“Watchthe broncs!” Silent yelled. “The feller that threw that is close!”
Teddy leaped to his feet, his revolver in his hand. The ponies were tied a little distance from the campfire, and he stumbled toward them through heavy underbrush.
“Take the left, Nick!” Roy exclaimed. “I’ll follow Teddy. He’s likely to get a bullet through him, rushing around like that! Get away from the light of that fire!”
Nick rolled, pulled out his gun, and found himself against a tree. He got quickly to his feet.
“Don’t shoot, no matter what you see,” Silent yelled hoarsely. “Teddy an’ Roy are out there—you might hit them.”
But Teddy had reached the horses, and Roy was at his side.
“Didn’t get ’em,” the boy panted. “What do you say we—”
“For the love of Pete, Teddy, we haven’t got a chance in this darkness! There may behalf a dozen men around here, waiting for us to separate so they can pot us off. Let’s stick together, anyhow.”
“Where are the others?” Teddy had one hand on Flash’s neck. “We’ll never get this chance again, Roy! Shall we let that scoundrel get away? Snakes, we could track him! Easy!”
“Not so easily! Now listen. Let’s see where Nick and Silent are. Then we’ll have a look at the paper—tied to the stone.”
There was a crashing in the brush near them and both boys faced quickly about, their guns leveled.
“Speak up!” Roy shouted sternly. “Who’s there?”
“Nick,” came the answer. “Silent with you?”
“No, I thought—” Roy, raising his voice, called: “Hey, Silent! Over this way!”
They waited. There was no reply.
“He’s around some place,” Teddy said anxiously. “If any one is waiting to knock us off, they know where we are, so a little more noise won’t hurt. Hey, Silent!”
Still no answer. They listened carefully to hear if any one was walking near them, but no footsteps disturbed the stillness.
“Maybe he stumbled and fell,” Roy suggested. “We’ll have to go back. Leave thebroncs—no, we’d better tie ’em close to the fire where we can watch ’em.”
They untied the horses and led them slowly toward the campfire. They fastened the animals about ten yards from it.
“Silent,” Teddy called again. “Hey, Silent!”
“If he hit his head and knocked himself cold, he’s lyin’ around here,” Nick said. “He yelled to me an’ I saw him go for the bushes, an’ that’s the last. You don’t think—” he paused suggestively.
“Well, they didn’t shoot him, that’s sure,” Roy declared. “We’d have heard the shot. And I don’t think they knifed him, because something tells me Silent could take care of himself in a game of that sort.”
“But what in thunder happened?” Teddy exclaimed impatiently. “He’s gone, hasn’t he?”
“He’ll come back,” Roy declared with a confidence he did not feel. “In the meantime—” he stopped and picked up the stone. Breaking the string that held the paper to it, he glanced down. Teddy heard him give a grunt.
“What is it?”
“Here—bring it to the fire, so you can see. What do they think we are? Kids, to be scared by a thing like that?”
Holding the paper so the firelight flickeredupon it, Teddy and Nick, who leaned over his shoulder, read two words, printed:
LAY OFF
Below was a rude picture of a dog, evidently meant to be a greyhound.
“Lay off!” Nick repeated. “Yea, we’ll lay off all right! By golly, I’d like to have my hands on the feller who wrote that!”
“So that’s Greyhound’s signature,” Roy mused. “Well, I must say he picked a good one. A dog! Let’s have the paper, Teddy.” With a sudden motion he tossed it into the fire. “And now, we’ll have a look for Silent.”
“Wish we had a few electric flashlights,” Teddy muttered. “Silent may be lying near us and we’d never know it.”
“We’ll have to take a chance,” Roy said firmly. “Keep your guns ready. Come on now. Don’t spread. Stick together, and we’ll cover what ground we can. Move in a circle.”
For two hours the three searched in the vicinity of their camp, walking in ever widening circles. At the end of that time they returned, to find the fire nearly out. Teddy wearily replenished it, and threw himself on the ground.
“No good, I reckon,” he said hopelessly. “He’s not around here. What’s the plan now, Roy?”
