“His name is Natick. He’s a new hand. Bug Eye says he hasn’t been with their outfit very long. But he says he’s a good man, and I think he is, too. He impresses me as being all cowboy.”
Teddy nodded.
“Just wanted to get your idea. I like him O. K. myself. Kind of long and stringy, but he’s built like a rawhide whip. So you think we can depend on him?”
“I think so, Teddy. Anyway, we’ve got to. He’s the only one who knows anything about this business, and it’s nothing more than pure, dumb luck that he knows as much as he does. He spoke of a woman being in the car. I’m sure glad of that, but I wonder who she could have been?”
“Some half-breed probably, carried along to take care of the girls. Those rustlers are not exactly fools, I guess, and they know that if anything serious happened their lives wouldn’t be worth a plugged nickel. I reckon the girls will be treated fairly, all right, and I’m not worried about that. But I can’t stand the thought of those jailbirds holding Belle and Ethel and Nell captives while they dictate terms to us! That sort of gets under my skin, by golly! Then, too, unless we find them soon, we can’t tell what—”
He pulled Flash aside to avoid a sharp depression and left his sentence unfinished. But Roy understood. He knew that they could not afford to delay, as the rustlers might become desperate and determine to abandon the girls to their fate rather than risk capture red-handed. Haste was imperative. While the girls were in the hands of gunmen and horse thieves they were in dire peril.
As the riders proceeded, they left behind that deserted waste and came into a more fertile country. They were nearing Thunder Canyon, through which ran a turbulent stream, and the nourishment derived from this water changed the grasses from a lifeless brown to a soft green. They made better speed now, the footing being much surer.
Before them rose a high mountain. They were to skirt this, for along its side was Thunder Canyon. Other mountains bordered the gulch, but these could not yet be seen. At the foot of the rise Mr. Manley called a halt.
“Natick!” he shouted, “ride up here a second, will you?”
The puncher complied, and stood near Roy and Teddy, who had approached their father and Mr. Ball.