"Runaway nothin"!" yelled the Kid. "He"s comin" home! That"s my bronc!"
The horse made straight for Yellin" Kid.
"Look at that--knows me! Well! Well! Well! Come home to papa! My bronc, sure as you"re a foot high! See that spot above his eye? I"d know it in a million! Come here, baby--where you been? Huh? I been lookin" all over for you."
There was a sudden exclamation from one of the smugglers who was riding in front of the Kid.
"Got away!" the man muttered. "Thought I tied her----"
"So-o-o you"re the coot that had her, hey? An" you tied her up tight, hey? So she couldn"t get loose? Well, let me tell you that this little paint can bust _any_ halter, if she wants to. Can"t you, baby?
By golly, I----"
"Sing it, Kid, sing it!" d.i.c.k laughed. "Do you tuck her in bed at night, too?"
"Well, she"s the best bronc I ever had!" the Kid said definitely. "An"
I"m goin" to ride her in. d.i.c.k, hang on to this pony, will you? Lead her in for me. Well!" As he got into the saddle of his own mount.
"Here we are again, baby! Now I won"t need that other horse that you were goin" to get me, Mr. Hawkins. "Scuse me a minute, boys----"
He threw the bronc into a gallop and tore across the plain. Then he wheeled and came rushing back.
"He"s happy," Nort said with a grin. "Never expected to see his bronc again, and she runs right into his hands. Hey, you--where did you keep her?"
"Around the side," the man who had spoken before answered with a scowl.
"Thought I might need her in a hurry. His horse, was it? Well, he was ridin" mine. A fair exchange is no robbery. Now he"s got her back he"s got no kick comin"."
"Hasn"t, hey? Don"t know about that. If he finds any marks on her----"
"She wasn"t touched," the man said quickly. "Fast enough without that."
"Lucky for you," Nort commented, meaningly.
After his mad dash the Kid returned in easier fashion. And so the strange procession wended its way back to Roaring River. It took them rather a long time to get there, as the buckboard had to be driven slowly on account of the injured. True to his promise, the young "wild man" held his verbally much-abused horses down to a walk.
The smugglers were removed to jail, with the a.s.surance from the warden that those who were injured would be treated by a local doctor. The Chinese were also jailed, to be held for the federal officers.
Deportment, first back to Mexico, and, eventually, back to China was their portion. They seemed to realize it, for they were a sad and silent bunch.
Billee Dobb was given a room to himself in the ranch house where he could rest and get well, and then the others washed up and "filled up,"
as Nort expressed it.
"Now comes the reward," said Mr. Hawkins, and he arranged to have it paid to the Boy Ranchers, with Yellin" Kid and Billee Dobb sharing in it. There was an additional reward for capturing the smuggled Chinese as well as the smugglers, so there was a fund large enough for all to share.
"Let"s go up and see Billee now," proposed Bud, when they had eaten and quieted down.
They found the old rancher restlessly picking at the coverlet of his bed, his weather-tanned face in strange contrast to the white pillow cases. As the boys and Mr. Merkel entered, Billee grinned.
"Fust time I ever been t" bed by daylight in seventeen years," he said.
"Don"t know what to do with myself. Now if Snake Purdee was only here, he could----"
"An" here I am!" exclaimed a voice outside the door. "h.e.l.lo, Billee!
Heard you was receivin" callers an" I came right over. What"ll you have--a song? All right, boys--come on in! Billee wants us to sing for him!"
Into the room shuffled Billee"s companions of Diamond X: Slim Degnan, Fat Milton, and the rest.
"h.e.l.lo, Billee!"
"Howdy, you old de-teck-a-tive you!"
"How"s it feel to be a hero?"
"Now boys--are you ready? Ta da--let"s go!"
They all joined in the song. And as Billee Dobb "smiled a smile" that reached to the corners of the room, the notes of "Bury Me Not On the Lone Prairie, With Variations," filled the house and flowed over into the outer air. And Billee Dobb just lay there, smiling and smiling.
As for the Boy Ranchers--they were happy, too. They had done a good job. They had covered themselves with glory.
"And maybe there are other jobs ahead," remarked Bud.
THE END
THE BOY RANCHERS SERIES
By WILLARD F. BAKER
12mo. Cloth. Frontispiece
THE BOY RANCHERS Or Solving the Mystery at Diamond X
THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP Or the Water Fight at Diamond X
THE BOY RANCHERS ON THE TRAIL Or Diamond X after Cattle Rustlers
THE BOY RANCHERS AMONG THE INDIANS Or Diamond X Trailing the Yaquis
THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK Or Diamond X Fighting the Sheep Herders
THE BOY RANCHERS IN THE DESERT Or Diamond X and the Lost Mine
THE BOY RANCHERS ON ROARING RIVER Or Diamond X and the Chinese Smugglers
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, New York