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diff --git a/44078-0.txt b/44078-0.txt index f3ab709..a160d52 100644 --- a/44078-0.txt +++ b/44078-0.txt @@ -1,33 +1,4 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Trail Boys of the Plains, by Jay Winthrop Allen - -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 Trail Boys of the Plains - The Hunt for the Big Buffalo - -Author: Jay Winthrop Allen - -Illustrator: Walter S. Rogers - -Release Date: October 31, 2013 [EBook #44078] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAIL BOYS OF THE PLAINS *** - - - - -Produced by Roger Frank and Sue Clark - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44078 *** [Illustration: When the rifle spoke the huge head of the buffalo was almost under Poke’s belly] @@ -8373,357 +8344,4 @@ secretly, were hoping for other adventures during their vacation. 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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 Trail Boys of the Plains - The Hunt for the Big Buffalo - -Author: Jay Winthrop Allen - -Illustrator: Walter S. Rogers - -Release Date: October 31, 2013 [EBook #44078] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAIL BOYS OF THE PLAINS *** - - - - -Produced by Roger Frank and Sue Clark - - - - - -</pre> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44078 ***</div> <div class='imgcenter mw100'> <img src='images/illus-fpc.jpg' alt='' id='img1' /> @@ -10423,380 +10387,7 @@ their vacation.</p> <p class='line0' style='text-align:center;margin-top:1.5em;'>THE END</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Trail Boys of the Plains, by Jay Winthrop Allen - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAIL BOYS OF THE PLAINS *** - -***** This file should be named 44078-h.htm or 44078-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/0/7/44078/ - -Produced by Roger Frank and Sue Clark - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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 Trail Boys of the Plains - The Hunt for the Big Buffalo - -Author: Jay Winthrop Allen - -Illustrator: Walter S. Rogers - -Release Date: October 31, 2013 [EBook #44078] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAIL BOYS OF THE PLAINS *** - - - - -Produced by Roger Frank and Sue Clark - - - - -[Illustration: When the rifle spoke the huge head of the buffalo was -almost under Poke's belly] - - - - - THE TRAIL BOYS OF THE PLAINS - - OR - - THE HUNT FOR THE BIG BUFFALO - - BY - - JAY WINTHROP ALLEN - - ILLUSTRATED BY - WALTER S. ROGERS - - NEW YORK - GEORGE SULLY & COMPANY - - - - - Copyright, 1915. - GEORGE SULLY & COMPANY - - PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. - - - - - Table of Contents - - I--SOMETHING ABOUT A BUFFALO - II--AT THE SILENT SUE - III--THE LAME INDIAN - IV--THE ROCKING STONE - V--THE BEARS' DEN - VI--IN THE OLD TUNNEL - VII--THE RESCUE--AND AFTERWARD - VIII--CHET SHOOTS A HAWK - IX--ON THE TRAIL TO GRUB STAKE - X--MR. HAVENS HAS A VISITOR - XI--THE FIRST ADVENTURE - XII--A MAVERICK - XIII--"THE DOG SOLDIERS" - XIV--THE WARNING - XV--"WHAT WON'T BE LED MUST BE DRIVEN" - XVI--THE WOLF RING - XVII--A MYSTERY - XVIII--ROYAL GAME - XIX--A FRUITLESS CHASE - XX--A MIDNIGHT ALARM - XXI--A STARTLING DISCOVERY - XXII--AFTER THE THIEVES - XXIII--THE FIRST BUFFALO - XXIV--TIT FOR TAT - XXV--CHET'S DETERMINATION - XXVI--"THE KING OF THEM ALL" - XXVII--DIG'S GREAT IDEA - XXVIII--GREAT LUCK - XXIX--PLENTY OF EXCITEMENT - XXX--HOW IT ENDED - - - - - Illustrations - - When the rifle spoke the huge head of the buffalo was almost under - Poke's belly - - Dig spurred his horse over to the place and leaped down to give his - chum a helping hand - - Then Chet saw the bear--a big black fellow, standing erect - - They fairly "wolfed" the venison steaks - - - - - CHAPTER I--SOMETHING ABOUT A BUFFALO - - -"Do you really suppose such a buffalo exists?" queried Chet Havens, who -was braiding a whiplash. - -"You've got me there, boy," said his chum, Dig Fordham, trying for the -hundredth time to carve his initials in the adamantine surface of the -old horse-block, and with a dull jackknife. - -"By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland! wouldn't it be just -the Jim-dandy adventure, Chet, if we could go out after this herd and -capture the king of them all? It would be _great_!" - -"It would be great enough, all right," admitted Chet, nodding. "But it -would be some contract to capture such a bull. According to all accounts -he must be as strong as an elephant and almost as big." - -"Whew! do you think so, Chet?" - -"If he measures up anywhere near to the specifications that Tony -Traddles gave us last week." - -"Oh--Tony!" returned Dig, in disgust. "If he saw a lizard sitting on a -log in the sun he'd declare it was the size of a crocodile." - -Chetwood Havens laughed. He was a nice-looking, fair-haired boy with -grey-blue eyes and long, dextrous, capable hands. He braided the thongs -without giving them more than a casual and cursory glance. - -He was a tall boy, and slender, but with plenty of bodily strength. -Digby Fordham was more sturdily built. He was square-set, -broad-shouldered and thick-chested; and he had a broad, good-humoured -face as well. His black hair was crisp; he had little, twinkling eyes; -and usually his countenance wore a smile. - -"Well," Chet went on to say, following his chum's criticism of Tony's -report, "there was Rafe Peters. Rafe is an old hunter, and he ought to -know what he's talking about when he says it's the biggest bull buffalo -that he ever saw." - -"Aw--all the buffaloes have gone up into Canada, somewhere," growled -Dig. - -"No. I expect there are stray herds--small ones--hidden away in the -mountains. Something or other has driven this herd out upon the plains. -I heard some of the men talking about making up a party to go out and -shoot 'em; but they are all too busy just now in the mines." - -"I reckon Rafe was just trying to string us," said Dig. - -"You're a Doubting Thomas," laughed his chum. - -"Well, why shouldn't I be? I've heard tell of buffaloes ever since I was -knee-high to a tin whistle, and never a buffalo sign have I seen -yet--'cept those mangy old robes father's got in the barn. I'm beginning -to be like the old farmer that went into the menagerie and saw the -giraffe. After he'd stared at it for an hour he shook his head, and -said, 'Drat it all! there jest _ain't_ no such animile!'" and Dig -chuckled. - -Chet was reflective. "Strange how all those creatures have disappeared -from the western plains, where they were once so plentiful," he said. -"Pete was telling me that he was once hired by a government expedition -to keep the men supplied with fresh meat, and that he often shot two and -three hundred buffaloes in a single day." - -"Whew!" - -"And he was only one white hunter who worked at that time on the herds. -Some just killed the beasts for their hides--and the hides were as low -as a dollar apiece at one time. Then, the Indians slaughtered hundreds -of thousands uselessly. Why, Dig! I was reading the other night that -when the first Spaniards came up from Mexico across the Great Staked -Plains, they had to fairly push their way through the buffalo herds." - -"Whew!" said his chum again. "When was this, Chet?" - -"Some time before you were born, boy," returned Chet, dryly. - -"Did you ever _see_ a buffalo?" demanded Dig, suddenly. - -"Yes, at Nugget City when Wolfer Ben's Wild West showed there. He had a -bull and three cows; and lots of old plainsmen went to see the show just -because of the buffaloes. They hadn't seen any of the creatures for a -couple of decades." - -Dig was still chuckling. "Tell some eastern folks that and they wouldn't -believe you. You know, I've a cousin Tom down Boston way, and he's -always writing and saying he wants to come out here." - -"I've heard you speak of him." - -"Yep. Well, every time Tom gets mad with the folks at home, or sore on -the school he goes to, or the teachers, he writes me and says he's going -to run away and come out here. And he wants to know what kind of guns -and ammunition he'll have to buy, and if he'll have to wear a -bowie-knife and two pistols stuck in his belt. He, he!" - -"He must be a blockhead," said Chet, in disgust. "What does he think -Silver Run is?" - -"Well, I tell you," proceeded Digby, "it's partly my fault. At first I -told him the truth--that we had churches and schools and a circulating -library, and folks took a bath Saturday nights, if they didn't oftener, -and wore boiled shirts on Sunday; and that a man who wore a pistol in -his belt would be taken in by the constable and examined as to his -sanity. - -"But that didn't suit Tom--oh, no! He said he knew I was kidding him." - -"He did?" - -"That's what! So I got sick of being disbelieved, and I began to write -him the sort of stuff he wanted. I told him about the Comanches -attacking the town and we beating 'em off with great slaughter." - -"Dig Fordham! How could you? Why, we haven't seen a bad Indian in -years." - -"Never mind. That's what Tom wanted me to tell him. I told him all the -miners wore red flannel shirts, and went about with their pants tucked -into their boot-tops, and that they wore pistols in their belts, and -bowie-knives in their boots-- By the way, Chet; what is a bowie-knife?" - -Chet laughed. "A kind of long-bladed hunting knife, ground to an edge on -both sides of the point, and invented by Colonel James Bowie, of Texas. -I got that out of an encyclopaedia." - -"Well, Tom knows all about 'em. I hope he comes out here some time, -togged up in the way he thinks we dress at Silver Run. If he does, I -know he'd scare a corral full of ponies into fits!" and Dig went off -into another spasm of laughter. - -The boys had gotten off the subject of the strange buffalo herd that had -appeared on the open plains between Silver Run and Grub Stake, a second -silver mining town, deeper in the Rockies. Before Dig recovered from his -laughter at his own humorous conception of his cousin's appearance at -Silver Run, Chet started up into a listening attitude. - -"What you cocking your ears for, Chet?" demanded Dig. "What's got you?" - -"Who's this coming?" demanded Chet, holding up his hand. - -When the boys were silent they could hear the pounding of heavily shod -feet on the hard road. The Havens lived on the outskirts of Silver Run, -and the road to the mines passed by their corral fence. - -Chet sprang up, and even the slower Digby showed interest. The pounding -feet were coming rapidly nearer. - -The boys ran around the corner of the high board fence to the edge of -the road. There, coming down the hill, and out from the belt of timber -that surrounded the mountain above the town, was a man in yellow -overalls and cowhide boots. He was without a cap, his shirt was open at -the throat, and every indication about him showed excitement. - -"Goodness!" gasped Chet. "What can that mean?" - -"It's Dan Gubbins--and he's so scared he can't shut his mouth!" observed -Dig. - -This seemed true. Dan Gubbins ran with his mouth wide open and fear -expressed unmistakably in his rugged features. He was one of the men -working in the mine in which Mr. Havens and Mr. Fordham were interested. - -"Hey, Dan! what's the matter?" shouted Dig, as the big miner came -closer. - -"She's caved!" croaked the man, his throat so dry he could scarcely -speak. - -"Who's caved?" demanded Dig. - -"What's caved?" asked Chet, better understanding the vernacular. - -"The Silent Sue! She slumped in like rotten ice in February!" gasped the -big miner, leaning against the fence near the boys. "Oh, my Jimminy! -It's awful!" - -Chet turned pale. Dig reddened and gulped back a sob with difficulty. - -"You--you don't mean the mine's all caved in?" stammered the latter. - -"The shaft," replied Dan. - -Chet, the practical, demanded: - -"How many are caught in the cave-in?" - -"There's five down there, besides--" - -Dan halted and stared at the boy with sudden apprehension. Then, after a -moment, he whispered: - -"My golly, Chet! whatever am I to tell your mother? Yer dad's down there -with 'em!" - -"Father!" exclaimed Chet, seizing Dig's hand. - -"Is my father in it too?" cried Dig, ready to burst into tears. - -"Mr. Fordham warn't there noways," said Dan, getting his breath and able -now to speak more intelligibly. "Whatever am I to tell your mother, -Chet?" he repeated. - -"You won't say anything to her, Dan," replied the boy, firmly. "I'll -tell her myself. But give me the particulars. We want to know how it -happened. Isn't there any hope? Can't we get at them down there?" - -"Dunno," returned the miner. "Rafe Peters is in charge, and they are -digging like prairie-dogs to get down into the gallery. Everybody down -there is all right so fur. Ye see, it was like this: There was a blast -goin' to be shot in Number Two tunnel. Ye know where that run to?" - -Chet nodded. "Over toward the old Crayton Shaft--that's open now--on the -other side of the mountain. Father was saying the other day that the -Silent Sue's Number Two must be getting pretty near the old diggings." - -"That's it," said Dan Gubbins, nodding, and wiping his moist forehead -with the back of a hairy hand. "Well, they got ready that shot, which -was a heavy one. The timbering of the lower part of the shaft didn't -suit Mr. Havens and he told Tony to put in new cross-braces and some new -planks." - -"Tony Traddles?" demanded Chet. - -"Yes. An' he oughter be jailed for what he done," added the miner, -bitterly. - -"How was that?" queried Digby, his eyes big with interest. - -"Mr. Havens," pursued the miner, "went down to see that all was clear in -the tunnel before the shot. He sings out to Tony and asks if the -timbering was all right; and the lazy rascal said 'twas." - -"And wasn't it?" snapped Chet, his eyes blazing. - -"No. He'd come up to fill and light his pipe and hadn't blocked and -wedged his cross-beams. There was five of the boys 'sides your father in -the tunnel, and when the shot went off the shoring at the bottom of the -shaft shook right out and she caved in! It was awful! I wonder you -didn't hear the rumble of it. And what I'm goin' ter say ter your -mother, Chet--" - -"You're going to say nothing to her, Dan," repeated the boy. "I'll tell -her. You go and get a doctor, or two, Dan--and all the other help you -can. You saddle Hero and Poke, Dig. We must get up to the mine in a -hurry. I won't be in the house long." - -He turned quickly away and started for the back door of his home. The -others did not see his face. - - - - - CHAPTER II--AT THE SILENT SUE - - -Those few yards between the corral and the back door of the Havens' -pretty home in the Silver Run suburb were the hardest steps Chet had -ever taken. For his age he was naturally a thoughtful boy, and he had -been impressed by the manner in which his father ever shielded the -delicate, gentle mother from all the rough things of life. If there was -an accident in the mine, Mr. Havens seldom mentioned it before his wife, -and never did he repeat the particulars. - -Chet had seen and understood. He knew that his mother was not to be -troubled by ordinary things if it could be helped. Of course, she must -know of his father's danger; but the news must be broken to her -carefully. He could not allow rough but kind-hearted Dan Gubbins to go -in with his story of the accident at the Silent Sue claim. - -As he entered the sewing-room where his mother was engaged at her work, -she looked up with a little smile on her face. - -"What's wanted, Chetwood?" she asked. - -She was a small woman, with a very delicate pink flush in her cheeks and -bands of prematurely grey hair above her forehead and over the tops of -her ears. Chet often said, laughingly, that if he ever wanted to marry a -girl, he'd wait to find one who wore her hair just like his mother wore -hers. - -"What's wanted, Chetwood?" she repeated, as the boy remained silent -after quietly closing the door. Then she saw his troubled face and the -work on which she was busied fell from her hands and, from her lap, -slipped to the floor as she slowly rose. - -"Chetwood! My son! your father--?" - -Her cry was low, but it thrilled Chet to the heart. He sprang forward to -seize her shaking hands. He knew that she was ever fearful when Mr. -Havens was in the mine. - -"It's not so bad as all that, Mother! Wait! don't believe the worst!" -begged the boy, his voice choked with emotion. - -"He--he isn't killed?" - -"Not a bit of it! There's been a--a little accident. Father is down -there with some of the other men." - -"Down where?" she asked sharply. - -"In Number Two drift. There was a cave-in. Of course they'll get them -out. Old Rafe Peters is on the job already with a gang. I'm going right -up there." - -"Oh, Chet! Are you _sure_ that is all? They are still alive?" - -"Of course!" cried the boy, with strong conviction and even calling up a -smile. "Dan Gubbins came down to bring the news and get some more men. -Dig and I are going to ride right up." - -"Where is Digby's father?" queried Mrs. Havens anxiously. - -"He didn't happen to be there when the cave-in took place. But he's -probably there now. We'll get at them all right. Don't you fear, -Mother." - -"Oh, but my son! I shall be fearful indeed until I know your father is -safe. I am always afraid when he is in the mine. The men take such -chances!" - -"Well, the Silent Sue has not recorded many accidents. Father and Dig's -father are both very careful. Now, Mother, don't worry any more than you -can help. I'll send down word just as soon as we know anything for -sure." - -He kissed her--and kissed her cheerfully. That was the hardest part of -his mission, for he, too, was greatly worried. Then he seized his cap -and quirt and hurried out to the corral. Dig Fordham had, for once, been -prompt. He held Chet's handsome bay, Hero, by the bridle, while his own -sleepy-looking, Roman-nosed Poke was cropping grass at the edge of the -road. - -"Come on, Dig!" Chet cried, hastily jerking the reins from his chum's -hand. "We must hurry." - -"Did you tell her?" whispered his chum, awe-struck. - -"All she needed to know now," snapped back Chet. "Look alive!" - -He was astride of Hero in a moment and the noble animal took the trail -without urging. Dig whistled for Poke. Then he whistled again. The ugly, -sleepy-looking animal stopped for just one more bite. - -"Isn't that just like you, you ornery brute!" growled Digby. "If ever I -wanted you in a hurry you wouldn't mind. Come on!" - -He jumped for the horse, caught at the trailing bridle, and Poke stood -on his hind legs and pawed the air, his eyes suddenly afire, striving to -wheel about and escape Dig's clutching hand. - -Digby Fordham wasn't afraid of any horse. He sprang right in under the -pawing hoofs, and seized the dangling reins. His hold was secure; his -wrist firm. At his first jerk Poke's head came down and, naturally, the -horse's forefeet as well. - -The instant the hoofs struck the ground, and before Poke could begin any -further display of antics, Dig was in the saddle. Chet, looking back -over his shoulder as Hero set the pace up the mountain, saw that his -chum was securely astride Poke. Give Dig both feet in the stirrups, and -no horse living could dismount him. He rode as though he were a part of -the horse. - -Digby and Poke were not always in accord, but Poke was tireless and -carried the heavy boy as though he were a feather-weight. Poke could go -without food and water much longer than most mountain-bred mustangs. Dig -declared there must be a strain of camel in him. But there was not an -attractive thing about the brute, either in temper or appearance. - -In a minute he was neck and neck with Hero, and both horses were -carrying their young masters up the slope at a fast pace. Dig grumbled: - -"This old rascal always cuts up when I want him in a hurry. I'm going to -trade him off for a horned toad, and then use the toad for a currycomb. -Your Hero is a regular lady's horse 'side o' him." - -"You know you wouldn't take any money for old Poke," returned Chet, -reaching out and smiting the black across his ugly nose with his own -palm. "Why do you give him a chance to get away from you?" - -"Because hope springs eternal in my breast," declared Dig, who would -joke under any and all circumstances. "I'm always hopin' I've got the -rascal broken of his bad habits." - -Chet was not in a mood for laughter; nor was his chum careless of -thought. He really hoped to get Chet's mind off the mine accident. It -might not be anywhere near so bad as Dan Gubbins had said. - -Mining at Silver Run was now carried on with much more care for human -life than it had been when the claims were first staked out and the -original owners had begun to get out "pay dirt." Mr. Havens was a -practical engineer, a graduate from a College of Mines, and with a long -experience at other diggings before he had obtained a controlling -interest in the Silent Sue. - -It was a mine the stock of which had never been exploited in the eastern -market. Mr. Fordham and Mr. Havens had always been able to obtain -sufficient capital to buy machinery and improve their methods of getting -out the ore; and they found the Silent Sue too steadily productive to -need any other partners. - -Mr. Havens owned, also, a second claim near the first that might some -day develop into a rich one. - -When the two chums rode up to the collection of rude miners' cabins, -sheds, the stamp-mill, and other shanties that surrounded the mouth of -the mine-shaft, they found a crowd already gathered. Men and women alike -were commingling excitedly about the shaft in which the rescue party was -at work. - -A big, bushy-whiskered man in yellow overalls and a tarpaulin hat was -urging on the workers, and trying to keep the women and children back -from the open mouth of the pit. - -"Oh, Rafe!" cried Chet, throwing himself out of the saddle and running -up to the mine boss. "Are they down there yet?" - -"They're all right so fur, Chet," declared the man. - -"Can you get them out?" - -"I kin try--and that's what I'm doin'," the mine boss said huskily. -"Thirty foot of the bottom of the shaft's caved in. It's caved from all -four sides. We're diggin' out the earth and rubbage and sendin' it up by -the bucket-load. Fast as we kin, we're replacin' the timbering. That's -the best we can do." - -Chet had a quick mind and he knew a good deal about such accidents, -although there had been nothing like this at the Silent Sue since he -could remember. - -"You can't work a big gang in the shaft, Rafe," he said anxiously. "How -long will it take 'em to get down to the bottom and into the side -tunnels?" - -"I dunno, boy, I dunno," the old man said, plainly worried. "But we're -workin' jest as fast as ever we can. I'm shiftin' the men ev'ry two -hours and they're all puttin' in their very best licks." - -"You haven't heard--heard from fa-father?" gasped Chet, trying to -control his voice. - -"Golly! No, boy!" exclaimed the mine boss. "Thar's thirty foot of -rubbage, I tell yer, at the bottom of the shaft. If they was hollerin' -their heads off we wouldn't hear 'em yet. The fall of earth and stuff is -packed like iron." - -"Oh, it'll be all right, Chet! It'll be all right," urged his chum, who -had come up after hitching the two mustangs. - -Dig's father had not as yet arrived. Nobody seemed to have much head -about him but old Rafe. But perhaps nobody could do much. Chet stared at -his chum and the mine boss hopelessly. - -"Why, see!" he gasped. "It may be a week before you can clear the bottom -of that shaft--it may be longer! What will father--and the others--do -all that time? Oh, Dig! it's awful--it's _awful_! They'll starve to -death!" - -"Whew! I hadn't thought of that," muttered Digby Fordham. - -Old Rafe Peters shook his head. He was keeping his eyes on the buckets -of "rubbage," as he called it, that were being swiftly brought to the -surface by the steam winch. He had excavated the lower end of the shaft -himself and he knew the strata of earth through which it passed. By the -colour of that which came up in the buckets, he knew the diggers had not -gone far as yet. - -One bucket went down as the other came up. It was not down three minutes -before the signal rang for it to be hoisted again. But thousands upon -thousands of buckets of debris would have to be hoisted out of the shaft -ere the way would be opened into tunnel Number Two, lower level, in -which Mr. Havens and the miners were entombed. - - - - - CHAPTER III--THE LAME INDIAN - - -The five men shut in the mine with Chet's father were all married and -their wives and children made the noisiest group of all at the mouth of -the Silent Sue mine. The rough men standing about tried to comfort them; -but there was not much of a comforting nature to say. - -There were plenty of men for the work of rescue; indeed, there were so -many in each two-hour shift that they got in each other's way. Chet -Havens had put the situation concisely and to the point: It would take -more than a week to dig down to the opening of Number Two tunnel; -meanwhile, how would the entombed miners live without food or water? - -Mr. Fordham had not returned and there was nobody for the two boys to -confer with. The mine foreman was doing all that seemed possible. It was -a question whether what he did was of much use. - -Six men in a stoppered tunnel, with no ventilation and nothing to eat or -drink, were not going to live long. Chet doubted if any of them would be -alive at the week's end. - -"Wait till father comes," Dig said, almost sobbing, and seeing how badly -his chum felt. "Perhaps he'll know some other way to get into that -drift." - -"What way?" demanded Chet. "He doesn't know any more about the mine than -we do." - -"Maybe from the old upper level--" - -"Bah! you know better," Chet said sharply. "The pay-streak they followed -first in this mine is only fifty feet down. It petered out before your -father and mine bought into the Silent Sue--you know that, Dig. - -"No chance! The two levels have never been connected, save by the shaft -itself. Your father can't dig any faster than these men are digging. If -there were only a way-- - -"Say, Dig! there's the Crayton Shaft. Don't you remember it? Father told -me the Number Two tunnel on the lower level was pretty close to the old -Crayton diggings. He always said that if the Crayton people had kept on, -they'd have struck pay-ore again. But they got cold feet and father -bought a share in the claim cheap. Now there's been a fellow around -after it. I heard father talking about it." - -"What good will it do to go down the Crayton shaft?" demanded Dig -hopelessly. - -"I don't know--I don't know," admitted Chet. "But I can't stand here -idle. I'll go crazy--_crazy!_ I must do something! Maybe the wall -between the tunnel of the Crayton mine and our Number Two is not very -thick. I've got a compass, and I know this hill like a book. So do you. -Let's take a pick and shovel and ride over there." - -"Oh, Chet! I'm afraid you're stirring yourself all up over nothing," -returned his chum. "I'll help you, of course; but I'm afraid it won't -help us any to go over there." - -"We'll not know till we try." - -"Will you take some of the men to help us?" - -"Two can do all that can be done," answered Chet, rather shrinking from -taking even Rafe Peters into his confidence. It seemed such a forlorn -hope! - -"If the blast went off at the end of the tunnel, it'll be full of -rubbish and take a lot of digging to get through it." - -"No. Our tunnel isn't going head-on into the Crayton drift. I understood -father to say that Number Two tunnel passed the old diggings by. My -goodness! if he only remembers it, and knows just where the Crayton -tunnel is, maybe he and the boys will start digging that way at once. -Come on, Dig! Let's ride over." - -Chet ran to the tool shed and seized a pick and shovel; the latter he -tossed to his chum and then sprang astride Hero with the pick in his -hand. This time his friend had no trouble in getting Poke, for he had -fastened that uneasy animal. - -There was so much excitement around the mouth of the shaft that nobody -noticed the two boys riding away into the woods trail. They knew the way -perfectly. Indeed, there were not many trails in the vicinity of Silver -Run and the mountain that towered over it which were not familiar to -Chet Havens and Dig Fordham. - -This mountain had been deeply scarred by the miners of the old days. One -side of the hill had been eaten away by the hydraulic mining which was -carried on when gold was first discovered here. How much of the rich -silver ore, which the early prospectors did not recognise, had been -wasted in the first excitement of finding gold, will never be known. - -For this really was a hill of silver. The veins of ore streaked it like -the arteries in a human body. The Silent Sue claim chanced to contain -seemingly exhaustless veins; while the old Crayton mine soon petered -out. - -Once the wall of the forest had shut out the view of the shaft -buildings, the boys were likewise out of sight of all human habitations. -The old trail was rough and in places washed away, or filled up with -leaves or other litter. - -Now and again as they rode along they came to deep excavations in the -hillside, old pits which had been abandoned almost as soon as dug. There -was neither gold nor silver in these places, although the indications on -the surface had toled the early miners on to make the excavations. - -At first the prospectors had been after gold, and gold alone. The gold -dust was mixed with a black, rotten ore that the early miners did not -recognise as sulphuret of silver, which is nothing more than the pure -metal in a decomposed state. The prospectors complained loudly of the -"nuisance" of this black stuff. It was worse than the black sand found -always in gold diggings, for such sand does not interfere with the -amalgamation of the gold ore. - -This "black stuff" interfered with the mining of gold, and the diggings -got a bad name because of it. It was some years after the cessation of -gold digging in the mountain above Silver Run (which was not then on the -map) that the nature of this rotten silver ore began to be understood. -The Comstock Lode had then excited world-wide attention, and men who had -been among those who had worked the claims on this mountain remembered -that the same kind of ore that proved so rich in the Comstock claim had -been thrown aside and anathematised by the miners in these old diggings. - -So there was another "rush." Silver Run was established. In some -relocated claims the silver ore was seen to be almost inexhaustible, as -in the Silent Sue, the mine owned by the fathers of Chet and Digby. - -Silver Run had become a town of some importance. There were other -industries besides mining. It was a well governed town, and although on -the verge of the wilderness it had easy communication with cities in a -more advanced state of civilisation. - -When the boys were about two miles from the Silent Sue mine, they came -upon one of the abandoned camps. There was little left to mark its -occupancy by the prospectors of the old regime save several caved-in -shafts and some rusted, corrugated-iron shacks. - -From the rusty stove-pipe chimney of one of these, smoke was curling, -and Digby said: - -"I bet that's where the lame Indian hangs out. You know, he's old -Scarface's grandson." - -"I know. John Peep. That's what the boys used to call him when he came -to school." - -"You don't want to call him that to his face," chuckled Dig. "It makes -him madder'n a hen on a hot skillet. He's got some fancy Indian name -that he prefers to be called by. Oh, he's a reg'lar blanket Indian--and -Scarface does odd jobs of cleaning out cellars and whitewashing!" - -"Poor fellow!" said Chet, scarcely giving his mind to the matter of the -Indian youth. "It must be tough to limp around on a game leg. One's -shorter than the other. You don't often hear of a lame Indian." - -"No. Father says that in the old days if an Indian baby was born -deformed they got rid of it right away. And when Indians used to fight -they fought so hard that they usually killed each other. That's why -there were seldom cripples among them. - -"But this chap--Ah! there he is." - -A figure appeared at the open door of the shack. It was that of a tall, -slim boy, very dark, with red under the skin on his cheekbones, and -straight, long black hair. His "scalp lock" was braided; the rest of the -hair was well greased and hung to his shoulders. - -The shoulders of the Indian youth were bare. Indeed, he wore nothing at -all in the way of a garment above his waist. Dig waved his hand to the -Indian, and shouted: - -"Hello, John! You livin' up here all alone?" - -The Indian youth made no immediate reply, but walked out to the trail on -which the boys were riding. Chet was impatient of delay, but Dig pulled -in his horse. The lame boy stepped between the chums and Chet looked -back, restraining Hero. - -"What are you boys doing up this way?" asked John. - -"We're in a hurry," said Chet quickly. "Going over to the Crayton -shaft." - -"What for?" - -"Say! you're kind of nosey, I think," said Dig frankly. "What do you -want to know for?" - -But John Peep was looking at Chet and seemed to expect his answer to -come from that individual. - -"There's been an accident at the shaft of my father's mine," Chet said. -"There is a cave-in, and my father and five other men are shut down in -the mine. We're going to see if we can't get into the Silent Sue mine -from the old Crayton shaft. You know the Crayton shaft, John?" - -"I know," said the Indian boy, nodding. "You can't get down there." - -"Why can't we?" cried Dig explosively. "You don't know what you're -talking about!" - -"You can't get down there," repeated the lame Indian, but stepping out -of the way when Dig urged Poke along the trail. - -"Why not?" asked Chet again. - -"You can't get down there," said the Indian for a third time, and then -he turned and hobbled back toward the shack. - -"You can't get any sense out of _him_," grumbled Dig, in disgust. "He's -got some bug in his head. Maybe he thinks this whole mountain belongs to -him because it used to belong to his tribe. Old Scarface told me this -mountain was 'bad medicine' and nobody used to come here but the Indian -medicine men in the old days. You couldn't hire Scarface to come up -here." - -The two white boys were riding steadily on over the rough trail. Chet -kept looking back at the abandoned camp, for he was puzzled. He wondered -what John Peep could have meant. - -"There!" he exclaimed suddenly. "See that?" - -"See what?" demanded his chum, twisting his neck in order to look behind -him. - -"There's a man with that fellow--a white man." - -"With the lame Indian?" queried Digby. "Why, so there is! Funny! Can't -be one of the boys following us?" - -"Of course not. Nobody could follow us so fast on foot. There! They are -staring after us. I never saw that man before; did you?" - -"I don't remember. He's not a miner--or, he isn't in working togs. Give -it up, Chet." - -So did Chet. He had something much more important to think of. While the -men at the shaft of the Silent Sue were endeavouring to hoist out the -rubbish that had fallen into the bottom of the shaft, the young chap -believed there was a better chance to get into the lower tunnel of the -mine by following the old drift of the abandoned diggings. - -In half an hour the two lads reached the mouth of the Crayton shaft. -Neither of the boys had been this way for a year. - -Something had happened since their last visit to the spot. The old log -windlass was overturned, and when they left their horses and ran to the -mouth of the shaft they saw that a part of the shoring had given way and -hundreds of tons of earth and rock had fallen into the pit, completely -choking the way to the old mine. - - - - - CHAPTER IV--THE ROCKING STONE - - -"On, Chet!" gasped Digby Fordham. "This is awful! Isn't there any other -old mine that touches the Silent Sue's tunnels?" - -"Not that I ever heard of," replied his chum seriously. "_This_ was only -a chance, of course; but father spoke of this old mine so recently--" - -Chet was staring about the opening in the forest. Like the place at -which they had seen the lame Indian boy, it was an abandoned camp. -Several other claims had been worked here; but the shafts of the other -mines had caved in years and years before. - -There was something peculiar about the filling-in of the Crayton shaft. -Chet began to scrutinise the vicinity--as Dig said, "sniffing around -like a hound on a cold scent." - -"No, sir!" muttered Chet. "It is not a cold scent." - -"Heh?" growled Digby. - -"There's been somebody here lately." - -"Well?" - -"Here's a campfire--fresh ashes. It rained three days ago. These ashes -are perfectly dry and feathery. Never have been rained on." - -"Quite true! Good for 'Trailer Joe, the Young Scout of the Rockies,'" -chuckled Dig. - -"That's all right. You can laugh," said his chum. "But I haven't -forgotten the things old Rafe has told us when we have been out hunting. -It's well to remember such things." - -"But what's the good now?" demanded Dig. "We can't get into the mine, -and it doesn't matter who was here before us. Unless you think there's -somebody gone down this shaft and the cave-in's shut them down there," -he added quickly. - -"I don't believe that's happened," said Chet thoughtfully. He was -walking around and around the mouth of the old shaft. He stopped and -picked up the end of a tough, straight sapling. - -"Why the lever, I wonder?" Chet continued. "It's been used to pry -something--The old windlass, of course. That windlass was knocked over -purposely." - -"What for?" cried Dig. - -"I bet the cave-in was started with this lever, too. They pried out some -of the heavy timbering. This old shaft was shored-up with oak and was a -good job. You know that, Dig." - -"But I don't know what you're getting at," answered Digby. - -"I'm getting at just this: The mouth of this old mine was closed on -purpose, and very recently." - -"Oh!" - -"Somebody must have had a reason for doing this, though I don't see -what. And father was interested in the Crayton claim. I know that. He -spoke of having got control of it at a low price." - -"Petered out before you and I were born, Chet," cried Digby Fordham, -with impatience. - -"Perhaps. But father had a reason for getting hold of it. Perhaps he -thought the pay-streak of our mine was leading this way." - -"Then he wouldn't have caved in this shaft," Dig said slowly. - -"No, no! Somebody else did it. I--don't--see--" - -"Whew!" ejaculated his chum, suddenly. "By the last hoptoad that was -chased out of Ireland! I know who did it, _sure_!" - -"Who?" queried the other boy wonderingly. - -"Who told us we couldn't get into this shaft? Why, that lame Indian!" - -"John Peep?" muttered Chet. - -"Yes! Don't you remember?" - -"Of course he must have known the shaft was filled up," agreed Chet -Havens. "But do you suppose he had anything to do with it? Why should he -cave in the pit?" - -"Dunno," grumbled Dig. "But it looks funny. You don't suppose one -cave-in had anything to do with the other, do you?" - -"Of course not!" exclaimed Chet. "Only, the Indian boy knew of this. He -may have been over here recently. You can see that the marks on this -sapling are fresh. Well, this isn't going to help us any," he added -hopelessly. "We might as well go back. Oh dear, Dig! how will they get -father and the boys out of tunnel Number Two?" - -"They're working hard, Chet," his chum said, trying to speak hopefully. -"We'd better go back, I expect." - -"Let's breathe the horses a little," proposed his friend. "There's no -particular hurry, goodness knows! I hate to go back to Silver Run and -tell mother just how the matter stands. It's a terrible thing, Dig." - -"I know," muttered his chum, and walked away, unable to talk about Mr. -Havens' peril in the caved-in mine. - -Dig walked to the brow of a sharp slope. The opening into the Crayton -mine was on a small plateau, one side of which gave right up on the -steep slope of the mountain. Landslides in the past had raked this side -of the mountain quite bare. Here and there a ledge cropped out, or a -boulder, in rolling down the slope, had found lodgment; the trees that -had taken root in the thin soil were stunted and the bushes meagre. - -Digby rested a booted foot upon a boulder that hung poised upon the very -edge of the plateau. He leaned forward to look down the hill, and as he -did so he felt the huge stone tip forward. - -"Whew!" he ejaculated, leaping back, expecting to see the boulder slide -over the precipice. - -"What's the matter, Dig?" demanded Chet, turning to look at him. - -"Look there!" and the other pointed to the boulder, which, instead of -slipping over the edge, rocked back into its bed, and dipped again and -again while it gradually settled into its usual position. - -"A rocking stone," said Chet with a smile, seeing that his chum was -greatly excited. "What about it?" - -"Whew!" and Dig expelled his breath as he frequently did to express -emotion. "I thought I was a goner. The old rock pitched forward as if it -were going to dive right down the side of the mountain." - -"If it ever does get the right push," said Chet, looking down the slope, -"it will start something. It's a big one--and if it hits that gully -yonder," pointing to a groove in the mountainside below, that marked the -course of some ancient avalanche or watercourse, "it will tear straight -down to the foot of the mountain--and that's ten miles, Dig, if it's an -inch." - -"Uh-huh!" admitted his chum. "Be some ruction. I'd like to see it." - -He rested his weight on the rocking stone again and tried to throw it -forward; but its balance seemed perfect. Just the same, when they -mounted their horses and took the back track for the Silent Sue, the -rocking stone still was balancing to and fro as though about to plunge -over the brink of the plateau. - -From the level of the caved-in shaft the boys descended a slanting path -just within the border of the forest. Through openings in the trees on -the right hand they occasionally caught a view of the avalanche-swept -space which they had seen a few moments before from the higher level. - -Chet's thought was naturally upon the trouble at the Silent Sue and his -father's fate; so it was Dig, visually the less observant, who stopped -his mustang suddenly and put out a warning hand to his chum. - -"Hey! look there!" said Dig. - -Chet glanced out upon the barren mountainside. A figure was just coming -into sight, walking up the gully. The sides of this gulch were so steep -that the boys could see right down into it. - -"Lame John!" exclaimed Dig. "Now, what d'you suppose he's followed us -over here for?" - -"Maybe he didn't follow us," Chet said slowly. "I reckon this side of -the mountain is free, too." - -"See him sneaking up?" growled Dig. "Of course he's following us. He -told us that old shaft was caved in--" - -"No. He only told us we couldn't get down into the mine by that shaft." - -"Well, he's followed us over to see what we are going to do about it--My -glo-ree! Look at that!" - -There was reason for Digby Fordham's cry. With a smash and a rumble, the -rocking stone pitched over the brink of the hill. Whatever had held it -in its bed had broken away without warning and the huge rock commenced -to descend the slope at a speed that momentarily increased. - -It was headed directly for the gully in which the lame Indian youth was -walking. So steep were the sides of the gully, and so swiftly was the -rock descending the hill, that it seemed impossible for the endangered -Indian to escape. - -On the heels of Dig's cry, however, Chet Havens spurred his horse out -into the open ground. He unslung the lariat from his saddle-bow as Hero -galloped to the edge of the gully. - -Chet arrived there just as John Peep