by Quincy Allen
CHAPTER VI
AT THE VALLEY RANCH
"Listen!" exclaimed Frank, holding up his hand.
"Talk to me about your Tower of Babel! It wasn't in the same class asthat row. Twenty men trying to talk all at once!" growled Jerry,starting up.
"Oh! Where are you going?" asked Will.
"Outside, to find out what the trouble is," replied the other.
"But you may get hurt if those bad men start to shooting up the train,"expostulated the official photographer anxiously.
Jerry gave a hoarse laugh.
"Tell me about that, will you! He actually believes we are going to beput through a course of 'stand and deliver' by the merry gentlemen ofthe road. Why, bless you, my boy, didn't you hear one man say somethingabout a trestle burning just ahead? It spells delay for us, but that'sthe worst of the whole affair."
"Then I'm going out, too," declared Will, with sudden zeal, as hesnatched up his camera and threw the strap over his shoulder.
He scented a chance for a striking picture, and to obtain that Willwould have risked even a possible encounter with train robbers.
Frank and Bluff would not be left behind, and quickly the entire quartethad reached the platform. They found that the stop was at a littlecountry station. A signal had suddenly flashed before the eyes of theengineer, telling him he must not think of running past, which accountedfor the quick work of the compressed-air brakes.
No need to tell what was wrong. Up the track a quarter of a mile couldbe seen a fire, and one glance was enough to tell the chums that, justas Jerry had said, a trestle of some sort seemed to be burning.
Loud shouts attested to the fact that every available man was hurryingto the scene, in the hope of saving the trestle before it was so fargone that nothing could be done.
"Come on, fellows! Our train must stay where it is until this thing isdone burning, one way or the other. Perhaps we can help put the fire outwith buckets."
That was the first thought Frank had, to be of some assistance.
The four of them ran with the rest of the passengers. Such a spectaclecould not be witnessed every day, and every one was desirous of gettingcloser to the scene of action.
"How did it catch?" asked Frank of a railroad man who was hustlingabout, handing buckets to a line of men extending down to the water ofthe creek far below.
"Don't know. Perhaps from sparks left by the six-seventeen freight. Lenda hand here, lads; we need all the help we can get," replied the other.
"Sure! That's what we came for. Get along, boys, and pass thesebuckets!" cried Jerry, suiting the action to the words.
Once the string of buckets got to going, and the contents began to becast upon the creeping flames, there sprang up a hope that the trestlemight be saved.
Seeing this, the workers redoubled their efforts, and faster rose thefull buckets, the empties going down at the same rate. It is reallyastonishing what a large amount of water can be carried by such anendless chain.
"Hurrah! We're besting it, lads! Keep it up!" shouted the agent, whowas the man Frank had first addressed.
Will had not joined the relay. There seemed to be plenty of recruitswithout him, and, truth to tell, he was bent on getting a picture of thescene. Doubtless many present were startled by a sudden brilliantillumination as he set off his flashlight cartridge; but those who werein ignorance as to what it meant were soon set wise by others.
Once they began to get the upper hand of the fire it became easy.Fortunately, there was not a breath of wind at the time. Had it beenotherwise, no efforts on their part could have saved the trestle.
"I should think they would have them all of steel!" gasped Bluff, as helabored away, passing endless buckets up and down.
"Most of them are, I understand, but in this case, you see, it is a longstretch, and perhaps it wasn't thought necessary," replied Frank.
"We're going to save it, all right; but I wonder if our train dare passover? It seems to me the fire must have weakened the structure more orless," remarked Jerry.
"Oh, well, they'll find some means of strengthening it in that case. I'monly worrying about the delay. Mr. Mabie will have to wait so long."
"But, Frank, they must wire the news, and he will know the reason forour hold-up," said Will quickly, and the others all agreed that thismust be so.
Less than an hour later the last spark had been extinguished. Then menclimbed all over the trestle to ascertain just how much it had beenweakened by the fire.
There was a difference of opinion among them, some declaring that it wasas good as ever, and the others shaking their heads solemnly, as theyprophesied all manner of dire things if the through train, with itsheavy sleepers, attempted to go over.
While some gangs of men were hastily bracing up a weak spot with whatmaterial lay close at hand, kept for an emergency of this sort, afreight train that happened to be on a siding at the station, was pushedout on the trestle to discover how the situation stood.
The chums watched operations with their hearts in their mouths,figuratively speaking; but no catastrophe followed, and it began toappear that, after all, the express might pass over in safety.
Another trial was given, this time with the heavy freight engineattached to some of the largest flats, laden with steel beams. Thetrestle bore the strain handsomely.
"That settles it, fellows. Back to our car for us. We're going across!"sang out Jerry as he turned and made off down the track.
"How long were we here?" asked Bluff, sighing, and they knew he wasthinking again of the weary hours that must elapse ere he could openthat big trunk in order to ascertain whether his fears in connectionwith that beloved hunting-knife had any foundation or not.
