"That"s what they are!" cried Nort "They"re cattle rustlers, and something else! Why, they had the nerve to drive some of our Diamond X branded cattle right in under our noses, and they never even apologized!"
"Such fellows don"t generally beg your pardon," commented Mr. Merkel, dryly. "But have you any idea what their game is, boys?" he asked the two brothers.
"They"re digging, blasting and excavating for something that"s hidden in the ground," answered Nort. "Whether it"s gold or diamonds I don"t know."
"I don"t see how it can be either," said Bud, with a shake of his head.
"Nothing like that has ever been found around here."
"There"s always a first time," said Mrs. Merkel, with a smile. "And wouldn"t it be wonderful if there should be a diamond mine on our ranch? I"d rather it would be diamonds than gold," she went on, "as it doesn"t take so many diamonds to amount to a fortune."
"Well, all I"ve got to say is that if those rascals rustle off enough of my steers they"ll be making a fortune that I ought to have,"
commented the head of Diamond X ranch. "I think it"s time we closed in on "em, boys!" he added sharply. "Up to now we didn"t have any direct evidence. But if Nort and d.i.c.k saw some of our cattle driven into their camp, and held there, that"s proof enough of what they are."
"That"s what I say!" cried Bud. "Let"s get after the rustlers, Del Pinzo and the rest! I always did suspect that slick Greaser, and now we"ve got the goods on him. Shouldn"t wonder but what that Double Z outfit was mixed up in this, too."
"Don"t go jumping too fast," counseled his father. "Zip Foster wouldn"t like it!"
"Oh--er--well, you"ll see if I"m not right!" said Bud, somewhat confused.
It was planned, in the light of what Nort and Bud had seen and heard, to close in and raid the mysterious camp of the professors" the next day. This talk had taken place during the night and early morning hours, following the meeting of the refugees with the rescue party.
"Maybe we ought to close in on "em this morning," suggested Bud, as the conference broke up, when the first streaks of dawn were coming in the ranch house windows.
"No," decided his father. "Nort and d.i.c.k want to get a little sleep, and we want them with us when we close in. Then, too, I want to circulate the word around a bit, and have some deputies from the sheriff"s office on hand to see that everything is done regular. Of course I"d have a right to go in there, right off the reel, and take my cattle. But I"d rather do it regular."
So it was planned. Nort and d.i.c.k, indeed, were glad to get some sleep and rest, for they had had a hard time during the last two days. But they were hardy, healthy lads, and their life almost continually in the open since coming to Diamond X ranch had made them able to endure hardships they could not, otherwise, have stood. So, after a short rest and sleep, they were as eager as Bud and the cowboys to start on a raid.
Meanwhile Mr. Merkel had not been idle. He had sent word of what had happened to several adjoining ranches, being careful, however, not to let news of what was afoot trickle through to Hank Fisher, owner of the Double Z. As a matter of fact, while there was no evidence to directly connect Hank with the mysterious operations at the professors" camp, this man was believed to have been involved in more than one cattle rustling operation.
It was hinted that he branded more mavericks than were rightfully his, and on several occasions cattle with "blurred brands" had been found on his ranch. But he always managed to explain matters, though his a.s.sociation with Del Pinzo, who gave it out that he was officially attached to Double Z, did not raise the value of Hank Fisher"s reputation. So it was thought best not to include him or his cowboys in the raid.
But others from adjoining" ranches a.s.sembled at Diamond X on the morning selected for the start, and by this time saddles and bridles had been provided for Blaze and Blackie, and Nort and d.i.c.k sported new guns in their holsters.
"Now do be careful, won"t you?" pleaded Mrs. Merkel, as the cavalcade started off, with none of the usual whooping and yelling that marked many cowboy affairs. This was thought too serious to be decorated with horse play.
"We"ll be careful," promised her husband. "But I don"t imagine there"ll be any serious trouble. We"ll surround the place and if those fellows have any sense they"ll give up and take what"s coming to them."
