The Rover Boys on Sunset Trail by Arthur M. Winfield - HTML preview

CHAPTER XXX
 THE ROUND-UP—CONCLUSION

“Somebody’s in trouble! We’ll have to see if we can’t help him!”

“Beware! It may be one of the Davenport crowd.”

“That may be true, but we can’t let him die. Come on.”

Another flash of lightning lit up the scene, and by this the Rover boys saw where a tall tree of the mountainside had been broken off. The top hung down over some sharp rocks and under several limbs rested the form of a man, held down so that he could do little but kick frantically with one leg.

“It’s Ocker!” exclaimed Fred, as they drew closer.

“Help! Help!” came faintly from the man as he saw the dim forms of the boys in the darkness. “Help! I’m being crushed to death!”

Fully realizing that they might be playing into the hands of their enemies and yet not willing to see Ocker crushed to death, the four lads sprang forward and began to tug at the tree branches which held the fellow a prisoner. They could see that any instant the top of the tree might break away entirely from the trunk and then Ocker would be crushed to a pulp.

It was strenuous work, but the military experiences of the former cadets stood them in good stead, and now, as the twins and Jack raised one limb after another, Fred propped them up with such stones as were handy so that they could not slip back. Then, while the twins continued to exert pressure on the treetop, Jack hauled Ocker away.

The man was bruised and bleeding and for the moment so winded he could scarcely speak. At first he had not recognized his rescuers and he stared in astonishment when another flash of lightning revealed their faces.

“You!” he gasped hoarsely. “You! And I was helping to keep you prisoners!”

“Ocker, we have saved your life, and you know it,” answered Jack quickly. “Now then, it is up to you to help us escape. Will you do it?”

“I sure will!” panted the man. “I’m done with that crowd, anyhow. I told Davenport I wasn’t brought up to do such dirty work as he has planned.” Ocker paused to regain his breath. “Why, Davenport is as bad a skunk as Pete Garrish!”

“Pete Garrish!” exclaimed Randy. “Do you know anything about that man?”

“I know everything about him,” muttered Ocker. “He and his crowd are trying to swindle your father and some other men out of their interest in the Rolling Thunder mine.”

“You come with us, Ocker, and you won’t regret it,” put in Jack hurriedly. “Show us the way to Cal Corning’s house.”

For an instant the man hesitated.

“If I take you back where you belong, you won’t have me arrested, will you?” he pleaded. “I don’t want to hurt you fellows, and I’d just as lief tell Mr. Rover what I know about Garrish.”

“You won’t be arrested,” answered Jack. “I’ll give you my word on it. Come—hurry up! We not only want to get back, but we want to have a chance to round those other fellows up.”

“But don’t do it before I’ve a chance to get away!” And the man’s face showed his sudden terror.

“All right, we’ll give you your chance, and we’ll make it worth your while, too,” answered Jack.

Ocker had been on foot, not daring to take his horse when he had stolen away from the Davenport crowd. He led the way to a broader and better trail, and less than half an hour later found the whole crowd on Sunset Trail. By this time the storm was passing and only a few scattering raindrops were coming down.

That tramp was one the Rover boys never forgot. Soaked to the skin, and so footsore they could scarcely walk, they reached Cal Corning’s place at about five o’clock in the morning. Their knock on the door brought Corning to that portal, gun in hand.

“Why—why, it’s the Rover boys!” called out the man, in amazement. “Hurrah! Mr. Rover! Mr. Rover! The boys are here, safe and sound!” he yelled.

It was then that pandemonium seemed to break loose. From a couple of the bedrooms rushed Tom Rover followed quickly by Sam and Dick. The men were partly dressed, having removed only their coats and shoes.

“My boys! My boys!” cried Tom Rover, and there was almost a sob in his throat as he rushed to embrace the twins. Then Dick ran to Jack and Sam to Fred, and there was a genuine hugging match all around.

“Gee, but it’s good to be back!” was the way Andy expressed himself, and each of the other lads endorsed that sentiment.

“We were out looking for you until the storm came up,” said Dick Rover. “We were going out again as soon as it was daylight.”

“Where have you been and what did those rascals do to you?” questioned Sam Rover.

“It’s a long story, Dad,” answered Fred, and then he added quickly: “Here’s a man you’ll like to see, Uncle Tom. His name is Ocker, and he knows all about Peter Garrish.”

