CHAPTER XXXV.
"HOLE IN THE WALL."
"Kit, you will stay and take care of the herd," said Ted, just beforethe boys galloped off.
"All right, but I'd mighty well like to go with you," said Kit, who,although he was eager to be in the fight that he knew would come off ifTed found that Shan Rhue had anything to do with the abduction ofStella, was not one to get disgruntled.
Ted would have been well pleased to have Kit with him, but Kit's arm wasnot yet well enough to risk in a possible rough-and-tumble adventure.
"Say, Ted," Kit called after the leader of the broncho boys.
"What?" asked Ted, riding back.
"Don't you think you better take Stella's pony, Magpie, along with you?She'll have to have something to ride coming back."
He did not say "if you find her," for he knew that if she was anywherein the Wichita Mountains Ted would find her.
"Glad you spoke of it," said Ted.
It did not take long to rope the magpie pony and throw Stella's saddleon it.
Now they were off into the northeast, where the Wichita Mountains lay.None of them knew just where the Hole in the Wall was, but Ted feltconfident of finding it if there was such a place.
They rode so hard, only stopping at noon to water the ponies, that earlyin the afternoon they entered the mountains.
As they were going up the valley they saw the flying figure of a man onhorseback coming toward them.
As he approached, they saw that he was a cavalryman.
"Hello, what's up?" said Bud. "I never see a sojer goin' so fast, exceptthere was somethin' doin'."
A few minutes later the soldier rode up to them.
He proved to be a sergeant of cavalry.
"Where are you going?" he asked, pulling his horse to its haunches.
"What's that ter you?" asked Bud jovially.
"Just this: The Indians are threatening to rise, perhaps to-night,perhaps not until to-morrow. But when they do, this will be no place forwhite men."
"Where is the place called the Hole in the Wall?" asked Ted.
"Do you want to go there, or do you want to avoid it?" asked thesergeant.
"We want to go there as soon as we can."
"I'd advise you to keep away until the troops get there and clean thingsup."
"Why?"
"That is where the dissatisfied Indians are camped. I do not know itofficially, but I understand that Flatnose and Moonface, the two chiefs,are there now, and that the orders from Washington are to send us in todrive them out."
"When is this to take place?"
"The Indians have made no open declaration of war as yet, but it islooked for at any time."
"How will it be announced?"
"By the signal fires on the hills. A detachment of our men picked upearly this morning a wounded Indian, named Pokopokowo. He was wounded,and was taken to the post surgeon to be cared for. He has just confessedthat it is the intention of the Indians to rise and kill all the whitesettlers they can lay their hands on. I am on my way to send out thealarm."
"And you say the Indians are camped at the Hole in the Wall?"
"Yes, the detachment sent out early this morning were on a scoutingexpedition when they picked up Pokopokowo."
"Where is this Hole in the Wall, and how do you get there?"
"You are bound to go there? I would advise you not to."
"We must go. A young lady belonging to our party has been captured andtaken there. We did not know there were any Indians there, but onlywhite outlaws."
"That is different. I suppose you must go. But why don't you wait and goin with the troops? The Hole in the Wall is the rendezvous for all thewhite outlaws in this part of the country, and they are believed to bein league with the Indians, and will use the uprising of the Indians asa cover under which to run off all the stock in the country."
"There is no use of our waiting for the troops when the young lady is inthere, we don't know under what indignities. The troops put offattacking the Indians as long as they can for the sake of policy. We areall deputy United States marshals, and we get quicker action. Tell uswhere the Hole in the Wall is, and we will go in and get our own. Thetroops can do what they please later."
"Weil, pardner, you talk straight, and you feel about the young lady asI would if she was a friend of mine. But they are a bad bunch in there."
"I appreciate your warning, but it will not stop us."
"All right; go ahead, and good luck to you. About a mile farther on youwill come to a narrow defile leading to the north, cutting the range.That leads into a broad valley, at the west end of which is the placecalled the Hole in the Wall. It is practically impregnable. It isentered by a narrow passage which one man could hold against an army.It can be approached at night by riding down the valley, dismounting,and crawling over the mountain until you are above the Hole in the Wall,when every man can be wiped out by a few rifles."
"Thanks, sergeant. We will take to the hills."
