Off on the Chase
Quite simply and unaffectedly, Mr. Ball kissed his wife on the forehead. He said not a word, but stood for a moment looking down at her. Then, motioning to Roy and Teddy, he made for the door.
“We’ll get ’em,” Roy declared brokenly. “We’ll get ’em, I vow it! Teddy—”
For a moment tears welled up in the older youth’s eyes, but they were tears of sudden, violent emotion, and Roy wiped them away, unashamed. He saw his brother standing in the center of the room, shoulders drooping, a dull, leaden look of deep despair on his face. When Roy touched his arm he started.
“Teddy, let’s be going,” the boy said softly.
“Belle!” Teddy muttered, “Belle gone—”
Suddenly Mrs. Ball saw that her speech had brought the blow home to the boys with deadening force. She shook her head sadly and grasped an arm of each.
“Buck up!” she exclaimed firmly. “Teddy, you’re not going to weaken now, are you? Come on, Pete is waiting for you. I’ll telephone your folks—the linemen just finished their work on this section and we can use the phone again—and send Bug Eye over with some men to your ranch right away. We’ll be so hot on the trail of those rustlers they’ll wish they’d never heard of the West! Why, you’ll have your sister back within twenty-four hours! We’ll rake this whole prairie with a fine tooth comb! We’ll get ’em, no matter where they hide! You listen to me—I know what I’m talking about! Look up now and ride after ’em, boys! Go get ’em!”
Teddy came to life as though he had touched a live wire. Then he threw back his shoulders and his eyes blazed. The blood returned to his face with a rush.
“We’ll get ’em!” he exclaimed harshly. “I don’t care where they hide—they can’t get away! Roy, let’s go! We’ll ride ’em down, wherever they are! Good-bye, Mrs. Ball—don’t worry! Roy! Come on!”
The boys ran across the room. The door slammed shut behind them. There was a slight jar as they leaped down the steps. In another moment the roar of a motor sounded, the cutout on full. Mrs. Ball rushed to the window, and saw the auto, with her husband and the boys in it, speed madly up the road. For a moment she stood there, watching the cloud of dust settle as the car disappeared over the hill. Then she covered her face with her hands and sobbed:
“Let them find them, O Lord! Let them find them! I haven’t asked for very much up to now; but please, Lord, let them bring the girls home safely! Send their sister back to those two dear boys and my nieces back to me! Please! Oh, please!”
Gradually her sobs subsided. Then, calm-eyed and determined, she went to the telephone. Mr. Ball had not misplaced his trust in her.
The occupants of the car which was burning up the road between the X Bar X and the 8 X 8 were, for the most part, silent, sunk deep within their thoughts. Teddy was driving automatically, his eyes fixed upon the road, his mind spinning with tangled ideas. The rustlers had made good their threat. His father’s fears had been realized. But in what a fashion! None of them had anticipated anything like this! Even now it was hard to realize. That there could be men in this country who would stoop to a scoundrel’s trick of this sort! If they had only had some intimation of what was about to occur! They had imagined the rustlers might make trouble of some kind—steal the cattle or even shoot them down from ambush. Better, far better, that the whole herd be killed than this!
What would his father say? And mother! Teddy blinked his eyes rapidly. Viciously he pressed the accelerator to the floor and the car shot ahead.
“Not wastin’ any time,” Mr. Ball declared, leaning forward from his seat in the rear. Teddy shook his head, but did not trust himself to reply. He was not sure his voice would be quite steady.
Roy turned to Mr. Ball.
“Will your wife be all right alone? She won’t—”
“She’s a thoroughbred,” Mr. Ball answered shortly. “After she’s had her little cry she’ll be as cool and collected as any man. Your folks will know about it before we get there, Roy, an’ Mrs. Ball will get our bunch together an’ send ’em on over. Bet you she’ll remember to send an extra horse by Bug Eye, too, for me. She’s a great little woman—a great little woman—” His voice trailed off into silence, and once more the three sat staring intently at the road ahead.
To Roy’s mind there came the picture of another ride taken not so very long ago, in from Eagles. That was the day their horses had been stolen and Nell and Ethel had been in the car with them. Roy remembered how Nell had exclaimed excitedly when they reached Bitter Cliff lookout, that high, mountainous point halfway between the town and their ranch. Eagerly he had pointed out the 8 X 8, where the two girls were going to visit. And that had been but a few short months ago! Now—now—
“Looks like rain,” Teddy said, in a voice so low Roy scarcely heard him.
“Can’t tell—” Roy scanned the horizon with obvious carefulness. “Those clouds aren’t quite black enough for rain. Guess we’ve had our share of it.”
As if it made any difference! Yet it was something to talk about, something else than Belle and Ethel and Nell. Worrying would do no good. They must keep calm and work coolly and determinedly, rather than allow the rage in their hearts to seep through and warp their judgment.
