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CHAPTER X.
The Captain's Setback

Captain Grady recovered in a few seconds. He glanced suspiciously about to see if there were others with Noel. Seeing the young man was alone, he plucked up fresh courage.

"All right, I'll talk business with both," he said. "Who is this?" and he jerked his thumb toward Noel.

"A friend of ours from New York," replied Paul.

"Humph! Didn't know you had friends so far off."

"We don't know everything in this world," retorted Chet, pointedly.

"You're right, we don't," replied the captain with equal emphasis.

He tied his horse fast to the doorpost and strode into the house. Paul motioned Chet to follow, and then buttonholed Noel Urner.

"This is Captain Grady," he whispered. "We have told you a little about him. He is trying to get this ranch away from us."

"And he has no real claim to it?"

"I do not believe he has. But he is so slippery a customer he will swindle us if he can. Will you give us some advice how best to proceed? You know more about claims and legal papers than we do."

"Certainly I'll do what I can for you," and then both entered the ranch home.

"I'm sorry I ain't got your older brother to deal with," began the captain. "I reckon he is the one who will understand my talk best."

"Then, perhaps you had best wait till he gets back," said Chet quickly.

"And when will that be?"

"I cannot say exactly."

"I'm not in the humor to wait. I've waited too long already." The captain paused and cleared his throat. "I believe you said you had the original title papers to the ranch, didn't you?" he went on.

"Yes, we did say that."

"I would like to see 'em."

Chet and Paul looked at each other. They had expected and dreaded this request.

"Supposing we don't care to show them to you?" said Paul cautiously.

"What's the reason you don't care?" retorted the captain, angrily.

"We are not called on to explain all our actions to you," said Chet.

"See here, I don't want to quarrel, but I'm a-goin' to see them ere papers," blustered Captain Grady, with a decided shake of his head. "I came all the way from Deadwood to see 'em."

"Well, you won't see them," returned Paul, boldly. It would never do in the wide world to acknowledge that they had been burned up.

"Well, then, I reckon I'm free to speak what's on my mind," roared the captain, "an' that is, that you never had no papers at all."

"You can say what you please," said Chet, as calmly as he could.

"An' that ain't all I've got to say," went on the captain. "I've got more to say to you. This ere claim o' land originally belonged to Sam Slater, o' Deadwood – "

"We know that."

"Slater died, an' left no will – "

"That may all be true, too."

"An' he left this land – "

"No, he didn't. It was sold to my father before that!" cried Paul.

"No such thing. Old Slater left it as part o' his estate – "

"He did not."

"He did, an' I can take my affidavy to it, if it's necessary," exclaimed Captain Grady. "But that ain't all yet wot I hev got to tell. Slater left it to his heirs, an' I bought it from them only last week."

"It can't be true!" gasped Chet, faintly.

"It is true, an' I hev the papers to prove it. This here ranch belongs to me, an' the sooner you boys pack up your duds an' git out the better it will please me," and Captain Grady smiled maliciously at the blow his news had brought to the boys.

Both Paul and Chet were much dismayed by the unexpected announcement Captain Grady had made.

For the moment they stared at the speaker as if they had not heard aright.

It was Paul who spoke first.

"You bought the ranch, and have the papers to prove it?" he gasped.

"That's just wot I said, boy."

"Your claim will not hold water," put in Chet, faintly.

"Well, I reckon it will," retorted Captain Grady. "I allow as how I know wot I'm a-doin'."

"My father bought this ranch, and that settles it," said Paul. "We will not give up our rights here just on what you say."

"Perhaps you had better look at his papers," suggested Noel Urner, who had thus far remained silent.

"It won't be necessary for them to look at 'em," returned the captain, doggedly. "I have 'em and that's enough. I ain't got to show my papers no more than they hev got to show theirs."

"What shall we do?" whispered Paul to the young man from New York, as he led him a little to one side.

"Stick to your resolve to stand up for your rights," was Noel's reply. "Remember, possession is nine points of the law. He cannot dispossess you unless he starts a lawsuit to recover the property he claims."

