Ted Strong's Motor Car

  CHAPTER XXVIII

  TED'S GREAT VICTORY.

  "I tell you I'll never stand for it."

  The voice of big Ben Tremont could be heard roaring above the noise madeby the crowd around the judges' stand.

  "It's a go. The race goes to Magpie on a foul."

  The big man in the stand made this announcement in a voice of thunder.

  "Bully for you, Shan Rhue!" yelled the gamblers, crowding to the standin a body.

  At the same moment Bud caught Hatrack by the bridle and led him out ofthe crowd, for he knew what was impending.

  "I say it don't go," shouted Ben. "This man, who is in league with thatold crook, Norris, declares a foul. I say there was no foul."

  "How does the other judge go?" called a voice.

  "He declines to give a voice in the matter," answered Ben.

  "Throw the coyote down here, and we'll help him make up his mind,"called the foreman of the Running Water. "If he's too much of a cowardto decide for the right, we'll help him. Throw him over."

  The foreman of the Running Water was a formidable-looking man.

  He was tall and sinewy, with a seamed and scarred face, a map of manybattles with the elements, the wild animals of mountain and plain, andwith his fellow men.

  He was heavily armed, and the town gamblers knew him for a bad fighterwhen he was aroused.

  "Stick fer ther big show," he said to Ted, who was standing beside him."I've got the boys bunched back there on the edge of the crowd. When itcomes to a show-down we'll all be here. But it's no place fer wimmin an'children."

  "I don't want to get into a fight if we can help it," said Ted.

  "Yer ain't afraid o' these cattle, aire ye?" asked the foreman, lookingat Ted curiously, but with a shade of disappointment in his eyes.

  "Not for a minute," said Ted, throwing a straight glance into theother's eyes. "There's nothing to be afraid of, that I can see. Butwhat's the use if we can get at it in some other way?"

  "Well, I reckon yer right, bub," said the other slowly. "Some one isshore liable ter git hurt. But I'd sooner see ther whole crowd hurt thanhave this bunch o' thieves git away with their game."

  "They won't do that. Never fear."

  The crowd was now watching the men in the judges' stand.

  Evidently Ben and Shan Rhue were wrestling in spirit with the thirdjudge, who was still wavering. He knew that the right was with Ben, buthe was afraid of the big bully Shan, and the gamblers, who were most inevidence.

  He did not know that the cow-punchers and the townspeople who had bet onHatrack were being organized on the outskirts of the crowd, and that Kitand Clay and the other broncho boys were with them to direct them to theattack when it might seem necessary to assert their rights.

  Suddenly there was a roar from the crowd. Shan Rhue had struck BenTremont a staggering blow. They heard Ben let out a roar like a woundedbull, as he threw the great bulk of his body upon the man who had struckhim.

  Now they were wrestling, and the frail stand in which they were,fifteen feet above the ground, swayed with their struggle.

  "Kill him!" shouted the gamblers.

  "Throw him down here!"

  "Let us finish him!"

  "Stay with him, Shan!"

  These and other cries and threats were shouted by the mob. But TedStrong said nothing. He was watching the struggle intently and quietly.

  He had no fear but that Ben would be able to hold his own. His greatstrength hardly matched that of Shan Rhue, who was a giant, and the mostfeared man in the Wichita Mountains. But Ben was more than his match inwrestling skill, and, moreover, he was younger and more supple for allhis bulk, and his work on the football gridiron when in college hadtaught him tricks of the tackle of which the big bully did not dream.

  He had a hold on the bully now, and was gradually forcing him backwardtoward the frail railing that inclosed the floor of the stand.

  Ted saw his intention. It was to throw Shan Rhue against the railing,then spring away. Rhue evidently divined the same thing, for hestruggled with all his force against it, striking Ben in the ribs andoccasionally in the face.

  But his blows were not very effective, as Ben had him caught so closelythat his blows lost their power. Thus the struggle went on for a fewmoments. Then, when it was least expected, there was a crash of breakingwood.

  A yell went up from the crowd as it surged back, and the gigantic bodyof Shan Rhue came hurtling through the railing, which went intosplinters from the impact of his bulk.

  Shan Rhue grasped at the air, as with a roar he went over. He turned acomplete somersault as he descended and landed on his shoulders. For amoment he lay quivering, half stunned.

  There was dead silence in the crowd and none dared go to his assistance.But presently the bully sat up and passed his hand over his eyes. With aroar of pain and rage he sprang to his feet and looked around.

  The nearest person to him was the leader of the broncho boys, who stoodon the edge of the crowd, alert and smiling. Ted knew that it meantfight now.

  He was convinced that Ben was in the right, but right or wrong, Ben hadstarted it, and it was now up to the broncho boys to see that their sidedid not get the worst of it.

  Realizing that Ted was an enemy, Shan Rhue made a rush at him. Thosebeside Ted turned and ran. But Ted did not move. He only stood a littletenser.

  It took but a moment for the bully to cross the distance that laybetween him and Ted. His rush was like that of a bull, and asirresistible. But Ted did not propose to take the brunt of it. He knewseveral tricks better than that.

  As Rhue was about to launch himself upon Ted, the latter stepped lightlyaside. So sure was Rhue of landing on Ted and bearing him to the groundthat he had leaped into the air, and, finding nothing to stop hisprogress, was overbalanced. A sweep of Ted's foot completed it, for thelegs of the bully were swept from under him, and he went to the sod onhis face with a crash that seemed to shake the earth.