“Nothing, Teddy,” Roy replied in a tiredvoice. “We’ll have to wait, that’s all. Try to get some sleep.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Well, I’ll sit up for a while. Then I’ll wake you or Nick and you can watch. There ought to be some one to keep a lookout.”
“All right.”
Teddy drew his blanket around him, and Nick did the same. Roy sat upright, his back against a tree, his revolver in his lap. The rifles were still in their cases by the pile of saddles. A revolver was the only effective weapon in this situation.
Roy found it difficult to keep his eyes open. Several times he caught himself nodding and jerked his head upright again. How long it was before he heard that noise in the bushes he never knew. It may have been an hour or more, it may have been only a few minutes. But, as he sat there, there came to his ears the crackle of twigs, as if a man were treading on them.
“Teddy! Nick!” he whispered. “Snap to it! Here’s—”
The two sleepers awoke and went quickly to where Roy was sitting. The fire at that moment flared up and the light showed them a man standing perfectly still not ten feet away.
“Silent!” Nick yelled. “It’s you!”
“It’s me,” came the answer. “Don’t let nobullets ride.” He stepped forward. They saw that his face was drawn, his eyes haggard.
“Where have you been?” Teddy asked quickly. “What happened?”
Silent waved his hand.
“Nick, will you put on some coffee?”
“Sure, sure!” Nick hastened to comply. Silent seated himself by the fire, his head in his hands.
“Anything wrong?” Roy demanded. “You hurt?”
The head shook a denial.
“Not hurt—just tired.” He took a deep breath. “Roy, I found it.”
“Found what?”
“Greyhound’s camp. It’s about seven miles from here. I tracked the guy who threw that note—I tracked him miles. He had a pony a little way out from here. I had to run then. Run behind the bronc, for seven miles! Snakes!”
“Here,” Nick said. “Drink this!” He held out a tin cup filled with hot coffee. “That’ll fix you up.”
Silent buried his nose in the cup without a word. Hot as the liquid was, he finished it without raising his head.
“Baby, that’s good,” he declared, and his voice was stronger now. “A little more, Nick, if you have any left.” Suddenly he flung hischin up. “Say, did you guys hear what I said? I found Greyhound’s camp!”
“I reckon you know the answer to that?” Roy said quietly.
“Well, I was hopin’, boys—I was hopin’. You’ll go with me now?”
“We will, Silent.”
He thrust out his hand and gripped Roy’s.
“Fellers, what I’m wantin’ to say I can’t, ’cause I’m not built that-a-way. But I guess you understand.” He stopped and turned aside. “One more swig of coffee an’ I’ll be with you.”
“Let’s get the saddles on,” Teddy said swiftly. “Nick, you see what you can do for Silent an’ we’ll saddle your bronc. Give him something to eat if he’ll take it.”
“Nothin’ to eat,” Silent declared. “One more cup of coffee, that’s all.”
Then, when the horses had been saddled, they set out in the darkness.
Silent, veteran plainsman that he was, knew the way was clear to him. He had gone over the route on foot, and could not mistake it, even in that blackness with only a hint of moon shining through clouds to relieve it. Their path, with Silent leading, was up hill.
“Before we get there, we’d better have a plan of action,” Roy declared. Unconsciously his voice was lowered, as though there werethose about who might hear. “How many men are in the camp Silent?”
“Four. But I think there’s another that I didn’t see. They have a tent with the broncs tied near it. A cliff of some sort rises at the back.”
“They can’t get through that way?”
“Don’t see how.”
Roy thought for a moment before he spoke again.
“Silent,” he said, “there’s one thing I’ve got to say. We’re not riding these men down to shoot them like dogs, even though that’s what they are. We’re going to round ’em up and take ’em back to camp.”
“I see, Roy.” Silent’s voice was a monotone. “Reckon you’re right. But when I see the skunk who shot my dad an’ brother in cold blood—”
“I know, Silent,” Roy broke in. “But we’re not like that, see? We can’t do it!”
