CHAPTER XII.
WHO WHIPPLE WAS.
There was great rejoicing when Stella so far recovered from the strainwhich she had been undergoing, to learn that Bud was safe, although hehad passed a very uncomfortable as well as perilous night tied to a treewith the cold numbing him, and wolves sniffing and snarling at him.
These he had been able to keep off for several hours by kicking themwhenever they got close enough.
But he was rapidly becoming exhausted when in the distance he heardshouts.
Ted and the boys had ridden to the west until they realized that it wasuseless to go any farther, for they had not come upon the trail of Budand Stella, and Ted came to the conclusion that they had gone in theopposite direction.
But it was almost night when they turned their faces to the east, andday was dawning when they heard Bud's cry for help, and rescued him bydriving the snarling pack from his heels.
When they had heard his story about the man with the silver face and hiscrew, and the fact that they had taken Stella away with them, the boyswaited only long enough to make a fire to thaw out Bud, and to make somecoffee, and took up the broad trail.
When they came to the deserted camp they were almost sure that Stellahad gone on with her captors, and were about to follow the trail.
Had they done so, Stella would have perished in the woods. But Ted hadone of his "hunches" that Stella was not far away, and rode around thecamp in a wide circle.
He was soon rewarded by finding the prints of Stella's shoes in thesnow, and, concluding that she had in some manner escaped from hercaptors, he called the boys together and started on her trail.
They had not gone far when they, too, heard the howls of the wolf pack,and knew that Stella was in great danger.
Presently they came upon Stella's message in the snow and obeyed herinjunction to hurry.
They had been compelled to leave their horses at the camp, for theforest was too dense to permit them to ride.
When Stella told them of her adventure and about Silver Face and thestolen cattle, they decided to push forward on the trail, and, ifpossible, regain their stolen property.
At the camp they remounted, and, having to ride double where Bud andStella were concerned, made but slow progress.
But the trail was broad and good, and they made good time as comparedwith a slow cattle drive.
Early in the afternoon Ted became conscious, in that remarkable way ofhis, that not far ahead some one was on the trail.
Stella was riding behind him, for the boys had taken turns in carryingher so as not to burden any one horse too much, and he transferred herto Kit's pony, and, telling the boys to move forward slowly, rode onahead to scout.
Ted wanted to see for himself this wonderful Silver Face, who wasimpervious to bullets, and who could fire them from his chest with noapparent effort on his own part.
Ted was also affected as the others had been who had seen him; that is,by the mystery of the creature.
He had ridden quite a distance ahead of the party, and had just enteredinto the pass of a canon which seemed to broaden out into a respectablevalley farther on, when he was brought to a halt by the scream of arifle ball close to his head.
This was warning enough, and he scurried into the shelter of a huge rockthat jutted from the canon wall.
In a few minutes he emerged from it and rode back over the trail.
When the party came up with him he told them of the shot.
"It's my opinion," he said, "that Silver Face and his men and our cattleare in that canon or valley, but how to reach them I don't know."
"S'pose we go scoutin' on ther hills above, an' take a look," said Bud."Stella an' ther boys can cache ther hosses an' hide, er come erlongwith us."
"Very well," said Ted. And so they did. Hiding their horses in a thickglade of cedar trees, they climbed in single file up the side of themountain, and were soon in an advantageous position, from which they hada good view up and down the valley.
A curious sight met their sight.
In the center of the valley they saw their bunch of steers close herdedby several cowboys, while not far away two men were butchering one ofthe steers.
"They're going to have beef for dinner," said Ted, with a grin.
"I hope it chokes 'em," growled Bud.
"Or that they never get a chance to eat it at all," said Stella.
Lounging around the fire were a party of Indians, but, though Ted couldnot see from that distance whether or not they were the followers ofCrazy Cow, he thought most likely they were.
The great figure of Silver Face could easily be picked out from amonghis followers, even were it not from the reflected light from his silvermask whenever the rays of the sun smote it.
Close to the west wall of the valley, and huddled under its shelter,were a number of Indian tepees, while farther on were several whitecanvas tents.
"Boys, we've stumbled upon the permanent camp or rendezvous of theoutlaw Indians, and the members of the Whipple gang," said Ted.
As they were looking they saw a young woman, dressed as cowgirl, andwith long, blond hair hanging down her back, come out of one of thetents, and look over the scene.
Silver Face strode to her side, and then began a strange pantomimebetween the pair with her hands. This convinced Stella that the man withthe silver mask was unable to talk.
"I don't see how we are going to get at those fellows," said Ted.
"They do seem to be pretty well fixed to defend themselves," said Ben,who was lying flat on the rocky edge of the canon wall, looking into thescene below.
"Oh, Ted," cried Stella, grasping the arm of the leader of the bronchoboys. "Look there. It is Magpie, my pony. There isn't another like himin the world. We must get him back, Ted. Think of letting a dirty Indianoutlaw ride and abuse the splendid fellow."
"All right, Stella," replied Ted. "Show us how to do it successfully,and we'll go down and tackle the whole mess."
"See, there's an Indian throwing his filthy blanket on Magpie's back. Ican't stand that."
Stella put her rifle to her shoulder, and was about to pull the triggerwhen Ted's hand closed down over the lock of the weapon.
"Not on your life," he said. "This is not the time for anything likethat. If we were to get them after us right now we'd last about as longas a snowball on a hot stove. Wait a while."
While Stella said nothing she was angry clear through. It hurt her likea blow to have her pony ridden by another.
The Indian, having fastened his blanket on the pony's back to hissatisfaction, sprang upon his back, and began to lash him with a quirt.
"Oh, the brute!" exclaimed Stella. "I hope Magpie throws and kills himfor his cruelty."
