Part 43 (2/2)
”Yes. He is the cattle rancher whom Luke insisted was such a friend of his. I took a long chance and had the sheriff arrest him to-day. He is being held until you take a look to see if you can identify him. I hope you will be able to.”
”Where is he?” asked the lad. ”Tied up in the chuck wagon. I'll have him brought over.”
”h.e.l.lo, Bluff,” greeted Tad, the instant he set eyes on the surly face of the prisoner.
”h.e.l.lo, kid. Never saw me before, did you?”
”I should say I had. That's the man, Mr. Simms. There can be no doubt about it.”
”And he is the fellow who caught and turned me over to the Indians,”
added Philip, shrinking away from the bearded face.
”Then I guess there is nothing more to be said,” announced Mr. Simms, with a grim smile. ”This man has been doing a crooked business for years, all up and down the trail. Of course he had accomplices, but we shall hardly get them. n.o.body suspected him. The frequent thefts of stock and the killing of sheep was a mystery until you solved it, Master Tad. I wish I knew how to express my appreciation of what you have done for us.”
”There is one favor you can do for me if you will, Mr. Simms.”
”It is already granted. Name it.”
”I wish you would see that Jinny gets the beads I promised her and which I am going to buy as soon as I get where I can.”
”She shall have them,” replied the rancher, ”and a present from me, besides. I'll send one of my men to the Blackfeet Agency especially to deliver your present and mine to the Indian girl.”
”Thank you.”
”To-morrow we shall have to go back to town with the sheriff and his prisoner. I should like to have you accompany us if you will. The prosecuting attorney can take your deposition and thus avoid the necessity of your having to wait for the trial. You are free to continue on your trip then, if you desire.”
”Of course he will go with you,” spoke up the Professor, who, up to that point, had been too deeply absorbed in the developments of the hour to offer any comment. ”All of us will accompany you. Boys, you had better get your belongings together before we turn in, as I imagine Mr. Simms will want to make an early start in the morning. I guess you are all pretty well satisfied with what you have seen of the old Custer trail.”
”Yes,” shouted the boys. ”We've had a great time.”
”At least some of us have,” smiled Tad.
At Forsythe next day Tad Butler and young Philip Simms appeared against the prisoner. As the result of their positive identification and further testimony, Bluff broke down. He made a full confession, implicating others who had been concerned with him in various misdeeds along the trail, each of whom was eventually brought to justice and punished.
Their presence being no longer necessary in Forsythe, that afternoon the Pony Rider Boys boarded a sleeping car, loudly cheered by a crowd of enthusiastic ranchers and villagers, who had gathered to see them off. And there, with their four smiling faces framed in the Pullman windows, we shall take leave of the Pony Rider Boys. They will next be heard from in another volume, ent.i.tled, ”THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE OZARKS, or the Secret of Ruby Mountain,” a stirring tale of adventure and daring deeds among the Missouri mountains, in which the lads pa.s.s through many perils.
THE END.
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