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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/27095-8.txt b/27095-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..717ff17 --- /dev/null +++ b/27095-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6383 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Boy Ranchers at Spur Creek, by Willard F. Baker + +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 Ranchers at Spur Creek + or Fighting the Sheep Herders + +Author: Willard F. Baker + +Illustrator: Howard L. Hastings + +Release Date: October 29, 2008 [EBook #27095] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + + [Transcriber's note: Extensive research found no evidence + that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] + + + + +[Illustration: Cover art] + + + + +[Frontispiece: SNAKE CAUGHT HOLD OF THE ANIMAL'S LEFT HORN. "The Boy +Ranchers at Spur Creek."] + + + + +THE BOY RANCHERS + +AT SPUR CREEK + +OR + +_Fighting the Sheep Herders_ + + + +by + +WILLARD F. BAKER + + + +_ILLUSTRATED_ + + + +NEW YORK + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY + + + + +THE BOY RANCHERS SERIES + +By WILLARD F. BAKER + +12mo. Cloth. Frontispiece + + +THE BOY RANCHERS + or Solving the Mystery at Diamond X + +THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP + or The Water Fight at Diamond X + +THE BOY RANCHERS ON THE TRAIL + or The Diamond X After Cattle Rustlers + +THE BOY RANCHERS AMONG THE INDIANS + or On the Trail of the Yaquis + +THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK + or Fighting the Sheep Herders + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, New York + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY + +THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK + +Printed in U. S. A. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I SHOTS IN THE NIGHT + II MISSING PAPERS + III ON THE TRAIL + IV AROUND THE CAMPFIRE + V AT SPUR CREEK + VI THE ALARM + VII A PARLEY + VIII SUSPICIONS + IX A CALL FOR HELP + X DEL PINZO'S HAND + XI COWBOY FUN + XII AFTER THE RUSTLERS + XIII A CLOUD OF DUST + XIV THE SHEEP ARRIVE + XV A BATTLE OF WITS + XVI STRANGE ACTIONS + XVII "WE CROWED TOO SOON!" + XVIII SKIRMISHES + XIX OPEN WARFARE + XX THE FLAG OF TRUCE + XXI A LEGAL CONTEST + XXII NORT'S PLAN + XXIII IN DISGUISE + XXIV THE BRONTOTHERIUM + XXV THE END OF THE SHEEP + + + + +THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK + + +CHAPTER I + +SHOTS IN THE NIGHT + +With a rattle and a clatter the muddy flivver stopped with a squeak of +brakes in front of Diamond X ranch house. From the car leaped three +boys, one of them carrying a small leather pouch. + +"Here's the mail!" yelled this lad--Bud Merkel by name, and his +cousins, Nort and Dick Shannon, added the duet of their voices to his +as they cried: + +"Mail's in! Lots of letters!" + +"Any for me?" asked Nell, reaching out her hand toward Bud. "Don't +tell me there isn't!" she pleaded. + +"Well, I'm sorry, Sis," began Bud, teasingly, "there was one for you, +but driving in we ran over a rattler and----" + +"Don't you believe him, Nell!" consoled Nort, who didn't altogether +agree with Bud's teasing of his sister. "Your letters are safe in the +pouch." + +"Oh, there are _letters_, then, are there--not just _one_?" cried Nell +with shining eyes. "Thanks a whole lot." + +"Don't thank me--thank the postmaster--or whoever wrote you the +letters!" laughed Nort. + +Bud had sat down on a bench outside the ranch house and was opening the +mail pouch. His mother came to the door of the kitchen, wiping flour +from her hands, for though Mrs. Merkel kept a "hired girl," and though +Nell assisted, yet the mother of Bud insisted on doing much of the work +herself, and very able she was, too. + +"Any letters for your father?" she asked. + +"Two or three," answered Bud, as he looked over the envelopes. "And +one for you, Mother." + +"Well, take your father's mail to him when you've finished sorting," +suggested Mrs. Merkel. "He said he was expecting something of +importance. You'll find him over in the bunk house looking after Mr. +Watson." + +"Mr. _Watson_!" shouted Bud with a laugh. "Do you mean Yellin' Kid?" + +"Oh, I guess that's what you call him," assented Mrs. Merkel as she +opened her letter. "But his name's Watson." + +"Guess you're the only one who remembers that, Ma," chuckled Dick +Shannon, for though Mrs. Merkel was only his aunt, she was almost +universally called "Ma" on the ranch of Diamond X. + +"Yellin' Kid isn't any worse, is he?" asked Bud. + +"Oh, no, but your father wanted to change the bandages and it takes +some time. You'll find him pretty nearly finished, I guess, though +you'd better take his mail to him there." + +There had been a slight accident the week before, in which the horse of +Yellin' Kid had crowded him against a post in a corral fence, badly +bruising and cutting the leg of the cowboy. A doctor had been called, +and after the first dressing of the wound had said Mr. Merkel or some +of the men could attend to it as much as was necessary, and the ranch +owner was now in performance of this duty. + +"I'll take the boys' mail, Bud," offered Old Billee, one of the veteran +cow punchers of Diamond X. "Don't reckon you got any for me, have +you?" he asked with a sort of wistful hope in his voice. + +"Sorry, Billee, but there doesn't seem to be any," answered Bud. +"Better luck next time." + +"No, I don't reckon there will be," sighed Old Billee. "All my friends +is dead an' gone, an' nobody else wants t' write t' an ole timer like +me." He took the letters destined for the other cowboys who were +engaged in various duties about the ranch, saying he would distribute +them, while Bud took those destined for his father to the sleeping +quarters of the men, where Yellin' Kid was forced to remain temporarily +in his bunk. + +Nort and Dick had letters from "home," as they called their residence +in the East, though they had been west so long now that they might +almost be said to live on the ranch. And while Bud's cousins were +going over their missives, Mr. Merkel was doing the same with those his +son handed him. + +"How are you, Kid?" asked Bud of the injured cowboy as Mr. Merkel sat +at a table tearing open the various envelopes. + +"Oh, I'll be up and around again shortly," was the answer. "If you +figure on starting off after any more Indians I could get ready in +about two quivers of a steer's nose." + +"Guess there won't be any more Indians around here for a while," +observed Bud. "We taught those Yaquis a lesson." + +"Now you're shoutin'!" exclaimed Yellin' Kid, though it was he, rather +than Bud, who spoke in a loud voice--hence the Kid's name. He just +couldn't seem to speak in ordinary tones, but appeared to take it for +granted that every one was deaf, and so shouted at them. + +Suddenly the quiet reading and attention that Mr. Merkel had been +giving his letters was broken as he jumped up, scattering the papers to +the floor of the bunk house. He held in his hand a single sheet that +seemed to cause him great surprise, not to say anger, and he exclaimed: + +"Well, it's come, just as I feared it would! Now we're in for some hot +times!" + +"What's the matter, Dad?" asked Bud, looking toward the door in which +his cousins now stood, having finished reading their letters. + +"Not another Indian uprising, is it?" asked Bud. + +"Almost as bad!" his father answered. "We're going to have trouble. I +might have known things were too good to last!" + +"What sort of trouble?" inquired Nort. + +"With sheep herders," answered Mr. Merkel. + +"Sheep herders!" cried Bud, and if you know anything about the cattle +business you will realize his tone of voice. For, as I will explain +later, sheep herders are hated and despised by cattle men and horse +breeders alike, and with good reason, in spite of the rights the sheep +men have. "What do you mean?" asked Bud, fully alive to the danger +implied by his father's words. "There isn't a sheep within a hundred +miles of here, thank goodness!" + +"No, but there soon will be," said Mr. Merkel grimly. + +"What makes you say that?" and Bud clearly showed his fear and interest. + +"Here's an official notice," his father said, waving the paper in his +hand. "It just came in the mail yon brought. The government announces +that it has thrown open to the public the old Indian lands bordering on +Spur Creek, and it won't be a month before the place is over-run with +Mexicans, Greasers, and worse, with their stinking sheep! Pah! It +makes me sick, after all the work we've done at Diamond X to have it +spoiled this way! But I'm not going to sit back and stand it! I'm +going to fight!" + +"That's right, Dad! I'm with you! I'll fight, too! Won't we, +fellows?" he appealed to Nort and Dick. + +"Sure we will!" was their answer. And it was, in a way, as much their +battle as it was that of Mr. Merkel and his son. For Bud, Nort and +Dick had a small ranch of their own in Happy Valley, not far from the +main holdings at Diamond X. + +"But why do you think we'll be over-run with sheep just because they've +opened up the Indian lands?" asked Nort. + +"It just naturally follows," his uncle answered. "Every low-down onery +sheep man for a hundred miles around has had his eyes on these lands +for the last five years, waiting for Uncle Sam to put 'em in the open +market. Now the government has finally paid the Indians' claims and +those fellows at Washington have decided to make it a +free-for-all-race." + +"Well, in that case," said Bud, "can't you and the other cattlemen +around here jump in and claim the land so there won't be any danger of +the sheep men coming in?" + +"Well, there's just one hitch," answered Mr. Merkel. "I said it was a +free and open race, but it isn't--exactly. Ranchmen who own more than +a certain amount of acreage, grazing ground and range, are barred from +taking any of this Indian land." + +"But there may be enough good cattle men and horse breeders who will +take up all the claims and so shut out the sheep," suggested Nort. + +"That might happen, but I haven't told you all," said his uncle. "You +see boundary lines out here are pretty uncertain. In some places there +never has been a survey made. So not only may the sheep men jump in +and claim the Indian land that the government has opened, but they'll +over-run land that we now use for grazing cattle and horses. And I +needn't tell you that once sheep have been on land it's ruined for my +business." + +This was very true, and though Nort and Dick had once been in the +"tenderfoot" class, they had learned of the deep-seated hatred that +existed on the part of a cattle man against a sheep owner. + +There is a real reason for this. Horses and cattle in the West just +naturally hate sheep. It may be that the cattle and horses recognize +that the sheep is such a greedy eater that he practically cleans off +the grass down to the very roots, whereas a steer or horse leaves +enough of the herbage to grow for the next time. + +Then, too, the strong smell of sheep seems to annoy horses and cattle. +Often a bunch of steers or a herd of horses will stampede and run for +miles, merely after getting a whiff of the odor from a bunch of sheep. +They will even do this if, in grazing, they come to a place where sheep +have been eating. And if sheep wade through a creek the odor of their +oily wool seems to remain for days, and horses and cattle refuse to +drink, unless almost dying of thirst. So much for the animals +themselves, and because of this there was unending war between the +horses and cattle on one side, and sheep on the other. Though it +cannot be said that the meek sheep did any fighting. They never +stampeded because they had to drink from streams where cows and horses +had watered, nor did they refuse to nibble grass left by the larger +animals. + +Aside from the fact that the horse breeders and cattle men were +pioneers on the old open range, and naturally resented the coming of +the lowly sheep herders, there is another reason for the hatred. +Sheep, as I have said, nibble the grass to its very roots. And then +the small and sharp feet of the sheep cut into the turf and so chop +what few roots that are left as to prevent a new crop of grass from +growing--the fodder dies off. And as the sheep are kept constantly on +the march, as they greedily eat their way, they spread ruin--at least +so the ranchmen thought. So it was and had been war. + +"This is bad news--bad news!" muttered Mr. Merkel. "We ranchers will +have to get together and talk it over. We've got to do something! I +want to talk to Tom Ogden." He was the owner of Circle T ranch, and a +friend of Mr. Merkel. + +"Shall I go for him in the flivver?" asked Bud, for since the advent of +the little car he and his cousins often journeyed in it, leaving their +horses in the corral. Though there were places where only a horse +could be used, and of course for cattle work no cowboy would think of +anything but of being in the saddle. + +"No, thank you. I'll call him on the wire," said Mr. Merkel. "I'll +have him bring some of the other ranchers over. We've got to act +quickly." + +"When does the land-grabbing start?" asked Dick. + +"It's open now--has been for the last two weeks. This notice is late," +said Mr. Merkel, looking at the paper in his hand. "Even now some of +the sheep men may be coming up from the Mexican border. We've got to +do something mighty sudden!" + +Seldom had Bud and his cousins seen Mr. Merkel so moved, and the boys +realized from this the grave danger. + +That evening a number of wealthy and influential ranch owners gathered +at Diamond X to talk the situation over. As cattle men in a small way, +the Boy Ranchers, as they were called, were allowed to "sit in" on the +conference. + +"The worst of it for me," said Mr. Merkel, "is that the range where I +breed my best steers is near this Spur Creek tract, and the sheep will +naturally over-run my feeding ground." + +"Can't you fence it in?" asked Mr. Ogden. + +"Too late for that now; it would take weeks to get the wire here, and +some of those onery sheep men wouldn't mind cutting the strands, +anyhow. It only takes one night for a band of sheep to ruin a good +many miles of pasture. No, what we've got to do is to fight 'em from +the start--not let 'em get there." + +"We'll take up the land ourselves!" exclaimed Henry Small. + +"Can't, Hen," objected Mr. Merkel. "We all own our full share now, and +maybe a little more. Of course, when you look at it from a legal +standpoint a sheep man has just as many rights under the government as +we have. But not by custom or western ways." + +"Not by a long shot!" cried the other ranchmen. + +"I hope your papers are all straight," observed Mr. Ogden to Bud's +father. + + + + +"What papers?" + +"Your deeds and documents that give you the right to land on this side +of Spur Creek. If there's a legal question the sheep men may try to +jump some of your claims." + +"Oh, I guess not," said Mr. Merkel easily. "My papers are all in my +safe, and I can prove title by them easily enough. But, gentlemen, +what are we going to do? That's the question now. What are we +going----" + +Mr. Merkel never finished that sentence. For he was interrupted by a +fusillade of shots just outside--shots in the night. + +An instant later every man in the conference room, and the boy ranchers +included, had leaped to his feet, and many hands sought the "guns" that +were within easy reach. + +"Some of your cowboys disporting themselves?" asked Mr. Ogden of the +owner of Diamond X. + +Mr. Merkel shook his head. + +"Nothing like that," he remarked. + +Some one yelled--there were more shots and then the voice of Slim +Degnan, foreman of the ranch, was heard shouting: + +"Get after 'em, boys! Head 'em off!" + +"It's a stampede!" yelled Bud. "Come on, fellows!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MISSING PAPERS + +Nort and Dick lost no time following their cowboy cousin, Bud, outside +the ranch house, and each of the three lads, as well as Mr. Merkel and +his associates, had caught up one of the heavy revolvers that were +never far from their hands. For, as has been said of the West, a man +doesn't always need a gun out there, but when he does need it, he needs +it "mighty bad and mighty sudden." + +The boy ranchers were taking no chances. + +"What's the matter, Slim?" asked Bud as he rushed outside and saw a +group of cowboys near the foreman. They were vaulting to the saddles +of their horses which had hurriedly been turned out of the home corral. + +"Rustlers!" cried Nort. "Is it rustlers, Slim?" + +"Might be, for all I can tell," was the answer. "I saw some men riding +along out there, and when I called to know who they were they didn't +answer, which was suspicious in itself. Then I told 'em to stop until +I could get a look at 'em, but they turned and made off, and that was +worse, so I fired a couple of times after 'em." + +"Where are they now?" asked Dick. + +"That's what we're going to find out; son," was the foreman's grim +answer. "You there, Babe?" he called to his fat assistant, who +rejoiced in the diminutive nickname. + +"All there is of me," was the sighing answer. "Stand still there, you +slab-sided chunk of salt pork!" he called to his horse, which was +nervously swerving about. And Babe Milton was too heavy to be a quick +mounter. He needed special attention on the part of his steed. + +"Let's go, fellows!" cried Bud to his cousins, and, not waiting for the +permission of Mr. Merkel, the lads saddled their horses and started +after the foreman and his cowboys who had gotten a flying start. + +"What do you imagine it is?" asked Nort as he rode between his brother +and cousin, while they urged their steeds on to catch up to those ahead +of them. + +"Haven't any idea," answered Bud, glancing back to note that his father +and the visiting ranchmen had gone into the house. Probably Mr. Merkel +and the others knew the matter could safely be left to the cowboys. + +Bud and his cousins rode fleet ponies, and they were more than at home +in their saddles, so it did not take them long to reach the bunch of +cowboys riding across the plains ahead of them, on the trail of the +mysterious night visitors. + +"Any idea who they were, Slim?" asked Bud, guiding his horse alongside +that of the foreman. + +"Not the least in the world. But they're up to no good or they +wouldn't have veered off at the first hail. There's something +suspicious in that." + +"I should say so," agreed Nort. + +"Couldn't be any sheep herders coming so soon, to turn their nibblers +on our land; could it?" Dick wanted to know. He spoke of "our land," +for he and his brother owned a small ranch in partnership with Bud. + +"No, I don't reckon it was the sheep herders themselves," said Slim, +"but it might be some of their bunch coming to size things up. The +government never made a worse mistake than to throw this Indian land +open to everybody. Them fellers at Washington should have barred the +sheep men!" + +To hear Slim talk you would have imagined that he could go to +Washington and regulate matters all by himself. But if you understand +the feeling of western cattle men and horse men against sheep herders +it will make it easier to comprehend. + +"Well, if any of 'em try to come to Happy Valley," said Bud, "they'll +wish they'd stayed out." + +"That's right!" chimed in Nort and Dick. + +Suddenly one of the cowboys on the outer fringe of the riding posse +uttered a low cry and exclaimed: + +"There they are--off to the left!" + +As he spoke the moon came out from behind ragged clouds and disclosed +two horsemen riding at full speed across the prairie. + +"After 'em, fellows!" cried Slim, and he fired some shots in the air. + +The boy ranchers put spurs to their steeds--not cruelly but with a +gentle touch to let the horses know a burst of speed was needed--and +the race was quickly taken up. + +And while it is on I will beg a moment or so of the time of my new +readers to make them acquainted with the heroes of this story. As +related in the first book of this series, called "The Boy Ranchers; or +Solving the Mystery at Diamond X," Nort and Dick Shannon, eastern +cousins of Bud Merkel, went to the ranch of his father, Diamond X, to +spend their vacation. While there certain mysterious happenings +occurred. Dr. Hendryx Wright, a college scientist, with a party of +helpers, was discovered digging not far from Diamond X. At first it +was thought he was after a lost gold mine, but later it was disclosed +that he was after the bones of a prehistoric monster for the college +museum. + +The part that Del Pinzo, a rascally half-breed, played in this search +and the activities of the boy ranchers, are fully set forth. Nort and +Dick liked it so at Diamond X that they took up their home with Bud, +and became partners with him, their father buying them a share in a +ranch located in "Happy Valley," as the boys called it. + +Following the exciting times related in the first volume, the boy +ranchers went to camp, they took the trail and also helped pursue a +band of Yaqui Indians who escaped from their Mexican reservation, and +the details of those activities will be found in the volumes +specifically named for each line of activity. The book immediately +preceding this is called "The Boy Ranchers Among the Indians; or, On +the Trail of the Yaquis." + +They had not long returned from helping to defeat these marauders, and +rescue Rosemary and her brother Floyd, when the news came about the +government lands being thrown open. Then had followed the alarm in the +night, and the chase, which was now on. + +Forward toward the two lone figures spurred the boy ranchers and their +cowboy companions. Several more shots rang out, slivers of flame +spitting harmlessly into the air, for until more was known of the +character of the fugitives, no one desired to fire directly at them. +Though in the West it was the custom to shoot first and inquire +afterward, Slim Degnan knew it was not always a wise policy. Innocent +men might be injured. + +However the two fugitives were either such poor riders, or their steeds +were so tired, or, possibly, it was a combination of both causes, that +the outfit from Diamond X was not long in overhauling them. + +"Look out for shots!" warned Snake Purdee, who was now in the lead with +Slim. + +But the two figures whose horses were rapidly slowing to a walk, showed +no signs of fight. Indeed the larger of the two men cried: + +"We surrender, gentlemen!" + +In the half light of the moon Bud, Nort and Dick looked at each other +on hearing that voice. It brought back to them very vividly a picture +of strenuous times. + +"Don't let 'em shoot, Professor!" chimed in another voice. "If I only +had my long poker here----" + +"Be quiet, Zeb," spoke the one who had offered to surrender. "You +aren't attending the school furnace now." + +"I only wish I was," came the rueful comment. + +"Did you hear that?" spoke Bud to his cousins. + +"It's Professor Wright!" exclaimed Nort and Dick in a sort of surprised +duet. + +"But what's he doing here, and at night, and why did he run?" asked Bud. + +However, these questions could be answered later. Just now Slim and +his bunch of cowboys were interested in discovering the object or +motive of the strangers of the night--strangers in that the foremen and +his helpers had not recognized the identity of the two men. And, in +fact, Professor Wright--he of the pre-historic monster fame--was the +only one known to the boys, and then only by his voice. Who "Zeb" +might be they could only guess. + +"Except that I'd say, first shot, he was janitor in some small college +where the professor taught," remarked Nort, and this proved to be the +case. + +"What do you want?" queried Slim of the two former fugitives, though +really they were that no longer, being now surrounded by the cowboys. + +"We were looking for the ranch of Mr. Merkel--Diamond X it is called, I +believe," said the taller of the two strange riders. + +"Well, you're running away from it," commented Snake Purdee. + +"And why did you fire at us?" asked Slim. + +"Gentlemen, I didn't fire. I am Professor Hendryx Wright, and this is +my helper, Zeb Tauth. He is the janitor at my school, and I have +brought him out west with me. I have a small party accompanying me and +we are going to make another search for fossil bones as I did once +before at Diamond X ranch. I was looking for the place in the +darkness, having left my other men and supplies some distance back, +when you suddenly set after us. I took you for horse thieves----" + +"Just what we sized _you_ up as," laughed Slim, who now had recognized +the professor, though Zeb was a stranger. "Mighty sorry to have +troubled you," went on the foreman, "but we couldn't take any chances." + +"Especially with the sheep herders likely to swoop down on us and spoil +everything," added Bud. + +"Hello, boys! Are you there?" exclaimed Professor Wright as he +recognized the voice of the lad. "You say someone had been stealing +your sheep?" + +"Shades of Zip Foster! Never that!" cried Bud, calling upon a sort of +mythical patron saint whose identity he jealously concealed from his +cousins. "When we start herding sheep, Professor, the world will turn +the other way." + +"We'll explain later," suggested Nort. "If you're going to stop with +us, Professor, turn around and come back." + +"Gladly," answered the scientist. "But I have left my men and the +outfit some miles back, awaiting word as to whether or not I could +locate your ranch, and----" + +"I'll send a man to bring 'em up," offered the foreman. "Mighty funny, +though, about you not firing at me," he added, as the horses were +turned back toward Diamond X. "Are you sure your friend didn't?" he +asked the professor. + +"Zeb doesn't know one end of a gun from the other," said the scientist. +"As for me--I have none." + +"Mighty queer!" muttered Snake. "Somebody fired all right." + +"Must have been another party," suggested Bud. "Maybe you chased the +wrong bunch, Slim." + +"Maybe I did, Bud," admitted the foreman, "though I didn't think there +was two bunches. If there was----" + +He did not finish what he intended to say, for his mind was busy with +several thoughts engendered by the news that the hated sheep men might +come to a land so far held sacred to horses and cattle. + +"Yes, it's mighty queer," said Slim musingly, as they turned in toward +the corral not far from the ranch house. "Some one fired at me just as +the chase began, and if it wasn't the professor----" + +Mr. Merkel, followed by some of his ranchmen neighbors, came hurrying +from the house. Framed in the lighted doorway stood Ma Merkel and Nell. + +"That you, Slim?" asked the owner of Diamond X. + +"That's me," was the reply. + +"Did you get 'em?" + +"Well, in a way, yes," came the slow reply. "They turned out to be +friends of yours." + +"_Friends?_" questioned Mr. Merkel sharply. + +"It's Professor Wright," explained Bud. + +"Then you've got the wrong parties!" cried Mr. Merkel. "There's been a +robbery here!" + +"A _robbery_!" chorused the boy ranchers. + +"Yes! In the excitement somebody got in the ranch house and ransacked +my safe." + +"Did they get much?" Dick asked. + +Amid a silence Mr. Merkel answered: + +"They took the papers that prove my right to lands along Spur Creek!" + +"Spur Creek!" fairly shouted Bud. "That's where they're going to open +the Indian holdings--where the sheep men will first head for, and if we +can't control that opening our range won't be worth a hill of beans! +Are you sure the papers are gone, Dad?" + +"I'm only too sure, son," was the grim answer. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ON THE TRAIL + +Leaving Zeb Tauth to look after his own steed and that of Professor +Wright, Bud and his cousins ushered the scientist into the living-room +of the ranch house, whither Mr. Merkel and his fellow ranchmen +returned, followed by his wife and daughter. Slim Degnan also entered, +having turned his horse over to Babe, who, with the other cowboys, went +to the corral. + +"Now let's get the straight of this," suggested the owner of Diamond X +ranch, when the party was again sitting down, and Professor Wright had +been made welcome. "Slim, you saw what happened outside. Suppose you +tell us about that." + +"Seems to me that something more important happened in here," spoke +Bud. "If your papers were stolen, Dad, why----" + +"They sure were, _son_," interrupted Mr. Merkel, "but I have an idea +that what went on outside had a very important bearing on what took +place in here. That's why I wanted to hear Slim's account first." + +"Well, there isn't an awful lot to tell," said the ranch foreman. "I +was sitting outside the corral with the boys, sort of planning up the +work for to-morrow. We were talking about this new move of the +government, opening the Indian lands, and we were sort of guessing how +soon the onery sheep men would bust in on us, when one of the +boys--Snake Purdee I reckon it was--said somebody was coming up the +trail that leads to Happy Valley. + +"First we didn't pay much attention to them, thinking they was some of +Bud's boys, but they acted so funny that I hailed 'em, and instead of +answering like they should, they fired. Course I fired back--up in the +air--and then we boys got busy and took after 'em." + +"Yes, I can understand it from there on," said Mr. Merkel. "But you +didn't get the ones you went after; did you?" + +"Apparently not," admitted the foreman with a grim smile. "It was +pretty dark and we must have missed 'em. But finally we did see two +horses streaking it over the plains, and we took after 'em, only to +find they were the professor here, and his friend." + +"Then the other parties, whoever they were, got away," commented Mr. +Merkel. + +"Must have," said the foreman. "They'd 'a' had time while we was +saddlin' up. But what their object was I can't guess." + +"And then we come back here to find you've been robbed," commented Bud. +"Say, doesn't it look as though those first parties came around just to +draw us off, so someone else could sneak in and rifle the safe?" he +asked quickly. + +There was a moment of silence, to give the idea time to filter through +the minds of all present, and then Mr. Merkel said: + +"Son, I believe you've struck it! That was a game to draw our fire on +the front, while they sneaked up in the rear to frisk my safe! And the +professor----" + +"I hope you don't think I had anything to do with your unfortunate +loss!" exclaimed the scientist. + +"Of course not!" said Mr. Merkel quickly. "I was about to remark that +you being on the scene was purely a matter of accident, though it may +have had the effect of drawing Slim and his bunch farther away from the +real thieves than was desirable." + +"Shouldn't be a bit surprised," admitted the foreman. "It was so dark, +before the moon came out, that we couldn't tell much where we were +going. But as soon as we picked up the professor and his friend we +took after them. Probably this gave the real rascals the chance they +wanted." + +"Perhaps I had better explain how I happened to be in this +neighborhood," said Dr. Wright. "Our discoveries of the prehistoric +fossils, at which you helped us so much," he added, nodding toward the +boy ranchers, "our discoveries gained us such scientific honors that I +have been asked to come back and search for more bones. I had no time +to write and tell you I was coming, and that I hoped you would allow my +party to make some location on your ranch our headquarters," he said to +Mr. Merkel. + +"You will be very welcome," the ranchman remarked. + +"I am glad to know that," resumed Dr. Wright. "Well, I hurriedly got a +party together, taking as my personal helper Zeb Tauth, the janitor of +part of the college building where I am stationed. I know Zeb's ways, +and he knows mine. + +"We rather lost our way in the darkness," continued the scientist, +"and, leaving the main party, Zeb and I journeyed on to look for the +ranch. We heard shots and saw a party of horsemen riding after us, and +Zeb at once concluded we were going to be held up and made the victims +of horse thieves. So we did our best to get away." + +"You rode mighty well, Professor! Yon rode mighty well!" complimented +Slim Degnan. + +"But what's the next thing to be done?" asked Bud, as there came a +pause in the conversation. "Did they take everything out of the safe, +Dad?" + +"Well, I didn't have much money in it, luckily, but they did get some +valuable papers--documents that prove my claim to land along Spur +Creek--land that is the key to the situation in this new tract the +government is opening, or, as a matter of fact, has already opened." + +"It means the sheep herders can come in then; does it?" asked Nort. + +"Practically that, unless I can get back those papers and prove that I +am the real owner of the land, and that I owned it before this +government opening took place," answered Mr. Merkel. + +"It must have been someone interested in sheep herding who knew about +the papers, who knew you had them here and who wanted them," commented +Dick. + +"Yes, that's probably true," assented the ranchman. + +"Well, there's only one thing to do," declared Bud. + +"Get after 'em!" cried Nort and Dick. + +"That's it!" exclaimed their cousin. "We must take the trail after +these sheep-herding thieves and get back Dad's papers!" + +Bud started from the room. + +"You aren't going to take the trail to-night, are you?" asked his +father. + +"Why not?" demanded Bud. "The longer we wait the better lead they'll +have on us." + +"I know, but you can't do anything in the dark." + +"Yes, we can!" cried Bud. "Come on, boys!" he called to his cousins. +"It won't be the first time we've ridden a trail at night. Please pack +us up a little grub," he called to his mother and sister. + +"Oh, Bud, I hate to have you go," said Ma Merkel. + +"Can't be helped!" he laughingly assured her. "We'll be back in a +little while, unless we get on the trail of these chaps and run 'em +down. While the grub is being packed, Dad, tell us just how they got +in and frisked your safe." + +"Well, they just naturally got in the back door while we were all out +in front watching you boys ride off after those who put up a game to +draw us out," was the answer. "When we went back in the house, after +you'd gone, I saw my safe open and a lot of papers scattered about. +The combination is very simple. What little money was in it--not +much--was taken, and the Spur Creek deeds." + +"Well, we'll get 'em back!" cried Bud. "On the trail, fellows!" + +And catching up bundles of hastily prepared "snacks," the boy ranchers +started on the trail after the thieves, for much depended on their +success and an early start was essential. + +Bud and his cousins had not ridden far beyond the corral when they +heard behind them shouts of: + +"Wait a minute! Wait! Come back!" + +"What's up now?" questioned Bud, drawing rein. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +AROUND THE CAMPFIRE + +Naturally impatient, the boy ranchers did not want to return once they +had started on the trail of the robbers. They thought they should be +allowed to rush off, and perhaps they had an idea they could soon "meet +up" with the suspects and bring them back. But Mr. Merkel and the +other ranchmen, as well as the veteran cowboys, had no such delusions. +However, this was no time to discourage impetuous youth. + +"What's the matter, Dad?" asked Bud, as he recognized his father's +voice among those bidding him and his cousins to return. "Has someone +telephoned in that they've rounded up the thieves?" + +No surprise need be occasioned when I speak of telephones in connection +with ranching in the far west. Times have changed since the early days +of the buffalo and Indians. Both are almost extinct, though the +Indians have lasted longer than the bison. + +But the West has progressed with other parts of the country, and the +advent of the cheap automobile and the spread of telephone wires, and +even wireless now, has brought far distant ranches close together. So +Bud knew it could easily have been the case that some distant ranchman +might have telephoned to Diamond X that he had made a capture of +suspicious persons. He may not have known of the theft of Mr. Merkel's +Spur Creek papers, for this robbery had not yet been broadcast. + +"No telephones, son," said Mr. Merkel easily, as he strode out to where +the horses of the boys were pawing the ground, almost as impatient to +be gone as were their masters. "But I want you to take one of the men +with you." + +"Oh, Dad! I don't want to do that!" protested Bud. + +"We've hit the trail alone before," added Nort. + +"It isn't a question of your ability," went on Mr. Merkel. "But you +may have to split--very likely you will, and for this purpose four are +better than three. Then you can pair it off." + +"That's right," slowly admitted Bud. "Two of us might have to follow +one trail, and it would be lonesome for just one to take the other. +How about Old Billee?" + +"You couldn't pick a better companion," agreed Mr. Merkel. + +Billee Dobb was only too glad to get away from the routine work of the +ranch--riding herd and helping in the round up and shipping--and +quickly saddled to accompany the boys on their ride through the night, +in an endeavor to pick up the trail of those who had committed the +robbery at Spur Creek. + +"Well, I guess we're off this time," remarked Dick, as once more they +turned their horses' heads in the general direction supposed to have +been taken by the robbers. + +It was, as you may surmise, pretty much guess work, and yet there were +some clues on which to work, and the boys hoped to pick up others as +they went along, by stopping at different ranch houses and making +inquiries. Then, too, cowboys would be met with here and there, and +they might have seen some trace of the fugitives. + +In the olden days, before the West was as much traveled as it is now, +it might have been possible for pioneers, such as those featured in the +novels of James Fenimore Cooper, to have followed and picked up the +trail by the mere physical evidences left on the ground--a footprint +here, a hoofmark there, the pressed down grass and so on. + +But this was out of the question now, though some slight marks might be +discovered in the daytime by the sharp eyes of Billee Dobb, who was a +veteran cowboy and plainsman. In this Bud and his companions would +have to rely on Billee, as the boys themselves had not had much +experience in this line. + +"Well, Billee, what do you think of it all?" asked Bud as he rode +beside the old man, while Nort and Dick loped along in the rear. + +"You mean what happened to-night, Bud?" + +"Yep." Bud was clipping his words short to save time. + +"Well," said the old man slowly, "I don't know just what to think. +It's all mighty queer, but one thing I'll say--this didn't all happen +just to-night." + +"You mean it was planned in advance?" asked Dick. + +"Sartin sure, son! It was a put-up job if ever there was one. Why, +just look back over it. Here we all were in peace and quiet, and Mr. +Merkel was entertainin' his friends, when up rides a bunch of onery +Greasers, if I'm any judge." + +"What makes you think they were Greasers?" asked Bud. + +"'Cause no decent white men would act like they did. Up they rides, +pretending to be sneakin' in on us, maybe to lift a few horses or else +stampede a bunch of our cows. But that wasn't their intention at all." + +"If it was, Slim and the rest of 'em spoiled their plans," observed +Nort. + +"Don't worry, they had no notion of takin' anything," declared Old +Billee. "They just wanted to take our attention while some of their +confederates sneaked in and got Mr. Merkel's papers; and they done that +same." + +"I'll say they did!" exclaimed Bud in disgust. "It was all too easy +for them. But how did they know Dad's papers were in the safe?" + +"Well, it's common knowledge that your paw claims the land around Spur +Creek," observed Billee. "That's common knowledge. And it wouldn't +take a Kansas City lawyer long to figger out that he had papers to +prove his claim, an' that he kept these papers in his safe; it bein' +equally well known that we haven't much time to fool with banks around +here, 'specially in the busy season. + +"So all the rascal had to do was to get the house clear, by creatin' +some excitement away from it, and then he walked in an' skinned the +safe. It didn't help matters any that th' perfesser happened along at +the same time, either, and I don't care who knows it!" declared Billee +Dobb emphatically. + +"You don't mean to say you believe Dr. Wright had any hand in this?" +cried Bud. + +"Well, maybe _he_ didn't 'zactly have a hand in it," grudgingly +admitted the old cowpuncher, "but he played right into the hands of th' +scoundrels." + +"On purpose, do you mean?" asked Nort. + +"Well, that's to be found out," remarked Billee musingly. + +"Billee, you're 'way off there!" cried Bud. "Professor Wright is as +right as his name--we proved that before when he was here after the +prehistoric Triceratops bones." + +"He may have changed since then," declared Billee. "What did he want +to come in and lead us off on a false trail for, when we was hot after +the robbers?" + +"He didn't do it purposely," asserted Nort, who, with his brother, +shared Bud's views as to the integrity of Professor Wright. "It was +because he got lost." + +"Yes, to hear him tell it," sneered Billee. + +"Why, look here!" cried Bud. "What good would it do Professor Wright +to get hold of Dad's papers proving ownership to the Spur Creek lands? +Why would he want the land? If anybody wants it they must be those who +are coming in under the new government ruling--sheep herders maybe, and +it's to them we have to look." + +"That Wright is just the kind of a chap who'd go in for sheep herding, +and spoiling a cattle country," complained Billee, as he pulled up the +head of his horse, when the animal showed a tendency to stumble over a +prairie dog's hole. + +"You're away off!" laughed Bud. "It may have been sheep herders who +got Dad's papers, hoping thus to be able to claim a lot of land for +their woolly feeders, but Professor Wright had no hand in it." + +Billee's only answer was a sniff. + +However, as the boy ranchers rode along in the darkness they realized +that they could have had no better companion than Old Billee Dobb, for +his very vindictiveness, though it might be wrongly directed, made him +eager to keep after the robbers. That Professor Wright was other than +he claimed to be, none of the boys doubted for a moment. + +But who was behind the plot which had just succeeded so well? That was +a question which needed answering. + +The ranch buildings of Diamond X were soon left behind in the darkness, +their pleasant glow fading as the four horsemen of the prairies rode +along in silence, looking, as best they could under the faint glow of +the moon for the outlines of other horsemen to be shown on the horizon +as they topped some rise in the undulating ground. + +In general the boy ranchers and Billee were following the trail on +which Slim and the cowboys had started after the shots were fired--the +trail that was crossed by Professor Wright, causing the pursuers to +turn back. + +"It would have been better if some of us had kept on when we had the +start," commented Nort when, after an hour's ride nothing had been seen. + +"Yes, it would," agreed Billee. + +"But we didn't know, then, that there had been a robbery," went on Nort. + +"That's right," assented Bud. "We just thought it was an ordinary +bunch of cattle or horse thieves, and if they had been there would have +been nothing else to worry about, as we drove them off." + +"Well, we may get 'em yet, but 'tisn't very likely," said Billee. + +And as the night wore on and they kept their slow pace over the plains, +this prediction seemed about to be borne out. + +The boys and Billee had stopped at ranch houses here and there to make +inquiries about some fleeing band of horsemen, but no one had seen +them. The proprietors of most of the ranches were over at Diamond X +and had not yet returned. Some of them had telephoned to their foremen +or other members of the ranch households, telling about the robbers and +saying that Bud and his companions might call. + +But beyond this no trace was found of the robbers. + +It was long past midnight when Old Billee pulled his horse to a stop, +and "slumped" from the saddle. + +"What's the matter?" asked Bud. "See some sign?" By this he intended +to ask if the old plainsman saw any indications that they were hotter +on the trail of those they sought. + +"Nope!" answered Old Billee. "But we're going to camp and make coffee +and frizzle a bit of bacon. No use keepin' on any longer. We can't do +anything more till mornin'." + +"Camp it is!" exclaimed Bud, "and I'm not sorry, either." + +Shortly a fire was going, made from twigs and branches picked up under +a few trees near where the party had stopped, and soon the appetizing +aroma of coffee and bacon spread through the night air. + +"Um! But this is jolly!" cried Nort. + +The horses were picketed out and after the midnight supper the +wayfarers rolled themselves in their blankets and prepared to pass what +remained of the night in the glow of the campfire, and beneath the +fitful light of the cloud-obscured moon. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +AT SPUR CREEK + +Dick was dreaming that he was at a football game, and that his brother +Nort had hold of him and was trying to pull him through the line of +opposing players to make a touchdown. Then the dream seemed to become +confused with reality, and Dick felt some one tugging at the blanket in +which he had rolled himself so snugly. + +Half awake and half asleep Dick's brain struggled to clear itself and +get the right impression of what really was going on. Then he became +aware that his blanket was actually being pulled--this was no dream. + +"Here! Who's that? What you doing?" he cried, and instinctively he +began groping for his gun, which was in its holster in the belt he had +taken off for the night. + +Something cold and clammy touched Dick on the cheek, causing a shudder +to run through him. + +"Snakes!" he yelled. "Rattlers! Look out!" + +His frantic cries roused the others, and Nort and Bud struggled to free +themselves of their enveloping blankets as they sat up near the +smouldering blaze of the camp fire. + +"What is it?" cried Bud, who had only half heard what his cousin +shouted. + +"Snakes!" again yelled Dick. + +"Snakes nothing!" disgustedly grumbled Billee Dobb, who did not relish +having his slumbers broken. "It's too cold for snakes to be out +to-night." Then the plainsman tossed on the fire a bit of wood which, +when it blazed up, revealed the cause of the disturbance. + +"It's your horse!" cried Nort with a laugh. And it was Dick's faithful +pony who, having slipped his tether, had wandered over near human +companionship, and had been pulling at Dick's blanket with his teeth. +Then the animal rubbed his cold and clammy muzzle on Dick's face, +giving the lad the impression that a scaly rattlesnake had tried to +crawl over him. + +"Well, I'll be jiggered! Blackie!" gasped Dick, when he saw that it +was his horse. "Whew, but you gave me a fright!" + +"You oughter look fust an' yell afterward," commented Billee as he +turned over to go to sleep again. + +The boys laughed and again wrapped up in their blankets, after Dick had +secured his horse with the others. A dim light was now showing in the +east, indicating that morning was not far off. But it was cold and +cheerless, even with the fire, for it was not a very large blaze, and +Dick was glad to follow the example of his brother and cousin and roll +up for a final doze before daylight. + +"Well, now we'll see what happens," commented Nort, as they were +preparing a simple breakfast, over the replenished campfire. "Think we +might catch 'em to-day, Billee?" + +"It all depends," was the old cow puncher's answer. "We can't spend +too much time chasin' these scamps. There's work to be done at the +ranch. Hang that perfesser, anyhow!" + +"Why?" asked Bud. + +"Well, if he hadn't crossed the trail last night when we fust started +out, we'd a' had them as we was after by now!" declared Billee. + +"Maybe and maybe not," remarked Bud. "It wasn't the professor's fault, +anyhow. He just got lost." + +"Well, he picked a mighty inconvenient time to do it in," snapped Old +Billee, who was always a bit raspy before breakfast. + +The sun soon shone warm and glorious, a little too glorious in fact, +for it was very hot after 9 o'clock when the trail was again taken up. +Daylight did not make the "signs" any more plain--in fact, there was +absolutely no trail to follow. All they could do was to keep on, +making inquiries here and there at different ranches about suspicious +characters. + +"We haven't seen any signs of the professor's party," remarked Nort, +when they stopped at noon for a "snack." + +"No, I fancy they're off in the other direction," remarked Bud. "They +will probably be at the ranch when we get back." + +"Speaking of getting back, I don't see much use in keeping on," +commented Billee. "Those rascals have given us the slip." + +"Guess we might as well hit the back trail," agreed Bud. "Dad will +have to tell Hank Fowler about this, and Hank can rustle up a posse and +see what he can do." + +Hank Fowler was the local sheriff and on him, and such men as he might +swear in as deputies, devolved the duty of looking after law and order +in that part of the west where Diamond X was located, not far from the +Mexican border. + +The boy ranchers and Billee kept on for another mile, to top a certain +high piece of land, over which they could have a good view, as they +thought from this vantage point they might see some signs to guide +them. But from the eminence they only viewed an endless rolling +prairie with here and there a clump of trees. They saw bands of roving +cattle and a few horses--their own stock or that of some neighbor, and +Billee decided that nothing could be gained by going any farther along +the cold trail. + +Turning their horses' heads, the members of the little party swung back +toward Diamond X. On the way they stopped at the ranch of Bud and his +boy partners in Happy Valley, learning that everything was in good +shape there, being in the efficient hands of a capable foreman and some +cowboys. News of the robbery of Mr. Merkel's safe had already been +telephoned to Happy Valley, but though the cowboys had ridden out for +several miles in a number of directions, they had seen nothing and no +one suspicious they reported. + +"No luck, boys?" asked Mr. Merkel as his son and nephews turned their +weary horses into the corral and entered the house. + +"No luck, Dad," answered Bud. "What's new here?" + +"Nothing much. Professor Wright's party came up and he has taken them +into camp over near the place where they dug up the monster fossil +bones some time ago." + +"You didn't hear anything about the fellows who took your papers then? +What are you going to do, Dad?" + +"Well, I don't know what I can do. It isn't as if this was the east, +where such things are a matter of record, and where you have the courts +and judges right at hand to put a stop to anything unlawful. It's +almost as if an unregistered government bond was stolen. I've got to +prove my property against those that have it, and I can't do it very +easily, because the men I bought it of originally are all dead or moved +away. It's just as if the Spur Creek land was owned by no one, and the +first comer has a chance to take it, now that the government has thrown +open the tract." + +"But you aren't going to sit down and let 'em frisk you that way, are +you, Dad?" cried Bud, surprised at what he thought was the supine and +non-combative attitude of his parent. + +"I should say not, son!" was the vigorous answer. "I'm going to fight!" + +"That's more like it!" cried Bud. + +"Hurray! We're with you!" exclaimed Nort. + +"When does the fighting begin!" Dick wanted to know, and almost +unconsciously he looked at his "gun." + +"We're going to start a camp at Spur Creek right away, and keep some +one on guard there constantly," declared Mr. Merkel. "If signs and +past performances go for anything, some Mexicans, a few Greasers and a +bunch of sheep herders will pour in through the pass and pre-empt +everything along Spur Creek any time now. Certain land along Spur +Creek did belong to the Indians and as such the government can throw it +open to those whose other holdings don't bar them--as I am barred. + +"But I don't intend any Greasers or sheep herders shall take the land I +bought and paid for, even if they have managed to steal my title deeds +and other papers, without which I can't prove my claim. I'm going to +fight!" said the ranch owner vigorously. + +"And we're with you!" cried Nort, as he tapped his gun. + +I do not wish you to understand that the boy ranchers were a blood +thirsty trio of "gun-men." As I have explained, you don't always need +a gun in the West, but when you do require it the need is generally +urgent. Nor are the "guns" (by which term are meant revolvers of large +caliber) used in desperate fights against human beings. In the main +the guns are used with blank cartridges to direct a bunch of cattle in +the way it is desired they should go. Frequently a fusilade of shots, +harmless enough in themselves, will serve to turn a stampede which +stampede, if not stopped, would result in the death of hundreds of +animals who would blindly hurl themselves over a cliff. + +Of course there are bad men in the west now, as there used to be, +though perhaps not so many, and near the Mexican border roving bands of +Indians or half-breeds often try to run off bunches of cattle. In such +cases guns with bullets instead of blank cartridges are urgently needed. + +Then, too, enemies other than human are occasionally met with. In +winter wolves may prowl about, driven desperate by hunger. There is an +occasional rattlesnake to be shot up, and so, all in all, a cowboy +without a gun would not fit in the picture at all. Though I don't want +you to get the idea that the boy ranchers were desperate characters, +willing to "pull a gun" on the slightest provocation. The guns were +for service, not for bravado. + +"Are you going to start a regular camp at Spur Creek, Dad?" asked Bud. + +"That's my intention," his father answered. "We've got to be ready to +fight these sheep herders who, I feel sure, will pour in here. They +have been waiting to get possession of some range near the water, and +this is their chance. But they shan't ruin my feeding ground. I've +got too much money invested in it to lose it." + +"And though we're farther off, in Happy Valley, we might be harmed by +sheep, too," said Nort. "So we've got to fight also!" + +"That's right!" chimed in his brother. + +I have indicated to you, briefly, why the cattle men so hated the sheep +herders. Sheep are innocent enough in themselves, and are much needed. +Without them a large part of the world would go hungry and only partly +clothed. + +"But let the sheep herders stick to their own pastures!" was the cry of +the cattle men and the horse breeders. "Don't let them foul our +streams and cut up our grass." + +As I told you, no western horse or cow, unless under dire need, will +drink from a stream where sheep have drunk, or through which sheep have +passed. And there is no grass left, once a herd of sheep have fed over +a tract, while for years afterward there is only a stunted growth of +green, if, indeed, any. + +So it is no wonder that those at Diamond X prepared to fight the sheep +herders, and Spur Creek was the natural place at which to make a stand. + +Situated as it was near the Mexican border, the ranch of Diamond X was +near the head of a great valley--a natural pass between the two +countries. Through this pass flowed Spur Creek, branching out into one +or more streams in different places. + +You probably know that to successfully raise cattle, horses or sheep +two things are needed--food and water. Food is supplied by the various +rich grasses that grow naturally on the western plains. Water is not +so plentiful in that sometimes arid region, and for that reason is +jealously guarded. A ranch with a natural water supply is worth ten +times what one is without fluid for the cattle to drink. Driving herds +long distances to quench their thirst runs off their fat, and as cattle +are now sold by the pound, instead of by the piece, as formerly was the +case, the heavier a steer is the more money he brings. + +Spur Creek, then, was a valuable asset to Mr. Merkel, and he determined +to fight for it to the "last ditch," so to speak. This water was only +a part of the courses that were valuable to his ranch. As for the +boys, they had a water supply of their own in Happy Valley, though they +had had to fight to secure that, as related in the book named "The Boy +Ranchers in Camp." + +"Well, if there's to be a fight, the sooner the better," commented Bud +as he and his cousins washed up at home after their night in the open. +They told of their experiences, which really amounted to nothing as far +as getting a trace of the fugitives was concerned, and then. Mr. +Merkel sent word to Sheriff Fowler of the theft. + +"And now we'll build a fort at Spur Creek," said the ranchman. + +"A _fort_!" cried Bud. + +"Well, it will be a sort of fort," his father went on. "There is one +place there just right for defensive operations and we'll put up a +shack there and mount guard until the danger is over. Once the sheep +men see that we mean business they may throw up their hands and go back +where they belong--in Mexico." + +There were soon busy times at Diamond X. The flivver was called into +requisition, and on it and on wagons was transported to Spur Creek +lumber to make a rough shack as a shelter for those who would be kept +on guard against the advance of the sheep herders. + +"And we're going to form part of that guard!" declared Bud. "Our ranch +can run itself for a while. We've got to stick by Dad!" + +"That's right!" agreed Nort and Dick. Secretly they rejoiced at the +chance of a coming conflict, even though they had so recently had a +hard time campaigning against the Yaqui Indians. + +It did not take long to throw up a rough shelter at Spur Creek. This +could be improved upon as time passed, but it was necessary to make a +stand there at once. So, two nights after the alarm and robbery at +Diamond X, behold the boy ranchers, with some of their cowboy friends, +on guard at the edge of the stream which marked one of the boundaries +of the land Mr. Merkel claimed--but land to which he could not now show +a legal title because of the theft of his papers. + +"Well, all serene so far," observed Bud, as night settled down on them +in their new environment. + +"Yes, I don't reckon we'll be disturbed," observed Billee, who was +there with them. + +"It'll give me a chance to pick up, an' get back in th' saddle again," +observed Yellin' Kid in his usual loud voice. He had been allowed to +form part of the "fort" guard, as it was thought the duties there would +not be strenuous for a while, at least, and he could make a better +recovery than at Diamond X. + +"Well, it's a good place for a fight, if one comes," said Nort, as he +looked about the place. It readily lent itself well to fortification, +and advantage had been taken of this by Mr. Merkel. The rough shack +was an outpost fort in the land that was destined to be battled for by +the sheep men on one side and the cattle men on the other. + +Quiet evening was settling down, "grub" had been served and the ponies +were rubbing noses in the improvised corral when Yellin' Kid, who was +venturing to walk around a little to "exercise his game leg," as he +expressed it, came to a halt and gazed earnestly across Spur Creek in +the direction of Mexico distant several miles. + +"What is it, Kid?" asked Billee, who was smoking his pipe. + +"Somebody's comin'," was the answer, "an' he's sweatin' leather," which +meant that he was riding fast. + +The boy ranchers looked in the direction indicated. A lone horseman +was approaching from the side of the creek where the enemy might be +expected first to appear. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE ALARM + +Gathered in front of their "fort," as it laughingly had been +christened, the boy ranchers and their cow puncher comrades watched the +approach of the lone horseman. He had come up through the valley--the +pass that, like the neck of a bag tied about the middle with a string, +connected two great lands--Mexico and the United States. But one land +represented law and order to a degree, while the other was woefully +lacking in these essentials to progress. + +For a time the stranger rode on at the fast pace Yellin' Kid had at +first observed, and the atmosphere was so clear that his progress was +easily noticed without glasses, though Bud brought out a pair after a +moment or two. + +Then, suddenly, the approaching horseman seemed to become aware, for +the first time, of the new structure at Spur Creek--the "fort" of +Diamond X. + +For he began to slacken his pace and when a quarter of a mile from the +place where Mr. Merkel had determined to make a stand, the horseman +pulled up his steed. Then he sat in the saddle and gazed long and +earnestly at the shack and those who stood grouped in front of it. + +"Look out!" suddenly cried Bud, who was watching the horseman through +the glasses. "He's going to draw!" + +This meant gun play, and the cowboys realized this, for they lost no +time in "ducking" behind shelter. Bud, too, was taking no chances, but +as he continued to look, from a vantage point, he said: + +"I made a mistake. He's only using glasses, same as I am. He didn't +pull a gun." + +"Who is he?" asked Nort. + +"Anybody we know?" Dick inquired. + +"Never saw him before, to my knowledge," remarked Bud. "He's a Mexican +or a Greaser, I take it." These terms were almost synonymous, except +that a Mexican was a little higher class than a Greaser half-breed, as +the term, was sometimes applied. + +"Let me take a look," suggested Yellin' Kid. "I know most of the class +on the other side of the Rio Grande." + +Long and earnestly the cowboy gazed through the glasses at the lone +figure on the other side of Spur Creek--a gaze that was returned with +interest, so to speak. + +"He's Mex all right," said Yellin' Kid, handing the glasses to Billee, +"but what his game is I don't know." + +"Looks like he just came to size us up," observed Billee, after an +observation, at the conclusion of which the stranger turned his horse +and rode slowly off in the direction whence he had come. + +"That's right," assented Bud. + +"Do you think he's a sheep herder?" asked Nort. + +"Might be. Looks mean enough," said Yellin' Kid. The cattle men could +say nothing too strong against this despised class of breeders and +their innocent charges. Sheep herders were the scum of the earth to +the ranchmen, and to say that a man has "gone in for sheep" was to +utter the last word against him, though he might be a decent member of +society for all that, and with as kind and human instincts as his more +affluent neighbor raising cattle or horses. + +"Well, he knows we're here and on the job, at any rate," commented Bud +as the horseman slowly disappeared from sight in the distance. + +"Yes, and he'll very likely tell his band and we'll have them buzzing +about our ears before we know it," remarked Billee. + +"Then we'll fight!" cried Bud. + +"That's right!" chimed in Nort and Dick. + +"I wish my leg was in better shape," complained Yellin' Kid. "But I +can make a shift to ride if I have to." + +However, the next two days passed with no signs of any activities on +the part of the enemy. No sheep were sighted being driven up through +the pass to the lands that were now, by government proclamation, open +to whoever wanted to claim them, barring only those already having +large holdings of grazing range. + +"But this is only the calm before the storm," declared Bud, when he and +his chums talked it over. "We'll have a fight yet." + +And it was very likely that this would happen. While waiting, though, +every opportunity was taken to better fortify that part of Spur Creek +where Mr. Merkel's land began. + +The shack was made more comfortable, a telephone line was strung to it +from the main ranch at Diamond X, and it was well stocked with +provisions. + +"And we'd better run in a pipe line so we can pump water directly from +the creek into the shack," said Billee when certain improvements were +being talked over. + +"Why that?" asked Nort. + +"Well, it's terrible thing in this hot weather to be cut off from your +water supply," said the old frontiersman. "And it might happen that +the Greasers and sheep men would get between our fort and the stream. +Then we couldn't get out for water without losing our scalps, so to +speak. But if we have a pump in here, and the pipe line concealed so +the scoundrels can't locate it, we can be assured of a never-ending +supply of water." + +"It's good advice," decided Mr. Merkel when it was told to him, and, +accordingly the pump was installed. During this time no more was seen +of the solitary horseman, or, indeed, of any visitors or spies on the +Mexican side of Spur Creek. I say the Mexican side, though, as a +matter of fact the Mexican border was some miles away, and I merely +mention that country to identify the two sections, one on one side and +one on the other of the stream, which was wholly within the United +States. + +Meanwhile Sheriff Hank Fowler had endeavored to trace the thieves who +had robbed Mr. Merkel's safe, but there had been no results. Professor +Wright and his men were busily engaged in further search for fossil +bones, and they were considered out of suspicion. + +Mr. Merkel had engaged the services of a lawyer to take up with the +authorities in Washington the matter of his stolen deeds in an effort +to hold to his land. There were rumors that a number of the new +government claims had been taken up on the land that was once the +property of the Indians, and among them some of the claim holders were +sheep herders, it was said. + +"Well, they'd better keep away from Spur Creek--that's all I got to +say!" cried Yellin' Kid in his usual loud tones. + +So far, however, there had been no advent of the hated "woollies" as +they were sometimes called. But the boy ranchers and their friends did +not relax their vigilance. The sheep and their human owners might +drift in across the creek at any hour, day or night, so a constant +guard was maintained. + +It was one rainy, disagreeable night that the alarm came. It was the +turn of Bud and Nort to stand watch, and they were keeping wary eyes +turned toward the creek boundary through the mist of rain. + +"This is no fun," mused Nort as he wrapped his poncho closer about him. + +"I've seen more jolly times," agreed Bud with a laugh. "But it can't +last forever. Wonder what time it is, anyhow?" + +Before Nort could answer there suddenly flashed in the southern sky a +glare of fire. + +"Lightning!" exclaimed Nort. + +"A rocket!" cried Bud, all excited. "It means something, Nort! Maybe +the sheep herders are coming!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A PARLEY + +For a moment the two boys remained motionless and quiet, waiting for +what might develop. But the dying sparks of the rocket--if such it +was--were followed by no other demonstration. + +"We'd better call Billee and the others," murmured Bud. + +"That's right," agreed Nort in a low voice, though there was no need +for this, as the rocket-senders must have been several miles away. + +Billee Dobb awakened at the slightest whisper near his bunk, and in a +few moments Dick, Yellin' Kid and the other cowboys, of whom there were +half a dozen at the "fort," as it was called, were awake. It did not +take them long to hustle into their clothes, and then, draped in +ponchos, for it was still raining hard, they stood out in the darkness, +waiting for what might happen next. + +"Couldn't have been a rocket," murmured Old Billee, as the rain pelted +down. "It's too wet for that." + +"Must have been some Greasers around a camp fire--though how in the +name of a maverick they got one to burn I don't see," observed Yellin' +Kid, making his voice only a little lower than usual. "Must 'a' been +that one of 'em chucked a brand up in the air." + +"It wasn't like a fire brand," declared Nort. + +"It was just like a regular rocket," added Bud. + +Old Billee was about to say something, probably to the effect that it +was a false alarm, and that they'd all do better to be back in their +warm bunks when the blackness of the night was suddenly dispelled off +to the south by a sliver of flame, followed by a trail of red sparks. + +"There she goes again!" cried Bud. + +"The same as before," added Nort. + +"That's a rocket right enough," admitted Billee. + +"Like the time we was after cattle rustlers," said Yellin' Kid, +referring to an occasion, not fully set forth in any of the books, +when, as the Diamond X took after a gang of cattle thieves, rockets +were used as signals by the marauders to communicate with separated +bands. + +"What do you reckon it means?" asked Dick, who often dropped into the +vernacular of the plains. + +"Well, it _might_ mean almost anything," admitted Old Billee. "Can't +be any of Uncle Sam's soldiers that far south, or we'd 'a' heard about +it. As near as I can figure it there must be some crowd down there +trying to give a signal to some crowd somewhere else." + +This was sufficiently vague to have covered almost anything; as sport +writers spread the "dope," in talking about a coming football contest +between Yale and Princeton. + +Yellin' Kid must have sensed this, for with a chuckle he said: + +"You're bound to be right, Billee, no matter which way the cat jumps. +It sure is _some_ crowd signallin' to _another_ crowd." + +"Do you suppose they're trying to signal us?" asked Dick. + +"Don't believe so," remarked Bud. "I think it's some of the sheep men +getting ready to rush in here. That rocket is a notice to some of +their friends around here that they're going to start." + +"Well, if they come we'll stop 'em!" declared Bud, and the others +murmured their agreement with this sentiment. + +They waited a little longer after the sparks of the second rocket had +died away, but the signal--and it seemed positively to be that--was not +repeated. + +"No use standing here," murmured Old Billee. "It will soon be morning, +and if anything happens we'll be ready for it. Let's get our rest out. +Is your trick up, Bud?" + +"Not quite, Billee." + +"Well, Dick and I go on next," remarked Yellin' Kid, "and we might as +well jump in now as long as we're up. Turn in, Bud and Nort." + +Our young heroes were glad enough to do this, though they never would +have asked to be relieved before their time. Accordingly, after a few +moments of looking in vain toward where they had seen the rocket, for a +repetition of the signals, Bud and Nort went inside the cabin, and +stretched out for a little rest before day should fully break. + +The remainder of the night--really a short period--was without alarm or +any sign that hostile forces were on their way to take possession of +land claimed by the owner of Diamond X. + +"Grub's ready!" was the musical call of the cook, and soon those who +were holding the line at Spur Creek were gathered about the table. + +"Well, nothing happened, I see, or, rather, I don't see," remarked Bud +to Dick and the Yellin' Kid who had come in off guard duty. + +"Nary a thing," answered he of the loud voice. "Didn't hear a peep out +of anybody and they wasn't no more fireworks." + +"But we'd better keep pretty closely on the watch to-day," suggested +Dick. "Those rockets meant something." + +"You're right," said Billee Dobb. "We'll stick right close to our +little old fort to-day, and, boys, be sure your guns are in quick +working order. There may be no shootin' and then, ag'in, there may +be," he drawled. + +I suppose I need not tell you that the boy ranchers in their secret +hearts rather hoped there would be shooting. They had been under fire +before, and while they were not foolhardy nor inclined to take risks, +they felt that if there was to be a fight on the part of the sheep men +to get unlawful possession of Diamond X land, the sooner such a fight +took place the better. Suspense was worse than actual conflict. + +So after the "chores" had been attended to about the Spur Creek fort +(and there were not many duties), it became a matter of waiting. Spur +Creek made a bend at this part of Mr. Merkel's holdings, and the fort +was situated on what was a sort of triangular peninsula, with the +stream flowing on two sides of it. In this way it was what, during the +World War, was called a "spearhead" into the country to the south, and +it was from this country that the Mexican, Greaser or other sheep +herders might be expected to invade the range long held sacred to +horses and cattle. But this land, by government proclamation, was now +thrown open to all comers. + +Because of the peculiar formation of the land it lent itself readily to +defense, and also gave a good post for observation. The "fort" had +been hastily built on the extreme point, as near the creek as was +practical. Back, on either side, extended the banks of the stream, and +when breakfast had been served Old Billee, who was in command, selected +those who were to patrol the banks on each side of the cabin, for a +distance several miles back along the edges of the "spearhead." + +The morning passed. The first contingent of scouts had come in to eat +and another body was about to go out to relieve them when Bud, who had +gone down to the edge of the creek, to clean a particularly muddy pair +of shoes, looked across the stream, and uttered a cry of alarm. + +Riding up from the southland, Mexico if I may so call it (though the +actual country of the Montezumas was distant many miles), was a lone +horseman. He was coming along, "sweating leather," and was seen by +others of the Diamond X forces almost as soon as observed by Bud. + +"Some one's coming!" yelled Bud, and he stood up on the edge of Spur +Creek looking at the approaching horseman until Yellin' Kid shouted: + +"Better duck back here, boy. No telling when he may unlimber a gun!" + +It was good advice and Bud took it, to the extent of getting back +nearer the cabin fort. On came the rider, seemingly fearless, until he +pulled rein on the other side of the stream and sat there on the back +of his panting horse, a most picturesque figure. + +"Mex from hat to stirrups," murmured Snake Purdee. + +"An' wicked from outside to inside," added Yellin' Kid in a lower voice +than usual. + +The Mexican rider, for such he seemed to be, raised one hand, smiled to +show two rows of very white teeth in the expanse of a very dark face, +took off his broad-brimmed and high crowned hat and said: + +"_Parlez, señors?_" + +It was in the form of a question, and as such Old Billee answered it. + +"Talk?" grunted the veteran cow puncher. "What about?" + +"The land," replied the stranger, with another smile evidently intended +to be engaging, but which seemed rather mocking. "I come to ask why +you are here in such force, evidently to stop any who might wish to +cross to feed their stock on open range?" + +"Well, it'll save trouble in a way, if you recognize the fact that we +are here to stop you," said Billee. "An' we're goin' to! _Sabe_?" + +"But for why?" asked the other, speaking English much better than his +appearance seemed to indicate he might be able to. "It is land open to +all who come, and I have come----" + +"Then you may as well go back where you came from!" interrupted Yellin' +Kid, "'cause there's going to be no onery sheep pastured here, an' you +can roll that in your cigaret an' smoke it!" he added, as the stranger +calmly made himself a "smoke" from a wisp of paper and some tobacco he +shook into it from a small cloth bag. + +There was no answer to this implied challenge on the part of Yellin' +Kid, hardly even the flicker of an eyelash to show that the stranger +heard and understood. + +Yet he must have heard. Yellin' Kid was not one to leave a matter of +that sort in doubt. His tones were always above the average. + +And that he has made himself plain was evident to all--even to the +stranger it would appear. For there was that in his air--something +about him--which seemed to say that he had absorbed what the cowboy had +intimated. + +Whether he would profit by the remarks--well, that was another +matter--something for the future. + +But if he was at all apprehensive it was not manifested by any tremor +of his hands; for not a grain of tobacco was spilled. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +SUSPICIONS + +For several moments the situation remained thus; the boy ranchers and +their friends were on one side of Spur Creek, determined to repulse any +attempt on the part of the strange horseman, who was on the opposite +shore, to cross and make a landing. In this case it might be +considered a legal taking possession of disputed land, and open the way +for a band of sheep men to enter. On the other side was the lone +horseman calmly puffing at his cigaret, as if literally taking the +advice of Yellin' Kid. + +The three boys, and the older cowboys also, had their guns in readiness +for action, but it was easy to guess that the lone horseman, unless he +was extremely foolhardy, would not attempt to do anything in the face +of such odds. + +More than two minutes passed, and if you want to know how long this is +in a tense situation take out your watch and count the seconds. + +Then the stranger on the Mexican side of Spur Creek tossed away his +smouldering cigaret stub, took a deep breath and exhaled the smoke. +Next he spoke softly. + +"You will have no sheep, _señors_?" he asked. + +"Nary a sheep!" declared Billee Dobb, "an' you can tell them that sent +you!" + +A half smile--a contemptuous smirk of the lips--seamed for a moment the +bronzed, weather-beaten and wrinkled face of the lone horseman. He +tightened the reins and his steed made ready to gallop off. + +"I shall see you again, _señors_. _Adios!_" he cried, and, with a +graceful wave of his hand he wheeled and rode off as fast as he had +approached. + +For a few seconds longer there was silence in the ranks of those +holding Fort Spur Creek as it might be called. Then Bud broke out with: + +"What do you make of that?" + +"Can't make much," admitted Old Billee. "If he came to find out +whether we were ready, he went away satisfied." + +"Regular stage and moving picture stuff!" commented Nort. + +"I believe the fellow was an actor," laughed Dick. "The way he flipped +his cigaret and waved to us--he must have been in the movies sometime." + +"I'll movie him if he comes on this side of Spur Creek!" muttered Snake +Purdee. "Him and his '_adios_'! Nothin' but a Greaser, I'll wager!" + +"He had his nerve with him," said Old Billee. "But, boys, we mustn't +let him get ours. He came to spy out and see what he could pick up." + +"Well, he found us ready for him!" exclaimed Yellin' Kid. + +"Yes, but maybe he'll go back and report that we aren't ready enough," +said Billee. + +"What do you mean?" asked Bud. + +"I mean he has sized up our force, and he and his gang may be able to +bring up enough to beat us back. You see, boys, this land is a rich +prize, not only for sheep men but for any who want to use it for +grazing. It has water and good grass." + +"Well, what's the matter with 'em stayin' on their own side of Spur +Creek?" asked Snake, growling out the words. + +"That's where they should stay, by rights," said Billee, "and it's +where we intend to keep 'em. The other land is open to those who stake +it out, I suppose, but on this side it belongs to your father, Bud." + +"The trouble is he has to prove it," answered the boy rancher. + +"Yes, and that's going to be hard with his papers stolen the way they +are," admitted Billee. "Of course it was a put up job, and I have my +suspicions of who did it. But this land would be a rich prize for a +sheep herder or anybody else, and we've got to fight 'em off." + +"Who are you suspicious of?" demanded Bud. + +"Never you mind," was the enigmatical answer, given with a shake of the +head, "but I have 'em all right. However, that's another matter. What +we have to do now is to get ready to meet any of these sheep men if +they come up and try to cross the creek." + +"You reckon he's gone back to his gang to tell 'em to get ready to come +here?" asked Snake. + +"Shouldn't wonder," admitted Billee. "But it'll be some time before +they can bring up the woollies." + +"Sheep travel fast, they eat fast and they ruin water and pastures +faster'n Sam Hill!" exclaimed Yellin' Kid, and this was true. If you +have ever watched a flock of sheep feeding you would know this. They +eat as though they feared some one was going to take all the grass away +on a moment's notice. + +"Well, he's ridin' fast," observed Snake, as, shading his eyes with his +hat, he gazed in the direction taken by the lone horseman. The fellow +was almost out of sight now, and soon was lost to view. + +Danger now seemed more imminent than it had been, and, as behooved +efficient cowboys, our friends at once began going over the situation +and making sure that they had done all that was possible to fortify +their position. + +Of course, while I have referred to the shack hurriedly erected as a +"fort," it was nothing of the sort. There were no heavy walls, and of +course no artillery, though the boys wished they did have a machine +gun. But, on the other hand, no artillery would be brought up against +them, so this evened matters up. If it came to a fight there would be +only revolvers used on both sides at first, though later rifles might +come into play. However, not even the most rabid of the cowboys from +Diamond X really wanted a bloody fight. They would much rather the +sheep men kept away, leaving the rightful owners of the land in +possession. + +But, as Billee had said, the stealing of Mr. Merkel's papers seemed to +indicate some deep-laid plot to cheat him of his land that was so +valuable. + +"We're in as good shape as we can be, until it comes to a showdown and +a fight," remarked Billee, when the noon-day meal was served, after +they had gone carefully over the defense. "Did you get your dad?" he +asked Bud. + +"Yes, I had him on the wire," answered the son of the owner of Diamond +X. "Nothing new has developed back home, and I told him about this +fellow. He thinks, as we do, that he was a spy." + +"And, the more I think of it, the more I think I have seen that fellow +before," remarked Nort, with a puzzled air. + +"Seen him before--what do you mean?" asked Dick. + +"Well, his face seemed familiar at first, and then when he lit his +cigaret and threw it away, he reminded me of some one." + +"Some one in the movies, maybe," said Bud. + +"Well, that's what I thought at first," admitted Nort, "though the more +I think of it the more I'm certain that I've seen him out here--some +time ago. I wish I could recall it." + +"I can't place him," said Dick. "Stop thinking of it, Nort. It may +come to you all of a sudden." + +"It may not amount to anything, anyhow," Nort admitted. "But I have a +feeling that I had a run in with that man before." + +There was little to do at Spur Creek except await developments, and +this waiting was really harder work than actual fighting would have +been. It was also more nervous, keeping them all on a strain. + +The approach of the enemy and by "enemy" I mean sheep men who might try +to pasture their flocks on Mr. Merkel's land, or men who might try to +take possession of it--these enemies would appear on the southern side +of Spur Creek first, as it was well known there were the largest sheep +ranches--just across the Mexican border. And pretty well cropped off +were the vast fields, too. That is why there was such an eagerness to +get into new and fertile ranges. + +In consequence of this, watch was kept on that side of the stream where +the lone horseman had appeared. To the north, east and west little +danger was apprehended. + +On the second day after the parley with this "spy," as he was dubbed, a +moving cloud of dust was observed approaching from the north. + +You may be sure it did not go long unnoticed, and Dick raised a cry as +soon as he saw the indication of someone, or something, coming. + +"Get out your guns!" he shouted. + +"Maybe it's somebody from Diamond X," spoke Nort. + +And a little later it could be seen that the dust was caused by three +steers rushing over the dry prairie. + +"Must have been a stampede up at your place, Bud," remarked Snake +Purdee, as he and the other cowboys rode out in answer to Dick's alarm. +"These got away from the main herd. We'll round 'em up." + +With their usual loud cries the cowboys rode toward the fleeing cattle, +which seemed maddened by some fear, for they never slackened pace. But +by skillful rope-throwing two were downed and secured. The third, and +fleeter of the trio furnished a bit of amusement for the holders of the +fort. + +"I'll bulldog him!" shouted Snake Purdee. "Lay off, Kid!" he called to +the yeller, for now that his leg was mending Yellin' Kid began to take +an active part in all that went on. + +"Bulldogging" is a term used in the West to indicate sort of wrestling +match with a steer, and the completion of the act sees the animal +thrown prone to the ground by the strength and skill of the cowboy. + +Urging his pony to a fast pace, Snake rode up alongside the rushing +steer and then, when near enough, the cowboy leaped from his horse and +raced on foot alongside the steer. Snake reached out and shot his +right arm around the animal's neck, reaching over and under until he +could grasp the loose, bottom skin. While he was doing this he had to +keep pace with the steer, and at times Snake was lifted clear from the +ground, while, now and again, he had to throw his legs out to keep them +clear of the knees of the now maddened beast. + +But Snake had performed this feat before, and was one of the most +expert at the _rodeo_ games whenever they were held. + +His right arm now over the steer's neck, and with his right hand firmly +grasping the loose lower, neck-skin, Snake reached out his left hand +and caught hold of the tip of the animal's left horn. This was the +position he had been working to secure, and the instant he had it, +Snake lunged his body downward against his own left elbow, which +brought almost his entire weight, at a powerful leverage, against the +brute's horn. At the same time Snake was pulling with his right hand +and the effect of this was to twist the steer's neck so that the animal +lost its balance. + +Its speed slackened and, a moment later it toppled over on its side, +and lay there quite exhausted by its run. Though this may sound cruel +it was not, and the steer suffered no harm. In fact it was benefited, +for its mad race was ended, and there was no telling what might have +happened if it had kept on. + +The instant Snake saw the steer about to topple over he released his +hold and sprang away. + +"Well done!" cried Bud. "That was a dandy!" + +"Wish I could do that!" sighed Dick. + +"Oh, you will, some day," consoled his cousin. + +The three runaway steers were thus secured, and as there was no place +to care for them at the Fort one of the cowboys was delegated to haze +them back to the main herd at Diamond X. + +Another day passed in quietness, with no sign from the south of Spur +Creek that any hostile band of sheep herders was on the way to lay +waste, in a sense, the fertile lands of Mr. Merkel. In the meanwhile +there was telephone communication twice a day, or oftener, between the +Fort and the main ranch house. + +Nothing new had transpired at Diamond X, and the boy ranchers were told +that matters in Happy Valley were peaceful. + +Of course there were the usual occurrences as there were always such on +a big ranch. One or more of the cowboys was continually getting hurt, +more or less seriously, and being doctored in the rough and ready +fashion that, perforce, prevails in the unsettled part of the West. + +For though the life of a cowboy may seem very picturesque when you view +it from a seat in a tent or say from Madison Square Garden, in New +York, the real facts of the case are vastly different. + +No one can ride horses in the slap-dash style the cowboys ride them, +and they can not handle cattle--often vicious ones--the way the beasts +are handled, without accidents happening. + +Nor are cowboys the ones to favor themselves for the sake of avoiding +risks. Rather they go out of their way to look for trouble, as it were. + +They are filled with bravado. + +So it was that while I have said matters were quiet at the two ranches, +yet small accidents were continually happening. But, as the boys +reported, after a talk over the wire, nothing of great moment had taken +place. + +"Your dad hasn't heard anything about his stolen papers, has he?" +inquired Billee. + +"Nary a thing," answered Bud in the vernacular of the west, "and he's +beginning to wonder if anything is going to happen down here." + +Almost as Bud spoke there came a hail from one of the cowboys who was +on the watch, and his cry was instantly taken up with the shout: + +"Somebody's coming!" + +At once there was an exodus, and as our heroes and their cowboy friends +lined up in front of the shack, they saw, coming toward them on the +opposite side of Spur Creek, several horsemen, and at the sight of one +rider Bud cried: + +"It's Professor Wright!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A CALL FOR HELP + +This announcement, calling attention to the approach of the scientist, +rather overshadowed other matters for a moment. But the interest was +made more intense when the identity of the men accompanying the +professor was made known. + +"He's in with a bunch of Greasers!" cried Snake Purdee. + +"And look who one of 'em is!" added Nort. "It's the _spy_!" + +Without doubt one of the approaching party was the same Mexican who had +so airily bidden our friends "_adios_," on the occasion of his first +visit. + +"Well, what do you know about that!" exclaimed Bud. + +"What do you reckon the professor is doing, or was doing, over there?" +asked Nort. + +No one answered him, but Bud turned toward Old Billee. + +The veteran cow puncher had spoken of "suspicions." Bud wondered if +they were along a line that might connect with the professor. But if +Old Billee had anything to say he was keeping it to himself. Though +there was a quizzical look on his face as he observed the approaching +horseman, of whom Professor Wright appeared to form the nucleus. + +"If those fellows think they can cover up their game by getting one of +our friends to accompany them, they've got another guess coming," said +Bud grimly. + +"That's right--don't let 'em cross!" cried Dick. + +But the "spy," as he was called for want of a better name, and his +Mexican companions, seemed to have no intentions of fording Spur Creek +which, though rather wide, was not very deep in some places. Reining +in their horses when yet several hundred feet from the southern bank of +the stream, the Mexicans halted, and the one who had ridden up alone +several days before, waved his hand toward the waiting cowboys, and +then motioned to the professor as if saying: + +"There are your friends." + +As a matter of fact that is what he did say, for Professor Wright said +so when, a little later, he had urged his horse across the creek, and +had joined the boy ranchers and their friends. + +Watching the scientist cross the stream, the Mexicans stood for a +moment, rather picturesque figures on the southern bank and then, when +the "spy" had again lighted a cigaret, and waved his hand as if in +mocking farewell, the band rode off. + +It was a very silent contingent from Diamond X that watched the lone +approach of Professor Wright. The scientist seemed worn to weariness, +and looked worried as he smiled at his acquaintances and said: + +"Well, here I am." + +"So we see," observed Billee Dobb, dryly, not to say sarcastically. + +"Where have you been?" asked Bud. + +"Did they capture you and hold you for ransom?" Nort wanted to know. + +"What happened?" asked Dick. + +"With my usual stupidity I became lost again," explained Professor +Wright. "I have been out looking around, 'prospecting,' I believe it +is called, seeking a new deposit of fossil bones. I wandered farther +than I intended, and got across the creek. I found I was on the wrong +trail, and that there was nothing much of interest there, so I turned +to come back. But I must have turned the wrong way, and have gone +south instead of north, for I began to note signs that I was +approaching the Mexican border. + +"I started back then, when these gentlemen overtook me. They were very +kind and when I told them where I wanted to go they agreed to accompany +me." + +"Passing over for the time being the use of the word 'gentlemen,' and +realizing that you probably don't know them as well as we do, I'd like +to ask if they said why they were coming this way?" asked Billee. + +"No, they didn't, and I didn't ask them," replied the professor. "They +just seemed to be riding for pleasure." + +"Pleasure of their own kind," chuckled Snake. + +"Did you see anything of sheep in your wanderings?" asked Yellin' Kid. + +The professor thought for a moment before replying. He was always +careful to give a correct and exact answer to a question. + +"I saw no sheep," he declared. + +"That's queer," murmured Billee. "From what news we have it's +practically certain they're going to try to rush sheep in here soon, +and yet they aren't in sight." + +Then Bud bethought himself of something. + +"Did you _smell_ any sheep, Professor?" the boy asked. + +Again the scientist thought before answering. + +"Yes, I _smelled_ sheep very strongly, though I saw none," he said. "I +distinctly remember the smell of sheep, for it brought back to my mind +my youthful days when I used to go to the county fair. I _smelled_ +sheep all right." + +"That's more like it!" cried Yellin' Kid. + +"Where were they?" asked Billee eagerly. + +"That is more than I can say," answered the professor. "We were in a +hilly section, when those gentlemen overtook me and kindly offered to +escort me here, and it was when the wind blew that I smelled sheep most +strongly." + +"In what direction was the wind?" asked Nort, for he thought he might +get a clue in this way, as he realized the scientist was likely to have +noticed natural effects like wind or rain. + +"The wind--ah, yes--the wind was blowing from the south," said +Professor Wright, after thinking it over for a moment. + +"Well, that's where I'd expect 'em to be," declared Old Billee. +"They're probably working their way up slowly. Did you see anything +else suspicious, Professor--or smell anything?" + +"Suspicious!" exclaimed the college man. "What do you mean? Is there +anything suspicious in the smell of sheep--or the sight of them, for +that matter?" + +"I guess you don't understand," spoke Bud. "You have probably been so +busy with your research work that you haven't had a chance to hear the +news about the opening of the new range land, and the danger of sheep +coming in." + +"I heard something of this--and the theft of your father's papers--the +night I arrived, and caused you so much trouble," the professor +admitted. "But, truth to tell, it slipped my mind, and I gave no +further thought to it. So you fear the advent of sheep; do you? Are +they likely to spread some disease among your cattle?" + +"Disease? They'll drive the cattle away!" cried Old Billee, and then +it was briefly explained to the professor what a menace the sheep were, +though very necessary in their own station of life. + +"I'm sorry I didn't observe more closely," said Professor Wright. "As +I told you, my mind was filled with thoughts of new fossil deposits I +might discover, and I wandered too far. Then these gentlemen found me +and showed me the way back." + +"They were glad enough of the excuse," murmured Nort. + +"Excuse for what?" the scientist wanted to know. + +"Excuse for getting back here to have a peep at us," answered Bud. +"They wanted to see if we were still on guard," and he explained about +the "fort." + +"Well, they found us here and waiting," commented Dick grimly. + +Professor Wright consented to stay for lunch at the outpost of Diamond +X, but declined an invitation to remain over night, saying he must get +back to his colleagues who would be wondering over his long absence. + +"Are you sure you can find your way back to your camp?" asked Bud, for +the scientists were established not far from Mr. Merkel's ranch houses. + +"Oh, yes, I can make it all right," was the reply. "Thank you." + +And when he was gone, many curious glances followed him. He was always +a matter of curiosity to the cowboys for they could not understand his +deep interest in digging up the bones of monster animals that had +walked the earth millions of years ago. However, Bud and his cousins +could appreciate this scientific interest, knowing what it added to the +sum of human knowledge. + +But now there was a new source of curiosity regarding the professor, +and I am frank to say there was no little suspicion. In spite of the +fact that (as I have told you in the first book of this series), the +professor was cleared of certain suspicions there still remained, in +the mind of some persons, suspicions and lurking thoughts. + +Why had the scientist returned to Diamond X at the very time when the +government opened the land to claimants? Why had he led astray the +pursuit of those who fired the shots that night? And now was his +explanation of how he happened to be in company with those believed to +be sheep herders a good explanation? + +These were questions that needed answering, though it may be said that +the older cowboys were more concerned about them than were the boy +ranchers. They were young enough to be naturally unsuspicious of their +scientific friend. + +"But I wish I knew what he really crossed the creek for," said Billee. + +"Then you don't believe his story?" asked Snake Purdee. + +"Not by a long shot!" exclaimed Billee. "Do you?" + +"'Twas kinder fishy," admitted the other. "But what would his object +be, and what was his game?" + +Billee had no chance to answer, for just then the telephone bell +jingled, and the veteran cow puncher answered it. He had no sooner +given the customary "hello," than the expression on his face changed +and he cried: + +"You don't say so! That's too bad! All right, some of us will be +right over." + +"What's the matter?" asked Bud anxiously, coming up just in time to +hear Billee's remark. + +"There's trouble back at the ranch," was the grim answer. "They have +just called for help!" + +"Trouble! What sort?" + +"Oh, nobody's hurt, as far as that goes," Billee hastened to assure the +boy. "But there's been a raid on your cattle. Rustlers up to their +old tricks, I reckon. It's a call for help from Diamond X!