And then as the cowboys sat about in the evening they indulged in various forms of sport and fun, in which the boy ranchers joined.
Bright and early those who were to take the trail after the cattle thieves were on their way, taking with them enough food to last for several days. They were now better prepared than when they had first started out from Diamond X.
It was comparatively easy to pick up the trail left by the rustlers and soon our friends were riding after them, though of course several hours behind them. But as had been said, the ground was of a nature that did not lend itself well to haste, and if the thieves stampeded their animals they would, very likely, lose them. They could only go so fast and Billee and his cowboys hoped soon to come up to the raiders.
It was nearly noon when one of the cowboys who was riding on ahead, came to a stop on a little rise of land and, shading his eyes from the sun, looked long and earnestly off to his left.
"See anything?" asked Bud, who with his cousins rode up.
"I think so, but I"m not sure," was the reply. "But doesn"t it look like a bunch of cattle there?" and he pointed.
The boy ranchers gazed earnestly.
"It sure does look like "em to me!" declared Nort.
"Could it be one of our regular herds?" d.i.c.k asked.
"None of our cattle are down that way," the cowboy said.
"Then they"re rustlers!" cried Bud. "After "em, boys!"
CHAPTER XIII
A CLOUD OF DUST
Flappings of heels to the flanks of horses, the tightening of reins, firmer seats in the saddles and glances at the heavy revolvers swinging in their holsters at the sides of the riders came as a prelude to the burst of speed which immediately followed the sight of the distant herd of cattle being hazed across the prairie.
"Whoop-ee!" cried Yellin" Kid. "We"ll show "em what"s what! Whoop-ee!"
"Reckon you can stand a fight?" asked Nort, looking at the leg of the cowboy, which had been severely injured.
"Shucks, yes! I"m all right now! I"d a leetle mite ruther lick a bunch of sheep herders than jest plain onery cattle rustlers," went on Yellin" Kid, "but anythin" for a fight!"
"You said it!" chimed in some of the other rough but ready and earnest punchers.
"I s"pose there will be a fight," mused d.i.c.k.
"Unless they quit and run," said Bud. "You don"t mind a little thing like a fight, do you?" he asked his cousin. "Of course not! I was only joking!" he quickly added as he saw a look on d.i.c.k"s face.
"It won"t be the first time we"ve had a sc.r.a.p," remarked Nort.
All this while they were riding hard toward the distant group which, at first had been but a cloud of dust, but which now resolved itself into forms of hors.e.m.e.n and cattle.
And as the outfit from Diamond X approached nearer, it could be seen that the drivers of the cattle were not regulation cowboys from any ranch north of the Rio Grande. There was an air and manner about the hors.e.m.e.n urging on the weary cattle which betokened them as irregulars--rustlers, in other words.
The advantage--such as it was--appeared to be with the boy ranchers and their friends, for they were on fresh horses, and could ride hither and yon without having to drive before them, and keep from stampeding, a bunch of cattle. As for the rustlers the success of their raid depended on keeping the cattle they had stolen. Once the small herd got beyond their control, they might as well cut and run for it, since it would be a case of everyone save himself, and every man for himself.
"Some of you cut out the cattle, boys," advised Old Billee, as he spurred along with the youngest rider. For though this veteran more than doubled the years of the boy ranchers, he was almost as "spry" as any of them. "Cut out the cattle, and we"ll look after these rustlers."
There were members enough in the outfit from Diamond X to provide for a division of forces--enabling them to execute a flank movement, as it were, though this does not exactly describe it.
"What"s the best thing to do?" asked Bud, willing to take advice from his father"s able helper. Bud was willing to learn, a most commendable spirit in a youth.
"Wa"al, this would be about as good a plan as any," remarked Old Billee, as he still continued to ride on, but at the same time he was, with his keen eyes, looking over the lay of the land. "Bud, you and your cousins ride off to the left, with Hank and Sam, and see if you can cut out the steers. If you can circle "em around and bring "em up behind where we are now--or as near as you can. I"ll take the rest of the boys and see if we can"t speed up and close with the rustlers."
Bud at once saw that this was giving him and his boy chums, as well as Sam and Hank, the other two cowboys, quite the safest end of the battle. The cattle could be cut out without coming into very close contact with the desperate rustlers. The fight with them would be taken care of by the more experienced Billee and his men.
Bud thought it over for a moment. He was not afraid of danger, but he was not foolhardy, and he knew the veteran had been in many more engagements like this than had Bud himself. Also Bud was too good a soldier to object to taking orders.
"All right," he finally said. "Suits me, Billee. How about you fellows?" he asked Nort and d.i.c.k.
With short nods they agreed to Billee"s plan, and a few minutes later it was put into execution. The outfit from Diamond X separated, and while Bud and his party spurred ahead to cut out the cattle, the others circled around to make a "flank" attack, as it might be called.
"Here we go!" cried Bud who, naturally, was the leader of the "cutting out" sally.
On rushed the horses, the boys clapping heels to them and "fanning"
them with their hats to urge them to greater speed. They were quite close, now, to the band of cattle being hazed away, and on some of the lagging steers could be made out the branding marks of the Diamond X ranch.
"Those are ours all right!" cried Bud to his cousins.
"And we"ll have "em back soon," added d.i.c.k.
"We"d better begin shooting," called out Hank, one of the two cowboys who had been a.s.signed to duty with Bud.
This was not as serious as it sounds, for the shots were not to be directed at the rustlers but fired in the air to startle the cattle.
In cutting out, or, rather, in separating from those who had stolen them the steers from Diamond X, it was necessary to get the animals on the run. They could then more easily be driven where they were wanted.
By this time, of course, the rustlers knew they were in danger not only of losing their ill-gotten cattle, but of losing their own freedom and perhaps their lives. They could be arrested and sent to jail for theft if they were caught.
For a few minutes after the pursuit became close, the rustlers made an attempt to get the cattle into one of the many small valleys with which the country around there abounded. But they soon saw that it was a losing fight. The animals were too wearied to be driven at much speed.
Then some order seemed to have been given by the leader of the rustlers, for the nondescript bunch of cattle thieves swung off, and practically abandoned their four-footed charges.
This made it easier for the boy ranchers, though the task of urging the cattle away from the line they were traveling was hard enough at best.
"Come on!" yelled Bud, when he saw what was happening. "We"ve got "em going!"
This was true, as regarded the rustlers. They were about to save themselves if they could.
With drawn guns, firing rapidly and yelling as loudly as they could, the boy ranchers rode in among the frightened steers, endeavoring to turn them off to the right. For a moment it seemed as if they were not going to do this, but eventually their tactics succeeded, and the leaders of the herd swung off. Then the others followed and it was now a comparatively easy matter to drive them along where it was desired they should go.
"Poor things!" murmured d.i.c.k sympathetically, as he saw the weary cattle. "We"ll have to let "em rest, Bud."
"Guess you"re right," agreed the son of the Diamond X owner. "They won"t be much good for shipping to market until they get some fat back on their bones." Many of the cattle were in woeful shape, and all suffered from lack of water, since the rustlers had driven them so hard, endeavoring to get far away with them as soon as possible that they had not stopped to water them.
"There"s a little stream over there," announced Sam, one of the cowboys who knew this part of the country well. "We can haze "em over there and keep "em for a while."