Produced by Al Haines
THE BIG POWERFUL BLACK ACTED AS THOUGH HE HAD GONE WILD.]
The Saddle Boys of the Rockies
Or
Lost on Thunder Mountain
BY
CAPTAIN JAMES CARSON
AUTHOR OF
"THE SADDLE BOYS IN THE GRAND CANYON," "THE SADDLE BOYS ON THE PLAINS," "THE SADDLE BOYS AT CIRCLE RANCH," ETC.
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
Copyrighted 1913, by
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY
THE SADDLE BOYS OF THE ROCKIES
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. ACCEPTING A CHALLENGE II. THE STRANGE ACTIONS OF DOMINO III. OLD HANK COOMBS BEARS A MESSAGE IV. A NOTE OF WARNING AT THE SPRING HOLE V. THE VOICE OF THE MOUNTAIN VI. A SECOND ALARM VII. THE "RUSTLERS" VIII. A STARTLING DISCOVERY IX. WHAT HAPPENED TO PEG X. THREATS OF TROUBLE XI. THE BLACK NIGHT XII. LOSING THEIR BEARINGS XIII. THE SMOKE TRAIL XIV. A CALL FOR HELP XV. SPANISH JOE DROPS A HINT XVI. THE VENT HOLE IN THE WALL XVII. FRANK HOLDS THE HOT STICK XVIII. A GUESS THAT HITS THE BULLSEYE XIX. THE WORKING OF THE GOLD LODE XX. TRAPPED IN THE CANYON XXI. A CLOSE CALL XXII. ONCE MORE AT CIRCLE RANCH--CONCLUSION
THE SADDLE BOYS OF THE ROCKIES
CHAPTER I
ACCEPTING A CHALLENGE
"Hello! what brought you here, Frank Haywood, I'd like to know?"
"Well, I reckon my horse, Buckskin, did, Peg."
"And who's this with you--your new chum; the boy from Kentucky?"
"That's who it is, Peg--Bob Archer; and he's come out West to see howlife on the plains suits him."
"Oh! a greenhorn, eh?"
"Perhaps some people might call him that, though he knows a heap abouthorses. But seems to me, Peg, 'twasn't so very long ago that youyourself dropped in on us here. Since when did you climb up out of thetenderfoot class, tell me?"
The boy who answered to the name of Frank Haywood was a rather chunky,well set-up lad of about sixteen. He had blue eyes, that were usuallysparkling with mirth; and a mop of yellow hair; while his skin wasdarkened by long exposure to sun and wind.
Frank was the son of a rancher, who not only owned a large tract ofland with many herds, but had interests in paying mines located amongthe mountains of the Southwest. Of course he knew more or lessconcerning such things as cowboys practice; though never a day passedon which Frank could not pick up new ideas connected with life in theopen.
His companion, Bob Archer, was considerably taller than Frank, straightas an Indian, though rather inclined to be slender; but with asuppleness that indicated such strength and agility as the pantherdisplays.
Coming from Kentucky, Bob could at least boast of long familiarity withhorses; and his cleverness in this line promised to make him a crackhorseman when he had picked up a few more of the tricks known to rangeriders.
Both of the boys were especially fond of roaming the country, mountedon their favorite steeds; and indeed, they were becoming known far andnear as the "Saddle Boys" because of their being seen so frequently,dashing over the prairies at top-notch speed.
Peg was the nick-name which had followed Percy Egbert Grant all the wayfrom the Chicago suburb, where, for some years, he had played the partof both dude and bully. His father was very wealthy, and Peg alwayshad more money than was good for him.
When he came to the great X-bar-X ranch, not so very far distant fromthe Haywood home place, Peg had adopted the same tactics that hadcarried the day for him in the past. The cowboys belonging to hisfather's estate seemed to knuckle under to him from the first. Howevermuch they might ridicule Peg behind his back, they cringed when he gaveorders; because he was a liberal paymaster, and no one wished to incurhis enmity.
So it came to pass that Peg actually began to believe himself of greatimportance in the community. He assumed airs that ill became one whowas really ignorant of many things connected with ranch life.
He and Frank had never become friends. There was something about thefellow that the saddle boy could not tolerate. More than once they hadalmost come to blows; and, only for the peace-loving nature of Frank,this must have occurred long ago.
The two chums had taken the long gallop to the town on the railroad onthis particular day to do a little important business for Mr. Haywood,who was associated with Bob's uncle in certain large miningenterprises. And it was while entering the town that they met Peg,who, with his customary assurance, had halted them with the questionthat begins this chapter.
