With a shrieking and grinding of brakes Mason brought the car to a stop. After calming the fears of the girls he changed tires, his experience on the race track enabling him to accomplish this feat in a short time. He worked feverishly, fearing a second shot from out the dark as the car would make a good target for the unknown assassin. That the bullet which hit the tire was meant for one of them he had no doubt, and his mind coupled Spot Wells and the three strange riders with this new outrage.
He started the car off at a fast speed and breathed a sigh of relief when no shot followed them. Of the two girls, Mason could see that his sister was the more nervous and he tried to laugh away her fears. As the car gained momentum and they drew away from the danger spot his sister began to get more calm.
Josephine was quiet and appeared to be thinking deeply.
“Sir Jack,” she asked presently, “do you connect those four men we saw this afternoon with that rifle shot?”
“I’ll have to admit that I do,” he answered gravely; “anyway, I am going to report the incident to Bud when we arrive at the ranch.”
With increasing speed he shot the car ahead, and they were all relieved when a little later they drove to the ranch house and Mason put the car away.
In the morning he reported the matter to Bud. The sheriff grew serious at the news and immediately word was posted at Bar X ranch for the cowboys to keep a sharp watch for Spot Wells and the three strangers.
Mason saw very little of the girls for the next few days, his attention being taken up with matters about the ranch.
One morning, however, while working with the cowboys at the corral he was surprised to see the girls ride up.
They were accompanied by Percy Vanderpool, and Mason stared in amazement when he heard Josephine ask her father for permission to ride to Trader’s Post.
But his bewilderment increased when he heard her say that they intended to ride from there on to the Ricker ranch.
The ranch owner readily consented as he always had in the past two every wish of this girl of the plains. Bud made a mild protest which was seconded vigorously by Mason.
Josephine gave him an icy stare. He ignored her apparent chilliness and offered to go with them if they were so intent for the trip.
“Oh no,” she said the words with hauteur as she faced him. “You are too busy! Besides, Mr. Vanderpool is going with us.”
Mason looked Percy over in disgust.
“You could at least have one of the cowboys go with you,” he said, turning appealingly to Bud.
Before Bud could answer, Josephine cut in with a forced laugh.
She faced Mason again and he fancied he saw a reckless light in her eyes.
“There is no danger”; she spoke the words slowly; “you must remember that two of Bud’s cowboys are in charge of the Ricker ranch.”
At the rebuke the hot blood mounted into his cheeks. He felt the sting of her words and lapsed into silence as he watched them ride off.
“Josephine is a strange girl, and I cannot understand her,” he mused angrily. “Anyone would think she is sore at me for something. She never treats Bud that way; instead, she favors him all the time and that proves she loves him.”
Thus meditating, he passed a part of the morning away. Dinner time came and found him in a wretched state of mind.
Later, while idly chatting with the cowboys, a rider was observed coming from the direction of Trader’s Post.
The cowboys watched him keenly when they noticed he was riding furiously. Mason stood near Buck Miller and was amused at the eager way the cowboy was watching the rider’s approach.
He smiled grimly as he thought how such little things interested these cowboys. As for himself, his heart was heavy at the remembrance of Josephine’s attitude to him this day, and he was turning wearily away when he heard a sharp exclamation from Buck Miller which caused him to turn and look at him in surprise.
“That’s a dispatch rider from the railroad station below Trader’s Post,” Buck was saying. “He must have something important from the looks of his hoss; he’s ridden the critter until it’s most spent.”
Mason watched with interest as the dispatch rider swung up to them with his horse all lather.
Dismounting before his horse could come to a full stop he made his way directly to Bud Anderson.
“Message for you, Bud,” he panted; “must be mighty important too, for I was told to get here quick, even if I had to kill my horse. Reckon he’s about done for at that,” he added, watching the trembling animal with remorse.
Springing to Bud’s side, Mason watched him as he tore the message open. Bud hastily read its contents and silently passed it over to Mason.
It was a laconic message from Trent Burton and the news he read staggered him.
The message read as follows:
Ricker makes jail delivery. Jim Haley, Pete Carlo the Mexican, and Nick Cover with him. All headed for Nevada. Form posse and round up. Coming with deputy Jean Barry. News two weeks old.
(Signed)
Marshal Trent Burton.
Mason heard Bud giving orders to his men as though in a daze. His eyes caught sight of the message again and he read the words over. News two weeks old!
“Good God, Bud!” he cried in an agony of fear. “Do you realize what that message means? News two weeks old and my sister and Josephine in the clutches of that fiend at the Ricker ranch!”
Running like the wind to the shed where his racer was kept, he quickly had the engine spinning. The next instant he shot past the group of startled cowboys. They saw him feeling on his belt for his guns, and then man and car were swallowed up in a cloud of dust.
Josephine rode away from Bar X ranch with a feeling of misgiving. She knew that she had treated Mason rather mean, but she felt piqued because he had neglected her for the last few days.
Ethel noticed her abstracted manner, and asked her the reason for it.
“I think your big brother has been neglecting us shamefully,” she said at last in answer to a repeated query from Ethel. “Dad doesn’t need him to work about the ranch as he persists in doing, and I think it mean of him while you are visiting us.”
Ethel smiled at her serious manner.
“You certainly cut him to-day when you refused his offer to go with us,” she said, watching keenly the effect of her words on her friend.
“Serves him right,” Josephine answered spiritedly. “I suppose he thinks I am a very unreasonable girl, but you know we planned to visit the secret passage at the Ricker ranch, and I really wanted to ask him to go with us, but for the last three days I have scarcely been able to get a word with him.”
“Jack thinks you are in love with Bud Anderson,” Ethel ventured gently.
Josephine laughed merrily.
“Bud and I are great friends and I like him immensely,” she answered, a far-away look in her eyes.
Percy Vanderpool had been an interested listener up to this point, but now he began to get impatient at the lack of interest they were showing in him.
“Aw, I say girls,” he drawled, “do you really think this bally ranch with the aw, secret passage is a safe place to go?”
Josephine flashed him an amused glance.
“If you are afraid, you may go back, but Ethel and I are going to see this place. There is no danger, for two of Bud’s men are guarding it,” she answered him scornfully.
“Oh, Percy is game, all right,” Ethel cut in; “I know he isn’t afraid to go where us girls dare go.”
At this praise the fop began to tell of some deeds of daring he had performed while on a trip through the jungles of Africa and the girls listened with much merriment.
Thinking he had impressed them with his great prowess he launched into such a lengthy tale of one of his trips that Josephine had to cut him off in the midst of it.
