CHAPTER XXV
ONE ELEVEN COMES THROUGH
“All set!” called Teddy early next morning.
“Let ’em ride!” echoed Roy.
Breakfast was finished and the prospectors were ready to break camp. Nat Raymond and Jim Casey had come over to help their former cow-punching comrades take down the tents and pack the duffle for the trip home. Nat and Jim were just as disappointed in their claims as were the X Bar X boys, and were also ready to quit.
“This here place is a fake!” Nat grumbled. “Good thing your dad promised us back our jobs,” he said to Roy and Teddy. “But the worst of it will be sittin’ on the fence listenin’ to Pop say: ‘I told you so!’ Snakes!”
Bug Eye, who was rolling up blankets, snickered.
“Boy! Me? I’m not kickin’! I got seven hundred bucks out o’ this here little ole camp, lemme tell you!”
“Well, we sure had an exciting time,” Teddy commented. “Nick, hand me those ponchos, will you? Hey, who’s this coming?”
Toward them came running a figure, waving his hands wildly.
“Now what’s eatin’ that guy?” Silent asked wonderingly. “Looks like a windmill on wheels!”
“It’s Maryland!” Roy declared. “Remember him, Teddy? Yes, it’s Maryland, all right!”
“Thought he was on the wagon,” Gus said. “Boy, he’s sure kickin’ up the dust!”
Maryland, his face red from his exertions, stumbled toward them.
“Hey,” he yelled. “Hey! Hey!”
“Charleston!” Nick roared. “Hey-hey yourself!”
“Listen, fellers! Listen!” he panted fiercely, trying to get enough breath to talk with. “Listen! Don’t pull up stakes! I got somethin’ to tell you!”
“Well, for Pete’s sake, spit it out without all that ‘hey-hey’ business!” Bug Eye exclaimed. “Let’s have it!”
“Well, I been workin’ on my mine--it’s near yours! I dug on a slant, instead of straight down, an’ the first thing I knew I came out in the shaft you fellers sunk. But not in any of your tunnels--a different one.”
“That’s O. K.,” Roy said easily. “You’re forgiven. Take the shaft and build yourself a house with it.”
“No, but listen, you fellers! That ain’t all! I struck gold! Plenty of it! Reams of it! An’ most of it is on your claim! An’ _that’s_ why I ran down here, bustin’ my windpipe, to tell you!”
“Gold!”
Teddy and Roy started forward.
“Well, may I be pinned by the seat of my pants to a clothesline for the rest of my natural life!” Nick blurted out. “Our last day here, an’ gold is found on our claim!”
“And then some more!” Maryland went on excitedly. “There’s enough to make us all rich! By golly, she’s lying around in bucketfuls!”
“I see you-all read romances,” Silent said calmly. But even he was thrilled at the news. “Bucketfuls, hey? I reckon that means about fourteen carat alloy. Well, Maryland, you done us a favor!”
How much of a favor Maryland had actually done was not known until the boys reached their claim. And, strangely enough, Maryland had not exaggerated. He had struck a pocket exceptionally rich in gold, and the soil about it promised further deposits. Silent declared the yellow stuff already unearthed would total nearly forty thousand dollars.
“And that’s the beginning,” he said. “Now, how about stakin’ a few claims for the boys at home before the rush starts? I want to get one for Jack Conroy, my partner. An’ I suppose you want one for your dad?”
“Sure do,” Teddy replied. “Say, we’ll give Pop one! Then let’s see what he has to offer! Baby, if that doesn’t quiet him, nothing will!”
The claims, adjoining One Hundred Eleven, were staked, Gus, Nat, and Jim Casey abandoning their old diggings and locating near the new ones. Gus’s prophecy had come true--they had struck gold.
And what a reception Teddy and Roy received when they reached home! Before leaving Nugget Camp they sold some gold, receiving a certified check. This check Roy, followed by Teddy, bore to his father.
“Remember the grub stake you gave us?” Roy asked, as Mr. Manley looked at him quizzically. “What did we say then?”
