"What are those fellows going to do now?" asked Will, nodding toward the cowboy officers, who had now thrown themselves down upon the long gra.s.s of the valley. "They didn"t follow us here just for exercise."
"If those train robbers really are friends of yours," Seth replied, "they have done you, perhaps unintentionally, a great deal of harm. It is an old saying, you know," the deputy went on, "that one fool friend can work a man more mischief than a dozen open enemies."
"I suppose you people think now," Will said, "that we really do train with that bunch of robbers."
"I don"t!" declared Seth. "I know you to be honest Boy Scouts, and no counterfeits, and I don"t believe such lads mix up with train robbers."
"We don"t at all events," Will answered.
"Look here," George interrupted, "the train robbers saw a chance to rub it into the officers and they did it. That"s all there is to that! They would have protected the detectives who were searching the mountains, or even a band of burglars, just the same as they did us. You know very well that such fellows have a perpetual grouch against officers of the law. The only wonder is they didn"t shoot when they had the cowboys unarmed."
"Even train robbers are averse to committing murder," replied Seth.
"Well, what are they going to do about it?" Will insisted.
"They want you to come out to Lander with me and stand trial."
"And if we refuse?"
"But you won"t do that!"
"You are mistaken there," replied Will. "If they want us, they"ve got to come and get us."
"That isn"t good judgment," declared Seth.
While the two discussed the situation, the others listening intently, the two visitors came slowly out of the tent and approached the spot where Seth and Will were standing. Seth regarded the two men quizzically for a moment and then extended both hands in greeting.
"Glad to see you, Gilmore!" he said. "How long have you been here?"
"Only a short time," was the reply. "At the request of a personal friend, an officer from Chicago, we dropped in for breakfast and also to see if the boys needed any a.s.sistance."
"Boys," Seth said, turning to the astonished group of youngsters, "this is Sheriff Gilmore of Sweet.w.a.ter county, and this," pointing to the other, "is Doyle, one of his deputies. They are both good fellows."
"Did you say you knew John Johnson well?" asked Will, after greetings had been exchanged. "Was it the truth you said about his asking you to call and help us out if we needed a.s.sistance?"
"True as Gospel!" answered Gilmore. "I knew John Johnson when he was on a ranch over here in the Sweet.w.a.ter country. I"m taking a little excursion into Pete"s country in search of the train robbers. I met Johnson going out, and he asked me to call on his friends, the boys."
"So you can vouch for these lads, can you?" asked Seth, a smile of satisfaction coming to his face.
"I certainly can!" was the reply. "Johnson told me all about them, so I know what they"re here for, and all about their movements."
Before speaking, Seth took off his hat and began waving it in the direction of the cowboy officers. Sheriff Pete and his deputies rose to their feet and walked toward the camp. Before reaching the fire, they recognized Sheriff Gilmore and came forward with extended hands. The situation was soon explained.
"Now see here, kiddo," Sheriff Pete said, as he drew Will to one side, "we don"t know what you"re in here for, but we know now that you"re all right. We"ll stand by you to the bottom of the deck if you"ll just forget all about that little hold-up over in the other valley."
"That was funny, wasn"t it?" Will said with a grin.
"I can"t see anything funny in it!" said the Sheriff.
"Those train robbers looked pretty good to us just then," Will commented. "They came just in time!"
"You wouldn"t have been harmed," said the sheriff, with a smile. "I was only putting in a little third degree work."
"All right," Will said, "you help us if it comes handy for you to do so, and we won"t say a word about the hold-up."
The two sheriffs and their deputies discussed the situation thoroughly, and finally decided that the two train robbers were making for the Bad Lands in Big Horn county.
"If Tommy"d only come back now with that bear steak," Will suggested, "I could get all you boys a dinner that would put an inch of fat on your ribs! Seems to me it"s pretty near time for him to be back."
"Suppose I go and hurry him up?" asked George.
"Go to it!" Will replied, "and I"ll get out a lot of spuds and make a gallon of coffee, and we"ll have a Sunday School picnic right here in the long gra.s.s! You"ve got to feed before you go away!"
"Everything looks mighty friendly here just now," Sandy answered, "but look up on top of the ridge, and see if you can tell what George is trying to say to us. That"s Boy Scout wig-wag, all right!"
"Yes," replied Will, springing to his feet excitedly. "That"s the Myer code, sure as you live, and he"s got a big white pine bough he"s using as a flag. Can you see what he is saying?"
"Sure!" replied Sandy, "He says he wants--now what do you think of that?
He"s stopped!"
As they looked the boy dropped to the ground
CHAPTER XIII
TOMMY GOES AFTER BEAR STEAK
Tommy started up the slope whistling gaily. At the summit he turned to look back at the camp. The cowboys were at that time standing some distance away and Seth was advancing toward the fire.
"That Seth is a good Indian!" declared the boy, "He"ll fix things up all right, so there"s no need of my going back. Gee!" he went on as he looked up and down the pleasant valley, warm and sweet under the morning sun. "It"s a pretty good thing to be a Boy Scout! Here we find a man in the mountains of Wyoming ready to fight for us just because we are Boy Scouts. I should think every boy in the world would want to join!"
The lad stood for a moment watching the figures at the distant camp, and then hastened into the valley below. When he struck the rock-strewn gulch which lay to the south of the wide opening in the hills he paused and looked cautiously about.
"There may be plenty more bears here!" he mused.
But no bears or hostile animals of any kind were in sight, so the boy pa.s.sed along to the cavern which George and Will had visited on the previous night--the cavern where the escaped convict and his son had made their home. Tommy glanced curiously into the opening in the rocky wall as he halted in front of it.
On the previous night he had pa.s.sed this cavern in company with Sandy without observing it. At this time he was not certain that it was not the cave where he had met the bears, so he stepped inside after a moment"s thought and advanced toward the rear wall.
A semi-twilight lay over the interior, and the boy brought out his searchlight. By its rays he saw a break in the rock of the north wall and stepped closer. The place was merely an alcove eight or ten feet in size, doubtless carved out by the action of water.
In the alcove the boy saw the embers of a fire. Then he turned about and inspected the outer cave more carefully. He saw the rude furniture which his chums had observed the night before, and the pitifully small supply of cooking utensils. Lying on the table was a generous supply of fresh meat, evidently taken from the carca.s.s of one of the bears.
Tommy had heard little said concerning the cave which had been occupied by Wagner and his son, but quite enough to understand that he had stumbled upon the place.
What puzzled him now was the presence of the bear meat. He knew very well that neither Wagner nor his son had occupied the place since the disappearance of the father. He understood, too, that if there had been provisions in the cave at the time of the visit of his chums, they would have referred to the fact. Besides all this, the bear which had probably supplied the meat had been killed only a few hours before.