AUNT JANE'S NIECES AND UNCLE JOHN
Continued....
CHAPTER XI
A REAL ADVENTURE AT LAST
Uncle John woke up when the Major inadvertently
placed a heel upon his
round stomach on the way to the ground. The chubby
little millionaire
had slept excellently and was in a genial humor this
morning. He
helped Wampus fry the bacon and scramble the eggs,
while the Major
called the girls.
It proved a glorious sunrise and the air was full of
pure ozone. They
had suffered little from cold during the trip,
although it was in
the dead of winter and the altitude considerable.
Just now they were
getting closer to California every hour, and when
they descended from
the mesa it would gradually grow warmer.
They were all becoming expert at "breaking camp,"
and preparing for
the road. Beth and Patsy put away the bedding and
"made up" the
interior of the limousine for traveling. The Major
and Uncle John
folded the tent and packed it away, while Wampus
attended to the
dishes and tinware and then looked over his car. In
a surprisingly
short time they were all aboard and the big machine
was gliding over
the faint trail.
The mesa was not a flat or level country, for they
were still near to
the mountain ranges. The way was up hill and down,
in gentle slopes,
and soon after starting they breasted the brow of a
hill and were
confronted by half a dozen mounted men, who seemed
as much astonished
at the encounter as they were.
It being an event to meet anyone in this desolate
place Wampus
involuntarily brought the car to a halt, while the
riders lined up
beside it and stared rather rudely at the party.
They were dressed as
cowboys usually are, with flannel shirts, chapelets
and sombrero hats;
but their faces were not rugged nor healthy, as is
the case with most
Western cowboys, but bore marks of dissipation and
hard living.
"Remittance men," whispered Wampus.
Uncle John nodded. He had heard of this curious
class. Especially were
the men staring at the three pretty, feminine faces
that peered from
the interior of the limousine. They had remained
silent thus far, but
now one of them, a fellow with dark eyes and a
sallow complexion,
reined his horse nearer the car and removed his hat
with a sweeping
gesture that was not ungraceful.
"A merry morning to you, fair ladies--or angels--I
much misdoubt which
we have chanced upon. Anyhow, welcome to Hades!"
Uncle John frowned. He did not like the bantering,
impudent tone. Beth
flushed and turned aside her head; Myrtle shrank
back in her corner
out of sight; but Patsy glared fixedly at the
speaker with an
expression that was far from gracious. The
remittance man did not seem
daunted by this decided aversion. A sneering laugh
broke from his
companions, and one of them cried:
"Back up, Algy, and give your betters a chance.
You're out of it, old
man."
"I have no betters," he retorted. Then, turning to
the girls again and
ignoring the presence of the men accompanying them,
he continued:
"Beauteous visions, since you have wilfully invaded
the territory of
Hades Ranch, of which diabolical domain I, Algernon
Tobey, am by grace
of his Satanic majesty the master, I invite you to
become my guests
and participate in a grand ball which I shall give
this evening in
your honor."
His comrades laughed again, and one of them shouted:
"Good for you, Algy. A dance--that's the thing!"
"Why, we haven't had the chance of a dance for
ages," said another
approvingly.
"Because we have had no ladies to dance with,"
explained Algy. "But
here are three come to our rescue--perhaps more, if
I could see inside
that barricade--and they cannot refuse us the
pleasure of their
society."
"Sir," said Major Doyle, stiffly, "you are pleased
to be impertinent.
Ride on, you rascals, and spare us further sight of
you."
The man turned upon him a scowling face.
"Don't interfere," he said warningly. "This isn't
your party, you old
duffer!"
"Drive ahead, Wampus," commanded Uncle John.
Wampus had to get out and crank the engines, which
he calmly proceeded
to do. The man who had called himself Algernon Tobey
perceived his
intention and urged his pony to the front of the
car.
"Let that thing alone. Keep your hands off!" he
said.
Wampus paid no attention. The fellow brought his
riding whip down
sharply on the chauffeur's shoulders, inflicting a
stinging blow.
Instantly little Wampus straightened up, grasped
Tobey by the leg
and with a swift, skillful motion jerked him from
his horse. The man
started to draw his revolver, but in an instant he
and Wampus were
rolling together upon the ground and the Canadian
presently came
uppermost and held his antagonist firmly between his
knees. Then
with deliberation he raised his clinched fist and
thrust it forcibly
against Mr. Tobey's eye, repeating the impact upon
his nose, his chin
and his cheek in a succession of jarring thumps that
were delivered
with scientific precision. Algy fairly howled,
kicking and struggling
to be free. None of his comrades offered to
interfere and it seemed
they were grimly enjoying the punishment that was
being; inflicted
upon their leader.
