CHAPTER VI

STOLEN NUGGETS

Teddy Manley, lines of anxiety in his face, went into the parlor. The doctor saw him and motioned him to one side.

“Listen, Teddy,” he said quickly; “the way things look now, he’s got a chance--a slim one, but a chance. Whoever put that bandage around his neck probably saved his life. But he’s worrying about something--wouldn’t tell me what it was. We can’t have that. He needs everything in his favor if he’s to pull through. Understand?”

Teddy looked at the physician.

“It’s this way, doc,” he answered in a low voice. “He’s been robbed. Now, suppose he asks me where his money--or whatever he had with him--is? What’ll I say?”

Doctor Ring thought for a moment. The man’s face was turned to the wall.

“Tell him the truth,” the doctor said suddenly. “We can’t lie, although if it meant saving a patient’s life I’d lie like Ananias. But he’ll ask to see the money if we tell it’s been saved. We can’t take a chance on that. Tell him the truth.”

“Right.”

Teddy went slowly toward the cot. As the man heard him coming, he turned his whole body and stared at the boy. The neck was swathed in heavy gauze, making it impossible for him to move his head.

“Well, sir,” Teddy called cheerfully, “how are things?”

The bloodless lips moved and a disappointed look came into the eyes.

“That’s not the one,” the man whispered. “He looks like him, but he ain’t. I want--” His breath caught, and he stopped, his bony hands clenching.

“Where’s Roy?” Belle asked quickly. She was standing beside Teddy. “Can’t somebody get him?”

But there was no need for that. The screen door whined and Roy entered. As the man on the cot saw him, his face lighted up.

“Come here,” he whispered weakly. “I want to--ask--”

Roy glanced toward the doctor for directions, and received a nod. He went to the side of the man.

“I’m glad to see you’re better,” he said simply. “What was it that you wanted to ask me?”

The man’s hand tapped the coverlet impatiently.

“That’s right,” he breathed. “You’re the--one. Listen, boy--listen--” He raised up on one elbow, and the doctor crossed swiftly to him.

“None of that,” he said sternly. “You promised to keep quiet if I let you see him. Lie back, now.”

“Right--you’re the doctor.” A mirthless grin twisted the thin lips. “I’ll be good. Listen, boy!” He took a deep breath. “Where’s my nugget?”

“Nugget!” Roy started back. “Is that what you--what nugget?” he asked blankly.

“My nugget! My nugget! The one I worked for, slaved for, fought for! Where is it?” The eyes were burning.

“I’m afraid--” Roy hesitated. “Say, what’s your name?”

“Decker. Jerry Decker. I’m a miner. I had a nugget with me that was worth--” He stopped. “Some smaller ones, too,” he continued in a toneless voice. The excitement seemed to drain his strength. “My nuggets--where are they?” he finished faintly.

Roy glanced down at him pityingly.

“Mr. Decker, your nuggets are gone,” he said slowly. “You’ve been robbed.”

“Robbed!” The word was wrung from him. “Robbed! The nuggets I worked for--slaved for! Worth--”

His eyes opened wide, his whole body tensed. Then, with a sigh, he relaxed. The eyes closed. The corners of the mouth went down.

“Watch it,” came a voice behind Roy. It was the doctor. “Get his arm out from under that blanket--quick!”

Roy, understanding, did as he was told. There was a swift jab of a hypodermic needle. In a moment the breathing resumed, the pulse fluttered.

Doctor Ring watched the face anxiously.

“I was afraid of that,” he said softly. “It was too much for him.” There was a moment’s silence. Then the lips moved again, and a faint flush of color came to the cheeks.

The doctor gave a “whew!” of relief.

“He’ll come out of it now,” he said finally. “It’s better to have it over with. Besides, he may have needed just that stimulus to help him fight. Now he’ll get well just to recover his nuggets.” His tone was hopeful. Plainly he had been in doubt as to whether or not he had done the right thing in letting Roy see and talk to the patient.

Roy walked to the other side of the room after giving one more glance at the unconscious man. At that moment Mr. Ball descended the stairs.

“How’s he comin’?” he whispered. “Any better?”

The doctor nodded.

“I think so,” he replied. “I’ll have to stay here for a while yet.”

“All right,” Peter Ball remarked. “I sure hope he makes out. What happened to him? Miner, ain’t he?”

Mr. Ball, Teddy, and Roy went into the yard. Bug Eye was waiting for them.

“He’s a miner, and he’s been robbed,” Roy declared. “Name’s Jerry Decker.”

