"You well said it--_maybe_," murmured Nort. "But at that, the idea isn"t so bad. They may hold us here all day, and with Slim and his bunch having their hands full, it looks as if the cattle would be driven off."
For while some of the rustlers were holding Bud and his band in check behind the rocks, and while others were fighting Slim and his cowboys, still others were driving the cattle toward the opening in the old volcano bowl. It was d.i.c.k"s idea that if by a cross fire on the part of himself and his brother, hidden among the rocks, they could scare away the band besieging Bud and his friends, a diversion might be created which would rout the enemy.
At any rate, it was worth trying.
Bud was busy, as Nort and d.i.c.k slipped off, tying a bandage on the arm of one of the cowboys who had been shot. And the brothers were glad to try their desperate venture unnoticed, for they did not want to explain. And they did not want to be observed going away, as it looked a little like desertion in the face of the enemy. But, for the time being, there was a lull in the fighting.
The Greasers who had been holding Bud"s force behind the rocks, had quieted down. The fighting between Slim and his cowboys out in the open, however, was going on fiercely, and several had fallen on both sides.
Once d.i.c.k and Nort were down in a gully, off to the right of the rocks behind which the band had taken shelter, the eastern lads were screened from observation, both by their friends and by the Greasers.
"Cut along, North!" advised d.i.c.k, and, in spite of their wounds, the boy ranchers ran in crouching positions, their guns in readiness.
It did not take them long to reach a point which they regarded as favorable for the trick they were going to play--for it was nothing more nor less than a trick. If they could succeed, by quick firing, in deceiving the enemy, and causing a retreat, a sudden rush on the part of Bud and his friends might turn the scale.
"All ready?" asked d.i.c.k of his brother, as they reached some sheltering rocks on the flank of the party besieging Bud.
"Wait until I lay a lot of cartridges ready on the ground. It will be easier to reload them."
"Good idea. I"ll do the same."
It was rather awkward for d.i.c.k, with his wounded right hand, to reload his gun, but he could manage after a fashion, though not so well as Nort, whose hurt was in his upper left arm. The lads saw to it that their weapons were ready, with a goodly supply of cartridges in front of them. Nort looked across at d.i.c.k, behind the sheltering rock, and at a nod from the latter they both began firing.
The effect on the Greasers, poorly screened as they were, was instantaneous. Several leaped to their feet and turned in surprise toward the sound of firing on their flank. These made good targets, and by firing at them d.i.c.k and Nort brought more than one to the ground.
Bud and his companions, hearing the firing in a new direction, where, as yet they did not know they had supporters, were also taken by surprise, but it was of another nature.
"Come on! Rush "em!" yelled Bud, when he had looked around, and, missing d.i.c.k and Nort, guessed what had happened. "We"ve got "em in a cross fire now! Rush "em!"
But the Greasers, disheartened by the firing of d.i.c.k and Nort on their flank, did not stop to be rushed. Those who were able leaped up and ran toward their horses, which had strayed off to one side. Bud and his party emerged from behind the rocks, firing as they rushed the enemy.
"This is the stuff, d.i.c.k!" shouted Nort, as he reloaded his gun and sent another fusilade of bullets into the ranks of the now retreating Greasers.
"I"m glad it worked!" remarked the proposer of the Kipling scheme. "Now we can go help Slim and his bunch. They"re having trouble!"
Indeed the tide of battle did seem to be turning against the foreman and his forces. They were outnumbered, and had lost several cowboys, by wounds if not by death--just which it was impossible to determine then. And, meanwhile, the other Greasers, under the leadership of the wily Del Pinzo, were hazing the cattle toward the main entrance.
"Good work, boys! Great work!" Bud greeted his cousins with as he rode out to meet them, when the besieging Greasers had been routed by the cross fire of the two lads. "How"d you think of it?"
"It was d.i.c.k," spoke Nort.
"It was Kipling!" d.i.c.k answered.
"Get mounted and join us!" Bud requested. "We"ve got to help Slim!"
This was evident, as the foreman and his cowboys were now hard pressed. But as Nort and d.i.c.k rejoined Bud, having leaped to their saddles they, as well as the others from Diamond X caught sight of something which, for the moment made them sick at heart.
