The Pony Rider Boys in Texas | Page 2

the curbing, tossing its head
and champing its bit restlessly.
As for the freckle-faced boy and his companion, the reader no doubt
has recognized in them our old friends, Tad Butler and Ned Rector, the
Pony Rider Boys. After their exciting experiences in the Rockies, and
their discovery of the Lost Claim, which gave each of the boys a little

fortune of his own, as narrated in the preceding volume, "The Pony
Rider Boys in the Rockies," the Pony Riders had turned toward Texas
as the scene of their next journeying. With Walter Perkins and Stacy
Brown, the boys, under the guidance of Professor Zepplin, were to join
a cattle outfit at San Diego, whence they were to travel northward with
it.
This was to be one of the biggest cattle drives of recent years. A cattle
dealer, Mr. Thomas B. Miller, had purchased a large herd of Mexican
cattle, which he decided to drive across the state on the old trail, instead
of shipping them by rail, to his ranch in Oklahoma.
It had been arranged that the Pony Riders were to become members of
the working force of the outfit during what was called the "drive"
across the State of Texas. The boys were awaiting the arrival of the
herd at San Diego on this Fourth of July morning. Though they did not
suspect it, the Pony Rider Boys were destined, on this trip, to pass
through adventures more thrilling, and hardships more severe, than
anything they had even dreamed of before.
The cattle had arrived late the previous evening, though the boys had
not yet been informed of the fact. The animals were to be allowed to
graze and rest for the day, while the cowmen, or such of them as could
be spared, were given leave to ride into town in small parties. It was the
advance guard of the cowboys whose shots and yells had stirred the
people in the street to such sudden activity.
On they came, a shouting, yelling mob.
Tad turned to look at them now.
The sight was one calculated to stir the heart and quicken the pulses of
any boy. But the face of Tad Butler reflected only mild curiosity as he
gazed inquiringly at the dashing horsemen, each one of whom was
riding standing in his stirrups waving sombrero and gun on high.
What interested the freckle-faced boy most was their masterful
horsemanship.

"Y-e-e-e-o-w!" exploded the foremost of the riders.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
As many puffs of white smoke leaped into the air from the revolvers of
the skylarking cowmen.
"W-h-o-o-o-p-e!" they chorused in a mighty yell, letting go at the same
time a rattling fire.
"Y-e-e-e-o-w!"
As they swept down toward the spot where Tad was sitting on his pony,
the cowboys swung into line six abreast, thus filling the street from
curb to curb.
This time, however, instead of shooting into the air, they lowered the
muzzles of their revolvers, sending volley after volley into the street
ahead of them, the leaden missiles viciously kicking up the dirt into
miniature clouds, like those from heavy drops of rain in advance of a
thunder squall.
Tad's pony began to show signs of nervousness.
"Whoa!" commanded the boy sharply, tightening his rein and pressing
his knees firmly against the animal's sides. The prancing pony was
quickly mastered by its rider, though it continued to shake its head in
emphatic protest.
"Out of the way, you tenderfoot!" yelled a cowman, espying the boy
and pony directly in his path.
Tad Butler did not move.
"Y-e-e-e-o-w!" shrieked the band in a series of shrill cries.
When they saw that the boy was holding his ground so calmly, their
revolvers began to bark spitefully, flicking up a semicircle of dust
about the pony's feet, causing the little animal to prance and rear into

the air.
At this Tad's jaws set stubbornly, his lips pressing themselves firmly
together. The boy brought his quirt down sharply on the pony's flank, at
the same time pressing the pointless rowels of his spurs against the
sides of the frightened animal.
Though Tad determinedly held his mount in its place, he was no longer
able to check its rearing and plunging, for the wiry little animal was
wholly unused to such treatment. Besides, a volley of revolver bullets
about its feet would disturb the steadiest horse.
Two cowboys on his side of the street had driven their mounts toward
the lad with a yell. Tad did not wholly divine their purpose, though he
knew that their intent was to frighten him into giving them the street.
He felt instinctively that if he should refuse to do so, some sort of
violence would be visited upon him.
It followed a moment later.
Observing that the boy had no intention of