"Yes, what about him?" Elmer exclaimed; while Landy laid a quivering hand on Ted"s arm and inquired:
""Taint a rattlesnake, I hope, this time, Ted?"
The other shook his head in the negative.
"Bull!" he articulated.
"Oh, he means that our poor pard has been chewed up by a bulldog!" cried Landy. "And Ty never did like dogs, either; only hot ones at the county fair."
"No, no!" whispered Ted. "Gentleman cow, you thee, and the motht thavage looking beatht ever. Wow!"
"A bull! Now I know what you mean," Landy went on, as the light of understanding broke over his mottled countenance. "Some of these farmers up here do keep terrors, and enter them in the exhibition for prizes.
But what did the bull do to our poor chum Ty?"
"Don"t know; didn"t ask Ty," replied the other, now beginning to get his breath back again fairly well, so that his voice, lisp and all, was audible. "You thee, I wath jutht about to thaunter acroth a field, when I heard thome one yelling like the d.i.c.kenth. Then I thaw a big red bull pawing the grath at the foot of a tree; and there wath Ty, ath big ath life, thitting up on a limb. That"th all I thaw, for the bull tharted after me, and I got over the fenthe like fun."
The boys stared at each other; then a wide grin began to appear on their faces. Since it seemed as though their chum had not been seriously injured they could not resist the temptation to chuckle over the comical aspect of the adventure.
"Say, perhaps the bull just went and heaved Ty up in that tree,"
suggested Landy.
"Oh, I hardly think it went as far as that," said Elmer. "The chances are, Ty had plenty of warning, and climbed without any help from the beast."
"But why would the bull hang around all the time?" asked the fat boy, wonderingly. "Bulls don"t feed on boys, do they?"
"Not very often," laughed Elmer. "But they do seem to hate a certain color above all things on this earth. You remember that the Spaniards use a red flag to make the bull attack in the ring?"
Then Landy saw a great light.
"Ty"s famous old red sweater, that"s what!" he shouted. "It"s gone and pulled him into a peck of trouble, for a fact. And just last night he was blowing about what a great help it had been to him. Say, he must be in a nice pickle now, hey?"
"Breakfast will have to wait a while," declared Elmer; "while the whole bunch of us sally out to rescue our chum in distress. You know the rules of the organization. Come on, fellows."
Even while speaking, Elmer had placed the coffee pot and the frying pan aside, as far away from the fire as they could go without losing their heat. Adam, Landy and Ted were apparently only too willing to accompany him on his errand of mercy.
Following a trail that led through the woods, they finally came to an open field. It had just one tree, and that growing some distance from the high rail fence.
"There"s the bull, just as Ted said," remarked Elmer, as they looked.
"And he"s about the ugliest critter I ever laid eyes on, for a fact,"
remarked Landy. "My goodness! Look at him tossing up the dirt with those nasty little black horns, would you! And he"s punched holes through that tin pail the farmer"s women folks loaned us, too. I can see Ty now, because of that nice red sweater he wears. He"s waving at us, and there he shouts!"
"Hey, call him off, fellers! Somebody go and coax him around to that other end of the field. I want to come down. Been up here "most an hour, I guess, and I"m getting tired of it. Elmer, you know how to do the business. Landy, s"pose you climb over and let him see you. He won"t be able to resist trying for such a fat prize!"
"Listen to his nerve, boys," complained Landy. "He wants me to sacrifice myself on the altar of friendship for him. Just as if I could ever climb over this fence again, if that holy terror came snorting and rampaging for me! I guess not."
"No need to, Landy," laughed Elmer, as he noted the indignation of the fat boy. "We"ll find some way to get Ty out of his fix without taking chances of your climbing a fence in one, two, three order."
"Hurry up!" came floating across the field from the tree, among the branches of which the owner of the red sweater was waving frantically.
"Firtht thing to be done, he ought to get out of that thweater, don"t you think, Elmer?" inquired Ted.
"That"s right, and I"ll tell him so"; and, accordingly, raising his voice, he informed Ty that if he expected them to do anything toward effecting his rescue he must rid himself of the garment that was exciting the fighting spirit in the bull.
Of course that went against the grain of Ty; but when the others refused to make the first move until he had complied, he went about the task with evident ill humor.