With mutual good wishes, they parted, and the boys were soon riding insingle file up the defile.
In the valley they secreted themselves and their horses, while Ted andBud went forward to reconnoiter. It was rapidly growing dark in themountains as Ted and Bud crawled along the mountain paths toward the endof the valley.
Suddenly Ted placed his hand on Bud's arm.
"Some one right ahead of us," he whispered.
"Sentinel, I reckon," answered Bud.
Ted nodded: "You stay here. I'm going forward. I'll be back soon."
Ted glided away into the gloom. Presently Bud heard a muffled cry. Thenall was still again.
He waited a few minutes, and was about to go forward, when he heard aslight rustle beside him, and there stood Ted.
"It was a guard," he said. "I jumped him, and gagged him, but he gave mea pretty good fight. I've rolled him away where his pals won't find him.I guess we can go on now, but we must go slowly and quietly. I don'tknow how many more of them are about."
"Get a line on where the hole is?"
"Yes, we're on the right track. It is ahead of us."
On they went, and, having proceeded about half a mile, they suddenlybecame aware of the neighing of horses and the voices of men, whichseemed to come from beneath them, and it was not long before they saw aglare of light against the rocks not far ahead.
They went more cautiously now, crawling forward on their hands andknees. Ted, in advance, soon threw up his hand and lay flat on therocks, and Bud crawled to his side.
They found themselves looking down into a circular little valley, inreality a hole in the wall of the mountain.
Several camp fires were burning here and there, and about fifty Indiansand white men were lounging about.
Near the rear wall was a small tent, before which sat a fat old squaw.
As Ted was looking, the flap of the tent was pushed aside, and Tedclutched Bud's arm, for Stella had come forth, and stood looking up atthe sky.
"By Jove, if we could only attract her attention," muttered Ted.
"It would help her a lot if she knew we were so close to her," said Bud.
The glare from the fires flaring upward fell full upon their faces, andthey knew that if she looked in their direction she would not fail tosee them.
They saw her cast her eyes all around the sky, and in their direction.Ted dared not make a noise, but he nodded his head several times so thatshe would know who it was, should she chance to see him.
Evidently she did not, for she turned away, and again her eyes swungaround in the circle with her back to them.
"I've a mind to throw somethin' down at her, and attract her attentionter us," said Bud.
"And have every one of those cutthroats get on to us. Don't you do it,"said Ted.
In a moment Stella looked up again, and this time they saw her start,then stare fixedly at them. Ted nodded his head again, and this time shemade a gesture that told them that she had seen them, and knew that theywere there.
&
nbsp; "Duck yer head quick," said Bud, rapidly getting out of sight himself.
"What's the matter?" asked Ted.
"I saw Shan Rhue walking toward Stella."
"But she saw us, just before she ducked into her tent. Now it's up to usto get her out of there."
"You bet. But it will be a big job to get in there."
"I've got a plan that ought to work out."
"What is it?"
"You go back and get the boys. Put Ben and Clay down in the valley tohold the entrance to the Hole in the Wall. Bring the rest up here.Hurry! I'll stay here on guard. If any man attempts to touch Stella,I'll pot him from here. Bring your lariat with you."
Bud hurried away as he was bid, and in the course of half an hour,during which Ted, looking over the edge of the Hole, saw the menpreparing to retire for the night, he returned with seven of the boys.
"Now, fellows," said Ted, "I'm going down into the hole to send Stellaup on the rope."
"Jeering jackals!" exclaimed Bud. "Don't you ever do that. It means suredeath ter you, an' p'r'aps ter Stella, too."
"No, I don't think so. At any rate, I'm going to take a chance. It willbe up to you fellows to keep the bunch down there busy while I'm atwork. Three of you will stay on this side of the hole, and four on theother. If you do your firing right, you will keep those fellows jumpingfrom side to side so fast that they won't have any time for me."
"I see yer scheme, but I wouldn't like ter undertake it myself."
"Did you bring the rope?"
"Here it is," said Bud, unwinding it from around his waist.
Ted took it from him while the boys distributed themselves in theirfiring positions as he had directed.
Ted looped the rope under his arms. "You'll lower me down, Bud," hesaid. "Maybe I'll come up hand over hand if I can, and you will pullaway when I give the rope two jerks."
