"Suppose we beard the lion in his den," said Archie.

"All right. Show me the lion."

"O, I am not joking. Let's visit Don Carlos. Mark my words now, Frank: that old rascal knows more about the horse-thieves, than any body else in the country. We are on pretty good terms with him, and perhaps he will invite us to stay all night. If he does, we may be able to learn something about the bridge of clouds, and the other strange things old Bob saw there. Will you go?"

"Of course. But I'll tell you what it is: You are going to be disappointed. We must not let Don Carlos know that we suspect any thing, for if we do, we may get ourselves into trouble."

"I guess we are smart enough to look out for that. We will listen to his stories, and hear him rail at the robbers, and lament the loss of his fine horses, and all that, and act as though we believed every word of it. We mustn't let d.i.c.k know where we are going," added Archie. "He would be sure to make a fuss about it, for he has somehow got it into his head that he is our guardian in uncle's absence."

One would think that the cousins had already seen enough of excitement and perilous adventure, to satisfy any two boys in the world; and that, after their recent narrow escape from the clutches of Old Davy, they would think twice before undertaking so dangerous an enterprise as this, which Archie had called "bearding the lion in his den." The way they went about their preparations, however, showed that they were in earnest, and that they were fully determined to learn more about the mysterious rancho, that is, if there was any thing more to be learned. Frank did not think there was. Of course the friendly old Spaniard would insist that they should accept his hospitality for the night, as he always did when they visited him. They had pa.s.sed two or three nights under his roof, without seeing or hearing any thing unusual, and they would do it again. As for Don Carlos' complicity with the horse-thieves, that was all in Archie's eye. It was only another of the thousand-and-one foolish notions he was continually getting into his head, and when morning came he would be obliged to acknowledge the fact. Archie, on the other hand, had made up his mind to see some queer sights during the night, if they remained at Don Carlos' rancho. He knew that he would have to fight somebody, and he prepared for it by putting a small revolver into his pocket, as did Frank, also. He was satisfied, too, that Bob had seen his horse go into the Spaniard's rancho; and, if he was still there, Archie would have him out, or he would raise a fuss about the old fellow's ears that would make him think he had stirred up a hornet's nest.

"Just think of it!" exclaimed Archie, indignantly. "Our horses are being used every night by those robbers! O, you may smile and shake your head as much as you please, but I _know_ it is so!" Frank thought if his cousin's convictions on this point were as strong as the blow he struck the table to emphasize his words, they must have been very powerful indeed. "Now, I can tell you in a few words just how this matter stands," continued Archie, "and one of these days you will see that I am right. The robbers make their head-quarters at that rancho, and ride Roderick and King James on their plundering expeditions. They know that the animals are swift, and that if they are discovered they can run away from their pursuers very easily. But my horse sha'n't engage in any such business. He is a good honest horse, and I am not going to have him taught any bad habits."

In a few minutes the boys were in their saddles, and galloping through the grove toward the creek. They carried their rifles slung over their shoulders by broad straps, their navy revolvers in their holsters, and their small pistols in their pockets. They rode the same horses that had carried them through the fight with the grizzly, Archie remarking that although his nag was not much of a jumper, he was a good one to go, and he might have occasion to use a fast horse before morning.

They succeeded in leaving the rancho without the trapper's knowledge; and in half an hour drew rein on the bank of the creek a short distance from Don Carlos' rancho.

The building was like a good many others in that country--there was nothing remarkable about it, either in its appearance or history. It had stood a siege, and there were plenty of bullet-marks about it; and the same was true of the rancho in which Frank and Archie lived. It was built in the form of a hollow-square; the rough stone walls were five feet thick; and all the openings, except the port-holes, were protected by heavy plank doors and shutters, through which a rifle-ball could not penetrate. A tall flag-staff arose from the open court in the center, and from it floated the Stars and Stripes. Don Carlos was evidently patriotic.

The boys gazed long and earnestly at the building, and Archie was a good deal disappointed because he did not see some signs of the curious things the old trapper had witnessed there. They saw something else, however, at least Frank did, and he called Archie's attention to it, by inquiring:

"Do you see the second port-hole from the right-hand side of the building?"

"I do," replied his cousin; "and I see something sticking out of it.

It looks to me like a spy-gla.s.s."

"That's just what it is. There is somebody in there watching us. And wasn't that flag flying at the mast-head when we first saw it?"

