Later, after a rest at home, as described in "_The Pony Rider Boys in the Grand Canyon_," the boys visited the wonderful region of the Colorado. Here, as our readers will recollect, the lads were cut off from their trail by the falling of great ma.s.ses of rock during a fierce storm. Apparently the boys were doomed to remain helpless on a narrow shelf of rock; our readers recall how Tad Butler, at the risk of his life, spent hours in the attempt to get them out of their dangerous situation. The mysterious circ.u.mstances that followed the boys all the way along on their journey through the great canyon form a most remarkable series of events.
Now, from Arizona, Tad and his friends had journeyed onward and into the Lone Star State. Here they looked forward only to a long, healthful ride, full of pleasures, yet devoid of anything like sensational excitement. Yet one never knows what the day may bring forth, and these young travelers of ours, though they did not suspect it, were on the threshold of the most exciting experiences that had yet befallen them. The blue mountain ridge in the near distance was teeming with the story that was to unfold before them. So far the ride had been lonely. Of late rarely had they come in sight of a building of any sort, for this part of the state was but spa.r.s.ely settled. To meet a horseman was an event. In fact they had not met one since the early morning. The Pony Riders had no guide with them on this journey, believing that one would not be needed. Nor did they carry a pack train.
One additional pony bore all their extra baggage, each mount being loaded with all that he could carry in addition to its rider. For tents they had brought one large enough to accommodate the entire party.
This was in sections, carried on the different ponies.
Five o"clock had come and gone. The sun was partly bidden by the ridge of the Guadalupes towards which the Pony Rider Boys were slowly drawing.
Ned called up to the professor who was riding at the head.
"Where are we going to make camp, Professor?"
"Tad will decide that," answered Professor Zepplin without looking back.
"Near a stream, of course," answered Butler.
"Any mosquitoes there?" demanded Stacy.
"No odds, if there are," retorted Ned. "They wouldn"t bite you."
"Not if they had got at you first," returned Stacy solemnly. "There"s a level place in there by the creek."
"I see it. I"ll ride on and have a closer look at it."
Butler spurred his pony ahead of the others. Reaching the foothills of the range he shaded his eyes, gazing up into the cool, green valley or canyon that led into the mountains.
"I guess this will do very well, boys," he said. "I---"
Bang!
"Wow!"
Stacy with a howl of terror slid from his pony, sending up a little cloud of dust as he collapsed on the plain.
"Wha---what---what-----" gasped the professor.
Bang!
Professor Zepplin"s sombrero was snipped from his head. Stacy lay groaning on the ground.
"Ride for the rocks!" shouted Tad as shot after shot began popping from somewhere in the mountains, the bullets screaming over their heads close to their ears or snipping up flecks of dust in the plain.
Tad drove his pony straight at Stacy Brown. He scooped the fat boy up by the collar and rode madly for the protection of the rocks, Chunky"s heels dragging on the ground. The others rode madly after them, while the shots were still being fired at them. It was an exciting moment.
No one knew what the shooting meant, nor did they know whether Stacy really had been hit or not. There was no time to stop to reason the matter out. It was a case of getting to cover as fast as horse-flesh would carry them.
CHAPTER II
A MYSTERIOUS ATTACK
"Pull in close!" cried Tad.
"Where is it coming from?" shouted Ned.
"I don"t know. I haven"t had time to look. Look out there!"
Professor Zepplin, somewhat slower than the others, had halted a little distance out from the foothills. A bullet threw up a little cloud of dust just to one side of where he was sitting on his pony, followed by a report somewhere up in the mountains.
"Stop that! Stop it, I tell you!" bellowed the professor, waving his sombrero. Almost ere the words were out of his mouth, the sombrero was shot from his hand and went spinning out to the rear. Professor Zepplin did not wait for further parley. He turned his horse, dashing for the protection of the foothills.
In the meantime, Tad Butler had leaped from his pony, placing Stacy on the ground. It was observed that there was blood on the fat boy"s left cheek, but his eyes, wide and frightened, were staring up at the boys now gathering about him.
"Are you hurt?" demanded Tad breathlessly.
"I"m killed."
"Nonsense! It"s only a flesh wound---"
"Is---is he shot?" stammered Walter Perkins.
"Of course I"m shot. Don"t you see I am?" demanded Chunky with considerable spirit for a man who had been the mark of a bullet and who according to his own word was dead.
Tad half dragged the fat boy down to the creek where the blood was quickly washed from his cheek. It was then seen that a bullet had grazed Stacy"s cheek, leaving a raw streak across it.
Professor Zepplin, now mindful of his duty, had hurried up to them, and down on his knees was examining the wound critically.
"Hm---m---m!" he muttered. "Bad business, bad business!"
"But---what does it mean?" urged Walter.
"What does it mean? It means that the Germans have got us," wailed Stacy Drown. "Oh, I knew we should be in this war sooner or later, but I didn"t think I should be the first man to get shotted up."
"It means some one has been trying to shoot us up," answered Rector.
"Trying!" exploded Chunky. "They did more than try. They succeeded.
Don"t you see this wound on my countenance? Wait till I get sight of the man who put that mark on my face. I"ll bear the scar for life.
I-----"
"It is my opinion that we are in a dangerous position," declared the professor, getting up and glancing about him apprehensively.
"We were. We are all right here for a little while," replied Tad.
"But we shall have to seek other quarters, I am afraid, and that without delay."
"Surely, it must be a mistake," protested the professor. "Some one must have been shooting at us under a misapprehension that we were another party."
"It doesn"t make any difference what their motive is, sir," answered Tad. "The fact remains that some one is trying to get us and we must look lively or they will pink one or more of us. Get up, Stacy! You are all right. Lead your pony in here while I take an observation."