CHAPTER XI
THE SURPRISE
Camp had been made by the boy ranchers and their friends in a littleglade, amid rocks and stunted brush, a natural fortification as it were,with only one side open. And it was from this one side that the shotsfrom the ambushers were pouring in.
Though Yellin' Kid and Snake Purdee had said nothing to the boys aboutit, the place had been purposely selected with an eye to its possibledefense.
"You can't tell what will happen in this country," Snake had said toYellin' Kid, and the latter agreed, lowering his voice, for once atleast, so Bud and his cousins could not hear.
"We've got to be on our guard," Snake had added, and so, while Bud, Nortand Dick would have been willing to slump down almost anywhere, and campas soon as they found water, this secluded site was selected.
The wisdom of this was now apparent, since, had there been no naturalshelter available, several casualties might have resulted from theopening of a fusillade at dawn.
As it was, however, so quickly had the cowboys (and with them I nowinclude Buck Tooth) taken to shelter, that, aside from a few minor woundson the part of two or three, no one was badly hit.
"What's it all about?" called Bud from behind his sheltering stone toSnake. Bud's gun was hot, for he had emptied the magazine, and withlittle effect, as was afterward learned.
"Who's attacking us?" added Nort. He, as had Dick, had also firedrapidly and with equal non-effect.
"Search me," succinctly replied Snake. "All I know is that there'ssomebody out there anxious to fill us full of lead--more anxious than Iam to be filled," he added grimly. "Lay low everybody!" he shouted, asanother burst of firing succeeded the calm that had followed the firstattack.
Bullets "zinged" in amid the rocks, striking the hard stone with vicious"pings!" and leaving grim, gray marks on the boulders; marks that wouldhave brought spots of vital redness had they found a human target.
Bud refilled the magazine of his gun, and started a return fire whenSnake threw a piece of stone that fell near the boy rancher, thusattracting his attention. There was little use in shouting above thedin. A voice could be heard only in the lulls of shooting.
"What's the matter?" yelled Bud, scarcely making himself heard.
Snake motioned for him to cease firing, an example followed by Nort andDick. As for the older cowboys they had wisely witheld their fire.
Explanation was made by Snake a moment later when he crawled over to Bud,keeping well hidden amid the rocks, and speaking in his ear, thoughyelling at the top of his voice as he did so, said:
"What's the use of shootin' when you can't see your mark? Save yourpowder and lead!"
It was good advice. Bud could not help but laugh at the conclusion ofSnake's advice. For the cowboy had started to give it in tones thatYellin' Kid might have been proud to own. This was necessary becausethose in ambush were firing in full force it seemed. But they stoppedsuddenly, in the midst of Snake's remarks, so that the end of thecowboy's advice fell amid a silence, and, being delivered at full powermust have been heard by the enemy.
Bud's laughter at this little incident was echoed by the others, and, forthe moment, relieved the grim tension. But its grip tightened on all ofthem a moment later, as a bullet, viciously "zinging" its way amid therocks, clipped a little from the lobe of the ear of one of the cowboys.
He uttered an exclamation, partly of disgust at his own carelessness inexposing himself, and Snake yelled:
"I told you to keep down, you tenderfoot!"
It was the harshest expression that could have been used.
Following that single shot, after the fusillade that had been in playduring Snake's advice to Bud, silence fell, and Snake and Yellin' Kid atonce began to make preparations for what might be a prolonged fight. Thetwo veteran cowboys in virtual charge of the relief expedition managed tocrawl together to the shelter of a big rock, and there held aconsultation, the while cautioning the others to remain behind theprotection of boulders they had picked out after the first rush.
Fortunately the horses had all been well picketed in a glade back of therocky fastness in which our friends had made fires and slept for thenight, so the outfit from Diamond X was between its steeds and the enemy.The horses, though at first startled by the firing, had soon settled downto a quiet cropping of such scanty herbage as grew in that desolateplace. The animals were accustomed to the noise of guns, which formed animportant part of every roundup, and, fortunately none had strayed.
I say fortunately with good reason, for in that wild country a manwithout a horse was worse off than one without a country, all patrioticreasons aside, of course. It was impossible for a man on foot tosuccessfully make his way from water hole to water hole, and anautomobile would have been worse than useless. Therefore it was with afeeling of thankfulness that Bud and his friends realized the horses weresafe--at least for the time being.
"Fellows, listen to me," Snake said in a low, clear voice, after he andthe Kid had talked in half whispers for a time. "We've got to dosomething, and maybe prepare for quite a fight. Now those whose names Icall come with me. The others stay here with the Kid."
Thereupon Snake named half the force, including in it the three boyranchers, to their great delight. For they rightly guessed this was tobe a skirmish party, to sally out and see who were the attackers--perhapsto wipe them out.
