CHAPTER XVI.
A RACE IN THE DARK.
It seemed to Frank that while he was falling he lost his senses. Whenhe came to himself, he was sitting on the ground about ten feet fromthe wall, the Don was lying motionless by his side, and the Mexican,with whom Frank expected to have a desperate fight, or ahotly-contested foot-race, was kneeling upon him and holding him down.More than that, a huge door in the wall of the rancho--the same onethrough which the horsemen had disappeared a few minutes before--hadbeen thrown open; the light of a locomotive lamp was streaming out;and a crowd of mounted men, all armed to the teeth, were charging upthe bank with furious yells. Frank gazed at them with mouth and eyeswide open; and so bewildered was he, that the Mexican, if he had feltso inclined, might have bound him hand and foot without the leastdifficulty. But it was plain that he was not there for that purpose;he was devoting himself entirely to Don Carlos.
"That was well done, Master Frank," said he, as he passed his sasharound the chiefs arms. "But there's going to be a fight here, and youhad better get out of the way."
It was Carlos who spoke, and his words brought Frank to his feetimmediately. He understood it all now. The men, who were pouringthrough the door into the rancho, were the settlers, who had comethere to rescue him and Archie. Frank, however, was not disposed torun away because there was going to be a fight. A dozen or two men, atleast, would be killed or wounded, and his cousin might be one of thenumber, unless he was immediately liberated. The last Frank saw ofhim, he was struggling in the grasp of a powerful Mexican, who hadthrown him upon the roof, and was holding his hands behind his back,while a companion was getting ready to bind him. And there wereRoderick and King James to be looked after, too. During the confusionsome of the robbers might make off with them, and that would be amisfortune indeed. Frank thought of all these things, and to the utteramazement of Carlos, pulled his revolver from his pocket, and followedthe settlers into the rancho.
When he reached the door he stopped, astonished at the scene presentedto his view. The court was filled with men, some on foot, and some onhorseback; rifles and pistols were cracking in every direction; kniveswere flashing in the air; and the din that arose was almost deafening.One thing Frank noticed immediately, and that was, that the fight wasnot so much of a fight after all. The robbers, taken by surprise, andalarmed at the numbers and determination of the attacking party, didnot stop to resist, but made every exertion to escape. Some, ofcourse, succeeded; while others were pulled down by lassos, and boundhand and foot before they could realize what was going on.
Frank stood at the door but a moment, but that was long enough for afriend of his to find and recognize him. It was Marmion. The dogjumped upon him with every demonstration of joy, and then turned andattacked the first man he came to, who happened to be none other thanCarlos. The latter had taken care of his prisoner, and was hurrying into assist the settlers. Marmion discovered his mistake after he hadbitten the Ranchero, but did not seem to be sorry for it. He, nodoubt, considered it his duty to bite somebody, and it made littledifference to him who it was. He afterward had an opportunity to tryhis teeth upon an old enemy of his, and he made the most of it.
Frank's first care was to look around for Archie. He was not in sight,but something else was. Roderick was standing near the middle of thecourt, and one of the robbers had just grasped the bridle, preparatoryto springing upon his back. There was not a single instant to be lost.That man must not be allowed to mount the horse, for, if he once gotfairly into the saddle, he would go out of the court with the speed ofthe wind, and that would be the last of Roderick. Frank boundedforward, discharging his revolver at the robber as he ran; but,although the man looked around to see where the bullet came from, hewas not frightened from his purpose. His leg was already over thesaddle, and Roderick was beginning to move.
"Stop, there!" yelled Frank, who was so close to the horse that hecould almost seize him by the tail. "Stop, I say!"
The noise in the court was so great that he could scarcely hear hisown voice. The Mexican did not hear it, and it is not probable that hewould have paid any attention to it if he had. The revolver crackedonce more, but something made Frank's hand unsteady, and the bulletwent wide of the mark. Roderick was certainly lost to him. Again andagain the six-shooter spoke in decided tones, until the last load wasdischarged; and still the robber rode on. With a cry of impatienceFrank dashed the now useless weapon to the ground, and, scarcelyknowing what he was doing, started in hot pursuit of the mustang; butMarmion, his friend and ally, was swifter than he, and now beginningto understand that the Mexican ought to be stopped, he ran up besidethe horse, bounded into the air, seized the man by the shoulder, andpulled him from the saddle in a twinkling.