They were nearing Trader’s Post where they had planned to halt for a short rest before proceeding on to the Ricker ranch.
A foreboding of evil was stealing over Josephine and try as she would, she couldn’t seem to shake it off. She wished most heartily that she had permitted Mason to come with them and felt vexed with herself for being so obstinate.
As they entered Trader’s Post she caught sight of one of the cowboys Bud had left in charge of the Ricker ranch. He was on the opposite side of the street and bidding Ethel and Percy to wait, she hastened over and had a chat with him.
The cowboy had come to town for a few supplies and was going back at once. He assured her that everything was going fine at the ranch, and feeling relieved she hurried back to join Ethel and Percy.
After lunch and a short rest they started for the ranch. The cowboy would reach the ranch ahead of them, but somehow the meeting with him had helped dispel the depressing spirit that seemed to grip her. In the course of an hour they had reached the outbuildings of the ranch, and the desolate condition of the place almost struck terror to the girl’s heart, but remembering the meeting with the cowboy they pressed on.
Arriving at the ranch house, Josephine was shocked to find the door partly open, and the house was apparently deserted.
“That’s strange,” she said, nervously entering the room. “Come on in, Ethel, and bring Percy. We’ll see if he has got the nerve he has been bragging to us about. I’m not going to stay in this place long myself, it looks spooky to me. We will investigate that secret passage and then dust out of here. I have got a nice flashlight with me so we won’t have to stumble over anything.”
“I cannot understand what became of the two cowboys that are supposed to be in charge here,” Ethel replied, stepping inside and walking gingerly about the room. “Oh, say a real live counterfeiter’s den! Won’t I have something to tell the people back in New York when I get home?”
Josephine smiled at the Eastern girl’s enthusiasm.
“I guess only one of the guards stay here at a time,” she said, “and they probably take turns while one of them rides the range. The one we met is no doubt on watch here now, and is about the place somewhere. Come, Percy dear, I will let you take this nice new flashlight; won’t you lead the way into the cellar?”
It was plain to the girls that the task was not to Percy’s liking, but when they laughed at him he braced up and made a show of courage.
With quaking hearts, it must be confessed, they found a door leading into the cellar. Once at the bottom, they huddled close together.
“I suppose we were awful fools to come here alone,” Josephine remarked, jumping nervously at the sound of her own voice; it sounded strange and hollow to her in the long cellar. “Now that we’re here we’ll see it through. I remember Sir Jack telling that there was a button or knot that he pushed, and lo! a door opened into the secret passage. I suppose they have the passage sealed up, but I am going to see for myself just the same. Here, Percy, let me take that light, your face is white as a sheet and your hand is trembling. Brace up, man.”
Josephine took the light and led the way, the others following cautiously. They had not proceeded far when Josephine stopped short in a listening attitude.
For the first time, Ethel saw that she was carrying a revolver in one hand.
“What is it?” Ethel whispered anxiously, and her knees shook in spite of her.
“I thought that I heard a sound like an engine motor,” Josephine answered joyously.
Distinctly the sound of a motor came to their ears, each moment growing louder until the sound developed into a continuous roar.
“Hurrah,” Josephine cried, unable to suppress her delight. “Sir Jack is coming.”
The next instant a heavy hand was clasped over her mouth and a voice hissed in her ear:
“Keep silent, or you die!”
Josephine screamed and discharged her revolver. She heard a shout and an answering shot and she was sure that if it was Mason, he had heard her fire the shot and was coming to their assistance.
The revolver was knocked out of her hand before she could fire another shot, and she was grasped in the arms of her assailant and carried she knew not where. She knew that Ethel had fainted as she had seen her body sink limply to the floor, while Percy was struggling in the hands of two men.
Her captor picked her up and carried her along the passage until he came to a flight of stairs which led out into the open. Here she was placed on her feet and given over to the care of two men who acted as guards. Her captors wore masks and she was unable to make out any of their features. Ethel was brought out with Percy and placed under the same guards, who proceeded to bind their hands behind their backs.
Josephine could still hear an automobile engine running idle and an occasional revolver shot. Suddenly there came to her ears a volley of shots and soon after the engine stopped running. With sinking heart the girl realized that they were shooting holes in the gasoline tank. Ethel was gradually coming out of her swoon, and the helplessness of the poor girl made Josephine’s eyes flash fire.
“Cheer up, Ethel,” she said tenderly, as the girl came to her full senses. “These devils won’t be allowed to keep us as prisoners long. I think they put your brother’s car out of commission, but he was too much for them as I see that they haven’t captured him yet.”
They were gruffly ordered by the guard to cease talking. Soon another masked guard approached the prisoners and proceeded to blindfold them.
Before this happened, Josephine had counted six masked men, and she wondered if Mason had managed to escape unhurt. She strained her ears for every sound. At a short distance from her a group of masked men were talking in subdued tones, but her ears caught the word, chief, and a little later the name Ricker! Soon she heard them mention Mason’s name, so she knew that he had made an attempt to rescue them and the thought gave her new courage.
So she was in the power of Ricker and his cutthroats. She remembered that Mason had told her of Ricker’s oath to break jail and his threat to come back and get revenge on Mason and herself and now he was at large again. She wondered how Ricker happened to be at the ranch the very day she had chosen to visit it. She had played right into the hands of fate, and she remembered how hard Mason had pleaded with her not to leave Bar X. Her body grew numb and her eyes filled with tears. Well, anyway, they had not caught Mason yet, and her heart thrilled at the thought.
There was a chance that he might be able to rescue them and she knew he wouldn’t lose any time in getting a posse on the outlaws’ trail. That they would be more desperate than ever, she well knew, as they had broken jail and Ricker was an escaped murderer.
At this point in her meditations she was rudely jerked to her feet by one of the guards and placed on a horse. She managed to whisper a word of encouragement in Ethel’s ear and was delighted when she found that they were to ride together. That is, Ethel was placed on a horse and rode by her side, and she had a vague idea that Percy rode just ahead of them.
Then followed a long ride with many hardships.
In the course of a few hours they reached the mountains where the trail was very difficult, and at times their captors had to guide their horses over the rough trails.
After ages of climbing as it seemed to Josephine, they struck a more level trail. That they were high in the mountain ranges she had not a doubt and was fearful that the captors were taking them to some unknown mountain retreat where it would be difficult for rescuers to find them.
The captors had thrown off all restraint and were talking freely among themselves. Josephine kept her wits and listened closely. From the talk she gathered that they were being led by Pete Carlo, the Mexican. He knew the mountains better than any living person and was leading the outlaws to a retreat where it would be utterly impossible for anybody to discover them. Spot Wells was among her captors, too, for she had heard his name called by one of the men.
