CHAPTER VI THE SCENE IN THE MOONLIGHT
The sail down the beautiful California coast was uneventful. The fruitsteamer was a staunch old boat, though somewhat battered, and it keptits course steadily. After the boys and the professor had tired ofexploring it from end to end and looking in on the huge engines whichdrove it with throbbing energy they spent most of their time on the deckwatching the passing shore line, enjoying the warmth and brilliantsunshine. The nights, they found, were cold even in that particular timeof the year, and they were not sorry to use blankets even in the shelterof their cabins. They became quite friendly with the captain, who toldthem stories of many exciting voyages and some unusual storms. Nothingfurther was seen of Sackett and the mate went sullenly ashore at thefirst port.
No storms broke the monotony of fair weather and quiet sailing, and whenat last they entered Magdalena Bay and approached the settlements theywere almost sorry to leave the fruit steamer. At ten o'clock one brightmorning they climbed into the cutter and were pulled away to the shore,landing at length on the sandy soil of the small town of Quito.
Ned's ranch lay several miles inland, and the only means of travel was alumbering wagon which went to the mines. Learning that this vehicle wasto start out the following morning they hunted up the driver, a Mexican,and arranged to drive with him. A small hotel provided them with a placeto put up over night and after a satisfying supper they wandered aroundthe town, seeing the sights. The steamer had gone on its voyage after abrief stop.
The population of the town was very small, and exceedingly sleepy. Terryremarked that they slept all day in order to recruit strength enough toplay on guitars at night. The population was composed of Spaniards,Mexicans, and a few Americans, whose interest seemed to be chieflycentered in the inland mines, and a number of halfbreeds. Droves ofdogs, whose seemingly endless variety astonished the boys, roamed thestreets.
"Gosh," exclaimed Jim, as they came around a pack of them. "I used tolike pups, but I don't know as I do after seeing these. Guess I'll lookunder my bed when we get back to the hotel and see if there are anythere!"
Soft lights gleamed from most of the houses when evening came on, andthe sound of guitars was to be heard on every street. There were nolights along the streets, but the night was warm and bright, and theAmericans had no difficulty in walking around the town. Quite early theyreturned to their hotel and after drinking some cold orange drink, wentto bed.
Bright and early in the morning they were up, as they had been told thatthe mine wagon was to leave at six, and after a hearty breakfast wentout and loaded their bags on the vehicle. The driver appeared shortlyafterward, rolling a cigaret with amazing skill between two fingers.Terry eyed him in admiration.
"By golly!" he muttered. "I don't smoke and don't know as I shall, butif I did I'd give a lot to be able to roll 'em like that! I couldn'troll one that way with both hands."
Later on, when in the course of their journey the Spaniard yawned, Terrypretended to be enthusiastic. Without bothering to take the cigaret outof his mouth the driver yawned heartily, and the cigaret, clinging tohis upper lip, simply hung suspended until he closed his lips again.Then he resumed smoking, the operation being none the worse for the act,and Terry again shook his head in envy.
"Wonderful people!" he whispered to Don. "Too lazy to do anything atall! Wonder what happens to a cup of coffee when he yawns!"
"Probably he keeps right on pouring it down and doesn't waste any time,"chuckled Jim. "Great labor savers, these people!"
"I guess their hardest work is to keep from doing any work," smiledProfessor Scott.
The wagon was a large open affair, with two long boards like benches onthe side, and the boys and the teacher sat on the seats with theirbaggage at their feet. The driver sat slumped forward on the front seat,smoking, yawning and dozing by turns, muttering in broken exclamationssometimes to the horses and sometimes to himself. Although they tried totalk to him they received only weary shrugs of his narrow shoulders, andthey soon gave it up and talked among themselves.
The country through which they were passing led up in a gradual sweepfrom Magdalena Bay, and they soon drew out of sight of that broad sheetof blue water and plunged on into the more open country. The soil wassomewhat sandy, with an almost tropical vegetation, and small brooksspread like silver ribbons toward the sea. As they continued to workfurther inland the country became more and more open, with rollingplains and afar off darker stretches marked the hills in which the mineswere located.
"Ned's place is off in that direction," said the professor, pointing tothe southwest. "He tells me that it is in a basin between two smallranges, so we'll probably come across it all at once."
At noontime they halted in the shade of a spreading tree which was moreof an overgrown bush, a species that the professor did not know, and inwhich he speedily became interested. The driver immediately sat in theshade and proceeded to eat his lunch from a black box which he had,paying not the slightest attention to them. The boys, wishing to makesome coffee, cut some mesquite bushes which were nearby and kindled asmall fire. Jim set the coffee to boil and they ate some sandwicheswhich they had been wise enough to bring with them.
When the coffee was made Don took some to the Spaniard, who accepted itwith a brief nod of his head. Terry poked Jim.
"That means thank you," he said. "Too much trouble to say it!"
Immediately after the noon meal the driver toppled over silently andwent to sleep, a movement that afforded Terry much amusement. On thisparticular occasion, however, the boys could not blame him very much. Itwas hot, so much so that they were glad to stretch out and napthemselves. At the end of an hour the driver got up suddenly, resumedhis seat and clicked his tongue at the two horses. The wagon, with itscrew, rumbled on.
It was five o'clock when they topped the final rise and looked down onthe Scott ranch. As the wagon rolled down to the place they had a goodopportunity to study it closely. There was the main ranch building, asingle story affair, constructed of plain boards that showed up gray andsordid against the declining sun. Two large barns flanked the house andan inclosed field with some scattered patches of grass afforded a groundfor a half dozen horses. In back of the ranch was another framebuilding, which they afterward found out was Ned's laboratory, in whichhe tested metal from the mines.
