The Second Girl Detective Megapack: 23 Classic Mystery Novels for Girls

by Julia K. Duncan

  “Yes, we had to let Gale drive thereafter for self preservation,” Carol murmured.

  “That is all the gratitude I get,” Janet mourned in an injured tone. “I do my best to make our trip a success and you don’t appreciate me.”

  “What? Aren’t you dressed yet?” Phyllis demanded as she and Madge entered the other girls’ room. “Slow pokes!” she teased.

  “Yes, do hurry,” Janet pleaded. “I want to get outside and see the horse I’m to ride.”

  “I’ll wager you don’t even know what side of a horse to get on,” declared Carol as the latter two disappeared into their own room.

  “Well—ah—um—we won’t go into that,” Janet evaded.

  Virginia laughed and the other girls smiled sympathetically.

  “Don’t mind anything they say,” Madge advised Virginia. “They don’t mean a word of it.”

  “I gathered that much,” Virginia said, rising as Janet and Carol returned, this time fully dressed and eager to get outside.

  The Adventure Girls were dressed alike in brown breeches, leather boots, and khaki shirts with brown silk ties to match. Some of them wore crushable felt hats while the others carried them. They had been delighted with the prospect of spending a summer in the open air on the ranch, looking forward to unknown adventures with keen anticipation. The six had dubbed themselves the Adventure Girls when on school hikes and outings they had usually managed to stir up some kind of excitement. It was their desire to spend their summer becoming better acquainted with the country out here, rather than spend their months free from school in loafing about home. They wanted to get out in the air, see new wonders, and enjoy new adventures.

  When, in response to a letter from Virginia, Gale had suggested to the other five girls that they come West and spend the summer in Arizona it had seemed delightful and intriguing, but not probable. Gradually the girls had won round parental objections and collected the things they would need. Now they were here, with a full summer of freedom before them.

  The K Bar O Ranch was one of the biggest in the state. This the girls did not fully realize until later, when they began to ride around the countryside. Henry Wilson, Virginia’s father, dealt in cattle and his herds were large and of the finest stock. There were horses too, and it was these that the girls were most interested in.

  Virginia led the way to the corral. Tom was there, talking to a cowboy and when he saw the girls, brought up three saddled mounts, the cowboy following with a string of four more. The western ponies were sturdy little animals, sure-footed and fast.

  The girls claimed their mounts and Gale and Valerie, already experienced riders, mounted their horses immediately.

  Janet looked her horse over with speculative eyes. “Well, horse,” she said, “I think we are about to become better acquainted and I hope you are as nice as you look.”

  “They’re all tame,” Tom assured the girls, assisting Carol into her saddle.

  “Hey,” Carol called to Janet. “You’ll never get on that way!”

  Virginia had her horse and by the time Tom had helped Janet into the saddle, the girls were moving forward. Virginia rode ahead with Gale, the two setting their ponies at an easy trot over the trail.

  “We won’t go far,” Virginia said, “it will be suppertime shortly and I know you wouldn’t want to miss it. The lunch you had wasn’t very substantial.”

  “And this Arizona air certainly gives one an appetite,” Gale declared. “What’s that?”

  They had come to the crest of a hill and in the green valley below could be seen a slowly moving herd of the K Bar O cattle. But it was not to the cows that Gale called her friend’s attention. Off to the left had sounded a series of sharp explosions, as a fusillade of rifle shots.

  Virginia had grown a little pale under her tan, and the hand that gripped her horse’s reins was clenched tightly, but she summoned a smile for Gale’s benefit.

  “Just some of the boys having target practice, I reckon,” she said easily.

  But Gale was not to be deceived. Target practice would not cause Virginia to appear suddenly so nervous. However, Gale did not press the subject at the time. She knew if there was something wrong at the K Bar O she would know it before long.

  CHAPTER II

  Robbery

  “I’m going into town, ride along?” Virginia asked, coming into the ranch house 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 a chair piled with cushions.

  “Not this morning, my dear Virginia. I don’t believe the horse likes me.”

  Carol laughed from her position before the fireplace. “For once in my life I agree with Janet. You won’t get me on a horse today.”

  “I shall stay right here, too,” Madge murmured. “Somehow I appreciate comfort 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 three comfortably fixed with books and magazines. It was almost an hour’s ride into the little town of Coxton at the pace the girls went, but they enjoyed it. They found a lot of things to talk about and besides they were in no great hurry.

  “I’m going to get me a rope,” Gale proposed as the girls left their horses and mounted the sidewalk. “If I’m going to be a westerner, I’m going 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 meet me here in a few minutes?”

  “We’ll meet you here,” said Gale. “We won’t get lost,” she added with a smile, taking in the few stores and buildings on the single street the town afforded.

  “No danger,” laughed Virginia. “See you here then.”

  With a cheery wave of the hand she was off across the street. The girls sauntered along, regarding the stores and one of two lounging cowboys with interest.

