dollar.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Such silly slang,&quot; said Stella, restored to good humor once more. &quot;I
+don't mind slang if it's clever and reveals or conceals or twists a word
+in some sensible way, but a bean for a dollar&mdash;no, it won't do. The
+fellow who invented that should try again. The only fun I can see in
+slang is its aptness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boys murmured something to the effect that it wasn't a particularly
+witty bit of slang, but they continued to grin at one another.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Suppose we all go to the 'rent rag,'&quot; said Stella suddenly. &quot;I never
+saw anything of the sort, and I'm crazy to go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's likely to be pretty rough, and break up in a row before its
+natural time,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll only stay a short while,&quot; said Stella. &quot;But I should like to do
+my share toward helping the poor fellow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's done already. I bought ten tickets. Thet's as much ez they expect
+from ther Moon Valley Ranch, an' it goes inter ther running expenses o'
+ther ranch, anyhow, in ther charity account.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't care, I want to go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I move we go,&quot; said Ben. &quot;It will add some tone to the proceedings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ben wants to air his spike-tailed coat and low-neck vest,&quot; said Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not for me,&quot; said Ben, laughing. &quot;I wonder what those cow-punchers and
+miners and gamblers would do with a chap who sauntered in there in
+evening dress.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He shore would come up ter Stella's conception of a rent rag, which is
+a torn rag,&quot; said Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted, won't we go?&quot; pleaded Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sure, if you want to; you are our guest, and whatever you want, all you
+have to do is to ask for it,&quot; answered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>It was agreed that they should wear their everyday uniforms, and Stella
+was for going in her distinctive cowgirl costume, but this Mrs. Graham
+would not permit, and insisted that she should wear a frock which she
+had had made in Denver.</p>
+
+<p>When, the next night, Stella walked into the living room, where the boys
+were waiting to escort her and Mrs. Graham to the ball, there was a
+general exclamation of wonder and admiration, at which Stella hesitated
+with a blush, then came forward with smiling assurance.</p>
+
+<p>Instead of the bold and dashing Stella in her bifurcated riding skirt
+and bolero jacket, the boys saw a beautiful young woman in a pale-blue
+gown of silk and chiffon, with her pretty hair piled on top of her head,
+instead of flowing over her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment they were awed. They had never seen her so, and perhaps had
+never thought of her as being a young lady. Most of them were content to
+regard her just as Stella, their girl pard, and to-night she had given
+them a surprise.</p>
+
+<p>At her throat was a superb sapphire set in a brooch, which had come out
+of the broncho boys' sapphire mines on Yogo Creek, and in her hair was
+an ornament of diamonds and rubies which the boys had made from jewels
+which had come as their share of the treasures of the Montezumas, which
+they had discovered beneath the castle of Chepultapec, near the city of
+Mexico.</p>
+
+<p>Altogether Stella was very stunning, and in their admiration of her in
+this new r&ocirc;le of society girl the boys were between two preferences, as
+she was now, and as they knew her in the saddle, throwing her lariat or
+handling her revolver.</p>
+
+<p>Most of them, however, came to the conclusion that she was still Stella,
+no matter what she wore.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Stella, that's not fair,&quot; drawled Ben, &quot;to dress up like that and
+make us wear our working togs. I've got a good mind to go and get into
+my spike.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If you do, I won't go,&quot; said Stella. &quot;Unless the other boys wear theirs
+also. You and I would look fine going in there dressed up, and the other
+boys as they are now. No, I wouldn't have worn this dress if aunt hadn't
+insisted upon it, and this time I couldn't shake her determination. I
+hate it, and would much rather have my working clothes on. But, never
+mind, it won't be for long. How do you like me in this?&quot; She revolved
+slowly before them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Scrumptious!&quot; said Ben appreciatively.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Prettier than a basket of peaches,&quot; ejaculated Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar ain't nothin' in art er nature what kin show up more gaudy,&quot; said
+Bud. &quot;Except, mebbe, it might be a pink rose in er garden at airly
+mornin' with ther dew on it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, hasn't Bud got us all faded?&quot; said Ben. &quot;I didn't know the old
+sandpiper had so much poetry in his soul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So perfectionately lofely a younk lady nefer did I saw,&quot; exclaimed
+Carl, clasping his hands and holding them before him, while he rolled
+his eyes toward the ceiling.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She's all thet,&quot; said Bud. &quot;But come down ter airth. Stella ain't up
+among ther rafters.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted had said nothing, and Stella looked at him. He was regarding her
+attentively.</p>
+
+<p>Her look said: &quot;What do <i>you</i> think?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He answered it with a look of admiration that satisfied her that he
+thought her perfect.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think I like you best in the everyday clothes,&quot; he said quietly. &quot;But
+that gown is as if you were made for it and it was made for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The thought had come into Ted's mind that some day, in the far future,
+they would lose their girl pard, and society or duties elsewhere would
+claim her.</p>
+
+<p>Stella understood him and agreed with him.</p>
+
+<p>Soon they were ready to start for the ball. The carriage was got out and
+Carl volunteered to drive the horses, while the other boys rode.</p>
+
+<p>Just as they were about to start Stella cried: &quot;Where is Jack Slate? I
+don't see him. Isn't he coming to the ball?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haven't saw him,&quot; said Bud. &quot;I reckon he'll be moseyin' erlong after a
+while. We won't wait fer him. He knowed when we wuz goin' ter start.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He came in a little while ago from the lower pasture,&quot; said Kit, &quot;and
+went to his room. He said he had been thrown by his horse, and that the
+jar had given him a headache.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, don't let us wait for him,&quot; said Ben. &quot;If he gets to feeling better
+he'll be along. You couldn't keep Jack away from a ball with an
+injunction.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So they proceeded to town, the boys acting as outriders to the girl,
+whom they were convinced would be the belle of the ball.</p>
+
+<p>When they arrived at the hall in Soldier Butte they found the people
+flocking in, as Martin, the beneficiary, was a very popular fellow, and
+any man in hard luck in the West always gets all the help he needs, if
+he deserves it.</p>
+
+<p>Ted escorted Stella into the ballroom, while Ben followed with Mrs.
+Graham, the other boys taking the horses around to the corral.</p>
+
+<p>As Ted and Stella entered the room there was a hum of admiration, and
+conversation stopped as men and women craned their necks to look at the
+handsome couple.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was both proud and pleased, but a little bit embarrassed at the
+attention they received, while Stella held her head up proudly, with a
+look of indifference on her face, as if she had been used to admiration
+all her life.</p>
+
+<p>The ball certainly was a mixed affair.</p>
+
+<p>In one corner were a lot of army officers and their ladies.</p>
+
+<p>All down the sides of the ballroom cowboys were sitting with girls from
+the ranches. Town girls and boys had a corner to themselves. The
+gamblers flocked together, and miners and others wandered here and
+there, mixing with cavalrymen from the fort.</p>
+
+<p>When the boys returned from the corral they found that Mrs. Graham and
+Stella and their escorts had pre&euml;mpted a vacant corner.</p>
+
+<p>There was a piano in the room, but no one to play it. Soon, however, a
+fellow dressed after the cowboy fashion entered and took a seat on a
+raised platform, producing a fiddle from a green bag.</p>
+
+<p>A round of applause greeted him.</p>
+
+<p>He tuned his instrument, and after a few preliminary scrapes began to
+play a monotonous tune, repeating over and over again the same few bars.</p>
+
+<p>At the first scrape the cowboys and their girls leaped to the floor and
+began to dance, but none of the people from the fort cared to dance to
+such music.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the door flew open and a band of a dozen cow-punchers walked
+into the room, and were greeted by joyous shouts by the other cowboys in
+the hall.</p>
+
+<p>At their head was a handsome young fellow, slender and dark, with a
+resolute face and a pair of piercing eyes that flashed around the room
+for the purpose of seeing and locating his possible enemies.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who is that?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's Billy Sudden,&quot; answered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And who is he?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Foreman at 'Cow' Suggs' ranch. That's the Suggs bunch of cow-punchers.
+There'll be something doing here to-night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are a lot of fellows in this part of the country who don't like
+Billy, and some of them are liable to tread on his feet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, is he quarrelsome?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, Billy is the best sort of a fellow, but he won't let any one hobble
+him. When he first went to the Dumb-bell Ranch, as the Circle-bar Circle
+is called, they took him for a kid and tried to run over him. He kicked
+them, then fired them, and they don't like him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did you see him look around the room?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, he has every man who is likely to make trouble for him spotted and
+located. But we won't wait long enough to see the trouble. I never did
+like trouble myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, for a chap who gets into it as often as you do&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the trouble now, over there?&quot; interrupted Ted, looking at the
+door.</p>
+
+<p>Around the entrance to the hall was a crowd of young town fellows led by
+a youth named Wiley Creviss, the son of the local banker, a dissipated
+and reckless young man, and a crowd of cow-punchers.</p>
+
+<p>They were shoving some one here and there, making a punching bag of him,
+at the same time laughing uproariously.</p>
+
+<p>Just then Ted saw the head of Jack Slate in the mix-up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Excuse me,&quot; said Ted, turning to Stella. &quot;Ben, take care of the ladies
+until I return.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He strode across the floor toward the door.</p>
+
+<p>As he neared it he heard Billy Sudden say:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Be careful, there. That is one of Ted Strong's fellows.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't care if it is,&quot; said some one. &quot;I'd give it to Strong just as
+hard if he was here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here I am,&quot; said Ted, pushing through the crowd.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_IV'></a><h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE TROUBLE IS STARTED.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>The crowd of men and youths opened out in front of Ted, and he strode
+into the circle.</p>
+
+<p>There he saw Jack Slate in a much disheveled condition, dressed in his
+evening clothes.</p>
+
+<p>Ted gasped as he stared for an instant at the youth from Boston.</p>
+
+<p>He wanted to tell Jack that &quot;it served him right,&quot; but that was not the
+part of loyalty, and in the presence of the enemy it did not make any
+difference to a broncho boy if his pard was right or wrong, if he was in
+need of help.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where is the fellow who was going to throw me around?&quot; asked Ted,
+looking into the faces about him.</p>
+
+<p>No one replied, although Ted waited for a moment or two before looking
+at Billy Sudden.</p>
+
+<p>Billy winked at him, but said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Seems as if somebody's sand has run out,&quot; said Ted contemptuously.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I don't know,&quot; said Wiley Creviss. &quot;There's plenty of sand left if
+you need any to prevent your wheels from slipping downhill.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, my sand box is always full,&quot; said Ted quietly. &quot;But there is some
+sneak in this bunch who hasn't the nerve to back up his brag.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you talking to me?&quot; said Creviss, swelling up as to chest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, are you the misguided chump whom I heard make the remark about
+pushing me about, as I came up?&quot; said Ted, in a tone of surprise.</p>
+
+<p>The cowboys from Suggs' ranch were snickering.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what if I was?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm going to make you try it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I can do it, all right.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, why don't you? I'm the easiest proposition you ever saw to be
+hazed by a bunch of hoodlums, such as you and your pals are!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;For two cents I'd punch your nose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're too cheap. I'll give you a heap more than that if you will. It's
+been so long since my nose was punched that it feels sort of lonesome.
+I'll pay you well for the job, if you succeed in pulling off the stunt.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You think you're the whole works because you've got a crowd of dudes
+around you. You're not the only dent in the can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted flushed at this allusion to his pards.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll put a dent in you if you open your face to remark about my friends
+again,&quot; he said, with some heat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See here, you town rough, you better take in your slack and clear out
+for home, or you'll begin to taste the sorrows that come from
+inexperience and bad judgment,&quot; said Billy Sudden to Creviss.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's up to you to mind your own business,&quot; snarled Creviss. &quot;What are
+you but a lot of greasy cow-punchers. We haven't much use for your sort
+in this town, anyway.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, son, keep quiet and behave yourself,&quot; said Billy paternally. &quot;If
+you get me riled I won't be as patient with you as Ted Strong has been.
+I'll fix you so as to keep two doctors busy the best part of the night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What are you fellows butting in for, anyhow?&quot; said Creviss angrily.
+&quot;Can't this freak that comes here in a dress suit and tries to lord it
+over us take care of himself?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Surest thing you know,&quot; drawled Jack Slate. &quot;But there are ladies here,
+a thing you don't seem to realize. If you'll step outside, I'd be glad
+to whip you right and propah.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the use, Jack, of fussing with these rowdies?&quot; said Ted. &quot;Let it
+go until some other time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet,&quot; said Creviss, courage returning when he heard Ted propose
+peace. &quot;I guess you'd like to let it go forever.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That settles it,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Go to him, Jack, and if you don't give him
+what's coming to him, I'll finish the job.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Git!&quot; said Billy Sudden, opening the door and shoving Creviss out into
+the street. The rest followed.</p>
+
+<p>As Jack stepped into the open air he peeled off his swallow-tailed coat
+and threw it over Ted's arm.</p>
+
+<p>He had no sooner done so than Wiley Creviss made a rush at him from the
+front, while one of the crowd ran in on him from the rear.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed an unequal beginning, and Ted was preparing to take on the
+second fellow.</p>
+
+<p>But Jack had seen him out of the corner of his eye, and as he came on
+the Boston boy stepped backward and threw his right elbow up.</p>
+
+<p>It was a timely and masterly trick, for the sharp elbow caught Creviss'
+ally full in the nose, and he dropped like a limp rag to the ground,
+with a howl of anguish.</p>
+
+<p>At the same moment Jack swung his left. Creviss had struck at him and
+missed when he back-stepped, and coming on swiftly ran into Jack's fist
+with a thud that jarred him into a state of collapse.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Finish him!&quot; shouted the cow-punchers, who stood about the fighters in
+a circle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go to him,&quot; said Ted, in a low voice. &quot;I saw him signal his pal to
+tackle you from behind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Creviss had partially recovered from the blow and was getting ready for
+another rush, when Jack slipped in and to one side and hit like a
+blacksmith at the anvil.</p>
+
+<p>This time Creviss went down and out.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hooray fer ther bantam!&quot; shouted a big cow-puncher, slapping Jack on
+the back. &quot;Say, I hear them say you're from Bosting. I'm goin' ter buy a
+hundred-pound sack o' beans myself ter-morrer an' begin trainin'. If
+beans'll do that fer you, a sack o' them will make me fit ter lick Jess
+Willard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But Jack was busy smoothing down his ruffled hair and pulling his white
+lawn tie around into its proper place, and when he had put on his coat
+he and Ted walked into the ballroom as calmly as if they had just
+stepped out to view the stars.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What was the trouble?&quot; asked Stella, when they reached her side.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Some town rowdies became noisy, and they were put out,&quot; answered Ted
+carelessly.</p>
+
+<p>But Jack's dress suit was the joy of the cow-punchers, who had never
+seen anything like it before, although they all knew that it was the way
+well-groomed men dressed for evening in the big cities.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, pard,&quot; said a cowboy to Jack, as he crossed the room, &quot;I axes yer
+pardon fer buttin' in, but yer lost ther front part o' yer coat tails.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's all right,&quot; answered Jack. &quot;Can't help it, don't you know. I
+left the blooming coat hanging on the line at home to air, and a goat
+came along and ate the front half of the tails off before I could get to
+it. I was just on my way to apologize to the master of ceremonies for
+it. You see, it is the only coat I have, and I was bound to come to the
+ball.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ha, ha! that's on you, 'Honk,'&quot; laughed the cowboy's friends, who had
+overheard the conversation, and Jack passed on, the boys alluding to him
+as a &quot;game little shrimp,&quot; for the news of his summary punishment of
+Creviss had got abroad.</p>
+
+<p>But Jack was not through yet. He went into the men's dressing room to
+leave his hat. As he was coming out he was met by a crowd of town
+youths, friends of Creviss. There was no one else about.</p>
+
+<p>They scowled and sneered at Jack, and one of them bumped into him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Heah, fellah, that will do,&quot; said Jack, with his Bostonese drawl.
+&quot;You're solid; you're no sponge.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't, eh?&quot; answered the bully. &quot;I'll tell yer, Mr. Slate, you're
+covered with bad marks what I don't like, an' I'm just the sponge to
+wipe them off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Step lively, then,&quot; said Jack, &quot;for I've an engagement to dance the
+next waltz.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll waltz you all you'll need this evenin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But before he had finished speaking Ben Tremont stepped around the
+corner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, Jack! What is this I see?&quot; said Ben. &quot;Disgracing yourself by
+talking with these hoodlums.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yas, deah boy,&quot; drawled Jack. &quot;This&mdash;er, what shall I call
+him?&mdash;stopped me to tell me he was going to rub the marks off me, at the
+same time wittily making a pun on my name. I was just telling him to
+hurry, or I'd miss the next waltz.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I'll take the job off your hands. Stella was asking for you a
+moment ago.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, run along to your Stella,&quot; said the hoodlum. &quot;I reckon she's
+pining for the sassiety o' another dude.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>That was where he made the mistake of his life.</p>
+
+<p>It didn't really make much difference what these fellows said about
+themselves, but the boys would not permit Stella's name to be bandied
+about by the roughs.</p>
+
+<p>So swiftly, that they didn't know what had happened to them, both Ben
+and Jack sailed into them.</p>
+
+<p>They went sprawling like tenpins before the ball as Ben jumped in among
+them and mowed them down with his powerful blows, while Jack, hovering
+like a torpedo boat around a battleship, sent in several of the telling
+blows Ted had taught him during the boxing lessons at Moon Valley.</p>
+
+<p>The fight was soon over, and Ben and Jack slipped quietly back into the
+ballroom, leaving a well-thrashed crowd to stanch bloody noses, and
+patch up swollen lips and black eyes as best they could.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, a diversion had been created in the hall by the joshing that
+the Suggs' ranch outfit had directed toward the fiddler, who knew only
+one tune, and sawed that off for a waltz, quadrilles, and two-steps,
+without fear or favor.</p>
+
+<p>The musician had been engaged because he was a friend of the
+beneficiary, and had volunteered his services. As the ball grew more and
+more hilarious the cow-punchers felt the restraint of the folks from the
+fort and Moon Valley the less, and began to take it out of the fiddler,
+who paid no attention to them, but kept on scraping.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there was a crack from a revolver and the top of the fiddler's
+bow was knocked off, and the playing and dancing stopped simultaneously.</p>
+
+<p>There was more or less commotion, but the women did not scream or get
+panic-stricken. They were used to that sort of thing.</p>
+
+<p>Nobody knew who had fired the shot, but the cowboys and soldiers were
+mad clear through because there was no more music to dance by.</p>
+
+<p>The shot had come from the part of the hall in which the coatroom was
+situated, and directly afterward two slender young fellows climbed out a
+rear window, and a few moments later Billy Sudden and Clay Whipple came
+calmly through the front door and joined the throng about the musician,
+who said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Honest, folks, I don't blame no hombre fer takin' a shot at thet fiddle
+bow o' mine, fer I never could make it work right. I know it was bum
+music, but it was the best I could do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted Strong had observed the quiet entrance of Billy and Clay directly
+after the shooting, and he put this and that together. He knew that both
+of them were finished musicians. Clay Whipple was an exceptionally good
+violin player, and Ted had often heard Billy Sudden make a piano fairly
+sing. Evidently they had got to the point where they could stand the
+fiddler's music no longer, and had put a stop to it.</p>
+
+<p>But for all the badness of the music the people should not be deprived
+of their dance.</p>
+
+<p>He hunted up the culprits, who were hovering on the outskirts of the
+crowd, listening to the threats against and denouncing the vandals who
+had &quot;shot up&quot; the fiddler.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See here, you hombres, I'm on to you,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Now you've got to do
+the square thing. You've beaten the dancers out of the music, and you've
+got to get in and furnish it, or I'll tell these punchers who plugged
+the fiddler's bow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How did you get on to it?&quot; said Clay, with a grin.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Never mind. Is it a go?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon it'll have to be,&quot; said Clay, looking suggestively at Billy
+Sudden.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right,&quot; said Billy.</p>
+
+<p>The cow-punchers, who had come to dance with the girls from the ranches,
+were growing angry, and were telling what they would do to the fellow
+who had spoiled their fun if they caught him, when Ted Strong stepped
+upon the platform, and, holding up his hand for silence, said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Gentlemen, please do not get obstreperous. You shall have all the
+dancing you want. Ladies, please be patient; the music that is to follow
+is such as has never been heard at a dance in this part of the country.
+Mr. Clay Whipple, of the Moon Valley Ranch, and Mr. Billy Sudden, of
+the Dumb-bell Ranch, will play the violin and piano respectively. Both
+of them are cow-punchers, so don't take any liberties with them, or some
+one will get hurt.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was such cheering that the roof almost went off as Clay hunted up
+a violin and tuned it.</p>
+
+<p>Then began a waltz such as they had never heard, and in a moment the
+floor was covered with dancers, the officers in their uniforms, and the
+ladies in their light dresses, adding beauty to the scene. But the
+finest-looking couple on the floor was Stella and the leader of the
+broncho boys.</p>
+
+<p>Just before the dance began Bud approached Stella, and said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See that gal over thar? Ther one with ther corn-silk bang? She is mine,
+an' I'm goin' ter dance this with her; see? She's ther kind o' girl I
+admire. She's shore corn-fed, an' some woman.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't you know who that is?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Deed an' I don't, but I soon will. Who is she?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's Sophy Cozak, from over on the Bohemian prairie. She's rich,
+Bud.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't care nothin' erbout thet. She's shaped up jest erbout right.
+Yaller hair, and soft as feathers. Watch my smoke.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud sauntered over to the girl, who was really pretty and fat and pink.
+Apparently he was talking his usual nonsense to her, for she smiled,
+then arose from her chair, and went sailing around the room, Bud's
+partner in the waltz, and every time they passed Ted and Stella in the
+waltz Bud winked at them.</p>
+
+<p>Later, however, he met the irate escort of the girl, when he took her
+back to her seat, and they glared at one another for a moment; then the
+escort walked off, leaving Bud master of the situation.</p>
+
+<p>After this came the &quot;sour-dough&quot; quadrille, in which only old-timers
+were permitted to dance, and Bud led it with Mrs. &quot;Cow&quot; Suggs to the
+tune of &quot;Turkey in the Straw.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But finally, as the ball was drawing to a close, Ted heard Stella utter
+a slight scream, and saw her trying to draw her hand away from a young
+fellow, whose back was turned to him.</p>
+
+<p>He was across the room in an instant, and had the fellow by the
+shoulders and swung him around. It was Wiley Creviss, who had been
+drinking.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What has this cur been doing?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He insisted on dancing with me, and when I told him I would not, he
+said he'd make me,&quot; answered Stella. &quot;Then he caught hold of me, and I
+suppose I cried out, although I didn't mean to. That is what comes of
+wearing these clothes. If I'd had on my others, I'd have had my gun with
+me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted had heard enough. There was a window close by, which was about ten
+feet above the sidewalk. Ted rushed the struggling and cursing Creviss
+toward it, and by sheer strength lifted him to the sill and threw him
+out.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I guess we've had about enough of this,&quot; he said quietly, when he
+returned to Stella. &quot;No more mixed balls for mine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As Ted was escorting Stella to the carriage, Billy Sudden ranged up
+alongside of him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look out for Creviss and his bunch on the way home. They're telling
+around what they're going to do with you. Want any help?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I reckon not, Billy. Our bunch can take care of them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They are going to try to kill you to-night.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_V'></a><h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h3>SHOTS FROM THE DARK.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>As the broncho boys swung through the streets of Soldier Butte, after
+leaving the ball, Ted Strong was in the lead, and Bud, Ben, Kit, and
+Clay were riding on either side of the carriage, while Jack Slate, with
+his black coat tails flapping in the breeze, brought up the rear.</p>
+
+<p>They were passing an alley, at the corner of which an electric lamp shed
+a path of light across the street, when a revolver shot cracked out, and
+Ted's hat left his head.</p>
+
+<p>The ball had just grazed his scalp, and the merest fraction of an inch
+lower would have killed him.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly every one pulled up, and Ted, wheeling suddenly, rode at full
+speed for the mouth of the alley.</p>
+
+<p>As he did so another shot came from the alley.</p>
+
+<p>Ted's revolver was in his hand, and he fired at the spot where he had
+seen the flash from the muzzle of the assassin's weapon.</p>
+
+<p>He heard Mrs. Graham scream, and turned back to the side of the carriage
+only to find that one of the horses attached to it had been hit by the
+bullet, and was down, but that neither Stella nor Mrs. Graham had been
+injured, and he rode straight into the dark alley, followed by Bud and
+Kit, leaving Ben and the other boys to guard the carriage, for he did
+not know from what direction another attack might come.</p>
+
+<p>The alley was as dark as a pocket, and as Ted rode into it he well knew
+that he was taking his life in his hands.</p>
+
+<p>At the far end of the alley he heard the beat of feet running swiftly,
+and fired his revolver several times in that direction, and heard a yell
+of pain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come on, fellows,&quot; he called. &quot;I think I got one of them that time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As he said this they saw two dark figures dart out of the alley into the
+street at the end opposite that at which the boys had entered, and they
+spurred in that direction.</p>
+
+<p>But when they came to the street there was no one in sight, but
+splotches of blood on the sidewalk testified to the fact that a wound
+had been inflicted upon some one.</p>
+
+<p>They rode up and down the block, but without discovering where their
+attackers had taken refuge.</p>
+
+<p>It was a low part of the town, and there was scarcely a house on either
+side of the street into which a criminal would not be taken and
+concealed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll have to give it up,&quot; said Ted, at last. &quot;We could hunt here all
+night without being any the wiser.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Disappointed, they rode back, after tracing the bloodstains along the
+sidewalk to where they were lost in the dusty street.</p>
+
+<p>They found that the carriage horse had been so badly hurt that its
+recovery was impossible, and Ted mercifully put a bullet into its brain.</p>
+
+<p>The carriage was surrounded by people from the dance hall, who had been
+brought by the shots.</p>
+
+<p>Among them was Billy Sudden.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon I called the turn,&quot; said he, as Ted came up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You sure did,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't presuming to give advice none,&quot; said Billy, &quot;but if it was me
+that got his sky piece knocked off and had a horse shot I believe I'd
+almost be tempted to round up this yere man's town and capture every
+hoodlum in it, and sweat them to find out who fired them shots.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It wouldn't do any good, Billy,&quot; said Ted. &quot;The people in this town
+have got it in for the ranch people. They think the ranches are taking
+trade away from them. They'd sooner see the ranches split into farms of
+forty acres each. They'd have so many more farmers to rob that way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon so. But what are you going to do? I want to tell you that me
+and my boys stand with you till the burning pit freezes over, whenever
+and wherever you need us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;May have to call on you one of these days, but not now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ain't you going after that young imp, Creviss? Say, he's the meanest
+boy I ever saw. If I was his father I'd make him behave, or I'd bust him
+wide open.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I understand his father thinks Wiley is just smart and spirited, and is
+ready to back him up in anything he does.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ought to make the old man popular.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not so you can see it. But that boy is a tough citizen, and getting
+tougher every day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm hearing a good deal about that kid these days. He trains with a
+bunch of bad ones over at Strongburg.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;For instance?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Lately he's been running with 'Skip' Riley, a crook who has the
+reputation of having made more money out of holding up trains than by
+working.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know his record. How long has he been there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Several months. He came there from the Nebraska penitentiary, and he
+was smooth enough to work the reformed-criminal, first-offense racket on
+the women there until they finally got him a job in the fire department.
+He seems to be a hero in the eyes of a lot of tough young fellows here
+and in Strongburg, and they follow him in anything he suggests.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's not a healthy proposition for a boy. Mr. Riley ought to be
+conducted out of town.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The worst of it is he has banded them into some sort of secret
+organization.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do they call it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did know, but I've plumb forgotten. There's a young fellow uptown
+whom I'm trying to keep straight on account of his folks back East. I
+know his sister.&quot; Ted could see Billy's face get red as he said this.
+&quot;His name is Jack Farley. Perhaps you know him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, he's a good kid, but he got into bad company at home and skipped.
+I corresponded once in a while with his sister, and she wrote me about
+him, and one day I run across him in a gambling house here. I hadn't
+seen him since he was a kid, but I knew him straight off because he
+looks so much like Kate&mdash;Miss Farley I mean&mdash;and I called him outside
+and had a talk with him. He was mighty uppy at first, and threw it into
+me so hard that I had to turn in and whale some sense into him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's one way of doing it,&quot; said Ted dryly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was the only way for him. He thought he'd get sympathy by writing
+home about it, but all he got was that they reckoned he deserved it or
+he wouldn't have got it. After that he was good. But he'd got in with
+that Creviss bunch and didn't seem able to get out of it, so I let him
+stay, only I made him come to me every day or two and tell me what he'd
+been up to, and that's as far as I've got.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Send him out to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He won't work on a ranch, or I'd had him out at the Dumb-bell long ago.
+He likes to work in town, so I got him a job, and so far he has stuck to
+it. But the gang keeps him from doing any good for himself. He knows the
+name of this organization of boys under Skip, and the next time I see
+him I'll find out what it is. Then you keep your eye peeled for it, for
+Creviss is one of the leaders, and I'm afraid, after to-night, he'll do
+all he can to make things lively for you. He's a mean, vindictive little
+cuss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll keep a weather eye out for him, never fear. Thank you for the tip.
+This is the first time I've heard of the bunch, I've been away from the
+ranch so much lately.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boys had hitched Jack Slate's horse into the carriage, and he got on
+the seat with Carl, and they were ready to start.</p>
+
+<p>With an &quot;Adios&quot; to Billy Sudden and his boys, they were off, and arrived
+at the ranch house without further incident.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Graham and Stella had retired for the night, and the boys were
+sitting before the fire in the living room, for the night was chilly and
+Song had built up a good blaze against their return.</p>
+
+<p>Naturally, the conversation drifted to the shots fired at them from the
+alley.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;While I wuz ambulatin' eround ter-night I overheard some conversation
+what wuz interestin',&quot; remarked Bud, who was sprawling on a bearskin in
+front of the fire.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What was it?&quot; asked Ted, who had been turning over in his mind what
+Billy Sudden had told him of the organization of tough boys under the
+guidance of the ex-convict.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wuz standin' clost ter one o' ther winders what opens out onter ther
+alley when I hears two fellers talkin' below me,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What were they saying?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wuzn't aimin' ter listen ter no one's privut conversation, but I
+caught your name, an' I tried ter hear what wuz said erbout yer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Naturally.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;One feller wuz talkin' pritty loud, ez if he'd been hittin' up ther
+tangle juice, an' ther other feller wuz tryin' ter make him put on ther
+soft pedal, what Clay calls talkin' pianissimo. But when the booze is in
+ther wit is out, an' ther feller would shut it down some fer a while,
+then he'd get a good lungful o' air an' bust out ergin.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What was it all about?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Erbout runnin' us off'n ther reservation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They'd have a fine chance to do that,&quot; said Ted, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It seems they hev some sort o' a club, ther 'Flyin' somethin' er
+other'&mdash;I couldn't jest catch what. To hear them fellers talk they're
+holy terrors.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How do they propose to run us off? Did you hear that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No; they didn't discuss ways an' means, but they said as how ther boss,
+they mentioned his name, but it's clear got erway from me, hed riz up on
+his hind legs an' hed give it out straight to ther gang thet ez long ez
+we wuz in ther country they couldn't do no good fer theirselfs,
+consequentially we must skidoo, ez they needed this part o' ther country
+fer their own elbowroom. They wuz real sassy erbout it, too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I suppose they thought all they had to do was to serve notice on us,
+and we'd vacate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon thet's ther way they hed it chalked up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, that bears out what Billy Sudden told me to-night after we were
+shot at.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then Ted related what Billy had told him about Skip Riley and his
+influence on the boys of Soldier Butte and Strongburg.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thet thar's ther very feller they wuz talkin' erbout, thet Skip Riley.
+Now I recolict it, an' ther name o' their sweet-scented aggergation is
+ther 'Flyin' Demons.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, mercy! Aren't they just awful?&quot; said Ben, with a grin. &quot;But which
+way are they expected to fly, toward you or from you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If they come monkeyin' eround these broad acres they'll be flyin' fer
+home,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Or to jail, if we can prove what I believe against them,&quot; said Ted
+thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is that?&quot; asked Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You haven't forgotten the mysterious robbery of the Strongburg Trust
+Company's office, have you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nope.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You remember that a great many people to this day disbelieve that the
+office was robbed at all, because everything was found locked and
+barred, and the most careful examination showed that no one could have
+broken into the room from which a box containing twenty thousand dollars
+in currency and a package of negotiable bonds was stolen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Shore, I remember. That's allays been ther greatest mystery in these
+parts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You haven't forgotten the robbery soon afterward of the Soldier Butte
+post office and the disappearance of the registered mail pouch that came
+in on the train at two o'clock in the morning. It was thrown into the
+inner office by the carrier, and the office securely locked. Yet in the
+morning it could not be found, and there was nothing to show that the
+post office had been entered.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon I haven't. We lost a bunch o' money in it ourselves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But we got it back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's so, but the carrier is still in jail, awaitin' trial fer
+stealin' the sack, an' I don't believe he had any more ter do with it
+than I had.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And yet the most careful examination by the post-office inspectors
+failed to show that the place had been forcibly entered, and, although
+the carrier, Jim Bliss, had witnesses to show that he went into the post
+office with the sack, and came right out without it, still he is in
+jail, accused of stealing it,&quot; said Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are several other cases of mysterious robberies which I might
+cite, but those are enough,&quot; said Ted. &quot;But the curious thing about it
+all is that the robbers left not the slightest trace, not a broken lock,
+not a mark to show that a window was forced or a hole bored. When the
+place is closed up at night there is the money, when it is opened in the
+morning the money is gone. And again, these robberies only occur when
+valuables are accidentally left out of the vaults.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is curious. Everything yer say is true, but I never thought erlong
+it ez much ez you, an' I didn't figger out how near they wuz alike.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what's your theory?&quot; asked Ben. &quot;You started to tell us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, who do you think committed these robberies?&quot; asked Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who but a gang of bad boys under the leadership and tutelage of a
+criminal?&quot; answered Ted. &quot;Who but the gang of Strongburg and Soldier
+Butte young toughs who go by the silly name of 'The Flying Demons'? If
+they get gay around this ranch, we'll have to tie a can to them and head
+them for the reform school or the penitentiary.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_VI'></a><h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE &quot;FLYING DEMONS'&quot; MESSAGE.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>When Ted Strong stepped out on the veranda the morning after the ball he
+found Stella staring curiously at a large, square piece of paper stuck
+on the wall of the ranch house.</p>
+
+<p>Nobody in the house had risen early, as they had all been up very late,
+except Song, the cook, who, when he saw that no one was disposed to turn
+out for an early breakfast, had gone out to work in the garden, in which
+he had with much skill raised an abundance of vegetables that year.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good morning, Stella; what is so interesting?&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It beats me,&quot; answered Stella. &quot;I wonder if this is one of Ben's
+witticisms. If it is, he ought to be spanked.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted was standing by her side, reading what had been printed on the
+paper.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;H'm! this is good,&quot; said he, and read aloud, as if to himself, the
+following warning:</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;TED STRONG AND BRONCHO BOYS: You ought to know by this time that
+     you are not wanted in this part of the country. Advise you to sell
+     out and skip. If you stay your lives will be made a hell on earth,
+     and we have the stuff that will do it. This is no bluff, as you
+     will find out if you disregard this word of friendly warning. You
+     will be given a short time to sell your stock, then git. This means
+     business.</p>
+
+<p>     &quot;THE FLYING DEMONS.&quot;</p></div>
+
+<p>&quot;That's a pretty good effort for a lot of kids,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Wait, here's
+a watermark in the paper. Let's see what it is?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted took the paper from the wall and held it up to the light.</p>
+
+<p>In the paper was the representation of the fabulous monster, the
+griffin, and woven into the paper were the words &quot;Griffin Bond.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's as easy as shooting fish in a tub,&quot; said Ted, as he folded the
+paper and put it in his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The fellow who put that warning up certainly left his footprints behind
+him,&quot; said Stella, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He did, but even without that I should have known the authors of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted then told Stella the substance of the conversation between the boys
+the night before, and of his suspicions as to the guilt of Creviss and
+his gang in the mysterious robberies that had occurred in the two towns.
+&quot;But,&quot; he concluded, &quot;it is not up to me to get at the matter. It is
+work for the sheriff. However, if those boys try any of their
+foolishness with us, we'll turn in and send them to the reform school,
+where they belong.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They're certainly a bad lot. I was talking to a lady at the 'rent rag'
+last night, and she was telling me what a horrid boy young Creviss is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wish I knew at what time this notice was put up here. It must have
+been done in daylight, for it was getting light in the east when we
+turned in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps some one was so quiet as to put it there while you were all
+inside talking.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hardly think so, for we were all sitting near the fireplace, and the
+room was so warm that Kit opened the door, and it stood open until we
+separated to go to bed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sure you could have heard them? Some of you were talking pretty loud,
+for I heard you in my room just before I went to sleep.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, of course, I couldn't be certain about it; but I came out on the
+veranda to take a look at the sky just before I turned in, and I didn't
+see it then. Surely, as I turned to come back into the house my eye
+would have caught that big piece of white paper beside the door.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What time was it that the most important part of your conversation took
+place?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Just before we broke up. I remember we were going over the mysterious
+robberies, and I expressed the opinion that they were the work of the
+gang under Skip Riley and Creviss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was probably the time the fellow who put up that notice was about.
+You see, if he followed you from Soldier Butte he wouldn't get here much
+earlier than that, for he wouldn't dare ride a pony the length of the
+valley at that time of the morning, so he had to walk from the south
+fence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove! I believe you are right.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If my theory is true, the fellow who brought the warning also carried
+back your conversation to the gang.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then they surely will have something to fight us on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, fear that you will get on their trail will compel them to try to
+make their bluff good, as expressed in that message.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'd give something to know when this thing was put up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let's see; it was about four o'clock when you turned in, wasn't it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Just about.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And just about that time Song gets up to cook for the boys in the bunk
+house who get out to relieve the night watch in the big pasture. Doesn't
+he?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Those are the orders.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then have Song in, and we'll ask him if he saw a strange man around the
+place when he got up. He might have seen him and thought nothing of it,
+and would never think of reporting it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good idea. Wait here and I will call him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes the Chinaman came shuffling in from the garden.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See here, Song,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Did you see a strange man here early this
+morning?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stlange man!&quot; said Song meditatively, with a smile of innocence on his
+broad, yellow face. &quot;No savvy stlange man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Man no b'long here,&quot; said Stella,</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes, I savvy. No see stlange man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What time you get up?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Me gettee up fo' clock.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did you go outside?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, me go out an' call cowbloy. Tell gettee up, P.&nbsp;D.&nbsp;Q. No gettee up,
+no bleakfast.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did you see outside that you don't see every morning?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Evely moling? No savvy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yesterday morning, day before that, day before that, all mornings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Lesterday moling, evely moling?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, the deuce! You try him, Stella.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Song, you see something makee you flaid this moling?&quot; said Stella,
+imitating Song's pidgin English.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes, me lookee out, plenty jump in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What you see?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Plenty wolf. He sneakee lound side house. I lun like devil.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What wolf look like?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Plenty big wolf. When he see me he lise up on hind legee, and lun likee
+man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ah ha! There's your clew,&quot; said Stella, turning to Ted. &quot;The fellow who
+posted this notice was disguised in a wolfskin so that he could sneak up
+to the house unnoticed by the Chinaman, or, if seen, he would make a
+bluff at scaring Song.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stella, you're a wonder.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Song, you no likee wolf?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, me plenty flaid wolf,&quot; answered the Chinaman, shaking his head
+violently.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Song. I givee you shotgun. Next time you see wolf, plenty
+shoot. Savvy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All light. You givee me gun, I shootee wolf plenty. Makee go 'ki-yi'
+and lun belly fast.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Song went away with a grin on his face like a crack in a piece of stale
+cheese.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stella, you've solved it. I believe whoever put that message there
+heard our conversation, and at least they'll hate us a bit worse than
+before, if that is possible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let them bark, the wolves. I never was afraid of a wolf, anyhow. If you
+want to throw me into spasms show me a bobcat. That's the fighting
+animal.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>During breakfast the boys were shown the warning that had been posted
+beside the door, and it was decided to pay no attention to it, but to
+watch for the appearance of a messenger from the &quot;Flying Demons,&quot; and if
+one was caught to make it hot for him.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had no doubt but Creviss and his gang would try to injure the
+broncho boys by every means in their power, but until they committed
+some overt act the boys could hardly afford to become the aggressors.</p>
+
+<p>For several days nothing happened, and the Moon Valley Ranch went the
+even tenor of its way.</p>
+
+<p>Preparations were under way for the fall round-up, and Ted had received
+letters from several heavy stock buyers that they would be present at
+that time to make their selections of such cattle as they desired to
+buy.</p>
+
+<p>It had always been the custom at the ranch to have an entertainment of
+some sort at the ranch afterward. This was started for the purpose of
+amusing the buyers with cowboy tricks and that sort of thing, but it had
+developed into something far greater, until now all the world was
+invited to the barbecue and the &quot;doings&quot; afterward. No one was barred
+who behaved himself.</p>
+
+<p>This year Ben Tremont had charge of the entertainment, and he was not
+limited as to expense, for every fellow was on his honor to provide the
+best entertainment for the least money.</p>
+
+<p>The manager's plans were generally kept secret from every one except Ted
+and Stella, who were the exceptional ones and were in every one's
+secrets and confidence.</p>
+
+<p>Ben had declared himself as to the superlative excellence of his show
+this year.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's going to be hard to beat,&quot; said he, in boasting about it. &quot;We've
+had some pretty good shows, but nothing like the one I'm getting up
+now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Kit had charge of the cowboy end of it, the races, the bronchobusting,
+the roping and tying contests; in fact, all the arena acts.</p>
+
+<p>This year Clay Whipple attended to the inner man, and was to provide a
+genuine old Southern barbecue, with trimmings.</p>
+
+<p>The round-up was to begin in less than a week, and the festivities were
+to follow immediately.</p>
+
+<p>Invitations had been sent broadcast into Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming,
+Idaho, Montana, and the Pacific coast States; everywhere, in fact, where
+the boys had friends, and from the responses received an enormous crowd
+would be present.</p>
+
+<p>Three days elapsed after the finding of the warning beside the door
+before anything more was heard from the Flying Demons.</p>
+
+<p>Then Ted found another message from them near the front door.</p>
+
+<p>It was as follows:</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;TED STRONG AND OTHERS: You think you know who committed the
+     mysterious robberies, but you are on the wrong track. You will
+     never find out, while your secrets are known to us. This is warning
+     number two. The third and last will come soon; then look out.</p>
+
+<p>     &quot;THE FLYING DEMONS.&quot;</p></div>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, why in the world do they call themselves the Flying Demons?&quot; asked
+Ted reflectively, as they were reading the second screed from their
+enemies. &quot;It seems to me that there is the secret of the whole thing.
+You never can tell what a pack of boys like that are going to do. They
+are more to be feared than older criminals, for they have no judgment,
+and will rush into the most reckless things just to show off before one
+another.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pay no attention to them,&quot; advised Stella. &quot;That's what I think they
+are doing now&mdash;showing off. I doubt if they think they can frighten us,
+but they are afraid of us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, by the way,&quot; said Ted, suddenly thinking of something. &quot;You
+remember I looked at the watermark on that first warning we received
+from these terrible demons. Well, this screed has the same
+mark&mdash;'Griffin Bond.' When I was in town to-day I went into the bank.
+Old man Creviss was behind the counter, and that precious son of his was
+beside him. I had a check cashed, and Mr. Creviss asked me why we didn't
+keep our bank account there. I told him we had thought something about
+it, but I didn't mention that we had decided not to. Then I asked him
+for a couple of sheets of paper on which to write a note, and he handed
+them to me. I took them to the window and held them up to the light to
+see the watermark.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And what was it?&quot; asked Stella eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The griffin.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then the paper on which these things were written came from the bank?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They certainly did. After I had looked at the watermark I turned to
+young Creviss and looked him square in the eye. He turned as white as
+chalk, and his lip trembled.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's a coward,&quot; said Stella positively. &quot;Why didn't he bluff it out?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He had nothing to stand on; but, as you say, he's a rank coward, and
+it's my opinion that it's only fear of Skip Riley that keeps him at it,
+anyway. At all events, I gave him a good scare, for instead of writing
+the note I folded up the paper and put it into my pocket. He stepped
+forward as if he would interfere and make me give the paper back, not
+having used it, but I gave him a glassy glare and walked out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then it was he who wrote the warnings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course, and he knows that I have him dead to rights. That is another
+mark against me with the gang.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Better watch out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They can have me if they can get me.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_VII'></a><h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h3>SONG SHOOTS A WOLF.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Early one morning the broncho boys were startled out of their beds by
+the double explosion of a shotgun, followed by excited yells and screams
+of agony.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That Chinaman has shot somebody,&quot; thought Ted, as he rapidly skipped
+out of bed and pulled on his trousers.</p>
+
+<p>In the living room he met all the boys, as scantily clad as himself,
+hurrying out to see what the noise was all about.</p>
+
+<p>They could hear Song behind the house screaming in Chinese at the top of
+his voice, and in an ear-splitting falsetto, which showed that he was
+tremendously excited.</p>
+
+<p>Thither they rushed, and for a moment the ludicrous scene far
+outbalanced the seriousness of what had happened.</p>
+
+<p>On the ground was a young fellow about seventeen years of age. He was
+writhing with pain, and the blood was oozing through his clothes in
+fifty places.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ha, ha!&quot; shrieked Song. &quot;Me shootee wolf, turnee into man light away.
+Ha, ha, me allee same plenty smart man, likee magician.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, you're a hot magician,&quot; said Bud; &quot;You've made this feller second
+cousin ter a porous plaster. That's what you've done.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who is he, Song?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Me no savvy him. Me comee out chicken house getee eggs fo' bleakfast. I
+cally gun, shotee plenty wolf all samee Mliss Stella say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But this is not a wolf.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All samee wolf. I open chicken house do'. I see wolf. Plenty glowl at
+Song. I no likee gun. Shutee my eye. Pull tligger, an' gun goee off. All
+samee wolf no mo' glowlee, him yellee like thundeh. When smokee blow way
+wolf gonee, all samee man comee. I plenty magician, I thinkee.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted looked in the chicken house, and on the floor lay the dried hide of
+a big gray wolf.</p>
+
+<p>Now he understood. The message had come the third time from the Flying
+Demons.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Kit, run around to the front door and see if there is a message there
+for us from our friends the Demons.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a moment Kit was back, holding a piece of paper in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>Ted took it from him, and read it.</p>
+
+<p>It was the third and last warning. It said:</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;TED STRONG: We have warned you twice before to leave this part of
+     the country, but you have made no move to do so. This is the third
+     warning. If you are not away from here in a week the vengeance will
+     fall upon you. Beware!</p>
+
+<p>     &quot;THE FLYING DEMONS.&quot;</p></div>
+
+<p>&quot;Did you bring this?&quot; asked Ted, of the wretched youth, who still lay
+upon the ground groaning from his numerous wounds.</p>
+
+<p>There was no reply. The fellow could only toss his head from side to
+side and rub his legs, into which the bulk of the shot had been fired by
+the excited Chinaman.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You won't answer, eh? Well, we'll find a way to make you. I'm glad
+you've given us a week,&quot; said Ted, laughing. &quot;That will at least give us
+time to hold our round-up and festivities.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, if I live through this I'll never go into anything like it again,&quot;
+moaned the youth upon the ground.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here, stand up,&quot; said Ted to him. &quot;You're not badly hurt. You're only
+stung, twice. Get on your feet and we'll see what we can do for you.
+You're a long way from dead yet. What's your name?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jack Farley. Oh, if I could only be sure that I wasn't going to die!&quot;
+exclaimed the youth.</p>
+
+<p>He was the young fellow Billy Sudden had spoken about.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We can't tell how badly you are hurt until you get up,&quot; said Ted.
+&quot;Rise, and we'll go into the house and examine your wounds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Slowly young Farley got to his feet, but when he tried to walk he
+uttered a howl of pain, and sank down again.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yellow all through,&quot; said Ben, in a tone of disgust.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ever have about three ounces of duck shot pumped into yer system
+through yer hide?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Never had.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then yer don't know all ther joys o' life. I've had one ounce shot
+inter my leg, an' if ther contents o' two shells gives double ther pain
+one does, then excuse me. An' mine wuz only snipe shot, at that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pick him up, boys, and lay him on the lounge in my room,&quot; said Ted.
+&quot;I'll take a look at him after a while, meantime some of you watch him
+to see that he doesn't get away. We need him for evidence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Bud and Ben had carried the wounded boy into Ted's room and laid
+him on the lounge, Bud stood over him regarding him with interest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I sorter envy yer, kid,&quot; he said at last.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You can have 'em, but I don't see why you envy me,&quot; said Farley.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wuz thinkin' how happy you'll be all through these lonesome winter
+evenings, pickin' ther shot out o' yer legs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Farley had been carried into the house, Ted called Kit to him and
+said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Kit, I wish you'd ride over to Suggs' ranch and tell Billy Sudden that
+his prot&eacute;g&eacute; is over here with his hide peppered with bird shot, and ask
+him to ride over and take a look at him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>During breakfast they related to Stella the story of Song's wolf hunt in
+the chicken house, and the result.</p>
+
+<p>Song was as proud as a peacock, and wore &quot;the smile that won't come off&quot;
+as he flitted around the table waiting on every one.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Missee Stella,&quot; he said, &quot;Song all samee one cowbloy now, eh? What
+you sayee?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, Song, you have certainly followed instructions. You got your wolf
+that time, sure. How you likee shootee?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No likee, Missee Stella. Makee too much noisee, all samee too much
+plenty fiahclackers. Kickee like blazes. Plitty near knockee arm outee
+Song.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boys stripped Farley after breakfast, and found his legs in pretty
+bad condition. They looked as if Song's gun had been loaded with
+smallpox, and all of it had lodged in the lad's legs.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Boys, we'll have to take relays in picking the shot from our first
+victim,&quot; said Ted. &quot;There's too much work here for one man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's a turrible-lookin' demon now with a hide full o' shot. Ther
+punctured demon of Demonville! Say, kid, I'd hate ter laugh at yer, but
+yer a sight. Why didn't yer fix it so's them two charges o' shot would
+hev been distributed among ther gang? Then yer could sit down o'
+evenings an' pick shot out o' one another instid o' plottin' agin' ther
+whites.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let him be, Bud, he's having all he can do to think about these shots,
+as it is. The things for us to do now is to pick them out of him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll let him count 'em ez they come out. That'll help take his mind
+off his troubles, but he'll hev ter hev a great head fer figgers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They went to work on him with their penknives, as most of the shot were
+just beneath the skin. But it was painful enough, at that, and every
+time a shot came out Farley groaned deeper. While they were engaged in
+this, to them, pleasing occupation, Billy Sudden arrived.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, kid,&quot; he said to Farley. &quot;So you got it at last. I could have
+told you to keep away from Ted Strong and his bunch. They're bad
+medicine for a herd o' mavericks like you to graze with. You tackled the
+wrong outfit. They're too many fer you, and if you'll all take a fool's
+advice you'll keep away, or else some of you will be looking through a
+griddle in a door up at the penitentiary.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Farley made no reply, only hid his face and groaned at every extracted
+shot.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, kid, what about this gang you belong to?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boy shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;D'ye mean to say you're not going to tell me about it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boy nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the reason you won't?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The oath.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Slush with the oath. You had no business to take it. What'll the home
+folks think when I tell them about this. Shot by a Chinaman in the
+chicken house at dawn!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Billy paused to let the ignominy of it sink in. It did sound pretty bad
+and mean and cheap. There were no heroics in this, such as Farley had at
+first considered his r&ocirc;le.</p>
+
+<p>He hid his face on his arm, and his body shook. Billy had probed deep
+into his pride.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, come on,&quot; said Billy. &quot;This is no time for a conspirator to do
+the baby act. I suppose you thought it was to be a spotlight scene where
+you stood in the center doing the heavy stunt, and all the rest sat on
+the bleachers and applauded. By gee! Peppered by a Chinaman, and with
+snipe shot, at that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, quit it!&quot; said Farley. &quot;I know I was a chump for sticking with
+those fellows, but I needed the money.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What money?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My share of the&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, nothing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, there is something. What robbery was it you shared in?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't steal anything.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I suppose not. You did the dirty work of being lookout, or something
+like that, and they threw you the bone while they kept the meat and fat,
+eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What shall I do with him?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Keep him locked up as a hostage. That may bring those young fools to
+their senses,&quot; said Billy. &quot;I'm disgusted with him for not making a
+clean breast of the whole foolish business, and if it wasn't for his
+sister, I'd toss him up in the air and forget him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The rest of the day was spent in picking shot out of Farley, and by
+evening he was relieved of the last one.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll put him in that empty room at the corner of the house, and take
+turns watching him through the night,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Until bedtime Farley sat in the living room with the rest of them, and
+they were unusually guarded in their conversation.</p>
+
+<p>When it came time to retire Farley was conducted to the room which was
+to be his prison, and it fell to Carl to take the first watch, and to
+call Ben at one o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>In the room there was a lounge and a pair of blankets for Farley, a
+table and a lamp, and a chair for the watch.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whatever you do, don't go to sleep, Carl,&quot; said Ted. &quot;The reason I'm
+putting you on the first watch is because you're such a sleepyhead.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don'd vorry aboud me,&quot; said Carl, with a yawn. &quot;I pet you I vas der
+sleepinglessness feller in der whole bunch. If he gets avay on my vatch
+it vill not be pecause I don'd sleep.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I guess you mean all right, but I swear I can't understand you. Only
+keep awake.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yah; I avake keeping all der time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Carl sat in the chair watching his prisoner, and soon saw Farley's chest
+heaving regularly and heard his deep breathing as he slept. Then things
+seemed to waver and fade away.</p>
+
+<p>Carl started up at hearing some one beating on the door, and sat rubbing
+his eyes. It was broad daylight.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, I'll get up pooty soon yet. Is preakfast retty?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here, open the door. This is Ted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Vait a minute.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Carl staggered sleepily to the door and unlocked it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where is your prisoner?&quot; asked Ted, stalking into the room, and looking
+at the open window.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My vat? Ach, Gott in himmel, vat haf I dided? I am schoost coming
+avake. He iss gone! I haf slept on vatch. I am foreffer disgraced. Kill
+me, Ted! I haf no appetite to live any more alretty,&quot; cried Carl.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had been angry at discovering the escape of Farley, for he had
+conceived a plan to use him against Creviss. He had risen early, and
+when he found that all the boys were in bed except Carl, he immediately
+suspected the truth.</p>
+
+<p>But Carl's despairing manner turned him from anger.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Never mind, Carl,&quot; he said. &quot;It was my fault for putting you on watch.
+You were not cut out for a watchman. Or, perhaps, you were, according
+to the funny papers, but not of prisoners.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>During breakfast Carl was compelled to endure the jokes of the boys at
+his failure to guard the prisoner, which he did with a lugubrious
+countenance; then, at a signal from Ted, the subject was dropped.</p>
+
+<p>About ten o'clock Billy Sudden rode up to the ranch house.</p>
+
+<p>There was something in his manner that betokened news of importance, and
+he strode unbidden into the living room, where Ted was sitting at his
+desk.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where's the kid?&quot; he asked abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who, Farley?&quot; asked Ted, looking up from his work.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Skipped.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I said skipped.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great Scott! I'd give a hundred dollars if he hadn't.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What time did he get away?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't know, exactly. Carl was watching him, but he fell asleep almost
+as soon as they were in the room together, and didn't wake up until six
+o'clock this morning, and Farley was gone. No one knows how he got away
+or at what time. It might have been any time. He probably woke up in the
+night and saw that Carl was dead to the world, and opened the window,
+dropped to the ground, and hit the trail. That's all I know about it.
+But what makes you so anxious about it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then you haven't heard the news?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Guess not. What is it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The First National Bank was robbed last night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great guns! Creviss' bank! That's the United States depository!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The same.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What are the details?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I rode through town this morning on my way over here to see if being
+confined for the night wouldn't make the kid talk, when I saw a bunch of
+men standing in front of the bank. I butted in and asked what the
+excitement was, and they told me that the bank had been robbed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But how?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's what nobody knows. When the cashier, Mr. Henson, got to the bank
+this morning everything apparently was all right. The doors and windows
+were fastened, and there was no sign anywhere that the bank had been
+forcibly entered. Of course, he didn't look at these things first. He
+went to the vault and opened it at the proper time and examined its
+contents casually. Everything seemed to be as usual. But when, a few
+minutes later, he went to get out the currency, it was all gone. He
+hadn't counted up when I left there, so no one knows the exact amount,
+but it was large.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_VIII'></a><h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE BATTLE WITH THE BULL.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>The excitement incident to the mysterious robbery of the Creviss bank
+was intense.</p>
+
+<p>How had it been done? This was the question that every one was asking
+his neighbor. But none could answer it.</p>
+
+<p>The evening before the robbery had taken place the bank had been closed
+by the cashier, and by Mr. Creviss himself.</p>
+
+<p>The money, books, and papers, with which the business of the day had
+been conducted, had been carried into the vault by the cashier, and Mr.
+Creviss, who was an unusually cautious man, looked into the vault after
+the cashier came out, to see that everything was in. Then he closed the
+vault doors, and turned the handle of the combination, setting the time
+lock, thus securing the doors from being opened until nine o'clock the
+next morning.</p>
+
+<p>The only way in which it could be opened, and an almost impossible way,
+at that, was by blowing it open.</p>
+
+<p>And yet the vault had been robbed, and the vault lock had apparently not
+been tampered with.</p>
+
+<p>It had the appearance of necromancy.</p>
+
+<p>Ted rode into town with Billy Sudden, arriving about noon.</p>
+
+<p>Billy rode on to the Dumb-bell Ranch, and Ted stopped at the bank. It
+seemed deserted. But as he entered the door he saw a big man, dressed in
+the flashy clothes affected by managers of cheap circuses and fake
+shows, standing at the end of the counter talking to Wiley Creviss.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can't do anything with that check,&quot; Ted heard Creviss say. &quot;You'll
+have to come in when the cashier is here. The safe is locked, and I
+can't get into it, anyway, and all the currency is in it. I'm only
+staying here until the cashier gets back from dinner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When will that be?&quot; asked the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In about half an hour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The stranger picked up his valise, which seemed to be heavy, and walked
+out grumbling about banks that closed up for dinner.</p>
+
+<p>Ted said nothing to Wiley, but he took a good look about the bank,
+disregarding the other lad's scowls.</p>
+
+<p>He observed that the vault door stood open, but that there was no money
+in sight, and the place had an air of desertion, as if business was
+slack.</p>
+
+<p>When Strong had seen all that he wanted of the apparent entrances to the
+bank that a criminal might use to force his way in, he left with two
+distinct impressions on his mind. One was that the vault door had been
+open when he came in, and that Wiley Creviss had abruptly closed it when
+he saw Ted staring at it. The other was the remarkable appearance of the
+showman, for without doubt he was that.</p>
+
+<p>As before, the mysterious robbery of the bank proved to be too hard a
+nut for the citizens to crack, and when they had thrashed out all the
+theories advanced and knocked them to pieces again, they forgot it.</p>
+
+<p>Not so Ted Strong. This succession of robberies, none of them leaving
+behind the slightest clew to the perpetrators, interested him. Its very
+difficulty of solution, which had made the lesser brains abandon it,
+compelled his attention and interest.</p>
+
+<p>Had it been his business to tackle the problem, he gladly would have
+done so. But the only Federal end to it was the robbery of the post
+office, which the inspectors of that department were working on, unless,
+perhaps, it might be found that the funds of the government for general
+purposes at Fort Rincon had been stolen. Then the case would come under
+the operations of the United States marshal's office.</p>
+
+<p>But other and more pressing things of a personal nature gradually took
+his attention from crime, and he devoted himself to the coming round-up.</p>
+
+<p>All the spare room in the Moon Valley Ranch house was occupied by
+visiting cattle buyers, who had come to the round-up. The rooms of the
+boys had been given up to guests, while they camped on the prairie
+behind the house.</p>
+
+<p>At last the great day came.</p>
+
+<p>Early in the morning the boys were out, and with them was Stella.</p>
+
+<p>Cow Suggs had loaned Ted his outfit for the day, and Ted was glad to
+have the boys, for there was no cleverer cowman in the country at a
+round-up, saving Ted himself, who was king of them all, and so conceded,
+than the dark, lithe cow-puncher, Billy Sudden, who had been through
+college and had traveled in Europe before he deserted the East for the
+toil, freedom, and excitement of the range.</p>
+
+<p>It was now time to round up all the stock on the Moon Valley Range, cut
+out the marketable stuff, and brand the yearlings.</p>
+
+<p>This is not only a troublesome task, but it is dangerous, and not a
+moment of the time until the task is accomplished but has its exciting
+adventures and escapes from death.</p>
+
+<p>The boys did not know exactly how many head of cattle they owned. They
+had been selling and replenishing their stock from time to time, and the
+increase of calves had been very large, for Moon Valley, situated in the
+lee of Dent du Chien, or Dog Tooth Mountain, with its rich grass, the
+richest in the Black Hills, and its abundance of fresh, clear spring
+water, was an ideal breeding place.</p>
+
+<p>There were on the ranch at that time several dangerous bulls, and this
+added to the hard work of the day, because the monarchs of the range did
+not like to be disturbed and have their following broken up and
+scattered.</p>
+
+<p>In the big pasture, which lay at the foot of Deni du Chien Mountain, was
+the largest herd in the valley.</p>
+
+<p>The king of this herd was known as &quot;Gladiator.&quot; He was always looking
+for a fight, and never refused a challenge, whether from another bull or
+from what he considered his natural enemy, man.</p>
+
+<p>A man on foot in that pasture would have stood no more chance for his
+life than if he tried to stand in front of the engine that hauls the
+Empire State Express going at top speed. Gladiator would kill him just
+as quickly and as surely.</p>
+
+<p>So it was that strangers were kept out of the big pasture, whether they
+were mounted or not, unless they were escorted by some member of the
+broncho boys, or one of the older cowboys about the place. Stella, with
+her red bolero, nearly caused a tragedy one day by coming within the
+vision of Gladiator, who took the bolero for a challenge.</p>
+
+<p>Stella turned in time and fled, and had it not been for the fleetness of
+her pony and her own superb riding, there had been no more to relate of
+the adventures of the girl pard of the Moon Valley boys.</p>
+
+<p>The morning of the round-up Ted undertook personally to turn the herd to
+the rendezvous.</p>
+
+<p>Stella insisted upon accompanying him, and at last he was persuaded to
+give his consent, but only on the condition that she wear subdued
+colors, which she did, with skirt and jacket of a light-dun color.</p>
+
+<p>The herd was grazing in the noble range that stretched for miles along
+and across the valley in the shadow of the splendid mountain.</p>
+
+<p>It was widely scattered, and as the band of horsemen rode out toward it
+the cattle lifted their heads for a moment and took a quiet survey, then
+returned to their feeding.</p>
+
+<p>Not so Gladiator.</p>
+
+<p>The great white-and-black bull raised his head proudly, and his fierce,
+steady eyes regarded them without fear.</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, Gladiator knew no fear, whether of man or beast, wolf pack or
+mountain lion, serpent or bird of prey.</p>
+
+<p>He was monarch of that herd, and no one said him nay except Ted Strong,
+who ruled the ranch and all that was on it, by the general consent of
+his comrades and his own fitness for his rulership.</p>
+
+<p>Ted and Gladiator had had numerous differences, and it was the bull that
+had backed down every time.</p>
+
+<p>Yet he did not fear Ted. Rather he hated him because he could not
+conquer this quick, brave, and resourceful fellow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That bull will be the death of you some of these days,&quot; said Stella to
+Ted once when Gladiator, resenting Ted's intrusion into the herd for the
+purpose of cutting out some calves, charged him. But Ted in the end
+threw the bull with his rope, humiliating him before all the herd. From
+that time forth Gladiator's eyes always became red with anger when he
+saw Ted, but he did not misbehave, because he respected Ted's lariat and
+quirt, and the strong arm that wielded them.</p>
+
+<p>When they got to the herd the boys circled it from behind, riding in
+slowly.</p>
+
+<p>Ted and Stella were on the left point, with Bud and Kit opposite.</p>
+
+<p>Bill Sudden was in the rear to drive, while the other Moon Valley
+cowboys and Billy Sudden's boys came in from the sides.</p>
+
+<p>At the first interruption of their grazing the cattle moved along
+sluggishly, but Gladiator did not move.</p>
+
+<p>The big bull stood his ground, with eyes gazing steadily at Ted and
+Stella, who were approaching him slowly and persistently.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Gladiator threw up his head and gave a low, menacing bellow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The old chap is waking up,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Be careful, Ted,&quot; said Stella. &quot;He's not in very good humor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see he isn't. But if we go at him easily he'll be all right.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't take any chances with him alone, Ted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Still, I'm not going to let him boss this job. He's got to lead this
+herd out, and that's all there is to it, for it's a cinch that they
+won't go without him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella knew that it was useless to say anything more, as when Ted made
+up his mind to do a thing, it would be done if everything broke.</p>
+
+<p>Billy Sudden had got the herd moving up from the rear, but the forward
+end of the herd was stagnant.</p>
+
+<p>Gladiator refused to budge, and stood with his stubborn forefeet planted
+on the sod, his head raised insolently.</p>
+
+<p>But it could be seen that his anger was working within him, and would
+soon break forth.</p>
+
+<p>Bud was working the cattle nearest him gently on the move, but when they
+saw that their leader was standing still they ceased their progress and
+began to crowd and mill, and the steers were getting reckless and
+beginning to throw their tails in the air and utter low, growling
+bellows.</p>
+
+<p>It was a critical moment. Who was to be the master must be decided
+quickly. If the bull conquered then the cattle would get to milling
+generally, and the mischief would be to pay.</p>
+
+<p>It would not take long for them to stampede, if the bull started the
+panic, or made a charge. Ted saw the danger, and knew that the condition
+must be treated diplomatically, which was the easier way, or with force,
+of which the outcome was most uncertain.</p>
+
+<p>It depended, in a measure, on the temper of the bull himself.</p>
+
+<p>The cattle were crowding up from the rear, and those nearest the bull
+were beginning to feel the pressure and were pushing toward Gladiator,
+who was fifteen feet in advance of the herd.</p>
+
+<p>When he noticed that the herd was moving, his anger increased, and he
+lowered his head and began to paw the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Ted held up his hand to Billy Sudden as a signal to cease pushing the
+animals, but they had got the impetus and would not stop.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment they had begun to crowd upon the bull, who, with legs
+planted stubbornly, would not be crowded, and began to gore aside those
+who were being pushed upon him.</p>
+
+<p>Ted saw instantly that this was going to result in disaster if not
+stopped, as the frightened steers, feeling Gladiator's sharp horns,
+turned back on the herd, and were pushing their way frantically into the
+center of it, while others, coming up, were forced upon the bull's
+horns.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Darn a stubborn bull, anyhow!&quot; exclaimed Ted. &quot;I've got to get in and
+put a stop to that, or Gladiator will have the herd to milling or
+running in less than ten minutes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Be careful,&quot; was all Stella said, but there was a world of anxiety in
+her voice.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You better get out of the way, Stella,&quot; said Ted &quot;Ride to the rear.
+You will see it all, and have just as much fun, and will be out of
+danger.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What are you going to do?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm going to make that bull move along or bust a string.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted's jaw was set with determination, and when Stella saw that she knew
+that it would be useless for her to say anything more.</p>
+
+<p>Ted loosened his rope, grasped his quirt firmly, and rode slowly toward
+the bull, while Stella signaled to Billy Sudden to ride up to the head
+of the herd.</p>
+
+<p>The boys, observing Ted's actions, knew what he was about to do, and
+ceased moving the cattle and sat on their horses to watch for the
+outcome of the contest.</p>
+
+<p>Most of them felt like spectators at a performance of a specially
+hazardous feat, and held their breath. But each was on the alert to rush
+to Ted's assistance the moment he seemed to need it.</p>
+
+<p>As the bull looked up, and saw Ted approaching him, he ceased pawing,
+and stood with watchful eyes. Occasionally he sent forth a challenging
+bellow. His tail was switching from side to side, like that of an angry
+cat.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was coming alertly. No one knew the danger of openly attacking the
+bull better than himself, and yet it must be done.</p>
+
+<p>It was rule or kill, so far as the bull was concerned, for if the boys
+could not manage him they would be compelled to kill him so that they
+might be able to handle the herd, substituting a more amiable bull in
+his place.</p>
+
+<p>A cowman cannot always tell what a bull is going to do when it is faced
+on the range. It may dodge the issue or it may attack, and Ted was wary
+enough to be on the watch for the latter contingency.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, when Gladiator, without so much warning as the lowering of
+his head, sprang at Ted when he was not more than ten feet away, he
+covered the distance in two or three lumbering bounds, and Ted had just
+sufficient time to wheel his pony to one side to avoid being bowled
+over. But the horns of the bull struck the gaiter on his left leg, as it
+rushed past, and tore it off, almost unseating him. Stella, breathlessly
+watching the encounter, gasped as she saw Ted reel in his saddle. But
+she breathed easier as she saw him straighten up and turn his horse
+rapidly to face the bull again.</p>
+
+<p>With almost incredible agility, the bull turned and came rushing at Ted
+again, but the leader of the broncho boys rode swiftly away from him,
+tolling him away from the herd.</p>
+
+<p>Finally the bull stopped and began to paw the earth. Ted, to tempt him
+to another attack, directed Sultan toward him at full speed, intending
+to swerve when he got close to his bullship, and dodge him and infuriate
+him further, so that he would follow. He knew that Sultan could outrun
+Gladiator.</p>
+
+<p>But, as he got close to the bull, in spite of the warning cries from
+Stella and Bud, Gladiator swerved to meet the attack, and before the
+fleet-footed pony could escape he was struck, and went rolling over the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>A cry of horror went up from the boys as they all dashed to the scene.
+Ted Strong was on the ground. The pony had scrambled to his feet, and
+stood trembling a few feet distant. The bull, with lowered head, was
+charging upon Ted.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_IX'></a><h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<h3>TED GETS AN ASSIGNMENT.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>To the horror-stricken onlookers it appeared that Ted's end had come. He
+lay prone upon the sod with his face turned to the sky, evidently
+stunned.</p>
+
+<p>The bull, with all the ferocity of his kind when goaded to anger, was
+charging upon him, his needle-like horns a few inches from the ground,
+and the foam flecking from his lips.</p>
+
+<p>Stella, her face white and drawn, was galloping toward him as fast as
+her pony could go, while Bud was lashing his pony to the height of its
+speed as he crossed the face of the herd. Billy Sudden was neck and neck
+with Stella, calling to her to hold back.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Ted Strong came to life, and looked over his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>He saw his danger, and quick as thought he rolled over, away from the
+bull.</p>
+
+<p>But that was all. Every one could see that it would do no good. He could
+not expect to escape from the infuriated beast in that manner, and a
+hollow groan escaped the lips of more than one.</p>
+
+<p>Ted surely was doomed.</p>
+
+<p>The bull's horns caught Ted in the side as he continued to roll away
+from it, and it stopped for an instant, settling itself to toss him.
+Stella turned her head away with a muttered prayer, and even the
+cowboys, used to accidents in the round-up, gasped.</p>
+
+<p>But suddenly they saw a cloud of dust fly upward, and thought at first
+that Ted had fired his revolver into the face of the infuriated beast,
+and it seemed strange that they had not heard the report of the weapon.</p>
+
+<p>Then, miracle of miracles, the bull, with a snort of pain, threw up its
+head, and Ted was not impaled upon its horns.</p>
+
+<p>There was another cloud of dust, and the bull began backing away, slowly
+but surely, shaking its head, as if in pain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Screamin' catamounts, did yer see thet, Stella?&quot; cried Bud Morgan, as
+he rode alongside the girl,</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did he do?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's saved hisself by blindin' ther bull. He throwed dust inter its
+eyes. I'm dinged if I see how thet feller kin think o' things like thet
+when he's down an' out. Look at him!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As the bull rubbed its face in the grass Ted rolled over twice, then
+leaped to his feet and ran to where Sultan was awaiting him.</p>
+
+<p>A mighty cheer went up from the boys, and the color came back into
+Stella's face with a rush, but she could not have uttered a sound to
+save her life.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime, the bull had recovered, having rubbed the dust from its
+eyes in the short grass, and looked about for its enemy.</p>
+
+<p>It caught sight of Ted in the act of mounting, and sprang toward him
+with the swiftness of a deer.</p>
+
+<p>Then Stella recovered her voice.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Run, Ted! Run!&quot; she cried.</p>
+
+<p>But Ted had seen the necessity of that himself, and, wheeled Sultan and
+dashed off, looking over his shoulder at the enraged monster that was
+following him, while he rapidly uncoiled his lariat.</p>
+
+<p>Having run several hundred yards and outdistanced the bull, he turned
+and stopped with his rope in his hand, closely calculating the animal's
+distance and speed.</p>
+
+<p>Bud and Stella were following the bull closely, both of them preparing
+their lariats for the throw.</p>
+
+<p>As the bull charged, Ted's rope was seen to leave his hand and go
+sailing through the air in graceful loops and curves that lengthened out
+one after the other.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most difficult throws a cow-puncher can make with a lariat
+was that which Ted attempted. He had to calculate to a degree the speed
+with which the bull was advancing toward him, and that at which the rope
+was leaving him. To calculate the point where the two would come
+together would seem an almost impossible task.</p>
+
+<p>But so nicely had Ted estimated it, that the open noose fell over the
+bull's head and settled down, and, turning swiftly, Ted spurred Sultan
+to one side, and the bull, shaking his head and emitting short, angry
+bellows, rushed past.</p>
+
+<p>The intelligent pony had suddenly come to a stop, bracing himself for
+the shock, and when Gladiator came to the end of the rope he turned
+completely over, and landed on his back with a thud that shook the
+earth.</p>
+
+<p>Bud had galloped forward, and was about to throw himself from the saddle
+to tie the brute, when, with the agility of a cat, the bull was on its
+feet, shaking its head and stamping the earth in a perfect fury of anger
+and desperation. But it was by no means beaten, and ran at Bud, who took
+to his heels. When again it arrived at the end of the rope, it went head
+over heels, much to its loss of wind and dignity.</p>
+
+<p>This time it did not rise so briskly, and Ted gave it all the time it
+wanted.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Stella dashed out and rode toward the bull, and when a few feet
+from it curved off, with the angry brute in full pursuit. Had her pony
+stumbled it would have been all up with her, for Gladiator was wild with
+rage, and when it was again thrown its fury knew no bounds.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A few more throws like that will settle him, I think,&quot; shouted Ted.
+&quot;Bait him again, Bud.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Again Bud rode out, and the bull took after him as before, and, when he
+was jerked onto his back by the rope, he lay there.</p>
+
+<p>Ted rode rapidly up to him, and, detaching a rope which had been knotted
+around his waist, tied the bull's legs fore and aft, and the exhausted
+brute did not make an objection.</p>
+
+<p>For several minutes the bull lay panting, then it recovered.</p>
+
+<p>When it came to its normal condition at last, it struggled furiously to
+get to its feet, but each time it got up Ted jerked it to its side,
+standing close to it so that it could see him.</p>
+
+<p>Time and again it thus fruitlessly struggled.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed to realize suddenly that it had been a very foolish bull, and
+that it had met its master, who now stood over him ready to tumble him
+over at any moment.</p>
+
+<p>So he lay quite still, following Ted's movements with its great, dark
+eyes, out of which all the ferocity had vanished.</p>
+
+<p>Ted stepped up to it and patted its head, and it made no objection to
+these attentions. Then he began to untie the bonds that held its legs
+together.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look out fer him, he's treacherous,&quot; called Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's all right,&quot; answered Ted. &quot;I'll bet he'll eat out of my hand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When it felt that it was free again, the bull got slowly to his feet and
+walked sedately in the direction of the herd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You've broken the spirit of that bull,&quot; said Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet I have,&quot; said Ted. &quot;That's just what he needed. He'll be a good
+bull now. If he isn't, I'll give him some more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted now rode to the head of the herd with Stella, and the other boys
+took their places.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Billy. Send them forward,&quot; shouted Ted to the rear of the
+herd.</p>
+
+<p>Skillfully Ted set the herd to moving toward the south, where the other
+herds were gathering under the management of the boys.</p>
+
+<p>At first Gladiator threw up his head arrogantly, and did not stir.</p>
+
+<p>Ted again rode toward him, swinging his lariat. The bull saw him as well
+as the rope, and, recognizing the agents of his defeat, moved off
+briskly at the head of the herd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say,&quot; said Bud, across the head of the herd, &quot;yer could slap that old
+duffer across the face with your hat, and he'd apologize.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They were almost at the rendezvous, where thousands of cattle had been
+gathered into a huge herd, and in every direction could be seen dust
+clouds announcing that others were on the way.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here comes Carl hotfoot,&quot; said Stella. &quot;He looks as if something had
+happened, and he was an extra edition with 'a full account of the
+terrible disaster.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, Carl! What is it?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Der United States marshal vaiting for you on der veranda iss,&quot; answered
+Carl solemnly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what do I care?&quot; asked Ted. &quot;He's come at a mighty busy time if
+he just wants to swap a little conversation. Did he say what he wanted?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, but he say it is very important vork, an' for you to hurry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My compliments to the marshal, and tell him I'm busy, and will see him
+as soon as I get through. You entertain him for a while.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But he der boss iss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not on this ranch. This is a free and unadulterated republic, where
+there are no bosses. Tell him to make himself at home, and I'll be
+there as soon as I can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Now the cattle were all rounded up, and the cutting out of the two and
+three-year olds began.</p>
+
+<p>This was intensely exciting work, in which Stella joined, as she was as
+skilled at it as any of the boys. Outside of the big herd, the cowboys
+were picking up the cut-outs and driving them to the branding pens, for
+many of them were acquired stock, and even many of the home yearlings
+had never been branded.</p>
+
+<p>Then the cows with calves were cut out, so that the youngsters might get
+a touch of life by feeling the sting of the hot iron with the Crescent V
+brand on it.</p>
+
+<p>The buyers were circulating in the herds, looking over the stock.</p>
+
+<p>Several of the buyers had brought their own cow-punchers with them, and
+these went to work cutting out the selections of their employers.</p>
+
+<p>The sky was thick with dust, and the air rang with the shouts of the
+cowboys and the lowing and bellowing of the cattle.</p>
+
+<p>The rattle of countless hoofs on the hard soil added to the din, and the
+cattle weaving in and out ceaselessly, and the dashing riding of the
+cowboys as they swooped out of the mass occasionally to drive back an
+escaping steer, made a scene of excitement, movement, and noise never
+seen anywhere, except at a Western cattle round-up and cut-out.</p>
+
+<p>Soon the work was pretty well in hand, and, leaving Bud Morgan as
+segundo, Ted went to the house to see the marshal.</p>
+
+<p>He found that officer sitting on the veranda, quietly smoking a cigar,
+an interested witness of the proceedings.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How are you, Mr. Easton?&quot; said Ted, shaking hands with the marshal. &quot;I
+must apologize for not coming sooner, but my hands were full.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So I see,&quot; said the marshal cordially. &quot;I was watching you work out
+there. Say, I believe I'd like to be a cow-puncher if I wasn't so old.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's a young man's job,&quot; said Ted, laughing; &quot;and even at that it is
+about all a young fellow can stand at times. But this to-day is a mere
+picnic to what we are up against sometimes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, you seem to be right in it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I love my business. I wouldn't be anything in the world except a
+cow-puncher.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But, remember, you are also a government officer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I never forget that. But, if it came to being compelled to quit one or
+the other of the occupations, I'd still be a cow-puncher, and let the
+marshalship go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's the very thing I came to see about.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You want my resignation?&quot; asked Ted, his spirits falling to zero.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By no means,&quot; laughed the marshal. &quot;Not that, but to ask you to
+undertake a somewhat difficult job. It transpires that when the Soldier
+Butte bank was robbed the other night, a large amount of money belonging
+to the government was taken. I didn't know this until early this
+afternoon, when I received a telegram from Washington to go after the
+robbers and land them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That'll be somewhat of a job,&quot; said Ted, drawing his chair closer to
+the marshal, so that he couldn't be overheard by passing people.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm well aware of that, and that's the reason I come to you. You and
+your boys must undertake the duty of clearing up the mystery of the
+robbery, and, if possible, recovering the money.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have a very probable theory as to who the robbers are, but it will be
+entirely another matter to fasten it on them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I leave it all to you. I don't want to have anything to do with it. All
+I want are results.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I shall not have time to tackle it for a day or two. Unfortunately
+our fall round-up is in progress, and, as this is the time we sell the
+product of our business, we can't leave it until everything is cleared
+up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's all right, Mr. Strong. But when you do get busy, don't come back
+home until you land the thieves.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_X'></a><h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<h3>A VISITOR IN THE NIGHT.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>A great deal of money changed hands that day. The stock buyers had their
+wallets loaded with cash when they came a-buying, for, when they had cut
+out the cattle they wanted, and the price was struck, they were prepared
+to drive them off at once.</p>
+
+<p>The sales at the round-up had been large, and Ted and the boys sat up
+late that night, after those guests who had elected to remain over for
+the festivities of the next day were safely in bed, counting the money
+and going over the books.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It has been a mighty good year for us, boys,&quot; said Ted, as he
+contemplated the total of their sales.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, and, best of all, it leaves us with all the old stock disposed of,
+and nothing but young and vigorous animals with which to begin building
+up again,&quot; said Kit, who had a great head for the cattle business and a
+faculty for seeing into the future.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What aire we goin' ter do with all this yere mazuma?&quot; asked Bud,
+looking over the stacks of fifties, twenties, tens, and fives that lay
+on the table around which they were sitting in the living room, and
+which was flanked by piles of gold and a few hundred-dollar bills.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Can't get it into the bank until day after to-morrow,&quot; said Ted. &quot;We'll
+be too busy to-morrow looking after our guests, and I don't suppose
+we'll be free until after the dance to-morrow night. Still, I'm not
+worrying about it. We know everybody here to-night, and I'll take care
+of it till we can ride over to Strongburg and bank it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Just then the door blew open with a bang, and big Ben scurried in,
+bringing with him a blast of prairie wind, crisp and chill from the
+mountain, that scattered the greenbacks all over the room, and two or
+three of the fives were blown into the fire and incinerated before any
+one could rescue them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Close that door!&quot; shouted Bud, grasping frantically at the money that
+was capering over the top of the table.</p>
+
+<p>Ben closed the door with a slam that shook the house.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'A fool and his money is soon parted,'&quot; quoted Ben, when he saw the
+havoc wrought by the wind.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet,&quot; said Kit &quot;Three fives blew into the fireplace, and are no
+more. We'll just charge them to your account.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Like dolly, you will!&quot; said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If it hadn't been for you they wouldn't be there. What's the reason we
+won't?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because you won't. I didn't make the wind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, but consarn ye, ye let it in, an' ye're an accessory before er
+after ther fact. I reckon both,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let it go, boys,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Pick up the bills, and we'll count and
+stack them again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where have you been, anyway?&quot; asked Kit, addressing Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Down beddin' my show for the night. They're about all in now. All
+except the music, which will be here in the morning,&quot; replied Ben. &quot;I'm
+not at all stuck on myself, but&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no, you've got a very poor opinion of yourself, I guess,&quot; said Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I want to say that I think I got the bunkie-doodelest show that
+ever paced the glimmering, gleaming, gloaming grass of Moon Valley.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Listen to the hombre explode,&quot; said Bud. &quot;He's tryin' ter be a feeble
+imitation o' a real showman. I'll bet he shows up ter-morrer like a
+ringmaster in a sucuss, with high, shiny boots an' a long whip an a
+tall, slick hat, an' crack his whip an' say: 'What will ther leetle lady
+hev next?'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ben blushed, for his ambitions in the show line, now that he had had a
+taste of it, had really been in that direction, only he wouldn't have
+had the boys know it for the world.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How about the show, anyhow, Ben?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What have you got? You might as well let us know now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not on your autobiography,&quot; answered Ben haughtily. &quot;I want to say,
+though, that your eyes will bulge like the knobs on a washstand drawer
+when you see what I've got, and then come to look at the bill for such a
+stupendous, striking, and singularly successful aggregation of freaks,
+acts, and divertisements embodied in this colossal and cataclysmic
+congregation of&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, cheese it,&quot; said Kit. &quot;You give me the pip.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, have it your own way,&quot; sighed Ben. &quot;This is what a fellow
+gets for serving his country, from Thomas Jefferson to John D.
+Rockefeller.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come on,&quot; said Ted persuasively. &quot;Loosen up and tell us what we are to
+have to-morrow. This is an executive session of the whole.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're like a lot of kids the day before Christmas. You've just got to
+see what mamma's hidden in the closet,&quot; said Ben. &quot;Well, I'll let you in
+on a little of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Shoot when you're ready,&quot; said Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was over at Strongburg about a month ago, and, knowing that I'd have
+to rustle up a show soon, I wrote to a theatrical agent in Chicago to
+let me know if he could furnish me with a good amusement company at
+small cost. He wrote me that he had the very thing, and offered me one
+of these bum 'wild west' shows, with a bunch of spavined ponies, a lot
+of imitation cowboys, fake Indians, and Coney Island target shooters.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An' yer didn't take 'em?&quot; asked Bud, in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tush! Well, I was up against it, when Morrison, the hotel man, told me
+that there was a showman in town, and perhaps I might get something out
+of him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hunted him up. He was a typical showman. Big fellow, large as a
+Noah's ark, dressed like a sunset, and loud as an eighteen-inch gun.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I saw the fellow in Soldier Butte the other day. He was talking to
+Wiley Creviss in the bank,&quot; said Ted. &quot;You've described him more
+picturesquely than I should, but I'm convinced he's the same man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I asked him what he had, and he told me he could furnish me on short
+notice anything from a three-ring circus to a hand organ and monkey,&quot;
+continued Ben. &quot;I told him how much money I wanted to spend, and he said
+he'd fix me up a show that would make everybody delighted, and I told
+him to go ahead. The show blew in to-night, and ran up their tents down
+near the corral.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How many have you got in it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've got a balloon ascension for the afternoon, a giant and a midget, a
+magician, an Egyptian fortune teller, a trick mule, a Circassian beauty,
+and a strong man.&quot; Ben looked around proudly, and the boys burst into
+peals of laughter.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you scraped the mold off of them yet?&quot; asked Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How's that?&quot; asked Ben haughtily.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you pulled the burs off the chestnuts?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See here, what do you mean? Are you casting aspersions on my show?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not exactly, but I think you've been stung by some old stranded side
+show that was taking the tie route back home. Circassian beaut! Ho-ho,
+likewise ha-ha! and some more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ter say nothin' o' a Egyptian fortune teller from Popodunk, Ioway, an'
+a wild man from ther Quaker village. Oh! give me ther smellin' salts.
+I'm goin' ter hev ther histrikes,&quot; laughed Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haf you not got a echukated vooly pig und a feller vot 'eats 'em
+alife'?&quot; asked Carl.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's right, Dutchy. It's a bum show what ain't got them,&quot; laughed
+Bud.</p>
+
+<p>The boys were laughing until the house rang with it, and Stella poked
+her pretty head out of the door to ask to be told the joke. Bud
+complied, with many humorous embellishments.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't pay any attention to them, Ben,&quot; said Stella sympathetically,
+&quot;I'll take in the show from start to finish.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Could friendship go any farther than that?&quot; asked Kit pathetically.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, you fellows give me a pain,&quot; said Ben, rising and stalking off to
+bed.</p>
+
+<p>He was soon followed by the others, Ted and Kit remaining behind to
+gather up the money and slip rubber bands around each of the packages of
+currency.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We ought to have a safe in the house, Ted,&quot; said Kit, looking over the
+pile of money. &quot;We often have large sums of money in the house, and some
+time we might get robbed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There's not much danger of that, Kit,&quot; answered Ted. &quot;There are not
+many fellows who would have the nerve to come into this house. Too many
+guns, and too many fellows who are not afraid to shoot them. I'm not
+afraid.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What was that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Kit was staring at the rear window.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I just looked up and thought I saw a face at the window.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're getting imaginative.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Just then the clock struck twelve.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I don't think so. I heard a slight cracking noise and looked up.
+Something white appeared at the window for an instant. It looked like
+the face of a child.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nonsense. A child couldn't look through that window. It's seven feet
+from the ground.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I suppose I was mistaken. Let's hide that money and go to bed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where shall we put it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Kit looked around the room, then smiled.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, in the cubby-hole, of course. There's a safe for you. We haven't
+used it for so long that I'd almost forgotten it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The very thing. Nobody'd find it there in a blue moon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They crossed over to a corner of the room and threw back the corner of a
+rug. Where the baseboard was mortised at the corner there appeared to
+have been a patch put in. Ted placed his hand against this, near the
+top, and it tipped back. It was hung on a pivot, and, as its top went in
+and the bottom came out, there was revealed a boxlike receptacle about
+two feet long and six inches deep.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is a bully place,&quot; said Ted, placing the packages of money within
+it. &quot;It is known to only five of us, and I'll bet that most of us have
+forgotten its very existence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The board was turned back into place and the rug spread out again.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Safe as in the Strongburg Bank,&quot; said Kit. &quot;Well, me for the feathers.
+We're going to be kept humping to-morrow. <i>Buenas noches</i>.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes the big ranch house was dark and quiet; every person
+in it was sound asleep.</p>
+
+<p>Ted Strong had sunk into a deep and untroubled sleep, for his day had
+been very active, and he was tired when he lay down.</p>
+
+<p>But he had not been sleeping more than a half hour when he found himself
+sitting straight up in bed, very wide-awake, and wondering why.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Something wrong in the house,&quot; he muttered to himself.</p>
+
+<p>He sniffed the air to discover the smell of smoke. But it was not that.</p>
+
+<p>Had he locked up? He went over his actions just before retiring, and was
+sure that he had attended faithfully to everything.</p>
+
+<p>The money! The thought came to him like a blow.</p>
+
+<p>Something had happened to the money.</p>
+
+<p>He was out of bed in a jiffy and slipped into his trousers, and,
+grabbing his revolver from beneath his pillow, he opened the door and
+walked softly along the hall in his bare feet.</p>
+
+<p>The hall opened into the living room through an arch in which a
+porti&egrave;re, made of small pieces of bamboo strung together, was hung.</p>
+
+<p>As he looked cautiously into the living room his elbow struck this, and
+it rattled sharply in the stillness.</p>
+
+<p>He had heard a faint creak, and, as he peeped around the corner of the
+arch, he saw dimly the figure of a man near the door, evidently just in
+the act of opening it.</p>
+
+<p>With a succession of noiseless leaps Ted was across the room, and
+arrived at the door just as it swung open and the man was about to
+depart.</p>
+
+<p>But Ted was upon his back with the swiftness of a bobcat, and they came
+together to the floor with? a crash.</p>
+
+<p>The burglar was beneath, but this did not prevent him from fighting
+with a desperation that lent strength to his already strong and lithe
+body.</p>
+
+<p>He was slenderer and younger than Ted, who could feel it in the fellow's
+build as they struggled.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me out, or I'll kill you,&quot; said the burglar, and Ted saw the flash
+of a knife.</p>
+
+<p>At the same moment something rushed past them in the dark, and out of
+the door.</p>
+
+<p>As Ted saw it dimly it was small, and its motions were awkward and
+lumbering. He thought it was a dog, and was about to raise his revolver
+to fire at it when he thought better of it, as he did not want to arouse
+the household if he could conquer his man without making a noise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't shoot,&quot; said the man, who had observed Ted's motion with the gun.</p>
+
+<p>At this extraordinary request Ted paused.</p>
+
+<p>He had twisted the man's wrist until he dropped the knife, and then
+shoved it beyond reach with the muzzle of his revolver.</p>
+
+<p>His strong left hand was in the nape of the fellow's neck, and Ted had
+his nose ground into the rug. He had found a gun in the fellow's hip
+pocket, and relieved him of it.</p>
+
+<p>Then Ted rose, and told his captive to get up</p>
+
+<p>Slowly he did so, and Ted made him move to the center of the room.</p>
+
+<p>Bud's golden head appeared around the corner of the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>Ted could just distinguish it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who's that?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's Ted. Come in and strike a light. I've caught something.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a moment a light flared up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jack Farley!&quot; exclaimed Ted, in astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, blast you, Jack Farley,&quot; replied the youth.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Couldn't keep away, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A feller'd think thet once was enough,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I couldn't help myself. I had to come,&quot; growled Farley.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, this time you'll stay. You shan't abuse our hospitality again.
+Bud, get a rope and tie our friend. He's skittish, and is likely to run
+away if he's turned loose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Farley was soon tied securely.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Keep an eye on him, Bud,&quot; said Ted. &quot;I want to look over the premises.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted went directly to the corner and pushed back the pivot door, struck a
+match, and looked into the box.</p>
+
+<p>It was empty.</p>
+
+<p>Then, turning back to Farley, he searched him thoroughly.</p>
+
+<p>There was no money in his pockets.</p>
+
+<p>Ted called up Kit, and the three of them ransacked the living room
+thoroughly, but not a dollar could be found. &quot;What did you do with the
+money you stole from that hole?&quot; said Ted, gazing fiercely into Farley's
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I haven't seen a dollar of it,&quot; was the reply.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XI'></a><h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<h3>TED STRONG HAS A THEORY.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>After Farley had been securely locked up in a storeroom without windows,
+they went to bed, feeling secure that there would be no further attempt
+to enter the house that night.</p>
+
+<p>At breakfast they discussed the robbery after their guests had left the
+house.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't understand what became of the money,&quot; said Ted. &quot;It looks to me
+like one of those mysterious robberies, and the capture of Farley puts
+it up to the Riley and Creviss gang. Now that we've been touched
+personally we will take some interest in the gang, and I have a large
+crayon picture of about a dozen hitherto respectable young fellows
+learning useful trades in a reformatory institution.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But that doesn't bring back our money, neither does it tell us how it
+was stolen or what became of it,&quot; said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can't get a thing out of Farley,&quot; said Ted. &quot;I tackled him this
+morning as soon as I got up, but he wouldn't open his mouth. My belief
+is that he is in deadly fear of some one, probably Skip Riley.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, we've got him where the hair is short, anyway,&quot; said Kit. &quot;He was
+caught in the act, and will come out of prison an older and a wiser
+man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What else besides Farley did you see in the room, Ted?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I really couldn't say what it was,&quot; said Ted. &quot;It was dark, and there
+was only the faintest kind of light outside from the stars. The room was
+perfectly dark. I was sitting on Farley's back holding him down. He had
+thrown the door open, and we were in the doorway, but there was a space
+between us and the door-jamb.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Suddenly I heard a faint noise beside me and could just see something
+scud past me onto the veranda.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did it look like?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was about as high as a small dog, only shorter and thicker than a
+dog, and ran with a clumsy, heavy, sideways motion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you sure it was a dog?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I'm not sure, for I didn't see it plainly. All I could see was that
+it looked like some kind of an animal, but just what kind I couldn't
+determine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Your description would lead me to believe that it was a coon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I don't think it was a coon, or I would have been able to
+distinguish it by its smell.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't know but that it might be a coon trained to steal and sneak
+out. I've heard of such things, and it is by no means impossible, for
+you know that coons, like crows, are natural-born thieves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove, that gives me an idea. I think it was a dog, and that its
+strange gait was due to the fact that the money had been tied upon him
+so that he would get away with it in case Farley was caught.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, the dog theory is wrong. What about a trained monkey?&quot; Stella
+looked around the table to see how this was taken.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;C'rect!&quot; shouted Bud. &quot;Stella, yer struck ther problem a solar plexus
+thet time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That does seem reasonable, and if it is true it solves the mysterious
+robberies of the Strongburg Trust Company's office, the post office, and
+Creviss' bank,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's worth looking into, anyway,&quot; said Ben. &quot;Now I wonder if there is
+such a thing as a trained monkey in my marvelous and magnificent
+gathering of the splendors of the Orient out there. By Jove, I'm going
+through that camp with a fine-tooth comb, and if I find a monk, I'll
+habeas-corpus him, and we'll hang him to the rafters.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, mum's the word about the money,&quot; warned Ted. &quot;We don't want this
+thing to leak out. If it does, there's a chance against us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Although they all felt pretty blue about the loss of the money, they had
+nothing but hearty welcomes and smiles for their guests, who began to
+arrive from all parts of the county, and from far-distant States and
+Territories, to help rejoice with the boys for a prosperous year, not
+knowing that all the prosperity had fallen into the hands of thieves.</p>
+
+<p>The grounds about the ranch house had been gayly decorated for the
+occasion. An enormous American flag flapped and snapped in the fresh
+breeze from the top of a tall staff in front of the house, and the Belle
+Fourche band was playing in a gayly decorated stand. The showmen had
+erected their tents, and already the boys and girls from the ranches and
+towns were going in and out, witnessing the wonders to be beheld in
+them.</p>
+
+<p>Stella was receiving her girl guests on the veranda, for she was a great
+favorite among the cowgirls in the country on account of her
+friendliness and unaffected ways.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Graham was welcoming the older women, while Ted and Jack Slate were
+shaking hands with the ranchmen and cowboys.</p>
+
+<p>Clay's fires were going well, and the steer and sheep were being roasted
+for the noontime feast.</p>
+
+<p>Ben had gone on a still-hunt among the tents belonging to the showman,
+and, while he found three small dogs, there was no sign of a monkey, and
+by adroit questioning he learned that they had had a monkey, but that
+it had died at Leadville, because the air in that altitude was too cold
+and rare for it.</p>
+
+<p>These facts he communicated to Ted, and seemed to explode the
+monkey-thief theory.</p>
+
+<p>During the morning there was a baseball game between the cowboys and the
+clerks from the stores in Soldier Butte and Strongburg, in which the
+score was forty-one to three in favor of the clerks. The cowboys
+couldn't play ball any more than a rabbit, encumbered as they were by
+their chaps, high-heeled boots, and spurs. It took a home-run hit to get
+one of them to first base.</p>
+
+<p>After dinner the cowboy sports were to come off.</p>
+
+<p>When Ted could get away from his duties as host for a few minutes he
+sauntered through the crowd, extending greetings to all whom he knew,
+but at the same time keeping a close watch over everything.</p>
+
+<p>The theft of the money from the cubby-hole had aroused in him all his
+detective instincts.</p>
+
+<p>He saw two or three of the young fellows who had been with Wiley Creviss
+the night of the ball, but he paid no attention to them. They were
+welcome to come to the festivities, and to remain so long as they
+behaved themselves.</p>
+
+<p>But he determined to have them watched.</p>
+
+<p>Soon he came upon some more of the Creviss gang and saw them mingle with
+several boys, whom he knew to be tough characters, from Strongburg.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The clan is gathering,&quot; he said to himself. &quot;We're likely to have
+trouble with those fellows before the day is over. I'll put Bud next to
+them, and have the boys watch them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whom do you suppose I saw just now?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was Stella's voice, and she was standing at his elbow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wiley Creviss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is that so? I have been watching for him to come along. A lot of his
+fellows are here, and they are sticking pretty well together. Where did
+you see him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I told Ben I'd take in his show even if no one else did, and I've kept
+my promise. When I was in that biggest tent I suddenly came upon Creviss
+in close conversation with the boss showman. When they saw me looking at
+them they separated in a hurry, and Creviss left the tent.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;H'm! I wonder if Ben knows this fellow who owns the show.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't know, I'm sure. It wouldn't be a bad scheme to find out something
+about him in view of the robbery last night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're right, Stella. Another thing I've been thinking about: I've been
+looking for Skip Riley, the Strongburg fireman, the supposed leader of
+the Flying Demons. If they are going to try any of their monkey business
+to-day he ought to be here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haven't you heard the news? I intended to tell you, but must have
+forgotten. The last time I was in Strongburg I heard that Riley had
+resigned, and left the town for the East.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hadn't heard it. Then that puts it up to Creviss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But who is the fellow who runs the show? Ben says his name is Colonel
+Ben Robinson, and that he is an old circusman down on his luck
+temporarily.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look around and find out what you can. They will not suspect you if you
+ask questions as they would me. If you find out anything, let me know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Ted, I'll circulate, and report.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted wandered over to the show tents, and entered them all, with kindly
+greetings to the performers, who all knew him as the leader of the
+broncho boys, and asked him if they could be excused from performing
+while the riding and other cowboy stunts were going forward, and Ted
+told them to lay off if they wanted to, as most of the guests would be
+out in the grand stand, anyhow.</p>
+
+<p>In the last tent he entered he found the strong man lifting weights
+against a lot of husky cow-punchers, and the giant and midget.</p>
+
+<p>But it was the midget that struck him most forcibly. He had a sly,
+cunning face and a bad eye, and when Ted came in he tried to hide behind
+the giant, who picked him up as one would a baby in arms. But the little
+fellow wriggled free and climbed down the big man like a monkey down a
+tree. Then he slipped across to the middle of the tent and shinned up
+the pole to the top, and hung there, looking down at Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the matter with the little fellow?&quot; Ted asked the giant.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, he ain't got real good sense,&quot; rumbled the giant. &quot;His brain
+stopped growing with his body, I reckon. But you can teach him tricks
+the same as you can a dog or a monkey, and he'll do them all right. I
+reckon he's afraid of you. He is of some people, the boss in
+particular.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How long have you been with the boss?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not very long. He just took the show over from the old boss a month
+ago. We were going to pieces over to Cheyenne, and he come along and
+bought us. He's been a showman in his time, but says he hasn't been in
+the biz for several years. He knows the biz, though, and has scads of
+money. We are well fed and get our salaries regular. Him and Prince
+Carl, that's the midget, are great pals. The midget sleeps in his tent,
+and the boss seldom lets him out of his sight.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Bellows, how many times have I got to tell you not to stand there
+gassing with patrons of the show? Every one don't want to bother with
+your theories and troubles.&quot; Ted turned, to face the boss showman.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, it's you, Mr. Strong?&quot; he went on. &quot;I didn't recognize your back.
