"Are you safe?" called out those at the top of the cliff.
"I--I--guess so," came in a panting answer. "But two of them did--did their be-best to bite me!"
"Bring the horses around while you are about it," said Tom, and then the three on the cliff walked around to rejoin Songbird. When they reached him, they found the poetic youth trembling from head to foot.
"Never had such an experience in all my life," said he. "Why, I came down almost headfirst on those snakes! I never want such a thing to, happen again."
"I"ve got no use for snakes," said Tom. "I don"t know what they are good for, excepting to scare folks."
"I believe they rid the land of many insects."
"Say, Songbird, I tole you vot," put in Hans, with a twinkle in his eye now that the danger was past. "You vos make a nice poem up apout dem snakes, hey?"
"A poem on snakes?" shivered Songbird. "Ugh! the idea is enough to give one the creeps!"
The rain had now ceased completely, and soon they were leading their horses forward as before. It was very wet in the brushwood and, as far as possible, they kept to the open s.p.a.ces. The outlook was certainly a dismal one, and the boys felt in anything but a good humor.
"Our little trip to Mr. Denton"s ranch isn"t panning out so beautifully, after all," remarked Fred. "I thought we were going to have the nicest kind of an outing. All told, I rather think I would prefer to be back on the houseboat."
Presently they came" out on a road in the rear of Red Rock ranch.
There was a ditch to cross, and then a line of thorns, which gave all more than one scratch.
Suddenly they were startled by a shot, fired at a distance. Another shot soon followed.
"What does that mean?" cried Fred. "Where"s the dog?"
"Perhaps Sam and d.i.c.k are trying to escape," returned Songbird.
"I hope n.o.body is shooting them," put in Tom. "I must say," he added, "I don"t like this at all. The dog is gone."
"Hadn"t we better place the horses in the woods and investigate?"
"No, we"ll take the horses along, and if there is trouble, we"ll use our pistols," answered Tom firmly.
They advanced with caution, and soon came to where the road made a turn westward. Tom uttered an exclamation of surprise, and not without good reason.
"Man--on the road--flat on his face!"
"Is he a spy?"
"Is he dead?"
"I don"t know," answered Tom. "Go slow--we may be running into a trap."
They advanced with caution. Not another soul seemed to be in sight, and presently they stood over the man. He was breathing heavily.
"Looks like a planter," observed Fred, noticing the apparel the stranger wore. "What"s the matter with him?"
"Perhaps he was shot. Let us turn him over."
This they proceeded to do, and then, without warning, the man sat up and rubbed his eyes. His wig and beard fell off, and to Tom"s astonishment there was revealed James Monday, the government detective.
"Mr. Monday!" cried the boy. "How in the world did you get here?"
"Wha--who are you?" stammered the man. "Wha--what hit me?"
"I don"t know what hit you. I am Tom Rover. Don"t you remember me?"
The government official looked perplexed for a moment, and then his face brightened.
"To be sure I remember you, Rover," he stammered. "But I am all in a twist." He brushed his hand over his face. "I thought I was down and out, as the saying goes."
"Did you fire those shots?"
"I fired one shot. The other was fired by a man who ran away. I believe the villain wanted to take my life. The bullet struck a rock and then struck and stunned me, and I keeled over."
"And the man ran away?"
"I suppose so. You didn"t see him, did you?"
"No."
"Where are you bound?" went on the government official curiously.
"We are looking for my two brothers, Sam and d.i.c.k. They went over to the ranch yonder, and we have heard that they are being held prisoners."
CHAPTER XXIII
JAMES MONDAY TAKES A HAND
After that, there was nothing to do but to tell their story in detail, to which the government official listened with close attention. Then he asked them many questions.
"You are certainly in hard luck," said he when they had finished.
"Beyond the slightest doubt, those men at the ranch are desperate characters, and I don"t know but what I ought to summon help and arrest them on the spot."
"Den vy not do dot?" asked Hans. "Ve vill h.e.l.lup, too."
"If those men are what I take them to be, I want to catch them red-handed,"" responded James Monday.
"What do you take them to be?" asked Tom.
"Can I trust you boys to keep a secret?"
"Yes," came from each of the crowd.
"Then I"ll tell you. Unless I am very much mistaken, the men at Red Rock ranch are counterfeiters."