“Nope, we can’t.” Silent swallowed audibly. “You got my word, Roy.”
“That’s the fight! It’s best, Silent—you know that.”
“Yea, I know that, Roy. All right. That’s over. Now here’s what I think we ought to do. It’ll be morning soon, and the best time to get those rascals would be at dawn when there’s light enough to see, but not too much.”
“That seems good to me,” Roy agreed. All thought of fatigue had fled from him and from his companions. Their blood was racing fast.
“O. K. Then that’s settled. We’ve got an hour yet—maybe two. When we come close to their camp I want you to get off your bronc an’ take a look at it. That’s so you’ll know the lay of the land. We won’t have to go so close, but there’s not much danger—they’re all asleep now. Greyhound thinks he’s hot stuff—doesn’t even need a guard.” A thin smile curved Silent’s lips.
They rode for some time longer, then Silent called a halt. They were near the camp of the outlaws.
“Come on, Roy,” Silent whispered. “You fellows wait here. We’ll be back in ten minutes.”
“And if you’re not?” Teddy asked in a low voice.
“We will be. Let’s go!”
Silent and Roy dismounted and were off. Nick and Teddy awaited them impatiently, every minute seeming like an hour. But finally they returned, and again mounted their ponies. The first faint blush of the false dawn tinged the east.
“Well, boys—” Roy turned and faced the others—“reckon it’s about the zero hour. Isaw enough of the camp to think we can get the rascals without getting hurt. Silent will be on one end of the line and I’ll be on the other. Teddy, you and Nick can ride in the center. Keep about ten feet apart. Just beyond here there’s a clearing, and we’ll ride through to that. The tent is right in the middle. Go easy at first, and keep together! Soon as we reach the clearing, Silent is going to fire a shot. Use your revolvers—rifles will be no good. But don’t shoot any one—unless in self-defense. We want to capture these fellows, not kill ’em. All set?”
“We’ll keep as much as possible to the protection of the trees,” Teddy said. “It would be pretty easy for those men to pot us from inside their tent.”
“We’ll have to chance that,” Roy replied. “Well?”
“Let’s go!”
Quietly, silently they rode through the woods. In the east the sky was becoming grey. Birds were awakening. Nature stretched, and yawned.
Suddenly the clearing was before them. The tent stood like a white, sluggish animal that had fallen asleep there. A few feet behind the tent was the cliff. Five horses were tied to trees near by. Roy was thankful for the light which made all this visible.
In another moment the signal would be given. A gun was raised.
Crack!
Silent’s revolver had spoken.
“Come out of there, you guys!”
“Come a-runnin’!”
“Greyhound, we want you!”
A head poked from the tent flap and was as quickly withdrawn. A rifle came next, with a man behind it.
Teddy took aim and fired. The rifle dropped from the man’s hand. His right arm hung useless.
“Getting to be expert at that!” Teddy yelled. “The next one who pulls a gun goes down! Found out we mean business, hey?”
“Greyhound!” Silent roared the name. “Greyhound, come out o’ that!”
“I’m comin’!”
The wounded man who stood holding to the flap of the tent was thrust aside. A figure, one arm in a sling, burst into the open. In his uninjured hand he held not a revolver, but a rifle!
“Somebody want me?”
The rifle was raised—with one hand Greyhound raised and aimed it. His finger touched the trigger and Silent’s hat sailed off.
Silent, head up, face grim as death, leveled his gun.
“Greyhound,” he shouted, “you’re finished!”
The gun was aimed straight at the outlaw’s breast. He stood not ten feet from Silent, a perfect target. But he did not move. Then, slowly, Silent’s gun was lowered.
“You can’t reload,” Silent said simply. “I’m a different breed from you, Greyhound. I give you back your life.”
Teddy and Roy stared at the man called Greyhound. He stood not less than six feet four, with huge shoulders and arms. Alone in that clearing he stood, defying them all. At least, Greyhound was not a coward.
“Drop that rifle,” Roy called sternly. “Drop it, and tell your men to come out here with their hands in the air!”
