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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..769087a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #62743 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62743) diff --git a/old/62743-0.txt b/old/62743-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 58ea960..0000000 --- a/old/62743-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6882 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders at Circle O -Ranch, by Josephine Chase - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders at Circle O Ranch - - -Author: Josephine Chase - - - -Release Date: July 24, 2020 [eBook #62743] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND RIDERS AT -CIRCLE O RANCH*** - - -E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by -Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 62743-h.htm or 62743-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/62743/62743-h/62743-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/62743/62743-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/graceharlowesove00flow_7 - - - - - -GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS AT CIRCLE O RANCH - - -[Illustration: “It’s Pap!”] - - -GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS AT CIRCLE O RANCH - -by - -JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER - -Author of The High School Girls Series, The College Girls Series, The - Grace Harlowe Overseas Series, Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders - on the Old Apache Trail, Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders on - the Great American Desert, Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders - Among the Kentucky Mountaineers, Grace Harlowe’s Overland - Riders in the Great North Woods, Grace Harlowe’s - Overland Riders in the High Sierras, Grace Harlowe’s - Overland Riders in the Yellowstone National - Park, Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders in the - Black Hills, etc., etc. - -Illustrated - - - - - - -Philadelphia -Henry Altemus Company - -Copyrighted, 1923, by -Howard E. Altemus - -Printed in the United States of America - - - - - CONTENTS - - Chapter I—Peace in the Coso Valley - - Stacy’s dream is interpreted. Jim-Sam proves to - be a problem. A guide that could howl like a coyote. - “Mules, like some fellers, is contrary critters.” Sam’s - whiskers are expressive. A peace that was rudely - broken. - - Chapter II—On the Road to Trouble - - The Overlanders prepare for defense. Stacy’s weapon - a tent stake. Emma Dean in the toils. The shot - that stopped the roper. “Let ’em have it!” yells the - guide. All because of the fat boy’s dream. The - alarm. - - Chapter III—An Invitation to Move - - “Sit tight!” orders Hippy. A caller who threatened - trouble. Sam Conifer passes the lie. “I reckon I’d - kill ye whar ye stand!” Hands flash to weapons. - The stranger is ordered out of camp. When brains - were mixed. - - Chapter IV—At the “Circle O” Ranch - - Camp made in the foothills of the Cosos. “The Old - Man wants ter know what ye are doin’ heah!” The - Overlanders are again ordered to get out. Emma - explains the “imponderable something.” The dance - in the bunk-house. A bullet parts Sam Conifer’s - whiskers. - - Chapter V—Overlanders Suffer a Loss - - “Shoot, Sam! Shoot, I tell you!” A mysterious - shot is fired. Jim finds a trail. A “lovely party” - spoiled. The Overland Riders find their ponies missing. - Distress at the Circle O. Jim-Sam blame each - other. - - Chapter VI—Rustlers Are Hard Pressed - - A question of mules. Emma Dean looks for dreams. - Sam exchanges shots with a prowler. Stacy Brown - believes in safety first. Ranchers engage the rustlers - in a lively battle. Lieutenant Wingate wages an - unequal fight and loses. - - Chapter VII—A Fight to a Finish - - “Give ’em the rifles!” yells Two-gun Pete. The - end of the battle. An Overlander is found seriously - wounded. Tom bears bad news to his companions. - Elfreda gives first aid. Cowpunchers look on in - open-mouthed wonder. - - Chapter VIII—The “Dude” Makes Good - - Hippy is complimented by Two-gun Pete. “What’s - a hoss when it comes to a scrap?” What Hippy - Wingate dreamed. Grace Harlowe’s pony is recovered. - Ranchers help the Overlanders to move. - Judy Hornby makes an exciting entrance. - - Chapter IX—Judy Speaks Out - - The mountain girl wants to know what love is. Judy - tries poulticing for a sick heart. “If I could talk - like that I’d be a real lady.” Overland girls give helpful - advice. A word that drove a mustang to desperation. - - Chapter X—The Round-up - - “Pap sure was a scream,” declares Judy. The Overland - Riders witness a thrilling round-up. Stacy Brown - gets into new difficulties. J. Elfreda is accused of - frightening a wild steer to death. Bad news from - up the valley. - - Chapter XI—Hippy Defends the Ranch - - Lieutenant Wingate’s suspicions aroused. Two - ruffians are neatly trapped. The ranch-house under - rifle fire. A ruse that succeeded. “I’ve got to take - a chance.” Rifle bullets rip through the old house. - Disaster again overtakes the Overland Rider. - - Chapter XII—At the Last Moment - - An alarm scatters the mountain ruffians. “Hit the - trail! Hit it hard!” Cowpunchers find the ranch-house - on fire. A dramatic scene in Joe Bindloss’s - home. Captives give sullen replies. “The herd’s - stampeded an’ Pop’s been shot!” cries Idaho Jones. - - Chapter XIII—An Overlander Is Missing - - Hippy at last regains consciousness. Lieutenant - Wingate relates the story of the attack on the ranch-house. - Cowboys howl when they hear the news. Stacy Brown mysteriously - disappears. “The prisoners have got away!” - - Chapter XIV—The Lost Trail - - Malcolm Hornby refuses Joe Bindloss’s request. - “Pap’s got an awful grouch today.” Jim fails to - follow Chunky’s trail. The search is given up for - the night. Judy acts strangely. “Something has - happened to Jim!” Sam Conifer meets disaster. - - Chapter XV—Clews That Were Loaded - - The old guide finds the trail and a bullet finds him. - Stacy and Jim are among the missing. Two-gun - Pete makes a strange discovery. The mystery of - the carrier pigeons. Birds for a pie. “Wal, I’ll be - shot!” exclaims Joe Bindloss. - - Chapter XVI—The Carrier Pigeons’ Flight - - Chunky writes a letter for the Rustlers. “This - suspense is killing me!” cries Emma. High ransom - is demanded for the fat boy. How to follow the - trail of a bird. The “dove of peace” is liberated. - “I’ve got it!” shouts Sam Conifer. - - Chapter XVII—Stacy Decides to Leave - - How the Overland boy was captured. Mountain - ruffians make desperate plans. Money that came - down from the skies. “Put up yer hands, young - feller!” The fat boy in the toils. Stacy Brown finds - himself under arrest as a horse thief. - - Chapter XVIII—Trouble at Red Gulch - - Carrier pigeons point the way. The guide smells - smoke. Sam Conifer stalks the rustlers to their - lair. “Brown’ll be a dead dude by mornin’!” A - thunderbolt is hurled at the mountain ruffians. - Plotters get a rude surprise. - - Chapter XIX—A Duel in the Dark - - The magician’s wand. “Yer too yellow to draw!” - Sam reveals his identity to Mexican Charley. Six to - one. The outlaw takes a chance and loses. When the - light was shot out. “That’s what I calls a low-down - trick!” - - Chapter XX—Stacy Wields a Club - - The fat boy’s story is not believed. “All hoss thieves is - liars!” A barn his prison cell. “Heah’s yer chuck. - I hope it chokes ye!” Ordered to leave for prison. - Chunky turns the tables on his jailer and compliments - himself. - - Chapter XXI—Judy Brings Tidings - - A mysterious shot. Pete gets a bullet hole through - his hat. No trace of the missing Jim. Judy takes - her time in telling bad news. “Sam’s been killed - and Tom and Hippy wounded!” announces the - mountain girl. - - Chapter XXII— Riders of the Night - - Overland girls go in search of the missing ones. - Judy Hornby leads the way. The mountain cabin - found to be empty. Bindloss reads the trail. Startled - by the sound of shots. The worst is feared. “Fire! - They’ve set the grass on fire!” - - Chapter XXIII—Racing with Death - - Ponies become frantic with fear. Overland Riders feel - the thrill of the moment. “Faster!” cries the mountain - girl. Rifle shots sound nearer. A scene that - startled the Riders. The duel. A bandit meets his - reward. - - Chapter XXIV—Farewell to the Cosos - - Judy Hornby finds a new “Pap.” Stacy Brown - still stalked by trouble. “This feller is a hoss thief!” - When Judy’s dreams came true. - - - - -GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS AT CIRCLE O RANCH - - - - -CHAPTER I - -PEACE IN THE COSO VALLEY - - -“Does anyone know where we are at?” wondered Stacy Brown, the last -person to leave his berth in the car that morning. - -“We are in the Coso Valley,” replied Grace Harlowe Gray. - -“I never heard of it,” returned Stacy. “We are still in Southern -California, I presume.” - -“Of course. What a silly question!” interjected J. Elfreda Briggs -laughingly. - -“Young man, we are nearing our destination. If you don’t make haste -you will be left,” reminded Grace’s husband, Tom Gray. - -“Left! What a tragedy!” murmured Emma Dean. “By the way, Chunky, did -you dream last night?” she added, placing a hand on the fat boy’s -arm. - -“Of course I did. What’s the fun in sleeping if you don’t dream? I -dreamed that I was the King of England, and you should have seen—” - -“Stacy!” cried Emma in mock horror. “How unfortunate! To counteract -the effect of that unhappy dream, try tonight to dream that you are -a peasant. If you do not, some terrible misfortune is sure to -overtake you.” - -“Piffle! Where do you get that stuff, Emma? All right, Thomas. I’ll -be ready by the time the train stops,” added Stacy, addressing Tom -Gray, and moving on to the wash room, where he remained until the -train began to slow down for Carrago, their destination. Carrago was -a sleepy little far-western town whose only excuse for existence was -that it was the only trading center for the ranchers within a radius -of many miles in the broad valley that lay between the Argus and -Coso ranges, a remote section of the country selected by Grace -Harlowe’s Overland Riders for their regular summer’s outing in the -saddle. - -The scenery that morning had held the attention of the entire party -with the exception of Stacy, who had been too busy sleeping to give -heed to mere scenery, and the passengers were already detraining at -Carrago when he finally came rushing through the car. - -“Shall I brush you off?” asked the porter, facing him, broom in -hand. - -“Brush me off?” frowned Stacy, who thus far had avoided the porter. -“Well, no. I reckon that I’ll just get off in the ordinary way,” he -added, hurrying out to the vestibule of the Pullman and down to the -station platform. - -“That was rude of you, Stacy,” rebuked Miss Briggs, who had heard -the boy’s retort. - -“Rude? Huh! Do you think I want to be brushed off the train?” - -“Oh, Stacy! You are as hopeless as ever, aren’t you?” laughed Grace. -“Oh, this wonderful air!” she cried enthusiastically, turning to her -companions. “Tom, aren’t you going to look for the guide who was to -meet us here?” - -Tom Gray said that Hippy Wingate was attending to that, and just -then the Overlanders saw him halt before two bewhiskered natives -standing on the station platform side by side and assuming almost -identically the same pose. Both were old men. Their faces were -seamed and tanned, their shoulders stooped, and as they stood with -heads tilted back until their long beards protruded at almost the -same angle, they presented a picture that made the Overlanders -smile. - -“I am looking for Jim-Sam, who is to guide us,” announced Hippy, -addressing the men. - -“We’re Jim-Sam,” answered the men in chorus. “Be ye the dudes?” - -“Well, not exactly,” interjected Stacy Brown. - -“This is the party that engaged Jim-Sam,” repeated Hippy patiently. -“Which of you is Jim-Sam?” - -“Both of us,” added the taller of the two men. “I’m Sam, an’ this -heah galoot standin’ side me is Jim, an’—” - -“I’ll have ye understand that I ain’t no galoot,” objected Jim -heatedly, shaking a finger under Sam’s nose. - -“Hold on, you two! Let me get this clear,” interposed Tom Gray, -stepping up to them. “Do you mean that we have engaged, not one -guide, but two?” - -Sam explained that he and Jim were “pards,” and that they had always -worked together, and “fit an’ died together” these many years, -adding further, that Jim, being a spavined, ring-boned old cayuse -wasn’t much good to anyone, himself included, but that he could hold -the horses and howl like a coyote at the pack-horses to keep them -going. - -“Haw, haw!” exploded Stacy. - -“I don’t know about this,” muttered Hippy, removing his hat and -mopping his forehead. - -“Are you two gentlemen heavy eaters?” questioned Emma. “The reason I -ask is, that we already have two powerful eaters in this outfit, and -I doubt if we could stand to feed more like them.” - -“We kin rustle our own grub,” promised Jim. - -“I suggest that we go into executive session and talk this over,” -urged Miss Briggs. - -The suggestion was approved and the Overlanders withdrew for -discussion, Jim and Sam holding their positions, apparently the most -disinterested persons on the station platform. Inquiry developed -that the salary named in the letter of Jim-Sam covered the services -of both, so, after talking the matter over, the Overland Riders -decided to take on this strange pair to guide them. The fact that -the guides owned their own ponies and pack-mules was an added -inducement. Otherwise it would be necessary to hire or buy -pack-animals. - -Hippy Wingate told the guides that they had been accepted, then he -introduced each member of the party to them. Nora Wingate laughingly -warned the pair that they were embarking on a perilous undertaking -when they set out with the Overland Riders, whereat Jim-Sam’s -whiskers stiffened, but the owners made no reply. - -Emma Dean, speaking confidentially to Hippy, objected to guides -wearing such long whiskers, though she thought the men themselves -might do very well. Emma was of the opinion that such whiskers were -not sanitary, and averred that if San Antone, who had guided them -through the Black Hills, were present he would correct the fault by -shooting off the whiskers without making the slightest fuss about -it. - -Tom interrupted Emma’s conversation by urging that the Overland -ponies be unloaded at once, the car containing them having, by this -time, been shunted to a switch. - -“When do ye reckon on gittin’ out o’ heah?” asked Sam. - -“We shall be ready by the time you get your mules and packs ready,” -answered Hippy. “This outfit moves without fuss, but it occasionally -makes quite a racket in doing so. Get busy, boys!” - -Jim-Sam turned away, still side by side, each carrying himself with -a dignity that made the Overlanders laugh. While the provisions and -other equipment were being purchased by the women of the party, Tom -and Hippy unloaded the ponies, and Stacy, uttering many grunts and -groans, piled their equipment on the ground near the stock car. The -ponies were then secured to the tie-rail in front of the general -store, where they were looked over and felt of by every man in the -village, including several cowboys from neighboring ranches. - -During the unloading, Hippy and Tom had noticed a cowboy sitting on -a mustang some little distance from them, observing the Overland -operations with keen interest. - -“Who is that fellow?” asked Hippy of a bystander. - -The native shook his head, and the horseman, seeing that he had -attracted attention to himself, jerked his pony about and trotted -away. - -“I don’t like the looks of that chap,” declared Tom. - -“I reckon he’s all right. Most cowpunchers look tougher than they -really are, though it is quite possible that we may meet up with -some real rough-necks. I have heard that they are not difficult to -find in the Coso range,” replied Hippy. - -“Oh, there come our heavenly twins,” cried Emma, who had returned -from the store with an armful of packages. - -Jim and Sam had just appeared dragging a pair of unwilling mules, -behind which, saddled and bridled, trailed two long-haired mustangs. -The two men were alternately arguing and berating each other and -threatening the mules. - -“What kind of an outfit is this?” wondered Emma, her merry eyes -regarding the scene. - -“You may search me,” was Hippy’s laughing reply. “Here come the -other girls. Good gracious! Where do they expect to stow all that -stuff? Jim-Sam, pull up here and sling your packs. Is that as fast -as those mules can travel? If so you had better leave them at home.” - -The guides were too busy arguing to give heed to Hippy’s words, but -when they reached the station platform they took hold of the work -with surprising alacrity and began rolling packs with skillful -hands. - -“What are they?” asked Emma, pointing to the lazy mules. - -“Jest mules,” answered Jim without looking up, and Sam echoed his -statement. “Don’t have to have no names. When my long-haired cayuse -does somethin’ he oughtn’t, Sam gives him er kick, an’ when Sam’s -critter cuts up capers I give his’n the boot.” - -“No names?” wondered Emma. “Yes, but what do you call them when you -want them to come to you?” - -“Missie, what we calls ’em sometimes ain’t sootable fer a young -woman to hear,” grinned Jim. - -“Then kindly see that you do not call them,” retorted Emma, turning -away. - -The Overlanders observed that their guides now wore heavy revolvers -and that the saddle-boot of each held a rifle, which aroused -apprehension in the minds of at least two of the girls. Jim-Sam, -however, assured them that the Coso Valley and the mountain ranges -on either side of it were as peaceful as “Sunday meetin’,” and, -further, that “nothin’” ever happened there. Something did threaten -to happen, though, when it came to lashing the packs to the mules, -and Jim-Sam instantly became involved in a violent argument as to -how the packs should be “thrown,” the two men in their anger shaking -belligerent fists under each other’s nose until they nearly came to -blows. - -“If I had a disposition like your’n I’d go shoot myself,” raged Jim. - -“If I was a cantankerous cuss like you I’d go live with the coyotes -where I could snarl all day an’ bark all night. Git outer my way -afore I soak ye in the jaw!” threatened Sam. - -“That’s right, Sam. Hit him!” urged Stacy Brown. “He isn’t any -good.” - -“Yes, he is, too! Don’t ye say nothin’ agin my pardner. I ain’t -standin’ fer nothin’ like that.” - -“Here, here!” interrupted Tom Gray. “Stacy, let these men alone and -pack your pony. Jim-Sam, you will stop your quarreling and do your -work or we may change our minds about taking you along.” - -“You understand, we wish to head for the Bindloss ranch—the Circle -O Ranch, I believe they call it. We do not know Bindloss, but we -propose to get acquainted with him.” Hippy grinned as he said it. - -“This really promises to be a peaceful journey,” observed Miss -Briggs solemnly, whereat the Overland girls gave way to the -merriment that for some moments they had been restraining, then -preparations for the start were resumed with renewed speed and -vigor. - -Departure for the Circle O was made within an hour. The Circle O was -a ranch where a friend of Lieutenant Hippy Wingate had put up while -on a hunting trip in the mountains some time before, and it was -because of what his friend had told him of Old Joe Bindloss and his -ranch that Hippy decided to take in the Circle O on their summer’s -ride. - -The start was accomplished to the accompaniment of shouts and yells -from Jim-Sam to get the mules started and headed in the right -direction as well as to keep them going. It was a task that proved -too much for the old guides, who, finally, after getting well out in -the valley, rode on ahead with the Overlanders. The pack-mules, -finding themselves being left behind, increased their pace and soon -caught up with the outfit. - -“That’s the way with mules. Contrary critters jest like some fellers -I know of,” volunteered Jim, giving Sam a withering glance. “If ye -wants ’em to go back’ards jest try to drive ’em for’ards.” - -“An’ then agin, some fellers is so gosh darn stubborn they won’t go -either way when ye tells ’em to go t’other,” retorted Sam. “Folks, -git yer appetites workin’ fer we’ll soon be eatin’.” - -Luncheon that first day was taken sitting on the sand by a water -hole, and was a brief affair, for Jim-Sam had a camping place in -mind, to reach which meant a long, hard ride. It was some time after -nightfall when they arrived there, and still later when the lazy -mules dragged themselves in, uttering long-drawn brays of -satisfaction or dissatisfaction or whatever it might be. The animals -were quickly relieved of their packs and turned loose to roll and -feed on the desert sage through the night. All day long Jim-Sam had -argued and quarreled, and by the time they made camp they had -reached a point where they no longer spoke to each other. - -“What are we going to do with them?” wondered Tom Gray frowningly. - -“Keep them, of course,” answered Grace. “Tom, they are a real treat, -but if Stacy and Emma do not stop stirring them up we may have to -send for the sheriff of the county. Just look at them now,” she -added laughingly. - -Jim and Sam were sitting back to back unrolling packs, each man -muttering to himself his opinion of the other. Later in the evening -the Overlanders got them talking and drew the guides out. It -developed that the pair had been prospectors nearly all their lives; -that they had loved and fought each other for so many years that -they had lost count of them, and when their halting story had -finally been finished, the Overland Riders looked upon Jim-Sam with -new appreciation. Emma Dean characterized them as a pair of “beloved -vagabonds.” - -This having been their first day in the saddle since the previous -season, the Overlanders were saddle-weary, and some of them -were sore and lame. Miss Briggs hobbled about painfully and -complainingly, and Nora Wingate lay by the little campfire rolled in -her blanket, the picture of woe. Emma and Grace, however, appeared -not to be suffering the slightest degree of discomfort. - -Jim cooked the supper, and it was a good one, for he made biscuits -and served them hot, soaked in bacon gravy, a luxury to which the -Riders had not been accustomed. They made the most of their -opportunity, and Stacy Brown’s appetite, as usual, was not fully -satisfied until some time after his companions had finished supper. -Then all hands gathered about the fire for a chat. - -“Samuel, do you ever dream?” questioned Emma after thoughtfully -regarding the old guide for some moments. - -“Sure I do, Missie. I dreamed last night that that critter—that -ornery mule o’ Jim’s—kicked the everlasting daylight out o’ me,” -growled Sam. - -“Oh, you don’t mean it? That was fine,” glowed Emma. - -“Eh?” Sam’s whiskers stood out belligerently. The old guide’s -whiskers could express varying shades of emotion. - -“Your dream means that you are going to have good luck—the best -ever. Perhaps you are about to discover a gold mine or a hole in the -ground where one has been, or something like that,” bubbled Emma. - -“Wrong up here again,” muttered Stacy Brown, significantly tapping -his head with a finger. - -“I should say that Emma has read one of those five-cent dream -books,” suggested Miss Briggs. - -“It is my opinion that she has been fitting herself for a lunatic -seminary—cemeter—sanitarium,” corrected Stacy. - -“Tell us about it,” urged Grace, smiling over at Miss Dean. - -“I will if you folks won’t laugh at me. I am a student of Professor -Freud’s new science of dreams,” announced Emma with dignity. “The -professor has demonstrated beyond question that there is an -imponderable quality within us—” - -“You mean hot biscuit and gravy,” interjected Hippy Wingate. “Since -I overate this evening I surely have an imponderable quality in my -midst,” he added amid much laughter. - -Emma elevated a disdainful chin. - -“I see nothing funny in a scientific discussion,” she retorted. “As -I was about to say when so rudely interrupted, Professor Freud has -conclusively proved that every dream has its meaning—that the -imponderable quality in the subconscious mind never ceases to work; -that it even works when we sleep, and—” - -“Old Subconscious ought to join a union,” suggested Stacy. - -“And that, if we will but learn a few simple rules, we shall be able -to interpret those dreams and be better able to avoid many perils as -well as to take advantage of real opportunities. Always let the -imponderable quality have its way,” urged Emma. - -Jim-Sam’s whiskers drooped, and the Overlanders repressed their -laughter. - -“Perhaps you yourself might dream out the solution of a mystery for -us,” suggested Grace. “I mean as to the identity and purpose of the -horseman who has been riding a parallel course with us all day, -evidently keeping us under observation.” - -The guides gave her a quick, keen look. - -“Miss, I reckon as ye ain’t no tenderfoot,” observed Sam dryly. - -“A man following us?” cried Nora. “It has come already! I knew it -would. I knew that trouble would follow this outfit, just as it has -done from the moment we set out over the Old Apache Trail right on -down until we ended our vacation in the Black Hills last summer.” - -Others of the party had observed the solitary horseman, but had -attached no particular significance to his traveling in the same -direction that they were following. - -“Watching us, do you think?” wondered Emma. - -“What about him, Jim-Sam?” demanded Tom Gray. - -“Wal, I reckons mebby he is the feller that was hangin’ ’round when -ye folks was unloadin’ at Carrago. He was a-snoopin’, an’ I don’t -reckon as he was doin’ it fer no good. I didn’t like the look of him -nohow,” growled Jim. - -“Ye ain’t dreamed nothin’ ’bout that, has ye, Miss Dean?” asked Sam. - -“No. Not yet. However, in case it means trouble for us either I or -one of the others will get a reaction in advance and—” - -“Ha, ha!” laughed Hippy. “A reaction in advance! That surely is a -new one. Were Freud to hear that he himself surely would have a bad -attack of nightmare.” - -“I mean that one of us will feel that imponderable quality stirring -within us,” explained Emma, her color rising. “We shall know. No -harm can come to us without our being warned in advance. I—” - -A volley of revolver shots punctuated the silence of the desert -night—shots close at hand, accompanied by yells, hoots and howls, -and the thudding of many unshod hoofs. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -ON THE ROAD TO TROUBLE - - -“Merciful heaven! What is that?” cried Nora Wingate, the color -rushing to her cheeks, then instantly receding, leaving them -blanched with fear. - -The Overland Riders were, for the moment, too startled to move, and -it was Jim and Sam who first sprang to their feet. - -“Look out! They aire comin’!” warned Sam. - -The girls ran for the protection of their tents, with the exception -of Emma Dean, who appeared to be too frightened to stir. Tom and -Hippy were on their feet a second or so behind Jim-Sam, each with a -hand on his revolver holster, while Stacy had disappeared on the -dark side of his tent. Stacy Brown always believed in safety first, -and he seldom lost many seconds in applying that principle. - -All this occurred within the space of a few seconds, during which -the shooting and the shouting had ceased, but the hoof-beats of -ponies sounded much nearer to the camp. Then the Overlanders saw -them. Wild riders they were, shadowy figures in the night, keeping -just beyond the flickering rays shed by the campfire, but circling -the camp, racing their mustangs. Once more their shrill penetrating -yells split the silence, followed by a rattling fire of revolver -shots. - -“They’re shootin’ into the air. They don’t mean no harm. Keep -steady!” urged Jim. - -“Shoo them off, Jim-Sam! Somebody will be shooting lower than that -if this keeps on for many minutes,” warned Hippy Wingate. - -“Git out o’ this, ye galoots!” yelled Sam as one rider, bolder than -the others, drove his pony right through the camp. The animal -hurdled the campfire and ran between two of the Overland tents. -Yells from his companions greeted the achievement. - -The night rider repeated the performance, but this time Jim-Sam -fired at the same instant, one bullet snipping off the rider’s hat, -the other fanning the hind hoofs of the pony. - -“Now you’ve done it, you poor, crazy coyote!” roared Sam. - -“I didn’t. You did it yourself. I fanned the critter’s feet,” -retorted Jim. “Look out, they’re comin’ fer keeps this time!” - -They were. - -The wild night riders had circled out on the desert until joined by -the man who had twice ridden through the Overland camp, then they -drove their ponies straight at the camp, uttering thrilling yells -and shooting into the air. They were upon the camp before the -Overland Riders fully realized what their attackers were doing. The -man in the lead rode down the little tent beside which Stacy Brown -was in hiding, and Stacy, who had armed himself with a tent stake, -hurled it at the fellow as he passed. The stake reached its -mark—the neck of the rider—and the man sagged in his saddle as the -pony rushed on into the darkness. - -“I hit him!” yelled Stacy. - -The rest of the riders went through with a rush. - -“Do that agin’ an’ I’ll wing ye!” howled Sam. - -The attackers did it again. The tents no longer being a safe refuge, -the girls ran out and stood by the campfire so that the night riders -might see and avoid them. Emma stood a few yards from them, where -she had been standing since the excitement began. This time the -riders rode down the rest of the tents, with weapons still shooting -into the air. - -Sam had returned his revolver to its holster, but a nervous hand -trembled on the butt of the weapon—trembled not because of any fear -of its owner, but because all the nervous tension of a trained -gunman was centered in it. The riders were growing wilder with each -passing second, and Sam was growing proportionately calmer, with -shoulders slouched forward and whiskers standing out at a sharper -angle. It was plain that nothing short of shooting with intent to -wound or kill could stay the orgy of those wild night riders and -their mustangs whose flashing heels were a peril to every member of -the Overland party. Both Jim and Sam, knowing that aggressive action -on their part would bring down the wrath of the riders, hesitated. - -There came a moment, however, when restraint was no longer possible. -The horsemen had cleared the camp and were turning for another sweep -over it when a rider on a dust-covered pony came galloping into the -light of the campfire. - -“Whoo-pee!” he howled, his lariat in a great loop spinning over his -head. - -“Look out!” roared Jim warningly, for he saw where the rope was -going to drop. - -His warning failed of its purpose. The lariat came down in a flash, -and the great loop, holding its form in a perfect circle, dropped -neatly over the head of Emma Dean. - -At first Emma did not realize what had happened, but as the coil -suddenly tightened about her waist she uttered a scream. Her feet -left their footing and Emma measured her length on the ground, the -coil gripping her tighter and tighter, though the roper had checked -the speed of his mustang and was letting the rope slip slowly -through his hands. - -Sam’s hand was trembling on the butt of his revolver more agitated -than before. The trembling ceased suddenly, and there followed a -twitch of the wrist, a flash, and a sharp report. The roper uttered -a yell and let go of his lariat. Sam’s shot had shattered his wrist. - -Hippy sprang to Emma and freed her of the lariat. - -“Git down!” yelled Sam. “The varmits is goin’ to shoot!” - -The “varmits” shot lower this time, but every member of the Overland -party had taken to the shadows and thrown themselves down, as the -rider who had roped Emma dashed out holding his wounded wrist, -yelling to his companions to take it out of the man who had shot -him. - -By this time Tom and Hippy had gotten their rifles and were watching -and waiting, fully expecting further and more serious trouble. It -came in the shape of another charge of the night riders. This time -their yells were savage. The new note in them told the Overlanders -what was coming. - -“Let ’em have it, fellers!” urged Jim. - -“Girls, keep down!” called Grace Harlowe, as Emma Dean once more -stood up. “Isn’t once enough for you?” - -Emma permitted herself to sink to the ground, just in time to avoid -a rattling fire of revolver shots from the raiders. - -At this juncture, Jim and Sam let go with their heavy revolvers, -followed a few seconds later by the crash of the two Overland -rifles. That some of their bullets had taken effect the Overlanders -knew by the angry yells of their attackers. A rider’s pony went down -on its nose at the very edge of the camp and its rider plunged -forward to the ground, whereupon the pony staggered to its feet and -limped away, but the rider lay where he had fallen. - -“Jim-Sam, don’t kill ’em!” begged Tom Gray. “Drive ’em off, that’s -all.” - -The fellow’s companions, leaning from saddles, dragged the wounded -man away, whence he was flung on a mustang and carried off, but how -badly the fellow was hurt the Overlanders had no means of knowing. -They kept on shooting just the same, backed up now by the weapons of -Jim-Sam, and it took but a few shots from the heavy weapons to drive -the raiders away. - -“Now, ye infernal idiot! Do ye reckon ye’ve done enough fer one -night?” demanded Jim sarcastically. - -“I reckon I done too much when I saved yer miserable hide from them -raiders,” flung back Sam. “Anybody git hurt?” - -“I believe that I am the only casualty, but it was only my feelings -that were hurt by the fall that my pride got,” replied Emma. “This -is indeed a peaceful valley, isn’t it, Sam? Nothing ever happens -here. Oh, no!” - -Suppressed chuckles greeted Emma’s retort, but Jim and Sam had -already run out of camp to make certain that the raiders had really -gone away. The guides found that they had departed, but fearing that -the attackers might return, they decided to watch the camp for the -rest of the night. - -The Overland Riders, acting upon the suggestion of Sam, were putting -out the fire and beginning to get the camp in condition for -sleeping, when Stacy Brown strolled into the scene. He had not been -seen since the attack began. - -“My tent is all down and torn,” he complained. - -“So are others,” reminded Nora. “What shall we do about it?” - -“Nothing until daylight,” answered Tom briefly. - -“I suppose I am responsible for driving those ruffians away,” -boasted the fat boy. “I hit that fellow an awful wallop with a tent -stake when he went past me, and that made the rest of the gang more -careful. Think of it! I didn’t have to fire a shot to do it, -either!” - -“Yes. You did it all, little man. But if you love us, never again -dream that you are the King of England or the Emperor of the -Cannibal Islands. I read in that dream of yours that something -terrible was going to happen. Oh, Sam! That was a wonderful shot of -yours,” she complimented glowingly, turning to the guide as he -stalked in, combing his whiskers with his hand. “It was perfectly -adorable of you to shoot that fellow after he had roped me. And such -a shot! Did you mean to hit him in the wrist or did you shoot at the -pony’s feet?” questioned Emma innocently. - -Sam’s whiskers bristled. - -“I reckon I hit what I shot at,” he answered briefly. - -“How wonderful! I wish I could shoot like that.” She tapped his -holster, and smiled up into the weatherbeaten face. - -“You kin. I’ll larn ye, Missie. You’ve got the feel of a gun in yer -make-up. We’ll talk about it later on.” - -“Yes,” agreed Tom Gray. “Other matters are of more importance at the -moment. What have you to say about the attack on us? What does it -mean?” - -“I reckon they aire a lot of wild cowboys that wanted to have some -fun with us,” drawled Sam. - -“No. I don’t agree with you,” spoke up Grace. “They were too savage -for men bent on having fun with a party of campers. I have been -wondering if the mysterious horseman, that kept abreast of us all -day, had anything to do with the raid?” - -“Cowboys on a spree,” persisted Sam. - -“Ain’t no such thing,” interjected Jim, coming in in time to hear -his partner’s assertion. “Any galoot with a spoonful o’ brains under -his hair would know better ’n that. Them’s wild horse hunters!” - -“Huh! Know it all, don’t ye?” leered Sam. - -“Have to, bein’ as I’m hitched up with you.” - -The laughter of the Overlanders put an end to the argument of the -two guides, following which preparations for the night were resumed. -It was decided not to try to mend the tents until daylight, which -meant that some of the party must sleep on the ground in the open. -J. Elfreda Briggs objected loudly. - -“There are rattlesnakes here! I saw one today. What if one should -crawl into my blanket in the night? I know I should die of fright.” - -“Silly!” rebuked Emma. “If such a thing should occur, I’ll tell you -what to do. Don’t move a muscle nor make a sound, but call for Sam, -and he will shoot the head off the reptile without so much as -disturbing your rest.” - -“Emma Dean, your logic is overwhelming. As a lawyer I fully -appreciate it, and I thank you for the suggestions. Without moving -and without speaking, I will yell for Sam and he will fan my cheek -with a bullet, and during it all I shall slumber on as peacefully as -a babe in its cradle. Lovely!” - -“Never mind the snakes. Turn in!” ordered Hippy. - -An hour later the camp was asleep and just outside of it prowled Jim -and Sam, halting to growl at each other when they met on their -rounds. Only once during the night was the quiet disturbed. About -two o’clock in the morning Jim-Sam heard a body of horsemen moving. -It was but a faint thudding that was borne to their ears, and after -listening for some time they heard the hoof-beats die away in the -distance. - -“Glad we ain’t got to do no more shootin’,” observed Sam. “Might -wake up the gals and that shore would be too bad. Say, Jim, that -little Missie Dean, with the freckled face like a speckled trout, -shore’s got spunk.” - -“A-huh! Mebby she’ll lend ye some of it,” retorted Jim. - -“Shet up!” growled Sam, and strode away for another round of the -camp. - -A pack of coyotes at this juncture barked in a yelping chorus, and -the Overlanders heard them but only faintly, for it was now a -familiar sound to them after their many nights in the wilder places -of their native land. - -Morning dawned bright and beautiful. The day promised to be warm, -and, as Elfreda Briggs opened her eyes, her first thought was of -snakes; and her next, the sweet, pungent, penetrating fragrance of -sage which lay heavy on the morning air. A cautious investigation -showed that no serpent had taken refuge in her blanket, whereat -Elfreda Briggs heaved a deep sigh of relief. - -Sam stood a short distance from her, whiskers standing out, shading -his eyes with a hand as he gazed over the surrounding country. He -stood straight like an Indian, and Elfreda found herself studying -this strange old man of the hills and the desert—studying him with -a new interest. He was rather above medium height with the small -hips of a rider. His eyes were faintly gray, and his was the lean, -strong face of the man of the open, a face that was lined with -wrinkles, and as he gazed there was a look of nobility about it that -held her fascinated. - -The guide turned suddenly and saw her. He smiled and passed a hand -over his whiskers. - -“What is it, Sam?” questioned Elfreda. - -“Mornin’! Nothin’ but a little cloud o’ dust. Might have been made -by a hoss or a little wind pocket.” - -The Overlanders now began to sit up and rub their eyes. - -“Breakfast is nigh ready. That no ’count pard o’ mine is fryin’ the -bacon an’ I reckon he’s boiled the coffee till it ain’t fit to feed -to coyotes,” observed Sam. - -“Do coyotes drink coffee?” questioned Emma, blinking in the strong -morning light. - -“I reckon they takes somethin’ like that to keep ’em awake nights,” -answered Sam, whereat the Overlanders laughed and began throwing off -their blankets, all now fully awake. - -The camp looked to be a wreck, but a hurried examination revealed -that it was not as bad as it looked. There were rents in the -flattened tents that would call for the work of the women to repair, -and some of the packs had been trampled on by the raiding ponies. - -It was decided to put tents and equipment in condition before -starting out, and this took nearly half of the forenoon, so the -start was not made until after luncheon. - -Not a human being had been seen all that morning, nothing of a -disturbing nature had occurred except the dust cloud that Sam had -discovered. A few hours after they set out, however, a horseman was -discovered in the far distance, sitting motionless in his saddle. He -did not move until the Overland party had proceeded some two miles, -whereupon he started along on a parallel course. - -“It is our mysterious horseman, I am positive,” announced Grace, -after a long look through her binoculars. - -At Hippy’s suggestion the party changed their course and headed -directly for the course that the stranger was following. Shortly -after that he too changed his course. Several similar experiments -were made by the Overlanders, and always with the same result. It -became plain to them that the mysterious horseman was keeping them -under observation, but for what reason not even Jim-Sam seemed to be -able to guess. - -These deviations had carried the Overlanders some distance out of -their way, and to reach their proposed camping place for that night -would necessitate traveling after dark, so the guides decided to -camp at the nearest water hole, which proved to be located in the -foothills. There the foliage was greener and fresher, and bunches of -grass made fine grazing for the ponies. - -Supper was an enjoyable affair that evening, especially so because -Jim and Sam enlivened the occasion by wrangling over the way that -Jim had cooked the beans for their mess. Jim, finally becoming too -enraged to eat, got up and stalked away, whereupon Sam gravely ate -his own portion, and then finished all that Jim had left. - -The party had barely finished supper when the familiar hoof-beats of -a rapidly riding party of horsemen were heard. The Overlanders were -on their feet in an instant, each member of the party hurriedly -throwing on his holster, then looking to Jim-Sam for orders. - -“I reckon nobody ain’t goin’ to do no shootin’ till I’ve had a first -crack at the cayuses,” ordered Sam. - -The Overland Riders tensed their muscles and their nerves for what -they believed was to be a battle in earnest. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -AN INVITATION TO MOVE - - -“They’ve stopped!” breathed Grace. - -“One of ’em hain’t,” answered Jim. “He’s comin’ on.” - -“Jim-Sam, you sit tight, both of you. I’ll talk with him,” said -Hippy, stepping forward a little to get the light of the campfire at -his back. - -A man on a gray bronco rode out of the shadows at a slow trot, and -pulled up a few yards from the camp where he sat surveying the -outfit. No one spoke, but the Overlanders were ready for any hostile -move. - -After a few seconds the horseman slipped from his saddle, tossed the -bridle-rein over the pommel, and clanked towards the Overlanders. -Hippy stepped forward to meet him. The newcomer was short and -swarthy. He wore a Mexican sombrero, fancifully decorated; a gun -swung at his hip and a row of brass-tipped cartridges showed in his -belt. Black, searching eyes swept from one to another of the -Overland Riders, finally returning to Hippy Wingate and resting on -him with a challenge in their depths. - -“Well! Now that you have given us the once-over, what’s the big -idea?” demanded Hippy. - -“Who be you?” snapped the horseman. - -“I might ask the same question.” - -“Don’t git funny. It ain’t healthy,” warned the fellow. - -“We are here for reasons best known to ourselves, which can be of no -interest to you. Are you one of the party that attacked us last -night?” - -“No, I don’t know nothin’ ’bout that.” - -“Then what do you want here?” - -“To tell you to git out! You ain’t got no business here. Pack up an’ -mush out o’ this, an’ if you don’t do it fast enough I’ve got boys -that’ll help you along.” - -Jim-Sam were getting nervous, but they were obeying orders. Tom Gray -stepped forward and asked the reason for the stranger’s demand. - -“These heah is grazin’ grounds fer stock, and the man that owns them -don’t ’low no others on his land. Yer stock is eatin’ up the grass -that belongs to his cattle, so you’ll have to hike out of this heah -valley, and do it quick.” - -“Stranger! Who is this feller that owns this range?” drawled Sam. - -“Hornby! Malcolm Hornby of the ‘Double Q’ ranch,” was the prompt -reply. - -“Stranger, I ain’t particular ’bout stirrin’ up trouble, bein’ an -old man and a little rheumatic in the joints, an’ ’specially in the -trigger finger, but what would ye say if I said ye was a liar?” -asked Sam half humorously, though the expression in his eyes was not -in harmony with his tone. - -“I reckon I’d kill ye whar ye stand!” shot back the fellow, flushing -hotly under his tan. - -“So?” nodded the guide. - -“Is what this man says the truth?” demanded Tom Gray, turning to -Sam. - -“This heah land don’t b’long to Hornby. Mebby he grazes his stock -heah, but this grass don’t b’long to nobody. We got as much right to -graze our stock heah as he has, an’ that’s all that’s to say ’bout -it.” - -“You have your answer, Mr. Man. I don’t know your game, but it is my -opinion that you are not only what this gentleman has called you, -but that you are bad medicine as well,” declared Tom Gray, looking -the caller squarely in the eyes. - -“Meanin’ that I’m a liar?” - -“I reckon that’s about the size of it.” - -“Get out of here!” commanded Hippy sharply. “We can take care of -ourselves.” - -The stranger’s hand flew to his holster, but there the hand paused. - -“Easy thar! Don’t draw,” warned Sam whose own right hand hovered -near his weapon. “It ain’t safe. You might hurt somebody, or mebby I -might hurt you, an’ that wouldn’t do nohow before these young women -who don’t like to see a feller git hurt. But if you’ve got to draw, -pint your gun this way an’ mebby I ain’t too old or my rheumatiz -ain’t too crinkly so that I can’t dodge yer bullet.” - -The stranger’s hand closed over the butt of his revolver and half -drew the weapon from its holster. It drew no further, for the fellow -suddenly found himself facing Sam’s weapon, which had been drawn -with a speed that must have been a revelation to him, because his -face reflected amazement, as well as rage. - -“If ye must shoot that gun off, take my advice an’ come ’round in -the daytime when ye can see better, an’ we’ll fit it out man to man. -But git! This ain’t no company fer a feller like you who can’t talk -without a gun in his hand. Be ye goin’?” - -“Yes, but I’ll come back and you’ll be the one to git,” the fellow -flung at him, turning abruptly on his heel. - -“Hol’ on a minute thar!” commanded the guide. “Don’t try to start -nothin’ at all heah. These friends of mine an’ these fine young -women has seen yer kind before an’ they’d as lief shoot as not. Go -back to Hornby, if he sent ye, an’ tell him to come out hisself if -he is so tarnation ’fraid we’ll spile this grass. Jest a word more. -We’ll watch ye an’ if ye try any tricks we’ll shoot. That’s all I’ve -got to say to ye.” - -“You’ll hear from me!” shouted the departing caller as he flung -himself into his saddle. - -“I hear ye now, but yer voice sounds like as if ye was afraid of -somethin’,” drawled Sam. - -The fellow rode away without another word. - -“Follow him, Sam!” urged Grace. “We don’t know but they may rush us, -just as the raiders did last night,” warned Grace. - -“Leave it to Jim. He’s out thar an’ Jim kin trail a canary bird -without the bird ever knowin’ it. Jim’ll give us the word if them -fellers try any of their fancy tricks.” - -“Oh, Samuel, why didn’t you shoot while you had an excuse for doing -so?” begged Emma. - -The Overlanders laughed. They knew Emma and they did not take her -suggestion seriously. - -Half an hour later, during which time the Overland Riders had -remained quietly alert, Jim came stalking in, stroking his whiskers. - -“Have they gone?” questioned the Overlanders in chorus. - -“I reckon they knowed what was good for ’em, so they skedaddled,” -replied Jim. - -“Which way an’ whar did they go?” demanded Sam. - -“West! How do I know whar they went?” - -“If you was half a man you would know. You ain’t no more ’count, an’ -not half so much use, as that tarnation mule that carries yer pack. -But it ain’t your fault, an’ I reckon I oughter not set so much -store by you. A feller can’t be blamed much because he was borned -with half a teaspoonful of brains in his haid,” raged Sam. - -“I s’pose ye think you an’ that mule of yourn has all the brains in -this heah outfit. Wal, I reckon you’re part right ’cause you an’ the -mule has got some brains, but when the Lord made ye he got you two -mixed. He thought you was the mule, so he give you the mule’s brains -an’ the mule got yourn. I reckon—” - -“Oh, shet up, will ye?” snarled Sam savagely, tugging viciously at -his whiskers, while a gale of laughter swept over the Overland -Riders. Jim and Sam did not speak to each other again that night, -but glared as they met in their prowling about in ceaseless vigil of -the camp. - -The next morning found the guides still deadly enemies, but after -breakfast Emma cleared the clouds away by making a disparaging -remark about Jim to Sam, whereupon Sam promptly came to the defense -of his partner, and Jim heard it. - -A late start was made, the guides having informed their charges that -they were only a few hours’ ride from Old Joe Bindloss’s “Circle O” -ranch. An hour after the start they again discovered what they -believed to be their mysterious horseman, but he disappeared shortly -after luncheon and was seen no more, and the Overland Riders, making -a sharp turn to the right, now headed towards the purple haze behind -which lay the foothills and the mountains of the Coso range, where -adventure awaited them. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -AT THE “CIRCLE O” RANCH - - -Camp was pitched in the foothills about four o’clock that afternoon. -Grazing lands stretched away parallel with the mountain range as far -as the eye could see, and then were swallowed up in that everlasting -purple haze. - -Farther along the valley in the opposite direction they could make -out the buildings of the Bindloss ranch, to which Sam said they -would ride in the morning, as Hippy Wingate wished to introduce -himself to the owner. - -Cattle were grazing all along the foothills, hundreds of them, and -those close at hand were observed to have the brand of the “Circle -O” ranch. They were part of the great herd belonging to Old Joe -Bindloss, a rich rancher, a hard man, according to Sam, but -respected as a just one. - -Cowboys riding in to the ranch-house for supper gazed curiously at -the outfit that was making camp, for it was seldom that anything of -the sort was seen in the Coso Valley. Arriving at their headquarters -the cowboys reported what they had seen. Shortly after supper the -Overland Riders were again disturbed, and half a dozen cowboys rode -up in a cloud of dust, sweeping off their hats as they pulled down -their mustangs at the very edge of the camp. Their attitude was -stern, but not unfriendly, and the Overlanders surmised that they -were from the “Circle O” ranch, which they soon learned was the -fact. - -“The Old Man wants to know who you be and what you are doin’ heah,” -announced the spokesman. “He ’lows thet he don’t like no strangers -foolin’ ’round whar the stock is, and he says it’ll please him if -you move on.” - -“Say! This is a hospitable country, isn’t it?” cried Stacy Brown. -“Since I have been here, about all I have heard is, ‘Get out or get -shot up!’ Funny thing about it, though, is that we haven’t ‘got’ and -we haven’t been ‘shot up.’” - -“Be quiet, Stacy!” admonished Grace. - -“Please go back and tell Mr. Bindloss that it is Lieutenant Hippy -Wingate, and his friends from the east. Lieutenant Wingate is a -friend of Captain Gordon who was out here some time ago on a hunting -trip. Say to Mr. Bindloss that if he objects to our camping here, we -will go on up into the range and make camp there,” answered Hippy. - -“Wal, the Old Man reckoned thet if ye didn’t go we was to fetch ye -back whether ye wanted to come or not, but seein’ as thar’s ladies -heah mebby we won’t have to take only the men,” answered the -spokesman doubtfully. - -“Listen, Buddy! You go back and tell the Old Man to come and fetch -us himself if he wants to see us. Tell him Lieutenant Wingate said -so,” directed Hippy laughingly. - -The cowboys hesitated, surveyed the Overland outfit keenly, then, -whirling their ponies, dashed away towards the “Circle O” ranch. - -“Another one invites us to get out,” murmured Emma. “How exciting!” - -An hour later a bellowing “halloo” informed the Overland Riders that -they were about to receive another caller, and they surmised who it -was. The hail was answered in kind, then a horseman trotted in and -hopped off. He was a big, powerful-looking man, his face hard, -probably from exposure, but the cold gray eyes now held a sparkle -that was reassuring. - -“I’m Joe Bindloss. Where’s the duffer who dared me to come after -him?” - -“I’m the duffer,” answered Hippy, stepping forward. - -“Shake!” rumbled Old Joe Bindloss. “Any friend of Cap’n Gordon is a -friend of mine. We’ve had to be kinder careful out here lately -because there’s been some rustling done and the word has been passed -that there’s a big gang—a regular gang of thieves, that’s working -this section under all sorts of disguises.” - -“Meet _our_ gang, Mr. Bindloss; every one a rustler, but not the -kind you are looking for,” said Hippy laughingly. He then introduced -the rancher to the members of the Overland party, and lastly to the -guides. Bindloss peered at Sam. - -“Wal, strike me dead if it ain’t Sam Conifer!” shouted the rancher, -extending a mighty paw to Sam and another to Jim. “Do you folks -savvy this feller you’ve got here? You better savvy him if you know -what’s good for you. Sam, if you want to do the ‘Circle O’ a great -big favor you just get wise to the feller that’s stealing stock, but -give him a chance to draw so you can plug him proper. Come on up to -the ranch-house.” - -Hippy said they had intended to do so in the morning, and then asked -the rancher if he knew a man named Hornby. Bindloss’s face darkened -and a heavy scowl wrinkled his forehead. - -“I reckon I do. He and I don’t hook up nohow, but he’s got a -daughter that I reckon I wish was mine. Judy is a peach and you -ought to know her. Why do you ask me about Mal Hornby?” - -Tom Gray explained that they had been ordered to leave the grazing -grounds on the other side of the valley, and that the demand had -been made in Hornby’s name. He also told Bindloss about the raid of -the night before. - -“A-huh! Hornby ain’t got no call to tell you to get out. A Mexican -feller, you say? Probably one of the half-breeds that you’ll find -all over the ranges, and a bad lot they are, too. I don’t reckon -Hornby had to do with that.” - -“Who do you think the raiders were?” questioned Grace. - -“How do I know? I reckon, though, that mebby they were sent after -you. Somebody don’t want you folks hangin’ ’round these diggin’s, -but I reckon that Sam Conifer can take care of them. Eh, Sam?” - -“I reckon, but honest, Joe, my rheumatiz crinkles my fingers so that -I can’t throw a gun any more, let alone pulling the trigger,” -complained Sam. - -Bindloss laughed uproariously. - -“The feller who reckons on gettin’ you because of your rheumatiz is -a dead man before he leaves home that day. Say, folks, the boys are -having a little shindy in the ranch-house this evenin’, and they’d -be mighty pleased to have you all come over. The boys are a rough -gang, but they will treat you fine, you ladies.” - -“What kind of a shindy?” asked Nora. - -“A dance. They have a fiddle and a fellow who scrapes it, and they -may walk on your toes, but they’ll feel worse about it than you do.” - -“Oh, goodie! A dance! Of course we will go. Come on, folks. Oh, Mr. -Bindloss, do you ever dream?” asked Emma soberly. - -“Help!” murmured J. Elfreda. - -“Why, yes. I reckon I do, like everybody else does when they get -outside of too much chuck,” laughed the rancher. - -“Do you ever make a psychoanalysis of your dreams, Mr. Bindloss?” -questioned Emma, laying a hand on the rancher’s arm and gazing up -into his eyes. - -“Eh? Eh? A what?” he stammered. - -“You should learn to read your dreams. Freud says that all dreams -mean something—ungratified desires in life—imponderable somethings -that may mean great happiness, great sorrows, disaster—any number -of fine or frightful things. If you will tell me about your dreams I -will search out the imponderable quality in them and—” - -“Ride out, Miss Dean! Quick! Use your spurs because—” - -“Don’t be alarmed,” begged Elfreda. “She never gets violent. We are -in hopes that the mountain air may do her good.” The Overland Riders -burst out laughing, which, after a look at Emma, Old Joe Bindloss -joined in with a bellowing laugh. - -“Try that on the boys. They’ll be plumb locoed,” rumbled Bindloss. -“Are you going with me?” - -“Of course we are,” answered Emma. “Where’s my horse?” - -“I have ridden every foot that I am going to ride today,” protested -Miss Briggs. “Let’s walk.” - -The distance to the ranch being only about a mile the Overlanders -decided that they would walk, and the rancher, assuring them that -their stock and equipment would not be disturbed, Jim-Sam welcomed -the opportunity to accompany them. Bindloss led his mustang and -walked with them, and between Emma Dean’s quaint humor and Stacy -Brown’s broader fun-making, Bindloss was kept in a roar most of the -way home. - -He explained that he had no family, and that he seldom saw people of -the outside world except when he went to town, which was only at -rare intervals. He said that his men were preparing for a round-up -and that within a few days a bunch of his cowboys would start with a -drove of cattle for the north. He led his new friends to the -dance-house, which was the cowboys’ bunk-house, and there he -introduced them to that rollicking crowd. - -The fiddler stopped playing the moment the party appeared in the -bunk-house. - -Sierra Joe, Squint Nevada, Sallie, and Two-gun Peters, were among -the names that rolled readily from the tongue of the rancher as he -introduced his men to the Overland Riders. - -“And if they don’t talk you to death I reckon they’ll dance you to -death,” warned the rancher, grinning at his men. “Scrape, you lazy -lout!” he roared to the fiddler. - -The cowboys were shy, and stood about awkwardly, avoiding the eyes -of the girls who were smiling invitingly. - -“See here, boys, aren’t you going to ask us to dance?” cried Emma. -“No? Then I am going to ask you. Two-gun Peters, I like your name. -It is a perfectly adorable name, and I want to dance with you. If -you are half as handy with your feet as your name indicates that you -are with your revolver, we’ll have a heavenly dance. Shake your -feet, Peter!” - -There was laughter from the Overlanders, a bellowing laugh from Joe -Bindloss and sheepish grins from Two-gun Peters and his fellows, as -Emma grabbed him and began waltzing about with him. Then the other -girls of the party selected their partners, and in a few moments the -cowboys were dancing, milling about as if they were herding cattle -at a round-up. Stamping feet, shrill cries from the fiddler and an -occasional howl from Stacy Brown, who was doing an Indian dance by -himself, made the old bunk-house ring, and raised the dust until the -room was bathed in a yellow haze. - -Jim and Sam, grinning and pulling their whiskers, were watching the -fun and trying to talk to Bindloss, but the old rancher was having -altogether too good a time to say much to them. - -“I wish Judy was over here. She’d see somethin’ worth while,” he -finally confided to Tom Gray. - -“Two-gun, do you ever dream?” Emma was saying as she swept past them -with her partner. - -“Why—I—I reckon I do,” admitted Two-gun. “Why?” - -“Did you ever hear of a man named Freud, the world’s most scientific -interpreter of dreams?” questioned the little freckle-faced girl -gazing soulfully up into the eyes of the big cowboy. - -“I shore did heah of a feller of thet name. He was a cattle rustler -an’ I reckon he’s havin’ a long dream, ’cause they caught him and -hanged him up on Rainy Mountain ’bout three year ago. He shore was -some rustler, an’ thar’s some others of the same kind that aire -goin’ the same way when we kotch up with ’em.” - -“Oh, no! That isn’t the man I mean. The one I refer to is a great -scientist who has discovered that there is an imponderable quality -in each of us, and through his method of psychoanalysis he is able -to throw the spot-light on that imponderable quality and—” - -“Bang! Bang!” - -Two quick shots fired from somewhere beyond the open door of the -bunk-house startled every one in the room. One bullet passed through -Sam Conifer’s whiskers, and the other grazed the dress of Emma Dean -who was dancing past him at that instant. - -Sam’s weapon was out of its holster with a movement so speedy that -no one saw him draw it. Two shots rang out from the guide’s weapon, -one shattering the hanging lamp, the other following close upon the -first, but fired through the open door. The room was plunged into -deep darkness, with the odor of burnt powder heavy on the air. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -OVERLANDERS SUFFER A LOSS - - -“Shoot, Sam! Shoot, I tell you!” It was Emma Dean’s voice that -broke the silence of the room. Sam’s answer was lost in the chorus -of yells uttered by the enraged cowboys, who made a rush for the -door, with Joe Bindloss charging after them and shouting orders. - -“Get the critter! Drill him! Don’t let him get away,” yelled the -rancher. “You women stay here till we find out what’s doing. There -may be some shooting, and there surely will be if I ketch sight of -the coyote who did that.” - -Jim-Sam had strolled out behind the others, the least excited of the -party. They reasoned that the person who fired the shot into the -room, evidently with the intention of hitting Sam Conifer, would not -be found outside waiting to be caught. It was a pot shot and it had -missed, but the shooter, by this time, no doubt was well on his way -to safety. - -Jim began snooping about, but the night was too dark to enable him -to find what he was looking for, and the girls, not to be denied, -stepped out. - -“Here! Take my pocket lamp,” said Grace, thrusting it into his hand. - -“Thankee, Miss,” growled Jim, and began sweeping the rays from the -lamp over the ground in front of the bunk-house door. “Here’s whar -the critter stood when he let go,” announced Jim. “Anybody recognize -them boot-prints?” - -No one did, and Jim went on nosing out the trail, which he followed -for several rods down the valley, though the footprints were mixed -with the tracks of cowpunchers and ponies. Jim continued his -tracking until he reached a point where the shooter had met and -mounted a pony, on which he dashed away straight for the hills. -Those hoof-prints were of keen interest to Jim-Sam. They were the -prints of unshod hoofs, and the two men looked at each other with a -meaning gaze. - -“I reckon the feller was shootin’ with his left hand, an’ that’s why -he missed,” observed Sam. - -“I reckon,” agreed Jim. - -“What have you got, Conifer?” called Joe Bindloss, dashing up on his -pony. - -The men explained what they had found, and the old rancher raged and -stormed, declaring that he would get the fellow, that he would set -his cowpunchers on the trail at once to follow it until they did get -the man. - -“Ain’t no use,” objected Sam. “Can’t do nothin’ till daylight, an’ -then it’ll be too late. I’ll know that hoof-print when I see it.” - -“I reckon I know it now,” spoke up Jim. - -“What’s that?” demanded Bindloss. - -“You do?” wondered Sam. - -“Shore, I do. It’s Mrs. Gray’s pony. He lost a shoe yesterday an’ -the others was loose, an’ she was intendin’ to have him shod all -around, after I’d pulled off the rest of the shoes,” was the guide’s -startling announcement. - -“Come back to the bunk-house. We’ve got to find out about this,” -growled Bindloss. - -On their way back they met the Overlanders coming along. Unable to -restrain their curiosity, the Overlanders had followed their guides -down the valley. - -“Mrs. Gray, would you know the hoof-prints of your pony if you were -to see them?” asked the rancher. - -“I am quite certain that I would,” answered Grace. - -“Come and have a look at what Jim’s found,” he said, wheeling his -pony and trotting back towards the place where the Overland animal -hoof-print had been found by Jim. - -“Yes,” announced Grace after a careful examination of the tracks. -“Those are Ginger’s tracks, or else Ginger has a double; but what -was my pony doing here? What does it mean, Sam?” - -“I reckon it means that the feller who shot at me had your hoss. -Hark!” - -A scattering fire of revolver shots was heard from farther down the -valley, and now Joe Bindloss’s cowpunchers came riding from the -ranch-house, they too having heard the shots. - -“It’s down by our camp!” cried Nora. - -“Go to it, fellows!” shouted the rancher. “You folks go back to the -ranch-house, I’m going to follow the boys,” he announced, spurring -his horse into a run. - -Instead of following his direction the Overland Riders started at a -brisk walk for their camp. - -“Aren’t we going back to finish our dance?” wailed Emma. - -“Not until we find out what is going on down yonder,” answered Tom -Gray with a wave of the hand towards their camp. - -“Oh, what a shame to spoil a perfectly lovely party!” wailed Emma. -“Two-gun Pete surely could handle his feet even if they are big, and -I was having such a nice talk with him about Freud, too.” - -“Emma Dean, if you keep on I shall be in favor of having your sanity -inquired into,” threatened J. Elfreda Briggs. - -Stacy shook his head. - -“You can’t inquire into what ain’t, can you?” he demanded. - -“No, and that is the reason you have never been the subject of an -inquiry,” flung back Emma sharply. - -At this juncture, Jim and Sam began to wrangle, each accusing the -other of being to blame for the mess their party had gotten into, -but the Overlanders were too much concerned with their own troubles -to laugh at the argument of the guides. - -A few moments later the Overland party came within sight of their -camp. Someone, probably men of the “Circle O” ranch, had built up -the campfire and could be seen moving about there. - -As a matter of prudence, before leaving camp that evening, the -Riders had hidden their rifles and ammunition, as they were in the -habit of doing. Their revolvers they wore, for experience had taught -them that it was the wise thing to do in a wild country, or in -sections where there were ruffians such as they had encountered in -the Coso Valley. - -“Is everything all right?” called Hippy as they came up to the camp. - -“No. Everything’s all wrong,” answered Bindloss savagely. “I’ll kill -somebody for this.” - -“What happened?” begged Grace. - -“My night rangers discovered some fellows fooling about your camp, -and knowin’ you was at the ranch-house, because one of ’em had -watched you to see what you were doing, he looked a little closer -and saw the prowlers nosing into your property. That was Idaho -Jones. Idaho fired three shots at the fellows, and that called our -other rangers nearby, who rode in hot-foot, but the prowlers skipped -before they got in, though not before Jones had taken a few pot -shots at them. The thieves got away, but one of the fellows says -Jones was certain that he hit one of them.” - -“Yes. But what about our ponies?” cried Grace. - -“Not a hide nor hair of ’em left,” answered Bindloss. “The critters -took ’em all, and one had the nerve to ride yours, Mrs. Gray, almost -over to the ranch-house. You better look around and see if they got -anything else,” suggested Bindloss amid a tense silence. “Jones and -some of the others chased ’em into the hills and are after ’em now.” - -“The ponies stolen!” howled Stacy Brown. - -“It’s your fault, consarn ye!” raged Sam Conifer, addressing his -companion. “I told ye to stay here an’ watch things.” - -“It ain’t! It’s your fault. If you’d had any brains in yer empty -head you’d stayed an’ watched this camp. You need somebody to watch -you, an’ that’s no lie!” yelled Jim at the top of his voice. - -The Overlanders burst out laughing, some of them a little -hysterically. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -RUSTLERS ARE HARD PRESSED - - -“The mules is still heah,” cried Jim. - -“Of course they aire, an’ I’ll bet my mule scared them fellers off. -Thar ain’t a man livin’ that can git away with that cayuse of mine,” -declared Sam. - -“Leastwise when he has mine to frighten them off,” added Jim. - -“I think you are right, James. Your mule would frighten the beasts -of the jungles,” said Emma. - -“Missie, you’re wrong. Jim’s mule is the finest chunk o’ mule flesh -that you ever seen,” declared Sam. - -“You said it, old Whiskers. That critter of yours can’t hold a -firebrand to him,” agreed Jim. - -“He can’t, eh? Wal, I’ll show ye whether he can or not. Thar ain’t a -mule on four feet that can come up to mine,” averred Sam heatedly. - -“Will you kindly stop your wrangling and do something?” begged Tom -Gray. “Hippy, are the rifles safe?” - -“Yes. They didn’t find them, thank goodness.” - -Grace and her companions, who had been making a hasty inventory of -their belongings, announced that not a thing was missing. - -“I reckon that our boys got here too soon and chased the critters -away,” boomed the rancher. “What do you folks think you’re going to -do now?” - -“That is the question before the house,” observed Stacy. - -“Where would the horse thieves be likely to take the stock?” asked -Grace. - -“No one knows where their hang-out is, but I’ve heard that it’s up -in the canyon country, where it is said there are acres of rich -grass and plenty of hiding places, but nobody ever succeeded in -tracking ’em very far. They are too smart. The boys won’t find ’em, -but we’ll wait till they get back.” - -“Where is the canyon country to which you refer, Mr. Bindloss?” -asked Miss Briggs. - -“On the other side of the valley in the mountains.” - -“Then is it not reasonable to suppose that they will attempt to -cross the valley tonight so as to be in their lair by daylight?” -persisted Elfreda. - -“Sure they will,” agreed Bindloss. - -“Can you spare enough men to ride back and forth for a few miles on -this side? It is possible that they might intercept the thieves and -possibly recover at least one of our animals,” suggested Miss -Briggs. - -“You’re right. Miss, you have a head on your shoulders. Pete, you -take all the boys that are left here and hit it along the valley, -stringing out ’bout half a mile apart and watch like all possessed,” -directed Bindloss. - -“We want to be in on that, Mr. Bindloss. How about ponies for -Captain Gray and myself?” asked Hippy eagerly. - -“You can have the one I’m riding, and Nevada will ride back to the -ranch and get one for Captain Gray. Hustle, Nevada! The rest of you -fellows go on, and don’t be afraid to string out. Sam, I reckon you -and Jim better stick around. No telling what might be pulled off by -that gang. I’ve been thinking that mebby this is a sort of come-back -for Sam’s shooting that fellow in the wrist the other night. I’ll -bet it’s the same gang, but there’s something more to it. I don’t -know what, but I reckon on you folks finding out one of these days.” - -“You may be certain that we will,” spoke up Emma. “And please, Mr. -Bindloss, try to remember your dreams, for they may have a powerful -bearing on this affair. Each of you do the same and tell them to me -in the morning.” - -“It ain’t dreams, it’s lead that’s goin’ to settle this heah -matter,” observed Sam. - -Nevada soon returned with a mustang for Tom Gray. The animal was not -particularly good-natured, and gave Tom no little trouble at first, -but fortunately he was not unhorsed, and the party was soon -galloping away, each man carrying a rifle and fifty rounds of -ammunition. - -A few miles down the valley they were halted by Pete and told to -spread out between him and the camp and keep a sharp lookout. Three -rifle shots were to be fired as a signal that the thieves had been -discovered. The men rode slowly back and forth, hailing as they met -at the end of their beats, and thus the night wore on with nothing -more disturbing than the howls of coyotes up in the mountains. - -“Is it us that those fellows are howling at?” questioned Tom Gray as -he met Two-gun Pete. - -“I don’t reckon so. The breeze ain’t blowin’ right fer them to scent -us.” - -“Then it is probable that they are howling at someone up in the -hills, isn’t it?” - -“Cap’n, I reckon as you aire right ’bout thet. Somethin’ aire -stirrin’. I feels it in my bones. Can you folks shoot?” - -“Pretty well when we can see, but not in such darkness as this. Can -you?” - -“Shore I kin shoot in the dark, but thet ain’t sayin’ I can hit what -I’m shootin at,” chuckled Pete. - -While the Overland men and cowboys were watching the foothills for -the horse thieves, the girls of their party were busy making their -camp comfortable and chatting with Joe Bindloss, who found himself -much attracted to them. Then again, he felt it wise to remain with -them until the men returned. - -Jim-Sam were striding back and forth with “ears pricked up, jest -huntin’ fer trouble,” as they listened to sounds of the night rather -than to what those about them were saying. Both men finally sat down -in the shadows on the mountain side of the camp, but not a word did -either man have to say. - -“May I sit down with you boys?” asked Emma, skipping over to them. -“You are expecting something, I know, and I would just love to be in -on it.” - -“Please, Missie, git back,” urged Sam. “Mebby nothin’ll happen. Most -likely nothin’ will, but we got to listen and watch, fer—Skip!” he -added in a whisper. - -Jim felt his companion stiffen ever so little, and Emma, observing -the expression on his face, without another word, turned and ran -back to her companions. Sam had heard something, and Jim’s nod -indicated that he too heard it, but neither man moved from his -position, though Sam Conifer’s hand might have been seen caressing -the big revolver butt that protruded from his holster. - -Over yonder by the campfire there were chatter and joking and -laughter, the old rancher being entertained as he had not been in -many years, in fact not since he was a youngster in Illinois where -he had been born and reared. Jim-Sam now heard nothing of the -merriment, every faculty being bent on the slight rustling that both -could hear in the bushes to the rear of them. It was not the breeze -that was stirring the foliage, for there was no breeze, and they -knew that it was either man or animal creeping up on them, though -neither man could be certain that their own presence, there in the -shadows, had been discovered. - -Sam suddenly decided that the time for action was at hand. With one -of those marvellously flashing movements that seemed so little a -part of him, the old man jerked his weapon from its holster and -fired back over his shoulder into the bushes without even looking -around. - -Nora uttered a scream, and the other girls sprang to their feet, -while Joe Bindloss, uttering a roar, charged towards the guides, -both of whom, now having risen, were shooting into the bushes. -Bindloss suddenly realized that the firing was not one-sided, for he -heard bullets zing past his ears. The Overland girls also at once -discovered that they were under fire—revolver fire—and springing -away from the campfire, they threw themselves prone on the ground. - -The rancher at this juncture took a hand in the shooting. The -Overland girls, despite their fright, gazed at him in admiration. -Bindloss, standing in the light of the campfire, was working his -revolver, firing at the flashes he saw coming from the bushes. He -made a splendid mark, but nothing touched him, though twice Jim-Sam -heard grunts in the bushes, that told that someone there had been -hit. - -“I can’t stand this!” cried Emma. “I’m going to get my rifle.” - -“Lie still!” commanded Grace. “Let the men do the fighting. If they -need us we shall know it, and that will be time enough.” - -Emma sank back, complaining to herself. Stacy was nowhere in sight, -but they knew that he was in hiding, for he had disappeared at the -first shot fired by Sam Conifer. - -The firing from the bushes ceased suddenly, the defense of the camp -probably having grown too warm, as the Overlanders reasoned out the -situation. Now the three men fairly riddled the bushes with their -shooting, sweeping the entire spread of foliage for several yards to -the right and left of them. - -A sharp cry from one of the girls drew the attention of Jim-Sam and -Joe Bindloss to them. - -“Horses!” shouted Grace. - -The three men instantly divined her meaning. The attackers had taken -to their mounts, and, with quick perception of what their defenders’ -next action would be, the Overland girls snatched up rifles and -thrust them into the hands of the men as the latter ran for the -open. - -The heavy report of a rifle before the three men were clear of the -camp, was the first intimation that Stacy Brown had come out of -hiding. He was shooting at the retreating horsemen, now that it was -reasonably safe for him to do so. A few seconds later Jim-Sam and -Joe Bindloss were firing at the sound of retreating hoof-beats, and -they kept on firing until the hoof-beats finally died away. - - * * * * * - -“Hark!” exclaimed Tom Gray as the sound of rifle fire from the -Overland camp reached them. - -“I heah it,” answered Two-gun Pete. “Rifles! They aire at it fer -keeps.” - -“Then let’s go. Man, they need us!” urged Tom, his tone reflecting -his excitement. - -“Wait! Hold yer hosses fer a bit.” - -They heard the few answering scattering shots fired by the fleeing -attackers; then the firing died out. Pete, with head cocked to one -side, interpreted the sounds and the silence aright. - -“Yer folks have got ’em on the run. Reckon we’ll be goin’. Jest jog -along so thet we don’t run into somethin’ headlong,” he advised. - -Tom Gray, worried and full of eagerness to get into action, had to -put a firm check on himself to keep from racing on in the lead of -his companion. Ahead of them somewhere they knew that Hippy Wingate -was on the lookout for the horse thieves, and so long as nothing was -heard from him there appeared to be no need for haste, but while -Tom’s every faculty was centered on what lay ahead of them, Two-gun -Pete, like the mustang he was riding, gave as much attention to the -rear as he did to what was ahead. - -A flash suddenly leaped up in the darkness ahead, followed by a -sharp report. Then guns banged with a speed that reminded Tom Gray -of nights on the firing line in France. - -“He’s met ’em! Ride!” yelled Two-gun Pete, putting spurs to his -horse. - -Tom needed no urging, nor did his pony. The little animal uttered a -whistling snort and plunged ahead, its nose at the flank of Pete’s -flying mustang. - - - - -[Illustration: “He’s Met ’Em! Ride!”] - - - - -“He’s turned ’em!” flung back Pete. “They aire headin’ ’cross the -valley. That feller shore has got nerve.” - -No more was said, but both men swerved their mounts farther out into -the valley to head off the fleeing horsemen, and drew up on them -slowly. Pete saw that Hippy Wingate was fighting with all the odds -against him, but that he was holding his own. Had there been light, -the Overlander would have been in a much more serious situation. - -As the two men neared the scene of the fighting, Tom Gray uttered a -long-drawn yell, which Hippy heard, recognized, and answered. The -attackers heard too, and put on a fresh burst of speed. Observing -this, Pete jerked his rifle from its holster and emptied his -magazine at them. Up to this time, however, Tom Gray had not fired. - -“No use. We aire losin’ ground,” shouted Pete. “Ride till we git -close enough to use the barkers. I never was no good at long-range -shootin’.” - -A few moments later the horses of the ruffians became faintly -discernible, and Pete rode straight at them. The ruffians were -shooting as they raced, and Lieutenant Hippy Wingate was banging -away at them and yelling like an Indian on the warpath. About this -time Tom and Pete opened up with their revolvers. A pony went down -and its rider was seen to plunge over its head. Pete jerked his -mustang aside just in time to avoid running into the fallen man and -horse. There were fully half a dozen of the supposed horse thieves, -some of whom were leading other animals behind them, and it was -these to whom Pete devoted his attention, believing that the led -horses were stolen animals. - -The three pursuers were spread out in fan shape now, Hippy Wingate -on the extreme right, running in on the fleeing men head-on, then -ducking and swinging out, after emptying his weapon at them. - -“Hit!” he muttered as a sudden burning sensation was felt in the -calf of his left leg. “Take that!” he yelled. Taking a desperate -chance he rode right in among the scattered horsemen, hoping to cut -them off and give his own companions an opportunity to do more -effective work. - -Hippy emptied two revolvers at the raiders, then all at once -something suddenly seemed to snap in his head, and Hippy Wingate -reeled in his saddle. Sudden and deeper darkness enveloped him, and -Hippy fell forward on the neck of his mustang, both feet slipping -from the stirrups. For a moment he clung there. He did not hear the -scream of his pony as a bullet hit the plucky little animal, nor did -he feel the impact when both he and the pony went down in the dust -and lay motionless where they had fallen. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -A FIGHT TO A FINISH - - -“They are heading for the mountains!” shouted Tom as he and Two-gun -Pete drew together. - -“Yes, but we’ll chase ’em into the foothills afore we quit,” raged -Pete. “Ain’t hit, be ye?” - -“No.” - -“Thet’s good.” - -The two riders again settled down to their work, pushing their -ponies to utmost speed. Then they observed that the ruffians were -beginning to spread out, to scatter, a move that Two-gun Pete -understood perfectly. They were planning to take to the mountains as -individuals rather than as a body. This would make pursuit more -difficult, in fact, practically impossible. - -Both Tom and Pete had had many close calls from bullets, but neither -gave much heed to them. They were too busy to consider something -that had passed, and again, they had advantage in that they were -pursuing while their adversaries were fleeing before them. - -“Now give ’em the rifles!” yelled Pete as the pursued riders neared -the foothills. “Keep shootin’!” - -The pair unlimbered their rifles, and soon afterwards other -cowpunchers who had joined them did the same. The heavy firing was -plainly audible to the girls of the Overland party, who, fearing for -their companions, were very nervous, and Joe Bindloss paced back and -forth at the camp listening, his face stern, both hands tightly -clenched. - -“I hope they kill some of them devils! I hope they do!” he growled. - -In the meantime Tom Gray and the cowpunchers were at it hammer and -tongs, nor did they cease firing until the last of the supposed -horse thieves were out of sight in the deep shadows in the -foothills. - -“I reckon thet’s about all,” observed Two-gun Pete dryly. “What I -wants to know is whar thet fightin’ friend of yours is.” - -“Can’t we give Lieutenant Wingate a gun signal to come in?” asked -Tom, a note of anxiety in his tone. - -“No. Thet will be givin’ notice to them critters thet we’ve finished -this heah little game, an’ I don’t want them to have thet -satisfaction. We’ll mosey about a little an’ see if we kin find Mr. -Wingate.” Pete, followed by Tom, worked up and down the valley -parallel with the mountain ranges for some little time without -discovering Hippy; then all of a sudden, Pete uttered a -_whoo—pe-e-e!_ It was answered instantly, and two men rode -cautiously out of the darkness. They proved to be Sierra Joe and -Nevada, who said the others were somewhere to the north. A distant -hail told the men that the others also had heard Pete’s call and -were heading in his direction. Tom, worried as he was about Hippy, -could not but admire the efficient manner in which these men of the -open worked. It was a revelation to him. Shortly after that the rest -of the party rode in. - -“Has any of you cayuses seen anythin’ of the Old Man’s friend?” -questioned Pete. - -“Is he the feller that was workin’ to the south?” asked Nevada. - -“Yes,” spoke up Tom. - -“Wal, he quit firin’ some little piece back thar. I reckon mebby he -got winged,” announced Nevada. - -“Line up, fellers! Take yer ranges by the hills on the other side of -the valley and look sharp. I reckon mebby thar’s some other things -to find in this heah valley,” added Pete significantly. - -The search for Hippy began without a moment’s delay, fast and -efficient, but without a trace of excitement. The attitude of his -companions steadied Tom and assisted him to keep his head clear. - -Two dead ponies were found first by Sierra, and near them lay two -men, both dead. Sierra hailed his companions and when they arrived -he struck a match to look at the victims. - -“Chuck the light!” commanded Pete sternly. - -The words were barely past his lips when a bullet _pinged_ through -the air over their heads. - -“Ain’t you got no sense, Sierra?” demanded Pete disgustedly. “Don’t -ye do thet agin. Them fellers aire waitin’ fer us to give them a -show, an’ I reckon they’ll hang out in the foothills fer some time -yit. Anybody know these critters?” - -Each cowboy took a look at the victims, but none recognized them. -The brand on the dead mustangs also was unknown to them. - -“Can’t do nothin’ till daylight. Hit the trail agin,” ordered Pete, -whereupon the search for Hippy Wingate was resumed. It was Tom Gray -who found him, nearly a mile from their last stand. - -“Help here!” shouted Tom. - -Pete heard and understood. With the others, he spurred to the scene, -finding Tom Gray on the ground bending over the stretched-out form -of the fallen Overlander. - -“Is he daid?” questioned Sierra anxiously. - -“No. He is alive, but he must be badly hurt. He has been here for -some time and is still unconscious. That looks bad. Boys, we must -get him to camp as quickly as possible. How shall we do it?” - -“I’ll take him on my ’tang,” answered Pete. “Wait till I git up; -then boost him up to me and I’ll do the rest. Nevada, you ride back -a piece to make sure thet we ain’t followed, an’ give us a good -start. You kin come on in then.” - -Hippy’s limp form was lifted into Two-gun Pete’s arms, and giving -the pony the reins, Pete touched the animal with a light spur and -the journey back to camp was begun. It was not a gentle ride for the -wounded Overlander. In fact it was a killing ride, and when they -came in sight of the campfire, the pony was white with lather. - -It was at this juncture that Hippy began to mutter and struggle. - -“Thet’s all right, pard. Yer on yer way back to camp, and Pete’s the -boy thet’s takin’ ye; so jest rest easy-like. Cap, ride in an’ tell -’em we aire comin’.” - -Tom spurred ahead, and by the time Pete and his burden rode in, the -Overlanders were ready to receive them. All were pale, though Nora, -who might have been expected to go to pieces, was calm, in fact -fully as much so as Elfreda and Grace who, as hospital workers in -the great war, were used to scenes of this sort. - -Hippy’s face, as he was lifted from Two-gun Pete’s arms, was seen to -be covered with blood. - -“Place him by the fire where we can see,” directed Grace. “Stacy, -fetch water, and be quick about it!” - -“I’ll get my kit and be back in a moment,” announced Elfreda. - -Blankets were spread out by the campfire, and on them the wounded -Hippy was laid, and by the time Elfreda returned, Grace had sponged -away the blood from his face and head. - -“A bullet has laid his scalp open on the right side,” she announced. -“If there are no other wounds he will pull through all right. Do you -hear me, Hippy?” - -“Ye—es.” - -“Is this the only wound you have?” - -“No. In leg,” answered the patient weakly. - -Nora pulled up the trousers from both limbs and discovered that the -left one was bloody from half way below the knee down, and it was -Nora’s hands that washed the wound clean and prepared it for the -dressing. - -Elfreda Briggs, by this time, had returned with her first-aid kit, -and was critically examining the scalp wound, Grace Harlowe standing -over her with face full of interest and sympathy. - -“This must be sewed up as soon as we have treated it,” announced -Miss Briggs, nodding up at her companion. “Hippy, I shall have to -take several stitches in your scalp, and I am going to hurt you. You -won’t mind, will you, after all the fun you have been having -tonight?” - -“Get it over with,” muttered Hippy. - -“Grace, you might dress the leg while I am doing this embroidery -work for Hippy. Did the bullet go all the way through the leg?” - -“Ye—es,” replied Nora. “I—I think so.” - -“It did, through the fleshy part. It is not a bad wound,” -volunteered Grace. - -Miss Briggs began her work at once, and performed it quickly and -skillfully. Hippy, despite himself, flinched under each needle -thrust. A group of wondering, open-mouthed cowpunchers watched the -Overland girl perform her operation, and by the time she had -finished stitching the scalp together, Grace had completed her task -on the leg wound. - -“Oh! He’s dead!” cried Nora, after a quick look into Hippy’s now -ghastly pale face. - -“Don’t get excited! He has fainted, that’s all,” comforted Miss -Briggs, who thereupon proceeded to revive her patient. The pain had -been a little more than Hippy, in his weakened condition, could -bear, and under it he had swooned. - -Old Joe Bindloss clutched off his sombrero and mopped the -perspiration from his forehead. - -“Wal! I’ve seen some things in my time, but I’ll be shot for a hoss -thief if I ever come up with the like of this,” rumbled the rancher. - -Hippy opened his eyes and a faint grin appeared on his face, -whereat, the cowpunchers, as one man, heaved a deep breath of -relief. They stood about awkwardly, sombreros tucked under their -arms, not knowing what they ought to do, but quite positive to a man -that they wished there were more patients to be treated so that they -might stay where they were and watch these capable young women work -for the rest of the night. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE “DUDE” MAKES GOOD - - -Two-Gun Pete sidled over to Hippy. - -“Fer a dude, yer some scrapper. I’ll say so. Shake, Pard,” he said, -extending a ham-like paw. - -“Yep! Reg’lar bear-cat,” agreed Sierra, and all the cowboys nodded -solemnly. - -“Thanks! Did we get any of them?” questioned Hippy, not much above a -whisper, for every word sent shooting pains through his head. - -“Two thet we knows of, and mebby some more. The Old Man’s hoss thet -you was ridin’ got his’n, too.” - -“Oh, that is too bad. I’m sorry.” - -“Thet ain’t nothin’,” interjected Idaho. “What’s a hoss when it -comes to a scrap with a bunch of rustlers? They’re mad now, and -we’ll mebby git another chance at ’em some day soon. Reckon you -won’t care ’bout mixin’ in agin?” - -“I reckon you have another guess coming, Idaho,” answered Hippy, -grinning. - -Bindloss here interrupted by declaring that the wounded Overlander -must be taken to the ranch-house and put to bed. He said he would -have a buckboard brought down and fetch him. Miss Briggs shook her -head. - -“I do not think best to have him moved tonight. If he feels better -in the morning, you may do that,” she said. - -“All right. You’re the doctor. I’ll have the boys fix you up -comfortable and stand guard for the rest of the night so you won’t -be bothered by those rustlers.” - -“Bindloss, I am sorry about the pony that got shot under me. Of -course I shall pay you for him,” offered Hippy. - -“Pay nothing!” roared the rancher. “I owe you money for the -walloping you folks give those coyotes. Here, you rough-necks! Fix -these folks up with whatever they want, then spread out and ride -’round for the rest of the night, and if they get into any more -trouble tonight, I’ll fire the bunch of you and get riders who can -see and shoot.” - -“I reckon we kin take care of our folks and do whatever is -necessary,” interjected Sam. - -Bindloss agreed, but said his men would be on guard just the same. -Shortly after that the cowboys mounted and rode out into the valley -for their night’s vigil. - -A tent was erected over Hippy, and Nora insisted on sitting up to -look after him, but before turning in the Overlanders went into -Hippy’s tent with a cheerful word for their wounded companion. - -“Hippy, tell me, did you dream anything when you were asleep out -there after being shot?” whispered Emma. - -“Yes. I dreamed that an imponderable quantity appeared suddenly out -of the nowhere and gave me an awful wallop,” retorted Hippy. - -“I think you are real mean,” pouted Emma. “Good-night! Don’t forget -to remember what you dream about tonight, for it may be of great -importance to us.” - -“Huh!” muttered Hippy. - -Soon after that the camp became quiet and every Overlander, except -Nora, was sound asleep. Jim-Sam, however, were just outside holding -a heated argument over the occurrences of the evening. Jim blamed -Sam for shooting into the bushes and thus starting the row that -ended in the wounding of one of their party. - -“Why, you miserable galoot, you ain’t got the sense of a flea!” -retorted Sam. “If it hadn’t been fer me, you’d been quarrelin’ with -the angels right this minute. Some folks ain’t got brains enough to -know nothin’.” - -“You said it,” agreed Jim. “I’ve knowed that ever since I’ve been -with ye.” - -The argument was continued at intervals all the rest of the night, -and until at break of day they saw the cowpunchers ride off down the -valley at a brisk gallop. Jim then built up the fire and began -preparing for breakfast. The odors of the cooking soon awakened the -Overlanders, and one by one they turned out rubbing the sleep out of -their eyes. - -Emma Dean’s face, however, was glowing and her eyes were full of -sparkle. - -“Oh, girls,” she cried. “I had the most wonderful dream last night. -What do you think? It was a most adorable dream. I dreamed that I -was engaged to the nicest man and—” - -“What! Again?” shouted the Overlanders. - -“Yes. Why not? He was a cowboy, and I dreamed that he had just shot -a man who made eyes at me. Wasn’t that a perfectly adorable thing -for him to do?” - -“Which man to do what?” questioned Stacy. - -“For my fiancé to shoot the other fellow, of course. I just loved -him for that.” - -“Emma, we will have you in a strait-jacket yet,” retorted Grace -laughingly. “How many does this one make?” - -“Two real ones and a spiritual one. You know the one last night -wasn’t a real fiancé—” - -“Just an imponderable quantity or quality,” suggested Stacy Brown, -which brought a laugh from the Overlanders, and made Hippy grin -despite the fact that it hurt him to twist his swollen face. - -Hippy, while feeling much improved, was sore and weak, and when Joe -Bindloss rode up, as the Overlanders were eating breakfast, he said -he had arranged to have them move their camp up near the -ranch-house, as it would be some time before Lieutenant Wingate -would again be able to ride. - -“He can stay at my house and I’ll take all the care of him that he -needs. You folks can make trips out and stay as long as you want to. -What about it?” - -The Overlanders agreed, and the rancher said the buckboard would be -down later in the morning to fetch the wounded man. Bindloss sat -down and ate breakfast with his new friends, and they had just -finished the meal when Sam Conifer called to them that the cowboys -were coming back, one of them leading an extra mustang. - -Glasses were soon leveled at the approaching dust cloud which Sam -had identified as belonging to the Circle O bunch. As the riders -rode out of the cloud Grace uttered a cry of delight. - -“It is Ginger! They have found Ginger! Oh, I’m so glad.” - -“Only Ginger! Fiddlesticks!” growled Stacy in disgust. “Somebody -will have to buy me a new pony. I’m not going to walk. You take my -word for that.” - -“Ginger!” cried Grace as the punchers rode in, dust-covered, -smiling, happy in being able to do something for one of the Overland -girls. - -The little pony trotted to her, showing every evidence of being glad -to be back with his mistress, and Grace petted and fed the -scrubby-looking mustang until Sam took the animal away and tethered -him. - -“We found him grazin’ ’bout fifteen mile down the valley,” explained -Pete. - -“What about the men who stole him?” demanded Bindloss. - -“We didn’t find ’em,” said Pete. “Thar was three dead mustangs out -thar, though, but saddles and bridles had been taken off, leavin’ -nothin’ to identify the outfit by.” - -“See any blood?” questioned Sam Conifer. - -“Wal, I reckon as thar was some,” answered Pete, with a grin. “This -is the bunch thet got yer mustangs, folks. No doubt ’bout thet. -Boss, what do ye reckon on our doin’ next?” - -“Help these folks move up to the ranch-house.” - -“Thank you, but we can attend to that. We have our mules and one -pony with which to operate,” spoke up Tom Gray. “If you will arrange -to get Lieutenant Wingate up, as you have suggested, we shall be all -set.” - -Nevada was sent to the ranch to fetch the buckboard and returned -with it in about an hour. In the meantime the cowpunchers were -interested witnesses to the breaking of camp, in which all the -Overlanders except Hippy participated, and in a short time packs -were rolled and Jim-Sam were lashing them to the mules and to -Ginger. - -“I reckon these heah folks ain’t no tenderfeet,” observed Sierra, as -the cowboys rode away. - -“Have ye jest found thet out?” drawled Two-gun Pete. “If they kin -all fit like the Dude kin, the rustlers better hike fer the -mountains an’ stay thar.” - -Nora, riding with Hippy, swung a hand to the men as the buckboard -passed them on the way to the Circle O ranch, and by the time the -rest of the party reached there Hippy was taking what ease he could -get on a cot on the front porch of the ranch-house. - -The Overland Riders pitched their camp on a little rise of ground a -short distance to the rear of the ranch buildings, and the -cowpunchers observed this further operation with interest. - -“Good job,” approved Idaho. - -“Thank you,” smiled Grace. “We hope you boys will come around -whenever you can. You all have been mighty kind to us and we -appreciate it.” - -“Where did you folks larn to do things like you do?” asked Nevada. - -“Mostly from our western experiences. Of course we learned a few -things in the war.” - -“The war? Was you thar?” laughed Sierra. - -“Yes. I drove an ambulance. The other young women were in the -service as hospital workers, and the like. My husband, Tom Gray, was -a Captain of Engineers, and Lieutenant Wingate was a flier—a -fighting pilot,” Grace informed them. - -“Gee whiz! Ain’t thet the limit?” wondered Idaho. - -“The next question is, what are we going to do for horses? Do any of -you boys know where we can buy or rent some?” - -“Mebby the Old Man might sell ye what ye need,” suggested Sallie, -who was in charge of the corral for Bindloss. “I’ll arsk him.” - -Grace thanked him, but said Tom Gray would take the matter up with -the rancher. Later in the morning Tom informed her that he had -already done so, and that arrangements had been made to rent such -ponies as they needed. Bindloss, he said, did not want to take money -from them, but that the Overlander had insisted on his doing so. The -arrangement, Tom said, was that they were to pay a rental of two -dollars a week for each pony, and in the event of any of the animals -being lost or injured, the Overland Riders were to settle for the -ponies at the rate of twenty-five dollars a head. - -This was satisfactory to all hands, and on the following day they -were to select their mounts. - -That noon they took their luncheon with the rancher and his men in -the bunk-house, by special invitation. After dinner Nora sang a -song, Emma Dean recited a pathetic little selection to which she -gave the title of “The Cowboy’s Love,” but which, instead of being -about a cowboy, was the story of a child lost on the desert, and -adopted by a mother wolf that had lost its own offspring. - -The Overlanders were of the opinion that Emma made up the story, but -at any rate it made a hit and moved some of the cowpunchers to -tears, for cowpunchers, like sailors, are sentimental under their -rough exteriors. Emma’s eyes were twinkling mischievously when she -finished and observed the effect of her story. - -The cowmen wiped their eyes, then gave her a cowboy yell. Stacy -Brown rose and bowed low in acknowledgment, which brought a loud -guffaw. The dance that had been so rudely interrupted on a previous -occasion was then resumed, and thirty minutes later the gathering -broke up, every cowboy face wearing a broad grin. The Overlanders -surely had brought sunshine to the Circle O ranch. - -As all hands strolled out into the open, Emma walking at the side of -Two-gun Pete, gazing up soulfully into his embarrassed face, Elfreda -Briggs pointed to a cloud of dust far down the valley, a cloud that -was rolling rapidly towards them. - -“That looks like a young tornado,” observed Stacy. - -“I reckon thet’s it, and on a hoss, too,” said Idaho. - -“On a horse?” wondered Emma. - -“Yes. You’ll see when it gits heah. Wait!” chuckled Idaho. - -The Overland party now watched the cloud with new interest, and the -cowboys laughed as they observed the puzzled expression on the faces -of their guests. - -“It is someone on a horse. You can’t fool me,” cried Emma. - -“Yes, and it is a girl, too,” added Elfreda. - -The rider came on like an incipient whirlwind, her mustang on a run. -She shot by the spectators and went on for some distance, then, -circling out into the valley, came dashing up to them and flung -herself from the saddle. - -The newcomer gazed from one to another of the Overland Riders, while -the cowpunchers chuckled to themselves. They knew the girl and -looked for something interesting to follow. It did. - -“I’m Judy! Who be you?” she demanded. - -“We are the Overland Riders,” answered Stacy Brown pompously. - -Judy eyed the fat boy frowningly, then once more ran her gaze over -the rest of the party. - -“My gosh! You are a sweet bunch of dudes, ain’t you? Here you, Idaho -Jones, take my cayuse,” she demanded, tossing the bridle-rein to the -grinning cowboy. - -Judy Hornby, in introducing herself to the newcomers in the Coso -Valley, had done so in characteristic fashion. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -JUDY SPEAKS OUT - - -“Hello, little gal!” cried Bindloss, coming forward with extended -hand and smiling face. - -“Hello! Why don’t you introduce me to your friends?” - -“Why, Judy, don’t you know them?” - -“No, but I’m goin’ to in ’bout a minute,” answered Judy, who shook -hands and commented on each member of the Overland party as Joe -Bindloss introduced her. “Some knock-down, ain’t it?” grinned Judy -after the introductions had been finished. “My Pap says you folks -ain’t no great scratch an’ that you ain’t here for no good. Pap says -that Old Joe Bindloss better build a corral ’bout his cattle or -he’ll lose ’em with all these new folks roamin’ ’round in the hills. -Be you a fine lady, or ain’t you?” demanded the mountain girl, -fixing her eyes on Elfreda Briggs. J. Elfreda flushed under the -scrutiny. - -“No. I am just a plain, ordinary woman, a bachelor girl and—” - -“In other words, an old maid, Miss Hornby,” Emma Dean explained. - -“Cut the ‘Miss.’ My name’s Judy. What’s your handle?” - -“Emma.” - -“All right, Emma. Now the rest of you give me your handles, then -we’ll be down to cases,” whereupon the Overlanders dutifully gave -her their given names. “My gosh! What a lot of highfalutin’ names. I -should think they would keep you folks awake nights.” - -The Overlanders laughed heartily and Judy joined in the laugh, -though with little idea what she was laughing at. The mountain girl -had, in her lifetime, seen but few persons who did not belong to -desert or mountain, and these bright-eyed girls were a revelation to -her, because, as she expressed it, “most all that kind is stuck up.” - -If Judy was interested in her new acquaintances, they surely were -even more attracted to her. She was a splendid type, her dark, -handsome face unspoiled by the strenuous outdoor life she led, and -her figure possessing lines that would have been the envy of any -woman. Judy was only nineteen, so she said, but she looked more. -That she could ride, the Overlanders had the evidence of their own -eyes, and that she could shoot, was to be inferred from the -business-like looking revolver that swung at her hip. - -“Not all are ‘stuck up,’” differed Grace laughingly. “We are not. If -we were we probably should not be here, roughing it, when we might -be at home taking our ease and getting fat.” - -“Judy, you mustn’t take too seriously what Grace says. Remember, she -and Nora are here with their husbands, both old married women, here -because their husbands want to live part of the year in the open. -That’s the way women do when they love their husbands,” volunteered -Elfreda. - -“A-huh! What are you doin’ here, then?” - -“Because I love the open and love my friends who also enjoy it.” - -“What’s love?” flung back the mountain girl. - -“Why—I—I—Perhaps you had better ask Emma. Old maids are not -supposed to be authorities on that subject,” answered Miss Briggs, -her color rising. - -“Love? Why, Judy, love is the most wonderful thing in the world,” -cried Emma dramatically, as Judy turned to her inquiringly. Emma’s -eyes were rolling and she registered extreme emotion, greatly to the -amusement of her companions. - -“My gosh! Ain’t goin’ to have a fit, be ye?” exclaimed Judy, whereat -the Overland Riders shouted. - -“Have you ever been in love?” interjected Nora. - -“I don’t know, Nora. Once I seen a fellow in a play in a tent over -at Carrago, and he was some man, believe me. I jest sat there and -looked at him and my heart got so wiggly that I couldn’t do nothin’ -with it at all. But thet wan’t nothin’ to what happened later in the -day when I met him on the street. He seen me lookin’ at him an’ -smiled an’ bobbed his hat to me. My gosh! I near fainted. I sure -thought I was goin’ to die right there. Never had no such feelin’ in -all my life.” - -“Yes?” urged the girls, doing their best to keep from laughing. - -“Did you get acquainted with him?” asked Grace. - -“No. I didn’t dast. My Pap was with me, but I went home and cried. -Can you beat it?” - -“Oh, my dear, you _were_ in love. You surely _were_,” cried Emma. - -“Was I?” wondered the mountain girl. “Was you ever that way, Emma?” - -“Ever? Oh, help!” murmured Miss Briggs. “Judy, she is even making -love to these fine cowboys. Doesn’t that make you jealous?” - -“Jealous? Of them rough-necks? Wal, I reckon not. I don’t reckon on -that kind of critter. I want a real man, I want to fly, to see -what’s on t’other side of them mountain ranges. I want to be a real -lady an’ know ’bout things. My gosh, how I want to be like that! -It’s right in here!” cried Judy, clapping a hand over her heart. “I -want to so much that it aches, it hurts like as if a rattler had -given me a jab there. I tried poulticin’ but it wan’t no good. Pap -said it was what I needed, but it wan’t, and here I am. What do you -reckon I ought to do?” finished Judy, passing a quick hand over her -eyes. - -The Overlanders did not laugh. There was a tragic note in the voice -of the mountain girl that stirred their sympathies and moved them. -Grace slipped an arm about her. - -“Judy, I wish you might come with us while we are riding the ranges. -Perhaps we might teach you things that would make you more contented -with your life,” said Grace, her voice full of sympathy. “Would you -like to do that?” - -“Like it? I’d be so dum tickled that I couldn’t hold myself.” - -“Then why not come?” urged Nora. - -“I don’t dast. Pap would take it out of me right smart.” - -“You don’t mean he would punish you—that he would lay hands on -you?” begged Elfreda. - -“Him wallop me? Wal, I reckon not! I ain’t packin’ no gun for -nothin’.” - -“Judy!” cried Nora. “You mustn’t say such things. Why not let us ask -your father to let you go with us?” - -“Ask _him_?” Judy shook her head with emphasis. “You folks keep away -from Pap if you know what’s good for you. Pap’s got a grouch on most -of the time, and he ain’t particular ’bout who knows it. You keep -away from Pap, ’cause he don’t set much store by this here outfit. -He reckons as you ain’t got no business here, an’ if you come -foolin’ round he’ll chase you out. Would you go?” she demanded -abruptly. - -“It has been tried on us on other occasions, but up to the present -time we have never gone until we were quite ready to do so,” -answered Miss Briggs. - -“I wondered what you’d do, when I dreamed somethin’ ’bout you last -night—” - -“Dreamed? Do you dream, Judy?” cried Emma, her face full of sudden -interest. - -“I reckon I do. I dreamed ’bout that actor feller for a month.” - -“Oh, isn’t that adorable!” bubbled Emma. “The imponderable quality -is working in you. Listen, dear. When you have another dream, you -come straight to me and I’ll make a psychoanalysis of it and tell -you what it means.” - -“My gosh! If I could talk like that I’d be a real lady, wouldn’t I? -Where you goin’ from here?” - -“We don’t know. All depends upon how my husband gets along with his -wounds. He was shot in a fight with the men who, we believe, stole -our ponies, but we hope that he will be able to ride in a short -time,” answered Nora. - -“Ain’t that too bad? Gosh! If a fellow hurt my man I reckon I’d do -some shootin’ for myself,” observed Judy. “Who do you think rustled -them ponies?” - -Tom Gray said they did not know, but that they proposed to find out, -and asked her if she or her father had any suspicion as to who the -rustlers were. Judy shook her head. - -“I don’t know nothin’. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. -Say, Emma, what’s that word you got off jest now?” - -“Imponderable,” intoned Stacy gloomily. - -“I didn’t ask you, Mr. Fatty. Write it down, Emma, and I’ll try it -on Pap. I’ll bet there’ll be some fun. Wal, I reckon I’ll be hittin’ -the trail for home. So long, Tom. Hippy, I hopes your laig gets -better right smart,” she called to the Overlander on the porch. -“’Bye, girls.” - -“Come again soon, and as often as you can,” urged Grace. - -“Sure I will. Mebby I can’t get back today, but I’ll try. Say, Emma, -I’m goin’ to practice that word on Butte. That’s my mustang. If he -stands for it I reckon Pap can,” finished Judy, starting slowly -towards her pony, arms linked with Grace and Elfreda. “Butte’s got a -temper somethin’ like Pap’s. I reckon he got it from Pap, too. Let’s -see. What’s that word? Im—impond’ble. All right. Jest watch me.” - -Judy swung lightly into her saddle. - -“G’wan, you impond’ble, dad-busted cayuse,” she shouted, touching -the animal lightly with a spur. - -Butte responded instantly. Uttering a grunt, both hind heels went -into the air before Judy had succeeded in getting her feet into the -stirrups. - -The mountain girl made a quick reach for the swinging stirrups and -missed, whereupon the mustang leaped clear of the ground, coming -down stiffly on all four feet, head down with hind quarters shooting -into the air. Judy was catapulted over his head and landed on her -back with a whack that should have knocked all the breath out of -her. - -Tom Gray made a quick spring for the pony’s head and grabbed the -bridle. The pony fought him, but a firm grip on the animal’s nose -shut off his breathing and subdued him in a moment. - -The girls ran to Judy just as she sat up. Judy was a little dazed, -but she grinned. - -“Oh, you poor girl! You’re hurt,” cried Nora. - -“Mebby I be, but I reckon the ground is hurt worse. Anyhow what -happened to me an’ the ground ain’t a flea-bite to what’s goin’ to -happen to Butte afore we gets home. Say, Emma! I don’t reckon as -I’ll say that word to Pap all of a sudden. I’m too dad-busted sore -now to have another fight on my hands tonight, and I’ll be sorer by -the time I gets home. I’m goin’ to ride him this time.” - -Judy again flung herself into the saddle, and this time both feet -caught the stirrups. The mustang instantly threw himself into -another buck. The spur dug into him harder and harder and Judy’s -whip came down on his flank again and again. A leap carried them -clear of the Overland party, and for the next few moments they were -treated to the most spirited exhibition of horsemanship that they -had ever seen. Old Bindloss was shaking with laughter, and the -cowpunchers were howling with delight and firing their six-shooters -into the air. - -“She’s got him!” cried Emma. “Oh, I wish I could ride like that. -There she comes!” - -Judy, who was by now a full quarter of a mile out in the valley, had -whirled and was driving straight at them. On she came, the pony’s -efforts to unseat its rider growing less and less, as its speed -increased. - -“Whoo—pe-e-e-e!” yelled Judy in her shrill, high-pitched voice as -she reached the Overlanders, and turning, tore off down the valley -where she was soon lost to sight in a cloud of dust. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE ROUND-UP - - -Judy Hornby did not return to the Circle O ranch that day nor the -next, and when she did she was not nearly so talkative as before. -The girl, however, listened eagerly to all that her new-found -friends had to say to her, and what they said was intended to be -helpful to this unusual young woman who had known little -companionship of her own sex. - -After a time her tongue loosened a little and she told them that -“Pap” had forbidden her to visit them unless he told her to go. Judy -declared that she didn’t give a rap whether he liked it or not, and -that she was going to ride over to the Circle O ranch whenever she -felt like it. - -“He don’t dast do nothing to me anyway. I reckon it’s because I -tried that ‘impond’able’ thing on him. When he asked me where I got -it an’ I told him over here, you ought to seen him git mad. Pap sure -was a scream. Lemme look at your hair,” she added abruptly, -addressing Miss Briggs, who nodded good-naturedly. - -“Gosh! Ain’t that fine? But for the love of Mike, how do you do it?” - -“I will do yours if you wish,” offered Elfreda. - -“Would you?” - -“Of course,” answered J. Elfreda. “Sit down and I will see what I -can do with it. You have beautiful hair, and I am not eager to see -you wear it any other way than you do now—down your back.” - -Greatly to the amusement of her companions, Miss Briggs performed an -elaborate piece of hair-dressing, building up a wonderful tower of -shining brown on the mountain girl’s head. Then a mirror was brought -and Judy was permitted to look at the result, the Overlanders -awaiting the verdict in silent expectancy. - -Judy gazed into the mirror for some moments before looking up. - -“Gosh-a’mighty, I’m a lady now for sure, ain’t I?” she breathed, -heaving a deep sigh. - -After a time the Overland girls sought to explain to her that it was -not the dress she wore nor the way she wore her hair, but her -breeding, that made the lady. Judy listened attentively to the brief -lecture read to her by Grace and Elfreda, then started for home, -this time at a slow jog. Judy was in a thoughtful mood. - -For the next week she was a daily visitor at the Circle O ranch. -Hippy Wingate was again on his feet, but still wearing a bandage on -his head and walking with a cane. His companions were in no haste to -leave him; in fact they had been waiting for his recovery quite -willingly because they had been urged by Bindloss to stay for the -round-up that was now close at hand, when the cattle would be -rounded up into herds and the fat ones cut out, branded again and -driven to a shipping point for market. Bindloss promised his guests -a lively time. The cowpunchers, too, were looking forward to the -occasion with more than their ordinary interest, for in it they saw -an opportunity to show their horsemanship and skill to the Overland -girls. - -Judy Hornby was invited to accompany the party to the round-up, but -for some reason she refused, and went away that day with her face -dark and resentful. The Overlanders were at a loss to account for -the sudden change in her. - -The day of the big round-up arrived, and the ranch presented a scene -of activity long before daylight that morning. There was much -equipment to be shipped down the valley, for the first herd to be -rounded up were grazing more than twenty miles away, not very far -from Judy’s log-cabin home, where her father had quite a herd of -cattle of his own, though small compared with the Bindloss herds. -His brand was the “Double Q” while Bindloss’s was the “Circle O.” - -Lieutenant Wingate, not feeling able to take the long ride, decided -to remain at the ranch-house until one of the herds near by was -rounded up. He could watch the round-up, then easily get back to the -ranch-house should he find it necessary to do so. There being no -reason for Jim-Sam’s remaining at the ranch, Bindloss accepted their -offer to assist in the round-up. - -“I am going to help, too,” promised Emma, as they were eating -breakfast in camp next morning with Bindloss as their guest. - -“No, you ain’t,” replied the rancher. “You keep out of it and stay -where you’re safe. There’s some wild ones in the bunch we are going -after today.” - -Tom Gray was accepted as a novice, and a pony that knew the ropes -was assigned to him for the work. Bindloss told him that so long as -he gave the animal its head he would be reasonably safe. - -The Overlanders got a later start than the others, but managed to -get away shortly after daybreak. It was a wonderful ride through the -fragrant morning air, one that every member of the party thoroughly -enjoyed. Hippy in the meantime was having a glorious morning, -too—snoring in the ranch-house, where he proposed to remain all day -and have “peace and quiet,” as he expressed it. - -As they neared the scene of the round-up, near mid-forenoon, the -Overlanders rode up the first bluff of the foothills, as they had -been directed to do, and then followed along parallel with the -valley. As they drew near they suddenly found themselves gazing down -upon the scene that they had come so far to see—a western round-up. - -A great herd—thousands of them, it seemed—were milling about on -the plain below them, making the dust fly in suffocating clouds, -while wilder ones of the herd were galloping for the foothills. -Calves were running about bawling for their mothers, and frantic -cows were splitting the herd in search of them. Above the din rose -shrill and clear the calls of the cowpunchers, calls that were -familiar, especially to the steers, who seemed to know the meaning -of them even if they did do exactly the opposite to what was -expected of them. - -Up and down the rolling foothills raced the long-horns, with ponies -ridden by yelling, shouting, dare-devil riders, in pursuit. Here and -there a lasso wriggled through the air, spun by an irate cowboy, and -a big steer went down on his nose. - -A bunch of wild steers raced past the Overlanders, and Stacy, -suddenly deciding that it was his duty to drive them back, galloped -after them. - -The fat boy soon found himself in the midst of a charging, bellowing -mass of wild steers whose long horns and threatening jabs at his -mustang, made him wish that he had kept out of it. He was in a more -perilous position than he realized. The girls were shouting for him -to come back, but in the uproar Stacy did not hear them, nor could -he have obeyed had he heard. - -Two-gun Pete was the first to discover the boy’s predicament. He -came flashing up the grade, past the girls, but without looking at -them, and rode on until he had reached the herd. There he began -uttering shrill yells that were heard above the uproar. Pete, at the -risk of his pony’s life, if not his own, dodged in and out until he -got to the side of the fat boy. - -“Hot-foot it out of this, you tenderfoot!” he roared. - -“All right. Show me the way, you cowpuncher!” flung back Stacy. - -“Follow me, but not too close.” Pete, exerting mighty efforts, soon -split the herd apart, and into the opening thus made, Stacy rode -without further urging, and in a few moments he was clear of the -herd. “Now git back with ye and stay back!” - -Now that he was up there, Pete decided to head off the wild bunch. -He rode his sweating mustang until it seemed as if he would ride the -little animal off its feet, and little by little he bunched the -unruly steers and started them towards the valley, when they -suddenly headed straight for the position occupied by the -Overlanders. - -“They’ll run us down!” cried Nora. - -“No! We can get away if they get too close. Ride for them and yell -like all possessed. Try to turn them to their left,” urged Grace. - -The Overland girls, fired with the same spirit that was urging the -cowpunchers in their work, started forward at a gallop, waving their -sombreros and uttering such screeches as probably not only -astounded, but frightened the outlaw steers. The cattle, however, -held to their course just the same. Two-gun Pete saw and understood -what the girls were trying to do. He also understood full well the -risk they were taking. Pete pealed out a shrill, far-reaching -warning, but they did not hear. - -“Yell, you Overlanders!” screamed Elfreda Briggs, and, taking her -own advice, she uttered yell after yell, that Two-gun Pete later -declared on his honor as a cowpuncher frightened one tough old -maverick to death. At least the animal was found dead at about that -point, later on in the day. - -J. Elfreda evidently turned the tide, for a leader swerved, and the -herd followed him and went plunging down the slope. - -“Hot stuff, but don’t ye do it again!” shouted the cowboy as he -followed the herd down the foothill and out into the valley, where -other cowpunchers came to his assistance and rounded it up. - -The girls, now that the excitement was ended, suddenly felt weak in -the knees. They realized that they had taken a desperate chance, and -that they had not been unhorsed, and perhaps gored to death, was due -to great good luck, and to the far-reaching power of the dignified -Elfreda Briggs’ voice, rather than to any skill on their part. - -“That was a fool thing to do,” observed Stacy, who now came trotting -up to them. - -“Why, you unappreciative creature!” rebuked Emma. “Don’t you know -that we were trying to save your life?” - -“Save nothing!” growled Stacy. - -“Thank you,” bowed Emma. “I could not have said it better myself,” -whereupon the other girls laughed merrily, and Stacy drew off by -himself where he sat sullenly observing the work going on below him. - -All day the milling about, the cutting-out, the yells and the -bellows, with here and there a sharp encounter between cowboy and an -ugly steer, continued without a let-up. No one thought of eating. -There was too much work to be done, and even the Overlanders forgot -their noon luncheon which they had brought with them. - -At twilight the cowmen were still busy, but by this time they had -several hundred animals in the big corral, and in another a bunch of -stock for branding, while out on the range as many more animals were -stirring about restlessly. Campfires began to spring up here and -there, over which tired riders cooked their slender suppers and -rested before taking up the work of the night. This work included -branding and keeping rounded-up the stock left out on the range. -Bindloss joined the Overlanders at their coffee and bacon. He was -covered with dust and his voice was hoarse from yelling at cattle -and at his riders. - -“How long is this thing going to continue?” questioned Stacy Brown. - -“All night, young feller. Of course things will quiet down ’long -’bout midnight. We’ve got to get some rest, you know.” - -Grace said she thought that they should be starting back towards -camp after supper, but Bindloss shook his head. - -“Some of the men will be going in later in the evening. I’d rather -have you folks wait and ride in with them,” he said, but without -giving any reason for the request. “You can ride ’bout after supper, -but keep away from milling bunches, and see the sights. You’ll be -interested in the branding, if you’ve never seen it done.” - -Soon after supper the girls of the party, accompanied by Stacy, rode -down the valley. There they scattered somewhat, Emma first having -discovered Two-gun Pete and stopping to talk with him. Stacy rode -on, saying that he wished to see the rest of the show. - -Pete told Emma that he did not like the way the cattle had been -acting that day. He averred that something had been stirring them up -of late, but reckoned it must be a mountain lion that had been -trying to get the calves. Whether or not the beast had succeeded he -said he did not know, for no one knew how many calves there were in -any of the herds. - -Two-gun Pete had work to do, so Emma rode on and joined her -companions whom she found chatting with the owner of the ranch, who -sat his pony surveying the activity that was everywhere. They -wondered how he could make anything out of all the confusion in the -darkness, which the many little fires merely accentuated. Joe -Bindloss, however, knew exactly what was going on at all points of -the round-up. - -Idaho Jones interrupted the conversation when he came galloping up -to the party. - -“Hey, Boss!” he called. “I been lookin’ all over fer ye.” The voice -of the cowpuncher held an urgent note that each member of the party -before him felt. - -“Eh? What’s wrong?” demanded Bindloss sharply. - -“Pop Skinner jest rode in, an’ he’s lookin’ fer ye hot-foot. He says -as he reckons thar’s trouble up in the valley.” - -“What about?” - -“He didn’t wait to tell me.” - -“Find him—find him and fetch him here almighty quick! Hump -yourself!” commanded Bindloss. - -“Co—o-o-o-o! Pop, heah,” yelled Idaho, his quick eye discovering -the man for whom he was looking, and out of the darkness shot a gray -mustang bearing down on them. “Thar he is now.” - -“What’s wrong?” shouted Bindloss. - -“I don’t reckon as I know, Boss, but as I was comin’ down to jine -the outfit heah, I runned across Sallie guardin’ the number six -herd. He said as he’d seen a bunch of riders come out of the -foothills, ’bout four mile above heah an’ head off in the direction -of the ranch an’ he thought ye better know ’bout it. As I was comin’ -down anyway, I made a hustle. ’Bout half way down I heard rifle -shots up-valley. Thet’s all I knows ’bout it, but I reckoned you -ought to know.” - -“Get Pete and all the other fellers you can skin in a hurry and -light out for the ranch. There’s trouble, and I’ve felt it somehow -all day!” - -While Bindloss was giving his orders another cowpuncher rode in on a -pony that was dripping lather. He, too, was from somewhere up the -Coso Valley and he was excited. - -“They’ve attacked the ranch, Boss!” he fairly flung at Bindloss. - -“Who’s attacked it?” roared the rancher. - -“Don’t know nothin’ ’bout thet, but I seen an’ heard the firin’ and -thar’s the old Harry to pay up thar.” - -Idaho had already ridden away to gather a bunch of his fellows for -the ride back to the ranch, and while this was being done Bindloss -eagerly questioned the two men who had brought him evil tidings. -Perhaps Bindloss had an idea as to who the men from the mountain -were, but if so he did not inform the disturbed Overlanders. They -were thinking of Hippy up there alone in the ranch-house, himself -suffering from wounds and perhaps helpless in the hands of a band of -mountain ruffians. - -“We must go!” cried Nora. - -“Yes, we will go,” answered Grace. “I wish I could find Tom.” - -“They’ll get him,” answered Bindloss. “You’ll have to ride some if -you keep up with the cowpunchers, and this ain’t no pleasure trip -neither. Here they come!” - -Pete was leading the party of rough-riders that came racing towards -him, and with them was Tom Gray. His companions of the Overland -party hardly recognized him, for his clothes were covered with dust -and his face was streaked where the perspiration had trickled -through the grime. - -“Orders, Boss?” called Pete. - -“Ride! Ride the cayuses to death, but get there, that’s all. Go!” - -The cowboys pulled their mustangs and fairly lifted them, rearing -and wheeling, and were off like projectiles, fierce fires burning in -every cowboy heart, and the lust for battle and revenge taking full -possession of them. - -The Overland Riders were not many seconds behind them in starting, -nor did they have to urge their mustangs, who were as eager as they -to keep up with the reckless riders ahead, riders that were using -spur and voice in the wild night ride up the Coso Valley. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -HIPPY DEFENDS THE RANCH - - -Lieutenant Wingate after a refreshing afternoon’s sleep had remained -up long enough to brew tea and fry bacon and eggs for himself. It -was dusk when he finished his supper. - -“I ought to wash the dishes, I suppose, but I think I’ll let the -girls do that. There is some satisfaction in being a convalescent,” -he decided, grinning at his own humor. “Queer thing about -convalescence—when you get through with your sleep you are ready -for another. Ho, hum!” - -Hippy, with the aid of a cane, hobbled out to the porch that fronted -the valley and sat down on his cot, then lay back breathing in the -soft breezes from mountain and plain. - -“This is the life,” he muttered, sinking into a half doze. - -All at once the Overland Rider pulled himself into keen wakefulness. -He was positive that he heard horses approaching, but they seemed to -be a long way off. His first thought was that either the Overlanders -or some of the cowboys were on their way home, but with the caution -born of experience, he decided to lie quietly and wait. - -The hoof-beats ceased, so far as he was able to hear, and silence -settled over the valley, broken now and then by the howl of a hungry -coyote. Somehow this sudden silence got on the nerves of Lieutenant -Hippy Wingate, and getting up he hobbled into the ranch-house and -strapped on his revolver holster. Bethinking himself of Bindloss’s -rifle he got that, examined the chambers and, as he expected, found -it fully loaded. - -“Now we are all set,” he muttered. He had reached the ranch-house -door when he halted sharply and gazed into the night over which the -stars shed a faint light, making objects within the range of his -vision stand out in unreal and fantastic shapes. Hippy, however, did -see something moving, something that was quite real. This something -was a man, and as he gazed other figures were discovered. - -“I wonder if that’s some of the boys?” he muttered. Upon second -thought he decided that the cowpunchers would not be moving about so -quietly. Three appeared to have come from the direction of the -Overland camp at the rear of the ranch-house, and Hippy then knew -that all was not well at the Circle O ranch. He stepped back, softly -closed and bolted the door, and took his place at a window that had -been pulled down from the top. From that vantage point he watched -with straining eyes. - -The men appeared to be investigating, undoubtedly for the purpose of -learning whether or not there were anyone about the place. One -finally turned his attention to the ranch-house, first cautiously -trying the door, then peering in through the window. Hippy had -stepped aside as the man approached him, and a few seconds later he -saw a face pressed against the pane. - -After a moment of peering, the fellow carefully raised both windows -from the bottom and thrust his head in. - -Hippy pressed his body against the wall and grasped his revolver by -the barrel. The fellow’s shoulders were thrust in and the watcher -saw that he was about to climb in. - -Lieutenant Hippy Wingate took instant advantage of the opportunity -and brought the butt of his revolver down with full force on the -intruder’s head. The whack was so loud that the Overlander thought -the others must hear, and, without an instant’s hesitation, he -grabbed and dragged the unconscious man into the room. - -“I hope I haven’t killed the ruffian!” A hand placed over the man’s -heart told Hippy that he had not. Hippy, knowing that there was a -lasso hanging in Bindloss’s room, in fact that there were several -there, hobbled in, and fetching the rope, hog-tied the man, after -which he put a handkerchief gag in the fellow’s mouth. - -“Good! This is like taking candy from babies,” he chuckled, going -over to the window and replacing it as it was before. This enabled -him to stand up and look out, and also gave him free range in case -he found it necessary to use his weapons. Bethinking himself of -other windows, Hippy made a circuit of the lower floor and closed -and locked them. For a man to get in now would necessitate breaking -a window, which he surely would hear. - -The watcher had no more than returned to his open window than he -suddenly ducked to one side, for he discovered that a second man was -about to peer in. Unlike the first caller this man walked away and -went around to the rear of the house, but he was back in a few -moments, this time accompanied by a companion. They were whispering, -and at this instant the man on the floor gave a kick with his heel -that stopped the whispering instantly. - -Lieutenant Wingate went over to the bound man. - -“Do that again and I’ll settle you!” he hissed with all the -savageness that he could put into his tone. “I mean what I say!” - -Returning to the window he stood to one side watching the two men -who were again holding a whispered conversation, pausing now and -then to listen attentively. After a few moments of this, one raised -the window an inch or so at a time and looked in. In the darkness -they saw nothing. - -“I reckon it’s all right. I’ll go in an’ ye foller me,” said one in -a low, guarded tone of voice, whereupon he began crawling in. As he -landed on his hands on the floor, Lieutenant Wingate hit him a -terrific wallop on the head with the butt of his revolver, then made -a swift pass with it at the head of the other man whose head was -just inside the window. - -It hit the fellow a glancing blow, and jerking his head from the -window he fell over backwards, then staggering to his feet he ran, -uttering a warning cry. - -The time for secrecy, so far as Lieutenant Hippy Wingate was -concerned, had passed. He sent a bullet from his revolver after the -man and then discovering other prowlers trying to get into the -corral, he snatched up the rifle, and fired at the ground just -behind them. - -The prowlers scattered in record time and a volley of shots pinged -into the ranch-house in reply. - -The Overland Rider now hastily turned his attention to his second -victim, and in a few minutes he had the man bound and dragged to the -other side of the room at a distance from the first prisoner. - -“Confound the ruffians! Why couldn’t they have come singly?” he -growled. “I could have caught the whole bunch. I reckon maybe there -will be something doing in a few moments.” - -There was. A rifle crashed out, then another, and a snapping fire -was directed at the Circle O ranch-house, with Hippy lying flat on -the floor waiting for the shooting to stop. It soon did, whereupon -the Overlander crept to the window and peered out. Not a human being -was in sight, but the watcher was too old a hand at campaigning to -believe that the prowlers had gone away. He reasoned, too, that by -making no return of their fire, they might believe that they had hit -him. As he had surmised would be the case, a man appeared after a -time just beyond the corral. The fellow darted across and -disappeared behind the stable where saddles and other equipment were -stored. - -The man’s next appearance was a few moments later when he walked to -the corral, looked in and strolled back to the protection of the -stable. Others then appeared, at first exercising the utmost -caution, but little by little showing that they believed danger to -them had passed. - -Hippy Wingate chuckled. His ruse had succeeded, but he knew the end -was not yet. At the same time he was groping for the reason for the -presence of these prowlers. From their actions he believed that they -were trying to steal the ponies, and a moment later he saw them -again at work trying to break the locked gate of the corral. They -were battering away at it so boldly that he knew they now feared no -interruption. - -“I’ve got to take a chance,” muttered the Overland Rider, “but I’ll -shoot low. Perhaps I won’t hit any of the stock.” - -There was no time to lose, for in a few moments those sledge-hammer -blows, that were probably delivered with a maul or an axe, must -produce results. - -Taking as careful aim as he could in the uncertain light, he pulled -the trigger and Old Joe Bindloss’s rifle roared. - -A yell greeted the shot, by which sign Lieutenant Wingate knew that -the bullet had found a mark. He fired again, but this time there was -no answering yell. Two men grabbed up one of their number, the party -started on a run for the stable and Hippy deliberately fired right -into the group. One man staggered and fell. He was quickly dragged -away, but not before the Overland Rider had emptied his rifle at -them, though, so far as he was able to discover, without results. -Accurate shooting was impossible under the conditions. - -The rancher’s rifle was now empty, nor did Lieutenant Wingate know -where to find more ammunition. He possessed his revolver and a belt -of cartridges which would keep him going for some time, provided he -were conservative in their use, so the rifle was laid aside and the -revolver took its place. A quick examination of the two captives -informed him that both were conscious. - -“You fellows! Don’t you make a sound or I’ll use the business end of -my gun on you,” he warned. - -Rifle bullets at this juncture again began ripping through the side -of the house, and while they were still crunching about the room -with a chilling sound the Overlander, who was on the floor, heard a -powerful blow delivered on the door. It was followed by other blows. -The ruffians were trying to beat the door down, and already a panel -had been shattered. - -Hippy hopped to his feet and placed himself before the door, feeling -reasonably safe there so long as men were standing in front of it. - -Thrusting the muzzle of his weapon close to the shattered panel he -pulled the trigger, and a howl of rage answered it. This shot had -not missed. - -Before giving the attackers a chance to do further damage Hippy -fired the remaining chambers of his revolver through the door in -quick succession. He did not know whether or not he had made a hit, -but he knew that, for the moment, he had effectively checked -operations out there. - -A few seconds were lost in reloading, during which not a sound -reached him from the outside. Stooping over, he peered through the -shattered panel. As he did so there came a sudden burst of rifle -fire and a dozen bullets ripped through the door. - -Lieutenant Wingate straightened up, staggered, clapped a hand to his -head, half turned and crashed full length to the floor. As he lay -there, bullets continued to thud through the door and the siding of -the ranch-house, then ceased as suddenly as they had begun, but -Hippy, some moments since, had ceased to hear or know. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -AT THE LAST MOMENT - - -“Smoke him out!” came the sharp command after the firing had died -down. “That’ll fetch the critter. Then git him.” - -Some dead grass, a handful of chips and a match did the work, and a -flickering blaze was soon started under one corner of the -ranch-house. - -“Now the hosses!” commanded the same voice. “Two of ye git behind -the house to watch for him, the others go fer the mustangs in the -corral.” - -The men ran to obey the orders of their leader, when a sudden shout -from one of them changed the plans of the attackers entirely. It was -a shout of warning. Following it the ruffians plainly heard the -sound of hoof-beats approaching—many of them. They were coming at -what the trained ears of the mountain ruffians told them was a -killing pace. - -“Hit the trail!” yelled the leader. “Go south and scatter! Hit it -hard!” came the further orders. - -The ruffians were in their saddles within a minute thereafter, some -of them carrying wounded companions who had got in the way of Hippy -Wingate’s bullets, and they were around the corner of the corral in -a twinkling. Once in the shadow of it they faded away into the -night, just as Two-gun Pete and his companions flashed in with guns -ready for instant use. - -“Quick! Fire!” shouted Idaho. - -“Git water!” yelled Two-gun Pete, leaping from his mustang. - -Old Joe Bindloss came up as the cowpunchers were dashing water on -the flames that were now licking at the side of the building. He -instantly threw himself from his pony and grabbing a pail began -carrying water and giving orders at the same time. The blaze was -extinguished in a few minutes. The Overland Riders came up at this -juncture. - -“Gosh a-mighty, what’s been going on here?” bellowed the rancher. -“Look at that door! Clean busted in.” - -The boys quickly brought lanterns from the stable, and by their -light discovered the bullet holes in door and siding. Windows, too, -were shot out at the front of the house. - -“Thar’s been a fight heah!” decided Pete. - -“Hippy!” wailed Nora, almost collapsing as her pony stopped. - -“We’ll find out about thet, Missie,” answered Pete. “Hey, Dude! Be -you thar?” he shouted. - -There was no reply, and the Overlanders ran for the house, each one -fearing the worst. - -“Back! I reckon I’ll go in first!” bellowed Bindloss. “It’s my -house, and I reckon it’s up to me to go in ahead. Boys, get behind -me with the lights so they don’t get in my eyes. You Overlanders -keep out of range in case there should be some scrapping. No telling -what we might meet in there.” Bindloss with drawn weapon, Two-gun -Pete at his side, strode up and kicked in the remnants of the front -door of his home. As the door went down both men leaped lightly to -one side, fearing an ambush. - -A dead silence followed. - -“Lights here!” commanded Bindloss, stepping in with revolver thrust -before him. - -Nothing happening, cowpunchers and Overlanders crowded in. They -found the old rancher standing with a dazed expression on his face. - -“Gosh a-mighty!” he muttered over and over. “What’s happened?” - -It was then that the Overlanders discovered the two bound men, and -then Hippy at some little distance from them, stretched out on his -face, one hand still grasping his revolver. - -“Hippy!” It was a wailing cry from Nora as she threw herself down -beside him. “He’s dead! He’s dead! They’ve killed him!” Nora threw -both arms about her husband and tried to turn him over, but he was a -dead weight and she failed. - -Tom did it for her, the cowpunchers during all this time standing -with gaping mouths as dazed as was their employer. - -Grace and Elfreda were at Hippy’s side in an instant, and it was -Elfreda who discovered that he was not dead. - -“Light here, please,” requested Miss Briggs in a tone so calm that -it steadied the others of the party. “Look at this, will you?” she -added. “A bullet has ripped the bandage from his head, and torn open -the stitches that I put in Hippy’s scalp.” - -“Wounded in exactly the same place!” murmured Grace. “How strange!” - -“What ’bout these cayuses, Boss?” demanded Two-gun Pete, fixing a -malignant gaze on the two helpless ruffians who were looking from -one to the other of the party with anxiety in their eyes. “Shall I -make a good job of it an’ sarve ’em the same way somebody has sarved -the Dude?” - -“Shut up! They’ll keep. This man gets first attention. Is he bad -off, Miss?” questioned Bindloss. - -“I can’t say,” answered Elfreda. “If I knew how long he has been in -this condition I might make a better guess.” - -Pete released the gun from Hippy’s hand, felt of the barrel, smelled -of the muzzle, then looked into the cylinder to see how many shots -had been fired from it. - -“Ain’t been this way more’n ten or fifteen minutes, I reckon. Gun’s -warm yit.” - -“Then it may be only concussion of the brain, but I shan’t be able -to tell definitely for some little time. Some one run to camp and -get bandages. Tom, will you please go? Fetch my case along.” - -Elfreda called for water and by the time Tom returned had bathed the -wound, the same wound reopened, though the scalp on either side of -it was lacerated somewhat more than before. Restoratives were -administered by Grace, while Elfreda was dressing and re-sewing the -wound, she believing it best to do this before the patient recovered -consciousness. Grace was not so successful, and at Bindloss’s orders -the cowpunchers picked up the wounded Overlander and carried him to -his bed at the back of the house. - -“Take the gags out of them fellers’ mouths. I reckon they’ll have -something to say,” drawled Bindloss in the cool tone that his men -knew from experience was a mask for a raging passion beneath it. - -The gags were none too gently removed, the captives’ weapons were -jerked from their belts, smelled of and examined and found not to -have been fired that evening. This was evidenced by the fact that -the cylinders were fully loaded, that the barrels were cold, and -that there was no odor of burnt powder to be detected at the -muzzles. - -“Stand ’em up against the wall and let’s have a look at ’em!” -commanded the rancher, and after this had been done, and one of the -cowboys had held a lantern up to their faces, Bindloss squinted at -them frowningly. “Any of you fellows know these critters?” - -Each cowpuncher stepped up and took a long, stern look at the faces -and shook his head. - -“I reckon you two bit off more’n you could chew, eh? Who are ye?” -demanded Bindloss. - -The captives, now sullen-faced, made no reply. - -“What happened that you two are hog-tied in my house?” - -“Ain’t no use fer to ask questions ’cause you ain’t goin’ to git no -answers,” growled one. - -“I’ll tell ye what happened,” spoke up the other captive. “We was -ridin’ by, an knowin’ thet you-all was down the range, seen -somethin’ was goin’ on in heah an’ we jest come up to look in, an’ -got a crack on the haid. Thet’s all.” - -“You’re a liar!” blazed Joe Bindloss, drawing back a clenched fist -as if to strike the man, but the fist slowly relaxed and his face -grew calm again. “You’ll talk before I git done with you, I promise -you that. When the man in there wakes up, if he ever does, I’ll hear -the truth. If he dies I’ll shoot every man in these ranges if I have -to do so to git the right ones, and I’ll begin with you, you -sneaking coyotes! Take ’em out and tie ’em in the barn. And, boys, -fix ’em so they can’t get away. If there’s any rough stuff to be -pulled off, I’ll do the pulling. Understand?” - -The cowpunchers nodded and picked up the prisoners. When outside the -door the man at the head of each prisoner dropped his burden and the -cowboy at the foot dragged his captive by the feet all the way to -the stable. Sam Conifer followed and stood gazing at the prisoners -as the cowmen were re-tying them. He was positive that he had seen -one of the ruffians before, but could not place him. - -While this was going on, Jim, who had procured a lantern and browsed -about the ranch, returned to the house. Bindloss was in the room -with Lieutenant Wingate at the moment, watching the Overland girls -work over him. Hearing Jim enter, he stepped out. - -“Oh! It’s you, is it?” - -“Yes. Boss, I been lookin’ ’round heah a little an’ I’ve diskivered -some things. Thar was seven men in that party. They went up to our -camp fust, but didn’t take nothin’. Then they come down heah an’ -tried to git in the corral. Thar’s some bullet holes in the posts -thar, which I reckon was made by Lieutenant Wingate’s rifle. Thar’s -a rifle on the floor thar. Whose is that?” - -“Mine,” exclaimed the rancher, picking up the weapon and examining -it. “The magazine is empty—fired off this evening.” - -“Jest so. Some of them bullets is in the stable now, an’ some more -of ’em hit them rough-necks, mebby killed ’em, I can’t say. -Leastwise they left some blood where two of ’em lay until they was -carried away on hosses. Thar’s tracks, too, that lead right up to -that winder thar.” - -“Good work,” complimented Bindloss. “What beats me, though, is how -two of them happened to be tied down in the house.” - -“Three of ’em I trailed up to the winder. One of ’em went away in a -hurry, but t’other two didn’t. I reckon mebby they aire the two -fellers that ye found heah. The party went south after they heard ye -comin’. I reckon that’s what started ’em away. I reckon they was -tryin’ to steal yer mustangs when Lieutenant Wingate put er crimp in -their little picnic. Eh, Boss?” - -“I reckon you’re right, Jim. He must have fought them single-handed -and when they were getting the worst of it they tried to set fire to -the ranch-house. I reckon we got here just in time.” - -“Yep. Things do work out queer-like sometimes,” agreed the old -guide. “Somebody’s comin’! They’re in a hurry, too,” he warned. - -A horse came to a sliding stop just outside of the ranch-house. A -rapid exchange of words followed between the rider and the cowboys, -then a dust-covered, breathless cowboy clanked in. - -“Gosh a-mighty! What’s broke loose now?” demanded the rancher. -“Don’t tell me something else has happened. Speak up! Are you -tongue-tied?” - -“The herd, Pop’s herd, has jest been stampeded an’ scattered into -the foothills, and Pop’s been shot. The fellers thet stampeded the -herd give him his’n. They aire bringin’ him in now,” answered the -rider excitedly. - -Bindloss snatched up his rifle and bolted from the door. His -cowpunchers already were in their saddles. - -“Grace, if I am not needed here, I’ll go, too,” urged Tom. - -“Yes, do,” answered Grace Harlowe. “Tell Jim-Sam to stay. Be -careful, Tom.” - -“Safety first,” called back the Overland Rider as he dashed out -after the rancher. “Jim-Sam, I hold you responsible for the safety -of this place while we are away.” - -“Come on if you’re going with me,” shouted Bindloss. - -“I’m with you,” answered Tom, and in an incredibly short time the -party was thundering down the valley. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -AN OVERLANDER IS MISSING - - -The vigil of the Overland girls lasted through the night. Along -towards morning Lieutenant Wingate’s breathing became more natural -and his heart action better. - -“I am inclined to think that he will regain consciousness soon,” -announced Miss Briggs. “If he does, it is not a fracture of the -skull. Have courage, Nora,” she added in answer to the appealing -look from Mrs. Wingate, who had sat holding the wounded man’s hand -all night long. - -“I’ve been trying to bring him back, and I’ve thought so hard that I -just knew he would have to come back,” murmured Nora. - -Grace kissed her and patted her cheek. - -“The imponderable quality lies deep in us all,” observed Emma more -to herself than to her companions. - -In the meantime Jim and Sam were prowling about, now and then -looking in to inquire how the patient was getting along, but -spending a good part of their time at the Overland camp which -commanded a fairly good view of the ranch buildings. - -Shortly after daybreak, Hippy stirred and began to mutter. A few -moments later he opened his eyes, blinked a few times, and smiled up -into Nora’s face. The Overland girl burst into tears. - -“If you don’t stop that at once out you go!” threatened Miss Briggs. -“Hippy must have absolute quiet. Which shall it be?” - -“I’ll be quiet,” promised Nora, conquering the sobs that rose to her -lips. - -There was instant silence in the room, and in a few moments Hippy -Wingate sank into a natural sleep, from which he did not awaken -until late in the morning. After some nourishment was given him, he -asked for explanations. - -The girls told him how they had found him, and asked him what had -occurred before he was put out by a bullet. Hippy related all that -he could remember of the occurrences of the previous night. They -then insisted on his going to sleep again, which he was quite -willing and ready to do. - -No one had been near the stable where the prisoners were held, -though Jim-Sam had made occasional tours of inspection about the -building throughout the night. The key to the stable was in the -pocket of Two-gun Pete, so, though the prisoners must be hungry, it -was plain that they would get nothing to eat until the return of the -rancher and his party. - -Bindloss, and those that had gone out with him, returned shortly -before noon worn and angry. Emma met them in front of the -ranch-house waving her hat and smiling. - -“It’s all right,” she cried in answer to a volley of questions about -Hippy. “He is sleeping now.” - -“Whoo—pe-e-e!” howled the boys. - -“Shut up! The man’s asleep!” rebuked Joe Bindloss, getting down from -his saddle and stamping about to get the kinks out of his legs, for -he had not been out of the saddle in many hours. - -At this juncture Grace appeared at the door of the ranch-house and -waved a hand at them. - -“The lieutenant is awake now and he would like to see you, Mr. -Bindloss,” she informed the rancher. - -Bindloss limped in, and the cowboys, not to be denied what they were -certain would prove to be an interesting interview, flung themselves -from their ponies and trooped in. They were crowded about the door -of the injured man’s room by the time Joe Bindloss gripped the -Overland Rider’s hand. - -Hippy sat propped up in bed, his head swathed in bandages, and he -grinned at the solemn faces of the cowpunchers. - -“I got mine again, fellows. Regular tenderfoot, eh?” - -The cowpunchers shook their heads. - -“Wal, now, tell me ’bout it,” urged the rancher. - -To save Hippy from another wearisome recital, Miss Briggs repeated -what he had already related of his experiences. The lines of the -cowboy countenances grew taut during the recital, but no word was -uttered. They were held by the words of Elfreda Briggs, spoken -without attempt at embellishment. - -“An’ you got two of ’em. Well, I’ll be struck dead if that ain’t the -limit. Boys, what do you think ’bout this outfit being tenderfeet?” -he demanded, turning brusquely to his men. - -The cowboys shifted uneasily and fumbled their hats. - -“Boss, I reckon we got to git somebody fer thet. What ’bout Pop? Is -he daid?” demanded Idaho. - -“No. He isn’t badly hurt. Shot through the shoulder, that’s all,” -smiled J. Elfreda. “He is in the bunk-house. Mrs. Gray fixed him up -and Sam has been looking after him. I shall go over again soon and -look him over. The lieutenant being the worse hurt demanded most of -our attention, though Pop has not been neglected,” Elfreda informed -them. - -“I think the prisoners may need attention by this time,” suggested -Grace. “They must be hungry.” - -Bindloss growled. - -“All right. Pete, see that they get something to eat. Find out if -they are ready to talk and let me know.” - -“Thank you,” said Grace smilingly. - -“Hippy, you’ve done me a big service. I don’t know what to say,” -resumed the rancher. - -“Don’t say anything. I had to fight to save my own skin,” answered -Hippy. - -“A good many folks would have hid in the cellar,” chuckled Bindloss. -“Catching those two rough-necks was the cleverest thing that’s been -done in Coso Valley, and I reckon the record will stand for some -time. Feel all right?” - -“Sore, but happy, Mr. Bindloss. Tell me what happened below. The -girls said there was trouble with the Number Six herd and that Pop -had been wounded.” - -Bindloss’s face contracted. - -“The miserable coyotes! I mean that mountain gang. Yes, they -stampeded the herd and run them into the foothills. They got some of -the stock, too, but I don’t know how many head. The whole bunch got -away before we got down there, though they left several snipers as a -sort of rear guard, and they took pot shots at us when the boys -tried to get on the trail of the stolen stock. We got the stock -rounded up, what was left of it, and drove it in with another herd. -The boys are finishing rounding up on that section today. I reckon -they can get along without me. Pete and the bunch are going back -later. We’ve got two of the thieves here, anyway, and they are going -to jail when we get ready to turn them over. I reckon they are going -to talk some first, though.” - -“Can’t your men trail the rustlers?” asked Miss Briggs. - -“Not far. You don’t know these mountains. They could hide up a bunch -of cattle for months and no one could find them unless he just -happened to stumble onto the hiding place. The best we can do is to -find out who the boss of that thieving outfit is and shoot him up. I -reckon that’s what’s going to be did, too. By the way, where’s your -fat friend, Stacy? It’s a wonder he isn’t around with some -suggestions to offer.” - -The Overlanders looked at each other with growing concern in their -faces. - -“St—acy!” exclaimed Nora. - -“Mercy! With all the excitement we have forgotten all about that -young man,” spoke up Emma. “Why, he didn’t return with us last -night, did he?” - -“He is all right. Don’t worry. You will find him with the punchers -rounding up steers and howling like an Indian,” soothed Lieutenant -Wingate. - -Bindloss strode to the door and shouted “Pete!” Two-gun came -running. - -“Whar’s Brown, Stacy Brown?” - -“I—I thought he was heah. Ain’t he?” - -“No. Was he with the men rounding up this morning?” - -Pete shook his head and a troubled look crept into his face. - -“When did you last see him?” - -“Le’ me see. It was last night jest before we got er call to come up -heah. He was ridin’ up towards the foothills on the east side, I -reckon to see what the boys was doin’ up thet way. As I recommember -thar warn’t any of the boys on thet side jest then.” - -“You are certain that he isn’t with the outfit?” urged Bindloss. - -“Daid shore, Boss.” - -“Then where is he?” demanded the rancher with a rising inflection in -his voice. - -Two-gun Pete shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. - -“I reckon somethin’ has happened to thet feller,” he observed -solemnly. - -Tom Gray ran to the door and shouted for Jim-Sam. - -“We will start the guides out at once. Something has gone wrong with -Chunky, that’s certain, but if anyone can find him Jim-Sam can,” he -said. - -“I’ll send Pete and a couple of the others with them,” announced the -rancher, who was more disturbed than he cared to have the Overland -Riders see. “Pete! You know what to do. Get the boy, that’s all.” - -Jim-Sam were entering the ranch-house when Idaho burst in, thrusting -the guides aside at the door. - -“Boss! They’ve gone!” yelled Idaho. - -“Gone? Who’s gone?” - -“The critters thet the Dude caught last night. They’ve got clean -away. Somebody sawed a hole in the back of the stable and got ’em -out!” - -“Gosh a-mighty!” gasped Bindloss. “I ought to have done what I -wanted to do and shot ’em both. But I’ll do it yet! I’ll do it yet!” -he raged, stalking from the ranch-house on his way to the scene of -the escape. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -THE LOST TRAIL - - -“I am going back to the round-up, then over to see Malcolm Hornby,” -announced Joe Bindloss after returning from the stable, where he had -gone to see for himself how the prisoners had escaped. “I hate the -critter, but if we stock owners don’t get together and organize to -wipe out these thieves we shan’t have any stock left by the end of -the season.” - -“I’ll go with you,” offered Tom Gray. - -“Sure, if you like. Pete, you and Idaho are to ride with us, leaving -the rest here to protect the ranch. We mustn’t leave the place alone -again, but there’s got to be some better protecting than there was -last night,” warned Bindloss. “I’ll bet every steer on my ranch that -if Lieutenant Wingate had been on his feet they wouldn’t have got -away—alive!” - -“Tom, I am going, too,” announced Grace. - -“Rough riding, girlie,” reminded Tom. - -“Yes, I know. But I don’t mind. Elfreda will remain with Hippy who -will be all right if someone doesn’t fire more bullets into him. She -and Nora may be trusted to take good care of him. Perhaps Emma would -like to go, too, especially if that big cowboy Pete is to accompany -us,” added Grace laughingly. - -“Come along. You won’t be satisfied unless you do,” agreed Tom. “I -will speak to Bindloss about it.” - -Grace said that there was no need to do that, and suggested further -that she thought she might be of some assistance to the searchers, -but the Overland girl did not explain what she meant by her last -remark, nor did Tom think twice about it. His mind was troubled. - -Emma answered the question of her joining the party before it was -asked by announcing that she was going to ride with Two-gun Pete and -Mr. Bindloss. - -Arrangements were quickly made and after the situation had been -explained to Lieutenant Wingate, Nora and Emma, the rancher and -his party mounted their ponies, leaving Sierra in charge of the -ranch with another cowboy and Sam Conifer to assist him. - -“Do as well as ye did last night when ye let them fellers git away -an’ ye prob’bly’ll git yer fool haid shot off,” warned Sam as Jim -swung into his saddle. - -“That’s all right so long as we leave another wuss fool heah at the -ranch,” gave back Jim, and the party galloped away. - -It was a hard ride, especially for Emma and Grace, but both girls -stood up under it remarkably well. Only one stop was made and that -was at a spring to water the ponies, after which the journey was -resumed. The rancher and his party reached their destination about -the middle of the afternoon, where the same scenes were being -enacted as on the previous day. Cattle were milling and bawling, and -above the roar came the calls of the cowpunchers, clear and -distinct. - -The herd engaged in the milling was much smaller than before because -so many head had been cut out and sent to graze at another place, -there to be guarded by men who would see to it that they neither got -away nor were stolen, for these cattle soon were to be driven to -market. - -At Bindloss’s direction, the men of the party separated and rode out -to question the cowmen about Stacy, and after every man there had -been interviewed, the searchers returned to the knoll where the -girls were awaiting them. - -“He hasn’t been here since last night,” Tom informed them. “The last -seen of him was when he was riding up towards that knoll yonder -where you see the red bushes. Whether or not he came back, no one -seems to know.” - -“Then he possibly rode into the mountains and got lost,” suggested -Emma. “That would be just like Stacy.” - -“I wish I might believe that it was nothing worse,” answered Grace. -“What is your idea, Mr. Bindloss?” - -“That’s a fair question, and I’ll give you a fair answer. It is my -hunch that the bunch that attacked the ranch is concerned in this -case too. I’m going over to see Hornby, and you folks can either -wait here for me or return to the ranch.” - -Grace asked permission to accompany him, which was rather -begrudgingly granted, she thought. Emma elected to stay and watch -the herding, and more especially to watch Two-gun Pete’s antics with -his mustang and tell him he was the finest horseman in the world. -Emma had told that same thing to nearly every one of Old Joe -Bindloss’s punchers, and some day it was destined to result in a -lively man-to-man fight. - -The ride to Hornby’s ranch occupied less than an hour, and Grace -observed that Bindloss hailed the log cabin where Hornby lived, -while still some little distance away. Judy answered the call and -looked her amazement when she saw who the callers were. - -“Pap’s got an awful grouch on today. You’d better light out of here -hot-foot, Pap Bindloss.” - -“Judy, I’m going to see your father. Where may I find him?” - -“I reckon right heah! What do ye want?” The voice belonged to -Malcolm Hornby. - -Grace observed the man with keen interest. Hornby was short and -wiry, his eyes keen, but revealing a vicious temper, while his face, -probably from exposure to the open, was like wrinkled parchment. Yet -he was not an old man, perhaps not more than fifty, with a quick, -nervous manner that made one feel he would be a dangerous opponent -in a fight. - -“I want to talk with you, Hornby. Can we talk in private?” asked -Bindloss. “I want to talk with you about two things. The first is -about a young friend of mine named Stacy Brown who disappeared from -the round-up last night, pony and all. I want your judgment, too. -You know these hills better than I do.” - -“I don’t know nothin’ ’bout it. Why do ye come heah? Ye don’t think -I stole him, do ye?” The question was put with savage emphasis. - -“Don’t be foolish, Hornby. I need your advice, for I’m plumb locoed -on this business,” urged the rancher. - -“Is that all ye got to say?” - -“No. I have something else to say. Hornby, we’re neighbors, not very -good ones, but we’re neighbors just the same, and neighbors should -stand together. I suppose the rustlers have been at your herd as -well as mine.” - -“I reckon if they keeps on I won’t have a steer on four feet left,” -growled Hornby. - -“Then will you join in with me, turn your men over and make a big -drive with me to rid this part of the country of all those -critters?” - -“I reckon you an’ me couldn’t hitch up fer anything. We’d be for -shootin’ each other up ’fore we’d got out of the valley. You’ve got -a rotten temper, an’ when I’m riled up I ain’t no good company -either. Who be these folks that ye say is yer friends?” - -“They are my friends, and that’s all that need be said,” retorted -Bindloss with some heat, for he did not like the tone nor the -insinuation in Hornby’s reply. - -While the men were talking, Grace had dismounted and she and Judy -had strolled away and engaged in earnest conversation, during which -Grace told her all that had happened at the Circle O ranch. What -Grace especially wanted to convey was that, knowing the mountains as -she did, Judy might be able to assist them in finding out what had -happened to Stacy. Judy shook her head saying that she couldn’t. -Grace closed the subject instantly and walked back to Bindloss. - -“Man!” cried the owner of the Circle O. “The ruffians not only tried -to steal the ponies right out of my corral, but they shot my place -all up and hit my friend, Lieutenant Wingate. He caught two of them -and shot some others, I reckon, but the two got away later on with -the assistance of their friends. I’ve reached my limit, Hornby. The -next thing I know I’ll be killing somebody.” - -“Providin’ they don’t git ye first,” leered Hornby. “I said ye had a -rotten temper, and ye’ve proved it. Nope, Joe, you an’ me can’t -hitch up nohow. I’ll run my own shebang and I reckon ye can do the -same with yours or quit. I don’t give a dad-blasted rap which ye do. -And as fer thet Lootenant friend of yours, tell him he’d better -watch out and not git too handy with thet gun o’ hissen, fer thar’s -some rough fellers in these mountains thet’d make hash of him -instanter if ever they sot eyes on him. This ain’t no place for -dudes, Joe Bindloss, an’ ye knows it as well as I do. Thet’s all I -got to say to ye.” - -Malcolm Hornby turned on his heel and strode into the house, -ordering Judy to follow him. Judy, with lowered eyes, followed -obediently without another word to Grace. - -“How strangely that girl acts today, Mr. Bindloss,” wondered Grace -as she mounted her mustang and trotted away with the rancher. - -“Judy’s all right. The trouble is that old Hornby is wearing her -down with his ornery temper until she is ’bout ready to bust out. I -hope she doesn’t, because if she does it’ll be a bad day for Pap.” - -“Has she no mother?” - -“Mother died when she was a kid. That was ’bout the time I lost my -wife. But I don’t altogether understand what’s got into Judy. She’s -acting mighty queer.” - -Grace nodded. - -“There’s your man Jim up there,” said Bindloss, pointing to the -foothills where the Overland guide was seen working about. At -Grace’s suggestion they rode to him. “Find it?” called the rancher -as he and Grace approached. - -“I thought as I had, but thar’s been so many cattle an’ so many -hosses that it’s a lost trail. The fellers say that Stacy war seen -here’bouts. If he’s smart he’s left some sort o’ trail, but I’ll be -shot if I kin find it.” - -“He would not think of that,” answered Grace. - -The pair rode on into the valley, both silent and thoughtful, and -for the rest of the afternoon watched the work of rounding up. Just -before dark Grace joined by Emma rode over to the foothills to see -what Jim was accomplishing. He was now nowhere to be seen. Though -Emma wanted to ride up farther into the hills, Grace decided that it -would not be prudent, for night was coming on. - -They ate their supper with cowboys beside a little campfire, and -shortly after that started homeward, accompanied by Mr. Bindloss and -two of the men. Two-gun Pete was one of the party. - -All were pleased to learn, on their arrival at the ranch, that Hippy -had been sitting up and was coming along. Pop Skinner too, Elfreda -said, was out of danger. Even the ranch-house had improved under the -repairs that had been made that day. - -Sam Conifer they found pacing about restlessly. He was full of eager -questions about Jim, and seemed disturbed when they told him that -his partner probably had found a trail and was following it. - -On the following morning, with no tidings of the old guide, Sam -asked permission to go in search of Jim. Permission was readily -granted, and Sam was soon galloping away. - -Conifer did not return until the late afternoon of the next day. He -was riding hard when the Overlanders discovered him, and reeled in -his saddle as he rode up to the ranch-house. - -“Somethin’s happened to Jim!” he cried. “I found whar it happened, -and then I lost the trail. They’ve got him! They’ve got him, folks!” - -“Sam! Sam! You have been hurt!” cried Nora. There was blood on Sam -Conifer’s face, and the left arm hung limp at his side. Before they -could assist him, Sam essayed to dismount and pitched to the ground -in a dead faint. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -CLEWS THAT WERE LOADED - - -It was found that a bullet had hit the fleshy part of the old -guide’s left arm, and that there was considerable laceration. First -aid was administered and the patient restored to consciousness. - -“Quite a hospital we have here, Mr. Bindloss,” observed J. Elfreda -after she had done all she could for Sam. - -“A-huh! What made the old fellow faint like that? He must be getting -old.” - -“Loss of blood made him faint. So it would you. He will shortly be -able to tell us how he got the wound.” - -“I’ll talk now. I’m so full of it I’ve got to talk. I’m an old -idiot! No mistake ’bout that,” rumbled Sam. “I must talk, fer -somethin’ has got to be did. They’ve got Jim, an’ I reckons they’ve -got the fat boy, too.” - -“Take it easy like,” urged the rancher. “No hurry at all. Does he -want something to eat?” - -“We are preparing something. Pete has killed a chicken and Nora is -making broth for him,” replied Miss Briggs. - -“Huh! Reckon you folks think you own this ranch, eh?” demanded the -owner, his eyes twinkling. - -“We might were we to sue for the damage we have sustained here,” -retorted Emma snappily. - -“Oh, ho! I reckon you’re right,” agreed Bindloss. “What’s on your -mind, Conifer?” - -“I found the trail!” - -“You did?” cried Tom Gray. - -“Yes, but that ain’t all. It was a fixed trail to make the finder -reckon that Jim had made it hisself so we could foller him. I -swallered the bait an’ the hook an’ the line too. I fust found whar -thar’d been a scrimmage, an’ I found Jim’s heel marks right thar. -Then they disappeared jest as if he’d gone up into the air. He’d -been boosted to the back of a hoss. Ye never seen no hoss track so -a-mighty plain. Well, I follered right on. Jim wouldn’t have made -that mistake. He’d jest kinder sneaked. Then I got mine.” - -“How far into the hills did you get?” interrupted the rancher. - -“’bout half a mile. Wal, as I was sayin’, all of a sudden I heard -somethin’ like someone had stepped on a stick back of some juniper -bushes. I didn’t like thet sound; I knowed thar was a gun behind it, -so I jest naturally got ready for trouble, but trouble got me first. -The feller shot, an’ I shot. The only difference was thet he had a -plain mark to shoot at an’ I didn’t. He hit me in the arm, an’ then -I shot thet Juniper bush so full of holes that it won’t make no -shade till next summer.” - -“Did—did you hit him?” questioned Emma eagerly. - -“I hit somethin’ that grunted, but the grunter got away from me. I -stalked him fer two hour, but couldn’t even find his tracks, though -I did find some blood thar, an’ if he’d a looked he’d found a heap -sight more blood whar I was. If thet feller hit what he shot at -thar’s only one man in this heah neck of the world thet could do it, -an’ he’s the feller I’m lookin’ fer. When I find him, one or t’other -of us’ll go down an’ stay down. Thet’s shore,” threatened Sam -grimly. - -“I don’t understand how Jim could have been caught in broad -daylight,” wondered Tom. - -“Thar’s only one way, onless they shot him, which I don’t reckon -they did, jedging from the look of the trail. Folks, they roped him -jest like they’d rope an old maverick steer. I reckon mebby that’s -what happened to Stacy.” - -“Yes. But why, why?” - -“Ye kin search me. I’ll be all right after I gits a few hours’ sleep -an’ some chuck; then I’m goin’ to hit the trail agin, and I’ll bet -ye this trail won’t be loaded. Leastwise, I’ll dodge the loaded -places.” - -“Samuel, you will not be hitting any trail just yet,” admonished -Miss Briggs. “I think you had better stop talking now. Your broth -will be ready in a few moments, after which you are going to sleep.” -Elfreda motioned to the others to leave, which they did, and half an -hour later Sam was sleeping soundly. Elfreda thereupon went out to -the front porch where Bindloss, Tom and the others of the Overland -party were awaiting her. - -Bindloss said they had been discussing the situation, and that not -only for their sakes, but for the sake of his business in the Coso -Valley, something must be done to check the outlawry that had been -going on and that was getting worse. - -“Have you appealed to the law?” asked Miss Briggs. - -The rancher laughed, but without mirth. - -“The sheriff has been after this gang for three months, but that’s -as far as the law has ever got. The law has never caught up with the -gang. There’s some fellow with a head bossing that gang, and they -ought to be getting rich judging from the stock they’ve stolen from -me.” - -“If you wish to make a drive and try to clean them up perhaps we can -assist you,” offered Tom. - -“I’ve been thinking of that,” replied Bindloss reflectively. “I -don’t reckon, though, that I want you folks to get mixed up in it, -for somebody is sure to get hurt,” he added. - -“It occurs to me that someone already has,” observed Miss Briggs -wisely. “You must remember that, having lost one of our party and -one guide, we are not wholly disinterested spectators, and should -Stacy not get back, we probably shall organize a drive on our own -hook.” - -“What are your plans, Bindloss? What have you in mind?” asked Tom -Gray. - -“’Bout that matter? I can’t do anything till we get finished with -the round-up. When that’s done we’ll turn some of our cowpunchers -loose, letting Pete lead them, for Pete is a natural leader and can -shoot, and he knows the mountains better than any other fellow on -the range. In the meantime, if Sam gets fit, we will ask him to -scout and see if he can find the hang-out of the ruffians. It will -be a ticklish job, but I suppose it can be done. Miss Briggs, when -do you think the old man will be able to start?” - -“He should lay up for a week, but I do not believe it will be -possible to hold him that long,” replied Elfreda. - -“Leave Stacy all that time without doing anything to help him?” -wailed Nora. - -Grace explained that all was being done that could be done, and that -a few days more or less probably would be none the worse for the -missing Overland boy. She said the delay would enable them to -perfect their plans for the proposed man-hunt, and that in the -meantime the ruffians might make a slip and place themselves in the -hands of the men of Circle O. Bindloss nodded his approval, and -there the matter was left. - -Conifer improved much more rapidly than Elfreda had thought possible -and two days later Hippy, on his feet again, was walking about, -limping ever so little, his head swathed in bandages and his face -lined and pale. - -“I’ve been down long enough,” he told Bindloss. “It is time that I -was out and looking for that nephew of mine, Chunky Brown. Conifer -declares that he is going out tomorrow and I’m going with him.” - -“You are not,” replied the rancher. “Man, it’ll kill you! Conifer -wasn’t hit like you and he has his right hand as good as ever. -There’s lots of fight left in the old man yet, and if we don’t let -him go he will worry himself and the rest of us to death. No, -Lieutenant, you keep your hosses staked down and get lazy for a few -days more. I promise you there will be plenty of excitement and -activity for you and the rest of us when we start that man hunt.” - -The Overlanders were as emphatic as Bindloss had been, and Hippy, -much against his will, submitted to their demand that he stay at the -ranch. Conifer, too, was ordered by Miss Briggs to defer his -departure, so that it was the latter part of that week before she -gave him permission to take the trail on the following day. - -That night, however, something occurred to change the plans of -Bindloss and his guests. Two-gun Pete, who had come in late from the -range, had discovered a man prowling about the stable. Pete hailed -him and the man ran, whereupon the cowboy fired six shots at him, -but in the darkness all his bullets went wild. - -The firing awakened the occupants of the ranch-house and the -Overland camp, and in a few minutes all hands were on the scene, -armed and ready for whatever might be required of them. Guards were -thrown out to protect the place from a surprise attack. The prowler -had disappeared, but he had left a plain trail to a point where his -mustang had been staked down. From there his tracks led into the -foothills, but the direction he took upon entering the hills was no -indication of his probable destination. - -“I found something,” shouted Idaho who had just come around the -corner of the corral with his lantern and passed down at the rear of -the stable. The Overlanders and Bindloss found him carrying a large -basket at arm’s length. Idaho plainly was suspicious of that basket, -and he proposed to take no chances with it. For all he knew it might -be full of rattlers. - -No one made a move to investigate the basket’s contents as Idaho put -it down on the ground and backed away. - -“Perhaps the man went away in such haste he forgot his luncheon,” -suggested Emma whimsically, which caused a laugh and relieved the -tension somewhat. - -“You are a lot of tenderfeet,” averred Hippy, limping over and -peering down at the basket. He gave it a gentle shake. - -“Oh, Hippy darlin’! Be careful,” begged Nora. - -“Be quiet! There is something alive in here,” warned Lieutenant -Wingate, giving the basket another shake, whereupon his companions -distinctly heard familiar sounds coming from it. - -“Birds! Well, what do you folks know about that? Someone has made us -a present of a basket of birds, perhaps blackbirds with which to -make a pie,” chortled Hippy. - -The basket cover was secured with a piece of wire, which the -Overlander unwound and cautiously peered within while Tom Gray held -a lantern to enable Hippy to see. He thrust a hand in and brought -out a bird, holding it up for the others to look at. - -“Bindloss, what do you think of our present?” he cried jovially. - -“Well, I’ll be shot!” exclaimed the rancher. “What fool is carrying -’round a basket of birds?” The rancher laughed uproariously. - -Tom Gray took one look at the bird and uttered an exclamation under -his breath, then after cautiously peering into the basket, being -careful that none of the other birds there made its escape, he got -up and faced his companions with a puzzled expression in his eyes. - -At this instant, Grace and Elfreda also discovered what both Tom and -Hippy already knew. - -“A carrier pigeon!” exclaimed Miss Briggs wonderingly. “Are they all -carriers?” - -“All carriers, and fully equipped for business,” Tom informed them. -“Are we back in France in the war?” - -Hippy turned the basket about so that the light would shine on the -other side of it, and made a fresh discovery, more important, even, -than the discovery of the carrier pigeons. They heard him utter an -exclamation and saw him remove something that was hanging to the -handle and tied to it with a leather thong. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -THE CARRIER PIGEONS’ FLIGHT - - -“A letter!” cried Emma. “Isn’t this perfectly romantic?” - -“If it is a letter, it’s a crumby looking one,” observed Hippy. -“Tom, hold that lantern so I can see.” - -The Overlanders crowded up closer, with Bindloss in the forefront, -the cowpunchers peering over their heads and shoulders, as Hippy -began to unfold a sheet that had once been wrapping paper. One keen -look at it and Lieutenant Wingate uttered a yell and began hopping -up and down with most of his weight on one foot. - -“Chunky! It’s from Chunky,” he cried. - -“Read it! This suspense is killing me,” wailed Emma. - -“It is addressed to the Overlanders and to Joe Bindloss. He spells -it ‘Bindlass,’ and—” - -“Never mind the spelling. Read it!” urged Miss Briggs. - -“And it reads as follows,” continued Hippy. - -“‘Dear Folks: You’ll be surprised to hear from me, and more -so to hear that I’m in Dutch. I’m in the hands of a gang of -ruffians—gentlemen—’ The word ruffians has been crossed out and -the word gentlemen added,” explained Hippy. - -“You are the most aggravating person I ever knew. Will you please -read that letter or let me do it for you?” begged Miss Briggs. - -“‘They caught me with a rope when I wasn’t looking, down by the -round-up, and I’ve stayed caught. They know that I’m valuable and -they want a price for me,’” continued Hippy, reading Stacy’s scrawl -with considerable difficulty. “‘If they don’t get it they propose to -throw me off the mountain into the red gulch just back of the cabin -that I’m in. They want five hundred dollars for me and you’re to -send it by the birds that they are going to send with this letter. -Put only one bill on each bird’s leg because they’re union birds and -won’t carry a man-sized load. I don’t know how or where they got the -birds, but they’ve got ’em. I know because I’ve seen ’em. When they -get the money they are going to take me to the foothills and kick me -out, but if they don’t get it I’m to go out the way I told you. -Please hurry. I haven’t had a square meal since I got tangled up -with that fellow’s rope, but the scenery certainly is fine up here. -Help! Help! Help! - - “(Signed) ‘Lovingly, Stacy.’” - - - - -[Illustration: “It’s from Chunky!”] - - - - -“‘P.S. If you try to find me they say they will throw me over -anyway. If you haven’t big enough bills, for the love of heaven keep -on sending small ones so long as the birds hold out, but send them!’ - -“‘P.P.S. The beans they are feeding me on up here are awful, but the -coffee is worse. S.B.’ - -“‘P.P.P.S. They say they are going to send this by rural free -delivery, but if it’s as slow as it is back home I won’t need any -help by the time it reaches you. For heaven sake, feed the birds and -give them plenty of pepper, so they’ll have pep and hustle—’” - -The message broke off suddenly as if the writer had been -interrupted, at least that was the way the Overlanders construed it. - -“Gosh a-mighty! If that ain’t the limit!” exclaimed Bindloss. “How -can those birds carry money or anything else, and how will they get -back where the robbers want them to go?” - -Tom Gray explained that carrier pigeons carried messages in little -oiled paper tubes such as these birds had on their legs, and that -when released they got their direction quickly and flew straight -back to their cotes. - -“I know! I know,” exclaimed Bindloss. “A fellow over at Carrago had -a flock of ’em, but the government took ’em over after the war -started. They paid him five dollars a head for the birds, then, -after the war, what was left of ’em he bought back from the -government at twenty-five cents a head.” - -“There’s our clue,” interrupted Hippy. “Should we fail otherwise we -can find out who the pigeon man is. But I don’t reckon we shall need -to do that. Folks, what is your idea?” - -“I shouldn’t be in favor of paying five hundred dollars for Stacy,” -objected Emma. “If they keep him long enough to get really -acquainted with him they will be glad to take a bargain-counter -price for him.” - -Bindloss suggested that they go into the house, and Tom asked him to -invite Idaho and Pete to go in with them, which was done. Sam -Conifer met them on the porch, and his first question was whether or -not they had heard from Jim. The situation was quickly explained to -him. When informed that there was no news from the missing Jim, the -guide’s whiskers drooped. - -“I reckon Jim’s thar, but they wouldn’t let the boy writ ’bout it,” -he exclaimed, his whiskers suddenly bristling as of old. “I’ll git -’em! They’ve played a card into my hands now!” he raged. “I’ll -follow ’em now.” - -“Are you going to fly, Sam?” questioned Emma. “That is the only way -I know of to follow birds.” - -It was a poser. Two-gun Pete asked if he might make a suggestion. -His suggestion was that they liberate a bird and watch its -direction, then follow out that direction until they finally found -the hiding place of the rustlers. - -“Peter, you sure have brains,” complimented Hippy. - -“I love a man with brains,” bubbled Emma, amid smiles and nods, all -of which embarrassed Two-gun very much. - -“That’s the idea,” cried Tom. “Has anyone additional suggestions to -make?” - -“I have,” answered Miss Briggs. “Peter has given us something to -work from, and all it needs is elaboration. See what you think of -this. Give a bird five dollars and liberate him just after daylight, -as they used to do in France. Watch the course he takes, then let -our men take up positions on that course as nearly in line with the -bird’s flight as possible, lining up about a mile apart. At a -certain hour we will free a second bird, also with a five-dollar -bill. One of our men on the lookout will surely see it. The ruffians -may be a long way from here, but so long as the bird’s course can be -kept in sight, its home roost can be found.” - -“Good generalship,” agreed Tom, nodding. - -“Right you are,” approved Bindloss. “But five dollars! I don’t like -to give them robbers even five cents.” - -“Sam, do you feel equal to going with us?” asked Grace, turning to -the old guide. - -“I’m goin’, an’ I ain’t comin’ back till I gits Jim,” he answered -grimly. - -“Five dollars sent out with each bird won’t break us. That will make -sixty dollars if we send out the entire dozen, which is a pretty -high price to pay for Chunky,” declared Emma. - -The Overlanders rebuked her, and after further discussion it was -decided to liberate the first bird at daybreak and a second bird at -noon. As soon as the first carrier gave them the direction, the men -were to proceed singly into the hills, going with as much secrecy -and caution as possible, take up positions and await the noon bird. - -Miss Briggs suggested that the men arrange to get in touch with each -other at the end of the first hour following the passage of each -bird, and that the first to discover the hiding place of the -rustlers was to go back and wait for his companions so that they -might attack in force. - -“Gosh a-mighty!” cried Joe Bindloss. “Is there anything that you -folks can’t do?” - -“One bird every two hours after twelve and up to four, then send all -but two between that and six,” suggested Hippy. “Better keep two -over. Send a message with the last bird that the last two birds of -the lot will be liberated in the morning, as soon as the rest of the -money can be procured. Now who is going? I, for one, am going out.” - -Every person present volunteered, but it was finally settled that -Sam, Pete, Idaho, Tom Gray and Hippy should go. Sam insisted on -taking the lead, and the position was assigned to him. Bindloss and -some of his men were to remain at the ranch-house to guard against a -possible raid. - -The party soon thereafter turned in for what rest they could get, -but first the birds were put in a larger basket so that they might -be more comfortable and rest up for the journey ahead of them. - -The ranch-house inhabitants were astir before daylight next morning. -Food was given to the birds as soon as day dawned, and a tube packed -with a five-dollar bill and a brief message that the money would be -sent along as rapidly as possible was attached to a pigeon’s leg. - -The sun was rising when Tom Gray brought out the first pigeon that -was to make the flight. - -“The dove of peace! What?” chuckled Tom, tossing the bird into the -air. - -The carrier pigeon fluttered about with rapidly beating wings for a -few seconds, then began circling upwards, taking wider and wider -circles as it rose, every eye eagerly fixed on it. The Overlanders -had thought that its direction would be east, but suddenly the bird -straightened out, taking a course a little south of west, heading -for the Coso Mountains. - -“Everyone watch him!” urged Tom. - -Grace and Elfreda were following the flight with their glasses, but -the keen eyes of the ranchers needed no such aid, and readily -followed the flight until the bird had disappeared over a mountain. - -“I got it!” shouted Sam. - -“So hev I,” announced Pete. “Got the landmarks daid to rights. Be ye -ready, Sam?” - -Sam was, and after an uneasy half hour’s wait he rode off to the -south, jogging along slowly. He was followed after an interval by -Lieutenant Wingate, and following him were Tom Gray, Two-gun Pete -and Idaho in the order named. Each man knew that he might expect to -be shot from ambush, but the opportunity to meet up with the -mountain ruffians outweighed all other considerations. - -In a short time all were out of sight, and the party left at the -ranch settled down to wait for the hour when they were to liberate -another pigeon, and at the same time to listen with straining ears -for the sound of firing in the hills, which each one momentarily -expected to hear. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -STACY DECIDES TO LEAVE - - -The night that Stacy Brown was roped from his mustang he was put to -sleep with a whack applied to his head from the butt of a revolver. -When he awakened he found himself lashed to the back of a pony, -traveling over a rough mountain trail. The pony was being led and -there were men ahead and men to the rear. The fat boy could hear -them speak at intervals. - -It did not seem to be a long journey, and the party finally pulled -up before a cabin that Stacy observed was well hidden in a narrow -rocky pass that was approached on three sides by way of a steep -granite slope, while on the other side, as he later learned, a -precipitous gorge dropped away for hundreds of feet. - -The Overland boy was removed from the horse and carried to a lean-to -against the rear of the cabin in which horse equipment and weapons -were stored. He was unceremoniously dumped into this place and left -to his own reflections. For some time he heard men talking in the -cabin, then silence settled over the place. It was near noon of the -following day before food was brought to him and his hands were -freed. After eating he was subjected to a grilling examination as to -who he was and what his party were doing in the Coso Valley, and -when he answered in his characteristic independent way one of the -ruffians struck him a blow in the face that once more put the -Overland boy to sleep. - -At least twice each night thereafter he was asked the same -questions, and each time the interview ended in a blow or a violent -kick until Chunky was sore all over. - -Occasionally he was permitted to sit or lie outdoors, and at such -times Stacy used his eyes and ears to the best advantage. However, -there was little for him to see except the scenery that he mentioned -in his letter. - -His captors were away most of the time, though ordinarily there was -one man prowling about, principally engaged in surveying the -surrounding mountains from a vantage point on a rock. Then one -evening came the order to Stacy to write the letter to the Overland -party. He obeyed eagerly, for he was anxious to get away at any -price—so long as the price was paid by someone other than himself. -Stacy had slight hopes, though, that his companions would give so -great a ransom. - -It was early in the evening of the following night when he heard -more than the usual number of voices in the cabin. Voices now and -then were pitched high, sometimes in anger. Stacy cautiously rolled -close to the door communicating with the cabin and lay listening. -His hopes rose high when he learned that some of the birds had -returned with money. Two of the ruffians had come in with tidings -that four birds were still missing, which revealed to Stacy the fact -that the pigeons were not kept at the cabin. The one, however, which -carried the answer to the demand of the rustlers, and that most -concerned the men, had just come in, and its message was a subject -of discussion. One ruffian was of the opinion that either Bindloss -or the Overlanders were trying to play a sharp trick on them and -search out their hiding place. He was laughed at. - -“How kin anybody foller er bird flyin’ high?” demanded another, -whereat the ruffians laughed more uproariously than before. The feel -of the money that the pigeons had brought, outweighed their caution. -This was easy money, and there was more of it coming. - -“We’ll git all we kin fer this feller, an’ then make a price on -t’other feller’s haid, an’ we’ll make er clean-up,” chuckled -another. “It ain’t the first time thet them birds has done us a good -turn, but never jest in this heah way.” - -At the mention of another captive on whose head a price was to be -set, the fat boy pricked up his ears. He wondered whom else the -ruffians had captured, and where the other captive was being held. -This was interesting, but what followed was more so. - -From the talk Stacy overheard he learned that, after the ruffians -had gotten all the money they could out of the Overlanders, the -prisoners were to be disposed of. - -“They knows too much to let ’em git away, especially thet fat -feller. He’s too fresh anyway,” averred one. - -“Best way is to take ’em out on a dark night, turn ’em ’round a few -times and head ’em fer the canyon, an’ tell ’em to git home -a-whooping. Ain’t no need fer us to do nothing more’n thet. They’ll -do the rest,” advised another. - -“Thet’s the ticket, Charlie!” complimented another. “We’ll make ’em -walk the plank, an’ the buzzards’ll do the rest.” The ruffians -roared. It would be great sport and it would make disposal of their -captives a most simple matter. - -Stacy Brown did not laugh. Instead, he swallowed hard, and a heavy -frown wrinkled his forehead. - -“That’s what I call a low-down trick,” he muttered. “Going to get -all the money they can for me and the other fellow and then send us -out to walk on air. Wow! Stacy Brown, I reckon it’s time for you to -leave.” He gazed out through the open door of the lean-to and -contemplated the possibility of rolling out and trying to escape. -That did not seem to be feasible, so he pondered, strained -cautiously at the ropes with which he was tied, and decided that he -must think of something else. - -“If I could get hold of a hunting knife I might manage it,” he -thought, but did not recall having seen any such thing among the -assortment of equipment in the lean-to. Then an idea occurred to -him. - -“The axe!” exclaimed the fat boy, and instantly began rolling -towards the door, just outside of which he had seen an axe that very -day. He found the axe and after several failures Stacy succeeded in -getting it between his knees blade up, and began sawing at the rope -that bound his wrists. The rope soon fell apart. Stacy could -scarcely repress a howl of delight. It was now the work of only a -moment to free his legs, and the Overland boy, still clinging to the -axe as a weapon in case of discovery, began considering his next -move. He knew about where the ruffians’ ponies were tethered, -because he had heard them stamping many times. - -“Now, if I had a gun I’d be—Sure I have!” He felt along the rear -wall of the lean-to, where among saddles and bridles hung holsters -with weapons in them, and ammunition belts, and rifles of quite -modern pattern hanging from nails in the wall. - -The fat boy quickly helped himself to two revolvers and a rifle, -each of which he found loaded. That gave him fresh courage. He might -be surprised, but it was his idea that the other fellow might be -more so. Stacy, armed and eager, crept from the lean-to and picked -his way cautiously towards the spot at the base of the granite slope -where he hoped to find the rustlers’ horses tethered. They were not -there, but he found them about a hundred yards to the left, all -saddled and bridled, ready for instant use in case of need. - -There appeared to be no one on guard, but, though he did not know -it, two men were stationed a short distance from the cabin on the -Coso Valley side of the mountain hiding place. Fortunately for him, -the fat boy was on the other side. - -Stacy selected a mount, and, finding a rifle in the saddle boot, he -threw away the one he had taken from the lean-to. - -“I wish I dared to shoot up that place,” he muttered, gazing off -towards the cabin which he could not now see. “I’ll come back and do -it.” - -Stacy led the mustang along carefully for a while, taking what he -believed to be an easterly course, and getting his bearings from the -stars so that he might not travel in a circle and bring up at his -starting point. - -There appearing to be no pursuit, the boy finally mounted and rode -away with increasing speed and rising spirits. He continued on until -towards daylight when he found himself descending into what he -believed to be foothills, but which proved to be grazing grounds in -the mountains. They were of vast extent, covering many acres, and -over this mesa Stacy wandered for hours trying to find a way out. He -was hungry, ravenously so now, and a search of the saddle-bags -revealed not even a biscuit. - -Noon came and, well-nigh famished, he turned the mustang into the -chaparral determined to find a new trail. The boy had gone in but a -short distance when he began to sniff the air. Even the mustang -lifted its head and snorted. - -“If that isn’t food smoke I never smelled any. Stacy Brown, follow -your nose, for your nose knows. Gid-ap, you lazy lout!” he cried. - -Perhaps the pony really knew, for it pricked up its ears with new -interest and seemed eager to go on, and a few moments later Stacy -discovered a shack ahead. The smoke odor was by now quite strong. - -The boy approached the shack with caution, and rode twice around it -before deciding to hail. When he finally did so there was no answer, -so he dismounted and entered. - -What he had come upon was a chuck-house where mountain herders got -their meals. - -That a meal had quite recently been eaten there was evidenced by the -soiled dishes still on the table, and the food that was simmering in -frying pans on the stove. - -“Eats! I don’t know who it belongs to, but I know when I am hungry,” -cried Stacy, helping himself to several slices of bacon from a -frying pan and eating them out of his hand. There was bread, too, -and coffee in the pots. Stacy tasted the coffee and made a wry face. - -“Worse than the rustlers made,” he complained. - -Had the Overland Rider not been so fully occupied with satisfying -his hunger, he probably would have been more observant. As it was he -did not see a horseman ride up, dismount and peer into the shack. -Nor did he see the fellow’s expression when he looked over Stacy’s -mount. The newcomer rode away quietly to a distance and then put his -pony to a run. - -Half an hour later while the boy was still eating, and just as he -was about to place a biscuit in his mouth, a voice out of the -silence arrested him. - -“Put up yer hands, young feller! I’ve got ye covered,” warned the -voice. - -The hand that held the biscuit was already raised to a level with -his mouth, and the other promptly went above his head. - -“Turn around, an’ let’s git a look at ye!” - -Stacy turned and found himself facing a weapon in the hands of a man -at the door. Just to the rear of the man with the gun were half a -dozen others. - -“Tough-lookin’ critter, all right. Who be ye?” demanded the hold-up -man. - -“Name’s Brown,” answered the fat boy, transferring the biscuit to -his mouth and beginning to chew on it. - -“Whar’d ye git that cayuse?” - -“Maybe I stole him,” answered Chunky thickly, for the biscuit was -large. “What difference does it make to you where I got him?” - -“It may make a lot of difference to ye, young feller. I reckon mebby -ye knows thet thet critter belongs to the Diamond Bar ranch, an’ -thet he was stole from thar three days ago. Turn round while I -relieve ye of some of thet hardware.” - -Stacy ceased chewing and stood with arms uplifted while his weapons -and cartridge belt were being removed, following which he was -roughly yanked around facing his captors. - -“You be careful, you rough-necks. You’ll find out that I’m a bad man -when I get riled,” warned Chunky boastfully. - -“I reckon ye be all of thet. Jest now ye ain’t, an’ ’fore long mebby -ye won’t be nothin’ ’tall. Yer under arrest!” announced the -spokesman. - -“Wha—at for?” gasped the Overland boy, his face losing some of its -color. - -“Horse stealin’! Thet’s all!” - -A strong hand was fastened on Stacy’s collar and he was roughly -jerked out of the cabin and thrown on the pony that he was accused -of having rustled. It began to dawn on Stacy Brown that he was in a -serious predicament. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -TROUBLE AT RED GULCH - - -The second bird was liberated at noon, and was quickly on its way, -observed eagerly by the girls of the Overland unit and their -companions of the Circle O ranch. The pigeon did not seem to deviate -a hair’s breadth from the line followed by the first bird. - -“Isn’t it wonderful to be a bird and go where the wind listeth?” -murmured Emma Dean. - -“It would be, but they don’t,” answered Miss Briggs laughingly. -“Wind is the pigeon’s enemy and unless it is with them they have to -fight it, and in doing so are frequently lost. I happen to know some -things about carrier pigeons, for I have seen them work and heard -much about them in France. Once a pigeon becomes lost and has to -come down, he loses his ambition, or his confidence, or -something—at least something seems to have gone out of him, and, -even if he returns at all, he seldom can be depended upon to make -another flight. I venture to say that not all the birds we are -sending out will reach their loft.” - -“So long as the boys see the majority of them we do not care,” said -Nora. “Oh, I hope they do.” - -The boys did—that is, Hippy, Sam and Pete saw the second bird going -over and watched it until it flew out of sight. Now they knew that -they were on the right trail. The five o’clock bird was the last one -seen by any of the men, and it was Lieutenant Wingate who discovered -it. The bird was flying so low that it seemed to be skimming the -tops of the slender mountain pines. Observing this Hippy hurried on -to join Sam Conifer, whom he found in about half an hour. - -“Go easy from now on, Sam,” he cautioned. - -“You know somethin’?” demanded the guide. - -“The bird that just went over was flying very low. That indicates -that he has located his cote and is reaching for it. I do not -believe it can be more than a mile or two away from here. Shall I -take the lead now?” - -“No! I’ll take it myself,” snapped the guide. Sam was irritable, but -Hippy laid it to the guide’s wound and his weakened condition. As a -matter of fact it was neither. Sam’s nerves were on edge and his -rheumatic fingers were “crinkling,” for he could almost feel the -feel of a gun in his right hand. - -“Very well. I shall keep up close to you, just the same,” announced -Hippy. “If you come upon something you’ll need assistance. The men -at the rear are instructed not to shoot until they are positive -about what they are shooting at, so there is not much danger of -their firing at us.” - -Sam answered with a grunt and started on. Half an hour later he -halted to wait for his companion to come up to him. - -“What is it?” whispered Hippy. - -“I got er whiff o’ smoke. Mebby it’s the makin’s o’ a forest fire, -an’ mebby ’tain’t. We’ll leave the ponies heah an’ go on afoot. Ye -better wait an’ tell ’em so they don’t blunder on an’ spoil the -game.” - -The “game”! What a game it was, a game of life and death, thought -Lieutenant Hippy Wingate, as he tethered the mustangs at one side of -the trail and sat down to rest and wait. - -It was about this time that Stacy Brown was taking his departure -from the cabin of the mountain ruffians, not dreaming that a friend -was so near at hand. In the meantime Sam had begun moving forward -slowly, making scarcely a sound, so light were his footsteps, the -right hand nervously twitching over the protruding butt of his -revolver. - -The guide brought up sharply with his whiskers standing out at an -angle, and listened attentively. He had heard a human laugh, and Sam -knew quite well that it could not be behind him, for his companions -were not in a laughing mood that evening. He picked his way forward -a little farther and again halted and listened. - -A shout startled him and his muscles tensed. It was a shout of -anger, at first sounding as though from a distance, then all at once -near at hand. Stacy Brown’s escape had been discovered, and the -mountain ruffians were running about in search of him, but by this -time the boy was some distance away. When it was discovered that one -of the ponies was missing the rage of the rustlers knew no -restraint, and each was seeking for an excuse to place the -responsibility on his companions. - -“Somethin’ goin’ on over thar, but I’m dad-busted if I knows what -it’s all ’bout,” muttered Sam. - -Two shots rang out almost as one, and the old gunman knew what that -meant. Two rustlers had fired, but one had been a fraction of a -second quicker than the other, and one probably was out of the -fight, for there were no more shots, and the voices of the rustlers -became more subdued. - -Sam Conifer moved up a little closer. Lieutenant Wingate, too, had -heard the shots and was growing restless, but dared not leave his -position until Tom, Two-Gun and Idaho came up. - -By this time Conifer had discovered the cabin. Fortunately for his -purposes, all the rustlers were now in the cabin excitedly -discussing the escape of their prisoner, and considering what they -had better do. It was the opinion of the wiser ones that Brown never -would be able to find the place again, which was probably true, and -that the other prisoner was still in their possession. It was -decided, therefore, to keep a sharp lookout and collect all the -money from the Overlanders that they possibly could, then dispose of -the man they still held. It would not do to let that man get away. - -As it developed later the two rustlers who had shot at each other -had missed, whereupon their companions intervened and peace was -restored, as Sam Conifer learned a few moments later from such -snatches of conversation as he could catch. - -The old guide crept up the granite slope a noiseless shadow, and as -he neared the open door of the cabin he crouched with every faculty -on the alert, his right hand twitching, eyes slowly searching the -faces of the men under the light of a lantern swinging from a beam -in the center of the room. Sam raised himself erect and glided -noiselessly to the door. There he stood for a full minute, his gaze -shifting from one to another of the men gathered there and finally -coming to rest on the dark, swarthy face of one who looked to be a -Mexican, and whose attitude and peremptory speech plainly showed -that he was the leader of the party. - -“I’ve been thinkin’. The boy’ll be home prob’ly some time in the -morning, but he can’t be ’lowed to git thar. We’ve got to put a man -on his trail with a light, bad as it be to do thet, an’ run him down -afore he gits thar. Bad-Eye, it’s up to you to do the job, an’ if ye -do it right, the boy’ll be a dead dude by mornin’. If he ain’t I’ll -go git him myself, fer he ain’t no good.” - -“I reckon ye lie!” - -It was a thunderbolt, hurled at them by Sam Conifer from the -doorway, and half a dozen hands flew to as many revolver holsters. - -“Put ’em back!” - -The command was uttered with an incisiveness that cut like a -keen-edged blade, and the hands of the mountain ruffians sagged away -from their holsters ever so little. - -“I’ve got somethin’ to say to ye cayuses fust. After I gits finished -ye kin shoot. Ye’r a fine bunch of mavericks, ain’t ye?” drawled -Sam. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -A DUEL IN THE DARK - - -Ordinarily long before this every gun in the room would have been -trained on the intruder, but something restrained them. Perhaps it -was the easy, confident manner of the man in the doorway. Then -again, they well knew that a man who would voluntarily face that -assemblage, and expect to get away with it, must have supreme -confidence in himself. Whether or not that confidence was well -placed, they proposed to find out sooner or later. - -“I been lookin’ fer ye fellers,” announced Sam. “Now that I’ve found -ye we’ll have a little confab, so don’t git smart an’ feel fer yer -guns, ’cause somethin’ might happen. This heah right hand o’ mine, -though it’s all crinkled up with the rheumatiz, now an’ ag’in gits -mighty nervous, an’ it might throw a gun afore I could stop it. Jest -like this”: - -His heavy Colt revolver flicked into Sam Conifer’s hand as if by -magic, and lay trembling there in his palm. Then it slipped smoothly -towards his finger tips as if doing so of its own volition, spun and -slid without an apparent movement of the arm, always moving, now -like a flash of light, then with slow easy grace, but, as it was -observed by the keen eyes of the watchers, with the muzzle ever -pointed towards him of the swarthy face. - -As the weapon slipped back into its holster, and the rheumatic hand -of the old guide lay trembling on its butt, a look of relief passed -over the face of the dark mountaineer. - -The others in the cabin looked their amazement, for few there had -ever seen a gun handled as this old, stoop-shouldered intruder -handled his. It was a revelation, though not a pleasant one. It was -a warning as well, but they were watching him—watching and waiting -for that moment when the old man’s alert, shifting glances should -wander from some of them for a few golden seconds. - -“Say, ye feller! Who be ye?” demanded the dark man. “What do ye mean -by holdin’ up a bunch o’ honest prospectors?” - -Sam Conifer grinned sardonically. - -“Honest, did ye say? You don’t know the meanin’ o’ that word. Them’s -queer words comin’ from the lips o’ Mexican Charlie.” - -The dark man started, flushed and reached for his weapon, but -thinking better of it, permitted his hand to slip back to its former -position. - -“I wants to know whar the boy is? Mex, I ask ye, whar is he?” - -“I don’t know.” - -“Ye lie, Mex! Yer too yellow to draw at thet word. Whar’s my pard, -Jim?” - -“I tell you I don’t know nothin’ ’bout what yer talkin’,” flung back -Mexican Charlie. - -“Ye lie twice, but yer too yellow to draw at thet word,” reiterated -Sam. “I knows thet the boy got away, but whar did he go?” - -“Don’t know nothin’ ’bout it. Who be ye?” - -“Leavin’ the lie fer the moment, ye ought to know me, Charlie. You -an’ me has met afore, but a long time ago an’ times has changed me, -but yer the same low-down houn’ thet ye always was. I’ve growed some -fresh whiskers since ye last seen me, an’ fer reasons. Look sharp, -Mex! Look under the whiskers and mebby ye’ll see a scar thar,” urged -the old guide, lifting his whiskers with the left hand. “Do ye see -it, Mex?” - -The mountaineer nodded, but he was puzzled. That scar seemed to -bring back the past, but Mexican Charlie plainly could not fix the -thing in his mind. - -“Mex! Ye put thet scar thar. It was up in the Klondike years ago, -and ye give it to me when I wasn’t lookin’. Ye got away then an’ ye -know why, cause my hand wasn’t all crinkled up with the rheumatiz -like it is now. But listen, Mex! I’ve been waitin’ fer ye, knowin’ -thet some day you an’ me would meet up with each other an’ then we’d -talk it all over nice an’ friendly like. I didn’t recognize ye when -ye come to our camp t’other night an’ told us ye come from Malcolm -Hornby with orders fer us to git out ’cause we was on his property. -Ye lied then, too, jest as you’ve been doin’ tonight. Mex, I’m Sam -Conifer!” - -The announcement was like a blow in the face to Mexican Charlie. Mex -knew his torturer now. To the others the announcement meant nothing -except as they saw how nervous it had made their leader. - -“Do ye know what I’m goin’ to do now, Mex?” purred Sam. - -“Yer goin’ to git out o’ here afore somebody shoots ye up!” shouted -the mountaineer. - -“Shore I be, but not yit. Fust, I’m goin’ to give ye the same kind -o’ scar that ye give me up in the Klondike. Turn yer head round -sideways jest as I was doin’ when ye give it to me,” urged Sam -gently. - -“Yer wrong, pard. I ain’t the man ye think I be. I never seen ye -before,” protested Charlie. - -“I’m speakin’ to ye, Charlie! Be ye goin’ to turn yer head or must I -turn it fer ye after I’ve put ye in condition to turn?” - -“I’ll kill ye fer this!” hissed the mountaineer. “Yer a coward, an’ -ye wouldn’t dare talk to me like thet if things was equal. - -“No, things ain’t equal, eh? Heah ye be, six of ye an’ I only one -man; each of ye armed an’ lookin’ fer a chance to kill me, but not -darin’ to try it, though I ain’t got a gun in my hand no more than -ye fellers has. No, things ain’t equal. Draw, ye sneakin’ coyote! -I’ll not touch my gun till your’n is out o’ the holster. Draw, you -coward!” - -Enraged beyond further endurance, and taking advantage of the -visitor’s apparent relaxation, Mexican Charlie snatched at his gun, -fumbled it in his nervous excitement, then jerked it free. - -Like a flash of light the nervous hand of Sam Conifer flicked his -own weapon out and two guns roared, one a fraction of a second ahead -of the other. Mexican Charlie clapped a hand to his neck, as his -weapon fell to the floor. - -“Steady, fellers! We ain’t finished our little talk yit,” warned -Sam. “Mex’s got it right whar he give it to me an’ he don’t like it. -Neither did I. Tie yer handkerchief ’bout yer neck, Charlie, an’ -we’ll finish what we got to say to each other, an’ this time ye’ll -talk right out in meetin’ cause thar’s some things I’ve got to know, -among them, who is bossin’ this heah gang o’ rustlers, an’ hoss -thieves, an’ fellers thet—” - -Sam did not finish his sentence. A rifle somewhere outside of the -cabin roared, and the lantern swinging overhead crashed to the -floor, leaving the room in sudden darkness. - -Revolvers began to bark, weapons aimed at the spot where Sam Conifer -had been standing. The firing was fast and furious for a moment, -then the voice of Mexican Charlie was heard above the uproar. - -“Git out! On the jump!” he shouted. - -The rustlers made haste to obey, some going out by way of the door, -others taking to the rear and out by the lean-to in which Stacy -Brown had been held a captive. - -A moment later Sam Conifer rose from the floor where he had thrown -himself on the instant when the light went out, and stole out. Sam -did not go far, only to the base of the granite slope, at one side -of which he crouched down and waited. Sam could not understand that -shot. Why, if it were a friend of the rustlers, did the fellow not -shoot him instead of shooting out the light? After a time a light -began to dawn on the old guide. He uttered a low whistle signal that -had been agreed upon between himself and his companions. - -The signal was properly answered. - -“Come heah, but do it keerful like,” ordered Conifer. - -After a few seconds a voice called out softly. It was the voice of -Two-gun Pete. - -“Thet you, Sam?” asked Pete. - -“Yes. Whar’s that bunch o’ ruffians?” demanded the guide. - -“They’ve hit the trail on their ponies, an’ some of ’em had to be -helped into their saddles, I reckon. Our fellers aire back heah in -the bushes. They was waitin’ till I sized things up an’—” - -“Look heah, Pete! Be you the critter thet shot out the light jest -when I was holdin’ a friendly conversation with thet bunch? Be you -him?” - -Pete admitted that he was the man. - -“Thar was a feller in thar thet had his gun out and was gittin’ -ready to let you have it,” explained Pete. “I reckoned thet I didn’t -want to kill the critter. Somehow I don’t like to let go at a feller -when he ain’t lookin’. It ain’t good sport; so I jest shot out the -light, knowin’ thet you’d be out of range instanter if things went -off thar, which they did.” - -“Thet’s what I calls a low-down trick, Pete. No gent would butt in -when another gent is holdin’ a private conversation, but I forgive -ye. Lead me to our bunch. Be they all heah?” - -Pete said they were, and conducted Sam to them. Tom, Hippy and Idaho -eagerly plied the old guide with questions, all talking at the same -time. They conversed in low tones, for no one knew at what moment -they might be overheard by mountain prowlers, for none had great -faith in the flight of the men that Sam Conifer had held up. They -were expected to return seeking for revenge. - -Sam was troubled, though the Overlanders were happy in the thought -that Stacy had escaped. They reasoned that by this time he must be -well on his way to the Circle O ranch. Sam, on the other hand, was -worried about Jim. He believed that Jim must be somewhere about, -and, after a few moments’ further conversation with his companions, -started for a prowl about. In the meantime Two-gun and Idaho kept -watch to guard against surprises. - -The old guide’s search lasted for more than an hour. Upon his return -he announced that he couldn’t find the slightest trace of Jim, and -that he could do nothing more until daylight. The night passed -without the party being disturbed, and with daylight all hands were -out before breakfast continuing the search. - -The cabin was the first object of their inquiry. After searching it -and finding nothing of interest, except the message that Hippy had -sent by one of the pigeons, they proceeded to the lean-to. The first -object to interest them there was Stacy Brown’s hat. - -“I reckon the fat boy went away in a hurry,” suggested Pete. - -“An’ somebody cut the ropes thet held him,” added Idaho. - -“He cut ’em hisself with the axe,” averred Sam, whose eyes had taken -in every detail in one sweeping glance. “I knowed the kid would fool -’em if he got half a chance. But whar’s Jim? If they’ve done fer him -I’ll foller thet bunch till I gits every one of ’em, if it takes me -all the rest of my life. But Jim ain’t daid. I’ll tell ye, Cap’n -Gray, and all the rest of ye, I love thet pard o’ mine like I never -didn’t love no one else.” - -“Then why do you fight each other all the time?” questioned Hippy -laughingly. - -“Why, ain’t thet the way? What t’other way could a couple of fellers -show thet they love each other? Ye wouldn’t expect ’em to git mushy, -would ye? No. Ain’t no t’other way ’cept to arg’fy an’ fit it out. -Why, Jim an’ me have got so het up now an’ ag’in thet we drawed guns -on each other, an’ one time Jim shot at me, but thet critter never -could shoot. All he kin do is to foller a trail, but thar ain’t a -man lives thet kin beat him at thet. The time he shot at me, I was -so all-fired tickled to think I’d riled him till he drawed, thet I -jest chucked my gun an’ grabbed him an’ hugged him till we both got -to laughin’. Thet’s the only time we ever come nigh gittin’ mushy -like a couple o’ gals,” finished Conifer, who stroking his whiskers, -turned and strode out to the edge of the gulch that dropped away at -the rear of the lean-to. - -Hippy looked at Tom and Tom looked at Hippy, then both burst into -laughter. - -“Can you beat it?” chuckled Hippy. - -Tom Gray agreed that he could not. Sam was out of range of both -their words or their laughter, absorbed in his study of the -surrounding mountains and gorges. His forehead wore a heavy frown, -and, as he looked he thought, with all the concentration that he -could summon, trying to evolve a theory to find a solution of the -mystery of his companion’s disappearance. No answer came to him. - -Two-gun Pete, who was listening to the conversation of the two -Overland men, suddenly reared his head attentively. - -“Did ye hear it?” he demanded. - -The Overlanders nodded. The distant report of a rifle had been heard -by all, but as there was no repetition of it they again fell to -talking. - -“Wha—at!” cried Lieutenant Wingate, springing to his feet when, a -moment later, Sam Conifer came staggering in. “In the name of Mike, -what’s happened?” - -The old guide’s face was covered with blood from the forehead down, -which served to accentuate the pallor that showed in the narrow -strip above it. - -“Sam! What is it?” begged Tom Gray. - -“Nothin’ much ’cept—” The words ended in a moan, and old Sam -Conifer, staggering forward a pace, crumpled down to the floor and -lay still. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -STACY WIELDS A CLUB - - -Stacy Brown’s face wore a serious expression as his captors started -away with him. His pony was free, but there were men ahead of and -behind him, men whose faces were stern and threatening. The rifle -had been taken from the boot of his saddle and his revolvers were -gone. He was as helpless as a child, but the fat boy was watching -for an opportunity to escape. - -“Where are you taking me?” he demanded after they had galloped on -for the better part of an hour. - -“You’ll see when you git thar,” was the brief reply. - -“You don’t say,” retorted Chunky, whereupon he was ordered to keep -silent. - -Soon after that a collection of ranch buildings was seen nestling -below in the foothills, which were regarded with interest by the -Overland boy as his captors headed for them. As they neared the -ranch, a few men appeared and with shaded eyes watched the approach. -When the captors finally pulled up before the ranch, a thin, tall, -bronzed man came out and bent a keen gaze on Chunky. - -“What have you got heah?” he demanded. - -“Feller we caught with the mustang thet was stolen the other night,” -replied one of the captors. - -“So? A hoss thief, eh?” - -“I’m not!” objected the fat boy indignantly. - -“So? Mebby he is your horse, eh?” - -Stacy admitted that it was not his horse. - -“Where did you get him?” snapped the rancher. - -“I helped myself to him—took him because I wanted to get away from -a bunch of ruffians.” - -“Where was that?” - -Stacy said he didn’t know, but that it was in the mountains on the -edge of a red gulch, and further admitted that he didn’t know much -about the country there and would feel fully as well satisfied if he -didn’t know as much as he did. - -“What’s your name?” - -“Name’s Brown. What’s yours?” - -“I am William Crawley, the owner of this ranch, and the pony you are -on is my property. I don’t suppose there is any use in questioning -you, for a fellow who will rustle horses will lie as well as steal. -I’ll hear what you have to say, however.” - -“If you don’t mind, suppose you untie me and let me get down. I -don’t like to be hung up this way ’cause it gets tiresome.” - -“I reckon you will have plenty of time to rest, young fellow,” -answered the rancher, grinning sardonically. “Let him down. Has he -guns on him?” - -A member of the party said that they had taken his weapons from the -boy, and explained in detail how they happened to discover him -helping himself to food in the chuck-house up on the range, to all -of which Rancher Crawley listened attentively. He turned to Stacy -again. - -“Tell me what you wish about yourself and I’ll listen,” he said. - -“What’s the use? You won’t believe me,” protested Stacy. - -“As you wish. It doesn’t make much difference what you say. You will -have to tell your story to the sheriff at Carrago, for we’re going -to send a man for him today.” - -“I belong to the Overland Riders. We ride somewhere every summer,” -began Stacy hurriedly. “This summer we chose the Bad Lands in the -Cosos, but I reckon that, had we known how bad they are, we should -have stayed away. We have been hanging out with Joe Bindloss, and -the rest of my party is over there now. We have a camp pitched just -back of his house where the garden ought to be, but isn’t.” - -“How about it, Skip?” interrupted the rancher, turning to one of his -men. “You was over there this morning.” - -The man replied that there was no camp back of Bindloss’s house, and -that, further, no one was there when he dropped in. - -Bill Crawley smiled sarcastically. - -“You see! A hoss thief can’t tell the truth,” he reiterated. - -“Neither can some other people,” flung back Chunky heatedly. “I’m -telling you the truth, and I don’t care whether you believe me or -not, but if you are half so smart as you think you are you will know -that I am telling no lies. I don’t have to be a horse thief. I’ve -got money, I’d have you know.” - -“Most hoss thieves have,” agreed one of the cowpunchers. “What were -you doing in the mountains alone?” - -Stacy, though weary and out of patience with all this, explained -that while out with Bindloss’s men on the round-up, he was roped and -carried into the mountains where he was held prisoner while a gang -of rustlers tried to get his companions to pay a ransom for him. He -told about the carrier pigeons, and the money that the ruffians had -collected by means of the birds. As he talked the grins on the faces -of the cowpunchers grew broader. They had never heard a fairy tale -quite so ingenious. Bill Crawley’s face wore an expression of -weariness. - -“Young fellow, I’ve heard some liars in my time, but you win!” he -declared. “Take him over to the hay barn and lock him in. If he -tries to get out, shoot him!” - -“If you were alone with me you wouldn’t dare say that, you bluffer!” -retorted Chunky, his cheeks flushing with anger. - -“What’s that you say?” demanded the rancher, taking a step toward -the boy, his chin thrust out belligerently. - -“Oh, nothing much,” muttered Stacy. “I reckon I was talking in my -sleep.” - -“Lock him up. And, Skip! Get a bite to eat, then hit the trail for -Carrago. You ought to get back some time tomorrow forenoon, but -bring the sheriff with you. We’ve got one of the rustlers that have -been stealing stock from us this summer, and, young fellow, we’re -going to send you to jail. You’re lucky that you aren’t shot!” was -Crawley’s parting word. - -Stacy was yanked nearly off his feet by a cowpuncher and hauled -protesting to the barn, a structure that was built with the idea of -keeping thieves from stealing from it. He was thrown violently to -the floor as his jailer hurled him into the place, and the door was -slammed behind him and locked. - -There were tears of anger in the eyes of the fat boy as he sat up -and rubbed himself. - -“I wish I had a gun! Oh, I wish I had a gun!” he raged. - -After the peak of his rage had been passed, Stacy began to take -account of his surroundings. On either side of him were huge mows of -hay already laid up for the stock that would have to be wintered on -the ranch, but finally, weariness overcoming him, the Overland boy -stretched out on the barn floor and went to sleep. He did not awaken -until twilight when a boot, coming into violent contact with his -person, brought him up, once more in a belligerent mood. - -“Heah’s yer chuck,” announced the cowpuncher. “I hope it chokes ye!” -added the man, backing out and locking the door. - -The sight of food made Stacy forget his troubles for the time being, -and he helped himself freely of the liberal meal. Upon second -thought, the boy stowed part of the food in his pockets, thinking it -might be useful later on, for he had hopes of making his escape. - -After finishing his meal he climbed the ladder to the top of the hay -loft and floundered about in the faint light for some time, hoping -to find a window. There was none. Getting down, he tried the mow on -the other side of the barn, but with no better results, whereupon -Chunky returned to the floor and sat down, head in hands. - -“Tomorrow, if I am here, I’ll be on my way to jail,” he reflected. -“Of course it will all come out right. They won’t keep me there -long, but I don’t like the idea of going to jail when there is so -much going on over in the valley. Besides, a fellow doesn’t get very -good food in these western jails, so I’ve heard. I’ve got to get out -of here. That’s flat!” - -The Overland boy got up and leaned against the hay wagon that stood -on the barn floor. One hand came in contact with one of the pins, -oak pins about a yard long, that keep the hay on the rack when -loading. He pulled the pin out and felt over its entire length. It -was smooth, worn so from long usage, and the feel of it was good to -Stacy Brown. It was something that might be used for a weapon as -well as a tool. With it he tried to pry open the barn door, but the -door would not budge. Once more the fat boy was at the end of his -resources, but as he stood leaning against the door, he heard some -one fussing with the lock. - -Stacy was instantly on the alert as some one opened the door. - -“Hey, ye hoss thief! Whar be ye? The boss reckons as I’d better -start for Carrago with ye now so as to git thar in the mornin’ an’ -git back in good season.” - -“All right,” replied the lad, yawning. - -“What you doin’ heah by the door?” demanded the man. - -“Maybe I was trying to get out. What?” laughed the fat boy. - -“I don’t reckon as you’ll be gittin’ out till ye go with me, an’ -don’t ye try any monkeyshines, ’cause I’ve got er gun in my hand an’ -I’ll use it on ye, ye cheap rustler. Git ’round in front of me whar -I kin see ye!” - -“I’ll bet you I get away,” answered Chunky, “and I’ll have the law -on this outfit for what it has done to me!” - -Whack! He brought the oak stick down on the head of the cowpuncher. - -The fellow went down in a heap, whereupon Stacy Brown stepped out, -closed and locked the door behind him and walked calmly away. - -“When I get riled I’m a pretty bad man,” admitted the Overland boy, -chuckling to himself. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -JUDY BRINGS TIDINGS - - -At first the two Overland Riders in the mountain cabin thought Sam -Conifer had been mortally wounded, but after they had pulled -themselves together, washed his face and examined his wound, they -decided that it might not be so serious after all. A bullet had laid -about four inches of the forehead open, but did not seem to have -done the skull injury. - -Sam was placed on blankets in the cabin, and the two Overlanders -worked over him until he regained consciousness. While they were -doing this Two-gun Pete and Idaho, rifles in hands, skulked about -outside, trying to discover the man who had fired the shot that got -Sam. Not knowing what position the old guide was standing in when -hit, they were unable to determine the direction from which the -bullet had come, and were about to return to the cabin to see if Sam -had come to, when Pete uttered a yell. - -“Git down!” he shouted. - -At the same instant, Idaho heard the report of a rifle and threw -himself down. Pete was already on the ground, hat in hand, and -looking at it ruefully. He held it up for his companion to see. - -“Put er hole plumb through it,” he growled. “Thet miserable cayuse! -I hope I git a squint at him over the sights of my rifle. But, man, -he shore kin shoot!” - -“Whar do ye think it come from?” asked Idaho Jones. - -“From t’other side of the gulch. Must be usin’ a telescope rifle, -for no man with open sights could make two shots like thet. He might -do it once, but not twice. I call thet some shootin’. No wonder he -got old Sam. Ye keep watch. I’m going in to tell the Dude an’ Cap’n -Gray ’bout this heah,” announced Pete, making a run for the -protection of the rocks about the cabin. - -He found Sam awake. The Overlanders had heard the shot, and met Pete -with a quick inquiry about it. Two-gun Pete exhibited his hat as the -answer to their question. - -“I come in to ask ’bout Sam. I reckoned as mebby you’d like to have -somebody go down to the valley an’ git help fer him.” - -“Not unless you wish to get away from here, which I don’t believe -you do,” replied Tom Gray. - -“I reckon I don’t—not onless it’s to save a pard’s life. Is he bad -off—goin’ to pass in?” - -“No, I ain’t, you miserable galoot!” answered Sam Conifer heatedly. -“I’m goin’ out purty soon to hunt fer a man, an’ when I finds him—” - -“Not today, Samuel,” differed Hippy. - -“I be!” insisted the injured man. - -“I reckon what the Boss says goes ’round heah,” reminded Two-gun -Pete. “I’ll git out an’ keep watch.” - -Soon after that Conifer, his head bandaged up as best the two men -could do it, went to sleep, and the Overlanders fell to considering -what they ought to do. They decided, in the first place, that Idaho -and Pete should go out and make further search for Jim, following -the direction taken by the outlaws when they rode away in such -haste. Hippy thought that he and Tom could protect their camp and -care for Sam at the same time, and perhaps, by the following day, -there would be help from the Circle O ranch. - -Tom reminded him, that, not knowing where they were, no assistance -could be looked for from that direction. This had not occurred to -Hippy. - -Pete and Idaho did not return until just before dark. They had found -not the slightest trace of the other guide, but they were delighted -to see Sam sitting up. Nothing had been seen of the rustlers, but -Two-gun Pete advised that the party move out of the cabin and go -into camp farther up in the mountains, as otherwise they were more -than likely to be attacked before morning. - -Hippy and Tom moved Sam with some misgivings, but the old guide -stood the ride without admitting the slightest suffering because of -it. That night they made camp without building a fire, and lay down -in the open, deciding that in the morning they would return to the -cabin and again make it their headquarters while continuing the -search for Jim. - - * * * * * - -In the meantime the long absence of the party was beginning to cause -the Overland girls and Bindloss some worry, for not knowing where -their companions had gone, it was not possible to get into -communication with them. - -By the following morning worry had grown into genuine alarm, and -ways and means for doing something were discussed by the rancher and -his guests. No conclusion was arrived at, but shortly after luncheon -their hopes were raised by a dust cloud down the valley. The cloud -soon grew into a horse and rider, and as it neared them the rider -was recognized as Judy. She was coming fast—her mustang running at -top speed. - -“Judy’s excited about something,” said Bindloss, a frown wrinkling -his forehead. - -The same thought was in the mind of each Overland Rider. Perhaps -Judy was bringing news from the party that went in search of Stacy -and Jim. - -The mountain girl indulged in no fancy horsemanship that afternoon. -She rode straight up to the porch of the ranch-house and threw -herself from the saddle. - -“Give me a drink of water. I’ve swallered a quart of dust,” was her -greeting. - -“Is—is anything wrong?” begged Nora. - -“Mebby everythin’ is. Hello, Pap Bindloss. Ain’t grown any better -lookin’ since I was here, be you?” - -“What’s the matter, Judy?” he asked, ignoring her fling at him. “I -know something is wrong.” - -She gave him a quick flashing look. - -“You see too dad-gasted much for an old man. Ah-h-h-h! That water -tastes good. Where’s yer folks, Miss Gray?” she asked casually, and -emptied the glass of water. - -“They went into the mountains to look for Stacy Brown and Jim. We -haven’t seen them since, and we are worried,” replied Grace. - -“A-huh! How’d they know whar to go?” - -No one answered, and Judy gave them a quick searching look. - -“Tryin’ to hide up on me, eh? Wal, I don’t reckon as it’s any good -for you to do so, ’cause mebby I can tell ye some things that may be -good fer ye to know.” - -“You know something about them, Judy?” demanded Miss Briggs. - -“A-huh. Did they go up to Red Gulch?” - -“Yes, yes!” cried the girls in chorus. “Judy, do you know where that -place is?” questioned Emma. - -“Reckon I could find it if I tried, but I don’t reckon whether I -want to try or not. It’s a long, hard hike up thar, and thar won’t -be no picnic when you get thar. My Pap says it ain’t a fit place fer -folks to be, but Pap was mad with me afore he went away this mornin’ -and threatened to give me a punch in the jaw, but he changed his -mind when I pulled my gun and told him to try it. Wal, Pap didn’t. -He went away madder’n a busting bronco. Said he wouldn’t be back fer -a few days. He said some things ’bout ye folks that I don’t ’low -nobody to say ’bout my friends, an’ I said so right out in meetin’, -and added a few other things, and that started the row. Say, I got -some news fer you folks.” - -“Then for heaven’s sake tell it!” begged Emma. “You are killing us -with suspense.” - -“I reckoned that way,” nodded the girl. “Wal, I heard it this -mornin’ fer the first time, ’bout your folks goin’ up in the -mountains, and why they went thar and all ’bout it. Funny, wasn’t -it, that I should hear it? I ain’t going to tell you whar I heard -it, but I did. You don’t reckon anythin’ happened to them, do you, -Pap Bindloss?” - -“Judy, I think you can answer that question, and that you have come -here to help my friends,” replied the rancher. - -“Fer why do ye think that?” - -The rancher pointed to the rifle in Judy’s saddle boot. - -“Are you going hunting, Judy?” he asked significantly. - -Judy flushed and turned to the girls. - -“I reckon I better tell ye now what I come heah to say—what I heard -this mornin’. Wal, it was this way: Your folks and some rustlers had -a fight in the mountains last night. It warn’t much of a fight, but -I heard that Sam Conifer had been killed and thet Miss Gray’s -husband and Hippy had been shot and that there was liable to be -trouble at Red Gulch, and I reckoned that I was your friend and that -you folks needed a friend right now, and that’s why Judy Hornby is -heah.” - -Nora Wingate, uttering a moan, toppled over in a swoon, the other -Overland girls gazing at the mountain girl in a stunned sort of way, -while Judy fumbled awkwardly with her sombrero. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -RIDERS OF THE NIGHT - - -No heed was given to Nora Wingate’s faint, and for several seconds -no one spoke. - -“Gosh a-mighty!” exploded Joe Bindloss. - -“Judy, are you positive that your information is correct?” asked -Grace in a voice well under control. - -“Ain’t positive of nothin’. Be you?” - -Grace shook her head and smiled faintly. - -“Mr. Bindloss, of course we shall have to go. None of us can stay -back now. Judy, will you guide us to the Red Gulch section?” - -“That’s what I’m heah for, Miss Gray. I reckoned as you’d be doin’ -jest that. If I had a man I’ll bet I’d hit the trail fer him when I -heard he was in a mess. How did yours ever git up to Red Gulch?” - -“He followed the pigeons,” answered Grace. - -“A-huh!” - -Joe Bindloss, at this juncture, announced his intention of -accompanying the Overlanders into the mountains. He did not know -where Red Gulch was, but if Judy said she knew, that settled it. The -girls brightened at his suggestion, and Nora sat up pale and -trembling, asking what had happened. - -She was told that she had fainted. Grace turned to Judy and asked if -they were to start at once, but the mountain girl shook her head. - -“We got to wait till night and make a night ride,” she said. “Pap -Bindloss knows why.” - -“Oh, I can’t wait!” wailed Nora. - -“Judy is right,” spoke up the ranchman. “Besides, we have some -things to do here. I can’t spare any men from the range, so we shall -have to do the work ourselves. We must break your camp and store -your equipment, for the rustlers will discover, after we leave here, -that the ranch is unguarded and come down on it. Understand?” - -Grace nodded. Judy tethered her pony and announced that she would -assist them, and the work of striking the Overland camp began. The -equipment was packed for moving, but instead of being lashed to the -backs of mustangs, Joe Bindloss carted it to the ranch-house on his -buckboard. The work took a good part of the afternoon, following -which the rancher rode out to his nearest grazing grounds where he -acquainted one of his foremen with the situation. - -Judy Hornby not only did her share of the work, but kept up the -spirits of her companions with quaint sayings and sharp-witted -replies to questions. - -Food sufficient for their needs was packed, and by supper time all -was in readiness for the start. Before leaving, the mountain girl -and the rancher held a brief consultation, at which she told him of -her plan. Bindloss agreed to it. Up to this time Judy had given her -friends no further information as to the source of the news that had -come to her, though occasional attempts had been made by Grace and -Elfreda to draw it from her. - -The start was made shortly after dark, the riders setting out in -pairs at some little distance apart. Judy kept to the base of the -foothills where the mountains cast a heavy shadow so that the -movements of the party could not be seen from the valley in the -light of the new moon. Instead of riding directly into the hills, -the mountain girl rode parallel with them for fully five miles. -Grace asked her why she did this instead of taking the direct line -that had been followed by the carrier pigeons. - -“Mebby that trail is watched,” answered Judy. “We got to go ’round -and come up by a longer way. You folks leave that to me. I ain’t -sayin’ that we ain’t goin’ to be caught, but if we are we got rifles -and I knows how to use mine.” - -“So do we,” returned Grace. “I hope it may not be necessary, -though.” - -Finally a sharp turn into the mountains was made, and for a mile or -two Judy followed a gash in the hills. - -“We got to climb now,” finally announced their guide, and it proved -to be a real climb. A brief halt was made to rest the animals, after -which the journey was resumed. The going from there on was over -rough ground, and it was a marvel to the Overland Riders how Judy -Hornby picked her way in the darkness and kept in the right -direction. - -As a matter of fact Judy was using the stars for her guide, which -enabled her to follow the general direction in which she wanted to -go. - -Another halt was made at midnight. The girls were shivering, and -Emma asked if they could not build a fire and warm up. - -“No! You’ll git warmed up before you git through with this,” -answered Judy. “Might git warm most any time now.” - -No halt was made from that time until just at break of day. Then -Judy left the party for half an hour to take an observation. She -returned briskly and announced that they could make a small fire and -have coffee, but she built the fire herself, being careful not to -make enough smoke to attract attention. - -“Folks, we aire within a mile of the Red Gulch, and I reckon you -better keep your eyes open from now on. I’ll ride on ahead, so watch -me. Pap Bindloss, you watch the sides and the trail behind. Nobody -do any loud talkin’,” advised Judy, after they had warmed their -hands by the little cook-fire, and drunk their hot coffee. All -mounted and rode away much refreshed, and with a gentle glow now -suffusing their bodies. - -The Overlanders now observed that Judy had unlimbered her rifle, so -they did the same, carrying their weapons resting across their -saddles, gun butts to the right. Judy wound in and out among the -rocks and trees, sometimes being out of sight for a moment or two, -then coming into view again, until finally she held up her hand and -sat listening. The others halted near where her pony stood nibbling -at the green leaves within its reach. - -“You all stay right heah. I’m going on to scout ’round a little. -Pap, you stay with the girls.” Judy tossed her bridle-rein to him -and slid from her saddle, taking her rifle with her. She was out of -sight in a few moments, and the Overland Riders sat in uneasy -silence straining their ears for warning sounds. - -When Judy returned her face wore a perplexed expression. - -“Folks, they ain’t there.” - -“Aren’t where?” asked Miss Briggs. - -“Whar they was supposed to be. I got a good look at the cabin, but -couldn’t see nobody, an’ couldn’t find any ponies anywhar ’bout, -though I see whar they’d been tethered. Would you folks know the -tracks of yer horses?” - -Grace said she did not think they would, not having had these -animals long enough to be familiar with them. - -“I can pick ’em out,” volunteered Bindloss. - -“Good! Come with me. You folks kin ride up so you kin see the place -whar the cabin is an’—” - -“What cabin?” questioned Emma. - -“One of the places whar the rustlers hang out, an’ whar I reckons -that battle was fought. But you got to keep quiet.” - -Bindloss dismounted and followed the girl, leaving the Overlanders -alone and very much worried. The couple were gone for some time; -then the Riders saw them returning, the rancher striding rapidly -along, Judy following him thoughtfully. - -“They’ve gone, folks!” he announced. “Neither hide nor hair of them -left. I got into the cabin, and there was bullet holes, fresh ones, -showing that there had been some shooting there. I reckon there was -blood on the floor. It looked like it.” - -“Anything else?” asked Grace, regarding him keenly. - -“Nothing like what you mean,” answered Bindloss understandingly. “I -found the tracks of my ponies, and we ain’t far from their trail -right this minute. It looks to me as if your party has headed for -home, and Judy agrees with me. There was five ponies in that bunch -and they was all mine. That looks mighty queer to me.” - -“Is it not possible that it was not our friends who were riding the -animals?” asked Miss Briggs. - -“I reckon so,” returned the rancher absently. “However, there’s only -one thing for us to do, and that is to follow the tracks and watch -out.” - -While he was speaking, Judy had started off on foot. She was gone -for some time. Upon her return she announced that she had picked up -the trail, and mounting, she directed her companions to fall in -behind her. Bindloss rode a little to one side of the mountain girl, -and in a few minutes she pointed out the trail to him. He got down -to examine it, and said the faint hoof-prints were those of ponies -from his corral. - -From that time on fairly rapid progress was made, until the trail -grew more difficult to follow. There were straggling cedars about -them and on beyond a forest of pines that formed a great green -canopy. The season had been dry and the long mountain grass under -the sun’s rays had burned to a dull brown, but the grass was tough -and traveling through it made it necessary for the ponies to lift -their feet high, giving a jolting effect to the riders that was -extremely trying. - -Bindloss suddenly halted. - -“I hear shooting!” he exclaimed. - -“So do I,” agreed Grace. - -The reports sounded far away, but Bindloss and Judy knew that the -firing was not so far away as the Overlanders believed. - -“Do you know where you are—do you know the mountains here?” asked -the rancher. - -Judy shook her head and said she had never been so far into the -mountain country before, but that she had a general idea of where -they were. Suddenly she wheeled her pony and started away towards -the scene of the firing, as well as she was able to locate it. The -others followed, each with straining ears and tingling nerves. They -were soon rewarded by the realization that they were rapidly -approaching the gunfire. Bindloss halted them with a gesture, and -sat listening. The party was only now at the edge of the pine forest -along which they had been skirting, but there were pines to the -right and left of them, beautiful, fragrant pines, nodding to the -stiff mountain breeze that was blowing. The wind died down, then -sprang up again from a different direction. - -Judy’s mustang whirled, threw up its head and snorted, and the pony -ridden by the rancher began to buck under the restraining grip on -the bridle-rein and sundry jabs from the spur, while the mounts of -the Overlanders showed signs of panic. - -A moment more and every mustang in the party was sniffing the air -and snorting. Bindloss, leaning forward in his saddle, gazing back -over the ground that they had covered, saw that a curtain of bluish -shade had been drawn over their late trail. The curtain was -quivering, punctuated here and there by faint spurts of red. - -Judy Hornby’s mustang uttered a whistling blast of fear, and reared -on its hind legs. - -“Fire!” cried the mountain girl. “They’ve set the grass on fire!” - -“Ride!” yelled Joe Bindloss. “It’s coming fast!” - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -RACING WITH DEATH - - -None knew better than the rancher and the mountain girl the peril -that lay behind that waving, quivering blue haze. The only avenue -open to them lay by way of the dark aisles between the pines, for -the blue haze, as they quickly discovered, had crept up on either -side as well as to the rear of them. - -“Into the forest!” shouted Bindloss, giving his pony rein, while -Judy held in her bucking mount until her companions got under way. - -The Overland girls were too frightened to start, but their mustangs, -taking matters into their own hands, lunged forward and were in -amongst the pines a few seconds later, dodging here and there to -avoid trees, until their riders were clinging with knees and hands -to keep from being unseated. - -A thin streak of yellow smoke wriggled overhead, followed by a -crackling, hissing sound, and the wind whipping in the tree tops -carried the smoke on ahead. The fire had overtaken them, had run up -the trunks of the trees at the edge of the forest, and was leaping -from tree to tree over the heads of the Overland Riders, while here -and there to the rear great pines exploded with terrifying sounds. - -The Overland Riders, despite their torturing fear, were thrilled. -The blood beat in their temples and their hearts were pounding. They -began to understand what this race meant—it was a race with death, -and its long arms were waving above them waiting to swoop down and -enfold its victims. - -“Faster!” Judy’s shrill command was plainly heard above the roar. -She turned in her saddle and beckoned to her companions, not certain -that they had heard. It was then she saw that the haze was -enveloping them and that the outlines of horses and riders were -growing fainter. Judy reined in her mount and waited. - -“Ride faster! Use the spur! Drive ’em! Drive ’em!” she yelled as the -girls swept past her, each one now urging on her mount with sharp -cries. The riders now plainly felt the heat, the breath of the fire -on their cheeks. So did the horses feel it, and they were frantic. - -The tough little mustangs as they swept on needed no urging. They -were giving all that was in them to save their own lives, but it -seemed to be an unequal battle. The Overland Riders were not -panic-stricken, but a great fear was in their hearts, yet not one -gave way to her feelings. Perhaps it was because they had no time to -do so, for it required close attention to prevent being unhorsed as -their ponies made sudden swerves to avoid fallen trees or low -hanging branches. The Overland girls were thus kept fully occupied, -and it was plain to Judy Hornby that they were in no danger of -losing their heads. - -Above the noise, she and Bindloss again heard the crack of rifles. -It was a scattering fire, but it was fast. Occasionally an interval -would occur, during which the firing seemed to cease, to be resumed -again a moment later. - -“They are riding ahead of us. Look out!” shouted the rancher, -swerving close to the mountain girl. - -Judy nodded, and spurred on until she was abreast of the racing pony -of Elfreda Briggs, who had lost her hat, and whose hair was whipping -in the air behind her. - -“Something going on ahead! Watch out! Watch me fer orders. Tell the -others. I got to git ahead ag’in,” directed Judy. - -Elfreda shouted the message to Grace, and Grace passed it to the -girl nearest to her, which proved to be Emma. Nora was too far to -one side to be reached, but her pony could be trusted to follow the -others if any radical change of direction were taken. - - - - -[Illustration: “Ride Faster! Drive ’Em!”] - - - - -Daylight suddenly showed faintly through the haze—the light of an -open space. Joe Bindloss uttered a yell, hoping that they might -there find rock footing and an end of the fire. Instead, his mustang -burst out into a vast brown field, a grazing ground many acres in -extent, from which rugged passes branched out in the distance. - -As the riders emerged close on the heels of the rancher and Judy, a -scene met their gaze that thrilled them anew. - -Two bodies of horsemen, like themselves, were fleeing from the fire, -which for some unknown reason had not yet leaped into the brown -grass of the grazing range, and as they rode, both bodies of men -were shooting. - -It was a battle, a running battle with rifles. - -Judy in one quick glance comprehended the situation and she saw more -than did any others of her party. She knew the men off there were -part of the band of rustlers who for so long had been a thorn in the -side of all honest ranchers in the two great grazing valleys of the -Cosos. She saw more than that—the verification of suspicions that -she had harbored for some time, but that had crystallized only -twenty-four hours before. - -At about the same instant the Overlanders also made a discovery. The -party of horsemen directly in front of them were quickly identified. - -“It’s the boys!” screamed Nora. - -“Ain’t dead, neither,” cried Joe Bindloss. - -The Overland Riders pulled down their ponies. - -“Keep going!” roared Bindloss. - -“If we do we shall be shot!” wailed Nora. - -“If you don’t you’ll be roasted!” retorted the old ranchman. - -It was a difficult choice. To go forward meant that the Overland -party would place themselves directly in the line of fire of the -mountain ruffians, but to hold back meant that the forest fire in a -few moments would be sweeping over the field. They decided to go -forward, and in a moment their ponies were racing towards Tom Gray -and his companions. - -The fire was now roaring across the brown meadow. The Overland men -saw it and began drawing in on the rustlers, driving at them in an -oblique line, firing as they put their ponies at top speed. The -girls followed at one side of the line of fire, hoping thereby to -escape being hit. - -A rustler toppled from his saddle. At the same instant Idaho Jones -swayed uncertainly in his, but quickly recovered and again began -working his rifle. Those who saw his hesitation knew that he had -been hit. - -The rustlers were now in a thick haze, and were giving ground as the -ranchmen and Overland men bore down on them, pouring a heavy rifle -fire into the closely bunched outlaws. They saw the rustlers whirl -about facing their assailants to make a stand, but the firing was -too hot for them and they fled. A mighty yell rose from the rustlers -as all but two of them suddenly disappeared from sight as if the -earth had swallowed them. It was then that the pursuers discovered -that their adversaries had gained rocky ground. No forest fire could -reach them there. - -The two men who were still in view pulled their ponies to their -haunches and swung about facing each other. The pursuers were amazed -to see both men draw their weapons and begin shooting at each other. - -The Overland men and ranchmen instantly ceased firing, but continued -on at full speed, for the flames were rapidly sweeping down on them. -They had not yet discovered the presence of Judy and the Overland -girls, but Judy had discovered that safety from the fire lay at the -far side of the field, so waving a hand for her companions to follow -she headed towards the scene of the savage duel. - -“Oh, it is awful!” cried Emma as her pony streaked past Miss Briggs -and Grace. - -Judy was laying her crop over the flank of her mustang and uttering -shrill cries to urge him on, and the first intimation that the -ranchmen had of the presence of the Overland girls was when Judy -flashed by them towards the duelists. - -“Kill ’im, Pap!” she yelled. - -“It’s Mex!” shouted Sam Conifer. - -At this juncture the Overland girls caught up with the pursuers and -dashed to safety on the rocky ground. As they reached it Miss -Briggs’ pony went down and Grace’s mustang leaped clear over her and -her mount before she could check him. Tom Gray hurried to the rescue -of Elfreda. - -“You here?” he cried. - -The roar of the fire, as it swept past over the brown meadow, -smothered the words. - -One duelist, at this juncture, was seen to sway in his saddle, and -at the same instant the other plunged headlong to the ground. The -first man’s pony jumped and he too was unhorsed, then both duelists -laboriously raised themselves to their elbows, and the duel was -resumed. At the second exchange of shots, one sank back and lay -still. - -Judy jumped her pony forward, and throwing herself from the saddle -ran to the living man and pillowed his head in her lap. - -“Gosh a-mighty!” roared Bindloss. - -The men of the ranch party were on the scene in a few seconds, but -still being ignorant of the cause of the sudden disappearance of the -body of rustlers kept their weapons at ready. Some of them now rode -cautiously forward to see what had become of the missing men. - -“Stop!” shouted Two-gun Pete. “I know whar they’ve went to. The gang -forgot ’bout the gulch thar, if they knowed ’bout it at all. -Leastwise, they didn’t see it in the smoke till it war too late, an’ -over they went. They won’t rustle no more steers, I reckons, bad -luck to ’em.” - -The whole party was now gathered about the mountain girl. The dead -man, those who now knew him, was identified as Mexican Charlie. - -“It’s Pap,” said Judy when they peered down into the face of the man -whose head lay in her lap. She gazed up at the Overland girls with a -pitiful look in her face. - -Hornby opened his eyes, recognized her and began to speak. - -“That’s all right, Pap. Don’t say it,” begged Judy. - -“I got ter talk, Kid. I’m sorry I made ye mad yesterday. I told ye -thet them friends of yours war shot at Red Gulch ’cause I knew the -rest of their gang would be up heah, an’ we’d git ’em all. I wish we -had! I wish we had, but the boys got looney ’cause your friends -could shoot better’n they could, and ran over the edge.” - -“Why did you an’ Mex fight, Pap?” asked Judy. - -“’Cause he said I’d double-crossed him, an’ sent his gang to death -to git rid of ’em, too. Then we fit. He set the fire, but I told him -to.” - -“Oh, Pap! How could you? These folks ain’t never meant you no harm. -They ain’t done nothin’ but fight when you made ’em,” protested the -mountain girl. - -“Yes, they did! They come up heah lookin’ fer trouble. They wanted -to drive us out er business. I know ’cause I had it from a feller -who knowed. An’ ye helped ’em, Judy!” he exclaimed, blazing up into -her face with something of the old fire in his eyes. - -“You bet I did, Pap. My friends is my friends, an’ I’d do it ag’in,” -she answered calmly. - -“I don’t bear ye no grudge fer thet now, Kid, ’cause it’s too late. -I got mine this time, an’ I’m goin’ out the way I always reckoned I -would, with my boots on an’ facin’ the crack o’ the guns.” - -As he talked, Hornby’s voice grew halting, and there were pauses of -a few seconds between words. It was plain to all that he was -weakening fast. - -“May I try to do something for him, Judy?” begged Miss Briggs -gently, as she bent over the wounded rustler. - -“_No!_” Hornby put all the strength that he could summon into that -one word. “Ye been lookin’ fer the man who war the leader of the -rustlers. Heah he is! I’m thet man, and as it’s my dyin’ words, I -beat ’em all at the game. Git ba—ack thar!” The rustler groped with -uncertain fingers for his weapon, whereupon Judy laid a firm hand on -his arm. - -“No, Pap! You’ve done enough,” rebuked the girl. “You’ve said -enough, too, an’ Judy Hornby never again kin hold her head up nor -look honest folks in the face. They’ll say her Pap was a rustler -an’—an’—” - -“Judy! Please don’t,” begged Grace. “He is dying!” - -“I—I reckon you’re right.” Judy fell to stroking the outlaw’s hair. -“That’s all right, Pap. You’re my Pap. Miss Gray is right.” - -“No! I got ter tell ye while I can. Judy, I ain’t yer Pap. Nor yer -mother warn’t yer mother. I stole ye when ye war a little thing -cause the man who was yer Pap had done me dirt. We raised ye, an’ -Judy, we havin’ no children of our own, begun to like ye fer yerself -an’ we kept ye, though at first we didn’t reckon on doin’ jest that. -We reckoned on gettin rid—” - -“No—ot my Pap?” stammered the girl. “Who, then—who is my Pap?” -cried Judy. “Tell me! Ye got ter tell me! Who is my Pap?” Her voice -rose threateningly, then sank almost to a whisper. “Pap, dear! Who -is my real Pap?” - -“He—he—he war—” - -The voice grew faint, and though the girl bent her ear close to the -lips of the dying man, she failed to catch the whispered words, and -the secret that Malcolm Hornby had kept for so many years died with -him there by the scorched meadows of the Cosos over which, like a -shroud, hung a suffocating pall of yellow smoke. - -Old Joe Bindloss lifted the little mountain girl to her feet, and, -with hands on her shoulders, brought her face to face with him. - -“I ain’t got no Pap now,” she murmured. “I ain’t got no friends, no -nothin’ that a girl wants so much.” - -Grace Harlowe slipped an arm about her. - -“Yes, you have, Judy. We are your friends, now and always,” said -Grace gently. “And I think you have a Pap that you haven’t reckoned -on,” she added, nodding towards Joe Bindloss. - -For a moment the old rancher and the mountain girl stood gazing into -each other’s eyes, then he drew her, unresisting, to him and lightly -touched her forehead with his lips. - -“Oh, Pap!” sobbed Judy, her arms slipping about the neck of Old Joe -Bindloss as she buried her head on his shoulder. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -FAREWELL TO THE COSOS - - -The Overland Riders and the men from the Circle O ranch walked to -the edge of the precipice and looked down. The girls shivered and -quickly turned, facing the other way, while the men gazed solemnly -into the abyss. - -“How’dy, folks,” greeted Jim. “Ain’t seen ye fer a week o’ Sundays. -Ye see that no ’count pard o’ mine got his’n,” he chuckled, nodding -at Sam, whose head was still swathed in bandages. - -“Yes, but what happened to you?” questioned Emma. “It would appear -that you too got something.” - -Jim explained that he had been roped from his pony, carried into the -mountains and secreted in a cave where the pigeon cotes were -located. It was the wire-covered pigeon-yard just outside of the -cave, well masked with foliage, that the Overland men and the -ranchers, in their hunt for Jim, had stumbled upon, and that led to -finding the missing guide. That was where the outlaws caught them, -and, had not the men from the ranch been on the alert, would have -made a quick finish of them. - -Tom told the Overlanders of Sam’s battle with the rustlers in the -mountain cabin, of the further search for Jim, and of the -culminating experience when a running battle with the rustlers was -engaged in. - -“Stacy!” cried Nora in sudden recollection. In the excitement of -that memorable morning she had forgotten about the fat boy. - -“He got away the night we come up heah,” Sam Conifer informed her. -“I reckons he’s got home afore this, an’ that he’ll stay thar. They -was goin’ to drop him into Red Gulch, an’ I reckon he thought it war -time to leave.” - -At this juncture, Miss Briggs asked permission to look at the wounds -of the party. Sam’s wounds were doing well, but needed professional -care, which Elfreda gave to them on the spot. She next dressed Idaho -Jones’ arm, which was bleeding from a bullet wound. Barring a few -slight flesh wounds where bullets had narrowly missed doing serious -injury, the other fighters were unharmed. - -“You now have the whole story,” announced Tom Gray, as she finished. -“The rustlers, thanks to their own carelessness, have taken a bad -job out of our hands.” - -“What a terrible death!” breathed Grace. “What about these?” she -added, pointing to Mexican Charlie and Malcolm Hornby. “Shall I -consult Judy about—about her fa—about Hornby?” - -Tom shook his head. - -“You girls go on and take care of her. We will do all that is -necessary to be done,” he made reply. - -The Overland girls returned to Bindloss and the mountain girl, who -was clinging to the hand of the old rancher, a deep pallor showing -under the tan on her face. Emma slipped a hand into hers, and Judy -turned a wan face to the little Overland girl, but the face wore a -faint smile. - -“It’s all fixed, Emma,” she said, nodding. “I’m Judy Bindloss now. -Leastwise I’m goin’ to be as soon as my new Pap kin git the papers -made out. I don’t see no reason fer doin’ that, do you?” - -Miss Briggs, as a lawyer, tried to explain to her why it was very -necessary, but the mountain girl shook her head. - -“He’s my Pap. It seems like he always was and no papers can’t make -him more so. Pap, let’s go home.” - -The ponies were led along for some distance, to give them rest while -the party were talking, and for the further purpose of giving the -men back there opportunity to do their work and join the Overland -Riders. - -The party finally being complete, Pete led the way across the -blackened landscape to the old cabin. Reaching there, they laid up -for a rest, and after luncheon Judy told them the story of her -father, Malcolm Hornby, so far as she knew it. - -Certain recent occurrences had made her suspect that Hornby was in -league with the rustlers, but the night before she brought warning -to the Overland girls that Tom and Hippy were wounded, she heard a -conversation between her father and Mexican Charlie in which her -suspicion became a certainty. From that conversation she learned -that much stock had been stolen from Bindloss, and that by making a -“Q” out of the Circle O ranch brand and adding another “Q,” the -marking conformed with Hornby’s brand, after which the stolen cattle -were added to his own herd. He had, with the assistance of the -mountain ruffians, carried on wholesale thievery in two great -valleys for several years and made money. His reward had been reaped -that day, and it had been coming for some time, because Mexican -Charlie and he were rapidly nearing the breaking point just before -the last attack on the Overland Riders, who were the indirect cause -of breaking up the gang of mountain ruffians. - -That there were others of the gang still at large the ranchmen knew, -but Judy could give them no information on this point. It was -decided, therefore, to ask the aid of the sheriff and his deputies, -as well as that of other ranchers, to form a big party and comb the -mountains for the other ruffians, who, now that the backbone of the -band had been broken, could be driven more easily from that region, -and perhaps some of them captured. - -In the early afternoon the journey home was begun. Judy did not -accompany them all the way, saying that she wished to stop at her -former home and get some personal belongings, she promising to ride -back to the Circle O ranch on the following morning. Judy wished to -be alone that night, and the Overland girls, at least, understood. - -Circle O was reached before dark, and Stacy Brown, who had gained -entrance to the ranch-house, which he had reached only a few hours -before, met them at the door. The “fat boy” was thin, there were -hollows in his cheeks, and a livid mark on the left cheek where a -bullet had left its trail. - -Stacy had been hunted all the way across the mountains, and shot at -on several occasions, but had always outwitted his pursuers until -finally they gave up the man-hunt and returned to the Diamond Bar -ranch. Hungry and worn out and after considerable suffering he -finally reached Circle O only to find it deserted and the Overland -camp broken up. - -Now, however, that the opportunity was at hand to glorify his own -achievements, Stacy Brown made the most of it, and out in the yard -in front of the ranch-house, he declaimed loudly on his own prowess -in fooling his pursuers. - -Stacy was still engaged in this before an interested audience when a -rider approached from the valley, but no one gave heed to him, -believing him to be one of Bindloss’s men. The rider dismounted at -the stable and walked towards the group, his eyes fixed on Chunky. -He halted just behind the boy and stood regarding him frowningly. - -“Well, sir, what is it?” demanded Joe Bindloss sharply. - -Stacy, in the midst of a loud boast, turned to look at the man -behind him. The words died on his lips as he came face to face with -the newcomer. It was Skip, the fellow on whose head Stacy had -brought down the wagon stake at the Diamond Bar ranch. - -The Overland boy’s face grew a shade paler, and he made a move as if -to run, but the pressure of a revolver against his stomach sent the -shivers up and down his back and literally froze him. - -“Here! Here!” roared Joe Bindloss. “What do ye mean?” - -“This feller’s a hoss thief. We kotched him on a hoss that had been -rustled from the Diamond Bar ranch. He got away by cloutin’ me over -the haid. We follered, but he was too slippery fer us. I been -lookin’ fer him ever since, an’ now I’ve got him!” - -“Put down thet gun, pard!” drawled Sam Conifer, and Skip found -himself gazing at the muzzle of the old guide’s weapon. “Put it -down, I says!” - -The caller shoved his weapon into its holster, and Stacy Brown drew -a long breath of relief and then quickly stepped back a few paces. - -“This man is no more a thief than you are!” exploded Bindloss. “He -is one of my friends, and that’s all there is to it.” - -“I got to take him back,” persisted Skip stubbornly. - -“Listen to me, young fellow!” commanded Bindloss, who thereupon -repeated the story that Chunky had told them, adding further -information of his own. - -“Thet’s what the critter told us back at the ranch. We reckoned he -lied, an’ I reckon so too.” - -“Drop thet talk!” warned Sam Conifer. - -Joe Bindloss after some farther argument told the visitor that he -would write a letter to Bill Crawley, owner of the Diamond Bar -ranch, fully explaining the matter, but in no circumstances would -Skip be permitted to take Stacy with him. - -“And that’s flat!” finished the rancher sternly. - -“Thet’s all right, Boss, but what ’bout this?” he demanded, -exhibiting the lump that Stacy had left on the top of his head. “I -got ter have satersfaction fer thet, I reckon.” - -“I’ll hit it again if you say so,” offered Stacy, but the boy met a -quick rebuke from his companions. - -“Look here, my man! How much do you want for satisfaction?” -interjected Tom Gray. - -“Wal, I reckon ’bout two bucks’ll satersfy me,” answered Skip, -tenderly caressing the lump. - -“Stacy, shell out! Give the man two dollars,” ordered Lieutenant -Wingate. Stacy demurred, but there was no avoiding payment. He tried -to borrow the money, but not one of the Overlanders would give him a -cent, so Stacy Brown reluctantly parted with two silver dollars. - -The letter was written by Grace at Bindloss’s dictation, and half an -hour later Skip headed back towards the Diamond Bar ranch, not only -with the letter and two silver dollars in his pocket, but with a -request from Bindloss that Bill Crawley and his men join with the -Circle O men in making a final drive on the rustlers. - -It was early to bed that night at the Circle O, for all hands were -worn out. On the following morning the girls had a long talk with -Joe Bindloss. It was decided that the Overlanders should remain at -the ranch while the ranchers drove out the last of the rustlers. - -Judy came in in time for luncheon that day. The girls saw that she -had been weeping, but made no comment. It was then that they -broached the subject that had been discussed with Judy’s new “Pap.” -Grace and Elfreda wished to take her back east with them and show -her some of the world that she had so often dreamed of seeing. - -At first Judy was obdurate, but the thought grew and Bindloss urged, -so, before the departure of the Overlanders two weeks later, Judy -had said “yes.” - -The drive of the ranchers proved successful in ridding the Cosos of -rustlers, though only one man was captured. The others had fled, -following the disaster to Hornby and his immediate gang, and the -drive of the ranchers. - -The journey of the Overland party, following the recovery of Hippy -and Sam from their wounds, lasted until mid-September when the great -day in Judy’s life arrived. The Overland Riders had returned to the -ranch to pick her up, and to arrange for returning Joe Bindloss’s -ponies to him at the railroad station, and, after a day’s rest at -the ranch-house, they set out for the east—and home. Judy wavered -at the last moment, but finally rode away with her friends, waving -her sombrero to the rugged old rancher, and trying to laugh through -her tears. The world that Judy had so yearned for lay just before -her, and after a winter with the Overland girls she was destined to -return much benefited in every way, but with a fuller realization -that her duty to herself and to her new “Pap” lay in the beautiful -Valley of the Cosos. - -There was still a large measure of adventure before Grace Harlowe -and her young friends, and to which every member of the party was -already looking forward for the coming season. The story of these -adventures will be related in a following volume entitled, “Grace -Harlowe’s Overland Riders Among the Border Guerrillas,” where, in -the Guadalupe Mountains, they encounter experiences that make the -story replete with interest that cannot fail to hold the undivided -attention of the reader. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND RIDERS AT -CIRCLE O RANCH*** - - -******* This file should be named 62743-0.txt or 62743-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/2/7/4/62743 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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 <a -href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p>Title: Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders at Circle O Ranch</p> -<p>Author: Josephine Chase</p> -<p>Release Date: July 24, 2020 [eBook #62743]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: UTF-8</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND RIDERS AT CIRCLE O RANCH***</p> -<p> </p> -<h4 class="pgx" title="">E-text prepared by Roger Frank<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (<a href="https://archive.org">https://archive.org</a>)</h4> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - <a href="https://archive.org/details/graceharlowesove00flow_7"> - https://archive.org/details/graceharlowesove00flow_7</a> - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<h1>GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS AT CIRCLE O RANCH</h1> - -<div id='i001' class='illus' style='margin-left:15%; width:70%'> - <img src='images/i001.jpg' alt='' /> - <p class='sm'>“It’s Pap!”</p> -</div> - -<div class='section'> - <div class='tac'> -<div class='fs14'>Grace Harlowe’s Overland<br /> -Riders at Circle O Ranch</div> -<div class='mt10'>By</div> -<div class='mt10 fs12'>JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A.M.</div> -<div class='fs08 mt10'>Author of The High School Girls Series, The College Girls Series, The<br /> -Grace Harlowe Overseas Series, Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders<br /> -on the Old Apache Trail, Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders on<br /> -the Great American Desert, Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders<br /> -Among the Kentucky Mountaineers, Grace Harlowe’s Overland<br /> -Riders in the Great North Woods, Grace Harlowe’s<br /> -Overland Riders in the High Sierras, Grace Harlowe’s<br /> -Overland Riders in the Yellowstone National<br /> -Park, Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders in the<br /> -Black Hills, etc., etc.</div> -<div class='mt10'>Illustrated</div> -<div class='mt10'>PHILADELPHIA</div> -<div>HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='section'> - <div class='tac fs09'> - <div class='sc'>COPYRIGHTED, 1923, BY<br /> - HOWARD E. ALTEMUS</div> - <div class='mt10 fs08'>PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='section ml20 mr20'> -<p class='fs12 tac mb05'>CONTENTS</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chI'>Chapter I—Peace in the Coso Valley</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>Stacy’s dream is interpreted. Jim-Sam proves to -be a problem. A guide that could howl like a coyote. -“Mules, like some fellers, is contrary critters.” Sam’s -whiskers are expressive. A peace that was rudely -broken.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chII'>Chapter II—On the Road to Trouble</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>The Overlanders prepare for defense. Stacy’s weapon -a tent stake. Emma Dean in the toils. The shot -that stopped the roper. “Let ’em have it!” yells the -guide. All because of the fat boy’s dream. The -alarm.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chIII'>Chapter III—An Invitation to Move</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>“Sit tight!” orders Hippy. A caller who threatened -trouble. Sam Conifer passes the lie. “I reckon I’d -kill ye whar ye stand!” Hands flash to weapons. -The stranger is ordered out of camp. When brains -were mixed.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chIV'>Chapter IV—At the “Circle O” Ranch</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>Camp made in the foothills of the Cosos. “The Old -Man wants ter know what ye are doin’ heah!” The -Overlanders are again ordered to get out. Emma -explains the “imponderable something.” The dance -in the bunk-house. A bullet parts Sam Conifer’s -whiskers.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chV'>Chapter V—Overlanders Suffer a Loss</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>“Shoot, Sam! Shoot, I tell you!” A mysterious -shot is fired. Jim finds a trail. A “lovely party” -spoiled. The Overland Riders find their ponies missing. -Distress at the Circle O. Jim-Sam blame each -other.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chVI'>Chapter VI—Rustlers Are Hard Pressed</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>A question of mules. Emma Dean looks for dreams. -Sam exchanges shots with a prowler. Stacy Brown -believes in safety first. Ranchers engage the rustlers -in a lively battle. Lieutenant Wingate wages an -unequal fight and loses.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chVII'>Chapter VII—A Fight to a Finish</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>“Give ’em the rifles!” yells Two-gun Pete. The -end of the battle. An Overlander is found seriously -wounded. Tom bears bad news to his companions. -Elfreda gives first aid. Cowpunchers look on in -open-mouthed wonder.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chVIII'>Chapter VIII—The “Dude” Makes Good</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>Hippy is complimented by Two-gun Pete. “What’s -a hoss when it comes to a scrap?” What Hippy -Wingate dreamed. Grace Harlowe’s pony is recovered. -Ranchers help the Overlanders to move. -Judy Hornby makes an exciting entrance.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chIX'>Chapter IX—Judy Speaks Out</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>The mountain girl wants to know what love is. Judy -tries poulticing for a sick heart. “If I could talk -like that I’d be a real lady.” Overland girls give helpful -advice. A word that drove a mustang to desperation.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chX'>Chapter X—The Round-up</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>“Pap sure was a scream,” declares Judy. The Overland -Riders witness a thrilling round-up. Stacy Brown -gets into new difficulties. J. Elfreda is accused of -frightening a wild steer to death. Bad news from -up the valley.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chXI'>Chapter XI—Hippy Defends the Ranch</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>Lieutenant Wingate’s suspicions aroused. Two -ruffians are neatly trapped. The ranch-house under -rifle fire. A ruse that succeeded. “I’ve got to take -a chance.” Rifle bullets rip through the old house. -Disaster again overtakes the Overland Rider.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chXII'>Chapter XII—At the Last Moment</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>An alarm scatters the mountain ruffians. “Hit the -trail! Hit it hard!” Cowpunchers find the ranch-house -on fire. A dramatic scene in Joe Bindloss’s -home. Captives give sullen replies. “The herd’s -stampeded an’ Pop’s been shot!” cries Idaho Jones.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chXIII'>Chapter XIII—An Overlander Is Missing</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>Hippy at last regains consciousness. Lieutenant -Wingate relates the story of the attack on the ranch-house. -Cowboys howl when they hear the news. -Stacy Brown mysteriously disappears. “The prisoners -have got away!”</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chXIV'>Chapter XIV—The Lost Trail</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>Malcolm Hornby refuses Joe Bindloss’s request. -“Pap’s got an awful grouch today.” Jim fails to -follow Chunky’s trail. The search is given up for -the night. Judy acts strangely. “Something has -happened to Jim!” Sam Conifer meets disaster.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chXV'>Chapter XV—Clews That Were Loaded</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>The old guide finds the trail and a bullet finds him. -Stacy and Jim are among the missing. Two-gun -Pete makes a strange discovery. The mystery of -the carrier pigeons. Birds for a pie. “Wal, I’ll be -shot!” exclaims Joe Bindloss.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chXVI'>Chapter XVI—The Carrier Pigeons’ Flight</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>Chunky writes a letter for the Rustlers. “This -suspense is killing me!” cries Emma. High ransom -is demanded for the fat boy. How to follow the -trail of a bird. The “dove of peace” is liberated. -“I’ve got it!” shouts Sam Conifer.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chXVII'>Chapter XVII—Stacy Decides to Leave</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>How the Overland boy was captured. Mountain -ruffians make desperate plans. Money that came -down from the skies. “Put up yer hands, young -feller!” The fat boy in the toils. Stacy Brown finds -himself under arrest as a horse thief.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chXVIII'>Chapter XVIII—Trouble at Red Gulch</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>Carrier pigeons point the way. The guide smells -smoke. Sam Conifer stalks the rustlers to their -lair. “Brown’ll be a dead dude by mornin’!” A -thunderbolt is hurled at the mountain ruffians. -Plotters get a rude surprise.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chXIX'>Chapter XIX—A Duel in the Dark</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>The magician’s wand. “Yer too yellow to draw!” -Sam reveals his identity to Mexican Charley. Six to -one. The outlaw takes a chance and loses. When the -light was shot out. “That’s what I calls a low-down -trick!”</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chXX'>Chapter XX—Stacy Wields a Club</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>The fat boy’s story is not believed. “All hoss thieves is -liars!” A barn his prison cell. “Heah’s yer chuck. -I hope it chokes ye!” Ordered to leave for prison. -Chunky turns the tables on his jailer and compliments -himself.