The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Motor Boys on a Ranch, by Clarence Young This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: The Motor Boys on a Ranch or, Ned, Bob and Jerry Among the Cowboys Author: Clarence Young Release Date: May 24, 2016 [EBook #52153] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MOTOR BOYS ON A RANCH *** Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net cover WITH A FUSILLADE OF REVOLVER SHOTS THE RAIDERS RUSHED TO THE ATTACK. THE MOTOR BOYS ON A RANCH OR Ned, Bob and Jerry Among the Cowboys BY CLARENCE YOUNG AUTHOR OF “THE MOTOR BOYS SERIES,” “THE JACK RANGER SERIES,” ETC. ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY BOOKS BY CLARENCE YOUNG 12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Colored Jacket. THE MOTOR BOYS SERIES THE MOTOR BOYS THE MOTOR BOYS OVERLAND THE MOTOR BOYS IN MEXICO THE MOTOR BOYS ACROSS THE PLAINS THE MOTOR BOYS AFLOAT THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE ATLANTIC THE MOTOR BOYS IN STRANGE WATERS THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE PACIFIC THE MOTOR BOYS IN THE CLOUDS THE MOTOR BOYS OVER THE ROCKIES THE MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE WING THE MOTOR BOYS AFTER A FORTUNE THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE BORDER THE MOTOR BOYS UNDER THE SEA THE MOTOR BOYS ON ROAD AND RIVER THE MOTOR BOYS AT BOXWOOD HALL THE MOTOR BOYS ON A RANCH THE MOTOR BOYS IN THE ARMY THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE FIRING LINE THE MOTOR BOYS BOUND FOR HOME THE JACK RANGER SERIES JACK RANGER’S SCHOOLDAYS JACK RANGER’S WESTERN TRIP JACK RANGER’S SCHOOL VICTORIES JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE JACK RANGER’S GUN CLUB JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX Copyright, 1917, by Cupples & Leon Company The Motor Boys on a Ranch Printed in U. S. A. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Disappointment 1 II. Hint of a Mystery 11 III. When the Wheel Came Off 18 IV. “We’ll Stop It!” 27 V. Last Days at Boxwood 36 VI. Off for the West 47 VII. The Stowaway 55 VIII. A Breakdown 63 IX. The Cattle Buyer 72 X. A Midnight Alarm 81 XI. At Square Z Ranch 89 XII. Explanations 95 XIII. A Sensation 102 XIV. An Old Acquaintance 111 XV. Out of the Air 118 XVI. The Wrong Pony 127 XVII. Another Raid 135 XVIII. Two Invalids 142 XIX. Another Attempt 151 XX. The Professor’s Dilemma 158 XXI. Queer Marks 167 XXII. Anxious Days 174 XXIII. Letters from Home 180 XXIV. Questions 188 XXV. Their Last Chance 197 XXVI. Seen from Above 203 XXVII. The Lone Figure 210 XXVIII. The Secret Passage 217 XXIX. The Round-Up 223 XXX. A Final Surprise 234 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS WITH A FUSILLADE OF REVOLVER SHOTS THE RAIDERS RUSHED TO THE ATTACK. HE MADE GOOD WORK OF BROILING THE CHICKENS. “THEY’RE NOTHIN’ BUT BOYS AND TENDERFEET AT THAT!” “GO SOME” TURNED AND RUSHED AT THE PROSTRATE, MOTIONLESS FIGURE. NED, BOB AND JERRY ON A RANCH CHAPTER I DISAPPOINTMENT “Might have known it would turn out this way if we let him manage things,” grumbled Ned Slade in disgusted tones as he slumped down on one of the forward lockers of a motor boat that was drifting slowly in the middle of a blue lake. “Why didn’t you look after the details yourself, Jerry?” “Why, Bob said he would see that everything was all right and——” “Yes! And this shows how much he ‘saw.’ A chap with compound astigmatism in both blinkers could see better than [1] Bob Baker!” “Oh, come now,” protested Jerry Hopkins in soothing tones. “Aren’t you a bit rough on our fat chum,” and he glanced toward a stout chap who was bending over the motor of the boat, tinkering with its various parts in an endeavor to set it going again. “Rough on him?” expostulated Ned. “I should say not! I’m like a piece of silk compared to a bit of sandpaper when I think of the things I could say—and haven’t the heart.” “Don’t stop on my account!” snapped the heavy-weight, over his shoulder. “Get it out of your system and maybe you’ll feel better.” “I won’t feel better until you get the engine started, so we won’t have to stay out in this broiling sun. And to think there’s a fine feed waiting us at the other end of the lake if we could only get to it! I should have thought you’d have had common sense enough, Bob, where the eats were concerned, to make sure of getting to them.” “Say! Look here!” and Bob turned fiercely on his tormentor. He tried to seem angry but the effect of a smudge of oil on one cheek, with a daub of black grease on the end of his nose, while one eye appeared as though it had come off second best in a fistic encounter, caused his two companions to laugh, which altogether spoiled the effect of the vigorous protest on which the youth had started. “How did I know this was going to happen?” he asked, waving a grimy hand at the engine, while, with the other, he beat a tattoo with a monkey wrench on the nearest cylinder. “Could I tell she was going to break down as soon as we got out in the middle of the lake?” “Break down nothing!” scoffed Ned. “You’re out of gasoline, that’s what’s the matter. You didn’t have sense enough to see that the tank was full before you started.” “Huh! I s’pose you never overlook a little matter like that?” sneered Bob. “Of course not,” and, having spoken thus loftily, not to say superciliously, Ned turned away and gazed across the blue waters of Lake Carmona, now sparkling and rather uncomfortably hot under the June sun. “Guess you don’t remember the time you invited the girls out in the car and got stalled on Mine hill just because of the same little old fact that you forgot the gas?” asked Bob. “How about that?” “There was a leak in the tank,” defended Ned. “It takes you to tell it.” “Oh, dry up and get started!” exclaimed the other. “Easy, boys,” counseled tall Jerry Hopkins. “This won’t get us anywhere. Is the gasoline really gone, Bob?” “I guess it is,” answered the stout lad. “I did forget to have ’em put some in the tank, but I thought there was enough for the trip. Anyhow, you needn’t worry about starving. I put in a little sort of snack, as I thought we might get hungry