Edward Stratemeyer

“ They saw Ward Porton running wildly in the direction of a set of low buildings, evidently belonging to some sort of ranch. As the former moving-picture 268 actor disappeared, a band of Mexican cavalry swept into view.
“Quick, Roger! Down in the grass!” cried Dave. “We don’t want those soldiers to see us! They may be government troops, but they look more like guerrillas––like the rascals who raided the Tolman ranch!”
“Right you are,” answered the senator’s son. And then both lay low in the tall grass while the Mexican guerrillas, for they were nothing else, swept past them. ”

“ Dave was doing his best to bring the spirited grays out of their mad gallop. But they had not been out of the stable for the best part of a week, and this, combined with the scare from the roar of the automobile, had so gotten on their nerves that to calm them seemed next to impossible. On and on they flew over the packed snow of the hard road, the sleigh bouncing from side to side as it passed over the bumps in the highway. ”

“ The fellow at the wheel put on a fresh burst of speed, and with a wild rush and a roar the touring-car shot past the sleigh and the frightened horses, and in a few seconds more disappeared around a turn of the road.
As might have been expected, the coming and going of the big machine, with its unearthly roar, was too much for the mettlesome grays. Both reared up wildly on their hind legs, backing the sleigh off to one side of the roadway.
“Whoa there! Whoa!” cried Dave, and did his best to keep the team in hand. ”

“ As nearly as Dave and Roger could calculate, there were about two hundred of the Mexican guerrillas––dirty and fierce-looking individuals, led by an officer wearing an enormous hat and a long, drooping mustache.
The entire crowd looked disreputable in the extreme, and the youths could not help but shudder as they gazed at the cavalcade.
“My gracious, Dave! do you call those revolutionists?” remarked Roger, after the last of the horsemen had disappeared down the roadway.
“They may be revolutionists, Roger. But to my mind they look more like bandits than anything else. ”

“ To Dave, Jessie was the most beautiful girl in the world, and just now, clad as she was in her dainty sealskin coat and her jaunty sealskin hat, she looked more bewitching to him than ever.
“Going for a ride, eh?” came from Dave’s uncle, Dunston Porter, who had just finished a belated lunch. “Well, have a good time, and don’t let that pair of grays run away with you. John was telling me they are feeling quite mettlesome lately. I guess they don’t get exercise enough.” ”

“ One gang, that was working on one of the railroad bridges not many miles from the Rio Grande, had a little run-in with some raiders who came across the river to steal cattle. They helped the ranchmen drive the raiders away, and in the fight one fellow was shot through the shoulder.”
“Well, that was trouble enough!” cried Roger. “It’s more than I’d like to see.”
“That’s right,” returned Dave. “We didn’t come down to fight the Mexicans. We came down to become civil engineers.”
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll run into any fighting,” answered William Jarvey. ”

“ Watson,” remarked Dave, as he and his chum walked along the main street of San Antonio. “Mr. Watson evidently has no use for a fellow who doesn’t attend to business.”
“I think he’s all right, Dave,” returned Roger. “Of course, he’s business clean through. But that is what you’ve got to expect from a man who holds such a position.”
“Exactly, Roger. The fellow who takes his own time and does things about as he pleases has no place in the modern business world.” ”

“ There was a spirit of comradeship throughout the whole camp that was as comforting as it was beneficial.
“It isn’t everybody for himself here,” explained Frank Andrews. “It is one for all. You are expected to do all you can for the other fellow, and in return it’s understood that he will do all he can for you.”
“It’s a fine method,” answered Dave; “and I don’t wonder that the Mentor Construction Company is making such a success of its undertakings.”
One day our hero asked Frank Andrews if he knew William Jarvey. ”

