"Don"t be afraid, though. We won"t try our hands on you unless you get gay with us," declared Larry seriously.
"Thankee, thankee kindly, on behalf of me and my men," bowed Sandy gravely, and then they all burst into a roar of laughter.
Cowboys love a joke, and the words and manner of the brothers, together with their clean-cut faces and manly bearing, appealed to them, winning the way to their good graces as nothing else could.
All reserve thus broken, the men bade the lads sit down.
"I s"pose you"ll be going with us?" hazarded Sandy.
"No, father won"t let us. He thinks we"re only babies. Says he"s afraid we"ll be in the way. So we"ve got to stay home and watch the herd at the Witches" Pool."
"You may have your hands full at that," declared one of the cowboys.
"Keep quiet," growled Sandy, frowning at the speaker.
But the remark had suggested all sorts of possibilities to the lads, and, glancing at Tom and Larry, Horace asked:
"What makes you think so?"
Again Sandy cast a look full of meaning at his fellow and the cowboy answered:
"Oh, nothing in particular. I was just talking."
The boys had noted Sandy"s glances, however, and the reply only whetted their curiosity.
Drawing himself to his full height and striving to be as severe as possible, Horace said:
"If any of you men know of any trouble that may come to the Half-Moon herd, it is your duty to tell my father before he goes away."
The words and the seriousness of the boy standing before them sent the men into another roar of laughter.
But Sandy hastened to say:
"There"s nothing we know, kid. Skinny was only joking."
Horace was about to reply when Hop Joy poked his head through the door, saying:
"Glub all leady, Ned."
"All right, Hop." And springing from his bunk, Ned went out to harness his horses, accompanied by several of the cowboys.
For an hour or so the chums stayed in the bunkhouse, listening to stories of marvelous feats of broncho-busting and whatever else the men pleased to tell them, only leaving when Nails announced it was time to go to the corral and saddle up.
"Aren"t you going with them?" asked Tom.
"No," returned Horace. "We are liable to get hurt, it"s so dark.
We couldn"t see anything if we did go. Besides, father may have some orders to give us."
The only instructions Mr. Wilder had to give, however, were to be careful not to do anything that would cause his wife to worry about them.
"Suppose the herd gets in trouble, what shall we do?" persisted Horace, on whose excited mind the words of the Three Stars" cowboy had made a lasting impression.
"Use your own judgment. But don"t let your imagination play tricks on you. The cattle will be all right--unless you get them restless."
"Oh, we won"t do that," quickly declared Larry. "We"ll take such good care of them, you will want to hire us as cowboys when you get back."
The shouts from the corral told the ranchmen that the time for the start had arrived, and quickly they made themselves ready, while Hop Joy appeared to say he had sent saddle bags with food for Mr.
Wilder and Bill by Ned.
With a great clatter of hoofs, the cowboys rode up. The Wilders and Mr. Snider bade a hurried good-by, mounted and galloped away into the darkness of the night, with the wishes of Mrs. Wilder and the boys for success and a speedy return ringing in their ears.
CHAPTER XIII
OUT ON THE PLAINS
Unlike the night when the hunting party had ridden over the plains, black clouds covered the sky, making the darkness so intense that the riders could not see fifty feet ahead of them. But Mr. Wilder and Nails knew the route well, so that the absence of the moon made no great difference.
That they need not tire their mounts by hard riding, Mr. Wilder had purposely set the start early and, with Snider on one side and Bill on the other, he led the cavalcade, setting the pace at a slow lope.
Now and then the cowboys talked or laughed, but for the most part they were silent, the creak of the saddle leathers and the swish of the horses" legs as they brushed through the gra.s.s being the only sounds to tell that a body of men were riding through the darkness.
So lonesome was the ranch house after the departure of the party that, though they made several attempts to talk, Horace and the two Eastern lads finally decided to go to bed, to the evident relief of Mrs. Wilder.
But sleep did not come to Larry and Tom, and as they lay tossing and turning, the former asked:
"Do you think that fellow they call Skinny really meant there was any danger threatening the herd at the Witches" Pool?"
"I don"t believe so," replied Tom. "I suppose there is always the chance that a lot of things may happen to a big herd like that.
Some of them might try to wander away or they might get frightened and stampede. I read about a stampede once where the cattle ran right over the edge of a cliff."
"Well, they couldn"t do that at the pool, because there aren"t any cliffs near there," replied Tom.
Larry was not satisfied, however, and said:
"I wonder what cowboys do to stop a stampede? I wish we"d thought to ask Mr. Wilder."
"Don"t always be looking for trouble, Larry," protested his brother.
"Still, we ought to know. He said he"d hold us responsible for the cattle."
"We can ask Ned when he gets back, if you really want to know. But don"t, for goodness sake let Horace hear you. His imagination is so lively that he would think it was a stampede every time the cattle moved. I think it was because Horace is so excitable that Mr. Wilder had us stay home. He probably thought we were older and could steady him down. Now don"t try to think up any more things that might happen. I"m tired and want to go to sleep." And turning his back to his brother, Tom refused to talk any more.
Out on the prairie the body of hors.e.m.e.n were riding silently and steadily.
"I hope we shall not be obliged to wait long for Pete," said Bill, giving voice to his thoughts.