+It's all right to talk to you. But I've got to call the giant down once
+in so often for taking up people's time, for he's an awful gabber.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He walked away, but when Ted tried to get the giant to tell him some
+more about the midget and the boss, he would not say a word.</p>
+
+<p>But the giant had planted the seed of a theory in Ted's mind.</p>
+
+<p>Presently Ted saw Stella beckoning to him in the crowd, and forced his
+way to her side.</p>
+
+<p>She took his arm, and they got out of the crowd. Ted saw that she had
+something to communicate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well?&quot; he said, smiling down on her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There's going to be something doing here,&quot; said she. &quot;The boss showman
+has been talking with several of the gang.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right. Did you hear anything about Skip Riley?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. He's been gone from Strongburg about a month.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Learn anything else about him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Skip Riley is not his name at all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That so? What is it? Did you learn?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was talking to a lady from Strongburg, one of those who got him a job
+on the fire department.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did she know about him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She said that she was appointed a committee of one by the Ladies' Aid
+Society over there to look up the new fireman's career.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And I suppose she ran onto some hot stuff?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It seems that the ex-convict, Skip Riley, had been a circus performer
+once upon a time, before he took to being a burglar.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Was burglary the crime for which he was put in prison?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, so she says. He was an a&euml;ronaut and acrobat.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good! And what was his stage name? Did she say?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Robinson&mdash;Ben Robinson. She says that she was told that he was quite
+famous in his day as a circus performer, but that he couldn't resist the
+temptation to steal, and so had to quit the business, as none of the
+circus proprietors would have him around.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did she say where she got this information?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. It was sent to her by the warden of the penitentiary in which
+Riley was confined before he came to Strongburg.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then her information is probably correct. Stella, thanks to you, we've
+got them dead to rights. We've solved the mystery hanging around all
+these recent robberies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nearly, but not quite. How were they accomplished?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That I don't know positively, but I have a theory which I believe will
+turn out to be correct.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But about Riley?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ben Robinson, the proprietor of this show, and Skip Riley, burglar and
+ex-convict, are one and the same man.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<h3>ALOFT AFTER A PRISONER.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;All ready for the big show,&quot; cried Kit, riding up to Ted. &quot;When will we
+begin the sports?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted looked over the grand stand, which was built around an arena in
+which the cowboy sports were to come off.</p>
+
+<p>This was the most important event of the day, for while bronchobusting
+and cattle roping are a cowboy's business, yet he finds unending
+amusement in doing these same things if his girl and friends are there
+to witness his skill.</p>
+
+<p>After some ordinary feats of trick riding by the visiting cowboys,
+several really dangerous steers were turned loose in the arena, and for
+several minutes a very fair imitation of a Spanish bullfight, minus the
+killing of the animals, took place.</p>
+
+<p>After several of the steers had been roped, thrown, and tied, there
+still remained in the arena a sullen and difficult brute, which was as
+tricky as a rat, and the boys gave him up one at a time.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why don't you give the girls a chance at him?&quot; shouted a cowgirl
+derisively, from the seats.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Any girl who wants to tackle him is at liberty to do so,&quot; Ted shouted
+back through his megaphone.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly three girls leaped into the arena, and borrowed ponies from
+their cowboy acquaintances.</p>
+
+<p>Ted motioned to Sophy Cozak, the pretty and buxom girl from the Bohemian
+prairie, whom Bud had admired at the dance; she rode forward on Bud's
+own particular horse, Ranger.</p>
+
+<p>Sophy had several brothers who had taught her the cow business, and she
+had few equals on the range.</p>
+
+<p>As she rode out she was greeted with a round of applause from her
+admirers. She gathered up her rope and sent the horse forward at an easy
+lope toward the steer, which looked at her a moment and trotted off.</p>
+
+<p>Sophy followed him, and made three casts of the rope, and every time the
+brute dodged it, and the rope fell to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>That settled it with Sophy, and she rode in, and another girl took her
+place. She, too, was unsuccessful, as was the third, and the audience
+was distinctly disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ladies and gentlemen,&quot; cried Ted, through the megaphone. &quot;It was not
+the intention of any one living on the Moon Valley Ranch to take part in
+these contests, but if there are no other young ladies in the grand
+stand who would like to try their ropes on the steer, we can produce one
+whom we think can rope and tie it at the first trial. I refer to Miss
+Stella Fosdick. I have not consulted her wishes in the matter, but will
+ask her if she will undertake it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this a wild cheer went up, and Ted dashed out of the arena to find
+Stella. In a moment he was back, and announced that Miss Fosdick would
+try it.</p>
+
+<p>Presently Stella rode in on Custer at a hard gallop, gathering up her
+rope as she rode. There was a sort of gay self-confidence in her manner
+that captivated the throng, and the cheers split the air.</p>
+
+<p>Stella rode straight at the steer, which, seeing her approach; galloped
+down the arena with her in pursuit.</p>
+
+<p>Swinging her rope above her head, she chased it back until it was about
+in the middle of the field, and suddenly the rope left her hand
+unerringly and shot through the air, seemed to hesitate for an instant,
+then fell over the steer's head.</p>
+
+<p>Custer came to a stop the moment the rope left her hand, with his body
+well braced. The steer went to the end of the rope as fast as it could
+go, then was flung in the air, and lay upon his back sprawling like some
+ridiculous four-legged crab, while the girl leaped from her saddle, ran
+swiftly across the intervening space, tied his legs together, and held
+up her hand.</p>
+
+<p>The crowd fairly went wild with enthusiasm at her feat, as she mounted
+again, leaving the steer to the tender mercies of the cow-punchers, who
+flocked about her. Then she dashed out of the arena, waving her hat in
+recognition of the applause.</p>
+
+<p>Then the bunch of wild Montana horses, which never had felt the saddle,
+were driven in, and Ted offered a twenty-dollar gold piece to any
+puncher who could rope, saddle, and bridle, and ride one of the bronchos
+ten minutes without being thrown.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Easy money!&quot; shouted the cowboys, flocking into the arena.</p>
+
+<p>The black, which had caused Ted so much trouble when the bunch first
+came to the ranch, was not with them. He was considered too dangerous an
+animal to be handled at an entertainment where there were so many women
+and children.</p>
+
+<p>Only two cow-punchers succeeded in even getting their saddles on the
+bronchos without throwing them and hog-tying them, and only one, Billy
+Sudden, stayed the required ten minutes, and he said afterward that it
+wasn't his fault, because the broncho wouldn't let him get off.</p>
+
+<p>Ted then announced that there was another animal in the herd that he
+would ask no man to ride, but that he would try to do so himself.</p>
+
+<p>Another great cheer went up as Ted rode away after the black demon, to
+whom the boys had given the name Lucifer, for his supposed resemblance
+to his satanic majesty.</p>
+
+<p>But it was found impossible to drive Lucifer into the arena.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Never mind,&quot; said Ted, &quot;we'll throw the saddle on him here, and I'll
+ride him in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A crowd of men and boys was standing around, and Ted removed his saddle
+and handed it to a young fellow in the crowd to hold until he had thrown
+Lucifer. The animal was standing in the center of the circle, his wary
+eyes taking in the crowd, and letting fly with his heels at the approach
+of any one.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, Bud,&quot; called Ted, &quot;ride in on him and rope him. You, Kit, get him
+by the leg and throw him, and I'll slip a bridle on him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was not much of a trick to rope and hold him so that he couldn't
+kick. But when Ted tried to slip the bit between his teeth, he fought
+like the demon that he was, biting and kicking, so that he had to be
+thrown to his side and his head held down before the bridle could be put
+on him.</p>
+
+<p>Then he was allowed to rise. There was no doubt but that the horse was
+insane with rage and fear, and several cowmen came forward and tried to
+persuade Ted from attempting to ride him, but Ted was as obstinate as
+the horse, and said that he would conquer the black, or die in the
+attempt.</p>
+
+<p>He finally found the fellow who had been holding his saddle, although he
+had left his stand and was found back behind the crowd talking to a gang
+of young fellows, among whom Ted recognized several of Creviss'
+companions. This delayed and angered him, and he called the saddle
+bearer down for deserting his post, and was answered with sneers and
+laughter.</p>
+
+<p>After many trials, and the exertion of a great deal of patience, Ted got
+the saddle on Lucifer and hastily cinched, and as he sprang to the
+brute's back the ropes were loosed. With a bound and a snort of terror
+the black dashed forward, and it was with the greatest difficulty that
+Ted swung it so it went through the gates and into the arena without
+dashing him against the posts.</p>
+
+<p>Once inside the arena, the brute began to exhibit terrible ferocity.</p>
+
+<p>Stella and Bud had followed in his wake, and when the girl saw how the
+brute was behaving, she whispered to Bud:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That demon will kill him yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If he don't kill it,&quot; answered Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why did you let him ride it? I got there a moment too late, and he was
+already in the saddle, or I should have stopped it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What could I do? He had told the people he would ride it, and that
+settled it with him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Lucifer was exercising all the tricks known to wild and terrified
+bronchos when they first feel saddle and bridle, and which seem to be
+inbred in them. He bucked, but there was never a horse that could buck
+Ted off. He reared, he kicked, rolled, and fell backward. But every time
+he stopped for a moment to note the result, there the unshakable enemy
+was on his back again. Clearly he was puzzled.</p>
+
+<p>Then a new paroxysm of rage would shake him, and he would go through the
+same performances again, but with no better success.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Ted brought his quirt down on the brute's flanks, and it leaped
+high into the air in an agony of fear and pain. It had felt that
+stinging thing before, and hated it.</p>
+
+<p>Then it started to run away from this terrible thing that bestrode its
+back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Heaven! it's running away,&quot; muttered Bud. &quot;It'll be an act o'
+Providence if Ted isn't killed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Down the arena they dashed, Ted sitting in the saddle as if he and it
+and the stallion were all of a piece.</p>
+
+<p>When the brute came to the arena's end, and saw before him the shouting
+multitude, it suddenly swerved to come back, and Ted realized that
+something had happened to the saddle. It was slipping, and yet he was
+sure he had cinched it tight. Back they came tearing again, and passed
+Stella and Bud like a rocket.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great guns!&quot; cried Bud, &quot;his saddle's loose. He's a goner now, shore.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Every one saw Ted's danger, for Ted was leaning well over, and the
+saddle was on the horse's side. A hollow groan went up.</p>
+
+<p>At Bud's first words Stella was off after Ted like a shot.</p>
+
+<p>The horse, as every one could now see, was trying its best to kill Ted,
+and many of the spectators were positive that it would do so.</p>
+
+<p>Now the cinch had parted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The cinch has broken,&quot; the shout went up. &quot;It will kill him, sure!&quot; Ted
+was now leaning far over on the horse's side, his left leg well under
+the horse's belly and his foot in the stirrup, while the heel of his
+left, boot was clinging to the edge of the tipped saddle. It was a most
+precarious position, for if the saddle slipped farther he would go under
+and be trampled and kicked to death before any one could reach him.</p>
+
+<p>The powerful brute was bent on Ted's destruction, and seemed about to
+accomplish it, when Stella galloped to his side, and, grasping his hand,
+held him safe.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The cinch is off,&quot; she called to him. &quot;I'll help you up, then kick the
+saddle loose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Slowly but surely Ted worked himself up until he could release his foot
+from the stirrup. Then, with a sudden wrench that almost pulled Stella
+to the ground, he was again on top. With a kick he sent the saddle to
+the ground, and was riding bareback, while the brute stumbled and
+almost went to his knees as the saddle fell between his legs.</p>
+
+<p>But now Ted took charge of the situation. With quirt and spur he drove
+the beast here and there, punishing it, giving it no rest, allowing it
+to do nothing in its own way until it staggered and heaved and swayed
+with fatigue and lack of breath, and yet he urged it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He'll kill that horse yet,&quot; said Billy Sudden.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, he knows what that horse will stand, and he's going to make him
+stand it,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>The people had never seen such riding as this, and when they realized
+that Ted had conquered the stallion and was now rubbing it in, they
+shouted until their throats cracked.</p>
+
+<p>At last the horse could go no farther, and Ted let it stop, as he
+slipped to the ground and gave the brute a slap with his hand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon you'll know better next time, old fellow,&quot; was all he said,
+and walked to where his saddle was lying.</p>
+
+<p>As he picked it up, he was seen to stop and look at the cinch carefully,
+then hurry to where the boys were awaiting him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Fellows,&quot; he said solemnly, throwing the saddle on the ground, &quot;that
+cinch did not break, it was cut.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A dozen of the boys leaped to the ground and examined the cinch.</p>
+
+<p>It was true. The cinch had been cut almost through with a sharp knife,
+and the strain upon it had parted it. There could be no doubt as to what
+had been intended.</p>
+
+<p>As Stella came riding up, she shouted:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The cinch was cut. I saw it. Wiley Creviss did it. I didn't realize at
+the time what he was doing or know that it was Ted's saddle, and when I
+did find out, he was mounted and away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A howl of indignation went up at this.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Scatter out, boys, and round up Creviss,&quot; shouted Billy Sudden. &quot;We
+know what to do with him when he's caught.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted's adventure with Lucifer ended the performances in the arena, and,
+as the balloon was inflated and ready to ascend, the people flocked to
+where it was straining at the ropes.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had mounted Sultan again, and left the arena surrounded by Stella
+and the boys.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who's going up in her?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ben Robinson, the boss,&quot; answered Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you know who he is?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Ben stared at him without replying.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll tell you,&quot; said Ted. &quot;He's Skip Riley, thief and ex-convict, the
+leader of the Flying Demons. He is the man who caused us to lose our
+money last night, and who engineered all the mysterious robberies
+hereabouts. Do you reckon he intends to come back?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ben's eyes started from their sockets in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I&mdash;I don't know,&quot; he stammered. &quot;By Jove! we must stop him. Maybe he's
+going to skip.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boys had crowded about Ted as he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll have to hurry if we get him,&quot; shouted Ben. &quot;He's in the basket
+now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>With shouts of warning Ted and the boys pushed their horses through the
+crowd, which rushed aside to let them through.</p>
+
+<p>They could see Skip Riley lift a large tin box into the basket from the
+ground. As he was getting ready to start there was a shrill cry, and the
+midget came waddling through the crowd and climbed over the side of the
+car and up Riley's body until it clung to his shoulder like a monkey. A
+great many of the thoughtless laughed at this. They did not understand
+the significance of the move.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Get ready to cut her loose,&quot; shouted Riley.</p>
+
+<p>Two or three men stood by with sharp knives in their hands.</p>
+
+<p>Riley saw Ted and the boys pushing rapidly through the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Cut her loose!&quot; shouted Riley, and the balloon shot upward, amid the
+shouts of the people.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Too late,'&quot; said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not yet,&quot; cried Ted, spurring through the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>A long guide rope was dragging from the car of the balloon.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Follow me, Bud. The balance of you catch Creviss and the rest of them.
+I'm going with Riley.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Before they knew exactly what he meant, Ted grasped the guide rope as it
+passed over his head, and was swung out of the saddle and dangled in the
+air, to the horror of the people, who expected to see him fall and be
+dashed to pieces at any minute, for the balloon had shot up rapidly and
+was now several hundred feet above the ground.</p>
+
+<p>But Riley, looking over the country and taking account of the direction
+in which the balloon was traveling, was unaware that he had taken on
+another passenger.</p>
+
+<p>Hand over hand Ted climbed steadily, until at last he reached the car
+and looked over the edge of it.</p>
+
+<p>Riley's back was toward him, and noiselessly Ted slipped over the side
+and into the basket.</p>
+
+<p>Then the midget happened to turn his head, and saw Ted and uttered a
+frightened cry, which brought Riley around so that he found himself
+looking into the cold, dark bore of Ted's forty-four.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Got you!&quot; said Ted coolly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How did you get here?&quot; said Riley, trying to smile. &quot;If I'd known that
+you wanted to come I'd have waited for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't think,&quot; said Ted. &quot;But now we'll go down.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I've got to give the people a run for their money. We must go a
+little farther.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I said we'd go down.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But we can't until the gas gets cool and exhausts. I have no escape
+valve.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I'll shoot a hole in the bag. I guess we'll go down then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;For Heaven's sake, don't do that! You'd blow us all to pieces.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then down with her. I mean what I say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Riley looked at Ted for a moment, then pulled a string. There followed a
+hissing noise, and the balloon began to sink, slowly at first, then more
+rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>Ted did not dare take his eyes off Riley to see how close they were to
+the ground. But he heard the Moon Valley long yell, and knew that they
+were near the earth, and that Bud Morgan was not far away.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the car bumped on the ground, bounced and struck again, then
+stopped, and Ted heard Bud's cheerful voice right behind him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jumpin' sand hills, so yer got him, eh? Come, climb out,&quot; said Bud to
+Riley, &quot;we need yer on terry firmy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Cover him, Bud, while I search him. If he makes a break, kill him. He's
+an ex-convict, so don't take any chances with him,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Riley yielded up a gun and a knife and then he was hustled out of the
+car, with the midget still clinging to him, and Ted took charge of the
+tin box.</p>
+
+<p>Billy Sudden and some of his men had come up, and so had Ben and Kit,
+and Riley was conducted back to the ranch house strongly guarded.</p>
+
+<p>Once inside with their prisoners and the boys, Ted closed the doors on
+the curious crowd. The first thing he did was to open the tin box. On
+top were the packages of bills stolen from the cubby-hole, and beneath
+it a large amount of money and the bonds taken from the Strongburg
+Trust Company, as well as registered letters from which the money had
+not yet been extracted, and a large amount of brand-new treasury notes
+which answered the description of the government funds stolen from
+Creviss' bank.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's all here,&quot; said Ted, &quot;and the evidence is complete.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But how did he manage to do it without leaving a mark or a broken lock
+behind him?&quot; asked Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How? By means of this,&quot; and Ted placed his hand on the head of the
+midget, who shrank from him with a snarling cry.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Still I don't understand it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The day I saw him in the Creviss bank he marched out with the plunder
+under my very eyes. The day before the robbery this fellow went into the
+bank with the dwarf in his valise. Wiley Creviss was alone. The valise
+was opened, and the dwarf slipped out of the valise and into the vault,
+and concealed himself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;During the night the dwarf collected all the money and bonds he could,
+and made himself comfortable. When it came time for the bank to open in
+the morning he again concealed himself, and remained in hiding until
+noon, when Wiley Creviss again came on watch while the cashier went to
+dinner. Then Riley, here, entered with his valise, and the dwarf crept
+into it, and was carried out of the bank with the money.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But what had the midget to do with the theft of our money?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's simple. Farley and the dwarf were to do the job. The dwarf was
+sent up to the roof, for he can climb like a monkey, and came down the
+chimney and opened the door for Farley. That was a mistake, for they
+would not have been caught, except for Farley.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How did they know where you hid the money?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The dwarf saw us through the window, and Kit saw him, but I thought it
+was all imagination. That was how they robbed the post office. The dwarf
+was lowered down the chimney. That is about the size of it. Am I
+correct, Riley?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Correct enough, so far as I'm concerned. I guess it's back to 'the
+stir' for me. But this midget didn't know what he was doing, and ought
+to be sent to an asylum instead of the prison,&quot; said Riley.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment there was a great commotion without, and a crowd of
+cowboys rode up. In the center of the circle made by them was Wiley
+Creviss and several of his gang. In all, with Riley and the dwarf, there
+were eight of them in custody, and without ado they were hurried to the
+Strongburg jail.</p>
+
+<p>The United States marshal was in Strongburg when Ted came in with his
+prisoners.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is all this, Strong?&quot; asked the marshal.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That bank-robbing gang you ordered me to bring in,&quot; answered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You made quick work of it. Get any of the money?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All of it. It is in the Strongburg bank. You see, they made the mistake
+of robbing us last night. But for that they would have got away, and we
+would have had a hard time catching them. As it was, they walked right
+in to us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Skip Riley went back to the penitentiary for a long term of years, and
+the midget was sent to an asylum for the feeble-minded.</p>
+
+<p>Jack Farley turned State's evidence, and Creviss and ten other young
+reprobates were sent to a reformatory.</p>
+
+<p>As for Lucifer, he turned out, next to Sultan and Custer, the best horse
+on the ranch.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ANONYMOUS LETTER.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>A very short time after the capture of Skip Riley, Ted Strong was
+standing in the waiting room of the Union Station at St. Louis, the
+metropolis of Missouri, whither he had been summoned by a letter from
+the chief of the United States secret service.</p>
+
+<p>He was waiting for Bud Morgan, who had gone to the baggage room to
+inquire about a trunk which had become lost on the way from Moon Valley,
+and which contained a number of valuable papers, including both their
+commissions as deputy United States marshals.</p>
+
+<p>The enormous waiting room was crowded with passengers from the incoming
+trains, with which the numerous tracks were full from end to end.</p>
+
+<p>As Ted Strong leaned over the iron railing, looking down into the lower
+waiting room, he was conscious that a woman had stepped to his side.
+Glancing up sideways, he saw that close to him was a very beautiful
+young girl, who wore a traveling cloak of pearl gray, and a long feather
+boa, which the draft had blown across his sleeve.</p>
+
+<p>His glance intercepted one from her, and not wishing her to think that
+he was idly staring at her, he directed his gaze once more to the
+surging crowd below. As his eyes wandered over the throng, he saw a man
+look up, and make the most imperceptible gesture with his head.</p>
+
+<p>He did not know the man. Turning swiftly to the young lady at his side,
+he caught sight of a smile and a slight uplifting of her eyebrows.</p>
+
+<p>Undoubtedly a signal had passed between the two, and Ted, not wishing
+to be an eavesdropper, looked away again. But in the swift glance he had
+given the young girl&mdash;for now he saw that she was little else&mdash;he made a
+mental note of her. The gray eyes with the long, dark lashes, the oval
+face, beautiful in shape and of an ivory tint; the scarlet, curving
+lips, the slender, trim figure, and the strange, subtle perfume which
+she exhaled, one would never forget.</p>
+
+<p>He also noted the appearance of the man who had signaled the girl.</p>
+
+<p>The man was five feet seven inches in height; his face was well rounded,
+but not too fat. He had a brown, pointed beard; the eyes were pale,
+almost colorless; the forehead, broad and high, a fact which Ted noted
+when the man lifted his hat to wipe his brow. He had the air of a
+well-bred man of the world, and was probably a resident of New York.
+There was something familiar about the man that made Ted think that he
+had seen him before.</p>
+
+<p>Ted saw Bud come through the door into the waiting room from the midway
+of the station, look up and wave his hand, with a frown and a shake of
+the head that told him his pard's quest for the missing baggage had been
+fruitless.</p>
+
+<p>At the same time, the girl at his side seemed to bump into him, and as
+he turned to her she muttered an apology and hurried away. Although he
+followed her with his eyes a few moments, she was soon lost in the
+crowd.</p>
+
+<p>He slipped his hands into the pockets of his jacket, and, with his back
+to the railing, prepared to wait until Bud reached him.</p>
+
+<p>As his left hand sank into his pocket, his fingers came in contact with
+a piece of paper.</p>
+
+<p>He knew that he had not placed the paper in his pocket, and glanced
+around with his usual caution to see if any one was watching him. He saw
+that wonderful pair of gray eyes with the dark lashes&mdash;Irish eyes, he
+called them&mdash;watching him over the shoulders of a man a dozen feet away
+in the crowd. But the moment the woman realized that she was being
+observed, she disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Deuced strange,&quot; he muttered to himself, fumbling with the paper, which
+he had not withdrawn from his pocket. &quot;That girl placed this paper in my
+pocket. I wonder why. There is something out of the way here, for the
+paper was not there before she stood beside me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>One less wise than Ted, and not so modest, might have thought that the
+girl was trying to flirt with him. But to Ted there was something more
+important and mysterious than that in her actions.</p>
+
+<p>If he read them aright, she had placed the paper in his pocket when she
+apparently accidentally bumped into him, and had gone away only to come
+back to see if he had discovered it.</p>
+
+<p>Although he searched the crowd with eager eyes, he did not see her
+again, and was confident that she had disappeared as soon as she had
+accomplished her mission, which was to convey some message to him.</p>
+
+<p>Although he was somewhat curious to know what, if anything, was written
+on the paper, he restrained himself until he could be alone, for he did
+not know who might be in that crowd looking for just such a move on his
+part.</p>
+
+<p>Just then Bud brushed his way through the crowd and came up to Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Them things ain't come yit,&quot; he said, in a tone of discontent, &quot;an' me
+stranded in St. Looey with no more clean shirt than a rabbit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You can easily get a clean shirt,&quot; said Ted, &quot;but it's not so easy to
+get a new commission. That's what's worrying me, for there is no
+telling how soon we may need one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, let's git out o' this mob, er I'll begin ter beller an' mill, an'
+if they don't git out o' my way I'll cause sech a stampede thet it'll
+take ther police all day ter round 'em up ag'in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted said nothing to Bud about the paper he had discovered in his pocket,
+but picked up his valise. They then made their way to the street and
+rode uptown in a car, where they registered at a quiet hotel.</p>
+
+<p>Ted went immediately to the room assigned to him, locked the door, and
+drew out the paper.</p>
+
+<p>He could not conceive what it would contain, for he was far above the
+vanity of thinking that the young woman who had stood by his side would
+interest herself in him enough to write him a silly note.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The man with the pointed beard!&quot; thought Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, it was he who had caused the note to be slipped into his
+pocket.</p>
+
+<p>But why?</p>
+
+<p>Taking a chair by the window, he slowly opened the note, observing at
+the time that the same fragrance came from it as had filled the air
+while the girl stood beside him in the station.</p>
+
+<p>It was a sheet of pale-blue letter paper folded three times.</p>
+
+<p>In the upper left-hand corner was an embossed crest, the head of a lion
+rampant, and beneath it a dainty monogram, which he made out to be
+&quot;O.&nbsp;B.&nbsp;N.,&quot; or any one of the combinations of those letters. He could
+not tell which combination was the correct one.</p>
+
+<p>The writing was in a fashionable feminine hand, and written with a
+pencil.</p>
+
+<p>It was as follows:</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;T.&nbsp;S.: This is a friendly warning from one who dare not
+     communicate with you personally, for reasons which you will
+     discover and understand later on, if things turn out as we&quot;&mdash;the
+     word &quot;we&quot; had been scratched out and &quot;I&quot; written above
+     it&mdash;&quot;anticipate. Be very careful while you are in St. Louis. Do not
+     go on the streets alone, and go armed. Your mission is known, and
+     you will be watched by persons who will seek to get you out of the
+     way. We&mdash;that is, I, also know of your mission, and take this means
+     of warning you of your danger, as you have done me services in the
+     past without knowing it. Now, the sting of this note lies in this,
+     and don't forget it, don't get into any fights, no matter what the
+     provocation, for I have it straight that that, is the lay to do
+     you. If you do so, not being able to avoid it, shoot straight, and
+     you will come out all right in the end. I will see to that part of
+     it at the right time.</p>
+
+<p>     &quot;A FRIEND.&quot;</p></div>
+
+<p>Ted read the letter through three times, trying to clarify it, but each
+time his mind became more confused over it.</p>
+
+<p>What did it mean, and how could any stranger know his business when he
+had not told a soul about it?</p>
+
+<p>Even Bud did not know why they were in St. Louis; that is, he did not
+know the real reason. Ostensibly, they were there to inspect the local
+horse market.</p>
+
+<p>There was a loud rap on the door, and Ted went to it and unlocked it.
+Throwing the door open, he saw a stranger standing on the threshold,
+just about to step in.</p>
+
+<p>He looked at Ted in apparent surprise, then up at the number on the
+door, but his eyes fell to the letter which Ted still held in his hand,
+and he stared at it like one fascinated.</p>
+
+<p>Ted noticed this, and put the letter behind his back.</p>
+
+<p>As the stranger did not speak, Ted broke the spell by saying, in a
+sarcastic tone:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I beg your pardon,&quot; said the stranger hastily, &quot;but isn't Mr. Fowle
+in? I expected him to come to the door, and was surprised to see you,
+don't you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't know any Mr. Fowle,&quot; said Ted, with a smile that must have told
+the stranger that he was not taken in by the question.</p>
+
+<p>The fellow threw a quick glance around the room, but did not retreat
+from his place in the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was starting to shut the door, considering the incident closed, when
+the stranger, who was a large, powerful man, well dressed and with the
+air of a prosperous business man, started to enter.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is not Mr. Fowle's room; it is mine,&quot; said Ted, blocking the way,</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll just step in and wait for him,&quot; said the man. &quot;The clerk
+downstairs said it was his room.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wait a minute,&quot; said Ted sternly. &quot;I don't know you, and I don't know
+Fowle. If you have any business with me, state it from the hall.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The warning in the letter flashed through his mind.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the man sprang upon Ted, and they fell to the floor together.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Give me that letter, curse you!&quot; hissed the man, &quot;I saw you get it, and
+I saw it just now. Give it to me, I tell you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted had managed to put the letter back into his pocket. His right arm
+was twisted under his body, and he could not release it.</p>
+
+<p>He looked up into the face of the man, who was straddling his body, and
+saw a gleam of malignant hatred in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me up, you cur,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;After I get the letter,&quot; was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's a private letter, and not for you. Let me up!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Now Ted saw that the man had a knife in his hand&mdash;a long, keen knife,
+with a pearl hilt and a silver guard.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If you don't give me that letter at once, you'll not get another
+chance, but I'll have it,&quot; snarled the man.</p>
+
+<p>Ted began to struggle, but he soon saw that he could do nothing with one
+arm out of commission. The man was not only powerful, but heavy, and it
+was all Ted could do to more than wriggle his body.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tell you you shan't have it,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>The knife went above the man's head, and in the wielder's face was a
+look of the most diabolical hatred Ted had ever seen in a human
+countenance.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;For the last time,&quot; said the man hoarsely.</p>
+
+<p>There was something about the fellow's actions that told Ted he was
+desperate, yet at the same time afraid of the act he was about to
+commit.</p>
+
+<p>The knife was about to descend when Ted cried out an alarm, the first he
+had sounded.</p>
+
+<p>He heard some one running in the hall. His assailant heard it, also, and
+hesitated, looking around with frightened eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yi-yipee!&quot; It was Bud's voice, and Ted breathed a prayer of
+thankfulness.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll give it to you, anyhow,&quot; muttered the man, and again the knife
+went up in the air.</p>
+
+<p>But it did not make a strike, for at that moment Bud bounded into the
+room, and, taking in the situation with a lightning glance, his foot
+flew out, and the toe of his heavy boot struck the man on top of Ted
+fairly in the ribs. There was a cracking sound, and with a groan the
+fellow dropped the knife and struggled to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>Rushing at Bud, he bowled that doughty individual over like a tenpin,
+and dashed into the hall, along which he ran swiftly and lightly, for
+so large a man.</p>
+
+<p>When Bud had picked himself up and run to the stairway, he could hear
+the fellow clattering down the stairs three flights below.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, dash my hopes,&quot; said Bud, &quot;if he didn't get clear away. He shore
+treated me like a leetle boy. But I reckon he's in sech a hurry because
+he's on his way ter a drug store fer a porious plaster fer them ribs o'
+hisn.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted had picked himself up and was rubbing his arm, which had been
+strained by his falling on it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's this yere all erbout?&quot; asked Bud. &quot;I'm comin' up ter call on yer
+when I hears yer blat, an' I come runnin', an' what do I see? A large,
+pale stranger erbout ter explore yer system with er bowie. Yer mixin' in
+sassiety quicker'n usual, seems ter me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted had picked up the knife, which had fallen beneath the bed, and was
+looking at it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wonder where this came from,&quot; he said, turning it over in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wherever it came from, it's a wicked-lookin' cuss,&quot; said Bud. &quot;But what
+wuz ther feller goin' ter explore yer with it fer?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This letter,&quot; said Ted, taking the crumpled paper from his pocket and
+handing it to Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jumpin' sand hills, ther plot thickens,&quot; said Bud, when he had finished
+reading it. &quot;I don't seem ter be in it at all. What's it all erbout?
+Ye've got my coco whirlin' shore.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIV'></a><h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ABANDONED MOTOR CAR.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;I'll tell you,&quot; said Ted, &quot;if you'll take a seat and keep quiet until I
+get the thing straightened out in my own mind, for the incidents of the
+past hour certainly have got me going.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud sat down and waited patiently for Ted, who was thinking deeply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't tell you the precise object of our visit to St. Louis,&quot; began
+Ted, &quot;not because I didn't trust your ability to keep a secret, but in
+order to keep every one else in the dark.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;D'yer mean ter say that ye hev stalled me along ter this town ter give
+me a leetle airin', an' not ter sell hosses?&quot; asked Bud indignantly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not exactly. I want to sell the horses for the top price, but there was
+something else behind it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A large man astraddle o' ye with a keen an' bitin' bowie at yer throat.
+Yer must be hard up fer amoosement.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not that, either,&quot; said Ted, laughing. &quot;I manage to get all the
+amusement that's coming to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm still gropin' fer enlightenment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here goes, then. For a couple of months the trains on the Union
+Pacific, in Nebraska and Wyoming, have been running the gantlet between
+bands of train robbers. If a train missed being robbed at one place, it
+was almost sure to get it at another, especially if it carried wealth of
+any description.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But ther railroads is erbout ther biggest chumps ter stand fer all this
+monkeydoodle business o' train robbin' ez long ez they hev. Why don't
+they get inter ther exterminatin' business, an' clean up ther last o'
+them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Too busy making money, I guess. But this time it is not the railroads
+who are going after them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who is it, me an' you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Almost. By orders of the government.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's more like it. I don't hev no love fer a train robber, fer all I
+ever come in contact with wuz a bunch o' cowardly murderers, who fight
+like rats when they're cornered, an' kill innercent express messengers
+fer amoosement er devilment. But if Uncle Sammy sez so, an' needs my
+help, he's got it right swift an' willin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, he seems to need it, for just before we left Moon Valley I
+received a letter from the United States secret service, telling me
+about the robberies, of which I had heard something, but not much, as
+they have been kept away from the newspapers as much as possible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hev there been so many of them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As I tell you, they have been so numerous as to lead one to believe
+that there was a chain of train robbers clear across the continent, and
+strong and capable robbers they have proved themselves to be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did they git much?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They have got away with a vast amount of money belonging to
+individuals. They seem to have had information in advance of all the big
+shipments of treasure leaving San Francisco and Carson City, Nevada, as
+well as of private shipments.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wise Injuns, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should say so. They have even been able to spot shipments of United
+States gold en route from the mints in Frisco and Carson to Washington,
+and in two instances have got away with it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wow! There's where your Uncle Samuel reaches out his long arms and
+takes a hand in the game. How much did they get away with?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The chief did not say. That is not for us to know, I guess, or he
+doesn't think it will make any difference with us in our enthusiasm for
+our work of running down and capturing that gang, or gangs, as the ease
+may be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But it wouldn't do a feller no harm ter know. I'd feel a heap more
+skittish if I wuz runnin' after a million than if it wuz thirty cents.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There's something in that, but we won't let it interfere with the
+performance of our duty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How does the chief put it up to us?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He tells the facts briefly, and says: 'Go and get the robbers.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's short an' ter ther p'int. Anything else?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He says that the worst bunch of train robbers in ten years has been
+organized, with men operating on various railroads, and that from past
+performances it would seem that they had inside and powerful friends who
+were keeping them informed as to what trains to rob. In other words, the
+thing seems to be a syndicate of robbers operated and directed from a
+central point by men of brains and resource.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An' whar's ther central p'int?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;St. Louis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ah, I begins ter smell a mice. So yer gradooly led up ter this place,
+pretendin' ter sell hosses, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No; we'll kill two birds with one stone. We'll sell the horses if we
+can get our price for them, and it will be an excellent cloak to hide
+our real purpose, which is to try to get next to the headquarters of the
+train robbers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good idee. But how aire yer goin' ter go erbout it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;To tell you the truth, I haven't an idea. We will have to do our own
+scouting. If the chief knew, it is not likely that he would employ us to
+find out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thet's so. Well, let's be on ther scout.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll still pose as ranchers with pony stock to sell, and let folks
+know it. We'll go over to the stockyards right now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, but the stunt is ter keep our eyes peeled fer ther
+train-robber syndicate's office.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's it. One never can tell when he will run onto just the thing he's
+looking for when he least expects it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We're being shadowed,&quot; said Ted, a short time after they had left their
+hotel and were walking through the streets toward the bridge that spans
+the Mississippi River to East St. Louis.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How d'yer know?&quot; asked Bud, sending a cautious eye around.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See that fellow with the checked suit, on the opposite side of the
+street?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uh-huh!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's on our trail. Don't give him a hint that we're on to him, and if
+he chases us all day he'll see that we are what we represent ourselves
+to be, just plain cow-punchers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The man in the checked suit got on the same trolley car with them at the
+bridge, and while they were walking through the stockyards they saw him
+frequently, not always in evidence, but always somewhere in their
+vicinity.</p>
+
+<p>They visited the offices of the commission merchants who dealt in
+horseflesh, and got their prices for the sort of stock the boys had to
+sell, and before the day was over they had disposed of six carloads of
+horses for immediate delivery.</p>
+
+<p>While they were talking the deal over with the purchaser, they noticed
+that the man in the checked suit hovered around, and Ted purposely
+permitted him to overhear part of the conversation about the delivery of
+the ponies.</p>
+
+<p>Ted then sent a telegram to Kit Summers, informing him of the sale, and
+telling him to select the sort of horses from the herds that were
+wanted, and to come through with them, bringing a sufficient number of
+the boys with him to protect the stock and deliver it.</p>
+
+<p>When the operator took the message and began to send it, Ted noticed
+that the man with the checked suit was leaning against the wall,
+apparently not paying any attention to what was going on. But Ted knew
+by the way he was holding his head that he was a telegraph operator
+also, and that he was reading the message as it went onto the wire.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Bud, we've had enough of that gentleman for one day, haven't we?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shore hev.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then let's give him the slip.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Easier said than done. Thet thar feller sticks like a leech ter a black
+eye.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think we can do it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And how?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See that automobile over there? In front of that office.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see a long, low, rakish craft painted like an Eyetalian sunset. If
+thet is yer means o' communication with ther other side o' ther river,
+oxcuse me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, what's the matter with that? That's a mighty fine car.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon it is, but walkin's good ernuf fer me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you'll never walk away from that shadow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll bet I kin run erway from 'his checkers' before we're halfway ter
+St. Looey, even if I am a cow-puncher, an' muscle bound from straddlin'
+a saddle fer so many years.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the use, when we can run away from him in a gasoline wagon. That
+machine is standing in front of the office of Truax &amp; Wells, and they
+have sold a lot of cattle for us in times past. It wouldn't surprise me
+if the car belonged to one or the other of them, and that if we asked
+for a lift to the other side they would be glad to let us have it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, if you're so keen on it, tackle 'em. You'll find me game ter
+ride ther ole thing. I've rid everything from a goat ter a huffier, an'
+yer kin bet yer gold-plugged tooth I ain't goin' ter welsh fer no ole
+piece o' machinery.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They entered the office, and were at once greeted by an elderly man, Mr.
+Truax, in a warm manner. After talking over things in general, Ted said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's a fine car of yours out there, Mr. Truax.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Funny thing about that car,&quot; said the commission merchant. &quot;That's not
+my car, and nobody seems to know whose car it is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That certainly is strange,&quot; said Ted. &quot;How does it come to be standing
+out there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was this way, and it's a good story, but none of the newspaper boys
+have been in to-day, and so I couldn't give it out: Right back of us
+here is a railroad station. There's an eastbound train through here at
+seven-thirty every morning. She was just pulling into the station this
+morning as I was unlocking the office door, and I heard a chugging
+behind me. I looked up, and here came the car with only one man in it.
+He pulls up short, picks up a bag, which was very heavy, for it was all
+he could do to stagger along with it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The bell on the engine was ringing for the start when he runs through
+the arcade there as fast as he could with the heavy bag, and just
+catches the rear of the train as it comes along. He manages to hoist the
+bag onto the rear platform steps, and is running along trying to get on,
+and the train picking up speed with every revolution of the wheels. I
+thought sure he would be left, or killed, for he wouldn't let go, when
+the conductor came out on the rear platform, saw him, and jerked him
+aboard by the collar.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Didn't he say anything about his machine?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not a word. That's what I thought so strange about it. But, thinks I,
+some one will come for it after a while. Perhaps, thinks I, he was in
+such a hurry to make the train that he left home without a chauffeur,
+who will be along when he wakes up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And no one has appeared?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There she lays, just as he left her. When my partner came down, I spoke
+to him about it. He's a fan on motoring. That's his car over there; that
+white one. When I spoke to him about it, he went out and looked it over.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'That car don't belong here,' says he. 'There's no number of the maker
+on it, and everything that would serve to identify it has been taken
+off. Besides, I don't think the license number is on the square.'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That excited my curiosity, and I called up the license collector's
+office and asked him whose motor car No. 118 was. In a few minutes he
+calls me and says it belongs to Mr. Henry Inchcliffe, the banker. I gets
+Mr. Inchcliffe on the phone and asks him if his car is missing, and he
+says he can look out of the window as he is talking and see it beside
+the curb with his wife sitting in it. 'What is the color of your car?'
+says I. 'Dark green, picked in crimson. Why do you ask?' says he. I
+tells him that an abandoned car is standing in front of our place with
+his number on it. But he says he guesses not, for his number looms up
+like a sore thumb, hanging on the axle of his car in front of the bank,
+and I rings off. That's the story of the car.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Since it belongs to no one in particular, I've a mind to borrow it, and
+put it in a garage over on the other side. It'll be ruined if it stays
+out here in the weather,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't care,&quot; said Mr. Truax. &quot;It wasn't left in my care, and I
+haven't got much use for the blamed thing, anyhow. Take it along. If the
+owner comes and proves property, I suppose you'll give it up?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sure thing. I'll telephone you the name and address of the garage where
+I leave it, so that if there is any inquiry for it you may direct
+inquirers there. But I've got a hunch that this car was thrown away,
+having served its purpose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great Scott! that's a valuable thing to throw away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, but the man who abandoned it probably thought it a good
+sacrifice.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How is that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you suppose was in that bag he carried?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Couldn't say, but it was pretty heavy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It would hold a good deal of paper money, wouldn't it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If the bills were of big enough denomination, I should say you could
+pack away a million in it, for it was a powerful big sack.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, suppose the man whom you saw jump out of the car and get aboard
+the train had stolen the car, or even if he had owned it, and had made a
+big haul, and it was contingent upon his getting away with the money
+that he abandon the car.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's possible. But there has been no big robbery to cover that part
+of the theory.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You don't know. There may have been a big robbery, and it has not been
+made public. Not all robberies are reported to the public. If they were,
+there would be slim chance for the authorities to catch the thieves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps so. Say, Mr. Strong, you're a deputy United States marshal,
+ain't you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. Both Mr. Morgan and I are in the government service.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've been thinking over what you said about a possible robbery, and
+perhaps you've got it right. I believe you'd better take that car along.
+You might need it as evidence some day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That occurred to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Can you run the pesky thing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes; I learned to run a motor car long ago. It is, like everything else
+a fellow can know, mighty useful to me in my business.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, take her along.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The man in the checked suit was nowhere in sight, but as Ted started up
+the abandoned motor car he came running out of a doorway.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hi, there! Come back with that car!&quot; he yelled, running after them in
+the middle of the road. But Ted let her out a couple of links, and in a
+moment the man in checks was out of sight.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XV'></a><h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE LODGING-HOUSE BATTLE.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;What aire ye goin' ter do with ther blamed thing, now yer got it?&quot;
+asked Bud, as they sped across the Eads Bridge into St. Louis.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I haven't made up my mind yet. It certainly doesn't belong in this
+town, and if we use it here we will have to get a local license.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jumpin' sand hills, yer not goin' ter run it yere?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why not?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whoever owns it is li'ble ter come erlong some day, an&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I'll give it to him, if he can prove it is his, but I don't think
+it will ever be claimed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How's that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because the owner is a thief, and if he finds it is in the hands of an
+officer he will let it go rather than face an investigation. Besides, I
+need it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted Strong, aire yer goin' dotty over them derned smell wagons, too?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I can't say that I am, but if I lived in a town like this, and
+could afford it, you bet I'd have one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But where aire yer goin' ter keep it? We shore can't take it up ter our
+room.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not exactly,&quot; laughed Ted. &quot;You forget that we have friends in this
+man's town.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not a whole heap.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the matter with Don Dorrington?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By ginger, that's so. Ther young feller what was with us down in Mexico
+when we found ther jewels and things under ther president's palace.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, and we're heading right for his house now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What fer? Goin' ter try ter git him inter trouble, too?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted piloted the machine through the thronged downtown streets, and
+coming at last to Pine Street Boulevard, he let her out, and went
+skimming over the smooth pavement until he came to Newstead Avenue, and
+was ringing the bell of Don Dorrington's flat before the astonished Bud
+could recover his breath from the swift ride.</p>
+
+<p>Dorrington himself came to the door, having looked through the window
+and seen Ted arrive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, by all that's glorious,&quot; exclaimed Don, as he grasped Ted by the
+hand. &quot;Where are you from, and why? Hello, Bud, you old rascal! Get out
+of that car and come in. Where did you get the bubble?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted and Bud entered the house and were taken into Don's workroom, where
+he was soon put in possession of the facts concerning the motor car,
+although Ted said nothing about the real object of his visit lo St.
+Louis.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what can I do for you?&quot; asked Don.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you a place where I can store this car for a while?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I sure have,&quot; said Don. &quot;You can run it right into the basement from
+the back yard. When these flats were built it was intended that the
+basement be used as a garage, but so far none of the tenants have shown
+a disposition to get rich enough to buy one. No one will be able to get
+the machine out of there,&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's the only thing I fear,&quot; said Ted. &quot;It's a cinch that the owner,
+if he is a thief who has escaped with a pot of money, as I strongly
+suspect, will have his pals try to get it back. And I don't want them to
+get it until I have used it to try to trace them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll bet a cooky ther feller with ther checked suit wuz after ther
+machine himself,&quot; said Bud. &quot;When we eloped with it he came holler in'
+after us ter bring it back, but we gave him the glazed look an' left him
+fannin' ther air in our wake.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boys rolled the motor car into the basement, which was securely
+locked. Then Ted and Bud returned to town on a street car.</p>
+
+<p>As they got closer to the downtown section, they could hear the shouts
+of the newsboys announcing an &quot;extra&quot; newspaper in all the varieties of
+pronunciation of that word as it issues from the mouths of city
+&quot;newsies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wonder what the 'extra' is all about?&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, same old thing, I reckon,&quot; said Bud. &quot;'All erbout ther turribul
+disaster.' An' when yer buys a paper yer see in big letters at ther top,
+'Man Kills,' and down below it, 'Mother-in-law!' But in little type
+between them yer read ther follerin', to wit, 'Cat to spite.' I've been
+stung by them things before.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm going to buy one, anyway,&quot; laughed Ted. &quot;I don't mind being stung
+for a cent.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He beckoned to a newsboy, bought a paper, and opened it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's this?&quot; he almost shouted.</p>
+
+<p>Great black letters sprawled across the top of the page.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Express Messenger Found Dead,&quot; was the first line, and below it was the
+confirmation of Ted's belief that a great robbery had taken place. It
+was &quot;Forty Thousand Dollars Taken from the Safe.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There's the owner of the abandoned automobile, the fellow who boarded
+the train with the heavy grip,&quot; said Ted to Bud, who was staring over
+his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>The article following the startling headlines told the circumstances of
+the robbery.</p>
+
+<p>The train that entered the Union Station at six o'clock that morning had
+been robbed in some mysterious manner between a junction a short
+distance out of St. Louis, where the express messenger had been seen
+alive by a fellow messenger in another car. When the car was opened in
+the station, after being switched to the express track, the messenger
+was found lying on the floor of the car with a bullet through his head.
+The safe had been blown open and its contents rifled.</p>
+
+<p>The express company had kept silent about the murder and robbery until
+late in the day, when the body of the messenger was found by a reporter
+in an undertaker's establishment.</p>
+
+<p>As for the other details, a policeman at the Union Station said that he
+had noticed a man come out of the waiting room carrying a grip that
+seemed more than ordinarily heavy. A red motor car was waiting outside
+the station, and the man got into it and drove away at a fast pace. The
+policeman had not noticed the number on the car.</p>
+
+<p>How the robber and murderer got into the express car was a mystery, as
+the car was locked when it was switched into the express track, and
+there were no marks of a violent entry on the outside of the car.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What aire yer goin' ter do erbout it?&quot; asked Bud. &quot;Aire yer goin' ter
+turn over ther motor car an' give yer infermation ter ther police?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not on your life,&quot; answered Ted. &quot;At least, not yet. I'm going to work
+on it a bit myself first.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But won't Mr. Truax tip it off?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll warn him not to.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But how erbout ther feller in ther check suit what wuz so kind an'
+attentive ter us?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's hiding out, now that the robbery has become public. I'm not afraid
+of him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's ther first move?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Locate and identify the car.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted called Mr. Truax up on the telephone. The commission merchant had
+read about the express robbery, and had connected the man in the red car
+with it, but promised to say nothing about it until Ted had had an
+opportunity to unravel the mystery.</p>
+
+<p>Ted lay awake a long time that night thinking the matter over, and in
+the morning awoke with a plan in his mind.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, hev yer determined what ter do erbout ther red car?&quot; asked Bud at
+the breakfast table. &quot;I'm shore gittin' sore at myself fer a loafer,
+sittin' eround here doin' nothin' but eat an' look at ther things in
+ther stores what I can't buy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've got a scheme that I'm going to try,&quot; answered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm going to run that car all over this town until I get some of the
+train-robbing syndicate anxious about it and to following it. Then I'm
+going to get on to their place of doing business and their methods.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wish yer luck,&quot; was Bud's cheerless comment.</p>
+
+<p>Bud had been out wandering restlessly around the streets all morning,
+and Ted was writing letters. When he got through he thought about the
+missing trunk, and concluded that he would go to the Union Station to
+see if it had been received.</p>
+
+<p>The words of warning in the note not to go on the street alone were
+clear in his memory; but this he took to mean at night, for in a crowded
+street in the daytime he could see no danger.</p>
+
+<p>After he had waited an hour or more for Bud, and the yellow-haired
+cow-puncher had not returned, Ted decided to delay no longer, and
+started off at a brisk walk for the station, which was six or seven
+blocks distant.</p>
+
+<p>His hotel being on Pine Street, he chose that for his route.</p>
+
+<p>He had walked three blocks when he stopped to watch a man who was
+slightly in advance of him.</p>
+
+<p>It was the fellow he had seen in the checked suit.</p>
+
+<p>He had just come out of a saloon.</p>
+
+<p>In the middle of the block he stopped to talk with another man, who
+looked as if he worked on the railroad, and Ted loitered in a doorway
+until the two separated, and the man in the checked suit continued on
+his way.</p>
+
+<p>A block farther on Ted observed two men standing on the corner talking.
+A policeman stood on the opposite corner.</p>
+
+<p>The two men on the corner Ted knew instantly for &quot;plain-clothes men,&quot; as
+the headquarters detectives are called.</p>
+
+<p>He was well aware that the police by this time were on the alert to find
+the express robber and murderer, and knew that every available man on
+the city detective force was on the watch, like a cat at a rat hole.</p>
+
+<p>To capture the train robber meant a reward and promotion.</p>
+
+<p>Ted stood on the corner opposite the detectives and watched proceedings.</p>
+
+<p>When the man in the checked suit had gone about ten paces beyond the
+detectives, one of them started after him, and the other signaled the
+policeman in uniform to cross over.</p>
+
+<p>The detective called to the man in the check suit to halt, but instead
+of obeying he started to run.</p>
+
+<p>But he had not gone more than ten feet when he was seized by the
+detective, and was dragged back to the corner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Take him to the box, Casey,&quot; said the detective, turning his prisoner
+over to the policeman.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the two detectives were joined by a third, and they
+entered into an earnest conversation, drawn closely together and looking
+over their shoulders occasionally in the direction of the house into
+which the man in the checked suit was about to enter when arrested.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have stumbled right into it,&quot; said Ted to himself. &quot;The check-suit
+man is the spy for the train robbers, and their headquarters are in that
+house. The detectives are going to raid it, and I'm in on it. This
+certainly is lucky.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He was glad now that he had not waited for Bud.</p>
+
+<p>The three detectives moved slowly down the street, The policeman stood
+on the corner holding his man, waiting for the patrol wagon.</p>
+
+<p>The scene was vividly impressed on Ted's mind, for it had happened so
+quickly, so easily, so quietly, and not at all like his own strenuous
+times when he had gone after desperadoes in his capacity of deputy
+marshal.</p>
+
+<p>The detectives did not notice that they were being followed by a youth,
+and it is doubtful if they would have paid any attention to him if they
+had.</p>
+
+<p>The foot of the first detective was on the lower step of the stairway
+leading to the door of the suspected house when suddenly a shrill
+whistle cut the air from the direction of the corner, and Ted turned to
+see the policeman strike the man in the check suit a blow with his club.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Curse him, he's tipped us off,&quot; said the detective. &quot;Come on, we've got
+to rush them now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Quickly the three sprang up the steps, threw the door open, and entered
+a long hall.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Back room,&quot; said one.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was following them as closely as he could without being noticed and
+warned away.</p>
+
+<p>He saw a big, fine-looking policeman entering by a back door.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's it,&quot; said one of the detectives, motioning to a door.</p>
+
+<p>The policeman walked boldly to the door and threw it open.</p>
+
+<p>As he did so a shot rang out, and the policeman staggered back and
+fell, a crimson stain covering his face.</p>
+
+<p>He was dead before he struck the floor.</p>
+
+<p>Without a word, the three detectives ran to the door, and within a
+moment or two at least fifteen shots were fired within the room.</p>
+
+<p>They were so many and so close together that it sounded like a single
+crash. Then there was silence for a few moments, followed by a few
+desultory shots which seemed to pop viciously after the crash that had
+gone before.</p>
+
+<p>It all happened so suddenly that Ted had hardly time to think, and stood
+rooted to the spot until he was aroused by the cry of &quot;Help!&quot; in a
+feeble voice, and, drawing his revolver, he sprang into the room.</p>
+
+<p>As he did so, a shot rang out, and a ball sped close to his head.</p>
+
+<p>The room was so dense with suffocating powder smoke that he could not
+see across it, but he had seen the dull-red flash from the muzzle of a
+revolver and shot in that direction.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm done,&quot; he heard, followed by a deep groan.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Get me out of here,&quot; said a man, trying to struggle to his feet, and
+Ted hurried to his side. It was one of the detectives, and Ted helped
+him to his feet and supported him to the hall.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me down. I've got mine. Go in and help Dunnigan,&quot; said the wounded
+man. There was a spot, red and ever widening, on his breast.</p>
+
+<p>Ted laid him on the floor and re&euml;ntered the room. Another shot came in
+his direction, and missed, although he could feel the wind of it as it
+passed close to his head, and he returned it with two shots, and there
+was silence.</p>
+
+<p>The smoke had by this time cleared away somewhat, and Ted saw five men
+lying prone in the room.</p>
+
+<p>One of the detectives lay on his face across the bed, and Ted tried to
+raise him up, but he was a dead weight. Ted finally got him turned over
+on his back, and then he saw that the detective was dead.</p>
+
+<p>Kneeling on the floor with his head in his arms, which were thrown
+across a chair, was the third detective. He was breathing hard, and
+every time he moved the blood gushed from his mouth. He had been shot
+through the stomach.</p>
+
+<p>But on the other side of the bed lay three men, apparently all of them
+dead.</p>
+
+<p>While he was observing this there was a commotion in the hall, and a
+policeman rushed in, followed by a large man who wore an authoritative
+air.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, this is too bad; this is too bad,&quot; he kept repeating, as he went
+from man to man. It was Chief of Detectives Desmond. Turning to the
+policeman, he said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They've killed the boys, but the boys got the whole gang except two,
+'Checkers' out there, and a man in the red automobile.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVI'></a><h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE MAN IN THE YELLOW CAR.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>A patrol wagon full of policemen had dashed up in front of the house,
+and they came running down the hall, followed by a horde of eager
+reporters, who stood aghast at the slaughter of a few minutes.</p>
+
+<p>The only participant in the fight who could talk was the detective whom
+Ted had carried to the hall, and he was telling the chief of detectives
+in whispers what had occurred.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That young fellow followed us in,&quot; he said, pointing to Ted. &quot;He took
+me out, and then went in and finished the gang. He's a game one, he is.
+I don't know who he is, but, by Jove! he's a game un.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who were the gang?&quot; asked the chief.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Big Bill' Minnis, 'Bull' Dorgan, and 'Feathers' Lavin,&quot; was the reply.
+&quot;Checkers we caught on the corner, and the other member of the gang,
+Dude Wilcox, got away. I guess it was him that rode off with the swag in
+the automobile, but where he went we couldn't get.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can tell you about that,&quot; said Ted quietly to the chief.</p>
+
+<p>Desmond looked up at him curiously.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not now,&quot; he said. &quot;Don't go. I want to talk to you after a while. Now,
+brace up, Tom; you're going to come out all right. The ambulance is out
+here, and we'll get you to the hospital.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It ain't no use to jolly me, chief,&quot; said the man on the floor. &quot;I'm
+all in. I'm bleedin' inside. I've seen too many fellows with a shot like
+this ever to have any hopes. Send for my wife and a priest. I ain't
+afraid to go, chief, but I hate to leave Maggie like this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll take care of her, Tom. Get that off your mind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, chief. If you say so, I know it'll be all right. Poor girl,
+it's hard luck for her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's right, Tom, but brace up and don't let her see that you're
+worried.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A woman's scream sounded through the hall, and a slender, girlish figure
+pushed its way toward the prostrate man.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tom,&quot; she cried, and knelt beside him. &quot;Are you hit? Did they get you
+at last?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I ain't bad, Maggie,&quot; said the dying detective bravely. &quot;The
+chief's going to have me sent to the hospital, and I'll be all right in
+a week.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But before midnight he died.</p>
+
+<p>An hour later Ted met the chief of detectives.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Get into my car,&quot; said the chief, &quot;and come down to my office, and
+we'll have a talk.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a short time they were at the Four Courts, the big central police
+station of St. Louis, and when they were in the chief's private office
+and the door barred to intruders the great detective turned inquiringly
+to Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, who are you, and how did you happen to be mixed up in that mess?&quot;
+asked Desmond.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My name is Ted Strong,&quot; began Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Chief Desmond sat up straight and looked at Ted sharply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not the leader of the broncho boys, are you?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The same,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know about you. What were you doing near those detectives, that you
+should have got in so handily?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm a deputy United States marshal, as perhaps you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Desmond nodded. &quot;Yes, I know,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was working on this very case,&quot; said Ted, &quot;and I had got hold of one
+end of it, and was about to follow it to a conclusion, when I saw the
+man Checkers on the street, and was following him. He led me to the
+detectives. The minute I saw them and him, I knew there would be
+something doing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did you know of Checkers?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nothing at all, except that he knew somehow that I was working on the
+express-robbery cases, and yesterday he shadowed my partner and me to
+East St. Louis, where we left him behind in an automobile.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted then told the chief how he had come about taking possession of the
+red car, to which Desmond listened carefully. When Ted had finished,
+Desmond rose and paced the room for a minute.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Young man, you've got the big end of the chase,&quot; he said. &quot;Dude Wilcox
+is the man who we are positive killed the messenger and got away with
+the swag. If it were you who found out how he got away with it, you will
+have got the last of the gang.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is that all there is to it?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Lord bless you, no. That's only the bunch that has been working in St.
+Louis. The big end of it is operating from some town farther west.
+There's where Dude Wilcox came from. I don't know where they make their
+headquarters, and it is out of my territory. I have all I can do to take
+care of St. Louis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The government officers were of the opinion that St. Louis was
+headquarters.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was true up to a few weeks ago, but we made it so hot for them
+here that they emigrated.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, there's no use in my staying here any longer. I might as well
+hike out west. I'm not much good in a big town, anyway. I suppose you'll
+have no trouble in handling Checkers without any word from me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes. But let's have Checkers up and hear what he has to say for
+himself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The chief pushed a button and presently an officer entered.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go down to the hold-over and bring Checkers to me,&quot; ordered the chief.</p>
+
+<p>In less than ten minutes the officer was back again.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The jailer says he has no such man, chief,&quot; was the report.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where is he?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll inquire.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Back he came in a few minutes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Casey had him on the corner waiting for the wagon, sir, but in the
+excitement during the fight Casey let go of Checkers for a moment, and
+he got away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted could see that the chief was very angry, but he controlled his
+temper admirably.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very well,&quot; was all he said.</p>
+
+<p>He turned and gave Ted a sharp look.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If you stay around here much longer, you'll have to look out for
+Checkers. He's a dangerous man, as well with a knife as with a gun.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I guess I can take care of him,&quot; answered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You look as if you could, lad,&quot; said the chief.</p>
+
+<p>After a few more minutes of conversation regarding the red motor car,
+during which the chief advised Ted to keep the car until he was through
+with it, Ted took his leave, and returned to the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>There he found Bud pacing the floor.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Peevish porcupines,&quot; grunted the old cow-puncher, &quot;but you've got
+yourself in up to ther neck in printer's ink.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How's that?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haven't you seen the evening papers?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've been too busy to look at them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon you be. Busier than a cranberry merchant. Look at this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud handed Ted a bundle of evening papers.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, the fight between the detectives and the bandits was given an
+immense amount of space in the extras which followed one another rapidly
+from the presses. In all of them were accounts of Ted's going to the
+rescue of the detectives, and the statement that balls from Ted's
+revolver had killed two of the gang.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Rubbish!&quot; said Ted. &quot;I didn't kill any bandits. I took a couple of
+shots at them after they had fired on me, that's all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, yer won't be able to get away from these newspaper stories. If
+any of ther gang run across yer, they'll shore go after yer with a hard
+plank. Ye've placed ther black mark on yerself with ther gang.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right. I can stand it if they can. I've got a few up my sleeve for
+them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then Ted related exactly how the thing happened, and of his talk with
+Desmond.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And they let that fellow Checkers get away,&quot; sighed Ted. &quot;The chief
+says he's the most dangerous of them all, and warned me to look out for
+him. Bud, I've got a hunch.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let her flicker. I'm kinder stuck on yer hunches; they pay dividends
+right erlong.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The fellow in the check suit was the man who tried to stab me because I
+wouldn't let him see the anonymous letter. I don't know which was the
+real man, Checkers or the other. But there were many points of
+similarity between them, and when Checkers called for us to stop the
+automobile, it was the voice of the man who commanded me to give him the
+letter. Keep Checkers in your mind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The next morning they went out to Don Dorrington's house and got out the
+automobile.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll circulate around pretty well in this,&quot; said Ted, &quot;and if
+Checkers is in town he'll spot us, and we may get a chance at him yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you want with him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm depending on him to lead us to headquarters.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For an hour or more they rode about the town, making the machine as
+conspicuous as possible.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bud, we're being followed,&quot; said Ted, nodding toward a yellow car that
+had been in evidence oftener than mere chance made possible.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yep. I've had him spotted fer some time,&quot; answered Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why didn't you say something about it?&quot; Ted laughed at Bud's silence.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I knew that you were on to it, too,&quot; was the characteristic reply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you suppose he's chasing us for? He must know that he can't
+harm us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He don't want us. He wants that red car. It's a beautiful piece of red
+evidence against him an' his gang. Yer see, it's ther best kinder a
+clew.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Right again. But he needn't think he can steal it, for he can't.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They put the car up during the middle of the day.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll let it rest for a while,&quot; said Ted, as they ran it into a public
+garage. &quot;This evening we'll take it out again, and if we're followed
+then we'll be sure that it is Checkers, and that he is on our trail.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was seven o'clock when they trundled forth again.</p>
+
+<p>A bright moonlight night made motoring highly enjoyable, and after they
+had run about for a couple of hours Bud got out, saying that he was
+tired of the sport, and would return to the hotel, and leave Ted to take
+the machine back to Don Dorrington's basement.</p>
+
+<p>They had been followed by the yellow car again, but in going through
+Forest Park they had managed to give their trailer the slip among the
+intricate roads and bypaths, and had seen nothing of him for half an
+hour.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Ted had let Bud out, he hit up the speed, for the boulevard
+was comparatively free of traffic, and he fairly spun along to the
+western part of the city.</p>
+
+<p>Cutting off the boulevard, he entered upon a side street to make a short
+cut to Dorrington's house.</p>
+
+<p>He noticed, as he turned into the side street, a light-colored car
+standing close to the curb as he passed, but so many cars were standing
+in front of houses here and there that he paid no attention to it.</p>
+
+<p>But he had no sooner passed than the light-colored car glided after him
+noiselessly. Ted's own machine was making so much noise that he was not
+aware of the presence of another car until it was abreast of him, and so
+close that he could reach out his hand and touch it.</p>
+
+<p>He thought the car was trying to pass him close to the curb, and started
+to turn out to give it more steerage room.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sheer off, there,&quot; he called, &quot;until I can get out of here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly something wet struck him in the face. He gave a gasp, as a
+fearful suffocating pain filled his head and lungs, and he sank down
+into the bottom of the car, insensible.</p>
+
+<p>At the same instant the man in the other car reached over and throttled
+the red car, then stopped his own.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving his own car in the middle of the road, he leaped into the red
+car and gave her her full head.</p>
+
+<p>In half an hour the red car had left the city and was speeding along a
+smooth country road in the moonlight.</p>
+
+<p>Ted still lay in a stupor in the bottom of the car, and the only sound
+that came from him was an occasional gasp as his lungs, trying to
+recover from a shock, took in short gulps of air.</p>
+
+<p>It was midnight before the red car slowed down.</p>
+
+<p>Ahead in the moonlight rose the black bulk of a building.</p>
+
+<p>It presented the appearance of a country house of some pretensions.</p>
+
+<p>The house was dark. Not a light appeared at any of the windows.</p>
+
+<p>The red car approached it cautiously, running into the deep shadow cast
+by a high brick wall. A dog on the other side of the wall barked a
+warning.</p>
+
+<p>The man in the red car whistled softly in a peculiar way.</p>
+
+<p>A window was raised somewhere, and the whistle was answered by another.</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes there was the sound of a man walking on a graveled
+path, then the creak of rusty iron and a gate swung open.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right?&quot; asked a voice at the gate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet. Got them both,&quot; answered the man in the red machine.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bully for you. Run her in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The red machine, with Ted still lying in the bottom, ran into a large
+yard, and the gate was closed again, and the car was stopped in front of
+the house.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come, help me carry him in,&quot; said the man in the car. &quot;He'll be coming
+around all right in a few minutes, then we may have some trouble with
+him, for he's the very devil to fight.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted was dragged out of the car in no gentle manner, and carried into the
+house, which was unlighted save where the moonlight shone through the
+windows.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Into the strong room with him,&quot; said the man of the house.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was carried into a room and dumped upon a lounge. Then a light was
+struck, and both men bent over the prostrate form of the leader of the
+broncho boys.</p>
+
+<p>Both of them started back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whew! You must have given him an awful dose, Checkers,&quot; said the man of
+the house.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Had to do it, Dude. If I hadn't, I'd never got him here, that's a
+cinch.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, get his gun off before he comes to.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted was stripped of his weapons, a glass of water was thrown into his
+face, and he began to regain consciousness.</p>
+
+<p>He had been shot down with an ammonia gun, and the powerful alkaloid gas
+had almost killed him. For a long time he breathed in gasps, but his
+splendid constitution pulled him through.</p>
+
+<p>When they saw that he was recovering, the two men left the room, after
+examining the iron-barred windows, and as they went out they locked and
+barred the door behind them.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+
+<h3>MURDER IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Ted lay for a long time only half conscious.</p>
+
+<p>But gradually his senses returned, and he opened his eyes to find
+himself in darkness, trying hard to think what had happened to him.</p>
+
+<p>He knew that he had been felled by something powerful and terrible, that
+had knocked him in a heap so suddenly that he hardly knew what had
+happened to him.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly the consciousness of it all came to him. Some one in an
+automobile had ridden alongside him and thrown ammonia in his face.</p>
+
+<p>His eyes were still smarting with it, and he wondered, seeing no light,
+if it had blinded him, and he was now lying in the dark when there was
+light all around him.</p>
+
+<p>He struggled with this thought for a moment, because the idea of going
+blind was terrible to him.</p>
+
+<p>He wondered where he was, and felt around and learned that he was lying
+on a couch.</p>
+
+<p>Then he swung his feet to the floor and sat up. The ammonia had left him
+still weak, but gradually he became stronger, and got to his feet and
+began to explore the room with his fingers.</p>
+
+<p>He found a chair and a table, and presently came to the door, which he
+tried to open, but could not.</p>
+
+<p>Passing around the room, he arrived at the window, and, looking through
+the glass, saw a star, and thanked Heaven that he could see.</p>
+
+<p>He tried the fastenings of the window, unlocked it, and threw it up,
+stretching out his hand. The window was closed with iron bars.</p>
+
+<p>He had made the circuit of the room, and had discovered that he was
+securely shut in.</p>
+
+<p>He went back to the lounge and lay down to think matters over.</p>
+
+<p>He felt quite sure that the man Checkers had been his assailant. The
+warning had not been without reason, after all.</p>
+
+<p>As he lay quietly he heard footsteps in the next room. Two men evidently
+had entered it. They were talking, and occasionally, when their voices
+rose higher than usual, he could catch a word or two.</p>
+
+<p>From the tones of their voices he learned that the conversation was not
+of the most pleasant nature. They were quarreling about something.</p>
+
+<p>By degrees their voices grew higher, and occasionally Ted caught such
+words as &quot;money,&quot; &quot;half,&quot; &quot;thousand,&quot; enough to tell him that they were
+dividing something.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They're quarreling over the swag,&quot; said Ted to himself. &quot;Good! 'When
+thieves fall out, honest men get their dues,'&quot; he quoted. &quot;Keep it up,
+and I'll get you yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They did keep it up.</p>
+
+<p>It was the voice of Checkers that rose high.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tell you I'll have half or I'll split on you, if I go to the 'stir'
+for the rest of my life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If you do split, you won't go to the 'stir.' The boys will kill you
+before you get the chance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what's your proposition?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll give you five thousand. That's enough for putting me next to the
+train. What do you want? The earth? Didn't I do the dirty work? If I'd
+been caught, who'd have been soaked? You? I guess not. It would have
+been me who would have been killed, for I'm like the other fellows&mdash;I'd
+have fought until they killed me. You're not entitled to more than five
+thousand, and that's all you'll get.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I won't take it. Half or I squeal.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Squeal, then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was a sudden trampling of feet in the other room, the crash of an
+overturning table, followed by a yell of death agony, and the thud of a
+falling body.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great Scott, one of them is dead,&quot; said Ted, with a shudder.</p>
+
+<p>He was listening intently, and heard a scuffle of feet, then hurried
+footsteps died away and a door slammed somewhere.</p>
+
+<p>Deep silence followed.</p>
+
+<p>Then the horror of the situation burst upon Ted, The house had been
+deserted by the only living creature, except himself, who was left to
+starve to death in this prison, with a dead man in the next room.</p>
+
+<p>One or the other of the two men who had held him captive had done murder
+and escaped with the stolen money.</p>
+
+<p>Ted lay speculating which was dead and which had escaped, but he could
+make nothing of it.</p>
+
+<p>The night dragged wearily on for Ted could not sleep, for thinking of
+the dead man in the next room, and his own precarious position.</p>
+
+<p>He reviewed the chances of his being rescued. They were very slim,
+indeed.</p>
+
+<p>Bud and Chief Desmond would start a hunt for him about the city, but
+would not find him, and no one would think of looking for him in this
+deserted house.</p>
+
+<p>But at last the night passed, and Ted watched with a grateful heart the
+gradual dawning of the day.</p>
+
+<p>At last it was light enough to see, and he looked around the room.</p>
+
+<p>It was old-fashioned and high. Through the window he could see a bit of
+the high brick fence, and a few trees and long, tangled, dead grass.
+That was the extent of his view from the window.</p>
+
+<p>He examined the door, which was the only other means of exit from the
+room.</p>
+
+<p>It was very heavy, and made of oak. The lock on it was massive and
+old-fashioned, and set into the oak frame so that an examination of it
+dispelled all hope of getting it off.</p>
+
+<p>If he was to escape there was only one way, to cut a hole in the door.
+He felt for his knife. It was gone, and Ted wandered disconsolately to
+the couch and sat down to ponder. But the more he racked his brains the
+further he got from a plan of escape.</p>
+
+<p>The day dragged slowly on, but he would not sleep for fear that he might
+miss some one passing to whom he could call and bring assistance.</p>
+
+<p>Late in the afternoon he stepped to the window and looked at an apple
+tree in the grounds beyond. It was full of red apples, and he was very
+hungry, but they were not for him.</p>
+
+<p>He wondered that he had not heard any one pass along the road on the
+other side of the brick wall.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly he noticed that the leaves in an apple tree were being
+violently agitated, although there was not a breath of wind stirring.</p>
+
+<p>Some one was in the tree, and his first impulse was to yell for help,
+then he reflected that if it was a boy pilfering apples the cry would
+scare him, and his only chance for rescue would be ruined by the boy
+running away.</p>
+
+<p>He would wait for the boy to come to the ground, and would then speak to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>But as he was watching the tree intently the movement of the leaves
+ceased, and soon he perceived a peering face and two dark, roguish eyes.
+They reminded him of a bird, so bright and inquiring were they.</p>
+
+<p>Ted smiled at the eyes, and thought he saw an answering twinkle in them.</p>
+
+<p>They disappeared after a few moments. The leaves shook again, and a boy
+of about ten years, incredibly ragged, with a dirty face, hands, and
+bare feet and legs, dropped to the ground. His head was covered with a
+tangled mop of brown hair in lieu of a hat.</p>
+
+<p>The boy stared at the window, all the while munching an apple, while
+from the bulges in his scant trousers it was evident that he had others
+for future consumption.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, boy!&quot; said Ted, with a friendly way.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello! Who are you?&quot; said the boy, coming a few steps nearer, to get a
+better view.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you mean what's my name?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uh-huh!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My name is Ted Strong. What's yours?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Napoleon Bonaparte.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted laughed at the solemnity of the boy when he gave this answer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said the boy, &quot;it's just as much Napoleon as yours is Ted
+Strong.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But my name is Ted Strong.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Aw, come off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, if you don't believe me, ask me any questions you like to
+prove it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where do you come from?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Moon Valley, South Dakota.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's right. What's the names of some of Ted Strong's fellers?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted named them all, the boy giving a nod after every name.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, what's the name of your horse? The one you ride most?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sultan. You seem to know something about me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet. Well, maybe you're all right, but what are you doing here? I
+always thought you stayed out West&mdash;away out West.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Usually I do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then what are you doing in the haunted house?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is this a haunted house?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet. There was a feller killed there once, and nobody will live in
+it no more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Honest, now, what <i>is</i> your name?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My name's&mdash; Say, are you sure enough Ted Strong?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Certainly I am.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boy came closer, looking at Ted fixedly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Gee, I wouldn't go inter that house fer a hundred million dollars.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've been here all night, and it didn't scare me any.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That settles it. I reckon you must be Ted Strong. He's the only feller
+I ever heard of that wouldn't be scared to stay in a haunted house. How
+did you get there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Without hesitation, Ted told the boy how he had been held up by a man in
+an automobile, and knocked out by ammonia fumes, and then locked up in
+the house. But he said nothing about the murdered man in the next room.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now I've told you all about myself, it's only fair that you should tell
+me about yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I ain't nothin'. I'm just 'Scrub.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haven't you got any other name?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nary one that I know of that's fastened to me all the time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How's that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When I'm living with old man Jones, I'm Scrub Jones, and when I'm with
+Mr. Foster, I'm Scrub Foster, and that way. I don't belong to nobody,
+an' I just live around doing chores for my keep. Just now I ain't got no
+place to stop, and I'm sleeping in hay-stacks and living on apples and
+turnips and potatoes, when I make a fire and bake 'em, and once in a
+while I trap a rabbit. But, gee, what a good time you must have!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How would you like to go with me out to Moon Valley?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Aw, quit your kiddin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I mean it I'd just like to take you out there and give you a good time
+for once in your life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Would you? By golly, you can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I'll tell you what to do. Go around to the front door and come in,
+and back to this room, and unlock the door and let me out, and we'll go
+together.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Gee, I wouldn't go into that house for four thousand barrels of
+hoarhound candy. Say, are you a prisoner?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am, and if you don't come in and let me out I can't take you with me
+to Moon Valley.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's so. But I'm scared of the ghost.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, so you're afraid, are you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this the boy flushed and fiddled with his toes in the grass.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No kid that's afraid could live in Moon Valley. He'd be scared to death
+in a week.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are there ghosts there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are no such things as ghosts. Bet you never saw one yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I never did. But all the folks around here say there is ghosts in
+that house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, say there are, they wouldn't come out in the daytime, would
+they?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon not. Gee, I'll come in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boy disappeared like a flash, and in a few moments Ted heard the
+front door open, then a scream.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll bet he's found the dead man,&quot; said Ted, aloud, in a tone of
+annoyance. &quot;That's just my luck.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The door slammed, and all was silent. The boy evidently had run away,
+and Ted was left alone in the house with the dead man.</p>
+
+<p>Once more darkness descended upon the earth, and Ted took up another
+hole in his belt, and tried to believe that he was not hungry.</p>
+
+<p>About nine o'clock Ted, who was lying on the couch looking at the
+ceiling, saw a faint flicker of light pass across it, and sprang to his
+feet. It was the light cast by a lantern somewhere outside.</p>
+
+<p>He sprang to the window and looked out.</p>
+
+<p>Behind the brick wall he could see the reflection of a bobbing lantern,
+and hear the shuffle of many feet.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ho, there!&quot; he cried.</p>
+
+<p>The shuffle stopped, and a voice that was trembling with fear answered
+him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come in here, and let me out,&quot; called Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll be thar in a minute,&quot; was the answer, and presently the front
+door was thrown open, followed by exclamations, as whoever had come in
+viewed the body in the next room.</p>
+
+<p>Then the voices were outside his door.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You open it an' go in,&quot; said a voice. &quot;You're the constable.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, supposin' he's got a gun?&quot; asked the constable tremulously.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't be afraid,&quot; said Ted. &quot;I have no gun. They took everything away
+from me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There! Ain't that enough? Open the door.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted heard the bar being taken down, then the key grate in the lock, and
+the door was thrown open with a bang. He found himself looking into the
+barrels of a shotgun.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If yer makes a motion, I'll blow yer head plumb off, blame yer,&quot;
+shouted the man with the gun.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Honest,&quot; said Ted, &quot;I'm not armed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How come yuh here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was made insensible by ammonia fumes and brought here last night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How come yuh ter kill that man in ther next room?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't kill him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's a likely story. I find yuh alone in ther house with him. Yuh'll
+hev ter answer ter ther magistrate fer this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See here, my friend, how could I have killed that man, then come in
+here, and locked and barred the door on the outside?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's got yuh there, Si,&quot; said one of the men.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look here,&quot; said Ted, showing his star. &quot;I'm an officer of the law. The
+fellows who captured and brought me here were robbers, and I was on
+their trail. That's all there is to it. Now, let me pass. I want to see
+what is in the next room.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVIII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>STELLA ADOPTS A BROTHER.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Taking up a lantern, Ted entered the room. Beside the overturned table
+lay the body of a man. It was not Checkers. There was nothing in the
+room except the table, two chairs, a broken lamp, which lay in a pool of
+kerosene on the floor, and the body of the murdered man.</p>
+
+<p>Wait, what was this?</p>
+
+<p>Beneath the table was a scrap of green.</p>
+
+<p>It was a bank bill, and, drawing it forth, Ted found it to be a
+fifty-dollar note issue'd by the First National Bank of Green River,
+Nebraska. A valuable clew, this.</p>
+
+<p>When he had searched the body of the dead man, and found several letters
+and a small memorandum book, he left the room and locked it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Notify the coroner,&quot; said he to the constable, &quot;and give him this key.
+If he wants me as a witness in his inquest, he will find me at the
+Stratford Hotel, in St. Louis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The constable promised to carry out Ted's instructions.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where is that boy Scrub?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here I am,&quot; said the boy, emerging from the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who knows anything about this boy?&quot; Ted asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's just a loose kid,&quot; said the constable. &quot;His father died when he
+was young, and his mother left him a few years ago. Since then no one
+has claimed him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I will. Do you want to come with me?&quot; Ted asked the boy. &quot;I will
+give you a good home and clothes, teach you something, and make a
+useful man of you. Is he a good boy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted turned to the men about him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, Scrub is a good boy, only he never ain't had no chance,&quot; seemed to
+be the universal verdict.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say the word, Scrub. Do you want to come with me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet,&quot; said Scrub fervently.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good! Come along! We'll be getting back to St. Louis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But yuh can't get back to-night. The last train has gone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Never mind. I'll get there somehow. Some one lend me a lantern for a
+few minutes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted was given one, and he went out into the yard and outhouses to search
+for the red motor car. He could not find it anywhere.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did any of you folks see a red automobile going down the road any time
+to-day?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, there's a red machine down in the lane running over to the Rock
+Road,&quot; said one of the men. &quot;But I reckon it's bust.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come on, Scrub, we'll take a look at it,&quot; said Ted, Leading off with
+the man who had seen the car, and followed by the whole crowd, Ted made
+his way to the lane.</p>
+
+<p>Standing in the middle of it was the red car with its No. 118 swaying
+from the rear axle in the wind.</p>
+
+<p>Evidently Checkers had started away in it, using it as a swift means of
+escape, but it had stopped, and, as he could go no farther in it, he had
+abandoned it in the road.</p>
+
+<p>Ted examined the machinery carefully, but could find nothing wrong with
+it until he discovered that it had exhausted its supply of gasoline.</p>
+
+<p>But he learned that the grocer at the village, half a mile away, had
+gasoline for sale, and two young fellows volunteered to go after some
+while Ted overhauled the car.</p>
+
+<p>In half an hour he was ready to start. He made Scrub get into the seat,
+and, shaking hands with the constable and shouting a merry good-by to
+the others, he started for St. Louis.</p>
+
+<p>It was past midnight when he drew up in front of the Stratford Hotel,
+hungry and tired. Scrub was fast asleep, and, taking him in his arms,
+Ted entered the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>As he stepped inside, the clerk stared at him as if he had seen a ghost.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How's everything?&quot; asked Ted of the clerk.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great Scott, where did you come from?&quot; asked, the clerk, and added
+hastily: &quot;Better hurry upstairs to your room. Everybody is crazy about
+your disappearance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted went up in the elevator with the boy still sleeping in his arms.
+There was a light in his room and a confused murmur of voices.</p>
+
+<p>Without the formality of a knock he opened the door and entered. As he
+appeared in the doorway there was silence for a moment, then such a
+bedlam of shouts and laughter burst forth that every one on the floor
+was aroused.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's Ted! It's Ted!&quot; they shouted, and crowded around him.</p>
+
+<p>The place was full of them. Across the room he saw the shining face of
+Stella, smiling a welcome at him. Ben and Kit, Carl, Clay, and all of
+them were there, and sitting at the table was the chief of detectives.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello! Holding a post-mortem over me?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It comes pretty near that,&quot; said Bud. &quot;Dog-gone you, what do you mean
+by goin' erway an' hidin' out on us that way? What in ther name o' Sam
+Hill an' Billy Patterson hev yer picked up now?&quot; Bud was looking
+curiously at the bundle of rags in Ted's arms, for the boy still slept.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is a new pard,&quot; said Ted. &quot;If it hadn't been for this kid you'd
+probably never seen me again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Erlucerdate,&quot; demanded Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not until some one goes out to the nearest restaurant and orders up a
+stack of grub for Scrub and me. I haven't had anything to eat or drink
+for thirty-six hours, and I'm almost all in, and this kid has been
+living on apples and water for a couple of weeks. Now, hustle somebody
+and let me put this kid on the bed&mdash;-my back's nearly broke&mdash;or maybe
+it's my stomach, they're so close together now I can't tell which it is
+that hurts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>While Ted was laying the boy on the bed he woke up, and, finding himself
+in a strange place, and a finer room than he had ever been in before,
+surrounded by a lot of rather boisterous young men, he leaped to the
+floor and started to the door. But Ted caught him by the arm and drew
+him back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the matter with you, you young savage?&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I'm all right now,&quot; said the boy. &quot;When I woke up I got rattled, I
+guess, but as long as you're here it's all right.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The food came up now borne by two waiters and piloted by Kit. There were
+oysters and steak and potatoes and biscuit and a lot of what Missouri
+folk call &quot;fixin's,&quot; and a big pot of coffee.</p>
+
+<p>Scrub's eyes stood out like doorknobs as he viewed this wonderful array
+of things to eat. The table was cleared, the waiters set out the food,
+and the boys stood back to give Ted and the boy &quot;room to swell,&quot; as Bud
+expressed it. The way they tucked into the good things was a caution.</p>
+
+<p>After their hunger was satisfied and the waiters had restored order to
+the table, Ted began the story of his adventures since he had let Bud
+out of the automobile. As he talked, Stella wooed the small boy to her
+side, and listened to the story with her arm around his shoulder, and
+long before it was done Scrub was her worshiper forever.</p>
+
+<p>Chief Desmond listened with close attention, and when Ted finished and
+exhibited the bill of the Green River Bank, which he examined carefully,
+he said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Strong, you've beaten us all to it. I will go out to-morrow&mdash;I mean
+to-day, for it's one o'clock now&mdash;and view the body myself. If it is, as
+seems almost certain to be, Dude Wilcox, one of the most dangerous men
+in the West is gone, but he has left behind for us to fight, and you to
+find, the man Checkers. This bill is your clew to the gang, but it is a
+counterfeit. As I have the thing figured out, the gang knew that forty
+thousand dollars was going to be shipped, but for some reason or other
+they dared not hold up the train out there, and telegraphed the gang in
+St. Louis to get it. Dude was at the head of the bunch here, and as it
+was a one-man game so near to St. Louis, Dude was elected to pull it
+off, which he did to the queen's taste. Perhaps the bill you have is the
+only counterfeit in the lot. Perhaps not. That is for you to work out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But how he managed to get away with the swag I haven't managed to
+figure out yet,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course, I don't know either, but deducing facts from what I know of
+the gang's methods, and from long experience with gentlemen of the road,
+I would say that the members of the gang who were killed in their
+rendezvous in Pine Street by my unfortunate men were awaiting the
+arrival of Dude with the swag. Checkers had secret knowledge that you
+had been put on their trail, and when he saw you pick up that red car
+in East St. Louis he was sure that you knew about the robbery and that
+you were on to Dude.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's likely,&quot; said Ted. &quot;I hadn't thought of that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, he got into communication with Dude, and warned him against
+coming to the Pine Street place. You see, they had another rendezvous
+out in the country, a haunted house, the reputation of which would keep
+prying country boys away from it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Best sort of a place for a criminal hangout,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're right, and now that you have discovered it, I'll take pains to
+see that it's never used for such again. But, as I was going to say,
+Dude's intention was to get out of town, return, go to the Pine Street
+room, divide the swag, and skip. He probably left the train at Somerset,
+or some other little town down the line, hid in the cornfields until
+dusk, stole a horse and buggy, and drove across the country to the
+haunted house, and later was joined by Checkers, who had been trailing
+you, and later succeeded in getting you. Had it not been for the quarrel
+between Dude and Checkers, it is more than likely that you would have
+been murdered by Checkers. But one murder was enough for his nerve, and,
+forgetting you, he vamosed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The detective arose to take his departure, again congratulating Ted on
+the outcome of his adventure.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Keep your eye peeled for Checkers, and if you do run across him, have
+your gun at half cock,&quot; he said, and, bidding good night to all, went
+away.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And now, good fellows, all to bed,&quot; said Ted. &quot;To-morrow we start for
+the West, and the capture of the head men of the train-robber syndicate,
+and the extermination of the business.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the morning, before the others were up, Ted made Scrub take a bath,
+and then they sallied forth to a clothing store. When they came out,
+instead of the ragged and dirty little boy, there walked proudly by
+Ted's side a fine, clean, fresh-looking lad in a well-fitting serge
+suit, and other appointments that transformed him completely.</p>
+
+<p>When they arrived at the hotel the boys professed not to know Scrub.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, picked up another kid?&quot; asked Bud. &quot;I swow, yer allers goin'
+round pickin' up mavericks. I reckon yer aim ter brand this one as well
+ez ther one yer brought in last night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, here's another kid,&quot; said Ben, looking over Scrub's new outfit
+with interest. &quot;He don't look much like the one you brought in last
+night. I reckon that one has run away, I don't see him anywhere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Poor Scrub was standing first on one foot and then on the other, fairly
+squirming with embarrassment.</p>
+
+<p>Ted gave the boys the nod to cease teasing the boy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't mind those fellows, they're only joshing,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I don't mind it if they can get any fun out of it,&quot; said Scrub,
+with a smile. &quot;Maybe, some day I can get back at them, when I know them
+better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella came down in the elevator at that moment, and, catching sight of
+Scrub, gave a little scream of astonishment at his altered appearance.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Goodness, what a fine-looking addition to the family!&quot; she said,
+shaking hands with the boy, who blushed and looked pleased. &quot;I don't
+like the name Scrub a bit. I'm going to change his name.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This isn't leap year, Stella,&quot; said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You hush! What name would you rather have than Scrub? That's no name
+for a broncho boy,&quot; she said to the boy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't know,&quot; answered the boy. &quot;What name do you like?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think she likes Ben better than any,&quot; said Ben, posing in a very
+handsome manner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't listen to him, he's always teasing. You want something short and
+easy to say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the matter with 'Say'?&quot; said Ben. &quot;That's always easy to
+remember. I notice that when a man wants to call another on the street
+he just hollers 'Say,' and half a dozen fellows turn around.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then that makes it too common,&quot; decided Stella. &quot;What name would you
+suggest, Ted? He's got to have two names.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let us get one of the newspapers to start a voting contest on it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ben, if you don't stop your foolishness, I won't play,&quot; said Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You name him, Stella,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Anything you say goes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then we'll call him Dick, after my father,&quot; said Stella. &quot;He never had
+a boy, and always wanted one. I'm going to adopt this boy as a brother.
+His name shall be Dick Fosdick. That sounds funny, doesn't it, but I
+didn't do it on purpose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was a tear in her eye at the thought of her father, and the boys
+looked rather solemn, for while they hoped for the best, they didn't as
+yet know the lad, and perhaps they had saddled themselves with a future
+regret, but Stella trusted and believed in the little chap, who was very
+proud that at last he had thrown off and buried forever the name of
+Scrub.</p>
+
+<p>That evening they took the train for the West, their destination being
+Green River.</p>
+
+<p>The automobile Ted sent on by express that he might have it not only for
+use, for he was becoming attached to it, but as a clew to the detection
+of the express robbers.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIX'></a><h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
+
+<h3>EZRA, THE LIFE-SAVING GOAT.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Ted had engaged several sections on the through sleeping car to North
+Platte, Nebraska, the old home of Colonel William Cody, known all over
+the world as &quot;Buffalo Bill.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But they were to leave the train at Green River, ostensibly to buy
+cattle for their ranch. This, of course, was to avert suspicion from
+their real purpose of hunting down the express robbers.</p>
+
+<p>For Mrs. Graham and Stella the stateroom of the car <i>Orizaba</i> had been
+engaged, and the boys made it a sort of ceremonial chamber.</p>
+
+<p>The car was well filled with other passengers, many of them tourists on
+the way to Colorado or the Pacific coast, and they were much amused at
+the free-and-easy spirit with which the boys conducted themselves, and
+when it became generally known that they were the broncho boys, with Ted
+Strong at their head, they received a great deal of attention, which was
+not particularly to Ted's liking.</p>
+
+<p>As usual, wherever they were, Bud Morgan, Ben Tremont, and Carl Schwartz
+provided a fund of amusement for everybody.</p>
+
+<p>Little Dick Fosdick had never known such happiness as he was now
+experiencing. He worshiped Stella, admired Ted, and looked upon Bud as
+the greatest pal a boy ever had.</p>
+
+<p>He and Bud were inseparable, and Bud never tired of telling him yarns
+about cow-punching and Indian fighting, while the boy proved a
+breathless listener, hanging upon every word that fell from the
+yellow-haired cowboy's lips.</p>
+
+<p>He knew by heart many of the adventures through which Ted Strong had
+passed, and often surprised Ted by correcting some inaccuracy which,
+through a lapse of memory, Ted had made.</p>
+
+<p>They were sailing across Missouri toward the West, and the boy kept his
+face glued to the window, watching for the first glimpse of the golden
+West of his fancy. Just at present he saw only farms and little towns,
+through which the fast train whizzed without stopping.</p>
+
+<p>The boy knew this sort of country well, and was rather disappointed that
+the boundless prairie did not roll before him from horizon to horizon.</p>
+
+<p>Then he turned his attention to the luxury of the car, but being a
+healthy boy, this did not impress him long, and he turned to his heroes
+for relief.</p>
+
+<p>Bud was sitting comfortably sprawled out on two seats, singing softly to
+himself. Bud could not sing a little bit, but he thought he could, which
+served his purpose personally quite as well as if he could.</p>
+
+<p>Ben was in the seat behind him, reading. After a while Bud's music, or
+the lack of it, got on Ben's nerves, and he reached over and poked Bud
+on top of his golden head with the corner of his book.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say,&quot; said he, &quot;put on the soft pedal, won't you? Perhaps you can sing,
+and maybe some one told you you could, but take it from me you have no
+more voice or musical ability than a he-goat.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, mercy!&quot; retorted Bud. &quot;Does my music annoy you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It certainly does,&quot; snapped Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then why don't yer move away?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bah! You're an old goat.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thanks fer ther compliment, although yer don't mean it thet away. But
+when yer likens me ter a goat yer do me proud. If yer were more goatlike
+yerself ye'd be a heap more wiser.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm glad you like it. The pleasure's all yours. But if a fellow called
+me a goat, I know what I'd do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Maybe, perhaps. But yer needn't be afraid that any one will liken yer
+ter a goat. Any self-respectin' goat would get sore at it. If I wuz ter
+pick out yer counterpart in ther animile world, I'd say yer most
+resembled the phillaloo?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's a phillaloo?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A phillaloo is a cross between a penguin and a jassack.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, you long-haired lobster!&quot; cried Ben, leaping to his feet,
+apparently in great anger, &quot;don't you call me anything like that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, didn't yer jest call me a goat?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, but&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then sit down an' git back ter yer love story; we're square. Nothin' is
+lost on both sides. But callin' me a goat don't make me sore none. I
+jest dote on goats. If I wasn't jest what I am, I'd sooner be a goat
+than a collidge gradooate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've heard about enough, if you're alluding to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Take it er leave it. But, ez I wuz goin' ter say before my conversation
+was cut inter by a loud an' empty noise, speakin' o' goats reminds me o'
+a time down on ther Pecos&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove! I'm going to ask the conductor to move me into another car.
+This is too much. I might, perhaps, stand for being called a phillaloo,
+but I swear I'll not be compelled to stay here and listen to one of
+those silly and impossible stories of this insane cow-puncher.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At first some of the passengers thought that Bud and Ben were really
+angry at one another, but the wise ones soon saw that it was all bluff,
+as, of course, the broncho boys knew.</p>
+
+<p>But it was very real to Dick Fosdick, who had yet many things to learn
+about the boys and their ways, and while the little chap was far too
+clever naturally to show his feelings, he sided with Bud, and thought
+that Ben was very unreasonable, especially as the boys, and some of the
+passengers, had flocked around Bud, who appeared not to notice them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon, Dick, you'd like ter hear thet thar story erbout the time I
+lied down on ther Pecos in the summer o'&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Conductor,&quot; said Ben, detaining that official as he was passing through
+the car, &quot;is there no way of stopping the noise this person is making? I
+cannot take my nap on account of his chatter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Several persons who were not in the secret were for interfering in
+behalf of Bud and his story, which they wanted to hear, but were headed
+off by the conductor, who said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sorry, but I cannot interfere with the gentleman. He does not seem to
+be annoying the other passengers. If you wish to take a nap you are at
+liberty to go up ahead in the smoking car.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this Bud began to gloat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hear they've put a cattle car up next ter ther injine fer sech
+sensitive people like you. Yer might enj'y a leetle siesta on ther
+straw.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ben sank back into his seat, and began to snore gently.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What about the story down on the Pecos, Bud?&quot; said Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You'd like to hear it, eh? Then I'll tell it to you. Of course, the
+other folks may listen to it, but it is understood betwixt me an' you
+thet it's all yours, an' whatever goes inter their ears is jest ther
+leavin's. Is that a go?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boy nodded eagerly, even though he didn't understand the drift of
+Bud's remarks.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the story about?&quot; asked the boy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The goat, my boy. Perhaps you don't know it, but the goat is one of
+the noblest animals what walks. He is also one o' ther smartest, an' in
+former years used ter be able ter talk, but ez soon ez he got ter be so
+popular in secret societies ther gift o' speech was withdrawed from him,
+so thet he wouldn't be able ter give erway ther secret things what he
+saw an' heard at ther meetin's.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But, Bud, are they really smart?&quot; asked Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Smart ain't no name fer it. All yer got ter do to find out if they're
+smart is ter look at their whiskers. The smartest o' all animiles is
+man, an' don't he wear whiskers? An' I want ter ast yer what other
+animile hez whiskers exceptin' ther goat. Ther goat knew what he was
+about when he begin ter raise whiskers. He says ter hisself&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What bosh!&quot; exclaimed Ben, snorting in his sleep.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Aire you addressin' yer remarks ter me?&quot; asked Bud, looking over the
+back of the seat at Bud. But the only answer was a gentle snore.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did he say?&quot; asked Dick eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Why,' says he, 'if they won't let me talk they can't keep me from
+bein' ez near a man ez I kin go; by gravy, I'll raise whiskers like
+Deacon Smith,' who was a member o' ther lodge in which ther goat
+officiated; and, by jinks, he did, an' ther fashion wuz follered, an'
+they wear them ter this day.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There ain't no question o' their smartness, an' their prominence. Ain't
+one o' ther signs o' the zodiac up in ther heavens named after ther
+goat&mdash;Capricornus is ther feller ter what I refer&mdash;an' them heathen
+chaps what wuz half man an' half goat? Didn't they come pretty near
+bein' ther whole thing?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But about the Pecos?&quot; inquired Dick, who was not partial to preaching,
+but wanted to get at the heart of the story.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh. yes. I wuz leadin' up ter it gradooal, fer what I'm goin' ter
+relate&mdash;if thet yap will choke off on thet moosical snore&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here, wake up, you're snoring so loud we can't hear ourselves holler,&quot;
+said Kit, reaching over and shaking Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can't keep awake while that fellow persists in yarning away like a
+fanning machine. It's so monotonous I can't keep awake,&quot; and Ben
+stretched and yawned.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let's get away from here and go to some other part of the car,&quot;
+whispered Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, we'll just stay here an' spite him. He'll wake up after a while an'
+be glad to listen to ther story. So here goes!</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was punchin' cow's down on the Pecos one summer fer ther Crazy B
+Ranch. We had eight punchers in ther bunch, a good chuck wagon, an' easy
+work, so I wuz pretty well suited, an' thet summer I gained twelve
+pounds, even if it wuz a hundred an' forty in ther shade, which we hed
+forgotten ter bring along with us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Forgotten to bring what?&quot; asked the boy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Our shade. Yer see, down in thet country ther sun is so strong thet
+every one carries his own shade, fer there isn't a tree in ther whole
+country big enough ter cast a shadder o' any sort. Out on ther ranches,
+at certain seasons o' ther year, they serve out shade ter ther men jest
+ther same ez they do bacon an' saleratus ter ther outfit thet goes out
+herdin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick looked seriously at Bud for a moment, hardly knowing whether or not
+to doubt him, but Bud's face was as grave as a deacon's.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't understand it, I'm sure,&quot; he said. &quot;But where do they get the
+shade to give to the men?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's easy enough. It's always gathered on dark nights, generally late
+in ther fall er in ther winter, so thet it'll be real cool.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But where do they get it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What&mdash;ther shade? Why, they just go out an' gather it off the ground in
+thin shapes, kinder longer than broad. It can be rolled up just like a
+blanket, an' carried behind ther saddle. It's gathered in ther cold
+months. Ye've heard o' ther 'cool shade.' Well, that's why they gather
+it late in the year. Summer shade is no good, because it's too warm.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But what is it like?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, it's black, an' I hear they strip it off close ter ther ground. We
+don't get no shade like it in this part o' ther country. Ther only place
+what hez it is ther West, whar it's needed most.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But how about the Pecos?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sho! I almost fergot it, didn't I, while teachin' yer something erbout
+ther way they do things in Arizony an' her sister-in-law, Noo Mexico?
+Now I'm off, shore.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ping-pong Martin wuz in ther outfit thet year. Mebbe yer knows him?&quot;
+Bud looked at the small boy inquiringly, much to his embarrassment.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, sir, I never heard of him before.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, no matter, but this Ping-pong cuss, he had a personal friend, a
+goat, what couldn't no more be shook than a sore thumb, and had follered
+Ping off ter ther wars, so to speak.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ping run off from home on ther quiet ter join our outfit, leavin' ther
+goat to home, locked up in ther barn. Ping thought he hed ther goat
+faded, but one day, when we wuz half asleep in our saddles, a feller
+over on ther other side come a-runnin' in.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'What's ther matter?' sez I.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar's a funny animile over here. He shore is ther devil, fer he wears
+horns, an' hez a face exactly like thet o' ole man Pillsbury. I ain't
+bettin' none it ain't him. But if it is Pillsbury, he better not go
+home lookin' like thet 'thout lettin' his wife know first.'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ping an' me rode over ter ther other side, an' thar stood a goat,
+lookin' so nice an' socierble.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Great hevings!' shouted Ping, makin' a rush fer ther goat, 'thet's my
+goat Ezra, ain't you?'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did the goat understand him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did he understand him? Well, I should whisper sweetly. Why, thet goat
+jest jumped all over Ping, a-runnin' his whiskers inter his eyes, an'
+laughin', he wuz so glad ter see him. He'd traced Ping plumb ercross
+ther desert ter get ter us, an', o' course, we couldn't sic him home
+after that.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We all got ter love Ezra fer his lovely ways; that is, all except
+'Boney Bill' Henderson.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why? Didn't the goat like him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, it wuz this way: Boney Bill had a habit o' beggin' ther grease
+from ther fryin' pan every night ter ile his boots. This made 'em good
+an' strong, ez well ez easy ter chew on. One night, Ezra bein' fond o'
+boots, finds 'em an' chews ther tops off'n 'em. They wuz ther only boots
+Bill hed, an' we wuz two hundred mile ter another pair, so Bill hed ter
+go through ther season barefoot, an' ther sun jest nacherly warped his
+feet out o' all shape.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But thet wuzn't what I wuz goin' ter tell yer erbout. That fall ther
+Utes went on ther warpath, an' wuz headin' our way, an' I want ter tell
+yer we wuz some scared. We hed several brushes with ther Injuns, an'
+ther courier we sent ter ther fort fer help wuz killed an' scalped.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar we wuz, in a little valley entirely surrounded by Injuns thirstin'
+fer our gore. How long we could hold out agin' 'em wuz ther problem. But
+whenever one o' 'em showed his head we took a pop at it, an' they
+returned ther compliment. We wuz prayin' fer ther comin' o' ther
+soldiers, which wuz ther only thing what could save us from a horrible
+death.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ther Injuns got next ter ther fact thet our ammunition wuz runnin'
+short, an' they wuz gittin' some gay; sorter takin' advantage o' us in a
+way. I could see thet they wuz gettin' ready ter make a rush down inter
+ther valley an' massacree us all, an' we prepared ter sell our lives
+dearly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;One mornin' we missed Ezra, ther goat. I'll never fergit ther misery on
+ther face o' Ping-pong when he finds it out.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;'Bud,' he says ter me, 'I'm goin' out ter find Ezra, an' if them Injuns
+hez got him, I'm goin' ter bust ther whole tribe wide open.'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tried ter persuade him not ter go, but he will, so I goes with him.
+We sneaks up ther side o' ther hill, an' looks over ther ridge right
+down inter ther Injun village. The sight what met our gaze almost, but
+not quite, made me bust open with laughin'.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ther Injuns wuz all down on their hands an' knees, bowin' ter Ezra, who
+wuz walkin' eround on his hind legs, sashayin' sideways an' noddin' his
+head jest like a live bock-beer sign. Yer see, ther Injuns hed never
+seen a goat before, an' when Ezra walks onto them, waggin' his whiskers
+in a wise sort o' way, they thinks he's some kind o' a god, er somethin'
+like that. But when he got up on his hind legs an' begin ter sashay thet
+settled it. They wuz shore o' it then.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We watched ther performance fer a while, then ther Injuns got up an'
+begin ter mosey. In an hour thar wuzn't a Injun within twenty mile. They
+jest hit ther high places fer home.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thet wuz ther way Ezra saved our party. After thet he could hev et
+every boot in ther outfit, an' thar wouldn't hev been a kick.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What became of him?&quot; asked Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, he went back home with Ping an' raised a large family, an' they
+wuz talkin' o' runnin' him fer ther legislature an account o' his
+whiskers an' his smartness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He was a smart goat, wasn't he?&quot; said Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet. Thet's why I said that some goats wuz jest ez smart ez lots o'
+collidge gradooates what I hev met.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XX'></a><h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE COUNTERFEIT BANK NOTE.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>When they arose in the morning the train was speeding over the prairie,
+and Dick could hardly be pulled away from the window long enough to go
+to breakfast with Stella and Mrs. Graham, so great was his delight at
+being in the &quot;really and truly&quot; wild West.</p>
+
+<p>When they were all back in the car again, Ted, for the first time,
+noticed a large man, flashily dressed, who wore a flaming red necktie,
+and who evidently thought himself irresistible to the ladies.</p>
+
+<p>He walked up and down the aisle on the slightest pretext, ogling every
+pretty woman in the car, and Ted was getting very tired of it,
+especially as once or twice he had the impertinence to stop and look
+into the stateroom in which Stella and Mrs. Graham were sitting.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll take a fall out of that fellow if he keeps up that sort of thing
+much longer,&quot; said Ted, who was sitting beside Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was thinking of the same thing,&quot; said Kit. &quot;He makes me tired. I
+wonder what he is, anyway?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He has the make-up of a gambler or a saloon keeper,&quot; answered Ted. &quot;He
+better keep away from me if he knows when he's well off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At a town farther down the line a young lady entered the car, and took a
+seat directly in front of Kit, who was alone, Ted having gone to the
+front of the train to consult the conductor about a mistake that had
+been made in their tickets.</p>
+
+<p>Presently the flashy man with the red necktie spied her and sauntered
+past her down the aisle. In a few moments he came back, twirling his
+black mustache, which evidently was dyed, and casting glances at the
+young lady.</p>
+
+<p>Stopping in front of her, he said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is this seat taken, lady?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The young lady looked up, and answered coldly:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, sir; but there are plenty of other seats in the car which are
+unoccupied.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This one looks good to me,&quot; said the fellow, with a smile which was
+supposed to be very fetching.</p>
+
+<p>Without further excuse he plumped himself down in the seat beside her,
+and threw his arm familiarly over the back of it, at the same time
+hitching closer to her.</p>
+
+<p>Then he tried to draw her into conversation, but she turned from him and
+looked out of the window.</p>
+
+<p>But he persisted, and she showed that his attentions were annoying her.</p>
+
+<p>Kit watched the proceedings, and was boiling with anger, but he did not
+feel that he had the right to interfere until the young lady showed by
+her manner that she desired assistance.</p>
+
+<p>Presently the man said something to the young lady in a low voice that
+seemed to arouse her anger, for she rose hastily to her feet, her face
+burning.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me pass!&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't leave me like this,&quot; said the fellow, blocking the way with his
+knees. &quot;Sit down. We'll soon be good friends. You'll find me a good
+fellow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I insist, sir, that you allow me to pass,&quot; said the girl, growing pale,
+her voice rising a little.</p>
+
+<p>Kit could stand it no longer. He reached over and tapped the fellow on
+the shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Allow the lady to pass,&quot; he said quietly.</p>
+
+<p>The hawk turned his head and sized Kit up. This did not take much time,
+for Kit was small and slender, his black eyes being the largest part of
+him, proportionately.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What the deuce have you got to do with this?&quot; he sneered, looking
+savagely at Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Just enough to make sure that you do it,&quot; said Kit, rising.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I don't allow no pups like you to interfere with me. You sit down
+an' let this gal an' me attend to our own business, er I'll bend you an'
+tie you into a knot an' throw you out of the window.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Kit did not reply, but he reached over and got the fellow by the coat
+collar and jerked him into the aisle, and, twisting him around, planted
+his toe between his coat tails with a force that sent him halfway down
+the length of the car.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're on the wrong train,&quot; said Kit. &quot;The cattle train is on the other
+track.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The fellow soon regained his balance, and came rushing back like a
+charging bull.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You little snipe!&quot; he roared, &quot;I'll kill you for that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But as he got near Kit dodged into the space between the seats, and as
+the fellow rushed past, carried on by the momentum of his run, Kit swung
+at him with his right fist.</p>
+
+<p>It caught the fellow back of the ear, and the force behind the blow, as
+well as the rate at which he had been coming, sent him headlong between
+two seats, where he lay crumpled up like a rag.</p>
+
+<p>The commotion had attracted the attention of Bud and Ben, and they were
+by Kit's side in a moment.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Need any help?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not a bit,&quot; replied Kit. &quot;I'm not very large, but no man of that sort
+can call me a pup.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The fellow lay where he fell, and Bud warned away several passengers who
+wanted to go to his assistance.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's all right,&quot; he said. &quot;A crack like that never injured any one
+permanently, but sometimes it wakes them up ter ther foolishness of
+insulting a lady when ther broncho boys are around.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Kit lifted his hat to the young lady.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pardon me for making a disturbance,&quot; he said. &quot;I don't think you'll be
+bothered again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The young lady was profuse in her thanks, and resumed her seat.</p>
+
+<p>Presently the fellow on the floor got up and sneaked into another car,
+without looking again at either Kit or the young lady.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, Kit! What was it all about?&quot; asked Ted entering the car.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I never could stand for red neckties, nohow,&quot; answered Kit
+apologetically.</p>
+
+<p>When the train stopped for dinner they all trooped into the station
+dining room, and secured for themselves a long table, around which they
+sat like a big and happy family.</p>
+
+<p>As Ted and Kit were walking along the platform toward the dining room
+Ted suddenly halted and stared at a man who was leaning against the wall
+of the station.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove, I believe it's him!&quot; he muttered.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who's him?&quot; asked Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The express robber, Checkers,&quot; answered Ted. &quot;And yet I'm not sure. If
+it is him it's one of the best disguises I ever saw. Look at your friend
+of the red necktie hurrying up to him. By Jove, they're a good pair! I
+wish I could hear that fellow in the checked suit speak.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That fellow will get caught up yet if he persists in wearing checked
+suits,&quot; said Kit. &quot;It seems to be his badge, or a disease with him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I suppose that's why they call him Checkers,&quot; said Ted. &quot;I wish I knew.