"Of course it was," answered Archie, beginning to get excited, "and now it is at half-mast. Now it is being hauled down altogether," he added, as the bunting disappeared behind the walls of the rancho.

"What can it mean? It must be a signal of some kind; and I--I--believe I won't go any farther. I'll return home and report the matter."

"What good will that do?" asked Frank.

"Why, when uncle comes back, he can raise a crowd of men, and storm the old villain."

"I don't think he would do it. He would want the very strongest evidence before he would consent to a.s.sault a peaceable settler in his own dwelling, and that is something we haven't got yet. Of course we can say that we saw somebody watching us through a spy-gla.s.s, and that the flag was hauled down when we came in sight; but that doesn't prove any thing. If we should go home with that story, every body would laugh at us."

"It is proof enough for me," said Archie, "and I don't care about trusting myself inside that rancho. I believe I'll go back."

"And I will go on," said his cousin, riding down the bank toward the ford. "If Don Carlos asks me to stay all night, I'll do it: and I shall feel as safe under his roof as I would at home."

Archie pulled off his sombrero, and scratched his head in deep perplexity. He did not want to go home without Frank, and neither did he want to go with him into the rancho. The hauling down of the flag had made him timid. If it was not a signal, why was it pulled down at that time of day--two hours before sunset? If he had never been satisfied before that there was something wrong with Don Carlos, he was now. Beyond a doubt he was connected with the robbers--he was their leader, perhaps--and when he and Frank went into the rancho, they would find themselves surrounded by a crowd of villainous Mexicans, broken-down miners, and other desperate characters, who would never allow them to go out again. Worse than all, they could not hope for a.s.sistance, for they had left the rancho without telling any one where they were going; and when their absence was discovered, their friends would not know where to look for them.

"Frank," exclaimed Archie, "are you really going in there?"

"I am, if I can get in," replied his cousin, who was by this time half way across the ford. "Come on. I want to satisfy you that you have been wrongfully accusing an honest man."

"And I'll show you that I haven't," said Archie, galloping down the bank of the creek, and into the water. "If you are bound to go on, of course I shall stick to you."

While the boys were riding toward the rancho they kept their eyes fastened on the port-hole, and saw that the person with the spy-gla.s.s closely followed all their movements. They discovered nothing else that looked suspicious, however, and when they dashed through the gate-way and drew up in the court, the reception they met with, from the proprietor of the rancho, went a long way toward convincing Archie that he had made a great mistake.

Don Carlos was a small, slim man, with a very sallow face, a long, hooked nose, and an immense gray mustache, which covered all the lower part of his face. He called himself a Spaniard: but he looked more like a German Jew, and talked exactly like one. He was as polite as a Frenchman; and when the boys rode up to the porch, he pulled off his sombrero, and stood bowing and sc.r.a.ping to them until they dismounted from their horses.

"Ach! here ish my goot leetle poys!" he exclaimed, in his broken English. "I peen so glad to see you. You shall shtay mit me now all night, of course, aint it? Peppo!" he added, in a louder tone, addressing a young Mexican who stood at a little distance, looking on--"you von grand rascal! dake dis horses to dem shtables. I do so hope dem horse-dieves won't shteal 'em pefore mornings. Valk right in de house, leetle poys."

"The more I see of this old fellow, the more I am convinced that he is a Dutchman," thought Archie, as he followed Frank and the Don into the rancho. "I've met a good many Spaniards since I have been in California, but I never heard one talk like that."

Their host conducted them through a long wide hall, the walls of which were ornamented with old-fashioned pictures and implements of the chase, and ushered them into an elegantly-furnished room, where he left them to take care of themselves; telling them that his herdsmen were out collecting a drove of cattle to be sent to San Diego, and that it was necessary that he should superintend their operations. If the boys wanted to read, there were plenty of books on the center-table; and if they did not feel like sitting still, they might walk about the rancho, and see if they could find any thing to amuse them. Supper would be ready at sunset; he would then be back, and would pa.s.s the evening with them.

"What do you think now, Archie?" asked Frank, when the Don had gone out. "Is this the sort of a reception a robber would be likely to extend to visitors? Do you suppose that if there was any thing wrong here, he would have allowed us the freedom of the house so readily?"

"He does that merely to blind us," replied his cousin. "He is more polite and attentive than he used to be, and that makes me suspicious.

If we don't wish ourselves a thousand miles from here before morning, I will make you a present of my horse when I get him."

Frank recalled these words a few hours afterward, and told himself that Archie had more sense than he had ever given him credit for.