Thus far they had suffered no indignity from the men, but she trembled when she thought of brutal Spot Wells and his attempt to carry her and Ethel off at Smoky Point when the timely arrival of Mason checkmated him. She was almost in despair at their probable fate when she heard two of the captors start up a conversation near her.
She listened eagerly, and from the words dropped with a coarse laugh and curse, she learned that Ricker had made a jail delivery with the Mexican, Jim Haley and Nick Cover.
The outlaws had been at large about two weeks and immediately after their escape from jail they had struck out for Nevada. Arriving at their old haunt, the Ricker ranch, they had kept concealed for a few days. Ricker’s plan had been to raid the Bar X ranch and make a quick kill including Mason and Bud Anderson, and then to carry off the girls out of pure revenge.
Her coming with Ethel and Percy to the Ricker ranch on the very day this diabolical plan was to be carried out had upset all Ricker’s plans. Kind fate was playing into his hands, for here was Percy Vanderpool, the son of a millionaire from New York. The cowboys at the ranch had been captured by Ricker’s men while he laid plans to make Percy and the girls prisoners and take them to the mountains to be held for ransom.
Josephine felt somewhat relieved when she overheard this statement, for she was sure they would not come to any harm while there was a chance of a large reward for the outlaws.
She was sure that Percy’s father would pay a large sum of money to secure his son’s release, and no doubt there would be a large amount of money demanded from her father and Ethel’s. The talking had ceased and she failed to learn more.
The chances were that Ricker would tell them in plain terms what he expected their fathers to do when they reached their mountain retreat.
She was hoping the ride would end soon as her body ached and she knew that Ethel and Percy must be suffering too. She was glad when finally an order was given by Ricker to dismount and the blindfold was removed from their eyes.
Next, their hands were untied, and Josephine went over and put her arms around Ethel.
“Forgive me, dear, I am sorry I got you into this trouble,” Josephine said with a heavy heart.
“You are no more to blame than I am,” Ethel protested stoutly. “I was just as anxious to see the secret passage as you were, and my brother will make it hot for these cut-throats if they dare to harm us.”
Josephine’s eyes glistened.
“I know he will, dear, and I am sure he will rescue us. He rescued me from the Mexican once before when I was in just as bad a position as now.
“Did you hear what the outlaws were saying as we came up the trail? I think they will try to hold us for a ransom.”
Ethel started to reply, when Ricker pushed up to them with a leering smile.
“Some birds I have caught in my cage to-day,” he said with a coarse laugh. “Your quarters are right over there by that flat table rock. There is a shanty there which I will have the men fix up comfortable for you, and you won’t be harmed if you don’t try to escape. And I wouldn’t advise you to try it, either,” he added with an oath.
“In due time your folks will be presented with my terms for your release, and if they don’t come across with the money it will go hard with you girls. My men will have quarters just inside this semicircle here.” He waved his hand towards a natural barrier of rock. “One of my men will have you under watch night and day, and the rest will see that none of your friends come too close for their health. If they try it they are dead men. I can hold off a small army from this retreat, and I don’t intend to leave here until I gain my ends, which is money, and plenty of it too.”
He stopped and looked hard at the girls.
“Josephine, when the proper time comes, you are going to write a letter for me,” he said threateningly.
Josephine faced him with flashing eyes.
“I’ll write no letters for you, you swine,” she said defiantly, “and when Mason comes he will kill you.”
“Not so fast, my little spitfire,” he purred, “but I am telling you straight. If you value Mason’s life, or any lives at the Bar X ranch, you will write this letter which I will dictate to you. If any of your friends come within two hundred yards of this place it will be sure death to them. Just look around and see for yourself how foolish it would be for any one to try to rescue you.”
With this warning he turned and left them.
Josephine took a general survey of the place. At last she turned a pale face to Ethel, for she had noticed the natural barriers of rock all about them.
“This place is twice as hard to get at as the one where I was held a prisoner before,” she said sadly.
It was beginning to get dark and the girls were completely tired out. They went over to the little cabin on the flat table rock and throwing themselves down tried to sleep. Percy was to make his quarters with the men in another cabin a hundred yards across the flat rock from the girls’ cabin, and they were surprised to see how well he seemed to bear up under his present troubles. Josephine arranged to have one of them keep watch while the other slept, and in this way they passed the long night.
When morning came they were full of aches and pains as neither had slept well during the night and the bunks were hard. Both girls had finally agreed that it would be best to grant Ricker’s demands, and write the warning letter to Mason.
The men were astir over in their camp and the smell of coffee boiling came to them with an appetizing flavor. A stream flowed close by and Josephine went over to it and started to bathe her swollen eyes.
She was startled by a strange humming noise over her head and looked up in alarm.
“Oh, look! Ethel!” she screamed, “an airplane!”
Like a huge bird it soared above them, then the motor stopped and the airplane began to come down gracefully in long sweeping spirals. The girls were waving their handkerchiefs at the aviator when Ricker came rushing out of the men’s cabin and fired his revolver at him. Instantly the motor started to hum and the airplane began to lift. Soon it was a mere speck in the sky.
Josephine clasped Ethel in her arms and her eyes were swimming with tears.
“I’ll bet my life that was Roy Purvis, the aviator,” Josephine said, her spirits drooping at their slim chance of being rescued. “Sir Jack told me that he expected an aviator to visit him from New York, and I believe that was his airplane and he has lost his way in the mountains!”
When Mason arrived at the Ricker ranch in his racer there was an ominous silence about the place that confirmed his worst fears. He knew the girls must have arrived at the ranch ahead of him, but seeing no signs of life about the place he left his motor running and sprinted for the house.
Just as he threw the door open he heard a piercing scream followed by a revolver shot that appeared to come from the depths of the cellar. He drew his revolver and fired an answering shot. He dashed madly down the stairs leading to the cellar where he found himself in pitch darkness. Sounds of a struggle reached his ears as he blindly felt his way along the cellar. He cursed his stupidity for not thinking to have brought along a light of some kind.
The sounds of a struggle had abruptly ceased and a deathly silence prevailed. Too late!
He had traversed the entire length of the cellar and was about to start a search of the secret passage when he heard a number of shots fired in rapid succession.
Soon after, to his dismay, his engine stopped running. In desperation he raced back through the cellar and collided with a man who had just started to come down the cellar stairs.
A fierce battle ensued between them, Mason’s adversary striving to bring his revolver butt down on his head. The fellow wore a mask and after repeated attempts Mason succeeded in tearing it off.
