Harry Gordon

“ Paul still slept soundly, and the boys decided to wait until he awoke before looking over the town for a surgeon.
The steak and potatoes being done to a turn, the boys fell to with appetites sharpened by the keen air.
“Pie,” declared Alex, “is Nature’s best gift to man! There is green apple pie, dried apple pie, red apple pie, and pie-pie. Pie has all other food on its back with its tongue out!”
“When you get to pie,” Jule cut in, “you’re always due for a eulogy. If I had the appetite for pie that you have, I’d feed it to the bears! ”

“ The boy took up his searchlight and crossed over to the Esmeralda, which lay between the Rambler and the Mexican shore. Thede had a hearty laugh at the idea of the lad venturing out in the rain.
“You’ve got the fish notion as badly as Rube and Buck have the counterfeiters’ hunch,” he said. “When they get where they are, they won’t be there.”
“All right!” was the reply. “If I can’t get the fish, I’ll get a good bath! Say, Clay is over there on the Rambler, starving to death! Can’t you get him over here and fill him up?” ”

“ Coming originally from the south branch of the Chicago river, they had accumulated handsome fortunes during their journeys in quest of adventure, but they still saw the world through boys’ eyes, and were not satisfied to settle down to a humdrum life.
The Rambler, as will doubtless be remembered, was a very speedy boat, fitted up with electric lights and all modern conveniences. She carried an armor of chilled steel underneath as pretty a coat of paint as was ever sent out of the port of Chicago. ”

“ Clay laughed. “Well, good luck go with you! If a crazy notion ever got into a boy’s head, one has entered yours now! The idea of going out in this storm! Why, it is raining some, I tell you!”
“Who cares for the rain?” was the reply. “I shall enjoy the trip immensely! If we had Alex or Jule here to explain their line of march, we’d have fish to eat!”
“But they are not here,” commented Clay, “and one might as well look for a needle in a load of hay as to try to follow their footsteps. Better give the thing up!” ”

“ You would be apt to tell the other boys, and I didn’t want to be bothered.”
“What are you going to do now? It is still up to you to decide, you know.”
Clay, having given up all idea of notifying the boy of his accession to great wealth, dropped down on the railing of the Rambler and looked at Alex with eager eyes. “Will you tell Paul?”
“No, I think not,” replied Alex. “You see, I want to wait until Rube and Buck get here. They may not want to accept the trust.”
“I haven’t the least idea that they will; they are modest men, doubting their own ability. ”

“ Captain Joe, in obedience to the command, released his hold on the outlaw and started after the boys. No sooner was the man released from the jaws of the dog than he drew a weapon and fired, the bullet cutting a long furrow in the dog’s side.
“I wish I had a gun with me,” said Alex in a rage. “I’d teach that robber better manners!”
“Come here, Joe!” Jule exclaimed. “I don’t think he is seriously hurt,” he added, as Joe came limping to his side.
“Find out as quick as you can,” advised Alex, “while I see that the men in front keep in the underbrush. They won’t hold the position long.” ”

“ They remembered that the rowboat had not been used since the robbers had been driven off with dynamite. The man might be a river pirate for all any member of the party knew.
The Rambler, being nearer to the swimmer than the other boat, at once turned her prow in his direction, but he reached shoal water before they overtook him, and disappeared in the thicket.
“Wouldn’t that frost you?” exclaimed Alex, bending over the edge of the boat and looking as if he expected to see more men where the swimmer had released his hold. “Say, but that man, whoever he is, can go some in the water!” ”

“ The men who had taken possession of the boat were now shaking their fists at the boys in the rowboat and offering to beat them up on the most liberal terms.
“The boat now belongs to me!” one of the river thieves shouted, waving his arms in the air. “I take it as abandoned property.”
“We’ll soon show you!” Alex shouted back.
“Go chase yourself!” shouted Jule. The rowboat kept steadily on her course toward the Rambler and some of the more timid of the occupants of the deck began climbing over the rail, but others stood their ground, making a display of firearms. ”

“ The Rio Grande makes a long bend where the boys left it, and almost returns upon itself after winding in and out for many miles. The land is swampy in places as the river approaches Painted Cave, but mountains show, too, and the country is without any population to speak of. Its general features are rugged.
As the lads alternated between rocky soil and swamp, they had little leisure for conversation. It took about all their strength and agility to make their way, leaping, now, over pools of water, now climbing over rocky elevations. ”

“ Jule explained, “and when Clay came we both followed on down the river in the hope that something would happen to again put us in possession. Say! Just listen to Tommy’s conversation! He thinks he is the whole works! He has a horror of being awakened suddenly.”
“Tommy” was a great red and green parrot, who had evidently been sound asleep during the short trip down the river. He was making up for lost time now, however, making the boat ring with his screams.
Presently a man’s form shot out of the cabin as if fired out of a gun, with the parrot astride of his shoulders! ”

