Boy Scouts in Mexico; Or, On Guard with Uncle Sam

by G. Harvey Ralphson

  CHAPTER XVII.

  PLENTY OF BLACK BEARS.

  "There's four of us now," Jimmie urged, "and we've all got guns, so weought to go after the lobsters and get Fremont away from them."

  "They look like dubs," Frank put in, "and I believe they'll run whenthey hear us shooting. If you won't let me drum, you must let meshoot."

  "You got no drum!" grinned Jimmie.

  "I'm afraid they would turn their guns on their prisoner if we attachedthem," said Nestor. "We've just got to wait until we can cut him out."

  "I'm hungry enough to eat 'em all alive," cried Frank.

  "I could get along pretty well if I had a couple of gallons of water,"said Peter.

  "If them lobsters find anything to eat or drink down there," Franksaid, "we'll go down and take it away from them. Looks like they weremaking for a feed."

  The boys now clambered cautiously to the summit and looked down theslope to the east. The renegade and his men were slowly making theirway toward the bottom. The prisoner was moving forward as briskly asany of them, and the big fellow appeared to be paying special attentionto him, as he was walking by his side most of the time.

  The distance to the level plain below did not seem to be great.Although the peaks of the Sierra del Fierro range seem high when lookedupon from the level of the Rio Grande, they do not appear to be solofty when viewed from the plateau upon which the actual ascent begins.

  The level table-lands or plateaux of Mexico lie from four to ninethousand feet above sea level, making many distinct climates as onegoes up or down. These plateaux are girt by mountain chains. The highsummits are those of Cofre del Perote, 13,400 feet; Origava, 17,870feet; Istaccihuatl, or the White Woman, 16,000 feet, and the famousPopocatapetl, known as "Smoking Mountain," which lifts its fire-scarredhead 17,800 feet above the level of the ocean.

  It seemed to the boys that the distance between the summit where theystood and the plain below might, even at the slow pace at which theoutlaws were moving, be made by nightfall. The eastern slope was notso rough and broken as that on the west. In fact, the outlaws were nowtraveling down a declivity so clear of cliffs and breaks that the boysdid not dare follow them. To be observed by the renegade at that timemight prove fatal to the hope of the immediate rescue of Fremont, asthe outlaws would then be on their guard.

  "We've either got to wait until night, or wind down through the wildplaces off to the south," Nestor said, after looking over the localityfor a time.

  "We just can't wait until night," Jimmie said. "There's no knowingwhat treatment Fremont will receive at their hands before that time."

  "We may actually gain time by waiting," Nestor advised. "We may beobliged to travel scores of miles around precipices and canons if wetake to the rocks."

  "Suppose we wait, then," Frank said. "We can go over into the bumps tothe south and get out of the sunlight, then. I'm about roasted. Theremay be a cave over in that direction, or a ruined temple."

  "Or a Turkish bath, or a lobster palace," grinned Jimmie. "We mightfind a pie-counter over there, too," he added, with a poke at Frank.

  "There are no ruined temples in the State of Chihuahua," declared PeterFenton, glad of an opportunity of unloading his knowledge of thecountry, "at least, I have never heard of any being here. Theteocalli, or temples, are farther south, down in the State of Chiapas,and in Yucatan."

  "But we might find some underground temple up here," insisted Jimmie."The natives worshiped in this region, didn't they?"

  "They built their temples on top of pyramids," continued Fenton, "andnot underground. There is one at Palenque said to be built on thelines of Solomon's temple. It has sanctuaries, sepulchers, cloisters,courts, subterraneous galleries, and dismal cells where the priestslived. No one knows how old the ruins are. No one knows how manydistinct civilizations have held sway there, one, literally, on top ofthe other."

  "It is too hot up here to talk ancient history," said Frank, "and I'mhungry, too, but I'd like to know where you find any pyramids inMexico."