looked up and saw the thundering -slab plunging down upon him. He might possibly escape it; then again he -might be caught by it. The avalanche descending with the huge rock was -of considerable compass, and even should the Indian youth try to scale -the side of the gully, he might be swept away by some broken tree or the -like. - -[Illustration: Dig spurred his horse over to the place and leaped down -to give his chum a helping hand] - -For the boulder was sweeping all before it. Dust rose in a cloud, and -through that cloud, limbs of trees, brush, smaller stones, and other -debris could be seen whirling. - -Chet paid little attention to it, however, as he was above the gully and -was out of the course of the slide. But he doubted if the Indian lad -could easily escape, and he sent the coils of his lariat whirling down -into the hollow. - -"Catch hold and I'll haul you up!" yelled the white boy. - -The Indian could not possibly have heard him. By this time the roar of -the landslide drowned all other sounds. The red youth, however, -understood. - -He had already started to scramble up the high wall of the gully; but -the climb was steep and difficult. He seized upon the rope and Chet -Havens leaped down from his saddle. - -Chet was a strong boy, despite his slender figure. He pulled in the -rope, hand over hand, and swung the Indian youth, kicking now and then -at the rocks, above and clear of the descending avalanche. - -Dig spurred his horse over to the place and leaped down to give his chum -a helping hand. - -"By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland!" he ejaculated. -"That redskin sure had a close shave, Chet! What d'you know about it, -old man? Whew!" - -Chet gave his hand to John Peep and helped him up to their level. The -Indian youth was breathless; but his countenance displayed no fear. He -gazed down the gulch after the roaring landslide, and shook his head. - -"Much danger in that," he grunted. - -"You bet your life!" exclaimed the slangy Digby. "You were never nearer -the Happy Hunting Grounds in your life." - -John Peep turned sharply on Digby. "You think it is funny to talk that -way to me because I am an Indian," he said. "I do not believe in any -Happy Hunting Grounds any more than you white boys believe you go to a -Big Candy-Shop when you die. That is silly." - -"Oh! Ugh!" gasped Dig, surprised. "All right. Needn't get mad over it, -old man." - -With a gravity that seemed quite beyond his years, John Peep turned to -Chet. He had not changed colour in the least, nor was he disturbed by -his perilous adventure in any way. - -There were not many Indians about Silver Run; and those who were there -were, as a rule, miserable creatures. Even this youth's own family were -hopeless, lazy and dirty in the extreme, prone to the use of "white -man's firewater" when they could get it. - -But John Peep was more like what an Indian should be--or so Chet Havens -thought. He was odd; but the white boy liked him, and when John put out -his hand Chet accepted it and shook it warmly. - -"You saved me. I will not forget. Thanks!" said the Indian lad. - -"Don't say anything more about it," Chet said quickly. "You'd have done -as much for me." - -John Peep looked at him curiously for a moment. Digby, getting -impatient, blurted out: - -"Well! are we going to stay here all day? We might as well get back to -the Silent Sue." - -"You knew the shaft up there was caved in," Chet said to the Indian. -"How did it happen? I wanted dreadfully to go down. I believe we could -reach my father and the other men entombed in the Silent Sue through the -old tunnel from the Crayton shaft." - -"Can't they be dug out through your shaft?" asked the Indian. - -"I'm afraid it will take a week," said Chet huskily. - -"Oh, come on, Chet!" exclaimed Dig sympathetically. "Maybe some other -way will turn up." - -"White boy know any other way?" queried John Peep quickly. - -"No; of course he doesn't," cried Chet. "We're at our wits' end. There -is an awful mass of stuff fallen into the Silent Sue shaft. As much as -has fallen into this old shaft up yonder," and he pointed up the hill. - -The Indian lad seemed to hesitate; but finally he turned and spoke -directly to Chet again. - -"You come. Tie horses there," pointing to the woods. "I show you -something. Be quick." - -He started off abruptly, going toward the forest. Of course, he could -not travel very fast because of his lameness. Chet and Dig looked at -each other in both surprise and doubt. - -"What does he mean, d'you s'pose?" whispered Dig. - -"I don't know. But it won't hurt to humour him," returned his chum. - -To tell the truth, Chet Havens felt hope suddenly aflame in his heart; -yet why, he could not tell. - - - - - CHAPTER V--THE BEARS' DEN - - -The lame Indian youth did not even look behind to see if he was -followed. Digby Fordham was finally as much impressed as his chum. He -jerked Hero's reins out of Chet's hand and led both mustangs into the -shelter of the wood, where he tied them. - -Chet coiled the lariat up slowly; nor had he followed John Peep far when -Dig rejoined him. - -"Lucky I had this rope hung on the saddle-bow, wasn't it?" Chet -observed. - -"Going to take it with you?" queried his friend. - -"Yes. It might come in handy again." - -"Huh!" returned Dig. "I'd rather have a gun along." - -"What under the sun do you want a gun for?" asked Chet. - -"Well! you never know when you're going to want a gun--up here in the -mountain, anyway." - -"Nonsense! You see that fellow isn't armed," pointing to the Indian. - -"That's his business," said Dig doubtfully. "You never know when you're -going to run into a mountain lion--" - -"Pshaw!" exclaimed Chet Havens. "We're not looking for game." - -"And that's just when we run into something, sure-pop!" - -Chet did not answer this. They were following hard on John Peep's heels, -who did not once look back to see if they were coming. He was leading -them up the path which went to the abandoned mine where the shaft had -been caved in by some miscreant. - -At the level of the plateau on which the shaft was dug, the Indian lad -struck off to the right, away from the Crayton shaft and toward the side -of the mountain from which the white boys had ridden. There was good -reason for John Peep's having advised the tethering of the horses. This -part of the forest was a dense jungle, never having been cleared. - -The trees were huge fellows, some of them scarred and riven by -lightning-bolts. Man's hand, since the beginning, had marked this forest -but slightly. - -The ground was rocky, ledges and big boulders cropping out between the -trees. It was really a mystery how the trees took root and held their -footing between the rocks. - -The Indian kept on up the hill, slanting ever to the right, away from -the plateau. Suddenly Chet discovered that they were in a well-defined -path; but it was not a man-made track--it was not even an Indian runway. - -It twisted and turned between the rocks and big trees, first going up, -and then down, the hill. Chet turned to smile grimly at his friend. - -"Maybe you'll wish you did have your gun, Dig," he said. - -"Huh?" - -"A bear made this path originally, I bet! And many of his relatives have -followed in the same track. This path leads right to an old den, or I'm -much mistaken." - -"By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland" ejaculated Digby -Fordham. "I'm not going to stick my head into a bear's lair. Friendship -is all right, and fly-paper is no stickier than I am when it comes to -being chums with a fellow; but don't you think this is asking a deal too -much?" and Dig looked up at his chum with a very queer look on his face. - -"Hush up and come on!" exclaimed Chet. "If John Peep isn't scared, we -can't afford to be." - -"Why not?" demanded Dig. - -"Because, in all likelihood, he thinks we are a couple of cowards--" - -"Whew! After what you did for him?" - -"Pshaw!" said Chet. "I helped him out of trouble, yes. But I didn't get -into a particle of danger myself--you know that." - -"I don't see why that Indian should have a poor opinion of us," growled -Digby. - -"Well, he has that air. He's different from us," said Chet, puzzled -himself to explain just what he meant. "But, you see, he acts like a -grown man, while we're only a couple of kids." - -"Whew!" ejaculated Dig again, and with an air of doubting his chum's -statement. - -All this had been said in too low a tone to reach the ears of John Peep, -who was some distance ahead of the white boys. Now Chet quickened his -steps, and Dig came on, a little reluctantly. - -The trio was approaching a mass of piled rock which was a landmark from -the valley ten or twelve miles below. It was some distance above the -level of the plateau on which was the Crayton shaft opening. - -The beaten path was unmistakably an animal trail; but John Peep went -right ahead, entirely unafraid. Secretly, Chet thought the path could -not have been lately used by any of the species. - -And young Havens had something of much greater importance in his mind, -too. He was vastly puzzled by John Peep's behaviour. It seemed as though -the young Indian must believe he could help them get at the miners -entombed in the Silent Sue mine. Yet they were several miles from the -claim of Chet's father. - -The Indian boy's seriousness had impressed Chet, however; the latter -believed John to be quite incapable of playing them any trick, when he -had himself been so recently saved from the landslide. - -Gratitude, if not humanity, would surely inspire John Peep. He knew the -two white boys were much exercised over the situation of the men buried -in the Silent Sue mine. He could not be cruel enough to play any trick -upon them! - -They rounded a big boulder at the foot of the piled rocks, and there -beheld the dark mouth of the bears' den, low down on the ground. One had -to get upon hands and knees to get into it. - -"Whew!" exploded Digby again. "Mebbe there aren't any bears around, -Chet; but I declare this is just the place for a lion. Remember that old -scalawag we helped Rafe Peters to kill that time in Macomber's wood-lot? -Just such a place as this he had to hide in." - -"There's no smell of a lion about," declared Chet, yet with some -anxiety. - -"By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland!" cried Dig. "I -don't trust to my nose when I'm around where mountain lions may be--no, -sir!" - -John Peep, who had said nothing, looked at Digby, however, with open -scorn. - -"White boy maybe scared, huh?" he grunted. "This old den." - -"That's all right, that's all right," Dig returned airily. "But some -stray creature might have gone in there since you were here last. And -what are we going in for, anyway?" - -"You stay here. Havens come," said John Peep, with deep disgust, and at -once dropped to his knees. - -But Digby wouldn't hear of being separated from his chum. "You bet I'm -going in there if Chet does, John! You can put that in your -pipe-of-peace and smoke it! If there's anything going to chew Chet up, -his second mouthful will be little old me--and I bet I don't set well on -his stomach, either! Lead on!" - -"Umph!" was John Peep's only comment. - -"I don't know what you fellows are aiming at," growled Dig, getting down -on all fours to follow Chet, "but I'm in on it, whatever it is." - -Chet looked over his shoulder to admonish his chum. - -"Don't anger him. I believe he can help us. I wish we'd brought that -pick and shovel we carted up here on our horses." - -"What for?" cried Digby. - -"I believe we may have use for them." - -"Well, I suppose we could make some kind of a showing in fighting a -mountain lion if we had a pick and shovel. But they'd come in better to -bury him with after we'd killed him," commented his chum. - -The Indian lad went ahead and the chums scrambled after him into the -bears' den. The passage--the sides of which they could easily touch with -their outstretched hands--was as black as the inside of a coal-chute; -and it inclined sharply like a chute, too. - -The passage seemed to be straight, and the chums heard nothing but an -occasional grunt from John Peep, who had difficulty in crawling with his -crippled leg. - -Chet scrambled along after the Indian, and Digby Fordham, to be sure of -his chum's position, grabbed him by the ankle. - -"Stop pulling my leg, Dig!" cried Chet, his voice sounding muffled and -strange in the subterranean passage. - -"I've got to grab you once in a while to make sure you're here," said -Dig. "It's as dark in here as the pants' pocket of a negro, stealing -chickens in the dark of the moon!" - -"Stop your joking, and come on," commanded Chet. - -"Oh! you can't lose me, boy," returned his chum. "At least, you won't -lose me in this hole. I'm keeping right after you. There! Tag! you're it -again." - -John Peep grunted--whether in disgust at Dig's nonsense or not--and -stopped. The white boys were right behind him. They waited, asking no -question, and soon heard the Indian boy scratch a match. - -At the second scrape of the match the light flashed up. They saw him -light a candle in a rude tin lantern. It was plain it had been made by -punching holes in the sides of a half gallon bean can. But crude as the -lantern was, its glow dissipated the darkness. - -"Whew!" came from Digby. "What do you know about this hole, Chet? Look -out! If you ever slip over the edge of it you'll be a long time getting -back to the top." - -But Chet gave him slight attention. He was peering into the shaft that -here opened in the floor of the cavern. The lantern light showed that -the walls of the shaft were rough; indeed, there were natural steps in -it. - -But a new rope had been fastened to a heavy beam laid across the mouth -of the pit; and there were knots every two feet or so in the rope, to -aid one in descending and ascending the shaft. - -Chet turned eagerly to ask the Indian lad: - -"Does it lead into the tunnel from the Crayton shaft?" - -"Yes," John Peep replied, simply. - -"Say! no miner ever dug this!" cried Digby Fordham. - -"Of course not! It's an old watercourse. That's plain enough. Long -before it was a bears' den the water bored this passage in the rock, -found this shaft, and through it reached some subterranean stream." - -"Whew!" whistled Dig. "And who put the rope here? Not this Indian, I bet -a cookie." - -"White boys ask no questions, I tell no lies," said John Peep -succinctly. - -"Well! we've got no business to ask questions," declared Chet quickly, -before his chum could say anything to anger John Peep. "We're sure -obliged to you for showing us this place." - -"Come on, Dig. I bet this leads down to the very tunnel from the Crayton -shaft that father spoke about. Oh, my! if it enables us to get into the -Silent Sue and get father and the boys out--" - -"All right. Lead ahead," interrupted Dig. "I'm game if you are." - - - - - CHAPTER VI--IN THE OLD TUNNEL - - -The lame Indian youth had no idea of giving up the leadership of the -expedition. He grunted, and pushed Chet's hand away when the white boy -reached to take the rudely-made lantern by its bail. - -"Me go first," he said with confidence, and immediately swung himself -over the edge of the rock. - -In spite of his crippled leg, John Peep went down the rough rocks -quickly, clinging with one hand to the knotted rope, the bail of the -lantern swung over his other arm. - -"He must have been often down this shaft," thought Chet to himself; but -said nothing to Dig Fordham. He only wondered why the Indian had often -descended this shaft into the heart of the mountain. - -John Peep raised his face and spoke from the depths: - -"Havens follow--'bout ten yards; then other white boy come ten yards -further back. Rope plenty strong." - -"All right!" responded Chet cheerily. "We're after you." - -"Whew!" whistled Digby. "If that rope should break we'd be after him -with a vengeance!" - -The descent of the shaft was no easy matter, as the two chums from -Silver Run quickly learned. Three bearing their weight upon it made the -rope jerk and wriggle like an excited snake. Both Chet and Dig were -several times almost thrown from their footing on the rough rock. - -"You're rocking the boat, Chet; look out!" grumbled Dig. "I expect to -make a dive over your head any moment. Ugh! that's wriggly!" - -"Hang on, old man!" called back Chet. "That's the best I can tell you." - -The walls of the shaft, however, did make a natural stairway; and at a -pinch one might have climbed down and up again without recourse to the -knotted rope. However, the rope enabled the boys to swing from side to -side of the shaft, as the footing seemed better. - -John Peep's lantern cast sufficient light upward for the chums to see -where they stepped. Indeed, all the light from the candle flickered on -the walls above the descending Indian; the bottom of the pit was in -utter darkness. - -It was a slow descent, as was natural, and the shaft was very deep. As -they had climbed so much higher than the plateau where the Crayton shaft -was sunk, naturally this pit must be much deeper if it reached the old -tunnel in which the Crayton gold vein had petered out in the old -gold-mining days. - -It was gruesome, too. Even Dig Fordham seemed to have lost his voice at -the top of the shaft. An occasional grunt from John Peep was all the -vocal sound that was made by the three for some time. - -The white boys' leather-shod feet scraping the rocks was the principal -sound, for the Indian's tread in his moccasins was silent. - -This continued until finally Dig could restrain himself no longer. - -"By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland! How long's this -going to keep up? Is that Indian going to keep climbing down this hole -forever?" - -"Hush, Dig!" commanded Chet. - -"I did not make the place," said John Peep, with scorn. "White boy -scared--he'd better have stayed out. Havens come. He not scared." - -"I'm not scared!" yelled Dig, his voice booming in the shaft. "By the -last hoptoad--" - -"And that's silly," interrupted John Peep quickly. "There is a legend to -the effect that St. Patrick drove all the reptilian species out of -Ireland; but it is doubtful if the eviction included the so-called -common, or garden, toad." - -"Whew!" gasped Dig. "Did you hear that, Chet?" - -His chum was chuckling and did not answer. Dig tried to treat John Peep -as though he were an uneducated "blanket Indian," as the uncultivated -redmen were called. But John Peep had been some years at school and was -notably the brightest scholar in his class. - -Why he had taken to the woods and preferred to live in the wilderness, -now that vacation had begun, Chet could only surmise. - -It was just then that the Indian reached the bottom of the shaft. Or, -rather, he reached the place where a hole was broken through the wall -into the tunnel from the Crayton shaft. - -Here a circular cavern had been hollowed out in past ages by the falling -water; the subterranean stream finding an outlet at one side, where -another pit dropped away into the heart of the mountain to an unknown -depth. - -The circular cavern was a most beautiful place, crystal stalactites -hanging from its arched roof, while pointed stalagmites were strewn over -the floor. - -It had been, however, many, many years since there had been a particle -of moisture in this cavern. There was a good current of air, and it was -dry. - -All this the white boys discovered when they reached the end of the rope -and stood beside the Indian, Chet turned almost immediately to the -cavity into the mining tunnel. It had been recently dug, without a -doubt, for there were bright scales of quartz rock lying about and a -pile of freshly excavated earth. - -"Whew!" muttered Dig in Chet's ear. "I'd really like to know who did -this, wouldn't you?" - -"It wasn't my father, I'll be bound," responded Chet, in the same tone. -"There must be somebody interested in the old Crayton diggings besides -him. Hush!" - -John Peep came back to them. He brought a pick and shovel from some -hiding place in the darker end of the cavern. To all appearances they -were new implements. - -"White boys want to dig into other mine," he said briefly. "You come. I -show." - -"Heap good," grunted Dig, with a grin. - -But the Indian paid him no attention, merely handing him the shovel, -while he gave the pickaxe to Chet. Then he stooped to crawl into the -newly-excavated passage. - -Dig looked at Chet and scratched his head. - -"What gets my goat," he muttered, "is how that redskin talks one minute -like a college professor and the next like Poor Lo with his face painted -and a dirty blanket trailing at his heels. What do you think of him, -anyway?" - -"I think he has saved the lives of father and the men with him," replied -Chet earnestly. "Come on, Dig! We're going to get them out." - -Only a thin shell of earth and rock separated the bottom of the shaft -down which the trio had come from the old mining tunnel. Whoever had -burst the wall through must have known just where the tunnel lay and -must have been aware of its nearness to the ancient watercourse. - -The loose earth was dropping in this short passage; but the drift from -the Crayton shaft was well timbered with hewn oak. A single wide plank -had been knocked out of the shoring to make an entrance into the tunnel. - -Down here in the heart of the mountain the planking had neither rotted -nor become dry and punky. The timbers all seemed just as good as when -the miners had put them in. - -"Come on, Dig!" repeated Chet, hurrying along the tunnel. "We can't get -them out any too quickly." - -"Where are you going to dig?" queried his chum. - -"Right at the end, of course. Father said he thought the Number Two -tunnel of the Silent Sue passed by the end of this drift." - -John Peep said nothing, but held the lantern and let Chet and Dig take -the lead. They came to the end of the old passage after walking some -distance. Here some recent excavating had undoubtedly been done. There -was no rubbish in the way and they could attack at once the end wall. - -The roof of the tunnel was a great slab of rock. The old method of -"timbering in square sets" had been used in the Crayton claim, and the -square cribs, filled with waste rock, upheld the roof of these workings. - -What puzzled Chet was the identity of the person who had been so -recently working at the end of this abandoned tunnel. - -"What was he working here for?" demanded Dig. "There's no sign of silver -that I can see." - -Both boys thought that they knew a good deal about pay ore, both gold -and silver. They were so much about their fathers' mine, and had heard -so much miners' talk, and had seen so many specimens of ore, that they -felt they were not to be easily fooled. - -John Peep had nothing to say and the expression on his face did not -invite questions. - -Chet and Digby threw off their coats and set to work. Chet first swung -the pick, while Dig shovelled the earth away. In five minutes Chet's -pick rang on a rock in the wall. - -"Hello!" exclaimed his chum. "Did you hear that?" - -"I hit a rock." - -"And somebody hallooed," declared his chum, with confidence. - -"Was it a voice? Do you think so?" cried the excited Chet. "So soon?" - -"I bet you!" was the answer. - -Chet attacked the wall with renewed courage. The earth and small stones -rattled down faster than Dig could shovel the rubbish aside. - -"Hold on! hold on!" gasped Dig. "Let's take a breath. You'll bury us -both in this stuff, Chet. Wait till I shout again." - -"Go ahead!" panted his chum, quite breathless. - -Digby raised his voice as loudly as possible. Immediately there was an -answer--unmistakably a human voice! - -"They're in there--and they are alive!" cried Chet, half sobbing. "Come -on, Dig! maybe some of them are hurt! I want to hear my father's voice!" - - - - - CHAPTER VII--THE RESCUE--AND AFTERWARD - - -The two boys went at the task of digging into the other mine with -renewed vigour. A murmur of sound came through the intervening wall of -earth--unmistakably the voices of the entombed miners. - -"Hurrah!" cheered Digby Fordham. "They hear us!" - -Chet's heart was too full for him to speak. He worked at the wall of -dirt and small stones furiously, and without regard to the bringing down -of a possible avalanche upon his own and Digby's heads. - -John Peep stood back and held the lantern so that they could see. He did -not say a word after the chums began this second attack upon the wall. - -Again the muffled shouts were heard. The chums replied--screaming at the -very tops of their voices. A mass of earth fell inward. - -"They are digging too! Keep it up, Chet," called out his chum. - -"I'm--getting--wind--ed!" gasped Chet. - -"Let me take hold there!" cried the sturdy Dig. "You take the shovel." - -They exchanged implements, and the furious excavating went on for -several minutes. They were making a round hole about breast high in the -wall of the tunnel. The noise of their own pick and shovel drowned other -sounds. Suddenly the pickaxe in Dig's hands clashed with another iron -implement wielded by somebody on the other side of the wall! - -"Hurrah!" cried Dig Fordham. "We've found 'em, Chet!" - -Another mass of earth fell in and the boys saw a light twinkling ahead -of them. - -"Is that you, Father?" called Chet Havens. - -"Is that you, my boy? Well, well!" exclaimed the jolly voice of Mr. -Havens, and it was filled with pride. "It didn't take you two boys long -to find us, did it?" - -"And John Peep, the Cheyenne," returned Chet. "He did more than we." - -But when he turned to look at the Indian youth, he was not there. With -his lantern he had stolen away the moment he saw through the broken wall -that the entombed miners had lamps. - -"We have been trying to hit that old tunnel you are in, boys, for -hours," pursued Mr. Havens, as the men broke down the barrier between -the two mines, and swiftly cleared the earth and rock away. "We knew we -could escape through the Crayton shaft if once we could hit the old -drift." - -"But you couldn't, Father!" exclaimed Chet eagerly. - -"Why not, Son?" demanded the gentleman, who still remained back in the -darkness while his men worked. - -"Because the shaft is caved in." - -"What's that?" queried Mr. Havens quickly, and with some anxiety in his -tone. "It was all right a week ago, for I saw it." - -"Somebody has pried out some of the timbering and caused a cave-in. It's -as bad as the one in our shaft, Father." - -"Well! I declare!" - -"Say! I bet that lame Indian knows who did it," growled Dig, resting on -his pick. "But he won't tell." - -"Then how, for mercy's sake, did you get down here, will you tell me?" -cried Mr. Havens, much astonished. - -"Through an old bears' den that John Peep showed us." - -"John Peep? That young Indian lad that went to school with you, -Chetwood, and was so clever at his books?" - -"Yes, sir. He was with us until just a minute or two ago. Now he's gone -away--so as not to be thanked, I suppose. He's a good fellow," declared -Chet confidently. - -"He surely is a good fellow if he showed you how to get down here to our -rescue," agreed Mr. Havens. "But I must look into this strange cave-in -of the Crayton shaft. It's a most mysterious thing. People don't go -around closing old mines for nothing; unless it's mischievous boys." - -"'Twasn't me!" denied Dig emphatically. - -"You're not the only mischievous young scamp there is in Silver Run," -chuckled Mr. Havens. "Well, boys--how is it? Can we crawl through?" - -"You come along and try it, Boss. Easy on that foot, now!" said one of -the miners solicitously. - -"Oh, Father! are you hurt?" cried Chet, in sudden anxiety. - -"Not so much but I shall get over it," replied Mr. Havens, hobbling -through the aperture between the two mines. "Now, Jackson, you're in -charge of the work on this drift. Just as soon as you can get to it from -our end, build a bulkhead of heavy timbering across this hole. We don't -want any connection between the two mines." - -"All right, sir," agreed the man spoken to, and who followed Mr. Havens -first into the old Crayton mine. - -"Oh, Father!" exclaimed Chet again, seeing that Mr. Havens' right foot -was bandaged, and that his boot had been cut away; "are you sure you are -not badly hurt?" - -"There may be a small bone or two broken," his father said; "but that's -all. I reckon I'll be on a crutch for a while. I won't be able to ride -at all for some weeks. And that is going to be unhandy," he added, "for -I've got an errand at Grub Stake--and a mighty important errand, too." - -Chet made no comment upon this last statement, for he knew his father -had spoken to himself rather than to anybody else. It appeared that Mr. -Havens had been hurt at the time of the blast. - -"And it was that Tony Traddles' fault," declared one of the men. "He -just naturally lied about that timbering being all right. She shook -right down when the shot went off, and the boss got the end of a beam on -his foot." - -"Tony'd ought to be thrashed!" exclaimed another of the miners. - -"He'll lose his job, and that right suddenly," declared Mr. Havens. "I -won't trust a man like him around the Silent Sue." - -The miners had several lamps and it was easy now to find the small hole -into the circular cavern at the bottom of the shaft. Here the light -sparkled beautifully upon the pendants from the cavern roof, and showed -as well the knotted rope hanging from the beam laid across the mouth of -the shaft. - -"Looks as if it was going to be a tug getting you up that hole, Boss," -said Jackson. "We'd better go up first and then raise you in a sling." - -"I've got a good rope for that," cried Chet. "You'll find it right at -the top of that shaft--unless it's been removed since Dig and I came -down." - -"We'll rig up something to help him, never fear," declared Jackson, who -was the first to climb the shaft with the aid of the knotted rope. He -carried a miner's lamp with him, and the boys and Mr. Havens sat down -and watched the spark of the lamp as it wavered back and forth up the -shaft. - -The other four men started in succession after the mine boss. Mr. Havens -questioned the boys regarding their adventures since the accident at the -Silent Sue shaft. He was much interested in the condition of the Crayton -shaft, and in the Indian boy's knowledge of this new entrance into the -old gold diggings. - -"Beats me!" was his puzzled comment. Then he continued: - -"I want to get to Grub Stake in a hurry, and here I am laid up with a -lame leg. It's important for me to see old John Morrisy, who was one of -the original owners of this Crayton mine. He has agreed to sell me his -share, and I need it to get control of the mine. Why I want control is a -secret. - -"Now, it looks to me," pursued Mr. Havens thoughtfully, "as though -somebody else was anxious to get the Crayton mine--or to stop me from -getting it. I don't know which. - -"I don't care so much about the old shaft's being closed. Maybe that is -a good thing, all things considered. But I must get the deeds to John -Morrisy and have him put his mark on them before a Justice of the Peace. -This lame foot is going to trouble me a whole lot-- - -"Hi! there's Jackson hallooing. Ay, ay! we hear you," answered Mr. -Havens, and scrambled to his feet again. - -A noose was let down from a ledge some distance up the shaft, and into -this Mr. Havens placed his uninjured foot. The men above raised him to -the shelf, and then they climbed up to another wide footing and swung -Mr. Havens up to their level, this being repeated until he was finally -raised to the top of the shaft. - -Behind him Chet and Dig climbed, and they were all finally in the bears' -den. They found no sign of John Peep either in the den or after they -came out upon the mountainside. - -"It certainly is good to be out of that mine, boys!" declared Mr. -Havens. "We'll surprise old Rafe and Mr. Fordham, I surmise, when we -arrive at the Silent Sue." - -"We'll surprise Tony Traddles," growled Jackson. "I'd like to get my -paws on to him." - -"You leave him to me," Mr. Havens advised him. "Now, Chet, you say -you've a horse near. Maybe you can boost me on to him, and we'll go over -to the Silent Sue. Let me lean on your shoulder, boy." - -Chet did as he was told, and as he walked beside his father down the -mountainside he added some details about John Peep and the mystery of -the caved-in Crayton shaft. He also told Mr. Havens of seeing the -strange white man with the Indian youth as he and Dig rode over from the -Silent Sue. - -"Who did he look like?" queried Mr. Havens. - -"Nobody I ever saw around here before," Chet replied. - -"Well, it's a puzzle," muttered his father. "And somehow those papers -have got to be carried to John Morrisy. The old man's funny. Something -might happen to him. I shan't feel safe till our contract is fulfilled." - -Chet knew that his father was not speaking directly to him; so he -remained silent. But he kept up a tremendous thinking. He wanted to get -his chum off to one side and talk over a most wondrous idea that had -come to him. - -They found the two horses safely tethered where Dig had left them, and -Mr. Havens was helped into the saddle of the bay horse without much -difficulty. Hero was willing to walk if so commanded, therefore Chet's -father could ride without being badly shaken. His injured foot gave him -great pain; yet he insisted upon going around by his mine before -descending the mountain to Silver Run. - -The other men who had been shut in the mine tramped on ahead, and as the -boys led their horses they did not catch up with the five miners on -their way to the mine. Besides they were delayed. - -As they approached the clearing in which John Peep had first appeared to -Chet and Digby, the trio smelled smoke. - -"Maybe we'll find the Indian here," suggested Dig. "Whew! I hope he has -supper ready. I'm starved right now, if any one should ask you." - -"That's more than a campfire!" exclaimed Chet suddenly. "Hear the flames -crackling?" - -"I hope the fellow hasn't set the woods afire. Indians are so careless," -said Mr. Havens. - -"Oh! I'm sure John isn't that kind of an Indian," said Chet. - -They came in sight of the abandoned mining camp the next moment. The -interior of the sheet-iron shack which the Indian youth had occupied was -afire. - -Smoke and yellow flames poured from the door of the shack. It was -evident that the boy's outfit was being destroyed. - -Dig tossed Poke's reins to Chet to hold and ran over to the burning -structure. The sides of the shack were red-hot, and he could not get -near to it; but with a long pole he managed to poke something out of the -fire. - -"Hi!" he yelled, trying to hold this object up by its bail. "Nobody home -but the beans--and they're canned! Heap big Injun live on white man's -grub just the same!" - -"Stop, Dig!" commanded Chet. "Suppose John should hear you? And he did -us a mighty big favour." - -"Oh, he isn't around," declared Dig. "Think he'd let his outfit burn up -like this?" - -"Who did burn it?" asked Mr. Havens. "Looks odd to me. Of course the -Indian boy wouldn't destroy his own property." - -"I wonder where John went to when he left us so suddenly in that mine," -Chet remarked. - -"He flew the coop, and that's a fact!" said Dig. "But I couldn't guess -where he went to. It's pretty safe to say he did not come this way." - -"That's so," agreed Chet. "But I would like to see him; wouldn't you, -Father?" - -"Most certainly," said Mr. Havens. "Perhaps we might do something to -help the lad. If he has lost his outfit--" - -"That white man!" exclaimed Chet, interrupting. - -"Hel-lo!" said Mr. Havens. - -"What white man?" asked Dig, in surprise. "What are you dreaming about, -Chet?" - -"No dream," said Chet, shaking his head. "But we saw a stranger talking -with John Peep right here; you remember, Dig?" - -"Sure. What of it?" - -"Maybe he was the fellow who caved in the Crayton shaft. And maybe he -didn't want anybody to know about that old bears' den entrance to the -mine. See?" - -"Just as clear as mud," grunted Digby, shaking his head, while Mr. -Havens chuckled. - -"Maybe you think it's far-fetched, Father," Chet urged earnestly. "But -perhaps because the Indian showed us the way to get you and the boys -out, that white man came back here and burned his stuff." - -"That's a good deal of villainy," said his father, ruffling the boy's -hair with a kindly hand. "You've a great imagination, Chetwood." - -So Chet felt rather abashed and said nothing further about the mystery -as they went on toward the Silent Sue. He was convinced, however, that -John Peep had got into trouble because of the help he had given them. - -It was evident as they progressed that Mr. Havens was experiencing -considerable pain from his bruised foot; yet he was troubled more -because of his inability to get to Grub Stake than because of the injury -itself. Chet wanted to say something right then; but he scarcely dared. - -They came to the Silent Sue shaft at length. The five men running ahead -had announced the joyful rescue, and the crowd that was gathered around -the shaft welcomed Mr. Havens and the boys with loud cheers. A man -started immediately for the town to inform Mrs. Havens of the rescue. - -One man stood apart from the others. His face was ugly and morose of -expression. He was a bewhiskered man. His beard had once been red, but -was faded and tobacco stained. - -His arms were so long that when he stood with his shoulders sagged a -little, as they were habitually, his great, ham-like hands hung to his -knees. His face and arms were tanned to the colour of old leather, the -skin looking quite as tough. - -Altogether, Tony Traddles was not a pleasant person to look at. Now he -was particularly offensive in appearance. He was alone while the crowd -of miners and their wives were congratulating each other upon the escape -of the entombed men from the mine. - -Tony Traddles looked as though he would not have cared if Mr. Havens and -the other five men had stayed down in the shaft forever. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII--CHET SHOOTS A HAWK - - -Mr. Fordham had run forward to meet his partner and shake him by the -hand. - -"I'm mighty glad to see you, Jim!" he said, assisting Chet's father to -the ground. "The boys say you've hurt your foot. Is it bad?" - -"Bad enough," answered Mr. Havens, with much disgust, and standing like -a stork on one leg until they brought him a stool to sit upon. "It's -going to keep me from going over to Grub Stake, Fordham, as I had -planned." - -"Well, well! I'm glad you're out of that hole. That's enough to be -joyful over. We'll worry about the other thing later. What about that -scamp yonder?" and Mr. Fordham swung about to point at the ugly, -gorilla-like man who stood at one side, sucking on the stem of an old -pipe. - -"Tony Traddles? Let him go--and let him go quick, Fordham," replied Mr. -Havens earnestly, with a glance around at the rough men. - -"I was tempted to have him jailed. A constable was up here," said Mr. -Fordham. - -"No use. We couldn't prove anything more than malicious mischief--and -we'd have hard work to do that, I think. But it's only by the mercy of -Heaven that he hasn't the lives of six men upon his conscience." - -"Ha!" snapped Dig's father. "That fellow has no conscience." Then he -raised his voice: "Come here, you Tony!" - -The ugly-looking man shuffled over to his employers. He looked sheepish -as well as ugly, and still pulled furiously at his old pipe. - -"Well, Tony, you played us a bad trick that time," said Mr. Havens -quietly. "You knew when I asked you if the timbering was secure that you -had not wedged your cross-beams. Your neglect came near costing six -lives. We cannot have you work on the Silent Sue any longer. Mr. Fordham -will give you your time and money, and you can go." - -"I dunno what I done," growled Tony, in a much injured tone. "I couldn't -help the shaft caving in." - -"You know it wouldn't have caved if you had done your work properly," -said Mr. Fordham sharply. - -"I could have forgiven you for that," Mr. Havens hastened to say. "But -your falsehood led us to suppose that it was safe to fire the shot. That -is your crime, Tony--the misstatement of fact." - -"Aw, yer both down on me," growled Tony Traddles. "I might as well take -my time and beat it." - -"You might just as well, I think," said Dig's father grimly. "Here's -your money. Count it. Sign here in the book. Now be off--for your own -good; for let me tell you the men who worked with you don't feel very -kindly toward you." - -"Aw, let 'em blow! I ain't afraid of 'em," growled Tony Traddles. - -The boys had been watching Tony and the mine owners, but from such a -distance that they could not hear the conversation. They heard the men -talking, however--the men who had been thrown out of work for several -days because of Tony's carelessness. - -Chet, after listening to several threats, looked about for Dig. The -latter had gone to Rafe Peters' shack for a sandwich. Young Fordham had -already expressed himself as being "half starved." He was not used to -going without his dinner. - -"Hi, Dig!" shouted Chet, beckoning to his chum. - -"Now, don't ask for the core," mumbled Dig, with his mouth full. "There -ain't going to be no core. Ask Rafe for a hand-out yourself." - -"Don't think everybody is as greedy as you are," said Chet. "Come on -here. I believe there is going to be trouble." - -He said the last in a low voice after his chum had reached his side. - -"What d'you mean--trouble?" queried Dig. - -"The men are dreadfully sore on Tony Traddles." - -"And why shouldn't they be?" demanded Digby. "He'd ought to be tarred -and feathered." - -"Sh! Some of them might hear you." - -"And I should worry about that!" cried Dig slangily. - -"There's something going to happen to Tony, I do believe," whispered -Chet. "You see, your father's paid him. Now he's going up the hill. And -a bunch of the men hurried over behind that hill a few minutes ago." - -"Whew!" exclaimed Dig. "Maybe--maybe they're going to lynch him!" - -"Don't talk so foolishly!" cried Chet. "These miners aren't murderers, I -should hope! Why--there's Bob Fane, and Jeffers, and Ike Pilsbury. Why, -we know most all of them! They're decent men and wouldn't kill even -Tony." - -Dig chuckled. "Guess you think he deserves it, whatever they do to him?" -he suggested. - -"Come on! Father and your father are busy. I want to see if they do get -Tony Traddles," Chet said eagerly, and set off for the grove of trees -directly above the mouth of the mine that had been caved in because of -Tony Traddles' negligence. - -The men had melted away from about the shaft. Even Rafe Peters, the -foreman, had disappeared. Mr. Havens and Mr. Fordham were busy at the -corrugated iron shack that served as an office. The women and children -had taken their recovered husbands and fathers home; it was only the -younger and more irresponsible element of the Silent Sue workmen that -had gone over the hill. - -And in their tracks sped the two chums. Chet and Dig were both eager and -curious. They saw the bewhiskered and long-armed Tony Traddles -staggering along the rough trail over the hill, occasionally turning to -shake his hairy fist in the direction of the mine. He was probably -muttering threats, too, against the mine and its owners. - -The boys had taken a shorter path over the rise; besides, they were -running. But the miners who had been associated with Tony had got over -the hill first. They were hidden in the chaparral on the edge of the -trail Tony was following, and when he came down the slope they sprang -out and surrounded him. - -Chet and Digby could not hear what was said at first; but Tony began to -show fight almost at once. He was no coward. - -The miners rushed in on him, tied his wrists together, and amid a great -deal of noise and some laughter, hoisted him upon a fence-rail which -four of them carried on their shoulders. His ankles were then triced -together. His helplessness made him ridiculous. - -"Oh, bully!" cried Dig, in delight. "That serves him right!" - -"I wish they hadn't done it," said Chet. "They're going to ride him over -the mountain." - -"Sure they are! And they are going to warn him not to come back," said -Dig. "Serves him just right, I tell you." - -"But suppose he does something to get square?" breathed Chet, much -excited as well as anxious. - -"Pooh! what could he do?" returned Dig. "He may as well go out and hunt -for that big buffalo he was telling us about. I don't believe Tony -Traddles would know a buffalo if he met one in his soup." - -"What a ridiculous thing, Dig," said Chet. "And you needn't scorn the -fact of the existence of the buffaloes. Rafe told us about them, too. -And maybe we'll get a shot at them." - -"How?" demanded Digby, fired by the thought. - -But at that instant something happened to the miner who was being ridden -on a rail, which attracted their attention again. - -"Hi! see that somersault!" cried Dig. - -"Oh, dear me!" Chet exclaimed. "That was enough to break his neck." - -"And serve him just right!" quoth the savage Dig. - -Tony Traddles, in struggling to free himself, and while raised on the -shoulders of the men, had turned completely over and now hung head-down, -his long hair brushing the uneven ground over which he was being -carried. - -The rough men laughed and cheered; nor did they offer at first to help -the discharged miner. Tony struggled and fought and finally was helped -to a sitting posture again. - -The boys were too far away to hear all the prisoner said--and that was -fortunate. But now they ran forward and, above the cheers and laughter -of the gang, heard Tony Traddles mouth out his threats: - -"I'll git square with you all! I'll make ye all eat dirt fur this day's -work! Mark me, I'll do fur ye all yet!" - -The men hooted and laughed at him, and Tony's rage grew. - -"I'll make ye all sing another tune. An' I'll git square with old -Havens. Mark what I say now! I'll git square." - -The rough men went on with their prisoner, tossing the rail up and down -and making his seat as uncomfortable as possible. Chet stopped in the -trail and halted Digby by clinging to his coat-sleeve. - -"Let's go back," he said. "I wish the men hadn't angered Tony so. -Perhaps he _will_ do my father some harm." - -"A fat chance he'd have of doing that!" exclaimed the other boy. "He'll -never dare come back here again. You tell your father. He'll be on the -lookout for Tony." - -"No, no! He's got enough to worry him. I wouldn't say anything now that -would disturb his mind. And say, Dig, that reminds me! Let's try and get -'em to let us go to Grub Stake." - -"Huh? To Grub Stake?" cried Digby, in surprise. "What for? Though I'd go -quick enough if it were only to buy a lemon." - -"There's a bigger reason than that," laughed Chet Havens. "Didn't you -hear my father say something about getting some papers signed by a man -named Morrisy who lives at Grub Stake?" - -"Yes, I remember." - -"Well, it's important. Father can't go because his foot's hurt. Let's -tease to go. And on the trail we might run across that big buffalo." - -"By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland!" ejaculated the -excited Dig, falling back upon his favourite exclamation, "that would be -great. But you do the askin', Chet. My father will think I've got -something up my sleeve if I undertake even to hint at such a trip." - -Chet agreed to this; but it was not a propitious moment to broach the -subject when the chums returned to the shaft of the Silent Sue. Mr. -Havens had just been helped upon Chet's horse again, and was going home. -He expected to remain at home for some weeks, and the business of the -Silent Sue was to be under Mr. Fordham's sole direction. - -The partners in the mine knew nothing about the trouble Tony Traddles -had gotten into with the rougher element of the miners. Nor did the boys -say anything about what they had seen. - -The next morning Digby was over bright and early at the Havens house to -see if Chet had spoken to his father regarding the Grub Stake trip. He -found his chum in the lot beside the corral, where his mother had a -flock of hens, with his small, twenty-two calibre rifle. It was the -little weapon Chet had learned to shoot with. - -"What are you doin' with that little play gun?" chuckled Digby. -"Shootin' horseflies?" - -"Just you keep still a minute," whispered Chet, who was crouching behind -a shed wall. "Stoop down here. Keep still. I'm watching a hawk." - -"You can't shoot even a chicken hawk with that thing!" exclaimed Dig, -scorning a weapon of small calibre. - -"You wait and see," commanded Chet. "There he comes now!" - -Far off against the sky appeared a dark spot, circling ever lower and -lower. The great hawk swept down in narrowing circles, its objective -point plainly being Mrs. Havens' hen-run. - -"Why don't you get a gun?" growled Dig, for although he well knew Chet's -skill with firearms, he thought the tiny rifle a foolish thing. - -Just then a voice behind the boys put in a word: - -"I reckon your friend is going to wait for the hawk to drop on the -chicken before he shoots. 