“ Laura looked inquiringly at Dave. “What a pity Phil Lawrence isn’t here,” she half whispered.
Both of them knew that during the visit of the young folks to the Endicott ranch the shipowner’s son and Belle Endicott had become exceedingly friendly.
“Well, I’ve invited Phil to come here,” answered Dave. “I guess all I’ve got to do is to mention Belle to him and he’ll be on the way without delay.”
“Then, by all means, send him word,” returned the sister. “Then we can make up a fine little party, for we can pair Cora Dartmore off with Ben.” ”

“ By straining his ears Dave made out the tones of William Jarvey. The former bookkeeper for the Mentor Construction Company was evidently talking to another man, but what was being said was not distinguishable.
“It’s Jarvey all right enough,” whispered Dave.
“Yes. But that isn’t Ward Porton with him,” returned Roger.
“I know it. It’s some man.”
Both continued to listen, and presently heard William Jarvey give a sarcastic laugh.
“You’ve got another guess coming, Packard Brown, if you think you are going to get that much out of the deal!” he cried. “Remember, you haven’t done a thing to help us.” ”

“ The manner of the young man who had been obtaining goods in Dave’s name was so aggressive that many a youth would have been intimidated and inclined to withdraw. But that was not our hero’s way. He was righteously indignant, not only because of what the rascal before him had done, but also because of his present threat. Without more ado he seized hold of Porton’s upraised arm and backed the fellow against a tree. ”

“ Tim Crapsey had a delicate mission to perform. First of all he was to size up matters around the homes of the Wadsworths and the Basswoods, and then he was to do what he could to hire a cutter and a fast horse at the local livery stable. This done, he was to procure something to eat both for himself and for his companion.
As time went by Ward Porton, on the alert for the possible appearance of the owner of the barn, became more and more anxious, and twice he went out in the roadway to see if his companion was anywhere in sight. ”

“ And then Dave took up the reins, chirped to the team, and away the sleigh started out of the Wadsworth grounds and down the highway leading to the Basswood home.
Ben was on the lookout for them, and by the time Dave had drawn up beside the horse-block he was outside to meet them.
“Good afternoon, everybody,” he said gaily, lifting his cap. “This is just fine of you to take me along.”
“Let Ben come in back here with me,” said Laura, “and that will give Jessie a chance to sit in front. I know she always likes to be up ahead,” and Laura smiled knowingly. ”

“ Of course Dunston Porton and Ben Basswood, as well as Frank Andrews, were greatly astonished by the calls from Dave and Roger. But our hero’s uncle, while out hunting in various parts of the world, had been in many a tight corner, and thus learned the value of acting quickly. He had with him his pistol, and almost instantly he drew this weapon and came forward on the run, with Ben and Frank Andrews at his heels. ”

“ It was not until the following morning that the wind died down and the snow ceased to fall. In the meantime, the young folks did what they could to entertain themselves, the girls playing on the piano in the hotel parlor, and the boys later on taking them to the bowling alleys next door and initiating them into the mysteries of the game. Dave was a good bowler and so was Roger, each being able occasionally to make a score of two hundred. But Ben and Phil could not do much better than one hundred, while none of the girls got over eighty. ”

“ Enos get money enough to buy such things?” asked Jessie, who had followed Laura into the room.
“That’s the queer part of it,” answered the real-estate dealer’s son. “It seems, after Mr. Enos and my father gave up business and separated, Enos went South––first to Texas and then into Mexico. There he joined some men who were opening up a gold mine. These men struck it rich, and almost before he knew it Mr. Enos was worth quite a lot of money. He had never been very much of a business man––being wrapped up almost entirely in art––and so he did not know how to handle his money. ”

“ The clerk proved to be a young man only a few years older than Dave and Roger, and the youths took to him at once. He explained in detail where they were to go and what the construction camp located near the new Catalco bridge consisted of, and also told them what their work would probably be for the first few months.
“Of course, you’ve got to start at the bottom 219 of the ladder,” he explained. “But you’ll find Mr. Obray a splendid man to be under, and you’ll probably learn more under him than you would under any of our other head engineers.” ”

