"Great Scott!" was all the agent could say.
"What sort of looking chap was it that presented the order?" asked Ted.
"Well, he was an ordinary-looking chap. He had on a—"
"Checked suit?"
"Yes, sir. How did you know?"
"Checkers has come into his own at last," said Ted, turning to Stella.
CHAPTER XXII.
TED IN THE TOILS.
The following morning an impressive cavalcade set out for the ranch of Colonel Billings, led by the genial owner himself. Behind him came Ted and Stella, between whom rode little Dick.
Then came Mrs. Graham in a well-appointed carriage, and acting as her outriders and escorts were the boys. When they arrived at the ranch, after passing numerous herds of fine cattle on the way, they found one of the finest ranch houses in the West.
It was a great, white modern structure that could be seen for miles across the level prairie, which showed hardly a single rise or depression in all the miles they had ridden.
None of the guests whom the colonel had told Ted would be present accompanied the party. The colonel explained this by saying that other matters had detained them in town, and that he preferred to permit them to follow, rather than defer the pleasure of being their escort.
This was said with so much sincerity that Ted could not doubt him. Mrs. Graham and Stella were ensconced in a large apartment on the first floor, with large windows opening upon a wide veranda.
Both expressed themselves as delighted with their room, much to the gratification of their host. The broncho boys found quarters in the spacious second floor, which had as many rooms as the average hotel.
"Well, what do you think of Colonel Billings now?" Ted asked of Stella, when they met on the broad lawn in front of the ranch house after they had seen their rooms.
Stella simply shook her head.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Ted. "That you don't know, or that you don't care to say?"
"I can't tell you yet, Ted. I like him somehow for his genial ways, and yet something tells me to beware."
"Well, I'd sooner trust your intuition than my judgment. I'll keep an eye on him. And—yet, I feel the same as you in a way. But I hate to distrust any one."
"I know you do, Ted, and that is why you get fooled on some people sometimes."
"But not on all people all the time?"
"That's it."
"Then what does one's first impression amount to, anyway?"
"Not much, unless they can make good a good first impression."
"I'm not going to worry about him. The other fellows are the ones for that."
"That's what I think."
"I'm going to ride out over the range, and take a look at the cattle. Want to go along?"
"Of course I do."
They found their horses in the corral, and after telling Colonel Billings that they would be back for dinner, departed.
"When you go through the west gate into the big pasture, look out for a big Hereford bull in there," Colonel Billings called after them.
Ted nodded and waved his hand, and they were off. Colonel Billings certainly did have a splendid ranch. They rode for miles within the fences before they came to the west gate.
"Think we better go any farther?" asked Ted, when they had come this far.
"Yes. Let us go on," replied Stella. "We have plenty of time, and I would like to see just how big this ranch is."
"Don't forget the red bull," said Ted, as he closed the gate behind them.
"I've seen many a dangerous bull before," laughed Stella.
"If we find him and he takes after us, keep on the far side of me. I don't much fancy that pony you're on."
"I don't myself. I wish we had a bunch of Moon Valley ponies here to ride. I've never seen any that could come up to them."
They were following a trail that led directly into the west. It was a cattle trail, and Ted's practiced eye told him that it led to water. Several miles to the west he saw the plain became broken.
"There's water over there," he said.
"That's where we'll find the cattle," answered Stella. "Do you want to go that far and look at them?"
"I will if you think you can stand it."
Stella looked at him scornfully.
"I guess this beast will go the distance," she answered, giving the little gray a clip with her quirt, and galloping ahead of Ted, who was not slow to follow.
As they proceeded the ground became more and more broken.
"I believe there is a bit of 'bad land' over there," said Ted, pointing forward.
Still they saw no cattle, although Colonel Billings had told him that morning that his greatest herd, the one he wished the boys to examine with the view to purchase, lay in the big west pasture.
But all they could see so far was the broad stretch of green prairie and the low line of the rough land in the distance. Not a living thing was in sight.
The only movement was the flying shadows of the white clouds over the prairie, and the waving of the deep, rich grass when a vagrant breeze swept by.
But suddenly Ted pulled in his pony, and shaded his eyes with his hand, staring into the west.
"What is it?" asked Stella, reining in.
"I thought I saw something red shoot across the horizon to the west, where you see those gray rocks," answered Ted.
"A cow—or, perhaps, the dangerous red bull," laughed Stella.
"Nothing like that. It wasn't the right color. Did you ever see a scarlet cow?"
"Never did."
"Well, the thing I saw was scarlet, and it was not shaped like a cow."
He was still looking intently into the west.
"There it is again!" he exclaimed, unlimbering his field glasses.
After a moment of intense scrutiny, he raised the glasses suddenly to his eyes.
"By Jove!" he cried, "it's a motor car, and I believe it's 118."
"Impossible!" cried Stella.
"No, entirely possible," said Ted intensely. "Don't you see if it was this fellow Checkers who got the machine from the agent by false pretenses he would take it as far away from town as possible?"
"Yes, I see that."