on the way.” A smile replaced the frown that had come over his face during the contention with Ned, and Bob brought forth from a locker a large box wrapped in paper. “Look what he calls a little snack!” mocked Jerry, laughing. “There’s enough for a whole day’s rations.” “Oh, not quite,” declared the stout lad. “This lake air gives me a wonderful appetite.” “Never knew you to be without an appetite,” commented Ned, and his voice was more friendly. “I’ll take back some of what I said, Bob. But for the love of sulphur matches, what are we going to do? Eating, pleasurable as it is, isn’t going to move the boat.” “I’ve a little gasoline in the can that I use for priming the cylinders,” returned Bob, after rummaging in the engine locker. “That might take us a little way.” “Pooh! not a hundred yards,” scoffed Ned. “Anyhow, lack of gasoline isn’t the only trouble,” went on Bob. “One of the cylinders doesn’t work. It began missing a while back, before the gas gave out. Even with a tank full I couldn’t run the boat until that’s fixed.” “You get out!” advised Ned. “You forgot the gasoline and that’s all there is to it. And you wanted to have charge of all the arrangements on this little cruise. Well, you’ve had your way, but you won’t again if I know it. “There’s nothing to do now but row,” he went on. “Not another boat in sight and there isn’t any likelihood of any coming up to this end of the lake to-day. They’re all down at those races. We’re booked for a row, and we ought to make you do it all, Bob Baker.” “I’ll do my share,” offered the smutty-faced, fat engineer. “Break out the oars!” cried Jerry. “Never say die! It might be worse. It’ll give us an appetite—rowing. It might be a whole lot worse.” Ned went aft to where, in a space along the locker tops, the emergency oars were kept. He turned to Jerry and said: “It couldn’t be!” [2] [3] [4] [5] “Couldn’t be what?” the tall youth asked in some wonder. “Any worse. There aren’t any oars!” “No oars?” cried Jerry. “Nary an oar!” Both lads gazed at Bob. He regarded them with a crestfallen countenance. “Aren’t—aren’t they there?” he asked falteringly. “Look!” and Ned pointed to the vacant space. “Hang it all! I did take them out when I was at the dock,” Bob admitted. “I couldn’t get at what was in the locker with the oars on top, so I laid them on the wharf. I meant to put them back again, but——” Ned groaned and pretended to weep with his head hidden in his arms. Jerry smiled grimly. Bob scratched his head in perplexity. “Well, I guess the only thing to do is to let the boat drift and wait for someone to come along and give us a tow,” sighed Jerry. “Meanwhile, there are the eats. Break out the grub, Bob, and we’ll solace ourselves with that.” “This is the limit!” complained Ned. “If ever I come out with you again, Bob Baker, you’ll know it!” “And if ever I ask you I’ll kick myself all around the campus,” was the retort. For a time Ned refused the tasty sandwiches which the stout lad had, with prudent foresight, stowed aboard the motor craft. But the appetizing odor was too much for him and he capitulated, but in no good spirits. “Cheer up,” advised Jerry. “You’ll get indigestion if you eat with such a sour face, Ned. We’ll get there some time.” “Yes, and find that my father and Bob’s have gone on with their trip and we have missed seeing them. Dad was going to bring me some dough, too. And I need it,” he added as he turned his pockets inside out. “Not a nickel left, and I want to get tickets for the show to-night.” For a time the spirit of gloom seemed to settle down over the motor boat and her occupants. The three chums, Ned, Bob and Jerry, had set off early that afternoon from Boxwood Hall, where they were students, to cross Lake Carmona. They were going to Haredon, a small town on the other side of the body of water, and there Ned and Bob expected to meet their respective fathers who were on a business trip together, and had written that they would stop off to see their sons, and have dinner with them, before resuming their journey. The boys had hired a large motor boat, as their own, the Neboje, as well as their automobile, had already been shipped to Cresville because of the approach of the summer vacation, and started on the trip. The details of the expedition had been left to Bob. Jolly and good-natured, Bob never thought very far ahead, and the double calamity of not having had the gasoline tank filled and having taken out the oars, by which the boat could have been surely, if slowly, propelled, had left the boys becalmed in the middle of Lake Carmona on a hot day. Owing to the fact that there were some races being held on this day, nearly all the other students had gathered at the lower end of the lake, as had most of the craft of persons living on the shores. This made the middle and upper end deserted of the usual flotilla; so there was scant chance of the boys getting a tow. They ate for a while in silence, and then Bob had an inspiration. “I believe it will work!” he cried. “What now?” asked Ned. “Have you found some way of getting ashore and buying some gasoline?” “No, but we can put up a sail,” Bob went on. “Here’s the boat hook, and the canvas cover of the engine is stuffed away in the stern.” He scrambled aft, hauled out a bundle of canvas, and then got the boat hook. For a few seconds Ned and Jerry watched him. Then the tall lad said: “I believe it will work at that. Bob, you’re not so worse.” The motor boat, being heavy, did not move very fast under the small sail area the boys spread. But at least they did move, and it was better than being becalmed under a hot sun. They sailed on for perhaps two miles when they spied another motor boat which was evidently going to pass near them. “Hail him!” suggested Ned, and they attracted the attention of the lone skipper by toots on the electric horn. The man was a baker who made the round of the shore resorts delivering bread and pastry. He agreed, for a small sum, to tow them to Haredon and, several hours after they had expected to arrive, the boys reached the hotel where Mr. Baker and Mr. Slade had promised to meet them. “Your fathers aren’t here now,” the clerk told