CHAPTER XXII
CAUGHT IN THE ACT—CONCLUSION
That crackling sound which came to Bob’s strained ears he knew must meanthat a match had been struck. Yes, he could see the sudden little glow;and even managed to catch a view of a dark face hovering over some fuelthat the would-be fire-bug had carried with him to the spot.
This immediately flashed into flame, indicating that Mendoza, in orderin make sure of a good start, had soaked the material with someinflammable substance; perhaps kerosene.
Bob knew that something was apt to happen about that time; nor was he atall mistaken. He saw a dark figure drop down upon the crouchingfire-bug, and heard a startled exclamation. Then the two men wentwhirling over the ground, locked in a close embrace.
“This way, Bob!” cried Frank, rushing forward to stamp out the rapidlyspreading flames; for that work had been given over to their charge.“Old Hank will help Ted! Kick lively now, and scatter the fire!”
They worked at a furious rate, and soon had the flames under control.Others had meanwhile come dashing to the spot—Scotty, Jeff Davis, Bart,the foreman, and last, though far from least, the stockman himself.
Old Hank Coombs had taken a hand in the game, and Mendoza was speedilyovercome, though he writhed and squirmed to the last uttering harshwords intended for the owner of the ranch.
“What will they do with him, Frank?” asked Bob, as he saw signs thatindicated a general outpouring of the cowboy legion from the nearbybunk-house, and other places where the overflow had been lodged.
Even Bob realized that if ever these furious fellows laid hands onMendoza he would meet with a swift fate, which, perhaps, he welldeserved, as he had long been the pest of the border, and a thorn in thesides of all cattle raisers.
“Dad will do everything in his power to hold the boys quiet,” Frankanswered. “See, he’s telling Hank and Ted to take him right inside thehouse; and there he’ll be kept. I understood Dad to say he’d sent wordto the sheriff to come around with a posse in the morning.”
“Oh! then perhaps Mendoza will get a chance to work a few years in thepenitentiary, after all,” remarked Bob.
“He will, if the sheriff ever gets him to town safe,” replied Frank,doubtfully.
Of course the whole place was filled with excitement by this time. Thewomen in the house had been awakened by the noise; but accustomed to allsorts of alarms, they calmly waited to be told what it meant. Those wholive on cattle ranches meet with so much bordering on danger, that theylearn to control their nerves; and this applies to women as well as men.
Some of the boys demanded that the rustler be given over into theirhands, and promised that he would never “rustle” any cattle again. Tothis, however, the owner of Circle Ranch gave a negative answer.
“Perhaps he deserves all you would give him, boys,” he announced, whenthey came clamoring for Mendoza; “but, fortunately, we were able to niphis miserable scheme in the bud, and no damage was done. So, as thesheriff of the county will be here in the morning, I expect to turn himover, and see that he gets a long term. And remember, boys,” he added,seriously; “it would be a dangerous thing for anybody to try and enterthis house to-night.”
They knew what he meant, and that when Colonel Haywood spoke in thatvein he was not to be taken lightly. Though there was more or lessgrumbling, still the remainder of that night passed away without anydisturbance. No doubt Mendoza, having had a chance to cool down, andrepent of his rashness, was glad to see the break of early dawn.
The sheriff did come, along about noon, while the cowboys were partakingof their midday meal. And knowing what a task he might have before him,he brought a large posse of deputies along, in order to protect hisprisoner.
The last the saddle boys saw of the Mexican rustler, he was gallopingoff between several heavily armed riders, and laughing mockingly at thecrowd that gathered to see him depart.
The stockman did all in his power to keep any of his employers fromdeserting the round-up, in order to try and wrest the prisoner away fromhis guards; and so successful were his efforts that Mendoza was landedin the lock-up. It might be said of him that in due time he received thereward of his crimes, and was sent to the penitentiary for a long term.Unless he should manage to escape at some time, the cattlemen of theSouthwest can breathe easy for years to come; for the rustler will, inall probability, never be seen again.
The old Moqui had arrived at the ranch about midnight. Indeed, he wasjust in time to see the capture of the man who had caused him so muchmental suffering in connection with his one daughter, Antelope.
Colonel Haywood was not the one to forget a promise he had made; and assoon as the grand round-up was a thing of the past he set to work tryingto find where Mendoza had hidden his Moqui wife.