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +DEL PINZO'S HAND + +Instantly all were astir in the shack that had been erected as a fort +on the bank of Spur Creek, and a rush was made for saddles and the +usual trappings of a cowboy. Nor were guns forgotten, for if these +would not be needed in fighting off the rustlers, they would be of +service in driving back a herd of frightened animals determined to put +as much distance as possible between themselves and the source of their +alarm. + +Billee was overwhelmed with questions. + +"Who were they?" + +"What did they do?" + +"Who was on the wire?" + +To all of these the veteran raised a hand for silence. + +"I'll tell you all I know," he said. + +"Maybe you'd better tell us on the run," suggested Yellin' Kid. "If +we're goin' t' help we'd better be moseying along, and _pronto_ at +that." + +"Good idea," chuckled Old Billee. "Well," he resumed as they hurried +toward the corral where their horses were kept, "it was the boss +himself speaking on the wire. He didn't say much except to let it out +that we'd better get back as soon as we could. He didn't say who it +was that caused the ruction, so you know about as much of it as I do. +Then he hung up. But I could hear there was some excitement in your +place, lads," he went on to the boy ranchers, "for I could hear some of +the boys standing around your dad murmurin' an' talkin', an' I heard +somebody ask if they got th' bullet out yet." + +"Then there must have been shooting!" cried Dick. + +"I reckon!" assented Old Billee. + +"Cracky!" cried Nort. "This is like old times!" + +"You said it!" voiced Bud. + +They were all in the saddles now, pulling their ponies sharply around +to head for the trail that led back to Diamond X. Then Old Billee +bethought him of something. + +"I say!" he sung out. "This won't do!" + +"What won't?" asked Nort. + +"All of us going off this way. We've got to leave some one here to +hold the fort, boys. Them onery sheep herders may steal in on us while +we're away, and take possession. An' you know," went on Billee with a +momentous shake of his head, "possession is nine points of th' law. +Somebody's got t' stay here," he decided. "You two fellers'd better do +it," and he pointed to two cowboys who had recently come from Diamond X +to augment the guard at Spur Creek. + +"Aw, Billee!" objected one. "We don't want t' stay here!" + +"Have a heart, old man, an' let us come with you!" pleaded the other. +"They won't be nothin' doin' here! Them sheep herders have just seen +that we're on guard an' they've gone back home t' report. They won't +arrive an' be able t' git any sheep here 'fore we can mosey back if we +have to." + +"That's right!" joined in the first newcomer who had spoken. "Take us +along, Billee!" + +"Wa'al," said Billee slowly, as if in doubt, "I don't know how much +help they'll need back at Diamond X----" + +"Better not take any chances," said Snake Purdee. + +"I don't believe the sheep men will come back here again very soon," +was Yellin' Kid's usual loud-voiced opinion. + +"All right--come along then," conceded Billee, and the two cowboys who +were on the verge of being left behind rode with the others. It was +fast riding, too, for when word comes in that cattle stealers are in +the neighborhood of any ranch, it behooves those charged with the +safety of men and animals to be on the "jump." There is always more or +less theft going on among the western cattle ranches but most of it is +on such a small scale that drastic action is not often taken. No +ranchman missed an occasional animal, which may be "lifted" because of +dire hunger, perhaps, on the part of some needy person. + +But when a "bunch" of valuable steers is driven off and when there are +indications that an organized attempt is being made to steal more, this +shows the presence of cattle rustlers, and concerted action must be +taken against them. + +It was this thought that was in the minds of all who thus rode +"sweatin' leather" from Spur Creek toward Diamond X ranch, and from the +glances that each member of the party cast, now and then, at the +weapons swinging at their sides in the big holsters, it was evident +that if shooting was to be a part of the game, they would be ready for +it. + +"Things are livening up a bit, aren't they?" remarked Nort to Bud as +the boys rode side by side. + +"That's the way they ought to be," declared Dick. "I hate sitting +around and waiting for something to happen." + +"We didn't have to wait very long," chuckled Bud. + +"That's right," agreed Nort. "Wonder who it is that's been after your +dad's cattle now?" he ventured. + +"Maybe some of the old gang--maybe a new one," replied Bud. "You never +can tell." + +"You mean Del Pinzo's old gang?" asked Dick. + +"He's the worst of the lot--always was and always will be," declared +Bud. + +"But how does he keep out of jail?" Nort wanted to know. + +"That's one of the mysteries of it," went on Bud. "We've had him sent +up more than once, but he gets out again by some sort of lawyer's +trick. Either that or he breaks jail. The jails around here aren't +anything to boast of," he said with a laugh. "They're more a joke than +anything else." + +"Do you reckon Del Pinzo is out now?" asked Nort. + +"Shouldn't wonder a bit," Bud assented. "We can tell whether he had a +hand in this or not as soon as we hear dad tell what happened." + +Musing on the wily, mean and desperate tricks of this renegade Mexican +half-breed, if such was his nationality, the Boy Ranchers and their +friends galloped along over the trail to Diamond X. On the way they +looked for signs of any cattle raids, but saw none. And these signs +are very plain when they do occur. + +Generally they were in the shape of the half-eaten carcass of some +steer, for the raiders were generally desperate and hungry men, and +before driving off a bunch of cattle they would kill one and cut off +enough to roast over a hastily built fire. + +But there were no indications of that now, and, in fact, there were +none of Mr. Merkel's cattle pastured in the section our friends rode +over to get to the ranch headquarters. + +"Most of the herds are farther north," explained Billee, "an' I reckon +that's where th' rustlin' took place." + +This proved to be the case when they arrived at Diamond X and had a +chance to get some information. Mr. Merkel was out at one of the +corrals, talking to some of his men, when his son and nephews rode up +with the cowboys from Spur Creek. + +"What's the good word, Dad?" greeted Bud. + +"Sorry there isn't any good word--it's mostly bad," was the reply. "I +didn't like to pull you off from down there," he went on, "but as you +didn't seem to be very busy, and as we needed you up here, there didn't +seem to be anything else to do." + +"Oh, we were glad to come!" Nort hastened to say. + +"What's doin'?" asked Billee. + +"They're after us again--the rustlers," announced Mr. Merkel. + +"Same old gang?" asked Bud. + +"I reckon so," his father answered. "It looks like the hand of Del +Pinzo. You have to give that rascal credit for knowing just how and +when to strike." + +"Then he's out of jail again?" asked Yellin' Kid. + +"That's what some of the boys seem to think," replied Mr. Merkel. +"Here's what happened." + +Briefly he told how during a time when many of his men were driving to +the nearest railroad station a bunch of choice steers for shipment to +Kansas City, a raid was made on an outlying herd that was being +fattened in a sheltered valley for future shipment. Not only were a +hundred or more steers driven off, but one cowboy of Diamond X was +killed and another wounded. + +"And didn't our boys shoot back?" demanded Bud indignantly. + +"Oh, yes, they gave a good account of themselves," his father replied. +"They got three of the Greasers. That's how we made pretty sure it was +Del Pinzo again. They were just his type of rascals. + +"And so, because I didn't have men enough here to take after the crowd +and get my cattle back, and, at the same time, run things on the ranch, +I had to send for you. We'll have to let Spur Creek look after itself +for a while." + +"I reckon it can, Dad," said Bud. "The sheep herders won't come up for +a few days yet, I guess," and he told of the latest development in +which Professor Wright was concerned. + +"Hum! So he was lost again, was he!" mused Mr. Merkel. "Seems to me +he's getting into a regular habit that way." + +"Does look so," chuckled Nort. "He's all right in his own way----" + +"But he doesn't weigh much!" laughed Bud, perpetrating an old joke at +the expense of the professor's thin frame, for he did not have much +flesh on his bones. More than one cowboy privately recommended to Bud +that his father "pasture" the professor out on some good grass for a +season. + +"Well, now you know as much as I do," went on Mr. Merkel. "Our cattle +have been stolen, and the gang--Del Pinzo's, I'm pretty certain--is +driving them south. It's up to us to get after them." + +"And we will!" cried Bud. "As soon as we have a bite to eat and can +pack up some grub----" + +He paused, for the telephone began ringing violently. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +COWBOY FUN + +Bud, being the nearest to the instrument which was sending out its call +from a small shed near the corral--an extension line having been +established there--Bud sprang to answer it. + +"Hello! Hello!" he called, in his excitement his voice resembling that +of Yellin' Kid. "This is Diamond X," Bud went on. "What's the +trouble?" + +He listened for a moment and then called: + +"We'll be right over!" + +Hanging up the receiver with a bang on the hook, Bud hurried out of the +shed and cried: + +"They're at it again! Rustlers just cut out a bunch at North Station +and they're hazing 'em off!" + +"Whew!" whistled Mr. Merkel. "This is getting serious!" + +Little time was lost. Instead of stopping for a "bite," the boy +ranchers and their companions hastily swallowed some coffee that "Ma" +Merkel and Nell made ready for them. Some "grub" was hastily packed, +for the expedition might be out all night--very likely would--and then, +saddles, girths and guns having been hastily inspected, the cowboys set +forth. + +To the bunch that had been on guard at Spur Creek was added some other +punchers from Diamond X--as many as could be spared. This was not a +large number, for, as Mr. Merkel had said, he had sent some of his men +to drive his shipment of steers to the railroad. + +This latest raid, word of which had been telephoned in from a distant +place by a cowboy who had witnessed it, had taken place at what was +called "North Station." This was a sort of auxiliary ranch Mr. Merkel +had started when he secured more range land in the spring. By +pasturing some cattle around there, several miles were saved in +shipping his steers after fattening them up. And, as I have told you, +nothing so soon takes valuable fat off cattle as driving them long +distances to feed, to water or to a shipping point. + +The boy ranchers knew little of North Station, having been there but +once, though the trail to it was plain. And as they rode they talked +of what might have taken place there. + +"Guess whoever was in charge wasn't keepin' a very good lookout, or +he'd have stopped the rustlers," observed Snake Purdee. + +"Oh, you can't tell," said Billee Dobb. "Accidents will happen, and +Del Pinzo is as slick as they come." + +They all knew this to be true. + +"Well, there's one thing in our favor," remarked Bud, as he urged his +horse up between the steeds of Nort and Dick. + +"What's that?" asked the latter. + +"We're after the rustlers right quick," went on Bud. "Red Dugan, who +telephoned in, said the gang driving off our cattle was still in sight +as he was talking. So we ought to overtake them by dark." + +"Not much fun fighting after dark," observed Dick dubiously. + +"That's right," agreed his brother. "You can't tell who you're +shooting at or who's shooting at you. How did Red come to be on the +job so quickly?" he inquired of Bud. + +"Well, you know dad has a lot of telephones set up at different places +over his range," the owner's son explained. "He says it doesn't cost +much to string a line of his own, and it's mighty handy when you want +to send word back to headquarters. It proved so in this case. For Red +was out on a distant part of the range, where there happened to be a +branch telephone in a box on a pole, and he shot in word of the raid." + +"Mighty lucky he did," observed Nort. + +"Yes, for we're on the trail almost as soon as the rustlers took it," +said Bud. + +And indeed the boy ranchers were on the trail, riding hard; for they +were some miles from where the raid had taken place, and they knew the +rustlers would not spare the cattle they were driving away. For the +thieves cared little about running fat off the stock they had "lifted." +All they desired was to get what animals they could, to be sold to some +other unscrupulous band, or used for food. Little consideration would +be given to the steers. + +After keeping to the main trail for some distance, the pursuers struck +off to the right, heading more to the south, for it was in this +direction they might expect to overtake the rustlers. + +Old Billee, who was riding ahead with Yellin' Kid, keeping an anxious +lookout for any signs of the rustlers, suddenly raised his hand as a +signal to stop. Those following him, including the boy ranchers, +pulled in their steeds. + +"What's the matter?" called Bud. "See something?" + +"No, but I feel something," was the somewhat strange answer. + +"What do you mean?" asked Yellin' Kid. + +"I mean I'm hungry!" and Old Billee chuckled. "If, as they say, an +army fights on its stomach, the same is true about a cowboy. If we're +goin' to do any fightin'--an' I reckon we are--then I got to eat!" + +"I'm right glad to hear you disperse them there sentiments!" chuckled +Snake Purdee. "I was goin' t' tighten up my belt another hole or two, +to make my stomach take up less room, but if you're goin' t' eat----" + +"Might as well, an' rest the hosses a bit," said Billee. "We'll do all +the better afterward." + +Accordingly they halted, the horses were turned out to graze, and a +fire was built over which bacon could be sizzled and coffee made. +These two staples formed the basis of most meals when the cowboys were +on the trail, as they were now. + +No time was wasted, but Billee knew how to handle his men, and he did +not insist on an immediate start after the meal. He knew the value of +a little rest after food had been taken. The horses, too, would be +fresher for a wait. + +But while the afternoon was still young they were on their way again, +and before dark they had reached the headquarters of North Station, an +auxiliary to Diamond X ranch. + +"You fellows got here pretty quick," observed Sam Tod, the foreman at +North Station. + +"Well, we didn't stop to play mumble-th'-peg along th' way," chuckled +Billee. "Now let's hear the yarn straight." + +It was hastily told, bearing out what had already been learned of it +over the telephone. + +"Pack us up a little more grub and we'll keep on," said Billee Dobb to +Sam, when the narration was ended. + +"You'd better call it a day and stay here for the night," counseled Sam. + +"Nothin' doin'!" declared Billee earnestly. "We're goin' t' hit th' +trail hard!" + +"Now listen a moment," begged Sam. "I know this part of the country +better 'n what you do, Billee, though I give in to you on lots of +points. This section is pretty rough, an' them rustlers won't be able +to make any kind of speed with th' cattle. You can catch up t' 'em +better if you make an early mornin' start than if you keep on now." + +"You think so?" asked Billee, who was not "sot in his ways," as he +often said. + +"I'm sure of it," declared Sam. + +"Wa'al, mebby you're right," conceded the veteran cowboy. "What say, +fellows?" and he appealed to Bud and the others. + +"I say let's stay here for th' night," decided Yellin' Kid. "As Sam +says, we can make better time in th' mornin'. Th' rustlers can't drive +cattle only so fast, anyhow." + +"Unless they stampede 'em," put in Bud. + +"That's what they did t' get away from where we had 'em pastured," +declared Sam. "But if they get 'em that wild now the animals is likely +t' break away, an' that isn't what this bunch of Greasers is countin' +on." + +"I guess you're right," admitted Bud. "It's about a fifty-fifty +proposition, and we'd better wait here over night." + +This decided, little time was lost in taking saddles from the horses +and turning them into the corral, while their riders made ready to wash +up, prepare for the evening meal and rest. + +As Snake Purdee turned his pony in and hung the saddle over the fence +he noticed a small enclosure in one corner of the corral, in which were +two rather sorry-looking specimens of horseflesh. + +"What you got there, Sam?" he asked, nodding toward the two sequestered +steeds. + +"Oh, couple a' outlaws," was the answer. + +Snake's eyes seemed to sparkle with new light. + +"Reg'lar man-killers?" he asked eagerly. + +"Might call 'em that," assented Sam with a smile. + +"Can't nobody ride em?" went on Snake. + +"Th' last man what did has a broken leg on one side, an' a lot of skin +chawed off on th' other," answered the foreman grimly. + +"Whoopee!" yelled Snake, "I'll ride 'em! I'll fan 'em! Wow! Now for +some fun!" + +"Fun!" exclaimed Dick, who knew what was in prospect. "Oh, boy!" he +added to his brother, "now for some rough riding!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +AFTER THE RUSTLERS + +"Rough riding," as it is called, made up more than half the fun the +cowboys indulged in among themselves. There has, of late years, been +so much of this done in public, in traveling "wild west" shows, and in +exhibitions of some features of the _rodeo_ in New York and other large +cities, that I believe most of you are familiar with the feats of +cowboys on these trained and untrained "broncks," or outlaw +horses--"mankillers" some of them are dubbed. + +I might say that there are two classes of this rough riding. One is +the real thing, on horses or cow ponies that are naturally bad, and +never can be broken or trained to behave. The other is on what might +be called "professional buckers." That is, horses which have trained +to try and unseat their riders as long as they are expected to do this. + +I venture to say most of you have seen exhibitions of rough riding in a +wild west, traveling show, or in some _rodeo_, as an imitation round-up +is called after its Spanish title. And most of you, I believe, have +been impressed with the fact that as soon as the man got off the back +of the bucking steed the said steed became as gentle as a lamb. This +is what those that are trained to it do purposely, but it is not what a +real dyed-in-the-wool outlaw does. For he does not let up in his +attack on the man even after the latter is out of the saddle. + +Perhaps some of you, at a rodeo, have seen a rider come bursting out of +the pen on the back of a rearing, bucking, leaping steed. After the +first burst two cowboys would ride up, one on either side of the +bucker, and take off, on their own stirrups or saddle the fearless +rider. And then the so-called "outlaw" would let himself be led meekly +back into the pen to be ready for the next performance, when it would +all be gone through with again. + +But occasionally you may have seen one of these horses lash out +viciously with his heels, in an endeavor to kick anyone he could reach, +not even excluding his fellow steeds. This is a specimen of a real +outlaw, who never lets up in his fight against man. But few of these +horses are taken about in a traveling show. They are too dangerous. + +However, the two that were fenced off in the corral at North Station +were of the real "bad" variety. They had been partly tamed, but their +tempers had been spoiled and they were really dangerous to approach. +Hence they were confined in a small space, and not allowed out. + +However, cowboys are by nature reckless, and to them bucking horses are +but a source of amusement and rivalry. Each cowboy thinks he can ride +some steed no one else can mount. And for the purpose of contests or +exhibitions, to relieve the monotony of "riding range," there are +facilities for saddling and bridling these horses without danger to +those doing it. + +This method consists of putting the horse in a long narrow place like a +stall in a stable, through the bars of which the boys can reach in, +throw on the saddle and tighten it. Then a rider can climb into the +saddle over the top rail of the fence and at a signal a gate can be +opened, allowing the maddened steed to rush out. + +Then the fun begins. + +"I'm goin' t' ride!" yelled Snake. + +"Take th' big one then," advised Sam. "He ain't quite so bad as th' +other." + +"I want th' meanest one!" insisted Snake, "an' if it's th' smallest +I'll ride him!" + +"Better not!" advised the foreman, but Snake was not to be persuaded +against it. And the other cowboys, scenting fun, were not very anxious +to have Snake change his mind. + +Accordingly some of the men who had handled Red Pepper before--Red +Pepper being the name of the horse--arranged to get a saddle on him, +and to slip a sort of bridle over his head. But he had no bit, for it +was as much as a man's hands were worth to try and force the bar of +steel between the teeth of this outlaw. + +"Now you watch me!" cried Snake when, after hard work, the saddle had +been strapped on and pulled tight. "I'm goin' t' fan him." + +I might explain that it is considered cowboy ethics to ride with only +one hand on the reins, whether a bit is used or not, and in the other +hand, usually the left, the cowboy carries his hat with which he hits +the steed on either side of the neck, "fanning him," it is called. And +no rough rider would ever think of sitting on the worst bucker in the +world without thus riding with one hand and "fanning" with the other. +Meanwhile, of course, he keeps up a wild whooping sound, just to show +his spirits. + +The feeling of a man on his back--a feeling he hates, the wild +whooping, the jab of the spurs and the flapping hat around his head +serves further to madden the bucker and it is a wonder any human being +can stay on his back a second. Yet cowboys do, and ride until they are +tired of the sport. + +"Are you ready?" called the cowboys who had saddled the "mankiller," as +Sam dubbed the small horse. + +"Let him out!" yelled Snake. + +The fastenings of the gate were loosed and out rushed the animal with +the cowboy bobbing about on his back. Red Pepper seemed a whirlwind of +fury. He rushed forward, his nose almost touching the ground, and then +he began to go up in the air. Up he would leap, coming down with all +four legs held stiff and his back arched, to shake, if it were +possible, Snake from the saddle. The cowboy rose in his stirrups to +take the shock as much as possible from his frame, and with a yell, +began "fanning" Red Pepper. + +This added to the fury of the beast, and it fairly screamed in rage +and, reaching back, tried to bite Snake's legs. But they were +protected by heavy leather "chaps," and the animal soon realized this. + +He now began leaping sideways, a form of bucking that often unseats a +rider, but Snake was proof against this. And all the while the animal +was dashing around the larger corral, on the fence of which sat the boy +ranchers and their friends, watching this cowboy fun. As they watched +they laughed and called such remarks as: + +"Fan him, Snake! Fan him!" + +"Whoopee! That's stickin' to him!" + +"Tickle him in the ear, Snake!" + +"Want any court plaster t' hold you down?" + +Snake paid little attention to this "advice" of his friends. In fact +he had little time, for he discovered that his "work was all cut out +for him," before he had been many seconds on the back of Red Pepper. +The steed in very truth was an outlaw of the worst type. + +Finding that the methods usually successful--those of bucking and +kicking out with his hind feet--were of no avail, the animal adopted +new tactics. He reared high in the air, with a scream of rage--reared +so high that there was a gasp of dismay from the spectators. For +surely it seemed that the horse would topple over backward and, falling +on Snake, would crush and kill him. + +But the cowboy had ridden horses like this before, and with a smart +blow between the animal's ears Snake gave notice that it would be +considered more polite if his steed would keep on all four feet. + +Down came Red Pepper with a jar that shook every bone in Snake's body, +but he remained in the saddle, and with more wild yells brought his +broad-brimmed hat down again and again on the animal's neck. + +Again Red Pepper dashed forward, bucked again, worse than before and +still finding the hated rider on his back began to play one of his most +desperate tricks. + +This consisted of lying down and trying to roll over his rider. If +successful, it would crush the rider almost as badly as if he had been +toppled on from a backward fall. + +"Look out, Snake! He's going to roll!" warned Sam. + +But Snake was ready. + +Suddenly Red Pepper stopped bucking. But before Snake could catch his +labored breath the horse knelt down and started to roll over, at the +same time opening his mouth to bite whatever portion of Snake first +came within reach. + +Snake, however, had been through an experience like this before. In an +instant he had leaped from the saddle and was out of danger. That is, +out of danger in a way. But he and the others realized that as soon as +he could Red Pepper would get to his feet again and run after the +cowboy. It was that which made this particular animal so dangerous. +He never gave up fighting his rider, even when the latter was unseated; +and he had killed two men. + +"Watch yourself!" cried Sam. + +But Snake was ready, and so were some of the other cowboys, for they +had feared just this ending of the attempt to ride Red Pepper. No +sooner was Snake out of the saddle than two of his friends dashed +toward him, picking him up between them so that he rode with a foot on +either of their inner stirrups. + +Meanwhile some other cowboys rode up to get the outlaw back into the +corral. This was no easy work, but they had given him little chance, +and with two lariats about his neck, so that he could be held from +either side, he was, after some time, gotten back in his pen. + +"Well, I rode him," chuckled Snake, when it was all over. + +"And you came out of it luckier than lots of 'em," added the foreman. +"Red Pepper sure is a bad one!" + +"Oh, shucks!" laughed Snake. "That jest gave me an appetite." + +And, really, it seemed to. But perhaps Snake was hungry, anyhow. + +After the meal there was a general talk about the raid of the rustlers. +And then as the cowboys sat about in the evening they indulged in +various forms of sport and fun, in which the boy ranchers joined. + +Bright and early those who were to take the trail after the cattle +thieves were on their way, taking with them enough food to last for +several days. They were now better prepared than when they had first +started out from Diamond X. + +It was comparatively easy to pick up the trail left by the rustlers and +soon our friends were riding after them, though of course several hours +behind them. But as had been said, the ground was of a nature that did +not lend itself well to haste, and if the thieves stampeded their +animals they would, very likely, lose them. They could only go so fast +and Billee and his cowboys hoped soon to come up to the raiders. + +It was nearly noon when one of the cowboys who was riding on ahead, +came to a stop on a little rise of land and, shading his eyes from the +sun, looked long and earnestly off to his left. + +"See anything?" asked Bud, who with his cousins rode up. + +"I think so, but I'm not sure," was the reply. "But doesn't it look +like a bunch of cattle there?" and he pointed. + +The boy ranchers gazed earnestly. + +"It sure does look like 'em to me!" declared Nort. + +"Could it be one of our regular herds?" Dick asked. + +"None of our cattle are down that way," the cowboy said. + +"Then they're rustlers!" cried Bud. "After 'em, boys!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A CLOUD OF DUST + +Flappings of heels to the flanks of horses, the tightening of reins, +firmer seats in the saddles and glances at the heavy revolvers swinging +in their holsters at the sides of the riders came as a prelude to the +burst of speed which immediately followed the sight of the distant herd +of cattle being hazed across the prairie. + +"Whoop-ee!" cried Yellin' Kid. "We'll show 'em what's what! Whoop-ee!" + +"Reckon you can stand a fight?" asked Nort, looking at the leg of the +cowboy, which had been severely injured. + +"Shucks, yes! I'm all right now! I'd a leetle mite ruther lick a +bunch of sheep herders than jest plain onery cattle rustlers," went on +Yellin' Kid, "but anythin' for a fight!" + +"You said it!" chimed in some of the other rough but ready and earnest +punchers. + +"I s'pose there will be a fight," mused Dick. + +"Unless they quit and run," said Bud. "You don't mind a little thing +like a fight, do you?" he asked his cousin. "Of course not! I was +only joking!" he quickly added as he saw a look on Dick's face. + +"It won't be the first time we've had a scrap," remarked Nort. + +All this while they were riding hard toward the distant group which, at +first had been but a cloud of dust, but which now resolved itself into +forms of horsemen and cattle. + +And as the outfit from Diamond X approached nearer, it could be seen +that the drivers of the cattle were not regulation cowboys from any +ranch north of the Rio Grande. There was an air and manner about the +horsemen urging on the weary cattle which betokened them as +irregulars--rustlers, in other words. + +The advantage--such as it was--appeared to be with the boy ranchers and +their friends, for they were on fresh horses, and could ride hither and +yon without having to drive before them, and keep from stampeding, a +bunch of cattle. As for the rustlers the success of their raid +depended on keeping the cattle they had stolen. Once the small herd +got beyond their control, they might as well cut and run for it, since +it would be a case of everyone save himself, and every man for himself. + +"Some of you cut out the cattle, boys," advised Old Billee, as he +spurred along with the youngest rider. For though this veteran more +than doubled the years of the boy ranchers, he was almost as "spry" as +any of them. "Cut out the cattle, and we'll look after these rustlers." + +There were members enough in the outfit from Diamond X to provide for a +division of forces--enabling them to execute a flank movement, as it +were, though this does not exactly describe it. + +"What's the best thing to do?" asked Bud, willing to take advice from +his father's able helper. Bud was willing to learn, a most commendable +spirit in a youth. + +"Wa'al, this would be about as good a plan as any," remarked Old +Billee, as he still continued to ride on, but at the same time he was, +with his keen eyes, looking over the lay of the land. "Bud, you and +your cousins ride off to the left, with Hank and Sam, and see if you +can cut out the steers. If you can circle 'em around and bring 'em up +behind where we are now--or as near as you can. I'll take the rest of +the boys and see if we can't speed up and close with the rustlers." + +Bud at once saw that this was giving him and his boy chums, as well as +Sam and Hank, the other two cowboys, quite the safest end of the +battle. The cattle could be cut out without coming into very close +contact with the desperate rustlers. The fight with them would be +taken care of by the more experienced Billee and his men. + +Bud thought it over for a moment. He was not afraid of danger, but he +was not foolhardy, and he knew the veteran had been in many more +engagements like this than had Bud himself. Also Bud was too good a +soldier to object to taking orders. + +"All right," he finally said. "Suits me, Billee. How about you +fellows?" he asked Nort and Dick. + +With short nods they agreed to Billee's plan, and a few minutes later +it was put into execution. The outfit from Diamond X separated, and +while Bud and his party spurred ahead to cut out the cattle, the others +circled around to make a "flank" attack, as it might be called. + +"Here we go!" cried Bud who, naturally, was the leader of the "cutting +out" sally. + +On rushed the horses, the boys clapping heels to them and "fanning" +them with their hats to urge them to greater speed. They were quite +close, now, to the band of cattle being hazed away, and on some of the +lagging steers could be made out the branding marks of the Diamond X +ranch. + +"Those are ours all right!" cried Bud to his cousins. + +"And we'll have 'em back soon," added Dick. + +"We'd better begin shooting," called out Hank, one of the two cowboys +who had been assigned to duty with Bud. + +This was not as serious as it sounds, for the shots were not to be +directed at the rustlers but fired in the air to startle the cattle. +In cutting out, or, rather, in separating from those who had stolen +them the steers from Diamond X, it was necessary to get the animals on +the run. They could then more easily be driven where they were wanted. + +By this time, of course, the rustlers knew they were in danger not only +of losing their ill-gotten cattle, but of losing their own freedom and +perhaps their lives. They could be arrested and sent to jail for theft +if they were caught. + +For a few minutes after the pursuit became close, the rustlers made an +attempt to get the cattle into one of the many small valleys with which +the country around there abounded. But they soon saw that it was a +losing fight. The animals were too wearied to be driven at much speed. + +Then some order seemed to have been given by the leader of the +rustlers, for the nondescript bunch of cattle thieves swung off, and +practically abandoned their four-footed charges. + +This made it easier for the boy ranchers, though the task of urging the +cattle away from the line they were traveling was hard enough at best. + +"Come on!" yelled Bud, when he saw what was happening. "We've got 'em +going!" + +This was true, as regarded the rustlers. They were about to save +themselves if they could. + +With drawn guns, firing rapidly and yelling as loudly as they could, +the boy ranchers rode in among the frightened steers, endeavoring to +turn them off to the right. For a moment it seemed as if they were not +going to do this, but eventually their tactics succeeded, and the +leaders of the herd swung off. Then the others followed and it was now +a comparatively easy matter to drive them along where it was desired +they should go. + +"Poor things!" murmured Dick sympathetically, as he saw the weary +cattle. "We'll have to let 'em rest, Bud." + +"Guess you're right," agreed the son of the Diamond X owner. "They +won't be much good for shipping to market until they get some fat back +on their bones." Many of the cattle were in woeful shape, and all +suffered from lack of water, since the rustlers had driven them so +hard, endeavoring to get far away with them as soon as possible that +they had not stopped to water them. + +"There's a little stream over there," announced Sam, one of the cowboys +who knew this part of the country well. "We can haze 'em over there +and keep 'em for a while." + +This was considered the best thing to do, and soon the weary cattle +were drinking their first water in many hours. Afterward they all lay +down to rest, not even eating until some of the weariness had passed. + +Meanwhile the cowboys under Old Billee had come to close quarters with +the rustlers and the fight started immediately. There was nothing +unusual about it, the rustlers merely desiring to get away and the +outfit from Diamond X wishing to capture them to make them pay for +their lawlessness. + +One rustler was captured, for he was so wounded that he fell from his +horse. The others got away, one badly hurt, it seemed, for he had to +be taken in charge by one of his companions who lifted him to his own +saddle. + +As for Billee and his forces, they suffered somewhat, two of the +cowboys being painfully wounded by bullets. But, on the whole, the +affair ended much better than might have been expected. The stolen +cattle had been recovered, in as good condition as could be hoped for, +and the rustlers had been driven off, with the exception of the wounded +one. + +It was planned to take him to the nearest jail, but this trouble was +obviated for the man died in the night. + +Riding back after having driven off the rustlers, Billee and his men +found the cattle quietly resting, while Bud and his friends were doing +likewise, as they had ridden hard. + +"We'll camp here for the night," decided Billee. "Too bad there isn't +a telephone here that we could use to send word back to your dad, Bud. +But we can't have everything." + +"No," agreed Yellin' Kid with a chuckle. "I'd like a room an' a bath +with plenty of hot water, but I don't see any growin' on no trees +around here!" + +However, the cowboys were used to this sort of life and they counted it +no unusual hardship. A fire was made, those who had been scarred by +bullets were looked after and then the ever-welcome "grub" was served. + +The next day, after the hasty burial of the dead rustler, on whom +little sympathy was wasted, and concerning whose identity no one cared +much, the march back to Diamond X was begun, the cattle being slowly +driven toward their former pasture. As not all the cowboys were needed +for this, a sufficient number were told off by Billee, and the +remainder, including the boy ranchers, made better speed back to +headquarters. + +There the news of the successful chase after the rustlers was received +with satisfaction, and Mr. Merkel said he hoped it would be a lesson to +other thieves. + +"I wish we could give the same sort of lesson to any sheep herders that +might be around here," remarked Bud. + +"That's so," said his father. "And perhaps you'd better be getting +back to Spur Creek. No telling what might have happened while you've +been away. We didn't leave anyone on guard." + +"I don't know as it was necessary," said Bud. "But, all the same, we'd +better get back." + +They made the start early the next morning--the boy ranchers, with +Yellin' Kid and Snake, and there was the promise of more cowboys to +help them hold the "fort" should it be considered necessary. + +"Well, everything seems to be all right," remarked Bud as he and his +party rode up to the shack on the edge of the stream. "No signs of the +sheep yet." + +"And no smell, either," chuckled Yellin' Kid, as he sniffed the air. + +"It takes the perfesser for that!" said Snake with a laugh. + +"I wonder what Professor Wright is doing?" said Nort. + +"Oh, digging up a lot of old bones, I reckon," Bud answered. "But +let's get grub and rest. I'm tired." + +The events of the past few days had been strenuous enough to make them +all welcome a period of rest. And they had it, for a few hours. And +then something occurred to start a series of happenings that lasted and +created excitement for some time. + +It was toward the middle of the afternoon when Nort, who had gone down +the stream a little way, looked across Spur Creek and saw hanging in +the hazy air a cloud of dust. + +"Wonder if that's a wind storm," he mused. But as there was not a sign +of vapor in the clear blue sky he gave up that theory. "Guess I'd +better let 'em know," he thought, turning back toward the fort. + +And when the others came out to look at the cloud of dust, on the +Mexican side of the river--a cloud which had grown larger--Bud +exclaimed: + +"Sheep, I'll bet a hat!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE SHEEP ARRIVE + +Among the saddles, horse-gear, weapons, grub and other equipment that +had been put in the fort at Spur Creek was a telescope. Remembering +this, Bud rushed in to get it, while his companions stood in front of +the place, gazing across the stream at the ever-increasing cloud of +dust. + +"Something's comin' on, anyhow," observed Yellin' Kid. + +"Can't be cattle," remarked Snake Purdee. "They ain't spread out +enough for cattle." + +This was one way of telling, for, as the cowboy said, cattle, meaning +by that steers or a herd of grazing horses, separate much more than do +sheep, which stick in a bunch as they feed. Still there was no being +certain of it until Bud should take an observation through the glass. + +"Might be another bunch of Greasers--or rustlers," said Snake, musingly. + +"There's plenty of both kinds down there," agreed Nort, with a wave of +his hand in the general direction of Mexico, the border of which +misruled, unhappy and greatly-misunderstood country was not far away. + +Bud came running out with the telescope, pulling shiny brass lengths to +their limit before focusing it. + +"We'll soon tell now," he said, as he raised the objective glass and +pointed it at the cloud of dust, while he squinted through the +eye-piece. A moment later, after he had made a better adjustment of +the focus, he cried: "It's sheep all right! A big bunch of 'em!" + +"Any men with 'em? No, I shouldn't call 'em men," hastily corrected +Dick. "No decent man would raise sheep." + +In this, of course, he was wrong. Sheep are needful and many a rancher +is making a fortune out of them, but at this time, and in this part of +the west, a sheep herder was despised and hated by his fellows. + +"Yes, there's a bunch of Greasers or some one hazin' 'em on," reported +Bud. "Here, Kid, take a look," and he passed the glass to the older +cowboy. + +The latter could but confirm what Bud had seen and then, in turn, the +other three had a look through the telescope, which brought the details +of the oncoming herd of "woollies" startlingly near. + +"Well, what we goin' to do about it?" asked Yellin' Kid, after they had +made sure the sheep were headed toward the east bank of Spur Creek. + +"We're going to stop 'em from coming over here," declared Bud +determinedly. + +"Maybe they don't intend to come," suggested Nort. + +"What are they heading this way for, then?" demanded his cousin. + +"To get better pasture." + +"Well, what pasture there is on that side of Spur Creek won't last the +sheep very long!" exclaimed Snake Purdee. "They'll be over here in a +couple of days at the most. Reckon they think they have a right to +this range." + +"Which they haven't," said Bud, "though how dad is going to prove his +claim, with the papers gone, I don't see." + +"We'll prove it with force--that's what we'll do!" shouted Yellin' Kid. +"That's what we're here for. That's what we got our guns for!" and +significantly he tapped the one on his hip. + +"Yes, I reckon we'll have to fight," conceded Bud with a half sigh. He +was not afraid, but he knew in a fight some would be hurt and perhaps +more than one killed. And this was not as it ought to be. Still with +each side standing on what it considered its rights, what else could be +expected? + +"How many Greasers they got?" asked Yellin' Kid, after a pause, during +which Bud took another observation through the glass. + +The boy rancher looked, seemed to be counting and then, as he lowered +the glass from his eye, he answered: + +"There's a dozen of 'em!" + +Significantly Nort silently, but obviously, counted those of his own +party. There were but five, for some of the cowboys had been left at +Diamond X after the defeat of the rustlers. + +"We'd better let your dad know--what say?" asked Kid of Bud. + +"I think so--yes. And he'd better send out a few more men. We don't +want to take any chances." + +This was considered a wise move. But before going in to telephone to +his father--for that was the most rapid method of letting him know the +situation so he could send help--before going to the instrument Bud +asked: + +"Say, I'm wondering how, if those fellows intend to take this open +range pasture--how are they going to get their sheep over?" + +"You mean over the river?" asked Nort. + +"Yes. How they going to get the animals across so they can feed on +this side?" + +For a moment no one answered, then Yellin' Kid replied: + +"Why, they'll just naturally haze 'em over; that's all." + +"You mean drive 'em through the creek?" asked Bud. + +"Sure." + +"The water's too deep." + +"Maybe there's a ford," suggested Kid. + +Bud shook his head. + +"I tried to find one for my horse the other day," he said. "I thought +I had but it was a quicksand and I was glad enough to get out without +being stuck. There's no ford now for miles up and down the Creek from +here--that is, none that I know of, especially not since high water." + +For the level of Spur Creek had risen in the last few days, since the +professor crossed, caused, it was learned later, by the diversion into +the creek of a larger stream by some irrigation plan company further +north. + +"Well, if they can't make the sheep wade over they can swim 'em, can't +they?" asked Dick. + +"'Tisn't so easy to make sheep swim," declared Yellin' Kid with a shake +of his head. "Sheep are scary critters at best. You might get them in +the water if you had a good leader, but if I was a sheep man--which I +never hope to be--I'd think twice 'fore I'd float 'em across a stream, +'specially if it had quicksands in." + +"Well, this has," affirmed Bud. "They come and go, the quicksands. +They weren't here the other day but they're here now." + +"Maybe they're going to ferry 'em across," suggested Nort. + +"Where they going to get boats?" asked Snake, and that seemed to +dispose of this question. + +"Though maybe they carry collapsible craft," suggested Dick, but this, +of course, was not reasonable or practical. + +"No," said Bud, "they either know some way of getting the sheep over +here, or else they aren't going to cross." + +"They'll cross all right," asserted Snake. "Better let your father +know how matters are," he suggested. + +Bud went in to ring the home ranch up on the telephone, but he had no +sooner given a few turns to the crank--for this was the old-style +instrument--than he called out: + +"Telephone wire is cut!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A BATTLE OF WITS + +This news came as a distinct shock not only to Bud, who discovered it, +but to the others of his party. + +"Are you sure it's cut?" asked Nort, hurrying into the shack after his +cousin, who had come to the door to make the announcement. + +"Well, it's dead, anyhow," Bud answered. "I can't raise Diamond X. +And it sounds as if it were cut. Or, rather, it doesn't sound at all. +It's just dead." + +"Maybe the battery's given out, or there's a loose connection +somewhere," suggested Dick. "Let's take a look. I know a little about +telephones." + +They tested the battery, to find that it was sufficiently strong to +have transmitted signals provided everything else was in working order. + +But this remained to be seen. However, as the boys made test after +test, in their limited way, they came ever nearer to the conclusion +that the wire was, indeed, cut. For no answer came to the repeated +turnings of the crank, though Bud did succeed in making his own bell +ring. The reason for his first failure had been a loose wire +connection, which Dick remedied. + +But, even after this, no answer came to the repeated turnings of the +crank. + +"Well, we've got to find the break and mend it!" declared Bud, +following several unsuccessful trials to get into communication with +the home ranch. + +"'Tisn't cut right around here," said Nort, who went out to take a look +at the thin length of wire, strung on makeshift poles, that formed a +connecting link between the fort at Spur Creek and the home ranch of +Diamond X. "I can trace the wire as far as I can see it." + +"No, 'tisn't likely they'd cut it so near the shack, for we'd spot that +first thing," said Bud. "We'll have to trace it, that's all. I'll get +my horse." + +"Are we all going?" Yellin' Kid wanted to know. "What about the +sheep?" and he waved his hand toward the ever-nearing cloud of dust +which floated over the backs of thousands of sharp-hoofed animals. + +"Oh, that's so!" exclaimed Bud. "Somebody's got to stay here." + +"Reckon Snake and I can handle whatever comes up here," said Yellin' +Kid grimly, as he tapped his gun. "They won't get here for half a day, +anyhow, and by then it'll be night. They can't do anything after dark, +and two men will be plenty here." + +This seemed reasonable enough, and after talking over plans this one +was decided on. + +Bud and Dick, the latter knowing most about telephones, would ride +along looking for the break, and would try to mend it. Meanwhile Nort +would ride on to Diamond X ranch, since it was important to let Mr. +Merkel know what was about to happen--that the dreaded sheep had come +and might soon overrun the open range he claimed as his own property. +Also help was needed--more cowboys to hold the fort--and it was risky +to depend on the broken telephone for summoning them. + +So Nort was intrusted with the work of carrying the unwelcome news and +of bringing up reinforcements. + +Meanwhile Bud and Dick would do their best to find and repair the +break, and Snake and Yellin' Kid would be on guard at Spur Creek. As +Kid had said, there was little danger of the sheep men bringing up +their woolly charges before dark, and after that not much could be done +in the way of crossing the river, if, as Bud had said, there was no +ford at this place, and the danger of quicksands further to keep +unwelcome visitors on the Mexican side of the stream. + +"Well, I'll see you when I get back," remarked Nort as he rode off with +a wave of his hand to his brother cousin and the two remaining cowboys. + +"Think you'll make it to-night?" asked Dick. + +"I don't see why I can't," was the answer. "If there's going to be a +fight in the morning you'll want help here. And if the other boys ride +back from Diamond X I'll be with 'em." + +"Oh, the boys will be ridin' back all right, as soon as they hear +there's a prospect of a fight!" chuckled Kid. + +"You said it!" added Snake. + +Pausing to watch Nort ride off on his mission of carrying news and +summoning help, and taking another look at the still approaching cloud +of dust that betokened the flock of sheep, Bud and Dick rode along the +back trail, following the telephone line. + +As has been said, the wire was not cut near the cabin. It could be +seen, a tiny line against the clear, blue sky, stretching its slender +length on top of the poles. + +"They were too cute to cut it near the shack. They figured we wouldn't +notice it for a long time, maybe, and they'd have a chance to get up +closer," said Dick. + +"You mean the sheep herders?" asked Bud. + +"Sure! Who else?" asked his cousin. "You reckon it was them that cut +the wire, don't you?" + +"Don't know's I thought much about it, but, now that I have, why, of +course, they did it," Bud agreed. "Unless it was the cattle rustlers," +he added. + +"You mean the ones we just had a fight with?" + +"That's who." + +"No, I don't reckon they did," Dick remarked. "In the first place we +licked 'em pretty badly. They scattered, I'm sure, and they didn't +head in this direction. And what good would it do 'em just to cut a +wire after we'd gotten the cattle away from 'em?" + +"Oh, general meanness, that's all," answered Bud. + +"They wouldn't do that out of spite and run the risk of being +caught--not after what happened to 'em," declared Dick, and Bud +answered: + +"Well, maybe you're right." + +Then they rode along in silence for a while, making sure, as they +progressed, that they did not pass a break in the telephone line. The +thin copper conductor was intact as they could see. + +"They must have gone about half way back--between the creek and our +ranch, and snipped the wire there," said Bud, after a period of silence. + +"I reckon so," agreed Dick. "That would be what we'd do if we had it +to do; wouldn't we?" + +"Why?" + +"Because we'd want the break to come as far away as possible from +either end, to make it take longer to find and mend it." + +"That's right, Dick. I never thought of that. Then there isn't really +much use looking along here. We might as well ride fast to a point +about half way. We'll find the break there." + +"No, we don't want to do that, Bud. We'll just ride along as we have +been going, and we'll look at every foot of wire." + +"But I thought you said----" + +"I said if we had to cut an enemy's telephone line, we'd probably do it +about half way between the two main points. But we can't take any +chances. These fellows may have reasoned that we'd think they cut it +half way, and, just to fool us, they may have gone only a quarter way." + +"Oh, shucks! If you think onery sheep herders have brains to do any of +that sort of reasoning, you're 'way off, Dick!" + +"Well, maybe I am, but we won't take any chances. We'll inspect every +foot until we come to the break." + +And this plan was followed. + +It was not until after they had ridden several miles that they saw, +dangling between two poles, the severed ends of the wire. + +"There it is!" cried Dick. + +"Good! I mean I'm glad we've found it!" voiced Bud. "It may be all +sorts of bad luck that it's cut. For they may have figured that we'd +divide forces to mend the break, and they may take this chance to rush +Kid and Snake and get possession of the land." + +"I don't think so," remarked Dick as he dismounted to approach the pole +and look at the severed wire. "Those sheep can't travel as fast as +that, and we'll have reinforcements at the fort when they try to cross +Spur Creek." + +"But they may send a bunch of Greasers on ahead of the woollies," +objected Bud. + +To this Dick did not answer. He was busy looking at the end of the +dangling wire. + +"Is it cut or broken?" asked Bud, for there was the possibility of an +accident having happened. + +"Cut," was the answer. + +"What you going to do?" + +"Splice it," was the answer. "That's all I can do now. I brought some +extra wire along." + +Not pausing to climb the pole and re-string the cut wire, which plainly +showed marks of cutting pliers, Dick simply connected one severed end +with the other, using a piece of copper he had brought from the shack +for this purpose. + +"Too bad we haven't one of those portable sets so we could cut in and +see if everything was working," observed Bud, when the break was mended. + +"Yes," agreed Dick. "We'll have to wait until we get back to the fort +to make a test and see if we can talk." + +"It's nearer to go on to our ranch," said Bud. For the break in the +wire had been discovered more than half way to Diamond X. + +"Yes, it's nearer, but we can't take any chances," objected Dick. "We +may be needed to help Snake and Kid." + +"That's so," agreed Bud. "I forgot about that. We'll go back to the +fort and see if we can call up the ranch." + +They made better time on the return trip, for they did not have to ride +slowly along looking for a break in the wire. On the way they +speculated as to what might have happened during their absence in +chasing the cattle rustlers. + +"All we're sure of is that they cut the telephone wire," said Bud. + +"But there's no telling what they may have laid plans for," added Dick. +"I guess those sheep men are smarter than we gave them credit for." + +"It does seem so," admitted Bud. "We'll have to match our wits against +theirs when it comes to a show-down--seeing who's going to keep this +rich grazing land." + +"One thing in our favor is that we're in possession," said Dick, as he +patted his pony's neck. + +"But one thing against us--or against dad, which is the same thing," +said Bud, "is that his papers proving possession are stolen. And these +sheep men seem to know that." + +"Yes," agreed Dick, "they seem to know it all right." + +They returned to the fort on the bank of Spur Creek just before dark, +and, to their delight, found the telephone in working order. For the +ranch had called the cabin, Mr. Merkel wanting to know how matters were +at Spur Creek. + +He complained of having tried several times to get into communication +with the fort, and he had guessed there was a broken wire but he had +not suspected it was cut. Then, when he tried again, he found +communication restored. This, of course, was after Dick and Bud had +found and mended the break. + +Nort had not yet reached the ranch at the time his father finally found +the telephone working. But the need of help was told of over the +restored wire, and several cowboys were at once dispatched, not waiting +for the arrival of Nort. + +"I'll send Nort back to you as soon as he gets here," promised Mr. +Merkel. + +These matters having been disposed of, Bud and Dick had a chance to ask +what had transpired at the fort since they left. + +"Jest nothin'--that's all," answered Snake. + +"But I think there's goin' t' be somethin' doin' right shortly," +observed Yellin' Kid. + +"What makes you think so?" asked Bud. + +In answer the cowboy pointed across the river. The cloud of dust had +settled, revealing more plainly now thousands of sheep. And as the +defenders of the fort watched they saw, separating from the sheep, a +number of men who approached the Mexican bank of the stream. + +What were they going to do? + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +STRANGE ACTIONS + +Until there was what in law is termed an "overt act," the boy ranchers +and their friends could do nothing against the sheep herders who were +there in plain sight, with their woolly charges on the far side of Spur +Creek. "Overt act" is a law term, and practically means an open act as +distinguished from one that is done in secret and under cover. + +Thus if the sheep herders should openly attempt to cross the creek, and +drive their animals up on Mr. Merkel's land--or land which he +claimed--then Bud and his associates could proceed against them, +driving them off--"repelling boarders," as Dick expressed it, having in +mind some of his favorite pirate tales. + +But until the sheep men had done something--had committed an overt +act--they could not be molested as long as they remained where they +were. + +"It's like this," explained Bud, for his father had made matters plain +to him over the mended telephone line. "We got to wait until they set +foot on our land--or until some of their onery sheep begin to +nibble--and then we can start something." + +"What, for instance?" asked Dick. + +"Well, we can order 'em off--that is, order the Greasers off," replied +Bud. "Not much use talking to sheep, I reckon." + +"Nor to a Greaser, either," murmured Snake. "One is about as bright +and smart as the other." + +"Anyhow," resumed Bud, "we can't do anything until they start +something." + +"Not even if we know they're going to do it?" asked another of the +cowboys who, meanwhile, had arrived from Diamond X ready for a fight. + +"Not even then," answered Bud. "But once they cross the creek and land +here, then we'll begin," and he looked to his gun. + +"What'll we do with the sheep?" asked the cowboy. There seemed to be +no doubt in the minds of the men as to what they would do with the +Greasers. + +"We'll have to dispose of 'em," said Bud regretfully. "It seems a +pity, too, for the poor things haven't done any harm. But it's either +their lives or those of our cattle. The two can't live on the same +range, and the sheep have no right here." + +"Shoot 'em and drive 'em back into the water if they try to swim +across--is that it?" asked Dick. + +"Yes, but hang it all!" cried Bud, "I hope that doesn't happen. I sure +hate to do it!" + +And to give them credit, the others felt the same way about it. + +Meanwhile the sheep having settled down to a quiet but fast +feeding--which is their characteristic--the actions of the band of +Greaser and Mexican herders who had them in charge was eagerly watched +by the boy ranchers and their friends. + +They saw two horsemen ride down to the bank of the creek at one spot +and urge their steeds in. For a time all seemed to go well, but +suddenly, when a few yards out in the stream one of the Mexicans +frantically called to his companion, who shouted an inquiry as to what +was wrong. + +Something very dangerously wrong seemed to be the trouble, for the +first Mexican was now frantically appealing for help, and a moment +later his companion sent his lariat hissing through the air, the coils +settling around the frightened man who grasped the rope and leaped into +the creek. + +But the horse remained in the water, though the animal was wildly +struggling to turn and go back to the southern shore, along which the +sheep were feeding, some of them slaking their thirst in Spur Creek. + +Pulling his companion along by the lariat, the still mounted Mexican +made for the shore he had so recently quitted, leaving the lone horse +to struggle by itself. + +"What does that mean?" cried Dick. + +"Quicksands--just what I told you about," answered Bud. "There are a +lot of places where the bed of the creek is pitted with quick sands, +and this Greaser struck one." + +"One did and the other didn't," observed Snake, for it was evident that +the rider who had used his lariat had found firm footing for his steed. + +"That's it," Bud explained. "You can't tell where the sands are and +where they aren't. I happen to know some places that are free," he +went on, "but, even there the water is too deep for the sheep to get +across, on account of the current." + +The two Mexicans, one on his horse and the other swimming at the end of +the lariat, had reached the shore they so recently quitted, on what +object could only be guessed. Then there was very evidently a +conference among the sheep herders during which the excited men who had +taken part in the adventure pointed to the spot where the horse was +struggling. + +"I hope they aren't going to leave that poor brute to suffer," murmured +Yellin' Kid, his voice low for one of the few times in his career. + +But it was evident that whatever were the faults of the sheep herders +they did not number among them too much cruelty to a horse. For when +it was evident that the animal could not free himself, a number of the +Greasers rode as close as was safe, and tossed their lariats about the +animal's neck. Then they began pulling. + +But the quicksands had too firm a grip on the animal's legs. He had +sunk lower in the stream, and his struggles were less, simply because +he was now so nearly engulfed in the powerful suction of the +water-soaked and ever-shifting sands. + +"They'll never get him out,' said Dick. + +"Have to pull his poor head off if they do," agreed Bud. + +And this was so evident that the Mexican sheep herders soon gave up the +attempt. They dared not even go close enough to the horse to release +their ropes, but, casting them off from their saddle horns, had to see +them sink down in the quicksands with the poor beast. + +For this is what happened. The unfortunate animal, unable to extricate +himself from the terrible grip of the sands, being too firmly held to +permit of being dragged out, sank lower and lower. The water came half +way up his sides. It closed over his back, but still his head was free. + +With all his power the brute struggled, but with four legs gripped he +could do little more than shudder convulsively. Then as the waters +came closer and closer to his head, caused by the fact that the horse +was sinking lower and lower in the soft sand, the beast gave a terrible +cry--terrible in its agony. + +A moment later it was gone from sight forever. + +A hush fell upon the assemblage of cowboys in front of the Spur Creek +fort of Diamond X ranch. And a hush, no less, came over the bunch of +Mexican sheep herders on the far side of the stream. But that the man +could leap off and swim to shore, aided by his companion's lariat, the +fate of the horse in the quicksands might have been his fate. + +"What's going on?" asked a voice behind Bud and Dick. + +They turned quickly to behold Nort, who had ridden back from the ranch +headquarters. + +"What you all looking at?" he asked, for the cowboys were gazing +silently at the spot in the stream where the tragedy had just taken +place. + +They informed Nort in a few words. + +"Well," he remarked, "that's the best protection we could have against +the sheep coming over--quicksands in the creek." + +"The only trouble is," said Dick slowly, "that the quicksands are only +in certain places. They can cross safely elsewhere." + +"The point is, though," observed Bud, "that they can only guess at +those places. And, not knowing where they are, may make them stay away +altogether." + +"I hope so, but I don't believe it," remarked Snake. "You'll see they +won't give up so easily." + +Nor did the sheep herders thus forego an attempt to graze their flocks +on the rich pasture claimed by Mr. Merkel. It was too late that day to +attempt anything more. Night settled down, but with an augmented force +of cowboys at the fort the boy ranchers were not apprehensive. + +Tours of duty were arranged, so that two or more cowboys would be on +guard all night. However, the hours of darkness passed with no further +activity on the part of the Mexicans. + +In the morning, however, the forces from Diamond X ranch observed +strange actions on the part of their enemies. + +"What in the world are they up to?" asked Nort, as he and his brother +and cousin looked across the river. + +Well might he ask that. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"WE CROWED TOO SOON!" + +Not only the boy ranchers, but their more experienced cowboy companions +were puzzled by the actions of the sheep herders. It was the period +after the morning meal, the smoke of which fires was still rising +toward the sky. The sheep men appeared to have slept in the open, with +nothing more than their blankets for a bed and their saddles for +pillows. But they were accustomed to this, and so were our friends, +though they were glad of the fairly comfortable bunk house, or "fort," +as they dubbed it. + +But all interest was centered in what the Greasers were doing. Some of +them separated themselves from the sheep, which really did not require +much more attention than that given them by some intelligent dogs, and +a bunch of the hated and despised men were approaching the river, +carrying long poles. + +"What do you reckon they're going to do?" asked Dick. + +"Make a raft, maybe," answered Nort. "Though how they can float a lot +of sheep over on a raft made of a few bean poles is more than I can +understand." + +"It would take them a month or more to float the sheep over, one at a +time, on a bunch of poles," objected Bud. + +"That isn't what they're going to do," declared Dick, after closely +watching the actions of the Mexicans. "They're going to leave, that's +what they're planning." + +"Leave? What do you mean; go away?" asked his brother. + +"That's it--yes. They're going to make those dinguses the Indians use +trailing after their horses--a pole fastened to either side of the +animal, and the ends dragging on the ground. Between the poles they +carry their duffle." + +"Nonsense!" laughed Bud. "In the first place these aren't Indians, +though they're as bad, I reckon. But they didn't come with those pole +trailers; so why would they make 'em to go away with? All they own +they can pack in their hats." + +"I guess you're right," admitted Dick, after thinking it over. "But +they're going to do something." + +They were all watching the Mexicans now. The men with long +poles--which they must have brought with them as none grew in the +vicinity--now closely approached the edge of the creek. They could not +be going to make a raft--the nature of the poles precluded that. + +Then, as one after another of the sheep herders thrust the end of his +pole into the water, wading out a short distance to do this, Bud +uttered an exclamation. + +"I have it!" the lad cried. + +"You mean you're on to the game?" asked Dick. + +"Yes." + +"What is it?" cried the two brothers. + +"They're feeling around to find the places where the quicksands are," +announced Bud. + +"You mean so they can jump in and get rid of themselves?" grimly asked +Snake Purdee. + +"I mean so they can tell where _not_ to cross," said Bud, though this +was unnecessary, since they all grasped his meaning when he spoke of +the quicksands. + +"I guess you're right, son," observed Old Billee, who had come back to +the fort with the return of the cowboys. "They're looking for safe +fords and I shouldn't wonder but what they'd find 'em." + +"I wouldn't be too sure of that," said a tall lank cowboy. + +"What do you mean?" Billee wanted to know. + +"Wa'al, they may find the places where it's safe to cross--I ain't +sayin' but what they is sich places," went on "Lanky," as he was +called, "I know this creek putty well, an' I've crossed it more'n once, +swimmin' a hoss over an' sometimes drivin' cattle. But th' trouble is +sometimes when you find a safe place it doesn't stay safe very long." + +"What do you mean by that?" asked Bud, who thought it his duty to learn +all he could about matters connected with his father's ranch. + +"I reckon he means the quicksands shift--is that it, Lanky?" asked +Billee Dobb. + +"That's it--yep! A place that may be safe to cross to-night may be the +most dangerous in the mornin', or even in less time." + +"Oh, so the creek is going to favor us after all!" exclaimed Bud. "If +it's as treacherous as that it will keep those Greasers on the far +side." + +"Not altogether," said Billee. "They may have just enough fool luck to +strike a safe place and get over here." + +"Well, if they come we'll be ready for 'em!" grimly said Nort, and the +others nodded in accord with this sentiment. + +Then, as there was nothing else to do for the present, they watched the +actions of the Mexicans--actions that were not so strange and +mysterious as they had been before Bud hit upon the right solution. + +And that it was a correct guess no one could doubt who watched the +sheep herders. With their long, thin poles they went up and down the +bank of the stream, thrusting the ends into the mud, or whatever formed +the bottom of Spur Creek. At times, as I have said, the Mexicans would +wade out, perhaps until the water came as high as their middle, in +order to thrust their poles farther out into the stream. But when a +man thus waded another stood near with ready lariat. + +"They're taking no chances on being caught as the horse was," said Nort. + +"Right-o!" exclaimed his brother. + +The sheep men, however, seemed to find so many places where there were +quicksands--or indications of them--in the vicinity of the place just +across from the fort--that they soon moved more than a mile down +stream. That is, some of them did. Others moved up, the party +separating and leaving a few men guarding the sheep. + +"As if we'd cross and try to catch any of the woollies!" laughed Bud, +motioning to those on guard. + +It was late in the afternoon when the survey or test of the creek +seemed to be completed. The two parties with their poles came back to +what might be called the "camp," and a consultation seemed to be taking +place. + +In the still, quiet atmosphere the excited voices carried across the +creek, though what was said could not be made out. + +"They seem to be having a dispute," observed Nort. + +And this was evident. One bunch of the Greasers evidently held to one +opinion, and a minority disagreed. However, in the end the majority +ruled and then, to the surprise of our friends, the Greasers broke +camp, leaped to their saddles, and started driving their flocks back +toward the south, whence they had come. + +For a few moments our friends, watching this move, did not know how to +interpret it. But as it dawned on them that the sheep men were +"pulling up stakes," and departing, Billee cried: + +"We've got the best of 'em, boys! Or, rather, the quicksands worked +for us. They've gone back where they came from." + +"And I hope they stay," sang out Yellin' Kid. + +This was the hope of all, and it seemed likely to be carried out. As +night settled down, the mass of sheep and their herders grew more and +more indistinct as greater distance was put between them and those +holding the fort. + +"Well, we'll wait a day or so to see if they don't come back," said +Billee, "and then we'll mosey to Diamond X. There's a pile of work +waitin' for us there." + +"And we'd like to get back to Happy Valley," observed Bud. + +"That's right," agreed Nort and Dick. + +For the first time since the alarm about the sheep men rest was easier +in the fort that night. The danger appeared to be disappearing. The +treacherous nature of Spur Creek, with its shifting bottom of +quicksands--that might be here one day and a mile farther off the +next--had served our friends a good turn. + +At least it seemed so, until the next morning. Then, as Billee Dobb +arose early and, as was his custom, went out for a before-breakfast +survey, he uttered a cry. + +"What's the matter?" asked Bud, coming to the door of the fort. + +"We crowed too soon, that's what's the matter," answered Billee. "We +crowed too soon!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +SKIRMISHES + +Bud did not need an interpreter to understand what the old cow puncher +meant. If he had been at all doubtful, a glance toward where Billee +pointed would have solved the mystery. + +For, some miles down the creek was a cloud of dust, and, not only a +cloud of dust, but that which caused the haze--the sheep and their +herders. + +"They've come back!" cried Bud. "And just where we didn't expect 'em." + +"'Twould have been mighty poor policy on their part to come back where +we did expect 'em," dryly observed Billee. "It was their game to fool +us, and they did it." + +"Then it was all a trick!" cried Bud. + +"Reckon it was," agreed Billee with a grin, as Nort, Dick and the +others strolled out in readiness for breakfast. + +"That poling of the river was all a bluff," said Nort. + +"Oh, not exactly," declared Billee. "They used the poles to try to +find a place free from quicksands. Not findin' it opposite our fort, +they decided to try farther down. Then some smart Aleck among 'em--an' +we got to give 'em credit for it--thought of makin' it look as though +they were givin' up--retreatin', so to speak. + +"That's the way it looked to us, and we crowed too soon, jest as I said +a minute ago. They kept on goin', circled around an' now there they +are, ready to cross Spur Creek farther away." + +"But we can stop 'em there, same as we could here," said Dick. + +"Yes, but we got to move our base of supplies an' that takes time," +said Billee. "An' while we're doin' that they may make a +crossin'--that is, if they can avoid the quicksands. They may even +find a ford down there, so the sheep can walk over without havin' to +swim." In his excitement Billee dropped most of his final g's, and +clipped his other words. + +"There is a ford there," declared Lanky, the tall, thin cowboy. + +"Any quicksands?" Nort wanted to know. + +"That I can't say. The sands shift so you can't tell where they are." + +"Well, there's only one thing to do," declared Bud. "Some of us have +got to go down there and stop 'em from crossing. This is the first +skirmish of the fight." + +"We'll come with you," offered Nort and Dick. + +"Hold on a minute--don't be rash," counseled Old Billee. "It'll take +more'n you three lads to stop them Greasers and the sheep." + +"Well, we're under your orders," Bud admitted, saluting the veteran. + +"Well then, you three go," advised Billee, "and Snake and Kid will go +with you. We'll bring some grub down to you." + +For it might be too late to wait until after breakfast, simple as that +meal was, and as quickly served as it could be. There was no time to +be lost. Bud and his boy-rancher cousins realized this. + +Soon they were in their saddles, riding down the creek toward where the +sheep had been herded together on the southern side of the stream. +There were the same bunch of Greasers--the boys easily picked out and +recognized certain characters, even across the creek, which was wider +here and more shallow. + +If Bud and the others expected to engage in a sharp fight as soon as +they reached the scene, they were disappointed. True, the sheep +herders became aware of their arrival, and there was some talk, and not +a little excitement, among the Greasers. But there were no hostile +acts, and no attempt was made to drive over any sheep. + +"I wonder if there is a ford here?" said Yellin' Kid. + +"I reckon there is," said Snake Purdee. "You can see where it has been +used," and he pointed to marks on their bank of the stream. + +"They either know about this place, or they've made some tests and are +satisfied that it's safe," declared Bud. + +"But if what Lanky says is true, though it may have been safe early +this morning, it might not be safe now," said Dick. + +"That's true, but I think they'll take a chance," Bud declared. "There +isn't fodder enough on that side to last the sheep very long." + +This was perfectly true, and it was evident that the herders would +endeavor to get their woolly charges on the other side of the stream as +soon as possible, to take advantage of the rich grazing on the open +range, newly made available to all comers. + +"But I thought when the government opened new land it could only be +taken by citizens, or those about to become citizens," questioned Dick, +when, as they watched the sheep herders, they talked over the situation. + +"That is the law," said Bud. "But down here you'll find the law +doesn't amount to much when a man wants a thing. He generally goes and +gets it, and thinks about the law afterward. That's why Dad has to do +what he is doing. If the law was as tight here as it is in the east, +he could get out an injunction, or something, against these herders, +and stand them off until he could find his papers proving his claim." + +"Think he'll ever find 'em?" asked Nort. + +Bud shook his head. + +"It's hard telling," he answered. + +Meanwhile there appeared to be "nothing doing" among the sheep herders. +They had gathered their flocks together and were making a rough camp, +as if they intended to stay for some time. + +Then, about an hour later, Billee arrived with a couple of his cowboys, +bringing food for Bud and his comrades--food that was greatly +appreciated, for it was a long time since supper the night before. + +The boy ranchers ate and waited. Still there was no action on the part +of the Greasers. They appeared content to wait for something to "turn +up," as Mr. Micawber would say. + +"What are we going to do when they start to cross?" asked Nort. + +"That's so--we'd better make a plan," added Dick. + +"Shall we fire at the men, their horses or the sheep?" Bud wanted to +know. + +"Fire at everything and everybody!" decided Snake vindictively. "We've +got to break up the first rush." + +"And yet it seems too bad to kill innocent animals," went on Bud. "Do +you know, I have an idea!" he cried. + +"No? Really?" asked Dick with a playful attempt at sarcasm. + +"Sure I have," Bud went on. "What we want to do is to drive them back, +isn't if?" + +"That's it," said Billee. "We not only want to drive 'em back, but we +want to discourage 'em from coming over again." + +"Then I think I know what will do the trick!" went on Bud. "It won't +be powder and bullets, either," he added. "We won't have to kill +anything or anybody." + +"How you going to do it?" asked Snake, a bit skeptical. + +"I'll show you," said Bud. "Wait until I make one." + +His companions wondered what his scheme might be. The older cowboys +were great believers in the efficacy of the .45, and they had their +guns ready. + +But Bud busied himself with some things he took from a bundle he +carried on his saddle. Dick and Nort saw their cousin had some strong +rubber bands, bits of cord, squares of leather and a Y-shaped branch he +cut from a cottonwood tree. + +"Say, are you making a sling shot?" asked Dick. + +"That's just what I'm making," answered Bud. "If we each have a +slingshot, and a supply of stones, I think we can turn the Greasers and +their horses, as well as the sheep back without killing any of 'em!" + +For a moment they regarded Bud in silence. Then Nort cried: + +"I believe it'll work!" + +And as Bud finished his sling shot and sent a stone zipping into the +creek with a vicious "ping!" Billee cried: + +"That's the best trick yet. I think it'll work! I hated to shoot to +kill, but I didn't see any way out of it. Now we can sting 'em enough +with stones to turn 'em, especially as they'll be in the water. Bud, I +think it'll work." + +"I don't want to throw a monkey wrench in the gears," said Snake +softly, "but it 'pears to me that while we're shootin' harmless stones +they'll be firin' real bullets. An' where will we be then?" + +"We don't run any more risks than if we were firing bullets, too," said +Bud. "And I think with them having to guide their horses in the water, +look out for quicksands and drive the frightened sheep over, we can +demoralize 'em with these slingshots." + +"Sure you can!" cried Billee Dobb. "Come on," he ordered. "Every man +make a slinger. It's like the old Bible story of David and Goliath. +But how'd you happen to have those rubber bands, Bud?" + +"Oh, I got 'em to make a model airship," the boy confessed, "but I +didn't find time. I've been lugging 'em around this last week. Now +they'll come in handy." + +In a short time each cowboy had made himself a slingshot, of the style +you boys have, doubtless, often constructed. With strong rubber bands +they send a stone with great force. + +The slingshots were no sooner made, and a supply of ammunition secured +from the edge of the creek, than an unusual movement was observed among +the sheep herders. Some of them separated from the main body, and +began driving a flock of the lambs, rams and ewes toward the creek. + +"Ready for the first skirmish!" cried Old Billee. + +"Let her come!" sang out Yellin' Kid. + +Nearer to the edge of Spur Creek approached the sheep herders. The +animals bleated and tried to turn back, but the dogs barked at them and +snapping whips whirled viciously over their backs. Then, too, they +were urged on with horses at their heels. + +"They're coming right over," said Dick to his brother and cousin, the +three boy ranchers being close together. + +"And not one of 'em has a gun out," added Bud. "I reckon they are +making this a sort of test so they can claim we fired on 'em first if +it comes up in a law court. Well, we aren't exactly _firing_ at 'em," +he chuckled. "We're just _stoning_ 'em." + +"And we'd better begin to stone!" cried Nort. + +He drew back the strong rubber bands of his sling. In the leather +piece was a round pebble. Nort took aim at one of the approaching +Mexicans. + +The skirmishing was about to begin. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +OPEN WARFARE + +"Zip!" a stone from Nort's sling cut the air with a vicious ping, and +not only that, but it caught one of the Greasers on the side of his +head. He uttered a cry, dropped his reins and clapped a hand to the +smarting place. + +Another instant and he had lost control of his horse, which first swam +down stream and then turned to go back to the shore he had left. One +reason for this was that Nort had let fly a stone that took the horse +on the flank. And Nort was careful not to shoot as hard at the horse +as he had at the rider. In fact the horse was not hurt at all--merely +frightened, for the stone was like a fly-bite. + +But it was enough. + +Meanwhile the other defenders of Spur Creek had been using their slings +to advantage, first stinging the Greaser riders with vicious stones and +then, more lightly, tapping the horses to demoralize them rather than +to hurt them. + +This sort of warfare proved most effective, for by turning the horses +and sending them back, in spite of all the efforts of their riders, the +forces of the sheep herders were thrown into confusion. + +And this, really, was the object of Bud and his companions. They did +not want to kill so much as a single sheep. All they desired was to +keep inviolate the land rightfully owned by Mr. Merkel. And he felt +that he still owned it, in spite of the action of the United States +Congress, and even though his papers had been stolen. + +In this initial skirmish, which soon developed into a fight, the +advantage, at first, was all on the side of the Diamond X force as the +Greasers did not fight back. Some of them carried guns, but did not +draw them. + +It might be reasoned that they wanted to go into court with "clean +hands," as the legal term is. That is, they could claim they were +fired upon when attempting to make a peaceable crossing of the creek in +order to pasture their sheep on the new government open range land. +One part of their contention might be true, but the one implying that +Mr. Merkel's land could be taken by any chance comer, was not true. + +At any rate, first along, the Mexicans did not fire back. Meanwhile +Bud and his comrades were fairly peppering the Greasers with stones +from the rubber slings. No one was badly hurt--indeed, bruised faces +and hands were about the only injuries, but if you have ever faced a +fusilade from a battery of putty blowers or bean shooters you know how +disconcerting it is. + +Then, too, the horses proved allies of our friends. For the light +"peppering" the animals received from the slings made the animals +nervous and disinclined to face the shower of stones. + +Some few sheep were driven into the stream, and it was evident that, +for the present at least, this was a good crossing--shallow enough and +with no quicksands. But once the sheep began to hear and see the +stones "zipping" in the water around them, some of the woollies feeling +the pebbles--though only slightly--a new problem was presented to the +Mexicans. Their sheep, like the horses, turned about and made for the +southern shore. + +So that, in less than five minutes after the attempt to make the +crossing was started, it had failed, and the hostile forces withdrew. + +"Guess we made it too hot for them," chuckled Bud. + +"For a while, yes," agreed Nort. "But it isn't over yet." + +"No," added his brother. "If they give up now I miss my guess. +They'll try again." + +And so the Greasers did. + +Withdrawing to a safe distance from the slings--which could only just +about carry across Spur Creek, a conference was held among the sheep +herders. Then they came on again, trying in the same place. + +But Bud and his friends were ready, with an unlimited supply of +ammunition. Stones were plentiful along the creek, and each cowboy had +his pockets full. + +One advantage of the sling shots was that they could be "loaded and +fired" much more rapidly than the guns--by which I mean the .45 +revolvers. And of course on humanitarian grounds there was no +comparison--no one was killed or even severely wounded by the stones. +They were only painfully hurt. + +But this was part of the game. It was open warfare and had to be +endured. Besides, from the standpoint of Bud and his comrades, they +were in the right and the sheep herders were in the wrong. + +I have no doubt but that the herders of the sheep reasoned just the +other way--holding that they had a right to cross the creek and pasture +their charges on the rich grass beyond, and arguing that the Diamond X +outfit was in the wrong. + +And in this conflict lies my story, such as it is. + +After the third attempt to cross the creek with their sheep, being +driven back each time, the Mexicans seemed to lose patience. There +were angry voices as most of the Greasers gathered about one man who +seemed to be their leader, and who had, it was evident, counseled +pacific measures. Now these came to an end. + +For on the "fourth down," as Dick laughingly referred to it, the +Greasers began shooting bullets as they rode their horses into the +stream. + +"Now it's a fight in earnest!" cried Bud. + +"Draw your guns!" ordered Billee sternly. + +The real battle was about to open. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE FLAG OF TRUCE + +The advantage in the fight was on the side of the Diamond X outfit, +even though it was outnumbered. For the Greaser sheep herders nearly +doubled the force of the cowboys. But this, in itself, was not such a +handicap as would at first appear. + +Naturally any cowboy held himself more than a match for any two +Greasers, and if this were not enough, the sheep men had the +disadvantage of having to cross a stream in the face of fire. This is +always likely to result in disaster, even in more modern warfare than +that which I am writing about. There are several reasons for this, +whether the attacking party, crossing the stream, is afoot or on horses. + +Progress through water is always slow. If you have ever tried to run +while wading in a millpond or at the stream adjacent to the "old +swimming hole," you realize what I mean. It is easier to swim than to +run through water, even where it is not very deep. The same holds true +for horses. And to attempt to swim was out of the question, for the +Greasers, as they must keep their guns out of water. + +The only thing for them to do was to start their horses across, with +the men in the saddles. And the Mexicans probably knew, from a test, +that the water was not deep enough to sweep the animals off their legs. + +So then, with the handicap of rushing water against them, the horses +could not make much progress, and, while crossing, the enemy force +would be subject to the fire of the boy ranchers and the cowboys from +Diamond X ranch. + +"Well, boys, I guess we'll have to let 'em have it," said Billee +regretfully as he saw the advancing sheep men. Nearly all the Greaser +force was concentrated on crossing Spur Creek, only a few being left in +charge of the animals. "But shoot at the horses first," advised +Billee. "I hate to do it, but it's better to have the killing of a +horse on your mind than the murder of a man. Though this isn't +murder--defending your property against a band of thieves. So shoot at +the horses first!" + +This, cruel as it may sound, had to be done. It was a case of the +lives of the animals or the lives of our friends. For it could not be +doubted that, once the Mexicans had gained a footing on the northern +side of the stream, they would drive the defenders away--shooting to +kill if need be--and then the way would be clear for bringing over the +sheep. + +Several shots rang out from the ranks of the cowboys, and there was a +wild flurry and scramble among the horses in the stream. Two of them +were hit and spilled their riders into the creek. But these men +grasped the tail of other horses and kept on. + +"They aren't going to give up easy," murmured Dick. + +"But it's up to us to make 'em," said Bud fiercely. "If they get over +it will be all up with us, for they're twice as many as we are." + +"They shan't get over!" declared Nort. And it was with the same spirit +that the intrepid Frenchman muttered: + +"They shall not pass!" + +If the boy ranchers and their comrades hoped to escape scathless they +were painfully disappointed. For though the sheep herders were under +the handicap of having to cross the stream, manage their frantic horses +and shoot--all at the same time--they managed to do enough of the +latter to wound several of the cowboys, one seriously, as developed +later. + +And, just as Dick was reloading his gun, he gave a cry and the weapon +dropped from his hands. + +"Hit?" cried Bud. + +"A little," Dick answered, and he tried to smile, though it was not a +very good attempt. + +"Get back under cover," advised Nort, for there was cover, of a sort, +behind where the cowboys were fighting, a range of low hills that would +effectually screen the bullets of the Greasers. + +"Oh, it doesn't amount to anything," Dick insisted, holding his left +hand over his right, for it was the latter that was hit. "It's only a +scratch." + +"Well, get a bandage on it and come back in the game--if you can, boy," +advised Billee, who had ridden up on hearing Dick's cry. "We'll look +after it later--when we drive these skunks back where they belong." + +This, from Billee, amounted to an order, and Dick obeyed, wheeling his +horse and taking refuge behind a hill. There, in anticipation of some +casualties, a sort of emergency dressing station had been laid out, +with water, lint and bandages. There was water not only for man but +for beast, since it was impossible to let the horses go to the creek in +the face of the fire from the sheep men. So Dick and his steed drank +thirstily and then Dick bandaged, as best he could, his wounded hand. +It was more than a scratch, being, in fact, a deep flesh wound, but the +bullet had struck a glancing blow and had gone out again, for which +Dick was thankful. + +Meanwhile he could hear the shooting going on at the scene he had left. +The cowboys, riding up and down the bank of the creek on their fleet +horses, offered very poor marks for the indifferent shooting of the +Mexicans, or the casualties on the part of the Diamond X forces would +have been much heavier than it was. Even then several were hit, and +Billee's hat was carried off his head by a bullet, which, if it had +gone a few inches lower, would have ended the career of that versatile +cowboy. + +But the quick and accurate firing of the cowboys was having its effect, +and it was an effect that was telling not only on the morale but on the +fighting ability of the sheep men. For several horses were killed, and +a number of men put out of the game. + +For a few minutes, though, it seemed that, after all, the attackers +would make a landing. But with a burst of furious yells Snake and Kid +led a charge against the foremost of the sheepmen and turned them back. + +They could not stand the withering fire that was poured in on them and +they wheeled their plunging horses in the swirling stream and made for +the opposite shore whence they had come. + +"Hurray!" cried Bud as he saw this. + +"We've got 'em on the run!" shouted Nort. + +Just then Dick rode back to join the fray, having bound up his wounded +hand as best he could unaided. + +"What's doing?" he asked. + +For answer his brother and cousin pointed to the retreating Greasers. + +"Good!" exclaimed Dick. "Do you think they'll come back?" he asked. + +"No telling," remarked Bud. + +"I don't believe we'll have gotten rid of them so easily," was Nort's +opinion. + +There was some confusion now amid the ranks of the sheep men. Those +who were wounded were being cared for, and they all gathered around +what had been their central camp fire. + +"They're debating whether to give up or not," was Snake's view of it. + +And if this was the subject of the talk it ended in a decision not to +give up the fight. For presently another attempt was made to cross the +creek. This time the Greasers divided forces, separating about a +quarter of a mile, and thus necessitating a division in the ranks of +the cowboys. This, of course, made the odds against the Diamond X +outfit rather heavier. + +But again the Greasers were repulsed, with several wounded, though the +same might be said of Old Billee's forces. Again the sheep men +withdrew across the creek. + +Again was there a conference, and then the same tactics were tried as +at first--the main body came directly across the stream. + +But now a new element entered into the battle. For, no sooner had the +fight started for the third time than some of the Mexicans began +driving into the water, at a point perhaps half a mile from the fray, a +flock of sheep. + +"Look at that!" cried Yellin' Kid. + +It was evident that something must be done. It called for another +division of the defending force, now somewhat reduced in numbers +because of injuries. But the crossing of the sheep had to be stopped, +as well as the passage of the armed men. + +And, after a hard struggle, this was accomplished. The sheep were the +easier driven back, for the animals were soon frightened and thrown +into confusion. But the Mexicans themselves were desperate, and some +of them even succeeded in reaching the opposite shore, setting their +horses on Mr. Merkel's land. + +However, there was a fierce rally against them on the part of the +cowboys and they were driven back. + +This was not without desperate work, however, and several on each side +suffered minor injuries. The trouble was that the cowboys held their +enemies too lightly. It was easy, and perhaps natural, for them to +despise the sheep herders. + +But, after all, these were men, and rough and ready men at that. They +had something to fight for--their lives and their charges, and to lose +one was to endanger the other. So, for a time it looked, as Bud said +afterward, "like touch and go," so near was the tide of battle to +turning against the cowboys. + +Both sides were now pretty well exhausted, but the disadvantage of +having to cross the stream still hampered the Greasers. They must have +felt this, for after another consultation among themselves something +new and unexpected happened. + +A lone rider was seen to separate himself from the hated band on the +Mexican side of the creek, and he slowly approached the ford. + +"Watch him!" cried Billee, who had picked up his hat with a hole in the +brim. + +"He's up to some trick!" declared Bud. + +"Shouldn't wonder, son," agreed Billee. + +A moment later they saw what the "trick" was, if such it could be +called. From under his coat the man produced a white flag and waved it +vigorously toward the boy ranchers and their friends. + +"A truce!" cried Bud. "Guess they've had enough!