Before Nort could answer there suddenly flashed in the southern sky a glare of fire.
"Lightning!" exclaimed Nort.
"A rocket!" cried Bud, all excited. "It means something, Nort! Maybe the sheep herders are coming!"
CHAPTER VII
A PARLEY
For a moment the two boys remained motionless and quiet, waiting for what might develop. But the dying sparks of the rocket--if such it was--were followed by no other demonstration.
"We"d better call Billee and the others," murmured Bud.
"That"s right," agreed Nort in a low voice, though there was no need for this, as the rocket-senders must have been several miles away.
Billee Dobb awakened at the slightest whisper near his bunk, and in a few moments d.i.c.k, Yellin" Kid and the other cowboys, of whom there were half a dozen at the "fort," as it was called, were awake. It did not take them long to hustle into their clothes, and then, draped in ponchos, for it was still raining hard, they stood out in the darkness, waiting for what might happen next.
"Couldn"t have been a rocket," murmured Old Billee, as the rain pelted down. "It"s too wet for that."
"Must have been some Greasers around a camp fire--though how in the name of a maverick they got one to burn I don"t see," observed Yellin"
Kid, making his voice only a little lower than usual. "Must "a" been that one of "em chucked a brand up in the air."
"It wasn"t like a fire brand," declared Nort.
"It was just like a regular rocket," added Bud.
Old Billee was about to say something, probably to the effect that it was a false alarm, and that they"d all do better to be back in their warm bunks when the blackness of the night was suddenly dispelled off to the south by a sliver of flame, followed by a trail of red sparks.
"There she goes again!" cried Bud.
"The same as before," added Nort.
"That"s a rocket right enough," admitted Billee.
"Like the time we was after cattle rustlers," said Yellin" Kid, referring to an occasion, not fully set forth in any of the books, when, as the Diamond X took after a gang of cattle thieves, rockets were used as signals by the marauders to communicate with separated bands.
"What do you reckon it means?" asked d.i.c.k, who often dropped into the vernacular of the plains.
"Well, it _might_ mean almost anything," admitted Old Billee. "Can"t be any of Uncle Sam"s soldiers that far south, or we"d "a" heard about it. As near as I can figure it there must be some crowd down there trying to give a signal to some crowd somewhere else."
This was sufficiently vague to have covered almost anything; as sport writers spread the "dope," in talking about a coming football contest between Yale and Princeton.
Yellin" Kid must have sensed this, for with a chuckle he said:
"You"re bound to be right, Billee, no matter which way the cat jumps.
It sure is _some_ crowd signallin" to _another_ crowd."
"Do you suppose they"re trying to signal us?" asked d.i.c.k.
"Don"t believe so," remarked Bud. "I think it"s some of the sheep men getting ready to rush in here. That rocket is a notice to some of their friends around here that they"re going to start."
"Well, if they come we"ll stop "em!" declared Bud, and the others murmured their agreement with this sentiment.
They waited a little longer after the sparks of the second rocket had died away, but the signal--and it seemed positively to be that--was not repeated.
"No use standing here," murmured Old Billee. "It will soon be morning, and if anything happens we"ll be ready for it. Let"s get our rest out.
Is your trick up, Bud?"
"Not quite, Billee."
"Well, d.i.c.k and I go on next," remarked Yellin" Kid, "and we might as well jump in now as long as we"re up. Turn in, Bud and Nort."
Our young heroes were glad enough to do this, though they never would have asked to be relieved before their time. Accordingly, after a few moments of looking in vain toward where they had seen the rocket, for a repet.i.tion of the signals, Bud and Nort went inside the cabin, and stretched out for a little rest before day should fully break.
The remainder of the night--really a short period--was without alarm or any sign that hostile forces were on their way to take possession of land claimed by the owner of Diamond X.
"Grub"s ready!" was the musical call of the cook, and soon those who were holding the line at Spur Creek were gathered about the table.
"Well, nothing happened, I see, or, rather, I don"t see," remarked Bud to d.i.c.k and the Yellin" Kid who had come in off guard duty.
"Nary a thing," answered he of the loud voice. "Didn"t hear a peep out of anybody and they wasn"t no more fireworks."
"But we"d better keep pretty closely on the watch to-day," suggested d.i.c.k. "Those rockets meant something."
"You"re right," said Billee Dobb. "We"ll stick right close to our little old fort to-day, and, boys, be sure your guns are in quick working order. There may be no shootin" and then, ag"in, there may be," he drawled.
I suppose I need not tell you that the boy ranchers in their secret hearts rather hoped there would be shooting. They had been under fire before, and while they were not foolhardy nor inclined to take risks, they felt that if there was to be a fight on the part of the sheep men to get unlawful possession of Diamond X land, the sooner such a fight took place the better. Suspense was worse than actual conflict.
So after the "ch.o.r.es" had been attended to about the Spur Creek fort (and there were not many duties), it became a matter of waiting. Spur Creek made a bend at this part of Mr. Merkel"s holdings, and the fort was situated on what was a sort of triangular peninsula, with the stream flowing on two sides of it. In this way it was what, during the World War, was called a "spearhead" into the country to the south, and it was from this country that the Mexican, Greaser or other sheep herders might be expected to invade the range long held sacred to horses and cattle. But this land, by government proclamation, was now thrown open to all comers.
Because of the peculiar formation of the land it lent itself readily to defense, and also gave a good post for observation. The "fort" had been hastily built on the extreme point, as near the creek as was practical. Back, on either side, extended the banks of the stream, and when breakfast had been served Old Billee, who was in command, selected those who were to patrol the banks on each side of the cabin, for a distance several miles back along the edges of the "spearhead."
The morning pa.s.sed. The first contingent of scouts had come in to eat and another body was about to go out to relieve them when Bud, who had gone down to the edge of the creek, to clean a particularly muddy pair of shoes, looked across the stream, and uttered a cry of alarm.
Riding up from the southland, Mexico if I may so call it (though the actual country of the Montezumas was distant many miles), was a lone horseman. He was coming along, "sweating leather," and was seen by others of the Diamond X forces almost as soon as observed by Bud.
"Some one"s coming!" yelled Bud, and he stood up on the edge of Spur Creek looking at the approaching horseman until Yellin" Kid shouted:
"Better duck back here, boy. No telling when he may unlimber a gun!"
It was good advice and Bud took it, to the extent of getting back nearer the cabin fort. On came the rider, seemingly fearless, until he pulled rein on the other side of the stream and sat there on the back of his panting horse, a most picturesque figure.
"Mex from hat to stirrups," murmured Snake Purdee.
"An" wicked from outside to inside," added Yellin" Kid in a lower voice than usual.