"I ain't a-goin' to wait for your Uncle Barnaby or Allen to return," went on Captain Grady, sullenly. "I want you to leave at once, bag and baggage."

"Indeed," returned Paul, coldly.

"Yes, indeed. I've been kept out of this place long enough – seeing as how the original owner gave me a half hold on it long before he died."

"What makes you so anxious for the place?" asked Noel Urner with sudden interest.

"That's my business," growled the captain.

"Is there any concealed wealth upon it?"

"No, there ain't," exclaimed Captain Grady, almost so quick that it did not sound natural.

"You seem to be awfully anxious – "

"I own the next ranch, that's why. I want to turn my cattle an' sech in the two. Besides that, it ain't natural for a man to stand by an' see others a-usin' of his things."

"You talk very positively, Captain Grady," said Paul. "But it will do you no good. We shall not budge for the present."

"You won't?"

"Not a step. We claim this property and you will have to get the law to put us out if we are to be put out."

"You young highflyers!" growled the captain. He had a dread of the law and would do anything to keep out of court. "Do you think I'll stand sech talk?"

"You will have to stand it," put in Chet. "I agree with Paul. We won't budge until the sheriff or a constable puts us out."

For the moment Captain Grady was speechless. His face grew dark with gathering wrath, and he looked as if he wanted to eat some one up.

"You won't budge, hey?" he roared at last.

"No."

"I'll put ye out!"

"I don't think you will," retorted Paul.

"Not without a big fight," added Chet.

"The boys have a right to stay here until put out," said Noel Urner. "The property is in dispute, and the only way to settle the matter is by going to law."

"I didn't ask for your advice," growled the captain, fiercely. "I own this ranch, an' I'm a-goin' to have it, an' putty quick, too!"

And without another word he turned on his heel, strode out of the house, sprang on his horse, and rode away at top speed.

"Phew! but isn't he mad!" exclaimed Chet, as the rider disappeared up the river trail.

"You bet!" returned Paul, dropping into a bit of slang. "But he can stay mad as long as he pleases; he can't bulldoze us."

"He is not so sure of his rights as he pretends to be," remarked Noel Urner, who, in the course of his city life, had met many men similar to Captain Grady. "If he knew all was right he wouldn't bluster so much."

"That's my idea of it, too," rejoined Chet. "I am half inclined to think he never bought the land – that is, paid for what he supposed was a title to it – for he couldn't really buy it except it was sold by Uncle Barnaby."

"Well, by the time he pays another visit your brother will be back most likely. It is a pity that your uncle should just now be missing."

The afternoon wore away, and anxiously the two boys awaited the coming of Allen. Several times they went up to the roof of the house and swept all points of the compass with their field glass.

At last the shades of night began to fall, and with heavy hearts the two began the round of evening work, feeding the chickens and pigs and seeing that everything was secure for the night. There were also a couple of cows to milk and a dozen or more of eggs to gather.

Noel Urner went around with them as before, and he was greatly interested. When they returned to the house he began to question them as to the extent of the ranch.

"Oh, it's pretty big," replied Paul. "It runs up and down the river nearly half a mile, and as far back as what we call the second foothills. If we had horses I could ride you around and show you."

"Are there any mines in the foothills?" was the young man's next question.

"There used to be a few, but they have all been abandoned because they did not pay."

"Perhaps this Captain Grady has struck something that will pay."

"Hardly. My father and Uncle Barnaby went over every foot of the ground half a dozen times, and they were both better prospectors than the captain."

Noel Urner was about to ask more questions, but a sound outside of the stockade caused him to pause. They all listened, and then Chet gave a shout.

"Somebody is coming! It must be Allen or Ike Watson! Come on out and see!"

CHAPTER XI.
Ike Watson's Arrival

Let us go back to Allen.

We left him just as the sound made by Paul's horse aroused the leader of the horse thieves, whose full name was Saul Mangle.

