"Well, maybe _he_ didn"t "zactly have a hand in it," grudgingly admitted the old cowpuncher, "but he played right into the hands of th"
scoundrels."
"On purpose, do you mean?" asked Nort.
"Well, that"s to be found out," remarked Billee musingly.
"Billee, you"re "way off there!" cried Bud. "Professor Wright is as right as his name--we proved that before when he was here after the prehistoric Triceratops bones."
"He may have changed since then," declared Billee. "What did he want to come in and lead us off on a false trail for, when we was hot after the robbers?"
"He didn"t do it purposely," a.s.serted Nort, who, with his brother, shared Bud"s views as to the integrity of Professor Wright. "It was because he got lost."
"Yes, to hear him tell it," sneered Billee.
"Why, look here!" cried Bud. "What good would it do Professor Wright to get hold of Dad"s papers proving ownership to the Spur Creek lands?
Why would he want the land? If anybody wants it they must be those who are coming in under the new government ruling--sheep herders maybe, and it"s to them we have to look."
"That Wright is just the kind of a chap who"d go in for sheep herding, and spoiling a cattle country," complained Billee, as he pulled up the head of his horse, when the animal showed a tendency to stumble over a prairie dog"s hole.
"You"re away off!" laughed Bud. "It may have been sheep herders who got Dad"s papers, hoping thus to be able to claim a lot of land for their woolly feeders, but Professor Wright had no hand in it."
Billee"s only answer was a sniff.
However, as the boy ranchers rode along in the darkness they realized that they could have had no better companion than Old Billee Dobb, for his very vindictiveness, though it might be wrongly directed, made him eager to keep after the robbers. That Professor Wright was other than he claimed to be, none of the boys doubted for a moment.
But who was behind the plot which had just succeeded so well? That was a question which needed answering.
The ranch buildings of Diamond X were soon left behind in the darkness, their pleasant glow fading as the four hors.e.m.e.n of the prairies rode along in silence, looking, as best they could under the faint glow of the moon for the outlines of other hors.e.m.e.n to be shown on the horizon as they topped some rise in the undulating ground.
In general the boy ranchers and Billee were following the trail on which Slim and the cowboys had started after the shots were fired--the trail that was crossed by Professor Wright, causing the pursuers to turn back.
"It would have been better if some of us had kept on when we had the start," commented Nort when, after an hour"s ride nothing had been seen.
"Yes, it would," agreed Billee.
"But we didn"t know, then, that there had been a robbery," went on Nort.
"That"s right," a.s.sented Bud. "We just thought it was an ordinary bunch of cattle or horse thieves, and if they had been there would have been nothing else to worry about, as we drove them off."
"Well, we may get "em yet, but "tisn"t very likely," said Billee.
And as the night wore on and they kept their slow pace over the plains, this prediction seemed about to be borne out.
The boys and Billee had stopped at ranch houses here and there to make inquiries about some fleeing band of hors.e.m.e.n, but no one had seen them. The proprietors of most of the ranches were over at Diamond X and had not yet returned. Some of them had telephoned to their foremen or other members of the ranch households, telling about the robbers and saying that Bud and his companions might call.
But beyond this no trace was found of the robbers.
It was long past midnight when Old Billee pulled his horse to a stop, and "slumped" from the saddle.
"What"s the matter?" asked Bud. "See some sign?" By this he intended to ask if the old plainsman saw any indications that they were hotter on the trail of those they sought.
"Nope!" answered Old Billee. "But we"re going to camp and make coffee and frizzle a bit of bacon. No use keepin" on any longer. We can"t do anything more till mornin"."
"Camp it is!" exclaimed Bud, "and I"m not sorry, either."
Shortly a fire was going, made from twigs and branches picked up under a few trees near where the party had stopped, and soon the appetizing aroma of coffee and bacon spread through the night air.
"Um! But this is jolly!" cried Nort.
The horses were picketed out and after the midnight supper the wayfarers rolled themselves in their blankets and prepared to pa.s.s what remained of the night in the glow of the campfire, and beneath the fitful light of the cloud-obscured moon.
CHAPTER V
AT SPUR CREEK
d.i.c.k was dreaming that he was at a football game, and that his brother Nort had hold of him and was trying to pull him through the line of opposing players to make a touchdown. Then the dream seemed to become confused with reality, and d.i.c.k felt some one tugging at the blanket in which he had rolled himself so snugly.
Half awake and half asleep d.i.c.k"s brain struggled to clear itself and get the right impression of what really was going on. Then he became aware that his blanket was actually being pulled--this was no dream.
"Here! Who"s that? What you doing?" he cried, and instinctively he began groping for his gun, which was in its holster in the belt he had taken off for the night.
Something cold and clammy touched d.i.c.k on the cheek, causing a shudder to run through him.
"Snakes!" he yelled. "Rattlers! Look out!"
His frantic cries roused the others, and Nort and Bud struggled to free themselves of their enveloping blankets as they sat up near the smouldering blaze of the camp fire.
"What is it?" cried Bud, who had only half heard what his cousin shouted.
"Snakes!" again yelled d.i.c.k.
"Snakes nothing!" disgustedly grumbled Billee Dobb, who did not relish having his slumbers broken. "It"s too cold for snakes to be out to-night." Then the plainsman tossed on the fire a bit of wood which, when it blazed up, revealed the cause of the disturbance.
"It"s your horse!" cried Nort with a laugh. And it was d.i.c.k"s faithful pony who, having slipped his tether, had wandered over near human companionship, and had been pulling at d.i.c.k"s blanket with his teeth.
Then the animal rubbed his cold and clammy muzzle on d.i.c.k"s face, giving the lad the impression that a scaly rattlesnake had tried to crawl over him.
"Well, I"ll be jiggered! Blackie!" gasped d.i.c.k, when he saw that it was his horse. "Whew, but you gave me a fright!"
"You oughter look fust an" yell afterward," commented Billee as he turned over to go to sleep again.
The boys laughed and again wrapped up in their blankets, after d.i.c.k had secured his horse with the others. A dim light was now showing in the east, indicating that morning was not far off. But it was cold and cheerless, even with the fire, for it was not a very large blaze, and d.i.c.k was glad to follow the example of his brother and cousin and roll up for a final doze before daylight.
"Well, now we"ll see what happens," commented Nort, as they were preparing a simple breakfast, over the replenished campfire. "Think we might catch "em to-day, Billee?"
"It all depends," was the old cow puncher"s answer. "We can"t spend too much time chasin" these scamps. There"s work to be done at the ranch. Hang that perfesser, anyhow!"