'Twon't carry more'n ten feet, will it?" - -Chet turned rather angrily. He did not mind his chum's joking; but this -stranger's scornful remark angered him. - -And he was a stranger. Chet thought he had never seen the man before. -The fellow wore a big black sombrero, but was not in working clothes. -His boots were polished, he wore a ruffled shirt and silk tie and cuffs. - -His countenance was not pleasant, for his eyes were too sharp and too -near together. He had his brown moustache curled and there was an odour -of strong perfume about him, as though he had just been to the barber's. - -"You wait a couple of minutes," Chet Havens said sharply, "and you'll -see how far this gun carries. Providing that hawk isn't frightened -away," he added, glancing upward. - -The stranger leaning on the fence immediately became very still. Dig -began to grow nervous--for his friend's sake. - -"Say! let me run in and get you a proper gun, Chet," he whispered. "I -know you can kill that hawk up there; but not with that dinky little -thing." - -"The first hawk I ever killed I brought down with this rifle," muttered -Chet. "And I bet I haven't forgotten the trick-- That way!" - -As the hawk suddenly swooped, Chet stepped clear of the shed. He didn't -even bring the butt of the rifle to his shoulder, but fired from the -hip. - -There was a shriek from the bird, and with several feathers flying, the -hawk sank fluttering to the ground. Digby Fordham uttered a cry of -admiration. - -"I declare!" exclaimed the stranger, as the boys ran across the lot to -secure the still fluttering bird. "I never saw a prettier shot--and him -only a kid!" - -He was gone when Chet and Dig returned with the dead hawk between them, -each carrying the bird by an outstretched pinion. - -"You gave me the laugh, Chet!" declared Dig, with enthusiasm. "I didn't -think you could do it. Hello! where's that fellow gone?" - -The stranger had disappeared. Just then, however, Mr. Fordham rode down -from the mine and the boys hurried out to show Chet's prize and hear -what news he had brought to Mr. Havens, who sat upon the front porch of -the house with his wounded foot on a stool. - -"Everything all right at the Silent Sue, Fordham?" Mr. Havens was -asking. "I'm glad to know you're on the job. But I'm worrying about that -other matter." - -"About those deeds to the Crayton claim?" queried Mr. Fordham. - -"Yes," said his partner. "The doctor says I shall be laid up here for -three weeks. A lot may happen before I can get hold of John Morrisy. If -we had somebody to send--" - -Dig had been prodding Chet eagerly, and whispering in his ear. The other -boy dropped the hawk and drew nearer. - -"Can't Digby and I go to Grub Stake for you, Father?" he asked, timidly. -"It's vacation, we've got good horses and know how to shoot if we need -to, and I've heard you say yourself the trail is plain. Can't we go?" - -Mr. Havens and Mr. Fordham looked at each other. To tell the truth, the -gentlemen had discussed this very thing, only the boys did not know it. - -"Your boy is all right," drawled Mr. Fordham, "but mine is such a -scatter-brained youngster--" - -"Oh, Dad! I promise not to scatter my brains--nor let them be -scattered--if you say I can go with Chet to Grub Stake," cried Dig, -utterly unable to keep silent another minute, so great was his -eagerness. - - - - - CHAPTER IX--ON THE TRAIL TO GRUB STAKE - - -But it was not all settled in a minute. The affair was of a much too -serious nature. First of all the boys were sent away while the fathers -privately discussed the journey and what had to be done when once the -messengers reached the town of Grub Stake, which was fully two hundred -miles from Silver Run. - -Banished from the front of the house, Chet and Digby had an eager -discussion of their own, while the former carefully skinned the hawk so -that it could be mounted. - -"Oh, Chet! we'll have just the Jim-dandiest kind of a time if they only -let us go," sighed Digby Fordham. - -"And we'll get a shot at those buffaloes," said Chet, his eyes -sparkling. - -"Oh, shucks, boy!" drawled Dig. "You've that big buffalo on the brain. I -still declare that I don't believe there is any such animal." - -"Just you take your heavy rifle along. It takes a sizable bullet to kill -a bull buffalo. I am going to borrow father's big rifle." - -"Say! they haven't said we could go yet!" - -"Who else can go?" returned Chet. "If you'll only promise to behave--" - -"Whew! how about you?" - -"Well," answered Chet, "they didn't speak about me being -scatter-brained," and he laughed. - -"I vow," said Dig, "by _all_ the hoptoads that were chased out of -Ireland--" - -"John Peep rather doubted if the toads went with the other reptilian -species," chuckled Chet. - -"Oh--hum! Well, anyway, I vow not to let my brains be scattered," Dig -remarked. Then he added complainingly, "I think my father is rather hard -on me." - -"By the way," Chet said suddenly, "queer why John Peep left town to live -up there in that shack." - -"Give it up," said Dig. "Perhaps he wanted to be 'heap big Injun.' I -reckon all redskins are queer." - -"Now, Dig! Don't you talk that way. John made us hustle in school to -keep anywhere near him in classes. You know it." - -"Well! Tell us the news. Never mind about ancient history." - -"I found out that John wanted to play on the school nine. You know, the -club's going to play all this summer; some of the storekeepers have put -up money to back it. And the captain and coach wouldn't let John play." - -"What? By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland! I've seen him -pitch--" - -"I know. He's a great little pitcher," Chet interrupted. "He's a -southpaw and he can puzzle most of 'em, you bet! It's a mean shame. John -Peep got sore and left town. Maybe he was sick of his family, too. -They're a lazy and dirty lot." - -"Whew! Can't blame him for that," said Dig. "They're an unhealthy -looking crowd. Old Scarface whitewashes fences for a nickel an hour and -they live in a dirty hole of a cabin down in Hardpan." - -"John always looked neat and clean when he came to school." - -"But see how he looked up there in the woods--like a reg'lar savage!" -sniffed Dig. "Not half dressed--and living in that old shack. I wonder -what he's doing now that his outfit is burned." - -"I believe that stranger burned it--the one we saw talking with him when -we rode by," declared Chet earnestly. "And I never saw that man before-- -Oh, Dig!" and he suddenly made an excited grab for his chum's arm. - -"Well, goodness! Don't scare a fellow to death. What's got you now?" -demanded Digby Fordham. - -"That fellow is the one we saw with the lame Indian." - -"What fellow?" - -"The man who butted in just now when I shot the hawk." - -"Whew! you don't mean it?" said Dig. - -"Yes, I do. I remember him now. I remember his hat. Now, who can he be?" - -"Give it up! Hello! there's father calling for us. Oh, Chet! I hope they -let us go to Grub Stake," said Dig, longingly. - -Serious as was the errand to Grub Stake, Mr. Havens and Mr. Fordham were -inclined to trust their sons more than ever before, and that because of -one uncontrovertible fact. - -When nobody else had thought of any way to rescue the entombed miners -from the Silent Sue, Chet and Dig had remembered about the old Crayton -shaft and the possibility of getting into the closed mine through its -old tunnel. - -"It showed a surprising amount of thought and initiative for boys of -their age," Mr. Havens said. "I don't know whether it was my boy or -yours who took the lead, Fordham. At any rate, the two in conjunction -hunted us out." - -"Something is due the boys," admitted Mr. Fordham, "and the trip will be -a great lark for them." - -"It's more than a lark. I shall impress that on Chet's mind," said his -partner, shaking his head. - -"Oh! your boy's got a head on him," agreed Mr. Fordham. - -"I hope so," concluded Mr. Havens, and it was then the chums were -recalled to receive permission and instructions for the journey over the -trail to Grub Stake. - -Neither Chet nor Digby gave vent to any exuberance of joy at the -prospect--not then, at least. They listened earnestly to what they were -told, and then at once set about the preparations they had to make, for -they were to start the very next morning. - -Dig, who never went anywhere on foot if he could help it, brought his -black horse, Poke, and all his outfit over to the Havens corral that -evening. The boys proposed to camp in the open, there being no ranches -at that date along the Grub Stake trail. So they were obliged to pack a -good deal of camp equipment. - -"We'd better hire one of Mexican Joe's burros," said Dig, "and then we -can take our piano and your mother's sewing machine and washtubs." - -"Don't begin to kick," Chet said calmly. "You'll be glad to have all -this stuff before we're half-way to Grub Stake." - -"And we'll sound like a procession of junkmen when we pass by," grumbled -his chum. "Talk about shooting game! Why, unless all the game is stone -deaf, we won't get within shot of a crippled mine rat!" - -"No. I'll pack this outfit so the tinware won't rattle," laughed Chet. -"And we couldn't take a burro. That would delay us. We want to be -comfortable when we camp. After a long day's ride, you'll be the first -one to call for a square meal." - -"Say! how long's the trip going to take?" demanded Dig. "We'll be back -by the time school opens next fall, I suppose?" - -"Don't be so ridiculous," responded Chet. "It's a rough trail, and if we -go right on with no delays, but for sleep and meals, it will take all of -three days." - -"Whew! my Poke can do it in a day and a half." - -"But why rush like that?" cried Chet. "We want some fun, don't we? This -is no horse-race, I hope! And father says we can take our own -time--especially coming back." - -"I know what you're thinking about, Chet Havens!" cried his chum, in -response. "You're thinking of those buffaloes." - -"Well! and if I am?" - -"Huh!" grunted Dig. "If any buffaloes ever see us with all this tinware -and stuff aboard they'll hike out for the north and never stop running -till they reach the Arctic Circle!" - -Chet only laughed at him. He showed Dig how to pack the cooking utensils -and the like in his blanket-roll so that they would not rattle. When -they set out right after breakfast the next morning the compass of their -outfit did not seem so great as Digby supposed it would. - -Chet carried in an inside pocket of his woollen outing shirt the deeds -in duplicate which he was to get Mr. John Morrisy to sign. The old -prospector who had never sold his interest in the Crayton claim was a -queer, illiterate character, well known about Grub Stake. - -Mr. Havens had instructed Chet just how to proceed with the business in -hand, and the boy was quite sure he could do it all without a hitch. The -money to be passed in exchange for Mr. Morrisy's signature was already -on deposit with the Wells Fargo Company in Grub Stake; and of course -Chet had no expectation of losing the deeds. - -The horses were in fine fettle, and so were the boys, when they rode out -of Silver Run. Each of the chums carried a heavy rifle slung over his -shoulder and under his arm, the muzzle pointing down his bootleg. And -you may be sure they were not loaded so that the hammer rested on a -cartridge. The boys had long before been instructed as to the danger of -that piece of carelessness. - -They were well supplied with loaded shells, for the day of the -muzzle-loading rifles, with the cumbersome shot-pouch and powder-horn -was long past. Their revolvers were loaded, too, and each boy wore a -keen hunting-knife in a sheath. - -They expected to kill most of the meat they ate on the trail. Canned -beans did not greatly appeal to the trail boys; especially when they -were sure there must be plenty of small game along the way. - -They aimed to take a trail which wound through the hills to the west of -the town and would lead then by mid-afternoon to the open plains. In -going this way they passed through the poor suburb known as Hardpan. It -was here the family of Lame John, the Cheyenne Indian, lived. - -On one side of a littered lane were grouped a dozen lean cabins, with -barren yards divided from one another by pickets, eked out with hogshead -hoops, gate-bars of old wagons, hoopskirts, and like rubbish. Here and -there an attempt had been made by some of the Hardpan women or girls to -make flowers grow; but they were sorry gardens. - -Across the lane the ground was open--part of it a dump for the refuse of -the neighborhood. As Chet and Dig rode into the head of the driveway -they heard a shrill chorus of cheers, intermixed with which was the -"E-i! e-i! e-i!" of the Indian yell and the "Yee-ee-yip!" favoured by -the cowpunchers of the ranges. - -"Something doing, boy!" cried Dig to his chum, at once interested. - -"Must be that attack on Silver Run by the Comanches you were telling -your Cousin Tom about," said Chet, chuckling. - -"I reckon it's a Cheyenne attack. Whew! Look at that! It's a ball game." - -"No," said Chet. "It's Lame John pitching to his grandfather. Oh, look -at that! Old Scarface has put on a glove and John is trying out his fast -one." - -"Whew!" blew Dig. "I must take a peep at that. Some little old southpaw, -John is. He can show 'em!" - -It was a spectacle worth watching. The inhabitants of Hardpan were out -in force to see it. - -There was a level diamond and surrounding "garden" cleared in the open -lot. The spectators were gathered back of the foul lines, and among them -were the boys who had recently been playing. - -Now John Peep had stepped into the box to throw a few exhibition balls. -The governors of the school nine had refused to accept the lame Indian -boy as one of their pitching staff; to the Hardpanites he was, -nevertheless, something of a hero. He was winding up for another drive -just as Chet and Dig appeared, and the spectators held their breath. - -Behind the plate stood a gnarled, lean old man in ragged, fringed -leggings and a miner's cast-off shirt, with moccasins on his feet. His -hair was as white as could be; but he was as alert and his eyes as -bright as though he were a young man. Old Scarface, once a brave of the -Cheyenne tribe, was over eighty years of age. When the ball smashed into -his glove he threw it back to his grandson as smartly as any boy. His -muscles were still supple and his eye true. - -Although Chet and Dig did not know it, ball playing was not a strange -sport to the American Indian. Most of the tribes were playing ball -before Columbus discovered the New World. Only, of course, the rules of -the game were entirely different from those of our own baseball. - -"Say! the old man is great," declared Chet, reining in Hero. - -"But look at that ball whiz!" murmured Dig, as John Peep sent in another -one. "Why didn't the other fellows want him to play on the team? He -could have somebody run for him; and he can bat, even if he has a short -leg." - -"Just didn't want him, that's all," said Chet. "But I notice that our -nine has got licked in almost every game they've played. And it's -particularly weak in the pitching--Say! look at that one, will you?" - -"E-i! e-i! e-i!" - -"Yee-ee-yip! Yee-ee-yip!" - -The crowd went wild. A boy had stepped up to the plate and tried to hit -the ball. John Peep's curve seemed fairly to dodge the bat as the boy -swung at it. - -Old Scarface--as serious as a deacon--slammed the ball back to his -grandson and squatted for the next one. The old Indian took the matter -as seriously as he took everything else in life. Nobody ever saw the -ancient Cheyenne "crack a smile," as Dig expressed it. - -Two more balls followed the first in quick succession, and the batter -tossed away his stick in disgust. He had only fanned. - -Then John saw the two boys on horseback, and he tossed the ball to -another boy. Scarface stepped out of the catcher's place and stood with -folded arms beside the field. It was beneath his dignity to play ball -save when his grandson wanted to pitch. Nobody in Hardpan but Scarface -could "hold" the young Cheyenne's delivery. - -The Indian lad ran over to the horsepath and asked Chet: - -"You going to take trail?" - -"Yes," said Chet. "We're hiking for Grub Stake." - -"A-i! So I hear. You're not going near that shaft I showed you--that way -into the old mine?" - -"No," replied Chet. "We're not taking that trail." - -"All right. You much better keep away from there," said John, and turned -away. - -"Say!" cried the too curious Digby, "who burned out your shack, John?" - -"Never you mind," returned the Indian lad, and he showed anger in the -expression of his face at this reminder of his loss. "I'll get my pay -for that." - -"I hope you do," commented Chet soothingly, and preparing to ride on. -"We're all very thankful to you, John. My father would like to see you, -if you'll go up to the house. You know, he's laid up for a while." - -John Peep looked back at him sharply. "Ugh!" he grunted, in what Dig -called his "red Indian style." "Ugh! Your father give Indian cast-off -suit of clothes. Your mother give Indian meal of victuals. Then shake -hand, say, 'Good-bye, Injun!' I don't need those things, Chet Havens." - -"Well! by all the hoptoads that were chased out of Ireland!" murmured -Dig. - -But Chet said calmly: "That isn't the way my parents will treat you, -John." - -The Indian boy was still flushed and angry. "That isn't even my name!" -he exclaimed. "'John' is white boy's name. They make me give it when I -go to school. But it does not belong to me." - -"Say! what is your name?" demanded Dig, his curiosity getting the better -of his courtesy. - -"Never you mind," responded the Indian boy sharply, and turned away -again. - -But Chet called after him: "Do think better of it, and go to see my -father." Then he let Hero have his impatient head and he and his chum -went on their way. - -That which rose out of this advice of Chet's to the Indian lad could -scarcely be foreseen by either of the boys; but it was of much -importance. - -The chums rode on, soon leaving the last of the scattered cabins behind -them. They met timber wagons from the hills, but nothing else for the -next hour. The lumbermen looked curiously at the chums' weapons, for -their guns were too heavy for an ordinary hunting expedition. - -"What you goin' out after?" one timberman drawled. "Grizzlies--or is -there an Injun uprisin'?" - -"We expect to bag a brace of humming-birds," Dig told him gravely. "Have -you seen any?" - -"No; but I've heard 'em snorin', sound asleep, in the tops of some of -them cottonwoods," was the reply. "But, say! They ain't been a trace of -Ole Ephraim in these hills, since Methuselah was put inter trousers." -"Ole Ephraim" was the nickname the old-time hunters and trappers gave to -the grizzly bear. - -"Nor I didn't know of any redskins goin' on the warpath. Has -Blacksnake's band of dog soldiers broke loose from the reservation?" -pursued the man cheerfully. "Say! 'tain't old Scarface and his fam'bly -begun crow-hoppin'--has they? If so, we sure will have a tumble -mas-a-cree." - -"That's all right," laughed Chet. "We're going to bag all the game in -the territory--you see." - -"Leave me a mess o' Molly Cottontails," said the timberman, driving on. -"I ain't had a rabbit with fixin's yet this season." - -"And I shouldn't think he'd want it," grumbled Dig, as they left the man -behind. "Who wants to eat rabbit this time o' year? I told you how it -would be if we took these heavy guns, Chet. Folks will rig us to death. -Huh! Buffalo! A fat chance!" - -Chet only laughed at him. He had a deal more faith in the existence of -the buffalo band that had been reported as roaming upon the plains, -across which the trail to Grub Stake lay. - - - - - CHAPTER X--MR. HAVENS HAS A VISITOR - - -Mr. Havens and his wife had bidden the chums good-bye when they rode -away from the house on the outskirts of Silver Run and watched them as -they cantered off down the road. Chet's mother secretly feared something -might befall her boy on his mission to Grub Stake; while Mr. Havens was -only proud that he had a son whom he could trust in such an emergency. - -When Mrs. Havens had retired to the house her husband sank comfortably -back into his chair and relit his pipe. It was then he espied the -stranger in the black slouch hat coming up the street. - -Silver Run was not such a large town that the owner of the Silent Sue -mine did not know most of its regular inhabitants, either by name or -sight. This fellow he never remembered having seen before. - -Nevertheless, when the man came opposite to the Havens' house, he -crossed the road and came up to the porch on which Chet's father sat. He -was a broadly smiling man; but his eyes did not smile. They were little -and sharp and altogether too near each other to be honest. - -"I reckon you're Mr. Havens?" queried the stranger, putting out a hand -that Mr. Havens did not appear to see. He was busy re-tamping his pipe -just then. - -"Yes, sir," said the mine owner. "I'm the man." - -"You've got an interest in a mine up yonder?" said the stranger, nodding -toward the mountain that loomed above the town. - -"Another man and I own the Silent Sue," was the serious answer. - -"Shucks! I don't mean that," exclaimed the visitor jovially. - -"What do you mean, then?" asked Mr. Havens. "Not that it's any of my -business." - -"Sure it's your business," cried the stranger. "I've come here to talk -to you about it." - -"About what?" - -"The Crayton claim." - -"Oh!" Mr. Havens eyed him silently and with much curiosity. But he had -learned to wait and let the other man do the talking. That was why he -was so successful in business. - -"Yes," said the stranger. "I got hold of a share of the Crayton claim in -a curious way. And I'd like to own it all, Mr. Havens. I learn at the -Office of Record that you own a part. Will you sell?" - -"That's odd," said Chet's father slowly, and still examining the -stranger with serious gaze. "I became possessed of a share of the claim -in a curious way, too, and I want to control it. Will you sell, -Stranger?" - -"No. I tell you I want to buy," said the man, with some warmth. "I -didn't come here to peddle my share." - -"And I didn't ask you to come," said Mr. Havens softly. "I don't want to -sell." - -"I've come here prepared to buy," declared the man blusteringly. - -"Sorry. Looks like a deadlock to me," said Mr. Havens coolly. "By the -way, what is your name, Stranger?" - -"Steve Brant. You don't know me," said the man ungraciously. - -"No. You're not at home in Silver Run, I take it?" - -"No, I'm not." - -"Nothing particular to bring you here but a desire to buy my interest in -the Crayton claim?" - -"No," repeated the man. - -"Then," drawled Mr. Havens, "there's nothing to keep you from taking the -next stage-coach out. It leaves the Silver Run Hotel this afternoon at -two." - -The man who called himself Brant flushed dully under Mr. Havens' tone of -raillery; but he managed to control his temper. - -"You'd better think it over, Mr. Havens. I can give you a good trade." - -"Don't want to trade." - -"You're not the only man I can deal with!" exclaimed Steve Brant, -looking at the mine owner slyly. - -"No?" - -"I can get control without buying _you_ out." - -"That so?" returned Mr. Havens with apparent curiosity. - -"Yes. You're not the only one who owns a bit of the Crayton claim. There -may not be ten cents' worth of pay ore left in it, but I have a fancy to -open it up." - -"Everybody ought to be free to follow his fancy," said Mr. Havens -cheerfully. - -"But you'd better take your chance while you have it offered to you. -I've only got to go to Grub Stake and buy," went on the visitor. - -"That so? Then shares in the old claim are offered in Grub Stake?" -queried Mr. Havens. "Never heard of that before." - -"You don't know everything," sneered Steve Brant "Old John Morrisy's -never sold his share in the Crayton mine. I can get it and that will -give me control." - -"No," said Mr. Havens, quietly shaking his head. - -"Why not, I'd like to know?" demanded Steve Brant angrily. - -"Because I've got an option on John Morrisy's holdings--that's why, -Stranger." - -"What d'ye mean--option?" - -"Just what I say. John's agreed to sell it to me." - -"And you tied down here with a broken foot?" cried the other. "I know -old John Morrisy. The man who can show him ready cash first will get his -share in the old diggings, sure!" - -"You're so sure," sighed Mr. Havens. "Go ahead. You'll learn." - -"You're bluffing." - -"Go ahead. I might as well tell you, though," said Chet's father, "that -I've got my money on the spot and the papers are on the way to Grub -Stake right now. I reckon I've beat you to it, Stranger." - -"Say! you don't know me," remarked Steve Brant threateningly. "I'm not -so easily beaten." - -"And I don't care whether I beat you or not. I never saw you before," -said Mr. Havens; "and I don't care to see you again. But take it from -me: I'm going to control the old Crayton claim. It won't be you. Mark -that now!" - -The mine owner had become a little heated. Now he sank back in his chair -again, and puffed strongly on his pipe. He appeared to have no further -interest in the discussion. - -Steve Brant turned away from the porch--on which he had not been invited -to sit--in plain wrath. He did not bid Mr. Havens good-bye, nor did the -latter look after Brant when he walked down the street. - -Had he done so he could not have heard what the man was saying to -himself. He felt that Mr. Havens had the best of him--for the time, at -least. And it made him very angry. - -"Something has 'woke him up. He must know something about that old -claim--he knows as well as I do," muttered Steve Brant. "He's in -communication with old John Morrisy, is he? - -"By gracious! that's where those boys were bound for when I saw them -ride away this morning. I waited for them to get away first, for I was -afraid they might have remembered my being up there with that young -redskin. - -"Ha! I'd like to see what kind of papers they carry. Old John Morrisy is -a queer duck--and he can't read. Pshaw! I ought to be able to get the -better of a couple of boys. Now, why not? That Tony knows the trail like -a book--Humph! - -"If I'm not smarter than a couple of boys and a man that's tied to his -piazza like a poodle-dog, I'll eat my hat," declared Steve Brant, as he -turned the nearest corner below the Havens' house. - -Mr. Brant was evidently a man who would bear watching. - - - - - CHAPTER XI--THE FIRST ADVENTURE - - -As Chet Havens and Digby Fordham mounted into the hills, the country -about them became wilder and quite free from signs of man's habitation. -Even the behaviour of the birds and the squirrels was different from -their conduct nearer town. - -"I could knock the head off that fellow," Dig declared, referring to a -big grey squirrel that flirted his tail and chattered in a tall hemlock -not far off the trail, "if I only had my little rifle. This thing is a -reg'lar elephant gun, Chet," and he shifted the heavy rifle to his other -shoulder. - -"Knock the head off it, hey?" repeated Chet. - -"Not a very sportsmanlike way to get a squirrel." - -"Huh! I'm not so particular how I get my game, as long as I get it. I -don't claim to be a fancy shot like you, Chet." - -"If you were like Davy Crockett, you'd say a squirrel didn't count in a -game score if it wasn't shot in the eye," chuckled Chet. "Of course, -anybody can shoot the head off a squirrel." - -"Whew!" ejaculated Dig. "Do you s'pose Davy always shot his squirrels in -the eye? When a fellow wants a mess of squirrel pot-pie I don't believe -he is going to trouble about which end he kills his squirrel at." - -"He was a great shot, though," Chet remarked admiringly. "My grandfather -saw him shoot in a match once, and he said Davy Crockett carried off -every prize." - -"I suppose all the yarns they tell about him are true," said Digby, his -eyes twinkling; "but I always liked that one about his shooting the coon -the best." - -"What is that?" asked his chum innocently. - -"Why," said Dig, "when the coon saw Davy Crockett aiming at him, he sang -out: - -"'Hol' on, Mars' Crockett! Don' shoot! I'll come down!'" - -"That's a yarn, Dig," laughed Chet. "But it's a good one. Come on! -Here's a straight piece of road. I'll race you." - -"Hold on!" exclaimed Dig. "I've shaken down my breakfast enough already. -Do you see those raspberries, Chet?" - -"Cracky! what a lot of them!" cried Chet. - -"Let's have a mess of them," his chum said eagerly, and leaped down from -his saddle. - -"Here! here!" called Chet. "Hitch your horse, old man. We don't want to -be chasing Poke all over the pasture." - -"All right. And hang your tinware on the saddle," urged Dig, slipping -the strap of his own rifle over the cantle after hitching Poke. He raced -to the nearest clump of raspberry bushes as though he thought they would -mysteriously disappear if he did not reach there in a minute. - -Chet climbed more slowly after him out of the well-defined trail into -the rocky berry pasture. Both boys were unarmed save for the knives in -their belts, for even their revolvers were in their saddle holsters. The -bushes hung heavy with the ripe fruit and Dig, who was inordinately fond -of the berries, at once filled both hands and began to cram the fruit -into his mouth. - -"Look out! you'll choke yourself," his chum admonished him. - -"Don't you worry, old boy," mumbled Dig, still eating greedily. "It -would be a lovely way of dyin'--" - -Just then, as though conjured for Dig's particular punishment, there -rose up on the other side of the clump of raspberry bushes a shaggy, -black figure, almost within reach of Dig's outstretched arm. - -"Oh! oh! ah!" gasped Digby. "It's yo--your buf--buffalo, Chet!" and he -fell back upon his chum, the crushed raspberries running out of his -mouth in two streams. - -"What's the matter with you?" asked his chum, who did not, on the -instant, observe the object that had surprised Dig. "Stop joking about -that buffalo." - -"Give me a gun! Give me a gun!" groaned the other boy, his mouth finally -freed from the crushed fruit. - -Then Chet saw the bear--a big black fellow, standing erect, and to all -appearances just as scared as Digby Fordham was. - -It had the funniest expression on its muzzle. Its jaws were all -beslobbered with crushed raspberries, as were its paws. It had been -pressing the berries into its mouth just as Dig had been doing, and Chet -thought the sight of the two--the boy and the bear--was one of the -funniest he had ever seen. - -The bear's little ears were cocked, and its eyes were amazingly sharp. -But its surprise was plain and it staggered back just as Dig had done. - -"Give me a gun!" begged the latter again, hoarsely. - -The bear turned and both boys thought it was coming around the clump of -bushes to get at them. Dig uttered a squeal of fright and tumbled -backwards down the hill. Chet whipped out his skinning-knife, that being -the only weapon he had with him, and stood his ground. - -But the bear only swung around to drop to all fours, and with a startled -"Woof! woof!" he galloped away across the hill, soon disappearing in the -thick jungle. - -But the bear had startled something besides Digby Fordham. While Chet -hugged his sides in laughter at the sight of his chum sprawling down the -hill, wild snorts and a sudden clatter rose from the trail. - -"Look out for the horses, Dig!" yelled Chet, breaking off his spasm of -laughter in the middle. - -Poke had caught a glimpse of the bear or had smelled him. The black -horse flung himself back upon his strap and snapped it. - -[Illustration: Then Chet saw the bear--a big black fellow, standing -erect] - -"Whoa, Poke!" cried Dig, and ran quickly down the hill. - -Yelling "Whoa!" to a whirlwind would have done about as much good. Poke -started on a gallop, and when his master rolled down to the trail the -black horse was already three lengths away. - -Hero did not try to escape. Perhaps his nostrils were not so sensitive -to the smell of the bear. But his master hurried to soothe him. - -Poke shook off the swinging rifle at almost his first leap, and its -striking his heels frightened the horse all the more. Then he began to -strew Dig's camping outfit along the trail, one piece at a time. - -Following the rifle, the pistol was tossed out of its holster--Dig had -forgotten to fasten the flap of the pocket. His lasso was only hung on -the saddle horn and that dropped off, banging the galloping horse about -the heels. - -Dig, running after him, yelled "Whoa!" until he almost lost his voice, -but to no purpose. - -The blanket roll became unfastened and it whipped Poke over the flanks. -One article after another was spewed from the roll, and after striking -the frightened horse, bounded off into the trail or beside it. - -A can of condensed milk hit a boulder and burst. A skillet was kicked -into the air as Poke ran, and when it was found there was a hole through -it as big as one's fist. - -"By all the hoptoads that were chased out of Ireland! That creature -never will stop." - -"Get on my horse, Dig," begged his chum. - -"All right. But unhitch all that truck. I'll take your lariat." - -"Going to lasso Poke?" demanded Chet, still much amused. - -"I don't care if I hang him," declared Dig, leaping on the bay horse, -and whirling him into the trail. - -Dig was a splendid rider. No matter how hard-bitted the horse was he -rode, he always made a good appearance in the saddle. The black horse -could outrun the bay; but Poke lacked the guidance of his master's hand. -He was still going at a heavy gallop, and Hero gained upon him at every -leap. - -The camp equipment was still dropping out of Dig's blanket-roll, and as -long as that occurred Poke would undoubtedly run. Dig rose up in Hero's -stirrups, uncoiled the rope, and prepared to cast it over the black's -head when he got near enough. - -Meanwhile Chet came on behind, loading himself down with the scattered -camp outfit and the rifles. He was soon too heavily laden to travel -fast; besides, he had to stop now and then to laugh. - -Poke gave his master a two-mile chase, and then Dig roped him and -brought the black horse back with him at the end of the lariat. - -"I'd trade him for a cast-off pair of boots, and then swap the boots for -a broken-bladed jackknife," grumbled Dig, who always made frightful -threats against Poke when the black horse had misbehaved. "Whew! I -thought I'd have to walk all the way to Grub Stake by the way this -villain started." - -Chet was choked with laughter again. Dig turned on him sternly. - -"Say! what's the matter with you now?" he demanded. "What are you -laughing at?" - -"I--I wonder if that--that buf--buffalo you thought you saw is -still--still running," cried Chet, holding his aching sides. - - - - - CHAPTER XII--A MAVERICK - - -In spite of the delay, the boys had made good progress on the Grub Stake -trail when they stopped for a bite at noon. They were well through the -foothills, the tall mountain in which were located the silver mines -above Silver Run, was behind them, and the trail had become only a faint -trace, yet easily followed because of the nature of the country. - -Now and again they had obtained glimpses of the open plains through the -gullies between the wooded hills--here a great stretch of lawn covered -with short buffalo grass; yonder an open piece of country strewn with -brilliant flowers. - -As they sat on their haunches, cowboy fashion, beside the dying fire -over which the coffee had been boiled, the chums suddenly saw a flight -of swiftly bounding little animals cross the line of their vision. They -passed across the opening between two hills to the north and were gone -in a breath. - -"Whew! did you see them?" gasped Dig, almost spilling his coffee. - -"I saw something," admitted Chet. - -"What I want to know is, did you see the same thing I did?" pursued Dig, -grinning. "They went so fast I didn't know but I had 'em again." - -"I can assure you that you didn't have those again. They're almost too -quick to lasso. They're antelopes." - -"Whew! I'd like to catch one; but I never do have any luck catching -things, unless it's measles, or something perfectly useless." - -"Too bad, too bad!" said Chet pityingly, and quoted: - - "''Twas ever thus since childhood's hour - My fondest hopes I've seen decay.... - I never loved a dear gazelle--'" - -"Waugh!" grunted Dig. "What's a gazelle?" - -"It's something like an antelope." - -"Well, it sounds awfully mushy. I'd like to catch one of 'em to eat." - -"Sorry," said Chet, throwing out the remainder of his coffee. "But it -would take a long time to trail those fellows. Maybe we'll try it on our -way back." - -"We're going to fast, then, going over to Grub Stake?" suggested Dig, -complainingly. "This sort of a snack isn't going to keep me in the -saddle for long." - -"Perhaps we'll come across a deer, poor boy," said Chet soothingly. "I -shouldn't wish you to starve. You know, the redman only pulled his belt -the tighter when he had to go without food, and did not complain." - -"That's all right. I'll leave that to John Peep. When little Dig Fordham -gets hungry you're going to hear a holler--be sure of that." - -"Keep your eye open for deer, then--or, when we get in the open, for -sage hens or quail." - -"I'd rather have a supper of deer liver," Dig returned, smacking his -lips at the thought. - -"Well, maybe we can shoot a deer. They are not so swift as the -antelope." - -"But aren't antelope easily trapped? I've heard Rafe Peters tell about -catching them with a red rag tied to a stalk." - -"Pshaw!" exclaimed Chet. "You mean he toled them near enough with a red -rag to pot-shoot them. The little creatures are very curious." - -"Oh! then you shake salt on their tails, I s'pose?" grumbled Dig. - -Chet had to laugh at this. But both boys, after the noon halt, kept a -bright outlook for game. Their supper actually depended upon the -discovery of some game which they might capture. - -An hour after their noontide stop the chums rode out upon a plain from -between two heavily wooded hills. This open space was a great, level -valley, through which a stream ran, and it should have been a paradise -for ruminant animals. - -There was the shelter of the hills on both the east and north; the -clear, placid stream; the abundant grass and low bushes; with sufficient -shade along the watercourse to attract the herds. - -"Hello!" exclaimed Dig suddenly. "What's been digging up the prairie in -that way? Why, Chet! did you ever see the like?" - -"Yes, I have," returned his chum. "You know, when I went to Benway with -father that time, we travelled for a week with a herd." - -"A herd? Cattle, do you mean?" exclaimed Dig. - -"Yes." - -"You don't mean to say this is a cattle trail?" demanded the other boy, -drawing the black horse to a stop at the edge of a wide track in the -sodded land, and gazing at it wonderingly. - -"That's what it is. More than twice as wide as the street we live in, -Dig. See how the cattle's sharp hoofs have cut it up? The herd we were -with was a great sight. The column was a mile long, the cattle trotting -along as they pleased, and seemingly of their own accord." - -"But didn't the cowpunchers hurry 'em on, and crack their quirts and -shoot guns to hurry them and all that?" - -"Of course not," said Chet, with disgust. "How much fat would there be -left on a steer, do you suppose, if they were treated that way on the -trail? I didn't see a man carrying a whip, and we rode with them nearly -a week. - -"Everything was quiet; nobody shouted; nobody seemed to bother the -cattle at all." - -"But there must have been lots of cowpunchers on hand, so that if the -cattle stampeded--" Dig urged. - -"There weren't but eleven men with that herd," Chet told him. "I tried -to find out all about the herd and how they handled them. You see, the -men in the lead were called 'point men,' those riding along the sides of -the herd were the 'swing men' and the one who brought up the rear was -the 'drag man.' - -"In addition, there was the cook, who drove the chuck wagon, and the -horse wrangler, who had charge of the remuda of a hundred and fifty -ponies. 