"But he ain"t leaving it hanging in the tree, Elmer," announced Landy, whose eyesight seemed to be all right this morning, however defective it may have been on the previous evening after his engagement with that poison vine. "He"s stuffing it inside his shirt, I do declare!"
"Well, that doesn"t matter," the patrol leader remarked; "so long as he gets rid of it. And now, boys, you stay here to help him over when he comes. I"m going to go around to the other side and tempt the bull.
Fortunately I"ve got a red bandana handkerchief myself, which I wear cowboy style around my neck; and that ought to be a good enough bait for Mr. Bull."
"Oh, be careful, Elmer; don"t stay in the field too long, because he might get you," pleaded Landy.
"You let Elmer alone," said Ted. "He knowth hith buthineth all right. He cometh from the ranch country, where they breed bullth. All right, Elmer; we"ll get buthy when Ty getth here. Good luck to you!"
Elmer, when a little distance away, stopped to hold a short talk with the boy up in the tree. It happened that the border of the field varied, and this spot was a trifle closer than any other.
"Now, listen, Ty," he shouted, after he had succeeded in attracting the attention of the other; "I"m going over to that spot that"s farthest away. When the bull gets a good start for me, you slip down, and run for all you"re worth straight to where the other fellows are waiting. Try and keep the trunk of the tree between you and the bull all you can. And if he chases you too hard, throw that red sweater aside. He may stop to toss it a few times, and that"ll give you a chance to make the fence. Do you understand?"
"Yes, it"s all clear enough; but hold his attention as long as you can, Elmer, because it looks like a whole mile over to that fence!" Ty called back.
So Elmer kept on around the field. The place he had selected as the scene of operations was exactly opposite where he had left the other three fellows; and he considered this a favorable circ.u.mstance, indeed, as it increased the chances of the boy in the tree.
When he had finally arrived, Elmer took the red bandana handkerchief from his neck, and climbed over the fence. Of course, not being a professional bullfighter, he did not mean to get far away from his base, and expected to make good use of that same fence when the crisis came.
Immediately he began to shout and wave that defiant banner, the bull took notice. Since the color that he detested so heartily seemed to have been transferred from the boy in the tree to the one on the ground, so the interest of the bull changed.
He instantly started on a mad run toward Elmer, galloping along in a way that seemed to indicate a desire to be out after business.
"Get down, quick, Ty, and run for all you"re worth!" shouted Elmer, still waving his bandana, and at the same time trying to correctly gauge the speed of his enemy, so that he could get out of harm"s way in ample time.
"Jump, Elmer!" shrieked Landy, who was perched on the top of the fence across the field, and could not tell just how close the bull had arrived to his chum.
Ty had meanwhile dropped out of the tree, and was heading for them as fast as his nimble legs, aided by his fright, could carry him. But as he had said, it was quite some distance, and his heart seemed to be in his mouth every second of the time he was in transit.
"There! Elmer"s made for the fence at last!" cried Landy. "Oh, look at that rush of the bull, would you! But Elmer was too quick for him, and he"s over the fence and out. Oh, my, just hear that crash when the old bull banged into the fence! Now, will you be good, you monster? He"s looking around, and I just hope he don"t see poor old Ty making this way!"
"Py chimineddy! He"s goming pack!" declared Adam.
"He is, and like a whirlwind, too!" gasped Landy. "Oh! now we won"t be able to help our chum a little bit. Run faster, Ty; let out another kink! He"s after you!"
Evidently there was no need to tell poor Ty that dismal fact, for he had been taking frequent observations over his left shoulder as he galloped along. Perhaps he did let out another "kink," as Landy expressed it; but if so, the fact was not very noticeable, so rapidly was the bull overtaking him.
But Ty had not forgotten that last instruction given him by the one who knew bulls from the ground up, their little weaknesses as well as their ferocious habits. The friendly fence, with his three anxious chums perched on the top rail, was not so very far away; but to his eyes it seemed a long distance, and he just knew he could never make it before being overtaken.
In vain did Landy, Adam and Ted wave their arms, shouting at the top of their voices, in the hope of attracting the attention of the animal; or perhaps alarming him; he kept doggedly on, aiming straight for the fleeing boy, whose legs by this time seemed to wabble under him, possibly through sheer fright.