The wild Indian yell to which Frank gave utterance as he witnessedthis proceeding, would have done credit to Dick Lewis himself. He didnot stop to see what Marmion was going to do with the robber, but kepton after the mustang, which he now believed would make straight forthe gate. Roderick, however, seemed to be in no hurry to leave therancho; nor was he frightened by the noise and confusion around him.On the contrary, he appeared to enjoy it. He arched his neck, laidback his ears, and pranced about among the excited, struggling men asthough he were in his natural element; but, being well-trained andobedient, he stopped when his master succeeded in making him hear hisvoice, and in a few seconds more Frank was safe in the saddle. Howproud the boy was then! He was not afraid of Don Carlos' whole band.
"Hurrah for me!" he shouted. "I am all right now. I'd like to seesomebody try to take you away from me again, old fellow. Hallo,here!"
A horse interrupted Frank's soliloquy--a little black horse, whichgalloped by almost within reach of him, and disappeared in thedarkness outside the gate. He was in sight long enough for Frank tosee that he carried two men on his back, one being seated in thesaddle, and the other hanging helplessly across the pommel. The horsewas King James; the man in the saddle was Pierre Costello; and theother was Archie Winters.
The cousins had left Pierre bound hand and foot in one of theunderground rooms of the rancho; but he did not remain there long, forthe herdsmen, from whom the boys had so narrowly escaped, soon cutdown the door and released him. Pierre explained matters in a fewwords, by saying that the boys had taken him unawares, and made aprisoner of him; but he forgot to mention the fact that they hadcaught him almost in the act of murdering Don Carlos.
Pierre, finding himself once more at liberty, ran frantically aboutthe rancho, up stairs and down, searching every-where for the boys. Hefound one of them at last, and it was Archie, who had been captured onthe roof of the wing, and was being carried below. From the men whohad him in charge, Pierre learned that Frank had again escaped, andthat the Don had been pulled over the parapet. He was greatly excitedover the news. He did not give a second thought to the old Spaniard'smisfortune--he did not care if the fall had broken his neck--but hewas highly disgusted and enraged to learn that Frank had once moreslipped through his fingers. He assisted his companions in disposingof their prisoner, and, when the latter had been locked up, Pierremanaged to retain possession of the keys. It was his intention to goout with the others, and assist in recapturing Frank; but if thatcould not be done--if Frank succeeded in eluding them--he would takeArchie to the mountains in his place. Pierre thought this a decidedimprovement on his old programme. Archie was not so large and strongas his cousin, and consequently he could be more easily managed. Hewould also bring the same amount of money in the shape of a ransom.
Pierre hurried to the court, and, when he arrived there, what was hisamazement to find it filled with settlers! He did not stop to take asecond look, but returned with all possible haste to the room in whichArchie was confined. Lifting him in his arms as if he had been aninfant, Pierre ran back to the court, and the first object that methis eyes was Archie's horse. To his infinite delight the animal didnot attempt to elude him; and when he had swung himself into thesaddle, and pulled his prisoner up in front of him, he began tobelieve that h
is plans might, after all, prove successful. There wasonly one person in all that crowd who saw him as he dashed through thegate, and that was Frank Nelson. Pierre knew that some one waswatching him, for he heard a loud command to halt, followed by theangry bark of a dog, and a clatter of hoofs behind him. He looked overhis shoulder, and began to lose heart again. He knew, if Archie didnot, that Roderick was a better horse than the one he was riding; andthat as long as Marmion was on his trail, he could not hope to eludehis pursuer. But he did not stop. He kept straight on toward thewoods, and a few rods behind him came the swift mustang, boundingalong as easily as though he had been furnished with wings.
During the race that followed, nothing but the clatter of the horses'hoofs, and an occasional angry yelp from Marmion, broke the stillnessof the night. Across the prairie went pursuer and pursued at furiousspeed, into the woods, over logs and rocks, up hill and down, throughdarkness so intense that one could scarcely see his hand before him,and finally Frank began to wonder at the endurance exhibited by thelittle black under his double load. But the furious pace was tellingon him, and with all the whipping and spurring he received, he couldnot prevent the mustang from overtaking him. Pierre saw this, andhastily drawing rein, prepared to carry out a plan he had determinedupon.
"Stop where you are!" he exclaimed, in a most savage tone of voice."If you advance another step"----
The robber was about to say that if Frank came any nearer he wouldbury his knife in Archie's body; but Marmion did not give him time tofinish the sentence. He sprang straight at his throat, and, beforePierre could think of resistance, he was flat on the ground.
