Frank Gee Patchin

“ Tad gripped the arm of his companion. Stacy repressed an "ouch" with some difficulty. The two lads stood listening.
Particles of dirt were rattling from the roots of the fallen tree, sounding like hailstones as they fell to the rocks in the cave. Then a faint ray of light appeared under the bottom of the mass of roots.
"Somebody is coming," whispered Tad. "Stand perfectly still until I tell you to move."
"They can't see us at once. Don't make a sound on your life." ”

“ But not much of a meal was cooked. It was too hot to eat or to cook. The boys sat down to their little meal, almost choking with laughter every time they glanced across the stream toward the sleeping pony and its sleeping rider.
"Most remarkable," nodded the professor. "Surely the smell of food ought to awaken him if nothing else does."
"He's just as much of a sleeper as he is an eater, Professor," declared
Rector.
"That would be impossible," objected Tad. "As an eater he is a champion, as a sleeper he is just above the average. You're the champion sleeper of this outfit, Ned." ”

“ The professor's biscuits were beautiful to behold, but when the boys came to sample them they shouted.
"Too much soda, Professor," cried Tad.
"No, baking powder," corrected Ned.
"Wow! I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to blow us up!" howled Stacy. "Why don't you use dynamite in the biscuit while you are about it? I think I'll go out and browse with the ponies. It's much safer and I'll bet will taste better."
"Young man, if you don't like the cooking, you don't have to eat, you know," rebuked Professor Zepplin. ”

“ None wholly understood Captain Billy. Perhaps that was one of the reasons for his success in his perilous calling.
"Well, I promised to give you boys some lessons in revolver shooting," he said, tossing the reins to Tad who had come forward to take the pony. "Who can put a hole through my sombrero?" cried the Ranger sending his broad-brimmed Mexican hat spinning up into the air.
A flash and a bang followed almost on the instant. The Pony Rider Boys howled. The shot had been fired by Professor Zepplin and he had drilled a hole right through the Ranger's sombrero. ”

“ Reaching a higher altitude they found the trail to be fairly good. From there they got a good view of the yellow plains below, that stretch away many miles to the northward. To the southwest, peaks that they judged must be all of four or five thousand feet high, towered blue and hazy in the yellow light. Birds were singing, the air was soft and balmy and a gentle breeze stirred the foliage about them lazily.
"This is what I call fine," cried Tad.
"Good place for a nap," agreed Chunky.
"Are you in need of sleep?" asked the professor.
"I'm in a trance, sir."
"You always are," laughed Tad Butler. ”

“ But he distinctly heard a crashing in there and drove in two more shots. He charged the bushes utterly regardless of the peril to himself, with Tad Butler close behind him. Tad had his revolver in hand, but he was cool headed enough not to indulge in any indiscriminate firing.
It was evident that either more than one man had been in the attacking party or else one who had been wounded had not been badly enough hurt to prevent his getting away. Not a sign of a human being was the Ranger able to find, though his keen eyes soon picked up the trail. ”

“ Ned went in with a mighty splash, Walter Perkins landing on top of him, nearly taking away the breath of Rector. They had a rough and tumble scrimmage in the cold water, coming out choking, dripping and laughing.
All this made a favorable impression on the Rangers. Boys who could take rough handling such as this, without losing their tempers or even offering any objection, surely must be worth while. Then, too, there was the story about Tad and Ned having captured the desperado, Dunk Tucker, who was now well on his way to the calaboose in El Paso. ”

“ Nobody ever tries to teach me anything."
Scolding, joking, having all manner of sport with one another, the Pony Rider Boys finally completed their tasks. The ponies were loaded, the pack pony was piled high so that its head and legs were about the only parts of its anatomy visible, and the boys climbed into their saddles, Tad first having given the trail map a brief scrutiny.
They started off up the canyon. For a little way the trail appeared to be no trail at all. The ponies threshed through the bushes, the sharp limbs smiting the riders in the faces, making disagreeable traveling. ”

“ They came here to clean out the Pony Rider Boys, I reckon," laughed the Ranger. "They didn't expect to find me here. But when they saw me they couldn't let the opportunity go without taking a pot shot at me. I moved—-I stretched—-just at the right second, or I'd have been a dead man before now."
"The cowards!" breathed Tad, his eyes glowing angrily.
"Oh, yes, they're all of that. They shoot when the other fellow isn't looking, and they shoot to kill. But we might as well go back. I could follow them, but it hardly is worth while. They will be hidden long before we can run them down. ”

“ There it goes again," moaned Stacy. "They're shooting at me again!"
Professor Zepplin had rolled into a depression in the ground, thus concealing his body from the unseen shooter. But in the meantime Captain. McKay had not been inactive. It seemed as if the bullet that had been fired at him from the bushes had barely shrieked past his ear, when the captain wheeled. His revolver—-two of them—-had appeared in his hands as if by magic.
Bang, bang! crashed the captain's weapons as he whirled. A yell sounded off there. Captain McKay dashed toward the spot, followed by Tad on the jump.
"Stay back!" ”

“ If you will ride down to the edge of the foothills with me and wait there, I will gallop out and prove my theory."
"What do you mean?" questioned the professor.
"I will see if I can draw their fire," answered Tad.
Professor Zepplin shook his head.
"Too risky!"
"It certainly is risky to stay here. Listen, sir. If that man wants to get us he surely will be creeping down on our position before long. We are in greater peril here, where we can't see anything on one side of us, than we would be out there where we have an unobstructed view on all sides. ”