For a moment rage came over the face of the man. Then he shrugged his shoulders.
“What’s the use?” he muttered. “It’s over. Come out, boys—we’re done for. Leave the guns behind.”
He tossed the rifle carelessly to the ground. His eyes were fixed on Silent’s face.
“You ain’t goin’ to shoot?”
“No, Greyhound, I ain’t goin’ to shoot,” Silent replied slowly. “There’s others that you have to settle with. Roy, he’s your prisoner.”
One by one the bandits filed from the tent, their hands held high. Teddy counted five, including Greyhound. All were accounted for.The man who had been shot stood by the tent, groaning.
“Nick, search ’em,” Roy said. “Then let that baby who’s making all that noise sit down.”
Nick obeyed. Two of the outlaws had guns, and he tossed them away.
“How about their broncs, Roy?”
“They’ll ride those back to Nugget Camp.”
“Here!” Teddy dismounted, and went toward the tent. “Nick, let’s use a bit of this rope. They won’t need it any more.”
Together he and Nick stripped the tent of its ropes, and bound the hands of the prisoners, all but the injured man. Greyhound’s well arm was tied behind his back. Then they were ordered to mount their ponies.
From his horse Greyhound glanced carelessly at Silent.
“Reckon we swing—hey?” he asked, sneeringly.
“You’ll get a fair trial,” Silent said harshly. “If you’re guilty you’ll swing.”
“If we’re guilty!” Greyhound laughed loudly. “Well, boys, it was fun while it lasted! I told you hard luck followed me, but you thought I was kiddin’. I wasn’t. Now, you guys—” he turned toward Teddy—“there’s one you missed. He’s hidin’ under a blanket. It won’t be hangin’ for him, so he might aswell come out. His bronco is tied down the trail a piece. Allen!”
From the tent came a pitiful figure, white-faced in the lightening dawn. It was the swindler from Nugget Camp.
Nick eyed him frowningly.
“Allen,” Greyhound said, “here’s some friends of yours. Want to take a little ride with ’em?”
“Don’t kill me!” Allen moaned, trembling violently. “Don’t shoot me! I’ll tell you everything! There’s fifty thousand dollars’ worth of gold in this tent! You can have it all, but don’t shoot!”
“That, boys, is our bootblack!” Greyhound exclaimed, laughing loudly. “What he says is true. You might as well have the gold. I’ll leave it to you in my will.” He laughed again. “If that fellow Decker we shot a month ago is still livin’, some of it belongs to him. He sure worked for it.”
“Jerry Decker!” Teddy cried. “Then he will get his nuggets back!”
“There’s some of it comin’ to you, too,” Greyhound went on, nodding toward Silent. A puzzled frown came to his face. “I can’t understand it,” he muttered. “I can’t understand it a-tall! There you stand with a gun an’ me in front of you, me the feller who killed your folks, an’ you don’t shoot!”
“We’re not like you, Greyhound,” Roy said shortly. “We’re not murderers.”
“Murderers?” The man repeated the word, as though he did not understand. “Oh, that’s what I am, hey? Well, maybe you’re right. Well, that’s all.” His voice dropped. He turned wearily to Roy. “If you’re ready, we may as well start.”
Head down, shoulders bent forward, he started down the long trail just as the sun tossed the first beams over the hills.
Mencrowded to the flaps of their tents, chewing in haste the last of their breakfast. Others slammed open the doors of rude slab-sided shacks, some holding in their hands coffee pots which they had been about to set on the stove. Many of the miners of Nugget Camp, who had already eaten their morning meal and were on the way to work their claims, stopped and stared at the cavalcade on its way down the one main street.
“What is it, boys?”
“Some kind of a pee-rade, I’ll gamble!”
“But what for?”
“Must be the start of a circus!”
Thus the comments that greeted Roy, Teddy and their friends as they rode along, closely guarding Greyhound and his gang.
“Hey, what’s the parade for?” some one sang out.
“Robbery and murder!” answered Roy, with a grim face.
“Robbery?”
“Murder?”
