CHAPTER XXIII
LETTERS FROM HOME
The boys started at these words. The professor in the hands of thecattle thieves!
“But--but!” stammered the surprised Ned. “If they took him, why didn’tthey take us? We weren’t far away from where they made the professor aprisoner, to judge by his voice. It sounded very plainly.”
“Sound carries a good distance in this clear air,” said the foreman.“He might have been half a mile away.”
“Besides, they didn’t know you were there,” put in Gimp. “You say theprofessor went out of the tent?”
“Yes, to look for some moths. He’s been collecting them of late. Andthey grabbed him while we slept,” explained Ned.
“Well, that accounts for it,” went on the cowboy. “The rustlers wereabroad that night on top of the mountain, maybe getting ready to makeanother raid on us. They came upon the professor, who probably didn’tnotice ’em, and they nabbed him before he knew what was going on. It’sas plain as a long-eared rabbit. But we’ll get after the rascals!”
“That’s what!” declared the foreman.
“You can’t do much there at night,” Jerry said.
“No. But we can get a start, which is something, and be on the groundbright and early in the morning,” replied Mr. Watson. “The more time welose the worse for the professor. I know that trail in the dark as wellas in daylight. Where’s Hinkee Dee?” he asked.
“Makin’ a new lariat the last I seen of him,” answered Gimp.
“Send him here, will you? I’m going to leave him in charge while I gooff on this expedition with some of you boys. I’ve had enough of thisbusiness. I’ll get them rustlers or bust a leg! It’s bad enough to have’em steal our cattle, but when they take to kidnappin’ a nice man, likeProfessor Snodgrass, it’s time something was done.”
A curious friendship had sprung up between the rough foreman and thegentle professor which accounted for the warmth of Mr. Watson’s talk.
“Hink,” he said shortly, when his assistant came in, “we’ve got badnews. More of those rustler’s doin’s. It’s got to stop! I want you totake hold here until I come back,” and he explained what had takenplace and outlined his plans.
“Get off that shipment that’s to go to-morrow,” he added, “and I’llbe back as soon as I can make it. I won’t come without the professoreither, if I can help it,” he said grimly.
“We’ll be with you after we’ve had something to eat,” said Bob, for itwas then near the supper hour.
“You’re not to go back to-night!” declared the foreman. “You’ve doneenough and you’re tuckered out. Get a good night’s sleep and you canride up and join us in the morning. Bring along plenty of grub, for wemay have to stay a few days. We’ll prepare to camp out. You say youleft your tent there?”
“Yes, for we counted on going back,” Jerry answered.
Arrangements were quickly made to get the cowboys, under the leadershipof the foreman, off on their trip.
“I wish I was going along!” exclaimed Mr. Munson, as he limped aroundthe room where the talk had been going on.
“Why aren’t you?” asked Hinkee Dee in some surprise. “They’ll needevery man they can get, and the boss has signed up more of the cowboysto go with him than I like to see leave the ranch. It makes usshort-handed.”
“I don’t see how I can go,” replied the cattle buyer. “My leg doesn’tseem to be getting on as well as I expected. It pains me a lot andif I go up there, where the trail is steep, I might have to walk. Icouldn’t do that very well now,” and he limped more than ever. “I’d bemore of a hindrance than a help.”
“Well, I reckon there’s something in that,” agreed the assistantforeman. “Do as you think best.”
“Then I’ll stay until my leg gets better.”
“Hadn’t you better let the doctor look at it?” asked Jerry with a wink,seen only by his chums.
“Yes, I think I shall,” was Munson’s cool answer. “I’ll ride in totown and let the doc have a look some day if it doesn’t heal soon. Itdoesn’t hurt me to ride on the level.”
“What do you suppose his game is--playing off like that?” asked Ned ofhis tall chum when the three were by themselves.
“I wish I knew,” Jerry replied. “But I’m going to find out. He has somereason for wanting to stay around this ranch, and if it hasn’t to dowith cattle stealing I’m very much mistaken.”
“That’s right,” chimed in Bob.
The little cavalcade of cowboys, headed by the foreman, left the ranchsinging and shouting, one of the more excitable firing off his revolver.