The gunman was a stranger to him. Mason redoubled his efforts and backheeling the man, threw him downstairs. The delay had proved costly, however, and when he got out to his car he found the gasoline tank punctured with bullet holes. In the distance a party of horsemen with Josephine, Ethel and Percy in their midst were riding hard for the foothills.
“Oh, hell,” he swore to himself as he leaned dejectedly against his useless racer. “I’m some rescuer, I don’t think. Why didn’t Trent Burton’s message come through sooner. The news two weeks old and those cut-throats at large all this time. I think now that the four riders Gaylor and I saw that day were just a scouting party of Ricker’s. Yes, and the rifle shot that blew my tire out was some of their dirty work too. Lucky the bullet hit a tire instead of one of the girls, but it wasn’t their fault that it didn’t.”
The thought of the girls’ plight nerved him to swift action and he set out to search the premises for a horse. He wondered what had become of the two cowboys who were in charge of the ranch. His mind was bordering on a state of frenzy after he had searched the corral and failed to find a horse.
About a hundred yards from the corral lay the bunk-house. It was a large building and Mason noticed there was a small shed attached to the far corner of it. Something impelled him to look the building over, and it was well that he did so. Upon entering the bunk-house he found the two guards. They were bound and gagged and tied to one of the bed posts. Mason liberated them, after which he stood regarding them with scorn.
“Well, you’re a fine pair of huskies, I must say,” he said contemptuously. “Hell’s to pay about this ranch, and here I find you two cowboys trussed up like two fine turkeys. Both girls carried off by Ricker and his gang of cut-throats and no one here to stop them. How did it happen, anyway?” he wound up savagely.
Both cowboys had been spare hands at the Bar X ranch, and Mason felt that Bud had made a mistake in not placing more competent men in charge of the Ricker ranch. His own choice would have been the two fire eaters, Scotty Campbell and Red Sullivan.
“Don’t be too hard on us, boss,” one of the cowboys pleaded. “It happened this way. Bob, here, rode over to the Post for supplies right after I came in off the range. Just after he had left and got out of sight somebody sneaked up behind me and cracked me over the head. When I came to my senses I found Bob tied up alongside of me. I didn’t have a chance, pard, honest I didn’t.”
“I got served the same way,” the cowboy named Bob spoke up. “I met the girls and the young fellow at the Post, and Miss Josephine said they were coming on to the ranch. I left quite a spell ahead of them and got served the same as Jim here.”
“So it seems,” Mason said sarcastically. “You fellows can square yourself to a certain extent if you will dig me up a horse.”
“That’s easy,” Bob spoke up eagerly, “my horse is tied in the shed at the end of the bunk-house, and Jim’s horse is there too.”
“All right,” Mason answered curtly, “I’ll take one of them and when you get a chance, tow my machine to Trader’s Post and have the gasoline tank repaired. The tank is shot full of holes and I will have to depend on you cowboys to see that it is fixed and send the bill on to me at Bar X ranch. I expect some of Bud’s men will be here before long, and by the way, I knocked one of Ricker’s men down cellar. You might go and see if he’s there yet, and hand him over to Bud’s men when they come along.”
Quickly he looked the cowboys’ horses over and picking out the better one he set out rapidly for Bar X ranch. On the way he met a detachment of Bud’s men led by Big Joe Turner. They had been ordered to report at the Ricker ranch and would be joined by Bud the next day. Big Joe informed him that a general alarm had been sent out and that the Gaylor brothers had been notified. A fast rider had been dispatched to their ranch and they were expected at Bar X the next morning. Mason related all that had happened at the Ricker ranch and gave as his judgment that there were eight men in Ricker’s gang.
There was a general tightening of belts and a savage glitter in the men’s eyes as he told his story. Josephine was a popular idol with the men of Bar X and it would go hard with her captors if they should fall into these cowboys’ hands.
Mason bid them good luck and pressed on. It was late at night when he arrived at Bar X, but he immediately sought out Bud and they held a long consultation.
They planned to send out a detachment of cowboys the next morning and another one in the afternoon.
In all, there were to be three detachments of cowboys who were to relay each other in turn.
“What gets me,” Mason said in perplexity, “is why Trent Burton didn’t get word through to us sooner.”
“I forgot to tell you that I received another message from him while you was away,” Bud said with a look of wonder in his eyes. “He explained in this last message that the jail officials tried their best to locate him, but he was away on a case at the time. The message was brought to me by a rider just an hour after I received the first one. He sure is a wonder and is a strange man. Here, read this last message yourself.”
“Talking about me?” an amiable voice said over their shoulder.
Both men jumped to their feet in astonishment. They were sitting in a little room used as an office of the ranch house.
“For God’s sake, Trent Burton!” Bud stared at him.
“How did you get here?”
“Why, it was very simple, I assure you,” the strange man answered blandly. “The door was partly open and I merely walked in. I repeat, were you talking about me?”
“We sure were,” Mason answered. He had recovered in a measure from his astonishment.
“Well, you know the old saying, speak of the devil and you hear his wings.”
“You must have wings at that,” Bud retorted; “what I want to know is how you arrived at this ranch so soon after wiring me?”
“First part, special train; second part, fast automobile. Fast automobile is outside this minute. Now that I have cleared myself, what has my estimable friend Ricker been doing since he broke loose? I see where I have all my work to do over again.”
Briefly they told him of the counterfeiter’s latest outrage, and all three sat up till a late hour perfecting plans for the morrow.
There was little sleep for Mason that night, and the morning found him worn and haggard. Trent Burton had taken absolute charge and already one group of fighting men had left the ranch to join Big Joe Turner at the Ricker ranch. Mason wanted to leave with them, but the Marshal wouldn’t listen to his pleading.
“Stick with me, man, and brace up,” he said kindly. “I want all the brainy men with me. There is still another outfit to go before we start, and in our group will be such men as Bud, fire-eating Scotty, Red, Tex, Buck Miller and yourself. The Gaylor ranch has sent over ten men and Bruce Gaylor is coming with the rest. We will need all the men we can get to beat the mountains and surround the outlaws.”
Mason was silently turning the events of the past twenty-four hours over in his mind.
“This is going to be a delicate mission,” the Marshal continued, “and at the least sign of a slip-up on our part, that beast will butcher those girls. Ricker is a desperate man and I am waiting for him to show his hand. He knows that I will be sent after him, and the fact that he has the girls and Percy in his power forces me to move with caution. I have a suspicion that he will try to get word through to us as to his demands. That is the reason why I am in no hurry to take to the mountains, and I want you to be here when that word comes. Rest content that the girls will be safe, for I am convinced that his first demand will be for money.”