When Frank give him this little cut, the face of Peg Grant showed signsof anger. He knew very well that he was making wretched progress alongthe line of becoming an accomplished rider and cowboy. And the easymanner in which the other boys sat their saddles irritated him greatly.
"What does it matter to you, Frank Haywood, when I left the greenhornclass and moved up a pace? All the boys of the X-bar-X outfit say I'mfull-fledged now, and able to hold my own with nearly any fellow.It'll be some time, I reckon, before your new friend can say the same.But I will own that he's got a horse that takes my eye, for a fact."
"That's where you show good judgment, Peg," said Frank, laughing. "Hebrought that black horse with him from Kentucky. And he can ride some,you'd better believe me. When he gets on to the ways we have out here,Bob will hold his own against heaps of boys that were born and broughtup on the plains."
"Say, I don't suppose, now, you'd care to sell that animal, Archer?"asked Peg, as he eyed the handsome mount of the Kentucky boy enviously."Because I fancy I'd like to own him more than I ever did that friskybuckskin Frank rides. If you'd put a fairly decent price on him now--"
"I raised Domino from a colt, I broke him to the saddle, and we havebeen together five years now. Money couldn't buy him from me," repliedthe tall boy, curtly.
It was not Bob Archer's habit to speak in this strain to anyone; butthere seemed to be a something connected with Peg Grant that irritatedhim. The manner of the other was so overbearing as to appear almostrude. He had had his own way a long time now; and thus far no oneconnected with the big ranch owned by his father had arisen to take himdown.
"Oh! well, there are plenty of horses just as good, I guess," Peg wenton; "and some people don't appreciate the value of money, anyway. Butsee here, Frank, you let your eyebrows travel up when I mentioned thefact that I'd graduated from the tenderfoot class. I could see thatyou doubted my words. Now, I'm going to tell you something that willsurprise you a heap. Are you ready for a shock?"
"Oh; I can brace myself for nearly anything, Peg," replied Frank,easily; "so suppose you tell us your great news. Have you entered forthe endurance race at the annual cowboy meet next month; or do youexpect to take the medal for riding bucking broncos?"
"Any ordinary range rider might do that, even if he lost out," Peg wenton; "but my game is along different lines; see? I'm on my way rightnow to run down the mystery of Thunder Mountain! I understand that foryears it's puzzled the whole country to know what makes that roaringsound every now and then. Many cowboys couldn't be hired to spend asingle night on that mountain. As for the Indians, they claim it isthe voice of Great Manitou; and steer clear of Thunder Mountain, everytime. Get that, Frank?"
"Well, Peg, you have given me a jolt, for a fact," answered the saddleboy, as his face expressed his surprise. "I allow that you show a lotof nerve in laying out such a big plan; and if you only find out whatmakes that trembling, roaring sound, you'll get the blessing of many arange rider who believes all the stories
told about Thunder Mountain."
Peg stiffened up in his saddle, as though he realized that he wasengineering a tremendously important thing; and had a right to belooked up to as a hero, even before the accomplishment of the deed.
"Well, that's always the way with you fellows out here, I find," heremarked, loftily; "you leave all the big things to be done by fellowswith real backbone. But then, I don't mind; in fact I'm obliged to youfor neglecting your opportunities so long. Just you wait, and you'llhear something drop. Couldn't I induce you to name a price on thatblack beauty, Archer?"
"Domino is not for sale at any price," replied the other, quietly.
"Oh! all right then. So long, Frank. Go back home, and wait till Isend you word about what I've found out!" and with a careless wave ofhis arm Peg whirled his horse around, and galloped off.
"Now, I wonder did he mean that; or was he just bluffing?" said Frank,as he turned to his chum.
"He looked as if he might be in dead earnest," replied Bob; "but youknow him better than I do, and ought to be able to say whether he'dhave the sand to take up such a job as that."
"Oh! nobody doubts his grit, when it comes to that," Frank went on, asthough trying to figure the matter out. "And he seems to want to dosomething everybody else lets alone. You know what I told you aboutThunder Mountain, Bob; and how it has been a mystery ever since thecountry hereabout was settled by people from the East?"
"Yes," the Kentucky boy replied, "and somehow, what you told me seemedto shake me up as I don't ever remember being stirred before. It waslike a direct challenge--just like somebody had dared me to look intothis queer old mountain, and find out what it all meant."
