The Saddle Boys of the Rockies | Page 2

things connected with ranch life.
He and Frank had never become friends. There was something about
the fellow that the saddle boy could not tolerate. More than once they
had almost come to blows; and, only for the peace-loving nature of

Frank, this must have occurred long ago.
The two chums had taken the long gallop to the town on the railroad on
this particular day to do a little important business for Mr. Haywood,
who was associated with Bob's uncle in certain large mining enterprises.
And it was while entering the town that they met Peg, who, with his
customary assurance, had halted them with the question that begins this
chapter.
When Frank give him this little cut, the face of Peg Grant showed signs
of anger. He knew very well that he was making wretched progress
along the line of becoming an accomplished rider and cowboy. And the
easy manner in which the other boys sat their saddles irritated him
greatly.
"What does it matter to you, Frank Haywood, when I left the greenhorn
class and moved up a pace? All the boys of the X-bar-X outfit say I'm
full-fledged now, and able to hold my own with nearly any fellow. It'll
be some time, I reckon, before your new friend can say the same. But I
will own that he's got a horse that takes my eye, for a fact."
"That's where you show good judgment, Peg," said Frank, laughing.
"He brought that black horse with him from Kentucky. And he can ride
some, you'd better believe me. When he gets on to the ways we have
out here, Bob will hold his own against heaps of boys that were born
and brought up on the plains."
"Say, I don't suppose, now, you'd care to sell that animal, Archer?"
asked Peg, as he eyed the handsome mount of the Kentucky boy
enviously. "Because I fancy I'd like to own him more than I ever did
that frisky buckskin Frank rides. If you'd put a fairly decent price on
him now--"
"I raised Domino from a colt, I broke him to the saddle, and we have
been together five years now. Money couldn't buy him from me,"
replied the tall boy, curtly.
It was not Bob Archer's habit to speak in this strain to anyone; but there

seemed to be a something connected with Peg Grant that irritated him.
The manner of the other was so overbearing as to appear almost rude.
He had had his own way a long time now; and thus far no one
connected with the big ranch owned by his father had arisen to take him
down.
"Oh! well, there are plenty of horses just as good, I guess," Peg went on;
"and some people don't appreciate the value of money, anyway. But see
here, Frank, you let your eyebrows travel up when I mentioned the fact
that I'd graduated from the tenderfoot class. I could see that you
doubted my words. Now, I'm going to tell you something that will
surprise you a heap. Are you ready for a shock?"
"Oh; I can brace myself for nearly anything, Peg," replied Frank, easily;
"so suppose you tell us your great news. Have you entered for the
endurance race at the annual cowboy meet next month; or do you
expect to take the medal for riding bucking broncos?"
"Any ordinary range rider might do that, even if he lost out," Peg went
on; "but my game is along different lines; see? I'm on my way right
now to run down the mystery of Thunder Mountain! I understand that
for years it's puzzled the whole country to know what makes that
roaring sound every now and then. Many cowboys couldn't be hired to
spend a single night on that mountain. As for the Indians, they claim it
is the voice of Great Manitou; and steer clear of Thunder Mountain,
every time. Get that, Frank?"
"Well, Peg, you have given me a jolt, for a fact," answered the saddle
boy, as his face expressed his surprise. "I allow that you show a lot of
nerve in laying out such a big plan; and if you only find out what
makes that trembling, roaring sound, you'll get the blessing of many a
range rider who believes all the stories told about Thunder Mountain."
Peg stiffened up in his saddle, as though he realized that he was
engineering a tremendously important thing; and had a right to be
looked up to as a hero, even before the accomplishment of the deed.
"Well, that's always the way with you fellows out here, I find," he

remarked, loftily; "you leave all the big things to be done by fellows
with real backbone. But then, I don't mind; in fact I'm obliged to you