The Motor Rangers Through the Sierras Page 8

  CHAPTER VIII.

  LOST IN A PETRIFIED FOREST.

  Before the lynching party regained its senses Nat had rushed the carup alongside Herr Muller. Before that blonde pompadoured son of thefatherland knew what had occurred, Joe's strong arms, aided by Cal'sbiceps, jerked him off his feet and into the tonneau. But the longlariat which was already about his neck trailed behind, and the firstof the punchers that realized what was happening darted forward andseized it as the car sped forward.

  "P-ouf-o-o-o-f!" choked the unfortunate German, as the noose tightened.The cowpuncher who had hold of the other end of the rope dug his heelsinto the ground and braced himself. Herr Muller would have been jerkedclean out of the tonneau by his unlucky neck had it not been forDing-dong Bell, who, with a swift sweep downward of his knife bladesevered the rope.

  As the strain was abruptly relieved the cowpuncher who had hold of theother end went toppling backward in a heap. But at the same instant therest came to their senses, and headed by the man who had threatenedNat, they clambered on their ponies and swept forward, uttering wildyells.

  If this had been all, the occupants of the auto could have affordedto disregard them, but, apparently realizing the hopelessness ofattempting to overtake the fleeing car they unlimbered their revolversand began a fusillade.

  Bullets whistled all about the Motor Rangers and their companions, butluckily nobody was hit. Nat's chief fear though, and his apprehensionwas shared by the rest, was that one of the bullets might puncture atire.

  "If it ever does--good night!" thought Nat as the angry, vengeful yellsof the cheated punchers came to his ears.

  But to his joy they now sounded more faintly. The pursuit was droppingbehind. Right ahead was the feeding herd. In a few minutes the carwould be safe from further attack,--when suddenly there came an ominoussound.

  "Pop!"

  At the same moment the car gave a lurch.

  "Just what I thought," commented Nat, in a despairing voice, "they'vewinged a tire."

  "Shall we have to stop?" asked Cal rather apprehensively, although agrim look about the corners of his mouth betokened the fact that he wasready to fight.

  "Den maype I gedt idt a pigdure, aind idt?" asked Herr Muller, withwhat was almost the first free breath he had drawn since Master Bellslashed the rope.

  "Good Lord!" groaned Cal in comical despair, "my little man, if thosefellows ever get us you'll be able to take a picture of your ownfuneral."

  "How would dot be bossible?" inquired Herr Muller innocently, "if Ivoss a deader I couldn't take my own pigdure, aind't idt?"

  But before any of them could make a reply, indignant or otherwise, asudden occurrence ahead of them caused their attention to be divertedinto a fresh channel. The cattle, terrified at the oncoming auto, hadstopped grazing and were regarding it curiously. Suddenly, one of themgave an alarmed bellow. It appeared to be a signal for flight, for likeone animal, the herd turned, and with terrified bellowings, rushedmadly off into the pine forests on the eastern side of the valley.

  This was a fortunate happening for the boys, for the cowpunchers werenow compelled finally to give up their chase of the automobile and headoff after the stampeded cattle.

  "I reckon we'd better not come this way again; it wouldn't behealthy-like," grinned Cal, hearing their shouts and yells grow faintin the distance as they charged off among the trees.

  "There's one thing," said Nat as he brought the crippled auto to a halta short distance off, "they won't worry us for some time."

  "No. Among them pine stumps it'll take 'em a week to round up theirstock."

  And now all hands turned to Herr Muller and eagerly demanded hisstory. It was soon told. He had arrived in the valley a short timebefore they had, and, charmed by its picturesque wildness, had begunenthusiastically taking pictures. In doing so, he had dismounted, andwandered some distance from his horse. When he turned his attention toit again, it had disappeared. However, although at first he thoughthe had lost the animal he soon found it grazing off among a clumpof willows by the creek. He had mounted it and was riding off whensuddenly the cowpunchers appeared, and as soon as their eyes fell onthe horse accused the German of stealing it.

  "I dell dem dot dey is mistakes making, but der use voss iss?" he wenton. "Dey say dot dey pinch me anyhow."

  "Lynch you, you mean, don't you?" inquired Nat.

  "Vell dey pinch me too, dond dey?" asked Herr Muller indignantly."Howefer, I egsplain by dem dot dey make misdage and den a leedle bullboy----"

  "Cowboy," corrected Cal with a grin.

  "Ach, how I can tell idt you my story if you are interrupt all dertime," protested the German. "Well as I voss saying, der bull-boy tellsme, 'loafer vot you iss you dake idt my bony vile I voss go huntingJohn rabbits. Yust for dot vee hang you py der neck.'"

  "What did you say?" asked Nat, who began to think that theabsent-minded German might actually have taken a wrong horse byaccident.

  "I say, 'Dot is my horse. I know him lige I know it mein brudder.' Butdey say dot I iss horse bustler----"

  "Rustler," muttered Cal.

  "And dot I most be strunged oop. So I dake idt der picdures und gif demmy address in Chermany und den I prepare for der endt."