As one of the cattlemen had been able to give him a hint concerningthis, success greeted the efforts of the ranchman before long. Havasupaiwas enabled to once more claim his daughter.
He could not return to his village, for there was a perpetual edict ofbanishment issued against him; so, as the stockman offered him a chanceto remain at Circle Ranch, and be entered on the regular payroll as ascout, hunter, and tracker of lost cattle, Havasupai settled down to hisnew life.
The boys were glad of this, since both of them had taken a decidedliking to the old Indian. And Hank Coombs struck up a close friendshipwith Havasupai, they having many interests in common.
On the very day after the grand round-up had closed, with Circle Ranchresuming its ordinary aspect, the saddle boys started out on whateverybody supposed was simply a hunt for fresh venison; or a chance topot some daring wolf found abroad in the daytime. But Bob had anothermission on his mind.
“Oh! I hope I find it there, Frank,” he said for the fourth time, aslater on they drew rapidly near a _motte_ of timber that marked somespring-hole, miles away from the ranch proper.
“Well, I give you my word I wish it just as much as you can do,”chuckled the other, giving his chum a meaning look.
“I suppose I have bothered you a heap, Frank, what with my guessing, andasking all sorts of silly questions,” Bob went on; “but if you only knewhow much I think of that knife you wouldn’t be surprised.”
“Oh! I’m not blaming you, Bob, not a bit of it,” laughed the other. “Iwas only thinking of that dream you had, and wondering if it could comeout true, with the knife sticking in that tree just as you saw it whileasleep. If it does turn out that way, why, I’ll believe your spirit musthave wandered out here while your body lay there alongside me. But in afew minutes now you’ll know the worst.”
“Say the best, Frank!” cried Bob. “Don’t discourage me, right now, whenyou can see how I’m keyed up to top-notch pace.”
“There’s where you crept up on the deer, and fired,” Frank remarked,pointing.
“Yes, and I can follow the track I took into the timber, every foot ofit,” Bob called back over his shoulder; for in his eagerness he wasoutstripping his chum, though Frank was content to have it so. “Butseeing that I cut up the deer, as you said, I couldn’t have lost theknife beforehand, that’s sure!”
“Well, there you are; and I can see the trees at the foot of which thebuck dropped. Hold your breath now, Bob, and wish hard you’re going tofind the lost blade.”
The Kentucky lad drew his big black horse up sharply, and with a boundwas out of the saddle. Frank, who had also come to a sudden stop, sawhim glance around eagerly, while a look of bitter disappointment flashedacross his face.
“Your dream—remember that it was around in the crotch of the tree yousaw it, Bob! Feel there, and see!” cried Frank.
The other hastened to do so. Immediately a yell broke from his lips, andFrank saw him bring forth a knife that had been lodged in the crotch.
“Found!” shouted Bob, beginning to dance around the place in his greatsatisfaction. “Now after this I’m going to believe there may besomething in dreams, aren’t you, Frank?”
“Shucks!” laughed the other, “chances are you jus
t partly rememberedputting it up there, and the fact appealed to you while you slept,that’s all. If a small part of the silly dreams I’ve had ever came true,I’d be in hot water all the time. Where one happens to hit the mark,fifty fall down. But I’m glad you’ve got that knife again.”
The Fall round-up was over, and had been a great success. Circle Ranchhad done far better than any year since it was started, and could easilybe set down as the banner cattle raising combination in the whole State.Then, besides, there was the wonderful success that had resulted fromthe effort to rid the community of Mendoza, the rustler. From now onpeace would hang over the cattle ranches from the Grand Canyon of theColorado down to the Mexican border.
The saddle boys had many adventures still awaiting them, and what someof these were will be related in another volume, entitled: “The SaddleBoys on Mexican Trails; Or, In the Hands of the Enemy.”
Impulsive Bob, the Kentucky lad, still has much to learn about Westernways; but with such a chum as Frank Haywood to show him the secrets offorest, plain and trail, he at least bids fair to, in time, become wellversed in the accomplishments that mark the true son of the wilderness.Until such time as perhaps we may once more gallop in the company of thesaddle boys we will say to our young readers, good-bye.
THE END