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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy Land Boomer, by Ralph Bonehill
+
+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: The Boy Land Boomer
+       Dick Arbuckle's Adventures in Oklahoma
+
+Author: Ralph Bonehill
+
+Illustrator: W. H. Fry
+
+Release Date: February 18, 2007 [EBook #20618]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY LAND BOOMER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Marcia and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BOY
+LAND BOOMER
+
+OR
+
+DICK ARBUCKLE'S
+ADVENTURES IN OKLAHOMA
+
+BY
+
+CAPTAIN RALPH BONEHILL
+
+AUTHOR OF
+
+"THREE YOUNG RANCHMEN,"
+"A SAILOR BOY WITH DEWEY," ETC.
+
+
+[Illustration: "The youth had to cling fast around his neck to save
+himself a lot of broken bones"]
+
+
+ILLUSTRATED BY W. H. FRY
+
+
+H. M. CALDWELL COMPANY
+NEW YORK Publishers BOSTON
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1902,
+BY
+THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
+
+Made by
+Robert Smith Printing Co.,
+Lansing, Mich.
+
+
+---------------
+Transcriber's Note: Obvious printer errors have been corrected. All
+other inconsistencies have been left as they were in the original.
+---------------
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+
+                                                         PAGE
+
+"The youth had to cling fast around his neck to save
+himself a lot of broken bones"                  _Frontispiece_
+
+"The next instant the boy was hurled headlong into
+the boiling and foaming current"                           62
+
+"Dick had let fly the jagged stone, taking him directly
+in the forehead and keeling him over like a tenpin"       179
+
+"In a second more the two men were in a hand-to-hand
+encounter"                                                220
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+"The Boy Land Boomer" relates the adventures of a lad who, with his
+father, joins a number of daring men in an attempt to occupy the rich
+farming lands of Oklahoma before the time when that section of our
+country was thrown open to settlement under the homestead act.
+
+Oklahoma consists of a tract of land which formerly formed a portion of
+the Indian Territory. This region was much in dispute as early as 1884
+and 1885, when Captain "Oklahoma" Payne and Captain Couch did their best
+to force an entrance for the boomers under them. Boomers remained in the
+neighborhood for years, and another attempt was made to settle Oklahoma
+in 1886, and up to 1889, when, on April 22, the land was thrown open to
+settlement by a proclamation of the President. The mad rush to gain the
+best claims followed, and some of these scenes are related in the
+present volume.
+
+The boomers, who numbered thousands, had among them several daring and
+well-known leaders, but not one was better known or more daring than
+the leader who is known in these pages as Pawnee Brown. This man was not
+alone a great Indian scout and hunter, but also one who had lived much
+among the Indians, could speak their language, and who had on several
+occasions acted as interpreter for the Government. He was well beloved
+by his followers, who relied upon his judgment in all things.
+
+To some it may seem that the scenes in this book are overdrawn. Such,
+however, is not the fact. There was much of roughness in those days, and
+the author has continually found it necessary to tone down rather than
+to exaggerate in penning these scenes from real life.
+
+CAPTAIN RALPH BONEHILL.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BOY LAND BOOMER.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+DICK ARBUCKLE'S DISCOVERY.
+
+
+"Father!"
+
+The call came from a boy of sixteen, a bright, manly chap, who had just
+awakened from an unusually sound sleep in the rear end of a monstrous
+boomer's wagon.
+
+The scene was upon the outskirts of Arkansas City, situated near the
+southern boundary line of Kansas and not many miles from the Oklahoma
+portion of the Indian Territory.
+
+For weeks the city had been filling up with boomers on their way to
+pre-empt land within the confines of Oklahoma as soon as it became
+possible to do so.
+
+The land in Oklahoma had for years been in dispute. Pioneers claimed the
+right to go in and stake out homesteads, but the soldiers of our
+government would not allow them to do so.
+
+The secret of the matter was that the cattle kings of that section
+controlled everything, and as the grazing land of the territory was
+worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to them they fought desperately
+to keep the pioneers out, delaying, in every manner possible,
+legislation which tended to make the section an absolutely free one to
+would-be settlers.
+
+But now the pioneers, or boomers as they were commonly called, were
+tired of waiting for the passage of a law which they knew must come
+sooner or later, and they intended to go ahead without legal authority.
+
+It was a dark, tempestuous night, with the wind blowing fiercely and the
+rain coming down at irregular intervals. On the grassy plain were
+huddled the wagons, animals and trappings of over two hundred boomers.
+Here and there flared up the remains of a campfire, but the wind was
+blowing too strongly for these to be replenished, and the men had
+followed their wives and children into the big, canvas-covered wagons,
+to make themselves as comfortable as the crowded space permitted.
+
+It was the rattle of the rain on the canvas covering of the wagon which
+had aroused the boy.
+
+"I say father!" he repeated. "Father!"
+
+Again there was no reply, and, kicking aside the blanket with which he
+had been covered, Dick Arbuckle clambered over some boxes piled high in
+the center of the vehicle to where he had left his parent resting less
+than three hours before.
+
+"Gone!" cried the lad in astonishment. "What can this mean? What could
+take him outside in such a storm as this? Father!"
+
+He now crawled to the opening at the front of the wagon and called at
+the top of his voice. Only the shrieking of the wind answered him. A
+dozen times he cried out, then paused to strike a somewhat damp match
+and light a smoky lantern hanging to the front ashen bow of the
+turn-out's covering. Holding the light over his head he peered forth into
+the inky darkness surrounding the boomer's temporary camp.
+
+"Not a soul in sight," he mused. "It must be about midnight. Can
+something have happened to father? He said he felt rather strange in his
+head when he went to bed. If only Jack Rasco would come back."
+
+From the front end of the wagon Dick Arbuckle shifted back to the rear.
+Here the same dreary outlook of storm, mud and flapping canvases
+presented itself. Not so much as a stray dog was in sight, and the
+nearest wagon was twenty feet away.
+
+"I must find out where he is. Something is wrong, I feel certain of it."
+
+Thus muttering to himself the youth hunted up his overcoat and hat, put
+them on, and, lantern in hand, swung himself into the sea of
+half-submerged prairie grass, and stalked over to the other wagon just
+mentioned.
+
+"Mike Delaney!" he cried, kicking on the wagon wheel with the toe of his
+boot; "Mike Delaney, have you seen my father anywhere?"
+
+"Sure, an' Moike Delaney is not here, Dick Arbuckle," came in a female
+voice. "He's gone off wid Pawnee Brown, and there's no tellin' whin
+he'll be back. Is yer father gone?"
+
+"Yes, and I don't know where," and now Dick stepped closer, as the round
+and freckled face of Rosy Delaney peered forth from a hole in the canvas
+end. "He went to bed when I did, and now he's missing."
+
+"Saints preserve us! Mebbe the Injuns scalped him now, Dick!" came in a
+voice full of terror.
+
+"There are no Indians around here, Mrs. Delaney," answered the youth,
+half inclined to laugh. "But he's missing, and it's mighty strange, to
+say the least."
+
+"He was sick, too, wasn't he?"
+
+"Father hasn't been real well for a year. He left New York very largely
+in the hope that this climate would do him some good."
+
+"Moike was sayin' his head throubles him a good bit."
+
+"So it does, and that's why I am so worried. When he gets those awful
+pains he is apt to walk away and keep right on without knowing where he
+is going."
+
+"Poor mon! Oi wisht Oi could help yez. Mebbe Moike will be back soon.
+Ain't Jack Rasco about?"
+
+"No, he is off with Pawnee Brown, too. Rasco and Brown have been looking
+over the trails leading to Oklahoma. They are bound to outwit the United
+States cavalry, for the boomers have more right to that land than the
+cattle kings, and right is always might in the end."
+
+"Especially wid Pawnee on the end o' it, Dick. He's a great mon, is
+Pawnee, only it do be afther givin' me the shivers to hear him spake the
+Pawnee language loike he was a rale Injun. Such a foine scout as he is
+has no roight to spake such a dirthy tongue. How illegant it would be
+now if he could spake rale Oirish."
+
+"His knowledge of the Indian tongue has helped both him and our
+government a good deal, Mrs. Delaney. But I mustn't stop here talking.
+If my father----"
+
+A wild, unearthly shriek cut short further talk upon Dick Arbuckle's
+part. It came from the darkness back of the camp and caused Mrs. Delaney
+to draw back and tumble to the bottom of her house on wheels in terror.
+
+"It's the Banshee----" she began, when Dick interrupted her.
+
+"It's Pumpkin Bill. I'd know his voice a mile off," he declared.
+"Somebody ought to send him back to where he belongs. Creation, what a
+racket!"
+
+Nearer and nearer came the voice, rising and falling with the wind. The
+shrill shrieking penetrated to every wagon, and head after head was
+thrust out of the canvases to see what it meant. In another minute
+Pumpkin Bill, the dunce of the boomer's camp, "a nobody from nowhar," to
+use Cal Clemmer's words, came rushing along, hatless and with his wild
+eyes fairly starting from their sockets.
+
+"Save me! a ghost!" he yelled, swinging his hands over his head. "A
+ghost full of blood! Oh, oh! I'm a dead boy! I know I am! Stop him from
+following me!"
+
+"Pumpkin!" ejaculated Dick, striding up and catching the fleeing lad by
+the arm. "Hold on; what's this racket about?"
+
+The dunce paused, then stood stock still, his mouth opening to its
+widest extent. He was far from bright, and it took him several seconds
+to put into words what was passing in his mind.
+
+"About, about?" he repeated. "Dick Arbuckle! Oh, dear me! I've seen your
+father's ghost!"
+
+"Pumpkin!"
+
+"Yes, I did. Hope to die if I didn't. I was just coming to camp from
+town. Some men kept me, and made me sing and dance for them--you know
+how I can sing--tra-la-la-da-do-da-bum! They promised me a dollar, but
+didn't give it to me. I was running to get out of the wet when I plumped
+into something fearful--a ghost! Your father, covered with blood, and
+groaning and moaning, 'Robbed, robbed; almost murdered!' That's what the
+ghost said, and he caught me by the hand. See, the blood is there yet,
+even though I did try to wash it off in the rain. Oh, Dick, what does it
+mean?"
+
+"It means something awful has happened, Pumpkin, if your story is
+true----"
+
+"Hope to die if it ain't," and the dunce crossed his heart several
+times. Suddenly, to keep up his courage, he burst into a wild snatch of
+song:
+
+  "A big baboon
+  Glared at the moon,
+    And sang la-la-la-dum!
+  'Come down to me
+  And I will be
+    Your lardy-dardy----'"
+
+"Stop it, Pumpkin," interrupted Dick. "Come along with me."
+
+"To where?"
+
+"To where you saw my father."
+
+"Not for a million dollars--not for a million million!" cried the
+half-witted boy. "It wasn't your father; it was a ghost, all covered
+with blood!" and he shrank back under the Delaney wagon.
+
+"It was my father, Pumpkin; I am sure of it. He is missing, and
+something has happened to him. Perhaps he fell and hurt himself. Come
+on."
+
+The dunce stopped short and stared.
+
+"Missing, is he? Then it wasn't a ghost. La-la-dum! What a joke. Will
+you go along, too?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+"And take a pistol?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Poor mon, Oi thrust he is not very much hurted," broke in Rosy Delaney,
+who had been a close listener to the foregoing. "If he is, Dick
+Arbuckle, bring him here, an' it's Rosy Delaney will nurse him wid th'
+best of care."
+
+As has been said, many had heard Pumpkin Bill's wild cries, but now that
+he had quieted down these boomers returned to their couches, grumbling
+that the half-witted lad should thus be allowed to disturb their rest.
+
+In a minute Dick Arbuckle and Pumpkin were hurrying along the road the
+dunce had previously traveled. The rain was letting up a bit, and the
+smoky lantern lit up the surroundings for a circle thirty feet in
+diameter.
+
+"Here is where I met him," said Pumpkin, coming to a halt near the edge
+of a small stream. "There's the hat he knocked off my head." He picked
+it up. "Oh, dear me! covered with blood! Did you ever see the like?"
+
+Dick was more disturbed than ever.
+
+"Which way did he go?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"Didn't you notice at all, Pumpkin? Try to think."
+
+"Nary a notice. I ran, that's all. It looked like a bloody ghost. I'll
+dream about it, I know I will."
+
+To this Dick did not answer. Getting down on his knees in the wet he
+examined the trail by the lantern's rays. The footsteps which he thought
+must be those of his father led around a bend in the stream and up a
+series of rocks covered with moss and dirt. With his heart thumping
+violently under his jacket he followed the footprints until the very
+summit of the rocks was gained. Then he let out a groan of anguish.
+
+And not without cause. Beyond the summit was a dark opening fifteen feet
+wide, a hundred or more feet long and of unfathomable depth. The
+footprints ended at the very edge of this yawning abyss.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+DICK ON A RUNAWAY.
+
+
+"If he fell down here he is dead beyond all doubt!"
+
+Such were Dick Arbuckle's words as he tried in vain to pierce the gloom
+of the abyss by flashing around the smoky lantern.
+
+"Gosh! I reckon you're right," answered Pumpkin in an awe-struck
+whisper. "It must be a thousand feet to the bottom of that hole!"
+
+"If I had a rope I might lower myself," went on the youth, with quiet
+determination. "But without a rope----"
+
+A pounding of hoof-strokes on the grassy trail below the rocks caused
+him to stop and listen attentively.
+
+"Somebody is coming. I'll see if I can get help!" he cried, and ran down
+to the trail, swinging his lantern over his head as he went. In ten
+seconds a horseman burst into view, riding a beautiful racing steed. The
+newcomer was a well-known leader of the land boomers, who rejoiced in
+the name of Pawnee Brown.
+
+"Ai! Pawnee Brown!" cried Dick, and at once the leader of the land
+boomers came to a halt.
+
+"What is it, Arbuckle?" he asked kindly.
+
+"My father is missing, and I have every reason to fear that he has
+tumbled into an opening at the summit of yonder rocks."
+
+"That's bad, lad. Missing? Since when?"
+
+Dick's story was soon told, and Pawnee Brown at once agreed to go up to
+the opening and see if anything could be done. "It's the Devil's
+Chimney," he explained. "If he went over into it I'm afraid he's a
+goner."
+
+A lariat hung from the pommel of the scout's saddle, and this he took in
+hand as he dismounted. Soon he stood by the edge of the black opening,
+while Dick again waved the lantern.
+
+"You and the dunce can lower me by the lariat. I don't believe the
+opening is more than fifty feet deep," said Pawnee Brown.
+
+The lariat was quickly adjusted around the edge of a smooth rock, and
+with his foot in a noose and the lantern in hand, the scout was lowered
+into the depths of the opening.
+
+Down and down he went, the light finding nothing but bare, rocky wall to
+fall upon. Presently the lowering process ceased.
+
+"We have reached the end of the lariat," called out Dick.
+
+Hardly had he spoken when a fearful thing happened. There was a snap and
+a whirr, and Dick and Pumpkin went flat on their backs, while ten feet
+of the lariat whirled loosely over their heads.
+
+The improvised rope had broken.
+
+"Gone!" gasped Dick. "Merciful heavens!"
+
+He scrambled up and looked over the edge of the opening. The lantern had
+been dashed into a thousand pieces, and all was dark below.
+
+"Pawnee Brown!" he cried, and Pumpkin joined in with a cry which was
+fairly a shriek.
+
+The opening remained as silent as a tomb. Again and again both called
+out. Then Dick turned to his companion.
+
+"This is awful, Pumpkin. Something must be done. I shall mount his mare
+and ride back to camp and get help. For all I know to the contrary both
+my father and Pawnee Brown are lying dead below."
+
+"I shan't stay here alone," shivered the half-witted boy. Then, before
+Dick could stop him, he set off at the top of his speed, yelling
+discordantly as he went.
+
+"Poor fool, he might have ridden with me," thought Dick.
+
+He was already rushing down to the trail. Now he remembered that he had
+heard a strange noise down where Pawnee Brown's beautiful mare, Bonnie
+Bird, had been tethered--a noise reaching him just before the lariat had
+parted. What could that mean?
+
+He reached the clump of trees where Bonnie Bird should have been. The
+mare was gone!
+
+"Broken away!" he groaned. "Was ever such luck before! Everything is
+going wrong tonight! Poor father; poor Pawnee Brown! I must leg it to
+camp just as Pumpkin is doing. Hullo!"
+
+He had started to run, but now he pulled up short. Grazing in the wet
+grass not a dozen steps away was a bay horse, full and round, a perfect
+beast. At first Dick Arbuckle thought he must be dreaming. He ran up
+rubbing his eyes. No, it was no dream; the horse was as real as a horse
+could be. He was bridled, but instead of a saddle wore only a patch of a
+blanket.
+
+"It's a Godsend," he murmured. "I don't know whom you belong to, old
+boy, but you've got to carry me back to camp, and that, too, at a
+licking gait, you understand?"
+
+The horse pricked up his ears and gave a snort. In a trice Dick was on
+his back and urging him around in the proper direction. He was a New
+York boy, not much used to riding, and the management of such a beast as
+this one did not come easy. The horse arose upon his forelegs and
+nearly pitched Dick over his head, and the youth had to cling fast
+around his neck to save himself a lot of broken bones.
+
+"Whoa, there! Gee Christopher, what a tartar! Whoa, I say! If only I had
+a whip!" he panted, as the horse began to move around on a pivot. "Now,
+why can't you act nice, when I'm in such dire need of your services? If
+you don't stop--Whoa! whoa!"
+
+For the horse had suddenly stopped pivoting and started off like a
+streak, not up or down the trail, but across a stretch of prairie grass.
+On and on he went, the bit between his teeth and gaining speed at every
+step. In vain Dick yelled at him, kicked him and banged him on the head.
+It was of no use, and he had to cling on for dear life.
+
+"I might as well let him go and jump for it," he thought at last, when
+nearly a mile had been covered. "It's just as useless to try to stop him
+as it would be to stop a limited express. If I jump off--but I won't,
+now!"
+
+For the prairie had been left behind, and the bay was tearing along a
+rocky trail leading to goodness knew where, so Dick thought. A jump now
+would mean broken bones, perhaps death. He clung tighter than ever, and
+tried to calm the horse by speaking gently to him.
+
+At first the beast would not listen, but finally, when several miles had
+been covered he slackened up, and at last dropped into a walk. He was
+covered with foam, and now he was quite willing to be led.
+
+"You old reprobate!" muttered Dick, as he tightened his hold on the
+reins. "Now where in the name of creation have you brought me to, and
+how am I to find my way back to camp from here?"
+
+Sitting upright once again, the youth tried to pierce the darkness. The
+rain had stopped, only a few scattering drops falling upon himself and
+the steaming animal, but the darkness was as great as ever.
+
+On two sides of him were forest lands, on the third a slope of rocks and
+on the fourth a stretch of dwarf grass. The trail, if such it could be
+called, ran along the edge of the timber. Should he follow this? He
+moved along slowly, wondering whether he was right or wrong.
+
+"Halt! Who goes there?"
+
+It was a military challenge, coming out of the darkness. Dick stopped
+the horse, and presently made out the form of a man on horseback, a
+cavalryman.
+
+"I'm a friend who has lost the way," began the youth, when the
+cavalryman let out a cry of surprise.
+
+"Tucker's horse, hang me if it isn't! Boy, where did you get that nag?
+Tucker, Ross, come here! I've collared one of the horse-thieves!"
+
+In a moment more there came the clatter of horses' hoofs through the
+timber, and Dick found himself surrounded by three big and decidedly
+ugly-looking United States cavalrymen--troopers who belonged to a
+detachment set to guard the Oklahoma territory from invasion.
+
+"A boy and a boomer!" ejaculated the fellow named Tucker. "I saw the kid
+over near Arkansas City a couple of days ago. And riding Chester, too!
+Git off that hoss, before I kick you off!"
+
+And riding up he caught Dick by the collar and yanked him to the ground.
+In an instant he was beside the boy and had produced a pair of
+reservation handcuffs.
+
+"Out with your hands, sonny, and be quick about it."
+
+"What for?" asked Dick, somewhat bewildered by the unceremonious way in
+which he was being handled. "I didn't steal that horse."
+
+"Too thin, sonny. All you boomers are a set of thieves, and I suppose
+you think stealing our hossflesh is the rarest kind of a joke. Out with
+those hands, I say, and consider yourself a prisoner of Uncle Sam.
+You've nearly ridden Chester to death and for two pins I'd take the law
+into my own hands and string you up to the nearest tree. Take that!"
+
+And having handcuffed Dick the cavalryman let out with his heavy right
+hand and landed a savage slap that sent the helpless youth headlong at
+his feet.
+
+The blow aroused all of the lion in the youth's makeup. As quickly as he
+could he leaped up.
+
+"You brute!" he cried. "Why don't you fight fair? Take that, and that
+and that!"
+
+Each "that" meant two blows, for Dick could not separate his hands, and
+therefore struck out with both at a time--two in the chest, two on the
+chin and the final pair on either side of Tucker's big and reddish nose.
+The cavalryman, taken by surprise, let out a cry of rage and pain.
+
+"You imp!" he screamed. "To hit a man in uniform! I'll show you what I
+can do! How do you like that?"
+
+With incredible swiftness he drew his heavy Sabra and leaped upon Dick.
+The boy tried to retreat, but slipped on the wet ground and went down.
+On the instant Tucker was upon him, and, with a fierce cry, the
+infuriated cavalryman raised his blade over Dick's head.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+A CAVE AND A CAVE-IN.
+
+
+Let us go back and see what happened to Pawnee Brown at the time the
+lariat parted and he found himself going down into what seemed
+bottomless space.
+
+Instinctively he put out both hands as far as he was able, to grasp
+anything which might come within reach and thereby check his awful
+downward course.
+
+The lantern fell from his fingers and jingled to pieces on a protruding
+rock.
+
+Then his right hand slid over the ends of a bush growing out of a
+fissure. He caught the bush and held on like grim death.
+
+The bush gave way, but not instantly, and his descent was checked so
+that the tumble to the bottom of the hole, fifteen feet further down,
+was not near as bad as it would otherwise have been.
+
+Yet he came down sideways, and his head striking a flat rock, he was
+knocked insensible.
+
+Half an hour went by, and he opened his eyes in a wondering way. Where
+was he and what had happened?
+
+Soon the truth burst upon him, and he staggered to his feet to see if
+any bones had been broken.
+
+"All whole yet, thanks to my usual good luck," he thought. "But that's a
+nasty lump on the back of my head. Hullo, up there!"
+
+He called out as loudly as he could, but no answer came back, for Dick
+and Pumpkin were already gone.
+
+"Well, I always allowed that I would explore the Devil's Chimney some
+day, but I didn't calculate to do it quite so soon," he went on. "What
+can have become of those boys? Have they deserted me or gone off for
+help? If I can read character I fancy that Dick Arbuckle will do all he
+can for me--and, by the way, can his father's corpse really be down
+here?"
+
+He brought forth a match and lit it. The battered lantern lay close at
+hand, and, although without a glass, it was still better than nothing,
+and, turned well up, gave forth a torch-like flame which lit up the
+surroundings for a dozen feet or more. No body was there, nor did he
+find any for the full distance up and down the dismal hole.
+
+"The boy was mistaken; his father wandered elsewhere," was the boomer's
+conclusion. "Poor fellow, he was in no mental or physical condition to
+push his claims in the West. He should have remained at home and allowed
+some hustling Western lawyer to act for him. If he falls into the
+clutches of some of our land agents they'll swindle him out of every
+cent of his fortune. I must give him and the boy the tip when I get the
+chance." The great scout laughed softly. "When I get the chance is good.
+I reckon I had best pull myself out of this man-trap first."
+
+He made a careful investigation of the rocks. At no point was there
+anything which gave promise of a footing to the top.
+
+"In a pocket and no error," he mused. "I wonder if I've got to stay here
+like a bull-croaker at the bottom of a well?"
+
+The rain had formed a long pool between the slanting rocks. He threw a
+chip into this pool and saw that it drifted slowly off between two scrub
+bushes growing partly under a shelving rock.
+
+With the light he made an inspection of the locality, and a cry of
+surprise escaped him. Beyond the bushes was the opening to an irregular,
+but apparently large cavern.
+
+The stream flowed along one side of the flooring to this opening.
+
+"Must be some sort of an outlet beyond," he mused. "I'll try it and
+see," and in a moment more he was inside of the cavern and crawling
+along on hands and knees.
+
+He had not far to go in this fashion. Twenty feet beyond the cavern
+became so large that he could stand up with ease. He flashed the light
+above his head.
+
+"By Jove! a miniature Mammoth Cave of Kentucky!" burst from his lips.
+
+On he went until a bend in the formation of the cavern was gained. Here
+the stream of water disappeared under a pile of loose stones, and the
+opening became less than six feet in height.
+
+"Checked!" he muttered, and his face fell. It looked as if he would have
+to go back the way he had come.
+
+Again he raised his light and gazed about him with more care than ever.
+
+The loose rocks soon caught his attention, and, setting down the
+lantern, he began to pull away first at one and then another.
+
+The last turned back, he saw another opening, evidently leading upward.
+
+"This must lead to the open air--" he began, when a grinding of stone
+caught his ears. In a twinkle a veritable shower of rocks came down
+around his head. He was knocked flat and almost covered.
+
+For fully ten minutes he lay gasping for breath. The blood was flowing
+from a wound on his cheek, and it was a wonder that he had not been
+killed.
+
+"In the future I'll have more care," he groaned, as, throwing first one
+stone and then another aside, he sat up. The falling of the stones had
+been followed by some dirt, and now a regular landslide came after,
+burying him up to the armpits.
+
+"Planted," was the single word which issued from his lips. He was not
+seriously hurt, and was half inclined to laugh at his predicament.
+Still, on the whole, it was no laughing matter, and Pawnee Brown lost no
+time in trying to dig himself free.
+
+The stones and dirt were wedged tightly about his legs, and not wishing
+to run the risk of a broken or twisted ankle, the scout worked with
+care, all the time wondering if Dick Arbuckle was back, and never once
+dreaming of the peril the poor lad was encountering. The rain was
+soaking through the ceiling of the cavern, and the situation was far
+from a comfortable one.
+
+At last he was free again, and striking a match, he hunted up the
+lantern and lit it once more.
+
+The opening to the inner cave was now large enough to pass through with
+ease, and making sure of his footing, the scout moved forward, straining
+his eyes eagerly for some sign of an egress to the outer world.
+
+Presently he saw a number of straggly things dangling downward from the
+rocks and soil overhead.
+
+They were the bottom roots of some great tree standing fifteen or twenty
+feet above.
+
+"Not far from the surface now, that's certain," he thought, with
+considerable satisfaction. "And yet, hang me if I can see an opening of
+any sort yet."
+
+On and on he went, until nearly a hundred feet more had been passed.
+
+The cave had widened out, but now it narrowed once again to less than a
+dozen feet. The roof, too, sloped downward until it occasionally scraped
+the crown of his sombrero.
+
+The light of the lantern began to splutter and flare up, showing that
+the oil in the cup was running low.
+
+"If only the thing lasts until I find the door to this confounded
+prison," he thought.
+
+Suddenly a peculiar hiss sounded out upon the darkness.
+
+Pawnee Brown knew that hiss only too well, and leaping back he snatched
+a pistol from his belt.
+
+The hiss was followed by a rattle, and now, flashing the light around,
+the scout saw upon a flat rock the curled-up form of a huge rattlesnake.
+
+The eyes of the reptile shone like twin stars, and when Pawnee Brown
+discovered him he was getting ready to strike.
+
+The rattler was less than six feet away, and the scout knew that he
+could cover that space with ease. Therefore, whatever was to be done
+must be done quickly.
+
+Like a flash the pistol came up. But ere Pawnee Brown could fire a
+curious thing happened.
+
+A large drop of water, splashing down from the roof of the cavern,
+caused the light to splutter and go out.
+
+The scout was in the dark with his enemy.
+
+More than this, he was boxed up in a narrow place, from which escape was
+well-nigh impossible.
+
+Aiming as best he could under the circumstances, he fired.
+
+The bullet struck the flat rock, bounded up to the side wall of the
+cavern and then hit him in the leg.
+
+"Missed, by thunder!"
+
+He jumped past the spot and moved up the cavern a distance of several
+yards.
+
+A rattle and a whirr followed, as the great rattlesnake made a vicious
+strike in the dark. An intense hiss sounded out when the reptile
+realized that the object of his anger had been missed.
+
+Listening with strained ears, the boomer heard the deadly thing sliding
+slowly from rock to rock, coming closer at every movement.
+
+To flee was impossible, so with bated breath he stood his ground.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+OUT OF THE CAVERN.
+
+
+Slowly but surely the great rattlesnake came closer to where Pawnee
+Brown stood motionless in the darkness of the cavern.
+
+The reptile had been enraged by the shot the great scout fired, and now
+meant to strike, and that fatally.
+
+Listening with ears strained to their utmost, the boomer heard the form
+of the snake slide from rock to rock of the uneven flooring.
+
+The rattler was all of ten feet long and as thick around as a good-sized
+fence rail.
+
+One square strike from those poisonous fangs and Pawnee Brown's hours
+would be numbered.
+
+Yet the scout did not intend to give up his life just now. He still held
+his pistol, four chambers of which were loaded.