The words were enough to set the whole camp astir had it not already been galvanized into life by the sight of the armed men guarding the others on horses.
“Watch out, fellows!” warned Teddy in a low voice. “Some of their friends may try a rescue!” He nodded toward the prisoners.
“Friends!” ejaculated Roy. “They won’t have any friends when we tell what happened—and when they hear Silent’s story.”
So it proved. Feeling ran high against the outlaws and there were a few reckless spirits in Nugget Camp who would have taken the prisoners from the X Bar X boys and strung the criminals to the nearest trees. But wiser counsel prevailed.
Luckily there had come to camp that morning a deputy sheriff on some other mission. But when he saw the prisoners and heard the story, he quickly swore in other deputies to aid him and, taking charge of the prisoners, soon had them as safely housed as was possible in that rough country.
“And to think you fellers caught them!” murmured more than one rough old miner, as what Roy and Teddy Manley had done became broadcast about camp. “Sufferin’ hoptoads! Some nerve!”
“Not much nerve needed when we knewwhat had happened to Silent,” remarked Teddy.
The excitement did not last long—excitement was too readily made to order in Nugget Camp—and when the prisoners had been taken away with the promise of justice being meted out to them, the new prospectors went back to working their claims.
But they did not forget the boast Allen had made about the quantity of gold concealed in the lair of the outlaws, and when they had time to investigate, Roy, Teddy, and their friends went back to recover it.
Allen had not been wrong. A large quantity of gold dust, some almost pure nuggets, and a large quantity of ore as thickly studded with lumps of gold as is a Christmas pudding with plums, was collected. Most of it had been stolen at different times from miners who had made lucky strikes and who had foolishly talked too freely of their good fortune, or else who, as foolishly, “hit the red-eye trail” and became so helpless that they fell easy prey to the thugs in Greyhound’s gang.
Among the pile of nuggets were some marked in a peculiar way, and these, it developed later, were the property of Jerry Decker. Though the amount was not quite as much as he claimed (due, perhaps, to toll taken by the bandits) it was a goodly sum, and when newsof the recovery of it was sent to the injured man it did more to restore him to health and strength than all the doctor’s medicine.
“Well, fellows, we’ve got to work harder than we’ve been doing,” Roy announced one night as the prospectors gathered about the campfire. They had been gradually sinking their shaft deeper and deeper, and had cut several lateral tunnels, timbered with much labor and no little risk, but, so far, all the gold they had taken out had not paid them for their work—not even counting the first big nugget found.
“Work harder?” groaned Teddy. “My back’s ’most broken now, and as for my hands—I’ll be lucky if I can ever hold the reins again,” and he held up his blistered palms.
“Don’t give up!” begged Gus. “Lots of times, when everything seems like to be peterin’ out, a man may make a lucky strike.”
“Well, it’s got to come pretty soon for me, or I’ll pull up stakes and go back to riding fence,” announced Teddy.
“Are you really serious about that?” asked his brother.
“I sure am. This gold rush doesn’t mean as much as it did at first.”
Truth to tell, Nugget Camp did appear to be “petering out.” It had been famous in its day, and might be again, many days hence.But just now, aside from a few sensational finds of rich nuggets here and there, most of the miners, including the X Bar X boys, were not making a living at it. About the only ones who were really taking in anything were the proprietors of the gambling joints and the various “hotels.”
“Oh, don’t give up yet,” begged Roy, as he and Teddy prepared to turn in that night. “They don’t really need us back at the ranch, and we might as well give the wheel of fortune another turn or two.”
“Oh, I’m not quitting—completely,” said Teddy. “As for them not needing us—”
“I get your drift, as the hill said to the snowbank!” broke in Roy, with a chuckle. “You mean—”
“If you say ‘girls’ I’ll attack you with this!” and Teddy held up a slippery cake of soap he had just been using at the wash basin.
“Let it go at that!” wisely rejoined the other.
“I’ll stay one more week,” was Teddy’s final decision.
