Frank at Don Carlos' Rancho

by Harry Castlemon

  CHAPTER XVII.

  CONCLUSION.

  "I reckon you don't speak to common fellers any more," continued Dick,for it was he, notwithstanding that Frank had told his cousin, in suchpositive language, that he had seen him pulled down and strangled onthe prairie. "You needn't be so tuk back, youngster, 'cause it's me,an' 'taint nobody else."

  During the next few minutes the settlers, who were standing around,gained some idea of the strength of the affection the boys cherishedfor the trapper. They threw themselves from their saddles and actuallyembraced him; and while they remained at the rancho, they kept closeat his side, clinging to his arms as though they were afraid some onemight try to take him away from them.

  "Why, Dick," said Frank, as soon as he could speak, "I never expectedto see you again."

  "Youngster," replied the trapper--and, as he spoke, he drew himself upto his full height, extended his long arms above his head, and doubledup a pair of fists which looked as though they might have knocked downan ox--"we don't look fur nothing else--me an' ole Bob don't--but tohave our har riz by the Injuns some day; but you'll never hear tell ofone of us bein' rubbed out by Greasers--mark that. Now, I've had more'n one of them ar lariats over my head, but I never had one around myneck yet, an' I never will. When I fight Mexikins, I allers look outfur them lassos, an' when that feller slipped his'n over my head, Iwas ready fur him. I cut it with my knife quicker'n he could say'Gin'ral Jackson,' with his mouth open. As I riz to my feet, I seethat the other feller was purty clost to me, an' I knocked him out ofhis saddle with my tomahawk, as clean as a whistle. Thar wasn't butone left then, an' he wasn't no 'count, fur his lasso was ruined; an',without that we'pon, a Mexikin aint a thing fur a ten year ole boy tobe afeared of. He tuk to his heels, an' so did I; an' here I am."

  To Archie, who had fully expected to see the trapper again, alive andwell, this story of his escape seemed probable enough; but to Frank,who had seen him, as he believed, powerless in the midst of hisenemies, it seemed almost incredible. Many a time, during the nextthree or four days, it was noticed that he earnestly regarded thetrapper as if he had not quite made up his mind that he was thegenuine Dick Lewis after all.

  "I say, youngsters," said Bob, when the trapper ceased speaking, "I'vefound out what it was that skeered me so bad, that night."

  "An' he was skeered at jest nothing at all," exclaimed Dick. "I reckonthe ole feller feels the least bit ashamed of himself. If he don't, hehad oughter."

  The trappers, followed by the boys and a few of the settlers, led theway to a recess in the wall opposite the gate. The only articles inthis recess that attracted the attention of the cousins, were a hugeroll of canvas, and a post which supported a locomotive lamp. Theface of this lamp was not turned toward the court, but outward, towardthe wall.

  "I told you, youngsters," said Dick, "that the walls of this yererancho are five foot thick; and so they be, in every place exceptthis. Right thar is a door. It can't be seed from the outside, norfrom the inside, nuther; but it's thar."

  Frank knew there was a door somewhere about there, for he had followedthe settlers through it; but he could not tell where it was now, forthe wall appeared to be as solid there as any where else. The trapperknew where to look for it, however, and when he placed his hands uponthe wall, one of the stones began to move. One end moved outward, andthe other inward, showing that the stone worked upon a pivot in thecenter. The opening thus made was about six feet long, and a foothigh.

  "Humph!" exclaimed Archie. "I'd like to see a man on horseback gothrough that little hole."

  "Easy, easy," replied the trapper. "I haint got done yet."

  The door was composed of at least a half a dozen stones (one above theother, some longer, and some shorter, in order to "break joints" inthe wall), and when they had all been moved from their places, twoopenings were formed, the stones being in the middle of the doorway,one end pointing toward the creek, and the other toward the court. Thespace on each side was amply sufficient to admit of the passage of ahorseman.

  "You know ole Bob said, that arter them two fellers crossed the creek,they rid up the bridge of clouds, an' went through the wall of therancho," remarked Dick. "Wal, they didn't, 'cause they went in at thedoor. Bob swum the creek, an' hunted high an' low fur the door, butcouldn't find it; an' that's what skeered him."

  From the door, the boys turned their attention to the bundle of canvasbefore spoken of. It was neatly rolled up, and in the middle was astick of round wood, to each end of which was fastened a small wheel,with a deep groove in the circumference. In each of these grooves wasa rope, about the size of a clothesline, which was passed once aroundthe wheel, and the longer end of which was coiled down on the ground,so that it would run out rapidly. The trappers pushed the canvasoutside the door, made the shorter ends of the ropes fast to two ringsin the wall, which seemed to have been placed there for that especialpurpose, then gave the canvas a push, and it went rolling down thebank toward the creek. When it reached the water's edge it had all runout, and of course it stopped. The strong breeze that was blowing gaveto it a gentle undulating motion, and this it was that the old trapperhad compared to the "rolling and tumbling of the smoke from the mouthof a cannon." This was the bridge of clouds; and what a simple thingit was to have frightened a man like Bob so badly! The old veteranevidently thought so, for he leaned on his rifle and looked foolishenough. When the settlers had laughed at him to their satisfaction, heand Dick seized the ropes, and hauling in hand-over-hand, rolled upthe canvas without going outside the door.

