The Sky Phantom (6 page)

The three men frowned. Pop said, “From now on we must take double precautions.”

The group had lunch and rested a while, then set off again. It was almost dark when they reached the spot where Roger Paine’s plane had landed. It was not there now. Had it been there and gone again? They all examined the ground but could not answer the question.

Later in the evening, they brought out their sleeping bags. When they were ready to climb into them, Chuck said, “I think we should set up guard. I’ll take the first watch.”

Pop Hamilton agreed and asked Chuck to awaken him three hours later.

Range Cooper grinned. “That makes me last, and my watch will run into breakfast time. I promise you all a great feast!”

The three girls offered to take turns watching, also, but the others wouldn’t hear of it. They slept soundly and awoke to the aroma of sizzling bacon and hot biscuits.

“How heavenly!” Bess exclaimed, raising her arms to stretch. “Nothing ever smelled so good!”

The morning meal was as tasty as it smelled. Range, complimented by the girls, seemed embarrassed, and a red flush came over his sun-tanned face.

“It was nothing,” he declared.

As soon as they had finished and tidied their little camp, Nancy was eager to start her search for a clue that would identify the sky phantom. She walked in ever-widening circles in order not to miss an inch of ground. An hour later, to her delight, she found something exciting. Nancy called to the other searchers to come and see what she had picked up.

“What did you find?” Pop asked.

“It’s a silver medal with a chain attached to it,” she said. “And look, the initials on it are R.P.!”

The others in the group were amazed. George asked, “You believe the R.P. stands for Roger Paine?”

“I don’t know,” Nancy replied. “On the back of the medal is a series of strange marks.”

Her friends rushed over to look at them.

Bess asked, “Do you suppose these marks are a clue that Roger left behind on purpose? Do you think that if we can figure out what they mean, we can find him?”

THE RIDERS gathered around Nancy. She held up the silver medal, showing first the side containing the large engraved initials.

“Those must be Roger Paine’s,” George said. “It would be too much of a coincidence if they belonged to someone else.”

Chuck asked to see what was on the back of the medal. Nancy turned it over.

The cowboy laughed. “Looks like Greek to me,” he said.

Each one glanced at the strange markings, but no one could make any sense out of them.

Range asked, “If Roger Paine was abducted and left this as a clue, why didn’t he put something on it that we can read?”

All this time Nancy had been staring intently at the back of the silver medal and the carefully made grooves on it.

Finally she said, “These markings are machine-cut, and he wouldn’t have had any engraving apparatus out here!”

“You’re absolutely right,” Pop agreed.

Once again each member of the group took a turn studying the oddly formed characters, but still no one could venture a guess as to what they meant.

“Let’s get on with our search!” George suggested impatiently.

Nancy put the medal in her pocket and once more the searchers separated, each one scanning the ground carefully for further bits of evidence.

“There must be something around here,” Range murmured.

The search lasted nearly an hour before anyone made a discovery. Chuck and Bess had found some indistinct hoofprints that did not belong to any of the group’s ponies. They called the others to look at them.

After Nancy had examined the marks she commented, “These weren’t made by our ponies. They’re too faint and indistinct. They must have been here for a while and been partially obliterated by rain or dust.”

“We’ll follow them,” Pop decided. “They may be a clue.”

He asked Nancy to lead off, saying, “You have a detective’s eye. If these prints lead somewhere, you’ll be the one to find the place. I’m convinced of that.”

Nancy blushed a little at the compliment. “I’m sure all you ranchers could do the same thing,” she said, smiling. “And as for Bess and George, I think you’ll find them pretty good detectives in their own right.”

All of them laughed and made a little bow, then saddled their horses and rode off at a brisk clip.

Though a little hard to follow, there were still enough footprints intact to lead the group to a hill not far away. It had a rocky slope.

Conversation had ceased and it seemed as if there was not a sound except the plodding of the walking ponies.

Suddenly Nancy reined in sharply. “Listen!” she called out.

