CHAPTER XXXV--WHO FIRED THE SHOT
Frank was lifted and carried into the house, and a cowboy by the name ofFisher, who had once practiced medicine, and was something of a surgeon,was rushed in to attend to him.
The cowboys and the others scattered to search for the unknown who hadfired the dastardly shot.
Behind one of the corrals they found Billy Cornmeal, apparently deaddrunk, an empty whisky bottle clasped to his breast.
They shook and hammered the half-breed, but not even several sharppricks with the point of a knife served to arouse him.
"Let him alone," said Pecos Pete. "He's dead ter ther world, an' hecouldn't tell anything. We're losin' time."
So Billy was left to sleep off his jag while the search was continued.
It proved anything but satisfactory, as no person save the half-bloodwas found who could have fired the shot, and it seemed certain thatBilly Cornmeal had not done it.
There was something mysterious about the affair.
"If there had been a possible way for him to do the trick, I shouldsuspect Indian Charlie," said Diamond; "but he was with us, and we knowhe did not do the trick."
"He did not do it," said Hodge, fiercely, "but he may have been at thebottom of it."
They went back to the house.
As they entered, they were astonished to meet Frank, about whose head abandage was tied.
Rattleton gave a wild shout of joy and clasped Merry in his arms.
"He's all right, fellows!" Harry shouted. "Here he is! He is not dead!Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!"
"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" roared the others, expressing their delight ina wild outburst of cheering.
It was some time before the rejoicing over Frank's lucky escape abated,but the mystery of the shot remained a mystery still.
Who had tried to kill Merriwell? That question seemed unanswerable.
"I tell you," said Hodge, "I believe that half-breed had something to dowith it."
"Billy Cornmeal?" asked Rodney.
"Sure."
"But he was drunk."
"He seemed to be, but I don't think he was drunk at all. I think it wasa trick, and he played it well."
"Why should he shoot Merriwell?"
"That is a question he might be forced to answer. Let's go find him andbring him into the house."
This was agreed upon, but when they went to look for the half-breed hewas gone. He had seemed too drunk to move, but still he had disappeared.
That was suspicious. They looked for his pony, and that had disappearedalso.
"He must have skipped immediately after we left him," said Hodge; "andso he has had time to place himself beyond some of those knots oftimber. That is proof enough that he was the skunk who did the shooting,but some other person put him up to it. Mark me, the real enemy of FrankMerriwell is not Billy Cornmeal."
CHAPTER XXXVI--A CAST FOR LIFE--CONCLUSION
Frank begged them not to let what had happened interrupt the sport, andso it was soon in progress again.
The cowboys gave some exhibitions of the manner in which they ropedsteers and wild horses, and a Mexican "roper" did some fancy work with alariat.
The Mexican delighted them with his skill, and not a few of his trickswere graceful and difficult, being very pleasing to the eye.
He could set a noose whirling in the air, let it fall over his head,still whirling, pass down to his feet, and then he would step out of itwithout letting it touch his person or the ground and lift it whirlinginto the air.
This trick he would reverse, whirling the noose about a foot above theground, step into it and whirl it up over his head into the air.
He could send it spinning far upward, till the rope looked like a bigcorkscrew top, with the little end touching his hand, and then, as itfell, he would jump through the noose and snap it into the air again.
"I can't do that," smiled Frank, as he watched the roper, "but I am notexactly a greenhorn with a rope. I can throw it fairly well."
A sudden desire to get on horseback and join in the sports once moreseized him. He could not keep still.
"I am all right," he declared. "It will hurt me much more to hump up andkeep still. Let me have the best horse you have, Mr. Rodney. If I harmthe animal, I will pay for him."
"You shall have Fleetfoot," said the rancher. "In fact, I feel likeletting you have anything I own."
A short time later Frank was mounted on a handsome black gelding, acreature full of fire and intelligence.
Frank joined the cowboys in their sport, and, being provided with arope, sprang another surprise on them by showing that he could cast thenoose with more than ordinary skill.
The fun waxed fast and furious, and the cowboys, riding madly hither andthither, drew farther and farther from the house.
Suddenly all were startled to hear a shrill cry and see a girl runningtoward them.
Several women and girls came rushing out of the house and ran around thecorner toward one of the corrals.
The girl running toward the cowboys was Inza Burrage. She waved her handtoward the corral.
At that moment a horse bearing a double burden was seen to shoot outfrom the corral and go racing across the plain.
"It's Indian Charlie's critter, an' that's Charlie on its back!" criedHank Kildare.
"Right ye are!" agreed Pecos Pete; "but it's more'n Charlie ridin' thercritter! He's got somethin' in his arms! Dern my eyes! I reckon he'stryin' ter kerry off Rodney's gal!"
"That's it!" burst from Frank Merriwell. "He is kidnaping Miss Rodney!After the fellow, men! We must run him down!"