“Well, you mentioned somethin’ about me gettin’ it back four times over,” Mr. Manley replied. “Of course, I know you didn’t mean that, so--”
“Take a look!” chuckled his son.
He thrust out the check. In red perforated figures were the numerals $25,000.
“For the love of Pete!” Mr. Manley gasped. “Four times! And then some! Boys, you sure hit it! Wait till I show this to your mother! Twenty-five thou--well, you bloated bankers, you! Do the boys know about this?”
Teddy winked.
“Tell you, Dad,” he said, grinning, “I want to wait until Pop gets in front of something soft, then I’ll flash it on him. He’ll keel over like a split flagpole!”
And, it might be added in passing, Pop did.
“Did you bring me that gold bracelet?” asked Belle Ada as she greeted her brothers in the flush of their success.
“Bracelet?” cried Teddy. “I--now--”
“We’ll get you one made of platinum first chance we get,” broke in Roy.
“I reckon you-all can leave that to me!” chuckled Jerry Decker, who had been brought over to X Bar X ranch to enjoy the celebration. “Guess it’s customary fer a patient to give his nurse a leetle somethin’, ain’t it?” he appealed to Mr. Manley.
“Of course!” agreed the rancher.
Later, when Jerry had gone back East and bought with his nuggets a little farm, a registered package came for Belle Ada. It contained a wonderful bracelet with two diamonds in it.
“They’re bright like your eyes,” Jerry wrote in the note that accompanied the gift.
Belle Ada smiled happily.
“And here’s a registered package for you too, Pop,” said Roy.
“For me! Quit your joshin’!”
“No, really! Guess your cousin sent it.”
It was a watch and chain from Mr. Decker. Pop strung it across his cowhide vest proudly and wore it continually after that, on a horse or off.
“Read this, Roy!” called Teddy to his brother one day when the mail had come in, bringing several papers. He tossed the sheet to his brother.
On the front page was an account of the trial and conviction of Greyhound and most of his gang. They were wanted for many other crimes than the robbing of Jerry Decker and the killing of the father and brother of Silent Neville, so there was no need for the ranch boys to give any testimony.
“Twenty years for Allen,” mused Roy. “He’ll sit in his cell a long time.”
“Whew! I wouldn’t want to be Allen!”
“Me, either! Come on, I’m crazy for a ride! Beat you around the corral!”
A little later a cloud of dust hid the X Bar X boys and their ponies.
THE END
* * * * *
_This Isn’t All!_
Would you like to know what became of the good friends you have made in this book?
Would you like to read other stories continuing their adventures and experiences, or other books quite as entertaining by the same author?
On the _reverse side_ of the wrapper which comes with this book, you will find a wonderful list of stories which you can buy at the same store where you got this book.
_Don’t throw away the Wrapper_
_Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want some day to have. But in case you do mislay it, write to the Publishers for a complete catalog._
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The cowboys of the X Bar X Ranch are real cowboys, on the job when required but full of fun and daring--a bunch any reader will be delighted to know.
THE X BAR X BOYS ON THE RANCH THE X BAR X BOYS IN THUNDER CANYON THE X BAR X BOYS ON WHIRLPOOL RIVER THE X BAR X BOYS ON BIG BISON TRAIL THE X BAR X BOYS AT THE ROUND-UP THE X BAR X BOYS AT NUGGET CAMP THE X BAR X BOYS AT RUSTLER’S GAP
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A dying criminal confessed that his loot had been secreted “in the tower.” It remained for the Hardy Boys to make an astonishing discovery that cleared up the mystery.
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The house had been vacant and was supposed to be haunted. Mr. Hardy started to investigate--and disappeared! An odd tale, with plenty of excitement.
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Counterfeit money was in circulation, and the limit was reached when Mrs. Hardy took some from a stranger. A tale full of thrills.
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Two of the Hardy Boys’ chums take a motor trip down the coast. They disappear and are almost rescued by their friends when all are captured. A thrilling story of adventure.
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Mr. Hardy is injured in tracing some stolen gold. A hunt by the boys leads to an abandoned mine, and there things start to happen. A western story all boys will enjoy.
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