CHAPTER VIII
"THE PROFESSOR!"
Loud and long drawn out was that weird cry of the night. It sentshivers down the spines of Nort and Dick, and they both confessed,afterward, that if they had not been wearing the heavy range hats,supplied them by Bud, that their hair would surely have risen and stoodup straight.
Then, as suddenly as it had come to them out of the half darkness, thefiendish noise ceased, dying away in what seemed to be sobbing, insanelaughter. With a swallow or two, to wet his parched lips andfear-dried throat, Dick asked in a whisper:
"What--what was that?"
Like an echo came his brother's question:
"Was somebody killed?"
Bud's hearty laugh relieved the tension.
"It was only a coyote," said the boy from the ranch.
"A _coyote_!" repeated Nort and Dick in unison.
"Yes; you'll see plenty of 'em, and you must have heard of 'em. Littleanimals, sort of half wolf, half dog. They hang about for something toeat, and they sure can howl!"
"_Howl!_" exclaimed Nort. "If that's a _howl_ I want to know it! Ofall the infernal noises----"
"You said it!" exclaimed his brother. "Was that his death cry, Bud?Did Babe shoot one?"
"No, of course not. It isn't as easy to shoot one of the pesky coyotesas you'd think, and it isn't much use. They don't do any particularharm around here. Besides, you didn't hear any shooting; did you?"
Dick was forced to admit that he had not, and he reproved himself fornot using his faculties to better advantage. He was beginning torealize that if he was to be a westerner, an outdoor lad and a rancher,he must learn to observe, something that Bud had already acquired inlarge measure.
"Do they always howl that way?" asked Nort, as he shoved back into hisholster the gun he had half drawn again.
"Not always--lots of times it's worse!" chuckled Bud.
"_Worse!_" cried Dick. "I don't see how it could be. What do they doit for?" he asked, as, once again, that strange cry welled forth on thenight.
"Oh, just to keep each other company, I reckon," answered Bud. "Sameas dogs bark. This may be a lone coyote calling to his mate; or he maybe summoning the pack to feed on a dead calf, or something like that.I reckon they always howl pretty free on moonlight nights. We're usedto 'em."
"Don't believe I'd get used to that if I lived here a hundred years,"commented Dick, as, for the third time, the cry rose and fell, evenlouder and more horrible than before.
"The cattle don't mind 'em," said Bud. "In fact it seems to sort ofsoothe 'em. Look, some of the steers are lying down."
This was so. In the clearer moonlight which prevailed for a fewmoments, the lads from the city saw numbers of the bunch of cattleresting easily on the grass. They were either tired out from the rapidpace at which they had been driven, or had concluded that they were tostay there for the night.
"Come on," suggested Bud, a moment later, as he urged his horseforward. "Hit it up!"
"Where?" asked Dick.
"We'll ride herd for a few minutes, to make sure none of 'em stray off.I can't see just how many there are in this bunch, the light is souncertain."
Nort and Dick followed their cousin, slowly circling the bunch ofcattle on which an attempt had been made to drive off. There wereabout fifty, as Bud roughly estimated, when he and his cousins hadcompleted the circuit, thus "riding herd," as it is called, todistinguish it from "riding line," when the cowboys move slowly up anddown along the line of fences that enclose the more modern ranches.
Diamond X ranch consisted of both sorts. Mr. Merkel owned a number oflarge expanses of land, completely fenced in, and on these grazedthousands of cattle.
He also took advantage of the open range, letting some of his animalsmingle on those vast expanses in common with steers and cows from otherranches. Some of the open range was richer in grass than the fenced-inportions, but there was a certain amount of additional work attached tothe use of the open range. It meant round-ups twice a year, and thebranding of cattle which were claimed as the property of the differentowners.
In places where there were no fences to keep the animals from strayingit was often necessary to "ride herd." That is, the cowboys, night andday, rode slowly around the bunch of steers, keeping them from strayingor stampeding. At times they were "hazed," or driven to other feedingplaces, or to water, until such time as they were collected and drivento the railroad to be shipped.
Where stout wire fences held the cattle within bounds the work of thecowboys was easier, but even here "riding line" was necessary, as onecould never tell when a break might be made in the fence, or whenrustlers might cut the wire, to enable them to drive off a choice herd,or part of it.
So the boy ranchers rode herd, in a fashion, the two city lads gazingoff through the half darkness, across the rolling prairies where, forall they knew, Babe might be trailing the rustlers or engaged in adesperate fight with them.
"Though I reckon he didn't come up to 'em," ventured Bud, after a waitof half an hour, during which no sign or sound had come from theassistant foreman.
"Will he come back here?' asked Nort.
"Sure--if he can," answered Bud, significantly.
"How long'll we wait?" asked Dick.
"Can't say--exactly," answered Bud. "But say, I forgot about youfellows," he went on, quickly. "You've traveled all day, and must betired. It isn't far back to the ranch, and I can start you on theplain trail. I don't mind staying here alone--I've done it before."
"Go back? I guess not!" exclaimed Nort.
"Forget it!" advised Dick. "This is just what we want!"
"Well, if you like it," began Bud, "I s'pose----"
"Like it?" cried the two city lads in unison. "It's just what we cameout for," added Nort.
"Well, morning'll come, sooner or later, though I expect Babe'll beback long before then," Bud went on. "Those rustlers have probablygiven him the slip, and----"
"Hark!" suddenly whispered Nort. "I hear some one coming."
The noise of an approaching horse could be made out. It wasapproaching slowly, seeming to stumble now and then. There was anuneasy movement among the cattle, and the boys peered eagerly forward,their hands on the butts of their guns in the holsters.
"Is it Babe?" whispered Dick.
"I don't know," answered Bud. "Doesn't ride like him, but----"
A moment later, from out of the shadow cast by the cattle, a solitaryhorseman rode, almost stumbling along. At first he could not clearlybe made out but suddenly the haze cleared from the moon, and withstartled eyes the boys recognized the rider.
"The professor!" gasped Bud, and Nort and Dick knew the horseman forthe scientist from the mysterious camp they had recentlyleft--Professor Hendryx Wright!
Boy Ranchers; Or, Solving the Mystery at Diamond X Page 8