them. “They waited until the last train, then said they’d have to go. They left a note for you, however,” and he handed over a long envelope. “It’s for you, Ned,” said Jerry, reading the superscription. [6] [7] [8] [9] “But there’s something in it for each of us,” Ned declared, opening the envelope. “Mine’s a letter from mother,” Jerry remarked, as he recognized his parent’s handwriting. Mrs. Hopkins was a widow. “Mine’s from dad—short and to the point,” chuckled Bob. “He says he reckons I took so much time to eat that I missed connections and couldn’t arrive on time. They’ll be here again next week, though.” “That’s what my father says,” sighed Ned. “Well, it’s a disappointment,” he went on, turning over the paper in his hand, “especially as I did need that money.” “Maybe he left some for you with the hotel clerk,” suggested Bob. “Ask, and, if he didn’t, I can lend you some.” “Thanks,” returned Ned. “I’ll ask.” The hotel clerk was apologetic enough, but, unfortunately, no money had been left for any of the boys. Ned turned away, disappointment showing on his face. As he was debating with himself what was best to do he saw, on the floor, half concealed by a time-table rack near the front desk, a folded paper. Half mechanically, he picked it up, unfolded it and, as he glanced over the first few lines of writing, uttered an exclamation of surprise. “What’s the matter?” inquired Jerry. “Did you find some money after all?” “Not quite as good as that,” was Ned’s answer. “This seems to be a letter to my father from his ranch foreman. Dad must have dropped it from his pocket when he was standing here paying his bill. And it’s got some news in it, fellows! Listen to this! “Rustlers have been stealing cattle from the ranch, and the foreman suggests that dad come out in a hurry, or else send someone, to take quick action, as they haven’t been able to get the thieves. This is bad business sure enough!” and Ned’s face took on a serious look. CHAPTER II HINT OF A MYSTERY “What’s that?” asked Jerry Hopkins, sharply. He had been reading over again a portion of his mother’s letter, and had not quite caught what Ned had said. The latter repeated his statement. “Cattle rustlers! Plain thieves, in other words; eh?” exclaimed Jerry. “That’s no joke out West, I believe. In the early days ranch owners used to suffer big losses from the acts of rustlers, but I thought it had all died out.” “It doesn’t seem to have done so—not on dad’s ranch,” went on Ned. “This letter from the foreman must have been quite a shock to him. He got it a day or so ago, I guess,” and Ned glanced at the date. “I didn’t know your father was interested in a Western ranch,” remarked Jerry. “It’s a comparatively new venture for dad—going into the cattle business,” Ned replied. “He figured, though, that with the price of beef as high as it is, and going higher, he could make money. But I guess if this sort of thing keeps up he’ll come out the little end of the horn. I’ll read the letter to you.” And while Ned’s chums gather around to hear the letter, which he prepared to explain, I will take just a moment to give my new readers, who may meet Ned, Bob and Jerry for the first time in this volume, an idea of the books that precede this. Under the name, “The Motor Boys,” our three heroes made their first bow to the public. The boys lived in Cresville, not far from Boston, and had many good times together. Jerry Hopkins was the son of Mrs. Julia Hopkins, a wealthy widow. Aaron Slade, Ned’s father, was a prosperous department store keeper, and Andrew Baker was president of the largest bank in the city where he lived. The boys’ first experiences with gasoline vehicles had to do with motorcycles, but it was not long before they had an automobile, and in that they took many trips, overland, into Mexico, over the plains and home again. Then the motor boys went in for boating, and sailed not only on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans but in strange waters. On many of their trips the boys were accompanied by Professor Uriah Snodgrass, and he did not balk even when they went in for airships, in which line of locomotion they were very successful. Professor Snodgrass—at present an instructor in Boxwood Hall—was a great seeker after queer forms of insect life and his zeal sometimes got him into odd predicaments. I had the pleasure, in a number of volumes, of telling you of the activities of the motor boys until it seemed there were no more worlds left for them to conquer. But they heard the call of the under sea, and, venturing into a submarine, they found life beneath the waves fully as remarkable as above, if not more so. The parents of the boys began to think the lads were getting too much idle fun. They wanted their sons to have a [10] [11] [12] [13] better education. So our three heroes had been sent to a boarding school. “The Motor Boys at Boxwood Hall, or, Ned, Bob and Jerry as Freshmen,” the volume immediately preceding this, tells of new adventures for Ned Slade, Bob Baker and Jerry Hopkins. Of the merry times they had, and how they were instrumental in “putting Boxwood Hall on the map,” in athletics, you may read in that book. This present story opens with the boys coming to an end of their first year in the place, with the prospect of a long summer vacation, and at this moment we find them puzzled over the foreman’s letter to Mr. Slade. “He says,” began Ned, reading the missive again. “He says——” “Who’s he?” demanded Jerry. “Dick Watson, foreman of dad’s Square Z ranch,” explained Ned. “Square Z ranch—what does that mean?” asked Bob. “Guess you’ve forgotten all the western lingo you used to know, haven’t you?” Ned asked. “The brand on dad’s cattle is a Z in a hollow square, and his ranch is named that.” “Cut out the explains,” begged Jerry, “and get down to facts. What about the cattle rustlers?” “Well, Dick writes dad that a lot of his choice stock has been run off the ranch,” went on Ned, reading the letter and summarizing the information he gathered from it. “It isn’t the first time, it seems, for the thieving had been going on before dad bought the place. Dick was foreman then and dad kept him