CHAPTER XV
PLANNING A DANCE
“Gus!� exclaimed Mr. Manley. “What happened?� Teddy and Roy looked anxiously at the rider.
“Had a little accident, boss,â€� Gus replied, a wry smile on his somewhat pale face. “Mebby if you an’ I was to take a little walk—â€�
Mr. Manley nodded quickly, understandingly, and turned to the girls.
“Belle Ada,� he said swiftly, “suppose you show Nell an’ Ethel the garden? I know they’d like to see it.�
Sensing the reason behind her father’s suggestion, Belle led the way toward the side of the ranch house. Gus turned in his saddle and watched the three girls depart. When they were out of sight and hearing, he took a long breath, swayed in the saddle, then gritted his teeth and straightened up. Roy walked over to him and, reaching up, seized him around the waist and practically lifted him from his horse.
“Let’s see that wound, Gus,� Mr. Manley demanded. His teeth set grimly in his lower lip, the puncher thrust the injured arm forward.
The cattle owner took hold of it gently and bent over it. Then he gave a cry.
“It’s a gunshot wound! You’ve been plugged, Gus!�
“Cor-rect.â€� Gus turned his head wearily. “Teddy, I wonder if you’d cut this here sleeve off me? You see it’s kind o’ stuck, an’ when I pull it—â€�
“Sure, Gus!� the boy answered with a note of pity in his voice. “Have it off in a jiffy.�
Opening his jackknife, Teddy slit the sleeve loose just below the armpit. As gently as he could, he peeled the cloth away from the wound. Gus winced, but uttered never a word until the sleeve was off. Then he heaved a sigh and said laconically:
“Thanks, Teddy! Feels better now. Much obliged.�
Sing Lung, who stood watching the scene with wide eyes, now scurried into the cookhouse and returned in a moment with a stool.
“Gus,� he said, “you sittee down. Feel bettah. I gettee you dlink!� Entering the kitchen once more, the Chinese came back with a cup of water. Gus drank it gratefully.
“You’re a fine cook, Sing Lung,� the injured man drawled, handing the cup back. The sun-tanned red had returned to his cheeks, but Mr. Manley noticed that there was just a bit too much color there now.
“Yep, a fine cook,â€� Gus repeated, as though to himself. “A fine cook! Only—you can’t bake bread.â€�
“Here, Gus,� Roy said in a loud voice, “snap out of that! Does your arm hurt much? What happened?�
“What—this?â€� Gus held up the arm and examined it as if it belonged to another man. “Naw, she don’t hurt. Feels kind of funny, that’s all. Well, I’ll tell you what happened.â€� Taking another deep breath, the cowboy regained control of himself with an obvious effort and went on:
“You know I went down to Eagles for the mail.� Mr. Manley turned to Sing Lung and said something in a low voice. The cook disappeared, to return in a moment with a white shirt. While Gus talked, Mr. Manley was using strips of this as a bandage to stop the bleeding.
“For the mail,â€� Gus repeated. “When I reached town I tied my bronc up an’ stopped for a second outside Rimor’s Place, thinkin’ of Checkered Shirt. But I thought there was no use in goin’ in there to look, ’cause, even if I did find him, I didn’t have nothin’ on him. So I started for the post-office.â€� He hesitated, while Mr. Manley wound the improvised bandage tightly about the arm. “Well,â€� he continued, “just then Rimor’s door swung open and a puncher came out. He took a quick look at me, turned around, an’ ducked back again. Boss, that’s plenty tight! Where was I? Yea—he ran in again.
“Thinks I, I’ve seen that buckeroo some place before. Then it hits me like a load of bricks. It was Gilly Froud!�
Teddy and Roy started back. Mr. Manley looked up into the eyes of the injured man.
“Go ahead, Gus,� the cattle owner said tensely. “What else?�
“Well, I couldn’t let a chance like that slip by, so I made a jump for the door an’ followed. The second I got inside, I seen my mistake. Froud was leanin’ against the bar, gun out, starin’ my way. We had a few words about them stolen horses, an’ all of a sudden before I could make a move he blazed at me an’ put my arm out of commish. I couldn’t do nothin’ then, crippled like that, except let out a few of my opinions about Froud, but he only laughed an’ tole me to bring my army next time. So I hopped back on Axlegrease an’ come home. Here’s yore mail.�
Reaching inside his shirt, Gus drew out several letters. He made as though to hand them to Mr. Manley. Suddenly his body went limp. His head dropped forward, and the envelopes fell from his nerveless fingers. Roy leaped forward just in time to keep the cowboy from pitching off the stool to the ground.
“The nervy fellow!� Teddy said slowly, looking first at the letters and then at the still form of Gus. “Gets shot, goes to the post-office for the mail, an’ rides twelve miles back home with his arm still bleeding!� The boy looked at the unconscious man with open admiration. Then, bending swiftly down, he seized the puncher’s shoulders. “Where’ll we take him?� he asked of his father. “In here?� motioning toward the cook-house.