For the sight was that of another body of hors.e.m.e.n riding into the old volcano bowl. On they cantered, the sun glinting on their arms.
"More of Del Pinzo"s rustlers!" burst out Bud. "We may as well give up! They"re too many for us!"
But he did not pull rein, intending it seemed, to fight it out to the bitter end. A cry from d.i.c.k was the cause of wonderment. He pointed to the new body of advancing hors.e.m.e.n.
"Look! Look!" d.i.c.k shouted. "Those aren"t Greasers! They aren"t rustlers or Del Pinzo"s gang! They"re United States troopers! By all the jack rabbits that ever jumped we"ve got the rustlers now!
The United States cavalry is on the job!"
And a moment later, as the notes of a bugle gave a musical order, causing the advancing troop to deploy to right and left, it was evident that the tide of battle had turned in favor of the boy ranchers and their friends.
For the newcomers were, in reality, a troop of United States regulars, and with a dash and vim, exceeded nowhere in the world, and among no other fighters, this band of grim-faced men entered into action. Carbines were unslung and their short and ugly bark was added to the din.
"Come on, fellows!"
"Now we"ve got "em!"
"Over the line!"
"Touchdown!"
These were only a few of the excited shouts of the boy ranchers themselves, while the cowboys of Diamond X riding into the fray with new hearts, sent up their shrill, yipping yells. It was all over then but the shouting, so to speak. The Greasers were fairly trapped--Del Pinzo and all his gang. In vain they attempted to ride around and escape by the main entrance. But the troopers had stationed a guard there, and the bowl was "bottled up." One or two Greasers, sneaking around to the north, did manage to escape through the crack by which Bud and his friends had entered, though the main body was captured and the cattle saved.
"Whew, but that was hot work!" commented Bud, toward sundown, when the rustlers had been caught, disarmed and corraled under guard.
"You told the truth for once," remarked d.i.c.k, whose wound had been rebandaged by the surgeon accompanying the troopers.
"And I guess this is the end of Del Pinzo," remarked Nort, for the outlaw Greaser half-breed had been caught red-handed, so to speak.
"I hope so," mused Bud. "But we paid a price for it."
"And so did they," observed Slim. "We accounted for quite a few, but I"m sorry for our boys." Several of the Diamond X outfit had been grievously wounded, and one was killed outright. But the casualties on the side of the enemy were greater.
The fight was over. The cattle of the boy ranchers were saved, and the rustlers captured. Tired horses were staked out near gra.s.s and water, and while the cavalry established their camp, Bud and his friends began to wonder how it was the troopers had arrived in the nick of time.
"Well, it was more by chance than anything else," said Captain Parker, who was in command. "We"d been on the trail of these outlaws for some time, and finally we saw a chance to corner them. It was due to the work of Lieutenant Wayne that we were able so to effectually bag them here, though. He has been on scout duty in this section for some time, endeavoring to get information so that we might round up this gang."
"Lieutenant Wayne," repeated Bud, wonderingly.
"Yes, here he comes now. He says he knows you boys."
"Knows us!" murmured d.i.c.k, as a trooper approached, saluting his superior and smiling at the boy ranchers. "Yes, don"t you know me?" asked Lieutenant Wayne, holding out his hand to Bud.
"Perhaps if I had on my gla.s.ses, you would be better able to----"
"Four Eyes!" burst out Nort. "At least--I beg your pardon--Henry--er--Mr.
Mellon--Lieutenant Wayne!" he stammered.
"Yes, Four Eyes!" was the laughing answer of the trooper. "Those gla.s.ses were only fakes! I wore them as a sort of disguise, and very effectual they were, it seems."
"Four Eyes!" gasped Bud. "And were you in the United States cavalry all the while?"
"Yes, on scout, or detached duty," was the answer. "The government has had many complaints of this band of Del Pinzo"s rustlers, and we were detailed to put them out of business. I was a.s.signed to go on duty as a cowboy, which wasn"t so hard, as I had been one nearly all my life before joining the army. I worked on several ranches, picking up bits of information here and there, and I completed all I needed to get in Happy Valley," he added.