+
+"If only I had a light," he thought.
+
+Retreat was out of the question. A single sound and the rattlesnake
+would have been upon him like a flash.
+
+It was only the darkness and the utter silence that made the reptile
+cautious.
+
+Suddenly the scout heard a scraping on the rocks less than three feet in
+front of him.
+
+The time for action had come; another moment and the rattler would be
+wound around his legs.
+
+Crack! crack! Two reports rang out in quick succession and by the flash
+of the first shot Pawnee Brown located those glittering eyes.
+
+The second shot went true to its mark, and the rattler dropped back with
+a hole through its ugly head.
+
+The long, whip like body slashed hither and thither, and the scout had
+to do some lively sprinting to keep from getting a tangle and a squeeze.
+
+As he hopped about he struck a match, picked up the lantern, shook the
+little oil remaining into the wick and lit it. Another shot finished the
+snake and the body curled up into a snarl and a quiver, to bother him no
+more.
+
+It was then that Pawnee Brown paused, drew a deep breath and wiped the
+cold perspiration from his brow.
+
+"By gosh! I've killed fifty rattlers in my time, but never one in this
+fashion," he murmured. "Wonder if there are any more around?"
+
+He knew that these snakes often travel in pairs, and as he went on his
+way he kept his eyes wide open for another attack.
+
+But none came, and now something else claimed his attention.
+
+The cavern was coming to an end. The side walls closed in to less than
+three feet, and the flooring sloped up so that he had to crouch down and
+finally go forward on his hands and knees.
+
+The lantern now went out for good, every drop of oil being exhausted.
+
+At this juncture many a man would have halted and turned back to where
+he had come from, but such was not Pawnee Brown's intention.
+
+"I'll see the thing through," he muttered. "I'd like to know how far I
+am from the surface of the ground."
+
+A dozen yards further and the cavern become so small that additional
+progress was impossible.
+
+He placed his hand above him and encountered nothing but dirt, with here
+and there a small stone.
+
+With care he began to dig away at the dirt with his knife. Less than a
+foot of the cavern ceiling had thus been dug away when the point of the
+knife brought down a small stream of water.
+
+Feeling certain he was now close to the surface, he continued to work
+with renewed vigor.
+
+"At last!"
+
+The scout was right. The knife had found the outer air, and a dim,
+uncertain light struck down upon the hero of the plains.
+
+It did not take long to enlarge the opening sufficiently to admit the
+passage of Pawnee Brown's body.
+
+He leaped out among a number of bushes and stretched himself.
+
+Having brushed the dirt from his wet clothing, he "located himself," as
+he put it, and started up a hill to the entrance to the Devil's Chimney.
+
+He was on the side opposite to that from which he had descended, and, in
+order to get over, had to make a wide detour through some brush and
+small timber.
+
+This accomplished, he hurried to where he had left Bonnie Bird tethered.
+
+As the reader knows, the beautiful mare was gone, and had been for some
+time.
+
+"I suppose that young Arbuckle took her," he mused. "But, if so, why
+doesn't he come back here with her?"
+
+There being no help for it, the scout set off for the camp of the
+boomers on foot.
+
+He was just entering the temporary settlement when he came face to face
+with Jack Rasco, another of the boomers.
+
+"Pawnee!" shouted the boomer, "You air jess the man I want ter see. Hev
+ye sot eyes on airy o' the Arbuckles?"
+
+"I'm looking for Dick Arbuckle now," answered the scout. "Isn't he in
+the camp? I thought he came here with my mare?"
+
+"He ain't nowhar. Rosy Delaney says he went off with Pumpkin to look for
+his dad, who had disappeared----"
+
+"Then he didn't come back? What can have become of him and Bonnie Bird?"
+Pawnee Brown's face grew full of concern. "Something is wrong around
+here, Jack," he continued, and told the boomer of what had happened up
+at the Devil's Chimney. "First it's the father, and now it's the son and
+my mare. I must investigate this."
+
+"I'm with yer, Pawnee--with yer to the end. Yer know thet."
+
+"Yes, Jack; you are one of the few men I know I can trust in everything.
+But two of us are not enough. If harm has befallen the Arbuckles it is
+the duty of the whole camp--or, at least, every man in it--to try to
+sift matters to the bottom."
+
+"Right ye air, Pawnee. I'll raise a hullabaloo and rouse 'em up."
+
+Jack Rasco was as good as his word. Going from wagon to wagon, he shook
+the sleepers and explained matters. In less than a quarter of an hour a
+dozen stalwart boomers were in the saddle, while Jack Rasco brought
+forth an extra horse of his own for Brown's use.
+
+"Has anybody seen the dunce?" questioned the scout.
+
+No one had since he had gone off with Dick to look for the so-called
+ghost.
+
+"We will divide up into parties of two," said Pawnee Brown, and this was
+done, and soon he and Jack Rasco were bounding over the trail leading
+toward the Indian Territory, while others were setting off in the
+direction of Arkansas City and elsewhere.
+
+"Something curious about them air Arbuckles," observed Rasco as they
+flew along side by side. "Mortimer Arbuckle said as how he was coming
+hyer fer his health, but kick me ef I kin see it."
+
+"I think myself the man has an axe to grind," responded the leader of
+the boomers. "You know he came West to see about some land."
+
+"Oh, I know thet. But thar's somethin' else, sure ez shootin' ez
+shootin', Pawnee. It kinder runs in my noddle thet he is a'lookin' fer
+somebuddy."
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Ah, thar's where ye hev got me. But I'll tell ye something. One night
+when the boy wuz over ter Arkansas City the old man war sleeping in the
+wagon, an' he got a nightmare. He clenched his fists an' begun ter moan
+an' groan. 'Don't say I did it, Bolange,' he moans. 'Don't say
+that--it's an awful crime! Don't put the blood on my head!' an' a lot
+more like thet, till my blood most run cold an' I shook him ter make him
+wake up. Now, don't thet look like he had something on his mind?"
+
+"It certainly does, and yet the man is not quite right in his upper
+story, although I wouldn't tell the son that, Rasco. But what was the
+name he mentioned?"
+
+"Bolange, or Volange, or something like thet. It seems ter me he
+hollered out Louis onct, too."
+
+A sudden light shone in the great scout's eyes. He gripped his companion
+by the arm.
+
+"Try to think, Jack. Did Arbuckle speak the name of Vorlange--Louis
+Vorlange?"
+
+"By gosh! Pawnee, you hev struck it--Vorlange, ez plain ez day. Do yer
+know the man?"
+
+"Do I know him?" Pawnee Brown drew a long breath. "Jack, I believe I
+once told you about my schoolboy days at Wellington and elsewhere before
+I left home to take up a life on the cattle trails?"
+
+"Yes, Pawnee. From all accounts you wuz cut out for a schoolmaster,
+instead of a leader of us boomers."
+
+"I was a professor once at the Indian Industrial school at Pawnee
+Agency. That is where I got to be called Pawnee Brown, and where the
+Pawnees became so friendly that they made me their white chief. But I
+aspired to something more than teaching and more than cow punching in
+those boyhood days at Wellington; I wanted to have a try at entrance to
+West Point and follow in the footsteps of Grant and Custer, and fellows
+of that sort."
+
+"Ye deserved it, I'll bet, Pawnee."
+
+"I worked hard for it, and at last I got a chance to compete at the
+examination. Among the other boys who competed was Louis Vorlange. He
+had been the bully of our school, and more than once we had fought, and
+twice I had sent him to bed with a head that was nearly broken. He hated
+me accordingly, and swore I should not win the prize I coveted."
+
+"Did he try, too?"
+
+"Yes, but he was outclassed from the start, for, although he was sly and
+shrewd, book learning was too much for him. The examination came off,
+and I got left, through Vorlange, who stole my papers and changed many
+of my answers. I didn't learn of this until it was too late. My chance
+of going to West Point fell through. There was nothing to do but to
+thrash Vorlange, and the day before I left home I gave him a licking
+that I'll wager he'll remember to the day of his death. As it was, he
+tried to shoot me, but I collared the pistol, and for that dastardly
+attack knocked two of his teeth down his throat."
+
+"Served him right, Pawnee. But I don't see whar--"
+
+"Hold on a minute, Jack. I said Vorlange didn't go to West Point; but he
+was strong with the politicians, and as soon as he was old enough he got
+a position under the government, and now I understand he is somewhere
+around the Indian Territory acting as a spy for the land department."
+
+"By gosh! I see. An' ye think Mortimer Arbuckle knows this same chap?"
+
+"It would look so. If I can read faces, the old man is innocent of
+wrong-doing, and if that is so and there is the secret of a crime
+between him and Louis Vorlange you can wager Vorlange is the guilty
+party."
+
+"Pawnee, you hev a head on yer shoulders fit fer a judge, hang me ef ye
+ain't," burst out Jack Rasco admiringly. "I wish yer would talk to
+Arbuckle the next time he turns up. Mebbe yer kin lift a weight off o'
+his shoulders. The poor old fellow--creation! wot's that?"
+
+Jack Rasco stopped short and pulled up his horse. A wild, unearthly
+scream rent the air, rising and falling on the wind of the night. The
+scream was followed by a burst of laughter which was truly demoniacal.
+
+Pawnee Brown pulled his horse up on his haunches. What was this new
+mystery which confronted him?
+
+Again the cry rang out; but now the scout recognized it and a faint
+smile shone upon his face.
+
+"It's the dunce," he exclaimed. "Pumpkin! Pumpkin! Come here!"
+
+A moment of silence followed and he called again. Then from the brush
+which grew among the rocks emerged the form of the half-witted boy.
+
+"Pumpkin, where is Dick Arbuckle?" questioned Pawnee Brown, leaping to
+the ground and catching the lad by his arm.
+
+"Lemme go! I didn't hurt him!" screamed Pumpkin. "He went that way--like
+the wind--on a bay horse which was running away. Oh, he's killed, I know
+he is!"
+
+"You are sure of this?"
+
+"Hope to die if it ain't so. Poor Dick! He'll be pitched off and smashed
+up like his father was smashed up. Hurry, and maybe you can catch him."
+
+"I believe the dunce speaks the truth," broke in Jack Rasco.
+
+"How long ago was this?"
+
+"Not more'n an hour. Hurry up if you want to save him," and with a yell
+such as he had uttered before, Pumpkin disappeared.
+
+Pawnee Brown and Rasco wasted no more time. Whipping up their steeds,
+they set off on a rapid gallop in the direction the runaway horse had
+pursued.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE CAVALRYMEN.
+
+
+Let us rejoin Dick Arbuckle at the time that the incensed cavalryman,
+Tucker, was about to attack the hapless lad with his heavy Sabra.
+
+Had the cruel blow fallen as intended it is beyond dispute that Dick
+would have been severely injured.
+
+"Don't!" cried the boy, and then closed his eyes at the terrible thought
+of such dire punishment so close at hand.
+
+But just at that instant an interruption came from out of the darkness
+of the brush.
+
+"Hello, there! What are you up to?"
+
+Tucker started, and the Sabra was turned aside to bury itself in the
+exposed roots of a tree.
+
+"If it ain't Pawnee Brown!" muttered another cavalryman, Ross by name.
+
+"Pawnee Brown!" burst from Dick's lips, joyfully, and, rising, he
+attempted to rush toward his friend.
+
+"Not so fast, boy!" howled Tucker, and caught the youth by the collar.
+
+"What's the meaning of this? What are you doing to that boy?" asked
+Pawnee Brown as he rode closer, with Rasco beside him.
+
+"He's a horse thief, and we are going to take him to our camp," answered
+Tucker, somewhat uneasily, for he had seen Pawnee Brown before and knew
+he had a man of strong character with whom to deal.
+
+"A horse thief!" ejaculated Jack Rasco. "Say, sod'ger, yer crazy! Thet
+boy a thief! Wall, by gum!"
+
+"That boy is no thief," put in Pawnee Brown. "He belongs to our camp,
+and is as square as they make them--I'll vouch for it."
+
+"I ain't taking the word of any boomer," muttered Tucker sourly. "That
+kid--hold on! Don't shoot!"
+
+And he dropped back in terror, for the great scout had drawn his pistol
+like a flash.
+
+"You'll take my word or take something else," came the stiff response.
+"Be quick, now, and say which you choose."
+
+"I didn't mean any harm, Pawnee. Maybe you don't know it, but the boy is
+a thief just the same. We just caught him riding my horse--this bay. My
+comrades can prove it."
+
+"It's true," said Ross.
+
+"True as gospel," added Skimmy, the third cavalryman. "We caught him
+less than half an hour ago."
+
+Without answering to this, Pawnee Brown turned to the youth.
+
+"Tell me your yarn, Dick. I know there is some mistake here."
+
+"There is not much to tell, Major. When the lariat broke up at the
+Devil's Chimney and I couldn't make you reply to my calls I ran off to
+get help and a rope. I intended to ride your mare back to camp, but when
+I got to where the mare had been tethered I found her gone and this bay
+loafing around in her place. I got on the bay, but, instead of riding to
+camp, the animal ran away with me and brought me here. These fellows
+were mighty rough on me, and that man was going to split my head open
+when you came along in the nick of time."
+
+"That's a neat fairy tale," sneered Tucker. "This horse was stolen four
+hours ago. More than likely the boy couldn't manage him and lost his way
+and the horse tried to get back to where he belonged."
+
+"That doesn't connect with what I know," answered Pawnee Brown, quietly.
+"My mare was tethered where he went to look for her. I might as well
+accuse you of riding down there, taking Bonnie Bird and leaving this nag
+in her place."
+
+"Do you mean to insinuate we are horse thieves?" cried Ross hotly.
+
+"I'm giving you as good as you send, that's all. Dick, have you any idea
+where Bonnie Bird is?"
+
+"Not the slightest, sir."
+
+The great scout heaved a sigh. The little racing mare was the very apple
+of his eye.
+
+"I'll not give up the hunt until I have found her." He turned again to
+the cavalrymen. "If the finest little black mare, with a white blaze,
+that you ever saw strays into your camp remember she belongs to me," he
+went on. "I want her returned at once, and if anybody attempts to keep
+her there will be a hotter time than this Territory has seen for many a
+day. Dick, hop up behind me," and he turned to his horse.
+
+"That boy is to remain here," blustered Tucker, growing red in the face.
+
+"Hardly, my bantam. Hop up, Dick, and we'll strike back for camp before
+the sun comes up and see if the others who are on the search have seen
+anything of your father. I saw nothing of him at the bottom of the
+Devil's Chimney."
+
+"I'm not going to have a lazy, good-for-nothing boomer lay it over
+me----" began Tucker, when once more the sight of Pawnee Brown's pistol
+silenced him.
+
+No more was said as the scout, Dick and Rasco rode away down the trail
+by which they had come. But, once out of sight, Tucker raised his fist
+and shook it savagely.
+
+"I'll get square with you some day, Pawnee Brown, mark my words!" he
+muttered between his set teeth.
+
+"We'll all get square," said Ross. "I hate the sight of that man."
+
+"I understand the boomers have made him their leader," broke in Skimmy.
+"If they have, he'll try to break through to Oklahoma as sure as guns
+are guns."
+
+"And he'll get shot, too," answered Tucker dryly. "The lieutenant is
+having all of the boomers' movements watched."
+
+"Pawnee Brown will do his level best to give us the slip, see if he
+don't," remarked Skimmy. "Four thousand boomers wouldn't make him their
+leader for nothing."
+
+Thus, talking among themselves, the three cavalrymen mounted their
+horses and rode back to their various picket stations along the boundary
+line of the Indian Territory.
+
+They were a detachment of the Seventh United States Cavalry, and the
+lieutenant referred to by Tucker was in command.
+
+For over a month they had been watching the boomers assembling in
+Kansas. Other portions of the United States troops were watching the
+would-be Oklahoma settlers in Arkansas and Texas.
+
+There was every prospect of a lively time ahead, and it was not far off.
+
+Reaching his station, Tucker drew from his pocket a briar-root pipe,
+filled and lit it and began to puff away meditatively.
+
+His face had been ugly before, but now as he began to meditate it grew
+blacker than ever.
+
+"Hang me, if everything ain't going wrong," he muttered. "I won't stand
+it. I'll make a kick, and when I do----" He paused as a shadow among the
+trees caught his eye. "Who goes there?" he called out and drew his
+pistol.
+
+"A friend. Tucker, is that you?"
+
+"Vorlange!" cried the cavalryman, and the next moment the newcomer and
+the military man were face to face.
+
+"It's about time you showed up," growled Tucker, after a brief pause,
+during which the newcomer looked at him anxiously. "Say, Vorlange, when
+do you intend to settle up with me. Give it to me straight, now."
+
+"That's why I left the trail to hunt you up, Tucker--I knew you were
+anxious about that five hundred dollars."
+
+"Why shouldn't I be? It took me a long time to save it--a good sight
+longer than it did for you to gamble it away."
+
+"Tucker, I didn't gamble that away--I'll swear it. I used it in
+business."
+
+"Business? What business have you got outside of your position as a land
+office spy?"
+
+"A good business, if you only knew it. I've been following up a little
+deal that started in the East--in New York. Out there I had to hire a
+fellow I could trust to work for me, and that took most of the money.
+But the whole thing is coming my way now, and I want to talk things over
+with you. How would you like to have a thousand back in return for the
+five hundred you loaned me?"
+
+"What sort of a game are you working on me now?"
+
+"A square deal, Tucker. I've been keeping my eye on you, and I reckon
+you are the fellow to do what I want done."
+
+"And what do you want done?"
+
+Vorlange stepped closer.
+
+"The boomers are going to try to cross into Oklahoma either to-morrow or
+day after. There will be a fight, I am certain of it, and somebody will
+be shot and killed. When you fire I want you to pick out your man--two
+men--or, rather, a man and a boy, if you can do it. I may be on hand to
+take part myself, but there is a possibility that I may be ordered
+elsewhere."
+
+"And you are willing to pay me five hundred extra for picking out my
+target, Vorlange?"
+
+"You've struck it."
+
+"Who is the man?"
+
+"Can I trust you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Pawnee Brown."
+
+At the mention of the great scout's name Tucker started back.
+
+"Why--why do you want him knocked over?"
+
+"He is my enemy. I have hated him from my boyhood!" cried Louis
+Vorlange. "And there are other reasons--he stands in the way of my
+pushing the scheme I mentioned."
+
+"Pawnee Brown was here but a short while ago. He insulted and abused
+me," growled Tucker. "I'll put a bullet through him quick enough if I
+get the chance--that is, in a skirmish. I don't want to run any risk of
+being strung up for--you know."
+
+"The shooting will be O. K., Tucker, and I'll help if I'm not ordered
+away. Do it and the five hundred extra are yours, I'll give you my
+word."
+
+"What about that boy you mentioned?"
+
+"His name is Dick Arbuckle. He is----"
+
+"Dick Arbuckle? I know him. He stole my horse. I captured him and Pawnee
+Brown came to his rescue and made me, Ross and Skimmy give him up," and
+Tucker gave the particulars in his own version of the affair.
+
+"Then you bear the lad no love?"
+
+"Love?" The cavalryman grated his teeth. "I was wishing I could get a
+shot at him."
+
+"Then keep that wish in mind, Tucker, when the time for action arrives."
+
+"If it's worth five hundred to you to have Pawnee Brown knocked over it
+ought to be worth more to have both of 'em laid low," suggested Tucker,
+who was naturally a grasping fellow.
+
+"Five hundred in cold cash is a good deal in these times," was the slow
+answer. "But I'll tell you what I'll do. If, after a fight, you can
+bring me absolute proof that Pawnee Brown and Dick Arbuckle are dead
+I'll give you an even twelve hundred dollars, the five hundred I
+borrowed and seven hundred extra. There's my hand on it. What do you
+say?"
+
+"Will you promise to give me the money as soon as you have the proofs?"
+
+"I will," and Louis Vorlange raised his right hand as though to make
+good such a blasphemous promise.
+
+"All right, then; I take you up," answered Tucker.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+DICK'S HUNT.
+
+
+"Don't you take it so hard, my lad; I feel certain that your father will
+turn up sooner or later."
+
+It was Pawnee Brown who spoke. He addressed Dick, who sat on a horse
+belonging to Jack Rasco. The pair had been scouring the plains and the
+woods for three hours in search of Dick's father.
+
+"Poor father! If only I knew what had become of him!" sighed the lad.
+
+In his anxiety he had forgotten all about his adventures among the
+cavalrymen who had sought to detain him as a horse thief.
+
+"It's a mystery, thet's what it is," burst in Jack Rasco.
+
+"It looks loike the hivens hed opened an' swalleyed him up," was Mike
+Delaney's comment. "Be jabbers, we all know th' hivens was wide open
+enough last noight. Me turn-out is afther standin' in two foot o' wather,
+an' Rosy raisin' the mischief because she can't go out. 'Moike,' sez
+she, 'Moike Delaney, git a boat or Oi'll be drowned,' an' niver a boat
+in sight. Th' ould woman will have to shtay in the wagon till the wather
+runs off of itself."
+
+"I wonder if it is possible my poor father wandered into town," mused
+Dick. "Perhaps he did that and was locked up by the police. He is--well,
+you know he gets strange spells," and the youth's face flushed.
+
+"Run into town, lad, and make a search," answered the boomer. "If I and
+Rasco get the chance we'll follow. We shan't strike camp for several
+hours yet."
+
+Dick thought this good advice and was soon on his way. The rain had
+stopped entirely and the sun was just peeping up over the distant plains
+when he entered Arkansas City and began his hunt.
+
+A visit to the police station speedily revealed the fact that nothing
+was known there concerning his missing parent. Here Dick left a
+description of his father, and was promised that if anything was
+discovered of the man word would be sent to him immediately.
+
+Having ridden around to the depot, hotels and other public places, Dick
+tied up his steed and began a hunt through the various streets, looking
+into the doors of the stores and saloons as he passed.
+
+His footsteps soon brought him down to the vicinity of the river front.
+Here, situated along several blocks, were a number of eating and
+drinking houses, patronized principally by river men, gamblers and
+similar persons.
+
+Having satisfied himself, with a sigh of relief, that his father was not
+in any of the saloons, the youth came to a halt in front of a
+restaurant. He had not eaten anything since the evening before, and his
+night of adventures had made him decidedly hungry.
+
+"I'll get a cup of coffee and some rolls to brace me up," he thought,
+and entered the establishment. His order was soon given, and he took a
+seat at a side table, close to a thin board partition.
+
+His order served, he was disposing of the last of it, when the sound of
+voices on the other side of the partition attracted his attention.
+
+"Leave me alone, Juan Donomez!" came in the voice of a girl. "You have
+no right to touch me."
+
+"You are too pretty to be left alone," came in the slick tones of a
+Mexican vaquero. "Come, now, senorita, give me just one kiss."
+
+"I will not, and you must leave me alone," went on the girl, and her
+trembling voice showed plainly that she was much frightened. "Where is
+the man who sent for me?"
+
+"He is not here yet."
+
+"I do not believe he sent for me at all. It was a trick of yours to get
+me here. Let me go."
+
+"Not yet, senorita; you can go after a while. But first you must give me
+a kiss. Then I will explain why I had you come."
+
+As the last words were uttered Dick heard a scurry of feet, then came a
+faint scream, cut short by the Mexican. The boy waited to hear no more.
+
+"The contemptible greaser!" he muttered and leaped up. Throwing down the
+amount of his check on the cashier's desk he hurried from the
+restaurant. As he had supposed there was a hallway next door, where the
+talking he had overheard was taking place.
+
+"Oh, save me!" cried the girl, and one glance at her told Dick that she
+was not over sixteen and as beautiful as any maiden he had ever seen.
+She was attired in true western style and wore on her mass of shining
+curls a big, soft riding hat.
+
+"Let that young lady alone," cried the youth to the Mexican, who glared
+at him savagely. "I overheard your talk, and if she wants to leave she
+shall do it."
+
+"Oh, thank you for coming to my aid," burst out the girl gratefully.
+"This bad man----"
+
+"Say no more, Nellie Winthrop," interrupted the Mexican. "Go to the
+rear. I will attend to this cub who dares to interfere with my
+business."
+
+And he shoved the girl behind him. His roughness made Dick's blood boil
+over, and, rushing forward, he put out his foot, gave a push, and Juan
+Donomez measured his length upon the floor.
+
+During the encounter Nellie Winthrop had escaped to the front end of the
+hallway, and here Dick now joined her.
+
+"We might as well go," said the youth.
+
+"Yes, yes; let us get out as quickly as we can," answered the girl
+trembling. "He may attempt to attack you."
+
+"I ought to hand him over to the authorities, but I won't," said Dick.
+"Come," and he opened the door and followed her to the street.
+
+"I shall never forget you for your kindness," the girl burst out as soon
+as they had left the vicinity of the spot where the trouble had
+occurred. "You are very brave, Mr.----"
+
+"I'm only Dick Arbuckle, Miss----"
+
+"Nellie Winthrop is my name. I just reached Arkansas City yesterday. I
+am from Peoria, and am looking for my uncle, who is somewhere among the
+Oklahoma boomers."
+
+"Indeed! I'm one of the boomers myself--at least, I've been with them a
+good part of the time. Perhaps I know your uncle. What is his name?"
+
+"John Rasco, but I believe the men all call him Jack Rasco."
+
+"Why, is it possible! I know Jack Rasco well--in fact, my father and I
+have been stopping with him ever since we came on from New York. As soon
+as the rush into Oklahoma was over my father was going to get your uncle
+to locate a certain mine claim in the West for him--a claim that belongs
+to us, but which can't be located very easily, it seems."
+
+"And where is my uncle now?" demanded Nellie Winthrop.
+
+"At the boomers' camp, I suppose. You see," went on Dick, his face
+falling, "there is something wrong afoot." And in a few words he told of
+his father's disappearance and of the search being made to find him.
+
+"I sincerely trust he is safe," said Nellie when he had concluded. "I
+presume you want to resume your search. Do not let me detain you. If you
+are among the boomers we will certainly meet again," and she held out
+her hand.
+
+"Do you feel safe enough to find the camp alone?" he asked. "Perhaps I
+had better take you there. It is about a mile in that direction," and he
+indicated the locality with a wave of his hand.
+
+"I feel safe enough in the open air," she smiled. "It was only when that
+Mexican had me cornered in a dark hallway that I felt alarmed. I was
+born and brought up on the plains, and I've been to Peoria only to get
+educated, as they say. I've a horse at the livery stable, and I can ride
+the distance."
+
+"May I ask how you fell in with that greaser?"
+
+"I think he overheard me asking for my uncle at the hotel, and after
+that he sent a note saying my uncle was at the place where you found me.
+I saw him first on the train, where he tried his best to get some
+information from me about some horses. But I told him little," concluded
+the girl.
+
+Five minutes later they parted at the livery stable, where Nellie had
+left her horse, and Dick went on his way to continue his search for his
+lost parent. The girl had thanked him again for what he had done and had
+squeezed his hand so warmly that his heart thumped pretty hard, while
+his face was flushed more than ever before.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+OUT ON THE RIVER.
+
+
+For over half an hour longer Dick tramped the streets of the city
+looking for some trace of his father.
+
+Presently he found himself down by the docks along the muddy river. The
+stream was much swollen, and the few boats tied up were bumping freely
+against the shore as the current swung them in.
+
+"I wonder if father could have come down here?" he mused. "He had a
+great fondness for the water when he got those strange spells."
+
+Slowly and with eyes wide open he moved down the river shore, ready to
+seize upon any evidence which might present itself.
+
+Suddenly he uttered a cry and leaped down into a rowboat lying before,
+him.
+
+"Father's hat! I'd know it among a thousand!"
+
+Dick was right. There on the stern seat of the craft rested the
+head-covering Mortimer Arbuckle had worn ever since he had left New
+York.
+
+The tears stood in the youth's eyes as he picked up the hat and
+inspected it. One side of the brim was covered with dirt, and it was
+still soaked from the rain.
+
+"Poor father! Is it possible he fell overboard?"
+
+Dick said "fell overboard," but he thought something else. He knew as
+well as anybody that his father did strange things while under the
+influence of the melancholy spells which at times haunted him.
+
+He looked up and down the stream. Nothing was in sight but the boats and
+here and there a mass of driftwood.
+
+He sat down on the seat and covered his face with his hands.
+
+"Say, boy, wot yer doin' in my boat?"
+
+It was a burly fellow standing upon the shore who asked the question.
+
+"Excuse me; I am looking for my father, who is missing. I just found his
+hat on the seat here. Did you see anything of him?"
+
+"Missing, eh--an' thet's his headgear? Say, boy, thet's no laughin'
+matter," and the burly fellow looked at the youth kindly.
+
+"I know it. I am afraid he tumbled overboard. He had times when he
+wasn't feeling quite right in his head."
+
+The burly individual whistled softly to himself. "Then I reckon Sary was
+right, arter all," he half mused.
+
+"Sary? Who do you mean?"
+
+"Sary's my wife. She woke me up about five o'clock this mornin'. We live
+up in the shanty yonder. Sary said she heard somebody moanin' an'
+yellin' down here. I said she wuz dreamin', but I allow now ez I might
+hev been mistook, eh?"
+
+"You didn't come out to investigate?"
+
+"No; it war too stormy. I listened, but there wuz no more of the noise
+arter Sary waked me up. If yer father fell overboard I'm mighty sorry
+fer yer. If he did go over his body must be a long way down stream by
+this time."