  “I wish we’d seen an Indian,” murmured Phyllis. “Just to prove that we are in the West.”

  Valerie laughed. “I doubt if you would know one if you did. They don’t wear war paint any more, you know.”

  “Of course I’d know one,” Phyllis said indignantly. “I—look, there is a general store. Perhaps you can get your rope in there, Gale.”

  The girls mounted the single wooden step to the store and stepped into the queerest conglomeration of articles they had ever seen. It developed that Gale got her rope, Valerie got her gloves; in fact, they could get anything they wanted. Even postcards, of which they took a goodly supply.

  There were few people on the street when they left the store. An automobile drew up before the bank and two men stepped out, a third remained at the wheel.

  “Guess Virginia hasn’t come out of the bank yet,” Phyllis said, looking the length of the street and not seeing the western girl.

  The three of them strolled to the bank and waited outside. Suddenly from inside the bank came the sound of shots and a scream. Two men appeared in the doorway with drawn revolvers. One man faced the crowd on the street, the other the people in the bank. The people on the street had become 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 of the rope more securely. The bandits, running from the bank to their waiting car, tripped headlong over the rope. The first man’s gun flew one way and the black bag in which was the money from the bank flew the other.

  Phyllis reached over, picked up the gun, and leveled it calmly at the bandits. Valerie secured the black bag. It had been alarmingly easy and so quickly done that the spectators did not at first realize that a
robbery had been committed and foiled almost on the same instant. Then there arose a buzz of excited talk while two men stepped from the group of spectators and took charge of the thieves. Unnoticed, the car that had been meant for the bandits’ means of escape, sprang away from the curb and was gone in a cloud of dust.

  In the bank all was disorder and excitement. One of the shots that had been fired was lodged in the teller who had attempted to resist the thieves. His condition was not serious, however, and he was able to add his incoherent story to the other tales told by the people who had been present.

  Virginia, when she joined the girls to go home, was flushed and excited.

  “You certainly acted quickly,” she declared admiringly. “The town owes you a vote of thanks. They would have gotten away sure if you hadn’t tripped 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 said nothing about their part in the robbery, but Virginia promptly declared them 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 that they had missed any excitement whatever and promptly began to think of means to have some more.

  CHAPTER III

  Gale’s Adventure

  The Arizona night was cool, the sky studded with stars. In the living room the girls from the East were toying with the radio and dancing. Gale and Valerie stepped out onto the porch into the cool darkness. Walking a short distance from the house they were enveloped in silence, interrupted only now and then by the noise from the radio. They sauntered to where a giant pine tree spread its sheltering branches overhead.

  Valerie coughed as she leaned against the sturdy trunk and a sympathetic gleam entered Gale’s eyes. The girls all knew that Valerie’s health was not of the best, and it was hoped that this month they were to spend here in Arizona would do her good. She liked fun and excitement as well as any of them, but she could not stand too much. She needed to build up a stranger constitution and her friends were sure the western air would help as no medicine could.

  “Nice, isn’t it?” Valerie asked dreamily.

  “So quiet!” Gale agreed. “It would be a relief to hear a noise.”

  In the distance a coyote howled mournfully and the girls shivered. Arm in arm they strolled toward the corral.

  “I wish Virginia’s parents would let us take that camping trip,” Valerie said. “It would be fun.”

  At supper Janet and Carol had proposed a camping trip which the others received with enthusiasm. The idea was to take their horses and camping equipment and go camping up in the mountains, or down across the desert to Mexico. The girls, Virginia included, and Tom were decidedly in favor of it, but Mr. Wilson had demurred. It was dangerous, he said, for a party of young people to go camping about the hills just now. Too many bandits and disturbances along the Mexican border. However, the girls had refused to drop the subject.

  “Are you sure it wouldn’t be too much for you?” Gale asked anxiously. “You can’t do too much, you know.”

  “We could take our time,” Valerie answered. “I think it would be good for me, sleeping in the open air and all.”

  The girls had been walking along the corral fence and now stopped in the darkness. Around the corner from them two men were talking. The girls recognized the voices of Mr. Wilson and Tom.

  “I tell you it would be a perfect cover for Jim and me,” Tom was saying excitedly.

  “But I don’t want to run the girls into danger,” Mr. Wilson insisted.

  In the darkness Gale and Valerie exchanged wondering glances. Their curiosity was caught and without realizing they were doing so, they eavesdropped.

  “No one would know,” Tom continued. “We could act as guides for the girls and at the same time perhaps discover a clue to the hideout of the rustlers.”

  “But it is dangerous, Tom,” Mr. Wilson said slowly.

  “Listen, Dad,” Tom said earnestly. “The rustlers have been stealing your cattle and a lot of other people’s for a long time, haven’t they?”

  “Yes.”

  “You admit that if a stop isn’t put to this robbing, soon it will ruin you?”