“ Watson,” answered Dave.
“Oh, you don’t have to thank me, Porter,” returned the superintendent, quickly. “You just go out and make good. That is all this company asks of any one it employs.”
“When do you want us to start, Mr. Watson?” questioned Roger. ”

“ Renwick and his wife, but heard no sounds coming from within.
“They are taking advantage of the storm to have a good rest,” commented Phil. He gave a yawn. “I almost wish I had remained in bed myself. We won’t have a thing to do here.”
“I noticed a bowling alley next door, Phil,” announced Roger. “If we can’t do anything else to-day we can bowl a few games. That will be fine exercise.”
“Do the girls know about bowling?” questioned Ben.
“Not very much,” answered Dave. “Laura has bowled a few games, I believe. But it will be fun to teach them, if we don’t find anything better to do.” ”

“ However, we’ll find out as soon as we have made them prisoners.”
“That’s the talk!” put in Roger. He turned to Dave’s uncle. “Can’t you bind them or something, so that they can’t get away?”
“We’ll disarm them,” announced Frank Andrews. “Jarvey and Brown are wanted for that raid on old man Tolman’s ranch and for using that bomb on the bridge. We can prove through Pankhurst that they were with the party.”
“That man is Ward Porton’s father,” explained Dave to his uncle and Ben, while the evil-doers were being searched and disarmed one after another. ”

“ Wadsworth, as well as Laura and Jessie, took it upon their shoulders to see that Dave should be properly taken care of so far as wearing apparel went.
“But oh, Dave! it’s awful to think of your going so far away!” said Jessie, one day, when the two were alone in the library. “The house will be dreadfully lonely after you are gone.”
“It won’t be much different from when I was at Oak Hall, Jessie,” he answered.
“Oh, yes, it will be, Dave. Texas is a long way off. And my father says the construction work that the Mentor Company is doing is close to the Mexican border. ”

“ In Crumville, the main industry was the Wadsworth jewelry works, owned by Mr. Oliver Wadsworth, who resided, with his wife and his daughter Jessie, in the finest mansion of that district. One day the Wadsworth automobile caught fire, and Jessie was in danger of being burned to death, when Dave came to her rescue. This led Mr. Wadsworth to ask about the boy and about Mr. Potts. And when it was learned that the latter was one of the jewelry manufacturer’s former college professors, Mr. Wadsworth insisted upon it that Caspar Potts come and live with him, and bring Dave along. ”

“ Shadow tells the same stories over and over again.”
“Say, that puts me in mind of a story!” cried the youth mentioned, his face lighting up. “Once on a time there was a––”
“Oh, my, Shadow! are you going to start right away?” demanded Dave, with a broad grin on his face. “Can’t you give a fellow a chance to catch his breath? This is a great surprise––meeting you three on my way to the city. And to think we are going to be together in one of the parlor cars, too!”
“Oh, you can’t lose the Oak Hall boys!” cried Buster. ”

“ But I hope Nat makes a man of himself in spite of the way he used to treat us,” went on the youth generously.
“By the way, Ben, didn’t you say your father had gone away?” queried Dave, a few minutes later.
“Yes, he has gone to Chicago on very important business. It seems an old friend of his––a Mr. Enos, who was once his partner in an art store––died, and now the lawyers want to see my father about settling up the Enos estate.”
“An art store?” queried Dave. “I never knew that your father had been in any such business.”
“It was years ago––before my folks came to Crumville. ”

“ Basswood thought something of bringing them to Crumville, where they might be judged by a committee of experts in order to ascertain their real value. The real-estate dealer was spoken of as a man well-known in the community, and the article concluded by stating that all the good people of Crumville and vicinity would undoubtedly congratulate him on his good fortune.
“They certainly piled it on a little thick,” was Dave’s comment, after he and Roger had read the article. “Just the same, I agree with the paper––the Basswoods richly deserve the fortune that has come to them.” ”