+
+"Poor father!" It was all Dick could say. He and his parent had been
+alone in the wide world, and now to think that his only relative was
+gone was almost beyond endurance.
+
+"Take the boat and go down if yer want to," went on the burly
+individual. "Ye can leave the craft at Woolley's mill. I'd go along,
+only the old woman's took sick an' I've got to hustle fer a doctor."
+
+"I will take a look around in the boat," answered Dick, and, having
+procured the oars, he set off. The current was so strong it was not
+necessary to use the blades, and he had all he could do to keep the
+craft from spinning around and dashing itself against the shore or the
+other boats which lay along both banks.
+
+On and on the rowboat sped, until about a quarter of a mile had been
+covered. Nothing unusual had yet been noted, yet the boy kept his eyes
+strained for some sign of his father, praying inwardly that all might
+still be well with the only one who was left to him.
+
+"If father is dead, what shall I do?" he thought with a shiver. "He had
+all of our money with him, all of those precious papers, everything. I
+would be left a pauper, and, worse than that, without a single relative
+in the wide world. Oh, pray Heaven he is spared to me!"
+
+"Look out there, youngster!"
+
+It was a wild cry, coming from a bend in the stream. Dick had been
+gazing across the river. Now he turned to behold his craft rushing
+swiftly toward the trunk of a half-submerged tree which the storm had
+torn away from the shore.
+
+The river was almost a torrent at this place.
+
+He grasped the oars, intending to turn the boat from its mad course. But
+the action came too late. Crash! The craft struck a sharp branch of the
+tree with fearful force, staving in the bow completely, and the next
+instant the boy was hurled headlong into the boiling and foaming
+current.
+
+[Illustration: "The next instant the boy was hurled headlong into
+the boiling and foaming current"]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+EXPOSING A SWINDLER.
+
+
+It was less than an hour after separating from Dick Arbuckle that Pawnee
+Brown found his way to Arkansas City.
+
+He was accompanied by Jack Rasco and Cal Clemmer, and the great scout's
+object was not alone to aid Dick in the search for Mortimer Arbuckle,
+but also to help Cal Clemmer get back some money out of which the cowboy
+boomer claimed he had been swindled.
+
+Clemmer had played cards with a certain sharp known as Pete Stillwater,
+and lost two hundred and fifty dollars. At first he had imagined he had
+lost it fairly enough, but after thoughts, coupled with what he heard on
+the sly the next day, made him certain that Stillwater had cheated him.
+
+He had brought his case to Pawnee Brown, and the leader of the boomers
+at once concluded that the gambler had not acted fairly. He had met
+Stillwater at Wichita, where the gambler's reputation was far from
+savory.
+
+"You were a fool to bet at cards, Cal," he said flatly. "But that is no
+reason why Stillwater should cheat you. I'll do what I can, but you must
+promise to leave playing for high stakes alone in the future."
+
+"Don't yer fear, Pawnee," was Clemmer's ready reply. "A scorched Injun
+keeps hez distance from the blaze, don't he? Wall, I'm the scorched
+Injun in this air case. Git back my money fer me an' I won't play
+nothin' higher then penny-ante ez long ez I live."
+
+The gambling resort at which Stillwater was holding forth was soon
+reached, and the three entered, to find the place comfortably crowded by
+boomers, men-about-town, cowboys and gamblers, all anxious to add to
+their wealth without working. As Pawnee Brown surveyed the assemblage
+his lip curled with a sarcasm which was by no means displaced.
+
+"Poor fools!" he thought; "they expect to win, and nine-tenths of them
+are bound in the end to be fleeced out of all they possess. Why men who
+have brains will throw away good money in this fashion is more than I
+can understand."
+
+"Thar's Stillwater," whispered Cal Clemmer. "Hang hez hide, I'd like ter
+wring hez neck fer him."
+
+"Better wring his money bag first," smiled Pawnee Brown.
+
+Without hesitation he called Stillwater outside and explained the
+situation.
+
+"You can say what you please, Stillwater," he said. "I am certain you
+have been cheating, for I know your past record. You must restore that
+money and do it right away."
+
+A stormy war of words followed, but Pawnee Brown was firm and at last
+Stillwater gave up about a hundred dollars--all he had with him.
+
+He went off vowing vengeance and when at a safe distance turned and drew
+a pistol from his pocket.
+
+"He's going to shoot ye!" cried one of the boomers, but Stillwater was
+afraid to fire. As Pawnee Brown started after him on a run the gambler
+fled toward the river.
+
+"Let us go after him!" cried one of the others, and away they went. Soon
+they came in sight of the river and saw Stillwater in a small craft,
+sculling his way to the opposite shore. Presently a bend in the stream
+hid him from view.
+
+"Hullo!" sang out Pawnee Brown. "Here comes another rowboat, and--yes,
+there is Dick Arbuckle in it. What can he be doing on the river?"
+
+"The boat is makin' fer thet half-sunk tree!" interrupted Cal Clemmer.
+"He'll strike ef he don't look out! Heavens!"
+
+"Look out there, youngster!" yelled Pawnee Brown, and those were the
+words which attracted Dick's attention, as mentioned in the former
+chapter.
+
+It was useless to say more. Standing upon the bank, Pawnee Brown and the
+cowboy boomer saw the craft strike and go to pieces and saw Dick thrown
+out into the madly rushing current.
+
+As the boy sped along his head came into painful contact with the
+furthest of the tree branches, and he was partially stunned. His eyes
+closed and he struck out wildly and ineffectually.
+
+"He'll be drowned!" gasped Clemmer. "It would take a strong swimmer to
+gain the bank with the water runnin' ez it is to-day."
+
+"I don't believe he could catch a rope," answered Pawnee Brown, starting
+off down the river bank. "Cal, hunt one up somewhere; I'm going in after
+him!"
+
+"But the risk----"
+
+"Never mind the risk. Get the rope if you can," and away went the scout
+again.
+
+"Help!" came faintly from Dick. He was dazed and weak, and could hardly
+see in what direction the shore really was.
+
+"Keep up, boy, and we'll save you!" shouted Pawnee Brown encouragingly.
+
+Reaching a spot twenty or thirty feet below where Dick was drifting, he
+threw off his hat and coat and leaped into the stream.
+
+Down he went over his head, to come up a second later and strike out
+powerfully for the youth. The cold water chilled him, but to this he
+paid no attention. He had taken a fancy to Dick, and was resolved to
+save the boy at any cost.
+
+Nearer and nearer he came. It was a tough struggle, for in the bend of
+the swollen stream the water boiled and foamed upon all sides. He was
+yet ten feet away from Dick, when he saw the youth sink beneath the
+surface.
+
+"Gone!" he thought, and made a leap and a dive. His outstretched hand
+came in contact with Dick's left arm, and he dragged his burden upward.
+
+"Keep cool, Dick," he said when he could speak. "Can't you swim?"
+
+"Yes, but not extra well," panted the half-drowned lad. "I struck my
+head upon something."
+
+"Then lay hold of my shoulder and I'll keep you up. Steady, now, or the
+current will send us around like two tops."
+
+No more was said, as both felt they must save their breath. With Dick
+clinging loosely, so as not to hinder his swimming, Pawnee Brown struck
+out for the shore.
+
+It was perilous work, for other trees and obstructions were upon every
+hand, and more than once both were torn and scratched as they sped by in
+what was little short of a whirlpool.
+
+"Catch the rope!" suddenly came from Clemmer, and a noose whizzed in the
+air and fell close beside the pair. Both Pawnee Brown and Dick did as
+requested, and the cowboy boomer began to haul in with all the strength
+at his command. It was hard work, but Clemmer was equal to it, and
+presently those in the water came close enough to gain a footing, and
+then the peril was over.
+
+Dick's story was soon told, to which the great scout added that of his
+own.
+
+"I shall not attempt to follow up Stillwater," Pawnee Brown concluded.
+"It is high time I got back to camp, for let me tell you, privately, we
+move westward to-day. You may continue the hunt for your father or come
+with me, just as you choose. It is possible you may find some trace of
+him around here, but it is doubtful to me, after such a storm. It's hard
+lines, boy, but cheer up; things may not be as bad as you imagine," and
+he laid a dripping but affectionate arm upon Dick's shoulder.
+
+"I will stay here for a while, at least," answered Dick. "But--but I am
+without a cent, and----"
+
+"How much do you want, Dick?" and Pawnee Brown's pocketbook came out
+without delay.
+
+"If you will lend me ten dollars----"
+
+"Here are twenty. When you want more let me know. Now, goodbye, and good
+luck to you."
+
+And the next minute Pawnee Brown and Clemmer were gone. Dick watched
+them out of sight and a warm feeling went over his heart.
+
+"The major is as generous as he is brave," he murmured. "He is one scout
+of a thousand. No wonder all the boomers asked him to lead them in this
+expedition."
+
+Ten minutes later Dick was drying himself at the fire in a house near
+by. Hearing his tale of misfortune, the man who took him in insisted
+upon treating him to some hot coffee, which did a good bit toward making
+him feel once more like himself.
+
+"It may be a wild-goose chase, but I can't give it up," he muttered as
+he continued his search by walking along the river bank. "Poor father,
+where can he be?"
+
+The outskirts of the city had been left behind and he was making his way
+through a tangle of brush and over shelving rocks. A bend was passed and
+he gave a wild cry.
+
+And small wonder. There on the river bank lay the motionless form of his
+parent, dripping yet with the water of the river. The eyes were closed
+as if in death. With a moan Dick threw himself forward and caught one of
+the cold hands within his own. Then he placed his ear to his parent's
+heart.
+
+"Too late! He is gone!" he wailed. "Poor, poor father, dead after all!
+Oh, if only I had died with you!" and he sank back utterly overcome.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+MIKE AND THE MULES.
+
+
+"We move in an hour!"
+
+This was the word which was whispered about the boomers' camp shortly
+after Pawnee Brown's arrival.
+
+The great scout had found it out of the question to attempt to enter the
+Indian Territory in a direct route from Arkansas City. The government
+troops were watching the trail, and the soldiers were backed up by the
+cattle kings' helpers, who would do all in their power to harass the
+pioneers and make them turn back.
+
+Many a man would have gone ahead with a rush, but Pawnee Brown knew
+better than to do this. If he was brave, he was also cautious.
+
+"A rush now would mean people killed, horses shot down or poisoned,
+wagons ditched, harnesses cut up and a thousand and one other
+disasters," he said. "We must beat the cattle kings at their own game.
+We will move westward to Honnewell either this afternoon or tonight.
+Get ready to go on whenever the signal is passed."
+
+"But vot goot vill it do to vait by Honnvell?" questioned Carl
+Humpendinck, a German boomer.
+
+"We'll not wait very long there," answered Pawnee Brown.
+
+So the word went around that the boomers would move in an hour. This was
+not actually true, but it was necessary to spread some report of this
+kind in order to make the slow ones hustle. If left to themselves these
+few would not have gotten ready in two days.
+
+"It's a move we are afther makin' at last, is it?" burst out Rosy
+Delaney when Mike brought the news. "Sure, an' Oi'm ready, Moike
+Delaney, but how are ye to git this wagon out av thet bog hole, Oi
+dunno."
+
+"Oi'll borry a horse," answered Mike. "It's Jack Rasco will lind me the
+same."
+
+Mike ran around to where Jack Rasco was in earnest conversation with a
+stranger who had just come in from town. The stranger had brought a
+letter from Nellie Winthrop, posted two days before, and saying when she
+would arrive. The letter caused Rasco not a little worry, as so far the
+girl had failed to appear.
+
+"I haven't any horse to spare just now, Mike," he said; "but hold on,
+you can have Billy, the mule, if you wish."
+
+There was a little twinkle in his eyes as he spoke, but Mike didn't see
+the twinkle and readily accepted the mule and led him over to where his
+own turn-out stood.
+
+"Moike Delaney, phot kind av a horse do yez call that?" demanded Rosy.
+
+"It's a mule, ye ignoramus," he answered. "An' a good puller, I'll bet
+me whiskers. Just wait till Oi hitch him beside the tame."
+
+Billy was soon hitched up as Mike desired, and the Irishman proceeded to
+urge him forward with his short whip.
+
+It was then the fun began. Billy did not appreciate being called upon to
+do extra work. Instead of pulling, he simply turned around, tangling up
+and breaking the harness, and began to kick up the black prairie dirt
+with both hind hoofs.
+
+"Oh, the villain!" spluttered Rosy Delaney, who received the first
+installment of dirt full in her eyes and mouth. "Moike Delaney, ye made
+him do that a-purpose!" and she shook her fist at her husband. "Ye
+bould, bad mon!"
+
+"Oi did not," he ejaculated. "Git back there, ye baste!" he added, and
+tried to hit Billy with his whip. The knowing mule dodged and, turning
+swiftly, planted a hoof in Mike's stomach so slickly that the Irishman
+went heels over head into a nearby puddle.
+
+A shout arose from those standing near.
+
+"Score one round for the mule!"
+
+"Mike, thet summersault war good enough fer a show. Better jine the
+circus!"
+
+"Oi'll show the mule!" yelled Mike, and rushed in again. But once more
+Billy turned and got out of the way, and this time he caught the seat of
+Mike's trousers between his teeth and lifted the frightened man six feet
+from the ground.
+
+"Don't! Let me down! Somebody save me!" yelled the terrorized son of
+Erin. "Rosy! Clemmer! Rasco! Hit him! Shoot him! Make him let go av me!
+Oi'll be kilt entoirely!"
+
+Outsiders were too much amused to help Mike, but Rosy came to the rescue
+with a woman's best weapon--a rolling-pin, one she occasionally used in
+making pies for the family when in camp. Whizz! came the rolling-pin
+through the air, hitting Billy on the ear. The mule gave a short snort,
+broke what remained of the harness and scampered off to make a complete
+circuit of the camp and then fall into his regular place near Jack
+Rasco's turn-out.
+
+"Want him some more?" asked Jack, who had seen the fun, and was
+compelled to laugh, in spite of his worry.
+
+"Want him some more, is it?" growled Mike. "Not fer a thousand dollars,
+Rasco! Yez kin kape the mule, an' be hanged to yez!" and he stalked off
+to borrow a horse that was warranted to be gentle under the most trying
+of circumstances.
+
+In the meantime Pawnee Brown was completing his arrangements for moving
+to Honnewell and then to enter the promised land by way of Bitter Creek
+and the Secaspie River. Scouts sent out to watch had reported that the
+cavalry were watching every movement closely, but Pawnee Brown did not
+dream that Louis Vorlange had overheard what was said at a meeting in
+the woods, or that this scoundrel had hired Tucker, the cavalryman, to
+shoot down both himself and Dick Arbuckle.
+
+Presently Jack Rasco found his way to the scout's side.
+
+"Pawnee, if you can spare a little time I would like your advice," he
+said, and mentioned the letter from Nellie Winthrop. "It's mighty
+strange the gal don't turn up, ain't it?"
+
+"Perhaps so; but she may have been detained," answered the scout.
+
+At this Rasco shook his head. The bearer of the letter had seen Nellie's
+name on the hotel register. Something was wrong, he felt sure of it. The
+letter had contained Nellie's photograph, and he showed it to Pawnee
+Brown as he asked for permission to leave his work of assisting the
+boomers to be prepared for a moving in order to pay Arkansas City
+another visit.
+
+"Go on, Jack. You're my right-hand man, but I'll manage somehow without
+you," answered the great scout. "A pretty niece for any man to have,"
+and he handed back the photograph, after a somewhat close inspection.
+Two minutes later found Jack Rasco on his way, to encounter adventures
+of which he had never imagined.
+
+"A note for you, Pawnee." It was one of the scouts sent out that morning
+who spoke as he rode up. Pawnee Brown read the communication with
+interest.
+
+     "Come up to the ravine back of Honnewell as soon
+     as possible," ran the note. "I think the cavalry are
+     up to some new dodge, or else the cattle men are going
+     to play us foul. Urgent.      DAN GILBERT."
+
+
+"I must away, boys!" cried Pawnee Brown, tearing up the note. "Be ready
+to move, but don't stir until you hear from me," and, giving a few more
+instructions, he borrowed a fresh horse from Carl Humpendinck and set
+off on a gallop of twelve miles across the country.
+
+As he covered mile after mile, through woods and over stretches of broad
+prairie, he could not help but think of his racing mare, Bonnie Bird.
+How she would have enjoyed this outing, and how she would have covered
+this ground with her twinkling feet.
+
+"I must find her and find the rascal who stole her!" he muttered. "I
+wouldn't take twenty thousand dollars for Bonnie," and he meant what he
+said. The little mare and the great scout were almost inseparable.
+
+The afternoon sun was sinking low when Pawnee Brown struck the outskirts
+of Honnewell (spelled by some writers, Honeywell). Not caring to be seen
+in that town by the government agents, who might inform the cavalry that
+the boomers were moving in that direction, the scout took to a side
+trail, leading directly for the ravine mentioned in the letter.
+
+Soon he was picking his way down a path covered with brush and loose
+stones. Upon either side were woods, and so thick no sunlight
+penetrated, making the spot gloomy and forbidding.
+
+"Now, I suppose I'll have no picnic in finding Dan," he mused. "I'll
+give the signal."
+
+The shrill cry of a night bird rang out upon the air, and Pawnee Brown
+listened attentively for a reply. None came, and he repeated the cry,
+with the same result.
+
+"I'll have to push on a bit further," he thought, and was just about to
+urge forward his horse when a crashing on the opposite side of the
+ravine caught his ear. Instinctively he withdrew to the shelter of some
+brush to learn who the newcomer might be.
+
+He was not kept long in waiting. The sounds came closer and closer, and
+presently a tall Indian came into view, astride a horse, and carrying an
+odd-looking burden in his arms.
+
+"Yellow Elk!" almost burst from Pawnee Brown's lips. The Indian he
+mentioned was a well-known chief, a warrior noted for his many crimes,
+and a redskin whom the government agent had tried in vain to subdue.
+
+The scout crouched back still further and drew his pistol, for he felt
+that Yellow Elk was on no lawful errand, and a meeting would most likely
+mean a fight. Then he made a discovery of still greater importance--to
+him.
+
+"Bonnie Bird, as sure as shooting! So Yellow Elk is the horse thief. The
+rascal! I've a good mind to shoot him down where he sits!" He handled
+his pistol nervously. "What is that he is carrying, wrapped up in his
+blanket? Ha!"
+
+A murmur of amazement could not now be suppressed. In shifting his
+burden from one shoulder to the other the Indian had allowed the
+blanket to fall partly back, and there was now revealed to Pawnee Brown
+the head and shoulders of a beautiful, but unconscious white girl. Nor
+was that all. The girl was--Nellie Winthrop!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+MR. ARBUCKLE'S STORY.
+
+
+"Father! father! speak to me! Tell me that you are not dead!"
+
+Over and over again did poor Dick repeat these words as he sat by the
+side of that wet and motionless form on the muddy river bank. The boy's
+heart seemed to be breaking.
+
+But suddenly there came a change. He saw one of his father's arms
+quiver. Then came a faint twitching of an eyelid.
+
+"He is alive!" gasped Dick. The joy of the discovery nearly paralyzed
+him. "Father! father!"
+
+No answer came back, indeed, it was not to be expected. Kneeling over
+his parent, Dick set to work to resuscitate the almost drowned man.
+
+Fortunately the youth had, during his school days in New York, heard a
+lecture on what was best to do in just such a case, so he did not labor
+in ignorance. His treatment was as skillful as memory and his love for
+his parent could make it, and in less than half an hour he had the
+satisfaction of seeing his father give a gasp and open his eyes.
+
+"Father, don't you know me?"
+
+"Dick!" came the almost inaudible reply. "Where--where am I?"
+
+"You are safe, father. You fell into the river and came near to
+drowning."
+
+"Is that so? I did not know there was a river near here."
+
+Mr. Arbuckle was silent for several minutes, during which Dick continued
+his work and made him as comfortable as possible by wrapping his parent
+in his own dry coat.
+
+"Where is that rascal?"
+
+"What rascal, father?"
+
+"The man with the red mask--the fellow who struck me down?"
+
+"I do not know. So you were struck down? Where?"
+
+"Just outside of the boomers' camp. Somebody brought me word that Pawnee
+Brown wanted to see me privately. I went, and a rascal rushed on me and
+demanded my private papers. I resisted and he struck me down. I know no
+more than that," and Mr. Arbuckle gave another gasp. His eyes were open,
+but in them was that uncertain look which Dick had seen before, and
+which the lad so much dreaded.
+
+"Why, you were struck down last night, father, and several miles from
+here. You must have come down to the river at a spot above here. Don't
+you remember that?"
+
+Mortimer Arbuckle tried to think, then shook his head sadly.
+
+"It's all a blur, Dick. You know my head is not as strong as it might
+be."
+
+"Yes, yes; and you must not try to think too far. So he got your private
+papers?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"The ones referring to that silver mine in Colorado?"
+
+"Yes, and all of the others."
+
+At this Dick could not help but groan. The papers were gone--those
+precious documents by which he and his father had hoped some day to
+become rich.
+
+The history of the deeds to the silver mine was a curious one. Two years
+before Mortimer Arbuckle had paid a visit to Creede, Colorado, on
+business connected with a mining company then forming under the laws of
+the State of New York.
+
+While in Creede the man had materially assisted an old miner named
+Burch, who was falling into the hands of a set of swindlers headed by a
+rascal called Captain Mull.
+
+Mortimer Arbuckle had never met Captain Mull, but he had saved Burch's
+claim for him, for which the old miner was extremely grateful.
+
+Over a year later Burch had died and left with another old miner the
+deeds to a new mine of great promise, deeds which had not yet been
+recorded.
+
+The old miner had forwarded these papers, along with others of
+importance concerning the exact location of the claim, to Mortimer
+Arbuckle, and the gentleman had then begun preparations to go to the
+West and see if the claim was really as valuable as old Burch had
+imagined.
+
+Dick was just out of school, and would not think of remaining behind, so
+it was arranged that father and son should go together.
+
+A spell of sickness had detained the father several months. Before this,
+however, he had hired Jack Rasco to go to Creede with him and assist in
+locating the new claim.
+
+As Mortimer Arbuckle failed to come West, Jack Rasco returned to the
+companionship of Pawnee Brown, for, as already stated, he considered
+himself the great boomer's right-hand man.
+
+At last Mortimer Arbuckle had come on with Dick, to find Rasco had given
+his word to Pawnee Brown to stick with the boomers until the desired
+entrance into Oklahoma was effected.
+
+"Yer will hev ter wait, Mr. Arbuckle," Jack had said. "I'm sorry, but I
+hev given my word ter Pawnee an' I wouldn't break it fer a cool million,
+thet's me."
+
+"Let us go with the boomers!" Dick had returned enthusiastically. "It
+will be lots of fun, father, and it will give you a chance to get back
+your health before you tie yourself down to those silver mine schemes."
+
+And rather against his wishes Mortimer Arbuckle had consented. Dick saw
+his father was in no mental condition to locate claims, form a new
+mining company, and do other labor of this sort, and trusted that the
+days to be spent with the boomers would make him much stronger in both
+body and mind.
+
+"Do you think the robber thought of the deeds when he robbed you?" went
+on Dick, after a pause.
+
+"I--I--don't know, Dick. It runs in my mind he spoke of the deeds, but I
+can't remember for certain."
+
+"He took your money?"
+
+"Every cent." Mortimer Arbuckle gave a groan. "We are now out here
+penniless, my son."
+
+"No we are not, father. I asked Pawnee Brown for the loan of ten dollars
+and he gave me twenty, and said I could have more if I needed it."
+
+"A good man--as generous as he is brave," murmured Mortimer Arbuckle.
+"Would the world had more of such fellows."
+
+"Pawnee Brown and Jack Rasco are the best fellows in the world!"
+answered the youth. "But, come, let me carry you to yonder house, where
+you can get dry and also get something to eat."
+
+He assisted his parent to his feet, then lifted the man to his back and
+started off. A backwoodsman saw him coming, and ran to meet him. Soon
+Mortimer Arbuckle was in the house and lying tucked in on a warm couch.
+
+A relapse followed, coming almost immediately after father and son had
+exchanged stories and detail. In alarm Dick sent off the backwoodsman
+for a doctor. The medical man was half an hour in coming. After a
+thorough examination he looked grave.
+
+"The man must be kept absolutely quiet," he said. "If you have been
+talking to him it has done him more harm than good. You had better go
+away and leave him among strangers."
+
+In a further conversation Dick learned that the backwoodsman, Peter Day,
+and his wife were ready to take charge of the invalid for fair pay, and
+could be trusted to do their best, and it was arranged to leave Mr.
+Arbuckle at the house, while Dick returned to camp, hunted up Pawnee
+Brown and Jack Rasco and tried to get on the track of the man of the red
+mask.
+
+"And if I ever get hold of him I'll--I'll--mash him," said Dick, and the
+look on his youthful but stern face told that he meant just what he
+said. The western idea of shooting had not yet entered his mind, but woe
+to Louis Vorlange if his villainy was once unmasked.
+
+"Do not worry about me, father," said Dick taking his departure. "I will
+take care of myself, and I am sure that either Pawnee Brown, Jack Rasco
+or myself can get on the track of the rascal who robbed and struck you
+down."
+
+"Be cautious, Dick," murmured the sick man. "Be cautious--for you are
+all the world to me!" and he kissed his son affectionately.
+
+"Who could have attacked father?" he murmured, half aloud. "It was a
+dastardly thing to do. I must find out, even if I have to remain in the
+city. But who knows but what it was one of the boomers? Perhaps the man
+saw father had money and only asked about his papers to put him off the
+track. As a rule, the boomers are as honest as men can be, but there are
+several hang-dog faces among them."
+
+Dick had covered a distance of half a mile and was within sight of the
+spot where he had been rescued by Pawnee Brown from a watery grave, when
+a murmur of voices broke upon his ear, coming from a thicket down by the
+river bank. The murmur grew louder and he paused to listen.
+
+Suddenly two pistol shots rang out, followed by a cry of pain and rage.
+There was a brief silence, then came the words which made Dick's heart
+almost stop beating:
+
+"Now I'll fix you for helping to run me out of town, Jack Rasco! I never
+forget my enemies!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+A STRANGE LETTER.
+
+
+To return to Pawnee Brown at the time when he made the double discovery
+that Yellow Elk, the rascally Indian, was riding his stolen mare, Bonnie
+Bird, and had as his fair captive Nellie Winthrop, Jack Rasco's niece.
+
+For the moment the great scout was nearly dum founded by the revelation.
+He had not met Yellow Elk for several months, and had imagined that the
+Indian chief was safe within the territorial reservation allotted to him
+and his tribe.
+
+As Yellow Elk shifted his fair burden, Nellie Winthrop's eyes opened and
+she started up in alarm.
+
+"Oh, you beast! Let me go!" she screamed faintly. She was about to say
+more, but Yellow Elk clapped a dirty hand over her mouth and silenced
+her.
+
+"No speak more," he muttered in his broken English. "White girl speak
+too much."
+
+"But--but where are you taking me? This is not the boomers' camp."
+
+"We come to camp soon--girl in too much hurry," rejoined the wily
+redskin.
+
+"I was told the camp was but a short distance out of town."
+
+"Camp he move. Pawnee Brown not safe near big town," went on Yellow Elk.
+
+"You're a good one for fairy tales," was the boomer's silent comment. He
+had withdrawn to the shelter of the thick brush and sat his steed like a
+statue, while his pistol was ready for use, with his forefinger upon the
+trigger.
+
+"But--but--what happened to me?" went on Nellie, struggling to sit up,
+while Yellow Elk held her back.
+
+"White girl lose breath and shut eyes," was the answer, meaning that
+Nellie had fainted. "No more fight--Yellow Elk no hurt her."
+
+"I will go no further with you--I do not believe your story!" cried
+Nellie. "Let me down."
+
+At these words the face of the Indian chief grew dark, and he muttered
+several words in his own language which Nellie did not understand, but
+which Pawnee Brown made out to be that the White Bird was too sweet to
+be lost so easily, he must take her to his cave in the mountains.
+
+"Will you?" murmured Pawnee Brown. "Well, maybe, but not if I know it."
+
+The mentioning of a cave in the mountains made Pawnee Brown curious. Did
+Yellow Elk have such a hiding place? Where was it located, and was the
+Indian chief its only user?
+
+"Perhaps some more of these reds have broken loose," he thought. "I
+would like to investigate. Who knows but what the cavalrymen are after
+them and not the boomers, as Dan Gilbert imagined."
+
+A brief consideration of the subject and his mind was made up. So long
+as the Indian did not offer positive harm to Nellie Winthrop he would
+not expose himself, but follow on behind, in hope of locating the cave
+and learning more of Yellow Elk's intended movements.
+
+"Let me go, I say!" cried Nellie, but the Indian chief merely shook his
+head.
+
+"White girl be no fool. Indian friend; no hurt one hair of her head.
+Soon we be in camp and she will see what a friend Yellow Elk has been."
+
+At this Nellie shook her head. That painted and dirty face was far too
+repulsive to be trusted. But there was no help for it; the Indian held
+her as in a vise, and she was forced to submit.
