Frank Gee Patchin

“ Stacy threw almost the whole force of his weight on the right stirrup to offset the list of the saddle on the other side, where the stirrup had gone down too far for him to reach. And the first hurdle found the lad clinging desperately to the pony's mane with one hand, the jolt of the jump nearly dislocating his neck as the animal took it.
The youthful rider, finding himself safely over, uttered a series of shrill yells and began urging on the pony with quick, short encouraging blows of the quirt, though the blows were not heavy enough to hurt the tough little beast at all. ”

“ All at once the lad realized that he was gaining. Excitement among the spectators ran high. Observing his predicament and understanding full well the grit he was exhibiting, they were yelling like mad. Chunky began to yell also, uttering a series of shrill whoops, using voice and spurs incessantly, urging the pony to the goal.
The black pony, almost gray with the dust that had settled on his sleek, glossy coat, forged ahead in a noble sprint with head on a level with its back, nose reaching for the finish. ”

“ It was a busy scene that the Pony Rider Boys found—a different world from the one they had just left above them.
"Do these mines ever blow up or catch fire?" asked Walter a bit apprehensively.
"No, we have no fires of any consequence. We have never had an explosion and I trust we never shall," answered the assistant superintendent gravely. "You see there is not the same danger in this sort of place that you find in a coal mine. I would prefer to work digging out dynamite to mining coal." ”

“ The entire main cross cut may have tumbled in for all I know."
"If it has, what then?" demanded Tad.
"It will take that much longer to get us out. That's all."
"How long?"
"Master Ned, I don't know. No one can answer that question. Perhaps hours—perhaps days," said Tom solemnly.
"But we'd starve in that time," protested Walter.
"One can go without food much longer than one would imagine. People have fasted for more than a month, as you probably are aware. No, boys, they will get us out in time. The only thing that troubles me now is the air," said the engineer. ”

“ Professor Zepplin uttered something that sounded not unlike an
Indian's grunt of disgust.
"Dreams!" he decided sharply. "I should not have eaten that pie last night. Pie doesn't seem to trouble those boys in the least, but it certainly has a bad effect on my digestive apparatus."
Having thus delivered himself of his opinion on the value of pie as a bedtime food, the scientist trotted back to his tent, his teeth chattering and shoulders shrugging, for the mountain air was chill and the Professor was clad only in his pajamas. ”

“ This barbecue and day of sports was one looked forward to by the cowmen with keen anticipation. Two a year were given on the Jessup ranch, one after the midsummer round up, and another late in the fall.
"This is great," confided Tad to Tom Phipps, as the two seated themselves on the grass to eat the good things set before them.
"It seems so to me. I don't get out of the mountains very often. I wish I could ride the way you boys do. You ride very well."
"We have to. At first some of us came a few croppers," laughed Ned, who had overheard the conversation. ”

“ This Stacy did gladly enough.
"Don't drop me," he warned.
"If somebody doesn't let go you'll be all right," was the comforting answer.
Walter, being weaker than the others, was by this time well-nigh exhausted, but he held on with a determination that did him credit. At last they succeeded in pulling Ned and Chunky to the surface. Both boys were thoroughly exhausted by the time they were hauled up, and for a moment they lay breathing hard.
"Lucky my pants didn't rip, wasn't it?" grinned Chunky. "Did you see me fall in? But where's Tad?" he exclaimed, suddenly sitting up. ”

“ All that day and the next they drew the net slowly over that portion of the Ozark range that cut through the southwestern part of the state.
"I guess we shall have to give it up," confided the leader to Tad.
"Oh, no, we can't do that," objected the lad hastily. "We simply must find Ned and the Professor."
"If you can show me the way how or where, I wish you would then. We are only a few miles from the mining camp. I'll wager a jack rabbit couldn't have gotten through our lines, so we'd have been pretty likely to have rounded up a man on a pony or a boy on foot. Don't you think so?" ”

“ There was still another reason why the assistant superintendent was so filled with anxiety to reach a place where he could notify the terminals to stop the cars. He did not confide this to his young friends, not wishing to disturb them any more than they had been.
All hands started on a trot, now stumbling, now falling, but without a single murmur, or protest.
"You are a nervy bunch of boys. Never saw anything to equal you," gasped the engineer. "I can't forgive myself for getting you into this wretched mix-up."
"You never mind us. We're all right," answered Tad brightly. ”

“ There was silence for a moment.
"He isn't such a wooden Indian as he'd have us believe after all," grinned Ned.
"Can't you trail them?" asked Stacy.
The Shawnee shook his head.
"Why not?"
"No leave trail. Smart man."
"Yes, there is no doubt of that," agreed the Professor. "Have you any idea who did this thing, Eagle-eye?"
The Shawnee shrugged his shoulders as indicating that he did not know.
"Probably it was the same fellow whom you found fooling about the camp the other night," suggested Walter.
"Just what I was thinking," added Ned.
"Yes, no doubt he is the man. ”

