CHAPTER XII
RIDING HERD
Yellin' Kid, Snake and the other cowboys stamped out the brands of thegrease-wood fire, coiled their lariats and mounted their ponies beforeanyone answered Bud's question. He did not repeat it, knowing thecharacter of the men to whom he was speaking. Then, as Old BillieDobb, who might have been a foreman a dozen times over if he had onlyproved more reliable, spoke up and said:
"We don't know who did it, Bud; an' your paw don't neither! Tar justrid in with th' news, as we rid out to do some fence mendin'. Wewanted to stop an' hear th' particulars, but your paw said for us tomosey over this way, an' we done so. He said if we seen you boys tosend you home."
"We're heading that way," Bud answered. "We were just over to the campwhere they had trouble the other night, but they've vamoosed."
"Can't see what they ever come here for," spoke Yellin' Kid. "An' itwouldn't s'prise me a bit if them fellers proved to be the cattlerustlers."
"Nor me," declared Nort, impulsively, thus drawing attention to himself.
"Well, you know all we do, Bud," spoke Billie Dobb. "Maybe your paw'llhave more news by th' time you get there. Tell him you met us an' thatwe'll be back as soon as we find th' break an' fix it. It's a bigbust, the report has it, an' he don't want th' cattle to stampede out."
"All right, we're going," declared Bud. "Come on, fellows," he calledto his cousins, and they galloped away toward the ranch headquarters,while the cowboys rode on their way, Yellin' Kid singing at the top ofhis voice. The boy ranchers passed the newly branded calf, its motherstill licking the burned place, but the little creature did not seemmuch to mind what had happened, for it was eating grass.
"Who broke the fence?" asked Nort, as he and Dick rode along on eitherside of Bud, whose horsemanship they were trying to imitate.
"Hard to say," was the answer. "Sometimes it's Greasers, and againIndians, who hope to get a few cattle in the confusion if a herd getsout. Then again something may have frightened the cattle themselves,and in a rush they may have broken through. Generally it's the cattlethemselves, and then we have to rush a bunch of cowboys to mend thebreak, some of 'em stringing new wire while others keep the steers,cows and calves from coming out on the open range."
"Say, there's been a lot of excitement since we came here!" declaredNort, his eyes shining in delight at the prospect of more.
"Oh, there's always more or less going on like this," said Bud. "If itisn't one thing it's another, though I must say we haven't had anythinglike those queer professors in some time."
"I'd like to know what their game really is," remarked Dick.
"So would I!" exclaimed his more impulsive brother. "And I'd like tocatch 'em at it when I had my gun loaded," and he tapped significantlythe .45 on his hip.
"Don't be too fast with gun play," advised Bud calmly. "You'll find,if you ever become a rancher, that you'll use more powder on coyotes,rattlers and in driving cattle the way you want 'em to go, than youwill on humans. There isn't so much shooting out here as the writersof some books would make out."
"Well, if there's only a little, I'll be satisfied," said Nort.
They reached the headquarters of Diamond X ranch without mishap, savethat Dick's pony stepped into a prairie dog's hole, and threw his riderover his head. But Dick was rather stout, and cushioned with flesh ashe was, a severe shaking-up was all the harm he suffered.
"They're nasty things at night--prairie dogs' burrows," said Bud. "Butmostly a pony can see 'em in time to side-step. Yours justdidn't--that's all."
"Yes, he--didn't!" laughed Dick, as he climbed back into the saddle.
There was enough excitement at Diamond X ranch to please even excitableNort. As the other cowboys had said, one of Mr. Merkel's men from adistant ranch--Square M, to be exact--had ridden in to report thatduring the early morning hours several head of choice steers, that werebeing gotten ready for a rising market, had been driven off byrustlers. Leaving his companions in charge of the remaining cattle,Tar Blake--who got his name from his very black whiskers--had ridden toheadquarters to give the alarm.
"Well, we'll see if we can trail these scoundrels!" declared Mr.Merkel, as Bud and his cousins rode up.
"Can't we go, dad?" asked Bud, as eagerly as Nort would have spoken."Maybe it's the bunch from the queer professors' camp. Let us trailalong!"
"Nope!" was the short answer from Mr. Merkel. "I've got other plansfor you," he added quickly, and in a tone that took the sting out ofhis refusal. "You'll have plenty of excitement," he went on, "so don'tlook so down in the mouth, son. Get something to eat, and then packyour outfit for a few days. You've got to ride herd, while I pull inas many men as I can spare to trail these rustlers."
"What herd, dad?" asked Bud. "Over by Square M?" and he named theranch where the thieving had taken place that morning.