  Like an eagle upon its prey, Ted was on the back of the bully. The crowdshouted like mad, eager to go to the rescue of their champion. But Tedheard the voice of the foreman of Running Water high above the din.

  "It's the boy's fight, an' any man that breaks through the line will geta ball from my forty-four plumb through him. Stand back, you cattle!"

  "Let 'em go, fellers. Shan will kill him in a minute," shouted one ofthe gamblers.

  Shan Rhue had been badly shaken up by the jolt that had been his when hestruck the ground. For several moments he did not stir, and Ted thoughthe had been knocked out.

  Many of the men in the crowd knew things about Shan Rhue which Ted didnot.

  Rhue was considered the strongest man in the Southwest at that time. Hewas barely forty years old, in the prime of his life, and a man who hadnever dissipated. But he was a thoroughly bad man for all that, and thenumber of men whom he had killed had been forgotten.

  His feats of strength were the talk of barrooms and bunk houses. He hadbeen seen many times to break horseshoes with his hands, and as forbending a bar of iron by striking the muscles of his forearm with it,that was one of his ordinary tricks.

  But the thing of which he was proudest was his ability to buck a man offhis back. In this feat he barred none, no matter how heavy. He would geton his hands and knees, place a surcingle around his body under his armsfor his rider to hold on by, and then proceed to buck.

  It would seem impossible for a man to stick to him under suchcircumstances, and no one had been found yet who could do so.

  Thus it was that those of the crowd who had witnessed this featsometimes in a fight, and more often in friendly contest, looked to seeTed sailing through the air, and then the finish, for Shan Rhue was amerciless enemy.

  Ted was now straddling the prostrate bully, who was breathing heavily,his body heaving as his lungs tried to get back into commission.

  Presently he was all right again, and, feeling a weight upon him, shookhimself. This not having the effect of relieving him of his burden, hetwisted h
is head around and saw Ted sitting on him.

  With a growl like a wounded bear he slowly lifted himself to the heightof his arms, then slowly rose to his knees.

  "By golly, he's goin' ter buck him off," shouted one in the crowd.

  "Look out fer some fun, lads," cried another.

  "He'll kill ther kid sure," said a third.

  In a moment Ted realized what was coming off. The hold he had on theback of Shan Rhue was none of the most secure at best, but he got aclutch on the fellow's shirt under the arm, just back of the armpits,and he felt that he had in his fingers great bunches of the bully'smuscles.

  By the merest chance he had secured the only hold by which he could hopeto stick to the giant's back. Then the fun began. Shan Rhue plunged backand forth, sideways and up and down.

  The movement was incessant. He reared and pitched, and, having cunningand intelligence, he was able to distinguish when Ted's seat was leastsecure and take advantage of it.

  Ted had ridden many bucking bronchos, but Shan Rhue beat any of them inthe surprises which he furnished. But Ted stuck grimly to him.

  He knew that if the bully succeeded in throwing him off his life wouldnot be worth a rushlight, for Shan was a rough fighter and would nothesitate to kick him brutally, if he did not shoot him to death beforethe boys could come to his assistance.

  Thus the struggle went on for several minutes, Shan doing his utmost andTed hanging on. But the big fellow was getting winded by his exertions.

  He was not in the best condition, for all his tremendous power. He wasgoing fast, and Ted was badly shaken up and out of breath, also. IfShan held out a few minutes longer Ted must be thrown, for his hold onthe muscles under his antagonist's arms had begun to loosen, and hedared not let go for an instant to get a fresh grip.

  It was close to the finish, and the crowd knew it.

  "He's goin', Shan. A few more will finish him," shouted the gamblers.

  "Stick to him, Ted. He's almost in," cried the boys.

  Ted took heart at this, although his body was racked with pains, causedby the innumerable wrenchings to which it had been subjected.

  Suddenly Shan Rhue was all in. His body flattened out upon the ground,and he lay there panting laboriously. Ted sprang to his feet gasping.Thus for a few minutes both remained, amid intense silence from thecrowd.

  Shan Rhue's body was heaving painfully. It was evident that he had neverhad before a struggle like this.

  Little by little he recovered, but Ted's recovery was quicker than thatof the man. His youth and strength were responsible for this.

  But finally Shan Rhue was himself again, and suddenly he leaped to hisfeet and glared around. His eyes fell upon Ted, and he looked him up anddown in a sort of amazement.

  Had this stripling accomplished what older and stronger men had failedin?

  Shan Rhue could hardly believe it, but it took some of the conceit outof him at that. However, his anger at Ted had not been in the leastassuaged by the fact that the first honors had gone to this youth whonow stood watching him with a smile on his lips, but with the light ofbattle in his eyes.

  With a sneer Shan Rhue rushed at Ted. This time he would annihilate him.

  But Ted was crouching, awaiting him. His muscles were like steelsprings. His breath had come to him again, and he was ready to fight forhis life, for it had come to that now. Suddenly there was a smack, sharpand clear in the silence that hung over the crowd.

  Shan Rhue staggered back on his heels. The blow from Ted's fist hadstruck him fairly below the eye. Before he could recover Ted was uponhim like a panther.

  One, two, three, blows fell with a sharp, sickening sound upon the faceand throat of the famous Shan Rhue, as he lurched backward, vainlytrying to defend himself.

  His body went to the earth with a crash, and he lay there moaning andquivering, beaten, discredited, and no more the hero, for he had beenconquered by a boy.