+
+Moving along the trail, Indian and horse passed within a dozen feet of
+where Pawnee Brown sat, still as silent as a block of marble. It was a
+trying moment. What if the horse he rode should make a noise, or if his
+own Bonnie Bird should instinctively discover him and give the alarm?
+
+"Poor Bonnie Bird, to have to carry a dirty redskin," thought the
+boomer. The ears of the beautiful mare went up as she drew close, and
+she appeared to hesitate. But Yellow Elk urged her along by several
+punches in the ribs, and in a moment more the danger of discovery just
+then was past.
+
+On went the tall Indian along the ravine, peering cautiously ahead, with
+one hand around Nellie's waist and the other holding the reins and his
+pistol. He knew he was on a dangerous mission, and he stood ready, if
+unmasked, to sell his worthless life dearly.
+
+Pawnee Brown followed at a distance of a hundred feet, taking care to
+pick his way so that his horse's hoofs should strike only the dirt and
+soft moss, and that the brush growing among the tall trees should screen
+him as much as possible.
+
+Presently he saw the Indian halt and stare long and hard at a tall pine
+growing in front of a large flat rock.
+
+"Wonder if he has missed his way?" mused the scout, but a moment later
+Yellow Elk proceeded onward, faster than ever.
+
+Coming up to the pine, Pawnee Brown saw instantly what had attracted the
+redskin's attention. There was a blaze on the tree six inches square,
+and on the blaze was written in charcoal:
+
+                         10 f. E. D. G.
+
+"Hullo, a message from Dan," he cried, half aloud. He had read the
+strange marking without difficulty. It ran as follows:
+
+"Ten feet east.                                DAN GILBERT."
+
+Pacing off the ten feet in the direction indicated, Pawnee Brown located
+a flat rock. Raising this, he uncovered a small, circular hole, in the
+centre of which lay a leaf torn from a note book, on which was written:
+
+"I write this to notify Pawnee Brown or any of my other friends that I
+have gone up the ravine on the trail of half a dozen cavalry scouts who
+are up here, not only to watch for boomers, but also to try and locate
+several Indians who have left the reservation without permission. I will
+be back soon.
+                                               DAN GILBERT."
+
+The boomer read the note with interest. Then he hastily scribbled off
+the answer:
+
+"Have read the note that was left. Am following Yellow Elk, who stole my
+mare and has Jack Rasco's niece a captive. Yellow Elk is bound for some
+cave in the mountains.                        PAWNEE BROWN."
+
+The answer finished, the boomer placed it in the hole, let back the flat
+rock and wrote on the blaze of the tree, under Dan Gilbert's initials:
+
+                              P. B.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+YELLOW ELK.
+
+
+The writing of the answer to Gilbert's communication had taken several
+minutes, and now Yellow Elk was entirely out of sight. But Pawnee Brown
+was certain of the trail the Indian had taken, and by a little faster
+riding soon brought the rascal again into view.
+
+Yellow Elk was now descending into a valley bound on the north by a
+rolling hill and on the south by a cliff varying from twenty to forty
+feet in height. Even at a distance Pawnee Brown could see that the
+Indian was having considerable trouble with Nellie Winthrop, who felt
+now assured that her first suspicions were correct and that Yellow Elk
+had taken her far from the boomers' camp.
+
+"I will not go with you!" cried the girl, and did her best to break from
+the warrior's grasp. But Yellow Elk's hold was a good one, and she only
+succeeded in tearing her dress.
+
+"We be dare in few minutes now," replied the redskin. "Den all be
+right--you wait and see."
+
+"I won't go with you--let me down!" screamed Nellie, but he silenced her
+by a fierce gesture which made the boomer's blood boil. It was only by
+the exercise of all his will power that the great scout kept himself
+from shooting down Yellow Elk on the spot.
+
+The end of the long cliff was almost reached when the Indian chief
+reined up the mare and sprang to the ground, still holding Nellie tight.
+As he held the girl by the wrist with one hand he led Bonnie Bird
+forward with the other. In a few seconds, girl, mare and Indian had
+disappeared from view in the midst of a thick fringe of bushes.
+
+They had scarcely vanished when Pawnee Brown was on the ground and had
+tethered his horse in a little grove of pines a hundred feet away. This
+done, he stole forward to what he felt must be the mouth of the cave
+Yellow Elk had mentioned.
+
+The great scout knew he was on delicate and dangerous ground. There was
+no telling how many Indians beside Yellow Elk there might be in the
+vicinity, who had left the reservation without permission; it was likely
+all who were there would be in war paint ready to kill him on sight.
+
+"The reds who train with Yellow Elk are not to be trusted," he muttered.
+"Yellow Elk wouldn't like anything better than to scalp me just for a
+taste of his old blood-thirsty days. Making a 'good Indian' out of such
+a fellow is all nonsense--it simply can't be done."
+
+Pawnee Brown had dropped down in the long grass and was now wiggling
+along like a snake through the bushes and between the rocks. Soon the
+entrance to the cave was gained, hidden by more bushes. He hesitated,
+looked to see that his pistol was all right, shoved the bushes aside and
+slipped within.
+
+It was so dark inside that for a moment he could distinguish nothing.
+But his ears were on the alert and he heard the footsteps of Yellow Elk
+resounding at a distance of fully fifty yards. He could hear nothing of
+Nellie, and rightfully concluded that the Indian had been compelled to
+pick her up and carry her.
+
+An instant later he stumbled close to his mare. Bonnie Bird recognized
+him with a snort of joy.
+
+"Sh-sh!" he said softly, and the gentle animal understood and made no
+further sound. But she gladly rubbed her soft nose up and down his neck
+to signify her pleasure.
+
+"Good Bonnie Bird," he whispered. "I'll be with you soon again," and
+went on after Yellow Elk.
+
+The Indian had now come to a halt and was striking a match. Soon some
+dry brush was set on fire and the redskin heaped upon it some stout tree
+branches, for the air in the cave was chilly.
+
+"Now me and white girl have long talk," said Yellow Elk, as he motioned
+Nellie to a seat.
+
+"Where is the boomers' camp?" she faltered, hardly knowing how to answer
+him.
+
+"Camp ten miles from here," came the short reply. "You here all alone
+with Yellow Elk."
+
+At this the frightened girl gave a scream of terror.
+
+"You base wretch!" she sobbed. "Take me back at once."
+
+"No take back--Yellow Elk no fool. White girl stay here--make Yellow Elk
+good squaw, maybe," and he grinned into her pretty face.
+
+But now an interruption came which all but stunned Yellow Elk. Leaping
+from his hiding place, Pawnee Brown pounced upon the redskin, caught him
+by the throat and hurled him backward and almost into the midst of the
+fire!
+
+"You miserable dog!" came from the scout's lips.
+
+"Oh, sir, save me from that Indian!" came from Nellie, as she quickly
+turned to the man she felt sure would assist her.
+
+"I will, Miss Winthrop, don't fear," answered Pawnee Brown. "So, Yellow
+Elk, we meet again. I reckon you remember the man who kicked you all
+around the agency two years ago because you tried to steal his new pair
+of boots?"
+
+"Ugh!" grunted Yellow Elk. He had just managed to scramble out of the
+fire, and was beating out the flames which had caught on a fringe of his
+garments. "Pawnee Brown."
+
+He muttered a fierce imprecation in his native tongue. Then, before
+Pawnee Brown could stop him his pistol flashed in the fire-light. He took
+aim at the scout's head and fired.
+
+But though the action of the Indian chief was quick, the movement of the
+boomer was quicker.
+
+Many times had he been under fire, and he had learned to drop when
+occasion required as rapidly as it could be done.
+
+With the pressure upon the pistol trigger he went down like a flash and
+the bullet intended for his head merely grazed the top of his hat and
+flattened itself upon the cave wall opposite.
+
+"Bah!" hissed Yellow Elk, when he saw how he had missed. He attempted to
+take him once more, but now Pawnee Brown hurled himself on the redskin,
+turning the barrel of the weapon aside, and both went to the stone
+flooring with a crash. Nellie Winthrop let out a shriek of terror.
+
+"Do not let him shoot you! Make him throw the pistol away!" she cried,
+as she wrung her hands. She would have liked to assist Pawnee Brown, but
+could not see how it could just then be done.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+NELLIE'S FLIGHT.
+
+
+Over and over on the stone flooring rolled the boomer and his red enemy,
+now close to the fire and again off to one side, where there was a
+slight hollow still wet from the recent storm.
+
+Pawnee Brown had Yellow Elk by the throat and across the back, while the
+Indian held his antagonist by the shoulder with one hand, while trying
+to beat his brains out with the pistol that was in the other.
+
+Once Yellow Elk succeeded in getting in a glancing blow, which drew
+blood, but did no great harm. But now Pawnee Brown's grip was
+tightening. The redskin was choking. His eyes bulged from their sockets
+and his tongue hung out several inches.
+
+"Ugh!" gasped the Indian chief. In vain he tried to shake off that grip.
+It was like that of a bulldog and could not be loosened. He struck out
+wildly, but the pistol butt only landed upon Pawnee Brown's shoulder, a
+shoulder that was as tough as iron and could stand any amount of
+pounding.
+
+Suddenly the tactics of the Indian changed. Knowing that he was in
+immediate danger of death by choking, and feeling how unlikely it was
+that he could throw off his assailant, he let fall his pistol and caught
+the boomer around the body. Then he began to roll toward the fire, which
+was now blazing up more brightly than ever.
+
+The scout saw the redskin's intention instantly, but before he could
+stop it both he and his enemy were close to the flames.
+
+"Me die you die too!" hissed Yellow Elk, and gave another roll, which
+took both himself and Pawnee Brown into the very edge of the blaze.
+
+"Take care! You will be burnt up!" cried Nellie Winthrop, and gave a
+scream. Rushing forward, she caught Pawnee Brown by the arm and
+attempted to draw him back.
+
+But of this there was no need, for the great scout had already changed
+his tactics, feeling convinced that to choke Yellow Elk was now
+impossible. His hand left the redskin's throat, to double up and sail
+forth into a crushing blow, which took the Indian chief beneath the eyes
+and made him see more stars than were ever beheld in the blue canopy of
+heaven. As Yellow Elk fell back Pawnee Brown did likewise, but in a
+different direction.
+
+The Indian was now in the midst of the flames and the cry he let out was
+truly blood-curdling. Excited as he was, Pawnee Brown did not let the
+intonation of that cry escape him. Understanding the Indian language
+well, he knew it was more than a cry of terror or pain, it was a call
+for help! Other Indians must be somewhere in the vicinity.
+
+"You had better run for it!" he said, turning to Nellie. "Mount my
+horse--the mare the Indian had--and ride down the ravine."
+
+"Run?" she faltered.
+
+"Yes, and hurry. Hark! As I thought! Other Indians are coming!"
+
+The boomer was right. The footsteps sounded from the opposite end of the
+cave, which had two entrances, similar to each other.
+
+By this time Yellow Elk had rolled out of the fire and was dancing
+around like a madman, trying to beat out the flames which had
+communicated to his clothing.
+
+As Nellie ran off, Pawnee Brown drew his pistol, resolved to not only
+defend himself but cover the girl's retreat as well.
+
+Little did he dream of the fresh perils which awaited Nellie. What those
+perils were the immediate chapters which follow will relate.
+
+As Yellow Elk danced around, Pawnee Brown leveled his revolver at him.
+
+Crack! went the weapon and the Indian chief fell back with a wound
+through his shoulder. The flickering of the fire-light had saved him
+from death.
+
+A cry that was little less than a war whoop now sounded out, and with
+this four other Indians appeared, two whom Pawnee Brown had before seen
+in Yellow Elk's company and two who were utter strangers to him.
+
+"Capture the white dog!" howled Yellow Elk, in his native tongue. "Shoot
+the dog down!"
+
+"Pawnee Brown!" grunted one of the newcomers, and up went several
+pistols. The scout fired at the same time, and one of the strange
+Indians threw up his hands and fell lifeless. But the bullet this Indian
+had sent on its mission struck the boomer across the forehead and sent
+the scout to the flooring of the cave senseless.
+
+When Pawnee Brown came to a clear mind again he found himself aching in
+every portion of his body, for in their usual custom the Indians on
+finding him helpless had each taken their turn at kicking him to suit
+their pleasure, Yellow Elk especially delighting in this cruel
+performance.
+
+The scout was bound tightly with a lariat which started from his feet
+and was wound and crossed up to his very neck, making body, legs and
+arms as stiff as those of an Egyptian mummy. He lay on the cave flooring
+not a dozen feet from the fire, which Yellow Elk was in the act of
+replenishing.
+
+As he opened his eyes one of the other Indians, Spotted Nose by name,
+stopped in front of him. The scout instantly closed his eyes again, but
+it was too late.
+
+"You all right," cried Spotted Nose, and gave him a sharp kick in the
+side.
+
+"Well I won't be if you keep on kicking me," replied the boomer, as
+cheerfully as he could, although it must be admitted he was much
+disturbed. He glanced around and was relieved to see that Nellie was
+nowhere in sight.
+
+Yellow Elk now came up and also kicked the prostrate scout.
+
+"You heap dirty dog!" he exclaimed, his face full of bitter hatred. "You
+shoot me--you die for dat."
+
+"I suppose I will--if you have the saying of that, Yellow Elk. But
+perhaps you won't dare to kill me."
+
+"Why not Indian dare? Indian dare anything," growled Yellow Elk.
+
+"My friends are not far off--they will soon come here, and if you harm
+me it will go hard with you."
+
+At this all of the Indians laughed.
+
+"No white man around here--we on guard all time," said Spotted Nose.
+
+"On guard, eh? And yet you didn't see me come in, Dirty Nose?"
+
+"Spotted Nose did see Pawnee Brown," was the answer; but this was a
+falsehood. An Indian hates to admit that he has been in any manner
+outwitted by a white man.
+
+"You tell a good story, Dirty Nose." Pawnee Brown turned to Yellow Elk.
+"Yellow, how did you run across that girl?"
+
+"Yellow Elk no tell his secrets," came the answer. "Pawnee Brown fool to
+ask. Pawnee Brown think him heap sly, like fox, but him sly only like
+cow!" This produced another laugh, for the Indians from the Indian
+Territory are not as stolid as were their forefathers, and thoroughly
+enjoy their own rude manner of joking.
+
+Presently Yellow Elk turned to his companions and spoke to them in an
+undertone. A moment later he sped away, but whether in pursuit of Nellie
+Winthrop or not, Pawnee Brown could not tell.
+
+The Indian chief was gone fully an hour, and came back looking unusually
+grave.
+
+Pawnee Brown had tried in vain to get Spotted Nose and the other Indian
+to talk--to tell him why they had left the reservation. Not one would
+speak further than to tell him to keep quiet.
+
+On returning, Yellow Elk at once set to work to rig up an upright pole
+from the floor to the ceiling of the cave, using a heavy tree branch for
+the purpose. The upright was placed close to where the smoke from the
+fire found a vent through several large cracks in the ceiling, and the
+boomer watched these proceedings with much alarm.
+
+The Indians were erecting a fire-stake, such as they had used in the
+wild west when some victim was to be roasted alive!
+
+"Heavens! can that be meant for me?" was the question he asked himself.
+
+The stake planted and fastened firmly, Yellow Elk heaped some fresh, dry
+brush around its bottom and then came up to Pawnee Brown.
+
+"Pawnee Brown see the fire-stake?" he asked, his savage eyes gleaming
+like two stars.
+
+"I do, Yellow. Who is it for?"
+
+"Why does Pawnee Brown ask? Does he not deserve death?"
+
+"I suppose I do--according to your notion."
+
+"Pawnee Brown shall burn--he shall burn slowly," went on Yellow Elk,
+meaning that he would make the great scout's torture last as long as
+possible.
+
+"Your training on the reservation hasn't civilized you much, Yellow, if
+that's the way you feel about it."
+
+"I hate white man--all of them," grumbled the Indian chief. "They take
+all my land away and put me in a little yard to live. I would kill all
+white man if could," and he grated his teeth.
+
+A moment later Yellow Elk nodded to the other Indians and all leaped
+forward and bound Pawnee Brown fast to the fire-stake. This done the
+redskins heaped the brush around the scout's feet.
+
+"Now the dirty white dog can die!" hissed Yellow Elk, as he advanced
+with a torch. "He can pray, but the white man's Great Father cannot save
+him! He must burn until his bones are as charcoal!"
+
+And so speaking Yellow Elk thrust the torch into the dry brush and set
+it on fire!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+DICK TO THE RESCUE.
+
+
+"That man is going to shoot Jack Rasco!"
+
+Such was the thought which rushed into Dick Arbuckle's mind as he heard
+the fatal words spoken in the woods near the river bank.
+
+He could not see either of the men, but he felt tolerably certain in his
+mind that Rasco's assailant was Stillwater, the gambler, who had been
+run out of Arkansas City by Pawnee Brown, Rasco, Clemmer and a dozen
+others.
+
+"Would you kill me?" came in Rasco's voice. The boomer was concerned and
+was doing his best to gain time, in the hope that something would turn
+up to his advantage.
+
+"Kill you?" sneered Stillwater. "Do you think I'm going to put up with
+the way I've been treated? Not much! I had a fine thing in Arkansas
+City--something worth a thousand a week to me, and you and your friends
+spoiled it all. I'm going to settle with you, and after that I shall
+hunt up Pawnee Brown and the rest and settle with them, also."
+
+"You'll have your hands full a-settlin' with Pawnee."
+
+"Bah! I am not afraid of him. He had me foul over to the Golden Pick,
+but I'll be careful when next we meet. But I'll not waste time with you
+here, Rasco. I've got you alone and 'dead men tell no tales.'"
+
+"Alone?" Jack Rasco began to smile. "You're mistaken. Look behind you."
+
+Stillwater started, but did not look back.
+
+"That's an old dodge, Rasco, but you can't work it off on me. I have you
+alone and I'm going to end the business right here."
+
+"Not yet!" cried a youthful voice behind Stillwater, and crash! down
+came a heavy stick, hitting the gambler squarely upon the head and
+sending him with a thud to the earth.
+
+As Stillwater went down, Rasco leaped forward and came down upon him.
+But this movement was useless. The rascal was more than three-quarters
+knocked out and lay for several minutes helpless.
+
+"I owe you one fer that, Dick Arbuckle!" cried Rasco, gratefully. "Yer
+came in the nick o' time!" Now the peril was over the boomer dropped
+back into his own peculiar manner of speech.
+
+"I am glad I happened this way," returned Dick, as he drew a long
+breath. "Gosh! what a lot of excitement we are passing through out here!
+More than I experienced in all my life in New York."
+
+"The West is the place fer stirrin' times, lad." Jack Rasco turned to
+his prostrate foe. "Wall, Stillwater, do yer think it war a trick now,
+tellin' yer ter look behind yer?"
+
+The rascal answered with a groan.
+
+"My head is split in two!" he cried. "Who struck me? What, that boy?
+I'll remember you, youngster, and some day----" He did not finish.
+
+"I ain't done with yer yet, Stillwater," said Rasco. "You war goin' ter
+shoot me. I reckon turn about is fair play, ain't it?"
+
+"Would you--you shoot me--now?" faltered the card sharp. At the bottom
+of his heart he was a coward.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"I wasn't going to do it, Rasco--I was only--only scaring you."
+
+"Thet's a whopper--made outer the hull cloth, Stillwater. Yer war going
+ter shoot me--an' I'm a-goin' ter be jess as accommodatin'," and on the
+sly Rasco winked at Dick who was much relieved to think the boomer did
+not really intend to carry out his blood-thirsty design.
+
+The face of Stillwater grew as white as a sheet and he trembled from
+head to foot.
+
+"Don't! don't you do it! Let me off, and I'll give you all the money I
+have with me."
+
+"It won't do, Stillwater."
+
+"It's nearly a thousand dollars. Take every cent of it and let me go!"
+
+The gambler fairly grovelled at Jack Rasco's feet. His horror of dying
+was something fearful to contemplate.
+
+"I'll give yer one chance, Stillwater," said Rasco, in deep disgust, and
+at once the rascal's face took on a look of hope. "Yer ain't fit ter
+die, an' thet's why I say it. Promise ter let me an' my friends alone in
+the future."
+
+"I promise."
+
+"Promise ter give up cheatin' at cards. If yer don't, some day it will
+be the death of yer."
+
+"I'll never cheat again."
+
+"All right, I'll take yer at yer word. Now come on down to the river."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"You hev got ter swim across to the other side whar yer belong. Decent
+folks ain't a-goin' ter have yer over here."
+
+Again Stillwater was much disturbed. But Jack Rasco was firm, and soon
+the trio were down by the water's edge. Still pale, the gambler plunged
+into the river and struck out for the opposite shore. It was a hard
+battle against that current, but presently Rasco and Dick saw him wade
+out at the other side. He shook his fist at them savagely, then
+disappeared like a flash into the woods.
+
+"He'll not keep any of his promises," said Dick.
+
+"Keep 'em? Yer didn't expect it o' thet viper, lad? No, he's an enemy to
+the death. But whar did yer come from, and have yer found out anything
+about yer poor father?"
+
+Dick's story was soon told, to which Rasco listened with much interest.
+
+"I don't believe a boomer would rob yer father," said he, reflectively.
+"Like as not it war somebody who followed yer from New York--some man as
+knew the value of them air minin' deeds."
+
+"Well, I'll go back to camp and make a search, anyway, Rasco. But what
+brought you here?"
+
+"I'm lookin' fer my niece, Nellie Winthrop."
+
+And Rasco told of the letter received and of how Nellie was missing and
+no trace of her could be found anywhere. Dick was almost as much
+disturbed as Rasco, for he still carried in his mind a picture of the
+beautiful girl he had saved from Juan Donomez's insults.
+
+"Can the Mexican have waylaid her?" he asked.
+
+"Perhaps," said the man of the plains. "But I've hunted the city high
+and low."
+
+A short while after the two found themselves in the town once more.
+Nellie had put up at the Commercial Hotel, and to this hostelry they
+made their way and entered the office.
+
+"No news of the young lady," said the clerk in charge, who had been
+interviewed before. "I am quite certain she started for the boomers'
+camp on horseback."
+
+Rasco heaved a sigh.
+
+"Might as well go back," he said to Dick, then as he saw the boy start
+he continued: "What's up? Do yer see anything of her?"
+
+"No, Rasco. But look at that man, the fellow sitting down by the corner
+table in the reading room, he with the brown hat."
+
+"I see him. What of him?"
+
+"He's from New York--a fellow who used to come sneaking around father's
+office, trying to gather information about mining shares."
+
+"Gee shoo, Dick! Yer don't mean it!" Jack Rasco was all attention
+instantly. "Maybe he's the rascal as knocked yer dad over?"
+
+"Perhaps. If I--There is a man joining him."
+
+"I've seen thet chap afore. 'Pears ter me he works fer the government."
+
+"Do you know his name?"
+
+"No. Wot's the other fellow's handle?"
+
+"Dike Powell. He is known as a Wall street sharper. I wish I could hear
+what the two have to say to each other. Yet I don't want Dike Powell to
+see me."
+
+"It's easy enough, lad. Thar's a window close to the table, an' it's
+open. We'll walk out on the veranda, and get under the opening. Come."
+
+In a second more they were outside. Tiptoeing their way across the
+veranda, which was deserted, they soon found themselves close to the
+open window mentioned.
+
+"And so that is settled," they heard the man from New York remark. "I am
+glad to hear it, Vorlange."
+
+Vorlange! Dick started and so did Jack Rasco. The boy was trying to
+think where he had heard it before. Ah, he had it now. Many and many a
+time had he heard his parent murmur that name in his sleep, and the name
+was coupled with many other things, dreadful to remember. Surely there
+was some awful mystery here. What made his father mutter that name in
+his dreams, and why at such time was he talking of murder and hanging,
+and sobbing that he was innocent? A cold chill crept down the boy's
+backbone. Was the heart of that secret to be laid bare at last?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION.
+
+
+"Yes, it's settled, Powell; and as soon as we are done here with the
+boomers, I'll get to work and find out what the claim is worth."
+
+"How about being shadowed in the affair?"
+
+"I'm not afraid--I'm laying my plans too well," answered Louis Vorlange.
+"I would go ahead at once, but to throw up my position under the
+government just now might excite suspicions."
+
+"Have you the papers with you?"
+
+"No; I left them at the cavalry camp. They are too valuable to carry in
+one's coat pocket."
+
+"Supposing the camp moves?"
+
+"I have my belongings secreted in a nearby cave where they are as safe
+as in a deposit vault of a bank."
+
+"Well, Vorlange, what am I to do now I am out here?"
+
+"Remain in Arkansas City for the present and take it easy."
+
+"You promised me a hundred dollars on my arrival."
+
+"And there it is."
+
+There was the rustle of bank notes.
+
+"New money, eh?" was Dike Powell's comment. "Been printing some out
+here?"
+
+"Not much. I know better than to go into the counterfeiting business."
+
+Dick clutched Rasco's arm. The youth's face was full of concern.
+
+"My father's money was in new bills," he whispered into his companion's
+ear. Rasco nodded, but quickly motioned for silence.
+
+"I reckon this is drinks on me," said Powell, arising. "Come down to the
+bar before you go back to the cavalry camp."
+
+"I'm in a hurry, Powell, but I'll take one glass," concluded Louis
+Vorlange, and the two men hurried from the reading-room.
+
+"He is the man--I feel certain of it!" burst from Dick's lips, when he
+felt safe to speak. "Rasco, there is some mystery here. My father----"
+He stopped short and bit his lip.
+
+"I know wot's in yer mind, Dick. I've heard yer father go on in his
+sleep, and war talkin' ter Pawnee Brown about it. An' Pawnee knows this
+air Vorlange. The two air enemies from school days. Pawnee said
+Vorlange wasn't squar nohow!"
+
+"He is evidently in the employ of the government."
+
+"Yes; a land-office spy, now workin' ag'in the boomers fer the cavalry
+as intends ter keep us out of Oklahoma."
+
+"It will be hard to bring such a man to justice, without some direct
+evidence against him, Rasco."
+
+"Don't yer try ter do it--yet, lad. Take my advice an' watch him. An'
+afore yer come down on him yer hed better question yer father about
+Vorlange."
+
+At this Dick winced.
+
+"Rasco, my father's manner is against him--I know that. But I'm certain
+he never committed a crime in his life."
+
+"I believes yer, Dick. Yer father's a gentleman, every inch o' him; I
+seed thet the fust I clapped eyes on him. But knowin' the truth is one
+thing an' provin' it is another, especially in the wild west. This air
+Vorlange may hev yer father in a mighty tight hole, and if you show him
+up as the thief who stole the deeds an' the money, he may turn on yer
+dad and squeeze him mightily, see?"
+
+"I see. But what shall I do just now?"
+
+"Follow Vorlange and spy on to him all yer can. It ain't no ust ter
+hurry matters, with your father flat on his back. Powell will remain
+here and Vorlange will be with the cavalry, so yer will know whar ter
+clap eyes on ter both of 'em if it's necessary."
+
+A moment's reflection convinced Dick that this was sound advice, and he
+said he would follow it, mentally resolved not to accuse Vorlange of
+anything until he had gotten his parent to confess to the true state of
+affairs.
+
+By this time the boy and the man of the plains had left the veranda and
+walked around to where Rasco had left his horse. A moment later they saw
+Louis Vorlange hurry from the barroom of the hotel, leap upon his own
+animal, and strike out of town in a westerly direction.
+
+"If I had a horse I'd follow him," began Dick, when Rasco motioned the
+youth to hop up behind. Soon they were riding after Vorlange, but not
+close enough to allow the spy to imagine that he was being followed.
+
+"If you go after him you'll get no chance to hunt up your niece," began
+Dick, when the city was left behind.
+
+"That's true, lad." Jack Rasco's face grew troubled. "I don't know
+wot's best ter do. It ain't fair ter let yer follow Vorlange alone; an'
+with only one hoss----hullo, wot does this mean? Carl Humpendinck, an'
+wavin' his hand to us like he war crazy."
+
+Rasco had discovered the German boomer sweeping up a side trail.
+Humpendinck had made out Rasco but a second before and now shouted for
+the man of the plains to halt.
+
+"What is it, Dutchy?" called out Rasco, when they were within speaking
+distance.
+
+"Vot ist it? Donner und blitzen, Rasco, it vos der vorst news vot efer
+you heard!" burst from Carl Humpendinck's lips. "I chust here him apout
+quarter of an hour ago, und I ride der horse's legs off ter told yer."
+
+"But what is it--out with it?"
+
+"It's apout dot girl you vos lookin' for. Rosy Delaney, dot Irish vomans
+vot haf such a long tongue got, she tole me der sthory. Gott im himmel!
+it vos dreadful!"
+
+"But tell me what it is, Dutchy!" exploded Rasco. "Wot is dreadful?"
+
+"Der sthory she tole--I can's most believe him."
+
+"See here, out with the whole thing, or I'll swat yer one on the
+cocoanut, Humpendinck!" roared Rasco. "Yer as long-winded ez a mule
+thet's gone blind."
+
+"Gracious, Rasco, you vouldn't hit me, afther I ride me dree miles und
+more ter tole you?" wailed the German, reproachfully. "I dink me you vos
+mine pest friend, next to Pawnee Prown, ain't it?"