“Robbed! Jumpin’ catamounts! What’s he been robbed of?”

“Nuggets, he says,” Teddy replied. “He was just going to tell us how much they were worth when he went off again. Wonder where he was mining.”

“The most likely place would be Nugget Camp,” Mr. Ball said. “They been placerin’ around there for the last ten years, but I never heard tell of anybody gettin’ rich from it.”

“Nugget Camp!” Bug Eye burst out. “I know where that is, boss! Say, I heard tell around town of a strike bein’ made there. But nobody seemed to know who made it. Nugget Camp, hey? So that’s where he come from!”

“Well, I’m only guessin’,” Mr. Ball admitted. “But that’s the only minin’ place anywheres near here.”

“That’s where he came from, all right,” Teddy asserted. “He must have been on his way to town when he got shot up and robbed.” He stopped, and looked over at Mr. Ball. “Do you think there’s a chance--” he began.

“We’ll try it,” the rancher interrupted quickly, sensing what Teddy meant. “They’re probably out of this vicinity now, but we owe it to that poor old geezer to have a look, anyhow. Bug Eye, get my bronc. You’re comin’, too.”

“Sure, boss!” the puncher answered eagerly. “Right away?”

“Right away. I’ll tell my wife.” He walked swiftly toward the house.

“Looks like business,” Teddy declared. “How’d you find Star?”

“O. K. Jules Kolto fixed him up for me. He’ll be all right to ride. Take some of the stiffness out of him. Come on, let’s get going.”

“Hey!” Mr. Ball called from the porch. Then, as he recalled the sick man within, he motioned with his arm. When Teddy and Roy approached, he said: “We’ll get some chuck first. Might be a long ride.”

He, Teddy, Roy, and Bug Eye ate together. In the middle of the meal Mr. Ball saw the cut on Roy’s head, as the boy unwittingly brushed back his hair. The rancher heard the story of the spill into the river and insisted that Roy should see the doctor before the party started.

So with a strip of adhesive tape covering the wound, Roy mounted Star and waited for Mr. Ball to give the signal to start. The doctor had declared that Roy’s cut was superficial, and there would be no danger in riding.

“All set, boys?” Mr. Ball called. He had provided Teddy and Roy with dry clothes--although their own were nearly dry by that time--and with guns.

“All set, boss,” Bug Eye answered. “Let’s go!”

The three girls, Nell, Ethel, and Belle Ada, waved to them from the porch.

“Good luck!” Belle called softly.

With a swirl of their hats the boys leaped their broncos forward. The hunt was on.

They made for the clump of woods where Decker had been found.

“That’ll be a starting point, anyhow,” Mr. Ball asserted. “We may strike something there that’ll help us. Otherwise, it’ll be like lookin’ for a needle in a haystack.”

“Sure will,” Teddy agreed. “Baby, I’d like to come across those waddies!”

“I’ll tell a maverick!” Roy ejaculated. “Knocking off an old man after robbing him, then taking his bronc!”

There was little more said until they reached the woods. Roy showed just where they had picked Decker up, and even the marks where his body had lain, his head supported by Roy’s leg.

“We saw ’em come riding out of there,” Teddy declared, pointing to the edge of the trees. “See--where it makes sort of a triangle?”

“Uh-huh,” Mr. Ball responded. “Which direction did they take?”

“Swung to the right. Teddy yelled at me then, and I turned back. Oh, they’re well on their way by now.”

“Afraid so.” Mr. Ball had dismounted, and was examining the ground intently. “Suppose you fellers get off an’ take a look around. May spot something.”

“Clues, hey, boss?” Bug Eye cried excitedly. “Snakes!”

“Yea, clues. Make believe you’re a detective.” The rancher stood directly on the place where Roy had told him Decker was lying. Then he faced about.

“This way they went,” he said, more to himself than to the others. “You can see the hoofprints of their broncos. One, two, three ponies.”

“They took his so he couldn’t follow, I reckon,” Teddy said.

Mr. Ball did not reply. He walked slowly forward.

Presently he uttered an exclamation and stopped. Then he bent to the ground.

“What is it, boss--find somethin’?” Bug Eye asked eagerly.

Mr. Ball nodded.

“Take a look,” he said in a queer voice. “Never saw one of these out here before.”

The others grouped about him. He held something up to them.

“Know what it is?” he said quietly.

Bug Eye shook his head. Teddy and Roy answered nothing.

“It’s a German pistol--a Mauser,” the rancher said deliberately. “One shell has been fired.”