“ The first to attract Tad's attention was the mountaineer, squatting down with head thrust forward, his rifle held across his chest, the man's hand over the trigger-frame. Butler knew that the first finger of the right hand was toying with the trigger. His glances followed the direction indicated by the muzzle of the weapon. Then Tad's face flushed hot all over. There, back to a tree, a rope twisted twice about his body sat Ned Rector, defiance in face and eyes. ”

“ In this Ned was wrong. The "man" was not so far away as the Pony Rider Boy thought. The fellow, while watching for another opportunity to shoot, had caught the distant sound of crashing twigs. It might have been a falling tree, it might have been an animal. At any rate it put the fellow instantly on his guard. Lowering his rifle he began skulking in the direction of the racket.
By this time Ned was walking ruefully down the gully looking for a convenient trail up the side to the ridge. ”

“ Say, Bugs, I've got some news for you."
"I don't care about any news you've got to give out It's probably got a bullet in it somewhere. I'm sick of bullets. What I need is a little rest from chunks of lead. I'm coming down with nervous prostration as it is. Everything seems to happen around me. No matter what I do, I always get the worst of it. Why, that reminds me—-"
"Is Chunky going to tell a story?" cried Ned, stepping over the sleeping captain as he came out.
"It sounds that way," laughed Tad. "Go on the Rangers are here to protect us if you tell another watch story. ”

“ My plan is to make camp out in the hollow; then we will place a guard over the camp, keeping a sharp watch all through the night. By morning we'll be able to find out what is in the wind."
"I won't move a step," declared Stacy stubbornly.
"You will do whatever seems best to the rest of us," answered the professor sternly. Then, after a moment's thought, he added, "I am inclined, upon second thought, to agree with Tad. We will try the plan."
"Good. Follow me. Get that pony, Chunky. I told you once before to catch him. We'll be in a fine mess if you lose your mount." ”

“ Willie Jones now knows all about the part you and your young men have played in capturing Dunk Tucker. He knows that it was your party that drove off his men when they were trying to get Lieutenant Withem. Do you think Willie will overlook that? Not Willie! Willie will be on your trail from now on. He will watch his opportunity and when he thinks he is safe from the Rangers he will strike—-he or his men. Then you young men will need to be resourceful, indeed, if you get off with whole skins. ”

“ There are a good many in this thing whose names we do not know."
"You can make the prisoner confess, can you not?" asked Professor
Zepplin.
"Confess?" the lieutenant laughed. "You don't know these Border Bandits. No, they never confess. There will always be more or less trouble down on the Rio Grande. It is so close to Mexico, so easy to get across the border that bad men cannot resist taking advantage of it. That is why the Rangers are still in business. If it were not for the border we all should be looking for other jobs. As it is there aren't many of us left." ”

“ He'll never rest till he puts a bunk of cold lead under the skins of the fellows who got him."
"This is where I—-I get shot again," wailed Stacy. "I knew it. I knew something else would come along to spoil all my fun!"
"No use trying to sleep in this bedlam," cried Captain McKay springing to his feet. "Saddle up. I want to make the Ten-Mile cross-trail before noon. We'll find two men waiting there for orders. Professor, can you get under way at once?"
"Of course we can," answered Tad for the professor.
"Don't we get any breakfast?" cried Chunky. ”

“ Don't you stand there jawing over me. I don't like it," added the prisoner, so savagely that the professor shrank back a little.
"It's no use to question him, professor," spoke up Tad. "He won't answer questions."
"I question our right to hold him," said Professor Zepplin. "We have no proof that he is the man who shot at us."
"I've got proof that he assaulted me," bristled Ned.
"And I that he shot at me four times," added Tad. "I should think that were proof enough. What would you do, Professor?"
"I was thinking that we should let the man go with an admonition."
"No, no, no," protested Chunky. ”

“ Butler knew that the man was a tough customer and that were he to get free it would be a sad night for Tad Butler, and so, too, perhaps, for the rest of the party.
The prisoner had nothing to say, nor did Butler seek to draw the fellow into conversation. But the man was watching every move of the young rider who had so cleverly outwitted and captured him. The mountaineer now believed more firmly than before that these two young men were carrying out the orders of Captain Billy McKay of the Texas Rangers. He swore to be revenged on every man of them when once he had gained his freedom. ”

“ Get up, Stacy! You are all right. Lead your pony in here while I take an observation."
Tad mounted his own horse and galloped along at the base of the rocks, well shielded from any one who might be hiding further back in the mountains. The Pony Rider Boy's mind was working rapidly. He was forming a plan of campaign. He was inclined to agree with the theory of Professor Zepplin. Still, theories would not help them at this critical moment. They must protect themselves and at once if they expected to get out alive. ”

“ Ho, ho, ho! Ha, ha, ha! It is to smile, but nobody smiles. You make me tired."
"As I have already observed, I think it is going to rain," said Tad.
"Must be getting warmer, then. A minute ago you said it was going to snow. It's my private opinion that you don't know what you think. Ned doesn't know any more. The professor is the only one in the outfit who has a sense of humor. He knows when it's time to laugh. Ha, ha!"
Professor Zepplin was smiling broadly. Stacy's joke was just dawning upon the professor. But Tad's mind at that juncture was in another direction. ”

“ Crouched behind a rock was a man. The fellow was fingering his rifle suggestively. Twice he raised it to a level with his eyes and drew a bead on the advancing form of Ned Rector, and as many times lowered it.
The watcher observed that Ned carried no rifle, only a revolver slapping against his thigh in its holster as the boy stumbled on up the mountain side. The mountaineer evidently changed his mind about shooting, for he changed ends with the gun and sat waiting. A few moments later Ned stepped up beside the rock where he stood listening and looking about him. ”