  "Well! well!" exclaimed Archie. "Frank and I watched this thing asclosely as ever two cats watched a mouse, and we couldn't begin to seethrough it. It's all plain enough now; but how about the boat?"

  The trapper replied that he would soon show them all about that; andpicking up a lantern, led the way into the underground portion of therancho. After threading numerous passage-ways, and turning severalcorners, he ushered them into an apartment that might have been calledthe engine-room, for it contained the power that had propelled theflatboat so rapidly. It was not an engine, however, but a windlass,something like those used for moving houses. It was plain that it hadbeen worked by horses, for there were prints of hoofs all over thefloor.

  The next thing was to find the boat; and that could be easily done byfollowing the rope which was attached to the windlass. The rope ledthem through a long narrow passage-way, and when they arrived at theend of it, Dick opened a small door, about the height of his head fromthe floor, and the boys climbed up and found the boat before them. Itwas snugly hidden in a little cove, which had been dug into the bank,and walled up with stones to prevent it from caving in. The mouth ofthe cove was so effectually concealed by thick bushes, that a fleetmight have sailed along the creek without discovering it. In the bowof the boat was a bundle of canvas, like the one already described,only it was much smaller; and the ropes with which it was rolled upwere attached to a horizontal windlass, so that they could becontrolled by one man.

  The trappers and some of the settlers followed the boys into the boat,and assisted them in pushing it out of the cove. Frank got out theoar, and sculled it across, and, when it reached the opposite shore,Dick seized the canvas and ran up the bank with it, the canvasunrolling itself as he went.

  "It's all plain enough now," repeated Archie; "but it seems to me thatthe Don put himself to a good deal of trouble for nothing."

  "I think he managed affairs just about right," said one of thesettlers. "The object of this canvas is to conceal the trail. When myhorses were stolen, I followed them very easily for a while, but lostthe scent about a hundred yards from the bank of this creek. That musthave been the place where they got on the canvas. Of course they leftno more trail, and I couldn't follow them any farther."

  "But I don't see why it is necessary to have this boat moved by awindlass," said Frank. "If one man could bring it over here, what'sthe reason he couldn't take it back?"

  "That can also be easily explained," replied the settler. "
The currentin the creek is so strong that one man can't scull the boat straightacross. It makes no difference where he lands on this side, because hebrings his canvas with him, and can put it out any where; but thecanvas on the other side is stationary, you know, and the boat must bestopped at one particular place, so that the horsemen can get out onit."

  "Oh, I see," said Frank.

  "Thar's another thing that mebbe the comp'ny would like to knowsomething about," said Dick. "Arter we come back from that bar huntthis mornin', I went out to tend to some cattle, an' seed these yeretwo keerless fellers go into Don Carlos' rancho. I hung round watchin'the house, 'cause I kind o' thought that mebbe something was agoin' tohappen, an' that's the way I come to be in the woods when Frank an'them Greasers had that race. An' fellers," added Dick, turning to thesettlers, "I seed the hul of that ar runnin' match, an' I never in mylife seed a boy pick up his feet quicker'n Frank did. I'll match himagin any hoss in Californy. I was goin' to say, that arter I gotlicked by them Greasers, an' seed that Frank was ketched an' tuk tothe rancho----"

  Frank, at this point, begged pardon for interrupting Dick, and toldhim that he had not then been taken to the rancho, but was carried tothe mountains by Pierre Costello. This announcement created greatexcitement among the settlers, and it was increased wonderfully, whenArchie said that they had left Pierre in the woods, a prisoner.

  "Who tuk him pris'ner?" demanded the trapper.

  "Archie and I, and Marmion," replied Frank.

  "Fellers!" exclaimed Dick, who seemed to be utterly confounded, "don'tthis yere night's work beat any thing you ever hearn tell on? If anyof you know of two boys that can lay over them ar youngsters of mine,jest trot 'em out; I'd like mighty well to see 'em. But they haintbeen born yet, an' never will be."

  The trapper pounded the ground with the butt of his rifle, gazedproudly at the boys, and went on with his explanation.

  "I seed that Frank was ketched agin," said he, "an' knowin' that Icouldn't do nothing more by myself, I rid hum an' told ole Bob whathad been goin' on; an' him an' Carlos, an' a few other herdsmen whomwe knowed we could trust, set out to bring the settlers together,while I come back to watch the rancho. In an hour's time we had ahundred men here in the bushes.

