CHAPTER XXVII—THE NEW COW-BOY.
When the girls awakened from their siesta, arm in arm they sauntered down to the corral where they saw Tenderfoot Tom trying to ride a broncho, but without much success. He leaped to the ground when he beheld the girls and removing his hat, in a manner unknown to cow-boys, he held it while he talked. “Young ladies,” he said, “do I look important? Slim and Rusty Pete have gone with your brother to some distant part of the range and may be away until the morrow and I, if you please, am the cow-boy in charge of V. M. Ranch and no longer merely a—.”
He did not finish the sentence and Virg wondered if he had planned saying outlaw, but Margaret was finishing it for him by merrily adding, “can opener.”
“Let me prove that I really am a cook,” the lad exclaimed brightly. “Suppose you two damsels go for a canter and do not return until six o’clock, and then you shall see what you shall see.”
Catching and saddling Star and Comrade took but a few moments and then the lad stood waving his sombrero to the girls as they rode away. Ten minutes later when they had reached the top of the mesa trail, Margaret looked back. Her exclamation of surprise caused Virginia also to turn. They saw Tom with his gun over his shoulder riding away in the opposite direction. “What can that mean?” Margaret wondered. “Do you suppose that he wishes to be rid of us that he might leave the V. M. Ranch?”
“Well, if he wants to go, let him,” Virginia replied. “We will ride over to the junction and ask Mrs. Wells if she knows someone who would like to cook for us. That is the part of our home work that Uncle Tex assumes when he is here. I never knew that dear old man to stay away from V. M. for two whole months before, and now it is nearly three. He often goes for six weeks or so. I believe that he likes to roam but he gets homesick after a time and comes back for a good long stay.”
“Poor old man,” Margaret said. “Perhaps he plans staying away until he thinks I am gone. The mere idea of being my guardian evidently frightened him.”
Virginia smiled but her thought had reverted to Tom. “I can’t believe that our new cow-boy is really deserting us, and yet it did seem strange for him to ride away as soon as we were gone. However, we will find out when we return. Here is where we dip down into the dry creek bottom. At this time of the year it is perfectly safe to ride along there. It’s a short-cut to the Junction but woe to man or beast who takes it in the spring for a sudden cloud burst in the mountains changes this creek into a raging torrent before the trail leading out of it could possibly be reached.”
Margaret looked anxiously at the sky that was gleaming blue above the mountains, but not a sign of a cloud was to be seen.
Half an hour later, they reached the trail that led them again to the desert on the other side and there, near the Santa Fe tracks, stood a combination station, general store and dwelling. In it lived Mr. and Mrs. Wells and their small son, Danny.
When at their rap Mrs. Wells opened the door, she exclaimed:
“Virginia Davis, what is your brother thinking of to permit you to ride around alone these days? Doesn’t he know there’s an outlaw supposed to be hiding near here in the mountains? Folks say he is fierce looking, like a story book pirate. There’s a posse over from Texas hunting for him and a reward offered for his capture dead or alive. He’ll be caught soon, of course, but till he is, seems like you girls ought to stay pretty close to home.”
Luckily at that moment Mrs. Wells was called into the store, which opened from her living-room, and so she did not see the look of concern and amazement in the faces of her guests. “But that outlaw can’t be our Tom,” Margaret protested. “He isn’t fierce looking. He—” she said no more for their hostess was returning.
She shook her head when Virginia inquired if she could recommend someone who could cook for them. “Miss Headsley’s gal might have liked the place only she’s tuck another. She and Rattlesnake Jim got jined last week and they’re homesteadin’ a place now up her pa’s way.”
The girls refused a kindly given invitation to remain to supper and they were soon in the saddle cantering at top-speed toward V. M. Ranch. Virginia felt very anxious, she hardly knew why. If this posse was really searching for Tom, she ought to be glad if he had escaped, but it didn’t seem a bit like to him to go without even saying goodbye. She just couldn’t believe that he had done so, but, when they reached V. M., and no one came to take their horses, with heavy hearts they walked up to the house from the corral.
Virg in the lead, opened the front door and then stood staring in amazement at what she saw within.