  “I’m getting desperate,” Mr. Wilson agreed heavily, “But I can’t permit you or Jim or any of those girls to run the risk.”

  “But I tell you there isn’t any risk,” Tom argued. “No one would ever suspect us. Even the girls won’t know. We will be just a camping party.”

  “But if someone should find out what you are doing—you would have no protection, there would be nothing you could do.”

  “We’ll figure something out,” Tom said. “Don’t you see, Dad? It is the best way to attempt to find the bandits. They would never suspect a party of girls.”

  The two voices trailed away as Tom and his father moved toward the cowboys’ bunkhouse. The girls stood perfectly still until they saw the bunkhouse door opened and closed again behind the two.

  “Well,” Valerie said, “it appears we are to be lures for rustlers.”

  “I knew there was something wrong here at the K Bar O,” Gale said thoughtfully as the girls walked toward the house. “So it’s cattle thieves. No wonder Virginia’s mother and father look constantly worried. Even Virginia herself seems to be always watching for something when we are out riding.”

  “We’d better say nothing to the others,” Valerie said as they mounted to the porch.

  “No,” Gale agreed. “If Uncle finally agrees to let us go on the trip, we are not to let on we know what Tom and his cowboy friend are up to.”

  “Just keep our eyes and ears open,” murmured Valerie.

  The next morning at breakfast Tom announced to the girls that his father had agreed to the proposed camping trip. The news was received with whoops of joy from Janet and Carol. Gale and Valerie exchanged a quiet glance.

  “We’ll take two tents for you girls,” Tom continued. “Jim, the rider who is going with us, and I will sleep in blankets. We’ll leave tomorrow.”

  A clatter of hoofs and shouting outside brought them all away from the breakfast table. A rider was flinging himself from his weary horse. Both the rider and the horse looked played out.

  “What’s up, Bert?” Mr. Wilson asked, striding from the ranch house and confronting the rider.

  The others eagerly crowded forward, intending to miss not one word. From the man’s appearance and the appearance of his horse something important had happened.

  “The two fellows who robbed the bank the other day broke outa jail last night and got clean away!” the rider said, mopping his face with a handkerchief. “I been out for hours with the Sheriff and his posse lookin’ for the trail. Didn’t come this way, did they?”

  Mr. Wilson shook his head. “If they did, Bert, we didn’t see ’em. Come in and have some breakfast?”

  “Shore will,” the man replied gratefully. “A fella gets all fired hungry ridin’ around.”

  “Didn’t the thieves leave any trail at all?” Tom asked when the man had joined them and they were all seated once more about the table.

  “Wal, son,” the rider said, “we figger they separated, one goin’ north and the other south. Leastways, they were seen apart. Hank Cordy saw one tryin’ to swim the creek. He chased him but the fella got away. That was the short, dark haired one. The tall one was seen ridin’ out this way.”

  “If he passed the K Bar O none of us saw him,” Mr. Wilson declared.

  “Wal,” the man sighed as he pushed his chair away from the table and the rest followed him into the ranch living room, “that was shore the most appetizin’ meal I ever ate. Reckon now I’ve got to be gettin’ along.”

  “We’
ll let you know if we see anything of the robbers,” Tom called after him.

  Madge and Phyllis declared their intention of writing letters while Carol and Janet rode with Tom and Virginia out to the valley where the largest of the K Bar O’s herds was grazing. Valerie was not looking so well this morning and the other girls had coaxed her to lie down for a while. It would be a tragedy if she were not well enough for them to go on the proposed camping trip the next day.

  Gale, rope in hand, found her way to the corral where Jim, she knew him by no other name, the cowboy who was to accompany the girls on their trip, was waiting to give her her first lesson with the use of her lasso. She learned first to make the slip knot, how to coil her rope, then how to grasp it for throwing.

  “I never knew there was so much to it,” she declared after an hour had flown by.

  “It won’t take you long to learn,” he assured her.

  A little while later Mr. Wilson appeared and had an errand for Jim to do. Gale wandered off by herself across the valley and up the hillside. The sun was warm and it was tiring work climbing through the grass and tangled undergrowth, so when she came to a tree which offered a large patch of shade from the sun she sank down to rest. Pretty soon she lay back, her arms under her head, gazing up at the little spot of blue sky that she could see through the branches of the tree.

  Gale did not know when she fell asleep or for how long she slept, but when she opened her eyes the sun was blazing down into her face. It must be hours she thought instantly since she had sat down here to rest for a few minutes. Then the thought of what had awakened her made her prop herself up on an elbow and gaze around.

  Her throat went suddenly dry and a half smothered scream rose to her lips. It had been a heavy pressure on her right leg that had brought her back from her dreams, and now as she looked down at her foot horror overcame her. Its scaly body wound about her boot, the flat head swaying from side to side, was a huge rattlesnake. Gale dropped back on the grass with closed eyes, trying to erase from her mind the sight of that reptile, the bite of which meant death.