The others pulled up abruptly and remained silent. Somewhere off in the distance they could hear a faint whinny.

“Could that be Ben Rall’s pony?” Range asked.

“I hope so!” Bess said in a rising tone. “If Ben’s there, we ought to punish him for rolling that tree down the hillside at us.”

Pop Hamilton had another idea. He urged his mount to get closer to the sound. The others raced after him. A few minutes later he stopped her and asked the young people to listen. The whinny was definitely louder.

“That sounds like Major!” he said, excited.

Guided by the whinnies that finally became almost frantic, the group was led to a natural stone stable. Everyone dismounted and rushed inside.

The animal began to prance around, although he could not get loose. A heavy chain had been attached to his halter and then secured to a spike set deep into the rock.

“Major!” Pop exclaimed.

Bess rushed up and said, “Major, you poor fellow! I hope you haven’t been mistreated!”

Again and again the beautiful pony nuzzled Pop. It seemed as if he could not get enough affection from the master he loved. Each of the girls and the two cowboys went up to pat Major. Aside from looking a little thin, the animal seemed to be in good condition.

“Now we can start for home,” Pop said, beaming happily.

“Aren’t we going to try to find the thief?” Nancy asked.

The rancher said he thought that would be like hunting for a needle in a haystack. “Most likely the culprit saw or heard us coming and hurried away from here.”

The young detective and her friends did not agree. One by one they gave Pop reasons why the thief might be hiding in the area—in a cave, perhaps.

George said, “Unless he has another pony, how could he get away from here?”

“Maybe,” said Bess, “if Ben Rall is the thief, he’s off riding his own pony.”

Pop listened to all the arguments, then said to Nancy, “Let’s have your opinion of the whole thing.”

“I’m beginning to think it was not Ben Rall who stole Major,” she replied. “It’s possible that whoever did it is connected in some way with Roger Paine’s plane. There’s a shortcut from here to the spot where we found the craft. Whenever the person piloting it arrives, he may walk over here and use Major for some kind of work—perhaps to carry heavy packages.”

“What in the world could he be bringing out here?” Bess asked. “And why would he go to so much trouble to make deliveries?”

“He would if it’s contraband,” Nancy replied.

Range said, “Maybe the man is taking something important away from here.”

“Like what?” George asked.

Range grinned. “Gold!”

Chuck laughed. “If there’s any of that around, I’m going to start digging myself!”

Nancy reminded the others that they had come out to this area for three reasons: to find Major, to catch the horse thief, and to locate Roger Paine.

“I have a suggestion,” she said. “Pop, would you please let me ride Major?”

“Sure. Why?”

“I’ll give him his head and see if he’ll lead me to the horse thief.”

The rancher nodded his assent. They found the pony’s bridle hanging on another spike. After removing the halter, they slipped the bridle over his head. The saddle and saddle blanket lay on a protruding stone. When everything was adjusted, Nancy jumped astride the pony’s back and urged him out of the rocky stable.

“Go find the thief!” she told the palomino. “Good boy! Then go find Roger Paine!”

Major lifted his ears and looked wise, as if he understood every word. The pony, finding that he was not being directed, turned at once in the direction of the Hamilton Ranch. Everyone laughed as Nancy guided Major back to the group.

She patted his neck. “We’ll go home in a little while,” she said. “Right now we have a job to do. Find the man who took you away from the ranch.”

Once more the pony’s ears stood straight up. Hopefully, Nancy waited. Once more Major veered around and headed for the ranch.

“I guess it’s no use,” the girl admitted and slid off the animal’s back.

“This hill may have other hiding places,” she told Pop Hamilton. Then she asked in a persuasive tone, “Shall we scout for some?”

This time Pop shook his head and said firmly, “The boys and I are needed at the ranch. It will be an overnight trip from here. That is all the time we can spare.”

Pop rode his beloved Major, leading his other mount. They traveled until dark, then set up camp. Range rustled up a quick but substantial supper. As soon as they finished, everyone in the group crawled into his sleeping bag.