  "The fust thing to be done was to study up a plan to get into therancho. We knowed we couldn't whip the Greasers while they wereinside the house, an' we outside--we must get inside too; an' thatcould only be done by takin' them by surprise. While we were talkin'the matter over, up come two Mexikins b'longin' to the band, who hadbeen out somewhere stealin' hosses. They run right among us afore theyknowed it, an' it was the easiest thing in the world fur us to captur''em, an' make 'em tell us all we wanted to know. Arter a leetle talkit was decided that me an' ole Bob should take the place of theMexikins, an' go into the rancho; an', that while we were goin' in,the settlers should swim the creek, an' get ready to make the attack.Me an' Bob were to give 'em time to get clost up under the walls, an'then open the door, an' the settlers would rush in an' make pris'nersof the robbers afore they knowed it.

  "Wal, we swapped clothes with them ar two dirty Greasers--me an' oleBob did--mounted Roderick an' King Jeemes, tuk the two stolen hossesby the bridle, crossed the creek on the flatboat, went up that arcanvas thing that Bob called the bridge of clouds, an' rid straightinto the rancho--just as though we had a right thar--an' nobody didn'tsuspect that we wasn't real Greasers. We seed a few men arter we gotinto the house, but none on 'em had a word to say, or even looked atus. The fellers who hauled up the bridge shut the door an' went offabout their business, leavin' me an' Bob to 'tend to our'n; which wedid, I reckon. We jumped off our hosses, an' opened the door agin; an'the settlers come pourin' in. Every thing worked jest as we hadplanned it."

  There was one mystery that remained to be explained, and that was thesignal made by the flag. The boys, afterward found out all about itfrom one of the prisoners. The robbers, knowing that they were notsuspected, had become very bold; and horses which had been stolen at adistance, were not unfrequently brought into the rancho in broaddaylight. The flag flying at the mast-head, signified that the coastwas clear, and that the animals could be safely brought in. When theflag was not to be seen, it was understood that there were strangersabout; and, in that case, the horses were concealed in the woods untildark, when they were brought in through the secret door.

  During the next three hours the boys, in company with the trappers,explored every nook and corner of the rancho. Archie first led them tothe stable, to show them his prisoner; but, when they got there, theyfound that Beppo was gone. He had been discovered and released by someof the band, and in the confusion attending the attack, had made goodhis escape. From the stable they went to the Don's reception-room; andwhile they were examining the painting of the Indian warrior, Archieentertained them with a glowing account of his discovery of thespring, and the adventures which had resulted from it. After that theywent to the secret room, from which they had made their escape throughthe scuttle, and spent an hour in trying to find the place where theDon had got out. But their efforts were unsuccessful; and beingparticularly desirous to have the mystery solved, they went in searchof the chief, whom they found lying in one corner of the courtsecurely bound. To their request that he would explain the matter, hereplied that it was "one grand swindle," and that was all they couldget out of him. The manner of his escape from that room was a secretthat never was revealed.

  While the boys were thus engaged, the settlers and their herdsmen werebusying themselves in removing various articles of value from thebuilding, such as provisions, weapons, ammunition, and bales of goods;and at daylight a long string of wagons, and a longer string ofmounted men, crossed the creek, and slowly wended their way toward thesettlement. Just as the cavalcade entered the woods, huge volumes offlames burst from the doors and windows of the rancho, and in a fewhours nothing but blackened and crumbling ruins remained to mark thespot whereon had stood the robbers' stronghold.

  It was breakfast time when Frank and Archie reached home, but theywent to bed immediately, and slept until long after midnight. Whenthey awoke, they felt very sensibly the effects of the rough treatmentthey had received; and when Uncle James arrived two days afterward, hefound them with their heads tied up, Frank with his arm in a sling,and Archie hobbling around with a cane. But then they had coveredthemselves with glory. They had shot Old Davy, and assisted inbreaking up the robber band, and no general ever felt prouder of hisvictories than the boys did over these exploits. The story of theiradventures is, however, not yet complete. According to arrangement,they accompanied Captain Porter on his trading expedition; and whatthey saw, and what they did while they were gone, shall be told in"FRANK IN THE MOUNTAINS."

  THE END.

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  =BOY PIONEER SERIES.= By Edward S. Ellis. In box containing the following. 3 vols. Illustrated. Cloth, extra, black and gold =$3 75= (Sold separately.)

  =Ned in the Block House=; or, Life on the Frontier. Being the 1st volume of the "Boy Pioneer Series." Illustrated. 16mo. =1 25=

  =Ned in the Woods.= Being the 2d volume of the "Boy Pioneer Series." Illustrated. 16mo. =1 25=

  =Ned on the River.= Being the 3d volume of the "Boy Pioneer Series." Illustrated. 16mo. =1 25=