He took another look over the edge. All the men were rolled up in theirblankets asleep, except an old Indian who sat crouched over the fire.
Ted carefully lowered himself over the edge for the descent.
Down he went slowly and quietly, and soon his feet touched the groundjust back of Stella's tent.
"Hiss-t!" He gave a low, sibilant warning of his presence, and in amoment the corner of the tent moved aside, and he saw Stella's brighteyes looking into his. He motioned her to come out, and the flap wasgently lowered again.
In a few moments, which seemed hours, the flap was raised again, andStella crawled forth.
"Oh, Ted," she whispered, pressing his hand. He held up a warning fingeras he rapidly tied the rope beneath her arms.
"Bud will pull you up. Good luck," he whispered.
"Are you going to stay down here?" she whispered back.
"Yes, I must. Hurry!" He gave the rope two jerks, and it at once beganto tighten, and Stella's feet left the ground as she slowly ascendedskyward.
Ted, concealed against the wall back of the tent, saw her go up and up.She was more than halfway to the top when an old Indian woman crawledout of the tent, and, casting her eyes aloft, saw Stella.
A sudden scream rang through the hole. It was the Indian's warning. Therope began to go faster, and before the sleepy men in the hole had beenable to sit up and rub their eyes, Ted saw Stella reach the top anddisappear over its edge.
But the old Indian woman had run among the men crying out something inher native tongue. Evidently she was telling of the escape of Stella,for in an instant all sleep vanished and the place was full of menrunning about or staring up at the edge of the wall over which Stellahad gone.
Then Shan Rhue came forth, swearing horribly. He caught the old squaw bythe arm and threw her down.
"So you let the white squaw go, did you?" he asked. "And how much wasyou paid for it?" But the poor old wretch only shrank closer to theground and moaned her protests that she had nothing to do with theescape of the white squaw.
Shan Rhue strode toward the tent, behind which Ted was crouching withhis hand on his revolver.
Shan Rhue threw open the front of the tent and looked within. Then hestraightened up, and caught a glimpse of Ted, whom he did not at firstrecognize in the gloom.
He reached in his powerful right arm to pull the intruder out, andlooked into the muzzle of Ted's six-shooter, behind which he now sawTed's smiling face.
At that he straightened up with a loud laugh that filled the Hole in theWall and reverberated from side to side.
"Well, of all the luck," he shouted. "This has worked out just as Iexpected. I knew that if I got ther gal in yere that you'd be after her,an' here you are. Well, my bucko, you remember what I said about gettingeven with you. Now is the time. You've come to the end."
"Oh, I don't know," said Ted coolly. "I'm a long ways from a dead oneyet. Be careful what you do. This six-shooter of mine is mightysensitive on the trigger."
He heard a soft, swishing noise behind him, and knew that Bud waslowering the rope again. As he thrust his gun forward into the face ofShan Rhue, the bully backed away a few feet.
At that moment the rope swung down in front of his face, and, hastilyputting his revolver into his pocket, Ted grasped it and went sailing upinto the air hand over hand, assisted by Bud and Carl, who were pullingon the rope for all they were worth.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE ALTERED BRAND.
As Ted went up into the air, Shan Rhue shouted a command, and the whitemen in the Hole in the Wall ran to him.
"That boy must not get to the top," he shouted. "I want him."
"What will we do?" asked one of them.
"Here, Sol Flatbush, you are the best shot of us all. See if you can'tbring him down. But don't shoot him. I need him for other things. Shootthe rope in two."
This was easier said than done, for the rope was so high that it wasalmost out of the light cast by the fires.
Flatbush was, indeed, a splendid shot, and he fired twice at the ropewith his revolver, but missed each time on account of the uncertainlight and the swaying motion of the rope.
"Give me my rifle," he called, and one of the men fetched it for him.
Ted was within fifteen feet of the top when Flatbush, leaning againstthe opposite wall, took deliberate aim and fired.
At the second shot Ted, who was aware that some one was trying to cutthe rope, felt it vibrate suddenly beneath his hand.
Before the last thread was severed he reached up and began to climb,hand over hand. In a few seconds he was at the top, and the boys werehelping him over the edge.