on,” Ned explained. “He’s one of the best there is, so all reports of him say. “But he writes that never before were the cattle thieves so bold or so successful. They have wiggled out of every trap set for them and seem to laugh at the cowboys. Dad’s ranch isn’t the only one that has suffered either, for Dick tells of others. He ends up his letter by warning dad that he’ll have to do something if he doesn’t want to lose all he invested in the place.” “And something ought to be done!” declared Bob. “Think of all the prospective roast beef that’s being stolen! Those cattle thieves ought to be—they ought to be——” and Bob paused to consider a punishment to fit the crime. “They ought to be kept on a vegetable diet!” laughed Jerry. “That would leave so much more roast beef for Bob— eh, Chunky?” “Well, I’d like a chance to chase after ’em,” declared the fat lad. “What’s your father going to do, Ned?” “I don’t know. This is the first I have heard about it. I suppose I’d better send this letter back to him. He may want it to refer to.” “Too bad we missed him—and my dad, too,” put in Bob. “I’m sorry I forgot about the gas, but——” “Oh, well, there’s no use worrying about it now,” was Ned’s philosophical comment. He was now in better humor. “If I only had some of the money I’m sure dad would have given me——” “Here!” cried Bob, eagerly producing a few bills. “Take half of this until you can get yours. I sha’n’t need it. Besides, I’ve got credit with the proctor.” “I haven’t—worse luck,” grumbled Ned. “Well, I’ll take this, and make you an I. O. U. later. Thanks. And now let’s have a real meal. Ah, I beat you to it!” he exclaimed as he saw Bob about to make the same suggestion. “We’ll eat and go back to Boxwood. Then I’ll write to dad and send him this letter.” The meal progressed merrily. It was a holiday at the school, the occasion being the regatta on the lower end of the lake, and the boys, having already missed the racing, were in no haste to return. “Make sure you have plenty of gas this time, Bob,” advised Ned, as the three went down to the dock where the motor boat was tied. The trip back was uneventful, if we except the fact that Bob nearly fell overboard when making a sudden grab for his hat that had blown off. “Yes, this sure is queer business,” said Ned, musingly, when the three chums were gathered in his room, which adjoined the apartments of Bob and Jerry. “What’s queer?” the tall lad questioned, rather absent-mindedly. “This cattle-stealing out on dad’s ranch,” and Ned glanced over the foreman’s letter again. “Seems to interest you,” observed Bob. “Sure! Why wouldn’t it? What gets me, though, is why the foreman or some of his cowboys on the ranch haven’t been able to get on the trail of the thieves. Watson seems to think there is something of a mystery about it.” “How mystery?” inquired Jerry. “In the way the rustlers cover their tracks after they run off a bunch of choice steers. There’s something queer about that. I may have to take a trip out there myself, and help clear up the mystery,” and Ned assumed a whimsical air of importance. “Mystery; eh?” cried Chunky. “Say, I wouldn’t mind taking a chance at that myself!” [14] [15] [16] [17] “Not so bad,” came drawlingly from Jerry Hopkins. “We haven’t made our vacation plans yet, and trying to find and frustrate a band of mysterious cattle rustlers might not be the worst way of having a good time.” Something seemed to startle Ned Slade into action. He folded the foreman’s letter, slapped it sharply on the edge of the table and cried: “Fellows, I’ve got the greatest idea ever! If we three——” There came an imperative knock on the door, followed by the command: “Come on! Open up there!” Startled, the three chums looked at one another. CHAPTER III WHEN THE WHEEL CAME OFF “What was that?” asked Bob, and when it is added that he whispered the question it may better be understood what a hold the finding of the letter had taken on the boys. Already they seemed to be within the mystery at which it hinted. Then Jerry realized the futility of Bob’s query. “It sounded very much like a knock on the door,” and his tone was humorously sarcastic. “Say! are you going to keep me here all day? What’s the matter in there? Open up! I’ve got news for you!” “It’s Jim Blake!” exclaimed Jerry, now recognizing the voice of the person on the other side of the door. “Of course it is!” came the reply. “What’s the matter? Is Bob Baker giving one of his spreads? If he is, let a fellow in on it, can’t you? Open the door!” “Come in; it isn’t locked,” called out Jerry. “But there’s nothing doing in the eats. What’s up?” “I don’t know,” answered Jim Blake, whose ability to control a slow and fast ball had gained for him the honor of ’varsity pitcher. “I don’t know what it is, but there’s something doing all right.” “In what way?” Jerry asked, as Jim slumped down in an ancient chair, the joints of which squeaked in protest, thereby moving Jerry to utter a caution. “Oh, I won’t break it,” said Jim. “But say, do you fellows know that Professor Snodgrass is on his way to pay you chaps a visit?” “We didn’t know it,” said Bob, coming back from a quiet trip to his own room, meanwhile munching some chocolate, which he generally kept on hand to use in cases of emergency. “No, we didn’t know it, but he’s none the less welcome.” “Oh, I know he’s quite friendly with you boys,” went on Jim, “but I thought maybe he had it in for you this time.” “What makes you think so?” asked Ned. “And how do you know he’s coming here?” was Jerry’s question. “I’ll answer the last first, like working out some of those tough back-handed problems,” laughed Jim. “Black-handed, did you say?” came from Bob. “Pretty nearly that—yes. But the reason I happen to know the professor is coming here is that I passed him in the laboratory hall a few minutes ago. He held something tight in his hand, and he was awfully excited. His clothes were covered with mud, his hat was dented in, his collar torn and his coat was split up the back. He was hurrying along, talking to himself as he often does, and what he said was: “‘I must get to Ned, Bob and Jerry at once! This is terrible!’” The three motor