“ That is one thing to be thankful for, anyway," said Tad. "I don't understand this business at all."
"Why, they must have been hanging about our camp all the time. They followed us here," exploded Ned. "We are a lot of tenderfeet."
"Some of us," suggested Chunky.
"This is no joke," snapped Ned, turning on him almost savagely. "We are in a fix."
"Yes, but we've got two mules left, haven't we," queried the boy whimsically.
"It's an outrage!" shouted the Professor. "I'll have the law on them whoever they are. They shall suffer for this!" ”

“ I guess if anybody does the leap for life, it'll be you that does it," shouted a voice behind the two desperate men.
A second dynamite explosion could not have surprised them more. The men wheeled like a flash.
From the shadow of the archway, through which they had just entered, protruded a rifle barrel. The Pony Rider Boys who had also turned sharply at the interruption, observed that the gun barrel had a telescope attachment. Their eyes following further back, observed something else, too.
"Chunky!" gasped the lads in one voice. ”

“ Nevertheless, he was deeply concerned over the mysterious disappearance of the lad.
"If the Indian ever gets here with a rope, I'll go down there and see if I can find out anything," said Ned.
"Not until all other means have been exhausted," declared the Professor. "We appear to have lost one boy, and I do not intend that we shall lose another."
"I wouldn't worry," comforted Walter Perkins. "You all know Tad, and you know he isn't a boy that you can lose so easily. ”

“ At that moment the boys fell upon Chunky, fairly hugging him in their delight. After the keen edge of their excitement had worn off, they pressed him for the story of how he had happened to find his way into the Ruby Mountain at that time.
The lad explained that having been hunting in that vicinity and becoming tired out he had sat down to rest. While thus engaged the men had come along. They were talking of the explosion, and from them he learned that the drift in which the Pony Rider Boys were imprisoned was immediately beneath their hiding place in the Ruby Mountain. ”

“ Tad after running over in his mind many plans, none of which seemed practicable, also lay down for a nap, and in a few moments the tired boys were all sound asleep, including the pack mules.
When they awakened the sun had been down all of half an hour. Tad was the first to awake. He started up guiltily, and looking around found that he was not the only one who had napped.
"Hallo, the camp!" he shouted.
The other boys sat up suddenly, rubbing their eyes.
"Time to go to bed. Get up!" laughed Tad.
"Nice way to put it," growled Ned. "Tell a fellow to get up because it's time to go to bed." ”

“ I'll climb down with a rope around me, so that in case I slip anywhere you can straighten me up. I promise you I will not fall."
"The next question is, where are you going to get the rope?"
"I have one that is plenty long enough," answered Tad.
"You mean the quarter-inch rope?" spoke up Walter. "That's in the pack that went over the cliff."
Tad Butler's face fell.
"Guess you are mistaken, Walt," corrected Ned. "You threw that rope down when you were packing. I picked it up and it's in my kit on my pony now."
"Hurrah!" shouted the other boys. "You can't down the Pony Riders." ”

“ Then a sheepish grin spread over his countenance when he realized what he had said. "I mean, that's what Tad called," he explained, amid a roar of laughter.
"He won't find it so fine if he falls in," muttered Walter.
"Bad spirits in water," grunted the Indian.
"Unfortunately for us, they're not all down there," growled Ned. But his barbed wit failed to penetrate the tough skin of the red man.
"Tend to business, boys," warned the Professor, observing a series of frantic gestures on the part of Stacy Brown. "What does he want, to be lowered?" ”

“ Chunky's competitors are talking?"
"Name is Cravath. Queer sort of a chap."
"Haven't I seen him about the Red Star?" asked Tad.
"Yes, no doubt. He is a checker at the mine. He and his wife and daughter have a cabin out near the Ruby Rock that you are so much interested in. I know very little about him—"
"Don't like his looks at all," decided Tad.
"No, I never warmed up to him very much myself. I understand he is not very popular among the men, either. But I guess that is because he wins their money in games of chance." ”

“ I've heard of smoke-eaters, whatever or whoever they are, but I want something a little more lasting," announced Walter Perkins. "No smoked smoke diet for me."
"Nor for me," agreed Tad.
"What's a smoke eater?" asked Stacy.
"I should say that a Pony Rider Boy named Ned Rector was one, according to his own admission," laughed Walter. ”

“ Phipps?"
"You try them and see. Every one trained down to the ground."
"That's not the way I want to go," laughed Tad. "I want to stay above it while I'm riding."
Ned Rector already was tightening his saddle girths preparatory to entering, so Tad hurried to his own mount to get ready for the contest.
When the contestants had finally lined up, the Pony Rider Boys were surprised to observe that Stacy Brown had ridden down to the scratch with the others. He was sitting on his pony as solemn as an owl, industriously munching a sandwich that he had made for himself. ”

“ Some of the strata of rock we work lead almost to the surface in places."
"Why don't you begin at the top and work down then?" questioned Tad.
"Some of the mines do that. In this case it was deemed best to sink a shaft. Here we are."
From the darkness the boys had suddenly been plunged into a blinding glare of light. It was so intense that at first they were unable to see anything.
"Good gracious," blinked Ned. "This is brighter than the opera house at Chillicothe. It's enough to put a fellow's eyes out. What is it?" ”

