Spencer Dair

“ The corral into which Hawks’ boys had driven the steers was so situated, however, that the light from the flames enabled the men to see three sides of the barbed-wire fence, while back of the fourth, the flare lighted the plains.
And as they strained their eyes, no human form could they see except the white spectre.
“Man, dear! he’s stopped and is watching his work!” cried Deadshot. ”

“ But, even as they despaired, expecting every instant to hear the agonized shriek that would announce the rush of the flames upon Bowser, help was speeding to him by leaps and bounds!
When Sandy had been advised by Ki Yi to take Mrs. Hawks to the Double Cross and then, getting Pinky, ride to join the rest of the avengers, he lost no time in putting the suggestion into effect.
“Why, man, what brings you back? Why aren’t you riding with the others?” ”

“ Without saying a word of his intentions to his assistants, the owner of the Double Cross threw his rifle to his shoulder, took a hurried sight at the spectral form and pulled the trigger.
As the report rang out, the cowpunchers leaned forward in their saddles, watching the form intently.
To shoot at a ghost required more courage—in view of the traditions relating to ill-luck and curses such an act brought down upon the head of one so rash—than they possessed, and the cowboys fully expected some dire punishment to be instantly meted out to their boss. ”

“ In delight, all the cowboys, Hawks and even the suffering owner of the Double Cross ranch got to their feet and hastened to greet and get a glimpse of the man upon whose skill they were depending to send the spectral raider to his much-deserved doom. ”

“ To the man sinking to such a horrible death and to the others watching, it seemed as though the two cowboys never would reach him.
Yet they were making haste with all speed possible.
Already Bowser’s stirrups had been gripped in the relentless maw of the mudhole, and they realized that it would require all of their strength to draw him from the powerful and mysterious suction. ”

“ Several times, the member of the Star and Moon outfit had it on his tongue’s end to ask toward which point of the compass they were traveling, but his pride prevented and just as it seemed to them that they were going in a great circle, they were amazed to emerge from a clump of saplings and underbrush and behold the plains in front of them. ”

“ Scarcely had the ranch owner opened the door than lights blazed in the bunkhouse, followed an instant later by the rush of the cowpunchers, as, guns in their hands, they crept cautiously from their shanty to learn the cause of the alarm.
“Steady, boys! Don’t go to shooting up the country!” warned Bowser, running across the yard to join his men.
“What did you make of it, Sam?” demanded a tall, leathery cowpuncher, who served as foreman.
“You’ve got me, Sandy. The missus ’lows it’s some woman being murdered.” ”

“ Leaning far over their ponies’ necks, the men rode, searching out the plains in their effort to locate either their pals or the lone horseman. For they realized that unless they exerted the greatest care, they might, in their excitement, mistake their friends for the raider.
Mindful of this danger, and determined not to allow any more untoward incidents to mark the pursuit of the man who had tricked him and lifted his cattle, Bowser shouted:
“Nobody fire till after we’ve picked up Deadshot and Ki Yi. It would be just our luck to hit one of them instead of the cow thief.” ”

“ The ranchman’s assertion that the spectre was of human invention and their foreman’s declaration that it was but a ruse to cover the raiding of the cattle, produced an instantaneous reaction upon the cowpunchers.
“By my saddle, you’re right!” assented Deadshot. “That’s what the trouble is. Somebody’s trying to lift the cattle. I’ve seen ’em started on a stampede too many times not to recognize the symptoms. And here we’ve been afraid of a spook, giving the thieving cusses just the chance they planned. Say, Sam, I wouldn’t blame you for sacking the whole kit and boodle of us!” ”

“ Not long did it take for the ranchmen and cowboys to mount and, with Slippery Nig riding to where he had left his pinto with Deadshot, they again took up the trail of the Midnight Raider.
Making all speed possible, scarce a word was spoken until they came in sight of the cell-honeycombed cliff looming in the distance.
“We leave um pony here,” exclaimed Nig, after taking a careful survey of the plains that he might get his bearings.
“But why? The catacombs must be all of five miles away,” protested Hawks.
“Sure. But Louie, him can see man on pony heap more easy than man in grass on foot.” ”

“ But in their ignorance of the truth, the cowboys taxed their imaginations to the utmost, without any other satisfaction than the whiling away of the weary hours they swept through the waving grass until dawn enabled them to scan the plains for a sight of either friend or foe. ”

“ This assertion that the eerie spectre floating before their eyes was not the first one he had seen instantly claimed the ears of his companions, though they kept their gaze riveted on the apparition.
“What was that one like?” breathed Pinky.
“It was all lit up, like fire. The Piutes said it was a curse put out by their Medicine Man.”
“But how’d you manage to get away from the Injuns and escape the massacre?” inquired Sandy, in whom Deadshot’s tales of his experiences always aroused suspicion of their truthfulness. ”

“ Now perched on the top rail of the corral, now stretched upon the ground, the three men who were so eager to be on their way in pursuit of the raiders whiled away the time, ever and again searching the horizon to the East for a glimpse of the Star and Moon outfit, with what patience they could muster. ”

“ But at last they did and hastily began to start a line of fire along the base of the cliff.
“Ki Yi, you um come down! Help Deadshot make blaze this floor!” then ordered Nig. “Me keep Louie from coming up!”
Hemmed in like a rat in a trap, the murdering Indian faced his doom with the stoicism of his race. The surprise of being driven from his teppee in the swamp had forced him to flee without taking the time to supply himself with ammunition beyond the shells he had in his six shooters and the ones he found in the saddlebags on the pony he stole were of a different caliber. ”