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chXXI'>Chapter XXI—Judy Brings Tidings</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>A mysterious shot. Pete gets a bullet hole through -his hat. No trace of the missing Jim. Judy takes -her time in telling bad news. “Sam’s been killed -and Tom and Hippy wounded!” announces the -mountain girl.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chXXII'>Chapter XXII— Riders of the Night</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>Overland girls go in search of the missing ones. -Judy Hornby leads the way. The mountain cabin -found to be empty. Bindloss reads the trail. Startled -by the sound of shots. The worst is feared. “Fire! -They’ve set the grass on fire!”</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chXXIII'>Chapter XXIII—Racing with Death</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>Ponies become frantic with fear. Overland Riders feel -the thrill of the moment. “Faster!” cries the mountain -girl. Rifle shots sound nearer. A scene that -startled the Riders. The duel. A bandit meets his -reward.</p> -<p class='sc t1'><a href='#chXXIV'>Chapter XXIV—Farewell to the Cosos</a></p> -<p class='tocp'>Judy Hornby finds a new “Pap.” Stacy Brown -still stalked by trouble. “This feller is a hoss thief!” -When Judy’s dreams came true.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<div class='tac fs14'>GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS<br />AT CIRCLE O RANCH</div> -<h2 id='chI' title='I: PEACE IN THE COSO VALLEY'> -<span>CHAPTER I</span><br /> -<span>PEACE IN THE COSO VALLEY</span> -</h2> - -<p>“Does anyone know where we are at?” -wondered Stacy Brown, the last person -to leave his berth in the car that -morning.</p> - -<p>“We are in the Coso Valley,” replied Grace -Harlowe Gray.</p> - -<p>“I never heard of it,” returned Stacy. “We -are still in Southern California, I presume.”</p> - -<p>“Of course. What a silly question!” interjected -J. Elfreda Briggs laughingly.</p> - -<p>“Young man, we are nearing our destination. -If you don’t make haste you will be left,” reminded -Grace’s husband, Tom Gray.</p> - -<p>“Left! What a tragedy!” murmured Emma -Dean. “By the way, Chunky, did you dream -last night?” she added, placing a hand on the -fat boy’s arm.</p> - -<p>“Of course I did. What’s the fun in sleeping -if you don’t dream? I dreamed that I was the -King of England, and you should have seen—”</p> - -<p>“Stacy!” cried Emma in mock horror. “How -unfortunate! To counteract the effect of that -unhappy dream, try tonight to dream that you -are a peasant. If you do not, some terrible misfortune -is sure to overtake you.”</p> - -<p>“Piffle! Where do you get that stuff, Emma? -All right, Thomas. I’ll be ready by the time the -train stops,” added Stacy, addressing Tom Gray, -and moving on to the wash room, where he remained -until the train began to slow down for -Carrago, their destination. Carrago was a sleepy -little far-western town whose only excuse for -existence was that it was the only trading center -for the ranchers within a radius of many miles -in the broad valley that lay between the Argus -and Coso ranges, a remote section of the country -selected by Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders for -their regular summer’s outing in the saddle.</p> - -<p>The scenery that morning had held the attention -of the entire party with the exception of -Stacy, who had been too busy sleeping to give -heed to mere scenery, and the passengers were -already detraining at Carrago when he finally -came rushing through the car.</p> - -<p>“Shall I brush you off?” asked the porter, -facing him, broom in hand.</p> - -<p>“Brush me off?” frowned Stacy, who thus far -had avoided the porter. “Well, no. I reckon -that I’ll just get off in the ordinary way,” he -added, hurrying out to the vestibule of the Pullman -and down to the station platform.</p> - -<p>“That was rude of you, Stacy,” rebuked Miss -Briggs, who had heard the boy’s retort.</p> - -<p>“Rude? Huh! Do you think I want to be -brushed off the train?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Stacy! You are as hopeless as ever, -aren’t you?” laughed Grace. “Oh, this wonderful -air!” she cried enthusiastically, turning to -her companions. “Tom, aren’t you going to look -for the guide who was to meet us here?”</p> - -<p>Tom Gray said that Hippy Wingate was attending -to that, and just then the Overlanders -saw him halt before two bewhiskered natives -standing on the station platform side by side and -assuming almost identically the same pose. Both -were old men. Their faces were seamed and -tanned, their shoulders stooped, and as they -stood with heads tilted back until their long -beards protruded at almost the same angle, -they presented a picture that made the Overlanders -smile.</p> - -<p>“I am looking for Jim-Sam, who is to guide -us,” announced Hippy, addressing the men.</p> - -<p>“We’re Jim-Sam,” answered the men in chorus. -“Be ye the dudes?”</p> - -<p>“Well, not exactly,” interjected Stacy Brown.</p> - -<p>“This is the party that engaged Jim-Sam,” -repeated Hippy patiently. “Which of you is -Jim-Sam?”</p> - -<p>“Both of us,” added the taller of the two men. -“I’m Sam, an’ this heah galoot standin’ side me -is Jim, an’—”</p> - -<p>“I’ll have ye understand that I ain’t no galoot,” -objected Jim heatedly, shaking a finger under -Sam’s nose.</p> - -<p>“Hold on, you two! Let me get this clear,” -interposed Tom Gray, stepping up to them. “Do -you mean that we have engaged, not one guide, -but two?”</p> - -<p>Sam explained that he and Jim were “pards,” -and that they had always worked together, and -“fit an’ died together” these many years, adding -further, that Jim, being a spavined, ring-boned -old cayuse wasn’t much good to anyone, himself -included, but that he could hold the horses and -howl like a coyote at the pack-horses to keep -them going.</p> - -<p>“Haw, haw!” exploded Stacy.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know about this,” muttered Hippy, -removing his hat and mopping his forehead.</p> - -<p>“Are you two gentlemen heavy eaters?” questioned -Emma. “The reason I ask is, that we -already have two powerful eaters in this outfit, -and I doubt if we could stand to feed more like -them.”</p> - -<p>“We kin rustle our own grub,” promised Jim.</p> - -<p>“I suggest that we go into executive session -and talk this over,” urged Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>The suggestion was approved and the Overlanders -withdrew for discussion, Jim and Sam -holding their positions, apparently the most disinterested -persons on the station platform. Inquiry -developed that the salary named in the -letter of Jim-Sam covered the services of both, -so, after talking the matter over, the Overland -Riders decided to take on this strange pair to -guide them. The fact that the guides owned -their own ponies and pack-mules was an added -inducement. Otherwise it would be necessary to -hire or buy pack-animals.</p> - -<p>Hippy Wingate told the guides that they had -been accepted, then he introduced each member -of the party to them. Nora Wingate laughingly -warned the pair that they were embarking on a -perilous undertaking when they set out with the -Overland Riders, whereat Jim-Sam’s whiskers -stiffened, but the owners made no reply.</p> - -<p>Emma Dean, speaking confidentially to Hippy, -objected to guides wearing such long whiskers, -though she thought the men themselves might do -very well. Emma was of the opinion that such -whiskers were not sanitary, and averred that if -San Antone, who had guided them through the -Black Hills, were present he would correct the -fault by shooting off the whiskers without making -the slightest fuss about it.</p> - -<p>Tom interrupted Emma’s conversation by -urging that the Overland ponies be unloaded at -once, the car containing them having, by this -time, been shunted to a switch.</p> - -<p>“When do ye reckon on gittin’ out o’ heah?” -asked Sam.</p> - -<p>“We shall be ready by the time you get your -mules and packs ready,” answered Hippy. “This -outfit moves without fuss, but it occasionally -makes quite a racket in doing so. Get busy, -boys!”</p> - -<p>Jim-Sam turned away, still side by side, each -carrying himself with a dignity that made the -Overlanders laugh. While the provisions and -other equipment were being purchased by the -women of the party, Tom and Hippy unloaded the -ponies, and Stacy, uttering many grunts and -groans, piled their equipment on the ground near -the stock car. The ponies were then secured to -the tie-rail in front of the general store, where -they were looked over and felt of by every man -in the village, including several cowboys from -neighboring ranches.</p> - -<p>During the unloading, Hippy and Tom had -noticed a cowboy sitting on a mustang some little -distance from them, observing the Overland -operations with keen interest.</p> - -<p>“Who is that fellow?” asked Hippy of a -bystander.</p> - -<p>The native shook his head, and the horseman, -seeing that he had attracted attention to himself, -jerked his pony about and trotted away.</p> - -<p>“I don’t like the looks of that chap,” declared -Tom.</p> - -<p>“I reckon he’s all right. Most cowpunchers -look tougher than they really are, though it is -quite possible that we may meet up with some -real rough-necks. I have heard that they are not -difficult to find in the Coso range,” replied Hippy.</p> - -<p>“Oh, there come our heavenly twins,” cried -Emma, who had returned from the store with an -armful of packages.</p> - -<p>Jim and Sam had just appeared dragging a pair -of unwilling mules, behind which, saddled and -bridled, trailed two long-haired mustangs. The -two men were alternately arguing and berating -each other and threatening the mules.</p> - -<p>“What kind of an outfit is this?” wondered -Emma, her merry eyes regarding the scene.</p> - -<p>“You may search me,” was Hippy’s laughing -reply. “Here come the other girls. Good -gracious! Where do they expect to stow all that -stuff? Jim-Sam, pull up here and sling your -packs. Is that as fast as those mules can travel? -If so you had better leave them at home.”</p> - -<p>The guides were too busy arguing to give heed -to Hippy’s words, but when they reached the -station platform they took hold of the work with -surprising alacrity and began rolling packs with -skillful hands.</p> - -<p>“What are they?” asked Emma, pointing to -the lazy mules.</p> - -<p>“Jest mules,” answered Jim without looking -up, and Sam echoed his statement. “Don’t have -to have no names. When my long-haired cayuse -does somethin’ he oughtn’t, Sam gives him er -kick, an’ when Sam’s critter cuts up capers I give -his’n the boot.”</p> - -<p>“No names?” wondered Emma. “Yes, but -what do you call them when you want them to -come to you?”</p> - -<p>“Missie, what we calls ’em sometimes ain’t -sootable fer a young woman to hear,” grinned -Jim.</p> - -<p>“Then kindly see that you do not call them,” -retorted Emma, turning away.</p> - -<p>The Overlanders observed that their guides -now wore heavy revolvers and that the saddle-boot -of each held a rifle, which aroused apprehension -in the minds of at least two of the -girls. Jim-Sam, however, assured them that the -Coso Valley and the mountain ranges on either -side of it were as peaceful as “Sunday meetin’,” -and, further, that “nothin’” ever happened -there. Something did threaten to happen, -though, when it came to lashing the packs to the -mules, and Jim-Sam instantly became involved -in a violent argument as to how the packs should -be “thrown,” the two men in their anger shaking -belligerent fists under each other’s nose until they -nearly came to blows.</p> - -<p>“If I had a disposition like your’n I’d go shoot -myself,” raged Jim.</p> - -<p>“If I was a cantankerous cuss like you I’d go -live with the coyotes where I could snarl all day -an’ bark all night. Git outer my way afore I -soak ye in the jaw!” threatened Sam.</p> - -<p>“That’s right, Sam. Hit him!” urged Stacy -Brown. “He isn’t any good.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, he is, too! Don’t ye say nothin’ agin my -pardner. I ain’t standin’ fer nothin’ like that.”</p> - -<p>“Here, here!” interrupted Tom Gray. “Stacy, -let these men alone and pack your pony. Jim-Sam, -you will stop your quarreling and do your -work or we may change our minds about taking -you along.”</p> - -<p>“You understand, we wish to head for the -Bindloss ranch—the Circle O Ranch, I believe -they call it. We do not know Bindloss, but we -propose to get acquainted with him.” Hippy -grinned as he said it.</p> - -<p>“This really promises to be a peaceful journey,” -observed Miss Briggs solemnly, whereat the Overland -girls gave way to the merriment that for -some moments they had been restraining, then -preparations for the start were resumed with -renewed speed and vigor.</p> - -<p>Departure for the Circle O was made within an -hour. The Circle O was a ranch where a friend -of Lieutenant Hippy Wingate had put up while -on a hunting trip in the mountains some time -before, and it was because of what his friend had -told him of Old Joe Bindloss and his ranch that -Hippy decided to take in the Circle O on their -summer’s ride.</p> - -<p>The start was accomplished to the accompaniment -of shouts and yells from Jim-Sam to get -the mules started and headed in the right direction -as well as to keep them going. It was a task -that proved too much for the old guides, who, -finally, after getting well out in the valley, rode -on ahead with the Overlanders. The pack-mules, -finding themselves being left behind, increased -their pace and soon caught up with the outfit.</p> - -<p>“That’s the way with mules. Contrary critters -jest like some fellers I know of,” volunteered Jim, -giving Sam a withering glance. “If ye wants ’em -to go back’ards jest try to drive ’em for’ards.”</p> - -<p>“An’ then agin, some fellers is so gosh darn -stubborn they won’t go either way when ye tells -’em to go t’other,” retorted Sam. “Folks, git -yer appetites workin’ fer we’ll soon be eatin’.”</p> - -<p>Luncheon that first day was taken sitting on -the sand by a water hole, and was a brief affair, -for Jim-Sam had a camping place in mind, to -reach which meant a long, hard ride. It was -some time after nightfall when they arrived there, -and still later when the lazy mules dragged themselves -in, uttering long-drawn brays of satisfaction -or dissatisfaction or whatever it might be. -The animals were quickly relieved of their packs -and turned loose to roll and feed on the desert -sage through the night. All day long Jim-Sam -had argued and quarreled, and by the time they -made camp they had reached a point where they -no longer spoke to each other.</p> - -<p>“What are we going to do with them?” -wondered Tom Gray frowningly.</p> - -<p>“Keep them, of course,” answered Grace. -“Tom, they are a real treat, but if Stacy and -Emma do not stop stirring them up we may have -to send for the sheriff of the county. Just look -at them now,” she added laughingly.</p> - -<p>Jim and Sam were sitting back to back unrolling -packs, each man muttering to himself his -opinion of the other. Later in the evening the -Overlanders got them talking and drew the guides -out. It developed that the pair had been prospectors -nearly all their lives; that they had loved -and fought each other for so many years that they -had lost count of them, and when their halting -story had finally been finished, the Overland -Riders looked upon Jim-Sam with new appreciation. -Emma Dean characterized them as a pair -of “beloved vagabonds.”</p> - -<p>This having been their first day in the saddle -since the previous season, the Overlanders were -saddle-weary, and some of them were sore and -lame. Miss Briggs hobbled about painfully and -complainingly, and Nora Wingate lay by the little -campfire rolled in her blanket, the picture of woe. -Emma and Grace, however, appeared not to be -suffering the slightest degree of discomfort.</p> - -<p>Jim cooked the supper, and it was a good one, -for he made biscuits and served them hot, soaked -in bacon gravy, a luxury to which the Riders had -not been accustomed. They made the most of -their opportunity, and Stacy Brown’s appetite, -as usual, was not fully satisfied until some time -after his companions had finished supper. Then -all hands gathered about the fire for a chat.</p> - -<p>“Samuel, do you ever dream?” questioned -Emma after thoughtfully regarding the old guide -for some moments.</p> - -<p>“Sure I do, Missie. I dreamed last night -that that critter—that ornery mule o’ Jim’s—kicked -the everlasting daylight out o’ me,” -growled Sam.</p> - -<p>“Oh, you don’t mean it? That was fine,” -glowed Emma.</p> - -<p>“Eh?” Sam’s whiskers stood out belligerently. -The old guide’s whiskers could express varying -shades of emotion.</p> - -<p>“Your dream means that you are going to have -good luck—the best ever. Perhaps you are -about to discover a gold mine or a hole in the -ground where one has been, or something like -that,” bubbled Emma.</p> - -<p>“Wrong up here again,” muttered Stacy -Brown, significantly tapping his head with a -finger.</p> - -<p>“I should say that Emma has read one of those -five-cent dream books,” suggested Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>“It is my opinion that she has been fitting herself -for a lunatic seminary—cemeter—sanitarium,” -corrected Stacy.</p> - -<p>“Tell us about it,” urged Grace, smiling over -at Miss Dean.</p> - -<p>“I will if you folks won’t laugh at me. I am -a student of Professor Freud’s new science of -dreams,” announced Emma with dignity. “The -professor has demonstrated beyond question that -there is an imponderable quality within us—”</p> - -<p>“You mean hot biscuit and gravy,” interjected -Hippy Wingate. “Since I overate this -evening I surely have an imponderable quality in -my midst,” he added amid much laughter.</p> - -<p>Emma elevated a disdainful chin.</p> - -<p>“I see nothing funny in a scientific discussion,” -she retorted. “As I was about to say when so -rudely interrupted, Professor Freud has conclusively -proved that every dream has its meaning—that -the imponderable quality in the subconscious -mind never ceases to work; that it even works -when we sleep, and—”</p> - -<p>“Old Subconscious ought to join a union,” suggested -Stacy.</p> - -<p>“And that, if we will but learn a few simple -rules, we shall be able to interpret those dreams -and be better able to avoid many perils as well as -to take advantage of real opportunities. Always -let the imponderable quality have its way,” urged -Emma.</p> - -<p>Jim-Sam’s whiskers drooped, and the Overlanders -repressed their laughter.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps you yourself might dream out the -solution of a mystery for us,” suggested Grace. -“I mean as to the identity and purpose of the -horseman who has been riding a parallel course -with us all day, evidently keeping us under -observation.”</p> - -<p>The guides gave her a quick, keen look.</p> - -<p>“Miss, I reckon as ye ain’t no tenderfoot,” -observed Sam dryly.</p> - -<p>“A man following us?” cried Nora. “It has -come already! I knew it would. I knew that -trouble would follow this outfit, just as it has -done from the moment we set out over the Old -Apache Trail right on down until we ended our -vacation in the Black Hills last summer.”</p> - -<p>Others of the party had observed the solitary -horseman, but had attached no particular significance -to his traveling in the same direction that -they were following.</p> - -<p>“Watching us, do you think?” wondered -Emma.</p> - -<p>“What about him, Jim-Sam?” demanded Tom -Gray.</p> - -<p>“Wal, I reckons mebby he is the feller that -was hangin’ ’round when ye folks was unloadin’ -at Carrago. He was a-snoopin’, an’ I don’t -reckon as he was doin’ it fer no good. I didn’t -like the look of him nohow,” growled Jim.</p> - -<p>“Ye ain’t dreamed nothin’ ’bout that, has ye, -Miss Dean?” asked Sam.</p> - -<p>“No. Not yet. However, in case it means -trouble for us either I or one of the others will -get a reaction in advance and—”</p> - -<p>“Ha, ha!” laughed Hippy. “A reaction in advance! -That surely is a new one. Were Freud -to hear that he himself surely would have a bad -attack of nightmare.”</p> - -<p>“I mean that one of us will feel that imponderable -quality stirring within us,” explained Emma, -her color rising. “We shall know. No harm -can come to us without our being warned in -advance. I—”</p> - -<p>A volley of revolver shots punctuated the silence -of the desert night—shots close at hand, accompanied -by yells, hoots and howls, and the thudding -of many unshod hoofs.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chII' title='II: ON THE ROAD TO TROUBLE'> -<span>CHAPTER II</span><br /> -<span>ON THE ROAD TO TROUBLE</span> -</h2> - -<p>“Merciful heaven! What is that?” -cried Nora Wingate, the color rushing -to her cheeks, then instantly -receding, leaving them blanched with fear.</p> - -<p>The Overland Riders were, for the moment, too -startled to move, and it was Jim and Sam who -first sprang to their feet.</p> - -<p>“Look out! They aire comin’!” warned Sam.</p> - -<p>The girls ran for the protection of their tents, -with the exception of Emma Dean, who appeared -to be too frightened to stir. Tom and Hippy -were on their feet a second or so behind Jim-Sam, -each with a hand on his revolver holster, while -Stacy had disappeared on the dark side of his -tent. Stacy Brown always believed in safety first, -and he seldom lost many seconds in applying that -principle.</p> - -<p>All this occurred within the space of a few -seconds, during which the shooting and the shouting -had ceased, but the hoof-beats of ponies -sounded much nearer to the camp. Then the -Overlanders saw them. Wild riders they were, -shadowy figures in the night, keeping just beyond -the flickering rays shed by the campfire, but -circling the camp, racing their mustangs. Once -more their shrill penetrating yells split the silence, -followed by a rattling fire of revolver shots.</p> - -<p>“They’re shootin’ into the air. They don’t -mean no harm. Keep steady!” urged Jim.</p> - -<p>“Shoo them off, Jim-Sam! Somebody will be -shooting lower than that if this keeps on for -many minutes,” warned Hippy Wingate.</p> - -<p>“Git out o’ this, ye galoots!” yelled Sam as -one rider, bolder than the others, drove his pony -right through the camp. The animal hurdled the -campfire and ran between two of the Overland -tents. Yells from his companions greeted the -achievement.</p> - -<p>The night rider repeated the performance, but -this time Jim-Sam fired at the same instant, one -bullet snipping off the rider’s hat, the other fanning -the hind hoofs of the pony.</p> - -<p>“Now you’ve done it, you poor, crazy coyote!” -roared Sam.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t. You did it yourself. I fanned the -critter’s feet,” retorted Jim. “Look out, they’re -comin’ fer keeps this time!”</p> - -<p>They were.</p> - -<p>The wild night riders had circled out on the -desert until joined by the man who had twice -ridden through the Overland camp, then they -drove their ponies straight at the camp, uttering -thrilling yells and shooting into the air. They -were upon the camp before the Overland Riders -fully realized what their attackers were doing. -The man in the lead rode down the little tent -beside which Stacy Brown was in hiding, and -Stacy, who had armed himself with a tent stake, -hurled it at the fellow as he passed. The stake -reached its mark—the neck of the rider—and -the man sagged in his saddle as the pony rushed -on into the darkness.</p> - -<p>“I hit him!” yelled Stacy.</p> - -<p>The rest of the riders went through with a rush.</p> - -<p>“Do that agin’ an’ I’ll wing ye!” howled Sam.</p> - -<p>The attackers did it again. The tents no longer -being a safe refuge, the girls ran out and stood -by the campfire so that the night riders might -see and avoid them. Emma stood a few yards -from them, where she had been standing since -the excitement began. This time the riders rode -down the rest of the tents, with weapons still -shooting into the air.</p> - -<p>Sam had returned his revolver to its holster, -but a nervous hand trembled on the butt of the -weapon—trembled not because of any fear of -its owner, but because all the nervous tension of a -trained gunman was centered in it. The riders -were growing wilder with each passing second, -and Sam was growing proportionately calmer, -with shoulders slouched forward and whiskers -standing out at a sharper angle. It was plain -that nothing short of shooting with intent to -wound or kill could stay the orgy of those wild -night riders and their mustangs whose flashing -heels were a peril to every member of the Overland -party. Both Jim and Sam, knowing that -aggressive action on their part would bring down -the wrath of the riders, hesitated.</p> - -<p>There came a moment, however, when restraint -was no longer possible. The horsemen had -cleared the camp and were turning for another -sweep over it when a rider on a dust-covered pony -came galloping into the light of the campfire.</p> - -<p>“Whoo-pee!” he howled, his lariat in a great -loop spinning over his head.</p> - -<p>“Look out!” roared Jim warningly, for he saw -where the rope was going to drop.</p> - -<p>His warning failed of its purpose. The lariat -came down in a flash, and the great loop, holding -its form in a perfect circle, dropped neatly over -the head of Emma Dean.</p> - -<p>At first Emma did not realize what had happened, -but as the coil suddenly tightened about -her waist she uttered a scream. Her feet left -their footing and Emma measured her length on -the ground, the coil gripping her tighter and -tighter, though the roper had checked the speed of -his mustang and was letting the rope slip slowly -through his hands.</p> - -<p>Sam’s hand was trembling on the butt of his -revolver more agitated than before. The trembling -ceased suddenly, and there followed a twitch -of the wrist, a flash, and a sharp report. The -roper uttered a yell and let go of his lariat. Sam’s -shot had shattered his wrist.</p> - -<p>Hippy sprang to Emma and freed her of the -lariat.</p> - -<p>“Git down!” yelled Sam. “The varmits is -goin’ to shoot!”</p> - -<p>The “varmits” shot lower this time, but every -member of the Overland party had taken to the -shadows and thrown themselves down, as the -rider who had roped Emma dashed out holding -his wounded wrist, yelling to his companions to -take it out of the man who had shot him.</p> - -<p>By this time Tom and Hippy had gotten their -rifles and were watching and waiting, fully expecting -further and more serious trouble. It came -in the shape of another charge of the night -riders. This time their yells were savage. The -new note in them told the Overlanders what was -coming.</p> - -<p>“Let ’em have it, fellers!” urged Jim.</p> - -<p>“Girls, keep down!” called Grace Harlowe, as -Emma Dean once more stood up. “Isn’t once -enough for you?”</p> - -<p>Emma permitted herself to sink to the ground, -just in time to avoid a rattling fire of revolver -shots from the raiders.</p> - -<p>At this juncture, Jim and Sam let go with -their heavy revolvers, followed a few seconds later -by the crash of the two Overland rifles. That -some of their bullets had taken effect the Overlanders -knew by the angry yells of their attackers. -A rider’s pony went down on its nose at the very -edge of the camp and its rider plunged forward -to the ground, whereupon the pony staggered to -its feet and limped away, but the rider lay where -he had fallen.</p> - -<p>“Jim-Sam, don’t kill ’em!” begged Tom Gray. -“Drive ’em off, that’s all.”</p> - -<p>The fellow’s companions, leaning from saddles, -dragged the wounded man away, whence he was -flung on a mustang and carried off, but how badly -the fellow was hurt the Overlanders had no means -of knowing. They kept on shooting just the same, -backed up now by the weapons of Jim-Sam, and -it took but a few shots from the heavy weapons -to drive the raiders away.</p> - -<p>“Now, ye infernal idiot! Do ye reckon ye’ve -done enough fer one night?” demanded Jim -sarcastically.</p> - -<p>“I reckon I done too much when I saved yer -miserable hide from them raiders,” flung back -Sam. “Anybody git hurt?”</p> - -<p>“I believe that I am the only casualty, but it -was only my feelings that were hurt by the fall -that my pride got,” replied Emma. “This is -indeed a peaceful valley, isn’t it, Sam? Nothing -ever happens here. Oh, no!”</p> - -<p>Suppressed chuckles greeted Emma’s retort, but -Jim and Sam had already run out of camp to -make certain that the raiders had really gone -away. The guides found that they had departed, -but fearing that the attackers might return, they -decided to watch the camp for the rest of the -night.</p> - -<p>The Overland Riders, acting upon the suggestion -of Sam, were putting out the fire and beginning -to get the camp in condition for sleeping, -when Stacy Brown strolled into the scene. He -had not been seen since the attack began.</p> - -<p>“My tent is all down and torn,” he complained.</p> - -<p>“So are others,” reminded Nora. “What shall -we do about it?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing until daylight,” answered Tom -briefly.</p> - -<p>“I suppose I am responsible for driving those -ruffians away,” boasted the fat boy. “I hit that -fellow an awful wallop with a tent stake when -he went past me, and that made the rest of the -gang more careful. Think of it! I didn’t have to -fire a shot to do it, either!”</p> - -<p>“Yes. You did it all, little man. But if you -love us, never again dream that you are the King -of England or the Emperor of the Cannibal -Islands. I read in that dream of yours that something -terrible was going to happen. Oh, Sam! -That was a wonderful shot of yours,” she complimented -glowingly, turning to the guide as he -stalked in, combing his whiskers with his hand. -“It was perfectly adorable of you to shoot that -fellow after he had roped me. And such a shot! -Did you mean to hit him in the wrist or did you -shoot at the pony’s feet?” questioned Emma innocently.</p> - -<p>Sam’s whiskers bristled.</p> - -<p>“I reckon I hit what I shot at,” he answered -briefly.</p> - -<p>“How wonderful! I wish I could shoot like -that.” She tapped his holster, and smiled up into -the weatherbeaten face.</p> - -<p>“You kin. I’ll larn ye, Missie. You’ve got -the feel of a gun in yer make-up. We’ll talk -about it later on.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” agreed Tom Gray. “Other matters are -of more importance at the moment. What have -you to say about the attack on us? What does -it mean?”</p> - -<p>“I reckon they aire a lot of wild cowboys that -wanted to have some fun with us,” drawled Sam.</p> - -<p>“No. I don’t agree with you,” spoke up Grace. -“They were too savage for men bent on having -fun with a party of campers. I have been -wondering if the mysterious horseman, that kept -abreast of us all day, had anything to do with -the raid?”</p> - -<p>“Cowboys on a spree,” persisted Sam.</p> - -<p>“Ain’t no such thing,” interjected Jim, coming -in in time to hear his partner’s assertion. “Any -galoot with a spoonful o’ brains under his hair -would know better ’n that. Them’s wild horse -hunters!”</p> - -<p>“Huh! Know it all, don’t ye?” leered Sam.</p> - -<p>“Have to, bein’ as I’m hitched up with you.”</p> - -<p>The laughter of the Overlanders put an end to -the argument of the two guides, following which -preparations for the night were resumed. It was -decided not to try to mend the tents until daylight, -which meant that some of the party must -sleep on the ground in the open. J. Elfreda Briggs -objected loudly.</p> - -<p>“There are rattlesnakes here! I saw one today. -What if one should crawl into my blanket in the -night? I know I should die of fright.”</p> - -<p>“Silly!” rebuked Emma. “If such a thing -should occur, I’ll tell you what to do. Don’t move -a muscle nor make a sound, but call for Sam, and -he will shoot the head off the reptile without so -much as disturbing your rest.”</p> - -<p>“Emma Dean, your logic is overwhelming. As -a lawyer I fully appreciate it, and I thank you -for the suggestions. Without moving and without -speaking, I will yell for Sam and he will fan -my cheek with a bullet, and during it all I shall -slumber on as peacefully as a babe in its cradle. -Lovely!”</p> - -<p>“Never mind the snakes. Turn in!” ordered -Hippy.</p> - -<p>An hour later the camp was asleep and just -outside of it prowled Jim and Sam, halting to -growl at each other when they met on their -rounds. Only once during the night was the quiet -disturbed. About two o’clock in the morning -Jim-Sam heard a body of horsemen moving. It -was but a faint thudding that was borne to their -ears, and after listening for some time they heard -the hoof-beats die away in the distance.</p> - -<p>“Glad we ain’t got to do no more shootin’,” -observed Sam. “Might wake up the gals and -that shore would be too bad. Say, Jim, that -little Missie Dean, with the freckled face like a -speckled trout, shore’s got spunk.”</p> - -<p>“A-huh! Mebby she’ll lend ye some of it,” -retorted Jim.</p> - -<p>“Shet up!” growled Sam, and strode away for -another round of the camp.</p> - -<p>A pack of coyotes at this juncture barked in -a yelping chorus, and the Overlanders heard them -but only faintly, for it was now a familiar sound -to them after their many nights in the wilder -places of their native land.</p> - -<p>Morning dawned bright and beautiful. The -day promised to be warm, and, as Elfreda Briggs -opened her eyes, her first thought was of snakes; -and her next, the sweet, pungent, penetrating -fragrance of sage which lay heavy on the morning -air. A cautious investigation showed that no -serpent had taken refuge in her blanket, whereat -Elfreda Briggs heaved a deep sigh of relief.</p> - -<p>Sam stood a short distance from her, whiskers -standing out, shading his eyes with a hand as he -gazed over the surrounding country. He stood -straight like an Indian, and Elfreda found herself -studying this strange old man of the hills and -the desert—studying him with a new interest. -He was rather above medium height with the -small hips of a rider. His eyes were faintly gray, -and his was the lean, strong face of the man of -the open, a face that was lined with wrinkles, -and as he gazed there was a look of nobility about -it that held her fascinated.</p> - -<p>The guide turned suddenly and saw her. He -smiled and passed a hand over his whiskers.</p> - -<p>“What is it, Sam?” questioned Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“Mornin’! Nothin’ but a little cloud o’ dust. -Might have been made by a hoss or a little wind pocket.”</p> - -<p>The Overlanders now began to sit up and rub -their eyes.</p> - -<p>“Breakfast is nigh ready. That no ’count -pard o’ mine is fryin’ the bacon an’ I reckon he’s -boiled the coffee till it ain’t fit to feed to coyotes,” -observed Sam.</p> - -<p>“Do coyotes drink coffee?” questioned Emma, -blinking in the strong morning light.</p> - -<p>“I reckon they takes somethin’ like that to -keep ’em awake nights,” answered Sam, whereat -the Overlanders laughed and began throwing off -their blankets, all now fully awake.</p> - -<p>The camp looked to be a wreck, but a hurried -examination revealed that it was not as bad as -it looked. There were rents in the flattened tents -that would call for the work of the women to -repair, and some of the packs had been trampled -on by the raiding ponies.</p> - -<p>It was decided to put tents and equipment -in condition before starting out, and this took -nearly half of the forenoon, so the start was not -made until after luncheon.</p> - -<p>Not a human being had been seen all that -morning, nothing of a disturbing nature had -occurred except the dust cloud that Sam had -discovered. A few hours after they set out, however, -a horseman was discovered in the far distance, -sitting motionless in his saddle. He did -not move until the Overland party had proceeded -some two miles, whereupon he started along on a -parallel course.</p> - -<p>“It is our mysterious horseman, I am positive,” -announced Grace, after a long look through her -binoculars.</p> - -<p>At Hippy’s suggestion the party changed their -course and headed directly for the course that the -stranger was following. Shortly after that he -too changed his course. Several similar experiments -were made by the Overlanders, and always -with the same result. It became plain to them -that the mysterious horseman was keeping them -under observation, but for what reason not even -Jim-Sam seemed to be able to guess.</p> - -<p>These deviations had carried the Overlanders -some distance out of their way, and to reach -their proposed camping place for that night would -necessitate traveling after dark, so the guides -decided to camp at the nearest water hole, which -proved to be located in the foothills. There the -foliage was greener and fresher, and bunches of -grass made fine grazing for the ponies.</p> - -<p>Supper was an enjoyable affair that evening, -especially so because Jim and Sam enlivened the -occasion by wrangling over the way that Jim had -cooked the beans for their mess. Jim, finally -becoming too enraged to eat, got up and stalked -away, whereupon Sam gravely ate his own portion, -and then finished all that Jim had left.</p> - -<p>The party had barely finished supper when the -familiar hoof-beats of a rapidly riding party of -horsemen were heard. The Overlanders were on -their feet in an instant, each member of the party -hurriedly throwing on his holster, then looking -to Jim-Sam for orders.</p> - -<p>“I reckon nobody ain’t goin’ to do no shootin’ -till I’ve had a first crack at the cayuses,” ordered -Sam.</p> - -<p>The Overland Riders tensed their muscles and -their nerves for what they believed was to be a -battle in earnest.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chIII' title='III: AN INVITATION TO MOVE'> -<span>CHAPTER III</span><br /> -<span>AN INVITATION TO MOVE</span> -</h2> - -<p>“They’ve stopped!” breathed Grace.</p> - -<p>“One of ’em hain’t,” answered -Jim. “He’s comin’ on.”</p> - -<p>“Jim-Sam, you sit tight, both of you. I’ll -talk with him,” said Hippy, stepping forward -a little to get the light of the campfire at his -back.</p> - -<p>A man on a gray bronco rode out of the -shadows at a slow trot, and pulled up a few yards -from the camp where he sat surveying the outfit. -No one spoke, but the Overlanders were ready -for any hostile move.</p> - -<p>After a few seconds the horseman slipped from -his saddle, tossed the bridle-rein over the pommel, -and clanked towards the Overlanders. Hippy -stepped forward to meet him. The newcomer -was short and swarthy. He wore a Mexican -sombrero, fancifully decorated; a gun swung at -his hip and a row of brass-tipped cartridges -showed in his belt. Black, searching eyes swept -from one to another of the Overland Riders, -finally returning to Hippy Wingate and resting on -him with a challenge in their depths.</p> - -<p>“Well! Now that you have given us the once-over, -what’s the big idea?” demanded Hippy.</p> - -<p>“Who be you?” snapped the horseman.</p> - -<p>“I might ask the same question.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t git funny. It ain’t healthy,” warned -the fellow.</p> - -<p>“We are here for reasons best known to ourselves, -which can be of no interest to you. Are -you one of the party that attacked us last night?”</p> - -<p>“No, I don’t know nothin’ ’bout that.”</p> - -<p>“Then what do you want here?”</p> - -<p>“To tell you to git out! You ain’t got no -business here. Pack up an’ mush out o’ this, an’ -if you don’t do it fast enough I’ve got boys that’ll -help you along.”</p> - -<p>Jim-Sam were getting nervous, but they were -obeying orders. Tom Gray stepped forward and -asked the reason for the stranger’s demand.</p> - -<p>“These heah is grazin’ grounds fer stock, and -the man that owns them don’t ’low no others on -his land. Yer stock is eatin’ up the grass that -belongs to his cattle, so you’ll have to hike out -of this heah valley, and do it quick.”</p> - -<p>“Stranger! Who is this feller that owns this -range?” drawled Sam.</p> - -<p>“Hornby! Malcolm Hornby of the ‘Double -Q’ ranch,” was the prompt reply.</p> - -<p>“Stranger, I ain’t particular ’bout stirrin’ up -trouble, bein’ an old man and a little rheumatic -in the joints, an’ ’specially in the trigger finger, -but what would ye say if I said ye was a liar?” -asked Sam half humorously, though the expression -in his eyes was not in harmony with his tone.</p> - -<p>“I reckon I’d kill ye whar ye stand!” shot -back the fellow, flushing hotly under his tan.</p> - -<p>“So?” nodded the guide.</p> - -<p>“Is what this man says the truth?” demanded -Tom Gray, turning to Sam.</p> - -<p>“This heah land don’t b’long to Hornby. -Mebby he grazes his stock heah, but this grass -don’t b’long to nobody. We got as much right to -graze our stock heah as he has, an’ that’s all that’s -to say ’bout it.”</p> - -<p>“You have your answer, Mr. Man. I don’t -know your game, but it is my opinion that you -are not only what this gentleman has called you, -but that you are bad medicine as well,” declared -Tom Gray, looking the caller squarely in the eyes.</p> - -<p>“Meanin’ that I’m a liar?”</p> - -<p>“I reckon that’s about the size of it.”</p> - -<p>“Get out of here!” commanded Hippy sharply. -“We can take care of ourselves.”</p> - -<p>The stranger’s hand flew to his holster, but -there the hand paused.</p> - -<p>“Easy thar! Don’t draw,” warned Sam whose -own right hand hovered near his weapon. “It -ain’t safe. You might hurt somebody, or mebby -I might hurt you, an’ that wouldn’t do nohow -before these young women who don’t like to see -a feller git hurt. But if you’ve got to draw, pint -your gun this way an’ mebby I ain’t too old or -my rheumatiz ain’t too crinkly so that I can’t -dodge yer bullet.”</p> - -<p>The stranger’s hand closed over the butt of his -revolver and half drew the weapon from its -holster. It drew no further, for the fellow suddenly -found himself facing Sam’s weapon, which -had been drawn with a speed that must have been -a revelation to him, because his face reflected -amazement, as well as rage.</p> - -<p>“If ye must shoot that gun off, take my advice -an’ come ’round in the daytime when ye can see -better, an’ we’ll fit it out man to man. But git! -This ain’t no company fer a feller like you who -can’t talk without a gun in his hand. Be ye -goin’?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but I’ll come back and you’ll be the one -to git,” the fellow flung at him, turning abruptly -on his heel.</p> - -<p>“Hol’ on a minute thar!” commanded the -guide. “Don’t try to start nothin’ at all heah. -These friends of mine an’ these fine young women -has seen yer kind before an’ they’d as lief shoot -as not. Go back to Hornby, if he sent ye, an’ -tell him to come out hisself if he is so tarnation -’fraid we’ll spile this grass. Jest a word more. -We’ll watch ye an’ if ye try any tricks we’ll shoot. -That’s all I’ve got to say to ye.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll hear from me!” shouted the departing -caller as he flung himself into his saddle.</p> - -<p>“I hear ye now, but yer voice sounds like as if -ye was afraid of somethin’,” drawled Sam.</p> - -<p>The fellow rode away without another word.</p> - -<p>“Follow him, Sam!” urged Grace. “We don’t -know but they may rush us, just as the raiders -did last night,” warned Grace.</p> - -<p>“Leave it to Jim. He’s out thar an’ Jim kin -trail a canary bird without the bird ever knowin’ -it. Jim’ll give us the word if them fellers try any -of their fancy tricks.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Samuel, why didn’t you shoot while you -had an excuse for doing so?” begged Emma.</p> - -<p>The Overlanders laughed. They knew Emma -and they did not take her suggestion seriously.</p> - -<p>Half an hour later, during which time the -Overland Riders had remained quietly alert, Jim -came stalking in, stroking his whiskers.</p> - -<p>“Have they gone?” questioned the Overlanders -in chorus.</p> - -<p>“I reckon they knowed what was good for ’em, -so they skedaddled,” replied Jim.</p> - -<p>“Which way an’ whar did they go?” demanded -Sam.</p> - -<p>“West! How do I know whar they went?”</p> - -<p>“If you was half a man you would know. You -ain’t no more ’count, an’ not half so much use, -as that tarnation mule that carries yer pack. But -it ain’t your fault, an’ I reckon I oughter not set -so much store by you. A feller can’t be blamed -much because he was borned with half a teaspoonful -of brains in his haid,” raged Sam.</p> - -<p>“I s’pose ye think you an’ that mule of yourn -has all the brains in this heah outfit. Wal, I -reckon you’re part right ’cause you an’ the mule -has got some brains, but when the Lord made ye -he got you two mixed. He thought you was the -mule, so he give you the mule’s brains an’ the -mule got yourn. I reckon—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, shet up, will ye?” snarled Sam savagely, -tugging viciously at his whiskers, while a gale of -laughter swept over the Overland Riders. Jim -and Sam did not speak to each other again that -night, but glared as they met in their prowling -about in ceaseless vigil of the camp.</p> - -<p>The next morning found the guides still deadly -enemies, but after breakfast Emma cleared the -clouds away by making a disparaging remark -about Jim to Sam, whereupon Sam promptly came -to the defense of his partner, and Jim heard it.</p> - -<p>A late start was made, the guides having informed -their charges that they were only a few -hours’ ride from Old Joe Bindloss’s “Circle O” -ranch. An hour after the start they again -discovered what they believed to be their mysterious -horseman, but he disappeared shortly after -luncheon and was seen no more, and the Overland -Riders, making a sharp turn to the right, now -headed towards the purple haze behind which lay -the foothills and the mountains of the Coso range, -where adventure awaited them.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chIV' title='IV: AT THE “CIRCLE O” RANCH'> -<span>CHAPTER IV</span><br /> -<span>AT THE “CIRCLE O” RANCH</span> -</h2> - -<p>Camp was pitched in the foothills about -four o’clock that afternoon. Grazing -lands stretched away parallel with the -mountain range as far as the eye could see, and -then were swallowed up in that everlasting purple -haze.</p> - -<p>Farther along the valley in the opposite direction -they could make out the buildings of the -Bindloss ranch, to which Sam said they would ride -in the morning, as Hippy Wingate wished to -introduce himself to the owner.</p> - -<p>Cattle were grazing all along the foothills, -hundreds of them, and those close at hand were -observed to have the brand of the “Circle O” -ranch. They were part of the great herd belonging -to Old Joe Bindloss, a rich rancher, a -hard man, according to Sam, but respected as a -just one.</p> - -<p>Cowboys riding in to the ranch-house for supper -gazed curiously at the outfit that was making -camp, for it was seldom that anything of the -sort was seen in the Coso Valley. Arriving at -their headquarters the cowboys reported what -they had seen. Shortly after supper the Overland -Riders were again disturbed, and half a dozen -cowboys rode up in a cloud of dust, sweeping off -their hats as they pulled down their mustangs -at the very edge of the camp. Their attitude was -stern, but not unfriendly, and the Overlanders -surmised that they were from the “Circle O” -ranch, which they soon learned was the fact.</p> - -<p>“The Old Man wants to know who you be and -what you are doin’ heah,” announced the spokesman. -“He ’lows thet he don’t like no strangers -foolin’ ’round whar the stock is, and he says it’ll -please him if you move on.”</p> - -<p>“Say! This is a hospitable country, isn’t it?” -cried Stacy Brown. “Since I have been here, -about all I have heard is, ‘Get out or get shot -up!’ Funny thing about it, though, is that we -haven’t ‘got’ and we haven’t been ‘shot up.’”</p> - -<p>“Be quiet, Stacy!” admonished Grace.</p> - -<p>“Please go back and tell Mr. Bindloss that it -is Lieutenant Hippy Wingate, and his friends -from the east. Lieutenant Wingate is a friend -of Captain Gordon who was out here some time -ago on a hunting trip. Say to Mr. Bindloss that -if he objects to our camping here, we will go on -up into the range and make camp there,” answered -Hippy.</p> - -<p>“Wal, the Old Man reckoned thet if ye didn’t -go we was to fetch ye back whether ye wanted to -come or not, but seein’ as thar’s ladies heah mebby -we won’t have to take only the men,” answered -the spokesman doubtfully.</p> - -<p>“Listen, Buddy! You go back and tell the -Old Man to come and fetch us himself if he wants -to see us. Tell him Lieutenant Wingate said so,” -directed Hippy laughingly.</p> - -<p>The cowboys hesitated, surveyed the Overland -outfit keenly, then, whirling their ponies, dashed -away towards the “Circle O” ranch.</p> - -<p>“Another one invites us to get out,” murmured -Emma. “How exciting!”</p> - -<p>An hour later a bellowing “halloo” informed -the Overland Riders that they were about to receive -another caller, and they surmised who it -was. The hail was answered in kind, then a -horseman trotted in and hopped off. He was a -big, powerful-looking man, his face hard, probably -from exposure, but the cold gray eyes now held -a sparkle that was reassuring.</p> - -<p>“I’m Joe Bindloss. Where’s the duffer who -dared me to come after him?”</p> - -<p>“I’m the duffer,” answered Hippy, stepping -forward.</p> - -<p>“Shake!” rumbled Old Joe Bindloss. “Any -friend of Cap’n Gordon is a friend of mine. -We’ve had to be kinder careful out here lately -because there’s been some rustling done and the -word has been passed that there’s a big gang—a -regular gang of thieves, that’s working this -section under all sorts of disguises.”</p> - -<p>“Meet <i>our</i> gang, Mr. Bindloss; every one a -rustler, but not the kind you are looking for,” -said Hippy laughingly. He then introduced the -rancher to the members of the Overland party, -and lastly to the guides. Bindloss peered at Sam.</p> - -<p>“Wal, strike me dead if it ain’t Sam Conifer!” -shouted the rancher, extending a mighty paw to -Sam and another to Jim. “Do you folks savvy -this feller you’ve got here? You better savvy -him if you know what’s good for you. Sam, if -you want to do the ‘Circle O’ a great big favor -you just get wise to the feller that’s stealing stock, -but give him a chance to draw so you can plug -him proper. Come on up to the ranch-house.”</p> - -<p>Hippy said they had intended to do so in the -morning, and then asked the rancher if he knew -a man named Hornby. Bindloss’s face darkened -and a heavy scowl wrinkled his forehead.</p> - -<p>“I reckon I do. He and I don’t hook up nohow, -but he’s got a daughter that I reckon I wish was -mine. Judy is a peach and you ought to know -her. Why do you ask me about Mal Hornby?”</p> - -<p>Tom Gray explained that they had been -ordered to leave the grazing grounds on the other -side of the valley, and that the demand had been -made in Hornby’s name. He also told Bindloss -about the raid of the night before.</p> - -<p>“A-huh! Hornby ain’t got no call to tell you -to get out. A Mexican feller, you say? Probably -one of the half-breeds that you’ll find all over the -ranges, and a bad lot they are, too. I don’t -reckon Hornby had to do with that.”</p> - -<p>“Who do you think the raiders were?” questioned -Grace.</p> - -<p>“How do I know? I reckon, though, that -mebby they were sent after you. Somebody don’t -want you folks hangin’ ’round these diggin’s, but -I reckon that Sam Conifer can take care of them. -Eh, Sam?”</p> - -<p>“I reckon, but honest, Joe, my rheumatiz -crinkles my fingers so that I can’t throw a gun -any more, let alone pulling the trigger,” complained -Sam.</p> - -<p>Bindloss laughed uproariously.</p> - -<p>“The feller who reckons on gettin’ you because -of your rheumatiz is a dead man before he -leaves home that day. Say, folks, the boys are -having a little shindy in the ranch-house this -evenin’, and they’d be mighty pleased to have -you all come over. The boys are a rough gang, -but they will treat you fine, you ladies.”</p> - -<p>“What kind of a shindy?” asked Nora.</p> - -<p>“A dance. They have a fiddle and a fellow -who scrapes it, and they may walk on your toes, -but they’ll feel worse about it than you do.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, goodie! A dance! Of course we will go. -Come on, folks. Oh, Mr. Bindloss, do you ever -dream?” asked Emma soberly.</p> - -<p>“Help!” murmured J. Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“Why, yes. I reckon I do, like everybody else -does when they get outside of too much chuck,” -laughed the rancher.</p> - -<p>“Do you ever make a psychoanalysis of your -dreams, Mr. Bindloss?” questioned Emma, laying -a hand on the rancher’s arm and gazing up into -his eyes.</p> - -<p>“Eh? Eh? A what?” he stammered.</p> - -<p>“You should learn to read your dreams. Freud -says that all dreams mean something—ungratified -desires in life—imponderable somethings -that may mean great happiness, great sorrows, -disaster—any number of fine or frightful things. -If you will tell me about your dreams I will search -out the imponderable quality in them and—”</p> - -<p>“Ride out, Miss Dean! Quick! Use your -spurs because—”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be alarmed,” begged Elfreda. “She -never gets violent. We are in hopes that the -mountain air may do her good.” The Overland -Riders burst out laughing, which, after a look at -Emma, Old Joe Bindloss joined in with a bellowing -laugh.</p> - -<p>“Try that on the boys. They’ll be plumb -locoed,” rumbled Bindloss. “Are you going with -me?”</p> - -<p>“Of course we are,” answered Emma. -“Where’s my horse?”</p> - -<p>“I have ridden every foot that I am going to -ride today,” protested Miss Briggs. “Let’s -walk.”</p> - -<p>The distance to the ranch being only about a -mile the Overlanders decided that they would -walk, and the rancher, assuring them that their -stock and equipment would not be disturbed, -Jim-Sam welcomed the opportunity to accompany -them. Bindloss led his mustang and walked with -them, and between Emma Dean’s quaint humor -and Stacy Brown’s broader fun-making, Bindloss -was kept in a roar most of the way home.</p> - -<p>He explained that he had no family, and that -he seldom saw people of the outside world except -when he went to town, which was only at rare -intervals. He said that his men were preparing -for a round-up and that within a few days a bunch -of his cowboys would start with a drove of cattle -for the north. He led his new friends to the -dance-house, which was the cowboys’ bunk-house, -and there he introduced them to that rollicking -crowd.</p> - -<p>The fiddler stopped playing the moment the -party appeared in the bunk-house.</p> - -<p>Sierra Joe, Squint Nevada, Sallie, and Two-gun -Peters, were among the names that rolled readily -from the tongue of the rancher as he introduced -his men to the Overland Riders.</p> - -<p>“And if they don’t talk you to death I reckon -they’ll dance you to death,” warned the rancher, -grinning at his men. “Scrape, you lazy lout!” -he roared to the fiddler.</p> - -<p>The cowboys were shy, and stood about awkwardly, -avoiding the eyes of the girls who were -smiling invitingly.</p> - -<p>“See here, boys, aren’t you going to ask us to -dance?” cried Emma. “No? Then I am going -to ask you. Two-gun Peters, I like your name. -It is a perfectly adorable name, and I want to -dance with you. If you are half as handy with -your feet as your name indicates that you are -with your revolver, we’ll have a heavenly dance. -Shake your feet, Peter!”</p> - -<p>There was laughter from the Overlanders, a -bellowing laugh from Joe Bindloss and sheepish -grins from Two-gun Peters and his fellows, as -Emma grabbed him and began waltzing about -with him. Then the other girls of the party -selected their partners, and in a few moments the -cowboys were dancing, milling about as if they -were herding cattle at a round-up. Stamping -feet, shrill cries from the fiddler and an occasional -howl from Stacy Brown, who was doing an Indian -dance by himself, made the old bunk-house ring, -and raised the dust until the room was bathed in -a yellow haze.</p> - -<p>Jim and Sam, grinning and pulling their -whiskers, were watching the fun and trying to -talk to Bindloss, but the old rancher was having -altogether too good a time to say much to them.</p> - -<p>“I wish Judy was over here. She’d see somethin’ -worth while,” he finally confided to Tom -Gray.</p> - -<p>“Two-gun, do you ever dream?” Emma was -saying as she swept past them with her partner.</p> - -<p>“Why—I—I reckon I do,” admitted Two-gun. -“Why?”</p> - -<p>“Did you ever hear of a man named Freud, the -world’s most scientific interpreter of dreams?” -questioned the little freckle-faced girl gazing -soulfully up into the eyes of the big cowboy.</p> - -<p>“I shore did heah of a feller of thet name. He -was a cattle rustler an’ I reckon he’s havin’ a -long dream, ’cause they caught him and hanged -him up on Rainy Mountain ’bout three year ago. -He shore was some rustler, an’ thar’s some others -of the same kind that aire goin’ the same way -when we kotch up with ’em.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no! That isn’t the man I mean. The -one I refer to is a great scientist who has discovered -that there is an imponderable quality in -each of us, and through his method of psychoanalysis -he is able to throw the spot-light on that -imponderable quality and—”</p> - -<p>“Bang! Bang!”</p> - -<p>Two quick shots fired from somewhere beyond -the open door of the bunk-house startled every -one in the room. One bullet passed through -Sam Conifer’s whiskers, and the other grazed the -dress of Emma Dean who was dancing past him -at that instant.</p> - -<p>Sam’s weapon was out of its holster with a -movement so speedy that no one saw him draw it. -Two shots rang out from the guide’s weapon, -one shattering the hanging lamp, the other following -close upon the first, but fired through the -open door. The room was plunged into deep -darkness, with the odor of burnt powder heavy on -the air.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chV' title='V: OVERLANDERS SUFFER A LOSS'> -<span>CHAPTER V</span><br /> -<span>OVERLANDERS SUFFER A LOSS</span> -</h2> - -<p>“Shoot, Sam! Shoot, I tell you!” It -was Emma Dean’s voice that broke the -silence of the room. Sam’s answer was -lost in the chorus of yells uttered by the enraged -cowboys, who made a rush for the door, with -Joe Bindloss charging after them and shouting -orders.</p> - -<p>“Get the critter! Drill him! Don’t let him -get away,” yelled the rancher. “You women -stay here till we find out what’s doing. There -may be some shooting, and there surely will be -if I ketch sight of the coyote who did that.”</p> - -<p>Jim-Sam had strolled out behind the others, -the least excited of the party. They reasoned -that the person who fired the shot into the room, -evidently with the intention of hitting Sam -Conifer, would not be found outside waiting to -be caught. It was a pot shot and it had missed, -but the shooter, by this time, no doubt was well -on his way to safety.</p> - -<p>Jim began snooping about, but the night was -too dark to enable him to find what he was looking -for, and the girls, not to be denied, stepped -out.</p> - -<p>“Here! Take my pocket lamp,” said Grace, -thrusting it into his hand.</p> - -<p>“Thankee, Miss,” growled Jim, and began -sweeping the rays from the lamp over the ground -in front of the bunk-house door. “Here’s whar -the critter stood when he let go,” announced Jim. -“Anybody recognize them boot-prints?”</p> - -<p>No one did, and Jim went on nosing out the -trail, which he followed for several rods down the -valley, though the footprints were mixed with the -tracks of cowpunchers and ponies. Jim continued -his tracking until he reached a point where the -shooter had met and mounted a pony, on which -he dashed away straight for the hills. Those -hoof-prints were of keen interest to Jim-Sam. -They were the prints of unshod hoofs, and the -two men looked at each other with a meaning -gaze.</p> - -<p>“I reckon the feller was shootin’ with his left -hand, an’ that’s why he missed,” observed Sam.</p> - -<p>“I reckon,” agreed Jim.</p> - -<p>“What have you got, Conifer?” called Joe -Bindloss, dashing up on his pony.</p> - -<p>The men explained what they had found, and -the old rancher raged and stormed, declaring that -he would get the fellow, that he would set his -cowpunchers on the trail at once to follow it until -they did get the man.</p> - -<p>“Ain’t no use,” objected Sam. “Can’t do -nothin’ till daylight, an’ then it’ll be too late. -I’ll know that hoof-print when I see it.”</p> - -<p>“I reckon I know it now,” spoke up Jim.</p> - -<p>“What’s that?” demanded Bindloss.</p> - -<p>“You do?” wondered Sam.</p> - -<p>“Shore, I do. It’s Mrs. Gray’s pony. He lost -a shoe yesterday an’ the others was loose, an’ she -was intendin’ to have him shod all around, after -I’d pulled off the rest of the shoes,” was the -guide’s startling announcement.</p> - -<p>“Come back to the bunk-house. We’ve got -to find out about this,” growled Bindloss.</p> - -<p>On their way back they met the Overlanders -coming along. Unable to restrain their curiosity, -the Overlanders had followed their guides down -the valley.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Gray, would you know the hoof-prints -of your pony if you were to see them?” asked -the rancher.</p> - -<p>“I am quite certain that I would,” answered -Grace.</p> - -<p>“Come and have a look at what Jim’s found,” -he said, wheeling his pony and trotting back -towards the place where the Overland animal -hoof-print had been found by Jim.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” announced Grace after a careful -examination of the tracks. “Those are Ginger’s tracks, -or else Ginger has a double; but what was my -pony doing here? What does it mean, Sam?”</p> - -<p>“I reckon it means that the feller who shot -at me had your hoss. Hark!”</p> - -<p>A scattering fire of revolver shots was heard -from farther down the valley, and now Joe Bindloss’s -cowpunchers came riding from the ranch-house, -they too having heard the shots.</p> - -<p>“It’s down by our camp!” cried Nora.</p> - -<p>“Go to it, fellows!” shouted the rancher. -“You folks go back to the ranch-house, I’m -going to follow the boys,” he announced, spurring -his horse into a run.</p> - -<p>Instead of following his direction the Overland -Riders started at a brisk walk for their camp.</p> - -<p>“Aren’t we going back to finish our dance?” -wailed Emma.</p> - -<p>“Not until we find out what is going on down -yonder,” answered Tom Gray with a wave of the -hand towards their camp.</p> - -<p>“Oh, what a shame to spoil a perfectly lovely -party!” wailed Emma. “Two-gun Pete surely -could handle his feet even if they are big, and I -was having such a nice talk with him about -Freud, too.”</p> - -<p>“Emma Dean, if you keep on I shall be in favor -of having your sanity inquired into,” threatened -J. Elfreda Briggs.</p> - -<p>Stacy shook his head.</p> - -<p>“You can’t inquire into what ain’t, can you?” -he demanded.</p> - -<p>“No, and that is the reason you have never -been the subject of an inquiry,” flung back Emma -sharply.</p> - -<p>At this juncture, Jim and Sam began to -wrangle, each accusing the other of being to blame -for the mess their party had gotten into, but the -Overlanders were too much concerned with their -own troubles to laugh at the argument of the -guides.</p> - -<p>A few moments later the Overland party came -within sight of their camp. Someone, probably -men of the “Circle O” ranch, had built up the -campfire and could be seen moving about there.</p> - -<p>As a matter of prudence, before leaving camp -that evening, the Riders had hidden their rifles -and ammunition, as they were in the habit of -doing. Their revolvers they wore, for experience -had taught them that it was the wise thing to do -in a wild country, or in sections where there were -ruffians such as they had encountered in the -Coso Valley.</p> - -<p>“Is everything all right?” called Hippy as they -came up to the camp.</p> - -<p>“No. Everything’s all wrong,” answered Bindloss -savagely. “I’ll kill somebody for this.”</p> - -<p>“What happened?” begged Grace.</p> - -<p>“My night rangers discovered some fellows -fooling about your camp, and knowin’ you was -at the ranch-house, because one of ’em had -watched you to see what you were doing, he -looked a little closer and saw the prowlers nosing -into your property. That was Idaho Jones. -Idaho fired three shots at the fellows, and that -called our other rangers nearby, who rode in hot-foot, -but the prowlers skipped before they got in, -though not before Jones had taken a few pot -shots at them. The thieves got away, but one of -the fellows says Jones was certain that he hit one -of them.”</p> - -<p>“Yes. But what about our ponies?” cried -Grace.</p> - -<p>“Not a hide nor hair of ’em left,” answered -Bindloss. “The critters took ’em all, and one had -the nerve to ride yours, Mrs. Gray, almost over -to the ranch-house. You better look around and -see if they got anything else,” suggested Bindloss -amid a tense silence. “Jones and some of the -others chased ’em into the hills and are after -’em now.”</p> - -<p>“The ponies stolen!” howled Stacy Brown.</p> - -<p>“It’s your fault, consarn ye!” raged Sam -Conifer, addressing his companion. “I told ye to -stay here an’ watch things.”</p> - -<p>“It ain’t! It’s your fault. If you’d had any -brains in yer empty head you’d stayed an’ watched -this camp. You need somebody to watch you, an’ -that’s no lie!” yelled Jim at the top of his voice.</p> - -<p>The Overlanders burst out laughing, some of -them a little hysterically.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chVI' title='VI: RUSTLERS ARE HARD PRESSED'> -<span>CHAPTER VI</span><br /> -<span>RUSTLERS ARE HARD PRESSED</span> -</h2> - -<p>“The mules is still heah,” cried Jim.</p> - -<p>“Of course they aire, an’ I’ll bet -my mule scared them fellers off. -Thar ain’t a man livin’ that can git away with -that cayuse of mine,” declared Sam.</p> - -<p>“Leastwise when he has mine to frighten them -off,” added Jim.</p> - -<p>“I think you are right, James. Your mule would -frighten the beasts of the jungles,” said Emma.</p> - -<p>“Missie, you’re wrong. Jim’s mule is the -finest chunk o’ mule flesh that you ever seen,” declared -Sam.</p> - -<p>“You said it, old Whiskers. That critter of -yours can’t hold a firebrand to him,” agreed Jim.</p> - -<p>“He can’t, eh? Wal, I’ll show ye whether he -can or not. Thar ain’t a mule on four feet that -can come up to mine,” averred Sam heatedly.</p> - -<p>“Will you kindly stop your wrangling and do -something?” begged Tom Gray. “Hippy, are the -rifles safe?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. They didn’t find them, thank goodness.”</p> - -<p>Grace and her companions, who had been -making a hasty inventory of their belongings, announced -that not a thing was missing.</p> - -<p>“I reckon that our boys got here too soon and -chased the critters away,” boomed the rancher. -“What do you folks think you’re going to do -now?”</p> - -<p>“That is the question before the house,” observed -Stacy.</p> - -<p>“Where would the horse thieves be likely to -take the stock?” asked Grace.</p> - -<p>“No one knows where their hang-out is, but -I’ve heard that it’s up in the canyon country, -where it is said there are acres of rich grass and -plenty of hiding places, but nobody ever succeeded -in tracking ’em very far. They are too -smart. The boys won’t find ’em, but we’ll wait -till they get back.”</p> - -<p>“Where is the canyon country to which you -refer, Mr. Bindloss?” asked Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>“On the other side of the valley in the -mountains.”</p> - -<p>“Then is it not reasonable to suppose that they -will attempt to cross the valley tonight so as to -be in their lair by daylight?” persisted Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“Sure they will,” agreed Bindloss.</p> - -<p>“Can you spare enough men to ride back and -forth for a few miles on this side? It is possible -that they might intercept the thieves and possibly -recover at least one of our animals,” suggested -Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>“You’re right. Miss, you have a head on your -shoulders. Pete, you take all the boys that are -left here and hit it along the valley, stringing out -’bout half a mile apart and watch like all possessed,” -directed Bindloss.</p> - -<p>“We want to be in on that, Mr. Bindloss. How -about ponies for Captain Gray and myself?” -asked Hippy eagerly.</p> - -<p>“You can have the one I’m riding, and Nevada -will ride back to the ranch and get one for Captain -Gray. Hustle, Nevada! The rest of you fellows -go on, and don’t be afraid to string out. Sam, I -reckon you and Jim better stick around. No -telling what might be pulled off by that gang. -I’ve been thinking that mebby this is a sort of -come-back for Sam’s shooting that fellow in the -wrist the other night. I’ll bet it’s the same gang, -but there’s something more to it. I don’t know -what, but I reckon on you folks finding out one -of these days.”</p> - -<p>“You may be certain that we will,” spoke up -Emma. “And please, Mr. Bindloss, try to remember -your dreams, for they may have a -powerful bearing on this affair. Each of you do the -same and tell them to me in the morning.”</p> - -<p>“It ain’t dreams, it’s lead that’s goin’ to settle -this heah matter,” observed Sam.</p> - -<p>Nevada soon returned with a mustang for Tom -Gray. The animal was not particularly good-natured, -and gave Tom no little trouble at first, -but fortunately he was not unhorsed, and the -party was soon galloping away, each man carrying -a rifle and fifty rounds of ammunition.</p> - -<p>A few miles down the valley they were halted -by Pete and told to spread out between him and -the camp and keep a sharp lookout. Three rifle -shots were to be fired as a signal that the thieves -had been discovered. The men rode slowly back -and forth, hailing as they met at the end of -their beats, and thus the night wore on with -nothing more disturbing than the howls of coyotes -up in the mountains.</p> - -<p>“Is it us that those fellows are howling -at?” questioned Tom Gray as he met Two-gun -Pete.</p> - -<p>“I don’t reckon so. The breeze ain’t blowin’ -right fer them to scent us.”</p> - -<p>“Then it is probable that they are howling at -someone up in the hills, isn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“Cap’n, I reckon as you aire right ’bout thet. -Somethin’ aire stirrin’. I feels it in my bones. -Can you folks shoot?”</p> - -<p>“Pretty well when we can see, but not in such -darkness as this. Can you?”</p> - -<p>“Shore I kin shoot in the dark, but thet ain’t -sayin’ I can hit what I’m shootin at,” chuckled -Pete.</p> - -<p>While the Overland men and cowboys were -watching the foothills for the horse thieves, the -girls of their party were busy making their camp -comfortable and chatting with Joe Bindloss, who -found himself much attracted to them. Then -again, he felt it wise to remain with them until -the men returned.</p> - -<p>Jim-Sam were striding back and forth with -“ears pricked up, jest huntin’ fer trouble,” as -they listened to sounds of the night rather than -to what those about them were saying. Both men -finally sat down in the shadows on the mountain -side of the camp, but not a word did either man -have to say.