Roy glanced at Teddy out of the corner of his eye. He noticed that the boy’s face was set in stern lines and that his eyes never wavered from the road. Small bunches of muscles stood out just above his jawbone, like solid hickory-nuts. Teddy was all right. Almost, Roy could see the cold, silent determination within his brother’s mind. The anger which possessed Teddy was a white anger—the kind that drives men on over all obstacles, oblivious of pain, of danger, until they have won through. Roy bent slightly to the left until his shoulder touched his brother’s. A sort of electric current passed through the two boys. They were together, shoulder to shoulder, nothing could stop them! In that moment Roy knew they would never rest until the three girls had been found.
When the car pulled into the yard of the X Bar X, Mr. Manley hurried from the house and came toward it. Silently he held out his hand to Peter Ball, then, as the boys alighted, he drew nearer and threw an arm about each for a moment.
“Mrs. Ball telephoned,” he said quietly. “Glad we got the line mended in time. I’m having Nick and Gus get the horses ready. Mrs. Ball said that Bug Eye and four other men were on their way over with a bronc for you, Pete. We’ll start right out as soon as they come.”
“Where’s mother?” Teddy asked quickly.
“In the house, son. She’s all right. Want to see her?”
Both boys nodded and walked toward the steps, while the two men talked together in low tones.
The boys found their mother sitting calmly by the window. As she saw them she smiled slightly, and Roy and Teddy drew deep breaths of relief. They had been afraid—even more than they would admit to themselves—of how she would bear up. But her smile told them they need have no fear. She was true blue, a real woman of the West. She would face the trouble with the rest of them and stand her share of it. Lovingly she kissed her sons and looked searchingly into their eyes. What she found there seemed to satisfy her, for she said gently:
“Your father has been waiting for you, boys. We know all about it—Mrs. Ball telephoned. Teddy—Roy—it came suddenly, didn’t it? But we mustn’t worry too much. I know they’re all right! Somehow, I am sure of it. Nothing will happen to them. I’ve said a little prayer, and my Friend hasn’t failed me yet!” she finished brightly. “Now you must hurry, boys. Put on heavy clothes—you may have to ride far and long. I’ll see you before you leave. There!” and she kissed them again.
“You’re—you’re all right, Mother?” Roy faltered.
“All right? Of course I’m all right!” her eyes expressed well simulated surprise. “Why shouldn’t I be? We’ll have them back before to-morrow night!”
“That’s what Mrs. Ball said!” Teddy exclaimed, a light coming into his eyes. “And I believe we shall, Mother! Dad knows this country like a book, and so do we. By golly, we’ll show ’em what chance they have against a bunch of real Westerners—those New York sneak thieves, who think they’re bad men! We’ll track ’em down an’ salivate ’em!”
“Good!” exclaimed Mrs. Manley firmly. “That’s the way I like to hear my boys talk! You find them—and—and salivate them!”
As the boys returned to the yard, a great weight seemed lifted from their hearts. That it had fallen to the heart of their mother, they did not know. Her willing spirit had taken much of the burden from their souls, embracing it as her own. How could they know that it had passed from them to her with their mother’s kiss!
Now they felt confident, sure of success. Their steps were firm, their hands steady. And as their father saw them, he sensed the wonder that had been performed and silently blessed his wife. In that hour she may have lost her boys, but she had gained two men.
In the midst of preparations for the start, Bug Eye and four other men arrived. They had forced their horses to the limit, and the ponies stood panting and covered with sweat in the ranch yard.
“Made good time,” Mr. Manley said to Bug Eye as the puncher dismounted.
“Had to,” was the grim answer. “When Mrs. Ball told us what had happened we saddled up and rushed over here pronto. My boss around?”
“Talking to Mrs. Manley. He’ll be out in a minute. Can you start as soon as your broncs get rested, Bug Eye?”
“Sure can,” Bug Eye replied grimly. “An’ we’re not holdin’ back any, either. What’s the plan, Mr. Manley?”
Before answering, Mr. Manley called his men around him. Mr. Ball had come out of the ranch house and was standing with the rest. Of the X Bar X men there were Nick Looker, Pop Burns, Gus Tripp and Nat Raymond, besides, of course, Mr. Manley and Roy and Teddy. Thus, with the four men who had ridden over from the 8 X 8 with Bug Eye, there was quite an assemblage in the yard, waiting for Mr. Manley to speak.
He held up his hand, and the talk died down. The men leaned forward eagerly. They sensed from Mr. Manley’s face that a serious moment was at hand. All of them had heard something of what had happened, yet they anxiously awaited the orders of the boss of the X Bar X Ranch.
“Boys,” Mr. Manley began, “this ain’t goin’ to be much of a speech. I don’t feel in the mood for talkin’, an’ I guess you ain’t hankerin’ to stand there listenin’, either. You all know that my daughter and Nell Willis and Ethel Carew were stayin’ at the 8 X 8. Last Saturday a man in an auto comes up to Pete Ball’s place with a note, sayin’ that he’s to bring the girls back with him. The note was signed with my wife’s name.” He paused for a moment, then went on:
“My wife didn’t send no such letter. This man took the three girls with him, to bring them home, as they thought. That was Saturday. To-day is Monday. We haven’t heard from the girls since.” Once more he paused, and his eyes roved over the men about him. Then he continued:
“I guess most of you heard about the message I got a week or so ago, sayin’ I’d get mine for pushin’ the charge against those rustlers we rounded up. That note was signed ‘Reltsur,’ and Roy an’ Teddy say the letter Mrs. Ball got was in the same handwritin’. Those rustlers are out of jail now—they made a getaway. Men, it looks bad—it looks bad!”