When Wampus had quite finished his work he arose,
adjusted his
disarranged collar and tie and proceeded to crank
the engines. Then he
climbed into his seat and started the car with a
sudden bound. As he
did so a revolver shot rang out and one of the front
tires, pierced by
the bullet, ripped itself nearly in two as it
crumpled up. A shout of
derisive laughter came from the cowboys. Algy was
astride his pony
again, and as Wampus brought the damaged car to a
stop the remittance
men dashed by and along the path, taking the same
direction Uncle
John's party was following". Tobey held back a
little, calling out:
"Au revoir! I shall expect you all at my party. I'm
going now to get
the fiddler."
He rejoined his comrades then, and they all
clattered away until a
roll of the mesa hid them from sight.
Uncle John got down from his seat to assist his
chauffeur.
"Thank you, Wampus," he said. "Perhaps you should
have killed him
while you had the opportunity; but you did very
well."
Wampus was wrestling with the tire.
"I have never start a private graveyard," he
replied, "for reason I
am afraid to hurt anyone. But I am Wampus. If Mister
Algy he dance
to-night, somebody mus' lead him, for he will be
blind."
"I never met such a lawless brood in my life,"
prowled the Major,
indignantly. "If they were in New York they'd be put
behind the bars
in two minutes."
"But they are in Arizona--in the wilderness," said
Uncle John gravely.
"If there are laws here such people do not respect
them."
It took a long time to set the new tire and inflate
it, for the outer
tube was torn so badly that an extra one had to be
substituted. But
finally the task was accomplished and once more they
renewed their
journey.
Now that they were alone with their friends the
girls were excitedly
gossiping over the encounter.
"Do you really suppose we are on that man's
ground--his ranch, as he
calls it?" asked Myrtle, half fearfully.
"Why, I suppose someone owns all this ground, barren
as it is,"
replied Patsy. "But we are following a regular
road--not a very good
one, nor much traveled; but a road,
nevertheless--and any road is
public property and open for the use of travelers."
"Perhaps we shall pass by their ranch house,"
suggested Beth.
"If we do," Uncle John answered, "I'll have Wampus
put on full speed.
Even their wild ponies can't follow us then, and if
they try shooting
up the tires again they are quite likely to miss as
we spin by."
"Isn't there any other road?" the Major asked.
Wampus shook his head.
"I have never come jus' this same route before," he
admitted; "but I
make good friend in Prescott, who know all Arizona
blindfold. Him say
this is nice, easy road and we cannot get lost for a
good reason--the
reason there is no other road at all--only this
one."
"Did your friend say anything about Hades Ranch?"
continued the
questioner.
"He say remittance man make much mischief if he can;
but he one
foreign coward, drunk most time an' when sober weak
like my aunt's
tea. He say don't let remittance man make bluff. No
matter how many
come, if you hit one they all run."
"H-m," murmured Uncle John, "I'm not so sure of
that, Wampus. There
seems to be a good many of those insolent rascals,
and I hope we shall
not meet them again. They may give us trouble yet."
"Never be afraid," advised the chauffeur. "I am
Wampus, an' I am
here!"
Admitting that evident truth, our tourists were not
greatly reassured.
Wampus could not tell where the road might lead
them, for he did not
know, save that it led by devious winds to Parker,
on the border
between Arizona and California; but what lay between
them and that
destination was a sealed book to them all.
The car was heavy and the road soft; so in spite of
their powerful
engines the car was not making more than fifteen
miles an hour. A
short ride brought them to a ridge, from the top of
which they saw a
huddle of buildings not far distant, with a near-by
paddock containing
a number of ponies and cattle. The buildings were
not palatial, being
composed mostly of adobe and slab wood; but the
central one, probably
the dwelling or ranch house, was a low, rambling
pile covering
considerable ground.
The road led directly toward this group of
buildings, which our
travelers at once guessed to be "Hades Ranch."
Wampus slowed down and
cast a sharp glance around, but the land on either
side of the trail
was thick with cactus and sagebrush and to leave the
beaten path meant
a puncture almost instantly. There was but one thing
to be done.
"Pretty good road here," said Wampus. "Hold tight
an' don't get scare.
We make a race of it."
"Go ahead," returned Uncle John, grimly. "If any of
those scoundrels
get in your way, run them down."
"I never like to hurt peoples; but if that is your
command, sir, I
will obey," said Wampus, setting his jaws tightly
together.
The car gathered speed and shot over the road at the
rate of twenty
miles an hour; then twenty-five--then thirty--and
finally forty. The
girls sat straight and looked eagerly ahead. Forms
were darting here
and there among the buildings of the ranch, quickly
congregating in
groups on either side of the roadway. A red flag
fluttered in the
center of the road, some four feet from the ground.
"Look out!" shouted Uncle John. "Stop, Wampus; stop
her, I say!"
Wampus saw why, and applied his brakes. The big car
trembled, slowed
down, and came to a stop less than a foot away from
three ugly bars of
barbed wire which had been placed across the road.
They were now just
beside the buildings, and a triumphant shout greeted
them from their
captors, the remittance men.
AUNT JANE'S NIECES AND UNCLE JOHN
Continued....
 
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