"Right away, Pete," was the answer as the cowboy coiled his rope for a throw. Then, galloping his pony up behind the steer, Buster threw the lariat over the head of the animal, and brought it with a thud to the ground.
"Oh, am I safe?" gasped Mr. Bunn as he sank down on some saddles that had been removed from the horses.
"You"re all right now," Paul a.s.sured him. "But it certainly was a lively time while it lasted."
"That"s so," agreed Russ, who had not deserted his camera. "But why didn"t you run toward me while you were at it. I could have made better pictures then."
"Do you--do you mean to say you took a film of me running away from that--that cow?" panted Mr. Bunn, who had lost his tall silk hat early in the chase.
"Well, I just couldn"t help it," confessed Russ. "It was too good to miss. I think I got most of it."
"Where"s Mr. Pertell?" demanded Mr. Bunn, getting up quickly. "I want to see the manager at once."
"What"s the trouble?" asked that gentleman, as he came up.
"I demand that you destroy that film of me being chase by a cow!" cried Mr. Bunn. "I shall be the laughing stock of all the moving picture theaters of the United States. I demand that that film be not shown. To be chased by a _cow_!"
"But it wasn"t a cow, my friend," spoke the foreman. "It was a vicious steer and you might have been badly hurt if Buster hadn"t roped it in time."
"Is that so?" asked Mr. Bunn.
"It sure is!"
"Well, er--then--perhaps after all, if it was as important as that, you may show the film," conceded the Shakespearean actor, who had a large idea of his own importance. "We might make it into some sort of a play like "Quo Vadis?"" he went on.
"Hardly," said Mr. Pertell with a smile. "They didn"t wear tall silk hats in those days. But I"ll change the script of this play to conform to the chase. I"m glad you were not hurt, Mr. Bunn."
"So am I. I thought several times that I felt those horns in my back."
The vicious steer was held by the ropes until the company of players had left the scene. Then it was allowed to get up and join the rest of the bunch. By that time it seemed to have lost all desire to attack.
"Sometimes a steer will come for a person that isn"t on horseback,"
explained Pete Batso. "You see, the cattle are so used to seeing mounted men that they can"t get used to anyone afoot. You want to get your players mounted," he added to Mr. Pertell, who was a fair horseman, and who was on this occasion in the saddle.
"I guess I will," agreed the manager. "Some of the young ladies are quite anxious to try it, if you have some gentle mounts."
"Oh, I think I can fix them up. My boys will quarrel among themselves, though, for the privilege of giving lessons to "em. You see we don"t get much of ladies" society out here and we appreciate it so much the more."
"I see," laughed Mr. Pertell.
The next few days were given over to horseback practice on the part of all the members of the moving picture company save Mrs. Maguire. She declared she was too old to learn, and as she would not be required in mounted scenes she was excused. But her little grandchildren were provided with gentle ponies and taught how to sit in the saddle. Mr.
DeVere had ridden in his youth, and the knack of it soon came back to him, though he was a trifle heavy. Paul took to it naturally, and Miss Pennington and Miss Dixon were soon able to hold their own, as was Ruth.
But Alice was the "star," according to Baldy Johnson, who insisted on being her instructor. She was an apt pupil, and he was a good and conscientious teacher. In less than a week Alice was very sure of herself in the saddle.
"Oh, it"s simply great! It"s wonderful!" she cried as she came back one day from a gallop, with red cheeks and eyes that sparkled with the light of health and life. "I wouldn"t have missed it for anything!"
"I am glad you like it," said her father. "It is good exercise for you."
"I like it, too," declared Ruth, "but I"m not as keen for it as Alice is."
"Oh, I just love it!" cried the younger girl, enthusiastically.
"Now we"ll begin some real Western scenes, since you can all ride fairly well," remarked Mr. Pertell.
"Fairly well--huh! She"s a peach at it--that"s what she is--a peach!"
cried Baldy Johnson, with a look of admiration at his pupil. Alice blushed with delight.
During the days of horseback practice Mr. Pertell and Russ had been on the lookout for any signs of activity on the part of their rivals in the moving picture business; but nothing had happened. The man with the other camera seemed to have disappeared.
"Maybe they"ve given up," suggested Russ.
"I hope so," agreed Mr. Pertell.
A few days later several important scenes were to be filmed, and one evening Alice, who was to have a large share in the acting, had her horse saddled, and with Ruth and her father, accompanied by Baldy, set off for a little gallop.
"Let"s go over to that _mesa_," suggested Alice, pointing to a big, elevated hill, standing boldly and abruptly upright in the midst of the plain.
"No, I wouldn"t go there," said Baldy, flicking his horse with the reins. "That"s a dangerous place, Miss. Best keep away."
CHAPTER XV
THE INDIAN RITES
Alice glanced curiously at the cowboy. There seemed to be a strange look on his face.
"What do you mean?" she asked, adding in a half-bantering tone: "Is it haunted?"
"Oh, Alice!" objected Ruth, shaking out her skirt so it would hang down a little longer, for the girls rode side-saddle.
"No, Miss, it ain"t exactly haunted," replied Baldy. "But it ain"t a safe place to go--least-ways, not all alone."
"But why?" persisted Alice.
"Because that"s a sort of sacred place--at least some of the Indians from the reservation think so--and, though it"s off their land, and really belongs to Mr. Norton, them redskins come over, once in a while, to hold some of their heathen rites on it."
"Oh, how interesting!" the girl cried. "I wonder if we couldn"t see them? Do they do a snake dance, and things like that?"
"Well, yes, in a way," Baldy admitted. "But it ain"t safe to go watch "em. Them Indians are peculiar. They don"t want strangers lookin" on, and more than once they"ve made trouble when outsiders tried to climb up there and watch. As I said, the Indians come from their reservation, which is several miles away, to that place for their ceremonies. And they come at odd times, so there"s no tellin" when you might strike a body of "em up on top there, pow-wowin" to beat the band, and yellin"
fit to split your ears. So it"s best to keep away."
"Are the Indians really dangerous?" asked Mr. DeVere.
"Well, I don"t s"pose they"d actually _scalp_ you," replied Baldy, slowly.