'Remuda' means relay, you know." - -"Ugh-huh!" grunted Dig. "But didn't they stop to graze? Why, according -to this trail, the cattle went right through the finest kind of grass -without taking a bite." - -"This was a big herd," said Chet, eying the cut-up sod seriously. "But, -of course, they grazed. The way they did it when father and I travelled -with them was this: An hour before noon one of the point men whistled -and the whole column of beeves turned aside and went to grazing. They -called it 'throwing the herd off the trail to graze.'" - -"Great!" exclaimed his chum. - -"When it was time to start on, the men gathered them, got them headed -right, and all settled into the trail again." - -"But how about the nights, Chet?" inquired Digby. "How could eleven men -handle such a large herd?" - -"Why," said Chet, "they threw the herd off the trail to graze and to -water just the same. The men were divided into watches, something like -the watches at sea. Those on watch rode around and around the herd. If -the cattle were uneasy they sang." - -Dig chuckled. "Sang what?" he asked. "'Rock-a-bye-baby' and the like?" - -"No," laughed Chet. "One fellow didn't know anything but 'Beulah -Land'--and after you've heard it sung a thousand times, you get tired of -it. The regular cattle-herding songs have hundreds of verses to them; -but the tunes get monotonous, too, after a while." - -"I should think so!" ejaculated Digby. "D'you know, I thought cattle -herding was more boisterous." - -"You've driven cows to pasture, haven't you?" - -"Yes. For old man Feltman. He has seven," Digby said. - -"Multiply his seven by a thousand and you have a good-sized trail herd. -Only there will be more crippled and strayed animals left behind a -regular herd. And coyotes, wolves, and bears to pick them up." - -"Whew! Maybe we can find a wolf on this trail," cried Dig. - -"I hope not! There's nothing wickeder in this country than a grey wolf," -declared Chet Havens. - -"Why! I thought they were cowards. Everybody says: 'As cowardly as a -wolf.'" - -"Then everybody is mistaken," said Chet firmly. "Don't you fool -yourself. They are not like coyotes. Rafe has told me that an old she -wolf, especially with young, will go out of her way to attack man." - -"Gidap!" exclaimed Dig. "Rafe was stringing you." - -"I don't think so. And when they run in packs, I've read that wolves are -very dangerous indeed." - -"Well! we might find a maverick along this trail," urged Dig. "Say! a -yearling that hadn't been branded might sell for a few dollars at Grub -Stake." - -"Goodness me! Do you think for a minute we can stop to drive a dogy all -the way to Grub Stake?" laughed Chet. - -"Huh! you'd stop for that big buffalo, all right, all right, if you saw -him." - -"I expect I would," admitted his chum. "Wouldn't you?" - -"If I ever see a buffalo--Say, Chet! why do they call them 'mavericks'?" - -"They don't." - -"What d'you mean, they don't? Of course they do. Unbranded calves--" - -"Oh!" chuckled Chet. "You got me twisted. I thought you meant the -buffaloes." - -"Oh! Don't be funny." - -"Why, mavericks are unbranded cattle--usually yearlings. Called such, so -I've read, because a certain cattleman in Texas, named Colonel Maverick, -refused to brand his cattle. All the other cattle owners did, so -Maverick claimed all unbranded stock." - -"Oh!" - -"It was a sharp trick, you see," Chet said. "He gathered in lots of -cattle that way. Cowpunchers made a joke of it at first. They called -every stray and unbranded beast a 'maverick.' The name stuck." - -The boys crossed the cattle trail, for it came up from the south through -a pass between the hills there, while the faint trace they were -following took them almost due west. The stream flowed with them, and -during the afternoon they were never far from its bank. - -Therefore they started up several groups of animals that were either -feeding near the river or were drinking--a second small herd of -antelopes (or possibly the same herd they had caught a glimpse of -before), a pair of red deer, coyotes uncounted, and some animal that -went crashing off through the willows, which they did not see, but which -Dig declared made as much noise as a heavy freight. - -"Your big buffalo, I bet, Chet," he chuckled. "That's the only chance -you'll have of knocking him over." - -"Maybe not," his chum said cheerfully. - -"Talking of knocking something over," pursued Digby, "what are we going -to have for supper? There's nothing hearty left in my pack but a -condensed milk tin. All these creatures seem to spot us half a mile -off." - -"The birds don't," said Chet, unmoved. - -"What have you in this outfit to shoot sage hens with?" growled Digby. -"If you'd have let me bring a shotgun--" - -His grumbling was stopped almost instantly. Chet had been riding with -the six-shooter loosened in its case while his eyes roved all about them -as the horses walked. - -He threw up his left hand in warning to Dig and spoke in a low voice to -Hero: - -"Whoa, Hero! Stand still!" - -Dig drew his black horse to a stop, being half a length behind the bay. -Chet threw the long barrel of the pistol across his left forearm just as -a flock of grouse whirred up from the grass ahead. - -Chet Havens' arm-rest was as steady as an iron bracket. Hero stood like -a statue. Crack! crack! crack! Three of the prairie hens fluttered to -the ground while the others disappeared beyond the willows across the -river. - -"Whew!" yelled Dig, clambering down from his saddle. "There's our -supper." - -He threw his lines to his chum while he ran to pick up the birds. - -"By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland! you shot the head -off of one of these, Chet." - -"That is the first one I shot," returned his chum calmly, pushing fresh -cartridges into his revolver and leaving the hammer resting on an empty -shell. - -"Talk about Davy Crockett!" chuckled Digby. "I believe you've got him -beaten--with a six-shooter, anyway." - -"Reckon you're right," admitted Chet. "Davy never saw such a gun as -this. But what would we do with a long barreled squirrel rifle with the -flint filed to a sharp point and a few grains of powder sprinkled in the -pan? I bet we'd starve on this journey, Dig." - -"Huh! Maybe. But we're not going to starve to-night," returned his chum -with assurance, and tying the legs of the grouse to his saddle. - -This trail to Grub Stake had never been a wagon trail, and for some -months it had scarcely been used; therefore its trace was dim in places. -Chet had been told the landmarks to follow by his father, however, and -through this first valley there was no chance of the boys going astray. - -They would not get out of this valley until the next day. The horses had -not been driven hard, save when Poke ran away from the bear, but they -had brought the boys a good many miles from Silver Run before sunset. - -They made camp in a grove on the river's bank. The sun had dropped -behind the western range and night was coming fast. Chet was making the -fire and skinning the grouse. Dig hobbled the horses nearby, where the -grazing was good, and then went along the river bank to see if there was -a spring, the water of which would be fresher and colder than the river -water. - -And in stumbling along through the bushes in the half-darkness Dig -Fordham fell upon his next adventure. Chet suddenly heard a mighty -thrashing and bellowing in the brush. Dig's voice rose in excitement: - -"Bring your rope, Chet! Bring your rope! I have a deer!" - -His chum did not believe him, but he did as Dig said and ran with the -lariat coiled and ready in his hand. Only a few yards away he came upon -his chum on the back of some animal, struggling in the mud beside the -river. Dig had his arms around the creature's neck, and was hanging on -for dear life. - -"I have him! I have him!" cried Dig. - -"Looks as though he had you," laughed Chet. - -The creature had evidently been lying in the mud and Dig had fallen over -him. Chet slipped the noose over the head of the animal and then advised -his chum to rise. - -"You're frightening the poor thing to death," he said, for it was -bawling as well as struggling. And its voice was unmistakable to Chet's -ear. - -"Whew! I fell right over that deer," gasped Dig, getting up as the -creature danced around at the end of the rope, trying to get away from -Chet. - -"Deer! Your grandmother's hat!" Chet said scornfully. "You fell on a -calf--that's what you fell on. Don't you know a deer from a calf?" - -"Calf?" repeated the chagrined Dig. "Where did it come from? There's no -ranch around here, is there?" - -"This is what you were looking for," laughed Chet. "It's a maverick. It -likely strayed from the last bunch of cattle that went over the trail we -crossed. But how under the sun it managed to escape the coyotes and -lions and bears is a mystery to me. Poor little fellow!" - -"Come on!" exclaimed Dig. "We'll drag him back to camp, and I'll gentle -him. We aren't travelling very fast, Chet, and we can lead him -to-morrow." - -"Well! I'd rather you tried it than that I should," his chum said -grimly, handing him the end of the rope. "Go to it, boy!" - - - - - CHAPTER XIII--"THE DOG SOLDIERS" - - -The maverick was not a happy addition to the camping party--not at -first, at least. Dig tied him to a tree, giving him the length of the -lariat to tangle himself up in; and he did just that. - -Three times during supper Dig had to get up and unwind the rope to save -the creature from choking himself to death. His plaintive "bla-att" -might bring night-prowling beasts from the distant hills. - -In fact, Chet could not easily figure out how the yearling had escaped -becoming the prey of some flesh-eating brute ere this, save that the -season was in his favour. - -The bears had plenty of berries and other forest fruit. In the winter or -in the early spring after his hibernation, Bruin would have stalked this -maverick as cleverly as any wolf. - -The latter creatures were not plentiful in the hills now, and the -coyotes were so cowardly they would not pull a bull calf down unless it -was a cripple--especially when there was plenty of smaller game. - -The mountain lion is always hungry; but he does not often come out of -the hills save when a herd of cattle is being wintered in some -well-watered valley like this in which the chums from Silver Run were -encamped. Then the cougar will slink down and lurk on the outskirts of -the herd to catch a cow and calf away from the protection of their -mates. - -"Your maverick struck a fat time in this valley, Dig," Chet said. "It's -escaped all beasts of prey save man. What are you going to do with it? -It's rather old for veal; but I expect he'd be fair eating--would give -us all the steaks we'd need between here and Grub Stake." - -"I reckon not!" exclaimed Digby Fordham. "We're not going to butcher -him." - -"What then?" - -"I tell you I'm going to lead him to Grub Stake." - -"Cracky! you'll surely bite off an awful mouthful to chew," laughed -Chet. "It is a hundred and sixty or seventy miles to Grub Stake, and -that maverick will pull back every foot of the way." - -"I don't care," said Dig obstinately. "I can sell him if I get him to -Grub Stake." - -"Waugh!" said Chet, laughing. "Who do you suppose would want this -little, scrawny red-and-white dogy?" - -"Don't call him names, Chet. Poor little fellow," said Dig. "Wonder if -he'd like a leg of this grouse to pick?" - -"Or a cup of coffee?" suggested his chum. - -But Dig was very much interested in his new possession. He was up two or -three times in the night to see if he were tangled in the rope. - -"The maverick ought to be 'gentled' very quickly," Chet said; "he is -receiving enough attention." - -The boys did not try to keep watch. They looked for no danger, and the -horses feeding near the camp would give notice of the approach of any -wild animal. - -There was no disturbance and the chums finally slept soundly beneath -their blankets till morning. Indeed, the bawling of the yearling for -water after sunrise was what awoke them. - -"Say!" yawned Chet, rising and stretching. "We're a fine pair of -travellers--I don't think! We won't get started as early this morning as -we did yesterday. Let's hurry breakfast." - -"No, no!" objected Digby. "Hurry anything but the meals." - -Nevertheless, Chet allowed only bacon, flapjacks and coffee to be -prepared, although Digby had brought fishing tackle and begged for -enough time to try for the catfish in the river. - -"I just know there are catfish as long as your arm down under that -bank," he declared. "They'd go fine, Chet. Why eat bacon when you might -have a nice catfish flapping in the pan?" - -Chet, however, had made up his mind that they ought to make fairly good -time on the trail until they should pass the second line of foothills. -Then they would reach the broader plains, on which it was reported the -herd of buffaloes had been seen. If the expedition to Grub Stake was to -be delayed at all, he hoped it would be delayed only by the huge buffalo -and its mates, of which the men about the Silent Sue shaft had spoken. - -"We don't want to be fooling around here with a mess of catfish," he -said to Dig, "when we may be able, later, to get a shot at something -worth while." - -"Oh, Chet!" exclaimed Digby, "you've got that buffalo on the brain and -nothing else is going to suit you. Bet you we lug these heavy rifles -clear to Grub Stake and don't get a shot." - -"Never mind; you've captured a deer, Dig," said his chum soothingly. -"And you say you are going to lead it with you." - -"So I am!" snapped Dig. "I can be pigheaded just as well as you can." - -But something almost immediately happened to cheer Dig up and avert any -quarrel between the chums. It was something that held them at the camp -by the river for a while, too. - -As it fell out, breakfast was finished and the pots and pans washed. -Their blanket-rolls were repacked and all was ready for saddling, when a -torrent of pounding hoofs reached their ears. - -"Stampede!" yelled Chet, starting for the edge of the grove. - -"What of--buffaloes?" demanded his friend, following in a more leisurely -fashion. - -Chet first came to the edge of the grove, where he could see back along -the trail by which they had come from Silver Run. There was a cloud of -dust which shrouded a number of horsemen; but how many were coming, and -who they were, the boy could not at first imagine. - -Then, out of the cloud, as it slowed up, appeared a band of frowsy -ponies, most of them piebald. They were ridden by Indians--and rather -savage looking ones at that. - -Chet Havens had never seen so many redmen before, save at a show. They -were stripped to the waist and wore only fringed leggings and moccasins. -There were feathers in their topknots; yet Chet, seeing them closer, -knew that those feathers were not worn because they were "braves" and -had killed their enemies in battle. - -These were only Indian youths out on a frolic or a hunt, none of them -being much older than Dig and himself. But how they did ride! They had -only a cloth over their ponies' backs and each rode with a single rein -to guide his half wild brute. - -Each young redskin carried a rifle and they all tossed them up as high -as they could reach when they saw the two white boys appear from the -riverside. Then, at a signal from their leader, they flung themselves to -the far side of their mounts, and circled out from the trail, passing -the amazed Chet and Dig, only one hand and a foot of each Indian -showing, their ponies still tearing along at a great pace. In wartime -the Indians performed this trick, shooting at their enemies under the -ponies' necks. - -Dig had brought his gun, and when he heard the "E-i! e-i! e-i!" of the -Indian yell he was a little scared. - -"What kind of a game is this?" he wanted to know of Chet. "By the last -hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland! those yelling galoots look as -though they meant business." - -"Shucks, boy!" said Chet, "you know there are no more wild Indians." - -"Huh! if those fellows are not wild, what are they? And whew! how they -can ride!" - -"That's John Peep in the lead," Chet said. "Though what he's doing away -over here I can't imagine." - -"Huh! I'll get even some way!" threatened Digby. "Scaring a fellow out -of half a year's growth!" - -The cavalcade came back, the sweat-streaked faces of the riders -grinning. Dig said to his chum: - -"A great mess of 'dog soldiers.' Whew! you can't cure an Indian of his -old tricks. I bet right now they'd like to scalp us." - -"Don't see how they'd ever perform the operation on you," laughed Chet, -"with that prizefighter's cut you have." - -Chet noticed that all of the young fellows that Dig called "dog -soldiers" were fine looking boys. In the old days the young braves that -could not be controlled by the chiefs, but who desired to go to war and -make names for themselves, were called "dog soldiers." - -"Hello, John!" shouted Chet. "What are you doing over here? Last time we -saw you, you were playing baseball. You must have hustled some to catch -us." - -The Cheyenne dropped off his pony's back and the animal went to cropping -the grass at once, and hungrily. Chet decided that the party had been -travelling for some hours and that the ponies had had no chance for -grazing, but had been watered when the band crossed the river. - -John glanced at Chet in rather an odd manner; but true to his national -trait he did not answer the question directly. - -"We go on hunt," John Peep said. "Mebbe stay week; mebbe longer. These -boys all my friends," and he waved his hand at the young riders who -waited to be asked to dismount. "Not all Cheyenne. -Sioux--Pawnee--Ogallala. All go to Government school at Benway. Vacation -now, like us. We make breakfast with you." - -The customs of the trail must prevail. The white boys had finished their -meal, but nobody ever denied the hospitable rite on the plains. The -first party at a camping place was bound to ask the new-comers to join -them. But here were ten or twelve hearty appetites suddenly to be -appeased. - -"All right," grunted Dig. "I could do something to another breakfast. We -only had an apology for one, as I told you, Chet." - -Chet sighed; but he felt, too, that John Peep had not come down this -trail without cause. He wondered if, perhaps, the young Indians had -heard of the buffaloes and were on their way to hunt for them. - -"Don't say anything about the big buffalo, Dig," he whispered to his -chum, as they hurried back through the grove. "I hope they don't know -anything about it. And what they don't know won't hurt them." - -"All right, boy! I won't tell them any fairy tales," said Dig. - -Chet stirred up the fire, and mixed some prepared pancake flour, and put -on the coffee pot. Some of the Indians joined Digby in catching fish. -They had much more primitive tackle than the white boy; but the catfish -bit so hungrily that it scarcely mattered whether the bait was let down -to them on "store tackle" or on a thorn from a whitethorn bush. - -"Say!" exclaimed Dig, "somebody besides us was hungry for breakfast. -These cats are ravenous. Whew! look at that one!" - - - - - CHAPTER XIV--THE WARNING - - -As fast as the catfish were caught they were skinned and dressed. Chet -had sliced all the bacon they had brought with them; he told Dig that -the way they were feasting now pointed to a fast for the rest of their -trip to Grub Stake. - -"Don't worry," advised his chum. "Let's give these Indians a good meal -for once. They're good fellows." - -Chet, as chief cook, was hampered by the size of his skillet; Poke had -kicked a hole in the largest one the day before. But John Peep cooked -the fish for the most part, while Chet fried flapjacks. - -And no old cook with a trail outfit could toss a flapjack better than -Chet Havens. One of the Indian lads brought clean pieces of bark--one -for each person--and Chet slid the cakes on to these make-shift dishes. -The fish were handed about on the same platters. There was plenty of -seasoning besides the general good appetite. - -"Don't talk!" grumbled Dig. "By this time I don't know whether I had any -breakfast early or not. Don't be stingy with the cakes, Chet." - -But his chum got tired of tossing flapjacks after a while; to tell the -truth, his arm got lame. Then John Peep tried it. The chums discovered -that these Indian lads did not call each other by the outlandish names -that white people had bestowed upon them. They all spoke of John Peep as -"Amoshee," and Chet quickly began to address him by his Indian name, -too. - -There was a lot of fun at that breakfast. Indian boys are not like -whites in all things, it is true; but they are not lacking in a sense of -humour, and as these sat about the campfire in the glade, jokes and -quips passed to and fro as they might have at a gathering of white boys. - -Chet "counted noses" and said to Amoshee: - -"Say, they froze you out of our ball club, but why don't you have one of -your own? Here's enough of you boys to make up a good nine." - -The Indian lad's eyes brightened, and he looked proudly around the -circle of faces. Their racial features were pronounced; there wasn't a -redskin boy there that could not trace his line back to some big chief -of the olden time when the Indian was master of these plains and hills. - -"Heap good boys," Amoshee grunted, but smiled, too, for he only used -English in that barbarous way in fun, or when he was excited. Out in the -open like this, having thrown off all the shackles of civilisation, his -natural thoughts and instincts rose to the surface. "Heap good boys," he -said again, and with pride. - -"I should say they were!" exclaimed Chet, with enthusiasm. "Look at that -tall fellow yonder. Couldn't he reach the high ones out in centrefield? -My! And that little, squatty fellow--_what_ a shortstop he'd make! Say! -don't they know anything about baseball?" - -Amoshee smiled rather pityingly upon his white friend. - -"They all play baseball at school--and football, and ev'rything else. I -want to go away to Government school if my grandfather will let me." - -"Say! then you've got a nine ready-made to your hand. Practise a -little," said Chet. "Get to working together well, and then challenge -our high school nine. It would serve them right if you licked them. -You've a delivery that would puzzle most of them, I tell you." - -Amoshee, otherwise John Peep, thought well of the scheme, it was plain. -But meanwhile Digby Fordham and the other Indians had been hatching out -something entirely different. - -It was already nine o'clock, but Dig was not ready for the trail yet. He -had been bragging with the Indians about ponies and riding. Now they had -to prove out each other's prowess. - -"Oh, Dig!" complained Chet. "We'll never get away." - -"Be still!" grinned his chum, knowing what was really troubling Chet. -"That old bull buffalo will wait for you, don't fear." - -"Hush!" warned Chet again. - -He had learned from Amoshee that the party of Indian lads was going -north on this hunting trip. He did not believe they had heard anything -about the herd of buffaloes, and he did not propose to tell them. - -Few hunters crossed these valleys and hills at this time of year, and -only two men whom he knew of had chanced upon the buffaloes. Neither had -been prepared to stalk the beasts, and Chet hoped that nobody else had -been along the Grub Stake trail beside which the buffaloes seemed to be -feeding. - -Meanwhile the Indians were catching their ponies. They did not hobble -them as the white boys did, but picketed them out at the end of their -lariats. The scrubby little beasts did not look either fast or -trustworthy; but Chet and Dig knew what they could do. - -They had seen Indians perform on horseback before. With but one line -twisted about the pony's lower jaw, and without even a cloth on its -back, an Indian can ride and perform evolutions that are really -remarkable. - -On the great lawn outside the grove in which they had camped, the Indian -youths performed all manner of tricks. Amoshee was one of the best, for -on the back of a pony he was the equal of any of his mates. His -shortened leg did not count against him there. - -They hung by their heels while the ponies scoured the plains, running in -a circle. Two rode swiftly, side by side, and picked up a third who lay -as though dead on the prairie, and bore him off at full gallop. Two rode -from opposite sides and actually changed ponies as they passed! - -"Now, white boy," said the big fellow whom Chet wanted to see in -centrefield. "Show what him do." - -Dig was nothing loath. He stripped Poke and brought him out with neither -saddle nor bridle. Meanly as the black horse sometimes acted, this was -not an occasion when he was likely to play the runaway. - -He seemed to understand that there was a contest, and he liked to show -off just as well as did his master. The presence of the ponies made him -snort and toss his mane; and in the corral he would doubtless have tried -to bite them. But he obeyed his master's voice and hand--even his -whistle--now, with most exemplary promptness. - -Dig did not try to equal the Indian boys' tricks; but he had others of -his own. He mounted and dismounted while Poke was on the run. He made -the mustang lie down under him and roll over, Dig standing on the horse -all the time and never once touching the ground. - -He rode both kneeling and standing on the mustang's bare back. Then he -cinched on the saddle, dropped his kerchief on the sod and picked it up -with his teeth, Poke running like a wolf meanwhile. Amoshee and his -friends hailed this last feat as the greatest and they all shook Dig by -the hand. - -"Guess they think I'm some pumpkins," Dig said to his chum. "I reckon -there isn't anything a redskin can do that a white man can't beat him -at." - -Of course, he said this when none of the visitors could hear him. Now -the Indian lads wanted to see Chet shoot. Probably Amoshee had told them -that young Havens excelled in that. - -The Indian boys themselves had only the cheapest kind of rifles, and no -pistols at all. The chums had their revolvers, and the heavy rifle that -Chet had brought with him was almost the equal of a cannon for distance. -And the accuracy of its shooting was far superior to that of the -Indians' guns. - -So Chet pitted himself with his pistol against the rifles of Amoshee and -his friends. At distance marks the Indian boys thought they had Chet -beat; but after they had all plugged away at the target, none of them -hitting very near the centre, Chet paced ten paces back of the line from -which they had shot and came within half an inch of the bull's-eye at -his first shot. With his remaining five bullets he riddled the target. - -Then he leaped aboard Hero and showed them some fancy shots with his -horse on the run. He and Dig had practised so much in the corral at home -that Chet had really become wonderfully expert. Pistol shooting is a -matter of eye and practice. Ordinarily one must have a big target to hit -with a six-shooter. - -The morning was growing old. Even the Indians began to wish to get on. -Amoshee drew Chet Havens aside and said: - -"I took your advice and went to see Mr. Havens." - -"Bully for you!" exclaimed Chet. "I know my father will be glad to do -something for you, if you'll let him." - -"But I didn't see him, Chet," the Indian lad said calmly. - -"You didn't see him?" - -"No. He had a visitor. I stayed hidden. I knew that man." - -"Who--the man with father?" - -"Yes." - -"Who was he? What did he want?" queried Chet, in wonder. - -"I not know what he wanted of Mr. Havens; but I know he is a bad man," -declared the Indian lad with conviction. - -"Hel-lo!" exclaimed Chet. "Not that man who--who burned your shack?" - -"He's the man," grunted Amoshee. "I shall get square with him." - -"But what did he want of father?" - -"I not know. He has been around that old mine I showed you. He dug hole -into old tunnel. He want something," said Amoshee shortly. - -"Say! can he be the fellow who is after the old Crayton diggings?" - -"He after you," said the Indian. - -"What do you mean, John?" cried Chet. "He's not following us?" - -"He's on this trail before now. Going to Grub Stake. I heard him talk to -big man that work in mine--get kicked out--quick! You know?" Amoshee -said excitedly. - -Chet seemed preternaturally sharp at the moment. - -"You don't mean Tony Traddles? The man who was discharged for the -trouble in our mine?" - -"That's he--Tony," Amoshee assured him. "I heard him spoken to. I -followed that man from Mr. Havens' house. I heard them say they take -this trail. You better look out for them. That man mad as he can be." - -"My goodness! what can they want of Dig and me?" queried Chet -wonderingly. - -"Don't know. They not friendly. That's all I can tell you. _Me_--I go -hunting with these boys. I get 'em start last night instead of this -morning, so we can catch you and say this. Good-bye!" - -He wrung Chet's hand and leaped astride his impatient pony. The other -Indians were already mounted. They all turned at a little distance and -gave the Indian yell and threw up their rifles. Then they struck heels -to their ponies' sides and darted away into the north. - -"There goes a good bunch of fellows," Digby Fordham said, with a sigh. -"I hadn't any idea Indians were such good sports." - - - - - CHAPTER XV--"WHAT WON'T BE LED MUST BE DRIVEN" - - -"Come along," said Chet, after the Indians were gone. "Let's pick up the -pieces and get away. We won't get anywhere on the trail to-day. But -there's one thing sure--we won't stop at noon to eat." - -"Whew! I lose that meal, do I?" grumbled Dig. - -"And you'll lose supper, too, if we don't shoot some game. Our guests -pretty nearly ate us out of house and home. I calculated on your -appetite when I made up our list of provisions; but I didn't calculate -on a plague of locusts. Amoshee, or John Peep, and his red friends had -their appetites with them, and no mistake." - -"Oh, don't worry," said his chum, with sarcasm. "We can't starve when -buffaloes roam the plains as plentifully as they do. We'll soon be able -to rope a buffalo calf, eh?" - -"No, there's no need of that," said Chet calmly. "We've got your -maverick to feed on. When are you going to butcher him, Dig?" - -"I guess not!" cried Dig indignantly. "He's a pet. See! he knows me -now." - -He was just then approaching the yearling to unfasten the lariat. The -little brute waited, with lowered head, watching Dig with what Chet was -sure was a malevolent eye. - -Dig stooped to untangle the rope, turning rearward to the captured calf. -As though he had been waiting for the chance, the calf blatted and -charged. The impact of his forehead against the seat of Dig's pants was -tremendous. - -"Waugh! Take him off! Help!" roared Dig, after performing a complete -somersault. Chet absolutely could not help him. The maverick leaped -about his prostrate captor, stiff-legged. The rope became wound around -Dig's ankle and then, when he tried to get to his feet, he could not do -so. - -"Stop your laughing!" he called to his chum, "and come to help a fellow. -He's going to bat me again!" - -"What do you want--a gun?" sputtered Chet. "That calf is just as -dangerous as a tiger." But he helped his chum out of his predicament, -though continuing to make remarks regarding the maverick and its -troubled owner. - -"So you call this a pet, do you? I'd just as soon pet a Kansas cyclone. -Whoa, boy! Easy! My goodness, Dig! he pulls like a bull elk. There's -something wrong with this maverick. He's crossed with a traction engine, -I know." - -"Oh, you behave!" complained Digby. "Why pick upon the innocent little -thing? I believe you've been tantalizing him when my back was turned. -That's why he acts in such an ornery fashion." - -They got on their horses at length, and Dig attempted to lead his prize. -Instantly the maverick set all four hoofs in the soft prairie and braced -himself against the line. But Dig had his line fastened to the fork of -the saddle and the yearling could not pull Poke over. - -The mustang snorted and dragged the maverick over the torn sod. The -latter animal could not blat, for its wind was shut off. - -"Hi!" cried Chet. "You'll stretch its neck until it will look like a -giraffe. Then you'll never sell it at Grub Stake for a pet or for -anything else." - -"Get better money for it," declared Dig grimly. "It would sell for a -freak in a circus. And, by Jo! it's got to come." - -Chet watched the tug of war for some minutes further before asking, -seriously: - -"You haven't called it anything yet, have you, Dig?" - -"Called it anything?" protested his chum. "I've called it everything I -dared aloud, and a whole lot of names that don't sound well to myself!" - -"Oh, no--I mean a real name," said Chet, chuckling. "You haven't named -it yet?" - -"Haven't had time," returned Dig innocently enough. "I been too busy -trying to make the darned thing behave." - -"Well, I'd like to suggest a name for it," said Chet. - -"Yes?" responded Dig, yanking again on the calf's line. - -"Call it Stone Fence. You can move it just as easily." - -"Waugh!" shouted Dig, as the calf hung back again and the rope became -taut, burning the boy's hand between rope and saddle. "Now you've said -something, boy! Stone Fence let him be." - -Poke was dancing. He was no cow-pony and he objected to the dragging of -the waif. - -"We'll never get anywhere," said Chet impatiently. "Do something to that -calf, Dig, please!" - -It did seem as though after the little brute had been half choked to -death he ought to be willing to trot along behind Poke; but not so. -Stone Fence fell down on his knees, flopped over on his side, and -allowed himself to be dragged in that position. - -"Say!" gasped the sweating Dig, "he'll be worn as thin as paper if he -keeps that up. By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland! I'll -beat that little nuisance!" - -He dismounted and cut two long willow sprouts. The maverick began to -graze. Nothing seemed to disturb its appetite. In that possession it and -Digby Fordham were brothers, and Chet, with gravity, pointed this fact -out. - -"Brothers?" sniffed Dig. "You can bet we are brothers in another way. -That dogy is obstinate; but so am I. You watch me!" - -He mounted into the saddle again. He stuck one willow wand into his -bootleg for emergency, and then used the other to prod the maverick. The -latter didn't like this. He kept ahead of the point of the willow wand -which, whenever he lagged, poked between his hind legs. - -Chet almost fell out of his saddle from laughing at the performance; and -Poke looked as disgusted as a mustang can look. That calf plunging along -the trail just ahead of Poke's nose disgruntled the spirited horse. - -Chet led the march, the maverick came next, and Dig brought up an active -rear. "What won't be led must be driven," quoth Dig, now quite himself -again. "All aboard for Grub Stake again, Chet, my boy." - -"My goodness!" exclaimed his chum, rather exasperated. "When do you -think we'll ever get there at this rate?" - -They made fair time, however, considering the obstacles during a part of -the afternoon. Chet galloped away off the trail at sight of a small herd -of deer, and managed to get near enough to shoot a young doe. He cut its -throat, and let it bleed well, and then flung it over the saddle and -cantered back to the trail. - -Dig was rather disappointed because he had not had any of the fun of -stalking the deer. Chet pointed out the fact that Dig had the maverick, -saying: - -"There is compensation in everything, my boy. You have that pet to play -with; I don't own any maverick. You don't hear me kicking--" - -"Oh, go on!" growled Dig. - -There was one good thing about Digby Fordham: he never really held -rancour; and he could take a joke as well as give one. Of course he knew -that he had caught a Tartar in the yearling; but he would not give him -up. - -Before the afternoon was gone Stone Fence had learned that it was better -to walk more or less sedately along the trail than to be poked with a -sharp pole. Their pace was not rapid; but they got through the pass -between the hills after a time. - -It was just before they left the pass and as the wider plain beyond -broke upon their view that Dig spied a grey animal sitting on a rock -ahead of them, and some distance off the trail. - -"What do you call that, Chet?" he cried. "Looks like an old woman with a -nightcap on--only she's got two tassels on the cap and they stick up -straight." - -"Wolf!" responded his chum, the instant he saw the grey figure on the -rock. "And the 'old woman' is all right. Bet she's a big she-wolf with a -litter somewhere near. Yes, by cracky! there they are, Dig." - -"I see 'em," Dig returned. - -There were several moving figures beside the big old wolf sitting on her -haunches. Dig was anxious to try and get a shot. - -"No more chance of hitting her than of hitting the moon," returned Chet, -restraining him. "But I'll tell you something right now." - -"What's that?" - -"You keep this blamed calf tagging us around for long, and we'll have a -whole pack of wolves ringing our camp. Make up your mind to that, boy." - -"'Tagging us around'? That sounds good," snorted Dig. "Get up there, you -pest! I've driven this pesky creature almost far enough now." - -"Turn him loose then." - -"Oh, no! I couldn't be so cruel. Not with those wolves in sight," said -Dig, shaking his head. - -"Make up your mind that he is going to attract night prowlers." - -"Good! I want to get a shot at something besides grouse." - -"Never mind. Deer liver for supper to-night," said Chet. - -"And the tongue. That's a fat doe; there'll be plenty of kidney suet to -fry the meat in. Whew! I'm hungry now," cried Digby. - -"Never saw such a disgracefully hungry person in my life," declared his -chum. "Always thinking of your stomach." - -They did not see the wolves again as they came out upon the edge of the -great prairie. Indeed, they saw no animal. The prairie rolled away -before them as far as they could see. To the north and to the south were -lines of hills; but a haze almost hid the higher Rockies toward which -they were bound. - -Chet stopped at a stream and they filled their canteens. - -"Try to be careful with it," he advised Digby. "We're not sure that we -shall reach another stream to camp beside. I'm not so sure of the trail -from here on, anyway." - -"I'll get a good drink right here, then," said his chum, climbing -carefully down. - -With the maverick to take care of he had to be cautious as to his -movements. It was not safe to leave the lead-rope tied to the fork of -his saddle, for if the calf pulled when the saddle was empty, Poke -immediately backed around preparatory to throwing his heels at the -blatting young calf. - -Now Dig kneeled down at the edge of the stream above where the horses -were drinking. Stone Fence had dropped down on the grass, chewing a cud, -but evidently tired. The run had been a hard one for him. - -Poke lifted his head, "blew" softly, and felt the tug of the leash at -his saddle. The black's wicked ears shot backward and he turned his head -to mark the place where Stone Fence contentedly chewed his cud. - -"Look out, Dig!" cried Chet, who was just raising himself into his own -saddle. - -But his chum's head was down for another drink. He did not hear. - -The maverick scrambled up with a snort of fright as the black horse -whirled upon him. Dig tried to get up just as quickly; but when he put -his weight upon a turf at the brink of the stream, the sod broke away -and down he plunged, with his right arm into the water to his arm-pit. - -"Oh--ouch!" gurgled Dig. "What's the matter now?" - -"Trouble!" called Chet. - -But, as Dig claimed afterward, that was no fit warning. He didn't know -whether he was being attacked from behind, before, on either flank, from -the sky above, or whether trouble was rising out of the ground. - -And it seemed as though it had come from all points when it reached him. -Dig was trying to rise when the calf, escaping Poke's vicious hoofs, -collided with his young master. Ker-splash! they were both in the -stream! - -The calf was scared fully as much as Dig, if not more. Both bawled and -splashed about, unable to obtain their footing at first, and had Chet -not dismounted and run to the assistance of the pair, one or the other -might have remained under water longer than would have been good for -him. - -The rope had become wound about Dig's legs in some mysterious way, and -the calf was tangled up in a regular "cat's cradle." - -"I declare!" said Chet Havens, with disgust as well as laughter. "I -never saw anybody do so much and to so little purpose with a rope in all -my life. For goodness' sake, Dig! come out of that water. You're a -sight!" - -"I--I don't f-feel much b-b-better than I--I look," chattered his chum. -"That water's cold, lemme t-tell you." - -"I know it's wet--from just looking at you," proclaimed young Havens. -"You're in fine shape for riding. What are you going to do with that -blamed calf now?" - -"Take him to Grub Stake," said Dig obstinately. "You can ride on without -me, if you want to, Chet. But Stone Fence is going to be my companion if -I spend the rest of the summer on the trail." - -He would not remount then, however, but made Poke trail on behind him -while he urged the complaining Stone Fence with a willow wand. Besides, -the sun would dry his garments better when he walked, and the exercise -kept him from becoming chilled. - -"Gee! Haw!" he was soon calling to the yearling, teaching him to turn -from side to side as the case might be. "Never too young to learn," Dig -confided to his chum. "Mebbe somebody will want to work him with a -bull-team." - -Chet rode ahead and scanned the prairie carefully. The trail they were -supposed to follow was only a faint trace now. He knew the general -direction to go, and he carried a compass. He did not think he could get -lost; but he was watching the plain for signs of a water-hole. The sun -was descending, and they must camp before dark. - -Besides, Chet was looking for signs of disturbing animals now. Having -seen the old she-wolf and her young, he expected to find other--and -perhaps more dangerous--creatures on the plain. - -An hour later he spied some low shrubs which seemed to follow a -watercourse between two coulies. The shrubs were green and thrifty, -although they did not mark a very extensive stream. It might be merely a -water-hole which had not yet dried up. However, Chet was quite sure it -would afford the party all the water they needed for one night. - -So he led the way off the trail. Even Stone Fence seemed to know that -the day's journey was nearly over. He trotted on more placidly, and the -horses quickened their pace. - -They had made but small progress that day. However, with all the -set-backs and delays it was fortunate that they had come this far. - -The water was a narrow stream trickling between willows and other -moisture-loving shrubs. They made camp and started a fire very quickly. -They cut up the doe Chet had shot and all the dainty parts that Dig -clamoured for were prepared for the skillet, while the flayed haunches -and shoulders were hung high in the saplings, out of the way (as the -boys thought) of any marauding beast. - -"Tell you what," Chet said, "if your calf doesn't draw the wolves down -here, the smell of that fresh venison will do the trick. Watch and watch -tonight, boy." - -"Oh, Chet! what's the use? I'm tired," yawned his chum. - -"I should think you would be paddling on after that fool calf! But -expect no sympathy from me," and Chet insisted upon tethering the horses -near the camp instead of letting them roam, hobbled. - -"By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland!" Dig exclaimed, -"why don't you build a stockade and build a big bonfire? One would think -you were expecting a whole drove of savage beasts down here." - -Just then a mournful wail came down the wind--a shuddering cry that made -Dig start and hold suspended the piece of meat he had upon his fork. - -"Wha--what's that? A coyote?" demanded Dig. - -"That's one of your friends," said Chet grimly. "It's the call of a -hungry wolf. You can expect him and his gang early." - -Stone Fence bawled where he was tethered nearby, instinctively knowing -that there was danger near. