by Clair Blank
Chapter II
ROBBERY
"I'm going into town, ride along?" Virginia asked, coming into the ranchhouse living room the next morning.
"I will," Gale said immediately.
"And me," agreed Valerie.
"Did you say ride?" groaned Janet. "On a horse?"
"Of course," Virginia laughed.
Janet made a wry face and with the greatest care eased herself into achair piled with cushions.
"Not this morning, my dear Virginia. I don't believe the horse likesme."
Carol laughed from her position before the fireplace. "For once in mylife I agree with Janet. You won't get me on a horse today."
"I shall stay right here, too," Madge murmured. "Somehow I appreciatecomfort this morning."
"I'll go with you," Phyllis said, "if you will go nice and slowly."
Accordingly the four mounted and rode away, leaving the other threecomfortably fixed with books and magazines. It was almost an hour's rideinto the little town of Coxton at the pace the girls went, but theyenjoyed it. They found a lot of things to talk about and besides theywere in no great hurry.
"I'm going to get me a rope," Gale proposed as the girls left theirhorses and mounted the sidewalk. "If I'm going to be a westerner, I'mgoing to learn to rope."
"And I want a pair of gloves," Valerie added.
"I have to see a man at the bank on business for Father," Virginia said,"do you want to come along? Or do you want to do your shopping and meetme here in a few minutes?"
"We'll meet you here," said Gale. "We won't get lost," she added with asmile, taking in the few stores and buildings on the single street thetown afforded.
"No danger," laughed Virginia. "See you here then."
With a cheery wave of the hand she was off across the street. The girlssauntered along, regarding the stores and one of two lounging cowboyswith interest.
"I wish we'd seen an Indian," murmured Phyllis. "Just to prove that weare in the West."
Valerie laughed. "I doubt if you would know one if you did. They don'twear war paint any more, you know."
"Of course I'd know one," Phyllis said indignantly. "I--look, there is ageneral store. Perhaps you can get your rope in there, Gale."
The girls mounted the single wooden step to the store and stepped intothe queerest conglomeration of articles they had ever seen. It developedthat Gale got her rope, Valerie got her gloves; in fact, they could getanything they wanted. Even postcards, of which they took a goodlysupply.
There were few people on the street when they left the store. Anautomobile drew up before the bank and two men stepped out, a thirdremained at the wheel.
"Guess Virginia hasn't come out of the bank yet," Phyllis said, lookingthe length of the street and not seeing the western girl.
The three of them strolled to the bank and waited outside. Suddenly frominside the bank came the sound of shots and a scream. Two men appearedin the doorway with drawn revolvers. One man faced the crowd on thestreet, the other the people in the bank. The people on the street hadbecome tense, fearful.
Valerie grasped one end of Gale's rope and sprang across the pavement.Gale, realizing immediately her friend's intention, grasped her end ofthe rope more securely. The bandits, running from the bank to theirwaiting car, tripped headlong over the rope. The first man's gun flewone way and the black bag in which was the money from the bank flew theother.
Phyllis reached over, picked up the gun, and leveled it calmly at thebandits. Valerie secured the black bag. It had been alarmingly easy andso quickly done that the spectators did not at first realize that arobbery had been committed and foiled almost on the same instant. Thenthere arose a buzz of excited talk while two men stepped from the groupof spectators and took charge of the thieves. Unnoticed, the car thathad been meant for the bandits' means of escape, sprang away from thecurb and was gone in a cloud of dust.
In the bank all was disorder and excitement. One of the shots that hadbeen fired was lodged in the teller who had attempted to resist thethieves. His condition was not serious, however, and he was able to addhis incoherent story to the other tales told by the people who had beenpresent.
Virginia, when she joined the girls to go home, was flushed and excited.
"You certainly acted quickly," she declared admiringly. "The town owesyou a vote of thanks. They would have gotten away sure if you hadn'ttripped them."
"Catching bandits is just one of the things we do," laughed Phyllis."You ought to really see us in action."
"I had use for my rope before I thought I would," Gale said smilingly."I haven't even learned how to use it yet--when we catch two bandits."
Back at the ranch the three of the Adventure Girls would have saidnothing about their part in the robbery, but Virginia promptly declaredthem heroines and told with harrowing details every bit of the robbery,including the shooting of the bank teller.
The girls who had remained at home were utterly chagrined to think thatthey had missed any excitement whatever and promptly began to think ofmeans to have some more.