"That's just it," said Frank, watching the face of his chum with a showof eagerness. "It struck me the same way long ago, and I can rememberoften thinking what a great time a few of the right kind of fellowsmight have if they took a notion to go nosing around that old pile ofrock, to see what does make all that row every little while."
"And you tell me nobody knows what it is?" demanded Bob.
"Why, don't you understand, the cowboys all keep away from ThunderMountain as much as they can. They're worse than the Injuns about it,because while the reds say that is the voice of Manitou talking, thesefellows just up and declare the mountain is haunted. Lots of 'emcouldn't be hired to spend a night on the side of that big uplift."
"But Frank, we don't believe in any such thing, do we?" pursued Bob, asif he had begun to suspect what all this talk was leading up to, andwished to draw his chum on.
"We sure don't, and that's a fact," declared Frank. "Twice, now, oneof our boys has made out that he saw a ghost, but both times I managedto turn the laugh on him. All the same, if you offered a lump sum forany fellow to go and camp out half-way up the side of Thunder Mountainfor a week, I don't believe he could be found, not at Circle Ranch,anyhow."
"I've seen the same kind of men myself; and the coons around our oldKentucky home always carried a foot of a graveyard rabbit, shot in thefull of the moon, as a sure talisman against ghosts. I've seen many arabbit's foot. No use talking to any of them; it's in the blood andcan't be cured. But about that offering a sum for any fellow to go andcamp on the side of that old fraud of a haunted mountain, if you happento hear about such a snap you might just think of me, Frank."
The other saddle boy smiled broadly. He believed he knew Bob prettywell by this time, and could no longer doubt what the Kentucky lad washinting at.
"Say, look here, would you take me up if I proposed something rightnow?" asked Frank, his face filled with sudden animation.
"If you mean that we try and beat Peg Grant at his own game, and learnwhat the secret of Thunder Mountain is, I say yes!" answered Bob,steadily.
"Shake on that!" he exclaimed. "I'm just primed for something that'sout of the common run; and what could be finer than such a game? I sawBilly Dixon in town; and we can send back word to father that we'vegone off for a big gallop; so he won't worry if we don't turn up for afew days. Is it a go, Bob?"
"Count on me," replied the other. "I don't know how it is, Frank; butit strikes me that I'd like to cut in on that boaster in this thing.If we managed to find out what makes that fearful booming in themountain, and told about it before he got a chance to blow his horn,he'd feel cheap, wouldn't he?"
"He sure would, now," Frank said. "And when you look at it, he justthe same as gave us the challenge direct, because he hinted that wedidn't have the nerve to attempt such a big thing as this. Bob, we'llcall it a go! Wonder what Peg will say when he runs across us outthere in that lonely place? Wow! I reckon he'll be some mad."
"Let him," remarked Bob, carelessly. "He has no claim on ThunderMountain; has he? And we want to call his bluff, if it was one. Sojust make up your mind we're in for a new experience. It may pan out aheap of fun for us. And it will be worth while if we can settle thequestion that has been giving these superstitious cowmen the creeps allthese years."
"Then let's get through with our business, send word by Billy, thoughnot telling what we've got in the wind, and then pick up a few thingswe might need on a trip like this. After that we can drop out of town,and take our time heading for the mountain; because I think I'd likePeg to get there first, so that he couldn't say we'd stolen histhunder."
Half an hour later the saddle boys, having finished their business, andsent the Circle ranch cowboy galloping homeward bearing the message toMr. Haywood, were moving slowly through the main street of the town,heading toward a store where they could pick up a couple of blankets, asimple cooking outfit, and some of the substantials in the way ofbacon, coffee and the like, when they came upon a scene that instantlyattracted their attention.
It was a terrified cry that reached their ears at first, and causedboth boys to pull in their horses. Glancing in the direction whencethe sound of distress seemed to spring, they saw a small Mexican girlstruggling with an over-grown fellow, garbed in the customary rangehabit, even to the "chaps" of leather covering his trousers.
Both Frank and Bob jumped from their saddles, for the little affair wastaking place in the courtyard of an inn that fronted on the street.Whether the brute was simply playing the bully, and trying to kiss thegirl; or meant to strike her for getting in his way, Bob Archer did notstop to inquire.
His warm Kentucky blood on fire, he made a swoop for the fellow, andmanaged to give him a tremendous blow that toppled him over in a heap.
"Lie there, you coward!" he exclaimed.
And then, as the fellow whom he had knocked down struggled to hisknees, to stare up at him, Bob discovered, not a little to hissurprise, and satisfaction as well, that he was looking into a familiarface.
It was Peg Grant!