+
+"There'll be a dead Dutchman here in another minute if yer don't open up
+clear down ter the bottom!" howled Rasco, who had never before suffered
+such exasperation.
+
+"Tell us the exact trouble," put in Dick, calmly. He saw that exciting
+Humpendinck still more would do no good.
+
+"Der Indian haf carried dot girl avay!" exploded Humpendinck.
+
+"Carried the girl away!" ejaculated Dick.
+
+"My Nellie?" yelled Rasco.
+
+"Dot's it, Rasco. Ain't it awful! Dot Irish vomans seen dot Indian mit
+dot girl in his arms, flying der trail ofer like a biece of baber pefore
+a cyclone alretty!"
+
+"Humpendinck, are you telling the truth?"
+
+"I vos tole you vot dot Irish vomans tole me. Mike Delaney und dree
+udder mans vos lookin' for you."
+
+On the instant Louis Vorlange was forgotten, not only by Rasco, ut
+also by Dick. It made both shudder to think that Nellie had been carried
+off by a redskin. They turned into the trail from which Humpendinck had
+emerged, and were soon on their way to the camp.
+
+Here Rosy Delaney was found very much disturbed. She came up to Rasco
+wringing her hands.
+
+"To think o' the red rascal a-takin' thet young leddy off!" she cried.
+"I know her by thet photygraph! Och, the villain! An' it moight have
+been Rosy Delaney, bad cess to him!"
+
+"Show me the exact trail he followed," said Rasco, and this the Irish
+woman did willingly. Soon Rasco was tearing over the prairie, followed
+by Humpendinck, Delaney, Clemmer and by Dick, who borrowed a horse from
+another boomer.
+
+The trail left by Yellow Elk was easily followed to the vicinity of
+Honnewell, but here it led away to the southwest and was swallowed up
+among the bushes and rocks leading down into the ravine previously
+mentioned.
+
+"Oi reckon thot's the trail," said Delaney, after an examination.
+
+"And I vos dink dot ist der trail," put in Humpendinck.
+
+"An' I calkerlate this is the trail," added Cal Clemmer.
+
+Each pointed in a different direction, while Rasco and Dick were of the
+opinion that none of them were right and that the trail led up the
+ravine, just as it really did.
+
+An interruption now occurred. There was a stir in the bushes above their
+heads, and an elderly scout peered down upon them, rifle in hand.
+
+"Hullo, Jack Rasco, wot's the best word? Whar is Pawnee Brown?"
+
+"Dan Gilbert!" cried Rasco. "Come down, Pawnee ought to be somewhere
+about here."
+
+In a moment more Dan Gilbert, a heavy-set, pleasant-looking
+frontiersman, stood among them. A hasty consultation immediately
+followed. Dan Gilbert was on his way back to where he had left the blaze
+on the tree, and it was decided that Rasco and Dick should accompany
+him, while Clemmer, Delaney and Humpendinck went to reconnoitre in the
+opposite direction. A double pistol shot from either party was to bring
+the other to its aid.
+
+In less than five minutes the first party was on its way to the blazed
+tree. Dan Gilbert feeling certain that if Pawnee Brown had passed that
+way he must have seen the sign and left word of his own.
+
+"If Pawnee was down here you can bet he spotted that Injun if he came
+within a hundred yards of him," said Gilbert. "He can smell a red like
+a cat can smell a rat."
+
+The tree reached, the frontiersman threw back the flat rock and brought
+forth the message left by the great scout. He read it aloud.
+
+"Following Yellow Elk!" cried Jack Rasco. "I know the rascal! And it was
+he as stole my gal! Jess wait till I git my hand on his windpipe, thet's
+all! Whar's thet cave, Gilbert?"
+
+"I don't know, but it must be somewhere up the ravine. Come on."
+
+And away went the trio, on the hunt for Yellow Elk, Pawnee Brown and
+poor Nellie Winthrop.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+ATTACKED BY A WILDCAT.
+
+
+"You fiend!"
+
+This was all Pawnee Brown could say, as with a face full of bitter
+hatred Yellow Elk advanced and applied the torch to the dry brush which
+encircled his feet.
+
+In vain the great scout endeavored to wrench himself free from the
+fire-stake. Yellow Elk and his followers had done their work well and he
+was held as in a vise.
+
+"Pawnee Brown shall burn slowly," said the Indian chief, hoping to make
+the scout show the white feather. "Yellow Elk will watch that the fire
+does not mount to his body too quickly."
+
+"If you want to kill me why don't you put a bullet through my heart and
+have done with it," said the boomer as coolly as he could. The fire was
+now burning around his feet and ankles and the pain was increasing with
+every second of time.
+
+"White man shall learn what it is to suffer," said Spotted Nose. "He
+killed my friend, the Little Mule."
+
+"Your friend tried to take my life."
+
+"Bah! say no more but burn! burn!" hissed Yellow Elk.
+
+And with a stick he shoved the flaming brush closer in around the
+scout's legs.
+
+It was a fearful moment--a moment in which Pawnee Brown's life hung by a
+single thread. The flames were leaping up all around him. He closed his
+eyes and half murmured a prayer for divine aid.
+
+Crack! bang! crack! Two pistol shots and the report of a rifle echoed
+throughout the cave, and as Pawnee Brown opened his eyes in astonishment
+Spotted Nose threw up his arms and fell forward in the flames at his
+feet, dead! The Indian who had been with Spotted Nose also went down,
+mortally wounded, while Yellow Elk was hit in the left arm.
+
+"Down with the reds!" came in the ringing voice of Jack Rasco, and he
+appeared from out of a cloud of smoke, closely followed by Dan Gilbert
+and Dick. "Pawnee! Am I in time? I hope ter Heaven I am!"
+
+"Jack!" cried the great scout. A slash of Rasco's hunting knife and he
+was free. "Good for you!" and then Pawnee Brown had his hands full for
+several minutes beating out the flames which had ignited his boot soles
+and the bottoms of his trousers.
+
+"We plugged the three of 'em," said Gilbert. "I knocked thet one," and
+he pointed to the Indian who was breathing his last.
+
+"I hit the Indian with the yellow plume," put in Dick, and he could not
+help but shudder.
+
+"That was Yellow Elk," said Rasco. "But whar is he now?"
+
+All the white men turned quickly, looking up and down the cave. It was
+useless. Yellow Elk had disappeared.
+
+"He must not escape!" cried Pawnee Brown. "I have an account to settle
+with him for starting that fire."
+
+"But whar is Nellie?" asked Rasco, impatiently, looking around with a
+falling face.
+
+"She ran away when the other Indians came to Yellow Elk's assistance,"
+answered Pawnee Brown, and in a few hurried words he told his story.
+
+"Then she can't be far off."
+
+"Let us hunt for her at once," cried Dick, and his enthusiasm made the
+men laugh, at which the boy blushed furiously.
+
+"Never mind, Dick, yer don't think no more of her nor I do," said Rasco.
+"Which way, Pawnee?"
+
+"This way, boys." The scout turned to the Indian who had been wounded.
+"Dead as a door nail. Pity it wasn't Yellow Elk."
+
+"So say I," answered Rasco. "But we'll git him yet, mark my words!"
+
+With all possible speed they ran out of the cave and to the spot where
+they had left their horses. Here a disagreeable surprise awaited them.
+Every animal was gone, including the one Pawnee Brown had ridden.
+
+"More of Yellow Elk's work!" muttered the boomer. "I'll tell you, men,
+that red is a corker, and as a dead Indian he couldn't be beat."
+
+"I declar' this most stumps me!" growled Dan Gilbert. "Here's the trail
+plain enough, but it's all out of the question ter follow on shank's own
+mare."
+
+"Let us hunt up Clemmer and the others," suggested Jack Rasco.
+
+"We must be cautious--the cavalry may be somewhere in the vicinity,"
+added Pawnee Brown. "How the redskins escaped them is a mystery to me."
+
+"They are evidently as sly as their forefathers," said Dick. "But,
+really, something ought to be done. If we--hullo, there's a horse down
+in yonder clearing!"
+
+"Bonnie Bird!" shouted Pawnee Brown, in great delight. It was indeed the
+beautiful mare. A second cry and the steed came bounding up to her
+master.
+
+"Now I can follow even if the others can't," said the scout. "Rasco,
+it's a pity you haven't a mount. It is no more than right that you
+should follow up your niece. If you insist upon it I'll let you have
+Bonnie Bird. I wonder if Nellie or the redskin had her?"
+
+"I won't take yer horse, Pawnee--it's askin' too much," answered Rasco.
+"Supposin' we both mount her? If Bonnie Bird got away from Yellow Elk
+it's more'n likely one of the other hosses got away, too."
+
+"That's so. Well, get up, Jack, and let us lose no time."
+
+Soon both men were mounted. A few words all around followed, and it was
+agreed that Dick and Gilbert should try to hunt up Clemmer and the
+others, and then away went Pawnee Brown and Rasco upon Yellow Elk's
+trail.
+
+Suddenly Jack Rasco uttered a cry.
+
+"See, Pawnee, here's whar another of the hosses got away. Hang me if I
+don't think it war my hoss, too!"
+
+"Yes, and here is where the horse dropped into a walk," he answered. "I
+don't believe he can be far off."
+
+Without delay Rasco slid to the ground.
+
+"I'll follow him up afoot," he declared. "I'm fresh and can run it
+putty good. You go ahead with the regular trail."
+
+The trail left by Yellow Elk ran down along the edge of the stream for a
+distance of perhaps a hundred yards, then it came out on a series of
+flat rocks and was lost to view.
+
+Pawnee Brown came to a halt. Had Yellow Elk crossed the stream, or
+doubled on the trail and gone back?
+
+Dismounting, he got down upon his hands and knees and examined the last
+hoof-prints with extreme care.
+
+The examination lasted for fully ten minutes. No white man could follow
+a trail better than this leader of the boomers, yet for the time being
+he was baffled.
+
+Yellow Elk had led the horses into the water, but the trail did not
+extend across the stream.
+
+"He's an artful dodger!" mused Pawnee Brown, when of a sudden he became
+silent.
+
+A faint scratching, as of tree bark, had come to his ears. The noise was
+but a short distance away.
+
+"Some animal," he thought. "No human being would make such a sound as
+that."
+
+Another ten seconds of painful silence followed. The scratching sound
+had just been resumed when Bonnie Bird wheeled about as if on a pivot.
+
+"Ha!"
+
+The exclamation came from between Pawnee Brown's set teeth. There, from
+between the branches of a tree just in front of him, glared a pair of
+yellowish-green eyes.
+
+The blazing optics belonged to a monstrous wildcat!
+
+As quick as a flash Pawnee Brown raised his pistol and pulled the
+trigger.
+
+Crack! The wildcat was hit in the side. The shot was a glancing one and
+did but little damage.
+
+Whirr! down came the body straight for the boomer, landing half upon his
+shoulder and half upon Bonnie Bird's mane.
+
+The little mare was thoroughly frightened, and giving a snort and a
+plunge she threw both rider and wildcat to the ground.
+
+As Pawnee Brown went down he tried to push the monstrous cat from him,
+but the beast had its claws fastened in the scout's clothing and could
+not be shook off.
+
+Crack! Again Pawnee Brown fired. The flash was almost directly in the
+wildcat's face, and shot in the left forepaw the beast uttered a fearful
+howl of pain and dropped back.
+
+But only for an instant. The pain only increased its anger, and with
+gleaming teeth it crouched down and made another spring, right for the
+boomer's throat.
+
+Crack! crack! twice again the pistol rang out. But the big cat was now
+wary and both shots failed to take effect.
+
+The pistol being now empty, Pawnee Brown hurled it at the enraged beast,
+striking it in the nose and eliciting another scream of rage.
+
+Then, as the wildcat came on for a final attack, the scout pulled out
+his hunting knife.
+
+As the wildcat came down the hand holding the hunting knife was raised,
+with the blade of the knife pointing upward.
+
+A lightning-like swing and a thrust, and for one brief instant the
+wildcat was poised in the air, upon the very blade of the long knife.
+
+The blow had been a true one, the knife point reaching the beast's
+heart, and when the animal fell it rolled down among the leaves, dead.
+
+"By thunder! but that was something I hadn't bargained for!" murmured
+the great scout, as he surveyed the carcass. "That's about the biggest
+wildcat I ever saw. It's a good thing I didn't meet him in the dark."
+
+Wiping off his hunting knife, he restored it to his belt. Then he picked
+up his pistol and started to reload it, at the same time whistling for
+Bonnie Bird, who, he felt sure, must be close by.
+
+As Pawnee Brown stood reloading the pistol and whistling for his mare he
+did not notice a shadow behind him. Slowly but surely someone was
+drawing closer to him. It was Yellow Elk.
+
+The Indian chief was on foot. In his left hand he carried a cocked
+revolver, in his right an old-time tomahawk, from which he had refused
+to be parted when placed on the Indian reservation.
+
+The redskin's face was full of the most bitter animosity it is possible
+to imagine. The glare of wickedness in his eyes fairly put the look that
+had lived in the wildcat's optics to shame. His snags of yellow teeth
+were firmly set.
+
+He was resolved to kill his enemy there and then. Pawnee Brown should
+not again escape him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE MEETING IN THE WOODS.
+
+
+After leaving Pawnee Brown, Jack Rasco followed the trail of his horse
+through a small grove of trees and along the upper bank of the very
+stream upon which the great scout encountered Yellow Elk.
+
+"Blamed ef he didn't go further nor I expected," muttered Rasco to
+himself as he trudged along. But the hoof-prints were now growing
+fresher and fresher, telling that the animal could not be far off.
+
+The woods passed, he began ascending a small hill. At the top of this
+was a level patch, thickly overgrown with short brush.
+
+He had just entered the brush when he heard a strange sound. He listened
+intently.
+
+"Thet's a hoss in pain," he said to himself. "Too bad if the critter hez
+had a tumble an' broke a leg! If that's---- By gum!"
+
+Jack had stumbled upon a large opening directly in the midst of the
+brush. Before he could turn back the very soil beneath his feet gave
+way, and over and over he rolled down an incline of forty-five degrees,
+to bring up at last at the edge of a pool of black water and mud.
+
+Fortunately he was not hurt, although the roll had dazed him and cut
+short his wind. As soon as he could he leaped to his feet and gazed
+around him.
+
+The horse he had heard lay half in and half out of the mud. Its leg was
+caught between two rocks, and it was trying frantically to free itself.
+It was his own beast, and at once recognized him.
+
+"Whoa there!" cried Rasco, and did all he could to soothe the animal.
+The horse appeared to understand that assistance was at hand, and became
+quiet, while Rasco quickly released the locked leg and the beast
+floundered up to a safe footing.
+
+"Well, we're in a pocket, 'pears ter me," reflected the man of the
+plains as he gazed about him. On three sides the walls of the hole were
+very nearly perpendicular, on the fourth the slant was as previously
+stated, but here the soil was spongy and treacherous.
+
+"Hang me ef I'm a-goin' ter stay here all day," muttered Rasco, after a
+view of the situation. "Come, boy, it's up thet slope or nuthin'," and
+he leaped on the horse's back and urged him forward on a run.
+
+Twice did the horse try to ascend to the plain above and fail. Then
+Rasco urged him forward a third time. This time the beast balked and
+away went the man of the plains over his head.
+
+Fortunately Rasco landed in a tolerably soft spot, otherwise his neck
+would surely have been broken. As it was, his head struck the root of a
+fallen tree, which had once stood upon the edge of the hole, and he
+rolled back near the pool all but senseless.
+
+It was a quarter of an hour later before he felt like stirring again.
+
+"Hang the hoss!" he murmured half aloud, yet, all told, he did not blame
+the animal so much for balking. "Couldn't do it, eh, boy?" he said, and
+the beast shook his mane knowingly.
+
+"Git along alone, then!" went on Rasco, and struck the horse on the
+flank.
+
+Away went the steed, and this time the top of the hole was gained
+without much difficulty.
+
+"Now you're out, how am I ter make it?"
+
+It was easy to ask this question, but not so easy to answer it. Rasco
+tried to run up the spongy incline and sank to his knees.
+
+"Ain't no use; I'll try a new game," he growled.
+
+Fortunately, Rasco was in the habit of carrying, in cowboy fashion, a
+lariat suspended from his belt. This he now unwound and with a dexterous
+throw caught the outer loop over a sturdy bush growing over one of the
+perpendicular sides of the opening.
+
+Testing the lariat, to make certain it was firm, he began to ascend hand
+over hand. This was no light task, yet it was speedily accomplished, and
+with a sigh of relief he found himself safe once more.
+
+But in the meantime the horse had trotted off, alarmed by a black snake
+in the long grass. Rasco saw this snake a minute later, but the reptile
+slunk out of sight before he could get a chance to dispatch it.
+
+The trail of the horse led again back to the ravine, but not in the
+direction of the cave. Bound to secure the animal before rejoining
+Pawnee Brown, Rasco loped along in pursuit.
+
+He was in the ravine, and had just caught sight of his steed once more,
+when he heard several pistol shots coming from a distance. These were
+the shots fired by Pawnee Brown at the wildcat. He listened intently,
+but no more shots followed, and being below the level of the surrounding
+country, he was unable to locate the discharge of firearms.
+
+"Something is wrong somewhar," he mused. "Can thet be Pawnee shootin',
+or is it Dick an' the others?"
+
+He secured the horse and began to ascend out of the ravine, when a
+murmur of voices broke upon his ears. One of the voices sounded familiar
+and he soon recognized it as that of Louis Vorlange.
+
+Instantly dismounting, he tied his animal fast to a tree that the
+creature might not wander away again, and worked his way noiselessly
+through the brush. The voices came from a nearby clearing, and
+approaching, Rasco saw on horseback Louis Vorlange and half a dozen
+cavalrymen, among them Tucker, Ross and Skimmy, the trio who had sought
+to detain Dick as a horse thief.
+
+"I feel certain they will come this way," one of the strange troopers
+was saying. "I saw at least two boomer spies along yonder ravine."
+
+"They will come to Honnewell," answered Vorlange. "It may be that
+instead of making a rush they will try to sneak in during the night, one
+at a time."
+
+"We'll be ready for 'em," muttered Tucker. "I know my meat," he added,
+significantly, to Vorlange, meaning that he had not forgotten the reward
+offered if, in a battle he should lay Pawnee Brown and Dick low. At the
+words Vorlange nodded.
+
+"When will the reinforcements be up this way?" asked Ross.
+
+"I have already sent word to headquarters," answered Vorlange. "The
+lieutenant is sure to respond without delay."
+
+"Do you reckon the boomers know we are on hand to stop them?" questioned
+Skimmy.
+
+"They know nothing," answered Vorlange. "If Pawnee Brown leads his men
+in this direction they will fall directly into a trap--if the lieutenant
+does as I have advised, and I think he will."
+
+"I hope the boomers start to fight and give us a chance to wipe 'em
+out," muttered Ross.
+
+"There will be a fight started, don't you fear," answered Vorlange.
+
+The spy meant what he said. Too cowardly to meet Pawnee Brown face to
+face, he wanted to make sure that the great scout should be killed.
+
+This would happen if a battle came off, for he felt sure Tucker would do
+exactly as he promised.
+
+Vorlange had determined to be on hand. Secreted in a tree or elsewhere
+he could fire a dozen shots or so into the air, and this would arouse
+both cavalrymen and boomers to think that actual hostilities had already
+started, and then neither side would longer hold off.
+
+"When will the boomers move?" was one of the cavalryman's questions.
+
+"They are waiting for Pawnee Brown," said the spy.
+
+"Where is he?"
+
+"Somewhere about the country."
+
+"Can he be up here?"
+
+Vorlange started.
+
+"I--I think not.
+
+"He's a slick one, Vorlange; remember that."
+
+"I know it, but some men are slicker. Wait until this boom is busted and
+you'll never hear of Pawnee Brown again."
+
+So the talk ran on. Rasco listened with much interest, forgetting the
+fact that he had promised to follow Pawnee Brown as soon as the
+stray-away horse was secured.
+
+What he had heard surprised him greatly.
+
+Many of the plans of the boomers, made in such secrecy, were known to
+the government authorities. The plan to move westward to Honnewell was
+known, and a passage through to Oklahoma from that direction was,
+consequently, out of the question.
+
+"The boys must know of this," thought Rasco. "I must tell Clemmer and
+Gilbert before I try to hunt up Pawnee again, or go after Nellie. If
+there was a fight as Vorlange seems to think, there might be a hundred
+or more killed."
+
+Having overheard all that he deemed necessary, the man of the plains
+started to retreat.
+
+He had taken but a few steps when he found himself cut off from his
+horse.
+
+Three additional cavalrymen were approaching from the thicket.
+
+"Here's a horse tied up!" cried one. "Boys, whose animal is this?"
+
+The call instantly attracted the attention of Vorlange and his
+companions. They turned toward the speaker, and now there remained
+nothing for Rasco to do but to run for it, and this he did at the top of
+his speed.
+
+As long as he could he kept out of sight behind the bushes. But soon
+Tucker caught sight of him.
+
+"Halt, or I'll fire!" came the command.
+
+Tucker spoke first, and several others followed. As Rasco was now in
+plain view, and as each of the enemy had a firearm of some sort aimed at
+him, it would have been foolishness to have thus courted death, and the
+man of the plains halted.
+
+"It is Jack Rasco!" cried Vorlange. "Boys, this is Pawnee Brown's
+right-hand man!"
+
+"I know him!" growled Tucker. "Rasco, you're in a box now and don't you
+forget it. You've been spying on us."
+
+"Make him a prisoner," said another of the cavalrymen, an under
+officer. "If he is a spy we'll have to take him back to the fort and
+turn him over to the captain."
+
+A minute later Jack Rasco found himself a close prisoner. It was
+destined to be some time ere he again obtained his liberty. Thus were
+his chances of helping Pawnee Brown cut off.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+A CRY FROM THE DARKNESS.
+
+
+Let us return to Pawnee Brown, who, totally unconscious of the fact that
+Yellow Elk was creeping up behind him, stood beside the body of the dead
+wildcat, re-loading the empty revolver.
+
+One of the chambers of the firearm had been loaded, when something about
+the pistol caused the great scout to examine it more closely. As he was
+doing this Yellow Elk advanced to within three feet of him and raised
+the tomahawk for the fatal blow.
+
+At this terrible moment it must surely have been Providence which
+interfered in the boomer's behalf, for, totally unconscious of his
+peril, he would have done absolutely nothing to save himself. He bent
+over the pistol more closely.
+
+"That trigger seems to catch," he thought, and threw the weapon up and
+fired it over his shoulder, just to test it.
+
+The bullet did not pass within a yard of Yellow Elk, but the movement
+came so unexpectedly that the Indian chief was taken completely off his
+guard and dropped back as though actually shot. His cry of astonishment
+and fear lasted longer than did the pistol report, and Pawnee Brown
+swung around to confront him.
+
+"Yellow Elk!" came from his lips, when whizz! the tomahawk left the
+redskin's hand and came swirling through the air directly for his head.
+He dropped like lightning, and the keen blade sank deeply into the tree
+behind him.
+
+"Wough!" grunted the Indian when he saw how he had missed his mark. Then
+he leveled the pistol in his left hand at Pawnee Brown's head.
+
+The great scout felt his position was still a trying one. His own
+shooter, though still in hand, was empty. He pointed it and started to
+back away to the tree behind him.
+
+"Stop, or I kill!" commanded Yellow Elk, but instead of complying, the
+scout took a flying leap to a safe shelter. Seeing this, Yellow Elk also
+lost no time in getting behind cover.
+
+With the pistol loaded once more the boomer felt safer. He listened
+intently for some movement upon the part of his enemy, but none came.
+The Indian is a great hand at playing a waiting game and Yellow Elk was
+no exception to this rule.
+
+"Well, if you can wait, so can I," thought Pawnee Brown and settled
+down with eyes and ears on the alert. He thought of Nellie Winthrop and
+of Rasco, and wondered what had become of uncle and niece. He did not
+want to wait, feeling it was important to get back to the boomers' camp,
+but there was no help for it, and he remained where he was.
+
+Fifteen minutes went by and no sound broke the stillness saving that of
+the water in the brook as it flowed down over a series of rocks. Then
+came the faint crack of a single dry twig over upon his left. He turned
+around and blazed away in that direction.
+
+A fierce but suppressed exclamation in the Indian tongue followed,
+showing that Yellow Elk had been hit. How serious the Indian chief was
+injured there was no telling. It might be only a flesh wound, it might
+have been fatal and Yellow Elk might have died without further sound,
+and then again it might be only a ruse. Again Pawnee Brown paused to
+listen.
+
+Thus another quarter of an hour was wasted. It must be confessed that
+the great scout's nerves were strung to the topmost tension. At any
+moment a shot might come which would end his life. It was ten times more
+trying than to stand up in line of battle, for the enemy could not be
+seen.
+
+Again came the crack of a twig, but very faint, showing that the sound
+came from a distance. There followed a faint splash, some distance up
+the stream. Yellow Elk was retreating.
+
+"I reckon I hit him pretty bad," mused Pawnee Brown. "But I'll go
+slow--it may be only a trick," and away he crawled as silently as a
+snail along the brook's bank.
+
+Inside of the next half hour he had covered a territory of many yards on
+both sides of the brook. In one spot he had seen several drops of blood
+and the finger marks of a bloody hand. Yellow Elk, however, had
+completely disappeared.
+
+"He is gone, and so is the trail," muttered the great scout at last. He
+spoke the truth. Further following of the Indian chief was just then out
+of the question.
+
+"There is one thing to be thankful for," he mused. "I don't believe he
+captured Nellie Winthrop again after he left the cave. I wonder what has
+become of that girl?"
+
+Bonnie Bird had wandered down the brook for a drink and instantly
+returned at her master's call. With something of a sigh at not having
+finished matters with Yellow Elk the boomer leaped once again into the
+saddle and turned back in the direction from whence he had come.
+
+It was now growing dark, and the great scout felt that he must ere long
+return to the boomers' camp and give the order necessary to start the
+long wagon train on its way westward to Honnewell. Little did he dream
+of what the government spy and the cavalrymen had discovered and how
+Jack Rasco had been taken prisoner.
+
+"Pawnee!"
+
+It was a cry from a patch of woods to the northward, and straining his
+eyes he saw Cal Clemmer waving his sombrero toward him. Scout and cowboy
+boomer were soon together.
+
+"Well, whar's Rasco and the gal?" were Clemmer's first words.
+
+"Both gone--I don't know where, Cal. Where are the other boys?"
+
+"Started back toward Honnewell; thet is, all but Dick Arbuckle. He's
+over ter yonder spring gittin' a drink o' water."
+
+"I am sorry I failed to find the girl," said Pawnee Brown. "She must
+have wandered off in the woods and got lost. I am quite certain the
+Indians did not spot her again."
+
+"And Jack?"
+
+"Went off after his horse."
+
+"Wot do yer advise us ter do--stay here?"
+
+"I am afraid staying here will do no good, Cal. I must get back to camp
+and start the wagons up. I know they won't move a step unless I am
+personally there to give directions. The old boomers are all afraid of
+being fooled by some trick of the soldiers."
+
+"Thet's so. Wall, if yer want me ter stay here I'll stay--otherwise I'll
+go back," concluded Clemmer.
+
+Dick now came up, as anxious as Clemmer had been to know the news. His
+face grew very sober when he heard that Nellie had not been found.
+
+"I wish I knew more of this territory--I'd go after her myself," he
+said, earnestly. "I hope you won't abandon the search?"
+
+"Oh, no, lad; that is not my style. But I must get back to the camp
+first and start the train along. I'll be on this ground again by
+midnight."
+
+"Then why can't I stay here? I am not afraid."
+
+"Alone?" ejaculated Clemmer.
+
+"Yes--if you want to join Pawnee."
+
+"By gosh, but that boy's nervy fer a city chap!" cried the cowboy
+boomer, in admiration.
+
+"Well, you know there's a girl in this, Cal," rejoined Pawnee Brown,
+dryly. "And I reckon she's a girl well worth going through fire and
+water for."
+
+At this Dick blushed.
+
+"I want to find out about Rasco, too," he hastened to say. "You know I
+was going through with him, and he was going to do some business for my
+father, later on."
+
+The matter was talked over for several minutes, and it was at last
+decided that Dick should secrete himself in a thicket and stand watch
+there or close by until he heard from Pawnee Brown again.
+
+"Be on your guard, boy, for enemies may be thick here," were the
+boomer's last words of caution. "Don't uncover to anybody until you are
+positive it is a friend."
+
+"And here's a bite for yer," added Clemmer, handing out some rations he
+carried in a haversack. "You'll get mighty hungry ere the sun comes up
+again."
+
+In a minute more the two horsemen were galloping away. Dick watched them
+until they were lost to view, then dropped to a sitting position on a
+flat rock in the centre of a clump of trees.
+
+The youth's heart beat rather strongly. He was not used to this sort of
+thing. How different the prairies and woods were to the city streets and
+buildings.
+
+"Lonesome isn't a name for it," he mused. "Puts me in mind of one vast
+cemetery--a gigantic Greenwood, only there aren't any monuments. What is
+that?"
+
+There was a flutter and a whirl, and Dick grasped his pistol tighter. It
+was only a night-bird, starting up now that the sun was beginning to
+set.