"Then which direction would he take if, as I think, he is in league with the train-robbing syndicate, which we have persuaded ourselves to think made their headquarters at Green River, but in this direction? We have learned that others of those we believe to be in it are to be the guests of this ranch, and—"
"I see. He could not well bring the red car to the ranch house."
"That's it."
"Then where do you suppose he's going with it?"
"There's no better place to hide it than in those very 'bad lands,' if I am guessing right, at the rough land yonder."
"True. What are you going to do about it?"
"I'm going to find that red car and my friend, Checkers."
"Not alone, Ted. You're going to get the other boys to help you, aren't you?"
"Now is the accepted time. I'm going right away now. But it would be a good scheme for you to ride back to the ranch and tell Bud and the boys quietly what I am about, and have them come out in case I should need help."
"I hate to see you ride away alone, Ted. You can't tell what there is over there. Better let me go along."
"No, Stella, it would be no use. You know that I appreciate your courage and skill in every way, but this, probably, will be no work for girls."
Stella pouted at this. She did not like the idea of the long ride back to the ranch house alone.
She looked at Ted to see if he really was in earnest, and when she saw the look in his face she turned back with a wave of the hand and a "So long!" and started for the ranch house.
"Tell Bud to bring three or four of the boys out here with him," shouted Ted after her. "Thank you, Stella."
But she only nodded her head and pursued her way, and Ted, after looking after her for a moment, rode forward. He had not seen the red car for severa
l minutes, it having disappeared behind a rocky butte.
Having a fair horse, he gave it the gad and struck into a gallop. Soon he entered upon the rough land, and from a rise saw a stream below and a herd of cattle beyond, where the prairie began again; the railroad, and a small red station house, with two or three low buildings about it.
He now understood that he had seen the red car on the far side of the ravine, through which the stream flowed, and went down to the stream, his horse sliding on its haunches amid a clatter of broken clay and pebbles.
He was soon across and clambered up the other wall of the ravine, and there in the clay found the impression of the tires of the red car.
"I'm all right now," he muttered to himself. "On the track of Checkers and the robbers' automobile. I wonder where it will end."
He had no difficulty in following the tracks of the automobile for a considerable distance, when the ravine ran out on that side and the bank of the stream flattened; and he rode along it, following the trail with ease.
Then the bank of the stream rose again, and the water flowed through a ravine, into which the red car had entered. It could not escape him, and Ted chuckled, and examined his revolver, loosening it well in its holster, for he had not forgotten the warning against Checkers given him by Chief Desmond.
The ravine grew deeper as he advanced, and soon it became tolerably dark at the bottom where the high walls shut out the light. Suddenly his horse stumbled, and, as Ted shot over its head, he heard the twang of a broken wire that had been stretched across the path.
He had fallen into a trap. As he struck the earth, he was stunned for a moment, then a heavy weight was upon him.
He twisted around and felt for his revolver, but it had fallen from his holster, and he felt his arms grasped and a thong passed around his wrists, and then around his ankles.
The weight was lifted from him and he rolled over on his back. Standing above him was the man whom he knew as Checkers.
"Well, my lad, you delivered yourself like a lamb to the slaughter," said Checkers, with a smile.
Ted could say nothing. He was too busy wondering how easily he had fallen into the toils.
"You went up against a tough proposition when yon tackled me," continued the man. "It would have been a good thing for you if you had never run across me. You know too much to be left alive. I shall see that you are properly taken care of."
Checkers issued a shrill whistle.
"Come," he said to Ted, "get to your feet."
Ted arose as three men came around an elbow of the wall of the ravine.
"Take care of this boy," said Checkers to them. "And if he escapes—"
He finished the sentence with a smile that made the men wince.
CHAPTER XXIII.
STELLA IMITATES SANTA CLAUS.
"Come on, fellow," said one of the men, jerking Ted along by hops.
"We'll attend to him all right, boss," said another.
"He'll get all that's coming to him," said the third, with a grin that was almost as diabolical as that of Checkers.
Around the elbow of the ravine wall, in a small cove was a log cabin with a lean-to shed, under which was sheltered the fatal red car which had lured him to captivity.
The cabin was backed up against the wall of the ravine, and was small and dirty as to interior. A fire burned in a big stone fireplace at one end, filling the room with a suffocating smudge.
The room was almost dark, but Ted, from the corner into which he had been flung, was soon able to make out that the men were cooking something over the glowing embers, at the same time taking swigs from a black bottle, and smoking reeking pipes of vile tobacco.
After the food was cooked they began to eat, but did not offer Ted any of it, all the while making jokes at his expense, and vaguely hinting at his fate.
Ted wished now that he had taken Stella's advice, and had not rushed in so rashly. Had he waited for Bud and two or three of the boys to come to his assistance, he could easily have caught the whole lot for their cabin was in a perfect pocket from which they could not have escaped.
Who were these rough fellows with whom Checkers would not associate, for Ted could hear his archenemy pacing up and down outside, and he had not forgotten how he had addressed these men?
Probably they were only ordinary villains who did the dirty work planned by the wiser heads of the syndicate. He wondered if the boys would be able to find him before they settled with him, as they had promised.