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A LEGAL CONTEST + +Holding the flag of truce above his head with both hands, the better to +indicate that he was unarmed, the man, a bearded Mexican to all +appearances, rode his horse half way across the stream. He was then +within easy talking distance of the cowboys and Old Billee called: + +"That's far enough, Greaser! Stay right where you are and speak your +little piece. Keep him covered, boys," he went on in a low voice to +those around him. + +"Oh, he's covered all right," replied Bud. And, indeed, half a dozen +guns were trained, more or less conspicuously, on the bearer of the +flag of truce. + +"Well, say what you've got to say," ordered Billee grimly. + +"_Señors_, we have had enough of fight--for the time," came from the +herald. + +And at the sound of his voice the boy ranchers, with one accord, +exclaimed: + +"Del Pinzo!" + +"At your service, _señors_," came the mocking retort, and Del Pinzo, +for he it was, smiled, showing his white teeth through his black, +curling beard. It was the beard which had prevented his recognition up +to now. Though there was something vaguely familiar about the actions +of the leader of the sheep men. And he who bore the flag of truce--Del +Pinzo no less--had been the leader in the attempts to cross the creek. + +"Well, what do you want?" demanded Billee. "We might have known it was +some of your dirty work, though I must say you've got a pretty good +false face on with all them whiskers. What do you want?" + +"To cross the creek, of course, _Señor_ Billee, and pasture our sheep +on that land which belongs to us." + +"Belongs to you! How do you make that out?" demanded Bud, unable to +keep still longer. + +"Ah, the young _señor_ speaks," mocked Del Pinzo, smilingly. "Then he +should know that this land has been thrown open to all who may wish to +graze sheep on it." + +"This land was never intended for sheep, Del Pinzo, and you know it!" +cried Billee. "Even if it was, it belongs to Mr. Merkel, though you'll +never see the day he raises sheep--the stinking critters!" + +"You say the land belongs to _Señor_ Merkel?" asked Del Pinzo, lowering +his hands and the flag of truce, perhaps unconsciously. + +"Keep 'em up!" snarled Snake Purdee, and the flag went up again in a +trice. + +"You know this land belongs to Mr. Merkel," went on Billee. + +"Doubtless, then, he can prove it in a court of law," mocked the +half-breed Greaser. + +"Sure he can!" asserted the old cowboy earnestly and with conviction, +though he knew in his heart this was not so. But, as he said +afterward, he wasn't going to let Del Pinzo do all the "bluffing." + +"Then we shall go to law about it," said the Mexican leader. "And we +shall have action against you for shooting at us when we peaceably +tried to cross and pasture our flocks on the open range land that is +given away by the so grand government of the United States." + +"They wouldn't give any to _you_!" cried Billee. "All the land you'll +ever own in the good old U.S.A. will be six feet to hold you after +somebody shoots your head off, as ought to be done long ago. You're +not a citizen and you know it, and you can't claim a foot of land, even +if Mr. Merkel didn't own it!" + +"I claim it not for myself--but for my friends, the so poor sheep +herders," said Del Pinzo, in what he meant for a humble voice. "I but +act as their leader and adviser. I seek nothing for myself." + +"First time I've ever known _that_ to happen!" chuckled Billee. +"You're generally looking out for number one first of all. Well, if +you want to give your friends good advice, tell 'em to go back home and +start making _frijoles_ for a living. They'll never earn their salt +raising sheep--that is, not on this side of Spur Creek." + +"That is to be seen, _Señor_ Billee," mocked Del Pinzo, still smiling. +"Once more I demand of you that we are permit to pass the stream and +let our so hungry sheep feed." + +"And once more I tell you there's nothin' doin'!" snapped Billee. +"Your sheep can starve for all of me!" + +"For the third time I ask and demand that you let us pass," called Del +Pinzo, who seemed to have more patience than Billee, whatever else +might be said in disfavor of the Greaser. + +"And for the third and last time I tell you to take your gang and your +sheep back where they came from!" cried Billee. "Now what are you +going to do--fight?" + +"Yes, _señor_," was the calm answer. "I shall fight, but not no longer +with guns. I fight you in the courts. My friends, they are of +citizens of the United States. They have of a rights to the land and +of their rights I shall see that they get. _Adios!_" + +He bowed courteously--he was a polite villain, I'll say that for +him--and, lowering the flag of truce, he rode back to join his comrades +on the other bank. + +For a time there was silence amid the boy ranchers and their friends, +and then, as movements among the sheep men indicated that they were +getting ready to depart, Bud asked: + +"What do you think is up, Billee?" + +"Wa'al, I think, just as Del Pinzo said, he and those with him have had +enough of powder and lead. Now they'll try the courts. I'm afraid +your father is in for a legal battle, Bud." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +NORT'S PLAN + +Silently the cowboys from Diamond X ranch watched the sheep herders and +their innocent, though undesirable, charges fade away to the south. +The Greasers took their wounded with them, and several spare horses +they had brought along made up for those that regretfully were shot by +the cowboys. + +"I hope we've seen the last of that bunch," remarked Dick, tenderly +feeling of his wounded hand. + +"No such good luck," declared Nort. "Do you really think they mean to +try and get pasturage here, Billee?" he asked. + +"I sure do," replied the veteran. "They can't feed their sheep much +longer on the other side of the creek--they'll have to come here--if +they can." + +"But we stopped 'em," said Snake. + +"Only for a time," said Billee. "As Del Pinzo boasts, now they'll try +the courts." + +"But that Greaser won't have a standing in any decent court," exclaimed +Bud. "He's a jail bird--he isn't even a citizen!" + +"How does it come he is working for the interests of these Greasers, +some of whom may be citizens?" asked Nort. + +"Del Pinzo will do anything by which he can get a dollar or have a +little power," was Billee's opinion. "How he got out of jail I don't +know. Maybe it's by some power over a government official, and maybe +he hopes, by that same hold, to influence the courts against us. +Anyhow, he's out of jail and he's cast his lot in with the sheep men +for his own advantage, you can gamble on that--not theirs. He has +stirred them up to demand certain things which they regard as their +rights under the new law. + +"Well, maybe they are their rights, on land that hasn't already been +claimed, but that doesn't apply here. Your dad owns this land, Bud, +and we're going to see he doesn't lose it by any tricks of Del Pinzo." + +"He seems to have given up his tricks for a time," remarked Bud. + +"But only for a time," added Billee. "He'll have us in court next. +Not that there's an awful lot of law out this section," he said with a +grim smile, "but what there is can be mighty troublesome when you rub +it the wrong way." + +There was nothing more to be done now as long as the sheep men had +departed. Though at that, Billee and his cowboys were not going to be +caught unawares. With all Del Pinzo's talk of applying to the law, he +might be "bluffing." He might seek to draw the defenders away and then +rush back, getting the sheep across the stream. Once on the Diamond X +range it would be hard to dislodge them. + +"And it only takes a few hours of sheep on a pasture to spoil it for +horses," remarked Bud. + +So, fearing treachery, a guard was left at the point where the battle +of the crossing had been fought. The remainder of the cowboys returned +to the "fort," and from there word was sent to Mr. Merkel of what had +occurred. + +"So Del Pinzo will have me in court, will he?" remarked the owner of +Diamond X ranch. "Well, I reckon I won't worry until I see sheep on my +land." + +But for all that, Mr. Merkel could not help wishing his papers had not +been stolen. For though he might, eventually, prove his claim without +them, it meant a delay. And during this delay the other side--the +sheep men--might obtain some legal advantage that would enable them to +take at least temporary possession of the land in dispute. + +And, as Bud had truthfully remarked, only a short occupancy of pasture +by the odorous sheep would spoil the grazing and water for sensitive +cattle and horses. + +For several days after the fight nothing happened. Dick and the +wounded cowboys received medical treatment, and all except one were +soon on the road to recovery. Poor Lanky had received a grievous wound +which eventually caused his death, and he was sincerely mourned. + +Meanwhile Mr. Merkel kept on with his ranch work, and the boys, +visiting Happy Valley, found matters there going well. They were far +enough away not to need to worry about sheep for a time. Then, too, +their papers were safe and in case dispute arose as to ownership the +matter could easily be settled. + +During this comparatively quiet spell, part of which time was utilized +by Mr. Merkel in a vain attempt to discover the missing deeds and other +documents, the boy ranchers paid several visits to the camp of +Professor Wright. That eager scientist was delving away after fossil +bones as enthusiastically as if he had never discovered any. + +"What are you on the track of now?" asked Nort. + +"A Brontotherium," answered the professor. + +"What did he say--a bronco?" asked Bud. "We've got some over at our +place you can have for nothing," he added with a laugh. "They're not +dead yet, though some of the boys who tried to ride 'em wish they were." + +"A Brontotherium," explained Professor Wright, "is an extinct animal, +something like the rhinoceros, but much larger--more than the size of +an elephant, I hope to prove. There are indications that I may find +the bones here." + +"I hope you do," remarked Dick. + +The boys wandered around the camp, and were about to leave the scene of +the digging and excavating when Nort uttered an exclamation. + +"What's the matter?" asked his brother. + +"Look! There's Del Pinzo!" exclaimed Nort, and, surely enough, the +figure of the wily Greaser or half-breed was seen moving among the men +engaged by the professor to help him and his assistant in digging up +fossil bones. + +"You have that rascal again, I see, Professor," said Bud rather coldly. + +"Well, he certainly is a great help," was the answer. "He has great +influence over the Mexican laborers." + +"Too much," grimly remarked Bud. They went away, paying no further +attention to Del Pinzo though he smiled at them in what he doubtless +intended for a genial manner. + +"What do you make of it, Bud?" asked Nort. + +"Of what?" + +"Professor Wright having that rascal with him?" + +"Well," remarked Bud, with as judicial an air as he could assume on +short notice, "you can look at it in two ways." + +"For instance?" suggested Dick, teasingly. "We're in for something +good, now," he whispered to his brother, though not so low but that Bud +could not hear. + +"Well, either Professor Wright knows Del Pinzo is a rascal, and takes +to him in spite of that, or he doesn't know it--though how he can be +ignorant I can't understand," declared Bud. "If he doesn't--he's the +only one who knows the game who thinks Del is any better than a common, +onery horse thief!" + +"Maybe something will happen, soon, to open his eyes," suggested Nort, +as they rode on. + +When they reached the headquarters at Diamond X they found Sheriff Hank +Fowler in earnest conversation with Mr. Merkel. + +"Anything doing, Dad?" asked Bud. + +"Yes. I'm summoned to court to prove my title to the Spur Creek land," +was the answer. "Hank has just served me with the papers." + +"I'm tellin' him he don't need to worry none," said Mr. Fowler, with a +genial grin. "He can easy prove his title." + +"Perhaps not so easy as you think," remarked Mr. Merkel, "since my +papers are missing. If I could only get them back!" + +"And I think I have a plan that will get them back!" suddenly exclaimed +Nort. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +IN DISGUISE + +All eyes were turned on the lad, but he did not seem abashed. + +"What's the idea?" asked Dick, who thought perhaps his brother was +"joshing." + +"It just occurred to me, after I saw Del Pinzo at the professor's +camp," Nort said. "It may sound foolish, but it's worth trying, I +think." + +And when, a little later, he had explained to Mr. Merkel and Sheriff, +they clapped the lad on the back heartily and said: + +"Go ahead! It's worth trying!" + +Nort needed several days to perfect his plans for a daring excursion +into the enemy's country, so to speak. But before he had completed his +arrangements Del Pinzo, through some rascally lawyers, had gotten in +the first blow of the legal battle. + +As Mr. Merkel had said, he was summoned to court to defend his claim to +the rich grazing lands of Spur Creek. If he had had his documents this +would have been comparatively easy, but with the stealing of the deeds +and other papers, the task was harder. + +Of course Mr. Merkel engaged a lawyer, but the first skirmish resulted +in victory for the sheep men. As had been surmised, Del Pinzo did not +directly appear in the matter, though he was in court consulting with +the lawyers engaged by the herders. And, as might have been expected, +some of the claimants to rights under the new open range law were legal +citizens of the United States and, as such, entitled to take up a +certain amount of land. + +"But they have no right to take Mr. Merkel's land!" said the ranchman's +lawyer. "We grant that they have a right to pasture sheep, or even +elephants, for that matter, on land they can rightfully claim. But +they can't claim land already taken up and given over to the pasture of +cattle. We recognize, Your Honor, that to the Court there is no +difference between a sheep and a cow." + +"You are right there," admitted the Judge, "and I suppose you are +prepared, Mr. Bonnett, to substantiate your client's legal claim to +this land by deeds and other papers." + +"Unfortunately my client's deeds are missing," Mr. Bonnett had to +admit, at which admission there was a grin from Del Pinzo, so Bud +thought, at least. "But if we have time we can bring the necessary +papers into court. Therefore we ask for delay." + +"And we oppose delay, for the reason that our sheep are suffering from +lack of fodder and we have a right to pasture them on the Spur Creek +lands!" cried the opposing lawyer. + +"I'll grant a week's postponement," decided the Judge. "If in that +time, Mr. Bonnett, you can not file proof, I'm afraid----" + +He did not finish, but they all knew what he meant. He would be +obliged, in strict law, though perhaps not justice, to let the sheep +men come in on land that Mr. Merkel claimed under rights of former +laws, when he had taken them up after a government opening. + +As has been said, legal matters in this sparsely settled part of the +United States were not as strictly enforced as in large cities. There +the loss of deeds could be made up by other evidence. But in the west +the papers were needed and without them, even though in possession, +there would be trouble to prove a claim. + +"But if the sheep come, even though the court says they may, there'll +be another fight!" declared the ranchman, in spite of his lawyer's +efforts to keep him quiet. + +It was two days after that when Nort started out of the ranch house one +early evening. There had been a consultation before he left, and when +he was ready to go he almost collided with Yellin' Kid, who entered. + +"What's the matter with you, Greaser?" cried the Kid angrily. "What +you doin' in here, anyhow?" + +"Well, Kid, if you don't recognize me I guess I'm safe!" chuckled Nort. + +"Nort!" shouted the Yellin' Kid. "What the----" + +"Not so loud!" cautioned Nort, laughing. "How do you like my +disguise?" he asked. And then, changing his voice to a whine, he +begged in slangy Spanish for a cigaret (which, of course, he did not +smoke) though he muttered his "thanks, _Señor_," in a manner that +caused Yellin' Kid to exclaim: + +"They'll never find you out! Good luck to you!" + +"_Adios_," laughed Nort. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE BRONTOTHERIUM + +There were busy times in the camp of Professor Wright, who was +searching for the fossil bones of a once living Brontotherium. The +scientist felt sure he was on the right track, though one of his +college assistants was openly skeptical. + +"This isn't the right rock formation at all, to dig for a +Brontotherium," he declared. + +"So some of my helpers held the time I discovered the other gigantic +fossil bones," retorted the professor. "But I proved that I was right. +We shall yet find a Brontotherium--or what is left of one--you'll see!" + +Bud and Dick found time to stroll, occasionally, over to the camp of +the scientist, for there was much to interest them there, and they +wanted to be on hand when the "great discovery," as Professor Wright +referred to it, should be made. + +"Do you know," remarked Bud, as he and his chum were riding over to the +scene of excavating operations one day, "there's something quite +satisfying in going over among so much scientific knowledge." + +"Particularly when we don't have to absorb any of it ourselves, under +compulsion," remarked Dick with a chuckle. "It's like visiting a +school and watching the other fellows boning away." + +"Yes," agreed Bud. "We don't have to open a book nor learn a lot of +names as long as your arm. I wonder why they gave such long names to +these prehistoric monsters, anyhow?" + +"Give it up," spoke Dick shortly. "There must be a reason." + +"I reckon there is, but why in the name of Tunket couldn't they call +'em something shorter? Wouldn't it sound funny if we had to call a +horse a Brontosaurus?" + +"I'd teach mine to come without calling if it had a name like that!" +chuckled Dick. "But say, Bud, while we're over there--in the camp I +mean," and he pointed to it among the distant hills, "don't mention +Nort's name." + +"No, dad said not to, but I don't understand it at all." + +"Neither do I, but the least said the better. And if anyone over +there--especially Del Pinzo--asks for Nort, we're not to even admit he +isn't with us. Sort of say he'll be along presently." + +"I savey!" + +The boys reached the scene of the digging operations which were quite +extensive, Professor Wright being liberally supplied with money from +some learned society that was interested in securing for the college +the largest possible collection of fossil bones of long extinct +monsters. + +The boys knew some of the workers, and more than a few of the young +college men--some of the professors--who had been brought to the place +by Mr. Wright. And it was while Bud and Dick were again talking over +how foolish it seemed (to them) to use such long names in speaking of +the long-dead monsters that Professor Wright heard them. + +He did not happen to be busy at that particular moment, and he was a +man who never neglected an opportunity of imparting knowledge. He +would do this not always with discrimination, for Bud used to tell with +a laugh how once he overheard Professor Wright talking most learnedly +to an ignorant Greaser who had merely stopped to inspect a pile of +bones. + +"He was getting off the longest string of jaw-breaking Greek and Latin +terms," said Bud, telling the story, "spouting away how many millions +of years ago the Dinosaurs trod the earth, what they lived on, how they +fought among themselves, and he was dwelling particularly on how a +change of conditions wiped all these birds off the earth." + +"Meaning, by birds, the Dinosaurs and the like?" asked Dick. + +"Sure." + +"And how did the Greaser respond to it all?" Dick wanted to know. + +"Oh, he took it all in with open mouth," chuckled Bud. "Every now and +then he'd out with a '_si señor_,' which encouraged Professor Wright to +go on." + +"And how did it end?" asked Dick. + +"Oh, the prof. kept spouting away for an hour or more, showing bone +after bone of some he'd dug up (this was before the present occasion) +and when he was all through he leaned back with a jolly satisfied smile +on his phiz. + +"But say, Dick," went on Bud, "I wish yon could have seen the look on +the dear old prof.'s face when the Greaser pointed to the bones and +grunted out: + +"'Him good plenty much make soup!'" + +"No! Really?" + +"As sure as I can throw a rope! The idea of boiling up the +million-year bones to make soup! I sure thought the prof. would die! +After that he didn't spout his wise stuff to any more Greasers." + +"I shouldn't think he would." + +But on this occasion Professor Wright had a ranch more receptive and +intelligent audience. For, as I have said, overhearing Dick and Bud +discussing the "jaw-breaking names," as the boys termed them, the +scientist approached them with a reassuring smile on his face and said: + +"You are somewhat like the old lady, told of in the book written by +Professor Lucas of the American Museum of Natural History. In his +introduction he speaks of the necessity for using what are termed 'big' +words--that is scientific terms, and he mentions an old lady who said +she wasn't so surprised at the discovery of all these strange animals, +as she was at the fact that someone knew their names when they were +found." + +"But you don't know the names when you find them; do you?" asked Dick. +"Don't you name them after they are found?" + +"In a way we do, yes," answered the scientist. "But in the case of +those already found--and I am searching for specimens of some extinct +animals already identified--we have settled upon names. + +"As Professor Lucas remarks, the real trouble is that there are no +common names for these animals. As a matter of fact, when they existed +there were no people on earth to name them, or, if there were, the +names given by prehistoric man were not preserved, since they wrote no +histories. + +"And, as a matter of fact, those who complain that these names are hard +to pronounce do not stop to think that, in many cases, the names of the +Dinosaurs are no harder than others. They are simply less familiar and +not so often used. You wouldn't call hippopotamus a hard word; would +you, boys?" he asked. + +"It isn't hard to pronounce, but I'd hate to have to spell it," +chuckled Bud. + +"It's easy if you take it slow," declared Dick, and, then and there he +spelled it. + +"Well, you've been to more circuses than I have," countered Bud. + +"That's it!" cried the professor, seizing on the opportunity to impart +a little information. "The word hippopotamus is familiar to you--and +even to small children--because it has often been used, and because you +have seen circus pictures of it. Well, if we had Brontotheriums on +earth now, everyone would be using the name without stopping to think +how to pronounce it, and they could spell it as easily as you can spell +hippopotamus. Most words of Latin or Greek derivation are easy to +pronounce once you try them. + +"There are other names of animals in everyday use that would 'stump' us +if we stopped to think of them, but we don't. We rattle off mammoth, +rhinoceros, giraffe and boa constrictor easily." + +"Yes, they sound easy enough," argued Bud. + +"Well, all you need to do is to apply to the extinct monsters the same +principle of pronunciation that you use in saying hippopotamus, and you +have done the trick," went on Professor Wright. "In fact, it is all +rather simple." + +"Simple," murmured Dick. "Bront--bront--brontotherium!" + +"Take it by degrees," advised Professor Wright, "and remember that +generally these names are made up of one or two or even more Greek or +Latin words. Sometimes a Greek and Latin word is combined, but that +really is not scientific. + +"Now, in the case of the brontotherium, we have two Greek words which +excellently describe the animal whose bones I am after. That is the +description fits, as nearly as anything can to something we have never +seen. + +"There is a Greek word--_bronte_ it is pronounced in English, and it +means, in a sense, thunder. Another Greek word is _therion_, which +means wild beast. + +"Then bronto--bronto--therion must mean--thunder beast!" cried Dick, +rather proud that he had thus pieced together some information. + +"That's it!" announced Professor Wright. "You see how easy it is. +Change _therion_ to _therium_ and you have it." + +"But why did they call it a thunder beast?" Bud wanted to know. + +"There doesn't seem much sense in that," admitted the scientist, "until +you stop to think that paleontologists adopted the word 'thunder' as +meaning something large and monstrous, as thunder is the loudest noise +in the world." + +"Not so bad, after all," was Dick's admission. + +"I'm glad to hear you say so," commented the professor. "To go a bit +farther, take the word Dinosaur." + +"I know the last end of it means a big lizard," put in Bud. + +"Yes, and the front of it--the prefix _dino_, means the same thing that +_bronto_ signifies--something large, terrible and fear-inspiring. Dino +is a form of word taken from the Greek, _deinos_ meaning terrible and +mighty, from its root _deos_, which means fear. + +"So those who first discovered these great bones, having reconstructed +the animals whose skeletons they formed, gave them scientific names +best fitted to describe them. Can you think of anything more aptly +descriptive than 'thunder-lizard,' to indicate a beast shaped like the +lizards we see to-day, and yet whose size would terrify ancient man as +thunder terrified him?" + +The boys were really enjoying this scientific information, dry and +complicated as it must seem in the way I have written it down here. +But the professor had a way of making the most dry and scientific +subject seem interesting. + +"What gets me, though," said Dick, "is how they know about how these +big lizards and other things look when they only find a single bone, or +maybe one or two." + +"That is puzzling at first," admitted Professor Wright. "Perhaps I can +illustrate it for you. Take, for instance, the Dinornis--and before we +go any farther let me see if you can give me a good English name for +the creature. Try it now--the Dinornis." + +He looked expectantly at the boys. + +"Dino--dino--" murmured Bud. "That must mean--why that must mean +fierce or terrible, if it's anything like Dinosaur." + +"I'll encourage you so far as to say you're on the right track. In +other words, you are half right," said the scientist. "Suppose you +take a try at it," and he turned to Dick. + +"There isn't much left," laughed the lad. + +"Suppose you take it this way," suggested the scientist. "Lop off just +di--and assume that Bud has used that. You have left the syllable +nornis." + +"Nornis--nornis--it doesn't seem to mean anything to me," sighed Dick, +for he was rather disappointed at Bud's success and his own seeming +failure so far. + +"I'll help you a little," offered the professor. "Instead of saying +di-nornis, call it din-ornis. Did you ever hear the word +_ornithology_?" + +"Sure!" assented Bud. "It means--_ology_ that's the science of," he +was murmuring to himself. "Don't tell me now--I have it--the science +or study of birds. That's what ornithology is--the study of birds." + +"Correct," said the professor. "Ornis is the Greek word for bird, and +when we put in front of it Di, or din, meaning fear, thunder or terror, +we have a word meaning a terribly large bird, and that's just what the +Dinornis is--an extinct bird of great size. + +"But what I started to tell you was how we can sometimes--not always +and sometimes not correctly--reconstruct from a single bone the animal +that once carried it around with it. The Dinornis is a good example. + +"Some years ago there was discovered the pelvic and leg bones of what +was evidently an enormous extinct bird. Now, of course, our knowledge +of the past is based somewhat on our knowledge of the present, and if +we had but the pelvic and leg bones of, say, a crow, we could, even +without ever seeing a crow, come pretty nearly drawing the picture of +how large a bird it is, and of what shape to be able to use such a +pelvis and such leg bones. + +"So the men who reconstructed the Dinornis went at it. They set up the +pelvis and leg bones and then, with plaster or some substance, and by +working in proportion, they reconstructed the Dinornis, which is about +the shape of the ostrich or the extinct moa of New Zealand, only +larger. Here, I'll show you what I mean." + +Sitting down on a pile of dirt and shale rock, excavated by some of his +workers, Professor Wright, on the back of an envelope, sketched the +pelvic and leg bones and then from them he drew dotted lines in the +shape of a big bird like an ostrich. + +"You see how it is proportionately balanced," he remarked. "A bird +with that shape and size of leg would be about so tall--he could not be +much taller or larger or his legs would not have been able to carry him +around. + +"Take, for instance, the giraffe. If you found some of their long, +thin leg bones, and had nothing else, and had never seen a giraffe, +what sort of a beast would you imagine had been carried around on those +legs?" he asked the boys. + +"Well, a giraffe is about the only kind of a beast that could logically +walk on such long, thin legs," admitted Bud. + +"And there you are," said the professor. + +The boys were more interested than they had believed possible, and they +began to look forward eagerly to the time when some of the giant bones +might be uncovered. + +"What gets me, though," said Dick, believing that while knowledge was +"on tap," he might as well get his fill, "what I can't understand is +how long ago they figure these things lived--I mean the Dinornis and +Dinosaurs," he added quickly, lest the professor resent his "pets" +being called "things." + +"There's a good deal of guess-work about it," admitted the scientist. +"The question is often asked--how long ago did such monsters live. But +we are confronted with this difficulty. The least estimate put on the +age of the earth is ten million years. The longest is, perhaps, six +thousand million----" + +"Six thousand million!" murmured Bud in an awed voice. + +"And maybe more," said Professor Wright. "So you see it is pretty hard +to set any estimate on just when an animal lived who may have passed +away six billion years ago--it really isn't worth while. All we can +say is that they lived many, many ages ago, and we are lucky if we can +come upon any slight remains of them." + +"Do you really think you'll find some fossil bones?" asked Dick. + +"I'm sure of it!" was the answer. "Hello! That looks as if they had +found something over there!" he cried, as some excitement was manifest +amid a group of laboring Greasers some distance away. + +The professor hurried there, followed by the boys. They saw where some +men, down in a shale pit had uncovered what at first looked to be a +tree-trunk. + +"It is part of the hind leg of the great Brontosaurus!" cried Professor +Wright, in intense excitement. "That's what it is--the Brontosaurus!" + +"But you want a _Brontotherium_," insisted one of the helpers, a +professor in the making. + +"I don't care what I get, as long as they are fossil bones!" cried Mr. +Wright. "But I shall yet find a Brontotherium here--of that I am +certain. Careful now, men!" + +"Say, he's really found something!" cried Dick. + +But alas for the hopes of the professor! When the object was taken out +it proved to be only part of the skeleton of a long dead buffalo, the +bones being so encrusted with clay or mud as to appear much larger than +they really were. + +"Well, too bad," sighed the professor. "But better luck next time. +Come again, boys." + +And so the digging went on as fast as could be done, for each shovel of +earth and each dislodged stone was carefully examined by the scientist +or one of his scientific companions for any trace of the bones of an +extinct monster. + +Under the urging of Del Pinzo, the Greasers, all of whom had been +engaged by him, worked hard--harder than they would have done had Del +Pinzo not been there to spur them on. Professor Wright admitted this, +and said it was why he was willing to pay the half-breed to oversee the +laborers. + +And of all who labored none was more active than a certain young +Greaser, in ragged garments and with a most dirty face, who seemed to +be in all parts of the excavating camp at once. He leaped down into +holes, he climbed mounds and delved there a while; he labored with pick +and shovel. He was all over at all times, it seemed. + +So active was he that he attracted the attention of Del Pinzo, who, +strolling over to the youth remarked, in Mexican Spanish: + +"I don't seem to remember you. Where are you from?" + +To which, in native dialect, he was answered: + +"I come in my brother's place. San Feliece he is much sick this day. +I take his place." + +Del Pinzo thought back rapidly. One of his workers of this name was +missing, and, well--all Greasers looked alike. He turned, and the +youth, with a quiet chuckle, resumed his activities. + +But, as the youth labored, his eyes seemed to follow Del Pinzo more +than they kept to the matters immediately in hand. Though he struck +hard with his pick, and took out heaping shovelfuls, this youth ever +had his eyes on the half-breed, watching and watching as Del Pinzo +strolled about the camp grounds. + +It was the third day of this young Greaser's appearance in the fossil +excavations, and coming close to the end of the week, which period of +grace had been allowed Mr. Merkel by the court. Unless the deeds were +soon produced the sheep would scatter over the Spur Creek lands and +this would mean the beginning of the end for the cattle men. + +Suddenly the comparative quiet of the fossil camp was broken by loud +yells, and there seemed much excitement in a place where Professor +Wright had been examining earth and rocks as the debris was deposited +from an excavation. + +The ragged youth, who had said he came to take the place of his ill +brother, raced over the ground toward the excited group. He found the +professor gazing eagerly down into a sort of cave that had been +discovered when the digging reached a certain depth. + +"Look out there now! Be careful!" cautioned the scientist. "I think +we have found it. Here, you look intelligent!" and he motioned to the +Greaser youth whom Del Pinzo had questioned. "Get down in there and +make the opening a little wider so I can see what we've come upon. But +be very careful. If there are bones we don't want to break them. +Perhaps you'd better tell him, Del Pinzo," suggested Professor Wright. +"He probably doesn't understand my English." + +Thereupon Del Pinzo loosed a string of Mexican Spanish, at which the +youth nodded, and proceeded to enlarge the opening to the small +underground cavern. + +As the light of day was allowed to enter, Professor Wright leaped down +into the hole and stood almost at the side of the youth. Then, +suddenly, the scientist cried: + +"I've found it! I have discovered it! The gigantic Brontotherium! +Success at last!" + +And as the youth stepped aside to allow the scientist to enter and gaze +upon the immense fossil bones which had just been laid bare, the youth +looked at Del Pinzo, hastening across the camp ground, murmured: + +"I, too, have found it! Success at last!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE END OF THE SHEEP + +Court had convened. It was the day set for the decision in the Spur +Creek open range matter--a decision which would say whether or not +sheep could be pastured on land that the owner of Diamond X had long +claimed as his own. + +In the open West--where there is much hard work and little play--unless +a man makes the latter for himself--the opening of court, even for +small matters, was an occasion for the "gathering of the clans." From +far and near, those who could get away to attend the sitting of the +judge, and sometimes the trial of cases, were always on hand. It was +the same sort of an occasion as in the East is the circus, the cattle +show or the county fair. + +At court, as at the circus and fair, friends who had long been +separated met again, and, not infrequently, relatives found those of +whom they had long lost trace. + +And so, as there was a gathering of lawyers, a judge or two, some +witnesses and any number of mere hangers-on in the city where court had +been convened, there were heard on all sides such greetings as: + +"Well, ef thar ain't ole Bill! Put here there, Bill!" + +"Horn-swoggle me ef 'tain't Nate! Well, gumsozzle me!" + +Two hard and calloused hand would meet in a crack like that from a +small gun and two bearded faces, seamed and wrinkled, would light up +with pleasure. + +Near them--all around them--similar scenes were being enacted, and, not +infrequently, ancient enemies would thus come together, with none of +the kindly greetings that I have indicated. Often as not there would +be the drawing of guns and an exchange of shots, more or less dangerous +under any circumstances, and particularly so where there was a throng +as at the opening of court. + +But on this occasion all grudges seemed to have been forgotten or +buried, for there was no shooting. The feeling was of the friendliest, +save that an important issue was to be fought out between the sheep men +on one side and the cattle men on the other. + +To both sides the issue meant much, for it meant success or failure in +what they elected to gain their livings by means of. So it cannot be +wondered at that there were more or less serious faces as men met and +inquired one of the other: + +"How do you think it's going?" + +"Well, you can't tell much about it," the answer might be. "These +lawyers and judges----" + +"That's right. They don't seem to use common sense--some of 'em." + +"But what sort of a case do you s'pose Diamond X has got, anyhow?" + +"Pretty good, I hear." + +"Well, I hope they have. Gosh! If we're goin' t' be overrun with them +onery sheep jest as we've got things runnin' nicely fer cattle--wa'al, +I don't want t' live around here--that's all I got to say!" exclaimed +one grizzled cowman. + +"Same here!" commented some of his hearers. "Sheep's no good; never +were any good; an' what's more, never will be any good!" + +"That's right!" came a deep-voiced chorus. + +To hear them tell it one would think that a sheep had no rights at all +and that a sheep man was the worst being on earth, and yet, as a matter +of fact, many a cowman, sick of the eternal beef that he had to eat, +welcomes a tender bit of roast lamb. + +But such is the world! + +To the cattlemen the sheep owners and herders were despised and hated +of men--not fit to live within the same thousand-mile area of cattle +and horses. + +Of course sheep was not the direct issue. As was said, the point +turned on whether the Spur Creek land came under the provisions of the +open range, as defined by Congress, and once this was settled a man +could pasture elephants on the land he staked out, provided he could +get elephants to stay there. + +But the coming of the sheep meant the going of the cattle. And that is +why the courtroom was so filled with spectators. Dick was there, his +bullet-wounded hand almost better. Bud was there, as was his father +and many cowboys from Diamond X. + +Del Pinzo, with a grin on his evil, bearded face, was there also. + +"We will take up first the matter of the open range land," said the +Judge. "The matter was laid over until to-day to enable the defendant +to produce certain papers in court substantiating his claim to +pasturage along Spur Creek. Are you ready to proceed, Mr. Bonnett?" +and he looked at Mr. Merkel's lawyer. + +"Your Honor," began the attorney, "we hoped to be able to settle the +matter definitely to-day. I expected to show the deeds proving our +claim. But, unless a certain witness whom I depended on soon arrives, +we shall have to proceed to trial. If this witness were here, and if +he could prove what I hoped----" + +"You will never be able to prove anything!" broke in the sneering voice +of Del Pinzo. + +"Silence in the court!" cried Sheriff Hank Fowler, but almost as he +spoke the decorum was again broken by a voice which cried in ringing +tones: + +"Oh, yes, we can prove everything, Del Pinzo! Here are the deeds that +prove Mr. Merkel's claim to the land, and I can prove that you stole +them the night of the shooting!" + +"_San Diabalo!_" muttered Del Pinzo, turning quickly. "It is the +brother of Feliece!" + +"Not exactly," laughed the voice of the newcomer. He snatched off a +wig of black, wiry hair and stood revealed as--Nort Shannon! + +He tossed a bundle of papers to Mr. Merkel's lawyer, and then all eyes +turned on Del Pinzo, who feverishly was examining a bundle of documents +he tore from an oiled-silk bag. + +"_San Diabalo!_" he cried again. "They are gone!" + +"No, they are here!" mocked Nort. "I found where you had hidden the +real papers, and I just took them out and substituted some of my own." + +Del Pinzo glared about the court for a moment, and then made a movement. + +"Catch that scoundrel!" cried the Judge. But it was too late. Del +Pinzo slipped out, leaped to the back of his fleet horse and though the +pursuit was soon organized, he got away. + +"Where did you come from, Nort?" asked Dick, as he shook hands with his +brother. + +"Direct from the professor's camp. Didn't get here any too soon, +either, as it happens. My horse went lame and then there was a lot of +excitement when they found the Brontotherium." + +"Oh, did they find another of those monsters?" asked Bud. + +"Yep! The Grandfather of 'em all, I reckon!" laughed Nort. "And +during the ruction I managed to get to the place where Del Pinzo had +hidden the deeds he stole. I took them out and put in some worthless +documents so he wouldn't suspect. Then I came on here. Now I guess +they won't pasture any sheep at Spur Creek." + +And they did not. With the finding of Mr. Merkel's deeds, which had +been stolen, his ownership was clearly established. No one now dared +claim his lands. Of course there were parts of the open range where +the sheep herders could go in, but none were as choice or as much +desired as the pastures of Spur Creek. And they were far enough away +not to menace Diamond X. + +"The application of the plaintiff for permission to take over the Spur +Creek range is hereby denied," announced the Judge. And thus ended the +case of the men whose cause Del Pinzo had taken up. Some of them were +innocent parties to his treachery, and he had engineered the whole +scheme to enrich himself eventually. For these innocent victims sorrow +was expressed. But even sorrow would not induce a cattleman to allow +sheep on his ranch. + +And so, a few days later the sheep which had been held in readiness +south of Spur Creek were driven back into Mexico. + +"Well, Nort, suppose you tell us how it all happened," suggested Bud, +when matters at Diamond X were about normal again. "How did you come +to disguise yourself like a Greaser, go off to the professor's camp and +get the deeds where Del Pinzo had hidden them? Tell us." + +"It isn't much of a story," began Nort, modestly enough. "In the first +place, you know about as much of the beginning of it as I do. Del +Pinzo heard about the government opening the range lands, and he knew +the deeds to Spur Creek must be here. So he organized a robbery and +carried it out, drawing us away from the place by a lot of shooting. +Professor Wright, as of course you know, had nothing to do with it. +His coming was just a coincidence. + +"Those mysterious lone riders were sent by Del Pinzo to see how things +were going, and that rocket signaling was, as we guessed, communication +from one of Del Pinzo's gang to another. Then, when that Greaser had +the deeds safely hidden, as he thought, he gave the signal for the +sheep to start for Spur Creek." + +"But how in the name of Zip Foster did you know where he had the deeds +hidden?" cried Bud. + +"I didn't," answered Nort. "I simply guessed that he had taken them, +or had some one take them for him, and I reasoned he would keep them +near him, in the professor's camp. So, with your dad's permission, +Bud, I disguised like a Greaser and went to work in the fossil camp. I +had to kidnap one of the regular Greasers, and pass myself off as his +brother, which I did. By the way," he remarked to Slim, "we can let +Feliece go now." + +"All right," chuckled Slim, who was one of the few in the secret. "He +didn't mind being a prisoner here, for he got well paid and had plenty +of grub." + +"After I established myself at the camp," went on Nort, "and even the +professor didn't recognize me, I made it my business secretly to keep +on Del Pinzo's trail until I located where he had hidden the deeds, in +one of the many excavations made in searching for fossil bones. + +"Then, when the Brontotherium was really found there was enough +excitement so that I could sneak over to the hiding place, take out the +right papers and stick in some dummies I had all ready. Then I sent +word to Mr. Bonnett, and came on as soon as I could with the deeds. +Zeb Tauth, the janitor whom the professor brought with him as a sort of +personal aid, helped me out in that. He was a good scout, Zeb was, +though he doesn't care much about fossils. He says he's anxious to get +back to his furnace and ash cans." + +"Shades of Zip Foster!" chuckled Bud, as the explanation was concluded. +"It couldn't have been slicker if you'd practiced it for a year! I'll +never forget Del Pinzo's face as he opened his oiled-silk package and +realized that he had been fooled. Oh, Zip Foster!" + +"So it's all over now," commented Dick. + +"Well, it was a mighty good ending," said Mr. Merkel, "and I'm much +obliged to you boy ranchers. You helped a lot. I'd like to catch Del +Pinzo, however." + +But the wily half-breed Greaser disappeared, though it might be feared +he would bob up again in the lives of the boy ranchers. For they were +destined to have other adventures. + +"But we're through for a time," said Bud, as, with his cousins, he rode +the trail that led to home. + +Nell met them near the horse corral. + +"You're just in time," she said. + +"For what?" asked Dick. + +"Pie!" answered Nell with a laugh. "Mother and I have baked some for +you." + +"Whoopee!" yelled the boy ranchers, and as they race for the kitchen we +will take leave of them for a time. + + + + +THE END + + + + + + +THE BOY RANCHERS SERIES + +BY WILLARD F. BAKER + +_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors._ + + +_Stories of the great west, with cattle ranches as a setting, related +in such a style as to captivate the hearts of all boys._ + +1. THE BOY RANCHERS + _or Solving the Mystery at Diamond X_ + +Two eastern boys visit their cousin. They become involved in an +exciting mystery. + +2. THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP + _or The Water Fight at Diamond X_ + +Returning for a visit, the two eastern lads learn with delight, that +they are to become boy ranchers. + +3. THE BOY RANCHERS ON THE TRAIL + _or The Diamond X After Cattle Rustlers_ + +Our boy heroes take the trail after Del Pinzo and his outlaws. + +4. THE BOY RANCHERS AMONG THE INDIANS + _or Trailing the Yaquis_ + +Rosemary and Floyd are captured by the Yaqui Indians. + +5. THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK + _or Fighting the Sheep Herders_ + +Dangerous struggle against desperadoes for land rights. + +6. THE BOY RANCHERS IN THE DESERT + _or Diamond X and the Lost Mine_ + +One night a strange old miner almost dead from hunger and hardship +arrived at the bunk house. The boys cared for him and he told them of +the lost desert mine. + +7. THE BOY RANCHERS ON ROARING RIVER + _or Diamond X and the Chinese Smugglers_ + +The boy ranchers help capture Delton's gang who were engaged in +smuggling Chinese across the border. + +8. THE BOY RANCHERS IN DEATH VALLEY + _or Diamond X and the Poison Mystery_ + +The boy ranchers track mysterious Death into his cave. + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers. New York. + + +THE BASEBALL JOE SERIES + +BY LESTER CHADWICK + +_12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, $.65, postpaid_ + + +1. BASEBALL JOE OF THE SILVER STARS + _or The Rivals of Riverside_ + +2. BASEBALL JOE ON THE SCHOOL NINE + _or Pitching for the Blue Banner_ + +3. BASEBALL JOE AT YALE + _or Pitching for the College Championship_ + +4. BASEBALL JOE IN THE CENTRAL LEAGUE + _or Making Good as a Professional Pitcher_ + +5. BASEBALL JOE IN THE BIG LEAGUE + _or A Young Pitcher's Hardest Struggles_ + +6. BASEBALL JOE ON THE GIANTS + _or Making Good as a Twirler in the Metropolis_ + +7. BASEBALL JOE IN THE WORLD SERIES + _or Pitching for the Championship_ + +8. BASEBALL JOE AROUND THE WORLD + _or Pitching on a Grand Tour_ + +9. BASEBALL JOE HOME RUN KING + _or The Greatest Pitcher and Batter on Record_ + +10. BASEBALL JOE SAVING THE LEAGUE + _or Breaking Up a Great Conspiracy_ + +11. BASEBALL JOE CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM + _or Bitter Struggles on the Diamond_ + +12. BASEBALL JOE CHAMPION OF THE LEAGUE + _or The Record that was Worth While_ + +13. BASEBALL JOE CLUB OWNER + _or Putting the Home Town on the Map_ + +14. BASEBALL JOE PITCHING WIZARD + _or Triumphs Off and On the Diamond_ + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers. New York. + + +THE JEWEL SERIES + +BY AMES THOMPSON + +_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in colors._ + + +_A series of stories brimming with hardy adventure, vivid and accurate +in detail, and with a good foundation of probability. They take the +reader realistically to the scene of action. Besides being lively and +full of real situations, they are written in a straight-forward way +very attractive to boy readers._ + + +1. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE VALLEY OF DIAMONDS + +Malcolm Edwards and his son Ralph are adventurers with ample means for +following up their interest in jewel clues. In this book they form a +party of five, including Jimmy Stone and Bret Hartson, boys of Ralph's +age, and a shrewd level-headed sailor named Stanley Greene. They find +a valley of diamonds in the heart of Africa. + +2. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE RIVER OF EMERALDS + +The five adventurers, staying at a hotel in San Francisco, find that +Pedro the elevator man has an interesting story of a hidden "river of +emeralds" in Peru, to tell. With him as guide, they set out to find +it, escape various traps set for them by jealous Peruvians, and are +much amused by Pedro all through the experience. + +3. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE LAGOON OF PEARLS + +This time the group starts out on a cruise simply for pleasure, but +their adventuresome spirits lead them into the thick of things on a +South Sea cannibal island. + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. New York. + + +THE BOMBA BOOKS + +BY ROY ROCKWOOD + +_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. With colored jacket._ + + +_Bomba lived far back in the jungles of the Amazon with a half-demented +naturalist who told the lad nothing of his past. The jungle boy was a +lover of birds, and hunted animals with a bow and arrow and his trusty +machete. He had a primitive education in some things, and his daring +adventures will be followed with breathless interest by thousands._ + + +1. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY _or The Old Naturalist's Secret_ + +In the depth of the jungle Bomba lives a life replete with thrilling +situations. Once he saves the lives of two American rubber hunters who +ask him who he is, and how he had come into the jungle. + +2. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE MOVING MOUNTAIN _or The Mystery of the +Caves of Fire_ + +Bomba travels through the jungle, encountering wild beasts and hostile +natives. At last he trails the old man of the burning mountain to his +cave and learns more concerning himself. + +3. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE GIANT CATARACT _or Chief Nasconora and +His Captives_ + +Among the Pilati Indians he finds some white captives, and an aged +opera singer, first to give Bomba real news of his forebears. + +4. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON JAGUAR ISLAND _or Adrift on the River of +Mystery_ + +Jaguar Island was a spot as dangerous as it was mysterious and Bomba +was warned to keep away. But the plucky boy sallied forth. + +5. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY IN THE ABANDONED CITY _or A Treasure Ten +Thousand Years Old_ + +Years ago this great city had sunk out of sight beneath the trees of +the jungle. A wily half-breed thought to carry away its treasure. + +6. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON TERROR TRAIL _or The Mysterious Men from +the Sky_ + +Bomba strikes out through the vast Amazonian jungles and soon finds +himself on the dreaded Terror Trail. + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers. New York. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Boy Ranchers at Spur Creek, by Willard F. 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Baker +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.salutation {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.closing {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.transnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.index {font-size: small ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-top: 0% ; + margin-bottom: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: medium ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.dedication {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 15%; + text-align: justify } + +P.published {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 15% } + +P.quote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.report {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.report2 {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { text-align: center ; + font-size: larger; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +H3.h3left { margin-left: 0%; + margin-right: 1%; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: left ; + clear: left ; + text-align: center } + +H3.h3right { margin-left: 1%; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: right ; + clear: right ; + text-align: center } + +H3.h3center { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-align: center } + +H4.h4left { margin-left: 0%; + margin-right: 1%; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: left ; + clear: left ; + text-align: center } + +H4.h4right { margin-left: 1%; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: right ; + clear: right ; + text-align: center } + +H4.h4center { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-align: center } + +H5.h5left { margin-left: 0%; + margin-right: 1%; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: left ; + clear: left ; + text-align: center } + +H5.h5right { margin-left: 1%; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: right ; + clear: right ; + text-align: center } + +H5.h5center { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgleft { float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: 1%; + padding: 0; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgright {float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1%; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgcenter { margin-left: auto; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: auto; } + +.pagenum { position: absolute; + left: 1%; + font-size: 95%; + text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; } + +.sidenote { left: 0%; + font-size: 65%; + text-align: left; + text-indent: 0%; + width: 17%; + float: left; + clear: left; + padding-left: 0%; + padding-right: 2%; + padding-top: 2%; + padding-bottom: 2%; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; } + + + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Boy Ranchers at Spur Creek, by Willard F. Baker + +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 Ranchers at Spur Creek + or Fighting the Sheep Herders + +Author: Willard F. Baker + +Illustrator: Howard L. Hastings + +Release Date: October 29, 2008 [EBook #27095] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +[Transcriber's note: Extensive research found no evidence<BR> +that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]<BR> +</H3> + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-cover"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-cover.jpg" ALT="Cover art" BORDER="2" WIDTH="487" HEIGHT="756"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 487px"> +Cover art +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="SNAKE CAUGHT HOLD OF THE ANIMAL'S LEFT HORN. "The Boy Ranchers at Spur Creek."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="403" HEIGHT="646"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 403px"> +SNAKE CAUGHT HOLD OF THE ANIMAL'S LEFT HORN. "The Boy Ranchers at Spur Creek." +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE BOY RANCHERS +<BR> +AT SPUR CREEK +</H1> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +OR +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +<I>Fighting the Sheep Herders</I> +</H3> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +by +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +WILLARD F. BAKER +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +<I>ILLUSTRATED</I> +</H3> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +NEW YORK +<BR> +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BOY RANCHERS SERIES +<BR> +By WILLARD F. BAKER +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +12mo. Cloth. Frontispiece +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE BOY RANCHERS<BR> +or Solving the Mystery at Diamond X<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP<BR> +or The Water Fight at Diamond X<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE BOY RANCHERS ON THE TRAIL<BR> +or The Diamond X After Cattle Rustlers<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE BOY RANCHERS AMONG THE INDIANS<BR> +or On the Trail of the Yaquis<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK<BR> +or Fighting the Sheep Herders<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, New York +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY +<BR> +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY +<BR> +THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK +<BR> +Printed in U. S. A. +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">SHOTS IN THE NIGHT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">MISSING PAPERS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">ON THE TRAIL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">AROUND THE CAMPFIRE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">AT SPUR CREEK</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">THE ALARM</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">A PARLEY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">SUSPICIONS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">A CALL FOR HELP</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">DEL PINZO'S HAND</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">COWBOY FUN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">AFTER THE RUSTLERS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">A CLOUD OF DUST</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">THE SHEEP ARRIVE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">A BATTLE OF WITS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">STRANGE ACTIONS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">"WE CROWED TOO SOON!"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">SKIRMISHES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">OPEN WARFARE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">THE FLAG OF TRUCE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">A LEGAL CONTEST</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">NORT'S PLAN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">IN DISGUISE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">THE BRONTOTHERIUM</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap25">THE END OF THE SHEEP</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SHOTS IN THE NIGHT +</H3> + +<P> +With a rattle and a clatter the muddy flivver stopped with a squeak of +brakes in front of Diamond X ranch house. From the car leaped three +boys, one of them carrying a small leather pouch. +</P> + +<P> +"Here's the mail!" yelled this lad—Bud Merkel by name, and his +cousins, Nort and Dick Shannon, added the duet of their voices to his +as they cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Mail's in! Lots of letters!" +</P> + +<P> +"Any for me?" asked Nell, reaching out her hand toward Bud. "Don't +tell me there isn't!" she pleaded. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'm sorry, Sis," began Bud, teasingly, "there was one for you, +but driving in we ran over a rattler and——" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you believe him, Nell!" consoled Nort, who didn't altogether +agree with Bud's teasing of his sister. "Your letters are safe in the +pouch." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, there are <I>letters</I>, then, are there—not just <I>one</I>?" cried Nell +with shining eyes. "Thanks a whole lot." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't thank me—thank the postmaster—or whoever wrote you the +letters!" laughed Nort. +</P> + +<P> +Bud had sat down on a bench outside the ranch house and was opening the +mail pouch. His mother came to the door of the kitchen, wiping flour +from her hands, for though Mrs. Merkel kept a "hired girl," and though +Nell assisted, yet the mother of Bud insisted on doing much of the work +herself, and very able she was, too. +</P> + +<P> +"Any letters for your father?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Two or three," answered Bud, as he looked over the envelopes. "And +one for you, Mother." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, take your father's mail to him when you've finished sorting," +suggested Mrs. Merkel. "He said he was expecting something of +importance. You'll find him over in the bunk house looking after Mr. +Watson." +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. <I>Watson</I>!" shouted Bud with a laugh. "Do you mean Yellin' Kid?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I guess that's what you call him," assented Mrs. Merkel as she +opened her letter. "But his name's Watson." +</P> + +<P> +"Guess you're the only one who remembers that, Ma," chuckled Dick +Shannon, for though Mrs. Merkel was only his aunt, she was almost +universally called "Ma" on the ranch of Diamond X. +</P> + +<P> +"Yellin' Kid isn't any worse, is he?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no, but your father wanted to change the bandages and it takes +some time. You'll find him pretty nearly finished, I guess, though +you'd better take his mail to him there." +</P> + +<P> +There had been a slight accident the week before, in which the horse of +Yellin' Kid had crowded him against a post in a corral fence, badly +bruising and cutting the leg of the cowboy. A doctor had been called, +and after the first dressing of the wound had said Mr. Merkel or some +of the men could attend to it as much as was necessary, and the ranch +owner was now in performance of this duty. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll take the boys' mail, Bud," offered Old Billee, one of the veteran +cow punchers of Diamond X. "Don't reckon you got any for me, have +you?" he asked with a sort of wistful hope in his voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Sorry, Billee, but there doesn't seem to be any," answered Bud. +"Better luck next time." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I don't reckon there will be," sighed Old Billee. "All my friends +is dead an' gone, an' nobody else wants t' write t' an ole timer like +me." He took the letters destined for the other cowboys who were +engaged in various duties about the ranch, saying he would distribute +them, while Bud took those destined for his father to the sleeping +quarters of the men, where Yellin' Kid was forced to remain temporarily +in his bunk. +</P> + +<P> +Nort and Dick had letters from "home," as they called their residence +in the East, though they had been west so long now that they might +almost be said to live on the ranch. And while Bud's cousins were +going over their missives, Mr. Merkel was doing the same with those his +son handed him. +</P> + +<P> +"How are you, Kid?" asked Bud of the injured cowboy as Mr. Merkel sat +at a table tearing open the various envelopes. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'll be up and around again shortly," was the answer. "If you +figure on starting off after any more Indians I could get ready in +about two quivers of a steer's nose." +</P> + +<P> +"Guess there won't be any more Indians around here for a while," +observed Bud. "We taught those Yaquis a lesson." +</P> + +<P> +"Now you're shoutin'!" exclaimed Yellin' Kid, though it was he, rather +than Bud, who spoke in a loud voice—hence the Kid's name. He just +couldn't seem to speak in ordinary tones, but appeared to take it for +granted that every one was deaf, and so shouted at them. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly the quiet reading and attention that Mr. Merkel had been +giving his letters was broken as he jumped up, scattering the papers to +the floor of the bunk house. He held in his hand a single sheet that +seemed to cause him great surprise, not to say anger, and he exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it's come, just as I feared it would! Now we're in for some hot +times!" +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter, Dad?" asked Bud, looking toward the door in which +his cousins now stood, having finished reading their letters. +</P> + +<P> +"Not another Indian uprising, is it?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Almost as bad!" his father answered. "We're going to have trouble. I +might have known things were too good to last!" +</P> + +<P> +"What sort of trouble?" inquired Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"With sheep herders," answered Mr. Merkel. +</P> + +<P> +"Sheep herders!" cried Bud, and if you know anything about the cattle +business you will realize his tone of voice. For, as I will explain +later, sheep herders are hated and despised by cattle men and horse +breeders alike, and with good reason, in spite of the rights the sheep +men have. "What do you mean?" asked Bud, fully alive to the danger +implied by his father's words. "There isn't a sheep within a hundred +miles of here, thank goodness!" +</P> + +<P> +"No, but there soon will be," said Mr. Merkel grimly. +</P> + +<P> +"What makes you say that?" and Bud clearly showed his fear and interest. +</P> + +<P> +"Here's an official notice," his father said, waving the paper in his +hand. "It just came in the mail yon brought. The government announces +that it has thrown open to the public the old Indian lands bordering on +Spur Creek, and it won't be a month before the place is over-run with +Mexicans, Greasers, and worse, with their stinking sheep! Pah! It +makes me sick, after all the work we've done at Diamond X to have it +spoiled this way! But I'm not going to sit back and stand it! I'm +going to fight!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's right, Dad! I'm with you! I'll fight, too! Won't we, +fellows?" he appealed to Nort and Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure we will!" was their answer. And it was, in a way, as much their +battle as it was that of Mr. Merkel and his son. For Bud, Nort and +Dick had a small ranch of their own in Happy Valley, not far from the +main holdings at Diamond X. +</P> + +<P> +"But why do you think we'll be over-run with sheep just because they've +opened up the Indian lands?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"It just naturally follows," his uncle answered. "Every low-down onery +sheep man for a hundred miles around has had his eyes on these lands +for the last five years, waiting for Uncle Sam to put 'em in the open +market. Now the government has finally paid the Indians' claims and +those fellows at Washington have decided to make it a +free-for-all-race." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, in that case," said Bud, "can't you and the other cattlemen +around here jump in and claim the land so there won't be any danger of +the sheep men coming in?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, there's just one hitch," answered Mr. Merkel. "I said it was a +free and open race, but it isn't—exactly. Ranchmen who own more than +a certain amount of acreage, grazing ground and range, are barred from +taking any of this Indian land." +</P> + +<P> +"But there may be enough good cattle men and horse breeders who will +take up all the claims and so shut out the sheep," suggested Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"That might happen, but I haven't told you all," said his uncle. "You +see boundary lines out here are pretty uncertain. In some places there +never has been a survey made. So not only may the sheep men jump in +and claim the Indian land that the government has opened, but they'll +over-run land that we now use for grazing cattle and horses. And I +needn't tell you that once sheep have been on land it's ruined for my +business." +</P> + +<P> +This was very true, and though Nort and Dick had once been in the +"tenderfoot" class, they had learned of the deep-seated hatred that +existed on the part of a cattle man against a sheep owner. +</P> + +<P> +There is a real reason for this. Horses and cattle in the West just +naturally hate sheep. It may be that the cattle and horses recognize +that the sheep is such a greedy eater that he practically cleans off +the grass down to the very roots, whereas a steer or horse leaves +enough of the herbage to grow for the next time. +</P> + +<P> +Then, too, the strong smell of sheep seems to annoy horses and cattle. +Often a bunch of steers or a herd of horses will stampede and run for +miles, merely after getting a whiff of the odor from a bunch of sheep. +They will even do this if, in grazing, they come to a place where sheep +have been eating. And if sheep wade through a creek the odor of their +oily wool seems to remain for days, and horses and cattle refuse to +drink, unless almost dying of thirst. So much for the animals +themselves, and because of this there was unending war between the +horses and cattle on one side, and sheep on the other. Though it +cannot be said that the meek sheep did any fighting. They never +stampeded because they had to drink from streams where cows and horses +had watered, nor did they refuse to nibble grass left by the larger +animals. +</P> + +<P> +Aside from the fact that the horse breeders and cattle men were +pioneers on the old open range, and naturally resented the coming of +the lowly sheep herders, there is another reason for the hatred. +Sheep, as I have said, nibble the grass to its very roots. And then +the small and sharp feet of the sheep cut into the turf and so chop +what few roots that are left as to prevent a new crop of grass from +growing—the fodder dies off. And as the sheep are kept constantly on +the march, as they greedily eat their way, they spread ruin—at least +so the ranchmen thought. So it was and had been war. +</P> + +<P> +"This is bad news—bad news!" muttered Mr. Merkel. "We ranchers will +have to get together and talk it over. We've got to do something! I +want to talk to Tom Ogden." He was the owner of Circle T ranch, and a +friend of Mr. Merkel. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I go for him in the flivver?" asked Bud, for since the advent of +the little car he and his cousins often journeyed in it, leaving their +horses in the corral. Though there were places where only a horse +could be used, and of course for cattle work no cowboy would think of +anything but of being in the saddle. +</P> + +<P> +"No, thank you. I'll call him on the wire," said Mr. Merkel. "I'll +have him bring some of the other ranchers over. We've got to act +quickly." +</P> + +<P> +"When does the land-grabbing start?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"It's open now—has been for the last two weeks. This notice is late," +said Mr. Merkel, looking at the paper in his hand. "Even now some of +the sheep men may be coming up from the Mexican border. We've got to +do something mighty sudden!" +</P> + +<P> +Seldom had Bud and his cousins seen Mr. Merkel so moved, and the boys +realized from this the grave danger. +</P> + +<P> +That evening a number of wealthy and influential ranch owners gathered +at Diamond X to talk the situation over. As cattle men in a small way, +the Boy Ranchers, as they were called, were allowed to "sit in" on the +conference. +</P> + +<P> +"The worst of it for me," said Mr. Merkel, "is that the range where I +breed my best steers is near this Spur Creek tract, and the sheep will +naturally over-run my feeding ground." +</P> + +<P> +"Can't you fence it in?" asked Mr. Ogden. +</P> + +<P> +"Too late for that now; it would take weeks to get the wire here, and +some of those onery sheep men wouldn't mind cutting the strands, +anyhow. It only takes one night for a band of sheep to ruin a good +many miles of pasture. No, what we've got to do is to fight 'em from +the start—not let 'em get there." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll take up the land ourselves!" exclaimed Henry Small. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't, Hen," objected Mr. Merkel. "We all own our full share now, and +maybe a little more. Of course, when you look at it from a legal +standpoint a sheep man has just as many rights under the government as +we have. But not by custom or western ways." +</P> + +<P> +"Not by a long shot!" cried the other ranchmen. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope your papers are all straight," observed Mr. Ogden to Bud's +father. +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +"What papers?" +</P> + +<P> +"Your deeds and documents that give you the right to land on this side +of Spur Creek. If there's a legal question the sheep men may try to +jump some of your claims." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I guess not," said Mr. Merkel easily. "My papers are all in my +safe, and I can prove title by them easily enough. But, gentlemen, +what are we going to do? That's the question now. What are we +going——" +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Merkel never finished that sentence. For he was interrupted by a +fusillade of shots just outside—shots in the night. +</P> + +<P> +An instant later every man in the conference room, and the boy ranchers +included, had leaped to his feet, and many hands sought the "guns" that +were within easy reach. +</P> + +<P> +"Some of your cowboys disporting themselves?" asked Mr. Ogden of the +owner of Diamond X. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Merkel shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing like that," he remarked. +</P> + +<P> +Some one yelled—there were more shots and then the voice of Slim +Degnan, foreman of the ranch, was heard shouting: +</P> + +<P> +"Get after 'em, boys! Head 'em off!" +</P> + +<P> +"It's a stampede!" yelled Bud. "Come on, fellows!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MISSING PAPERS +</H3> + +<P> +Nort and Dick lost no time following their cowboy cousin, Bud, outside +the ranch house, and each of the three lads, as well as Mr. Merkel and +his associates, had caught up one of the heavy revolvers that were +never far from their hands. For, as has been said of the West, a man +doesn't always need a gun out there, but when he does need it, he needs +it "mighty bad and mighty sudden." +</P> + +<P> +The boy ranchers were taking no chances. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter, Slim?" asked Bud as he rushed outside and saw a +group of cowboys near the foreman. They were vaulting to the saddles +of their horses which had hurriedly been turned out of the home corral. +</P> + +<P> +"Rustlers!" cried Nort. "Is it rustlers, Slim?" +</P> + +<P> +"Might be, for all I can tell," was the answer. "I saw some men riding +along out there, and when I called to know who they were they didn't +answer, which was suspicious in itself. Then I told 'em to stop until +I could get a look at 'em, but they turned and made off, and that was +worse, so I fired a couple of times after 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"Where are they now?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"That's what we're going to find out; son," was the foreman's grim +answer. "You there, Babe?" he called to his fat assistant, who +rejoiced in the diminutive nickname. +</P> + +<P> +"All there is of me," was the sighing answer. "Stand still there, you +slab-sided chunk of salt pork!" he called to his horse, which was +nervously swerving about. And Babe Milton was too heavy to be a quick +mounter. He needed special attention on the part of his steed. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's go, fellows!" cried Bud to his cousins, and, not waiting for the +permission of Mr. Merkel, the lads saddled their horses and started +after the foreman and his cowboys who had gotten a flying start. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you imagine it is?" asked Nort as he rode between his brother +and cousin, while they urged their steeds on to catch up to those ahead +of them. +</P> + +<P> +"Haven't any idea," answered Bud, glancing back to note that his father +and the visiting ranchmen had gone into the house. Probably Mr. Merkel +and the others knew the matter could safely be left to the cowboys. +</P> + +<P> +Bud and his cousins rode fleet ponies, and they were more than at home +in their saddles, so it did not take them long to reach the bunch of +cowboys riding across the plains ahead of them, on the trail of the +mysterious night visitors. +</P> + +<P> +"Any idea who they were, Slim?" asked Bud, guiding his horse alongside +that of the foreman. +</P> + +<P> +"Not the least in the world. But they're up to no good or they +wouldn't have veered off at the first hail. There's something +suspicious in that." +</P> + +<P> +"I should say so," agreed Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Couldn't be any sheep herders coming so soon, to turn their nibblers +on our land; could it?" Dick wanted to know. He spoke of "our land," +for he and his brother owned a small ranch in partnership with Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I don't reckon it was the sheep herders themselves," said Slim, +"but it might be some of their bunch coming to size things up. The +government never made a worse mistake than to throw this Indian land +open to everybody. Them fellers at Washington should have barred the +sheep men!" +</P> + +<P> +To hear Slim talk you would have imagined that he could go to +Washington and regulate matters all by himself. But if you understand +the feeling of western cattle men and horse men against sheep herders +it will make it easier to comprehend. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if any of 'em try to come to Happy Valley," said Bud, "they'll +wish they'd stayed out." +</P> + +<P> +"That's right!" chimed in Nort and Dick. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly one of the cowboys on the outer fringe of the riding posse +uttered a low cry and exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"There they are—off to the left!" +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke the moon came out from behind ragged clouds and disclosed +two horsemen riding at full speed across the prairie. +</P> + +<P> +"After 'em, fellows!" cried Slim, and he fired some shots in the air. +</P> + +<P> +The boy ranchers put spurs to their steeds—not cruelly but with a +gentle touch to let the horses know a burst of speed was needed—and +the race was quickly taken up. +</P> + +<P> +And while it is on I will beg a moment or so of the time of my new +readers to make them acquainted with the heroes of this story. As +related in the first book of this series, called "The Boy Ranchers; or +Solving the Mystery at Diamond X," Nort and Dick Shannon, eastern +cousins of Bud Merkel, went to the ranch of his father, Diamond X, to +spend their vacation. While there certain mysterious happenings +occurred. Dr. Hendryx Wright, a college scientist, with a party of +helpers, was discovered digging not far from Diamond X. At first it +was thought he was after a lost gold mine, but later it was disclosed +that he was after the bones of a prehistoric monster for the college +museum. +</P> + +<P> +The part that Del Pinzo, a rascally half-breed, played in this search +and the activities of the boy ranchers, are fully set forth. Nort and +Dick liked it so at Diamond X that they took up their home with Bud, +and became partners with him, their father buying them a share in a +ranch located in "Happy Valley," as the boys called it. +</P> + +<P> +Following the exciting times related in the first volume, the boy +ranchers went to camp, they took the trail and also helped pursue a +band of Yaqui Indians who escaped from their Mexican reservation, and +the details of those activities will be found in the volumes +specifically named for each line of activity. The book immediately +preceding this is called "The Boy Ranchers Among the Indians; or, On +the Trail of the Yaquis." +</P> + +<P> +They had not long returned from helping to defeat these marauders, and +rescue Rosemary and her brother Floyd, when the news came about the +government lands being thrown open. Then had followed the alarm in the +night, and the chase, which was now on. +</P> + +<P> +Forward toward the two lone figures spurred the boy ranchers and their +cowboy companions. Several more shots rang out, slivers of flame +spitting harmlessly into the air, for until more was known of the +character of the fugitives, no one desired to fire directly at them. +Though in the West it was the custom to shoot first and inquire +afterward, Slim Degnan knew it was not always a wise policy. Innocent +men might be injured. +</P> + +<P> +However the two fugitives were either such poor riders, or their steeds +were so tired, or, possibly, it was a combination of both causes, that +the outfit from Diamond X was not long in overhauling them. +</P> + +<P> +"Look out for shots!" warned Snake Purdee, who was now in the lead with +Slim. +</P> + +<P> +But the two figures whose horses were rapidly slowing to a walk, showed +no signs of fight. Indeed the larger of the two men cried: +</P> + +<P> +"We surrender, gentlemen!" +</P> + +<P> +In the half light of the moon Bud, Nort and Dick looked at each other +on hearing that voice. It brought back to them very vividly a picture +of strenuous times. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't let 'em shoot, Professor!" chimed in another voice. "If I only +had my long poker here——" +</P> + +<P> +"Be quiet, Zeb," spoke the one who had offered to surrender. "You +aren't attending the school furnace now." +</P> + +<P> +"I only wish I was," came the rueful comment. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you hear that?" spoke Bud to his cousins. +</P> + +<P> +"It's Professor Wright!" exclaimed Nort and Dick in a sort of surprised +duet. +</P> + +<P> +"But what's he doing here, and at night, and why did he run?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +However, these questions could be answered later. Just now Slim and +his bunch of cowboys were interested in discovering the object or +motive of the strangers of the night—strangers in that the foremen and +his helpers had not recognized the identity of the two men. And, in +fact, Professor Wright—he of the pre-historic monster fame—was the +only one known to the boys, and then only by his voice. Who "Zeb" +might be they could only guess. +</P> + +<P> +"Except that I'd say, first shot, he was janitor in some small college +where the professor taught," remarked Nort, and this proved to be the +case. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you want?" queried Slim of the two former fugitives, though +really they were that no longer, being now surrounded by the cowboys. +</P> + +<P> +"We were looking for the ranch of Mr. Merkel—Diamond X it is called, I +believe," said the taller of the two strange riders. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you're running away from it," commented Snake Purdee. +</P> + +<P> +"And why did you fire at us?" asked Slim. +</P> + +<P> +"Gentlemen, I didn't fire. I am Professor Hendryx Wright, and this is +my helper, Zeb Tauth. He is the janitor at my school, and I have +brought him out west with me. I have a small party accompanying me and +we are going to make another search for fossil bones as I did once +before at Diamond X ranch. I was looking for the place in the +darkness, having left my other men and supplies some distance back, +when you suddenly set after us. I took you for horse thieves——" +</P> + +<P> +"Just what we sized <I>you</I> up as," laughed Slim, who now had recognized +the professor, though Zeb was a stranger. "Mighty sorry to have +troubled you," went on the foreman, "but we couldn't take any chances." +</P> + +<P> +"Especially with the sheep herders likely to swoop down on us and spoil +everything," added Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello, boys! Are you there?" exclaimed Professor Wright as he +recognized the voice of the lad. "You say someone had been stealing +your sheep?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shades of Zip Foster! Never that!" cried Bud, calling upon a sort of +mythical patron saint whose identity he jealously concealed from his +cousins. "When we start herding sheep, Professor, the world will turn +the other way." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll explain later," suggested Nort. "If you're going to stop with +us, Professor, turn around and come back." +</P> + +<P> +"Gladly," answered the scientist. "But I have left my men and the +outfit some miles back, awaiting word as to whether or not I could +locate your ranch, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll send a man to bring 'em up," offered the foreman. "Mighty funny, +though, about you not firing at me," he added, as the horses were +turned back toward Diamond X. "Are you sure your friend didn't?" he +asked the professor. +</P> + +<P> +"Zeb doesn't know one end of a gun from the other," said the scientist. +"As for me—I have none." +</P> + +<P> +"Mighty queer!" muttered Snake. "Somebody fired all right." +</P> + +<P> +"Must have been another party," suggested Bud. "Maybe you chased the +wrong bunch, Slim." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe I did, Bud," admitted the foreman, "though I didn't think there +was two bunches. If there was——" +</P> + +<P> +He did not finish what he intended to say, for his mind was busy with +several thoughts engendered by the news that the hated sheep men might +come to a land so far held sacred to horses and cattle. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it's mighty queer," said Slim musingly, as they turned in toward +the corral not far from the ranch house. "Some one fired at me just as +the chase began, and if it wasn't the professor——" +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Merkel, followed by some of his ranchmen neighbors, came hurrying +from the house. Framed in the lighted doorway stood Ma Merkel and Nell. +</P> + +<P> +"That you, Slim?" asked the owner of Diamond X. +</P> + +<P> +"That's me," was the reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you get 'em?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, in a way, yes," came the slow reply. "They turned out to be +friends of yours." +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Friends?</I>" questioned Mr. Merkel sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"It's Professor Wright," explained Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you've got the wrong parties!" cried Mr. Merkel. "There's been a +robbery here!" +</P> + +<P> +"A <I>robbery</I>!" chorused the boy ranchers. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes! In the excitement somebody got in the ranch house and ransacked +my safe." +</P> + +<P> +"Did they get much?" Dick asked. +</P> + +<P> +Amid a silence Mr. Merkel answered: +</P> + +<P> +"They took the papers that prove my right to lands along Spur Creek!" +</P> + +<P> +"Spur Creek!" fairly shouted Bud. "That's where they're going to open +the Indian holdings—where the sheep men will first head for, and if we +can't control that opening our range won't be worth a hill of beans! +Are you sure the papers are gone, Dad?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm only too sure, son," was the grim answer. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ON THE TRAIL +</H3> + +<P> +Leaving Zeb Tauth to look after his own steed and that of Professor +Wright, Bud and his cousins ushered the scientist into the living-room +of the ranch house, whither Mr. Merkel and his fellow ranchmen +returned, followed by his wife and daughter. Slim Degnan also entered, +having turned his horse over to Babe, who, with the other cowboys, went +to the corral. +</P> + +<P> +"Now let's get the straight of this," suggested the owner of Diamond X +ranch, when the party was again sitting down, and Professor Wright had +been made welcome. "Slim, you saw what happened outside. Suppose you +tell us about that." +</P> + +<P> +"Seems to me that something more important happened in here," spoke +Bud. "If your papers were stolen, Dad, why——" +</P> + +<P> +"They sure were, <I>son</I>," interrupted Mr. Merkel, "but I have an idea +that what went on outside had a very important bearing on what took +place in here. That's why I wanted to hear Slim's account first." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, there isn't an awful lot to tell," said the ranch foreman. "I +was sitting outside the corral with the boys, sort of planning up the +work for to-morrow. We were talking about this new move of the +government, opening the Indian lands, and we were sort of guessing how +soon the onery sheep men would bust in on us, when one of the +boys—Snake Purdee I reckon it was—said somebody was coming up the +trail that leads to Happy Valley. +</P> + +<P> +"First we didn't pay much attention to them, thinking they was some of +Bud's boys, but they acted so funny that I hailed 'em, and instead of +answering like they should, they fired. Course I fired back—up in the +air—and then we boys got busy and took after 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I can understand it from there on," said Mr. Merkel. "But you +didn't get the ones you went after; did you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Apparently not," admitted the foreman with a grim smile. "It was +pretty dark and we must have missed 'em. But finally we did see two +horses streaking it over the plains, and we took after 'em, only to +find they were the professor here, and his friend." +</P> + +<P> +"Then the other parties, whoever they were, got away," commented Mr. +Merkel. +</P> + +<P> +"Must have," said the foreman. "They'd 'a' had time while we was +saddlin' up. But what their object was I can't guess." +</P> + +<P> +"And then we come back here to find you've been robbed," commented Bud. +"Say, doesn't it look as though those first parties came around just to +draw us off, so someone else could sneak in and rifle the safe?" he +asked quickly. +</P> + +<P> +There was a moment of silence, to give the idea time to filter through +the minds of all present, and then Mr. Merkel said: +</P> + +<P> +"Son, I believe you've struck it! That was a game to draw our fire on +the front, while they sneaked up in the rear to frisk my safe! And the +professor——" +</P> + +<P> +"I hope you don't think I had anything to do with your unfortunate +loss!" exclaimed the scientist. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course not!" said Mr. Merkel quickly. "I was about to remark that +you being on the scene was purely a matter of accident, though it may +have had the effect of drawing Slim and his bunch farther away from the +real thieves than was desirable." +</P> + +<P> +"Shouldn't be a bit surprised," admitted the foreman. "It was so dark, +before the moon came out, that we couldn't tell much where we were +going. But as soon as we picked up the professor and his friend we +took after them. Probably this gave the real rascals the chance they +wanted." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps I had better explain how I happened to be in this +neighborhood," said Dr. Wright. "Our discoveries of the prehistoric +fossils, at which you helped us so much," he added, nodding toward the +boy ranchers, "our discoveries gained us such scientific honors that I +have been asked to come back and search for more bones. I had no time +to write and tell you I was coming, and that I hoped you would allow my +party to make some location on your ranch our headquarters," he said to +Mr. Merkel. +</P> + +<P> +"You will be very welcome," the ranchman remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"I am glad to know that," resumed Dr. Wright. "Well, I hurriedly got a +party together, taking as my personal helper Zeb Tauth, the janitor of +part of the college building where I am stationed. I know Zeb's ways, +and he knows mine. +</P> + +<P> +"We rather lost our way in the darkness," continued the scientist, +"and, leaving the main party, Zeb and I journeyed on to look for the +ranch. We heard shots and saw a party of horsemen riding after us, and +Zeb at once concluded we were going to be held up and made the victims +of horse thieves. So we did our best to get away." +</P> + +<P> +"You rode mighty well, Professor! Yon rode mighty well!" complimented +Slim Degnan. +</P> + +<P> +"But what's the next thing to be done?" asked Bud, as there came a +pause in the conversation. "Did they take everything out of the safe, +Dad?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I didn't have much money in it, luckily, but they did get some +valuable papers—documents that prove my claim to land along Spur +Creek—land that is the key to the situation in this new tract the +government is opening, or, as a matter of fact, has already opened." +</P> + +<P> +"It means the sheep herders can come in then; does it?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Practically that, unless I can get back those papers and prove that I +am the real owner of the land, and that I owned it before this +government opening took place," answered Mr. Merkel. +</P> + +<P> +"It must have been someone interested in sheep herding who knew about +the papers, who knew you had them here and who wanted them," commented +Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that's probably true," assented the ranchman. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, there's only one thing to do," declared Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Get after 'em!" cried Nort and Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"That's it!" exclaimed their cousin. "We must take the trail after +these sheep-herding thieves and get back Dad's papers!" +</P> + +<P> +Bud started from the room. +</P> + +<P> +"You aren't going to take the trail to-night, are you?" asked his +father. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" demanded Bud. "The longer we wait the better lead they'll +have on us." +</P> + +<P> +"I know, but you can't do anything in the dark." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we can!" cried Bud. "Come on, boys!" he called to his cousins. +"It won't be the first time we've ridden a trail at night. Please pack +us up a little grub," he called to his mother and sister. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Bud, I hate to have you go," said Ma Merkel. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't be helped!" he laughingly assured her. "We'll be back in a +little while, unless we get on the trail of these chaps and run 'em +down. While the grub is being packed, Dad, tell us just how they got +in and frisked your safe." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, they just naturally got in the back door while we were all out +in front watching you boys ride off after those who put up a game to +draw us out," was the answer. "When we went back in the house, after +you'd gone, I saw my safe open and a lot of papers scattered about. +The combination is very simple. What little money was in it—not +much—was taken, and the Spur Creek deeds." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we'll get 'em back!" cried Bud. "On the trail, fellows!" +</P> + +<P> +And catching up bundles of hastily prepared "snacks," the boy ranchers +started on the trail after the thieves, for much depended on their +success and an early start was essential. +</P> + +<P> +Bud and his cousins had not ridden far beyond the corral when they +heard behind them shouts of: +</P> + +<P> +"Wait a minute! Wait! Come back!" +</P> + +<P> +"What's up now?" questioned Bud, drawing rein. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AROUND THE CAMPFIRE +</H3> + +<P> +Naturally impatient, the boy ranchers did not want to return once they +had started on the trail of the robbers. They thought they should be +allowed to rush off, and perhaps they had an idea they could soon "meet +up" with the suspects and bring them back. But Mr. Merkel and the +other ranchmen, as well as the veteran cowboys, had no such delusions. +However, this was no time to discourage impetuous youth. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter, Dad?" asked Bud, as he recognized his father's +voice among those bidding him and his cousins to return. "Has someone +telephoned in that they've rounded up the thieves?" +</P> + +<P> +No surprise need be occasioned when I speak of telephones in connection +with ranching in the far west. Times have changed since the early days +of the buffalo and Indians. Both are almost extinct, though the +Indians have lasted longer than the bison. +</P> + +<P> +But the West has progressed with other parts of the country, and the +advent of the cheap automobile and the spread of telephone wires, and +even wireless now, has brought far distant ranches close together. So +Bud knew it could easily have been the case that some distant ranchman +might have telephoned to Diamond X that he had made a capture of +suspicious persons. He may not have known of the theft of Mr. Merkel's +Spur Creek papers, for this robbery had not yet been broadcast. +</P> + +<P> +"No telephones, son," said Mr. Merkel easily, as he strode out to where +the horses of the boys were pawing the ground, almost as impatient to +be gone as were their masters. "But I want you to take one of the men +with you." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Dad! I don't want to do that!" protested Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"We've hit the trail alone before," added Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't a question of your ability," went on Mr. Merkel. "But you +may have to split—very likely you will, and for this purpose four are +better than three. Then you can pair it off." +</P> + +<P> +"That's right," slowly admitted Bud. "Two of us might have to follow +one trail, and it would be lonesome for just one to take the other. +How about Old Billee?" +</P> + +<P> +"You couldn't pick a better companion," agreed Mr. Merkel. +</P> + +<P> +Billee Dobb was only too glad to get away from the routine work of the +ranch—riding herd and helping in the round up and shipping—and +quickly saddled to accompany the boys on their ride through the night, +in an endeavor to pick up the trail of those who had committed the +robbery at Spur Creek. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I guess we're off this time," remarked Dick, as once more they +turned their horses' heads in the general direction supposed to have +been taken by the robbers. +</P> + +<P> +It was, as you may surmise, pretty much guess work, and yet there were +some clues on which to work, and the boys hoped to pick up others as +they went along, by stopping at different ranch houses and making +inquiries. Then, too, cowboys would be met with here and there, and +they might have seen some trace of the fugitives. +</P> + +<P> +In the olden days, before the West was as much traveled as it is now, +it might have been possible for pioneers, such as those featured in the +novels of James Fenimore Cooper, to have followed and picked up the +trail by the mere physical evidences left on the ground—a footprint +here, a hoofmark there, the pressed down grass and so on. +</P> + +<P> +But this was out of the question now, though some slight marks might be +discovered in the daytime by the sharp eyes of Billee Dobb, who was a +veteran cowboy and plainsman. In this Bud and his companions would +have to rely on Billee, as the boys themselves had not had much +experience in this line. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Billee, what do you think of it all?" asked Bud as he rode +beside the old man, while Nort and Dick loped along in the rear. +</P> + +<P> +"You mean what happened to-night, Bud?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yep." Bud was clipping his words short to save time. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said the old man slowly, "I don't know just what to think. +It's all mighty queer, but one thing I'll say—this didn't all happen +just to-night." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean it was planned in advance?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Sartin sure, son! It was a put-up job if ever there was one. Why, +just look back over it. Here we all were in peace and quiet, and Mr. +Merkel was entertainin' his friends, when up rides a bunch of onery +Greasers, if I'm any judge." +</P> + +<P> +"What makes you think they were Greasers?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"'Cause no decent white men would act like they did. Up they rides, +pretending to be sneakin' in on us, maybe to lift a few horses or else +stampede a bunch of our cows. But that wasn't their intention at all." +</P> + +<P> +"If it was, Slim and the rest of 'em spoiled their plans," observed +Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't worry, they had no notion of takin' anything," declared Old +Billee. "They just wanted to take our attention while some of their +confederates sneaked in and got Mr. Merkel's papers; and they done that +same." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll say they did!" exclaimed Bud in disgust. "It was all too easy +for them. But how did they know Dad's papers were in the safe?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it's common knowledge that your paw claims the land around Spur +Creek," observed Billee. "That's common knowledge. And it wouldn't +take a Kansas City lawyer long to figger out that he had papers to +prove his claim, an' that he kept these papers in his safe; it bein' +equally well known that we haven't much time to fool with banks around +here, 'specially in the busy season. +</P> + +<P> +"So all the rascal had to do was to get the house clear, by creatin' +some excitement away from it, and then he walked in an' skinned the +safe. It didn't help matters any that th' perfesser happened along at +the same time, either, and I don't care who knows it!" declared Billee +Dobb emphatically. +</P> + +<P> +"You don't mean to say you believe Dr. Wright had any hand in this?" +cried Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, maybe <I>he</I> didn't 'zactly have a hand in it," grudgingly +admitted the old cowpuncher, "but he played right into the hands of th' +scoundrels." +</P> + +<P> +"On purpose, do you mean?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that's to be found out," remarked Billee musingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Billee, you're 'way off there!" cried Bud. "Professor Wright is as +right as his name—we proved that before when he was here after the +prehistoric Triceratops bones." +</P> + +<P> +"He may have changed since then," declared Billee. "What did he want +to come in and lead us off on a false trail for, when we was hot after +the robbers?" +</P> + +<P> +"He didn't do it purposely," asserted Nort, who, with his brother, +shared Bud's views as to the integrity of Professor Wright. "It was +because he got lost." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, to hear him tell it," sneered Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, look here!" cried Bud. "What good would it do Professor Wright +to get hold of Dad's papers proving ownership to the Spur Creek lands? +Why would he want the land? If anybody wants it they must be those who +are coming in under the new government ruling—sheep herders maybe, and +it's to them we have to look." +</P> + +<P> +"That Wright is just the kind of a chap who'd go in for sheep herding, +and spoiling a cattle country," complained Billee, as he pulled up the +head of his horse, when the animal showed a tendency to stumble over a +prairie dog's hole. +</P> + +<P> +"You're away off!" laughed Bud. "It may have been sheep herders who +got Dad's papers, hoping thus to be able to claim a lot of land for +their woolly feeders, but Professor Wright had no hand in it." +</P> + +<P> +Billee's only answer was a sniff. +</P> + +<P> +However, as the boy ranchers rode along in the darkness they realized +that they could have had no better companion than Old Billee Dobb, for +his very vindictiveness, though it might be wrongly directed, made him +eager to keep after the robbers. That Professor Wright was other than +he claimed to be, none of the boys doubted for a moment. +</P> + +<P> +But who was behind the plot which had just succeeded so well? That was +a question which needed answering. +</P> + +<P> +The ranch buildings of Diamond X were soon left behind in the darkness, +their pleasant glow fading as the four horsemen of the prairies rode +along in silence, looking, as best they could under the faint glow of +the moon for the outlines of other horsemen to be shown on the horizon +as they topped some rise in the undulating ground. +</P> + +<P> +In general the boy ranchers and Billee were following the trail on +which Slim and the cowboys had started after the shots were fired—the +trail that was crossed by Professor Wright, causing the pursuers to +turn back. +</P> + +<P> +"It would have been better if some of us had kept on when we had the +start," commented Nort when, after an hour's ride nothing had been seen. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it would," agreed Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"But we didn't know, then, that there had been a robbery," went on Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"That's right," assented Bud. "We just thought it was an ordinary +bunch of cattle or horse thieves, and if they had been there would have +been nothing else to worry about, as we drove them off." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we may get 'em yet, but 'tisn't very likely," said Billee. +</P> + +<P> +And as the night wore on and they kept their slow pace over the plains, +this prediction seemed about to be borne out. +</P> + +<P> +The boys and Billee had stopped at ranch houses here and there to make +inquiries about some fleeing band of horsemen, but no one had seen +them. The proprietors of most of the ranches were over at Diamond X +and had not yet returned. Some of them had telephoned to their foremen +or other members of the ranch households, telling about the robbers and +saying that Bud and his companions might call. +</P> + +<P> +But beyond this no trace was found of the robbers. +</P> + +<P> +It was long past midnight when Old Billee pulled his horse to a stop, +and "slumped" from the saddle. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter?" asked Bud. "See some sign?" By this he intended +to ask if the old plainsman saw any indications that they were hotter +on the trail of those they sought. +</P> + +<P> +"Nope!" answered Old Billee. "But we're going to camp and make coffee +and frizzle a bit of bacon. No use keepin' on any longer. We can't do +anything more till mornin'." +</P> + +<P> +"Camp it is!" exclaimed Bud, "and I'm not sorry, either." +</P> + +<P> +Shortly a fire was going, made from twigs and branches picked up under +a few trees near where the party had stopped, and soon the appetizing +aroma of coffee and bacon spread through the night air. +</P> + +<P> +"Um! But this is jolly!" cried Nort. +</P> + +<P> +The horses were picketed out and after the midnight supper the +wayfarers rolled themselves in their blankets and prepared to pass what +remained of the night in the glow of the campfire, and beneath the +fitful light of the cloud-obscured moon. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AT SPUR CREEK +</H3> + +<P> +Dick was dreaming that he was at a football game, and that his brother +Nort had hold of him and was trying to pull him through the line of +opposing players to make a touchdown. Then the dream seemed to become +confused with reality, and Dick felt some one tugging at the blanket in +which he had rolled himself so snugly. +</P> + +<P> +Half awake and half asleep Dick's brain struggled to clear itself and +get the right impression of what really was going on. Then he became +aware that his blanket was actually being pulled—this was no dream. +</P> + +<P> +"Here! Who's that? What you doing?" he cried, and instinctively he +began groping for his gun, which was in its holster in the belt he had +taken off for the night. +</P> + +<P> +Something cold and clammy touched Dick on the cheek, causing a shudder +to run through him. +</P> + +<P> +"Snakes!" he yelled. "Rattlers! Look out!" +</P> + +<P> +His frantic cries roused the others, and Nort and Bud struggled to free +themselves of their enveloping blankets as they sat up near the +smouldering blaze of the camp fire. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" cried Bud, who had only half heard what his cousin +shouted. +</P> + +<P> +"Snakes!" again yelled Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Snakes nothing!" disgustedly grumbled Billee Dobb, who did not relish +having his slumbers broken. "It's too cold for snakes to be out +to-night." Then the plainsman tossed on the fire a bit of wood which, +when it blazed up, revealed the cause of the disturbance. +</P> + +<P> +"It's your horse!" cried Nort with a laugh. And it was Dick's faithful +pony who, having slipped his tether, had wandered over near human +companionship, and had been pulling at Dick's blanket with his teeth. +Then the animal rubbed his cold and clammy muzzle on Dick's face, +giving the lad the impression that a scaly rattlesnake had tried to +crawl over him. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'll be jiggered! Blackie!" gasped Dick, when he saw that it +was his horse. "Whew, but you gave me a fright!" +</P> + +<P> +"You oughter look fust an' yell afterward," commented Billee as he +turned over to go to sleep again. +</P> + +<P> +The boys laughed and again wrapped up in their blankets, after Dick had +secured his horse with the others. A dim light was now showing in the +east, indicating that morning was not far off. But it was cold and +cheerless, even with the fire, for it was not a very large blaze, and +Dick was glad to follow the example of his brother and cousin and roll +up for a final doze before daylight. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now we'll see what happens," commented Nort, as they were +preparing a simple breakfast, over the replenished campfire. "Think we +might catch 'em to-day, Billee?" +</P> + +<P> +"It all depends," was the old cow puncher's answer. "We can't spend +too much time chasin' these scamps. There's work to be done at the +ranch. Hang that perfesser, anyhow!" +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if he hadn't crossed the trail last night when we fust started +out, we'd a' had them as we was after by now!" declared Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe and maybe not," remarked Bud. "It wasn't the professor's fault, +anyhow. He just got lost." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he picked a mighty inconvenient time to do it in," snapped Old +Billee, who was always a bit raspy before breakfast. +</P> + +<P> +The sun soon shone warm and glorious, a little too glorious in fact, +for it was very hot after 9 o'clock when the trail was again taken up. +Daylight did not make the "signs" any more plain—in fact, there was +absolutely no trail to follow. All they could do was to keep on, +making inquiries here and there at different ranches about suspicious +characters. +</P> + +<P> +"We haven't seen any signs of the professor's party," remarked Nort, +when they stopped at noon for a "snack." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I fancy they're off in the other direction," remarked Bud. "They +will probably be at the ranch when we get back." +</P> + +<P> +"Speaking of getting back, I don't see much use in keeping on," +commented Billee. "Those rascals have given us the slip." +</P> + +<P> +"Guess we might as well hit the back trail," agreed Bud. "Dad will +have to tell Hank Fowler about this, and Hank can rustle up a posse and +see what he can do." +</P> + +<P> +Hank Fowler was the local sheriff and on him, and such men as he might +swear in as deputies, devolved the duty of looking after law and order +in that part of the west where Diamond X was located, not far from the +Mexican border. +</P> + +<P> +The boy ranchers and Billee kept on for another mile, to top a certain +high piece of land, over which they could have a good view, as they +thought from this vantage point they might see some signs to guide +them. But from the eminence they only viewed an endless rolling +prairie with here and there a clump of trees. They saw bands of roving +cattle and a few horses—their own stock or that of some neighbor, and +Billee decided that nothing could be gained by going any farther along +the cold trail. +</P> + +<P> +Turning their horses' heads, the members of the little party swung back +toward Diamond X. On the way they stopped at the ranch of Bud and his +boy partners in Happy Valley, learning that everything was in good +shape there, being in the efficient hands of a capable foreman and some +cowboys. News of the robbery of Mr. Merkel's safe had already been +telephoned to Happy Valley, but though the cowboys had ridden out for +several miles in a number of directions, they had seen nothing and no +one suspicious they reported. +</P> + +<P> +"No luck, boys?" asked Mr. Merkel as his son and nephews turned their +weary horses into the corral and entered the house. +</P> + +<P> +"No luck, Dad," answered Bud. "What's new here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing much. Professor Wright's party came up and he has taken them +into camp over near the place where they dug up the monster fossil +bones some time ago." +</P> + +<P> +"You didn't hear anything about the fellows who took your papers then? +What are you going to do, Dad?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I don't know what I can do. It isn't as if this was the east, +where such things are a matter of record, and where you have the courts +and judges right at hand to put a stop to anything unlawful. It's +almost as if an unregistered government bond was stolen. I've got to +prove my property against those that have it, and I can't do it very +easily, because the men I bought it of originally are all dead or moved +away. It's just as if the Spur Creek land was owned by no one, and the +first comer has a chance to take it, now that the government has thrown +open the tract." +</P> + +<P> +"But you aren't going to sit down and let 'em frisk you that way, are +you, Dad?" cried Bud, surprised at what he thought was the supine and +non-combative attitude of his parent. +</P> + +<P> +"I should say not, son!" was the vigorous answer. "I'm going to fight!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's more like it!" cried Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurray! We're with you!" exclaimed Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"When does the fighting begin!" Dick wanted to know, and almost +unconsciously he looked at his "gun." +</P> + +<P> +"We're going to start a camp at Spur Creek right away, and keep some +one on guard there constantly," declared Mr. Merkel. "If signs and +past performances go for anything, some Mexicans, a few Greasers and a +bunch of sheep herders will pour in through the pass and pre-empt +everything along Spur Creek any time now. Certain land along Spur +Creek did belong to the Indians and as such the government can throw it +open to those whose other holdings don't bar them—as I am barred. +</P> + +<P> +"But I don't intend any Greasers or sheep herders shall take the land I +bought and paid for, even if they have managed to steal my title deeds +and other papers, without which I can't prove my claim. I'm going to +fight!" said the ranch owner vigorously. +</P> + +<P> +"And we're with you!" cried Nort, as he tapped his gun. +</P> + +<P> +I do not wish you to understand that the boy ranchers were a blood +thirsty trio of "gun-men." As I have explained, you don't always need +a gun in the West, but when you do require it the need is generally +urgent. Nor are the "guns" (by which term are meant revolvers of large +caliber) used in desperate fights against human beings. In the main +the guns are used with blank cartridges to direct a bunch of cattle in +the way it is desired they should go. Frequently a fusilade of shots, +harmless enough in themselves, will serve to turn a stampede which +stampede, if not stopped, would result in the death of hundreds of +animals who would blindly hurl themselves over a cliff. +</P> + +<P> +Of course there are bad men in the west now, as there used to be, +though perhaps not so many, and near the Mexican border roving bands of +Indians or half-breeds often try to run off bunches of cattle. In such +cases guns with bullets instead of blank cartridges are urgently needed. +</P> + +<P> +Then, too, enemies other than human are occasionally met with. In +winter wolves may prowl about, driven desperate by hunger. There is an +occasional rattlesnake to be shot up, and so, all in all, a cowboy +without a gun would not fit in the picture at all. Though I don't want +you to get the idea that the boy ranchers were desperate characters, +willing to "pull a gun" on the slightest provocation. The guns were +for service, not for bravado. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you going to start a regular camp at Spur Creek, Dad?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"That's my intention," his father answered. "We've got to be ready to +fight these sheep herders who, I feel sure, will pour in here. They +have been waiting to get possession of some range near the water, and +this is their chance. But they shan't ruin my feeding ground. I've +got too much money invested in it to lose it." +</P> + +<P> +"And though we're farther off, in Happy Valley, we might be harmed by +sheep, too," said Nort. "So we've got to fight also!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's right!" chimed in his brother. +</P> + +<P> +I have indicated to you, briefly, why the cattle men so hated the sheep +herders. Sheep are innocent enough in themselves, and are much needed. +Without them a large part of the world would go hungry and only partly +clothed. +</P> + +<P> +"But let the sheep herders stick to their own pastures!" was the cry of +the cattle men and the horse breeders. "Don't let them foul our +streams and cut up our grass." +</P> + +<P> +As I told you, no western horse or cow, unless under dire need, will +drink from a stream where sheep have drunk, or through which sheep have +passed. And there is no grass left, once a herd of sheep have fed over +a tract, while for years afterward there is only a stunted growth of +green, if, indeed, any. +</P> + +<P> +So it is no wonder that those at Diamond X prepared to fight the sheep +herders, and Spur Creek was the natural place at which to make a stand. +</P> + +<P> +Situated as it was near the Mexican border, the ranch of Diamond X was +near the head of a great valley—a natural pass between the two +countries. Through this pass flowed Spur Creek, branching out into one +or more streams in different places. +</P> + +<P> +You probably know that to successfully raise cattle, horses or sheep +two things are needed—food and water. Food is supplied by the various +rich grasses that grow naturally on the western plains. Water is not +so plentiful in that sometimes arid region, and for that reason is +jealously guarded. A ranch with a natural water supply is worth ten +times what one is without fluid for the cattle to drink. Driving herds +long distances to quench their thirst runs off their fat, and as cattle +are now sold by the pound, instead of by the piece, as formerly was the +case, the heavier a steer is the more money he brings. +</P> + +<P> +Spur Creek, then, was a valuable asset to Mr. Merkel, and he determined +to fight for it to the "last ditch," so to speak. This water was only +a part of the courses that were valuable to his ranch. As for the +boys, they had a water supply of their own in Happy Valley, though they +had had to fight to secure that, as related in the book named "The Boy +Ranchers in Camp." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if there's to be a fight, the sooner the better," commented Bud +as he and his cousins washed up at home after their night in the open. +They told of their experiences, which really amounted to nothing as far +as getting a trace of the fugitives was concerned, and then. Mr. +Merkel sent word to Sheriff Fowler of the theft. +</P> + +<P> +"And now we'll build a fort at Spur Creek," said the ranchman. +</P> + +<P> +"A <I>fort</I>!" cried Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it will be a sort of fort," his father went on. "There is one +place there just right for defensive operations and we'll put up a +shack there and mount guard until the danger is over. Once the sheep +men see that we mean business they may throw up their hands and go back +where they belong—in Mexico." +</P> + +<P> +There were soon busy times at Diamond X. The flivver was called into +requisition, and on it and on wagons was transported to Spur Creek +lumber to make a rough shack as a shelter for those who would be kept +on guard against the advance of the sheep herders. +</P> + +<P> +"And we're going to form part of that guard!" declared Bud. "Our ranch +can run itself for a while. We've got to stick by Dad!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's right!" agreed Nort and Dick. Secretly they rejoiced at the +chance of a coming conflict, even though they had so recently had a +hard time campaigning against the Yaqui Indians. +</P> + +<P> +It did not take long to throw up a rough shelter at Spur Creek. This +could be improved upon as time passed, but it was necessary to make a +stand there at once. So, two nights after the alarm and robbery at +Diamond X, behold the boy ranchers, with some of their cowboy friends, +on guard at the edge of the stream which marked one of the boundaries +of the land Mr. Merkel claimed—but land to which he could not now show +a legal title because of the theft of his papers. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, all serene so far," observed Bud, as night settled down on them +in their new environment. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I don't reckon we'll be disturbed," observed Billee, who was +there with them. +</P> + +<P> +"It'll give me a chance to pick up, an' get back in th' saddle again," +observed Yellin' Kid in his usual loud voice. He had been allowed to +form part of the "fort" guard, as it was thought the duties there would +not be strenuous for a while, at least, and he could make a better +recovery than at Diamond X. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it's a good place for a fight, if one comes," said Nort, as he +looked about the place. It readily lent itself well to fortification, +and advantage had been taken of this by Mr. Merkel. The rough shack +was an outpost fort in the land that was destined to be battled for by +the sheep men on one side and the cattle men on the other. +</P> + +<P> +Quiet evening was settling down, "grub" had been served and the ponies +were rubbing noses in the improvised corral when Yellin' Kid, who was +venturing to walk around a little to "exercise his game leg," as he +expressed it, came to a halt and gazed earnestly across Spur Creek in +the direction of Mexico distant several miles. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it, Kid?" asked Billee, who was smoking his pipe. +</P> + +<P> +"Somebody's comin'," was the answer, "an' he's sweatin' leather," which +meant that he was riding fast. +</P> + +<P> +The boy ranchers looked in the direction indicated. A lone horseman +was approaching from the side of the creek where the enemy might be +expected first to appear. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ALARM +</H3> + +<P> +Gathered in front of their "fort," as it laughingly had been +christened, the boy ranchers and their cow puncher comrades watched the +approach of the lone horseman. He had come up through the valley—the +pass that, like the neck of a bag tied about the middle with a string, +connected two great lands—Mexico and the United States. But one land +represented law and order to a degree, while the other was woefully +lacking in these essentials to progress. +</P> + +<P> +For a time the stranger rode on at the fast pace Yellin' Kid had at +first observed, and the atmosphere was so clear that his progress was +easily noticed without glasses, though Bud brought out a pair after a +moment or two. +</P> + +<P> +Then, suddenly, the approaching horseman seemed to become aware, for +the first time, of the new structure at Spur Creek—the "fort" of +Diamond X. +</P> + +<P> +For he began to slacken his pace and when a quarter of a mile from the +place where Mr. Merkel had determined to make a stand, the horseman +pulled up his steed. Then he sat in the saddle and gazed long and +earnestly at the shack and those who stood grouped in front of it. +</P> + +<P> +"Look out!" suddenly cried Bud, who was watching the horseman through +the glasses. "He's going to draw!" +</P> + +<P> +This meant gun play, and the cowboys realized this, for they lost no +time in "ducking" behind shelter. Bud, too, was taking no chances, but +as he continued to look, from a vantage point, he said: +</P> + +<P> +"I made a mistake. He's only using glasses, same as I am. He didn't +pull a gun." +</P> + +<P> +"Who is he?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Anybody we know?" Dick inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Never saw him before, to my knowledge," remarked Bud. "He's a Mexican +or a Greaser, I take it." These terms were almost synonymous, except +that a Mexican was a little higher class than a Greaser half-breed, as +the term, was sometimes applied. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me take a look," suggested Yellin' Kid. "I know most of the class +on the other side of the Rio Grande." +</P> + +<P> +Long and earnestly the cowboy gazed through the glasses at the lone +figure on the other side of Spur Creek—a gaze that was returned with +interest, so to speak. +</P> + +<P> +"He's Mex all right," said Yellin' Kid, handing the glasses to Billee, +"but what his game is I don't know." +</P> + +<P> +"Looks like he just came to size us up," observed Billee, after an +observation, at the conclusion of which the stranger turned his horse +and rode slowly off in the direction whence he had come. +</P> + +<P> +"That's right," assented Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think he's a sheep herder?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Might be. Looks mean enough," said Yellin' Kid. The cattle men could +say nothing too strong against this despised class of breeders and +their innocent charges. Sheep herders were the scum of the earth to +the ranchmen, and to say that a man has "gone in for sheep" was to +utter the last word against him, though he might be a decent member of +society for all that, and with as kind and human instincts as his more +affluent neighbor raising cattle or horses. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he knows we're here and on the job, at any rate," commented Bud +as the horseman slowly disappeared from sight in the distance. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and he'll very likely tell his band and we'll have them buzzing +about our ears before we know it," remarked Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Then we'll fight!" cried Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"That's right!" chimed in Nort and Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish my leg was in better shape," complained Yellin' Kid. "But I +can make a shift to ride if I have to." +</P> + +<P> +However, the next two days passed with no signs of any activities on +the part of the enemy. No sheep were sighted being driven up through +the pass to the lands that were now, by government proclamation, open +to whoever wanted to claim them, barring only those already having +large holdings of grazing range. +</P> + +<P> +"But this is only the calm before the storm," declared Bud, when he and +his chums talked it over. "We'll have a fight yet." +</P> + +<P> +And it was very likely that this would happen. While waiting, though, +every opportunity was taken to better fortify that part of Spur Creek +where Mr. Merkel's land began. +</P> + +<P> +The shack was made more comfortable, a telephone line was strung to it +from the main ranch at Diamond X, and it was well stocked with +provisions. +</P> + +<P> +"And we'd better run in a pipe line so we can pump water directly from +the creek into the shack," said Billee when certain improvements were +being talked over. +</P> + +<P> +"Why that?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it's terrible thing in this hot weather to be cut off from your +water supply," said the old frontiersman. "And it might happen that +the Greasers and sheep men would get between our fort and the stream. +Then we couldn't get out for water without losing our scalps, so to +speak. But if we have a pump in here, and the pipe line concealed so +the scoundrels can't locate it, we can be assured of a never-ending +supply of water." +</P> + +<P> +"It's good advice," decided Mr. Merkel when it was told to him, and, +accordingly the pump was installed. During this time no more was seen +of the solitary horseman, or, indeed, of any visitors or spies on the +Mexican side of Spur Creek. I say the Mexican side, though, as a +matter of fact the Mexican border was some miles away, and I merely +mention that country to identify the two sections, one on one side and +one on the other of the stream, which was wholly within the United +States. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile Sheriff Hank Fowler had endeavored to trace the thieves who +had robbed Mr. Merkel's safe, but there had been no results. Professor +Wright and his men were busily engaged in further search for fossil +bones, and they were considered out of suspicion. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Merkel had engaged the services of a lawyer to take up with the +authorities in Washington the matter of his stolen deeds in an effort +to hold to his land. There were rumors that a number of the new +government claims had been taken up on the land that was once the +property of the Indians, and among them some of the claim holders were +sheep herders, it was said. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, they'd better keep away from Spur Creek—that's all I got to +say!" cried Yellin' Kid in his usual loud tones. +</P> + +<P> +So far, however, there had been no advent of the hated "woollies" as +they were sometimes called. But the boy ranchers and their friends did +not relax their vigilance. The sheep and their human owners might +drift in across the creek at any hour, day or night, so a constant +guard was maintained. +</P> + +<P> +It was one rainy, disagreeable night that the alarm came. It was the +turn of Bud and Nort to stand watch, and they were keeping wary eyes +turned toward the creek boundary through the mist of rain. +</P> + +<P> +"This is no fun," mused Nort as he wrapped his poncho closer about him. +</P> + +<P> +"I've seen more jolly times," agreed Bud with a laugh. "But it can't +last forever. Wonder what time it is, anyhow?" +</P> + +<P> +Before Nort could answer there suddenly flashed in the southern sky a +glare of fire. +</P> + +<P> +"Lightning!" exclaimed Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"A rocket!" cried Bud, all excited. "It means something, Nort! Maybe +the sheep herders are coming!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A PARLEY +</H3> + +<P> +For a moment the two boys remained motionless and quiet, waiting for +what might develop. But the dying sparks of the rocket—if such it +was—were followed by no other demonstration. +</P> + +<P> +"We'd better call Billee and the others," murmured Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"That's right," agreed Nort in a low voice, though there was no need +for this, as the rocket-senders must have been several miles away. +</P> + +<P> +Billee Dobb awakened at the slightest whisper near his bunk, and in a +few moments Dick, Yellin' Kid and the other cowboys, of whom there were +half a dozen at the "fort," as it was called, were awake. It did not +take them long to hustle into their clothes, and then, draped in +ponchos, for it was still raining hard, they stood out in the darkness, +waiting for what might happen next. +</P> + +<P> +"Couldn't have been a rocket," murmured Old Billee, as the rain pelted +down. "It's too wet for that." +</P> + +<P> +"Must have been some Greasers around a camp fire—though how in the +name of a maverick they got one to burn I don't see," observed Yellin' +Kid, making his voice only a little lower than usual. "Must 'a' been +that one of 'em chucked a brand up in the air." +</P> + +<P> +"It wasn't like a fire brand," declared Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"It was just like a regular rocket," added Bud. +</P> + +<P> +Old Billee was about to say something, probably to the effect that it +was a false alarm, and that they'd all do better to be back in their +warm bunks when the blackness of the night was suddenly dispelled off +to the south by a sliver of flame, followed by a trail of red sparks. +</P> + +<P> +"There she goes again!" cried Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"The same as before," added Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"That's a rocket right enough," admitted Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Like the time we was after cattle rustlers," said Yellin' Kid, +referring to an occasion, not fully set forth in any of the books, +when, as the Diamond X took after a gang of cattle thieves, rockets +were used as signals by the marauders to communicate with separated +bands. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you reckon it means?" asked Dick, who often dropped into the +vernacular of the plains. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it <I>might</I> mean almost anything," admitted Old Billee. "Can't +be any of Uncle Sam's soldiers that far south, or we'd 'a' heard about +it. As near as I can figure it there must be some crowd down there +trying to give a signal to some crowd somewhere else." +</P> + +<P> +This was sufficiently vague to have covered almost anything; as sport +writers spread the "dope," in talking about a coming football contest +between Yale and Princeton. +</P> + +<P> +Yellin' Kid must have sensed this, for with a chuckle he said: +</P> + +<P> +"You're bound to be right, Billee, no matter which way the cat jumps. +It sure is <I>some</I> crowd signallin' to <I>another</I> crowd." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you suppose they're trying to signal us?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't believe so," remarked Bud. "I think it's some of the sheep men +getting ready to rush in here. That rocket is a notice to some of +their friends around here that they're going to start." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if they come we'll stop 'em!" declared Bud, and the others +murmured their agreement with this sentiment. +</P> + +<P> +They waited a little longer after the sparks of the second rocket had +died away, but the signal—and it seemed positively to be that—was not +repeated. +</P> + +<P> +"No use standing here," murmured Old Billee. "It will soon be morning, +and if anything happens we'll be ready for it. Let's get our rest out. +Is your trick up, Bud?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not quite, Billee." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Dick and I go on next," remarked Yellin' Kid, "and we might as +well jump in now as long as we're up. Turn in, Bud and Nort." +</P> + +<P> +Our young heroes were glad enough to do this, though they never would +have asked to be relieved before their time. Accordingly, after a few +moments of looking in vain toward where they had seen the rocket, for a +repetition of the signals, Bud and Nort went inside the cabin, and +stretched out for a little rest before day should fully break. +</P> + +<P> +The remainder of the night—really a short period—was without alarm or +any sign that hostile forces were on their way to take possession of +land claimed by the owner of Diamond X. +</P> + +<P> +"Grub's ready!" was the musical call of the cook, and soon those who +were holding the line at Spur Creek were gathered about the table. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, nothing happened, I see, or, rather, I don't see," remarked Bud +to Dick and the Yellin' Kid who had come in off guard duty. +</P> + +<P> +"Nary a thing," answered he of the loud voice. "Didn't hear a peep out +of anybody and they wasn't no more fireworks." +</P> + +<P> +"But we'd better keep pretty closely on the watch to-day," suggested +Dick. "Those rockets meant something." +</P> + +<P> +"You're right," said Billee Dobb. "We'll stick right close to our +little old fort to-day, and, boys, be sure your guns are in quick +working order. There may be no shootin' and then, ag'in, there may +be," he drawled. +</P> + +<P> +I suppose I need not tell you that the boy ranchers in their secret +hearts rather hoped there would be shooting. They had been under fire +before, and while they were not foolhardy nor inclined to take risks, +they felt that if there was to be a fight on the part of the sheep men +to get unlawful possession of Diamond X land, the sooner such a fight +took place the better. Suspense was worse than actual conflict. +</P> + +<P> +So after the "chores" had been attended to about the Spur Creek fort +(and there were not many duties), it became a matter of waiting. Spur +Creek made a bend at this part of Mr. Merkel's holdings, and the fort +was situated on what was a sort of triangular peninsula, with the +stream flowing on two sides of it. In this way it was what, during the +World War, was called a "spearhead" into the country to the south, and +it was from this country that the Mexican, Greaser or other sheep +herders might be expected to invade the range long held sacred to +horses and cattle. But this land, by government proclamation, was now +thrown open to all comers. +</P> + +<P> +Because of the peculiar formation of the land it lent itself readily to +defense, and also gave a good post for observation. The "fort" had +been hastily built on the extreme point, as near the creek as was +practical. Back, on either side, extended the banks of the stream, and +when breakfast had been served Old Billee, who was in command, selected +those who were to patrol the banks on each side of the cabin, for a +distance several miles back along the edges of the "spearhead." +</P> + +<P> +The morning passed. The first contingent of scouts had come in to eat +and another body was about to go out to relieve them when Bud, who had +gone down to the edge of the creek, to clean a particularly muddy pair +of shoes, looked across the stream, and uttered a cry of alarm. +</P> + +<P> +Riding up from the southland, Mexico if I may so call it (though the +actual country of the Montezumas was distant many miles), was a lone +horseman. He was coming along, "sweating leather," and was seen by +others of the Diamond X forces almost as soon as observed by Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Some one's coming!" yelled Bud, and he stood up on the edge of Spur +Creek looking at the approaching horseman until Yellin' Kid shouted: +</P> + +<P> +"Better duck back here, boy. No telling when he may unlimber a gun!" +</P> + +<P> +It was good advice and Bud took it, to the extent of getting back +nearer the cabin fort. On came the rider, seemingly fearless, until he +pulled rein on the other side of the stream and sat there on the back +of his panting horse, a most picturesque figure. +</P> + +<P> +"Mex from hat to stirrups," murmured Snake Purdee. +</P> + +<P> +"An' wicked from outside to inside," added Yellin' Kid in a lower voice +than usual. +</P> + +<P> +The Mexican rider, for such he seemed to be, raised one hand, smiled to +show two rows of very white teeth in the expanse of a very dark face, +took off his broad-brimmed and high crowned hat and said: +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Parlez, señors?</I>" +</P> + +<P> +It was in the form of a question, and as such Old Billee answered it. +</P> + +<P> +"Talk?" grunted the veteran cow puncher. "What about?" +</P> + +<P> +"The land," replied the stranger, with another smile evidently intended +to be engaging, but which seemed rather mocking. "I come to ask why +you are here in such force, evidently to stop any who might wish to +cross to feed their stock on open range?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it'll save trouble in a way, if you recognize the fact that we +are here to stop you," said Billee. "An' we're goin' to! <I>Sabe</I>?" +</P> + +<P> +"But for why?" asked the other, speaking English much better than his +appearance seemed to indicate he might be able to. "It is land open to +all who come, and I have come——" +</P> + +<P> +"Then you may as well go back where you came from!" interrupted Yellin' +Kid, "'cause there's going to be no onery sheep pastured here, an' you +can roll that in your cigaret an' smoke it!" he added, as the stranger +calmly made himself a "smoke" from a wisp of paper and some tobacco he +shook into it from a small cloth bag. +</P> + +<P> +There was no answer to this implied challenge on the part of Yellin' +Kid, hardly even the flicker of an eyelash to show that the stranger +heard and understood. +</P> + +<P> +Yet he must have heard. Yellin' Kid was not one to leave a matter of +that sort in doubt. His tones were always above the average. +</P> + +<P> +And that he has made himself plain was evident to all—even to the +stranger it would appear. For there was that in his air—something +about him—which seemed to say that he had absorbed what the cowboy had +intimated. +</P> + +<P> +Whether he would profit by the remarks—well, that was another +matter—something for the future. +</P> + +<P> +But if he was at all apprehensive it was not manifested by any tremor +of his hands; for not a grain of tobacco was spilled. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SUSPICIONS +</H3> + +<P> +For several moments the situation remained thus; the boy ranchers and +their friends were on one side of Spur Creek, determined to repulse any +attempt on the part of the strange horseman, who was on the opposite +shore, to cross and make a landing. In this case it might be +considered a legal taking possession of disputed land, and open the way +for a band of sheep men to enter. On the other side was the lone +horseman calmly puffing at his cigaret, as if literally taking the +advice of Yellin' Kid. +</P> + +<P> +The three boys, and the older cowboys also, had their guns in readiness +for action, but it was easy to guess that the lone horseman, unless he +was extremely foolhardy, would not attempt to do anything in the face +of such odds. +</P> + +<P> +More than two minutes passed, and if you want to know how long this is +in a tense situation take out your watch and count the seconds. +</P> + +<P> +Then the stranger on the Mexican side of Spur Creek tossed away his +smouldering cigaret stub, took a deep breath and exhaled the smoke. +Next he spoke softly. +</P> + +<P> +"You will have no sheep, <I>señors</I>?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Nary a sheep!" declared Billee Dobb, "an' you can tell them that sent +you!" +</P> + +<P> +A half smile—a contemptuous smirk of the lips—seamed for a moment the +bronzed, weather-beaten and wrinkled face of the lone horseman. He +tightened the reins and his steed made ready to gallop off. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall see you again, <I>señors</I>. <I>Adios!</I>" he cried, and, with a +graceful wave of his hand he wheeled and rode off as fast as he had +approached. +</P> + +<P> +For a few seconds longer there was silence in the ranks of those +holding Fort Spur Creek as it might be called. Then Bud broke out with: +</P> + +<P> +"What do you make of that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Can't make much," admitted Old Billee. "If he came to find out +whether we were ready, he went away satisfied." +</P> + +<P> +"Regular stage and moving picture stuff!" commented Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"I believe the fellow was an actor," laughed Dick. "The way he flipped +his cigaret and waved to us—he must have been in the movies sometime." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll movie him if he comes on this side of Spur Creek!" muttered Snake +Purdee. "Him and his '<I>adios</I>'! Nothin' but a Greaser, I'll wager!" +</P> + +<P> +"He had his nerve with him," said Old Billee. "But, boys, we mustn't +let him get ours. He came to spy out and see what he could pick up." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he found us ready for him!" exclaimed Yellin' Kid. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but maybe he'll go back and report that we aren't ready enough," +said Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"I mean he has sized up our force, and he and his gang may be able to +bring up enough to beat us back. You see, boys, this land is a rich +prize, not only for sheep men but for any who want to use it for +grazing. It has water and good grass." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what's the matter with 'em stayin' on their own side of Spur +Creek?" asked Snake, growling out the words. +</P> + +<P> +"That's where they should stay, by rights," said Billee, "and it's +where we intend to keep 'em. The other land is open to those who stake +it out, I suppose, but on this side it belongs to your father, Bud." +</P> + +<P> +"The trouble is he has to prove it," answered the boy rancher. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and that's going to be hard with his papers stolen the way they +are," admitted Billee. "Of course it was a put up job, and I have my +suspicions of who did it. But this land would be a rich prize for a +sheep herder or anybody else, and we've got to fight 'em off." +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you suspicious of?" demanded Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Never you mind," was the enigmatical answer, given with a shake of the +head, "but I have 'em all right. However, that's another matter. What +we have to do now is to get ready to meet any of these sheep men if +they come up and try to cross the creek." +</P> + +<P> +"You reckon he's gone back to his gang to tell 'em to get ready to come +here?" asked Snake. +</P> + +<P> +"Shouldn't wonder," admitted Billee. "But it'll be some time before +they can bring up the woollies." +</P> + +<P> +"Sheep travel fast, they eat fast and they ruin water and pastures +faster'n Sam Hill!" exclaimed Yellin' Kid, and this was true. If you +have ever watched a flock of sheep feeding you would know this. They +eat as though they feared some one was going to take all the grass away +on a moment's notice. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he's ridin' fast," observed Snake, as, shading his eyes with his +hat, he gazed in the direction taken by the lone horseman. The fellow +was almost out of sight now, and soon was lost to view. +</P> + +<P> +Danger now seemed more imminent than it had been, and, as behooved +efficient cowboys, our friends at once began going over the situation +and making sure that they had done all that was possible to fortify +their position. +</P> + +<P> +Of course, while I have referred to the shack hurriedly erected as a +"fort," it was nothing of the sort. There were no heavy walls, and of +course no artillery, though the boys wished they did have a machine +gun. But, on the other hand, no artillery would be brought up against +them, so this evened matters up. If it came to a fight there would be +only revolvers used on both sides at first, though later rifles might +come into play. However, not even the most rabid of the cowboys from +Diamond X really wanted a bloody fight. They would much rather the +sheep men kept away, leaving the rightful owners of the land in +possession. +</P> + +<P> +But, as Billee had said, the stealing of Mr. Merkel's papers seemed to +indicate some deep-laid plot to cheat him of his land that was so +valuable. +</P> + +<P> +"We're in as good shape as we can be, until it comes to a showdown and +a fight," remarked Billee, when the noon-day meal was served, after +they had gone carefully over the defense. "Did you get your dad?" he +asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I had him on the wire," answered the son of the owner of Diamond +X. "Nothing new has developed back home, and I told him about this +fellow. He thinks, as we do, that he was a spy." +</P> + +<P> +"And, the more I think of it, the more I think I have seen that fellow +before," remarked Nort, with a puzzled air. +</P> + +<P> +"Seen him before—what do you mean?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, his face seemed familiar at first, and then when he lit his +cigaret and threw it away, he reminded me of some one." +</P> + +<P> +"Some one in the movies, maybe," said Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that's what I thought at first," admitted Nort, "though the more +I think of it the more I'm certain that I've seen him out here—some +time ago. I wish I could recall it." +</P> + +<P> +"I can't place him," said Dick. "Stop thinking of it, Nort. It may +come to you all of a sudden." +</P> + +<P> +"It may not amount to anything, anyhow," Nort admitted. "But I have a +feeling that I had a run in with that man before." +</P> + +<P> +There was little to do at Spur Creek except await developments, and +this waiting was really harder work than actual fighting would have +been. It was also more nervous, keeping them all on a strain. +</P> + +<P> +The approach of the enemy and by "enemy" I mean sheep men who might try +to pasture their flocks on Mr. Merkel's land, or men who might try to +take possession of it—these enemies would appear on the southern side +of Spur Creek first, as it was well known there were the largest sheep +ranches—just across the Mexican border. And pretty well cropped off +were the vast fields, too. That is why there was such an eagerness to +get into new and fertile ranges. +</P> + +<P> +In consequence of this, watch was kept on that side of the stream where +the lone horseman had appeared. To the north, east and west little +danger was apprehended. +</P> + +<P> +On the second day after the parley with this "spy," as he was dubbed, a +moving cloud of dust was observed approaching from the north. +</P> + +<P> +You may be sure it did not go long unnoticed, and Dick raised a cry as +soon as he saw the indication of someone, or something, coming. +</P> + +<P> +"Get out your guns!" he shouted. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe it's somebody from Diamond X," spoke Nort. +</P> + +<P> +And a little later it could be seen that the dust was caused by three +steers rushing over the dry prairie. +</P> + +<P> +"Must have been a stampede up at your place, Bud," remarked Snake +Purdee, as he and the other cowboys rode out in answer to Dick's alarm. +"These got away from the main herd. We'll round 'em up." +</P> + +<P> +With their usual loud cries the cowboys rode toward the fleeing cattle, +which seemed maddened by some fear, for they never slackened pace. But +by skillful rope-throwing two were downed and secured. The third, and +fleeter of the trio furnished a bit of amusement for the holders of the +fort. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll bulldog him!" shouted Snake Purdee. "Lay off, Kid!" he called to +the yeller, for now that his leg was mending Yellin' Kid began to take +an active part in all that went on. +</P> + +<P> +"Bulldogging" is a term used in the West to indicate sort of wrestling +match with a steer, and the completion of the act sees the animal +thrown prone to the ground by the strength and skill of the cowboy. +</P> + +<P> +Urging his pony to a fast pace, Snake rode up alongside the rushing +steer and then, when near enough, the cowboy leaped from his horse and +raced on foot alongside the steer. Snake reached out and shot his +right arm around the animal's neck, reaching over and under until he +could grasp the loose, bottom skin. While he was doing this he had to +keep pace with the steer, and at times Snake was lifted clear from the +ground, while, now and again, he had to throw his legs out to keep them +clear of the knees of the now maddened beast. +</P> + +<P> +But Snake had performed this feat before, and was one of the most +expert at the <I>rodeo</I> games whenever they were held. +</P> + +<P> +His right arm now over the steer's neck, and with his right hand firmly +grasping the loose lower, neck-skin, Snake reached out his left hand +and caught hold of the tip of the animal's left horn. This was the +position he had been working to secure, and the instant he had it, +Snake lunged his body downward against his own left elbow, which +brought almost his entire weight, at a powerful leverage, against the +brute's horn. At the same time Snake was pulling with his right hand +and the effect of this was to twist the steer's neck so that the animal +lost its balance. +</P> + +<P> +Its speed slackened and, a moment later it toppled over on its side, +and lay there quite exhausted by its run. Though this may sound cruel +it was not, and the steer suffered no harm. In fact it was benefited, +for its mad race was ended, and there was no telling what might have +happened if it had kept on. +</P> + +<P> +The instant Snake saw the steer about to topple over he released his +hold and sprang away. +</P> + +<P> +"Well done!" cried Bud. "That was a dandy!" +</P> + +<P> +"Wish I could do that!" sighed Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you will, some day," consoled his cousin. +</P> + +<P> +The three runaway steers were thus secured, and as there was no place +to care for them at the Fort one of the cowboys was delegated to haze +them back to the main herd at Diamond X. +</P> + +<P> +Another day passed in quietness, with no sign from the south of Spur +Creek that any hostile band of sheep herders was on the way to lay +waste, in a sense, the fertile lands of Mr. Merkel. In the meanwhile +there was telephone communication twice a day, or oftener, between the +Fort and the main ranch house. +</P> + +<P> +Nothing new had transpired at Diamond X, and the boy ranchers were told +that matters in Happy Valley were peaceful. +</P> + +<P> +Of course there were the usual occurrences as there were always such on +a big ranch. One or more of the cowboys was continually getting hurt, +more or less seriously, and being doctored in the rough and ready +fashion that, perforce, prevails in the unsettled part of the West. +</P> + +<P> +For though the life of a cowboy may seem very picturesque when you view +it from a seat in a tent or say from Madison Square Garden, in New +York, the real facts of the case are vastly different. +</P> + +<P> +No one can ride horses in the slap-dash style the cowboys ride them, +and they can not handle cattle—often vicious ones—the way the beasts +are handled, without accidents happening. +</P> + +<P> +Nor are cowboys the ones to favor themselves for the sake of avoiding +risks. Rather they go out of their way to look for trouble, as it were. +</P> + +<P> +They are filled with bravado. +</P> + +<P> +So it was that while I have said matters were quiet at the two ranches, +yet small accidents were continually happening. But, as the boys +reported, after a talk over the wire, nothing of great moment had taken +place. +</P> + +<P> +"Your dad hasn't heard anything about his stolen papers, has he?" +inquired Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Nary a thing," answered Bud in the vernacular of the west, "and he's +beginning to wonder if anything is going to happen down here." +</P> + +<P> +Almost as Bud spoke there came a hail from one of the cowboys who was +on the watch, and his cry was instantly taken up with the shout: +</P> + +<P> +"Somebody's coming!" +</P> + +<P> +At once there was an exodus, and as our heroes and their cowboy friends +lined up in front of the shack, they saw, coming toward them on the +opposite side of Spur Creek, several horsemen, and at the sight of one +rider Bud cried: +</P> + +<P> +"It's Professor Wright!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A CALL FOR HELP +</H3> + +<P> +This announcement, calling attention to the approach of the scientist, +rather overshadowed other matters for a moment. But the interest was +made more intense when the identity of the men accompanying the +professor was made known. +</P> + +<P> +"He's in with a bunch of Greasers!" cried Snake Purdee. +</P> + +<P> +"And look who one of 'em is!" added Nort. "It's the <I>spy</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +Without doubt one of the approaching party was the same Mexican who had +so airily bidden our friends "<I>adios</I>," on the occasion of his first +visit. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what do you know about that!" exclaimed Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you reckon the professor is doing, or was doing, over there?" +asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +No one answered him, but Bud turned toward Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +The veteran cow puncher had spoken of "suspicions." Bud wondered if +they were along a line that might connect with the professor. But if +Old Billee had anything to say he was keeping it to himself. Though +there was a quizzical look on his face as he observed the approaching +horseman, of whom Professor Wright appeared to form the nucleus. +</P> + +<P> +"If those fellows think they can cover up their game by getting one of +our friends to accompany them, they've got another guess coming," said +Bud grimly. +</P> + +<P> +"That's right—don't let 'em cross!" cried Dick. +</P> + +<P> +But the "spy," as he was called for want of a better name, and his +Mexican companions, seemed to have no intentions of fording Spur Creek +which, though rather wide, was not very deep in some places. Reining +in their horses when yet several hundred feet from the southern bank of +the stream, the Mexicans halted, and the one who had ridden up alone +several days before, waved his hand toward the waiting cowboys, and +then motioned to the professor as if saying: +</P> + +<P> +"There are your friends." +</P> + +<P> +As a matter of fact that is what he did say, for Professor Wright said +so when, a little later, he had urged his horse across the creek, and +had joined the boy ranchers and their friends. +</P> + +<P> +Watching the scientist cross the stream, the Mexicans stood for a +moment, rather picturesque figures on the southern bank and then, when +the "spy" had again lighted a cigaret, and waved his hand as if in +mocking farewell, the band rode off. +</P> + +<P> +It was a very silent contingent from Diamond X that watched the lone +approach of Professor Wright. The scientist seemed worn to weariness, +and looked worried as he smiled at his acquaintances and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Well, here I am." +</P> + +<P> +"So we see," observed Billee Dobb, dryly, not to say sarcastically. +</P> + +<P> +"Where have you been?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Did they capture you and hold you for ransom?" Nort wanted to know. +</P> + +<P> +"What happened?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"With my usual stupidity I became lost again," explained Professor +Wright. "I have been out looking around, 'prospecting,' I believe it +is called, seeking a new deposit of fossil bones. I wandered farther +than I intended, and got across the creek. I found I was on the wrong +trail, and that there was nothing much of interest there, so I turned +to come back. But I must have turned the wrong way, and have gone +south instead of north, for I began to note signs that I was +approaching the Mexican border. +</P> + +<P> +"I started back then, when these gentlemen overtook me. They were very +kind and when I told them where I wanted to go they agreed to accompany +me." +</P> + +<P> +"Passing over for the time being the use of the word 'gentlemen,' and +realizing that you probably don't know them as well as we do, I'd like +to ask if they said why they were coming this way?" asked Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"No, they didn't, and I didn't ask them," replied the professor. "They +just seemed to be riding for pleasure." +</P> + +<P> +"Pleasure of their own kind," chuckled Snake. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you see anything of sheep in your wanderings?" asked Yellin' Kid. +</P> + +<P> +The professor thought for a moment before replying. He was always +careful to give a correct and exact answer to a question. +</P> + +<P> +"I saw no sheep," he declared. +</P> + +<P> +"That's queer," murmured Billee. "From what news we have it's +practically certain they're going to try to rush sheep in here soon, +and yet they aren't in sight." +</P> + +<P> +Then Bud bethought himself of something. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you <I>smell</I> any sheep, Professor?" the boy asked. +</P> + +<P> +Again the scientist thought before answering. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I <I>smelled</I> sheep very strongly, though I saw none," he said. "I +distinctly remember the smell of sheep, for it brought back to my mind +my youthful days when I used to go to the county fair. I <I>smelled</I> +sheep all right." +</P> + +<P> +"That's more like it!" cried Yellin' Kid. +</P> + +<P> +"Where were they?" asked Billee eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"That is more than I can say," answered the professor. "We were in a +hilly section, when those gentlemen overtook me and kindly offered to +escort me here, and it was when the wind blew that I smelled sheep most +strongly." +</P> + +<P> +"In what direction was the wind?" asked Nort, for he thought he might +get a clue in this way, as he realized the scientist was likely to have +noticed natural effects like wind or rain. +</P> + +<P> +"The wind—ah, yes—the wind was blowing from the south," said +Professor Wright, after thinking it over for a moment. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that's where I'd expect 'em to be," declared Old Billee. +"They're probably working their way up slowly. Did you see anything +else suspicious, Professor—or smell anything?" +</P> + +<P> +"Suspicious!" exclaimed the college man. "What do you mean? Is there +anything suspicious in the smell of sheep—or the sight of them, for +that matter?" +</P> + +<P> +"I guess you don't understand," spoke Bud. "You have probably been so +busy with your research work that you haven't had a chance to hear the +news about the opening of the new range land, and the danger of sheep +coming in." +</P> + +<P> +"I heard something of this—and the theft of your father's papers—the +night I arrived, and caused you so much trouble," the professor +admitted. "But, truth to tell, it slipped my mind, and I gave no +further thought to it. So you fear the advent of sheep; do you? Are +they likely to spread some disease among your cattle?" +</P> + +<P> +"Disease? They'll drive the cattle away!" cried Old Billee, and then +it was briefly explained to the professor what a menace the sheep were, +though very necessary in their own station of life. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sorry I didn't observe more closely," said Professor Wright. "As +I told you, my mind was filled with thoughts of new fossil deposits I +might discover, and I wandered too far. Then these gentlemen found me +and showed me the way back." +</P> + +<P> +"They were glad enough of the excuse," murmured Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Excuse for what?" the scientist wanted to know. +</P> + +<P> +"Excuse for getting back here to have a peep at us," answered Bud. +"They wanted to see if we were still on guard," and he explained about +the "fort." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, they found us here and waiting," commented Dick grimly. +</P> + +<P> +Professor Wright consented to stay for lunch at the outpost of Diamond +X, but declined an invitation to remain over night, saying he must get +back to his colleagues who would be wondering over his long absence. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sure you can find your way back to your camp?" asked Bud, for +the scientists were established not far from Mr. Merkel's ranch houses. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, I can make it all right," was the reply. "Thank you." +</P> + +<P> +And when he was gone, many curious glances followed him. He was always +a matter of curiosity to the cowboys for they could not understand his +deep interest in digging up the bones of monster animals that had +walked the earth millions of years ago. However, Bud and his cousins +could appreciate this scientific interest, knowing what it added to the +sum of human knowledge. +</P> + +<P> +But now there was a new source of curiosity regarding the professor, +and I am frank to say there was no little suspicion. In spite of the +fact that (as I have told you in the first book of this series), the +professor was cleared of certain suspicions there still remained, in +the mind of some persons, suspicions and lurking thoughts. +</P> + +<P> +Why had the scientist returned to Diamond X at the very time when the +government opened the land to claimants? Why had he led astray the +pursuit of those who fired the shots that night? And now was his +explanation of how he happened to be in company with those believed to +be sheep herders a good explanation? +</P> + +<P> +These were questions that needed answering, though it may be said that +the older cowboys were more concerned about them than were the boy +ranchers. They were young enough to be naturally unsuspicious of their +scientific friend. +</P> + +<P> +"But I wish I knew what he really crossed the creek for," said Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you don't believe his story?" asked Snake Purdee. +</P> + +<P> +"Not by a long shot!" exclaimed Billee. "Do you?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Twas kinder fishy," admitted the other. "But what would his object +be, and what was his game?" +</P> + +<P> +Billee had no chance to answer, for just then the telephone bell +jingled, and the veteran cow puncher answered it. He had no sooner +given the customary "hello," than the expression on his face changed +and he cried: +</P> + +<P> +"You don't say so! That's too bad! All right, some of us will be +right over." +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter?" asked Bud anxiously, coming up just in time to +hear Billee's remark. +</P> + +<P> +"There's trouble back at the ranch," was the grim answer. "They have +just called for help!" +</P> + +<P> +"Trouble! What sort?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, nobody's hurt, as far as that goes," Billee hastened to assure the +boy. "But there's been a raid on your cattle. Rustlers up to their +old tricks, I reckon. It's a call for help from Diamond X!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DEL PINZO'S HAND +</H3> + +<P> +Instantly all were astir in the shack that had been erected as a fort +on the bank of Spur Creek, and a rush was made for saddles and the +usual trappings of a cowboy. Nor were guns forgotten, for if these +would not be needed in fighting off the rustlers, they would be of +service in driving back a herd of frightened animals determined to put +as much distance as possible between themselves and the source of their +alarm. +</P> + +<P> +Billee was overwhelmed with questions. +</P> + +<P> +"Who were they?" +</P> + +<P> +"What did they do?" +</P> + +<P> +"Who was on the wire?" +</P> + +<P> +To all of these the veteran raised a hand for silence. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell you all I know," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe you'd better tell us on the run," suggested Yellin' Kid. "If +we're goin' t' help we'd better be moseying along, and <I>pronto</I> at +that." +</P> + +<P> +"Good idea," chuckled Old Billee. "Well," he resumed as they hurried +toward the corral where their horses were kept, "it was the boss +himself speaking on the wire. He didn't say much except to let it out +that we'd better get back as soon as we could. He didn't say who it +was that caused the ruction, so you know about as much of it as I do. +Then he hung up. But I could hear there was some excitement in your +place, lads," he went on to the boy ranchers, "for I could hear some of +the boys standing around your dad murmurin' an' talkin', an' I heard +somebody ask if they got th' bullet out yet." +</P> + +<P> +"Then there must have been shooting!" cried Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"I reckon!" assented Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Cracky!" cried Nort. "This is like old times!" +</P> + +<P> +"You said it!" voiced Bud. +</P> + +<P> +They were all in the saddles now, pulling their ponies sharply around +to head for the trail that led back to Diamond X. Then Old Billee +bethought him of something. +</P> + +<P> +"I say!" he sung out. "This won't do!" +</P> + +<P> +"What won't?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"All of us going off this way. We've got to leave some one here to +hold the fort, boys. Them onery sheep herders may steal in on us while +we're away, and take possession. An' you know," went on Billee with a +momentous shake of his head, "possession is nine points of th' law. +Somebody's got t' stay here," he decided. "You two fellers'd better do +it," and he pointed to two cowboys who had recently come from Diamond X +to augment the guard at Spur Creek. +</P> + +<P> +"Aw, Billee!" objected one. "We don't want t' stay here!" +</P> + +<P> +"Have a heart, old man, an' let us come with you!" pleaded the other. +"They won't be nothin' doin' here! Them sheep herders have just seen +that we're on guard an' they've gone back home t' report. They won't +arrive an' be able t' git any sheep here 'fore we can mosey back if we +have to." +</P> + +<P> +"That's right!" joined in the first newcomer who had spoken. "Take us +along, Billee!" +</P> + +<P> +"Wa'al," said Billee slowly, as if in doubt, "I don't know how much +help they'll need back at Diamond X——" +</P> + +<P> +"Better not take any chances," said Snake Purdee. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe the sheep men will come back here again very soon," +was Yellin' Kid's usual loud-voiced opinion. +</P> + +<P> +"All right—come along then," conceded Billee, and the two cowboys who +were on the verge of being left behind rode with the others. It was +fast riding, too, for when word comes in that cattle stealers are in +the neighborhood of any ranch, it behooves those charged with the +safety of men and animals to be on the "jump." There is always more or +less theft going on among the western cattle ranches but most of it is +on such a small scale that drastic action is not often taken. No +ranchman missed an occasional animal, which may be "lifted" because of +dire hunger, perhaps, on the part of some needy person. +</P> + +<P> +But when a "bunch" of valuable steers is driven off and when there are +indications that an organized attempt is being made to steal more, this +shows the presence of cattle rustlers, and concerted action must be +taken against them. +</P> + +<P> +It was this thought that was in the minds of all who thus rode +"sweatin' leather" from Spur Creek toward Diamond X ranch, and from the +glances that each member of the party cast, now and then, at the +weapons swinging at their sides in the big holsters, it was evident +that if shooting was to be a part of the game, they would be ready for +it. +</P> + +<P> +"Things are livening up a bit, aren't they?" remarked Nort to Bud as +the boys rode side by side. +</P> + +<P> +"That's the way they ought to be," declared Dick. "I hate sitting +around and waiting for something to happen." +</P> + +<P> +"We didn't have to wait very long," chuckled Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"That's right," agreed Nort. "Wonder who it is that's been after your +dad's cattle now?" he ventured. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe some of the old gang—maybe a new one," replied Bud. "You never +can tell." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean Del Pinzo's old gang?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"He's the worst of the lot—always was and always will be," declared +Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"But how does he keep out of jail?" Nort wanted to know. +</P> + +<P> +"That's one of the mysteries of it," went on Bud. "We've had him sent +up more than once, but he gets out again by some sort of lawyer's +trick. Either that or he breaks jail. The jails around here aren't +anything to boast of," he said with a laugh. "They're more a joke than +anything else." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you reckon Del Pinzo is out now?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Shouldn't wonder a bit," Bud assented. "We can tell whether he had a +hand in this or not as soon as we hear dad tell what happened." +</P> + +<P> +Musing on the wily, mean and desperate tricks of this renegade Mexican +half-breed, if such was his nationality, the Boy Ranchers and their +friends galloped along over the trail to Diamond X. On the way they +looked for signs of any cattle raids, but saw none. And these signs +are very plain when they do occur. +</P> + +<P> +Generally they were in the shape of the half-eaten carcass of some +steer, for the raiders were generally desperate and hungry men, and +before driving off a bunch of cattle they would kill one and cut off +enough to roast over a hastily built fire. +</P> + +<P> +But there were no indications of that now, and, in fact, there were +none of Mr. Merkel's cattle pastured in the section our friends rode +over to get to the ranch headquarters. +</P> + +<P> +"Most of the herds are farther north," explained Billee, "an' I reckon +that's where th' rustlin' took place." +</P> + +<P> +This proved to be the case when they arrived at Diamond X and had a +chance to get some information. Mr. Merkel was out at one of the +corrals, talking to some of his men, when his son and nephews rode up +with the cowboys from Spur Creek. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the good word, Dad?" greeted Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Sorry there isn't any good word—it's mostly bad," was the reply. "I +didn't like to pull you off from down there," he went on, "but as you +didn't seem to be very busy, and as we needed you up here, there didn't +seem to be anything else to do." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we were glad to come!" Nort hastened to say. +</P> + +<P> +"What's doin'?" asked Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"They're after us again—the rustlers," announced Mr. Merkel. +</P> + +<P> +"Same old gang?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"I reckon so," his father answered. "It looks like the hand of Del +Pinzo. You have to give that rascal credit for knowing just how and +when to strike." +</P> + +<P> +"Then he's out of jail again?" asked Yellin' Kid. +</P> + +<P> +"That's what some of the boys seem to think," replied Mr. Merkel. +"Here's what happened." +</P> + +<P> +Briefly he told how during a time when many of his men were driving to +the nearest railroad station a bunch of choice steers for shipment to +Kansas City, a raid was made on an outlying herd that was being +fattened in a sheltered valley for future shipment. Not only were a +hundred or more steers driven off, but one cowboy of Diamond X was +killed and another wounded. +</P> + +<P> +"And didn't our boys shoot back?" demanded Bud indignantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, they gave a good account of themselves," his father replied. +"They got three of the Greasers. That's how we made pretty sure it was +Del Pinzo again. They were just his type of rascals. +</P> + +<P> +"And so, because I didn't have men enough here to take after the crowd +and get my cattle back, and, at the same time, run things on the ranch, +I had to send for you. We'll have to let Spur Creek look after itself +for a while." +</P> + +<P> +"I reckon it can, Dad," said Bud. "The sheep herders won't come up for +a few days yet, I guess," and he told of the latest development in +which Professor Wright was concerned. +</P> + +<P> +"Hum! So he was lost again, was he!" mused Mr. Merkel. "Seems to me +he's getting into a regular habit that way." +</P> + +<P> +"Does look so," chuckled Nort. "He's all right in his own way——" +</P> + +<P> +"But he doesn't weigh much!" laughed Bud, perpetrating an old joke at +the expense of the professor's thin frame, for he did not have much +flesh on his bones. More than one cowboy privately recommended to Bud +that his father "pasture" the professor out on some good grass for a +season. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now you know as much as I do," went on Mr. Merkel. "Our cattle +have been stolen, and the gang—Del Pinzo's, I'm pretty certain—is +driving them south. It's up to us to get after them." +</P> + +<P> +"And we will!" cried Bud. "As soon as we have a bite to eat and can +pack up some grub——" +</P> + +<P> +He paused, for the telephone began ringing violently. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +COWBOY FUN +</H3> + +<P> +Bud, being the nearest to the instrument which was sending out its call +from a small shed near the corral—an extension line having been +established there—Bud sprang to answer it. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello! Hello!" he called, in his excitement his voice resembling that +of Yellin' Kid. "This is Diamond X," Bud went on. "What's the +trouble?" +</P> + +<P> +He listened for a moment and then called: +</P> + +<P> +"We'll be right over!" +</P> + +<P> +Hanging up the receiver with a bang on the hook, Bud hurried out of the +shed and cried: +</P> + +<P> +"They're at it again! Rustlers just cut out a bunch at North Station +and they're hazing 'em off!" +</P> + +<P> +"Whew!" whistled Mr. Merkel. "This is getting serious!" +</P> + +<P> +Little time was lost. Instead of stopping for a "bite," the boy +ranchers and their companions hastily swallowed some coffee that "Ma" +Merkel and Nell made ready for them. Some "grub" was hastily packed, +for the expedition might be out all night—very likely would—and then, +saddles, girths and guns having been hastily inspected, the cowboys set +forth. +</P> + +<P> +To the bunch that had been on guard at Spur Creek was added some other +punchers from Diamond X—as many as could be spared. This was not a +large number, for, as Mr. Merkel had said, he had sent some of his men +to drive his shipment of steers to the railroad. +</P> + +<P> +This latest raid, word of which had been telephoned in from a distant +place by a cowboy who had witnessed it, had taken place at what was +called "North Station." This was a sort of auxiliary ranch Mr. Merkel +had started when he secured more range land in the spring. By +pasturing some cattle around there, several miles were saved in +shipping his steers after fattening them up. And, as I have told you, +nothing so soon takes valuable fat off cattle as driving them long +distances to feed, to water or to a shipping point. +</P> + +<P> +The boy ranchers knew little of North Station, having been there but +once, though the trail to it was plain. And as they rode they talked +of what might have taken place there. +</P> + +<P> +"Guess whoever was in charge wasn't keepin' a very good lookout, or +he'd have stopped the rustlers," observed Snake Purdee. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you can't tell," said Billee Dobb. "Accidents will happen, and +Del Pinzo is as slick as they come." +</P> + +<P> +They all knew this to be true. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, there's one thing in our favor," remarked Bud, as he urged his +horse up between the steeds of Nort and Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" asked the latter. +</P> + +<P> +"We're after the rustlers right quick," went on Bud. "Red Dugan, who +telephoned in, said the gang driving off our cattle was still in sight +as he was talking. So we ought to overtake them by dark." +</P> + +<P> +"Not much fun fighting after dark," observed Dick dubiously. +</P> + +<P> +"That's right," agreed his brother. "You can't tell who you're +shooting at or who's shooting at you. How did Red come to be on the +job so quickly?" he inquired of Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you know dad has a lot of telephones set up at different places +over his range," the owner's son explained. "He says it doesn't cost +much to string a line of his own, and it's mighty handy when you want +to send word back to headquarters. It proved so in this case. For Red +was out on a distant part of the range, where there happened to be a +branch telephone in a box on a pole, and he shot in word of the raid." +</P> + +<P> +"Mighty lucky he did," observed Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, for we're on the trail almost as soon as the rustlers took it," +said Bud. +</P> + +<P> +And indeed the boy ranchers were on the trail, riding hard; for they +were some miles from where the raid had taken place, and they knew the +rustlers would not spare the cattle they were driving away. For the +thieves cared little about running fat off the stock they had "lifted." +All they desired was to get what animals they could, to be sold to some +other unscrupulous band, or used for food. Little consideration would +be given to the steers. +</P> + +<P> +After keeping to the main trail for some distance, the pursuers struck +off to the right, heading more to the south, for it was in this +direction they might expect to overtake the rustlers. +</P> + +<P> +Old Billee, who was riding ahead with Yellin' Kid, keeping an anxious +lookout for any signs of the rustlers, suddenly raised his hand as a +signal to stop. Those following him, including the boy ranchers, +pulled in their steeds. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter?" called Bud. "See something?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, but I feel something," was the somewhat strange answer. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" asked Yellin' Kid. +</P> + +<P> +"I mean I'm hungry!" and Old Billee chuckled. "If, as they say, an +army fights on its stomach, the same is true about a cowboy. If we're +goin' to do any fightin'—an' I reckon we are—then I got to eat!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm right glad to hear you disperse them there sentiments!" chuckled +Snake Purdee. "I was goin' t' tighten up my belt another hole or two, +to make my stomach take up less room, but if you're goin' t' eat——" +</P> + +<P> +"Might as well, an' rest the hosses a bit," said Billee. "We'll do all +the better afterward." +</P> + +<P> +Accordingly they halted, the horses were turned out to graze, and a +fire was built over which bacon could be sizzled and coffee made. +These two staples formed the basis of most meals when the cowboys were +on the trail, as they were now. +</P> + +<P> +No time was wasted, but Billee knew how to handle his men, and he did +not insist on an immediate start after the meal. He knew the value of +a little rest after food had been taken. The horses, too, would be +fresher for a wait. +</P> + +<P> +But while the afternoon was still young they were on their way again, +and before dark they had reached the headquarters of North Station, an +auxiliary to Diamond X ranch. +</P> + +<P> +"You fellows got here pretty quick," observed Sam Tod, the foreman at +North Station. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we didn't stop to play mumble-th'-peg along th' way," chuckled +Billee. "Now let's hear the yarn straight." +</P> + +<P> +It was hastily told, bearing out what had already been learned of it +over the telephone. +</P> + +<P> +"Pack us up a little more grub and we'll keep on," said Billee Dobb to +Sam, when the narration was ended. +</P> + +<P> +"You'd better call it a day and stay here for the night," counseled Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothin' doin'!" declared Billee earnestly. "We're goin' t' hit th' +trail hard!" +</P> + +<P> +"Now listen a moment," begged Sam. "I know this part of the country +better 'n what you do, Billee, though I give in to you on lots of +points. This section is pretty rough, an' them rustlers won't be able +to make any kind of speed with th' cattle. You can catch up t' 'em +better if you make an early mornin' start than if you keep on now." +</P> + +<P> +"You think so?" asked Billee, who was not "sot in his ways," as he +often said. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sure of it," declared Sam. +</P> + +<P> +"Wa'al, mebby you're right," conceded the veteran cowboy. "What say, +fellows?" and he appealed to Bud and the others. +</P> + +<P> +"I say let's stay here for th' night," decided Yellin' Kid. "As Sam +says, we can make better time in th' mornin'. Th' rustlers can't drive +cattle only so fast, anyhow." +</P> + +<P> +"Unless they stampede 'em," put in Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"That's what they did t' get away from where we had 'em pastured," +declared Sam. "But if they get 'em that wild now the animals is likely +t' break away, an' that isn't what this bunch of Greasers is countin' +on." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess you're right," admitted Bud. "It's about a fifty-fifty +proposition, and we'd better wait here over night." +</P> + +<P> +This decided, little time was lost in taking saddles from the horses +and turning them into the corral, while their riders made ready to wash +up, prepare for the evening meal and rest. +</P> + +<P> +As Snake Purdee turned his pony in and hung the saddle over the fence +he noticed a small enclosure in one corner of the corral, in which were +two rather sorry-looking specimens of horseflesh. +</P> + +<P> +"What you got there, Sam?" he asked, nodding toward the two sequestered +steeds. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, couple a' outlaws," was the answer. +</P> + +<P> +Snake's eyes seemed to sparkle with new light. +</P> + +<P> +"Reg'lar man-killers?" he asked eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Might call 'em that," assented Sam with a smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't nobody ride em?" went on Snake. +</P> + +<P> +"Th' last man what did has a broken leg on one side, an' a lot of skin +chawed off on th' other," answered the foreman grimly. +</P> + +<P> +"Whoopee!" yelled Snake, "I'll ride 'em! I'll fan 'em! Wow! Now for +some fun!" +</P> + +<P> +"Fun!" exclaimed Dick, who knew what was in prospect. "Oh, boy!" he +added to his brother, "now for some rough riding!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AFTER THE RUSTLERS +</H3> + +<P> +"Rough riding," as it is called, made up more than half the fun the +cowboys indulged in among themselves. There has, of late years, been +so much of this done in public, in traveling "wild west" shows, and in +exhibitions of some features of the <I>rodeo</I> in New York and other large +cities, that I believe most of you are familiar with the feats of +cowboys on these trained and untrained "broncks," or outlaw +horses—"mankillers" some of them are dubbed. +</P> + +<P> +I might say that there are two classes of this rough riding. One is +the real thing, on horses or cow ponies that are naturally bad, and +never can be broken or trained to behave. The other is on what might +be called "professional buckers." That is, horses which have trained +to try and unseat their riders as long as they are expected to do this. +</P> + +<P> +I venture to say most of you have seen exhibitions of rough riding in a +wild west, traveling show, or in some <I>rodeo</I>, as an imitation round-up +is called after its Spanish title. And most of you, I believe, have +been impressed with the fact that as soon as the man got off the back +of the bucking steed the said steed became as gentle as a lamb. This +is what those that are trained to it do purposely, but it is not what a +real dyed-in-the-wool outlaw does. For he does not let up in his +attack on the man even after the latter is out of the saddle. +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps some of you, at a rodeo, have seen a rider come bursting out of +the pen on the back of a rearing, bucking, leaping steed. After the +first burst two cowboys would ride up, one on either side of the +bucker, and take off, on their own stirrups or saddle the fearless +rider. And then the so-called "outlaw" would let himself be led meekly +back into the pen to be ready for the next performance, when it would +all be gone through with again. +</P> + +<P> +But occasionally you may have seen one of these horses lash out +viciously with his heels, in an endeavor to kick anyone he could reach, +not even excluding his fellow steeds. This is a specimen of a real +outlaw, who never lets up in his fight against man. But few of these +horses are taken about in a traveling show. They are too dangerous. +</P> + +<P> +However, the two that were fenced off in the corral at North Station +were of the real "bad" variety. They had been partly tamed, but their +tempers had been spoiled and they were really dangerous to approach. +Hence they were confined in a small space, and not allowed out. +</P> + +<P> +However, cowboys are by nature reckless, and to them bucking horses are +but a source of amusement and rivalry. Each cowboy thinks he can ride +some steed no one else can mount. And for the purpose of contests or +exhibitions, to relieve the monotony of "riding range," there are +facilities for saddling and bridling these horses without danger to +those doing it. +</P> + +<P> +This method consists of putting the horse in a long narrow place like a +stall in a stable, through the bars of which the boys can reach in, +throw on the saddle and tighten it. Then a rider can climb into the +saddle over the top rail of the fence and at a signal a gate can be +opened, allowing the maddened steed to rush out. +</P> + +<P> +Then the fun begins. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm goin' t' ride!" yelled Snake. +</P> + +<P> +"Take th' big one then," advised Sam. "He ain't quite so bad as th' +other." +</P> + +<P> +"I want th' meanest one!" insisted Snake, "an' if it's th' smallest +I'll ride him!" +</P> + +<P> +"Better not!" advised the foreman, but Snake was not to be persuaded +against it. And the other cowboys, scenting fun, were not very anxious +to have Snake change his mind. +</P> + +<P> +Accordingly some of the men who had handled Red Pepper before—Red +Pepper being the name of the horse—arranged to get a saddle on him, +and to slip a sort of bridle over his head. But he had no bit, for it +was as much as a man's hands were worth to try and force the bar of +steel between the teeth of this outlaw. +</P> + +<P> +"Now you watch me!" cried Snake when, after hard work, the saddle had +been strapped on and pulled tight. "I'm goin' t' fan him." +</P> + +<P> +I might explain that it is considered cowboy ethics to ride with only +one hand on the reins, whether a bit is used or not, and in the other +hand, usually the left, the cowboy carries his hat with which he hits +the steed on either side of the neck, "fanning him," it is called. And +no rough rider would ever think of sitting on the worst bucker in the +world without thus riding with one hand and "fanning" with the other. +Meanwhile, of course, he keeps up a wild whooping sound, just to show +his spirits. +</P> + +<P> +The feeling of a man on his back—a feeling he hates, the wild +whooping, the jab of the spurs and the flapping hat around his head +serves further to madden the bucker and it is a wonder any human being +can stay on his back a second. Yet cowboys do, and ride until they are +tired of the sport. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you ready?" called the cowboys who had saddled the "mankiller," as +Sam dubbed the small horse. +</P> + +<P> +"Let him out!" yelled Snake. +</P> + +<P> +The fastenings of the gate were loosed and out rushed the animal with +the cowboy bobbing about on his back. Red Pepper seemed a whirlwind of +fury. He rushed forward, his nose almost touching the ground, and then +he began to go up in the air. Up he would leap, coming down with all +four legs held stiff and his back arched, to shake, if it were +possible, Snake from the saddle. The cowboy rose in his stirrups to +take the shock as much as possible from his frame, and with a yell, +began "fanning" Red Pepper. +</P> + +<P> +This added to the fury of the beast, and it fairly screamed in rage +and, reaching back, tried to bite Snake's legs. But they were +protected by heavy leather "chaps," and the animal soon realized this. +</P> + +<P> +He now began leaping sideways, a form of bucking that often unseats a +rider, but Snake was proof against this. And all the while the animal +was dashing around the larger corral, on the fence of which sat the boy +ranchers and their friends, watching this cowboy fun. As they watched +they laughed and called such remarks as: +</P> + +<P> +"Fan him, Snake! Fan him!" +</P> + +<P> +"Whoopee! That's stickin' to him!" +</P> + +<P> +"Tickle him in the ear, Snake!" +</P> + +<P> +"Want any court plaster t' hold you down?" +</P> + +<P> +Snake paid little attention to this "advice" of his friends. In fact +he had little time, for he discovered that his "work was all cut out +for him," before he had been many seconds on the back of Red Pepper. +The steed in very truth was an outlaw of the worst type. +</P> + +<P> +Finding that the methods usually successful—those of bucking and +kicking out with his hind feet—were of no avail, the animal adopted +new tactics. He reared high in the air, with a scream of rage—reared +so high that there was a gasp of dismay from the spectators. For +surely it seemed that the horse would topple over backward and, falling +on Snake, would crush and kill him. +</P> + +<P> +But the cowboy had ridden horses like this before, and with a smart +blow between the animal's ears Snake gave notice that it would be +considered more polite if his steed would keep on all four feet. +</P> + +<P> +Down came Red Pepper with a jar that shook every bone in Snake's body, +but he remained in the saddle, and with more wild yells brought his +broad-brimmed hat down again and again on the animal's neck. +</P> + +<P> +Again Red Pepper dashed forward, bucked again, worse than before and +still finding the hated rider on his back began to play one of his most +desperate tricks. +</P> + +<P> +This consisted of lying down and trying to roll over his rider. If +successful, it would crush the rider almost as badly as if he had been +toppled on from a backward fall. +</P> + +<P> +"Look out, Snake! He's going to roll!" warned Sam. +</P> + +<P> +But Snake was ready. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly Red Pepper stopped bucking. But before Snake could catch his +labored breath the horse knelt down and started to roll over, at the +same time opening his mouth to bite whatever portion of Snake first +came within reach. +</P> + +<P> +Snake, however, had been through an experience like this before. In an +instant he had leaped from the saddle and was out of danger. That is, +out of danger in a way. But he and the others realized that as soon as +he could Red Pepper would get to his feet again and run after the +cowboy. It was that which made this particular animal so dangerous. +He never gave up fighting his rider, even when the latter was unseated; +and he had killed two men. +</P> + +<P> +"Watch yourself!" cried Sam. +</P> + +<P> +But Snake was ready, and so were some of the other cowboys, for they +had feared just this ending of the attempt to ride Red Pepper. No +sooner was Snake out of the saddle than two of his friends dashed +toward him, picking him up between them so that he rode with a foot on +either of their inner stirrups. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile some other cowboys rode up to get the outlaw back into the +corral. This was no easy work, but they had given him little chance, +and with two lariats about his neck, so that he could be held from +either side, he was, after some time, gotten back in his pen. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I rode him," chuckled Snake, when it was all over. +</P> + +<P> +"And you came out of it luckier than lots of 'em," added the foreman. +"Red Pepper sure is a bad one!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, shucks!" laughed Snake. "That jest gave me an appetite." +</P> + +<P> +And, really, it seemed to. But perhaps Snake was hungry, anyhow. +</P> + +<P> +After the meal there was a general talk about the raid of the rustlers. +And then as the cowboys sat about in the evening they indulged in +various forms of sport and fun, in which the boy ranchers joined. +</P> + +<P> +Bright and early those who were to take the trail after the cattle +thieves were on their way, taking with them enough food to last for +several days. They were now better prepared than when they had first +started out from Diamond X. +</P> + +<P> +It was comparatively easy to pick up the trail left by the rustlers and +soon our friends were riding after them, though of course several hours +behind them. But as had been said, the ground was of a nature that did +not lend itself well to haste, and if the thieves stampeded their +animals they would, very likely, lose them. They could only go so fast +and Billee and his cowboys hoped soon to come up to the raiders. +</P> + +<P> +It was nearly noon when one of the cowboys who was riding on ahead, +came to a stop on a little rise of land and, shading his eyes from the +sun, looked long and earnestly off to his left. +</P> + +<P> +"See anything?" asked Bud, who with his cousins rode up. +</P> + +<P> +"I think so, but I'm not sure," was the reply. "But doesn't it look +like a bunch of cattle there?" and he pointed. +</P> + +<P> +The boy ranchers gazed earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +"It sure does look like 'em to me!" declared Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Could it be one of our regular herds?" Dick asked. +</P> + +<P> +"None of our cattle are down that way," the cowboy said. +</P> + +<P> +"Then they're rustlers!" cried Bud. "After 'em, boys!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A CLOUD OF DUST +</H3> + +<P> +Flappings of heels to the flanks of horses, the tightening of reins, +firmer seats in the saddles and glances at the heavy revolvers swinging +in their holsters at the sides of the riders came as a prelude to the +burst of speed which immediately followed the sight of the distant herd +of cattle being hazed across the prairie. +</P> + +<P> +"Whoop-ee!" cried Yellin' Kid. "We'll show 'em what's what! Whoop-ee!" +</P> + +<P> +"Reckon you can stand a fight?" asked Nort, looking at the leg of the +cowboy, which had been severely injured. +</P> + +<P> +"Shucks, yes! I'm all right now! I'd a leetle mite ruther lick a +bunch of sheep herders than jest plain onery cattle rustlers," went on +Yellin' Kid, "but anythin' for a fight!" +</P> + +<P> +"You said it!" chimed in some of the other rough but ready and earnest +punchers. +</P> + +<P> +"I s'pose there will be a fight," mused Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Unless they quit and run," said Bud. "You don't mind a little thing +like a fight, do you?" he asked his cousin. "Of course not! I was +only joking!" he quickly added as he saw a look on Dick's face. +</P> + +<P> +"It won't be the first time we've had a scrap," remarked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +All this while they were riding hard toward the distant group which, at +first had been but a cloud of dust, but which now resolved itself into +forms of horsemen and cattle. +</P> + +<P> +And as the outfit from Diamond X approached nearer, it could be seen +that the drivers of the cattle were not regulation cowboys from any +ranch north of the Rio Grande. There was an air and manner about the +horsemen urging on the weary cattle which betokened them as +irregulars—rustlers, in other words. +</P> + +<P> +The advantage—such as it was—appeared to be with the boy ranchers and +their friends, for they were on fresh horses, and could ride hither and +yon without having to drive before them, and keep from stampeding, a +bunch of cattle. As for the rustlers the success of their raid +depended on keeping the cattle they had stolen. Once the small herd +got beyond their control, they might as well cut and run for it, since +it would be a case of everyone save himself, and every man for himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Some of you cut out the cattle, boys," advised Old Billee, as he +spurred along with the youngest rider. For though this veteran more +than doubled the years of the boy ranchers, he was almost as "spry" as +any of them. "Cut out the cattle, and we'll look after these rustlers." +</P> + +<P> +There were members enough in the outfit from Diamond X to provide for a +division of forces—enabling them to execute a flank movement, as it +were, though this does not exactly describe it. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the best thing to do?" asked Bud, willing to take advice from +his father's able helper. Bud was willing to learn, a most commendable +spirit in a youth. +</P> + +<P> +"Wa'al, this would be about as good a plan as any," remarked Old +Billee, as he still continued to ride on, but at the same time he was, +with his keen eyes, looking over the lay of the land. "Bud, you and +your cousins ride off to the left, with Hank and Sam, and see if you +can cut out the steers. If you can circle 'em around and bring 'em up +behind where we are now—or as near as you can. I'll take the rest of +the boys and see if we can't speed up and close with the rustlers." +</P> + +<P> +Bud at once saw that this was giving him and his boy chums, as well as +Sam and Hank, the other two cowboys, quite the safest end of the +battle. The cattle could be cut out without coming into very close +contact with the desperate rustlers. The fight with them would be +taken care of by the more experienced Billee and his men. +</P> + +<P> +Bud thought it over for a moment. He was not afraid of danger, but he +was not foolhardy, and he knew the veteran had been in many more +engagements like this than had Bud himself. Also Bud was too good a +soldier to object to taking orders. +</P> + +<P> +"All right," he finally said. "Suits me, Billee. How about you +fellows?" he asked Nort and Dick. +</P> + +<P> +With short nods they agreed to Billee's plan, and a few minutes later +it was put into execution. The outfit from Diamond X separated, and +while Bud and his party spurred ahead to cut out the cattle, the others +circled around to make a "flank" attack, as it might be called. +</P> + +<P> +"Here we go!" cried Bud who, naturally, was the leader of the "cutting +out" sally. +</P> + +<P> +On rushed the horses, the boys clapping heels to them and "fanning" +them with their hats to urge them to greater speed. They were quite +close, now, to the band of cattle being hazed away, and on some of the +lagging steers could be made out the branding marks of the Diamond X +ranch. +</P> + +<P> +"Those are ours all right!" cried Bud to his cousins. +</P> + +<P> +"And we'll have 'em back soon," added Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"We'd better begin shooting," called out Hank, one of the two cowboys +who had been assigned to duty with Bud. +</P> + +<P> +This was not as serious as it sounds, for the shots were not to be +directed at the rustlers but fired in the air to startle the cattle. +In cutting out, or, rather, in separating from those who had stolen +them the steers from Diamond X, it was necessary to get the animals on +the run. They could then more easily be driven where they were wanted. +</P> + +<P> +By this time, of course, the rustlers knew they were in danger not only +of losing their ill-gotten cattle, but of losing their own freedom and +perhaps their lives. They could be arrested and sent to jail for theft +if they were caught. +</P> + +<P> +For a few minutes after the pursuit became close, the rustlers made an +attempt to get the cattle into one of the many small valleys with which +the country around there abounded. But they soon saw that it was a +losing fight. The animals were too wearied to be driven at much speed. +</P> + +<P> +Then some order seemed to have been given by the leader of the +rustlers, for the nondescript bunch of cattle thieves swung off, and +practically abandoned their four-footed charges. +</P> + +<P> +This made it easier for the boy ranchers, though the task of urging the +cattle away from the line they were traveling was hard enough at best. +</P> + +<P> +"Come on!" yelled Bud, when he saw what was happening. "We've got 'em +going!" +</P> + +<P> +This was true, as regarded the rustlers. They were about to save +themselves if they could. +</P> + +<P> +With drawn guns, firing rapidly and yelling as loudly as they could, +the boy ranchers rode in among the frightened steers, endeavoring to +turn them off to the right. For a moment it seemed as if they were not +going to do this, but eventually their tactics succeeded, and the +leaders of the herd swung off. Then the others followed and it was now +a comparatively easy matter to drive them along where it was desired +they should go. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor things!" murmured Dick sympathetically, as he saw the weary +cattle. "We'll have to let 'em rest, Bud." +</P> + +<P> +"Guess you're right," agreed the son of the Diamond X owner. "They +won't be much good for shipping to market until they get some fat back +on their bones." Many of the cattle were in woeful shape, and all +suffered from lack of water, since the rustlers had driven them so +hard, endeavoring to get far away with them as soon as possible that +they had not stopped to water them. +</P> + +<P> +"There's a little stream over there," announced Sam, one of the cowboys +who knew this part of the country well. "We can haze 'em over there +and keep 'em for a while." +</P> + +<P> +This was considered the best thing to do, and soon the weary cattle +were drinking their first water in many hours. Afterward they all lay +down to rest, not even eating until some of the weariness had passed. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the cowboys under Old Billee had come to close quarters with +the rustlers and the fight started immediately. There was nothing +unusual about it, the rustlers merely desiring to get away and the +outfit from Diamond X wishing to capture them to make them pay for +their lawlessness. +</P> + +<P> +One rustler was captured, for he was so wounded that he fell from his +horse. The others got away, one badly hurt, it seemed, for he had to +be taken in charge by one of his companions who lifted him to his own +saddle. +</P> + +<P> +As for Billee and his forces, they suffered somewhat, two of the +cowboys being painfully wounded by bullets. But, on the whole, the +affair ended much better than might have been expected. The stolen +cattle had been recovered, in as good condition as could be hoped for, +and the rustlers had been driven off, with the exception of the wounded +one. +</P> + +<P> +It was planned to take him to the nearest jail, but this trouble was +obviated for the man died in the night. +</P> + +<P> +Riding back after having driven off the rustlers, Billee and his men +found the cattle quietly resting, while Bud and his friends were doing +likewise, as they had ridden hard. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll camp here for the night," decided Billee. "Too bad there isn't +a telephone here that we could use to send word back to your dad, Bud. +But we can't have everything." +</P> + +<P> +"No," agreed Yellin' Kid with a chuckle. "I'd like a room an' a bath +with plenty of hot water, but I don't see any growin' on no trees +around here!" +</P> + +<P> +However, the cowboys were used to this sort of life and they counted it +no unusual hardship. A fire was made, those who had been scarred by +bullets were looked after and then the ever-welcome "grub" was served. +</P> + +<P> +The next day, after the hasty burial of the dead rustler, on whom +little sympathy was wasted, and concerning whose identity no one cared +much, the march back to Diamond X was begun, the cattle being slowly +driven toward their former pasture. As not all the cowboys were needed +for this, a sufficient number were told off by Billee, and the +remainder, including the boy ranchers, made better speed back to +headquarters. +</P> + +<P> +There the news of the successful chase after the rustlers was received +with satisfaction, and Mr. Merkel said he hoped it would be a lesson to +other thieves. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish we could give the same sort of lesson to any sheep herders that +might be around here," remarked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"That's so," said his father. "And perhaps you'd better be getting +back to Spur Creek. No telling what might have happened while you've +been away. We didn't leave anyone on guard." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know as it was necessary," said Bud. "But, all the same, we'd +better get back." +</P> + +<P> +They made the start early the next morning—the boy ranchers, with +Yellin' Kid and Snake, and there was the promise of more cowboys to +help them hold the "fort" should it be considered necessary. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, everything seems to be all right," remarked Bud as he and his +party rode up to the shack on the edge of the stream. "No signs of the +sheep yet." +</P> + +<P> +"And no smell, either," chuckled Yellin' Kid, as he sniffed the air. +</P> + +<P> +"It takes the perfesser for that!" said Snake with a laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder what Professor Wright is doing?" said Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, digging up a lot of old bones, I reckon," Bud answered. "But +let's get grub and rest. I'm tired." +</P> + +<P> +The events of the past few days had been strenuous enough to make them +all welcome a period of rest. And they had it, for a few hours. And +then something occurred to start a series of happenings that lasted and +created excitement for some time. +</P> + +<P> +It was toward the middle of the afternoon when Nort, who had gone down +the stream a little way, looked across Spur Creek and saw hanging in +the hazy air a cloud of dust. +</P> + +<P> +"Wonder if that's a wind storm," he mused. But as there was not a sign +of vapor in the clear blue sky he gave up that theory. "Guess I'd +better let 'em know," he thought, turning back toward the fort. +</P> + +<P> +And when the others came out to look at the cloud of dust, on the +Mexican side of the river—a cloud which had grown larger—Bud +exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"Sheep, I'll bet a hat!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SHEEP ARRIVE +</H3> + +<P> +Among the saddles, horse-gear, weapons, grub and other equipment that +had been put in the fort at Spur Creek was a telescope. Remembering +this, Bud rushed in to get it, while his companions stood in front of +the place, gazing across the stream at the ever-increasing cloud of +dust. +</P> + +<P> +"Something's comin' on, anyhow," observed Yellin' Kid. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't be cattle," remarked Snake Purdee. "They ain't spread out +enough for cattle." +</P> + +<P> +This was one way of telling, for, as the cowboy said, cattle, meaning +by that steers or a herd of grazing horses, separate much more than do +sheep, which stick in a bunch as they feed. Still there was no being +certain of it until Bud should take an observation through the glass. +</P> + +<P> +"Might be another bunch of Greasers—or rustlers," said Snake, musingly. +</P> + +<P> +"There's plenty of both kinds down there," agreed Nort, with a wave of +his hand in the general direction of Mexico, the border of which +misruled, unhappy and greatly-misunderstood country was not far away. +</P> + +<P> +Bud came running out with the telescope, pulling shiny brass lengths to +their limit before focusing it. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll soon tell now," he said, as he raised the objective glass and +pointed it at the cloud of dust, while he squinted through the +eye-piece. A moment later, after he had made a better adjustment of +the focus, he cried: "It's sheep all right! A big bunch of 'em!" +</P> + +<P> +"Any men with 'em? No, I shouldn't call 'em men," hastily corrected +Dick. "No decent man would raise sheep." +</P> + +<P> +In this, of course, he was wrong. Sheep are needful and many a rancher +is making a fortune out of them, but at this time, and in this part of +the west, a sheep herder was despised and hated by his fellows. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, there's a bunch of Greasers or some one hazin' 'em on," reported +Bud. "Here, Kid, take a look," and he passed the glass to the older +cowboy. +</P> + +<P> +The latter could but confirm what Bud had seen and then, in turn, the +other three had a look through the telescope, which brought the details +of the oncoming herd of "woollies" startlingly near. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what we goin' to do about it?" asked Yellin' Kid, after they had +made sure the sheep were headed toward the east bank of Spur Creek. +</P> + +<P> +"We're going to stop 'em from coming over here," declared Bud +determinedly. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe they don't intend to come," suggested Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"What are they heading this way for, then?" demanded his cousin. +</P> + +<P> +"To get better pasture." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what pasture there is on that side of Spur Creek won't last the +sheep very long!" exclaimed Snake Purdee. "They'll be over here in a +couple of days at the most. Reckon they think they have a right to +this range." +</P> + +<P> +"Which they haven't," said Bud, "though how dad is going to prove his +claim, with the papers gone, I don't see." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll prove it with force—that's what we'll do!" shouted Yellin' Kid. +"That's what we're here for. That's what we got our guns for!" and +significantly he tapped the one on his hip. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I reckon we'll have to fight," conceded Bud with a half sigh. He +was not afraid, but he knew in a fight some would be hurt and perhaps +more than one killed. And this was not as it ought to be. Still with +each side standing on what it considered its rights, what else could be +expected? +</P> + +<P> +"How many Greasers they got?" asked Yellin' Kid, after a pause, during +which Bud took another observation through the glass. +</P> + +<P> +The boy rancher looked, seemed to be counting and then, as he lowered +the glass from his eye, he answered: +</P> + +<P> +"There's a dozen of 'em!" +</P> + +<P> +Significantly Nort silently, but obviously, counted those of his own +party. There were but five, for some of the cowboys had been left at +Diamond X after the defeat of the rustlers. +</P> + +<P> +"We'd better let your dad know—what say?" asked Kid of Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"I think so—yes. And he'd better send out a few more men. We don't +want to take any chances." +</P> + +<P> +This was considered a wise move. But before going in to telephone to +his father—for that was the most rapid method of letting him know the +situation so he could send help—before going to the instrument Bud +asked: +</P> + +<P> +"Say, I'm wondering how, if those fellows intend to take this open +range pasture—how are they going to get their sheep over?" +</P> + +<P> +"You mean over the river?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. How they going to get the animals across so they can feed on +this side?" +</P> + +<P> +For a moment no one answered, then Yellin' Kid replied: +</P> + +<P> +"Why, they'll just naturally haze 'em over; that's all." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean drive 'em through the creek?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure." +</P> + +<P> +"The water's too deep." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe there's a ford," suggested Kid. +</P> + +<P> +Bud shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"I tried to find one for my horse the other day," he said. "I thought +I had but it was a quicksand and I was glad enough to get out without +being stuck. There's no ford now for miles up and down the Creek from +here—that is, none that I know of, especially not since high water." +</P> + +<P> +For the level of Spur Creek had risen in the last few days, since the +professor crossed, caused, it was learned later, by the diversion into +the creek of a larger stream by some irrigation plan company further +north. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if they can't make the sheep wade over they can swim 'em, can't +they?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"'Tisn't so easy to make sheep swim," declared Yellin' Kid with a shake +of his head. "Sheep are scary critters at best. You might get them in +the water if you had a good leader, but if I was a sheep man—which I +never hope to be—I'd think twice 'fore I'd float 'em across a stream, +'specially if it had quicksands in." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, this has," affirmed Bud. "They come and go, the quicksands. +They weren't here the other day but they're here now." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe they're going to ferry 'em across," suggested Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Where they going to get boats?" asked Snake, and that seemed to +dispose of this question. +</P> + +<P> +"Though maybe they carry collapsible craft," suggested Dick, but this, +of course, was not reasonable or practical. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Bud, "they either know some way of getting the sheep over +here, or else they aren't going to cross." +</P> + +<P> +"They'll cross all right," asserted Snake. "Better let your father +know how matters are," he suggested. +</P> + +<P> +Bud went in to ring the home ranch up on the telephone, but he had no +sooner given a few turns to the crank—for this was the old-style +instrument—than he called out: +</P> + +<P> +"Telephone wire is cut!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A BATTLE OF WITS +</H3> + +<P> +This news came as a distinct shock not only to Bud, who discovered it, +but to the others of his party. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sure it's cut?" asked Nort, hurrying into the shack after his +cousin, who had come to the door to make the announcement. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it's dead, anyhow," Bud answered. "I can't raise Diamond X. +And it sounds as if it were cut. Or, rather, it doesn't sound at all. +It's just dead." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe the battery's given out, or there's a loose connection +somewhere," suggested Dick. "Let's take a look. I know a little about +telephones." +</P> + +<P> +They tested the battery, to find that it was sufficiently strong to +have transmitted signals provided everything else was in working order. +</P> + +<P> +But this remained to be seen. However, as the boys made test after +test, in their limited way, they came ever nearer to the conclusion +that the wire was, indeed, cut. For no answer came to the repeated +turnings of the crank, though Bud did succeed in making his own bell +ring. The reason for his first failure had been a loose wire +connection, which Dick remedied. +</P> + +<P> +But, even after this, no answer came to the repeated turnings of the +crank. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we've got to find the break and mend it!" declared Bud, +following several unsuccessful trials to get into communication with +the home ranch. +</P> + +<P> +"'Tisn't cut right around here," said Nort, who went out to take a look +at the thin length of wire, strung on makeshift poles, that formed a +connecting link between the fort at Spur Creek and the home ranch of +Diamond X. "I can trace the wire as far as I can see it." +</P> + +<P> +"No, 'tisn't likely they'd cut it so near the shack, for we'd spot that +first thing," said Bud. "We'll have to trace it, that's all. I'll get +my horse." +</P> + +<P> +"Are we all going?" Yellin' Kid wanted to know. "What about the +sheep?" and he waved his hand toward the ever-nearing cloud of dust +which floated over the backs of thousands of sharp-hoofed animals. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that's so!" exclaimed Bud. "Somebody's got to stay here." +</P> + +<P> +"Reckon Snake and I can handle whatever comes up here," said Yellin' +Kid grimly, as he tapped his gun. "They won't get here for half a day, +anyhow, and by then it'll be night. They can't do anything after dark, +and two men will be plenty here." +</P> + +<P> +This seemed reasonable enough, and after talking over plans this one +was decided on. +</P> + +<P> +Bud and Dick, the latter knowing most about telephones, would ride +along looking for the break, and would try to mend it. Meanwhile Nort +would ride on to Diamond X ranch, since it was important to let Mr. +Merkel know what was about to happen—that the dreaded sheep had come +and might soon overrun the open range he claimed as his own property. +Also help was needed—more cowboys to hold the fort—and it was risky +to depend on the broken telephone for summoning them. +</P> + +<P> +So Nort was intrusted with the work of carrying the unwelcome news and +of bringing up reinforcements. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile Bud and Dick would do their best to find and repair the +break, and Snake and Yellin' Kid would be on guard at Spur Creek. As +Kid had said, there was little danger of the sheep men bringing up +their woolly charges before dark, and after that not much could be done +in the way of crossing the river, if, as Bud had said, there was no +ford at this place, and the danger of quicksands further to keep +unwelcome visitors on the Mexican side of the stream. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'll see you when I get back," remarked Nort as he rode off with +a wave of his hand to his brother cousin and the two remaining cowboys. +</P> + +<P> +"Think you'll make it to-night?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see why I can't," was the answer. "If there's going to be a +fight in the morning you'll want help here. And if the other boys ride +back from Diamond X I'll be with 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, the boys will be ridin' back all right, as soon as they hear +there's a prospect of a fight!" chuckled Kid. +</P> + +<P> +"You said it!" added Snake. +</P> + +<P> +Pausing to watch Nort ride off on his mission of carrying news and +summoning help, and taking another look at the still approaching cloud +of dust that betokened the flock of sheep, Bud and Dick rode along the +back trail, following the telephone line. +</P> + +<P> +As has been said, the wire was not cut near the cabin. It could be +seen, a tiny line against the clear, blue sky, stretching its slender +length on top of the poles. +</P> + +<P> +"They were too cute to cut it near the shack. They figured we wouldn't +notice it for a long time, maybe, and they'd have a chance to get up +closer," said Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"You mean the sheep herders?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure! Who else?" asked his cousin. "You reckon it was them that cut +the wire, don't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't know's I thought much about it, but, now that I have, why, of +course, they did it," Bud agreed. "Unless it was the cattle rustlers," +he added. +</P> + +<P> +"You mean the ones we just had a fight with?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's who." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I don't reckon they did," Dick remarked. "In the first place we +licked 'em pretty badly. They scattered, I'm sure, and they didn't +head in this direction. And what good would it do 'em just to cut a +wire after we'd gotten the cattle away from 'em?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, general meanness, that's all," answered Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"They wouldn't do that out of spite and run the risk of being +caught—not after what happened to 'em," declared Dick, and Bud +answered: +</P> + +<P> +"Well, maybe you're right." +</P> + +<P> +Then they rode along in silence for a while, making sure, as they +progressed, that they did not pass a break in the telephone line. The +thin copper conductor was intact as they could see. +</P> + +<P> +"They must have gone about half way back—between the creek and our +ranch, and snipped the wire there," said Bud, after a period of silence. +</P> + +<P> +"I reckon so," agreed Dick. "That would be what we'd do if we had it +to do; wouldn't we?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because we'd want the break to come as far away as possible from +either end, to make it take longer to find and mend it." +</P> + +<P> +"That's right, Dick. I never thought of that. Then there isn't really +much use looking along here. We might as well ride fast to a point +about half way. We'll find the break there." +</P> + +<P> +"No, we don't want to do that, Bud. We'll just ride along as we have +been going, and we'll look at every foot of wire." +</P> + +<P> +"But I thought you said——" +</P> + +<P> +"I said if we had to cut an enemy's telephone line, we'd probably do it +about half way between the two main points. But we can't take any +chances. These fellows may have reasoned that we'd think they cut it +half way, and, just to fool us, they may have gone only a quarter way." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, shucks! If you think onery sheep herders have brains to do any of +that sort of reasoning, you're 'way off, Dick!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, maybe I am, but we won't take any chances. We'll inspect every +foot until we come to the break." +</P> + +<P> +And this plan was followed. +</P> + +<P> +It was not until after they had ridden several miles that they saw, +dangling between two poles, the severed ends of the wire. +</P> + +<P> +"There it is!" cried Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Good! I mean I'm glad we've found it!" voiced Bud. "It may be all +sorts of bad luck that it's cut. For they may have figured that we'd +divide forces to mend the break, and they may take this chance to rush +Kid and Snake and get possession of the land." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think so," remarked Dick as he dismounted to approach the pole +and look at the severed wire. "Those sheep can't travel as fast as +that, and we'll have reinforcements at the fort when they try to cross +Spur Creek." +</P> + +<P> +"But they may send a bunch of Greasers on ahead of the woollies," +objected Bud. +</P> + +<P> +To this Dick did not answer. He was busy looking at the end of the +dangling wire. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it cut or broken?" asked Bud, for there was the possibility of an +accident having happened. +</P> + +<P> +"Cut," was the answer. +</P> + +<P> +"What you going to do?" +</P> + +<P> +"Splice it," was the answer. "That's all I can do now. I brought some +extra wire along." +</P> + +<P> +Not pausing to climb the pole and re-string the cut wire, which plainly +showed marks of cutting pliers, Dick simply connected one severed end +with the other, using a piece of copper he had brought from the shack +for this purpose. +</P> + +<P> +"Too bad we haven't one of those portable sets so we could cut in and +see if everything was working," observed Bud, when the break was mended. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," agreed Dick. "We'll have to wait until we get back to the fort +to make a test and see if we can talk." +</P> + +<P> +"It's nearer to go on to our ranch," said Bud. For the break in the +wire had been discovered more than half way to Diamond X. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it's nearer, but we can't take any chances," objected Dick. "We +may be needed to help Snake and Kid." +</P> + +<P> +"That's so," agreed Bud. "I forgot about that. We'll go back to the +fort and see if we can call up the ranch." +</P> + +<P> +They made better time on the return trip, for they did not have to ride +slowly along looking for a break in the wire. On the way they +speculated as to what might have happened during their absence in +chasing the cattle rustlers. +</P> + +<P> +"All we're sure of is that they cut the telephone wire," said Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"But there's no telling what they may have laid plans for," added Dick. +"I guess those sheep men are smarter than we gave them credit for." +</P> + +<P> +"It does seem so," admitted Bud. "We'll have to match our wits against +theirs when it comes to a show-down—seeing who's going to keep this +rich grazing land." +</P> + +<P> +"One thing in our favor is that we're in possession," said Dick, as he +patted his pony's neck. +</P> + +<P> +"But one thing against us—or against dad, which is the same thing," +said Bud, "is that his papers proving possession are stolen. And these +sheep men seem to know that." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," agreed Dick, "they seem to know it all right." +</P> + +<P> +They returned to the fort on the bank of Spur Creek just before dark, +and, to their delight, found the telephone in working order. For the +ranch had called the cabin, Mr. Merkel wanting to know how matters were +at Spur Creek. +</P> + +<P> +He complained of having tried several times to get into communication +with the fort, and he had guessed there was a broken wire but he had +not suspected it was cut. Then, when he tried again, he found +communication restored. This, of course, was after Dick and Bud had +found and mended the break. +</P> + +<P> +Nort had not yet reached the ranch at the time his father finally found +the telephone working. But the need of help was told of over the +restored wire, and several cowboys were at once dispatched, not waiting +for the arrival of Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll send Nort back to you as soon as he gets here," promised Mr. +Merkel. +</P> + +<P> +These matters having been disposed of, Bud and Dick had a chance to ask +what had transpired at the fort since they left. +</P> + +<P> +"Jest nothin'—that's all," answered Snake. +</P> + +<P> +"But I think there's goin' t' be somethin' doin' right shortly," +observed Yellin' Kid. +</P> + +<P> +"What makes you think so?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +In answer the cowboy pointed across the river. The cloud of dust had +settled, revealing more plainly now thousands of sheep. And as the +defenders of the fort watched they saw, separating from the sheep, a +number of men who approached the Mexican bank of the stream. +</P> + +<P> +What were they going to do? +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +STRANGE ACTIONS +</H3> + +<P> +Until there was what in law is termed an "overt act," the boy ranchers +and their friends could do nothing against the sheep herders who were +there in plain sight, with their woolly charges on the far side of Spur +Creek. "Overt act" is a law term, and practically means an open act as +distinguished from one that is done in secret and under cover. +</P> + +<P> +Thus if the sheep herders should openly attempt to cross the creek, and +drive their animals up on Mr. Merkel's land—or land which he +claimed—then Bud and his associates could proceed against them, +driving them off—"repelling boarders," as Dick expressed it, having in +mind some of his favorite pirate tales. +</P> + +<P> +But until the sheep men had done something—had committed an overt +act—they could not be molested as long as they remained where they +were. +</P> + +<P> +"It's like this," explained Bud, for his father had made matters plain +to him over the mended telephone line. "We got to wait until they set +foot on our land—or until some of their onery sheep begin to +nibble—and then we can start something." +</P> + +<P> +"What, for instance?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we can order 'em off—that is, order the Greasers off," replied +Bud. "Not much use talking to sheep, I reckon." +</P> + +<P> +"Nor to a Greaser, either," murmured Snake. "One is about as bright +and smart as the other." +</P> + +<P> +"Anyhow," resumed Bud, "we can't do anything until they start +something." +</P> + +<P> +"Not even if we know they're going to do it?" asked another of the +cowboys who, meanwhile, had arrived from Diamond X ready for a fight. +</P> + +<P> +"Not even then," answered Bud. "But once they cross the creek and land +here, then we'll begin," and he looked to his gun. +</P> + +<P> +"What'll we do with the sheep?" asked the cowboy. There seemed to be +no doubt in the minds of the men as to what they would do with the +Greasers. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll have to dispose of 'em," said Bud regretfully. "It seems a +pity, too, for the poor things haven't done any harm. But it's either +their lives or those of our cattle. The two can't live on the same +range, and the sheep have no right here." +</P> + +<P> +"Shoot 'em and drive 'em back into the water if they try to swim +across—is that it?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but hang it all!" cried Bud, "I hope that doesn't happen. I sure +hate to do it!" +</P> + +<P> +And to give them credit, the others felt the same way about it. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the sheep having settled down to a quiet but fast +feeding—which is their characteristic—the actions of the band of +Greaser and Mexican herders who had them in charge was eagerly watched +by the boy ranchers and their friends. +</P> + +<P> +They saw two horsemen ride down to the bank of the creek at one spot +and urge their steeds in. For a time all seemed to go well, but +suddenly, when a few yards out in the stream one of the Mexicans +frantically called to his companion, who shouted an inquiry as to what +was wrong. +</P> + +<P> +Something very dangerously wrong seemed to be the trouble, for the +first Mexican was now frantically appealing for help, and a moment +later his companion sent his lariat hissing through the air, the coils +settling around the frightened man who grasped the rope and leaped into +the creek. +</P> + +<P> +But the horse remained in the water, though the animal was wildly +struggling to turn and go back to the southern shore, along which the +sheep were feeding, some of them slaking their thirst in Spur Creek. +</P> + +<P> +Pulling his companion along by the lariat, the still mounted Mexican +made for the shore he had so recently quitted, leaving the lone horse +to struggle by itself. +</P> + +<P> +"What does that mean?" cried Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Quicksands—just what I told you about," answered Bud. "There are a +lot of places where the bed of the creek is pitted with quick sands, +and this Greaser struck one." +</P> + +<P> +"One did and the other didn't," observed Snake, for it was evident that +the rider who had used his lariat had found firm footing for his steed. +</P> + +<P> +"That's it," Bud explained. "You can't tell where the sands are and +where they aren't. I happen to know some places that are free," he +went on, "but, even there the water is too deep for the sheep to get +across, on account of the current." +</P> + +<P> +The two Mexicans, one on his horse and the other swimming at the end of +the lariat, had reached the shore they so recently quitted, on what +object could only be guessed. Then there was very evidently a +conference among the sheep herders during which the excited men who had +taken part in the adventure pointed to the spot where the horse was +struggling. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope they aren't going to leave that poor brute to suffer," murmured +Yellin' Kid, his voice low for one of the few times in his career. +</P> + +<P> +But it was evident that whatever were the faults of the sheep herders +they did not number among them too much cruelty to a horse. For when +it was evident that the animal could not free himself, a number of the +Greasers rode as close as was safe, and tossed their lariats about the +animal's neck. Then they began pulling. +</P> + +<P> +But the quicksands had too firm a grip on the animal's legs. He had +sunk lower in the stream, and his struggles were less, simply because +he was now so nearly engulfed in the powerful suction of the +water-soaked and ever-shifting sands. +</P> + +<P> +"They'll never get him out,' said Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Have to pull his poor head off if they do," agreed Bud. +</P> + +<P> +And this was so evident that the Mexican sheep herders soon gave up the +attempt. They dared not even go close enough to the horse to release +their ropes, but, casting them off from their saddle horns, had to see +them sink down in the quicksands with the poor beast. +</P> + +<P> +For this is what happened. The unfortunate animal, unable to extricate +himself from the terrible grip of the sands, being too firmly held to +permit of being dragged out, sank lower and lower. The water came half +way up his sides. It closed over his back, but still his head was free. +</P> + +<P> +With all his power the brute struggled, but with four legs gripped he +could do little more than shudder convulsively. Then as the waters +came closer and closer to his head, caused by the fact that the horse +was sinking lower and lower in the soft sand, the beast gave a terrible +cry—terrible in its agony. +</P> + +<P> +A moment later it was gone from sight forever. +</P> + +<P> +A hush fell upon the assemblage of cowboys in front of the Spur Creek +fort of Diamond X ranch. And a hush, no less, came over the bunch of +Mexican sheep herders on the far side of the stream. But that the man +could leap off and swim to shore, aided by his companion's lariat, the +fate of the horse in the quicksands might have been his fate. +</P> + +<P> +"What's going on?" asked a voice behind Bud and Dick. +</P> + +<P> +They turned quickly to behold Nort, who had ridden back from the ranch +headquarters. +</P> + +<P> +"What you all looking at?" he asked, for the cowboys were gazing +silently at the spot in the stream where the tragedy had just taken +place. +</P> + +<P> +They informed Nort in a few words. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," he remarked, "that's the best protection we could have against +the sheep coming over—quicksands in the creek." +</P> + +<P> +"The only trouble is," said Dick slowly, "that the quicksands are only +in certain places. They can cross safely elsewhere." +</P> + +<P> +"The point is, though," observed Bud, "that they can only guess at +those places. And, not knowing where they are, may make them stay away +altogether." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope so, but I don't believe it," remarked Snake. "You'll see they +won't give up so easily." +</P> + +<P> +Nor did the sheep herders thus forego an attempt to graze their flocks +on the rich pasture claimed by Mr. Merkel. It was too late that day to +attempt anything more. Night settled down, but with an augmented force +of cowboys at the fort the boy ranchers were not apprehensive. +</P> + +<P> +Tours of duty were arranged, so that two or more cowboys would be on +guard all night. However, the hours of darkness passed with no further +activity on the part of the Mexicans. +</P> + +<P> +In the morning, however, the forces from Diamond X ranch observed +strange actions on the part of their enemies. +</P> + +<P> +"What in the world are they up to?" asked Nort, as he and his brother +and cousin looked across the river. +</P> + +<P> +Well might he ask that. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +"WE CROWED TOO SOON!" +</H3> + +<P> +Not only the boy ranchers, but their more experienced cowboy companions +were puzzled by the actions of the sheep herders. It was the period +after the morning meal, the smoke of which fires was still rising +toward the sky. The sheep men appeared to have slept in the open, with +nothing more than their blankets for a bed and their saddles for +pillows. But they were accustomed to this, and so were our friends, +though they were glad of the fairly comfortable bunk house, or "fort," +as they dubbed it. +</P> + +<P> +But all interest was centered in what the Greasers were doing. Some of +them separated themselves from the sheep, which really did not require +much more attention than that given them by some intelligent dogs, and +a bunch of the hated and despised men were approaching the river, +carrying long poles. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you reckon they're going to do?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Make a raft, maybe," answered Nort. "Though how they can float a lot +of sheep over on a raft made of a few bean poles is more than I can +understand." +</P> + +<P> +"It would take them a month or more to float the sheep over, one at a +time, on a bunch of poles," objected Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"That isn't what they're going to do," declared Dick, after closely +watching the actions of the Mexicans. "They're going to leave, that's +what they're planning." +</P> + +<P> +"Leave? What do you mean; go away?" asked his brother. +</P> + +<P> +"That's it—yes. They're going to make those dinguses the Indians use +trailing after their horses—a pole fastened to either side of the +animal, and the ends dragging on the ground. Between the poles they +carry their duffle." +</P> + +<P> +"Nonsense!" laughed Bud. "In the first place these aren't Indians, +though they're as bad, I reckon. But they didn't come with those pole +trailers; so why would they make 'em to go away with? All they own +they can pack in their hats." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess you're right," admitted Dick, after thinking it over. "But +they're going to do something." +</P> + +<P> +They were all watching the Mexicans now. The men with long +poles—which they must have brought with them as none grew in the +vicinity—now closely approached the edge of the creek. They could not +be going to make a raft—the nature of the poles precluded that. +</P> + +<P> +Then, as one after another of the sheep herders thrust the end of his +pole into the water, wading out a short distance to do this, Bud +uttered an exclamation. +</P> + +<P> +"I have it!" the lad cried. +</P> + +<P> +"You mean you're on to the game?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" cried the two brothers. +</P> + +<P> +"They're feeling around to find the places where the quicksands are," +announced Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"You mean so they can jump in and get rid of themselves?" grimly asked +Snake Purdee. +</P> + +<P> +"I mean so they can tell where <I>not</I> to cross," said Bud, though this +was unnecessary, since they all grasped his meaning when he spoke of +the quicksands. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess you're right, son," observed Old Billee, who had come back to +the fort with the return of the cowboys. "They're looking for safe +fords and I shouldn't wonder but what they'd find 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"I wouldn't be too sure of that," said a tall lank cowboy. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" Billee wanted to know. +</P> + +<P> +"Wa'al, they may find the places where it's safe to cross—I ain't +sayin' but what they is sich places," went on "Lanky," as he was +called, "I know this creek putty well, an' I've crossed it more'n once, +swimmin' a hoss over an' sometimes drivin' cattle. But th' trouble is +sometimes when you find a safe place it doesn't stay safe very long." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean by that?" asked Bud, who thought it his duty to learn +all he could about matters connected with his father's ranch. +</P> + +<P> +"I reckon he means the quicksands shift—is that it, Lanky?" asked +Billee Dobb. +</P> + +<P> +"That's it—yep! A place that may be safe to cross to-night may be the +most dangerous in the mornin', or even in less time." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, so the creek is going to favor us after all!" exclaimed Bud. "If +it's as treacherous as that it will keep those Greasers on the far +side." +</P> + +<P> +"Not altogether," said Billee. "They may have just enough fool luck to +strike a safe place and get over here." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if they come we'll be ready for 'em!" grimly said Nort, and the +others nodded in accord with this sentiment. +</P> + +<P> +Then, as there was nothing else to do for the present, they watched the +actions of the Mexicans—actions that were not so strange and +mysterious as they had been before Bud hit upon the right solution. +</P> + +<P> +And that it was a correct guess no one could doubt who watched the +sheep herders. With their long, thin poles they went up and down the +bank of the stream, thrusting the ends into the mud, or whatever formed +the bottom of Spur Creek. At times, as I have said, the Mexicans would +wade out, perhaps until the water came as high as their middle, in +order to thrust their poles farther out into the stream. But when a +man thus waded another stood near with ready lariat. +</P> + +<P> +"They're taking no chances on being caught as the horse was," said Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Right-o!" exclaimed his brother. +</P> + +<P> +The sheep men, however, seemed to find so many places where there were +quicksands—or indications of them—in the vicinity of the place just +across from the fort—that they soon moved more than a mile down +stream. That is, some of them did. Others moved up, the party +separating and leaving a few men guarding the sheep. +</P> + +<P> +"As if we'd cross and try to catch any of the woollies!" laughed Bud, +motioning to those on guard. +</P> + +<P> +It was late in the afternoon when the survey or test of the creek +seemed to be completed. The two parties with their poles came back to +what might be called the "camp," and a consultation seemed to be taking +place. +</P> + +<P> +In the still, quiet atmosphere the excited voices carried across the +creek, though what was said could not be made out. +</P> + +<P> +"They seem to be having a dispute," observed Nort. +</P> + +<P> +And this was evident. One bunch of the Greasers evidently held to one +opinion, and a minority disagreed. However, in the end the majority +ruled and then, to the surprise of our friends, the Greasers broke +camp, leaped to their saddles, and started driving their flocks back +toward the south, whence they had come. +</P> + +<P> +For a few moments our friends, watching this move, did not know how to +interpret it. But as it dawned on them that the sheep men were +"pulling up stakes," and departing, Billee cried: +</P> + +<P> +"We've got the best of 'em, boys! Or, rather, the quicksands worked +for us. They've gone back where they came from." +</P> + +<P> +"And I hope they stay," sang out Yellin' Kid. +</P> + +<P> +This was the hope of all, and it seemed likely to be carried out. As +night settled down, the mass of sheep and their herders grew more and +more indistinct as greater distance was put between them and those +holding the fort. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we'll wait a day or so to see if they don't come back," said +Billee, "and then we'll mosey to Diamond X. There's a pile of work +waitin' for us there." +</P> + +<P> +"And we'd like to get back to Happy Valley," observed Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"That's right," agreed Nort and Dick. +</P> + +<P> +For the first time since the alarm about the sheep men rest was easier +in the fort that night. The danger appeared to be disappearing. The +treacherous nature of Spur Creek, with its shifting bottom of +quicksands—that might be here one day and a mile farther off the +next—had served our friends a good turn. +</P> + +<P> +At least it seemed so, until the next morning. Then, as Billee Dobb +arose early and, as was his custom, went out for a before-breakfast +survey, he uttered a cry. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter?" asked Bud, coming to the door of the fort. +</P> + +<P> +"We crowed too soon, that's what's the matter," answered Billee. "We +crowed too soon!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SKIRMISHES +</H3> + +<P> +Bud did not need an interpreter to understand what the old cow puncher +meant. If he had been at all doubtful, a glance toward where Billee +pointed would have solved the mystery. +</P> + +<P> +For, some miles down the creek was a cloud of dust, and, not only a +cloud of dust, but that which caused the haze—the sheep and their +herders. +</P> + +<P> +"They've come back!" cried Bud. "And just where we didn't expect 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"'Twould have been mighty poor policy on their part to come back where +we did expect 'em," dryly observed Billee. "It was their game to fool +us, and they did it." +</P> + +<P> +"Then it was all a trick!" cried Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Reckon it was," agreed Billee with a grin, as Nort, Dick and the +others strolled out in readiness for breakfast. +</P> + +<P> +"That poling of the river was all a bluff," said Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, not exactly," declared Billee. "They used the poles to try to +find a place free from quicksands. Not findin' it opposite our fort, +they decided to try farther down. Then some smart Aleck among 'em—an' +we got to give 'em credit for it—thought of makin' it look as though +they were givin' up—retreatin', so to speak. +</P> + +<P> +"That's the way it looked to us, and we crowed too soon, jest as I said +a minute ago. They kept on goin', circled around an' now there they +are, ready to cross Spur Creek farther away." +</P> + +<P> +"But we can stop 'em there, same as we could here," said Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but we got to move our base of supplies an' that takes time," +said Billee. "An' while we're doin' that they may make a +crossin'—that is, if they can avoid the quicksands. They may even +find a ford down there, so the sheep can walk over without havin' to +swim." In his excitement Billee dropped most of his final g's, and +clipped his other words. +</P> + +<P> +"There is a ford there," declared Lanky, the tall, thin cowboy. +</P> + +<P> +"Any quicksands?" Nort wanted to know. +</P> + +<P> +"That I can't say. The sands shift so you can't tell where they are." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, there's only one thing to do," declared Bud. "Some of us have +got to go down there and stop 'em from crossing. This is the first +skirmish of the fight." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll come with you," offered Nort and Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Hold on a minute—don't be rash," counseled Old Billee. "It'll take +more'n you three lads to stop them Greasers and the sheep." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we're under your orders," Bud admitted, saluting the veteran. +</P> + +<P> +"Well then, you three go," advised Billee, "and Snake and Kid will go +with you. We'll bring some grub down to you." +</P> + +<P> +For it might be too late to wait until after breakfast, simple as that +meal was, and as quickly served as it could be. There was no time to +be lost. Bud and his boy-rancher cousins realized this. +</P> + +<P> +Soon they were in their saddles, riding down the creek toward where the +sheep had been herded together on the southern side of the stream. +There were the same bunch of Greasers—the boys easily picked out and +recognized certain characters, even across the creek, which was wider +here and more shallow. +</P> + +<P> +If Bud and the others expected to engage in a sharp fight as soon as +they reached the scene, they were disappointed. True, the sheep +herders became aware of their arrival, and there was some talk, and not +a little excitement, among the Greasers. But there were no hostile +acts, and no attempt was made to drive over any sheep. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder if there is a ford here?" said Yellin' Kid. +</P> + +<P> +"I reckon there is," said Snake Purdee. "You can see where it has been +used," and he pointed to marks on their bank of the stream. +</P> + +<P> +"They either know about this place, or they've made some tests and are +satisfied that it's safe," declared Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"But if what Lanky says is true, though it may have been safe early +this morning, it might not be safe now," said Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"That's true, but I think they'll take a chance," Bud declared. "There +isn't fodder enough on that side to last the sheep very long." +</P> + +<P> +This was perfectly true, and it was evident that the herders would +endeavor to get their woolly charges on the other side of the stream as +soon as possible, to take advantage of the rich grazing on the open +range, newly made available to all comers. +</P> + +<P> +"But I thought when the government opened new land it could only be +taken by citizens, or those about to become citizens," questioned Dick, +when, as they watched the sheep herders, they talked over the situation. +</P> + +<P> +"That is the law," said Bud. "But down here you'll find the law +doesn't amount to much when a man wants a thing. He generally goes and +gets it, and thinks about the law afterward. That's why Dad has to do +what he is doing. If the law was as tight here as it is in the east, +he could get out an injunction, or something, against these herders, +and stand them off until he could find his papers proving his claim." +</P> + +<P> +"Think he'll ever find 'em?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +Bud shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"It's hard telling," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile there appeared to be "nothing doing" among the sheep herders. +They had gathered their flocks together and were making a rough camp, +as if they intended to stay for some time. +</P> + +<P> +Then, about an hour later, Billee arrived with a couple of his cowboys, +bringing food for Bud and his comrades—food that was greatly +appreciated, for it was a long time since supper the night before. +</P> + +<P> +The boy ranchers ate and waited. Still there was no action on the part +of the Greasers. They appeared content to wait for something to "turn +up," as Mr. Micawber would say. +</P> + +<P> +"What are we going to do when they start to cross?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"That's so—we'd better make a plan," added Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall we fire at the men, their horses or the sheep?" Bud wanted to +know. +</P> + +<P> +"Fire at everything and everybody!" decided Snake vindictively. "We've +got to break up the first rush." +</P> + +<P> +"And yet it seems too bad to kill innocent animals," went on Bud. "Do +you know, I have an idea!" he cried. +</P> + +<P> +"No? Really?" asked Dick with a playful attempt at sarcasm. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure I have," Bud went on. "What we want to do is to drive them back, +isn't if?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's it," said Billee. "We not only want to drive 'em back, but we +want to discourage 'em from coming over again." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I think I know what will do the trick!" went on Bud. "It won't +be powder and bullets, either," he added. "We won't have to kill +anything or anybody." +</P> + +<P> +"How you going to do it?" asked Snake, a bit skeptical. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll show you," said Bud. "Wait until I make one." +</P> + +<P> +His companions wondered what his scheme might be. The older cowboys +were great believers in the efficacy of the .45, and they had their +guns ready. +</P> + +<P> +But Bud busied himself with some things he took from a bundle he +carried on his saddle. Dick and Nort saw their cousin had some strong +rubber bands, bits of cord, squares of leather and a Y-shaped branch he +cut from a cottonwood tree. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, are you making a sling shot?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"That's just what I'm making," answered Bud. "If we each have a +slingshot, and a supply of stones, I think we can turn the Greasers and +their horses, as well as the sheep back without killing any of 'em!" +</P> + +<P> +For a moment they regarded Bud in silence. Then Nort cried: +</P> + +<P> +"I believe it'll work!" +</P> + +<P> +And as Bud finished his sling shot and sent a stone zipping into the +creek with a vicious "ping!" Billee cried: +</P> + +<P> +"That's the best trick yet. I think it'll work! I hated to shoot to +kill, but I didn't see any way out of it. Now we can sting 'em enough +with stones to turn 'em, especially as they'll be in the water. Bud, I +think it'll work." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't want to throw a monkey wrench in the gears," said Snake +softly, "but it 'pears to me that while we're shootin' harmless stones +they'll be firin' real bullets. An' where will we be then?" +</P> + +<P> +"We don't run any more risks than if we were firing bullets, too," said +Bud. "And I think with them having to guide their horses in the water, +look out for quicksands and drive the frightened sheep over, we can +demoralize 'em with these slingshots." +</P> + +<P> +"Sure you can!" cried Billee Dobb. "Come on," he ordered. "Every man +make a slinger. It's like the old Bible story of David and Goliath. +But how'd you happen to have those rubber bands, Bud?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I got 'em to make a model airship," the boy confessed, "but I +didn't find time. I've been lugging 'em around this last week. Now +they'll come in handy." +</P> + +<P> +In a short time each cowboy had made himself a slingshot, of the style +you boys have, doubtless, often constructed. With strong rubber bands +they send a stone with great force. +</P> + +<P> +The slingshots were no sooner made, and a supply of ammunition secured +from the edge of the creek, than an unusual movement was observed among +the sheep herders. Some of them separated from the main body, and +began driving a flock of the lambs, rams and ewes toward the creek. +</P> + +<P> +"Ready for the first skirmish!" cried Old Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Let her come!" sang out Yellin' Kid. +</P> + +<P> +Nearer to the edge of Spur Creek approached the sheep herders. The +animals bleated and tried to turn back, but the dogs barked at them and +snapping whips whirled viciously over their backs. Then, too, they +were urged on with horses at their heels. +</P> + +<P> +"They're coming right over," said Dick to his brother and cousin, the +three boy ranchers being close together. +</P> + +<P> +"And not one of 'em has a gun out," added Bud. "I reckon they are +making this a sort of test so they can claim we fired on 'em first if +it comes up in a law court. Well, we aren't exactly <I>firing</I> at 'em," +he chuckled. "We're just <I>stoning</I> 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"And we'd better begin to stone!" cried Nort. +</P> + +<P> +He drew back the strong rubber bands of his sling. In the leather +piece was a round pebble. Nort took aim at one of the approaching +Mexicans. +</P> + +<P> +The skirmishing was about to begin. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +OPEN WARFARE +</H3> + +<P> +"Zip!" a stone from Nort's sling cut the air with a vicious ping, and +not only that, but it caught one of the Greasers on the side of his +head. He uttered a cry, dropped his reins and clapped a hand to the +smarting place. +</P> + +<P> +Another instant and he had lost control of his horse, which first swam +down stream and then turned to go back to the shore he had left. One +reason for this was that Nort had let fly a stone that took the horse +on the flank. And Nort was careful not to shoot as hard at the horse +as he had at the rider. In fact the horse was not hurt at all—merely +frightened, for the stone was like a fly-bite. +</P> + +<P> +But it was enough. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the other defenders of Spur Creek had been using their slings +to advantage, first stinging the Greaser riders with vicious stones and +then, more lightly, tapping the horses to demoralize them rather than +to hurt them. +</P> + +<P> +This sort of warfare proved most effective, for by turning the horses +and sending them back, in spite of all the efforts of their riders, the +forces of the sheep herders were thrown into confusion. +</P> + +<P> +And this, really, was the object of Bud and his companions. They did +not want to kill so much as a single sheep. All they desired was to +keep inviolate the land rightfully owned by Mr. Merkel. And he felt +that he still owned it, in spite of the action of the United States +Congress, and even though his papers had been stolen. +</P> + +<P> +In this initial skirmish, which soon developed into a fight, the +advantage, at first, was all on the side of the Diamond X force as the +Greasers did not fight back. Some of them carried guns, but did not +draw them. +</P> + +<P> +It might be reasoned that they wanted to go into court with "clean +hands," as the legal term is. That is, they could claim they were +fired upon when attempting to make a peaceable crossing of the creek in +order to pasture their sheep on the new government open range land. +One part of their contention might be true, but the one implying that +Mr. Merkel's land could be taken by any chance comer, was not true. +</P> + +<P> +At any rate, first along, the Mexicans did not fire back. Meanwhile +Bud and his comrades were fairly peppering the Greasers with stones +from the rubber slings. No one was badly hurt—indeed, bruised faces +and hands were about the only injuries, but if you have ever faced a +fusilade from a battery of putty blowers or bean shooters you know how +disconcerting it is. +</P> + +<P> +Then, too, the horses proved allies of our friends. For the light +"peppering" the animals received from the slings made the animals +nervous and disinclined to face the shower of stones. +</P> + +<P> +Some few sheep were driven into the stream, and it was evident that, +for the present at least, this was a good crossing—shallow enough and +with no quicksands. But once the sheep began to hear and see the +stones "zipping" in the water around them, some of the woollies feeling +the pebbles—though only slightly—a new problem was presented to the +Mexicans. Their sheep, like the horses, turned about and made for the +southern shore. +</P> + +<P> +So that, in less than five minutes after the attempt to make the +crossing was started, it had failed, and the hostile forces withdrew. +</P> + +<P> +"Guess we made it too hot for them," chuckled Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"For a while, yes," agreed Nort. "But it isn't over yet." +</P> + +<P> +"No," added his brother. "If they give up now I miss my guess. +They'll try again." +</P> + +<P> +And so the Greasers did. +</P> + +<P> +Withdrawing to a safe distance from the slings—which could only just +about carry across Spur Creek, a conference was held among the sheep +herders. Then they came on again, trying in the same place. +</P> + +<P> +But Bud and his friends were ready, with an unlimited supply of +ammunition. Stones were plentiful along the creek, and each cowboy had +his pockets full. +</P> + +<P> +One advantage of the sling shots was that they could be "loaded and +fired" much more rapidly than the guns—by which I mean the .45 +revolvers. And of course on humanitarian grounds there was no +comparison—no one was killed or even severely wounded by the stones. +They were only painfully hurt. +</P> + +<P> +But this was part of the game. It was open warfare and had to be +endured. Besides, from the standpoint of Bud and his comrades, they +were in the right and the sheep herders were in the wrong. +</P> + +<P> +I have no doubt but that the herders of the sheep reasoned just the +other way—holding that they had a right to cross the creek and pasture +their charges on the rich grass beyond, and arguing that the Diamond X +outfit was in the wrong. +</P> + +<P> +And in this conflict lies my story, such as it is. +</P> + +<P> +After the third attempt to cross the creek with their sheep, being +driven back each time, the Mexicans seemed to lose patience. There +were angry voices as most of the Greasers gathered about one man who +seemed to be their leader, and who had, it was evident, counseled +pacific measures. Now these came to an end. +</P> + +<P> +For on the "fourth down," as Dick laughingly referred to it, the +Greasers began shooting bullets as they rode their horses into the +stream. +</P> + +<P> +"Now it's a fight in earnest!" cried Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Draw your guns!" ordered Billee sternly. +</P> + +<P> +The real battle was about to open. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FLAG OF TRUCE +</H3> + +<P> +The advantage in the fight was on the side of the Diamond X outfit, +even though it was outnumbered. For the Greaser sheep herders nearly +doubled the force of the cowboys. But this, in itself, was not such a +handicap as would at first appear. +</P> + +<P> +Naturally any cowboy held himself more than a match for any two +Greasers, and if this were not enough, the sheep men had the +disadvantage of having to cross a stream in the face of fire. This is +always likely to result in disaster, even in more modern warfare than +that which I am writing about. There are several reasons for this, +whether the attacking party, crossing the stream, is afoot or on horses. +</P> + +<P> +Progress through water is always slow. If you have ever tried to run +while wading in a millpond or at the stream adjacent to the "old +swimming hole," you realize what I mean. It is easier to swim than to +run through water, even where it is not very deep. The same holds true +for horses. And to attempt to swim was out of the question, for the +Greasers, as they must keep their guns out of water. +</P> + +<P> +The only thing for them to do was to start their horses across, with +the men in the saddles. And the Mexicans probably knew, from a test, +that the water was not deep enough to sweep the animals off their legs. +</P> + +<P> +So then, with the handicap of rushing water against them, the horses +could not make much progress, and, while crossing, the enemy force +would be subject to the fire of the boy ranchers and the cowboys from +Diamond X ranch. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, boys, I guess we'll have to let 'em have it," said Billee +regretfully as he saw the advancing sheep men. Nearly all the Greaser +force was concentrated on crossing Spur Creek, only a few being left in +charge of the animals. "But shoot at the horses first," advised +Billee. "I hate to do it, but it's better to have the killing of a +horse on your mind than the murder of a man. Though this isn't +murder—defending your property against a band of thieves. So shoot at +the horses first!" +</P> + +<P> +This, cruel as it may sound, had to be done. It was a case of the +lives of the animals or the lives of our friends. For it could not be +doubted that, once the Mexicans had gained a footing on the northern +side of the stream, they would drive the defenders away—shooting to +kill if need be—and then the way would be clear for bringing over the +sheep. +</P> + +<P> +Several shots rang out from the ranks of the cowboys, and there was a +wild flurry and scramble among the horses in the stream. Two of them +were hit and spilled their riders into the creek. But these men +grasped the tail of other horses and kept on. +</P> + +<P> +"They aren't going to give up easy," murmured Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"But it's up to us to make 'em," said Bud fiercely. "If they get over +it will be all up with us, for they're twice as many as we are." +</P> + +<P> +"They shan't get over!" declared Nort. And it was with the same spirit +that the intrepid Frenchman muttered: +</P> + +<P> +"They shall not pass!" +</P> + +<P> +If the boy ranchers and their comrades hoped to escape scathless they +were painfully disappointed. For though the sheep herders were under +the handicap of having to cross the stream, manage their frantic horses +and shoot—all at the same time—they managed to do enough of the +latter to wound several of the cowboys, one seriously, as developed +later. +</P> + +<P> +And, just as Dick was reloading his gun, he gave a cry and the weapon +dropped from his hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Hit?" cried Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"A little," Dick answered, and he tried to smile, though it was not a +very good attempt. +</P> + +<P> +"Get back under cover," advised Nort, for there was cover, of a sort, +behind where the cowboys were fighting, a range of low hills that would +effectually screen the bullets of the Greasers. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it doesn't amount to anything," Dick insisted, holding his left +hand over his right, for it was the latter that was hit. "It's only a +scratch." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, get a bandage on it and come back in the game—if you can, boy," +advised Billee, who had ridden up on hearing Dick's cry. "We'll look +after it later—when we drive these skunks back where they belong." +</P> + +<P> +This, from Billee, amounted to an order, and Dick obeyed, wheeling his +horse and taking refuge behind a hill. There, in anticipation of some +casualties, a sort of emergency dressing station had been laid out, +with water, lint and bandages. There was water not only for man but +for beast, since it was impossible to let the horses go to the creek in +the face of the fire from the sheep men. So Dick and his steed drank +thirstily and then Dick bandaged, as best he could, his wounded hand. +It was more than a scratch, being, in fact, a deep flesh wound, but the +bullet had struck a glancing blow and had gone out again, for which +Dick was thankful. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile he could hear the shooting going on at the scene he had left. +The cowboys, riding up and down the bank of the creek on their fleet +horses, offered very poor marks for the indifferent shooting of the +Mexicans, or the casualties on the part of the Diamond X forces would +have been much heavier than it was. Even then several were hit, and +Billee's hat was carried off his head by a bullet, which, if it had +gone a few inches lower, would have ended the career of that versatile +cowboy. +</P> + +<P> +But the quick and accurate firing of the cowboys was having its effect, +and it was an effect that was telling not only on the morale but on the +fighting ability of the sheep men. For several horses were killed, and +a number of men put out of the game. +</P> + +<P> +For a few minutes, though, it seemed that, after all, the attackers +would make a landing. But with a burst of furious yells Snake and Kid +led a charge against the foremost of the sheepmen and turned them back. +</P> + +<P> +They could not stand the withering fire that was poured in on them and +they wheeled their plunging horses in the swirling stream and made for +the opposite shore whence they had come. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurray!" cried Bud as he saw this. +</P> + +<P> +"We've got 'em on the run!" shouted Nort. +</P> + +<P> +Just then Dick rode back to join the fray, having bound up his wounded +hand as best he could unaided. +</P> + +<P> +"What's doing?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +For answer his brother and cousin pointed to the retreating Greasers. +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" exclaimed Dick. "Do you think they'll come back?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No telling," remarked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe we'll have gotten rid of them so easily," was Nort's +opinion. +</P> + +<P> +There was some confusion now amid the ranks of the sheep men. Those +who were wounded were being cared for, and they all gathered around +what had been their central camp fire. +</P> + +<P> +"They're debating whether to give up or not," was Snake's view of it. +</P> + +<P> +And if this was the subject of the talk it ended in a decision not to +give up the fight. For presently another attempt was made to cross the +creek. This time the Greasers divided forces, separating about a +quarter of a mile, and thus necessitating a division in the ranks of +the cowboys. This, of course, made the odds against the Diamond X +outfit rather heavier. +</P> + +<P> +But again the Greasers were repulsed, with several wounded, though the +same might be said of Old Billee's forces. Again the sheep men +withdrew across the creek. +</P> + +<P> +Again was there a conference, and then the same tactics were tried as +at first—the main body came directly across the stream. +</P> + +<P> +But now a new element entered into the battle. For, no sooner had the +fight started for the third time than some of the Mexicans began +driving into the water, at a point perhaps half a mile from the fray, a +flock of sheep. +</P> + +<P> +"Look at that!" cried Yellin' Kid. +</P> + +<P> +It was evident that something must be done. It called for another +division of the defending force, now somewhat reduced in numbers +because of injuries. But the crossing of the sheep had to be stopped, +as well as the passage of the armed men. +</P> + +<P> +And, after a hard struggle, this was accomplished. The sheep were the +easier driven back, for the animals were soon frightened and thrown +into confusion. But the Mexicans themselves were desperate, and some +of them even succeeded in reaching the opposite shore, setting their +horses on Mr. Merkel's land. +</P> + +<P> +However, there was a fierce rally against them on the part of the +cowboys and they were driven back. +</P> + +<P> +This was not without desperate work, however, and several on each side +suffered minor injuries. The trouble was that the cowboys held their +enemies too lightly. It was easy, and perhaps natural, for them to +despise the sheep herders. +</P> + +<P> +But, after all, these were men, and rough and ready men at that. They +had something to fight for—their lives and their charges, and to lose +one was to endanger the other. So, for a time it looked, as Bud said +afterward, "like touch and go," so near was the tide of battle to +turning against the cowboys. +</P> + +<P> +Both sides were now pretty well exhausted, but the disadvantage of +having to cross the stream still hampered the Greasers. They must have +felt this, for after another consultation among themselves something +new and unexpected happened. +</P> + +<P> +A lone rider was seen to separate himself from the hated band on the +Mexican side of the creek, and he slowly approached the ford. +</P> + +<P> +"Watch him!" cried Billee, who had picked up his hat with a hole in the +brim. +</P> + +<P> +"He's up to some trick!" declared Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Shouldn't wonder, son," agreed Billee. +</P> + +<P> +A moment later they saw what the "trick" was, if such it could be +called. From under his coat the man produced a white flag and waved it +vigorously toward the boy ranchers and their friends. +</P> + +<P> +"A truce!" cried Bud. "Guess they've had enough!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A LEGAL CONTEST +</H3> + +<P> +Holding the flag of truce above his head with both hands, the better to +indicate that he was unarmed, the man, a bearded Mexican to all +appearances, rode his horse half way across the stream. He was then +within easy talking distance of the cowboys and Old Billee called: +</P> + +<P> +"That's far enough, Greaser! Stay right where you are and speak your +little piece. Keep him covered, boys," he went on in a low voice to +those around him. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he's covered all right," replied Bud. And, indeed, half a dozen +guns were trained, more or less conspicuously, on the bearer of the +flag of truce. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, say what you've got to say," ordered Billee grimly. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Señors</I>, we have had enough of fight—for the time," came from the +herald. +</P> + +<P> +And at the sound of his voice the boy ranchers, with one accord, +exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"Del Pinzo!" +</P> + +<P> +"At your service, <I>señors</I>," came the mocking retort, and Del Pinzo, +for he it was, smiled, showing his white teeth through his black, +curling beard. It was the beard which had prevented his recognition up +to now. Though there was something vaguely familiar about the actions +of the leader of the sheep men. And he who bore the flag of truce—Del +Pinzo no less—had been the leader in the attempts to cross the creek. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what do you want?" demanded Billee. "We might have known it was +some of your dirty work, though I must say you've got a pretty good +false face on with all them whiskers. What do you want?" +</P> + +<P> +"To cross the creek, of course, <I>Señor</I> Billee, and pasture our sheep +on that land which belongs to us." +</P> + +<P> +"Belongs to you! How do you make that out?" demanded Bud, unable to +keep still longer. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, the young <I>señor</I> speaks," mocked Del Pinzo, smilingly. "Then he +should know that this land has been thrown open to all who may wish to +graze sheep on it." +</P> + +<P> +"This land was never intended for sheep, Del Pinzo, and you know it!" +cried Billee. "Even if it was, it belongs to Mr. Merkel, though you'll +never see the day he raises sheep—the stinking critters!" +</P> + +<P> +"You say the land belongs to <I>Señor</I> Merkel?" asked Del Pinzo, lowering +his hands and the flag of truce, perhaps unconsciously. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep 'em up!" snarled Snake Purdee, and the flag went up again in a +trice. +</P> + +<P> +"You know this land belongs to Mr. Merkel," went on Billee. +</P> + +<P> +"Doubtless, then, he can prove it in a court of law," mocked the +half-breed Greaser. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure he can!" asserted the old cowboy earnestly and with conviction, +though he knew in his heart this was not so. But, as he said +afterward, he wasn't going to let Del Pinzo do all the "bluffing." +</P> + +<P> +"Then we shall go to law about it," said the Mexican leader. "And we +shall have action against you for shooting at us when we peaceably +tried to cross and pasture our flocks on the open range land that is +given away by the so grand government of the United States." +</P> + +<P> +"They wouldn't give any to <I>you</I>!" cried Billee. "All the land you'll +ever own in the good old U.S.A. will be six feet to hold you after +somebody shoots your head off, as ought to be done long ago. You're +not a citizen and you know it, and you can't claim a foot of land, even +if Mr. Merkel didn't own it!" +</P> + +<P> +"I claim it not for myself—but for my friends, the so poor sheep +herders," said Del Pinzo, in what he meant for a humble voice. "I but +act as their leader and adviser. I seek nothing for myself." +</P> + +<P> +"First time I've ever known <I>that</I> to happen!" chuckled Billee. +"You're generally looking out for number one first of all. Well, if +you want to give your friends good advice, tell 'em to go back home and +start making <I>frijoles</I> for a living. They'll never earn their salt +raising sheep—that is, not on this side of Spur Creek." +</P> + +<P> +"That is to be seen, <I>Señor</I> Billee," mocked Del Pinzo, still smiling. +"Once more I demand of you that we are permit to pass the stream and +let our so hungry sheep feed." +</P> + +<P> +"And once more I tell you there's nothin' doin'!" snapped Billee. +"Your sheep can starve for all of me!" +</P> + +<P> +"For the third time I ask and demand that you let us pass," called Del +Pinzo, who seemed to have more patience than Billee, whatever else +might be said in disfavor of the Greaser. +</P> + +<P> +"And for the third and last time I tell you to take your gang and your +sheep back where they came from!" cried Billee. "Now what are you +going to do—fight?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, <I>señor</I>," was the calm answer. "I shall fight, but not no longer +with guns. I fight you in the courts. My friends, they are of +citizens of the United States. They have of a rights to the land and +of their rights I shall see that they get. <I>Adios!</I>" +</P> + +<P> +He bowed courteously—he was a polite villain, I'll say that for +him—and, lowering the flag of truce, he rode back to join his comrades +on the other bank. +</P> + +<P> +For a time there was silence amid the boy ranchers and their friends, +and then, as movements among the sheep men indicated that they were +getting ready to depart, Bud asked: +</P> + +<P> +"What do you think is up, Billee?" +</P> + +<P> +"Wa'al, I think, just as Del Pinzo said, he and those with him have had +enough of powder and lead. Now they'll try the courts. I'm afraid +your father is in for a legal battle, Bud." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +NORT'S PLAN +</H3> + +<P> +Silently the cowboys from Diamond X ranch watched the sheep herders and +their innocent, though undesirable, charges fade away to the south. +The Greasers took their wounded with them, and several spare horses +they had brought along made up for those that regretfully were shot by +the cowboys. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope we've seen the last of that bunch," remarked Dick, tenderly +feeling of his wounded hand. +</P> + +<P> +"No such good luck," declared Nort. "Do you really think they mean to +try and get pasturage here, Billee?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I sure do," replied the veteran. "They can't feed their sheep much +longer on the other side of the creek—they'll have to come here—if +they can." +</P> + +<P> +"But we stopped 'em," said Snake. +</P> + +<P> +"Only for a time," said Billee. "As Del Pinzo boasts, now they'll try +the courts." +</P> + +<P> +"But that Greaser won't have a standing in any decent court," exclaimed +Bud. "He's a jail bird—he isn't even a citizen!" +</P> + +<P> +"How does it come he is working for the interests of these Greasers, +some of whom may be citizens?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Del Pinzo will do anything by which he can get a dollar or have a +little power," was Billee's opinion. "How he got out of jail I don't +know. Maybe it's by some power over a government official, and maybe +he hopes, by that same hold, to influence the courts against us. +Anyhow, he's out of jail and he's cast his lot in with the sheep men +for his own advantage, you can gamble on that—not theirs. He has +stirred them up to demand certain things which they regard as their +rights under the new law. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, maybe they are their rights, on land that hasn't already been +claimed, but that doesn't apply here. Your dad owns this land, Bud, +and we're going to see he doesn't lose it by any tricks of Del Pinzo." +</P> + +<P> +"He seems to have given up his tricks for a time," remarked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"But only for a time," added Billee. "He'll have us in court next. +Not that there's an awful lot of law out this section," he said with a +grim smile, "but what there is can be mighty troublesome when you rub +it the wrong way." +</P> + +<P> +There was nothing more to be done now as long as the sheep men had +departed. Though at that, Billee and his cowboys were not going to be +caught unawares. With all Del Pinzo's talk of applying to the law, he +might be "bluffing." He might seek to draw the defenders away and then +rush back, getting the sheep across the stream. Once on the Diamond X +range it would be hard to dislodge them. +</P> + +<P> +"And it only takes a few hours of sheep on a pasture to spoil it for +horses," remarked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +So, fearing treachery, a guard was left at the point where the battle +of the crossing had been fought. The remainder of the cowboys returned +to the "fort," and from there word was sent to Mr. Merkel of what had +occurred. +</P> + +<P> +"So Del Pinzo will have me in court, will he?" remarked the owner of +Diamond X ranch. "Well, I reckon I won't worry until I see sheep on my +land." +</P> + +<P> +But for all that, Mr. Merkel could not help wishing his papers had not +been stolen. For though he might, eventually, prove his claim without +them, it meant a delay. And during this delay the other side—the +sheep men—might obtain some legal advantage that would enable them to +take at least temporary possession of the land in dispute. +</P> + +<P> +And, as Bud had truthfully remarked, only a short occupancy of pasture +by the odorous sheep would spoil the grazing and water for sensitive +cattle and horses. +</P> + +<P> +For several days after the fight nothing happened. Dick and the +wounded cowboys received medical treatment, and all except one were +soon on the road to recovery. Poor Lanky had received a grievous wound +which eventually caused his death, and he was sincerely mourned. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile Mr. Merkel kept on with his ranch work, and the boys, +visiting Happy Valley, found matters there going well. They were far +enough away not to need to worry about sheep for a time. Then, too, +their papers were safe and in case dispute arose as to ownership the +matter could easily be settled. +</P> + +<P> +During this comparatively quiet spell, part of which time was utilized +by Mr. Merkel in a vain attempt to discover the missing deeds and other +documents, the boy ranchers paid several visits to the camp of +Professor Wright. That eager scientist was delving away after fossil +bones as enthusiastically as if he had never discovered any. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you on the track of now?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"A Brontotherium," answered the professor. +</P> + +<P> +"What did he say—a bronco?" asked Bud. "We've got some over at our +place you can have for nothing," he added with a laugh. "They're not +dead yet, though some of the boys who tried to ride 'em wish they were." +</P> + +<P> +"A Brontotherium," explained Professor Wright, "is an extinct animal, +something like the rhinoceros, but much larger—more than the size of +an elephant, I hope to prove. There are indications that I may find +the bones here." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope you do," remarked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +The boys wandered around the camp, and were about to leave the scene of +the digging and excavating when Nort uttered an exclamation. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter?" asked his brother. +</P> + +<P> +"Look! There's Del Pinzo!" exclaimed Nort, and, surely enough, the +figure of the wily Greaser or half-breed was seen moving among the men +engaged by the professor to help him and his assistant in digging up +fossil bones. +</P> + +<P> +"You have that rascal again, I see, Professor," said Bud rather coldly. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he certainly is a great help," was the answer. "He has great +influence over the Mexican laborers." +</P> + +<P> +"Too much," grimly remarked Bud. They went away, paying no further +attention to Del Pinzo though he smiled at them in what he doubtless +intended for a genial manner. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you make of it, Bud?" asked Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Of what?" +</P> + +<P> +"Professor Wright having that rascal with him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well," remarked Bud, with as judicial an air as he could assume on +short notice, "you can look at it in two ways." +</P> + +<P> +"For instance?" suggested Dick, teasingly. "We're in for something +good, now," he whispered to his brother, though not so low but that Bud +could not hear. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, either Professor Wright knows Del Pinzo is a rascal, and takes +to him in spite of that, or he doesn't know it—though how he can be +ignorant I can't understand," declared Bud. "If he doesn't—he's the +only one who knows the game who thinks Del is any better than a common, +onery horse thief!" +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe something will happen, soon, to open his eyes," suggested Nort, +as they rode on. +</P> + +<P> +When they reached the headquarters at Diamond X they found Sheriff Hank +Fowler in earnest conversation with Mr. Merkel. +</P> + +<P> +"Anything doing, Dad?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. I'm summoned to court to prove my title to the Spur Creek land," +was the answer. "Hank has just served me with the papers." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm tellin' him he don't need to worry none," said Mr. Fowler, with a +genial grin. "He can easy prove his title." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps not so easy as you think," remarked Mr. Merkel, "since my +papers are missing. If I could only get them back!" +</P> + +<P> +"And I think I have a plan that will get them back!" suddenly exclaimed +Nort. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN DISGUISE +</H3> + +<P> +All eyes were turned on the lad, but he did not seem abashed. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the idea?" asked Dick, who thought perhaps his brother was +"joshing." +</P> + +<P> +"It just occurred to me, after I saw Del Pinzo at the professor's +camp," Nort said. "It may sound foolish, but it's worth trying, I +think." +</P> + +<P> +And when, a little later, he had explained to Mr. Merkel and Sheriff, +they clapped the lad on the back heartily and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Go ahead! It's worth trying!" +</P> + +<P> +Nort needed several days to perfect his plans for a daring excursion +into the enemy's country, so to speak. But before he had completed his +arrangements Del Pinzo, through some rascally lawyers, had gotten in +the first blow of the legal battle. +</P> + +<P> +As Mr. Merkel had said, he was summoned to court to defend his claim to +the rich grazing lands of Spur Creek. If he had had his documents this +would have been comparatively easy, but with the stealing of the deeds +and other papers, the task was harder. +</P> + +<P> +Of course Mr. Merkel engaged a lawyer, but the first skirmish resulted +in victory for the sheep men. As had been surmised, Del Pinzo did not +directly appear in the matter, though he was in court consulting with +the lawyers engaged by the herders. And, as might have been expected, +some of the claimants to rights under the new open range law were legal +citizens of the United States and, as such, entitled to take up a +certain amount of land. +</P> + +<P> +"But they have no right to take Mr. Merkel's land!" said the ranchman's +lawyer. "We grant that they have a right to pasture sheep, or even +elephants, for that matter, on land they can rightfully claim. But +they can't claim land already taken up and given over to the pasture of +cattle. We recognize, Your Honor, that to the Court there is no +difference between a sheep and a cow." +</P> + +<P> +"You are right there," admitted the Judge, "and I suppose you are +prepared, Mr. Bonnett, to substantiate your client's legal claim to +this land by deeds and other papers." +</P> + +<P> +"Unfortunately my client's deeds are missing," Mr. Bonnett had to +admit, at which admission there was a grin from Del Pinzo, so Bud +thought, at least. "But if we have time we can bring the necessary +papers into court. Therefore we ask for delay." +</P> + +<P> +"And we oppose delay, for the reason that our sheep are suffering from +lack of fodder and we have a right to pasture them on the Spur Creek +lands!" cried the opposing lawyer. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll grant a week's postponement," decided the Judge. "If in that +time, Mr. Bonnett, you can not file proof, I'm afraid——" +</P> + +<P> +He did not finish, but they all knew what he meant. He would be +obliged, in strict law, though perhaps not justice, to let the sheep +men come in on land that Mr. Merkel claimed under rights of former +laws, when he had taken them up after a government opening. +</P> + +<P> +As has been said, legal matters in this sparsely settled part of the +United States were not as strictly enforced as in large cities. There +the loss of deeds could be made up by other evidence. But in the west +the papers were needed and without them, even though in possession, +there would be trouble to prove a claim. +</P> + +<P> +"But if the sheep come, even though the court says they may, there'll +be another fight!" declared the ranchman, in spite of his lawyer's +efforts to keep him quiet. +</P> + +<P> +It was two days after that when Nort started out of the ranch house one +early evening. There had been a consultation before he left, and when +he was ready to go he almost collided with Yellin' Kid, who entered. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter with you, Greaser?" cried the Kid angrily. "What +you doin' in here, anyhow?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Kid, if you don't recognize me I guess I'm safe!" chuckled Nort. +</P> + +<P> +"Nort!" shouted the Yellin' Kid. "What the——" +</P> + +<P> +"Not so loud!" cautioned Nort, laughing. "How do you like my +disguise?" he asked. And then, changing his voice to a whine, he +begged in slangy Spanish for a cigaret (which, of course, he did not +smoke) though he muttered his "thanks, <I>Señor</I>," in a manner that +caused Yellin' Kid to exclaim: +</P> + +<P> +"They'll never find you out! Good luck to you!" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Adios</I>," laughed Nort. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BRONTOTHERIUM +</H3> + +<P> +There were busy times in the camp of Professor Wright, who was +searching for the fossil bones of a once living Brontotherium. The +scientist felt sure he was on the right track, though one of his +college assistants was openly skeptical. +</P> + +<P> +"This isn't the right rock formation at all, to dig for a +Brontotherium," he declared. +</P> + +<P> +"So some of my helpers held the time I discovered the other gigantic +fossil bones," retorted the professor. "But I proved that I was right. +We shall yet find a Brontotherium—or what is left of one—you'll see!" +</P> + +<P> +Bud and Dick found time to stroll, occasionally, over to the camp of +the scientist, for there was much to interest them there, and they +wanted to be on hand when the "great discovery," as Professor Wright +referred to it, should be made. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know," remarked Bud, as he and his chum were riding over to the +scene of excavating operations one day, "there's something quite +satisfying in going over among so much scientific knowledge." +</P> + +<P> +"Particularly when we don't have to absorb any of it ourselves, under +compulsion," remarked Dick with a chuckle. "It's like visiting a +school and watching the other fellows boning away." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," agreed Bud. "We don't have to open a book nor learn a lot of +names as long as your arm. I wonder why they gave such long names to +these prehistoric monsters, anyhow?" +</P> + +<P> +"Give it up," spoke Dick shortly. "There must be a reason." +</P> + +<P> +"I reckon there is, but why in the name of Tunket couldn't they call +'em something shorter? Wouldn't it sound funny if we had to call a +horse a Brontosaurus?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'd teach mine to come without calling if it had a name like that!" +chuckled Dick. "But say, Bud, while we're over there—in the camp I +mean," and he pointed to it among the distant hills, "don't mention +Nort's name." +</P> + +<P> +"No, dad said not to, but I don't understand it at all." +</P> + +<P> +"Neither do I, but the least said the better. And if anyone over +there—especially Del Pinzo—asks for Nort, we're not to even admit he +isn't with us. Sort of say he'll be along presently." +</P> + +<P> +"I savey!" +</P> + +<P> +The boys reached the scene of the digging operations which were quite +extensive, Professor Wright being liberally supplied with money from +some learned society that was interested in securing for the college +the largest possible collection of fossil bones of long extinct +monsters. +</P> + +<P> +The boys knew some of the workers, and more than a few of the young +college men—some of the professors—who had been brought to the place +by Mr. Wright. And it was while Bud and Dick were again talking over +how foolish it seemed (to them) to use such long names in speaking of +the long-dead monsters that Professor Wright heard them. +</P> + +<P> +He did not happen to be busy at that particular moment, and he was a +man who never neglected an opportunity of imparting knowledge. He +would do this not always with discrimination, for Bud used to tell with +a laugh how once he overheard Professor Wright talking most learnedly +to an ignorant Greaser who had merely stopped to inspect a pile of +bones. +</P> + +<P> +"He was getting off the longest string of jaw-breaking Greek and Latin +terms," said Bud, telling the story, "spouting away how many millions +of years ago the Dinosaurs trod the earth, what they lived on, how they +fought among themselves, and he was dwelling particularly on how a +change of conditions wiped all these birds off the earth." +</P> + +<P> +"Meaning, by birds, the Dinosaurs and the like?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure." +</P> + +<P> +"And how did the Greaser respond to it all?" Dick wanted to know. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he took it all in with open mouth," chuckled Bud. "Every now and +then he'd out with a '<I>si señor</I>,' which encouraged Professor Wright to +go on." +</P> + +<P> +"And how did it end?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, the prof. kept spouting away for an hour or more, showing bone +after bone of some he'd dug up (this was before the present occasion) +and when he was all through he leaned back with a jolly satisfied smile +on his phiz. +</P> + +<P> +"But say, Dick," went on Bud, "I wish yon could have seen the look on +the dear old prof.'s face when the Greaser pointed to the bones and +grunted out: +</P> + +<P> +"'Him good plenty much make soup!'" +</P> + +<P> +"No! Really?" +</P> + +<P> +"As sure as I can throw a rope! The idea of boiling up the +million-year bones to make soup! I sure thought the prof. would die! +After that he didn't spout his wise stuff to any more Greasers." +</P> + +<P> +"I shouldn't think he would." +</P> + +<P> +But on this occasion Professor Wright had a ranch more receptive and +intelligent audience. For, as I have said, overhearing Dick and Bud +discussing the "jaw-breaking names," as the boys termed them, the +scientist approached them with a reassuring smile on his face and said: +</P> + +<P> +"You are somewhat like the old lady, told of in the book written by +Professor Lucas of the American Museum of Natural History. In his +introduction he speaks of the necessity for using what are termed 'big' +words—that is scientific terms, and he mentions an old lady who said +she wasn't so surprised at the discovery of all these strange animals, +as she was at the fact that someone knew their names when they were +found." +</P> + +<P> +"But you don't know the names when you find them; do you?" asked Dick. +"Don't you name them after they are found?" +</P> + +<P> +"In a way we do, yes," answered the scientist. "But in the case of +those already found—and I am searching for specimens of some extinct +animals already identified—we have settled upon names. +</P> + +<P> +"As Professor Lucas remarks, the real trouble is that there are no +common names for these animals. As a matter of fact, when they existed +there were no people on earth to name them, or, if there were, the +names given by prehistoric man were not preserved, since they wrote no +histories. +</P> + +<P> +"And, as a matter of fact, those who complain that these names are hard +to pronounce do not stop to think that, in many cases, the names of the +Dinosaurs are no harder than others. They are simply less familiar and +not so often used. You wouldn't call hippopotamus a hard word; would +you, boys?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't hard to pronounce, but I'd hate to have to spell it," +chuckled Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"It's easy if you take it slow," declared Dick, and, then and there he +spelled it. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you've been to more circuses than I have," countered Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"That's it!" cried the professor, seizing on the opportunity to impart +a little information. "The word hippopotamus is familiar to you—and +even to small children—because it has often been used, and because you +have seen circus pictures of it. Well, if we had Brontotheriums on +earth now, everyone would be using the name without stopping to think +how to pronounce it, and they could spell it as easily as you can spell +hippopotamus. Most words of Latin or Greek derivation are easy to +pronounce once you try them. +</P> + +<P> +"There are other names of animals in everyday use that would 'stump' us +if we stopped to think of them, but we don't. We rattle off mammoth, +rhinoceros, giraffe and boa constrictor easily." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, they sound easy enough," argued Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, all you need to do is to apply to the extinct monsters the same +principle of pronunciation that you use in saying hippopotamus, and you +have done the trick," went on Professor Wright. "In fact, it is all +rather simple." +</P> + +<P> +"Simple," murmured Dick. "Bront—bront—brontotherium!" +</P> + +<P> +"Take it by degrees," advised Professor Wright, "and remember that +generally these names are made up of one or two or even more Greek or +Latin words. Sometimes a Greek and Latin word is combined, but that +really is not scientific. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, in the case of the brontotherium, we have two Greek words which +excellently describe the animal whose bones I am after. That is the +description fits, as nearly as anything can to something we have never +seen. +</P> + +<P> +"There is a Greek word—<I>bronte</I> it is pronounced in English, and it +means, in a sense, thunder. Another Greek word is <I>therion</I>, which +means wild beast. +</P> + +<P> +"Then bronto—bronto—therion must mean—thunder beast!" cried Dick, +rather proud that he had thus pieced together some information. +</P> + +<P> +"That's it!" announced Professor Wright. "You see how easy it is. +Change <I>therion</I> to <I>therium</I> and you have it." +</P> + +<P> +"But why did they call it a thunder beast?" Bud wanted to know. +</P> + +<P> +"There doesn't seem much sense in that," admitted the scientist, "until +you stop to think that paleontologists adopted the word 'thunder' as +meaning something large and monstrous, as thunder is the loudest noise +in the world." +</P> + +<P> +"Not so bad, after all," was Dick's admission. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad to hear you say so," commented the professor. "To go a bit +farther, take the word Dinosaur." +</P> + +<P> +"I know the last end of it means a big lizard," put in Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and the front of it—the prefix <I>dino</I>, means the same thing that +<I>bronto</I> signifies—something large, terrible and fear-inspiring. Dino +is a form of word taken from the Greek, <I>deinos</I> meaning terrible and +mighty, from its root <I>deos</I>, which means fear. +</P> + +<P> +"So those who first discovered these great bones, having reconstructed +the animals whose skeletons they formed, gave them scientific names +best fitted to describe them. Can you think of anything more aptly +descriptive than 'thunder-lizard,' to indicate a beast shaped like the +lizards we see to-day, and yet whose size would terrify ancient man as +thunder terrified him?" +</P> + +<P> +The boys were really enjoying this scientific information, dry and +complicated as it must seem in the way I have written it down here. +But the professor had a way of making the most dry and scientific +subject seem interesting. +</P> + +<P> +"What gets me, though," said Dick, "is how they know about how these +big lizards and other things look when they only find a single bone, or +maybe one or two." +</P> + +<P> +"That is puzzling at first," admitted Professor Wright. "Perhaps I can +illustrate it for you. Take, for instance, the Dinornis—and before we +go any farther let me see if you can give me a good English name for +the creature. Try it now—the Dinornis." +</P> + +<P> +He looked expectantly at the boys. +</P> + +<P> +"Dino—dino—" murmured Bud. "That must mean—why that must mean +fierce or terrible, if it's anything like Dinosaur." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll encourage you so far as to say you're on the right track. In +other words, you are half right," said the scientist. "Suppose you +take a try at it," and he turned to Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"There isn't much left," laughed the lad. +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose you take it this way," suggested the scientist. "Lop off just +di—and assume that Bud has used that. You have left the syllable +nornis." +</P> + +<P> +"Nornis—nornis—it doesn't seem to mean anything to me," sighed Dick, +for he was rather disappointed at Bud's success and his own seeming +failure so far. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll help you a little," offered the professor. "Instead of saying +di-nornis, call it din-ornis. Did you ever hear the word +<I>ornithology</I>?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure!" assented Bud. "It means—<I>ology</I> that's the science of," he +was murmuring to himself. "Don't tell me now—I have it—the science +or study of birds. That's what ornithology is—the study of birds." +</P> + +<P> +"Correct," said the professor. "Ornis is the Greek word for bird, and +when we put in front of it Di, or din, meaning fear, thunder or terror, +we have a word meaning a terribly large bird, and that's just what the +Dinornis is—an extinct bird of great size. +</P> + +<P> +"But what I started to tell you was how we can sometimes—not always +and sometimes not correctly—reconstruct from a single bone the animal +that once carried it around with it. The Dinornis is a good example. +</P> + +<P> +"Some years ago there was discovered the pelvic and leg bones of what +was evidently an enormous extinct bird. Now, of course, our knowledge +of the past is based somewhat on our knowledge of the present, and if +we had but the pelvic and leg bones of, say, a crow, we could, even +without ever seeing a crow, come pretty nearly drawing the picture of +how large a bird it is, and of what shape to be able to use such a +pelvis and such leg bones. +</P> + +<P> +"So the men who reconstructed the Dinornis went at it. They set up the +pelvis and leg bones and then, with plaster or some substance, and by +working in proportion, they reconstructed the Dinornis, which is about +the shape of the ostrich or the extinct moa of New Zealand, only +larger. Here, I'll show you what I mean." +</P> + +<P> +Sitting down on a pile of dirt and shale rock, excavated by some of his +workers, Professor Wright, on the back of an envelope, sketched the +pelvic and leg bones and then from them he drew dotted lines in the +shape of a big bird like an ostrich. +</P> + +<P> +"You see how it is proportionately balanced," he remarked. "A bird +with that shape and size of leg would be about so tall—he could not be +much taller or larger or his legs would not have been able to carry him +around. +</P> + +<P> +"Take, for instance, the giraffe. If you found some of their long, +thin leg bones, and had nothing else, and had never seen a giraffe, +what sort of a beast would you imagine had been carried around on those +legs?" he asked the boys. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, a giraffe is about the only kind of a beast that could logically +walk on such long, thin legs," admitted Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"And there you are," said the professor. +</P> + +<P> +The boys were more interested than they had believed possible, and they +began to look forward eagerly to the time when some of the giant bones +might be uncovered. +</P> + +<P> +"What gets me, though," said Dick, believing that while knowledge was +"on tap," he might as well get his fill, "what I can't understand is +how long ago they figure these things lived—I mean the Dinornis and +Dinosaurs," he added quickly, lest the professor resent his "pets" +being called "things." +</P> + +<P> +"There's a good deal of guess-work about it," admitted the scientist. +"The question is often asked—how long ago did such monsters live. But +we are confronted with this difficulty. The least estimate put on the +age of the earth is ten million years. The longest is, perhaps, six +thousand million——" +</P> + +<P> +"Six thousand million!" murmured Bud in an awed voice. +</P> + +<P> +"And maybe more," said Professor Wright. "So you see it is pretty hard +to set any estimate on just when an animal lived who may have passed +away six billion years ago—it really isn't worth while. All we can +say is that they lived many, many ages ago, and we are lucky if we can +come upon any slight remains of them." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you really think you'll find some fossil bones?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sure of it!" was the answer. "Hello! That looks as if they had +found something over there!" he cried, as some excitement was manifest +amid a group of laboring Greasers some distance away. +</P> + +<P> +The professor hurried there, followed by the boys. They saw where some +men, down in a shale pit had uncovered what at first looked to be a +tree-trunk. +</P> + +<P> +"It is part of the hind leg of the great Brontosaurus!" cried Professor +Wright, in intense excitement. "That's what it is—the Brontosaurus!" +</P> + +<P> +"But you want a <I>Brontotherium</I>," insisted one of the helpers, a +professor in the making. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care what I get, as long as they are fossil bones!" cried Mr. +Wright. "But I shall yet find a Brontotherium here—of that I am +certain. Careful now, men!" +</P> + +<P> +"Say, he's really found something!" cried Dick. +</P> + +<P> +But alas for the hopes of the professor! When the object was taken out +it proved to be only part of the skeleton of a long dead buffalo, the +bones being so encrusted with clay or mud as to appear much larger than +they really were. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, too bad," sighed the professor. "But better luck next time. +Come again, boys." +</P> + +<P> +And so the digging went on as fast as could be done, for each shovel of +earth and each dislodged stone was carefully examined by the scientist +or one of his scientific companions for any trace of the bones of an +extinct monster. +</P> + +<P> +Under the urging of Del Pinzo, the Greasers, all of whom had been +engaged by him, worked hard—harder than they would have done had Del +Pinzo not been there to spur them on. Professor Wright admitted this, +and said it was why he was willing to pay the half-breed to oversee the +laborers. +</P> + +<P> +And of all who labored none was more active than a certain young +Greaser, in ragged garments and with a most dirty face, who seemed to +be in all parts of the excavating camp at once. He leaped down into +holes, he climbed mounds and delved there a while; he labored with pick +and shovel. He was all over at all times, it seemed. +</P> + +<P> +So active was he that he attracted the attention of Del Pinzo, who, +strolling over to the youth remarked, in Mexican Spanish: +</P> + +<P> +"I don't seem to remember you. Where are you from?" +</P> + +<P> +To which, in native dialect, he was answered: +</P> + +<P> +"I come in my brother's place. San Feliece he is much sick this day. +I take his place." +</P> + +<P> +Del Pinzo thought back rapidly. One of his workers of this name was +missing, and, well—all Greasers looked alike. He turned, and the +youth, with a quiet chuckle, resumed his activities. +</P> + +<P> +But, as the youth labored, his eyes seemed to follow Del Pinzo more +than they kept to the matters immediately in hand. Though he struck +hard with his pick, and took out heaping shovelfuls, this youth ever +had his eyes on the half-breed, watching and watching as Del Pinzo +strolled about the camp grounds. +</P> + +<P> +It was the third day of this young Greaser's appearance in the fossil +excavations, and coming close to the end of the week, which period of +grace had been allowed Mr. Merkel by the court. Unless the deeds were +soon produced the sheep would scatter over the Spur Creek lands and +this would mean the beginning of the end for the cattle men. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly the comparative quiet of the fossil camp was broken by loud +yells, and there seemed much excitement in a place where Professor +Wright had been examining earth and rocks as the debris was deposited +from an excavation. +</P> + +<P> +The ragged youth, who had said he came to take the place of his ill +brother, raced over the ground toward the excited group. He found the +professor gazing eagerly down into a sort of cave that had been +discovered when the digging reached a certain depth. +</P> + +<P> +"Look out there now! Be careful!" cautioned the scientist. "I think +we have found it. Here, you look intelligent!" and he motioned to the +Greaser youth whom Del Pinzo had questioned. "Get down in there and +make the opening a little wider so I can see what we've come upon. But +be very careful. If there are bones we don't want to break them. +Perhaps you'd better tell him, Del Pinzo," suggested Professor Wright. +"He probably doesn't understand my English." +</P> + +<P> +Thereupon Del Pinzo loosed a string of Mexican Spanish, at which the +youth nodded, and proceeded to enlarge the opening to the small +underground cavern. +</P> + +<P> +As the light of day was allowed to enter, Professor Wright leaped down +into the hole and stood almost at the side of the youth. Then, +suddenly, the scientist cried: +</P> + +<P> +"I've found it! I have discovered it! The gigantic Brontotherium! +Success at last!" +</P> + +<P> +And as the youth stepped aside to allow the scientist to enter and gaze +upon the immense fossil bones which had just been laid bare, the youth +looked at Del Pinzo, hastening across the camp ground, murmured: +</P> + +<P> +"I, too, have found it! Success at last!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE END OF THE SHEEP +</H3> + +<P> +Court had convened. It was the day set for the decision in the Spur +Creek open range matter—a decision which would say whether or not +sheep could be pastured on land that the owner of Diamond X had long +claimed as his own. +</P> + +<P> +In the open West—where there is much hard work and little play—unless +a man makes the latter for himself—the opening of court, even for +small matters, was an occasion for the "gathering of the clans." From +far and near, those who could get away to attend the sitting of the +judge, and sometimes the trial of cases, were always on hand. It was +the same sort of an occasion as in the East is the circus, the cattle +show or the county fair. +</P> + +<P> +At court, as at the circus and fair, friends who had long been +separated met again, and, not infrequently, relatives found those of +whom they had long lost trace. +</P> + +<P> +And so, as there was a gathering of lawyers, a judge or two, some +witnesses and any number of mere hangers-on in the city where court had +been convened, there were heard on all sides such greetings as: +</P> + +<P> +"Well, ef thar ain't ole Bill! Put here there, Bill!" +</P> + +<P> +"Horn-swoggle me ef 'tain't Nate! Well, gumsozzle me!" +</P> + +<P> +Two hard and calloused hand would meet in a crack like that from a +small gun and two bearded faces, seamed and wrinkled, would light up +with pleasure. +</P> + +<P> +Near them—all around them—similar scenes were being enacted, and, not +infrequently, ancient enemies would thus come together, with none of +the kindly greetings that I have indicated. Often as not there would +be the drawing of guns and an exchange of shots, more or less dangerous +under any circumstances, and particularly so where there was a throng +as at the opening of court. +</P> + +<P> +But on this occasion all grudges seemed to have been forgotten or +buried, for there was no shooting. The feeling was of the friendliest, +save that an important issue was to be fought out between the sheep men +on one side and the cattle men on the other. +</P> + +<P> +To both sides the issue meant much, for it meant success or failure in +what they elected to gain their livings by means of. So it cannot be +wondered at that there were more or less serious faces as men met and +inquired one of the other: +</P> + +<P> +"How do you think it's going?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you can't tell much about it," the answer might be. "These +lawyers and judges——" +</P> + +<P> +"That's right. They don't seem to use common sense—some of 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"But what sort of a case do you s'pose Diamond X has got, anyhow?" +</P> + +<P> +"Pretty good, I hear." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I hope they have. Gosh! If we're goin' t' be overrun with them +onery sheep jest as we've got things runnin' nicely fer cattle—wa'al, +I don't want t' live around here—that's all I got to say!" exclaimed +one grizzled cowman. +</P> + +<P> +"Same here!" commented some of his hearers. "Sheep's no good; never +were any good; an' what's more, never will be any good!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's right!" came a deep-voiced chorus. +</P> + +<P> +To hear them tell it one would think that a sheep had no rights at all +and that a sheep man was the worst being on earth, and yet, as a matter +of fact, many a cowman, sick of the eternal beef that he had to eat, +welcomes a tender bit of roast lamb. +</P> + +<P> +But such is the world! +</P> + +<P> +To the cattlemen the sheep owners and herders were despised and hated +of men—not fit to live within the same thousand-mile area of cattle +and horses. +</P> + +<P> +Of course sheep was not the direct issue. As was said, the point +turned on whether the Spur Creek land came under the provisions of the +open range, as defined by Congress, and once this was settled a man +could pasture elephants on the land he staked out, provided he could +get elephants to stay there. +</P> + +<P> +But the coming of the sheep meant the going of the cattle. And that is +why the courtroom was so filled with spectators. Dick was there, his +bullet-wounded hand almost better. Bud was there, as was his father +and many cowboys from Diamond X. +</P> + +<P> +Del Pinzo, with a grin on his evil, bearded face, was there also. +</P> + +<P> +"We will take up first the matter of the open range land," said the +Judge. "The matter was laid over until to-day to enable the defendant +to produce certain papers in court substantiating his claim to +pasturage along Spur Creek. Are you ready to proceed, Mr. Bonnett?" +and he looked at Mr. Merkel's lawyer. +</P> + +<P> +"Your Honor," began the attorney, "we hoped to be able to settle the +matter definitely to-day. I expected to show the deeds proving our +claim. But, unless a certain witness whom I depended on soon arrives, +we shall have to proceed to trial. If this witness were here, and if +he could prove what I hoped——" +</P> + +<P> +"You will never be able to prove anything!" broke in the sneering voice +of Del Pinzo. +</P> + +<P> +"Silence in the court!" cried Sheriff Hank Fowler, but almost as he +spoke the decorum was again broken by a voice which cried in ringing +tones: +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, we can prove everything, Del Pinzo! Here are the deeds that +prove Mr. Merkel's claim to the land, and I can prove that you stole +them the night of the shooting!" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>San Diabalo!</I>" muttered Del Pinzo, turning quickly. "It is the +brother of Feliece!" +</P> + +<P> +"Not exactly," laughed the voice of the newcomer. He snatched off a +wig of black, wiry hair and stood revealed as—Nort Shannon! +</P> + +<P> +He tossed a bundle of papers to Mr. Merkel's lawyer, and then all eyes +turned on Del Pinzo, who feverishly was examining a bundle of documents +he tore from an oiled-silk bag. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>San Diabalo!</I>" he cried again. "They are gone!" +</P> + +<P> +"No, they are here!" mocked Nort. "I found where you had hidden the +real papers, and I just took them out and substituted some of my own." +</P> + +<P> +Del Pinzo glared about the court for a moment, and then made a movement. +</P> + +<P> +"Catch that scoundrel!" cried the Judge. But it was too late. Del +Pinzo slipped out, leaped to the back of his fleet horse and though the +pursuit was soon organized, he got away. +</P> + +<P> +"Where did you come from, Nort?" asked Dick, as he shook hands with his +brother. +</P> + +<P> +"Direct from the professor's camp. Didn't get here any too soon, +either, as it happens. My horse went lame and then there was a lot of +excitement when they found the Brontotherium." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, did they find another of those monsters?" asked Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"Yep! The Grandfather of 'em all, I reckon!" laughed Nort. "And +during the ruction I managed to get to the place where Del Pinzo had +hidden the deeds he stole. I took them out and put in some worthless +documents so he wouldn't suspect. Then I came on here. Now I guess +they won't pasture any sheep at Spur Creek." +</P> + +<P> +And they did not. With the finding of Mr. Merkel's deeds, which had +been stolen, his ownership was clearly established. No one now dared +claim his lands. Of course there were parts of the open range where +the sheep herders could go in, but none were as choice or as much +desired as the pastures of Spur Creek. And they were far enough away +not to menace Diamond X. +</P> + +<P> +"The application of the plaintiff for permission to take over the Spur +Creek range is hereby denied," announced the Judge. And thus ended the +case of the men whose cause Del Pinzo had taken up. Some of them were +innocent parties to his treachery, and he had engineered the whole +scheme to enrich himself eventually. For these innocent victims sorrow +was expressed. But even sorrow would not induce a cattleman to allow +sheep on his ranch. +</P> + +<P> +And so, a few days later the sheep which had been held in readiness +south of Spur Creek were driven back into Mexico. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Nort, suppose you tell us how it all happened," suggested Bud, +when matters at Diamond X were about normal again. "How did you come +to disguise yourself like a Greaser, go off to the professor's camp and +get the deeds where Del Pinzo had hidden them? Tell us." +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't much of a story," began Nort, modestly enough. "In the first +place, you know about as much of the beginning of it as I do. Del +Pinzo heard about the government opening the range lands, and he knew +the deeds to Spur Creek must be here. So he organized a robbery and +carried it out, drawing us away from the place by a lot of shooting. +Professor Wright, as of course you know, had nothing to do with it. +His coming was just a coincidence. +</P> + +<P> +"Those mysterious lone riders were sent by Del Pinzo to see how things +were going, and that rocket signaling was, as we guessed, communication +from one of Del Pinzo's gang to another. Then, when that Greaser had +the deeds safely hidden, as he thought, he gave the signal for the +sheep to start for Spur Creek." +</P> + +<P> +"But how in the name of Zip Foster did you know where he had the deeds +hidden?" cried Bud. +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't," answered Nort. "I simply guessed that he had taken them, +or had some one take them for him, and I reasoned he would keep them +near him, in the professor's camp. So, with your dad's permission, +Bud, I disguised like a Greaser and went to work in the fossil camp. I +had to kidnap one of the regular Greasers, and pass myself off as his +brother, which I did. By the way," he remarked to Slim, "we can let +Feliece go now." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," chuckled Slim, who was one of the few in the secret. "He +didn't mind being a prisoner here, for he got well paid and had plenty +of grub." +</P> + +<P> +"After I established myself at the camp," went on Nort, "and even the +professor didn't recognize me, I made it my business secretly to keep +on Del Pinzo's trail until I located where he had hidden the deeds, in +one of the many excavations made in searching for fossil bones. +</P> + +<P> +"Then, when the Brontotherium was really found there was enough +excitement so that I could sneak over to the hiding place, take out the +right papers and stick in some dummies I had all ready. Then I sent +word to Mr. Bonnett, and came on as soon as I could with the deeds. +Zeb Tauth, the janitor whom the professor brought with him as a sort of +personal aid, helped me out in that. He was a good scout, Zeb was, +though he doesn't care much about fossils. He says he's anxious to get +back to his furnace and ash cans." +</P> + +<P> +"Shades of Zip Foster!" chuckled Bud, as the explanation was concluded. +"It couldn't have been slicker if you'd practiced it for a year! I'll +never forget Del Pinzo's face as he opened his oiled-silk package and +realized that he had been fooled. Oh, Zip Foster!" +</P> + +<P> +"So it's all over now," commented Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it was a mighty good ending," said Mr. Merkel, "and I'm much +obliged to you boy ranchers. You helped a lot. I'd like to catch Del +Pinzo, however." +</P> + +<P> +But the wily half-breed Greaser disappeared, though it might be feared +he would bob up again in the lives of the boy ranchers. For they were +destined to have other adventures. +</P> + +<P> +"But we're through for a time," said Bud, as, with his cousins, he rode +the trail that led to home. +</P> + +<P> +Nell met them near the horse corral. +</P> + +<P> +"You're just in time," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"For what?" asked Dick. +</P> + +<P> +"Pie!" answered Nell with a laugh. "Mother and I have baked some for +you." +</P> + +<P> +"Whoopee!" yelled the boy ranchers, and as they race for the kitchen we +will take leave of them for a time. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap26"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BOY RANCHERS SERIES +<BR> +BY WILLARD F. BAKER +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +<I>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +<I>Stories of the great west, with cattle ranches as a setting, related +in such a style as to captivate the hearts of all boys.</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +1. THE BOY RANCHERS<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">_or Solving the Mystery at Diamond X_</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Two eastern boys visit their cousin. They become involved in an +exciting mystery. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +2. THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em"><I>or The Water Fight at Diamond X</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Returning for a visit, the two eastern lads learn with delight, that +they are to become boy ranchers. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +3. THE BOY RANCHERS ON THE TRAIL<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em"><I>or The Diamond X After Cattle Rustlers</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Our boy heroes take the trail after Del Pinzo and his outlaws. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +4. THE BOY RANCHERS AMONG THE INDIANS<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em"><I>or Trailing the Yaquis</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Rosemary and Floyd are captured by the Yaqui Indians. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +5. THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em"><I>or Fighting the Sheep Herders</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Dangerous struggle against desperadoes for land rights. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +6. THE BOY RANCHERS IN THE DESERT<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em"><I>or Diamond X and the Lost Mine</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +One night a strange old miner almost dead from hunger and hardship +arrived at the bunk house. The boys cared for him and he told them of +the lost desert mine. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +7. THE BOY RANCHERS ON ROARING RIVER<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em"><I>or Diamond X and the Chinese Smugglers</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The boy ranchers help capture Delton's gang who were engaged in +smuggling Chinese across the border. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +8. THE BOY RANCHERS IN DEATH VALLEY<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em"><I>or Diamond X and the Poison Mystery</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The boy ranchers track mysterious Death into his cave. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers. New York. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BASEBALL JOE SERIES +<BR> +BY LESTER CHADWICK +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +<I>12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, $.65, postpaid</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +1. BASEBALL JOE OF THE SILVER STARS<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em"><I>or The Rivals of Riverside</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +2. BASEBALL JOE ON THE SCHOOL NINE<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em"><I>or Pitching for the Blue Banner</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +3. BASEBALL JOE AT YALE<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em"><I>or Pitching for the College Championship</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +4. BASEBALL JOE IN THE CENTRAL LEAGUE<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em"><I>or Making Good as a Professional Pitcher</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +5. BASEBALL JOE IN THE BIG LEAGUE<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em"><I>or A Young Pitcher's Hardest Struggles</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +6. BASEBALL JOE ON THE GIANTS<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em"><I>or Making Good as a Twirler in the Metropolis</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +7. BASEBALL JOE IN THE WORLD SERIES<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em"><I>or Pitching for the Championship</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +8. BASEBALL JOE AROUND THE WORLD<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em"><I>or Pitching on a Grand Tour</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +9. BASEBALL JOE HOME RUN KING<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em"><I>or The Greatest Pitcher and Batter on Record</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +10. BASEBALL JOE SAVING THE LEAGUE<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em"><I>or Breaking Up a Great Conspiracy</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +11. BASEBALL JOE CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em"><I>or Bitter Struggles on the Diamond</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +12. BASEBALL JOE CHAMPION OF THE LEAGUE<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em"><I>or The Record that was Worth While</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +13. BASEBALL JOE CLUB OWNER<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em"><I>or Putting the Home Town on the Map</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +14. BASEBALL JOE PITCHING WIZARD<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em"><I>or Triumphs Off and On the Diamond</I></SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers. New York. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE JEWEL SERIES +<BR> +BY AMES THOMPSON +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +<I>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in colors.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +<I>A series of stories brimming with hardy adventure, vivid and accurate +in detail, and with a good foundation of probability. They take the +reader realistically to the scene of action. Besides being lively and +full of real situations, they are written in a straight-forward way +very attractive to boy readers.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +1. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE VALLEY OF DIAMONDS +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Malcolm Edwards and his son Ralph are adventurers with ample means for +following up their interest in jewel clues. In this book they form a +party of five, including Jimmy Stone and Bret Hartson, boys of Ralph's +age, and a shrewd level-headed sailor named Stanley Greene. They find +a valley of diamonds in the heart of Africa. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +2. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE RIVER OF EMERALDS +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The five adventurers, staying at a hotel in San Francisco, find that +Pedro the elevator man has an interesting story of a hidden "river of +emeralds" in Peru, to tell. With him as guide, they set out to find +it, escape various traps set for them by jealous Peruvians, and are +much amused by Pedro all through the experience. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +3. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE LAGOON OF PEARLS +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +This time the group starts out on a cruise simply for pleasure, but +their adventuresome spirits lead them into the thick of things on a +South Sea cannibal island. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. New York. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BOMBA BOOKS +<BR> +BY ROY ROCKWOOD +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +<I>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. With colored jacket.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +<I>Bomba lived far back in the jungles of the Amazon with a half-demented +naturalist who told the lad nothing of his past. The jungle boy was a +lover of birds, and hunted animals with a bow and arrow and his trusty +machete. He had a primitive education in some things, and his daring +adventures will be followed with breathless interest by thousands.</I> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +1. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY <I>or The Old Naturalist's Secret</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +In the depth of the jungle Bomba lives a life replete with thrilling +situations. Once he saves the lives of two American rubber hunters who +ask him who he is, and how he had come into the jungle. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +2. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE MOVING MOUNTAIN <I>or The Mystery of the +Caves of Fire</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Bomba travels through the jungle, encountering wild beasts and hostile +natives. At last he trails the old man of the burning mountain to his +cave and learns more concerning himself. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +3. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE GIANT CATARACT <I>or Chief Nasconora and +His Captives</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Among the Pilati Indians he finds some white captives, and an aged +opera singer, first to give Bomba real news of his forebears. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +4. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON JAGUAR ISLAND <I>or Adrift on the River of +Mystery</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Jaguar Island was a spot as dangerous as it was mysterious and Bomba +was warned to keep away. But the plucky boy sallied forth. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +5. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY IN THE ABANDONED CITY <I>or A Treasure Ten +Thousand Years Old</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Years ago this great city had sunk out of sight beneath the trees of +the jungle. A wily half-breed thought to carry away its treasure. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +6. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON TERROR TRAIL <I>or The Mysterious Men from +the Sky</I> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Bomba strikes out through the vast Amazonian jungles and soon finds +himself on the dreaded Terror Trail. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers. New York. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Boy Ranchers at Spur Creek, by Willard F. 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Baker + +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 Ranchers at Spur Creek + or Fighting the Sheep Herders + +Author: Willard F. Baker + +Illustrator: Howard L. Hastings + +Release Date: October 29, 2008 [EBook #27095] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + + [Transcriber's note: Extensive research found no evidence + that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] + + + + +[Illustration: Cover art] + + + + +[Frontispiece: SNAKE CAUGHT HOLD OF THE ANIMAL'S LEFT HORN. "The Boy +Ranchers at Spur Creek."] + + + + +THE BOY RANCHERS + +AT SPUR CREEK + +OR + +_Fighting the Sheep Herders_ + + + +by + +WILLARD F. BAKER + + + +_ILLUSTRATED_ + + + +NEW YORK + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY + + + + +THE BOY RANCHERS SERIES + +By WILLARD F. BAKER + +12mo. Cloth. Frontispiece + + +THE BOY RANCHERS + or Solving the Mystery at Diamond X + +THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP + or The Water Fight at Diamond X + +THE BOY RANCHERS ON THE TRAIL + or The Diamond X After Cattle Rustlers + +THE BOY RANCHERS AMONG THE INDIANS + or On the Trail of the Yaquis + +THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK + or Fighting the Sheep Herders + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, New York + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY + +THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK + +Printed in U. S. A. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I SHOTS IN THE NIGHT + II MISSING PAPERS + III ON THE TRAIL + IV AROUND THE CAMPFIRE + V AT SPUR CREEK + VI THE ALARM + VII A PARLEY + VIII SUSPICIONS + IX A CALL FOR HELP + X DEL PINZO'S HAND + XI COWBOY FUN + XII AFTER THE RUSTLERS + XIII A CLOUD OF DUST + XIV THE SHEEP ARRIVE + XV A BATTLE OF WITS + XVI STRANGE ACTIONS + XVII "WE CROWED TOO SOON!" + XVIII SKIRMISHES + XIX OPEN WARFARE + XX THE FLAG OF TRUCE + XXI A LEGAL CONTEST + XXII NORT'S PLAN + XXIII IN DISGUISE + XXIV THE BRONTOTHERIUM + XXV THE END OF THE SHEEP + + + + +THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK + + +CHAPTER I + +SHOTS IN THE NIGHT + +With a rattle and a clatter the muddy flivver stopped with a squeak of +brakes in front of Diamond X ranch house. From the car leaped three +boys, one of them carrying a small leather pouch. + +"Here's the mail!" yelled this lad--Bud Merkel by name, and his +cousins, Nort and Dick Shannon, added the duet of their voices to his +as they cried: + +"Mail's in! Lots of letters!" + +"Any for me?" asked Nell, reaching out her hand toward Bud. "Don't +tell me there isn't!" she pleaded. + +"Well, I'm sorry, Sis," began Bud, teasingly, "there was one for you, +but driving in we ran over a rattler and----" + +"Don't you believe him, Nell!" consoled Nort, who didn't altogether +agree with Bud's teasing of his sister. "Your letters are safe in the +pouch." + +"Oh, there are _letters_, then, are there--not just _one_?" cried Nell +with shining eyes. "Thanks a whole lot." + +"Don't thank me--thank the postmaster--or whoever wrote you the +letters!" laughed Nort. + +Bud had sat down on a bench outside the ranch house and was opening the +mail pouch. His mother came to the door of the kitchen, wiping flour +from her hands, for though Mrs. Merkel kept a "hired girl," and though +Nell assisted, yet the mother of Bud insisted on doing much of the work +herself, and very able she was, too. + +"Any letters for your father?" she asked. + +"Two or three," answered Bud, as he looked over the envelopes. "And +one for you, Mother." + +"Well, take your father's mail to him when you've finished sorting," +suggested Mrs. Merkel. "He said he was expecting something of +importance. You'll find him over in the bunk house looking after Mr. +Watson." + +"Mr. _Watson_!" shouted Bud with a laugh. "Do you mean Yellin' Kid?" + +"Oh, I guess that's what you call him," assented Mrs. Merkel as she +opened her letter. "But his name's Watson." + +"Guess you're the only one who remembers that, Ma," chuckled Dick +Shannon, for though Mrs. Merkel was only his aunt, she was almost +universally called "Ma" on the ranch of Diamond X. + +"Yellin' Kid isn't any worse, is he?" asked Bud. + +"Oh, no, but your father wanted to change the bandages and it takes +some time. You'll find him pretty nearly finished, I guess, though +you'd better take his mail to him there." + +There had been a slight accident the week before, in which the horse of +Yellin' Kid had crowded him against a post in a corral fence, badly +bruising and cutting the leg of the cowboy. A doctor had been called, +and after the first dressing of the wound had said Mr. Merkel or some +of the men could attend to it as much as was necessary, and the ranch +owner was now in performance of this duty. + +"I'll take the boys' mail, Bud," offered Old Billee, one of the veteran +cow punchers of Diamond X. "Don't reckon you got any for me, have +you?" he asked with a sort of wistful hope in his voice. + +"Sorry, Billee, but there doesn't seem to be any," answered Bud. +"Better luck next time." + +"No, I don't reckon there will be," sighed Old Billee. "All my friends +is dead an' gone, an' nobody else wants t' write t' an ole timer like +me." He took the letters destined for the other cowboys who were +engaged in various duties about the ranch, saying he would distribute +them, while Bud took those destined for his father to the sleeping +quarters of the men, where Yellin' Kid was forced to remain temporarily +in his bunk. + +Nort and Dick had letters from "home," as they called their residence +in the East, though they had been west so long now that they might +almost be said to live on the ranch. And while Bud's cousins were +going over their missives, Mr. Merkel was doing the same with those his +son handed him. + +"How are you, Kid?" asked Bud of the injured cowboy as Mr. Merkel sat +at a table tearing open the various envelopes. + +"Oh, I'll be up and around again shortly," was the answer. "If you +figure on starting off after any more Indians I could get ready in +about two quivers of a steer's nose." + +"Guess there won't be any more Indians around here for a while," +observed Bud. "We taught those Yaquis a lesson." + +"Now you're shoutin'!" exclaimed Yellin' Kid, though it was he, rather +than Bud, who spoke in a loud voice--hence the Kid's name. He just +couldn't seem to speak in ordinary tones, but appeared to take it for +granted that every one was deaf, and so shouted at them. + +Suddenly the quiet reading and attention that Mr. Merkel had been +giving his letters was broken as he jumped up, scattering the papers to +the floor of the bunk house. He held in his hand a single sheet that +seemed to cause him great surprise, not to say anger, and he exclaimed: + +"Well, it's come, just as I feared it would! Now we're in for some hot +times!" + +"What's the matter, Dad?" asked Bud, looking toward the door in which +his cousins now stood, having finished reading their letters. + +"Not another Indian uprising, is it?" asked Bud. + +"Almost as bad!" his father answered. "We're going to have trouble. I +might have known things were too good to last!" + +"What sort of trouble?" inquired Nort. + +"With sheep herders," answered Mr. Merkel. + +"Sheep herders!" cried Bud, and if you know anything about the cattle +business you will realize his tone of voice. For, as I will explain +later, sheep herders are hated and despised by cattle men and horse +breeders alike, and with good reason, in spite of the rights the sheep +men have. "What do you mean?" asked Bud, fully alive to the danger +implied by his father's words. "There isn't a sheep within a hundred +miles of here, thank goodness!" + +"No, but there soon will be," said Mr. Merkel grimly. + +"What makes you say that?" and Bud clearly showed his fear and interest. + +"Here's an official notice," his father said, waving the paper in his +hand. "It just came in the mail yon brought. The government announces +that it has thrown open to the public the old Indian lands bordering on +Spur Creek, and it won't be a month before the place is over-run with +Mexicans, Greasers, and worse, with their stinking sheep! Pah! It +makes me sick, after all the work we've done at Diamond X to have it +spoiled this way! But I'm not going to sit back and stand it! I'm +going to fight!" + +"That's right, Dad! I'm with you! I'll fight, too! Won't we, +fellows?" he appealed to Nort and Dick. + +"Sure we will!" was their answer. And it was, in a way, as much their +battle as it was that of Mr. Merkel and his son. For Bud, Nort and +Dick had a small ranch of their own in Happy Valley, not far from the +main holdings at Diamond X. + +"But why do you think we'll be over-run with sheep just because they've +opened up the Indian lands?" asked Nort. + +"It just naturally follows," his uncle answered. "Every low-down onery +sheep man for a hundred miles around has had his eyes on these lands +for the last five years, waiting for Uncle Sam to put 'em in the open +market. Now the government has finally paid the Indians' claims and +those fellows at Washington have decided to make it a +free-for-all-race." + +"Well, in that case," said Bud, "can't you and the other cattlemen +around here jump in and claim the land so there won't be any danger of +the sheep men coming in?" + +"Well, there's just one hitch," answered Mr. Merkel. "I said it was a +free and open race, but it isn't--exactly. Ranchmen who own more than +a certain amount of acreage, grazing ground and range, are barred from +taking any of this Indian land." + +"But there may be enough good cattle men and horse breeders who will +take up all the claims and so shut out the sheep," suggested Nort. + +"That might happen, but I haven't told you all," said his uncle. "You +see boundary lines out here are pretty uncertain. In some places there +never has been a survey made. So not only may the sheep men jump in +and claim the Indian land that the government has opened, but they'll +over-run land that we now use for grazing cattle and horses. And I +needn't tell you that once sheep have been on land it's ruined for my +business." + +This was very true, and though Nort and Dick had once been in the +"tenderfoot" class, they had learned of the deep-seated hatred that +existed on the part of a cattle man against a sheep owner. + +There is a real reason for this. Horses and cattle in the West just +naturally hate sheep. It may be that the cattle and horses recognize +that the sheep is such a greedy eater that he practically cleans off +the grass down to the very roots, whereas a steer or horse leaves +enough of the herbage to grow for the next time. + +Then, too, the strong smell of sheep seems to annoy horses and cattle. +Often a bunch of steers or a herd of horses will stampede and run for +miles, merely after getting a whiff of the odor from a bunch of sheep. +They will even do this if, in grazing, they come to a place where sheep +have been eating. And if sheep wade through a creek the odor of their +oily wool seems to remain for days, and horses and cattle refuse to +drink, unless almost dying of thirst. So much for the animals +themselves, and because of this there was unending war between the +horses and cattle on one side, and sheep on the other. Though it +cannot be said that the meek sheep did any fighting. They never +stampeded because they had to drink from streams where cows and horses +had watered, nor did they refuse to nibble grass left by the larger +animals. + +Aside from the fact that the horse breeders and cattle men were +pioneers on the old open range, and naturally resented the coming of +the lowly sheep herders, there is another reason for the hatred. +Sheep, as I have said, nibble the grass to its very roots. And then +the small and sharp feet of the sheep cut into the turf and so chop +what few roots that are left as to prevent a new crop of grass from +growing--the fodder dies off. And as the sheep are kept constantly on +the march, as they greedily eat their way, they spread ruin--at least +so the ranchmen thought. So it was and had been war. + +"This is bad news--bad news!" muttered Mr. Merkel. "We ranchers will +have to get together and talk it over. We've got to do something! I +want to talk to Tom Ogden." He was the owner of Circle T ranch, and a +friend of Mr. Merkel. + +"Shall I go for him in the flivver?" asked Bud, for since the advent of +the little car he and his cousins often journeyed in it, leaving their +horses in the corral. Though there were places where only a horse +could be used, and of course for cattle work no cowboy would think of +anything but of being in the saddle. + +"No, thank you. I'll call him on the wire," said Mr. Merkel. "I'll +have him bring some of the other ranchers over. We've got to act +quickly." + +"When does the land-grabbing start?" asked Dick. + +"It's open now--has been for the last two weeks. This notice is late," +said Mr. Merkel, looking at the paper in his hand. "Even now some of +the sheep men may be coming up from the Mexican border. We've got to +do something mighty sudden!" + +Seldom had Bud and his cousins seen Mr. Merkel so moved, and the boys +realized from this the grave danger. + +That evening a number of wealthy and influential ranch owners gathered +at Diamond X to talk the situation over. As cattle men in a small way, +the Boy Ranchers, as they were called, were allowed to "sit in" on the +conference. + +"The worst of it for me," said Mr. Merkel, "is that the range where I +breed my best steers is near this Spur Creek tract, and the sheep will +naturally over-run my feeding ground." + +"Can't you fence it in?" asked Mr. Ogden. + +"Too late for that now; it would take weeks to get the wire here, and +some of those onery sheep men wouldn't mind cutting the strands, +anyhow. It only takes one night for a band of sheep to ruin a good +many miles of pasture. No, what we've got to do is to fight 'em from +the start--not let 'em get there." + +"We'll take up the land ourselves!" exclaimed Henry Small. + +"Can't, Hen," objected Mr. Merkel. "We all own our full share now, and +maybe a little more. Of course, when you look at it from a legal +standpoint a sheep man has just as many rights under the government as +we have. But not by custom or western ways." + +"Not by a long shot!" cried the other ranchmen. + +"I hope your papers are all straight," observed Mr. Ogden to Bud's +father. + + + + +"What papers?" + +"Your deeds and documents that give you the right to land on this side +of Spur Creek. If there's a legal question the sheep men may try to +jump some of your claims." + +"Oh, I guess not," said Mr. Merkel easily. "My papers are all in my +safe, and I can prove title by them easily enough. But, gentlemen, +what are we going to do? That's the question now. What are we +going----" + +Mr. Merkel never finished that sentence. For he was interrupted by a +fusillade of shots just outside--shots in the night. + +An instant later every man in the conference room, and the boy ranchers +included, had leaped to his feet, and many hands sought the "guns" that +were within easy reach. + +"Some of your cowboys disporting themselves?" asked Mr. Ogden of the +owner of Diamond X. + +Mr. Merkel shook his head. + +"Nothing like that," he remarked. + +Some one yelled--there were more shots and then the voice of Slim +Degnan, foreman of the ranch, was heard shouting: + +"Get after 'em, boys! Head 'em off!" + +"It's a stampede!" yelled Bud. "Come on, fellows!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MISSING PAPERS + +Nort and Dick lost no time following their cowboy cousin, Bud, outside +the ranch house, and each of the three lads, as well as Mr. Merkel and +his associates, had caught up one of the heavy revolvers that were +never far from their hands. For, as has been said of the West, a man +doesn't always need a gun out there, but when he does need it, he needs +it "mighty bad and mighty sudden." + +The boy ranchers were taking no chances. + +"What's the matter, Slim?" asked Bud as he rushed outside and saw a +group of cowboys near the foreman. They were vaulting to the saddles +of their horses which had hurriedly been turned out of the home corral. + +"Rustlers!" cried Nort. "Is it rustlers, Slim?" + +"Might be, for all I can tell," was the answer. "I saw some men riding +along out there, and when I called to know who they were they didn't +answer, which was suspicious in itself. Then I told 'em to stop until +I could get a look at 'em, but they turned and made off, and that was +worse, so I fired a couple of times after 'em." + +"Where are they now?" asked Dick. + +"That's what we're going to find out; son," was the foreman's grim +answer. "You there, Babe?" he called to his fat assistant, who +rejoiced in the diminutive nickname. + +"All there is of me," was the sighing answer. "Stand still there, you +slab-sided chunk of salt pork!" he called to his horse, which was +nervously swerving about. And Babe Milton was too heavy to be a quick +mounter. He needed special attention on the part of his steed. + +"Let's go, fellows!" cried Bud to his cousins, and, not waiting for the +permission of Mr. Merkel, the lads saddled their horses and started +after the foreman and his cowboys who had gotten a flying start. + +"What do you imagine it is?" asked Nort as he rode between his brother +and cousin, while they urged their steeds on to catch up to those ahead +of them. + +"Haven't any idea," answered Bud, glancing back to note that his father +and the visiting ranchmen had gone into the house. Probably Mr. Merkel +and the others knew the matter could safely be left to the cowboys. + +Bud and his cousins rode fleet ponies, and they were more than at home +in their saddles, so it did not take them long to reach the bunch of +cowboys riding across the plains ahead of them, on the trail of the +mysterious night visitors. + +"Any idea who they were, Slim?" asked Bud, guiding his horse alongside +that of the foreman. + +"Not the least in the world. But they're up to no good or they +wouldn't have veered off at the first hail. There's something +suspicious in that." + +"I should say so," agreed Nort. + +"Couldn't be any sheep herders coming so soon, to turn their nibblers +on our land; could it?" Dick wanted to know. He spoke of "our land," +for he and his brother owned a small ranch in partnership with Bud. + +"No, I don't reckon it was the sheep herders themselves," said Slim, +"but it might be some of their bunch coming to size things up. The +government never made a worse mistake than to throw this Indian land +open to everybody. Them fellers at Washington should have barred the +sheep men!" + +To hear Slim talk you would have imagined that he could go to +Washington and regulate matters all by himself. But if you understand +the feeling of western cattle men and horse men against sheep herders +it will make it easier to comprehend. + +"Well, if any of 'em try to come to Happy Valley," said Bud, "they'll +wish they'd stayed out." + +"That's right!" chimed in Nort and Dick. + +Suddenly one of the cowboys on the outer fringe of the riding posse +uttered a low cry and exclaimed: + +"There they are--off to the left!" + +As he spoke the moon came out from behind ragged clouds and disclosed +two horsemen riding at full speed across the prairie. + +"After 'em, fellows!" cried Slim, and he fired some shots in the air. + +The boy ranchers put spurs to their steeds--not cruelly but with a +gentle touch to let the horses know a burst of speed was needed--and +the race was quickly taken up. + +And while it is on I will beg a moment or so of the time of my new +readers to make them acquainted with the heroes of this story. As +related in the first book of this series, called "The Boy Ranchers; or +Solving the Mystery at Diamond X," Nort and Dick Shannon, eastern +cousins of Bud Merkel, went to the ranch of his father, Diamond X, to +spend their vacation. While there certain mysterious happenings +occurred. Dr. Hendryx Wright, a college scientist, with a party of +helpers, was discovered digging not far from Diamond X. At first it +was thought he was after a lost gold mine, but later it was disclosed +that he was after the bones of a prehistoric monster for the college +museum. + +The part that Del Pinzo, a rascally half-breed, played in this search +and the activities of the boy ranchers, are fully set forth. Nort and +Dick liked it so at Diamond X that they took up their home with Bud, +and became partners with him, their father buying them a share in a +ranch located in "Happy Valley," as the boys called it. + +Following the exciting times related in the first volume, the boy +ranchers went to camp, they took the trail and also helped pursue a +band of Yaqui Indians who escaped from their Mexican reservation, and +the details of those activities will be found in the volumes +specifically named for each line of activity. The book immediately +preceding this is called "The Boy Ranchers Among the Indians; or, On +the Trail of the Yaquis." + +They had not long returned from helping to defeat these marauders, and +rescue Rosemary and her brother Floyd, when the news came about the +government lands being thrown open. Then had followed the alarm in the +night, and the chase, which was now on. + +Forward toward the two lone figures spurred the boy ranchers and their +cowboy companions. Several more shots rang out, slivers of flame +spitting harmlessly into the air, for until more was known of the +character of the fugitives, no one desired to fire directly at them. +Though in the West it was the custom to shoot first and inquire +afterward, Slim Degnan knew it was not always a wise policy. Innocent +men might be injured. + +However the two fugitives were either such poor riders, or their steeds +were so tired, or, possibly, it was a combination of both causes, that +the outfit from Diamond X was not long in overhauling them. + +"Look out for shots!" warned Snake Purdee, who was now in the lead with +Slim. + +But the two figures whose horses were rapidly slowing to a walk, showed +no signs of fight. Indeed the larger of the two men cried: + +"We surrender, gentlemen!" + +In the half light of the moon Bud, Nort and Dick looked at each other +on hearing that voice. It brought back to them very vividly a picture +of strenuous times. + +"Don't let 'em shoot, Professor!" chimed in another voice. "If I only +had my long poker here----" + +"Be quiet, Zeb," spoke the one who had offered to surrender. "You +aren't attending the school furnace now." + +"I only wish I was," came the rueful comment. + +"Did you hear that?" spoke Bud to his cousins. + +"It's Professor Wright!" exclaimed Nort and Dick in a sort of surprised +duet. + +"But what's he doing here, and at night, and why did he run?" asked Bud. + +However, these questions could be answered later. Just now Slim and +his bunch of cowboys were interested in discovering the object or +motive of the strangers of the night--strangers in that the foremen and +his helpers had not recognized the identity of the two men. And, in +fact, Professor Wright--he of the pre-historic monster fame--was the +only one known to the boys, and then only by his voice. Who "Zeb" +might be they could only guess. + +"Except that I'd say, first shot, he was janitor in some small college +where the professor taught," remarked Nort, and this proved to be the +case. + +"What do you want?" queried Slim of the two former fugitives, though +really they were that no longer, being now surrounded by the cowboys. + +"We were looking for the ranch of Mr. Merkel--Diamond X it is called, I +believe," said the taller of the two strange riders. + +"Well, you're running away from it," commented Snake Purdee. + +"And why did you fire at us?" asked Slim. + +"Gentlemen, I didn't fire. I am Professor Hendryx Wright, and this is +my helper, Zeb Tauth. He is the janitor at my school, and I have +brought him out west with me. I have a small party accompanying me and +we are going to make another search for fossil bones as I did once +before at Diamond X ranch. I was looking for the place in the +darkness, having left my other men and supplies some distance back, +when you suddenly set after us. I took you for horse thieves----" + +"Just what we sized _you_ up as," laughed Slim, who now had recognized +the professor, though Zeb was a stranger. "Mighty sorry to have +troubled you," went on the foreman, "but we couldn't take any chances." + +"Especially with the sheep herders likely to swoop down on us and spoil +everything," added Bud. + +"Hello, boys! Are you there?" exclaimed Professor Wright as he +recognized the voice of the lad. "You say someone had been stealing +your sheep?" + +"Shades of Zip Foster! Never that!" cried Bud, calling upon a sort of +mythical patron saint whose identity he jealously concealed from his +cousins. "When we start herding sheep, Professor, the world will turn +the other way." + +"We'll explain later," suggested Nort. "If you're going to stop with +us, Professor, turn around and come back." + +"Gladly," answered the scientist. "But I have left my men and the +outfit some miles back, awaiting word as to whether or not I could +locate your ranch, and----" + +"I'll send a man to bring 'em up," offered the foreman. "Mighty funny, +though, about you not firing at me," he added, as the horses were +turned back toward Diamond X. "Are you sure your friend didn't?" he +asked the professor. + +"Zeb doesn't know one end of a gun from the other," said the scientist. +"As for me--I have none." + +"Mighty queer!" muttered Snake. "Somebody fired all right." + +"Must have been another party," suggested Bud. "Maybe you chased the +wrong bunch, Slim." + +"Maybe I did, Bud," admitted the foreman, "though I didn't think there +was two bunches. If there was----" + +He did not finish what he intended to say, for his mind was busy with +several thoughts engendered by the news that the hated sheep men might +come to a land so far held sacred to horses and cattle. + +"Yes, it's mighty queer," said Slim musingly, as they turned in toward +the corral not far from the ranch house. "Some one fired at me just as +the chase began, and if it wasn't the professor----" + +Mr. Merkel, followed by some of his ranchmen neighbors, came hurrying +from the house. Framed in the lighted doorway stood Ma Merkel and Nell. + +"That you, Slim?" asked the owner of Diamond X. + +"That's me," was the reply. + +"Did you get 'em?" + +"Well, in a way, yes," came the slow reply. "They turned out to be +friends of yours." + +"_Friends?_" questioned Mr. Merkel sharply. + +"It's Professor Wright," explained Bud. + +"Then you've got the wrong parties!" cried Mr. Merkel. "There's been a +robbery here!" + +"A _robbery_!" chorused the boy ranchers. + +"Yes! In the excitement somebody got in the ranch house and ransacked +my safe." + +"Did they get much?" Dick asked. + +Amid a silence Mr. Merkel answered: + +"They took the papers that prove my right to lands along Spur Creek!" + +"Spur Creek!" fairly shouted Bud. "That's where they're going to open +the Indian holdings--where the sheep men will first head for, and if we +can't control that opening our range won't be worth a hill of beans! +Are you sure the papers are gone, Dad?" + +"I'm only too sure, son," was the grim answer. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ON THE TRAIL + +Leaving Zeb Tauth to look after his own steed and that of Professor +Wright, Bud and his cousins ushered the scientist into the living-room +of the ranch house, whither Mr. Merkel and his fellow ranchmen +returned, followed by his wife and daughter. Slim Degnan also entered, +having turned his horse over to Babe, who, with the other cowboys, went +to the corral. + +"Now let's get the straight of this," suggested the owner of Diamond X +ranch, when the party was again sitting down, and Professor Wright had +been made welcome. "Slim, you saw what happened outside. Suppose you +tell us about that." + +"Seems to me that something more important happened in here," spoke +Bud. "If your papers were stolen, Dad, why----" + +"They sure were, _son_," interrupted Mr. Merkel, "but I have an idea +that what went on outside had a very important bearing on what took +place in here. That's why I wanted to hear Slim's account first." + +"Well, there isn't an awful lot to tell," said the ranch foreman. "I +was sitting outside the corral with the boys, sort of planning up the +work for to-morrow. We were talking about this new move of the +government, opening the Indian lands, and we were sort of guessing how +soon the onery sheep men would bust in on us, when one of the +boys--Snake Purdee I reckon it was--said somebody was coming up the +trail that leads to Happy Valley. + +"First we didn't pay much attention to them, thinking they was some of +Bud's boys, but they acted so funny that I hailed 'em, and instead of +answering like they should, they fired. Course I fired back--up in the +air--and then we boys got busy and took after 'em." + +"Yes, I can understand it from there on," said Mr. Merkel. "But you +didn't get the ones you went after; did you?" + +"Apparently not," admitted the foreman with a grim smile. "It was +pretty dark and we must have missed 'em. But finally we did see two +horses streaking it over the plains, and we took after 'em, only to +find they were the professor here, and his friend." + +"Then the other parties, whoever they were, got away," commented Mr. +Merkel. + +"Must have," said the foreman. "They'd 'a' had time while we was +saddlin' up. But what their object was I can't guess." + +"And then we come back here to find you've been robbed," commented Bud. +"Say, doesn't it look as though those first parties came around just to +draw us off, so someone else could sneak in and rifle the safe?" he +asked quickly. + +There was a moment of silence, to give the idea time to filter through +the minds of all present, and then Mr. Merkel said: + +"Son, I believe you've struck it! That was a game to draw our fire on +the front, while they sneaked up in the rear to frisk my safe! And the +professor----" + +"I hope you don't think I had anything to do with your unfortunate +loss!" exclaimed the scientist. + +"Of course not!" said Mr. Merkel quickly. "I was about to remark that +you being on the scene was purely a matter of accident, though it may +have had the effect of drawing Slim and his bunch farther away from the +real thieves than was desirable." + +"Shouldn't be a bit surprised," admitted the foreman. "It was so dark, +before the moon came out, that we couldn't tell much where we were +going. But as soon as we picked up the professor and his friend we +took after them. Probably this gave the real rascals the chance they +wanted." + +"Perhaps I had better explain how I happened to be in this +neighborhood," said Dr. Wright. "Our discoveries of the prehistoric +fossils, at which you helped us so much," he added, nodding toward the +boy ranchers, "our discoveries gained us such scientific honors that I +have been asked to come back and search for more bones. I had no time +to write and tell you I was coming, and that I hoped you would allow my +party to make some location on your ranch our headquarters," he said to +Mr. Merkel. + +"You will be very welcome," the ranchman remarked. + +"I am glad to know that," resumed Dr. Wright. "Well, I hurriedly got a +party together, taking as my personal helper Zeb Tauth, the janitor of +part of the college building where I am stationed. I know Zeb's ways, +and he knows mine. + +"We rather lost our way in the darkness," continued the scientist, +"and, leaving the main party, Zeb and I journeyed on to look for the +ranch. We heard shots and saw a party of horsemen riding after us, and +Zeb at once concluded we were going to be held up and made the victims +of horse thieves. So we did our best to get away." + +"You rode mighty well, Professor! Yon rode mighty well!" complimented +Slim Degnan. + +"But what's the next thing to be done?" asked Bud, as there came a +pause in the conversation. "Did they take everything out of the safe, +Dad?" + +"Well, I didn't have much money in it, luckily, but they did get some +valuable papers--documents that prove my claim to land along Spur +Creek--land that is the key to the situation in this new tract the +government is opening, or, as a matter of fact, has already opened." + +"It means the sheep herders can come in then; does it?" asked Nort. + +"Practically that, unless I can get back those papers and prove that I +am the real owner of the land, and that I owned it before this +government opening took place," answered Mr. Merkel. + +"It must have been someone interested in sheep herding who knew about +the papers, who knew you had them here and who wanted them," commented +Dick. + +"Yes, that's probably true," assented the ranchman. + +"Well, there's only one thing to do," declared Bud. + +"Get after 'em!" cried Nort and Dick. + +"That's it!" exclaimed their cousin. "We must take the trail after +these sheep-herding thieves and get back Dad's papers!" + +Bud started from the room. + +"You aren't going to take the trail to-night, are you?" asked his +father. + +"Why not?" demanded Bud. "The longer we wait the better lead they'll +have on us." + +"I know, but you can't do anything in the dark." + +"Yes, we can!" cried Bud. "Come on, boys!" he called to his cousins. +"It won't be the first time we've ridden a trail at night. Please pack +us up a little grub," he called to his mother and sister. + +"Oh, Bud, I hate to have you go," said Ma Merkel. + +"Can't be helped!" he laughingly assured her. "We'll be back in a +little while, unless we get on the trail of these chaps and run 'em +down. While the grub is being packed, Dad, tell us just how they got +in and frisked your safe." + +"Well, they just naturally got in the back door while we were all out +in front watching you boys ride off after those who put up a game to +draw us out," was the answer. "When we went back in the house, after +you'd gone, I saw my safe open and a lot of papers scattered about. +The combination is very simple. What little money was in it--not +much--was taken, and the Spur Creek deeds." + +"Well, we'll get 'em back!" cried Bud. "On the trail, fellows!" + +And catching up bundles of hastily prepared "snacks," the boy ranchers +started on the trail after the thieves, for much depended on their +success and an early start was essential. + +Bud and his cousins had not ridden far beyond the corral when they +heard behind them shouts of: + +"Wait a minute! Wait! Come back!" + +"What's up now?" questioned Bud, drawing rein. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +AROUND THE CAMPFIRE + +Naturally impatient, the boy ranchers did not want to return once they +had started on the trail of the robbers. They thought they should be +allowed to rush off, and perhaps they had an idea they could soon "meet +up" with the suspects and bring them back. But Mr. Merkel and the +other ranchmen, as well as the veteran cowboys, had no such delusions. +However, this was no time to discourage impetuous youth. + +"What's the matter, Dad?" asked Bud, as he recognized his father's +voice among those bidding him and his cousins to return. "Has someone +telephoned in that they've rounded up the thieves?" + +No surprise need be occasioned when I speak of telephones in connection +with ranching in the far west. Times have changed since the early days +of the buffalo and Indians. Both are almost extinct, though the +Indians have lasted longer than the bison. + +But the West has progressed with other parts of the country, and the +advent of the cheap automobile and the spread of telephone wires, and +even wireless now, has brought far distant ranches close together. So +Bud knew it could easily have been the case that some distant ranchman +might have telephoned to Diamond X that he had made a capture of +suspicious persons. He may not have known of the theft of Mr. Merkel's +Spur Creek papers, for this robbery had not yet been broadcast. + +"No telephones, son," said Mr. Merkel easily, as he strode out to where +the horses of the boys were pawing the ground, almost as impatient to +be gone as were their masters. "But I want you to take one of the men +with you." + +"Oh, Dad! I don't want to do that!" protested Bud. + +"We've hit the trail alone before," added Nort. + +"It isn't a question of your ability," went on Mr. Merkel. "But you +may have to split--very likely you will, and for this purpose four are +better than three. Then you can pair it off." + +"That's right," slowly admitted Bud. "Two of us might have to follow +one trail, and it would be lonesome for just one to take the other. +How about Old Billee?" + +"You couldn't pick a better companion," agreed Mr. Merkel. + +Billee Dobb was only too glad to get away from the routine work of the +ranch--riding herd and helping in the round up and shipping--and +quickly saddled to accompany the boys on their ride through the night, +in an endeavor to pick up the trail of those who had committed the +robbery at Spur Creek. + +"Well, I guess we're off this time," remarked Dick, as once more they +turned their horses' heads in the general direction supposed to have +been taken by the robbers. + +It was, as you may surmise, pretty much guess work, and yet there were +some clues on which to work, and the boys hoped to pick up others as +they went along, by stopping at different ranch houses and making +inquiries. Then, too, cowboys would be met with here and there, and +they might have seen some trace of the fugitives. + +In the olden days, before the West was as much traveled as it is now, +it might have been possible for pioneers, such as those featured in the +novels of James Fenimore Cooper, to have followed and picked up the +trail by the mere physical evidences left on the ground--a footprint +here, a hoofmark there, the pressed down grass and so on. + +But this was out of the question now, though some slight marks might be +discovered in the daytime by the sharp eyes of Billee Dobb, who was a +veteran cowboy and plainsman. In this Bud and his companions would +have to rely on Billee, as the boys themselves had not had much +experience in this line. + +"Well, Billee, what do you think of it all?" asked Bud as he rode +beside the old man, while Nort and Dick loped along in the rear. + +"You mean what happened to-night, Bud?" + +"Yep." Bud was clipping his words short to save time. + +"Well," said the old man slowly, "I don't know just what to think. +It's all mighty queer, but one thing I'll say--this didn't all happen +just to-night." + +"You mean it was planned in advance?" asked Dick. + +"Sartin sure, son! It was a put-up job if ever there was one. Why, +just look back over it. Here we all were in peace and quiet, and Mr. +Merkel was entertainin' his friends, when up rides a bunch of onery +Greasers, if I'm any judge." + +"What makes you think they were Greasers?" asked Bud. + +"'Cause no decent white men would act like they did. Up they rides, +pretending to be sneakin' in on us, maybe to lift a few horses or else +stampede a bunch of our cows. But that wasn't their intention at all." + +"If it was, Slim and the rest of 'em spoiled their plans," observed +Nort. + +"Don't worry, they had no notion of takin' anything," declared Old +Billee. "They just wanted to take our attention while some of their +confederates sneaked in and got Mr. Merkel's papers; and they done that +same." + +"I'll say they did!" exclaimed Bud in disgust. "It was all too easy +for them. But how did they know Dad's papers were in the safe?" + +"Well, it's common knowledge that your paw claims the land around Spur +Creek," observed Billee. "That's common knowledge. And it wouldn't +take a Kansas City lawyer long to figger out that he had papers to +prove his claim, an' that he kept these papers in his safe; it bein' +equally well known that we haven't much time to fool with banks around +here, 'specially in the busy season. + +"So all the rascal had to do was to get the house clear, by creatin' +some excitement away from it, and then he walked in an' skinned the +safe. It didn't help matters any that th' perfesser happened along at +the same time, either, and I don't care who knows it!" declared Billee +Dobb emphatically. + +"You don't mean to say you believe Dr. Wright had any hand in this?" +cried Bud. + +"Well, maybe _he_ didn't 'zactly have a hand in it," grudgingly +admitted the old cowpuncher, "but he played right into the hands of th' +scoundrels." + +"On purpose, do you mean?" asked Nort. + +"Well, that's to be found out," remarked Billee musingly. + +"Billee, you're 'way off there!" cried Bud. "Professor Wright is as +right as his name--we proved that before when he was here after the +prehistoric Triceratops bones." + +"He may have changed since then," declared Billee. "What did he want +to come in and lead us off on a false trail for, when we was hot after +the robbers?" + +"He didn't do it purposely," asserted Nort, who, with his brother, +shared Bud's views as to the integrity of Professor Wright. "It was +because he got lost." + +"Yes, to hear him tell it," sneered Billee. + +"Why, look here!" cried Bud. "What good would it do Professor Wright +to get hold of Dad's papers proving ownership to the Spur Creek lands? +Why would he want the land? If anybody wants it they must be those who +are coming in under the new government ruling--sheep herders maybe, and +it's to them we have to look." + +"That Wright is just the kind of a chap who'd go in for sheep herding, +and spoiling a cattle country," complained Billee, as he pulled up the +head of his horse, when the animal showed a tendency to stumble over a +prairie dog's hole. + +"You're away off!" laughed Bud. "It may have been sheep herders who +got Dad's papers, hoping thus to be able to claim a lot of land for +their woolly feeders, but Professor Wright had no hand in it." + +Billee's only answer was a sniff. + +However, as the boy ranchers rode along in the darkness they realized +that they could have had no better companion than Old Billee Dobb, for +his very vindictiveness, though it might be wrongly directed, made him +eager to keep after the robbers. That Professor Wright was other than +he claimed to be, none of the boys doubted for a moment. + +But who was behind the plot which had just succeeded so well? That was +a question which needed answering. + +The ranch buildings of Diamond X were soon left behind in the darkness, +their pleasant glow fading as the four horsemen of the prairies rode +along in silence, looking, as best they could under the faint glow of +the moon for the outlines of other horsemen to be shown on the horizon +as they topped some rise in the undulating ground. + +In general the boy ranchers and Billee were following the trail on +which Slim and the cowboys had started after the shots were fired--the +trail that was crossed by Professor Wright, causing the pursuers to +turn back. + +"It would have been better if some of us had kept on when we had the +start," commented Nort when, after an hour's ride nothing had been seen. + +"Yes, it would," agreed Billee. + +"But we didn't know, then, that there had been a robbery," went on Nort. + +"That's right," assented Bud. "We just thought it was an ordinary +bunch of cattle or horse thieves, and if they had been there would have +been nothing else to worry about, as we drove them off." + +"Well, we may get 'em yet, but 'tisn't very likely," said Billee. + +And as the night wore on and they kept their slow pace over the plains, +this prediction seemed about to be borne out. + +The boys and Billee had stopped at ranch houses here and there to make +inquiries about some fleeing band of horsemen, but no one had seen +them. The proprietors of most of the ranches were over at Diamond X +and had not yet returned. Some of them had telephoned to their foremen +or other members of the ranch households, telling about the robbers and +saying that Bud and his companions might call. + +But beyond this no trace was found of the robbers. + +It was long past midnight when Old Billee pulled his horse to a stop, +and "slumped" from the saddle. + +"What's the matter?" asked Bud. "See some sign?" By this he intended +to ask if the old plainsman saw any indications that they were hotter +on the trail of those they sought. + +"Nope!" answered Old Billee. "But we're going to camp and make coffee +and frizzle a bit of bacon. No use keepin' on any longer. We can't do +anything more till mornin'." + +"Camp it is!" exclaimed Bud, "and I'm not sorry, either." + +Shortly a fire was going, made from twigs and branches picked up under +a few trees near where the party had stopped, and soon the appetizing +aroma of coffee and bacon spread through the night air. + +"Um! But this is jolly!" cried Nort. + +The horses were picketed out and after the midnight supper the +wayfarers rolled themselves in their blankets and prepared to pass what +remained of the night in the glow of the campfire, and beneath the +fitful light of the cloud-obscured moon. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +AT SPUR CREEK + +Dick was dreaming that he was at a football game, and that his brother +Nort had hold of him and was trying to pull him through the line of +opposing players to make a touchdown. Then the dream seemed to become +confused with reality, and Dick felt some one tugging at the blanket in +which he had rolled himself so snugly. + +Half awake and half asleep Dick's brain struggled to clear itself and +get the right impression of what really was going on. Then he became +aware that his blanket was actually being pulled--this was no dream. + +"Here! Who's that? What you doing?" he cried, and instinctively he +began groping for his gun, which was in its holster in the belt he had +taken off for the night. + +Something cold and clammy touched Dick on the cheek, causing a shudder +to run through him. + +"Snakes!" he yelled. "Rattlers! Look out!" + +His frantic cries roused the others, and Nort and Bud struggled to free +themselves of their enveloping blankets as they sat up near the +smouldering blaze of the camp fire. + +"What is it?" cried Bud, who had only half heard what his cousin +shouted. + +"Snakes!" again yelled Dick. + +"Snakes nothing!" disgustedly grumbled Billee Dobb, who did not relish +having his slumbers broken. "It's too cold for snakes to be out +to-night." Then the plainsman tossed on the fire a bit of wood which, +when it blazed up, revealed the cause of the disturbance. + +"It's your horse!" cried Nort with a laugh. And it was Dick's faithful +pony who, having slipped his tether, had wandered over near human +companionship, and had been pulling at Dick's blanket with his teeth. +Then the animal rubbed his cold and clammy muzzle on Dick's face, +giving the lad the impression that a scaly rattlesnake had tried to +crawl over him. + +"Well, I'll be jiggered! Blackie!" gasped Dick, when he saw that it +was his horse. "Whew, but you gave me a fright!" + +"You oughter look fust an' yell afterward," commented Billee as he +turned over to go to sleep again. + +The boys laughed and again wrapped up in their blankets, after Dick had +secured his horse with the others. A dim light was now showing in the +east, indicating that morning was not far off. But it was cold and +cheerless, even with the fire, for it was not a very large blaze, and +Dick was glad to follow the example of his brother and cousin and roll +up for a final doze before daylight. + +"Well, now we'll see what happens," commented Nort, as they were +preparing a simple breakfast, over the replenished campfire. "Think we +might catch 'em to-day, Billee?" + +"It all depends," was the old cow puncher's answer. "We can't spend +too much time chasin' these scamps. There's work to be done at the +ranch. Hang that perfesser, anyhow!" + +"Why?" asked Bud. + +"Well, if he hadn't crossed the trail last night when we fust started +out, we'd a' had them as we was after by now!" declared Billee. + +"Maybe and maybe not," remarked Bud. "It wasn't the professor's fault, +anyhow. He just got lost." + +"Well, he picked a mighty inconvenient time to do it in," snapped Old +Billee, who was always a bit raspy before breakfast. + +The sun soon shone warm and glorious, a little too glorious in fact, +for it was very hot after 9 o'clock when the trail was again taken up. +Daylight did not make the "signs" any more plain--in fact, there was +absolutely no trail to follow. All they could do was to keep on, +making inquiries here and there at different ranches about suspicious +characters. + +"We haven't seen any signs of the professor's party," remarked Nort, +when they stopped at noon for a "snack." + +"No, I fancy they're off in the other direction," remarked Bud. "They +will probably be at the ranch when we get back." + +"Speaking of getting back, I don't see much use in keeping on," +commented Billee. "Those rascals have given us the slip." + +"Guess we might as well hit the back trail," agreed Bud. "Dad will +have to tell Hank Fowler about this, and Hank can rustle up a posse and +see what he can do." + +Hank Fowler was the local sheriff and on him, and such men as he might +swear in as deputies, devolved the duty of looking after law and order +in that part of the west where Diamond X was located, not far from the +Mexican border. + +The boy ranchers and Billee kept on for another mile, to top a certain +high piece of land, over which they could have a good view, as they +thought from this vantage point they might see some signs to guide +them. But from the eminence they only viewed an endless rolling +prairie with here and there a clump of trees. They saw bands of roving +cattle and a few horses--their own stock or that of some neighbor, and +Billee decided that nothing could be gained by going any farther along +the cold trail. + +Turning their horses' heads, the members of the little party swung back +toward Diamond X. On the way they stopped at the ranch of Bud and his +boy partners in Happy Valley, learning that everything was in good +shape there, being in the efficient hands of a capable foreman and some +cowboys. News of the robbery of Mr. Merkel's safe had already been +telephoned to Happy Valley, but though the cowboys had ridden out for +several miles in a number of directions, they had seen nothing and no +one suspicious they reported. + +"No luck, boys?" asked Mr. Merkel as his son and nephews turned their +weary horses into the corral and entered the house. + +"No luck, Dad," answered Bud. "What's new here?" + +"Nothing much. Professor Wright's party came up and he has taken them +into camp over near the place where they dug up the monster fossil +bones some time ago." + +"You didn't hear anything about the fellows who took your papers then? +What are you going to do, Dad?" + +"Well, I don't know what I can do. It isn't as if this was the east, +where such things are a matter of record, and where you have the courts +and judges right at hand to put a stop to anything unlawful. It's +almost as if an unregistered government bond was stolen. I've got to +prove my property against those that have it, and I can't do it very +easily, because the men I bought it of originally are all dead or moved +away. It's just as if the Spur Creek land was owned by no one, and the +first comer has a chance to take it, now that the government has thrown +open the tract." + +"But you aren't going to sit down and let 'em frisk you that way, are +you, Dad?" cried Bud, surprised at what he thought was the supine and +non-combative attitude of his parent. + +"I should say not, son!" was the vigorous answer. "I'm going to fight!" + +"That's more like it!" cried Bud. + +"Hurray! We're with you!" exclaimed Nort. + +"When does the fighting begin!" Dick wanted to know, and almost +unconsciously he looked at his "gun." + +"We're going to start a camp at Spur Creek right away, and keep some +one on guard there constantly," declared Mr. Merkel. "If signs and +past performances go for anything, some Mexicans, a few Greasers and a +bunch of sheep herders will pour in through the pass and pre-empt +everything along Spur Creek any time now. Certain land along Spur +Creek did belong to the Indians and as such the government can throw it +open to those whose other holdings don't bar them--as I am barred. + +"But I don't intend any Greasers or sheep herders shall take the land I +bought and paid for, even if they have managed to steal my title deeds +and other papers, without which I can't prove my claim. I'm going to +fight!" said the ranch owner vigorously. + +"And we're with you!" cried Nort, as he tapped his gun. + +I do not wish you to understand that the boy ranchers were a blood +thirsty trio of "gun-men." As I have explained, you don't always need +a gun in the West, but when you do require it the need is generally +urgent. Nor are the "guns" (by which term are meant revolvers of large +caliber) used in desperate fights against human beings. In the main +the guns are used with blank cartridges to direct a bunch of cattle in +the way it is desired they should go. Frequently a fusilade of shots, +harmless enough in themselves, will serve to turn a stampede which +stampede, if not stopped, would result in the death of hundreds of +animals who would blindly hurl themselves over a cliff. + +Of course there are bad men in the west now, as there used to be, +though perhaps not so many, and near the Mexican border roving bands of +Indians or half-breeds often try to run off bunches of cattle. In such +cases guns with bullets instead of blank cartridges are urgently needed. + +Then, too, enemies other than human are occasionally met with. In +winter wolves may prowl about, driven desperate by hunger. There is an +occasional rattlesnake to be shot up, and so, all in all, a cowboy +without a gun would not fit in the picture at all. Though I don't want +you to get the idea that the boy ranchers were desperate characters, +willing to "pull a gun" on the slightest provocation. The guns were +for service, not for bravado. + +"Are you going to start a regular camp at Spur Creek, Dad?" asked Bud. + +"That's my intention," his father answered. "We've got to be ready to +fight these sheep herders who, I feel sure, will pour in here. They +have been waiting to get possession of some range near the water, and +this is their chance. But they shan't ruin my feeding ground. I've +got too much money invested in it to lose it." + +"And though we're farther off, in Happy Valley, we might be harmed by +sheep, too," said Nort. "So we've got to fight also!" + +"That's right!" chimed in his brother. + +I have indicated to you, briefly, why the cattle men so hated the sheep +herders. Sheep are innocent enough in themselves, and are much needed. +Without them a large part of the world would go hungry and only partly +clothed. + +"But let the sheep herders stick to their own pastures!" was the cry of +the cattle men and the horse breeders. "Don't let them foul our +streams and cut up our grass." + +As I told you, no western horse or cow, unless under dire need, will +drink from a stream where sheep have drunk, or through which sheep have +passed. And there is no grass left, once a herd of sheep have fed over +a tract, while for years afterward there is only a stunted growth of +green, if, indeed, any. + +So it is no wonder that those at Diamond X prepared to fight the sheep +herders, and Spur Creek was the natural place at which to make a stand. + +Situated as it was near the Mexican border, the ranch of Diamond X was +near the head of a great valley--a natural pass between the two +countries. Through this pass flowed Spur Creek, branching out into one +or more streams in different places. + +You probably know that to successfully raise cattle, horses or sheep +two things are needed--food and water. Food is supplied by the various +rich grasses that grow naturally on the western plains. Water is not +so plentiful in that sometimes arid region, and for that reason is +jealously guarded. A ranch with a natural water supply is worth ten +times what one is without fluid for the cattle to drink. Driving herds +long distances to quench their thirst runs off their fat, and as cattle +are now sold by the pound, instead of by the piece, as formerly was the +case, the heavier a steer is the more money he brings. + +Spur Creek, then, was a valuable asset to Mr. Merkel, and he determined +to fight for it to the "last ditch," so to speak. This water was only +a part of the courses that were valuable to his ranch. As for the +boys, they had a water supply of their own in Happy Valley, though they +had had to fight to secure that, as related in the book named "The Boy +Ranchers in Camp." + +"Well, if there's to be a fight, the sooner the better," commented Bud +as he and his cousins washed up at home after their night in the open. +They told of their experiences, which really amounted to nothing as far +as getting a trace of the fugitives was concerned, and then. Mr. +Merkel sent word to Sheriff Fowler of the theft. + +"And now we'll build a fort at Spur Creek," said the ranchman. + +"A _fort_!" cried Bud. + +"Well, it will be a sort of fort," his father went on. "There is one +place there just right for defensive operations and we'll put up a +shack there and mount guard until the danger is over. Once the sheep +men see that we mean business they may throw up their hands and go back +where they belong--in Mexico." + +There were soon busy times at Diamond X. The flivver was called into +requisition, and on it and on wagons was transported to Spur Creek +lumber to make a rough shack as a shelter for those who would be kept +on guard against the advance of the sheep herders. + +"And we're going to form part of that guard!" declared Bud. "Our ranch +can run itself for a while. We've got to stick by Dad!" + +"That's right!" agreed Nort and Dick. Secretly they rejoiced at the +chance of a coming conflict, even though they had so recently had a +hard time campaigning against the Yaqui Indians. + +It did not take long to throw up a rough shelter at Spur Creek. This +could be improved upon as time passed, but it was necessary to make a +stand there at once. So, two nights after the alarm and robbery at +Diamond X, behold the boy ranchers, with some of their cowboy friends, +on guard at the edge of the stream which marked one of the boundaries +of the land Mr. Merkel claimed--but land to which he could not now show +a legal title because of the theft of his papers. + +"Well, all serene so far," observed Bud, as night settled down on them +in their new environment. + +"Yes, I don't reckon we'll be disturbed," observed Billee, who was +there with them. + +"It'll give me a chance to pick up, an' get back in th' saddle again," +observed Yellin' Kid in his usual loud voice. He had been allowed to +form part of the "fort" guard, as it was thought the duties there would +not be strenuous for a while, at least, and he could make a better +recovery than at Diamond X. + +"Well, it's a good place for a fight, if one comes," said Nort, as he +looked about the place. It readily lent itself well to fortification, +and advantage had been taken of this by Mr. Merkel. The rough shack +was an outpost fort in the land that was destined to be battled for by +the sheep men on one side and the cattle men on the other. + +Quiet evening was settling down, "grub" had been served and the ponies +were rubbing noses in the improvised corral when Yellin' Kid, who was +venturing to walk around a little to "exercise his game leg," as he +expressed it, came to a halt and gazed earnestly across Spur Creek in +the direction of Mexico distant several miles. + +"What is it, Kid?" asked Billee, who was smoking his pipe. + +"Somebody's comin'," was the answer, "an' he's sweatin' leather," which +meant that he was riding fast. + +The boy ranchers looked in the direction indicated. A lone horseman +was approaching from the side of the creek where the enemy might be +expected first to appear. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE ALARM + +Gathered in front of their "fort," as it laughingly had been +christened, the boy ranchers and their cow puncher comrades watched the +approach of the lone horseman. He had come up through the valley--the +pass that, like the neck of a bag tied about the middle with a string, +connected two great lands--Mexico and the United States. But one land +represented law and order to a degree, while the other was woefully +lacking in these essentials to progress. + +For a time the stranger rode on at the fast pace Yellin' Kid had at +first observed, and the atmosphere was so clear that his progress was +easily noticed without glasses, though Bud brought out a pair after a +moment or two. + +Then, suddenly, the approaching horseman seemed to become aware, for +the first time, of the new structure at Spur Creek--the "fort" of +Diamond X. + +For he began to slacken his pace and when a quarter of a mile from the +place where Mr. Merkel had determined to make a stand, the horseman +pulled up his steed. Then he sat in the saddle and gazed long and +earnestly at the shack and those who stood grouped in front of it. + +"Look out!" suddenly cried Bud, who was watching the horseman through +the glasses. "He's going to draw!" + +This meant gun play, and the cowboys realized this, for they lost no +time in "ducking" behind shelter. Bud, too, was taking no chances, but +as he continued to look, from a vantage point, he said: + +"I made a mistake. He's only using glasses, same as I am. He didn't +pull a gun." + +"Who is he?" asked Nort. + +"Anybody we know?" Dick inquired. + +"Never saw him before, to my knowledge," remarked Bud. "He's a Mexican +or a Greaser, I take it." These terms were almost synonymous, except +that a Mexican was a little higher class than a Greaser half-breed, as +the term, was sometimes applied. + +"Let me take a look," suggested Yellin' Kid. "I know most of the class +on the other side of the Rio Grande." + +Long and earnestly the cowboy gazed through the glasses at the lone +figure on the other side of Spur Creek--a gaze that was returned with +interest, so to speak. + +"He's Mex all right," said Yellin' Kid, handing the glasses to Billee, +"but what his game is I don't know." + +"Looks like he just came to size us up," observed Billee, after an +observation, at the conclusion of which the stranger turned his horse +and rode slowly off in the direction whence he had come. + +"That's right," assented Bud. + +"Do you think he's a sheep herder?" asked Nort. + +"Might be. Looks mean enough," said Yellin' Kid. The cattle men could +say nothing too strong against this despised class of breeders and +their innocent charges. Sheep herders were the scum of the earth to +the ranchmen, and to say that a man has "gone in for sheep" was to +utter the last word against him, though he might be a decent member of +society for all that, and with as kind and human instincts as his more +affluent neighbor raising cattle or horses. + +"Well, he knows we're here and on the job, at any rate," commented Bud +as the horseman slowly disappeared from sight in the distance. + +"Yes, and he'll very likely tell his band and we'll have them buzzing +about our ears before we know it," remarked Billee. + +"Then we'll fight!" cried Bud. + +"That's right!" chimed in Nort and Dick. + +"I wish my leg was in better shape," complained Yellin' Kid. "But I +can make a shift to ride if I have to." + +However, the next two days passed with no signs of any activities on +the part of the enemy. No sheep were sighted being driven up through +the pass to the lands that were now, by government proclamation, open +to whoever wanted to claim them, barring only those already having +large holdings of grazing range. + +"But this is only the calm before the storm," declared Bud, when he and +his chums talked it over. "We'll have a fight yet." + +And it was very likely that this would happen. While waiting, though, +every opportunity was taken to better fortify that part of Spur Creek +where Mr. Merkel's land began. + +The shack was made more comfortable, a telephone line was strung to it +from the main ranch at Diamond X, and it was well stocked with +provisions. + +"And we'd better run in a pipe line so we can pump water directly from +the creek into the shack," said Billee when certain improvements were +being talked over. + +"Why that?" asked Nort. + +"Well, it's terrible thing in this hot weather to be cut off from your +water supply," said the old frontiersman. "And it might happen that +the Greasers and sheep men would get between our fort and the stream. +Then we couldn't get out for water without losing our scalps, so to +speak. But if we have a pump in here, and the pipe line concealed so +the scoundrels can't locate it, we can be assured of a never-ending +supply of water." + +"It's good advice," decided Mr. Merkel when it was told to him, and, +accordingly the pump was installed. During this time no more was seen +of the solitary horseman, or, indeed, of any visitors or spies on the +Mexican side of Spur Creek. I say the Mexican side, though, as a +matter of fact the Mexican border was some miles away, and I merely +mention that country to identify the two sections, one on one side and +one on the other of the stream, which was wholly within the United +States. + +Meanwhile Sheriff Hank Fowler had endeavored to trace the thieves who +had robbed Mr. Merkel's safe, but there had been no results. Professor +Wright and his men were busily engaged in further search for fossil +bones, and they were considered out of suspicion. + +Mr. Merkel had engaged the services of a lawyer to take up with the +authorities in Washington the matter of his stolen deeds in an effort +to hold to his land. There were rumors that a number of the new +government claims had been taken up on the land that was once the +property of the Indians, and among them some of the claim holders were +sheep herders, it was said. + +"Well, they'd better keep away from Spur Creek--that's all I got to +say!" cried Yellin' Kid in his usual loud tones. + +So far, however, there had been no advent of the hated "woollies" as +they were sometimes called. But the boy ranchers and their friends did +not relax their vigilance. The sheep and their human owners might +drift in across the creek at any hour, day or night, so a constant +guard was maintained. + +It was one rainy, disagreeable night that the alarm came. It was the +turn of Bud and Nort to stand watch, and they were keeping wary eyes +turned toward the creek boundary through the mist of rain. + +"This is no fun," mused Nort as he wrapped his poncho closer about him. + +"I've seen more jolly times," agreed Bud with a laugh. "But it can't +last forever. Wonder what time it is, anyhow?" + +Before Nort could answer there suddenly flashed in the southern sky a +glare of fire. + +"Lightning!" exclaimed Nort. + +"A rocket!" cried Bud, all excited. "It means something, Nort! Maybe +the sheep herders are coming!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A PARLEY + +For a moment the two boys remained motionless and quiet, waiting for +what might develop. But the dying sparks of the rocket--if such it +was--were followed by no other demonstration. + +"We'd better call Billee and the others," murmured Bud. + +"That's right," agreed Nort in a low voice, though there was no need +for this, as the rocket-senders must have been several miles away. + +Billee Dobb awakened at the slightest whisper near his bunk, and in a +few moments Dick, Yellin' Kid and the other cowboys, of whom there were +half a dozen at the "fort," as it was called, were awake. It did not +take them long to hustle into their clothes, and then, draped in +ponchos, for it was still raining hard, they stood out in the darkness, +waiting for what might happen next. + +"Couldn't have been a rocket," murmured Old Billee, as the rain pelted +down. "It's too wet for that." + +"Must have been some Greasers around a camp fire--though how in the +name of a maverick they got one to burn I don't see," observed Yellin' +Kid, making his voice only a little lower than usual. "Must 'a' been +that one of 'em chucked a brand up in the air." + +"It wasn't like a fire brand," declared Nort. + +"It was just like a regular rocket," added Bud. + +Old Billee was about to say something, probably to the effect that it +was a false alarm, and that they'd all do better to be back in their +warm bunks when the blackness of the night was suddenly dispelled off +to the south by a sliver of flame, followed by a trail of red sparks. + +"There she goes again!" cried Bud. + +"The same as before," added Nort. + +"That's a rocket right enough," admitted Billee. + +"Like the time we was after cattle rustlers," said Yellin' Kid, +referring to an occasion, not fully set forth in any of the books, +when, as the Diamond X took after a gang of cattle thieves, rockets +were used as signals by the marauders to communicate with separated +bands. + +"What do you reckon it means?" asked Dick, who often dropped into the +vernacular of the plains. + +"Well, it _might_ mean almost anything," admitted Old Billee. "Can't +be any of Uncle Sam's soldiers that far south, or we'd 'a' heard about +it. As near as I can figure it there must be some crowd down there +trying to give a signal to some crowd somewhere else." + +This was sufficiently vague to have covered almost anything; as sport +writers spread the "dope," in talking about a coming football contest +between Yale and Princeton. + +Yellin' Kid must have sensed this, for with a chuckle he said: + +"You're bound to be right, Billee, no matter which way the cat jumps. +It sure is _some_ crowd signallin' to _another_ crowd." + +"Do you suppose they're trying to signal us?" asked Dick. + +"Don't believe so," remarked Bud. "I think it's some of the sheep men +getting ready to rush in here. That rocket is a notice to some of +their friends around here that they're going to start." + +"Well, if they come we'll stop 'em!" declared Bud, and the others +murmured their agreement with this sentiment. + +They waited a little longer after the sparks of the second rocket had +died away, but the signal--and it seemed positively to be that--was not +repeated. + +"No use standing here," murmured Old Billee. "It will soon be morning, +and if anything happens we'll be ready for it. Let's get our rest out. +Is your trick up, Bud?" + +"Not quite, Billee." + +"Well, Dick and I go on next," remarked Yellin' Kid, "and we might as +well jump in now as long as we're up. Turn in, Bud and Nort." + +Our young heroes were glad enough to do this, though they never would +have asked to be relieved before their time. Accordingly, after a few +moments of looking in vain toward where they had seen the rocket, for a +repetition of the signals, Bud and Nort went inside the cabin, and +stretched out for a little rest before day should fully break. + +The remainder of the night--really a short period--was without alarm or +any sign that hostile forces were on their way to take possession of +land claimed by the owner of Diamond X. + +"Grub's ready!" was the musical call of the cook, and soon those who +were holding the line at Spur Creek were gathered about the table. + +"Well, nothing happened, I see, or, rather, I don't see," remarked Bud +to Dick and the Yellin' Kid who had come in off guard duty. + +"Nary a thing," answered he of the loud voice. "Didn't hear a peep out +of anybody and they wasn't no more fireworks." + +"But we'd better keep pretty closely on the watch to-day," suggested +Dick. "Those rockets meant something." + +"You're right," said Billee Dobb. "We'll stick right close to our +little old fort to-day, and, boys, be sure your guns are in quick +working order. There may be no shootin' and then, ag'in, there may +be," he drawled. + +I suppose I need not tell you that the boy ranchers in their secret +hearts rather hoped there would be shooting. They had been under fire +before, and while they were not foolhardy nor inclined to take risks, +they felt that if there was to be a fight on the part of the sheep men +to get unlawful possession of Diamond X land, the sooner such a fight +took place the better. Suspense was worse than actual conflict. + +So after the "chores" had been attended to about the Spur Creek fort +(and there were not many duties), it became a matter of waiting. Spur +Creek made a bend at this part of Mr. Merkel's holdings, and the fort +was situated on what was a sort of triangular peninsula, with the +stream flowing on two sides of it. In this way it was what, during the +World War, was called a "spearhead" into the country to the south, and +it was from this country that the Mexican, Greaser or other sheep +herders might be expected to invade the range long held sacred to +horses and cattle. But this land, by government proclamation, was now +thrown open to all comers. + +Because of the peculiar formation of the land it lent itself readily to +defense, and also gave a good post for observation. The "fort" had +been hastily built on the extreme point, as near the creek as was +practical. Back, on either side, extended the banks of the stream, and +when breakfast had been served Old Billee, who was in command, selected +those who were to patrol the banks on each side of the cabin, for a +distance several miles back along the edges of the "spearhead." + +The morning passed. The first contingent of scouts had come in to eat +and another body was about to go out to relieve them when Bud, who had +gone down to the edge of the creek, to clean a particularly muddy pair +of shoes, looked across the stream, and uttered a cry of alarm. + +Riding up from the southland, Mexico if I may so call it (though the +actual country of the Montezumas was distant many miles), was a lone +horseman. He was coming along, "sweating leather," and was seen by +others of the Diamond X forces almost as soon as observed by Bud. + +"Some one's coming!" yelled Bud, and he stood up on the edge of Spur +Creek looking at the approaching horseman until Yellin' Kid shouted: + +"Better duck back here, boy. No telling when he may unlimber a gun!" + +It was good advice and Bud took it, to the extent of getting back +nearer the cabin fort. On came the rider, seemingly fearless, until he +pulled rein on the other side of the stream and sat there on the back +of his panting horse, a most picturesque figure. + +"Mex from hat to stirrups," murmured Snake Purdee. + +"An' wicked from outside to inside," added Yellin' Kid in a lower voice +than usual. + +The Mexican rider, for such he seemed to be, raised one hand, smiled to +show two rows of very white teeth in the expanse of a very dark face, +took off his broad-brimmed and high crowned hat and said: + +"_Parlez, senors?_" + +It was in the form of a question, and as such Old Billee answered it. + +"Talk?" grunted the veteran cow puncher. "What about?" + +"The land," replied the stranger, with another smile evidently intended +to be engaging, but which seemed rather mocking. "I come to ask why +you are here in such force, evidently to stop any who might wish to +cross to feed their stock on open range?" + +"Well, it'll save trouble in a way, if you recognize the fact that we +are here to stop you," said Billee. "An' we're goin' to! _Sabe_?" + +"But for why?" asked the other, speaking English much better than his +appearance seemed to indicate he might be able to. "It is land open to +all who come, and I have come----" + +"Then you may as well go back where you came from!" interrupted Yellin' +Kid, "'cause there's going to be no onery sheep pastured here, an' you +can roll that in your cigaret an' smoke it!" he added, as the stranger +calmly made himself a "smoke" from a wisp of paper and some tobacco he +shook into it from a small cloth bag. + +There was no answer to this implied challenge on the part of Yellin' +Kid, hardly even the flicker of an eyelash to show that the stranger +heard and understood. + +Yet he must have heard. Yellin' Kid was not one to leave a matter of +that sort in doubt. His tones were always above the average. + +And that he has made himself plain was evident to all--even to the +stranger it would appear. For there was that in his air--something +about him--which seemed to say that he had absorbed what the cowboy had +intimated. + +Whether he would profit by the remarks--well, that was another +matter--something for the future. + +But if he was at all apprehensive it was not manifested by any tremor +of his hands; for not a grain of tobacco was spilled. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +SUSPICIONS + +For several moments the situation remained thus; the boy ranchers and +their friends were on one side of Spur Creek, determined to repulse any +attempt on the part of the strange horseman, who was on the opposite +shore, to cross and make a landing. In this case it might be +considered a legal taking possession of disputed land, and open the way +for a band of sheep men to enter. On the other side was the lone +horseman calmly puffing at his cigaret, as if literally taking the +advice of Yellin' Kid. + +The three boys, and the older cowboys also, had their guns in readiness +for action, but it was easy to guess that the lone horseman, unless he +was extremely foolhardy, would not attempt to do anything in the face +of such odds. + +More than two minutes passed, and if you want to know how long this is +in a tense situation take out your watch and count the seconds. + +Then the stranger on the Mexican side of Spur Creek tossed away his +smouldering cigaret stub, took a deep breath and exhaled the smoke. +Next he spoke softly. + +"You will have no sheep, _senors_?" he asked. + +"Nary a sheep!" declared Billee Dobb, "an' you can tell them that sent +you!" + +A half smile--a contemptuous smirk of the lips--seamed for a moment the +bronzed, weather-beaten and wrinkled face of the lone horseman. He +tightened the reins and his steed made ready to gallop off. + +"I shall see you again, _senors_. _Adios!_" he cried, and, with a +graceful wave of his hand he wheeled and rode off as fast as he had +approached. + +For a few seconds longer there was silence in the ranks of those +holding Fort Spur Creek as it might be called. Then Bud broke out with: + +"What do you make of that?" + +"Can't make much," admitted Old Billee. "If he came to find out +whether we were ready, he went away satisfied." + +"Regular stage and moving picture stuff!" commented Nort. + +"I believe the fellow was an actor," laughed Dick. "The way he flipped +his cigaret and waved to us--he must have been in the movies sometime." + +"I'll movie him if he comes on this side of Spur Creek!" muttered Snake +Purdee. "Him and his '_adios_'! Nothin' but a Greaser, I'll wager!" + +"He had his nerve with him," said Old Billee. "But, boys, we mustn't +let him get ours. He came to spy out and see what he could pick up." + +"Well, he found us ready for him!" exclaimed Yellin' Kid. + +"Yes, but maybe he'll go back and report that we aren't ready enough," +said Billee. + +"What do you mean?" asked Bud. + +"I mean he has sized up our force, and he and his gang may be able to +bring up enough to beat us back. You see, boys, this land is a rich +prize, not only for sheep men but for any who want to use it for +grazing. It has water and good grass." + +"Well, what's the matter with 'em stayin' on their own side of Spur +Creek?" asked Snake, growling out the words. + +"That's where they should stay, by rights," said Billee, "and it's +where we intend to keep 'em. The other land is open to those who stake +it out, I suppose, but on this side it belongs to your father, Bud." + +"The trouble is he has to prove it," answered the boy rancher. + +"Yes, and that's going to be hard with his papers stolen the way they +are," admitted Billee. "Of course it was a put up job, and I have my +suspicions of who did it. But this land would be a rich prize for a +sheep herder or anybody else, and we've got to fight 'em off." + +"Who are you suspicious of?" demanded Bud. + +"Never you mind," was the enigmatical answer, given with a shake of the +head, "but I have 'em all right. However, that's another matter. What +we have to do now is to get ready to meet any of these sheep men if +they come up and try to cross the creek." + +"You reckon he's gone back to his gang to tell 'em to get ready to come +here?" asked Snake. + +"Shouldn't wonder," admitted Billee. "But it'll be some time before +they can bring up the woollies." + +"Sheep travel fast, they eat fast and they ruin water and pastures +faster'n Sam Hill!" exclaimed Yellin' Kid, and this was true. If you +have ever watched a flock of sheep feeding you would know this. They +eat as though they feared some one was going to take all the grass away +on a moment's notice. + +"Well, he's ridin' fast," observed Snake, as, shading his eyes with his +hat, he gazed in the direction taken by the lone horseman. The fellow +was almost out of sight now, and soon was lost to view. + +Danger now seemed more imminent than it had been, and, as behooved +efficient cowboys, our friends at once began going over the situation +and making sure that they had done all that was possible to fortify +their position. + +Of course, while I have referred to the shack hurriedly erected as a +"fort," it was nothing of the sort. There were no heavy walls, and of +course no artillery, though the boys wished they did have a machine +gun. But, on the other hand, no artillery would be brought up against +them, so this evened matters up. If it came to a fight there would be +only revolvers used on both sides at first, though later rifles might +come into play. However, not even the most rabid of the cowboys from +Diamond X really wanted a bloody fight. They would much rather the +sheep men kept away, leaving the rightful owners of the land in +possession. + +But, as Billee had said, the stealing of Mr. Merkel's papers seemed to +indicate some deep-laid plot to cheat him of his land that was so +valuable. + +"We're in as good shape as we can be, until it comes to a showdown and +a fight," remarked Billee, when the noon-day meal was served, after +they had gone carefully over the defense. "Did you get your dad?" he +asked Bud. + +"Yes, I had him on the wire," answered the son of the owner of Diamond +X. "Nothing new has developed back home, and I told him about this +fellow. He thinks, as we do, that he was a spy." + +"And, the more I think of it, the more I think I have seen that fellow +before," remarked Nort, with a puzzled air. + +"Seen him before--what do you mean?" asked Dick. + +"Well, his face seemed familiar at first, and then when he lit his +cigaret and threw it away, he reminded me of some one." + +"Some one in the movies, maybe," said Bud. + +"Well, that's what I thought at first," admitted Nort, "though the more +I think of it the more I'm certain that I've seen him out here--some +time ago. I wish I could recall it." + +"I can't place him," said Dick. "Stop thinking of it, Nort. It may +come to you all of a sudden." + +"It may not amount to anything, anyhow," Nort admitted. "But I have a +feeling that I had a run in with that man before." + +There was little to do at Spur Creek except await developments, and +this waiting was really harder work than actual fighting would have +been. It was also more nervous, keeping them all on a strain. + +The approach of the enemy and by "enemy" I mean sheep men who might try +to pasture their flocks on Mr. Merkel's land, or men who might try to +take possession of it--these enemies would appear on the southern side +of Spur Creek first, as it was well known there were the largest sheep +ranches--just across the Mexican border. And pretty well cropped off +were the vast fields, too. That is why there was such an eagerness to +get into new and fertile ranges. + +In consequence of this, watch was kept on that side of the stream where +the lone horseman had appeared. To the north, east and west little +danger was apprehended. + +On the second day after the parley with this "spy," as he was dubbed, a +moving cloud of dust was observed approaching from the north. + +You may be sure it did not go long unnoticed, and Dick raised a cry as +soon as he saw the indication of someone, or something, coming. + +"Get out your guns!" he shouted. + +"Maybe it's somebody from Diamond X," spoke Nort. + +And a little later it could be seen that the dust was caused by three +steers rushing over the dry prairie. + +"Must have been a stampede up at your place, Bud," remarked Snake +Purdee, as he and the other cowboys rode out in answer to Dick's alarm. +"These got away from the main herd. We'll round 'em up." + +With their usual loud cries the cowboys rode toward the fleeing cattle, +which seemed maddened by some fear, for they never slackened pace. But +by skillful rope-throwing two were downed and secured. The third, and +fleeter of the trio furnished a bit of amusement for the holders of the +fort. + +"I'll bulldog him!" shouted Snake Purdee. "Lay off, Kid!" he called to +the yeller, for now that his leg was mending Yellin' Kid began to take +an active part in all that went on. + +"Bulldogging" is a term used in the West to indicate sort of wrestling +match with a steer, and the completion of the act sees the animal +thrown prone to the ground by the strength and skill of the cowboy. + +Urging his pony to a fast pace, Snake rode up alongside the rushing +steer and then, when near enough, the cowboy leaped from his horse and +raced on foot alongside the steer. Snake reached out and shot his +right arm around the animal's neck, reaching over and under until he +could grasp the loose, bottom skin. While he was doing this he had to +keep pace with the steer, and at times Snake was lifted clear from the +ground, while, now and again, he had to throw his legs out to keep them +clear of the knees of the now maddened beast. + +But Snake had performed this feat before, and was one of the most +expert at the _rodeo_ games whenever they were held. + +His right arm now over the steer's neck, and with his right hand firmly +grasping the loose lower, neck-skin, Snake reached out his left hand +and caught hold of the tip of the animal's left horn. This was the +position he had been working to secure, and the instant he had it, +Snake lunged his body downward against his own left elbow, which +brought almost his entire weight, at a powerful leverage, against the +brute's horn. At the same time Snake was pulling with his right hand +and the effect of this was to twist the steer's neck so that the animal +lost its balance. + +Its speed slackened and, a moment later it toppled over on its side, +and lay there quite exhausted by its run. Though this may sound cruel +it was not, and the steer suffered no harm. In fact it was benefited, +for its mad race was ended, and there was no telling what might have +happened if it had kept on. + +The instant Snake saw the steer about to topple over he released his +hold and sprang away. + +"Well done!" cried Bud. "That was a dandy!" + +"Wish I could do that!" sighed Dick. + +"Oh, you will, some day," consoled his cousin. + +The three runaway steers were thus secured, and as there was no place +to care for them at the Fort one of the cowboys was delegated to haze +them back to the main herd at Diamond X. + +Another day passed in quietness, with no sign from the south of Spur +Creek that any hostile band of sheep herders was on the way to lay +waste, in a sense, the fertile lands of Mr. Merkel. In the meanwhile +there was telephone communication twice a day, or oftener, between the +Fort and the main ranch house. + +Nothing new had transpired at Diamond X, and the boy ranchers were told +that matters in Happy Valley were peaceful. + +Of course there were the usual occurrences as there were always such on +a big ranch. One or more of the cowboys was continually getting hurt, +more or less seriously, and being doctored in the rough and ready +fashion that, perforce, prevails in the unsettled part of the West. + +For though the life of a cowboy may seem very picturesque when you view +it from a seat in a tent or say from Madison Square Garden, in New +York, the real facts of the case are vastly different. + +No one can ride horses in the slap-dash style the cowboys ride them, +and they can not handle cattle--often vicious ones--the way the beasts +are handled, without accidents happening. + +Nor are cowboys the ones to favor themselves for the sake of avoiding +risks. Rather they go out of their way to look for trouble, as it were. + +They are filled with bravado. + +So it was that while I have said matters were quiet at the two ranches, +yet small accidents were continually happening. But, as the boys +reported, after a talk over the wire, nothing of great moment had taken +place. + +"Your dad hasn't heard anything about his stolen papers, has he?" +inquired Billee. + +"Nary a thing," answered Bud in the vernacular of the west, "and he's +beginning to wonder if anything is going to happen down here." + +Almost as Bud spoke there came a hail from one of the cowboys who was +on the watch, and his cry was instantly taken up with the shout: + +"Somebody's coming!" + +At once there was an exodus, and as our heroes and their cowboy friends +lined up in front of the shack, they saw, coming toward them on the +opposite side of Spur Creek, several horsemen, and at the sight of one +rider Bud cried: + +"It's Professor Wright!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A CALL FOR HELP + +This announcement, calling attention to the approach of the scientist, +rather overshadowed other matters for a moment. But the interest was +made more intense when the identity of the men accompanying the +professor was made known. + +"He's in with a bunch of Greasers!" cried Snake Purdee. + +"And look who one of 'em is!" added Nort. "It's the _spy_!" + +Without doubt one of the approaching party was the same Mexican who had +so airily bidden our friends "_adios_," on the occasion of his first +visit. + +"Well, what do you know about that!" exclaimed Bud. + +"What do you reckon the professor is doing, or was doing, over there?" +asked Nort. + +No one answered him, but Bud turned toward Old Billee. + +The veteran cow puncher had spoken of "suspicions." Bud wondered if +they were along a line that might connect with the professor. But if +Old Billee had anything to say he was keeping it to himself. Though +there was a quizzical look on his face as he observed the approaching +horseman, of whom Professor Wright appeared to form the nucleus. + +"If those fellows think they can cover up their game by getting one of +our friends to accompany them, they've got another guess coming," said +Bud grimly. + +"That's right--don't let 'em cross!" cried Dick. + +But the "spy," as he was called for want of a better name, and his +Mexican companions, seemed to have no intentions of fording Spur Creek +which, though rather wide, was not very deep in some places. Reining +in their horses when yet several hundred feet from the southern bank of +the stream, the Mexicans halted, and the one who had ridden up alone +several days before, waved his hand toward the waiting cowboys, and +then motioned to the professor as if saying: + +"There are your friends." + +As a matter of fact that is what he did say, for Professor Wright said +so when, a little later, he had urged his horse across the creek, and +had joined the boy ranchers and their friends. + +Watching the scientist cross the stream, the Mexicans stood for a +moment, rather picturesque figures on the southern bank and then, when +the "spy" had again lighted a cigaret, and waved his hand as if in +mocking farewell, the band rode off. + +It was a very silent contingent from Diamond X that watched the lone +approach of Professor Wright. The scientist seemed worn to weariness, +and looked worried as he smiled at his acquaintances and said: + +"Well, here I am." + +"So we see," observed Billee Dobb, dryly, not to say sarcastically. + +"Where have you been?" asked Bud. + +"Did they capture you and hold you for ransom?" Nort wanted to know. + +"What happened?" asked Dick. + +"With my usual stupidity I became lost again," explained Professor +Wright. "I have been out looking around, 'prospecting,' I believe it +is called, seeking a new deposit of fossil bones. I wandered farther +than I intended, and got across the creek. I found I was on the wrong +trail, and that there was nothing much of interest there, so I turned +to come back. But I must have turned the wrong way, and have gone +south instead of north, for I began to note signs that I was +approaching the Mexican border. + +"I started back then, when these gentlemen overtook me. They were very +kind and when I told them where I wanted to go they agreed to accompany +me." + +"Passing over for the time being the use of the word 'gentlemen,' and +realizing that you probably don't know them as well as we do, I'd like +to ask if they said why they were coming this way?" asked Billee. + +"No, they didn't, and I didn't ask them," replied the professor. "They +just seemed to be riding for pleasure." + +"Pleasure of their own kind," chuckled Snake. + +"Did you see anything of sheep in your wanderings?" asked Yellin' Kid. + +The professor thought for a moment before replying. He was always +careful to give a correct and exact answer to a question. + +"I saw no sheep," he declared. + +"That's queer," murmured Billee. "From what news we have it's +practically certain they're going to try to rush sheep in here soon, +and yet they aren't in sight." + +Then Bud bethought himself of something. + +"Did you _smell_ any sheep, Professor?" the boy asked. + +Again the scientist thought before answering. + +"Yes, I _smelled_ sheep very strongly, though I saw none," he said. "I +distinctly remember the smell of sheep, for it brought back to my mind +my youthful days when I used to go to the county fair. I _smelled_ +sheep all right." + +"That's more like it!" cried Yellin' Kid. + +"Where were they?" asked Billee eagerly. + +"That is more than I can say," answered the professor. "We were in a +hilly section, when those gentlemen overtook me and kindly offered to +escort me here, and it was when the wind blew that I smelled sheep most +strongly." + +"In what direction was the wind?" asked Nort, for he thought he might +get a clue in this way, as he realized the scientist was likely to have +noticed natural effects like wind or rain. + +"The wind--ah, yes--the wind was blowing from the south," said +Professor Wright, after thinking it over for a moment. + +"Well, that's where I'd expect 'em to be," declared Old Billee. +"They're probably working their way up slowly. Did you see anything +else suspicious, Professor--or smell anything?" + +"Suspicious!" exclaimed the college man. "What do you mean? Is there +anything suspicious in the smell of sheep--or the sight of them, for +that matter?" + +"I guess you don't understand," spoke Bud. "You have probably been so +busy with your research work that you haven't had a chance to hear the +news about the opening of the new range land, and the danger of sheep +coming in." + +"I heard something of this--and the theft of your father's papers--the +night I arrived, and caused you so much trouble," the professor +admitted. "But, truth to tell, it slipped my mind, and I gave no +further thought to it. So you fear the advent of sheep; do you? Are +they likely to spread some disease among your cattle?" + +"Disease? They'll drive the cattle away!" cried Old Billee, and then +it was briefly explained to the professor what a menace the sheep were, +though very necessary in their own station of life. + +"I'm sorry I didn't observe more closely," said Professor Wright. "As +I told you, my mind was filled with thoughts of new fossil deposits I +might discover, and I wandered too far. Then these gentlemen found me +and showed me the way back." + +"They were glad enough of the excuse," murmured Nort. + +"Excuse for what?" the scientist wanted to know. + +"Excuse for getting back here to have a peep at us," answered Bud. +"They wanted to see if we were still on guard," and he explained about +the "fort." + +"Well, they found us here and waiting," commented Dick grimly. + +Professor Wright consented to stay for lunch at the outpost of Diamond +X, but declined an invitation to remain over night, saying he must get +back to his colleagues who would be wondering over his long absence. + +"Are you sure you can find your way back to your camp?" asked Bud, for +the scientists were established not far from Mr. Merkel's ranch houses. + +"Oh, yes, I can make it all right," was the reply. "Thank you." + +And when he was gone, many curious glances followed him. He was always +a matter of curiosity to the cowboys for they could not understand his +deep interest in digging up the bones of monster animals that had +walked the earth millions of years ago. However, Bud and his cousins +could appreciate this scientific interest, knowing what it added to the +sum of human knowledge. + +But now there was a new source of curiosity regarding the professor, +and I am frank to say there was no little suspicion. In spite of the +fact that (as I have told you in the first book of this series), the +professor was cleared of certain suspicions there still remained, in +the mind of some persons, suspicions and lurking thoughts. + +Why had the scientist returned to Diamond X at the very time when the +government opened the land to claimants? Why had he led astray the +pursuit of those who fired the shots that night? And now was his +explanation of how he happened to be in company with those believed to +be sheep herders a good explanation? + +These were questions that needed answering, though it may be said that +the older cowboys were more concerned about them than were the boy +ranchers. They were young enough to be naturally unsuspicious of their +scientific friend. + +"But I wish I knew what he really crossed the creek for," said Billee. + +"Then you don't believe his story?" asked Snake Purdee. + +"Not by a long shot!" exclaimed Billee. "Do you?" + +"'Twas kinder fishy," admitted the other. "But what would his object +be, and what was his game?" + +Billee had no chance to answer, for just then the telephone bell +jingled, and the veteran cow puncher answered it. He had no sooner +given the customary "hello," than the expression on his face changed +and he cried: + +"You don't say so! That's too bad! All right, some of us will be +right over." + +"What's the matter?" asked Bud anxiously, coming up just in time to +hear Billee's remark. + +"There's trouble back at the ranch," was the grim answer. "They have +just called for help!" + +"Trouble! What sort?" + +"Oh, nobody's hurt, as far as that goes," Billee hastened to assure the +boy. "But there's been a raid on your cattle. Rustlers up to their +old tricks, I reckon. It's a call for help from Diamond X!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +DEL PINZO'S HAND + +Instantly all were astir in the shack that had been erected as a fort +on the bank of Spur Creek, and a rush was made for saddles and the +usual trappings of a cowboy. Nor were guns forgotten, for if these +would not be needed in fighting off the rustlers, they would be of +service in driving back a herd of frightened animals determined to put +as much distance as possible between themselves and the source of their +alarm. + +Billee was overwhelmed with questions. + +"Who were they?" + +"What did they do?" + +"Who was on the wire?" + +To all of these the veteran raised a hand for silence. + +"I'll tell you all I know," he said. + +"Maybe you'd better tell us on the run," suggested Yellin' Kid. "If +we're goin' t' help we'd better be moseying along, and _pronto_ at +that." + +"Good idea," chuckled Old Billee. "Well," he resumed as they hurried +toward the corral where their horses were kept, "it was the boss +himself speaking on the wire. He didn't say much except to let it out +that we'd better get back as soon as we could. He didn't say who it +was that caused the ruction, so you know about as much of it as I do. +Then he hung up. But I could hear there was some excitement in your +place, lads," he went on to the boy ranchers, "for I could hear some of +the boys standing around your dad murmurin' an' talkin', an' I heard +somebody ask if they got th' bullet out yet." + +"Then there must have been shooting!" cried Dick. + +"I reckon!" assented Old Billee. + +"Cracky!" cried Nort. "This is like old times!" + +"You said it!" voiced Bud. + +They were all in the saddles now, pulling their ponies sharply around +to head for the trail that led back to Diamond X. Then Old Billee +bethought him of something. + +"I say!" he sung out. "This won't do!" + +"What won't?" asked Nort. + +"All of us going off this way. We've got to leave some one here to +hold the fort, boys. Them onery sheep herders may steal in on us while +we're away, and take possession. An' you know," went on Billee with a +momentous shake of his head, "possession is nine points of th' law. +Somebody's got t' stay here," he decided. "You two fellers'd better do +it," and he pointed to two cowboys who had recently come from Diamond X +to augment the guard at Spur Creek. + +"Aw, Billee!" objected one. "We don't want t' stay here!" + +"Have a heart, old man, an' let us come with you!" pleaded the other. +"They won't be nothin' doin' here! Them sheep herders have just seen +that we're on guard an' they've gone back home t' report. They won't +arrive an' be able t' git any sheep here 'fore we can mosey back if we +have to." + +"That's right!" joined in the first newcomer who had spoken. "Take us +along, Billee!" + +"Wa'al," said Billee slowly, as if in doubt, "I don't know how much +help they'll need back at Diamond X----" + +"Better not take any chances," said Snake Purdee. + +"I don't believe the sheep men will come back here again very soon," +was Yellin' Kid's usual loud-voiced opinion. + +"All right--come along then," conceded Billee, and the two cowboys who +were on the verge of being left behind rode with the others. It was +fast riding, too, for when word comes in that cattle stealers are in +the neighborhood of any ranch, it behooves those charged with the +safety of men and animals to be on the "jump." There is always more or +less theft going on among the western cattle ranches but most of it is +on such a small scale that drastic action is not often taken. No +ranchman missed an occasional animal, which may be "lifted" because of +dire hunger, perhaps, on the part of some needy person. + +But when a "bunch" of valuable steers is driven off and when there are +indications that an organized attempt is being made to steal more, this +shows the presence of cattle rustlers, and concerted action must be +taken against them. + +It was this thought that was in the minds of all who thus rode +"sweatin' leather" from Spur Creek toward Diamond X ranch, and from the +glances that each member of the party cast, now and then, at the +weapons swinging at their sides in the big holsters, it was evident +that if shooting was to be a part of the game, they would be ready for +it. + +"Things are livening up a bit, aren't they?" remarked Nort to Bud as +the boys rode side by side. + +"That's the way they ought to be," declared Dick. "I hate sitting +around and waiting for something to happen." + +"We didn't have to wait very long," chuckled Bud. + +"That's right," agreed Nort. "Wonder who it is that's been after your +dad's cattle now?" he ventured. + +"Maybe some of the old gang--maybe a new one," replied Bud. "You never +can tell." + +"You mean Del Pinzo's old gang?" asked Dick. + +"He's the worst of the lot--always was and always will be," declared +Bud. + +"But how does he keep out of jail?" Nort wanted to know. + +"That's one of the mysteries of it," went on Bud. "We've had him sent +up more than once, but he gets out again by some sort of lawyer's +trick. Either that or he breaks jail. The jails around here aren't +anything to boast of," he said with a laugh. "They're more a joke than +anything else." + +"Do you reckon Del Pinzo is out now?" asked Nort. + +"Shouldn't wonder a bit," Bud assented. "We can tell whether he had a +hand in this or not as soon as we hear dad tell what happened." + +Musing on the wily, mean and desperate tricks of this renegade Mexican +half-breed, if such was his nationality, the Boy Ranchers and their +friends galloped along over the trail to Diamond X. On the way they +looked for signs of any cattle raids, but saw none. And these signs +are very plain when they do occur. + +Generally they were in the shape of the half-eaten carcass of some +steer, for the raiders were generally desperate and hungry men, and +before driving off a bunch of cattle they would kill one and cut off +enough to roast over a hastily built fire. + +But there were no indications of that now, and, in fact, there were +none of Mr. Merkel's cattle pastured in the section our friends rode +over to get to the ranch headquarters. + +"Most of the herds are farther north," explained Billee, "an' I reckon +that's where th' rustlin' took place." + +This proved to be the case when they arrived at Diamond X and had a +chance to get some information. Mr. Merkel was out at one of the +corrals, talking to some of his men, when his son and nephews rode up +with the cowboys from Spur Creek. + +"What's the good word, Dad?" greeted Bud. + +"Sorry there isn't any good word--it's mostly bad," was the reply. "I +didn't like to pull you off from down there," he went on, "but as you +didn't seem to be very busy, and as we needed you up here, there didn't +seem to be anything else to do." + +"Oh, we were glad to come!" Nort hastened to say. + +"What's doin'?" asked Billee. + +"They're after us again--the rustlers," announced Mr. Merkel. + +"Same old gang?" asked Bud. + +"I reckon so," his father answered. "It looks like the hand of Del +Pinzo. You have to give that rascal credit for knowing just how and +when to strike." + +"Then he's out of jail again?" asked Yellin' Kid. + +"That's what some of the boys seem to think," replied Mr. Merkel. +"Here's what happened." + +Briefly he told how during a time when many of his men were driving to +the nearest railroad station a bunch of choice steers for shipment to +Kansas City, a raid was made on an outlying herd that was being +fattened in a sheltered valley for future shipment. Not only were a +hundred or more steers driven off, but one cowboy of Diamond X was +killed and another wounded. + +"And didn't our boys shoot back?" demanded Bud indignantly. + +"Oh, yes, they gave a good account of themselves," his father replied. +"They got three of the Greasers. That's how we made pretty sure it was +Del Pinzo again. They were just his type of rascals. + +"And so, because I didn't have men enough here to take after the crowd +and get my cattle back, and, at the same time, run things on the ranch, +I had to send for you. We'll have to let Spur Creek look after itself +for a while." + +"I reckon it can, Dad," said Bud. "The sheep herders won't come up for +a few days yet, I guess," and he told of the latest development in +which Professor Wright was concerned. + +"Hum! So he was lost again, was he!" mused Mr. Merkel. "Seems to me +he's getting into a regular habit that way." + +"Does look so," chuckled Nort. "He's all right in his own way----" + +"But he doesn't weigh much!" laughed Bud, perpetrating an old joke at +the expense of the professor's thin frame, for he did not have much +flesh on his bones. More than one cowboy privately recommended to Bud +that his father "pasture" the professor out on some good grass for a +season. + +"Well, now you know as much as I do," went on Mr. Merkel. "Our cattle +have been stolen, and the gang--Del Pinzo's, I'm pretty certain--is +driving them south. It's up to us to get after them." + +"And we will!" cried Bud. "As soon as we have a bite to eat and can +pack up some grub----" + +He paused, for the telephone began ringing violently. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +COWBOY FUN + +Bud, being the nearest to the instrument which was sending out its call +from a small shed near the corral--an extension line having been +established there--Bud sprang to answer it. + +"Hello! Hello!" he called, in his excitement his voice resembling that +of Yellin' Kid. "This is Diamond X," Bud went on. "What's the +trouble?" + +He listened for a moment and then called: + +"We'll be right over!" + +Hanging up the receiver with a bang on the hook, Bud hurried out of the +shed and cried: + +"They're at it again! Rustlers just cut out a bunch at North Station +and they're hazing 'em off!" + +"Whew!" whistled Mr. Merkel. "This is getting serious!" + +Little time was lost. Instead of stopping for a "bite," the boy +ranchers and their companions hastily swallowed some coffee that "Ma" +Merkel and Nell made ready for them. Some "grub" was hastily packed, +for the expedition might be out all night--very likely would--and then, +saddles, girths and guns having been hastily inspected, the cowboys set +forth. + +To the bunch that had been on guard at Spur Creek was added some other +punchers from Diamond X--as many as could be spared. This was not a +large number, for, as Mr. Merkel had said, he had sent some of his men +to drive his shipment of steers to the railroad. + +This latest raid, word of which had been telephoned in from a distant +place by a cowboy who had witnessed it, had taken place at what was +called "North Station." This was a sort of auxiliary ranch Mr. Merkel +had started when he secured more range land in the spring. By +pasturing some cattle around there, several miles were saved in +shipping his steers after fattening them up. And, as I have told you, +nothing so soon takes valuable fat off cattle as driving them long +distances to feed, to water or to a shipping point. + +The boy ranchers knew little of North Station, having been there but +once, though the trail to it was plain. And as they rode they talked +of what might have taken place there. + +"Guess whoever was in charge wasn't keepin' a very good lookout, or +he'd have stopped the rustlers," observed Snake Purdee. + +"Oh, you can't tell," said Billee Dobb. "Accidents will happen, and +Del Pinzo is as slick as they come." + +They all knew this to be true. + +"Well, there's one thing in our favor," remarked Bud, as he urged his +horse up between the steeds of Nort and Dick. + +"What's that?" asked the latter. + +"We're after the rustlers right quick," went on Bud. "Red Dugan, who +telephoned in, said the gang driving off our cattle was still in sight +as he was talking. So we ought to overtake them by dark." + +"Not much fun fighting after dark," observed Dick dubiously. + +"That's right," agreed his brother. "You can't tell who you're +shooting at or who's shooting at you. How did Red come to be on the +job so quickly?" he inquired of Bud. + +"Well, you know dad has a lot of telephones set up at different places +over his range," the owner's son explained. "He says it doesn't cost +much to string a line of his own, and it's mighty handy when you want +to send word back to headquarters. It proved so in this case. For Red +was out on a distant part of the range, where there happened to be a +branch telephone in a box on a pole, and he shot in word of the raid." + +"Mighty lucky he did," observed Nort. + +"Yes, for we're on the trail almost as soon as the rustlers took it," +said Bud. + +And indeed the boy ranchers were on the trail, riding hard; for they +were some miles from where the raid had taken place, and they knew the +rustlers would not spare the cattle they were driving away. For the +thieves cared little about running fat off the stock they had "lifted." +All they desired was to get what animals they could, to be sold to some +other unscrupulous band, or used for food. Little consideration would +be given to the steers. + +After keeping to the main trail for some distance, the pursuers struck +off to the right, heading more to the south, for it was in this +direction they might expect to overtake the rustlers. + +Old Billee, who was riding ahead with Yellin' Kid, keeping an anxious +lookout for any signs of the rustlers, suddenly raised his hand as a +signal to stop. Those following him, including the boy ranchers, +pulled in their steeds. + +"What's the matter?" called Bud. "See something?" + +"No, but I feel something," was the somewhat strange answer. + +"What do you mean?" asked Yellin' Kid. + +"I mean I'm hungry!" and Old Billee chuckled. "If, as they say, an +army fights on its stomach, the same is true about a cowboy. If we're +goin' to do any fightin'--an' I reckon we are--then I got to eat!" + +"I'm right glad to hear you disperse them there sentiments!" chuckled +Snake Purdee. "I was goin' t' tighten up my belt another hole or two, +to make my stomach take up less room, but if you're goin' t' eat----" + +"Might as well, an' rest the hosses a bit," said Billee. "We'll do all +the better afterward." + +Accordingly they halted, the horses were turned out to graze, and a +fire was built over which bacon could be sizzled and coffee made. +These two staples formed the basis of most meals when the cowboys were +on the trail, as they were now. + +No time was wasted, but Billee knew how to handle his men, and he did +not insist on an immediate start after the meal. He knew the value of +a little rest after food had been taken. The horses, too, would be +fresher for a wait. + +But while the afternoon was still young they were on their way again, +and before dark they had reached the headquarters of North Station, an +auxiliary to Diamond X ranch. + +"You fellows got here pretty quick," observed Sam Tod, the foreman at +North Station. + +"Well, we didn't stop to play mumble-th'-peg along th' way," chuckled +Billee. "Now let's hear the yarn straight." + +It was hastily told, bearing out what had already been learned of it +over the telephone. + +"Pack us up a little more grub and we'll keep on," said Billee Dobb to +Sam, when the narration was ended. + +"You'd better call it a day and stay here for the night," counseled Sam. + +"Nothin' doin'!" declared Billee earnestly. "We're goin' t' hit th' +trail hard!" + +"Now listen a moment," begged Sam. "I know this part of the country +better 'n what you do, Billee, though I give in to you on lots of +points. This section is pretty rough, an' them rustlers won't be able +to make any kind of speed with th' cattle. You can catch up t' 'em +better if you make an early mornin' start than if you keep on now." + +"You think so?" asked Billee, who was not "sot in his ways," as he +often said. + +"I'm sure of it," declared Sam. + +"Wa'al, mebby you're right," conceded the veteran cowboy. "What say, +fellows?" and he appealed to Bud and the others. + +"I say let's stay here for th' night," decided Yellin' Kid. "As Sam +says, we can make better time in th' mornin'. Th' rustlers can't drive +cattle only so fast, anyhow." + +"Unless they stampede 'em," put in Bud. + +"That's what they did t' get away from where we had 'em pastured," +declared Sam. "But if they get 'em that wild now the animals is likely +t' break away, an' that isn't what this bunch of Greasers is countin' +on." + +"I guess you're right," admitted Bud. "It's about a fifty-fifty +proposition, and we'd better wait here over night." + +This decided, little time was lost in taking saddles from the horses +and turning them into the corral, while their riders made ready to wash +up, prepare for the evening meal and rest. + +As Snake Purdee turned his pony in and hung the saddle over the fence +he noticed a small enclosure in one corner of the corral, in which were +two rather sorry-looking specimens of horseflesh. + +"What you got there, Sam?" he asked, nodding toward the two sequestered +steeds. + +"Oh, couple a' outlaws," was the answer. + +Snake's eyes seemed to sparkle with new light. + +"Reg'lar man-killers?" he asked eagerly. + +"Might call 'em that," assented Sam with a smile. + +"Can't nobody ride em?" went on Snake. + +"Th' last man what did has a broken leg on one side, an' a lot of skin +chawed off on th' other," answered the foreman grimly. + +"Whoopee!" yelled Snake, "I'll ride 'em! I'll fan 'em! Wow! Now for +some fun!" + +"Fun!" exclaimed Dick, who knew what was in prospect. "Oh, boy!" he +added to his brother, "now for some rough riding!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +AFTER THE RUSTLERS + +"Rough riding," as it is called, made up more than half the fun the +cowboys indulged in among themselves. There has, of late years, been +so much of this done in public, in traveling "wild west" shows, and in +exhibitions of some features of the _rodeo_ in New York and other large +cities, that I believe most of you are familiar with the feats of +cowboys on these trained and untrained "broncks," or outlaw +horses--"mankillers" some of them are dubbed. + +I might say that there are two classes of this rough riding. One is +the real thing, on horses or cow ponies that are naturally bad, and +never can be broken or trained to behave. The other is on what might +be called "professional buckers." That is, horses which have trained +to try and unseat their riders as long as they are expected to do this. + +I venture to say most of you have seen exhibitions of rough riding in a +wild west, traveling show, or in some _rodeo_, as an imitation round-up +is called after its Spanish title. And most of you, I believe, have +been impressed with the fact that as soon as the man got off the back +of the bucking steed the said steed became as gentle as a lamb. This +is what those that are trained to it do purposely, but it is not what a +real dyed-in-the-wool outlaw does. For he does not let up in his +attack on the man even after the latter is out of the saddle. + +Perhaps some of you, at a rodeo, have seen a rider come bursting out of +the pen on the back of a rearing, bucking, leaping steed. After the +first burst two cowboys would ride up, one on either side of the +bucker, and take off, on their own stirrups or saddle the fearless +rider. And then the so-called "outlaw" would let himself be led meekly +back into the pen to be ready for the next performance, when it would +all be gone through with again. + +But occasionally you may have seen one of these horses lash out +viciously with his heels, in an endeavor to kick anyone he could reach, +not even excluding his fellow steeds. This is a specimen of a real +outlaw, who never lets up in his fight against man. But few of these +horses are taken about in a traveling show. They are too dangerous. + +However, the two that were fenced off in the corral at North Station +were of the real "bad" variety. They had been partly tamed, but their +tempers had been spoiled and they were really dangerous to approach. +Hence they were confined in a small space, and not allowed out. + +However, cowboys are by nature reckless, and to them bucking horses are +but a source of amusement and rivalry. Each cowboy thinks he can ride +some steed no one else can mount. And for the purpose of contests or +exhibitions, to relieve the monotony of "riding range," there are +facilities for saddling and bridling these horses without danger to +those doing it. + +This method consists of putting the horse in a long narrow place like a +stall in a stable, through the bars of which the boys can reach in, +throw on the saddle and tighten it. Then a rider can climb into the +saddle over the top rail of the fence and at a signal a gate can be +opened, allowing the maddened steed to rush out. + +Then the fun begins. + +"I'm goin' t' ride!" yelled Snake. + +"Take th' big one then," advised Sam. "He ain't quite so bad as th' +other." + +"I want th' meanest one!" insisted Snake, "an' if it's th' smallest +I'll ride him!" + +"Better not!" advised the foreman, but Snake was not to be persuaded +against it. And the other cowboys, scenting fun, were not very anxious +to have Snake change his mind. + +Accordingly some of the men who had handled Red Pepper before--Red +Pepper being the name of the horse--arranged to get a saddle on him, +and to slip a sort of bridle over his head. But he had no bit, for it +was as much as a man's hands were worth to try and force the bar of +steel between the teeth of this outlaw. + +"Now you watch me!" cried Snake when, after hard work, the saddle had +been strapped on and pulled tight. "I'm goin' t' fan him." + +I might explain that it is considered cowboy ethics to ride with only +one hand on the reins, whether a bit is used or not, and in the other +hand, usually the left, the cowboy carries his hat with which he hits +the steed on either side of the neck, "fanning him," it is called. And +no rough rider would ever think of sitting on the worst bucker in the +world without thus riding with one hand and "fanning" with the other. +Meanwhile, of course, he keeps up a wild whooping sound, just to show +his spirits. + +The feeling of a man on his back--a feeling he hates, the wild +whooping, the jab of the spurs and the flapping hat around his head +serves further to madden the bucker and it is a wonder any human being +can stay on his back a second. Yet cowboys do, and ride until they are +tired of the sport. + +"Are you ready?" called the cowboys who had saddled the "mankiller," as +Sam dubbed the small horse. + +"Let him out!" yelled Snake. + +The fastenings of the gate were loosed and out rushed the animal with +the cowboy bobbing about on his back. Red Pepper seemed a whirlwind of +fury. He rushed forward, his nose almost touching the ground, and then +he began to go up in the air. Up he would leap, coming down with all +four legs held stiff and his back arched, to shake, if it were +possible, Snake from the saddle. The cowboy rose in his stirrups to +take the shock as much as possible from his frame, and with a yell, +began "fanning" Red Pepper. + +This added to the fury of the beast, and it fairly screamed in rage +and, reaching back, tried to bite Snake's legs. But they were +protected by heavy leather "chaps," and the animal soon realized this. + +He now began leaping sideways, a form of bucking that often unseats a +rider, but Snake was proof against this. And all the while the animal +was dashing around the larger corral, on the fence of which sat the boy +ranchers and their friends, watching this cowboy fun. As they watched +they laughed and called such remarks as: + +"Fan him, Snake! Fan him!" + +"Whoopee! That's stickin' to him!" + +"Tickle him in the ear, Snake!" + +"Want any court plaster t' hold you down?" + +Snake paid little attention to this "advice" of his friends. In fact +he had little time, for he discovered that his "work was all cut out +for him," before he had been many seconds on the back of Red Pepper. +The steed in very truth was an outlaw of the worst type. + +Finding that the methods usually successful--those of bucking and +kicking out with his hind feet--were of no avail, the animal adopted +new tactics. He reared high in the air, with a scream of rage--reared +so high that there was a gasp of dismay from the spectators. For +surely it seemed that the horse would topple over backward and, falling +on Snake, would crush and kill him. + +But the cowboy had ridden horses like this before, and with a smart +blow between the animal's ears Snake gave notice that it would be +considered more polite if his steed would keep on all four feet. + +Down came Red Pepper with a jar that shook every bone in Snake's body, +but he remained in the saddle, and with more wild yells brought his +broad-brimmed hat down again and again on the animal's neck. + +Again Red Pepper dashed forward, bucked again, worse than before and +still finding the hated rider on his back began to play one of his most +desperate tricks. + +This consisted of lying down and trying to roll over his rider. If +successful, it would crush the rider almost as badly as if he had been +toppled on from a backward fall. + +"Look out, Snake! He's going to roll!" warned Sam. + +But Snake was ready. + +Suddenly Red Pepper stopped bucking. But before Snake could catch his +labored breath the horse knelt down and started to roll over, at the +same time opening his mouth to bite whatever portion of Snake first +came within reach. + +Snake, however, had been through an experience like this before. In an +instant he had leaped from the saddle and was out of danger. That is, +out of danger in a way. But he and the others realized that as soon as +he could Red Pepper would get to his feet again and run after the +cowboy. It was that which made this particular animal so dangerous. +He never gave up fighting his rider, even when the latter was unseated; +and he had killed two men. + +"Watch yourself!" cried Sam. + +But Snake was ready, and so were some of the other cowboys, for they +had feared just this ending of the attempt to ride Red Pepper. No +sooner was Snake out of the saddle than two of his friends dashed +toward him, picking him up between them so that he rode with a foot on +either of their inner stirrups. + +Meanwhile some other cowboys rode up to get the outlaw back into the +corral. This was no easy work, but they had given him little chance, +and with two lariats about his neck, so that he could be held from +either side, he was, after some time, gotten back in his pen. + +"Well, I rode him," chuckled Snake, when it was all over. + +"And you came out of it luckier than lots of 'em," added the foreman. +"Red Pepper sure is a bad one!" + +"Oh, shucks!" laughed Snake. "That jest gave me an appetite." + +And, really, it seemed to. But perhaps Snake was hungry, anyhow. + +After the meal there was a general talk about the raid of the rustlers. +And then as the cowboys sat about in the evening they indulged in +various forms of sport and fun, in which the boy ranchers joined. + +Bright and early those who were to take the trail after the cattle +thieves were on their way, taking with them enough food to last for +several days. They were now better prepared than when they had first +started out from Diamond X. + +It was comparatively easy to pick up the trail left by the rustlers and +soon our friends were riding after them, though of course several hours +behind them. But as had been said, the ground was of a nature that did +not lend itself well to haste, and if the thieves stampeded their +animals they would, very likely, lose them. They could only go so fast +and Billee and his cowboys hoped soon to come up to the raiders. + +It was nearly noon when one of the cowboys who was riding on ahead, +came to a stop on a little rise of land and, shading his eyes from the +sun, looked long and earnestly off to his left. + +"See anything?" asked Bud, who with his cousins rode up. + +"I think so, but I'm not sure," was the reply. "But doesn't it look +like a bunch of cattle there?" and he pointed. + +The boy ranchers gazed earnestly. + +"It sure does look like 'em to me!" declared Nort. + +"Could it be one of our regular herds?" Dick asked. + +"None of our cattle are down that way," the cowboy said. + +"Then they're rustlers!" cried Bud. "After 'em, boys!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A CLOUD OF DUST + +Flappings of heels to the flanks of horses, the tightening of reins, +firmer seats in the saddles and glances at the heavy revolvers swinging +in their holsters at the sides of the riders came as a prelude to the +burst of speed which immediately followed the sight of the distant herd +of cattle being hazed across the prairie. + +"Whoop-ee!" cried Yellin' Kid. "We'll show 'em what's what! Whoop-ee!" + +"Reckon you can stand a fight?" asked Nort, looking at the leg of the +cowboy, which had been severely injured. + +"Shucks, yes! I'm all right now! I'd a leetle mite ruther lick a +bunch of sheep herders than jest plain onery cattle rustlers," went on +Yellin' Kid, "but anythin' for a fight!" + +"You said it!" chimed in some of the other rough but ready and earnest +punchers. + +"I s'pose there will be a fight," mused Dick. + +"Unless they quit and run," said Bud. "You don't mind a little thing +like a fight, do you?" he asked his cousin. "Of course not! I was +only joking!" he quickly added as he saw a look on Dick's face. + +"It won't be the first time we've had a scrap," remarked Nort. + +All this while they were riding hard toward the distant group which, at +first had been but a cloud of dust, but which now resolved itself into +forms of horsemen and cattle. + +And as the outfit from Diamond X approached nearer, it could be seen +that the drivers of the cattle were not regulation cowboys from any +ranch north of the Rio Grande. There was an air and manner about the +horsemen urging on the weary cattle which betokened them as +irregulars--rustlers, in other words. + +The advantage--such as it was--appeared to be with the boy ranchers and +their friends, for they were on fresh horses, and could ride hither and +yon without having to drive before them, and keep from stampeding, a +bunch of cattle. As for the rustlers the success of their raid +depended on keeping the cattle they had stolen. Once the small herd +got beyond their control, they might as well cut and run for it, since +it would be a case of everyone save himself, and every man for himself. + +"Some of you cut out the cattle, boys," advised Old Billee, as he +spurred along with the youngest rider. For though this veteran more +than doubled the years of the boy ranchers, he was almost as "spry" as +any of them. "Cut out the cattle, and we'll look after these rustlers." + +There were members enough in the outfit from Diamond X to provide for a +division of forces--enabling them to execute a flank movement, as it +were, though this does not exactly describe it. + +"What's the best thing to do?" asked Bud, willing to take advice from +his father's able helper. Bud was willing to learn, a most commendable +spirit in a youth. + +"Wa'al, this would be about as good a plan as any," remarked Old +Billee, as he still continued to ride on, but at the same time he was, +with his keen eyes, looking over the lay of the land. "Bud, you and +your cousins ride off to the left, with Hank and Sam, and see if you +can cut out the steers. If you can circle 'em around and bring 'em up +behind where we are now--or as near as you can. I'll take the rest of +the boys and see if we can't speed up and close with the rustlers." + +Bud at once saw that this was giving him and his boy chums, as well as +Sam and Hank, the other two cowboys, quite the safest end of the +battle. The cattle could be cut out without coming into very close +contact with the desperate rustlers. The fight with them would be +taken care of by the more experienced Billee and his men. + +Bud thought it over for a moment. He was not afraid of danger, but he +was not foolhardy, and he knew the veteran had been in many more +engagements like this than had Bud himself. Also Bud was too good a +soldier to object to taking orders. + +"All right," he finally said. "Suits me, Billee. How about you +fellows?" he asked Nort and Dick. + +With short nods they agreed to Billee's plan, and a few minutes later +it was put into execution. The outfit from Diamond X separated, and +while Bud and his party spurred ahead to cut out the cattle, the others +circled around to make a "flank" attack, as it might be called. + +"Here we go!" cried Bud who, naturally, was the leader of the "cutting +out" sally. + +On rushed the horses, the boys clapping heels to them and "fanning" +them with their hats to urge them to greater speed. They were quite +close, now, to the band of cattle being hazed away, and on some of the +lagging steers could be made out the branding marks of the Diamond X +ranch. + +"Those are ours all right!" cried Bud to his cousins. + +"And we'll have 'em back soon," added Dick. + +"We'd better begin shooting," called out Hank, one of the two cowboys +who had been assigned to duty with Bud. + +This was not as serious as it sounds, for the shots were not to be +directed at the rustlers but fired in the air to startle the cattle. +In cutting out, or, rather, in separating from those who had stolen +them the steers from Diamond X, it was necessary to get the animals on +the run. They could then more easily be driven where they were wanted. + +By this time, of course, the rustlers knew they were in danger not only +of losing their ill-gotten cattle, but of losing their own freedom and +perhaps their lives. They could be arrested and sent to jail for theft +if they were caught. + +For a few minutes after the pursuit became close, the rustlers made an +attempt to get the cattle into one of the many small valleys with which +the country around there abounded. But they soon saw that it was a +losing fight. The animals were too wearied to be driven at much speed. + +Then some order seemed to have been given by the leader of the +rustlers, for the nondescript bunch of cattle thieves swung off, and +practically abandoned their four-footed charges. + +This made it easier for the boy ranchers, though the task of urging the +cattle away from the line they were traveling was hard enough at best. + +"Come on!" yelled Bud, when he saw what was happening. "We've got 'em +going!" + +This was true, as regarded the rustlers. They were about to save +themselves if they could. + +With drawn guns, firing rapidly and yelling as loudly as they could, +the boy ranchers rode in among the frightened steers, endeavoring to +turn them off to the right. For a moment it seemed as if they were not +going to do this, but eventually their tactics succeeded, and the +leaders of the herd swung off. Then the others followed and it was now +a comparatively easy matter to drive them along where it was desired +they should go. + +"Poor things!" murmured Dick sympathetically, as he saw the weary +cattle. "We'll have to let 'em rest, Bud." + +"Guess you're right," agreed the son of the Diamond X owner. "They +won't be much good for shipping to market until they get some fat back +on their bones." Many of the cattle were in woeful shape, and all +suffered from lack of water, since the rustlers had driven them so +hard, endeavoring to get far away with them as soon as possible that +they had not stopped to water them. + +"There's a little stream over there," announced Sam, one of the cowboys +who knew this part of the country well. "We can haze 'em over there +and keep 'em for a while." + +This was considered the best thing to do, and soon the weary cattle +were drinking their first water in many hours. Afterward they all lay +down to rest, not even eating until some of the weariness had passed. + +Meanwhile the cowboys under Old Billee had come to close quarters with +the rustlers and the fight started immediately. There was nothing +unusual about it, the rustlers merely desiring to get away and the +outfit from Diamond X wishing to capture them to make them pay for +their lawlessness. + +One rustler was captured, for he was so wounded that he fell from his +horse. The others got away, one badly hurt, it seemed, for he had to +be taken in charge by one of his companions who lifted him to his own +saddle. + +As for Billee and his forces, they suffered somewhat, two of the +cowboys being painfully wounded by bullets. But, on the whole, the +affair ended much better than might have been expected. The stolen +cattle had been recovered, in as good condition as could be hoped for, +and the rustlers had been driven off, with the exception of the wounded +one. + +It was planned to take him to the nearest jail, but this trouble was +obviated for the man died in the night. + +Riding back after having driven off the rustlers, Billee and his men +found the cattle quietly resting, while Bud and his friends were doing +likewise, as they had ridden hard. + +"We'll camp here for the night," decided Billee. "Too bad there isn't +a telephone here that we could use to send word back to your dad, Bud. +But we can't have everything." + +"No," agreed Yellin' Kid with a chuckle. "I'd like a room an' a bath +with plenty of hot water, but I don't see any growin' on no trees +around here!" + +However, the cowboys were used to this sort of life and they counted it +no unusual hardship. A fire was made, those who had been scarred by +bullets were looked after and then the ever-welcome "grub" was served. + +The next day, after the hasty burial of the dead rustler, on whom +little sympathy was wasted, and concerning whose identity no one cared +much, the march back to Diamond X was begun, the cattle being slowly +driven toward their former pasture. As not all the cowboys were needed +for this, a sufficient number were told off by Billee, and the +remainder, including the boy ranchers, made better speed back to +headquarters. + +There the news of the successful chase after the rustlers was received +with satisfaction, and Mr. Merkel said he hoped it would be a lesson to +other thieves. + +"I wish we could give the same sort of lesson to any sheep herders that +might be around here," remarked Bud. + +"That's so," said his father. "And perhaps you'd better be getting +back to Spur Creek. No telling what might have happened while you've +been away. We didn't leave anyone on guard." + +"I don't know as it was necessary," said Bud. "But, all the same, we'd +better get back." + +They made the start early the next morning--the boy ranchers, with +Yellin' Kid and Snake, and there was the promise of more cowboys to +help them hold the "fort" should it be considered necessary. + +"Well, everything seems to be all right," remarked Bud as he and his +party rode up to the shack on the edge of the stream. "No signs of the +sheep yet." + +"And no smell, either," chuckled Yellin' Kid, as he sniffed the air. + +"It takes the perfesser for that!" said Snake with a laugh. + +"I wonder what Professor Wright is doing?" said Nort. + +"Oh, digging up a lot of old bones, I reckon," Bud answered. "But +let's get grub and rest. I'm tired." + +The events of the past few days had been strenuous enough to make them +all welcome a period of rest. And they had it, for a few hours. And +then something occurred to start a series of happenings that lasted and +created excitement for some time. + +It was toward the middle of the afternoon when Nort, who had gone down +the stream a little way, looked across Spur Creek and saw hanging in +the hazy air a cloud of dust. + +"Wonder if that's a wind storm," he mused. But as there was not a sign +of vapor in the clear blue sky he gave up that theory. "Guess I'd +better let 'em know," he thought, turning back toward the fort. + +And when the others came out to look at the cloud of dust, on the +Mexican side of the river--a cloud which had grown larger--Bud +exclaimed: + +"Sheep, I'll bet a hat!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE SHEEP ARRIVE + +Among the saddles, horse-gear, weapons, grub and other equipment that +had been put in the fort at Spur Creek was a telescope. Remembering +this, Bud rushed in to get it, while his companions stood in front of +the place, gazing across the stream at the ever-increasing cloud of +dust. + +"Something's comin' on, anyhow," observed Yellin' Kid. + +"Can't be cattle," remarked Snake Purdee. "They ain't spread out +enough for cattle." + +This was one way of telling, for, as the cowboy said, cattle, meaning +by that steers or a herd of grazing horses, separate much more than do +sheep, which stick in a bunch as they feed. Still there was no being +certain of it until Bud should take an observation through the glass. + +"Might be another bunch of Greasers--or rustlers," said Snake, musingly. + +"There's plenty of both kinds down there," agreed Nort, with a wave of +his hand in the general direction of Mexico, the border of which +misruled, unhappy and greatly-misunderstood country was not far away. + +Bud came running out with the telescope, pulling shiny brass lengths to +their limit before focusing it. + +"We'll soon tell now," he said, as he raised the objective glass and +pointed it at the cloud of dust, while he squinted through the +eye-piece. A moment later, after he had made a better adjustment of +the focus, he cried: "It's sheep all right! A big bunch of 'em!" + +"Any men with 'em? No, I shouldn't call 'em men," hastily corrected +Dick. "No decent man would raise sheep." + +In this, of course, he was wrong. Sheep are needful and many a rancher +is making a fortune out of them, but at this time, and in this part of +the west, a sheep herder was despised and hated by his fellows. + +"Yes, there's a bunch of Greasers or some one hazin' 'em on," reported +Bud. "Here, Kid, take a look," and he passed the glass to the older +cowboy. + +The latter could but confirm what Bud had seen and then, in turn, the +other three had a look through the telescope, which brought the details +of the oncoming herd of "woollies" startlingly near. + +"Well, what we goin' to do about it?" asked Yellin' Kid, after they had +made sure the sheep were headed toward the east bank of Spur Creek. + +"We're going to stop 'em from coming over here," declared Bud +determinedly. + +"Maybe they don't intend to come," suggested Nort. + +"What are they heading this way for, then?" demanded his cousin. + +"To get better pasture." + +"Well, what pasture there is on that side of Spur Creek won't last the +sheep very long!" exclaimed Snake Purdee. "They'll be over here in a +couple of days at the most. Reckon they think they have a right to +this range." + +"Which they haven't," said Bud, "though how dad is going to prove his +claim, with the papers gone, I don't see." + +"We'll prove it with force--that's what we'll do!" shouted Yellin' Kid. +"That's what we're here for. That's what we got our guns for!" and +significantly he tapped the one on his hip. + +"Yes, I reckon we'll have to fight," conceded Bud with a half sigh. He +was not afraid, but he knew in a fight some would be hurt and perhaps +more than one killed. And this was not as it ought to be. Still with +each side standing on what it considered its rights, what else could be +expected? + +"How many Greasers they got?" asked Yellin' Kid, after a pause, during +which Bud took another observation through the glass. + +The boy rancher looked, seemed to be counting and then, as he lowered +the glass from his eye, he answered: + +"There's a dozen of 'em!" + +Significantly Nort silently, but obviously, counted those of his own +party. There were but five, for some of the cowboys had been left at +Diamond X after the defeat of the rustlers. + +"We'd better let your dad know--what say?" asked Kid of Bud. + +"I think so--yes. And he'd better send out a few more men. We don't +want to take any chances." + +This was considered a wise move. But before going in to telephone to +his father--for that was the most rapid method of letting him know the +situation so he could send help--before going to the instrument Bud +asked: + +"Say, I'm wondering how, if those fellows intend to take this open +range pasture--how are they going to get their sheep over?" + +"You mean over the river?" asked Nort. + +"Yes. How they going to get the animals across so they can feed on +this side?" + +For a moment no one answered, then Yellin' Kid replied: + +"Why, they'll just naturally haze 'em over; that's all." + +"You mean drive 'em through the creek?" asked Bud. + +"Sure." + +"The water's too deep." + +"Maybe there's a ford," suggested Kid. + +Bud shook his head. + +"I tried to find one for my horse the other day," he said. "I thought +I had but it was a quicksand and I was glad enough to get out without +being stuck. There's no ford now for miles up and down the Creek from +here--that is, none that I know of, especially not since high water." + +For the level of Spur Creek had risen in the last few days, since the +professor crossed, caused, it was learned later, by the diversion into +the creek of a larger stream by some irrigation plan company further +north. + +"Well, if they can't make the sheep wade over they can swim 'em, can't +they?" asked Dick. + +"'Tisn't so easy to make sheep swim," declared Yellin' Kid with a shake +of his head. "Sheep are scary critters at best. You might get them in +the water if you had a good leader, but if I was a sheep man--which I +never hope to be--I'd think twice 'fore I'd float 'em across a stream, +'specially if it had quicksands in." + +"Well, this has," affirmed Bud. "They come and go, the quicksands. +They weren't here the other day but they're here now." + +"Maybe they're going to ferry 'em across," suggested Nort. + +"Where they going to get boats?" asked Snake, and that seemed to +dispose of this question. + +"Though maybe they carry collapsible craft," suggested Dick, but this, +of course, was not reasonable or practical. + +"No," said Bud, "they either know some way of getting the sheep over +here, or else they aren't going to cross." + +"They'll cross all right," asserted Snake. "Better let your father +know how matters are," he suggested. + +Bud went in to ring the home ranch up on the telephone, but he had no +sooner given a few turns to the crank--for this was the old-style +instrument--than he called out: + +"Telephone wire is cut!