+
+Soon the woods and the prairies began to grow dark. The sun was lost to
+view behind tall trees which cast shadows of incalculable length. It
+grew colder, too, and he buttoned his light coat tightly about him.
+
+To pass the time he began to eat some of the food left behind by
+Clemmer. It was not particularly appetizing, and in the city Dick might
+have passed it by for something better. But just then it tasted "just
+boss," to use Dick's own words. A bracing air and hunger are the best
+sauces in the world.
+
+An hour had gone by, and all was dark, when Dick started up from a
+reverie into which he had fallen. What was that which had reached his
+ears from a distance? Was it a cry, or merely the moaning of the rising
+wind?
+
+He listened. No, it was not the wind--it was a cry--a girl's voice--the
+voice of Nellie Winthrop!
+
+"It is Nellie!" came from his set lips, and his face grew pale. Again
+came the cry, but this time more faintly.
+
+From what direction had that cry for help proceeded? In vain the boy
+asked himself that question. He was not used to a life in the open and
+the rising wind was very deceptive.
+
+"I must find her!" he gasped, leaping from the rocks. "I shan't remain
+here while she is in trouble."
+
+He had no horse the men being unable to provide him with one when they
+had come together, but for this he did not care. He was resolved to aid
+the girl if such a thing were possible.
+
+Away he went over the prairie at a rapid gait, in the direction from
+whence he imagined the cry had proceeded. Two hundred yards were covered
+and he came to a halt and listened. Not a sound broke the stillness,
+although he fancied he heard the hoof-strokes of a horse at a great
+distance.
+
+Then he turned in another direction, and then another. It was all to no
+purpose. No trace of the girl could be found. He gave a groan.
+
+"It's no use; she's gone and that is all there is to it. Poor girl!"
+
+With a sinking heart he set off to return to the spot from whence he had
+come. He advanced a dozen steps, then halted and stared about him.
+
+Suddenly an awful truth burst upon him. He was lost among the brush!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+NELLIE MEETS VORLANGE.
+
+
+What had that awful cry heard by Dick meant?
+
+To learn the particulars, we must go back to the time when Nellie
+Winthrop started to escape from the cave in the cliff.
+
+The heart of the poor girl almost stopped beating as she saw Pawnee
+Brown face about, ready to defend both her and himself from any enemy
+who might appear to help Yellow Elk.
+
+Urged by the great scout, she set off on a hasty run for the mouth of
+the cave.
+
+Before the entrance was gained she heard the crack of a pistol, but
+whether fired by the boomer or an Indian she could not tell.
+
+"Heaven spare that brave man!" was the prayer which came to her almost
+bloodless lips.
+
+She looked around in vain for the horse spoken of by Pawnee Brown. Not
+an animal was in sight. Then she remembered what the scout had said
+about riding down the ravine, and she set off on foot.
+
+Not far from the mouth of the cave the ravine forked into two branches,
+the smaller fork ending at the distance of quarter of a mile in a cul de
+sac, or blind pocket. Not knowing she was making any mistake, she
+entered this fork and kept on running, expecting each instant to find
+Pawnee Brown coming up behind her.
+
+"Oh, dear, I can't be right!"
+
+Such was the cry which escaped her when she came to a halt, realizing
+she could go no further in that direction. On both sides and in front
+arose a series of rocks, more or less steep, and covered only with scrub
+brush, impossible to ascend.
+
+She looked behind. No one was coming. All about her was as silent as a
+tomb.
+
+"Perhaps I had better go back," she mused, but the thought of
+encountering an Indian made her shiver. In her life in the open she had
+had many an encounter with a wild animal, but redskins were as yet
+almost new to her, and her experience with the hideous Yellow Elk had
+been one she did not care to repeat.
+
+She had just turned to move back to the ravine proper, when a sound
+among the rocks caused her to pause. She looked intently in the
+direction, but could see nothing out of the ordinary.
+
+"Hullo, there, miss; what are you doing away out here?"
+
+The cry came from the rocks on her right. Turning swiftly, she saw an
+evil-looking man scowling down upon her from a small opening under one
+of the rocky walls of the _cul de sac_. The man was Louis Vorlange.
+
+Nellie did not know the fellow; indeed she had never heard of him. But
+there was that in the spy's manner which was not at all reassuring as he
+leaped down to where she stood.
+
+"I say, how did you come here?" went on Vorlange.
+
+"I--I just escaped from an Indian who carried me off from Arkansas
+City," answered Nellie.
+
+"An Indian! Who was it, do you know?"
+
+"A fellow named Yellow Elk."
+
+Vorlange uttered a low whistle.
+
+"Where is he now?" he questioned.
+
+"I left him back in yonder hills, in a cave."
+
+Again the spy uttered a whistle, but whether of surprise or dismay
+Nellie could not tell.
+
+"Were you alone with Yellow Elk?"
+
+"I was for a time. But a white man came to my aid and the two had a
+fight."
+
+"Who was the white man?"
+
+Before she gave the matter a second thought, Nellie answered:
+
+"Mr. Pawnee Brown."
+
+"Ha!" Vorlange's eyes gleamed, and the girl felt certain she had made a
+mistake.
+
+"Where is Pawnee Brown now?"
+
+"I left him in the cave with the Indian. I expected him to follow me."
+
+"I see. And what may your name be?"
+
+The man's words were fair enough, but Nellie did not like his manner at
+all, so she turned upon him coldly.
+
+"And what is your name, and who are you?"
+
+"I am not here to answer questions, miss. I am a government official,
+let that be enough for you to know."
+
+As he spoke Louis Vorlange caught Nellie by the arm.
+
+"Let go of me," cried the frightened girl, and attempted to pull away,
+but Vorlange held her tight.
+
+"You come along with me. No one, and especially Pawnee Brown, has any
+right in this territory just now, and it is my business to see that all
+such people are kept out. I presume you belong to that crowd of boomers,
+since you say you were carried off from Arkansas City?"
+
+"I shall answer no more of your questions, sir. Let me go!"
+
+"You'll come along with me," muttered Vorlange. "I take it you know
+what the boomers intend to do, and, if that is so, your information is
+just what the government wants."
+
+So speaking he attempted to drag Nellie up the rocks to the opening
+before mentioned. The girl resisted with all of her strength, and
+Vorlange received a box on the left ear which made that member of his
+body hum for a long time after.
+
+"You little wretch!" he cried, as he caught her up in his arms. "I will
+get square with you for that."
+
+"You are no gentleman! Let me go!" replied Nellie. Then she attempted to
+scream, but he promptly clapped his hand over her mouth.
+
+In another moment, despite her utmost struggles, he was carrying her up
+to the opening. This spot once reached, he took her inside and over to a
+well-like hole upon one side.
+
+"Do you see that hole?" he said sternly. "I am going to put you in that
+for the present, for safe keeping. I call it my prison cell, and no cell
+could be better. It is not a cheerful place, but you will be as safe
+there as in the best prison in Chicago or San Francisco. I'll be back
+for you soon, and in the meantime you had better make no attempt to
+escape, for at the mouth of this opening is set a gun, with a wire
+attachment, which may blow you up."
+
+This latter statement was a false one, but Vorlange rightfully
+calculated that it would have its due effect upon the frightened girl.
+
+Having thus intimidated Nellie, Vorlange lowered her into the opening in
+the rocks, which was about six feet in diameter and at least ten feet
+deep. This done, he lit a lantern and hung it so that its rays might
+shine down upon his captive.
+
+"You won't feel so lonesome with the light," he said. "Now keep quiet
+until I return. If you behave yourself you have nothing to fear. I am a
+government officer and I am holding you as a prisoner only until I can
+turn you over to the proper authorities."
+
+"It is a--a queer proceeding," faltered Nellie. She could hardly bring
+herself to believe the man.
+
+"Out here we can't do things exactly as they are done in the big
+cities," grinned Vorlange. "We are out here after the boomers just now,
+and your being here with Pawnee Brown will rather go against you. But
+keep quiet now until I return."
+
+Thus speaking, the spy quirted the opening, leaving Nellie alone. With
+hasty steps Vorlange made his way along the fork of the ravine until the
+opening proper was reached. Here he settled himself in a tree to watch
+for Pawnee Brown's possible coming. But, as we know, the scout did not
+move in that direction.
+
+For over two hours Nellie was left alone, a prey to the keenest mental
+torture it is possible to imagine. As the day was drawing to a close
+Vorlange appeared, a peculiar smile upon his face.
+
+He had met the cavalrymen, and Jack Rasco had been captured as
+previously described.
+
+"Well, we are going to move now," he said to Nellie, and threw down a
+rope that he might haul her up out of the hole.
+
+"Where to?"
+
+"You'll learn that later."
+
+As she did not wish to remain in that damp spot longer, she caught the
+rope and was drawn up. Then Vorlange took her outside and sat her down
+before him on his horse, first, however, tying her hands.
+
+It was during the ride that followed that Dick heard her cry for help
+and started to her rescue, only to miss her and get lost in the brush.
+
+A ride of half an hour brought the pair to the edge of a heavy timber.
+Through this they picked their way, until a small clearing was gained,
+where was located a low log cabin, containing two rooms. The log cabin
+was not inhabited, and Vorlange pushed open the door without ceremony.
+
+"You'll stay here over night," he said, as he ushered Nellie into the
+smaller room. "You can see this has been used for a prison before, as
+all of the windows are nailed up. I don't believe you'll try to escape
+anyway, for, let me warn you, it won't pay. Make yourself as comfortable
+as you can, and in the morning we'll come to an understanding. We've got
+another prisoner besides yourself, and between the two of you I reckon
+we'll find out before long just what the boomers are up to."
+
+And with a dark look upon his face, Louis Vorlange stalked out of the
+apartment, locking the door after him, and thus leaving Nellie to her
+fate.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE MOVING OF THE BOOMERS.
+
+
+"Pawnee Brown at last!"
+
+The words came from one of the boomers, a fat but spry old chap named
+Dunbar.
+
+"Yes, Dunbar," answered the great scout. "Were you getting anxious about
+me?"
+
+"Well, just a trifle, Pawnee."
+
+"The camp must move at once. Send the word around immediately, Dunbar."
+
+"Whar do we move to?"
+
+"To Honnewell. As soon as all hands are at Honnewell I'll send out
+further orders."
+
+In less than half an hour the immense wagon train organized by the
+boomers located in Kansas was on the way.
+
+At the front rode Pawnee Brown, Clemmer and several others who were
+personal friends of the scout.
+
+It was a grand sight, this moving. To this day some of the boomers say
+it was the grandest sight they ever beheld.
+
+Every heart was full of hope. Past trials and hardships were forgotten.
+The boomers were to enter the richest farming lands in the States and
+there start life anew.
+
+The movement was made in silence and in almost utter darkness. Of
+course, it was impossible to hide the news from the citizens of Arkansas
+City, but the train was well on its way before the news had any chance
+of spreading.
+
+At the time of which we write there were several trails to Honnewell
+from Arkansas City. The regular road was a fair one in good weather,
+but, after such a rain as had fallen, this trail was hub-deep with mud
+in more than one spot.
+
+"Oi'll not go thot trail," was Delaney's comment. "Oi'll take the upper
+road."
+
+"Thot's roight, Mike," put in Rosy, his wife. "It's not meself as wants
+to stick fast in this black mud. Sure, and it's worse nor the bogs of
+Erin!"
+
+"Vot's dot road you vos speakin' apout alretty?" put in Humpendinck, who
+had as heavy a wagon as anyone.
+
+"It's a better road nor this, Humpy," replied Mike Delaney. "Folly me
+an' we'll rach Honnewell afore enny of 'em, mark me wurrud."
+
+Thus encouraged, Humpendinck followed Delaney on the upper trail, and,
+seeing the two go off, half a dozen followed.
+
+It was more than half an hour after before Pawnee Brown heard of their
+departure.
+
+The great scout was much disturbed.
+
+"It's foolishness for them to start off on the upper trail," he
+declared. "I went over it but a few days ago, and at Brown's Crossing
+the road is all torn up by a freshet. Besides that, we must keep
+together."
+
+"Yer right thar, Pawnee," answered Clemmer. "Delaney ought to know
+better. But yer can't tell the Irish anything."
+
+"Humpendinck went with him," put in Dunbar, who had brought the news.
+
+"Both the Irishman and the German are smart enough in their way,"
+answered Pawnee Brown. "But they've made a mistake. Cal and Dunbar, you
+continue at the head, and I'll ride across country and head Delaney and
+his crowd back through the Allen trail. I'll probably rejoin you just
+this side of Honnewell."
+
+With this command, Pawnee Brown left the wagon train and plunged off
+through the darkness alone.
+
+He had been over that district many times and thought he knew about
+every foot of the ground.
+
+But for once the great scout was mistaken, and that mistake was
+destined to bring him into serious difficulty.
+
+About half a mile had been covered, and he was just approaching a patch
+of small timber, when he noticed that Bonnie Bird began to show signs of
+shyness. She did not refuse to go forward, but evidently was proceeding
+against her will.
+
+Quick to notice a change in the beautiful mare's mood, Pawnee Brown
+spoke to her. She pawed the ground and tossed her head.
+
+"What is it, Bonnie? Danger ahead?"
+
+Again the mare pawed the ground. Feeling certain something was wrong,
+Pawnee Brown stood up in his stirrups and looked about him.
+
+All was dark and silent upon every side. Overhead the faint stars shed
+but an uncertain light.
+
+"It's one too many for me, Bonnie," he mused. "Forward until the danger
+becomes clearer."
+
+Thus commanded, the mare moved forward once more, but this time much
+slower. Once or twice her feet seemed to stick fast, but Pawnee Brown
+did not notice this. At last she came to a dead halt and would not go
+another step.
+
+"The danger must be in the timber," thought the boomer. "Bonnie Bird
+wouldn't balk for nothing. I'll dismount and reconnoitre."
+
+Springing to the ground, he drew his pistol and moved forward silently.
+Scarcely had he taken a dozen steps than he realized the cause of his
+mare's unwillingness to proceed further.
+
+He was in a bed of quicksand.
+
+Anybody who knows what a bed of quicksand is knows how dangerous it
+is--dangerous to both man and beast. Just as the scout made his
+discovery he sank up to his knees in the mass.
+
+"By Jove! I must get back out of this, and in double-quick order," he
+muttered, and tried to turn, to find himself sinking up to his waist.
+
+Pawnee Brown was now fully alive to the grave peril of his situation.
+
+He tried by all the strength at his command to pull himself to the firm
+ground from which he had started.
+
+He could not budge a foot. True, he took one step, but it was only to
+sink in deeper than ever.
+
+Several minutes of great anxiety passed. He had sunk very nearly up to
+his armpits.
+
+Quarter of an hour more and he would be up to his head, and then----?
+Brave as he was, the great scout did not dare to think further. The idea
+of a death in the treacherous quicksand was truly horrible.
+
+His friends would wonder what had become of him, but it was not likely
+that they would ever find his body.
+
+And even faithful Bonnie Bird would be dumb, so far as telling the
+particulars of her master's disappearance was concerned.
+
+The mare now stood upon the edge of the quicksands, fifteen feet off,
+whining anxiously. She knew as well as though she had been a human being
+that something was wrong.
+
+Suddenly an inspiration came to Pawnee Brown.
+
+"How foolish! Why didn't I think of that before?" he muttered.
+
+At his belt had hung a lariat, placed there when the wagon train
+started, in case any of the animals should attempt to run off in the
+darkness.
+
+The boomer could use a lariat as well as Clemmer or any of the cowboys.
+More than once, riding at full speed upon his mare, he had thrown the
+noose around any foot of a steer that was selected by those looking on.
+
+He put his hand down to his waist and felt for the lariat. It was still
+there, and he brought it up and swung it over his head, to free it from
+the quicksand.
+
+As has been stated, the belt of timber was not far away, the nearest
+tree being less than fifty feet from where he remained stuck.
+
+Preparing the lariat, he threw the noose up and away from him. It
+circled through the air and fell over the nearest branch of the tree.
+Hauling it taut, Pawnee Brown tested it, to make sure it would not slip,
+and then began to haul himself up, as Rasco had done at the swamp hole.
+
+It was slow work, and more than once he felt that the lariat would
+break, so great was the strain put upon it.
+
+But it held, and a few minutes later Pawnee Brown found himself with
+somewhat cut hands, safe in the branches of the tree.
+
+Winding up the lariat, he descended to the ground, and made a detour to
+where Bonnie Bird remained standing, and to where he had cast his
+pistol.
+
+The mare and weapon secured, he continued on his way, but made certain
+to wander into no more quicksand spots.
+
+"It was too narrow an escape for comfort," was the way in which Pawnee
+Brown expressed himself, when he told the story later.
+
+An hour after found him again among the boomers.
+
+Mike Delaney was just coming in by the Allen trail. The Irishman was
+much crestfallen over his failure to find a better trail than that
+selected by the scout, and Rosy was giving it to him with a vengeance.
+
+"Th' nixt toime ye go forward it will be undher Pawnee Brown's
+directions, Moike Delaney!" she cried. "It's not yerself thot is as
+woise as Moses in the wilderness, moind thot!" And her clenched fist
+shook vigorously to emphasize her words. After that Delaney never
+strayed from the proper trail again.
+
+All of the boomers but Jack Rasco were now on hand, and as hour after
+hour went by and Rasco did not turn up, Pawnee Brown grew anxious about
+the welfare of his right-hand man.
+
+"Looking for the girl had brought him into trouble, more than likely,"
+he thought, as he rode away from Honnewell, taking a due south course.
+"And what can have become of her?"
+
+Pawnee Brown was on his way to the spot where he had left Dick. He had
+decided that as soon as he had found the lad, he would return to camp,
+and then the onward march of the boomers for Oklahoma should at once be
+begun.
+
+On through the ravine where he had met Yellow Elk he dashed, Bonnie Bird
+feeling fresh after a short rest and her morning meal, for the sun was
+now creeping skyward. On through the brush, and he turned toward the
+open prairie.
+
+"Halt! Throw up your hands!"
+
+The unexpected command came from the thicket on the edge of the prairie.
+On the instant the boomer wheeled about. The sight which met his gaze
+caused his heart to sink within him. There, drawn up in line, was the
+full troop of cavalry sent out by the government to stop the boomers'
+entrance to the much-coveted territory.
+
+Vorlange's spy work was responsible, and Pawnee Brown's carefully-laid
+plan had fallen through.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+DICK'S DISAGREEABLE DISCOVERY.
+
+
+"Lost!"
+
+Dick murmured the word over and over again, as he peered through the
+brush, first in one direction and then in another.
+
+"I ought to have kept track of where I was going," he went on bitterly.
+"Of course, away out here one place is about as good as another for
+hiding, but how am I going to find the others, or, rather, how are they
+going to find me, when they come back?"
+
+He pushed on for nearly a quarter of an hour; then, coming to a flat
+rock, threw himself down for reflection.
+
+"Just my luck!" he muttered. "I'll have to have a string tied about my
+neck like a poodle dog. What a clown I was to go it blind! But Nellie's
+cry for help made me forget everything else. Poor girl! I do hope she is
+safe. If that redskin--gosh! what's that?"
+
+The flat rock was backed up by a number of heavy bushes. From these
+bushes had come a peculiar noise, half grunt, half yawn! Dick leaped to
+his feet, the bushes parted and there appeared the savage face of
+Yellow Elk!
+
+Dick knew the Indian by that plume of which he had heard so much. He
+rightfully guessed that Yellow Elk had been taking a nap behind the
+bushes. He had been shot in the thigh, and this, coupled with the fact
+that he had had no sleep for two nights, had made him very weary.
+
+As the Indian chief shoved his face into view he caught sight of Dick
+and uttered a slight huh! Up came the boy's weapon, but on the instant
+Yellow Elk disappeared.
+
+For the moment Dick was too paralyzed to move. Like a flash he realized
+that Yellow Elk had the better of him, for the Indian was behind
+shelter, while he stood in a clearing.
+
+"White boy stand still!" came in guttural tones from the redskin. "Don't
+dare move, or Indian shoot."
+
+"What do you want of me?" asked Dick.
+
+"White boy all alone?"
+
+"What business is that of yours?"
+
+At this Yellow Elk muttered a grunt. Then from out of the bushes Dick
+saw thrust the shining barrel of a horse pistol.
+
+"White boy throw down little shooter," commanded the redskin. By little
+shooter he meant Dick's pistol.
+
+There was no help for it, and the youth did as requested.
+
+"White boy got udder shooter?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Now say if white boy alone. Speak if want to save life."
+
+"Yes, I am alone, Yellow Elk."
+
+"Ha! you know Yellow Elk?" cried the Indian in surprise.
+
+"I've heard of you."
+
+"What white boy do here?"
+
+"I am lost."
+
+"Lost. Huh!" and a look of disgust crossed the Indian chiefs face. The
+idea of a human being losing his way was something he could not
+understand. During his life he had covered thousands of miles of prairie
+and forest lands and had never yet lost himself. Such is the training
+and instinct of a true American aboriginal.
+
+While speaking Yellow Elk had leaped through the brush, and now he came
+up and peered into Dick's face. Instantly his eyes filled with anger.
+
+"I know white boy; he friend to Pawnee Brown. Indian see him at big
+moving."--meaning the camp of the boomers. He had not noticed Dick in the
+fight at the cave.
+
+"Yes, Pawnee Brown is my friend," answered Dick. "Where is he now?" he
+added, to throw the Indian off the series of questions he was
+propounding.
+
+"Pawnee Brown dead!" muttered Yellow Elk simply. "White boy come with
+me."
+
+"With you!" ejaculated Dick, a chill creeping up to his heart.
+
+"Yes; come now. No wait, or Yellow Elk shoot!" and again the horse
+pistol was raised.
+
+The tone was so ugly that Dick felt it would be useless to hang back.
+Yellow Elk pointed with his arm in the direction he wished the lad to
+proceed, and away they went, the Indian but a pace behind, and keeping
+his pistol where it would be ready for use whenever required.
+
+Dick never forgot that walk in the starlight, taken at about the same
+time that Pawnee Brown was floundering in the quicksand. A mile or more
+was covered, over prairies, through a wood and across several small
+streams, for the fertile Indian Territory abounds in water courses.
+Yellow Elk stuck to him like a shadow, and the pistol was continually in
+evidence. Yellow Elk had likewise appropriated Dick's weapon, the one
+cast to the ground.
+
+Presently a clearing was gained where stood a cabin built of logs. All
+about the place was deserted. Going up to the cabin the Indian opened
+the door and lit a match.
+
+"White boy go inside and we have talk," said Yellow Elk, when there came
+a noise from the woods beyond. At once Yellow Elk pushed Dick into the
+cabin and bolted the door from the outside.
+
+"White boy keep quiet or Yellow Elk come in and kill!" he hissed, in a
+low but distinct tone. "No make a sound till Indian open door again."
+
+The Indian's words were so terrifying that Dick stood still for several
+minutes exactly where he had been thrust. All was pitch dark around him.
+He listened, but not a sound reached his ears.
+
+"Where in the world is this adventure going to end?" was the thought
+which coursed through his mind.
+
+He wondered what had alarmed Yellow Elk. Was it the approach of some
+white friend? Fervidly he prayed it might be.
+
+A low, half-suppressed cough from somewhere close at hand caught his ear
+and made him start.
+
+"Who is there?" he asked aloud.
+
+"Oh, Dick Arbuckle, is that you?" came in an eager voice.
+
+"Nellie Winthrop! Is it possible? Where are you?"
+
+"In the next room."
+
+"Can't you come out?"
+
+"No; I'm locked in."
+
+"Gosh, you don't say!" Forgetting his former fear, Dick hurried across
+the cabin floor to the door of the inner apartment. Feeling around in
+the dark he found a hasp and staple and pulled out the plug which
+fastened the barrier. In another instant boy and girl plumped into each
+other's arms in the darkness. Even in that moment of peril Dick could
+not resist giving Nellie a little squeeze, which she did not resent.
+
+"But how came you here?" asked the youth quickly.
+
+"I was captured by a government spy, who wants to get from me some
+secret of the boomers. He is a bad-looking man, and I was awfully afraid
+of him."
+
+"Yellow Elk brought me here. We are prisoners together. Some noise in
+the woods just took Yellow Elk off."
+
+"The man has been gone less than five minutes. Perhaps they are in
+league with each other," suggested Nellie.
+
+"Perhaps, or they may be enemies. But never mind how that stands. We
+must get away, Nellie, and that before Yellow Elk comes back."
+
+"Heaven knows, I am willing!" gasped the trembling girl. "I want no more
+of Yellow Elk."
+
+"The window is nailed up," went on Dick, after an examination. "And the
+Indian fastened that door from the outside. I wonder if I can't get out
+by way of the roof?" He lit a match and gazed upward. "There is an
+opening. Here goes!"
+
+In another instant he was climbing up beside the fireplace, to where a
+scuttle led to the sloping roof. He was soon without, and Nellie heard
+him drop to the ground. Then the outer door was thrown back.
+
+"Quick! The Indian is coming back, and there is somebody with him!"
+whispered Dick, and, taking hold of Nellie's hand, he led her away as
+fast as possible. Their course was from the rear of the cabin and across
+a broad but shallow stream.
+
+"We'll go down the stream a bit before we land," said Dick, as they were
+on the point of stepping out of the water. "That may serve to throw
+Yellow Elk off the trail."
+
+"Yes, yes, but do hurry!" answered the girl. "If Yellow Elk gets hold of
+me again I'll die!" The fear of getting into the clutches of the red man
+was so great she trembled from head to foot and would have gone down had
+not Dick's strong arm supported her.
+
+It was wonderful how strong the youth felt, now that he had somebody
+besides himself to protect. It is said that nature fits the back to the
+burden, and it must have been so in this case. For himself, he might
+have feared to face Yellow Elk single-handed; defending Nellie he would,
+if called upon, have faced a dozen redskins.
+
+On and on they went, as silently as possible. The trees overhung the
+brook from both sides, making it pitch dark beneath.
+
+A distance of fifty yards had been covered, when they heard a loud
+exclamation of rage, followed by an Indian grunt.
+
+"The white man and the Indian have met and both have discovered our
+flight," whispered Dick. "Come, we will leave the stream and take to
+yonder woods. Surely among those trees we can find some safe hiding
+place."
+
+They turned in toward shore. As they were about to step to dry land
+Nellie's foot slipped on a round stone, making a loud splash. At the
+same time the girl gave a faint cry.
+
+"My ankle--it's twisted!"
+
+"Quick! let me carry you!" returned Dick, and, seeing the ankle must
+pain her not a little, he picked her up in his arms and dove in among
+the trees.
+
+They were not a moment too soon, for the ready ears of Yellow Elk had
+heard the splash and the cry, and now he came bounding in the direction,
+with Louis Vorlange at his heels.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+DICK HITS HIS MARK.
+
+
+"They are coming closer, Dick! What shall we do?"
+
+It was Nellie Winthrop who asked the question. Boy and girl had entered
+the woods a distance of fifty feet from the bank of the brook, and both
+rested where several large rocks and some overhanging bushes afforded a
+convenient hiding place.
+
+"Keep quiet, Nellie," he said in a murmur, with his lips close to her
+shell-like ears. And he gripped her arm to show her that he would stand
+by her no matter what danger might befall them.
+
+It would have been foolhardy to say more, for Yellow Elk and Louis
+Vorlange were now within hearing distance, and the ears of the Indian
+chief were more than ever on the alert. The government spy had lighted a
+torch, which he swung low to the brook bank, while Yellow Elk made an
+examination of the ground.
+
+"Here footmarks!" grunted the redskin, a minute later, and pointed them
+out. "They go this way--cannot be far off."
+
+"Then after them," muttered Vorlange. "It was through your stupidity
+that the girl got away. Yellow Elk, I always put you down for being
+smarter than that."
+
+"Yellow Elk smart enough!" growled the Indian chief.
+
+"No, you're not. In some things you are like a block of wood," grumbled
+Vorlange. The escape of Nellie had put him out a good deal.
+
+The manner of the government spy provoked the Indian. To be called a
+block of wood is, to the red man, a direct insult. Yellow Elk
+straightened up.
+
+"White man big fool!" he hissed. "Yellow Elk not make chase for him,"
+and he folded his arms.
+
+"You won't go after the boy and the girl?" queried Vorlange.
+
+"No--white man hunt for himself if he want to catch the little woman
+again."
+
+And having thus delivered himself, Yellow Elk sat down by the brook and
+refused to budge another step.
+
+The Indian's objections to continuing the search were more numerous than
+appeared on the surface. The so-called insult, bad as it was, was merely
+an excuse to hide other motives. Yellow Elk had known Vorlange for years
+and as the spy was naturally a mean fellow, the redskin hated him
+accordingly.
+
+Another reason for refusing to go ahead was that Yellow Elk knew only
+too well that if Dick and Nellie were again taken, Vorlange would
+consider both his own captives, and Yellow Elk would be "counted out" of
+the entire proceedings. He could not go to the agency and claim any
+glory, for he had run away without permission, although he had told
+Vorlange he was away on a special mission connected with the soldiers.
+
+And deeper than all was the thought that if he did not capture Nellie
+now, he might do so later on, when he had separated from the spy. Ever
+since he had first seen the beautiful girl he had been covetous of
+making her his squaw. Indian fashion, he felt he could compel Nellie to
+choose him, even if he had to whip her into making the choice.