“ Ward Porton and those with him had tied up their boat and were walking to the higher ground 283 away from the creek. Jarvey Porton paused to look back along the creek and the bosom of the river beyond.
“I don’t see anything on the river just now,” he announced.
“Look! Some one is coming from the other way!” exclaimed his son, suddenly.
“Is that Lawson, the ranchman?” questioned Packard Brown, anxiously.
“No, I don’t think it is,” answered Ward Porton. “They seem to be strangers,” he added, a minute later. ”

“ By the way, I wonder who the confederate can be.”
“I’m sure I haven’t the least idea,” answered the real estate dealer’s son.
With the disappearance of the Basswood fortune in their minds, neither the young folks nor the grown folks could talk about much else. Laura and Jessie told the latter’s mother how they had fallen in with Dr. Renwick and his wife, and how the pair had looked after the girls during their stay at the Lamont Hotel.
“It was nice of Mrs. Renwick to do that,” said the lady of the mansion; “but it is no more than I would expect from her. She is a very estimable woman.” ”

“ Mr. Watson sent a wire that you were coming, so the boss sent me here to get you, thinking you wouldn’t know the way. Porter and Morr, I believe––but which is which?”
“I am Dave Porter,” answered Dave, “and this is my chum, Roger Morr.”
“Glad to know you. My name is Frank Andrews. I am from Scranton, Pennsylvania. I suppose you can ride?”
“Oh, yes,” answered Roger. “We did more or less riding when we were out on Star Ranch.”
“Good enough! Some of the young fellows who come out here can’t ride at all, and they have some trouble getting around, believe me! ”

“ He’s usually strapped long before pay-day comes around.”
“I thought he might be that sort of fellow,” answered Dave.
“He got into a row with Mr. Watson while we were at San Antonio,” put in Roger, and related a few of the particulars.
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“If Bill doesn’t look out he’ll lose his job, and it will be too bad,” answered Frank Andrews, “because he won’t be likely to get another such easy berth in a hurry. He gets good money for what little he does. He hired with the company as a first-class bookkeeper, but I understand he is only ordinary when it comes to handling big masses of figures.” ”

“ As the days went by, and Dave and Roger continued to prepare themselves for the examination which was rapidly approaching, the authorities did all they could to locate Ward Porton and his confederate. Diligent inquiries were made concerning the identity of the man who had occupied the room at Lamont with the former moving-picture actor, and it was finally discovered that he was Tim Crapsey, a fellow already wanted by the police for several crimes.
“It’s queer that a fellow like Porton should throw in his fortunes with a man like Crapsey,” was Roger’s comment. ”

“ While Dave was speaking to his chum a man 29 passed him on the sidewalk, looking at him rather fixedly. This man was Mr. Asa Dickley, the proprietor of the largest gentlemen’s furnishing establishment of which Coburntown boasted. Our hero knew the man fairly well, having purchased a number of things at his place from time to time, and so he nodded pleasantly. Mr. Asa Dickley nodded in return, but with a rather sour expression on his face. Then he glanced at Ben, and at the handsome sleigh and still more stylish team of horses, and passed on muttering something to himself. ”

“ Basswood sent additional information,” replied Roger.
“Ben told me that this Mr. Enos was once a partner of his father in business, the two running an art store together. Enos was very much interested in art; so it’s possible the fortune he left may have something to do with that,” added Dave.
As my old readers know, Roger Morr had always thought a great deal of Laura; and of late his liking for her had greatly increased. On her part, Dave’s sister had always considered the senator’s son a very promising young man. ”

“ In less than five minutes over thirty men from the construction camp had signified their willingness to go after the raiders, and these men were joined by Frank 241 Andrews and three other civil engineers, all well armed and mounted.
“I’d like to join that crowd and go after those Mexicans!” exclaimed Dave, his eyes sparkling.
“So would I!” returned the senator’s son, quickly. “Those fellows can’t be anything but plain bandits and cattle thieves.”
“Sure! No regular revolutionists would come over the border and act in this fashion.”
“What do you say, Dave––shall we go?” ”