"The feller that went over into the river, as sure as fate!" burst from the lips of Mangle, and he started back in astonishment.

"Impossible!" cried Darry, the second man. "That feller must have been killed!"

"See for yourself."

With these words Saul Mangle sprang forward to stop Allen, who was about to mount Jasper. He reached the young man's side as Allen gained the saddle.

"Come down out of that!" he cried, roughly.

"Not much!" returned the young man. "Clear the track, unless you want to be run down!"

He urged the horse forward. Jasper started, but ere he had taken three steps, Mangle caught him by the bridle.

"Whoa!" he cried. "Whoa, I say!"

"Let the horse go, do you hear?" ejaculated Allen, sharply.

"I won't do it! Darry! Jeff! Come here, why don't you?"

The others leaped into the brush. Allen saw that affairs were turning against him. He leaned forward to Jasper's neck.

Smack! Mangle caught a sharp blow full across his mouth. It came so quickly that he staggered back and his hold was loosened.

"On, Jasper, on, my boy!" cried Allen, slapping the animal with his palm. "Come, Rush! Come, Rush!" he added to Chet's horse, which stood close beside.

Off went Jasper with a bound, and Rush followed at his heels.

"Stop him! Hang the measly luck!" roared Saul Mangle. "Darry! Jeff! What are you at?"

As he cried out, the leader of the horse thieves felt for his pistol. But before the weapon could be drawn both horses and Allen had disappeared behind a clump of cottonwoods.

"We had bettah follow him on de mustangs," suggested the negro. "He can't ride – "

"Of course, we'll follow him!" growled Mangle. "Don't stand and talk about it. Come on! He'll be out of hearing in another minute! This is the worst luck yet!"

He leaped for one of the mustangs. In another second all three of the men were mounted and riding after Allen as rapidly as the nature of the land and growth would allow.

"How do you think he escaped?" asked Darry, as they pushed on.

"Can't make it out," replied Mangle. "We'll make him tell the story when we catch him. Ha! what was that?"

A sudden crash ahead had arrested their attention. He listened. A dead silence followed.

"The hosses and young feller have gone into some sort of a hole," cried Darry. "We'll have him now, all right enough."

On they went through the brush, Mangle leading the way. Suddenly the leader came to a halt. Before him was a sheer descent of eight or ten feet.

"Here's where he and the hosses went down," he said to his followers.

"But where is he?" questioned Darry.

"Not far off, I'll warrant ye. Come on."

"Dis yere mustang won't take dat leap," put in Jeff, drawing back.

"And I won't venture it," added Darry, "I don't want to land on my head."

"Cowards!" howled Saul Mangle. "Well, then, there is a trail to the right; take that. Here goes!"

He spoke to his animal, and an instant later rider and mustang went down in a graceful curve. They landed in a bunch of brush, none the worse for the leap.

Darry and Jeff followed by way of the trail. They could hear Allen pushing through the brush not over a hundred yards ahead.

The young man was having a hard time of it. He was going it blindly, and was so faint from want of sleep and something to eat that he could hardly sit up in the saddle.

Yet he realized his peril and clung on desperately, meanwhile urging the horse and his mate to do their best to place distance between them and their pursuers.

But now the slight trail he was pursuing became rougher, and it was with difficulty that any progress could be made. The horses labored along bravely, but were no match on such ground for the nimble-footed mustangs.

"Halt! Do you hear?" were the first unpleasant words which greeted Allen's ears, and looking back he saw that Saul Mangle was in plain sight.

Allen attempted to dodge out of sight. To frighten him Mangle fired off his pistol, the bullet cutting through the brush under Jasper's feet.

"Will you stop now?" yelled Mangle.

Allen was in a quandary. He did not wish to be shot, and yet —

But the young man was not called on to solve the dreadful question. While he hesitated there was a loud shout from some distance to his right, and looking up the rocks he saw to his great joy Ike Watson, the hunter, sitting astride of his horse, rifle in hand.