</p> - -<p>“May I sit down with you boys?” asked -Emma, skipping over to them. “You are expecting -something, I know, and I would just love -to be in on it.”</p> - -<p>“Please, Missie, git back,” urged Sam. -“Mebby nothin’ll happen. Most likely nothin’ -will, but we got to listen and watch, fer—Skip!” -he added in a whisper.</p> - -<p>Jim felt his companion stiffen ever so little, -and Emma, observing the expression on his face, -without another word, turned and ran back to -her companions. Sam had heard something, and -Jim’s nod indicated that he too heard it, but -neither man moved from his position, though -Sam Conifer’s hand might have been seen caressing -the big revolver butt that protruded from his -holster.</p> - -<p>Over yonder by the campfire there were chatter -and joking and laughter, the old rancher being -entertained as he had not been in many years, -in fact not since he was a youngster in Illinois -where he had been born and reared. Jim-Sam -now heard nothing of the merriment, every -faculty being bent on the slight rustling that both -could hear in the bushes to the rear of them. It -was not the breeze that was stirring the foliage, -for there was no breeze, and they knew that it -was either man or animal creeping up on them, -though neither man could be certain that their -own presence, there in the shadows, had been -discovered.</p> - -<p>Sam suddenly decided that the time for action -was at hand. With one of those marvellously -flashing movements that seemed so little a part -of him, the old man jerked his weapon from its -holster and fired back over his shoulder into the -bushes without even looking around.</p> - -<p>Nora uttered a scream, and the other girls -sprang to their feet, while Joe Bindloss, uttering -a roar, charged towards the guides, both of whom, -now having risen, were shooting into the bushes. -Bindloss suddenly realized that the firing was not -one-sided, for he heard bullets zing past his ears. -The Overland girls also at once discovered that -they were under fire—revolver fire—and springing -away from the campfire, they threw themselves -prone on the ground.</p> - -<p>The rancher at this juncture took a hand in -the shooting. The Overland girls, despite their -fright, gazed at him in admiration. Bindloss, -standing in the light of the campfire, was working -his revolver, firing at the flashes he saw coming -from the bushes. He made a splendid mark, but -nothing touched him, though twice Jim-Sam -heard grunts in the bushes, that told that someone -there had been hit.</p> - -<p>“I can’t stand this!” cried Emma. “I’m -going to get my rifle.”</p> - -<p>“Lie still!” commanded Grace. “Let the men -do the fighting. If they need us we shall know it, -and that will be time enough.”</p> - -<p>Emma sank back, complaining to herself. -Stacy was nowhere in sight, but they knew that -he was in hiding, for he had disappeared at the -first shot fired by Sam Conifer.</p> - -<p>The firing from the bushes ceased suddenly, -the defense of the camp probably having grown -too warm, as the Overlanders reasoned out the -situation. Now the three men fairly riddled the -bushes with their shooting, sweeping the entire -spread of foliage for several yards to the right -and left of them.</p> - -<p>A sharp cry from one of the girls drew the -attention of Jim-Sam and Joe Bindloss to them.</p> - -<p>“Horses!” shouted Grace.</p> - -<p>The three men instantly divined her meaning. -The attackers had taken to their mounts, and, -with quick perception of what their defenders’ -next action would be, the Overland girls snatched -up rifles and thrust them into the hands of the -men as the latter ran for the open.</p> - -<p>The heavy report of a rifle before the three men -were clear of the camp, was the first intimation -that Stacy Brown had come out of hiding. He -was shooting at the retreating horsemen, now -that it was reasonably safe for him to do so. A -few seconds later Jim-Sam and Joe Bindloss were -firing at the sound of retreating hoof-beats, and -they kept on firing until the hoof-beats finally -died away.</p> - -<hr class='tbk' /> - -<p>“Hark!” exclaimed Tom Gray as the sound -of rifle fire from the Overland camp reached them.</p> - -<p>“I heah it,” answered Two-gun Pete. “Rifles! -They aire at it fer keeps.”</p> - -<p>“Then let’s go. Man, they need us!” urged -Tom, his tone reflecting his excitement.</p> - -<p>“Wait! Hold yer hosses fer a bit.”</p> - -<p>They heard the few answering scattering shots -fired by the fleeing attackers; then the firing died -out. Pete, with head cocked to one side, interpreted -the sounds and the silence aright.</p> - -<p>“Yer folks have got ’em on the run. Reckon -we’ll be goin’. Jest jog along so thet we don’t -run into somethin’ headlong,” he advised.</p> - -<p>Tom Gray, worried and full of eagerness to get -into action, had to put a firm check on himself -to keep from racing on in the lead of his companion. -Ahead of them somewhere they knew -that Hippy Wingate was on the lookout for the -horse thieves, and so long as nothing was heard -from him there appeared to be no need for haste, -but while Tom’s every faculty was centered on -what lay ahead of them, Two-gun Pete, like the -mustang he was riding, gave as much attention to -the rear as he did to what was ahead.</p> - -<p>A flash suddenly leaped up in the darkness -ahead, followed by a sharp report. Then guns -banged with a speed that reminded Tom Gray of -nights on the firing line in France.</p> - -<p>“He’s met ’em! Ride!” yelled Two-gun Pete, -putting spurs to his horse.</p> - -<p>Tom needed no urging, nor did his pony. The -little animal uttered a whistling snort and plunged -ahead, its nose at the flank of Pete’s flying -mustang.</p> - -<div id='i002' class='illus' style='margin-left:15%; width:70%'> - <img src='images/i002.jpg' alt='' /> - <p class='sm'>“He’s Met ’Em! Ride!”</p> -</div> - -<p>“He’s turned ’em!” flung back Pete. “They -aire headin’ ’cross the valley. That feller shore -has got nerve.”</p> - -<p>No more was said, but both men swerved their -mounts farther out into the valley to head off -the fleeing horsemen, and drew up on them slowly. -Pete saw that Hippy Wingate was fighting with -all the odds against him, but that he was holding -his own. Had there been light, the Overlander -would have been in a much more serious situation.</p> - -<p>As the two men neared the scene of the fighting, -Tom Gray uttered a long-drawn yell, which Hippy -heard, recognized, and answered. The attackers -heard too, and put on a fresh burst of speed. -Observing this, Pete jerked his rifle from its -holster and emptied his magazine at them. Up -to this time, however, Tom Gray had not fired.</p> - -<p>“No use. We aire losin’ ground,” shouted -Pete. “Ride till we git close enough to use the -barkers. I never was no good at long-range -shootin’.”</p> - -<p>A few moments later the horses of the ruffians -became faintly discernible, and Pete rode straight -at them. The ruffians were shooting as they -raced, and Lieutenant Hippy Wingate was banging -away at them and yelling like an Indian on -the warpath. About this time Tom and Pete -opened up with their revolvers. A pony went -down and its rider was seen to plunge over its -head. Pete jerked his mustang aside just in -time to avoid running into the fallen man and -horse. There were fully half a dozen of the supposed -horse thieves, some of whom were leading -other animals behind them, and it was these to -whom Pete devoted his attention, believing that -the led horses were stolen animals.</p> - -<p>The three pursuers were spread out in fan shape -now, Hippy Wingate on the extreme right, -running in on the fleeing men head-on, then -ducking and swinging out, after emptying his -weapon at them.</p> - -<p>“Hit!” he muttered as a sudden burning sensation -was felt in the calf of his left leg. “Take -that!” he yelled. Taking a desperate chance he -rode right in among the scattered horsemen, -hoping to cut them off and give his own companions -an opportunity to do more effective work.</p> - -<p>Hippy emptied two revolvers at the raiders, -then all at once something suddenly seemed to -snap in his head, and Hippy Wingate reeled in his -saddle. Sudden and deeper darkness enveloped -him, and Hippy fell forward on the neck of his -mustang, both feet slipping from the stirrups. -For a moment he clung there. He did not hear -the scream of his pony as a bullet hit the plucky -little animal, nor did he feel the impact when -both he and the pony went down in the dust and -lay motionless where they had fallen.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chVII' title='VII: A FIGHT TO A FINISH'> -<span>CHAPTER VII</span><br /> -<span>A FIGHT TO A FINISH</span> -</h2> - -<p>“They are heading for the mountains!” -shouted Tom as he and Two-gun -Pete drew together.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but we’ll chase ’em into the foothills -afore we quit,” raged Pete. “Ain’t hit, be ye?”</p> - -<p>“No.”</p> - -<p>“Thet’s good.”</p> - -<p>The two riders again settled down to their work, -pushing their ponies to utmost speed. Then they -observed that the ruffians were beginning to -spread out, to scatter, a move that Two-gun Pete -understood perfectly. They were planning to -take to the mountains as individuals rather than -as a body. This would make pursuit more difficult, -in fact, practically impossible.</p> - -<p>Both Tom and Pete had had many close calls -from bullets, but neither gave much heed to them. -They were too busy to consider something that -had passed, and again, they had advantage in -that they were pursuing while their adversaries -were fleeing before them.</p> - -<p>“Now give ’em the rifles!” yelled Pete as the -pursued riders neared the foothills. “Keep -shootin’!”</p> - -<p>The pair unlimbered their rifles, and soon -afterwards other cowpunchers who had joined -them did the same. The heavy firing was plainly -audible to the girls of the Overland party, who, -fearing for their companions, were very nervous, -and Joe Bindloss paced back and forth at the -camp listening, his face stern, both hands -tightly clenched.</p> - -<p>“I hope they kill some of them devils! I -hope they do!” he growled.</p> - -<p>In the meantime Tom Gray and the cowpunchers -were at it hammer and tongs, nor did -they cease firing until the last of the supposed -horse thieves were out of sight in the deep -shadows in the foothills.</p> - -<p>“I reckon thet’s about all,” observed Two-gun -Pete dryly. “What I wants to know is whar -thet fightin’ friend of yours is.”</p> - -<p>“Can’t we give Lieutenant Wingate a gun -signal to come in?” asked Tom, a note of anxiety -in his tone.</p> - -<p>“No. Thet will be givin’ notice to them -critters thet we’ve finished this heah little game, -an’ I don’t want them to have thet satisfaction. -We’ll mosey about a little an’ see if we kin find -Mr. Wingate.” -Pete, followed by Tom, worked up and down -the valley parallel with the mountain ranges for -some little time without discovering Hippy; then -all of a sudden, Pete uttered a <i>whoo—pe-e-e!</i> -It was answered instantly, and two men rode -cautiously out of the darkness. They proved to -be Sierra Joe and Nevada, who said the others -were somewhere to the north. A distant hail told -the men that the others also had heard Pete’s -call and were heading in his direction. Tom, -worried as he was about Hippy, could not but -admire the efficient manner in which these men -of the open worked. It was a revelation to him. -Shortly after that the rest of the party rode in.</p> - -<p>“Has any of you cayuses seen anythin’ of the -Old Man’s friend?” questioned Pete.</p> - -<p>“Is he the feller that was workin’ to the -south?” asked Nevada.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” spoke up Tom.</p> - -<p>“Wal, he quit firin’ some little piece back thar. -I reckon mebby he got winged,” announced -Nevada.</p> - -<p>“Line up, fellers! Take yer ranges by the hills -on the other side of the valley and look sharp. -I reckon mebby thar’s some other things to find -in this heah valley,” added Pete significantly.</p> - -<p>The search for Hippy began without a moment’s -delay, fast and efficient, but without a -trace of excitement. The attitude of his -companions steadied Tom and assisted him to keep -his head clear.</p> - -<p>Two dead ponies were found first by Sierra, -and near them lay two men, both dead. Sierra -hailed his companions and when they arrived he -struck a match to look at the victims.</p> - -<p>“Chuck the light!” commanded Pete sternly.</p> - -<p>The words were barely past his lips when a -bullet <i>pinged</i> through the air over their heads.</p> - -<p>“Ain’t you got no sense, Sierra?” demanded -Pete disgustedly. “Don’t ye do thet agin. -Them fellers aire waitin’ fer us to give them a -show, an’ I reckon they’ll hang out in the foothills -fer some time yit. Anybody know these -critters?”</p> - -<p>Each cowboy took a look at the victims, but -none recognized them. The brand on the dead -mustangs also was unknown to them.</p> - -<p>“Can’t do nothin’ till daylight. Hit the trail -agin,” ordered Pete, whereupon the search for -Hippy Wingate was resumed. It was Tom Gray -who found him, nearly a mile from their last -stand.</p> - -<p>“Help here!” shouted Tom.</p> - -<p>Pete heard and understood. With the others, -he spurred to the scene, finding Tom Gray on the -ground bending over the stretched-out form of -the fallen Overlander.</p> - -<p>“Is he daid?” questioned Sierra anxiously.</p> - -<p>“No. He is alive, but he must be badly hurt. -He has been here for some time and is still unconscious. -That looks bad. Boys, we must get -him to camp as quickly as possible. How shall -we do it?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll take him on my ’tang,” answered Pete. -“Wait till I git up; then boost him up to me and -I’ll do the rest. Nevada, you ride back a piece -to make sure thet we ain’t followed, an’ give us a -good start. You kin come on in then.”</p> - -<p>Hippy’s limp form was lifted into Two-gun -Pete’s arms, and giving the pony the reins, Pete -touched the animal with a light spur and the -journey back to camp was begun. It was not -a gentle ride for the wounded Overlander. In -fact it was a killing ride, and when they came -in sight of the campfire, the pony was white with -lather.</p> - -<p>It was at this juncture that Hippy began to -mutter and struggle.</p> - -<p>“Thet’s all right, pard. Yer on yer way back -to camp, and Pete’s the boy thet’s takin’ ye; so -jest rest easy-like. Cap, ride in an’ tell ’em we -aire comin’.”</p> - -<p>Tom spurred ahead, and by the time Pete and -his burden rode in, the Overlanders were ready -to receive them. All were pale, though Nora, -who might have been expected to go to pieces, was -calm, in fact fully as much so as Elfreda and -Grace who, as hospital workers in the great war, -were used to scenes of this sort.</p> - -<p>Hippy’s face, as he was lifted from Two-gun -Pete’s arms, was seen to be covered with blood.</p> - -<p>“Place him by the fire where we can see,” -directed Grace. “Stacy, fetch water, and be -quick about it!”</p> - -<p>“I’ll get my kit and be back in a moment,” -announced Elfreda.</p> - -<p>Blankets were spread out by the campfire, and -on them the wounded Hippy was laid, and by the -time Elfreda returned, Grace had sponged away -the blood from his face and head.</p> - -<p>“A bullet has laid his scalp open on the right -side,” she announced. “If there are no other -wounds he will pull through all right. Do you -hear me, Hippy?”</p> - -<p>“Ye—es.”</p> - -<p>“Is this the only wound you have?”</p> - -<p>“No. In leg,” answered the patient weakly.</p> - -<p>Nora pulled up the trousers from both limbs -and discovered that the left one was bloody from -half way below the knee down, and it was Nora’s -hands that washed the wound clean and prepared -it for the dressing.</p> - -<p>Elfreda Briggs, by this time, had returned with -her first-aid kit, and was critically examining the -scalp wound, Grace Harlowe standing over her -with face full of interest and sympathy.</p> - -<p>“This must be sewed up as soon as we have -treated it,” announced Miss Briggs, nodding up -at her companion. “Hippy, I shall have to take -several stitches in your scalp, and I am going to -hurt you. You won’t mind, will you, after all -the fun you have been having tonight?”</p> - -<p>“Get it over with,” muttered Hippy.</p> - -<p>“Grace, you might dress the leg while I am -doing this embroidery work for Hippy. Did the -bullet go all the way through the leg?”</p> - -<p>“Ye—es,” replied Nora. “I—I think so.”</p> - -<p>“It did, through the fleshy part. It is not a -bad wound,” volunteered Grace.</p> - -<p>Miss Briggs began her work at once, and performed -it quickly and skillfully. Hippy, despite -himself, flinched under each needle thrust. A -group of wondering, open-mouthed cowpunchers -watched the Overland girl perform her operation, -and by the time she had finished stitching the -scalp together, Grace had completed her task on -the leg wound.</p> - -<p>“Oh! He’s dead!” cried Nora, after a quick -look into Hippy’s now ghastly pale face.</p> - -<p>“Don’t get excited! He has fainted, that’s -all,” comforted Miss Briggs, who thereupon proceeded -to revive her patient. The pain had -been a little more than Hippy, in his weakened -condition, could bear, and under it he had -swooned.</p> - -<p>Old Joe Bindloss clutched off his sombrero and -mopped the perspiration from his forehead.</p> - -<p>“Wal! I’ve seen some things in my time, but -I’ll be shot for a hoss thief if I ever come up with -the like of this,” rumbled the rancher.</p> - -<p>Hippy opened his eyes and a faint grin appeared -on his face, whereat, the cowpunchers, as one man, -heaved a deep breath of relief. They stood about -awkwardly, sombreros tucked under their arms, -not knowing what they ought to do, but quite -positive to a man that they wished there were -more patients to be treated so that they might -stay where they were and watch these capable -young women work for the rest of the night.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chVIII' title='VIII: THE “DUDE” MAKES GOOD'> -<span>CHAPTER VIII</span><br /> -<span>THE “DUDE” MAKES GOOD</span> -</h2> - -<p>Two-Gun Pete sidled over to Hippy.</p> - -<p>“Fer a dude, yer some scrapper. I’ll -say so. Shake, Pard,” he said, extending -a ham-like paw.</p> - -<p>“Yep! Reg’lar bear-cat,” agreed Sierra, and -all the cowboys nodded solemnly.</p> - -<p>“Thanks! Did we get any of them?” questioned -Hippy, not much above a whisper, for -every word sent shooting pains through his head.</p> - -<p>“Two thet we knows of, and mebby some more. -The Old Man’s hoss thet you was ridin’ got his’n, -too.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, that is too bad. I’m sorry.”</p> - -<p>“Thet ain’t nothin’,” interjected Idaho. -“What’s a hoss when it comes to a scrap with a -bunch of rustlers? They’re mad now, and we’ll -mebby git another chance at ’em some day soon. -Reckon you won’t care ’bout mixin’ in agin?”</p> - -<p>“I reckon you have another guess coming, -Idaho,” answered Hippy, grinning.</p> - -<p>Bindloss here interrupted by declaring that the -wounded Overlander must be taken to the ranch-house -and put to bed. He said he would have a -buckboard brought down and fetch him. Miss -Briggs shook her head.</p> - -<p>“I do not think best to have him moved tonight. -If he feels better in the morning, you may -do that,” she said.</p> - -<p>“All right. You’re the doctor. I’ll have the -boys fix you up comfortable and stand guard for -the rest of the night so you won’t be bothered by -those rustlers.”</p> - -<p>“Bindloss, I am sorry about the pony that got -shot under me. Of course I shall pay you for -him,” offered Hippy.</p> - -<p>“Pay nothing!” roared the rancher. “I owe -you money for the walloping you folks give those -coyotes. Here, you rough-necks! Fix these folks -up with whatever they want, then spread out and -ride ’round for the rest of the night, and if they -get into any more trouble tonight, I’ll fire the -bunch of you and get riders who can see and -shoot.”</p> - -<p>“I reckon we kin take care of our folks and do -whatever is necessary,” interjected Sam.</p> - -<p>Bindloss agreed, but said his men would be -on guard just the same. Shortly after that the -cowboys mounted and rode out into the valley -for their night’s vigil.</p> - -<p>A tent was erected over Hippy, and Nora -insisted on sitting up to look after him, but before -turning in the Overlanders went into Hippy’s -tent with a cheerful word for their wounded -companion.</p> - -<p>“Hippy, tell me, did you dream anything when -you were asleep out there after being shot?” -whispered Emma.</p> - -<p>“Yes. I dreamed that an imponderable quantity -appeared suddenly out of the nowhere and -gave me an awful wallop,” retorted Hippy.</p> - -<p>“I think you are real mean,” pouted Emma. -“Good-night! Don’t forget to remember what -you dream about tonight, for it may be of great -importance to us.”</p> - -<p>“Huh!” muttered Hippy.</p> - -<p>Soon after that the camp became quiet and -every Overlander, except Nora, was sound asleep. -Jim-Sam, however, were just outside holding a -heated argument over the occurrences of the -evening. Jim blamed Sam for shooting into the -bushes and thus starting the row that ended in -the wounding of one of their party.</p> - -<p>“Why, you miserable galoot, you ain’t got the -sense of a flea!” retorted Sam. “If it hadn’t -been fer me, you’d been quarrelin’ with the angels -right this minute. Some folks ain’t got brains -enough to know nothin’.”</p> - -<p>“You said it,” agreed Jim. “I’ve knowed that -ever since I’ve been with ye.”</p> - -<p>The argument was continued at intervals all -the rest of the night, and until at break of day -they saw the cowpunchers ride off down the valley -at a brisk gallop. Jim then built up the fire and -began preparing for breakfast. The odors of the -cooking soon awakened the Overlanders, and one -by one they turned out rubbing the sleep out of -their eyes.</p> - -<p>Emma Dean’s face, however, was glowing and -her eyes were full of sparkle.</p> - -<p>“Oh, girls,” she cried. “I had the most wonderful -dream last night. What do you think? -It was a most adorable dream. I dreamed that -I was engaged to the nicest man and—”</p> - -<p>“What! Again?” shouted the Overlanders.</p> - -<p>“Yes. Why not? He was a cowboy, and I -dreamed that he had just shot a man who made -eyes at me. Wasn’t that a perfectly adorable -thing for him to do?”</p> - -<p>“Which man to do what?” questioned Stacy.</p> - -<p>“For my fiancé to shoot the other fellow, of -course. I just loved him for that.”</p> - -<p>“Emma, we will have you in a strait-jacket -yet,” retorted Grace laughingly. “How many -does this one make?”</p> - -<p>“Two real ones and a spiritual one. You know -the one last night wasn’t a real fiancé—”</p> - -<p>“Just an imponderable quantity or quality,” -suggested Stacy Brown, which brought a laugh -from the Overlanders, and made Hippy grin despite -the fact that it hurt him to twist his -swollen face.</p> - -<p>Hippy, while feeling much improved, was sore -and weak, and when Joe Bindloss rode up, as the -Overlanders were eating breakfast, he said he -had arranged to have them move their camp up -near the ranch-house, as it would be some time -before Lieutenant Wingate would again be able -to ride.</p> - -<p>“He can stay at my house and I’ll take all -the care of him that he needs. You folks can -make trips out and stay as long as you want to. -What about it?”</p> - -<p>The Overlanders agreed, and the rancher said -the buckboard would be down later in the morning -to fetch the wounded man. Bindloss sat down -and ate breakfast with his new friends, and they -had just finished the meal when Sam Conifer -called to them that the cowboys were coming -back, one of them leading an extra mustang.</p> - -<p>Glasses were soon leveled at the approaching -dust cloud which Sam had identified as belonging -to the Circle O bunch. As the riders rode out of -the cloud Grace uttered a cry of delight.</p> - -<p>“It is Ginger! They have found Ginger! -Oh, I’m so glad.”</p> - -<p>“Only Ginger! Fiddlesticks!” growled Stacy -in disgust. “Somebody will have to buy me a -new pony. I’m not going to walk. You take my -word for that.”</p> - -<p>“Ginger!” cried Grace as the punchers rode -in, dust-covered, smiling, happy in being able to -do something for one of the Overland girls.</p> - -<p>The little pony trotted to her, showing every -evidence of being glad to be back with his mistress, -and Grace petted and fed the scrubby-looking -mustang until Sam took the animal away and -tethered him.</p> - -<p>“We found him grazin’ ’bout fifteen mile down -the valley,” explained Pete.</p> - -<p>“What about the men who stole him?” -demanded Bindloss.</p> - -<p>“We didn’t find ’em,” said Pete. “Thar was -three dead mustangs out thar, though, but saddles -and bridles had been taken off, leavin’ nothin’ to -identify the outfit by.”</p> - -<p>“See any blood?” questioned Sam Conifer.</p> - -<p>“Wal, I reckon as thar was some,” answered -Pete, with a grin. “This is the bunch thet got -yer mustangs, folks. No doubt ’bout thet. Boss, -what do ye reckon on our doin’ next?”</p> - -<p>“Help these folks move up to the ranch-house.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, but we can attend to that. We -have our mules and one pony with which to operate,” -spoke up Tom Gray. “If you will arrange -to get Lieutenant Wingate up, as you have suggested, -we shall be all set.”</p> - -<p>Nevada was sent to the ranch to fetch the -buckboard and returned with it in about an -hour. In the meantime the cowpunchers were -interested witnesses to the breaking of camp, in -which all the Overlanders except Hippy participated, -and in a short time packs were rolled and -Jim-Sam were lashing them to the mules and to -Ginger.</p> - -<p>“I reckon these heah folks ain’t no tenderfeet,” -observed Sierra, as the cowboys rode away.</p> - -<p>“Have ye jest found thet out?” drawled Two-gun -Pete. “If they kin all fit like the Dude -kin, the rustlers better hike fer the mountains an’ -stay thar.”</p> - -<p>Nora, riding with Hippy, swung a hand to the -men as the buckboard passed them on the way -to the Circle O ranch, and by the time the rest of -the party reached there Hippy was taking what -ease he could get on a cot on the front porch of the -ranch-house.</p> - -<p>The Overland Riders pitched their camp on a -little rise of ground a short distance to the rear -of the ranch buildings, and the cowpunchers observed -this further operation with interest.</p> - -<p>“Good job,” approved Idaho.</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” smiled Grace. “We hope you -boys will come around whenever you can. You -all have been mighty kind to us and we appreciate -it.”</p> - -<p>“Where did you folks larn to do things like -you do?” asked Nevada.</p> - -<p>“Mostly from our western experiences. Of -course we learned a few things in the war.”</p> - -<p>“The war? Was you thar?” laughed Sierra.</p> - -<p>“Yes. I drove an ambulance. The other -young women were in the service as hospital -workers, and the like. My husband, Tom Gray, -was a Captain of Engineers, and Lieutenant Wingate -was a flier—a fighting pilot,” Grace informed -them.</p> - -<p>“Gee whiz! Ain’t thet the limit?” wondered -Idaho.</p> - -<p>“The next question is, what are we going to do -for horses? Do any of you boys know where we -can buy or rent some?”</p> - -<p>“Mebby the Old Man might sell ye what ye -need,” suggested Sallie, who was in charge of the -corral for Bindloss. “I’ll arsk him.”</p> - -<p>Grace thanked him, but said Tom Gray would -take the matter up with the rancher. Later in -the morning Tom informed her that he had already -done so, and that arrangements had been -made to rent such ponies as they needed. Bindloss, -he said, did not want to take money from -them, but that the Overlander had insisted on his -doing so. The arrangement, Tom said, was that -they were to pay a rental of two dollars a week -for each pony, and in the event of any of the -animals being lost or injured, the Overland Riders -were to settle for the ponies at the rate of twenty-five -dollars a head.</p> - -<p>This was satisfactory to all hands, and on the -following day they were to select their mounts.</p> - -<p>That noon they took their luncheon with the -rancher and his men in the bunk-house, by special -invitation. After dinner Nora sang a song, -Emma Dean recited a pathetic little selection to -which she gave the title of “The Cowboy’s Love,” -but which, instead of being about a cowboy, was -the story of a child lost on the desert, and adopted -by a mother wolf that had lost its own offspring.</p> - -<p>The Overlanders were of the opinion that -Emma made up the story, but at any rate it made -a hit and moved some of the cowpunchers to tears, -for cowpunchers, like sailors, are sentimental -under their rough exteriors. Emma’s eyes were -twinkling mischievously when she finished and -observed the effect of her story.</p> - -<p>The cowmen wiped their eyes, then gave her a -cowboy yell. Stacy Brown rose and bowed low -in acknowledgment, which brought a loud guffaw. -The dance that had been so rudely interrupted on -a previous occasion was then resumed, and thirty -minutes later the gathering broke up, every cowboy -face wearing a broad grin. The Overlanders -surely had brought sunshine to the Circle O -ranch.</p> - -<p>As all hands strolled out into the open, Emma -walking at the side of Two-gun Pete, gazing up -soulfully into his embarrassed face, Elfreda Briggs -pointed to a cloud of dust far down the valley, -a cloud that was rolling rapidly towards them.</p> - -<p>“That looks like a young tornado,” observed -Stacy.</p> - -<p>“I reckon thet’s it, and on a hoss, too,” said -Idaho.</p> - -<p>“On a horse?” wondered Emma.</p> - -<p>“Yes. You’ll see when it gits heah. Wait!” -chuckled Idaho.</p> - -<p>The Overland party now watched the cloud -with new interest, and the cowboys laughed as -they observed the puzzled expression on the faces -of their guests.</p> - -<p>“It is someone on a horse. You can’t fool me,” -cried Emma.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and it is a girl, too,” added Elfreda.</p> - -<p>The rider came on like an incipient whirlwind, -her mustang on a run. She shot by the spectators -and went on for some distance, then, circling -out into the valley, came dashing up to them and -flung herself from the saddle.</p> - -<p>The newcomer gazed from one to another of the -Overland Riders, while the cowpunchers chuckled -to themselves. They knew the girl and looked -for something interesting to follow. It did.</p> - -<p>“I’m Judy! Who be you?” she demanded.</p> - -<p>“We are the Overland Riders,” answered Stacy -Brown pompously.</p> - -<p>Judy eyed the fat boy frowningly, then once -more ran her gaze over the rest of the party.</p> - -<p>“My gosh! You are a sweet bunch of dudes, -ain’t you? Here you, Idaho Jones, take my -cayuse,” she demanded, tossing the bridle-rein to -the grinning cowboy.</p> - -<p>Judy Hornby, in introducing herself to the newcomers -in the Coso Valley, had done so in -characteristic fashion.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chIX' title='IX: JUDY SPEAKS OUT'> -<span>CHAPTER IX</span><br /> -<span>JUDY SPEAKS OUT</span> -</h2> - -<p>“Hello, little gal!” cried Bindloss, -coming forward with extended hand -and smiling face.</p> - -<p>“Hello! Why don’t you introduce me to your -friends?”</p> - -<p>“Why, Judy, don’t you know them?”</p> - -<p>“No, but I’m goin’ to in ’bout a minute,” -answered Judy, who shook hands and commented -on each member of the Overland party as Joe -Bindloss introduced her. “Some knock-down, -ain’t it?” grinned Judy after the introductions -had been finished. “My Pap says you folks ain’t -no great scratch an’ that you ain’t here for no -good. Pap says that Old Joe Bindloss better -build a corral ’bout his cattle or he’ll lose ’em with -all these new folks roamin’ ’round in the hills. -Be you a fine lady, or ain’t you?” demanded the -mountain girl, fixing her eyes on Elfreda Briggs. -J. Elfreda flushed under the scrutiny.</p> - -<p>“No. I am just a plain, ordinary woman, a -bachelor girl and—”</p> - -<p>“In other words, an old maid, Miss Hornby,” -Emma Dean explained.</p> - -<p>“Cut the ‘Miss.’ My name’s Judy. What’s -your handle?”</p> - -<p>“Emma.”</p> - -<p>“All right, Emma. Now the rest of you give -me your handles, then we’ll be down to cases,” -whereupon the Overlanders dutifully gave her -their given names. “My gosh! What a lot of -highfalutin’ names. I should think they would -keep you folks awake nights.”</p> - -<p>The Overlanders laughed heartily and Judy -joined in the laugh, though with little idea what -she was laughing at. The mountain girl had, in -her lifetime, seen but few persons who did not -belong to desert or mountain, and these bright-eyed -girls were a revelation to her, because, as she -expressed it, “most all that kind is stuck up.”</p> - -<p>If Judy was interested in her new acquaintances, -they surely were even more attracted to -her. She was a splendid type, her dark, handsome -face unspoiled by the strenuous outdoor life -she led, and her figure possessing lines that would -have been the envy of any woman. Judy was -only nineteen, so she said, but she looked more. -That she could ride, the Overlanders had the evidence -of their own eyes, and that she could shoot, -was to be inferred from the business-like looking -revolver that swung at her hip.</p> - -<p>“Not all are ‘stuck up,’” differed Grace laughingly. -“We are not. If we were we probably -should not be here, roughing it, when we might be -at home taking our ease and getting fat.”</p> - -<p>“Judy, you mustn’t take too seriously what -Grace says. Remember, she and Nora are here -with their husbands, both old married women, -here because their husbands want to live part of -the year in the open. That’s the way women do -when they love their husbands,” volunteered -Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“A-huh! What are you doin’ here, then?”</p> - -<p>“Because I love the open and love my friends -who also enjoy it.”</p> - -<p>“What’s love?” flung back the mountain girl.</p> - -<p>“Why—I—I—Perhaps you had better ask -Emma. Old maids are not supposed to be authorities -on that subject,” answered Miss Briggs, -her color rising.</p> - -<p>“Love? Why, Judy, love is the most wonderful -thing in the world,” cried Emma dramatically, -as Judy turned to her inquiringly. Emma’s -eyes were rolling and she registered extreme emotion, -greatly to the amusement of her companions.</p> - -<p>“My gosh! Ain’t goin’ to have a fit, be ye?” -exclaimed Judy, whereat the Overland Riders -shouted.</p> - -<p>“Have you ever been in love?” interjected -Nora.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know, Nora. Once I seen a fellow in -a play in a tent over at Carrago, and he was some -man, believe me. I jest sat there and looked at -him and my heart got so wiggly that I couldn’t -do nothin’ with it at all. But thet wan’t nothin’ -to what happened later in the day when I met him -on the street. He seen me lookin’ at him an’ -smiled an’ bobbed his hat to me. My gosh! I -near fainted. I sure thought I was goin’ to die -right there. Never had no such feelin’ in all my -life.”</p> - -<p>“Yes?” urged the girls, doing their best to keep -from laughing.</p> - -<p>“Did you get acquainted with him?” asked -Grace.</p> - -<p>“No. I didn’t dast. My Pap was with me, -but I went home and cried. Can you beat it?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, my dear, you <i>were</i> in love. You surely -<i>were</i>,” cried Emma.</p> - -<p>“Was I?” wondered the mountain girl. “Was -you ever that way, Emma?”</p> - -<p>“Ever? Oh, help!” murmured Miss Briggs. -“Judy, she is even making love to these fine cowboys. -Doesn’t that make you jealous?”</p> - -<p>“Jealous? Of them rough-necks? Wal, I -reckon not. I don’t reckon on that kind of critter. -I want a real man, I want to fly, to see what’s on -t’other side of them mountain ranges. I want to -be a real lady an’ know ’bout things. My gosh, -how I want to be like that! It’s right in here!” -cried Judy, clapping a hand over her heart. “I -want to so much that it aches, it hurts like as if a -rattler had given me a jab there. I tried poulticin’ -but it wan’t no good. Pap said it was what -I needed, but it wan’t, and here I am. What do -you reckon I ought to do?” finished Judy, passing -a quick hand over her eyes.</p> - -<p>The Overlanders did not laugh. There was a -tragic note in the voice of the mountain girl that -stirred their sympathies and moved them. Grace -slipped an arm about her.</p> - -<p>“Judy, I wish you might come with us while -we are riding the ranges. Perhaps we might teach -you things that would make you more contented -with your life,” said Grace, her voice full of -sympathy. “Would you like to do that?”</p> - -<p>“Like it? I’d be so dum tickled that I couldn’t -hold myself.”</p> - -<p>“Then why not come?” urged Nora.</p> - -<p>“I don’t dast. Pap would take it out of me -right smart.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t mean he would punish you—that -he would lay hands on you?” begged Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“Him wallop me? Wal, I reckon not! I ain’t -packin’ no gun for nothin’.”</p> - -<p>“Judy!” cried Nora. “You mustn’t say such -things. Why not let us ask your father to let -you go with us?”</p> - -<p>“Ask <i>him</i>?” Judy shook her head with emphasis. -“You folks keep away from Pap if you -know what’s good for you. Pap’s got a grouch -on most of the time, and he ain’t particular ’bout -who knows it. You keep away from Pap, ’cause -he don’t set much store by this here outfit. He -reckons as you ain’t got no business here, an’ if -you come foolin’ round he’ll chase you out. -Would you go?” she demanded abruptly.</p> - -<p>“It has been tried on us on other occasions, -but up to the present time we have never gone -until we were quite ready to do so,” answered -Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>“I wondered what you’d do, when I dreamed -somethin’ ’bout you last night—”</p> - -<p>“Dreamed? Do you dream, Judy?” cried -Emma, her face full of sudden interest.</p> - -<p>“I reckon I do. I dreamed ’bout that actor -feller for a month.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, isn’t that adorable!” bubbled Emma. -“The imponderable quality is working in you. -Listen, dear. When you have another dream, you -come straight to me and I’ll make a psychoanalysis -of it and tell you what it means.”</p> - -<p>“My gosh! If I could talk like that I’d be -a real lady, wouldn’t I? Where you goin’ from -here?”</p> - -<p>“We don’t know. All depends upon how my -husband gets along with his wounds. He was -shot in a fight with the men who, we believe, -stole our ponies, but we hope that he will be able -to ride in a short time,” answered Nora.</p> - -<p>“Ain’t that too bad? Gosh! If a fellow hurt -my man I reckon I’d do some shootin’ for myself,” -observed Judy. “Who do you think rustled -them ponies?”</p> - -<p>Tom Gray said they did not know, but that -they proposed to find out, and asked her if she -or her father had any suspicion as to who the -rustlers were. Judy shook her head.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know nothin’. That’s what I’ve been -trying to tell you. Say, Emma, what’s that word -you got off jest now?”</p> - -<p>“Imponderable,” intoned Stacy gloomily.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t ask you, Mr. Fatty. Write it down, -Emma, and I’ll try it on Pap. I’ll bet there’ll be -some fun. Wal, I reckon I’ll be hittin’ the trail -for home. So long, Tom. Hippy, I hopes your -laig gets better right smart,” she called to the -Overlander on the porch. “’Bye, girls.”</p> - -<p>“Come again soon, and as often as you can,” -urged Grace.</p> - -<p>“Sure I will. Mebby I can’t get back today, -but I’ll try. Say, Emma, I’m goin’ to practice -that word on Butte. That’s my mustang. If he -stands for it I reckon Pap can,” finished Judy, -starting slowly towards her pony, arms linked -with Grace and Elfreda. “Butte’s got a temper -somethin’ like Pap’s. I reckon he got it from -Pap, too. Let’s see. What’s that word? Im—impond’ble. -All right. Jest watch me.”</p> - -<p>Judy swung lightly into her saddle.</p> - -<p>“G’wan, you impond’ble, dad-busted cayuse,” -she shouted, touching the animal lightly with a -spur.</p> - -<p>Butte responded instantly. Uttering a grunt, -both hind heels went into the air before Judy -had succeeded in getting her feet into the stirrups.</p> - -<p>The mountain girl made a quick reach for the -swinging stirrups and missed, whereupon the mustang -leaped clear of the ground, coming down -stiffly on all four feet, head down with hind -quarters shooting into the air. Judy was catapulted -over his head and landed on her back with -a whack that should have knocked all the breath -out of her.</p> - -<p>Tom Gray made a quick spring for the pony’s -head and grabbed the bridle. The pony fought -him, but a firm grip on the animal’s nose shut -off his breathing and subdued him in a moment.</p> - -<p>The girls ran to Judy just as she sat up. Judy -was a little dazed, but she grinned.</p> - -<p>“Oh, you poor girl! You’re hurt,” cried Nora.</p> - -<p>“Mebby I be, but I reckon the ground is hurt -worse. Anyhow what happened to me an’ the -ground ain’t a flea-bite to what’s goin’ to happen -to Butte afore we gets home. Say, Emma! I -don’t reckon as I’ll say that word to Pap all of a -sudden. I’m too dad-busted sore now to have -another fight on my hands tonight, and I’ll be -sorer by the time I gets home. I’m goin’ to ride -him this time.”</p> - -<p>Judy again flung herself into the saddle, and -this time both feet caught the stirrups. The -mustang instantly threw himself into another -buck. The spur dug into him harder and harder -and Judy’s whip came down on his flank again and -again. A leap carried them clear of the Overland -party, and for the next few moments they were -treated to the most spirited exhibition of horsemanship -that they had ever seen. Old Bindloss -was shaking with laughter, and the cowpunchers -were howling with delight and firing their six-shooters -into the air.</p> - -<p>“She’s got him!” cried Emma. “Oh, I wish -I could ride like that. There she comes!”</p> - -<p>Judy, who was by now a full quarter of a mile -out in the valley, had whirled and was driving -straight at them. On she came, the pony’s efforts -to unseat its rider growing less and less, as its -speed increased.</p> - -<p>“Whoo—pe-e-e-e!” yelled Judy in her shrill, -high-pitched voice as she reached the Overlanders, -and turning, tore off down the valley where she -was soon lost to sight in a cloud of dust.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chX' title='X: THE ROUND-UP'> -<span>CHAPTER X</span><br /> -<span>THE ROUND-UP</span> -</h2> - -<p>Judy Hornby did not return to the Circle -O ranch that day nor the next, and when -she did she was not nearly so talkative as -before. The girl, however, listened eagerly to all -that her new-found friends had to say to her, and -what they said was intended to be helpful to -this unusual young woman who had known little -companionship of her own sex.</p> - -<p>After a time her tongue loosened a little and -she told them that “Pap” had forbidden her to -visit them unless he told her to go. Judy declared -that she didn’t give a rap whether he liked -it or not, and that she was going to ride over to -the Circle O ranch whenever she felt like it.</p> - -<p>“He don’t dast do nothing to me anyway. I -reckon it’s because I tried that ‘impond’able’ -thing on him. When he asked me where I got it -an’ I told him over here, you ought to seen him -git mad. Pap sure was a scream. Lemme look -at your hair,” she added abruptly, addressing Miss -Briggs, who nodded good-naturedly.</p> - -<p>“Gosh! Ain’t that fine? But for the love of -Mike, how do you do it?”</p> - -<p>“I will do yours if you wish,” offered Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“Would you?”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” answered J. Elfreda. “Sit down -and I will see what I can do with it. You have -beautiful hair, and I am not eager to see you -wear it any other way than you do now—down -your back.”</p> - -<p>Greatly to the amusement of her companions, -Miss Briggs performed an elaborate piece of hair-dressing, -building up a wonderful tower of shining -brown on the mountain girl’s head. Then a -mirror was brought and Judy was permitted to -look at the result, the Overlanders awaiting the -verdict in silent expectancy.</p> - -<p>Judy gazed into the mirror for some moments -before looking up.</p> - -<p>“Gosh-a’mighty, I’m a lady now for sure, ain’t -I?” she breathed, heaving a deep sigh.</p> - -<p>After a time the Overland girls sought to explain -to her that it was not the dress she wore nor -the way she wore her hair, but her breeding, that -made the lady. Judy listened attentively to the -brief lecture read to her by Grace and Elfreda, -then started for home, this time at a slow jog. -Judy was in a thoughtful mood.</p> - -<p>For the next week she was a daily visitor at the -Circle O ranch. Hippy Wingate was again on his -feet, but still wearing a bandage on his head and -walking with a cane. His companions were in no -haste to leave him; in fact they had been waiting -for his recovery quite willingly because they had -been urged by Bindloss to stay for the round-up -that was now close at hand, when the cattle -would be rounded up into herds and the fat ones -cut out, branded again and driven to a shipping -point for market. Bindloss promised his guests -a lively time. The cowpunchers, too, were looking -forward to the occasion with more than their -ordinary interest, for in it they saw an opportunity -to show their horsemanship and skill to the Overland -girls.</p> - -<p>Judy Hornby was invited to accompany the -party to the round-up, but for some reason she -refused, and went away that day with her face -dark and resentful. The Overlanders were at a -loss to account for the sudden change in her.</p> - -<p>The day of the big round-up arrived, and the -ranch presented a scene of activity long before -daylight that morning. There was much equipment -to be shipped down the valley, for the first -herd to be rounded up were grazing more than -twenty miles away, not very far from Judy’s log-cabin -home, where her father had quite a herd of -cattle of his own, though small compared with the -Bindloss herds. His brand was the “Double Q” -while Bindloss’s was the “Circle O.”</p> - -<p>Lieutenant Wingate, not feeling able to take -the long ride, decided to remain at the ranch-house -until one of the herds near by was rounded -up. He could watch the round-up, then easily -get back to the ranch-house should he find it -necessary to do so. There being no reason for -Jim-Sam’s remaining at the ranch, Bindloss accepted -their offer to assist in the round-up.</p> - -<p>“I am going to help, too,” promised Emma, as -they were eating breakfast in camp next morning -with Bindloss as their guest.</p> - -<p>“No, you ain’t,” replied the rancher. “You -keep out of it and stay where you’re safe. There’s -some wild ones in the bunch we are going after -today.”</p> - -<p>Tom Gray was accepted as a novice, and a -pony that knew the ropes was assigned to him for -the work. Bindloss told him that so long as he -gave the animal its head he would be reasonably -safe.</p> - -<p>The Overlanders got a later start than the -others, but managed to get away shortly after -daybreak. It was a wonderful ride through the -fragrant morning air, one that every member of -the party thoroughly enjoyed. Hippy in the -meantime was having a glorious morning, too—snoring -in the ranch-house, where he proposed to -remain all day and have “peace and quiet,” as -he expressed it.</p> - -<p>As they neared the scene of the round-up, near -mid-forenoon, the Overlanders rode up the first -bluff of the foothills, as they had been directed to -do, and then followed along parallel with the -valley. As they drew near they suddenly found -themselves gazing down upon the scene that they -had come so far to see—a western round-up.</p> - -<p>A great herd—thousands of them, it seemed—were -milling about on the plain below them, -making the dust fly in suffocating clouds, while -wilder ones of the herd were galloping for the -foothills. Calves were running about bawling for -their mothers, and frantic cows were splitting the -herd in search of them. Above the din rose -shrill and clear the calls of the cowpunchers, calls -that were familiar, especially to the steers, who -seemed to know the meaning of them even if they -did do exactly the opposite to what was expected -of them.</p> - -<p>Up and down the rolling foothills raced the -long-horns, with ponies ridden by yelling, shouting, -dare-devil riders, in pursuit. Here and there -a lasso wriggled through the air, spun by an irate -cowboy, and a big steer went down on his nose.</p> - -<p>A bunch of wild steers raced past the Overlanders, -and Stacy, suddenly deciding that it was -his duty to drive them back, galloped after them.</p> - -<p>The fat boy soon found himself in the midst of -a charging, bellowing mass of wild steers whose -long horns and threatening jabs at his mustang, -made him wish that he had kept out of it. He -was in a more perilous position than he realized. -The girls were shouting for him to come back, -but in the uproar Stacy did not hear them, nor -could he have obeyed had he heard.</p> - -<p>Two-gun Pete was the first to discover the boy’s -predicament. He came flashing up the grade, -past the girls, but without looking at them, and -rode on until he had reached the herd. There -he began uttering shrill yells that were heard -above the uproar. Pete, at the risk of his pony’s -life, if not his own, dodged in and out until he -got to the side of the fat boy.</p> - -<p>“Hot-foot it out of this, you tenderfoot!” he -roared.</p> - -<p>“All right. Show me the way, you cowpuncher!” -flung back Stacy.</p> - -<p>“Follow me, but not too close.” Pete, exerting -mighty efforts, soon split the herd apart, and -into the opening thus made, Stacy rode without -further urging, and in a few moments he was clear -of the herd. “Now git back with ye and stay -back!”</p> - -<p>Now that he was up there, Pete decided to head -off the wild bunch. He rode his sweating mustang -until it seemed as if he would ride the little -animal off its feet, and little by little he bunched -the unruly steers and started them towards the -valley, when they suddenly headed straight for -the position occupied by the Overlanders.</p> - -<p>“They’ll run us down!” cried Nora.</p> - -<p>“No! We can get away if they get too close. -Ride for them and yell like all possessed. Try -to turn them to their left,” urged Grace.</p> - -<p>The Overland girls, fired with the same spirit -that was urging the cowpunchers in their work, -started forward at a gallop, waving their sombreros -and uttering such screeches as probably -not only astounded, but frightened the outlaw -steers. The cattle, however, held to their course -just the same. Two-gun Pete saw and understood -what the girls were trying to do. He also -understood full well the risk they were taking. -Pete pealed out a shrill, far-reaching warning, but -they did not hear.</p> - -<p>“Yell, you Overlanders!” screamed Elfreda -Briggs, and, taking her own advice, she uttered -yell after yell, that Two-gun Pete later declared -on his honor as a cowpuncher frightened one -tough old maverick to death. At least the animal -was found dead at about that point, later on in -the day.</p> - -<p>J. Elfreda evidently turned the tide, for a -leader swerved, and the herd followed him and -went plunging down the slope.</p> - -<p>“Hot stuff, but don’t ye do it again!” shouted -the cowboy as he followed the herd down the -foothill and out into the valley, where other cowpunchers -came to his assistance and rounded it up.</p> - -<p>The girls, now that the excitement was ended, -suddenly felt weak in the knees. They realized -that they had taken a desperate chance, and that -they had not been unhorsed, and perhaps gored to -death, was due to great good luck, and to the -far-reaching power of the dignified Elfreda Briggs’ -voice, rather than to any skill on their part.</p> - -<p>“That was a fool thing to do,” observed Stacy, -who now came trotting up to them.</p> - -<p>“Why, you unappreciative creature!” rebuked -Emma. “Don’t you know that we were trying -to save your life?”</p> - -<p>“Save nothing!” growled Stacy.</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” bowed Emma. “I could not -have said it better myself,” whereupon the other -girls laughed merrily, and Stacy drew off by himself -where he sat sullenly observing the work -going on below him.</p> - -<p>All day the milling about, the cutting-out, the -yells and the bellows, with here and there a sharp -encounter between cowboy and an ugly steer, continued -without a let-up. No one thought of -eating. There was too much work to be done, -and even the Overlanders forgot their noon -luncheon which they had brought with them.</p> - -<p>At twilight the cowmen were still busy, but -by this time they had several hundred animals -in the big corral, and in another a bunch of -stock for branding, while out on the range as -many more animals were stirring about restlessly. -Campfires began to spring up here and there, -over which tired riders cooked their slender -suppers and rested before taking up the work of -the night. This work included branding and -keeping rounded-up the stock left out on the -range. Bindloss joined the Overlanders at their -coffee and bacon. He was covered with dust and -his voice was hoarse from yelling at cattle and -at his riders.</p> - -<p>“How long is this thing going to continue?” -questioned Stacy Brown.</p> - -<p>“All night, young feller. Of course things will -quiet down ’long ’bout midnight. We’ve got -to get some rest, you know.”</p> - -<p>Grace said she thought that they should be -starting back towards camp after supper, but -Bindloss shook his head.</p> - -<p>“Some of the men will be going in later in the -evening. I’d rather have you folks wait and ride -in with them,” he said, but without giving any -reason for the request. “You can ride ’bout after -supper, but keep away from milling bunches, and -see the sights. You’ll be interested in the branding, -if you’ve never seen it done.”</p> - -<p>Soon after supper the girls of the party, accompanied -by Stacy, rode down the valley. There -they scattered somewhat, Emma first having discovered -Two-gun Pete and stopping to talk with -him. Stacy rode on, saying that he wished to -see the rest of the show.</p> - -<p>Pete told Emma that he did not like the way -the cattle had been acting that day. He averred -that something had been stirring them up of late, -but reckoned it must be a mountain lion that had -been trying to get the calves. Whether or not the -beast had succeeded he said he did not know, -for no one knew how many calves there were in -any of the herds.</p> - -<p>Two-gun Pete had work to do, so Emma rode -on and joined her companions whom she found -chatting with the owner of the ranch, who sat -his pony surveying the activity that was everywhere. -They wondered how he could make anything -out of all the confusion in the darkness, -which the many little fires merely accentuated. -Joe Bindloss, however, knew exactly what was -going on at all points of the round-up.</p> - -<p>Idaho Jones interrupted the conversation when -he came galloping up to the party.</p> - -<p>“Hey, Boss!” he called. “I been lookin’ all -over fer ye.” The voice of the cowpuncher held -an urgent note that each member of the party -before him felt.</p> - -<p>“Eh? What’s wrong?” demanded Bindloss -sharply.</p> - -<p>“Pop Skinner jest rode in, an’ he’s lookin’ fer -ye hot-foot. He says as he reckons thar’s trouble -up in the valley.”</p> - -<p>“What about?”</p> - -<p>“He didn’t wait to tell me.”</p> - -<p>“Find him—find him and fetch him here -almighty quick! Hump yourself!” commanded -Bindloss.</p> - -<p>“Co—o-o-o-o! Pop, heah,” yelled Idaho, his -quick eye discovering the man for whom he was -looking, and out of the darkness shot a gray mustang -bearing down on them. “Thar he is now.”</p> - -<p>“What’s wrong?” shouted Bindloss.</p> - -<p>“I don’t reckon as I know, Boss, but as I was -comin’ down to jine the outfit heah, I runned -across Sallie guardin’ the number six herd. He -said as he’d seen a bunch of riders come out of -the foothills, ’bout four mile above heah an’ head -off in the direction of the ranch an’ he thought -ye better know ’bout it. As I was comin’ down -anyway, I made a hustle. ’Bout half way down -I heard rifle shots up-valley. Thet’s all I knows -’bout it, but I reckoned you ought to know.”</p> - -<p>“Get Pete and all the other fellers you can -skin in a hurry and light out for the ranch. -There’s trouble, and I’ve felt it somehow all -day!”</p> - -<p>While Bindloss was giving his orders another -cowpuncher rode in on a pony that was dripping -lather. He, too, was from somewhere up the Coso -Valley and he was excited.</p> - -<p>“They’ve attacked the ranch, Boss!” he fairly -flung at Bindloss.</p> - -<p>“Who’s attacked it?” roared the rancher.</p> - -<p>“Don’t know nothin’ ’bout thet, but I seen an’ -heard the firin’ and thar’s the old Harry to pay -up thar.”</p> - -<p>Idaho had already ridden away to gather a -bunch of his fellows for the ride back to the ranch, -and while this was being done Bindloss eagerly -questioned the two men who had brought him evil -tidings. Perhaps Bindloss had an idea as to who -the men from the mountain were, but if so he -did not inform the disturbed Overlanders. They -were thinking of Hippy up there alone in the -ranch-house, himself suffering from wounds and -perhaps helpless in the hands of a band of mountain -ruffians.</p> - -<p>“We must go!” cried Nora.</p> - -<p>“Yes, we will go,” answered Grace. “I wish -I could find Tom.”</p> - -<p>“They’ll get him,” answered Bindloss. “You’ll -have to ride some if you keep up with the cowpunchers, -and this ain’t no pleasure trip neither. -Here they come!”</p> - -<p>Pete was leading the party of rough-riders that -came racing towards him, and with them was Tom -Gray. His companions of the Overland party -hardly recognized him, for his clothes were covered -with dust and his face was streaked where the -perspiration had trickled through the grime.</p> - -<p>“Orders, Boss?” called Pete.</p> - -<p>“Ride! Ride the cayuses to death, but get -there, that’s all. Go!”</p> - -<p>The cowboys pulled their mustangs and fairly -lifted them, rearing and wheeling, and were off -like projectiles, fierce fires burning in every cowboy -heart, and the lust for battle and revenge -taking full possession of them.</p> - -<p>The Overland Riders were not many seconds -behind them in starting, nor did they have to urge -their mustangs, who were as eager as they to keep -up with the reckless riders ahead, riders that were -using spur and voice in the wild night ride up the -Coso Valley.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXI' title='XI: HIPPY DEFENDS THE RANCH'> -<span>CHAPTER XI</span><br /> -<span>HIPPY DEFENDS THE RANCH</span> -</h2> - -<p>Lieutenant Wingate after a refreshing -afternoon’s sleep had remained -up long enough to brew tea and fry bacon -and eggs for himself. It was dusk when he -finished his supper.</p> - -<p>“I ought to wash the dishes, I suppose, but -I think I’ll let the girls do that. There is some -satisfaction in being a convalescent,” he decided, -grinning at his own humor. “Queer thing about -convalescence—when you get through with your -sleep you are ready for another. Ho, hum!”</p> - -<p>Hippy, with the aid of a cane, hobbled out to -the porch that fronted the valley and sat down on -his cot, then lay back breathing in the soft breezes -from mountain and plain.</p> - -<p>“This is the life,” he muttered, sinking into a -half doze.</p> - -<p>All at once the Overland Rider pulled himself -into keen wakefulness. He was positive that he -heard horses approaching, but they seemed to be -a long way off. His first thought was that either -the Overlanders or some of the cowboys were on -their way home, but with the caution born of -experience, he decided to lie quietly and wait.</p> - -<p>The hoof-beats ceased, so far as he was able -to hear, and silence settled over the valley, broken -now and then by the howl of a hungry coyote. -Somehow this sudden silence got on the nerves -of Lieutenant Hippy Wingate, and getting up he -hobbled into the ranch-house and strapped on his -revolver holster. Bethinking himself of Bindloss’s -rifle he got that, examined the chambers -and, as he expected, found it fully loaded.</p> - -<p>“Now we are all set,” he muttered. He had -reached the ranch-house door when he halted -sharply and gazed into the night over which the -stars shed a faint light, making objects within -the range of his vision stand out in unreal and -fantastic shapes. Hippy, however, did see something -moving, something that was quite real. -This something was a man, and as he gazed other -figures were discovered.</p> - -<p>“I wonder if that’s some of the boys?” he -muttered. Upon second thought he decided that -the cowpunchers would not be moving about so -quietly. Three appeared to have come from the -direction of the Overland camp at the rear of the -ranch-house, and Hippy then knew that all was -not well at the Circle O ranch. He stepped back, -softly closed and bolted the door, and took his -place at a window that had been pulled down -from the top. From that vantage point he -watched with straining eyes.</p> - -<p>The men appeared to be investigating, undoubtedly -for the purpose of learning whether or not -there were anyone about the place. One finally -turned his attention to the ranch-house, first -cautiously trying the door, then peering in through -the window. Hippy had stepped aside as the -man approached him, and a few seconds later he -saw a face pressed against the pane.</p> - -<p>After a moment of peering, the fellow carefully -raised both windows from the bottom and thrust -his head in.</p> - -<p>Hippy pressed his body against the wall and -grasped his revolver by the barrel. The fellow’s -shoulders were thrust in and the watcher saw that -he was about to climb in.</p> - -<p>Lieutenant Hippy Wingate took instant advantage -of the opportunity and brought the butt -of his revolver down with full force on the intruder’s -head. The whack was so loud that the -Overlander thought the others must hear, and, -without an instant’s hesitation, he grabbed and -dragged the unconscious man into the room.</p> - -<p>“I hope I haven’t killed the ruffian!” A hand -placed over the man’s heart told Hippy that he -had not. Hippy, knowing that there was a lasso -hanging in Bindloss’s room, in fact that there -were several there, hobbled in, and fetching the -rope, hog-tied the man, after which he put a -handkerchief gag in the fellow’s mouth.</p> - -<p>“Good! This is like taking candy from babies,” -he chuckled, going over to the window and replacing -it as it was before. This enabled him to -stand up and look out, and also gave him free -range in case he found it necessary to use his -weapons. Bethinking himself of other windows, -Hippy made a circuit of the lower floor and closed -and locked them. For a man to get in now would -necessitate breaking a window, which he surely -would hear.</p> - -<p>The watcher had no more than returned to his -open window than he suddenly ducked to one -side, for he discovered that a second man was -about to peer in. Unlike the first caller this man -walked away and went around to the rear of the -house, but he was back in a few moments, this -time accompanied by a companion. They were -whispering, and at this instant the man on the -floor gave a kick with his heel that stopped the -whispering instantly.</p> - -<p>Lieutenant Wingate went over to the bound -man.</p> - -<p>“Do that again and I’ll settle you!” he hissed -with all the savageness that he could put into his -tone. “I mean what I say!”</p> - -<p>Returning to the window he stood to one side -watching the two men who were again holding a -whispered conversation, pausing now and then -to listen attentively. After a few moments of this, -one raised the window an inch or so at a time -and looked in. In the darkness they saw nothing.</p> - -<p>“I reckon it’s all right. I’ll go in an’ ye foller -me,” said one in a low, guarded tone of voice, -whereupon he began crawling in. As he landed -on his hands on the floor, Lieutenant Wingate -hit him a terrific wallop on the head with the -butt of his revolver, then made a swift pass with -it at the head of the other man whose head was -just inside the window.</p> - -<p>It hit the fellow a glancing blow, and jerking -his head from the window he fell over backwards, -then staggering to his feet he ran, uttering a -warning cry.</p> - -<p>The time for secrecy, so far as Lieutenant Hippy -Wingate was concerned, had passed. He sent a -bullet from his revolver after the man and then -discovering other prowlers trying to get into the -corral, he snatched up the rifle, and fired at the -ground just behind them.</p> - -<p>The prowlers scattered in record time and a -volley of shots pinged into the ranch-house in -reply.</p> - -<p>The Overland Rider now hastily turned his -attention to his second victim, and in a few -minutes he had the man bound and dragged to -the other side of the room at a distance from the -first prisoner.</p> - -<p>“Confound the ruffians! Why couldn’t they -have come singly?” he growled. “I could have -caught the whole bunch. I reckon maybe there -will be something doing in a few moments.”</p> - -<p>There was. A rifle crashed out, then another, -and a snapping fire was directed at the Circle O -ranch-house, with Hippy lying flat on the floor -waiting for the shooting to stop. It soon did, -whereupon the Overlander crept to the window -and peered out. Not a human being was in sight, -but the watcher was too old a hand at campaigning -to believe that the prowlers had gone away. -He reasoned, too, that by making no return of -their fire, they might believe that they had hit -him. As he had surmised would be the case, a -man appeared after a time just beyond the corral. -The fellow darted across and disappeared behind -the stable where saddles and other equipment -were stored.</p> - -<p>The man’s next appearance was a few moments -later when he walked to the corral, looked in and -strolled back to the protection of the stable. -Others then appeared, at first exercising the utmost -caution, but little by little showing that they -believed danger to them had passed.</p> - -<p>Hippy Wingate chuckled. His ruse had succeeded, -but he knew the end was not yet. At -the same time he was groping for the reason for -the presence of these prowlers. From their -actions he believed that they were trying to steal -the ponies, and a moment later he saw them again -at work trying to break the locked gate of the -corral. They were battering away at it so boldly -that he knew they now feared no interruption.</p> - -<p>“I’ve got to take a chance,” muttered the Overland -Rider, “but I’ll shoot low. Perhaps I won’t -hit any of the stock.”</p> - -<p>There was no time to lose, for in a few moments -those sledge-hammer blows, that were probably -delivered with a maul or an axe, must produce -results.</p> - -<p>Taking as careful aim as he could in the uncertain -light, he pulled the trigger and Old Joe -Bindloss’s rifle roared.</p> - -<p>A yell greeted the shot, by which sign Lieutenant -Wingate knew that the bullet had found -a mark. He fired again, but this time there was -no answering yell. Two men grabbed up one of -their number, the party started on a run for the -stable and Hippy deliberately fired right into the -group. One man staggered and fell. He was -quickly dragged away, but not before the Overland -Rider had emptied his rifle at them, though, -so far as he was able to discover, without results. -Accurate shooting was impossible under the conditions.</p> - -<p>The rancher’s rifle was now empty, nor did -Lieutenant Wingate know where to find more -ammunition. He possessed his revolver and a -belt of cartridges which would keep him going for -some time, provided he were conservative in their -use, so the rifle was laid aside and the revolver -took its place. A quick examination of the two -captives informed him that both were conscious.</p> - -<p>“You fellows! Don’t you make a sound or -I’ll use the business end of my gun on you,” he -warned.</p> - -<p>Rifle bullets at this juncture again began ripping -through the side of the house, and while -they were still crunching about the room with a -chilling sound the Overlander, who was on the -floor, heard a powerful blow delivered on the door. -It was followed by other blows. The ruffians were -trying to beat the door down, and already a panel -had been shattered.</p> - -<p>Hippy hopped to his feet and placed himself -before the door, feeling reasonably safe there so -long as men were standing in front of it.</p> - -<p>Thrusting the muzzle of his weapon close to -the shattered panel he pulled the trigger, and a -howl of rage answered it. This shot had not -missed.</p> - -<p>Before giving the attackers a chance to do -further damage Hippy fired the remaining -chambers of his revolver through the door in quick -succession. He did not know whether or not he -had made a hit, but he knew that, for the moment, -he had effectively checked operations out there.</p> - -<p>A few seconds were lost in reloading, during -which not a sound reached him from the outside. -Stooping over, he peered through the shattered -panel. As he did so there came a sudden burst -of rifle fire and a dozen bullets ripped through -the door.</p> - -<p>Lieutenant Wingate straightened up, staggered, -clapped a hand to his head, half turned and -crashed full length to the floor. As he lay there, -bullets continued to thud through the door and -the siding of the ranch-house, then ceased as suddenly -as they had begun, but Hippy, some -moments since, had ceased to hear or know.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXII' title='XII: AT THE LAST MOMENT'> -<span>CHAPTER XII</span><br /> -<span>AT THE LAST MOMENT</span> -</h2> - -<p>“Smoke him out!” came the sharp -command after the firing had died down. -“That’ll fetch the critter. Then git -him.”</p> - -<p>Some dead grass, a handful of chips and a -match did the work, and a flickering blaze was -soon started under one corner of the ranch-house.</p> - -<p>“Now the hosses!” commanded the same voice. -“Two of ye git behind the house to watch for -him, the others go fer the mustangs in the corral.”</p> - -<p>The men ran to obey the orders of their leader, -when a sudden shout from one of them changed -the plans of the attackers entirely. It was a -shout of warning. Following it the ruffians -plainly heard the sound of hoof-beats approaching—many -of them. They were coming at what -the trained ears of the mountain ruffians told -them was a killing pace.</p> - -<p>“Hit the trail!” yelled the leader. “Go south -and scatter! Hit it hard!” came the further -orders.</p> - -<p>The ruffians were in their saddles within a -minute thereafter, some of them carrying -wounded companions who had got in the way -of Hippy Wingate’s bullets, and they were around -the corner of the corral in a twinkling. Once in -the shadow of it they faded away into the night, -just as Two-gun Pete and his companions flashed -in with guns ready for instant use.