The two brothers had been born on their father’s ranch, and, with the exception of the three years they had spent at the Hopper Boarding School, just outside of Denver, they had lived the rugged life of the cowboy. Although their father was more than moderately well off, he, as a Westerner of the old school, determined that his boys should have every chance the West offered them to grow into hardy men. Hence it was that they were an important part of the “working crew” on the X Bar X.
As related in the first book of this series, called “The X Bar X Boys on the Ranch,” Roy and Teddy succeeded in obtaining information which led to the capture of a band of rustlers at the very moment they had planned to steal cattle from the Manley range. Among these men was Gilly Froud, who was despised even by his cronies because of his cruelty to horses and his mean, avaricious spirit.
It was this coward who, out of revenge for a fancied wrong done him by Mr. Manley, had stolen General, Star, and Flash, the especial horses of Mr. Manley, Roy, and Teddy. That theft was his undoing, for the two boys and their father were determined to recover their favorite mounts at all costs. The many exciting adventures which led to their recovery and the jailing of most of the rustlers, are told of in the book preceding this.
With this explanation, let us return to Teddy as he is riding to meet Nick Looker, a cowboy of the X Bar X outfit.
Following Nick’s instructions, the boy bore south out of the gully. Then, in a moment, he spotted a well worn trail, and, practically of his own accord, Flash made for this at a gallop.
“Right under my nose and I couldn’t see it!” Teddy murmured bitterly. “What a fine Westerner I am! If I had found this sooner I’d be almost home by now and we could have started after Roy that much quicker. There’s just a chance that Nick saw him—just a chance. Baby, I sure hope he has!”
Eager to set his mind at rest, he touched Flash impatiently with his heels. The horse, who was doing his best over the rough ground, turned his head as if in reproach. Teddy grinned slightly.
“All right, ole hoss,” he said. “Go ahead. Don’t mind me. Guess I’m kind o’ nervous. But you can’t blame me now, can you?”
At that moment, when Teddy was most concerned over his brother’s safety, Roy was within a quarter of a mile of him, across the gully, himself riding toward Nick Looker.
When the landslide came, Roy, realizing his danger, had snapped Star into action with a sudden yell. The next moment the pall of dust hid everything, and Roy had to give his safety into the keeping of his pony.