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A BATTLE OF WITS + +This news came as a distinct shock not only to Bud, who discovered it, +but to the others of his party. + +"Are you sure it's cut?" asked Nort, hurrying into the shack after his +cousin, who had come to the door to make the announcement. + +"Well, it's dead, anyhow," Bud answered. "I can't raise Diamond X. +And it sounds as if it were cut. Or, rather, it doesn't sound at all. +It's just dead." + +"Maybe the battery's given out, or there's a loose connection +somewhere," suggested Dick. "Let's take a look. I know a little about +telephones." + +They tested the battery, to find that it was sufficiently strong to +have transmitted signals provided everything else was in working order. + +But this remained to be seen. However, as the boys made test after +test, in their limited way, they came ever nearer to the conclusion +that the wire was, indeed, cut. For no answer came to the repeated +turnings of the crank, though Bud did succeed in making his own bell +ring. The reason for his first failure had been a loose wire +connection, which Dick remedied. + +But, even after this, no answer came to the repeated turnings of the +crank. + +"Well, we've got to find the break and mend it!" declared Bud, +following several unsuccessful trials to get into communication with +the home ranch. + +"'Tisn't cut right around here," said Nort, who went out to take a look +at the thin length of wire, strung on makeshift poles, that formed a +connecting link between the fort at Spur Creek and the home ranch of +Diamond X. "I can trace the wire as far as I can see it." + +"No, 'tisn't likely they'd cut it so near the shack, for we'd spot that +first thing," said Bud. "We'll have to trace it, that's all. I'll get +my horse." + +"Are we all going?" Yellin' Kid wanted to know. "What about the +sheep?" and he waved his hand toward the ever-nearing cloud of dust +which floated over the backs of thousands of sharp-hoofed animals. + +"Oh, that's so!" exclaimed Bud. "Somebody's got to stay here." + +"Reckon Snake and I can handle whatever comes up here," said Yellin' +Kid grimly, as he tapped his gun. "They won't get here for half a day, +anyhow, and by then it'll be night. They can't do anything after dark, +and two men will be plenty here." + +This seemed reasonable enough, and after talking over plans this one +was decided on. + +Bud and Dick, the latter knowing most about telephones, would ride +along looking for the break, and would try to mend it. Meanwhile Nort +would ride on to Diamond X ranch, since it was important to let Mr. +Merkel know what was about to happen--that the dreaded sheep had come +and might soon overrun the open range he claimed as his own property. +Also help was needed--more cowboys to hold the fort--and it was risky +to depend on the broken telephone for summoning them. + +So Nort was intrusted with the work of carrying the unwelcome news and +of bringing up reinforcements. + +Meanwhile Bud and Dick would do their best to find and repair the +break, and Snake and Yellin' Kid would be on guard at Spur Creek. As +Kid had said, there was little danger of the sheep men bringing up +their woolly charges before dark, and after that not much could be done +in the way of crossing the river, if, as Bud had said, there was no +ford at this place, and the danger of quicksands further to keep +unwelcome visitors on the Mexican side of the stream. + +"Well, I'll see you when I get back," remarked Nort as he rode off with +a wave of his hand to his brother cousin and the two remaining cowboys. + +"Think you'll make it to-night?" asked Dick. + +"I don't see why I can't," was the answer. "If there's going to be a +fight in the morning you'll want help here. And if the other boys ride +back from Diamond X I'll be with 'em." + +"Oh, the boys will be ridin' back all right, as soon as they hear +there's a prospect of a fight!" chuckled Kid. + +"You said it!" added Snake. + +Pausing to watch Nort ride off on his mission of carrying news and +summoning help, and taking another look at the still approaching cloud +of dust that betokened the flock of sheep, Bud and Dick rode along the +back trail, following the telephone line. + +As has been said, the wire was not cut near the cabin. It could be +seen, a tiny line against the clear, blue sky, stretching its slender +length on top of the poles. + +"They were too cute to cut it near the shack. They figured we wouldn't +notice it for a long time, maybe, and they'd have a chance to get up +closer," said Dick. + +"You mean the sheep herders?" asked Bud. + +"Sure! Who else?" asked his cousin. "You reckon it was them that cut +the wire, don't you?" + +"Don't know's I thought much about it, but, now that I have, why, of +course, they did it," Bud agreed. "Unless it was the cattle rustlers," +he added. + +"You mean the ones we just had a fight with?" + +"That's who." + +"No, I don't reckon they did," Dick remarked. "In the first place we +licked 'em pretty badly. They scattered, I'm sure, and they didn't +head in this direction. And what good would it do 'em just to cut a +wire after we'd gotten the cattle away from 'em?" + +"Oh, general meanness, that's all," answered Bud. + +"They wouldn't do that out of spite and run the risk of being +caught--not after what happened to 'em," declared Dick, and Bud +answered: + +"Well, maybe you're right." + +Then they rode along in silence for a while, making sure, as they +progressed, that they did not pass a break in the telephone line. The +thin copper conductor was intact as they could see. + +"They must have gone about half way back--between the creek and our +ranch, and snipped the wire there," said Bud, after a period of silence. + +"I reckon so," agreed Dick. "That would be what we'd do if we had it +to do; wouldn't we?" + +"Why?" + +"Because we'd want the break to come as far away as possible from +either end, to make it take longer to find and mend it." + +"That's right, Dick. I never thought of that. Then there isn't really +much use looking along here. We might as well ride fast to a point +about half way. We'll find the break there." + +"No, we don't want to do that, Bud. We'll just ride along as we have +been going, and we'll look at every foot of wire." + +"But I thought you said----" + +"I said if we had to cut an enemy's telephone line, we'd probably do it +about half way between the two main points. But we can't take any +chances. These fellows may have reasoned that we'd think they cut it +half way, and, just to fool us, they may have gone only a quarter way." + +"Oh, shucks! If you think onery sheep herders have brains to do any of +that sort of reasoning, you're 'way off, Dick!" + +"Well, maybe I am, but we won't take any chances. We'll inspect every +foot until we come to the break." + +And this plan was followed. + +It was not until after they had ridden several miles that they saw, +dangling between two poles, the severed ends of the wire. + +"There it is!" cried Dick. + +"Good! I mean I'm glad we've found it!" voiced Bud. "It may be all +sorts of bad luck that it's cut. For they may have figured that we'd +divide forces to mend the break, and they may take this chance to rush +Kid and Snake and get possession of the land." + +"I don't think so," remarked Dick as he dismounted to approach the pole +and look at the severed wire. "Those sheep can't travel as fast as +that, and we'll have reinforcements at the fort when they try to cross +Spur Creek." + +"But they may send a bunch of Greasers on ahead of the woollies," +objected Bud. + +To this Dick did not answer. He was busy looking at the end of the +dangling wire. + +"Is it cut or broken?" asked Bud, for there was the possibility of an +accident having happened. + +"Cut," was the answer. + +"What you going to do?" + +"Splice it," was the answer. "That's all I can do now. I brought some +extra wire along." + +Not pausing to climb the pole and re-string the cut wire, which plainly +showed marks of cutting pliers, Dick simply connected one severed end +with the other, using a piece of copper he had brought from the shack +for this purpose. + +"Too bad we haven't one of those portable sets so we could cut in and +see if everything was working," observed Bud, when the break was mended. + +"Yes," agreed Dick. "We'll have to wait until we get back to the fort +to make a test and see if we can talk." + +"It's nearer to go on to our ranch," said Bud. For the break in the +wire had been discovered more than half way to Diamond X. + +"Yes, it's nearer, but we can't take any chances," objected Dick. "We +may be needed to help Snake and Kid." + +"That's so," agreed Bud. "I forgot about that. We'll go back to the +fort and see if we can call up the ranch." + +They made better time on the return trip, for they did not have to ride +slowly along looking for a break in the wire. On the way they +speculated as to what might have happened during their absence in +chasing the cattle rustlers. + +"All we're sure of is that they cut the telephone wire," said Bud. + +"But there's no telling what they may have laid plans for," added Dick. +"I guess those sheep men are smarter than we gave them credit for." + +"It does seem so," admitted Bud. "We'll have to match our wits against +theirs when it comes to a show-down--seeing who's going to keep this +rich grazing land." + +"One thing in our favor is that we're in possession," said Dick, as he +patted his pony's neck. + +"But one thing against us--or against dad, which is the same thing," +said Bud, "is that his papers proving possession are stolen. And these +sheep men seem to know that." + +"Yes," agreed Dick, "they seem to know it all right." + +They returned to the fort on the bank of Spur Creek just before dark, +and, to their delight, found the telephone in working order. For the +ranch had called the cabin, Mr. Merkel wanting to know how matters were +at Spur Creek. + +He complained of having tried several times to get into communication +with the fort, and he had guessed there was a broken wire but he had +not suspected it was cut. Then, when he tried again, he found +communication restored. This, of course, was after Dick and Bud had +found and mended the break. + +Nort had not yet reached the ranch at the time his father finally found +the telephone working. But the need of help was told of over the +restored wire, and several cowboys were at once dispatched, not waiting +for the arrival of Nort. + +"I'll send Nort back to you as soon as he gets here," promised Mr. +Merkel. + +These matters having been disposed of, Bud and Dick had a chance to ask +what had transpired at the fort since they left. + +"Jest nothin'--that's all," answered Snake. + +"But I think there's goin' t' be somethin' doin' right shortly," +observed Yellin' Kid. + +"What makes you think so?" asked Bud. + +In answer the cowboy pointed across the river. The cloud of dust had +settled, revealing more plainly now thousands of sheep. And as the +defenders of the fort watched they saw, separating from the sheep, a +number of men who approached the Mexican bank of the stream. + +What were they going to do? + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +STRANGE ACTIONS + +Until there was what in law is termed an "overt act," the boy ranchers +and their friends could do nothing against the sheep herders who were +there in plain sight, with their woolly charges on the far side of Spur +Creek. "Overt act" is a law term, and practically means an open act as +distinguished from one that is done in secret and under cover. + +Thus if the sheep herders should openly attempt to cross the creek, and +drive their animals up on Mr. Merkel's land--or land which he +claimed--then Bud and his associates could proceed against them, +driving them off--"repelling boarders," as Dick expressed it, having in +mind some of his favorite pirate tales. + +But until the sheep men had done something--had committed an overt +act--they could not be molested as long as they remained where they +were. + +"It's like this," explained Bud, for his father had made matters plain +to him over the mended telephone line. "We got to wait until they set +foot on our land--or until some of their onery sheep begin to +nibble--and then we can start something." + +"What, for instance?" asked Dick. + +"Well, we can order 'em off--that is, order the Greasers off," replied +Bud. "Not much use talking to sheep, I reckon." + +"Nor to a Greaser, either," murmured Snake. "One is about as bright +and smart as the other." + +"Anyhow," resumed Bud, "we can't do anything until they start +something." + +"Not even if we know they're going to do it?" asked another of the +cowboys who, meanwhile, had arrived from Diamond X ready for a fight. + +"Not even then," answered Bud. "But once they cross the creek and land +here, then we'll begin," and he looked to his gun. + +"What'll we do with the sheep?" asked the cowboy. There seemed to be +no doubt in the minds of the men as to what they would do with the +Greasers. + +"We'll have to dispose of 'em," said Bud regretfully. "It seems a +pity, too, for the poor things haven't done any harm. But it's either +their lives or those of our cattle. The two can't live on the same +range, and the sheep have no right here." + +"Shoot 'em and drive 'em back into the water if they try to swim +across--is that it?" asked Dick. + +"Yes, but hang it all!" cried Bud, "I hope that doesn't happen. I sure +hate to do it!" + +And to give them credit, the others felt the same way about it. + +Meanwhile the sheep having settled down to a quiet but fast +feeding--which is their characteristic--the actions of the band of +Greaser and Mexican herders who had them in charge was eagerly watched +by the boy ranchers and their friends. + +They saw two horsemen ride down to the bank of the creek at one spot +and urge their steeds in. For a time all seemed to go well, but +suddenly, when a few yards out in the stream one of the Mexicans +frantically called to his companion, who shouted an inquiry as to what +was wrong. + +Something very dangerously wrong seemed to be the trouble, for the +first Mexican was now frantically appealing for help, and a moment +later his companion sent his lariat hissing through the air, the coils +settling around the frightened man who grasped the rope and leaped into +the creek. + +But the horse remained in the water, though the animal was wildly +struggling to turn and go back to the southern shore, along which the +sheep were feeding, some of them slaking their thirst in Spur Creek. + +Pulling his companion along by the lariat, the still mounted Mexican +made for the shore he had so recently quitted, leaving the lone horse +to struggle by itself. + +"What does that mean?" cried Dick. + +"Quicksands--just what I told you about," answered Bud. "There are a +lot of places where the bed of the creek is pitted with quick sands, +and this Greaser struck one." + +"One did and the other didn't," observed Snake, for it was evident that +the rider who had used his lariat had found firm footing for his steed. + +"That's it," Bud explained. "You can't tell where the sands are and +where they aren't. I happen to know some places that are free," he +went on, "but, even there the water is too deep for the sheep to get +across, on account of the current." + +The two Mexicans, one on his horse and the other swimming at the end of +the lariat, had reached the shore they so recently quitted, on what +object could only be guessed. Then there was very evidently a +conference among the sheep herders during which the excited men who had +taken part in the adventure pointed to the spot where the horse was +struggling. + +"I hope they aren't going to leave that poor brute to suffer," murmured +Yellin' Kid, his voice low for one of the few times in his career. + +But it was evident that whatever were the faults of the sheep herders +they did not number among them too much cruelty to a horse. For when +it was evident that the animal could not free himself, a number of the +Greasers rode as close as was safe, and tossed their lariats about the +animal's neck. Then they began pulling. + +But the quicksands had too firm a grip on the animal's legs. He had +sunk lower in the stream, and his struggles were less, simply because +he was now so nearly engulfed in the powerful suction of the +water-soaked and ever-shifting sands. + +"They'll never get him out,' said Dick. + +"Have to pull his poor head off if they do," agreed Bud. + +And this was so evident that the Mexican sheep herders soon gave up the +attempt. They dared not even go close enough to the horse to release +their ropes, but, casting them off from their saddle horns, had to see +them sink down in the quicksands with the poor beast. + +For this is what happened. The unfortunate animal, unable to extricate +himself from the terrible grip of the sands, being too firmly held to +permit of being dragged out, sank lower and lower. The water came half +way up his sides. It closed over his back, but still his head was free. + +With all his power the brute struggled, but with four legs gripped he +could do little more than shudder convulsively. Then as the waters +came closer and closer to his head, caused by the fact that the horse +was sinking lower and lower in the soft sand, the beast gave a terrible +cry--terrible in its agony. + +A moment later it was gone from sight forever. + +A hush fell upon the assemblage of cowboys in front of the Spur Creek +fort of Diamond X ranch. And a hush, no less, came over the bunch of +Mexican sheep herders on the far side of the stream. But that the man +could leap off and swim to shore, aided by his companion's lariat, the +fate of the horse in the quicksands might have been his fate. + +"What's going on?" asked a voice behind Bud and Dick. + +They turned quickly to behold Nort, who had ridden back from the ranch +headquarters. + +"What you all looking at?" he asked, for the cowboys were gazing +silently at the spot in the stream where the tragedy had just taken +place. + +They informed Nort in a few words. + +"Well," he remarked, "that's the best protection we could have against +the sheep coming over--quicksands in the creek." + +"The only trouble is," said Dick slowly, "that the quicksands are only +in certain places. They can cross safely elsewhere." + +"The point is, though," observed Bud, "that they can only guess at +those places. And, not knowing where they are, may make them stay away +altogether." + +"I hope so, but I don't believe it," remarked Snake. "You'll see they +won't give up so easily." + +Nor did the sheep herders thus forego an attempt to graze their flocks +on the rich pasture claimed by Mr. Merkel. It was too late that day to +attempt anything more. Night settled down, but with an augmented force +of cowboys at the fort the boy ranchers were not apprehensive. + +Tours of duty were arranged, so that two or more cowboys would be on +guard all night. However, the hours of darkness passed with no further +activity on the part of the Mexicans. + +In the morning, however, the forces from Diamond X ranch observed +strange actions on the part of their enemies. + +"What in the world are they up to?" asked Nort, as he and his brother +and cousin looked across the river. + +Well might he ask that. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"WE CROWED TOO SOON!" + +Not only the boy ranchers, but their more experienced cowboy companions +were puzzled by the actions of the sheep herders. It was the period +after the morning meal, the smoke of which fires was still rising +toward the sky. The sheep men appeared to have slept in the open, with +nothing more than their blankets for a bed and their saddles for +pillows. But they were accustomed to this, and so were our friends, +though they were glad of the fairly comfortable bunk house, or "fort," +as they dubbed it. + +But all interest was centered in what the Greasers were doing. Some of +them separated themselves from the sheep, which really did not require +much more attention than that given them by some intelligent dogs, and +a bunch of the hated and despised men were approaching the river, +carrying long poles. + +"What do you reckon they're going to do?" asked Dick. + +"Make a raft, maybe," answered Nort. "Though how they can float a lot +of sheep over on a raft made of a few bean poles is more than I can +understand." + +"It would take them a month or more to float the sheep over, one at a +time, on a bunch of poles," objected Bud. + +"That isn't what they're going to do," declared Dick, after closely +watching the actions of the Mexicans. "They're going to leave, that's +what they're planning." + +"Leave? What do you mean; go away?" asked his brother. + +"That's it--yes. They're going to make those dinguses the Indians use +trailing after their horses--a pole fastened to either side of the +animal, and the ends dragging on the ground. Between the poles they +carry their duffle." + +"Nonsense!" laughed Bud. "In the first place these aren't Indians, +though they're as bad, I reckon. But they didn't come with those pole +trailers; so why would they make 'em to go away with? All they own +they can pack in their hats." + +"I guess you're right," admitted Dick, after thinking it over. "But +they're going to do something." + +They were all watching the Mexicans now. The men with long +poles--which they must have brought with them as none grew in the +vicinity--now closely approached the edge of the creek. They could not +be going to make a raft--the nature of the poles precluded that. + +Then, as one after another of the sheep herders thrust the end of his +pole into the water, wading out a short distance to do this, Bud +uttered an exclamation. + +"I have it!" the lad cried. + +"You mean you're on to the game?" asked Dick. + +"Yes." + +"What is it?" cried the two brothers. + +"They're feeling around to find the places where the quicksands are," +announced Bud. + +"You mean so they can jump in and get rid of themselves?" grimly asked +Snake Purdee. + +"I mean so they can tell where _not_ to cross," said Bud, though this +was unnecessary, since they all grasped his meaning when he spoke of +the quicksands. + +"I guess you're right, son," observed Old Billee, who had come back to +the fort with the return of the cowboys. "They're looking for safe +fords and I shouldn't wonder but what they'd find 'em." + +"I wouldn't be too sure of that," said a tall lank cowboy. + +"What do you mean?" Billee wanted to know. + +"Wa'al, they may find the places where it's safe to cross--I ain't +sayin' but what they is sich places," went on "Lanky," as he was +called, "I know this creek putty well, an' I've crossed it more'n once, +swimmin' a hoss over an' sometimes drivin' cattle. But th' trouble is +sometimes when you find a safe place it doesn't stay safe very long." + +"What do you mean by that?" asked Bud, who thought it his duty to learn +all he could about matters connected with his father's ranch. + +"I reckon he means the quicksands shift--is that it, Lanky?" asked +Billee Dobb. + +"That's it--yep! A place that may be safe to cross to-night may be the +most dangerous in the mornin', or even in less time." + +"Oh, so the creek is going to favor us after all!" exclaimed Bud. "If +it's as treacherous as that it will keep those Greasers on the far +side." + +"Not altogether," said Billee. "They may have just enough fool luck to +strike a safe place and get over here." + +"Well, if they come we'll be ready for 'em!" grimly said Nort, and the +others nodded in accord with this sentiment. + +Then, as there was nothing else to do for the present, they watched the +actions of the Mexicans--actions that were not so strange and +mysterious as they had been before Bud hit upon the right solution. + +And that it was a correct guess no one could doubt who watched the +sheep herders. With their long, thin poles they went up and down the +bank of the stream, thrusting the ends into the mud, or whatever formed +the bottom of Spur Creek. At times, as I have said, the Mexicans would +wade out, perhaps until the water came as high as their middle, in +order to thrust their poles farther out into the stream. But when a +man thus waded another stood near with ready lariat. + +"They're taking no chances on being caught as the horse was," said Nort. + +"Right-o!" exclaimed his brother. + +The sheep men, however, seemed to find so many places where there were +quicksands--or indications of them--in the vicinity of the place just +across from the fort--that they soon moved more than a mile down +stream. That is, some of them did. Others moved up, the party +separating and leaving a few men guarding the sheep. + +"As if we'd cross and try to catch any of the woollies!" laughed Bud, +motioning to those on guard. + +It was late in the afternoon when the survey or test of the creek +seemed to be completed. The two parties with their poles came back to +what might be called the "camp," and a consultation seemed to be taking +place. + +In the still, quiet atmosphere the excited voices carried across the +creek, though what was said could not be made out. + +"They seem to be having a dispute," observed Nort. + +And this was evident. One bunch of the Greasers evidently held to one +opinion, and a minority disagreed. However, in the end the majority +ruled and then, to the surprise of our friends, the Greasers broke +camp, leaped to their saddles, and started driving their flocks back +toward the south, whence they had come. + +For a few moments our friends, watching this move, did not know how to +interpret it. But as it dawned on them that the sheep men were +"pulling up stakes," and departing, Billee cried: + +"We've got the best of 'em, boys! Or, rather, the quicksands worked +for us. They've gone back where they came from." + +"And I hope they stay," sang out Yellin' Kid. + +This was the hope of all, and it seemed likely to be carried out. As +night settled down, the mass of sheep and their herders grew more and +more indistinct as greater distance was put between them and those +holding the fort. + +"Well, we'll wait a day or so to see if they don't come back," said +Billee, "and then we'll mosey to Diamond X. There's a pile of work +waitin' for us there." + +"And we'd like to get back to Happy Valley," observed Bud. + +"That's right," agreed Nort and Dick. + +For the first time since the alarm about the sheep men rest was easier +in the fort that night. The danger appeared to be disappearing. The +treacherous nature of Spur Creek, with its shifting bottom of +quicksands--that might be here one day and a mile farther off the +next--had served our friends a good turn. + +At least it seemed so, until the next morning. Then, as Billee Dobb +arose early and, as was his custom, went out for a before-breakfast +survey, he uttered a cry. + +"What's the matter?" asked Bud, coming to the door of the fort. + +"We crowed too soon, that's what's the matter," answered Billee. "We +crowed too soon!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +SKIRMISHES + +Bud did not need an interpreter to understand what the old cow puncher +meant. If he had been at all doubtful, a glance toward where Billee +pointed would have solved the mystery. + +For, some miles down the creek was a cloud of dust, and, not only a +cloud of dust, but that which caused the haze--the sheep and their +herders. + +"They've come back!" cried Bud. "And just where we didn't expect 'em." + +"'Twould have been mighty poor policy on their part to come back where +we did expect 'em," dryly observed Billee. "It was their game to fool +us, and they did it." + +"Then it was all a trick!" cried Bud. + +"Reckon it was," agreed Billee with a grin, as Nort, Dick and the +others strolled out in readiness for breakfast. + +"That poling of the river was all a bluff," said Nort. + +"Oh, not exactly," declared Billee. "They used the poles to try to +find a place free from quicksands. Not findin' it opposite our fort, +they decided to try farther down. Then some smart Aleck among 'em--an' +we got to give 'em credit for it--thought of makin' it look as though +they were givin' up--retreatin', so to speak. + +"That's the way it looked to us, and we crowed too soon, jest as I said +a minute ago. They kept on goin', circled around an' now there they +are, ready to cross Spur Creek farther away." + +"But we can stop 'em there, same as we could here," said Dick. + +"Yes, but we got to move our base of supplies an' that takes time," +said Billee. "An' while we're doin' that they may make a +crossin'--that is, if they can avoid the quicksands. They may even +find a ford down there, so the sheep can walk over without havin' to +swim." In his excitement Billee dropped most of his final g's, and +clipped his other words. + +"There is a ford there," declared Lanky, the tall, thin cowboy. + +"Any quicksands?" Nort wanted to know. + +"That I can't say. The sands shift so you can't tell where they are." + +"Well, there's only one thing to do," declared Bud. "Some of us have +got to go down there and stop 'em from crossing. This is the first +skirmish of the fight." + +"We'll come with you," offered Nort and Dick. + +"Hold on a minute--don't be rash," counseled Old Billee. "It'll take +more'n you three lads to stop them Greasers and the sheep." + +"Well, we're under your orders," Bud admitted, saluting the veteran. + +"Well then, you three go," advised Billee, "and Snake and Kid will go +with you. We'll bring some grub down to you." + +For it might be too late to wait until after breakfast, simple as that +meal was, and as quickly served as it could be. There was no time to +be lost. Bud and his boy-rancher cousins realized this. + +Soon they were in their saddles, riding down the creek toward where the +sheep had been herded together on the southern side of the stream. +There were the same bunch of Greasers--the boys easily picked out and +recognized certain characters, even across the creek, which was wider +here and more shallow. + +If Bud and the others expected to engage in a sharp fight as soon as +they reached the scene, they were disappointed. True, the sheep +herders became aware of their arrival, and there was some talk, and not +a little excitement, among the Greasers. But there were no hostile +acts, and no attempt was made to drive over any sheep. + +"I wonder if there is a ford here?" said Yellin' Kid. + +"I reckon there is," said Snake Purdee. "You can see where it has been +used," and he pointed to marks on their bank of the stream. + +"They either know about this place, or they've made some tests and are +satisfied that it's safe," declared Bud. + +"But if what Lanky says is true, though it may have been safe early +this morning, it might not be safe now," said Dick. + +"That's true, but I think they'll take a chance," Bud declared. "There +isn't fodder enough on that side to last the sheep very long." + +This was perfectly true, and it was evident that the herders would +endeavor to get their woolly charges on the other side of the stream as +soon as possible, to take advantage of the rich grazing on the open +range, newly made available to all comers. + +"But I thought when the government opened new land it could only be +taken by citizens, or those about to become citizens," questioned Dick, +when, as they watched the sheep herders, they talked over the situation. + +"That is the law," said Bud. "But down here you'll find the law +doesn't amount to much when a man wants a thing. He generally goes and +gets it, and thinks about the law afterward. That's why Dad has to do +what he is doing. If the law was as tight here as it is in the east, +he could get out an injunction, or something, against these herders, +and stand them off until he could find his papers proving his claim." + +"Think he'll ever find 'em?" asked Nort. + +Bud shook his head. + +"It's hard telling," he answered. + +Meanwhile there appeared to be "nothing doing" among the sheep herders. +They had gathered their flocks together and were making a rough camp, +as if they intended to stay for some time. + +Then, about an hour later, Billee arrived with a couple of his cowboys, +bringing food for Bud and his comrades--food that was greatly +appreciated, for it was a long time since supper the night before. + +The boy ranchers ate and waited. Still there was no action on the part +of the Greasers. They appeared content to wait for something to "turn +up," as Mr. Micawber would say. + +"What are we going to do when they start to cross?" asked Nort. + +"That's so--we'd better make a plan," added Dick. + +"Shall we fire at the men, their horses or the sheep?" Bud wanted to +know. + +"Fire at everything and everybody!" decided Snake vindictively. "We've +got to break up the first rush." + +"And yet it seems too bad to kill innocent animals," went on Bud. "Do +you know, I have an idea!" he cried. + +"No? Really?" asked Dick with a playful attempt at sarcasm. + +"Sure I have," Bud went on. "What we want to do is to drive them back, +isn't if?" + +"That's it," said Billee. "We not only want to drive 'em back, but we +want to discourage 'em from coming over again." + +"Then I think I know what will do the trick!" went on Bud. "It won't +be powder and bullets, either," he added. "We won't have to kill +anything or anybody." + +"How you going to do it?" asked Snake, a bit skeptical. + +"I'll show you," said Bud. "Wait until I make one." + +His companions wondered what his scheme might be. The older cowboys +were great believers in the efficacy of the .45, and they had their +guns ready. + +But Bud busied himself with some things he took from a bundle he +carried on his saddle. Dick and Nort saw their cousin had some strong +rubber bands, bits of cord, squares of leather and a Y-shaped branch he +cut from a cottonwood tree. + +"Say, are you making a sling shot?" asked Dick. + +"That's just what I'm making," answered Bud. "If we each have a +slingshot, and a supply of stones, I think we can turn the Greasers and +their horses, as well as the sheep back without killing any of 'em!" + +For a moment they regarded Bud in silence. Then Nort cried: + +"I believe it'll work!" + +And as Bud finished his sling shot and sent a stone zipping into the +creek with a vicious "ping!" Billee cried: + +"That's the best trick yet. I think it'll work! I hated to shoot to +kill, but I didn't see any way out of it. Now we can sting 'em enough +with stones to turn 'em, especially as they'll be in the water. Bud, I +think it'll work." + +"I don't want to throw a monkey wrench in the gears," said Snake +softly, "but it 'pears to me that while we're shootin' harmless stones +they'll be firin' real bullets. An' where will we be then?" + +"We don't run any more risks than if we were firing bullets, too," said +Bud. "And I think with them having to guide their horses in the water, +look out for quicksands and drive the frightened sheep over, we can +demoralize 'em with these slingshots." + +"Sure you can!" cried Billee Dobb. "Come on," he ordered. "Every man +make a slinger. It's like the old Bible story of David and Goliath. +But how'd you happen to have those rubber bands, Bud?" + +"Oh, I got 'em to make a model airship," the boy confessed, "but I +didn't find time. I've been lugging 'em around this last week. Now +they'll come in handy." + +In a short time each cowboy had made himself a slingshot, of the style +you boys have, doubtless, often constructed. With strong rubber bands +they send a stone with great force. + +The slingshots were no sooner made, and a supply of ammunition secured +from the edge of the creek, than an unusual movement was observed among +the sheep herders. Some of them separated from the main body, and +began driving a flock of the lambs, rams and ewes toward the creek. + +"Ready for the first skirmish!" cried Old Billee. + +"Let her come!" sang out Yellin' Kid. + +Nearer to the edge of Spur Creek approached the sheep herders. The +animals bleated and tried to turn back, but the dogs barked at them and +snapping whips whirled viciously over their backs. Then, too, they +were urged on with horses at their heels. + +"They're coming right over," said Dick to his brother and cousin, the +three boy ranchers being close together. + +"And not one of 'em has a gun out," added Bud. "I reckon they are +making this a sort of test so they can claim we fired on 'em first if +it comes up in a law court. Well, we aren't exactly _firing_ at 'em," +he chuckled. "We're just _stoning_ 'em." + +"And we'd better begin to stone!" cried Nort. + +He drew back the strong rubber bands of his sling. In the leather +piece was a round pebble. Nort took aim at one of the approaching +Mexicans. + +The skirmishing was about to begin. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +OPEN WARFARE + +"Zip!" a stone from Nort's sling cut the air with a vicious ping, and +not only that, but it caught one of the Greasers on the side of his +head. He uttered a cry, dropped his reins and clapped a hand to the +smarting place. + +Another instant and he had lost control of his horse, which first swam +down stream and then turned to go back to the shore he had left. One +reason for this was that Nort had let fly a stone that took the horse +on the flank. And Nort was careful not to shoot as hard at the horse +as he had at the rider. In fact the horse was not hurt at all--merely +frightened, for the stone was like a fly-bite. + +But it was enough. + +Meanwhile the other defenders of Spur Creek had been using their slings +to advantage, first stinging the Greaser riders with vicious stones and +then, more lightly, tapping the horses to demoralize them rather than +to hurt them. + +This sort of warfare proved most effective, for by turning the horses +and sending them back, in spite of all the efforts of their riders, the +forces of the sheep herders were thrown into confusion. + +And this, really, was the object of Bud and his companions. They did +not want to kill so much as a single sheep. All they desired was to +keep inviolate the land rightfully owned by Mr. Merkel. And he felt +that he still owned it, in spite of the action of the United States +Congress, and even though his papers had been stolen. + +In this initial skirmish, which soon developed into a fight, the +advantage, at first, was all on the side of the Diamond X force as the +Greasers did not fight back. Some of them carried guns, but did not +draw them. + +It might be reasoned that they wanted to go into court with "clean +hands," as the legal term is. That is, they could claim they were +fired upon when attempting to make a peaceable crossing of the creek in +order to pasture their sheep on the new government open range land. +One part of their contention might be true, but the one implying that +Mr. Merkel's land could be taken by any chance comer, was not true. + +At any rate, first along, the Mexicans did not fire back. Meanwhile +Bud and his comrades were fairly peppering the Greasers with stones +from the rubber slings. No one was badly hurt--indeed, bruised faces +and hands were about the only injuries, but if you have ever faced a +fusilade from a battery of putty blowers or bean shooters you know how +disconcerting it is. + +Then, too, the horses proved allies of our friends. For the light +"peppering" the animals received from the slings made the animals +nervous and disinclined to face the shower of stones. + +Some few sheep were driven into the stream, and it was evident that, +for the present at least, this was a good crossing--shallow enough and +with no quicksands. But once the sheep began to hear and see the +stones "zipping" in the water around them, some of the woollies feeling +the pebbles--though only slightly--a new problem was presented to the +Mexicans. Their sheep, like the horses, turned about and made for the +southern shore. + +So that, in less than five minutes after the attempt to make the +crossing was started, it had failed, and the hostile forces withdrew. + +"Guess we made it too hot for them," chuckled Bud. + +"For a while, yes," agreed Nort. "But it isn't over yet." + +"No," added his brother. "If they give up now I miss my guess. +They'll try again." + +And so the Greasers did. + +Withdrawing to a safe distance from the slings--which could only just +about carry across Spur Creek, a conference was held among the sheep +herders. Then they came on again, trying in the same place. + +But Bud and his friends were ready, with an unlimited supply of +ammunition. Stones were plentiful along the creek, and each cowboy had +his pockets full. + +One advantage of the sling shots was that they could be "loaded and +fired" much more rapidly than the guns--by which I mean the .45 +revolvers. And of course on humanitarian grounds there was no +comparison--no one was killed or even severely wounded by the stones. +They were only painfully hurt. + +But this was part of the game. It was open warfare and had to be +endured. Besides, from the standpoint of Bud and his comrades, they +were in the right and the sheep herders were in the wrong. + +I have no doubt but that the herders of the sheep reasoned just the +other way--holding that they had a right to cross the creek and pasture +their charges on the rich grass beyond, and arguing that the Diamond X +outfit was in the wrong. + +And in this conflict lies my story, such as it is. + +After the third attempt to cross the creek with their sheep, being +driven back each time, the Mexicans seemed to lose patience. There +were angry voices as most of the Greasers gathered about one man who +seemed to be their leader, and who had, it was evident, counseled +pacific measures. Now these came to an end. + +For on the "fourth down," as Dick laughingly referred to it, the +Greasers began shooting bullets as they rode their horses into the +stream. + +"Now it's a fight in earnest!" cried Bud. + +"Draw your guns!" ordered Billee sternly. + +The real battle was about to open. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE FLAG OF TRUCE + +The advantage in the fight was on the side of the Diamond X outfit, +even though it was outnumbered. For the Greaser sheep herders nearly +doubled the force of the cowboys. But this, in itself, was not such a +handicap as would at first appear. + +Naturally any cowboy held himself more than a match for any two +Greasers, and if this were not enough, the sheep men had the +disadvantage of having to cross a stream in the face of fire. This is +always likely to result in disaster, even in more modern warfare than +that which I am writing about. There are several reasons for this, +whether the attacking party, crossing the stream, is afoot or on horses. + +Progress through water is always slow. If you have ever tried to run +while wading in a millpond or at the stream adjacent to the "old +swimming hole," you realize what I mean. It is easier to swim than to +run through water, even where it is not very deep. The same holds true +for horses. And to attempt to swim was out of the question, for the +Greasers, as they must keep their guns out of water. + +The only thing for them to do was to start their horses across, with +the men in the saddles. And the Mexicans probably knew, from a test, +that the water was not deep enough to sweep the animals off their legs. + +So then, with the handicap of rushing water against them, the horses +could not make much progress, and, while crossing, the enemy force +would be subject to the fire of the boy ranchers and the cowboys from +Diamond X ranch. + +"Well, boys, I guess we'll have to let 'em have it," said Billee +regretfully as he saw the advancing sheep men. Nearly all the Greaser +force was concentrated on crossing Spur Creek, only a few being left in +charge of the animals. "But shoot at the horses first," advised +Billee. "I hate to do it, but it's better to have the killing of a +horse on your mind than the murder of a man. Though this isn't +murder--defending your property against a band of thieves. So shoot at +the horses first!" + +This, cruel as it may sound, had to be done. It was a case of the +lives of the animals or the lives of our friends. For it could not be +doubted that, once the Mexicans had gained a footing on the northern +side of the stream, they would drive the defenders away--shooting to +kill if need be--and then the way would be clear for bringing over the +sheep. + +Several shots rang out from the ranks of the cowboys, and there was a +wild flurry and scramble among the horses in the stream. Two of them +were hit and spilled their riders into the creek. But these men +grasped the tail of other horses and kept on. + +"They aren't going to give up easy," murmured Dick. + +"But it's up to us to make 'em," said Bud fiercely. "If they get over +it will be all up with us, for they're twice as many as we are." + +"They shan't get over!" declared Nort. And it was with the same spirit +that the intrepid Frenchman muttered: + +"They shall not pass!" + +If the boy ranchers and their comrades hoped to escape scathless they +were painfully disappointed. For though the sheep herders were under +the handicap of having to cross the stream, manage their frantic horses +and shoot--all at the same time--they managed to do enough of the +latter to wound several of the cowboys, one seriously, as developed +later. + +And, just as Dick was reloading his gun, he gave a cry and the weapon +dropped from his hands. + +"Hit?" cried Bud. + +"A little," Dick answered, and he tried to smile, though it was not a +very good attempt. + +"Get back under cover," advised Nort, for there was cover, of a sort, +behind where the cowboys were fighting, a range of low hills that would +effectually screen the bullets of the Greasers. + +"Oh, it doesn't amount to anything," Dick insisted, holding his left +hand over his right, for it was the latter that was hit. "It's only a +scratch." + +"Well, get a bandage on it and come back in the game--if you can, boy," +advised Billee, who had ridden up on hearing Dick's cry. "We'll look +after it later--when we drive these skunks back where they belong." + +This, from Billee, amounted to an order, and Dick obeyed, wheeling his +horse and taking refuge behind a hill. There, in anticipation of some +casualties, a sort of emergency dressing station had been laid out, +with water, lint and bandages. There was water not only for man but +for beast, since it was impossible to let the horses go to the creek in +the face of the fire from the sheep men. So Dick and his steed drank +thirstily and then Dick bandaged, as best he could, his wounded hand. +It was more than a scratch, being, in fact, a deep flesh wound, but the +bullet had struck a glancing blow and had gone out again, for which +Dick was thankful. + +Meanwhile he could hear the shooting going on at the scene he had left. +The cowboys, riding up and down the bank of the creek on their fleet +horses, offered very poor marks for the indifferent shooting of the +Mexicans, or the casualties on the part of the Diamond X forces would +have been much heavier than it was. Even then several were hit, and +Billee's hat was carried off his head by a bullet, which, if it had +gone a few inches lower, would have ended the career of that versatile +cowboy. + +But the quick and accurate firing of the cowboys was having its effect, +and it was an effect that was telling not only on the morale but on the +fighting ability of the sheep men. For several horses were killed, and +a number of men put out of the game. + +For a few minutes, though, it seemed that, after all, the attackers +would make a landing. But with a burst of furious yells Snake and Kid +led a charge against the foremost of the sheepmen and turned them back. + +They could not stand the withering fire that was poured in on them and +they wheeled their plunging horses in the swirling stream and made for +the opposite shore whence they had come. + +"Hurray!" cried Bud as he saw this. + +"We've got 'em on the run!" shouted Nort. + +Just then Dick rode back to join the fray, having bound up his wounded +hand as best he could unaided. + +"What's doing?" he asked. + +For answer his brother and cousin pointed to the retreating Greasers. + +"Good!" exclaimed Dick. "Do you think they'll come back?" he asked. + +"No telling," remarked Bud. + +"I don't believe we'll have gotten rid of them so easily," was Nort's +opinion. + +There was some confusion now amid the ranks of the sheep men. Those +who were wounded were being cared for, and they all gathered around +what had been their central camp fire. + +"They're debating whether to give up or not," was Snake's view of it. + +And if this was the subject of the talk it ended in a decision not to +give up the fight. For presently another attempt was made to cross the +creek. This time the Greasers divided forces, separating about a +quarter of a mile, and thus necessitating a division in the ranks of +the cowboys. This, of course, made the odds against the Diamond X +outfit rather heavier. + +But again the Greasers were repulsed, with several wounded, though the +same might be said of Old Billee's forces. Again the sheep men +withdrew across the creek. + +Again was there a conference, and then the same tactics were tried as +at first--the main body came directly across the stream. + +But now a new element entered into the battle. For, no sooner had the +fight started for the third time than some of the Mexicans began +driving into the water, at a point perhaps half a mile from the fray, a +flock of sheep. + +"Look at that!" cried Yellin' Kid. + +It was evident that something must be done. It called for another +division of the defending force, now somewhat reduced in numbers +because of injuries. But the crossing of the sheep had to be stopped, +as well as the passage of the armed men. + +And, after a hard struggle, this was accomplished. The sheep were the +easier driven back, for the animals were soon frightened and thrown +into confusion. But the Mexicans themselves were desperate, and some +of them even succeeded in reaching the opposite shore, setting their +horses on Mr. Merkel's land. + +However, there was a fierce rally against them on the part of the +cowboys and they were driven back. + +This was not without desperate work, however, and several on each side +suffered minor injuries. The trouble was that the cowboys held their +enemies too lightly. It was easy, and perhaps natural, for them to +despise the sheep herders. + +But, after all, these were men, and rough and ready men at that. They +had something to fight for--their lives and their charges, and to lose +one was to endanger the other. So, for a time it looked, as Bud said +afterward, "like touch and go," so near was the tide of battle to +turning against the cowboys. + +Both sides were now pretty well exhausted, but the disadvantage of +having to cross the stream still hampered the Greasers. They must have +felt this, for after another consultation among themselves something +new and unexpected happened. + +A lone rider was seen to separate himself from the hated band on the +Mexican side of the creek, and he slowly approached the ford. + +"Watch him!" cried Billee, who had picked up his hat with a hole in the +brim. + +"He's up to some trick!" declared Bud. + +"Shouldn't wonder, son," agreed Billee. + +A moment later they saw what the "trick" was, if such it could be +called. From under his coat the man produced a white flag and waved it +vigorously toward the boy ranchers and their friends. + +"A truce!" cried Bud. "Guess they've had enough!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A LEGAL CONTEST + +Holding the flag of truce above his head with both hands, the better to +indicate that he was unarmed, the man, a bearded Mexican to all +appearances, rode his horse half way across the stream. He was then +within easy talking distance of the cowboys and Old Billee called: + +"That's far enough, Greaser! Stay right where you are and speak your +little piece. Keep him covered, boys," he went on in a low voice to +those around him. + +"Oh, he's covered all right," replied Bud. And, indeed, half a dozen +guns were trained, more or less conspicuously, on the bearer of the +flag of truce. + +"Well, say what you've got to say," ordered Billee grimly. + +"_Senors_, we have had enough of fight--for the time," came from the +herald. + +And at the sound of his voice the boy ranchers, with one accord, +exclaimed: + +"Del Pinzo!" + +"At your service, _senors_," came the mocking retort, and Del Pinzo, +for he it was, smiled, showing his white teeth through his black, +curling beard. It was the beard which had prevented his recognition up +to now. Though there was something vaguely familiar about the actions +of the leader of the sheep men. And he who bore the flag of truce--Del +Pinzo no less--had been the leader in the attempts to cross the creek. + +"Well, what do you want?" demanded Billee. "We might have known it was +some of your dirty work, though I must say you've got a pretty good +false face on with all them whiskers. What do you want?" + +"To cross the creek, of course, _Senor_ Billee, and pasture our sheep +on that land which belongs to us." + +"Belongs to you! How do you make that out?" demanded Bud, unable to +keep still longer. + +"Ah, the young _senor_ speaks," mocked Del Pinzo, smilingly. "Then he +should know that this land has been thrown open to all who may wish to +graze sheep on it." + +"This land was never intended for sheep, Del Pinzo, and you know it!" +cried Billee. "Even if it was, it belongs to Mr. Merkel, though you'll +never see the day he raises sheep--the stinking critters!" + +"You say the land belongs to _Senor_ Merkel?" asked Del Pinzo, lowering +his hands and the flag of truce, perhaps unconsciously. + +"Keep 'em up!" snarled Snake Purdee, and the flag went up again in a +trice. + +"You know this land belongs to Mr. Merkel," went on Billee. + +"Doubtless, then, he can prove it in a court of law," mocked the +half-breed Greaser. + +"Sure he can!" asserted the old cowboy earnestly and with conviction, +though he knew in his heart this was not so. But, as he said +afterward, he wasn't going to let Del Pinzo do all the "bluffing." + +"Then we shall go to law about it," said the Mexican leader. "And we +shall have action against you for shooting at us when we peaceably +tried to cross and pasture our flocks on the open range land that is +given away by the so grand government of the United States." + +"They wouldn't give any to _you_!" cried Billee. "All the land you'll +ever own in the good old U.S.A. will be six feet to hold you after +somebody shoots your head off, as ought to be done long ago. You're +not a citizen and you know it, and you can't claim a foot of land, even +if Mr. Merkel didn't own it!" + +"I claim it not for myself--but for my friends, the so poor sheep +herders," said Del Pinzo, in what he meant for a humble voice. "I but +act as their leader and adviser. I seek nothing for myself." + +"First time I've ever known _that_ to happen!" chuckled Billee. +"You're generally looking out for number one first of all. Well, if +you want to give your friends good advice, tell 'em to go back home and +start making _frijoles_ for a living. They'll never earn their salt +raising sheep--that is, not on this side of Spur Creek." + +"That is to be seen, _Senor_ Billee," mocked Del Pinzo, still smiling. +"Once more I demand of you that we are permit to pass the stream and +let our so hungry sheep feed." + +"And once more I tell you there's nothin' doin'!" snapped Billee. +"Your sheep can starve for all of me!" + +"For the third time I ask and demand that you let us pass," called Del +Pinzo, who seemed to have more patience than Billee, whatever else +might be said in disfavor of the Greaser. + +"And for the third and last time I tell you to take your gang and your +sheep back where they came from!" cried Billee. "Now what are you +going to do--fight?" + +"Yes, _senor_," was the calm answer. "I shall fight, but not no longer +with guns. I fight you in the courts. My friends, they are of +citizens of the United States. They have of a rights to the land and +of their rights I shall see that they get. _Adios!_" + +He bowed courteously--he was a polite villain, I'll say that for +him--and, lowering the flag of truce, he rode back to join his comrades +on the other bank. + +For a time there was silence amid the boy ranchers and their friends, +and then, as movements among the sheep men indicated that they were +getting ready to depart, Bud asked: + +"What do you think is up, Billee?" + +"Wa'al, I think, just as Del Pinzo said, he and those with him have had +enough of powder and lead. Now they'll try the courts. I'm afraid +your father is in for a legal battle, Bud." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +NORT'S PLAN + +Silently the cowboys from Diamond X ranch watched the sheep herders and +their innocent, though undesirable, charges fade away to the south. +The Greasers took their wounded with them, and several spare horses +they had brought along made up for those that regretfully were shot by +the cowboys. + +"I hope we've seen the last of that bunch," remarked Dick, tenderly +feeling of his wounded hand. + +"No such good luck," declared Nort. "Do you really think they mean to +try and get pasturage here, Billee?" he asked. + +"I sure do," replied the veteran. "They can't feed their sheep much +longer on the other side of the creek--they'll have to come here--if +they can." + +"But we stopped 'em," said Snake. + +"Only for a time," said Billee. "As Del Pinzo boasts, now they'll try +the courts." + +"But that Greaser won't have a standing in any decent court," exclaimed +Bud. "He's a jail bird--he isn't even a citizen!" + +"How does it come he is working for the interests of these Greasers, +some of whom may be citizens?" asked Nort. + +"Del Pinzo will do anything by which he can get a dollar or have a +little power," was Billee's opinion. "How he got out of jail I don't +know. Maybe it's by some power over a government official, and maybe +he hopes, by that same hold, to influence the courts against us. +Anyhow, he's out of jail and he's cast his lot in with the sheep men +for his own advantage, you can gamble on that--not theirs. He has +stirred them up to demand certain things which they regard as their +rights under the new law. + +"Well, maybe they are their rights, on land that hasn't already been +claimed, but that doesn't apply here. Your dad owns this land, Bud, +and we're going to see he doesn't lose it by any tricks of Del Pinzo." + +"He seems to have given up his tricks for a time," remarked Bud. + +"But only for a time," added Billee. "He'll have us in court next. +Not that there's an awful lot of law out this section," he said with a +grim smile, "but what there is can be mighty troublesome when you rub +it the wrong way." + +There was nothing more to be done now as long as the sheep men had +departed. Though at that, Billee and his cowboys were not going to be +caught unawares. With all Del Pinzo's talk of applying to the law, he +might be "bluffing." He might seek to draw the defenders away and then +rush back, getting the sheep across the stream. Once on the Diamond X +range it would be hard to dislodge them. + +"And it only takes a few hours of sheep on a pasture to spoil it for +horses," remarked Bud. + +So, fearing treachery, a guard was left at the point where the battle +of the crossing had been fought. The remainder of the cowboys returned +to the "fort," and from there word was sent to Mr. Merkel of what had +occurred. + +"So Del Pinzo will have me in court, will he?" remarked the owner of +Diamond X ranch. "Well, I reckon I won't worry until I see sheep on my +land." + +But for all that, Mr. Merkel could not help wishing his papers had not +been stolen. For though he might, eventually, prove his claim without +them, it meant a delay. And during this delay the other side--the +sheep men--might obtain some legal advantage that would enable them to +take at least temporary possession of the land in dispute. + +And, as Bud had truthfully remarked, only a short occupancy of pasture +by the odorous sheep would spoil the grazing and water for sensitive +cattle and horses. + +For several days after the fight nothing happened. Dick and the +wounded cowboys received medical treatment, and all except one were +soon on the road to recovery. Poor Lanky had received a grievous wound +which eventually caused his death, and he was sincerely mourned. + +Meanwhile Mr. Merkel kept on with his ranch work, and the boys, +visiting Happy Valley, found matters there going well. They were far +enough away not to need to worry about sheep for a time. Then, too, +their papers were safe and in case dispute arose as to ownership the +matter could easily be settled. + +During this comparatively quiet spell, part of which time was utilized +by Mr. Merkel in a vain attempt to discover the missing deeds and other +documents, the boy ranchers paid several visits to the camp of +Professor Wright. That eager scientist was delving away after fossil +bones as enthusiastically as if he had never discovered any. + +"What are you on the track of now?" asked Nort. + +"A Brontotherium," answered the professor. + +"What did he say--a bronco?" asked Bud. "We've got some over at our +place you can have for nothing," he added with a laugh. "They're not +dead yet, though some of the boys who tried to ride 'em wish they were." + +"A Brontotherium," explained Professor Wright, "is an extinct animal, +something like the rhinoceros, but much larger--more than the size of +an elephant, I hope to prove. There are indications that I may find +the bones here." + +"I hope you do," remarked Dick. + +The boys wandered around the camp, and were about to leave the scene of +the digging and excavating when Nort uttered an exclamation. + +"What's the matter?" asked his brother. + +"Look! There's Del Pinzo!" exclaimed Nort, and, surely enough, the +figure of the wily Greaser or half-breed was seen moving among the men +engaged by the professor to help him and his assistant in digging up +fossil bones. + +"You have that rascal again, I see, Professor," said Bud rather coldly. + +"Well, he certainly is a great help," was the answer. "He has great +influence over the Mexican laborers." + +"Too much," grimly remarked Bud. They went away, paying no further +attention to Del Pinzo though he smiled at them in what he doubtless +intended for a genial manner. + +"What do you make of it, Bud?" asked Nort. + +"Of what?" + +"Professor Wright having that rascal with him?" + +"Well," remarked Bud, with as judicial an air as he could assume on +short notice, "you can look at it in two ways." + +"For instance?" suggested Dick, teasingly. "We're in for something +good, now," he whispered to his brother, though not so low but that Bud +could not hear. + +"Well, either Professor Wright knows Del Pinzo is a rascal, and takes +to him in spite of that, or he doesn't know it--though how he can be +ignorant I can't understand," declared Bud. "If he doesn't--he's the +only one who knows the game who thinks Del is any better than a common, +onery horse thief!" + +"Maybe something will happen, soon, to open his eyes," suggested Nort, +as they rode on. + +When they reached the headquarters at Diamond X they found Sheriff Hank +Fowler in earnest conversation with Mr. Merkel. + +"Anything doing, Dad?" asked Bud. + +"Yes. I'm summoned to court to prove my title to the Spur Creek land," +was the answer. "Hank has just served me with the papers." + +"I'm tellin' him he don't need to worry none," said Mr. Fowler, with a +genial grin. "He can easy prove his title." + +"Perhaps not so easy as you think," remarked Mr. Merkel, "since my +papers are missing. If I could only get them back!" + +"And I think I have a plan that will get them back!" suddenly exclaimed +Nort. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +IN DISGUISE + +All eyes were turned on the lad, but he did not seem abashed. + +"What's the idea?" asked Dick, who thought perhaps his brother was +"joshing." + +"It just occurred to me, after I saw Del Pinzo at the professor's +camp," Nort said. "It may sound foolish, but it's worth trying, I +think." + +And when, a little later, he had explained to Mr. Merkel and Sheriff, +they clapped the lad on the back heartily and said: + +"Go ahead! It's worth trying!" + +Nort needed several days to perfect his plans for a daring excursion +into the enemy's country, so to speak. But before he had completed his +arrangements Del Pinzo, through some rascally lawyers, had gotten in +the first blow of the legal battle. + +As Mr. Merkel had said, he was summoned to court to defend his claim to +the rich grazing lands of Spur Creek. If he had had his documents this +would have been comparatively easy, but with the stealing of the deeds +and other papers, the task was harder. + +Of course Mr. Merkel engaged a lawyer, but the first skirmish resulted +in victory for the sheep men. As had been surmised, Del Pinzo did not +directly appear in the matter, though he was in court consulting with +the lawyers engaged by the herders. And, as might have been expected, +some of the claimants to rights under the new open range law were legal +citizens of the United States and, as such, entitled to take up a +certain amount of land. + +"But they have no right to take Mr. Merkel's land!" said the ranchman's +lawyer. "We grant that they have a right to pasture sheep, or even +elephants, for that matter, on land they can rightfully claim. But +they can't claim land already taken up and given over to the pasture of +cattle. We recognize, Your Honor, that to the Court there is no +difference between a sheep and a cow." + +"You are right there," admitted the Judge, "and I suppose you are +prepared, Mr. Bonnett, to substantiate your client's legal claim to +this land by deeds and other papers." + +"Unfortunately my client's deeds are missing," Mr. Bonnett had to +admit, at which admission there was a grin from Del Pinzo, so Bud +thought, at least. "But if we have time we can bring the necessary +papers into court. Therefore we ask for delay." + +"And we oppose delay, for the reason that our sheep are suffering from +lack of fodder and we have a right to pasture them on the Spur Creek +lands!" cried the opposing lawyer. + +"I'll grant a week's postponement," decided the Judge. "If in that +time, Mr. Bonnett, you can not file proof, I'm afraid----" + +He did not finish, but they all knew what he meant. He would be +obliged, in strict law, though perhaps not justice, to let the sheep +men come in on land that Mr. Merkel claimed under rights of former +laws, when he had taken them up after a government opening. + +As has been said, legal matters in this sparsely settled part of the +United States were not as strictly enforced as in large cities. There +the loss of deeds could be made up by other evidence. But in the west +the papers were needed and without them, even though in possession, +there would be trouble to prove a claim. + +"But if the sheep come, even though the court says they may, there'll +be another fight!" declared the ranchman, in spite of his lawyer's +efforts to keep him quiet. + +It was two days after that when Nort started out of the ranch house one +early evening. There had been a consultation before he left, and when +he was ready to go he almost collided with Yellin' Kid, who entered. + +"What's the matter with you, Greaser?" cried the Kid angrily. "What +you doin' in here, anyhow?" + +"Well, Kid, if you don't recognize me I guess I'm safe!" chuckled Nort. + +"Nort!" shouted the Yellin' Kid. "What the----" + +"Not so loud!" cautioned Nort, laughing. "How do you like my +disguise?" he asked. And then, changing his voice to a whine, he +begged in slangy Spanish for a cigaret (which, of course, he did not +smoke) though he muttered his "thanks, _Senor_," in a manner that +caused Yellin' Kid to exclaim: + +"They'll never find you out! Good luck to you!" + +"_Adios_," laughed Nort. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE BRONTOTHERIUM + +There were busy times in the camp of Professor Wright, who was +searching for the fossil bones of a once living Brontotherium. The +scientist felt sure he was on the right track, though one of his +college assistants was openly skeptical. + +"This isn't the right rock formation at all, to dig for a +Brontotherium," he declared. + +"So some of my helpers held the time I discovered the other gigantic +fossil bones," retorted the professor. "But I proved that I was right. +We shall yet find a Brontotherium--or what is left of one--you'll see!" + +Bud and Dick found time to stroll, occasionally, over to the camp of +the scientist, for there was much to interest them there, and they +wanted to be on hand when the "great discovery," as Professor Wright +referred to it, should be made. + +"Do you know," remarked Bud, as he and his chum were riding over to the +scene of excavating operations one day, "there's something quite +satisfying in going over among so much scientific knowledge." + +"Particularly when we don't have to absorb any of it ourselves, under +compulsion," remarked Dick with a chuckle. "It's like visiting a +school and watching the other fellows boning away." + +"Yes," agreed Bud. "We don't have to open a book nor learn a lot of +names as long as your arm. I wonder why they gave such long names to +these prehistoric monsters, anyhow?" + +"Give it up," spoke Dick shortly. "There must be a reason." + +"I reckon there is, but why in the name of Tunket couldn't they call +'em something shorter? Wouldn't it sound funny if we had to call a +horse a Brontosaurus?" + +"I'd teach mine to come without calling if it had a name like that!" +chuckled Dick. "But say, Bud, while we're over there--in the camp I +mean," and he pointed to it among the distant hills, "don't mention +Nort's name." + +"No, dad said not to, but I don't understand it at all." + +"Neither do I, but the least said the better. And if anyone over +there--especially Del Pinzo--asks for Nort, we're not to even admit he +isn't with us. Sort of say he'll be along presently." + +"I savey!" + +The boys reached the scene of the digging operations which were quite +extensive, Professor Wright being liberally supplied with money from +some learned society that was interested in securing for the college +the largest possible collection of fossil bones of long extinct +monsters. + +The boys knew some of the workers, and more than a few of the young +college men--some of the professors--who had been brought to the place +by Mr. Wright. And it was while Bud and Dick were again talking over +how foolish it seemed (to them) to use such long names in speaking of +the long-dead monsters that Professor Wright heard them. + +He did not happen to be busy at that particular moment, and he was a +man who never neglected an opportunity of imparting knowledge. He +would do this not always with discrimination, for Bud used to tell with +a laugh how once he overheard Professor Wright talking most learnedly +to an ignorant Greaser who had merely stopped to inspect a pile of +bones. + +"He was getting off the longest string of jaw-breaking Greek and Latin +terms," said Bud, telling the story, "spouting away how many millions +of years ago the Dinosaurs trod the earth, what they lived on, how they +fought among themselves, and he was dwelling particularly on how a +change of conditions wiped all these birds off the earth." + +"Meaning, by birds, the Dinosaurs and the like?" asked Dick. + +"Sure." + +"And how did the Greaser respond to it all?" Dick wanted to know. + +"Oh, he took it all in with open mouth," chuckled Bud. "Every now and +then he'd out with a '_si senor_,' which encouraged Professor Wright to +go on." + +"And how did it end?" asked Dick. + +"Oh, the prof. kept spouting away for an hour or more, showing bone +after bone of some he'd dug up (this was before the present occasion) +and when he was all through he leaned back with a jolly satisfied smile +on his phiz. + +"But say, Dick," went on Bud, "I wish yon could have seen the look on +the dear old prof.'s face when the Greaser pointed to the bones and +grunted out: + +"'Him good plenty much make soup!'" + +"No! Really?" + +"As sure as I can throw a rope! The idea of boiling up the +million-year bones to make soup! I sure thought the prof. would die! +After that he didn't spout his wise stuff to any more Greasers." + +"I shouldn't think he would." + +But on this occasion Professor Wright had a ranch more receptive and +intelligent audience. For, as I have said, overhearing Dick and Bud +discussing the "jaw-breaking names," as the boys termed them, the +scientist approached them with a reassuring smile on his face and said: + +"You are somewhat like the old lady, told of in the book written by +Professor Lucas of the American Museum of Natural History. In his +introduction he speaks of the necessity for using what are termed 'big' +words--that is scientific terms, and he mentions an old lady who said +she wasn't so surprised at the discovery of all these strange animals, +as she was at the fact that someone knew their names when they were +found." + +"But you don't know the names when you find them; do you?" asked Dick. +"Don't you name them after they are found?" + +"In a way we do, yes," answered the scientist. "But in the case of +those already found--and I am searching for specimens of some extinct +animals already identified--we have settled upon names. + +"As Professor Lucas remarks, the real trouble is that there are no +common names for these animals. As a matter of fact, when they existed +there were no people on earth to name them, or, if there were, the +names given by prehistoric man were not preserved, since they wrote no +histories. + +"And, as a matter of fact, those who complain that these names are hard +to pronounce do not stop to think that, in many cases, the names of the +Dinosaurs are no harder than others. They are simply less familiar and +not so often used. You wouldn't call hippopotamus a hard word; would +you, boys?" he asked. + +"It isn't hard to pronounce, but I'd hate to have to spell it," +chuckled Bud. + +"It's easy if you take it slow," declared Dick, and, then and there he +spelled it. + +"Well, you've been to more circuses than I have," countered Bud. + +"That's it!" cried the professor, seizing on the opportunity to impart +a little information. "The word hippopotamus is familiar to you--and +even to small children--because it has often been used, and because you +have seen circus pictures of it. Well, if we had Brontotheriums on +earth now, everyone would be using the name without stopping to think +how to pronounce it, and they could spell it as easily as you can spell +hippopotamus. Most words of Latin or Greek derivation are easy to +pronounce once you try them. + +"There are other names of animals in everyday use that would 'stump' us +if we stopped to think of them, but we don't. We rattle off mammoth, +rhinoceros, giraffe and boa constrictor easily." + +"Yes, they sound easy enough," argued Bud. + +"Well, all you need to do is to apply to the extinct monsters the same +principle of pronunciation that you use in saying hippopotamus, and you +have done the trick," went on Professor Wright. "In fact, it is all +rather simple." + +"Simple," murmured Dick. "Bront--bront--brontotherium!" + +"Take it by degrees," advised Professor Wright, "and remember that +generally these names are made up of one or two or even more Greek or +Latin words. Sometimes a Greek and Latin word is combined, but that +really is not scientific. + +"Now, in the case of the brontotherium, we have two Greek words which +excellently describe the animal whose bones I am after. That is the +description fits, as nearly as anything can to something we have never +seen. + +"There is a Greek word--_bronte_ it is pronounced in English, and it +means, in a sense, thunder. Another Greek word is _therion_, which +means wild beast. + +"Then bronto--bronto--therion must mean--thunder beast!" cried Dick, +rather proud that he had thus pieced together some information. + +"That's it!" announced Professor Wright. "You see how easy it is. +Change _therion_ to _therium_ and you have it." + +"But why did they call it a thunder beast?" Bud wanted to know. + +"There doesn't seem much sense in that," admitted the scientist, "until +you stop to think that paleontologists adopted the word 'thunder' as +meaning something large and monstrous, as thunder is the loudest noise +in the world." + +"Not so bad, after all," was Dick's admission. + +"I'm glad to hear you say so," commented the professor. "To go a bit +farther, take the word Dinosaur." + +"I know the last end of it means a big lizard," put in Bud. + +"Yes, and the front of it--the prefix _dino_, means the same thing that +_bronto_ signifies--something large, terrible and fear-inspiring. Dino +is a form of word taken from the Greek, _deinos_ meaning terrible and +mighty, from its root _deos_, which means fear. + +"So those who first discovered these great bones, having reconstructed +the animals whose skeletons they formed, gave them scientific names +best fitted to describe them. Can you think of anything more aptly +descriptive than 'thunder-lizard,' to indicate a beast shaped like the +lizards we see to-day, and yet whose size would terrify ancient man as +thunder terrified him?" + +The boys were really enjoying this scientific information, dry and +complicated as it must seem in the way I have written it down here. +But the professor had a way of making the most dry and scientific +subject seem interesting. + +"What gets me, though," said Dick, "is how they know about how these +big lizards and other things look when they only find a single bone, or +maybe one or two." + +"That is puzzling at first," admitted Professor Wright. "Perhaps I can +illustrate it for you. Take, for instance, the Dinornis--and before we +go any farther let me see if you can give me a good English name for +the creature. Try it now--the Dinornis." + +He looked expectantly at the boys. + +"Dino--dino--" murmured Bud. "That must mean--why that must mean +fierce or terrible, if it's anything like Dinosaur." + +"I'll encourage you so far as to say you're on the right track. In +other words, you are half right," said the scientist. "Suppose you +take a try at it," and he turned to Dick. + +"There isn't much left," laughed the lad. + +"Suppose you take it this way," suggested the scientist. "Lop off just +di--and assume that Bud has used that. You have left the syllable +nornis." + +"Nornis--nornis--it doesn't seem to mean anything to me," sighed Dick, +for he was rather disappointed at Bud's success and his own seeming +failure so far. + +"I'll help you a little," offered the professor. "Instead of saying +di-nornis, call it din-ornis. Did you ever hear the word +_ornithology_?" + +"Sure!" assented Bud. "It means--_ology_ that's the science of," he +was murmuring to himself. "Don't tell me now--I have it--the science +or study of birds. That's what ornithology is--the study of birds." + +"Correct," said the professor. "Ornis is the Greek word for bird, and +when we put in front of it Di, or din, meaning fear, thunder or terror, +we have a word meaning a terribly large bird, and that's just what the +Dinornis is--an extinct bird of great size. + +"But what I started to tell you was how we can sometimes--not always +and sometimes not correctly--reconstruct from a single bone the animal +that once carried it around with it. The Dinornis is a good example. + +"Some years ago there was discovered the pelvic and leg bones of what +was evidently an enormous extinct bird. Now, of course, our knowledge +of the past is based somewhat on our knowledge of the present, and if +we had but the pelvic and leg bones of, say, a crow, we could, even +without ever seeing a crow, come pretty nearly drawing the picture of +how large a bird it is, and of what shape to be able to use such a +pelvis and such leg bones. + +"So the men who reconstructed the Dinornis went at it. They set up the +pelvis and leg bones and then, with plaster or some substance, and by +working in proportion, they reconstructed the Dinornis, which is about +the shape of the ostrich or the extinct moa of New Zealand, only +larger. Here, I'll show you what I mean." + +Sitting down on a pile of dirt and shale rock, excavated by some of his +workers, Professor Wright, on the back of an envelope, sketched the +pelvic and leg bones and then from them he drew dotted lines in the +shape of a big bird like an ostrich. + +"You see how it is proportionately balanced," he remarked. "A bird +with that shape and size of leg would be about so tall--he could not be +much taller or larger or his legs would not have been able to carry him +around. + +"Take, for instance, the giraffe. If you found some of their long, +thin leg bones, and had nothing else, and had never seen a giraffe, +what sort of a beast would you imagine had been carried around on those +legs?" he asked the boys. + +"Well, a giraffe is about the only kind of a beast that could logically +walk on such long, thin legs," admitted Bud. + +"And there you are," said the professor. + +The boys were more interested than they had believed possible, and they +began to look forward eagerly to the time when some of the giant bones +might be uncovered. + +"What gets me, though," said Dick, believing that while knowledge was +"on tap," he might as well get his fill, "what I can't understand is +how long ago they figure these things lived--I mean the Dinornis and +Dinosaurs," he added quickly, lest the professor resent his "pets" +being called "things." + +"There's a good deal of guess-work about it," admitted the scientist. +"The question is often asked--how long ago did such monsters live. But +we are confronted with this difficulty. The least estimate put on the +age of the earth is ten million years. The longest is, perhaps, six +thousand million----" + +"Six thousand million!" murmured Bud in an awed voice. + +"And maybe more," said Professor Wright. "So you see it is pretty hard +to set any estimate on just when an animal lived who may have passed +away six billion years ago--it really isn't worth while. All we can +say is that they lived many, many ages ago, and we are lucky if we can +come upon any slight remains of them." + +"Do you really think you'll find some fossil bones?" asked Dick. + +"I'm sure of it!" was the answer. "Hello! That looks as if they had +found something over there!" he cried, as some excitement was manifest +amid a group of laboring Greasers some distance away. + +The professor hurried there, followed by the boys. They saw where some +men, down in a shale pit had uncovered what at first looked to be a +tree-trunk. + +"It is part of the hind leg of the great Brontosaurus!" cried Professor +Wright, in intense excitement. "That's what it is--the Brontosaurus!" + +"But you want a _Brontotherium_," insisted one of the helpers, a +professor in the making. + +"I don't care what I get, as long as they are fossil bones!" cried Mr. +Wright. "But I shall yet find a Brontotherium here--of that I am +certain. Careful now, men!" + +"Say, he's really found something!" cried Dick. + +But alas for the hopes of the professor! When the object was taken out +it proved to be only part of the skeleton of a long dead buffalo, the +bones being so encrusted with clay or mud as to appear much larger than +they really were. + +"Well, too bad," sighed the professor. "But better luck next time. +Come again, boys." + +And so the digging went on as fast as could be done, for each shovel of +earth and each dislodged stone was carefully examined by the scientist +or one of his scientific companions for any trace of the bones of an +extinct monster. + +Under the urging of Del Pinzo, the Greasers, all of whom had been +engaged by him, worked hard--harder than they would have done had Del +Pinzo not been there to spur them on. Professor Wright admitted this, +and said it was why he was willing to pay the half-breed to oversee the +laborers. + +And of all who labored none was more active than a certain young +Greaser, in ragged garments and with a most dirty face, who seemed to +be in all parts of the excavating camp at once. He leaped down into +holes, he climbed mounds and delved there a while; he labored with pick +and shovel. He was all over at all times, it seemed. + +So active was he that he attracted the attention of Del Pinzo, who, +strolling over to the youth remarked, in Mexican Spanish: + +"I don't seem to remember you. Where are you from?" + +To which, in native dialect, he was answered: + +"I come in my brother's place. San Feliece he is much sick this day. +I take his place." + +Del Pinzo thought back rapidly. One of his workers of this name was +missing, and, well--all Greasers looked alike. He turned, and the +youth, with a quiet chuckle, resumed his activities. + +But, as the youth labored, his eyes seemed to follow Del Pinzo more +than they kept to the matters immediately in hand. Though he struck +hard with his pick, and took out heaping shovelfuls, this youth ever +had his eyes on the half-breed, watching and watching as Del Pinzo +strolled about the camp grounds. + +It was the third day of this young Greaser's appearance in the fossil +excavations, and coming close to the end of the week, which period of +grace had been allowed Mr. Merkel by the court. Unless the deeds were +soon produced the sheep would scatter over the Spur Creek lands and +this would mean the beginning of the end for the cattle men. + +Suddenly the comparative quiet of the fossil camp was broken by loud +yells, and there seemed much excitement in a place where Professor +Wright had been examining earth and rocks as the debris was deposited +from an excavation. + +The ragged youth, who had said he came to take the place of his ill +brother, raced over the ground toward the excited group. He found the +professor gazing eagerly down into a sort of cave that had been +discovered when the digging reached a certain depth. + +"Look out there now! Be careful!" cautioned the scientist. "I think +we have found it. Here, you look intelligent!" and he motioned to the +Greaser youth whom Del Pinzo had questioned. "Get down in there and +make the opening a little wider so I can see what we've come upon. But +be very careful. If there are bones we don't want to break them. +Perhaps you'd better tell him, Del Pinzo," suggested Professor Wright. +"He probably doesn't understand my English." + +Thereupon Del Pinzo loosed a string of Mexican Spanish, at which the +youth nodded, and proceeded to enlarge the opening to the small +underground cavern. + +As the light of day was allowed to enter, Professor Wright leaped down +into the hole and stood almost at the side of the youth. Then, +suddenly, the scientist cried: + +"I've found it! I have discovered it! The gigantic Brontotherium! +Success at last!" + +And as the youth stepped aside to allow the scientist to enter and gaze +upon the immense fossil bones which had just been laid bare, the youth +looked at Del Pinzo, hastening across the camp ground, murmured: + +"I, too, have found it! Success at last!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE END OF THE SHEEP + +Court had convened. It was the day set for the decision in the Spur +Creek open range matter--a decision which would say whether or not +sheep could be pastured on land that the owner of Diamond X had long +claimed as his own. + +In the open West--where there is much hard work and little play--unless +a man makes the latter for himself--the opening of court, even for +small matters, was an occasion for the "gathering of the clans." From +far and near, those who could get away to attend the sitting of the +judge, and sometimes the trial of cases, were always on hand. It was +the same sort of an occasion as in the East is the circus, the cattle +show or the county fair. + +At court, as at the circus and fair, friends who had long been +separated met again, and, not infrequently, relatives found those of +whom they had long lost trace. + +And so, as there was a gathering of lawyers, a judge or two, some +witnesses and any number of mere hangers-on in the city where court had +been convened, there were heard on all sides such greetings as: + +"Well, ef thar ain't ole Bill! Put here there, Bill!" + +"Horn-swoggle me ef 'tain't Nate! Well, gumsozzle me!" + +Two hard and calloused hand would meet in a crack like that from a +small gun and two bearded faces, seamed and wrinkled, would light up +with pleasure. + +Near them--all around them--similar scenes were being enacted, and, not +infrequently, ancient enemies would thus come together, with none of +the kindly greetings that I have indicated. Often as not there would +be the drawing of guns and an exchange of shots, more or less dangerous +under any circumstances, and particularly so where there was a throng +as at the opening of court. + +But on this occasion all grudges seemed to have been forgotten or +buried, for there was no shooting. The feeling was of the friendliest, +save that an important issue was to be fought out between the sheep men +on one side and the cattle men on the other. + +To both sides the issue meant much, for it meant success or failure in +what they elected to gain their livings by means of. So it cannot be +wondered at that there were more or less serious faces as men met and +inquired one of the other: + +"How do you think it's going?" + +"Well, you can't tell much about it," the answer might be. "These +lawyers and judges----" + +"That's right. They don't seem to use common sense--some of 'em." + +"But what sort of a case do you s'pose Diamond X has got, anyhow?" + +"Pretty good, I hear." + +"Well, I hope they have. Gosh! If we're goin' t' be overrun with them +onery sheep jest as we've got things runnin' nicely fer cattle--wa'al, +I don't want t' live around here--that's all I got to say!" exclaimed +one grizzled cowman. + +"Same here!" commented some of his hearers. "Sheep's no good; never +were any good; an' what's more, never will be any good!" + +"That's right!" came a deep-voiced chorus. + +To hear them tell it one would think that a sheep had no rights at all +and that a sheep man was the worst being on earth, and yet, as a matter +of fact, many a cowman, sick of the eternal beef that he had to eat, +welcomes a tender bit of roast lamb. + +But such is the world! + +To the cattlemen the sheep owners and herders were despised and hated +of men--not fit to live within the same thousand-mile area of cattle +and horses. + +Of course sheep was not the direct issue. As was said, the point +turned on whether the Spur Creek land came under the provisions of the +open range, as defined by Congress, and once this was settled a man +could pasture elephants on the land he staked out, provided he could +get elephants to stay there. + +But the coming of the sheep meant the going of the cattle. And that is +why the courtroom was so filled with spectators. Dick was there, his +bullet-wounded hand almost better. Bud was there, as was his father +and many cowboys from Diamond X. + +Del Pinzo, with a grin on his evil, bearded face, was there also. + +"We will take up first the matter of the open range land," said the +Judge. "The matter was laid over until to-day to enable the defendant +to produce certain papers in court substantiating his claim to +pasturage along Spur Creek. Are you ready to proceed, Mr. Bonnett?" +and he looked at Mr. Merkel's lawyer. + +"Your Honor," began the attorney, "we hoped to be able to settle the +matter definitely to-day. I expected to show the deeds proving our +claim. But, unless a certain witness whom I depended on soon arrives, +we shall have to proceed to trial. If this witness were here, and if +he could prove what I hoped----" + +"You will never be able to prove anything!" broke in the sneering voice +of Del Pinzo. + +"Silence in the court!" cried Sheriff Hank Fowler, but almost as he +spoke the decorum was again broken by a voice which cried in ringing +tones: + +"Oh, yes, we can prove everything, Del Pinzo! Here are the deeds that +prove Mr. Merkel's claim to the land, and I can prove that you stole +them the night of the shooting!" + +"_San Diabalo!_" muttered Del Pinzo, turning quickly. "It is the +brother of Feliece!" + +"Not exactly," laughed the voice of the newcomer. He snatched off a +wig of black, wiry hair and stood revealed as--Nort Shannon! + +He tossed a bundle of papers to Mr. Merkel's lawyer, and then all eyes +turned on Del Pinzo, who feverishly was examining a bundle of documents +he tore from an oiled-silk bag. + +"_San Diabalo!_" he cried again. "They are gone!" + +"No, they are here!" mocked Nort. "I found where you had hidden the +real papers, and I just took them out and substituted some of my own." + +Del Pinzo glared about the court for a moment, and then made a movement. + +"Catch that scoundrel!" cried the Judge. But it was too late. Del +Pinzo slipped out, leaped to the back of his fleet horse and though the +pursuit was soon organized, he got away. + +"Where did you come from, Nort?" asked Dick, as he shook hands with his +brother. + +"Direct from the professor's camp. Didn't get here any too soon, +either, as it happens. My horse went lame and then there was a lot of +excitement when they found the Brontotherium." + +"Oh, did they find another of those monsters?" asked Bud. + +"Yep! The Grandfather of 'em all, I reckon!" laughed Nort. "And +during the ruction I managed to get to the place where Del Pinzo had +hidden the deeds he stole. I took them out and put in some worthless +documents so he wouldn't suspect. Then I came on here. Now I guess +they won't pasture any sheep at Spur Creek." + +And they did not. With the finding of Mr. Merkel's deeds, which had +been stolen, his ownership was clearly established. No one now dared +claim his lands. Of course there were parts of the open range where +the sheep herders could go in, but none were as choice or as much +desired as the pastures of Spur Creek. And they were far enough away +not to menace Diamond X. + +"The application of the plaintiff for permission to take over the Spur +Creek range is hereby denied," announced the Judge. And thus ended the +case of the men whose cause Del Pinzo had taken up. Some of them were +innocent parties to his treachery, and he had engineered the whole +scheme to enrich himself eventually. For these innocent victims sorrow +was expressed. But even sorrow would not induce a cattleman to allow +sheep on his ranch. + +And so, a few days later the sheep which had been held in readiness +south of Spur Creek were driven back into Mexico. + +"Well, Nort, suppose you tell us how it all happened," suggested Bud, +when matters at Diamond X were about normal again. "How did you come +to disguise yourself like a Greaser, go off to the professor's camp and +get the deeds where Del Pinzo had hidden them? Tell us." + +"It isn't much of a story," began Nort, modestly enough. "In the first +place, you know about as much of the beginning of it as I do. Del +Pinzo heard about the government opening the range lands, and he knew +the deeds to Spur Creek must be here. So he organized a robbery and +carried it out, drawing us away from the place by a lot of shooting. +Professor Wright, as of course you know, had nothing to do with it. +His coming was just a coincidence. + +"Those mysterious lone riders were sent by Del Pinzo to see how things +were going, and that rocket signaling was, as we guessed, communication +from one of Del Pinzo's gang to another. Then, when that Greaser had +the deeds safely hidden, as he thought, he gave the signal for the +sheep to start for Spur Creek." + +"But how in the name of Zip Foster did you know where he had the deeds +hidden?" cried Bud. + +"I didn't," answered Nort. "I simply guessed that he had taken them, +or had some one take them for him, and I reasoned he would keep them +near him, in the professor's camp. So, with your dad's permission, +Bud, I disguised like a Greaser and went to work in the fossil camp. I +had to kidnap one of the regular Greasers, and pass myself off as his +brother, which I did. By the way," he remarked to Slim, "we can let +Feliece go now." + +"All right," chuckled Slim, who was one of the few in the secret. "He +didn't mind being a prisoner here, for he got well paid and had plenty +of grub." + +"After I established myself at the camp," went on Nort, "and even the +professor didn't recognize me, I made it my business secretly to keep +on Del Pinzo's trail until I located where he had hidden the deeds, in +one of the many excavations made in searching for fossil bones. + +"Then, when the Brontotherium was really found there was enough +excitement so that I could sneak over to the hiding place, take out the +right papers and stick in some dummies I had all ready. Then I sent +word to Mr. Bonnett, and came on as soon as I could with the deeds. +Zeb Tauth, the janitor whom the professor brought with him as a sort of +personal aid, helped me out in that. He was a good scout, Zeb was, +though he doesn't care much about fossils. He says he's anxious to get +back to his furnace and ash cans." + +"Shades of Zip Foster!" chuckled Bud, as the explanation was concluded. +"It couldn't have been slicker if you'd practiced it for a year! I'll +never forget Del Pinzo's face as he opened his oiled-silk package and +realized that he had been fooled. Oh, Zip Foster!" + +"So it's all over now," commented Dick. + +"Well, it was a mighty good ending," said Mr. Merkel, "and I'm much +obliged to you boy ranchers. You helped a lot. I'd like to catch Del +Pinzo, however." + +But the wily half-breed Greaser disappeared, though it might be feared +he would bob up again in the lives of the boy ranchers. For they were +destined to have other adventures. + +"But we're through for a time," said Bud, as, with his cousins, he rode +the trail that led to home. + +Nell met them near the horse corral. + +"You're just in time," she said. + +"For what?" asked Dick. + +"Pie!" answered Nell with a laugh. "Mother and I have baked some for +you." + +"Whoopee!" yelled the boy ranchers, and as they race for the kitchen we +will take leave of them for a time. + + + + +THE END + + + + + + +THE BOY RANCHERS SERIES + +BY WILLARD F. BAKER + +_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors._ + + +_Stories of the great west, with cattle ranches as a setting, related +in such a style as to captivate the hearts of all boys._ + +1. THE BOY RANCHERS + _or Solving the Mystery at Diamond X_ + +Two eastern boys visit their cousin. They become involved in an +exciting mystery. + +2. THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP + _or The Water Fight at Diamond X_ + +Returning for a visit, the two eastern lads learn with delight, that +they are to become boy ranchers. + +3. THE BOY RANCHERS ON THE TRAIL + _or The Diamond X After Cattle Rustlers_ + +Our boy heroes take the trail after Del Pinzo and his outlaws. + +4. THE BOY RANCHERS AMONG THE INDIANS + _or Trailing the Yaquis_ + +Rosemary and Floyd are captured by the Yaqui Indians. + +5. THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK + _or Fighting the Sheep Herders_ + +Dangerous struggle against desperadoes for land rights. + +6. THE BOY RANCHERS IN THE DESERT + _or Diamond X and the Lost Mine_ + +One night a strange old miner almost dead from hunger and hardship +arrived at the bunk house. The boys cared for him and he told them of +the lost desert mine. + +7. THE BOY RANCHERS ON ROARING RIVER + _or Diamond X and the Chinese Smugglers_ + +The boy ranchers help capture Delton's gang who were engaged in +smuggling Chinese across the border. + +8. THE BOY RANCHERS IN DEATH VALLEY + _or Diamond X and the Poison Mystery_ + +The boy ranchers track mysterious Death into his cave. + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers. New York. + + +THE BASEBALL JOE SERIES + +BY LESTER CHADWICK + +_12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, $.65, postpaid_ + + +1. BASEBALL JOE OF THE SILVER STARS + _or The Rivals of Riverside_ + +2. BASEBALL JOE ON THE SCHOOL NINE + _or Pitching for the Blue Banner_ + +3. BASEBALL JOE AT YALE + _or Pitching for the College Championship_ + +4. BASEBALL JOE IN THE CENTRAL LEAGUE + _or Making Good as a Professional Pitcher_ + +5. BASEBALL JOE IN THE BIG LEAGUE + _or A Young Pitcher's Hardest Struggles_ + +6. BASEBALL JOE ON THE GIANTS + _or Making Good as a Twirler in the Metropolis_ + +7. BASEBALL JOE IN THE WORLD SERIES + _or Pitching for the Championship_ + +8. BASEBALL JOE AROUND THE WORLD + _or Pitching on a Grand Tour_ + +9. BASEBALL JOE HOME RUN KING + _or The Greatest Pitcher and Batter on Record_ + +10. BASEBALL JOE SAVING THE LEAGUE + _or Breaking Up a Great Conspiracy_ + +11. BASEBALL JOE CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM + _or Bitter Struggles on the Diamond_ + +12. BASEBALL JOE CHAMPION OF THE LEAGUE + _or The Record that was Worth While_ + +13. BASEBALL JOE CLUB OWNER + _or Putting the Home Town on the Map_ + +14. BASEBALL JOE PITCHING WIZARD + _or Triumphs Off and On the Diamond_ + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers. New York. + + +THE JEWEL SERIES + +BY AMES THOMPSON + +_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in colors._ + + +_A series of stories brimming with hardy adventure, vivid and accurate +in detail, and with a good foundation of probability. They take the +reader realistically to the scene of action. Besides being lively and +full of real situations, they are written in a straight-forward way +very attractive to boy readers._ + + +1. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE VALLEY OF DIAMONDS + +Malcolm Edwards and his son Ralph are adventurers with ample means for +following up their interest in jewel clues. In this book they form a +party of five, including Jimmy Stone and Bret Hartson, boys of Ralph's +age, and a shrewd level-headed sailor named Stanley Greene. They find +a valley of diamonds in the heart of Africa. + +2. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE RIVER OF EMERALDS + +The five adventurers, staying at a hotel in San Francisco, find that +Pedro the elevator man has an interesting story of a hidden "river of +emeralds" in Peru, to tell. With him as guide, they set out to find +it, escape various traps set for them by jealous Peruvians, and are +much amused by Pedro all through the experience. + +3. THE ADVENTURE BOYS AND THE LAGOON OF PEARLS + +This time the group starts out on a cruise simply for pleasure, but +their adventuresome spirits lead them into the thick of things on a +South Sea cannibal island. + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. New York. + + +THE BOMBA BOOKS + +BY ROY ROCKWOOD + +_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. With colored jacket._ + + +_Bomba lived far back in the jungles of the Amazon with a half-demented +naturalist who told the lad nothing of his past. The jungle boy was a +lover of birds, and hunted animals with a bow and arrow and his trusty +machete. He had a primitive education in some things, and his daring +adventures will be followed with breathless interest by thousands._ + + +1. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY _or The Old Naturalist's Secret_ + +In the depth of the jungle Bomba lives a life replete with thrilling +situations. Once he saves the lives of two American rubber hunters who +ask him who he is, and how he had come into the jungle. + +2. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE MOVING MOUNTAIN _or The Mystery of the +Caves of Fire_ + +Bomba travels through the jungle, encountering wild beasts and hostile +natives. At last he trails the old man of the burning mountain to his +cave and learns more concerning himself. + +3. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE GIANT CATARACT _or Chief Nasconora and +His Captives_ + +Among the Pilati Indians he finds some white captives, and an aged +opera singer, first to give Bomba real news of his forebears. + +4. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON JAGUAR ISLAND _or Adrift on the River of +Mystery_ + +Jaguar Island was a spot as dangerous as it was mysterious and Bomba +was warned to keep away. But the plucky boy sallied forth. + +5. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY IN THE ABANDONED CITY _or A Treasure Ten +Thousand Years Old_ + +Years ago this great city had sunk out of sight beneath the trees of +the jungle. A wily half-breed thought to carry away its treasure. + +6. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON TERROR TRAIL _or The Mysterious Men from +the Sky_ + +Bomba strikes out through the vast Amazonian jungles and soon finds +himself on the dreaded Terror Trail. + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers. New York. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Boy Ranchers at Spur Creek, by Willard F. 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