CHAPTER XVI
"WE ARE BEING FOLLOWED!"
"Here we are, fellows!" exclaimed Billy Chase.
"Here?" asked Frank Racer.
"Where?" echoed his brother.
"Pulling into Sageville," answered the Western lad. "We'll be there in a few minutes now. Better get your stuff in shape."
"Say, if this issomeplace, where'snoplace?" asked Andy, for as he looked out of the car windows he saw nothing save the same prairies over which they had traveled for many hours.
"Oh, Sageville isn't much of a place, compared to your Eastern cities," answered Billy, with a laugh; "but it does very well for us. We think it quite a town. There it is," and, as the train swung around a curve, the Racer boys could see a small town just ahead.
"Is that Sageville?" asked Frank, half doubting, and thinking perhaps his new chum was perpetrating some joke.
"Sure it is," went on Billy, still laughing. "Can't you see the opera house? It's over a hardware store, that's true, but we have shows there once in a while, when some company gets stranded and has to work its way back to New York. And we've got a bank, that gets shot up every once in a while, so nobody keeps much money in it. The depot express safe is more sure, for there is generally a man on guard.
"Then we've got a grocery, with a drug store attachment that works late Saturday nights, and there was some talk, when I came away, of starting a moving picture emporium, if that's what they're called. I wonder if it materialized?"
He looked out of the open window, to get a better glimpse of the town, and added:
"Yes, there's a new skyscraper going up. I guess that's it," and he pointed to a one-story wooden building on which some carpenters could be seen working.
"Well, I'll be jig-swiggled!" exclaimed Andy. "I thought the town was larger than that," for truly it was but a small place.
"Larger!" cried Billy. "What do you want, anyhow? This is the biggest town in this section. Big! Why, it's got more room to grow in than half a dozen of your Eastern cities. Take your New York. That can't grow any. It's reached its limit. It's hide-bound. It can't even stretch, and the people are so close that they step on each other's corns. But out here it's different. Why, we can swell Sageville up until it could take in New York and never know it."
"Not this week, though," said Frank, with a laugh, and he felt a little nettled at the slight put on his home city.
"Oh, no, it'll take a little time," admitted Billy. "But we've got the room, and you Eastern folks haven't—that's the difference."
"Yes, it's big enough," admitted Andy, as he looked at the great expanse of prairie surrounding Sageville. "But it's awful lonesome-looking."
"Well, maybe it is now," confessed Billy. "That's because all the men are out on the ranches. But it livens up at night."
"I suppose they'll take us for tenderfeet," suggested Andy, with something like a sigh.
"Don't let that worry you," said Billy quickly. "I'll teach you the ropes, and they won't bother you if you keep still and don't try to get funny."
"Just remember that, Andy," said Frank, giving his brother a significant poke in the ribs.
"Oh, I'm no worse than you," retorted the younger lad; but, at the same time, he decided to be careful.
The train was slackening up now, ready for the stop. There were no other passengers preparing to get off the car where our friends were, save themselves.
"Not much travel out this way," commented Frank.
"No, this is rather the dull season. But I've seen as many as five persons get off a train at once," and Billy laughed to indicate that he was joking.
With a squeaking of the brakes the cars came to a standstill. Billy went out on the platform, at the same time remarking:
"There's Archie."
"Who's Archie?" asked Frank.
"One of Uncle Richfield's men. He's an old cattleman, a fine shot, and what he doesn't know about horses isn't worth losing any sleep over. His real name is Archibald Lynch, but we all call him Archie."
"Sort of girlish name for a man; isn't it?" inquired Andy.
"That's what Archie is always complaining about," said Billy. "He says he wonders why his folks ever saddled him with a name like that, but he can't get rid of it. Once he thought of adopting a new one, and he picked out 'Hank' as having the proper tone, but the boys only laughed at him, and kept right on calling him Archie. I guess he's used to it by this time."
The Racer boys looked to see a tall, bronzed man, with a weather-beaten face, shoulders that slightly stooped, and legs that were bowed from much riding of horses. He was a typical Westerner, with clear eyes that seemed to look right through you, and plenty of reserve strength.