“ You seem to think that we women can take care of ourselves, no matter what happens. And, as though it weren’t enough to make us live way out in the plains, you go and leave us whenever you feel like it. ”

“ In blank amazement, the men stared at one another and then from Deadshot to old Nig.
“Skull and crossbones, as Sandy says!” exclaimed Bowser. “No wonder we have been outwitted by the fiend. Why, he’s the most dangerous Indian in the country. Only the other day, when I was at the Centre, I signed a petition asking that the devil be sent to the United States prison at Leavenworth—where he couldn’t break out any more.”
“And so did I,” interposed Hawks.
“Then it’s dollars to a coyote flea that’s why you two were singled out as the first objects of his wrath,” declared Ki Yi. ”

“ By being on the spot, we’ll be able to get the whole crowd instead of only one—like we would if we set sail after that fiend out yonder.”
“To the corral it is,” exclaimed Hawks. “So let’s get over there and not stand arguing here. First thing we know, they’ll rush out and we’ll lose the whole kit and boodle, as Sam says.”
“Which we’ll do anyhow!” growled Ki Yi to Deadshot.
But the cowboys were too wise to press the argument any harder and, declaring one to another that the blame would not be on their shoulders, they cantered over to the corral. ”

“ Go West. Go South. Go North. Swamp not all burned. Nig know trail save um going clear out.”
“Say, isn’t it easy when you know the answer?” chuckled Ki Yi. “Deadshot, the best thing for you and me to do is to keep our mouths shut before we show Nig any more of our ignorance.”
And accordingly, the two cowboys held their peace while the aged scout guided his pony with infinite skill in and out among the death holes, turning so many times that neither of the men at his back were able to keep any idea of direction. ”

“ But as the afternoon wore away without either sight or sound of them, Bowser began to grow restless.
“If those devils find we haven’t reached the swamps by sundown, they are just as likely as not to drive my cattle to some other place—and then we surely will have a merry time locating them. It’ll be hard enough if we know they are in the bottoms. But when we can’t be certain even of that, we’ll have the very old Nick of a time,” he complained.
“What do you want to do, start out and leave word for Hen and his men to follow?” asked Sandy. ”

“ We ain’t no pleasure party being toted round on a ‘rubberneck’ expedition,” growled Pinky. “If you’ve got any idea, out with it.”
“As I was saying, from my knowledge of the tricks of cattle raiders and these plains,” repeated Deadshot, ignoring the interruption of his bunkmate, “I should say the lifters were headed for the Sangammon bottoms. They ain’t more than forty mile away, and there’s swamps in there with grass high enough to hide an elephant.” ”

“ But his spirits were revived somewhat by the very man to whom he was surrendering his pony.
“When it comes daylight, catch a couple of ponies and make the missus ride over to the Double Cross with you. She’s dead set against being left alone, and, after what’s happened to-night, she’ll be all the more ready to go. Tell her the cattle will get along all right. If she bucks at that, ask her if she isn’t of more importance than a bunch of steers—and she’ll go fast enough. Then, when you’ve put the two women together, get Pinky and ride for all you are worth for the swamps.” ”

“ It’s a good thing Sandy has a little common sense and the courage to express it, or we’d have been stampeded by the two of ’em into chasing that howling devil—and giving the rest of the gang the chance to carry off your cattle at their pleasure.”
“Righto!” returned Hawks. “There’s nothing pays more than making haste slowly.
“Hey, you fellows, bring horses for Sam and me and then we’ll ride over to the corral and inspect the fences.”
“Then you don’t care about getting that spook?” inquired Deadshot. ”

“ The Midnight Raider—A daredevil Indian chief, known as Scalping Louie, who breaks from the Indian reservation and proceeds to steal cattle and burn houses, being finally brought to his well-deserved end by a cowboy who has the assistance of an aged scout.
Sam Bowser—Owner of the Double Cross ranch, in Arizona, who is roused from bed by an eerie cry, finds a spectre hovering over his cattle corral and while he is quieting his cowboys, sees his cattle stampeded by the apparition. ”

“ Finding this method of no avail, the ranchman rode over to Sandy and ordered him to begin and systematically ride back and forth, advancing about three hundred yards at each turn, telling him to pass the word to Pinky, who would, in turn, inform the cowboy on the extreme West.
“If we can’t pick up the trail within five miles, we’ll try the same tactics to the West and then to the North and East. A man can’t put fifty steers in his pocket and carry ’em off. The trail’s round here somewhere—and it’s up to us to get busy and find it!” snapped Bowser, as he whirled his pony and started back. ”

“ So much noise did the ponies make, plunging and splashing as they struggled to get out of the mud that the two leaders soon realized that their coming would be heard by any one in hiding in sufficient time to make a getaway or establish an ambuscade, and accordingly they called a halt to discuss what was best to do. ”

“ By the time the strange trio mounted upon the back of the flea-bitten pinto had reached the plains, dusk was upon them, which steadily increased until it was almost pitch dark.
Of a sudden, as they mounted a rise in the prairies, the aged scout pointed ahead.
In the distance could be seen the fitful flicker of a fire.
“Man, dear, you don’t suppose that could be the Midnight Raider, do you?” eagerly inquired Deadshot.
“What, Louie build a fire when um know um being hunted? Injun no such fool,” retorted Nig, with infinite scorn in his voice. ”