Mason of Bar X Ranch

“Jack’s inside there working on his machine,” the lanky cowboy answered, as he proceeded in his quaint way to introduce Waneda and Mason to the Gaylor boys.

They were well set-up men and about Mason’s own age. He took to them at once and liked their straightforward manner and jovial dispositions. Bruce, the elder, did most of the talking, his brother being a little more reticent.

“We rode over here this morning to invite the Bar X boys to a dance at our ranch the last of this week,” Bruce explained to Mason, “and as to-day is Wednesday you have until Saturday to make up your mind. I know what your outfit has been through with in cleaning out some of the Ricker gang, and my sister insisted on this party to liven up the boys of the Bar X. It is all her own arrangement, and you know how woman folks are when they get set on an idea. I think it is a good plan to get the boys together once in a while.

“Miss Josephine seemed to be taken up with the idea, and told me to get you to promise to visit us Saturday. I guess she is pretty near the boss of this ranch, and as I have her on my side I have hopes that she will be able to persuade you to come to our party, Jack.”

“I’ll be glad to come and you can depend on me for one,” Mason answered, turning to look at Tex who was in earnest conversation with Lem and Waneda. “I’ll go among the boys and get them all to turn out for this occasion, and we will make the party such a success that your sister won’t have any kick coming.”

“Another reason why we came over here this morning was to warn you to watch out for the friends of Ricker,” Bruce continued, lowering his voice. Tex had started on a slow walk to the ranch with Lem and Waneda. “You know the town of Smoky Point below Trader’s Post at the railroad junction?”

Mason nodded his head, becoming deeply interested.

“Well,” Bruce resumed, “Lem and I happened to have some business to transact in that town yesterday, and we dropped into the Duke hotel: it is a saloon and dance hall run by Duke Williams, a notorious gambler. He got his nickname, Duke, from his highly polished manners and cool indifference to danger. He is said to be a man who never gets rattled or shows any signs of nervousness, no matter what the provocation. We were seated at a table and had just ordered a round of drinks when two cowboys came in and took seats near us. They were from the ranch that joins our boundary line, and from their talk they had been drinking heavily and were in an ugly mood. One of the men was Nick Cover’s cousin and goes by the name of Spot Wells. They didn’t appear to realize they were talking loud, and during their conversation I caught Tex’s name mentioned, followed by an oath, and then they began to plan how they could get Tex and then finish you off. For some reason or other they seemed to think that you were directly responsible for the Ricker raid. We took our leave shortly after that, and I made it my business to let you know the kind of deal you are up against. Lem will put Tex wise, and you can bank on me to keep you posted if I hear anything else. What I am most concerned about just now, is to make sure that you will come to our dance.”

Mason grasped his hand and shook it heartily.

“You can depend on me, Bruce, I wouldn’t miss it for the world, and I want to thank you for going to all this trouble on my account,” he said sincerely. “Why, you almost made me forget about your party while I was listening to your description of these men.”

His eyes lighted up with a curious gleam and he looked hard at Bruce.

“Say, I’ve got an idea,” he burst out suddenly; “get your brother to stay here and have breakfast with us, and then you and I will quietly get this old machine out and take a spin down to Smoky Point. There is a bare chance that we will find those cowboys there, and I want to get a good look at them. We won’t say a word to anybody about going, and you can patch it up with your brother afterwards. Are you game?”

“It’s a go,” Bruce answered readily, “I always did want to ride in one of those blaze wagons, and now is my chance. I see Tex has vanished with the girl and my brother and I suppose they are at the ranch by this time. That makes me think, while I was telling the ranch owner about that deal at Smoky Point, Josephine cut in on my conversation and urged me to stay for breakfast. I refused her invitation, so when she sees me again I will have to lay the blame on you.”

When they arrived at the ranch, breakfast was ready, and Josephine took Mason to task for keeping her waiting.

He looked at Bruce and laughed.

“You see, Bruce,” he said gaily, “if there are any scoldings to be had I get ’em.”

“What have you two been hatching up?” the girl questioned suspiciously, smiling at Mason’s good humor. “Do you know, Mr. Gaylor, since Sir Jack has gotten well from his wound, he is getting to be an awful tease?”

After breakfast the owner of Bar X insisted on showing the Gaylor brothers around the ranch, and had them look over some new stock he had received a large shipment of. To the vexation of Mason and Bruce it was a matter of over four hours before they managed to break away from the enthusiastic ranch owner and got started down the trail towards Smoky Point.

Bruce had to tell his brother he would be gone for nearly the rest of the day, and just as Mason got his car in motion one of the men in the corral yelled after him that Josephine and his sister had taken their horses right after breakfast, and said they were going to do some shopping at Trader’s Post. Mason wondered at this, for the girls usually let him know when they intended taking a long trip.

“Maybe we will meet or pass them somewhere on the trail,” Bruce suggested, noticing Mason’s anxiety.

Mason brightened up at the thought.

“That would be fine,” he agreed, and he let the car out until they were doing a good fifty miles per hour.

“They are fine girls, but just a little too daring to suit me at these times. How does this speed suit you, Bruce? Shall I let her out a little more?”

Bruce had his hat jammed well down over his ears.

“No,” he managed to gasp, “I ain’t no hog for speed. This is plenty fast enough for me.”