“ Whenever the opportunity presented itself the cowboy would bump his pony violently against the one that Tad Butler was riding, in an effort either to so jar the boy that he could rope him or else possibly to unhorse the lad.
"See here, you stop that!" shouted Tad after the third attempt. "What are you trying to do to me?"
"I'll show you, you freckle-faced tenderfoot!" yelled the cowboy, making a vicious rush. At the same time his rawhide shot out.
Tad narrowly missed being caught that time, and in turn the cowboy was nearly caught by Tad's loop. ”

“ The lad tasted it gingerly, then smiled knowingly. Filling his pail he returned to camp with it.
By this time Tad and Stacy had unloaded the mules. The three boys got to work at once putting up the tents. In the absence of Professor Zepplin, they concluded to erect only two, and by the time this had been accomplished, Ned was ready for them.
"Come and get it!" he bellowed.
There was no table cloth, no table, just the bare ground, and the boys sat down to eat in the fresh, bracing air.
"No one who has not been camping for a long time can appreciate smoke," announced Ned oracularly. ”

“ Tad laughed.
"Why, my dear Ned, you couldn't even push Eagle-eye down there. For some reason he seems to have a superstitious dread of that place. I don't know why, for Indians are not supposed to be much afraid of anything. I'll ask him. Eagle-eye, will you go down there and try to get the provisions for us?" asked Tad, turning to the guide.
Eagle-eye shrugged his shoulders, at the same time giving a negative twist to his body.
"Eagle-eye not go down there," he grunted.
"Why not?" asked Ned.
"Bad spirits live in waters. Bymeby come out and get Eagle-eye." ”

“ Tad informed them.
"We picked up your rifle later, as well."
"Good," brightened Ned. "I had to throw it away. I had about all I could do to carry myself."
"Well, the rabbits saved us from starvation."
"Yes, but how did you happen to find Dick Munson, or he to find you?" queried Phipps.
"We wandered out of the mountains and lost ourselves in the foothills. How we got so far south I do not know. This morning we saw a horseman and shouted until we attracted his attention. The horseman proved to be the very man we wanted to see—Mr. Richard Munson himself." ”

“ But I wish if any more hungry ones pay us a visit, they would do so in the day time, so as not to interrupt my sleep."
"And mine," laughed Tad.
"Yah-hum," yawned Stacy, sleepily.
"I told you you weren't awake yet," growled Ned. "Let's all go back to our breakfast."
"I second the motion," laughed the Professor. "We are forgetting all about the inner man. And it is time we were getting on our way if we are to make any great progress to-day."
Anxious to be in the saddle again, the boys bounded up the bank and hastily finished their breakfast. ”

“ It cannot be so very far from here."
"Going to drag the mules after you?" asked Ned in a half sarcastic tone.
"No, I'm going on foot."
"What!" exclaimed the boys in one voice.
"You heard me. If Professor Zepplin has not returned by to-morrow morning I'm off for assistance and a fresh supply of food."
"And leave us here alone?" cried Chunky.
"Don't you see, fellows," continued Tad, "the Professor undoubtedly is in a worse fix than we are. He may wander about the mountains until he starves. I've simply got to stir somebody up to start out hunting for him. ”

“ The cowboys broke into loud exclamations of disapproval.
"Fair is fair, boys," warned Mr. Jessup. "You all had your chance and you lost."
"Yes, that's right," agreed the foreman. "You fellows will have to swallow your pills without making faces."
The man Cravath was now talking with the cowboy who had drawn the other slip. He was one of the men Chunky had won from, though Tad did not know it at the moment.
Tom Phipps pushing his way up to the lad informed him of this fact, and drawing Tad to one side whispered something to him. ”

“ Tad, the boys began to realize the seriousness of their position.
"Something's got to be done, fellows," announced Ned Rector.
"I wonder if we could not shoot some game," suggested Walter.
"That's a good idea. But, is there any game here?"
"I heard an owl last night," said Stacy.
"We haven't got down to owls yet. We may when we get hungry enough," returned Ned. "I think I'll take my rifle and go out gunning." ”

“ We'll need all we have before we get out into the car tunnel," said Tom. "Are you getting hungry?"
"To tell the truth, I for one haven't had time to think about my appetite," laughed Ned.
"Yes, I guess our minds have been so full of other things that our stomachs have not had a chance to make their wants known," said Tad. ”

“ Of course we can," urged Ned. "We are not half as bad off as we thought. Of course the mule is done for, but we can divide up the pack amongst us boys and carry it all right until we get where we can either hire or buy another mule. Don't think a little thing like that will stop us."
"How about it, Eagle-eye?" asked Tad.
"No get um. Water him deep. Him cold, b-r-r-r! Pony drown, Indian drown. Mebby fat boy drown, too."
"That seems to settle it," announced the Professor. "We shall have to hold a council of war, as Eagle-eye does not seem to have any suggestions to make. ”