"Wall, wall!" shouted the old man. "And what's the row, Allen, I want to know?"

"Horse thieves, Ike! Save me!" was the quick reply. "There are three of them after me!"

"Saul Mangle, as I'm a nateral born sinner, and Darry Nodley and Jeff Jones! Wall! wall! wall! Turn about, before it is too late, ye sarpints!"

The loud cry from Ike Watson caused the gang of horse thieves to come to a sudden halt. Every one of them knew old Ike Watson only too well – knew him for a man of quaint humor, but with a sense of justice that no one dared to question.

"Hang the measly luck!" muttered Saul Mangle. "There's Ike Watson!"

"Then the jig's up for the present, and we had better vamoose!" returned Nodley.

"Clar out, do ye hear me?" yelled Ike Watson to the crowd of three. "Don't wait for me to git riled up."

"Come on!" whispered Saul Mangle, with a scowl, and like magic the trio of villains turned about and disappeared down a side trail, leaving poor exhausted Allen safe in friendly hands at last.

"By the grasshoppers of Kansas, but ye look fagged out, Allen!" exclaimed old Ike Watson as he sprang down and caught Allen in his arms. "What's the matter with ye, boy?"

"I've had an awful experience, Ike," replied the young ranchman as soon as he could recover sufficiently to speak. "I've been underground several miles, and I haven't had a mouthful to eat since yesterday morning!"

"Gee shoo, Allen! Wall! wall! wall! If I didn't know ye so well I'd be apt ter think ye war tellin' me a fairy tale. But I allow as how Granville Winthrop's son couldn't lie if he tried."

"I speak the truth, Ike. But where are those villains?"

"Gone, boy, gone. They knowed better nor to stay whar Ike Watson was, ho! ho!"

"They are horse thieves, and ought to be locked up."

"Thet Saul Mangle ought to be strung up, ye mean. And Darry Nodley and that coon, Jeff Jones, ain't much better. But they are gone now."

"Well, I have Paul's horse and Chet's, too, anyway," returned Allen, with a slight smile of satisfaction.

"Whar's your own horse?"

"Dead, I reckon. We went off the Upas Pass bridge together into the river, and I suppose she was drowned. Poor Lilly!"

"Off the bridge! Gee shoo! Then ye war carried down the Black Rock River?"

"Yes!" Allen gave a shudder. "It was fearful, Ike. But come, let us get to the ranch, and I can tell my story to all at once!"

"That's the best way, sure. But down that air stream! Great snakes and turkey buzzards!"

"I know it hardly can be believed, but that is not the worst or most wonderful part of it. But come; I am nearly famished."

"Here's a bite I have in my pouch; eat that," returned Ike Watson, and he passed over some crackers and meat which Allen devoured with keen relish.

CHAPTER XII.
The Boys Talk It over

Allen and Ike Watson were soon on the way back to the ranch. Fortunately Ike Watson knew every foot of the ground, and led by the most direct route.

As the reader knows, Paul and Chet heard them approaching and received their elder brother with open arms.

"You look like a ghost!" declared Chet, starting back on catching sight of Allen's pale face.

"And I feel like a shadow," responded Allen with a weary laugh. "But a good dinner and a nap will make me as bright as a dollar again."

"He has our horses!" cried Paul.

"Yes, but not my own," returned Allen.

He walked into the house and was here introduced to Noel Urner. The table was at once spread, and soon both Allen and Ike Watson were regaling themselves to their heart's content.

During the progress of the meal Allen related all of his wonderful story of the fall from the bridge, the journey on the underground river, and of his struggle to reach the open air once more. He said nothing about the wealth which lay exposed in the cavern or of the fact that it was Uncle Barnaby's mine, for he felt he had no right to mention those matters before Ike Watson and Noel Urner, friends though they might be. Uncle Barnaby had guarded his secret well and he would do the same.

All listened with deep interest to what he had to say.

"It was a wonder the fall into the water didn't kill you," said Paul. "Such a distance as it was!"