+I'd take a chance at arresting him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the man in the checked suit looked up and caught Ted and
+Kit staring at him.</p>
+
+<p>Hastily calling the attention of the man with the red necktie to them,
+he hurried around the corner, and the other followed.</p>
+
+<p>Ted ran to the corner of the station, but all he could see of either was
+through a swirl of dust as the motor car in which they were riding flew
+up the street.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By crickey! I'll bet anything that was Checkers,&quot; grumbled Ted. &quot;I'm
+always too late to get to him. But next time I'll take a long chance
+with him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The train pulled into Green River at eight o'clock that night, and they
+all went to the leading hotel, and Ted registered them as coming from
+the ranch.</p>
+
+<p>During the evening the boys mingled with the crowd in the hotel lobby,
+talking cattle, and met many of the representative women of the section.</p>
+
+<p>They were out after a bunch of stockers, and promised to be in the
+neighborhood for several days and to visit the ranches and look over the
+stock.</p>
+
+<p>One of the men whom they met was introduced to them as Colonel Billings,
+ranch owner and speculator in cattle.</p>
+
+<p>He was a middle-aged man of most pleasant features&mdash;benign,
+good-natured, and yet shrewd. He dressed well for a cowman, and from his
+pink, bald crown and gray chin whiskers down to his neat shoes, he
+looked the part of the prosperous business man.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have a lot of stock such as I think you boys need out at my ranch,&quot;
+he said to Ted, when he learned that they wanted to buy. &quot;I'd like to
+have you bring your party out to the place and stay several days as my
+guests. You would then have plenty of time to look the stock over, and
+if you like them I'm sure we can strike a bargain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted thanked him and promised to go out to look at the stock, but as for
+the invitation for the whole party to stop at the ranch, he would have
+to consult the wishes of the party. He rather liked the colonel, who
+was, apparently, bluff and sincere.</p>
+
+<p>As Ted was on his way to the bank which had issued the bill which he had
+found in the haunted house, he stopped suddenly. He had just seen a
+young woman enter a store hurriedly, and look at him over her shoulder
+as she did so. She it was who had slipped the note of warning into his
+pocket in the Union Station, in St. Louis.</p>
+
+<p>Evidently she was trying to avoid him. But why? He wanted to thank her
+for that kindly service, and, quite naturally, he had some curiosity to
+know who she was.</p>
+
+<p>Without apparently hurrying he followed her into the store, and looked
+around for her. She was not in sight, and he walked up and down the
+aisles between the counters, but could not find her.</p>
+
+<p>Then he observed that there was a back door to the store, which opened
+onto an arcade. She had escaped him through that, and Ted looked up and
+down the arcade. At the far end, where it opened out into the public
+square, a carriage stood, and a young lady was getting into it.</p>
+
+<p>It was the young lady of the subtle perfume and the note.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment she was gone.</p>
+
+<p>He was not far from the bank, and giving the young woman no more
+thought, for he was sure he would see her again, for she seemed to be
+mixed up in his fortunes in some manner, he made his way to the
+financial institution and asked for the president.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You will find Mr. Norcross in his private office at the end of the
+corridor,&quot; said the clerk.</p>
+
+<p>At the door of the office Ted found a colored messenger, who stopped him
+and asked his business.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is Mr. Norcross in his office?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, sah, but he is busy,&quot; answered the messenger.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, take my card in to him, and tell him I would like to see him
+when he is at leisure.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The negro went away, and in a few moments returned to say that Mr.
+Norcross would be glad to see Mr. Strong presently.</p>
+
+<p>While Ted waited he stood looking out of the window into the street. The
+door behind him opened, and he turned.</p>
+
+<p>Walking rapidly down the corridor was the man with the pointed beard,
+whom he had seen in the Union Station in St. Louis give the signal to
+the girl who had slipped the note into his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>Ted stared after him. The mystery of the note was getting thicker. But
+he would try to think it out later.</p>
+
+<p>He found Mr. Norcross an elderly, but active man.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What can I do for you, Mr. Strong,&quot; said the banker, referring to Ted's
+card.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I come to you for information concerning a recent robbery and the
+murder of an express messenger in an express car in St. Louis,&quot; said
+Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In what capacity do you come?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As an officer of the government.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, ah, rather young for such work, aren't you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pardon, but that has nothing at all to do with it. I am a deputy United
+States marshal, and have received instructions to examine into certain
+matters regarding the recent robberies from express trains in this part
+of the country.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I suppose you have your credentials as an officer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think I can convince those who have the right to know that I am what
+I profess to be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very well. I meant no offense, but there have been so many violent
+things done out here, that naturally a banker desires to at least know
+something of his callers. What can I do for you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did your bank make a shipment of currency to the East, last week?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, sir, that is a well-known fact.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What was the amount?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Forty thousand dollars. It was to meet some paper which was due in St.
+Louis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And it was stolen from the express car?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. The express company has reimbursed us for it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What sort of currency was it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mostly of our own issue.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you recognize this bill?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted took from his pocket the counterfeit bill of the bank, and handed it
+to the president, who looked at it a moment and handed it back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, that is one of the bills. The money sent was all in that series of
+numbers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted picked the bill up, and put it in his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here, you mustn't take that,&quot; said the president. &quot;That is the property
+of the bank. Give it to me. The express company will need it for
+evidence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I will keep it. It will be safer with me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A suspicion had entered Ted's mind, which was strengthened by the
+conduct of the president, who was white-faced and trembling.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;From your examination of the bill, you are positive that it was one of
+those shipped to St. Louis?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am not certain, of course, but as I said, it is within the series of
+numbers which we sent. Why do you ask?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because it is a counterfeit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The president sank down in his chair. He had suddenly become pale, and
+was trembling like a leaf.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What will you take for that bill, young man? Name your own price,&quot; said
+Mr. Norcross.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is not for sale, and you have not money enough to buy it,&quot; replied
+Ted Strong.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXI'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2>
+
+<h3>A CRIME WITHIN A CRIME.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;Well, friend, have you decided to come out to my ranch, and look my
+stock over?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was Colonel Billings, the genial ranchman, who addressed Ted, meeting
+him in the lobby of the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I think I will,&quot; answered Ted. &quot;When will it be convenient for you
+to be there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am going out to-morrow, and will be glad to see you and your
+friends.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are a good many of us,&quot; said Ted, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The more the merrier. The house is large, and I could drop you all down
+into it, and the house would hardly know it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How do we get out there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see you have a couple of ladies with you, and I shall telephone over
+to my manager to send a carriage in for them, and horses for the use of
+you boys. How many horses and saddles will you need? There are plenty at
+the ranch.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We will need eight horses. One of the ladies prefers to ride, and we'll
+need a gentle pony for the small boy, whose experience is limited.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sidesaddle for the lady?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Ted, with a grin, &quot;this young lady will not use one. She is a
+cowgirl, and rides a man's saddle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, my boy. The outfit will be here in the morning. By the way,
+I am going to have some other guests. I suppose you will not object.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Certainly not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;One of them is a young New Yorker, who has come West to invest in ranch
+property, and who has brought his sister with him. Charming people. The
+other is a rather uncouth person, but you will forgive his
+eccentricities, I am sure. To tell you the truth, he often grates on me,
+but I overlook it because he has lacked advantages. He made his money in
+the liquor business, in which he has been all his life. But he is a good
+fellow at heart, and is my partner in a way, having invested a large sum
+of money with me in cattle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shall be very glad to meet them, although, I'm afraid I shall not be
+able to see much of them, as I shall be very busy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When you are under my roof, sir, you are as free as if you had been
+born there. I am glad you and your friends are coming. It does my old
+heart good to have young people around me. I will see you in the
+morning, and shall feel honored to escort you to my home.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>With this they parted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jolly old chap,&quot; said Ted to himself. &quot;I know just how he feels about
+having a lot of people come to visit him. I like it myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella had been out for a ride with little Dick. She had secured a
+couple of ponies from the stable connected with the hotel, and had given
+Dick his first riding lesson.</p>
+
+<p>Ted met them as they were dismounting in front of the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted, that boy is going to be a second edition of you in the saddle,&quot;
+cried Stella enthusiastically. &quot;I never saw such a seat for a kid. Why
+he takes to a horse like a young duck to water.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's good,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Do you like to ride, Scrub, I mean Dick?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boy flushed at the name Scrub, but he recovered himself immediately.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, it's fine,&quot; he answered. &quot;I like horses, and they seem to take to
+me. I'd like to ride a horse all the time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, you'll have all you want of it when you get out to Moon Valley,&quot;
+said Ted. &quot;Would you like to go out again? If you do, go ahead. I guess
+we can trust you not to break your neck.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The boy smiled and nodded, and climbed into his saddle again, and was
+off.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted, that boy is going to be a credit to us all,&quot; said Stella. &quot;But he
+must have an education. Although he speaks well and doesn't use much
+slang, that is, for a boy, he knows absolutely nothing that he hasn't
+picked up. He must go to school some day, but not now, for he hardly
+knows his alphabet, and as for other branches of knowledge, why, he
+doesn't know they exist, and he is as full of superstition as a Cocopo
+squaw. Wherever he got his beliefs, I can't imagine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Stella, he shall go to school. It doesn't really matter
+much, that he has never been to school before. He'll learn so fast that
+he'll make up for lost time, don't fear. That boy has a good head.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm going to teach him myself until he is able to take his place in
+school with boys of his own age. He's just crazy to learn.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;His early education is up to you. I'm not afraid he will learn anything
+he shouldn't from you. Go at him slowly and sensibly. Don't try to stuff
+it all into him at once. Meanwhile, I'll teach him to ride, shoot, herd,
+rope, and all that, occasionally impressing upon him the cardinal
+principles of the broncho boys&mdash;truth, honesty, sincerity, courage, and
+kindness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He'll be a fine fellow some of these days, Ted, and a good-looking and
+good-tempered one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think he will. Suppose we take a little walk, if you have nothing
+better to do. I want to get your opinion on some matters.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The very thing. I saw a pretty little park on the bank of a river.
+We'll walk there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have promised to go out to Colonel Billings' ranch to-morrow, and I
+took the liberty of accepting the invitation for you all, as there is
+nothing to do around here, and I have a hunch that something good will
+come of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll be glad to go. You know how much I like the town. I wouldn't care
+if I never saw one again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's all right, then. We'll start in the morning. I am more than
+anxious to go now, especially as Billings tells me he has invited
+several other people to be his guests.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who are they?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You remember the girl who slipped the note into my pocket in the St.
+Louis station, and the young fellow with the pointed beard. Well, I saw
+them both in town this morning. The girl ran away from me on the street,
+jumped into a carriage, and drove away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There's nothing about you to cause a girl to run.&quot; Stella looked up at
+Ted in a teasing way.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That'll be all right,&quot; said he. &quot;But a few minutes after I saw the
+fellow with the pointed beard coming out of the private office of
+Norcross, the president of the bank that was robbed of the forty
+thousand dollars. He went by me like a rocket, as if he were afraid of
+me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sure it was he?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Positive. But the strange part of it was my interview with the banker.
+He acknowledged that the bank had been robbed of the money, and
+identified the bill dropped by Checkers in his flight, as one of the
+shipment, but when I announced that it was a counterfeit, he went all to
+pieces, and, after trying to bluff me into giving him the note, wanted
+to buy it, asking me to name my own price.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What does that mean, I wonder?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It means, that this case of the robbery and the murder of the express
+messenger is not the simple thing I thought. There is a crime within a
+crime.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What in the world do you mean?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Just this, Norcross, the banker, is mixed in the crime, and Heaven only
+knows how many more men quite as prominent as he. The express-robbing
+syndicate is a strong one, and hard to beat.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you'll beat it yet. I know you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thank you for your faith and encouragement, Stella. But it's going to
+be a hard pull, and it will take all of us to do it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you think of it now?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My idea is, that the alleged forty thousand dollars was not real money
+at all, and that Norcross was trying to double-cross the very men he was
+standing in with.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Still, I hardly understand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, Norcross agreed with the members of the syndicate to ship forty
+thousand dollars to St. Louis, which was to be stolen en route by the
+syndicate's own men. They would then have their forty thousand back, and
+the forty thousand which they could make the express company pay them.
+The original forty thousand would come back to Norcross, and he would
+get his share of the money which the express company would pay.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was easy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It would have been, but for the fact that Norcross insisted upon being
+insured for the use of his forty thousand in case anything else happened
+to it. In this way he got another large sum.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see. But from what you have found out so far, I don't quite
+understand how you figure it out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All I have to go by is my own way of deducing things. The forty
+thousand dollars which was to be stolen was supposed by the other
+members of the syndicate to be real money. It was for this that the
+syndicate insured Norcross. But, instead, he substituted counterfeits,
+if, indeed, most of the supposed money was not just blank paper.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He is a real financier, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, but he didn't take into consideration that he had scoundrels just
+as shrewd as himself to deal with. For instance, I believe when the
+truth is known, it will be found out that the syndicate was going to
+beat Norcross. But that is mere supposition. The tug of war is coming
+soon. It will take place at the ranch of Colonel Billings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I thought you believed in him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do. I have made a few inquiries about him. I wanted to find out what
+sort of a chap he was before taking you and your aunt out to his place.
+Every one speaks of him as one of the leading men in the county and
+State.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then why should he be drawn into this mess?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think he has done it unconsciously. He has a partner who has invested
+money in Billings' cattle. Do you remember the fellow in the train whom
+Kit knocked down? The chap who insulted that pretty girl.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;From the description given me of one of his coming guests by the
+colonel, I believe the man with the red necktie is he.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What? That horrid thing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't tell you, but Kit and I saw him talking to a man at the
+station where we stopped for dinner, whom I am convinced was no other
+than Checkers himself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whew! That looks suspicious.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In addition to that, the colonel has invited a man and his sister to
+visit him while we are there. This man is a New Yorker; I don't know his
+name, but the colonel says he is out here to buy a ranch. Who do you
+suppose it is?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haven't an idea.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The girl who dropped the warning note into my pocket, and the young man
+with the pointed beard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whew! again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Looks pretty complicated, doesn't it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Worse than that. Ted, are you sure about this Colonel Billings?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;One is sure of nothing in this world, but I have taken a fancy to
+Billings, and when I like a man he generally turns out all right, making
+allowances for minor faults and habits. Yes, I think I can trust
+Billings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But not his friends. Ted, do you want to know what I think?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Certainly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I feel that the invitation out there is a trap to catch you, and
+possibly keep you away from the town.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nonsense! Why should they want to keep me away from the town? There
+doesn't seem to be anything wrong in town that I could bother them in,
+except the Norcross incident, and if, as I suspect, he has duped his
+partners, he will say nothing to them about me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Suppose they want to get out there to do away with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They wouldn't ask all of you out there with me in that case.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is where you are mistaken. They are too shrewd to excite your
+suspicions by inviting you alone. It will not be hard for them to get
+you away from the ranch to look at some cattle and then kill you. Ted,
+you are too dangerous to them to be let alone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, it can't be helped now, and being right in among them is a hope I
+did not expect to see realized so easily. But they will have no
+advantage over me, for none of the syndicate, I take it, know of the
+counterfeits as yet, except Norcross and the inevitable Checkers. But at
+that, I don't think they will resort to violence. We are too strong for
+them, at the ranch, at least I believe they will use diplomacy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, we can play at the game ourselves. There, perhaps, I can help
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet you can. But let us go down to the station and see if the red
+motor car, 118, has arrived yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When they reached the station, Ted went to the express agent and asked
+for the car.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said the agent, &quot;the car arrived this morning, Mr. Strong, and I
+delivered it according to your instructions. The charges are not paid
+yet. Your messenger said you would call later and settle for them, and,
+knowing you by reputation, I let it go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted was staring at the agent.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You delivered it according to my instructions?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't give any one an order for the car.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, you must have forgotten it. Here it is. I happened to see one of
+your boys down here, and called him to one side and asked him if it was
+your signature, and he very promptly identified it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me see that order.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The agent produced an order written on the note paper of the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>Ted stared at it incredulously.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It looks like my writing, but I didn't write it. I'll swear to that.
+Look at this, Stella. Is that my hand?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella looked at the paper studiously for a minute or two, then handed
+it back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A casual look at it would deceive me, but you did not write it. It
+lacks several of your individualisms, and has others that are not
+yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is right. This order is a forgery. I did not write it. The
+express-robber syndicate is getting bolder every minute. They'll come in
+and steal you some day,&quot; Ted said to the agent. &quot;Notify your company
+that my car has been stolen, and that I want it restored to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great Scott!&quot; was all the agent could say.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What sort of looking chap was it that presented the order?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, he was an ordinary-looking chap. He had on a&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Checked suit?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, sir. How did you know?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Checkers has come into his own at last,&quot; said Ted, turning to Stella.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXII.</h2>
+
+<h3>TED IN THE TOILS.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>The following morning an impressive cavalcade set out for the ranch of
+Colonel Billings, led by the genial owner himself. Behind him came Ted
+and Stella, between whom rode little Dick.</p>
+
+<p>Then came Mrs. Graham in a well-appointed carriage, and acting as her
+outriders and escorts were the boys. When they arrived at the ranch,
+after passing numerous herds of fine cattle on the way, they found one
+of the finest ranch houses in the West.</p>
+
+<p>It was a great, white modern structure that could be seen for miles
+across the level prairie, which showed hardly a single rise or
+depression in all the miles they had ridden.</p>
+
+<p>None of the guests whom the colonel had told Ted would be present
+accompanied the party. The colonel explained this by saying that other
+matters had detained them in town, and that he preferred to permit them
+to follow, rather than defer the pleasure of being their escort.</p>
+
+<p>This was said with so much sincerity that Ted could not doubt him. Mrs.
+Graham and Stella were ensconced in a large apartment on the first
+floor, with large windows opening upon a wide veranda.</p>
+
+<p>Both expressed themselves as delighted with their room, much to the
+gratification of their host. The broncho boys found quarters in the
+spacious second floor, which had as many rooms as the average hotel.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what do you think of Colonel Billings now?&quot; Ted asked of Stella,
+when they met on the broad lawn in front of the ranch house after they
+had seen their rooms.</p>
+
+<p>Stella simply shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you mean by that?&quot; asked Ted. &quot;That you don't know, or that you
+don't care to say?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can't tell you yet, Ted. I like him somehow for his genial ways, and
+yet something tells me to beware.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I'd sooner trust your intuition than my judgment. I'll keep an
+eye on him. And&mdash;yet, I feel the same as you in a way. But I hate to
+distrust any one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know you do, Ted, and that is why you get fooled on some people
+sometimes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But not on all people all the time?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then what does one's first impression amount to, anyway?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not much, unless they can make good a good first impression.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm not going to worry about him. The other fellows are the ones for
+that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's what I think.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm going to ride out over the range, and take a look at the cattle.
+Want to go along?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course I do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They found their horses in the corral, and after telling Colonel
+Billings that they would be back for dinner, departed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When you go through the west gate into the big pasture, look out for a
+big Hereford bull in there,&quot; Colonel Billings called after them.</p>
+
+<p>Ted nodded and waved his hand, and they were off. Colonel Billings
+certainly did have a splendid ranch. They rode for miles within the
+fences before they came to the west gate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Think we better go any farther?&quot; asked Ted, when they had come this
+far.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. Let us go on,&quot; replied Stella. &quot;We have plenty of time, and I
+would like to see just how big this ranch is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't forget the red bull,&quot; said Ted, as he closed the gate behind
+them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've seen many a dangerous bull before,&quot; laughed Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If we find him and he takes after us, keep on the far side of me. I
+don't much fancy that pony you're on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't myself. I wish we had a bunch of Moon Valley ponies here to
+ride. I've never seen any that could come up to them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They were following a trail that led directly into the west. It was a
+cattle trail, and Ted's practiced eye told him that it led to water.
+Several miles to the west he saw the plain became broken.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There's water over there,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's where we'll find the cattle,&quot; answered Stella. &quot;Do you want to
+go that far and look at them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I will if you think you can stand it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella looked at him scornfully.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I guess this beast will go the distance,&quot; she answered, giving the
+little gray a clip with her quirt, and galloping ahead of Ted, who was
+not slow to follow.</p>
+
+<p>As they proceeded the ground became more and more broken.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I believe there is a bit of 'bad land' over there,&quot; said Ted, pointing
+forward.</p>
+
+<p>Still they saw no cattle, although Colonel Billings had told him that
+morning that his greatest herd, the one he wished the boys to examine
+with the view to purchase, lay in the big west pasture.</p>
+
+<p>But all they could see so far was the broad stretch of green prairie and
+the low line of the rough land in the distance. Not a living thing was
+in sight.</p>
+
+<p>The only movement was the flying shadows of the white clouds over the
+prairie, and the waving of the deep, rich grass when a vagrant breeze
+swept by.</p>
+
+<p>But suddenly Ted pulled in his pony, and shaded his eyes with his hand,
+staring into the west.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is it?&quot; asked Stella, reining in.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I thought I saw something red shoot across the horizon to the west,
+where you see those gray rocks,&quot; answered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A cow&mdash;or, perhaps, the dangerous red bull,&quot; laughed Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nothing like that. It wasn't the right color. Did you ever see a
+scarlet cow?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Never did.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, the thing I saw was scarlet, and it was not shaped like a cow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He was still looking intently into the west.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There it is again!&quot; he exclaimed, unlimbering his field glasses.</p>
+
+<p>After a moment of intense scrutiny, he raised the glasses suddenly to
+his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove!&quot; he cried, &quot;it's a motor car, and I believe it's 118.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Impossible!&quot; cried Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, entirely possible,&quot; said Ted intensely. &quot;Don't you see if it was
+this fellow Checkers who got the machine from the agent by false
+pretenses he would take it as far away from town as possible?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I see that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then which direction would he take if, as I think, he is in league with
+the train-robbing syndicate, which we have persuaded ourselves to think
+made their headquarters at Green River, but in this direction? We have
+learned that others of those we believe to be in it are to be the guests
+of this ranch, and&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see. He could not well bring the red car to the ranch house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then where do you suppose he's going with it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There's no better place to hide it than in those very 'bad lands,' if I
+am guessing right, at the rough land yonder.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;True. What are you going to do about it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm going to find that red car and my friend, Checkers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not alone, Ted. You're going to get the other boys to help you, aren't
+you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now is the accepted time. I'm going right away now. But it would be a
+good scheme for you to ride back to the ranch and tell Bud and the boys
+quietly what I am about, and have them come out in case I should need
+help.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hate to see you ride away alone, Ted. You can't tell what there is
+over there. Better let me go along.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, Stella, it would be no use. You know that I appreciate your courage
+and skill in every way, but this, probably, will be no work for girls.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella pouted at this. She did not like the idea of the long ride back
+to the ranch house alone.</p>
+
+<p>She looked at Ted to see if he really was in earnest, and when she saw
+the look in his face she turned back with a wave of the hand and a &quot;So
+long!&quot; and started for the ranch house.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tell Bud to bring three or four of the boys out here with him,&quot; shouted
+Ted after her. &quot;Thank you, Stella.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But she only nodded her head and pursued her way, and Ted, after looking
+after her for a moment, rode forward. He had not seen the red car for
+several minutes, it having disappeared behind a rocky butte.</p>
+
+<p>Having a fair horse, he gave it the gad and struck into a gallop. Soon
+he entered upon the rough land, and from a rise saw a stream below and a
+herd of cattle beyond, where the prairie began again; the railroad, and
+a small red station house, with two or three low buildings about it.</p>
+
+<p>He now understood that he had seen the red car on the far side of the
+ravine, through which the stream flowed, and went down to the stream,
+his horse sliding on its haunches amid a clatter of broken clay and
+pebbles.</p>
+
+<p>He was soon across and clambered up the other wall of the ravine, and
+there in the clay found the impression of the tires of the red car.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm all right now,&quot; he muttered to himself. &quot;On the track of Checkers
+and the robbers' automobile. I wonder where it will end.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He had no difficulty in following the tracks of the automobile for a
+considerable distance, when the ravine ran out on that side and the bank
+of the stream flattened; and he rode along it, following the trail with
+ease.</p>
+
+<p>Then the bank of the stream rose again, and the water flowed through a
+ravine, into which the red car had entered. It could not escape him, and
+Ted chuckled, and examined his revolver, loosening it well in its
+holster, for he had not forgotten the warning against Checkers given him
+by Chief Desmond.</p>
+
+<p>The ravine grew deeper as he advanced, and soon it became tolerably dark
+at the bottom where the high walls shut out the light. Suddenly his
+horse stumbled, and, as Ted shot over its head, he heard the twang of a
+broken wire that had been stretched across the path.</p>
+
+<p>He had fallen into a trap. As he struck the earth, he was stunned for a
+moment, then a heavy weight was upon him.</p>
+
+<p>He twisted around and felt for his revolver, but it had fallen from his
+holster, and he felt his arms grasped and a thong passed around his
+wrists, and then around his ankles.</p>
+
+<p>The weight was lifted from him and he rolled over on his back. Standing
+above him was the man whom he knew as Checkers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, my lad, you delivered yourself like a lamb to the slaughter,&quot;
+said Checkers, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>Ted could say nothing. He was too busy wondering how easily he had
+fallen into the toils.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You went up against a tough proposition when yon tackled me,&quot; continued
+the man. &quot;It would have been a good thing for you if you had never run
+across me. You know too much to be left alive. I shall see that you are
+properly taken care of.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Checkers issued a shrill whistle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come,&quot; he said to Ted, &quot;get to your feet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted arose as three men came around an elbow of the wall of the ravine.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Take care of this boy,&quot; said Checkers to them. &quot;And if he escapes&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He finished the sentence with a smile that made the men wince.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>STELLA IMITATES SANTA CLAUS.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;Come on, fellow,&quot; said one of the men, jerking Ted along by hops.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll attend to him all right, boss,&quot; said another.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He'll get all that's coming to him,&quot; said the third, with a grin that
+was almost as diabolical as that of Checkers.</p>
+
+<p>Around the elbow of the ravine wall, in a small cove was a log cabin
+with a lean-to shed, under which was sheltered the fatal red car which
+had lured him to captivity.</p>
+
+<p>The cabin was backed up against the wall of the ravine, and was small
+and dirty as to interior. A fire burned in a big stone fireplace at one
+end, filling the room with a suffocating smudge.</p>
+
+<p>The room was almost dark, but Ted, from the corner into which he had
+been flung, was soon able to make out that the men were cooking
+something over the glowing embers, at the same time taking swigs from a
+black bottle, and smoking reeking pipes of vile tobacco.</p>
+
+<p>After the food was cooked they began to eat, but did not offer Ted any
+of it, all the while making jokes at his expense, and vaguely hinting at
+his fate.</p>
+
+<p>Ted wished now that he had taken Stella's advice, and had not rushed in
+so rashly. Had he waited for Bud and two or three of the boys to come to
+his assistance, he could easily have caught the whole lot for their
+cabin was in a perfect pocket from which they could not have escaped.</p>
+
+<p>Who were these rough fellows with whom Checkers would not associate, for
+Ted could hear his archenemy pacing up and down outside, and he had not
+forgotten how he had addressed these men?</p>
+
+<p>Probably they were only ordinary villains who did the dirty work planned
+by the wiser heads of the syndicate. He wondered if the boys would be
+able to find him before they settled with him, as they had promised.</p>
+
+<p>After the men had finished their meal the voice of the leader summoned
+them outside. Ted could hear commands being given in a low voice, and
+mumbles from the men.</p>
+
+<p>It appeared from what Ted could gather from the tones of the voice,
+rather than from any words that he caught, that one of the men was
+protesting against what Checkers was ordering.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there was a cry of agony.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't do that, boss,&quot; said one of the men.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Shut up, or you'll get a taste of the same knife,&quot; came the voice of
+Checkers in a tone of rage. &quot;When I say a thing must be done it is as
+good as done. Now go ahead and do as I tell you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But, boss&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go on, and do it. Are you a coward? You've done it before,&quot; Ted heard
+Checkers say. &quot;I'm going away now, and if you can't show me what I want
+when I get back, well&mdash;you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a moment Ted heard the chug of the motor car, then the grating of the
+tires on the earth as it started away.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Remember what I said,&quot; the voice of Checkers came floating back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Bill, this is a derned outrage,&quot; said one of the men outside. &quot;I,
+fer one, am not in favor of standin' for it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, if yer don't, you'll get the same,&quot; said other man.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I never see any one so handy with that bloomin' knife o' his.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look out you don't get a taste o' it, then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is he dead, Bill?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was a shuffling of feet outside, and Ted knew that they were
+turning a body over.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, he's stone-dead.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pore Dick! He had his faults, but he was a good pal.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He wuz, but too derned soft-hearted. He didn't want ter kill a feller
+in cold blood never.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An' yet he wa'n't no coward. I never see ther time Dick w'd refuse ter
+fight if ther other feller had some show, an' he wa'n't squeamish about
+holdin' up a train er runnin' off a bunch o' cattle, but I always hear
+him say thet he didn't take no stock in plain, straight murder.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's so, but it's not murder, Tom, when yer kills ther feller what's
+yer enemy. Now, honor bright, is it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I dunno. I was brought up ter fight, an' fight like ther devil hisself
+when it come ter fightin', but I reckon I'm too much o' a derned coward
+ter murder cold.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, this is one o' ther times when it's got ter be did, an' I reckon
+we might as well be about it. Git ready.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, sir, I'm not goin' ter do it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tom, yer a fool. Do yer know what'll happen when ther boss comes back
+an' finds out that it ain't been did?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An' aire yer goin' ter resk it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then ye're a bigger fool than I am. I'm goin' ter carry out orders.
+What's ther difference? A couple of good slashes an' it's all over.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But think o' the death cry, Bill. I've heerd too many o' them already.
+I hears them when I sleep and they wake me up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tom, yer talk ter me like a sick canary peeps. I always thought yer wuz
+a man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An' don't yer think so now, Bill?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not from ther way yer talkin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, if yer has any doubts erbout it I'll give yer a chanct ter prove
+it, any way yer like.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, what's ther use o' talkin' that away, Tom? Dick's dead by ther
+hand o' ther boss. What's thar in it fer you or me if ther cub in thar
+dies er not? Be sensible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It ain't matterin' a chaw o' terbaccer ter me whether he dies er not,
+but he's got a right ter die in a natural way, so to speak.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An' how is that, my Sunday-school friend?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In a fair fight, by gosh!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An' who's goin' ter give him a fair fight? I don't want none o' it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So that's ther way yer built, is it, Bill? I always thought yer was a
+game man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon I be, but that's not in this question. Here's an enemy ter
+ther gang what lays bound in the cabin. Why should I resk my life in a
+fight with him er fer him. It's so derned easy fer a feller ter go in
+thar an' stick a knife inter him, an' then, yer see, it's all over
+with.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer wrong, Bill.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'd sooner do that than have ther boss come back an' stick his knife
+inter me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Aire yer afraid ter fight ther boss?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's ther only man I be afraid of.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was a long silence following this, and Ted understood the terrible
+power of Checkers over his men, and Desmond's warning.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I'm tired o' chewin' erbout ther virtue o' killin' a man one way
+or another, an' I'm goin' ter foller orders. If you don't want ter jine
+in I reckon as how I'll have ter tell ther boss that yer flunked.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was no response to this, and a few moments elapsed in which Ted
+listened hopefully for his champion's voice.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly something dropped in the fireplace, and Ted, straining his eyes
+in that direction, saw a tiny pair of tan riding boots come into view,
+followed by a tan skirt, and Stella dropped noiselessly into the room.</p>
+
+<p>She held up a warning finger as she saw Ted in the corner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sh, sh!&quot; she whispered, as she felt for his bonds and cut them.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was on his feet on the instant, and Stella pressed a revolver into
+his hand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't go back to the ranch house, but followed you here. I saw the
+red car go out, and hid. Then I sneaked along until I heard those
+fellows quarreling. I was on the top of the bluff here, and guessed that
+you were inside the cabin, as I couldn't see you anywhere outside, so I
+just dropped in.&quot; As Stella whispered this she smiled, and Ted could
+only look his thanks.</p>
+
+<p>The fellow named Tom, who had been opposed to killing Ted, had evidently
+been doing some hard thinking, and the threat of his mate to expose him
+to Checkers evidently convinced him that he would rather be alive than
+perish for a mere sentiment.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Bill,&quot; he said; &quot;I don't like it, but we've got to share
+it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sure,&quot; said the other. &quot;It'll be blow and blow. We both strike
+together.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come on, then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now,&quot; said Ted, putting Stella behind him and crouching in the
+darkness.</p>
+
+<p>The two men entered the cabin noisily, knowing that they had nothing to
+fear from an unarmed boy bound hand and foot and lying in the corner
+with nothing to hope for.</p>
+
+<p>As they approached the corner they were surprised to see a stalwart
+young form arise suddenly and a pair of revolvers gleam through the
+darkness as a voice rang out commandingly:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hands up!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The hands of both went up very promptly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Drop those knives!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A pair of knives clattered to the floor.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Face about, both of you, and go out. The first to make a break gets a
+shot in the back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At Ted's command both men obeyed. When they were outside in the
+sunlight, Ted looked them over. Both had revolvers in their holsters.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Take their revolvers away from them, Stella,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>As the girl moved forward to comply with the request of Ted Strong, the
+men stared at her in amazement.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, which of you is Tom?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am,&quot; said one of them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You lie!&quot; answered Ted. &quot;I know you by your voice. You are not
+Tom:&mdash;you are Bill.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I'm Tom,&quot; said the other fellow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's right,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, see here, Tom, if I give you the chance will you dig out of this
+and escape? It won't be very long before you are caught, anyway, and you
+know what that means.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet I will,&quot; said the fellow, who had protested against the murder
+of Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, I'll give you the chance. I'll take your friend in charge
+myself. You can take down your hands, Tom.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The fellow was in a state of wonderment as he did so.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who are you, anyway?&quot; asked the fellow called Bill.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am Ted Strong.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then it's all up. We're done for,&quot; said the train robber, in a resigned
+voice.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIV'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>TED HOLDS A PROFITABLE BAG.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Tom signaled to Ted to step aside, and, telling Stella to keep the other
+fellow covered with her revolver, Ted accompanied him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thank yer fer turnin' me loose,&quot; said Tom. &quot;I've been tryin' ter get
+away fer months, but couldn't. Here's a tip: They're goin' ter rob ther
+Overland Express t'-night right out yon at that little station yer can
+see from ther top o' ther rise. Ther loot is ter be hid near Bubbly
+Spring until things blow over, but ther gang will come here. Thar's my
+tip. Good-by. I'm off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The fellow disappeared up the bank of the stream.</p>
+
+<p>Ted bound the other upon the back of his pony, which he found not far
+from the scene of his own downfall, and conveyed him to Green River,
+where he placed him in jail, with instructions that he should be allowed
+to communicate with no one.</p>
+
+<p>Then he and Stella returned to the Billings ranch house.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say nothing whatever about our adventure,&quot; said Ted, as he and Stella
+rode along discussing the matter. &quot;I think there will be something doing
+there to-night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When they got back to the ranch, Ted simply explained their absence by
+saying that they had ridden farther than they had at first intended.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was introduced to the other guests, who had arrived in his absence.
+There was Mr. Norcross, the banker, who looked a little sheepish when
+Ted shook hands with him and acted as if he had never seen him before.
+The man with the black mustache and the red necktie was Mr. Dennis
+Corrigan, of Chicago, and neither he nor the boys appeared to have seen
+him before. The young man with the pointed beard was Mr. van Belder, of
+New York.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Billings was full of hospitable notions, and made the afternoon
+pass delightfully.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They tell me there is very good shooting in the neighborhood at times,&quot;
+said Mr. Corrigan, as they all sat on the veranda in the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Excellent,&quot; said the colonel. &quot;At this time of the year the snipe
+shooting is fine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is the best time to shoot them?&quot; asked Van Belder.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should say after dark,&quot; said the host, with an imperceptible wink at
+Mr. Corrigan.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't see how you can shoot snipe after dark,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You don't exactly shoot them,&quot; explained Mr. Corrigan. &quot;It's this way,
+and a fine game, and often practiced in South Chicago: The party goes
+out, and one holds the bag while the rest go along and drive the birds
+in, and the fellow who holds the bag catches them in it. It's lots
+easier than shooting them, and you get more birds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove, that's a new experience to me!&quot; said Ted. &quot;I'd like to try
+it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. van Belder looked at him curiously, but drawled that he thought it
+very fine sport. So it was agreed that that night they should go on a
+snipe-bagging expedition.</p>
+
+<p>The party was to be made up of Ted, who was eager to hold the bag for
+the snipe to run into; Mr. Corrigan, the colonel, Mr. van Belder, and a
+few others.</p>
+
+<p>Most of the boys declined absolutely to go.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, aire ye gittin' plumb dotty?&quot; asked Bud, when he got Ted out of
+hearing. &quot;Tell me, is it possible thet yer eyeteeth aire so far
+secreted up inter yer head thet yer don't know erbout baggin' snipe?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But all the answer Bud got was a wink.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, what hez ther hombre got up his sleeve, I wonder?&quot; said Bud, as he
+wandered off.</p>
+
+<p>Ted and Stella had an animated conversation a few minutes later out of
+the sight and hearing of the others. But Stella walked off, smiling. She
+knew.</p>
+
+<p>It was just getting dark when the party left the ranch house.</p>
+
+<p>Ted carried a large, empty sack over his shoulder. With the organizers
+of the party went Bud, Ben, Kit, Carl, and Clay.</p>
+
+<p>The maddest person in the house that evening was Stella, because she
+couldn't go, too. But as she said good-by to the party from the steps of
+the ranch house she smiled comprehensively at Ted.</p>
+
+<p>A walk of a half mile brought the party to the edge of a small creek.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now,&quot; said Mr. Corrigan, &quot;here's where you wait with the bag while we
+go up to the creek and chase them down. You may have to wait a little
+while, and you must have patience.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't worry about me,&quot; answered Ted; &quot;I have plenty of that. I'll be
+here when the snipe come down, and if any of them get away, charge them
+to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After they had been gone some time Ted lit a match and looked at his
+watch. It was a quarter to nine.</p>
+
+<p>The Overland Express was due in Green River at nine-twenty. The little
+red station of Polifax would foe passed by ten minutes after she left
+Green River.</p>
+
+<p>While he was in Green River that afternoon Ted had been very careful to
+find the exact location of Bubbly Spring. He was more than two miles
+from it in his blind to wait for the snipe.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the crashing of the feet of the snipe drivers and the shouts
+and laughter had died away, Ted left his hiding place and darted through
+the dark woods and swampy ground for Bubbly Spring.</p>
+
+<p>Long before he got there he heard the long screech of the whistle of the
+Overland Express announcing its approach at Green River, and a few
+minutes later its whistle that it was on its way. He had just reached
+Bubbly Spring and concealed himself in the bushes when the whistle gave
+a long shriek of danger.</p>
+
+<p>The signal of the train robbers had been given at Polifax. The engineer
+had seen the red light and had whistled to the trainmen that danger was
+ahead, and that he was going to stop.</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments Ted heard a few pops, and knew that the train robbers
+were firing their revolvers alongside of the train to prevent
+interference.</p>
+
+<p>What if the train robbers should fail?</p>
+
+<p>The train started up again, and Ted knew by that that nobody had been
+killed, and it added to his anxiety as to the success of the robbery. He
+wanted it to occur, for if he could secure the loot he could destroy the
+train robbers surely.</p>
+
+<p>All he wanted now was tangible evidence. He lay back breathlessly in the
+bushes, waiting. Soon he heard the rapid hoofbeats of horses, then a
+crashing in the bushes.</p>
+
+<p>These noises were approaching him rapidly. The crisis was at hand.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment the moon burst through the clouds, illuminating the little
+valley through which the small stream from the spring flowed, and Ted
+crept into closer cover. Then into the glade galloped ten men.</p>
+
+<p>Between two of them was swung a small, square thing, which was dropped
+at the foot of a cottonwood tree not a dozen feet from where Ted was
+concealed.</p>
+
+<p>A man leaped from the back of a horse. He had a spade in his hand, and
+as he advanced Ted drew in his breath sharply.</p>
+
+<p>It was Corrigan, the Chicago millionaire. Behind him was Norcross, the
+banker.</p>
+
+<p>Ted looked vainly for Checkers. If he had been with the robbers at the
+holdup, he had not come here with them. Meanwhile, the dirt was flying,
+and a hole was being dug at the foot of the cotton wood.</p>
+
+<p>After it was deep enough an iron box was dropped into it and covered
+with earth, and silently the men remounted and rode away.</p>
+
+<p>Ted waited about fifteen minutes to be sure that none of them would
+return. Then he dug into the freshly laid earth and soon had exhumed the
+iron box. It was somewhat of a heavy load, but he packed it manfully,
+and in about half an hour carried it in his bag into the living room of
+the ranch house.</p>
+
+<p>He was greeted with shouts of laughter from Corrigan and several of the
+others. But Stella looked at him anxiously, and he gave her a reassuring
+glance.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ha, ha!&quot; laughed Corrigan. &quot;What do you think of snipe hunting now?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was a good joke,&quot; said the colonel, &quot;but I'm sure you will take it
+good-naturedly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Mr. Norcross, the banker. &quot;It's quite a favorite amusement
+out here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Only the New Yorker said nothing, but gave Ted a peculiar glance. Ted
+looked around at the group with a foolish smile.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was a good joke, gentlemen,&quot; said he, &quot;and I have never been sore
+because I have been handed one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Another burst of satisfied laughter greeted this from the big
+three&mdash;Corrigan, Norcross, and the colonel. But Stella and the boys
+looked glum that Ted was being made the butt of a joke.</p>
+
+<p>Then Ted put his sack on the floor and opened it and lifted something
+out and placed it on the table. It was the iron box he had dug from the
+earth at Bubbly Spring, with the fresh earth still sticking to it.</p>
+
+<p>Corrigan's face turned white. Norcross had to lean against the corner of
+the table to keep from falling.</p>
+
+<p>Ted easily opened the lock of the box, and threw it open.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You left me to hold the bag, did you?&quot; he asked of the astounded
+conspirators. &quot;Well, what do you think of these for snipe?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The room was as quiet as a church.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Gentlemen, you are all under arrest. Boys, get into your saddles. We
+are going to ride to the rendezvous of the gang of robbers which
+to-night robbed the Overland Express and stole the money I have here,&quot;
+and he lifted out package after package of stolen currency.</p>
+
+<p>Stella was laughing and waving her hat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I knowed yer had somethin' up yer sleeve when yer consented ter go
+snipe huntin'! Yer ther limit,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>Only Mr. van Belder of all the conspirators was calm. He ripped a beard
+from his face, and there stood Darby O'Neill, the United States secret
+agent!</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Ted, give me that counterfeit of the Green River National Bank. It
+is all I need to take Norcross away for a long term. I've been working
+on him for a long time, but you knocked the persimmon at last.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You had me guessing,&quot; said Ted. &quot;When I got that note that was slipped
+into my pocket in St. Louis I ought to have guessed that it was you, but
+you are so clever at disguise that you always fool me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you've never fooled me yet,&quot; was the reply. &quot;I've banked on you
+every time, and every time you've come back with the goods.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But who was the young lady who slipped me the note?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My sister, who is a very clever girl detective, as you may know some
+day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After the boys had made secure the three men at the head of the train
+robbers' syndicate, they went to the cabin in which Ted had so nearly
+lost his life, and secured the rest of the robbers.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning at daylight they found the body of Checkers lying beside
+the fatal red car not far from the scene of the holdup. He had been
+killed by a stray shot fired by one of his own men.</p>
+
+<p>Thus was the train robbers' syndicate wiped out through the acumen and
+courage of Ted Strong, and the loyal backing of his comrades.</p>
+
+<p>The broncho boys decided that more stock was needed at the Moon Valley
+Ranch, and the entire outfit set out for No Man's Land, in northern
+Texas.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXV'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXV.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE MAGPIE PONY.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;Say, podner, might I be so free an' onquisitive ez ter inquire ez ter
+whar yer got thet thar palfrey yer ridin'?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The speaker was a tall, gaunt old man with a tangled mass of grizzled
+whiskers, and the &quot;podner&quot; he addressed was Bud Morgan.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer might,&quot; answered Bud, eying the questioner keenly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why don't yer?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I see. Whar did yer git it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I traded a Waterbury watch fer it, an' ther feller what made ther trade
+throwed in a pack o' cigareets.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Anything else ye'd like ter know?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, seein' ez yer so communicative, I'd like ter hev yer tell me how
+fur it's ter Yeller Fork.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Betwixt grub.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come ergin.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ez fur ez yer kin ride betwixt 'arly breakfast an' dinner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I'm obleegin' ter yer. I reckon we'll be hikin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who's ther kid?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thet boy is my grandson. We come outer Missouri ter see what could be
+did in this yere new country, an' it's mighty hard sleddin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's ther trouble?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, stranger, so long ez yer kind ernuff ter inquire, I'll tell yer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm listenin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm too old ter work at ther only thing what seems ter be out
+yere&mdash;cow-punchin'&mdash;an' ther kiddie is too young. Now, if 'twas farmin',
+we'd be in it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar ain't no more farmin' out yere than a rabbit, thet's shore. What
+might yer bizness be at home?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm a hoss trader.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar ought ter be somethin' doin' out yere fer yer, then. All thar is
+in this country is hosses an' cattle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They ain't my kind o' hosses.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer don't seem ter fancy cow ponies, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon they're all right in their way, podner, but they're a leetle
+too wild fer me to break, an' the kid's not strong enough.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Askin' questions seems ter be fash'n'ble. Whar did yer git thet magpie
+hoss?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud was looking over the old man's mount, a beautiful little
+black-and-white-spotted pony, as clean limbed as a racer, and with a
+round and compact body. It was a bizarre-looking little animal, with a
+long, black mane and tail, at the roots of which was a round, white
+spot. It was the sort of animal that would attract attention anywhere.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Magpie! Podner, I riz her from a colt.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She's shore a showy beast.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She is some on ther picture, ain't she?&quot; asked the old man, looking the
+pony over admiringly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She's all right, but&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But what, podner?&quot; The old man looked at Bud with a frown.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I ain't none on knockin' another man's hoss, but I never see one
+o' them black-an'-white-spotted animiles what could do more than lope,
+an' out in this yere country hosses hez got ter run like a scared coyote
+ter be any good in ther cow business.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer reckon this yere Magpie can't run?&quot; asked the old man, bristling.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't said so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, yer alluded ter a magpie hoss as couldn't do nothin' but lope.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't never see none what could do much more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You ain't never see Magpie split ther wind, then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mebbe ye'd like ter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mebbe I would.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon yer thinks ther cow what yer a-straddlin' of now kin run
+some.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A leetle bit. But, yer see, when I got him he was a broken-down cow
+hoss what hed been ridden ter death an' fed on sand an' alkali water so
+long thet he wa'n't much good nohow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jest picked him up wanderin'?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not eggsactly. Yer see, it wuz this way: I was coming ercross Noo
+Mexico about a month back, when I runs foul o' a hombre what is all in.
+He hadn't et fer so long thet yer could see ther bumps made by his
+backbone through his shirt. I hed some grub in my war bag, an' I fed an'
+watered him. This yer nag wuz all in, too, an' he hed a long way ter go,
+so when ther feller ups an' perposes ter trade ponies I give him ther
+merry cachinnation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ther what?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ther laugh.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go ahead, podner, yer shore hez a splendid education.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see thet he'll never git ter whar he's goin' on ther nag, an' I
+thinks I'll do him a favor by sittin' him on a piece o' live hossmeat,
+an' I said I'd trade if he hed anythin' ter boot. Now, what do yer think
+he hed?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't got a notion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A pack o' Mexican cigareets what burned like a bresh fire an' smelled
+like a wet dog under a stove.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haw, haw! An' yer traded?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I thought some fust, an' then I thinks what's ther odds? Thar's plenty
+o' hosses in camp, an' it'll probably save ther feller's life ter let
+him hev ther pony, what ain't none out o' ther common, so I says, 'It's
+a go, pard.' I clumb down an' we changed saddles, an' he handed over
+ther pack o' cigareets an' we went our ways.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer shore is a kind-hearted man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't, neither. I jest knows a hoss when I sees one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer don't call thet a hoss yer a-straddlin', I hope?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shore do. He ain't much fer ter gaze on admirin', I agree, but he's a
+good little cayuse. I reckon, now, yer some proud o' thet magpie hoss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I be. It kin outrun anythin' this side o' ther State o' Newbrasky.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;P'r'aps yer lookin' fer a race ter see what ther best we've got in camp
+kin do, no?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar ain't nary time what I won't run a race if I think thar's ary
+merit in my hossflesh. How erbout ther animile what yer sits on so
+graceful?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I reckon he kin ride rings eround ther magpie hoss,&quot; said Bud, who
+was a trifle nettled at the old man's jeering tone.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer certain got a lot o' confidence in a dead one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckernize ther fact that he ain't none pretty, but handsome is as
+handsome does. Hatrack is some shy on meat an' he's got a temper like a
+disappointed woman, ter say nothin' o' havin' had ther botts, ringbone,
+heaves, an' spavin', but he's a good nag, fer all thet, an' would be
+good-lookin' ernough if his wool wasn't wore off in so many places.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haw, haw! He ain't what ye'd call a show animile.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He ain't, but, say, stranger, he <i>kin</i> run.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What d'ye say ter a leetle brush betwixt Magpie an' yer Hatrack?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm ther gamest thing what ever yer see when it comes ter a hoss
+race.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What'll we race fer?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nag an' nag. If yer beats me, yer takes Hatrack, an' if he gits away
+with ther spotted pony, why, yer turns her over ter me. Is it a go?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If yer throw in a six-shooter fer odds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, pard, jest ter show yer thet I ain't no shorthorn, I'll go
+yer. I've got a shooter in my war-bag up ter camp what'll kick ther arm
+outer yer socket every time yer pulls ther trigger, but she'll send a
+bullet through a six-inch oak beam.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Anything, so it's odds. I'll go yer. I reckon I could sell it fer a
+dollar er so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon yer could,&quot; said Bud sarcastically. &quot;I wuz offered ten dollars
+fer it by a hombre down ter Las Vegas a month ago. But he was a husky
+feller, an' wanted a strong shooter. He wanted ter go out huntin' fer a
+feller with it, an' I wouldn't let him hev it. Is it a go, shore
+enough?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right; come over ter ther camp an' stay overnight, an' fill yer
+pale American hides with ther best grub what ever wuz cooked on ther
+range. Our cook is an artist.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud led the way on his little, flea-bitten skeleton of a pony that
+snorted and reared, kicked, and showed the whites of its eyes when he
+woke it from the drooping position it had held while he was talking to
+the old man.</p>
+
+<p>In half an hour they were in sight, from the hill they had topped, of a
+vast band of cattle grazing in a broad valley.</p>
+
+<p>In a sheltered spot below the hill was a typical cow camp. A
+white-covered chuck wagon shone in the rays of the departing sun, and
+the smoke arose from the cook's fire, where he was baking biscuit in a
+Dutch oven, while the fragrant odors of frying bacon and steaming
+coffee filled the air.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What have you found this time?&quot; asked Ben Tremont, as Bud came into
+camp.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This yere gent is a maverick from Missouri what I found wanderin'
+across the peerarie searchin' fer Yaller Fork, an' he hez bantered me
+ter a hoss race, I ast him ter come in an' stay overnight, an' eat, an'
+we'll run ther hosses in ther mornin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What horses?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm goin' ter run Hatrack agin' thet magpie mare o' hisn, an' throw in
+a six-shooter with Hatrack if I lose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, are you going altogether dippy?&quot; growled Ben. &quot;Why, that little
+mare will run away from you as if Hatrack was tied to a post.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Reckon so? Well, maybe I want to lose Hatrack, an' maybe all I want is
+ter capture thet magpie pony.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, what a lovely pony!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella Fosdick had ridden into camp, and her exclamation of admiration
+for the magpie pony drew the attention of the boys to her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;D'ye like thet thar pony?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think it's beautiful,&quot; answered Stella enthusiastically.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then it's yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you mean?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This old gent an' me is goin' ter hev a race in ther mornin', hoss fer
+hoss, an' when it's over ther magpie hoss is yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A peal of rippling laughter greeted this.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See yere, gal, what is all this noise about?&quot; asked Bud huffily. &quot;If
+yer laughin' at ther idea o' Hatrack beatin' ther magpie hoss, don't yer
+do it, fer thet's showin' ignerance o' hossflesh, an' I thought yer wuz
+too well brought up at Moon Valley ter think thet pretty spots on a
+hoss hez anythin' ter do with his ability ter make a race er hold a
+cow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Forgive me, Bud, I didn't mean to laugh at Hatrack, but, really, he
+doesn't look as if he could run any faster than a lame dog.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I reckon he'll git over ther ground fast ernough,&quot; said Bud, with a
+sly wink at the girl. &quot;But he won't do it with me on his back. I'm a
+trifle heavy fer fast work. I'll hev ter git Kit ter pilot him, I
+reckon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon you won't,&quot; said Stella. &quot;If any one rides him it will be me.
+I'm a good many pounds lighter than Kit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Stella. I wanted yer ter ride him, but I didn't like ter
+impose on good nature by askin' yer ter do it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, I'd love to ride the race. You ought to know me by this time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's a go, an' if yer win, as win yer must, ther magpie hoss is yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, Bud, you don't mean it! Then I'll certainly ride to win.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So it was settled, and the old man and his grandson were accorded the
+hospitality of the camp.</p>
+
+<p>After a hearty supper, while they were all sitting around the fire, and
+the old man was telling stories of his trip into the Southwest, for the
+broncho boys were now herding a big bunch of range cattle in what is
+known as No Man's Land, an arm of northern Texas lying west of Oklahoma,
+and claimed by both, the day watch rode into camp, and, stripping their
+saddles from their ponies, turned them loose. Then the boys threw
+themselves upon the ground to rest after several hours of constant
+riding.</p>
+
+<p>One of the cowboys in the outfit, Sol Flatbush by name, stood staring at
+the old man and the boy.</p>
+
+<p>He was scratching his forelock in a meditative sort of way, as if
+trying to remember something.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is it, Solly? I reckon what yer tryin' ter think of is that ye've
+forgot yer supper,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, 'tain't that,&quot; said the cow-puncher, staring harder at the old man.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hear about ther race, Sol?&quot; asked Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, don't yer expect me ter ask yer what race an' then spring thet ole
+gag about ther 'human race.' I won't stand fer it. I've got troubles
+enough. Thet buckskin pony o' mine hez hed ther very divil in him all
+day, an' I ain't feelin' none too amiable.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is on the square.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, cut loose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bud is going to race Hatrack against that magpie horse grazing out
+there, and throw in a six-shooter if the old gent wins.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Sol Flatbush turned and looked at the magpie pony, then at the old man.
+Suddenly a gleam of intelligence illuminated his face, and he grinned.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Bud, I wisht ye'd come over yere an' look at this buckskin's off
+hind foot, an' tell me what ye thinks o' it. He's been actin' powerful
+queer on it all day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud rose lazily and followed Sol out of camp. The buckskin was grazing
+peacefully a few hundred yards away, and as they walked toward it Sol
+Flatbush said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bud, d'ye know that ole maverick?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shore don't. Never even ast him his name,&quot; answered Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I do. That's ole 'Cap' Norris. He's a hoss sharp fer fair. He an'
+that boy don't do nothin' but ride the country with that magpie hoss,
+pickin' up races at cow camps an' ranches an' in towns. That hoss o'
+hisn is a 'ringer.' His real name is Idlewild, an' he's a perfessional
+race hoss. Boy, yer stung!&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVI'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXVI</h2>
+
+<h3>&quot;VAMOSE!&quot;</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I don't know,&quot; said Bud quietly, as Sol Flatbush made this
+announcement of the ability of Magpie, or Idlewild, as he was known
+elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I do,&quot; urged Sol. &quot;I see that hoss run at Ponca City on ther Fo'th
+o' July a year ago, an' he jest run away from ther best Indian racers
+what ther Osages could bring over, an' yer knows they kin go some.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sol, my son, don't git excited. Yer Uncle Bud knows what he's doin'
+when he's going inter this yere race. He ain't tellin' ther ole man, nor
+none o' you fellers, what thar is in thet Hatrack hoss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Got somethin' up yer sleeve?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon I hev. If I was a bettin' man, I'd wager my share o' Moon
+Valley that Hatrack would win this yere race.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sho; yer don't say!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted seen him run. Ask him. Now, don't you worry none about me. I know a
+hoss when I see one standin' on its four legs. That magpie hoss is a
+good one, whether his name is Magpie or Idlewild. Ther name don't make
+him run no better. But Hatrack is some, too, an' I want that magpie pony
+for Stella. She ain't got no hoss of her own down yere, an' that spotted
+pony is jest ther sort o' showy hoss what a gal likes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I ain't wantin' ter be buttin' in none,&quot; said Sol, in a
+crestfallen way.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer ain't butted in none, Sol. I'm obliged ter yer fer givin' me ther
+tip erbout ther old sharp. When he fust braced me I sized him up fer a
+sharp, an' when he told me he was a hoss trader from Missouri I had a
+straight line on him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They returned to camp, where the old man was still regaling the boys
+with anecdotes, having proved himself a most entertaining story-teller.</p>
+
+<p>The boy sat close beside him listening, but never saying a word, except
+when he was addressed. He was small and slender, and evidently weighed
+much less than a hundred pounds.</p>
+
+<p>His face was small and thin, and apparently youthful, but his eyes were
+old and shrewd, and there was a crafty look about his face at times when
+the old man brought out a point in a story. Evidently he had heard these
+stories many times before. When he smiled it was in a sly and furtive
+way.</p>
+
+<p>Ted Strong had come in from riding around the herd, having inspected it
+before it was bedded down for the night. He had heard all about the
+proposed race, and smiled quietly as Ben joshed Bud about the loss of
+his pony Hatrack on the morrow.</p>
+
+<p>He had looked the boy over carefully, and his impression was not
+pleasant.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tell yer what, boys,&quot; said the old man, when conversation began to
+lag. &quot;S'posin' we put this race off until to-morrow afternoon, an' run
+it over at Snyder, across the line in Oklahomy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's ther occasion?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jest ter give ther people over thar a chance ter see a real live race.
+Besides, I'm out o' money, an' I reckon we could have a reg'lar race,
+an' charge admission. That would enable me an' my grandson ter git back
+ter ole Missou' again. We ain't much use out here. What d'yer say?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't no professional racer,&quot; said Bud slowly, &quot;an' I ain't in this
+race fer what I kin make out o' it. Yer made yer brag about yer hoss an'
+slurred mine, an' I'm jest game enough ter lose him if he can't beat
+that calcimined hoss o' yours, but I don't go in fer bettin' er none o'
+thet sort o' thing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't said nothin' about bettin',&quot; said the old man, in an injured
+tone.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know yer ain't, an' I ain't accused yer o' it none. What I wuz goin'
+ter say wuz thet if yer hard up an' need ther money ter take yer home
+I'm ther first feller ter jump in ter help yer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We're all willing to help on a thing like that,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then ye'll consent ter pull off ther race in Snyder?&quot; asked the old man
+eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am, if ther other boys will consent ter it,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right with me,&quot; said Ted, and the other boys voiced their assent.</p>
+
+<p>It looked as if there was a good bit of fun in prospect.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thanks, boys,&quot; said the old man, with a catch in his voice, as if he
+was deeply touched. &quot;Ye'll do a good turn fer me an' little Bill here.
+Bill, we'll git home fer Christmas yit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If you're going to make it a public race, you'll have to get over to
+Snyder early to make arrangements,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll leave before sunup in ther mornin', an' we'll have the race at
+three o'clock. Is that all satisfactory?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This proved satisfactory to the boys, and, having agreed to be on hand
+in time with Hatrack, every one turned in.</p>
+
+<p>When the boys turned out in the morning the blankets which the old man
+and the boy had occupied were empty and cold, showing that they had
+departed long before daylight.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There's something fishy about that old chap,&quot; said Ben Tremont, as they
+were at breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course, there is,&quot; said Ted. &quot;He's an old horse sharp. Sol Flatbush
+knows him. He wants a race in town, thinking he can draw us into
+betting. He doesn't know that we never gamble, but he evidently believes
+that in the excitement of the moment he will be able to get some of our
+money.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, he'll get fooled on that,&quot; said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He'll git fooled in several other ways, too,&quot; grunted Bud.</p>
+
+<p>After breakfast Bud went out and roped Hatrack, and after a tussle that
+lasted several strenuous minutes, brought him into camp. Hatrack
+certainly was a sorry-looking beast.</p>
+
+<p>His long, dirty, yellowish-brown hair was rumpled and fluffed up. His
+ribs showed sharp, and his tail was full of burs, while his short and
+scraggy mane was missing in spots.</p>
+
+<p>His flanks had been rubbed bare of hair where he had lain for many
+nights on the rocks and in the sands of the desert.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, dog my cats, if he ain't ther orneriest-lookin' beast what ever
+toted a saddle,&quot; said Bud, looking him over, as Hatrack stood with
+drooping head and ears.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bud, he isn't worth making cat's meat out of,&quot; said Ben. &quot;I guess you
+made that race to get rid of him. It's easier and more humane than
+shooting him or abandoning him to the prairie wolves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Reckon so?&quot; asked Bud, looking at Ben out of the corner of a twinkling
+eye.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, dear me, but he's awfully ugly,&quot; said Stella, coming from the tent
+which she and her aunt, Mrs. Graham, occupied a short distance from the
+camp.</p>
+
+<p>She was as spick and span as a new dollar, nattily dressed in a
+bifurcated riding skirt, from beneath which peeped a pair of high tan
+riding boots.</p>
+
+<p>Her white Stetson had just the right curl of brim to be most becoming,
+and her wavy hair fell in profusion over her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>She was pulling on a pair of fringed gauntlets, and her braided quirt,
+with a silver knob for a handle, hung by its thong from her slender
+wrist.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, see here, Stella, don't yer go ter feelin' knocky about yer mount,
+er yer won't hev no confidence in him, an' will lose. I want ter say ter
+yer right now that this hoss what looks like ther last rose o' summer,
+ther last run o' shad, an' ther breakin' up o' a hard winter in a last
+year's bird's nest, is all right, an' he can't lose this race. Ride him
+true, an' don't give him ther gad none. All yer got ter do is ter
+encourage him by a word now an' then, an' pilot him straight ter ther
+wire.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Bud. I was only joking,&quot; laughed Stella. &quot;It isn't the
+prettiest horse that wins the race. I know that well, but, you see, like
+every girl, I like pretty things, and a horse might as well look good as
+run fast. It has always seemed to me that the two go together.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>During the middle of the forenoon the broncho boys started for the town
+of Snyder to attend the race.</p>
+
+<p>Bud led Hatrack, and a troublesome job he had of it, for the animated
+skeleton objected to being on the halter, as any self-respecting range
+horse would, and he pulled back and sideways and almost dragged Bud from
+his saddle several times.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ding bat yer,&quot; Bud would shout, &quot;yer ornery, unsanctified, muley,
+harebrained, contaminated son o' a zebra, git down on yer feet an'
+foller. Ye'll git all that's comin' ter yer when ther race starts. Save
+yer sweat until then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But Hatrack thought differently, and before they were halfway to Snyder
+it took all the efforts of Bud in the lead and Ben, Kit, and Clay
+Whipple in the rear, to keep him moving in a forward direction.</p>
+
+<p>Only enough boys were left with the herd to keep it from scattering.
+Ted and Stella rode in the lead as they entered the town, which was
+crowded with a motley assemblage of cow-punchers, gamblers, and Indians
+in their gay blankets and with painted faces.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians of the plains are keen on horse racing, and among the
+various tribes are to be found some of the fleetest horses in the West,
+many of them trained to all the tricks of racing. An Indian jockey is
+the shrewdest of his class, and is an adept at all the tricks of the
+trade.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hi! Look at the livin' skeleton!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud swung around in his saddle and stared at a cow-puncher standing on
+the sidewalk in Snyder, as he rode into town dragging behind him the
+dejected Hatrack, who looked as if he had been living on two oats for
+dinner and a spear of grass for supper all his life.</p>
+
+<p>He ambled along like a tired and footsore dog behind Bud, with his ears
+drooping and his toes kicking up the dust. He was a sad-looking animal,
+and the word having gone abroad that he was the horse that was to enter
+the race with Magpie, he was jeered from one end of the street to the
+other, as Bud led him to the corral at the edge of the town. Bud
+pretended to be angry at the joshing his steed received, but when he had
+turned his back upon the jokers he would wink gently to himself in a way
+that would have been puzzling to the supporters of the spotted horse.</p>
+
+<p>Cap Norris had done his work well.</p>
+
+<p>Every one in town knew of the coming race, and word had been sent to the
+ranches in the surrounding country, so that before noon the streets were
+crowded with people.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, fellows,&quot; said Ted, when the boys met at the hotel for dinner,
+&quot;this fellow Norris is sure a sharp. That talk about his wanting to get
+enough money to take him back home was a lie. He's a gambler, and is in
+league with a bunch of gamblers in this town.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How do you know?&quot; asked Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How do I know? Why, man alive, they're betting on Magpie all over town.
+The tip seems to have gotten out that Bud Morgan and the broncho boys
+have a surprise up their sleeves, and that they are going to ring in
+another horse than Hatrack.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How is that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They believe we're going to slip in another horse, a professional
+racing horse with a record.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let 'em think so. It won't be a professional race horse&mdash;at least, not
+in this country&mdash;that we will put in, but jest ole Hatrack, an' if he
+don't win the race by a city block I'll eat him, hoofs an' all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Put us next, Bud,&quot; said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's what,&quot; said Kit. &quot;You've sure got a trick concealed somewhere.
+What is it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I haven't,&quot; said Bud. &quot;But if I wuz a bettin' man I know what hoss
+I'd back to win.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>That was all the boys could get out of him on the subject, but they were
+convinced none the less that Bud had a secret concerning the horse, and
+that they would learn what it was in good time.</p>
+
+<p>The race was to be held at the fair grounds, and was to be a dash of
+three hundred yards.</p>
+
+<p>Cap Norris would not consent to a longer race, although Bud said he
+would run Hatrack any distance up to a quarter of a mile, but the
+innocent old man with the long whiskers objected to running his horse a
+long distance.</p>
+
+<p>As the hour approached for the race, the grounds began to fill up.
+Several races between Indian ponies took place to keep the crowd amused
+until the big race of the day was to come off.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They've been working us,&quot; said Ted, coming up to where Stella and the
+boys were standing beside Hatrack, which looked more sad and dejected
+than ever.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In what way?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This race is a gambling game to get the money away from the innocents,&quot;
+answered Ted. &quot;They've had men going among the people from the country
+and the cow-punchers, telling them that it is a put-up job on our part,
+and that we're sure to win. In that way they have got a lot of people to
+bet on Hatrack. I've a good mind to draw out of it altogether and spoil
+their game.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;For fear the innocents will lose their money?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. I don't want to be a party to robbing those fellows.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't you worry. If you want to punish Norris and his friends, don't
+interfere. Let it go on, I tell you. They'll be the worst-beaten lot o'
+crooks that ever robbed a town.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Bud, if you say so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was now time for the race of the day, and Bud and Norris marked off
+the course.</p>
+
+<p>Ben was appointed judge, with a large man, apparently a stranger in the
+town, who was chosen by Norris, and the two selected a third.</p>
+
+<p>The third man was a stranger to Ben, but he picked him out of the crowd,
+and the other judge accepted him.</p>
+
+<p>As Stella climbed into the saddle, Hatrack gave two or three kittenish
+jumps, and the crowd yelled. It had not expected this added feature to
+the race, a girl jockey.</p>
+
+<p>Shout after shout went up as she rode over the course slowly, Hatrack
+having settled down into his usual dejected manner. The cheers and some
+of the jeers that greeted him came from the men who had been induced to
+bet on him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, Stella,&quot; said Bud, as Stella rode back again, &quot;when you start,
+shout 'Vamose!' in Hatrack's ear. That's the word he has always been
+sent away with. Stick tight, an' let him go. Don't forget the word
+'Vamose!'&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE GREAT CHIQUITA.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Hatrack and Magpie were now brought up to the starting point.</p>
+
+<p>The boy who traveled with old man Norris was on the back of the latter
+horse, sitting in a regular jockey's saddle and stripped of all
+superfluous clothing.</p>
+
+<p>He was the typical jockey now. He had put away all the appearance of
+youth, and was a crafty and sly man.</p>
+
+<p>It was apparent that the whole outfit was in the racing business, and as
+the crowd looked at the discrepancy between the two horses, and observed
+that on the best-looking horse was a professional jockey, while on the
+crowbait was only a girl, something like a groan went up.</p>
+
+<p>But some of them were game, and cheered Stella to the echo.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're all right!&quot; shouted her supporters.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hurrah fer ther girl jockey,&quot; yelled the cow-punchers. &quot;I got a month's
+wages that says she'll win the race.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But the other side had something to say, also. They made all sorts of
+fun of Hatrack, and roars of laughter went up as he ambled,
+stiff-legged, onto the course.</p>
+
+<p>Clay Whipple was chosen to start the race, and stood beside the track
+with a red flag in his hand. The two horses were jockeyed back and forth
+for several minutes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you ready?&quot; shouted Clay, as they came up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No!&quot; shouted Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No!&quot; answered the jockey.</p>
+
+<p>Back again they went, and came up neck and neck, the riders nodding to
+Clay.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go!&quot; cried Clay, bringing down the red flag with a swish through the
+air.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Vamose!&quot; Stella's clear young voice rang out.</p>
+
+<p>Then an amazing thing happened. Hatrack seemed to be suddenly galvanized
+into life. He straightened out, and shot to the front with great, long
+horizontal leaps. His body seemed to be gliding close to the earth.</p>
+
+<p>His head was between his legs, and he was running like a greyhound.
+Stella was bent low upon his neck, and every moment or two she would
+shout in Spanish, &quot;Go it! Vamose!&quot; or, &quot;You're winning! Vamose!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And winning Hatrack surely was. Now he was half a length ahead of the
+fleet Magpie, who was running the race of her life.</p>
+
+<p>Behind her Stella could hear the crowd yelling like mad. The air fairly
+shook with the shouts of the multitude as the two horses shot forward.
+But it was a short race, and seemed to Stella to have ended almost as
+soon as it began.</p>
+
+<p>As she flew past Bud, she got a fleeting glimpse of him jumping up and
+down in a very ecstasy of glee, and she knew that she had won, and began
+pulling in Hatrack. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that Magpie was
+already down to a walk a short distance from the wire, and that Cap
+Norris and the jockey were talking earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment she had Hatrack turned, and was going back to where Bud was
+waiting for her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bully for you, Stella,&quot; shouted Bud. &quot;Yer rode a great race. Jest ez I
+wanted it run. Nobody couldn't hev done it better. I told yer ye'd win.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was too easy,&quot; laughed Stella. &quot;I wish it had been four times as
+long.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That makes it all the better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How much did I beat him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A whole length.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That ought to be enough.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was, but I'll bet a cooky they'll make a kick. These crooks always
+lay out to win, and won't race unless they can win. If they don't, they
+set up a cry of foul, or something of that sort.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But they can't do that in this case, because I didn't foul him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella became indignant at the very thought.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sure you didn't, but that won't keep those wolves from claiming some
+sort of a foul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're not going to stand for it, are you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not in a blue moon. I've got the boys posted. Here comes Norris and his
+jockey back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The old racing sharp walked up to Bud, leading Magpie.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, Magpie's mine,&quot; said Bud, not giving the other a chance to speak
+first. &quot;Sorry for your sake that you lost, Cap, but the fortunes of
+racing often turn unexpectedly, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You haven't won,&quot; said the old man excitedly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I reckon we won, all right,&quot; answered Bud lazily, although there
+was an ugly gleam in his eye.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, sir, you didn't win fair. Thar wuz a foul at ther start. I see it,
+all right; I wasn't shore until I talked with my boy thar, an' he says
+as how ther young lady bumped him outer his stride jest ez they wuz
+gittin' off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no, you can't work me like that, Cap. They were five feet apart
+when the flag fell.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tell yer I see it with my own eyes. 'Twas a foul, an' I claim ther
+race, er it hez got ter be run over ag'in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Never, on yer life. The race goes to the young lady. But I'm not going
+to stand here and chew the thing over with you. It's up to the judges.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They all approached the judges' stand, where apparently a lively
+argument was in progress.</p>
+
+<p>Ben and the big man who had been chosen by Norris were talking
+excitedly, and the other man was listening.</p>
+
+<p>All about the stand an angry crowd of men was surging, all talking at
+once, so that nothing could be made out of the babel of shouts, except
+when some person with unusually good lungs made himself heard in a
+denunciation of one or the other riders.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had joined the crowd, waiting for the arrival of Bud and Stella. Bud
+was walking by the side of Stella, whose face showed the disappointment
+she felt at not being declared at once the winner.</p>
+
+<p>It was so evidently a job to steal the race from Hatrack that the leader
+of the broncho boys was both angry and disgusted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is what you get for having anything to do with this mob of
+gamblers and thieves,&quot; he said to Kit, who was standing by his side.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's that you said, young feller?&quot; said a man, edging up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wasn't talking to you, my friend,&quot; answered Ted coolly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, but you was talkin' at me,&quot; said the other.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, are you a thief and a gambler?&quot; asked Ted, with a lifting of his
+eyebrows that expressed a great deal that he did not say.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I guess it's the other way around,&quot; answered the fellow, snarling.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't see how you make that out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I do. The gal bumped the rider o' Magpie.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She did nothing of the sort. I stood beside the starter of the race,
+and I was nearer to the horses than you were, and if any one could see
+them I could. The horses were several feet apart when they started.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, sure. You and your pals are interested in the bone heap that went
+in first through a foul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That will be about enough of that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A bright red spot burned on each of Ted's cheeks, the danger signal of
+his wrath.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, see here, young fellow, you can't throw any bluff into me,&quot; said
+the fellow, approaching Ted with one shoulder raised.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You let him alone. He's all right, and has got as much right to talk as
+you have,&quot; said another man, elbowing his way up.</p>
+
+<p>He was one of those who had bet on Hatrack, and Ted recognized him as
+the foreman of the Running Water horse ranch.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, the gal stole the race fer these fellers, an' we ain't goin' ter
+stand fer it. They needn't think they kin bring any o' their gals in
+here to do their dirty work. They all look alike to us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See here,&quot; said Ted coolly, &quot;let me give you a piece of advice. Leave
+the young lady out of it, or I'll give you something else to think about
+for a while.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Rats fer you,&quot; said the fellow, snapping his fingers under Ted's nose.</p>
+
+<p>He picked himself from the ground ten feet away, wiping his bleeding
+nose and wondering what had happened to him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, boy,&quot; said the foreman of the Running Water, &quot;that was as pretty
+and clean a blow as ever I see. You can handle them mitts o' yours right
+handy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A score of men had rushed up and surrounded Ted and Kit, all shouting
+and gesticulating at the same time.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime, Ben was having his troubles in the judges' stand.</p>
+
+<p>He had, of course, decided in favor of Hatrack, while the big man had
+declared for a foul and no decision, and the third judge stood wavering.</p>
+
+<p>On the face of it the whole thing was a steal on the part of the
+gamblers, who had evidently decided beforehand that if the race went
+against them to claim a foul and bluff it through.</p>
+
+<p>But they had argued without their host. They did not know what they were
+opposing when they ran against Ted Strong.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was sorry that he had gone into the affair at all, but once in he
+was there to stick to the finish. The fellow whom he had knocked down
+had retired to the rear to attend to his broken nose, and to give his
+friends an opportunity to fight his battle.</p>
+
+<p>The foreman of the Running Water had disappeared. He had foreseen
+trouble when the gamblers got together, and attempted to force the race
+through, and had gone to collect the cow-punchers and others who had
+been induced to bet on Hatrack.</p>
+
+<p>Ted stood his ground patiently, waiting until a decision should be
+handed down by the judges before declaring himself.</p>
+
+<p>Stella was sitting in her saddle on Hatrack a few feet away from the
+stand watching the proceedings, and listening to the arguments on both
+sides made by the angry men.</p>
+
+<p>Bud and Kit stood on either side of her, to protect her from the remarks
+of the disgruntled gamblers.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly a man pushed his way through the throng, mounted on a Spanish
+mule.</p>
+
+<p>He was a fine-looking man, dressed after the manner of the plainsman,
+and might have been either a cow-puncher in prosperity or a ranch owner.</p>
+
+<p>As the crowd made way for him he caught sight of Bud, and stopped and
+stared for several moments without speaking.</p>
+
+<p>Bud had not noticed him, but when he did look up he returned the stare,
+and his forehead was wrinkled in thought.</p>
+
+<p>Somewhere in the back part of his head he carried a picture of this
+man, but under different circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>Who could he be, and where had he been met, were the things that were
+puzzling Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, pard, you don't seem to place me,&quot; said the man on the Spanish
+mule. &quot;But I haven't forgotten you by a dern sight. Think hard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've saw yer som'er's,&quot; said Bud thoughtfully, &quot;but it wa'n't like
+this. You're som'er's in my picture gallery o' faces, but yer ain't ther
+same as when I saw yer last.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Right ye are,&quot; said the man. &quot;How's Chiquita getting along?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ah, I've got yer now. How did yer come out? Middlin' well, ter jedge
+from ther mule yer ridin', an' yer ginral appearance o' prosperity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet I be,&quot; said the man, &quot;an' if it hadn't been fer you I wouldn't
+have been nowhere. I've come a long ways ter hunt yer up, ter thank yer,
+an' to get better acquainted with yer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, ye've got me inter a heap o' trouble,&quot; said Bud, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So I see, an' I'll help yer get out o' it. What seems ter be the
+trouble?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, old Chiquita, er Hatrack, ez ther boys in ther outfit calls him,
+won a race just now, an' ther gamblers won't stand by it. They sent out
+word that Hatrack was a sure winner, an'&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Same old thing. Chiquita fooled them all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I didn't know he could do it myself, but I remembered what you said
+about him, an' when an ole maverick come along an' banters me fer a race
+I jest took him up, an' this is how it come out. He took us fer a bunch
+o' gillies, an' used us to try to fleece the people.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's his name?&quot; asked the man on the Spanish mule softly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Cap Norris.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, ole Pap Norris, eh? Calls hisself Cap now, does he?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's what he does, an' he's a derned ole skin.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;None skinnier. But where is he? I should like to see him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's sashayin' around here som'er's attendin' ter his dirty work.
+Lookin' after his grandson, little Willie, I reckon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What, is that thief still hangin' on to him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. I see you seem to know him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Know him! Well, I should gurgle I do know him. I thought every hoss man
+in the country knew him. Little Willie, the orphaned grandson, is almost
+old enough to be a grandfather himself. He's an outlawed jockey, an' he
+an' Pap go about the country skinning countrymen and cow-punchers with
+his fake races. He never won a square race in his life. I should say I
+did know him. Here he comes now. Watch me wake him up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The old fellow was bustling up to the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See here, young fellow, get ther gal offen that hoss, he's mine, er as
+good as mine in a moment. The jedges are goin' ter award ther race ter
+me on account o' ther foul,&quot; he shouted to Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon ther hoss stays right with me,&quot; said Bud smoothly. &quot;But I want
+ter tell yer thet yer better bring in that magpie hoss so's I kin git
+him quick. He ain't yours no more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come, come! None o' yer foolishness with me,&quot; blustered the old man.
+&quot;Git ther gal off before she's pulled off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You or any other man put your finger on thet young lady if yer dare,&quot;
+said Bud. &quot;Jest try it once if yer think I'm bluffin', men.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, Pap,&quot; said the man on the Spanish mule. &quot;Up ter yer ole tricks,
+I see.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The old man looked up at the man on the mule, then turned pale and
+slunk away without another word.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Men,&quot; said the man on the mule, addressing the crowd, &quot;you've been
+stung. This old bag o' bones is Chiquita, the best race horse ever
+produced in Mexico, an' I brought him over here, where I traded him for
+a plain cayuse an' gave something ter boot. If any o' you men know
+anything about hosses ye'll recognize ther great Chiquita, what made an'
+lost more money fer ther people o' Mexico than any one other thing. Pap
+didn't know it until he see me, then he suddenly remembered a little
+deal me an' him was in. I know this Magpie hoss well, an' it couldn't
+stand no more show of winnin' a race from Chiquita than a snail would.
+Take it from me that ye've been caught at yer own game, an' have been
+done.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At the name of Chiquita a groan went up from the gamblers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And who are you?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come nearer, an' I'll tell you in your ear,&quot; was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>Bud went close to him, and the man stooped in his saddle and whispered a
+word in his ear, at which the old cow-puncher looked startled, then
+burst into a fit of laughter.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVIII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXVIII</h2>
+
+<h3>TED'S GREAT VICTORY.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;I tell you I'll never stand for it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The voice of big Ben Tremont could be heard roaring above the noise made
+by the crowd around the judges' stand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's a go. The race goes to Magpie on a foul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The big man in the stand made this announcement in a voice of thunder.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bully for you, Shan Rhue!&quot; yelled the gamblers, crowding to the stand
+in a body.</p>
+
+<p>At the same moment Bud caught Hatrack by the bridle and led him out of
+the crowd, for he knew what was impending.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I say it don't go,&quot; shouted Ben. &quot;This man, who is in league with that
+old crook, Norris, declares a foul. I say there was no foul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How does the other judge go?&quot; called a voice.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He declines to give a voice in the matter,&quot; answered Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Throw the coyote down here, and we'll help him make up his mind,&quot;
+called the foreman of the Running Water. &quot;If he's too much of a coward
+to decide for the right, we'll help him. Throw him over.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The foreman of the Running Water was a formidable-looking man.</p>
+
+<p>He was tall and sinewy, with a seamed and scarred face, a map of many
+battles with the elements, the wild animals of mountain and plain, and
+with his fellow men.</p>
+
+<p>He was heavily armed, and the town gamblers knew him for a bad fighter
+when he was aroused.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stick fer ther big show,&quot; he said to Ted, who was standing beside him.
+&quot;I've got the boys bunched back there on the edge of the crowd. When it
+comes to a show-down we'll all be here. But it's no place fer wimmin an'
+children.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't want to get into a fight if we can help it,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer ain't afraid o' these cattle, aire ye?&quot; asked the foreman, looking
+at Ted curiously, but with a shade of disappointment in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not for a minute,&quot; said Ted, throwing a straight glance into the
+other's eyes. &quot;There's nothing to be afraid of, that I can see. But
+what's the use if we can get at it in some other way?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I reckon yer right, bub,&quot; said the other slowly. &quot;Some one is
+shore liable ter git hurt. But I'd sooner see ther whole crowd hurt than
+have this bunch o' thieves git away with their game.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They won't do that. Never fear.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The crowd was now watching the men in the judges' stand.</p>
+
+<p>Evidently Ben and Shan Rhue were wrestling in spirit with the third
+judge, who was still wavering. He knew that the right was with Ben, but
+he was afraid of the big bully Shan, and the gamblers, who were most in
+evidence.</p>
+
+<p>He did not know that the cow-punchers and the townspeople who had bet on
+Hatrack were being organized on the outskirts of the crowd, and that Kit
+and Clay and the other broncho boys were with them to direct them to the
+attack when it might seem necessary to assert their rights.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there was a roar from the crowd. Shan Rhue had struck Ben
+Tremont a staggering blow. They heard Ben let out a roar like a wounded
+bull, as he threw the great bulk of his body upon the man who had struck
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Now they were wrestling, and the frail stand in which they were,
+fifteen feet above the ground, swayed with their struggle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Kill him!&quot; shouted the gamblers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Throw him down here!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let us finish him!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stay with him, Shan!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>These and other cries and threats were shouted by the mob. But Ted
+Strong said nothing. He was watching the struggle intently and quietly.</p>
+
+<p>He had no fear but that Ben would be able to hold his own. His great
+strength hardly matched that of Shan Rhue, who was a giant, and the most
+feared man in the Wichita Mountains. But Ben was more than his match in
+wrestling skill, and, moreover, he was younger and more supple for all
+his bulk, and his work on the football gridiron when in college had
+taught him tricks of the tackle of which the big bully did not dream.</p>
+
+<p>He had a hold on the bully now, and was gradually forcing him backward
+toward the frail railing that inclosed the floor of the stand.</p>
+
+<p>Ted saw his intention. It was to throw Shan Rhue against the railing,
+then spring away. Rhue evidently divined the same thing, for he
+struggled with all his force against it, striking Ben in the ribs and
+occasionally in the face.</p>
+
+<p>But his blows were not very effective, as Ben had him caught so closely
+that his blows lost their power. Thus the struggle went on for a few
+moments. Then, when it was least expected, there was a crash of breaking
+wood.</p>
+
+<p>A yell went up from the crowd as it surged back, and the gigantic body
+of Shan Rhue came hurtling through the railing, which went into
+splinters from the impact of his bulk.</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue grasped at the air, as with a roar he went over. He turned a
+complete somersault as he descended and landed on his shoulders. For a
+moment he lay quivering, half stunned.</p>
+
+<p>There was dead silence in the crowd and none dared go to his assistance.
+But presently the bully sat up and passed his hand over his eyes. With a
+roar of pain and rage he sprang to his feet and looked around.</p>
+
+<p>The nearest person to him was the leader of the broncho boys, who stood
+on the edge of the crowd, alert and smiling. Ted knew that it meant
+fight now.</p>
+
+<p>He was convinced that Ben was in the right, but right or wrong, Ben had
+started it, and it was now up to the broncho boys to see that their side
+did not get the worst of it.</p>
+
+<p>Realizing that Ted was an enemy, Shan Rhue made a rush at him. Those
+beside Ted turned and ran. But Ted did not move. He only stood a little
+tenser.</p>
+
+<p>It took but a moment for the bully to cross the distance that lay
+between him and Ted. His rush was like that of a bull, and as
+irresistible. But Ted did not propose to take the brunt of it. He knew
+several tricks better than that.</p>
+
+<p>As Rhue was about to launch himself upon Ted, the latter stepped lightly
+aside. So sure was Rhue of landing on Ted and bearing him to the ground
+that he had leaped into the air, and, finding nothing to stop his
+progress, was overbalanced. A sweep of Ted's foot completed it, for the
+legs of the bully were swept from under him, and he went to the sod on
+his face with a crash that seemed to shake the earth.</p>
+
+<p>Like an eagle upon its prey, Ted was on the back of the bully. The crowd
+shouted like mad, eager to go to the rescue of their champion. But Ted
+heard the voice of the foreman of Running Water high above the din.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's the boy's fight, an' any man that breaks through the line will get
+a ball from my forty-four plumb through him. Stand back, you cattle!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let 'em go, fellers. Shan will kill him in a minute,&quot; shouted one of
+the gamblers.</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue had been badly shaken up by the jolt that had been his when he
+struck the ground. For several moments he did not stir, and Ted thought
+he had been knocked out.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the men in the crowd knew things about Shan Rhue which Ted did
+not.</p>
+
+<p>Rhue was considered the strongest man in the Southwest at that time. He
+was barely forty years old, in the prime of his life, and a man who had
+never dissipated. But he was a thoroughly bad man for all that, and the
+number of men whom he had killed had been forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>His feats of strength were the talk of barrooms and bunk houses. He had
+been seen many times to break horseshoes with his hands, and as for
+bending a bar of iron by striking the muscles of his forearm with it,
+that was one of his ordinary tricks.</p>
+
+<p>But the thing of which he was proudest was his ability to buck a man off
+his back. In this feat he barred none, no matter how heavy. He would get
+on his hands and knees, place a surcingle around his body under his arms
+for his rider to hold on by, and then proceed to buck.</p>
+
+<p>It would seem impossible for a man to stick to him under such
+circumstances, and no one had been found yet who could do so.</p>
+
+<p>Thus it was that those of the crowd who had witnessed this feat
+sometimes in a fight, and more often in friendly contest, looked to see
+Ted sailing through the air, and then the finish, for Shan Rhue was a
+merciless enemy.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was now straddling the prostrate bully, who was breathing heavily,
+his body heaving as his lungs tried to get back into commission.</p>
+
+<p>Presently he was all right again, and, feeling a weight upon him, shook
+himself. This not having the effect of relieving him of his burden, he
+twisted his head around and saw Ted sitting on him.</p>
+
+<p>With a growl like a wounded bear he slowly lifted himself to the height
+of his arms, then slowly rose to his knees.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By golly, he's goin' ter buck him off,&quot; shouted one in the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look out fer some fun, lads,&quot; cried another.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He'll kill ther kid sure,&quot; said a third.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment Ted realized what was coming off. The hold he had on the
+back of Shan Rhue was none of the most secure at best, but he got a
+clutch on the fellow's shirt under the arm, just back of the armpits,
+and he felt that he had in his fingers great bunches of the bully's
+muscles.</p>
+
+<p>By the merest chance he had secured the only hold by which he could hope
+to stick to the giant's back. Then the fun began. Shan Rhue plunged back
+and forth, sideways and up and down.</p>
+
+<p>The movement was incessant. He reared and pitched, and, having cunning
+and intelligence, he was able to distinguish when Ted's seat was least
+secure and take advantage of it.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had ridden many bucking bronchos, but Shan Rhue beat any of them in
+the surprises which he furnished. But Ted stuck grimly to him.</p>
+
+<p>He knew that if the bully succeeded in throwing him off his life would
+not be worth a rushlight, for Shan was a rough fighter and would not
+hesitate to kick him brutally, if he did not shoot him to death before
+the boys could come to his assistance.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the struggle went on for several minutes, Shan doing his utmost and
+Ted hanging on. But the big fellow was getting winded by his exertions.</p>
+
+<p>He was not in the best condition, for all his tremendous power. He was
+going fast, and Ted was badly shaken up and out of breath, also. If
+Shan held out a few minutes longer Ted must be thrown, for his hold on
+the muscles under his antagonist's arms had begun to loosen, and he
+dared not let go for an instant to get a fresh grip.</p>
+
+<p>It was close to the finish, and the crowd knew it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's goin', Shan. A few more will finish him,&quot; shouted the gamblers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stick to him, Ted. He's almost in,&quot; cried the boys.</p>
+
+<p>Ted took heart at this, although his body was racked with pains, caused
+by the innumerable wrenchings to which it had been subjected.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Shan Rhue was all in. His body flattened out upon the ground,
+and he lay there panting laboriously. Ted sprang to his feet gasping.
+Thus for a few minutes both remained, amid intense silence from the
+crowd.</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue's body was heaving painfully. It was evident that he had never
+had before a struggle like this.</p>
+
+<p>Little by little he recovered, but Ted's recovery was quicker than that
+of the man. His youth and strength were responsible for this.</p>
+
+<p>But finally Shan Rhue was himself again, and suddenly he leaped to his
+feet and glared around. His eyes fell upon Ted, and he looked him up and
+down in a sort of amazement.</p>
+
+<p>Had this stripling accomplished what older and stronger men had failed
+in?</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue could hardly believe it, but it took some of the conceit out
+of him at that. However, his anger at Ted had not been in the least
+assuaged by the fact that the first honors had gone to this youth who
+now stood watching him with a smile on his lips, but with the light of
+battle in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>With a sneer Shan Rhue rushed at Ted. This time he would annihilate him.</p>
+
+<p>But Ted was crouching, awaiting him. His muscles were like steel
+springs. His breath had come to him again, and he was ready to fight for
+his life, for it had come to that now. Suddenly there was a smack, sharp
+and clear in the silence that hung over the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue staggered back on his heels. The blow from Ted's fist had
+struck him fairly below the eye. Before he could recover Ted was upon
+him like a panther.</p>
+
+<p>One, two, three, blows fell with a sharp, sickening sound upon the face
+and throat of the famous Shan Rhue, as he lurched backward, vainly
+trying to defend himself.</p>
+
+<p>His body went to the earth with a crash, and he lay there moaning and
+quivering, beaten, discredited, and no more the hero, for he had been
+conquered by a boy.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIX'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2>
+
+<h3>KIT MAKES A CAPTURE.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Shan Rhue lay prostrate for a long time, but no one went to his
+assistance. As he fell the gamblers raised a shout, and made a motion to
+attack Ted.</p>
+
+<p>But the foreman of Running Water sprang in front of them, and as if by
+magic the broncho boys and the cow-punchers and other supporters of
+Hatrack were by his side.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had leaped to the fore and was standing shoulder to shoulder with
+the foreman of Running Water. He heard a ripple of laughter, and looked
+up to see Stella standing by his side.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bully for you, Ted,&quot; she said. &quot;You did that fine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted smiled back at her, then turned his eyes upon the surprised and
+angry gamblers. There was something there that demanded all his
+attention. The gamblers only needed a leader to make them a dangerous
+proposition.</p>
+
+<p>But their leader was down and out by reason of a few neat and handy
+blows, and none other had the courage to come to the front. It was the
+psychological moment.</p>
+
+<p>Ted Strong took advantage of it. Without a moment's hesitation, he
+stepped in front of the foreman of Running Water, who moved back to give
+him the place of vantage.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had not even taken his six-shooter from its holster, but stood with
+his hands resting lightly on his hips, while his eyes roved inquiringly
+over the menacing crowd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Any of you gentlemen like to have some of the same sort of medicine?&quot;
+he asked, nodding toward the prostrate Rhue.</p>
+
+<p>There was no reply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because if any of you would, I, or any of my friends, will be glad to
+accommodate you,&quot; he added.</p>
+
+<p>An ominous growl came from some one back in the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Would you like some of it?&quot; asked Ted, turning suddenly in that
+direction.</p>
+
+<p>He waited for several moments for an answer, but none came.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, you fellows, I want to say that this incident is closed,&quot; said he
+firmly. &quot;You are beaten every way from the jack, as you would say. You
+put up this race to skin innocent parties, and you thought to use my
+friends for your purposes, and have failed. The face was fairly won by
+our horse, and that goes. If any man doubts it, I will prove it to him
+by any means he wishes, from fists up to howitzers. You have made a lot
+of fools of yourselves by allowing an old crook like Norris to play in
+with you. I haven't a bit of sympathy for you. I'm glad you lost your
+money, and I'd feel gladder if you all went broke. This is the end of
+this adventure. Where's Norris? We want that magpie horse which we won.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The men dispersed after this speech, which closed with a ringing cheer
+from the broncho boys and the cow-punchers and other friends of Hatrack.</p>
+
+<p>But Norris could not be found. He and the horse and the jockey had
+disappeared. Ted rounded the boys up, and all were present except Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where's Kit?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't know,&quot; said Bud. &quot;He was around here a few minutes ago. Reckon
+he's somewhere about.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The crowd having dispersed uptown, a search was made for Kit, but he
+could not be found.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wonder if some of that gang hasn't got square with us by some foul
+play on Kit,&quot; said Ted. &quot;It would be like the coyotes. Kit was the
+smallest of the lot, and naturally the cowards would pick him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Kit's small, all right,&quot; said Stella stoutly, for she and Kit were
+great friends, and Stella was always one to stick up for those she
+liked. &quot;If they pick Kit for his size, and think they have got an easy
+thing, they will find that they have gathered up a red-hot Chile pepper.
+He'll give them the hottest fight they ever had, as long as he lasts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hurray fer you, Stella,&quot; exclaimed Bud. &quot;You speak for fair. Kit's not
+much on size, but he's a whirlwind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue was slowly getting on his feet. His broad, brutal face was
+badly discolored where Ted's fists had come in contact with it.</p>
+
+<p>One of his eyes was bloodshot and rapidly taking on a green-and-purple
+hue, and his upper lip stuck out like an overhanging roof. As he looked
+around and saw that the broncho boys were alone, and that he had been
+left to recover as best he might by those whom he had called his friends
+and supporters, he growled deep in his chest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The skunks,&quot; he muttered, between his swollen lips. &quot;They'd make me
+fight an' steal fer them, an' then leave me in the hole, would they?
+Well, I'll make them hump fer this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then he looked unsteadily at Ted out of his good eye, as if he was
+wondering how it all had happened. But while his glance was not as
+belligerent as it had been, still there was nothing but hatred in his
+expression.</p>
+
+<p>Ted eyed him back fearlessly, but this time his hand rested upon the
+handle of his revolver, and Stella, by his side, was on the alert also.
+Shan Rhue was not one to be trusted, especially after he had met defeat.
+After staring for a moment he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon yer beat me fair, young feller,&quot; he said, &quot;although I don't
+know yet how yer did it. But I want ter say ter yer now that this ain't
+the end, by no means.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's all right,&quot; said Ted easily. &quot;You keep out of my way, and you
+will be all right.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I go where I please, an' do what I please, an' ask ther right o' no
+man,&quot; retorted Shan Rhue truculently.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, go where you please, but don't run afoul of me,&quot; said Ted
+sharply. &quot;I don't want to have anything to do with such cattle as you,
+and I don't propose to. Keep off my trail if you know when you're well
+off. This is a friendly tip&mdash;take it or leave it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't want none o' yer tips,&quot; growled Shan Rhue. &quot;Ye've beaten me,
+an' I hate yer. Look out fer me next time, that's all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, that's all. Skidoo! You're not pretty to look at.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted turned his back upon the defeated bully, but Stella did not, and had
+Shan Rhue made a motion toward his gun there would have been one with a
+pearl handle and trimmed with silver in commission in an instant.</p>
+
+<p>With a long, malignant look after Ted, the bully turned and hobbled
+slowly from the fair grounds.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm going to start on the trail of Norris,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Want to come
+along, Stella?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet I do,&quot; said the girl. &quot;Wait till I catch my pony.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ben, you and Bud ride through the town and see if you can't get on to
+the movements of that old rip Norris, also, and look out for Kit. If we
+don't get Norris, and make him give up that magpie pony, our work has
+not been half done. As long as we have won out all around, we might as
+well have the fruits of our victory,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What'll we do to ther coyote?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Part his coat tails and give him a good, swift kick,&quot; answered Ted.
+&quot;But don't get into any fights with these town gamblers. We can't afford
+anything of that sort, you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All righty; but I'd shore like ter git a crack at some o' them
+mavericks,&quot; said Bud grudgingly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They're all licked in their minds already,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Of course,
+they're sore at losing their money, and if a dozen or more of them were
+to tackle you, you'd have a hard time getting away with it. When the
+fight comes off, if ever it does, we all want to be in on it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They parted, and Ted and Stella rode into the town.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, friend, have you seen anything of that old skin Norris?&quot; asked
+Ted, meeting one of the Running Water outfit on the street.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yep. I wuz jest goin' ter look yer up an' post yer,&quot; was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Which way did he go, or is he still in town?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jest after yer put ther finish onto Shan&mdash;an', say, that wuz a beaut,
+if any one should ask you&mdash;I see Norris an' ther jock makin' fer ther
+gate, leadin' ther magpie bronc. I thinks they're goin' ter put him in
+ther corral fer yer, an' didn't pay much 'tention ter him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then he's up at the corral?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, he ain't. He's foggin' along to'rds ther Wichita Mountains as fast
+as he kin go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How do you know?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I met one o' our outfit a bit ago, an' he was sore because yer let ther
+old feller git away with ther magpie, after yer won him fair. Yer see,
+he thinks ye flunked on collectin' ther pony.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not on your life. We don't do business that way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's what I was thinkin', so I ast him whichever way ther ole man was
+headin'. He says inter ther east, tickity-brindle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Which road?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Right out ther east end o' ther main street.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thank you, pard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer almighty welcome. Good luck. If yer ketch up with ther coyote,
+bring him in an' let us have a good squint at him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I'll bring him in, all right, if I get him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So long!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So long! Come on, Stella, we'll have to kick dust if we're going to
+connect with that old party.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They dashed down the street, followed by an equal mingling of smiles and
+frowns. Smiles from the cow-punchers and townspeople whose champion he
+had been, and frowns from the gamblers.</p>
+
+<p>But they saw neither, for they were intent upon their business. They
+made a mighty handsome couple as they dashed along, for they were well
+mounted and both were perfect riders.</p>
+
+<p>Many a young girl walking along the street looked enviously after
+Stella, and wished she could ride as well and was as beautiful. And many
+a lad looked after his ideal of a hero of the West, dashing and brave
+Ted Strong, who had so lately vanquished the bully who had been feared
+of all men, and who could ride like a centaur, and shoot perfectly.</p>
+
+<p>It did not take long for them to clear the town, and dash out onto the
+prairie road which led into the Wichita Mountains.</p>
+
+<p>They did not spare their horses, for Ted knew that if Norris once
+succeeded in reaching the mountains it would be almost impossible to
+find him among the many fastnesses and deep and rough ca&ntilde;ons which
+abound in those most picturesque hills and peaks.</p>
+
+<p>While Ted knew the Wichita Mountains well, he was also aware that even
+the most expert scout did not know all about them, and that there were
+places in them that had never been explored, unless, perhaps, by
+renegade Indians and white outlaws, with which the mountains had at
+times been infested.</p>
+
+<p>They had ridden an hour or more when Ted pulled in his pony.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No use riding our ponies to death the first heat,&quot; he said to Stella,
+with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My cayuse is good for another hour,&quot; said Stella; &quot;I can tell by the
+way he's going under me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yours would last because you're such a light and easy rider. You take
+weight off a pony. But I'm a good deal heavier, and I can feel this
+fellow tiring, although he'd go until he dropped in his tracks if I'd
+let him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They walked their ponies over the springy sod beside the road, which was
+becoming fainter the farther they got from the town. In the distance
+they could see the mountains, a dark mass against the sky.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Some one on the road,&quot; said Stella, pointing ahead.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is a little hazy. Dust, I guess,&quot; said Ted. &quot;I think we better hit
+it up a bit. Perhaps it is Norris and his precious 'grandson,' and if it
+is we'll get to them before they get to the mountains.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They put their ponies, at a lope, and seemed to be catching up with the
+dust cloud rapidly. Soon they were able to distinguish two riders.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove, I believe we are on the right track,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Stella's bright eyes had been watching the riders in front of them for
+some time.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted, it's not Norris. There are two riders, one behind the other, and
+they are coming this way,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>Ted reined in his pony, and took a long look.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're right, Stella,&quot; he said. &quot;But, perhaps, we can get some news of
+the fugitives from them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Again they spurred forward.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted, that's Kit, as sure as you live,&quot; cried Stella, &quot;I'd know him
+anywhere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes they were within hailing distance, and Ted gave the
+long yell, which was answered, and in a few minutes they were reining in
+beside Kit. Behind him, securely bound to the back of Magpie, was old
+man Norris, who looked very crestfallen.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, Kit, you rascal, I see that you got him,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet, and a merry chase I had after him,&quot; answered Kit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, Kit, what's the matter with your arm?&quot; cried Stella.</p>
+
+<p>Kit's arm was hanging by his side, and his coat sleeve near his shoulder
+was stained with blood.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Shot!&quot; answered Kit laconically.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bad?&quot; asked Stella anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not so very. Just touched the bone. But it has been bleeding like the
+deuce.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted, take charge of the prisoner. Kit, get off that horse and let me
+see that wound.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella's commands were promptly obeyed, and Kit groaned slightly as
+Stella helped him off with his coat and cut away his sleeve. He had
+received a nasty flesh wound near the shoulder, made by a ball of large
+caliber, which had passed clear through.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as she had washed the wound with water from Ted's canteen, and
+had bound it up, Kit felt much more comfortable.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How did it happen?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I heard that the old man and the jockey had made a sneak from the
+grounds when Ted was having his fun with the big fellow, and I got my
+bronc and followed them. I came up with them a ways back, and made the
+old duffer halt, but the jock potted me and got away. That's all.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXX'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXX.</h2>
+
+<h3>KIT'S TROUBLESOME PRISONER.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;Kit, you're the most reckless boy I ever knew,&quot; said Stella, as he
+climbed into his saddle with some effort, for his arm was stiff and
+swollen, and it was all he could do to keep from groaning with every
+jump of his pony.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What in the world made you start after them alone?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, you were busy with the big bully, and, although I felt certain
+that you would get the best of him in the end, I thought it wouldn't be
+good policy to take any of the boys with me, in case there should be a
+general fight. I know you would need all the fellows.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, but, dog-gone you, you ought to have taken some one,&quot; said Ted.