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI--THE WOLF RING - - -The howling of the lone wolf, however, did not take the boys' appetites -away. Fresh venison is rather tough until it has hung awhile; but the -parts of the kill Chet and Dig ate that night were tender and succulent. -The steaks they would not try until the next day. - -"There's a whole lot more than we can eat ourselves," said Chet. "But -some other party may come along and be glad of a haunch." - -"Ugh!" grunted Dig. "There's that party talking up in the hills. He'll -be around for his share," as the long-drawn wail of the wolf shuddered -again across the gathering night. - -The cry of the wolf made the horses nervous, too; they kept stepping -around instead of grazing at the end of their tethers. As for the -yearling, he tried to answer bawl for bawl--and so led the wolf on. - -"I never did realise before how big a fool a calf can be," said Dig, -reviewing his strenuous day. "But say! let's smoke one of the hams." - -"How?" demanded Chet. - -"Hang it over the fire, of course," returned the sanguine Digby. - -"And who's going to find the proper kind of wood to smoke it without -merely blackening the meat with soot? And who's going to sit up all -night and watch the fire? Besides, it would take three or four nights to -smoke a ham properly. I hope we'll shoot other game before we get to -Grub Stake." - -"Oh, well, I only threw it out as a hint," sighed Dig. "Nothing I say -goes." - -"Not even your maverick, eh?" chuckled Chet. - -They cleared up after supper and then Chet advised Dig to get into his -blanket and get two hours' sleep. - -"Don't believe that wolf will be down here," Dig mumbled. "No need to -keep wa-wa-watch--Waugh!" and he stretched his jaws in a mighty gape. - -"All right," returned Chet. "You're welcome to your belief. But I'll -keep first watch, and if I hear nothing alarming, I won't wake you up." - -He was satisfied at first to go to the horses and see that they were -picketed all right. He did not want either of them to get entangled in -the rope and so get a burn. For that might lame them, and a lame horse -on the trail is no happy chance. - -The howling of the wolf up in the hill made the horses restless; but the -maverick finally got tired and lay down again, Chet returned to the -fire. His chum was already breathing heavily. The activities of the day -had tired him out. Dig wasn't exactly "soft," but he was not innured to -an out-of-door life as Chet was. Besides, he had several pounds of -superfluous flesh to carry around. - -His sleep was healthful, however; in the flickering firelight his -bronzed face was calm. - -"Good old scout!" thought Chet, watching him. "And heaps of fun! But -he's as obstinate as a toad--one of those whom he says were chased out -of Ireland! I don't know what I'd do without Dig." - -The evening had shut down now, damp and still. Frogs complained -somewhere along the edge of the narrow stream. Sleepy birds croaked now -and then. Night insects sang. - -Then came the long, haunting howl of the wolf from the heights. Every -other sound seemed to hush while the howl endured. - -A reply came from far out on the prairie; then a third wolf took up the -cry from another direction. The pack was gathering. - -Chet drew his heavy rifle closer and examined the hammer. It was well -greased and the mechanism was working perfectly. But he put the rifle -aside. He was not going to waste expensive ammunition on such useless -creatures as wolves--if he could help it. - -It was on his pistol that he depended to drive off marauders. He spun -the cylinder and then tucked in the sixth cartridge. It was fully loaded -now and he laid the gun down upon his dry blanket. It was as dangerous -as a loaded bomb, for the plainsman never carried a gun fully loaded -unless in time of stress or peril. - -The horses stamped, and Poke nickered. But Dig slept on. His chum got -up, pistol in hand, and slowly patrolled the camp again. Of course the -wolves were not near as yet; nor were they giving tongue. - -Chet had had some experience on the trail; and he had listened to many -stories related by old plainsmen, but he did not know much about wolves, -after all. He expected the pack to try to rush the camp, and to come up -yelling like a band of wild Indians. - -When the animals, which seemed to be gathering from all sides of the -camp, ceased howling, he was puzzled. He wondered what had become of the -wolves. Perhaps they had gone off on some other scent. Perhaps they had -crossed the track of a deer and it had drawn them away from the camp. - -The horses were still uneasy, and now Stone Fence scrambled up and -leaped at the end of his rope, bawling pitifully. Something near at hand -disturbed the animals, whose instinct and sense of smell were far -superior to the boy's sight and hearing. - -Chet could see nothing; nor could he hear anything. Yet the restlessness -of the horses and the calf kept him alert. He went around the camp -again, and afterwards replenished the fire. He wished he had prepared -more fuel. It was warm and they did not really need the fire; but at -night a blaze in the open is company. - -He went to Hero and quieted him, petting him and talking to him. Poke -still stamped. Out on the open prairie, beyond the fringe of willows, -Chet thought he saw something moving. He was tempted to send a shot in -that direction. - -"But that will wake Dig. And it's only nervousness," thought the boy. -"Huh! I must be afraid of the dark." - -He went back to the fire and sat down. There was the bole of a small -tree at his back. The position was tempting. - -But the restlessness of the yearling precluded sleep. The little beast -strained at the end of its tether, headed toward the fire, and blatted -plaintively. - -"My goodness! but you are a scared calf," Chet muttered, rising again. - -And then, just over the line of the calf's straining back, he saw the -gleam of two eyes in the edge of the thicket. - -Chet Havens sprang up on the instant, and as he sprang he fired. He -didn't have to aim, for those eyes looked as big as saucers to him! - -There was a shrill howl from the stricken beast. Chet's ball had -punctured its breast as it threw up its head. Answering howls came from -all about the camp. It was ringed with the savage brutes that had -gathered silently in expectation of the killing. - -The pistol shot, the wolf's howl, and the maverick's bawling awoke Dig. -He scrambled up, confused and dreaming. - -"Don't kill him! don't kill him, Chet!" he begged. "The poor thing -hasn't bucked _you_ into the brook." - -"You bet I killed him," returned his chum, and the next instant fired -again. - -"But, Chet," squealed his chum. "You don't need to shoot him after he's -dead. Save your powder and lead-- - -"Whew! what's happened? Stone Fence seems to be all right." - -"And if I hadn't shot Mr. Wolf just in the nick of time, Stone Fence -would have been slaughtered to make a lupine holiday," chuckled Chet. -"They've run, the cowardly scoundrels." - -"Thought you said they weren't cowards?" yawned Dig. - -"They're not hungry enough to be brave yet. In the dead of winter, -however, they'd have come right in to the fire and fought for the calf. -Shorten the tether on him, Dig. And I'll bring the horses nearer. I -don't like these beasts. They sneak in too close for comfort." - -"Say! you've waked me up now," grumbled Dig. "Might as well stay awake. -I'll keep watch. What time is it?" - -"Wake me at midnight," Chet said, not at all loath to give his partner a -bit of work. - -He rolled up in his blanket; but he did not sleep at first, although he -closed his eyes. Dig did not make any particular noise, but he kept -stirring around the camp. The horses and the yearling remained quiet for -a long time. - -Dig was getting tired of his vigil. He slumped down with his back to the -same tree against which Chet had rested. Then--one, two, three, and he -was off! A long snore, and he was in the Land of Nod. - -Save for the boys' breathing the camp was still. Stone Fence probably -dozed as he lay at the end of his tether. The horses were grazing again. - -But if nothing else, the smell of their brother's blood would have -brought the wolves back. They skulked along the watercourse and at the -edge of the thicket. The flickering firelight did not frighten them. - -They gave the horses a wide berth, for they feared their heels. The -yearling was lying within the radiance of the firelight. The wolves -surrounded the camp once more; but they drew near only at one point. - -The beasts are not averse to licking the bones of their own kind. The -dead wolf, that Chet had shot, drew them. And nearby hung the venison in -the tops of the saplings. - -Silently at first; then with muffled growls and the snapping of -slavering jaws, the wolves fought over their comrade. There were a dozen -and more of them. The horses moved uneasily, and the yearling struggled -up again; but the boys slept. - -One lank and hungry brute smelled the hanging deer flesh and slunk away -to the spot. He leaped for it--again and yet again. - -Chet had no idea how high a wolf could jump. He thought he had hung the -meat out of reach of every marauder; but Mr. Wolf did not think so. - -The horses and Stone Fence became quiet again. The chums sunk together -into a deeper sleep. The fire burned down to mere embers. - -Perhaps something occurred to make the wolves beat a silent retreat; at -least, they left the vicinity of the encampment without raising another -alarm. If the horses were now and then uneasy, their stamping did not -awake Chet and Dig. - -The day's activities had exhausted the chums. Once asleep, Chet slept as -heavily as Digby. Nothing occurred to arouse them until daybreak; then -Chet awoke suddenly, sat up, threw off his blanket, and looked about in -surprise. - -"Say, you sleepy-headed coot!" he roared, flinging an empty milk-can at -the still sleeping Dig. "What d'ye mean--sleeping like this? You never -woke me up." - -"Ugh! Huh?" demanded Dig. "You ought to thank me for that, then." - -"You'd make a nice soldier!" - -"Never claimed to be a soldier, and didn't expect to go soldiering when -I came out on the trail with you," declared Dig belligerently. "I guess -you'll find everything all right. And you slept just as hard as I did." - -"Sha'n't trust you to keep watch again," said Chet. - -"Well, that's a good thing! By the last hoptoad that was chased out of -Ireland! I don't want to keep watch." - -But Chet was serious. He saw that the horses and the calf were safe. But -when he went into the thicket, he saw that the dead wolf had been -dragged away to a distance and there torn to bits. Only red bones and -bits of fur remained. - -Then he remembered the haunches of venison left hanging to cool. He ran -to the spot. Only a single ham hung in the top of a sapling. The others -had been torn down. The tops of the saplings were broken, supposedly by -the wolves as they leaped for the meat. - -At Chet's first cry Dig came running. - -"Now you can see what was done while you slept," said young Havens, with -disgust. - -"Whew! The miserable, thieving beasts!" burst out Dig. "Wish I'd caught -'em at it--" - -"You were snoozing your head off," was his chum's accusation. "That's -when this happened." - -He suddenly became silent, however. He bent over and examined the -disturbed ground underneath the spot where the lost meat had hung. Then -he glanced keenly all about. - -"Hold on, Dig," he said softly, waving his chum back. "Don't step in any -nearer." - -"What's the matter?" queried his surprised friend. "See a wolf print -that you know? An old friend, for instance?" - -"Wait," begged Chet again. "I see something besides wolf-paw prints." - -"What, for goodness' sake?" demanded the other, startled. - -"The print of boots--men's boots." - -"Get out!" - -"I tell you at least one man has been here." - -"Pshaw! our own footprints! You gave me a scare, Chet." - -"No," Chet said earnestly. "I see our marks. But a person with a much -bigger foot has been here. See that? and that? Some stranger. I--I'm not -sure that we have been robbed by wolves, after all, Dig." - -"By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland" gasped the other -boy. "What do you mean? Who could have robbed us? I don't understand, -Chet." - -"Neither do I," returned young Havens. "Don't come this way and foul the -marks any more. Let's see where this fellow came from, and where he went -to." - - - - - CHAPTER XVII--A MYSTERY - - -Chet Havens had been an apt pupil of old Rafe Peters, the hunter who was -now mine foreman at the Silent Sue; nor had he missed much that had been -told him by other plainsmen. Trailing and hunting was a hobby with the -boy, and each vacation for several years past he had spent the most of -his time on hunting trips. - -With Digby Fordham he had taken many short trips around Silver Run; but -they had seldom encountered big game or gone many miles from their home. -This trip to Grub Stake was by far the longest the chums had ever taken -alone. - -It was Chet's trained eye that discovered the fact that a marauder other -than the wolves had been at their camp. Had it been left to Dig, who was -not observant, the presence of any other enemy than that which had -annoyed them in the evening probably would never have been discovered. - -"Could it have been those Indians, Chet?" asked Dig, as his chum bent to -examine the ground closely. - -"What Indians?" - -"John Peep's dog soldiers." - -"Nonsense! Those boys wouldn't play us such a trick. Nor did they follow -us." - -"Huh! Didn't know that anybody else was following us," said Dig. - -"Perhaps this fellow wasn't on our trail. Maybe he stumbled on this -camp. The fire--or the wolves themselves--might have drawn him." - -Chet was thinking hard, however. At once, when he had discovered the -footprint which proclaimed a white marauder, he remembered what Amoshee, -the lame Cheyenne boy, had told him. - -There was a strange man who was interested in the old Crayton mine and -therefore was interested in this trip to Grub Stake. This stranger had -joined forces with the discharged Tony Traddles. Chet had heard Tony -himself threaten Mr. Havens and declare he would "get square" with his -former employer. - -Chet looked at the print of the large boot in the soft soil. Tony -Traddles might stand in boots like that. And if Tony was here, the man -who was trying to get hold of the old Crayton mine was very likely here, -too. - -The condition looked serious to Chet Havens. He did not want to say -anything yet to his chum; but he did propose to keep a sharp watch -thereafter. - -He was desirous, too, of learning all he could about the midnight -marauder. If the mysterious person had stolen only some of the deer -meat, why had he taken it? - -And if he had come as near the camp as this, why hadn't he come nearer? - -"With both of us sound asleep," thought Chet, with disgust, "they might -have come in and taken anything they liked. It puzzles me!" - -He placed his hand upon the bosom of his shirt and could feel the stiff -packet of papers he carried in its accustomed place. His apprehension -was immediately relieved. - -"Pshaw!" Chet muttered. "This might not have been Tony or that other -fellow at all. Just some tramp or the like on the trail, who was -attracted to our camp. Probably needed meat and helped himself. - -"But it was funny he didn't wait till daylight and come and ask for it." - -While he was turning these thoughts over in his mind he was moving -through the thicket, turning aside bushes, looking under bunches of -grass, peering here and there, to trace the tracks of the stranger. - -And they were easy to follow--even for a youthful trailer like Chet -Havens. A spoor made in the night must be less carefully laid down than -a track by daylight. Not much chance to hide footprints while stumbling -through the dark. - -Chet saw how the stranger had come into the thicket, and how he had -left. He had not gone near the camp and the place where the sleeping -boys lay. Chet was so sure of this that he did not attempt to examine -very closely the camp itself. - -He was sure, however, the marauder had robbed them of the bulk of their -meat. The in trace and the out trace led directly up the slope from the -brook beside which they were encamped, to the trail they were following -to Grub Stake. - -There, as near as Chet could make out, two horses had stood. He could -not discover, the sod was so cut up, whether both, or only one, of the -riders had dismounted. - -He could picture the possible happening, however. In the night the two -riders had come along from the east. They were following the trail in -the same direction as the boys. - -Hearing the noise made by the wolves over their dead brother, the -strange trailers stopped, and one of them had gone down to investigate. -The wolves had been frightened away by the coming of this person. - -The stranger must have found the camp, but had circled about it--as his -footprints showed. Finding the meat, he had helped himself and returned -to the trail, then he and his partner had ridden on. - -"The mystery of it is," said Chet to his chum, when he returned to the -camp to find breakfast started, "why the fellow robbed us of meat and -didn't try to take anything more valuable. I hope you see the value of -keeping watch now, Dig?" - -"Yes, I do!" agreed his chum, with more seriousness than he usually -displayed. "I'll take my medicine for that break last night, old man. If -I had kept my watch and waked you, nobody would have sneaked up on our -camp and stolen our meat." - -"Glad they left us this piece," Chet said, slicing off steaks with his -hunting knife. - -They seasoned the meat highly and rubbed tallow on both sides. Then they -broiled the steaks over the clear fire on one of the "contraptions" -which Dig had laughed at his chum for packing. They had coffee; but the -pancake flour was gone, and there were only a few "hard-breads." - -Hearty boys, however, do not need tempting dishes for breakfast. There -was still milk for the coffee, and as Dig said, they fairly "wolfed" the -venison steaks. The sun was not an hour high when they abandoned the -camping place and started for the trail. - -Chet was particularly eager to reach the trail, for he wished to follow -the trace of the strangers who had robbed them; and when he saw Dig -fussing with Stone Fence, he exclaimed: - -"For pity's sake! don't delay us to-day by fooling with that calf, Dig. -Do be reasonable." - -"What do you think he is--a race horse?" demanded the other boy, in -feigned amazement. "Can't expect him to trot like Maud S., or -Yellow-dock. You surprise me!" - -"I'll surprise you if I ride off on Hero and leave you and your plaguey -calf to bring up the rear," threatened Chet. - -"You couldn't be so heartless," declared Dig. "I know you couldn't. We -have been in peril together--Stone Fence and I. We came pretty near -being drowned, and then, there were the wolves. I feel toward him just -like a brother--Get out, you beast! want to butt me over again?" - -They got under way and Chet set as brisk a pace as possible. He did not -want to leave his chum and the maverick behind; yet he was a little -vexed at Dig for being so obstinate. - -The morning was delightful, however; nobody could hold anger at such an -hour. The boys whistled and sang and skylarked; the horses snorted and -stepped "high, wide and handsome," as Dig called it; and even Stone -Fence trotted along the trail without much urging. - -They had not to be on the watch for game this day, for they had enough -of the deer meat left to last them until over breakfast the following -morning. Yet Chet's glance was ever roving over the plain as they went -on. No trace of the venison thieves was to be found. - -The hills were behind them; the mountains were so far in advance that a -blue haze masked them. Nearby groves of small trees marked water-holes; -but there was no stream in sight. - -[Illustration: They fairly "wolfed" the venison steaks.] - -"Plain" did not mean in this case a perfectly flat surface. There were -coulies to break the monotony of the level trail, or ancient -watercourses to descend into and climb out of. Once they came to the -edge of a steep sand-bluff, after having ridden up a gradual ascent to -this eminence. From the spot they could see vastly farther than before. - -It was from here that Chet spied something far to the north that -interested him. He carried a pair of field-glasses in a case slung from -one shoulder. He opened these and focused them on the round, black -objects that had attracted his attention. - -With the naked eye they looked like beehives, and they did not seem to -move. But through the glass they were not conical, and they were -travelling toward the northeast. They all moved together, but slowly; -there could be no doubt of that. - -"What's got you now?" demanded Dig, finally noticing that his chum was -fixed in one position for a long time. - -"Look here," Chet said, offering him the glasses. - -"Well, look out for Stone Fence," returned Dig, and urged Poke nearer to -the bay mount, while he reached for the glasses. - -"Fix them on those dots over yonder," advised Chet. "Now, look good." - -Dig did so. In a minute he exclaimed: - -"Cattle grazing!" - -"Think so?" - -"Sure. Maybe Stone Fence belongs to that herd." - -"But to whom does the herd belong?" demanded Chet. "We know well enough -that there is no ranch nearer than the Ogallala. Those are not strays -from the cattle trail. Weak and crippled cattle that are abandoned on -the march fall an easy prey to wolves and lions." - -"What do you make of it, then?" demanded Dig. - -"Look at the round backs of them; the size of them, too. No cattle that -I ever saw are built like those. They certainly are not Texans or the -sun would flash on their horns now and then when they toss their heads. -It doesn't look as though those creatures have any horns." - -"Oh, say!" cried Dig. "That's going too far! We couldn't see their horns -from here, if they had 'em a mile wide!" - -"That's stretching it some," said Chet, laughing and reaching for the -glasses again. - -"But what do you really think they are?" demanded Dig, growing more and -more excited. - -"Going to find out," announced Chet. - -"Oh, goodness, Chet! You don't think--" - -"I'm going to find out what they are," repeated the other lad firmly. - -"By _all_ the hoptoads that were chased out of Ireland! you don't mean -to say that you think those are buffaloes? Oh, Chet!" - -"I certainly don't think they are hoptoads," grinned his chum. "I'm not -sure what they are, but I'm going to find out." He slipped out of the -saddle, to ease it on Hero's back and then cinch it up for a hard ride. - -"Whew! you're not going to leave me alone?" gasped Dig. "Why, it's miles -and miles over yonder." - -"Come on, then." - -"But what'll I do with Stone Fence?" blurted out Dig. - -"Say, boy!" said Chet shortly, "this is the parting of the ways for you -and that red dogy. You've had your fun. Now this is business." - -"Have I got to decide between a perfectly good yearling calf and a -possible buffalo? Seems a hard case," groaned Dig. "I bet I could sell -him for five dollars." - -"We've got to turn back a little on our trail to follow those beasts -yonder," Chet said. "It's likely we'll hit the trail again about here. -Turn Stone Fence loose down in this sandy bottom. There's enough grass -to feed him a year and I see a trickle of water yonder. He'll be all -right. If he's learned to love you, Dig, he'll be waiting for you when -we return." - -"I'll do just that," cried Dig eagerly, and he urged the obstinate -maverick down the slope. - -He was back in ten minutes after abandoning the surprised calf at the -foot of the bluff. The creature gazed after his human companions and the -horses with plain surprise in his bovine countenance. - -Finally, as Dig and the black horse surmounted the rise, Stone Fence -spread all four of his legs and blatted after him like a cosset calf. - -"What do you know about that? I hate to leave him in the lurch," -declared Dig. "Some beast'll get him, sure as shooting, Chet." - -"He was exempt from trouble long before you met him, Dig," said Chet, -smiling. "I'm not sure that he considers you, even yet, his guardian -angel." - -They rearranged their outfit, tightened cinches, and remounted. The -black specks were quite visible to the naked eye; but they were moving -slowly northeast. The boys shook the reins and let Hero and Poke point -into the wind at an easy canter. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII--ROYAL GAME - - -Chet was just as eager and excited as he could be. Dig appeared to be -doubtful of the identity of the moving herd they had spied so far away; -nevertheless, he felt that the venture was momentous. - -The chums had not hunted big game frequently enough to approach this -strange herd of grazing animals with calmness. Their pulses throbbed and -their faces flushed. They were both on the qui vive. - -"If it should be the buffaloes, Chet," gasped Digby Fordham, "what'll we -do?" - -"Shake salt on their tails," grinned Chet, "as you suggested doing to -the antelope." - -"No fooling," Dig urged. "They'll be dangerous, won't they?" - -"If we get them mad, I reckon they will be. But they are very timid at -the approach of man. And if they get started on the run--good-bye! We -couldn't catch them unless our horses were very fresh. That's why we -must take the trip over to their feeding ground easily. We may have to -gallop to get a shot." - -"If they are the buffaloes," added the Doubting Thomas. - -"If they are not the buffaloes, they'll be something well worth -shooting," Chet said with confidence. "I don't know of anything else -that size that roams these plains." - -They had ridden several miles off the trail now, and the humped backs of -the grazing animals were quite plainly visible. - -"Suppose they see us?" suggested Dig suddenly. - -"From what I've heard about the buffaloes, there's not much danger. You -see, they are headed away from us and are grazing. When their heads are -down they can't see much going on right about them, and nothing at all -at a distance. A buffalo herd sets no sentinels as do elk or wild -horses." - -"But if they get a scent of us?" - -"Wind's from them. It's blowing in our faces, isn't it? Just the same, -we'll creep up on them like a cat on a mouse," Chet agreed. "After a -while, we'll keep to the coulies and gullies, and go at a slower pace. -This is a great chance, Dig. If we each brought home a buffalo -robe--eh?" - -"Whew!" breathed Dig exultantly. - -"Or shot the big fellow they say captains this herd?" went on Chet. - -"Oh, come on!" exclaimed Dig. "You make my mouth water." - -They had stopped for no midday meal; nor did Dig complain of this loss. -Not at present, at least. He was quite as much worked up over the hunt -as his chum. - -"Just think of it," Chet said, after a time, "I was reading a book the -other evening that quoted 'Fremont, the Pathfinder' as saying that in -1836 one travelling from the Rockies to the Missouri River never lost -sight of grazing buffaloes." - -"Whew!" - -"The old emigrant trails were marked for years and years by the whitened -skulls of buffaloes, wantonly killed by the travellers. Everybody who -came West wanted to say that he had shot a buffalo. Why, Dig! they used -to roam all this great United States from the Pacific Slope to Lake -Champlain. The last buffalo was killed east of the Mississippi River in -1832." - -"And now it's hard to find any of 'em," said Dig. "Where have they -gone?" - -"Indiscriminate killing," replied Chet. "So the books say. Yet in 1859 -some people estimated that there were more buffaloes grazing these -ranges than there were cattle in the whole country. - -"Of course, the Indians slaughtered many of them. They were the only -beef the redmen had. The prairie Indians--the Comanches, Sioux and -Pawnees--just about lived on buffalo meat all the year around. And their -skins covered their winter teepees, clothed them in cold weather, and -otherwise were made useful. Their hoofs made glue and their tendons were -used by the squaws to sew with. Yes indeed! a buffalo was a mighty -useful animal to a redskin." - -"Well," sighed Dig, "a buffalo is going to be a mighty useful animal to -you and me, Chet--if we shoot one. Why, say! there won't be another -fellow in Silver Run who can show a buffalo head for a trophy." - -"Well," Chet said, "if you propose to cart head and all back to town -you'll have some contract, boy. I believe the head of a bull buffalo -will weigh almost as much as the rest of his body." - -"Whew!" - -"That's what makes of him such a good battering-ram. They say a blow -from the head of a two-months calf will knock a man over. Suppose Stone -Fence had been a buffalo calf. When he rammed you into that creek you'd -have been drowned." - -"Huh! That's straining a point," replied Dig. "You can bet I'm not going -to get in front of any of the creatures." - -"And that's where you'll be wise. Especially if you want to shoot one," -Chet observed. "You might pump every ball in your rifle at the front of -an old bull, and he'd only shake his head and whisk his tail like a -horse bit by a fly. A bullet won't bring down a bull, unless you are too -close for comfort. Behind the foreleg is the place to aim at." - -"Very well, Davy Crockett," returned Dig. "I have taken your advice to -heart." - -Nevertheless, Digby admired his chum greatly because of Chet's wider -reading and better memory for practical things. Of course, Chet had been -reading up on buffaloes ever since Rafe Peters and Tony Traddles -reported seeing the stray herd near the Grub Stake trail. - -"Though I never expected that we'd sight them," admitted Dig. "Whew! -Suppose we do bag one of them, old man?" - -"That's what we're out here for," his chum said. "Wait now till I spy -out the land again." - -He stood up in his stirrups and looked through the field-glasses. The -focus of the instrument brought the group of feeding buffaloes very -near. Chet counted them twice to make sure. - -"Sixteen, Dig!" he said, under his breath. "My goodness, boy! Wait till -we get up to them." - -"Do you see the big fellow? Or was that a yarn of Tony's? I wouldn't -believe that fellow on a stack of Bibles as high as the moon." - -"Rafe saw the big bull, too. Goodness! there he is!" - -"Where?" asked Dig, looking around, startled, as though expecting to see -the buffalo right at hand. - -"He's been feeding off by himself. He is coming from behind that clump -of shrubs. Look at the monster, Dig!" - -He handed the glasses quickly to his chum. The latter focused them and -almost immediately uttered his favourite ejaculation: - -"By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland! That's an -elephant--not a buffalo, Chet." - -"Aren't you glad you brought that heavy rifle, old man?" - -"I wish it were a cannon," admitted Dig, in amazement at the size of the -big buffalo. - -He was grazing with his side toward the approaching hunters, and for -several minutes Chet and Dig both gazed upon him through the glasses. -His hump was enormous, and so shaggy that he looked as big as an -overland freight wagon, painted black. - -Of course, close to, the buffalo would have been found to be brown--of -various shades. The mane is the darker--sometimes almost black, in fact. -The bull is much darker than the cow. - -The great shoulders, neck and head, covered with thick, matted hair to -the eyes, make a threatening front for any unsophisticated hunter to -face. Dig admitted his distaste for the prospect. - -"I'll take your word for it, old man," he said to his chum. "If I get a -shot you can bet it will be from the side. I don't want that -battering-ram headed for me when I fire. I certainly should have what -old Rafe calls elk fever." - -"Stage fright, I reckon!" agreed his chum. - -"But say!" Dig asked, "where are his horns? I don't see any." - -"And you'll not till you're on top of him," Chet replied. "The horns are -no bigger than a two year old steer's. But he can bunt with 'em." - -"Aren't you right! Whew! let's be careful how we approach those -creatures." - -"We will be just that," agreed Chet. "Now come on, boy; give me the -glasses. See that everything is all right; don't let any of the tinware -joggle. Is your rifle all right? Button your revolver tight in the -holster. A six-shooter won't do you anymore good than a pea-shooter with -those shaggy fellows. This old rifle of father's is the boy to depend -on." - -"I'm ready," said Dig, and they let the impatient horses go again. - -They rode on sod, and that silenced the hoof-beats to a degree. When -they were all of two miles from the buffalo herd they pulled in and only -walked their mounts. And they did not see the buffaloes again for nearly -an hour, for they kept to the low places in the plain. - -At last Chet left his horse in Dig's care and reconnoitred by creeping -up the side of a coulie on hands and knees. When he saw the first -buffalo he ducked quickly, fearful that he had been seen. It was a young -bull, not more than half grown; but it looked larger than any horse Chet -had ever seen. - -He could have made a clean shot at that animal; but Chet had not brought -his gun with him. He had not expected to find any of the herd so near. -Nor were there any others at this spot. - -The remaining fifteen, including the big bison, were out of rifle-shot -from this point. And just as Chet spied the land out, the young bull -lifted his head, twirled his tail, and started off on an easy trot for -the rest of his tribe. - -He had not been startled. It was merely that he had chanced to discover -he was alone and the sense of fear, more than any other sense, keeps all -of the bovine clans in herd. They are not naturally gregarious. - -Chet peeped and peered after the trotting buffalo until he reached his -clan. The herd was not disturbed. All went on feeding peacefully. It -would have been too bad to shoot at that single bull and so startle the -entire herd. - -But they were feeding a good ways out on the open and unbroken plain. -Chet scanned it carefully. There really did not seem to be a bit of -screen on this side behind which they might creep up on the buffaloes. - -The gentle wind blew towards him. He knew better than to try to approach -the herd with the wind. But how meet the emergency? - -Chet Havens was not a practical hunter; but he was theoretically a good -one, for he had a good memory and was a good shot. The mere ability to -shoot true is not the only quality necessary to make a good sportsman. -The boy realised his shortcomings. - -He had never been placed in such a situation as this alone before. -Always he and Dig had had an experienced hunter with them when they -stalked deer. Here was a case where the boy had to decide what to do on -his own initiative. - -His father and Mr. Fordham had praised his resourcefulness when he had -made the successful attempt to get at the men entombed in the Silent Sue -mine. This was another chance for him to prove that they had not been -mistaken in him. - -Chet Havens glanced again at the peacefully feeding buffaloes, fully a -quarter of a mile away; then he looked down into the hollow where the -two horses grazed and Dig awaited him. An idea was born in the boy's -mind. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX--A FRUITLESS CHASE - - -Chet slipped down from the summit of the rise, motioning to his chum to -keep still. For, although the buffaloes were grazing so far away, he -feared that a loud word spoken might startle them. - -"Have they skedaddled, Chet?" Dig finally whispered when his chum came -near. - -"No." - -"I was afraid that they might have done so. Any chance for a shot?" - -"I believe so. I'll tell you my plan," Chet returned in a low voice. - -Dig was just as eager now as Chet himself to get a shot at the game. -Chet explained quietly how the herd was grazing and what he proposed to -do to overcome the lack of shelter from the down wind side. - -Dig dismounted and they led the horses up the rise. They had some small -discussion as to whether they should abandon the outfit while they -stalked the buffaloes. - -"You know what Poke will do the minute I take his saddle off. He'll -roll," said Dig, with disgust. "And the way he kicks and snorts is -enough to frighten any kind of game into a conniption fit." - -"I don't think, after all, that the saddles and blanket-rolls will make -the buffaloes suspicious," whispered Chet. "Now lengthen your rein and -tie your lariat to it. We'll give the horses all the range possible." - -With the horses at the very end of the tethers the trail boys let them -drift over the rise and out upon the plain. It was noon and they were -hungry, so they began to graze immediately. - -Whenever the buffaloes caught sight of the two horses, they were quietly -feeding on the short grass, and moving on like themselves--up wind. A -plains-bred or mountain-bred horse will always point into the wind when -grazing, just as instinctively, as any game animal. - -What the buffaloes did not see was the long line dragging behind each -horse. At the end of the lines were the boys, creeping on hands and -knees, or lying flat for a time on the prairie, to breathe. - -The horses made a perfect screen for the young hunters. Chet's plan -included the stalking of the buffaloes to within easy striking distance. -Then they were to spring into the saddles, cast free the ropes, and -shoot from that vantage seat--following the herd on horseback if -necessary, for a second shot. - -It seemed as though the plan would go through without a hitch. The -horses were kept moving by the boys at the end of the ropes; but they -did nothing to startle Hero and Poke. - -Holding the rope in one hand, each boy dragged behind him with the other -his heavy rifle. If the buffaloes glanced toward the horses they would -see no farther than the saddle mounts themselves. That is the way with -creatures of the wild. With all their apprehension of an approaching -enemy, they are satisfied of their own safety if some other creature -intervenes between them and the enemy. The quietly grazing horses made -the buffaloes perfectly tranquil. The young hunters were making a -successful approach. - -The big leader of the herd was on the far side; but Chet Havens had his -mind made up to try for that very individual. It would be a feather in -his cap indeed if he brought down the big bull. - -There were two calves with the buffaloes; but they were of grazing age. -Chet was quite sure that these calves would not keep the herd back much -if once it should bolt. - -The horses and their owners drew nearer and nearer. Chet had planned to -come upon the buffaloes a little to one side instead of from the -immediate rear. This was so the game would not have to swing their heads -around to see the horses. - -The more familiar they became with the sight of the grazing horses the -less likely the herd was to stampede. - -At the right hand--the southeast--was a considerable thicket. Chet had -noticed this in the beginning; but he did not consider it a good vantage -point from which to stalk the herd. He was aiming almost directly for -it. - -He would, however, have given considerable for just the protection that -thicket afforded as the moment for him and Dig to mount drew near. The -boys signalled each other without speaking. Chet assured Dig that he was -going to try for the big bull while Dig signalled that he would be -satisfied with a much smaller animal and pointed out one of the young -males, nearer at hand. - -Chet glanced all around to see if the way was clear, and had just raised -his hand in signal to mount, when not only the buffaloes, but the -horses, evinced sudden excitement. - -The whole herd stopped feeding, and the horses threw up their heads and -snorted. - -"That old fool, Poke!" Dig muttered. "What does he want to make that -noise for?" - -A long grey body shot from the thicket and crossed the plain directly -ahead of the buffalo herd. It was running like the wind; indeed, it -looked to be little more than a streak as it skimmed the sod. - -Neither boy had ever seen a running wolf before; but they did not need -to be told what this was. With terror at his tail Mr. Wolf will match -anything on four legs in speed. - -And something had certainly frightened this grey rascal. He had -doubtless been lurking in the thicket, watching the buffalo calves and -licking his chops at the sight. Something had started him for the -distant Canadian border, and it looked as though he would get there -presently. - -The wolf ran almost against the noses of the herd. The buffaloes huddled -for a moment, the big bull snorting and bellowing. Then, as one -creature, they wheeled in the track of the wolf, and set off at a -lumbering canter that took them across the plain at surprising speed. - -"By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland!" exclaimed Dig, in -disgust. "Did you ever see such luck?" - -He ran to scramble on to Poke's back; but Chet commanded him not to -follow the herd at once. - -"No use adding to their fright. They may only run a few miles if they -are not molested," said Chet. - -"And not a shot after all that trouble!" - -Chet was staring at the thicket rather than after the stampeded -buffaloes. - -"What under the sun could have started that wolf like that?" he -muttered. - -"Come!" cried Dig excitedly from the saddle, "you're not going to let -'em get entirely away from us, are you, Chet?" - -"I don't believe we can get near them again today, Dig." - -"Why not?" - -"After being scared like that they will be more watchful. And it's two -o'clock now." - -"I don't care. Why, Chet, those are real buffaloes!" - -"What's the matter?" laughed his chum. "Did you think they were -imitations at first?" - -"Whew!" blew Dig. "I certainly believed they were an hallucination. I -didn't believe there were such creatures. At least, not along this -trail. - -"But now I've seen 