After the men had finished their meal the voice of the leader summoned them outside. Ted could hear commands being given in a low voice, and mumbles from the men.
It appeared from what Ted could gather from the tones of the voice, rather than from any words that he caught, that one of the men was protesting against what Checkers was ordering.
Suddenly there was a cry of agony.
"Don't do that, boss," said one of the men.
"Shut up, or you'll get a taste of the same knife," came the voice of Checkers in a tone of rage. "When I say a thing must be done it is as good as done. Now go ahead and do as I tell you."
"But, boss—"
"Go on, and do it. Are you a coward? You've done it before," Ted heard Checkers say. "I'm going away now, and if you can't show me what I want when I get back, well—you know."
In a moment Ted heard the chug of the motor car, then the grating of the tires on the earth as it started away.
"Remember what I said," the voice of Checkers came floating back.
"Say, Bill, this is a derned outrage," said one of the men outside. "I, fer one, am not in favor of standin' for it."
"Well, if yer don't, you'll get the same," said other man.
"I never see any one so handy with that bloomin' knife o' his."
"Look out you don't get a taste o' it, then."
"Is he dead, Bill?"
There was a shuffling of feet outside, and Ted knew that they were turning a body over.
"Yes, he's stone-dead."
"Pore Dick! He had his faults, but he was a good pal."
"He wuz, but too derned soft-hearted. He didn't want ter kill a feller in cold blood never."
"An' yet he wa'n't no coward. I never see ther time Dick w'd refuse ter fight if ther other feller had some show, an' he wa'n't squeamish about holdin' up a train er runnin' off a bunch o' cattle, but I always hear him say thet he didn't take no stock in plain, straight murder."
"That's so, but it's not murder, Tom, when yer kills ther feller what's yer enemy. Now, honor bright, is it?"
"I dunno. I was brought up ter fight, an' fight like ther devil hisself when it come ter fightin', but I reckon I'm too much o' a derned coward ter murder cold."
"Well, this is one o' ther times when it's got ter be did, an' I reckon we might as well be about it. Git ready."
"No, sir, I'm not goin' ter do it."
"Tom, yer a fool. Do yer know what'll happen when ther boss comes back an' finds out that it ain't been did?"
"I do."
"An' aire yer goin' ter resk it?"
"I be."
"Then ye're a bigger fool than I am. I'm goin' ter carry out orders. What's ther difference? A couple of good slashes an' it's all over."
"But think o' the death cry, Bill. I've heerd too many o' them already. I hears them when I sleep and they wake me up."
"Tom, yer talk ter me like a sick canary peeps. I always thought yer wuz a man."
"An' don't yer think so now, Bill?"
"Not from ther way yer talkin'."
"Well, if yer has any doubts erbout it I'll give yer a chanct ter prove it, any way yer like."
"Now, what's ther use o' talkin' that away, Tom? Dick's dead by ther hand o' ther boss. What's thar in it fer you or me if ther cub in thar dies er not? Be sensible."
"It ain't matterin' a chaw o' terbaccer ter me whether he dies er not, but he's got a right ter die in a natural way, so to speak."
"An' how is that, my Sunday-school friend?"
&nb
sp; "In a fair fight, by gosh!"
"An' who's goin' ter give him a fair fight? I don't want none o' it."
"So that's ther way yer built, is it, Bill? I always thought yer was a game man."
"I reckon I be, but that's not in this question. Here's an enemy ter ther gang what lays bound in the cabin. Why should I resk my life in a fight with him er fer him. It's so derned easy fer a feller ter go in thar an' stick a knife inter him, an' then, yer see, it's all over with."
"Yer wrong, Bill."
"I'd sooner do that than have ther boss come back an' stick his knife inter me."
"Aire yer afraid ter fight ther boss?"
"He's ther only man I be afraid of."
There was a long silence following this, and Ted understood the terrible power of Checkers over his men, and Desmond's warning.
"Well, I'm tired o' chewin' erbout ther virtue o' killin' a man one way or another, an' I'm goin' ter foller orders. If you don't want ter jine in I reckon as how I'll have ter tell ther boss that yer flunked."
There was no response to this, and a few moments elapsed in which Ted listened hopefully for his champion's voice.
Suddenly something dropped in the fireplace, and Ted, straining his eyes in that direction, saw a tiny pair of tan riding boots come into view, followed by a tan skirt, and Stella dropped noiselessly into the room.
She held up a warning finger as she saw Ted in the corner.
"Sh, sh!" she whispered, as she felt for his bonds and cut them.
Ted was on his feet on the instant, and Stella pressed a revolver into his hand.
"I didn't go back to the ranch house, but followed you here. I saw the red car go out, and hid. Then I sneaked along until I heard those fellows quarreling. I was on the top of the bluff here, and guessed that you were inside the cabin, as I couldn't see you anywhere outside, so I just dropped in." As Stella whispered this she smiled, and Ted could only look his thanks.
The fellow named Tom, who had been opposed to killing Ted, had evidently been doing some hard thinking, and the threat of his mate to expose him to Checkers evidently convinced him that he would rather be alive than perish for a mere sentiment.
Ted Strongs Motor Car Page 17
