“Of course,” interrupted Cranny, with a laugh.
“What?”
“A mighty mysterious one, as well.”
CHAPTER XI
SOLDIERS
In the meanwhile Dave, Sam and Don, who had elected to remain with the Rangers, were learning many new things about Texan life.
A breezy day, white clouds skimming over an expanse of the purest blue, a vast rolling country stretching off and off until it cut in faint, grayish tones against the sky, and in the midst of this several horsemen, was the picture which Dave Brandon contemplated from the top of a gentle rise. It was as refreshing to his artistic nature as the ozone to his lungs.
But he could not linger long, as the horsemen were already drawing far away; so cracking his quirt, he cantered down through the thick grasses, while a pleasant, cooling breeze swept past, toying playfully in its passage with stray locks of hair.
With Sergeant Robson Howell leading the detail, the Rangers, accompanied by Dave, Sam and Don, had been riding since early morning. And now they were approaching the site of a new town, situated not far from the famous “Eagle Pass” Ranch of Colonel Brookes Sylvester. Crowning the summit of a gentle elevation, the center of a fifty thousand acre tract of land which was rapidly being disposed of to home-seekers, they saw the beginning of what might some day become a large and flourishing city.
“The birth of a new town!” remarked Dave quite solemnly.
“And when Colonel Sylvester backs anything, it’s sure to be a success,” exclaimed Sergeant Howell who was riding close by. “Come here five years from now and I’ll wager you’ll be surprised. Sylvester, when the new line of railroad reaches it, is going to take on a boom, which will be heard throughout the state!”