CHAPTER XVII
AT THE RANCH
After the first crash in the night, and the rattling and bumping ofthe sleeping car in which they were riding, the Bobbsey twins heardnothing more that was exciting except the whistling of the locomotiveand the shouting of men outside the train.
But though the sleeping car no longer bumped unevenly over the woodenties of the road bed, and though it had come to a stop, the people init were all very much excited. Men and women quickly dressed, and cameout in the aisle where Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey were now standing.
"What is it?"
"What's the matter?"
"Are we off the track?"
These and many other questions were being asked by every one itseemed.
"I was dreamin' that I fell out of bed and I got a big bump!" saidFreddie Bobbsey, and, hearing that, many of the passengers laughed.
This seemed to make them feel better, and when it was seen that thesleeping car was not broken and that no one in it was hurt, the menand women began to talk about what had best be done.
"We're off the track, that's sure," said one man who had a berth nextto Mr. Bobbsey. "You can tell we're off the track by the way this caris tipped to one side."
"Yes, I believe we are," said the children's father. "Well, if itisn't anything worse than being off the track we will not worry much.But there was a pretty hard crash, and I'm afraid some of thepassengers in the other cars are hurt."
"You're right--it was a hard crash," said a woman to whom Mrs. Bobbseywas speaking. "It awakened me from a sound sleep. If we are off thetrack I wonder how long it will take us to get back on?"
"I have a train of cars," said Freddie, who, with the other Bobbseychildren, was now partly dressed. "I have a train of cars, and whenthey get off the track Flossie and I put 'em back on."
"Well, I wish you could do that with this train, my little engineer!"laughed the man who had talked to Freddie's father.
"I'm not an engineer!" exclaimed the little fellow, smiling.
"No?" asked the man.
"Nope! I'm a fireman, and my sister's a fairy!" went on Freddie,pointing to Flossie so every one would know he did not mean Nan.
"Well, if she is a fairy maybe she can wave her magic wand and put usall back on the track again," went on the man. "Can you do that,little fairy?" he asked. "Where is your magic wand?"
"I--I hasn't any," answered Flossie, who was feeling a bit shy andbashful because so many persons were looking at her and smiling.
"Well, here comes the conductor," said some one. "Perhaps he can tellus what the matter is, even if he can't put the train back on therails. What's wrong, conductor?" asked a man whose hair was alltousled from having gotten out of his berth in such a hurry.
"There has been an accident," explained the train conductor. "It isn'ta bad one, but it will hold us here for an hour or two."
"Is any one hurt?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey.
"No, I'm glad to say no one is," the conductor said. "Our train raninto a freight car that stuck too far over the edge of its own trackout on our track. Our engine smashed the freight car, some damage wasdone to the locomotive itself, and the crash threw some of our carsoff the rails. But no one was hurt more than being shaken up."
"That's good," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Then had we better stay right in ourcar?" he asked.
"Oh, yes," answered the conductor. "That's what I came in to tellyou--stay right here. We have sent for the wrecking crew, and we willgo on again as soon as we can. There is no danger. You need not beafraid, even if you get shaken up again."
"Are you going to shake us up?" asked Bert.
"No, but the wrecking crew will when they pull this car back on therails," the conductor replied. "But don't be afraid--no one will behurt."
The passengers quieted down after hearing this, and some of them whowere good sleepers went back to bed. The Bobbsey twins were toowide-awake, their mother thought, to go to sleep so soon after theexcitement, so she let them sit up a while to get quiet.
Going to the end of the car, in the little passageway near the washroom, Bert and Nan could look out of the window. They saw men withflaring oil torches hurrying here and there. These were the railroadworkers getting ready to put the train back on the track.
There was not so much shouting, now that it was known no one was hurt,and soon the children heard the puffing of engines and the rumble ofwheels.
"The wrecking crew has arrived," said Mr. Bobbsey, who came down theaisle to see if Bert and Nan were all right.
"What's a wrecking crew, Daddy?" asked Nan.
"They are the men who clear away wrecked trains," her father answered."Don't you remember? You saw them at the wreck in our town."
"Oh, yes!" exclaimed Nan. "There was one car with a big derrick on it,and it lifted the broken pieces of the wrecked cars out of the way."
"That's the wreck Mr. Hickson was hurt in," went on Bert. "I guess hiswreck was worse than this one."
"Yes, it was," said Mr. Bobbsey. "All railroad wrecks are bad enough,but some are worse than others. But now I think you children hadbetter get back to your berths. There isn't much more to see. You canfeel the rest."
"You mean we can feel the bumping when they put us back on the rails?"asked Bert.
"Yes," his father told him.
And a little while after Bert and his sister had got back in theirberths they did feel a rumbling and bumping. There were more shoutsout in the darkness of the night, and, peering under the edges oftheir curtains, the children saw more flickering torches and movingmen.
Then came an extra big bump, and the sleeping car swayed from side toside. A moment later it began to roll along smoothly.
"I guess we're back on the track now," said Bert.