An hour later the next section left in charge of the Gaylor brothers. When noon came, Mason was almost going mad at his inaction. He was electrified five minutes later when Scotty came to the house with news that a dispatch rider was waiting for him at the bunk-house. He hastened down and the message was placed in his hands. It was from Josephine and was written at the command of Ricker. The demand was for money with a warning not to try to find the girls under penalty of their death. If they agreed to pay over the amount of money demanded in the dispatch, Ricker would see that the prisoners were set free.
He stipulated in the message that they would be given forty-eight hours to decide, and at the expiration of that time, if a messenger did not arrive at Duke Williams’ place at Smoky Point, the prisoners would be killed.
It closed with a warning to Mason and Bud that any attempt to capture Ricker’s agent at Duke Williams’ hotel would result in the girls’ death.
The message was written in Josephine’s own handwriting.
“Where did you get this message?” Mason asked, looking sharply at the rider.
“It was given me at the station by a stranger and I was paid well to deliver it to you,” the rider answered simply.
“There will be no answer,” Mason said shortly, dismissing him.
He kept turning the envelope over in his hand. On one corner there was drawn the picture of a butterfly, and it puzzled him. Hunting up the Marshal he turned the message over to him.
The latter read it, then gave a long whistle.
“So, he has shown his hand at last,” was his comment; “whew! a cool million he wants. Modest in his demands, isn’t he?”
“What puzzles me,” Mason replied, “is what that butterfly means on the corner of the envelope.”
The Marshal looked it over carefully.
“Just merely the whim of a girl,” he said at length.
“I don’t believe it,” Mason protested warmly. “Josephine drew that picture on there for a purpose, and I would stake my life on it.”
“There may be a reason for the picture at that,” the Marshal replied thoughtfully; “well, anyway, the counterfeiter has shown his hand, and now I can work with light ahead.”
The Marshal’s forces were to start within an hour.
Mason with Red Sullivan and Scotty were looking over their guns at the bunk-house.
Tex, a short distance away from them, was watching an object in the sky. Finally he called Red over to where he stood, and Red in turn called Mason over to them.
“Shure, Jack, and isn’t that a devil of a big bird?” the Irishman asked, pointing to the sky.
Mason looked up and stared at the object which was looming up larger to their vision each minute.
“That’s an airplane,” he said at last in wonderment.
“Holy Saints!” Red cried, crossing himself, “and may the devil fly away with it!”
Mason could plainly hear the humming of the motor now, and he took off his hat and waved it excitedly.
“Tex, call Trent Burton to come here at once,” he said, a glad ring to his voice. “Red, I’ll bet your old red head, that’s my friend Roy Purvis the aviator, from New York.”
The airplane came down in graceful spirals and made a landing a short distance from the corral. Mason rushed over and the aviator offered him a languid hand which Mason shook heartily.
“Roy, you’re just the man I want to see,” he cried, “you dropped out of the sky just in time.”
“I’ll say I did, I was all out of gasoline, you know,” the aviator answered, leaning languidly back in his seat gazing interestedly at the cowboys who stood looking him and the airplane over in open-mouthed wonder.
“Am I welcome?” Roy questioned, turning his attention again to Mason.
“Certainly you’re welcome. What makes you think you wouldn’t be welcome to Bar X ranch?” Mason demanded.
“Well, be a good fellow and help unstrap me from this confounded seat, and when we get to the house I’ll tell you,” he answered whimsically.
Mason called one of the cowboys over to assist him. In a small compartment back of the aviator’s seat was his luggage. It consisted of four suitcases and a black object resembling a tank about the size of a suitcase. Roy took especial charge of this black tank.
“Why all these warlike preparations?” he queried, noticing the bristling guns of the cowboys. “Looks like I had dropped into a fighting man’s country for fair.”
“I’ll explain the whole business to you when we get to the house and you have had some refreshments,” Mason answered.
“Hang the refreshments,” Roy growled, with another puzzled look at the cowboys with their revolvers and saddle guns.
At the house, after having been introduced all around, he surprised Mason by asking him if there was a dark room in the house.
“No,” the latter answered with a blank look, “but I think we could rig you up one.”
“Friends,” the aviator said with a look into their anxious faces, “I can see that you are in some kind of trouble, and from a hint that my friend Mason dropped, I think I can help you out. Just rig me up that dark room, Jack, and I will show you something that will surprise you.”
“There is a small closet in my room and you can use it,” Mason said quickly.
Taking the mysterious black tank with him the aviator left them and was in the room for a half hour. When he came out he held a number of films in his hands.
“Before I join these films together,” he said to his mystified audience, “I want to tell you of a little incident that happened to me this morning. Starting from a town about a hundred miles from here, and depending entirely on my compass, for I had no idea where the Bar X ranch lay, I crossed the railroad track at a point fifty miles below here.
“If you remember, there was a slight mist this morning, making it difficult to distinguish objects unless I flew quite low. Knowing I had a good supply of gasoline I opened the engine up wide and flew at a high altitude and drifted aimlessly in the hope that the mist would soon clear away.
“My wish was soon granted, but, to my surprise, I found myself flying over your wonderful mountains and hopelessly lost. Bringing the airplane around, I determined to cruise in the opposite direction.
“Flying at a lower altitude, I was surprised to see a group of men directly under me. The place was an ideal spot to land, and shutting off the engine I began to make spirals, at the same time taking this series of films you see in my hand.
“One of the men commenced to fire a revolver at me, and thinking it wouldn’t be healthy to land among them, I started my engine. After much difficulty, I succeeded in reaching this ranch. I didn’t know what ranch it was, but for once I was lucky.”
The aviator joined the films together and held them out to their startled eyes. It was a complete picture of the counterfeiter’s retreat in the mountains and showed the two girl prisoners!
“This is wonderful,” the Marshal exclaimed. “Bud, do you think you have a man that can locate this place?”
“I know right where it is,” Bud replied, breathing heavily. “It is dead easy to find, but hard to get at. It can be taken all right, but if we force the position, they are sure to kill the girls.”
Mason was making a close examination of the films.
A semicircle of rock showed plainly, and as near as he could judge, about two hundred yards back from this semicircle there was a flat table rock, backed by a cliff that rose hundreds of feet in the air.
A cabin, showing the two girls outside looking up at the sky, was plainly visible.
Mason called Bud over to him.
“Bud, you say you know where this place is?” he questioned him.
The latter nodded.