  "Weren't you scared?" demanded Cal incredulously, for the German hadrelated this startling narrative without turning a hair; in fact,he spoke about it as he might have talked about a tea party he hadattended.

  "Ach himmel, ches I voss scaredt all right. Pudt der voss no use insaying noddings, voss dere?"

  "No I guess if you put it that way there wasn't," laughed Nat, "but yousaved your camera I see."

  He looked at the black box hanging round the German's neck by a strap.

  "Yah," grinned Herr Muller, "I say I von't pee hanged if dey don'dt leditdt be mit der camera my neck py."

  "No wonder they say, 'Heaven help the Irish, the Dutch can look afterthemselves,'" muttered Cal to himself as the entire party got out ofthe machine and a new tire was unbuckled from the spare tire rack.

  The operation of replacing it was a troublesome one, and occupied sometime.

  So long did it take, in fact, that it was almost sundown by the timethe shoe had been finally bolted above the inner tube, and they wereready to start once more. Just as they were about to be off Cal gave anexclamation and pointed ahead. Looking up in the direction he indicatedthe others saw coming toward them a saddled horse. But no riderbestrode it, and the reins were entangled in its forefeet. It whinniedas it saw them and came up close to the auto.

  "Great Scott!" exclaimed Cal, as he saw it, "those cowpunchers had youright after all, Mr. Dutchman; this here is the plug you bought."

  "Yah! yah! I know him now!" exclaimed Herr Muller enthusiastically."See dere is my plankets diedt on py der saddle."

  "So they are," exclaimed Nat, "at least I suppose they're yours. Thenyou actually were a horse thief and didn't know it. I suppose that whenyour horse wandered off that cowpuncher came along on his pony and leftit while he went hunting jack rabbits. Then you, all absorbed in yourpicture taking, mistook his horse for yours."

  "I guess dots der vay idt voss, chust a mistage," agreed Herr Mullerwith great equanimity.

  "Say, pod'ner," said Cal, who had just led up the beast and restored itto its rightful owner, "you're glad you're livin', ain't you?"

  The German's blue eyes opened widely as he stared at his questioner.

  "Sure I iss gladt I'm lifing. Vot for--vy you ask me?"

  "Wall, don't make any more mistakes like that," admonished Cal withgrave emphasis, "folks out here is touchy about them."

  As Herr Muller was going in the same direction as themselves heaccepted a seat in the tonneau and his angular steed was hitched onbehind as over the rough ground the car could not go any faster thana horse could trot. For some time they bumped along the floor of thevalley and at last emerged at its upper end into a rocky-walled canyon,not unlike the one through which they had gained the depression in thehills. But to their uneasiness they cou
ld discover no road, or even atrail. However, the bottom of the canyon was fairly smooth and so Natdecided, after a consultation with Cal, to keep going north. A glanceat the compass had shown them that the canyon ultimately cut throughthe range in that direction.

  "We'll strike a trail or a hut or suthin' afore long," Cal assuredthem.

  "I hope we strike some place to make camp," grumbled Joe, "I'm hungry."

  This speech made them remember that in their excitement they hadneglected to eat any lunch.

  "Never mind, Joe," said Nat, "we'll soon come across a spring or aplace that isn't all strewn with rocks, and we'll camp there even ifthere isn't a road."

  "No, there's no use going ahead in the dark," agreed Cal, looking abouthim.

  It was now quite dark, and the depth of the canyon they were traversingmade the blackness appear doubly dense. But Nat, by gazing upward atthe sky, managed to keep the auto on a fairly straight course, althoughevery now and then a terrific bump announced that they had struck a bigboulder.

  "Wish that moon would hurry up and rise; then we could see something,"remarked Cal, as they crept along. The others agreed with him, but theywould not have the welcome illumination till some time later. They werestill in the canyon, however, when a dim, silvery lustre began tocreep over the eastern sky. Gradually the light fell upon the westernwall of the gorge and soon the surroundings were flooded with radiance.

  But it was a weird and startling scene that the light fell upon. Eachoccupant of the car uttered an involuntary cry of amazement as hegazed about him. On every side were towering trunks of what, at firstglance, seemed trees, but which, presently, were seen to be as barrenof vegetation as marble columns. Stumps of these naked, leafless formslittered the ground in every direction. In the darkness seemingly, theyhad penetrated quite a distance into this labyrinth, for all about themnow were the bare, black trunks. Some of them reached to an immenseheight, and others were short and stumpy. All shared the peculiarity ofpossessing no branches or leaves, however.

  "Where on earth are we?" asked Joe, gazing about him at the desolatescene.

  "I can't make out," rejoined Nat in a troubled tone, "it's sort ofuncanny isn't it?"

  The others agreed.

  "Ugh; it remindts me of a grafeyardt," shivered the German, as helooked about him at the bare stumps rising black and ghostlike in thepale moonlight.

  Suddenly Cal, who had been gazing about him, shouted an explanation ofthe mystery.

  "Boys, we're in a petrified forest!" he exclaimed.