That last week the prospectors worked as they had never worked before. They dug until far into the night, taking advantage of the bright moon, and excavated by means of lanterns lowered into the shaft. They built new sluice-boxes with closer cleats and panned theirclean-up every other day with great care.
Yet the little pile of yellow grains remaining after all the gravel and dirt had been washed away, was pitifully small compared with the terrible exertions that went into that shaft and the tunnels.
“Well, this is the end of the week,” remarked Teddy one evening after the routine clean-up, and he looked at the small quantity of gold that resulted. “I’m through!”
“Yes, I guess we might as well call it a finished job and quit,” agreed his brother grimly. “Old One Eleven didn’t pan out as expected. Oh, well, we’re not out much—only our time and trouble.”
“That’s all,” agreed Teddy. “And we cleaned up that gang and got back a lot of gold for others, if we couldn’t wash out any for ourselves. Well, we’ll pack up in the morning and hit the trail for home.”
“Allset!” called Teddy early next morning.
“Let ’em ride!” echoed Roy.
Breakfast was finished and the prospectors were ready to break camp. Nat Raymond and Jim Casey had come over to help their former cow-punching comrades take down the tents and pack the duffle for the trip home. Nat and Jim were just as disappointed in their claims as were the X Bar X boys, and were also ready to quit.
“This here place is a fake!” Nat grumbled. “Good thing your dad promised us back our jobs,” he said to Roy and Teddy. “But the worst of it will be sittin’ on the fence listenin’ to Pop say: ‘I told you so!’ Snakes!”
Bug Eye, who was rolling up blankets, snickered.
“Boy! Me? I’m not kickin’! I got seven hundred bucks out o’ this here little ole camp, lemme tell you!”
“Well, we sure had an exciting time,” Teddy commented. “Nick, hand me those ponchos, will you? Hey, who’s this coming?”
Toward them came running a figure, waving his hands wildly.
“Now what’s eatin’ that guy?” Silent asked wonderingly. “Looks like a windmill on wheels!”
“It’s Maryland!” Roy declared. “Remember him, Teddy? Yes, it’s Maryland, all right!”
“Thought he was on the wagon,” Gus said. “Boy, he’s sure kickin’ up the dust!”
Maryland, his face red from his exertions, stumbled toward them.
“Hey,” he yelled. “Hey! Hey!”
“Charleston!” Nick roared. “Hey-hey yourself!”
“Listen, fellers! Listen!” he panted fiercely, trying to get enough breath to talk with. “Listen! Don’t pull up stakes! I got somethin’ to tell you!”
“Well, for Pete’s sake, spit it out without all that ‘hey-hey’ business!” Bug Eye exclaimed. “Let’s have it!”
“Well, I been workin’ on my mine—it’s near yours! I dug on a slant, instead of straight down, an’ the first thing I knew I came out in the shaft you fellers sunk. But not in any of your tunnels—a different one.”
“That’s O. K.,” Roy said easily. “You’reforgiven. Take the shaft and build yourself a house with it.”
“No, but listen, you fellers! That ain’t all! I struck gold! Plenty of it! Reams of it! An’ most of it is on your claim! An’that’swhy I ran down here, bustin’ my windpipe, to tell you!”
“Gold!”
Teddy and Roy started forward.
“Well, may I be pinned by the seat of my pants to a clothesline for the rest of my natural life!” Nick blurted out. “Our last day here, an’ gold is found on our claim!”
“And then some more!” Maryland went on excitedly. “There’s enough to make us all rich! By golly, she’s lying around in bucketfuls!”
“I see you-all read romances,” Silent said calmly. But even he was thrilled at the news. “Bucketfuls, hey? I reckon that means about fourteen carat alloy. Well, Maryland, you done us a favor!”
How much of a favor Maryland had actually done was not known until the boys reached their claim. And, strangely enough, Maryland had not exaggerated. He had struck a pocket exceptionally rich in gold, and the soil about it promised further deposits. Silent declared the yellow stuff already unearthed would total nearly forty thousand dollars.