For a moment or two he could say nothing; he could only listen to theyells of rage and disappointment below. Now he was surrounded by hisfriends, and Stella was free. Away on a mountain peak a light flaredup.
"What does that mean?" asked Stella, pointing to it.
"It is the signal that the Indians have gone on the warpath," said Ted."The sergeant was right. It is up to us now to do stunts."
"In what way?" asked Stella.
"We must keep those Indians and renegades confined in the Hole in theWall. If we can keep them there until the arrival of the troops we canend the uprising without shedding a drop of blood. See, there is anotherfire!"
Ted pointed to a blaze upon another peak, and this was followed byothers until there was a ring of fires on the crests of the mountainsfor miles around.
"It is up to us to do a good thing here," he said. "Bud, take two orthree of the boys and go to Ben's assistance. Hold the mouth to theentrance to the hole at all hazards. From what the sergeant said I haveno doubt but the troops will be here at least by daylight. We will keepthem busy down there from this place."
Bud hurried away with two of the boys, and Ted and the others composedthemselves to await developments. In the meantime, Stella told Ted thedetails of her capture. Since she had been a prisoner she had been welltreated, so far as most of the men were concerned, although Shan Rhuehad insisted on seeing her every day, and had told her that he was goingto take her away to the North and make her marry him. She had defiedhi
m, and had scorned him so scathingly that he had put many pettypersecutions on her, and had deprived her of her liberty for revenge.
"How did you happen to find me?" asked Stella, after she told all thathad happened to her.
"Little Dick was captured by an Indian, and while he was being broughthere the pony Spraddle stumbled and threw him. A small looking-glasswhich was slung around his neck fell off, and Dick picked it up andbrought it to camp."
"The Indian was Pokopokowo," said Stella.
"That was his name."
"I tried in every way to get a message out to you, but it seemedimpossible. Then I hit upon the mirror, ripped the back off it, and mademy cryptogram on it with a pin. I let Pokopokowo see it, and when he sawthat there was a picture on it, and I told him it was good medicine, hewanted it. Of course, I let him take it, hoping that it would be takenoutside, and that you would chance to see it, and so learn where I was."
"It was a very clever idea, and I doubt but for the mirror we shouldhave been able to get here in time. It was little Dick who saved you."
"Yes, little Dick and big Ted. Ted, you are wonderful!"
Below, in the hole, there were signs of activity. Men were rushing hereand there, saddling horses, packing mules, filling their cartridgebelts, and getting ready for some sort of action.
"They have seen the war fires on the hills," said Ted, "and are gettingready for their raid upon the settlers. Evidently they do not know thatthe gate to the outside is guarded, and they think that we are gone,having succeeded in getting you."
Having finished their preparations for departure, an old Indian rodeforth on a pony decorated with eagle feathers.
"That is old Flatnose, the head chief," said Ted.
Flatnose was painted for war, and as he rode toward the passage from theHole in the Wall he swung his rifle above his head and shouted aguttural command, at which a war whoop, shrill and terrifying, went upfrom the Indians, followed by a hoarse shout from the white renegades.
"Now, we'll see some fun," whispered Ted to Stella, who was lying on thecrest of the hole beside him, watching the proceedings below. "I guessBud has got there by this time, and is ready to protect the opening outto the valley."
Only a few minutes had passed before there came to their ears a volleyof rifle shots, followed by yells of fear, and the whites and Indianscame rushing back into the hole, scrambling and falling over one anotherin confusion.
"I thought so," chuckled Ted. "They are trapped and they know it. Theycan defend the hole against all comers by that passage, but it didn'tseem to occur to them that they might be made prisoners by the samemeans."
The inmates of the hole were in the confusion of terror, but at lastFlatnose and his son, Moonface, succeeded in pacifying them, and aconsultation was under way.
"Where is Shan Rhue?" asked Stella. "I haven't seen him for some time."
"That's so," answered Ted. "I don't see him." He scanned the holecarefully, but Shan Rhue was not there.
"Is there any secret passage by which he might escape?" asked Ted.
"Do you see that little shelter of canvas over against the wall?" saidStella.
Ted nodded.
"I believe there is a way out there known only to Shan Rhue. That iswhere he slept," she continued.
