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121 pages

English

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The Boy Scouts head to the deserts of the Southwest United States in this, the second novel in the popular series for younger readers. There, they spend some time as ranch hands, track the legendary grizzly bear known as Silver Tip -- and elude some rowdy rustlers along the way.

Sujets

Adventure (Guyana)

Adventure

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Publié par	The Floating Press
Date de parution	01 avril 2016
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781776599134
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0134€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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THE BOY SCOUTS ON THE RANGE
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JOHN HENRY GOLDFRAP

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The Boy Scouts on the Range First published in 1911 Epub ISBN 978-1-77659-913-4 Also available: PDF ISBN 978-1-77659-914-1 © 2014 The Floating Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike. Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
Contents
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Chapter I - Rob Surprises a Cow-Puncher Chapter II - News of the Moquis Chapter III - The Desert Water Hole Chapter IV - Silver Tip Appears Chapter V - At the Harkness Ranch Chapter VI - A Boy Scout "Broncho Buster" Chapter VII - The Stampede at the Far Pasture Chapter VIII - Hemmed in by the Herd Chapter IX - The Home of a Vanished Race Chapter X - The Ghost of the Cave Dwelling Chapter XI - Captured by Moquis Chapter XII - Tubby's Peril Chapter XIII - A Friend in Need Chapter XIV - A Toboggan to Disaster Chapter XV - What Became of the Scout? Chapter XVI - Blinky Spoils a Sombrero Chapter XVII - In the Clutches of the Grizzly Chapter XVIII - The Indian Agent Chapter XIX - Black Cloud's Visit Chapter XX - The Watchers of the Trail Chapter XXI - The Maverick Raid Chapter XXII - Clark Jennings Gets a Surprise Chapter XXIII - Worshippers of the Snake Chapter XXIV - Boy Scouts to the Rescue
Chapter I - Rob Surprises a Cow-Puncher
*
Northward from Truxton, Arizona, the desert stretches a red-hot, sandyarm, the elbow of which crooks about several arid ranges of baked hillsclothed with a scanty growth of chaparral. Across this sun-bittensolitude of sand and sage brush extend two parallel steel lines—thebranch of the Southern Pacific which at Truxton takes a bold plunge intothe white solitudes of the dry country.
Scattered few and far between on the monotonous level are desert towns,overtopped by lofty water tanks, perched on steel towers, in the placeof trees, and sun-baked like everything else in the "great sandy."These isolated communities, the railroad serves. Twice a day, with thedeliberate pace of the Gila Monster, a dusty train of three cars, drawnby a locomotive of obsolete pattern,—which has been not inaptlycompared to a tailor's goose with a fire in it—makes its slow way.
Rumbling through a gloomy, rock-walled cut traversing the barren rangeof the Sierra Tortilla, the railroad emerges—after much bumping throughscorched foothills and rattling over straddle-legged trestles above dryarroyos—at Mesaville. Mesaville stands on the south bank of the SanPedro, a scanty branch of the Gila River. To the south of this littledesert community, across the quivering stretches of glaring sand andmesquite, there hangs always a blue cloud—the Santa Catapina Range.
The blazing noonday sun lay smitingly over Mesaville and the inhabitantsof that town, when on a September day the dust-powdered train beforereferred to drew up groaningly at the depot, and from one of its forwardcars there emerged three boys of a type strange to the primitivesettlement.
The eldest of the three, a boy of about seventeen, whom his two friendsaddressed as Rob, was Rob Blake, whom readers of the Boy Scouts of theEagle Patrol—the first volume of this series—have met before. Hiscompanions were Corporal Merritt Crawford of the same patrol, and therotund Tubby Hopkins, the son of widow Hopkins of Hampton, Long Island,from which village all three, in fact, came.
"Well, here we are at Mesaville."
Rob Blake gazed across the hot tracks at the row of raw buildingsopposite as he spoke, and the town gazed back in frank curiosity at him.Opposite the depot was a small hotel, on the porch of which severalfigures had been seated with their chairs tilted back, and their feet onthe rail, as the train rolled in.
As it pulled out again, leaving the boys and an imposing pile of baggageexposed to the view of the Mesavillians, six pairs of feet were removedfrom the porch-rails as if by machinery, and their several owners bentforward in a frank stare at the newcomers.
"Must think a circus has come to town," commented Tubby.
"Well, they know where to look for the elephant," teased Merrittmischievously.
"And for the laughing hyena, too, I guess," parried the fat youth, asthe corporal went off into a paroxysm of suddenly checked laughter.