</p> - -<p>“Quick! Fire!” shouted Idaho.</p> - -<p>“Git water!” yelled Two-gun Pete, leaping -from his mustang.</p> - -<p>Old Joe Bindloss came up as the cowpunchers -were dashing water on the flames that were now -licking at the side of the building. He instantly -threw himself from his pony and grabbing a pail -began carrying water and giving orders at the -same time. The blaze was extinguished in a -few minutes. The Overland Riders came up at -this juncture.</p> - -<p>“Gosh a-mighty, what’s been going on here?” -bellowed the rancher. “Look at that door! -Clean busted in.”</p> - -<p>The boys quickly brought lanterns from the -stable, and by their light discovered the bullet -holes in door and siding. Windows, too, were -shot out at the front of the house.</p> - -<p>“Thar’s been a fight heah!” decided Pete.</p> - -<p>“Hippy!” wailed Nora, almost collapsing as -her pony stopped.</p> - -<p>“We’ll find out about thet, Missie,” answered -Pete. “Hey, Dude! Be you thar?” he shouted.</p> - -<p>There was no reply, and the Overlanders ran -for the house, each one fearing the worst.</p> - -<p>“Back! I reckon I’ll go in first!” bellowed -Bindloss. “It’s my house, and I reckon it’s up -to me to go in ahead. Boys, get behind me with -the lights so they don’t get in my eyes. You -Overlanders keep out of range in case there should -be some scrapping. No telling what we might -meet in there.” Bindloss with drawn weapon, -Two-gun Pete at his side, strode up and kicked -in the remnants of the front door of his home. -As the door went down both men leaped lightly -to one side, fearing an ambush.</p> - -<p>A dead silence followed.</p> - -<p>“Lights here!” commanded Bindloss, stepping -in with revolver thrust before him.</p> - -<p>Nothing happening, cowpunchers and Overlanders -crowded in. They found the old rancher -standing with a dazed expression on his face.</p> - -<p>“Gosh a-mighty!” he muttered over and over. -“What’s happened?”</p> - -<p>It was then that the Overlanders discovered -the two bound men, and then Hippy at some -little distance from them, stretched out on his -face, one hand still grasping his revolver.</p> - -<p>“Hippy!” It was a wailing cry from Nora as -she threw herself down beside him. “He’s dead! -He’s dead! They’ve killed him!” Nora threw -both arms about her husband and tried to turn -him over, but he was a dead weight and she -failed.</p> - -<p>Tom did it for her, the cowpunchers during all -this time standing with gaping mouths as dazed -as was their employer.</p> - -<p>Grace and Elfreda were at Hippy’s side in an -instant, and it was Elfreda who discovered that -he was not dead.</p> - -<p>“Light here, please,” requested Miss Briggs in -a tone so calm that it steadied the others of the -party. “Look at this, will you?” she added. -“A bullet has ripped the bandage from his head, -and torn open the stitches that I put in Hippy’s -scalp.”</p> - -<p>“Wounded in exactly the same place!” murmured -Grace. “How strange!”</p> - -<p>“What ’bout these cayuses, Boss?” demanded -Two-gun Pete, fixing a malignant gaze on the -two helpless ruffians who were looking from one -to the other of the party with anxiety in their -eyes. “Shall I make a good job of it an’ sarve -’em the same way somebody has sarved the -Dude?”</p> - -<p>“Shut up! They’ll keep. This man gets first -attention. Is he bad off, Miss?” questioned -Bindloss.</p> - -<p>“I can’t say,” answered Elfreda. “If I knew -how long he has been in this condition I might -make a better guess.”</p> - -<p>Pete released the gun from Hippy’s hand, felt -of the barrel, smelled of the muzzle, then looked -into the cylinder to see how many shots had -been fired from it.</p> - -<p>“Ain’t been this way more’n ten or fifteen -minutes, I reckon. Gun’s warm yit.”</p> - -<p>“Then it may be only concussion of the brain, -but I shan’t be able to tell definitely for some -little time. Some one run to camp and get bandages. -Tom, will you please go? Fetch my case -along.”</p> - -<p>Elfreda called for water and by the time Tom -returned had bathed the wound, the same wound -reopened, though the scalp on either side of it -was lacerated somewhat more than before. Restoratives -were administered by Grace, while -Elfreda was dressing and re-sewing the wound, -she believing it best to do this before the patient -recovered consciousness. Grace was not so successful, -and at Bindloss’s orders the cowpunchers -picked up the wounded Overlander and carried -him to his bed at the back of the house.</p> - -<p>“Take the gags out of them fellers’ mouths. -I reckon they’ll have something to say,” drawled -Bindloss in the cool tone that his men knew from -experience was a mask for a raging passion -beneath it.</p> - -<p>The gags were none too gently removed, the -captives’ weapons were jerked from their belts, -smelled of and examined and found not to have -been fired that evening. This was evidenced by -the fact that the cylinders were fully loaded, that -the barrels were cold, and that there was no odor -of burnt powder to be detected at the muzzles.</p> - -<p>“Stand ’em up against the wall and let’s have -a look at ’em!” commanded the rancher, and -after this had been done, and one of the cowboys -had held a lantern up to their faces, Bindloss -squinted at them frowningly. “Any of you -fellows know these critters?”</p> - -<p>Each cowpuncher stepped up and took a long, -stern look at the faces and shook his head.</p> - -<p>“I reckon you two bit off more’n you could -chew, eh? Who are ye?” demanded Bindloss.</p> - -<p>The captives, now sullen-faced, made no reply.</p> - -<p>“What happened that you two are hog-tied in -my house?”</p> - -<p>“Ain’t no use fer to ask questions ’cause you -ain’t goin’ to git no answers,” growled one.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell ye what happened,” spoke up the -other captive. “We was ridin’ by, an knowin’ -thet you-all was down the range, seen somethin’ -was goin’ on in heah an’ we jest come up to look -in, an’ got a crack on the haid. Thet’s all.”</p> - -<p>“You’re a liar!” blazed Joe Bindloss, drawing -back a clenched fist as if to strike the man, but -the fist slowly relaxed and his face grew calm -again. “You’ll talk before I git done with you, -I promise you that. When the man in there -wakes up, if he ever does, I’ll hear the truth. -If he dies I’ll shoot every man in these ranges -if I have to do so to git the right ones, and I’ll -begin with you, you sneaking coyotes! Take ’em -out and tie ’em in the barn. And, boys, fix ’em -so they can’t get away. If there’s any rough -stuff to be pulled off, I’ll do the pulling. Understand?”</p> - -<p>The cowpunchers nodded and picked up the -prisoners. When outside the door the man at the -head of each prisoner dropped his burden and the -cowboy at the foot dragged his captive by the -feet all the way to the stable. Sam Conifer -followed and stood gazing at the prisoners as the -cowmen were re-tying them. He was positive -that he had seen one of the ruffians before, but -could not place him.</p> - -<p>While this was going on, Jim, who had procured -a lantern and browsed about the ranch, returned -to the house. Bindloss was in the room -with Lieutenant Wingate at the moment, watching -the Overland girls work over him. Hearing -Jim enter, he stepped out.</p> - -<p>“Oh! It’s you, is it?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Boss, I been lookin’ ’round heah a little -an’ I’ve diskivered some things. Thar was seven -men in that party. They went up to our camp -fust, but didn’t take nothin’. Then they come -down heah an’ tried to git in the corral. Thar’s -some bullet holes in the posts thar, which I reckon -was made by Lieutenant Wingate’s rifle. Thar’s -a rifle on the floor thar. Whose is that?”</p> - -<p>“Mine,” exclaimed the rancher, picking up the -weapon and examining it. “The magazine is -empty—fired off this evening.”</p> - -<p>“Jest so. Some of them bullets is in the stable -now, an’ some more of ’em hit them rough-necks, -mebby killed ’em, I can’t say. Leastwise they -left some blood where two of ’em lay until they -was carried away on hosses. Thar’s tracks, too, -that lead right up to that winder thar.”</p> - -<p>“Good work,” complimented Bindloss. “What -beats me, though, is how two of them happened -to be tied down in the house.”</p> - -<p>“Three of ’em I trailed up to the winder. One -of ’em went away in a hurry, but t’other two -didn’t. I reckon mebby they aire the two fellers -that ye found heah. The party went south after -they heard ye comin’. I reckon that’s what -started ’em away. I reckon they was tryin’ to -steal yer mustangs when Lieutenant Wingate put -er crimp in their little picnic. Eh, Boss?”</p> - -<p>“I reckon you’re right, Jim. He must have -fought them single-handed and when they were -getting the worst of it they tried to set fire -to the ranch-house. I reckon we got here just -in time.”</p> - -<p>“Yep. Things do work out queer-like sometimes,” -agreed the old guide. “Somebody’s -comin’! They’re in a hurry, too,” he warned.</p> - -<p>A horse came to a sliding stop just outside of -the ranch-house. A rapid exchange of words followed -between the rider and the cowboys, then -a dust-covered, breathless cowboy clanked in.</p> - -<p>“Gosh a-mighty! What’s broke loose now?” -demanded the rancher. “Don’t tell me something -else has happened. Speak up! Are you -tongue-tied?”</p> - -<p>“The herd, Pop’s herd, has jest been stampeded -an’ scattered into the foothills, and Pop’s been -shot. The fellers thet stampeded the herd give -him his’n. They aire bringin’ him in now,” answered -the rider excitedly.</p> - -<p>Bindloss snatched up his rifle and bolted from -the door. His cowpunchers already were in their -saddles.</p> - -<p>“Grace, if I am not needed here, I’ll go, too,” -urged Tom.</p> - -<p>“Yes, do,” answered Grace Harlowe. “Tell -Jim-Sam to stay. Be careful, Tom.”</p> - -<p>“Safety first,” called back the Overland Rider -as he dashed out after the rancher. “Jim-Sam, -I hold you responsible for the safety of this place -while we are away.”</p> - -<p>“Come on if you’re going with me,” shouted -Bindloss.</p> - -<p>“I’m with you,” answered Tom, and in an incredibly -short time the party was thundering -down the valley.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXIII' title='XIII: AN OVERLANDER IS MISSING'> -<span>CHAPTER XIII</span><br /> -<span>AN OVERLANDER IS MISSING</span> -</h2> - -<p>The vigil of the Overland girls lasted -through the night. Along towards -morning Lieutenant Wingate’s breathing -became more natural and his heart action -better.</p> - -<p>“I am inclined to think that he will regain -consciousness soon,” announced Miss Briggs. -“If he does, it is not a fracture of the skull. Have -courage, Nora,” she added in answer to the appealing -look from Mrs. Wingate, who had sat -holding the wounded man’s hand all night long.</p> - -<p>“I’ve been trying to bring him back, and I’ve -thought so hard that I just knew he would have -to come back,” murmured Nora.</p> - -<p>Grace kissed her and patted her cheek.</p> - -<p>“The imponderable quality lies deep in us all,” -observed Emma more to herself than to her -companions.</p> - -<p>In the meantime Jim and Sam were prowling -about, now and then looking in to inquire how -the patient was getting along, but spending a -good part of their time at the Overland camp -which commanded a fairly good view of the ranch -buildings.</p> - -<p>Shortly after daybreak, Hippy stirred and -began to mutter. A few moments later he opened -his eyes, blinked a few times, and smiled up into -Nora’s face. The Overland girl burst into tears.</p> - -<p>“If you don’t stop that at once out you go!” -threatened Miss Briggs. “Hippy must have -absolute quiet. Which shall it be?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll be quiet,” promised Nora, conquering the -sobs that rose to her lips.</p> - -<p>There was instant silence in the room, and in -a few moments Hippy Wingate sank into a -natural sleep, from which he did not awaken until -late in the morning. After some nourishment was -given him, he asked for explanations.</p> - -<p>The girls told him how they had found him, -and asked him what had occurred before he was -put out by a bullet. Hippy related all that he -could remember of the occurrences of the previous -night. They then insisted on his going to sleep -again, which he was quite willing and ready to do.</p> - -<p>No one had been near the stable where the -prisoners were held, though Jim-Sam had made -occasional tours of inspection about the building -throughout the night. The key to the stable -was in the pocket of Two-gun Pete, so, though -the prisoners must be hungry, it was plain that -they would get nothing to eat until the return -of the rancher and his party.</p> - -<p>Bindloss, and those that had gone out with -him, returned shortly before noon worn and angry. -Emma met them in front of the ranch-house -waving her hat and smiling.</p> - -<p>“It’s all right,” she cried in answer to a volley -of questions about Hippy. “He is sleeping now.”</p> - -<p>“Whoo—pe-e-e!” howled the boys.</p> - -<p>“Shut up! The man’s asleep!” rebuked Joe -Bindloss, getting down from his saddle and -stamping about to get the kinks out of his -legs, for he had not been out of the saddle in -many hours.</p> - -<p>At this juncture Grace appeared at the door -of the ranch-house and waved a hand at them.</p> - -<p>“The lieutenant is awake now and he would -like to see you, Mr. Bindloss,” she informed the -rancher.</p> - -<p>Bindloss limped in, and the cowboys, not to be -denied what they were certain would prove to be -an interesting interview, flung themselves from -their ponies and trooped in. They were crowded -about the door of the injured man’s room by the -time Joe Bindloss gripped the Overland Rider’s -hand.</p> - -<p>Hippy sat propped up in bed, his head swathed -in bandages, and he grinned at the solemn faces -of the cowpunchers.</p> - -<p>“I got mine again, fellows. Regular tenderfoot, -eh?”</p> - -<p>The cowpunchers shook their heads.</p> - -<p>“Wal, now, tell me ’bout it,” urged the rancher.</p> - -<p>To save Hippy from another wearisome recital, -Miss Briggs repeated what he had already related -of his experiences. The lines of the cowboy countenances -grew taut during the recital, but no -word was uttered. They were held by the words -of Elfreda Briggs, spoken without attempt at embellishment.</p> - -<p>“An’ you got two of ’em. Well, I’ll be struck -dead if that ain’t the limit. Boys, what do you -think ’bout this outfit being tenderfeet?” he demanded, -turning brusquely to his men.</p> - -<p>The cowboys shifted uneasily and fumbled their -hats.</p> - -<p>“Boss, I reckon we got to git somebody fer -thet. What ’bout Pop? Is he daid?” demanded -Idaho.</p> - -<p>“No. He isn’t badly hurt. Shot through the -shoulder, that’s all,” smiled J. Elfreda. “He is -in the bunk-house. Mrs. Gray fixed him up and -Sam has been looking after him. I shall go over -again soon and look him over. The lieutenant -being the worse hurt demanded most of our -attention, though Pop has not been neglected,” -Elfreda informed them.</p> - -<p>“I think the prisoners may need attention by -this time,” suggested Grace. “They must be -hungry.”</p> - -<p>Bindloss growled.</p> - -<p>“All right. Pete, see that they get something -to eat. Find out if they are ready to talk and -let me know.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” said Grace smilingly.</p> - -<p>“Hippy, you’ve done me a big service. I don’t -know what to say,” resumed the rancher.</p> - -<p>“Don’t say anything. I had to fight to save -my own skin,” answered Hippy.</p> - -<p>“A good many folks would have hid in the -cellar,” chuckled Bindloss. “Catching those two -rough-necks was the cleverest thing that’s been -done in Coso Valley, and I reckon the record will -stand for some time. Feel all right?”</p> - -<p>“Sore, but happy, Mr. Bindloss. Tell me what -happened below. The girls said there was trouble -with the Number Six herd and that Pop had been -wounded.”</p> - -<p>Bindloss’s face contracted.</p> - -<p>“The miserable coyotes! I mean that mountain -gang. Yes, they stampeded the herd and -run them into the foothills. They got some of -the stock, too, but I don’t know how many head. -The whole bunch got away before we got down -there, though they left several snipers as a sort -of rear guard, and they took pot shots at us when -the boys tried to get on the trail of the stolen -stock. We got the stock rounded up, what was -left of it, and drove it in with another herd. The -boys are finishing rounding up on that section -today. I reckon they can get along without me. -Pete and the bunch are going back later. We’ve -got two of the thieves here, anyway, and they -are going to jail when we get ready to turn them -over. I reckon they are going to talk some first, -though.”</p> - -<p>“Can’t your men trail the rustlers?” asked -Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>“Not far. You don’t know these mountains. -They could hide up a bunch of cattle for months -and no one could find them unless he just happened -to stumble onto the hiding place. The best -we can do is to find out who the boss of that -thieving outfit is and shoot him up. I reckon -that’s what’s going to be did, too. By the way, -where’s your fat friend, Stacy? It’s a wonder he -isn’t around with some suggestions to offer.”</p> - -<p>The Overlanders looked at each other with -growing concern in their faces.</p> - -<p>“St—acy!” exclaimed Nora.</p> - -<p>“Mercy! With all the excitement we have -forgotten all about that young man,” spoke up -Emma. “Why, he didn’t return with us last -night, did he?”</p> - -<p>“He is all right. Don’t worry. You will find -him with the punchers rounding up steers and -howling like an Indian,” soothed Lieutenant -Wingate.</p> - -<p>Bindloss strode to the door and shouted -“Pete!” Two-gun came running.</p> - -<p>“Whar’s Brown, Stacy Brown?”</p> - -<p>“I—I thought he was heah. Ain’t he?”</p> - -<p>“No. Was he with the men rounding up this -morning?”</p> - -<p>Pete shook his head and a troubled look crept -into his face.</p> - -<p>“When did you last see him?”</p> - -<p>“Le’ me see. It was last night jest before we -got er call to come up heah. He was ridin’ up -towards the foothills on the east side, I reckon -to see what the boys was doin’ up thet way. As -I recommember thar warn’t any of the boys on -thet side jest then.”</p> - -<p>“You are certain that he isn’t with the outfit?” -urged Bindloss.</p> - -<p>“Daid shore, Boss.”</p> - -<p>“Then where is he?” demanded the rancher -with a rising inflection in his voice.</p> - -<p>Two-gun Pete shook his head and ran his -fingers through his hair.</p> - -<p>“I reckon somethin’ has happened to thet -feller,” he observed solemnly.</p> - -<p>Tom Gray ran to the door and shouted for -Jim-Sam.</p> - -<p>“We will start the guides out at once. Something -has gone wrong with Chunky, that’s certain, -but if anyone can find him Jim-Sam can,” he said.</p> - -<p>“I’ll send Pete and a couple of the others with -them,” announced the rancher, who was more disturbed -than he cared to have the Overland Riders -see. “Pete! You know what to do. Get the -boy, that’s all.”</p> - -<p>Jim-Sam were entering the ranch-house when -Idaho burst in, thrusting the guides aside at the -door.</p> - -<p>“Boss! They’ve gone!” yelled Idaho.</p> - -<p>“Gone? Who’s gone?”</p> - -<p>“The critters thet the Dude caught last night. -They’ve got clean away. Somebody sawed a hole -in the back of the stable and got ’em out!”</p> - -<p>“Gosh a-mighty!” gasped Bindloss. “I ought -to have done what I wanted to do and shot ’em -both. But I’ll do it yet! I’ll do it yet!” he -raged, stalking from the ranch-house on his way -to the scene of the escape.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXIV' title='XIV: THE LOST TRAIL'> -<span>CHAPTER XIV</span><br /> -<span>THE LOST TRAIL</span> -</h2> - -<p>“I am going back to the round-up, then -over to see Malcolm Hornby,” announced -Joe Bindloss after returning from the -stable, where he had gone to see for himself how -the prisoners had escaped. “I hate the critter, -but if we stock owners don’t get together and -organize to wipe out these thieves we shan’t have -any stock left by the end of the season.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll go with you,” offered Tom Gray.</p> - -<p>“Sure, if you like. Pete, you and Idaho are to -ride with us, leaving the rest here to protect the -ranch. We mustn’t leave the place alone again, -but there’s got to be some better protecting than -there was last night,” warned Bindloss. “I’ll bet -every steer on my ranch that if Lieutenant Wingate -had been on his feet they wouldn’t have got -away—alive!”</p> - -<p>“Tom, I am going, too,” announced Grace.</p> - -<p>“Rough riding, girlie,” reminded Tom.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know. But I don’t mind. Elfreda will -remain with Hippy who will be all right if -someone doesn’t fire more bullets into him. She and -Nora may be trusted to take good care of him. -Perhaps Emma would like to go, too, especially -if that big cowboy Pete is to accompany us,” -added Grace laughingly.</p> - -<p>“Come along. You won’t be satisfied unless -you do,” agreed Tom. “I will speak to Bindloss -about it.”</p> - -<p>Grace said that there was no need to do that, -and suggested further that she thought she might -be of some assistance to the searchers, but the -Overland girl did not explain what she meant by -her last remark, nor did Tom think twice about it. -His mind was troubled.</p> - -<p>Emma answered the question of her joining the -party before it was asked by announcing that she -was going to ride with Two-gun Pete and Mr. -Bindloss.</p> - -<p>Arrangements were quickly made and after the -situation had been explained to Lieutenant Wingate, -Nora and Emma, the rancher and his party -mounted their ponies, leaving Sierra in charge of -the ranch with another cowboy and Sam Conifer -to assist him.</p> - -<p>“Do as well as ye did last night when ye let -them fellers git away an’ ye prob’bly’ll git yer -fool haid shot off,” warned Sam as Jim swung -into his saddle.</p> - -<p>“That’s all right so long as we leave another -wuss fool heah at the ranch,” gave back Jim, and -the party galloped away.</p> - -<p>It was a hard ride, especially for Emma and -Grace, but both girls stood up under it remarkably -well. Only one stop was made and that was -at a spring to water the ponies, after which the -journey was resumed. The rancher and his party -reached their destination about the middle of the -afternoon, where the same scenes were being enacted -as on the previous day. Cattle were milling -and bawling, and above the roar came the calls -of the cowpunchers, clear and distinct.</p> - -<p>The herd engaged in the milling was much -smaller than before because so many head had -been cut out and sent to graze at another place, -there to be guarded by men who would see to it -that they neither got away nor were stolen, for -these cattle soon were to be driven to market.</p> - -<p>At Bindloss’s direction, the men of the party -separated and rode out to question the cowmen -about Stacy, and after every man there had been -interviewed, the searchers returned to the knoll -where the girls were awaiting them.</p> - -<p>“He hasn’t been here since last night,” Tom -informed them. “The last seen of him was when -he was riding up towards that knoll yonder where -you see the red bushes. Whether or not he came -back, no one seems to know.”</p> - -<p>“Then he possibly rode into the mountains and -got lost,” suggested Emma. “That would be just -like Stacy.”</p> - -<p>“I wish I might believe that it was nothing -worse,” answered Grace. “What is your idea, Mr. -Bindloss?”</p> - -<p>“That’s a fair question, and I’ll give you a -fair answer. It is my hunch that the bunch that -attacked the ranch is concerned in this case too. -I’m going over to see Hornby, and you folks can -either wait here for me or return to the ranch.”</p> - -<p>Grace asked permission to accompany him, -which was rather begrudgingly granted, she -thought. Emma elected to stay and watch the -herding, and more especially to watch Two-gun -Pete’s antics with his mustang and tell him he was -the finest horseman in the world. Emma had -told that same thing to nearly every one of Old -Joe Bindloss’s punchers, and some day it was destined -to result in a lively man-to-man fight.</p> - -<p>The ride to Hornby’s ranch occupied less than -an hour, and Grace observed that Bindloss hailed -the log cabin where Hornby lived, while still some -little distance away. Judy answered the call and -looked her amazement when she saw who the -callers were.</p> - -<p>“Pap’s got an awful grouch on today. You’d -better light out of here hot-foot, Pap Bindloss.”</p> - -<p>“Judy, I’m going to see your father. Where -may I find him?”</p> - -<p>“I reckon right heah! What do ye want?” -The voice belonged to Malcolm Hornby.</p> - -<p>Grace observed the man with keen interest. -Hornby was short and wiry, his eyes keen, but -revealing a vicious temper, while his face, probably -from exposure to the open, was like wrinkled -parchment. Yet he was not an old man, perhaps -not more than fifty, with a quick, nervous manner -that made one feel he would be a dangerous -opponent in a fight.</p> - -<p>“I want to talk with you, Hornby. Can we -talk in private?” asked Bindloss. “I want -to talk with you about two things. The first is -about a young friend of mine named Stacy Brown -who disappeared from the round-up last night, -pony and all. I want your judgment, too. You -know these hills better than I do.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know nothin’ ’bout it. Why do ye -come heah? Ye don’t think I stole him, do ye?” -The question was put with savage emphasis.</p> - -<p>“Don’t be foolish, Hornby. I need your advice, -for I’m plumb locoed on this business,” urged the -rancher.</p> - -<p>“Is that all ye got to say?”</p> - -<p>“No. I have something else to say. Hornby, -we’re neighbors, not very good ones, but we’re -neighbors just the same, and neighbors should -stand together. I suppose the rustlers have been -at your herd as well as mine.”</p> - -<p>“I reckon if they keeps on I won’t have a -steer on four feet left,” growled Hornby.</p> - -<p>“Then will you join in with me, turn your men -over and make a big drive with me to rid this -part of the country of all those critters?”</p> - -<p>“I reckon you an’ me couldn’t hitch up fer -anything. We’d be for shootin’ each other up -’fore we’d got out of the valley. You’ve got a -rotten temper, an’ when I’m riled up I ain’t no -good company either. Who be these folks that -ye say is yer friends?”</p> - -<p>“They are my friends, and that’s all that need -be said,” retorted Bindloss with some heat, for -he did not like the tone nor the insinuation in -Hornby’s reply.</p> - -<p>While the men were talking, Grace had dismounted -and she and Judy had strolled away and -engaged in earnest conversation, during which -Grace told her all that had happened at the Circle -O ranch. What Grace especially wanted to convey -was that, knowing the mountains as she did, -Judy might be able to assist them in finding out -what had happened to Stacy. Judy shook her -head saying that she couldn’t. Grace closed the -subject instantly and walked back to Bindloss.</p> - -<p>“Man!” cried the owner of the Circle O. “The -ruffians not only tried to steal the ponies right -out of my corral, but they shot my place all up -and hit my friend, Lieutenant Wingate. He -caught two of them and shot some others, I -reckon, but the two got away later on with the -assistance of their friends. I’ve reached my limit, -Hornby. The next thing I know I’ll be killing -somebody.”</p> - -<p>“Providin’ they don’t git ye first,” leered -Hornby. “I said ye had a rotten temper, and -ye’ve proved it. Nope, Joe, you an’ me can’t -hitch up nohow. I’ll run my own shebang and -I reckon ye can do the same with yours or quit. -I don’t give a dad-blasted rap which ye do. And -as fer thet Lootenant friend of yours, tell him -he’d better watch out and not git too handy -with thet gun o’ hissen, fer thar’s some rough -fellers in these mountains thet’d make hash of -him instanter if ever they sot eyes on him. -This ain’t no place for dudes, Joe Bindloss, an’ -ye knows it as well as I do. Thet’s all I got to -say to ye.”</p> - -<p>Malcolm Hornby turned on his heel and strode -into the house, ordering Judy to follow him. -Judy, with lowered eyes, followed obediently -without another word to Grace.</p> - -<p>“How strangely that girl acts today, Mr. Bindloss,” -wondered Grace as she mounted her mustang -and trotted away with the rancher.</p> - -<p>“Judy’s all right. The trouble is that old -Hornby is wearing her down with his ornery -temper until she is ’bout ready to bust out. I -hope she doesn’t, because if she does it’ll be a bad -day for Pap.”</p> - -<p>“Has she no mother?”</p> - -<p>“Mother died when she was a kid. That was -’bout the time I lost my wife. But I don’t altogether -understand what’s got into Judy. She’s -acting mighty queer.”</p> - -<p>Grace nodded.</p> - -<p>“There’s your man Jim up there,” said Bindloss, -pointing to the foothills where the Overland -guide was seen working about. At Grace’s suggestion -they rode to him. “Find it?” called the -rancher as he and Grace approached.</p> - -<p>“I thought as I had, but thar’s been so many -cattle an’ so many hosses that it’s a lost trail. -The fellers say that Stacy war seen here’bouts. -If he’s smart he’s left some sort o’ trail, but I’ll -be shot if I kin find it.”</p> - -<p>“He would not think of that,” answered Grace.</p> - -<p>The pair rode on into the valley, both silent -and thoughtful, and for the rest of the afternoon -watched the work of rounding up. Just before -dark Grace joined by Emma rode over to the foothills -to see what Jim was accomplishing. He was -now nowhere to be seen. Though Emma wanted -to ride up farther into the hills, Grace decided that -it would not be prudent, for night was coming on.</p> - -<p>They ate their supper with cowboys beside a -little campfire, and shortly after that started -homeward, accompanied by Mr. Bindloss and two -of the men. Two-gun Pete was one of the party.</p> - -<p>All were pleased to learn, on their arrival at -the ranch, that Hippy had been sitting up and -was coming along. Pop Skinner too, Elfreda said, -was out of danger. Even the ranch-house had -improved under the repairs that had been made -that day.</p> - -<p>Sam Conifer they found pacing about restlessly. -He was full of eager questions about Jim, -and seemed disturbed when they told him that -his partner probably had found a trail and was -following it.</p> - -<p>On the following morning, with no tidings of -the old guide, Sam asked permission to go in -search of Jim. Permission was readily granted, -and Sam was soon galloping away.</p> - -<p>Conifer did not return until the late afternoon -of the next day. He was riding hard when the -Overlanders discovered him, and reeled in his -saddle as he rode up to the ranch-house.</p> - -<p>“Somethin’s happened to Jim!” he cried. “I -found whar it happened, and then I lost the trail. -They’ve got him! They’ve got him, folks!”</p> - -<p>“Sam! Sam! You have been hurt!” cried -Nora. There was blood on Sam Conifer’s face, -and the left arm hung limp at his side. Before -they could assist him, Sam essayed to dismount -and pitched to the ground in a dead faint.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXV' title='XV: CLEWS THAT WERE LOADED'> -<span>CHAPTER XV</span><br /> -<span>CLEWS THAT WERE LOADED</span> -</h2> - -<p>It was found that a bullet had hit the fleshy -part of the old guide’s left arm, and that -there was considerable laceration. First aid -was administered and the patient restored to consciousness.</p> - -<p>“Quite a hospital we have here, Mr. Bindloss,” -observed J. Elfreda after she had done all -she could for Sam.</p> - -<p>“A-huh! What made the old fellow faint -like that? He must be getting old.”</p> - -<p>“Loss of blood made him faint. So it would -you. He will shortly be able to tell us how he got -the wound.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll talk now. I’m so full of it I’ve got to talk. -I’m an old idiot! No mistake ’bout that,” rumbled -Sam. “I must talk, fer somethin’ has got -to be did. They’ve got Jim, an’ I reckons they’ve -got the fat boy, too.”</p> - -<p>“Take it easy like,” urged the rancher. “No -hurry at all. Does he want something to eat?”</p> - -<p>“We are preparing something. Pete has killed -a chicken and Nora is making broth for him,” -replied Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>“Huh! Reckon you folks think you own this -ranch, eh?” demanded the owner, his eyes -twinkling.</p> - -<p>“We might were we to sue for the damage we -have sustained here,” retorted Emma snappily.</p> - -<p>“Oh, ho! I reckon you’re right,” agreed Bindloss. -“What’s on your mind, Conifer?”</p> - -<p>“I found the trail!”</p> - -<p>“You did?” cried Tom Gray.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but that ain’t all. It was a fixed trail -to make the finder reckon that Jim had made it -hisself so we could foller him. I swallered the -bait an’ the hook an’ the line too. I fust found -whar thar’d been a scrimmage, an’ I found Jim’s -heel marks right thar. Then they disappeared -jest as if he’d gone up into the air. He’d been -boosted to the back of a hoss. Ye never seen no -hoss track so a-mighty plain. Well, I follered -right on. Jim wouldn’t have made that mistake. -He’d jest kinder sneaked. Then I got mine.”</p> - -<p>“How far into the hills did you get?” -interrupted the rancher.</p> - -<p>“’bout half a mile. Wal, as I was sayin’, all -of a sudden I heard somethin’ like someone had -stepped on a stick back of some juniper bushes. -I didn’t like thet sound; I knowed thar was a -gun behind it, so I jest naturally got ready for -trouble, but trouble got me first. The feller shot, -an’ I shot. The only difference was thet he had -a plain mark to shoot at an’ I didn’t. He hit me -in the arm, an’ then I shot thet Juniper bush so -full of holes that it won’t make no shade till next -summer.”</p> - -<p>“Did—did you hit him?” questioned Emma -eagerly.</p> - -<p>“I hit somethin’ that grunted, but the grunter -got away from me. I stalked him fer two hour, -but couldn’t even find his tracks, though I did -find some blood thar, an’ if he’d a looked he’d -found a heap sight more blood whar I was. If -thet feller hit what he shot at thar’s only one man -in this heah neck of the world thet could do it, -an’ he’s the feller I’m lookin’ fer. When I find -him, one or t’other of us’ll go down an’ stay -down. Thet’s shore,” threatened Sam grimly.</p> - -<p>“I don’t understand how Jim could have been -caught in broad daylight,” wondered Tom.</p> - -<p>“Thar’s only one way, onless they shot him, -which I don’t reckon they did, jedging from the -look of the trail. Folks, they roped him jest like -they’d rope an old maverick steer. I reckon -mebby that’s what happened to Stacy.”</p> - -<p>“Yes. But why, why?”</p> - -<p>“Ye kin search me. I’ll be all right after I -gits a few hours’ sleep an’ some chuck; then I’m -goin’ to hit the trail agin, and I’ll bet ye this -trail won’t be loaded. Leastwise, I’ll dodge the -loaded places.”</p> - -<p>“Samuel, you will not be hitting any trail just -yet,” admonished Miss Briggs. “I think you had -better stop talking now. Your broth will be -ready in a few moments, after which you are -going to sleep.” Elfreda motioned to the others -to leave, which they did, and half an hour later -Sam was sleeping soundly. Elfreda thereupon -went out to the front porch where Bindloss, Tom -and the others of the Overland party were -awaiting her.</p> - -<p>Bindloss said they had been discussing the -situation, and that not only for their sakes, but -for the sake of his business in the Coso Valley, -something must be done to check the outlawry -that had been going on and that was getting -worse.</p> - -<p>“Have you appealed to the law?” asked Miss -Briggs.</p> - -<p>The rancher laughed, but without mirth.</p> - -<p>“The sheriff has been after this gang for three -months, but that’s as far as the law has ever -got. The law has never caught up with the gang. -There’s some fellow with a head bossing that -gang, and they ought to be getting rich judging -from the stock they’ve stolen from me.”</p> - -<p>“If you wish to make a drive and try to clean -them up perhaps we can assist you,” offered Tom.</p> - -<p>“I’ve been thinking of that,” replied Bindloss -reflectively. “I don’t reckon, though, that I -want you folks to get mixed up in it, for somebody -is sure to get hurt,” he added.</p> - -<p>“It occurs to me that someone already has,” -observed Miss Briggs wisely. “You must remember -that, having lost one of our party and -one guide, we are not wholly disinterested spectators, -and should Stacy not get back, we probably -shall organize a drive on our own hook.”</p> - -<p>“What are your plans, Bindloss? What have -you in mind?” asked Tom Gray.</p> - -<p>“’Bout that matter? I can’t do anything till -we get finished with the round-up. When that’s -done we’ll turn some of our cowpunchers loose, -letting Pete lead them, for Pete is a natural leader -and can shoot, and he knows the mountains better -than any other fellow on the range. In the meantime, -if Sam gets fit, we will ask him to scout and -see if he can find the hang-out of the ruffians. It -will be a ticklish job, but I suppose it can be done. -Miss Briggs, when do you think the old man will -be able to start?”</p> - -<p>“He should lay up for a week, but I do not -believe it will be possible to hold him that -long,” replied Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“Leave Stacy all that time without doing anything -to help him?” wailed Nora.</p> - -<p>Grace explained that all was being done that -could be done, and that a few days more or less -probably would be none the worse for the missing -Overland boy. She said the delay would enable -them to perfect their plans for the proposed man-hunt, -and that in the meantime the ruffians might -make a slip and place themselves in the hands of -the men of Circle O. Bindloss nodded his approval, -and there the matter was left.</p> - -<p>Conifer improved much more rapidly than -Elfreda had thought possible and two days later -Hippy, on his feet again, was walking about, limping -ever so little, his head swathed in bandages -and his face lined and pale.</p> - -<p>“I’ve been down long enough,” he told Bindloss. -“It is time that I was out and looking for -that nephew of mine, Chunky Brown. Conifer -declares that he is going out tomorrow and I’m -going with him.”</p> - -<p>“You are not,” replied the rancher. “Man, -it’ll kill you! Conifer wasn’t hit like you and -he has his right hand as good as ever. There’s -lots of fight left in the old man yet, and if we -don’t let him go he will worry himself and the rest -of us to death. No, Lieutenant, you keep your -hosses staked down and get lazy for a few days -more. I promise you there will be plenty of -excitement and activity for you and the rest of -us when we start that man hunt.”</p> - -<p>The Overlanders were as emphatic as Bindloss -had been, and Hippy, much against his will, submitted -to their demand that he stay at the ranch. -Conifer, too, was ordered by Miss Briggs to defer -his departure, so that it was the latter part of -that week before she gave him permission to take -the trail on the following day.</p> - -<p>That night, however, something occurred to -change the plans of Bindloss and his guests. -Two-gun Pete, who had come in late from the -range, had discovered a man prowling about the -stable. Pete hailed him and the man ran, whereupon -the cowboy fired six shots at him, but in the -darkness all his bullets went wild.</p> - -<p>The firing awakened the occupants of the ranch-house -and the Overland camp, and in a few -minutes all hands were on the scene, armed and -ready for whatever might be required of them. -Guards were thrown out to protect the place from -a surprise attack. The prowler had disappeared, -but he had left a plain trail to a point where his -mustang had been staked down. From there his -tracks led into the foothills, but the direction he -took upon entering the hills was no indication of -his probable destination.</p> - -<p>“I found something,” shouted Idaho who had -just come around the corner of the corral with his -lantern and passed down at the rear of the stable. -The Overlanders and Bindloss found him carrying -a large basket at arm’s length. Idaho plainly was -suspicious of that basket, and he proposed to take -no chances with it. For all he knew it might be -full of rattlers.</p> - -<p>No one made a move to investigate the basket’s -contents as Idaho put it down on the ground and -backed away.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps the man went away in such haste he -forgot his luncheon,” suggested Emma whimsically, -which caused a laugh and relieved the -tension somewhat.</p> - -<p>“You are a lot of tenderfeet,” averred Hippy, -limping over and peering down at the basket. -He gave it a gentle shake.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Hippy darlin’! Be careful,” begged -Nora.</p> - -<p>“Be quiet! There is something alive in here,” -warned Lieutenant Wingate, giving the basket -another shake, whereupon his companions distinctly -heard familiar sounds coming from it.</p> - -<p>“Birds! Well, what do you folks know about -that? Someone has made us a present of a basket -of birds, perhaps blackbirds with which to -make a pie,” chortled Hippy.</p> - -<p>The basket cover was secured with a piece of -wire, which the Overlander unwound and cautiously -peered within while Tom Gray held a -lantern to enable Hippy to see. He thrust a hand -in and brought out a bird, holding it up for the -others to look at.</p> - -<p>“Bindloss, what do you think of our present?” -he cried jovially.</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ll be shot!” exclaimed the rancher. -“What fool is carrying ’round a basket of birds?” -The rancher laughed uproariously.</p> - -<p>Tom Gray took one look at the bird and uttered -an exclamation under his breath, then after -cautiously peering into the basket, being careful -that none of the other birds there made its escape, -he got up and faced his companions with a puzzled -expression in his eyes.</p> - -<p>At this instant, Grace and Elfreda also discovered -what both Tom and Hippy already knew.</p> - -<p>“A carrier pigeon!” exclaimed Miss Briggs -wonderingly. “Are they all carriers?”</p> - -<p>“All carriers, and fully equipped for business,” -Tom informed them. “Are we back in France -in the war?”</p> - -<p>Hippy turned the basket about so that the light -would shine on the other side of it, and made a -fresh discovery, more important, even, than the -discovery of the carrier pigeons. They heard him -utter an exclamation and saw him remove something -that was hanging to the handle and tied to -it with a leather thong.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXVI' title='XVI: THE CARRIER PIGEONS’ FLIGHT'> -<span>CHAPTER XVI</span><br /> -<span>THE CARRIER PIGEONS’ FLIGHT</span> -</h2> - -<p>“A letter!” cried Emma. “Isn’t this -perfectly romantic?”</p> - -<p>“If it is a letter, it’s a crumby -looking one,” observed Hippy. “Tom, hold that -lantern so I can see.”</p> - -<p>The Overlanders crowded up closer, with Bindloss -in the forefront, the cowpunchers peering over -their heads and shoulders, as Hippy began to unfold -a sheet that had once been wrapping paper. -One keen look at it and Lieutenant Wingate -uttered a yell and began hopping up and down -with most of his weight on one foot.</p> - -<p>“Chunky! It’s from Chunky,” he cried.</p> - -<p>“Read it! This suspense is killing me,” wailed -Emma.</p> - -<p>“It is addressed to the Overlanders and to Joe -Bindloss. He spells it ‘Bindlass,’ and—”</p> - -<p>“Never mind the spelling. Read it!” urged -Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>“And it reads as follows,” continued Hippy.</p> - -<p>“‘Dear Folks: You’ll be surprised to hear from -me, and more so to hear that I’m in Dutch. I’m -in the hands of a gang of ruffians—gentlemen—’ -The word ruffians has been crossed out and the -word gentlemen added,” explained Hippy.</p> - -<p>“You are the most aggravating person I ever -knew. Will you please read that letter or let me -do it for you?” begged Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>“‘They caught me with a rope when I wasn’t -looking, down by the round-up, and I’ve stayed -caught. They know that I’m valuable and they -want a price for me,’” continued Hippy, reading -Stacy’s scrawl with considerable difficulty. “‘If -they don’t get it they propose to throw me off the -mountain into the red gulch just back of the -cabin that I’m in. They want five hundred -dollars for me and you’re to send it by the birds -that they are going to send with this letter. Put -only one bill on each bird’s leg because they’re -union birds and won’t carry a man-sized load. -I don’t know how or where they got the birds, -but they’ve got ’em. I know because I’ve seen -’em. When they get the money they are going to -take me to the foothills and kick me out, but if -they don’t get it I’m to go out the way I told -you. Please hurry. I haven’t had a square meal -since I got tangled up with that fellow’s rope, -but the scenery certainly is fine up here. Help! -Help! Help!</p> - -<p class='tar'>“(Signed) ‘Lovingly, <span class='sc'>Stacy</span>.’”</p> - -<div id='i003' class='illus' style='margin-left:15%; width:70%'> - <img src='images/i003.jpg' alt='' /> - <p class='sm'>“It’s from Chunky!”</p> -</div> - -<p>“‘P.S. If you try to find me they say they will -throw me over anyway. If you haven’t big -enough bills, for the love of heaven keep on sending -small ones so long as the birds hold out, but -send them!’</p> - -<p>“‘P.P.S. The beans they are feeding me on up -here are awful, but the coffee is worse. S.B.’</p> - -<p>“‘P.P.P.S. They say they are going to send -this by rural free delivery, but if it’s as slow as it -is back home I won’t need any help by the time it -reaches you. For heaven sake, feed the birds and -give them plenty of pepper, so they’ll have pep -and hustle—’”</p> - -<p>The message broke off suddenly as if the writer -had been interrupted, at least that was the way -the Overlanders construed it.</p> - -<p>“Gosh a-mighty! If that ain’t the limit!” -exclaimed Bindloss. “How can those birds carry -money or anything else, and how will they get -back where the robbers want them to go?”</p> - -<p>Tom Gray explained that carrier pigeons carried -messages in little oiled paper tubes such as these -birds had on their legs, and that when released -they got their direction quickly and flew straight -back to their cotes.</p> - -<p>“I know! I know,” exclaimed Bindloss. “A -fellow over at Carrago had a flock of ’em, but the -government took ’em over after the war started. -They paid him five dollars a head for the birds, -then, after the war, what was left of ’em he bought -back from the government at twenty-five cents -a head.”</p> - -<p>“There’s our clue,” interrupted Hippy. -“Should we fail otherwise we can find out who -the pigeon man is. But I don’t reckon we shall -need to do that. Folks, what is your idea?”</p> - -<p>“I shouldn’t be in favor of paying five hundred -dollars for Stacy,” objected Emma. “If they -keep him long enough to get really acquainted -with him they will be glad to take a bargain-counter -price for him.”</p> - -<p>Bindloss suggested that they go into the house, -and Tom asked him to invite Idaho and Pete to -go in with them, which was done. Sam Conifer -met them on the porch, and his first question was -whether or not they had heard from Jim. The -situation was quickly explained to him. When -informed that there was no news from the missing -Jim, the guide’s whiskers drooped.</p> - -<p>“I reckon Jim’s thar, but they wouldn’t let the -boy writ ’bout it,” he exclaimed, his whiskers -suddenly bristling as of old. “I’ll git ’em! -They’ve played a card into my hands now!” he -raged. “I’ll follow ’em now.”</p> - -<p>“Are you going to fly, Sam?” questioned -Emma. “That is the only way I know of to -follow birds.”</p> - -<p>It was a poser. Two-gun Pete asked if he -might make a suggestion. His suggestion was -that they liberate a bird and watch its direction, -then follow out that direction until they finally -found the hiding place of the rustlers.</p> - -<p>“Peter, you sure have brains,” complimented -Hippy.</p> - -<p>“I love a man with brains,” bubbled Emma, -amid smiles and nods, all of which embarrassed -Two-gun very much.</p> - -<p>“That’s the idea,” cried Tom. “Has anyone -additional suggestions to make?”</p> - -<p>“I have,” answered Miss Briggs. “Peter has -given us something to work from, and all it needs -is elaboration. See what you think of this. Give -a bird five dollars and liberate him just after daylight, -as they used to do in France. Watch the -course he takes, then let our men take up positions -on that course as nearly in line with the bird’s -flight as possible, lining up about a mile apart. -At a certain hour we will free a second bird, also -with a five-dollar bill. One of our men on the -lookout will surely see it. The ruffians may be a -long way from here, but so long as the bird’s -course can be kept in sight, its home roost can -be found.”</p> - -<p>“Good generalship,” agreed Tom, nodding.</p> - -<p>“Right you are,” approved Bindloss. “But -five dollars! I don’t like to give them robbers -even five cents.”</p> - -<p>“Sam, do you feel equal to going with us?” -asked Grace, turning to the old guide.</p> - -<p>“I’m goin’, an’ I ain’t comin’ back till I gits -Jim,” he answered grimly.</p> - -<p>“Five dollars sent out with each bird won’t -break us. That will make sixty dollars if we -send out the entire dozen, which is a pretty high -price to pay for Chunky,” declared Emma.</p> - -<p>The Overlanders rebuked her, and after further -discussion it was decided to liberate the first bird -at daybreak and a second bird at noon. As soon -as the first carrier gave them the direction, the -men were to proceed singly into the hills, going -with as much secrecy and caution as possible, take -up positions and await the noon bird.</p> - -<p>Miss Briggs suggested that the men arrange to -get in touch with each other at the end of the first -hour following the passage of each bird, and that -the first to discover the hiding place of the rustlers -was to go back and wait for his companions so -that they might attack in force.</p> - -<p>“Gosh a-mighty!” cried Joe Bindloss. “Is -there anything that you folks can’t do?”</p> - -<p>“One bird every two hours after twelve and -up to four, then send all but two between that -and six,” suggested Hippy. “Better keep two -over. Send a message with the last bird that -the last two birds of the lot will be liberated in -the morning, as soon as the rest of the money can -be procured. Now who is going? I, for one, am -going out.”</p> - -<p>Every person present volunteered, but it was -finally settled that Sam, Pete, Idaho, Tom Gray -and Hippy should go. Sam insisted on taking the -lead, and the position was assigned to him. Bindloss -and some of his men were to remain at the -ranch-house to guard against a possible raid.</p> - -<p>The party soon thereafter turned in for what -rest they could get, but first the birds were put -in a larger basket so that they might be more -comfortable and rest up for the journey ahead of -them.</p> - -<p>The ranch-house inhabitants were astir before -daylight next morning. Food was given to the -birds as soon as day dawned, and a tube packed -with a five-dollar bill and a brief message that -the money would be sent along as rapidly as -possible was attached to a pigeon’s leg.</p> - -<p>The sun was rising when Tom Gray brought -out the first pigeon that was to make the flight.</p> - -<p>“The dove of peace! What?” chuckled Tom, -tossing the bird into the air.</p> - -<p>The carrier pigeon fluttered about with rapidly -beating wings for a few seconds, then began -circling upwards, taking wider and wider circles -as it rose, every eye eagerly fixed on it. The -Overlanders had thought that its direction would -be east, but suddenly the bird straightened out, -taking a course a little south of west, heading for -the Coso Mountains.</p> - -<p>“Everyone watch him!” urged Tom.</p> - -<p>Grace and Elfreda were following the flight with -their glasses, but the keen eyes of the ranchers -needed no such aid, and readily followed the -flight until the bird had disappeared over a -mountain.</p> - -<p>“I got it!” shouted Sam.</p> - -<p>“So hev I,” announced Pete. “Got the landmarks -daid to rights. Be ye ready, Sam?”</p> - -<p>Sam was, and after an uneasy half hour’s wait -he rode off to the south, jogging along slowly. -He was followed after an interval by Lieutenant -Wingate, and following him were Tom Gray, Two-gun -Pete and Idaho in the order named. Each -man knew that he might expect to be shot from -ambush, but the opportunity to meet up with the -mountain ruffians outweighed all other considerations.</p> - -<p>In a short time all were out of sight, and the -party left at the ranch settled down to wait for -the hour when they were to liberate another -pigeon, and at the same time to listen with straining -ears for the sound of firing in the hills, which -each one momentarily expected to hear.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXVII' title='XVII: STACY DECIDES TO LEAVE'> -<span>CHAPTER XVII</span><br /> -<span>STACY DECIDES TO LEAVE</span> -</h2> - -<p>The night that Stacy Brown was roped -from his mustang he was put to sleep -with a whack applied to his head from -the butt of a revolver. When he awakened he -found himself lashed to the back of a pony, traveling -over a rough mountain trail. The pony was -being led and there were men ahead and men to -the rear. The fat boy could hear them speak -at intervals.</p> - -<p>It did not seem to be a long journey, and the -party finally pulled up before a cabin that Stacy -observed was well hidden in a narrow rocky pass -that was approached on three sides by way of a -steep granite slope, while on the other side, as he -later learned, a precipitous gorge dropped away -for hundreds of feet.</p> - -<p>The Overland boy was removed from the horse -and carried to a lean-to against the rear of the -cabin in which horse equipment and weapons -were stored. He was unceremoniously dumped -into this place and left to his own reflections. For -some time he heard men talking in the cabin, -then silence settled over the place. It was near -noon of the following day before food was brought -to him and his hands were freed. After eating -he was subjected to a grilling examination as to -who he was and what his party were doing in the -Coso Valley, and when he answered in his characteristic -independent way one of the ruffians -struck him a blow in the face that once more -put the Overland boy to sleep.</p> - -<p>At least twice each night thereafter he was -asked the same questions, and each time the -interview ended in a blow or a violent kick until -Chunky was sore all over.</p> - -<p>Occasionally he was permitted to sit or lie outdoors, -and at such times Stacy used his eyes and -ears to the best advantage. However, there was -little for him to see except the scenery that he -mentioned in his letter.</p> - -<p>His captors were away most of the time, though -ordinarily there was one man prowling about, -principally engaged in surveying the surrounding -mountains from a vantage point on a rock. Then -one evening came the order to Stacy to write the -letter to the Overland party. He obeyed eagerly, -for he was anxious to get away at any price—so -long as the price was paid by someone other than -himself. Stacy had slight hopes, though, that -his companions would give so great a ransom.</p> - -<p>It was early in the evening of the following -night when he heard more than the usual number -of voices in the cabin. Voices now and then -were pitched high, sometimes in anger. Stacy -cautiously rolled close to the door communicating -with the cabin and lay listening. His hopes rose -high when he learned that some of the birds had -returned with money. Two of the ruffians had -come in with tidings that four birds were still -missing, which revealed to Stacy the fact that -the pigeons were not kept at the cabin. The one, -however, which carried the answer to the demand -of the rustlers, and that most concerned the men, -had just come in, and its message was a subject of -discussion. One ruffian was of the opinion that -either Bindloss or the Overlanders were trying to -play a sharp trick on them and search out their -hiding place. He was laughed at.</p> - -<p>“How kin anybody foller er bird flyin’ high?” -demanded another, whereat the ruffians laughed -more uproariously than before. The feel of the -money that the pigeons had brought, outweighed -their caution. This was easy money, and there -was more of it coming.</p> - -<p>“We’ll git all we kin fer this feller, an’ then -make a price on t’other feller’s haid, an’ we’ll make -er clean-up,” chuckled another. “It ain’t the -first time thet them birds has done us a good turn, -but never jest in this heah way.”</p> - -<p>At the mention of another captive on whose -head a price was to be set, the fat boy pricked -up his ears. He wondered whom else the ruffians -had captured, and where the other captive was -being held. This was interesting, but what -followed was more so.</p> - -<p>From the talk Stacy overheard he learned that, -after the ruffians had gotten all the money they -could out of the Overlanders, the prisoners were -to be disposed of.</p> - -<p>“They knows too much to let ’em git away, -especially thet fat feller. He’s too fresh anyway,” -averred one.</p> - -<p>“Best way is to take ’em out on a dark night, -turn ’em ’round a few times and head ’em fer the -canyon, an’ tell ’em to git home a-whooping. -Ain’t no need fer us to do nothing more’n thet. -They’ll do the rest,” advised another.</p> - -<p>“Thet’s the ticket, Charlie!” complimented -another. “We’ll make ’em walk the plank, an’ -the buzzards’ll do the rest.” The ruffians roared. -It would be great sport and it would make disposal -of their captives a most simple matter.</p> - -<p>Stacy Brown did not laugh. Instead, he -swallowed hard, and a heavy frown wrinkled his -forehead.</p> - -<p>“That’s what I call a low-down trick,” he -muttered. “Going to get all the money they can -for me and the other fellow and then send us -out to walk on air. Wow! Stacy Brown, I reckon -it’s time for you to leave.” He gazed out through -the open door of the lean-to and contemplated -the possibility of rolling out and trying to escape. -That did not seem to be feasible, so he pondered, -strained cautiously at the ropes with which he was -tied, and decided that he must think of something -else.</p> - -<p>“If I could get hold of a hunting knife I might -manage it,” he thought, but did not recall having -seen any such thing among the assortment of -equipment in the lean-to. Then an idea occurred -to him.</p> - -<p>“The axe!” exclaimed the fat boy, and instantly -began rolling towards the door, just outside -of which he had seen an axe that very day. -He found the axe and after several failures Stacy -succeeded in getting it between his knees blade -up, and began sawing at the rope that bound his -wrists. The rope soon fell apart. Stacy could -scarcely repress a howl of delight. It was now -the work of only a moment to free his legs, and -the Overland boy, still clinging to the axe as a -weapon in case of discovery, began considering -his next move. He knew about where the ruffians’ -ponies were tethered, because he had heard -them stamping many times.</p> - -<p>“Now, if I had a gun I’d be—Sure I have!” -He felt along the rear wall of the lean-to, where -among saddles and bridles hung holsters with -weapons in them, and ammunition belts, and -rifles of quite modern pattern hanging from nails -in the wall.</p> - -<p>The fat boy quickly helped himself to two -revolvers and a rifle, each of which he found -loaded. That gave him fresh courage. He might -be surprised, but it was his idea that the other -fellow might be more so. Stacy, armed and eager, -crept from the lean-to and picked his way -cautiously towards the spot at the base of the -granite slope where he hoped to find the rustlers’ -horses tethered. They were not there, but he -found them about a hundred yards to the left, -all saddled and bridled, ready for instant use in -case of need.</p> - -<p>There appeared to be no one on guard, but, -though he did not know it, two men were stationed -a short distance from the cabin on the -Coso Valley side of the mountain hiding place. -Fortunately for him, the fat boy was on the other -side.</p> - -<p>Stacy selected a mount, and, finding a rifle in -the saddle boot, he threw away the one he had -taken from the lean-to.</p> - -<p>“I wish I dared to shoot up that place,” he -muttered, gazing off towards the cabin which he -could not now see. “I’ll come back and do it.”</p> - -<p>Stacy led the mustang along carefully for a -while, taking what he believed to be an easterly -course, and getting his bearings from the stars so -that he might not travel in a circle and bring up -at his starting point.</p> - -<p>There appearing to be no pursuit, the boy finally -mounted and rode away with increasing speed -and rising spirits. He continued on until towards -daylight when he found himself descending into -what he believed to be foothills, but which proved -to be grazing grounds in the mountains. They -were of vast extent, covering many acres, and over -this mesa Stacy wandered for hours trying to find -a way out. He was hungry, ravenously so now, -and a search of the saddle-bags revealed not even -a biscuit.</p> - -<p>Noon came and, well-nigh famished, he turned -the mustang into the chaparral determined to -find a new trail. The boy had gone in but a short -distance when he began to sniff the air. Even the -mustang lifted its head and snorted.</p> - -<p>“If that isn’t food smoke I never smelled any. -Stacy Brown, follow your nose, for your nose -knows. Gid-ap, you lazy lout!” he cried.</p> - -<p>Perhaps the pony really knew, for it pricked -up its ears with new interest and seemed eager -to go on, and a few moments later Stacy discovered -a shack ahead. The smoke odor was -by now quite strong.</p> - -<p>The boy approached the shack with caution, -and rode twice around it before deciding to hail. -When he finally did so there was no answer, so -he dismounted and entered.</p> - -<p>What he had come upon was a chuck-house -where mountain herders got their meals.</p> - -<p>That a meal had quite recently been eaten there -was evidenced by the soiled dishes still on the -table, and the food that was simmering in frying -pans on the stove.</p> - -<p>“Eats! I don’t know who it belongs to, but -I know when I am hungry,” cried Stacy, helping -himself to several slices of bacon from a frying -pan and eating them out of his hand. There was -bread, too, and coffee in the pots. Stacy tasted -the coffee and made a wry face.</p> - -<p>“Worse than the rustlers made,” he complained.</p> - -<p>Had the Overland Rider not been so fully occupied -with satisfying his hunger, he probably would -have been more observant. As it was he did not -see a horseman ride up, dismount and peer into -the shack. Nor did he see the fellow’s expression -when he looked over Stacy’s mount. The newcomer -rode away quietly to a distance and then -put his pony to a run.</p> - -<p>Half an hour later while the boy was still -eating, and just as he was about to place a biscuit -in his mouth, a voice out of the silence -arrested him.</p> - -<p>“Put up yer hands, young feller! I’ve got ye -covered,” warned the voice.</p> - -<p>The hand that held the biscuit was already -raised to a level with his mouth, and the other -promptly went above his head.</p> - -<p>“Turn around, an’ let’s git a look at ye!”</p> - -<p>Stacy turned and found himself facing a weapon -in the hands of a man at the door. Just to the -rear of the man with the gun were half a dozen -others.</p> - -<p>“Tough-lookin’ critter, all right. Who be ye?” -demanded the hold-up man.</p> - -<p>“Name’s Brown,” answered the fat boy, transferring -the biscuit to his mouth and beginning -to chew on it.</p> - -<p>“Whar’d ye git that cayuse?”</p> - -<p>“Maybe I stole him,” answered Chunky -thickly, for the biscuit was large. “What difference -does it make to you where I got him?”</p> - -<p>“It may make a lot of difference to ye, young -feller. I reckon mebby ye knows thet thet critter -belongs to the Diamond Bar ranch, an’ thet he -was stole from thar three days ago. Turn round -while I relieve ye of some of thet hardware.”</p> - -<p>Stacy ceased chewing and stood with arms uplifted -while his weapons and cartridge belt were -being removed, following which he was roughly -yanked around facing his captors.</p> - -<p>“You be careful, you rough-necks. You’ll find -out that I’m a bad man when I get riled,” warned -Chunky boastfully.</p> - -<p>“I reckon ye be all of thet. Jest now ye ain’t, -an’ ’fore long mebby ye won’t be nothin’ ’tall. -Yer under arrest!” announced the spokesman.</p> - -<p>“Wha—at for?” gasped the Overland boy, his -face losing some of its color.</p> - -<p>“Horse stealin’! Thet’s all!”</p> - -<p>A strong hand was fastened on Stacy’s collar -and he was roughly jerked out of the cabin and -thrown on the pony that he was accused of having -rustled. It began to dawn on Stacy Brown that -he was in a serious predicament.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXVIII' title='XVIII: TROUBLE AT RED GULCH'> -<span>CHAPTER XVIII</span><br /> -<span>TROUBLE AT RED GULCH</span> -</h2> - -<p>The second bird was liberated at noon, -and was quickly on its way, observed -eagerly by the girls of the Overland unit -and their companions of the Circle O ranch. The -pigeon did not seem to deviate a hair’s breadth -from the line followed by the first bird.</p> - -<p>“Isn’t it wonderful to be a bird and go where -the wind listeth?” murmured Emma Dean.</p> - -<p>“It would be, but they don’t,” answered Miss -Briggs laughingly. “Wind is the pigeon’s enemy -and unless it is with them they have to fight it, -and in doing so are frequently lost. I happen -to know some things about carrier pigeons, for -I have seen them work and heard much about -them in France. Once a pigeon becomes lost and -has to come down, he loses his ambition, or his -confidence, or something—at least something -seems to have gone out of him, and, even if he -returns at all, he seldom can be depended upon -to make another flight. I venture to say that -not all the birds we are sending out will reach -their loft.”</p> - -<p>“So long as the boys see the majority of them -we do not care,” said Nora. “Oh, I hope they -do.”</p> - -<p>The boys did—that is, Hippy, Sam and Pete -saw the second bird going over and watched it -until it flew out of sight. Now they knew that -they were on the right trail. The five o’clock bird -was the last one seen by any of the men, and it -was Lieutenant Wingate who discovered it. The -bird was flying so low that it seemed to be skimming -the tops of the slender mountain pines. -Observing this Hippy hurried on to join Sam -Conifer, whom he found in about half an hour.</p> - -<p>“Go easy from now on, Sam,” he cautioned.</p> - -<p>“You know somethin’?” demanded the guide.</p> - -<p>“The bird that just went over was flying very -low. That indicates that he has located his cote -and is reaching for it. I do not believe it can -be more than a mile or two away from here. -Shall I take the lead now?”</p> - -<p>“No! I’ll take it myself,” snapped the guide. -Sam was irritable, but Hippy laid it to the guide’s -wound and his weakened condition. As a matter -of fact it was neither. Sam’s nerves were on edge -and his rheumatic fingers were “crinkling,” for he -could almost feel the feel of a gun in his right -hand.</p> - -<p>“Very well. I shall keep up close to you, just -the same,” announced Hippy. “If you come -upon something you’ll need assistance. The men -at the rear are instructed not to shoot until they -are positive about what they are shooting at, so -there is not much danger of their firing at us.”</p> - -<p>Sam answered with a grunt and started on. -Half an hour later he halted to wait for his companion -to come up to him.</p> - -<p>“What is it?” whispered Hippy.</p> - -<p>“I got er whiff o’ smoke. Mebby it’s the -makin’s o’ a forest fire, an’ mebby ’tain’t. We’ll -leave the ponies heah an’ go on afoot. Ye better -wait an’ tell ’em so they don’t blunder on an’ -spoil the game.”</p> - -<p>The “game”! What a game it was, a game -of life and death, thought Lieutenant Hippy Wingate, -as he tethered the mustangs at one side of -the trail and sat down to rest and wait.</p> - -<p>It was about this time that Stacy Brown was -taking his departure from the cabin of the mountain -ruffians, not dreaming that a friend was so -near at hand. In the meantime Sam had begun -moving forward slowly, making scarcely a sound, -so light were his footsteps, the right hand nervously -twitching over the protruding butt of his -revolver.</p> - -<p>The guide brought up sharply with his whiskers -standing out at an angle, and listened attentively. -He had heard a human laugh, and Sam knew -quite well that it could not be behind him, for -his companions were not in a laughing mood that -evening. He picked his way forward a little -farther and again halted and listened.</p> - -<p>A shout startled him and his muscles tensed. -It was a shout of anger, at first sounding as though -from a distance, then all at once near at hand. -Stacy Brown’s escape had been discovered, and -the mountain ruffians were running about in -search of him, but by this time the boy was some -distance away. When it was discovered that one -of the ponies was missing the rage of the rustlers -knew no restraint, and each was seeking for an -excuse to place the responsibility on his companions.</p> - -<p>“Somethin’ goin’ on over thar, but I’m dad-busted -if I knows what it’s all ’bout,” muttered -Sam.</p> - -<p>Two shots rang out almost as one, and the old -gunman knew what that meant. Two rustlers -had fired, but one had been a fraction of a second -quicker than the other, and one probably was out -of the fight, for there were no more shots, and -the voices of the rustlers became more subdued.</p> - -<p>Sam Conifer moved up a little closer. Lieutenant -Wingate, too, had heard the shots and was -growing restless, but dared not leave his position -until Tom, Two-Gun and Idaho came up.</p> - -<p>By this time Conifer had discovered the cabin. -Fortunately for his purposes, all the rustlers were -now in the cabin excitedly discussing the escape -of their prisoner, and considering what they had -better do. It was the opinion of the wiser ones -that Brown never would be able to find the place -again, which was probably true, and that the -other prisoner was still in their possession. It -was decided, therefore, to keep a sharp lookout -and collect all the money from the Overlanders -that they possibly could, then dispose of the man -they still held. It would not do to let that man -get away.</p> - -<p>As it developed later the two rustlers who had -shot at each other had missed, whereupon their -companions intervened and peace was restored, -as Sam Conifer learned a few moments later -from such snatches of conversation as he could -catch.