Magpie wheeled and bucked under the unusual punishment, and the Indiancontinued to beat him.
"I can't stand it any longer," cried Stella, gnashing her pretty, small,white teeth.
This time she got her rifle to her shoulder, and, before she could berestrained, had fired a shot. Perhaps Ted knew that the provocation wasgreat, for he did not interfere this time.
At any rate, the ball flew close enough to knock the hat from theIndian's head, and cause him to dismount and scurry to the shelter ofthe rock wall.
But it caused the greatest excitement in the camp.
The man with the silver mask rushed forward, rapidly scanning the clifffor whoever had fired the shot.
He did not have long to search, for the smoke hovering over the spotwhere Stella was lying on the top of the cliff was advertisement enough.
A man by his side handed him a rifle, which he sighted, then took downas a puff of smoke rose above him.
Then there followed the smash of a bullet on the rock, a foot belowwhere Stella was lying.
"Pretty close work," said Ted. "That fellow is a corking good shot.Look, he's coming to shoot again. Duck! I'll bet he gets the range thistime."
Every head went out of sight. Then came the sharp report of the rifle,and the ball from
it shattered the edge of the rock not far fromStella's head.
"That'll be about enough of that," said Ted, picking up his ownWinchester. "We'll have to stop that fellow's fun, or he'll end byhurting some of us."
Ted poked the barrel of his Winchester over the edge of the rock,adjusted the sights, took a short aim, and fired.
Then he looked to see the result of it, and saw the man with the silverface drop his rifle, stagger to the side of the canon, and sink down.
"By jove! I got him," exclaimed Ted. "I believe that from here we candrive that whole bunch out of the valley and get back our cattle andhorses, if we dodge back and shoot straight. We'll try it. Every fellowget ready to fire."
On seeing their leader fall, the men, both white and red, in the valley,ran hither and yon in a state of great excitement.
But when the boys began to fire systematically at them, kicking up thesnow about them with every shot, it became a veritable panic.
Shouts of terror were heard, and, as the young woman raised the man withthe silver mask to his feet and helped him walk to the tent, the othershastily saddled their ponies, and prepared to decamp.
All the while the boys were pumping Winchester balls into them, andoccasionally a horse dropped, or with a yell a man would grasp a leg oran arm and fall to the ground.
"We've got them going," shouted Ted. "Keep it up until we get them onthe run."
The boys fired their rifles until they got hot, then waited for them tocool, and resumed firing.
It was like bedlam in the valley, and not one of the men attempted toretaliate by firing back. They were in a panic of fear.
As soon as one got his horse saddled he dashed away toward the head ofthe valley out of the way of those spiteful bullets which sang aboutthem like enraged hornets.
Not one of them stopped to burden himself with his baggage, nor did theypay any attention to the stolen cattle.
They were in too much of a hurry to get away safely themselves.
The Indians left their tepees standing, and ran for their lives.
Soon the valley was clear of men. All that remained in sight were thebunch of cattle, a small band of ponies in a rope corral, and the tepeesand tents.
"I guess we're safe to go down now, and take possession of our own,"said Ted.
"Don't forget that Silver Face and the young woman are in that tent,"said Stella warningly. "Look out for treachery."
Without further delay the boys and Stella climbed down the mountain towhere their horses were, and, mounting, rode fearlessly into the valley.
As they approached the tents the flap of one of them was pushed back andthe young woman came out.
Her hand was raised for silence, and the tears were coursing down hercheeks.
"Hush!" she said. "He is dead."
"Who is dead?" asked Ted, with the greatest respect.
"Silver Face," was the answer.
"Who was he?" asked Ted.
"I don't know. I found him lying in the mountains almost dead from anaccident a few months ago, and nursed him back to life, but he neverspoke again, and he has never been able to let me know who he was."
"Pardon me, but who are you?" asked Ted.
"I?" said the woman, drawing herself up proudly. "I am Whipple."
"What? Leader of the Whipple gang?" asked Ted, almost incredulously.
"The same," said she. "I have laughed many times at the fear I inspiredamong you ranchmen in the valley, and the officers of the law, to saynothing of the soldiers. But that was because they had never seen me,and believed me to be a man."
They all looked their astonishment, for she was an exceedingly prettywoman, and spoke in gentle tones.
"But it is all over now," she continued sadly. "If those steers andponies are yours, take them. I am going to leave the mountains, and mymen are scattered and will leave also. I told them to go. And now thatSilver Face is no more, there is no reason why I should stay here."
"You loved him?" asked Ted, nodding toward the tent.
"Yes," she answered quietly. "He was my husband. When I had nursed himback to life I sent my boys out and kidnaped a preacher. I had himbrought here blindfolded, and made him marry us, then sent him back, notknowing where he had been."
Ted and the boys looked their sympathy.
"Can I be of any assistance to you in caring for him?" asked Stella,very sweetly.
A look of terror crossed the woman's face.
"No, no," she cried. "Leave me with my dead. Take what belongs to youand go."
She retired into the tent, and they heard her weeping, and turned away.
The boys started immediately on the back trail to the ranch, where theyarrived with their cattle and ponies.
That was the last of the Whipple gang, for the members of it left thecountry, and the outlaw Indians were gathered in by the troops and theIndian police, and imprisoned on the reservations.
But on winter evenings, as he sat before the big fire in the Long Tomranch house, his big snow camp, Ted Strong often turned over in his mindthe facts about the death of Silver Face, the man of mystery.
Somehow, away down in his heart, he did not believe that the man withthe silver mask was dead, but that he would some day meet him again andsolve the mystery that surrounded him.
In the early part of December, however, the members of the Moon Valleyoutfit left the Long Tom Ranch for Phoenix, Arizona.
Ted Strong in Montana Page 12