CHAPTER III.
THE LURE OF THE RED FLAG.
"WHAT'S the matter?" demanded Elmer, as Ted came reeling into camp,quite out of breath; but upon seeing that the other had a huge grin onhis face he knew the news he was bringing could not be so very seriousafter all.
"Ty!" was all the runner could gasp at first.
"Yes, what about him?" Elmer exclaimed; while Landy laid a quiveringhand on Ted's arm and inquired:
"'Taint a rattlesnake, I hope, this time, Ted?"
The other shook his head in the negative.
"Bull!" he articulated.
"Oh, he means that our poor pard has been chewed up by a bulldog!" criedLandy. "And Ty never did like dogs, either; only hot ones at the countyfair."
"No, no!" whispered Ted. "Gentleman cow, you thee, and the motht thavagelooking beatht ever. Wow!"
"A bull! Now I know what you mean," Landy went on, as the light ofunderstanding broke over his mottled countenance. "Some of these farmersup here do keep terrors, and enter them in the exhibition for prizes.But what did the bull do to our poor chum Ty?"
"Don't know; didn't ask Ty," replied the other, now beginning to get hisbreath back again fairly well, so that his voice, lisp and all, wasaudible. "You thee, I wath jutht about to thaunter acroth a field, whenI heard thome one yelling like the dickenth. Then I thaw a big red bullpawing the grath at the foot of a tree; and there wath Ty, ath big athlife, thitting up on a limb. That'th all I thaw, for the bull thartedafter me, and I got over the fenthe like fun."
The boys stared at each other; then a wide grin began to appear on theirfaces. Since it seemed as though their chum had not been seriouslyinjured they could not resist the temptation to chuckle over the comicalaspect of the adventure.
"Say, perhaps the bull just went and heaved Ty up in that tree,"suggested Landy.
"Oh, I hardly think it went as far as that," said Elmer. "The chancesare, Ty had plenty of warning, and climbed without any help from thebeast."
"But why would the bull hang around all the time?" asked the fat boy,wonderingly. "Bulls don't feed on boys, do they?"
"Not very often," laughed Elmer. "But they do seem to hate a certaincolor above all things on this earth. You remember that the Spaniardsuse a red flag to make the bull attack in the ring?"
Then Landy saw a great light.
"Ty's famous old red sweater, that's what!" he shouted. "It's gone andpulled him into a peck of trouble, for a fact. And just last night hewas blowing about what a great help it had been to him. Say, he must bein a nice pickle now, hey?"
"Breakfast will have to wait a while," declared Elmer; "while the wholebunch of us sally out to rescue our chum in distress. You know the rulesof the organization. Come on, fellows."
Even while speaking, Elmer had placed the coffee pot and the frying panaside, as far away from the fire as they could go without losing theirheat. Adam, Landy and Ted were apparently only too willing to accompanyhim on his errand of mercy.
Following a trail that led through the woods, they finally came to anopen field. It had just one tree, and that growing some distance fromthe high rail fence.
"There's the bull, just as Ted said," remarked Elmer, as they looked.
"And he's about the ugliest critter I ever laid eyes on, for a fact,"remarked Landy. "My goodness! Look at him tossing up the dirt with thosenasty little black horns, would you! And he's punched holes through thattin pail the farmer's women folks loaned us, too. I can see Ty now,because of that nice red sweater he wears. He's waving at us, and therehe shouts!"
"Hey, call him off, fellers! Somebody go and coax him around to thatother end of the field. I want to come down. Been up here 'most an hour,I guess, and I'm getting tired of it. Elmer, you know how to do thebusiness. Landy, s'pose you climb over and let him see you. He won't beable to resist trying for such a fat prize!"
"Listen to his nerve, boys," complained Landy. "He wants me to sacrificemyself on the altar of friendship for him. Just as if I could ever climbover this fence again, if that holy terror came snorting and rampagingfor me! I guess not."
"No need to, Landy," laughed Elmer, as he noted the indignation of thefat boy. "We'll find some way to get Ty out of his fix without takingchances of your climbing a fence in one, two, three order."
"Hurry up!" came floating across the field from the tree, among thebranches of which the owner of the red sweater was waving frantically.
"Firtht thing to be done, he ought to get out of that thweater, don'tyou think, Elmer?" inquired Ted.
"That's right, and I'll tell him so"; and, accordingly, raising hisvoice, he informed Ty that if he expected them to do anything towardeffecting his rescue he must rid himself of the garment that wasexciting the fighting spirit in the bull.