“And that’s the beginning,” he said. “Now, how about stakin’ a few claims for the boys at home before the rush starts? I want to get one for Jack Conroy, my partner. An’ I suppose you want one for your dad?”
“Sure do,” Teddy replied. “Say, we’ll give Pop one! Then let’s see what he has to offer! Baby, if that doesn’t quiet him, nothing will!”
The claims, adjoining One Hundred Eleven, were staked, Gus, Nat, and Jim Casey abandoning their old diggings and locating near the new ones. Gus’s prophecy had come true—they had struck gold.
And what a reception Teddy and Roy received when they reached home! Before leaving Nugget Camp they sold some gold, receiving a certified check. This check Roy, followed by Teddy, bore to his father.
“Remember the grub stake you gave us?” Roy asked, as Mr. Manley looked at him quizzically. “What did we say then?”
“Well, you mentioned somethin’ about me gettin’ it back four times over,” Mr. Manley replied. “Of course, I know you didn’t mean that, so—”
“Take a look!” chuckled his son.
He thrust out the check. In red perforated figures were the numerals $25,000.
“For the love of Pete!” Mr. Manley gasped. “Four times! And then some! Boys, yousure hit it! Wait till I show this to your mother! Twenty-five thou—well, you bloated bankers, you! Do the boys know about this?”
Teddy winked.
“Tell you, Dad,” he said, grinning, “I want to wait until Pop gets in front of something soft, then I’ll flash it on him. He’ll keel over like a split flagpole!”
And, it might be added in passing, Pop did.
“Did you bring me that gold bracelet?” asked Belle Ada as she greeted her brothers in the flush of their success.
“Bracelet?” cried Teddy. “I—now—”
“We’ll get you one made of platinum first chance we get,” broke in Roy.
“I reckon you-all can leave that to me!” chuckled Jerry Decker, who had been brought over to X Bar X ranch to enjoy the celebration. “Guess it’s customary fer a patient to give his nurse a leetle somethin’, ain’t it?” he appealed to Mr. Manley.
“Of course!” agreed the rancher.
Later, when Jerry had gone back East and bought with his nuggets a little farm, a registered package came for Belle Ada. It contained a wonderful bracelet with two diamonds in it.
“They’re bright like your eyes,” Jerry wrote in the note that accompanied the gift.
Belle Ada smiled happily.
“And here’s a registered package for you too, Pop,” said Roy.
“For me! Quit your joshin’!”
“No, really! Guess your cousin sent it.”
It was a watch and chain from Mr. Decker. Pop strung it across his cowhide vest proudly and wore it continually after that, on a horse or off.
“Read this, Roy!” called Teddy to his brother one day when the mail had come in, bringing several papers. He tossed the sheet to his brother.
On the front page was an account of the trial and conviction of Greyhound and most of his gang. They were wanted for many other crimes than the robbing of Jerry Decker and the killing of the father and brother of Silent Neville, so there was no need for the ranch boys to give any testimony.
“Twenty years for Allen,” mused Roy. “He’ll sit in his cell a long time.”
“Whew! I wouldn’t want to be Allen!”
“Me, either! Come on, I’m crazy for a ride! Beat you around the corral!”
A little later a cloud of dust hid the X Bar X boys and their ponies.
THE END
This Isn’t All!
Would you like to know what became of the good friends you have made in this book?Would you like to read other stories continuing their adventures and experiences, or other books quite as entertaining by the same author?On thereverse sideof the wrapper which comes with this book, you will find a wonderful list of stories which you can buy at the same store where you got this book.Don’t throw away the WrapperUse it as a handy catalog of the books you want some day to have. But in case you do mislay it, write to the Publishers for a complete catalog.
Would you like to know what became of the good friends you have made in this book?
Would you like to read other stories continuing their adventures and experiences, or other books quite as entertaining by the same author?
On thereverse sideof the wrapper which comes with this book, you will find a wonderful list of stories which you can buy at the same store where you got this book.
Don’t throw away the Wrapper
Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want some day to have. But in case you do mislay it, write to the Publishers for a complete catalog.