The boys had bought sombreros at Truxton, and in their baggage wasclothing of the kind which Harry Harkness—at whose invitation they hadcome to this part of the country—had advised them to buy. But as theystill wore their light summer suits of Eastern cut and make, theirgenerally "different" look from the members of the Mesaville HotelLoungers' Association was quite sufficient to excite the attention ofthe latter.
Readers of the Boy Scouts of the Eagle Patrol will recall that in thatbook was related the formation of the patrol at Hampton Harbor, L. I.,and how it had been effected. How the boys of the patrol had manyopportunities to show that they were true scouts was also told. Notablywas this so in the incident of the stolen uniforms, in which the boys'enemies, Jack Curtiss, Bill Bender and Hank Handcraft, a disreputableold town character, were implicated.
It will also be remembered that while encamped on an island near theirhome village, the Boy Scouts put off in a motor dory to the rescue of astranded cattle ship on which Mr. Harkness, a cattle rancher, and hisson Harry, a lad of the boys' own age, were returning from London,whither they had just taken a big consignment of stock. In return fortheir services, including the summoning of aid by wireless, Mr. Harknessinvited the boys to spend some time on his cattle range. Whatadventurous boys would not have leaped at the invitation? But for a timeit appeared as if it would be impossible for Rob and his chums to acceptit, owing to the fact that the Hampton Academy, which they all attended,resumed its school term early in the fall.
Just at this time, however, something happened which was very welcometo all three of the Scouts. Serious defects had been discovered in thefoundation of the Academy, and it had been decided that it would beunsafe for the scholars to reassemble till these had been remedied. Itwas estimated that the work would take two months or more. Thus it hadcome about that the invitation of Mr. Harkness was accepted. To theboys' regret, however, only the members of the Patrol who stood that dayon the platform at Mesaville had been able to obtain the consent oftheir parents to take the long, and to Eastern eyes, hazardous, trip.
Arrangements had been made by letter for Harry Harkness, the rancher'sson, to meet the boys at Mesaville, but the train had rolled in androlled out again without his putting in an appearance.
"Maybe Harry fell in that river and was drowned," suggested Tubby,pointing ahead down the tracks to the trestle crossing the San PedroRiver. At this time of the year the so-called river was a mere trickleof mud-colored water, threading its way between high, sandy banks. Theboys burst into a laugh at the idea of any one's drowning in it.
"He'll be here before long," said Rob confidently. "It's a drive of morethan fifty miles to the ranch, remember, and we can't start out tillto-morrow morning, anyhow."
Just then a white-aproned Chinaman appeared on the porch of the hoteland vigorously rang a bell. At the signal the lounging cow-punchers andplainsmen rose languidly from their chairs and bolted into thedining-room. From the few stores also appeared the merchants ofMesaville, most of whom lived at the hotel.
"Sounds like dinner," remarked Tubby hopefully, sniffing the air onwhich an odor of food was wafted across the tracks. "Smells like it,too."
"Trust Tubby to detect grub," laughed Rob.
"He's a culinary Sherlock Holmes," declared Merritt, but his remark wasmade to Rob alone, for Tubby was beyond the reach of his sarcasm. Hehad started at once to cross the tracks and find the dining-room.
"I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to have something to eat while we'rewaiting," said Rob. "Let's go over."
Tubby was already installed in a seat at the long table when his chumsentered. He had in front of him a plate of soup, on the top of whichfloated a sort of upper crust of grease. From time to time aninvestigating fly ventured too near the edge and was miserably drowned.It was Tubby's initiation into desert hotel life, and he didn't look asif he was enjoying it.
On both sides of the table, however, the cow-punchers, teamsters, andMesaville commercial lights, were shoveling away their food without theflicker of an eyelash. Opposite to Tubby were seated two young fellowsin cowboy garb, who seemed to extract much noisy amusement from watchingthe stout youth eat. They didn't seem to care if he overheard theirsomewhat personal remarks.
"Ah, there's a lad who'll be a help to his folks when he grows up,"grinned one of the stout boy's tormentors, as Rob and Merritt took theirseats.
"Which will be before you do," placidly murmured Tubby, continuing toeat his soup.
A shout of laughter went up at this, and it wasn't at Tubby's expense,either.
The two youths who had been so anxious to display their wit reddened,and one of them angrily said something about "the fresh tenderfoot."
"Here's two more of 'em," tittered the other, as Merritt and Rob camein. Rob wore on his breast, but pinned on his waistcoat and out ofsight, the Red Honor for lifesaving, which had been presented to him forheroism at the time of the waterlogging of the hydroplane, as narratedin the Boy Scouts of the Eagle Patrol. Merritt also wore the decorationin the same inconspicuous place.
As the leader of the Eagle P