Ned Scott was at home when they arrived, in fact, he had seen the wagontop the rise, and came riding out to meet them. They saw him swingcarelessly onto the back of a horse and dash up, and Jim, who was usedto riding a cavalry horse at school, admired the grace and ease withwhich he did it. Then, having greeted his father enthusiastically, NedScott was introduced to the boys.
He was a young man in his early thirties, broadly built, with black hairand eyes and a serious look. For some years he had lived in practicallywhat was solitude, seeing a few white men from the mines and a good manyhalfbreeds and Mexicans. The sight of three boys somewhat near his ownage was welcome, and he looked forward to some interesting days to come.
When greetings had been exchanged the young engineer led the way to theranch, where the boys alighted from the mine wagon, and paid the driver.The man took the money unemotionally and drove off, having onlyexchanged a word in Spanish with Ned.
"Well," said Terry, as they watched him drive off. "That man is atreat!"
"How is that?" asked Ned.
"He is so calm," replied Terry, solemnly. "And he is a splendid example.After seeing him I don't think I'll ever be fussed or excited overanything again!"
Ned Scott led them into the ranch building, a rough but comfortableplace, with a wide, hospitable living room, a big dining-room, kitchenand a number of small bedrooms, all on the one floor. There was a smallloft above for storage purposes, but no real upper floor. After they hadstowed their things away and had made themselves comfortable Ned tookthem around the ranch and showed them the place in detail.
As his chief interest was centered in the mines he d
id not raise cattle,but he had one man to take care of his horses and generally help aboutthe place. There was also an Indian cook, who was blackened by the sunand wind until his skin glowed with a dull color. Ned explained that theman who kept the horses and the barns was a mestizo.
"What is that?" asked Don.
"A man of mixed Spanish and Indian blood," explained Ned. "Sometimes heis very funny. The Spanish in him gets very dignified at times and he isalmost stately, and at other times he is just plain Indian, not much ofanything. However, he has a passion for the horses and he is faithful,and outside of the fact that I have to drive him to work in the barns heis all right. I call him Yappi."
Yappi was seen presently, a tall old man with curiously mixed white andblack hair, a skin that was a mottled yellow, and dull black eyes. Hebowed to them and passed on, apparently not at all curious. Theyinspected the barns and looked with considerable interest through Ned'slaboratory and the metals from the mines.
Supper was well served by Spanci the cook, and in the evening they saton the long low porch talking until it was time to turn in. After a goodsleep they were up, taking a trip with Ned to the mines. He led themthrough the tunnels and explained the complete workings to them, showinghow the silver and lead was mined. This took up most of the day and theywere thoroughly tired when night came.
Ned was not impressed by the loss of his letter. "Those fellows whoattacked you have probably thrown it away," he said. "I'll write youanother one sometime, dad!"
He asked the boys if they could ride and was delighted to find that theycould. Jim, being a cavalry lieutenant at Woodcrest, was somewhat betterat it than the others were, but they soon got accustomed to it. On thethird day of their visit Ned proposed that they take a moonlight ridethat night.
"The moon, as you noticed last night, is beautiful just at this time,and there is a lot more fun riding in the coolness of the night than inthe heat of the day," he said. "I think you will thoroughly enjoy it."
After supper they mounted and rode out of the ranch grounds, theprofessor refusing to accompany them. It was a beautiful night, with aglowing moon and a sky splashed with stars and they rode for milesacross the open country. The air was clear and cool, the mountains darkand mysterious near at hand, and the boys from Maine enjoyed everyminute of it. As they were returning Ned spoke up:
"When we get to the top of the next hill I'll show you the ranch of myneighbor, Senorita Mercedes," he said.
His tone was casual, but the boys, remembering what the professor hadsaid about Ned's interest in the senorita, felt that he was himselfinterested in looking at the place where she lived. He had not mentionedher name since they had been there, and Terry did not know anythingabout her. Nor had they discussed the treasure as yet, thought the boys,but that would no doubt come soon.
They topped the rise and paused to rest the graceful, lively horseswhile Ned pointed to a small white ranch which gleamed brightly in themoonlight. The house itself was small, but the outlying barns werelarge, and Ned explained that the senorita was at present raisingcattle.
"Not many of them," he went on. "Just enough to keep her alive andeating regularly. She has three ranchman and an overseer."
Near the ranch some trees and mesquite bushes grew and Don was lookingtoward this clump fixedly. He thought that he had detected some movementthere but was not sure. Ned pulled the rein and turned his horse's head.
"Well, I guess we had better be getting back," he said.
"Wait a minute," called Don, in a low voice. "There are two men comingout of that clump of trees near the ranch and creeping toward thehouse."
Ned spun around in his saddle and looked closely. Two men were crossingan open space toward the house, taking care to keep as much as possiblein the shadows. Gaining the side of the house they crept to a window andone of them reached up and pushed it. Instantly it swung open.
"Are those fellows her ranchmen?" asked Terry.
"I don't think so," said Ned. "That is the library window they justopened. By George, I think they're going in that window!"
"I suppose that's what they are opening it for," nodded Jim.
Ned dug his heels into the flank of his horse. "Then come on," heshouted, as the first man slipped through the window. "We've got to seewhat is going on in Senorita Mercedes' ranch!"