“You think that gang of hoss thieves did this job, boss?” Nick broke in.
“Sure seems so, Nick! An’ I’ll lay money that they did, too! They have it in for me. An’ I heard they have two or three gunmen from the East with ’em. Yep, that’s who we’ve got to look for, men—this guy Reltsur.”
There was silence for a moment, then a voice asked:
“You say some geezer drove up last Satiday an’ took three girls away from the 8 X 8, boss?”
All turned to the speaker. He was one of the men who had ridden over with Bug Eye, a new hand, Bug Eye explained later.
“That’s what,” Mr. Manley answered sharply. “You know anything about it?”
“Wall, I’ll tell you what I see,” the man drawled. “I was ridin’ in toward the 8 X 8 about sundown on Satiday. You see, I don’t know this country so well, an’ I was sort of huggin’ the road, so I wouldn’t—”
“Never mind that, man. Spill it—explain later!” Mr. Ball interrupted.
“Right. Well, as I was sayin’, I was pretty close to the road. All of a sudden I hears a car comin’ an’ I thinks I’ll just hang around an’ see who it is. So I jumps my bronco behind a tree an’ waits.”
In the pause that followed, the forced breathing of the men could be plainly heard. All eyes were glued on the puncher, who went calmly on:
“Pretty soon I see a car down the road. As she comes closer, I noticed there were five people in it.”
“Five!” Teddy exclaimed.
“Yep. There were three girls, a man drivin’, an’ an old woman, who sure looked like a Mex, sittin’ in the front seat beside him.”
“A woman!” exclaimed Mr. Manley.
“Why didn’t you speak of this before?” asked Pete Ball, a bit sharply.
“Didn’t get no chance, boss,” was the calm answer. “I been out ridin’ fence ever since you hired me, which was soon after I rode in on Satiday. I didn’t hear nothin’ about no kidnappin’ till jes’ now on th’ way over, an’ then I begun puttin’ two an’ two together. For all I knowed, them folks in the auto might ’a’ been a picnicin’ party.”
“That’s right,” agreed Mr. Manley. “But it’s lucky that you happened to see them, cowboy!”
“I hope it’ll turn out so. I’d sure have mentioned it afore if I’d knowed what it meant. But I was sent for in a hurry to join what I thought was a bunch jest takin’ after rustlers, and it wasn’t until I heard the young ladies mentioned jest now that I remembered about that crowd in the auto. The driver, a mean-lookin’ sort of cuss, seemed in a pronto rush, an’ the old crone was hoverin’ over the girls like a hen with three chicks.”
“Then they must be goin’ to hold Belle and the others for ransom. Boys, if we have to, we’ll pay it—but we’ll give them a fight first! At any rate, I believe the girls are safe for a while. Go on, man, which way did the car head?” asked Mr. Manley.
“Well, now, I was just tryin’ to think. There’s a cut around here somewhere, only I can’t think of the name of it. Let’s see—somethin’ like Lightnin’ Gorge or—”
“Thunder Canyon?” Teddy broke in eagerly.
“That’s it! Thunder Canyon! That’s where they was headed for! An’ they were sure steppin’ along, too. Thunder Canyon! That’s the place.”
Mr. Manley turned to the others. His eyes were narrowed and his hand rested on the gun which hung at his side.
“You men get set,” he said tersely. “We start right away. Each man take rations enough to last him for three or four days an’ bring plenty of ammunition. We do no more foolin’ around! From now on we ride them rustlers till we get ’em.”
Instantly every one was astir. Saddles and guns were looked over carefully and small bags of flour, bacon, and tea were prepared. The boys and their father said a fond good-bye to Mrs. Manley, who, when she heard of the puncher’s story of the other woman in the car, felt greatly relieved. After all, the worst that could happen would be that the rustlers would hold the girls until Mr. Manley consented to do their bidding, whatever it might be. They would never dare to kill three girls in cold blood.
At last all was in readiness. The party was mounted, guns showing conspicuously in saddle holsters, and the men awaited the word to start.
Mr. Manley ran from the house and vaulted into the saddle. He looked quickly about him, to see that all the men were there. Then he nodded.
“All right,” he said laconically. “Let’s go! Head for Thunder Canyon.”
“Right, boss,” answered Gus Tripp softly, and the others nodded.
In that calm fashion started the ride after the rustlers. No shouting, no raking of ponies’ sides with spurs to send them into a leaping run. Just a bunch of punchers riding out of a ranch yard, as though they were on their way to a round-up.
Yet within the heart of every man there was a fierce, unconquerable purpose—to find the jailbirds and to “polish ’em off.”