CHAPTER XI
A WYOMING HOLD-UP
The four men stepped forward toward the boys with the ropes in theirhands. The boys stood facing the crowd with unflinching eyes.
"I warn you!" shouted Seth.
"Wait!" Chester cried, stepping forward. "If you're doing this becausemy friends won't tell why they are in the mountains of Wyoming, and whythey are out in the hills tonight, you may as well hold your hands. I'llgive you all the information on the subject you desire."
Will stepped forward and caught the boy by the arm.
"You know what it means to--to some one if you speak," he warned.
"But I'm not going to see you boys murdered before my eyes!"
"No more fairy tales go!" shouted a member of the sheriff's gang. "Wehave an unpleasant duty to perform here and we're not going to shirk it.As the sheriff says, outlaws are flocking to Wyoming because they arehidden and protected by such people as you."
"But I can satisfy you as to the honesty of these boys," pleadedChester, "if you'll listen to me for five minutes."
"Nothing doing!" shouted the sheriff.
Again the men advanced with the ropes and again Seth lifted his revolverin warning. The situation was a critical one.
During the second of silence which followed, a clatter of stones cameinto the gulch from the rocky summit above, and all eyes were instantlyturned in that direction. As they looked the sheriff and his men droppedtheir weapons to the ground and threw their hands into the air.
"That's right!" came a hoarse voice from above. "Throw down your weaponsand drop your belts at your feet. Now line up there in a row, you babysnatchers! Never mind that funny business, there, you man with the redwhiskers. You'll drop in your tracks if you make another move! You arethe cowboy sheriff of the county, I understand, but you ought to betraining puppies for a dogshow. That's about your size."
In a moment every member of the sheriff's posse, including Seth, wasunarmed. As they stood meekly in a row the boys were ordered to taketheir own weapons from the heap on the ground and walk away over theridge.
"Can you see who they are?" asked Will, as the boys moved slowly along.
"I can see only the outlines of their heads and the gleaming barrels oftheir rifles," George answered. "Say," the boy went on, "didn't thecowboys drop their weapons quick when they saw those shining muzzles?"
"They knew the other fellows had the drop on them, and I don't blamethem," Tommy cut in.
"Do you really think they are the train robbers?" asked Sandy, who wasbeing assisted up the slope by Will and George.
"They're the train robbers, all right!" insisted Tommy. "I can't seetheir faces any more than you can, but I remember that voice! Youremember the night he was at our camp, and we were getting something toeat? Well, I heard quite a lot of his conversation that night. Some ofit I liked and some of it I didn't, but I'm sure the man whoseconversation I heard that night is the same man who ordered the cowboyofficers to throw down their weapons."
"But why should they do a thing like that?" demanded Will.
"I don't know," replied George, "unless it is because train robbers havea continual and perpetual grouch against officers of any kind."
"That must be the reason," Will admitted.
"Well, I'm glad they got us away!" said Tommy, as the five boys reachedthe summit and looked down into the little valley, "but they sure put usin bad with the cowboys from this time on. The cowboys, apparently withgood cause, were accusing us of standing in with the train robbers, andnow the train robbers have proven the point by butting in for ourprotection."
"It's too bad," Will answered, "but I don't see how it can be helped. Itis particularly unfortunate at this time, because with the cowboysopposing us we won't dare search the mountains for Chester's father."
"We'll find a way!" insisted Tommy. "We'll be sure to find a way."
When the boys turned down the slope which led to their camp, not veryfar away, daylight was growing in the sky. They could see the figures ofthe men who had rescued them creeping away to the south.
Shouts and exclamations of rage were coming over the ridge, and the boysunderstood very well that in a short time the cowboys would be at theircamp, with stronger motive than ever for their destruction.
"We've got our guns," Will said as they walked along, "and we've got tofight. That's all there is to it."
When the boys came to the side of the dying campfire they found two menwho seemed to be entire strangers sitting calmly in one of the tents,dividing the contents of a great tin of roast beef, and also sharing ahuge loaf of bread. The light was still dim in the tent, and so Willturned his electric on the rather domestic scene.
"What are you men doing in there?" he demanded.