"Then he has escaped by it. Sol Flatbush is not in evidence, either.I'll bet a cooky they've skipped."
It was getting light in the east, and the Indians rode once more intothe passage, firing their rifles. Then they charged.
But soon they came rushing back; the boys at the entrance had againrepulsed them.
From far away came the soft but clear call of a bugle.
"The troops!" cried Ted, springing to his feet. "The cavalry is comingfrom Fort Sill. This thing will soon be over now."
He and Stella went to the edge of the cliff overlooking the valley, andfar away saw a dark mass, in the midst of which they caught the flash ofthe rising sun on polished swords and carbines, and a gleam of colorfrom the flag that fluttered in the fresh morning breeze.
The Indians in the hole had heard the bugle also, and now there wasconfusion indescribable. On came the troops, and Ted and Stella wentdown to meet them.
Captain Hendry was in command, and it did not take him long to get inpossession of the facts.
"So you've got them bottled up, eh?" he said to Ted.
"Yes; all you have to do is to make them surrender," answered Ted.
"Which I don't think will be such an easy thing."
"I don't think you'll have any trouble about it. Come with me, and bringa firing squad of your men."
The captain gave the order, and followed Ted to where he could look downinto the hole.
Then the captain laughed. "You have done better than I expected," hesaid.
Raising his voice, Captain Hendry shouted:
"Flatnose, you know me. This is Captain Hendry. I have got you in thathole like a rat in a trap. If you are wise, you will throw down yourarms and surrender. I have my men here with me, and if you do notsurrender, we will have to shoot you to death one by one. Will yousurrender?"
The old chief looked up and saw the captain leaning over the edge above.For several minutes he stared upward, then he threw his rifle to theground and gave a hoarse command, and his followers threw their armsupon that of their leader.
One of the troopers ran down into the valley with a command, while thoseabove lay flat on the edge with their carbines in a ring pointed at thethrong below.
In a few minutes the bugle sounded again, and the troops were seenmarching into the hole. The war was at an end without a fatal shothaving been fired.
As Captain Hendry marched away with his prisoners, he thanked Ted forthe great service which he had done the government by holding theIndians and renegades until the arrival of the troops.
"Well, that's over," said Ted, as the last of them faded out of sight atthe end of the valley. "But _our_ work is just begun. We've got to findthose five hundred head of stolen Circle S cattle."
"I suggest that we take a look behind that shelter of Shan Rhue's, andsee if there is a passage leading from it," said Stella.
"Good idea," said Ted, and they climbed down into the valley and enteredthe Hole in the Wall, where the other boys were waiting for them.
Ted went at once to the shelter, which was only a piece of canvas whichhad been at one time a wagon cover, and tore it away.
There was revealed a hole in the rock wall, and beside it a small moundof earth.
Evidently the hole had been known to the white desperadoes who had usedthe hole as a hiding place for many years, and that it had been theirhabit to conceal it by means of a stopper of earth. This Shan and Solhad removed, and had made their escape while the Indians and renegadeswere preparing for their raid on the settlements.
Ted at once showed it to the other boys, and it was decided to followthe passage and find out what was at the other end.
The hole was so small that Ted was compelled to enter it on his handsand knees. Bud followed him, and then came Stella. Ben remained withCarl to guard the entrance in case any of the white renegades shouldreturn.
A short distance in, the passage, or tunnel, became larger, and soonopened out into a natural cave, so that they were able to assume anupright position.
Ted lighted his pocket electric searchlight and led the way. They walkedfor some distance when they saw a gleam of light ahead, and a fewminutes later walked out of the cave into another valley, larger thanthat which they had just left.
"Great Scott! Look at that," said Ted, pointing to where a large herd ofcattle was grazing.
"What?" asked Stella, who could see nothing unusual in a bunch of cattlegrazing in the valley.
"I believe they're ours."
Ted strode toward the cattle, which seemed to become uneasy at seeing aman on foot, which range cattle will not tolerate.
"Don't go any closer, Ted," said Stella. "Wait until Bud goes back afterthe horses."
"I j
ust want to get a glimpse of the brand. By Jove, here's our lostCircle S brand, I believe. But look at it. It has been altered."
