Read Ebook: The X Bar X boys on Whirlpool River by Ferris James Cody Rogers Walter S Illustrator

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Ebook has 1016 lines and 42776 words, and 21 pages

s stole, and to round 'em up. It took men to ride at that cave in Thunder Canyon to get Belle Ada an' the rest without knowin' how many guns you were goin' up against. Yep, it took men to do those jobs--an' you did 'em. I ain't kickin' none. Snakes! what started me off on that trail? Son, you see any signs of Father Time around here?" and he squeezed Roy's shoulder affectionately and laughed a little.

"Not any, Dad," Roy responded, and tried to echo his father's laugh, but there was a queer lump in his throat that he could not account for. Never before had his father talked like this. And when Mr. Manley saw his son's eyes, he understood. With a yell he grabbed Roy about the waist and affected to throw him to the ground.

"Could I do it?" he grinned, desisting. "You bet I could! Snakes, Roy, you're too blame serious! What chance have you got to see me take a back seat yet awhile and watch the grasshoppers whizzing by? In the words of the immortal poet, not any! Where in thunder is Teddy? Oh, here he comes!"

With the arrival of Nick and Teddy, Roy's mind turned from its rather sombre trend to the business of ranching. Roy, but one year older than Teddy, had a more serious disposition, frequently considering events more important than they really were. This nature he inherited from his mother, who, before her marriage to Bardwell Manley, had been a school teacher in Denver. From her Roy got his taste for the really worthwhile things in life--poetry, literature, pictures. But the fact that these tendencies showed early development occasioned Teddy, who as yet was quite Roy's opposite, much amusement.

As Nick Looker approached, Mr. Manley's face took on a frown.

"Hear the news, Nick?" he asked shortly.

"Teddy told me," Nick returned. An anxious light came into his eyes. "Was Jake Trummer real sore, boss?"

"He sure was," Mr. Manley replied tersely. "Where's Gus?"

"Town. Nat Raymond an' Jim Casey are ridin' from to-day on, accordin' to Teddy. Gus went in to get some mail--says he's expectin' a letter from some Southern belle he's got down near the border. Kind of uneasy about her, I'm thinkin'. Want him, too, boss?"

"Yes, I want him, too. But there's a few things I want to say to you first. Nick, Jake Trummer had a right to be as sore as he liked. It's no joke for another man's cattle to eat up all your best grazin' grass, especially when you ain't got too much of it. Jake threatened to drive our dogies in the river if we didn't get 'em out of there pronto, an' of course I couldn't let him get away with that, so I came back at him. But I knew he was right. Well--speak up. Got an explanation?"

"Who, me?" Nick's face expressed hurt surprise. "What have I done, boss?"

"Well, outside of lettin' our Durhams wander over on Jake Trummer's land and makin' him come over here fit to be tied, I guess nothin'. But we all have our own ideas, an' mine, strange as it may seem, is that when a man's set to ridin' cattle, he's supposed to ride 'em, and not let 'em mess up a neighbor's grazin' ground."

"Me? I let 'em loose? Why, boss, I didn't have nothin' to do with it!"

"Weren't you ridin' herd?"

"Me? Why, no, boss."

Mr. Manley turned to Teddy.

"How about that, son? Didn't you tell me Nick was on herd?"

Teddy looked at Nick, then averted his glance.

"I guess I--" he began.

"Wait!" Nick interrupted. "Teddy did set me out about a week ago! But the way I understood it, he shifted plans, an' I've been workin' fence fer six days! I ain't been near the cattle!"

"What do you mean?" Teddy asked sharply.

"Why, Joe Marino--you know, boss, The Pup--he come to me an' said that Teddy, here, told him to tell me he was to take my place, an' I was to ride fence. He an' Gus been on the job all week. I've been workin' on the fence. An' believe me, it sure needs fixin'. You mean to say that The Pup lied, Teddy?"

Teddy nodded his head.

"That's just what he did, Nick. I guess it's all my fault. I should have been more careful and checked up. But what on earth did The Pup do a thing like that for? It sure beats me!"

"Nick, where's The Pup?" Mr. Manley demanded sharply.

"You got me, boss," Nick confessed. His eyes were troubled. Somehow, this thing that had happened seemed partly his fault, and he found it a strange experience to be in wrong with the boss.

Joe Marino

Always, as long as Nick Looker had been on the ranch--five years this coming winter--he had done his work cheerfully and well. The men on the X Bar X had more than mere employees' interest in the ranch. They looked upon it as a home, and, as such, to be well cared for.

"This here Pup--" Nick observed, "now, I don't like to say nothin' against a man when he ain't here fer a come-back; but--well, boss, The Pup sure likes his liquor. I don't mind a man takin' a nip now and then, if he's built that-away. But not during workin' hours."