Frank was right. Charlie, driven desperate and maddened by severaldrinks he had taken, had quite lost his head. Again seeking SadieRodney, he had found an opportunity to catch her in his arms, carry herto the corral, where his horse was saddled and ready, and bear her away.
Ordinarily the man would not have attempted such a thing. Just now hewas ready for any desperate deed.
He believed he had a horse that was the superior of anything on or aboutRodney's ranch, and so he had tried to kidnap Sadie, hoping to get a bigstart before he was discovered.
Inza had seen him, and she ran to tell Frank what had happened.
Away went the cowboys in pursuit of the kidnaper and his victim, andFrank, mounted on Fleetfoot, was leading them.
The boy remembered how Swiftwing had carried off Inza.
Frank coiled up the lariat as he rode.
There was great excitement about the ranch. Men and women ran in alldirections, shouting and calling.
The cowboys, headed by Merriwell, swept past to the south.
Indian Charlie looked back and saw his pursuers. He recognized theboyish leader, and ground his teeth.
"That fellow has brought me nothing but bad luck!" he grated. "I don'tcare now! Let them catch me if they can! I'd like to get a shot atMerriwell myself! I wouldn't make such a bungle of it as that foolhalf-breed made. I was to give Cornmeal fifty dollars, but he failed todo the job."
Sadie Rodney had not fainted, although it seemed so at first.
"Oh, you wretch!" she exclaimed, faintly, having overheard his words."So you hired the half-breed to kill Frank Merriwell! You are more of awretch than I thought!"
She shuddered with horror.
"Oh, shiver away!" brutally laughed the man. "I am a demon, and I knowit! I'm proud of it! It was born in me, and I have not been able to getaway from it. I vowed I would have you at any cost, and I mean to keepmy word."
"You will not succeed."
"Oh, yes, I shall! They can't run me down."
"You do not know the stuff Fleetfoot is made of, and Frank Merriwell ismounted on Fleetfoot. You can't get away from him."
"So much the worse for him! I shall shoot him!"
Away they went, mile after mile being covered.
Charlie looked back again. Mounted on the black horse, Frank was drawingaway from the cowboys. He was gaining on Charlie.
"Let him come!" snarled the desp
erate wretch. "He can't save you!"
Frank continued to gain.
The kidnaper was riding recklessly, without considering the course hewas taking. Soon he could hear the beating hoofs of the horse ridden byhis persistent pursuer.
Closer and closer Frank crept. His face was set with determination. Hewas alone, but he would rescue Sadie Rodney.
Suddenly a scream of fear came from the girl.
"The bluffs!" she cried--"the bluffs! We are right upon them!"
Indian Charlie realized it for the first time. He saw before them thebluffs which arose two hundred feet from the bed of a dry gorge.
Then he hastily tried to rein about with his free hand.
Too late!
The horse took the bit in his teeth and charged straight at the gorgewhich lay in advance.
To go over the bluff meant a plunge to death, and yet he was unable torein his horse about. Frantically he tried to turn the creature aside.
Frank realized the peril that threatened the man and girl. He freed thelariat he had brought all this distance and prepared to use it. Aroundand around his head the noose circled, and then, just before the horsein advance reached the brink of the bluff, he made the cast.
The noose sailed through the air and dropped over the head and shouldersof the man and girl. The trained horse Frank bestrode suddenly turnedand braced itself.
Snap!--the rope tightened, and two human beings were jerked from theback of the horse, just as, with a wild shriek of fear, the animalplunged over the brink.
When the cowboys came up they found Frank talking reassuringly to SadieRodney, who had been stunned somewhat by the fall to the ground, but wasnot seriously hurt, while the body of Indian Charlie lay sprawled on theground.
Charlie's neck was broken when he fell, and his plotting and crookednesswere over forever.
Great was the reception the party was given at Rodney's ranch. Greatwere the honors bestowed on the "tenderfoot," who, as Hank Kildareexpressed it, "had shown the punchers he wuz jest as good as the best ofthem--an' a sight better!"
William Rodney could not find words to express his thankfulness andadmiration of Frank.
The tournament was over for that day, but the dance followed in theevening, and a jolly time it was.
Sadie Rodney waltzed twice with Frank, but he did not neglect Inza, whoreceived full assurance that the rancher's daughter had not won herplace in Frank's heart.
It was a jolly time, and for all of the misfortune which had befallenFrank, the boys felt they were fully repaid for the time spent invisiting Rodney's ranch.
And in spite of all that had occurred there was not a grumbling spiritamong "Frank Merriwell's Athletes."
THE END
No. 18 of the _Merriwell Series_, entitled "Frank Merriwell's Skill,"gives an account of some startling adventures, in which Frank and hispals once more prove their grit, skill, and courage.
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