"Yes," his father answered, "we are. Now we'll travel along."
And in about two hours after the wreck the train was on its journeyagain, not much the worse for the accident. The freight car had beensmashed and so had the front part of the passenger engine. But anotherlocomotive had come with the wrecking train, and this was used to haulthe Bobbseys and other passengers where they wanted to go.
"Now we'll have something to tell Mr. Hickson when we get back home,"said Bert to Nan the next morning at the breakfast table.
"You mean about the wreck?" asked Nan.
"Yes," replied Bert. "Course ours wasn't a big wreck, like his, but itwas big enough."
"I don't want another," said Nan. "I like Mr. Hickson; don't you,Bert?"
"Yes, I do. And I wish we could find his two sons for him, but I don'ts'pose we can."
"No," agreed Nan, "we can't ever do that."
It was about noon on the day after the night of the wreck, that Mr.Bobbsey said to his wife and children:
"We will get out soon."
"Shall we be in Cowdon?" asked Bert. "At the ranch?"
"No, not exactly at the ranch," his father told him. "But we'll reachthe town of Cowdon, and from there we'll drive to the ranch, which isabout ten miles from the railroad."
"Oh, may I ride a pony out to the ranch?" cried Bert.
"I don't believe they'll bring any ponies to meet us," said Mr.Bobbsey. "Later on you may ride one."
The train pulled into the little western station. Some time since thebig stretches of woods and trees had been left behind, and now theBobbseys were in the open prairie country--the land of cattle, cowboysand, at least Bert hoped, of Indians also.
"This is really the West, isn't it?" said Bert to his father, as theysaw the wide, rolling fields on either side of the train.
"Yes, this is the West," was the answer.
"But where are the cowboys and the cows?" Nan asked.
"Oh, they don't come so close to the railroad," her father explained."You'll see them when you get to the ranch."
Then the train reached the small station, as I have said. It seemed tobe very lonesome. There were no other buildings near it--only a watertank, and there was not an Indian in sight. At first Bert thoughtthere was not even
a cowboy, but when he saw a man sitting on the seatof a wagon with some horses hitched in front--horses that had queer,rough marks on their flanks--Bert cried:
"Oh, say! I guess he's a cowboy!" and he pointed to the driver.
"He hasn't any cow!" exclaimed Flossie, and she wondered why the manin the wagon laughed.
"No, I haven't any cows with me," he said; "but if this is the Bobbseyfamily I can take you to a place where you will see lots of cattle."
"We are the Bobbseys," said the children's father, walking over to theman in the wagon, "Are you from Three Star ranch?"
"That's where I'm from. I'm in charge, for the time being, but I can'tstay much longer. You'll have to get another foreman. I got yourletter, saying you were coming out, so I stayed to meet you. And now,if you're ready, I'll take you all out to Three Star."
"Is Three Star the name of a city?" asked Bert.
"No, it's the name of the ranch your mother owns, my boy," said theman, who gave his name as Dick Weston. "All the cattle are marked, orbranded, with three stars--like the ponies there," and he pointed tothe rough marks on the flanks of the team.
"As soon as I saw those marks I knew you must be a cowboy," said Bert."You do ride a horse, don't you?"
"That's about all I do," said Foreman Weston, with a smile. "I don'toften ride in a wagon, but I knew you'd need one to-day to get to theranch. Now, if you're ready, we'll start."
The train had gone on, after leaving the Bobbseys and their baggage.Into the wagon the twins were helped. Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey took theirseats, the driver called to the horses and away they trotted.
"Is Cowdon much of a town?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, as they drove along.
"No, not much more than you can see over there," and Dick Westonpointed with his whip to a few houses and a store or two on theprairie, about a mile from the railroad station. "We don't go throughit to get to Three Star ranch. We turn off to the north," and he drovealong the prairie road.
"Oh, look at that snake!" suddenly cried Bert, pointing to one thatwiggled and twisted across the road.
"Yes, and you want to look out for those snakes," said the driver."That's a rattler, and poisonous. Keep away from 'em!"
"Yes indeed they must!" said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Are there any otherdangers out here?"
"Well, not many, no, ma'am. And rattlers aren't to be feared if youlet 'em alone. Just keep clear of 'em. They'll run away from yourather than fight."
Up and down little, rolling hills went the wagon, drawing the Bobbseytwins. They dipped down into a hollow, and for a time nothing could beseen but green fields.
"Where are the cows?" asked Nan.
"And the cowboys?" Bert wanted to know.
"You'll see 'em soon," was the promise of the driver.
All of a sudden a great noise burst out. There was the shooting ofpistols and loud shouts.
"Yi! Yi! Yip!" came in shrill cries.
"Woo! Wow!" sounded, as if in answer.
"Bang! Bang!" went the firearms.
"What is that?" cried Nan, holding her hands over her ears.
"Those are the cowboys," answered Dick Weston, with a smile. "That'stheir way of telling you they're glad to see you. Here we are at theranch."