</p> - -<p>The old guide crept up the granite slope a noiseless -shadow, and as he neared the open door of -the cabin he crouched with every faculty on the -alert, his right hand twitching, eyes slowly searching -the faces of the men under the light of a -lantern swinging from a beam in the center of -the room. Sam raised himself erect and glided -noiselessly to the door. There he stood for a full -minute, his gaze shifting from one to another of -the men gathered there and finally coming to rest -on the dark, swarthy face of one who looked to -be a Mexican, and whose attitude and peremptory -speech plainly showed that he was the leader of -the party.</p> - -<p>“I’ve been thinkin’. The boy’ll be home -prob’ly some time in the morning, but he can’t -be ’lowed to git thar. We’ve got to put a man -on his trail with a light, bad as it be to do thet, -an’ run him down afore he gits thar. Bad-Eye, -it’s up to you to do the job, an’ if ye do it right, -the boy’ll be a dead dude by mornin’. If he ain’t -I’ll go git him myself, fer he ain’t no good.”</p> - -<p>“I reckon ye lie!”</p> - -<p>It was a thunderbolt, hurled at them by Sam -Conifer from the doorway, and half a dozen hands -flew to as many revolver holsters.</p> - -<p>“Put ’em back!”</p> - -<p>The command was uttered with an incisiveness -that cut like a keen-edged blade, and the hands -of the mountain ruffians sagged away from their -holsters ever so little.</p> - -<p>“I’ve got somethin’ to say to ye cayuses fust. -After I gits finished ye kin shoot. Ye’r a fine -bunch of mavericks, ain’t ye?” drawled Sam.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXIX' title='XIX: A DUEL IN THE DARK'> -<span>CHAPTER XIX</span><br /> -<span>A DUEL IN THE DARK</span> -</h2> - -<p>Ordinarily long before this every gun -in the room would have been trained -on the intruder, but something restrained -them. Perhaps it was the easy, confident -manner of the man in the doorway. Then -again, they well knew that a man who would -voluntarily face that assemblage, and expect to -get away with it, must have supreme confidence -in himself. Whether or not that confidence was -well placed, they proposed to find out sooner or -later.</p> - -<p>“I been lookin’ fer ye fellers,” announced Sam. -“Now that I’ve found ye we’ll have a little confab, -so don’t git smart an’ feel fer yer guns, ’cause -somethin’ might happen. This heah right hand -o’ mine, though it’s all crinkled up with the -rheumatiz, now an’ ag’in gits mighty nervous, an’ -it might throw a gun afore I could stop it. Jest -like this”:</p> - -<p>His heavy Colt revolver flicked into Sam Conifer’s -hand as if by magic, and lay trembling there -in his palm. Then it slipped smoothly towards -his finger tips as if doing so of its own volition, -spun and slid without an apparent movement of -the arm, always moving, now like a flash of light, -then with slow easy grace, but, as it was observed -by the keen eyes of the watchers, with the -muzzle ever pointed towards him of the swarthy -face.</p> - -<p>As the weapon slipped back into its holster, and -the rheumatic hand of the old guide lay trembling -on its butt, a look of relief passed over the -face of the dark mountaineer.</p> - -<p>The others in the cabin looked their amazement, -for few there had ever seen a gun handled -as this old, stoop-shouldered intruder handled his. -It was a revelation, though not a pleasant -one. It was a warning as well, but they were -watching him—watching and waiting for that -moment when the old man’s alert, shifting glances -should wander from some of them for a few -golden seconds.</p> - -<p>“Say, ye feller! Who be ye?” demanded the -dark man. “What do ye mean by holdin’ up -a bunch o’ honest prospectors?”</p> - -<p>Sam Conifer grinned sardonically.</p> - -<p>“Honest, did ye say? You don’t know the -meanin’ o’ that word. Them’s queer words comin’ -from the lips o’ Mexican Charlie.”</p> - -<p>The dark man started, flushed and reached for -his weapon, but thinking better of it, permitted -his hand to slip back to its former position.</p> - -<p>“I wants to know whar the boy is? Mex, I -ask ye, whar is he?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know.”</p> - -<p>“Ye lie, Mex! Yer too yellow to draw at thet -word. Whar’s my pard, Jim?”</p> - -<p>“I tell you I don’t know nothin’ ’bout what yer -talkin’,” flung back Mexican Charlie.</p> - -<p>“Ye lie twice, but yer too yellow to draw at -thet word,” reiterated Sam. “I knows thet the -boy got away, but whar did he go?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t know nothin’ ’bout it. Who be ye?”</p> - -<p>“Leavin’ the lie fer the moment, ye ought to -know me, Charlie. You an’ me has met afore, -but a long time ago an’ times has changed me, -but yer the same low-down houn’ thet ye always -was. I’ve growed some fresh whiskers since ye -last seen me, an’ fer reasons. Look sharp, Mex! -Look under the whiskers and mebby ye’ll see a -scar thar,” urged the old guide, lifting his whiskers -with the left hand. “Do ye see it, Mex?”</p> - -<p>The mountaineer nodded, but he was puzzled. -That scar seemed to bring back the past, but -Mexican Charlie plainly could not fix the thing -in his mind.</p> - -<p>“Mex! Ye put thet scar thar. It was up in -the Klondike years ago, and ye give it to me when -I wasn’t lookin’. Ye got away then an’ ye know -why, cause my hand wasn’t all crinkled up with -the rheumatiz like it is now. But listen, Mex! -I’ve been waitin’ fer ye, knowin’ thet some day -you an’ me would meet up with each other an’ -then we’d talk it all over nice an’ friendly like. -I didn’t recognize ye when ye come to our camp -t’other night an’ told us ye come from Malcolm -Hornby with orders fer us to git out ’cause we was -on his property. Ye lied then, too, jest as you’ve -been doin’ tonight. Mex, I’m Sam Conifer!”</p> - -<p>The announcement was like a blow in the face -to Mexican Charlie. Mex knew his torturer now. -To the others the announcement meant nothing -except as they saw how nervous it had made their -leader.</p> - -<p>“Do ye know what I’m goin’ to do now, Mex?” -purred Sam.</p> - -<p>“Yer goin’ to git out o’ here afore somebody -shoots ye up!” shouted the mountaineer.</p> - -<p>“Shore I be, but not yit. Fust, I’m goin’ to -give ye the same kind o’ scar that ye give me up -in the Klondike. Turn yer head round sideways -jest as I was doin’ when ye give it to me,” urged -Sam gently.</p> - -<p>“Yer wrong, pard. I ain’t the man ye think -I be. I never seen ye before,” protested Charlie.</p> - -<p>“I’m speakin’ to ye, Charlie! Be ye goin’ -to turn yer head or must I turn it fer ye after -I’ve put ye in condition to turn?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll kill ye fer this!” hissed the mountaineer. -“Yer a coward, an’ ye wouldn’t dare talk to me -like thet if things was equal.</p> - -<p>“No, things ain’t equal, eh? Heah ye be, six -of ye an’ I only one man; each of ye armed an’ -lookin’ fer a chance to kill me, but not darin’ to -try it, though I ain’t got a gun in my hand no -more than ye fellers has. No, things ain’t equal. -Draw, ye sneakin’ coyote! I’ll not touch my gun -till your’n is out o’ the holster. Draw, you -coward!”</p> - -<p>Enraged beyond further endurance, and taking -advantage of the visitor’s apparent relaxation, -Mexican Charlie snatched at his gun, fumbled it -in his nervous excitement, then jerked it free.</p> - -<p>Like a flash of light the nervous hand of Sam -Conifer flicked his own weapon out and two guns -roared, one a fraction of a second ahead of the -other. Mexican Charlie clapped a hand to his -neck, as his weapon fell to the floor.</p> - -<p>“Steady, fellers! We ain’t finished our little -talk yit,” warned Sam. “Mex’s got it right whar -he give it to me an’ he don’t like it. Neither -did I. Tie yer handkerchief ’bout yer neck, -Charlie, an’ we’ll finish what we got to say to -each other, an’ this time ye’ll talk right out in -meetin’ cause thar’s some things I’ve got to know, -among them, who is bossin’ this heah gang o’ -rustlers, an’ hoss thieves, an’ fellers thet—”</p> - -<p>Sam did not finish his sentence. A rifle somewhere -outside of the cabin roared, and the lantern -swinging overhead crashed to the floor, leaving -the room in sudden darkness.</p> - -<p>Revolvers began to bark, weapons aimed at the -spot where Sam Conifer had been standing. The -firing was fast and furious for a moment, then -the voice of Mexican Charlie was heard above the -uproar.</p> - -<p>“Git out! On the jump!” he shouted.</p> - -<p>The rustlers made haste to obey, some going -out by way of the door, others taking to the rear -and out by the lean-to in which Stacy Brown -had been held a captive.</p> - -<p>A moment later Sam Conifer rose from the -floor where he had thrown himself on the instant -when the light went out, and stole out. Sam -did not go far, only to the base of the granite -slope, at one side of which he crouched down and -waited. Sam could not understand that shot. -Why, if it were a friend of the rustlers, did the -fellow not shoot him instead of shooting out the -light? After a time a light began to dawn on the -old guide. He uttered a low whistle signal that -had been agreed upon between himself and his -companions.</p> - -<p>The signal was properly answered.</p> - -<p>“Come heah, but do it keerful like,” ordered -Conifer.</p> - -<p>After a few seconds a voice called out softly. -It was the voice of Two-gun Pete.</p> - -<p>“Thet you, Sam?” asked Pete.</p> - -<p>“Yes. Whar’s that bunch o’ ruffians?” demanded -the guide.</p> - -<p>“They’ve hit the trail on their ponies, an’ -some of ’em had to be helped into their saddles, -I reckon. Our fellers aire back heah in the bushes. -They was waitin’ till I sized things up an’—”</p> - -<p>“Look heah, Pete! Be you the critter thet -shot out the light jest when I was holdin’ a -friendly conversation with thet bunch? Be you -him?”</p> - -<p>Pete admitted that he was the man.</p> - -<p>“Thar was a feller in thar thet had his gun -out and was gittin’ ready to let you have it,” -explained Pete. “I reckoned thet I didn’t want -to kill the critter. Somehow I don’t like to let -go at a feller when he ain’t lookin’. It ain’t good -sport; so I jest shot out the light, knowin’ thet -you’d be out of range instanter if things went off -thar, which they did.”</p> - -<p>“Thet’s what I calls a low-down trick, Pete. -No gent would butt in when another gent is -holdin’ a private conversation, but I forgive ye. -Lead me to our bunch. Be they all heah?”</p> - -<p>Pete said they were, and conducted Sam to -them. Tom, Hippy and Idaho eagerly plied the -old guide with questions, all talking at the same -time. They conversed in low tones, for no one -knew at what moment they might be overheard -by mountain prowlers, for none had great faith -in the flight of the men that Sam Conifer had -held up. They were expected to return seeking -for revenge.</p> - -<p>Sam was troubled, though the Overlanders were -happy in the thought that Stacy had escaped. -They reasoned that by this time he must be well -on his way to the Circle O ranch. Sam, on the -other hand, was worried about Jim. He believed -that Jim must be somewhere about, and, after a -few moments’ further conversation with his companions, -started for a prowl about. In the meantime -Two-gun and Idaho kept watch to guard -against surprises.</p> - -<p>The old guide’s search lasted for more than an -hour. Upon his return he announced that he -couldn’t find the slightest trace of Jim, and that -he could do nothing more until daylight. The -night passed without the party being disturbed, -and with daylight all hands were out before breakfast -continuing the search.</p> - -<p>The cabin was the first object of their inquiry. -After searching it and finding nothing of interest, -except the message that Hippy had sent by one -of the pigeons, they proceeded to the lean-to. -The first object to interest them there was Stacy -Brown’s hat.</p> - -<p>“I reckon the fat boy went away in a hurry,” -suggested Pete.</p> - -<p>“An’ somebody cut the ropes thet held him,” -added Idaho.</p> - -<p>“He cut ’em hisself with the axe,” averred -Sam, whose eyes had taken in every detail in one -sweeping glance. “I knowed the kid would fool -’em if he got half a chance. But whar’s Jim? If -they’ve done fer him I’ll foller thet bunch till -I gits every one of ’em, if it takes me all the rest -of my life. But Jim ain’t daid. I’ll tell ye, Cap’n -Gray, and all the rest of ye, I love thet pard o’ -mine like I never didn’t love no one else.”</p> - -<p>“Then why do you fight each other all the -time?” questioned Hippy laughingly.</p> - -<p>“Why, ain’t thet the way? What t’other way -could a couple of fellers show thet they love each -other? Ye wouldn’t expect ’em to git mushy, -would ye? No. Ain’t no t’other way ’cept to -arg’fy an’ fit it out. Why, Jim an’ me have got -so het up now an’ ag’in thet we drawed guns on -each other, an’ one time Jim shot at me, but -thet critter never could shoot. All he kin do is -to foller a trail, but thar ain’t a man lives thet -kin beat him at thet. The time he shot at me, I -was so all-fired tickled to think I’d riled him till -he drawed, thet I jest chucked my gun an’ grabbed -him an’ hugged him till we both got to laughin’. -Thet’s the only time we ever come nigh gittin’ -mushy like a couple o’ gals,” finished Conifer, who -stroking his whiskers, turned and strode out to -the edge of the gulch that dropped away at the -rear of the lean-to.</p> - -<p>Hippy looked at Tom and Tom looked at -Hippy, then both burst into laughter.</p> - -<p>“Can you beat it?” chuckled Hippy.</p> - -<p>Tom Gray agreed that he could not. Sam was -out of range of both their words or their laughter, -absorbed in his study of the surrounding mountains -and gorges. His forehead wore a heavy -frown, and, as he looked he thought, with all the -concentration that he could summon, trying to -evolve a theory to find a solution of the mystery -of his companion’s disappearance. No answer -came to him.</p> - -<p>Two-gun Pete, who was listening to the conversation -of the two Overland men, suddenly -reared his head attentively.</p> - -<p>“Did ye hear it?” he demanded.</p> - -<p>The Overlanders nodded. The distant report of -a rifle had been heard by all, but as there was -no repetition of it they again fell to talking.</p> - -<p>“Wha—at!” cried Lieutenant Wingate, -springing to his feet when, a moment later, Sam -Conifer came staggering in. “In the name of -Mike, what’s happened?”</p> - -<p>The old guide’s face was covered with blood -from the forehead down, which served to -accentuate the pallor that showed in the narrow strip -above it.</p> - -<p>“Sam! What is it?” begged Tom Gray.</p> - -<p>“Nothin’ much ’cept—” The words ended in -a moan, and old Sam Conifer, staggering forward -a pace, crumpled down to the floor and lay still.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXX' title='XX: STACY WIELDS A CLUB'> -<span>CHAPTER XX</span><br /> -<span>STACY WIELDS A CLUB</span> -</h2> - -<p>Stacy Brown’s face wore a serious expression -as his captors started away with -him. His pony was free, but there were -men ahead of and behind him, men whose faces -were stern and threatening. The rifle had been -taken from the boot of his saddle and his revolvers -were gone. He was as helpless as a child, but the -fat boy was watching for an opportunity to escape.</p> - -<p>“Where are you taking me?” he demanded -after they had galloped on for the better part of -an hour.</p> - -<p>“You’ll see when you git thar,” was the brief -reply.</p> - -<p>“You don’t say,” retorted Chunky, whereupon -he was ordered to keep silent.</p> - -<p>Soon after that a collection of ranch buildings -was seen nestling below in the foothills, which -were regarded with interest by the Overland boy -as his captors headed for them. As they neared -the ranch, a few men appeared and with shaded -eyes watched the approach. When the captors -finally pulled up before the ranch, a thin, tall, -bronzed man came out and bent a keen gaze on -Chunky.</p> - -<p>“What have you got heah?” he demanded.</p> - -<p>“Feller we caught with the mustang thet was -stolen the other night,” replied one of the captors.</p> - -<p>“So? A hoss thief, eh?”</p> - -<p>“I’m not!” objected the fat boy indignantly.</p> - -<p>“So? Mebby he is your horse, eh?”</p> - -<p>Stacy admitted that it was not his horse.</p> - -<p>“Where did you get him?” snapped the -rancher.</p> - -<p>“I helped myself to him—took him because -I wanted to get away from a bunch of ruffians.”</p> - -<p>“Where was that?”</p> - -<p>Stacy said he didn’t know, but that it was in the -mountains on the edge of a red gulch, and further -admitted that he didn’t know much about the -country there and would feel fully as well satisfied -if he didn’t know as much as he did.</p> - -<p>“What’s your name?”</p> - -<p>“Name’s Brown. What’s yours?”</p> - -<p>“I am William Crawley, the owner of this -ranch, and the pony you are on is my property. -I don’t suppose there is any use in questioning -you, for a fellow who will rustle horses will lie -as well as steal. I’ll hear what you have to say, -however.”</p> - -<p>“If you don’t mind, suppose you untie me and -let me get down. I don’t like to be hung up this -way ’cause it gets tiresome.”</p> - -<p>“I reckon you will have plenty of time to rest, -young fellow,” answered the rancher, grinning -sardonically. “Let him down. Has he guns on -him?”</p> - -<p>A member of the party said that they had taken -his weapons from the boy, and explained in detail -how they happened to discover him helping himself -to food in the chuck-house up on the range, -to all of which Rancher Crawley listened attentively. -He turned to Stacy again.</p> - -<p>“Tell me what you wish about yourself and -I’ll listen,” he said.</p> - -<p>“What’s the use? You won’t believe me,” -protested Stacy.</p> - -<p>“As you wish. It doesn’t make much difference -what you say. You will have to tell your story -to the sheriff at Carrago, for we’re going to send -a man for him today.”</p> - -<p>“I belong to the Overland Riders. We ride -somewhere every summer,” began Stacy hurriedly. -“This summer we chose the Bad Lands in the -Cosos, but I reckon that, had we known how bad -they are, we should have stayed away. We have -been hanging out with Joe Bindloss, and the rest -of my party is over there now. We have a camp -pitched just back of his house where the garden -ought to be, but isn’t.”</p> - -<p>“How about it, Skip?” interrupted the rancher, -turning to one of his men. “You was over there -this morning.”</p> - -<p>The man replied that there was no camp back -of Bindloss’s house, and that, further, no one was -there when he dropped in.</p> - -<p>Bill Crawley smiled sarcastically.</p> - -<p>“You see! A hoss thief can’t tell the truth,” -he reiterated.</p> - -<p>“Neither can some other people,” flung back -Chunky heatedly. “I’m telling you the truth, -and I don’t care whether you believe me or not, -but if you are half so smart as you think you are -you will know that I am telling no lies. I don’t -have to be a horse thief. I’ve got money, I’d -have you know.”</p> - -<p>“Most hoss thieves have,” agreed one of the -cowpunchers. “What were you doing in the -mountains alone?”</p> - -<p>Stacy, though weary and out of patience with -all this, explained that while out with Bindloss’s -men on the round-up, he was roped and carried -into the mountains where he was held prisoner -while a gang of rustlers tried to get his companions -to pay a ransom for him. He told about -the carrier pigeons, and the money that the ruffians -had collected by means of the birds. As he -talked the grins on the faces of the cowpunchers -grew broader. They had never heard a fairy tale -quite so ingenious. Bill Crawley’s face wore an -expression of weariness.</p> - -<p>“Young fellow, I’ve heard some liars in my -time, but you win!” he declared. “Take him -over to the hay barn and lock him in. If he tries -to get out, shoot him!”</p> - -<p>“If you were alone with me you wouldn’t -dare say that, you bluffer!” retorted Chunky, his -cheeks flushing with anger.</p> - -<p>“What’s that you say?” demanded the rancher, -taking a step toward the boy, his chin thrust out -belligerently.</p> - -<p>“Oh, nothing much,” muttered Stacy. “I -reckon I was talking in my sleep.”</p> - -<p>“Lock him up. And, Skip! Get a bite to eat, -then hit the trail for Carrago. You ought to get -back some time tomorrow forenoon, but bring the -sheriff with you. We’ve got one of the rustlers -that have been stealing stock from us this -summer, and, young fellow, we’re going to send -you to jail. You’re lucky that you aren’t shot!” -was Crawley’s parting word.</p> - -<p>Stacy was yanked nearly off his feet by a -cowpuncher and hauled protesting to the barn, a -structure that was built with the idea of keeping -thieves from stealing from it. He was thrown -violently to the floor as his jailer hurled him into -the place, and the door was slammed behind him -and locked.</p> - -<p>There were tears of anger in the eyes of the fat -boy as he sat up and rubbed himself.</p> - -<p>“I wish I had a gun! Oh, I wish I had a gun!” -he raged.</p> - -<p>After the peak of his rage had been passed, -Stacy began to take account of his surroundings. -On either side of him were huge mows of hay -already laid up for the stock that would have to be -wintered on the ranch, but finally, weariness overcoming -him, the Overland boy stretched out on -the barn floor and went to sleep. He did not -awaken until twilight when a boot, coming into -violent contact with his person, brought him up, -once more in a belligerent mood.</p> - -<p>“Heah’s yer chuck,” announced the cowpuncher. -“I hope it chokes ye!” added the man, -backing out and locking the door.</p> - -<p>The sight of food made Stacy forget his troubles -for the time being, and he helped himself freely -of the liberal meal. Upon second thought, the boy -stowed part of the food in his pockets, thinking -it might be useful later on, for he had hopes of -making his escape.</p> - -<p>After finishing his meal he climbed the ladder -to the top of the hay loft and floundered about -in the faint light for some time, hoping to find -a window. There was none. Getting down, he -tried the mow on the other side of the barn, but -with no better results, whereupon Chunky returned -to the floor and sat down, head in hands.</p> - -<p>“Tomorrow, if I am here, I’ll be on my way to -jail,” he reflected. “Of course it will all come -out right. They won’t keep me there long, but -I don’t like the idea of going to jail when there -is so much going on over in the valley. Besides, -a fellow doesn’t get very good food in these -western jails, so I’ve heard. I’ve got to get out -of here. That’s flat!”</p> - -<p>The Overland boy got up and leaned against the -hay wagon that stood on the barn floor. One -hand came in contact with one of the pins, oak -pins about a yard long, that keep the hay on the -rack when loading. He pulled the pin out and -felt over its entire length. It was smooth, worn -so from long usage, and the feel of it was good -to Stacy Brown. It was something that might -be used for a weapon as well as a tool. With -it he tried to pry open the barn door, but the -door would not budge. Once more the fat boy -was at the end of his resources, but as he stood -leaning against the door, he heard some one fussing -with the lock.</p> - -<p>Stacy was instantly on the alert as some one -opened the door.</p> - -<p>“Hey, ye hoss thief! Whar be ye? The -boss reckons as I’d better start for Carrago with -ye now so as to git thar in the mornin’ an’ git -back in good season.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” replied the lad, yawning.</p> - -<p>“What you doin’ heah by the door?” demanded -the man.</p> - -<p>“Maybe I was trying to get out. What?” -laughed the fat boy.</p> - -<p>“I don’t reckon as you’ll be gittin’ out till ye -go with me, an’ don’t ye try any monkeyshines, -’cause I’ve got er gun in my hand an’ I’ll use it -on ye, ye cheap rustler. Git ’round in front of -me whar I kin see ye!”</p> - -<p>“I’ll bet you I get away,” answered Chunky, -“and I’ll have the law on this outfit for what -it has done to me!”</p> - -<p>Whack! He brought the oak stick down on the -head of the cowpuncher.</p> - -<p>The fellow went down in a heap, whereupon -Stacy Brown stepped out, closed and locked the -door behind him and walked calmly away.</p> - -<p>“When I get riled I’m a pretty bad man,” -admitted the Overland boy, chuckling to himself.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXXI' title='XXI: JUDY BRINGS TIDINGS'> -<span>CHAPTER XXI</span><br /> -<span>JUDY BRINGS TIDINGS</span> -</h2> - -<p>At first the two Overland Riders in the -mountain cabin thought Sam Conifer had -been mortally wounded, but after they -had pulled themselves together, washed his face -and examined his wound, they decided that it -might not be so serious after all. A bullet had -laid about four inches of the forehead open, but -did not seem to have done the skull injury.</p> - -<p>Sam was placed on blankets in the cabin, and -the two Overlanders worked over him until he -regained consciousness. While they were doing -this Two-gun Pete and Idaho, rifles in hands, -skulked about outside, trying to discover the man -who had fired the shot that got Sam. Not knowing -what position the old guide was standing in -when hit, they were unable to determine the -direction from which the bullet had come, and -were about to return to the cabin to see if Sam -had come to, when Pete uttered a yell.</p> - -<p>“Git down!” he shouted.</p> - -<p>At the same instant, Idaho heard the report of -a rifle and threw himself down. Pete was already -on the ground, hat in hand, and looking at it -ruefully. He held it up for his companion to see.</p> - -<p>“Put er hole plumb through it,” he growled. -“Thet miserable cayuse! I hope I git a squint -at him over the sights of my rifle. But, man, -he shore kin shoot!”</p> - -<p>“Whar do ye think it come from?” asked -Idaho Jones.</p> - -<p>“From t’other side of the gulch. Must be -usin’ a telescope rifle, for no man with open sights -could make two shots like thet. He might do -it once, but not twice. I call thet some shootin’. -No wonder he got old Sam. Ye keep watch. I’m -going in to tell the Dude an’ Cap’n Gray ’bout -this heah,” announced Pete, making a run for the -protection of the rocks about the cabin.</p> - -<p>He found Sam awake. The Overlanders had -heard the shot, and met Pete with a quick inquiry -about it. Two-gun Pete exhibited his hat as the -answer to their question.</p> - -<p>“I come in to ask ’bout Sam. I reckoned as -mebby you’d like to have somebody go down to -the valley an’ git help fer him.”</p> - -<p>“Not unless you wish to get away from here, -which I don’t believe you do,” replied Tom Gray.</p> - -<p>“I reckon I don’t—not onless it’s to save a -pard’s life. Is he bad off—goin’ to pass in?”</p> - -<p>“No, I ain’t, you miserable galoot!” answered -Sam Conifer heatedly. “I’m goin’ out purty soon -to hunt fer a man, an’ when I finds him—”</p> - -<p>“Not today, Samuel,” differed Hippy.</p> - -<p>“I be!” insisted the injured man.</p> - -<p>“I reckon what the Boss says goes ’round -heah,” reminded Two-gun Pete. “I’ll git out -an’ keep watch.”</p> - -<p>Soon after that Conifer, his head bandaged up -as best the two men could do it, went to sleep, -and the Overlanders fell to considering what they -ought to do. They decided, in the first place, -that Idaho and Pete should go out and make -further search for Jim, following the direction -taken by the outlaws when they rode away in -such haste. Hippy thought that he and Tom -could protect their camp and care for Sam at the -same time, and perhaps, by the following day, -there would be help from the Circle O ranch.</p> - -<p>Tom reminded him, that, not knowing where -they were, no assistance could be looked for from -that direction. This had not occurred to Hippy.</p> - -<p>Pete and Idaho did not return until just before -dark. They had found not the slightest trace -of the other guide, but they were delighted to -see Sam sitting up. Nothing had been seen of the -rustlers, but Two-gun Pete advised that the party -move out of the cabin and go into camp farther -up in the mountains, as otherwise they were more -than likely to be attacked before morning.</p> - -<p>Hippy and Tom moved Sam with some misgivings, -but the old guide stood the ride without -admitting the slightest suffering because of it. -That night they made camp without building a -fire, and lay down in the open, deciding that in -the morning they would return to the cabin -and again make it their headquarters while continuing -the search for Jim.</p> - -<hr class='tbk' /> - -<p>In the meantime the long absence of the party -was beginning to cause the Overland girls and -Bindloss some worry, for not knowing where their -companions had gone, it was not possible to get -into communication with them.</p> - -<p>By the following morning worry had grown -into genuine alarm, and ways and means for -doing something were discussed by the rancher -and his guests. No conclusion was arrived at, but -shortly after luncheon their hopes were raised by -a dust cloud down the valley. The cloud soon -grew into a horse and rider, and as it neared them -the rider was recognized as Judy. She was coming -fast—her mustang running at top speed.</p> - -<p>“Judy’s excited about something,” said Bindloss, -a frown wrinkling his forehead.</p> - -<p>The same thought was in the mind of each -Overland Rider. Perhaps Judy was bringing news -from the party that went in search of Stacy and -Jim.</p> - -<p>The mountain girl indulged in no fancy horsemanship -that afternoon. She rode straight up -to the porch of the ranch-house and threw herself -from the saddle.</p> - -<p>“Give me a drink of water. I’ve swallered a -quart of dust,” was her greeting.</p> - -<p>“Is—is anything wrong?” begged Nora.</p> - -<p>“Mebby everythin’ is. Hello, Pap Bindloss. -Ain’t grown any better lookin’ since I was here, -be you?”</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter, Judy?” he asked, ignoring -her fling at him. “I know something is wrong.”</p> - -<p>She gave him a quick flashing look.</p> - -<p>“You see too dad-gasted much for an old man. -Ah-h-h-h! That water tastes good. Where’s yer -folks, Miss Gray?” she asked casually, and -emptied the glass of water.</p> - -<p>“They went into the mountains to look for -Stacy Brown and Jim. We haven’t seen them -since, and we are worried,” replied Grace.</p> - -<p>“A-huh! How’d they know whar to go?”</p> - -<p>No one answered, and Judy gave them a quick -searching look.</p> - -<p>“Tryin’ to hide up on me, eh? Wal, I don’t -reckon as it’s any good for you to do so, ’cause -mebby I can tell ye some things that may be good -fer ye to know.”</p> - -<p>“You know something about them, Judy?” -demanded Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>“A-huh. Did they go up to Red Gulch?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes!” cried the girls in chorus. “Judy, -do you know where that place is?” questioned -Emma.</p> - -<p>“Reckon I could find it if I tried, but I don’t -reckon whether I want to try or not. It’s a long, -hard hike up thar, and thar won’t be no picnic -when you get thar. My Pap says it ain’t a fit -place fer folks to be, but Pap was mad with me -afore he went away this mornin’ and threatened -to give me a punch in the jaw, but he changed his -mind when I pulled my gun and told him to try -it. Wal, Pap didn’t. He went away madder’n a -busting bronco. Said he wouldn’t be back fer a -few days. He said some things ’bout ye folks -that I don’t ’low nobody to say ’bout my friends, -an’ I said so right out in meetin’, and added a -few other things, and that started the row. Say, -I got some news fer you folks.”</p> - -<p>“Then for heaven’s sake tell it!” begged -Emma. “You are killing us with suspense.”</p> - -<p>“I reckoned that way,” nodded the girl. “Wal, -I heard it this mornin’ fer the first time, ’bout -your folks goin’ up in the mountains, and why -they went thar and all ’bout it. Funny, wasn’t -it, that I should hear it? I ain’t going to tell you -whar I heard it, but I did. You don’t reckon -anythin’ happened to them, do you, Pap Bindloss?”</p> - -<p>“Judy, I think you can answer that question, -and that you have come here to help my friends,” -replied the rancher.</p> - -<p>“Fer why do ye think that?”</p> - -<p>The rancher pointed to the rifle in Judy’s -saddle boot.</p> - -<p>“Are you going hunting, Judy?” he asked -significantly.</p> - -<p>Judy flushed and turned to the girls.</p> - -<p>“I reckon I better tell ye now what I come -heah to say—what I heard this mornin’. Wal, -it was this way: Your folks and some rustlers -had a fight in the mountains last night. It warn’t -much of a fight, but I heard that Sam Conifer -had been killed and thet Miss Gray’s husband and -Hippy had been shot and that there was liable to -be trouble at Red Gulch, and I reckoned that I -was your friend and that you folks needed a -friend right now, and that’s why Judy Hornby is -heah.”</p> - -<p>Nora Wingate, uttering a moan, toppled over in -a swoon, the other Overland girls gazing at the -mountain girl in a stunned sort of way, while -Judy fumbled awkwardly with her sombrero.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXXII' title='XXII: RIDERS OF THE NIGHT'> -<span>CHAPTER XXII</span><br /> -<span>RIDERS OF THE NIGHT</span> -</h2> - -<p>No heed was given to Nora Wingate’s -faint, and for several seconds no one -spoke.</p> - -<p>“Gosh a-mighty!” exploded Joe Bindloss.</p> - -<p>“Judy, are you positive that your information -is correct?” asked Grace in a voice well under -control.</p> - -<p>“Ain’t positive of nothin’. Be you?”</p> - -<p>Grace shook her head and smiled faintly.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Bindloss, of course we shall have to go. -None of us can stay back now. Judy, will you -guide us to the Red Gulch section?”</p> - -<p>“That’s what I’m heah for, Miss Gray. I -reckoned as you’d be doin’ jest that. If I had a -man I’ll bet I’d hit the trail fer him when I heard -he was in a mess. How did yours ever git up to -Red Gulch?”</p> - -<p>“He followed the pigeons,” answered Grace.</p> - -<p>“A-huh!”</p> - -<p>Joe Bindloss, at this juncture, announced his -intention of accompanying the Overlanders into -the mountains. He did not know where Red -Gulch was, but if Judy said she knew, that settled -it. The girls brightened at his suggestion, and -Nora sat up pale and trembling, asking what had -happened.</p> - -<p>She was told that she had fainted. Grace -turned to Judy and asked if they were to start -at once, but the mountain girl shook her head.</p> - -<p>“We got to wait till night and make a night -ride,” she said. “Pap Bindloss knows why.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I can’t wait!” wailed Nora.</p> - -<p>“Judy is right,” spoke up the ranchman. -“Besides, we have some things to do here. I -can’t spare any men from the range, so we shall -have to do the work ourselves. We must break -your camp and store your equipment, for the -rustlers will discover, after we leave here, that -the ranch is unguarded and come down on it. -Understand?”</p> - -<p>Grace nodded. Judy tethered her pony and -announced that she would assist them, and the -work of striking the Overland camp began. The -equipment was packed for moving, but instead -of being lashed to the backs of mustangs, Joe -Bindloss carted it to the ranch-house on his buckboard. -The work took a good part of the afternoon, -following which the rancher rode out to -his nearest grazing grounds where he acquainted -one of his foremen with the situation.</p> - -<p>Judy Hornby not only did her share of the -work, but kept up the spirits of her companions -with quaint sayings and sharp-witted replies -to questions.</p> - -<p>Food sufficient for their needs was packed, and -by supper time all was in readiness for the start. -Before leaving, the mountain girl and the rancher -held a brief consultation, at which she told him -of her plan. Bindloss agreed to it. Up to this -time Judy had given her friends no further information -as to the source of the news that had -come to her, though occasional attempts had been -made by Grace and Elfreda to draw it from her.</p> - -<p>The start was made shortly after dark, the -riders setting out in pairs at some little distance -apart. Judy kept to the base of the foothills -where the mountains cast a heavy shadow so that -the movements of the party could not be seen from -the valley in the light of the new moon. Instead -of riding directly into the hills, the mountain girl -rode parallel with them for fully five miles. Grace -asked her why she did this instead of taking the -direct line that had been followed by the carrier -pigeons.</p> - -<p>“Mebby that trail is watched,” answered Judy. -“We got to go ’round and come up by a longer -way. You folks leave that to me. I ain’t sayin’ -that we ain’t goin’ to be caught, but if we are we -got rifles and I knows how to use mine.”</p> - -<p>“So do we,” returned Grace. “I hope it may -not be necessary, though.”</p> - -<p>Finally a sharp turn into the mountains was -made, and for a mile or two Judy followed a gash -in the hills.</p> - -<p>“We got to climb now,” finally announced their -guide, and it proved to be a real climb. A brief -halt was made to rest the animals, after which -the journey was resumed. The going from there -on was over rough ground, and it was a marvel -to the Overland Riders how Judy Hornby picked -her way in the darkness and kept in the right -direction.</p> - -<p>As a matter of fact Judy was using the stars -for her guide, which enabled her to follow the -general direction in which she wanted to go.</p> - -<p>Another halt was made at midnight. The girls -were shivering, and Emma asked if they could not -build a fire and warm up.</p> - -<p>“No! You’ll git warmed up before you git -through with this,” answered Judy. “Might git -warm most any time now.”</p> - -<p>No halt was made from that time until just -at break of day. Then Judy left the party for -half an hour to take an observation. She returned -briskly and announced that they could -make a small fire and have coffee, but she built -the fire herself, being careful not to make enough -smoke to attract attention.</p> - -<p>“Folks, we aire within a mile of the Red Gulch, -and I reckon you better keep your eyes open from -now on. I’ll ride on ahead, so watch me. Pap -Bindloss, you watch the sides and the trail behind. -Nobody do any loud talkin’,” advised Judy, -after they had warmed their hands by the little -cook-fire, and drunk their hot coffee. All mounted -and rode away much refreshed, and with a gentle -glow now suffusing their bodies.</p> - -<p>The Overlanders now observed that Judy had -unlimbered her rifle, so they did the same, carrying -their weapons resting across their saddles, gun butts -to the right. Judy wound in and out among -the rocks and trees, sometimes being out of sight -for a moment or two, then coming into view -again, until finally she held up her hand and sat -listening. The others halted near where her pony -stood nibbling at the green leaves within its -reach.</p> - -<p>“You all stay right heah. I’m going on to -scout ’round a little. Pap, you stay with the -girls.” Judy tossed her bridle-rein to him and -slid from her saddle, taking her rifle with her. -She was out of sight in a few moments, and the -Overland Riders sat in uneasy silence straining -their ears for warning sounds.</p> - -<p>When Judy returned her face wore a perplexed -expression.</p> - -<p>“Folks, they ain’t there.”</p> - -<p>“Aren’t where?” asked Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>“Whar they was supposed to be. I got a good -look at the cabin, but couldn’t see nobody, an’ -couldn’t find any ponies anywhar ’bout, though -I see whar they’d been tethered. Would you folks -know the tracks of yer horses?”</p> - -<p>Grace said she did not think they would, not -having had these animals long enough to be -familiar with them.</p> - -<p>“I can pick ’em out,” volunteered Bindloss.</p> - -<p>“Good! Come with me. You folks kin ride -up so you kin see the place whar the cabin is -an’—”</p> - -<p>“What cabin?” questioned Emma.</p> - -<p>“One of the places whar the rustlers hang out, -an’ whar I reckons that battle was fought. But -you got to keep quiet.”</p> - -<p>Bindloss dismounted and followed the girl, -leaving the Overlanders alone and very much -worried. The couple were gone for some time; -then the Riders saw them returning, the rancher -striding rapidly along, Judy following him -thoughtfully.</p> - -<p>“They’ve gone, folks!” he announced. -“Neither hide nor hair of them left. I got into -the cabin, and there was bullet holes, fresh ones, -showing that there had been some shooting there. -I reckon there was blood on the floor. It looked -like it.”</p> - -<p>“Anything else?” asked Grace, regarding him -keenly.</p> - -<p>“Nothing like what you mean,” answered -Bindloss understandingly. “I found the tracks -of my ponies, and we ain’t far from their trail -right this minute. It looks to me as if your party -has headed for home, and Judy agrees with me. -There was five ponies in that bunch and they was -all mine. That looks mighty queer to me.”</p> - -<p>“Is it not possible that it was not our friends -who were riding the animals?” asked Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>“I reckon so,” returned the rancher absently. -“However, there’s only one thing for us to do, -and that is to follow the tracks and watch out.”</p> - -<p>While he was speaking, Judy had started off -on foot. She was gone for some time. Upon her -return she announced that she had picked up the -trail, and mounting, she directed her companions -to fall in behind her. Bindloss rode a little to -one side of the mountain girl, and in a few minutes -she pointed out the trail to him. He got down -to examine it, and said the faint hoof-prints were -those of ponies from his corral.</p> - -<p>From that time on fairly rapid progress was -made, until the trail grew more difficult to follow. -There were straggling cedars about them and on -beyond a forest of pines that formed a great green -canopy. The season had been dry and the long -mountain grass under the sun’s rays had burned -to a dull brown, but the grass was tough and -traveling through it made it necessary for the -ponies to lift their feet high, giving a jolting -effect to the riders that was extremely trying.</p> - -<p>Bindloss suddenly halted.</p> - -<p>“I hear shooting!” he exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“So do I,” agreed Grace.</p> - -<p>The reports sounded far away, but Bindloss -and Judy knew that the firing was not so far away -as the Overlanders believed.</p> - -<p>“Do you know where you are—do you know -the mountains here?” asked the rancher.</p> - -<p>Judy shook her head and said she had never -been so far into the mountain country before, but -that she had a general idea of where they were. -Suddenly she wheeled her pony and started away -towards the scene of the firing, as well as she -was able to locate it. The others followed, each -with straining ears and tingling nerves. They -were soon rewarded by the realization that they -were rapidly approaching the gunfire. Bindloss -halted them with a gesture, and sat listening. -The party was only now at the edge of the pine -forest along which they had been skirting, but -there were pines to the right and left of them, -beautiful, fragrant pines, nodding to the stiff -mountain breeze that was blowing. The wind -died down, then sprang up again from a different -direction.</p> - -<p>Judy’s mustang whirled, threw up its head and -snorted, and the pony ridden by the rancher began -to buck under the restraining grip on the bridle-rein -and sundry jabs from the spur, while the -mounts of the Overlanders showed signs of panic.</p> - -<p>A moment more and every mustang in the -party was sniffing the air and snorting. Bindloss, -leaning forward in his saddle, gazing back over -the ground that they had covered, saw that a -curtain of bluish shade had been drawn over their -late trail. The curtain was quivering, punctuated -here and there by faint spurts of red.</p> - -<p>Judy Hornby’s mustang uttered a whistling -blast of fear, and reared on its hind legs.</p> - -<p>“Fire!” cried the mountain girl. “They’ve -set the grass on fire!”</p> - -<p>“Ride!” yelled Joe Bindloss. “It’s coming -fast!”</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXXIII' title='XXIII: RACING WITH DEATH'> -<span>CHAPTER XXIII</span><br /> -<span>RACING WITH DEATH</span> -</h2> - -<p>None knew better than the rancher and -the mountain girl the peril that lay -behind that waving, quivering blue -haze. The only avenue open to them lay by way -of the dark aisles between the pines, for the blue -haze, as they quickly discovered, had crept up -on either side as well as to the rear of them.</p> - -<p>“Into the forest!” shouted Bindloss, giving his -pony rein, while Judy held in her bucking mount -until her companions got under way.</p> - -<p>The Overland girls were too frightened to start, -but their mustangs, taking matters into their own -hands, lunged forward and were in amongst the -pines a few seconds later, dodging here and there -to avoid trees, until their riders were clinging -with knees and hands to keep from being unseated.</p> - -<p>A thin streak of yellow smoke wriggled overhead, -followed by a crackling, hissing sound, and -the wind whipping in the tree tops carried the -smoke on ahead. The fire had overtaken them, -had run up the trunks of the trees at the edge -of the forest, and was leaping from tree to tree -over the heads of the Overland Riders, while here -and there to the rear great pines exploded with -terrifying sounds.</p> - -<p>The Overland Riders, despite their torturing -fear, were thrilled. The blood beat in their -temples and their hearts were pounding. They -began to understand what this race meant—it -was a race with death, and its long arms were -waving above them waiting to swoop down and -enfold its victims.</p> - -<p>“Faster!” Judy’s shrill command was plainly -heard above the roar. She turned in her saddle -and beckoned to her companions, not certain that -they had heard. It was then she saw that the -haze was enveloping them and that the outlines -of horses and riders were growing fainter. Judy -reined in her mount and waited.</p> - -<p>“Ride faster! Use the spur! Drive ’em! -Drive ’em!” she yelled as the girls swept past -her, each one now urging on her mount with -sharp cries. The riders now plainly felt the heat, -the breath of the fire on their cheeks. So did -the horses feel it, and they were frantic.</p> - -<p>The tough little mustangs as they swept on -needed no urging. They were giving all that -was in them to save their own lives, but it -seemed to be an unequal battle. The Overland -Riders were not panic-stricken, but a great fear -was in their hearts, yet not one gave way to her -feelings. Perhaps it was because they had no -time to do so, for it required close attention to -prevent being unhorsed as their ponies made -sudden swerves to avoid fallen trees or low hanging -branches. The Overland girls were thus -kept fully occupied, and it was plain to Judy -Hornby that they were in no danger of losing -their heads.</p> - -<p>Above the noise, she and Bindloss again heard -the crack of rifles. It was a scattering fire, but -it was fast. Occasionally an interval would occur, -during which the firing seemed to cease, to be -resumed again a moment later.</p> - -<p>“They are riding ahead of us. Look out!” -shouted the rancher, swerving close to the mountain -girl.</p> - -<p>Judy nodded, and spurred on until she was -abreast of the racing pony of Elfreda Briggs, who -had lost her hat, and whose hair was whipping in -the air behind her.</p> - -<p>“Something going on ahead! Watch out! -Watch me fer orders. Tell the others. I got to -git ahead ag’in,” directed Judy.</p> - -<p>Elfreda shouted the message to Grace, and -Grace passed it to the girl nearest to her, which -proved to be Emma. Nora was too far to one -side to be reached, but her pony could be trusted -to follow the others if any radical change of direction -were taken.</p> - -<div id='i004' class='illus' style='margin-left:15%; width:70%'> - <img src='images/i004.jpg' alt='' /> - <p class='sm'>“Ride Faster! Drive ’Em!”</p> -</div> - -<p>Daylight suddenly showed faintly through the -haze—the light of an open space. Joe Bindloss -uttered a yell, hoping that they might there find -rock footing and an end of the fire. Instead, his -mustang burst out into a vast brown field, a -grazing ground many acres in extent, from which -rugged passes branched out in the distance.</p> - -<p>As the riders emerged close on the heels of the -rancher and Judy, a scene met their gaze that -thrilled them anew.</p> - -<p>Two bodies of horsemen, like themselves, were -fleeing from the fire, which for some unknown -reason had not yet leaped into the brown grass -of the grazing range, and as they rode, both bodies -of men were shooting.</p> - -<p>It was a battle, a running battle with rifles.</p> - -<p>Judy in one quick glance comprehended the -situation and she saw more than did any others -of her party. She knew the men off there were -part of the band of rustlers who for so long had -been a thorn in the side of all honest ranchers -in the two great grazing valleys of the Cosos. -She saw more than that—the verification of -suspicions that she had harbored for some time, -but that had crystallized only twenty-four hours -before.</p> - -<p>At about the same instant the Overlanders also -made a discovery. The party of horsemen directly -in front of them were quickly identified.</p> - -<p>“It’s the boys!” screamed Nora.</p> - -<p>“Ain’t dead, neither,” cried Joe Bindloss.</p> - -<p>The Overland Riders pulled down their ponies.</p> - -<p>“Keep going!” roared Bindloss.</p> - -<p>“If we do we shall be shot!” wailed Nora.</p> - -<p>“If you don’t you’ll be roasted!” retorted the -old ranchman.</p> - -<p>It was a difficult choice. To go forward meant -that the Overland party would place themselves -directly in the line of fire of the mountain ruffians, -but to hold back meant that the forest fire in a -few moments would be sweeping over the field. -They decided to go forward, and in a moment -their ponies were racing towards Tom Gray and -his companions.</p> - -<p>The fire was now roaring across the brown -meadow. The Overland men saw it and began -drawing in on the rustlers, driving at them in -an oblique line, firing as they put their ponies -at top speed. The girls followed at one side of the -line of fire, hoping thereby to escape being hit.</p> - -<p>A rustler toppled from his saddle. At the same -instant Idaho Jones swayed uncertainly in his, -but quickly recovered and again began working -his rifle. Those who saw his hesitation knew that -he had been hit.</p> - -<p>The rustlers were now in a thick haze, and were -giving ground as the ranchmen and Overland men -bore down on them, pouring a heavy rifle fire -into the closely bunched outlaws. They saw the -rustlers whirl about facing their assailants to -make a stand, but the firing was too hot for them -and they fled. A mighty yell rose from the -rustlers as all but two of them suddenly disappeared -from sight as if the earth had swallowed -them. It was then that the pursuers discovered -that their adversaries had gained rocky ground. -No forest fire could reach them there.</p> - -<p>The two men who were still in view pulled their -ponies to their haunches and swung about facing -each other. The pursuers were amazed to see -both men draw their weapons and begin shooting -at each other.</p> - -<p>The Overland men and ranchmen instantly -ceased firing, but continued on at full speed, for -the flames were rapidly sweeping down on them. -They had not yet discovered the presence of Judy -and the Overland girls, but Judy had discovered -that safety from the fire lay at the far side of the -field, so waving a hand for her companions to -follow she headed towards the scene of the savage -duel.</p> - -<p>“Oh, it is awful!” cried Emma as her pony -streaked past Miss Briggs and Grace.</p> - -<p>Judy was laying her crop over the flank of her -mustang and uttering shrill cries to urge him on, -and the first intimation that the ranchmen had -of the presence of the Overland girls was when -Judy flashed by them towards the duelists.</p> - -<p>“Kill ’im, Pap!” she yelled.</p> - -<p>“It’s Mex!” shouted Sam Conifer.</p> - -<p>At this juncture the Overland girls caught up -with the pursuers and dashed to safety on the -rocky ground. As they reached it Miss Briggs’ -pony went down and Grace’s mustang leaped -clear over her and her mount before she could -check him. Tom Gray hurried to the rescue of -Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“You here?” he cried.</p> - -<p>The roar of the fire, as it swept past over the -brown meadow, smothered the words.</p> - -<p>One duelist, at this juncture, was seen to sway -in his saddle, and at the same instant the other -plunged headlong to the ground. The first man’s -pony jumped and he too was unhorsed, then both -duelists laboriously raised themselves to their -elbows, and the duel was resumed. At the second -exchange of shots, one sank back and lay still.</p> - -<p>Judy jumped her pony forward, and throwing -herself from the saddle ran to the living man and -pillowed his head in her lap.</p> - -<p>“Gosh a-mighty!” roared Bindloss.</p> - -<p>The men of the ranch party were on the scene -in a few seconds, but still being ignorant of the -cause of the sudden disappearance of the body of -rustlers kept their weapons at ready. Some of -them now rode cautiously forward to see what had -become of the missing men.</p> - -<p>“Stop!” shouted Two-gun Pete. “I know -whar they’ve went to. The gang forgot ’bout the -gulch thar, if they knowed ’bout it at all. Leastwise, -they didn’t see it in the smoke till it war too -late, an’ over they went. They won’t rustle no -more steers, I reckons, bad luck to ’em.”</p> - -<p>The whole party was now gathered about -the mountain girl. The dead man, those who -now knew him, was identified as Mexican Charlie.</p> - -<p>“It’s Pap,” said Judy when they peered down -into the face of the man whose head lay in her -lap. She gazed up at the Overland girls with a -pitiful look in her face.</p> - -<p>Hornby opened his eyes, recognized her and -began to speak.</p> - -<p>“That’s all right, Pap. Don’t say it,” begged -Judy.</p> - -<p>“I got ter talk, Kid. I’m sorry I made ye mad -yesterday. I told ye thet them friends of yours -war shot at Red Gulch ’cause I knew the rest of -their gang would be up heah, an’ we’d git ’em -all. I wish we had! I wish we had, but the -boys got looney ’cause your friends could shoot -better’n they could, and ran over the edge.”</p> - -<p>“Why did you an’ Mex fight, Pap?” asked -Judy.</p> - -<p>“’Cause he said I’d double-crossed him, an’ -sent his gang to death to git rid of ’em, too. Then -we fit. He set the fire, but I told him to.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Pap! How could you? These folks -ain’t never meant you no harm. They ain’t done -nothin’ but fight when you made ’em,” protested -the mountain girl.</p> - -<p>“Yes, they did! They come up heah lookin’ -fer trouble. They wanted to drive us out er -business. I know ’cause I had it from a feller -who knowed. An’ ye helped ’em, Judy!” he exclaimed, -blazing up into her face with something -of the old fire in his eyes.</p> - -<p>“You bet I did, Pap. My friends is my friends, -an’ I’d do it ag’in,” she answered calmly.</p> - -<p>“I don’t bear ye no grudge fer thet now, Kid, -’cause it’s too late. I got mine this time, an’ -I’m goin’ out the way I always reckoned I would, -with my boots on an’ facin’ the crack o’ the -guns.”</p> - -<p>As he talked, Hornby’s voice grew halting, and -there were pauses of a few seconds between words. -It was plain to all that he was weakening fast.</p> - -<p>“May I try to do something for him, Judy?” -begged Miss Briggs gently, as she bent over the -wounded rustler.</p> - -<p>“<i>No!</i>” Hornby put all the strength that he -could summon into that one word. “Ye been -lookin’ fer the man who war the leader of the -rustlers. Heah he is! I’m thet man, and as it’s -my dyin’ words, I beat ’em all at the game. Git -ba—ack thar!” The rustler groped with uncertain -fingers for his weapon, whereupon Judy -laid a firm hand on his arm.</p> - -<p>“No, Pap! You’ve done enough,” rebuked the -girl. “You’ve said enough, too, an’ Judy Hornby -never again kin hold her head up nor look honest -folks in the face. They’ll say her Pap was a -rustler an’—an’—”</p> - -<p>“Judy! Please don’t,” begged Grace. “He -is dying!”</p> - -<p>“I—I reckon you’re right.” Judy fell to -stroking the outlaw’s hair. “That’s all right, -Pap. You’re my Pap. Miss Gray is right.”</p> - -<p>“No! I got ter tell ye while I can. Judy, I -ain’t yer Pap. Nor yer mother warn’t yer -mother. I stole ye when ye war a little thing -cause the man who was yer Pap had done me -dirt. We raised ye, an’ Judy, we havin’ no -children of our own, begun to like ye fer yerself -an’ we kept ye, though at first we didn’t reckon on -doin’ jest that. We reckoned on gettin rid—”</p> - -<p>“No—ot my Pap?” stammered the girl. -“Who, then—who is my Pap?” cried Judy. -“Tell me! Ye got ter tell me! Who is my -Pap?” Her voice rose threateningly, then sank -almost to a whisper. “Pap, dear! Who is my -real Pap?”</p> - -<p>“He—he—he war—”</p> - -<p>The voice grew faint, and though the girl bent -her ear close to the lips of the dying man, she -failed to catch the whispered words, and the secret -that Malcolm Hornby had kept for so many years -died with him there by the scorched meadows of -the Cosos over which, like a shroud, hung a -suffocating pall of yellow smoke.</p> - -<p>Old Joe Bindloss lifted the little mountain girl -to her feet, and, with hands on her shoulders, -brought her face to face with him.</p> - -<p>“I ain’t got no Pap now,” she murmured. “I -ain’t got no friends, no nothin’ that a girl wants -so much.”</p> - -<p>Grace Harlowe slipped an arm about her.</p> - -<p>“Yes, you have, Judy. We are your friends, -now and always,” said Grace gently. “And I -think you have a Pap that you haven’t reckoned -on,” she added, nodding towards Joe Bindloss.</p> - -<p>For a moment the old rancher and the mountain -girl stood gazing into each other’s eyes, then he -drew her, unresisting, to him and lightly touched -her forehead with his lips.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Pap!” sobbed Judy, her arms slipping -about the neck of Old Joe Bindloss as she buried -her head on his shoulder.</p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXXIV' title='XXIV: FAREWELL TO THE COSOS'> -<span>CHAPTER XXIV</span><br /> -<span>FAREWELL TO THE COSOS</span> -</h2> - -<p>The Overland Riders and the men from -the Circle O ranch walked to the edge -of the precipice and looked down. The -girls shivered and quickly turned, facing the other -way, while the men gazed solemnly into the -abyss.</p> - -<p>“How’dy, folks,” greeted Jim. “Ain’t seen ye -fer a week o’ Sundays. Ye see that no ’count -pard o’ mine got his’n,” he chuckled, nodding at -Sam, whose head was still swathed in bandages.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but what happened to you?” questioned -Emma. “It would appear that you too got -something.”</p> - -<p>Jim explained that he had been roped from his -pony, carried into the mountains and secreted in -a cave where the pigeon cotes were located. It -was the wire-covered pigeon-yard just outside of -the cave, well masked with foliage, that the Overland -men and the ranchers, in their hunt for Jim, -had stumbled upon, and that led to finding the -missing guide. That was where the outlaws -caught them, and, had not the men from the ranch -been on the alert, would have made a quick -finish of them.</p> - -<p>Tom told the Overlanders of Sam’s battle with -the rustlers in the mountain cabin, of the further -search for Jim, and of the culminating experience -when a running battle with the rustlers was -engaged in.</p> - -<p>“Stacy!” cried Nora in sudden recollection. -In the excitement of that memorable morning she -had forgotten about the fat boy.</p> - -<p>“He got away the night we come up heah,” -Sam Conifer informed her. “I reckons he’s got -home afore this, an’ that he’ll stay thar. They -was goin’ to drop him into Red Gulch, an’ I -reckon he thought it war time to leave.”</p> - -<p>At this juncture, Miss Briggs asked permission -to look at the wounds of the party. Sam’s -wounds were doing well, but needed professional -care, which Elfreda gave to them on the spot. -She next dressed Idaho Jones’ arm, which was -bleeding from a bullet wound. Barring a few -slight flesh wounds where bullets had narrowly -missed doing serious injury, the other fighters -were unharmed.</p> - -<p>“You now have the whole story,” announced -Tom Gray, as she finished. “The rustlers, thanks -to their own carelessness, have taken a bad job -out of our hands.”</p> - -<p>“What a terrible death!” breathed Grace. -“What about these?” she added, pointing to -Mexican Charlie and Malcolm Hornby. “Shall -I consult Judy about—about her fa—about -Hornby?”</p> - -<p>Tom shook his head.</p> - -<p>“You girls go on and take care of her. We -will do all that is necessary to be done,” he made -reply.</p> - -<p>The Overland girls returned to Bindloss and the -mountain girl, who was clinging to the hand of -the old rancher, a deep pallor showing under the -tan on her face. Emma slipped a hand into hers, -and Judy turned a wan face to the little Overland -girl, but the face wore a faint smile.</p> - -<p>“It’s all fixed, Emma,” she said, nodding. -“I’m Judy Bindloss now. Leastwise I’m goin’ to -be as soon as my new Pap kin git the papers -made out. I don’t see no reason fer doin’ that, -do you?”</p> - -<p>Miss Briggs, as a lawyer, tried to explain to her -why it was very necessary, but the mountain girl -shook her head.</p> - -<p>“He’s my Pap. It seems like he always was -and no papers can’t make him more so. Pap, -let’s go home.”</p> - -<p>The ponies were led along for some distance, -to give them rest while the party were talking, -and for the further purpose of giving the men -back there opportunity to do their work and join -the Overland Riders.</p> - -<p>The party finally being complete, Pete led the -way across the blackened landscape to the old -cabin. Reaching there, they laid up for a rest, -and after luncheon Judy told them the story of -her father, Malcolm Hornby, so far as she knew -it.</p> - -<p>Certain recent occurrences had made her suspect -that Hornby was in league with the rustlers, but -the night before she brought warning to the -Overland girls that Tom and Hippy were -wounded, she heard a conversation between her -father and Mexican Charlie in which her suspicion -became a certainty. From that conversation she -learned that much stock had been stolen from -Bindloss, and that by making a “Q” out of the -Circle O ranch brand and adding another “Q,” -the marking conformed with Hornby’s brand, -after which the stolen cattle were added to his own -herd. He had, with the assistance of the mountain -ruffians, carried on wholesale thievery in two -great valleys for several years and made money. -His reward had been reaped that day, and it had -been coming for some time, because Mexican -Charlie and he were rapidly nearing the breaking -point just before the last attack on the Overland -Riders, who were the indirect cause of breaking -up the gang of mountain ruffians.</p> - -<p>That there were others of the gang still at large -the ranchmen knew, but Judy could give them -no information on this point. It was decided, -therefore, to ask the aid of the sheriff and his -deputies, as well as that of other ranchers, to -form a big party and comb the mountains for the -other ruffians, who, now that the backbone of the -band had been broken, could be driven more easily -from that region, and perhaps some of them -captured.</p> - -<p>In the early afternoon the journey home was -begun. Judy did not accompany them all the -way, saying that she wished to stop at her former -home and get some personal belongings, she -promising to ride back to the Circle O ranch on -the following morning. Judy wished to be alone -that night, and the Overland girls, at least, -understood.</p> - -<p>Circle O was reached before dark, and Stacy -Brown, who had gained entrance to the ranch-house, -which he had reached only a few hours -before, met them at the door. The “fat boy” -was thin, there were hollows in his cheeks, and a -livid mark on the left cheek where a bullet had -left its trail.</p> - -<p>Stacy had been hunted all the way across the -mountains, and shot at on several occasions, but -had always outwitted his pursuers until finally -they gave up the man-hunt and returned to the -Diamond Bar ranch. Hungry and worn out and -after considerable suffering he finally reached -Circle O only to find it deserted and the Overland -camp broken up.</p> - -<p>Now, however, that the opportunity was at -hand to glorify his own achievements, Stacy -Brown made the most of it, and out in the yard -in front of the ranch-house, he declaimed loudly -on his own prowess in fooling his pursuers.</p> - -<p>Stacy was still engaged in this before an -interested audience when a rider approached from -the valley, but no one gave heed to him, believing -him to be one of Bindloss’s men. The rider dismounted -at the stable and walked towards the -group, his eyes fixed on Chunky. He halted just -behind the boy and stood regarding him -frowningly.</p> - -<p>“Well, sir, what is it?” demanded Joe Bindloss -sharply.</p> - -<p>Stacy, in the midst of a loud boast, turned to -look at the man behind him. The words died on -his lips as he came face to face with the newcomer. -It was Skip, the fellow on whose head -Stacy had brought down the wagon stake at the -Diamond Bar ranch.</p> - -<p>The Overland boy’s face grew a shade paler, -and he made a move as if to run, but the pressure -of a revolver against his stomach sent the shivers -up and down his back and literally froze him.</p> - -<p>“Here! Here!” roared Joe Bindloss. “What -do ye mean?”</p> - -<p>“This feller’s a hoss thief. We kotched him on -a hoss that had been rustled from the Diamond -Bar ranch. He got away by cloutin’ me over the -haid. We follered, but he was too slippery fer -us. I been lookin’ fer him ever since, an’ now -I’ve got him!”</p> - -<p>“Put down thet gun, pard!” drawled Sam -Conifer, and Skip found himself gazing at the -muzzle of the old guide’s weapon. “Put it down, -I says!”</p> - -<p>The caller shoved his weapon into its holster, -and Stacy Brown drew a long breath of relief and -then quickly stepped back a few paces.</p> - -<p>“This man is no more a thief than you are!” -exploded Bindloss. “He is one of my friends, -and that’s all there is to it.”</p> - -<p>“I got to take him back,” persisted Skip -stubbornly.</p> - -<p>“Listen to me, young fellow!” commanded -Bindloss, who thereupon repeated the story that -Chunky had told them, adding further information -of his own.</p> - -<p>“Thet’s what the critter told us back at the -ranch. We reckoned he lied, an’ I reckon so too.”</p> - -<p>“Drop thet talk!” warned Sam Conifer.</p> - -<p>Joe Bindloss after some farther argument told -the visitor that he would write a letter to Bill -Crawley, owner of the Diamond Bar ranch, fully -explaining the matter, but in no circumstances -would Skip be permitted to take Stacy with him.</p> - -<p>“And that’s flat!” finished the rancher -sternly.</p> - -<p>“Thet’s all right, Boss, but what ’bout this?” -he demanded, exhibiting the lump that Stacy had -left on the top of his head. “I got ter have satersfaction -fer thet, I reckon.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll hit it again if you say so,” offered Stacy, -but the boy met a quick rebuke from his -companions.</p> - -<p>“Look here, my man! How much do you -want for satisfaction?” interjected Tom Gray.</p> - -<p>“Wal, I reckon ’bout two bucks’ll satersfy -me,” answered Skip, tenderly caressing the lump.</p> - -<p>“Stacy, shell out! Give the man two dollars,” -ordered Lieutenant Wingate. Stacy demurred, -but there was no avoiding payment. He tried -to borrow the money, but not one of the Overlanders -would give him a cent, so Stacy Brown -reluctantly parted with two silver dollars.</p> - -<p>The letter was written by Grace at Bindloss’s -dictation, and half an hour later Skip headed back -towards the Diamond Bar ranch, not only with -the letter and two silver dollars in his pocket, but -with a request from Bindloss that Bill Crawley -and his men join with the Circle O men in making -a final drive on the rustlers.</p> - -<p>It was early to bed that night at the Circle O, -for all hands were worn out. On the following -morning the girls had a long talk with Joe -Bindloss. It was decided that the Overlanders -should remain at the ranch while the ranchers -drove out the last of the rustlers.</p> - -<p>Judy came in in time for luncheon that day. -The girls saw that she had been weeping, but -made no comment. It was then that they -broached the subject that had been discussed with -Judy’s new “Pap.” Grace and Elfreda wished to -take her back east with them and show her some -of the world that she had so often dreamed of -seeing.</p> - -<p>At first Judy was obdurate, but the thought -grew and Bindloss urged, so, before the departure -of the Overlanders two weeks later, Judy had said -“yes.”</p> - -<p>The drive of the ranchers proved successful in -ridding the Cosos of rustlers, though only one man -was captured. The others had fled, following the -disaster to Hornby and his immediate gang, and -the drive of the ranchers.</p> - -<p>The journey of the Overland party, following -the recovery of Hippy and Sam from their wounds, -lasted until mid-September when the great day in -Judy’s life arrived. The Overland Riders had -returned to the ranch to pick her up, and to -arrange for returning Joe Bindloss’s ponies to him -at the railroad station, and, after a day’s rest at -the ranch-house, they set out for the east—and -home. Judy wavered at the last moment, but -finally rode away with her friends, waving her -sombrero to the rugged old rancher, and trying to -laugh through her tears. The world that Judy -had so yearned for lay just before her, and after -a winter with the Overland girls she was destined -to return much benefited in every way, but with -a fuller realization that her duty to herself and to -her new “Pap” lay in the beautiful Valley of -the Cosos.</p> - -<p>There was still a large measure of adventure -before Grace Harlowe and her young friends, and -to which every member of the party was already -looking forward for the coming season. The -story of these adventures will be related in a -following volume entitled, “<span class='sc'>Grace Harlowe’s -Overland Riders Among the Border Guerrillas</span>,” -where, in the Guadalupe Mountains, -they encounter experiences that make the story -replete with interest that cannot fail to hold the -undivided attention of the reader.</p> -</div> - -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND RIDERS AT CIRCLE O RANCH***</p> -<p>******* This file should be named 62743-h.htm or 62743-h.zip *******</p> -<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> -<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/2/7/4/62743">http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/7/4/62743</a></p> -<p> -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed.</p> - -<p>Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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