+
+"You won't go on with the search?" cried Vorlange, in a rage.
+
+"No," was the short answer.
+
+"I say you shall! See here, Yellow Elk, do you want to be shot?"
+
+"Yellow Elk not afraid of Vorlange--Vorlange know dat. Yellow Elk go
+back to cabin to see if girl or boy leave anything behind."
+
+Then he got up, waded across the brook again and disappeared among the
+trees surrounding the log cabin.
+
+Louis Vorlange muttered a good many things in a very angry tone. Then,
+torch in hand, he started up the brook bank to follow the trail alone.
+
+Dick and Nellie listened to the quarrel with bated breath. Both hoped
+that Vorlange would follow to the cabin. When he approached closer than
+ever, their hearts seemed to almost stop beating.
+
+Feeling that a contest was at hand, Dick groped around in the darkness
+for some weapon. No stick was at hand, but at his feet lay a jagged
+stone weighing all of a pound. He took it up and held it in readiness.
+
+Closer and closer came Vorlange, turning now to the right and now to the
+left, for following the trail among the rocks and brush was no easy
+matter.
+
+"Might as well give yourselves up!" he called out. "I am bound to spot
+you sooner or later."
+
+To this neither offered any reply, but Dick felt Nellie shiver. They
+could now see the flare of the torch plainly, for Vorlange was less than
+thirty feet away.
+
+Presently the spy uttered a low cry of pleasure. He had found several
+footprints, where Dick had slipped from a rock into the dirt. Now he
+came straight for them, waving the torch above his head that it might
+throw its light to a greater distance.
+
+[Illustration: "Dick had let fly the jagged stone, taking him directly
+in the forehead and keeling him over like a tenpin"]
+
+"So there you are!" The man caught sight of Nellie's dress. "I told you
+I would catch you. It's not such an easy matter to get away from Louis
+Vorlange. The next time I lock you up--oh!"
+
+A deep groan escaped the spy. Dick had let fly the jagged stone, taking
+him directly in the forehead and keeling him over like a tenpin. The
+blow left a deep cut from which the blood flowed in a stream, and
+Vorlange was completely stunned.
+
+"Oh, Dick, have you--you--killed him?" burst from Nellie's lips, in
+horror.
+
+"I guess not, Nellie; he's stunned, that's all. Come, let us run for it
+again--before that Indian changes his mind and comes back."
+
+"You might take his pistol," suggested the quick-witted girl.
+
+"A good idea--I will. Now let me carry you again, I see you can hardly
+stand on that foot." For Nellie had limped along a dozen steps in great
+pain.
+
+"But I am so heavy, Dick----"
+
+"Never mind, I can carry you a little distance, at least."
+
+"You had better save yourself and let me go."
+
+"What! Nellie, do you think me so selfish? Never! Come, and we'll escape
+or die in the attempt."
+
+And catching her up as before, he started off on as rapid a gait as the
+weight of his fair burden would permit.
+
+A distance of a hundred yards had been covered and Dick found himself
+ascending a slight hill. The climb was by no means easy, yet he kept on
+manfully, knowing what capture by Yellow Elk might mean.
+
+"He would tomahawk me and carry Nellie off," he thought, and it would be
+hard to say which he thought the worst, the tomahawking or the carrying
+off of the girl for whom he entertained such a high regard.
+
+The top of the hill reached, they saw before them a broad stretch of
+open prairie, flanked to the north and the south by the woods from which
+they had just emerged.
+
+"I'll be thrashed if I know where we are," he said. "Have you any idea?"
+
+"No, Dick, I am completely bewildered."
+
+"I wonder if it is safe to attempt to cross this prairie? It is pretty
+dark, but that redskin has mighty sharp eyes."
+
+"Let us go down to the edge of the woods first and rest a bit. I am sure
+you are pretty well out of breath, and if I can bathe my ankle in some
+cold water perhaps I'll be able to walk on it before long."
+
+"Don't try it, Nellie; I'll carry you," and again the youth picked her
+up.
+
+It was not long before they reached a convenient hollow, where there was
+a small pool. Here Nellie made herself comfortable and took off the shoe
+which hurt her so much. Bathed, the ankle which had been twisted felt
+much better. It was still, however, much swollen, and to walk far on
+that foot was as yet out of the question.
+
+An hour went by, a quiet hour, in which only the cries of the night
+birds and the occasional hoot of an owl disturbed them. They conversed
+in whispers and Dick's ears were ever on the alert, for he felt certain
+that Vorlange or Yellow Elk would sooner or later continue the search
+for them.
+
+Nellie was very sleepy and at last her eyes closed and she dropped into
+a slumber upon Dick's shoulder, forming such a pretty picture the youth
+could do nothing but admire her. "I'll save her--I must do it!" he
+murmured, and kissed her wavy tresses softly.
+
+It wanted still two hours to sunrise when he awakened her. She leaped up
+with a start.
+
+"I have been asleep! Oh, Dick, why did you let me drop off?"
+
+"I knew how tired you must be after going through all you did. But we
+must be on our way now, before it grows lighter. How is the foot?"
+
+"It is stiff, but much better. Which way shall we go?"
+
+"Let us strike across the prairie and to the north. That is bound to
+bring us into Kansas sooner or later, and once there we'll be sure to
+locate the boomers without much trouble."
+
+Both were hungry, but, as there was no food at hand, neither said a word
+on that point. Getting a drink at a running brook close by, they started
+off, Dick holding Nellie's hand, that she might not go down on the ankle
+that was still weak.
+
+Only a corner of the broad prairie passed, and then they turned again
+into a woods. The sun was now up and it was growing warmer.
+
+"I'll shoot a few birds if I can't find anything else," said Dick. "We
+can't starve, and birds broiled over a fire will make a fair meal."
+
+"But the noise?" began Nellie.
+
+"I know; but, as I said, we can't starve, Nellie. We'll have to take the
+risk. Here goes!"
+
+Dick crept forward to where half a dozen birds sat on a nearby bush. The
+birds were in a flutter over something, but Dick did not notice this.
+Bringing two of the birds into range for a single shot, he blazed away
+with his pistol.
+
+The sharp crack of the firearm was still echoing through the woods when
+there came a roar from behind the bushes the birds had occupied. Dick
+had brought down his game and more, he had struck a bear in the
+shoulder. In another moment the huge beast leaped into sight, and with
+angry eyes and gleaming teeth bore straight for the astonished boy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+THE SOLDIERS AGAIN.
+
+
+Never was Dick Arbuckle more astonished than when the big bear leaped
+out from behind the bushes and confronted himself and Nellie Winthrop.
+
+"Oh, Dick! a bear!" screamed the girl, and stood still, too paralyzed
+with fright to move.
+
+As we know, Dick had just brought down several birds with his
+pistol--indeed it was this very shot which had clipped the bear--and now
+the weapon was empty and useless, having had but one chamber loaded.
+
+But as the great beast came forward, Dick knew enough not to stand
+still. He retreated in double-quick order, and forced Nellie to
+accompany him. Away they went through the woods with the bear in close
+pursuit.
+
+At the start of the chase girl and boy were at least forty feet in
+advance, but despite his bulk the bear made rapid progress, and slowly
+but surely began to lessen the distance between himself and those he
+sought to make his victims. Looking over his shoulder, Dick saw him
+lumbering along, his mouth wide open and his blood-red tongue hanging
+out as though ready to lick him in.
+
+"I--I--can't run any more," gasped Nellie. Her heart was beating as
+though ready to break. "Oh, Dick, what shall we do?"
+
+"Here is a tree with low branches--jump for that--I will help you up!"
+returned the youth, and in a few seconds they were in the tree, a scrub
+oak, with the big bear underneath, eying them angrily, and speculating
+upon how he could bring them down within reach of his powerful embrace
+and his hungry maw.
+
+"He is going to climb up," came from Nellie's lips a few seconds later.
+She was right. Bruin had attacked the tree trunk and now he was coming
+up slowly, as though afraid of moving into some trap.
+
+Dick did not answer, for talking would have done no good. He was
+re-loading the pistol with all possible speed.
+
+Crack! Dick had leaned down through the branches of the oak and taken
+aim at one of those bloodshot eyes. There was a howl and a roar, and the
+bear fell down with a crash that shook the forest. As to whether the
+bullet had found that eye or not Dick could not tell, but certain it was
+that once on the ground the bear picked himself up in short order and
+started to run away.
+
+"You hit him!" cried Nellie. "Oh, Dick, if only he don't come back!"
+
+"He's not going away--very far," answered the boy. The shot had
+encouraged him and his blood was up. A moment later Nellie was horrified
+to behold him drop to the grass and make off after the beast.
+
+"That bear will kill him sure!" she ejaculated. "Oh, Dick, come back!
+please do!" she screamed.
+
+A shot answered her, a shot which was quickly followed by another. A
+minute of painful silence; then suddenly the bear staggered into view
+with Dick at his heels.
+
+"I've nailed him!" shouted the boy, joyfully, and another shot did the
+work. With a groan the bear keeled over, gave a jerk or two, and died.
+
+Nellie was in such a tremble she could scarcely descend from the tree.
+When she did come down she found Dick hard at work cutting out a juicy
+steak from the bear's flank.
+
+"We'll have a breakfast fit for a king now," he said, with a little
+laugh, to scatter his former nervousness. "Just wait till I light a
+fire. I must gather the driest available sticks, so as to make as little
+smoke as possible."
+
+"Yes, we don't want our enemies to locate us," answered the girl, and
+saw to it that every twig which went on the blaze which was kindled was
+as dry as a bone.
+
+In less than half an hour the steak had been done to a turn, and they
+sat down to eat it. It was certainly a most informal meal, without
+plates or platter, and only Dick's pocket knife to cut the steak with.
+Yet neither had ever enjoyed a repast more. Having finished, they
+procured a drink at a flowing stream behind them, and then Dick cut off
+a chunk of the bear meat, wrapped it in a bit of skin and slung it over
+his shoulder.
+
+"We may want another meal of it before we reach civilization," he
+explained, "Nothing like preparing one's self, when we have the chance."
+
+"It's a shame to leave such a beautiful bear skin robe behind," answered
+Nellie. "But I suppose it cannot be helped. Oh, if only we were safe
+once more."
+
+Again they set off on their weary tramp northward, and thus nearly two
+miles were covered. The sun was now coming out strongly, and Dick saw
+that his fair companion was beginning to grow tired.
+
+"We will rest a little, Nellie," he said, "I think perhaps we can afford
+to take it easy now."
+
+"I am so fearful that Indian is following us!" answered the girl with a
+shudder. "If he should find that bear, and--Oh, Dick, look!"
+
+Nellie leaped to her feet from the seat she had just taken, and pointed
+behind her. Dick gave one look and his heart sank within him. Yellow Elk
+was bearing down upon them as swiftly as his long legs would permit!
+
+In his hand the Indian chief carried a gun, and as Nellie arose he
+caught sight of the pair and pointed the weapon at Dick's head.
+
+"White boy throw down pistol!" he called out, when within speaking
+distance.
+
+"Let Yellow Elk throw down his gun," answered Dick. His pistol was up
+and now he shoved Nellie behind him.
+
+"White boy fool--cannot shoot against Yellow Elk," growled the redskin.
+He had been following their trail since sun-up and was somewhat winded.
+
+"Perhaps I can shoot. Did you see that bear I brought down?" rejoined
+Dick.
+
+At this the Indian frowned.
+
+"Bear must have been sick--white boy no bring game down like that if
+well--too powerful."
+
+"I brought him down and I'll bring you down if you don't stop where you
+are," was the steady answer.
+
+"Oh, Dick, he'll shoot you," whispered Nellie. She wanted to get before
+him, but he would not allow it.
+
+By this time Yellow Elk had arrived to within a dozen steps of them.
+Now he stopped and the frown upon his ugly countenance deepened.
+
+"Did white boy hear what Yellow Elk said?"
+
+"I did."
+
+"Does white boy want to die?"
+
+"Does Yellow Elk want to die? I can shoot as straight as you."
+
+The words had scarcely left Dick's mouth than there came a clear click.
+
+The redskin had fired point-blank at the lad, but the gun had failed to
+go off, the weapon being an old one the Indian had found at the fort--a
+gun some soldier had discarded as useless.
+
+Following the click Nellie uttered a scream. Then came a crack as Dick
+fired, and Yellow Elk uttered a yell of pain, having received a painful
+wound in the side.
+
+With clubbed gun the Indian now rushed in and a hand-to-hand struggle
+followed. Dick fought valiantly, but was no match for the tall redskin,
+and a well-directed blow laid him senseless upon the prairie grass. "You
+have killed him!" screamed Nellie. She was about to kneel at Dick's
+side, when Yellow Elk hauled her back.
+
+"White dove come with me--boy no killed--be right by-an-by," said the
+redskin.
+
+"I will not go with you!" she gasped. "Let me down!" for Yellow Elk had
+raised her up to his broad shoulder.
+
+The redskin merely smiled grimly and set off on a swift walk, which
+speedily took both Nellie and himself out of sight of poor Dick.
+
+The girl's heart was almost broken by this swift turn of affairs. She
+had hoped in a few more hours to be safe among her friends, and here she
+was once again the captive of the Indian she so much feared.
+
+On and on kept Yellow Elk until the stream was reached upon which was
+located the log cabin where Nellie had been a prisoner. She wondered if
+Yellow Elk was going to take her there again, but she asked no
+questions.
+
+Presently the Indian chief came to a sudden halt and raised his head as
+if to listen. Nellie listened, too, and at a distance heard the tramp of
+several men. At once Yellow Elk darted behind a number of bushes.
+
+"White girl make noise Yellow Elk kill!" he hissed into his fair
+captive's ear, and drew his hunting knife.
+
+The tramp of feet came closer. A detachment of foot soldiers were moving
+through the woods. Soon they came within sight of the pair.
+
+As they came closer Nellie saw they were Government troops. A prisoner
+was between them--a man. It was Jack Rasco.
+
+"Uncle Jack!" she moaned, when Yellow Elk clapped his hand over her
+mouth and pointed the hunting knife at her throat.
+
+"Hush!" he commanded, but this was unnecessary, for the discovery and
+her great fear had caused Nellie to swoon. She fell back, and for a long
+while she knew no more.
+
+In the meantime Dick had slowly recovered consciousness. The blow had
+been a fearful one, and long after he sat up he was unable to rise to
+his feet, so shaky was he in the legs. Slowly the realization of what
+had occurred came back to him.
+
+"Gone--poor Nellie!" he gasped, and braced himself as best he could.
+Gazing around he saw that neither girl nor redskin was in sight. Without
+delay he started to search for Yellow Elk's trail.
+
+He was loping along over the prairies when a shout from his left struck
+upon his ears. As he gazed in the direction he beheld a number of
+soldiers swooping down upon him. These were the men who had Jack Rasco a
+prisoner, the cavalrymen having turned the man of the plains over to
+them. In a moment Dick was surrounded.
+
+"Jack!" cried the youth, and rushed up to Rasco. "What does this mean?"
+
+"It means I'm a prisoner," answered Rasco, sadly. "Have you seen
+anything of Nellie?"
+
+In a moment Dick had told his story, to which the soldiers as well as
+Rasco listened closely. At once several of the guard were sent off to
+hunt up the redskin, if it were possible to do so. Rasco wanted to go
+along, but his request was refused.
+
+"You'll slip us if you get the chance," said the officer in charge.
+"You'll go to the fort. And I fancy the boy will go, too, since he seems
+to belong to the boomers."
+
+And against his earnest protestations Dick was made to accompany the
+soldiers, being bound hand to hand with the man of the plains.
+
+An hour later the soldiers' camp was reached, and Rasco and Dick were
+placed in a temporary guard house. They had been there but a short while
+when a visitor entered. It was--Louis Vorlange!
+
+"So they have you safe, I see," began Vorlange, when Rasco sprang at him
+and knocked him down.
+
+"Will you make my niece a prisoner," he cried, wrathfully, for Dick had
+told him the story. "You dirty spy!"
+
+"Hold up," gasped Vorlange, his face growing white. "Rasco, don't be a
+fool. I--I--made her a prisoner because I have orders to arrest anybody
+found roaming around----"
+
+"I won't argy the p'int!" roared Rasco. "I know you, Vorlange, and so
+does Dick here. You robbed and nearly murdered thet boy's father!"
+
+At these words Vorlange staggered back as though struck a blow.
+
+"Who says I--I did that?" he faltered.
+
+"I say so."
+
+"And so do I," put in Dick, boldly. "We'll have a nice story to tell
+when we are brought out for examination, I'll tell you that."
+
+Vorlange breathed hard and glared from one to the other. Then of a
+sudden he caught Dick by the arm and turned him to one side.
+
+"Boy, beware how you cross me," he hissed into Dick's ears. "Beware, I
+say! I have known your father for years, and I have the knowledge in my
+possession which can send your father to the gallows."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+CHASED BY CAVALRY.
+
+
+"Checkmated! By Jove, but this is too bad."
+
+Such were the words which issued from Pawnee Brown's lip as he swung
+around and saw the cavalrymen sitting on their horses at attention.
+
+His disappointment was keen. In speaking of it afterwards he said:
+
+"I never felt so bad in my life. I had promised to take the boomers
+through and I felt that I had disappointed nearly four thousand people
+who were looking to me with utmost confidence."
+
+But disappointment was not the worst of it. Hardly had the command to
+halt been issued than the captain of the troops advanced toward the
+scout.
+
+"Pawnee Brown!" he ejaculated, in surprise, and a smile of satisfaction
+crossed his face. "This is a great pleasure."
+
+"Is it?" answered the great scout, coldly.
+
+"It is indeed. Do you intend to throw up your hands?"
+
+For the scout's hands had not yet been lifted skyward.
+
+"This looks as if you meant to arrest me, captain."
+
+"Why shouldn't I? You are at the head of the Kansas boomers, are you
+not?"
+
+"I have that honor, yes."
+
+"It's a question to me if it is an honor. You are transgressing the laws
+of the United States when you try to get into Oklahoma for homestead
+purposes."
+
+"Say rather that we transgress the laws of the cattle kings, captain.
+Under the U. S. Homestead Law we have a perfect right to this land, if
+we can get in and stake our claims, and you know it."
+
+"I know nothing of the sort. This talk about the cattle kings is all
+nonsense!" roared the cavalry officer. He knew Pawnee Brown was more
+than half right, but felt he must obey the orders he had received from
+his superiors. "I'll have to take you to the fort."
+
+"All right, take me--if you can, captain," came the quick answer. "Don't
+you dare fire on me, for you know I am a crack shot and I promise I'll
+fire on you in return and lay you low!"
+
+Thus speaking, the boomer wheeled about and sent Bonnie Bird off like a
+shot along the trail he had come.
+
+The movement was so quick that for the moment the cavalry officer was
+paralyzed and knew not what to do. He raised his long pistol, but
+Pawnee Brown's stern threat rang in his ears and he hesitated about
+using the weapon, having no desire to be laid low.
+
+"After him, men!" he roared, upon recovering his wits. "We must capture
+him!"
+
+"Shall we fire, cap'n?" came from several, and a number of shining
+pistol barrels were leveled toward the great scout.
+
+"N--no, capture him alive," came the hesitating reply; and away went the
+calvary men at a breakneck speed in pursuit.
+
+Looking back over his shoulder, Pawnee saw them coming. To lessen the
+chances of being shot, he bent low over his faithful mare's neck.
+
+"On, Bonnie, on!" he cried softly, and the beautiful animal seemed to
+understand that it was a race for life and death.
+
+"Crack!" It was the report of a pistol close at hand. Looking among the
+trees, Pawnee Brown saw an arm wearing the colors of a cavalryman
+disappearing among the foliage of a nearby tree. He aimed his own weapon
+and pulled the trigger. A yell of pain followed.
+
+The marksman had been Tucker, the fellow hired to take the great scout's
+life. Tucker had been on picket duty for the cavalry troop, but had
+failed to note Pawnee Brown's first movement in that direction. Seeing
+the scout coming, he had instantly thought of the promised reward and
+taken aim. The bullet had struck Pawnee Brown's shoulder, merely,
+however, scraping the skin. On the return fire Tucker was hit in the
+side and nearly broke his neck in a tumble backward into a hole behind
+him.
+
+The chase was not of long duration. Although they had good steeds, not
+one of the cavalryman's horses could gain upon the scout's sturdy racing
+mare, and soon they dropped further and further behind. Seeing this,
+Pawnee Brown turned to the eastward, out of the ravine, and in three
+minutes had his pursuers entirely off the trail.
+
+His face grew thoughtful as he allowed Bonnie Bird to drop into a walk.
+The cavalry had followed the wagon train westward--they were bound to
+keep the boomers in sight. What was to be done? Should he advise another
+movement during the night to come and then a forward dash?
+
+"We might make it," he mused. "But if we did not there would be a
+fearful fight and possibly slaughter. I wish I knew just how matters
+were going at Washington."
+
+Pawnee Brown had friends at the Capital, men who were doing their best
+to defeat the cattle kings by having a bill passed in Congress opening
+Oklahoma to settlement--a bill that would smooth the present difficulty
+for all concerned. He felt that the bill was not needed, yet it would be
+better to have such a law than to have some of the boomers killed before
+their rights could be established.
+
+"I'll send a messenger off to the nearest telegraph station and
+telegraph for the news," he went on. "A day's delay may mean many lives
+saved. It shall never be said that Pawnee Brown rushed in, heedless of
+the danger to those who trusted in him."
+
+It was not long before the scout reached the boomers' camp. Here he
+found several waiting for him.
+
+"I want to see Pawnee Brown." It was Dan Gilbert, who was making his way
+through the crowd to the great scout's side. Gilbert held a message from
+Arkansas City. It was to the effect that Pawnee Brown should telegraph
+to Washington at once and wait until noon at Arkansas City for a reply.
+
+Five minutes later Pawnee Brown was on the trail over which the wagon
+train had journeyed the night before. He had told Gilbert, Clemmer and
+the others of the nearness of the Government cavalrymen and had advised
+a halt until further orders from himself. Clemmer had promised to wait,
+although ready "ter swoop down on 'em, b' gosh, an' take wot belongs
+ter us," as he expressed himself.
+
+The ride back to Arkansas City was an uneventful one, and arriving
+there, Pawnee Brown lost no time in visiting the telegraph office.
+
+"A message for you," said the operator, and handed it over.
+
+It was from Washington and stated: "The Oklahoma bill is now before the
+Lower House; wait for more news."
+
+"I'm glad we've woke up those politicians at Washington," murmured the
+scout, and then wrote out a telegram in reply.
+
+There was now nothing to do but to wait, and impatient as he was to
+rejoin the boomers, Pawnee Brown had to content himself until another
+message should reach him. To make the time pass more quickly the great
+scout went around to a number of places buying supplies that were much
+needed.
+
+An hour later he found himself on the outskirts of the city, whence he
+had come to look up several wagons, to replace some that had broken
+down. He was galloping along on horseback when the sight of two men
+quarreling near the open doorway of a deserted barn caught his eye, and
+impelled by something which was more than curiosity, he turned in from
+the road to see how the quarrel might end. As he came closer he saw
+that one of the men was Mortimer Arbuckle!
+
+"Hullo, what can this mean?" he cried, softly. "I thought Dick's father
+was still in bed from the effects of that dastardly night's work. Who
+can that stranger be?"
+
+Dismounting, he tied Bonnie Bird to a tree and came forward, but in line
+with the barn, that he might not be seen. Soon he was within easy
+hearing distance of all that was being said.
+
+"I want to know what brought you out here, Dike Powell?" he heard Mr.
+Arbuckle say in excited tones. "Did you follow me?"
+
+"No, I did not, Arbuckle," came in reply. "What makes you think I did?"
+
+"I was knocked down and robbed but a few nights ago, and my most
+valuable papers, as well as my money, were taken from me."
+
+"Do you mean to insinuate that I am a thief?" cried Dike Powell.
+
+"You are none too good for it. I have not forgotten how you used to
+sneak around my office in New York after information concerning my
+Western mining claims."
+
+"You're getting mighty sharp, Arbuckle."
+
+"I hope I am. I used to feel queer in my head at times, but--but--I
+think I am growing better of that."
+
+As he spoke Mortimer Arbuckle drew his white hand across his forehead.
+
+The attack and the adventure on the river had been fearful, but it
+really looked as if they were going to prove of benefit to him. His eyes
+were brighter than they had been for many a day. Pawnee Brown noticed,
+too, that his manner of talking was more direct than he usually
+employed.
+
+"I hope for the boy's sake his mind is clearing," he thought.
+
+"I think you are growing more queer--to accuse me," said Dike Powell. "I
+never harmed you."
+
+"I know better. While I was on my back I thought it all over. Dike
+Powell, you are a villain, and if ever I get the chance I'll turn you
+over to the police. You have followed me to the West, and for no good
+purpose. I will unmask you."
+
+"Will you? Not much!"
+
+Thus speaking, Dike Powell leaped forward. He was a powerful man, and
+catching Mortimer Arbuckle by the throat, he would have borne the
+semi-invalid to the floor had not Pawnee Brown interfered.
+
+There was a rush and a crack, as the scout's fist met Dike Powell's ear,
+and over the man rolled, to bring up against the side of the barn with a
+crash.
+
+"Who--who hit me?" spluttered the rascal, as, half dazed, he staggered
+to his feet. "If I--Pawnee Brown!"
+
+"Dike Powell!" ejaculated the scout, as he saw the fellow full in the
+face for the first time. "Where have you been these long years?"
+
+"Oh, Pawnee, how glad I am that you came in," panted Mortimer Arbuckle,
+sinking down upon an old feed box. "The villain was--was----"
+
+"I saw it all, Arbuckle; rest yourself. I will take care of this
+forger."
+
+"Forger!" came simultaneously from Mortimer Arbuckle and from his
+assailant, but in different tones of voice. "Do you then know Dike
+Powell?"
+
+"Yes, I know him as Powell Dike, a forger, who fled from Peoria a dozen
+years ago. And what do you know of him?"
+
+"I know him as a Wall street sneak--a man who was forever hanging
+around, trying to get information out of which he might make a few
+dollars. I have accused him of following me to the West. I am inclined
+to think he robbed me----"
+
+"I did not," ejaculated Powell Dike, for such really was his name.
+
+"I believe you," replied Pawnee Brown. He had spoken to Dick and Rasco
+of this man. "But you know who did rob Mortimer Arbuckle," he went on,
+significantly.
+
+"I--I--do not," answered Powell Dike, but his lips trembled.
+
+"You lie, Dike. Now tell the truth."
+
+Pawnee Brown saw the manner of man he had to deal with and tapped his
+pistol. Instantly Powell Dike fell upon his knees.
+
+"Don't--don't shoot me!" he whined. "I'll tell all--everything. I am not
+dead positive, but--but I guess Louis Vorlange robbed Arbuckle."
+
+Pawnee Brown looked at Mortimer Arbuckle to see what effect this
+declaration might have upon Dick's father. He saw the ex-stock broker
+start forward in amazement. Then he faltered, threw up his hands, and
+fell forward in a dead faint!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+GOOD NEWS FROM WASHINGTON.
+
+
+"Fainted, by Jove!"
+
+So spoke Pawnee Brown as he sprang forward to Mortimer Arbuckle's aid.
+
+The man was as pale as the driven snow, and for the instant the great
+scout thought his very heart had stopped beating.
+
+He raised Mortimer Arbuckle up and opened his collar and took off his
+tie, that he might get some air.
+
+"Wot's the row here?"
+
+It was the voice of Peter Day, the backwoodsman who had agreed to take
+care of Arbuckle during his illness. He had followed the man out of the
+house to see that no harm might befall him.
+
+"He has fainted," answered Pawnee Brown. "Fetch some water, and hold
+that--hang it, he's gone!"
+
+Pawnee Brown rushed to the barn door. Far away he saw Powell Dike
+running as though the old Nick was after him. A second later the rascal
+disappeared from view. The boomer never saw or heard of him again.
+
+Between the great scout and Pawnee Brown, Mortimer Arbuckle was once
+again taken to Day's home and made comfortable.
+
+"He insisted on taking a walk to-day," explained the backwoodsman. "I
+told him he couldn't stand it. I reckon he's as bad now as he ever was."
+
+"Take good care of him, Day, and beware of any men who may be prowling
+about," answered Pawnee Brown. "There is something wrong in the air, but
+I'm satisfied that if we help this poor fellow we'll be on the right
+side of the brush."
+
+Mortimer Arbuckle was now coming around, but when he spoke he was quite
+out of his mind. The doctor was hastily sent for, and he administered a
+potion which speedily put the sufferer to sleep.
+
+"It's an odd case," said the medical man. "The fellow is suffering more
+mentally than physically. He must have something awful on his mind."
+
+"He is the victim of some plot--I am certain of it," was the scout's
+firm answer.
+
+Not long after this, Pawnee Brown was returning to Arkansas City,
+certain that Mortimer Arbuckle would now be well cared for and closely
+watched until he and Dick could return to the sufferer.
+
+"As soon as this booming business is over I must try to clear things for
+that old gent," murmured the boomer to himself as he rode up to the
+telegraph office. "I'd do a good deal for him and that noble son of
+his."