boys looked at one another, surprise plainly showing on their faces. “What——” began Jerry. “How did he——” Ned commenced. “Maybe he’s been——” And that was as far as Bob got, for Jim interrupted with: “I thought maybe you fellows had been up to some game or trick with him, which would account for his condition. And from what he said I thought maybe he was on his way here to have his revenge, one way or another. So I cut on ahead to warn you. Better lock your door and keep quiet. I’ll slip out and——” “You’ll do nothing of the sort!” exclaimed Jerry. “And we won’t lock our door against Professor Snodgrass. He’s welcome to come in any time he likes.” [18] [19] [20] “Oh, well, if you’ve made up your minds to take your medicine, why that’s a different proposition,” said Jim with a shrug of his shoulders. “Only I thought I’d tip you off so you could——” “Thanks, it’s kind of you,” murmured Jerry. “But, as a matter of fact, we haven’t been up to any mischief.” “But what put the professor in this condition?” Jim demanded. “I know he’s always on the lookout for queer bugs and such things, and that he’ll do almost anything to get a rare specimen. But I never saw him quite so badly off as this before, and he seemed very much in earnest about getting to you. Still you know your own business, I s’pose. Hark!” They all listened. In the corridor outside the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps could be heard. “There he is!” exclaimed Jerry, as he opened the door. In the doorway a queer sight stood revealed. A little bald-headed man gazed unblinkingly through the powerful lenses of his spectacles at the four boys. His condition was just about as Jim had described, and the three chums noted the tightly-clenched hand of the “bugologist,” as the delightful scientist was dubbed behind his back, though with no disrespect attached to it, for the boys were very fond of him. “Ah, Ned, Bob and Jerry, I am very glad to find you in,” began Professor Snodgrass, with a little jerky bow. “It’s a good deal better than being found out, sometimes,” murmured Jim. The professor, not having heard the comment, nodded in friendly fashion to the pitcher. “What has happened?” asked Ned, as he pushed forward a chair for the little man. The teacher seemed rather out of breath and considerably excited. “What’s the matter?” chimed in Bob. “Is everything all right?” “Well—yes—I think so—perhaps.” Professor Snodgrass was not quite certain about the matter, it seemed. “At any rate, I have him,” he went on. “Who?” Jerry gasped. “The person who is responsible for your condition?” “Oh, no—er—my condition? Oh, I see,” and for the first time the scientist seemed aware that he was greatly disheveled. “I—er—I do seem a bit mussed,” he admitted. That was putting it mildly. “But I got him,” went on the professor. “Have you a strong box that you aren’t using?” he asked. The latter, guessing what was coming, produced one that met the professor’s requirements. Then, sliding back the cover, he held his clenched hand over the box and dropped into it something that fell with a thud, like that an inert toad or frog might produce. “There you are!” exclaimed the scientist, quickly slipping the cover into place. “The finest specimen of a one-spot lizard I have ever caught! I certainly am in luck!” “One would hardly believe it to look at you,” said Jerry with a laugh. He and his chums were on terms of more or less familiarity with the professor. The scientist had known the boys a number of years and had made several trips with them. To some his actions might seem grotesque when he was anxiously searching for some rare animal or insect, but the boys knew him well enough to think little of what, to others, might be absurdities. And no one would ever think the professor foolish when once they knew of his attainments. He had written many books, which were authorities on their special topics, and he had more honorary degrees from different schools of learning than he could recall, off-hand. “You say you caught the lizard, but it looks more as though he had caught you,” laughed Jerry. “He gave you a pretty good tussle, at all events,” remarked Ned. “Oh, you are referring to my clothes—and—er—my general condition, I suppose,” said the professor with a smile. “Well, it is not altogether my fault this time. I had little or no difficulty in capturing this lizard, but my appearance is due to what happened when the automobile lost a wheel.” “Lost a wheel?” chorused the boys. “Were you in an automobile catching lizards?” “No, I had already captured this fine specimen, and I was riding back with it to the college in the machine, when the wheel came off.” “What made the wheel come off?” Bob queried. “Must have been a queer kind of machine. Did the wheel just roll off?” “No, I think it was broken off the axle when the auto toppled down the hill,” said the professor calmly, as he opened the top of the box a trifle to take a peep at his specimen. “Toppled down the hill! Did an automobile in which you were riding topple down a hill?” asked Jerry in astonishment. “It did,” the professor answered. “It went over and over. I was made quite dizzy, but I kept tight hold of the lizard. And when we came to a stop, after crashing into a tree, I noticed that the wheel was gone.” “Great Scott!” cried Ned. “When did all this happen—and where? Aren’t you hurt? Hadn’t you better see a doctor?” [21] [22] [23] [24] “Ha! I knew there was something I was to remember! It’s a doctor!” cried Professor Snodgrass in triumph. “Your father wants you to send a doctor to him at once, Ned.” “My father—wants a doctor?” faltered Ned. “What for?” “Because he was slightly hurt in the same accident when the wheel came off the auto,” gently explained the professor. “It isn’t anything serious, though. He’s at the hotel in town and your father is with him, Bob. That’s what I came to tell you. But there is no need to worry.” “Well, of all the——” began Ned. “What in the world——” murmured Bob. “Don’t stop to talk!” cried Jerry. “Let’s get a machine, hunt up a doctor, and go to the hotel at once. What does it all mean, Professor Snodgrass? No! don’t stop to tell me. You