“And the only point of attack is this semicircle of rock,” Mason continued, “and if we rush that point there is nothing to prevent Ricker from killing the girls before we could get to them.”
“That’s just the way I figure it out,” Bud agreed.
“Well, I have a plan that has a chance of success,” Mason said grimly. “If we should pay those cutthroats the money they demand, we are not sure they will keep their word about delivering the prisoners safely to us. We have just got to go in and get them.
“My plan is to dynamite this semicircle of rock, then rush in and get the girls before Ricker’s men can recover from their surprise. They are sure to guard that point every minute. Let me have Scotty to draw their fire while I lay the blasting charge. They know what a reckless daredevil Scotty is and as I will keep out of sight they will think he is attacking them single-handed, and they will all be busy trying to pick him off. When the blasting charge goes off you can rush the position and capture them before they recover from their surprise.”
“That’s a good plan, lad,” the Marshal said with an approving glance at him. “We will arrange to arrive at their mountain retreat at five o’clock tomorrow morning. It won’t do to make the attack at night, for if anything went wrong they could kill the prisoners before we knew it. I’ll send Jean Barry to the Ricker ranch with my automobile, and have Big Joe get all the men together. Our party will join them there in time to reach the counterfeiter’s stronghold by five o’clock to-morrow morning.”
“Jack, have the cowboys take their horses along with them to the ranch, and I will take you there in my airplane,” Roy cut in.
Mason looked at his watch.
“That will be fine,” he said. “It is just one P.M. and I won’t have to start from here until about five o’clock if I go by airplane. We are all to meet at the Ricker ranch and make a start from there some time during the night. The Marshal and Bud have the trip timed so we will reach the counterfeiter’s stronghold early in the morning and take them by surprise.”
Mason and Roy laid a plan for the latter to be in the vicinity of the mountain retreat, and after Mason had set off the explosive charge and a successful rescue was accomplished, Roy was to carry the glad news by airplane to the girls’ anxious parents.
They put in some of the time going over the airplane and getting it in order. The Marshal and Bud had left with the last cowboys, and at five o’clock Mason and Roy started their flight. In a short time they had overtaken and passed the Marshal’s riders.
Arriving at the Ricker ranch they made a safe landing and immediately turned in to get a little rest.
Mason’s sleep was fitful, and he was glad when aroused by the Marshal and told that the hour had struck.
The dynamite with wire and a battery was given to him, and Scotty was carefully rehearsed in the part he was to play. The moon was shining as the grim riders formed and set out rapidly for the foothills. Sunrise found them concealed at the base of the outlaws’ stronghold.
Mason and Scotty began their perilous climb to the semicircle of rock. It was thought to be utterly impossible to approach closer than a hundred yards to the stronghold without being challenged by the guards. It was the brave Scot’s duty to open fire the minute he was challenged and attract the outlaws’ attention while Mason was to crawl to a position where he could place the charge of dynamite to the best advantage.
When the charge was planted he was to set it off, while the Marshal was to hurl his men on the outlaws before they could recover from their surprise.
They had climbed to within seventy-five yards of the strongly guarded point, when a sharp command to halt rang out. Scotty recklessly exposed himself to view for an instant and received a bullet through the crown of his hat. Flattening his body against the rocks, he opened a hot fire in reply. Mason continued to crawl ahead fast, but cautiously, working slightly around to the right. The outlaws sent a hail of bullets down past Scotty, which the Scot returned with interest, still keeping up his pretense of attack.
Mason worked up so close that he could see the outlaws answering Scotty’s shots with their rifles. He carefully placed the dynamite charge and dropped swiftly down the ledge with wire and battery. At a safe distance from the deadly charge he turned the switch of the battery. A tremendous explosion followed.
Amid falling rocks, Scotty came racing over to him, and together they scrambled up the cliff and into the outlaws’ stronghold.
The outlaws were wild with excitement and Jim Haley was trying to rally them when a bullet from Scotty’s gun put him out of action.
Mason and Scotty dropped down behind a rock just as a volley of bullets whistled over their heads.
Ricker rallied his men and firing rapidly he gave a yell of defiance. Seeing that he had but two men behind the rock to deal with, he called to his men and they started to rush in upon them.
Pieces of rock and dirt were filling the eyes of Mason and Scotty as they crouched behind the rock and their position was getting perilous as they couldn’t return the fire without exposing themselves.
As the outlaws charged across the open, a bullet caught Ricker in the side and he reeled, his gun in the air.
Bud and Trent Burton were in the fight and the latter had cut loose with his deadly automatics!
Sorely wounded, the counterfeiter turned and bringing his gun down, emptied it point blank at his hated foe. Trent Burton’s guns were trained on him and were spitting a steady stream of lead.
The counterfeiter’s knees began to sag and his shots went wild. Josephine and Ethel stood at the cabin door, their faces white with fear.
Overhead, Roy’s airplane motor was humming in harmony with the cracking of the guns. Mason stood up from behind the rock as he saw the halfbreed Mexican start with a yell toward the girls’ cabin.
Mason shouted a warning to the girls and turned his smoking gun on the halfbreed. At the third shot the Mexican fell, and Mason rushed over and clasped his sister in his arms.
When the fight was over, Percy was found tied securely in the outlaws’ cabin.
Ricker was dying and Jim Haley and Nick Cover were severely wounded. The Mexican was brought into the outlaws’ cabin and breathed his last while Trent Burton was examining his wound.
The Marshal arranged to have Mason and Bud leave at once with the girls, and when they arrived at the Ricker ranch, Mason was to take the Marshal’s automobile and drive them to Bar X ranch.
“Some round-up,” the Marshal observed to Bud as they parted. “I wanted to take Ricker alive, but he was trying to get me, so it was his life or mine.”
“Yes, and I had to pin Spot Wells just as he was drawing a bead on Scotty,” Bud replied regretfully.
The trip to the Ricker ranch was uneventful, the girls maintaining a tired silence. They had passed through an ordeal that would have tried the nerves of strong men. At the ranch, Mason hastily got the Marshal’s car ready and they started for the ride home. Bud insisted on remaining at the Ricker ranch to look after the men and prisoners when they came in.
Mason drove at a moderate speed, and gradually the girls came out of their listless mood.
“Cheer up,” Mason said gaily, “I’ll soon have you home right side up with care, and you will get a grand welcome, I can assure you. Roy, the aviator, flew home with the good news as soon as he found out that we had made your rescue, and it would be just like him to come sailing back this way any minute.”
“You’re very good to us,” Josephine murmured, leaning back in the seat with a tired sigh.
He glanced at them quizzically.