"No, I want you to help haze that bunch from Triangle B over to therailroad yard. They've been showing signs of uneasiness, and I don'twant 'em to bolt when they're on the last stretch. You'll find 'emover by the bend. Ride there, and tell Charlie Smith and Hen Wagner tocome in. You'll relieve them. Dirk Blanchard will be with you, and sowill Chot Ramsey, and you three ought to be able to bed 'em downto-night. Drive 'em along easy. Dirk knows how to do it, and there'splenty of water along the way. Don't hurry 'em; if you do they'll workoff all their fat, and beef is too high now to waste it by running itoff the hoof. Mosey along now!" and the ranchman turned from Bud togive other orders.
Nort and Dick, with one accord, started forward, but their cousinanticipated their appeal.
"Can't Nort and Dick come with me, dad?" asked Bud.
"Sure thing--if they want to," answered Mr. Merkel.
"As if we wouldn't want to!" murmured Nort. "Oh, boy!"
"Say! It'll be great--riding herd!" exclaimed Dick.
Several hours later found the boy ranchers within sight of the fourhundred or more steers and cows they were to guard, and gradually headover to the railroad stock yards, whence they would be shipped to adistant city, there to be sold to the profit of Mr. Merkel.
"Whoop-ee!" came a distant hail from one of the cowboys left to guardthe Triangle B cattle.
"Zip-sippy!" yelled Bud in answer, and a little later he wasintroducing his cousins to the cowboys.
"Oh, boy! Rustlers!" cried Charlie Smith, when informed that he andHen Wagner were to form part of the pursuing posse.
"Just my rotten luck, I have to stay here!" complained Dirk, whileChot, to voice his disapproval of having to remain behind, slapped hispony with his hat and rode off over the prairie, only to return as fastas he went. It was his way of letting off steam.
The two cowboys, who were to join the bunch from Diamond X ranch,departed in haste, and then Bud and his cousins made preparations forspending several nights and days in the open, riding herd and hazingthe cattle to their destination.
It was the season of warm nights, as well as days, though there was acertain coolness after dark. No tents were set up. Each man, or boy,was provided with a canvas tarpaulin, which was all the protectionneeded. The prairie itself would be their beds, their saddles theirpillows and the grass a combination mattress and spring. They hadpacked enough food with them, and, if needed, a calf could be killedand eaten. There were water holes in plenty--in fact, they could liveoff the land.
Over a fire of greasewood, while the hobbled ponies rolled on theground, the bacon was soon sizzling and the coffee brewing.
"Gosh, but I'm hungry!" cried Nort.
"You said something!" declared his brother, while Bud and the otherssmiled at the fresh enthusiasm of the easterners.
There was really not much to do after darkness had settled down, forthe cattle were comparatively quiet, and after a full day of eating thesweet grass, having drunk their fill of water, they were content to lieunder the silent stars.
But in order that none of the steers might start to stray away, andstart a stampede, also in order that no thieves m
ight sneak up in thedarkness and "cut out" choice cattle, by this very operation alsostarting a panic, it was necessary to "ride herd."
That is, the cowboys, of whom Nort and Dick now counted themselves two,took turns in slowly riding around the bunched cattle during the nighthours. As the early hours were always the ones when it was most likelytrouble would happen, the two veteran cowboys volunteered for thisservice, leaving Bud and his cousins to make their beds, such as theywere, near the little fire. The boy ranchers would relieve the othersafter midnight.
So, wrapped in their tarpaulins, their heads resting on their saddles,and their feet to the fire, the three boys looked up at the silentstars. They talked in low voices at first, for the voice of man issoothing to cattle. Now and then some cow lowed, or a steer snorted orbellowed. But, in the main, the animals were silent. And to thisstate Bud and his cousins soon came, for they were tired with theirrather long ride late that afternoon.
"I wonder if any rustlers will come here?" spoke Dick to his brother,when Bud's regular breathing told that he had fallen asleep.
"Don't know--wish they would," Nort answered, half drowsily.
"Well, I'm ready for 'em," murmured Dick, as he felt of his gun whereit lay in its holster at his side, though he had loosened his belt tolie down.
The night became more silent and colder. The two other cowboys were onthe far side of the herd now, working around in opposite circles,meeting and passing one another. It would soon be time for them toturn in, and Bud and his cousins to turn out.
Nort was turning over to get into a more comfortable position, when heheard something hiss through the air with a swishing sound. For aninstant he thought of rattlesnakes, but almost at once it was borne tohis mind that he had heard this sound before--the swish of a lariatthrough the air.
He sat up quickly, straining his eyes in the direction of the sound.Just then a piece of the greasewood burned up brightly, and revealed toNort this sight.
From somewhere in the darkness, beyond the circle of light, a lariathad coiled in among the lads. And as Nort looked, the coils settledover the head of his brother Dick. Before Nort could cry a warning, orscramble from under his tarpaulin, the rope tightened and Dick waspulled from his resting place near the fire out into the darkness, hisfrightened yells awakening the echoes, and startling the cattle intouneasy action.