+&quot;How did you know but the old man and the jockey were not dangerous
+fellows? Men in their business are generally bad actors when it comes to
+a scrimmage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I thought I could handle them,&quot; laughed Kit. &quot;And I could, too,
+only I got careless, and let that jockey get the drop on me. The old man
+knuckled under gracefully when I presented my card.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did you get the old man after you were shot?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. You see, this was how it was: I got sight of them a short ways
+ahead of me. They were evidently saving their horses, for they were
+traveling slowly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Didn't they get next that they were being followed?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't think so. They saw only one rider, and I suppose they thought
+that if they were pursued at all it would be by several men, and they
+were confident that with their horses they could run away from anything
+we had except Hatrack.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's a wonder they didn't light out quick.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think they figured to save their horses until they were sure they
+were being followed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then what happened?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I saw them look back at me several times, but they did not hit up their
+speed any.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Were you fogging along pretty fast?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not so very. You see, I didn't want them to think that I was on their
+trail. I went just fast enough to overtake them gradually. If they had
+got on to me they would have been out of sight before I could gather up
+my reins.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Foxy Kit,&quot; said Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And they let you come right up with them?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yep. I was right up on them before they got on to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They recognized you, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They did when I was about twenty feet away. Then I heard the old man
+holler, 'It's one o' them dern broncho boys.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And then what?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, you see, I didn't have my gun out, and, as he says that, the
+jockey pulls and fires one shot, which landed in my arm. Then, before I
+can reach around and get my gun out with my left hand, he gets away. But
+the action was too quick for the old man, and he sat still until I had
+him covered, when I had sent a couple of balls after the jock to make
+him hit up the pace a bit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The old man was easy, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Easiest kind. But he might have got away from me if he had the nerve.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, Kit, you did a great stunt. I'm mighty glad you landed the old
+coot. But I don't know what to do with him now that we have him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, we better take him to town, anyway. He'd get lost if we turned
+him loose out here. Let his friends take care of him, when he gets
+there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right; let's move on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Not much was said as they made their way back to town. Old man Norris
+did not open his mouth, but looked dejected and sad, as if he was
+brooding over what would happen to him when he arrived at his
+destination. He was plainly uneasy, and probably wished they would turn
+him loose.</p>
+
+<p>When they were within a mile of the town they saw a cloud of dust
+approaching them rapidly, and watched it curiously. It was a horseman,
+fogging along at a rapid pace.</p>
+
+<p>Finally out of the dust emerged Bud Morgan, and as he came abreast of
+them he pulled his horse down on its haunches.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Howdy?&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How?&quot; answered the others.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So yer got ther ole pelican, eh?&quot; said Bud, with a grin.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Kit did,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bully for you, Kit,&quot; said Bud heartily. &quot;I was in town, an' a feller
+from over to Running Water told me you and Stella had come out this way,
+an' I follered. What's the matter with your arm, Kit?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Got a shot through it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sho! Did that old pirate give it to you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, the jockey, and then he flew.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've got a good mind to go after him, an' bring him in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wouldn't do any good. At the rate he was going when I sent a message
+after him, he's clear into the suburbs of Chicago by this time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They were soon on the outskirts of the town, and as they entered the
+main street they saw a crowd of men coming toward them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here comes a reception committee,&quot; said Ted. &quot;Wonder who they are, and
+what they want.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove, there's that big fellow Shan Rhue,&quot; exclaimed Kit. &quot;I wonder
+what he's after.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I thought he had enough o' our kind o' medicine not to want ter tackle
+us so soon again,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't like the looks of that gang,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Neither do I,&quot; said Stella. &quot;I've a hunch that they mean mischief.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In what way?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I can't exactly define the feeling I have, but somehow I think
+they don't want <i>us</i>.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Eh? Whom do they want?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For reply Stella made a motion toward Norris. Ted looked at her
+thoughtfully for a moment, then comprehended.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see,&quot; he said seriously. &quot;Well, they won't get him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bud, where are the other boys?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uptown som'er's. Why?&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They ought to be here,&quot; said the girl seriously. &quot;I think we'll be
+needing them soon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tumble, an' I'll jest fog on ahead an' gather them up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Ted. &quot;and while you're about it see if you can't find that
+foreman of the Running Water Ranch, and have him round up his boys or a
+few good fellows who will back us up if it comes to trouble. I don't
+know what his name is, do you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, his name is Andy Bowles, an' he's as good as three ordinary men.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then fly. There's no telling what's coming off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud gave his pony the rowels, and in a moment was out of sight in a
+cloud of dust. Ted and the others rode steadily forward, the two
+parties approaching nearer every moment.</p>
+
+<p>The party headed by Shan Rhue had taken to the middle of the road, and
+soon they had come together, and both halted. For a moment nothing was
+said.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was in advance, holding the reins of the pony on which Norris was
+tied hand and foot, Stella was on one side of Norris, and Kit on the
+other.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well?&quot; said Ted inquiringly, as they came face to face.</p>
+
+<p>He looked directly at Shan Rhue as he said it, then allowed his eyes to
+wander over the crowd. In it he saw some of the toughest characters in
+that part of the country.</p>
+
+<p>They were men who bore the reputation of being cattle rustlers on
+provocation, and who had been suspected of horse stealing and other
+crimes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We want that man,&quot; said Shan Rhue shortly and roughly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is that so?&quot; said Ted, with feigned surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, that's so,&quot; was the surly reply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then why didn't you go out and get him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We left that to you,&quot; said Shan, with a nasty laugh.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then you'll still leave him to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, we want him, and that's all there is to it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you want with him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll show you when we get him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's a cinch you won't get him until you do show me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, I don't want to have any trouble with you, young feller, but&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shouldn't think you would.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this retort a snicker went up in the crowd, and Shan turned upon his
+followers with a brow like a thundercloud. But he said nothing, as the
+snicker subsided as soon as it began.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And I don't want any of your lip, either. Give us the old man
+peaceable, an' you can go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, that's real good of you. But I want to tell you one thing, Shan
+Rhue, before you lose any more breath in conversation, you don't get him
+unless you tell me what you propose doing with him, and perhaps not
+then. It's up to me to say who gets him, or what is done with him. You
+seem to forget that he's my prisoner, not yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I'll tell you what we're going to do with him,&quot; said the bully,
+with a blustering air. &quot;We're goin' to hang him as high as that
+telegraph pole out thar.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bet you anything you've got you don't,&quot; said Ted, with a pleasant
+smile.</p>
+
+<p>There was a murmur of anger in the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't let them get me,&quot; wailed old Norris.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dry up!&quot; said Stella sternly. &quot;Don't you see he's trying to save you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why do you want to hang this old man?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because he whipsawed us all. He's the only one who got any money out of
+that race. We gave him five hundred dollars to pull it off. He was
+broke, and couldn't have bet a cent on it, anyway. That's why. He said
+his horse would win in a walk, and every one of us went broke on it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good! I'm glad to hear it,&quot; said Ted heartily. &quot;You ought to have lost.
+But I'll tell you one thing, the old man really thought his horse would
+win. He didn't know that Bud's horse was the old Mexican racer,
+Chiquita; neither did any of us except Bud, who kept the matter to
+himself, and there you are. The old man is a professional skin, I'm free
+to confess, but he was out to skin us, not you. You've got nothing
+against him. You were beaten by gambler's luck, and now you're not game
+to stand by it. But there is one sure thing, you'll not get old Norris
+from me until you kill me. That's a cinch.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're a game kid, all right,&quot; said Shan Rhue, &quot;but you're committing
+suicide with that kind o' talk. I didn't lose so much myself, an' I
+ain't got nothin' agin' the ole man; it's you I'm after&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why didn't you come alone if you wanted me? Was it necessary for you to
+bring a whole posse with you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, the less I hear of that kind o' talk, the easier it will be for
+you. Hand over the old gaffer, an' go your way peaceful. You'll get that
+much chance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thank you for nothing. I stay by the old man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Farther up the street Ted saw a commotion out of which evolved a party
+of men moving in his direction. He had no doubt it was Bud and Andy
+Bowles, the foreman of the Running Water Ranch.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;For the last time, give up that man!&quot; commanded Shan Rhue.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then we'll take him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Kit had cut the old man's bonds, and thrust a revolver into his hand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Fight for your life,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>With a roar the mob was upon them. Revolvers were drawn, and as they
+rushed forward the dauntless three surrounded Norris&mdash;three against
+fifty.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Halt!&quot; cried Ted. &quot;The first man to lay a hand on any of us is a dead
+one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go on an' take him. I'll attend to the kid,&quot; shouted Shan Rhue.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Get him!&quot; &quot;String him up!&quot; &quot;Lynch the old thief!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>These were the cries with which the mob advanced.</p>
+
+<p>Out of the mob came several shots. Ted heard a cry of pain behind him,
+and turned to see Stella reel in her saddle, pale to the lips, with her
+hand pressing her head, Then she fell.</p>
+
+<p>With a cry of horror and rage, Ted turned toward her, but just then he
+felt himself seized and dragged from his saddle. Something struck him on
+the back of the head, and all became black.</p>
+
+<p>But as he was going off into unconsciousness he heard a shout. It was
+the old Moon Valley yell, and he knew that Norris would be safe.</p>
+
+<p>Bud was coming with re&euml;nforcements. Ted had dropped to the road under
+the feet of the terrified ponies, and it was a miracle that he was not
+trampled to death.</p>
+
+<p>All about him the fight was going on.</p>
+
+<p>Bud and Andy Bowles, and about twenty men whom they had hastily got
+together, had come to the rescue, and the gamblers' gang was soon on the
+run. They had not been able to get near Norris, for Kit had fought them
+off with his one good arm until, finding themselves attacked in the
+rear, the would-be lynchers ran for their lives.</p>
+
+<p>The fight was swift and decisive, and several men lay in the dust when
+it was over, for Andy Bowles and Bud and Ben had fought like tigers.</p>
+
+<p>When Ted recovered consciousness again he found himself lying in the
+road beside Shan Rhue, who had been knocked senseless by a blow from the
+butt of Bud's pistol.</p>
+
+<p>Ted staggered to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where's Stella?&quot; he cried.</p>
+
+<p>The other boys looked around. Just before the fight began they had seen
+her, Kit, and the old man, but now she was gone.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stella was wounded,&quot; cried Ted. &quot;Where is she? Scatter, men, and find
+her. She cannot be far away. If anything has happened to her, some one
+will suffer.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXI'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2>
+
+<h3>STELLA A CAPTIVE.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>We will leave Ted and the broncho boys, to follow the misadventures of
+Stella.</p>
+
+<p>After securing Magpie, which was taken back to the cow camp by Kit, who,
+much against his inclinations, was compelled to go into retirement until
+his arm healed, Ted released old man Norris, who secured a pony and rode
+rapidly out of town.</p>
+
+<p>When Stella fell from the back of her pony to the road she became
+insensible. A ball from the weapon of one of Shan Rhue's gang had
+clipped a lock of hair from her forehead, creasing the skull. By a
+miracle her life was saved, for the merest fraction of an inch lay
+between her and death.</p>
+
+<p>During the hurly-burly of the fight, and as Ted was grasped in the
+powerful arms of Shan Rhue, one of the gang rushed up to her as she lay
+in the dust and picked her up.</p>
+
+<p>He was a powerful man, and carried Stella's light body as if she had
+been a child. That he was not seen by some member of the Running Water
+outfit was due to the fact that they were too busily engaged in fighting
+to pay attention to anything else.</p>
+
+<p>When Stella regained her senses she was conscious of a racking headache,
+and, placing her hand to her forehead, brought it away wet and sticky.
+It was quite dark, and she groaned feebly. The pain was excruciating,
+and the motion of her body made her deathly sick.</p>
+
+<p>She felt around her, and her hand came in contact with a cold, hard, yet
+yielding substance. Then she heard the rumble of wheels, and knew that
+she was in a vehicle of some sort. The motion of the couch on which she
+was lying was such that she came to the conclusion that she was in one
+of those old stagecoaches hung on leather springs, which were so much in
+use in the West before the advent of the railroads.</p>
+
+<p>As her mind grew clearer she tried to remember all that had occurred.
+Suddenly it flashed upon her. The capture of old Norris, the attempt of
+Shan Rhue and his gang to take him away to lynch him, and the beginning
+of the fight. How it had been finished she did not know.</p>
+
+<p>Neither did she know whether or not she was in the care of her friends
+or in the custody of her enemies. Probably the latter, for if Ted and
+the boys were taking her somewhere, surely she would have more
+attention, and the blood would have been washed from the wound on her
+forehead.</p>
+
+<p>The curtains of the stage were down, and she did not know whether it was
+day or night.</p>
+
+<p>Outside she heard the voices of men.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hurry up them mules, Bill,&quot; a man's voice came to her gruffly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Can't get any more out o' them. We've come nigh twenty mile on the run.
+I tell you, the mules is 'most all in,&quot; said a man, evidently the driver
+of the stage.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, we ain't got much farther to go,&quot; said the other. &quot;But we got to
+get there before moondown, er we'll be up against it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What time is the bunch goin' to be at the lone tree?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ten o'clock.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then we've got just about an hour, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Just about. But we're a long ways off yet. Git all y'u can out o' them
+mules. Kill 'em if y'u have to get them there on time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They're doin' all they can. Y'u don't want me to kill them before we
+get there, do y'u?&quot; asked the driver crossly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, but if y'u miss the bunch y'u know what will happen. Shan ain't
+much on the sweet temper since the kid bumped him so hard, an' he don't
+like y'u too well, nohow. I'm just givin' y'u a friendly tip.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Keep it. I ain't so stuck on Shan myself as I used to be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Only don't let him know it. We ain't none of us in love with him, an'
+yet we come up an' eat out o' his hand when he calls us, just like a lot
+o' hound dogs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The conversation told Stella the truth she had dreaded. She had been
+captured by Shan Rhue's ruffians, and she knew that she was in a
+precarious predicament, for she could hope for no mercy from Ted's
+merciless and beaten enemy.</p>
+
+<p>She would be used to punish Ted, and she sighed at the thought of what
+grief her disappearance would cause her aunt and the boys.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the curtain on the window was drawn aside. It was bright
+moonlight without, and in it she saw the villainous face of a man
+looking in upon her.</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes met his, and she uttered an exclamation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello!&quot; he exclaimed, in surprise. &quot;Come to, have y'u?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella made no reply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thought fer a while that y'u'd slipped over the Great Divide,&quot; the
+fellow continued.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No fault of yours that I didn't,&quot; said Stella weakly, for the pain and
+nausea to which she was being subjected had taken all her strength.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ain't had nothin' to do with it, lady. I'm just guidin' the outfit. I
+don't know y'u, er how y'u got hurt. Feelin' better?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I would be much better if I could get out and walk. The motion of this
+carriage makes me deathly sick.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Can't let y'u do that, lady. We're in too much of a hurry to stop
+now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you might let me have a drink of water. I am dying of thirst.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I reckon I can do that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The flap over the stage window dropped, and in a moment she heard hushed
+voices outside. Then a canteen was thrust through the window.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Take all y'u want, lady, an' drink hearty,&quot; said her guide.</p>
+
+<p>Stella wet her handkerchief and bathed her throbbing forehead, then took
+a deep draft, and felt much refreshed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here's your canteen,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>Again the flap was thrust aside, and the ugly face looked in upon her
+with a leer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where are we, and where are we going?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We're in the Wich&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hey, Jack, stow that,&quot; cried the driver.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But it won't do no harm&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You know what the orders is,&quot; said the other significantly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sorry I can't tell y'u, lady. Orders is orders.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, well, I don't suppose it would do me any good to know where I am,
+anyway, but you might as well tell me what you are going to do with me.
+It would relieve my anxiety, and make me feel better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There ain't no harm comin' to y'u, lady, while I am with y'u,&quot; said the
+fellow, with a hateful leer that made Stella shudder.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thank you,&quot; she said faintly, as with a sigh she laid her head back
+again with her wet handkerchief on her brow.</p>
+
+<p>So the stage rumbled on for almost an hour, with Stella the prey of
+sickness and pain. She doubted if she could have walked even if she had
+been permitted to leave the stage.</p>
+
+<p>But as she lay there she thought, and from the scraps of conversation
+she had heard, and from what her guide was about to tell her when he was
+interrupted by the driver, she knew that she had been captured and
+abducted during the fight by Shan Rhue's men, and that she was in the
+Wichita Mountains.</p>
+
+<p>That much, at least, she knew, but what caused her much anxiety was that
+she did not know the result of the fight.</p>
+
+<p>She came to the conclusion that the broncho boys and their friends must
+have lost in the encounter, else she would not be in her present
+predicament.</p>
+
+<p>But what of poor old Norris, for in spite of his rascality she was sorry
+that he had fallen into the hands of the ruthless Shan Rhue.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Keep off to the left,&quot; shouted the guide. &quot;We're almost there. Down
+into that coulee y'u go. There ain't another crossin' this side o' three
+mile, an' we ain't got time to go so far out o' our way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, we're liable to turn over down there. Better get the gal out, an'
+let her walk down. I can get safe up the other side.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right. Stop 'er.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The stage stopped, and the cessation of the swaying, swinging motion was
+a blessed relief to the tortured girl.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Come on out,&quot; said the guide, as he threw the door open. &quot;We'll have to
+ask you to walk to the bottom o' this coulee, if y'u don't want to be
+scrambled about on the bottom o' the coach.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Stella was glad to get out, but when her feet were on the ground she
+swayed and staggered like a drunken person from sheer sickness and
+weakness.</p>
+
+<p>Beside her was her guide on his horse, and she was compelled to lean
+against it for a moment until she recovered herself.</p>
+
+<p>The stage had gone lumbering and swaying down the bank of the coulee,
+and before it reached the bottom it turned on its side.</p>
+
+<p>The driver leaped in safety to the ground, and the guide went scrambling
+down the bank to his assistance.</p>
+
+<p>The mules were plunging and kicking, and threatened to break their
+harness to pieces.</p>
+
+<p>Stella was mutely thankful that she had not been in the stage when it
+went over, as she sat down on a rock to rest and watch the efforts of
+the swearing and angry men to right the stage.</p>
+
+<p>Once she thought of trying to escape while the men were engrossed in
+their work, and she arose eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>But when she got to her feet she realized the impossibility of such a
+thing, for she almost fell. Then she sank down again, and resigned
+herself to her fate.</p>
+
+<p>But soon the stage was put back on its wheels again, and the guide
+called to her to come down.</p>
+
+<p>This was a slow and painful operation, during which the driver swore
+impatiently at the delay. But she accomplished it, and crawled into the
+stage and sank down on the pallet which had been made for her with the
+seat cushions.</p>
+
+<p>Now they were off again, faster than before, and with correspondingly
+more discomfort to Stella. Oh, if the journey would only end, she
+thought.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here we are,&quot; she heard the guide's voice in a shout.</p>
+
+<p>The stage stopped, and Stella heard a rush of feet.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Got her?&quot; some one demanded gruffly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yep, but she's all in,&quot; replied the guide. &quot;Her forehead was creased by
+a bullet, an' the trip has about finished her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Can't help that. Get her out. We've got to be moving. The soldiers are
+out to-night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the matter?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Injuns.&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uprisin'?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not yet, but the agent over to Fort Sill has a tip that they are
+putting on paint.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the trouble?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Somethin' about beef issue. The last cows issued to the Injuns were no
+good, an' the Injuns made a kick, an' the agent told them to go to the
+deuce. Old Flatnose an' his son Moonface, the Apache chiefs, have always
+been bad actors, an' now they are tryin' to scare up a muss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Reckon they'll do it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The commandant at Fort Sill seems to think they will, for he's got two
+companies out on the scout.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The boys better look out, then. The Injuns don't like the gang over at
+the Hole in the Wall none too good.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We stand all right with Flatnose and his son, an' it's their band
+that's actin' bad.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, y'u better get a move on y'u. The moon will be down in an hour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Get the gal out, then, an' we'll be movin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right,&quot; said the guide, poking his head into the coach. &quot;Here's
+where you get out. Boss said to treat her well,&quot; he continued, turning
+to the man with whom he had been talking.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, we'll do that, all right,&quot; was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>Stella scrambled painfully out of the coach. All about her were mounted
+men, both whites and Indians. There were a score or more of them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Can you ride?&quot; asked one of them of Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; she replied, &quot;if you don't go too fast. I'm sick and weak.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We'll do the best we can,&quot; said the man shortly.</p>
+
+<p>Then he called back to his followers:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jake, bring up that spare hoss.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a moment, and with a staggering weakness, Stella climbed into the
+saddle. With a man on each side of her, she took up the march again.</p>
+
+<p>Through dark defiles in the black mountains the cavalcade made its way,
+Stella clinging to the saddle, and often in danger of falling off.
+Presently they came into a glade, or park, which was surrounded by
+towering mountain walls. For half an hour they traversed this, then came
+to the end, and before them yawned an opening in the wall less than ten
+feet wide.</p>
+
+<p>They entered this, and after traversing it a short distance Stella found
+herself in a circular chamber in the mountains with the starry sky for a
+roof. Several fires were burning in the chamber, around which Indians
+and white men were sprawling, playing cards, talking, or silently
+smoking.</p>
+
+<p>In one corner was a corral, in which many horses were confined.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You can get down now,&quot; said the leader of the party that had conducted
+her to the place. &quot;There is a shelter for you over there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He pointed to a small tent on the farther side of the chamber.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You will be perfectly safe here. You do not seem well. I will send you
+assistance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where am I?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are a prisoner in the Hole in the Wall,&quot; was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then Heaven help me,&quot; said Stella, sobbing.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXII.</h2>
+
+<h3>A HOLE IN THE HERD.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>The herd of cattle which Ted and the broncho boys were herding in No
+Man's Land he had branded Circle S, named after Stella.</p>
+
+<p>There were more than two thousand head of them, which Ted was feeding on
+the rich range grasses of the Southwest to drive to the Moon Valley
+Ranch to winter, for it was well known to cowmen that a Southern or
+Southwestern beef animal will do better for a winter on the Northern
+range.</p>
+
+<p>After Stella's disappearance Ted and the boys searched every nook and
+cranny of the town of Snyder, but were unable to get the slightest trace
+of her. Dividing into bands, they scoured the country roundabout, being
+assisted by the cow-punchers and the ranchers in the neighborhood.</p>
+
+<p>But Stella had disappeared as if the earth had opened and swallowed her.
+With all his ingenuity, backed by the strong desire he had to find her,
+Ted was making no headway, and he hardly slept or ate during the long
+days and nights, but was in the saddle almost continuously.</p>
+
+<p>Naturally, he suspected Shan Rhue of knowing something about Stella's
+absence, if, indeed, he was not actually responsible for it.</p>
+
+<p>But he could not fasten anything on the man whom he had come to regard
+as his greatest enemy, and whom he knew hated him. Whenever he sought
+Shan Rhue, he was always to be found at his haunts.</p>
+
+<p>Tired of the inaction, Ted met Shan Rhue on the street one day, and
+resolved to have it out with him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Shan Rhue, I want to speak with you,&quot; said Ted, stopping him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what is it you want?&quot; asked Shan Rhue.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I want you to tell me where Stella is,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue stared at him in apparent amazement.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How should I know where she is?&quot; asked Shan Rhue, with a wicked
+twinkling in his eye.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't know,&quot; answered Ted; &quot;but I think you do know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So I supposed, from the way in which you have had me followed. I
+suppose you miss her a good deal.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Her aunt, Mrs. Graham, is distraught with grief and anxiety. Surely you
+have no fight on her, or on Miss Fosdick, either, that you should keep
+them apart.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No. I have no fight with a woman. But why should I know where the young
+lady is?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are several reasons why you should have had her taken away. But I
+think the principal reason is that you think you can get square with me
+by doing so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There might be something in that. Mind me, I am not confessing that I
+took her away, or that I know who did take her away, or where she is.
+You have seen me in town every day since the little trouble we had over
+that old thief Norris, haven't you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, but that tells me nothing. It might not be necessary for you to
+leave this town to have her hidden somewhere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you and your friends searched the town from one end to the other,
+and you did not find her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;True, but for all that I am satisfied that you know where she is.
+Suppose we call it off, and that you tell me where she is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If I knew, I would not tell you,&quot; said Shan Rhue, his voice intense
+with hatred.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you mean? Are you such a coward that you will punish a woman
+for your spite against a man? I did not think that of you. I believe
+Stella Fosdick was carried off by you, of your men, acting under your
+instructions.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue's only reply was a sneering laugh.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If I discover that what I say is true,&quot; said Ted, in a low voice so
+full of purpose that it was in itself a warning, &quot;you will be the
+sorriest man in all this country. I will make you suffer by it even as
+you have caused suffering to others.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So you have suffered, eh? That is good! Now I am a little better
+satisfied. But my debt to you is not yet paid. There are other things in
+store for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you mean, you dog? By Heaven, I know now that you did cause her
+abduction, and I shall find her. You cannot keep me away from the place
+in which you have hidden her. I shall find her if she is at the end of
+the earth. When I do find her, if anything has harmed her, you, Shan
+Rhue, gambler, thief, and murderer, shall pay for it, and pay heavier
+than for any amusement you have had in all your miserable lying,
+thieving career.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As the epithets addressed to Shan Rhue left Ted's lips, the bully sprang
+back, and made a motion to draw his six-shooter.</p>
+
+<p>But before he had his hand on his hip his eyes were looking into the
+bore of Ted's forty-four. Instead of drawing a gun, therefore, he pulled
+out his handkerchief and wiped his dry lips.</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue feared Ted Strong.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Remember,&quot; said Ted, before turning away, &quot;I know that you have
+spirited Stella Fosdick away. But I shall find her, and when I am sure
+of it you better leave the country before I reach the place where you
+are, for as sure as I am standing here I will make my previous
+experience with you so tame that you will be glad to crawl in the dust
+on your face to be forgiven.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ha, ha!&quot; laughed Shan Rhue. &quot;So it hurts as bad as that, eh? Good!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He went away laughing, and it was all Ted could do to control himself,
+and keep from leaping upon him and punching him. Instead, he jumped into
+his saddle and rode Sultan like the wind out to the cow camp.</p>
+
+<p>For several days he had paid no attention to the herd, leaving it under
+the general direction of Bud, while he stayed in town trying to hear
+some news of Stella, or was riding all over the country with one or
+another of the boys, searching for her.</p>
+
+<p>As he rode into camp with disappointment and dejection written on his
+face, he was met by Mrs. Graham, who had grown pale and wan with
+anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Any news of her?&quot; she asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;None, but I haven't given up hope by any means. Don't worry so, Mrs.
+Graham. I think I am on the track at last, and that we shall soon have
+her with us again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But Mrs. Graham only walked away with the tears coursing down her
+cheeks. The herd was grazing to the west of the camp, and Ted rode out
+to it, and to where Bud was sitting quietly in his saddle watching it.</p>
+
+<p>There was an air of dejection about Bud, also. Indeed, every fellow in
+the outfit was secretly worrying and grieving for Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Ted,&quot; said Bud, as Ted rode up, &quot;I think thar's somethin' wrong
+with ther dogies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Cow-punchers call the small Southwestern cattle &quot;dogies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you mean?&quot; asked Ted. &quot;I was looking them over this morning.
+Rode through the bunch. They seemed to be all right then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, they're eatin' well, an' aire as likely a lot o' beef ez ever I
+see,&quot; replied Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what then?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar ain't so many o' them ez there wuz, er my eye hez gone back on
+me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Any of them get away?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I figger it so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What have you found out?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Some one is liftin' our cattle. That's what I mean.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great Scott! What makes you think so?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ted, ther herd has shrunk.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You judge by the eye, I suppose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes. That is the only way I have o' judgin'. We hev never had a count
+o' them since we drove them onto this range.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How many do you think we are shy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My eye tells me erbout five hundred.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great guns! How could five hundred head get away from us? And right
+under our noses, too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Easy enough. You must remember that since Stella has been gone we've
+paid no more attention to the herd than if we didn't own them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's true. As for myself, I confess that I've given them no
+attention. And I've kept you fellows so busy that we've left the cattle
+to take care of themselves, almost.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, it's time we woke up ter ther situation, er soon we won't hev no
+more cattle than a rabbit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's so. We'll run a count of them in the morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's shore got me puzzled. I can't think whar they could hev gone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Strayed, possibly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;P'r'aps. Ever hear o' there bein' any rustlers in this part o' ther
+country?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I never have. But there are some pretty bad citizens in this
+section, who, if they never have rustled cattle, certainly are capable
+of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Alludin' to who?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, there's Shan Rhue and his gang, for instance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They're pretty bad actors, fer shore. But I ain't positive thet they're
+ther kind what would rustle. They're jest plain town thieves an'
+gamblers. They ain't cow-punchers. It gen'rally is fellers what has been
+in ther cow business at some time er another what rustles stock.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, it doesn't take much of a man to steal cattle. A thieving gambler
+could do it as well as another.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But our brand and ear crop? They shore couldn't get away from them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They're not so hard, Bud. A good man could run our stock out of this
+part of the country and alter the brand without any trouble.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Shore, ther brand is not so hard to alter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let's ride back to camp and look at the brand book, and see if any one
+has a similar brand to ours, or one that they could alter without
+trouble. But, remember, I'm not going to give myself any uneasiness in
+the matter, and I think we will find the herd all there. I can't see how
+so many cattle as you think could get away from us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In what manner could they?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, yer see, thar ain't ary o' us fellers been ridin' herd at night
+since Stella was taken away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes; go on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ther fellers what hev been guardin' ther herd at night we picked up
+around here when we drove ther herd up from ther South.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;True. They were all local cow-punchers. I realize that we have made a
+mistake. One of us ought to have had charge of every night watch since
+we have been on this range.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Shore. It's a cinch they wouldn't attempt to run 'em off in ther
+daytime.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's the idea. It would be as easy as shooting fish in a rain barrel
+for a crooked night foreman to drift a few cattle away from the herd in
+the dark, to be picked up by fellows waiting on the outside, and driven
+into the hills until the brands and marks could be changed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They were at the camp now, and Ted got out the brand book and turned its
+leaves over in an attempt to find a brand similar to their own, the
+Circle S, which was a circle with the letter S in the center.</p>
+
+<p>In every Western State or Territory in which cattle-raising is a
+business the law makes it imperative that every ranchman who uses the
+open range shall select a brand for his cattle which is registered. This
+brand is his own, and every head of cattle found with his brand on it
+belongs to him.</p>
+
+<p>On the open range the cattle get mixed more or less, and in the spring
+there is a general round-up of the cattle, after the calves have been
+born and are following their mothers.</p>
+
+<p>The cow-punchers go into the vast herds and drive out the calves. Of
+course, the mother follows the calf, lowing piteously for it.</p>
+
+<p>When the cow is out with the calf, it can be plainly seen to whom she
+belongs by the brand on her. Her owner, or his men or representatives,
+promptly throw her and the calf into their own herd, and later put their
+brand on the calf.</p>
+
+<p>Calves which are motherless and are unbranded are known as mavericks,
+and belong to whoever finds them. The cowman who finds a maverick
+promptly puts his own brand on it and it belongs to him.</p>
+
+<p>The safety of the system is in choosing a brand that cannot be easily
+altered, and which will not be easily confounded with the brand of
+another.</p>
+
+<p>When the boys had chosen the brand Circle S for this herd in honor of
+Stella, they had spoken of this, and Bud had remarked that it would be
+easily altered by making an eight of the S, but they had found no Circle
+8 in the brand book, and took the chance, especially as Stella now
+insisted upon having no other brand for the herd than Circle S, her &quot;own
+brand,&quot; as she called it.</p>
+
+<p>Ted and Bud could find no brand in the Texas or Oklahoma brand books at
+all like theirs, and dismissed the matter from their minds.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning early all hands turned out for a count of the herd. The
+herd was split, and the broncho boys took turns at the count, as the
+bunches of cattle were split and driven slowly past them on the point.</p>
+
+<p>From the books, there should be two thousand three hundred cattle, or
+thereabouts, in the herd. A few cattle more or less would not have been
+surprising, for a great herd of cattle will, like a magnet, draw to it
+all the individual strays in the country roundabout.</p>
+
+<p>It was well in the afternoon before the count was finished, and the boys
+rode into camp to count up and compare with the books. Ted totaled the
+figures, while the boys hung eagerly over him to learn the result.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, what d'yer make it?&quot; asked Bud, as Ted, with an expression of
+perplexity on his face, looked up from his work.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The count is seventeen hundred and fifty,&quot; answered Ted slowly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Gee! And that's how many shy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Five hundred and fifty. Bud, you have a good eye.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Orter hev. I've been runnin' my eye over herds fer many a year. So,
+we've been done out o' more'n five hundred head, eh? Well, Stella comes
+fust, an' then ther man what thinks he kin rustle cattle from the
+broncho boys had better take a runnin' jump outer this man's country.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXIII'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>LITTLE DICK IN TROUBLE.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Little Dick Fosdick had been forgotten by Ted and the broncho boys in
+their anxiety over the absence of Stella.</p>
+
+<p>They had seen him around the camp, but as it was impossible for him to
+accompany them on their hard rides, he had been left to his own devices.</p>
+
+<p>He spent his days riding with one of the cowboys on the herd, and
+grieving in his own way for Stella.</p>
+
+<p>He was a sensible little chap, and seldom complained at his loneliness.
+His life alone had made him patient, and he took it out in thinking.</p>
+
+<p>He was now well able to take care of himself, although Stella insisted
+in &quot;mothering&quot; him when she was in camp.</p>
+
+<p>Little Dick, as most of the boys called him, felt himself quite a man,
+for he could now catch his own pony and saddle it whenever he wanted to
+ride, and no one paid any attention to him as he came and went.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had bought for him a little, wiry bay cayuse, and both he and Stella
+had taught him to ride, and Dick could now throw a rope with reasonable
+accuracy and speed.</p>
+
+<p>Ted had given him a small revolver, and they had had great fun learning
+to shoot at a target, which was usually a bleached skull of a cow that
+had died long since on the prairie, and its bones picked clean by the
+coyotes.</p>
+
+<p>Dick's revolver was only of thirty-two caliber, as befitted his
+strength, but the youngster had a good eye and the steady nerves of
+youth, and he soon got so that he could hit the skull with reasonable
+accuracy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Putting the shot through the eye&quot; was one of the jokes of these
+shooting tournaments, in which Stella, and sometimes Bud, joined.</p>
+
+<p>One day when they were shooting at a skull target, Bud missed&mdash;probably
+intentionally, for Bud was a crack shot.</p>
+
+<p>Dick jumped up and down in glee, for he had just knocked a chip of bone
+from the skull himself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bud missed! Bud missed!&quot; he shouted, in glee. &quot;Bud, you're an old
+tenderfoot. Couldn't hit a skull as big as the head of a barrel a
+hundred feet away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Didn't miss, neither,&quot; said Bud, in a tone of mock anger. &quot;There's
+where you're fooled. That is what I call a good shot. See that left eye
+hole? Well, I aimed at that, and the bullet went through it. Ha! That's
+where the joke is on you.&quot; He grinned, and winked at Stella.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes later Dick shot and missed the skull.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yah!&quot; shouted Bud. &quot;Goody! You missed. You shoot like a hayseed.
+Couldn't hit a skull as big as the head of a barrel.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's where you're left,&quot; said the boy. &quot;See that right eye hole?
+That's what I aimed at.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The laugh was on Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, kiddie,&quot; he laughed. &quot;You're on. We'd be in a dickens of a
+fix if that ole cow hadn't left two eye holes when she died.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So it was that Dick had made great progress in the rudiments of a
+cow-puncher's life, and it exactly suited him, but, in the meanwhile,
+Stella was teaching him to read, and telling him the story of the rise
+and grandeur of his own country, and of the lands that lay beyond the
+seas.</p>
+
+<p>So it was that Dick was unconsciously getting a better education than if
+he had gone to school, for he had a mind for the absorption of all sorts
+of knowledge like a sponge, and once a thing was told him he never
+forgot it.</p>
+
+<p>The morning of the count he had started onto the range with the other
+boys, but as there would be great confusion, and perhaps danger of a
+stampede, Ted sent him back to camp.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Run on back, Dick,&quot; Ted said kindly. &quot;I'm afraid that pony of yours
+isn't quick enough to get out of the way if these dogies should take it
+into their heads to act ugly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick never thought of rebelling when Ted spoke, for he knew that Ted was
+boss, and that he knew what was good for him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, Ted,&quot; he said. &quot;Would it be any harm if I took a ride away
+from the camp?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course not, Dick,&quot; answered Ted kindly. He felt a little sore at
+himself for sending the boy away, but he knew that it was for the best.
+There would be plenty of time and many occasions for Dick to run into
+danger when he grew up.</p>
+
+<p>Dick went back to camp, which was deserted save for Bill McCall, the
+cook, who was asleep under the chuck wagon, and Mrs. Graham, who was
+lying down in her tent.</p>
+
+<p>Dick buckled on his belt and holster, and, mounting his pony Spraddle,
+set out for a long ride across the prairie.</p>
+
+<p>In the boot of his saddle rested his little Remington, a present from
+Stella. He was going to look for an antelope, and he thought how proud
+Ted would be if he brought one back with him.</p>
+
+<p>He knew how hard it was to get close enough to an antelope to shoot it,
+but he had just enough gameness to think that he could get one if he
+came within range of it.</p>
+
+<p>Anyhow, there were coyotes and jack rabbits.</p>
+
+<p>He rode across the prairie at a smart gallop, occasionally changing his
+course to chase a jack rabbit, which generally disappeared over a rise
+in the ground like a streak of gray dust, and was seen no more.</p>
+
+<p>At noon he stopped for a few minutes to eat the biscuit and piece of
+bacon which he had taken from the rear of the chuck wagon before setting
+forth. He found a spring not far away, and, having given Spraddle a
+good, deep drink, and filling his small canteen, which was tied to the
+cantle of his saddle, he set forth again.</p>
+
+<p>It was about two o'clock when he came in sight of the first real game of
+the day. On the top of the rise ahead of him he saw an animal about the
+size of a dog. As he rode toward it, it raised its head and gave a long,
+low, mournful howl.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Coyote,&quot; exclaimed Dick to himself breathlessly. &quot;I'll get that fellow,
+and take him back to camp. Won't Ted be surprised when he sees it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He took his Remington out of the boot, slipped in the necessary
+cartridges to fill the magazine, and rode forward slowly and cautiously.</p>
+
+<p>The coyote watched him sharply, occasionally raising its head to utter
+its mournful cry. When Dick thought he had got within shooting distance,
+he stopped Spraddle, took a good, long aim at the coyote, and fired.</p>
+
+<p>The ball kicked up the dust several feet in advance of the coyote,
+which, with another howl, this time one of derision, as it seemed to
+Dick, turned and trotted away.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was a bum shot,&quot; muttered Dick. &quot;I'm glad Ted or Stella did not
+see it. Better luck next time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The coyote ran a short distance, then stopped and looked over its
+shoulder to see if Dick was following, and, seeing that he was, took up
+its lope again.</p>
+
+<p>It had got some distance from Dick, when, on the top of another rise,
+it stopped again, and Dick heard once more its luring cry.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed to be an invitation to follow him. Dick had not paid any
+attention to the direction in which he was going, and had kept no track
+of time.</p>
+
+<p>That he was following game, and that he intended to get it if it took
+all day, was all he thought of. Soon the coyote stopped again, and
+looked at Dick in a tantalizing sort of way, and again Dick approached
+it cautiously.</p>
+
+<p>When he thought he was within range, he raised his Remington, and,
+taking a long, deliberate aim, fired. Again he missed. But he had the
+satisfaction of seeing that the ball had struck the earth several feet
+nearer the coyote than the first.</p>
+
+<p>The coyote realized it, too, for he did not wait for another invitation,
+but started on his way in a hurry, with Dick riding pell-mell after him.</p>
+
+<p>Dick for the first time realized that the day was going when he noticed
+the long shadow cast by himself and the pony on the prairie sod. He had
+not the slightest idea how far he had come, and there crept into his
+mind a sort of dread.</p>
+
+<p>He pulled Spraddle down to a walk, and looked about him. Behind him
+there was no trace of the cow camp, nothing but the everlasting rise and
+fall of the prairie.</p>
+
+<p>But ahead was the ragged line of the blue mountains. These he knew to be
+the Wichita Mountains, for, although he had never seen them before, he
+had heard the boys talking about them in camp.</p>
+
+<p>Then he saw the coyote on a hill a little ways ahead, looking at him in
+the most aggravating way. The coyote's lips were curled back from his
+teeth in a contemptuous sort of a smile, it seemed to Dick, and as he
+started forward again the coyote threw up its head and actually laughed
+at him.</p>
+
+<p>That settled it with Dick. No coyote that ever trotted the plains could
+laugh at him, but as this thought came to him he felt the dread of being
+lost on the prairie, or even having to stay alone in this waste all
+night.</p>
+
+<p>Dick had heard the boys talk of the danger of being alone at night, for
+there were wolves and other animals that would daunt a man, to say
+nothing of a small boy.</p>
+
+<p>He thought he would follow the coyote only long enough to get another
+shot at him, and then retrace his way back to the camp. By putting
+Spraddle through his paces he ought to be able to reach it before dark.</p>
+
+<p>So he set forth again in the wake of the coyote, which was becoming more
+and more aggravating every minute. Suddenly the coyote disappeared
+altogether. It had done this before when it had gone down into the
+trough between two of the great, rolling swales of the prairie, but
+always it had come into sight again in a few minutes.</p>
+
+<p>This time, however, it did not, and Dick wondered why.</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes he understood why, for he found himself at the edge of
+a coulee which had been washed deep by the storms of many winters.</p>
+
+<p>Dick looked up and down the coulee for the wolf, and saw a form, gray
+and lithe, slinking among the bowlders with which it was filled. Dick
+forced Spraddle down the steep bank of the coulee, and was soon at the
+bottom.</p>
+
+<p>Hastily he set after the coyote, but suddenly stopped, for a man stepped
+from behind a shoulder of rock and clay and caught his bridle.</p>
+
+<p>Spraddle stopped so quickly that Dick was almost unseated. But he soon
+recovered himself, and stared in amazement at the man who had thus
+stopped him.</p>
+
+<p>He was an Indian.</p>
+
+<p>Dick had often seen Indians in the towns through which the broncho boys
+had passed, and occasionally they had come into the camps they had
+established on the drive of the herd up from Texas.</p>
+
+<p>But this was the first time Dick had ever come in contact with an Indian
+when he was alone. For a moment his heart stopped beating, for he was
+afraid.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How?&quot; grunted the Indian.</p>
+
+<p>It was all Dick could do to reply with a feeble, quavering &quot;How?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Many times around the camp fire, with the boys all about, when Bud was
+telling one of his tales of Indians, Dick had thought what he would do
+if he ever came in contact with a real, live, sure-enough redskin, and
+always he had thought how brave he would be. But now that he had
+actually met one, he felt his nerve ooze away.</p>
+
+<p>However, the Indian was not aware of it, for Dick had a way of keeping
+his feelings to himself, and he seldom showed whether he was surprised
+or angry, although he never hesitated to let his friends know his
+pleasure at their kindness, or gratitude for what they did for him.</p>
+
+<p>He was looking at the Indian steadily, taking stock of him, and this is
+what he saw: A broad, dirty face, in which burned two small, narrow
+eyes. The cheek bones were prominent, and on each one was a spot of red
+paint. The long, black, coarse hair was braided with pieces of otter
+fur, and covered with an old cavalry cap, in which was stuck a crow's
+wing feather, and around his neck hung a small, round pocket mirror
+attached to a red string, by way of ornament.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian wore a dirty cotton shirt and a pair of brown overalls, and
+his feet were covered with green moccasins, decorated with small tubes
+of tin, which jingled every time he took a step.</p>
+
+<p>A belt and holster hung at his hip, and the handle of a Colt forty-four
+was within easy reach.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;White papoose where go?&quot; asked the Indian, showing a row of sharpened
+teeth.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hunt coyote,&quot; replied Dick, in a voice that trembled.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Heap fool. No catch coyote,&quot; said the Indian, reaching over and lifting
+Dick's Remington from the saddle.</p>
+
+<p>He sighted it, turned it around in his hand, and then coolly slung it
+over his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here, give that to me,&quot; said Dick sturdily. With this act of theft all
+his courage came back to him. No dirty Indian should have the rifle
+Stella had given him.</p>
+
+<p>But the Indian only grinned.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Me heap brave,&quot; said the Indian. &quot;Me Pokopokowo.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He looked at Dick as if he expected the boy to be deeply impressed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't care who you are. I want my rifle,&quot; cried Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Papoose heap fool. Get off pony.&quot; The Indian was scowling now, and
+looked very ferocious, and once more Dick's courage oozed. The Indian
+did not seem to be a bit frightened.</p>
+
+<p>As Dick was slow in descending from the saddle, the Indian grasped him
+by the arm and jerked him to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Dick was as angry as he ever got, but was sensible enough to know that
+he could not fight the Indian, and that all he could do was to escape as
+rapidly as possible.</p>
+
+<p>He turned and ran up the coulee.</p>
+
+<p>But he had not gone far when he was overtaken, and knocked flat with a
+cuff on the side of the head. As he rose slowly with his head ringing,
+Pokopokowo grasped him by the shoulder, and bound his hands behind him.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment he was back at the pony's side, and was thrown upon its
+back, but not in the saddle. This was occupied by the Indian, who
+directed it down the coulee, and in the direction of the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Fosdick was a prisoner.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXIV'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>A MESSAGE FROM STELLA.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Dick had some difficulty in keeping his seat on the pony's back, for he
+could not hold on to the cantle of the saddle, and Spraddle wabbled
+dreadfully, as he stumbled among the bowlders in the coulee.</p>
+
+<p>But before long they were out on the prairie again, and Dick observed
+that they were headed toward the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>They had several miles to go to reach the mountains, and it was just
+getting dusk when they entered upon a broad and beautiful valley, which,
+as it ran east and west, was flooded with the light from the setting
+sun.</p>
+
+<p>Here the Indian turned in the saddle and looked at Dick with a
+malevolent smile.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Turn white boy loose,&quot; he grunted.</p>
+
+<p>Dick twisted around, and the Indian untied the cord that bound his
+wrists.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;White boy try to run away, I kill um,&quot; said the Indian, showing his
+teeth in a horrible look of ferocity that chilled Dick to the bone.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right,&quot; he said; &quot;I'll not try to run away again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Kill um if do,&quot; growled the Indian, hissing, at the pony, which is the
+Indian way of making a pony go forward, and means the same as a white
+man's &quot;Get up!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick was dreadfully hungry, but he said nothing, clinging to the cantle
+of the saddle with both hands, for the pony was now loping.</p>
+
+<p>They had gone up the valley for several miles, when suddenly the Indian
+turned aside down a dark and narrow defile, still at a lope.</p>
+
+<p>Even Dick realized the danger of this, for the floor of the defile was
+covered with large, loose stones, over which Spraddle was continually
+stumbling, for he had come a long way and was tired, besides the added
+weight of the Indian was more than he was accustomed to carry.</p>
+
+<p>It had grown very dark, and Dick could not see the pony's ears when he
+twisted around to look past the Indian.</p>
+
+<p>He knew that it was to be a moonlight night, but the moon was not up
+yet, and would not be for an hour or more. In fact, it was doubtful if
+the light of the moon would penetrate to the bottom of the defile until
+it was high in the heavens, so deep was the defile and so steep its
+walls.</p>
+
+<p>Dick had given up wondering and worrying, and had forced himself to be
+content with his situation, as he knew that he could not better it any.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly he became aware that the Indian was asleep, for he was drooping
+in the saddle, and was breathing deeply and steadily.</p>
+
+<p>Now, thought Dick, was the time to escape, if any. He tried to slip from
+the pony's back, but in an instant the Indian was awake, and, reaching
+around, grasped Dick's wrist, twisting it until the boy gave a sharp cry
+of pain.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian slipped from the back of the pony, and again bound Dick's
+wrists behind him, and with a grunt climbed into the saddle and urged
+Spraddle on, slapping him across the face with the end of the rein.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't you do that,&quot; cried Dick, who never abused Spraddle himself, and
+couldn't stand it to see any one else, particularly a dirty Indian, beat
+his pet.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;White boy shut up, or Pokopokowo beat him plenty,&quot; growled the Indian.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If you dare beat me, Ted Strong will fix you when he gets you,&quot; said
+Dick hotly.</p>
+
+<p>But the Indian only laughed, and continued to beat poor Spraddle over
+the face, to the pain and anger of Dick, who, however, realized that he
+was absolutely helpless.</p>
+
+<p>But Pokopokowo was soon to be paid for his cruelty, and by poor Spraddle
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>Spraddle, stung by the blows, was stumbling along at a good pace over
+the bowlders that lay in his way, with the Indian urging him faster all
+the time.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there was a great heave. Spraddle went down, almost turning a
+somersault, as his tired feet struck a larger bowlder than he had
+encountered before.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian, who was dozing again, shot over his head as if from a
+catapult, and Dick went sprawling forward over the saddle onto the neck
+of the pony.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately, the pony righted itself in time to save Dick from a hard
+fall, and he stayed on Spraddle's back, talking to him gently.</p>
+
+<p>At the sound of Dick's voice the pony became quiet, and Dick half
+sprawled, half fell to the ground. The boy was in a pretty bad fix, for
+the Indian had tied his hands securely. He thought of ways by which he
+might cut the cord, but it seemed hopeless. He had heard somewhere of
+bound men releasing themselves by wearing their bonds asunder against
+the rough edge of a rock, and determined to try it for himself.</p>
+
+<p>If he could only get his hands free, he might escape yet. Backing up to
+the wall of the ca&ntilde;on, he felt with his hands for a rock, and soon knew
+that he was against one. As he sawed his hands back and forth, he was
+listening for some sound from the Indian, but heard none.</p>
+
+<p>Could it be that the fall had killed Pokopokowo?</p>
+
+<p>To his joy, he felt the cord part, and his hands were free. At that
+moment there came a flood of light into the defile, for the moon had
+risen overhead.</p>
+
+<p>Lying on the floor of the defile, lay the Indian, with a deep gash
+across his forehead, where it had struck a sharp rock. His ugly face was
+covered with blood, making it additionally hideous.</p>
+
+<p>By the side of the Indian lay Dick's precious rifle, and he stooped to
+pick it up. As he did so, something glistened beside it, and Dick picked
+it up.</p>
+
+<p>It was the little, round mirror that the Indian had worn around his
+neck. Dick pocketed it for proof of his adventure when he should again
+reach camp, and, picking up his rifle, climbed upon Spraddle's back,
+turned him around, and drove down the defile.</p>
+
+<p>When he reached the open valley it was as bright as day, and under his
+coaxing and kind words the tired little pony, relieved of the Indian's
+weight, picked up his feet and set forth at a brisk pace into the west,
+in which direction Dick knew the cow camp lay.</p>
+
+<p>It was almost daylight when Bill McCall, the cook, roused from his
+blankets to begin the preparations for breakfast. He leaped to his feet
+and listened.</p>
+
+<p>Not far away he heard the sound of the pony's footsteps approaching.
+Bill was an old cow-puncher, and he knew instantly that the pony was
+tired, and that he was under saddle, and also that the saddle was
+occupied.</p>
+
+<p>The footsteps came nearer, and just as they were close to the camp
+daylight came on with a rush, as it does on the plains, and Bill gave a
+great shout of joy which brought every puncher in camp scrambling out of
+his blankets, for there rode in a very tired little boy on a very tired
+little, pony.</p>
+
+<p>The boy was pale and tired from hunger and his long hours in the saddle,
+and it was all the pony could do to stagger in.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's little Dick,&quot; shouted Bud. &quot;Well, jumpin' sand hills, whar
+you-all been all night? Takin' a leetle pleasure pasear?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, Bud, I'm so tired and hungry,&quot; said Dick, as Bud lifted him from
+the saddle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here you, Bill, git busy in a hurry. This kid ain't hed nothin' ter eat
+in a week. He's 'most starved. Bile yer coffee double-quick, an' git up
+a mess o' bacon an' flapjacks pretty dern pronto, if yer don't want me
+ter git inter yer wool.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud was rubbing the cold and chafed wrists of the boy beside the fire,
+which one of the boys had replenished. The boys surrounded little Dick
+with many inquiries, but Bud shooed them away.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't yer answer a bloomin' question until yer gits yer system packed
+with cooky's best grub. I reckon, now, yer could eat erbout eighteen o'
+them twelve-inch flapjacks what Bill makes, an' drink somethin' like a
+gallon o' ther fust coffee what comes out o' ther pot.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Little Dick smiled, as he watched with glistening eyes the rapid
+movements of Bill McCall as he hustled over his fire, the air redolent
+with the odors of coffee and bacon and griddle cakes, so that his mouth
+fairly watered.</p>
+
+<p>When Bill shouted breakfast, Ted and Bud sat Dick down and loaded his
+plate with good things, which he caused to disappear in a hurry.</p>
+
+<p>But after a while he was stuffed like a Christmas turkey, and put his
+tin plate away with a sigh, and absolutely cleaned.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now,&quot; said Ted, when he saw this good sign, &quot;where have you been all
+day and all night? We've been scared about you. Thought we had lost you,
+too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick went ahead with his story from the very beginning, and told of the
+downfall of Pokopokowo, and his escape, and of his all-night ride into
+the west, to accidentally stumble, at daylight, into camp.</p>
+
+<p>The boys listened in amazement to this record of courage on the part of
+its youngest member, and some seemed to doubt the Indian part of it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sho, yer dreamin', kid,&quot; said Sol Flatbush, the cow-puncher. &quot;Thar
+ain't no Injuns like that in this yere part o' ther country. Why, an
+Injun wouldn't dare carry off a kid like that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You don't believe it, eh?&quot; exclaimed Dick hotly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I believe yer,&quot; said Bud soothingly, for the boy was very nervous from
+being up all night and his hard ride, which would have taxed the
+energies of a grown man. &quot;Don't yer mind what thet ole pelican says. He
+ain't got no more sense than a last year's bird's nest, nohow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The Indian had this around his neck,&quot; said Dick, &quot;and when he fell it
+came loose from his neck, and I picked it up, for I thought some one
+might think I wasn't telling the truth. Now, I'm tired, and I can't keep
+my eyes open.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>His head began to nod, and his eyes closed.</p>
+
+<p>Bud picked him up and carried him to a pair of blankets which had been
+spread on the shady side of Mrs. Graham's tent, and laid him down and
+left him dead to the world.</p>
+
+<p>Dick had placed the little, round looking-glass in Ted's hand.</p>
+
+<p>As he took it, Ted uttered an exclamation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove,&quot; he exclaimed, &quot;I believe this is the little glass Stella used
+to carry in her pocket. Why, what is this?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted was holding the little mirror up to the sky, apparently in an
+endeavor to look through it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is it?&quot; asked Bud, approaching the fire.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dick has brought back Stella's little pocket mirror,&quot; said Ted. &quot;I'd
+know it anywhere. But the back has been torn off it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tooken off ther neck o' an Injun?&quot; said Bud, dropping his usual jolly
+manner. &quot;I thought yer said thar wa'n't no bad Injuns eround yere, Sol
+Flatbush. What d'yer make o' that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Sol Flatbush got a little pale.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar ain't none,&quot; he said. &quot;All ther Injuns on the reservation is
+peaceable. They knows they couldn't do no monkey business with all them
+sojers at Fort Sill.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yet here's a kid run off with by an Injun, and he brings back a pocket
+mirror what belonged to Stella Fosdick. Sol Flatbush, ye've got ter give
+a better defense o' ther Injuns than that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What hev I got ter do with ther Injuns?&quot; asked Flatbush defiantly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Search me. But ye've made a wrong diagnosis, an' I don't like yer brand
+o' talk none. I think myself thet yer too friendly ter ther redskins.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What d'ye mean?&quot; cried Flatbush, springing to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I mean thet I don't trust yer none. I think ye're a skunk, an' I don't
+like ter see yer face eround this yere camp. How much do this outfit owe
+yer?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Three months' wage,&quot; answered the cow-puncher sourly.</p>
+
+<p>Bud went down into his leather pouch and extracted a roll of bills, and
+skinned off several.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thar it is. Skidoo! An' don't try ter mingle with this outfit none
+hereafter. Thar'll be a new foreman o' ther night herd what ain't got so
+many friends in this yere locality.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What d'yer mean by that?&quot; Flatbush's hand sprang to his side.</p>
+
+<p>But Bud was quicker, and in the flash of an eye had the muzzle of his
+six-shooter under the nose of the night foreman, who shrank from it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I mean thet yer a crook, an' I'll give yer jest three minutes ter rope
+yer hoss an' git.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Flatbush turned and hurried to the remuda, caught and saddled his horse,
+and rode out of camp.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've had my eye on that maverick fer quite some time,&quot; said Bud,
+turning to the boys after he had watched Flatbush fade into the
+distance. &quot;I've suspected him o' turnin' off our cattle every night. I
+haven't caught him at it, or thar wouldn't've been no necessity o'
+chasin' him out. He'd've gone feet foremost.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you think of it, Bud?&quot; asked Ted, handing the little mirror
+over to the golden-haired puncher.</p>
+
+<p>Bud took it in his hand, and looked at it a long time.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It shore is Stella's,&quot; he said. &quot;I reckernize it by this leetle dent on
+ther side o' it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He was holding it in the palm of his hand, looking down at it intently.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, what's this?&quot; Bud held the mirror against the sleeve of his blue
+shirt.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pipin' pelicans,&quot; he muttered, &quot;if thar ain't some kind o' a pitcher on
+it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted went to his side and looked at the mirror.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I believe you're right,&quot; he said. &quot;Let me look at it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you make of it?&quot; asked Bud.</p>
+
+<p>All the boys crowded around, watching Ted eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is evidently intended for the picture of a stone wall,&quot; said Ted,
+&quot;and that wavy line behind it is meant for mountains.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's that?&quot; asked Bud, pointing to the picture.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I guess it is meant for a hole in the stone wall,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wow!&quot; said Bud. &quot;That's as easy as livin' on a farm. Don't yer see? It
+is a message from the Hole in the Wall.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove, you're right. The Hole in the Wall in the Wichita Mountains.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is that right below it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It looks like a star. It is a star.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is Stella's signature,&quot; said Ben. &quot;Stella is the Latin for star.
+Don't you see, she has sent this message out from the Hole in the Wall,
+where she is a prisoner? It's as plain as day to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're right,&quot; shouted Ted. &quot;Into your saddles, boys; we're off to the
+Hole in the Wall at once.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXV'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXV.</h2>
+
+<h3>&quot;HOLE IN THE WALL.&quot;</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>&quot;Kit, you will stay and take care of the herd,&quot; said Ted, just before
+the boys galloped off.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, but I'd mighty well like to go with you,&quot; said Kit, who,
+although he was eager to be in the fight that he knew would come off if
+Ted found that Shan Rhue had anything to do with the abduction of
+Stella, was not one to get disgruntled.</p>
+
+<p>Ted would have been well pleased to have Kit with him, but Kit's arm was
+not yet well enough to risk in a possible rough-and-tumble adventure.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Say, Ted,&quot; Kit called after the leader of the broncho boys.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What?&quot; asked Ted, riding back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't you think you better take Stella's pony, Magpie, along with you?
+She'll have to have something to ride coming back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He did not say &quot;if you find her,&quot; for he knew that if she was anywhere
+in the Wichita Mountains Ted would find her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Glad you spoke of it,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>It did not take long to rope the magpie pony and throw Stella's saddle
+on it.</p>
+
+<p>Now they were off into the northeast, where the Wichita Mountains lay.
+None of them knew just where the Hole in the Wall was, but Ted felt
+confident of finding it if there was such a place.</p>
+
+<p>They rode so hard, only stopping at noon to water the ponies, that early
+in the afternoon they entered the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>As they were going up the valley they saw the flying figure of a man on
+horseback coming toward them.</p>
+
+<p>As he approached, they saw that he was a cavalryman.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello, what's up?&quot; said Bud. &quot;I never see a sojer goin' so fast, except
+there was somethin' doin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes later the soldier rode up to them.</p>
+
+<p>He proved to be a sergeant of cavalry.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where are you going?&quot; he asked, pulling his horse to its haunches.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's that ter you?&quot; asked Bud jovially.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Just this: The Indians are threatening to rise, perhaps to-night,
+perhaps not until to-morrow. But when they do, this will be no place for
+white men.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where is the place called the Hole in the Wall?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you want to go there, or do you want to avoid it?&quot; asked the
+sergeant.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We want to go there as soon as we can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'd advise you to keep away until the troops get there and clean things
+up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is where the dissatisfied Indians are camped. I do not know it
+officially, but I understand that Flatnose and Moonface, the two chiefs,
+are there now, and that the orders from Washington are to send us in to
+drive them out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When is this to take place?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The Indians have made no open declaration of war as yet, but it is
+looked for at any time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How will it be announced?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By the signal fires on the hills. A detachment of our men picked up
+early this morning a wounded Indian, named Pokopokowo. He was wounded,
+and was taken to the post surgeon to be cared for. He has just confessed
+that it is the intention of the Indians to rise and kill all the white
+settlers they can lay their hands on. I am on my way to send out the
+alarm.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you say the Indians are camped at the Hole in the Wall?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, the detachment sent out early this morning were on a scouting
+expedition when they picked up Pokopokowo.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where is this Hole in the Wall, and how do you get there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are bound to go there? I would advise you not to.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We must go. A young lady belonging to our party has been captured and
+taken there. We did not know there were any Indians there, but only
+white outlaws.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is different. I suppose you must go. But why don't you wait and go
+in with the troops? The Hole in the Wall is the rendezvous for all the
+white outlaws in this part of the country, and they are believed to be
+in league with the Indians, and will use the uprising of the Indians as
+a cover under which to run off all the stock in the country.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is no use of our waiting for the troops when the young lady is in
+there, we don't know under what indignities. The troops put off
+attacking the Indians as long as they can for the sake of policy. We are
+all deputy United States marshals, and we get quicker action. Tell us
+where the Hole in the Wall is, and we will go in and get our own. The
+troops can do what they please later.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Weil, pardner, you talk straight, and you feel about the young lady as
+I would if she was a friend of mine. But they are a bad bunch in there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I appreciate your warning, but it will not stop us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right; go ahead, and good luck to you. About a mile farther on you
+will come to a narrow defile leading to the north, cutting the range.
+That leads into a broad valley, at the west end of which is the place
+called the Hole in the Wall. It is practically impregnable. It is
+entered by a narrow passage which one man could hold against an army.
+It can be approached at night by riding down the valley, dismounting,
+and crawling over the mountain until you are above the Hole in the Wall,
+when every man can be wiped out by a few rifles.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thanks, sergeant. We will take to the hills.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>With mutual good wishes, they parted, and the boys were soon riding in
+single file up the defile.</p>
+
+<p>In the valley they secreted themselves and their horses, while Ted and
+Bud went forward to reconnoiter. It was rapidly growing dark in the
+mountains as Ted and Bud crawled along the mountain paths toward the end
+of the valley.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Ted placed his hand on Bud's arm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Some one right ahead of us,&quot; he whispered.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sentinel, I reckon,&quot; answered Bud.</p>
+
+<p>Ted nodded: &quot;You stay here. I'm going forward. I'll be back soon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted glided away into the gloom. Presently Bud heard a muffled cry. Then
+all was still again.</p>
+
+<p>He waited a few minutes, and was about to go forward, when he heard a
+slight rustle beside him, and there stood Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was a guard,&quot; he said. &quot;I jumped him, and gagged him, but he gave me
+a pretty good fight. I've rolled him away where his pals won't find him.
+I guess we can go on now, but we must go slowly and quietly. I don't
+know how many more of them are about.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Get a line on where the hole is?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, we're on the right track. It is ahead of us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>On they went, and, having proceeded about half a mile, they suddenly
+became aware of the neighing of horses and the voices of men, which
+seemed to come from beneath them, and it was not long before they saw a
+glare of light against the rocks not far ahead.</p>
+
+<p>They went more cautiously now, crawling forward on their hands and
+knees. Ted, in advance, soon threw up his hand and lay flat on the
+rocks, and Bud crawled to his side.</p>
+
+<p>They found themselves looking down into a circular little valley, in
+reality a hole in the wall of the mountain.</p>
+
+<p>Several camp fires were burning here and there, and about fifty Indians
+and white men were lounging about.</p>
+
+<p>Near the rear wall was a small tent, before which sat a fat old squaw.</p>
+
+<p>As Ted was looking, the flap of the tent was pushed aside, and Ted
+clutched Bud's arm, for Stella had come forth, and stood looking up at
+the sky.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By Jove, if we could only attract her attention,&quot; muttered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It would help her a lot if she knew we were so close to her,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>The glare from the fires flaring upward fell full upon their faces, and
+they knew that if she looked in their direction she would not fail to
+see them.</p>
+
+<p>They saw her cast her eyes all around the sky, and in their direction.
+Ted dared not make a noise, but he nodded his head several times so that
+she would know who it was, should she chance to see him.</p>
+
+<p>Evidently she did not, for she turned away, and again her eyes swung
+around in the circle with her back to them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've a mind to throw somethin' down at her, and attract her attention
+ter us,&quot; said Bud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And have every one of those cutthroats get on to us. Don't you do it,&quot;
+said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment Stella looked up again, and this time they saw her start,
+then stare fixedly at them. Ted nodded his head again, and this time she
+made a gesture that told them that she had seen them, and knew that they
+were there.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Duck yer head quick,&quot; said Bud, rapidly getting out of sight himself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the matter?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I saw Shan Rhue walking toward Stella.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But she saw us, just before she ducked into her tent. Now it's up to us
+to get her out of there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You bet. But it will be a big job to get in there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've got a plan that ought to work out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You go back and get the boys. Put Ben and Clay down in the valley to
+hold the entrance to the Hole in the Wall. Bring the rest up here.
+Hurry! I'll stay here on guard. If any man attempts to touch Stella,
+I'll pot him from here. Bring your lariat with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud hurried away as he was bid, and in the course of half an hour,
+during which Ted, looking over the edge of the Hole, saw the men
+preparing to retire for the night, he returned with seven of the boys.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, fellows,&quot; said Ted, &quot;I'm going down into the hole to send Stella
+up on the rope.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Jeering jackals!&quot; exclaimed Bud. &quot;Don't you ever do that. It means sure
+death ter you, an' p'r'aps ter Stella, too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I don't think so. At any rate, I'm going to take a chance. It will
+be up to you fellows to keep the bunch down there busy while I'm at
+work. Three of you will stay on this side of the hole, and four on the
+other. If you do your firing right, you will keep those fellows jumping
+from side to side so fast that they won't have any time for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see yer scheme, but I wouldn't like ter undertake it myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did you bring the rope?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here it is,&quot; said Bud, unwinding it from around his waist.</p>
+
+<p>Ted took it from him while the boys distributed themselves in their
+firing positions as he had directed.</p>
+
+<p>Ted looped the rope under his arms. &quot;You'll lower me down, Bud,&quot; he
+said. &quot;Maybe I'll come up hand over hand if I can, and you will pull
+away when I give the rope two jerks.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He took another look over the edge. All the men were rolled up in their
+blankets asleep, except an old Indian who sat crouched over the fire.</p>
+
+<p>Ted carefully lowered himself over the edge for the descent.</p>
+
+<p>Down he went slowly and quietly, and soon his feet touched the ground
+just back of Stella's tent.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hiss-t!&quot; He gave a low, sibilant warning of his presence, and in a
+moment the corner of the tent moved aside, and he saw Stella's bright
+eyes looking into his. He motioned her to come out, and the flap was
+gently lowered again.</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments, which seemed hours, the flap was raised again, and
+Stella crawled forth.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, Ted,&quot; she whispered, pressing his hand. He held up a warning finger
+as he rapidly tied the rope beneath her arms.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Bud will pull you up. Good luck,&quot; he whispered.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you going to stay down here?&quot; she whispered back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I must. Hurry!&quot; He gave the rope two jerks, and it at once began
+to tighten, and Stella's feet left the ground as she slowly ascended
+skyward.</p>
+
+<p>Ted, concealed against the wall back of the tent, saw her go up and up.
+She was more than halfway to the top when an old Indian woman crawled
+out of the tent, and, casting her eyes aloft, saw Stella.</p>
+
+<p>A sudden scream rang through the hole. It was the Indian's warning. The
+rope began to go faster, and before the sleepy men in the hole had been
+able to sit up and rub their eyes, Ted saw Stella reach the top and
+disappear over its edge.</p>
+
+<p>But the old Indian woman had run among the men crying out something in
+her native tongue. Evidently she was telling of the escape of Stella,
+for in an instant all sleep vanished and the place was full of men
+running about or staring up at the edge of the wall over which Stella
+had gone.</p>
+
+<p>Then Shan Rhue came forth, swearing horribly. He caught the old squaw by
+the arm and threw her down.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So you let the white squaw go, did you?&quot; he asked. &quot;And how much was
+you paid for it?&quot; But the poor old wretch only shrank closer to the
+ground and moaned her protests that she had nothing to do with the
+escape of the white squaw.</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue strode toward the tent, behind which Ted was crouching with
+his hand on his revolver.</p>
+
+<p>Shan Rhue threw open the front of the tent and looked within. Then he
+straightened up, and caught a glimpse of Ted, whom he did not at first
+recognize in the gloom.</p>
+
+<p>He reached in his powerful right arm to pull the intruder out, and
+looked into the muzzle of Ted's six-shooter, behind which he now saw
+Ted's smiling face.</p>
+
+<p>At that he straightened up with a loud laugh that filled the Hole in the
+Wall and reverberated from side to side.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, of all the luck,&quot; he shouted. &quot;This has worked out just as I
+expected. I knew that if I got ther gal in yere that you'd be after her,
+an' here you are. Well, my bucko, you remember what I said about getting
+even with you. Now is the time. You've come to the end.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I don't know,&quot; said Ted coolly. &quot;I'm a long ways from a dead one
+yet. Be careful what you do. This six-shooter of mine is mighty
+sensitive on the trigger.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He heard a soft, swishing noise behind him, and knew that Bud was
+lowering the rope again. As he thrust his gun forward into the face of
+Shan Rhue, the bully backed away a few feet.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the rope swung down in front of his face, and, hastily
+putting his revolver into his pocket, Ted grasped it and went sailing up
+into the air hand over hand, assisted by Bud and Carl, who were pulling
+on the rope for all they were worth.</p>
+
+
+
+<br />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXVI'></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ALTERED BRAND.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>As Ted went up into the air, Shan Rhue shouted a command, and the white
+men in the Hole in the Wall ran to him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That boy must not get to the top,&quot; he shouted. &quot;I want him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What will we do?&quot; asked one of them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here, Sol Flatbush, you are the best shot of us all. See if you can't
+bring him down. But don't shoot him. I need him for other things. Shoot
+the rope in two.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This was easier said than done, for the rope was so high that it was
+almost out of the light cast by the fires.</p>
+
+<p>Flatbush was, indeed, a splendid shot, and he fired twice at the rope
+with his revolver, but missed each time on account of the uncertain
+light and the swaying motion of the rope.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Give me my rifle,&quot; he called, and one of the men fetched it for him.</p>
+
+<p>Ted was within fifteen feet of the top when Flatbush, leaning against
+the opposite wall, took deliberate aim and fired.</p>
+
+<p>At the second shot Ted, who was aware that some one was trying to cut
+the rope, felt it vibrate suddenly beneath his hand.</p>
+
+<p>Before the last thread was severed he reached up and began to climb,
+hand over hand. In a few seconds he was at the top, and the boys were
+helping him over the edge.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment or two he could say nothing; he could only listen to the
+yells of rage and disappointment below. Now he was surrounded by his
+friends, and Stella was free. Away on a mountain peak a light flared
+up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What does that mean?&quot; asked Stella, pointing to it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is the signal that the Indians have gone on the warpath,&quot; said Ted.
+&quot;The sergeant was right. It is up to us now to do stunts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In what way?&quot; asked Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We must keep those Indians and renegades confined in the Hole in the
+Wall. If we can keep them there until the arrival of the troops we can
+end the uprising without shedding a drop of blood. See, there is another
+fire!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted pointed to a blaze upon another peak, and this was followed by
+others until there was a ring of fires on the crests of the mountains
+for miles around.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is up to us to do a good thing here,&quot; he said. &quot;Bud, take two or
+three of the boys and go to Ben's assistance. Hold the mouth to the
+entrance to the hole at all hazards. From what the sergeant said I have
+no doubt but the troops will be here at least by daylight. We will keep
+them busy down there from this place.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud hurried away with two of the boys, and Ted and the others composed
+themselves to await developments. In the meantime, Stella told Ted the
+details of her capture. Since she had been a prisoner she had been well
+treated, so far as most of the men were concerned, although Shan Rhue
+had insisted on seeing her every day, and had told her that he was going
+to take her away to the North and make her marry him. She had defied
+him, and had scorned him so scathingly that he had put many petty
+persecutions on her, and had deprived her of her liberty for revenge.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How did you happen to find me?&quot; asked Stella, after she told all that
+had happened to her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Little Dick was captured by an Indian, and while he was being brought
+here the pony Spraddle stumbled and threw him. A small looking-glass
+which was slung around his neck fell off, and Dick picked it up and
+brought it to camp.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The Indian was Pokopokowo,&quot; said Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was his name.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tried in every way to get a message out to you, but it seemed
+impossible. Then I hit upon the mirror, ripped the back off it, and made
+my cryptogram on it with a pin. I let Pokopokowo see it, and when he saw
+that there was a picture on it, and I told him it was good medicine, he
+wanted it. Of course, I let him take it, hoping that it would be taken
+outside, and that you would chance to see it, and so learn where I was.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was a very clever idea, and I doubt but for the mirror we should
+have been able to get here in time. It was little Dick who saved you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, little Dick and big Ted. Ted, you are wonderful!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Below, in the hole, there were signs of activity. Men were rushing here
+and there, saddling horses, packing mules, filling their cartridge
+belts, and getting ready for some sort of action.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They have seen the war fires on the hills,&quot; said Ted, &quot;and are getting
+ready for their raid upon the settlers. Evidently they do not know that
+the gate to the outside is guarded, and they think that we are gone,
+having succeeded in getting you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Having finished their preparations for departure, an old Indian rode
+forth on a pony decorated with eagle feathers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is old Flatnose, the head chief,&quot; said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Flatnose was painted for war, and as he rode toward the passage from the
+Hole in the Wall he swung his rifle above his head and shouted a
+guttural command, at which a war whoop, shrill and terrifying, went up
+from the Indians, followed by a hoarse shout from the white renegades.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, we'll see some fun,&quot; whispered Ted to Stella, who was lying on the
+crest of the hole beside him, watching the proceedings below. &quot;I guess
+Bud has got there by this time, and is ready to protect the opening out
+to the valley.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Only a few minutes had passed before there came to their ears a volley
+of rifle shots, followed by yells of fear, and the whites and Indians
+came rushing back into the hole, scrambling and falling over one another
+in confusion.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I thought so,&quot; chuckled Ted. &quot;They are trapped and they know it. They
+can defend the hole against all comers by that passage, but it didn't
+seem to occur to them that they might be made prisoners by the same
+means.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The inmates of the hole were in the confusion of terror, but at last
+Flatnose and his son, Moonface, succeeded in pacifying them, and a
+consultation was under way.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where is Shan Rhue?&quot; asked Stella. &quot;I haven't seen him for some time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's so,&quot; answered Ted. &quot;I don't see him.&quot; He scanned the hole
+carefully, but Shan Rhue was not there.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is there any secret passage by which he might escape?&quot; asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you see that little shelter of canvas over against the wall?&quot; said
+Stella.</p>
+
+<p>Ted nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I believe there is a way out there known only to Shan Rhue. That is
+where he slept,&quot; she continued.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then he has escaped by it. Sol Flatbush is not in evidence, either.
+I'll bet a cooky they've skipped.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was getting light in the east, and the Indians rode once more into
+the passage, firing their rifles. Then they charged.</p>
+
+<p>But soon they came rushing back; the boys at the entrance had again
+repulsed them.</p>
+
+<p>From far away came the soft but clear call of a bugle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The troops!&quot; cried Ted, springing to his feet. &quot;The cavalry is coming
+from Fort Sill. This thing will soon be over now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He and Stella went to the edge of the cliff overlooking the valley, and
+far away saw a dark mass, in the midst of which they caught the flash of
+the rising sun on polished swords and carbines, and a gleam of color
+from the flag that fluttered in the fresh morning breeze.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians in the hole had heard the bugle also, and now there was
+confusion indescribable. On came the troops, and Ted and Stella went
+down to meet them.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Hendry was in command, and it did not take him long to get in
+possession of the facts.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So you've got them bottled up, eh?&quot; he said to Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes; all you have to do is to make them surrender,&quot; answered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Which I don't think will be such an easy thing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't think you'll have any trouble about it. Come with me, and bring
+a firing squad of your men.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain gave the order, and followed Ted to where he could look down
+into the hole.</p>
+
+<p>Then the captain laughed. &quot;You have done better than I expected,&quot; he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>Raising his voice, Captain Hendry shouted:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Flatnose, you know me. This is Captain Hendry. I have got you in that
+hole like a rat in a trap. If you are wise, you will throw down your
+arms and surrender. I have my men here with me, and if you do not
+surrender, we will have to shoot you to death one by one. Will you
+surrender?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The old chief looked up and saw the captain leaning over the edge above.
+For several minutes he stared upward, then he threw his rifle to the
+ground and gave a hoarse command, and his followers threw their arms
+upon that of their leader.</p>
+
+<p>One of the troopers ran down into the valley with a command, while those
+above lay flat on the edge with their carbines in a ring pointed at the
+throng below.</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes the bugle sounded again, and the troops were seen
+marching into the hole. The war was at an end without a fatal shot
+having been fired.</p>
+
+<p>As Captain Hendry marched away with his prisoners, he thanked Ted for
+the great service which he had done the government by holding the
+Indians and renegades until the arrival of the troops.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, that's over,&quot; said Ted, as the last of them faded out of sight at
+the end of the valley. &quot;But <i>our</i> work is just begun. We've got to find
+those five hundred head of stolen Circle S cattle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I suggest that we take a look behind that shelter of Shan Rhue's, and
+see if there is a passage leading from it,&quot; said Stella.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good idea,&quot; said Ted, and they climbed down into the valley and entered
+the Hole in the Wall, where the other boys were waiting for them.</p>
+
+<p>Ted went at once to the shelter, which was only a piece of canvas which
+had been at one time a wagon cover, and tore it away.</p>
+
+<p>There was revealed a hole in the rock wall, and beside it a small mound
+of earth.</p>
+
+<p>Evidently the hole had been known to the white desperadoes who had used
+the hole as a hiding place for many years, and that it had been their
+habit to conceal it by means of a stopper of earth. This Shan and Sol
+had removed, and had made their escape while the Indians and renegades
+were preparing for their raid on the settlements.</p>
+
+<p>Ted at once showed it to the other boys, and it was decided to follow
+the passage and find out what was at the other end.</p>
+
+<p>The hole was so small that Ted was compelled to enter it on his hands
+and knees. Bud followed him, and then came Stella. Ben remained with
+Carl to guard the entrance in case any of the white renegades should
+return.</p>
+
+<p>A short distance in, the passage, or tunnel, became larger, and soon
+opened out into a natural cave, so that they were able to assume an
+upright position.</p>
+
+<p>Ted lighted his pocket electric searchlight and led the way. They walked
+for some distance when they saw a gleam of light ahead, and a few
+minutes later walked out of the cave into another valley, larger than
+that which they had just left.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Great Scott! Look at that,&quot; said Ted, pointing to where a large herd of
+cattle was grazing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What?&quot; asked Stella, who could see nothing unusual in a bunch of cattle
+grazing in the valley.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I believe they're ours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Ted strode toward the cattle, which seemed to become uneasy at seeing a
+man on foot, which range cattle will not tolerate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't go any closer, Ted,&quot; said Stella. &quot;Wait until Bud goes back after
+the horses.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I just want to get a glimpse of the brand. By Jove, here's our lost
+Circle S brand, I believe. But look at it. It has been altered.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;See those two perpendicular lines drawn through the S, making the brand
+Circle Dollar-mark. That's a most ingenious thing. It has been done with
+a running iron. The fellow who stole our cattle has just changed it by
+running a curved hot iron through the S.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yer shore right,&quot; said Bud. &quot;That Circle Dollar brand hez been
+registered somewhere. It's up to us ter find out who registered it, an'
+we've got ther thief. I'll skip out fer ther hosses an' ther boys. I
+reckon we kin git in here by ridin' across ther backbone o' ther hills.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right, get back as soon as you can, and we'll wait for you in the
+cave.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Bud and the boys were back within half an hour, having found a pass into
+the valley through the hills which inclosed it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's as plain as the face of the sun to me,&quot; said Ted, when they were
+mounted and were riding toward the cattle. &quot;Shan Rhue would have had
+those cattle over the border in a day or two, had he not been so unwise
+as to have abducted Stella. It's up to us now to get that bunch back to
+the herd.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It did not take the boys long to get the bunch together, and Ted and
+Stella rode out to the front of it to point it down the valley, while
+the other boys started back to the rear to drive up.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly they heard yells in the rear, accompanied by pistol shots and
+the cracking of quirts. In an instant the herd was up with distended
+eyeballs and lifted tails. The poison of fear was in them.</p>
+
+<p>Looking back, Ted saw several men riding toward the herd at a terrific
+pace. At the head of the band rode Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush.</p>
+
+<p>Then a remarkable thing happened: Every man of them produced a red
+blanket. They dashed among the cattle waving the blankets in the faces
+of the now terrified cattle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look out for trouble,&quot; shouted Ted, for he saw at once the intention of
+Shan Rhue. It was to stampede the herd.</p>
+
+<p>The effort was immediately successful, for the terrified animals, with
+a deafening roar that expressed abject fear, started forward on a
+gallop, with a front as resistless as the prow of a battleship.</p>
+
+<p>Stella was on the side of the herd opposite Ted.</p>
+
+<p>She heard his warning cry, and then looked back at the herd. If she
+stayed where she was, there was no escape from death, for by her side
+was the sheer wall of the valley. There was only one way to safety, to
+ride across to the side of Ted.</p>
+
+<p>She gave one look, then started.</p>
+
+<p>Stella rode quartering the path of the stampede, and would have made it
+in safety had it not been for a prairie-dog hole, into which her pony's
+foot went. Magpie went down. The thundering host of frantic cattle was
+upon her when she felt herself caught in mid-air.</p>
+
+<p>The thought of death was still ringing in her head, and everything swam
+before her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You're all right! Stick close!&quot; It was the reassuring voice of Ted,
+who, at the imminent risk of his own life, had ridden out and plucked
+her from the jaws of death.</p>
+
+<p>Behind them, as Sultan, straining every nerve and muscle to carry them
+to safety, galloped ahead of the cattle, the boys rode into the ruck,
+beating the brutes with their quirts in an endeavor to stop them.</p>
+
+<p>But they went a mile before they began to slow down, and Ted was able to
+deflect the course of Sultan, who was beginning to tire from the double
+burden and the terrific pace.</p>
+
+<p>But at last the steers calmed down, and permitted themselves to be
+driven quietly to where the rest of the herd were grazing.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Ted had restored the stolen cattle, he and Bud started back
+into the valley in search of Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush, but, although
+they searched everywhere, the renegades could not be found.</p>
+
+<p>In the cave through which they had come from the Hole in the Wall they
+found a running branding iron, and fastened to the wall the following
+notice:</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;To TED STRONG AND OTHERS: You win this time, but there will be
+     others, and I am a lucky man in the end. You can't beat me.</p>
+
+<p>     &quot;S.&nbsp;R.&quot;</p></div>
+
+<p>Later they discovered that Shan Rhue had recently registered in Colorado
+the Circle Dollar brand, and evidently it was his purpose to steal
+nearly all of the Circle S herd.</p>
+
+<p>But although he escaped with his lieutenant, Sol Flatbush, the men of
+his band, who had been captured by the soldiers, were convicted and sent
+to prison for long terms, after they had confessed that Shan Rhue's
+organization had made a business of rustling cattle all through the
+Southwest for many years.</p>
+
+<p>Ted received several letters from the authorities in Washington
+commending his services in averting an uprising of the Indians, and the
+capture of the white renegades, but while this was gratifying, he felt
+disappointed that Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush were not in prison, also.
+However, Ted believed in the motto, &quot;I bide my time,&quot; and he felt in his
+bones that some time in the future his path and that of the bully, Shan
+Rhue, would cross again.</p>
+<br />
+
+<center>THE END.</center>
+
+<br />
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>No. 42 of the WESTERN STORY LIBRARY, by Edward C. Taylor, is
+     entitled &quot;Ted Strong in Montana.&quot;</p></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Ted Strong's Motor Car, by Edward C. Taylor
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Ted Strong's Motor Car, by Edward C. Taylor
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Ted Strong's Motor Car
+
+Author: Edward C. Taylor
+
+Release Date: October 11, 2004 [EBook #13717]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TED STRONG'S MOTOR CAR ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven desJardins and PG Distributed Proofreaders.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: cover of The Western Story Library No. 41, Ted Strong's
+Motor Car, by Edward C. Taylor]
+
+Ted Strong's Motor Car
+
+OR, FAST AND FURIOUS
+
+
+By EDWARD C. TAYLOR
+Author of the Ted Strong Stories
+
+1915
+
+
+
+
+Ted Strong's Motor Car
+
+CHAPTER 1.
+
+TALKING ABOUT SMART HOGS!
+
+
+Carl Schwartz burst into the living room of the Moon Valley Ranch house
+with fire in his eye and pathos in his voice:
+
+"As sheur as I standing here am, dot schwein I'm going to kill!"'
+
+"I'll jest bet yer a million dollars ter a piece o' custard pie yer
+don't," said Bud Morgan, rising from the lounge where he had been
+resting after a strenuous day in the big pasture.
+
+"I'll pet you," shouted Carl. "Der pig pelongs mit me der same as you."
+
+"Go ahead, then," said Bud, lying down again. "But I want ter tell yer
+this, and take it from me, it's ez straight ez an Injun's hair, yer kin
+kill yer own part o' thet hawg if yer want ter, but if my part dies I'll
+wallop yer plenty. I've spent too much time teachin' thet pig tricks ter
+lose it now."
+
+"Vich part der pig you own, anyvay?"
+
+"Ther best part; ther head."
+
+"Den I dake der tail. By Chiminy, I get skvare yet so soon. I cut der
+tail off, und dot vill make der pig not able to valk straight ven he
+can't der tail curl in der opposite direction. Den ve see how mooch der
+tricks he done. Vat?"
+
+"I'll hev ther law on yer if yer interfere with thet pig."
+
+"What's the matter with you two fellows?" asked Ted Strong, the leader
+of the broncho boys, who was writing some letters at the big oak table
+in the center of the room.
+
+"Der pig, he moost die," cried Carl tragically.
+
+"Why, what has 'Oof' done now?"
+
+"He has ate all mein gabbages," answered Carl, with almost a sob.
+
+"Well, s'posin' he hez," said Bud. "What in thunder is cabbages fer, if
+they ain't ter be et by pigs?"
+
+"Yes, you, but not fer dose kind of pig. Maybe you might eat dem und it
+vould be all right, but not der pig mit four feet."
+
+Carl had a small garden back of the ranch house, in which he had been
+raising cabbages, devoting all his spare time to them and good-naturedly
+taking the joshing the boys gave him. They were of the opinion that a
+cow-puncher was degrading himself by working in a garden.
+
+"Jumpin' sand hills, he'll be takin' up knittin' when winter comes on,
+an' makin' of his own socks," said Bud, in disgust.
+
+"No, he's going in for tatting," said Ben Tremont. "He's going to make a
+lot of doilies for the chairs so we won't soil the satin upholstery with
+our oily hair."
+
+As all the chairs in the living room were very plain, made of solid oak,
+with bullhide seats and backs, this remark was received with laughter.
+
+"Go aheadt!" said Carl. "Ven you ain'dt drough, let me know. I know your
+own bizziness. Ven der vinter comes und I haf dot deliciousness
+sauerkraut, und am eating it, und ven your mouts vater so dot you
+slobber like a colt off der clover, den--ah, den, I gifs you der ha-ha,
+ain'dt it? Den you see who der knitting und der tatting do, eh?"
+
+Carl laughed at the thought of how the boys would miss the sauerkraut
+which he was going to make. But now "Oof," the pet pig of the
+establishment, had eaten them nearly all, and was standing in his sty
+too full even for the utterance of his usual lazy grunt. He looked like
+an animated keg of sauerkraut with four pegs at the corners for him to
+stand on, so full was he of Carl's cherished and esculent cabbages.
+
+"How in the world did he get into the cabbage patch?" asked Ted. "I
+thought you had made it pig tight."
+
+"So did I," answered Carl. "No pig but vun mit der teufel inside him
+vould haf got der fence over."
+
+"Got over ther fence!" snorted Bud. "Why, yer feeble-minded son of a
+downtrodden race, thet thar pig couldn't hev got over ther fence without
+a balloon. Thet fence is six feet high. A deer couldn't jump it."
+
+"I didn't saying so. He cannot yump, dot pig. He cannot moof, so full
+mit gabbages are he. No, he didn't yump, he yoost sving himself over mit
+dot fence."
+
+"Slush! Yer gittin' plumb dotty. No pig could swing hisself over thet
+fence."
+
+"But it's der only vay vat he could, und Song, der Chineser cook, saw
+him did it."
+
+"You don't believe what a Chinyman tells yer, do yer?"
+
+"What did Song say? How did the pig do it?" asked the boys, roused to
+interest in the squabble by this statement.
+
+"Vell, Song he say dot he vos looking der vinder ouid und he saw der pig
+take der end of dot long rope vot hangs down mit der roof of der hay
+house in his teeth, und he svings on it some. Song say he t'ought it vas
+some of Pud's foolishment he vas teaching dot pig, und didn't no more
+look at him for a leetle vile. Ven he looked again der pig vas svinging
+avay oop high by der rope. Den I coom along und see der pig in der
+gabbages, und I takes me a stick und vallops him goot ofer der hams,
+und drife him his pen into."
+
+"Shucks! Is that all ther story? That don't prove nothin'. Thet pig,
+Oof, is a animile of high intelligence. He wuz needin' exercise before
+dinner. He found a hole in ther fence, er maybe he tunneled one fer
+hisself, an' he wuz jest kinder doin' some gymnasium work ter git up a
+good appetite. Yer cain't make me believe a Chinyman, nohow."
+
+"I don't know," said Ben thoughtfully, "pigs are mighty smart. He might
+have swung himself over by the rope, and, if so, I think he was entitled
+to his dinner as a reward for his ingenuity."
+
+"I don't pay for no pig's inchenoomity mit my gabbages," said Carl
+hotly. "Vere I get more gabbages fer der sauerkraut, tell me dot?"
+
+"Yer don't git no sauerkraut, that's all," growled Bud. "But speakin'
+about pigs bein' smart, I jest reckon they aire."
+
+"There are three animals that people persist in calling stupid, when
+they are only strong-minded and more intelligent than the other
+animals," said Kit Summers, quietly breaking into the conversation.
+
+"What aire they?" asked Bud.
+
+"The pig, the mule, and the goose," answered Kit.
+
+"Come ter think o' it, yer right ez a book," said Bud, rising from the
+lounge and joining the other boys in front of the fireplace. "Why, I
+remember onct down on the Pecos--"
+
+Ben Tremont rose lazily and stretched himself.
+
+"Well, so long, boys," he said. "If I ain't back for supper don't wait
+for me."
+
+"Whar yer goin'?" asked Bud, with a black look from under his brows.
+
+"I've got some work to do this evening, and I don't want to be getting
+drowsy," answered Ben, with a wink at Kit.
+
+"Go then, yer varmint," said Bud savagely. "This yere incerdent what
+I'm goin' ter relate is fer intelligent persons only."
+
+"In that case I shall have to remain," said Ben, throwing his huge bulk
+into a chair, that creaked like a house in a high wind.
+
+"How about that Pecos story?" said Ted.
+
+"'Tis erbout pigs."
+
+"I didn't know there were any pigs down in that country," said Ted, with
+a sly smile.
+
+"Oh, yes, there aire. Some folks calls them peccaries, an' others
+alludes ter them ez wild hawgs. Yer pays yer money an' chooses what yer
+likes best."
+
+"Well, what about them?"
+
+"'Tain't noways what ye'd call much o' a story, but it 'lustrates ther
+intelligence o' ther hawg, which in my 'pinion ez almost ez great ez
+thet o' some collidge gradooates what I hev mixed with."
+
+Bud stopped and looked hard at Ben, who seemed to be taking a nap in his
+big chair.
+
+With a snort of disgust Bud turned his back on the big fellow and began:
+
+"Me an' 'Peep-o'-day' Thompson wuz ridin' herd on a bunch o' cattle
+belongin' ter ole man Bradish. All we hed ter do wuz ter keep 'em from
+driftin' too fur, which nat'rally left us much time fer meditation an'
+conversation.
+
+"But it wa'n't long before I'd told all my stories, an' Peep bed plumb
+fergot I'd tole them ter him, an' wuz tellin' them all over ter me,
+claimin' they'd happened ter him.
+
+"I stood it fer a spell because I didn't want ter make no friction
+betwixt him an' me, but it made me sore jest ther same, because ther
+derned lump allays got ther story balled up so's I hed trouble in
+reconnizin' it sometimes. An' he inveribly got ther p'int o' ther story
+hindside fore, which made me jest bile. But when yer on a long watch
+with a feller, an' got ter see him from sunup ter moonrise, it's better
+ter overlook a lot o' things.
+
+"Well, 's I wuz sayin', we wuz on this stunt, an' had been out all o'
+three month, takin' turns cookin' an' watchin' so's one o' us could git
+erway from ther other fer a spell, an' go off an' sit down an' tell
+hisself what a awful chump ther other wuz, an' how yer hated him.
+
+"We hed a chuck wagon with us filled with flour, salt sowbelly an'
+saleratus, with some coffee an' a few pounds o' fine terbaccer fer
+makin' cigareets. I ain't sayin' nothin' erginst sowbelly ez ther
+national food o' ther plains an' ther staff o' life in farmin'
+communities, but ez a steady diet it begins ter pall when taken day in
+an' day out with nothin' ter wash it down with but weak coffee made
+outer alkali water.
+
+"I reckon both me an' Peep wuz gittin' tired o' one another's cookin',
+if ther truth wuz knowed, fer Peep could make ther wust biscuit I ever
+et.
+
+"My biscuit jest suited me ter a ty-ty, an' I reckon Peep felt ther same
+way erbout hisn. Every time we set down ter vittles, if it wuz my week
+ter cook, Peep w'd begin ter talk o' ther fine cookin' his wife uster do
+before she run erway with er Sant' Fe conductor down ter Raton, Noo Mex.
+He'd tell me how she'd make beef stoo an' hot biscuit thet would melt in
+yer mouth. 'I don't like them kind,' sez I, one day. 'I like somethin' I
+kin chew on. What'd ther Lord give us teeth fer if grub is ter melt in
+ther mouth? No, sir; give me mine gristle an' hide. Ther tougher they be
+ther better I like 'em,' sez I.
+
+"'Is thet thar meant ez a reflection on my wife?' sez Peep, bristlin'
+up.
+
+"'I never met yer wife,' sez I, 'an' we'll let thet part o' it pass, fer
+ye knows me well enough thet I never make no remarks erbout wimminfolks
+what ain't smooth an' complimentary. But I stands on ther
+gristle-an'-hide propersition ontil I'm ready ter fight fer it.'
+
+"Yer see, I wuz gettin' some peevish erbout Peep. Ole man Bradish hed
+left us alone tergether too long. It ain't right fer two fellers ter
+camp side by each fer so long without a third party buttin' in ter break
+ther monotony.
+
+"'All right,' sez he, unlimberin' his six foot three o' len'th from ther
+ground. 'Thet,' sez he, real dignified, 'is either a challenge or a
+invitation ter fight.'
+
+"'It be,' sez I. 'Either way yer wanter take it.'
+
+"We both riz up.
+
+"'How d'yer want it?' sez he.
+
+"'Please yerself,' sez I. 'Any ole holt is my fav'rite.'
+
+"'Anythin' goes, then,' sez he, makin' a rush at me.
+
+"Jest then we hear a turrible noise, gruntin', squealin', an' sich. We
+both stopped an' looked eround, an' thar stood watchin' us a big band o'
+wild hawgs.
+
+"'Fresh meat!' we both hollers simultaneous. At this ther hawgs ups an'
+runs.
+
+"It wuz my day off, an' hostilities stopped right thar ez I runs an'
+gits my rifle an' leaps my cayuse an' takes after ther hawgs, Peep
+hollerin' after me ez friendly ez yer please.
+
+"I chased them hawgs a couple o' miles ter ther river bank, whar they
+hid in ther canebrake. I couldn't get ther cayuse ter go in after them,
+so I gits down an' breaks my way in tryin' ter git a shot at one o'
+them, my mouth waterin' fer fresh pork so's I wuz almost wadin' in it.
+
+"Purty soon I come in sight o' them. A ole boar wuz in charge o' them,
+an' he wuz a hard-lookin' citizen, I want ter tell yer. He hed tushes
+five inches long an' both o' 'em ez sharp ez razors. I took a shot at
+him, but his hide wuz so tough thet ther ball just glanced off him, an'
+he made a break fer me. I turned an' fled. Ther river wuz not fur erway,
+an' I knowed thet if I beat them hawgs ter it I wuz safe.
+
+"I jest did it, an' waded out ez fur ez I could an' started ter swim.
+'When I gits ter ther other side I'll take some long shots at yer,'
+thinks I, 'an' we'll hev hawg meat yit.'
+
+"I gits out inter ther middle o' ther stream when I hears a puffin' an'
+a gruntin' behind me. I looks over my shoulder an' here comes ther whole
+herd swimmin' right after me as--"
+
+"That settles it," said Ben, as he rose with a snort of disgust.
+
+"What's ther matter with yer?" asked Bud calmly.
+
+"Yer story is what I thought it would be--wild and woolly and full of
+cockleburs."
+
+"How is thet ag'in?"
+
+"It's rotten. Don't you know, as long as you have been on earth, that
+swine cannot swim without committing suicide?"
+
+"Go ahead. Will you kindly tell us fer why, perfessor?"
+
+"Certainly. The hoofs of pigs are so sharp, and their forelegs are set
+so far under their bodies, that when they attempt to swim their hoofs
+strike their fat throats, cutting them, and they die from loss of
+blood."
+
+"Thet's c'rect, my son. Every schoolboy knows thet thar p'int in nat'ral
+history."
+
+"Then why are you insulting our intelligence by stating that a herd of
+hogs followed you into the water and swam after you? Now don't spring
+any such flower of your fancy on us as to say that the hogs all killed
+themselves crossing and that you and Peep-o'-day had all the fresh meat
+you wanted during the rest of your stay on the Pecos, for we won't
+stand for it. I don't believe there is any such thing as a Pecos,
+anyway."
+
+Bud looked so crestfallen that the other boys felt sorry for him.
+
+"You think you're smart, don't you?" said Kit, taking Bud's finish out
+of his own mouth. "You big chump, it wasn't your story, anyhow."
+
+"Don't worry, Kit," said Bud, smiling confidently. "Ben's so
+intellectooal thet it hurts him ter pack his knowledge eround in thet
+pinhead o' hisn. But he didn't finish ther story none. I knows ez well
+ez him thet hawgs can't swim fer ther reasons he give. But these yere
+hawgs I am tellin' erbout wuz different."
+
+"How was that?"
+
+"Yer see, thet thar ole boar wuz ez smart ez a copperation lawyer. He'd
+fixed them hawgs ter swim. First they got thar hoofs all balled up with
+gumbo, er sticky clay, then they worked ther dry grass inter ther clay
+and mixed 'em good an' stiff, lettin' 'em dry in ther sun. This made a
+hard ball on their toes thet jest slipped off their throats when they
+struck."
+
+Ben slipped into his chair with a grunt.
+
+"O' course, I didn't know thet when I was swimmin'," continued Bud, 'an'
+I thinks I've run ercross a new web-footed breed o' hawgs. When we come
+ter ther other side I waited fer them ter land, then I turns an' swims
+back, ther hawgs follerin'. Back ercross I goes erg'in, an' ther pork
+keeps right on my trail.
+
+"Purty soon I see they ain't swimmin' so spry, an' I allow they're
+gittin' some tired. Ther last time over ter our side o' ther river they
+come slow, an' I picks out ther kind o' pork I likes best, an' ez they
+land I nails what I want an' slits thar throats, an' I hev my pork. But
+when ther rest o' them lands they's full o' fight ez ever, an' I takes
+ter ther water ag'in, but they won't foller me. This seems strange, an'
+I looks ter see what ther matter is.
+
+"Ther ole boar wuz mighty smart, but he'd overlooked one p'int. He'd
+fergot thet ther water would melt his balls o' clay, which it did, an'
+they couldn't swim no more. I jest stood hip high in the water with my
+Winchester an' popped erway at them until they got tired an' run off,
+leavin' me enough fresh pork ter start a packin' house."
+
+A hollow groan escaped from Ben.
+
+"What's the use?" he moaned. "You can't beat him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+BUD'S BAD BRONCHOS.
+
+
+It was time for the fall round-up, and Stella had written from her
+uncle's ranch, in New Mexico, that she and her aunt, Mrs. Graham, were
+coming North to do their winter shopping in Denver, and would visit the
+Moon Valley Ranch to take part in the round-up and the festivities which
+the boys always held at that time.
+
+Her letter did not say when she would be there, but the boys knew her
+well enough to expect her at any moment following the letter.
+
+Therefore they were not surprised to hear a clear, high imitation of the
+Moon Valley yell one morning while they were all sitting at the
+breakfast table.
+
+They did not need to be told that Stella Fosdick had come, and without
+ado they sprang from the table, overturning chairs in their haste to get
+out of the house to greet her and her aunt.
+
+"Hello, boys!" she called from the carriage, in which she and Mrs.
+Graham had driven over from Soldier Butte. "You're a gallant lot of
+young fellows not to meet us at the station, particularly when I wrote
+you that I was coming this morning. I'm real mad." But her smiling face
+belied the statement.
+
+"You didn't say when you were coming," said big Ben, who was the first
+to reach the carriage step and was helping Mrs. Graham to descend. "If
+we had taken your general statement that you were coming, to meet you at
+the station we would have camped right there forever. Never can tell
+about your movements, young lady."
+
+"But I did write that I was coming this morning, and to meet us and
+take breakfast with us in the Butte."
+
+"We didn't get that letter. When did you write?"
+
+"Last night."
+
+"That's good. Always take time by the fetlock. We'll get that letter
+some time to-morrow. Why didn't you wait and write us to meet you after
+you got here?"
+
+"Saucy as ever, Ben. But we're positively starved. Hello, Song!" she
+called to the Chinese cook, who was standing on the veranda grinning
+like a heathen idol, "got anything good to eat?"
+
+"Yes, missee, plenty good glub. Mebbeso you likee some fried ham and
+eggs?" said Song, shaking hands with himself and bowing low.
+
+"Ham and eggs! No! Positively, no! I'll be turning into a ham and egg if
+I get any more of it. That's all the cook at the ranch knows how to do.
+Anything else?"
+
+"Yes, missee. Plenty paltlidge, what Misto Ted shootee lesterday. I
+cookee you some plenty quick."
+
+"All right, Song, cook us some partridges."
+
+The boys stood around in a group of admiring servitors waiting to carry
+Stella's hand bag and gun and saddle and other things with which she was
+burdened.
+
+Suddenly she looked toward the porch.
+
+"Who's that?" she asked breathlessly, pointing to a little girl who
+stood shyly beside a post looking on.
+
+"Why, that's Lilian," said Ted. "I didn't know you were up yet," he
+called to the little girl. "Come here, dear, and see Stella. You haven't
+forgotten Stella, have you?"
+
+"If it isn't Lilian!" cried Stella, rushing toward the child with
+wide-open arms and folding her within them.
+
+"I wouldn't have known you, honey," said Stella. "What have you boys
+been doing to her? She's improved so much. Where did you get all these
+clothes, and who takes care of her?"
+
+"Isn't she a little beauty?" asked Ted Strong proudly, patting the head
+of the blushing little girl.
+
+"But how did you do it?" persisted Stella.
+
+"Oh, I went over and saw Mrs. Bingham, the major's wife, at the fort,
+and asked her to come and advise us what to do. She came and was
+delighted with Lilian, and promised to oversee her wardrobe. She was
+going down to Omaha, and when she returned she had a trunk full of
+things for Lil. She also brought a colored woman to look after her, and
+Mirandy has proved a blessing and a treasure."
+
+"But the clothes didn't make themselves."
+
+"No, and none of us made them, either, although Bud said he could sew,
+and insisted upon trying. He cut up several yards of cloth, and at the
+end of the week, when we saw the product of his needle, he narrowly
+escaped lynching. If Lilian had not interceded for Uncle Bud, of whom
+she is very fond, I'm afraid we'd have no little Buddy now. No, we sent
+down to Omaha for a dressmaker and boarded her in town until she had Lil
+all fixed up, as becomes the heiress of the La Garita Mines."
+
+"Whose idea is this way of making the things?" demanded Stella, who was
+looking Lilian over with critical eyes.
+
+"Oh, we all had a finger in it. I sent away for a lot of fashion
+magazines and things of that sort, and we sat up nights as a board of
+strategy and picked out the sort of thing we wanted, and I reckon there
+isn't a better-dressed kid in the State."