“ I’ll just give Captain Joe a run on shore and come right back.”
Jule hesitated only an instant. What boy can resist a night in May, when the moon shines, and the waves make music on the beach? It is a shame to tempt a boy with a stream of water which ripples and murmurs on such a night.
Jule was tempted—and fell.
The Rio Grande is quite wide at the point where the boys entered the water, and the Rambler was about in the center of the stream, making the swim a long one. The lads, however, struck out bravely and soon landed on a swampy tongue of land which formed a peninsula at that point. ”

“ Jule finally said, “they will be certain to find us.”
“That would be all right if they knew where we landed, but they don’t. The thing for them to do is to look along the shore until they see us. What a fool trick that was, leaving the boat unguarded. Unless someone on board wakes up, they may sail half the forenoon. I feel like giving myself a swift kick.”
“I reckon you don’t feel that way more than I do,” replied Jule. “I suppose the boys will think we have deserted them.”
“Or that we have been lured from the boat and murdered,” added Alex. “What’s the matter with you now, Captain Joe? ”

“ Alex answered. “This is a pet fish, and he knows his business! When he gets done playing with the hook, he’ll come to the surface and give himself up, like a good little fish!”
But the fish did not come to the surface and give himself up as he was scheduled to do! Alex leaned too far over the edge of the boat and went down to meet the fish!
Jule doubled up with laughter, and Case gave advice from the deck of the Rambler.
“Dive under the fish and bring him to the surface when you are on your way up!” he shouted. “You don’t often get a chance to embrace a live fish!” ”

“ The wild men of Borneo have us beaten to a frazzle when it comes to clothes.”
“It seems as if we might get one good suit out of this mess,” Clay said. “Who’ll be the man to try?”
“It seems to me that we all ought to be getting a move on,” said Jule. “For all we know, Alex may be having all kinds of trouble. We appear to be children of fortune this trip! Everything comes our way—in a horn!”
It was finally agreed that Jule should remain at the Esmeralda, and that the others should follow the dog, who was still hanging around, in the hope that some of the boys might follow him. ”

“ The stranger climbed up on deck and shook himself.
“When I had the honor to associate with the crew of the Rambler before,” the man began, but Buck seized him by the shoulder and ran him into the cabin.
“You look to me,” he declared, “like the man who recently did a job of surgery. ’Cause why? There ain’t been no other people on board the boat, except you and the river pirates and the boys.”
Paul struggled into a sitting posture and almost shouted out his recognition of the stranger.
“Just in time to save a life!” he said. “Clay must have bled to death in another hour!” ”

“ But we ought to do everything in our power to avoid a collision with them. Some day, if we don’t watch out, we’ll get the worst of it. We can’t expect to win out in every encounter.”
“Right you are!” declared Jule.
“I wonder how those Greasers, over there, live?” asked Alex. “Dirty and greasy as ever, I presume?”
“You bet!” answered Jule.
“Some day when we are not on watch, and the boat is lying at anchor. I’ll stump you to go and see,” continued Alex. “Some of the sights in a Mexican town must be worth seeing.” ”

“ In the distance they now could see the Rio Grande, shimmering under the setting sun.
“We’ve got to make better time if we connect with the Rambler before night sets in,” Jule said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “If there ever was a rockier road than this, we have never found it I think we would better dump the fish. They are a good deal of a burden to carry.”
“There they go!” Alex exclaimed, suiting action to the word, and tossing the fish down a rocky incline. “I wish we had some of them cooked! I’m so hungry that I could eat two pirates!” ”

“ A dead man’s chest! Yo, ho, and a bottle of rum! And a bottle of rum!”
“The men who are deserting the Rambler certainly have heard the parrot before!” whispered Case. “What does it mean?”
While the boys and the soldiers wondered over the strange happening, another voice came from the Rambler.
“Up, boys, and at them! Drive ’em into the river!”
“Peter Pratt!” shouted Alex, dancing up and down in the excitement of the moment.
“Good old Jule! I knew they couldn’t kill him!” exclaimed Clay, leaping out of the boat. ”

“ Clay and Case are true as steel, and, between them, they ought to be able to put Thede and Paul on their backs, especially as the latter has a broken leg!”
“What’s got into you?” demanded Alex. “You talk like Case! And Case in his bluest moments! I’ve not given up yet. Thede and Paul are all right! I’ll bank on it!”
Jule laughed heartily.
“So will I!” he said. “I’ll bank on it, too! If there is any mischief afloat, they are not in it. Only, I wish they would come out into the open, and tell us frankly what it is they are up to. It seems to me that that would be the honorable way.” ”

“ El Paso was the scene of great activity a year ago, when the Rio Grande was the dividing line between the United States and Mexico. Streets were crowded with men in uniform, and restaurants and saloons contributed their full quota to the general confusion.
The city, however, was quieter now, and the boys had no difficulty in finding their way about. Troops still guarded the Mexican line, but they were inconspicuous.
Clay had, in a measure, recovered, though he was still weak. He was able to sit on deck and watch the moving panorama which is to be seen in all frontier cities. ”