"Eating!" was the calm reply.
"I didn't know but you were getting a hair-cut," grinned Tommy.
"Where'd you come from?" asked George, as the boys all gathered in frontof the flap.
"Look here, kids," one of the men said easily, "we've been traveling twodays and two nights, and we're hungry and sleepy. Just let us fill up onthis chuck and we'll tell you all about it."
"We really ought to go to sleep!" the other intruder suggested. "But, asyou seem anxious to know why we're consuming your provisions, I'llrelieve your minds of anxiety by saying that we met John Johnson halfway to Green River and he sent us in to tell you that he would arrangefor reinforcements for you as soon as he reached Green River. He said hementioned the fact to you when he was here, but you didn't seem to likeit, and so he said nothing more about it to you."
"He sent you in here just to tell us that?" demanded Will.
"Aw, tell him the truth," laughed the other.
"Well, then, I'll tell him the truth," replied the intruder, his mouthfull of bread and meat.
"We met Johnson while he was on his way out, and he told us to look inon you boys as we passed and see if you were all right. He seemed tohave a notion in his head that you'd be apt to get into trouble of somekind."
"Glad you came in," Will said, extending his hand, "I don't know how Mr.Johnson came to think of it, but your coming here just now is somethingin the nature of a miracle."
"Glad to be of any service!"
Then without explaining the purpose of their night mission into themountains, the boys explained the situation to the two strangers,dwelling particularly on the fact that the sheriff's cowboys now hadgood cause for believing that the lads really were associating with thetrain robbers.
"I think the train robbers held the officers up more because they've gota grouch against all policemen than for any other reason," Will said. "Idon't see why they should cut in order to save our lives. The sheriffwill get good and even with them for that!"
"Just a grouch against all the officers in the world!" laughed one ofthe strangers. "All brigands feel that way."
"But you can see where it leaves us!" exclaimed George. "We can't haveany fun in the mountains with those fellows chasing us all the time, andone of our friends is wandering around in the mountains nutty, with abroken head, and we can't even go out and find him if this hostileattitude of the cowboys continues."
"You think they'll follow you down to camp, do you?" asked one of themen. "Of course the outlaws wouldn't hold them very long."
"Yes, I think they'll follow us down to camp and they won't lose anytime getting here, either," Will answered.
"Did you ever seen anything like it?" asked Tommy as, accompanied byGeorge, he started toward the provision box.
"Like what?" demanded the other.
"Why, this lone mountain valley becoming the center of population of theUnited States!" exclaimed Tommy. "When we came in here, there wasn't asoul in sight in the valley. And then the robbers came, and thedetectives came, and the cowboys came, and Johnson came, then we gotnext to Chester, and now these two strangers come butting in. If thisisn't the center of population, I'd like to know where it is."
"It's a good thing we've got those old burros picke
ted out on thegrass," George observed. "In about two days more, we'll have to set sailfor Green River and load up with provisions. We've been running a publiceating house ever since we struck Wyoming. I wonder how long thesefellows are going to stay. If they remain more than one day, I'm goingto charge 'em for board or send them out fishing."
"When you want any fish," Tommy exclaimed, "you needn't send any strangeguys out to get 'em. I'll bring in all the fish you want!"
George chuckled, and Tommy threw an empty can at his head.
"When you go out fishing," George said in a moment, "just let us know,and we'll send a guard out with you."
"Oh, just because I had a little trouble up on Lake Superior and down inFlorida, you think I can't catch fish!" complained Tommy. "You just waituntil we get this rumpus with the cowboy officers settled and I'll showyou whether I can catch fish or not."
"I wish we had some of that bear steak!" George suggested. "We're eatingthe ham and eggs all up, and we're right in the middle of a game countryat that."
"Look here," Tommy suggested, "you go right on cooking ham and warmingup those shoestring potatoes, and I'll sneak over the ridge and bringback about fifty pounds of bear." Besides, he went on, "I want to getthose hides before the wolverines get them, or any one sneaks them off."
Just as Tommy disappeared up the slope the cowboy officers were seenrushing toward the camp, their weapons ready for use.
"I guess they think the train robbers are here," commented Will.