+
+"I agree with you. Well, Ted Strong, you're a constant wonder to me.
+Where in the world did you learn to do all the things you do so well?"
+
+"The honeyed flatterer. Quit your joshing, Stella; hand it to Ben. He
+likes it, and the thicker it is the more he can stand of it."
+
+"Hello! Breakfast!" called Song from the veranda, and they all trooped
+back to the living room to finish breakfast and talk about the things
+they had passed through, and to lay plans for the coming round-up
+festivities.
+
+After breakfast Ted and Stella went out to the corral to look at the
+saddle stock.
+
+"Why, there's old 'Calamity Jane,'" cried Stella, as a bay pony came
+trotting across the corral and put its velvet nose in the hand she held
+out.
+
+"Jane knows you, all right," said Ted.
+
+"Sure. Why shouldn't she? I rode her all one season down here. I believe
+she wants me to choose her for my own again. Do you, Calamity, old
+girl?"
+
+Calamity Jane, which had at one time been the wickedest and stubbornest
+mare on the ranch, nickered and again rubbed Stella's hand with her
+nose.
+
+"Talk about your smart horses," said Stella. "Calamity can do everything
+except talk. Who's been riding her?"
+
+"Kit. He's wrangler, and he won't let any one on her. He's light, you
+know, and he was saving her for you. You'll find that she hasn't been
+spoiled at all."
+
+"Then, if Kit has been riding her, she's all right, for if there ever
+was a horseman it's Kit."
+
+"Isn't she getting fierce?" said a quiet voice behind them. "Say, she's
+getting to be one of these regular society jolliers. She didn't used to
+be that way."
+
+They wheeled around to see Kit, who had come up to them in his usual
+quiet manner.
+
+"Yes," said Ted. "She tried to hand me a package this morning."
+
+"You mean things. That's what a girl gets for being civil and
+confidential, and talking as she would like to fellows she thinks are
+her friends. I'm going back to the house. I don't like you very much
+this morning."
+
+The boys winked at one another.
+
+"Say, Kit, I want Sultan after a while. I'm going to ride down to the
+lower end of the ranch to look at that bunch of new horses," said Ted
+carelessly.
+
+"Oh, may I go with you?" asked Stella eagerly.
+
+"I thought you were mad at us, or I would have asked you."
+
+"I was only fooling. I'll be ready in ten minutes. Let's take Lilian
+with us."
+
+"That was what I was going to do. It is time for Lilian's regular riding
+lesson. I am trying to make her as good a rider and all-around cowgirl
+as you, Stella, but I doubt if ever she will."
+
+"Who is jollying now, Mister Ted?" cried Stella, with a laugh, but she
+was blushing with pleasure at the compliment.
+
+That is the difference between a boy and a girl. A healthy,
+well-conditioned boy becomes embarrassed and cross at a well-meant
+compliment spoken in the presence of another, believing that the person
+who is complimenting him is making fun of him in some unknown and covert
+way. But to a girl a compliment that is sincere is as grateful as dew to
+a rose, and Stella always felt much elated when Ted complimented her on
+her prowess in any of the arts of the range.
+
+They rode away with Lilian, who was learning to ride well for her age
+and experience under the best of riding teachers, Ted Strong.
+
+As they were nearing the lower pasture they observed a great commotion
+among the horses that were huddled in a fence corner.
+
+"Hello, what's going on there?" exclaimed Ted.
+
+"Looks like the worst sort of a riot," said Stella. "I believe those
+boys need help."
+
+They could see Bud and Ben and several cowboys circling around the
+bunch of ponies, evidently trying to get into it, and break it up and
+scatter it.
+
+"What's the row?" asked Ted, galloping up.
+
+"Thar's a cayuse in thar thet I'd plumb like ter electrocute," said Bud,
+who was mad clear through. "My, but he's got er bad dispersition."
+
+"Which one?" asked Ted, laughing. "From what I can see there isn't one
+of them you could call angelic."
+
+"Thar's ther meanest bunch o' horse meat thet ever come ter this man's
+ranch, bar none, an' ther prize devil o' ther lot is thet black demon in
+thar. He near broke my pony's leg a minute ago with a stem-windin' kick
+sech ez I never see before. Thet hoss is shore double-j'inted."
+
+The horses were bunched, heads in, heels out, around a splendid-looking
+black stallion, which was biting and kicking at everything that came
+near him.
+
+"Let him kick his foolish head off," said Ted, viewing the squealing,
+struggling throng.
+
+"I reckon they're just showin' off because Stella got here this
+mornin'," said Bud disgustedly. "They're tryin' ter knock us, Stella, by
+showin' yer thet we aire a bum lot o' horsemen fer not makin' them
+behave first off."
+
+Stella laughed and nodded. She understood.
+
+"Where did you pick up such a mean bunch of horses?" she asked.
+
+"Them hosses is intended fer ther tourneymint what takes place after
+ther round-up. We're goin' ter hev some roughridin' fer fair here, an'
+if we all git out with whole bones we shore kin send up a balloon in
+celebraytion."
+
+"But where did you get them? Were they bred mean on purpose?"
+
+"I reckon not. I bought 'em from ther wild range in Montana. They ain't
+seen men closer than a mile, except'n' it wuz Injuns, an' they don't
+count, until we butted in on 'em. They belonged ter ole man Stallings. I
+reckon you remember him, what we met on our way ter Fort Grant, when yer
+run erway an' got lost on Red Mesa."
+
+Stella nodded.
+
+"I wuz lookin' fer a bunch o' cow hosses. We sold a big run o' 'em ter a
+Newbrasky cowman who was short o' saddle stock, an' who said he'd heard
+we had the best-broke cow ponies in ther West, an' I reckon we had. He
+was willin' ter pay a good price fer our spare stock, an' we unloaded."
+
+"Then you will have to break in a lot of new ones. Isn't that a waste of
+time?"
+
+"Young woman, we're ranchmen, not rockin'-chair gents. It's part o' our
+business ter take somethin' what ain't much good, an' make it better.
+That's the way we earn our bread an' bacon."
+
+"So I see."
+
+"Ted says ter me ter go up inter Montana an' pick up a lot o' good,
+gingery hosses, an' I struck John Stallings. He says ter me, when I made
+my wants known, 'Go out on ther range an' he'p yerself,' says he.
+'They're all mine, an' Ted Strong an' his boys kin hev anythin' I've got
+except my fam'ly. But,' says he, 'you'll find some purty lively stock
+out there.'"
+
+"Well, you did," said Stella, laughing.
+
+"I reckon I picked out ther orneriest hosses in the whole West, an' I'm
+savin' them fer some o' these Smart-aleck cowboys who'll be here from
+ther ranches round, who think they kin ride," and he winked wisely.
+
+"Gracious, look there!" she cried. "What's Ted trying to do. He'll be
+hurt, Bud."
+
+"No, I reckon not, but I'll git in thar handy ter help him if he needs
+it. Keep the kid outer ther way if that bunch breaks."
+
+Ted had done what none of the others had succeeded in doing.
+
+He had forced his way into the very center of the bunch of wild horses,
+wheeling and doubling and riding like a circus performer, to avoid the
+batteries of flying heels, until he was close to the wicked black
+stallion, which was all that held the bunch together and prevented it
+from being broken up and driven to the upper end of the ranch, where it
+belonged.
+
+There was not a moment when he was not in danger. A chance kick might
+break his leg, or bring down his horse, in which event he must be kicked
+to death or badly hurt by being trampled on.
+
+But so far they had not been able to reach him.
+
+"Be careful, Ted," cried Stella.
+
+He waved his hand at her with a smile, and she hurried Lilian beyond the
+reach of danger.
+
+Ted wheeled his horse to face the black brute, which stood looking at
+him with wicked eyes, its ears flattened like those of a panther. In
+spite of its evil temper Ted admired it for its lithe beauty. It was as
+clean of limb as a thoroughbred, and its black skin shone like polished
+ebony. While he was looking at it thus it suddenly sprang at him, reared
+on its hind legs, striking at him like a boxer. Had he not wheeled on
+the instant it would have killed him. Ted was thoroughly angry, and went
+to the attack himself, beating the horse about the head with his quirt.
+When the horse rushed at him through a rain of blows across its nose Ted
+retreated beyond reach of its hoofs, then attacked it again.
+
+Suddenly the black horse wheeled and presented its heels, and Ted rode
+around it, lashing it well, everywhere the whip could reach.
+
+Although the horse continued to lash out with his heels he struck
+nothing, and always his enemy was at his side or in front.
+
+At last Ted resolved to bring the unequal combat to an end, as Sultan
+was tiring of the exercise, so instead of riding around the enraged
+horse, he pivoted with it, keeping in front of it all the time and
+whipping it on the nose.
+
+The "insurgent" stopped kicking at last and stood with drooping head,
+trying to shield its face from that cruel, relentless, stinging thing
+which the man creature wielded. He was cowed, but not conquered.
+
+Taking advantage of the moment, Ted drove him backward and clear of his
+companions. Seeing their leader retreat, the other horses broke their
+close formation, and allowed themselves to be driven down the valley,
+not without an occasional rebellious kick, however.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+STELLA GOES TO THE "RENT RAG."
+
+
+"Oh, joy, an' pickled pelicans!" said Bud Morgan, skipping onto the
+veranda one evening, when all the boys were sitting around Stella and
+Mrs. Graham.
+
+Bud had just returned from Soldier Butte, where he had been spending the
+afternoon.
+
+"What's devouring you now?" asked Ben Tremont. "Or is it just one of
+your weekly sillies?"
+
+"Who are yer alludin' at?" asked Bud loftily.
+
+"As you were going to say--" suggested Kit, looking at Bud.
+
+"Boys, thar's goin' ter be a 'rent rag' in the Butte ter-morrer night,
+an' we all have an urgent bid ter be present."
+
+"A what?" asked Stella.
+
+"A 'rent rag.'"
+
+"Who tore it?" asked Stella innocently.
+
+At this the boys laughed loud and long, then apologized when they saw
+Stella's embarrassment.
+
+"It ain't tore yet," said Bud, "but it's lierble ter be before ther rosy
+dawn."
+
+"What are you talking about?" said Stella impatiently. "I never saw such
+provoking boys. You say such strange things, then cackle over it as
+though there was a joke in it, which nobody seems to see except
+yourself."
+
+"A 'rent rag' is a--'rent rag,'" said Kit, trying to explain.
+
+"That sounds as sensible as the conundrum, 'Why is a hen?'" said Stella.
+"Must I ask the question and get caught? All right, here goes. What is a
+'rent rag'? Now, don't tell me, some one, that it is a rag that has been
+torn, for I exploded that one myself."
+
+"A 'rent rag,'" said Bud slowly and carefully, "is a rag for rent.
+A--a--er--well, it's a--"
+
+"Tell me, Ted," said the girl, turning to the leader of the outfit, who
+was leaning back in his chair smiling at the ridiculous conversation.
+
+"Well, as near as I can make out it is a bit of slang that means this:
+The word 'rag' is the slang for a public dance. When a man in town who
+is popular enough falls behind in paying his rent, through some
+misfortune or other, and owes so much he cannot hope to pay it, he hands
+out a flag that he wants help. In other words, it is an invitation to
+his friends to organize a public ball for his benefit. It depends upon
+his honesty and popularity whether or not they do so."
+
+"That's the strangest thing I ever heard of."
+
+"Well, if the thing goes through, a hall is rented and music is engaged,
+the cost of which is to be deducted from the money taken at the door.
+Then the man for whose benefit the ball is given and his wife prepare a
+lot of sandwiches, fried chicken, and other eatables, and a tub or two
+of lemonade, and help their profits along."
+
+"So that is a 'rent rag,' eh? Who is the man for whom the dance is to be
+given, Bud?" asked Stella.
+
+"A feller named Martin, whose wife has been sick all summer," answered
+Bud. "From what they say, I reckon he's all right. Jest ter be a good
+feller I bought ten tickets, at one bean per ticket."
+
+"Is that all they are?" asked Stella. "Only one bean? Gracious, they'll
+have to dispose of an awful lot of tickets to get enough beans to sell
+to pay their rent with! Why don't they make it something else? I'd like
+to contribute a dollar, at least. A bean a ticket, pshaw! How awfully
+cheap! I guess he doesn't owe much."
+
+At this remark the boys fairly cackled.
+
+"Now, what are you laughing at?" cried Stella, almost angry. "I seem to
+be more humorous to-night than I ever thought possible. I can hardly say
+a word but you all start to laugh at me."
+
+This was too much for the boys. They couldn't restrain themselves and
+went off into peals of laughter. When they saw the danger signals of two
+bright spots in Stella's cheeks, they realized that they had gone too
+far, and all hastily tried to explain. But Ted was before them, and
+quietly told Stella that in the expressive, if scarcely lucid, language
+of the day a "bean," in the sense in which Bud had used it, meant a
+dollar.
+
+"Such silly slang," said Stella, restored to good humor once more. "I
+don't mind slang if it's clever and reveals or conceals or twists a word
+in some sensible way, but a bean for a dollar--no, it won't do. The
+fellow who invented that should try again. The only fun I can see in
+slang is its aptness."
+
+The boys murmured something to the effect that it wasn't a particularly
+witty bit of slang, but they continued to grin at one another.
+
+"Suppose we all go to the 'rent rag,'" said Stella suddenly. "I never
+saw anything of the sort, and I'm crazy to go."
+
+"It's likely to be pretty rough, and break up in a row before its
+natural time," said Ted.
+
+"We'll only stay a short while," said Stella. "But I should like to do
+my share toward helping the poor fellow."
+
+"It's done already. I bought ten tickets. Thet's as much ez they expect
+from ther Moon Valley Ranch, an' it goes inter ther running expenses o'
+ther ranch, anyhow, in ther charity account."
+
+"I don't care, I want to go."
+
+"I move we go," said Ben. "It will add some tone to the proceedings."
+
+"Ben wants to air his spike-tailed coat and low-neck vest," said Kit.
+
+"Not for me," said Ben, laughing. "I wonder what those cow-punchers and
+miners and gamblers would do with a chap who sauntered in there in
+evening dress."
+
+"He shore would come up ter Stella's conception of a rent rag, which is
+a torn rag," said Kit.
+
+"Ted, won't we go?" pleaded Stella.
+
+"Sure, if you want to; you are our guest, and whatever you want, all you
+have to do is to ask for it," answered Ted.
+
+It was agreed that they should wear their everyday uniforms, and Stella
+was for going in her distinctive cowgirl costume, but this Mrs. Graham
+would not permit, and insisted that she should wear a frock which she
+had had made in Denver.
+
+When, the next night, Stella walked into the living room, where the boys
+were waiting to escort her and Mrs. Graham to the ball, there was a
+general exclamation of wonder and admiration, at which Stella hesitated
+with a blush, then came forward with smiling assurance.
+
+Instead of the bold and dashing Stella in her bifurcated riding skirt
+and bolero jacket, the boys saw a beautiful young woman in a pale-blue
+gown of silk and chiffon, with her pretty hair piled on top of her head,
+instead of flowing over her shoulders.
+
+For a moment they were awed. They had never seen her so, and perhaps had
+never thought of her as being a young lady. Most of them were content to
+regard her just as Stella, their girl pard, and to-night she had given
+them a surprise.
+
+At her throat was a superb sapphire set in a brooch, which had come out
+of the broncho boys' sapphire mines on Yogo Creek, and in her hair was
+an ornament of diamonds and rubies which the boys had made from jewels
+which had come as their share of the treasures of the Montezumas, which
+they had discovered beneath the castle of Chepultapec, near the city of
+Mexico.
+
+Altogether Stella was very stunning, and in their admiration of her in
+this new role of society girl the boys were between two preferences, as
+she was now, and as they knew her in the saddle, throwing her lariat or
+handling her revolver.
+
+Most of them, however, came to the conclusion that she was still Stella,
+no matter what she wore.
+
+"Say, Stella, that's not fair," drawled Ben, "to dress up like that and
+make us wear our working togs. I've got a good mind to go and get into
+my spike."
+
+"If you do, I won't go," said Stella. "Unless the other boys wear theirs
+also. You and I would look fine going in there dressed up, and the other
+boys as they are now. No, I wouldn't have worn this dress if aunt hadn't
+insisted upon it, and this time I couldn't shake her determination. I
+hate it, and would much rather have my working clothes on. But, never
+mind, it won't be for long. How do you like me in this?" She revolved
+slowly before them.
+
+"Scrumptious!" said Ben appreciatively.
+
+"Prettier than a basket of peaches," ejaculated Kit.
+
+"Thar ain't nothin' in art er nature what kin show up more gaudy," said
+Bud. "Except, mebbe, it might be a pink rose in er garden at airly
+mornin' with ther dew on it."
+
+"Say, hasn't Bud got us all faded?" said Ben. "I didn't know the old
+sandpiper had so much poetry in his soul."
+
+"So perfectionately lofely a younk lady nefer did I saw," exclaimed
+Carl, clasping his hands and holding them before him, while he rolled
+his eyes toward the ceiling.
+
+"She's all thet," said Bud. "But come down ter airth. Stella ain't up
+among ther rafters."
+
+Ted had said nothing, and Stella looked at him. He was regarding her
+attentively.
+
+Her look said: "What do _you_ think?"
+
+He answered it with a look of admiration that satisfied her that he
+thought her perfect.
+
+"I think I like you best in the everyday clothes," he said quietly. "But
+that gown is as if you were made for it and it was made for you."
+
+The thought had come into Ted's mind that some day, in the far future,
+they would lose their girl pard, and society or duties elsewhere would
+claim her.
+
+Stella understood him and agreed with him.
+
+Soon they were ready to start for the ball. The carriage was got out and
+Carl volunteered to drive the horses, while the other boys rode.
+
+Just as they were about to start Stella cried: "Where is Jack Slate? I
+don't see him. Isn't he coming to the ball?"
+
+"Haven't saw him," said Bud. "I reckon he'll be moseyin' erlong after a
+while. We won't wait fer him. He knowed when we wuz goin' ter start."
+
+"He came in a little while ago from the lower pasture," said Kit, "and
+went to his room. He said he had been thrown by his horse, and that the
+jar had given him a headache."
+
+"Oh, don't let us wait for him," said Ben. "If he gets to feeling better
+he'll be along. You couldn't keep Jack away from a ball with an
+injunction."
+
+So they proceeded to town, the boys acting as outriders to the girl,
+whom they were convinced would be the belle of the ball.
+
+When they arrived at the hall in Soldier Butte they found the people
+flocking in, as Martin, the beneficiary, was a very popular fellow, and
+any man in hard luck in the West always gets all the help he needs, if
+he deserves it.
+
+Ted escorted Stella into the ballroom, while Ben followed with Mrs.
+Graham, the other boys taking the horses around to the corral.
+
+As Ted and Stella entered the room there was a hum of admiration, and
+conversation stopped as men and women craned their necks to look at the
+handsome couple.
+
+Ted was both proud and pleased, but a little bit embarrassed at the
+attention they received, while Stella held her head up proudly, with a
+look of indifference on her face, as if she had been used to admiration
+all her life.
+
+The ball certainly was a mixed affair.
+
+In one corner were a lot of army officers and their ladies.
+
+All down the sides of the ballroom cowboys were sitting with girls from
+the ranches. Town girls and boys had a corner to themselves. The
+gamblers flocked together, and miners and others wandered here and
+there, mixing with cavalrymen from the fort.
+
+When the boys returned from the corral they found that Mrs. Graham and
+Stella and their escorts had preempted a vacant corner.
+
+There was a piano in the room, but no one to play it. Soon, however, a
+fellow dressed after the cowboy fashion entered and took a seat on a
+raised platform, producing a fiddle from a green bag.
+
+A round of applause greeted him.
+
+He tuned his instrument, and after a few preliminary scrapes began to
+play a monotonous tune, repeating over and over again the same few bars.
+
+At the first scrape the cowboys and their girls leaped to the floor and
+began to dance, but none of the people from the fort cared to dance to
+such music.
+
+Suddenly the door flew open and a band of a dozen cow-punchers walked
+into the room, and were greeted by joyous shouts by the other cowboys in
+the hall.
+
+At their head was a handsome young fellow, slender and dark, with a
+resolute face and a pair of piercing eyes that flashed around the room
+for the purpose of seeing and locating his possible enemies.
+
+"Who is that?" asked Stella.
+
+"That's Billy Sudden," answered Ted.
+
+"And who is he?"
+
+"Foreman at 'Cow' Suggs' ranch. That's the Suggs bunch of cow-punchers.
+There'll be something doing here to-night."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"There are a lot of fellows in this part of the country who don't like
+Billy, and some of them are liable to tread on his feet."
+
+"Oh, is he quarrelsome?"
+
+"No, Billy is the best sort of a fellow, but he won't let any one hobble
+him. When he first went to the Dumb-bell Ranch, as the Circle-bar Circle
+is called, they took him for a kid and tried to run over him. He kicked
+them, then fired them, and they don't like him."
+
+"Did you see him look around the room?"
+
+"Yes, he has every man who is likely to make trouble for him spotted and
+located. But we won't wait long enough to see the trouble. I never did
+like trouble myself."
+
+"Well, for a chap who gets into it as often as you do--"
+
+"What's the trouble now, over there?" interrupted Ted, looking at the
+door.
+
+Around the entrance to the hall was a crowd of young town fellows led by
+a youth named Wiley Creviss, the son of the local banker, a dissipated
+and reckless young man, and a crowd of cow-punchers.
+
+They were shoving some one here and there, making a punching bag of him,
+at the same time laughing uproariously.
+
+Just then Ted saw the head of Jack Slate in the mix-up.
+
+"Excuse me," said Ted, turning to Stella. "Ben, take care of the ladies
+until I return."
+
+He strode across the floor toward the door.
+
+As he neared it he heard Billy Sudden say:
+
+"Be careful, there. That is one of Ted Strong's fellows."
+
+"I don't care if it is," said some one. "I'd give it to Strong just as
+hard if he was here."
+
+"Here I am," said Ted, pushing through the crowd.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE TROUBLE IS STARTED.
+
+
+The crowd of men and youths opened out in front of Ted, and he strode
+into the circle.
+
+There he saw Jack Slate in a much disheveled condition, dressed in his
+evening clothes.
+
+Ted gasped as he stared for an instant at the youth from Boston.
+
+He wanted to tell Jack that "it served him right," but that was not the
+part of loyalty, and in the presence of the enemy it did not make any
+difference to a broncho boy if his pard was right or wrong, if he was in
+need of help.
+
+"Where is the fellow who was going to throw me around?" asked Ted,
+looking into the faces about him.
+
+No one replied, although Ted waited for a moment or two before looking
+at Billy Sudden.
+
+Billy winked at him, but said nothing.
+
+"Seems as if somebody's sand has run out," said Ted contemptuously.
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said Wiley Creviss. "There's plenty of sand left if
+you need any to prevent your wheels from slipping downhill."
+
+"No, my sand box is always full," said Ted quietly. "But there is some
+sneak in this bunch who hasn't the nerve to back up his brag."
+
+"Are you talking to me?" said Creviss, swelling up as to chest.
+
+"Oh, are you the misguided chump whom I heard make the remark about
+pushing me about, as I came up?" said Ted, in a tone of surprise.
+
+The cowboys from Suggs' ranch were snickering.
+
+"Well, what if I was?"
+
+"I'm going to make you try it."
+
+"Oh, I can do it, all right."
+
+"Well, why don't you? I'm the easiest proposition you ever saw to be
+hazed by a bunch of hoodlums, such as you and your pals are!"
+
+"For two cents I'd punch your nose."
+
+"You're too cheap. I'll give you a heap more than that if you will. It's
+been so long since my nose was punched that it feels sort of lonesome.
+I'll pay you well for the job, if you succeed in pulling off the stunt."
+
+"You think you're the whole works because you've got a crowd of dudes
+around you. You're not the only dent in the can."
+
+Ted flushed at this allusion to his pards.
+
+"I'll put a dent in you if you open your face to remark about my friends
+again," he said, with some heat.
+
+"See here, you town rough, you better take in your slack and clear out
+for home, or you'll begin to taste the sorrows that come from
+inexperience and bad judgment," said Billy Sudden to Creviss.
+
+"It's up to you to mind your own business," snarled Creviss. "What are
+you but a lot of greasy cow-punchers. We haven't much use for your sort
+in this town, anyway."
+
+"Now, son, keep quiet and behave yourself," said Billy paternally. "If
+you get me riled I won't be as patient with you as Ted Strong has been.
+I'll fix you so as to keep two doctors busy the best part of the night."
+
+"What are you fellows butting in for, anyhow?" said Creviss angrily.
+"Can't this freak that comes here in a dress suit and tries to lord it
+over us take care of himself?"
+
+"Surest thing you know," drawled Jack Slate. "But there are ladies here,
+a thing you don't seem to realize. If you'll step outside, I'd be glad
+to whip you right and propah."
+
+"What's the use, Jack, of fussing with these rowdies?" said Ted. "Let it
+go until some other time."
+
+"You bet," said Creviss, courage returning when he heard Ted propose
+peace. "I guess you'd like to let it go forever."
+
+"That settles it," said Ted. "Go to him, Jack, and if you don't give him
+what's coming to him, I'll finish the job."
+
+"Git!" said Billy Sudden, opening the door and shoving Creviss out into
+the street. The rest followed.
+
+As Jack stepped into the open air he peeled off his swallow-tailed coat
+and threw it over Ted's arm.
+
+He had no sooner done so than Wiley Creviss made a rush at him from the
+front, while one of the crowd ran in on him from the rear.
+
+It seemed an unequal beginning, and Ted was preparing to take on the
+second fellow.
+
+But Jack had seen him out of the corner of his eye, and as he came on
+the Boston boy stepped backward and threw his right elbow up.
+
+It was a timely and masterly trick, for the sharp elbow caught Creviss'
+ally full in the nose, and he dropped like a limp rag to the ground,
+with a howl of anguish.
+
+At the same moment Jack swung his left. Creviss had struck at him and
+missed when he back-stepped, and coming on swiftly ran into Jack's fist
+with a thud that jarred him into a state of collapse.
+
+"Finish him!" shouted the cow-punchers, who stood about the fighters in
+a circle.
+
+"Go to him," said Ted, in a low voice. "I saw him signal his pal to
+tackle you from behind."
+
+Creviss had partially recovered from the blow and was getting ready for
+another rush, when Jack slipped in and to one side and hit like a
+blacksmith at the anvil.
+
+This time Creviss went down and out.
+
+"Hooray fer ther bantam!" shouted a big cow-puncher, slapping Jack on
+the back. "Say, I hear them say you're from Bosting. I'm goin' ter buy a
+hundred-pound sack o' beans myself ter-morrer an' begin trainin'. If
+beans'll do that fer you, a sack o' them will make me fit ter lick Jess
+Willard."
+
+But Jack was busy smoothing down his ruffled hair and pulling his white
+lawn tie around into its proper place, and when he had put on his coat
+he and Ted walked into the ballroom as calmly as if they had just
+stepped out to view the stars.
+
+"What was the trouble?" asked Stella, when they reached her side.
+
+"Some town rowdies became noisy, and they were put out," answered Ted
+carelessly.
+
+But Jack's dress suit was the joy of the cow-punchers, who had never
+seen anything like it before, although they all knew that it was the way
+well-groomed men dressed for evening in the big cities.
+
+"Say, pard," said a cowboy to Jack, as he crossed the room, "I axes yer
+pardon fer buttin' in, but yer lost ther front part o' yer coat tails."
+
+"That's all right," answered Jack. "Can't help it, don't you know. I
+left the blooming coat hanging on the line at home to air, and a goat
+came along and ate the front half of the tails off before I could get to
+it. I was just on my way to apologize to the master of ceremonies for
+it. You see, it is the only coat I have, and I was bound to come to the
+ball."
+
+"Ha, ha! that's on you, 'Honk,'" laughed the cowboy's friends, who had
+overheard the conversation, and Jack passed on, the boys alluding to him
+as a "game little shrimp," for the news of his summary punishment of
+Creviss had got abroad.
+
+But Jack was not through yet. He went into the men's dressing room to
+leave his hat. As he was coming out he was met by a crowd of town
+youths, friends of Creviss. There was no one else about.
+
+They scowled and sneered at Jack, and one of them bumped into him.
+
+"Heah, fellah, that will do," said Jack, with his Bostonese drawl.
+"You're solid; you're no sponge."
+
+"I ain't, eh?" answered the bully. "I'll tell yer, Mr. Slate, you're
+covered with bad marks what I don't like, an' I'm just the sponge to
+wipe them off."
+
+"Step lively, then," said Jack, "for I've an engagement to dance the
+next waltz."
+
+"I'll waltz you all you'll need this evenin'."
+
+But before he had finished speaking Ben Tremont stepped around the
+corner.
+
+"Hello, Jack! What is this I see?" said Ben. "Disgracing yourself by
+talking with these hoodlums."
+
+"Yas, deah boy," drawled Jack. "This--er, what shall I call
+him?--stopped me to tell me he was going to rub the marks off me, at the
+same time wittily making a pun on my name. I was just telling him to
+hurry, or I'd miss the next waltz."
+
+"Well, I'll take the job off your hands. Stella was asking for you a
+moment ago."
+
+"Yes, run along to your Stella," said the hoodlum. "I reckon she's
+pining for the sassiety o' another dude."
+
+That was where he made the mistake of his life.
+
+It didn't really make much difference what these fellows said about
+themselves, but the boys would not permit Stella's name to be bandied
+about by the roughs.
+
+So swiftly, that they didn't know what had happened to them, both Ben
+and Jack sailed into them.
+
+They went sprawling like tenpins before the ball as Ben jumped in among
+them and mowed them down with his powerful blows, while Jack, hovering
+like a torpedo boat around a battleship, sent in several of the telling
+blows Ted had taught him during the boxing lessons at Moon Valley.
+
+The fight was soon over, and Ben and Jack slipped quietly back into the
+ballroom, leaving a well-thrashed crowd to stanch bloody noses, and
+patch up swollen lips and black eyes as best they could.
+
+Meanwhile, a diversion had been created in the hall by the joshing that
+the Suggs' ranch outfit had directed toward the fiddler, who knew only
+one tune, and sawed that off for a waltz, quadrilles, and two-steps,
+without fear or favor.
+
+The musician had been engaged because he was a friend of the
+beneficiary, and had volunteered his services. As the ball grew more and
+more hilarious the cow-punchers felt the restraint of the folks from the
+fort and Moon Valley the less, and began to take it out of the fiddler,
+who paid no attention to them, but kept on scraping.
+
+Suddenly there was a crack from a revolver and the top of the fiddler's
+bow was knocked off, and the playing and dancing stopped simultaneously.
+
+There was more or less commotion, but the women did not scream or get
+panic-stricken. They were used to that sort of thing.
+
+Nobody knew who had fired the shot, but the cowboys and soldiers were
+mad clear through because there was no more music to dance by.
+
+The shot had come from the part of the hall in which the coatroom was
+situated, and directly afterward two slender young fellows climbed out a
+rear window, and a few moments later Billy Sudden and Clay Whipple came
+calmly through the front door and joined the throng about the musician,
+who said:
+
+"Honest, folks, I don't blame no hombre fer takin' a shot at thet fiddle
+bow o' mine, fer I never could make it work right. I know it was bum
+music, but it was the best I could do."
+
+Ted Strong had observed the quiet entrance of Billy and Clay directly
+after the shooting, and he put this and that together. He knew that both
+of them were finished musicians. Clay Whipple was an exceptionally good
+violin player, and Ted had often heard Billy Sudden make a piano fairly
+sing. Evidently they had got to the point where they could stand the
+fiddler's music no longer, and had put a stop to it.
+
+But for all the badness of the music the people should not be deprived
+of their dance.
+
+He hunted up the culprits, who were hovering on the outskirts of the
+crowd, listening to the threats against and denouncing the vandals who
+had "shot up" the fiddler.
+
+"See here, you hombres, I'm on to you," said Ted. "Now you've got to do
+the square thing. You've beaten the dancers out of the music, and you've
+got to get in and furnish it, or I'll tell these punchers who plugged
+the fiddler's bow."
+
+"How did you get on to it?" said Clay, with a grin.
+
+"Never mind. Is it a go?"
+
+"I reckon it'll have to be," said Clay, looking suggestively at Billy
+Sudden.
+
+"All right," said Billy.
+
+The cow-punchers, who had come to dance with the girls from the ranches,
+were growing angry, and were telling what they would do to the fellow
+who had spoiled their fun if they caught him, when Ted Strong stepped
+upon the platform, and, holding up his hand for silence, said:
+
+"Gentlemen, please do not get obstreperous. You shall have all the
+dancing you want. Ladies, please be patient; the music that is to follow
+is such as has never been heard at a dance in this part of the country.
+Mr. Clay Whipple, of the Moon Valley Ranch, and Mr. Billy Sudden, of
+the Dumb-bell Ranch, will play the violin and piano respectively. Both
+of them are cow-punchers, so don't take any liberties with them, or some
+one will get hurt."
+
+There was such cheering that the roof almost went off as Clay hunted up
+a violin and tuned it.
+
+Then began a waltz such as they had never heard, and in a moment the
+floor was covered with dancers, the officers in their uniforms, and the
+ladies in their light dresses, adding beauty to the scene. But the
+finest-looking couple on the floor was Stella and the leader of the
+broncho boys.
+
+Just before the dance began Bud approached Stella, and said:
+
+"See that gal over thar? Ther one with ther corn-silk bang? She is mine,
+an' I'm goin' ter dance this with her; see? She's ther kind o' girl I
+admire. She's shore corn-fed, an' some woman."
+
+"Don't you know who that is?" asked Stella.
+
+"'Deed an' I don't, but I soon will. Who is she?"
+
+"That's Sophy Cozak, from over on the Bohemian prairie. She's rich,
+Bud."
+
+"I don't care nothin' erbout thet. She's shaped up jest erbout right.
+Yaller hair, and soft as feathers. Watch my smoke."
+
+Bud sauntered over to the girl, who was really pretty and fat and pink.
+Apparently he was talking his usual nonsense to her, for she smiled,
+then arose from her chair, and went sailing around the room, Bud's
+partner in the waltz, and every time they passed Ted and Stella in the
+waltz Bud winked at them.
+
+Later, however, he met the irate escort of the girl, when he took her
+back to her seat, and they glared at one another for a moment; then the
+escort walked off, leaving Bud master of the situation.
+
+After this came the "sour-dough" quadrille, in which only old-timers
+were permitted to dance, and Bud led it with Mrs. "Cow" Suggs to the
+tune of "Turkey in the Straw."
+
+But finally, as the ball was drawing to a close, Ted heard Stella utter
+a slight scream, and saw her trying to draw her hand away from a young
+fellow, whose back was turned to him.
+
+He was across the room in an instant, and had the fellow by the
+shoulders and swung him around. It was Wiley Creviss, who had been
+drinking.
+
+"What has this cur been doing?" asked Ted.
+
+"He insisted on dancing with me, and when I told him I would not, he
+said he'd make me," answered Stella. "Then he caught hold of me, and I
+suppose I cried out, although I didn't mean to. That is what comes of
+wearing these clothes. If I'd had on my others, I'd have had my gun with
+me."
+
+Ted had heard enough. There was a window close by, which was about ten
+feet above the sidewalk. Ted rushed the struggling and cursing Creviss
+toward it, and by sheer strength lifted him to the sill and threw him
+out.
+
+"I guess we've had about enough of this," he said quietly, when he
+returned to Stella. "No more mixed balls for mine."
+
+As Ted was escorting Stella to the carriage, Billy Sudden ranged up
+alongside of him.
+
+"Look out for Creviss and his bunch on the way home. They're telling
+around what they're going to do with you. Want any help?"
+
+"No, I reckon not, Billy. Our bunch can take care of them."
+
+"They are going to try to kill you to-night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+SHOTS FROM THE DARK.
+
+
+As the broncho boys swung through the streets of Soldier Butte, after
+leaving the ball, Ted Strong was in the lead, and Bud, Ben, Kit, and
+Clay were riding on either side of the carriage, while Jack Slate, with
+his black coat tails flapping in the breeze, brought up the rear.
+
+They were passing an alley, at the corner of which an electric lamp shed
+a path of light across the street, when a revolver shot cracked out, and
+Ted's hat left his head.
+
+The ball had just grazed his scalp, and the merest fraction of an inch
+lower would have killed him.
+
+Instantly every one pulled up, and Ted, wheeling suddenly, rode at full
+speed for the mouth of the alley.
+
+As he did so another shot came from the alley.
+
+Ted's revolver was in his hand, and he fired at the spot where he had
+seen the flash from the muzzle of the assassin's weapon.
+
+He heard Mrs. Graham scream, and turned back to the side of the carriage
+only to find that one of the horses attached to it had been hit by the
+bullet, and was down, but that neither Stella nor Mrs. Graham had been
+injured, and he rode straight into the dark alley, followed by Bud and
+Kit, leaving Ben and the other boys to guard the carriage, for he did
+not know from what direction another attack might come.
+
+The alley was as dark as a pocket, and as Ted rode into it he well knew
+that he was taking his life in his hands.
+
+At the far end of the alley he heard the beat of feet running swiftly,
+and fired his revolver several times in that direction, and heard a yell
+of pain.
+
+"Come on, fellows," he called. "I think I got one of them that time."
+
+As he said this they saw two dark figures dart out of the alley into the
+street at the end opposite that at which the boys had entered, and they
+spurred in that direction.
+
+But when they came to the street there was no one in sight, but
+splotches of blood on the sidewalk testified to the fact that a wound
+had been inflicted upon some one.
+
+They rode up and down the block, but without discovering where their
+attackers had taken refuge.
+
+It was a low part of the town, and there was scarcely a house on either
+side of the street into which a criminal would not be taken and
+concealed.
+
+"We'll have to give it up," said Ted, at last. "We could hunt here all
+night without being any the wiser."
+
+Disappointed, they rode back, after tracing the bloodstains along the
+sidewalk to where they were lost in the dusty street.
+
+They found that the carriage horse had been so badly hurt that its
+recovery was impossible, and Ted mercifully put a bullet into its brain.
+
+The carriage was surrounded by people from the dance hall, who had been
+brought by the shots.
+
+Among them was Billy Sudden.
+
+"I reckon I called the turn," said he, as Ted came up.
+
+"You sure did," said Ted.
+
+"I ain't presuming to give advice none," said Billy, "but if it was me
+that got his sky piece knocked off and had a horse shot I believe I'd
+almost be tempted to round up this yere man's town and capture every
+hoodlum in it, and sweat them to find out who fired them shots."
+
+"It wouldn't do any good, Billy," said Ted. "The people in this town
+have got it in for the ranch people. They think the ranches are taking
+trade away from them. They'd sooner see the ranches split into farms of
+forty acres each. They'd have so many more farmers to rob that way."
+
+"I reckon so. But what are you going to do? I want to tell you that me
+and my boys stand with you till the burning pit freezes over, whenever
+and wherever you need us."
+
+"May have to call on you one of these days, but not now."
+
+"Ain't you going after that young imp, Creviss? Say, he's the meanest
+boy I ever saw. If I was his father I'd make him behave, or I'd bust him
+wide open."
+
+"I understand his father thinks Wiley is just smart and spirited, and is
+ready to back him up in anything he does."
+
+"Ought to make the old man popular."
+
+"Not so you can see it. But that boy is a tough citizen, and getting
+tougher every day."
+
+"I'm hearing a good deal about that kid these days. He trains with a
+bunch of bad ones over at Strongburg."
+
+"For instance?"
+
+"Lately he's been running with 'Skip' Riley, a crook who has the
+reputation of having made more money out of holding up trains than by
+working."
+
+"I know his record. How long has he been there?"
+
+"Several months. He came there from the Nebraska penitentiary, and he
+was smooth enough to work the reformed-criminal, first-offense racket on
+the women there until they finally got him a job in the fire department.
+He seems to be a hero in the eyes of a lot of tough young fellows here
+and in Strongburg, and they follow him in anything he suggests."
+
+"That's not a healthy proposition for a boy. Mr. Riley ought to be
+conducted out of town."
+
+"The worst of it is he has banded them into some sort of secret
+organization."
+
+"What do they call it?"
+
+"I did know, but I've plumb forgotten. There's a young fellow uptown
+whom I'm trying to keep straight on account of his folks back East. I
+know his sister." Ted could see Billy's face get red as he said this.
+"His name is Jack Farley. Perhaps you know him."
+
+Ted shook his head.
+
+"Well, he's a good kid, but he got into bad company at home and skipped.
+I corresponded once in a while with his sister, and she wrote me about
+him, and one day I run across him in a gambling house here. I hadn't
+seen him since he was a kid, but I knew him straight off because he
+looks so much like Kate--Miss Farley I mean--and I called him outside
+and had a talk with him. He was mighty uppy at first, and threw it into
+me so hard that I had to turn in and whale some sense into him."
+
+"That's one way of doing it," said Ted dryly.
+
+"It was the only way for him. He thought he'd get sympathy by writing
+home about it, but all he got was that they reckoned he deserved it or
+he wouldn't have got it. After that he was good. But he'd got in with
+that Creviss bunch and didn't seem able to get out of it, so I let him
+stay, only I made him come to me every day or two and tell me what he'd
+been up to, and that's as far as I've got."
+
+"Send him out to me."
+
+"He won't work on a ranch, or I'd had him out at the Dumb-bell long ago.
+He likes to work in town, so I got him a job, and so far he has stuck to
+it. But the gang keeps him from doing any good for himself. He knows the
+name of this organization of boys under Skip, and the next time I see
+him I'll find out what it is. Then you keep your eye peeled for it, for
+Creviss is one of the leaders, and I'm afraid, after to-night, he'll do
+all he can to make things lively for you. He's a mean, vindictive little
+cuss."
+
+"I'll keep a weather eye out for him, never fear. Thank you for the tip.
+This is the first time I've heard of the bunch, I've been away from the
+ranch so much lately."
+
+The boys had hitched Jack Slate's horse into the carriage, and he got on
+the seat with Carl, and they were ready to start.
+
+With an "Adios" to Billy Sudden and his boys, they were off, and arrived
+at the ranch house without further incident.
+
+Mrs. Graham and Stella had retired for the night, and the boys were
+sitting before the fire in the living room, for the night was chilly and
+Song had built up a good blaze against their return.
+
+Naturally, the conversation drifted to the shots fired at them from the
+alley.
+
+"While I wuz ambulatin' eround ter-night I overheard some conversation
+what wuz interestin'," remarked Bud, who was sprawling on a bearskin in
+front of the fire.
+
+"What was it?" asked Ted, who had been turning over in his mind what
+Billy Sudden had told him of the organization of tough boys under the
+guidance of the ex-convict.
+
+"I wuz standin' clost ter one o' ther winders what opens out onter ther
+alley when I hears two fellers talkin' below me," said Bud.
+
+"What were they saying?"
+
+"I wuzn't aimin' ter listen ter no one's privut conversation, but I
+caught your name, an' I tried ter hear what wuz said erbout yer."
+
+"Naturally."
+
+"One feller wuz talkin' pritty loud, ez if he'd been hittin' up ther
+tangle juice, an' ther other feller wuz tryin' ter make him put on ther
+soft pedal, what Clay calls talkin' pianissimo. But when the booze is in
+ther wit is out, an' ther feller would shut it down some fer a while,
+then he'd get a good lungful o' air an' bust out ergin."
+
+"What was it all about?"
+
+"Erbout runnin' us off'n ther reservation."
+
+"They'd have a fine chance to do that," said Ted, laughing.
+
+"It seems they hev some sort o' a club, ther 'Flyin' somethin' er
+other'--I couldn't jest catch what. To hear them fellers talk they're
+holy terrors."
+
+"How do they propose to run us off? Did you hear that?"
+
+"No; they didn't discuss ways an' means, but they said as how ther boss,
+they mentioned his name, but it's clear got erway from me, hed riz up on
+his hind legs an' hed give it out straight to ther gang thet ez long ez
+we wuz in ther country they couldn't do no good fer theirselfs,
+consequentially we must skidoo, ez they needed this part o' ther country
+fer their own elbowroom. They wuz real sassy erbout it, too."
+
+"I suppose they thought all they had to do was to serve notice on us,
+and we'd vacate."
+
+"I reckon thet's ther way they hed it chalked up."
+
+"Well, that bears out what Billy Sudden told me to-night after we were
+shot at."
+
+Then Ted related what Billy had told him about Skip Riley and his
+influence on the boys of Soldier Butte and Strongburg.
+
+"Thet thar's ther very feller they wuz talkin' erbout, thet Skip Riley.
+Now I recolict it, an' ther name o' their sweet-scented aggergation is
+ther 'Flyin' Demons.'"
+
+"Oh, mercy! Aren't they just awful?" said Ben, with a grin. "But which
+way are they expected to fly, toward you or from you?"
+
+"If they come monkeyin' eround these broad acres they'll be flyin' fer
+home," said Bud.
+
+"Or to jail, if we can prove what I believe against them," said Ted
+thoughtfully.
+
+"What is that?" asked Kit.
+
+"You haven't forgotten the mysterious robbery of the Strongburg Trust
+Company's office, have you?"
+
+"Nope."
+
+"You remember that a great many people to this day disbelieve that the
+office was robbed at all, because everything was found locked and
+barred, and the most careful examination showed that no one could have
+broken into the room from which a box containing twenty thousand dollars
+in currency and a package of negotiable bonds was stolen."
+
+"Shore, I remember. That's allays been ther greatest mystery in these
+parts."
+
+"You haven't forgotten the robbery soon afterward of the Soldier Butte
+post office and the disappearance of the registered mail pouch that came
+in on the train at two o'clock in the morning. It was thrown into the
+inner office by the carrier, and the office securely locked. Yet in the
+morning it could not be found, and there was nothing to show that the
+post office had been entered."
+
+"I reckon I haven't. We lost a bunch o' money in it ourselves."
+
+"But we got it back."
+
+"That's so, but the carrier is still in jail, awaitin' trial fer
+stealin' the sack, an' I don't believe he had any more ter do with it
+than I had."
+
+"And yet the most careful examination by the post-office inspectors
+failed to show that the place had been forcibly entered, and, although
+the carrier, Jim Bliss, had witnesses to show that he went into the post
+office with the sack, and came right out without it, still he is in
+jail, accused of stealing it," said Kit.
+
+"There are several other cases of mysterious robberies which I might
+cite, but those are enough," said Ted. "But the curious thing about it
+all is that the robbers left not the slightest trace, not a broken lock,
+not a mark to show that a window was forced or a hole bored. When the
+place is closed up at night there is the money, when it is opened in the
+morning the money is gone. And again, these robberies only occur when
+valuables are accidentally left out of the vaults."
+
+"It is curious. Everything yer say is true, but I never thought erlong
+it ez much ez you, an' I didn't figger out how near they wuz alike."
+
+"Well, what's your theory?" asked Ben. "You started to tell us."
+
+"Yes, who do you think committed these robberies?" asked Kit.
+
+"Who but a gang of bad boys under the leadership and tutelage of a
+criminal?" answered Ted. "Who but the gang of Strongburg and Soldier
+Butte young toughs who go by the silly name of 'The Flying Demons'? If
+they get gay around this ranch, we'll have to tie a can to them and head
+them for the reform school or the penitentiary."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE "FLYING DEMONS'" MESSAGE.
+
+
+When Ted Strong stepped out on the veranda the morning after the ball he
+found Stella staring curiously at a large, square piece of paper stuck
+on the wall of the ranch house.
+
+Nobody in the house had risen early, as they had all been up very late,
+except Song, the cook, who, when he saw that no one was disposed to turn
+out for an early breakfast, had gone out to work in the garden, in which
+he had with much skill raised an abundance of vegetables that year.
+
+"Good morning, Stella; what is so interesting?" said Ted.
+
+"It beats me," answered Stella. "I wonder if this is one of Ben's
+witticisms. If it is, he ought to be spanked."
+
+Ted was standing by her side, reading what had been printed on the
+paper.
+
+"H'm! this is good," said he, and read aloud, as if to himself, the
+following warning:
+
+     "TED STRONG AND BRONCHO BOYS: You ought to know by this time that
+     you are not wanted in this part of the country. Advise you to sell
+     out and skip. If you stay your lives will be made a hell on earth,
+     and we have the stuff that will do it. This is no bluff, as you
+     will find out if you disregard this word of friendly warning. You
+     will be given a short time to sell your stock, then git. This means
+     business.
+
+     "THE FLYING DEMONS."
+
+"That's a pretty good effort for a lot of kids," said Ted. "Wait, here's
+a watermark in the paper. Let's see what it is?"
+
+Ted took the paper from the wall and held it up to the light.
+
+In the paper was the representation of the fabulous monster, the
+griffin, and woven into the paper were the words "Griffin Bond."
+
+"That's as easy as shooting fish in a tub," said Ted, as he folded the
+paper and put it in his pocket.
+
+"The fellow who put that warning up certainly left his footprints behind
+him," said Stella, with a smile.
+
+"He did, but even without that I should have known the authors of it."
+
+"How?"
+
+Ted then told Stella the substance of the conversation between the boys
+the night before, and of his suspicions as to the guilt of Creviss and
+his gang in the mysterious robberies that had occurred in the two towns.
+"But," he concluded, "it is not up to me to get at the matter. It is
+work for the sheriff. However, if those boys try any of their
+foolishness with us, we'll turn in and send them to the reform school,
+where they belong."
+
+"They're certainly a bad lot. I was talking to a lady at the 'rent rag'
+last night, and she was telling me what a horrid boy young Creviss is."
+
+"I wish I knew at what time this notice was put up here. It must have
+been done in daylight, for it was getting light in the east when we
+turned in."
+
+"Perhaps some one was so quiet as to put it there while you were all
+inside talking."
+
+"I hardly think so, for we were all sitting near the fireplace, and the
+room was so warm that Kit opened the door, and it stood open until we
+separated to go to bed."
+
+"Sure you could have heard them? Some of you were talking pretty loud,
+for I heard you in my room just before I went to sleep."
+
+"Well, of course, I couldn't be certain about it; but I came out on the
+veranda to take a look at the sky just before I turned in, and I didn't
+see it then. Surely, as I turned to come back into the house my eye
+would have caught that big piece of white paper beside the door."
+
+"What time was it that the most important part of your conversation took
+place?"
+
+"Just before we broke up. I remember we were going over the mysterious
+robberies, and I expressed the opinion that they were the work of the
+gang under Skip Riley and Creviss."
+
+"That was probably the time the fellow who put up that notice was about.
+You see, if he followed you from Soldier Butte he wouldn't get here much
+earlier than that, for he wouldn't dare ride a pony the length of the
+valley at that time of the morning, so he had to walk from the south
+fence."
+
+"By Jove! I believe you are right."
+
+"If my theory is true, the fellow who brought the warning also carried
+back your conversation to the gang."
+
+"Then they surely will have something to fight us on."
+
+"Yes, fear that you will get on their trail will compel them to try to
+make their bluff good, as expressed in that message."
+
+"I'd give something to know when this thing was put up."
+
+"Let's see; it was about four o'clock when you turned in, wasn't it?"
+
+"Just about."
+
+"And just about that time Song gets up to cook for the boys in the bunk
+house who get out to relieve the night watch in the big pasture. Doesn't
+he?"
+
+"Those are the orders."
+
+"Then have Song in, and we'll ask him if he saw a strange man around the
+place when he got up. He might have seen him and thought nothing of it,
+and would never think of reporting it."
+
+"Good idea. Wait here and I will call him."
+
+In a few minutes the Chinaman came shuffling in from the garden."
+
+"See here, Song," said Ted. "Did you see a strange man here early this
+morning?"
+
+"Stlange man!" said Song meditatively, with a smile of innocence on his
+broad, yellow face. "No savvy stlange man."
+
+"Man no b'long here," said Stella,
+
+"Oh, yes, I savvy. No see stlange man."
+
+"What time you get up?"
+
+"Me gettee up fo' clock."
+
+"Did you go outside?"
+
+"Yes, me go out an' call cowbloy. Tell gettee up, P. D. Q. No gettee up,
+no bleakfast."
+
+"What did you see outside that you don't see every morning?"
+
+"Evely moling? No savvy."
+
+"Yesterday morning, day before that, day before that, all mornings."
+
+"Lesterday moling, evely moling?"
+
+"Oh, the deuce! You try him, Stella."
+
+"Say, Song, you see something makee you flaid this moling?" said Stella,
+imitating Song's pidgin English.
+
+"Oh, yes, me lookee out, plenty jump in."
+
+"What you see?"
+
+"Plenty wolf. He sneakee lound side house. I lun like devil."
+
+"What wolf look like?"
+
+"Plenty big wolf. When he see me he lise up on hind legee, and lun likee
+man."
+
+"Ah ha! There's your clew," said Stella, turning to Ted. "The fellow who
+posted this notice was disguised in a wolfskin so that he could sneak up
+to the house unnoticed by the Chinaman, or, if seen, he would make a
+bluff at scaring Song."
+
+"Stella, you're a wonder."
+
+"Say, Song, you no likee wolf?"
+
+"No, me plenty flaid wolf," answered the Chinaman, shaking his head
+violently.
+
+"All right, Song. I givee you shotgun. Next time you see wolf, plenty
+shoot. Savvy?"
+
+"All light. You givee me gun, I shootee wolf plenty. Makee go 'ki-yi'
+and lun belly fast."
+
+Song went away with a grin on his face like a crack in a piece of stale
+cheese.
+
+"Stella, you've solved it. I believe whoever put that message there
+heard our conversation, and at least they'll hate us a bit worse than
+before, if that is possible."
+
+"Let them bark, the wolves. I never was afraid of a wolf, anyhow. If you
+want to throw me into spasms show me a bobcat. That's the fighting
+animal."
+
+During breakfast the boys were shown the warning that had been posted
+beside the door, and it was decided to pay no attention to it, but to
+watch for the appearance of a messenger from the "Flying Demons," and if
+one was caught to make it hot for him.
+
+Ted had no doubt but Creviss and his gang would try to injure the
+broncho boys by every means in their power, but until they committed
+some overt act the boys could hardly afford to become the aggressors.
+
+For several days nothing happened, and the Moon Valley Ranch went the
+even tenor of its way.
+
+Preparations were under way for the fall round-up, and Ted had received
+letters from several heavy stock buyers that they would be present at
+that time to make their selections of such cattle as they desired to
+buy.
+
+It had always been the custom at the ranch to have an entertainment of
+some sort at the ranch afterward. This was started for the purpose of
+amusing the buyers with cowboy tricks and that sort of thing, but it had
+developed into something far greater, until now all the world was
+invited to the barbecue and the "doings" afterward. No one was barred
+who behaved himself.
+
+This year Ben Tremont had charge of the entertainment, and he was not
+limited as to expense, for every fellow was on his honor to provide the
+best entertainment for the least money.
+
+The manager's plans were generally kept secret from every one except Ted
+and Stella, who were the exceptional ones and were in every one's
+secrets and confidence.
+
+Ben had declared himself as to the superlative excellence of his show
+this year.
+
+"It's going to be hard to beat," said he, in boasting about it. "We've
+had some pretty good shows, but nothing like the one I'm getting up
+now."
+
+Kit had charge of the cowboy end of it, the races, the bronchobusting,
+the roping and tying contests; in fact, all the arena acts.
+
+This year Clay Whipple attended to the inner man, and was to provide a
+genuine old Southern barbecue, with trimmings.
+
+The round-up was to begin in less than a week, and the festivities were
+to follow immediately.
+
+Invitations had been sent broadcast into Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming,
+Idaho, Montana, and the Pacific coast States; everywhere, in fact, where
+the boys had friends, and from the responses received an enormous crowd
+would be present.
+
+Three days elapsed after the finding of the warning beside the door
+before anything more was heard from the Flying Demons.
+
+Then Ted found another message from them near the front door.
+
+It was as follows:
+
+     "TED STRONG AND OTHERS: You think you know who committed the
+     mysterious robberies, but you are on the wrong track. You will
+     never find out, while your secrets are known to us. This is warning
+     number two. The third and last will come soon; then look out.
+
+     "THE FLYING DEMONS."
+
+"Now, why in the world do they call themselves the Flying Demons?" asked
+Ted reflectively, as they were reading the second screed from their
+enemies. "It seems to me that there is the secret of the whole thing.
+You never can tell what a pack of boys like that are going to do. They
+are more to be feared than older criminals, for they have no judgment,
+and will rush into the most reckless things just to show off before one
+another."
+
+"Pay no attention to them," advised Stella. "That's what I think they
+are doing now--showing off. I doubt if they think they can frighten us,
+but they are afraid of us."
+
+"Oh, by the way," said Ted, suddenly thinking of something. "You
+remember I looked at the watermark on that first warning we received
+from these terrible demons. Well, this screed has the same
+mark--'Griffin Bond.' When I was in town to-day I went into the bank.
+Old man Creviss was behind the counter, and that precious son of his was
+beside him. I had a check cashed, and Mr. Creviss asked me why we didn't
+keep our bank account there. I told him we had thought something about
+it, but I didn't mention that we had decided not to. Then I asked him
+for a couple of sheets of paper on which to write a note, and he handed
+them to me. I took them to the window and held them up to the light to
+see the watermark."
+
+"And what was it?" asked Stella eagerly.
+
+"The griffin."
+
+"Then the paper on which these things were written came from the bank?"
+
+"They certainly did. After I had looked at the watermark I turned to
+young Creviss and looked him square in the eye. He turned as white as
+chalk, and his lip trembled."
+
+"He's a coward," said Stella positively. "Why didn't he bluff it out?"
+
+"He had nothing to stand on; but, as you say, he's a rank coward, and
+it's my opinion that it's only fear of Skip Riley that keeps him at it,
+anyway. At all events, I gave him a good scare, for instead of writing
+the note I folded up the paper and put it into my pocket. He stepped
+forward as if he would interfere and make me give the paper back, not
+having used it, but I gave him a glassy glare and walked out."
+
+"Then it was he who wrote the warnings."
+
+"Of course, and he knows that I have him dead to rights. That is another
+mark against me with the gang."
+
+"Better watch out."
+
+"They can have me if they can get me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+SONG SHOOTS A WOLF.
+
+
+Early one morning the broncho boys were startled out of their beds by
+the double explosion of a shotgun, followed by excited yells and screams
+of agony.
+
+"That Chinaman has shot somebody," thought Ted, as he rapidly skipped
+out of bed and pulled on his trousers.
+
+In the living room he met all the boys, as scantily clad as himself,
+hurrying out to see what the noise was all about.
+
+They could hear Song behind the house screaming in Chinese at the top of
+his voice, and in an ear-splitting falsetto, which showed that he was
+tremendously excited.
+
+Thither they rushed, and for a moment the ludicrous scene far
+outbalanced the seriousness of what had happened.
+
+On the ground was a young fellow about seventeen years of age. He was
+writhing with pain, and the blood was oozing through his clothes in
+fifty places.
+
+"Ha, ha!" shrieked Song. "Me shootee wolf, turnee into man light away.
+Ha, ha, me allee same plenty smart man, likee magician."
+
+"Yes, you're a hot magician," said Bud; "You've made this feller second
+cousin ter a porous plaster. That's what you've done."
+
+"Who is he, Song?" asked Ted.
+
+"Me no savvy him. Me comee out chicken house getee eggs fo' bleakfast. I
+cally gun, shotee plenty wolf all samee Mliss Stella say."
+
+"But this is not a wolf."
+
+"All samee wolf. I open chicken house do'. I see wolf. Plenty glowl at
+Song. I no likee gun. Shutee my eye. Pull tligger, an' gun goee off. All
+samee wolf no mo' glowlee, him yellee like thundeh. When smokee blow way
+wolf gonee, all samee man comee. I plenty magician, I thinkee."
+
+Ted looked in the chicken house, and on the floor lay the dried hide of
+a big gray wolf.
+
+Now he understood. The message had come the third time from the Flying
+Demons.
+
+"Kit, run around to the front door and see if there is a message there
+for us from our friends the Demons."
+
+In a moment Kit was back, holding a piece of paper in his hand.
+
+Ted took it from him, and read it.
+
+It was the third and last warning. It said:
+
+     "TED STRONG: We have warned you twice before to leave this part of
+     the country, but you have made no move to do so. This is the third
+     warning. If you are not away from here in a week the vengeance will
+     fall upon you. Beware!
+
+     "THE FLYING DEMONS."
+
+"Did you bring this?" asked Ted, of the wretched youth, who still lay
+upon the ground groaning from his numerous wounds.
+
+There was no reply. The fellow could only toss his head from side to
+side and rub his legs, into which the bulk of the shot had been fired by
+the excited Chinaman.
+
+"You won't answer, eh? Well, we'll find a way to make you. I'm glad
+you've given us a week," said Ted, laughing. "That will at least give us
+time to hold our round-up and festivities."
+
+"Oh, if I live through this I'll never go into anything like it again,"
+moaned the youth upon the ground.
+
+"Here, stand up," said Ted to him. "You're not badly hurt. You're only
+stung, twice. Get on your feet and we'll see what we can do for you.
+You're a long way from dead yet. What's your name?"
+
+"Jack Farley. Oh, if I could only be sure that I wasn't going to die!"
+exclaimed the youth.
+
+He was the young fellow Billy Sudden had spoken about.
+
+"We can't tell how badly you are hurt until you get up," said Ted.
+"Rise, and we'll go into the house and examine your wounds."
+
+Slowly young Farley got to his feet, but when he tried to walk he
+uttered a howl of pain, and sank down again.
+
+"Yellow all through," said Ben, in a tone of disgust.
+
+"Ever have about three ounces of duck shot pumped into yer system
+through yer hide?" asked Bud.
+
+"Never had."
+
+"Then yer don't know all ther joys o' life. I've had one ounce shot
+inter my leg, an' if ther contents o' two shells gives double ther pain
+one does, then excuse me. An' mine wuz only snipe shot, at that."
+
+"Pick him up, boys, and lay him on the lounge in my room," said Ted.
+"I'll take a look at him after a while, meantime some of you watch him
+to see that he doesn't get away. We need him for evidence."
+
+When Bud and Ben had carried the wounded boy into Ted's room and laid
+him on the lounge, Bud stood over him regarding him with interest.
+
+"I sorter envy yer, kid," he said at last.
+
+"You can have 'em, but I don't see why you envy me," said Farley.
+
+"I wuz thinkin' how happy you'll be all through these lonesome winter
+evenings, pickin' ther shot out o' yer legs."
+
+When Farley had been carried into the house, Ted called Kit to him and
+said:
+
+"Kit, I wish you'd ride over to Suggs' ranch and tell Billy Sudden that
+his protege is over here with his hide peppered with bird shot, and ask
+him to ride over and take a look at him."
+
+During breakfast they related to Stella the story of Song's wolf hunt in
+the chicken house, and the result.
+
+Song was as proud as a peacock, and wore "the smile that won't come off"
+as he flitted around the table waiting on every one.
+
+"Say, Missee Stella," he said, "Song all samee one cowbloy now, eh? What
+you sayee?"
+
+"Yes, Song, you have certainly followed instructions. You got your wolf
+that time, sure. How you likee shootee?"
+
+"No likee, Missee Stella. Makee too much noisee, all samee too much
+plenty fiahclackers. Kickee like blazes. Plitty near knockee arm outee
+Song."
+
+The boys stripped Farley after breakfast, and found his legs in pretty
+bad condition. They looked as if Song's gun had been loaded with
+smallpox, and all of it had lodged in the lad's legs.
+
+"Boys, we'll have to take relays in picking the shot from our first
+victim," said Ted. "There's too much work here for one man."
+
+"He's a turrible-lookin' demon now with a hide full o' shot. Ther
+punctured demon of Demonville! Say, kid, I'd hate ter laugh at yer, but
+yer a sight. Why didn't yer fix it so's them two charges o' shot would
+hev been distributed among ther gang? Then yer could sit down o'
+evenings an' pick shot out o' one another instid o' plottin' agin' ther
+whites."
+
+"Let him be, Bud, he's having all he can do to think about these shots,
+as it is. The things for us to do now is to pick them out of him."
+
+"We'll let him count 'em ez they come out. That'll help take his mind
+off his troubles, but he'll hev ter hev a great head fer figgers."
+
+They went to work on him with their penknives, as most of the shot were
+just beneath the skin. But it was painful enough, at that, and every
+time a shot came out Farley groaned deeper. While they were engaged in
+this, to them, pleasing occupation, Billy Sudden arrived.
+
+"Hello, kid," he said to Farley. "So you got it at last. I could have
+told you to keep away from Ted Strong and his bunch. They're bad
+medicine for a herd o' mavericks like you to graze with. You tackled the
+wrong outfit. They're too many fer you, and if you'll all take a fool's
+advice you'll keep away, or else some of you will be looking through a
+griddle in a door up at the penitentiary."
+
+Farley made no reply, only hid his face and groaned at every extracted
+shot.
+
+"Say, kid, what about this gang you belong to?"
+
+The boy shook his head.
+
+"D'ye mean to say you're not going to tell me about it?"
+
+The boy nodded.
+
+"What's the reason you won't?"
+
+"The oath."
+
+"Slush with the oath. You had no business to take it. What'll the home
+folks think when I tell them about this. Shot by a Chinaman in the
+chicken house at dawn!"
+
+Billy paused to let the ignominy of it sink in. It did sound pretty bad
+and mean and cheap. There were no heroics in this, such as Farley had at
+first considered his role.
+
+He hid his face on his arm, and his body shook. Billy had probed deep
+into his pride.
+
+"Well, come on," said Billy. "This is no time for a conspirator to do
+the baby act. I suppose you thought it was to be a spotlight scene where
+you stood in the center doing the heavy stunt, and all the rest sat on
+the bleachers and applauded. By gee! Peppered by a Chinaman, and with
+snipe shot, at that."
+
+"Oh, quit it!" said Farley. "I know I was a chump for sticking with
+those fellows, but I needed the money."
+
+"What money?"
+
+"My share of the--"
+
+"What?"
+
+"Oh, nothing."
+
+"Yes, there is something. What robbery was it you shared in?"
+
+"I didn't steal anything."
+
+"I suppose not. You did the dirty work of being lookout, or something
+like that, and they threw you the bone while they kept the meat and fat,
+eh?"
+
+"What shall I do with him?" asked Ted.
+
+"Keep him locked up as a hostage. That may bring those young fools to
+their senses," said Billy. "I'm disgusted with him for not making a
+clean breast of the whole foolish business, and if it wasn't for his
+sister, I'd toss him up in the air and forget him."
+
+The rest of the day was spent in picking shot out of Farley, and by
+evening he was relieved of the last one.
+
+"We'll put him in that empty room at the corner of the house, and take
+turns watching him through the night," said Ted.
+
+Until bedtime Farley sat in the living room with the rest of them, and
+they were unusually guarded in their conversation.
+
+When it came time to retire Farley was conducted to the room which was
+to be his prison, and it fell to Carl to take the first watch, and to
+call Ben at one o'clock.
+
+In the room there was a lounge and a pair of blankets for Farley, a
+table and a lamp, and a chair for the watch.
+
+"Whatever you do, don't go to sleep, Carl," said Ted. "The reason I'm
+putting you on the first watch is because you're such a sleepyhead."
+
+"Don'd vorry aboud me," said Carl, with a yawn. "I pet you I vas der
+sleepinglessness feller in der whole bunch. If he gets avay on my vatch
+it vill not be pecause I don'd sleep."
+
+"I guess you mean all right, but I swear I can't understand you. Only
+keep awake."
+
+"Oh, yah; I avake keeping all der time."
+
+Carl sat in the chair watching his prisoner, and soon saw Farley's chest
+heaving regularly and heard his deep breathing as he slept. Then things
+seemed to waver and fade away.
+
+Carl started up at hearing some one beating on the door, and sat rubbing
+his eyes. It was broad daylight.
+
+"All right, I'll get up pooty soon yet. Is preakfast retty?"
+
+"Here, open the door. This is Ted."
+
+"Vait a minute."
+
+Carl staggered sleepily to the door and unlocked it.
+
+"Where is your prisoner?" asked Ted, stalking into the room, and looking
+at the open window.
+
+"My vat? Ach, Gott in himmel, vat haf I dided? I am schoost coming
+avake. He iss gone! I haf slept on vatch. I am foreffer disgraced. Kill
+me, Ted! I haf no appetite to live any more alretty," cried Carl.
+
+Ted had been angry at discovering the escape of Farley, for he had
+conceived a plan to use him against Creviss. He had risen early, and
+when he found that all the boys were in bed except Carl, he immediately
+suspected the truth.
+
+But Carl's despairing manner turned him from anger.
+
+"Never mind, Carl," he said. "It was my fault for putting you on watch.
+You were not cut out for a watchman. Or, perhaps, you were, according
+to the funny papers, but not of prisoners."
+
+During breakfast Carl was compelled to endure the jokes of the boys at
+his failure to guard the prisoner, which he did with a lugubrious
+countenance; then, at a signal from Ted, the subject was dropped.
+
+About ten o'clock Billy Sudden rode up to the ranch house.
+
+There was something in his manner that betokened news of importance, and
+he strode unbidden into the living room, where Ted was sitting at his
+desk.
+
+"Where's the kid?" he asked abruptly.
+
+"Who, Farley?" asked Ted, looking up from his work.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Skipped."
+
+"What?"
+
+"I said skipped."
+
+"Great Scott! I'd give a hundred dollars if he hadn't."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"What time did he get away?"
+
+"Don't know, exactly. Carl was watching him, but he fell asleep almost
+as soon as they were in the room together, and didn't wake up until six
+o'clock this morning, and Farley was gone. No one knows how he got away
+or at what time. It might have been any time. He probably woke up in the
+night and saw that Carl was dead to the world, and opened the window,
+dropped to the ground, and hit the trail. That's all I know about it.
+But what makes you so anxious about it?"
+
+"Then you haven't heard the news?"
+
+"Guess not. What is it?"
+
+"The First National Bank was robbed last night."
+
+"Great guns! Creviss' bank! That's the United States depository!"
+
+"The same."
+
+"What are the details?"
+
+"I rode through town this morning on my way over here to see if being
+confined for the night wouldn't make the kid talk, when I saw a bunch of
+men standing in front of the bank. I butted in and asked what the
+excitement was, and they told me that the bank had been robbed."
+
+"But how?"
+
+"That's what nobody knows. When the cashier, Mr. Henson, got to the bank
+this morning everything apparently was all right. The doors and windows
+were fastened, and there was no sign anywhere that the bank had been
+forcibly entered. Of course, he didn't look at these things first. He
+went to the vault and opened it at the proper time and examined its
+contents casually. Everything seemed to be as usual. But when, a few
+minutes later, he went to get out the currency, it was all gone. He
+hadn't counted up when I left there, so no one knows the exact amount,
+but it was large."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE BATTLE WITH THE BULL.
+
+
+The excitement incident to the mysterious robbery of the Creviss bank
+was intense.
+
+How had it been done? This was the question that every one was asking
+his neighbor. But none could answer it.
+
+The evening before the robbery had taken place the bank had been closed
+by the cashier, and by Mr. Creviss himself.
+
+The money, books, and papers, with which the business of the day had
+been conducted, had been carried into the vault by the cashier, and Mr.
+Creviss, who was an unusually cautious man, looked into the vault after
+the cashier came out, to see that everything was in. Then he closed the
+vault doors, and turned the handle of the combination, setting the time
+lock, thus securing the doors from being opened until nine o'clock the
+next morning.
+
+The only way in which it could be opened, and an almost impossible way,
+at that, was by blowing it open.
+
+And yet the vault had been robbed, and the vault lock had apparently not
+been tampered with.
+
+It had the appearance of necromancy.
+
+Ted rode into town with Billy Sudden, arriving about noon.
+
+Billy rode on to the Dumb-bell Ranch, and Ted stopped at the bank. It
+seemed deserted. But as he entered the door he saw a big man, dressed in
+the flashy clothes affected by managers of cheap circuses and fake
+shows, standing at the end of the counter talking to Wiley Creviss.
+
+"I can't do anything with that check," Ted heard Creviss say. "You'll
+have to come in when the cashier is here. The safe is locked, and I
+can't get into it, anyway, and all the currency is in it. I'm only
+staying here until the cashier gets back from dinner."
+
+"When will that be?" asked the stranger.
+
+"In about half an hour."
+
+The stranger picked up his valise, which seemed to be heavy, and walked
+out grumbling about banks that closed up for dinner.
+
+Ted said nothing to Wiley, but he took a good look about the bank,
+disregarding the other lad's scowls.
+
+He observed that the vault door stood open, but that there was no money
+in sight, and the place had an air of desertion, as if business was
+slack.
+
+When Strong had seen all that he wanted of the apparent entrances to the
+bank that a criminal might use to force his way in, he left with two
+distinct impressions on his mind. One was that the vault door had been
+open when he came in, and that Wiley Creviss had abruptly closed it when
+he saw Ted staring at it. The other was the remarkable appearance of the
+showman, for without doubt he was that.
+
+As before, the mysterious robbery of the bank proved to be too hard a
+nut for the citizens to crack, and when they had thrashed out all the
+theories advanced and knocked them to pieces again, they forgot it.
+
+Not so Ted Strong. This succession of robberies, none of them leaving
+behind the slightest clew to the perpetrators, interested him. Its very
+difficulty of solution, which had made the lesser brains abandon it,
+compelled his attention and interest.
+
+Had it been his business to tackle the problem, he gladly would have
+done so. But the only Federal end to it was the robbery of the post
+office, which the inspectors of that department were working on, unless,
+perhaps, it might be found that the funds of the government for general
+purposes at Fort Rincon had been stolen. Then the case would come under
+the operations of the United States marshal's office.
+
+But other and more pressing things of a personal nature gradually took
+his attention from crime, and he devoted himself to the coming round-up.
+
+All the spare room in the Moon Valley Ranch house was occupied by
+visiting cattle buyers, who had come to the round-up. The rooms of the
+boys had been given up to guests, while they camped on the prairie
+behind the house.
+
+At last the great day came.
+
+Early in the morning the boys were out, and with them was Stella.
+
+Cow Suggs had loaned Ted his outfit for the day, and Ted was glad to
+have the boys, for there was no cleverer cowman in the country at a
+round-up, saving Ted himself, who was king of them all, and so conceded,
+than the dark, lithe cow-puncher, Billy Sudden, who had been through
+college and had traveled in Europe before he deserted the East for the
+toil, freedom, and excitement of the range.
+
+It was now time to round up all the stock on the Moon Valley Range, cut
+out the marketable stuff, and brand the yearlings.
+
+This is not only a troublesome task, but it is dangerous, and not a
+moment of the time until the task is accomplished but has its exciting
+adventures and escapes from death.
+
+The boys did not know exactly how many head of cattle they owned. They
+had been selling and replenishing their stock from time to time, and the
+increase of calves had been very large, for Moon Valley, situated in the
+lee of Dent du Chien, or Dog Tooth Mountain, with its rich grass, the
+richest in the Black Hills, and its abundance of fresh, clear spring
+water, was an ideal breeding place.
+
+There were on the ranch at that time several dangerous bulls, and this
+added to the hard work of the day, because the monarchs of the range did
+not like to be disturbed and have their following broken up and
+scattered.
+
+In the big pasture, which lay at the foot of Deni du Chien Mountain, was
+the largest herd in the valley.
+
+The king of this herd was known as "Gladiator." He was always looking
+for a fight, and never refused a challenge, whether from another bull or
+from what he considered his natural enemy, man.
+
+A man on foot in that pasture would have stood no more chance for his
+life than if he tried to stand in front of the engine that hauls the
+Empire State Express going at top speed. Gladiator would kill him just
+as quickly and as surely.
+
+So it was that strangers were kept out of the big pasture, whether they
+were mounted or not, unless they were escorted by some member of the
+broncho boys, or one of the older cowboys about the place. Stella, with
+her red bolero, nearly caused a tragedy one day by coming within the
+vision of Gladiator, who took the bolero for a challenge.
+
+Stella turned in time and fled, and had it not been for the fleetness of
+her pony and her own superb riding, there had been no more to relate of
+the adventures of the girl pard of the Moon Valley boys.
+
+The morning of the round-up Ted undertook personally to turn the herd to
+the rendezvous.
+
+Stella insisted upon accompanying him, and at last he was persuaded to
+give his consent, but only on the condition that she wear subdued
+colors, which she did, with skirt and jacket of a light-dun color.
+
+The herd was grazing in the noble range that stretched for miles along
+and across the valley in the shadow of the splendid mountain.
+
+It was widely scattered, and as the band of horsemen rode out toward it
+the cattle lifted their heads for a moment and took a quiet survey, then
+returned to their feeding.
+
+Not so Gladiator.
+
+The great white-and-black bull raised his head proudly, and his fierce,
+steady eyes regarded them without fear.
+
+Indeed, Gladiator knew no fear, whether of man or beast, wolf pack or
+mountain lion, serpent or bird of prey.
+
+He was monarch of that herd, and no one said him nay except Ted Strong,
+who ruled the ranch and all that was on it, by the general consent of
+his comrades and his own fitness for his rulership.
+
+Ted and Gladiator had had numerous differences, and it was the bull that
+had backed down every time.
+
+Yet he did not fear Ted. Rather he hated him because he could not
+conquer this quick, brave, and resourceful fellow.
+
+"That bull will be the death of you some of these days," said Stella to
+Ted once when Gladiator, resenting Ted's intrusion into the herd for the
+purpose of cutting out some calves, charged him. But Ted in the end
+threw the bull with his rope, humiliating him before all the herd. From
+that time forth Gladiator's eyes always became red with anger when he
+saw Ted, but he did not misbehave, because he respected Ted's lariat and
+quirt, and the strong arm that wielded them.
+
+When they got to the herd the boys circled it from behind, riding in
+slowly.
+
+Ted and Stella were on the left point, with Bud and Kit opposite.
+
+Bill Sudden was in the rear to drive, while the other Moon Valley
+cowboys and Billy Sudden's boys came in from the sides.
+
+At the first interruption of their grazing the cattle moved along
+sluggishly, but Gladiator did not move.
+
+The big bull stood his ground, with eyes gazing steadily at Ted and
+Stella, who were approaching him slowly and persistently.
+
+Suddenly Gladiator threw up his head and gave a low, menacing bellow.
+
+"The old chap is waking up," said Ted.
+
+"Be careful, Ted," said Stella. "He's not in very good humor."
+
+"I see he isn't. But if we go at him easily he'll be all right."
+
+"Don't take any chances with him alone, Ted."
+
+"Still, I'm not going to let him boss this job. He's got to lead this
+herd out, and that's all there is to it, for it's a cinch that they
+won't go without him."
+
+Stella knew that it was useless to say anything more, as when Ted made
+up his mind to do a thing, it would be done if everything broke.
+
+Billy Sudden had got the herd moving up from the rear, but the forward
+end of the herd was stagnant.
+
+Gladiator refused to budge, and stood with his stubborn forefeet planted
+on the sod, his head raised insolently.
+
+But it could be seen that his anger was working within him, and would
+soon break forth.
+
+Bud was working the cattle nearest him gently on the move, but when they
+saw that their leader was standing still they ceased their progress and
+began to crowd and mill, and the steers were getting reckless and
+beginning to throw their tails in the air and utter low, growling
+bellows.
+
+It was a critical moment. Who was to be the master must be decided
+quickly. If the bull conquered then the cattle would get to milling
+generally, and the mischief would be to pay.
+
+It would not take long for them to stampede, if the bull started the
+panic, or made a charge. Ted saw the danger, and knew that the condition
+must be treated diplomatically, which was the easier way, or with force,
+of which the outcome was most uncertain.
+
+It depended, in a measure, on the temper of the bull himself.
+
+The cattle were crowding up from the rear, and those nearest the bull
+were beginning to feel the pressure and were pushing toward Gladiator,
+who was fifteen feet in advance of the herd.
+
+When he noticed that the herd was moving, his anger increased, and he
+lowered his head and began to paw the ground.
+
+Ted held up his hand to Billy Sudden as a signal to cease pushing the
+animals, but they had got the impetus and would not stop.
+
+In a moment they had begun to crowd upon the bull, who, with legs
+planted stubbornly, would not be crowded, and began to gore aside those
+who were being pushed upon him.
+
+Ted saw instantly that this was going to result in disaster if not
+stopped, as the frightened steers, feeling Gladiator's sharp horns,
+turned back on the herd, and were pushing their way frantically into the
+center of it, while others, coming up, were forced upon the bull's
+horns.
+
+"Darn a stubborn bull, anyhow!" exclaimed Ted. "I've got to get in and
+put a stop to that, or Gladiator will have the herd to milling or
+running in less than ten minutes."
+
+"Be careful," was all Stella said, but there was a world of anxiety in
+her voice.
+
+"You better get out of the way, Stella," said Ted "Ride to the rear.
+You will see it all, and have just as much fun, and will be out of
+danger."
+
+"What are you going to do?"
+
+"I'm going to make that bull move along or bust a string."
+
+Ted's jaw was set with determination, and when Stella saw that she knew
+that it would be useless for her to say anything more.
+
+Ted loosened his rope, grasped his quirt firmly, and rode slowly toward
+the bull, while Stella signaled to Billy Sudden to ride up to the head
+of the herd.
+
+The boys, observing Ted's actions, knew what he was about to do, and
+ceased moving the cattle and sat on their horses to watch for the
+outcome of the contest.
+
+Most of them felt like spectators at a performance of a specially
+hazardous feat, and held their breath. But each was on the alert to rush
+to Ted's assistance the moment he seemed to need it.
+
+As the bull looked up, and saw Ted approaching him, he ceased pawing,
+and stood with watchful eyes. Occasionally he sent forth a challenging
+bellow. His tail was switching from side to side, like that of an angry
+cat.
+
+Ted was coming alertly. No one knew the danger of openly attacking the
+bull better than himself, and yet it must be done.
+
+It was rule or kill, so far as the bull was concerned, for if the boys
+could not manage him they would be compelled to kill him so that they
+might be able to handle the herd, substituting a more amiable bull in
+his place.
+
+A cowman cannot always tell what a bull is going to do when it is faced
+on the range. It may dodge the issue or it may attack, and Ted was wary
+enough to be on the watch for the latter contingency.
+
+Therefore, when Gladiator, without so much warning as the lowering of
+his head, sprang at Ted when he was not more than ten feet away, he
+covered the distance in two or three lumbering bounds, and Ted had just
+sufficient time to wheel his pony to one side to avoid being bowled
+over. But the horns of the bull struck the gaiter on his left leg, as it
+rushed past, and tore it off, almost unseating him. Stella, breathlessly
+watching the encounter, gasped as she saw Ted reel in his saddle. But
+she breathed easier as she saw him straighten up and turn his horse
+rapidly to face the bull again.
+
+With almost incredible agility, the bull turned and came rushing at Ted
+again, but the leader of the broncho boys rode swiftly away from him,
+tolling him away from the herd.
+
+Finally the bull stopped and began to paw the earth. Ted, to tempt him
+to another attack, directed Sultan toward him at full speed, intending
+to swerve when he got close to his bullship, and dodge him and infuriate
+him further, so that he would follow. He knew that Sultan could outrun
+Gladiator.
+
+But, as he got close to the bull, in spite of the warning cries from
+Stella and Bud, Gladiator swerved to meet the attack, and before the
+fleet-footed pony could escape he was struck, and went rolling over the
+ground.
+
+A cry of horror went up from the boys as they all dashed to the scene.
+Ted Strong was on the ground. The pony had scrambled to his feet, and
+stood trembling a few feet distant. The bull, with lowered head, was
+charging upon Ted.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+TED GETS AN ASSIGNMENT.
+
+
+To the horror-stricken onlookers it appeared that Ted's end had come. He
+lay prone upon the sod with his face turned to the sky, evidently
+stunned.
+
+The bull, with all the ferocity of his kind when goaded to anger, was
+charging upon him, his needle-like horns a few inches from the ground,
+and the foam flecking from his lips.
+
+Stella, her face white and drawn, was galloping toward him as fast as
+her pony could go, while Bud was lashing his pony to the height of its
+speed as he crossed the face of the herd. Billy Sudden was neck and neck
+with Stella, calling to her to hold back.
+
+Suddenly Ted Strong came to life, and looked over his shoulder.
+
+He saw his danger, and quick as thought he rolled over, away from the
+bull.
+
+But that was all. Every one could see that it would do no good. He could
+not expect to escape from the infuriated beast in that manner, and a
+hollow groan escaped the lips of more than one.
+
+Ted surely was doomed.
+
+The bull's horns caught Ted in the side as he continued to roll away
+from it, and it stopped for an instant, settling itself to toss him.
+Stella turned her head away with a muttered prayer, and even the
+cowboys, used to accidents in the round-up, gasped.
+
+But suddenly they saw a cloud of dust fly upward, and thought at first
+that Ted had fired his revolver into the face of the infuriated beast,
+and it seemed strange that they had not heard the report of the weapon.
+
+Then, miracle of miracles, the bull, with a snort of pain, threw up its
+head, and Ted was not impaled upon its horns.
+
+There was another cloud of dust, and the bull began backing away, slowly
+but surely, shaking its head, as if in pain.
+
+"Screamin' catamounts, did yer see thet, Stella?" cried Bud Morgan, as
+he rode alongside the girl,
+
+"What did he do?" asked Stella.
+
+"He's saved hisself by blindin' ther bull. He throwed dust inter its
+eyes. I'm dinged if I see how thet feller kin think o' things like thet
+when he's down an' out. Look at him!"
+
+As the bull rubbed its face in the grass Ted rolled over twice, then
+leaped to his feet and ran to where Sultan was awaiting him.
+
+A mighty cheer went up from the boys, and the color came back into
+Stella's face with a rush, but she could not have uttered a sound to
+save her life.
+
+In the meantime, the bull had recovered, having rubbed the dust from its
+eyes in the short grass, and looked about for its enemy.
+
+It caught sight of Ted in the act of mounting, and sprang toward him
+with the swiftness of a deer.
+
+Then Stella recovered her voice.
+
+"Run, Ted! Run!" she cried.
+
+But Ted had seen the necessity of that himself, and, wheeled Sultan and
+dashed off, looking over his shoulder at the enraged monster that was
+following him, while he rapidly uncoiled his lariat.
+
+Having run several hundred yards and outdistanced the bull, he turned
+and stopped with his rope in his hand, closely calculating the animal's
+distance and speed.
+
+Bud and Stella were following the bull closely, both of them preparing
+their lariats for the throw.
+
+As the bull charged, Ted's rope was seen to leave his hand and go
+sailing through the air in graceful loops and curves that lengthened out
+one after the other.
+
+One of the most difficult throws a cow-puncher can make with a lariat
+was that which Ted attempted. He had to calculate to a degree the speed
+with which the bull was advancing toward him, and that at which the rope
+was leaving him. To calculate the point where the two would come
+together would seem an almost impossible task.
+
+But so nicely had Ted estimated it, that the open noose fell over the
+bull's head and settled down, and, turning swiftly, Ted spurred Sultan
+to one side, and the bull, shaking his head and emitting short, angry
+bellows, rushed past.
+
+The intelligent pony had suddenly come to a stop, bracing himself for
+the shock, and when Gladiator came to the end of the rope he turned
+completely over, and landed on his back with a thud that shook the
+earth.
+
+Bud had galloped forward, and was about to throw himself from the saddle
+to tie the brute, when, with the agility of a cat, the bull was on its
+feet, shaking its head and stamping the earth in a perfect fury of anger
+and desperation. But it was by no means beaten, and ran at Bud, who took
+to his heels. When again it arrived at the end of the rope, it went head
+over heels, much to its loss of wind and dignity.
+
+This time it did not rise so briskly, and Ted gave it all the time it
+wanted.
+
+Suddenly Stella dashed out and rode toward the bull, and when a few feet
+from it curved off, with the angry brute in full pursuit. Had her pony
+stumbled it would have been all up with her, for Gladiator was wild with
+rage, and when it was again thrown its fury knew no bounds.
+
+"A few more throws like that will settle him, I think," shouted Ted.
+"Bait him again, Bud."
+
+Again Bud rode out, and the bull took after him as before, and, when he
+was jerked onto his back by the rope, he lay there.
+
+Ted rode rapidly up to him, and, detaching a rope which had been knotted
+around his waist, tied the bull's legs fore and aft, and the exhausted
+brute did not make an objection.
+
+For several minutes the bull lay panting, then it recovered.
+
+When it came to its normal condition at last, it struggled furiously to
+get to its feet, but each time it got up Ted jerked it to its side,
+standing close to it so that it could see him.
+
+Time and again it thus fruitlessly struggled.
+
+It seemed to realize suddenly that it had been a very foolish bull, and
+that it had met its master, who now stood over him ready to tumble him
+over at any moment.
+
+So he lay quite still, following Ted's movements with its great, dark
+eyes, out of which all the ferocity had vanished.
+
+Ted stepped up to it and patted its head, and it made no objection to
+these attentions. Then he began to untie the bonds that held its legs
+together.
+
+"Look out fer him, he's treacherous," called Bud.
+
+"He's all right," answered Ted. "I'll bet he'll eat out of my hand."
+
+When it felt that it was free again, the bull got slowly to his feet and
+walked sedately in the direction of the herd.
+
+"You've broken the spirit of that bull," said Stella.
+
+"You bet I have," said Ted. "That's just what he needed. He'll be a good
+bull now. If he isn't, I'll give him some more."
+
+Ted now rode to the head of the herd with Stella, and the other boys
+took their places.
+
+"All right, Billy. Send them forward," shouted Ted to the rear of the
+herd.
+
+Skillfully Ted set the herd to moving toward the south, where the other
+herds were gathering under the management of the boys.
+
+At first Gladiator threw up his head arrogantly, and did not stir.
+
+Ted again rode toward him, swinging his lariat. The bull saw him as well
+as the rope, and, recognizing the agents of his defeat, moved off
+briskly at the head of the herd.
+
+"Say," said Bud, across the head of the herd, "yer could slap that old
+duffer across the face with your hat, and he'd apologize."
+
+They were almost at the rendezvous, where thousands of cattle had been
+gathered into a huge herd, and in every direction could be seen dust
+clouds announcing that others were on the way.
+
+"Here comes Carl hotfoot," said Stella. "He looks as if something had
+happened, and he was an extra edition with 'a full account of the
+terrible disaster.'"
+
+"Hello, Carl! What is it?" asked Ted.
+
+"Der United States marshal vaiting for you on der veranda iss," answered
+Carl solemnly.
+
+"Well, what do I care?" asked Ted. "He's come at a mighty busy time if
+he just wants to swap a little conversation. Did he say what he wanted?"
+
+"No, but he say it is very important vork, an' for you to hurry."
+
+"My compliments to the marshal, and tell him I'm busy, and will see him
+as soon as I get through. You entertain him for a while."
+
+"But he der boss iss."
+
+"Not on this ranch. This is a free and unadulterated republic, where
+there are no bosses. Tell him to make himself at home, and I'll be
+there as soon as I can."
+
+Now the cattle were all rounded up, and the cutting out of the two and
+three-year olds began.
+
+This was intensely exciting work, in which Stella joined, as she was as
+skilled at it as any of the boys. Outside of the big herd, the cowboys
+were picking up the cut-outs and driving them to the branding pens, for
+many of them were acquired stock, and even many of the home yearlings
+had never been branded.
+
+Then the cows with calves were cut out, so that the youngsters might get
+a touch of life by feeling the sting of the hot iron with the Crescent V
+brand on it.
+
+The buyers were circulating in the herds, looking over the stock.
+
+Several of the buyers had brought their own cow-punchers with them, and
+these went to work cutting out the selections of their employers.
+
+The sky was thick with dust, and the air rang with the shouts of the
+cowboys and the lowing and bellowing of the cattle.
+
+The rattle of countless hoofs on the hard soil added to the din, and the
+cattle weaving in and out ceaselessly, and the dashing riding of the
+cowboys as they swooped out of the mass occasionally to drive back an
+escaping steer, made a scene of excitement, movement, and noise never
+seen anywhere, except at a Western cattle round-up and cut-out.
+
+Soon the work was pretty well in hand, and, leaving Bud Morgan as
+segundo, Ted went to the house to see the marshal.
+
+He found that officer sitting on the veranda, quietly smoking a cigar,
+an interested witness of the proceedings.
+
+"How are you, Mr. Easton?" said Ted, shaking hands with the marshal. "I
+must apologize for not coming sooner, but my hands were full."
+
+"So I see," said the marshal cordially. "I was watching you work out
+there. Say, I believe I'd like to be a cow-puncher if I wasn't so old."
+
+"It's a young man's job," said Ted, laughing; "and even at that it is
+about all a young fellow can stand at times. But this to-day is a mere
+picnic to what we are up against sometimes."
+
+"Well, you seem to be right in it."
+
+"Yes, I love my business. I wouldn't be anything in the world except a
+cow-puncher."
+
+"But, remember, you are also a government officer."
+
+"I never forget that. But, if it came to being compelled to quit one or
+the other of the occupations, I'd still be a cow-puncher, and let the
+marshalship go."
+
+"That's the very thing I came to see about."
+
+"You want my resignation?" asked Ted, his spirits falling to zero.
+
+"By no means," laughed the marshal. "Not that, but to ask you to
+undertake a somewhat difficult job. It transpires that when the Soldier
+Butte bank was robbed the other night, a large amount of money belonging
+to the government was taken. I didn't know this until early this
+afternoon, when I received a telegram from Washington to go after the
+robbers and land them."
+
+"That'll be somewhat of a job," said Ted, drawing his chair closer to
+the marshal, so that he couldn't be overheard by passing people.
+
+"I'm well aware of that, and that's the reason I come to you. You and
+your boys must undertake the duty of clearing up the mystery of the
+robbery, and, if possible, recovering the money."
+
+"I have a very probable theory as to who the robbers are, but it will be
+entirely another matter to fasten it on them."
+
+"I leave it all to you. I don't want to have anything to do with it. All
+I want are results."
+
+"But I shall not have time to tackle it for a day or two. Unfortunately
+our fall round-up is in progress, and, as this is the time we sell the
+product of our business, we can't leave it until everything is cleared
+up."
+
+"That's all right, Mr. Strong. But when you do get busy, don't come back
+home until you land the thieves."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+A VISITOR IN THE NIGHT.
+
+
+A great deal of money changed hands that day. The stock buyers had their
+wallets loaded with cash when they came a-buying, for, when they had cut
+out the cattle they wanted, and the price was struck, they were prepared
+to drive them off at once.
+
+The sales at the round-up had been large, and Ted and the boys sat up
+late that night, after those guests who had elected to remain over for
+the festivities of the next day were safely in bed, counting the money
+and going over the books.
+
+"It has been a mighty good year for us, boys," said Ted, as he
+contemplated the total of their sales.
+
+"Yes, and, best of all, it leaves us with all the old stock disposed of,
+and nothing but young and vigorous animals with which to begin building
+up again," said Kit, who had a great head for the cattle business and a
+faculty for seeing into the future.
+
+"What aire we goin' ter do with all this yere mazuma?" asked Bud,
+looking over the stacks of fifties, twenties, tens, and fives that lay
+on the table around which they were sitting in the living room, and
+which was flanked by piles of gold and a few hundred-dollar bills.
+
+"Can't get it into the bank until day after to-morrow," said Ted. "We'll
+be too busy to-morrow looking after our guests, and I don't suppose
+we'll be free until after the dance to-morrow night. Still, I'm not
+worrying about it. We know everybody here to-night, and I'll take care
+of it till we can ride over to Strongburg and bank it."
+
+Just then the door blew open with a bang, and big Ben scurried in,
+bringing with him a blast of prairie wind, crisp and chill from the
+mountain, that scattered the greenbacks all over the room, and two or
+three of the fives were blown into the fire and incinerated before any
+one could rescue them.
+
+"Close that door!" shouted Bud, grasping frantically at the money that
+was capering over the top of the table.
+
+Ben closed the door with a slam that shook the house.
+
+"'A fool and his money is soon parted,'" quoted Ben, when he saw the
+havoc wrought by the wind.
+
+"You bet," said Kit "Three fives blew into the fireplace, and are no
+more. We'll just charge them to your account."
+
+"Like dolly, you will!" said Ben.
+
+"If it hadn't been for you they wouldn't be there. What's the reason we
+won't?"
+
+"Because you won't. I didn't make the wind."
+
+"No, but consarn ye, ye let it in, an' ye're an accessory before er
+after ther fact. I reckon both," said Bud.
+
+"Let it go, boys," said Ted. "Pick up the bills, and we'll count and
+stack them again."
+
+"Where have you been, anyway?" asked Kit, addressing Ben.
+
+"Down beddin' my show for the night. They're about all in now. All
+except the music, which will be here in the morning," replied Ben. "I'm
+not at all stuck on myself, but--"
+
+"Oh, no, you've got a very poor opinion of yourself, I guess," said Kit.
+
+"But I want to say that I think I got the bunkie-doodelest show that
+ever paced the glimmering, gleaming, gloaming grass of Moon Valley."
+
+"Listen to the hombre explode," said Bud. "He's tryin' ter be a feeble
+imitation o' a real showman. I'll bet he shows up ter-morrer like a
+ringmaster in a sucuss, with high, shiny boots an' a long whip an a
+tall, slick hat, an' crack his whip an' say: 'What will ther leetle lady
+hev next?'"
+
+Ben blushed, for his ambitions in the show line, now that he had had a
+taste of it, had really been in that direction, only he wouldn't have
+had the boys know it for the world.
+
+"How about the show, anyhow, Ben?" asked Ted.
+
+"What have you got? You might as well let us know now."
+
+"Not on your autobiography," answered Ben haughtily. "I want to say,
+though, that your eyes will bulge like the knobs on a washstand drawer
+when you see what I've got, and then come to look at the bill for such a
+stupendous, striking, and singularly successful aggregation of freaks,
+acts, and divertisements embodied in this colossal and cataclysmic
+congregation of--"
+
+"Oh, cheese it," said Kit. "You give me the pip."
+
+"All right, have it your own way," sighed Ben. "This is what a fellow
+gets for serving his country, from Thomas Jefferson to John D.
+Rockefeller."
+
+"Come on," said Ted persuasively. "Loosen up and tell us what we are to
+have to-morrow. This is an executive session of the whole."
+
+"You're like a lot of kids the day before Christmas. You've just got to
+see what mamma's hidden in the closet," said Ben. "Well, I'll let you in
+on a little of it."
+
+"Shoot when you're ready," said Kit.
+
+"I was over at Strongburg about a month ago, and, knowing that I'd have
+to rustle up a show soon, I wrote to a theatrical agent in Chicago to
+let me know if he could furnish me with a good amusement company at
+small cost. He wrote me that he had the very thing, and offered me one
+of these bum 'wild west' shows, with a bunch of spavined ponies, a lot
+of imitation cowboys, fake Indians, and Coney Island target shooters."
+
+"An' yer didn't take 'em?" asked Bud, in surprise.
+
+"Tush! Well, I was up against it, when Morrison, the hotel man, told me
+that there was a showman in town, and perhaps I might get something out
+of him.
+
+"I hunted him up. He was a typical showman. Big fellow, large as a
+Noah's ark, dressed like a sunset, and loud as an eighteen-inch gun."
+
+"I saw the fellow in Soldier Butte the other day. He was talking to
+Wiley Creviss in the bank," said Ted. "You've described him more
+picturesquely than I should, but I'm convinced he's the same man."
+
+"I asked him what he had, and he told me he could furnish me on short
+notice anything from a three-ring circus to a hand organ and monkey,"
+continued Ben. "I told him how much money I wanted to spend, and he said
+he'd fix me up a show that would make everybody delighted, and I told
+him to go ahead. The show blew in to-night, and ran up their tents down
+near the corral."
+
+"How many have you got in it?"
+
+"I've got a balloon ascension for the afternoon, a giant and a midget, a
+magician, an Egyptian fortune teller, a trick mule, a Circassian beauty,
+and a strong man." Ben looked around proudly, and the boys burst into
+peals of laughter.
+
+"Have you scraped the mold off of them yet?" asked Kit.
+
+"How's that?" asked Ben haughtily.
+
+"Have you pulled the burs off the chestnuts?"
+
+"See here, what do you mean? Are you casting aspersions on my show?"
+
+"Not exactly, but I think you've been stung by some old stranded side
+show that was taking the tie route back home. Circassian beaut! Ho-ho,
+likewise ha-ha! and some more."
+
+"Ter say nothin' o' a Egyptian fortune teller from Popodunk, Ioway, an'
+a wild man from ther Quaker village. Oh! give me ther smellin' salts.
+I'm goin' ter hev ther histrikes," laughed Bud.
+
+"Haf you not got a echukated vooly pig und a feller vot 'eats 'em
+alife'?" asked Carl.
+
+"That's right, Dutchy. It's a bum show what ain't got them," laughed
+Bud.
+
+The boys were laughing until the house rang with it, and Stella poked
+her pretty head out of the door to ask to be told the joke. Bud
+complied, with many humorous embellishments.
+
+"Don't pay any attention to them, Ben," said Stella sympathetically,
+"I'll take in the show from start to finish."
+
+"Could friendship go any farther than that?" asked Kit pathetically.
+
+"Oh, you fellows give me a pain," said Ben, rising and stalking off to
+bed.
+
+He was soon followed by the others, Ted and Kit remaining behind to
+gather up the money and slip rubber bands around each of the packages of
+currency.
+
+"We ought to have a safe in the house, Ted," said Kit, looking over the
+pile of money. "We often have large sums of money in the house, and some
+time we might get robbed."
+
+"There's not much danger of that, Kit," answered Ted. "There are not
+many fellows who would have the nerve to come into this house. Too many
+guns, and too many fellows who are not afraid to shoot them. I'm not
+afraid."
+
+"What was that?"
+
+Kit was staring at the rear window.
+
+"What?"
+
+"I just looked up and thought I saw a face at the window."
+
+"You're getting imaginative."
+
+Just then the clock struck twelve.
+
+"No, I don't think so. I heard a slight cracking noise and looked up.
+Something white appeared at the window for an instant. It looked like
+the face of a child."
+
+"Nonsense. A child couldn't look through that window. It's seven feet
+from the ground."
+
+"Well, I suppose I was mistaken. Let's hide that money and go to bed."
+
+"Where shall we put it?"
+
+Kit looked around the room, then smiled.
+
+"Why, in the cubby-hole, of course. There's a safe for you. We haven't
+used it for so long that I'd almost forgotten it."
+
+"The very thing. Nobody'd find it there in a blue moon."
+
+They crossed over to a corner of the room and threw back the corner of a
+rug. Where the baseboard was mortised at the corner there appeared to
+have been a patch put in. Ted placed his hand against this, near the
+top, and it tipped back. It was hung on a pivot, and, as its top went in
+and the bottom came out, there was revealed a boxlike receptacle about
+two feet long and six inches deep.
+
+"This is a bully place," said Ted, placing the packages of money within
+it. "It is known to only five of us, and I'll bet that most of us have
+forgotten its very existence."
+
+The board was turned back into place and the rug spread out again.
+
+"Safe as in the Strongburg Bank," said Kit. "Well, me for the feathers.
+We're going to be kept humping to-morrow. _Buenas noches_."
+
+In a few minutes the big ranch house was dark and quiet; every person
+in it was sound asleep.
+
+Ted Strong had sunk into a deep and untroubled sleep, for his day had
+been very active, and he was tired when he lay down.
+
+But he had not been sleeping more than a half hour when he found himself
+sitting straight up in bed, very wide-awake, and wondering why.
+
+"Something wrong in the house," he muttered to himself.
+
+He sniffed the air to discover the smell of smoke. But it was not that.
+
+Had he locked up? He went over his actions just before retiring, and was
+sure that he had attended faithfully to everything.
+
+The money! The thought came to him like a blow.
+
+Something had happened to the money.
+
+He was out of bed in a jiffy and slipped into his trousers, and,
+grabbing his revolver from beneath his pillow, he opened the door and
+walked softly along the hall in his bare feet.
+
+The hall opened into the living room through an arch in which a
+portiere, made of small pieces of bamboo strung together, was hung.
+
+As he looked cautiously into the living room his elbow struck this, and
+it rattled sharply in the stillness.
+
+He had heard a faint creak, and, as he peeped around the corner of the
+arch, he saw dimly the figure of a man near the door, evidently just in
+the act of opening it.
+
+With a succession of noiseless leaps Ted was across the room, and
+arrived at the door just as it swung open and the man was about to
+depart.
+
+But Ted was upon his back with the swiftness of a bobcat, and they came
+together to the floor with? a crash.
+
+The burglar was beneath, but this did not prevent him from fighting
+with a desperation that lent strength to his already strong and lithe
+body.
+
+He was slenderer and younger than Ted, who could feel it in the fellow's
+build as they struggled.
+
+"Let me out, or I'll kill you," said the burglar, and Ted saw the flash
+of a knife.
+
+At the same moment something rushed past them in the dark, and out of
+the door.
+
+As Ted saw it dimly it was small, and its motions were awkward and
+lumbering. He thought it was a dog, and was about to raise his revolver
+to fire at it when he thought better of it, as he did not want to arouse
+the household if he could conquer his man without making a noise.
+
+"Don't shoot," said the man, who had observed Ted's motion with the gun.
+
+At this extraordinary request Ted paused.
+
+He had twisted the man's wrist until he dropped the knife, and then
+shoved it beyond reach with the muzzle of his revolver.
+
+His strong left hand was in the nape of the fellow's neck, and Ted had
+his nose ground into the rug. He had found a gun in the fellow's hip
+pocket, and relieved him of it.
+
+Then Ted rose, and told his captive to get up
+
+Slowly he did so, and Ted made him move to the center of the room.
+
+Bud's golden head appeared around the corner of the doorway.
+
+Ted could just distinguish it.