'em--and been almost near enough to 'em for a shot--I -tell you right now, Chet Havens, my blood is up! Let's go after those -buffaloes!" - -"Even if they lead us to the Arctic Circle?" laughed Chet. - -"Well, we have our camp equipment with us. Why not camp for the night -where we happen to be? We can get back to the Grub Stake trail -tomorrow." - -"And poor little Stone Fence?" suggested Chet slyly. - -"Shucks! Maybe I'll lasso one of those buffalo calves," said Dig, -grinning. "It would sell for more in town." - -It was agreed to pursue the buffalo herd for a way, at least. The -frightened creatures had run from their feeding course. They had -disappeared behind some round mounds to the northwest. This was almost -as much off their trail as the buffaloes' previous course had been. When -the boys started on a heavy gallop after the game, the Grub Stake trail -lay far to the south. - -The distance to the mounds was not above five miles. The horses took up -the trail at an easy pace and when they mounted the first small eminence -the buffaloes were still out of sight. - -"Whew!" exclaimed Digby. "I reckon they have run some distance, Chet." - -"See that timber ahead?" replied his chum. "It's an open piece, and -there is probably a stream in it, or just the other side of it. The -buffaloes have gone no farther than the water, and may be feeding in the -grove. If the latter, then we must approach very carefully. They can see -us on the plain before we can see them in the timber." - -"Now you're shouting, old boy!" cried Dig, admiringly. "Say! you're a -regular plainsman." - -"It stands to reason," Chet returned, "we've got to use our heads if we -expect to ever shoot one of those buffaloes." - -"Oh, cricky, Chet! If we only could," said Dig longingly. - -"Keep your heart up. Maybe we shall," said Chet stoutly. "Now, let me -tell you what I think." - -"Spout, brother, spout." - -"If that herd gets quiet again and goes to feeding, how will the animals -head?" - -Dig immediately saw what he meant, and nodded. - -"Into the wind, of course," he said. - -"And the breeze holds steady, and is likely to do so until sundown," -Chet proceeded. - -"Well?" - -"What we want to do, then, is to make a circle to the west and come up -behind the feeding herd, just as we did before. Let us not cross this -plain to the timber. We'll keep along the line of these mounds and at -their foot, and find some place to cross over to the timber and the -water under shelter. Come on," and he swung Hero's head about. - -"Just one minute, Chet," said his chum timidly, as he urged Poke to -follow the other horse. - -"What's that?" - -"Don't you think we ought to eat?" - -"Do you want to waste time now making camp, and cooking, and all that? -Right in the middle of stalking that herd?" - -"Whew! I'll have to pull in my belt a hole or two, then," grumbled Dig. - -"Pull it in then. No stop until we have another chance at the -buffaloes--or until night comes and stops us," declared his chum firmly. -"We're real hunters now. We're not playing at it!" - -For two hours they rode steadily. The two boys scarcely exchanged a word -and the horses began to show weariness. Then they came up a dead gully -into the edge of the very piece of timber for which they had been -aiming. There was no water in sight, and both horses and riders were -beginning to suffer for it. The timber seemed more extensive than had -appeared from the round back of the mound across the plain. Nor, as far -as the boys could see, were there any signs of the herd of buffaloes. It -really seemed as though their chase had been fruitless--and the sun was -fast going down. - -"Whew!" said Dig, whimsically. "We're a long way from home, Chet. What -shall we do next?" - - - - - CHAPTER XX--A MIDNIGHT ALARM - - -As Chet surmised, the timber was open, with a good sod and little -rubbish or shrubbery. None of the bushes was big enough to hide the -buffaloes even at a distance. - -Not an object moved under the trees as the boys pressed on their tired -mounts. If the herd of buffaloes had come this way it had not stopped to -graze in the shelter of the timber. - -And that fact puzzled Chet Havens and caused much disappointment to his -chum, Dig Fordham. - -"It gets me!" grumbled the latter. "You figured the thing out all right, -Chet. We sneaked around and came up behind them all according to -programme. But plague it all; somebody's removed the buffaloes. They -_ought_ to have stopped here." - -"Maybe they kept on to water," said Chet ruminatively. - -"Whew! That wouldn't be a bad idea for us! Where do you suppose water -is? The last drop dribbled out of my canteen two hours ago." - -"Water's right under our feet, I suppose. See how thrifty these trees -are. But we can't stop to dig for it," said Chet. "We'd better let the -horses find it." - -"And give up hunting the buffaloes?" - -"For to-night. We don't know how far away our camping place is--and -night is coming fast. The horses have travelled hard." - -"Right!" agreed Dig. "But I hate to give over the hunt." - -"We'll see what the morning brings forth," Chet said cheerfully. "Let's -give the nags a free rein. Get on, Hero!" - -The bay and the black horse were both thirsty. The boys could see no -stream; but their mounts unerringly knew the direction of the nearest -water. Both horses were range born and had run wild as colts. The -instinct of their ancestors, the pure-blooded mustangs, was strong in -them. - -They struck almost directly northward through the timber and came out -into the darkening plain on the other side. Night was coming fast and -the boys naturally grew anxious. - -They were not exactly lost. Chet had his compass, and, moreover, they -could tell the general direction easily enough by the setting sun. But -the Grub Stake trail was a long way behind them and all this country to -the west, north, and east was entirely strange to the trail boys. - -"Those buffaloes have plenty of country to hide in," complained Dig, as -the horses plodded on. "No wonder we didn't find them. Whew! this is a -big state, Chet." - -"We can pick up their trail in the morning if we want to," returned his -chum, smiling. - -"How?" demanded Dig, interested. - -"Why, all we need do," Chet explained, "is to go back to those mounds, -find the trail of the buffaloes, and follow it. They left a trace that a -blind man could scarcely miss to the point where we turned west. It's -easy." - -"Whew!" blew Dig. "Of course! What a thickhead I am! We'll get those -buffaloes yet." - -"I don't know," Chet returned thoughtfully. "Ought we to go so far from -the Grub Stake trail? Father did not tell me to hasten; but I am sure he -expected us not to delay much on the road. I'll feel a whole lot better, -too, when I've attended to these deeds," and he patted his breast to -make sure of the packet he carried. - -"Surely you wouldn't drop the chase when we're so near those beasts?" -cried Dig. - -"We don't know how near they are. Maybe they're running yet," returned -Chet grimly. - -Their mounts quickened their pace and the boys fell silent. Twilight had -fallen, and the immensity of the plains and their loneliness impressed -the lads. Suddenly Chet started upright in his saddle and pointed ahead. - -"Look!" he cried. - -It was the gleam of water. There was no mistaking it. The horses snorted -and broke into a trot. It was a fair-sized sheet of water, lying in a -little saucer scooped in the plain--a "water-hole" in the West, but what -would have been called a "frog-pond" in the East. - -Rushes and willows grew about it. There were several stunted trees, too, -offering plenty of firewood if not much shelter. The stars were already -appearing in the arch of the sky overhead, and that would be their -tent-roof. - -The two chums became cheerful, however, as soon as they saw water and -fuel. An open camp on a fair night like this had no terrors for them. - -They unsaddled their mounts, let them drink their fill, and then hobbled -them on a flat piece of prairie next to the camp. The fire was built and -the strips of venison toasted. They were ravenously hungry and the -remainder of the haunch the robber had left for them now looked very -small. There was no more hard-bread. - -"Whew!" sighed Digby, "I reckon we'll have to start for Grub Stake -bright and early in the morning, for we haven't anything to eat!" - -"We still have coffee, and milk for it, and all these cooking things," -chuckled Chet. "Lots better off than many hunters. Lost all your desire -to shoot a buffalo, Dig?" - -"Shooting a buffalo is all right, I don't doubt," returned his chum -scornfully, "but chasing all over this country hunting the creatures -isn't much fun. Say, Chet!" - -"Put a name to it." - -"What do you suppose ever scared that wolf so?" - -"The wolf that stampeded the buffaloes?" - -"Yes." - -"You may have three guesses. But that's why we're going to keep watch -and watch to-night," Chet said grimly. - -"You don't think it was another hunting party?" cried Dig. - -"I believe nothing but human beings would have so scared that grey -rascal. My! how he ran! I didn't think of it at the time. I was too -excited," Chet said reflectively. "But take it from me, boy, that wolf -was running from man." - -"I don't understand it," declared Dig. "If there had been another party -besides us stalking that herd, why didn't we see them?" - -"They wouldn't have been very good hunters if we had seen them," laughed -Chet. - -"I mean after the buffaloes were stampeded. They must have been in that -thicket out of which the wolf came." - -"Sure. And the very fact we didn't see them after the stampede, makes me -suspicious," Chet returned. "I tell you, Dig, that party that stopped on -the trail and robbed us last night puzzles me greatly." - -"How so?" - -"They left the trail somewhere this side of our last camp; but I -couldn't see where. They were careful to hide their tracks." - -"I reckon, considering that they had robbed us." - -"Well, that might be so, too," ruminated Chet. He did not want to -frighten his chum regarding Tony Traddles and the strange man whom -Amoshee had said were on the trail behind them. Yet the thought of the -pair of rascals stuck in Chet's mind and dove-tailed into the mystery of -the two who had stopped to rob their camp. - -"Well," Dig said finally, "I suppose we'll have to do as you say--keep -watch. But we haven't seen anything of any prowlers and it is likely -those fellows who troubled us before are a long way from here." - -"Hope so," agreed Chet. "But we'd better be sure than sorry." - -The boys were tired after the activities of the day; but Dig insisted -upon standing the first watch. "And believe me!" he said, "I shall march -up and down all the time. No sleeping on post this trick!" - -Thus dividing the vigil, Chet bade him good-night and rolled up in his -blanket. It was a warm night, however, and later, after he was dead -asleep, the boy kicked the blanket off. - -Dig kept away from him, however. There was no sound of roaming animals -of any kind at first, and the watchman did not consider it necessary to -feed the dying fire. The stars rendered a faint light and he could see -objects in outline quite plainly. - -The horses fed near the camp, and the ripping sound of the grass as -their strong teeth severed it from the roots was the only sound Dig -apprehended for some time. - -It was as quiet here at this water-hole in the great plain as it would -have been in Dig's back yard. There was not even the rustle of a breeze -in the brakes. - -Dig tramped back and forth along the edge of the pool, occasionally -stooping down to peer through the dusk at the horses. He could see them -better that way. He kept away from his sleeping chum and their outfit -purposely. He did not propose to rouse Chet until it was full midnight. - -He grew thirsty and started to kneel down by the side of the pool to -drink. Then he remembered that the horses had quenched their thirst on -this side of the water-hole, and the water was likely to be roiled and -muddy. So he started around toward the other side. - -The water-hole was twenty yards across and its edge was screened by -bushes and brakes for most of the way. Dig looked for an opening where -he could kneel and reach the water, intending to fill his canteen and -bring it back with him to the camp. - -Poke stamped and whinnied; but Dig did not hear his mount. He kept on -until he was fully half way around the water-hole. The plain seemed -quite as silent and deserted as before. He could not see the spot where -his chum lay nor even the gleam of the firelight now. - -Chet was quite given up to sleep. He lay on his back with the neck of -his shirt open. - -He did not hear the restlessness of the horses, nor any other sound -about the camp. Not at first, at least. But when a rifle exploded -somewhere near, Chet Havens awoke with a start. - -"Hi! what's that?" he ejaculated, and sat up suddenly, throwing off the -final restraining folds of the blanket. - -"Dig! where are you?" he added and, getting no answer, he scrambled to -his feet and picked up his own rifle that had been lying partly under -him. - -His chum was nowhere to be seen. He shouted again: "Dig! Dig!" and then -strained his ear to catch the reply. But there was no immediate answer -and Chet found himself shaking with apprehension. What had become of his -chum? - - - - - CHAPTER XXI--A STARTLING DISCOVERY - - -Chet's second thought was, naturally, for the horses. If anything -happened to their mounts out here on the plains, they would be in a bad -way indeed. They were all of thirty miles from the Grub Stake trail, and -if that trail were intersected with a line running directly south from -this camp, such intersection would be about midway of the distance -between Silver Run and Grub Stake. - -In other words, once back upon the trail the boys would have a choice of -something like a hundred mile ride to either town. And if they had to -walk it! - -With his rifle at "ready" Chet stumbled away from the edge of the -water-hole until he could get a free sight of the plain on this side. He -made out the horses almost immediately. They were feeding contentedly -and nothing seemed to have happened to them. - -Chet raised his voice again and shouted for his chum. There was no -reply, and the boy became more and more anxious as the moments passed. -Where could Dig have gone? - -It was just then that Chet heard a strange sound. It must have been -going on ever since he was aroused; only his senses had been too dulled -with sleep to notice it. - -A throbbing sound, that was steadily growing fainter. The boy suddenly -came to a sensible conclusion regarding it, and he dropped to his knees -and put an ear to the ground. - -Horses' hoofs! No doubt of it. The thud of them over the sodded prairies -was rapidly decreasing. The horses were now some miles away from the -water-hole. - -What did it mean? Had an attempt been made to raid the camp again, and -had Dig driven the raiders away? Was it he who had fired the shot that -awakened Chet? The latter turned back again with a terrible sinking -feeling at his heart. - -Perhaps there had been a fight and his chum was shot! - -Chet Havens was much exercised. He ran to and fro in the camp, trying to -find some trace of his chum. There were the saddles--he had used his own -for a pillow; and at this time he did not notice anything else missing. - -He shouted again and again, but got no reply. Then he bethought him of -the rifle, and he put the heavy weapon to his shoulder and fired three -times in the air. - -There sounded a squeal from the other side of the water-hole. The horses -had snorted, too; but Chet paid them no further attention. He started -around the piece of water, yelling for his chum at the top of his voice. - -He heard Dig calling after a minute. Then Chet saw him standing by the -water's edge and leaning on his gun. - -"For goodness' sake! what's the matter with you?" gasped Chet, reaching -the other lad. And then he uttered a second startled exclamation. Dig's -face was bloody. - -"What have you been doing?" demanded Chet again. - -"That's this blamed old rifle," snarled Dig. "See what it did?" and he -removed the handkerchief with which he was swabbing his brow and showed -a deep cut. "That's what it did to me!" - -"How?" gasped Chet. - -"Kicked!" - -"But for goodness' sake! did you try to put the butt against your -forehead when you fired?" - -"I don't know what I did. I was excited. I saw that man on horseback -leading the other horse--" - -"What man?" interrupted his chum. - -"Oh, be still!" exclaimed Dig, with great disgust. "Do you s'pose I -stopped to ask him his name and where he came from? I up with the gun to -fire a shot to warn you--" - -"That must have been what woke me," said Chet. - -"And it's what put me to sleep," said Dig, grimly. "I don't know what -happened after this old cannon tried to knock my head off." - -"Tell me what happened before," urged Chet anxiously. - -Dig explained how he had come to start around the pool. He had heard a -noise while on this side and, stooping down, he had seen a horseman -between him and the background of the sky. The rider was leading a -second horse, and was moving quietly toward their encampment. - -At first Dig had not known what to do--whether to return and awaken Chet -softly or to keep watch of the man on horseback. And then Dig had seen a -man afoot running up from the camp. - -"The scoundrel was carrying something. We've been robbed, Chet. Is my -saddle all right?" - -"Yes. But he might have taken something--" - -He clapped his hand to his breast as he spoke. Dig did not notice his -agitation and went on with his story. - -"Then's when I let go with old Betsy here. And whew! can't she kick -some? She knocked me cold, and I just woke up." Then he turned to peer -into Chet's face, demanding: "Say, boy! what's the matter with you?" - -Chet was absolutely pallid. He lips parted, but were so dry that for a -moment he could not speak. Finally he blurted out: - -"They--they've got 'em!" - -"Got what?" gasped Dig. "Who's got 'em?" - -"The deeds." - -"Are you crazy, Chet? Nobody's got those deeds. They're in your -pocket--" - -"No!" cried Chet wildly. "They're gone!" - -"Nonsense!" - -Chet had drawn open his shirt and turned it so that Dig could easily -feel the empty pocket inside. He could only mutter: - -"Whew! what bad luck! what _bad_ luck! Don't you think mebbe you've lost -'em, Chet? Dropped 'em out, maybe?" - -"I am afraid not," returned his chum, getting control of himself again. -"If you saw one of those men coming from the direction of our camp--" - -"Well, he had something besides papers in his hands," grunted Dig. "Come -on! let's go back and see just how bad things are." - -"No matter what other damage they did," Chet declared, "the loss of the -deeds father entrusted to my care is the only really serious loss. I -feel dreadfully, Dig. He trusted us, and I let 'em get away from me. And -after having had one warning, too! - -"Yes! two warnings. Amoshee--John Peep--told me they were on the trail -after us." - -"Who were after us? What are you talking about?" demanded the puzzled -Digby. - -Chet told him as they hastened around the pool to the camp and the -horses. - -"Well! of all the stingy guys!" exclaimed Dig. "By all the hoptoads that -were chased out of Ireland! you're the meanest fellow, to keep this all -to yourself. Hadn't the first idea that we were being trailed by two -villains. Cricky!" - -"You talk as if it were fun," said Chet in disgust. "What shall I say to -father? He'll blame me--but that doesn't so much matter. I tell you, -Dig, I've got to get those deeds back. This fellow is after the old -Crayton claim and he'll get the deeds changed, somehow, and get Mr. -Morrisy to sign them, and then father will lose what he's already -invested in the claim. I tell you, I must get them back!" he repeated, -almost in tears. - -"Huh!" grunted Digby, "you've got it wrong." - -"Have what wrong?" asked Chet, surprised. - -"You say you have to get the papers back. Wrong. We have to get 'em -back. I'm with you, Chet, no matter how big the job is." - -"Oh, thank you, Dig! I know you'll stand by me," Chet declared. "We'll -have to start as soon as possible after these thieves. We must pick up -their trail and chase them." - -The boys reached the camp at this moment. There were a few live coals in -the bed of the fire, and Dig stirred them with his foot and then threw -on some light fuel. Soon the blaze sprang up and the light flickered -over the spot. - -Their saddles had not been touched. Chet had already made sure of that. -His own blanket was on the ground where he had flung it off when he -arose, awakened by the rifle shot; but Dig's had disappeared. - -"By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland!" yelled Dig. "The -dirty rascals have swiped my blanket--And the skillet! Holy mackerel, -Chet! they've taken the coffee-pot, too, and all the tinware. That would -be just like that Tony Traddles! The great, hulking, no-account brute!" - -"No use calling him names," said Chet grimly. "They've pretty well -cleaned us out. But the worst is the deeds," and he sighed. - -"I wonder they didn't take the horses," exclaimed Dig. - -"Your seeing them and firing the gun probably saved our mounts for us," -his chum said. - -"But if I'd stayed in the camp they wouldn't have cleaned us out," said -Dig thoughtfully. - -"Not so sure. They might have crept up on you and knocked you on the -head." - -"Instead of which that old Betsy gun had to knock me over. Just as bad. -It knocked me out for the time being, and those scoundrels got away." - -"They must have been close in, watching you and me, when you started -around the pond," Chet explained. "We know what Tony is--a bad man. The -fellow with him is probably worse. They wouldn't think anything of -knocking us both out if they hadn't got what they wanted without." - -"Well, what's done is done," Dig said mournfully. "Now what shall we -do?" - -"We can't do much till daylight. It's no fun following a horse trail in -the night--and those horses started on the gallop. They will be tiring -their mounts out while ours are resting. We'll lose nothing by waiting -till dawn," Chet said, with confidence. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII--AFTER THE THIEVES - - -Digby was strongly disgusted with himself. He felt that, to a degree, he -was to be blamed for both raids upon their camp. - -"The first time I fell plumb asleep," he said. "And now I went away from -the fire for a foolish reason. Just for a drink! But I declare, Chet, I -don't believe I would have done it if I'd known there was any reason to -suspect a return of those thieves." - -"I blame myself, Dig. I should have told you," admitted Chet. - -"Just the same, maybe I wouldn't have believed you. To think of a man's -coming right into the camp and taking those papers out of your shirt!" - -"I reckon I sleep mighty hard," said Chet thoughtfully. "I know mother -has hard work to wake me up in the morning, sometimes. A good hunter -ought to sleep lightly." - -"There are no medals on either of us," commented Dig. "Those follows -must be laughing at us." - -"We'll make them laugh on the other side of their mouths if we catch -them!" declared Chet, with anger. - -"How?" - -"I'm very sure they are not so well mounted as we are. Poke and Hero are -two of the best horses owned in Silver Run--you know that." - -"Sure!" - -"And it stands to reason the thieves are not so well armed as we are." - -"Whew! you don't mean to chase them and shoot them, Chet?" demanded the -startled Digby. - -"Of course not! But I'm glad to know that we've got rifles that will -probably shoot a good deal farther than any weapons they may carry." - -"Huh!" said Dig, scarcely understanding. Then he inquired: "Do you -suppose, Chet, that these were the chaps that startled that wolf -yesterday, and spoiled our buffalo hunt?" - -"I shouldn't be at all surprised," said Chet. - -"Ho! then let's catch and hang 'em," grinned Digby. "No punishment is -too bad for them." - -But neither boy could extract many smiles from the situation. As it -chanced, the thieves had overlooked their remaining piece of deer meat. -Their pocket drinking-cups were left them, too. They toasted the meat -over the fire and washed it down with water, thus making an early and -frugal breakfast. - -It was growing faintly light in the east by this time, foretelling an -early summer dawn. Dig brought in the horses and watered them, while -Chet filled the canteens. - -There was not much remaining of their outfit to make ready for -departure. The thieves had not left them a single cooking utensil; but -they had coffee, condensed milk, pepper and salt. - -"That blamed Tony Traddles is just mean enough to do a thing like this," -Dig declared. "But we'll get square yet!" - -The boys had an idea as to which direction the two midnight raiders had -headed. It was at the western end of the pool that Dig had seen the one -in the saddle waiting for his comrade. - -"If they intend to make any use of those deeds father intrusted to me," -Chet said, "they will hike out for Grub Stake." - -"Good-bye to the buffaloes, then," sighed Dig. "We won't see them -again." - -"I don't suppose so," returned his chum. "But getting those deeds to Mr. -John Morrisy is of more importance than shooting the big bull. Father -trusted us to do his errand, and we've got to do it." - -"How'll you make those fellows give up the deeds, Chet?" queried Dig, in -wonder. - -"I don't know; but I'll find a way when we catch up with them, don't you -fret." - -When the horses were saddled and ready, Chet went ahead, leading Hero, -and found the place where the second man had mounted and the two riders -had wheeled and galloped away from the camp they had robbed. - -Chet Havens was quite a sensible lad for his age, and he secretly -wondered why the thieves had been so afraid of two boys. It scarcely -seemed reasonable that they should be so fearful. - -"Unless it was Dig's rifle shot that scared them off," he thought. -"Perhaps the men are not prepared to face rifles. Yet, I am quite sure -they were stalking the buffaloes as well as we. They could not expect to -shoot such beasts with pop-guns." - -It was easy to follow the trail left by the riders for some miles. The -hoofs of their horses cut the sod sharply, and threw up bits of turf as -the animals scurried over the ground. - -The route the thieves had followed was across a range quite unfamiliar -to the chums from Silver Run. It led almost due west, and the trail was -possibly parallel with the trace leading to Grub Stake. - -It puzzled Chet at first why the men had not struck out immediately for -the Grub Stake trail. But after riding for about five miles, and finding -that the trail was very plain, he suddenly discovered the meaning of it. - -The thieves had ridden down the sloping bank of a wide but easily forded -stream, in the shallows of which the trace disappeared. - -"They've taken to the water, but we don't know which way they've gone," -cried Dig, in disgust. - -"It's a fact that we don't know for sure," Chet returned thoughtfully. -"But I think it's a trick." - -"Of course it's a trick--and one meant to throw us off the track. We'll -have a nice time searching along these banks to find the place where -they came out of the water." - -"That's right--if we searched," answered Chet, as Hero drank his fill. - -"What do you mean? You going to give up?" - -"Not much!" exclaimed the other young trail hunter. - -"What you going to do, then?" demanded the puzzled Dig. - -"I'm going to fool them. I don't know where they left the stream, and I -don't care. There is one thing I am sure of." - -"Huh?" - -"They're going to Grub Stake. I bet they want to get there before we do. -That man--whoever he is--is planning to make some use of those deeds he -stole from me. So, take it from me, boy, they are not going far out of -the straight way to Grub Stake." - -"Whew! that's reasonable, old man." - -"Then we'll cross here and keep right on. We'll bear off gradually -toward the regular trail to Grub Stake. I bet we pick up the trace of -these two rascals before long." - -"Long head! Long head!" declared Dig admiringly. "Come on! these horses -will drink so much water they'll be water-logged and can't travel. Hike -out o' there, Poke, you villain!" - -The boys cantered through the shoals and out upon the other bank. When -they reached the upper edge of the river bank Chet rose in his stirrups -and swept the plain all about for some sign of moving objects. The -thieves had not taken his field-glasses, for they had been in the pocket -of his saddle. - -A little to the northwest, but far, far away, the boy saw two black -specks. They did not look bigger than buzzards, but Chet Havens thought -they were the mounted men. He passed the glasses to Dig. - -"Look at them, old man," he said. "We don't want to chase way over there -for nothing." - -"Whew!" quoth Dig. "We couldn't go for nothing, Chet. Either they are -the men we are after, or it's game that we need. Don't overlook the fact -that we've got to eat. Chewing dry coffee, nor yet drinking condensed -milk, doesn't appeal to me." - -"I don't know but you're right," agreed Chet. "Much as I want to -overtake those miserable thieves, we must not overlook the fact that we -have to eat to live." - -"That sounds good," grinned Dig. "Mother says I just live to eat. There -is a difference." - -The boys rode on, but the two objects they had seen disappeared in a -coulie. Later they saw them and identified them as two grazing animals. - -"Of course, not the buffaloes," said Chet doubtfully. - -"Why! they went the other way!" Dig declared. "Isn't that so?" - -"We suppose so. Hard to tell what a frightened bunch of animals will do, -though I supposed they would continue to graze northeast." - -"Never mind. We'll see what those things are if they'll let us get near -enough." - -It wasn't long before the boys identified the moving objects (of which -they caught sight now and then as they cantered over the rolling -prairie) as a pair of elks. The spreading horns of the male were quite -easily seen. - -"If we get one of those, boy, it's going to be no cinch," declared Digby -Fordham. "That's a big buck." - -"We'll try, at least," said his chum. "If you don't at first succeed, -you know--" - -"Oh, yes! I know," returned Dig. "Suck eggs! But I'm not fond of 'em in -that way. Take it from me, I don't care to 'try, try again' for those -elks. We're soon going to be just as hungry as ever Robinson Crusoe was. -Fix it so I get a shot at one of 'em from a rest, Chet." - -"Well! don't rest the butt of your rifle against your forehead again," -advised Chet, glancing at the smear of blood that had oozed through the -handkerchief Dig had bound about his brow. - -"Watch me!" growled Dig. "I won't shoot this old gun again without being -mighty sure that she isn't going to kick me." - -When they came to the next water-hole he dismounted and bathed the wound -on his forehead. It was a bad gash, and the forehead was sore and -bruised all about the wound. - -"Talk about being wounded in the war," said Dig grimly, as Chet tied the -handkerchief again. "I ought to get a pension. My uncle carried this old -rifle for three years in the war, and I bet I'm the only one that's ever -been wounded with it." - -"And that at the wrong end," chuckled Chet. "But didn't your uncle ever -shoot at the enemy?" - -"I don't believe so. He was too tender-hearted. It's a family trait," -said Dig gravely. - -"I bet you don't show any of that tenderness of heart if we come within -shooting distance of those elks," said Chet, climbing back into the -saddle. - -"Now, aren't you just right?" proclaimed Digby. - -They galloped on, seeing the elks from the next rise not more than three -miles away. How the graceful creatures had come out here on the plain -was something of a mystery--especially without more of their tribe. - -Now Chet took the lead and governed the approach to the feeding place of -the elks. There were no thickets, but there were several mounds behind -which the young hunters could screen themselves. - -Yet none of these shelters was near enough to enable the boys to get -within easy rifle shot. They tried one mound, dismounting and lying -flat, to rest the barrels of their guns over the top of the rise. - -But the distance was too great. Dig wanted to try it, but Chet forbade -him to shoot. - -"The elks are travelling away from us. If you wounded one, it would -gallop farther and farther away. Then we'd likely lose the game -entirely. If we could get around ahead of them it would do to risk a -long shot. But of course they are feeding up wind." - -"What will we do, Chet? Don't forget that starvation stares us in the -face." - -"Pull in your belt a little more," grinned Chet. - -"Whew! if I pull it in much tighter," declared Dig, "I'll cut myself in -two. I've got a waist like a wasp already. My stomach thinks my throat's -cut. I tell you, boy, we've got to eat!" - -Dig was much in earnest. It was pressing close to noon and their -breakfast--and the previous evening's meal--had not been very -satisfactory. Chet was just as earnest in his desire to kill game; yet, -he would not have started this way had he not at first thought that the -elks were mounted men. - -Being on the ground, however, he set his wits to winning out against the -cunning of the game. He and Dig rode around several mounds and finally -came to a shallow valley between two of the small eminences, and through -which they might ride right out upon the little prairie on which the -elks grazed. - -"And that's the best we can do, Dig, I believe," Chet declared. "We -couldn't possibly steal up within sure rifle shot, afoot. Got to trust -to our horses being quicker on their feet than the elks for the first -few jumps. And don't let your rifle smash your face again!" - -"Let's get down and cinch up," said Dig nervously. "If our saddles -should slip--" - -"Hold on! hold on, boy!" advised Chet, under his breath. "Don't you have -an attack of elk fever at the critical moment." - -"Stop talking, and come on," urged Dig, pulling up on Poke's straps -until the black mustang squealed. "Do hush, you black abomination! Don't -you give us away." - -Into the saddles again, and the boys looked at each other. It was to be -a race of a quarter of a mile or more before they came within rifle -range of the feeding elks. Chet nodded and Dig returned it. Then they -gave their mounts free rein, and Hero and Poke dashed forward. - -They went through the cut between the hills with a rush, their quick -feet padding lightly on the sod. Out upon the prairie they debouched, -gradually separating so as to have a better chance at the elks. - -The latter kept their heads down, feeding. The patter of the horses' -hoofs upon the sod was almost soundless. The boys were coming up behind -the elks and in another minute-- - -Dig began to raise his rifle slowly; Poke was running with free bridle, -for his master could guide him by the pressure of his knees as well as -by pulling on the bit. - -But Dig was too early. They were not to come so easily upon the elks. Of -a sudden the grazing animals jerked up their heads and glanced around. -It did not seem as though they could have seen the hunters; but they -caught the vibration of the pounding hoofs. - -They were off like darts, swerving from the direction the boys came, -stretching out to reach the swell of the nearest hillock. - -"Come on!" yelled Chet, and pounded Hero in the flank with his heels. - -The horses seemed to enter into the spirit of the chase. They thundered -up the rise at the heels of the elks. Dig wanted to shoot at once; but -Chet begged him not to. - -"You'll be shooting right into the air as we go up hill!" he shouted. -"You'll shoot clean over their heads, Dig." - -"I don't want to lose my chance as I did with those buffaloes," returned -Dig, much worried. - -"Wait till we're over the rise. Then we can shoot down on them--" - -But Chet was mistaken. The elks flew over the rise. It would have been a -long shot had they tried it then. On rushed the bay and the black, both -as eager in the chase as their young masters. - -Chet fairly rose in his stirrups to see over the round top of the mound. -He saw the tossing horns of the bigger elk; and then--he saw something -else! - -"Dig! Dig! they're here!" he gasped, and almost fell out of his saddle, -he was so amazed. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII--THE FIRST BUFFALO - - -Chet was taller than his chum and he had risen in his stirrups, while -Dig lay out on the black's neck and cheered him on. So the first named -lad saw over the rise and out upon the plain. - -The two elks were hammering down the slope, their slender legs doubling -under their round bodies, and stretching out again with almost -bewildering swiftness--like the driving-rods of fast-turning engines. -But they were a good shot, if not an easy one, for the boys were not -directly behind them. A ball, directed properly, would have raked either -beast from forward of the hip into, and through, the heart. This was not -to be, however, Chet and Dig were destined never to knock over those -elks. - -What arrested Chet's hand was the sight of a herd of animals grazing on -the plain, and almost as close to him as the elks. The sight of them -brought the cry to his lips: - -"Dig! Dig! they're here!" - -"Who are here? Those rascals?" Dig yelled, thinking first of the thieves -who had robbed them the night before. - -But the next moment he saw the grazing herd-_the sixteen buffaloes_! - -"After them! Quick!" shrieked Dig, and spurred his black. - -He almost seemed to lift Poke off his feet when he struck the tiny spurs -into him. Poke shot ahead of the bay and Dig rose in his stirrups. - -He was not as good a shot as Chet; but he could not miss that brown body -which was squarely in front of him. It was not the big bull Dig aimed -at; that animal, in fact, he did not see. But the creature in line with -his rifle barrel was big enough. - -It was a well grown bull, and when it raised its head and swung the huge -bulk of it to see the charging boys, it looked formidable. The chums -were tearing down upon the buffaloes, losing sight of the elks entirely. -The nobler game made them ignore the other. - -Naturally, the elks charging down into the herd startled the buffaloes -before the boys themselves were seen. Most of the buffaloes sprang away -on a gallop. - -But the young bull for which Dig aimed was too late. The boy fitted the -heavy rifle-stock snugly into his shoulder--no chance for it to kick him -this time--and fired almost over Poke's ears at the huge brown body. - -He made a bull's-eye. The thud of the bullet could be heard plainly by -both furiously riding boys. But he did not hit a vital spot, having -aimed too far back of the foreleg. - -Chet had checked Hero, riding to give to his chum all the room he -needed. The other buffaloes scuttled across the plain so rapidly that -the bay--heavily loaded as he was--could scarcely have caught them and -so given his master a shot. The stricken bull did not follow his mates, -but wheeled on Poke and, head down, charged him and his rider. - -"Look out, Dig!" shouted Chet in superfluous warning. - -The buffalo moved with surprising swiftness; but even at that Dig could -have easily got in a second shot had the mechanism of his rifle not -fouled for a second. - -That second was long enough to put the boy in danger. For the charge of -the wounded buffalo meant peril. - -Chet yelled and urged Hero after the angry animal. The bull buffalo was -not blind with rage, whatever else he was. He turned as nimbly as a cat, -in spite of his bulk, and was fairly upon the black horse as the latter -wheeled to escape. - -"Shoot him, Chet!" begged Dig, dropping his rifle to save himself from a -fall as Poke whirled. The mustang leaped away, but the maddened bull was -right at his heels. Of course, given a few moments, Poke could have -distanced the buffalo; but at the time, the situation was serious. - -Chet, on Hero, came thundering along upon the buffalo's off side. The -boy had not raised his rifle to his shoulder, but he was alert. - -"Shoot!" again begged Dig, in alarm. - -Chet forced the snorting bay up beside the charging buffalo. He leaned -over suddenly, clapping the rifle-butt to his shoulder, and looked over -the sights directly at a patch behind the fore-shoulder. - -When the rifle spoke the huge head of the buffalo was almost under -Poke's belly. The buffalo ran with his nose barely clearing the ground. -Now his head dropped, struck into the sod, and so swiftly was he going -that the momentum caused the bull to turn a complete somersault. - -The ball had gone through the buffalo's heart, and he was instantly -dead. The boys pulled in their horses to blow, and to look at their -wonderful quarry. - -"Whew!" wheezed Dig, rather shakily, "that was great, old man. I believe -he'd have had me and Poke." - -"Oh, Dig! isn't it a great kill?" gasped Chet, just as excited as he -could be. "To think of us killing a big buffalo like this!" - -"Lots I had to do with it," grumbled his chum. "It was your shot brought -him down." - -"But if it hadn't been for your wounding him, I don't think he'd be -lying here at all. They're pretty tough creatures to kill, boy." - -"Cricky! I should say they were. And as wicked as lions or bears. Whew! -I feel as though I'd had a narrow escape, Chet." - -"I reckon you have!" - -"And that confounded old rifle! It fouled just as I tried to work the -lever." - -"Well! let's be glad it was no worse. And, Dig! we've got the -buffalo--the first buffalo we ever shot." - -"You're a wonder, Chet," declared his generous chum. "You put that ball -right where it would do the most good. I lost my head completely--I own -up to that. Talk about elk fever! that creature looked as big as a house -to me," and Dig laughed. - -"It is a mystery to me how such a big creature could be killed by only -two bullets," said Chet. They had dismounted now and stood beside the -inert body of the buffalo bull. "I read, though, that some Indians when -riding to kill a buffalo would force their ponies close up to the -running beast and drive an arrow clear through his body. What do you -know about that?" - -"Don't know anything about it," returned Dig, with a whimsical look, -"but I think that the fellow that told that ought to be woke up--he was -lying on his back!" - -"I don't know about its being a dream. Before they got to fooling with -the cast-off firearms of the white man, the Indian must have done a lot -of killing with arrows and spears." - -"That's all right. You can have such hardware if you want," returned -Dig. "Give me a rifle every time." - -"Even if it fouls in the breach?" chuckled Chet. - -Every creature but themselves and their mounts had disappeared from the -plain by this time. They straightened the dead beast out and then rolled -it on its back. - -Much as he deplored any delay at this time, Chet could not think of -going on and leaving the hide of the buffalo. Butchering the huge -creature would be hard work for two boys with their little experience in -such work; but they needed a part of the animal for food. - -Dig vowed he could eat it all--horns and hide--he was so hungry! - -They picketed the horses, removed their own coats, and whetted their -knives. It was difficult work to get the hide off the buffalo, for the -carcass weighed all of six hundred pounds--all the weight the two boys -could possibly roll on the clean sward. They were more than an hour in -getting the hide clear; Dig was satisfied to give up the idea of saving -the head for mounting, although Chet managed it so that the horns came -with the hide. - -"Say! that'll be something to show 'em back home!" panted Dig, holding -up the fore part of the hide. "Cricky, Chet! we ought to have been -photographed beside of this beast. Whew! he looks bigger now he's -skinned than he did before. Wish somebody that needed it had all this -meat." - -"I wish he did," agreed Chet. - -"But never mind," said Dig, the next minute. "We need some of it right -now. Wish we had something to boil the tongue in." - -But they opened the carcass to drain it (as well as it could be drained -on the ground) and cut out several ribs for their own supper. - -"Two meals together!" Dig declared. "I've got to catch up on my rations, -Chet." - -There was a thicket near, and the boys gathered fuel and made a hot -fire. They broiled the ribs on green withes, and, still having -seasoning, they made a hearty repast, while the horses cropped the -buffalo grass eagerly. - -It was late afternoon when this was over and Chet said they must move -on. They cut out the tidbits and several good steaks; but were forced to -leave the rest of the meat for the coyotes, who were already hovering on -the tops of the hillocks. - -"Good-bye, first buffalo!" exclaimed Dig, looking back at the red -carcass. "It's the greatest kill we ever had, Chet, old boy! Won't your -folks and mine be surprised when they see this robe?" - -"I hope we can cure the robe in time, so that it will be a nice one," -Chet said, with some anxiety. "We must spread it out carefully every -place we camp." - -"And, say! where will we camp next?" cried Dig. "We're a long way off -the Grub Stake trail." - -"It's still south of us, somewhere," said his chum. "We'll find it. But -I hope we'll pick up the trail of those two robbers first." - -"By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland!" exclaimed Dig. "I -had forgotten all about them." - -"I hadn't," returned Chet grimly. "We must find them, boy." - -"Do you suppose they came this way after the buffaloes?" - -"I don't believe they knew any more about the course the buffaloes took -than we did. They are aiming for Grub Stake, just the same." - -"So are the buffaloes," said Dig. "At least, they were when they went -out of sight." - -"In that general direction--yes." - -"Whew! Suppose we overtake them again, Chet?" - -"Then maybe we'll get a second robe. Otherwise we'll have to cast lots -for the one you're sitting on right now, Dig," and young Havens laughed. - -Nevertheless, excited as the boys were over the buffalo herd, Chet -insisted in slanting at a sharper angle south than the big game had -taken. It was the trail of the two men who had robbed them that Chet was -the more anxious to pick up. - -He was a brave boy--and a determined. His father had entrusted him with -the papers relating to John Morrisy's share in the Crayton claim. Mr. -Havens' lawyer in Silver Run had prepared the documents. For all Chet -knew, the names might be changed in the body of the documents and then, -if Mr. Morrisy signed them, they would give somebody besides Mr. Havens -title to the old mine. - -The loss of the documents worried Chet greatly. He felt, somehow, that -he had been to blame in allowing the thieves to get the deeds. He should -have been more watchful, especially after the warning he had had of -threatening danger. - -The horses were still fresh, although they had travelled some distance -that day. They kept on at a fast pace for several hours--until, indeed, -the sun was down. There was then a strip of timber ahead, which seemed -to extend clear across the plain, as far as the eye could see, from -north to south. - -"And no sign of those rascals yet," grumbled Dig. "Could we have crossed -their trail without knowing it?" - -"Sure!" admitted Chet promptly. "I've been looking sharply for signs, -and so have you. But everything or anything is possible on the trail. We -aren't the smartest fellows who ever lived, Dig. If we were only a -little bit smarter we wouldn't have been robbed at all." - -"Don't rub it in," grumbled Digby. "I hold myself responsible for all -this trouble." - -"I don't hold you responsible. Just bad luck and bad figuring. I am -fully as much to blame as you are. I had reason to believe we were being -followed, and you hadn't. Humph! No use crying over spilled milk." - -"That's all right," said Dig. "But where are we going to camp to-night? -In the open, or shall we push on to that timber?" - -"We'll be more sheltered there," Chet said, gazing ahead at the distant -line of trees. "There is water between here and there. We can let the -horses drink, refill our canteens, and push on for the woods." - -"Just as you say. Get up, Poke!" - -The timber was much farther away than it seemed, however. The boys did -find water; rather, they let the horses find it for them. But it was an -open water-hole and the sun had evaporated the water until it was very -low. - -"Maybe there will be a running stream in the woods. This is as flat as -dishwater," declared Dig, tasting it. "'Tisn't fit to drink straight. -Wish we could boil some of our coffee." - -"Let's keep on to the timber and make a regular camp," Chet advised. -"Then I'll rig something to hold a canteen over the fire and make -coffee." - -"You can't do it." - -"Well, I can try," returned Chet. "Anyway, we'll take shelter in the -woods. Our camp won't be spotted so far." - -"Waugh!" ejaculated Dig, with disgust. "No use in locking the stable -after the horse has been swiped. Those fellows don't want anything more -of us, that's sure. They'll let us alone after this, I reckon." - -But he did not oppose his chum's suggestion. They got into the saddle -again and pushed for the timber line. The sun had sunk altogether behind -the mountains and darkness on the plain gathered quickly. The timber was -tall and thick and they were in the shadow of it for some time before -they reached the first line of trees. - -It was Chet who observed the light first. It twinkled at a stationary -point some distance back in the forest. - -He drew in Hero quickly and put out a hand to warn Dig back. "There's a -campfire," he said quietly. - -"Whew! Who's that, do you suppose?" - -"That's what we want to find out," Chet said, with decision. "And we -want to find it out before we get into any trouble. Look out, Dig! that -black scamp is going to whinny." - -Dig swiftly stifled that desire on Poke's part by pinching his nostrils -between thumb and finger. - -"There are other horses here, you may be sure. We'd better take our -horses back farther and tether them before we do anything else." - -"No," said Chet, thoughtfully. "We'll put on their hobbles. We might -need our ropes," he added, which made Dig look at him curiously. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV--TIT FOR TAT - - -Ten minutes later the two chums entered the forest and crept toward the -light. That it was a campfire neither doubted; there could be no -question about that. - -"What you going to do with these lariats?" Dig whispered, for Chet had -insisted that each carry the rope which hung at his cantle. - -"Never mind! hush!" urged Chet, with more vigour than politeness. - -There might be very good reason for a silent approach to the camp. -Whether it was the camp of the thieves who had troubled them the -previous night or not, the campers might be men whom the boys would not -care to meet. - -"We'll spy on them first," Chet had declared, and now they proceeded to -carry out his intention. - -The timber was big and open. It was really fair grazing ground, for -there were few shrubs. Before they had penetrated far into the wood the -boys descried two ponies feeding. The animals gave them no attention, -so, plainly, they were used to white men. Indian ponies would have -snorted and stamped at the approach of any white visitors. - -The campfire blazed brightly; but there was no smell of cooking. It was -evident that the campers had finished supper. Chet led the way around to -the windward and they got the smell of tobacco smoke quite strongly. - -"They're sitting there smoking; but they are not talking much," -whispered Chet. "We know there are at least two, for both those horses -are saddle horses. I bet they are the fellows we are after." - -"Whew! What'll we do now we've found them, Chet?" whispered his chum, in -return. - -"Get nearer and make sure. Then we'll see," said Chet, with confidence. - -"I hope we'll see," muttered Dig, "but it's blamed dark." - -They both remembered their training under old Rafe, however. The hunter -had taught them how to move quietly in the night, and through thickets -far more dense than this. Soon the two chums, side by side, were in view -of the tiny clearing where the fire burned. - -Their suspicions were correct on the first count, at least. There were -two men at the fire. - -One was lying on his back with a blanket wrapped around him, while his -big, black hat was tipped over his face. Dig pinched Chet sharply, and -when his chum turned to scowl at him, the excited lad mouthed the words: - -"My blanket!" - -Chet nodded. He recognised the stolen covering. There could be no doubt -but these two men were the ones who had robbed them. Besides there were -the coffee-pot and some of their cooking utensils on a log near the -fire. - -Dig's eyes snapped and he doubled his fist and shook it at the prostrate -man, who was evidently asleep. - -It was just then that Chet touched his chum's arm and pointed to the -second figure by the campfire. This man was sitting, with his back -against a log and his knees drawn up. He was the one who smoked, and it -was both a vile pipe and strong tobacco he was sucking on. - -Dig nodded vigorously when he made out the features of this man in the -shadow. "It's Tony," he breathed in Chet's ear. "But who's he?" and he -pointed to the sleeping man. - -Chet shook his head over that question. Somehow that broad-brimmed, -black hat looked familiar; but Chet could not place it just then. -Besides, he was too anxious regarding what they should do with these two -rascals. - -Chet had refused to let Dig bring his rifle; but both boys carried their -ropes. He saw that Tony Traddles cuddled a rifle in the hollow of his -arm; it had slipped down until it lay in such a position that the man -would have hard work to grab it up quickly. As for the sleeping rascal, -Chet could not see that he was armed at all. - -The boys both had their revolvers, but at the start Chet had forbidden -Dig to flourish his pistol. - -"Somebody might get hurt. They've stolen from us, but they did not try -to injure us. And how we should feel if we managed to seriously hurt one -of them!" - -Of course, in a sober moment, Dig would have agreed to this; but at the -time he grumbled some. - -"They didn't hurt us? Huh! look at my forehead. If it hadn't been for -them, I wouldn't have a headache." - -He was in full accord with his chum, however, agreeing that Chet should -take the lead. Tony Traddles, the bewhiskered, ragged tramp, was really -nodding as he pretended to keep watch before the brightly burning fire. -He pulled at his pipe slowly; his effort to draw the smoke into his -mouth was almost mechanical. - -Dig was the better of the two chums with the rope, as well as with -horses. Chet signalled him to watch the sleeping man so that when he -roused and sat up Dig could noose him before he had a chance to seize a -weapon. For his own part, Chet stepped away a few paces and made ready -his lariat. - -There were no trees or shrubs in the way. Tony's eyes were too full of -sleep to see him. Besides, both boys were behind the log and Tony would -have had to turn his head to catch a glimpse of them. - -Dig was getting nervous when he saw his chum taking so much time for his -preparations. Suppose Tony aroused suddenly--or the other man? - -But Chet was not going to miss his man by any over-eagerness. He made -sure the coil of the rope ran free and that the noose was open. Then he -threw the lariat and it dropped just where he wanted it to--over the -head and shoulders of the gorilla-like rascal. - -"Help!" grunted Tony, who had been quite asleep, feeling the tightening -of the noose about his arms. - -His partner sprang almost instantly into a sitting posture, and his hand -went to a six-shooter that he had bolstered at his hip. But Dig was -ready. He uttered a yell of derision and dropped his noose over the -villain, whipping it so tight at the first pull that the man uttered a -cry of pain. - -"Got him!" cried Dig. - -Chet had been just as quick as his chum. When he pulled the line taut he -sprang over the log and landed right on the back of Tony Traddles, -knocking the big fellow forward on his face. - -The boy fastened the rope with a good knot and left Tony thrashing about -and sputtering, while he ran to see that Dig and his prisoner were all -right. The man with the black sombrero could not get at his gun, and -struggle as he did he could not loosen the rope. Soon the boys had wound -the slack of the lariat around him, from elbows to heels, and laid him -out like an "Indian papoose," as Dig said, chuckling. - -Then the chums went to Tony and, in spite of his kicking, and ignoring -his threats, they triced him up as carefully and securely as they had -his comrade in crime. - -"I know who that other man is now," said Chet. "Don't you recognise him, -Dig?" - -"No. My acquaintance doesn't run among such fellows as he," answered -Dig. "The mean thief! That's my blanket he was sleeping in. I'll take it -and hang it over a bush to air." - -"Don't be ridiculous," said Chet, smiling. "He's the fellow who was -hanging around our house. Don't you remember that when I shot that hawk, -he was there? And he is the same fellow who, the day of the cave-in at -the mine, was up in the mountain with Amoshee." - -"With John Peep?" - -"Yes. I know he is interested in the Crayton claim, and he's stolen -those deeds from me. I'm going to get them back," and Chet approached -the man with determination. - -"You keep away from me, you young snipe!" growled the man. "When I get -out o' this I'll make you sweat." - -"You're going to perspire yourself, mister, I should think," said Dig, -giggling. "We have you right. You stole from us--" - -"Nothing of the kind!" blustered the fellow. "We never saw you before." - -"I think we recognise that blanket and those pots and pans," said Chet -gravely. "You needn't tell stories about it. You robbed us and now we're -going to take our things back." - -"We ought to drive them along to Grub Stake, too," suggested Dig, "and -turn them over to the police." - -"You young smart Alecks will get your comeuppance," muttered the man. -"You let me loose or it will be the worse for you." - -"How about me?" bawled Tony. "I'll break 'em in two if I git my hands on -'em. That boy of old Havens' 'specially." - -Chet meanwhile had approached the black-hatted man, and now he began to -search his pockets. The man used frightful threats to check him; but -Chet was not to be stopped. - -"You might as well save your breath to cool your porridge," quoth Dig, -grinning. "My chum is going to get back those deeds, and don't you -forget it!" - -"What deeds?" snarled the man. "You're trying to rob me. Better let my -wallet alone." - -But there was nothing in the nature of deeds about the fellow, although -Chet examined his clothes carefully. The boy's hopes sank very low as he -proceeded with the search. - -The man snarled at him and threatened, but Chet thought that he seemed -disturbed himself over the result of the investigation. Chet went toward -Tony and that scoundrel cried: - -"You won't get nothin' off 'n me, young Havens. Sue a beggar and get his -rags--that's all. Don't know nothin' about no deeds. Go away!" - -But Chet insisted on searching him, and Dig helped. Then, when they had -come to a resultless finish, the two boys stood up and looked at each -other. - -They had found and made prisoners the men who they knew had robbed them; -but the main object to be attained--the recovery of the precious papers -Chet was carrying to Grub Stake--seemed just as far off as ever. Neither -of the captives was in possession of the deeds. - - - - - CHAPTER XXV--CHET'S DETERMINATION - - -"By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland!" Dig vowed. "Have -we chased these snoozers all this way for nothing?" - -"Let's search 'em again," insisted Chet grimly. "They took those deeds -out of my pocket and they have them somewhere." - -"Don't you boys maul me all over no more," said Tony complainingly. "I -tell ye, ye won't find nothin' on me--and ye tickle. I never could stand -being tickled. Lemme up," and the rough fellow grinned up into their -faces in a most knowing way. - -"No," said Chet slowly. "We'll not let you up yet. I think you'd look -pretty going back to Silver Run with a rope around you." - -"Back to the Run?" questioned Dig, puzzled. - -"No use our going on to Grub Stake if we can't find the deeds," said -Chet sternly. "And what do you suppose the boys at father's mine would -do to this scamp if they got hold of him again?" - -"Aw--say!" growled Tony. "You're too fresh. I don't want to go back to -the mine." - -"Then where are those papers?" Chet demanded earnestly. - -"Don't ask me about 'em. I never had 'em," declared the man. - -"But you've seen them? Your partner had them? And he has them yet, I -believe," cried Chet, turning sharply on the other villain. - -"Find out!" snarled that individual. - -"I'll find out before I let you free," promised the lad. - -"Say!" exclaimed Tony. "Don't hold me for Steve's sins. I took your -coffee-pot and truck and you got 'em back. Now let up on a feller." - -"Why should I?" Chet demanded seriously. "I've got to find the deeds." - -"I ain't got 'em--honest!" declared Tony. - -"I wouldn't take your word for it," growled Dig, in the background. - -"Well! you might as well believe me," almost whined the big fellow. "I -don't want you boys to keep me tied up this a-way." - -"Shut up, you sniveler!" commanded the man called Steve, from the other -side of the fire. - -"Say! you can shut up yourself," cried Tony. "I knowed you'd get us into -trouble. These are two powerful smart boys and we'd oughtn't to have -treated 'em so mean. Give 'em the papers back, Steve." - -"Shut your mouth!" yelled the other man. "I haven't the papers." - -"Well, you had 'em," grumbled Tony. - -"We'll search him again--to the skin," said Chet bitterly. "Come on, -Dig. Hold your gun on him," and he approached Steve. - -But he had no idea that the man did have the papers. He had already -searched the scoundrel too thoroughly to have missed any hiding place -for the deeds his father had entrusted to him. Chet felt very bad -indeed. - -"I tell you boys--and you might as well understand me," said the man, -Steve, threateningly, "I haven't got those deeds. I've dropped 'em -somewhere and I don't know where. Back where we camped at noon, maybe. -That's straight." - -"Let's look around the camp here," proposed Dig, knowing how unhappy his -chum felt, and wishing to help. - -He threw an armful of light wood on the fire and the blaze sprang up -immediately, illuminating the clearing more fully. Already Dig had -collected their possessions into a heap. He found every article they had -missed. - -Searching the camp did no good, however. As Dig said, they did not leave -a leaf unturned. But the deeds were not to be found. Their size and the -stiffness of the legal paper on which they were written would have made -it impossible for Steve to have hidden the documents in any small space. -Supposing he had doubted the honesty of Tony (which he well might) Steve -may have thought of hiding the papers before he went to sleep. But -where? - -The boys almost tore his saddle to pieces looking for the documents. -They pulled off his boots and made sure the papers were not in his -socks. When they got through their final search they were convinced that -the deeds were not on either man or anywhere about the camp. - -"What do you think, Chet?" asked Dig, in a low tone. "Is the fellow -telling the truth?" - -"I am inclined to believe he is," Chet returned, with a sigh. "It's a -tough proposition. I feel dreadfully bad about it. What will father -say?" - -"But, Chet! He can't blame us." - -"He'll blame me. And why shouldn't he? He entrusted me with the deeds -and I had no business to lose them." - -"Well!" said Dig slowly. "What shall we do now? Going to leave these -fellows tied up for the wolves to eat?" - -"Hey!" shouted Tony. "Don't you do that. There are wolves about." - -Chet picked up Tony's old rifle and noted its make and calibre. Then he -looked at the long barreled pistol they had taken away from the other -man. There were no other weapons in the possession of the two -scoundrels. - -"We'll untie them, I reckon, and let them up," Chet said slowly. -"Nothing else to do that I can see. But I want you fellows to -understand," he added, facing the men, "that we both carry rifles that -will outshoot this old piece of junk," and he tapped Tony's gun, "by -about an eighth of a mile. Don't come fooling around our camp again, for -if you do we'll shoot," and he said it in a tone that carried -conviction. - -Neither of the men said a word as the boys carefully removed the strong -ropes. Then Dig picked up their possessions, and carried them to a -distance yet not so far away that the light of the campfire could not be -seen. Later he brought the horses and the rifles. - -When the rifles were in their hands Chet agreed to leave the scoundrels -alone. But he advised the men to keep a bright fire going for the rest -of the night. - -"If we see it die down at all," Chet threatened grimly, "whichever of us -is awake will be very apt to send a bullet or two over here to wake you -up. Come on, Dig," and he walked backwards out of the rascals' camp. - -The boys cooked and ate a hearty supper--and they needed it. Chet sat so -that he could see into the rascals' camp and he kept the heavy rifle -beside him. Of course, had the two men begun stirring around, he would -only have fired into the tree-tops to scare them; but as he told Digby, -a firm stand was necessary. - -"And where they go, _we_ go," Chet Havens declared. "They have lost the -deeds, without much doubt. But they'll go to look for them. That Steve -will remember where he dropped them." - -"Do you mean to tag around after those chaps?" gasped his chum. - -"Yes, I do. That is my determination," said Chet, nodding vigorously. -"It is our best chance to find the papers, whether they have dropped -them, or whether Steve was lying about it and has got them hidden away -somewhere." - -"He said he might have dropped them back where they camped," Dig said -reflectively. - -"Well, they haven't camped but once since they robbed us, and that's -sure. That was for their noon bite. Where that was we have no idea. We -just have to watch them!" - -Both boys were excited by the adventure of the evening and Chet declared -that he could not sleep at all; so he took the first watch. He heard -nothing of the two men but he noted that their fire was kept burning -brightly. - -Dig was not unfaithful to his duty during the last of the night, either; -but he awoke Chet about dawn by shaking him vigorously. - -"Hi! come alive!" urged the slangy youngster in a hoarse whisper. - -"What's the matter?" demanded Chet, sitting up. - -"Those fellows are getting ready to move out. If you want to follow -them, we have got to get a move on." - -Dig already had the coffee over the fire and the meat ready for -broiling. It seemed that the other camp had been astir for some time. -The sky was growing light and Tony had brought up the horses. - -"I have an idea they'll try to get away from us," Chet said. "But we'll -fool them. Hero and Poke can travel twice as much trail in a day as -those sorry ponies they have." - -"Right!" agreed Dig. - -The boys had only enough water in their canteens for breakfast--none for -the horses, or for their own ablutions. "We'll wait till we reach the -first water-hole," Chet advised. "Cinch on the saddles, Dig." - -They had time to eat a good breakfast, however. But Dig grumbled over -one thing. - -"I'd give a dollar for a hunk of bread!" he declared. - -"We'll appreciate white-flour bread all the more when we get it again," -his chum told him. - -Suddenly the boys saw the two men clamber into their saddles. They -started back for the edge of the timber. Chet and Dig were ready and -quickly fastened their blanket-rolls upon their saddles. They led their -mounts to the open plain. - -There they saw Steve and Tony cantering away in an easterly direction, -taking the back track. - -"They're going back to that camp of theirs where Steve says he lost the -deeds, Dig," Chet declared eagerly. "Come on!" - -"I'm with you," agreed his chum and spurred the black horse after the -bay. - -They had not gone a mile when the men looked back and saw that they were -pursued. The boys did not draw near to them but they showed a dogged -intention of keeping on their trail. - -"That Steve-man is madder'n a hatter," chuckled Dig. "He don't like our -company a little bit." - -The men drew in their horses and glared back at the trail boys. The -latter stopped their mounts as well and sat calmly, waiting. The men -were in eager and angry conference. It was plain that they did not -wholly agree as to their future course. - -Finally Steve jerked his pony around and cantered away toward the -southwest. Tony followed more slowly, and evidently against his will. -The boys waited until they were some distance off, and then turned their -own horses in the same direction. - -"If I knew where they had camped yesterday noon--this side of the river, -of course--I'd say, let's go there and search the camping place," said -Chet thoughtfully. "But it would take too long to find the place, and -meanwhile the scoundrels might be riding hard for Grub Stake and fooling -us. For there's always the chance that that fellow Steve has the deeds, -after all." - -"They weren't on him, that's sure," remarked Digby. - -"He might even have had them hidden in that hollow log. We didn't think -to search it," Chet rejoined. "No! our best course is to keep watch of -them." - -"Come on, then," said his chum, tightening Poke's rein. "They're getting -a good way in the lead." - -There was not much chance of the rascals getting away from them, -however. Not for the first few hours, at least. The strip of timber they -soon rode through was not very wide, and out upon the other side the -open plain faced them again. - -All the time the quarry was bearing off toward the Grub Stake trail. The -mining town, Chet figured, could not be much more than fifty miles away -now. They had come west a long way since first seeing the herd of -buffaloes that had toled them off the trail and caused Dig to abandon -his friend, the maverick. - -"If they are going to Grub Stake we'll be able to put a spoke in their -wheel with Mr. Morrisy," said Chet. "We'll hope Steve hasn't the deeds -any more than we have. Of course, my recommendation to the Wells Fargo -Express Company was with the deeds, too; but my description doesn't fit -either of those rascals, I hope--nor can they sign my name. Father's -money will be safe." - -"It puzzles me why they are going at all, if they haven't the papers," -Dig observed. - -"Maybe they are going for grub. They can't have much--and a mighty poor -outfit for camping, anyway. I didn't see any meat in their camp last -night," Chet said. - -"That might be the reason. Well, we need some stuff ourselves. I hope -they lead us straight to town." - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI--"THE KING OF THEM ALL" - - -Following the two men who had robbed them, but who had been later -overcome by the chums, was, as Dig announced, a tame sort of job. The -mounts of the trail boys were so much superior to the ponies ridden by -the men, that there was little danger of the pursued outwitting the -pursuers on the open plain. - -But before many hours the course followed would bring the two parties -into a hilly country, and Chet well knew that then they would have to be -sharp to keep directly on the men's trail. - -"Just the same, we can read signs pretty well," he told his chum; "and -by riding close to them I don't believe that Steve can beat us. I'm sure -Tony is too clumsy to hide his trail at all." - -"He's strong as an ox, though," said Dig, reflectively. "We must be -mighty careful, Chet, that Tony never comes to a clinch with either of -us. If he does--good-bye!" - -"We mustn't let either get within pistol range," Chet said quietly. "We -know that already." - -It was, indeed, rather a delicate situation. The boys were not at all -sure that the thieves would not do them bodily harm if they got the -chance. Two boys certainly would be no match for two men if they came -together unarmed. - -But their superior mounts and superior weapons gave the chums -considerable confidence, if it did not reduce their caution. Even Dig -was tempted to take no risks in approaching the villains. - -Every mile they travelled brought the high hills nearer. Their outline -was rugged and the forest that clothed their sides for the most part, -thick. Somewhere up in those hills was the site of Grub Stake. - -When the men stopped for a noonday rest and lunch, so did the boys. -Fortunately it was beside a stream, so the two camps did not have to be -near together. But Tony Traddles had the impudence to come somewhat near -the chums and shout: - -"Say! you boys have had plenty of luck hunting. Ain't you got more meat -than you want? We ain't seen even a grouse." - -"Tell him 'No,'" whispered Digby. "The cheek of him!" - -But Chet saw that they would have to throw away some of the buffalo -steaks if they were not soon eaten. The weather was too hot to carry -fresh meat far in a blanket-roll. So he said: - -"Let's give them some. It won't hurt us." - -"Huh! no, but I hope it will choke them," growled Dig. "Giving -sustenance to the enemy. Very bad judgment, Chet." - -"Oh, well," said his chum and started with a couple of big steaks to -meet Tony. - -"I'll keep a gun in my hand," said Dig, behind him. "I wouldn't trust -that Tony as far as I could swing an elephant by the tail!" - -But the man received the meat with some expressions of gratitude. "I -ain't in with this sharp," he whispered to Chet, and pointing with his -thumb over his shoulder at the man Steve, "for any money, or like o' -that. I didn't know just what he was after till he'd got them papers -off'n you." - -"Well, he got them," said Chet shortly. - -"But he ain't got 'em now," said the fellow, with a quick grin. "The -chump lost 'em--somewhere." - -Chet distrusted Tony Traddles; and he suspected that this all might have -been arranged for the purpose of trying to throw him and Dig off the -track. So he said nothing, returning to his own camp. - -They spent some time beside the stream; but as soon as the other party -saddled their horses, the boys got ready to leave, too. Steve seemed in -an ugly humour and Chet and Dig heard him threatening Tony. - -"'When thieves fall out, honest men may get their dues,' is an old -saying," whispered Chet. "Listen! Maybe we can hear something." - -But they heard nothing of consequence. In ten minutes both parties were -on horseback and trailing across the plain. There were many clumps of -trees now, and the plain was cut up with gullies and rocky eminences -which both parties wished to shun. - -They raised several coveys of grouse and Chet brought down two brace -with his pistol. Dig tried to emulate his chum and was bitterly -disgusted at the result. - -"Waugh!" he grunted. "I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a -cannon firing shrapnel. I don't see how you do it, Chet." - -"Practice--practice, my boy," quoth his chum. "Say!" ejaculated Dig. -"Those fellows are watching. Hope they see what you do with a pistol, -and overlook my work." - -"That Steve What-is-it saw me shoot that hawk the other day. I guess he -knows that we're good shots. And of course Tony Traddles knows we're not -tenderfeet." - -The boys saw Tony blaze away with his rifle several times at the birds, -but they didn't see a feather fly. Hitting a bird on the wing with a -rifle is no easy task, at best. Chet's work with the six-shooter was the -result of long practice and a certain aptitude that the boy had -originally possessed. - -If the men were out of meat it looked as though they would go hungry to -bed, for no other game appeared in the course of the afternoon's ride. -Evening was already approaching and Dig began to grumble because Tony -and Steve did not seek a camp. - -"This being paced by a pair of irresponsible chumps like them, is no -fun. Who knows," he said, "but they may keep on all night." - -"Not on those horses they are riding," declared Chet firmly. "They've -been ridden hard already, and they are about giving out." - -"That's so, too," Dig hastened to agree. "I hate to see a pony punished -the way those fellows are punishing their mounts. They ought to be -jailed for that, if for nothing else." - -The men had headed up the long slope of a low hill. It was timbered, but -scantily; and there were many rocks cropping out of the soil. The boys -had not seen water lately and they were anxious to refresh their horses -and themselves. - -"I hope there's a spring on the far side of this hill," Chet said. - -"Say! there's something over there!" exclaimed his chum. "Look at Tony!" - -The big, hairy man had turned in his saddle and was vigorously beckoning -the boys on. He was undoubtedly excited by something he saw beyond the -hill, on the summit of which he and his partner now were. - -"What do you suppose he wants?" queried Chet doubtfully. - -"Don't know. See! they're both looking over there--" - -Dig prepared to ride on, but Chet stayed him. "Have a care, boy," he -said. "Those fellows aren't above playing some trick on us." - -"I know they're not above it," grinned Digby. - -"But I don't believe they can get us in the open like this." - -"Just lay your rifle across your saddle forks. Be ready with it--and let -them see that you are ready." - -"All right," agreed his chum, and in that way--with rifles in hand--the -two boys rode up toward the men they had trailed all day. Steve turned -and saw their caution and his grin was sardonic. But Tony was too -excited to notice the muzzles of the heavy rifles pointing his way as -the boys rode up to the summit of the hill. - -The hairy man did not shout to them, but gestured and beckoned. For that -reason Chet suspected that he had sighted game and wanted their help in -securing it. Even Steve was eagerly watching what lay beyond the hill. - -Chet pressed off to one side, so that they were a short pistol-shot away -from the men. There was a thicket just over the summit of the rise that -screened the horsemen from anything in the valley below; but the men and -boys could see through this thicket clearly enough to overlook the whole -plain. - -"There they are! Cricky, Chet!" whispered Dig, the first to spy the -game. "Buffaloes again. And Chet--look! There's the king of them all!" - -Grazing below them was the royal game they had already chased, and the -huge bull was with them. Chet swiftly counted them and found fifteen. It -was the same herd they had seen before and from which they had already -taken toll of the robe and horns Dig carried behind his saddle. - -This was a steep hillside they looked down, and the valley between it -and the next rise was narrow. It was, indeed, like a pocket in the -hills, and the opposite wall of the pocket was even steeper than this -one. - -It was an ideal grazing ground for the herd, however. There was abundant -grass, a limpid stream ran through the valley, and there was plenty of -shade. Chet knew enough about the habits of the huge animals to know -that they would not move from such a feeding ground before morning, at -least, unless they were frightened. - -"By all the hoptoads that were chased out of Ireland!" quoth Dig, in -awe, "isn't that bull a huge one? Did you ever dream of anything like -him, Chet?" - -"No. He's the biggest thing I ever saw," acknowledged his chum. - -"We didn't see him to such advantage before," murmured Dig. "Oh cricky! -how I'd like to catch him!" - -"_ Catch_ him!" exclaimed Chet. "_Shoot_ him, you mean." - -"U-h-huh!" grunted Dig. "Maybe." Then, with a grin: "But I roped that -little maverick--why not that buster down there?" - -Chet took this as one of Dig's jokes. He swerved a little toward the men -and when he was near enough he spoke: - -"It's too near dark to stalk those fellows to-night. If they're not -startled they'll be right there in the morning. Better chance to shoot -one then." - -"All right, Chet," said Tony easily. "You're the doctor. We ain't got -guns that are re'lly fit to put up against them beasts. But you've got -the rifles all right. You've killed one o' them already." - -"Yes. And give us half a chance and we'll kill another," the boy said. -"Where you going to camp? That stream either rises back in that timber, -or some springs that feed it have their rise there." - -"It's a good place--and gives us shelter, too," Tony said. - -Steve would not even look at the boys, but he headed his tired horse for -the grove in question. Dig rode close to Chet and whispered: - -"You give them the choice of camps. What'll we do?" - -"We'll put up with what we can get. I don't propose to let them get -situated where they can look down on us." - -"Oh! I see," returned his chum, marvelling. - -The men had the grace to camp some ways down the hill beside a clear -rill. That gave the chums a chance to establish themselves at the head -of the run, where the spring bubbled out from under the roots of a -gigantic tree. It was a beautiful spot, and, had the boys not been so -worried, and so doubtful of their neighbours, they would have considered -this an ideal camping place. - -Just as they had the horses picketed and their own fire burning, Dig saw -Tony ascending the hill. "Here comes that big oaf," he muttered to Chet. -"Look out for him." - -But Tony's hands were empty and he came along with a foolish kind of -grin on his face. - -"Don't you boys git too previous and shoot at me," he called. "I ain't -aimin' to hurt you none. I'm jest comin' a-borryin'." - -"Borrowing what?" asked Chet. - -"Say! you've borrowed enough from us, I should think!" ejaculated Dig, -with disgust. - -"Well! you shouldn't have such a temptin' outfit," and Tony chuckled. He -had stopped at a distance, however, for Chet had loosened the -six-shooter in his belt and the man respected the hint. - -"What do you want to borrow, Tony?" asked Chet quietly. - -"Why, I tell ye frank an' open, boys," he said, "we want meat an' we -want it bad. If you shoot one o' them buffalo you'll give us some, won't -ye?" - -"All you want," replied Chet shortly. "We had to leave most of the other -carcass to the wolves." - -"Well, that's han'some of ye," agreed Tony. "I don't suppose ye have -more than ye want right now, have ye?" he added sheepishly. "Ter tell ye -the truth--" - -"Which must be hard telling for you, Tony!" broke in Dig. - -"Ter tell ye the truth," went on the big man, without noticing Dig's -remark, "we ain't got a smitch o' meat left." - -"Say! we've given him enough," growled Dig, looking at Chet. - -"We don't need both these brace of birds," said Chet, who was skinning -the grouse. "Let's not be piggish." - -"Piggish! by the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland!" gasped -his chum. "Are you going to support these lazy thieves all the rest of -the way to Grub Stake?" - -Tony came nearer and put a hand beside his mouth, as he whispered: - -"Mebbe we ain't goin' right away to Grub Stake. You want to watch us -close't if ye expect to keep in our company." - -"What do you mean, Tony?" demanded Chet, as he tossed the man a pair of -the plump birds. - -But the fellow would say no more. He only looked sly and grinned in his -silly way. When he wanted to be obstinate, as Dig said, Tony Traddles -was the equal of any mule. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII--DIG'S GREAT IDEA - - -"What do you reckon that nuisance meant?" demanded Digby Fordham the -minute Tony Traddles was out of hearing. - -"He was hinting at something. Whether he meant to help us, or confuse -us, I do not know," confessed Chet. - -"He said they were not going to Grub Stake." - -"Not at once." - -"Well! where the dickens are they going, then?" demanded the disgusted -Dig. - -"I don't know. Unless the story of that Steve's having lost the deeds is -true, and he means to try to slip us and go back to the place where he -thinks he dropped them." - -"He'll have a hot time slipping us," the other boy said boastfully. - -"I don't know. He evidently knows this country better than we do." - -"That's easy, for we don't know it at all!" exclaimed Dig. - -"Well, there may be a chance for them to fool us in these rocky hills. -Maybe this proposal for a buffalo hunt is just for that purpose." - -"Not if they need meat so badly as they seem to," remarked the other -boy, with more thoughtfulness than he usually displayed. - -"I see!" exclaimed Chet quickly. "You think they'll wait to provision -themselves before they take the back trail?" - -"Yes." - -"I'd just like to know," Chet murmured. - -He was rather silent all through supper. They could look right down into -the other camp and see the two rascals moving about their own fire. The -night was still and the air very sweet. They were not troubled by gnats -much, either, and the horses were not restless. - -Dig rolled into his blanket early. Chet did not put more fuel on the -coals, for he did not want the men below to see his movements. They kept -up a good fire for some time, however. - -The boy knew the men were talking, for occasionally the breeze brought -to him the sound of their voices. Dig slept like a top, and Chet slipped -out of the camp, passed near the horses to see that they were all right, -and then, pistol in belt, crept quietly down the hillside. - -Eavesdropping was not a game he loved to play; but the situation seemed -to call for it. If he could learn something about the plans of the two -rascals, it might help him decide his own course. For Chet Havens felt -deeply the responsibility that circumstances had thrust upon him. - -He was naturally a thoughtful boy, and when his father had talked so -seriously to him regarding the errand to Grub Stake, Chet had no idea -that he would fail in any particular to fulfil his father's wishes. - -It was farthest from his thoughts (as it probably was from Mr. Havens') -that anybody would attempt to steal the deeds from Chet. The boy accused -himself of having been careless, however; in no other way could the -deeds have been taken from him. - -Now he must get them back if it was a possible thing. Chet was prepared -to run into some danger, if necessary, to accomplish this end. Therefore -he crept near to the scoundrels' camp and chanced a fight with them if -they should find him there. - -They did not seem to be discussing anything of much moment to Chet, -however, when he first established himself behind a tree within a few -feet of the campfire. Tony was speaking: - -"Well! we gotter have some o' that buffalo meat--that's all there is to -it." - -"If those boys kill one," sneered Steve. - -"Oh, they'll kill one all right," said Tony, with confidence. "You've -seen what they can do with a gun--'specially that Chet Havens. He's a -crackajack!" - -"Oh, I see," grumbled the other man. "Confound 'em! If it wasn't for -their guns I'd drive 'em out of the country easy." - -"Well, wait till we can load up with some grub before taking the back -track; that's what I say," growled Tony, puffing on his eternal pipe. - -"You think altogether too much of your stomach, Tony," complained the -other man. - -"Why shouldn't I think of it? Nobody else is goin' to," declared the -hairy one, philosophically. "Tony Traddles has had to look after his own -self since he was knee high to a hoppergrass. Ain't nobody cared a -continental for him--no, sir! Old man Havens chucked him out'n his job -like he was a dawg." - -"And I should think you'd be sore on this son of his, for it," observed -Steve. - -"Huh! I try ter be. But them boys are such smart rascals! They kin shoot -an' foller a trail, an' all that. They are free-handed, too." - -"There we get right back to Tony's stomach again," snarled the other -man. "You make me sick!" - -"Well, it don't make me sick to pick the bones of a fat bird that -somebody else has shot," quoth Tony Traddles. "And you ain't so much!" -he added, with some peevishness. "You said if you got them papers from -the kid you'd make a hunk of money, and I should have some of it. And -then you go and lose 'em--if you lost 'em." - -"Oh, I lost 'em all right," returned Steve, "or I'd not be knocking -around this country with a couple of boys tagging me." - -"And you think you can find 'em?" queried Tony. - -"I believe I can. And I want to shake these kids so as to do it. When I -slipped into the river as we swam the horses from that island, I flung -my coat ashore to keep it dry. Remember?" - -"Yes." - -"That's when I lost the deeds. The packet fell out of my pocket right -then. I was in too much of a hurry getting that crazy pony ashore to -think of anything else." - -"Well! it's a long way back," remarked Tony. "And I insist on getting -meat first. You can't shoot game with your pistol, and this old gun of -mine ain't much good. I told you so in the first place." - -"If we wait for these boys to shoot something, we'll have to kill -another day," grumbled Steve. "We can only slip out and leave 'em in the -dark." - -"Then make it to-morrow night," said Tony, with decision, and he rolled -over and knocked the heel out of his pipe into the fire. - -Chet stole away from the encampment of the two rascals within a few -minutes. Tony had pillowed his head on his arm and gone to sleep. It was -Steve's first watch. - -The boy had heard enough of importance to show him that his suspicions -were upheld. The man really had lost the deeds which he had stolen. - -He had not discovered the loss, in all probability, until he was made -prisoner and searched by the two boys. At once his mind had gone back to -his adventure on the shore of the river, now mentioned to Tony Traddles. - -Chet was confident that he knew what river was meant. It was the shallow -stream in which the men had striven to hide their trail just after they -had robbed Chet and Dig. The former believed the island spoken of must -be below the ford at which he and his chum last crossed. - -"I could turn back and find that place--pretty nearly--in a day and a -half," thought Chet. "That's where the fellows aimed for when they -started out the morning after we captured them. - -"Our sticking to their trail made them turn this way. Steve is going to -try to throw us off and go back to find the papers. _Why not beat him to -it?