He sat on the seat of a buckboard wagon, drawn by a team of small, wiry horses, and scanned the train narrowly.
"He's looking for us," said Billy.
"Is it far from here to the ranch?" asked Frank.
"Oh, about ten miles. But we make it in good time. Those horses can travel, though they don't look very stylish. Oh, there's Uncle Richfield!" and Billy waved to a tall, well-built man who was walking down the depot platform. "I didn't think he'd come to meet us—he's so busy," he added. "Hi, Uncle Richfield!" he called, and the man, looking up suddenly, waved his hand to his nephew.
"Hello, Billy!" he answered in a pleasant voice. "So you got here all right, did you? Boys with you?"
"Sure," was the answer. "I wouldn't lose them," and with that Billy leaped from the steps and made a rush for his uncle. The manner in which the two clasped hands, and looked into each other's faces for a moment, showed how close was the bond of sympathy between them.
"Hello, Archie!" called Billy a moment later, as he swung over to the old cattleman. "How are you?"
"Oh, able to sit up and take nourishment," was the quiet answer. "So you got here safe?"
"Yes, after the railroad company tried to smash us," was the answer. "Now, Uncle Richfield, let me introduce the Racer boys to you. Here you are, Frank and Andy, this is my uncle that I've been telling you so much about."
"I hope he didn't give me a bad character," said Mr. Thornton, as he smiled and held out his hand to the two brothers.
"Well, we're used to Billy by this time, and we know how to take what he says," said Frank, with a smile.
"Ha! ha!" laughed the ranchman. "I guess they've got you there, Billy, my boy."
Then came introductions to the old cattleman, who sat in the buckboard waiting for the start to be made for the ranch. Frank and Andy liked him at once, as they did Mr. Thornton. There was a frank and hearty manner about the Westerners; an atmosphere that seemed to make friends at once, and the Racer boys felt that they were not among strangers.
"Well, how are things going, Uncle?" asked Billy, as soon as the introductions were over. "I've told the boys as much as I knew myself," he added. "I thought you'd want them to know, as long as they're going to help us."
"Of course," replied Mr. Thornton. "Well, I can't say that things are going any too well. I seem to strike a snag every now and then. Just as I think I've got a clear track I'm held up by some action on the part of this Shackmiller and his crowd. But you say he's laid up?"
"Sure," replied Billy, and he told about the wreck.
"Well, he's got someone acting for him here all right," went on the ranch owner. "He's started another suit against me, and, though I know it won't amount to anything, still it holds up operations for a while."
"How is the dam coming on?" asked Billy.
"Pretty well. It's nearly completed, all but a small stretch that goes across the land that leads to Golden Peak. It is this little piece that's in dispute, not because that strip on which the remainder of the dam will stand is of any value, but because it's the only entrance to Golden Peak, and that's why they don't want me to use it."
"It's too bad," consoled Frank. "And is there really any treasure on the Peak?" he added eagerly.
"Treasure!" laughed Mr. Thornton. "Not a bit of it! That is all bosh—moonshine—it's like a lot of other stories that originate out West and keep growing until a lot of people believe 'em. The only treasure of Golden Peak is the sunshine and fresh air. I wish I could bring those fellows to their senses. Then I could go ahead, finish the dam, and have water enough so I could get bumper crops, and raise some decent cattle. As it is, I'm held up, and so are a lot of my neighbors who are going to get water from my lake.
"What we'll have to do, if this thing keeps up, is to organize, and drive these fellows out of the country. But never mind that now. How did you make out, Billy? Have you that paper safe? What kind of a trip did you have?"
Then began rather a long series of questions and answers between Billy and his uncle, and, as they can have very little interest for my readers, I will omit them. Sufficient to say that Billy told of the attack on himself and of how the Racer boys came to his rescue, and how he was followed by Shackmiller even on the train.
"But the wreck put him out of business," added Billy; "though he is still active, if that telegram was from him," and he related what the operator had said.