Of course that went against the grain of Ty; but when the others refusedto make the first move until he had complied, he went about the taskwith evident ill humor.
"But he ain't leaving it hanging in the tree, Elmer," announced Landy,whose eyesight seemed to be all right this morning, however defective itmay have been on the previous evening after his engagement with thatpoison vine. "He's stuffing it inside his shirt, I do declare!"
"Well, that doesn't matter," the patrol leader remarked; "so long as hegets rid of it. And now, boys, you stay here to help him over when hecomes. I'm going to go around to the other side and tempt the bull.Fortunately I've got a red bandana handkerchief myself, which I wearcowboy style around my neck; and that ought to be a good enough bait forMr. Bull."
"Oh, be careful, Elmer; don't stay in the field too long, because hemight get you," pleaded Landy.
"You let Elmer alone," said Ted. "He knowth hith buthineth all right. Hecometh from the ranch country, where they breed bullth. All right,Elmer; we'll get buthy when Ty getth here. Good luck to you!"
Elmer, when a little distance away, stopped to hold a short talk withthe boy up in the tree. It happened that the border of the field varied,and this spot was a trifle closer than any other.
"Now, listen, Ty," he shouted, after he had succeeded in attracting theattention of the other; "I'm going over to that spot that's farthestaway. When the bull gets a good start for me, you slip down, and run forall you're worth straight to where the other fellows are waiting. Tryand keep the trunk of the tree between you and the bull all you can. Andif he chases you too hard, throw that red sweater aside. He may stop totoss it a few times, and that'll give you a chance to make the fence. Doyou understand?"
"Yes, it's all clear enough; but hold his attention as long as you can,Elmer, because it looks like a whole mile over to that fence!" Ty calledback.
So Elmer kept on around the field. The place he had selected as thescene of operations was exactly opposite where he had left the otherthree fellows; and he considered this a favorable circumstance, indeed,as it increased the chances of the boy in the tree.
When he had finally arrived, Elmer took the red bandana handkerchieffrom his neck, and climbed over the fence. Of course, not being aprofessional bullfighter, he did not mean to get far away from his base,and expected to make good use of that same fence when the crisis came.
Immediately he began to shout and wave that defiant banner, the bulltook notice. Since the color that he detested so heartily seemed to havebeen transferred from the boy in the tree to the one on the ground, sothe interest of the bull changed.
He instantly started on a mad run toward Elmer, galloping along in a waythat seemed to indicate a desire to be out after business.
"Get down, quick, Ty, and run for all you're worth!" shouted Elmer,still waving his bandana, and at the same time trying to correctlygauge the speed of his enemy, so that he could get out of harm's way inample time.
"Jump, Elmer!" shrieked Landy, who was perched on the top of the fenceacross the field, and could not tell just how close the bull had arrivedto his chum.
Ty had meanwhile dropped out of the tree, and was heading for them asfast as his nimble legs, aided by his fright, could carry him. But as
hehad said, it was quite some distance, and his heart seemed to be in hismouth every second of the time he was in transit.
"There! Elmer's made for the fence at last!" cried Landy. "Oh, look atthat rush of the bull, would you! But Elmer was too quick for him, andhe's over the fence and out. Oh, my, just hear that crash when the oldbull banged into the fence! Now, will you be good, you monster? He'slooking around, and I just hope he don't see poor old Ty making thisway!"
"Py chimineddy! He's goming pack!" declared Adam.
"He is, and like a whirlwind, too!" gasped Landy. "Oh! now we won't beable to help our chum a little bit. Run faster, Ty; let out anotherkink! He's after you!"
Evidently there was no need to tell poor Ty that dismal fact, for he hadbeen taking frequent observations over his left shoulder as he gallopedalong. Perhaps he did let out another "kink," as Landy expressed it; butif so, the fact was not very noticeable, so rapidly was the bullovertaking him.
But Ty had not forgotten that last instruction given him by the one whoknew bulls from the ground up, their little weaknesses as well as theirferocious habits. The friendly fence, with his three anxious chumsperched on the top rail, was not so very far away; but to his eyes itseemed a long distance, and he just knew he could never make it beforebeing overtaken.
In vain did Landy, Adam and Ted wave their arms, shouting at the top oftheir voices, in the hope of attracting the attention of the animal; orperhaps alarming him; he kept doggedly on, aiming straight for thefleeing boy, whose legs by this time seemed to wabble under him,possibly through sheer fright.