CHAPTER VIII
Follow Us
With a bound, the boys were out of the corral and running toward the house. As they came closer they saw a look of anxiety on their mother’s face.
“What is it?” Roy shouted, not slacking his pace. “Is any one hurt?”
“No, not that! But I just went to your father’s desk to get a blotter from the drawer, and a large sum of money is missing! It was taken from his desk last night!”
The explanation of Mrs. Manley’s concern came as a relief, rather than a shock, to Teddy and Roy. On that short journey from the corral to the house, their minds had run the gamut of emotions—they did not know what to expect. Since the true character of The Pup was known to them, they had almost feared he had attempted to injure some one within the house.
“How much was it, Mother?” Roy asked, as he reached the porch.
“About four hundred dollars. Your father drew it from the bank the day before yesterday to pay the men with. He must have forgotten to tell you about it, though he may have wanted to wait until he returned before giving the boys their wages. Now it’s gone! The drawer was forced and the money stolen. Do you think any of the men—I don’t like to mention it, but—”
“Don’t worry, Mom, none of the boys did it,” Teddy assured her.
“We know who’s got it; but that won’t help much,” Roy said.
“You do?” Mrs. Manley’s eyes expressed her surprise. “How do you know?”
“Because the money isn’t the only thing that’s missing. That pony dad liked so well is gone, too.”
“The one Belle’s been riding—the one you broke?” A frown came to Mrs. Manley’s face. “Your father will be sorry to hear that. Next to his own horse, he liked that pony better than any on the place. But tell me—who took him? And who took the money?”
“The Pup,” Roy declared, pressing his lips together.
“Joe Marino! The man Gus rode with!” Mrs. Manley shook her head sadly. “I’m very sorry. I was afraid he would cause trouble of some sort after your father discharged him. But are you sure?”
“I am!” Teddy exclaimed decidedly. “He came back last night, Mother. I met him.” Wisely, the boy did not tell of his fight with the man. “I told him to stay away from here, and, as I remember now, he was near the corral when I caught him! He must have sneaked into dad’s office, taken the money, and then he got the pony out. So-o-o that’s what he meant when he said his job here was finished!” Teddy brought a fist down sharply into his open palm. “And I had him in my hands! If I only had that chance over again, I’d certainly make the most of it! Wonder how far away he is by now? Maybe we could—”
“Cool off,” Roy advised. “No use to beef about a thing that’s already happened. The thing to do is to find Joe Marino.”
“Are you certain it was he?” Mrs. Manley asked.
“We sure are!” came from Teddy. “How about it, Roy? Wouldn’t you bet your bottom dollar that The Pup did this?”
Both his mother and Teddy waited for the reply. They had confidence that Roy would not go off “half cocked,” a trait which Teddy had in full measure. Besides this, with Mr. Manley gone, the mother and younger brother leaned toward Roy as the natural head of the family.
“Marino,” Roy said slowly, “is the thief, or I’m a ring-tailed doodle bird.”
“And there’s no two ways about it!” Teddy added. “Come on, Roy—we’ll go get him! He’s got a payroll and a horse of ours!”
“But, boys—” Mrs. Manley began, when Roy threw an arm affectionately over her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Mom,” he interjected. “Dad told us to stick, and stick we do until he sends for us, payroll or no payroll. Teddy, you fly off the handle too fast. You know what the orders were.”
“That’s right, too,” the younger lad said, a bit regretfully. “But it sure does seem a shame to let a skunk get away so easily!”
“He won’t get away,” Roy asserted. “We’ll telephone in to the sheriff at Hawley to be on the watch, in case he went that way. Then maybe we can reach Nick’s friend at Eagles—the puncher he talked to from the Whirlpool River Ranch. If he’s a friend of Nick’s, he’ll help us out. Then, when dad comes back, we can start on the hunt.”
“Yea, but when’ll that be?” Teddy half grumbled. “A week, maybe. By that time The Pup could be half way across the continent. Oh, I know it’s the only thing to do,” he added quickly, as he saw Roy stare at him. “But—oh, well, I guess you know how I feel!”
“It wasn’t your fault at all, Teddy,” Mrs. Manley consoled. “How could you know that Marino was here to steal?”
“Aw, I might have guessed he’d try some stunt like that,” the boy muttered. “After he—I mean when I saw him sneakin’ around. Well, we live and learn. Anything else missing, Mother?”
