CHAPTER XVI
ON THE TRAIL
Yellin' kid, Old Billee and Snake Purdee were standing off theattacks of more than double their number. This was the spectaclethat greeted Bud, Nort and Dick as they swept up the trail andtoward the sound and sight of the firing. For now they could seethe little puffs of smoke which preceded the discharges of theguns. Light, traveling faster than sound, brought to the eyes ofthe boys the puffs of burned gunpowder before the report echoed.
"This is the meaning of that night-signalling!" cried Nort, as hegalloped beside his cousin.
"Looks so," was the answer. "They're getting bold and desperateto try to rustle our stock in the day time."
"You said it!" exclaimed Dick, as he looked to make sure he had agood supply of cartridges.
As the boy ranchers drew nearer the scene of the conflict theycould observe that the herd, which their cowboys had been drivingin, was now in confusion. And no wonder, with more than half ascore of wildly-excited men riding among them, shouting andfiring heavy revolvers.
For distant shouts borne to the ears of our heroes told of theexcitement under way. As nearly as Bud, Nort and Dick could tellfrom their vantage point, eight or ten Mexicans, Greasers orother undesirable characters, had swept down from the north onOld Billee, Snake and Yellin' Kid as the latter were hazing thecattle along to the trail which led to the distant railroadstation. Naturally the cowboys of Happy Valley had turned ontheir attackers and the fight resulted.
It was evidently the intention of the rustlers (for of theircharacter there was little doubt) to drive off as many of theDiamond X Second stock as possible. And if they had to kill ormaim the watchers it meant little to them.
But, so far, none seemed to have been seriously hurt, for nohorses were running around with empty saddles, and no bodies wereprostrate on the ground. I think, if the truth were known, thatthe first shooting on both sides was so wild that no one thoughtto take accurate aim, which is difficult on the back of a rushingcow pony, and with a heavy .45 gun.
It was, essentially, a running fight and Bud, Dick and Nort wereurging their ponies forward as rapidly as possible to get theirshare of it. However, they were not destined to come to closegrips with the enemy. For as they drew nearer to the scene ofconflict, their guns out, and eager in their own hearts foraction, yelling encouragement to their comrades, the boy rancherssaw their foes suddenly swing away.
This sudden giving up on the part of the rustlers was due eitherto a signal from one of their number that the raid was a failure,or else they saw reinforcements, in the persons of the boys, andhad no desire for a more nearly even battle.
At any rate, with wild yells, the rustlers pulled up theirponies, and turned off down the trail, riding at break-neckspeed. Yellin' Kid and Snake, with shouts of defiance, sweptafter them, and might have caught them except for what happenedto Old Billee. The veteran suddenly reeled in his saddle, andwould have fallen, except that, as he lagged behind his twocompanions, Bud rushed up to him and held him in place.
"Are you hit, Billee?" Bud cried.
"Only just a scratch, but it seems like it took th' tucker out o'me mighty suddin," gasped the old man. "Beckon I'd better getdown. I'd 'a' fallen if you hadn't rid up, Bud."
"That's what I thought when I saw you reel."
By the time Bud, with his cousins, was helping Old Billee to theground, Yellin' Kid and Snake turned and saw what had happened.They then gave up all thoughts of pursuing the retreatingrustlers and came riding back, winded and excited, but none theworse for their encounter with the rascals.
"Did they get you, Billee?" asked Snake, a gleam in his eyes thatportended no good to the perpetrators of the deed if he evercaught them.
"Only a scratch," said the old cowboy, but rather faintly. He puthis hand to his side, and quickly opening his garments, as he saton the ground, his friends saw that the wound was more than that.
However, the bullet had glanced off the ribs, and aside fromhaving lost considerable blood, which accounted for his weakness,Old Billee was little the worse off.
"I think we got one of 'em," announced Snake. "I saw him holdin'pretty desprit like t' his saddle."
"What started it? Who were they?" asked Bud, as the last of theraiders swept out of sight amid the rolling hills of the valley.
"Oh, some of Del Pinzo's gang, you can make sure of that," saidYellin' Kid. "They just rid down on us an' started t' fire. Wesaw what their game was all right, an' come back at 'em. Theydidn't get one steer, Bud!" he added, proudly enough.
"That's good," said the boy rancher.
"But they did an awful lot of shootin'," added Snake. "I thoughtsure we'd all be hit, but Old Billee was th' only one what gotit. I never heard so much Fourth of July since I was a kid."
"It was a lot of shooting, according to the results," spoke Bud,as he watched Snake bandaging Billee's wound, for the cowboyscarried a primitive first-aid kit. "I wonder if that meantanything?"
"What do you mean?" asked Nort.
But Bud did not answer.
Making sure that none of the cattle had been hit, and managing,after rather strenuous work, in quieting the herd, the boyranchers and their friends started back toward camp, Old Billeetaking it as easily as possible, for his side was getting stiffand painful.
While they were yet some distance away from the white tents thatcorresponded to the usual ranch buildings, Bud and his companionssaw riding toward them a solitary figure.
"It's Buck Tooth," declared Dick.
"And if he doesn't bear evil tidings I miss my guess," murmuredBud.
Evil tidings they were, in very truth. For as the Zuni came nearenough he was seen to be much excited. Drawing rein, he made asweeping, comprehensive gesture with one hand, toward the southend of the valley, and exclaimed: "All gone!"
"What's all gone?" asked Bud, a great fear clutching at hisheart.
"Cattle!" answered the Indian. "Rustlers drive 'em all 'way,while you shootin' off there!" and he pointed toward the scene ofthe recent conflict.
For an instant Bud said nothing. Then, with trembling lips, whichalone betrayed his feeling, he remarked:
"That was it! They divided their gang and started a fake fight upat one end, to draw us there, while they worked against our bigherd at the other end. It was a slick piece of work. No wonderthey shot more than they hit. They wanted to keep us away fromthe south of the valley."
"I guess you've struck it, Bud," said Snake, grimly. "They surefooled us, an' I never smelled a rat! Whew!"
Bud, with lips that were firmer now, touched spurs to his ponyand hastened toward the tents and corral.
"What you aimin' to do?" called Yellin' Kid after him.
"I'm going to get on the trail of those rustlers," grimlyannounced Bud Merkel, "and I'm not coming back until I land 'em!Come on, fellows," he called to his cousins. "Let's pack up for along hike on the trail!"