"Lilly saved my life – but it cost her her own," returned Allen, and he sighed, for Lilly had been his favorite for several years.

Chet and Paul were eager that Allen should hear Noel Urner's story and the young man from New York related it without delay. Allen was as much surprised as his brothers had been, and so was Ike Watson.

"I am afraid somebody has played Uncle Barnaby foul," cried Allen, his face full of anxiety. "If he had left of his own accord we would have heard from him."

"That's just my idea of it," said Paul. "But the thing of it is, who met him in San Francisco, and what did they do?"

To that question Allen could only shake his head.

"I am too tired to say much about it to-night," he said at last. "I must sleep on it."

Allen wished to retire early, but before he did so Chet told him of Captain Grady's visit.

"We won't stir," said Allen, briefly. "Let him sue Uncle Barnaby. We have nothing to do with it. Our first duty is to find uncle."

And both Paul and Chet agreed with him on this point.

Ike Watson was on his way up the Salmon River to visit a new gold diggings. He refused to stay all night, and set off in the dark, with Allen's thanks ringing in his ears for what he had done.

Despite the excitement through which he had passed, Allen slept "like a log" that night, and did not awaken until long after the others were up and Chet and Paul had the morning chores done.

"Now I feel like myself once more," he said when he came down. "And I am ready for business."

"So am I," laughed Noel Urner. "But the trouble is, I do not know how to turn without horse or conveyance. I am not used to tramping about on foot."

"If we had horses we might lend you one," said Allen. "But two nags for four people are two short," and he laughed.

During the morning Paul went out on horseback, accompanied by Noel, to see if the cattle were safe. While they were gone Allen told Chet of the hidden mine.

"It is worth a million," he said. "But it is Uncle Barnaby's secret, remember."

"I will remember," said Chet, "but we must tell Paul."

"Certainly; tell him after I am gone."

"Gone? Why, Allen, what do you mean?"

"I am going to leave home this afternoon, Chet."

"You are fooling," remarked the younger brother.

"Never more serious in my life, Chet."

"And you are going – " Chet hesitated.

"Direct to San Francisco to hunt up tidings of Uncle Barnaby."

Of course, Chet was taken completely back by Allen's announcement.

"To San Francisco!" he ejaculated.

"Yes, Chet. I feel that it is my duty to discover what has become of uncle, if possible, at once."

"I know, but it's such a journey – "

"I am not afraid to take it. I will ride to the nearest station on the railroad, which is not over a hundred and forty miles, and then take the train. The journey on the cars will not take over a couple of days, all told."

"And the cost – "

"I will have to take what we have saved from the thieves. But surely, Chet, you do not regret taking that for such a purpose?"

"No! no! take it all! I was thinking if it would be enough."

"I will make it do. I will buy a cut-rate ticket from Ogden, if I can."

"And what shall Paul and I do in the meantime?" questioned Chet in some dismay.

"Do nothing but guard the cattle and the place generally. I will be back, or let you hear from me just as soon as I can."

Paul was equally astonished at Allen's sudden determination. It was, however, what Noel Urner had expected.

"Yes, I would go if I were you," said the latter. "And if you want me to, I will go with you," he added. "I must confess I am deeply interested in this strange case."

"I would like you to go with me first rate," returned Allen. "And whether uncle is found or not, I will promise that you shall be well paid for all the trouble you will be put to."

"I want no pay for helping you. I will enjoy the bit of detective work, as one might call it. But how am I to get to the railroad station without a horse?"

"You can take both horses, if necessary," suggested Chet.

"That's so; although we ought to have at least one animal on the ranch," added Paul.

"We can both ride one animal as far as Dottery's ranch," said Allen, "and there we can either borrow or hire another animal."

"How far is Dottery's?"

"Only about twenty-five miles. We ought to reach it by dark, if we start shortly."

"We can start at once, as far as I am concerned," laughed Noel.

So it was decided to lose no time, and Chet at once set to work to prepare dinner and also some food to be carried along.