"Crawl over to the left and wait for me," went on Snake. "Don't moveuntil you can have shelter all the way. The firing's coming from onlyone direction as yet--guard against that. Get together and wait for me."
Sharp are the wits of those who live in the west, especially in thecattle country where snap judgment is often needed. Thus it took but amoment for Snake's plan to make itself plain to Bud and the others.
One by one they crawled, or ran half crouched, from their original placesof safety to the angle where a great rock, jutting out from the side ofthe glen in which they had camped, offered shelter for all. There theystood, with ready guns, waiting for the next move in the grim game.
Snake had remained in consultation with Yellin' Kid until now, and then,seeing his force waiting for him, the veteran cowboy made a dash to jointhem.
I call it a dash, but Snake was not foolhardy, and the advice he gave hetook himself. Advantaging himself of every natural cover, the leader ofthe second party dodged this way and that, stooping over half double,until he was within ten feet of the shelter. Then since along the routewhere he came from, there was an open, unprotected space, he tried tocross this in two jumps.
He succeeded, but as he landed, and half fell amid his comrades, a gunbarked, somewhere out in the ambush, and by the convulsive movement ofhis body Snake gave evidence of having been hit.
"Are you hurt?" cried Bud, as he caught the reeling cowboy.
"Guess not--much!" grunted Snake, but his voice was labored.
"Where was it?" snapped out one of the cowboys. "Let's have a look."
"Here!" Snake placed his hand over his heart. The boy ranchersgasped--they knew what it meant to lose one of their leaders at a timelike this.
In an instant Snake's coat was flung open, and his shirt half torn toexpose his chest. And then there fell out, from next his skin on whichit had made an ugly bruise, a partly flattened bullet.
"Whew!" whistled Nort.
"Close call, that!" added Dick.
"Doggone!" voiced Snake, as he reached his hand to the inside pocket ofhis vest. "They spilled half of it!"
"What?" asked Bud, relief showing itself in his voice.
"My tobacco!" answered Snake. "I had some packed away there to keep itmoist--some new kind of plug chewin' I got last week. Doggoned if theyain't put a bullet clean through it!"
"And lucky for you they did," grunted Tar Soap Mullin, who had earnedthis name from the kind of lather he used in shampooing himself everySaturday night. "If that bullet hadn't happened to hit your plug itwould have plugged you."
And this was evident when Sn
ake took out the tobacco in question. Thelead missile had struck the hard and pressed cake of tobacco, striking atin tag fastened to it, and thus the force of the bullet had beenneutralized, giving Snake no more than a severe shock and bruise.
"Well, it might have been worse," the cowboy grimly said, as he tuckedback his shirt, and put the tobacco in another pocket. "Now we got toget busy! This is getting serious!" Bud and his chums thought he mighthave said it was serious from the start, as indeed it was.
"What I picked you fellows out for," went on Snake, "is to take a sort ofscurry out there and see who's doin' all this shootin'." He clippedletters off his words in his haste. "We're goin' out there an' see if wecan take 'em in the rear, while Yellin' Kid holds their attention infront."
"Do you reckon they're Yaquis?" asked Tar Soap.
"Might be, then ag'in might not. If they aren't I don't see why in thename of all the rattlers of Forked Rover [Transcriber's note: River?]they're pickin' on us."
The method of procedure was simple and quickly agreed upon. Snake was tolead the boy ranchers and his half of the party, by as safe and devious aroute as possible, out of the natural fort, to try and take the enemy inthe rear. If they could be placed between two fires--that of Snake'sparty and of Yellin' Kid's--a surrender might be compelled.
"And don't take too many chances," advised Snake, as the sally forth wasstarted. "Watch yourselves."
They all knew enough to do this.
"When do we start?" asked Bud in a low voice, as Snake seemed to bedelaying for some reason.
"Soon as the Kid and his lads start firing," was the answer. "They're tohold the Indians' attention in front while we come at 'em from the flankand rear. Get ready--it may come at any moment now!"
It did, a second or two later--the signal. Amid a burst of shots fromYellin' Kid and his force, Snake led the way with his men, all of themcrouching down to keep as much as possible behind the rocks.
"Don't shoot until you see something to shoot at," Snake had ordered."Save your lead."
Bud, Nort and Dick were together, leaping, crawling, crouching andstumbling. Suddenly Dick, who had gone a little ahead of his two chums,looked through an opening of the rocks. What he saw caused him to gaspin surprise, and as he pointed he cried:
"Del Pinzo! Del Pinzo and his crowd! It isn't the Yaquis at all! It'sDel Pinzo!"
Boy Ranchers Among the Indians; Or, Trailing the Yaquis Page 11