+
+"Who's that?" asked Bud.
+
+"It's Ted. Come in and strike a light. I've caught something."
+
+In a moment a light flared up.
+
+"Jack Farley!" exclaimed Ted, in astonishment.
+
+"Yes, blast you, Jack Farley," replied the youth.
+
+"Couldn't keep away, eh?"
+
+"A feller'd think thet once was enough," said Bud.
+
+"I couldn't help myself. I had to come," growled Farley.
+
+"Well, this time you'll stay. You shan't abuse our hospitality again.
+Bud, get a rope and tie our friend. He's skittish, and is likely to run
+away if he's turned loose."
+
+Farley was soon tied securely.
+
+"Keep an eye on him, Bud," said Ted. "I want to look over the premises."
+
+Ted went directly to the corner and pushed back the pivot door, struck a
+match, and looked into the box.
+
+It was empty.
+
+Then, turning back to Farley, he searched him thoroughly.
+
+There was no money in his pockets.
+
+Ted called up Kit, and the three of them ransacked the living room
+thoroughly, but not a dollar could be found. "What did you do with the
+money you stole from that hole?" said Ted, gazing fiercely into Farley's
+eyes.
+
+"I haven't seen a dollar of it," was the reply.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+TED STRONG HAS A THEORY.
+
+
+After Farley had been securely locked up in a storeroom without windows,
+they went to bed, feeling secure that there would be no further attempt
+to enter the house that night.
+
+At breakfast they discussed the robbery after their guests had left the
+house.
+
+"I don't understand what became of the money," said Ted. "It looks to me
+like one of those mysterious robberies, and the capture of Farley puts
+it up to the Riley and Creviss gang. Now that we've been touched
+personally we will take some interest in the gang, and I have a large
+crayon picture of about a dozen hitherto respectable young fellows
+learning useful trades in a reformatory institution."
+
+"But that doesn't bring back our money, neither does it tell us how it
+was stolen or what became of it," said Ben.
+
+"I can't get a thing out of Farley," said Ted. "I tackled him this
+morning as soon as I got up, but he wouldn't open his mouth. My belief
+is that he is in deadly fear of some one, probably Skip Riley."
+
+"Well, we've got him where the hair is short, anyway," said Kit. "He was
+caught in the act, and will come out of prison an older and a wiser
+man."
+
+"What else besides Farley did you see in the room, Ted?" asked Stella.
+
+"I really couldn't say what it was," said Ted. "It was dark, and there
+was only the faintest kind of light outside from the stars. The room was
+perfectly dark. I was sitting on Farley's back holding him down. He had
+thrown the door open, and we were in the doorway, but there was a space
+between us and the door-jamb.
+
+"Suddenly I heard a faint noise beside me and could just see something
+scud past me onto the veranda."
+
+"What did it look like?"
+
+"It was about as high as a small dog, only shorter and thicker than a
+dog, and ran with a clumsy, heavy, sideways motion."
+
+"Are you sure it was a dog?"
+
+"No, I'm not sure, for I didn't see it plainly. All I could see was that
+it looked like some kind of an animal, but just what kind I couldn't
+determine."
+
+"Your description would lead me to believe that it was a coon."
+
+"No, I don't think it was a coon, or I would have been able to
+distinguish it by its smell."
+
+"I didn't know but that it might be a coon trained to steal and sneak
+out. I've heard of such things, and it is by no means impossible, for
+you know that coons, like crows, are natural-born thieves."
+
+"By Jove, that gives me an idea. I think it was a dog, and that its
+strange gait was due to the fact that the money had been tied upon him
+so that he would get away with it in case Farley was caught."
+
+"No, the dog theory is wrong. What about a trained monkey?" Stella
+looked around the table to see how this was taken.
+
+"C'rect!" shouted Bud. "Stella, yer struck ther problem a solar plexus
+thet time."
+
+"That does seem reasonable, and if it is true it solves the mysterious
+robberies of the Strongburg Trust Company's office, the post office, and
+Creviss' bank," said Ted.
+
+"It's worth looking into, anyway," said Ben. "Now I wonder if there is
+such a thing as a trained monkey in my marvelous and magnificent
+gathering of the splendors of the Orient out there. By Jove, I'm going
+through that camp with a fine-tooth comb, and if I find a monk, I'll
+habeas-corpus him, and we'll hang him to the rafters."
+
+"Well, mum's the word about the money," warned Ted. "We don't want this
+thing to leak out. If it does, there's a chance against us."
+
+Although they all felt pretty blue about the loss of the money, they had
+nothing but hearty welcomes and smiles for their guests, who began to
+arrive from all parts of the county, and from far-distant States and
+Territories, to help rejoice with the boys for a prosperous year, not
+knowing that all the prosperity had fallen into the hands of thieves.
+
+The grounds about the ranch house had been gayly decorated for the
+occasion. An enormous American flag flapped and snapped in the fresh
+breeze from the top of a tall staff in front of the house, and the Belle
+Fourche band was playing in a gayly decorated stand. The showmen had
+erected their tents, and already the boys and girls from the ranches and
+towns were going in and out, witnessing the wonders to be beheld in
+them.
+
+Stella was receiving her girl guests on the veranda, for she was a great
+favorite among the cowgirls in the country on account of her
+friendliness and unaffected ways.
+
+Mrs. Graham was welcoming the older women, while Ted and Jack Slate were
+shaking hands with the ranchmen and cowboys.
+
+Clay's fires were going well, and the steer and sheep were being roasted
+for the noontime feast.
+
+Ben had gone on a still-hunt among the tents belonging to the showman,
+and, while he found three small dogs, there was no sign of a monkey, and
+by adroit questioning he learned that they had had a monkey, but that
+it had died at Leadville, because the air in that altitude was too cold
+and rare for it.
+
+These facts he communicated to Ted, and seemed to explode the
+monkey-thief theory.
+
+During the morning there was a baseball game between the cowboys and the
+clerks from the stores in Soldier Butte and Strongburg, in which the
+score was forty-one to three in favor of the clerks. The cowboys
+couldn't play ball any more than a rabbit, encumbered as they were by
+their chaps, high-heeled boots, and spurs. It took a home-run hit to get
+one of them to first base.
+
+After dinner the cowboy sports were to come off.
+
+When Ted could get away from his duties as host for a few minutes he
+sauntered through the crowd, extending greetings to all whom he knew,
+but at the same time keeping a close watch over everything.
+
+The theft of the money from the cubby-hole had aroused in him all his
+detective instincts.
+
+He saw two or three of the young fellows who had been with Wiley Creviss
+the night of the ball, but he paid no attention to them. They were
+welcome to come to the festivities, and to remain so long as they
+behaved themselves.
+
+But he determined to have them watched.
+
+Soon he came upon some more of the Creviss gang and saw them mingle with
+several boys, whom he knew to be tough characters, from Strongburg.
+
+"The clan is gathering," he said to himself. "We're likely to have
+trouble with those fellows before the day is over. I'll put Bud next to
+them, and have the boys watch them."
+
+"Whom do you suppose I saw just now?"
+
+It was Stella's voice, and she was standing at his elbow.
+
+"Who?" he asked.
+
+"Wiley Creviss."
+
+"Is that so? I have been watching for him to come along. A lot of his
+fellows are here, and they are sticking pretty well together. Where did
+you see him?"
+
+"I told Ben I'd take in his show even if no one else did, and I've kept
+my promise. When I was in that biggest tent I suddenly came upon Creviss
+in close conversation with the boss showman. When they saw me looking at
+them they separated in a hurry, and Creviss left the tent."
+
+"H'm! I wonder if Ben knows this fellow who owns the show."
+
+"Don't know, I'm sure. It wouldn't be a bad scheme to find out something
+about him in view of the robbery last night."
+
+"You're right, Stella. Another thing I've been thinking about: I've been
+looking for Skip Riley, the Strongburg fireman, the supposed leader of
+the Flying Demons. If they are going to try any of their monkey business
+to-day he ought to be here."
+
+"Haven't you heard the news? I intended to tell you, but must have
+forgotten. The last time I was in Strongburg I heard that Riley had
+resigned, and left the town for the East."
+
+"I hadn't heard it. Then that puts it up to Creviss."
+
+"But who is the fellow who runs the show? Ben says his name is Colonel
+Ben Robinson, and that he is an old circusman down on his luck
+temporarily."
+
+"Look around and find out what you can. They will not suspect you if you
+ask questions as they would me. If you find out anything, let me know."
+
+"All right, Ted, I'll circulate, and report."
+
+Ted wandered over to the show tents, and entered them all, with kindly
+greetings to the performers, who all knew him as the leader of the
+broncho boys, and asked him if they could be excused from performing
+while the riding and other cowboy stunts were going forward, and Ted
+told them to lay off if they wanted to, as most of the guests would be
+out in the grand stand, anyhow.
+
+In the last tent he entered he found the strong man lifting weights
+against a lot of husky cow-punchers, and the giant and midget.
+
+But it was the midget that struck him most forcibly. He had a sly,
+cunning face and a bad eye, and when Ted came in he tried to hide behind
+the giant, who picked him up as one would a baby in arms. But the little
+fellow wriggled free and climbed down the big man like a monkey down a
+tree. Then he slipped across to the middle of the tent and shinned up
+the pole to the top, and hung there, looking down at Ted.
+
+"What's the matter with the little fellow?" Ted asked the giant.
+
+"Oh, he ain't got real good sense," rumbled the giant. "His brain
+stopped growing with his body, I reckon. But you can teach him tricks
+the same as you can a dog or a monkey, and he'll do them all right. I
+reckon he's afraid of you. He is of some people, the boss in
+particular."
+
+"How long have you been with the boss?"
+
+"Not very long. He just took the show over from the old boss a month
+ago. We were going to pieces over to Cheyenne, and he come along and
+bought us. He's been a showman in his time, but says he hasn't been in
+the biz for several years. He knows the biz, though, and has scads of
+money. We are well fed and get our salaries regular. Him and Prince
+Carl, that's the midget, are great pals. The midget sleeps in his tent,
+and the boss seldom lets him out of his sight."
+
+"Say, Bellows, how many times have I got to tell you not to stand there
+gassing with patrons of the show? Every one don't want to bother with
+your theories and troubles." Ted turned, to face the boss showman.
+
+"Oh, it's you, Mr. Strong?" he went on. "I didn't recognize your back.
+It's all right to talk to you. But I've got to call the giant down once
+in so often for taking up people's time, for he's an awful gabber."
+
+He walked away, but when Ted tried to get the giant to tell him some
+more about the midget and the boss, he would not say a word.
+
+But the giant had planted the seed of a theory in Ted's mind.
+
+Presently Ted saw Stella beckoning to him in the crowd, and forced his
+way to her side.
+
+She took his arm, and they got out of the crowd. Ted saw that she had
+something to communicate.
+
+"Well?" he said, smiling down on her.
+
+"There's going to be something doing here," said she. "The boss showman
+has been talking with several of the gang."
+
+"All right. Did you hear anything about Skip Riley?"
+
+"Yes. He's been gone from Strongburg about a month."
+
+"Learn anything else about him?"
+
+"Skip Riley is not his name at all."
+
+"That so? What is it? Did you learn?"
+
+"I was talking to a lady from Strongburg, one of those who got him a job
+on the fire department."
+
+"What did she know about him?"
+
+"She said that she was appointed a committee of one by the Ladies' Aid
+Society over there to look up the new fireman's career."
+
+"And I suppose she ran onto some hot stuff?"
+
+"It seems that the ex-convict, Skip Riley, had been a circus performer
+once upon a time, before he took to being a burglar."
+
+"Was burglary the crime for which he was put in prison?"
+
+"Yes, so she says. He was an aeronaut and acrobat."
+
+"Good! And what was his stage name? Did she say?"
+
+"Robinson--Ben Robinson. She says that she was told that he was quite
+famous in his day as a circus performer, but that he couldn't resist the
+temptation to steal, and so had to quit the business, as none of the
+circus proprietors would have him around."
+
+"Did she say where she got this information?"
+
+"Yes. It was sent to her by the warden of the penitentiary in which
+Riley was confined before he came to Strongburg."
+
+"Then her information is probably correct. Stella, thanks to you, we've
+got them dead to rights. We've solved the mystery hanging around all
+these recent robberies."
+
+"Nearly, but not quite. How were they accomplished?"
+
+"That I don't know positively, but I have a theory which I believe will
+turn out to be correct."
+
+"But about Riley?"
+
+"Ben Robinson, the proprietor of this show, and Skip Riley, burglar and
+ex-convict, are one and the same man."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+ALOFT AFTER A PRISONER.
+
+
+"All ready for the big show," cried Kit, riding up to Ted. "When will we
+begin the sports?"
+
+Ted looked over the grand stand, which was built around an arena in
+which the cowboy sports were to come off.
+
+This was the most important event of the day, for while bronchobusting
+and cattle roping are a cowboy's business, yet he finds unending
+amusement in doing these same things if his girl and friends are there
+to witness his skill.
+
+After some ordinary feats of trick riding by the visiting cowboys,
+several really dangerous steers were turned loose in the arena, and for
+several minutes a very fair imitation of a Spanish bullfight, minus the
+killing of the animals, took place.
+
+After several of the steers had been roped, thrown, and tied, there
+still remained in the arena a sullen and difficult brute, which was as
+tricky as a rat, and the boys gave him up one at a time.
+
+"Why don't you give the girls a chance at him?" shouted a cowgirl
+derisively, from the seats.
+
+"Any girl who wants to tackle him is at liberty to do so," Ted shouted
+back through his megaphone.
+
+Instantly three girls leaped into the arena, and borrowed ponies from
+their cowboy acquaintances.
+
+Ted motioned to Sophy Cozak, the pretty and buxom girl from the Bohemian
+prairie, whom Bud had admired at the dance; she rode forward on Bud's
+own particular horse, Ranger.
+
+Sophy had several brothers who had taught her the cow business, and she
+had few equals on the range.
+
+As she rode out she was greeted with a round of applause from her
+admirers. She gathered up her rope and sent the horse forward at an easy
+lope toward the steer, which looked at her a moment and trotted off.
+
+Sophy followed him, and made three casts of the rope, and every time the
+brute dodged it, and the rope fell to the ground.
+
+That settled it with Sophy, and she rode in, and another girl took her
+place. She, too, was unsuccessful, as was the third, and the audience
+was distinctly disappointed.
+
+"Ladies and gentlemen," cried Ted, through the megaphone. "It was not
+the intention of any one living on the Moon Valley Ranch to take part in
+these contests, but if there are no other young ladies in the grand
+stand who would like to try their ropes on the steer, we can produce one
+whom we think can rope and tie it at the first trial. I refer to Miss
+Stella Fosdick. I have not consulted her wishes in the matter, but will
+ask her if she will undertake it."
+
+At this a wild cheer went up, and Ted dashed out of the arena to find
+Stella. In a moment he was back, and announced that Miss Fosdick would
+try it.
+
+Presently Stella rode in on Custer at a hard gallop, gathering up her
+rope as she rode. There was a sort of gay self-confidence in her manner
+that captivated the throng, and the cheers split the air.
+
+Stella rode straight at the steer, which, seeing her approach; galloped
+down the arena with her in pursuit.
+
+Swinging her rope above her head, she chased it back until it was about
+in the middle of the field, and suddenly the rope left her hand
+unerringly and shot through the air, seemed to hesitate for an instant,
+then fell over the steer's head.
+
+Custer came to a stop the moment the rope left her hand, with his body
+well braced. The steer went to the end of the rope as fast as it could
+go, then was flung in the air, and lay upon his back sprawling like some
+ridiculous four-legged crab, while the girl leaped from her saddle, ran
+swiftly across the intervening space, tied his legs together, and held
+up her hand.
+
+The crowd fairly went wild with enthusiasm at her feat, as she mounted
+again, leaving the steer to the tender mercies of the cow-punchers, who
+flocked about her. Then she dashed out of the arena, waving her hat in
+recognition of the applause.
+
+Then the bunch of wild Montana horses, which never had felt the saddle,
+were driven in, and Ted offered a twenty-dollar gold piece to any
+puncher who could rope, saddle, and bridle, and ride one of the bronchos
+ten minutes without being thrown.
+
+"Easy money!" shouted the cowboys, flocking into the arena.
+
+The black, which had caused Ted so much trouble when the bunch first
+came to the ranch, was not with them. He was considered too dangerous an
+animal to be handled at an entertainment where there were so many women
+and children.
+
+Only two cow-punchers succeeded in even getting their saddles on the
+bronchos without throwing them and hog-tying them, and only one, Billy
+Sudden, stayed the required ten minutes, and he said afterward that it
+wasn't his fault, because the broncho wouldn't let him get off.
+
+Ted then announced that there was another animal in the herd that he
+would ask no man to ride, but that he would try to do so himself.
+
+Another great cheer went up as Ted rode away after the black demon, to
+whom the boys had given the name Lucifer, for his supposed resemblance
+to his satanic majesty.
+
+But it was found impossible to drive Lucifer into the arena.
+
+"Never mind," said Ted, "we'll throw the saddle on him here, and I'll
+ride him in."
+
+A crowd of men and boys was standing around, and Ted removed his saddle
+and handed it to a young fellow in the crowd to hold until he had thrown
+Lucifer. The animal was standing in the center of the circle, his wary
+eyes taking in the crowd, and letting fly with his heels at the approach
+of any one.
+
+"Now, Bud," called Ted, "ride in on him and rope him. You, Kit, get him
+by the leg and throw him, and I'll slip a bridle on him."
+
+It was not much of a trick to rope and hold him so that he couldn't
+kick. But when Ted tried to slip the bit between his teeth, he fought
+like the demon that he was, biting and kicking, so that he had to be
+thrown to his side and his head held down before the bridle could be put
+on him.
+
+Then he was allowed to rise. There was no doubt but that the horse was
+insane with rage and fear, and several cowmen came forward and tried to
+persuade Ted from attempting to ride him, but Ted was as obstinate as
+the horse, and said that he would conquer the black, or die in the
+attempt.
+
+He finally found the fellow who had been holding his saddle, although he
+had left his stand and was found back behind the crowd talking to a gang
+of young fellows, among whom Ted recognized several of Creviss'
+companions. This delayed and angered him, and he called the saddle
+bearer down for deserting his post, and was answered with sneers and
+laughter.
+
+After many trials, and the exertion of a great deal of patience, Ted got
+the saddle on Lucifer and hastily cinched, and as he sprang to the
+brute's back the ropes were loosed. With a bound and a snort of terror
+the black dashed forward, and it was with the greatest difficulty that
+Ted swung it so it went through the gates and into the arena without
+dashing him against the posts.
+
+Once inside the arena, the brute began to exhibit terrible ferocity.
+
+Stella and Bud had followed in his wake, and when the girl saw how the
+brute was behaving, she whispered to Bud:
+
+"That demon will kill him yet."
+
+"If he don't kill it," answered Bud.
+
+"Why did you let him ride it? I got there a moment too late, and he was
+already in the saddle, or I should have stopped it."
+
+"What could I do? He had told the people he would ride it, and that
+settled it with him."
+
+Lucifer was exercising all the tricks known to wild and terrified
+bronchos when they first feel saddle and bridle, and which seem to be
+inbred in them. He bucked, but there was never a horse that could buck
+Ted off. He reared, he kicked, rolled, and fell backward. But every time
+he stopped for a moment to note the result, there the unshakable enemy
+was on his back again. Clearly he was puzzled.
+
+Then a new paroxysm of rage would shake him, and he would go through the
+same performances again, but with no better success.
+
+Suddenly Ted brought his quirt down on the brute's flanks, and it leaped
+high into the air in an agony of fear and pain. It had felt that
+stinging thing before, and hated it.
+
+Then it started to run away from this terrible thing that bestrode its
+back.
+
+"By Heaven! it's running away," muttered Bud. "It'll be an act o'
+Providence if Ted isn't killed."
+
+Down the arena they dashed, Ted sitting in the saddle as if he and it
+and the stallion were all of a piece.
+
+When the brute came to the arena's end, and saw before him the shouting
+multitude, it suddenly swerved to come back, and Ted realized that
+something had happened to the saddle. It was slipping, and yet he was
+sure he had cinched it tight. Back they came tearing again, and passed
+Stella and Bud like a rocket.
+
+"Great guns!" cried Bud, "his saddle's loose. He's a goner now, shore."
+
+Every one saw Ted's danger, for Ted was leaning well over, and the
+saddle was on the horse's side. A hollow groan went up.
+
+At Bud's first words Stella was off after Ted like a shot.
+
+The horse, as every one could now see, was trying its best to kill Ted,
+and many of the spectators were positive that it would do so.
+
+Now the cinch had parted.
+
+"The cinch has broken," the shout went up. "It will kill him, sure!" Ted
+was now leaning far over on the horse's side, his left leg well under
+the horse's belly and his foot in the stirrup, while the heel of his
+left, boot was clinging to the edge of the tipped saddle. It was a most
+precarious position, for if the saddle slipped farther he would go under
+and be trampled and kicked to death before any one could reach him.
+
+The powerful brute was bent on Ted's destruction, and seemed about to
+accomplish it, when Stella galloped to his side, and, grasping his hand,
+held him safe.
+
+"The cinch is off," she called to him. "I'll help you up, then kick the
+saddle loose."
+
+Slowly but surely Ted worked himself up until he could release his foot
+from the stirrup. Then, with a sudden wrench that almost pulled Stella
+to the ground, he was again on top. With a kick he sent the saddle to
+the ground, and was riding bareback, while the brute stumbled and
+almost went to his knees as the saddle fell between his legs.
+
+But now Ted took charge of the situation. With quirt and spur he drove
+the beast here and there, punishing it, giving it no rest, allowing it
+to do nothing in its own way until it staggered and heaved and swayed
+with fatigue and lack of breath, and yet he urged it.
+
+"He'll kill that horse yet," said Billy Sudden.
+
+"No, he knows what that horse will stand, and he's going to make him
+stand it," said Bud.
+
+The people had never seen such riding as this, and when they realized
+that Ted had conquered the stallion and was now rubbing it in, they
+shouted until their throats cracked.
+
+At last the horse could go no farther, and Ted let it stop, as he
+slipped to the ground and gave the brute a slap with his hand.
+
+"I reckon you'll know better next time, old fellow," was all he said,
+and walked to where his saddle was lying.
+
+As he picked it up, he was seen to stop and look at the cinch carefully,
+then hurry to where the boys were awaiting him.
+
+"Fellows," he said solemnly, throwing the saddle on the ground, "that
+cinch did not break, it was cut."
+
+A dozen of the boys leaped to the ground and examined the cinch.
+
+It was true. The cinch had been cut almost through with a sharp knife,
+and the strain upon it had parted it. There could be no doubt as to what
+had been intended.
+
+As Stella came riding up, she shouted:
+
+"The cinch was cut. I saw it. Wiley Creviss did it. I didn't realize at
+the time what he was doing or know that it was Ted's saddle, and when I
+did find out, he was mounted and away."
+
+A howl of indignation went up at this.
+
+"Scatter out, boys, and round up Creviss," shouted Billy Sudden. "We
+know what to do with him when he's caught."
+
+Ted's adventure with Lucifer ended the performances in the arena, and,
+as the balloon was inflated and ready to ascend, the people flocked to
+where it was straining at the ropes.
+
+Ted had mounted Sultan again, and left the arena surrounded by Stella
+and the boys.
+
+"Who's going up in her?" asked Ted.
+
+"Ben Robinson, the boss," answered Ben.
+
+"Do you know who he is?" asked Ted.
+
+Ben stared at him without replying.
+
+"I'll tell you," said Ted. "He's Skip Riley, thief and ex-convict, the
+leader of the Flying Demons. He is the man who caused us to lose our
+money last night, and who engineered all the mysterious robberies
+hereabouts. Do you reckon he intends to come back?"
+
+Ben's eyes started from their sockets in surprise.
+
+"I--I don't know," he stammered. "By Jove! we must stop him. Maybe he's
+going to skip."
+
+The boys had crowded about Ted as he spoke.
+
+"We'll have to hurry if we get him," shouted Ben. "He's in the basket
+now."
+
+With shouts of warning Ted and the boys pushed their horses through the
+crowd, which rushed aside to let them through.
+
+They could see Skip Riley lift a large tin box into the basket from the
+ground. As he was getting ready to start there was a shrill cry, and the
+midget came waddling through the crowd and climbed over the side of the
+car and up Riley's body until it clung to his shoulder like a monkey. A
+great many of the thoughtless laughed at this. They did not understand
+the significance of the move.
+
+"Get ready to cut her loose," shouted Riley.
+
+Two or three men stood by with sharp knives in their hands.
+
+Riley saw Ted and the boys pushing rapidly through the crowd.
+
+"Cut her loose!" shouted Riley, and the balloon shot upward, amid the
+shouts of the people.
+
+"Too late,'" said Ben.
+
+"Not yet," cried Ted, spurring through the crowd.
+
+A long guide rope was dragging from the car of the balloon.
+
+"Follow me, Bud. The balance of you catch Creviss and the rest of them.
+I'm going with Riley."
+
+Before they knew exactly what he meant, Ted grasped the guide rope as it
+passed over his head, and was swung out of the saddle and dangled in the
+air, to the horror of the people, who expected to see him fall and be
+dashed to pieces at any minute, for the balloon had shot up rapidly and
+was now several hundred feet above the ground.
+
+But Riley, looking over the country and taking account of the direction
+in which the balloon was traveling, was unaware that he had taken on
+another passenger.
+
+Hand over hand Ted climbed steadily, until at last he reached the car
+and looked over the edge of it.
+
+Riley's back was toward him, and noiselessly Ted slipped over the side
+and into the basket.
+
+Then the midget happened to turn his head, and saw Ted and uttered a
+frightened cry, which brought Riley around so that he found himself
+looking into the cold, dark bore of Ted's forty-four.
+
+"Got you!" said Ted coolly.
+
+"How did you get here?" said Riley, trying to smile. "If I'd known that
+you wanted to come I'd have waited for you."
+
+"I don't think," said Ted. "But now we'll go down."
+
+"No, I've got to give the people a run for their money. We must go a
+little farther."
+
+"I said we'd go down."
+
+"But we can't until the gas gets cool and exhausts. I have no escape
+valve."
+
+"Then I'll shoot a hole in the bag. I guess we'll go down then."
+
+"For Heaven's sake, don't do that! You'd blow us all to pieces."
+
+"Then down with her. I mean what I say."
+
+Riley looked at Ted for a moment, then pulled a string. There followed a
+hissing noise, and the balloon began to sink, slowly at first, then more
+rapidly.
+
+Ted did not dare take his eyes off Riley to see how close they were to
+the ground. But he heard the Moon Valley long yell, and knew that they
+were near the earth, and that Bud Morgan was not far away.
+
+Suddenly the car bumped on the ground, bounced and struck again, then
+stopped, and Ted heard Bud's cheerful voice right behind him.
+
+"Jumpin' sand hills, so yer got him, eh? Come, climb out," said Bud to
+Riley, "we need yer on terry firmy."
+
+"Cover him, Bud, while I search him. If he makes a break, kill him. He's
+an ex-convict, so don't take any chances with him," said Ted.
+
+Riley yielded up a gun and a knife and then he was hustled out of the
+car, with the midget still clinging to him, and Ted took charge of the
+tin box.
+
+Billy Sudden and some of his men had come up, and so had Ben and Kit,
+and Riley was conducted back to the ranch house strongly guarded.
+
+Once inside with their prisoners and the boys, Ted closed the doors on
+the curious crowd. The first thing he did was to open the tin box. On
+top were the packages of bills stolen from the cubby-hole, and beneath
+it a large amount of money and the bonds taken from the Strongburg
+Trust Company, as well as registered letters from which the money had
+not yet been extracted, and a large amount of brand-new treasury notes
+which answered the description of the government funds stolen from
+Creviss' bank.
+
+"It's all here," said Ted, "and the evidence is complete."
+
+"But how did he manage to do it without leaving a mark or a broken lock
+behind him?" asked Ben.
+
+"How? By means of this," and Ted placed his hand on the head of the
+midget, who shrank from him with a snarling cry.
+
+"Still I don't understand it."
+
+"The day I saw him in the Creviss bank he marched out with the plunder
+under my very eyes. The day before the robbery this fellow went into the
+bank with the dwarf in his valise. Wiley Creviss was alone. The valise
+was opened, and the dwarf slipped out of the valise and into the vault,
+and concealed himself.
+
+"During the night the dwarf collected all the money and bonds he could,
+and made himself comfortable. When it came time for the bank to open in
+the morning he again concealed himself, and remained in hiding until
+noon, when Wiley Creviss again came on watch while the cashier went to
+dinner. Then Riley, here, entered with his valise, and the dwarf crept
+into it, and was carried out of the bank with the money."
+
+"But what had the midget to do with the theft of our money?"
+
+"That's simple. Farley and the dwarf were to do the job. The dwarf was
+sent up to the roof, for he can climb like a monkey, and came down the
+chimney and opened the door for Farley. That was a mistake, for they
+would not have been caught, except for Farley."
+
+"How did they know where you hid the money?"
+
+"The dwarf saw us through the window, and Kit saw him, but I thought it
+was all imagination. That was how they robbed the post office. The dwarf
+was lowered down the chimney. That is about the size of it. Am I
+correct, Riley?"
+
+"Correct enough, so far as I'm concerned. I guess it's back to 'the
+stir' for me. But this midget didn't know what he was doing, and ought
+to be sent to an asylum instead of the prison," said Riley.
+
+At that moment there was a great commotion without, and a crowd of
+cowboys rode up. In the center of the circle made by them was Wiley
+Creviss and several of his gang. In all, with Riley and the dwarf, there
+were eight of them in custody, and without ado they were hurried to the
+Strongburg jail.
+
+The United States marshal was in Strongburg when Ted came in with his
+prisoners.
+
+"What is all this, Strong?" asked the marshal.
+
+"That bank-robbing gang you ordered me to bring in," answered Ted.
+
+"You made quick work of it. Get any of the money?"
+
+"All of it. It is in the Strongburg bank. You see, they made the mistake
+of robbing us last night. But for that they would have got away, and we
+would have had a hard time catching them. As it was, they walked right
+in to us."
+
+Skip Riley went back to the penitentiary for a long term of years, and
+the midget was sent to an asylum for the feeble-minded.
+
+Jack Farley turned State's evidence, and Creviss and ten other young
+reprobates were sent to a reformatory.
+
+As for Lucifer, he turned out, next to Sultan and Custer, the best horse
+on the ranch.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE ANONYMOUS LETTER.
+
+
+A very short time after the capture of Skip Riley, Ted Strong was
+standing in the waiting room of the Union Station at St. Louis, the
+metropolis of Missouri, whither he had been summoned by a letter from
+the chief of the United States secret service.
+
+He was waiting for Bud Morgan, who had gone to the baggage room to
+inquire about a trunk which had become lost on the way from Moon Valley,
+and which contained a number of valuable papers, including both their
+commissions as deputy United States marshals.
+
+The enormous waiting room was crowded with passengers from the incoming
+trains, with which the numerous tracks were full from end to end.
+
+As Ted Strong leaned over the iron railing, looking down into the lower
+waiting room, he was conscious that a woman had stepped to his side.
+Glancing up sideways, he saw that close to him was a very beautiful
+young girl, who wore a traveling cloak of pearl gray, and a long feather
+boa, which the draft had blown across his sleeve.
+
+His glance intercepted one from her, and not wishing her to think that
+he was idly staring at her, he directed his gaze once more to the
+surging crowd below. As his eyes wandered over the throng, he saw a man
+look up, and make the most imperceptible gesture with his head.
+
+He did not know the man. Turning swiftly to the young lady at his side,
+he caught sight of a smile and a slight uplifting of her eyebrows.
+
+Undoubtedly a signal had passed between the two, and Ted, not wishing
+to be an eavesdropper, looked away again. But in the swift glance he had
+given the young girl--for now he saw that she was little else--he made a
+mental note of her. The gray eyes with the long, dark lashes, the oval
+face, beautiful in shape and of an ivory tint; the scarlet, curving
+lips, the slender, trim figure, and the strange, subtle perfume which
+she exhaled, one would never forget.
+
+He also noted the appearance of the man who had signaled the girl.
+
+The man was five feet seven inches in height; his face was well rounded,
+but not too fat. He had a brown, pointed beard; the eyes were pale,
+almost colorless; the forehead, broad and high, a fact which Ted noted
+when the man lifted his hat to wipe his brow. He had the air of a
+well-bred man of the world, and was probably a resident of New York.
+There was something familiar about the man that made Ted think that he
+had seen him before.
+
+Ted saw Bud come through the door into the waiting room from the midway
+of the station, look up and wave his hand, with a frown and a shake of
+the head that told him his pard's quest for the missing baggage had been
+fruitless.
+
+At the same time, the girl at his side seemed to bump into him, and as
+he turned to her she muttered an apology and hurried away. Although he
+followed her with his eyes a few moments, she was soon lost in the
+crowd.
+
+He slipped his hands into the pockets of his jacket, and, with his back
+to the railing, prepared to wait until Bud reached him.
+
+As his left hand sank into his pocket, his fingers came in contact with
+a piece of paper.
+
+He knew that he had not placed the paper in his pocket, and glanced
+around with his usual caution to see if any one was watching him. He saw
+that wonderful pair of gray eyes with the dark lashes--Irish eyes, he
+called them--watching him over the shoulders of a man a dozen feet away
+in the crowd. But the moment the woman realized that she was being
+observed, she disappeared.
+
+"Deuced strange," he muttered to himself, fumbling with the paper, which
+he had not withdrawn from his pocket. "That girl placed this paper in my
+pocket. I wonder why. There is something out of the way here, for the
+paper was not there before she stood beside me."
+
+One less wise than Ted, and not so modest, might have thought that the
+girl was trying to flirt with him. But to Ted there was something more
+important and mysterious than that in her actions.
+
+If he read them aright, she had placed the paper in his pocket when she
+apparently accidentally bumped into him, and had gone away only to come
+back to see if he had discovered it.
+
+Although he searched the crowd with eager eyes, he did not see her
+again, and was confident that she had disappeared as soon as she had
+accomplished her mission, which was to convey some message to him.
+
+Although he was somewhat curious to know what, if anything, was written
+on the paper, he restrained himself until he could be alone, for he did
+not know who might be in that crowd looking for just such a move on his
+part.
+
+Just then Bud brushed his way through the crowd and came up to Ted.
+
+"Them things ain't come yit," he said, in a tone of discontent, "an' me
+stranded in St. Looey with no more clean shirt than a rabbit."
+
+"You can easily get a clean shirt," said Ted, "but it's not so easy to
+get a new commission. That's what's worrying me, for there is no
+telling how soon we may need one."
+
+"Well, let's git out o' this mob, er I'll begin ter beller an' mill, an'
+if they don't git out o' my way I'll cause sech a stampede thet it'll
+take ther police all day ter round 'em up ag'in."
+
+Ted said nothing to Bud about the paper he had discovered in his pocket,
+but picked up his valise. They then made their way to the street and
+rode uptown in a car, where they registered at a quiet hotel.
+
+Ted went immediately to the room assigned to him, locked the door, and
+drew out the paper.
+
+He could not conceive what it would contain, for he was far above the
+vanity of thinking that the young woman who had stood by his side would
+interest herself in him enough to write him a silly note.
+
+"The man with the pointed beard!" thought Ted.
+
+Of course, it was he who had caused the note to be slipped into his
+pocket.
+
+But why?
+
+Taking a chair by the window, he slowly opened the note, observing at
+the time that the same fragrance came from it as had filled the air
+while the girl stood beside him in the station.
+
+It was a sheet of pale-blue letter paper folded three times.
+
+In the upper left-hand corner was an embossed crest, the head of a lion
+rampant, and beneath it a dainty monogram, which he made out to be
+"O. B. N.," or any one of the combinations of those letters. He could
+not tell which combination was the correct one.
+
+The writing was in a fashionable feminine hand, and written with a
+pencil.
+
+It was as follows:
+
+     "T. S.: This is a friendly warning from one who dare not
+     communicate with you personally, for reasons which you will
+     discover and understand later on, if things turn out as we"--the
+     word "we" had been scratched out and "I" written above
+     it--"anticipate. Be very careful while you are in St. Louis. Do not
+     go on the streets alone, and go armed. Your mission is known, and
+     you will be watched by persons who will seek to get you out of the
+     way. We--that is, I, also know of your mission, and take this means
+     of warning you of your danger, as you have done me services in the
+     past without knowing it. Now, the sting of this note lies in this,
+     and don't forget it, don't get into any fights, no matter what the
+     provocation, for I have it straight that that, is the lay to do
+     you. If you do so, not being able to avoid it, shoot straight, and
+     you will come out all right in the end. I will see to that part of
+     it at the right time.
+
+     "A FRIEND."
+
+Ted read the letter through three times, trying to clarify it, but each
+time his mind became more confused over it.
+
+What did it mean, and how could any stranger know his business when he
+had not told a soul about it?
+
+Even Bud did not know why they were in St. Louis; that is, he did not
+know the real reason. Ostensibly, they were there to inspect the local
+horse market.
+
+There was a loud rap on the door, and Ted went to it and unlocked it.
+Throwing the door open, he saw a stranger standing on the threshold,
+just about to step in.
+
+He looked at Ted in apparent surprise, then up at the number on the
+door, but his eyes fell to the letter which Ted still held in his hand,
+and he stared at it like one fascinated.
+
+Ted noticed this, and put the letter behind his back.
+
+As the stranger did not speak, Ted broke the spell by saying, in a
+sarcastic tone:
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Oh, I beg your pardon," said the stranger hastily, "but isn't Mr. Fowle
+in? I expected him to come to the door, and was surprised to see you,
+don't you know."
+
+"I don't know any Mr. Fowle," said Ted, with a smile that must have told
+the stranger that he was not taken in by the question.
+
+The fellow threw a quick glance around the room, but did not retreat
+from his place in the doorway.
+
+Ted was starting to shut the door, considering the incident closed, when
+the stranger, who was a large, powerful man, well dressed and with the
+air of a prosperous business man, started to enter.
+
+"This is not Mr. Fowle's room; it is mine," said Ted, blocking the way,
+
+"I'll just step in and wait for him," said the man. "The clerk
+downstairs said it was his room."
+
+"Wait a minute," said Ted sternly. "I don't know you, and I don't know
+Fowle. If you have any business with me, state it from the hall."
+
+The warning in the letter flashed through his mind.
+
+Suddenly the man sprang upon Ted, and they fell to the floor together.
+
+"Give me that letter, curse you!" hissed the man, "I saw you get it, and
+I saw it just now. Give it to me, I tell you."
+
+Ted had managed to put the letter back into his pocket. His right arm
+was twisted under his body, and he could not release it.
+
+He looked up into the face of the man, who was straddling his body, and
+saw a gleam of malignant hatred in his eyes.
+
+"Let me up, you cur," said Ted.
+
+"After I get the letter," was the reply.
+
+"It's a private letter, and not for you. Let me up!"
+
+Now Ted saw that the man had a knife in his hand--a long, keen knife,
+with a pearl hilt and a silver guard.
+
+"If you don't give me that letter at once, you'll not get another
+chance, but I'll have it," snarled the man.
+
+Ted began to struggle, but he soon saw that he could do nothing with one
+arm out of commission. The man was not only powerful, but heavy, and it
+was all Ted could do to more than wriggle his body.
+
+"I tell you you shan't have it," said Ted.
+
+The knife went above the man's head, and in the wielder's face was a
+look of the most diabolical hatred Ted had ever seen in a human
+countenance.
+
+"For the last time," said the man hoarsely.
+
+There was something about the fellow's actions that told Ted he was
+desperate, yet at the same time afraid of the act he was about to
+commit.
+
+The knife was about to descend when Ted cried out an alarm, the first he
+had sounded.
+
+He heard some one running in the hall. His assailant heard it, also, and
+hesitated, looking around with frightened eyes.
+
+"Yi-yipee!" It was Bud's voice, and Ted breathed a prayer of
+thankfulness.
+
+"I'll give it to you, anyhow," muttered the man, and again the knife
+went up in the air.
+
+But it did not make a strike, for at that moment Bud bounded into the
+room, and, taking in the situation with a lightning glance, his foot
+flew out, and the toe of his heavy boot struck the man on top of Ted
+fairly in the ribs. There was a cracking sound, and with a groan the
+fellow dropped the knife and struggled to his feet.
+
+Rushing at Bud, he bowled that doughty individual over like a tenpin,
+and dashed into the hall, along which he ran swiftly and lightly, for
+so large a man.
+
+When Bud had picked himself up and run to the stairway, he could hear
+the fellow clattering down the stairs three flights below.
+
+"Well, dash my hopes," said Bud, "if he didn't get clear away. He shore
+treated me like a leetle boy. But I reckon he's in sech a hurry because
+he's on his way ter a drug store fer a porious plaster fer them ribs o'
+hisn."
+
+Ted had picked himself up and was rubbing his arm, which had been
+strained by his falling on it.
+
+"What's this yere all erbout?" asked Bud. "I'm comin' up ter call on yer
+when I hears yer blat, an' I come runnin', an' what do I see? A large,
+pale stranger erbout ter explore yer system with er bowie. Yer mixin' in
+sassiety quicker'n usual, seems ter me."
+
+Ted had picked up the knife, which had fallen beneath the bed, and was
+looking at it.
+
+"I wonder where this came from," he said, turning it over in his hand.
+
+"Wherever it came from, it's a wicked-lookin' cuss," said Bud. "But what
+wuz ther feller goin' ter explore yer with it fer?"
+
+"This letter," said Ted, taking the crumpled paper from his pocket and
+handing it to Bud.
+
+"Jumpin' sand hills, ther plot thickens," said Bud, when he had finished
+reading it. "I don't seem ter be in it at all. What's it all erbout?
+Ye've got my coco whirlin' shore."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE ABANDONED MOTOR CAR.
+
+
+"I'll tell you," said Ted, "if you'll take a seat and keep quiet until I
+get the thing straightened out in my own mind, for the incidents of the
+past hour certainly have got me going."
+
+Bud sat down and waited patiently for Ted, who was thinking deeply.
+
+"I didn't tell you the precise object of our visit to St. Louis," began
+Ted, "not because I didn't trust your ability to keep a secret, but in
+order to keep every one else in the dark."
+
+"D'yer mean ter say that ye hev stalled me along ter this town ter give
+me a leetle airin', an' not ter sell hosses?" asked Bud indignantly.
+
+"Not exactly. I want to sell the horses for the top price, but there was
+something else behind it."
+
+"A large man astraddle o' ye with a keen an' bitin' bowie at yer throat.
+Yer must be hard up fer amoosement."
+
+"Not that, either," said Ted, laughing. "I manage to get all the
+amusement that's coming to me."
+
+"I'm still gropin' fer enlightenment."
+
+"Here goes, then. For a couple of months the trains on the Union
+Pacific, in Nebraska and Wyoming, have been running the gantlet between
+bands of train robbers. If a train missed being robbed at one place, it
+was almost sure to get it at another, especially if it carried wealth of
+any description."
+
+"But ther railroads is erbout ther biggest chumps ter stand fer all this
+monkeydoodle business o' train robbin' ez long ez they hev. Why don't
+they get inter ther exterminatin' business, an' clean up ther last o'
+them?"
+
+"Too busy making money, I guess. But this time it is not the railroads
+who are going after them."
+
+"Who is it, me an' you?"
+
+"Almost. By orders of the government."
+
+"That's more like it. I don't hev no love fer a train robber, fer all I
+ever come in contact with wuz a bunch o' cowardly murderers, who fight
+like rats when they're cornered, an' kill innercent express messengers
+fer amoosement er devilment. But if Uncle Sammy sez so, an' needs my
+help, he's got it right swift an' willin'."
+
+"Well, he seems to need it, for just before we left Moon Valley I
+received a letter from the United States secret service, telling me
+about the robberies, of which I had heard something, but not much, as
+they have been kept away from the newspapers as much as possible."
+
+"Hev there been so many of them?"
+
+"As I tell you, they have been so numerous as to lead one to believe
+that there was a chain of train robbers clear across the continent, and
+strong and capable robbers they have proved themselves to be."
+
+"Did they git much?"
+
+"They have got away with a vast amount of money belonging to
+individuals. They seem to have had information in advance of all the big
+shipments of treasure leaving San Francisco and Carson City, Nevada, as
+well as of private shipments."
+
+"Wise Injuns, eh?"
+
+"I should say so. They have even been able to spot shipments of United
+States gold en route from the mints in Frisco and Carson to Washington,
+and in two instances have got away with it."
+
+"Wow! There's where your Uncle Samuel reaches out his long arms and
+takes a hand in the game. How much did they get away with?"
+
+"The chief did not say. That is not for us to know, I guess, or he
+doesn't think it will make any difference with us in our enthusiasm for
+our work of running down and capturing that gang, or gangs, as the ease
+may be."
+
+"But it wouldn't do a feller no harm ter know. I'd feel a heap more
+skittish if I wuz runnin' after a million than if it wuz thirty cents."
+
+"There's something in that, but we won't let it interfere with the
+performance of our duty."
+
+"How does the chief put it up to us?"
+
+"He tells the facts briefly, and says: 'Go and get the robbers.'"
+
+"That's short an' ter ther p'int. Anything else?"
+
+"He says that the worst bunch of train robbers in ten years has been
+organized, with men operating on various railroads, and that from past
+performances it would seem that they had inside and powerful friends who
+were keeping them informed as to what trains to rob. In other words, the
+thing seems to be a syndicate of robbers operated and directed from a
+central point by men of brains and resource."
+
+"An' whar's ther central p'int?"
+
+"St. Louis."
+
+"Ah, I begins ter smell a mice. So yer gradooly led up ter this place,
+pretendin' ter sell hosses, eh?"
+
+"No; we'll kill two birds with one stone. We'll sell the horses if we
+can get our price for them, and it will be an excellent cloak to hide
+our real purpose, which is to try to get next to the headquarters of the
+train robbers."
+
+"Good idee. But how aire yer goin' ter go erbout it?"
+
+"To tell you the truth, I haven't an idea. We will have to do our own
+scouting. If the chief knew, it is not likely that he would employ us to
+find out."
+
+"Thet's so. Well, let's be on ther scout."
+
+"We'll still pose as ranchers with pony stock to sell, and let folks
+know it. We'll go over to the stockyards right now."
+
+"All right, but the stunt is ter keep our eyes peeled fer ther
+train-robber syndicate's office."
+
+"That's it. One never can tell when he will run onto just the thing he's
+looking for when he least expects it."
+
+"We're being shadowed," said Ted, a short time after they had left their
+hotel and were walking through the streets toward the bridge that spans
+the Mississippi River to East St. Louis.
+
+"How d'yer know?" asked Bud, sending a cautious eye around.
+
+"See that fellow with the checked suit, on the opposite side of the
+street?"
+
+"Uh-huh!"
+
+"He's on our trail. Don't give him a hint that we're on to him, and if
+he chases us all day he'll see that we are what we represent ourselves
+to be, just plain cow-punchers."
+
+"I'm on."
+
+The man in the checked suit got on the same trolley car with them at the
+bridge, and while they were walking through the stockyards they saw him
+frequently, not always in evidence, but always somewhere in their
+vicinity.
+
+They visited the offices of the commission merchants who dealt in
+horseflesh, and got their prices for the sort of stock the boys had to
+sell, and before the day was over they had disposed of six carloads of
+horses for immediate delivery.
+
+While they were talking the deal over with the purchaser, they noticed
+that the man in the checked suit hovered around, and Ted purposely
+permitted him to overhear part of the conversation about the delivery of
+the ponies.
+
+Ted then sent a telegram to Kit Summers, informing him of the sale, and
+telling him to select the sort of horses from the herds that were
+wanted, and to come through with them, bringing a sufficient number of
+the boys with him to protect the stock and deliver it.
+
+When the operator took the message and began to send it, Ted noticed
+that the man with the checked suit was leaning against the wall,
+apparently not paying any attention to what was going on. But Ted knew
+by the way he was holding his head that he was a telegraph operator
+also, and that he was reading the message as it went onto the wire.
+
+"Say, Bud, we've had enough of that gentleman for one day, haven't we?"
+
+"I shore hev."
+
+"Then let's give him the slip."
+
+"Easier said than done. Thet thar feller sticks like a leech ter a black
+eye."
+
+"I think we can do it."
+
+"And how?"
+
+"See that automobile over there? In front of that office."
+
+"I see a long, low, rakish craft painted like an Eyetalian sunset. If
+thet is yer means o' communication with ther other side o' ther river,
+oxcuse me."
+
+"Why, what's the matter with that? That's a mighty fine car."
+
+"I reckon it is, but walkin's good ernuf fer me."
+
+"But you'll never walk away from that shadow."
+
+"I'll bet I kin run erway from 'his checkers' before we're halfway ter
+St. Looey, even if I am a cow-puncher, an' muscle bound from straddlin'
+a saddle fer so many years."
+
+"What's the use, when we can run away from him in a gasoline wagon. That
+machine is standing in front of the office of Truax & Wells, and they
+have sold a lot of cattle for us in times past. It wouldn't surprise me
+if the car belonged to one or the other of them, and that if we asked
+for a lift to the other side they would be glad to let us have it."
+
+"All right, if you're so keen on it, tackle 'em. You'll find me game ter
+ride ther ole thing. I've rid everything from a goat ter a huffier, an'
+yer kin bet yer gold-plugged tooth I ain't goin' ter welsh fer no ole
+piece o' machinery."
+
+They entered the office, and were at once greeted by an elderly man, Mr.
+Truax, in a warm manner. After talking over things in general, Ted said:
+
+"That's a fine car of yours out there, Mr. Truax."
+
+"Funny thing about that car," said the commission merchant. "That's not
+my car, and nobody seems to know whose car it is."
+
+"That certainly is strange," said Ted. "How does it come to be standing
+out there?"
+
+"It was this way, and it's a good story, but none of the newspaper boys
+have been in to-day, and so I couldn't give it out: Right back of us
+here is a railroad station. There's an eastbound train through here at
+seven-thirty every morning. She was just pulling into the station this
+morning as I was unlocking the office door, and I heard a chugging
+behind me. I looked up, and here came the car with only one man in it.
+He pulls up short, picks up a bag, which was very heavy, for it was all
+he could do to stagger along with it.
+
+"The bell on the engine was ringing for the start when he runs through
+the arcade there as fast as he could with the heavy bag, and just
+catches the rear of the train as it comes along. He manages to hoist the
+bag onto the rear platform steps, and is running along trying to get on,
+and the train picking up speed with every revolution of the wheels. I
+thought sure he would be left, or killed, for he wouldn't let go, when
+the conductor came out on the rear platform, saw him, and jerked him
+aboard by the collar."
+
+"Didn't he say anything about his machine?" asked Ted.
+
+"Not a word. That's what I thought so strange about it. But, thinks I,
+some one will come for it after a while. Perhaps, thinks I, he was in
+such a hurry to make the train that he left home without a chauffeur,
+who will be along when he wakes up."
+
+"And no one has appeared?"
+
+"There she lays, just as he left her. When my partner came down, I spoke
+to him about it. He's a fan on motoring. That's his car over there; that
+white one. When I spoke to him about it, he went out and looked it over.
+
+"'That car don't belong here,' says he. 'There's no number of the maker
+on it, and everything that would serve to identify it has been taken
+off. Besides, I don't think the license number is on the square.'
+
+"That excited my curiosity, and I called up the license collector's
+office and asked him whose motor car No. 118 was. In a few minutes he
+calls me and says it belongs to Mr. Henry Inchcliffe, the banker. I gets
+Mr. Inchcliffe on the phone and asks him if his car is missing, and he
+says he can look out of the window as he is talking and see it beside
+the curb with his wife sitting in it. 'What is the color of your car?'
+says I. 'Dark green, picked in crimson. Why do you ask?' says he. I
+tells him that an abandoned car is standing in front of our place with
+his number on it. But he says he guesses not, for his number looms up
+like a sore thumb, hanging on the axle of his car in front of the bank,
+and I rings off. That's the story of the car."
+
+"Since it belongs to no one in particular, I've a mind to borrow it, and
+put it in a garage over on the other side. It'll be ruined if it stays
+out here in the weather," said Ted.
+
+"I don't care," said Mr. Truax. "It wasn't left in my care, and I
+haven't got much use for the blamed thing, anyhow. Take it along. If the
+owner comes and proves property, I suppose you'll give it up?"
+
+"Sure thing. I'll telephone you the name and address of the garage where
+I leave it, so that if there is any inquiry for it you may direct
+inquirers there. But I've got a hunch that this car was thrown away,
+having served its purpose."
+
+"Great Scott! that's a valuable thing to throw away."
+
+"Yes, but the man who abandoned it probably thought it a good
+sacrifice."
+
+"How is that?"
+
+"What do you suppose was in that bag he carried?"
+
+"Couldn't say, but it was pretty heavy."
+
+"It would hold a good deal of paper money, wouldn't it?"
+
+"If the bills were of big enough denomination, I should say you could
+pack away a million in it, for it was a powerful big sack."
+
+"Well, suppose the man whom you saw jump out of the car and get aboard
+the train had stolen the car, or even if he had owned it, and had made a
+big haul, and it was contingent upon his getting away with the money
+that he abandon the car."
+
+"That's possible. But there has been no big robbery to cover that part
+of the theory."
+
+"You don't know. There may have been a big robbery, and it has not been
+made public. Not all robberies are reported to the public. If they were,
+there would be slim chance for the authorities to catch the thieves."
+
+"Perhaps so. Say, Mr. Strong, you're a deputy United States marshal,
+ain't you?"
+
+"Yes. Both Mr. Morgan and I are in the government service."
+
+"I've been thinking over what you said about a possible robbery, and
+perhaps you've got it right. I believe you'd better take that car along.
+You might need it as evidence some day."
+
+"That occurred to me."
+
+"Can you run the pesky thing."
+
+"Yes; I learned to run a motor car long ago. It is, like everything else
+a fellow can know, mighty useful to me in my business."
+
+"All right, take her along."
+
+The man in the checked suit was nowhere in sight, but as Ted started up
+the abandoned motor car he came running out of a doorway.
+
+"Hi, there! Come back with that car!" he yelled, running after them in
+the middle of the road. But Ted let her out a couple of links, and in a
+moment the man in checks was out of sight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE LODGING-HOUSE BATTLE.
+
+
+"What aire ye goin' ter do with ther blamed thing, now yer got it?"
+asked Bud, as they sped across the Eads Bridge into St. Louis.
+
+"I haven't made up my mind yet. It certainly doesn't belong in this
+town, and if we use it here we will have to get a local license."
+
+"Jumpin' sand hills, yer not goin' ter run it yere?"
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Whoever owns it is li'ble ter come erlong some day, an--"
+
+"Then I'll give it to him, if he can prove it is his, but I don't think
+it will ever be claimed."
+
+"How's that?"
+
+"Because the owner is a thief, and if he finds it is in the hands of an
+officer he will let it go rather than face an investigation. Besides, I
+need it."
+
+"Ted Strong, aire yer goin' dotty over them derned smell wagons, too?"
+
+"No, I can't say that I am, but if I lived in a town like this, and
+could afford it, you bet I'd have one."
+
+"But where aire yer goin' ter keep it? We shore can't take it up ter our
+room."
+
+"Not exactly," laughed Ted. "You forget that we have friends in this
+man's town."
+
+"Not a whole heap."
+
+"What's the matter with Don Dorrington?"
+
+"By ginger, that's so. Ther young feller what was with us down in Mexico
+when we found ther jewels and things under ther president's palace."
+
+"Yes, and we're heading right for his house now."
+
+"What fer? Goin' ter try ter git him inter trouble, too?"
+
+Ted piloted the machine through the thronged downtown streets, and
+coming at last to Pine Street Boulevard, he let her out, and went
+skimming over the smooth pavement until he came to Newstead Avenue, and
+was ringing the bell of Don Dorrington's flat before the astonished Bud
+could recover his breath from the swift ride.
+
+Dorrington himself came to the door, having looked through the window
+and seen Ted arrive.
+
+"Well, by all that's glorious," exclaimed Don, as he grasped Ted by the
+hand. "Where are you from, and why? Hello, Bud, you old rascal! Get out
+of that car and come in. Where did you get the bubble?"
+
+Ted and Bud entered the house and were taken into Don's workroom, where
+he was soon put in possession of the facts concerning the motor car,
+although Ted said nothing about the real object of his visit lo St.
+Louis.
+
+"Well, what can I do for you?" asked Don.
+
+"Have you a place where I can store this car for a while?" asked Ted.
+
+"I sure have," said Don. "You can run it right into the basement from
+the back yard. When these flats were built it was intended that the
+basement be used as a garage, but so far none of the tenants have shown
+a disposition to get rich enough to buy one. No one will be able to get
+the machine out of there,"
+
+"That's the only thing I fear," said Ted. "It's a cinch that the owner,
+if he is a thief who has escaped with a pot of money, as I strongly
+suspect, will have his pals try to get it back. And I don't want them to
+get it until I have used it to try to trace them."
+
+"I'll bet a cooky ther feller with ther checked suit wuz after ther
+machine himself," said Bud. "When we eloped with it he came holler in'
+after us ter bring it back, but we gave him the glazed look an' left him
+fannin' ther air in our wake."
+
+The boys rolled the motor car into the basement, which was securely
+locked. Then Ted and Bud returned to town on a street car.
+
+As they got closer to the downtown section, they could hear the shouts
+of the newsboys announcing an "extra" newspaper in all the varieties of
+pronunciation of that word as it issues from the mouths of city
+"newsies."
+
+"Wonder what the 'extra' is all about?" said Ted.
+
+"Oh, same old thing, I reckon," said Bud. "'All erbout ther turribul
+disaster.' An' when yer buys a paper yer see in big letters at ther top,
+'Man Kills,' and down below it, 'Mother-in-law!' But in little type
+between them yer read ther follerin', to wit, 'Cat to spite.' I've been
+stung by them things before."
+
+"I'm going to buy one, anyway," laughed Ted. "I don't mind being stung
+for a cent."
+
+He beckoned to a newsboy, bought a paper, and opened it.
+
+"What's this?" he almost shouted.
+
+Great black letters sprawled across the top of the page.
+
+"Express Messenger Found Dead," was the first line, and below it was the
+confirmation of Ted's belief that a great robbery had taken place. It
+was "Forty Thousand Dollars Taken from the Safe."
+
+"There's the owner of the abandoned automobile, the fellow who boarded
+the train with the heavy grip," said Ted to Bud, who was staring over
+his shoulder.
+
+The article following the startling headlines told the circumstances of
+the robbery.
+
+The train that entered the Union Station at six o'clock that morning had
+been robbed in some mysterious manner between a junction a short
+distance out of St. Louis, where the express messenger had been seen
+alive by a fellow messenger in another car. When the car was opened in
+the station, after being switched to the express track, the messenger
+was found lying on the floor of the car with a bullet through his head.
+The safe had been blown open and its contents rifled.
+
+The express company had kept silent about the murder and robbery until
+late in the day, when the body of the messenger was found by a reporter
+in an undertaker's establishment.
+
+As for the other details, a policeman at the Union Station said that he
+had noticed a man come out of the waiting room carrying a grip that
+seemed more than ordinarily heavy. A red motor car was waiting outside
+the station, and the man got into it and drove away at a fast pace. The
+policeman had not noticed the number on the car.
+
+How the robber and murderer got into the express car was a mystery, as
+the car was locked when it was switched into the express track, and
+there were no marks of a violent entry on the outside of the car.
+
+"What aire yer goin' ter do erbout it?" asked Bud. "Aire yer goin' ter
+turn over ther motor car an' give yer infermation ter ther police?"
+
+"Not on your life," answered Ted. "At least, not yet. I'm going to work
+on it a bit myself first."
+
+"But won't Mr. Truax tip it off?"
+
+"I'll warn him not to."
+
+"But how erbout ther feller in ther check suit what wuz so kind an'
+attentive ter us?"
+
+"He's hiding out, now that the robbery has become public. I'm not afraid
+of him."
+
+"What's ther first move?"
+
+"Locate and identify the car."
+
+Ted called Mr. Truax up on the telephone. The commission merchant had
+read about the express robbery, and had connected the man in the red car
+with it, but promised to say nothing about it until Ted had had an
+opportunity to unravel the mystery.
+
+Ted lay awake a long time that night thinking the matter over, and in
+the morning awoke with a plan in his mind.
+
+"Well, hev yer determined what ter do erbout ther red car?" asked Bud at
+the breakfast table. "I'm shore gittin' sore at myself fer a loafer,
+sittin' eround here doin' nothin' but eat an' look at ther things in
+ther stores what I can't buy."
+
+"I've got a scheme that I'm going to try," answered Ted.
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"I'm going to run that car all over this town until I get some of the
+train-robbing syndicate anxious about it and to following it. Then I'm
+going to get on to their place of doing business and their methods."
+
+"Wish yer luck," was Bud's cheerless comment.
+
+Bud had been out wandering restlessly around the streets all morning,
+and Ted was writing letters. When he got through he thought about the
+missing trunk, and concluded that he would go to the Union Station to
+see if it had been received.
+
+The words of warning in the note not to go on the street alone were
+clear in his memory; but this he took to mean at night, for in a crowded
+street in the daytime he could see no danger.
+
+After he had waited an hour or more for Bud, and the yellow-haired
+cow-puncher had not returned, Ted decided to delay no longer, and
+started off at a brisk walk for the station, which was six or seven
+blocks distant.
+
+His hotel being on Pine Street, he chose that for his route.
+
+He had walked three blocks when he stopped to watch a man who was
+slightly in advance of him.
+
+It was the fellow he had seen in the checked suit.
+
+He had just come out of a saloon.
+
+In the middle of the block he stopped to talk with another man, who
+looked as if he worked on the railroad, and Ted loitered in a doorway
+until the two separated, and the man in the checked suit continued on
+his way.
+
+A block farther on Ted observed two men standing on the corner talking.
+A policeman stood on the opposite corner.
+
+The two men on the corner Ted knew instantly for "plain-clothes men," as
+the headquarters detectives are called.
+
+He was well aware that the police by this time were on the alert to find
+the express robber and murderer, and knew that every available man on
+the city detective force was on the watch, like a cat at a rat hole.
+
+To capture the train robber meant a reward and promotion.
+
+Ted stood on the corner opposite the detectives and watched proceedings.
+
+When the man in the checked suit had gone about ten paces beyond the
+detectives, one of them started after him, and the other signaled the
+policeman in uniform to cross over.
+
+The detective called to the man in the check suit to halt, but instead
+of obeying he started to run.
+
+But he had not gone more than ten feet when he was seized by the
+detective, and was dragged back to the corner.
+
+"Take him to the box, Casey," said the detective, turning his prisoner
+over to the policeman.
+
+At that moment the two detectives were joined by a third, and they
+entered into an earnest conversation, drawn closely together and looking
+over their shoulders occasionally in the direction of the house into
+which the man in the checked suit was about to enter when arrested.
+
+"I have stumbled right into it," said Ted to himself. "The check-suit
+man is the spy for the train robbers, and their headquarters are in that
+house. The detectives are going to raid it, and I'm in on it. This
+certainly is lucky."
+
+He was glad now that he had not waited for Bud.
+
+The three detectives moved slowly down the street, The policeman stood
+on the corner holding his man, waiting for the patrol wagon.
+
+The scene was vividly impressed on Ted's mind, for it had happened so
+quickly, so easily, so quietly, and not at all like his own strenuous
+times when he had gone after desperadoes in his capacity of deputy
+marshal.
+
+The detectives did not notice that they were being followed by a youth,
+and it is doubtful if they would have paid any attention to him if they
+had.
+
+The foot of the first detective was on the lower step of the stairway
+leading to the door of the suspected house when suddenly a shrill
+whistle cut the air from the direction of the corner, and Ted turned to
+see the policeman strike the man in the check suit a blow with his club.
+
+"Curse him, he's tipped us off," said the detective. "Come on, we've got
+to rush them now."
+
+Quickly the three sprang up the steps, threw the door open, and entered
+a long hall.
+
+"Back room," said one.
+
+Ted was following them as closely as he could without being noticed and
+warned away.
+
+He saw a big, fine-looking policeman entering by a back door.
+
+"That's it," said one of the detectives, motioning to a door.
+
+The policeman walked boldly to the door and threw it open.
+
+As he did so a shot rang out, and the policeman staggered back and
+fell, a crimson stain covering his face.
+
+He was dead before he struck the floor.
+
+Without a word, the three detectives ran to the door, and within a
+moment or two at least fifteen shots were fired within the room.
+
+They were so many and so close together that it sounded like a single
+crash. Then there was silence for a few moments, followed by a few
+desultory shots which seemed to pop viciously after the crash that had
+gone before.
+
+It all happened so suddenly that Ted had hardly time to think, and stood
+rooted to the spot until he was aroused by the cry of "Help!" in a
+feeble voice, and, drawing his revolver, he sprang into the room.
+
+As he did so, a shot rang out, and a ball sped close to his head.
+
+The room was so dense with suffocating powder smoke that he could not
+see across it, but he had seen the dull-red flash from the muzzle of a
+revolver and shot in that direction.
+
+"I'm done," he heard, followed by a deep groan.
+
+"Get me out of here," said a man, trying to struggle to his feet, and
+Ted hurried to his side. It was one of the detectives, and Ted helped
+him to his feet and supported him to the hall.
+
+"Let me down. I've got mine. Go in and help Dunnigan," said the wounded
+man. There was a spot, red and ever widening, on his breast.
+
+Ted laid him on the floor and reentered the room. Another shot came in
+his direction, and missed, although he could feel the wind of it as it
+passed close to his head, and he returned it with two shots, and there
+was silence.
+
+The smoke had by this time cleared away somewhat, and Ted saw five men
+lying prone in the room.
+
+One of the detectives lay on his face across the bed, and Ted tried to
+raise him up, but he was a dead weight. Ted finally got him turned over
+on his back, and then he saw that the detective was dead.
+
+Kneeling on the floor with his head in his arms, which were thrown
+across a chair, was the third detective. He was breathing hard, and
+every time he moved the blood gushed from his mouth. He had been shot
+through the stomach.
+
+But on the other side of the bed lay three men, apparently all of them
+dead.
+
+While he was observing this there was a commotion in the hall, and a
+policeman rushed in, followed by a large man who wore an authoritative
+air.
+
+"Oh, this is too bad; this is too bad," he kept repeating, as he went
+from man to man. It was Chief of Detectives Desmond. Turning to the
+policeman, he said:
+
+"They've killed the boys, but the boys got the whole gang except two,
+'Checkers' out there, and a man in the red automobile."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE MAN IN THE YELLOW CAR.
+
+
+A patrol wagon full of policemen had dashed up in front of the house,
+and they came running down the hall, followed by a horde of eager
+reporters, who stood aghast at the slaughter of a few minutes.
+
+The only participant in the fight who could talk was the detective whom
+Ted had carried to the hall, and he was telling the chief of detectives
+in whispers what had occurred.
+
+"That young fellow followed us in," he said, pointing to Ted. "He took
+me out, and then went in and finished the gang. He's a game one, he is.
+I don't know who he is, but, by Jove! he's a game un."
+
+"Who were the gang?" asked the chief.
+
+"'Big Bill' Minnis, 'Bull' Dorgan, and 'Feathers' Lavin," was the reply.
+"Checkers we caught on the corner, and the other member of the gang,
+Dude Wilcox, got away. I guess it was him that rode off with the swag in
+the automobile, but where he went we couldn't get."
+
+"I can tell you about that," said Ted quietly to the chief.
+
+Desmond looked up at him curiously.
+
+"Not now," he said. "Don't go. I want to talk to you after a while. Now,
+brace up, Tom; you're going to come out all right. The ambulance is out
+here, and we'll get you to the hospital."
+
+"It ain't no use to jolly me, chief," said the man on the floor. "I'm
+all in. I'm bleedin' inside. I've seen too many fellows with a shot like
+this ever to have any hopes. Send for my wife and a priest. I ain't
+afraid to go, chief, but I hate to leave Maggie like this."
+
+"We'll take care of her, Tom. Get that off your mind."
+
+"All right, chief. If you say so, I know it'll be all right. Poor girl,
+it's hard luck for her."
+
+"That's right, Tom, but brace up and don't let her see that you're
+worried."
+
+A woman's scream sounded through the hall, and a slender, girlish figure
+pushed its way toward the prostrate man.
+
+"Tom," she cried, and knelt beside him. "Are you hit? Did they get you
+at last?"
+
+"Oh, I ain't bad, Maggie," said the dying detective bravely. "The
+chief's going to have me sent to the hospital, and I'll be all right in
+a week."
+
+But before midnight he died.
+
+An hour later Ted met the chief of detectives.
+
+"Get into my car," said the chief, "and come down to my office, and
+we'll have a talk."
+
+In a short time they were at the Four Courts, the big central police
+station of St. Louis, and when they were in the chief's private office
+and the door barred to intruders the great detective turned inquiringly
+to Ted.
+
+"Now, who are you, and how did you happen to be mixed up in that mess?"
+asked Desmond.
+
+"My name is Ted Strong," began Ted.
+
+Suddenly Chief Desmond sat up straight and looked at Ted sharply.
+
+"Not the leader of the broncho boys, are you?" he asked.
+
+"The same," said Ted.
+
+"I know about you. What were you doing near those detectives, that you
+should have got in so handily?"
+
+"I'm a deputy United States marshal, as perhaps you know."
+
+Desmond nodded. "Yes, I know," he said.
+
+"I was working on this very case," said Ted, "and I had got hold of one
+end of it, and was about to follow it to a conclusion, when I saw the
+man Checkers on the street, and was following him. He led me to the
+detectives. The minute I saw them and him, I knew there would be
+something doing."
+
+"What did you know of Checkers?"
+
+"Nothing at all, except that he knew somehow that I was working on the
+express-robbery cases, and yesterday he shadowed my partner and me to
+East St. Louis, where we left him behind in an automobile."
+
+Ted then told the chief how he had come about taking possession of the
+red car, to which Desmond listened carefully. When Ted had finished,
+Desmond rose and paced the room for a minute.
+
+"Young man, you've got the big end of the chase," he said. "Dude Wilcox
+is the man who we are positive killed the messenger and got away with
+the swag. If it were you who found out how he got away with it, you will
+have got the last of the gang."
+
+"Is that all there is to it?" asked Ted.
+
+"Lord bless you, no. That's only the bunch that has been working in St.
+Louis. The big end of it is operating from some town farther west.
+There's where Dude Wilcox came from. I don't know where they make their
+headquarters, and it is out of my territory. I have all I can do to take
+care of St. Louis."
+
+"The government officers were of the opinion that St. Louis was
+headquarters."
+
+"That was true up to a few weeks ago, but we made it so hot for them
+here that they emigrated."
+
+"Well, there's no use in my staying here any longer. I might as well
+hike out west. I'm not much good in a big town, anyway. I suppose you'll
+have no trouble in handling Checkers without any word from me."
+
+"Oh, yes. But let's have Checkers up and hear what he has to say for
+himself."
+
+The chief pushed a button and presently an officer entered.
+
+"Go down to the hold-over and bring Checkers to me," ordered the chief.
+
+In less than ten minutes the officer was back again.
+
+"The jailer says he has no such man, chief," was the report.
+
+"Where is he?"
+
+"I'll inquire."
+
+Back he came in a few minutes.
+
+"Casey had him on the corner waiting for the wagon, sir, but in the
+excitement during the fight Casey let go of Checkers for a moment, and
+he got away."
+
+Ted could see that the chief was very angry, but he controlled his
+temper admirably.
+
+"Very well," was all he said.
+
+He turned and gave Ted a sharp look.
+
+"If you stay around here much longer, you'll have to look out for
+Checkers. He's a dangerous man, as well with a knife as with a gun."
+
+"I guess I can take care of him," answered Ted.
+
+"You look as if you could, lad," said the chief.
+
+After a few more minutes of conversation regarding the red motor car,
+during which the chief advised Ted to keep the car until he was through
+with it, Ted took his leave, and returned to the hotel.
+
+There he found Bud pacing the floor.
+
+"Peevish porcupines," grunted the old cow-puncher, "but you've got
+yourself in up to ther neck in printer's ink."
+
+"How's that?" asked Ted.
+
+"Haven't you seen the evening papers?"
+
+"I've been too busy to look at them."
+
+"I reckon you be. Busier than a cranberry merchant. Look at this."
+
+Bud handed Ted a bundle of evening papers.
+
+Of course, the fight between the detectives and the bandits was given an
+immense amount of space in the extras which followed one another rapidly
+from the presses. In all of them were accounts of Ted's going to the
+rescue of the detectives, and the statement that balls from Ted's
+revolver had killed two of the gang.
+
+"Rubbish!" said Ted. "I didn't kill any bandits. I took a couple of
+shots at them after they had fired on me, that's all."
+
+"Well, yer won't be able to get away from these newspaper stories. If
+any of ther gang run across yer, they'll shore go after yer with a hard
+plank. Ye've placed ther black mark on yerself with ther gang."
+
+"All right. I can stand it if they can. I've got a few up my sleeve for
+them."
+
+Then Ted related exactly how the thing happened, and of his talk with
+Desmond.
+
+"And they let that fellow Checkers get away," sighed Ted. "The chief
+says he's the most dangerous of them all, and warned me to look out for
+him. Bud, I've got a hunch."
+
+"Let her flicker. I'm kinder stuck on yer hunches; they pay dividends
+right erlong."
+
+"The fellow in the check suit was the man who tried to stab me because I
+wouldn't let him see the anonymous letter. I don't know which was the
+real man, Checkers or the other. But there were many points of
+similarity between them, and when Checkers called for us to stop the
+automobile, it was the voice of the man who commanded me to give him the
+letter. Keep Checkers in your mind."
+
+The next morning they went out to Don Dorrington's house and got out the
+automobile.
+
+"We'll circulate around pretty well in this," said Ted, "and if
+Checkers is in town he'll spot us, and we may get a chance at him yet."
+
+"What do you want with him?"
+
+"I'm depending on him to lead us to headquarters."
+
+For an hour or more they rode about the town, making the machine as
+conspicuous as possible.
+
+"Bud, we're being followed," said Ted, nodding toward a yellow car that
+had been in evidence oftener than mere chance made possible.
+
+"Yep. I've had him spotted fer some time," answered Bud.
+
+"Why didn't you say something about it?" Ted laughed at Bud's silence.
+
+"Oh, I knew that you were on to it, too," was the characteristic reply.
+
+"What do you suppose he's chasing us for? He must know that he can't
+harm us."
+
+"He don't want us. He wants that red car. It's a beautiful piece of red
+evidence against him an' his gang. Yer see, it's ther best kinder a
+clew."
+
+"Right again. But he needn't think he can steal it, for he can't."
+
+They put the car up during the middle of the day.
+
+"We'll let it rest for a while," said Ted, as they ran it into a public
+garage. "This evening we'll take it out again, and if we're followed
+then we'll be sure that it is Checkers, and that he is on our trail."
+
+It was seven o'clock when they trundled forth again.
+
+A bright moonlight night made motoring highly enjoyable, and after they
+had run about for a couple of hours Bud got out, saying that he was
+tired of the sport, and would return to the hotel, and leave Ted to take
+the machine back to Don Dorrington's basement.
+
+They had been followed by the yellow car again, but in going through
+Forest Park they had managed to give their trailer the slip among the
+intricate roads and bypaths, and had seen nothing of him for half an
+hour.
+
+As soon as Ted had let Bud out, he hit up the speed, for the boulevard
+was comparatively free of traffic, and he fairly spun along to the
+western part of the city.
+
+Cutting off the boulevard, he entered upon a side street to make a short
+cut to Dorrington's house.
+
+He noticed, as he turned into the side street, a light-colored car
+standing close to the curb as he passed, but so many cars were standing
+in front of houses here and there that he paid no attention to it.
+
+But he had no sooner passed than the light-colored car glided after him
+noiselessly. Ted's own machine was making so much noise that he was not
+aware of the presence of another car until it was abreast of him, and so
+close that he could reach out his hand and touch it.
+
+He thought the car was trying to pass him close to the curb, and started
+to turn out to give it more steerage room.
+
+"Sheer off, there," he called, "until I can get out of here."
+
+Suddenly something wet struck him in the face. He gave a gasp, as a
+fearful suffocating pain filled his head and lungs, and he sank down
+into the bottom of the car, insensible.
+
+At the same instant the man in the other car reached over and throttled
+the red car, then stopped his own.
+
+Leaving his own car in the middle of the road, he leaped into the red
+car and gave her her full head.
+
+In half an hour the red car had left the city and was speeding along a
+smooth country road in the moonlight.
+
+Ted still lay in a stupor in the bottom of the car, and the only sound
+that came from him was an occasional gasp as his lungs, trying to
+recover from a shock, took in short gulps of air.
+
+It was midnight before the red car slowed down.
+
+Ahead in the moonlight rose the black bulk of a building.
+
+It presented the appearance of a country house of some pretensions.
+
+The house was dark. Not a light appeared at any of the windows.
+
+The red car approached it cautiously, running into the deep shadow cast
+by a high brick wall. A dog on the other side of the wall barked a
+warning.
+
+The man in the red car whistled softly in a peculiar way.
+
+A window was raised somewhere, and the whistle was answered by another.
+
+In a few minutes there was the sound of a man walking on a graveled
+path, then the creak of rusty iron and a gate swung open.
+
+"All right?" asked a voice at the gate.
+
+"You bet. Got them both," answered the man in the red machine.
+
+"Bully for you. Run her in."
+
+The red machine, with Ted still lying in the bottom, ran into a large
+yard, and the gate was closed again, and the car was stopped in front of
+the house.
+
+"Come, help me carry him in," said the man in the car. "He'll be coming
+around all right in a few minutes, then we may have some trouble with
+him, for he's the very devil to fight."
+
+Ted was dragged out of the car in no gentle manner, and carried into the
+house, which was unlighted save where the moonlight shone through the
+windows.
+
+"Into the strong room with him," said the man of the house.
+
+Ted was carried into a room and dumped upon a lounge. Then a light was
+struck, and both men bent over the prostrate form of the leader of the
+broncho boys.
+
+Both of them started back.
+
+"Whew! You must have given him an awful dose, Checkers," said the man of
+the house.
+
+"Had to do it, Dude. If I hadn't, I'd never got him here, that's a
+cinch."
+
+"Well, get his gun off before he comes to."
+
+Ted was stripped of his weapons, a glass of water was thrown into his
+face, and he began to regain consciousness.
+
+He had been shot down with an ammonia gun, and the powerful alkaloid gas
+had almost killed him. For a long time he breathed in gasps, but his
+splendid constitution pulled him through.
+
+When they saw that he was recovering, the two men left the room, after
+examining the iron-barred windows, and as they went out they locked and
+barred the door behind them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+MURDER IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE.
+
+
+Ted lay for a long time only half conscious.
+
+But gradually his senses returned, and he opened his eyes to find
+himself in darkness, trying hard to think what had happened to him.
+
+He knew that he had been felled by something powerful and terrible, that
+had knocked him in a heap so suddenly that he hardly knew what had
+happened to him.
+
+Slowly the consciousness of it all came to him. Some one in an
+automobile had ridden alongside him and thrown ammonia in his face.
+
+His eyes were still smarting with it, and he wondered, seeing no light,
+if it had blinded him, and he was now lying in the dark when there was
+light all around him.
+
+He struggled with this thought for a moment, because the idea of going
+blind was terrible to him.
+
+He wondered where he was, and felt around and learned that he was lying
+on a couch.
+
+Then he swung his feet to the floor and sat up. The ammonia had left him
+still weak, but gradually he became stronger, and got to his feet and
+began to explore the room with his fingers.
+
+He found a chair and a table, and presently came to the door, which he
+tried to open, but could not.
+
+Passing around the room, he arrived at the window, and, looking through
+the glass, saw a star, and thanked Heaven that he could see.
+
+He tried the fastenings of the window, unlocked it, and threw it up,
+stretching out his hand. The window was closed with iron bars.
+
+He had made the circuit of the room, and had discovered that he was
+securely shut in.
+
+He went back to the lounge and lay down to think matters over.
+
+He felt quite sure that the man Checkers had been his assailant. The
+warning had not been without reason, after all.
+
+As he lay quietly he heard footsteps in the next room. Two men evidently
+had entered it. They were talking, and occasionally, when their voices
+rose higher than usual, he could catch a word or two.
+
+From the tones of their voices he learned that the conversation was not
+of the most pleasant nature. They were quarreling about something.
+
+By degrees their voices grew higher, and occasionally Ted caught such
+words as "money," "half," "thousand," enough to tell him that they were
+dividing something.
+
+"They're quarreling over the swag," said Ted to himself. "Good! 'When
+thieves fall out, honest men get their dues,'" he quoted. "Keep it up,
+and I'll get you yet."
+
+They did keep it up.
+
+It was the voice of Checkers that rose high.
+
+"I tell you I'll have half or I'll split on you, if I go to the 'stir'
+for the rest of my life."
+
+"If you do split, you won't go to the 'stir.' The boys will kill you
+before you get the chance."
+
+"Well, what's your proposition?"
+
+"I'll give you five thousand. That's enough for putting me next to the
+train. What do you want? The earth? Didn't I do the dirty work? If I'd
+been caught, who'd have been soaked? You? I guess not. It would have
+been me who would have been killed, for I'm like the other fellows--I'd
+have fought until they killed me. You're not entitled to more than five
+thousand, and that's all you'll get."
+
+"I won't take it. Half or I squeal."
+
+"Squeal, then."
+
+There was a sudden trampling of feet in the other room, the crash of an
+overturning table, followed by a yell of death agony, and the thud of a
+falling body.
+
+"Great Scott, one of them is dead," said Ted, with a shudder.
+
+He was listening intently, and heard a scuffle of feet, then hurried
+footsteps died away and a door slammed somewhere.
+
+Deep silence followed.
+
+Then the horror of the situation burst upon Ted, The house had been
+deserted by the only living creature, except himself, who was left to
+starve to death in this prison, with a dead man in the next room.
+
+One or the other of the two men who had held him captive had done murder
+and escaped with the stolen money.
+
+Ted lay speculating which was dead and which had escaped, but he could
+make nothing of it.
+
+The night dragged wearily on for Ted could not sleep, for thinking of
+the dead man in the next room, and his own precarious position.
+
+He reviewed the chances of his being rescued. They were very slim,
+indeed.
+
+Bud and Chief Desmond would start a hunt for him about the city, but
+would not find him, and no one would think of looking for him in this
+deserted house.
+
+But at last the night passed, and Ted watched with a grateful heart the
+gradual dawning of the day.
+
+At last it was light enough to see, and he looked around the room.
+
+It was old-fashioned and high. Through the window he could see a bit of
+the high brick fence, and a few trees and long, tangled, dead grass.
+That was the extent of his view from the window.
+
+He examined the door, which was the only other means of exit from the
+room.
+
+It was very heavy, and made of oak. The lock on it was massive and
+old-fashioned, and set into the oak frame so that an examination of it
+dispelled all hope of getting it off.
+
+If he was to escape there was only one way, to cut a hole in the door.
+He felt for his knife. It was gone, and Ted wandered disconsolately to
+the couch and sat down to ponder. But the more he racked his brains the
+further he got from a plan of escape.
+
+The day dragged slowly on, but he would not sleep for fear that he might
+miss some one passing to whom he could call and bring assistance.
+
+Late in the afternoon he stepped to the window and looked at an apple
+tree in the grounds beyond. It was full of red apples, and he was very
+hungry, but they were not for him.
+
+He wondered that he had not heard any one pass along the road on the
+other side of the brick wall.
+
+Suddenly he noticed that the leaves in an apple tree were being
+violently agitated, although there was not a breath of wind stirring.
+
+Some one was in the tree, and his first impulse was to yell for help,
+then he reflected that if it was a boy pilfering apples the cry would
+scare him, and his only chance for rescue would be ruined by the boy
+running away.
+
+He would wait for the boy to come to the ground, and would then speak to
+him.
+
+But as he was watching the tree intently the movement of the leaves
+ceased, and soon he perceived a peering face and two dark, roguish eyes.
+They reminded him of a bird, so bright and inquiring were they.
+
+Ted smiled at the eyes, and thought he saw an answering twinkle in them.
+
+They disappeared after a few moments. The leaves shook again, and a boy
+of about ten years, incredibly ragged, with a dirty face, hands, and
+bare feet and legs, dropped to the ground. His head was covered with a
+tangled mop of brown hair in lieu of a hat.
+
+The boy stared at the window, all the while munching an apple, while
+from the bulges in his scant trousers it was evident that he had others
+for future consumption.
+
+"Hello, boy!" said Ted, with a friendly way.
+
+"Hello! Who are you?" said the boy, coming a few steps nearer, to get a
+better view.
+
+"Do you mean what's my name?"
+
+"Uh-huh!"
+
+"My name is Ted Strong. What's yours?"
+
+"Napoleon Bonaparte."
+
+Ted laughed at the solemnity of the boy when he gave this answer.
+
+"Well," said the boy, "it's just as much Napoleon as yours is Ted
+Strong."
+
+"But my name is Ted Strong."
+
+"Aw, come off."
+
+"All right, if you don't believe me, ask me any questions you like to
+prove it."
+
+"Where do you come from?"
+
+"Moon Valley, South Dakota."
+
+"That's right. What's the names of some of Ted Strong's fellers?"
+
+Ted named them all, the boy giving a nod after every name.
+
+"Now, what's the name of your horse? The one you ride most?"
+
+"Sultan. You seem to know something about me."
+
+"You bet. Well, maybe you're all right, but what are you doing here? I
+always thought you stayed out West--away out West."
+
+"Usually I do."
+
+"Then what are you doing in the haunted house?"
+
+"Is this a haunted house?"
+
+"You bet. There was a feller killed there once, and nobody will live in
+it no more."
+
+"Honest, now, what _is_ your name?"
+
+"My name's-- Say, are you sure enough Ted Strong?"
+
+"Certainly I am."
+
+The boy came closer, looking at Ted fixedly.
+
+"Gee, I wouldn't go inter that house fer a hundred million dollars."
+
+"I've been here all night, and it didn't scare me any."
+
+"That settles it. I reckon you must be Ted Strong. He's the only feller
+I ever heard of that wouldn't be scared to stay in a haunted house. How
+did you get there?"
+
+Without hesitation, Ted told the boy how he had been held up by a man in
+an automobile, and knocked out by ammonia fumes, and then locked up in
+the house. But he said nothing about the murdered man in the next room.
+
+"Now I've told you all about myself, it's only fair that you should tell
+me about yourself."
+
+"Oh, I ain't nothin'. I'm just 'Scrub.'"
+
+"Haven't you got any other name?"
+
+"Nary one that I know of that's fastened to me all the time."
+
+"How's that?"
+
+"When I'm living with old man Jones, I'm Scrub Jones, and when I'm with
+Mr. Foster, I'm Scrub Foster, and that way. I don't belong to nobody,
+an' I just live around doing chores for my keep. Just now I ain't got no
+place to stop, and I'm sleeping in hay-stacks and living on apples and
+turnips and potatoes, when I make a fire and bake 'em, and once in a
+while I trap a rabbit. But, gee, what a good time you must have!"
+
+"How would you like to go with me out to Moon Valley?"
+
+"Aw, quit your kiddin'."
+
+"I mean it I'd just like to take you out there and give you a good time
+for once in your life."
+
+"Would you? By golly, you can."
+
+"Then I'll tell you what to do. Go around to the front door and come in,
+and back to this room, and unlock the door and let me out, and we'll go
+together."
+
+"Gee, I wouldn't go into that house for four thousand barrels of
+hoarhound candy. Say, are you a prisoner?"
+
+"I am, and if you don't come in and let me out I can't take you with me
+to Moon Valley."
+
+"That's so. But I'm scared of the ghost."
+
+"Oh, so you're afraid, are you?"
+
+At this the boy flushed and fiddled with his toes in the grass.
+
+"No kid that's afraid could live in Moon Valley. He'd be scared to death
+in a week."
+
+"Are there ghosts there?"
+
+"There are no such things as ghosts. Bet you never saw one yourself."
+
+"No, I never did. But all the folks around here say there is ghosts in
+that house."
+
+"Well, say there are, they wouldn't come out in the daytime, would
+they?"
+
+"I reckon not. Gee, I'll come in."
+
+The boy disappeared like a flash, and in a few moments Ted heard the
+front door open, then a scream.
+
+"I'll bet he's found the dead man," said Ted, aloud, in a tone of
+annoyance. "That's just my luck."
+
+The door slammed, and all was silent. The boy evidently had run away,
+and Ted was left alone in the house with the dead man.
+
+Once more darkness descended upon the earth, and Ted took up another
+hole in his belt, and tried to believe that he was not hungry.
+
+About nine o'clock Ted, who was lying on the couch looking at the
+ceiling, saw a faint flicker of light pass across it, and sprang to his
+feet. It was the light cast by a lantern somewhere outside.
+
+He sprang to the window and looked out.
+
+Behind the brick wall he could see the reflection of a bobbing lantern,
+and hear the shuffle of many feet.
+
+"Ho, there!" he cried.
+
+The shuffle stopped, and a voice that was trembling with fear answered
+him.
+
+"Come in here, and let me out," called Ted.
+
+"We'll be thar in a minute," was the answer, and presently the front
+door was thrown open, followed by exclamations, as whoever had come in
+viewed the body in the next room.
+
+Then the voices were outside his door.
+
+"You open it an' go in," said a voice. "You're the constable."
+
+"Well, supposin' he's got a gun?" asked the constable tremulously.
+
+"Don't be afraid," said Ted. "I have no gun. They took everything away
+from me."
+
+"There! Ain't that enough? Open the door."
+
+Ted heard the bar being taken down, then the key grate in the lock, and
+the door was thrown open with a bang. He found himself looking into the
+barrels of a shotgun.
+
+"If yer makes a motion, I'll blow yer head plumb off, blame yer,"
+shouted the man with the gun.
+
+"Honest," said Ted, "I'm not armed."
+
+"How come yuh here?"
+
+"I was made insensible by ammonia fumes and brought here last night."
+
+"How come yuh ter kill that man in ther next room?"
+
+"I didn't kill him."
+
+"That's a likely story. I find yuh alone in ther house with him. Yuh'll
+hev ter answer ter ther magistrate fer this."
+
+"See here, my friend, how could I have killed that man, then come in
+here, and locked and barred the door on the outside?"
+
+"He's got yuh there, Si," said one of the men.
+
+"Look here," said Ted, showing his star. "I'm an officer of the law. The
+fellows who captured and brought me here were robbers, and I was on
+their trail. That's all there is to it. Now, let me pass. I want to see
+what is in the next room."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+STELLA ADOPTS A BROTHER.
+
+
+Taking up a lantern, Ted entered the room. Beside the overturned table
+lay the body of a man. It was not Checkers. There was nothing in the
+room except the table, two chairs, a broken lamp, which lay in a pool of
+kerosene on the floor, and the body of the murdered man.
+
+Wait, what was this?
+
+Beneath the table was a scrap of green.
+
+It was a bank bill, and, drawing it forth, Ted found it to be a
+fifty-dollar note issue'd by the First National Bank of Green River,
+Nebraska. A valuable clew, this.
+
+When he had searched the body of the dead man, and found several letters
+and a small memorandum book, he left the room and locked it.
+
+"Notify the coroner," said he to the constable, "and give him this key.
+If he wants me as a witness in his inquest, he will find me at the
+Stratford Hotel, in St. Louis."
+
+The constable promised to carry out Ted's instructions.
+
+"Where is that boy Scrub?" asked Ted.
+
+"Here I am," said the boy, emerging from the crowd.
+
+"Who knows anything about this boy?" Ted asked.
+
+"He's just a loose kid," said the constable. "His father died when he
+was young, and his mother left him a few years ago. Since then no one
+has claimed him."
+
+"Then I will. Do you want to come with me?" Ted asked the boy. "I will
+give you a good home and clothes, teach you something, and make a
+useful man of you. Is he a good boy?"
+
+Ted turned to the men about him.
+
+"Yes, Scrub is a good boy, only he never ain't had no chance," seemed to
+be the universal verdict.
+
+"Say the word, Scrub. Do you want to come with me?"
+
+"You bet," said Scrub fervently.
+
+"Good! Come along! We'll be getting back to St. Louis."
+
+"But yuh can't get back to-night. The last train has gone."
+
+"Never mind. I'll get there somehow. Some one lend me a lantern for a
+few minutes."
+
+Ted was given one, and he went out into the yard and outhouses to search
+for the red motor car. He could not find it anywhere.
+
+"Did any of you folks see a red automobile going down the road any time
+to-day?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, there's a red machine down in the lane running over to the Rock
+Road," said one of the men. "But I reckon it's bust."
+
+"Come on, Scrub, we'll take a look at it," said Ted, Leading off with
+the man who had seen the car, and followed by the whole crowd, Ted made
+his way to the lane.
+
+Standing in the middle of it was the red car with its No. 118 swaying
+from the rear axle in the wind.
+
+Evidently Checkers had started away in it, using it as a swift means of
+escape, but it had stopped, and, as he could go no farther in it, he had
+abandoned it in the road.
+
+Ted examined the machinery carefully, but could find nothing wrong with
+it until he discovered that it had exhausted its supply of gasoline.
+
+But he learned that the grocer at the village, half a mile away, had
+gasoline for sale, and two young fellows volunteered to go after some
+while Ted overhauled the car.
+
+In half an hour he was ready to start. He made Scrub get into the seat,
+and, shaking hands with the constable and shouting a merry good-by to
+the others, he started for St. Louis.
+
+It was past midnight when he drew up in front of the Stratford Hotel,
+hungry and tired. Scrub was fast asleep, and, taking him in his arms,
+Ted entered the hotel.
+
+As he stepped inside, the clerk stared at him as if he had seen a ghost.
+
+"How's everything?" asked Ted of the clerk.
+
+"Great Scott, where did you come from?" asked, the clerk, and added
+hastily: "Better hurry upstairs to your room. Everybody is crazy about
+your disappearance."
+
+Ted went up in the elevator with the boy still sleeping in his arms.
+There was a light in his room and a confused murmur of voices.
+
+Without the formality of a knock he opened the door and entered. As he
+appeared in the doorway there was silence for a moment, then such a
+bedlam of shouts and laughter burst forth that every one on the floor
+was aroused.
+
+"It's Ted! It's Ted!" they shouted, and crowded around him.
+
+The place was full of them. Across the room he saw the shining face of
+Stella, smiling a welcome at him. Ben and Kit, Carl, Clay, and all of
+them were there, and sitting at the table was the chief of detectives.
+
+"Hello! Holding a post-mortem over me?" asked Ted.
+
+"It comes pretty near that," said Bud. "Dog-gone you, what do you mean
+by goin' erway an' hidin' out on us that way? What in ther name o' Sam
+Hill an' Billy Patterson hev yer picked up now?" Bud was looking
+curiously at the bundle of rags in Ted's arms, for the boy still slept.
+
+"This is a new pard," said Ted. "If it hadn't been for this kid you'd
+probably never seen me again."
+
+"Erlucerdate," demanded Bud.
+
+"Not until some one goes out to the nearest restaurant and orders up a
+stack of grub for Scrub and me. I haven't had anything to eat or drink
+for thirty-six hours, and I'm almost all in, and this kid has been
+living on apples and water for a couple of weeks. Now, hustle somebody
+and let me put this kid on the bed---my back's nearly broke--or maybe
+it's my stomach, they're so close together now I can't tell which it is
+that hurts."
+
+While Ted was laying the boy on the bed he woke up, and, finding himself
+in a strange place, and a finer room than he had ever been in before,
+surrounded by a lot of rather boisterous young men, he leaped to the
+floor and started to the door. But Ted caught him by the arm and drew
+him back.
+
+"What's the matter with you, you young savage?" said Ted.
+
+"Oh, I'm all right now," said the boy. "When I woke up I got rattled, I
+guess, but as long as you're here it's all right."
+
+The food came up now borne by two waiters and piloted by Kit. There were
+oysters and steak and potatoes and biscuit and a lot of what Missouri
+folk call "fixin's," and a big pot of coffee.
+
+Scrub's eyes stood out like doorknobs as he viewed this wonderful array
+of things to eat. The table was cleared, the waiters set out the food,
+and the boys stood back to give Ted and the boy "room to swell," as Bud
+expressed it. The way they tucked into the good things was a caution.
+
+After their hunger was satisfied and the waiters had restored order to
+the table, Ted began the story of his adventures since he had let Bud
+out of the automobile. As he talked, Stella wooed the small boy to her
+side, and listened to the story with her arm around his shoulder, and
+long before it was done Scrub was her worshiper forever.
+
+Chief Desmond listened with close attention, and when Ted finished and
+exhibited the bill of the Green River Bank, which he examined carefully,
+he said:
+
+"Mr. Strong, you've beaten us all to it. I will go out to-morrow--I mean
+to-day, for it's one o'clock now--and view the body myself. If it is, as
+seems almost certain to be, Dude Wilcox, one of the most dangerous men
+in the West is gone, but he has left behind for us to fight, and you to
+find, the man Checkers. This bill is your clew to the gang, but it is a
+counterfeit. As I have the thing figured out, the gang knew that forty
+thousand dollars was going to be shipped, but for some reason or other
+they dared not hold up the train out there, and telegraphed the gang in
+St. Louis to get it. Dude was at the head of the bunch here, and as it
+was a one-man game so near to St. Louis, Dude was elected to pull it
+off, which he did to the queen's taste. Perhaps the bill you have is the
+only counterfeit in the lot. Perhaps not. That is for you to work out."
+
+"But how he managed to get away with the swag I haven't managed to
+figure out yet," said Ted.
+
+"Of course, I don't know either, but deducing facts from what I know of
+the gang's methods, and from long experience with gentlemen of the road,
+I would say that the members of the gang who were killed in their
+rendezvous in Pine Street by my unfortunate men were awaiting the
+arrival of Dude with the swag. Checkers had secret knowledge that you
+had been put on their trail, and when he saw you pick up that red car
+in East St. Louis he was sure that you knew about the robbery and that
+you were on to Dude."
+
+"That's likely," said Ted. "I hadn't thought of that."
+
+"Well, he got into communication with Dude, and warned him against
+coming to the Pine Street place. You see, they had another rendezvous
+out in the country, a haunted house, the reputation of which would keep
+prying country boys away from it."
+
+"Best sort of a place for a criminal hangout," said Ted.
+
+"You're right, and now that you have discovered it, I'll take pains to
+see that it's never used for such again. But, as I was going to say,
+Dude's intention was to get out of town, return, go to the Pine Street
+room, divide the swag, and skip. He probably left the train at Somerset,
+or some other little town down the line, hid in the cornfields until
+dusk, stole a horse and buggy, and drove across the country to the
+haunted house, and later was joined by Checkers, who had been trailing
+you, and later succeeded in getting you. Had it not been for the quarrel
+between Dude and Checkers, it is more than likely that you would have
+been murdered by Checkers. But one murder was enough for his nerve, and,
+forgetting you, he vamosed."
+
+The detective arose to take his departure, again congratulating Ted on
+the outcome of his adventure.
+
+"Keep your eye peeled for Checkers, and if you do run across him, have
+your gun at half cock," he said, and, bidding good night to all, went
+away.
+
+"And now, good fellows, all to bed," said Ted. "To-morrow we start for
+the West, and the capture of the head men of the train-robber syndicate,
+and the extermination of the business."
+
+In the morning, before the others were up, Ted made Scrub take a bath,
+and then they sallied forth to a clothing store. When they came out,
+instead of the ragged and dirty little boy, there walked proudly by
+Ted's side a fine, clean, fresh-looking lad in a well-fitting serge
+suit, and other appointments that transformed him completely.
+
+When they arrived at the hotel the boys professed not to know Scrub.
+
+"Hello, picked up another kid?" asked Bud. "I swow, yer allers goin'
+round pickin' up mavericks. I reckon yer aim ter brand this one as well
+ez ther one yer brought in last night."
+
+"Why, here's another kid," said Ben, looking over Scrub's new outfit
+with interest. "He don't look much like the one you brought in last
+night. I reckon that one has run away, I don't see him anywhere."
+
+Poor Scrub was standing first on one foot and then on the other, fairly
+squirming with embarrassment.
+
+Ted gave the boys the nod to cease teasing the boy.
+
+"Don't mind those fellows, they're only joshing," said Ted.
+
+"Oh, I don't mind it if they can get any fun out of it," said Scrub,
+with a smile. "Maybe, some day I can get back at them, when I know them
+better."
+
+Stella came down in the elevator at that moment, and, catching sight of
+Scrub, gave a little scream of astonishment at his altered appearance.
+
+"Goodness, what a fine-looking addition to the family!" she said,
+shaking hands with the boy, who blushed and looked pleased. "I don't
+like the name Scrub a bit. I'm going to change his name."
+
+"This isn't leap year, Stella," said Ben.
+
+"You hush! What name would you rather have than Scrub? That's no name
+for a broncho boy," she said to the boy.
+
+"I don't know," answered the boy. "What name do you like?"
+
+"I think she likes Ben better than any," said Ben, posing in a very
+handsome manner.
+
+"Don't listen to him, he's always teasing. You want something short and
+easy to say."
+
+"What's the matter with 'Say'?" said Ben. "That's always easy to
+remember. I notice that when a man wants to call another on the street
+he just hollers 'Say,' and half a dozen fellows turn around."
+
+"Then that makes it too common," decided Stella. "What name would you
+suggest, Ted? He's got to have two names."
+
+"Let us get one of the newspapers to start a voting contest on it."
+
+"Ben, if you don't stop your foolishness, I won't play," said Stella.
+
+"You name him, Stella," said Ted. "Anything you say goes."
+
+"Then we'll call him Dick, after my father," said Stella. "He never had
+a boy, and always wanted one. I'm going to adopt this boy as a brother.
+His name shall be Dick Fosdick. That sounds funny, doesn't it, but I
+didn't do it on purpose."
+
+There was a tear in her eye at the thought of her father, and the boys
+looked rather solemn, for while they hoped for the best, they didn't as
+yet know the lad, and perhaps they had saddled themselves with a future
+regret, but Stella trusted and believed in the little chap, who was very
+proud that at last he had thrown off and buried forever the name of
+Scrub.
+
+That evening they took the train for the West, their destination being
+Green River.
+
+The automobile Ted sent on by express that he might have it not only for
+use, for he was becoming attached to it, but as a clew to the detection
+of the express robbers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+EZRA, THE LIFE-SAVING GOAT.
+
+
+Ted had engaged several sections on the through sleeping car to North
+Platte, Nebraska, the old home of Colonel William Cody, known all over
+the world as "Buffalo Bill."
+
+But they were to leave the train at Green River, ostensibly to buy
+cattle for their ranch. This, of course, was to avert suspicion from
+their real purpose of hunting down the express robbers.
+
+For Mrs. Graham and Stella the stateroom of the car _Orizaba_ had been
+engaged, and the boys made it a sort of ceremonial chamber.
+
+The car was well filled with other passengers, many of them tourists on
+the way to Colorado or the Pacific coast, and they were much amused at
+the free-and-easy spirit with which the boys conducted themselves, and
+when it became generally known that they were the broncho boys, with Ted
+Strong at their head, they received a great deal of attention, which was
+not particularly to Ted's liking.
+
+As usual, wherever they were, Bud Morgan, Ben Tremont, and Carl Schwartz
+provided a fund of amusement for everybody.
+
+Little Dick Fosdick had never known such happiness as he was now
+experiencing. He worshiped Stella, admired Ted, and looked upon Bud as
+the greatest pal a boy ever had.
+
+He and Bud were inseparable, and Bud never tired of telling him yarns
+about cow-punching and Indian fighting, while the boy proved a
+breathless listener, hanging upon every word that fell from the
+yellow-haired cowboy's lips.
+
+He knew by heart many of the adventures through which Ted Strong had
+passed, and often surprised Ted by correcting some inaccuracy which,
+through a lapse of memory, Ted had made.
+
+They were sailing across Missouri toward the West, and the boy kept his
+face glued to the window, watching for the first glimpse of the golden
+West of his fancy. Just at present he saw only farms and little towns,
+through which the fast train whizzed without stopping.
+
+The boy knew this sort of country well, and was rather disappointed that
+the boundless prairie did not roll before him from horizon to horizon.
+
+Then he turned his attention to the luxury of the car, but being a
+healthy boy, this did not impress him long, and he turned to his heroes
+for relief.
+
+Bud was sitting comfortably sprawled out on two seats, singing softly to
+himself. Bud could not sing a little bit, but he thought he could, which
+served his purpose personally quite as well as if he could.
+
+Ben was in the seat behind him, reading. After a while Bud's music, or
+the lack of it, got on Ben's nerves, and he reached over and poked Bud
+on top of his golden head with the corner of his book.
+
+"Say," said he, "put on the soft pedal, won't you? Perhaps you can sing,
+and maybe some one told you you could, but take it from me you have no
+more voice or musical ability than a he-goat."
+
+"Oh, mercy!" retorted Bud. "Does my music annoy you?"
+
+"It certainly does," snapped Ben.
+
+"Then why don't yer move away?"
+
+"Bah! You're an old goat."
+
+"Thanks fer ther compliment, although yer don't mean it thet away. But
+when yer likens me ter a goat yer do me proud. If yer were more goatlike
+yerself ye'd be a heap more wiser."
+
+"I'm glad you like it. The pleasure's all yours. But if a fellow called
+me a goat, I know what I'd do."
+
+"Maybe, perhaps. But yer needn't be afraid that any one will liken yer
+ter a goat. Any self-respectin' goat would get sore at it. If I wuz ter
+pick out yer counterpart in ther animile world, I'd say yer most
+resembled the phillaloo?"
+
+"What's a phillaloo?"
+
+"A phillaloo is a cross between a penguin and a jassack."