“What you girls need is a good rest to-night and you will be all right in the morning,” he said, compassionately.
Halfway to the ranch they saw the daring aviator heading towards them. The birdman was flying at a dizzy height and when directly over them he went into a series of loops after which he banked the airplane sharply and continued along with them to the ranch. It would be useless to try to describe the joy of the girls’ anxious parents when they found them safe in their arms.
In the evening, Bud came in with Percy Vanderpool and the cowboys. Jean Barry the deputy had come with them to run the Marshal’s car back to the Ricker ranch. The Marshal was to remain at the ranch until the wounded prisoners could be moved. He would then lodge them in jail and return East to an important criminal case. He sent hearty congratulations to the girls on their timely escape from the outlaws, and promised to visit Bar X again in the near future.
The next day Mason was kept busy about the ranch until noon. Roy had just returned from a flight to Trader’s Post and brought back a message for Mason. It was from his father, saying he was coming to take his mother and sister home.
The news that his father was coming to Bar X ranch pleased him immensely, and he hastened to break the news to his mother and sister.
His mother seemed glad, but Ethel’s face clouded when she heard her father was coming.
“What’s the matter, sis?” he cried in wonder. “Don’t you want to go home?”
“Of course not,” she answered in a vexed tone. “Why, I have been here scarcely a month, and it is much more pleasant out here this time of the year than in a stuffy city.”
“Well, you can take the matter up with Dad when he comes,” he said briefly, starting for the door. “Roy is going to take me to Trader’s Post to see if they have got my car repaired.”
Josephine had just entered the room and he paused, with his hand on the door knob. She was dressed in a stunning creation of champagne silk and he gazed at her in silent admiration.
“How do you like my new dress, Sir Jack?” she asked, making him a curtsy. “My, but you are a busy man. I am going to play lady for a few days, and I intended to ask you to take me down to Rover’s kennel. Father tells me the poor dog has been acting sick lately, and I want to see if there is anything I can do for him.”
“Certainly I’ll go with you,” he answered readily; “I will tell Roy not to wait for me and will join you in a minute.”
Roy agreed to make the trip alone, and when Mason arrived at the kennel, Josephine was bending over Rover. The dog was frisking around her and joyously barking a welcome.
“There’s nothing the matter with Rover, he’s merely lonesome to see you,” he said.
They had taken seats on a rustic bench between two cottonwood trees. Josephine was fondly watching the dog’s antics.
“Oh, I am so glad there is nothing the matter with him. He was the means of saving my life once, you know.”
“That time, I remember well,” he answered, a feeling of gloom stealing over him.
He was thinking of her deep concern over Bud’s injury when she was rescued from the brute Tom Powers.
“I suppose you would have been better pleased yesterday if Bud had been the one to rescue you,” he said, a little ungallantly.
“What makes you think that?” her face was averted from him.
“Well, you love him, don’t you?” he put the question bluntly.
Josephine was silent and he relentlessly repeated his question.
“No, I—I—love some one else,” the girl faltered at last.
His breath came in quick gasps.
“I don’t suppose I have the right to know, but is it one of the Gaylor boys you love?”
“No.”
“Well, is it anybody I know?”
“Yes, and he’s an awful thickhead, but—I—I-love—him just the same.”
He turned away in irritation.
“Well, I should think a girl of your intellect would pick out a man with brains, anyway,” he said wrathfully.
“I—I—have, but—at times, he’s such a fool.”
He turned slowly and looked at her in exasperation. The girl’s head had sunk forward, and he heard her sobbing softly.
“Josephine!”
Quickly he bent over her and raised her face to his as he gathered her in his arms. Her eyes were shining through her tears like beautiful stars, and he saw a light in them that thrilled him. He kissed away the tears as she lay quiet and passive in his arms.
“Josephine, you love me?” he whispered in wondering delight.
“Silly boy,” she managed to gasp, “I have loved you from the first time we met. Now, unhand me, you villain. Here come Ethel and Bud and they will see us.”
“I don’t care,” he said recklessly, holding her fast. “Anyway, they are going into the house.”
“You received a message from your father about noon time?” she asked dreamily.
“Yes.”
“I’ll be very much pleased to meet him. I wonder if he will like me?”
“The idea! Of course he will. How can he possibly help liking you?”
“Well Sir Jack, just because you like me, that’s no sign everybody else will,” she said demurely.
“Why, you’ll be winding Dad around your little finger in less than thirty minutes after he gets here, and I’ll bet my life on it.”
“Say,” he added, “do you know that Ethel is crazy about this part of the country and doesn’t want to go back home with Dad?”
“Don’t you know the reason?”
“Reason,” he echoed.
“It’s Bud,” she said simply.
“Bud,” he cried in bewilderment. “Do you mean to tell me that Ethel is in love with Bud Anderson?”
“Yes, but I don’t see any harm in that, Bud is a fine fellow.”
“I know,” he said thoughtfully. “Lord, but it will be a shock to Dad. Josephine, I just happened to think of something. Why did you draw the picture of that butterfly on the envelope Rick sent through to me?”
“I wrote that letter right after Roy’s airplane appeared to us, and I was going to draw a picture of the airplane, but Ricker stood over me and I didn’t dare to. He even wanted to know what the butterfly meant, and I told him that it was a sign between us so you would know the letter was written by me. You see I was trying to let you know that we had seen Roy’s airplane, and I knew you were expecting him out here. We gave up hope of Roy finding you as we thought he was lost in the mountains.”
“He was lost in the mountains, but he found us all right, and later I will tell you all about it,” he said, looking fondly at her. “I was sure that butterfly meant something, but couldn’t figure it out. You little beauty, when Dad comes I am going to take you to New York and we will get married there. Would you be willing to leave your home here, and live with me in New York?”
Roy was returning in his airplane, and right over them he began making loops and hair raising nose dives, finally going into a tail spin.
Josephine watched him breathlessly until Mason repeated his question.
“I would like very much to live in New York, if I thought I could get along with your father,” she answered naively. “Sir Jack, I want you to make me a promise. Please don’t go up in that airplane again. If Roy wants to risk his neck, I’m sure I don’t want you to risk yours.”
“All right,” he laughed, “I promise, so you see we will get along famously.”
Josephine smiled contentedly.
“And another thing,” she said, eyeing him seriously. “I will want to have my saddle horse, Fleet, and my dog, Rover, with me if I live in New York. I never could leave them here and be happy.”
“I will have them shipped along with us when we go,” he declared, “and I am going to buy you a nice white chummy roadster car when we get home and you can drive it all by yourself.”