  "The pyramid-temple of Cholulu," went on the delighted drummer, "is thelargest and best known. It makes the pyramids of Egypt look likethirty cents in comparison, for it is nearly fifteen hundred feet oneach side and almost two hundred feet high. Gizeh, the big Egyptianpyramid, is only 763 feet along the sides, but it has the Mexican onebeaten in height, it being over five hundred feet high. Perhaps youfellows will wake up, directly, and find out what a wonderful countryyou are in."

  "Who built this pyramid-temple?" asked Jimmie.

  "No one knows," was the reply. "Whoever did it had correct ideas ofarchitecture and knew lots about decoration. The ruined city ofPalenque had temples, palaces, baths, and aqueducts. It was twentymiles long, and must have had an enormous population. It is said thatthere is not a record left. Cortes and his gang took care of what theToltecs and Aztecs left."

  "It is a wonderful country." Nestor said, "but it needs stability inpopulation. Just now, however, we need rest. It is evident that theoutlaws are headed for the plain below, and we must catch up with themwhen they camp for the night."

  "I wonder what Fremont will think?" observed Jimmie. "I'll bet he'sthinkin', right now, that we've gone back on him."

  "There is no other way," explained Nestor. "It would be folly toattempt rescue now, and worse folly to attempt to follow the party downthis slope, in the broad light of day. Did any of you boys notice asquare package I had on a shoulder-strap as I came up? I laid it downsomewhere. It contained a dozen egg and ham sandwiches," he added,with a provoking smile.

  "Great Scott!" cried Frank Shaw, springing straight up in the air, likea rubber ball. "Holy smoke! You haven't lost it, have you?"

  Nestor sat back and laughed at the hungry boy's antics and then broughtforth the precious packet. The boys gathered around him, but hemotioned them away.

  "I'm not going to open it here," he said. "What until we find a placewhere we can rest a bit. There must be a cliff-hole over theresomewhere."

  Disappointed, and making wry faces, the boys followed Nestor to thesouth until they came to a shelf of rock which faced the east. Theridge above sheltered the spot from the hot sun, and there was a cavityin the cliff which promised a secure resting place. As he stepped outon the shelf Nestor paused and pointed to a collection of three rockslying in plain view.

  "What is it?" asked Jimmie, his eyes on the sandwich packet.

  "Read it," replied Nestor.

  "Head to the south!" shouted Shaw. "Who put that here?"

  Nestor looked keenly into the astonished face before him.

  "No tricks, now," he said. "Which of you boys placed this stonesignal?"

  No one made answer, and Frank bent down to make a closer inspection ofthe rocky floor of the shelf. Presently he gave a wild whoop and aroseto his feet with something in his hand.

  "What do you know about this?" he demanded. "What do you know aboutit, anyway?"

  "Crazy," grunted Jimmie. "What is it?"

  "The badge of the Black Bear Patrol," was the amazing reply. "Now, whoput it there? Some of the Black Bears said they were coming down here,but how could they get to the top of this range?"

  It was, indeed, a puzzling find. The stone sign had certainly beenplaced where it had been found within a few hours, for one side of thelarge rock was still a trifle damp, having undoubtedly been taken fromsome shady place.

  But how should the Black Bears of New York reach that almost unknowncountry? That was the question.

  "They said they'd sleuth on Fremont," Frank said, after a pause.

  "But they couldn't have followed him here," insisted Fenton. "And, ifthey had, they would not have been putting up stone signs when we wereonly a few yards away."

  "The sign says, 'Keep to the south,'" Nestor observed, "and we may findthe solution of the mystery there."

  Anxious for a sight of his old chums of the Black Bear Patrol, andunable to control his feelings, Shaw darted on ahead, passed around acorner
of rock, and disappeared from the sight of the other members ofthe party.

  "I hope he won't go an' get lost," Jimmie said, taking a swifter pace.

  In a moment, however, it became evident that Shaw was not lost; that,in fact, he was very much found, and with an undiminished lungcapacity. Such Black Bear growls and sniffs as came from around thecorner of the cliff were never heard before outside of a Wild Westshow. There seemed to be half a dozen Black Bears growling at, andready to devour each other.