+
+"Say, you long-haired lobster!" cried Ben, leaping to his feet,
+apparently in great anger, "don't you call me anything like that."
+
+"Well, didn't yer jest call me a goat?"
+
+"Yes, but--"
+
+"Then sit down an' git back ter yer love story; we're square. Nothin' is
+lost on both sides. But callin' me a goat don't make me sore none. I
+jest dote on goats. If I wasn't jest what I am, I'd sooner be a goat
+than a collidge gradooate."
+
+"I've heard about enough, if you're alluding to me."
+
+"Take it er leave it. But, ez I wuz goin' ter say before my conversation
+was cut inter by a loud an' empty noise, speakin' o' goats reminds me o'
+a time down on ther Pecos--"
+
+"By Jove! I'm going to ask the conductor to move me into another car.
+This is too much. I might, perhaps, stand for being called a phillaloo,
+but I swear I'll not be compelled to stay here and listen to one of
+those silly and impossible stories of this insane cow-puncher."
+
+At first some of the passengers thought that Bud and Ben were really
+angry at one another, but the wise ones soon saw that it was all bluff,
+as, of course, the broncho boys knew.
+
+But it was very real to Dick Fosdick, who had yet many things to learn
+about the boys and their ways, and while the little chap was far too
+clever naturally to show his feelings, he sided with Bud, and thought
+that Ben was very unreasonable, especially as the boys, and some of the
+passengers, had flocked around Bud, who appeared not to notice them.
+
+"I reckon, Dick, you'd like ter hear thet thar story erbout the time I
+lied down on ther Pecos in the summer o'--"
+
+"Conductor," said Ben, detaining that official as he was passing through
+the car, "is there no way of stopping the noise this person is making? I
+cannot take my nap on account of his chatter."
+
+Several persons who were not in the secret were for interfering in
+behalf of Bud and his story, which they wanted to hear, but were headed
+off by the conductor, who said:
+
+"Sorry, but I cannot interfere with the gentleman. He does not seem to
+be annoying the other passengers. If you wish to take a nap you are at
+liberty to go up ahead in the smoking car."
+
+At this Bud began to gloat.
+
+"I hear they've put a cattle car up next ter ther injine fer sech
+sensitive people like you. Yer might enj'y a leetle siesta on ther
+straw."
+
+Ben sank back into his seat, and began to snore gently.
+
+"What about the story down on the Pecos, Bud?" said Dick.
+
+"You'd like to hear it, eh? Then I'll tell it to you. Of course, the
+other folks may listen to it, but it is understood betwixt me an' you
+thet it's all yours, an' whatever goes inter their ears is jest ther
+leavin's. Is that a go?"
+
+The boy nodded eagerly, even though he didn't understand the drift of
+Bud's remarks.
+
+"What's the story about?" asked the boy.
+
+"The goat, my boy. Perhaps you don't know it, but the goat is one of
+the noblest animals what walks. He is also one o' ther smartest, an' in
+former years used ter be able ter talk, but ez soon ez he got ter be so
+popular in secret societies ther gift o' speech was withdrawed from him,
+so thet he wouldn't be able ter give erway ther secret things what he
+saw an' heard at ther meetin's."
+
+"But, Bud, are they really smart?" asked Dick.
+
+"Smart ain't no name fer it. All yer got ter do to find out if they're
+smart is ter look at their whiskers. The smartest o' all animiles is
+man, an' don't he wear whiskers? An' I want ter ast yer what other
+animile hez whiskers exceptin' ther goat. Ther goat knew what he was
+about when he begin ter raise whiskers. He says ter hisself--"
+
+"What bosh!" exclaimed Ben, snorting in his sleep.
+
+"Aire you addressin' yer remarks ter me?" asked Bud, looking over the
+back of the seat at Bud. But the only answer was a gentle snore.
+
+"What did he say?" asked Dick eagerly.
+
+"'Why,' says he, 'if they won't let me talk they can't keep me from
+bein' ez near a man ez I kin go; by gravy, I'll raise whiskers like
+Deacon Smith,' who was a member o' ther lodge in which ther goat
+officiated; and, by jinks, he did, an' ther fashion wuz follered, an'
+they wear them ter this day.
+
+"There ain't no question o' their smartness, an' their prominence. Ain't
+one o' ther signs o' the zodiac up in ther heavens named after ther
+goat--Capricornus is ther feller ter what I refer--an' them heathen
+chaps what wuz half man an' half goat? Didn't they come pretty near
+bein' ther whole thing?"
+
+"But about the Pecos?" inquired Dick, who was not partial to preaching,
+but wanted to get at the heart of the story.
+
+"Oh. yes. I wuz leadin' up ter it gradooal, fer what I'm goin' ter
+relate--if thet yap will choke off on thet moosical snore--"
+
+"Here, wake up, you're snoring so loud we can't hear ourselves holler,"
+said Kit, reaching over and shaking Ben.
+
+"I can't keep awake while that fellow persists in yarning away like a
+fanning machine. It's so monotonous I can't keep awake," and Ben
+stretched and yawned.
+
+"Let's get away from here and go to some other part of the car,"
+whispered Dick.
+
+"No, we'll just stay here an' spite him. He'll wake up after a while an'
+be glad to listen to ther story. So here goes!
+
+"I was punchin' cow's down on the Pecos one summer fer ther Crazy B
+Ranch. We had eight punchers in ther bunch, a good chuck wagon, an' easy
+work, so I wuz pretty well suited, an' thet summer I gained twelve
+pounds, even if it wuz a hundred an' forty in ther shade, which we hed
+forgotten ter bring along with us."
+
+"Forgotten to bring what?" asked the boy.
+
+"Our shade. Yer see, down in thet country ther sun is so strong thet
+every one carries his own shade, fer there isn't a tree in ther whole
+country big enough ter cast a shadder o' any sort. Out on ther ranches,
+at certain seasons o' ther year, they serve out shade ter ther men jest
+ther same ez they do bacon an' saleratus ter ther outfit thet goes out
+herdin'."
+
+Dick looked seriously at Bud for a moment, hardly knowing whether or not
+to doubt him, but Bud's face was as grave as a deacon's.
+
+"I don't understand it, I'm sure," he said. "But where do they get the
+shade to give to the men?"
+
+"That's easy enough. It's always gathered on dark nights, generally late
+in ther fall er in ther winter, so thet it'll be real cool."
+
+"But where do they get it?"
+
+"What--ther shade? Why, they just go out an' gather it off the ground in
+thin shapes, kinder longer than broad. It can be rolled up just like a
+blanket, an' carried behind ther saddle. It's gathered in ther cold
+months. Ye've heard o' ther 'cool shade.' Well, that's why they gather
+it late in the year. Summer shade is no good, because it's too warm."
+
+"But what is it like?"
+
+"Oh, it's black, an' I hear they strip it off close ter ther ground. We
+don't get no shade like it in this part o' ther country. Ther only place
+what hez it is ther West, whar it's needed most."
+
+"But how about the Pecos?"
+
+"Sho! I almost fergot it, didn't I, while teachin' yer something erbout
+ther way they do things in Arizony an' her sister-in-law, Noo Mexico?
+Now I'm off, shore.
+
+"Ping-pong Martin wuz in ther outfit thet year. Mebbe yer knows him?"
+Bud looked at the small boy inquiringly, much to his embarrassment.
+
+"No, sir, I never heard of him before."
+
+"Well, no matter, but this Ping-pong cuss, he had a personal friend, a
+goat, what couldn't no more be shook than a sore thumb, and had follered
+Ping off ter ther wars, so to speak.
+
+"Ping run off from home on ther quiet ter join our outfit, leavin' ther
+goat to home, locked up in ther barn. Ping thought he hed ther goat
+faded, but one day, when we wuz half asleep in our saddles, a feller
+over on ther other side come a-runnin' in.
+
+"'What's ther matter?' sez I.
+
+"Thar's a funny animile over here. He shore is ther devil, fer he wears
+horns, an' hez a face exactly like thet o' ole man Pillsbury. I ain't
+bettin' none it ain't him. But if it is Pillsbury, he better not go
+home lookin' like thet 'thout lettin' his wife know first.'
+
+"Ping an' me rode over ter ther other side, an' thar stood a goat,
+lookin' so nice an' socierble.
+
+"'Great hevings!' shouted Ping, makin' a rush fer ther goat, 'thet's my
+goat Ezra, ain't you?'"
+
+"Did the goat understand him?"
+
+"Did he understand him? Well, I should whisper sweetly. Why, thet goat
+jest jumped all over Ping, a-runnin' his whiskers inter his eyes, an'
+laughin', he wuz so glad ter see him. He'd traced Ping plumb ercross
+ther desert ter get ter us, an', o' course, we couldn't sic him home
+after that.
+
+"We all got ter love Ezra fer his lovely ways; that is, all except
+'Boney Bill' Henderson."
+
+"Why? Didn't the goat like him?"
+
+"Well, it wuz this way: Boney Bill had a habit o' beggin' ther grease
+from ther fryin' pan every night ter ile his boots. This made 'em good
+an' strong, ez well ez easy ter chew on. One night, Ezra bein' fond o'
+boots, finds 'em an' chews ther tops off'n 'em. They wuz ther only boots
+Bill hed, an' we wuz two hundred mile ter another pair, so Bill hed ter
+go through ther season barefoot, an' ther sun jest nacherly warped his
+feet out o' all shape.
+
+"But thet wuzn't what I wuz goin' ter tell yer erbout. That fall ther
+Utes went on ther warpath, an' wuz headin' our way, an' I want ter tell
+yer we wuz some scared. We hed several brushes with ther Injuns, an'
+ther courier we sent ter ther fort fer help wuz killed an' scalped.
+
+"Thar we wuz, in a little valley entirely surrounded by Injuns thirstin'
+fer our gore. How long we could hold out agin' 'em wuz ther problem. But
+whenever one o' 'em showed his head we took a pop at it, an' they
+returned ther compliment. We wuz prayin' fer ther comin' o' ther
+soldiers, which wuz ther only thing what could save us from a horrible
+death.
+
+"Ther Injuns got next ter ther fact thet our ammunition wuz runnin'
+short, an' they wuz gittin' some gay; sorter takin' advantage o' us in a
+way. I could see thet they wuz gettin' ready ter make a rush down inter
+ther valley an' massacree us all, an' we prepared ter sell our lives
+dearly.
+
+"One mornin' we missed Ezra, ther goat. I'll never fergit ther misery on
+ther face o' Ping-pong when he finds it out.
+
+"'Bud,' he says ter me, 'I'm goin' out ter find Ezra, an' if them Injuns
+hez got him, I'm goin' ter bust ther whole tribe wide open.'
+
+"I tried ter persuade him not ter go, but he will, so I goes with him.
+We sneaks up ther side o' ther hill, an' looks over ther ridge right
+down inter ther Injun village. The sight what met our gaze almost, but
+not quite, made me bust open with laughin'.
+
+"Ther Injuns wuz all down on their hands an' knees, bowin' ter Ezra, who
+wuz walkin' eround on his hind legs, sashayin' sideways an' noddin' his
+head jest like a live bock-beer sign. Yer see, ther Injuns hed never
+seen a goat before, an' when Ezra walks onto them, waggin' his whiskers
+in a wise sort o' way, they thinks he's some kind o' a god, er somethin'
+like that. But when he got up on his hind legs an' begin ter sashay thet
+settled it. They wuz shore o' it then.
+
+"We watched ther performance fer a while, then ther Injuns got up an'
+begin ter mosey. In an hour thar wuzn't a Injun within twenty mile. They
+jest hit ther high places fer home.
+
+"Thet wuz ther way Ezra saved our party. After thet he could hev et
+every boot in ther outfit, an' thar wouldn't hev been a kick."
+
+"What became of him?" asked Kit.
+
+"Oh, he went back home with Ping an' raised a large family, an' they
+wuz talkin' o' runnin' him fer ther legislature an account o' his
+whiskers an' his smartness."
+
+"He was a smart goat, wasn't he?" said Dick.
+
+"You bet. Thet's why I said that some goats wuz jest ez smart ez lots o'
+collidge gradooates what I hev met."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE COUNTERFEIT BANK NOTE.
+
+
+When they arose in the morning the train was speeding over the prairie,
+and Dick could hardly be pulled away from the window long enough to go
+to breakfast with Stella and Mrs. Graham, so great was his delight at
+being in the "really and truly" wild West.
+
+When they were all back in the car again, Ted, for the first time,
+noticed a large man, flashily dressed, who wore a flaming red necktie,
+and who evidently thought himself irresistible to the ladies.
+
+He walked up and down the aisle on the slightest pretext, ogling every
+pretty woman in the car, and Ted was getting very tired of it,
+especially as once or twice he had the impertinence to stop and look
+into the stateroom in which Stella and Mrs. Graham were sitting.
+
+"I'll take a fall out of that fellow if he keeps up that sort of thing
+much longer," said Ted, who was sitting beside Kit.
+
+"I was thinking of the same thing," said Kit. "He makes me tired. I
+wonder what he is, anyway?"
+
+"He has the make-up of a gambler or a saloon keeper," answered Ted. "He
+better keep away from me if he knows when he's well off."
+
+At a town farther down the line a young lady entered the car, and took a
+seat directly in front of Kit, who was alone, Ted having gone to the
+front of the train to consult the conductor about a mistake that had
+been made in their tickets.
+
+Presently the flashy man with the red necktie spied her and sauntered
+past her down the aisle. In a few moments he came back, twirling his
+black mustache, which evidently was dyed, and casting glances at the
+young lady.
+
+Stopping in front of her, he said:
+
+"Is this seat taken, lady?"
+
+The young lady looked up, and answered coldly:
+
+"No, sir; but there are plenty of other seats in the car which are
+unoccupied."
+
+"This one looks good to me," said the fellow, with a smile which was
+supposed to be very fetching.
+
+Without further excuse he plumped himself down in the seat beside her,
+and threw his arm familiarly over the back of it, at the same time
+hitching closer to her.
+
+Then he tried to draw her into conversation, but she turned from him and
+looked out of the window.
+
+But he persisted, and she showed that his attentions were annoying her.
+
+Kit watched the proceedings, and was boiling with anger, but he did not
+feel that he had the right to interfere until the young lady showed by
+her manner that she desired assistance.
+
+Presently the man said something to the young lady in a low voice that
+seemed to arouse her anger, for she rose hastily to her feet, her face
+burning.
+
+"Let me pass!" she said.
+
+"Don't leave me like this," said the fellow, blocking the way with his
+knees. "Sit down. We'll soon be good friends. You'll find me a good
+fellow."
+
+"I insist, sir, that you allow me to pass," said the girl, growing pale,
+her voice rising a little.
+
+Kit could stand it no longer. He reached over and tapped the fellow on
+the shoulder.
+
+"Allow the lady to pass," he said quietly.
+
+The hawk turned his head and sized Kit up. This did not take much time,
+for Kit was small and slender, his black eyes being the largest part of
+him, proportionately.
+
+"What the deuce have you got to do with this?" he sneered, looking
+savagely at Kit.
+
+"Just enough to make sure that you do it," said Kit, rising.
+
+"Well, I don't allow no pups like you to interfere with me. You sit down
+an' let this gal an' me attend to our own business, er I'll bend you an'
+tie you into a knot an' throw you out of the window."
+
+Kit did not reply, but he reached over and got the fellow by the coat
+collar and jerked him into the aisle, and, twisting him around, planted
+his toe between his coat tails with a force that sent him halfway down
+the length of the car.
+
+"You're on the wrong train," said Kit. "The cattle train is on the other
+track."
+
+The fellow soon regained his balance, and came rushing back like a
+charging bull.
+
+"You little snipe!" he roared, "I'll kill you for that."
+
+But as he got near Kit dodged into the space between the seats, and as
+the fellow rushed past, carried on by the momentum of his run, Kit swung
+at him with his right fist.
+
+It caught the fellow back of the ear, and the force behind the blow, as
+well as the rate at which he had been coming, sent him headlong between
+two seats, where he lay crumpled up like a rag.
+
+The commotion had attracted the attention of Bud and Ben, and they were
+by Kit's side in a moment.
+
+"Need any help?" asked Bud.
+
+"Not a bit," replied Kit. "I'm not very large, but no man of that sort
+can call me a pup."
+
+The fellow lay where he fell, and Bud warned away several passengers who
+wanted to go to his assistance.
+
+"He's all right," he said. "A crack like that never injured any one
+permanently, but sometimes it wakes them up ter ther foolishness of
+insulting a lady when ther broncho boys are around."
+
+Kit lifted his hat to the young lady.
+
+"Pardon me for making a disturbance," he said. "I don't think you'll be
+bothered again."
+
+The young lady was profuse in her thanks, and resumed her seat.
+
+Presently the fellow on the floor got up and sneaked into another car,
+without looking again at either Kit or the young lady.
+
+"Hello, Kit! What was it all about?" asked Ted entering the car.
+
+"Oh, I never could stand for red neckties, nohow," answered Kit
+apologetically.
+
+When the train stopped for dinner they all trooped into the station
+dining room, and secured for themselves a long table, around which they
+sat like a big and happy family.
+
+As Ted and Kit were walking along the platform toward the dining room
+Ted suddenly halted and stared at a man who was leaning against the wall
+of the station.
+
+"By Jove, I believe it's him!" he muttered.
+
+"Who's him?" asked Kit.
+
+"The express robber, Checkers," answered Ted. "And yet I'm not sure. If
+it is him it's one of the best disguises I ever saw. Look at your friend
+of the red necktie hurrying up to him. By Jove, they're a good pair! I
+wish I could hear that fellow in the checked suit speak."
+
+"That fellow will get caught up yet if he persists in wearing checked
+suits," said Kit. "It seems to be his badge, or a disease with him."
+
+"I suppose that's why they call him Checkers," said Ted. "I wish I knew.
+I'd take a chance at arresting him."
+
+At that moment the man in the checked suit looked up and caught Ted and
+Kit staring at him.
+
+Hastily calling the attention of the man with the red necktie to them,
+he hurried around the corner, and the other followed.
+
+Ted ran to the corner of the station, but all he could see of either was
+through a swirl of dust as the motor car in which they were riding flew
+up the street.
+
+"By crickey! I'll bet anything that was Checkers," grumbled Ted. "I'm
+always too late to get to him. But next time I'll take a long chance
+with him."
+
+The train pulled into Green River at eight o'clock that night, and they
+all went to the leading hotel, and Ted registered them as coming from
+the ranch.
+
+During the evening the boys mingled with the crowd in the hotel lobby,
+talking cattle, and met many of the representative women of the section.
+
+They were out after a bunch of stockers, and promised to be in the
+neighborhood for several days and to visit the ranches and look over the
+stock.
+
+One of the men whom they met was introduced to them as Colonel Billings,
+ranch owner and speculator in cattle.
+
+He was a middle-aged man of most pleasant features--benign,
+good-natured, and yet shrewd. He dressed well for a cowman, and from his
+pink, bald crown and gray chin whiskers down to his neat shoes, he
+looked the part of the prosperous business man.
+
+"I have a lot of stock such as I think you boys need out at my ranch,"
+he said to Ted, when he learned that they wanted to buy. "I'd like to
+have you bring your party out to the place and stay several days as my
+guests. You would then have plenty of time to look the stock over, and
+if you like them I'm sure we can strike a bargain."
+
+Ted thanked him and promised to go out to look at the stock, but as for
+the invitation for the whole party to stop at the ranch, he would have
+to consult the wishes of the party. He rather liked the colonel, who
+was, apparently, bluff and sincere.
+
+As Ted was on his way to the bank which had issued the bill which he had
+found in the haunted house, he stopped suddenly. He had just seen a
+young woman enter a store hurriedly, and look at him over her shoulder
+as she did so. She it was who had slipped the note of warning into his
+pocket in the Union Station, in St. Louis.
+
+Evidently she was trying to avoid him. But why? He wanted to thank her
+for that kindly service, and, quite naturally, he had some curiosity to
+know who she was.
+
+Without apparently hurrying he followed her into the store, and looked
+around for her. She was not in sight, and he walked up and down the
+aisles between the counters, but could not find her.
+
+Then he observed that there was a back door to the store, which opened
+onto an arcade. She had escaped him through that, and Ted looked up and
+down the arcade. At the far end, where it opened out into the public
+square, a carriage stood, and a young lady was getting into it.
+
+It was the young lady of the subtle perfume and the note.
+
+In a moment she was gone.
+
+He was not far from the bank, and giving the young woman no more
+thought, for he was sure he would see her again, for she seemed to be
+mixed up in his fortunes in some manner, he made his way to the
+financial institution and asked for the president.
+
+"You will find Mr. Norcross in his private office at the end of the
+corridor," said the clerk.
+
+At the door of the office Ted found a colored messenger, who stopped him
+and asked his business.
+
+"Is Mr. Norcross in his office?" asked Ted.
+
+"Yes, sah, but he is busy," answered the messenger.
+
+"Well, take my card in to him, and tell him I would like to see him
+when he is at leisure."
+
+The negro went away, and in a few moments returned to say that Mr.
+Norcross would be glad to see Mr. Strong presently.
+
+While Ted waited he stood looking out of the window into the street. The
+door behind him opened, and he turned.
+
+Walking rapidly down the corridor was the man with the pointed beard,
+whom he had seen in the Union Station in St. Louis give the signal to
+the girl who had slipped the note into his pocket.
+
+Ted stared after him. The mystery of the note was getting thicker. But
+he would try to think it out later.
+
+He found Mr. Norcross an elderly, but active man.
+
+"What can I do for you, Mr. Strong," said the banker, referring to Ted's
+card.
+
+"I come to you for information concerning a recent robbery and the
+murder of an express messenger in an express car in St. Louis," said
+Ted.
+
+"In what capacity do you come?"
+
+"As an officer of the government."
+
+"Oh, ah, rather young for such work, aren't you?"
+
+"Pardon, but that has nothing at all to do with it. I am a deputy United
+States marshal, and have received instructions to examine into certain
+matters regarding the recent robberies from express trains in this part
+of the country."
+
+"I suppose you have your credentials as an officer."
+
+"I think I can convince those who have the right to know that I am what
+I profess to be."
+
+"Very well. I meant no offense, but there have been so many violent
+things done out here, that naturally a banker desires to at least know
+something of his callers. What can I do for you?"
+
+"Did your bank make a shipment of currency to the East, last week?"
+
+"Yes, sir, that is a well-known fact."
+
+"What was the amount?"
+
+"Forty thousand dollars. It was to meet some paper which was due in St.
+Louis."
+
+"And it was stolen from the express car?"
+
+"Yes. The express company has reimbursed us for it."
+
+"What sort of currency was it?"
+
+"Mostly of our own issue."
+
+"Do you recognize this bill?"
+
+Ted took from his pocket the counterfeit bill of the bank, and handed it
+to the president, who looked at it a moment and handed it back.
+
+"Yes, that is one of the bills. The money sent was all in that series of
+numbers."
+
+Ted picked the bill up, and put it in his pocket.
+
+"Here, you mustn't take that," said the president. "That is the property
+of the bank. Give it to me. The express company will need it for
+evidence."
+
+"Then I will keep it. It will be safer with me."
+
+A suspicion had entered Ted's mind, which was strengthened by the
+conduct of the president, who was white-faced and trembling.
+
+"From your examination of the bill, you are positive that it was one of
+those shipped to St. Louis?"
+
+"I am not certain, of course, but as I said, it is within the series of
+numbers which we sent. Why do you ask?"
+
+"Because it is a counterfeit."
+
+The president sank down in his chair. He had suddenly become pale, and
+was trembling like a leaf.
+
+"What will you take for that bill, young man? Name your own price," said
+Mr. Norcross.
+
+"It is not for sale, and you have not money enough to buy it," replied
+Ted Strong.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+A CRIME WITHIN A CRIME.
+
+
+"Well, friend, have you decided to come out to my ranch, and look my
+stock over?"
+
+It was Colonel Billings, the genial ranchman, who addressed Ted, meeting
+him in the lobby of the hotel.
+
+"Yes, I think I will," answered Ted. "When will it be convenient for you
+to be there?"
+
+"I am going out to-morrow, and will be glad to see you and your
+friends."
+
+"There are a good many of us," said Ted, laughing.
+
+"The more the merrier. The house is large, and I could drop you all down
+into it, and the house would hardly know it."
+
+"How do we get out there?"
+
+"I see you have a couple of ladies with you, and I shall telephone over
+to my manager to send a carriage in for them, and horses for the use of
+you boys. How many horses and saddles will you need? There are plenty at
+the ranch."
+
+"We will need eight horses. One of the ladies prefers to ride, and we'll
+need a gentle pony for the small boy, whose experience is limited."
+
+"Sidesaddle for the lady?"
+
+"No," said Ted, with a grin, "this young lady will not use one. She is a
+cowgirl, and rides a man's saddle."
+
+"All right, my boy. The outfit will be here in the morning. By the way,
+I am going to have some other guests. I suppose you will not object."
+
+"Certainly not."
+
+"One of them is a young New Yorker, who has come West to invest in ranch
+property, and who has brought his sister with him. Charming people. The
+other is a rather uncouth person, but you will forgive his
+eccentricities, I am sure. To tell you the truth, he often grates on me,
+but I overlook it because he has lacked advantages. He made his money in
+the liquor business, in which he has been all his life. But he is a good
+fellow at heart, and is my partner in a way, having invested a large sum
+of money with me in cattle."
+
+"I shall be very glad to meet them, although, I'm afraid I shall not be
+able to see much of them, as I shall be very busy."
+
+"When you are under my roof, sir, you are as free as if you had been
+born there. I am glad you and your friends are coming. It does my old
+heart good to have young people around me. I will see you in the
+morning, and shall feel honored to escort you to my home."
+
+With this they parted.
+
+"Jolly old chap," said Ted to himself. "I know just how he feels about
+having a lot of people come to visit him. I like it myself."
+
+Stella had been out for a ride with little Dick. She had secured a
+couple of ponies from the stable connected with the hotel, and had given
+Dick his first riding lesson.
+
+Ted met them as they were dismounting in front of the hotel.
+
+"Ted, that boy is going to be a second edition of you in the saddle,"
+cried Stella enthusiastically. "I never saw such a seat for a kid. Why
+he takes to a horse like a young duck to water."
+
+"That's good," said Ted. "Do you like to ride, Scrub, I mean Dick?"
+
+The boy flushed at the name Scrub, but he recovered himself immediately.
+
+"Yes, it's fine," he answered. "I like horses, and they seem to take to
+me. I'd like to ride a horse all the time."
+
+"Well, you'll have all you want of it when you get out to Moon Valley,"
+said Ted. "Would you like to go out again? If you do, go ahead. I guess
+we can trust you not to break your neck."
+
+The boy smiled and nodded, and climbed into his saddle again, and was
+off.
+
+"Ted, that boy is going to be a credit to us all," said Stella. "But he
+must have an education. Although he speaks well and doesn't use much
+slang, that is, for a boy, he knows absolutely nothing that he hasn't
+picked up. He must go to school some day, but not now, for he hardly
+knows his alphabet, and as for other branches of knowledge, why, he
+doesn't know they exist, and he is as full of superstition as a Cocopo
+squaw. Wherever he got his beliefs, I can't imagine."
+
+"All right, Stella, he shall go to school. It doesn't really matter
+much, that he has never been to school before. He'll learn so fast that
+he'll make up for lost time, don't fear. That boy has a good head."
+
+"I'm going to teach him myself until he is able to take his place in
+school with boys of his own age. He's just crazy to learn."
+
+"His early education is up to you. I'm not afraid he will learn anything
+he shouldn't from you. Go at him slowly and sensibly. Don't try to stuff
+it all into him at once. Meanwhile, I'll teach him to ride, shoot, herd,
+rope, and all that, occasionally impressing upon him the cardinal
+principles of the broncho boys--truth, honesty, sincerity, courage, and
+kindness."
+
+"He'll be a fine fellow some of these days, Ted, and a good-looking and
+good-tempered one."
+
+"I think he will. Suppose we take a little walk, if you have nothing
+better to do. I want to get your opinion on some matters."
+
+"The very thing. I saw a pretty little park on the bank of a river.
+We'll walk there."
+
+"I have promised to go out to Colonel Billings' ranch to-morrow, and I
+took the liberty of accepting the invitation for you all, as there is
+nothing to do around here, and I have a hunch that something good will
+come of it."
+
+"I'll be glad to go. You know how much I like the town. I wouldn't care
+if I never saw one again."
+
+"It's all right, then. We'll start in the morning. I am more than
+anxious to go now, especially as Billings tells me he has invited
+several other people to be his guests."
+
+"Who are they?"
+
+"You remember the girl who slipped the note into my pocket in the St.
+Louis station, and the young fellow with the pointed beard. Well, I saw
+them both in town this morning. The girl ran away from me on the street,
+jumped into a carriage, and drove away."
+
+"There's nothing about you to cause a girl to run." Stella looked up at
+Ted in a teasing way.
+
+"That'll be all right," said he. "But a few minutes after I saw the
+fellow with the pointed beard coming out of the private office of
+Norcross, the president of the bank that was robbed of the forty
+thousand dollars. He went by me like a rocket, as if he were afraid of
+me."
+
+"Sure it was he?"
+
+"Positive. But the strange part of it was my interview with the banker.
+He acknowledged that the bank had been robbed of the money, and
+identified the bill dropped by Checkers in his flight, as one of the
+shipment, but when I announced that it was a counterfeit, he went all to
+pieces, and, after trying to bluff me into giving him the note, wanted
+to buy it, asking me to name my own price."
+
+"What does that mean, I wonder?"
+
+"It means, that this case of the robbery and the murder of the express
+messenger is not the simple thing I thought. There is a crime within a
+crime."
+
+"What in the world do you mean?"
+
+"Just this, Norcross, the banker, is mixed in the crime, and Heaven only
+knows how many more men quite as prominent as he. The express-robbing
+syndicate is a strong one, and hard to beat."
+
+"But you'll beat it yet. I know you."
+
+"Thank you for your faith and encouragement, Stella. But it's going to
+be a hard pull, and it will take all of us to do it."
+
+"What do you think of it now?"
+
+"My idea is, that the alleged forty thousand dollars was not real money
+at all, and that Norcross was trying to double-cross the very men he was
+standing in with."
+
+"Still, I hardly understand."
+
+"Well, Norcross agreed with the members of the syndicate to ship forty
+thousand dollars to St. Louis, which was to be stolen en route by the
+syndicate's own men. They would then have their forty thousand back, and
+the forty thousand which they could make the express company pay them.
+The original forty thousand would come back to Norcross, and he would
+get his share of the money which the express company would pay."
+
+"That was easy."
+
+"It would have been, but for the fact that Norcross insisted upon being
+insured for the use of his forty thousand in case anything else happened
+to it. In this way he got another large sum."
+
+"I see. But from what you have found out so far, I don't quite
+understand how you figure it out."
+
+"All I have to go by is my own way of deducing things. The forty
+thousand dollars which was to be stolen was supposed by the other
+members of the syndicate to be real money. It was for this that the
+syndicate insured Norcross. But, instead, he substituted counterfeits,
+if, indeed, most of the supposed money was not just blank paper."
+
+"He is a real financier, eh?"
+
+"Yes, but he didn't take into consideration that he had scoundrels just
+as shrewd as himself to deal with. For instance, I believe when the
+truth is known, it will be found out that the syndicate was going to
+beat Norcross. But that is mere supposition. The tug of war is coming
+soon. It will take place at the ranch of Colonel Billings."
+
+"I thought you believed in him."
+
+"I do. I have made a few inquiries about him. I wanted to find out what
+sort of a chap he was before taking you and your aunt out to his place.
+Every one speaks of him as one of the leading men in the county and
+State."
+
+"Then why should he be drawn into this mess?"
+
+"I think he has done it unconsciously. He has a partner who has invested
+money in Billings' cattle. Do you remember the fellow in the train whom
+Kit knocked down? The chap who insulted that pretty girl."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"From the description given me of one of his coming guests by the
+colonel, I believe the man with the red necktie is he."
+
+"What? That horrid thing."
+
+"I didn't tell you, but Kit and I saw him talking to a man at the
+station where we stopped for dinner, whom I am convinced was no other
+than Checkers himself."
+
+"Whew! That looks suspicious."
+
+"In addition to that, the colonel has invited a man and his sister to
+visit him while we are there. This man is a New Yorker; I don't know his
+name, but the colonel says he is out here to buy a ranch. Who do you
+suppose it is?"
+
+"Haven't an idea."
+
+"The girl who dropped the warning note into my pocket, and the young man
+with the pointed beard."
+
+"Whew! again."
+
+"Looks pretty complicated, doesn't it?"
+
+"Worse than that. Ted, are you sure about this Colonel Billings?"
+
+"One is sure of nothing in this world, but I have taken a fancy to
+Billings, and when I like a man he generally turns out all right, making
+allowances for minor faults and habits. Yes, I think I can trust
+Billings."
+
+"But not his friends. Ted, do you want to know what I think?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"I feel that the invitation out there is a trap to catch you, and
+possibly keep you away from the town."
+
+"Nonsense! Why should they want to keep me away from the town? There
+doesn't seem to be anything wrong in town that I could bother them in,
+except the Norcross incident, and if, as I suspect, he has duped his
+partners, he will say nothing to them about me."
+
+"Suppose they want to get out there to do away with you."
+
+"They wouldn't ask all of you out there with me in that case."
+
+"That is where you are mistaken. They are too shrewd to excite your
+suspicions by inviting you alone. It will not be hard for them to get
+you away from the ranch to look at some cattle and then kill you. Ted,
+you are too dangerous to them to be let alone."
+
+"Well, it can't be helped now, and being right in among them is a hope I
+did not expect to see realized so easily. But they will have no
+advantage over me, for none of the syndicate, I take it, know of the
+counterfeits as yet, except Norcross and the inevitable Checkers. But at
+that, I don't think they will resort to violence. We are too strong for
+them, at the ranch, at least I believe they will use diplomacy."
+
+"Well, we can play at the game ourselves. There, perhaps, I can help
+you."
+
+"You bet you can. But let us go down to the station and see if the red
+motor car, 118, has arrived yet."
+
+When they reached the station, Ted went to the express agent and asked
+for the car.
+
+"Yes," said the agent, "the car arrived this morning, Mr. Strong, and I
+delivered it according to your instructions. The charges are not paid
+yet. Your messenger said you would call later and settle for them, and,
+knowing you by reputation, I let it go."
+
+Ted was staring at the agent.
+
+"You delivered it according to my instructions?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"I didn't give any one an order for the car."
+
+"Why, you must have forgotten it. Here it is. I happened to see one of
+your boys down here, and called him to one side and asked him if it was
+your signature, and he very promptly identified it."
+
+"Let me see that order."
+
+The agent produced an order written on the note paper of the hotel.
+
+Ted stared at it incredulously.
+
+"It looks like my writing, but I didn't write it. I'll swear to that.
+Look at this, Stella. Is that my hand?"
+
+Stella looked at the paper studiously for a minute or two, then handed
+it back.
+
+"A casual look at it would deceive me, but you did not write it. It
+lacks several of your individualisms, and has others that are not
+yours."
+
+"That is right. This order is a forgery. I did not write it. The
+express-robber syndicate is getting bolder every minute. They'll come in
+and steal you some day," Ted said to the agent. "Notify your company
+that my car has been stolen, and that I want it restored to me."
+
+"Great Scott!" was all the agent could say.
+
+"What sort of looking chap was it that presented the order?" asked Ted.
+
+"Well, he was an ordinary-looking chap. He had on a--"
+
+"Checked suit?"
+
+"Yes, sir. How did you know?"
+
+"Checkers has come into his own at last," said Ted, turning to Stella.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+TED IN THE TOILS.
+
+
+The following morning an impressive cavalcade set out for the ranch of
+Colonel Billings, led by the genial owner himself. Behind him came Ted
+and Stella, between whom rode little Dick.
+
+Then came Mrs. Graham in a well-appointed carriage, and acting as her
+outriders and escorts were the boys. When they arrived at the ranch,
+after passing numerous herds of fine cattle on the way, they found one
+of the finest ranch houses in the West.
+
+It was a great, white modern structure that could be seen for miles
+across the level prairie, which showed hardly a single rise or
+depression in all the miles they had ridden.
+
+None of the guests whom the colonel had told Ted would be present
+accompanied the party. The colonel explained this by saying that other
+matters had detained them in town, and that he preferred to permit them
+to follow, rather than defer the pleasure of being their escort.
+
+This was said with so much sincerity that Ted could not doubt him. Mrs.
+Graham and Stella were ensconced in a large apartment on the first
+floor, with large windows opening upon a wide veranda.
+
+Both expressed themselves as delighted with their room, much to the
+gratification of their host. The broncho boys found quarters in the
+spacious second floor, which had as many rooms as the average hotel.
+
+"Well, what do you think of Colonel Billings now?" Ted asked of Stella,
+when they met on the broad lawn in front of the ranch house after they
+had seen their rooms.
+
+Stella simply shook her head.
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked Ted. "That you don't know, or that you
+don't care to say?"
+
+"I can't tell you yet, Ted. I like him somehow for his genial ways, and
+yet something tells me to beware."
+
+"Well, I'd sooner trust your intuition than my judgment. I'll keep an
+eye on him. And--yet, I feel the same as you in a way. But I hate to
+distrust any one."
+
+"I know you do, Ted, and that is why you get fooled on some people
+sometimes."
+
+"But not on all people all the time?"
+
+"That's it."
+
+"Then what does one's first impression amount to, anyway?"
+
+"Not much, unless they can make good a good first impression."
+
+"I'm not going to worry about him. The other fellows are the ones for
+that."
+
+"That's what I think."
+
+"I'm going to ride out over the range, and take a look at the cattle.
+Want to go along?"
+
+"Of course I do."
+
+They found their horses in the corral, and after telling Colonel
+Billings that they would be back for dinner, departed.
+
+"When you go through the west gate into the big pasture, look out for a
+big Hereford bull in there," Colonel Billings called after them.
+
+Ted nodded and waved his hand, and they were off. Colonel Billings
+certainly did have a splendid ranch. They rode for miles within the
+fences before they came to the west gate.
+
+"Think we better go any farther?" asked Ted, when they had come this
+far.
+
+"Yes. Let us go on," replied Stella. "We have plenty of time, and I
+would like to see just how big this ranch is."
+
+"Don't forget the red bull," said Ted, as he closed the gate behind
+them.
+
+"I've seen many a dangerous bull before," laughed Stella.
+
+"If we find him and he takes after us, keep on the far side of me. I
+don't much fancy that pony you're on."
+
+"I don't myself. I wish we had a bunch of Moon Valley ponies here to
+ride. I've never seen any that could come up to them."
+
+They were following a trail that led directly into the west. It was a
+cattle trail, and Ted's practiced eye told him that it led to water.
+Several miles to the west he saw the plain became broken.
+
+"There's water over there," he said.
+
+"That's where we'll find the cattle," answered Stella. "Do you want to
+go that far and look at them?"
+
+"I will if you think you can stand it."
+
+Stella looked at him scornfully.
+
+"I guess this beast will go the distance," she answered, giving the
+little gray a clip with her quirt, and galloping ahead of Ted, who was
+not slow to follow.
+
+As they proceeded the ground became more and more broken.
+
+"I believe there is a bit of 'bad land' over there," said Ted, pointing
+forward.
+
+Still they saw no cattle, although Colonel Billings had told him that
+morning that his greatest herd, the one he wished the boys to examine
+with the view to purchase, lay in the big west pasture.
+
+But all they could see so far was the broad stretch of green prairie and
+the low line of the rough land in the distance. Not a living thing was
+in sight.
+
+The only movement was the flying shadows of the white clouds over the
+prairie, and the waving of the deep, rich grass when a vagrant breeze
+swept by.
+
+But suddenly Ted pulled in his pony, and shaded his eyes with his hand,
+staring into the west.
+
+"What is it?" asked Stella, reining in.
+
+"I thought I saw something red shoot across the horizon to the west,
+where you see those gray rocks," answered Ted.
+
+"A cow--or, perhaps, the dangerous red bull," laughed Stella.
+
+"Nothing like that. It wasn't the right color. Did you ever see a
+scarlet cow?"
+
+"Never did."
+
+"Well, the thing I saw was scarlet, and it was not shaped like a cow."
+
+He was still looking intently into the west.
+
+"There it is again!" he exclaimed, unlimbering his field glasses.
+
+After a moment of intense scrutiny, he raised the glasses suddenly to
+his eyes.
+
+"By Jove!" he cried, "it's a motor car, and I believe it's 118."
+
+"Impossible!" cried Stella.
+
+"No, entirely possible," said Ted intensely. "Don't you see if it was
+this fellow Checkers who got the machine from the agent by false
+pretenses he would take it as far away from town as possible?"
+
+"Yes, I see that."
+
+"Then which direction would he take if, as I think, he is in league with
+the train-robbing syndicate, which we have persuaded ourselves to think
+made their headquarters at Green River, but in this direction? We have
+learned that others of those we believe to be in it are to be the guests
+of this ranch, and--"
+
+"I see. He could not well bring the red car to the ranch house."
+
+"That's it."
+
+"Then where do you suppose he's going with it?"
+
+"There's no better place to hide it than in those very 'bad lands,' if I
+am guessing right, at the rough land yonder."
+
+"True. What are you going to do about it?"
+
+"I'm going to find that red car and my friend, Checkers."
+
+"Not alone, Ted. You're going to get the other boys to help you, aren't
+you?"
+
+"Now is the accepted time. I'm going right away now. But it would be a
+good scheme for you to ride back to the ranch and tell Bud and the boys
+quietly what I am about, and have them come out in case I should need
+help."
+
+"I hate to see you ride away alone, Ted. You can't tell what there is
+over there. Better let me go along."
+
+"No, Stella, it would be no use. You know that I appreciate your courage
+and skill in every way, but this, probably, will be no work for girls."
+
+Stella pouted at this. She did not like the idea of the long ride back
+to the ranch house alone.
+
+She looked at Ted to see if he really was in earnest, and when she saw
+the look in his face she turned back with a wave of the hand and a "So
+long!" and started for the ranch house.
+
+"Tell Bud to bring three or four of the boys out here with him," shouted
+Ted after her. "Thank you, Stella."
+
+But she only nodded her head and pursued her way, and Ted, after looking
+after her for a moment, rode forward. He had not seen the red car for
+several minutes, it having disappeared behind a rocky butte.
+
+Having a fair horse, he gave it the gad and struck into a gallop. Soon
+he entered upon the rough land, and from a rise saw a stream below and a
+herd of cattle beyond, where the prairie began again; the railroad, and
+a small red station house, with two or three low buildings about it.
+
+He now understood that he had seen the red car on the far side of the
+ravine, through which the stream flowed, and went down to the stream,
+his horse sliding on its haunches amid a clatter of broken clay and
+pebbles.
+
+He was soon across and clambered up the other wall of the ravine, and
+there in the clay found the impression of the tires of the red car.
+
+"I'm all right now," he muttered to himself. "On the track of Checkers
+and the robbers' automobile. I wonder where it will end."
+
+He had no difficulty in following the tracks of the automobile for a
+considerable distance, when the ravine ran out on that side and the bank
+of the stream flattened; and he rode along it, following the trail with
+ease.
+
+Then the bank of the stream rose again, and the water flowed through a
+ravine, into which the red car had entered. It could not escape him, and
+Ted chuckled, and examined his revolver, loosening it well in its
+holster, for he had not forgotten the warning against Checkers given him
+by Chief Desmond.
+
+The ravine grew deeper as he advanced, and soon it became tolerably dark
+at the bottom where the high walls shut out the light. Suddenly his
+horse stumbled, and, as Ted shot over its head, he heard the twang of a
+broken wire that had been stretched across the path.
+
+He had fallen into a trap. As he struck the earth, he was stunned for a
+moment, then a heavy weight was upon him.
+
+He twisted around and felt for his revolver, but it had fallen from his
+holster, and he felt his arms grasped and a thong passed around his
+wrists, and then around his ankles.
+
+The weight was lifted from him and he rolled over on his back. Standing
+above him was the man whom he knew as Checkers.
+
+"Well, my lad, you delivered yourself like a lamb to the slaughter,"
+said Checkers, with a smile.
+
+Ted could say nothing. He was too busy wondering how easily he had
+fallen into the toils.
+
+"You went up against a tough proposition when yon tackled me," continued
+the man. "It would have been a good thing for you if you had never run
+across me. You know too much to be left alive. I shall see that you are
+properly taken care of."
+
+Checkers issued a shrill whistle.
+
+"Come," he said to Ted, "get to your feet."
+
+Ted arose as three men came around an elbow of the wall of the ravine.
+
+"Take care of this boy," said Checkers to them. "And if he escapes--"
+
+He finished the sentence with a smile that made the men wince.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+STELLA IMITATES SANTA CLAUS.
+
+
+"Come on, fellow," said one of the men, jerking Ted along by hops.
+
+"We'll attend to him all right, boss," said another.
+
+"He'll get all that's coming to him," said the third, with a grin that
+was almost as diabolical as that of Checkers.
+
+Around the elbow of the ravine wall, in a small cove was a log cabin
+with a lean-to shed, under which was sheltered the fatal red car which
+had lured him to captivity.
+
+The cabin was backed up against the wall of the ravine, and was small
+and dirty as to interior. A fire burned in a big stone fireplace at one
+end, filling the room with a suffocating smudge.
+
+The room was almost dark, but Ted, from the corner into which he had
+been flung, was soon able to make out that the men were cooking
+something over the glowing embers, at the same time taking swigs from a
+black bottle, and smoking reeking pipes of vile tobacco.
+
+After the food was cooked they began to eat, but did not offer Ted any
+of it, all the while making jokes at his expense, and vaguely hinting at
+his fate.
+
+Ted wished now that he had taken Stella's advice, and had not rushed in
+so rashly. Had he waited for Bud and two or three of the boys to come to
+his assistance, he could easily have caught the whole lot for their
+cabin was in a perfect pocket from which they could not have escaped.
+
+Who were these rough fellows with whom Checkers would not associate, for
+Ted could hear his archenemy pacing up and down outside, and he had not
+forgotten how he had addressed these men?
+
+Probably they were only ordinary villains who did the dirty work planned
+by the wiser heads of the syndicate. He wondered if the boys would be
+able to find him before they settled with him, as they had promised.
+
+After the men had finished their meal the voice of the leader summoned
+them outside. Ted could hear commands being given in a low voice, and
+mumbles from the men.
+
+It appeared from what Ted could gather from the tones of the voice,
+rather than from any words that he caught, that one of the men was
+protesting against what Checkers was ordering.
+
+Suddenly there was a cry of agony.
+
+"Don't do that, boss," said one of the men.
+
+"Shut up, or you'll get a taste of the same knife," came the voice of
+Checkers in a tone of rage. "When I say a thing must be done it is as
+good as done. Now go ahead and do as I tell you."
+
+"But, boss--"
+
+"Go on, and do it. Are you a coward? You've done it before," Ted heard
+Checkers say. "I'm going away now, and if you can't show me what I want
+when I get back, well--you know."
+
+In a moment Ted heard the chug of the motor car, then the grating of the
+tires on the earth as it started away.
+
+"Remember what I said," the voice of Checkers came floating back.
+
+"Say, Bill, this is a derned outrage," said one of the men outside. "I,
+fer one, am not in favor of standin' for it."
+
+"Well, if yer don't, you'll get the same," said other man.
+
+"I never see any one so handy with that bloomin' knife o' his."
+
+"Look out you don't get a taste o' it, then."
+
+"Is he dead, Bill?"
+
+There was a shuffling of feet outside, and Ted knew that they were
+turning a body over.
+
+"Yes, he's stone-dead."
+
+"Pore Dick! He had his faults, but he was a good pal."
+
+"He wuz, but too derned soft-hearted. He didn't want ter kill a feller
+in cold blood never."
+
+"An' yet he wa'n't no coward. I never see ther time Dick w'd refuse ter
+fight if ther other feller had some show, an' he wa'n't squeamish about
+holdin' up a train er runnin' off a bunch o' cattle, but I always hear
+him say thet he didn't take no stock in plain, straight murder."
+
+"That's so, but it's not murder, Tom, when yer kills ther feller what's
+yer enemy. Now, honor bright, is it?"
+
+"I dunno. I was brought up ter fight, an' fight like ther devil hisself
+when it come ter fightin', but I reckon I'm too much o' a derned coward
+ter murder cold."
+
+"Well, this is one o' ther times when it's got ter be did, an' I reckon
+we might as well be about it. Git ready."
+
+"No, sir, I'm not goin' ter do it."
+
+"Tom, yer a fool. Do yer know what'll happen when ther boss comes back
+an' finds out that it ain't been did?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"An' aire yer goin' ter resk it?"
+
+"I be."
+
+"Then ye're a bigger fool than I am. I'm goin' ter carry out orders.
+What's ther difference? A couple of good slashes an' it's all over."
+
+"But think o' the death cry, Bill. I've heerd too many o' them already.
+I hears them when I sleep and they wake me up."
+
+"Tom, yer talk ter me like a sick canary peeps. I always thought yer wuz
+a man."
+
+"An' don't yer think so now, Bill?"
+
+"Not from ther way yer talkin'."
+
+"Well, if yer has any doubts erbout it I'll give yer a chanct ter prove
+it, any way yer like."
+
+"Now, what's ther use o' talkin' that away, Tom? Dick's dead by ther
+hand o' ther boss. What's thar in it fer you or me if ther cub in thar
+dies er not? Be sensible."
+
+"It ain't matterin' a chaw o' terbaccer ter me whether he dies er not,
+but he's got a right ter die in a natural way, so to speak."
+
+"An' how is that, my Sunday-school friend?"
+
+"In a fair fight, by gosh!"
+
+"An' who's goin' ter give him a fair fight? I don't want none o' it."
+
+"So that's ther way yer built, is it, Bill? I always thought yer was a
+game man."
+
+"I reckon I be, but that's not in this question. Here's an enemy ter
+ther gang what lays bound in the cabin. Why should I resk my life in a
+fight with him er fer him. It's so derned easy fer a feller ter go in
+thar an' stick a knife inter him, an' then, yer see, it's all over
+with."
+
+"Yer wrong, Bill."
+
+"I'd sooner do that than have ther boss come back an' stick his knife
+inter me."
+
+"Aire yer afraid ter fight ther boss?"
+
+"He's ther only man I be afraid of."
+
+There was a long silence following this, and Ted understood the terrible
+power of Checkers over his men, and Desmond's warning.
+
+"Well, I'm tired o' chewin' erbout ther virtue o' killin' a man one way
+or another, an' I'm goin' ter foller orders. If you don't want ter jine
+in I reckon as how I'll have ter tell ther boss that yer flunked."
+
+There was no response to this, and a few moments elapsed in which Ted
+listened hopefully for his champion's voice.
+
+Suddenly something dropped in the fireplace, and Ted, straining his eyes
+in that direction, saw a tiny pair of tan riding boots come into view,
+followed by a tan skirt, and Stella dropped noiselessly into the room.
+
+She held up a warning finger as she saw Ted in the corner.
+
+"Sh, sh!" she whispered, as she felt for his bonds and cut them.
+
+Ted was on his feet on the instant, and Stella pressed a revolver into
+his hand.
+
+"I didn't go back to the ranch house, but followed you here. I saw the
+red car go out, and hid. Then I sneaked along until I heard those
+fellows quarreling. I was on the top of the bluff here, and guessed that
+you were inside the cabin, as I couldn't see you anywhere outside, so I
+just dropped in." As Stella whispered this she smiled, and Ted could
+only look his thanks.
+
+The fellow named Tom, who had been opposed to killing Ted, had evidently
+been doing some hard thinking, and the threat of his mate to expose him
+to Checkers evidently convinced him that he would rather be alive than
+perish for a mere sentiment.
+
+"All right, Bill," he said; "I don't like it, but we've got to share
+it."
+
+"Sure," said the other. "It'll be blow and blow. We both strike
+together."
+
+"Come on, then."
+
+"Now," said Ted, putting Stella behind him and crouching in the
+darkness.
+
+The two men entered the cabin noisily, knowing that they had nothing to
+fear from an unarmed boy bound hand and foot and lying in the corner
+with nothing to hope for.
+
+As they approached the corner they were surprised to see a stalwart
+young form arise suddenly and a pair of revolvers gleam through the
+darkness as a voice rang out commandingly:
+
+"Hands up!"
+
+The hands of both went up very promptly.
+
+"Drop those knives!"
+
+A pair of knives clattered to the floor.
+
+"Face about, both of you, and go out. The first to make a break gets a
+shot in the back."
+
+At Ted's command both men obeyed. When they were outside in the
+sunlight, Ted looked them over. Both had revolvers in their holsters.
+
+"Take their revolvers away from them, Stella," said Ted.
+
+As the girl moved forward to comply with the request of Ted Strong, the
+men stared at her in amazement.
+
+"Now, which of you is Tom?" asked Ted.
+
+"I am," said one of them.
+
+"You lie!" answered Ted. "I know you by your voice. You are not
+Tom:--you are Bill."
+
+"Yes, I'm Tom," said the other fellow.
+
+"That's right," said Ted.
+
+"Now, see here, Tom, if I give you the chance will you dig out of this
+and escape? It won't be very long before you are caught, anyway, and you
+know what that means."
+
+"You bet I will," said the fellow, who had protested against the murder
+of Ted.
+
+"All right, I'll give you the chance. I'll take your friend in charge
+myself. You can take down your hands, Tom."
+
+The fellow was in a state of wonderment as he did so.
+
+"Who are you, anyway?" asked the fellow called Bill.
+
+"I am Ted Strong."
+
+"Then it's all up. We're done for," said the train robber, in a resigned
+voice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+TED HOLDS A PROFITABLE BAG.
+
+
+Tom signaled to Ted to step aside, and, telling Stella to keep the other
+fellow covered with her revolver, Ted accompanied him.
+
+"Thank yer fer turnin' me loose," said Tom. "I've been tryin' ter get
+away fer months, but couldn't. Here's a tip: They're goin' ter rob ther
+Overland Express t'-night right out yon at that little station yer can
+see from ther top o' ther rise. Ther loot is ter be hid near Bubbly
+Spring until things blow over, but ther gang will come here. Thar's my
+tip. Good-by. I'm off."
+
+The fellow disappeared up the bank of the stream.
+
+Ted bound the other upon the back of his pony, which he found not far
+from the scene of his own downfall, and conveyed him to Green River,
+where he placed him in jail, with instructions that he should be allowed
+to communicate with no one.
+
+Then he and Stella returned to the Billings ranch house.
+
+"Say nothing whatever about our adventure," said Ted, as he and Stella
+rode along discussing the matter. "I think there will be something doing
+there to-night."
+
+When they got back to the ranch, Ted simply explained their absence by
+saying that they had ridden farther than they had at first intended.
+
+Ted was introduced to the other guests, who had arrived in his absence.
+There was Mr. Norcross, the banker, who looked a little sheepish when
+Ted shook hands with him and acted as if he had never seen him before.
+The man with the black mustache and the red necktie was Mr. Dennis
+Corrigan, of Chicago, and neither he nor the boys appeared to have seen
+him before. The young man with the pointed beard was Mr. van Belder, of
+New York.
+
+Colonel Billings was full of hospitable notions, and made the afternoon
+pass delightfully.
+
+"They tell me there is very good shooting in the neighborhood at times,"
+said Mr. Corrigan, as they all sat on the veranda in the afternoon.
+
+"Excellent," said the colonel. "At this time of the year the snipe
+shooting is fine."
+
+"What is the best time to shoot them?" asked Van Belder.
+
+"I should say after dark," said the host, with an imperceptible wink at
+Mr. Corrigan.
+
+"I don't see how you can shoot snipe after dark," said Ted.
+
+"You don't exactly shoot them," explained Mr. Corrigan. "It's this way,
+and a fine game, and often practiced in South Chicago: The party goes
+out, and one holds the bag while the rest go along and drive the birds
+in, and the fellow who holds the bag catches them in it. It's lots
+easier than shooting them, and you get more birds."
+
+"By Jove, that's a new experience to me!" said Ted. "I'd like to try
+it."
+
+Mr. van Belder looked at him curiously, but drawled that he thought it
+very fine sport. So it was agreed that that night they should go on a
+snipe-bagging expedition.
+
+The party was to be made up of Ted, who was eager to hold the bag for
+the snipe to run into; Mr. Corrigan, the colonel, Mr. van Belder, and a
+few others.
+
+Most of the boys declined absolutely to go.
+
+"Say, aire ye gittin' plumb dotty?" asked Bud, when he got Ted out of
+hearing. "Tell me, is it possible thet yer eyeteeth aire so far
+secreted up inter yer head thet yer don't know erbout baggin' snipe?"
+
+But all the answer Bud got was a wink.
+
+"Now, what hez ther hombre got up his sleeve, I wonder?" said Bud, as he
+wandered off.
+
+Ted and Stella had an animated conversation a few minutes later out of
+the sight and hearing of the others. But Stella walked off, smiling. She
+knew.
+
+It was just getting dark when the party left the ranch house.
+
+Ted carried a large, empty sack over his shoulder. With the organizers
+of the party went Bud, Ben, Kit, Carl, and Clay.
+
+The maddest person in the house that evening was Stella, because she
+couldn't go, too. But as she said good-by to the party from the steps of
+the ranch house she smiled comprehensively at Ted.
+
+A walk of a half mile brought the party to the edge of a small creek.
+
+"Now," said Mr. Corrigan, "here's where you wait with the bag while we
+go up to the creek and chase them down. You may have to wait a little
+while, and you must have patience."
+
+"Don't worry about me," answered Ted; "I have plenty of that. I'll be
+here when the snipe come down, and if any of them get away, charge them
+to me."
+
+After they had been gone some time Ted lit a match and looked at his
+watch. It was a quarter to nine.
+
+The Overland Express was due in Green River at nine-twenty. The little
+red station of Polifax would foe passed by ten minutes after she left
+Green River.
+
+While he was in Green River that afternoon Ted had been very careful to
+find the exact location of Bubbly Spring. He was more than two miles
+from it in his blind to wait for the snipe.
+
+As soon as the crashing of the feet of the snipe drivers and the shouts
+and laughter had died away, Ted left his hiding place and darted through
+the dark woods and swampy ground for Bubbly Spring.
+
+Long before he got there he heard the long screech of the whistle of the
+Overland Express announcing its approach at Green River, and a few
+minutes later its whistle that it was on its way. He had just reached
+Bubbly Spring and concealed himself in the bushes when the whistle gave
+a long shriek of danger.
+
+The signal of the train robbers had been given at Polifax. The engineer
+had seen the red light and had whistled to the trainmen that danger was
+ahead, and that he was going to stop.
+
+In a few moments Ted heard a few pops, and knew that the train robbers
+were firing their revolvers alongside of the train to prevent
+interference.
+
+What if the train robbers should fail?
+
+The train started up again, and Ted knew by that that nobody had been
+killed, and it added to his anxiety as to the success of the robbery. He
+wanted it to occur, for if he could secure the loot he could destroy the
+train robbers surely.
+
+All he wanted now was tangible evidence. He lay back breathlessly in the
+bushes, waiting. Soon he heard the rapid hoofbeats of horses, then a
+crashing in the bushes.
+
+These noises were approaching him rapidly. The crisis was at hand.
+
+In a moment the moon burst through the clouds, illuminating the little
+valley through which the small stream from the spring flowed, and Ted
+crept into closer cover. Then into the glade galloped ten men.
+
+Between two of them was swung a small, square thing, which was dropped
+at the foot of a cottonwood tree not a dozen feet from where Ted was
+concealed.
+
+A man leaped from the back of a horse. He had a spade in his hand, and
+as he advanced Ted drew in his breath sharply.
+
+It was Corrigan, the Chicago millionaire. Behind him was Norcross, the
+banker.
+
+Ted looked vainly for Checkers. If he had been with the robbers at the
+holdup, he had not come here with them. Meanwhile, the dirt was flying,
+and a hole was being dug at the foot of the cotton wood.
+
+After it was deep enough an iron box was dropped into it and covered
+with earth, and silently the men remounted and rode away.
+
+Ted waited about fifteen minutes to be sure that none of them would
+return. Then he dug into the freshly laid earth and soon had exhumed the
+iron box. It was somewhat of a heavy load, but he packed it manfully,
+and in about half an hour carried it in his bag into the living room of
+the ranch house.
+
+He was greeted with shouts of laughter from Corrigan and several of the
+others. But Stella looked at him anxiously, and he gave her a reassuring
+glance.
+
+"Ha, ha!" laughed Corrigan. "What do you think of snipe hunting now?"
+
+"It was a good joke," said the colonel, "but I'm sure you will take it
+good-naturedly."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Norcross, the banker. "It's quite a favorite amusement
+out here."
+
+Only the New Yorker said nothing, but gave Ted a peculiar glance. Ted
+looked around at the group with a foolish smile.
+
+"It was a good joke, gentlemen," said he, "and I have never been sore
+because I have been handed one."
+
+Another burst of satisfied laughter greeted this from the big
+three--Corrigan, Norcross, and the colonel. But Stella and the boys
+looked glum that Ted was being made the butt of a joke.
+
+Then Ted put his sack on the floor and opened it and lifted something
+out and placed it on the table. It was the iron box he had dug from the
+earth at Bubbly Spring, with the fresh earth still sticking to it.
+
+Corrigan's face turned white. Norcross had to lean against the corner of
+the table to keep from falling.
+
+Ted easily opened the lock of the box, and threw it open.
+
+"You left me to hold the bag, did you?" he asked of the astounded
+conspirators. "Well, what do you think of these for snipe?"
+
+The room was as quiet as a church.
+
+"Gentlemen, you are all under arrest. Boys, get into your saddles. We
+are going to ride to the rendezvous of the gang of robbers which
+to-night robbed the Overland Express and stole the money I have here,"
+and he lifted out package after package of stolen currency.
+
+Stella was laughing and waving her hat.
+
+"I knowed yer had somethin' up yer sleeve when yer consented ter go
+snipe huntin'! Yer ther limit," said Bud.
+
+Only Mr. van Belder of all the conspirators was calm. He ripped a beard
+from his face, and there stood Darby O'Neill, the United States secret
+agent!
+
+"Say, Ted, give me that counterfeit of the Green River National Bank. It
+is all I need to take Norcross away for a long term. I've been working
+on him for a long time, but you knocked the persimmon at last."
+
+"You had me guessing," said Ted. "When I got that note that was slipped
+into my pocket in St. Louis I ought to have guessed that it was you, but
+you are so clever at disguise that you always fool me."
+
+"But you've never fooled me yet," was the reply. "I've banked on you
+every time, and every time you've come back with the goods."
+
+"But who was the young lady who slipped me the note?"
+
+"My sister, who is a very clever girl detective, as you may know some
+day."
+
+After the boys had made secure the three men at the head of the train
+robbers' syndicate, they went to the cabin in which Ted had so nearly
+lost his life, and secured the rest of the robbers.
+
+Next morning at daylight they found the body of Checkers lying beside
+the fatal red car not far from the scene of the holdup. He had been
+killed by a stray shot fired by one of his own men.
+
+Thus was the train robbers' syndicate wiped out through the acumen and
+courage of Ted Strong, and the loyal backing of his comrades.
+
+The broncho boys decided that more stock was needed at the Moon Valley
+Ranch, and the entire outfit set out for No Man's Land, in northern
+Texas.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+THE MAGPIE PONY.
+
+
+"Say, podner, might I be so free an' onquisitive ez ter inquire ez ter
+whar yer got thet thar palfrey yer ridin'?"
+
+The speaker was a tall, gaunt old man with a tangled mass of grizzled
+whiskers, and the "podner" he addressed was Bud Morgan.
+
+"Yer might," answered Bud, eying the questioner keenly.
+
+"Well!"
+
+"Why don't yer?"
+
+"Oh, I see. Whar did yer git it?"
+
+"I traded a Waterbury watch fer it, an' ther feller what made ther trade
+throwed in a pack o' cigareets."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+"Anything else ye'd like ter know?"
+
+"Well, seein' ez yer so communicative, I'd like ter hev yer tell me how
+fur it's ter Yeller Fork."
+
+"Betwixt grub."
+
+"Come ergin."
+
+"Ez fur ez yer kin ride betwixt 'arly breakfast an' dinner."
+
+"Well, I'm obleegin' ter yer. I reckon we'll be hikin'."
+
+"Who's ther kid?"
+
+"Thet boy is my grandson. We come outer Missouri ter see what could be
+did in this yere new country, an' it's mighty hard sleddin'."
+
+"What's ther trouble?"
+
+"Well, stranger, so long ez yer kind ernuff ter inquire, I'll tell yer."
+
+"I'm listenin'."
+
+"I'm too old ter work at ther only thing what seems ter be out
+yere--cow-punchin'--an' ther kiddie is too young. Now, if 'twas farmin',
+we'd be in it."
+
+"Thar ain't no more farmin' out yere than a rabbit, thet's shore. What
+might yer bizness be at home?"
+
+"I'm a hoss trader."
+
+"Thar ought ter be somethin' doin' out yere fer yer, then. All thar is
+in this country is hosses an' cattle."
+
+"They ain't my kind o' hosses."
+
+"Yer don't seem ter fancy cow ponies, eh?"
+
+"I reckon they're all right in their way, podner, but they're a leetle
+too wild fer me to break, an' the kid's not strong enough."
+
+"Askin' questions seems ter be fash'n'ble. Whar did yer git thet magpie
+hoss?"
+
+Bud was looking over the old man's mount, a beautiful little
+black-and-white-spotted pony, as clean limbed as a racer, and with a
+round and compact body. It was a bizarre-looking little animal, with a
+long, black mane and tail, at the roots of which was a round, white
+spot. It was the sort of animal that would attract attention anywhere.
+
+"Magpie! Podner, I riz her from a colt."
+
+"She's shore a showy beast."
+
+"She is some on ther picture, ain't she?" asked the old man, looking the
+pony over admiringly.
+
+"She's all right, but--"
+
+"But what, podner?" The old man looked at Bud with a frown.
+
+"Well, I ain't none on knockin' another man's hoss, but I never see one
+o' them black-an'-white-spotted animiles what could do more than lope,
+an' out in this yere country hosses hez got ter run like a scared coyote
+ter be any good in ther cow business."
+
+"Yer reckon this yere Magpie can't run?" asked the old man, bristling.
+
+"I ain't said so."
+
+"Well, yer alluded ter a magpie hoss as couldn't do nothin' but lope."
+
+"I ain't never see none what could do much more."
+
+"You ain't never see Magpie split ther wind, then."
+
+"I ain't."
+
+"Mebbe ye'd like ter."
+
+"Mebbe I would."
+
+"I reckon yer thinks ther cow what yer a-straddlin' of now kin run
+some."
+
+"A leetle bit. But, yer see, when I got him he was a broken-down cow
+hoss what hed been ridden ter death an' fed on sand an' alkali water so
+long thet he wa'n't much good nohow."
+
+"Jest picked him up wanderin'?"
+
+"Not eggsactly. Yer see, it wuz this way: I was coming ercross Noo
+Mexico about a month back, when I runs foul o' a hombre what is all in.
+He hadn't et fer so long thet yer could see ther bumps made by his
+backbone through his shirt. I hed some grub in my war bag, an' I fed an'
+watered him. This yer nag wuz all in, too, an' he hed a long way ter go,
+so when ther feller ups an' perposes ter trade ponies I give him ther
+merry cachinnation."
+
+"Ther what?"
+
+"Ther laugh."
+
+"Go ahead, podner, yer shore hez a splendid education."
+
+"I see thet he'll never git ter whar he's goin' on ther nag, an' I
+thinks I'll do him a favor by sittin' him on a piece o' live hossmeat,
+an' I said I'd trade if he hed anythin' ter boot. Now, what do yer think
+he hed?"
+
+"I ain't got a notion."
+
+"A pack o' Mexican cigareets what burned like a bresh fire an' smelled
+like a wet dog under a stove."
+
+"Haw, haw! An' yer traded?"
+
+"I thought some fust, an' then I thinks what's ther odds? Thar's plenty
+o' hosses in camp, an' it'll probably save ther feller's life ter let
+him hev ther pony, what ain't none out o' ther common, so I says, 'It's
+a go, pard.' I clumb down an' we changed saddles, an' he handed over
+ther pack o' cigareets an' we went our ways."
+
+"Yer shore is a kind-hearted man."
+
+"I ain't, neither. I jest knows a hoss when I sees one."
+
+"Yer don't call thet a hoss yer a-straddlin', I hope?"
+
+"I shore do. He ain't much fer ter gaze on admirin', I agree, but he's a
+good little cayuse. I reckon, now, yer some proud o' thet magpie hoss."
+
+"I be. It kin outrun anythin' this side o' ther State o' Newbrasky."
+
+"P'r'aps yer lookin' fer a race ter see what ther best we've got in camp
+kin do, no?"
+
+"Thar ain't nary time what I won't run a race if I think thar's ary
+merit in my hossflesh. How erbout ther animile what yer sits on so
+graceful?"
+
+"Oh, I reckon he kin ride rings eround ther magpie hoss," said Bud, who
+was a trifle nettled at the old man's jeering tone.
+
+"Yer certain got a lot o' confidence in a dead one."
+
+"I reckernize ther fact that he ain't none pretty, but handsome is as
+handsome does. Hatrack is some shy on meat an' he's got a temper like a
+disappointed woman, ter say nothin' o' havin' had ther botts, ringbone,
+heaves, an' spavin', but he's a good nag, fer all thet, an' would be
+good-lookin' ernough if his wool wasn't wore off in so many places."
+
+"Haw, haw! He ain't what ye'd call a show animile."
+
+"He ain't, but, say, stranger, he _kin_ run."
+
+"What d'ye say ter a leetle brush betwixt Magpie an' yer Hatrack?"
+
+"I'm ther gamest thing what ever yer see when it comes ter a hoss
+race."
+
+"What'll we race fer?"
+
+"Nag an' nag. If yer beats me, yer takes Hatrack, an' if he gits away
+with ther spotted pony, why, yer turns her over ter me. Is it a go?"
+
+"If yer throw in a six-shooter fer odds."
+
+"All right, pard, jest ter show yer thet I ain't no shorthorn, I'll go
+yer. I've got a shooter in my war-bag up ter camp what'll kick ther arm
+outer yer socket every time yer pulls ther trigger, but she'll send a
+bullet through a six-inch oak beam."
+
+"Anything, so it's odds. I'll go yer. I reckon I could sell it fer a
+dollar er so."
+
+"I reckon yer could," said Bud sarcastically. "I wuz offered ten dollars
+fer it by a hombre down ter Las Vegas a month ago. But he was a husky
+feller, an' wanted a strong shooter. He wanted ter go out huntin' fer a
+feller with it, an' I wouldn't let him hev it. Is it a go, shore
+enough?"
+
+"It be."
+
+"All right; come over ter ther camp an' stay overnight, an' fill yer
+pale American hides with ther best grub what ever wuz cooked on ther
+range. Our cook is an artist."
+
+Bud led the way on his little, flea-bitten skeleton of a pony that
+snorted and reared, kicked, and showed the whites of its eyes when he
+woke it from the drooping position it had held while he was talking to
+the old man.
+
+In half an hour they were in sight, from the hill they had topped, of a
+vast band of cattle grazing in a broad valley.
+
+In a sheltered spot below the hill was a typical cow camp. A
+white-covered chuck wagon shone in the rays of the departing sun, and
+the smoke arose from the cook's fire, where he was baking biscuit in a
+Dutch oven, while the fragrant odors of frying bacon and steaming
+coffee filled the air.
+
+"What have you found this time?" asked Ben Tremont, as Bud came into
+camp.
+
+"This yere gent is a maverick from Missouri what I found wanderin'
+across the peerarie searchin' fer Yaller Fork, an' he hez bantered me
+ter a hoss race, I ast him ter come in an' stay overnight, an' eat, an'
+we'll run ther hosses in ther mornin'."
+
+"What horses?"
+
+"I'm goin' ter run Hatrack agin' thet magpie mare o' hisn, an' throw in
+a six-shooter with Hatrack if I lose."
+
+"Say, are you going altogether dippy?" growled Ben. "Why, that little
+mare will run away from you as if Hatrack was tied to a post."
+
+"Reckon so? Well, maybe I want to lose Hatrack, an' maybe all I want is
+ter capture thet magpie pony."
+
+"Oh, what a lovely pony!"
+
+Stella Fosdick had ridden into camp, and her exclamation of admiration
+for the magpie pony drew the attention of the boys to her.
+
+"D'ye like thet thar pony?" asked Bud.
+
+"I think it's beautiful," answered Stella enthusiastically.
+
+"Then it's yours."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"This old gent an' me is goin' ter hev a race in ther mornin', hoss fer
+hoss, an' when it's over ther magpie hoss is yours."
+
+A peal of rippling laughter greeted this.
+
+"See yere, gal, what is all this noise about?" asked Bud huffily. "If
+yer laughin' at ther idea o' Hatrack beatin' ther magpie hoss, don't yer
+do it, fer thet's showin' ignerance o' hossflesh, an' I thought yer wuz
+too well brought up at Moon Valley ter think thet pretty spots on a
+hoss hez anythin' ter do with his ability ter make a race er hold a
+cow."
+
+"Forgive me, Bud, I didn't mean to laugh at Hatrack, but, really, he
+doesn't look as if he could run any faster than a lame dog."
+
+"Oh, I reckon he'll git over ther ground fast ernough," said Bud, with a
+sly wink at the girl. "But he won't do it with me on his back. I'm a
+trifle heavy fer fast work. I'll hev ter git Kit ter pilot him, I
+reckon."
+
+"I reckon you won't," said Stella. "If any one rides him it will be me.
+I'm a good many pounds lighter than Kit."
+
+"All right, Stella. I wanted yer ter ride him, but I didn't like ter
+impose on good nature by askin' yer ter do it."
+
+"Why, I'd love to ride the race. You ought to know me by this time."
+
+"It's a go, an' if yer win, as win yer must, ther magpie hoss is yours."
+
+"Oh, Bud, you don't mean it! Then I'll certainly ride to win."
+
+So it was settled, and the old man and his grandson were accorded the
+hospitality of the camp.
+
+After a hearty supper, while they were all sitting around the fire, and
+the old man was telling stories of his trip into the Southwest, for the
+broncho boys were now herding a big bunch of range cattle in what is
+known as No Man's Land, an arm of northern Texas lying west of Oklahoma,
+and claimed by both, the day watch rode into camp, and, stripping their
+saddles from their ponies, turned them loose. Then the boys threw
+themselves upon the ground to rest after several hours of constant
+riding.
+
+One of the cowboys in the outfit, Sol Flatbush by name, stood staring at
+the old man and the boy.
+
+He was scratching his forelock in a meditative sort of way, as if
+trying to remember something.
+
+"What is it, Solly? I reckon what yer tryin' ter think of is that ye've
+forgot yer supper," said Bud.
+
+"No, 'tain't that," said the cow-puncher, staring harder at the old man.
+
+"Hear about ther race, Sol?" asked Ben.
+
+"Now, don't yer expect me ter ask yer what race an' then spring thet ole
+gag about ther 'human race.' I won't stand fer it. I've got troubles
+enough. Thet buckskin pony o' mine hez hed ther very divil in him all
+day, an' I ain't feelin' none too amiable."
+
+"This is on the square."
+
+"Well, cut loose."
+
+"Bud is going to race Hatrack against that magpie horse grazing out
+there, and throw in a six-shooter if the old gent wins."
+
+Sol Flatbush turned and looked at the magpie pony, then at the old man.
+Suddenly a gleam of intelligence illuminated his face, and he grinned.
+
+"Say, Bud, I wisht ye'd come over yere an' look at this buckskin's off
+hind foot, an' tell me what ye thinks o' it. He's been actin' powerful
+queer on it all day."
+
+Bud rose lazily and followed Sol out of camp. The buckskin was grazing
+peacefully a few hundred yards away, and as they walked toward it Sol
+Flatbush said:
+
+"Bud, d'ye know that ole maverick?"
+
+"I shore don't. Never even ast him his name," answered Bud.
+
+"Well, I do. That's ole 'Cap' Norris. He's a hoss sharp fer fair. He an'
+that boy don't do nothin' but ride the country with that magpie hoss,
+pickin' up races at cow camps an' ranches an' in towns. That hoss o'
+hisn is a 'ringer.' His real name is Idlewild, an' he's a perfessional
+race hoss. Boy, yer stung!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+"VAMOSE!"
+
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said Bud quietly, as Sol Flatbush made this
+announcement of the ability of Magpie, or Idlewild, as he was known
+elsewhere.
+
+"But I do," urged Sol. "I see that hoss run at Ponca City on ther Fo'th
+o' July a year ago, an' he jest run away from ther best Indian racers
+what ther Osages could bring over, an' yer knows they kin go some."
+
+"Sol, my son, don't git excited. Yer Uncle Bud knows what he's doin'
+when he's going inter this yere race. He ain't tellin' ther ole man, nor
+none o' you fellers, what thar is in thet Hatrack hoss."
+
+"Got somethin' up yer sleeve?"
+
+"I reckon I hev. If I was a bettin' man, I'd wager my share o' Moon
+Valley that Hatrack would win this yere race."
+
+"Sho; yer don't say!"
+
+"Ted seen him run. Ask him. Now, don't you worry none about me. I know a
+hoss when I see one standin' on its four legs. That magpie hoss is a
+good one, whether his name is Magpie or Idlewild. Ther name don't make
+him run no better. But Hatrack is some, too, an' I want that magpie pony
+for Stella. She ain't got no hoss of her own down yere, an' that spotted
+pony is jest ther sort o' showy hoss what a gal likes."
+
+"Well, I ain't wantin' ter be buttin' in none," said Sol, in a
+crestfallen way.
+
+"Yer ain't butted in none, Sol. I'm obliged ter yer fer givin' me ther
+tip erbout ther old sharp. When he fust braced me I sized him up fer a
+sharp, an' when he told me he was a hoss trader from Missouri I had a
+straight line on him."
+
+They returned to camp, where the old man was still regaling the boys
+with anecdotes, having proved himself a most entertaining story-teller.
+
+The boy sat close beside him listening, but never saying a word, except
+when he was addressed. He was small and slender, and evidently weighed
+much less than a hundred pounds.
+
+His face was small and thin, and apparently youthful, but his eyes were
+old and shrewd, and there was a crafty look about his face at times when
+the old man brought out a point in a story. Evidently he had heard these
+stories many times before. When he smiled it was in a sly and furtive
+way.
+
+Ted Strong had come in from riding around the herd, having inspected it
+before it was bedded down for the night. He had heard all about the
+proposed race, and smiled quietly as Ben joshed Bud about the loss of
+his pony Hatrack on the morrow.
+
+He had looked the boy over carefully, and his impression was not
+pleasant.
+
+"I tell yer what, boys," said the old man, when conversation began to
+lag. "S'posin' we put this race off until to-morrow afternoon, an' run
+it over at Snyder, across the line in Oklahomy?"
+
+"What's ther occasion?" asked Bud.
+
+"Jest ter give ther people over thar a chance ter see a real live race.
+Besides, I'm out o' money, an' I reckon we could have a reg'lar race,
+an' charge admission. That would enable me an' my grandson ter git back
+ter ole Missou' again. We ain't much use out here. What d'yer say?"
+
+"I ain't no professional racer," said Bud slowly, "an' I ain't in this
+race fer what I kin make out o' it. Yer made yer brag about yer hoss an'
+slurred mine, an' I'm jest game enough ter lose him if he can't beat
+that calcimined hoss o' yours, but I don't go in fer bettin' er none o'
+thet sort o' thing."
+
+"I ain't said nothin' about bettin'," said the old man, in an injured
+tone.
+
+"I know yer ain't, an' I ain't accused yer o' it none. What I wuz goin'
+ter say wuz thet if yer hard up an' need ther money ter take yer home
+I'm ther first feller ter jump in ter help yer."
+
+"We're all willing to help on a thing like that," said Ted.
+
+"Then ye'll consent ter pull off ther race in Snyder?" asked the old man
+eagerly.
+
+"I am, if ther other boys will consent ter it," said Bud.
+
+"All right with me," said Ted, and the other boys voiced their assent.
+
+It looked as if there was a good bit of fun in prospect.
+
+"Thanks, boys," said the old man, with a catch in his voice, as if he
+was deeply touched. "Ye'll do a good turn fer me an' little Bill here.
+Bill, we'll git home fer Christmas yit."
+
+"If you're going to make it a public race, you'll have to get over to
+Snyder early to make arrangements," said Ted.
+
+"I'll leave before sunup in ther mornin', an' we'll have the race at
+three o'clock. Is that all satisfactory?"
+
+This proved satisfactory to the boys, and, having agreed to be on hand
+in time with Hatrack, every one turned in.
+
+When the boys turned out in the morning the blankets which the old man
+and the boy had occupied were empty and cold, showing that they had
+departed long before daylight.
+
+"There's something fishy about that old chap," said Ben Tremont, as they
+were at breakfast.
+
+"Of course, there is," said Ted. "He's an old horse sharp. Sol Flatbush
+knows him. He wants a race in town, thinking he can draw us into
+betting. He doesn't know that we never gamble, but he evidently believes
+that in the excitement of the moment he will be able to get some of our
+money."
+
+"Well, he'll get fooled on that," said Ben.
+
+"He'll git fooled in several other ways, too," grunted Bud.
+
+After breakfast Bud went out and roped Hatrack, and after a tussle that
+lasted several strenuous minutes, brought him into camp. Hatrack
+certainly was a sorry-looking beast.
+
+His long, dirty, yellowish-brown hair was rumpled and fluffed up. His
+ribs showed sharp, and his tail was full of burs, while his short and
+scraggy mane was missing in spots.
+
+His flanks had been rubbed bare of hair where he had lain for many
+nights on the rocks and in the sands of the desert.
+
+"Well, dog my cats, if he ain't ther orneriest-lookin' beast what ever
+toted a saddle," said Bud, looking him over, as Hatrack stood with
+drooping head and ears.
+
+"Bud, he isn't worth making cat's meat out of," said Ben. "I guess you
+made that race to get rid of him. It's easier and more humane than
+shooting him or abandoning him to the prairie wolves."
+
+"Reckon so?" asked Bud, looking at Ben out of the corner of a twinkling
+eye.
+
+"Oh, dear me, but he's awfully ugly," said Stella, coming from the tent
+which she and her aunt, Mrs. Graham, occupied a short distance from the
+camp.
+
+She was as spick and span as a new dollar, nattily dressed in a
+bifurcated riding skirt, from beneath which peeped a pair of high tan
+riding boots.
+
+Her white Stetson had just the right curl of brim to be most becoming,
+and her wavy hair fell in profusion over her shoulders.
+
+She was pulling on a pair of fringed gauntlets, and her braided quirt,
+with a silver knob for a handle, hung by its thong from her slender
+wrist.
+
+"Now, see here, Stella, don't yer go ter feelin' knocky about yer mount,
+er yer won't hev no confidence in him, an' will lose. I want ter say ter
+yer right now that this hoss what looks like ther last rose o' summer,
+ther last run o' shad, an' ther breakin' up o' a hard winter in a last
+year's bird's nest, is all right, an' he can't lose this race. Ride him
+true, an' don't give him ther gad none. All yer got ter do is ter
+encourage him by a word now an' then, an' pilot him straight ter ther
+wire."
+
+"All right, Bud. I was only joking," laughed Stella. "It isn't the
+prettiest horse that wins the race. I know that well, but, you see, like
+every girl, I like pretty things, and a horse might as well look good as
+run fast. It has always seemed to me that the two go together."
+
+During the middle of the forenoon the broncho boys started for the town
+of Snyder to attend the race.
+
+Bud led Hatrack, and a troublesome job he had of it, for the animated
+skeleton objected to being on the halter, as any self-respecting range
+horse would, and he pulled back and sideways and almost dragged Bud from
+his saddle several times.
+
+"Ding bat yer," Bud would shout, "yer ornery, unsanctified, muley,
+harebrained, contaminated son o' a zebra, git down on yer feet an'
+foller. Ye'll git all that's comin' ter yer when ther race starts. Save
+yer sweat until then."
+
+But Hatrack thought differently, and before they were halfway to Snyder
+it took all the efforts of Bud in the lead and Ben, Kit, and Clay
+Whipple in the rear, to keep him moving in a forward direction.
+
+Only enough boys were left with the herd to keep it from scattering.
+Ted and Stella rode in the lead as they entered the town, which was
+crowded with a motley assemblage of cow-punchers, gamblers, and Indians
+in their gay blankets and with painted faces.
+
+The Indians of the plains are keen on horse racing, and among the
+various tribes are to be found some of the fleetest horses in the West,
+many of them trained to all the tricks of racing. An Indian jockey is
+the shrewdest of his class, and is an adept at all the tricks of the
+trade.
+
+"Hi! Look at the livin' skeleton!"
+
+Bud swung around in his saddle and stared at a cow-puncher standing on
+the sidewalk in Snyder, as he rode into town dragging behind him the
+dejected Hatrack, who looked as if he had been living on two oats for
+dinner and a spear of grass for supper all his life.
+
+He ambled along like a tired and footsore dog behind Bud, with his ears
+drooping and his toes kicking up the dust. He was a sad-looking animal,
+and the word having gone abroad that he was the horse that was to enter
+the race with Magpie, he was jeered from one end of the street to the
+other, as Bud led him to the corral at the edge of the town. Bud
+pretended to be angry at the joshing his steed received, but when he had
+turned his back upon the jokers he would wink gently to himself in a way
+that would have been puzzling to the supporters of the spotted horse.
+
+Cap Norris had done his work well.
+
+Every one in town knew of the coming race, and word had been sent to the
+ranches in the surrounding country, so that before noon the streets were
+crowded with people.
+
+"Say, fellows," said Ted, when the boys met at the hotel for dinner,
+"this fellow Norris is sure a sharp. That talk about his wanting to get
+enough money to take him back home was a lie. He's a gambler, and is in
+league with a bunch of gamblers in this town."
+
+"How do you know?" asked Ben.
+
+"How do I know? Why, man alive, they're betting on Magpie all over town.
+The tip seems to have gotten out that Bud Morgan and the broncho boys
+have a surprise up their sleeves, and that they are going to ring in
+another horse than Hatrack."
+
+"How is that?"
+
+"They believe we're going to slip in another horse, a professional
+racing horse with a record."
+
+"Let 'em think so. It won't be a professional race horse--at least, not
+in this country--that we will put in, but jest ole Hatrack, an' if he
+don't win the race by a city block I'll eat him, hoofs an' all."
+
+"Put us next, Bud," said Ben.
+
+"That's what," said Kit. "You've sure got a trick concealed somewhere.
+What is it?"
+
+"No, I haven't," said Bud. "But if I wuz a bettin' man I know what hoss
+I'd back to win."
+
+That was all the boys could get out of him on the subject, but they were
+convinced none the less that Bud had a secret concerning the horse, and
+that they would learn what it was in good time.
+
+The race was to be held at the fair grounds, and was to be a dash of
+three hundred yards.
+
+Cap Norris would not consent to a longer race, although Bud said he
+would run Hatrack any distance up to a quarter of a mile, but the
+innocent old man with the long whiskers objected to running his horse a
+long distance.
+
+As the hour approached for the race, the grounds began to fill up.
+Several races between Indian ponies took place to keep the crowd amused
+until the big race of the day was to come off.
+
+"They've been working us," said Ted, coming up to where Stella and the
+boys were standing beside Hatrack, which looked more sad and dejected
+than ever.
+
+"In what way?" asked Bud.
+
+"This race is a gambling game to get the money away from the innocents,"
+answered Ted. "They've had men going among the people from the country
+and the cow-punchers, telling them that it is a put-up job on our part,
+and that we're sure to win. In that way they have got a lot of people to
+bet on Hatrack. I've a good mind to draw out of it altogether and spoil
+their game."
+
+"For fear the innocents will lose their money?" asked Bud.
+
+"Yes. I don't want to be a party to robbing those fellows."
+
+"Don't you worry. If you want to punish Norris and his friends, don't
+interfere. Let it go on, I tell you. They'll be the worst-beaten lot o'
+crooks that ever robbed a town."
+
+"All right, Bud, if you say so."
+
+It was now time for the race of the day, and Bud and Norris marked off
+the course.
+
+Ben was appointed judge, with a large man, apparently a stranger in the
+town, who was chosen by Norris, and the two selected a third.
+
+The third man was a stranger to Ben, but he picked him out of the crowd,
+and the other judge accepted him.
+
+As Stella climbed into the saddle, Hatrack gave two or three kittenish
+jumps, and the crowd yelled. It had not expected this added feature to
+the race, a girl jockey.
+
+Shout after shout went up as she rode over the course slowly, Hatrack
+having settled down into his usual dejected manner. The cheers and some
+of the jeers that greeted him came from the men who had been induced to
+bet on him.
+
+"Now, Stella," said Bud, as Stella rode back again, "when you start,
+shout 'Vamose!' in Hatrack's ear. That's the word he has always been
+sent away with. Stick tight, an' let him go. Don't forget the word
+'Vamose!'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+THE GREAT CHIQUITA.
+
+
+Hatrack and Magpie were now brought up to the starting point.
+
+The boy who traveled with old man Norris was on the back of the latter
+horse, sitting in a regular jockey's saddle and stripped of all
+superfluous clothing.
+
+He was the typical jockey now. He had put away all the appearance of
+youth, and was a crafty and sly man.
+
+It was apparent that the whole outfit was in the racing business, and as
+the crowd looked at the discrepancy between the two horses, and observed
+that on the best-looking horse was a professional jockey, while on the
+crowbait was only a girl, something like a groan went up.
+
+But some of them were game, and cheered Stella to the echo.
+
+"You're all right!" shouted her supporters.
+
+"Hurrah fer ther girl jockey," yelled the cow-punchers. "I got a month's
+wages that says she'll win the race."
+
+But the other side had something to say, also. They made all sorts of
+fun of Hatrack, and roars of laughter went up as he ambled,
+stiff-legged, onto the course.
+
+Clay Whipple was chosen to start the race, and stood beside the track
+with a red flag in his hand. The two horses were jockeyed back and forth
+for several minutes.
+
+"Are you ready?" shouted Clay, as they came up.
+
+"No!" shouted Stella.
+
+"No!" answered the jockey.
+
+Back again they went, and came up neck and neck, the riders nodding to
+Clay.
+
+"Go!" cried Clay, bringing down the red flag with a swish through the
+air.
+
+"Vamose!" Stella's clear young voice rang out.
+
+Then an amazing thing happened. Hatrack seemed to be suddenly galvanized
+into life. He straightened out, and shot to the front with great, long
+horizontal leaps. His body seemed to be gliding close to the earth.
+
+His head was between his legs, and he was running like a greyhound.
+Stella was bent low upon his neck, and every moment or two she would
+shout in Spanish, "Go it! Vamose!" or, "You're winning! Vamose!"
+
+And winning Hatrack surely was. Now he was half a length ahead of the
+fleet Magpie, who was running the race of her life.
+
+Behind her Stella could hear the crowd yelling like mad. The air fairly
+shook with the shouts of the multitude as the two horses shot forward.
+But it was a short race, and seemed to Stella to have ended almost as
+soon as it began.
+
+As she flew past Bud, she got a fleeting glimpse of him jumping up and
+down in a very ecstasy of glee, and she knew that she had won, and began
+pulling in Hatrack. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that Magpie was
+already down to a walk a short distance from the wire, and that Cap
+Norris and the jockey were talking earnestly.
+
+In a moment she had Hatrack turned, and was going back to where Bud was
+waiting for her.
+
+"Bully for you, Stella," shouted Bud. "Yer rode a great race. Jest ez I
+wanted it run. Nobody couldn't hev done it better. I told yer ye'd win."
+
+"That was too easy," laughed Stella. "I wish it had been four times as
+long."
+
+"That makes it all the better."
+
+"How much did I beat him?"
+
+"A whole length."
+
+"That ought to be enough."
+
+"It was, but I'll bet a cooky they'll make a kick. These crooks always
+lay out to win, and won't race unless they can win. If they don't, they
+set up a cry of foul, or something of that sort."
+
+"But they can't do that in this case, because I didn't foul him."
+
+Stella became indignant at the very thought.
+
+"Sure you didn't, but that won't keep those wolves from claiming some
+sort of a foul."
+
+"You're not going to stand for it, are you?"
+
+"Not in a blue moon. I've got the boys posted. Here comes Norris and his
+jockey back."
+
+The old racing sharp walked up to Bud, leading Magpie.
+
+"Well, Magpie's mine," said Bud, not giving the other a chance to speak
+first. "Sorry for your sake that you lost, Cap, but the fortunes of
+racing often turn unexpectedly, eh?"
+
+"You haven't won," said the old man excitedly.
+
+"Oh, I reckon we won, all right," answered Bud lazily, although there
+was an ugly gleam in his eye.
+
+"No, sir, you didn't win fair. Thar wuz a foul at ther start. I see it,
+all right; I wasn't shore until I talked with my boy thar, an' he says
+as how ther young lady bumped him outer his stride jest ez they wuz
+gittin' off."
+
+"Oh, no, you can't work me like that, Cap. They were five feet apart
+when the flag fell."
+
+"I tell yer I see it with my own eyes. 'Twas a foul, an' I claim ther
+race, er it hez got ter be run over ag'in."
+
+"Never, on yer life. The race goes to the young lady. But I'm not going
+to stand here and chew the thing over with you. It's up to the judges."
+
+They all approached the judges' stand, where apparently a lively
+argument was in progress.
+
+Ben and the big man who had been chosen by Norris were talking
+excitedly, and the other man was listening.
+
+All about the stand an angry crowd of men was surging, all talking at
+once, so that nothing could be made out of the babel of shouts, except
+when some person with unusually good lungs made himself heard in a
+denunciation of one or the other riders.
+
+Ted had joined the crowd, waiting for the arrival of Bud and Stella. Bud
+was walking by the side of Stella, whose face showed the disappointment
+she felt at not being declared at once the winner.
+
+It was so evidently a job to steal the race from Hatrack that the leader
+of the broncho boys was both angry and disgusted.
+
+"This is what you get for having anything to do with this mob of
+gamblers and thieves," he said to Kit, who was standing by his side.
+
+"What's that you said, young feller?" said a man, edging up.
+
+"I wasn't talking to you, my friend," answered Ted coolly.
+
+"No, but you was talkin' at me," said the other.
+
+"Why, are you a thief and a gambler?" asked Ted, with a lifting of his
+eyebrows that expressed a great deal that he did not say.
+
+"I guess it's the other way around," answered the fellow, snarling.
+
+"I don't see how you make that out."
+
+"Well, I do. The gal bumped the rider o' Magpie."
+
+"She did nothing of the sort. I stood beside the starter of the race,
+and I was nearer to the horses than you were, and if any one could see
+them I could. The horses were several feet apart when they started."
+
+"Why, sure. You and your pals are interested in the bone heap that went
+in first through a foul."
+
+"That will be about enough of that."
+
+A bright red spot burned on each of Ted's cheeks, the danger signal of
+his wrath.
+
+"Now, see here, young fellow, you can't throw any bluff into me," said
+the fellow, approaching Ted with one shoulder raised.
+
+"You let him alone. He's all right, and has got as much right to talk as
+you have," said another man, elbowing his way up.
+
+He was one of those who had bet on Hatrack, and Ted recognized him as
+the foreman of the Running Water horse ranch.
+
+"Well, the gal stole the race fer these fellers, an' we ain't goin' ter
+stand fer it. They needn't think they kin bring any o' their gals in
+here to do their dirty work. They all look alike to us."
+
+"See here," said Ted coolly, "let me give you a piece of advice. Leave
+the young lady out of it, or I'll give you something else to think about
+for a while."
+
+"Rats fer you," said the fellow, snapping his fingers under Ted's nose.
+
+He picked himself from the ground ten feet away, wiping his bleeding
+nose and wondering what had happened to him.
+
+"Say, boy," said the foreman of the Running Water, "that was as pretty
+and clean a blow as ever I see. You can handle them mitts o' yours right
+handy."
+
+A score of men had rushed up and surrounded Ted and Kit, all shouting
+and gesticulating at the same time.
+
+Meantime, Ben was having his troubles in the judges' stand.
+
+He had, of course, decided in favor of Hatrack, while the big man had
+declared for a foul and no decision, and the third judge stood wavering.
+
+On the face of it the whole thing was a steal on the part of the
+gamblers, who had evidently decided beforehand that if the race went
+against them to claim a foul and bluff it through.
+
+But they had argued without their host. They did not know what they were
+opposing when they ran against Ted Strong.
+
+Ted was sorry that he had gone into the affair at all, but once in he
+was there to stick to the finish. The fellow whom he had knocked down
+had retired to the rear to attend to his broken nose, and to give his
+friends an opportunity to fight his battle.
+
+The foreman of the Running Water had disappeared. He had foreseen
+trouble when the gamblers got together, and attempted to force the race
+through, and had gone to collect the cow-punchers and others who had
+been induced to bet on Hatrack.
+
+Ted stood his ground patiently, waiting until a decision should be
+handed down by the judges before declaring himself.
+
+Stella was sitting in her saddle on Hatrack a few feet away from the
+stand watching the proceedings, and listening to the arguments on both
+sides made by the angry men.
+
+Bud and Kit stood on either side of her, to protect her from the remarks
+of the disgruntled gamblers.
+
+Suddenly a man pushed his way through the throng, mounted on a Spanish
+mule.
+
+He was a fine-looking man, dressed after the manner of the plainsman,
+and might have been either a cow-puncher in prosperity or a ranch owner.
+
+As the crowd made way for him he caught sight of Bud, and stopped and
+stared for several moments without speaking.
+
+Bud had not noticed him, but when he did look up he returned the stare,
+and his forehead was wrinkled in thought.
+
+Somewhere in the back part of his head he carried a picture of this
+man, but under different circumstances.
+
+Who could he be, and where had he been met, were the things that were
+puzzling Bud.
+
+"Hello, pard, you don't seem to place me," said the man on the Spanish
+mule. "But I haven't forgotten you by a dern sight. Think hard."
+
+"I've saw yer som'er's," said Bud thoughtfully, "but it wa'n't like
+this. You're som'er's in my picture gallery o' faces, but yer ain't ther
+same as when I saw yer last."
+
+"Right ye are," said the man. "How's Chiquita getting along?"
+
+"Ah, I've got yer now. How did yer come out? Middlin' well, ter jedge
+from ther mule yer ridin', an' yer ginral appearance o' prosperity."
+
+"You bet I be," said the man, "an' if it hadn't been fer you I wouldn't
+have been nowhere. I've come a long ways ter hunt yer up, ter thank yer,
+an' to get better acquainted with yer."
+
+"Well, ye've got me inter a heap o' trouble," said Bud, laughing.
+
+"So I see, an' I'll help yer get out o' it. What seems ter be the
+trouble?"
+
+"Well, old Chiquita, er Hatrack, ez ther boys in ther outfit calls him,
+won a race just now, an' ther gamblers won't stand by it. They sent out
+word that Hatrack was a sure winner, an'--"
+
+"Same old thing. Chiquita fooled them all."
+
+"I didn't know he could do it myself, but I remembered what you said
+about him, an' when an ole maverick come along an' banters me fer a race
+I jest took him up, an' this is how it come out. He took us fer a bunch
+o' gillies, an' used us to try to fleece the people."
+
+"What's his name?" asked the man on the Spanish mule softly.
+
+"Cap Norris."
+
+"Oh, ole Pap Norris, eh? Calls hisself Cap now, does he?"
+
+"That's what he does, an' he's a derned ole skin."
+
+"None skinnier. But where is he? I should like to see him."
+
+"He's sashayin' around here som'er's attendin' ter his dirty work.
+Lookin' after his grandson, little Willie, I reckon."
+
+"What, is that thief still hangin' on to him?"
+
+"Yes. I see you seem to know him."
+
+"Know him! Well, I should gurgle I do know him. I thought every hoss man
+in the country knew him. Little Willie, the orphaned grandson, is almost
+old enough to be a grandfather himself. He's an outlawed jockey, an' he
+an' Pap go about the country skinning countrymen and cow-punchers with
+his fake races. He never won a square race in his life. I should say I
+did know him. Here he comes now. Watch me wake him up."
+
+The old fellow was bustling up to the crowd.
+
+"See here, young fellow, get ther gal offen that hoss, he's mine, er as
+good as mine in a moment. The jedges are goin' ter award ther race ter
+me on account o' ther foul," he shouted to Bud.
+
+"I reckon ther hoss stays right with me," said Bud smoothly. "But I want
+ter tell yer thet yer better bring in that magpie hoss so's I kin git
+him quick. He ain't yours no more."
+
+"Come, come! None o' yer foolishness with me," blustered the old man.
+"Git ther gal off before she's pulled off."
+
+"You or any other man put your finger on thet young lady if yer dare,"
+said Bud. "Jest try it once if yer think I'm bluffin', men."
+
+"Hello, Pap," said the man on the Spanish mule. "Up ter yer ole tricks,
+I see."
+
+The old man looked up at the man on the mule, then turned pale and
+slunk away without another word.
+
+"Men," said the man on the mule, addressing the crowd, "you've been
+stung. This old bag o' bones is Chiquita, the best race horse ever
+produced in Mexico, an' I brought him over here, where I traded him for
+a plain cayuse an' gave something ter boot. If any o' you men know
+anything about hosses ye'll recognize ther great Chiquita, what made an'
+lost more money fer ther people o' Mexico than any one other thing. Pap
+didn't know it until he see me, then he suddenly remembered a little
+deal me an' him was in. I know this Magpie hoss well, an' it couldn't
+stand no more show of winnin' a race from Chiquita than a snail would.
+Take it from me that ye've been caught at yer own game, an' have been
+done."
+
+At the name of Chiquita a groan went up from the gamblers.
+
+"And who are you?" asked Bud.
+
+"Come nearer, an' I'll tell you in your ear," was the reply.
+
+Bud went close to him, and the man stooped in his saddle and whispered a
+word in his ear, at which the old cow-puncher looked startled, then
+burst into a fit of laughter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+TED'S GREAT VICTORY.
+
+
+"I tell you I'll never stand for it."
+
+The voice of big Ben Tremont could be heard roaring above the noise made
+by the crowd around the judges' stand.
+
+"It's a go. The race goes to Magpie on a foul."
+
+The big man in the stand made this announcement in a voice of thunder.
+
+"Bully for you, Shan Rhue!" yelled the gamblers, crowding to the stand
+in a body.
+
+At the same moment Bud caught Hatrack by the bridle and led him out of
+the crowd, for he knew what was impending.
+
+"I say it don't go," shouted Ben. "This man, who is in league with that
+old crook, Norris, declares a foul. I say there was no foul."
+
+"How does the other judge go?" called a voice.
+
+"He declines to give a voice in the matter," answered Ben.
+
+"Throw the coyote down here, and we'll help him make up his mind,"
+called the foreman of the Running Water. "If he's too much of a coward
+to decide for the right, we'll help him. Throw him over."
+
+The foreman of the Running Water was a formidable-looking man.
+
+He was tall and sinewy, with a seamed and scarred face, a map of many
+battles with the elements, the wild animals of mountain and plain, and
+with his fellow men.
+
+He was heavily armed, and the town gamblers knew him for a bad fighter
+when he was aroused.
+
+"Stick fer ther big show," he said to Ted, who was standing beside him.
+"I've got the boys bunched back there on the edge of the crowd. When it
+comes to a show-down we'll all be here. But it's no place fer wimmin an'
+children."
+
+"I don't want to get into a fight if we can help it," said Ted.
+
+"Yer ain't afraid o' these cattle, aire ye?" asked the foreman, looking
+at Ted curiously, but with a shade of disappointment in his eyes.
+
+"Not for a minute," said Ted, throwing a straight glance into the
+other's eyes. "There's nothing to be afraid of, that I can see. But
+what's the use if we can get at it in some other way?"
+
+"Well, I reckon yer right, bub," said the other slowly. "Some one is
+shore liable ter git hurt. But I'd sooner see ther whole crowd hurt than
+have this bunch o' thieves git away with their game."
+
+"They won't do that. Never fear."
+
+The crowd was now watching the men in the judges' stand.
+
+Evidently Ben and Shan Rhue were wrestling in spirit with the third
+judge, who was still wavering. He knew that the right was with Ben, but
+he was afraid of the big bully Shan, and the gamblers, who were most in
+evidence.
+
+He did not know that the cow-punchers and the townspeople who had bet on
+Hatrack were being organized on the outskirts of the crowd, and that Kit
+and Clay and the other broncho boys were with them to direct them to the
+attack when it might seem necessary to assert their rights.
+
+Suddenly there was a roar from the crowd. Shan Rhue had struck Ben
+Tremont a staggering blow. They heard Ben let out a roar like a wounded
+bull, as he threw the great bulk of his body upon the man who had struck
+him.
+
+Now they were wrestling, and the frail stand in which they were,
+fifteen feet above the ground, swayed with their struggle.
+
+"Kill him!" shouted the gamblers.
+
+"Throw him down here!"
+
+"Let us finish him!"
+
+"Stay with him, Shan!"
+
+These and other cries and threats were shouted by the mob. But Ted
+Strong said nothing. He was watching the struggle intently and quietly.
+
+He had no fear but that Ben would be able to hold his own. His great
+strength hardly matched that of Shan Rhue, who was a giant, and the most
+feared man in the Wichita Mountains. But Ben was more than his match in
+wrestling skill, and, moreover, he was younger and more supple for all
+his bulk, and his work on the football gridiron when in college had
+taught him tricks of the tackle of which the big bully did not dream.
+
+He had a hold on the bully now, and was gradually forcing him backward
+toward the frail railing that inclosed the floor of the stand.