Sometime in the middle of the night all were awakened by shrill whinnies from the ponies. Somebody or something had spooked them!

As the travelers unzipped their sleeping bags and stood up, they suddenly froze. A shot had rung out!

THE CAMPERS quickly stepped out of their sleeping bags and grabbed flashlights. They beamed them directly on the ponies.

The animals were rearing, snorting, and trying to break away from the tethers. Their upper lips were lifted angrily, and now and then one of them would whinny pathetically.

One pony lay on the ground. Had it been wounded? Killed? The girls did not dare go near it to find out since the animals were so agitated.

Pop and the boys, however, were trying their best to reassure the ponies with their presence. They talked to them and held the frightened animals tightly by their halters.

The three girls could do nothing but aim their flashlights around, hoping to get a glimpse of the person who had disturbed the ponies and fired the shot. For a fraction of a second Nancy caught sight of a man on the far side of the maddened ponies. He wore a kerchief up to his eyes and had a sombrero pulled low. There was no chance of identifying him.

Nancy screamed to Pop and his cowboys, nevertheless, “Over there!” She pointed to the place where she had seen the stranger.

She ran around the ring of animals and was just in time to see the intruder yank one of the ponies from the group and start to run off with it.

“Stop!” she cried.

Bess and George, who had followed her, took up the cry. Instead of pausing, the man dashed ahead a few yards, jumped onto the pony’s back, and took off at breakneck speed. As long as he stayed within the beams of their flashlights, they could see him slapping the pony’s flank hard to make him go even faster.

By this time Range had jumped onto his own horse and gone in pursuit of the thief, urging the animal to race as fast as he could.

George did not often show her emotions, but now she was very grim. “Oh, I hope nothing happens to Range!” she said. “This is such rough territory to be riding through in the dark. Besides, that man has a gun in a holster, I saw it. He won’t mind using it!”

Nancy patted her friend on the shoulder. “I think Range knows what he’s doing,” she said. “Please don’t worry.”

The girls walked back to where the other ponies were gradually quieting down. Chuck had managed to calm them.

“Good work,” Bess called out from the sidelines.

Chuck smiled, then hurried off to join Pop Hamilton, who was down on his knees examining the pony that had been shot.

The rancher shook his head sadly. “This is Speed Boy, the pony I rode out here. He was a gentleman and a faithful animal to his duties.

“Speed Boy, I’m sorry you cannot return to the ranch with us, but that villain made an accurate shot and has punctured your leg muscles so you could never walk again.”

Bess Marvin could stand no more. She turned and walked off, but Nancy and George waited to hear the full eulogy.

“If there is a horse heaven,” Pop went on, “you will be a fine addition to it. Good-by, Speed Boy, good-by!”

Nancy, George, and Chuck said together, “Good-by, Speed Boy!”

The three of them closed their eyes as the rancher used one shot to put the suffering pony out of his misery. Then the girls started to walk back to their camp, tears stinging their cheeks.

“It’s terribly sad and so unnecessary,” Nancy said. “But I suppose for Pop it would have been even worse if the thief had shot Major.”

Pop and Chuck dug a grave for the animal and buried it, tears in their eyes also. One of the live ponies whinnied.

In the distance they could hear hoofbeats. A short time later Range rejoined his group. Alongside him was the stolen pony!

“Oh, you got him back!” Nancy exclaimed. “I’m so glad. How did you do it?”

Range explained that his horse was just on the verge of overtaking the thief when he jumped off and raced toward another man, who was astride one horse and holding another.

“The thief jumped on and sped off,” Range concluded. “I thought the best thing to do was to bring our pony back here.”

“Thanks so much,” George said to him. The animal was the one she had been riding. “You really had us worried when you took off in the dark alone.”

The cowboy grinned. “I’m used to night riding,” he said. “There’s nothing more exhilarating than being astride a horse in the moonlight.”