CHAPTER VIII
THE FALL
The woods echoed with the crack of the rifles as Roy and Teddy opened fire on the rattlesnakes. The horses were prancing about in a frenzy of fear, and it was almost impossible to take accurate aim, but there were so many of the hissing creatures that this was not necessary. The ground near the rock seemed literally covered with the snakes, and a shot placed anywhere among them was nearly sure to hit one.
“Blow their heads off!� Teddy was yelling. “Pulverize ’em!�
The boy had an intense hatred of rattlesnakes, like most Westerners, and considered it a good deed to kill as many as possible.
The rifles were spitting lead as fast as the boys could pump bullets into the chambers and pull the triggers. The earth in front of them was beginning to resemble a butcher’s block. Torn bodies of the snakes were everywhere.
“Don’t seem to know when they’ve had enough!� came from Teddy as he pressed another clip into the rifle. “Golly, there must be a million of ’em!�
The angry buzz of the reptiles increased in intensity as more and more of the serpents issued forth from the cleft rock. The horses were whinnying in terror, and it needed all the skill the boys possessed to keep them from bolting. And, indeed, the sight of the deadly, wicked-looking, triangular heads of the snakes was a terrifying spectacle.
“There’s one less of ’em!� Roy cried, as he cut a large diamond-back in half with a bullet.
“Atta boy!� Teddy answered. “If this bronc of mine would hold still for a minute, I could get that big one near that tree!�
Roy looked to where his brother indicated and saw a huge snake lying coiled with his head drawn back ready to strike. The boy raised his rifle and took careful aim. Then a strange thing happened.
Almost more swiftly than the eye could follow, the snake uncoiled and glided toward Roy’s horse. But, suddenly, it stopped, raised its head, and for a moment stood perfectly still, directly in front of the two boys. The sound of rattling stopped as a radio that has been turned off. In surprise, Roy held his hand and did not take advantage of the splendid target offered, it seemed purposely, by the snake.
Teddy, however, was held in no such trance. Before him was a snake. It was his duty to kill it. The boy raised the rifle to his shoulder and squinted along the barrel. By almost a miracle, the horse remained quiet.
Roy watched the scene in a detached way, almost as though he was part of an audience of a staged drama. It was the moment of breathless suspense before the crisis.
But this sense of unreality did not last long, for the silence was shattered by the crack of Teddy’s gun. Roy looked down at the spot where the snake had stopped, expecting to see it a mangled mass of blood and skin. To his surprise, he saw the snake still in that upraised, immobile position, as firm and steady as a rock. Teddy had missed!
He had no opportunity to correct this mistake. The huge serpent sounded his rattles just once. Then he swiftly lowered his head to the ground, as though bowing farewell, and, like a streak of light, was gone. And where, before, the ground had been alive with the forms of writhing diamond-backs, there remained only the torn bodies of those the boys had killed. The other snakes had gone with their leader.
Teddy glanced at his brother, a sheepish look on his face.
“I missed him, clean!� he said, sliding the rifle back into its case on the saddle. “Roy, I would have bet anything that I drew a perfect bead in his head. I had him lined up just right when I squeezed the trigger. I can’t understand it,� and Teddy shook his head.
“You missed, all right,â€� Roy answered, as though to himself. “He was the king snake of that whole bunch! Wasn’t he a whopper, though? Never saw such a big one! The way he stood there, with his head raised looking right into your rifle barrel, he seemed like—like—Ajax defying the lightning. You know, Teddy, I’m kind of glad you did miss.â€�
“Well, you soft-hearted bronco-peeler!� Teddy laughed. “Glad because I didn’t kill a sidewinder! Wait till dad hears about that! And, speaking of dad, we’d better get back to him. He doesn’t know where we are, and he may worry. Let’s go!�
“I only wish I hadn’t fallen,� Roy remarked in a low voice as they rode along. “I’ll bet we would have had our broncs back now.�
“Aw, forget it,� his brother declared. “It wasn’t your fault. Anyway, they were a good bit ahead, and we might not have caught them, even if you hadn’t fallen. And when we did, we’d have had a fight on our hands, I’m thinking. Not that I’d mind it,� he added quickly. “But if we got punctured, mother and dad would worry like all get-out!� It hardly entered the boy’s mind that he might have been killed if he and Roy had succeeded in forcing the rustlers to the wall.
“Where in thunder is that spring?� Roy asked in a petulant voice. “Baby, I’m some dry! Next time I go chasing rustlers, I’ll bring along a canteen, I’ll tell a maverick!�
Teddy did not reply. He was thinking that perhaps they would not get another chance to go after the rustlers. Certainly the men ahead were moving fast. Star, General, and Flash had more stamina than any other three horses he had ever seen. This meant that, in a pinch, the thieves could ride them well out of the county before night.
“Now you take that puncher in the checkered shirt,� Roy went on, talking more to himself than to Teddy. “He’s a queer proposition. When dad was knocking politeness into that barkeeper to keep him from doing any plugging, old Checkered Shirt could have had things to his own liking. Instead, he runs. Afraid, most likely.� Roy bent lower in the saddle to avoid a tree branch which overhung the trail. “Pop said he was a friend of Gilly Froud’s.�
“I don’t care if he’s a friend of Black Mike, the Killer!� Teddy burst out. “If he flicks a cigarette in my face again I’ll salivate him!�
Roy looked quickly at his brother. He knew the strain the younger boy had been under, and felt that the best thing to do was to take his mind off Flash and Checkered Shirt.
“Say, Teddy,� he said in a loud voice, “what do you think of those two girls dad met on the train?�
Teddy glanced over and grinned.
“Think I need a little cheering up, Roy?� he asked. “Well, maybe I do. Now what was that you wanted to know?�
“Say-y-y-y, you can’t get away with that!� Roy laughed. “You heard me all right!�
“Oh, yes—the girls! Why, I think they’re very nice.â€�
“‘Very nice!’â€� Roy mimicked. “You don’t say! My boy,â€� and his voice took on a paternal note, “I admire your restraint. But then, of course, you know more girls than I do. To me—to me, they were as the breath of springtime!â€�
“Aw, dry up!� Teddy exclaimed sheepishly. “Stop that kidding! You liked ’em as well as I did. Jimminy, I’m thirsty!�
“Seems to me that spring is around here some place,� Roy declared, pulling his horse up suddenly.
“Let’s separate, and see if we can find it,� suggested Teddy. “I’ll go down the mountain a way, and you go up. If you find it, yell, and I’ll do the same if I locate it. If we miss it, we can meet here in ten minutes.�
Roy nodded his approval of the plan. He turned his steed to the right, and started up the incline at an angle. Teddy watched him for a moment, and then, licking his dry lips, faced in the opposite direction. Chirping to his pony, he took a firm grip on the reins and started the descent.
Riding down an incline is never as easy as riding up. Teddy realized this, and he guided the pony slowly down Mica Mountain. As he rode, he turned his head from side to side, seeking for the spring. The boy was getting more thirsty every moment.
He came to a spot which seemed more treacherous than the rest. The footing was of loose stone and very steep. Teddy seriously debated whether it would not be better to dismount and lead the pony.
Fate, in the guise of a hornet, decided the problem for him. As the hornet thrust his poisoned lance into the pony’s flank, the horse gave a snort of pain and leaped forward. Teddy made a grab for the saddle horn, missed, and went flying through the air. He landed face downward on a bed of knife-like stones, and, as the horse regained his balance and trotted off, Teddy, with a wild yell, went sliding down the mountainside!