The Motor Boys on a Ranch; or, Ned, Bob and Jerry Among the Cowboys

by Clarence Young

  CHAPTER XII

  EXPLANATIONS

  For a moment Ned and his chums did not know whether or not to acceptthe word of the cowboys. They feared a trick. But, as the one calledHinkee Dee had said, the boys themselves might justly be regarded withsuspicion, so explanations were in order.

  Ned brought out the letter of introduction he carried to the foreman,Dick Watson, and when Hinkee Dee and the others had examined this,and heard the story of the young men the cowboys felt they had made amistake.

  “And I guess you did the same thing,” observed the one called Parson.“You took us for rustlers, eh? Well, maybe it does look queer, drivingcattle off at night this way. But we wanted to avoid the heat, andthen, too, the boss is in a hurry to have ’em shipped away. You’ll findwe’re all right.”

  “Oh, I’m sure of it,” said Ned. By the light of one of the electricalflashes he had made out the Square Z brand on some of the cattle thathad strayed up toward the big automobile. “You see we’re strangershere, and----”

  “So I decimated,” observed Hinkee, who seemed to have a queer fondnessfor using the wrong word, whether from ignorance or a sense of humorthe boys could not decide.

  “And so you come all the way out here to catch the cattle rustlers?”asked the cowboy called Gimp.

  “To have a _try_ at the mystery,” corrected Jerry.

  “Well, it sure is a mystery all right, but I don’t reckon you can solveit.”

  “There’s no harm in them tryin’,” added the Parson, who seemed to bemore friendly than the others.

  “No, I reckon not,” agreed Hinkee Dee. “Well, what’s to be done? Ifthese tenderfeet are lost I s’pose it’s our duty to set ’em on theright trail. Tell you what,” he went on. “Gimp, you stay with ’em andsee that they get to Square Z in the mornin’. The Parson and I canmanage the steers. You ride back with the boys and show ’em how to keepon the trail.”

  “All right,” agreed Gimp. As he spoke the flaps of the tent erected atthe rear of the automobile parted, and the face of Professor Snodgrasspeered out.

  “Are we there?” asked the little man. “If we are I want to get upearly, Jerry, and see if I can capture that specimen of a moth thatonly flies in the morning hours. I wish----”

  The professor suddenly stopped talking and fairly sprang from the tent.Then it was observed that he was clad only in his pajamas and slippers.He made a dive toward Gimp, who quickly aimed his gun at the advancingfigure, and then, though evidently fearing an attack, but seeing theprofessor was unarmed, the weapon was lowered, and Gimp murmured anapology.

  “Oh, what a beautiful specimen!” exclaimed the scientist, gazing atsomething on the saddle in front of Gimp. “It is the largest I haveever seen. Where did you get it?”

  “Get it? Get what? Oh, you mean _Lizzie_!” and he picked up a bighorned toad. “Yes, she’s quite a pet of mine. A friend sent her to mefrom Arizona, and in warm weather she goes everywhere with me in mypocket. Guess she crawled out now to see what all the rumpus was about.You like horned toads?” he asked.

  “I like anything in this line,” said the eager scientist as he pickedup the unpleasant, but harmless creature and stroked its back. “So youcall her Lizzie?”

  “It’s a bit easier than _Iguanidae Phrynosoma_,” said Gimp.

  “Oh, you know the Latin name?” beamed the professor, probably unawareof the queer figure he presented.

  “That’s all the Latin I do know, so don’t tackle me on any more,”laughed the cowboy. “I wouldn’t have known that only it was writ onthe box Lizzie come in, an’ I set up three nights learnin’ to say itwithout gettin’ a cramp in my tongue. Then I called her Lizzie forshort.”

  “She is a beautiful specimen,” murmured the scientist. “I see you havea love for nature.”

  “Well, you might call it that,” assented Gimp. “I beg your pardon forgettin’ the drop on you just then.”