"Three hours, about. Give them another half hour to get moving, andthere you are. Hark! The engineer has started to whistle. That is totell the passengers a start is intended; and here they come, rushingpell-mell, fearful of getting left." And Frank laughed at the energydisplayed by some of those who had been aboard.
It was a critical time when the train slowly pushed out upon the longtrestle. Everybody doubtless held their breath, and doubtless many aheart throbbed with suspense.
"It's all right, boys! We're safely over!" exclaimed Jerry, as, lookingout of the open window, he could see that they had passed the criticalstage.
"Oh! I'm so glad! I don't know when I've felt such a flutter about myheart. But, anyway, I secured a cracking good snapshot of that burningbridge. Every time we look at it we can remember our hold-up," observedWill, sighing with relief.
It was now about ten o'clock at night, and on account of the delay,travel was more or less congested along the line.
Frank, upon making inquiries, learned that they would not arrive attheir destination until about daybreak, and so he and his chums went totheir berths to secure what sleep was possible.
Frank had them up in good time, and long before dawn they were fullydressed, awaiting the arrival of the train at the valley station withimpatience.
"Another hour now, and then I shall know," Bluff was saying to himself.
"Thank goodness!" exclaimed Jerry, who happened to overhear him. "Andfor the peace of the party, I do hope the first thing you see when youopen your bag will be that awful sword."
"We're stopping, fellows!" cried Will, trembling with eagerness.
Five minutes later they jumped down from the train.
"Hello, boys! Glad to see you! Better late than never!" said a heartyvoice, and then they found themselves shaking hands with a big man,whose gray-bearded face seemed to be a picture of good nature.
Of course, this was Mr. Mabie, the ranchman. He saw to it that their bigtrunk was dropped off the baggage car, to be seized by a couple ofcowboys and hustled on to the back of a long buckboard wagon, drawn by acouple of skittish horses.
Then they were off, not five minutes after the train had pulled out.
"Here, Reddy," said Mr. Mabie to the young driver, "let me make youacquainted with some good fellows about
your own age," and he introducedthem one after another.
Frank saw that the cowboy was well named, for he had quite a fierythatch; but his freckled face seemed one of the sort that invitedconfidence, and Frank believed he would like the other right well. Ofcourse, Reddy was attired as all well-ordered cowboys should be. Willwas secretly wild for a chance to introduce him in some picture.
"It will give such a pleasing variety to our book of views, for wehaven't got a single cowboy in between the covers," he said in an asideto Frank.
They followed up the valley for over an hour. The ranch was milesremoved from the railway, and surrounded by the wildest scenery theboys could remember having looked upon, and that was saying a good deal,after such a journey.
Martin Mabie was a widower, without any family. Still, he had a numberof women folks on the place, a sister keeping house for him, with aChinese cook to attend to the kitchen part of the establishment.
"Ain't this immense?" remarked Bluff, as he waited impatiently for themen to carry the big trunk indoors, so that he could satisfy his soulabout the one object that had been worrying him ever since leavingCenterville.
Somehow or other they seemed slow about doing this. The horses had to beattended to first of all. Then there seemed to be some sort ofexcitement in the neighborhood of the corral, for the boys noticed amounted cowboy come dashing up and jump from his steed, which wasblowing hard, as if from a rapid dash.
He wondered if this sort of thing was of daily occurrence on the bigranch, which took in the whole valley for miles, and extended even upalong the sides of the mountains on either hand.
"What ails the fellow, I wonder?" observed Jerry, who, it seems, hadalso noticed the rush of the newcomer.
"From the way he bolted into the office where Mr. Mabie went, I imaginehe must have brought important news of some sort," remarked Frank.
"Perhaps our very introduction to the Big M Ranch is going to be in awhirl of excitement, fellows. I've noticed that somehow we seem to stirup things wherever we go; not that we mean to have things happen, butthey just pick out such a time to play hob," said Jerry, shaking hishead as if thoroughly convinced.
"Here comes Mr. Mabie, hurrying this way!" declared Bluff, beginning toforget his other anxiety for the time being in this new mystery.
"And there goes the cowboy back to the horse corral. He's shoutingsomething, too, and as sure as you live every man is jumping to get ahorse handy between his legs. Look at them slapping saddles on! Why,they'll be off like the wind! Boys, something is up! I know it!"
Frank and his chums saw several cowboys dash away as though possessed,shouting, and waving their hats in a reckless manner, as if about tocharge an enemy who had designs on the cattle of the ranch.
"Whatever can it mean?" said Will again.
"For the life of me I can't imagine," returned Frank, sorely puzzled.
"But we'll soon know, fellows, for here comes Mr. Mabie, and he'sswinging his hat as though just as excited as the balance of the crowd.Whatever it is, he means to tell us!" cried Jerry, his eyes glowing withthe nerve-racking anxiety.