“No, better take him to the house,� Mr. Manley suggested, looking at Gus closely. “He’s out, cold! No wonder! Ridin’ twelve miles under that sun with a hole ripped in his arm! He sure is a nervy boy!�
“I’ll tell a maverick!� Roy exploded. “Come on, Teddy, we’ll lift him over to the house. Sing Lung, you run ahead and tell mother to get a bed ready. And talk English, not Chinese.�
“Me fixee! Me fixee!� Sing Lung chattered, setting out on a run.
With Teddy at his shoulders and Roy at his feet, Gus was soon being carried toward the ranch house. Mr. Manley walked alongside, holding the injured arm so that it should not hang down.
Gus was soon resting quietly in a bed upstairs. Teddy telephoned for the doctor, but Mrs. Manley took no chances of blood poisoning setting in while waiting for the physician. She dressed the arm herself, with swift, sure fingers. Later, when the medical man arrived, he declared that no professional nurse could have done a better job.
Leaving the cowboy resting quietly, Mr. Manley and his two sons walked toward the corral.
“There’s one thing sure,â€� the rancher declared, “and this is that Froud is the one who stole our broncs! And another thing—I have an idea that he’s one of the gang of rustlers that have been operatin’ hereabouts. Bug Eye said he saw a scar-faced man ridin’ away from the 8 X 8 the very day their cattle was stolen. And I’ll lay money it was Froud!â€�
“Didn’t I tell you?� cried Teddy excitedly, turning to Roy. “Froud! He’s in that gang sure as fate! And so is Checkered Shirt! I can’t give you a reason for saying that, but I’ll bet it’s so, just the same.�
Mr. Manley looked over at his son.
“You mean that bad egg who was standin’ outside Rimor’s the day General an’ Flash an’ Star were rustled? The one I wanted to talk to later? The chap who vamoosed?�
“That’s the one, Dad! Yes sir, he and Froud are together on these shady deals, I’ll bet a gold mine!�
“Mebby,� Mr. Manley said slowly, “mebby.� He rested his foot against the lower rail of the corral fence. “But we can’t do anything just yet. Froud ain’t in town now, that’s sure. Wouldn’t do any good to ride after him. What we’ve got to do, is to get him when he doesn’t know we’re comin’. I don’t mind sayin’ I’ll have him for shootin’ Gus.�
Slow in speech, slow to declare what he intended to do, both Teddy and Roy recognized fixed determination in their father’s tone. Froud’s days of freedom were numbered. It might take time, but the boys knew that Mr. Manley would never rest until he had placed Froud behind bars—or put him permanently out of commission.
When the other punchers heard that Gus had been shot, they were loud in their declarations of vengeance upon Froud. Gus was well liked by all the boys on the X Bar X, and each puncher vowed:
“I’ll square it up for you, Gus!�
Pop, especially, was wild with anger at the rustler. He asserted that:
“Shootin’ a man is worse than stealin’ the X Bar X brand,� which, for Pop, was the criterion of mean and despicable actions.
Nell and Ethel had been persuaded to stay several days longer than they had intended, Belle meeting the objection that they “had no clothes,� by the statement that on a ranch they needed none, and as Norine offered to wash any needed linen over night, the excuse of “no clothes� was taken from them.
Truth to tell, Roy and Teddy were as insistent as was their sister that the girls stay. Having found that Nell and Ethel were no strangers to horses, Teddy and Roy took them for many miles over the mountainous land about the X Bar X, showing the real West. Ethel, or “Curly,� as Teddy called her because of her light, tousled, bobbed hair, was a tireless rider, and she and Teddy had many happy jaunts over the prairie. In Teddy’s language, she was “a regular fellow.�
One afternoon, a few days following the incident of the wounding of Gus, found Nell, Ethel, Belle and the two boys listening to Nick play his mouth-organ in accompaniment with Sing Lung, who caused varied and sundry noises to come from his “fi’il.� It was a slow day. The chores of the ranch having been attended to, Mr. Manley was waiting for something definite to lead him before starting the hunt for Gilly Froud. He had, of course, reported the shooting of Gus to the sheriff of Easton, a fairly large town to the south of Eagles, and aid in capturing the horse thieves had been promised. Mr. Manley was doubtful as to the efficacy of this help, but he determined to give the law a chance before acting.
Nick and Sing Lung were in the midst of “Oh, Susannah,� when Belle and Ethel suddenly exclaimed in the same breath:
“Let’s have a dance!�
“What’s that, a chorus?� Teddy asked, with a grin. “You two have been practicing, I can see that!�
“No, we just thought of it!� Ethel declared. “Wasn’t that funny, Belle, both saying it together?�
With a laugh, Belle agreed.
“But I really mean it,� she added. “We could use the living room and push all the furniture to one side. Would you play for us, Nick?�
“Sure would, ma’am!â€� Nick declared, with a grin. “An’ Jim Casey can shake an accordion a little—or a whole lot, accordin’ to him,â€� and he chuckled noiselessly.
“And Sing Lung could play his fiddle!� Nell exclaimed. “That would be great!�
“Then it’s settled!� Belle cried. “A cowboy dance! Teddy, you can be master of ceremonies. Roy can be manager. We’ll have it tomorrow night!