“I don’t believe so, and I certainly hope not,” Mrs. Manley answered. “A horse and four hundred dollars are quite enough. Do you think—oh, I can’t think—Gus—”
“Not any!” Teddy exploded forcibly. “And that reminds me, Roy! That conversation you heard behind the bunk-house! Marino was trying to get Gus to go into this scheme with him and split the money. That’s it, as sure as shooting! Nope, Mom, Gus had no finger in this! It was Marino, all alone. I’ll lay anything on that.”
“You’re probably right, Teddy,” Roy agreed, his face clearing. “At least it’s an explanation of what I heard. Of course we can’t be sure of that, though it sounds likely. The Pup may have had another idea, and just formed the plan to rob our place on the spur of the moment when he heard dad was away. Come on, let’s take a look at the desk. That may tell us something.”
When they reached Mr. Manley’s office they saw in a moment that the drawer of the desk had been pryed open with some sort of knife, and the lock sprung. There were marks—small cuts—about the woodwork on the edge of the desk. As Roy saw these, he looked at Teddy significantly, but said nothing. He did not want his mother to know of the knife episode.
A raised window on the side indicated how the intruder had gained entrance. Such was the faith that Mr. Manley had in his men that he never bothered to lock up at night, and this was the first time in all the years he had been the owner of the X Bar X that his trust had been violated. Perhaps it was carrying things to extremes to allow a large sum of money to remain unprotected, but “the boss” was ever an unreliable business man. It was this very quality which so endeared him to his family and to his associates—the quality of his lovable childishness. Yet there were those who could tell of another nature which lay buried beneath this exterior—a nature which men of evil character had learned to fear. When aroused, the boss of the X Bar X was a “fightin’ fool,” as Pop expressed it.
Realizing that there was nothing more to be learned within the office, Roy and Teddy returned to the ranch yard and informed the men of what had occurred. There was a quick rush for “shootin’ irons,” which had to be forcibly quelled. There were many saddened faces when Roy told them that they could not start in immediate pursuit of the marauder, but must wait for the return of the boss.
“I hate to hang around here as much as you do,” he finished. “But dad’ll be back soon, and then we’ll have our inning. There’s a bare chance that some one else may pick up The Pup. If that happens, we’ll be saved the trouble—although it would almost be a pleasure,” and his lips shut tightly.
“An’ we ain’t to do nothin’?” Pop Burns asked wistfully.
“Not yet awhile. We can’t. If dad were only here, we could get up a gang and go after him. But we’ve got to stay on the place. That was the order, an’ I aim to see it’s enforced. Of course if when you are on range you should see The Pup, well—”
“That’s enough, Roy,” Nat interrupted feelingly. “We’ll do the rest. There ain’t no need for you to elucidate. But aside from that, if you say we stick on the ranch, stick we do. But I hope the boss gets back soon. Marino—the polecat! Rustlin’ one of our best horses! The ole—” and Nat proceeded to lay bare the secrets of The Pup’s life as he understood them.
The first excitement of the discovery over, the ranch settled down to its usual workaday tasks. There was much to be done, and the men were soon absorbed in their labor. There are dull times about a ranch, but the early fall is not one of them, and thus it was that when a rider, dusty, hot, and tired, loped into the ranch yard he found it deserted. The only person in sight was Sing Lung, who sat in the doorway of the cook house enjoying the morning sun, and probably dreaming about the pleasanter and more picturesque lands across the sea. But when he saw the horseman, a grin came to his face and he waved a hand.
“’Lo, Nick,” he beamed. “Why you come back quick? Cows all fixee, maybe yes?”
“Maybe no,” Nick answered shortly, “Rustle me some grub, pronto, Sing. Where’s Roy an’ Teddy?”
“Horse pen, me t’ink. You find?”
With a grateful sigh, Nick slid from his horse and set out for the corral.
“I been ridin’ most of the night,” he sang out over his shoulder, “so let that grub be early and plenty.”
He found the boys engaged in replacing one of the corral rails. Roy held one end of the new bar in place and Teddy was about to raise the other when he saw the man on foot.
“Nick!” he exclaimed, and dropped the rail. “What in thunder—”
“Left yore dad last night late,” Nick interrupted wearily, “an’ rode like a fool to get here. I got a message for you.”
He reached in his vest pocket and drew forth a soiled paper. Looking at it with a glassy stare for a moment, he passed it over to Roy. Wonderingly, the boy took it, and as Nick flung himself full length upon the grass he opened it and read:
“Roy and Teddy:
“Got in bad jam. There’s been a slide near Whirlpool River, and the cattle are in danger. Need your help. Take two men and come down the river in a canoe, pronto. Follow us. Got to get the cows out of there. Nick is foreman—he stays. Suggest that Bug Eye, if he’s still there, come with you, and Pop. Only hurry up.
“Dad.”