  When Nestor turned the corner of the cliff he saw four boys mixed up inwhat seemed to be a desperate struggle. It was from this group thatthe wild growls were coming. Now and then a word of greeting or ajoyful laugh came from the storm-center, but the playful struggle wenton.

  "Holy Smoke!" Frank cried presently, drawing himself away from thebunch. "What do you think of it? Look who's here! Three Black Bears,Harry Stevens, Glen Howard and Jack Bosworth. How did you get here,boys, and did you bring anything to eat with you?"

  The three Black Bears were introduced to the other members of theparty, then tongues ran swiftly, and they all talked at the same time.Occasionally Nestor stepped to the shelf, just around the angle of thecliff, and looked down on the outlaws, making their way to the plainbelow. When Harry Stevens asked about Fremont, the boys pointed at thedistant party and told the story of his capture.

  "We'll have him back before night," Stevens declared. "There are sevenof us now, and that's enough to put up a lively fight."

  "But how did you happen to light on this mountain?" asked Frank, stillstaring with the wonder of the meeting.

  "It was as easy as following a white elephant," laughed Stevens. "TheEl Paso papers told all about Fremont being there, and about hisescaping to Mexico. We were there the morning after you left. We tooktrain for San Jose, and found where you had purchased provisions. Thenthere was the boatman who took you across the lake, or lagoon, and theguards coming down the slope with three prisoners. Oh, it was easy asfalling asleep until we left your little camp. In an hour, however, wecame upon the trails left by Jimmie and by Shaw, and came on. For thepast two hours we have been higher up than you, so we did not see eachother."

  "You're a nice lot of fellows to go sleuthing," laughed Jack Bosworth."Why, it was no trick at all to follow you. If the police are asprompt and industrious as we were, they're out here in the hillssomewhere right now, after Fremont."

  "Another matter kept us in the vicinity of this alleged civilization,"replied Nestor, referring to the necessity of capturing Don Miguel,"but now that is over, and we're going to burrow like rabbits in themountains, after we get hold of Fremont, until the truth is known."

  "Well," said Stevens, "there's a good place to hide back here-a cave,with no one knows how many rooms. It was a fine residence some day.Come on. We found it while looking for a place to rest."

  "And you said there were no subterraneous temples in Chihuahua," saidShaw, addressing himself to Fenton. "You said they were all in theneck of Central America."

  "You wait a second, and you'll see whether there are or not," said GlenHoward.

  Then the speaker led the way to the entrance of what appeared to be avery large ante-chamber, there being openings which resembled doorwaysat the back. Both the side walls and the floor were of rock, andshowed evidences of the work of man. A square of light lay on thefloor, the sunlight falling through a cut in the rocky roof.

  "We haven't ventured any farther than this," Glen said. "We were shakyabout coming in this far, for there is no knowing what one will find inthese holes. It is dark in the rooms beyond, and it is what one can'tsee that he is afraid of."

  "Besides," Jack Bosworth cut in, "we were hungry when we got here,and--"

  "Great Scott!" shouted Shaw. "Do you mean that you've brought somethingto eat? Lead me to it. I never was so hungry in all me blamelesslife."

  Following the custom of Boy Scouts when preparing for a trip into anunknown country, the three boys had provided themselves with a goodsupply of provisions, and the hungry ones they had found were soonenjoying a very satisfying meal.

  "After we fill up," Frank said, busy with a whole pie, "we'll get ourflashlights and see what's in those other rooms. Say," he added,turning to Nestor "what's the matter of bringing Fremont here---when weget him?"

  "I'll bet these rooms are ten thousand years old," said Peter.

  After the repast was over Nestor drew Frank aside, while the otherswere searching their outfits for the electric torches, and asked:

  "You remember what I said about there being three men in the Cameronsuite the night of the tragedy?"

  "Of course," was the reply. "Got something new on the subject? I guessyou have that matter on your mind day and night."

  "I have," was the reply. "I'm always thinking about it. Well, I nowbelieve that there were four men there, but I can't think what thefourth man wanted."