can explain later. Lively, fellows! Come on!” “Anything I can do?” asked Jim. “Say the word!” “You might get a machine for us,” suggested Jerry. “I’ll get Charlie Moore’s,” offered Jim. “He isn’t using it.” Out he rushed, leaving Ned, Bob and Jerry to get ready, for they had taken off coats, ties and collars on reaching their rooms. They dressed hurriedly, Jerry meanwhile asking Professor Snodgrass if the scientist himself were not in need of medical treatment. “Not in the least, I assure you,” was the answer. “Fortunately, I was in the rear, among a lot of blankets and cushions, and they made a sort of buffer for me. Your father, Ned, and Mr. Baker were riding in the front seat.” “But what in the world were they doing in an automobile around here?” Ned questioned. “They were supposed to be in a train making a business trip.” “They said they had to change their plans, and they were on their way back to Haredon in the auto and, incidentally, they were going to stop off to see you,” explained Professor Snodgrass. “They picked me up along the road. Then the accident happened, and I told them I’d come on and let you boys know. Your father, Ned, said it was very important.” “Auto’s waiting!” came the hail of Jim from the ground under the chums’ windows, and without waiting for Professor Snodgrass, the boys ran down the stairs. CHAPTER IV “WE’LL STOP IT!” “I can’t understand it,” said Ned, as they swung along in the borrowed car, Jerry driving. “Nor I,” added Bob. “What are our fathers doing around here now, when they were in such a hurry to be on their way that they couldn’t wait at Haredon when we were an hour or so late?” The distance from Boxwood Hall to the town of Fordham, the nearest railroad station to the institution, was about two miles, and if speed laws were violated by the boys no one took them to task for it. Dusk was just settling when they reached the hotel, and the clerk and those in the lobby looked up in surprise as the students rushed across the tiled floor toward the desk. “Some of that hazing business,” ventured a drummer, as he got out of the way of the rush. The clerk evidently thought the same thing, and was about to call for the hotel detective and a porter or two (for sometimes the Boxwood lads went in for rather strenuous times), when Ned, noting the looks cast toward them and realizing that their actions were being misconstrued, called out to the clerk before they reached the desk: “What room is Mr. Slade in?” “And Mr. Baker, too?” added Bob. “Oh!” There was distinct relief in the clerk’s voice. “Are you the boys the gentlemen are expecting? Well, you’re to go right up. Front!” he called, and struck a bell which brought a diminutive boy, with two rows of brass buttons down his jacket front, up to the desk on a slide. “Show these gentlemen up to Number Nineteen,” said the clerk, with a wave of his hand. “Dis way!” drawled the hotel Mercury, and the three boys followed. Ned and Bob were, naturally, worried about the physical condition of their fathers, and Jerry was anxious to know what it all meant—Mr. Slade and Mr. Baker coming back unexpectedly from their important business trip to visit their sons at Boxwood Hall. “Why wouldn’t a letter or a telegram have answered?” Jerry wondered, and Bob and Ned would have wondered [25] [26] [27] [28] also only they were worried lest the accident might have been more serious than the professor had admitted. A moment later Bob and Ned, with Jerry in the background, stood before the door indicated to them by the bell boy. “Come in!” called a voice as Ned knocked, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he recognized his father’s tones, their usual vigor indicating that the injuries could not be very serious. The boys entered to behold Mr. Slade propped up in an easy chair, one leg stretched out in front of him on a pile of cushions placed in another chair, while wound around his head were white bandages. Mr. Baker sat in another chair, but his legs seemed intact. One arm was in a sling, however, and his face was adorned, or unadorned, if you please, with strips of adhesive plaster. “Oh, Dad! For the love of football! what have you been doing?” asked Ned, as he advanced toward Mr. Slade with outstretched hand. “Easy, Son, easy!” cautioned his father. “That leg’s badly bruised. Don’t touch it or inflict any new injury, for I’ll almost have it amputated before I let that doctor touch it again. But sit down, boys, and we’ll talk business.” “How are you, Dad?” asked Bob. “All right, Son. Only I’ll have to give you my left hand. My right is cut and scratched, but, fortunately, no bones broken. So you got the professor’s message all right, I see.” “Yes, we got it—after a fashion,” said Jerry, grimly. “He began with a lizard, worked up to the broken wheel, told about the roll down hill, and finally admitted that you were hurt.” “He told you by easy stages then,” remarked Mr. Slade. “We asked him not to alarm you.” “He didn’t,” affirmed Bob. “But what’s it all about?” “Yes, what?” chimed in Ned. “We can’t, for the life of us, guess. End the suspense, Dad!” “I lost an important letter, somewhere between the hotel in Haredon, where we stopped to wait for you boys, and Leighton, where I had to make a business call,” explained Mr. Slade. “That is, I missed the letter when I got there. “I thought possibly I might have left it in the room Mr. Baker and I engaged for a short time at the Haredon hotel, so I ’phoned the clerk and asked him to take a look. He did, he said, but there was no trace of the letter anywhere about the place. “Then I concluded I might have lost it somewhere along the road, and, too, I had an idea that clerk didn’t make any too careful a search. So Mr. Baker and I decided to come back here, or, rather go back to Haredon. And as we were losing time, anyhow, we concluded we might as well lose more and stop off to see you. We were sorry we missed you, but as things were then we didn’t think we could wait. “So we started back, hiring a machine to travel in, and—well, I guess the professor told you what happened. It was an unfortunate accident, but it might easily have been worse. Neither of