+
+Ted saw his intention. It was to throw Shan Rhue against the railing,
+then spring away. Rhue evidently divined the same thing, for he
+struggled with all his force against it, striking Ben in the ribs and
+occasionally in the face.
+
+But his blows were not very effective, as Ben had him caught so closely
+that his blows lost their power. Thus the struggle went on for a few
+moments. Then, when it was least expected, there was a crash of breaking
+wood.
+
+A yell went up from the crowd as it surged back, and the gigantic body
+of Shan Rhue came hurtling through the railing, which went into
+splinters from the impact of his bulk.
+
+Shan Rhue grasped at the air, as with a roar he went over. He turned a
+complete somersault as he descended and landed on his shoulders. For a
+moment he lay quivering, half stunned.
+
+There was dead silence in the crowd and none dared go to his assistance.
+But presently the bully sat up and passed his hand over his eyes. With a
+roar of pain and rage he sprang to his feet and looked around.
+
+The nearest person to him was the leader of the broncho boys, who stood
+on the edge of the crowd, alert and smiling. Ted knew that it meant
+fight now.
+
+He was convinced that Ben was in the right, but right or wrong, Ben had
+started it, and it was now up to the broncho boys to see that their side
+did not get the worst of it.
+
+Realizing that Ted was an enemy, Shan Rhue made a rush at him. Those
+beside Ted turned and ran. But Ted did not move. He only stood a little
+tenser.
+
+It took but a moment for the bully to cross the distance that lay
+between him and Ted. His rush was like that of a bull, and as
+irresistible. But Ted did not propose to take the brunt of it. He knew
+several tricks better than that.
+
+As Rhue was about to launch himself upon Ted, the latter stepped lightly
+aside. So sure was Rhue of landing on Ted and bearing him to the ground
+that he had leaped into the air, and, finding nothing to stop his
+progress, was overbalanced. A sweep of Ted's foot completed it, for the
+legs of the bully were swept from under him, and he went to the sod on
+his face with a crash that seemed to shake the earth.
+
+Like an eagle upon its prey, Ted was on the back of the bully. The crowd
+shouted like mad, eager to go to the rescue of their champion. But Ted
+heard the voice of the foreman of Running Water high above the din.
+
+"It's the boy's fight, an' any man that breaks through the line will get
+a ball from my forty-four plumb through him. Stand back, you cattle!"
+
+"Let 'em go, fellers. Shan will kill him in a minute," shouted one of
+the gamblers.
+
+Shan Rhue had been badly shaken up by the jolt that had been his when he
+struck the ground. For several moments he did not stir, and Ted thought
+he had been knocked out.
+
+Many of the men in the crowd knew things about Shan Rhue which Ted did
+not.
+
+Rhue was considered the strongest man in the Southwest at that time. He
+was barely forty years old, in the prime of his life, and a man who had
+never dissipated. But he was a thoroughly bad man for all that, and the
+number of men whom he had killed had been forgotten.
+
+His feats of strength were the talk of barrooms and bunk houses. He had
+been seen many times to break horseshoes with his hands, and as for
+bending a bar of iron by striking the muscles of his forearm with it,
+that was one of his ordinary tricks.
+
+But the thing of which he was proudest was his ability to buck a man off
+his back. In this feat he barred none, no matter how heavy. He would get
+on his hands and knees, place a surcingle around his body under his arms
+for his rider to hold on by, and then proceed to buck.
+
+It would seem impossible for a man to stick to him under such
+circumstances, and no one had been found yet who could do so.
+
+Thus it was that those of the crowd who had witnessed this feat
+sometimes in a fight, and more often in friendly contest, looked to see
+Ted sailing through the air, and then the finish, for Shan Rhue was a
+merciless enemy.
+
+Ted was now straddling the prostrate bully, who was breathing heavily,
+his body heaving as his lungs tried to get back into commission.
+
+Presently he was all right again, and, feeling a weight upon him, shook
+himself. This not having the effect of relieving him of his burden, he
+twisted his head around and saw Ted sitting on him.
+
+With a growl like a wounded bear he slowly lifted himself to the height
+of his arms, then slowly rose to his knees.
+
+"By golly, he's goin' ter buck him off," shouted one in the crowd.
+
+"Look out fer some fun, lads," cried another.
+
+"He'll kill ther kid sure," said a third.
+
+In a moment Ted realized what was coming off. The hold he had on the
+back of Shan Rhue was none of the most secure at best, but he got a
+clutch on the fellow's shirt under the arm, just back of the armpits,
+and he felt that he had in his fingers great bunches of the bully's
+muscles.
+
+By the merest chance he had secured the only hold by which he could hope
+to stick to the giant's back. Then the fun began. Shan Rhue plunged back
+and forth, sideways and up and down.
+
+The movement was incessant. He reared and pitched, and, having cunning
+and intelligence, he was able to distinguish when Ted's seat was least
+secure and take advantage of it.
+
+Ted had ridden many bucking bronchos, but Shan Rhue beat any of them in
+the surprises which he furnished. But Ted stuck grimly to him.
+
+He knew that if the bully succeeded in throwing him off his life would
+not be worth a rushlight, for Shan was a rough fighter and would not
+hesitate to kick him brutally, if he did not shoot him to death before
+the boys could come to his assistance.
+
+Thus the struggle went on for several minutes, Shan doing his utmost and
+Ted hanging on. But the big fellow was getting winded by his exertions.
+
+He was not in the best condition, for all his tremendous power. He was
+going fast, and Ted was badly shaken up and out of breath, also. If
+Shan held out a few minutes longer Ted must be thrown, for his hold on
+the muscles under his antagonist's arms had begun to loosen, and he
+dared not let go for an instant to get a fresh grip.
+
+It was close to the finish, and the crowd knew it.
+
+"He's goin', Shan. A few more will finish him," shouted the gamblers.
+
+"Stick to him, Ted. He's almost in," cried the boys.
+
+Ted took heart at this, although his body was racked with pains, caused
+by the innumerable wrenchings to which it had been subjected.
+
+Suddenly Shan Rhue was all in. His body flattened out upon the ground,
+and he lay there panting laboriously. Ted sprang to his feet gasping.
+Thus for a few minutes both remained, amid intense silence from the
+crowd.
+
+Shan Rhue's body was heaving painfully. It was evident that he had never
+had before a struggle like this.
+
+Little by little he recovered, but Ted's recovery was quicker than that
+of the man. His youth and strength were responsible for this.
+
+But finally Shan Rhue was himself again, and suddenly he leaped to his
+feet and glared around. His eyes fell upon Ted, and he looked him up and
+down in a sort of amazement.
+
+Had this stripling accomplished what older and stronger men had failed
+in?
+
+Shan Rhue could hardly believe it, but it took some of the conceit out
+of him at that. However, his anger at Ted had not been in the least
+assuaged by the fact that the first honors had gone to this youth who
+now stood watching him with a smile on his lips, but with the light of
+battle in his eyes.
+
+With a sneer Shan Rhue rushed at Ted. This time he would annihilate him.
+
+But Ted was crouching, awaiting him. His muscles were like steel
+springs. His breath had come to him again, and he was ready to fight for
+his life, for it had come to that now. Suddenly there was a smack, sharp
+and clear in the silence that hung over the crowd.
+
+Shan Rhue staggered back on his heels. The blow from Ted's fist had
+struck him fairly below the eye. Before he could recover Ted was upon
+him like a panther.
+
+One, two, three, blows fell with a sharp, sickening sound upon the face
+and throat of the famous Shan Rhue, as he lurched backward, vainly
+trying to defend himself.
+
+His body went to the earth with a crash, and he lay there moaning and
+quivering, beaten, discredited, and no more the hero, for he had been
+conquered by a boy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+KIT MAKES A CAPTURE.
+
+
+Shan Rhue lay prostrate for a long time, but no one went to his
+assistance. As he fell the gamblers raised a shout, and made a motion to
+attack Ted.
+
+But the foreman of Running Water sprang in front of them, and as if by
+magic the broncho boys and the cow-punchers and other supporters of
+Hatrack were by his side.
+
+Ted had leaped to the fore and was standing shoulder to shoulder with
+the foreman of Running Water. He heard a ripple of laughter, and looked
+up to see Stella standing by his side.
+
+"Bully for you, Ted," she said. "You did that fine."
+
+Ted smiled back at her, then turned his eyes upon the surprised and
+angry gamblers. There was something there that demanded all his
+attention. The gamblers only needed a leader to make them a dangerous
+proposition.
+
+But their leader was down and out by reason of a few neat and handy
+blows, and none other had the courage to come to the front. It was the
+psychological moment.
+
+Ted Strong took advantage of it. Without a moment's hesitation, he
+stepped in front of the foreman of Running Water, who moved back to give
+him the place of vantage.
+
+Ted had not even taken his six-shooter from its holster, but stood with
+his hands resting lightly on his hips, while his eyes roved inquiringly
+over the menacing crowd.
+
+"Any of you gentlemen like to have some of the same sort of medicine?"
+he asked, nodding toward the prostrate Rhue.
+
+There was no reply.
+
+"Because if any of you would, I, or any of my friends, will be glad to
+accommodate you," he added.
+
+An ominous growl came from some one back in the crowd.
+
+"Would you like some of it?" asked Ted, turning suddenly in that
+direction.
+
+He waited for several moments for an answer, but none came.
+
+"Now, you fellows, I want to say that this incident is closed," said he
+firmly. "You are beaten every way from the jack, as you would say. You
+put up this race to skin innocent parties, and you thought to use my
+friends for your purposes, and have failed. The face was fairly won by
+our horse, and that goes. If any man doubts it, I will prove it to him
+by any means he wishes, from fists up to howitzers. You have made a lot
+of fools of yourselves by allowing an old crook like Norris to play in
+with you. I haven't a bit of sympathy for you. I'm glad you lost your
+money, and I'd feel gladder if you all went broke. This is the end of
+this adventure. Where's Norris? We want that magpie horse which we won."
+
+The men dispersed after this speech, which closed with a ringing cheer
+from the broncho boys and the cow-punchers and other friends of Hatrack.
+
+But Norris could not be found. He and the horse and the jockey had
+disappeared. Ted rounded the boys up, and all were present except Kit.
+
+"Where's Kit?" he asked.
+
+"Don't know," said Bud. "He was around here a few minutes ago. Reckon
+he's somewhere about."
+
+The crowd having dispersed uptown, a search was made for Kit, but he
+could not be found.
+
+"I wonder if some of that gang hasn't got square with us by some foul
+play on Kit," said Ted. "It would be like the coyotes. Kit was the
+smallest of the lot, and naturally the cowards would pick him."
+
+"Kit's small, all right," said Stella stoutly, for she and Kit were
+great friends, and Stella was always one to stick up for those she
+liked. "If they pick Kit for his size, and think they have got an easy
+thing, they will find that they have gathered up a red-hot Chile pepper.
+He'll give them the hottest fight they ever had, as long as he lasts."
+
+"Hurray fer you, Stella," exclaimed Bud. "You speak for fair. Kit's not
+much on size, but he's a whirlwind."
+
+Shan Rhue was slowly getting on his feet. His broad, brutal face was
+badly discolored where Ted's fists had come in contact with it.
+
+One of his eyes was bloodshot and rapidly taking on a green-and-purple
+hue, and his upper lip stuck out like an overhanging roof. As he looked
+around and saw that the broncho boys were alone, and that he had been
+left to recover as best he might by those whom he had called his friends
+and supporters, he growled deep in his chest.
+
+"The skunks," he muttered, between his swollen lips. "They'd make me
+fight an' steal fer them, an' then leave me in the hole, would they?
+Well, I'll make them hump fer this."
+
+Then he looked unsteadily at Ted out of his good eye, as if he was
+wondering how it all had happened. But while his glance was not as
+belligerent as it had been, still there was nothing but hatred in his
+expression.
+
+Ted eyed him back fearlessly, but this time his hand rested upon the
+handle of his revolver, and Stella, by his side, was on the alert also.
+Shan Rhue was not one to be trusted, especially after he had met defeat.
+After staring for a moment he spoke.
+
+"I reckon yer beat me fair, young feller," he said, "although I don't
+know yet how yer did it. But I want ter say ter yer now that this ain't
+the end, by no means."
+
+"That's all right," said Ted easily. "You keep out of my way, and you
+will be all right."
+
+"I go where I please, an' do what I please, an' ask ther right o' no
+man," retorted Shan Rhue truculently.
+
+"All right, go where you please, but don't run afoul of me," said Ted
+sharply. "I don't want to have anything to do with such cattle as you,
+and I don't propose to. Keep off my trail if you know when you're well
+off. This is a friendly tip--take it or leave it."
+
+"I don't want none o' yer tips," growled Shan Rhue. "Ye've beaten me,
+an' I hate yer. Look out fer me next time, that's all."
+
+"Yes, that's all. Skidoo! You're not pretty to look at."
+
+Ted turned his back upon the defeated bully, but Stella did not, and had
+Shan Rhue made a motion toward his gun there would have been one with a
+pearl handle and trimmed with silver in commission in an instant.
+
+With a long, malignant look after Ted, the bully turned and hobbled
+slowly from the fair grounds.
+
+"I'm going to start on the trail of Norris," said Ted. "Want to come
+along, Stella?"
+
+"You bet I do," said the girl. "Wait till I catch my pony."
+
+"Ben, you and Bud ride through the town and see if you can't get on to
+the movements of that old rip Norris, also, and look out for Kit. If we
+don't get Norris, and make him give up that magpie pony, our work has
+not been half done. As long as we have won out all around, we might as
+well have the fruits of our victory," said Ted.
+
+"What'll we do to ther coyote?" asked Bud.
+
+"Part his coat tails and give him a good, swift kick," answered Ted.
+"But don't get into any fights with these town gamblers. We can't afford
+anything of that sort, you know."
+
+"All righty; but I'd shore like ter git a crack at some o' them
+mavericks," said Bud grudgingly.
+
+"They're all licked in their minds already," said Ted. "Of course,
+they're sore at losing their money, and if a dozen or more of them were
+to tackle you, you'd have a hard time getting away with it. When the
+fight comes off, if ever it does, we all want to be in on it."
+
+They parted, and Ted and Stella rode into the town.
+
+"Say, friend, have you seen anything of that old skin Norris?" asked
+Ted, meeting one of the Running Water outfit on the street.
+
+"Yep. I wuz jest goin' ter look yer up an' post yer," was the reply.
+
+"Which way did he go, or is he still in town?"
+
+"Jest after yer put ther finish onto Shan--an', say, that wuz a beaut,
+if any one should ask you--I see Norris an' ther jock makin' fer ther
+gate, leadin' ther magpie bronc. I thinks they're goin' ter put him in
+ther corral fer yer, an' didn't pay much 'tention ter him."
+
+"Then he's up at the corral?"
+
+"No, he ain't. He's foggin' along to'rds ther Wichita Mountains as fast
+as he kin go."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"I met one o' our outfit a bit ago, an' he was sore because yer let ther
+old feller git away with ther magpie, after yer won him fair. Yer see,
+he thinks ye flunked on collectin' ther pony."
+
+"Not on your life. We don't do business that way."
+
+"That's what I was thinkin', so I ast him whichever way ther ole man was
+headin'. He says inter ther east, tickity-brindle."
+
+"Which road?"
+
+"Right out ther east end o' ther main street."
+
+"Thank you, pard."
+
+"Yer almighty welcome. Good luck. If yer ketch up with ther coyote,
+bring him in an' let us have a good squint at him."
+
+"Oh, I'll bring him in, all right, if I get him."
+
+"So long!"
+
+"So long! Come on, Stella, we'll have to kick dust if we're going to
+connect with that old party."
+
+They dashed down the street, followed by an equal mingling of smiles and
+frowns. Smiles from the cow-punchers and townspeople whose champion he
+had been, and frowns from the gamblers.
+
+But they saw neither, for they were intent upon their business. They
+made a mighty handsome couple as they dashed along, for they were well
+mounted and both were perfect riders.
+
+Many a young girl walking along the street looked enviously after
+Stella, and wished she could ride as well and was as beautiful. And many
+a lad looked after his ideal of a hero of the West, dashing and brave
+Ted Strong, who had so lately vanquished the bully who had been feared
+of all men, and who could ride like a centaur, and shoot perfectly.
+
+It did not take long for them to clear the town, and dash out onto the
+prairie road which led into the Wichita Mountains.
+
+They did not spare their horses, for Ted knew that if Norris once
+succeeded in reaching the mountains it would be almost impossible to
+find him among the many fastnesses and deep and rough canons which
+abound in those most picturesque hills and peaks.
+
+While Ted knew the Wichita Mountains well, he was also aware that even
+the most expert scout did not know all about them, and that there were
+places in them that had never been explored, unless, perhaps, by
+renegade Indians and white outlaws, with which the mountains had at
+times been infested.
+
+They had ridden an hour or more when Ted pulled in his pony.
+
+"No use riding our ponies to death the first heat," he said to Stella,
+with a smile.
+
+"My cayuse is good for another hour," said Stella; "I can tell by the
+way he's going under me."
+
+"Yours would last because you're such a light and easy rider. You take
+weight off a pony. But I'm a good deal heavier, and I can feel this
+fellow tiring, although he'd go until he dropped in his tracks if I'd
+let him."
+
+They walked their ponies over the springy sod beside the road, which was
+becoming fainter the farther they got from the town. In the distance
+they could see the mountains, a dark mass against the sky.
+
+"Some one on the road," said Stella, pointing ahead.
+
+"It is a little hazy. Dust, I guess," said Ted. "I think we better hit
+it up a bit. Perhaps it is Norris and his precious 'grandson,' and if it
+is we'll get to them before they get to the mountains."
+
+They put their ponies, at a lope, and seemed to be catching up with the
+dust cloud rapidly. Soon they were able to distinguish two riders.
+
+"By Jove, I believe we are on the right track," said Ted.
+
+Stella's bright eyes had been watching the riders in front of them for
+some time.
+
+"Ted, it's not Norris. There are two riders, one behind the other, and
+they are coming this way," she said.
+
+Ted reined in his pony, and took a long look.
+
+"You're right, Stella," he said. "But, perhaps, we can get some news of
+the fugitives from them."
+
+Again they spurred forward.
+
+"Ted, that's Kit, as sure as you live," cried Stella, "I'd know him
+anywhere."
+
+In a few minutes they were within hailing distance, and Ted gave the
+long yell, which was answered, and in a few minutes they were reining in
+beside Kit. Behind him, securely bound to the back of Magpie, was old
+man Norris, who looked very crestfallen.
+
+"Hello, Kit, you rascal, I see that you got him," said Ted.
+
+"You bet, and a merry chase I had after him," answered Kit.
+
+"Why, Kit, what's the matter with your arm?" cried Stella.
+
+Kit's arm was hanging by his side, and his coat sleeve near his shoulder
+was stained with blood.
+
+"Shot!" answered Kit laconically.
+
+"Bad?" asked Stella anxiously.
+
+"Not so very. Just touched the bone. But it has been bleeding like the
+deuce."
+
+"Ted, take charge of the prisoner. Kit, get off that horse and let me
+see that wound."
+
+Stella's commands were promptly obeyed, and Kit groaned slightly as
+Stella helped him off with his coat and cut away his sleeve. He had
+received a nasty flesh wound near the shoulder, made by a ball of large
+caliber, which had passed clear through.
+
+As soon as she had washed the wound with water from Ted's canteen, and
+had bound it up, Kit felt much more comfortable.
+
+"How did it happen?" asked Stella.
+
+"I heard that the old man and the jockey had made a sneak from the
+grounds when Ted was having his fun with the big fellow, and I got my
+bronc and followed them. I came up with them a ways back, and made the
+old duffer halt, but the jock potted me and got away. That's all."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+KIT'S TROUBLESOME PRISONER.
+
+
+"Kit, you're the most reckless boy I ever knew," said Stella, as he
+climbed into his saddle with some effort, for his arm was stiff and
+swollen, and it was all he could do to keep from groaning with every
+jump of his pony.
+
+"What in the world made you start after them alone?" asked Ted.
+
+"Well, you were busy with the big bully, and, although I felt certain
+that you would get the best of him in the end, I thought it wouldn't be
+good policy to take any of the boys with me, in case there should be a
+general fight. I know you would need all the fellows."
+
+"Well, but, dog-gone you, you ought to have taken some one," said Ted.
+"How did you know but the old man and the jockey were not dangerous
+fellows? Men in their business are generally bad actors when it comes to
+a scrimmage."
+
+"Oh, I thought I could handle them," laughed Kit. "And I could, too,
+only I got careless, and let that jockey get the drop on me. The old man
+knuckled under gracefully when I presented my card."
+
+"Did you get the old man after you were shot?"
+
+"Yes. You see, this was how it was: I got sight of them a short ways
+ahead of me. They were evidently saving their horses, for they were
+traveling slowly."
+
+"Didn't they get next that they were being followed?"
+
+"I don't think so. They saw only one rider, and I suppose they thought
+that if they were pursued at all it would be by several men, and they
+were confident that with their horses they could run away from anything
+we had except Hatrack."
+
+"It's a wonder they didn't light out quick."
+
+"I think they figured to save their horses until they were sure they
+were being followed."
+
+"Then what happened?"
+
+"I saw them look back at me several times, but they did not hit up their
+speed any."
+
+"Were you fogging along pretty fast?"
+
+"Not so very. You see, I didn't want them to think that I was on their
+trail. I went just fast enough to overtake them gradually. If they had
+got on to me they would have been out of sight before I could gather up
+my reins."
+
+"Foxy Kit," said Stella.
+
+"And they let you come right up with them?" asked Ted.
+
+"Yep. I was right up on them before they got on to me."
+
+"They recognized you, eh?"
+
+"They did when I was about twenty feet away. Then I heard the old man
+holler, 'It's one o' them dern broncho boys.'"
+
+"And then what?"
+
+"Well, you see, I didn't have my gun out, and, as he says that, the
+jockey pulls and fires one shot, which landed in my arm. Then, before I
+can reach around and get my gun out with my left hand, he gets away. But
+the action was too quick for the old man, and he sat still until I had
+him covered, when I had sent a couple of balls after the jock to make
+him hit up the pace a bit."
+
+"The old man was easy, eh?"
+
+"Easiest kind. But he might have got away from me if he had the nerve."
+
+"Well, Kit, you did a great stunt. I'm mighty glad you landed the old
+coot. But I don't know what to do with him now that we have him."
+
+"Well, we better take him to town, anyway. He'd get lost if we turned
+him loose out here. Let his friends take care of him, when he gets
+there."
+
+"All right; let's move on."
+
+Not much was said as they made their way back to town. Old man Norris
+did not open his mouth, but looked dejected and sad, as if he was
+brooding over what would happen to him when he arrived at his
+destination. He was plainly uneasy, and probably wished they would turn
+him loose.
+
+When they were within a mile of the town they saw a cloud of dust
+approaching them rapidly, and watched it curiously. It was a horseman,
+fogging along at a rapid pace.
+
+Finally out of the dust emerged Bud Morgan, and as he came abreast of
+them he pulled his horse down on its haunches.
+
+"Howdy?" he said.
+
+"How?" answered the others.
+
+"So yer got ther ole pelican, eh?" said Bud, with a grin.
+
+"Kit did," said Ted.
+
+"Bully for you, Kit," said Bud heartily. "I was in town, an' a feller
+from over to Running Water told me you and Stella had come out this way,
+an' I follered. What's the matter with your arm, Kit?"
+
+"Got a shot through it."
+
+"Sho! Did that old pirate give it to you?"
+
+"No, the jockey, and then he flew."
+
+"I've got a good mind to go after him, an' bring him in."
+
+"Wouldn't do any good. At the rate he was going when I sent a message
+after him, he's clear into the suburbs of Chicago by this time."
+
+They were soon on the outskirts of the town, and as they entered the
+main street they saw a crowd of men coming toward them.
+
+"Here comes a reception committee," said Ted. "Wonder who they are, and
+what they want."
+
+"By Jove, there's that big fellow Shan Rhue," exclaimed Kit. "I wonder
+what he's after."
+
+"I thought he had enough o' our kind o' medicine not to want ter tackle
+us so soon again," said Bud.
+
+"I don't like the looks of that gang," said Ted.
+
+"Neither do I," said Stella. "I've a hunch that they mean mischief."
+
+"In what way?" asked Ted.
+
+"Well, I can't exactly define the feeling I have, but somehow I think
+they don't want _us_."
+
+"Eh? Whom do they want?"
+
+For reply Stella made a motion toward Norris. Ted looked at her
+thoughtfully for a moment, then comprehended.
+
+"I see," he said seriously. "Well, they won't get him."
+
+"Bud, where are the other boys?" asked Stella.
+
+"Uptown som'er's. Why?" said Bud.
+
+"They ought to be here," said the girl seriously. "I think we'll be
+needing them soon."
+
+"I tumble, an' I'll jest fog on ahead an' gather them up."
+
+"Yes," said Ted. "and while you're about it see if you can't find that
+foreman of the Running Water Ranch, and have him round up his boys or a
+few good fellows who will back us up if it comes to trouble. I don't
+know what his name is, do you?"
+
+"Yes, his name is Andy Bowles, an' he's as good as three ordinary men."
+
+"Then fly. There's no telling what's coming off."
+
+Bud gave his pony the rowels, and in a moment was out of sight in a
+cloud of dust. Ted and the others rode steadily forward, the two
+parties approaching nearer every moment.
+
+The party headed by Shan Rhue had taken to the middle of the road, and
+soon they had come together, and both halted. For a moment nothing was
+said.
+
+Ted was in advance, holding the reins of the pony on which Norris was
+tied hand and foot, Stella was on one side of Norris, and Kit on the
+other.
+
+"Well?" said Ted inquiringly, as they came face to face.
+
+He looked directly at Shan Rhue as he said it, then allowed his eyes to
+wander over the crowd. In it he saw some of the toughest characters in
+that part of the country.
+
+They were men who bore the reputation of being cattle rustlers on
+provocation, and who had been suspected of horse stealing and other
+crimes.
+
+"We want that man," said Shan Rhue shortly and roughly.
+
+"Is that so?" said Ted, with feigned surprise.
+
+"Yes, that's so," was the surly reply.
+
+"Then why didn't you go out and get him?"
+
+"We left that to you," said Shan, with a nasty laugh.
+
+"Then you'll still leave him to me."
+
+"Well, we want him, and that's all there is to it."
+
+"What do you want with him?"
+
+"We'll show you when we get him."
+
+"It's a cinch you won't get him until you do show me."
+
+"Now, I don't want to have any trouble with you, young feller, but--"
+
+"I shouldn't think you would."
+
+At this retort a snicker went up in the crowd, and Shan turned upon his
+followers with a brow like a thundercloud. But he said nothing, as the
+snicker subsided as soon as it began.
+
+"And I don't want any of your lip, either. Give us the old man
+peaceable, an' you can go."
+
+"Say, that's real good of you. But I want to tell you one thing, Shan
+Rhue, before you lose any more breath in conversation, you don't get him
+unless you tell me what you propose doing with him, and perhaps not
+then. It's up to me to say who gets him, or what is done with him. You
+seem to forget that he's my prisoner, not yours."
+
+"Well, I'll tell you what we're going to do with him," said the bully,
+with a blustering air. "We're goin' to hang him as high as that
+telegraph pole out thar."
+
+"Bet you anything you've got you don't," said Ted, with a pleasant
+smile.
+
+There was a murmur of anger in the crowd.
+
+"Don't let them get me," wailed old Norris.
+
+"Dry up!" said Stella sternly. "Don't you see he's trying to save you."
+
+"Why do you want to hang this old man?" asked Ted.
+
+"Because he whipsawed us all. He's the only one who got any money out of
+that race. We gave him five hundred dollars to pull it off. He was
+broke, and couldn't have bet a cent on it, anyway. That's why. He said
+his horse would win in a walk, and every one of us went broke on it."
+
+"Good! I'm glad to hear it," said Ted heartily. "You ought to have lost.
+But I'll tell you one thing, the old man really thought his horse would
+win. He didn't know that Bud's horse was the old Mexican racer,
+Chiquita; neither did any of us except Bud, who kept the matter to
+himself, and there you are. The old man is a professional skin, I'm free
+to confess, but he was out to skin us, not you. You've got nothing
+against him. You were beaten by gambler's luck, and now you're not game
+to stand by it. But there is one sure thing, you'll not get old Norris
+from me until you kill me. That's a cinch."
+
+"You're a game kid, all right," said Shan Rhue, "but you're committing
+suicide with that kind o' talk. I didn't lose so much myself, an' I
+ain't got nothin' agin' the ole man; it's you I'm after--"
+
+"Why didn't you come alone if you wanted me? Was it necessary for you to
+bring a whole posse with you?"
+
+"Now, the less I hear of that kind o' talk, the easier it will be for
+you. Hand over the old gaffer, an' go your way peaceful. You'll get that
+much chance."
+
+"Thank you for nothing. I stay by the old man."
+
+Farther up the street Ted saw a commotion out of which evolved a party
+of men moving in his direction. He had no doubt it was Bud and Andy
+Bowles, the foreman of the Running Water Ranch.
+
+"For the last time, give up that man!" commanded Shan Rhue.
+
+"No."
+
+"Then we'll take him."
+
+Kit had cut the old man's bonds, and thrust a revolver into his hand.
+
+"Fight for your life," he said.
+
+With a roar the mob was upon them. Revolvers were drawn, and as they
+rushed forward the dauntless three surrounded Norris--three against
+fifty.
+
+"Halt!" cried Ted. "The first man to lay a hand on any of us is a dead
+one."
+
+"Go on an' take him. I'll attend to the kid," shouted Shan Rhue.
+
+"Get him!" "String him up!" "Lynch the old thief!"
+
+These were the cries with which the mob advanced.
+
+Out of the mob came several shots. Ted heard a cry of pain behind him,
+and turned to see Stella reel in her saddle, pale to the lips, with her
+hand pressing her head, Then she fell.
+
+With a cry of horror and rage, Ted turned toward her, but just then he
+felt himself seized and dragged from his saddle. Something struck him on
+the back of the head, and all became black.
+
+But as he was going off into unconsciousness he heard a shout. It was
+the old Moon Valley yell, and he knew that Norris would be safe.
+
+Bud was coming with reenforcements. Ted had dropped to the road under
+the feet of the terrified ponies, and it was a miracle that he was not
+trampled to death.
+
+All about him the fight was going on.
+
+Bud and Andy Bowles, and about twenty men whom they had hastily got
+together, had come to the rescue, and the gamblers' gang was soon on the
+run. They had not been able to get near Norris, for Kit had fought them
+off with his one good arm until, finding themselves attacked in the
+rear, the would-be lynchers ran for their lives.
+
+The fight was swift and decisive, and several men lay in the dust when
+it was over, for Andy Bowles and Bud and Ben had fought like tigers.
+
+When Ted recovered consciousness again he found himself lying in the
+road beside Shan Rhue, who had been knocked senseless by a blow from the
+butt of Bud's pistol.
+
+Ted staggered to his feet.
+
+"Where's Stella?" he cried.
+
+The other boys looked around. Just before the fight began they had seen
+her, Kit, and the old man, but now she was gone.
+
+"Stella was wounded," cried Ted. "Where is she? Scatter, men, and find
+her. She cannot be far away. If anything has happened to her, some one
+will suffer."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+STELLA A CAPTIVE.
+
+We will leave Ted and the broncho boys, to follow the misadventures of
+Stella.
+
+After securing Magpie, which was taken back to the cow camp by Kit, who,
+much against his inclinations, was compelled to go into retirement until
+his arm healed, Ted released old man Norris, who secured a pony and rode
+rapidly out of town.
+
+When Stella fell from the back of her pony to the road she became
+insensible. A ball from the weapon of one of Shan Rhue's gang had
+clipped a lock of hair from her forehead, creasing the skull. By a
+miracle her life was saved, for the merest fraction of an inch lay
+between her and death.
+
+During the hurly-burly of the fight, and as Ted was grasped in the
+powerful arms of Shan Rhue, one of the gang rushed up to her as she lay
+in the dust and picked her up.
+
+He was a powerful man, and carried Stella's light body as if she had
+been a child. That he was not seen by some member of the Running Water
+outfit was due to the fact that they were too busily engaged in fighting
+to pay attention to anything else.
+
+When Stella regained her senses she was conscious of a racking headache,
+and, placing her hand to her forehead, brought it away wet and sticky.
+It was quite dark, and she groaned feebly. The pain was excruciating,
+and the motion of her body made her deathly sick.
+
+She felt around her, and her hand came in contact with a cold, hard, yet
+yielding substance. Then she heard the rumble of wheels, and knew that
+she was in a vehicle of some sort. The motion of the couch on which she
+was lying was such that she came to the conclusion that she was in one
+of those old stagecoaches hung on leather springs, which were so much in
+use in the West before the advent of the railroads.
+
+As her mind grew clearer she tried to remember all that had occurred.
+Suddenly it flashed upon her. The capture of old Norris, the attempt of
+Shan Rhue and his gang to take him away to lynch him, and the beginning
+of the fight. How it had been finished she did not know.
+
+Neither did she know whether or not she was in the care of her friends
+or in the custody of her enemies. Probably the latter, for if Ted and
+the boys were taking her somewhere, surely she would have more
+attention, and the blood would have been washed from the wound on her
+forehead.
+
+The curtains of the stage were down, and she did not know whether it was
+day or night.
+
+Outside she heard the voices of men.
+
+"Hurry up them mules, Bill," a man's voice came to her gruffly.
+
+"Can't get any more out o' them. We've come nigh twenty mile on the run.
+I tell you, the mules is 'most all in," said a man, evidently the driver
+of the stage.
+
+"Well, we ain't got much farther to go," said the other. "But we got to
+get there before moondown, er we'll be up against it."
+
+"What time is the bunch goin' to be at the lone tree?"
+
+"Ten o'clock."
+
+"Then we've got just about an hour, eh?"
+
+"Just about. But we're a long ways off yet. Git all y'u can out o' them
+mules. Kill 'em if y'u have to get them there on time."
+
+"They're doin' all they can. Y'u don't want me to kill them before we
+get there, do y'u?" asked the driver crossly.
+
+"No, but if y'u miss the bunch y'u know what will happen. Shan ain't
+much on the sweet temper since the kid bumped him so hard, an' he don't
+like y'u too well, nohow. I'm just givin' y'u a friendly tip."
+
+"Keep it. I ain't so stuck on Shan myself as I used to be."
+
+"Only don't let him know it. We ain't none of us in love with him, an'
+yet we come up an' eat out o' his hand when he calls us, just like a lot
+o' hound dogs."
+
+The conversation told Stella the truth she had dreaded. She had been
+captured by Shan Rhue's ruffians, and she knew that she was in a
+precarious predicament, for she could hope for no mercy from Ted's
+merciless and beaten enemy.
+
+She would be used to punish Ted, and she sighed at the thought of what
+grief her disappearance would cause her aunt and the boys.
+
+Suddenly the curtain on the window was drawn aside. It was bright
+moonlight without, and in it she saw the villainous face of a man
+looking in upon her.
+
+Her eyes met his, and she uttered an exclamation.
+
+"Hello!" he exclaimed, in surprise. "Come to, have y'u?"
+
+Stella made no reply.
+
+"Thought fer a while that y'u'd slipped over the Great Divide," the
+fellow continued.
+
+"No fault of yours that I didn't," said Stella weakly, for the pain and
+nausea to which she was being subjected had taken all her strength.
+
+"I ain't had nothin' to do with it, lady. I'm just guidin' the outfit. I
+don't know y'u, er how y'u got hurt. Feelin' better?"
+
+"I would be much better if I could get out and walk. The motion of this
+carriage makes me deathly sick."
+
+"Can't let y'u do that, lady. We're in too much of a hurry to stop
+now."
+
+"But you might let me have a drink of water. I am dying of thirst."
+
+"I reckon I can do that."
+
+The flap over the stage window dropped, and in a moment she heard hushed
+voices outside. Then a canteen was thrust through the window.
+
+"Take all y'u want, lady, an' drink hearty," said her guide.
+
+Stella wet her handkerchief and bathed her throbbing forehead, then took
+a deep draft, and felt much refreshed.
+
+"Here's your canteen," she said.
+
+Again the flap was thrust aside, and the ugly face looked in upon her
+with a leer.
+
+"Where are we, and where are we going?" asked Stella.
+
+"We're in the Wich--"
+
+"Hey, Jack, stow that," cried the driver.
+
+"But it won't do no harm--"
+
+"You know what the orders is," said the other significantly.
+
+"Sorry I can't tell y'u, lady. Orders is orders."
+
+"Oh, well, I don't suppose it would do me any good to know where I am,
+anyway, but you might as well tell me what you are going to do with me.
+It would relieve my anxiety, and make me feel better."
+
+"There ain't no harm comin' to y'u, lady, while I am with y'u," said the
+fellow, with a hateful leer that made Stella shudder.
+
+"Thank you," she said faintly, as with a sigh she laid her head back
+again with her wet handkerchief on her brow.
+
+So the stage rumbled on for almost an hour, with Stella the prey of
+sickness and pain. She doubted if she could have walked even if she had
+been permitted to leave the stage.
+
+But as she lay there she thought, and from the scraps of conversation
+she had heard, and from what her guide was about to tell her when he was
+interrupted by the driver, she knew that she had been captured and
+abducted during the fight by Shan Rhue's men, and that she was in the
+Wichita Mountains.
+
+That much, at least, she knew, but what caused her much anxiety was that
+she did not know the result of the fight.
+
+She came to the conclusion that the broncho boys and their friends must
+have lost in the encounter, else she would not be in her present
+predicament.
+
+But what of poor old Norris, for in spite of his rascality she was sorry
+that he had fallen into the hands of the ruthless Shan Rhue.
+
+"Keep off to the left," shouted the guide. "We're almost there. Down
+into that coulee y'u go. There ain't another crossin' this side o' three
+mile, an' we ain't got time to go so far out o' our way."
+
+"Say, we're liable to turn over down there. Better get the gal out, an'
+let her walk down. I can get safe up the other side."
+
+"All right. Stop 'er."
+
+The stage stopped, and the cessation of the swaying, swinging motion was
+a blessed relief to the tortured girl.
+
+"Come on out," said the guide, as he threw the door open. "We'll have to
+ask you to walk to the bottom o' this coulee, if y'u don't want to be
+scrambled about on the bottom o' the coach."
+
+Stella was glad to get out, but when her feet were on the ground she
+swayed and staggered like a drunken person from sheer sickness and
+weakness.
+
+Beside her was her guide on his horse, and she was compelled to lean
+against it for a moment until she recovered herself.
+
+The stage had gone lumbering and swaying down the bank of the coulee,
+and before it reached the bottom it turned on its side.
+
+The driver leaped in safety to the ground, and the guide went scrambling
+down the bank to his assistance.
+
+The mules were plunging and kicking, and threatened to break their
+harness to pieces.
+
+Stella was mutely thankful that she had not been in the stage when it
+went over, as she sat down on a rock to rest and watch the efforts of
+the swearing and angry men to right the stage.
+
+Once she thought of trying to escape while the men were engrossed in
+their work, and she arose eagerly.
+
+But when she got to her feet she realized the impossibility of such a
+thing, for she almost fell. Then she sank down again, and resigned
+herself to her fate.
+
+But soon the stage was put back on its wheels again, and the guide
+called to her to come down.
+
+This was a slow and painful operation, during which the driver swore
+impatiently at the delay. But she accomplished it, and crawled into the
+stage and sank down on the pallet which had been made for her with the
+seat cushions.
+
+Now they were off again, faster than before, and with correspondingly
+more discomfort to Stella. Oh, if the journey would only end, she
+thought.
+
+"Here we are," she heard the guide's voice in a shout.
+
+The stage stopped, and Stella heard a rush of feet.
+
+"Got her?" some one demanded gruffly.
+
+"Yep, but she's all in," replied the guide. "Her forehead was creased by
+a bullet, an' the trip has about finished her."
+
+"Can't help that. Get her out. We've got to be moving. The soldiers are
+out to-night."
+
+"What's the matter?"
+
+"Injuns.".
+
+"Uprisin'?"
+
+"Not yet, but the agent over to Fort Sill has a tip that they are
+putting on paint."
+
+"What's the trouble?"
+
+"Somethin' about beef issue. The last cows issued to the Injuns were no
+good, an' the Injuns made a kick, an' the agent told them to go to the
+deuce. Old Flatnose an' his son Moonface, the Apache chiefs, have always
+been bad actors, an' now they are tryin' to scare up a muss."
+
+"Reckon they'll do it?"
+
+"The commandant at Fort Sill seems to think they will, for he's got two
+companies out on the scout."
+
+"The boys better look out, then. The Injuns don't like the gang over at
+the Hole in the Wall none too good."
+
+"We stand all right with Flatnose and his son, an' it's their band
+that's actin' bad."
+
+"Well, y'u better get a move on y'u. The moon will be down in an hour."
+
+"Get the gal out, then, an' we'll be movin'."
+
+"All right," said the guide, poking his head into the coach. "Here's
+where you get out. Boss said to treat her well," he continued, turning
+to the man with whom he had been talking.
+
+"Oh, we'll do that, all right," was the reply.
+
+Stella scrambled painfully out of the coach. All about her were mounted
+men, both whites and Indians. There were a score or more of them.
+
+"Can you ride?" asked one of them of Stella.
+
+"Yes," she replied, "if you don't go too fast. I'm sick and weak."
+
+"We'll do the best we can," said the man shortly.
+
+Then he called back to his followers:
+
+"Jake, bring up that spare hoss."
+
+In a moment, and with a staggering weakness, Stella climbed into the
+saddle. With a man on each side of her, she took up the march again.
+
+Through dark defiles in the black mountains the cavalcade made its way,
+Stella clinging to the saddle, and often in danger of falling off.
+Presently they came into a glade, or park, which was surrounded by
+towering mountain walls. For half an hour they traversed this, then came
+to the end, and before them yawned an opening in the wall less than ten
+feet wide.
+
+They entered this, and after traversing it a short distance Stella found
+herself in a circular chamber in the mountains with the starry sky for a
+roof. Several fires were burning in the chamber, around which Indians
+and white men were sprawling, playing cards, talking, or silently
+smoking.
+
+In one corner was a corral, in which many horses were confined.
+
+"You can get down now," said the leader of the party that had conducted
+her to the place. "There is a shelter for you over there."
+
+He pointed to a small tent on the farther side of the chamber.
+
+"You will be perfectly safe here. You do not seem well. I will send you
+assistance."
+
+"Where am I?" asked Stella.
+
+"You are a prisoner in the Hole in the Wall," was the reply.
+
+"Then Heaven help me," said Stella, sobbing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+A HOLE IN THE HERD.
+
+
+The herd of cattle which Ted and the broncho boys were herding in No
+Man's Land he had branded Circle S, named after Stella.
+
+There were more than two thousand head of them, which Ted was feeding on
+the rich range grasses of the Southwest to drive to the Moon Valley
+Ranch to winter, for it was well known to cowmen that a Southern or
+Southwestern beef animal will do better for a winter on the Northern
+range.
+
+After Stella's disappearance Ted and the boys searched every nook and
+cranny of the town of Snyder, but were unable to get the slightest trace
+of her. Dividing into bands, they scoured the country roundabout, being
+assisted by the cow-punchers and the ranchers in the neighborhood.
+
+But Stella had disappeared as if the earth had opened and swallowed her.
+With all his ingenuity, backed by the strong desire he had to find her,
+Ted was making no headway, and he hardly slept or ate during the long
+days and nights, but was in the saddle almost continuously.
+
+Naturally, he suspected Shan Rhue of knowing something about Stella's
+absence, if, indeed, he was not actually responsible for it.
+
+But he could not fasten anything on the man whom he had come to regard
+as his greatest enemy, and whom he knew hated him. Whenever he sought
+Shan Rhue, he was always to be found at his haunts.
+
+Tired of the inaction, Ted met Shan Rhue on the street one day, and
+resolved to have it out with him.
+
+"Shan Rhue, I want to speak with you," said Ted, stopping him.
+
+"Well, what is it you want?" asked Shan Rhue.
+
+"I want you to tell me where Stella is," said Ted.
+
+Shan Rhue stared at him in apparent amazement.
+
+"How should I know where she is?" asked Shan Rhue, with a wicked
+twinkling in his eye.
+
+"I don't know," answered Ted; "but I think you do know."
+
+"So I supposed, from the way in which you have had me followed. I
+suppose you miss her a good deal."
+
+"Her aunt, Mrs. Graham, is distraught with grief and anxiety. Surely you
+have no fight on her, or on Miss Fosdick, either, that you should keep
+them apart."
+
+"No. I have no fight with a woman. But why should I know where the young
+lady is?"
+
+"There are several reasons why you should have had her taken away. But I
+think the principal reason is that you think you can get square with me
+by doing so."
+
+"There might be something in that. Mind me, I am not confessing that I
+took her away, or that I know who did take her away, or where she is.
+You have seen me in town every day since the little trouble we had over
+that old thief Norris, haven't you?"
+
+"Yes, but that tells me nothing. It might not be necessary for you to
+leave this town to have her hidden somewhere."
+
+"But you and your friends searched the town from one end to the other,
+and you did not find her."
+
+"True, but for all that I am satisfied that you know where she is.
+Suppose we call it off, and that you tell me where she is."
+
+"If I knew, I would not tell you," said Shan Rhue, his voice intense
+with hatred.
+
+"What do you mean? Are you such a coward that you will punish a woman
+for your spite against a man? I did not think that of you. I believe
+Stella Fosdick was carried off by you, of your men, acting under your
+instructions."
+
+Shan Rhue's only reply was a sneering laugh.
+
+"If I discover that what I say is true," said Ted, in a low voice so
+full of purpose that it was in itself a warning, "you will be the
+sorriest man in all this country. I will make you suffer by it even as
+you have caused suffering to others."
+
+"So you have suffered, eh? That is good! Now I am a little better
+satisfied. But my debt to you is not yet paid. There are other things in
+store for you."
+
+"What do you mean, you dog? By Heaven, I know now that you did cause her
+abduction, and I shall find her. You cannot keep me away from the place
+in which you have hidden her. I shall find her if she is at the end of
+the earth. When I do find her, if anything has harmed her, you, Shan
+Rhue, gambler, thief, and murderer, shall pay for it, and pay heavier
+than for any amusement you have had in all your miserable lying,
+thieving career."
+
+As the epithets addressed to Shan Rhue left Ted's lips, the bully sprang
+back, and made a motion to draw his six-shooter.
+
+But before he had his hand on his hip his eyes were looking into the
+bore of Ted's forty-four. Instead of drawing a gun, therefore, he pulled
+out his handkerchief and wiped his dry lips.
+
+Shan Rhue feared Ted Strong.
+
+"Remember," said Ted, before turning away, "I know that you have
+spirited Stella Fosdick away. But I shall find her, and when I am sure
+of it you better leave the country before I reach the place where you
+are, for as sure as I am standing here I will make my previous
+experience with you so tame that you will be glad to crawl in the dust
+on your face to be forgiven."
+
+"Ha, ha!" laughed Shan Rhue. "So it hurts as bad as that, eh? Good!"
+
+He went away laughing, and it was all Ted could do to control himself,
+and keep from leaping upon him and punching him. Instead, he jumped into
+his saddle and rode Sultan like the wind out to the cow camp.
+
+For several days he had paid no attention to the herd, leaving it under
+the general direction of Bud, while he stayed in town trying to hear
+some news of Stella, or was riding all over the country with one or
+another of the boys, searching for her.
+
+As he rode into camp with disappointment and dejection written on his
+face, he was met by Mrs. Graham, who had grown pale and wan with
+anxiety.
+
+"Any news of her?" she asked Ted.
+
+"None, but I haven't given up hope by any means. Don't worry so, Mrs.
+Graham. I think I am on the track at last, and that we shall soon have
+her with us again."
+
+But Mrs. Graham only walked away with the tears coursing down her
+cheeks. The herd was grazing to the west of the camp, and Ted rode out
+to it, and to where Bud was sitting quietly in his saddle watching it.
+
+There was an air of dejection about Bud, also. Indeed, every fellow in
+the outfit was secretly worrying and grieving for Stella.
+
+"Say, Ted," said Bud, as Ted rode up, "I think thar's somethin' wrong
+with ther dogies."
+
+Cow-punchers call the small Southwestern cattle "dogies."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Ted. "I was looking them over this morning.
+Rode through the bunch. They seemed to be all right then."
+
+"Oh, they're eatin' well, an' aire as likely a lot o' beef ez ever I
+see," replied Bud.
+
+"Well, what then?"
+
+"Thar ain't so many o' them ez there wuz, er my eye hez gone back on
+me."
+
+"Any of them get away?"
+
+"I figger it so."
+
+"What have you found out?"
+
+"Some one is liftin' our cattle. That's what I mean."
+
+"Great Scott! What makes you think so?"
+
+"Ted, ther herd has shrunk."
+
+"You judge by the eye, I suppose."
+
+"Yes. That is the only way I have o' judgin'. We hev never had a count
+o' them since we drove them onto this range."
+
+"How many do you think we are shy?"
+
+"My eye tells me erbout five hundred."
+
+"Great guns! How could five hundred head get away from us? And right
+under our noses, too."
+
+"Easy enough. You must remember that since Stella has been gone we've
+paid no more attention to the herd than if we didn't own them."
+
+"That's true. As for myself, I confess that I've given them no
+attention. And I've kept you fellows so busy that we've left the cattle
+to take care of themselves, almost."
+
+"Well, it's time we woke up ter ther situation, er soon we won't hev no
+more cattle than a rabbit."
+
+"That's so. We'll run a count of them in the morning."
+
+"It's shore got me puzzled. I can't think whar they could hev gone."
+
+"Strayed, possibly."
+
+"P'r'aps. Ever hear o' there bein' any rustlers in this part o' ther
+country?"
+
+"No, I never have. But there are some pretty bad citizens in this
+section, who, if they never have rustled cattle, certainly are capable
+of it."
+
+"Alludin' to who?"
+
+"Well, there's Shan Rhue and his gang, for instance."
+
+"They're pretty bad actors, fer shore. But I ain't positive thet they're
+ther kind what would rustle. They're jest plain town thieves an'
+gamblers. They ain't cow-punchers. It gen'rally is fellers what has been
+in ther cow business at some time er another what rustles stock."
+
+"Oh, it doesn't take much of a man to steal cattle. A thieving gambler
+could do it as well as another."
+
+"But our brand and ear crop? They shore couldn't get away from them."
+
+"They're not so hard, Bud. A good man could run our stock out of this
+part of the country and alter the brand without any trouble."
+
+"Shore, ther brand is not so hard to alter."
+
+"Let's ride back to camp and look at the brand book, and see if any one
+has a similar brand to ours, or one that they could alter without
+trouble. But, remember, I'm not going to give myself any uneasiness in
+the matter, and I think we will find the herd all there. I can't see how
+so many cattle as you think could get away from us."
+
+"I do."
+
+"In what manner could they?"
+
+"Well, yer see, thar ain't ary o' us fellers been ridin' herd at night
+since Stella was taken away."
+
+"Yes; go on."
+
+"Ther fellers what hev been guardin' ther herd at night we picked up
+around here when we drove ther herd up from ther South."
+
+"True. They were all local cow-punchers. I realize that we have made a
+mistake. One of us ought to have had charge of every night watch since
+we have been on this range."
+
+"Shore. It's a cinch they wouldn't attempt to run 'em off in ther
+daytime."
+
+"That's the idea. It would be as easy as shooting fish in a rain barrel
+for a crooked night foreman to drift a few cattle away from the herd in
+the dark, to be picked up by fellows waiting on the outside, and driven
+into the hills until the brands and marks could be changed."
+
+They were at the camp now, and Ted got out the brand book and turned its
+leaves over in an attempt to find a brand similar to their own, the
+Circle S, which was a circle with the letter S in the center.
+
+In every Western State or Territory in which cattle-raising is a
+business the law makes it imperative that every ranchman who uses the
+open range shall select a brand for his cattle which is registered. This
+brand is his own, and every head of cattle found with his brand on it
+belongs to him.
+
+On the open range the cattle get mixed more or less, and in the spring
+there is a general round-up of the cattle, after the calves have been
+born and are following their mothers.
+
+The cow-punchers go into the vast herds and drive out the calves. Of
+course, the mother follows the calf, lowing piteously for it.
+
+When the cow is out with the calf, it can be plainly seen to whom she
+belongs by the brand on her. Her owner, or his men or representatives,
+promptly throw her and the calf into their own herd, and later put their
+brand on the calf.
+
+Calves which are motherless and are unbranded are known as mavericks,
+and belong to whoever finds them. The cowman who finds a maverick
+promptly puts his own brand on it and it belongs to him.
+
+The safety of the system is in choosing a brand that cannot be easily
+altered, and which will not be easily confounded with the brand of
+another.
+
+When the boys had chosen the brand Circle S for this herd in honor of
+Stella, they had spoken of this, and Bud had remarked that it would be
+easily altered by making an eight of the S, but they had found no Circle
+8 in the brand book, and took the chance, especially as Stella now
+insisted upon having no other brand for the herd than Circle S, her "own
+brand," as she called it.
+
+Ted and Bud could find no brand in the Texas or Oklahoma brand books at
+all like theirs, and dismissed the matter from their minds.
+
+The next morning early all hands turned out for a count of the herd. The
+herd was split, and the broncho boys took turns at the count, as the
+bunches of cattle were split and driven slowly past them on the point.
+
+From the books, there should be two thousand three hundred cattle, or
+thereabouts, in the herd. A few cattle more or less would not have been
+surprising, for a great herd of cattle will, like a magnet, draw to it
+all the individual strays in the country roundabout.
+
+It was well in the afternoon before the count was finished, and the boys
+rode into camp to count up and compare with the books. Ted totaled the
+figures, while the boys hung eagerly over him to learn the result.
+
+"Well, what d'yer make it?" asked Bud, as Ted, with an expression of
+perplexity on his face, looked up from his work.
+
+"The count is seventeen hundred and fifty," answered Ted slowly.
+
+"Gee! And that's how many shy?"
+
+"Five hundred and fifty. Bud, you have a good eye."
+
+"Orter hev. I've been runnin' my eye over herds fer many a year. So,
+we've been done out o' more'n five hundred head, eh? Well, Stella comes
+fust, an' then ther man what thinks he kin rustle cattle from the
+broncho boys had better take a runnin' jump outer this man's country."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+LITTLE DICK IN TROUBLE.
+
+
+Little Dick Fosdick had been forgotten by Ted and the broncho boys in
+their anxiety over the absence of Stella.
+
+They had seen him around the camp, but as it was impossible for him to
+accompany them on their hard rides, he had been left to his own devices.
+
+He spent his days riding with one of the cowboys on the herd, and
+grieving in his own way for Stella.
+
+He was a sensible little chap, and seldom complained at his loneliness.
+His life alone had made him patient, and he took it out in thinking.
+
+He was now well able to take care of himself, although Stella insisted
+in "mothering" him when she was in camp.
+
+Little Dick, as most of the boys called him, felt himself quite a man,
+for he could now catch his own pony and saddle it whenever he wanted to
+ride, and no one paid any attention to him as he came and went.
+
+Ted had bought for him a little, wiry bay cayuse, and both he and Stella
+had taught him to ride, and Dick could now throw a rope with reasonable
+accuracy and speed.
+
+Ted had given him a small revolver, and they had had great fun learning
+to shoot at a target, which was usually a bleached skull of a cow that
+had died long since on the prairie, and its bones picked clean by the
+coyotes.
+
+Dick's revolver was only of thirty-two caliber, as befitted his
+strength, but the youngster had a good eye and the steady nerves of
+youth, and he soon got so that he could hit the skull with reasonable
+accuracy.
+
+"Putting the shot through the eye" was one of the jokes of these
+shooting tournaments, in which Stella, and sometimes Bud, joined.
+
+One day when they were shooting at a skull target, Bud missed--probably
+intentionally, for Bud was a crack shot.
+
+Dick jumped up and down in glee, for he had just knocked a chip of bone
+from the skull himself.
+
+"Bud missed! Bud missed!" he shouted, in glee. "Bud, you're an old
+tenderfoot. Couldn't hit a skull as big as the head of a barrel a
+hundred feet away."
+
+"Didn't miss, neither," said Bud, in a tone of mock anger. "There's
+where you're fooled. That is what I call a good shot. See that left eye
+hole? Well, I aimed at that, and the bullet went through it. Ha! That's
+where the joke is on you." He grinned, and winked at Stella.
+
+A few minutes later Dick shot and missed the skull.
+
+"Yah!" shouted Bud. "Goody! You missed. You shoot like a hayseed.
+Couldn't hit a skull as big as the head of a barrel."
+
+"That's where you're left," said the boy. "See that right eye hole?
+That's what I aimed at."
+
+The laugh was on Bud.
+
+"All right, kiddie," he laughed. "You're on. We'd be in a dickens of a
+fix if that ole cow hadn't left two eye holes when she died."
+
+So it was that Dick had made great progress in the rudiments of a
+cow-puncher's life, and it exactly suited him, but, in the meanwhile,
+Stella was teaching him to read, and telling him the story of the rise
+and grandeur of his own country, and of the lands that lay beyond the
+seas.
+
+So it was that Dick was unconsciously getting a better education than if
+he had gone to school, for he had a mind for the absorption of all sorts
+of knowledge like a sponge, and once a thing was told him he never
+forgot it.
+
+The morning of the count he had started onto the range with the other
+boys, but as there would be great confusion, and perhaps danger of a
+stampede, Ted sent him back to camp.
+
+"Run on back, Dick," Ted said kindly. "I'm afraid that pony of yours
+isn't quick enough to get out of the way if these dogies should take it
+into their heads to act ugly."
+
+Dick never thought of rebelling when Ted spoke, for he knew that Ted was
+boss, and that he knew what was good for him.
+
+"All right, Ted," he said. "Would it be any harm if I took a ride away
+from the camp?"
+
+"Of course not, Dick," answered Ted kindly. He felt a little sore at
+himself for sending the boy away, but he knew that it was for the best.
+There would be plenty of time and many occasions for Dick to run into
+danger when he grew up.
+
+Dick went back to camp, which was deserted save for Bill McCall, the
+cook, who was asleep under the chuck wagon, and Mrs. Graham, who was
+lying down in her tent.
+
+Dick buckled on his belt and holster, and, mounting his pony Spraddle,
+set out for a long ride across the prairie.
+
+In the boot of his saddle rested his little Remington, a present from
+Stella. He was going to look for an antelope, and he thought how proud
+Ted would be if he brought one back with him.
+
+He knew how hard it was to get close enough to an antelope to shoot it,
+but he had just enough gameness to think that he could get one if he
+came within range of it.
+
+Anyhow, there were coyotes and jack rabbits.
+
+He rode across the prairie at a smart gallop, occasionally changing his
+course to chase a jack rabbit, which generally disappeared over a rise
+in the ground like a streak of gray dust, and was seen no more.
+
+At noon he stopped for a few minutes to eat the biscuit and piece of
+bacon which he had taken from the rear of the chuck wagon before setting
+forth. He found a spring not far away, and, having given Spraddle a
+good, deep drink, and filling his small canteen, which was tied to the
+cantle of his saddle, he set forth again.
+
+It was about two o'clock when he came in sight of the first real game of
+the day. On the top of the rise ahead of him he saw an animal about the
+size of a dog. As he rode toward it, it raised its head and gave a long,
+low, mournful howl.
+
+"Coyote," exclaimed Dick to himself breathlessly. "I'll get that fellow,
+and take him back to camp. Won't Ted be surprised when he sees it?"
+
+He took his Remington out of the boot, slipped in the necessary
+cartridges to fill the magazine, and rode forward slowly and cautiously.
+
+The coyote watched him sharply, occasionally raising its head to utter
+its mournful cry. When Dick thought he had got within shooting distance,
+he stopped Spraddle, took a good, long aim at the coyote, and fired.
+
+The ball kicked up the dust several feet in advance of the coyote,
+which, with another howl, this time one of derision, as it seemed to
+Dick, turned and trotted away.
+
+"That was a bum shot," muttered Dick. "I'm glad Ted or Stella did not
+see it. Better luck next time."
+
+The coyote ran a short distance, then stopped and looked over its
+shoulder to see if Dick was following, and, seeing that he was, took up
+its lope again.
+
+It had got some distance from Dick, when, on the top of another rise,
+it stopped again, and Dick heard once more its luring cry.
+
+It seemed to be an invitation to follow him. Dick had not paid any
+attention to the direction in which he was going, and had kept no track
+of time.
+
+That he was following game, and that he intended to get it if it took
+all day, was all he thought of. Soon the coyote stopped again, and
+looked at Dick in a tantalizing sort of way, and again Dick approached
+it cautiously.
+
+When he thought he was within range, he raised his Remington, and,
+taking a long, deliberate aim, fired. Again he missed. But he had the
+satisfaction of seeing that the ball had struck the earth several feet
+nearer the coyote than the first.
+
+The coyote realized it, too, for he did not wait for another invitation,
+but started on his way in a hurry, with Dick riding pell-mell after him.
+
+Dick for the first time realized that the day was going when he noticed
+the long shadow cast by himself and the pony on the prairie sod. He had
+not the slightest idea how far he had come, and there crept into his
+mind a sort of dread.
+
+He pulled Spraddle down to a walk, and looked about him. Behind him
+there was no trace of the cow camp, nothing but the everlasting rise and
+fall of the prairie.
+
+But ahead was the ragged line of the blue mountains. These he knew to be
+the Wichita Mountains, for, although he had never seen them before, he
+had heard the boys talking about them in camp.
+
+Then he saw the coyote on a hill a little ways ahead, looking at him in
+the most aggravating way. The coyote's lips were curled back from his
+teeth in a contemptuous sort of a smile, it seemed to Dick, and as he
+started forward again the coyote threw up its head and actually laughed
+at him.
+
+That settled it with Dick. No coyote that ever trotted the plains could
+laugh at him, but as this thought came to him he felt the dread of being
+lost on the prairie, or even having to stay alone in this waste all
+night.
+
+Dick had heard the boys talk of the danger of being alone at night, for
+there were wolves and other animals that would daunt a man, to say
+nothing of a small boy.
+
+He thought he would follow the coyote only long enough to get another
+shot at him, and then retrace his way back to the camp. By putting
+Spraddle through his paces he ought to be able to reach it before dark.
+
+So he set forth again in the wake of the coyote, which was becoming more
+and more aggravating every minute. Suddenly the coyote disappeared
+altogether. It had done this before when it had gone down into the
+trough between two of the great, rolling swales of the prairie, but
+always it had come into sight again in a few minutes.
+
+This time, however, it did not, and Dick wondered why.
+
+In a few minutes he understood why, for he found himself at the edge of
+a coulee which had been washed deep by the storms of many winters.
+
+Dick looked up and down the coulee for the wolf, and saw a form, gray
+and lithe, slinking among the bowlders with which it was filled. Dick
+forced Spraddle down the steep bank of the coulee, and was soon at the
+bottom.
+
+Hastily he set after the coyote, but suddenly stopped, for a man stepped
+from behind a shoulder of rock and clay and caught his bridle.
+
+Spraddle stopped so quickly that Dick was almost unseated. But he soon
+recovered himself, and stared in amazement at the man who had thus
+stopped him.
+
+He was an Indian.
+
+Dick had often seen Indians in the towns through which the broncho boys
+had passed, and occasionally they had come into the camps they had
+established on the drive of the herd up from Texas.
+
+But this was the first time Dick had ever come in contact with an Indian
+when he was alone. For a moment his heart stopped beating, for he was
+afraid.
+
+"How?" grunted the Indian.
+
+It was all Dick could do to reply with a feeble, quavering "How?"
+
+Many times around the camp fire, with the boys all about, when Bud was
+telling one of his tales of Indians, Dick had thought what he would do
+if he ever came in contact with a real, live, sure-enough redskin, and
+always he had thought how brave he would be. But now that he had
+actually met one, he felt his nerve ooze away.
+
+However, the Indian was not aware of it, for Dick had a way of keeping
+his feelings to himself, and he seldom showed whether he was surprised
+or angry, although he never hesitated to let his friends know his
+pleasure at their kindness, or gratitude for what they did for him.
+
+He was looking at the Indian steadily, taking stock of him, and this is
+what he saw: A broad, dirty face, in which burned two small, narrow
+eyes. The cheek bones were prominent, and on each one was a spot of red
+paint. The long, black, coarse hair was braided with pieces of otter
+fur, and covered with an old cavalry cap, in which was stuck a crow's
+wing feather, and around his neck hung a small, round pocket mirror
+attached to a red string, by way of ornament.
+
+The Indian wore a dirty cotton shirt and a pair of brown overalls, and
+his feet were covered with green moccasins, decorated with small tubes
+of tin, which jingled every time he took a step.
+
+A belt and holster hung at his hip, and the handle of a Colt forty-four
+was within easy reach.
+
+"White papoose where go?" asked the Indian, showing a row of sharpened
+teeth.
+
+"Hunt coyote," replied Dick, in a voice that trembled.
+
+"Heap fool. No catch coyote," said the Indian, reaching over and lifting
+Dick's Remington from the saddle.
+
+He sighted it, turned it around in his hand, and then coolly slung it
+over his shoulder.
+
+"Here, give that to me," said Dick sturdily. With this act of theft all
+his courage came back to him. No dirty Indian should have the rifle
+Stella had given him.
+
+But the Indian only grinned.
+
+"Me heap brave," said the Indian. "Me Pokopokowo."
+
+He looked at Dick as if he expected the boy to be deeply impressed.
+
+"I don't care who you are. I want my rifle," cried Dick.
+
+"Papoose heap fool. Get off pony." The Indian was scowling now, and
+looked very ferocious, and once more Dick's courage oozed. The Indian
+did not seem to be a bit frightened.
+
+As Dick was slow in descending from the saddle, the Indian grasped him
+by the arm and jerked him to the ground.
+
+Dick was as angry as he ever got, but was sensible enough to know that
+he could not fight the Indian, and that all he could do was to escape as
+rapidly as possible.
+
+He turned and ran up the coulee.
+
+But he had not gone far when he was overtaken, and knocked flat with a
+cuff on the side of the head. As he rose slowly with his head ringing,
+Pokopokowo grasped him by the shoulder, and bound his hands behind him.
+
+In a moment he was back at the pony's side, and was thrown upon its
+back, but not in the saddle. This was occupied by the Indian, who
+directed it down the coulee, and in the direction of the mountains.
+
+Dick Fosdick was a prisoner.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+A MESSAGE FROM STELLA.
+
+
+Dick had some difficulty in keeping his seat on the pony's back, for he
+could not hold on to the cantle of the saddle, and Spraddle wabbled
+dreadfully, as he stumbled among the bowlders in the coulee.
+
+But before long they were out on the prairie again, and Dick observed
+that they were headed toward the mountains.
+
+They had several miles to go to reach the mountains, and it was just
+getting dusk when they entered upon a broad and beautiful valley, which,
+as it ran east and west, was flooded with the light from the setting
+sun.
+
+Here the Indian turned in the saddle and looked at Dick with a
+malevolent smile.
+
+"Turn white boy loose," he grunted.
+
+Dick twisted around, and the Indian untied the cord that bound his
+wrists.
+
+"White boy try to run away, I kill um," said the Indian, showing his
+teeth in a horrible look of ferocity that chilled Dick to the bone.
+
+"All right," he said; "I'll not try to run away again."
+
+"Kill um if do," growled the Indian, hissing, at the pony, which is the
+Indian way of making a pony go forward, and means the same as a white
+man's "Get up!"
+
+Dick was dreadfully hungry, but he said nothing, clinging to the cantle
+of the saddle with both hands, for the pony was now loping.
+
+They had gone up the valley for several miles, when suddenly the Indian
+turned aside down a dark and narrow defile, still at a lope.
+
+Even Dick realized the danger of this, for the floor of the defile was
+covered with large, loose stones, over which Spraddle was continually
+stumbling, for he had come a long way and was tired, besides the added
+weight of the Indian was more than he was accustomed to carry.
+
+It had grown very dark, and Dick could not see the pony's ears when he
+twisted around to look past the Indian.
+
+He knew that it was to be a moonlight night, but the moon was not up
+yet, and would not be for an hour or more. In fact, it was doubtful if
+the light of the moon would penetrate to the bottom of the defile until
+it was high in the heavens, so deep was the defile and so steep its
+walls.
+
+Dick had given up wondering and worrying, and had forced himself to be
+content with his situation, as he knew that he could not better it any.
+
+Suddenly he became aware that the Indian was asleep, for he was drooping
+in the saddle, and was breathing deeply and steadily.
+
+Now, thought Dick, was the time to escape, if any. He tried to slip from
+the pony's back, but in an instant the Indian was awake, and, reaching
+around, grasped Dick's wrist, twisting it until the boy gave a sharp cry
+of pain.
+
+The Indian slipped from the back of the pony, and again bound Dick's
+wrists behind him, and with a grunt climbed into the saddle and urged
+Spraddle on, slapping him across the face with the end of the rein.
+
+"Don't you do that," cried Dick, who never abused Spraddle himself, and
+couldn't stand it to see any one else, particularly a dirty Indian, beat
+his pet.
+
+"White boy shut up, or Pokopokowo beat him plenty," growled the Indian.
+
+"If you dare beat me, Ted Strong will fix you when he gets you," said
+Dick hotly.
+
+But the Indian only laughed, and continued to beat poor Spraddle over
+the face, to the pain and anger of Dick, who, however, realized that he
+was absolutely helpless.
+
+But Pokopokowo was soon to be paid for his cruelty, and by poor Spraddle
+himself.
+
+Spraddle, stung by the blows, was stumbling along at a good pace over
+the bowlders that lay in his way, with the Indian urging him faster all
+the time.
+
+Suddenly there was a great heave. Spraddle went down, almost turning a
+somersault, as his tired feet struck a larger bowlder than he had
+encountered before.
+
+The Indian, who was dozing again, shot over his head as if from a
+catapult, and Dick went sprawling forward over the saddle onto the neck
+of the pony.
+
+Fortunately, the pony righted itself in time to save Dick from a hard
+fall, and he stayed on Spraddle's back, talking to him gently.
+
+At the sound of Dick's voice the pony became quiet, and Dick half
+sprawled, half fell to the ground. The boy was in a pretty bad fix, for
+the Indian had tied his hands securely. He thought of ways by which he
+might cut the cord, but it seemed hopeless. He had heard somewhere of
+bound men releasing themselves by wearing their bonds asunder against
+the rough edge of a rock, and determined to try it for himself.
+
+If he could only get his hands free, he might escape yet. Backing up to
+the wall of the canon, he felt with his hands for a rock, and soon knew
+that he was against one. As he sawed his hands back and forth, he was
+listening for some sound from the Indian, but heard none.
+
+Could it be that the fall had killed Pokopokowo?
+
+To his joy, he felt the cord part, and his hands were free. At that
+moment there came a flood of light into the defile, for the moon had
+risen overhead.
+
+Lying on the floor of the defile, lay the Indian, with a deep gash
+across his forehead, where it had struck a sharp rock. His ugly face was
+covered with blood, making it additionally hideous.
+
+By the side of the Indian lay Dick's precious rifle, and he stooped to
+pick it up. As he did so, something glistened beside it, and Dick picked
+it up.
+
+It was the little, round mirror that the Indian had worn around his
+neck. Dick pocketed it for proof of his adventure when he should again
+reach camp, and, picking up his rifle, climbed upon Spraddle's back,
+turned him around, and drove down the defile.
+
+When he reached the open valley it was as bright as day, and under his
+coaxing and kind words the tired little pony, relieved of the Indian's
+weight, picked up his feet and set forth at a brisk pace into the west,
+in which direction Dick knew the cow camp lay.
+
+It was almost daylight when Bill McCall, the cook, roused from his
+blankets to begin the preparations for breakfast. He leaped to his feet
+and listened.
+
+Not far away he heard the sound of the pony's footsteps approaching.
+Bill was an old cow-puncher, and he knew instantly that the pony was
+tired, and that he was under saddle, and also that the saddle was
+occupied.
+
+The footsteps came nearer, and just as they were close to the camp
+daylight came on with a rush, as it does on the plains, and Bill gave a
+great shout of joy which brought every puncher in camp scrambling out of
+his blankets, for there rode in a very tired little boy on a very tired
+little, pony.
+
+The boy was pale and tired from hunger and his long hours in the saddle,
+and it was all the pony could do to stagger in.
+
+"It's little Dick," shouted Bud. "Well, jumpin' sand hills, whar
+you-all been all night? Takin' a leetle pleasure pasear?"
+
+"Oh, Bud, I'm so tired and hungry," said Dick, as Bud lifted him from
+the saddle.
+
+"Here you, Bill, git busy in a hurry. This kid ain't hed nothin' ter eat
+in a week. He's 'most starved. Bile yer coffee double-quick, an' git up
+a mess o' bacon an' flapjacks pretty dern pronto, if yer don't want me
+ter git inter yer wool."
+
+Bud was rubbing the cold and chafed wrists of the boy beside the fire,
+which one of the boys had replenished. The boys surrounded little Dick
+with many inquiries, but Bud shooed them away.
+
+"Don't yer answer a bloomin' question until yer gits yer system packed
+with cooky's best grub. I reckon, now, yer could eat erbout eighteen o'
+them twelve-inch flapjacks what Bill makes, an' drink somethin' like a
+gallon o' ther fust coffee what comes out o' ther pot."
+
+Little Dick smiled, as he watched with glistening eyes the rapid
+movements of Bill McCall as he hustled over his fire, the air redolent
+with the odors of coffee and bacon and griddle cakes, so that his mouth
+fairly watered.
+
+When Bill shouted breakfast, Ted and Bud sat Dick down and loaded his
+plate with good things, which he caused to disappear in a hurry.
+
+But after a while he was stuffed like a Christmas turkey, and put his
+tin plate away with a sigh, and absolutely cleaned.
+
+"Now," said Ted, when he saw this good sign, "where have you been all
+day and all night? We've been scared about you. Thought we had lost you,
+too."
+
+Dick went ahead with his story from the very beginning, and told of the
+downfall of Pokopokowo, and his escape, and of his all-night ride into
+the west, to accidentally stumble, at daylight, into camp.
+
+The boys listened in amazement to this record of courage on the part of
+its youngest member, and some seemed to doubt the Indian part of it.
+
+"Sho, yer dreamin', kid," said Sol Flatbush, the cow-puncher. "Thar
+ain't no Injuns like that in this yere part o' ther country. Why, an
+Injun wouldn't dare carry off a kid like that."
+
+"You don't believe it, eh?" exclaimed Dick hotly.
+
+"I believe yer," said Bud soothingly, for the boy was very nervous from
+being up all night and his hard ride, which would have taxed the
+energies of a grown man. "Don't yer mind what thet ole pelican says. He
+ain't got no more sense than a last year's bird's nest, nohow."
+
+"The Indian had this around his neck," said Dick, "and when he fell it
+came loose from his neck, and I picked it up, for I thought some one
+might think I wasn't telling the truth. Now, I'm tired, and I can't keep
+my eyes open."
+
+His head began to nod, and his eyes closed.
+
+Bud picked him up and carried him to a pair of blankets which had been
+spread on the shady side of Mrs. Graham's tent, and laid him down and
+left him dead to the world.
+
+Dick had placed the little, round looking-glass in Ted's hand.
+
+As he took it, Ted uttered an exclamation.
+
+"By Jove," he exclaimed, "I believe this is the little glass Stella used
+to carry in her pocket. Why, what is this?"
+
+Ted was holding the little mirror up to the sky, apparently in an
+endeavor to look through it.
+
+"What is it?" asked Bud, approaching the fire.
+
+"Dick has brought back Stella's little pocket mirror," said Ted. "I'd
+know it anywhere. But the back has been torn off it."
+
+"Tooken off ther neck o' an Injun?" said Bud, dropping his usual jolly
+manner. "I thought yer said thar wa'n't no bad Injuns eround yere, Sol
+Flatbush. What d'yer make o' that?"
+
+Sol Flatbush got a little pale.
+
+"Thar ain't none," he said. "All ther Injuns on the reservation is
+peaceable. They knows they couldn't do no monkey business with all them
+sojers at Fort Sill."
+
+"Yet here's a kid run off with by an Injun, and he brings back a pocket
+mirror what belonged to Stella Fosdick. Sol Flatbush, ye've got ter give
+a better defense o' ther Injuns than that."
+
+"What hev I got ter do with ther Injuns?" asked Flatbush defiantly.
+
+"Search me. But ye've made a wrong diagnosis, an' I don't like yer brand
+o' talk none. I think myself thet yer too friendly ter ther redskins."
+
+"What d'ye mean?" cried Flatbush, springing to his feet.
+
+"I mean thet I don't trust yer none. I think ye're a skunk, an' I don't
+like ter see yer face eround this yere camp. How much do this outfit owe
+yer?"
+
+"Three months' wage," answered the cow-puncher sourly.
+
+Bud went down into his leather pouch and extracted a roll of bills, and
+skinned off several.
+
+"Thar it is. Skidoo! An' don't try ter mingle with this outfit none
+hereafter. Thar'll be a new foreman o' ther night herd what ain't got so
+many friends in this yere locality."
+
+"What d'yer mean by that?" Flatbush's hand sprang to his side.
+
+But Bud was quicker, and in the flash of an eye had the muzzle of his
+six-shooter under the nose of the night foreman, who shrank from it.
+
+"I mean thet yer a crook, an' I'll give yer jest three minutes ter rope
+yer hoss an' git."
+
+Flatbush turned and hurried to the remuda, caught and saddled his horse,
+and rode out of camp.
+
+"I've had my eye on that maverick fer quite some time," said Bud,
+turning to the boys after he had watched Flatbush fade into the
+distance. "I've suspected him o' turnin' off our cattle every night. I
+haven't caught him at it, or thar wouldn't've been no necessity o'
+chasin' him out. He'd've gone feet foremost."
+
+"What do you think of it, Bud?" asked Ted, handing the little mirror
+over to the golden-haired puncher.
+
+Bud took it in his hand, and looked at it a long time.
+
+"It shore is Stella's," he said. "I reckernize it by this leetle dent on
+ther side o' it."
+
+He was holding it in the palm of his hand, looking down at it intently.
+
+"Hello, what's this?" Bud held the mirror against the sleeve of his blue
+shirt.
+
+"Pipin' pelicans," he muttered, "if thar ain't some kind o' a pitcher on
+it."
+
+Ted went to his side and looked at the mirror.
+
+"I believe you're right," he said. "Let me look at it."
+
+"What do you make of it?" asked Bud.
+
+All the boys crowded around, watching Ted eagerly.
+
+"This is evidently intended for the picture of a stone wall," said Ted,
+"and that wavy line behind it is meant for mountains."
+
+"What's that?" asked Bud, pointing to the picture.
+
+"I guess it is meant for a hole in the stone wall," said Ted.
+
+"Wow!" said Bud. "That's as easy as livin' on a farm. Don't yer see? It
+is a message from the Hole in the Wall."
+
+"By Jove, you're right. The Hole in the Wall in the Wichita Mountains."
+
+"What is that right below it?"
+
+"It looks like a star. It is a star."
+
+"It is Stella's signature," said Ben. "Stella is the Latin for star.
+Don't you see, she has sent this message out from the Hole in the Wall,
+where she is a prisoner? It's as plain as day to me."
+
+"You're right," shouted Ted. "Into your saddles, boys; we're off to the
+Hole in the Wall at once."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+"HOLE IN THE WALL."
+
+
+"Kit, you will stay and take care of the herd," said Ted, just before
+the boys galloped off.
+
+"All right, but I'd mighty well like to go with you," said Kit, who,
+although he was eager to be in the fight that he knew would come off if
+Ted found that Shan Rhue had anything to do with the abduction of
+Stella, was not one to get disgruntled.
+
+Ted would have been well pleased to have Kit with him, but Kit's arm was
+not yet well enough to risk in a possible rough-and-tumble adventure.
+
+"Say, Ted," Kit called after the leader of the broncho boys.
+
+"What?" asked Ted, riding back.
+
+"Don't you think you better take Stella's pony, Magpie, along with you?
+She'll have to have something to ride coming back."
+
+He did not say "if you find her," for he knew that if she was anywhere
+in the Wichita Mountains Ted would find her.
+
+"Glad you spoke of it," said Ted.
+
+It did not take long to rope the magpie pony and throw Stella's saddle
+on it.
+
+Now they were off into the northeast, where the Wichita Mountains lay.
+None of them knew just where the Hole in the Wall was, but Ted felt
+confident of finding it if there was such a place.
+
+They rode so hard, only stopping at noon to water the ponies, that early
+in the afternoon they entered the mountains.
+
+As they were going up the valley they saw the flying figure of a man on
+horseback coming toward them.
+
+As he approached, they saw that he was a cavalryman.
+
+"Hello, what's up?" said Bud. "I never see a sojer goin' so fast, except
+there was somethin' doin'."
+
+A few minutes later the soldier rode up to them.
+
+He proved to be a sergeant of cavalry.
+
+"Where are you going?" he asked, pulling his horse to its haunches.
+
+"What's that ter you?" asked Bud jovially.
+
+"Just this: The Indians are threatening to rise, perhaps to-night,
+perhaps not until to-morrow. But when they do, this will be no place for
+white men."
+
+"Where is the place called the Hole in the Wall?" asked Ted.
+
+"Do you want to go there, or do you want to avoid it?" asked the
+sergeant.
+
+"We want to go there as soon as we can."
+
+"I'd advise you to keep away until the troops get there and clean things
+up."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"That is where the dissatisfied Indians are camped. I do not know it
+officially, but I understand that Flatnose and Moonface, the two chiefs,
+are there now, and that the orders from Washington are to send us in to
+drive them out."
+
+"When is this to take place?"
+
+"The Indians have made no open declaration of war as yet, but it is
+looked for at any time."
+
+"How will it be announced?"
+
+"By the signal fires on the hills. A detachment of our men picked up
+early this morning a wounded Indian, named Pokopokowo. He was wounded,
+and was taken to the post surgeon to be cared for. He has just confessed
+that it is the intention of the Indians to rise and kill all the white
+settlers they can lay their hands on. I am on my way to send out the
+alarm."
+
+"And you say the Indians are camped at the Hole in the Wall?"
+
+"Yes, the detachment sent out early this morning were on a scouting
+expedition when they picked up Pokopokowo."
+
+"Where is this Hole in the Wall, and how do you get there?"
+
+"You are bound to go there? I would advise you not to."
+
+"We must go. A young lady belonging to our party has been captured and
+taken there. We did not know there were any Indians there, but only
+white outlaws."
+
+"That is different. I suppose you must go. But why don't you wait and go
+in with the troops? The Hole in the Wall is the rendezvous for all the
+white outlaws in this part of the country, and they are believed to be
+in league with the Indians, and will use the uprising of the Indians as
+a cover under which to run off all the stock in the country."
+
+"There is no use of our waiting for the troops when the young lady is in
+there, we don't know under what indignities. The troops put off
+attacking the Indians as long as they can for the sake of policy. We are
+all deputy United States marshals, and we get quicker action. Tell us
+where the Hole in the Wall is, and we will go in and get our own. The
+troops can do what they please later."
+
+"Weil, pardner, you talk straight, and you feel about the young lady as
+I would if she was a friend of mine. But they are a bad bunch in there."
+
+"I appreciate your warning, but it will not stop us."
+
+"All right; go ahead, and good luck to you. About a mile farther on you
+will come to a narrow defile leading to the north, cutting the range.
+That leads into a broad valley, at the west end of which is the place
+called the Hole in the Wall. It is practically impregnable. It is
+entered by a narrow passage which one man could hold against an army.
+It can be approached at night by riding down the valley, dismounting,
+and crawling over the mountain until you are above the Hole in the Wall,
+when every man can be wiped out by a few rifles."
+
+"Thanks, sergeant. We will take to the hills."
+
+With mutual good wishes, they parted, and the boys were soon riding in
+single file up the defile.
+
+In the valley they secreted themselves and their horses, while Ted and
+Bud went forward to reconnoiter. It was rapidly growing dark in the
+mountains as Ted and Bud crawled along the mountain paths toward the end
+of the valley.
+
+Suddenly Ted placed his hand on Bud's arm.
+
+"Some one right ahead of us," he whispered.
+
+"Sentinel, I reckon," answered Bud.
+
+Ted nodded: "You stay here. I'm going forward. I'll be back soon."
+
+Ted glided away into the gloom. Presently Bud heard a muffled cry. Then
+all was still again.
+
+He waited a few minutes, and was about to go forward, when he heard a
+slight rustle beside him, and there stood Ted.
+
+"It was a guard," he said. "I jumped him, and gagged him, but he gave me
+a pretty good fight. I've rolled him away where his pals won't find him.
+I guess we can go on now, but we must go slowly and quietly. I don't
+know how many more of them are about."
+
+"Get a line on where the hole is?"
+
+"Yes, we're on the right track. It is ahead of us."
+
+On they went, and, having proceeded about half a mile, they suddenly
+became aware of the neighing of horses and the voices of men, which
+seemed to come from beneath them, and it was not long before they saw a
+glare of light against the rocks not far ahead.
+
+They went more cautiously now, crawling forward on their hands and
+knees. Ted, in advance, soon threw up his hand and lay flat on the
+rocks, and Bud crawled to his side.
+
+They found themselves looking down into a circular little valley, in
+reality a hole in the wall of the mountain.
+
+Several camp fires were burning here and there, and about fifty Indians
+and white men were lounging about.
+
+Near the rear wall was a small tent, before which sat a fat old squaw.
+
+As Ted was looking, the flap of the tent was pushed aside, and Ted
+clutched Bud's arm, for Stella had come forth, and stood looking up at
+the sky.
+
+"By Jove, if we could only attract her attention," muttered Ted.
+
+"It would help her a lot if she knew we were so close to her," said Bud.
+
+The glare from the fires flaring upward fell full upon their faces, and
+they knew that if she looked in their direction she would not fail to
+see them.
+
+They saw her cast her eyes all around the sky, and in their direction.
+Ted dared not make a noise, but he nodded his head several times so that
+she would know who it was, should she chance to see him.
+
+Evidently she did not, for she turned away, and again her eyes swung
+around in the circle with her back to them.
+
+"I've a mind to throw somethin' down at her, and attract her attention
+ter us," said Bud.
+
+"And have every one of those cutthroats get on to us. Don't you do it,"
+said Ted.
+
+In a moment Stella looked up again, and this time they saw her start,
+then stare fixedly at them. Ted nodded his head again, and this time she
+made a gesture that told them that she had seen them, and knew that they
+were there.
+
+"Duck yer head quick," said Bud, rapidly getting out of sight himself.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Ted.
+
+"I saw Shan Rhue walking toward Stella."
+
+"But she saw us, just before she ducked into her tent. Now it's up to us
+to get her out of there."
+
+"You bet. But it will be a big job to get in there."
+
+"I've got a plan that ought to work out."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"You go back and get the boys. Put Ben and Clay down in the valley to
+hold the entrance to the Hole in the Wall. Bring the rest up here.
+Hurry! I'll stay here on guard. If any man attempts to touch Stella,
+I'll pot him from here. Bring your lariat with you."
+
+Bud hurried away as he was bid, and in the course of half an hour,
+during which Ted, looking over the edge of the Hole, saw the men
+preparing to retire for the night, he returned with seven of the boys.
+
+"Now, fellows," said Ted, "I'm going down into the hole to send Stella
+up on the rope."
+
+"Jeering jackals!" exclaimed Bud. "Don't you ever do that. It means sure
+death ter you, an' p'r'aps ter Stella, too."
+
+"No, I don't think so. At any rate, I'm going to take a chance. It will
+be up to you fellows to keep the bunch down there busy while I'm at
+work. Three of you will stay on this side of the hole, and four on the
+other. If you do your firing right, you will keep those fellows jumping
+from side to side so fast that they won't have any time for me."
+
+"I see yer scheme, but I wouldn't like ter undertake it myself."
+
+"Did you bring the rope?"
+
+"Here it is," said Bud, unwinding it from around his waist.
+
+Ted took it from him while the boys distributed themselves in their
+firing positions as he had directed.
+
+Ted looped the rope under his arms. "You'll lower me down, Bud," he
+said. "Maybe I'll come up hand over hand if I can, and you will pull
+away when I give the rope two jerks."
+
+He took another look over the edge. All the men were rolled up in their
+blankets asleep, except an old Indian who sat crouched over the fire.
+
+Ted carefully lowered himself over the edge for the descent.
+
+Down he went slowly and quietly, and soon his feet touched the ground
+just back of Stella's tent.
+
+"Hiss-t!" He gave a low, sibilant warning of his presence, and in a
+moment the corner of the tent moved aside, and he saw Stella's bright
+eyes looking into his. He motioned her to come out, and the flap was
+gently lowered again.
+
+In a few moments, which seemed hours, the flap was raised again, and
+Stella crawled forth.
+
+"Oh, Ted," she whispered, pressing his hand. He held up a warning finger
+as he rapidly tied the rope beneath her arms.
+
+"Bud will pull you up. Good luck," he whispered.
+
+"Are you going to stay down here?" she whispered back.
+
+"Yes, I must. Hurry!" He gave the rope two jerks, and it at once began
+to tighten, and Stella's feet left the ground as she slowly ascended
+skyward.
+
+Ted, concealed against the wall back of the tent, saw her go up and up.
+She was more than halfway to the top when an old Indian woman crawled
+out of the tent, and, casting her eyes aloft, saw Stella.
+
+A sudden scream rang through the hole. It was the Indian's warning. The
+rope began to go faster, and before the sleepy men in the hole had been
+able to sit up and rub their eyes, Ted saw Stella reach the top and
+disappear over its edge.
+
+But the old Indian woman had run among the men crying out something in
+her native tongue. Evidently she was telling of the escape of Stella,
+for in an instant all sleep vanished and the place was full of men
+running about or staring up at the edge of the wall over which Stella
+had gone.
+
+Then Shan Rhue came forth, swearing horribly. He caught the old squaw by
+the arm and threw her down.
+
+"So you let the white squaw go, did you?" he asked. "And how much was
+you paid for it?" But the poor old wretch only shrank closer to the
+ground and moaned her protests that she had nothing to do with the
+escape of the white squaw.
+
+Shan Rhue strode toward the tent, behind which Ted was crouching with
+his hand on his revolver.
+
+Shan Rhue threw open the front of the tent and looked within. Then he
+straightened up, and caught a glimpse of Ted, whom he did not at first
+recognize in the gloom.
+
+He reached in his powerful right arm to pull the intruder out, and
+looked into the muzzle of Ted's six-shooter, behind which he now saw
+Ted's smiling face.
+
+At that he straightened up with a loud laugh that filled the Hole in the
+Wall and reverberated from side to side.
+
+"Well, of all the luck," he shouted. "This has worked out just as I
+expected. I knew that if I got ther gal in yere that you'd be after her,
+an' here you are. Well, my bucko, you remember what I said about getting
+even with you. Now is the time. You've come to the end."
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said Ted coolly. "I'm a long ways from a dead one
+yet. Be careful what you do. This six-shooter of mine is mighty
+sensitive on the trigger."
+
+He heard a soft, swishing noise behind him, and knew that Bud was
+lowering the rope again. As he thrust his gun forward into the face of
+Shan Rhue, the bully backed away a few feet.
+
+At that moment the rope swung down in front of his face, and, hastily
+putting his revolver into his pocket, Ted grasped it and went sailing up
+into the air hand over hand, assisted by Bud and Carl, who were pulling
+on the rope for all they were worth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+THE ALTERED BRAND.
+
+
+As Ted went up into the air, Shan Rhue shouted a command, and the white
+men in the Hole in the Wall ran to him.
+
+"That boy must not get to the top," he shouted. "I want him."
+
+"What will we do?" asked one of them.
+
+"Here, Sol Flatbush, you are the best shot of us all. See if you can't
+bring him down. But don't shoot him. I need him for other things. Shoot
+the rope in two."
+
+This was easier said than done, for the rope was so high that it was
+almost out of the light cast by the fires.
+
+Flatbush was, indeed, a splendid shot, and he fired twice at the rope
+with his revolver, but missed each time on account of the uncertain
+light and the swaying motion of the rope.
+
+"Give me my rifle," he called, and one of the men fetched it for him.
+
+Ted was within fifteen feet of the top when Flatbush, leaning against
+the opposite wall, took deliberate aim and fired.
+
+At the second shot Ted, who was aware that some one was trying to cut
+the rope, felt it vibrate suddenly beneath his hand.
+
+Before the last thread was severed he reached up and began to climb,
+hand over hand. In a few seconds he was at the top, and the boys were
+helping him over the edge.
+
+For a moment or two he could say nothing; he could only listen to the
+yells of rage and disappointment below. Now he was surrounded by his
+friends, and Stella was free. Away on a mountain peak a light flared
+up.
+
+"What does that mean?" asked Stella, pointing to it.
+
+"It is the signal that the Indians have gone on the warpath," said Ted.
+"The sergeant was right. It is up to us now to do stunts."
+
+"In what way?" asked Stella.
+
+"We must keep those Indians and renegades confined in the Hole in the
+Wall. If we can keep them there until the arrival of the troops we can
+end the uprising without shedding a drop of blood. See, there is another
+fire!"
+
+Ted pointed to a blaze upon another peak, and this was followed by
+others until there was a ring of fires on the crests of the mountains
+for miles around.
+
+"It is up to us to do a good thing here," he said. "Bud, take two or
+three of the boys and go to Ben's assistance. Hold the mouth to the
+entrance to the hole at all hazards. From what the sergeant said I have
+no doubt but the troops will be here at least by daylight. We will keep
+them busy down there from this place."
+
+Bud hurried away with two of the boys, and Ted and the others composed
+themselves to await developments. In the meantime, Stella told Ted the
+details of her capture. Since she had been a prisoner she had been well
+treated, so far as most of the men were concerned, although Shan Rhue
+had insisted on seeing her every day, and had told her that he was going
+to take her away to the North and make her marry him. She had defied
+him, and had scorned him so scathingly that he had put many petty
+persecutions on her, and had deprived her of her liberty for revenge.
+
+"How did you happen to find me?" asked Stella, after she told all that
+had happened to her.
+
+"Little Dick was captured by an Indian, and while he was being brought
+here the pony Spraddle stumbled and threw him. A small looking-glass
+which was slung around his neck fell off, and Dick picked it up and
+brought it to camp."
+
+"The Indian was Pokopokowo," said Stella.
+
+"That was his name."
+
+"I tried in every way to get a message out to you, but it seemed
+impossible. Then I hit upon the mirror, ripped the back off it, and made
+my cryptogram on it with a pin. I let Pokopokowo see it, and when he saw
+that there was a picture on it, and I told him it was good medicine, he
+wanted it. Of course, I let him take it, hoping that it would be taken
+outside, and that you would chance to see it, and so learn where I was."
+
+"It was a very clever idea, and I doubt but for the mirror we should
+have been able to get here in time. It was little Dick who saved you."
+
+"Yes, little Dick and big Ted. Ted, you are wonderful!"
+
+Below, in the hole, there were signs of activity. Men were rushing here
+and there, saddling horses, packing mules, filling their cartridge
+belts, and getting ready for some sort of action.
+
+"They have seen the war fires on the hills," said Ted, "and are getting
+ready for their raid upon the settlers. Evidently they do not know that
+the gate to the outside is guarded, and they think that we are gone,
+having succeeded in getting you."
+
+Having finished their preparations for departure, an old Indian rode
+forth on a pony decorated with eagle feathers.
+
+"That is old Flatnose, the head chief," said Ted.
+
+Flatnose was painted for war, and as he rode toward the passage from the
+Hole in the Wall he swung his rifle above his head and shouted a
+guttural command, at which a war whoop, shrill and terrifying, went up
+from the Indians, followed by a hoarse shout from the white renegades.
+
+"Now, we'll see some fun," whispered Ted to Stella, who was lying on the
+crest of the hole beside him, watching the proceedings below. "I guess
+Bud has got there by this time, and is ready to protect the opening out
+to the valley."
+
+Only a few minutes had passed before there came to their ears a volley
+of rifle shots, followed by yells of fear, and the whites and Indians
+came rushing back into the hole, scrambling and falling over one another
+in confusion.
+
+"I thought so," chuckled Ted. "They are trapped and they know it. They
+can defend the hole against all comers by that passage, but it didn't
+seem to occur to them that they might be made prisoners by the same
+means."
+
+The inmates of the hole were in the confusion of terror, but at last
+Flatnose and his son, Moonface, succeeded in pacifying them, and a
+consultation was under way.
+
+"Where is Shan Rhue?" asked Stella. "I haven't seen him for some time."
+
+"That's so," answered Ted. "I don't see him." He scanned the hole
+carefully, but Shan Rhue was not there.
+
+"Is there any secret passage by which he might escape?" asked Ted.
+
+"Do you see that little shelter of canvas over against the wall?" said
+Stella.
+
+Ted nodded.
+
+"I believe there is a way out there known only to Shan Rhue. That is
+where he slept," she continued.
+
+"Then he has escaped by it. Sol Flatbush is not in evidence, either.
+I'll bet a cooky they've skipped."
+
+It was getting light in the east, and the Indians rode once more into
+the passage, firing their rifles. Then they charged.
+
+But soon they came rushing back; the boys at the entrance had again
+repulsed them.
+
+From far away came the soft but clear call of a bugle.
+
+"The troops!" cried Ted, springing to his feet. "The cavalry is coming
+from Fort Sill. This thing will soon be over now."
+
+He and Stella went to the edge of the cliff overlooking the valley, and
+far away saw a dark mass, in the midst of which they caught the flash of
+the rising sun on polished swords and carbines, and a gleam of color
+from the flag that fluttered in the fresh morning breeze.
+
+The Indians in the hole had heard the bugle also, and now there was
+confusion indescribable. On came the troops, and Ted and Stella went
+down to meet them.
+
+Captain Hendry was in command, and it did not take him long to get in
+possession of the facts.
+
+"So you've got them bottled up, eh?" he said to Ted.
+
+"Yes; all you have to do is to make them surrender," answered Ted.
+
+"Which I don't think will be such an easy thing."
+
+"I don't think you'll have any trouble about it. Come with me, and bring
+a firing squad of your men."
+
+The captain gave the order, and followed Ted to where he could look down
+into the hole.
+
+Then the captain laughed. "You have done better than I expected," he
+said.
+
+Raising his voice, Captain Hendry shouted:
+
+"Flatnose, you know me. This is Captain Hendry. I have got you in that
+hole like a rat in a trap. If you are wise, you will throw down your
+arms and surrender. I have my men here with me, and if you do not
+surrender, we will have to shoot you to death one by one. Will you
+surrender?"
+
+The old chief looked up and saw the captain leaning over the edge above.
+For several minutes he stared upward, then he threw his rifle to the
+ground and gave a hoarse command, and his followers threw their arms
+upon that of their leader.
+
+One of the troopers ran down into the valley with a command, while those
+above lay flat on the edge with their carbines in a ring pointed at the
+throng below.
+
+In a few minutes the bugle sounded again, and the troops were seen
+marching into the hole. The war was at an end without a fatal shot
+having been fired.
+
+As Captain Hendry marched away with his prisoners, he thanked Ted for
+the great service which he had done the government by holding the
+Indians and renegades until the arrival of the troops.
+
+"Well, that's over," said Ted, as the last of them faded out of sight at
+the end of the valley. "But _our_ work is just begun. We've got to find
+those five hundred head of stolen Circle S cattle."
+
+"I suggest that we take a look behind that shelter of Shan Rhue's, and
+see if there is a passage leading from it," said Stella.
+
+"Good idea," said Ted, and they climbed down into the valley and entered
+the Hole in the Wall, where the other boys were waiting for them.
+
+Ted went at once to the shelter, which was only a piece of canvas which
+had been at one time a wagon cover, and tore it away.
+
+There was revealed a hole in the rock wall, and beside it a small mound
+of earth.
+
+Evidently the hole had been known to the white desperadoes who had used
+the hole as a hiding place for many years, and that it had been their
+habit to conceal it by means of a stopper of earth. This Shan and Sol
+had removed, and had made their escape while the Indians and renegades
+were preparing for their raid on the settlements.
+
+Ted at once showed it to the other boys, and it was decided to follow
+the passage and find out what was at the other end.
+
+The hole was so small that Ted was compelled to enter it on his hands
+and knees. Bud followed him, and then came Stella. Ben remained with
+Carl to guard the entrance in case any of the white renegades should
+return.
+
+A short distance in, the passage, or tunnel, became larger, and soon
+opened out into a natural cave, so that they were able to assume an
+upright position.
+
+Ted lighted his pocket electric searchlight and led the way. They walked
+for some distance when they saw a gleam of light ahead, and a few
+minutes later walked out of the cave into another valley, larger than
+that which they had just left.
+
+"Great Scott! Look at that," said Ted, pointing to where a large herd of
+cattle was grazing.
+
+"What?" asked Stella, who could see nothing unusual in a bunch of cattle
+grazing in the valley.
+
+"I believe they're ours."
+
+Ted strode toward the cattle, which seemed to become uneasy at seeing a
+man on foot, which range cattle will not tolerate.
+
+"Don't go any closer, Ted," said Stella. "Wait until Bud goes back after
+the horses."
+
+"I just want to get a glimpse of the brand. By Jove, here's our lost
+Circle S brand, I believe. But look at it. It has been altered."
+
+"How?"
+
+"See those two perpendicular lines drawn through the S, making the brand
+Circle Dollar-mark. That's a most ingenious thing. It has been done with
+a running iron. The fellow who stole our cattle has just changed it by
+running a curved hot iron through the S."
+
+"Yer shore right," said Bud. "That Circle Dollar brand hez been
+registered somewhere. It's up to us ter find out who registered it, an'
+we've got ther thief. I'll skip out fer ther hosses an' ther boys. I
+reckon we kin git in here by ridin' across ther backbone o' ther hills."
+
+"All right, get back as soon as you can, and we'll wait for you in the
+cave."
+
+Bud and the boys were back within half an hour, having found a pass into
+the valley through the hills which inclosed it.
+
+"It's as plain as the face of the sun to me," said Ted, when they were
+mounted and were riding toward the cattle. "Shan Rhue would have had
+those cattle over the border in a day or two, had he not been so unwise
+as to have abducted Stella. It's up to us now to get that bunch back to
+the herd."
+
+It did not take the boys long to get the bunch together, and Ted and
+Stella rode out to the front of it to point it down the valley, while
+the other boys started back to the rear to drive up.
+
+Suddenly they heard yells in the rear, accompanied by pistol shots and
+the cracking of quirts. In an instant the herd was up with distended
+eyeballs and lifted tails. The poison of fear was in them.
+
+Looking back, Ted saw several men riding toward the herd at a terrific
+pace. At the head of the band rode Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush.
+
+Then a remarkable thing happened: Every man of them produced a red
+blanket. They dashed among the cattle waving the blankets in the faces
+of the now terrified cattle.
+
+"Look out for trouble," shouted Ted, for he saw at once the intention of
+Shan Rhue. It was to stampede the herd.
+
+The effort was immediately successful, for the terrified animals, with
+a deafening roar that expressed abject fear, started forward on a
+gallop, with a front as resistless as the prow of a battleship.
+
+Stella was on the side of the herd opposite Ted.
+
+She heard his warning cry, and then looked back at the herd. If she
+stayed where she was, there was no escape from death, for by her side
+was the sheer wall of the valley. There was only one way to safety, to
+ride across to the side of Ted.
+
+She gave one look, then started.
+
+Stella rode quartering the path of the stampede, and would have made it
+in safety had it not been for a prairie-dog hole, into which her pony's
+foot went. Magpie went down. The thundering host of frantic cattle was
+upon her when she felt herself caught in mid-air.
+
+The thought of death was still ringing in her head, and everything swam
+before her eyes.
+
+"You're all right! Stick close!" It was the reassuring voice of Ted,
+who, at the imminent risk of his own life, had ridden out and plucked
+her from the jaws of death.
+
+Behind them, as Sultan, straining every nerve and muscle to carry them
+to safety, galloped ahead of the cattle, the boys rode into the ruck,
+beating the brutes with their quirts in an endeavor to stop them.
+
+But they went a mile before they began to slow down, and Ted was able to
+deflect the course of Sultan, who was beginning to tire from the double
+burden and the terrific pace.
+
+But at last the steers calmed down, and permitted themselves to be
+driven quietly to where the rest of the herd were grazing.
+
+As soon as Ted had restored the stolen cattle, he and Bud started back
+into the valley in search of Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush, but, although
+they searched everywhere, the renegades could not be found.
+
+In the cave through which they had come from the Hole in the Wall they
+found a running branding iron, and fastened to the wall the following
+notice:
+
+     "To TED STRONG AND OTHERS: You win this time, but there will be
+     others, and I am a lucky man in the end. You can't beat me.
+
+     "S. R."
+
+Later they discovered that Shan Rhue had recently registered in Colorado
+the Circle Dollar brand, and evidently it was his purpose to steal
+nearly all of the Circle S herd.
+
+But although he escaped with his lieutenant, Sol Flatbush, the men of
+his band, who had been captured by the soldiers, were convicted and sent
+to prison for long terms, after they had confessed that Shan Rhue's
+organization had made a business of rustling cattle all through the
+Southwest for many years.
+
+Ted received several letters from the authorities in Washington
+commending his services in averting an uprising of the Indians, and the
+capture of the white renegades, but while this was gratifying, he felt
+disappointed that Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush were not in prison, also.
+However, Ted believed in the motto, "I bide my time," and he felt in his
+bones that some time in the future his path and that of the bully, Shan
+Rhue, would cross again.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+     No. 42 of the WESTERN STORY LIBRARY, by Edward C. Taylor, is
+     entitled "Ted Strong in Montana."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Ted Strong's Motor Car, by Edward C. Taylor
+
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