WESTERN STORIES FOR BOYS
By JAMES CODY FERRIS
Individual Colored Wrappers and Illustrations byWALTER S. ROGERSEach Volume Complete in Itself.
Thrilling tales of the great west, told primarily for boys but which will be read by all who love mystery, rapid action, and adventures in the great open spaces.
The Manley Boys, Roy and Teddy, are the sons of an old ranchman, the owner of many thousands of heads of cattle. The lads know how to ride, how to shoot, and how to take care of themselves under any and all circumstances.
The cowboys of the X Bar X Ranch are real cowboys, on the job when required but full of fun and daring—a bunch any reader will be delighted to know.
THE X BAR X BOYS ON THE RANCHTHE X BAR X BOYS IN THUNDER CANYONTHE X BAR X BOYS ON WHIRLPOOL RIVERTHE X BAR X BOYS ON BIG BISON TRAILTHE X BAR X BOYS AT THE ROUND-UPTHE X BAR X BOYS AT NUGGET CAMPTHE X BAR X BOYS AT RUSTLER’S GAP
GROSSET & DUNLAP,Publishers, NEW YORK
FAMOUS ROVER BOYS SERIES
BY ARTHUR M. WINFIELD(Edward Stratemeyer)
OVER THREE MILLION COPIES SOLD OF THIS SERIES.
Uniform Style of Binding. Colored Wrappers.Every Volume Complete in Itself.
THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOLTHE ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEANTHE ROVER BOYS IN THE JUNGLETHE ROVER BOYS OUT WESTTHE ROVER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKESTHE ROVER BOYS IN THE MOUNTAINSTHE ROVER BOYS ON LAND AND SEATHE ROVER BOYS IN CAMPTHE ROVER BOYS ON THE RIVERTHE ROVER BOYS ON THE PLAINSTHE ROVER BOYS IN SOUTHERN WATERSTHE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARMTHE ROVER BOYS ON TREASURE ISLETHE ROVER BOYS AT COLLEGETHE ROVER BOYS DOWN EASTTHE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIRTHE ROVER BOYS IN NEW YORKTHE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKATHE ROVER BOYS IN BUSINESSTHE ROVER BOYS ON A TOURTHE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALLTHE ROVER BOYS ON SNOWSHOE ISLANDTHE ROVER BOYS UNDER CANVASTHE ROVER BOYS ON A HUNTTHE ROVER BOYS IN THE LAND OF LUCKTHE ROVER BOYS AT BIG HORN RANCHTHE ROVER BOYS AT BIG BEAR LAKETHE ROVER BOYS SHIPWRECKEDTHE ROVER BOYS ON SUNSET TRAILTHE ROVER BOYS WINNING A FORTUNE
Grosset & Dunlap,Publishers,New York
THE HARDY BOYS SERIES
By FRANKLIN W. DIXON
Individual Colored Wrappers and Text Illustrations byWALTER S. ROGERSEvery Volume Complete in Itself
THE HARDY BOYSare sons of a celebrated American detective, and during vacations and their off time from school they help their father by hunting down clues themselves.
THE TOWER TREASURE
A dying criminal confessed that his loot had been secreted “in the tower.” It remained for the Hardy Boys to make an astonishing discovery that cleared up the mystery.
THE HOUSE ON THE CLIFF
The house had been vacant and was supposed to be haunted. Mr. Hardy started to investigate—and disappeared! An odd tale, with plenty of excitement.
THE SECRET OF THE OLD MILL
Counterfeit money was in circulation, and the limit was reached when Mrs. Hardy took some from a stranger. A tale full of thrills.
THE MISSING CHUMS
Two of the Hardy Boys’ chums take a motor trip down the coast. They disappear and are almost rescued by their friends when all are captured. A thrilling story of adventure.
HUNTING FOR HIDDEN GOLD
Mr. Hardy is injured in tracing some stolen gold. A hunt by the boys leads to an abandoned mine, and there things start to happen. A western story all boys will enjoy.
GROSSET & DUNLAP,Publishers, NEW YORK