"Hold fast to him, old fellow!" shouted Frank, dismounting from hishorse. "That makes amends for the cowardly manner in which youdeserted me this morning. Archie, where are you?"
"Here's all that's left of me," replied a faint voice. "O, my head!"groaned Archie, as Frank knelt down by his side, and cut the ropeswith which he was bound. "There's no fun in being carried withrailroad speed through a thick woods on a dark night like this. But Iwant you to understand one thing: That wasn't a fair race, because myhorse had a double load to carry."
Frank had been astonished a good many times that night, but he wasutterly amazed, now. Here was Archie, who was aching in every limb,and bleeding profusely from the wounds he had received during hisrapid ride through the woods--who, during the last few hours, had beenthe hero of more hair-breadth escapes than had ever before fallen tothe lot of a boy of his age--who had but just been delivered from thepower of a reckless and determined foe--here he was talking about thespeed of his horse, and declaring that the race the animal had justrun was not a fair test of his abilities!
"This is a pretty time to talk about such things, isn't it?" askedFrank. "I suppose you hoped that Roderick would be beaten, didn'tyou?"
"I can't say that I did," replied Archie, as his cousin lifted him tohis feet; "but I could not help telling myself that if Pierre wantedto save himself, all he had to do was to drop me overboard, and hewould leave you behind so rapidly that you would never boast ofRoderick's speed again."
(We may here remark that the question of the relative merits of thetwo horses remained for a long time undecided; but still it wassettled, at last, and to the satisfaction of both the boys. It was anexciting race, and a long one; and the history of it shall be given inits proper place.)
Archie, in spite of his wounds and bruises, was as lively and pluckyas ever. One desire was uppermost in his mind, now, and that was toeffect the capture of the robber; but he need not have troubledhimself on that score, for Pierre had already been secured. When thecousins reached the place where he was lying, they found himmotionless and helpless, Marmion's powerful jaws being closed upon histhroat. The dog barked and whined furiously when compelled to let gohis hold, and it was all his master could do to prevent him from againattacking his enemy.
"Santa Maria!" gasped the robber, when he found himself free from theteeth of the dog.
"That's what I say," exclaimed Archie, who, having removed Pierre'ssash from his waist, proceeded to confine his hands and feet. "I thinkyou are at the end of your rope now, my hearty. You may make up yourmind to start for your old quarters at San Diego, to-morrow morning,by the early train. What shall we do with him?"
"We'll leave him here until we can procure assistance, and come backfor him," replied Frank. "Now, let's start for home."
But for one thing, Frank and Archie would have been two of thehappiest boys that ever existed. Their wounds, their aching bones, thedangers they had passed through, were all forgotten in the joy theyfelt at finding themselves once more in undisputed possession of theirlong-lost horses. They had much to talk about as they rode toward therancho. Archie told Frank what had happened to him during his shortcaptivity, and plumed himself on having been in the very midst of hisenemies for more than seven hours (it was then long after midnight),and having made one prisoner alone and unaided, and assisted incapturing two more before he fell into the hands of his enemies. Asfor the misfortune that had befallen their old friend Dick Lewis,Archie declared that it did not trouble him in the least, for he knewhis cousin had been mistaken; and Frank, ready to catch at straws,said he certainly hoped it would turn out so.
After a fifteen minutes' ride, the boys once more found themselves inthe rancho, and this time with no fear of being made prisoners. Thefight was over, and the settlers were in full possession of therobbers' stronghold. They were in a state of great excitement andalarm, however, for they had ransacked the building from top tobottom, without discovering any signs of Frank and Archie; and theywere on the point of abandoning the search in despair, when the boysappeared. The settlers crowded about them as they rode into the court,shook them warmly by the hand, asked them a multitude of questions,and cheered them uproariously. Presently, two tall fellows, dressed inMexican costume, and carrying long rifles in their hands, elbowedtheir way through the crowd. One was old Bob Kelly--the cousins wouldhave recognized his long, white beard any where--but who was theother? They had seen those broad shoulders and that rifle before, butthey could not tell who the man was, for his face was so badlybattered and scarred that his own mother, if she had been there, wouldnot have known him. He did not offer to shake hands with the boys, butdropped the butt of his rifle to the ground, clasped his fingers overthe muzzle of the weapon, and said:
"You amazin' keerless fellers! I knowed this mornin' that it was mybounden duty to give you a good trouncin'."
"What did I tell you?" screamed Archie, turning triumphantly to hiscousin, who opened his mouth and eyes, and gazed at the man in stupidbewilderment.
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