"Humph!" mused Mr. Thornton. "Well, I don't know just what to think. If Shackmiller is out of the way, even for a little while, it may be a good thing for us. On the other hand, it may force matters. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. But I reckon you boys are tired, and you'd like to get out to the ranch, and rest up."
"Oh, we're not so tired," said Frank; "but we would like to see the ranch."
"Then hop on the buckboard and Archie will drive you out there," said the ranchman.
"Aren't you coming, Uncle?" asked Billy.
"No, I've got some business to attend to in town. I came out with Archie this morning, planning to meet you. I'll ride back with James Perdue some time this evening. Just make yourselves at home when you get there. I told the Chinaman to have a good supper for you."
"Chinaman?" asked Andy.
"Yes, he's the cook," explained Billy. Then he gave his uncle the paper that was of such value, and the three boys, piling their baggage on the buckboard, took seats.
"Giddap!" called Archie to the horses, and they started off at a fast trot. Like everything else in the West, they were speedy—there seemed to be nothing slow there.
"Is my pony all right, Archie?" asked Billy, when they had turned out of town to the road that led over the prairies.
"Sure. He's as lively as ever. Needs some exercise, though."
"I suppose so. How about mounts for Frank and Andy?"
"Oh, I guess we can fix 'em up. Ride?" and he looked questioningly at the Racer boys.
"Not much," said Andy.
"A little," confessed Frank.
"Oh, you'll soon learn," declared Billy. "Everyone rides out here,—nobody walks;" and Frank and his brother had noticed that, brief as had been their time in the West.
They kept on, the sturdy little horses making good time, and the boys and the old cattleman talked of many things.
"Much of a force working on the dam now?" asked Billy.
"Not as many as there was," replied Archie. "There's only a small gap to fill now, to make the lake, but your uncle can't do anything until this dispute is settled. Them skunks is holdin' him back."
"Well, maybe we can help settle it," laughed Billy. "What's the matter, Frank?" he asked a moment later. "I notice you looking back a lot."
"I was trying to see who was in that wagon following us," replied the elder Racer lad.
"Following us!" exclaimed Billy, and he and Archie exchanged quick glances. "I don't see anyone," said Billy, a moment later, as he glanced to the rear.
"It's down in that hollow," replied Frank. "But it's a wagon, with two horses hitched to it, and three or four men in it."
"Three or four?" mused Archie. "It can't be your uncle, Billy. He wouldn't be following us so soon, for he said he had to stay in Sageville a couple of hours longer. Besides, Jim's wagon only holds two. Several men, eh? I guess we'll just look into this."
He slowed down the horses and looked back just in time to catch a glimpse of a vehicle behind them, almost hidden in a cloud of dust.
"They're stopping!" cried Andy, as he saw the other vehicle pull up. A man got down from it and seemed to be looking at one of the horses' hoofs.
"Humph! I don't know that outfit," said the old cattleman. "They must be on the wrong road. This one only goes to our ranch."
"Maybe they want to see Mr. Thornton," suggested Frank.
The cattleman shook his head.
"If it was that they'd have seen him in town," he replied. "He's there yet, and, no matter who they inquired of, if they were strangers, anybody could have pointed out Mr. Thornton. This looks queer. Did anyone get off the train when you did, boys?"
"No one besides ourselves," said Billy.
All four were now watching the other outfit. The men in the wagon seemed to be having a consultation, and there was apparently a difference of opinion, for one was seen to point toward the ranch, and several others waved their hands in the opposite direction. Finally the one who had gotten out of the wagon to look at the horses, climbed back again, and the steeds were swung about.
"Changed their minds," said Archie with a grunt. "I thought they were on the wrong road."
He drove on again, and the conversation was resumed. But Billy seemed thoughtful. It was perhaps an hour later, when they were nearing the ranch, that Billy turned, as he had done several times before, to glance back. As he did so he uttered an exclamation.
"We're being followed!" he cried. "There's the same wagon again!"