us had any bones broken, though I don’t know but what a bruised leg, like mine, pains almost as much as a broken one. Now you have the whole explanation, boys, as to why we are here. We sent for you, thinking you would be able to help us. I want you, Ned, to go to that hotel and see if you can find the letter. “It contained some important information that I must act on at once, and I need it to refer to. If you can find it——” Ned interrupted his father by stepping forward with the missive he had picked up in the hotel lobby. With surprise showing on his face, Mr. Slade unfolded the missive, and as he realized what it was he cried: “Where in the world did you get it? Is this a case of mind reading, and did you know what I was coming back for, and go after the letter?” “Nothing as occult as that,” laughingly answered Ned. “We simply picked it up where you must have dropped it as you paid your bill at the Haredon hotel desk.” “That’s right!” admitted Mr. Slade. “I did pull out my wallet there to get money to settle for our room and meal. The letter must have come out with it. I’m obliged to you, Ned. This is very important—how important you can hardly guess.” “I can in part, Dad, for I took the liberty of reading the letter. I didn’t realize what it was at first.” “Oh, that’s all right. I should have told you, anyhow.” “But what about a doctor?” Ned asked. “The professor said you wanted us to get one for you, and that’s why we came on with such a rush.” “Oh, that was my fault,” explained Mr. Baker. “When we got clear of the machine, and were being brought on here by a passing motorist, I suggested that you boys had better be sent for and asked to get us a physician, as you would probably know best which medical man would suit your father, Ned, and myself. But, as it happened, we were both bleeding pretty freely, though not seriously, and the clerk here didn’t want us to wait about having any special physician. He sent for Dr. Mitchell, who did very well by us, I think.” [29] [30] [31] [32] “The very one we would have picked out!” cried Ned. “He’s considered the best in town.” “Glad to know we didn’t make any mistake,” said Mr. Slade. “Well, getting back this letter simplifies matters. There’s no need for you to make that trip to Haredon, Ned. Though you might, if you will, telephone the hotel clerk there and tell him I have the paper I was looking for.” “I will, Dad. Sorry you’re so battered up.” “Oh, well, it might be worse. It’s going to interfere with my plans, though, for no doubt I’ll be laid up here a few days. I’m getting stiff now, and I know I can’t travel to-morrow.” “Did you count on going on out to your ranch, Dad, and trying to catch those cattle rustlers yourself?” asked Ned, eagerly. “Well, I don’t know that I was exactly planning to go myself,” answered Mr. Slade, slowly. “But something has to be done, and soon, too. I didn’t tell you,” he went on, “but I happened to miss this letter when I looked for it after I received a telegram from Watson on my arrival in Leighton.” “You mean he telegraphed you after he wrote this letter?” Ned asked. “Yes, a little while ago. His wire was filed this morning, and was to the effect that another choice bunch of my steers was run off last night.” “Whew!” whistled Ned. “That’s surely bad.” “It certainly is, Son! And it’s got to stop!” “How did Watson know where to find you?” asked Ned of his father. “He didn’t. He telegraphed me at my office, and as they knew my route they sent on the message.” “I see. But what are you going to do?” and Ned’s voice had in it an eager note. “Well, that’s one of the reasons we came on to Boxwood,” said Mr. Baker. “Watson suggested, in his wire, that I send out some New York or Boston detective to the ranch to see what he could do. The cowboys, though they’re all right at their own business, don’t seem to be much of a success as sleuths. I happen to know one or two New York private detectives, one of whom did some work for me a few years ago. So I’ve decided to engage him, and what I want you to do, Ned, is to go on to New York, explain matters to him, and hire him. I’d do it myself only I’m laid up, as you see, and Mr. Baker has other matters to engage him. I think you can attend to the detective end of the business as well as I. So, if you can arrange to make the trip, I’ll give you more details which you can pass on to Peck. That’s the detective’s name—Henry Peck.” “Well, Dad,” returned Ned, slowly, “I suppose I could go to New York all right, but I don’t want to—to be frank with you.” Ned’s chums looked curiously at him. It was not at all like their friend to object to his father’s wishes. “You don’t want to go?” repeated Mr. Slade. “Well, Ned, of course I don’t want to take you away from your studies, but——” “Oh, it isn’t a question of studies, Dad. I’m all through, as far as they are concerned. This is the last week. But I think you don’t need any New York detective.” “Why not?” demanded Mr. Slade. “Don’t you suppose I want the thefts of my cattle stopped?” “Sure you do,” and Ned smiled and winked at his chums, who themselves did not quite see his drift. “Well, then get ready to go to New York and engage that detective,” and Mr. Slade spoke a bit sharply, for his leg pained him. “Oh, Dad!” cried Ned, his eyes shining as he hurriedly arose from his chair. “Let the sleuth go! As for the stealing of your cattle, we’ll stop it!” “Who’ll stop it?” repeated Mr. Slade, as if in a daze. “We’ll stop it, Dad! We were just wondering where we’d spend our summer vacation and now we know. It will be out on your Square Z ranch solving the mystery of the cattle thieves among the cowboys! Hurrah, fellows! Off for the West once again!” CHAPTER V LAST DAYS AT BOXWOOD Mr. Slade glanced across the room at his friend Mr. Baker. The latter returned the look, and, had one observed carefully, he might have seen the shadow of a wink pass between the two men. Then Mr. Slade slowly, but with an evident air of firmness, shook his head. [33] [34] [35] [36] “What is it?” asked his son. “I’m sorry, Ned; but we can’t consider your proposition—not for an instant.” “You mean you won’t let us go out to the ranch to