"How?"
"See those two perpendicular lines drawn through the S, making the brandCircle Dollar-mark. That's a most ingenious thing. It has been done witha running iron. The fellow who stole our cattle has just changed it byrunning a curved hot iron through the S."
"Yer shore right," said Bud. "That Circle Dollar brand hez beenregistered somewhere. It's up to us ter find out who registered it, an'we've got ther thief. I'll skip out fer ther hosses an' ther boys. Ireckon we kin git in here by ridin' across ther backbone o' ther hills."
"All right, get back as soon as you can, and we'll wait for you in thecave."
Bud and the boys were back within half an hour, having found a pass intothe valley through the hills which inclosed it.
"It's as plain as the face of the sun to me," said Ted, when they weremounted and were riding toward the cattle. "Shan Rhue would have hadthose cattle over the border in a day or two, had he not been so unwiseas to have abducted Stella. It's up to us now to get that bunch back tothe herd."
It did not take the boys long to get the bunch together, and Ted andStella rode out to the front of it to point it down the valley, whilethe other boys started back to the rear to drive up.
Suddenly they heard yells in the rear, accompanied by pistol shots andthe cracking of quirts. In an instant the herd was up with distendedeyeballs and lifted tails. The poison of fear was in them.
Looking back, Ted saw several men riding toward the herd at a terrificpace. At the head of the band rode Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush.
Then a remarkable thing happened: Every man of them produced a redblanket. They dashed among the cattle waving the blankets in the facesof the now terrified cattle.
"Look out for trouble," shouted Ted, for he saw at once the intention ofShan Rhue. It was to stampede the herd.
The effort was immediately successful, for the terrified animals, witha deafening roar that expressed abject fear, started forward on agallop, with a front as resistless as the prow of a battleship.
Stella was on the side of the herd opposite Ted.
She heard his warning cry, and then looked back at the herd. If shestayed where she was, there was no escape from death, for by her sidewas the sheer wall of the valley. There was only one way to safety, toride across to the side of Ted.
She gave one look, then started.
Stella rode quartering the path of the stampede, and would have made itin safety had it not been for a prairie-dog hole, into which her pony'sfoot went. Magpie went down. The thundering host of frantic cattle wasupon her when she felt herself caught in mid-air.
The thought of death was still ringing in her head, and everything swambefore her eyes.
"You're all right! Stick close!" It was the reassuring voice of Ted,who, at the imminent risk of his own life, had ridden out and pluckedher from the jaws of death.
Behind them, as Sultan, straining every nerve and muscle to carry themto safety, galloped ahead of the cattle, the boys rode into the ruck,beating the brutes with their quirts in an endeavor to stop them.
But they went a mile before they began to slow down, and Ted was able todeflect the course of Sultan, who was beginning to tire from the doubleburden and the terrific pace.
But at last the steers calmed down, and permitted themselves to bedriven quietly to where the rest of the herd were grazing.
As soon as Ted had restored the stolen cattle, he and Bud started backinto the valley in search of Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush, but, althoughthey searched everywhere, the renegades could not be found.
In the cave through which they had come from the Hole in the Wall theyfound a running branding iron, and fastened to the wall the followingnotice:
"To TED STRONG AND OTHERS: You win this time, but there will be others, and I am a lucky man in the end. You can't beat me.
"S. R."
Later they discovered that Shan Rhue had recently registered in Coloradothe Circle Dollar brand, and evidently it was his purpose to stealnearly all of the Circle S herd.
But although he escaped with his lieutenant, Sol Flatbush, the men ofhis band, who had been captured by the soldiers, were convicted and sentto prison for long terms, after they had confessed that Shan Rhue'sorganization had made a business of rustling cattle all through theSouthwest for many years.
Ted received several letters from the authorities in Washingtoncommending his services in averting an uprising of the Indians, and thecapture of the white renegades, but while this was gratifying, he feltdisappointed that Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush were not in prison, also.However, Ted believed in the motto, "I bide my time," and he felt in hisbones that some time in the future his path and that of the bully, ShanRhue, would cross again.
THE END.
No. 42 of the WESTERN STORY LIBRARY, by Edward C. Taylor, is entitled "Ted Strong in Montana."
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