Meanwhile the mate had been at work with deft fingers and he finally succeeded in extricating the old man and putting him upon his pins.
"Now if ye are sufficiently rested," proposed the skipper, "we will hike along."
This they did. Their way now lay between two stretches of fence that enclosed a road not much traveled for there were only faint traces of wheels in the turf. It was probably not a public highway but belonged to the great ranch.
Everything seemed smooth sailing now, as there was no more barbed wire to be immediately met but Pete soon made himself prominent again. He was rolling along with that gait peculiar to a sailor when aboard land, when he gave a sudden spring and clutched Cales convulsively in the back, giving that individual a big scare.
"Dad burn it, boys. I've stepped on a rattler." An investigation was made very carefully and Captain Broom quickly picked up a short piece of rope.
"I'll rattle you," he cried, touching up the old man with the rope's end.