Soon the party reached a dense thicket of chaparral, which merged into a brake of cottonwoods and willows, interspersed with mesquite and prickly pears. The moonbeams filtered through the dense masses of vegetation in silvery streaks; here spotting the tree trunks, there detaching branches and leaves from the shadowy, mysterious background.
The soft, musical sighings and rustlings, as the breeze stole through this leafy coverlet, made of it a place conducive to thought and reflections, and even Cranny Beaumont fell under its spell. And what was more natural than that he should recall the time when, with three hundred dollars in his pocket, he had left home henceforth to depend upon himself.
Three hundred dollars! Why, at that time it had seemed like a fortune, enough to go forth and conquer the world. Yet now—he didn’t like to think of it—his finances were dwindling rapidly. The hiring of “Starlight” and the purchasing of firearms had cut a pretty big hole in his resources. Was he to go back to his father—a failure?
“No, never!” he murmured. He bit his lip almost savagely. “I must find a way!”
And despite the lively conversation of his companions and the bantering remarks which his continued silence brought from them, the Tacoma lad continued to ponder over the important problem.
A few miles beyond the timber they began to see familiar objects.
“Not far now, fellows,” sang out Tom, at length. “The old ranch-house is just beyond the next rise.”
“And after such a glorious ride, how glorious it will be to crawl under a blanket and reflect upon the lovely things we have seen,” said Dave.
“I’d rather steer away from reflections,” declared Cranny, who was beginning to recover his spirits. “I’ll race you to the top, Tom.”
The Ramblers promptly accepted this challenge, and the two, cracking their quirts, started off. The distance, only a few hundred feet, was quickly covered; “Starlight,” to Cranny’s extreme gratification, leading by a head. But the first glance he took toward the ranch-house stifled his shout of triumph and made him utter an exclamation of surprise instead.