“That won’t be any fun unless you go with me,” she pouted.
“Oh, I will be with you so much that you will be glad to get rid of me once in a while.”
She voiced a quick protest.
“Let’s go into the house and tell the people,” he cried boyishly.
They went in and Mason directly looked up Josephine’s father and received his hearty consent to giving his daughter’s hand in marriage, but when he told him he intended to take her to New York to live, the old man almost broke down.
In the meantime, Ethel informed her mother and Josephine that she was engaged to marry Bud Anderson. The two girls planned on a double wedding in New York, after which Bud was to take his bride back to Nevada.
A week later Mason’s father arrived, and the first thing his son did was to take him with his mother and sister into a room, where he told him all about the events leading up to Ricker’s death, and a general account of all the counterfeiter’s plots and the final round-up of the outlaw gang. He saved the fact about his own and Ethel’s coming marriage until the last, and then he waited patiently for the explosion he knew would follow. At this latest news, his father looked blankly first at his wife, then at son and daughter.
“Huh,” he snorted, after he had recovered from his surprise. “Things must move pretty rapidly in this part of the country. Wait until I see Tom Walters and have a talk with him. Then I will give you my opinion on the subject.”
The banker stalked into the ranch owner’s office and the two held a consultation behind closed doors.
Josephine was working in the kitchen, but she had heard the banker voice his sentiment. Mason joined her and saw a troubled look in her eyes.
“My, such a bear,” she said gravely, “how will I ever get along with him?”
“That is just Dad’s way,” he replied earnestly. “Dad was brought up in the old school, and never does things by halves. Don’t worry, sweetheart, I have enough money in my own right, left me by an aunt of mine. I shall marry you in spite of him, but you will have Dad eating out of your hand after he sees you.”
Josephine could hear her father and the banker chuckling over old times like two schoolboys, and her face brightened as she listened.
“Dad is all right and you will soon get used to his bluff ways,” Mason insisted, leading her into the parlor.
Soon, the two men came out of the office, and Mason immediately presented Josephine to his father.
“So this is Josephine,” the banker said kindly; “my son has written me often about you, and I see where I gain a daughter and lose one.”
In the afternoon they made up a party and showed the elder Mason around the ranch grounds, Josephine taking special charge of him. Afterwards, to Mason, Jr., she confided that he was a dear old man. Mason grinned knowingly, and laughed at her for her former fears.
“Why, I will be a regular outlaw between you and Dad when we get home,” he said in mock alarm.
Roy had already left in his airplane for New York, after first seeing that Mason’s car had been packed and shipped. He had promised to attend the double wedding in New York, and that night Josephine and Mason made plans for the trip East.
The ranch was to be left in charge of Big Joe as he was the acting foreman in Bud’s absence. Josephine and Ethel’s parents completed all the arrangements for leaving the ranch in Big Joe’s charge. The cowboys who were to go East with the party were Scotty, Red, Buck Miller and Tex. Waneda was to go and act as Josephine’s bridesmaid, and all looked forward to the event with great eagerness. Bud had arranged to buy the Ricker ranch where he would live with his bride after their return from New York.
Three days later it was a merry party that boarded a train for the East. The cowboys insisted on wearing their cowboy suits, but each had brought along extra clothes so they could doll up at the wedding.
When the merry party finally arrived in New York they were whisked away from the station in taxicabs to the Mason home on Fifth Avenue. They had arrived in the city at nine P.M. so the cowboys had a chance to see a little of the city with its wonderful dazzling lights. The double wedding was set for the following night, and after their arrival at the Mason home, Mason, Jr., retained two of the taxicabs and gave the drivers instructions to drive the cowboys around the city to any place they wished to go, even if they took all night about it.
Buck Miller had been to New York on several different occasions, and Mason pressed a roll of money into his hands.
“This is my treat, boys, and I want you to have a good time,” he said earnestly; “this taxicab firm is reliable, so you don’t need to fear any trouble from that source, but for the love of Mike, don’t try to shoot the town up.”
He then gave the drivers some orders as to their passengers after which they looked the cowboys over with respect and awe.
“Looks like we had a man’s sized job on our hands to-night, boss,” one of them said, again looking at the cowboys dubiously.
“Just show the boys around and report to me by telephone if anything should happen,” he advised them.
Mason was up bright and early the next morning and called up Roy the aviator, on the telephone. Roy was to be his best man at the wedding, and the aviator agreed to come promptly at seven P.M. as the wedding was set for eight o’clock. Bud was to have Buck Miller act as his best man, and he was getting decidedly nervous as the cowboys had not shown up.
Josephine was to have Waneda act as her bridesmaid, while Ethel had arranged to have one of her girl friends act as hers. About nine o’clock in the morning, it was a tired bunch of cowpunchers that came trooping in, but they declared they had had a grand time, so Mason packed them off to their rooms to get rested up for the evening.
At six o’clock he called them, and laughed heartily as he watched their desperate efforts to struggle into their Sunday clothes. Roy had arrived ahead of time and was laughing and joking with Buck Miller who looked hot and uncomfortable in a new suit.
Percy Vanderpool was there too, and decked out in his usual gorgeous style.
The minister having arrived, the double wedding was performed with simple ceremony. A banquet followed, and Mason made a speech to the cowboys, assuring them he would visit the Bar X ranch the following summer. “And I will bring my wife along with me, boys,” he wound up.
A hearty cheer went up at this statement, and he told them to wine and dine to their hearts’ content. Bud and Ethel were to accompany the cowboys back to Nevada as Bud could spare only ten days away from his new ranch.
Mason and Josephine strolled into the library where Mason Senior always found his favorite retreat.
“Well, Dad,” he said, putting his arms around his bride, “I didn’t stay away a whole year, but I made good.”
“And now, you want the reward I promised you, huh,” his father grunted.
“Certainly, and I want a double reward now, because there are two of us.”
“Indeed, you young scoundrel. Well, I intend to make Josephine a present of a fine house which I bought next door to us. As for you, I am going to place you under charge of my manager at my steel works, and give you a chance to work your way up to his position.”
“That is fine of you, Father,” he cried in delight; “what do you think of the old bear now, Josephine?”
“He’s a dear,” she countered softly.
“Well, Dad, you sent me out West to make good and I won an angel. Is that picture on the wall one you have had enlarged of yourself lately?”
The gruff fellow turned his head to look, and there was a sound suspiciously like a kiss. When he glanced at them again they were listening to the cowboys making merry in the banquet hall.
“By, by, Bar X,” Josephine murmured, smiling contentedly at her husband.
THE END