CHAPTER XXIX
BURNT BRANDS
At the end of the third day of scouting Jack came back to camp late, butjubilant.
"I've found what we're lookin' for, Art. I drifted across a ridge an'looked down into a draw this evenin'. A fellow was ridin' herd on abunch of cows. They looked to me like a jackpot lot, but I couldn't besure at that distance. I'm gonna find out what brands they carry."
"How?"
"The only way I know is to get close enough to see."
"Can you do that without being noticed?"
"Mebbe I can. The fellow watchin' the herd ain't expectin' visitors.Probably he loafs on the job some of the time. I'm gamblin' he does."
Roberts unloaded from the saddle the hindquarters of a black-tail deerhe had shot just before sunset. He cut off a couple of steaks for supperand Ridley raked together the coals of the fire.
"Throw these into a fry-pan, Art, while I picket old Ten-Penny," saidJack. "I'm sure hungry enough to eat a mail sack. I lay up there in thebrush 'most two hours an' that fellow's cookin' drifted to me till I wasabout ready to march down an' hold him up for it."
"What's the programme?" asked Arthur later, as they lay on theirtarpaulins smoking postprandial cigarettes.
"I'll watch for a chance, then slip down an' see what's what. I want toknow who the man is an' what brand the stock are carryin'. That's all.If it works out right mebbe we'll gather in the man an' drive the herdback to town."
"Then I go along, do I?"
"Yes, but probably you stay back in the brush till I signal for you tocome down. We'll see how the thing works out."
Ridley lay awake for hours beneath a million stars, unable to get hisalert nerves quiet enough for sleep. The crisis of his adventure wasnear and his active imagination was already dramatizing it vividly. Heenvied his friend, who had dropped into restful slumber the moment hishead touched the saddle. He knew that Roberts was not insensitive. He,too, had a lively fancy, but it was relegated to the place of servantrather than master.
In the small hours Arthur fell into troubled sleep and before his eyeswere fully shut--as it seemed to the drowsy man--he was roused by hiscompanion pulling the blankets from under him. Ridley sat up. The softsounds of the desert night had died away, the less subdued ones of dayshowed that another life was astir.
"Time to get up, Sleepy Haid. Breakfast is ready. Come an' get it,"called Jack.
They packed their supplies on the extra horse and saddled their mounts.The day was still young when they struck across the plains to the north.The way they took was a circuitous one, for Roberts was following thedraws and valleys as far as possible in order to escape observation.
The sun was high in the heavens when he drew up in the rim-rock.
"We'll 'light here an' picket the broncs," he said.
This done, both men examined their rifles and revolvers carefully toguard against any hitch in the mechanism. Then, still following the lowcountry, they worked forward cautiously for another half-mile.
Jack fell back to give the other Ranger final instructions. "There's aclump of cactus on the summit. We'll lie back o' there. You stay rightthere when I go forward. If I get the breaks I'll wave you on later. IfI don't get 'em you may have to come a-shootin' to help me."
They crept up an incline, wriggling forward on their stomachs the lastfew yards to the shelter of the cactus on the crest. Before them lay alittle valley. On the cactus-covered slope opposite a herd of cattle wasgrazing. No guard was in sight.
For two hours they lay there silently, watching intently.
"I'll slip down right now an' take a look at the brands," said Jack.
"Hadn't I better come too?"
"You stick right where you're at, Art. I might need a friend under coverto do some fancy shootin' for me if the Dinsmores arrived unexpected."
There was no cover on the near slope. Jack made no attempt to concealhimself, but strode swiftly down into the valley. Goosequills ran up anddown his spine, for he did not know at what moment a bullet might comesinging down at him.
He reached the outgrazers of the herd and identified the A T O brand onhalf a dozen cows. The brand had been changed by an adroit touch or twoof a running-iron. Probably the cattle were being held here until thehair had grown again enough to conceal the fact of a recent burn.
The Ranger circled the herd, moving toward the brow of the land swell.He made the most of the cactus, but there was an emptiness about the pitof his stomach. If some one happened to be watching him, a single shotwould make an end of Tex Roberts. His scalp prickled and drew tight, asthough some unseen hand were dragging at it.
From one clump to another he slipped, every sense keyed to alertness.The rifle in his hand, resting easily against the right hip, could belifted instantly.
At the top of the rise the Ranger waited behind a prickly pear to searchthe landscape. It rolled away in long low waves to the horizon. A mileor more away, to the left, a faint, thin film of smoke hung lazily inthe air. This meant a camp. The rustlers, to play safe, had located itnot too near the grazing herd. It was a place, no doubt, where water washandy and from which the outlaws, if caught by surprise, could make asafe and swift retreat to the rim-rock.
Again, in a wide circuit in order not to meet anybody who might beriding from the camp to the herd, the Ranger moved forward warily. Thesmoke trickle was his guide and his destination.
He took his time. He was in no hurry. Speed was the least part of hisprogramme. Far more important was secrecy. With that patience which thefrontiersman has learned from the Indian he followed a tortuous coursethrough the brush.
His trained eye told him the best direction for approach, the side fromwhich he could get nearest to the camp with the least risk of beingseen. Through the curly mesquite he crawled, hiding behind the shortbushlike clumps until he had chosen the next line of advance. At last,screened by a Spanish bayonet, he commanded a view of the camp.
So far as he could tell it was deserted. Camp equipment lay scatteredabout. A frying-pan, a coffee-pot, tin cups and plates, had been droppedhere and there. The coals of the fire still smouldered and gave forth awisp of smoke. Fifty yards away a horse was picketed. It was an easyguess that the campers had not gone permanently, but were away from homefor a few hours.
Where were they? Recalling the horses he and his companion had leftpicketed not far away, Jack felt a momentary qualm. If the Dinsmoresshould happen to stumble on them the situation would be an awkward one.The hunters would become the hunted. Deprived of their horses andsupplies, the Rangers would be at a decided disadvantage. The onlyoption left them would be to come to close quarters with the rustlers orto limp back home discouraged and discredited. Roberts preferred not tohave his hand forced. He wanted to wait on opportunity and see what itbrought him.
He moved forward to the camp and made a swift examination of it. Severalmen had slept here last night and four had eaten breakfast a few hourssince. He could find no extra supplies, which confirmed his opinion thatthis was only a temporary camp of a night or two. A heavy buzzing offlies in a buffalo wallow not far away drew his steps. The swarm covereda saddle of deer from which enough for a meal had been slashed before itwas thrown away.
The Ranger moved nothing. He left no signs other than his tracks to showthat a stranger had been at the camp. As soon as he had inspected it hewithdrew.
He had decided that the first thing to do was to join Ridley, make sureof their horses, and leave his companion in charge of them. Afterward hecould return alone and watch the rustlers.
Since he knew that the rustlers were away from their camp, the Rangerdid not feel the need of taking such elaborate precautions againstdiscovery during the return journey. He made a wide circuit, but hislong, easy stride carried him swiftly over the ground. Swinging roundthe valley in which the herd was grazing, he came up from the rear tothe brush-covered summit where he had left Ridley.
Arthur had gone. He was nowhere in sight. Nor was there any sign to showwhere he had gone.
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It was possible that some alarm might have sent him back to look afterthe horses. Jack ran down the incline to the little draw where theanimals had been picketed. The broncos were safe, but Ridley was notwith them.