_" - -Chet had sufficient food for reflection to keep him wide awake during -his vigil. He let the fire die out and he kept back in the darkness, -watching the other camp continually. He saw Steve move about -occasionally; but the fellow did not offer to come up the hill; and as -for Tony, by the way he had gone to sleep, Chet was quite sure he would -not be easily aroused. - -When Chet awoke his chum and partner he said nothing about what he had -overheard at the other camp. Only, he advised his friend to watch the -man below them closely. - -"I'll keep my eye on him, all right," promised Dig. "B-r-r-r! it's cold! -What did you let the fire go out for, Chet?" - -"It's safer. You can see better without the light flickering in your -eyes. And you can stir around and keep warm," said Chet. "It's me that's -got to lie cold. Wake me up in good season, now." - -Dig obeyed that last request. He roused Chet just as soon as the dawn -streaked the eastern sky. Dig Fordham was excited, too. - -"Whew, Chet!" he whispered. "I've thought up the greatest scheme!" - -"What is it?" demanded Chet, yawning. "My! but you did get me up early -enough, in all good conscience!" - -"Don't be a lazybones. The coffee is made," said Dig. "And don't forget -that we're to have another crack at the buffalo." - -"Yes? Well, maybe." - -"Whew! where's your enthusiasm?" demanded Dig, disappointed. - -"Wait till I get the stickers out of my eyes," said Chet, going to the -full spring. - -After he had ducked his head into the cold water, and scrubbed his face -and hands and behind his ears, he felt more awake to the situation. - -"What's the wonderful idea, Dig?" he mumbled, as he rubbed himself dry -on the towel he had had wisdom enough to bring along. Camping out -without a towel is simply punishment; and it was easy enough to dry the -towel in the sun while they ate breakfast. - -"I reckon you don't want to hear about it," grumbled Dig. - -"Oh, go on! I was half asleep. What have you been conjuring up, old -man?" - -"Why, it's about those buffaloes," Dig whispered, as though he feared -somebody would hear him besides Chet. "Rather about the big bull." - -"Well?" - -"Let's capture him!" exclaimed Dig. - -"Huh? Oh, yes, another joke. Put salt on his tail?" - -"By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland!" declared Dig -earnestly, "this is a good thing." - -"I don't see how you're going to capture a creature as big as an -elephant--and twice as mad." - -"That's where my scheme comes in." - -"Explain! explain!" urged Chet, spreading the towel on a bush. - -"Why, I'll tell you: Just as soon as it began to grow light this morning -I saw Tony lie down and go to sleep. His partner was dead to the world, -too; so I knew they wouldn't bother us. I took the glasses and went just -outside the timber, there, and tried to find the buffaloes." - -"They're all right, aren't they?" asked Chet, with interest. - -"Sure. They spent the night in one of those small groves down there. -They've just begun to come out to graze." - -"I see." - -"Well, I spied out the whole valley from where I stood. There's a band -of antelope further down, too. But we don't care for them." - -"Not while the buffaloes are in sight," chuckled Chet. - -"Now, listen! Across the valley I saw the openings of two or three -narrow gulches--regular pockets in the hill over there." - -"Hey!" cried Chet, sitting up both physically and mentally. "What is -this, boy?" - -"My idea," said Dig, with confidence, "and it's a good one. Those -pockets can be made into corrals at least, one of them can." - -"You don't mean it!" exclaimed Chet. "You think we can corral those -buffaloes?" - -"Maybe the big one. Sell him to some speculator or a showman," said Dig. - -"Say! that would beat all the hoptoads that ever hopped out of Ireland," -declared Chet. "Let's have those glasses." - -"Wait till you have your breakfast." - -"Breakfast be jiggered!" ejaculated Chet. "I want to see what those -pockets look like from out yonder. To corral some of those buffaloes! -Well! that would beat shooting them, I should think," and he hurried -away from the campfire. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII--GREAT LUCK - - -The sweep of the hill-bound vale was visible for ten miles from the -hillside where the boys were encamped. They were almost at the head of -the valley. The buffaloes grazed five miles below. - -The slope of ground bounding the valley on the north and east was too -steep to tempt the buffaloes to mount and graze upon it. Of course, once -frightened and with better escape shut off, the herd would not refuse to -come over this hill. Buffaloes are almost as sure-footed as deer. - -The other side of the valley--the south side--was bounded by steep -terraces which would have been hard for a man to climb in many places. -These steep walls were broken here and there by gashes cut in the -hillside by nature in ancient times. - -As far as Chet could see, these gulches were not barren. Grass and brush -grew plentifully as far up the cuts as he could see, and here and there -a tall tree stood, topping the walls of the pocket. - -Digby Fordham's suggestion regarding the capture of some of the -buffaloes was well worth attempting. At least, so it seemed to Chet's -enthusiastic mind. He was just as eager to try to drive the buffalo herd -as was his chum. - -He went back to breakfast briskly. Dig had everything all prepared. - -"What do you think of it?" he asked doubtfully. - -"We'll try it. But we have to fool those two fellows down below there, -as well as the buffaloes." - -"Why so?" asked Dig curiously. - -Chet told him in a low voice while they ate just what he had heard at -the other camp the evening before. He believed that Steve was watching -for a chance to get away from them; but that, because of Tony's -insistence, the two villains would wait until they obtained some meat. - -"Tony isn't one to starve uncomplainingly in any cause," Chet said -decidedly. "And Steve doesn't want to lose him--" - -"Why not? He's not much good to him, seems to me," said Dig. - -"Figure out how you'd like to be in the wilderness yourself, all alone," -said Chet. "Especially when there is occasion to keep watch. A man can't -travel all day and keep watch all night, too." - -"I reckon that's so," agreed Dig. - -"If for no other reason, Steve needs Tony. They'll keep together. They -have had no luck hunting. Haven't the proper guns. They are depending on -us--" - -"To be their commissary department, eh?" growled Dig. - -"That's about it." - -"The cheek of 'em!" - -"Well, I don't know. As long as we want to keep near them I'd just as -soon have them dependent upon us for food," Chet reflected. - -"You're still going to follow them, then?" - -"To the bitter end," chuckled Chet. "When that fellow goes back for -those deeds, I'm going to be right with him." - -"I hope he won't fool us," Dig said doubtfully. - -"He won't if we keep our eyes open. I hope we are as smart as he is!" -exclaimed Chet, with scorn. "Well! I'm willing to feed them, as I say. -But I'm going to give them something to do--and in doing it they'll be -right where we can watch them." - -"While we're hunting those buffaloes?" asked Dig excitedly. - -"Yes, sir! Now listen, and don't interfere." - -"I'm an oyster," said Dig promptly. - -The men were now astir in the camp below. The boys finished their -breakfast and cleared everything away. They packed their outfit as -though for a day's march. Then, while Dig watered the horses and -fastened the blanket-rolls to the cantles of the saddles, Chet -approached the other camp. - -"Hey, you fellows!" he called, "if you want any of the buffalo meat that -we hope to kill, you've got to help get it." - -"Sure, Chet," cried Tony briskly. - -"That's understood," said the other man, though not very graciously. - -"Want us to drive 'em for you?" queried Tony, who was no bad hunter -himself, when he had a good weapon and a decent mount. Both the rifle -and the pony he now possessed were wretched. - -Chet told them what he desired. He and Dig were going to ride west to -head the buffaloes off. They proposed going back over the crown of the -hill and entering the valley some miles below the spot where the herd of -buffaloes was now feeding. - -"Although we'll approach them almost down wind, we'll trust to the speed -of our mounts to get in a couple of shots, at least. The whole herd may -tear up this way. But we'll probably wound one, if not two, and they'll -lag behind. If you are ready for them, that old rifle of Tony's--even -your pistol," and he spoke directly to Steve, "may put the finishing -touch to our work." - -"Good boy. You're right," said Tony briskly. - -"I want you to lengthen your lines with your lariats, and let your -ponies drift out into the valley. If the buffaloes are frightened and -come on the run, they won't bother about the ponies. You fellows keep -down, of course, until the beasts are near. Then up and at them!" - -"They'll easily keep out of the range of our guns," said the man Steve, -doubtfully. - -"Then they'll have to turn back on us," Chet said, confidently. "We'll -have them between two fires. That's the only sure way we have of getting -one of the beasts. Do you want to do your share?" - -"You got the rights of it, Chet," said Tony Traddles. "Sure we agree." - -"Speak for yourself!" snarled the other man. - -"Well, if you don't want to eat--" began Chet; but Tony broke in with: - -"Aw, don't mind him! He's a born sorehead. Of course we want to eat. -We'll do like you say." - -"Then let's see you get your horses down there on the plain," said Chet -promptly. "When I see you fixed right, Dig and I will ride around to -head the buffaloes off." - -Perhaps Steve saw through Chet's subterfuge. It would not have taken a -very keen man to do so. But he evidently agreed to the proposal because -Tony urged it. Tony had an appetite. - -The men finished their breakfast (it wasn't a big one, as the boys well -knew) and soon rode down the hill into the grassy valley. Thickets of -scrubby trees hid their movements from the grazing animals. - -Chet and Dig rode off up the hill; but they did not lose sight of the -men whom they so distrusted--not for some time. Through the screen of -verdure that topped the long hill, or ridge, the boys could see down -into the valley and keep watch of both the men and the grazing -buffaloes. - -They saw the former reach the last shelter down the valley and there -dismount, deposit their goods and saddles, and then rope out their two -mounts. As the boys had first stalked the buffaloes several days before, -Tony and Steve did now. - -Satisfied, Chet and Dig put spurs to their mounts and covered six or -seven miles along the wooded ridge very quickly. Occasionally they spied -upon the buffaloes and knew that nothing had disturbed the animals' -placidity. They were comfortably grazing on the bottomland. - -After viewing the exposed valley through the glasses for some minutes, -Chet announced the programme. Dig, although the originator of the scheme -to attempt the corralling of some of the buffaloes, was quite willing -that his chum should take the lead. - -Keeping the screen of wood between them and the view of the buffaloes, -the chums descended the steep hillside into the narrow valley. Its mouth -was a number of miles west of their position. Directly opposite, and cut -into the more abrupt southern wall of the valley, was one of the pockets -that Dig had first discovered and pointed out. They rode there to -examine it. - -The approach to the gulch could not have been arranged better had it -been originally intended for a trap for wild animals. In similar pockets -in the hills the boys knew many herds of wild mustangs had been caught -by hunters in past years. Now the wild horses were almost as scarce as -the buffaloes. - -On the left hand the hillside was too steep and rocky for any animal -with hoofs willingly to run that way. Sloping up from the waterside on -the right hand was a thick hedge of low trees, so closely interwoven -that buffaloes, at least, could not burst through the barrier. - -The mouth of the pocket was plain, if narrow. It was the only escape in -sight--if the herd could be driven this way. Yet the pocket could be -closed easily. - -On one side stood a thickly branching tree. If it was felled correctly -after the animals were enclosed not even the big bull buffalo could make -his escape. The chums saw the possibilities of the place with glee. - -"Whew!" ejaculated Dig, "it'll be pie." - -"Couldn't be better if it were made for us. Now, let's see if it is -really a place in which we can bottle some of the animals." - -"Cricky! we'll get the whole herd!" boasted Dig. - -"Be more modest--be more modest," urged Chet, laughing. "Wouldn't you be -satisfied with the big bull alone?" - -"Would a duck swim?" returned his chum. - -They rode into the gully and looked about them. It was heavily grassed -in the bottom; but the sides were almost as steep as a wall. No -buffalo--no matter how nimble--could scale those walls. - -They rode to the head of the gulch. It was some eighth of a mile deep, -and there were several tall trees in it. The soil in the bottom was a -rich, alluvial deposit that gave verdure of all kinds deep rootage. And -there was a free-flowing spring. - -"Pasture here for a hundred head of cattle, I declare," Dig said. "If we -can get those buffaloes in here, they'll be in clover until we can find -the means of capturing or shooting them." - -"And what will Tony and that Steve be doing, I wonder?" Chet said -doubtfully. - -"Whew! I had forgotten them." - -"They're a part of the pickle, all right," Chet said, "and must be -figured on." - -"Cricky! it would be a nice note if they not only stole your deeds, but -got our buffaloes away from us, too." - -"Beginning already to lay claim to the buffaloes, are you?" returned -Chet. - -"Well, we saw them first," declared the other lad. - -Feeling that the pocket was secure--if they had the luck to drive the -buffaloes this way, Chet laid out the further plan of action, and Dig -agreed. They rode back to the brook, watered their horses, hid their -outfit, save the serviceable camp axe and their guns, then cinched up -and rode through the brook. - -The trail boys were still hidden from the grazing game by thickets of -low shrubs. But they knew just where the buffaloes were. - -Coming on them from the north side of the valley, Chet hoped to shoot at -least one and stampede them across the brook, instead of up the valley -toward the spot where the two men were in waiting. - -As Dig had said admiringly, Chet was "longheaded." He knew the men -wanted some meat, and that was all. If the boys shot a buffalo where the -herd now grazed, Steve and Tony would not trouble themselves about the -remainder of the buffaloes. - -"If we can get the herd across that brook, and headed down stream, we'll -stand a good chance of corralling them, Dig," Chet said. "We'll cross -the stream, too, keep near enough to head them off from the water, and -they'll be likely to take the first opening in the hillside that -promises escape. They can't get through the thicket below there, and if -we keep them turned south they'll find our pocket." - -"Whew! I'm just as excited as I can be," declared Dig. "Let's get into -action. We've played to great luck so far; I hope it doesn't break on -us." - -"Ha!" laughed Chet. "Remember that there are two things easily -broken--glass and luck." - - - - - CHAPTER XXIX--PLENTY OF EXCITEMENT - - -The best laid plans are not always successfully, or satisfactorily, -carried out. There was, as both boys knew, a big doubt as to whether -they could drive the buffaloes in the way they desired; but, at least, -there was a good chance that they would kill another of the big animals. - -"Take a bull, Dig," advised Chet, as they rode up the brook. "Don't kill -the cows or calves. If we should enclose any of the herd in our corral, -besides the big fellow, I believe we'd have a mighty valuable catch." - -"Say! that would be great," agreed Dig. "Mebbe we could sell 'em for as -much as a hundred dollars." - -"And that's better than selling a little old maverick for five -dollars--eh?" laughed his chum. - -The boys trotted their eager mounts up the valley and finally came to -the last screen of bushes that stood between them and the buffalo herd. -The animals were feeding down the valley, but the wind was not blowing -directly in their faces. It was from the southwest; therefore, the odour -of the young hunters would not be carried to the beasts. - -Chet and Dig again saw the feeding ponies belonging to the two men who -had caused them so much trouble. "And maybe we'll put them in a hole -before we get through," muttered Dig vindictively. - -The boys could be sure that the men were close by, when the ponies were -so plainly visible. Neither of them would start back for that island -camp on the distant river, afoot. - -So the boys gave their full attention to the buffaloes. Their rifles -were in trim and everything was ready for the charge. Chet had selected -an opening in the thicket; he knew the value of a good start in -attacking such nimble animals as the buffaloes had already proven -themselves to be. - -"Ready, Dig?" Chet asked. - -"Let her go!" replied his friend, and at the same moment both horses -dashed forward. - -They appeared upon the plain at full speed. They were aimed at about the -centre of the scattered herd. Could they have trusted the two men, they -might have helped with the chase and bunched the whole herd. Instead, it -split, and a part of the buffaloes went up the valley, while the others -fled directly from the two boys, toward the stream. - -The heavy rifles cracked almost simultaneously, Chet's shot brought a -vigorous young bull to his knees; but Dig missed his quarry. He came up -and put a ball into Chet's kill, however, while Chet himself put the -third bullet through the wounded beast's vitals. - -"Come on! come on!" yelled Chet, excitedly, starting Hero on the jump -after the part of the herd that was scrambling through the brook. - -Dig was after him at once. The boys spread out and their horses took the -water-jump splendidly. The mounts were as wildly excited as their -masters. - -The big bull that had inspired Chet and Dig with such enthusiasm was in -the lead. This was a piece of luck that delighted the young trailers. - -"We've got him! we've got him!" cried Digby. - -"Don't holler--till--you're out--of the--woods!" panted Chet. "Goodness! -that big beast looks as though he could go right through a brick wall. -Suppose he turns on us?" - -"Then you'll see this boy take to his heels," returned Dig, with -conviction. - -They did not follow the buffaloes too closely; and they kept on the -water side of them, yet near enough so that the frightened animals did -not fancy turning to run back along the foot of the southern wall of the -valley. - -The monster buffalo, head down and whip-like tail twirling, thundered -straight on. The thicket of thorny trees was ahead. He couldn't get -through that, and he knew it. - -Towards the brook, where was easy escape, was likewise a figure on -horseback, waving both hands. That was Dig. The big buffalo did not want -to go that way. - -He wheeled and there, right in front of him, was the welcome opening of -the grassy gulch. In a moment he galloped into it. After him galloped -seven of the herd--all that had followed him in the stampede. - -"Hurrah! We've got 'em!" shrieked Dig, spurring Poke up the hill. - -"Keep right before the mouth of that pocket--but outside," cried Chet, -throwing himself from the saddle, with the axe in his hand. "Keep Poke -moving. Don't let the beasts catch you afoot. If they charge back on us, -try to scare them into the gulch again." - -"Hot chance I'd have to do that," muttered Dig. - -But he held his ground while Chet struck steel to timber with much -vigour. Cutting down a tree of this size was no easy task, and well the -boy knew it; but he was determined to shut the buffaloes into the pocket -in the hill. Once the big tree was felled across the mouth of the gulch -he was very sure the herd would be secure. - -Chet was no poor woodsman. He could swing an axe as well as a full-grown -man, for his father owned a wood-lot near the Silent Sue mine, and Chet -for two years had cut and sledded down to the Havens house the winter's -wood. - -But to hammer at this big tree trunk with a short-handled hatchet was a -more difficult task. - -Dig had to laugh at him, despite the anxiety they both felt about the -buffaloes. "Cricky, Chet! why don't you use your pocketknife?" he -demanded. "You'd get it down just as quick." - -"Can you suggest any better way?" asked Chet, stopping for breath. - -"You might set fire to it," grinned his chum. - -"You keep still, or I'll make you come here and spell me," said Chet. -"My goodness! but my hand is getting sore." - -"You'll have some pretty blisters before you get through with that -stunt," said Dig. - -And he was truly a prophet! Chet was more than an hour cutting down the -tree, but he had used good judgment in placing it and when it fell the -mouth of the gulch was so closed that no buffalo could get out. But Chet -was lame, bruised, and blistered. - -"I declare you had the worst half of the job," Dig said. "But just -think, old man! we've captured eight buffaloes, including the king of -them all." - -"We have them cornered--yes. Now we've got to find somebody either to -buy them just as they stand in there, or to help us get them out and to -a market." - -"Whew! That's so. We've only begun the job, eh?" - -"That's right, Dig," Chet replied, nodding his head seriously. - -"At any rate," the other boy said, "it's an ideal corral we have 'em in. -There is that trickle of water, and plenty of grass and green bushes. -'All the comforts of home.' What buffalo wouldn't be content in such -quarters?" - -The boys climbed up the hillside, after tethering their horses, and -crept along over the rocks above the pocket until they could see the -herd. Strangely enough the big buffalo and his seven companions were -feeding quietly and whisking flies at the upper end of the gorge, their -panic entirely departed. - -"Say! did you ever see a more peaceful scene?" chuckled Digby. "They -look as tame as barnyard cattle, don't they?" - -"That's all right," replied Chet, "but I'd hate to go down there and try -to milk one of those bossies." - -The beasts were corralled. Chet wasted little time in congratulating his -chum and himself. Luck and foresight had brought about the capture; but -it would take something more to make it of any value to the chums. Both -the boys realised that. - -"We have to get to Grub Stake and interest somebody in our haul," Dig -said. "That's the ticket for us." - -"And we have something else to do first," Chet replied, as they got back -to the horses. "We've left those two rascals, Steve and Tony, too long -by themselves. I bet they've hiked out after those lost deeds already." - -"What? without their meat?" - -"Come on! I reckon the condition of that buffalo we shot will surprise -you," said Chet. - -And it did. Dig sputtered like an overfilled teakettle when they reached -the place where they had dropped the young bull. - -No animal had been drawn to the kill, although several timid coyotes -sneaked out of sight behind the nearest thicket. But the robe was -ruined. The body had been slashed right into, without any pains being -taken to butcher it properly. The better parts of the carcass had been -taken, and the mess that had been made of the remainder sickened the two -boys. They cut off a few shoulder steaks, and got away from the spot as -soon as possible. - -"They got their meat and have hiked out for that island in the river," -Chet said, sternly. "That's all they wanted, of course. Steve saw his -chance to start now instead of to-night, and he took it." - -"We can follow their trail, Chet," exclaimed Dig. "The nasty things! -They ruined that buffalo." - -"We'll do better than follow their trail," Chet said quickly. - -"How's that?" - -"I believe I can find that island they spoke of myself. We'll see if we -cannot beat them to it, Dig. Certainly we have the advantage of the best -mounts, if we don't know the country as well as Steve does." - -They recovered their outfit, built a fire, and cooked dinner while their -horses rested; then they set out toward the east without paying any -attention to the route followed by their two enemies, nor much to the -course they had taken in coming to this sheltered valley. - -Chet had his compass and he laid as direct a course as he knew for the -shallow river in question. - -The six remaining members of the buffalo herd were out of sight as the -boys rode up the valley. Where they had gone to was a mystery. - -"But you can bet Tony and that other fellow are not following them," -remarked Dig, in disgust. - -"Quite right," responded Chet. "Those scamps have got all they wanted." - -"I hope the time will come when we can 'call quits' with 'em," said Dig. - -"Hear! hear! Satisfaction is what we're after--and those deeds." - -The boys crossed the divide and as they went down the slope, they struck -another watercourse which, beginning as a small rill, increased in width -and volume of water very rapidly. They were in sight of this stream -through the rough country spreading eastward until past mid-afternoon. - -By that time they had ridden many miles and were saddle-weary. The -horses, too, showed the effect of hard work. - -"We'd ought to breathe them awhile," Dig urged, for he was very careful -of horseflesh. - -"Not yet. I'm sorry for them," Chet said, "but we've got to keep moving -just as long as daylight holds, at least. You know, we don't know this -country after dark, and that Steve evidently does." - -"But we must be travelling almost two miles to their one," Dig said. - -"Granted. But they may be going more directly to that island than we," -Chet told him. "Though I believe this stream we're following empties -into the very river we're in search of." - -"We never saw this creek before." - -"No. It's a good deal farther south than the way we came with those -rascals." - -"Well! I reckon you know, Chet." - -"I know the points of the compass," returned his friend. "The sun -doesn't fool us." - -"Of course--we're going toward Silver Run again, not toward Grub Stake." - -"Quite right. And goodness!" added Chet, "we are spending a lot more -time in this trip than I expected to. I wonder what father will say?" - -"Say! It's been a lot different from what I expected. Whew! but we have -worked, Chet." - -"Aren't you just right?" and Chet looked sadly at his blistered palms. - -They rode hard and were weary and hungry long before sundown. The chums -did not talk much--they seemed to be talked out. The uncertainty of the -errand they rode on, and what they had already gone through, made both -boys sober. There had been excitement enough, certainly, on this -journey. They had been in peril and had taken part in sturdy -adventure--enough in the past few days to satisfy most boys for a year. - -"We were looking for a little fun on the trail," Chet said reflectively. -"But, my goodness, Dig! we certainly have got more than we bargained -for." - -"Yes, and it isn't ended," responded his chum, shaking his head. "Wait -till we meet up with that Steve and Tony again--if we do!" - -"That doesn't bother me so much as the chances, for and against, of our -meeting up with those lost deeds. That's what's troubling yours truly," -said Chet. - - - - - CHAPTER XXX--HOW IT ENDED - - -In the dim dusk of late evening the trail boys suddenly came down to the -river bank. They were leading their mounts, for the way was so rough -they did not want to risk a misstep on the faithful creatures' part in -the dark. - -As Chet Havens expected, the stream they had followed so long--almost -from the valley where they had corralled the buffaloes--fell into the -wide but shallow river they had crossed several days before on the trail -of the thieves. - -The horses' sides were heaving and their heads hung almost to the -ground; but Chet, as leader of the expedition, was not willing to allow -them much rest. - -"Just a mouthful of grass and a drink of water after it," he said to his -chum. "We must wait for our supper until later." - -"All right as far as we are concerned, Chet," said the other boy, more -seriously than was his wont. "But I don't want you to forget one -important fact." - -"What's that?" - -"These horses have been grain fed until we brought them out on this -trip. We have ridden them mighty hard, Chet--mighty hard. They are -beginning to suffer now. Grass for a grain fed horse is like feeding a -man on breakfast food when he's been used to a meat, Chet. The man will -quickly give out, and so will the horse." - -"I'm sorry," said his chum. "You know more about it than I do, Dig, I -admit. But I feel that I just must push on up this river till I reach -that island. I want to get there before those scamps do. If there is any -such thing as finding the lost deeds, I want to be on the ground first." - -"Uh-huh! I'm on to your desire, Chet. But have a heart for the -horses--do!" - -"You stay here and rest Poke, then," said Chet. "I'll have to punish -poor Hero. I'm sorry; but I must get on." - -"Well!" retorted Dig, "you don't suppose I'd let you go alone, do you?" - -"I believe I can handle those two fellows. Tony is only foolish," Chet -said, with confidence--perhaps expressing a larger share than he really -possessed. - -"Well, you can bet your bottom dollar!" exclaimed the slangy Dig, "that -you are not going to tackle them alone. I'm with you to the end of the -dock, old man--and we'll jump off together. - -"Say!" he added, "how far up the river do you think the island is?" - -"I believe we must be all of twenty miles below the crossing to which we -trailed those fellows in the first place. But how far this side of that -crossing the island is, I don't know. We'll just have to go up stream -till we come to it." - -"Suppose there are several islands?" suggested Dig. - -"Oh, don't!" exclaimed Chet. "Don't suggest more trouble. I'm just as -worried about those deeds as I can be." - -Chet gave the horses half an hour on the grass; then they cinched on the -saddles so the animals wouldn't drink too much, and were soon splashing -up the shallow edge of the stream. At this time of the year, save in -certain holes, the stream ran very shoal indeed. The way was smoother on -the beach than on the prairie above. - -"Besides," Chet said, in a low tone, "we can't be seen down here. Even -our hats aren't above the edge of the bank. Anybody riding on the plain -would not know we were here, unless near enough to hear the horses -splashing along." - -"Those fellows have never got over here so soon on their miserable -cayuses--take it from me," Dig urged. - -Nevertheless, Chet's mind was in a turmoil as they rode on. The sunset -faded; but the stars shone brilliantly over the plains that night--big, -and sparkling, just as they do at sea. The chums from Silver Run did not -lack for light. - -It was nine o'clock when they spied the wooded island in the river which -Chet believed must be the site of the camp of which Steve and Tony had -spoken. The water grew suddenly deep, too, and the boys had to force -their tired horses out upon the sandy shore. - -Chet remembered that Steve had spoken of having hard work swimming his -pony ashore from the island, and he believed this must be the place for -which they had been searching. - -"We'll halt here, boy," he said to Dig. "There's some greasewood up -there. You make the fire and I'll hobble the nags. The water must be -very shallow on the other side of this island. Those thieves rode easily -out to it from the east bank of the river, and then had to swim their -ponies over here." - -"Sure!" agreed Dig. - -"It was somewhere along here Steve thinks he dropped the packet of -papers he stole from me. Keep your eyes open." - -"You bet you!" exclaimed his chum, going to work at once to make a fire -under the shelter of the bank. - -They had their welcome supper as soon as it could be cooked, and then -Dig took the first watch. He patrolled the camp on the bank overlooking -it, so that he might see all about upon the plain. Their enemies must -come from this direction. - -The men, however, did not appear during Dig's watch. The boys had -travelled very rapidly, and the sorry beasts ridden by Steve and Tony -could not have brought them very fast on the trail to the river. - -Chet, however, spied them before dawn. The stars were just beginning to -pale when two hazy figures loomed out of a distant thicket, and the boy -made them out to be two mounted men. He soon heard them talking, too, -for the sound of voices carried far in the damp air. - -The boy was excited; but he felt that he had the situation well in hand. -He awoke Dig, and ordered him to keep quiet until the men rode nearer. -Then the chums stepped out upon the bank boldly and hailed the -travellers. - -"We're here first, you fellows," Chet said. "And we have located a claim -all up and down this creek. Don't come any nearer, for if you do I shall -shoot your ponies--and I'm sure you don't want to be left afoot out here -in the open." - -Both men burst into ejaculations of anger and disappointment. But Tony's -anger seemed aimed at his companion. - -"What did I tell ye?" he cried. "Didn't I say these lil' boys of Havens' -and Fordham's was too smart for us? Now I'm goin' ter hike out for the -trail an' git to some man's town--you hear me? You ain't nothin' but a -frost, Mr. Steve Brant--that's what you be." - -As for the leading rascal, his hard words could not hurt the chums. He -retired with Tony, and they made camp far up stream--at least two -rifle-shots away. The boys, however, never lost sight of them. - -As the light increased, Chet began to search the shore of the river. Had -there been a rain since they had come over it, the level of the water -would have risen and washed out the marks of the pony's struggles where -Steve Brant had got him ashore. In this dry time, however, it was easy -for the boy to discover just the spot. - -And, strange as it seemed, the packet of papers was right there, too. -Nothing had disturbed the papers. The packet lay under the bank half -hidden by a bunch of weeds, and all the papers were intact, as Chet very -soon made sure. - -"Cricky! aren't you the lucky boy?" cried Dig, when he saw them. - -"I'm very grateful that I found them," his chum said, soberly. "And let -me tell you that nobody's going to pry them away from me again with -anything less than a crowbar. This losing of the deeds has been the most -worrisome thing that I hope will ever happen to me." - -"And we've had about as exciting a time as I suppose we ever shall -have," added Dig, shaking his head. - -Both boys, however, were somewhat mistaken in these prognostications, as -the sequel will show, for we hope to meet Chet and Dig again in another -volume, to be called, "The Trail Boys in the Gold Fields; Or, The Search -For the Lost Nugget." - -They saddled their horses soon after finding the packet and rode away -from the vicinity of the villains' camp. Their mounts were refreshed -and, considering the condition of the men's ponies, the boys were very -sure that they could keep ahead of Steve and Tony Traddles all the way -to Grub Stake. - -Chet insisted on following the river down-stream till they struck the -Grub Stake trail, although Dig was eager to go back by the way of the -gulch in which they had corralled the buffaloes. - -"We've fooled away enough time on this journey already," Chet said -decisively. "Why, Dig! to-day is Sunday. We've been a week on the trail. -We must hurry." - -"Whew! I'd like to see if those creatures are safe." - -"They're safe enough. Nobody will roll that tree away--not even our -friends back yonder. We'll hurry on to town and see what arrangements we -can make for selling the whole herd." - -"By the last hoptoad that was chased out of Ireland!" ejaculated Dig, -vigorously. "If you do that, Chet Havens, you'll be the very smartest -fellow I ever met!" - -"I bet we can sell the buffaloes a whole lot more easily than you could -have sold that little old Stone Fence you started to bring along," -laughed his chum. - -And so it proved. The boys reached the regular trail to Grub Stake -without mishap, and on Monday evening rode into the mountain mining town -and put up at the best hotel. After more than a week on the trail they -were glad to get a bath and crawl in between sheets again. - -Tuesday morning Chet went to the express office, identified himself, -made arrangements for the payment of his father's money to the owner of -a certain share in the Crayton claim, and then hunted up Mr. John -Morrisy. - -The chums found him to be a very pleasant old man, if illiterate. After -their business with him was transacted, Mr. Morrisy, who had heard the -story of the boys' adventures, found the very man for them who was -willing to invest in a herd of buffaloes. - -This man agreed to pay the boys a hundred dollars in cash on the ground -where the buffaloes were corralled. Of course, the beasts were worth a -great deal more; but the boys were not prepared to transport them to any -market. There was a public-spirited citizen farther east who was willing -to pay well for live buffaloes and this man at Grub Stake was acting as -his agent. - -He gathered together a party of old cattlemen and various paraphernalia, -and all set out with the boys for the valley in which the herd was -confined. On the way out of Grub Stake they met Tony Traddles and Steve -Brant, coming in. - -Tony, when he heard what the expedition meant, asked the boss for a job -and got it, for he was a husky looking fellow and said he was anxious to -work. He parted company with Steve Brant with no apparent regret on -either side. - -Brant himself, the chums learned, was a man who went about the mining -country picking up claims cheap and reselling them to eastern -capitalists. He had been suspected of "salting" some of these claims, -and he might have intended to salt the Crayton claim when he was at work -there. - -However, neither the boys nor Mr. Havens were ever troubled by the -fellow again. The signing of the deed by Mr. John Morrisy settled that. -The old claim was controlled by Mr. Havens; and if ever anything of -value should come from the mine, it would belong to him. - -The party of bison hunters found the big old bull and his seven comrades -just as the boys had left them. The men praised Chet and Dig highly for -their work in corralling the beasts. And when the head of the expedition -saw the size of the big buffalo, he added a ten dollar bill to the -agreed price he paid the happy boys. - -Chet and Dig could not wait to see the bison snared; they had been too -long from home now. So they pushed for the train and cantered a long -day's travel toward Silver Run before they pulled up. - -Then, riding down into a sandy bottom they suddenly heard some creature -bawling. Dig looked all about, noting the landmarks, and suddenly -exclaimed: - -"By _all_ the hoptoads that were chased out of Ireland! It's Stone -Fence!" - -He dismounted instantly and found the calf in the thicket nearby. -Whether it was glad to see the boys or not it suffered itself to be -roped and this time it led very peaceably. In spite of anything Chet -could say, Dig was determined to take the maverick home with him. - -That is how it came about that the two friends rode into the outskirts -of Silver Run with a little red yearling trailing behind them and -"blatting its head off," as Dig expressed it. Everybody made comments -upon it; but that did not disturb Digby Fordham. - -"I feel just like a brother towards this dogy," he confessed. "Come on, -Stone Fence! Lift your heels!" - -At Hardpan the boys came upon a curious sight. There was an exciting -game of baseball going on in the empty lot. A nine of pure-blood -Indians, captained by Amoshee, the lame Cheyenne, was matched against a -scrub team of the neighbourhood boys, and, as Dig inelegantly put it, -"the redskins were licking the socks off the white boys." - -"I bet Amoshee is going after the scalps of the high school nine--and -serve 'em right!" Chet said. "Those Indians can play some; can't they?" - -Finally the trail boys arrived at home, and were welcomed by their -parents and friends. They had had more than a week of adventures on the -trail, had accomplished an important errand satisfactorily, and, -secretly, were hoping for other adventures during their vacation. - - THE END - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Trail Boys of the Plains, by Jay Winthrop Allen - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAIL BOYS OF THE PLAINS *** - -***** This file should be named 44078.txt or 44078.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/0/7/44078/ - -Produced by Roger Frank and Sue Clark - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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