The Pony Rider Boys in Texas; Or, The Veiled Riddle of the Plains

  THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN TEXAS

  Or

  The Veiled Riddle of the Plains

  by

  FRANK GEE PATCHIN

  Author of The Pony Rider Boys in The Rockies, Etc.

  PhiladelphiaHenry Altemus CompanyCopyright, 1910 by Howard E. Altemus

  Drop That Gun!]

  CONTENTS

  I. In the Land of the Cowboy

  II. The Pony Riders Join the Outfit

  III. Putting the Cows to Bed

  IV. The First Night in Camp

  V. Cutting Out the Herd

  VI. Tad Takes a Desperate Chance

  VII. The Herd Fords the River

  VIII. The Approach of the Storm

  IX. Chased by a Stampeding Herd

  X. A Miraculous Escape

  XI. The Vigil on the Plains

  XII. Under a Strange Influence

  XIII. Chunky Ropes a Cowboy

  XIV. On a Wild Night Ride

  XV. Fording a Swollen River

  XVI. A Brave Rescue

  XVII. Making New Friends

  XVIII. Breaking in the Bronchos

  XIX. Grit Wins the Battle

  XX. Dinner at the Ox Bow

  XXI. A Call for Help

  XXII. Lost in the Adobe Church

  XXIII. Solving the Mystery

  XXIV. Conclusion

  List of Illustrations

  Drop That Gun!

  Good for You, Kid!

  As the Wagon Lurched Pong Plunged Overboard.

  Tad Gave the Rope a Quick, Rolling Motion.

  The Pony Rider Boys in Texas

  CHAPTER I

  IN THE LAND OF THE COWBOY

  "What's that?"

  "Guns, I reckon."

  "Sounds to me as if the town were being attacked. Just like war time,isn't it?"

  "Never having been to war, I can't say. But it's a noise all right."

  The freckle-faced boy, sitting on his pony with easy confidence,answered his companion's questions absently. After a careless glance upthe street, he turned to resume his study of the noisy crowds that weresurging back and forth along the main street of San Diego, Texas.

  "Yes, it's a noise. But what is it all about?"

  "Fourth of July, Ned. Don't you hear?"

  "Hear it, Tad? I should say I do hear it. Yet I must confess that it isa different sort of racket from any I've ever heard up North on theFourth. Is this the way they celebrate it down here?"

  "I'm sure I don't know."

  "Why, a fellow might imagine that a band of wild Indians were tearingdown on him. Here they come! Look out! Me for a side street!"

  The little Texas town was dressed in its finest, in honor of the greatnational holiday, and the inhabitants for many miles around had riddenin at the first streak of dawn, that they might miss none of the frolic.

  A rapid explosion of firearms accompanied by a chorus of wild yells andthrilling whoops, had caused Ned Rector to utter the exclamation ofalarm. As he did so, he whirled his pony about, urging the little animalinto a side street so that he might be out of the way of the body of menwhom he saw rushing down upon them on galloping ponies.

  "Hurry, Tad!" he called from the protection of the side street.

  That others in the street had heard, and seen as well, was evident fromthe frantic haste with which they scrambled for the sidewalk, crowdingthose already there over yard fences, into stores and stairways in aneffort to get clear of the roadway. A sudden panic had seized them, forwell did they know the meaning of the shooting and the shouting.

  A band of wild, uncontrollable cowboys, free for the time from theexacting work of the range, were sweeping down on the town, determinedto do their part in the observance of the day.

  Yet, Tad Butler, the freckle-faced boy, remained where he wasundisturbed by the uproar, finding great interest in the excited throngsthat were hurrying to cover. Nor did he appear to be alarmed when, amoment later, he found himself almost the sole occupant of the street atthat point, with his pony backed up against the curbing, tossing itshead and champing its bit restlessly.

  As for the freckle-faced boy and his companion, the reader no doubt hasrecognized in them our old friends, Tad Butler and Ned Rector, the PonyRider Boys. After their exciting experiences in the Rockies, and theirdiscovery of the Lost Claim, which gave each of the boys a littlefortune of his own, as narrated in the preceding volume, "The PonyRider Boys in the Rockies," the Pony Riders had turned toward Texasas the scene of their next journeying. With Walter Perkins and StacyBrown, the boys, under the guidance of Professor Zepplin, were to join acattle outfit at San Diego, whence they were to travel northward withit.

  This was to be one of the biggest cattle drives of recent years. Acattle dealer, Mr. Thomas B. Miller, had purchased a large herd ofMexican cattle, which he decided to drive across the state on the oldtrail, instead of shipping them by rail, to his ranch in Oklahoma.

  It had been arranged that the Pony Riders were to become members of theworking force of the outfit during what was called the "drive" acrossthe State of Texas. The boys were awaiting the arrival of the herd atSan Diego on this Fourth of July morning. Though they did not suspectit, the Pony Rider Boys were destined, on this trip, to pass throughadventures more thrilling, and hardships more severe, than anything theyhad even dreamed of before.

  The cattle had arrived late the previous evening, though the boys hadnot yet been informed of the fact. The animals were to be allowed tograze and rest for the day, while the cowmen, or such of them as couldbe spared, were given leave to ride into town in small parties. It wasthe advance guard of the cowboys whose shots and yells had stirred thepeople in the street to such sudden activity.

  On they came, a shouting, yelling mob.

  Tad turned to look at them now.