  “You didn’t get anything on me,” the little bald-headed man said.

  “He means covered you with his gun,” translated the Parson. “He had itaimed at you. He sure thought you was coming at him I reckon.”

  “That’s what,” said Gimp. “’Tain’t healthy, out here, to jump at a manlessen he knows you some. But it’s all right.”

  “I saw the toad and didn’t think of anything else,” explained thescientist. “I want to see if the markings correspond with thoseillustrated in Professor Bowden’s book.”

  “This is Professor Snodgrass,” introduced Jerry, nodding toward him.

  “Pleased to have met up with you,” said Gimp.

  “Well, I guess introductions are in order,” commented Hinkee, as hehanded back the letters. “From the outside these seem to be all right,boys, and if you turn out to be so, we’ll beg your pardon for botheringyou. But we sure have to be careful. Now my name’s Jim Felton, andI’m assistant foreman, commonly known as Hinkee Dee. This here is SamJones, otherwise known as the Parson ’cause he’s so suburban like, andTod Henderson never answers to anything but Gimp because he’s such agood dancer. Now you know us.

  “Well, as I say, it may be all right,” went on Hinkee, “but for thesake of the ranch we’ve got to be careful. We sure did take you forcattle thieves when we saw your buzz wagon and camp over in this swale,though we couldn’t make out how in the world you used it to run thesteers off the range. However, that’s all right now.”

  The rest of the night was not long, and it was passed by the boysin quietness as the herd moved away, driven by the cowboys. In themorning, after breakfast, the start for the ranch house was made.

  “Reckon I’ll ride with you lads,” said Gimp, as he untethered hishorse. “I’ll let him amble home alone. I don’t want to push him toomuch as he’s been ridden hard lately. And I don’t often get thischance,” he added, as he glanced admiringly at the large automobile.

  “But won’t somebody steal your horse?” asked Ned.

  “I’d like to see ’em try. Blaze won’t let nobody but me come nigh himand he’ll find his way home all right. Cut along, Blaze,” he called ashe removed saddle and bridle and patted the horse on the flank. Theintelligent steed gave his master one look and then trotted slowly off.The automobile soon passed him, and for a time Blaze tried to keep up,evidently knowing his master was inside. But he soon gave it up andtrotted at his own gait.

  If the boys expected Gimp to make any observations on their elaboratetraveling car they were disappointed. He said little or nothing on thetrip.

  “Here we are!” he exclaimed as they topped a little rise, and the boyslooked down into a valley divided by a small stream and holding acollection of dull red buildings which they rightly guessed to be theSquare Z outfit.

  “Well, I see you got here!” was the greeting of foreman Dick Watson asthe big car came to a stop.

  “Then they’re all right?” asked Gimp, plainly a little surprised atthis welcome, without the letters being read.

  “Sure. Didn’t you think so? By the way, how comes it you’re not withthe bunch?”

  Gimp explained.

  “Huh!” chuckled the foreman. “Took ’em for cattle thieves, eh? Yes, Ibeen expectin’ ’em for some time. The boss wrote me as how they wascomin’. If I’d a thought you fellows would ’a met-up with ’em, I’d ’atipped you off. But it’s all right. I never seen you before, but Iguess I can call you by name right off the bat,” and he did, to the nosmall amazement of Gimp.

  “Your dad sent me pretty good descriptions of all of you,” he wenton, speaking to Ned. “Well, you can tie your hosses---- Oh, shucks! Iforgot you come in an automobile!” he laughed. “Well, we have a fewout here but the crop ain’t very big yet. Come in and make yourselvescomfortable.”

  Frankly, the boys were just a bit disappointed by their receptionand arrival. They had not created the furor they expected, and whendinner time came and half a score of cowboys flocked in to eat therewas no curious crowd about the big automobile, as at least Ned hadhalf expected. In fact, the arrival of the boys c
reated very littleimpression.

  “But wait until we get to work on the mystery!” murmured Ned.