+
+Another telegram had just come in, by way of Wichita, which ran as
+follows:
+
+"The Lower House of Congress has passed the Oklahoma bill. Pawnee Brown
+has woke the politicians up at last. Stand ready to enter Oklahoma if an
+attempt is made to throw the bill aside in the Senate, but don't be
+rash, as it may not be long before everything comes our way--in fact, it
+looks as if everything would come very soon."
+
+At this telegram the great scout was inclined to throw up his hat and
+give a cheer. His work in Kansas was having an effect. No longer could
+the cattle kings stand up against the rights of the people. He handed
+the message to a number of his friends standing near.
+
+"Hurrah fer Pawnee Brown!" shouted one man, and standing on a soap box
+read the telegram aloud.
+
+"Score one fer the boomers!"
+
+"An' a big one fer Pawnee."
+
+"Don't hurry now, Pawnee, you've got 'em whar the hair ez good an'
+long!"
+
+"It would seem so, men," answered the great scout. "No, I'll be careful
+now--since the tide has turned. In less than sixty days I'll wager all I
+am worth we'll march into Oklahoma without the first sign of trouble."
+
+It did not take the news long to travel to the boomers' camp, and great
+was the rejoicing upon every side.
+
+"Dot's der pest ding I vos hear for a month," said Humpendinck. "Pawnee
+ought to haf a medal alreatty."
+
+"It's a stattoo we will put up fer him in Oklahomy," said Delaney. "A
+stattoo wid Pawnee a-ridin' loike mad to the new lands, wid the
+Homestead act in wan hand an' a bundle o' sthakes in th' other, an'
+under the stattoo we'll put the wurruds, 'Pawnee Brown, the St. Patrick
+av Oklahomy!'"
+
+"Ach! go on mit yer St. Patrick!" howled Humpendinck. "He vos noddings
+but a snake killer."
+
+"Oh, mon!" burst in Rosy Delaney. "A snake killer, Moike, do ye moind
+thot? Swat the Dootchman wan, quick!"
+
+And Mike "swatted" with an end of a fence rail he was chopping up for
+firewood. But Humpendinck dodged, and Rosy caught the blow, and there
+followed a lively row between her and Mike, in the midst of which the
+German boomer sneaked away.
+
+"Dot Irishmans vos so fiery as der hair mit his head," he muttered to
+himself. "I dink I vos keep out of sight bis he vos cool off, and
+den--Mine gracious, Bumpkin, var did you come from? I dinks you vos left
+behind py Arkansas City."
+
+For there had suddenly appeared before Humpendinck the form of the
+dunce, hatless and with his black hair tumbled over his face in all
+directions.
+
+"Ha, ha! where have I been?" cried Pumpkin. "Where haven't I been you
+had better ask. I've been everywhere--among the soldiers and the boomers
+and the Indians." He stopped short. "Where is Pawnee Brown?"
+
+"Ofer py Clemmer's vagon. But he ton't vont ter pother mit you now."
+
+"He will bother with me," and so speaking Pumpkin ran off, to reach the
+great scout's side and pluck him by the coat sleeve.
+
+"At your service, sir," he said, bowing low, for with all of his
+peculiarities Pumpkin had a great respect for Pawnee Brown.
+
+"What is it, lad?"
+
+"I have to report, sir, that your pard is captured--Jack Rasco; he had a
+fearful fight and the soldiers have him. Ha! ha! they will shoot
+Jack--if you let 'em, but I know you won't--will you now?"
+
+"You are certain Jack is captured?"
+
+"Dead sure--saw him with my own eyes. Ha! ha! they tried to catch
+Pumpkin, but they might as well try to catch a ghost. Ha! ha! but I give
+'em a fine run."
+
+It took a good deal of talking to get a straight story from the
+half-witted youth, but at last Pawnee Brown was in full possession of
+the facts. Pumpkin had seen Rasco on the march just before Dick was
+taken.
+
+Immediately after this the boomer held a short consultation with
+Clemmer.
+
+"I feel it my duty to help Rasco to escape, if it can be done," he said.
+"Besides, it is high time for me to return to Dick Arbuckle and to find
+out, if possible, what has become of Jack's niece."
+
+"Shall I go along?" questioned Clemmer, "I wouldn't like anything
+better."
+
+"All right, come on," answered the great scout.
+
+He had scarcely spoken when a loud cry rang out, coming from the lower
+end of the camp.
+
+"Buckley's bull has broken loose! Look out for yourself, the beast has
+gone mad!"
+
+"Buckley's bull!" muttered Pawnee Brown. "I ordered him to slaughter
+that vicious beast. Why, he's as fierce as those the Mexicans use in
+their bull fights!"
+
+"He's a terror," answered Clemmer. "If he--By gum, here he comes,
+Pawnee!"
+
+As he spoke Clemmer turned to one side and started to run. Looking
+forward the great scout saw the bull bearing down upon him. The eyes of
+the creature were bloodshot and the foam was dripping from the corners
+of his mouth, showing that he was clearly beyond control.
+
+The bull, which was of extra large size, had Clemmer in view, and made
+after the cowboy, who happened to be unarmed. Away went man and beast in
+something of a circle, to fetch up near Pawnee Brown less than a minute
+later. As they came close, Clemmer fell and went sprawling almost at the
+scout's feet.
+
+"Save me!" he panted. "Save me, Pawnee!"
+
+Pawnee Brown did not answer. Leaping over the cowboy's prostrate form,
+he pulled out his pistol and his hunting knife and stood ready to
+receive the bull, who came tearing along, with lowered horns, ready to
+charge the scout to the death.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+THE BOOMER AND THE BULL.
+
+
+For the moment it looked as if Pawnee Brown meant to let the mad bull
+gore him to pieces.
+
+On and on came the beast until less than two yards separated him and the
+great scout.
+
+Crack! came the report of the boomer's pistol, and the bull fell back a
+pace, clipped between the horns. A lucky swerve downward had saved him
+from a bullet wound through the eye.
+
+There was no time for another shot. With a bellow the bull leaped the
+intervening space and landed almost on top of Pawnee Brown!
+
+A yell went up from those who saw the movement.
+
+"Pawnee is done fur. The bull will rip him inside out."
+
+"Buckley ought to have killed that bull long ago--that's the second time
+he's gone on a rampage."
+
+"Somebody shoot him and save Pawnee!"
+
+The last was a well meant cry, but a shot could not be thought of, for
+man and beast were too close together.
+
+But Pawnee Brown was not yet defeated. He still held his trusty hunting
+knife, and he was not terrorized as some of the onlookers imagined.
+
+A few words will explain the cause. In his day the scout had visited
+Mexico more than once, and while there had participated in more than one
+bull fight, on one occasion defeating a celebrated Mexican fighter and
+gaining a handsome prize.
+
+As the mad bull charged, the scout leaped like lightning to one side,
+and drove the hunting knife up to the hilt into the beast's throat.
+
+There was a spurt of blood, a bellow of pain, and the bull staggered
+back several steps.
+
+He was badly wounded, but by no means out of the fight, as his glaring
+eyes still showed. He shook his head vigorously, then charged again.
+
+Once more the knife went up and came down, this time just below the
+beast's ear. A fearful bellow came after the stroke. Before the bull
+could retire, the knife was withdrawn and plunged in a third and last
+time. This third stroke wound up the encounter, for limping to one side
+the bull fell forward upon his knees, gave a kick or two with his hind
+legs, and rolled over on the prairie grass, dead.
+
+"Hurrah! Pawnee has killed him."
+
+"Talk about yer bull fighters! They ain't in it with Pawnee!"
+
+"Yer saved my life," exclaimed Clemmer, who had risen. "I shan't forget
+yer, Pawnee," and he held out his broad hand for a shake.
+
+The bull dead, Pawnee Brown called Buckley up and gave him a lecture for
+not having killed the vicious beast long ago.
+
+"You have no business to bring such a bull into camp in the first place,
+Buckley," he said. "Be more careful in the future, or you'll have to get
+out, bag and baggage. That bull might have killed half a dozen people
+had he charged the crowd."
+
+A short while after this the great scout and Clemmer set off from
+Honnewell along the ravine in search of Dick, Rasco and Nellie Winthrop.
+The cheering news from Washington had set Pawnee Brown at rest so far as
+his duty to the boomers was concerned, and he felt quite free to pursue
+his own affairs and those of his immediate friends.
+
+"If possible I would like to meet Louis Vorlange and have a talk with
+him," he said to Clemmer, after having related what had occurred near
+Peter Day's home. "I think that spy can clear up much of this mystery
+concerning Mortimer Arbuckle, if he will."
+
+"It ain't likely he'll open his trap," answered Clemmer. "By doin' thet
+he'd only be gettin' himself in hot water."
+
+"We'll make him speak," was Pawnee Brown's grim response.
+
+An hour of hard riding brought them to the spot where Dick had been
+left. Not a single trace of the lad could be found. Both men looked
+blank.
+
+"Bet he's wandered off and got lost," said Clemmer, and Pawnee Brown
+nodded.
+
+"We'll strike off eastward, Cal, and see if we can't find some trace of
+him. It is no use of going westward. If he had gone that way, he would
+have reached the ravine and come up into Kansas."
+
+Once again they set off. An hour was spent here and there, when suddenly
+Clemmer uttered a cry.
+
+"Been a struggle hyer, Pawnee. See them footprints?"
+
+"Three people," answered the scout, making an inspection. "A boy, a girl
+or a woman, and an Indian. Can they have been Dick, Nellie Winthrop and
+Yellow Elk? Hang me if it doesn't look like it."
+
+"Hyer's where the trail leads off," said Clemmer. "And that's the boy's.
+Can't see nuthin' o' the gal's."
+
+"That means the Indian carried her off," ejaculated Pawnee Brown. "Let
+us follow his trail without delay."
+
+"But the boy's?"
+
+"You follow that, and I'll follow the redskin. If he had the girl I want
+to know it."
+
+A few words more and they separated. Pawnee Brown was on his mettle and
+followed Yellow Elk's trail with all the keenness of an Indian himself.
+In half an hour he had reached the brook. Here he came to a series of
+rocks and was forced to come to a halt.
+
+But not for long. Fording the water-course, he began a search which
+speedily revealed the trail again, leading to a small river a quarter of
+a mile further on.
+
+He followed the river for less than fifty feet, when a number of voices
+broke upon his ears.
+
+"I'm sure I saw the redskin on the river, and he had a girl with him,
+Ross."
+
+"You must have been dreaming, Tucker. No redskins up here."
+
+"All right, I know what I am talking about."
+
+"I think I saw something, too," said a third voice, that of Skimmy, the
+calvary man.
+
+The three calvary men were out on a scouting expedition, to learn if the
+boomers were in the vicinity of the river.
+
+Tucker especially was on the lookout for Pawnee Brown, determined to
+bring the great scout down and thus win the reward Louis Vorlange had
+promised.
+
+The scout listened to the talk of the cavalrymen for fully ten minutes
+with great interest.
+
+He had just started to move on, satisfied that it would be of no benefit
+to remain longer, when Tucker turned and walked his horse directly
+toward the spot where he was concealed.
+
+"A boomer behind the brush!" shouted the cavalryman. "Come, boys, and
+take him!"
+
+Immediately there was a rush, and Pawnee Brown was surrounded. He had
+his pistol out and in return came the weapons of the trio.
+
+"Well, gentlemen, you seem to want to make me your prisoner," said the
+scout, coolly.
+
+"Thet's wot," cried Ross. "Eh, Tucker?"
+
+To make Pawnee Brown a prisoner would be of no personal benefit to him.
+
+"You seem to bear me a grudge," said the boomer, eying him sharply.
+
+Tucker could not stand that gaze and his eyes dropped.
+
+"Yes, you're a prisoner," said Ross. "Let's bind him up, Skimmy."
+
+"Take that!"
+
+Pawnee Brown leaped forward and hurled both Ross and Skimmy to the
+ground. Ere they could rise he had turned upon Tucker. The tall calvary
+man had his pistol cocked, and now he blazed away almost in Pawnee
+Brown's face, and then both went down, with the scout on top.
+
+The flash of the pistol had scorched the boomer's skin, but the bullet
+sung over his head, missing him by less than an inch. As he came down
+upon Tucker he hit the cavalryman a terrific blow in the jaw, breaking
+that member and knocking out several teeth.
+
+"On him!" yelled Skimmy, and tried to rise. But now Pawnee Brown was
+again up, and flung Skimmy on top of Ross. In a moment more he was
+running along the river bank.
+
+He was almost out of sight, when there came two shots, from Ross and
+Skimmy. Neither hit him, however, and he continued on his way, while the
+two cavalrymen turned back to pick up Tucker, who lay in a heap,
+groaning and twisting from intense pain. The tall cavalryman could not,
+of course, talk, and his wound was so serious that there was nothing to
+do but to carry him to his horse, support him in the saddle and ride
+back to the fort for medical assistance. It was a clean knock-out, and
+one that Tucker had good cause to remember to the day of his death.
+
+It was some time ere Pawnee Brown struck the trail of Yellow Elk again,
+but having once spotted it he pursued his course with increased vigor.
+The trail led along the river to where there was almost a lake. This had
+just been reached, when he heard a scream. Instantly he recognized
+Nellie Winthrop's voice.
+
+"Thank heaven I came as soon as I did," he murmured, and dashed forward
+to the spot from whence the sound had proceeded.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+THE LAST OF YELLOW ELK.
+
+
+When Nellie Winthrop recovered sufficiently to realize what was going on
+around her, she found herself upon Yellow Elk's back, with her hands
+tied together at the wrists behind her.
+
+Away went the redskin until the vicinity where the encounter with Dick
+had occurred was left far behind.
+
+The brook crossed, the Indian chief set off for the river. Not once did
+he stop or speak until a pond was gained.
+
+Beyond the pond was a shelter of trees, growing in a circle which was
+about fifteen feet in diameter. Against the trees the brush had been
+piled, forming a rude hut.
+
+Taking Nellie inside of this shelter, Yellow Elk deposited her on the
+ground. Of the cord which bound her hands there were several feet left,
+and this end he wound around a tree and tied fast.
+
+"Now white girl no run away," he grinned. "Stay here now until Yellow
+Elk ready to let her go."
+
+To this she made no answer, for what would be the use of talking to
+such a fierce creature? She looked at his hideously painted face and
+shivered.
+
+Yellow Elk now went off, to be gone a long while. When he came back he
+found her so tired she could scarcely stand beside the tree. She had
+tried to free herself from her bonds but failed, and a tiny stream of
+blood was running from one of her tender wrists.
+
+"Yellow Elk got horse now," said the redskin. "We ride now--go many
+miles."
+
+"Where to?" she faltered.
+
+"Never mind where--white girl come on."
+
+Yellow Elk's manner was so fierce she was frightened more than ever. The
+Indian had stolen a horse and he had also stolen a lot of "fire-water,"
+and this drink was beginning to make him ugly. He drew out his hunting
+knife.
+
+"White girl got to become Yellow Elk's squaw!" he cried, brandishing the
+knife before her face. "No marry Yellow Elk me cut out her heart wid
+dis!"
+
+At this Nellie gave a shriek and it was this which was borne to the ears
+of Pawnee Brown.
+
+"Crying do white girl no good," growled the redskin. "Come with me."
+
+"I will not go another foot," and Nellie began to struggle. The Indian
+chief upbraided her roundly in his own language and ended by raising his
+knife over her once more.
+
+"Help!" cried Nellie, and a moment later Pawnee Brown burst into view. A
+glance showed him the true situation, and without hesitation he fired at
+Yellow Elk.
+
+His bullet clipped across the redskin's chest. By this time Yellow Elk
+had his own pistol out, and standing erect he aimed straight for the
+boomer's heart.
+
+Nellie screamed, and knowing nothing else to do, gave the Indian a
+vigorous shove in the side, which destroyed the aim and made the bullet
+fly wide of the mark.
+
+In a second more the two men were at it in a hand-to-hand encounter each
+trying his best to get at the other with his hunting knife, being too
+close together to use a pistol. As Pawnee Brown afterward said:
+
+"It was Yellow Elk's life or mine, and I made up my mind that it should
+not be mine--I considered myself worth a good deal more than that
+worthless redskin."
+
+A cut and a slash upon each side, and the two broke. Yellow Elk had had
+enough of the fight, and now ran for it in sudden fear. He did not take
+to the river shore, but skirted the pond and began to ascend a slight
+hill, beyond which was another fork of the ravine which has figured so
+largely in our story.
+
+"Let him go! he may kill you!" called out Nellie, when she saw Pawnee
+Brown start in pursuit. But the scout paid no attention to her. His
+blood was up and he was determined to either exterminate Yellow Elk or
+bring him to terms.
+
+[Illustration: "In a second more the two men were in a hand-to-hand
+encounter"]
+
+The top of the hill was reached. Yellow Elk paused, not knowing exactly
+how to proceed. Looking back, he saw Pawnee Brown preparing to fire upon
+him. A pause, and he attempted to leap down to a ledge below him. His
+foot caught in the roots of a bush and over he went into a deep hollow
+headlong. There was a sickening thud, a grunt, and all became quiet.
+
+Yellow Elk had paid the death penalty at last.
+
+When Pawnee Brown managed to climb down to the Indian's side, to make
+certain the wily redskin was not shamming, he found Yellow Elk stone
+dead, his neck having been completely broken by his fall. He lay on his
+back, his right hand still clutching his bloody hunting knife.
+
+"Gone now," murmured the great scout. His face softened for an instant.
+"Hang it all, why must even a redskin be so all-fired bad? If he had
+wanted to, Yellow Elk might have made a man of himself. I can't stop to
+bury him, and yet----Hullo, what are those papers sticking out of his
+pocket?"
+
+The boomer had caught sight of a large packet which had been concealed
+in Yellow Elk's bosom. He took up the packet and looked it over. It
+consisted of half a dozen legal-looking documents and twice that number
+of letters, some addressed to Mortimer Arbuckle and some addressed to
+Louis Vorlange.
+
+He read over the letters and documents with interest. Those of Dick's
+father related to the mine in Colorado and were evidently those stolen
+by Louis Vorlange upon the night of the opening of this tale. The
+letters belonging to the government spy were epistles addressed to
+Vorlange from a former friend and partner in various shady transactions.
+Of these we will hear more later.
+
+"Yellow Elk must have robbed Vorlange of these," mused the great scout,
+as he rammed the packet in his pocket. In this he was right. Vorlange
+had dropped the packet by accident and the Indian had failed to restore
+it, there having been, as the reader knows, no love lost between the two
+rascals.
+
+Having placed the dead body among the bushes in a little hollow, Pawnee
+Brown climbed out of the ravine again and rejoined Nellie, who was
+growing impatient regarding his welfare. The story of what had happened
+to Yellow Elk was soon told, the scout softening out the ghastly
+details. Then, to change the subject, he asked her if she knew her uncle
+was a prisoner of the soldiers.
+
+"Yes," she replied. "Oh, sir, what will they do with him?"
+
+"I don't believe they can do much, Nellie," he answered. "According to
+the news from Washington, everything is to be smoothed out, and of
+course the government will have no case against any of us."
+
+"Can I get to my uncle from here? Where is he?"
+
+"About five miles from here. Yes, we can get to him if we want to."
+Pawnee Brown mused for a moment. "I'll risk it," he said, half aloud.
+"They can't arrest me for coming to expose a criminal, and I have the
+facts right here in my pocket."
+
+A moment later he was riding the horse Yellow Elk had stolen, while
+Nellie was seated upon Bonnie Bird. In this manner they struck out for
+the agency, called by the soldiers a fort.
+
+About three miles had been covered, when suddenly there came a shout
+from a thicket to one side of them.
+
+"The cavalry!" gasped Nellie. "What shall we do?"
+
+"Take it coolly, Nellie. I have a winning card this trip," smiled the
+great scout.
+
+A few seconds later half a dozen fine looking men rode forward, a
+well-known official of the Indian Territory at their head.
+
+"Pawnee Brown!" ejaculated the official, on recognizing the scout. "It
+would seem we had made quite a capture. What are you doing with Sergeant
+Morris' horse?"
+
+"Is this the animal?"
+
+"It is.
+
+"I found him in the possession of a runaway Indian, Yellow Elk. If he
+is your property you are welcome to him," and Pawnee Brown leaped to the
+ground.
+
+"Humph! That is all right, but what are you doing here? Don't you know
+you are on forbidden ground?"
+
+The scout's coolness was a great surprise to the official.
+
+"I would be--under ordinary circumstances, sir. But just now I am on a
+mission to the agency: a mission I am convinced you will not attempt to
+hinder."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"I wish to expose a great criminal, a man who is now in the active
+service of the United States, although he ought to be in prison or on
+the gallows."
+
+The official was much surprised.
+
+"I would like to know some of the particulars, Pawnee."
+
+"Are you bound for the agency?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then we will go together, and you can see what takes place. It will
+probably be well worth your while."
+
+"This is no trick--I know you are itching to get into Oklahoma."
+
+"I will give you my word of honor, sir. I have received word from
+Washington, and I feel certain that ere long this whole matter will be
+settled to our mutual satisfaction. In the meantime, booming can wait,"
+and Pawnee Brown smiled in a quiet way.
+
+A few words more followed, and Nellie was introduced. Then the whole
+party set off on a gallop for the agency, where was to be enacted the
+last scene in this little drama of the southwest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+CLEARING UP A MYSTERY--CONCLUSION.
+
+
+As Vorlange uttered his dire threat into Dick's ear, the boy turned pale
+and staggered against the wall of his prison.
+
+"Wot's that yer sayin'?" demanded Jack Rasco, who plainly saw the
+changed look upon his companion's features.
+
+"It is none of your business, Rasco," muttered the spy. "I told the boy;
+that's enough."
+
+Dick breathed hard. Part of that mystery of the past was out at last.
+His father was accused of murder--Vorlange held the evidence against
+him. Like a flash came back to him several things he had almost
+forgotten. He remembered how on more than one occasion his father had
+sent money to the West after a letter had come which had upset him
+greatly. That must have been hush money, to keep this rascal quiet.
+
+"I--I--do not believe you!" he cried in a faint tone. "My father is as
+upright as any gentleman in the land."
+
+"Is he?" sneered Vorlange. "All right, if you think so, just drive me to
+the wall and see."
+
+"Where was this crime committed?"
+
+"In Creede, Colorado--at the time the camp was started."
+
+"Who was killed?"
+
+"A miner named Rickwell. He was once a partner of a man named Burch, of
+whom you have no doubt heard ere this."
+
+"Yes, Burch left us the property you know all about, since you stole the
+deeds to it. Louis Vorlange, you are playing a deep part but you cannot
+make me swallow your statements about my father."
+
+"Do you want me to expose him?"
+
+"We'll see about that later. Rasco and I will certainly try to show you
+up for what you really are."
+
+"Very well," blustered Vorlange. "Your father is a murderer, and he
+shall swing for it--unless you keep your mouth shut. I----"
+
+Footsteps outside of the prison interrupted Louis Vorlange. An instant
+later Pawnee Brown and half a dozen others stepped inside of the
+apartment.
+
+"Pawnee Brown!" cried Dick and Rasco together.
+
+"Are you a prisoner, too?" continued the boy.
+
+"Hardly," smiled the great scout. Then he noticed Vorlange. "Just the
+men we are after."
+
+"Me?" ejaculated the spy.
+
+"Yes, you."
+
+"What do you want of me, Pawnee Brown? I want nothing to do with such as
+you--a thieving, low-down boomer--who--oh!"
+
+Vorlange ended with a yell, for Pawnee Brown had caught him by the ear
+and almost jerked him off his feet.
+
+"Let up! Let up! Oh!"
+
+"Now keep quiet Vorlange," said the scout sternly. "You can thank your
+stars that I didn't put a bullet through you for letting your tongue run
+so loosely."
+
+"Thet's so, b'gosh," was Rasco's comment. "But say, Pawnee, he's a
+reg'lar snake in the grass."
+
+"I know it." Pawnee Brown looked at Dick. "Has he been threatening you,
+lad?"
+
+"Yes; threatened me and my father, too."
+
+"Have no fear of him, Dick. Louis Vorlange, you have about reached the
+end of your rope."
+
+"What do you mean?" and the spy's lips quivered as he spoke.
+
+"I mean that I am here to expose you." Pawnee Brown turned to the others
+who had come in. "Gentlemen, let me introduce to you Louis Vorlange,
+alias Captain Mull, once of Creede, Colorado."
+
+"Captain Mull!" exclaimed several. "Do you mean the Captain Mull that
+was wanted for several shady doings, Pawnee?"
+
+"The same Captain Mull, gentlemen."
+
+"It is a--a lie!" screamed Louis Vorlange, but his looks belied him.
+
+"It is the truth, gentlemen, he is the man who once sported under the
+name of Captain Mull. But that is not all."
+
+"What else, Pawnee?"
+
+"Some years ago a man by the name of Andrew Rickwell was murdered in the
+Last Chance hotel at Creede. At that time Creede was but a small place
+and Captain Mull ran the hotel. Who murdered Rickwell was not
+discovered. But he had occupied a room with another man, a mining agent
+from New York named Mortimer Arbuckle, the father of this lad here, and
+some thought Arbuckle had done the foul deed, and he had to run away to
+escape the fury of a mob. The horror of this occurrence unbalanced the
+man's mind and to this day he sometimes thinks he may be guilty. But he
+is innocent."
+
+"He is guilty!" shrieked Louis Vorlange. "I saw him do the deed!"
+
+"I see you acknowledge you were in Creede at that time," answered Pawnee
+Bill, and Vorlange staggered back over the bad break he had made. "As I
+said, Mortimer Arbuckle is innocent. There is the murderer, and here are
+the documents to prove it--and to prove more--that Vorlange is a thief,
+that he assaulted Mortimer Arbuckle in the dark and left him for dead,
+and that he is now acting against the best interests of the United
+States government."
+
+As Pawnee Brown ended he pointed at Vorlange, and held aloft the packet
+he had taken from Yellow Elk.
+
+"My father's documents!" cried Dick.
+
+"The letters!" shrieked Louis Vorlange. Then he made a sudden leap to
+secure them, but Pawnee Brown was too quick for him. The scout turned to
+the captain of cavalry standing near.
+
+"You had better arrest him before he tries to escape."
+
+"They shall not arrest me!" came from Louis Vorlange's set lips. "Clear
+the way!"
+
+Like a flash his pistol came up and he fired into the crowd, which
+parted in surprise and let him pass. But not more than ten steps were
+covered when Pawnee Brown caught him by the arm and threw him headlong
+to the ground. At the same time the prison sentry fired, and Vorlange
+was mortally wounded in the side.
+
+"I'll not forget you!" he cried to Pawnee Brown. "But for you I would
+have lived in clover the balance of my life!" Then he fell into a faint
+from which he recovered presently, to linger for several days in
+terrible anguish, dying at last in convulsions.
+
+With the death of Vorlange we bring our story to a close. By what was
+said during the man's last hours on earth, Mortimer Arbuckle was
+entirely cleared of the cloud which had hung over his honorable name.
+Soon after this his right mind came back to him and to-day he is as well
+and happy as it is possible to imagine.
+
+Whatever became of Stillwater and Juan Donomez is not known.
+
+With the truce declared by the actions of the authorities at Washington
+and the word given by Pawnee Brown that no attempt should be made to
+enter Oklahoma for the present, it was not deemed advisable to hold
+either Dick or Rasco longer, and the two were given their freedom, to
+journey at once to Honnewell, in company with the great scout and Nellie
+Winthrop.
+
+From Honnewell, Dick rode post haste to carry the glad news to his
+father. A scene followed which no pen can describe, a scene so sacred to
+the two it must be left entirely to the imagination of the reader. Never
+was a man more proud of his son than was Mortimer Arbuckle of Dick, or
+more grateful than was the mine-owner to Pawnee Brown for his courageous
+and marvelous work in clearing up the mystery.
+
+"He is a man among men," he said. "God bless him!"
+
+Nellie Winthrop was overjoyed to be with her uncle once again, and took
+good care that nothing should separate them. As for Jack, he guarded her
+with a care which could not be exceeded.
+
+"Ef they carry her off again it will be over my dead body, b'gosh," he
+murmured more than once.
+
+And yet Nellie was carried off four years later. But this time the
+carrying off was done by Dick Arbuckle, and both Nellie and Jack were
+perfectly willing. The wedding was a grand one, for the Colorado claims
+had panned out big for the Arbuckles, and the best man at the affair was
+Pawnee Brown.
+
+In due course of time the bill concerning Oklahoma was passed by the
+United States Senate and signed by the President. This was followed by a
+grand rush of the boomers to get the best of the land granted to them.
+The advance was led by Pawnee Brown, who, riding his ever faithful
+Bonnie Bird, covered twenty miles in the short space of sixty-five
+minutes and located his town site at the mouth of Big Turkey Creek. This
+town site, along with his other Oklahoma possessions, made the great
+scout a rich man. He never grows weary of telling about this great rush
+into Oklahoma. "It was grand, awe-inspiring," he says. "I would go a
+thousand miles to see it again--those hundreds of wagons, thousands of
+horsemen and heads of cattle, all going southward, over hills, through
+forests, crossing brooks and rivers--all bound for the land which has
+since made them so prosperous and happy."
+
+And here let us take leave of Dick Arbuckle, Pawnee Brown, and all their
+friends, wishing them well.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy Land Boomer, by Ralph Bonehill
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