Ned, Bob and Jerry kept pretty much to themselves that night, as HinkeeDee was in charge. Even though the parents of the boys owned Square Z,the surly fellow might make it unpleasant for them. He had not becomeat all friendly as had the others.
“Where are you going?” asked Bob of Jerry, as he saw the tall ladsaunter outside.
“Just to have a look around,” was the answer. “I rather want to seewhat our friend Munson is up to.”
“Want any company?” asked Ned.
“Thank you, no. It will be better for one to do this. He might getsuspicious.”
Jerry came back an hour later, shaking his head.
“Nothing doing,” he reported. “He just sat playing cards with the othercowboys for a while, and then took a walk around. I followed, but allhe did was to saunter here and there, star-gazing as nearly as I couldmake out.”
“He’s up to some game,” decided Bob, and his chums agreed with him.
The night passed uneventfully, and after an early breakfast Ned, Boband Jerry started for the mountain again. They made better time on thistrip, and reached the site of the camp in mid-afternoon. No one wasabout, but another tent had been pitched near theirs, and through anote left in a conspicuous place by the foreman the boys learned thatWatson and the others were off making a search. He advised the threeboys to stay in camp until the return of the party.
The chums did not want to do this--they wanted to be “on the job,” asNed declared, but they decided it was best to obey the wishes of a moreexperienced person.
“We can be getting grub ready for them,” suggested Bob, who, to do himjustice, was as anxious to have others partake of the good viands he soenjoyed as he was to eat them himself.
His plan was voted a good one by his chums, and, having hadconsiderable experience in the way of preparing meals, they got up agood one, that was much appreciated by the tired cowboys who came injust before dusk.
“Well, this is a surprise!” exclaimed the foreman as he smelled thesavory odors. “In a way it makes up for our disappointment.”
“Then you didn’t find a trace of him?” asked Jerry.
“Not a trace.”
“Did you see queer marks?” Bob queried.
The foreman nodded silently, his mouth full of bread and bacon.
“What were they?”
“Stone-boat,” sententiously replied Mr. Watson.
“Stone-boat?” repeated Bob.
“Yes. A stone-boat is a sort of platform of heavy planks nailedcrossways to two logs. It’s easy to roll a big stone on this, as it’sup only a few inches from the ground. Then you hitch some horses tothe front end, and pull the stone-boat along. It’s an easy way ofhauling heavy weights over dry ground. Of course, when there’s snow youcan call it a stone-sled if you like. But that’s what made the marksyou saw.”
“And did they drag the professor on a stone-boat?” was Jerry’s question.
“I think not,” and the foreman shook his head. “It was a pretty bigstone-boat, to judge by the marks. Most likely someone has beenbuilding a sort of wall around a water hole, and had to haul the stonequite a way. I don’t think it had anything to do with the professor.”
The search was renewed early the next morning, and kept up for twodays without success. There was no trace of the professor and none ofthe rustlers. A careful examination was made of the land lying to thewest o
f the ravine, but nothing was revealed that would help solve themystery.
“Well, I guess we’ll have to give up,” regretfully remarked the foremanafter the third day, when their provisions were almost gone. “We’vemade a good search. They’ve either--well, done away with the poorprofessor somehow, carried him far off, or else they’re hiding with himin some cave in these mountains. And the land knows there are so manywe’d never be able to search them all. We did go through a few.”
There seemed nothing else to do, and the cavalcade slowly wended itsway down the mountain. The boys felt as though they were coming awayfrom the funeral of their dear friend. It was like leaving him behind.
“But I’m not going to give up!” exclaimed Jerry. “We haven’t solvedthe cattle mystery yet, and we’re going to have another whack at that.Incidentally, we can look for the professor, too.”
“It does you credit, boys,” said the foreman. “But I don’t believeyou’ll have any success.”
The mail was in when the boys got back to Square Z ranch. Each one hada letter, and when Jerry had finished his from his mother he looked atthe faces of Ned and Bob.
“You don’t seem to have good news,” he remarked.
“We haven’t,” admitted Ned. “Dad wants us to come home!”