Mason laughed as he slowed the racer down to a more moderate road speed. Then he began to try to figure out about how far ahead the girls were.

As they had over four hours the start of him, he had to give it up in disgust. Knowing Josephine’s daring, he reasoned that she might even swing off after reaching Trader’s Post and head towards Devil’s Gap. He had heard the girls repeatedly express a desire to be able to travel when and where they pleased, but he had always cautioned them that it was unsafe for them to be without an escort, as there was always the danger of running into some of the lawless gunmen of the valley. He wished most heartily that they had not started off alone, and he was worried more than he cared to admit even to Bruce Gaylor.

The motor was running in perfect order this day, and later when the buildings of Trader’s Post came in sight, Bruce opened his eyes in surprise.

“This sure is a quick way of traveling, and beats a horse forty ways,” he remarked in admiration.

“You’re a little different from Tex,” Mason answered, as he remembered how the lanky cowboy had refused to ride. “Why, I couldn’t get him any closer than four feet to the car.”

They had made good time from the ranch, and as they drove into the town, Mason’s first move was to dash into the leading store and inquire if the girls had done any trading there this day. They were well known at Trader’s Post, as it was the nearest place to Bar X ranch and the girls did quite a bit of shopping there. Mason was astonished to receive the answer that the girls had not been seen to enter the town, or at least they had done no trading in any of the stores which he visited.

He was thoroughly aroused by this time, and something seemed to tell him that the girls were in danger. He was inclined to follow his first idea that the girls had swung off the trail before reaching Trader’s Post and had headed for Devil’s Gap. He told Bruce of his thought and waited impatiently for his opinion.

“It won’t make any difference to me if you want to go towards Devil’s Gap,” Bruce said grimly; “if you think the girls are in danger we ought to get busy right quick. This trip to Smoky Point can wait for some other time.”

Mason did some hard thinking and kept looking anxiously down the trail towards Smoky Point. Suddenly he jumped for the driver’s seat and started the racer off at a furious speed.

“Hang on hard, Bruce,” he grated, “something tells me the girls took a notion to visit Smoky Point, and it’s to Smoky Point we go.”

There was a whirl of dust as the car shot out of the town, and some of the natives of Trader’s Post who happened to be in the street stared after them in amazement. That Bruce was scared, Mason well knew, for he could feel his body quiver. With set lips he drove the fast machine ahead, and he confided to Bruce afterwards that he never had driven faster on the race track. Soon they struck a bad part of the trail and he had to slow the car down. Bruce seized the opportunity to ask a few questions.

“What got the idea into your head that the girls might visit Smoky Point?” he queried curiously.

“When you told the folks at the ranch about Spot Wells and Duke Williams’ place at Smoky Point, the girls heard you, didn’t they?” Mason questioned him.

“Why, yes, they were in the room,” Bruce admitted, wonderingly.

“Well,” Mason resumed, “it would be just like my sister to coax Josephine to show her this town, and as you know, she is from the East and nothing would suit her fancy better than a little adventure of this kind, so she could tell the people back East what a real Western town is like. It would appeal to her about the same as it does to some of our society people in New York when they go on a slumming trip to Chinatown. Now, do you get the drift of my reasoning?”

Bruce nodded understandingly.

“God grant that they haven’t fallen into evil hands,” Mason added, as he pulled the plunging car out of a bad ditch.

A little later they were entering the outskirts of Smoky Point and he slowed the car down in order not to attract any undue attention. As they drove into the main street, he joyously discovered the girls’ horses hitched close to a large department store.

Mason stopped the car in front of the store, and turning to Bruce said:

“You go into this store and make inquiries and if you don’t hear any news of them there, visit the other stores. In the meantime I will look over Duke Williams’ place and you can come there as soon as you find out anything.”

“But you don’t know Duke Williams or the run of the place as well as I do,” Bruce protested.

“That’s just the reason I want to go alone,” Mason replied hurriedly, “this Williams don’t know me, and if there is any deviltry afoot they won’t suspect me half as quick as they would you.”

This plan was agreed to, and Mason sauntered slowly over to the place run by Duke Williams. He entered the bar-room and called for a cigar. There was the usual bunch one would find in a place of this kind, lined up against the bar talking with the barkeeper. After a sharp glance at this man Mason decided he was not the proprietor. There was a small booth, or reading-room, just outside the barroom. Mason, taking a paper out of his pocket, entered this room and seating himself comfortably made an attempt at reading. Seated directly opposite him were two cowboys engaged in earnest conversation.

Mason assumed a drunken attitude, allowing his head to sink slowly into his paper. Listening closely, he watched them over the top of that paper. They were talking in subdued tones, but he caught the name of Tex mentioned and he was instantly on the alert. If one of these men should turn out to be Spot Wells, he could thank his lucky stars that the cowboy did not know him by sight. He listened eagerly and a minute later he was electrified to hear one of them say it was about time to visit the girls!

They laughed hoarsely and rose to their feet. There was a flight of stairs leading out of the room and as they started to ascend them, Mason came under their direct gaze. His head had fallen on a level with the table and he appeared to be fast asleep. He was watching them out of the corner of his eye, however, and he saw one of the men hesitate and regard him suspiciously.