try our luck at discovering the cattle rustlers?” “That’s it, Son. This is a business proposition—not a vacation lark, as you seem to think.” “I didn’t say that, Dad. I mean business—we all mean business. Don’t we?” and Ned appealed to his chums. “Of course we do!” chimed in stout Bob. “Why can’t we go out there and trace the cattle thieves as well as a New York detective who wouldn’t know a prairie dog’s burrow from a dried water hole? Come on, Dad, say something!” and he appealed to his father who, so far, had done little talking. “Let us go out West. We can get to the bottom of the mystery as well as any one. That is, if there is a mystery.” “Oh, there’s a mystery surely enough,” said Mr. Slade. “There’s no question of that. The rustlers haven’t left the semblance of a trail to follow, if we can believe Watson—and I have every confidence in him. But I wouldn’t, for a moment, think of letting you boys try your hand at this. Why, there’s danger in it! Those rustlers are unscrupulous scoundrels—they shoot first and ask questions afterward. You can’t take any chances with men like that!” Jerry and Bob saw their chum Ned give himself a little shake. They had observed the same action on other occasions —notably when Ned was at bat in a tight place in a ball game, or when he knew he was going to be called on to take the pigskin in a rush through tackle and guard to make a much-needed touchdown. The same look Ned’s face wore at such times was on it now. He was girding himself for some fray—albeit a mental one. “Just one moment, Dad,” he said in a quiet voice. “I agree with all you say about this being a man’s job, dangerous and calling for ingenuity. And I’m not going to urge this on you just for the sake of letting us have a little fun. We’ll get some fun out of it—I don’t mean that we won’t—but it isn’t going to be all fun. I’m in earnest when I ask you to let us have a try at this. “Now give me a few seconds more,” he quickly said, as he observed that his father was about to speak. “As I said, I know it’s a man’s job. But I ask you if we three aren’t equal to one man?” He indicated by a sweeping gesture himself and his two chums. “Well, yes, in general appearance, huskiness and ability to take care of yourselves under ordinary circumstances, I’d say you were any one man’s equal, if not more,” conceded Mr. Slade. “Two and a half, easily,” came from Mr. Baker, who seemed to be enjoying the situation. “All right, you admit that then,” and Ned seemed to be getting ready for an argument, as he often did in some of the college debates. “Now for point number one. Do you remember, Dad, and you, too, Mr. Baker, how we made out that time we took the trip on the Atlantic in our motor boat? You didn’t think, then, that we’d get what we went after; but we did.” “Yes, you did,” admitted Mr. Baker, slowly. “And after that,” went on Ned, like an attorney following up an argument in court, “we made an airship. You said, Dad, you didn’t believe it would go up; but it did.” “Yes, and we got the fortune in it, too!” added Bob, who had remained silent as long as was possible for him. “That’s right!” exclaimed Mr. Baker. “The boys certainly turned the trick that time.” “And then,” went on Ned, relentlessly, “do you recall how we patrolled the border for Uncle Sam, and caught the Canadian smugglers, when nobody else could get a line on them?” Mr. Slade scratched his head reflectively. “Well, I do give you credit for that,” he said. “I never thought you’d do it. But——” “Well, if we caught those smugglers in the air where there wasn’t much of a trail to follow, why can’t we get after the cattle rustlers?” demanded Ned. “This ought to be a whole lot easier.” “He’s got you there!” laughed Mr. Baker. The tide seemed to be turning in favor of the boys. “Just what is it you propose to do?” asked Mr. Slade at length. This much was a concession. “Go out there, size up the situation, find out what the facts are and then—act,” was Ned’s prompt answer. “Hum!” said Mr. Slade, musingly. “I admit, Ned, to be perfectly fair, that you boys have certainly done well in the past. But this is a new proposition. You’ve got to deal with cunning and unscrupulous men.” “It won’t be the first time,” observed Ned. “Look at the trouble we had with our Western mine. It isn’t as though we didn’t know something of men and their ways, Dad, and of the West.” “No, that’s so. You have been out there. Oh! I don’t know. What do you say, Baker?” and Mr. Slade turned suddenly to his friend. “I leave it all to you, Slade. You’re more interested than I am. As far as Bob is concerned, if you want to let the lads [37] [38] [39] [40] try their hand, I won’t stand in his way. The more experience he gets the better off in after life—if he takes care of himself.” “Trying to put the whole burden on me,” said Mr. Slade with a laugh. “I don’t know whether I told you or not,” he went on to his son, “but Mr. Baker has some money invested in this ranch. So he is losing, as well as I, when the cattle rustlers are active.” “Then let us go out there and stop ’em!” cried Ned. “I’m sure we can do it. You’d go, wouldn’t you, Jerry?” “Well, I’d like to make the attempt,” said the tall lad quietly, “though I don’t know that we can guarantee results.” “But we’ll make a big effort!” exclaimed Ned. “Come on, Dad, be nice and say we may go.” Once more Mr. Slade seemed to be thinking seriously. Then he slowly said: “All right. As long as friend Baker is willing I’ll give in, though I have a sort of feeling it won’t amount to anything— your going out there.” “Just you wait and see!” laughed Ned. “We’ll show results before you know it. Say, fellows, this is great! And I have another idea.” “He’s full of ’em to-day,” commented Jerry, smiling. “We’ll make the trip in our big car,” went on Ned, not noticing the interruption. “We’ve gone on long tours in it before, and it’s a lot more fun than riding in stuffy trains. We’ll take the auto, and send our airship on ahead of us, to be ready when we get there.” “Better reverse the process,” suggested Mr. Slade. “If this business is going to be done by you boys, the sooner the better. The longer you wait the more...