“Did he find you?” questioned Tom quickly.

“No. We found him—under a tree that was struck by lightning,” put in Jack quickly. “We’ll give you the particulars in a little while. Just now we want to know if you don’t want to get a crowd together to go after Davenport and his bunch. Those men ought to be rounded up and put back in prison.”

“Sure, we’ll round them up if it can be done,” announced Dick Rover.

All entered the house, and very soon the boys and the others were provided by the Corning sisters with a substantial breakfast. While eating, the lads told their story and then the men questioned Ocker.

The good luck of the Rover boys in escaping from the cave and falling in with the man who had guided them to the Corning place was followed directly after breakfast by more good luck. Two cowboys and six miners, including Lew Billings and Hank Butts, came riding by the place and were immediately halted and told what was in the air. These men at once agreed to join the others in an attempt to bring Davenport and his cohorts to justice.

“I want to go along,” said Jack to his father when the posse was ready to start, and the other lads echoed that sentiment, and somewhat against the wishes of their parents the four boys joined the men in the hunt for the rascals.

The round-up lasted until sundown, when Davenport, Tate and Jackson were located by part of the crowd under Dick Rover. Several shots were exchanged and Davenport received a slight wound in the shoulder. Then the three men held up their hands in token of surrender.

In the meantime the boys and some of the other men managed to catch Digby and Booster. The young man who had so imposed upon the lads in New York and Chicago did his best to get away and then tried to show fight. But Jack promptly knocked him down by a smashing blow on the jaw, and when Booster got up again Randy hit him in the ear and Fred got behind him so that when Andy gave the fellow a shove he went down flat on his back with a thud. Then he was captured and his hands were bound tightly behind him.

“I don’t think you’ll play any more confidence games in a hurry,” said Jack. And he was right, for as a result of his participation in the plot against the boys, Joe Booster, as well as Digby, was sent to prison for a number of years.

Davenport, Tate and Jackson looked much crestfallen when confronted by the lads and their fathers. They were fearful of being lynched, knowing that some of the miners and cowboys might be in favor of such a proceeding. They were glad when the sheriff was called and they were taken off to the county jail. They, too, were sentenced to prison for long terms.

From Ocker Tom Rover was able to gain much information regarding Peter Garrish and his method of running the Rolling Thunder mine. As a result of this and the action of Tom and several of the other large stockholders Garrish was compelled to cancel a contract he had made with the ore company in which he and his friends were interested and was likewise made to surrender some stock which he had appropriated. Then he was allowed to retire, a poorer if not a wiser man.

Because of what he had done for the boys and for Tom, Ocker was not prosecuted. Instead, the Rovers gave him sufficient money to buy his passage to the gold fields of Alaska where, they hoped, he would turn over a new leaf and make a real man of himself.

“Well, they didn’t get that hundred and fifty thousand dollars after all!” chuckled Randy after the rascals had been rounded up and the boys were safe once more at Cal Corning’s house.

“No, they didn’t get it,” answered his father. “Just the same, we were ready to pay it in case we couldn’t get any trace of you.”

“It certainly was a strenuous experience—being kept prisoners in that cave on the mountainside,” said Jack. “I don’t believe we’ll ever have such a thrilling thing happen again.” But Jack was mistaken. More thrilling days were in store for the four lads, and what these were will be related in another volume, to be entitled “The Rover Boys Winning a Fortune.”

During the week the boys had spent as prisoners a number of letters had come for them, including communications from their mothers and from the girls, and also letters from Gif, Spouter and Phil Franklin.

“Well, the girls are having a good enough time,” said Jack, who was reading a letter from Ruth. “And I’m glad of it.”

“I suppose they’ll be coming home soon, now that the Davenport crowd are rounded up,” returned Fred.

“Here’s good news from Phil Franklin!” burst out Andy. “He’s found the silver trophy. Fished it up out of the lake two days after he sent that last letter.”

“Good enough!” cried his twin. “Now we won’t have that on our minds any more,” and his face showed his satisfaction. “Now if only we could get a new cannon for Colonel Colby, to replace the one that busted, we’ll be all right.” And let me add here that later on Jack’s father did obtain a new piece from the government and it was installed on the Military Academy campus with much ceremony.

And now, while the Rover boys are talking about their friends and discussing the finding of the silver trophy, and their adventures while prisoners on the mountainside, we will say good-by.

THE END