"Look out for the boys!" she said in a lower voice, nodding toward her own son, and Nort and d.i.c.k.
"I will," promised Mr. Merkel. "But from what I"ve seen," he added, with a twinkle in his eyes, "they"re middlin" well able to look after themselves. Paregoric for that Greaser! That"s pretty good!" and he chuckled as he rode off with the others.
The plans had been carefully made and each cowboy knew what he was to do. The idea was to surround the camp, if possible without arousing the suspicions of the inmates, and then make a sudden rush on it from all sides. This would be comparatively easy to do, since the camp was in the valley, with hills all around it. It was simple enough to follow the trail to the point where Nort and d.i.c.k had been met with as they were escaping. And when this point was reached, it was left to the two young ranchers themselves to say which way to go, since the camp was not in sight, nor were there any known trails leading to it.
"Well, as near as I can tell this is the way we came," said Nort, after studying over the matter a bit, and consulting with d.i.c.k.
"All right," decided Mr. Merkel. "You lead a party that way, and I"ll take d.i.c.k, and bear off more to the south. It may be you haven"t just hit it, and this will give us two shots at it. We"ll keep within sight of one another as long as we can, and the first one who sights the right trail, leading in, will build a fire and send up smoke puffs."
This much settled, two parties rode off, Nort leading one and d.i.c.k the other.
They were closing in on the mysterious camp.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE FIGHT
The boy ranchers, meaning this time Nort and d.i.c.k, as distinguished from Bud, felt that they were on their mettle--that they were being put to a severe test. They had ridden out from the mysterious camp of the professors, and now they were to ride back to it, leading the raiding party. True, they had come out at night, and under the stress of excitement, so that it was not easy to determine the trail back.
But as the boys rode alone, each at the head of a cavalcade that was beginning to diverge, they felt the full measure of responsibility.
One of them must make good--must pick up the obscure trail leading to the rendezvous of the cattle rustlers.
It was d.i.c.k who proved the lucky one this time. The party led by Nort was out of sight among the many hills and swales, when d.i.c.k, riding past a water hole, stopped suddenly.
"The trail goes in that way," he said. "I"m sure of it. Blackie stopped here when we were riding out, to get a drink."
"Are you sure he stopped here?" asked Babe, who was with d.i.c.k"s party.
"Positive! He stopped in such a hurry that I slid off and fell, and this excited him so I had quite a job holding him."
In an instant one of the cowboys was out of his saddle and looking carefully at the ground.
"The kid"s right!" he exclaimed. "There"s been some sort of a fracas here."
In that country, where rains were infrequent, and travel light, marks remained for a long time on the dry ground.
"I"m sure it was here," declared d.i.c.k, "and we came out that way." He pointed toward some distant hills.
"Well, we"ll take a chance on it," said Babe. "Light a fire, fellows."
In a few minutes a column of smoke was ascending, and two of the cowboys, holding a blanket over it, moved the cloth to one side at intervals, so that puffs of the dark vapor arose and floated upward.
"That"ll call "em," observed Babe, who sat on his horse directing operations, at the same time scanning the horizon for answering signals from Nort"s party.
"Won"t the rustlers see these and skip out?" asked d.i.c.k, as the smoke puffs went up thick and fast.
"Don"t believe so," spoke Babe. "If they do see "em they"ll only think they"re camp fires, or round-up blazes."
"We"ll do the rounding-up," grimly commented Snake Purdee. "But of course these fellows may be on the lookout. Can"t hardly expect much else after they come to know that their prisoners have skipped, and the Greaser has gone back to his baby days, eating paregoric! Oh, my spurs! That was slick!"
"There they are!" suddenly cried d.i.c.k, as he descried other smoke signals going up, about three miles away. And in a short time there rode up to the waiting ones the members of the other party.
"d.i.c.k says this is the trail in," remarked Babe, detailing our hero"s reasons for his statement.
"Yes, he"s right," a.s.sented Nort. "We did come this way."
"All right then! Go to it, boys!" commanded Mr. Merkel, and the party rode off.