"Do you mean to say Joe Marino has been drunk while he's on the job?" Teddy asked quickly.

"Now, maybe we'd better wait till The Pup shows up," Nick countered, shifting his shoulders uneasily. "He'll be around soon. Maybe he's rode to town with Gus Tripp. Most likely that's it."

Mr. Manley puffed thoughtfully at his pipe. Through half shut eyes he observed Nick. It was several moments before he spoke.

"Gus hasn't been doin' any promiscuous galivantin', has he, Nick? But never mind," he added quickly, as he saw the cowboy move his head from side to side. "I don't want you to tell tales out of school. We'll wait. Whereabouts were all those breaks in the fences?"

It was late in the afternoon before Gus Tripp rode in. With him was The Pup. Roy, who had been seated outside the ranch house on a bench, mending a broken stirrup, saw them come up. He dropped the leather and hurried forward.

"Gus," he called, "dad wants to see you. Tie your pony and come over to the corral, will you? Joe, you too."

"He want to see me?" The Pup asked, and Roy noticed that his voice seemed unduly loud. "Well, I'm all set. Where is he?"

"Over by the corral, as I said. Hurry up. Get your letter Gus?"

"Nope--not any," Gus answered. As he spoke he swayed slightly in the saddle. "Funny--I kind of expected she might write. Guess I'm a back number--ha--that's funny--me a back number! Can ya imagine that, Roy? A back number! Like a last year's calendar! Say, that's pretty good. Get that one--that--that one, Roy? A last year's calendar. Huh! Pretty good! Made it up all--all by myself, too. Yesser! Pretty good--pretty good," and he wagged his head stupidly.

Roy looked at the cowboy sharply. This was unlike Gus. It was plain to be seen that he had been drinking, probably at Rimor's in town. Roy approached, and laid hold of the bridle of Gus's pony.

"Where have you been all day, Gus?" he asked quietly.

"Who, me?" Exaggerated surprise was on the man's face. "Why, I--I been busy. Me an' The Pup. We both been busy. Awful busy. Ain't we, Joe?"

The Pup disdained to answer. An ugly look on his face, he lashed his horse savagely, and jumped him toward the hitching rail. Then he dismounted and walked toward Gus.

"Come on," he snarled. "Don't sit there talkin'. We got to see the boss. Ain't you heard orders?" and he looked at Roy, a sneer on his face.

Roy flushed. He did not wish to seem above the men, but rather as working with them. Joe intimated with his glance that Roy's authority was given by virtue of his being "the boss's son," and not because he deserved it. Roy opened his mouth to reply, thought better of it, and walked slowly away. The Pup laughed loudly. Roy felt his muscles tighten, but he did not turn. He would not argue with a man who had been drinking.

He was not present at the scene between Mr. Manley and Gus and The Pup. Teddy told him of it later.

"There's two we will have no longer with us," Teddy said that night. "Dad was feeding General sugar when they came up. Soon as he heard them he whirled around and he knew in a second that they had been hitting the bottle. Gus just looked kind of ashamed, but The Pup had a mean look on his face.

"Don't know," Roy replied. "Gus told me about the letter, too. I have an idea that had something to do with his drinking--he never used to touch it before. But go ahead. What happened next?"

"Well, as I said, dad caught on right away, and he was some sore. Told 'em both to get out--that he wouldn't have men on his ranch who drank during working hours. Then he asked The Pup what was the idea, lying to Nick and getting him to change places with him, so The Pup could ride herd. At first Joe wouldn't tell, but when Gus let out a few secrets the whole thing came forth. It seems that The Pup wanted to take the cows so he could slip away to town when he felt like it and liquor up and no one would know about it. How he ever got Gus to consent to a thing like that is beyond me unless, as you say, Gus isn't himself on account of that letter."

"What did Gus do when The Pup spilled the beans?"

"Just acted as if he was mighty sorry. Roy, it isn't like Gus to pull a stunt like that. He isn't built that way. Joe Marino, now--I wouldn't put it past him. I don't like that hombre for a cent. When he came here last month, dad was short a hand, or he never would have taken him. And now look at the trouble he's got us in. Jake Trummer, one of dad's oldest friends, turned into an enemy. You know, Roy, I think something happened up on Whirlpool River at Jake's ranch besides the mere fact that our cattle wandered there. That, in itself, wouldn't cause Jake to raise the row he did. I'll bet The Pup said something to Jake that he didn't want to repeat, knowing dad as he does. So he took it all out in being sore about the cattle."

"Maybe," Roy said slowly. "So Gus is going to leave, is he?"

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