  The sight was one calculated to stir the heart and quicken the pulses ofany boy. But the face of Tad Butler reflected only mild curiosity as hegazed inquiringly at the dashing horsemen, each one of whom was ridingstanding in his stirrups waving sombrero and gun on high.

  What interested the freckle-faced boy most was their masterfulhorsemanship.

  "Y-e-e-e-o-w!" exploded the foremost of the riders.

  Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

  As many puffs of white smoke leaped into the air from the revolvers ofthe skylarking cowmen.

  "W-h-o-o-o-p-e!" they chorused in a mighty yell, letting go at the sametime a rattling fire.

  "Y-e-e-e-o-w!"

  As they swept down toward the spot where Tad was sitting on his pony,the cowboys swung into line six abreast, thus filling the street fromcurb to curb.

  This time, however, instead of shooting into the air, they lowered themuzzles of their revolvers, sending volley after volley into the streetahead of them, the leaden missiles viciously kicking up the dirt intominiature clouds, like those from heavy drops of rain in advance of athunder squall.

  Tad's pony began to show signs of nervousness.

  "Whoa!" commanded the boy sharply, tightening his rein and pressing hisknees firmly against the animal's sides. The prancing pony was quicklymastered by its rider, though it continued to shake its head in emphaticprotest.

  "Out of the way, you tenderfoot!" yelled a cowman, espying the boy andpony directly in his path.

  Tad Butler did not move.

  "Y-e-e-e-o-w!" shrieked the band in a series of shrill cries.

  When they saw that the boy was holding his ground so calmly, theirrevolvers began t
o bark spitefully, flicking up a semicircle of dustabout the pony's feet, causing the little animal to prance and rear intothe air.

  At this Tad's jaws set stubbornly, his lips pressing themselves firmlytogether. The boy brought his quirt down sharply on the pony's flank, atthe same time pressing the pointless rowels of his spurs against thesides of the frightened animal.

  Though Tad determinedly held his mount in its place, he was no longerable to check its rearing and plunging, for the wiry little animal waswholly unused to such treatment. Besides, a volley of revolver bulletsabout its feet would disturb the steadiest horse.

  Two cowboys on his side of the street had driven their mounts toward thelad with a yell. Tad did not wholly divine their purpose, though he knewthat their intent was to frighten him into giving them the street. Hefelt instinctively that if he should refuse to do so, some sort ofviolence would be visited upon him.

  It followed a moment later.

  Observing that the boy had no intention of giving way to them, the twocowboys held their course, their eyes fixed on the offending tenderfootuntil finally only a few rods separated them.

  Suddenly, both men pulled their mounts sharply to the right, and,digging in the spurs, plunged straight for Tad.

  "So that's their game, is it?" thought the boy.

  They were going to run him down.

  Tad's eyes flashed indignantly, yet still he made no move to pull hispony out of the street.

  "Keep off!" he shouted. "Don't you run me down!"

  "W-h-o-o-o-p!" howled the pair, at the same time letting go a volleyright under the hoofs of his pony. It seemed to the lad that the powderfrom their weapons had burned his face, so close had the guns been whenthey pulled the triggers.

  Tad had braced himself for the shock that he knew was coming, gatheringthe reins tightly in his right hand and leaning slightly forward in hissaddle.

  They were fairly upon him now. Two revolvers exploded into the air,accompanied by the long shrill yell of the plainsmen. But just when itseemed that the lad must go down under the rush of beating hoofs, Tadall but lifted his pony from the ground, turned the little animal andheaded him in the direction in which the wild horsemen were going.

  The boy's clever horsemanship had saved him. Yet one of the racing cowponies struck the boy and his horse a glancing blow. For the moment, Tadfelt sure his left leg must have been broken. He imagined that he hadheard it snap.

  As he swept past the boy the cowboy had uttered a jeering yell.

  Tad brought down his quirt with all his force on the rump of the kickingcow pony, whose hoofs threatened to wound his own animal.

  Then a most unexpected thing happened--that is, unexpected to thecowboy.

  Looking back at the boy he had attempted to unhorse, the cowman wasleaning over far to the left in his saddle when Tad struck his horse.The pony, under the sting of the unexpected blow, leaped into the airwith arching back and a squeal of rage.

  The cowboy's weight on the side of the startled animal overbalanced itand the animal plunged sideways to the street. The cowpuncher managed tofree his left leg from the stirrup; but, quick as he was, he was notquick enough to save himself wholly from the force of the fall. Thefellow ploughed the dirt of the street on his face, while the pony,springing to its feet, was off with a bound.

  The other cowpunchers set up a great jeering yell as they saw theunhorsing of their companion by a mere boy, while the villagers andcountry folks laughed as loudly as they dared.

  Yet there was not one of them but feared that the angry cowpuncher wouldvisit his wrath upon the lad who had been the cause of his downfall.

  With a roar of rage he scrambled to his feet.

  In his fall the fellow's gun had been wrenched from his hand, and lay inthe street.

  He picked it up as he started for Tad Butler.

  Tad, who had sat in his saddle calmly, now realized that he must actquickly if he expected to save himself.

  His plan was formed in a flash.

  Digging in the spurs, and at the same time slapping the little animalsmartly on its side, the lad caused his little pony to leap violentlyforward.

  "Drop that gun!"

  As he uttered the stern command, the boy brought his quirt down acrossthe cowman's knuckles with a resounding whack.

  The cowman with a yell of rage sprang at him, but the blow aimed at TadButler's head never reached him.