CHAPTER XXX.
BILLIE MAKES A DISCOVERY--CONCLUSION.
"Hold up, boys, I thought I heard some one shouting just then; andseemed like they might be calling for help!"
When Donald said this, the little party drew in their horses, as well asthe pack mule, Bray, and sat there listening.
They were well on their journey, with the Zuni village many milesdistant. Donald and Adrian had found little difficulty in climbing tothe top of the cliff after reaching the ledge. There they were eagerlygreeted by Billie, who confessed that he had for half an hour been lyingthere, with his ear to the ground, catching the faint sounds of the mostheavenly music he ever heard. And as he was wild to hear what they hadlearned, they had to tell him.
Billie considered it the best joke he had ever run across. Often sincethen the others had heard him chuckling, at times, and knew that he wasdrawing a mental picture of that grim old necromancer, clad in all hissavage attire, squatted before that talking machine, and drinking inairs from the opera, rollicking songs by Harry Lauder, and then theponderous speeches of ex-presidents and other statesmen.
"You're right, Donald," said Adrian quickly, "I heard it as plain asanything right then; and seemed to come from down this queer littlestream that we're just going to cross, after the horses have drank theirfill--you don't often run across such a jolly flow of water in thisregion of rocks and deserts. There it comes again, a cry for help; andthere goes a gun of some sort!"
"It couldn't be a trap, now, could it?" asked Billie, a bit nervously;for he could not get the remembrance of those Apaches off theirreservation out of his mind.
"That's a white man calling, so let's head that way, and see what ailshim," Donald decided, after they had heard the call several more times.
After following the little wandering stream for half a mile theysuddenly made a strange discovery. In the midst of the water there was ahuman head, with a pair of shoulders--only that to be seen, and nothingmore.
"Whatever is he adoing wading in there, and where it's nearly over hishead?" asked Billie, wonderingly.
But the others knew.
"He's being sucked down in a quicksand!" cried Donald.
"And we've got to get busy, if we want to save the poor wretch!" echoedAdrian, as they urged their horses forward.
While the two ranch boys got their ropes out, and made arrangements tohave one of the horses pull, after a noose had been placed under theman's arms, Billie made a sudden discovery.
"Say," he called out, from the shore, close by where his chums wereworking like a pair of beavers, "I think I know that man, even if hisface is covered with mud. It's Tod Harkness, that's who it is, the worstrascal along the border, so lots of people say."
"But the man you saved once before, Billie," remarked Donald, as he toonow recognized the ugly face of the fellow.
"Don't let thet same keep you from yankin' me out, gents," whined theman, who had rather lost his nerve when he believed that his doom wascertain; he might have faced pistol fire without flinching, or almostany other form of death; but this thing of being sucked down, inches ata time, until the end came, was worse than Indian torture.
"Rest easy, Tod, we're not the kind to let any man, no matter how muchof a bad egg he may be, go to such a death," said Adrian.
"Out you will come, as soon as I get this loop fixed," added Donald."It'll hurt some when the horse pulls; but you've got to stand for that,Tod."
"I kin stand anything, if on'y I git out," said the border desperado.
When they had all arrangements made, he did come out, though the strainwas so great that the man fairly shrieked, and then swooned before theyhad him safe on land.
Donald proceeded to examine him, and Adrian as well said that no damagehad been done except to bruise his body a little. He would soon behimself again. His horse was calmly grazing near by, and had apparentlypaid no attention to the calls of its master, while it could find greengrass to nibble.
In running his hands over the man's person Adrian happened to draw outwhat seemed to be an old and much used notebook. He opened the same inidle curiosity, and hardly had he done so than Billie gave a whoop.
"Oh! look, would you, fellows?" he cried; "don't you see several pageshave been torn out right here? Wait a minute, Adrian, and watch me fitthem two warnings we got to the torn edges of the balance of the pages.There, they match like magic! Don't you see, it was _him_ that keptwatching over us all the time--only for Tod Harkness we might have drunksome of that poisoned water at the spring; if _he_ hadn't seen thatInjun sneaking up and wounded him, who knows what would have happened tous; and last but not least, _he_ let us know about that measly game theshowman Braddon was putting up on us. Now the mystery is all clear. Itwas only poor old Tod Harkness atrying to pay back the debt he thoughthe owed me, because I helped him that time!"
The three Broncho Rider Boys stood there by the side of the slowlyrecovering border desperado, and stared at each other. It was almost toostrange to believe, but they had all the evidence necessary in thatsoiled notebook, with the two warning notes fitting snugly in the tornplaces.
"Well, after this," said Donald, slowly and earnestly, "I'm never goingto believe any man is _all_ bad. Even Tod Harkness has human feelings;and if he had had a home like mine perhaps he'd have been a good mantoday. I only hope he's found it so fine to be doing decent things, thathe'll keep it up after this. If I thought so, I'd even try and get dadto give him a job at the Keystone."
And strange to say, that was what really came about; for Tod, after hehad come back to his senses, told them he was determined to turn over anew leaf, and gladly accepted the chance to get employment under a manso highly respected as Mr. Mackay.
As he will probably never be heard of again in these stories it may onlybe right and proper to say here and now that Tod _did_ make good. Thelittle seed sown by honest Billie on that occasion when he assisted thedesperado, had been working over-time in the brain of the man, with theresult that his regeneration was brought about. While he had meant tohover around, and be of some assistance to Billie, Tod had not wantedhis identity to be known, and on that account he kept in the backgroundwhile at the Zuni village, which accounted for their not having seenanything of him.
"Everything has now been cleared up," remarked Donald, as they sataround their camp-fire that same evening, Tod being one of the number, aquiet man who had begun to _think_, for possibly the first time in hiswhole life, and was very grateful to these lads, not only for saving hislife, but for promising to give him a chance to redeem his bad past.
"Yes, and there's nothing now to keep me from heading north, after weget back to Keystone Ranch," added Adrian. "I'm thinking of my place upthere most all the time now; and it seems like I couldn't keep back anylonger. I must know the truth about what my uncle is doing there. Ifhe's acting square by me I want to forget I ever felt uneasy; and on theother hand, if there is any crooked work going on, which would accountfor the poor returns I've had of late years, why the sooner I make achange in my manager the better."
"Yes," added Billie, with a tender look over to where Adrian sat on theopposite side of the glowing camp-fire, "and don't forget, please, thatwe're going to ride with you when you take that long trip."
"Sure we are," declared Donald, heartily. "We've been pards so long nowthat what's the injury to one is the same with all. When you start foryour faraway ranch, Billie and Donald will be in the bunch, believe me!"
And that this prophecy was later on fulfilled the reader may readilyguess when he examines the next volume in this series, which is now onsale under the title of "The Broncho Rider Boys On the Wyoming Trail;Or, The Mystery of the Prairie Stampede;" and those who have come toadmire the sterling nature of Adrian; the rugged honesty and get-therequalities of the ranchman's son, Donald; and the humorous make-up ofBillie, will find adventure and fun to their heart's content between thecovers of the succeeding volume.
THE END.