CHAPTER VII.

A HEAVY REWARD.

Frank, we repeat, was obliged to come over to his cousin's way of thinking before he was many hours older; but now he believed his own opinions to be correct, and showed his contempt for Archie's by settling back into an arm-chair, and becoming deeply interested in a book which he selected from among the numerous volumes on the center-table. Archie, being left to himself, walked restlessly about the room, looking at the pictures, gazing out at the port-holes, examining the weapons that hung on the walls, and so interested was he in his investigations, that his good-breeding alone restrained him from peering into closets and wardrobes. He kept up an incessant talking, but Frank's answers were given only in monosyllables, and Archie finally became disgusted, and left him to read in peace. "You will turn into a book one of these fine days," said he. "But I'll tell you what it is, old fellow, you'll not take things so very easily much longer."

Archie continued his walk about the room, pa.s.sing his hands over the walls, looking under the bed, and behind tables and sofas, as if searching for something that he was in a great hurry to find, and the last his cousin saw of him he was standing with his hands behind his back, and his head turned on one side, closely examining a large oil-painting which extended from the ceiling to the floor. The next time Frank looked up, he was alone in the room--Archie had disappeared.

"What trick are you up to now?" exclaimed Frank, laying down his book.

"Come out from under that bed. What would you have to say for yourself if the Don should come in and find you there?"

But Archie was not under the bed, nor was he anywhere in the room.

Frank called him, but there was no answer. He looked into every nook and corner of the apartment in which it was possible that Archie could have concealed himself, and then he caught up his hat and hurried through the hall, looking into all the rooms he pa.s.sed, and out into the court. The rancho seemed to be deserted, with the exception of a solitary Mexican, who stood leaning against a door-post on the opposite side of the court. This man scowled fiercely, and looked suspiciously at him as he came up; and instead of making inquiries about Archie, as he had intended, Frank thrust his hands into his pockets, and strolled slowly toward the stables, peering in at the doors and windows, and keeping one eye on the Mexican, who closely watched every move he made.

"Archie hasn't had time to get far away," thought Frank; "and no doubt he is roaming about the rancho, searching high and low for some evidence to confirm his ridiculous suspicions concerning Don Carlos; and that is something he won't find, of course. That is a villainous-looking fellow," he added, with another glance over his shoulder toward the Mexican, "and I should feel quite as well pleased if he would take less interest in my movements. He acts as though he had been stationed there to watch me."

Frank finally found his way to the stables, but without discovering any signs of the missing Archie. He found his horse there, and his cousin's, standing quietly in their stalls; and he also saw several other fine animals, which the Don had doubtless brought in there for protection from the horse-thieves. Frank did not think it very probable that he would lose any more of his stock, for the most expert robber would have found it a difficult task to effect an entrance through those well-secured doors; and, more than that, Frank noticed that there were several beds in a small room adjoining the stable, and the garments, la.s.sos, weapons, and other articles that were scattered about, showed that the apartment belonged to some of the Don's Rancheros. The old Spaniard was not out on the rancho with his herdsmen, as Frank had supposed, but he was in this room, holding an earnest conversation with some one who disappeared very suddenly and mysteriously when Frank thrust his head in at the door. The latter thought, by his actions, that the old Spaniard would rather not have been discovered; but he greeted his guest very cordially, and seeing that he was alone, made hurried inquiries for Archie.

"He is out somewhere looking around, I suppose," answered Frank. "No doubt he will turn up all right in a few minutes."

"Ah, yes," said the Don, with some anxiety in his tone; "but I would like to know _vare_ he ish. Peppo! you von grand rascal!"

The young Mexican was on hand immediately. He came out of a dark corner of the stable, to which he had retreated when Frank came in, and where he had stood watching him.

"Peppo!" continued his employer, "it's petter you go find dis leetle poys, and tell him we will have some suppers now."

There was nothing in the old Spaniard's words or manner to indicate that haste was desirable, but Beppo, perhaps, seeing or hearing something that escaped Frank's notice, started off on a keen run. This seemed to be a signal to the Mexican who stood leaning against the door-post, for he walked rapidly across the court, and presently half a dozen Rancheros appeared and hurried about in different directions, all searching for Archie. The Don watched their movements, and so did Frank. The former was evidently growing uneasy, and his guest certainly was. The Spaniard stepped nervously about, talking hurriedly in his broken English on indifferent matters, and laughing uproariously at his own jokes; and Frank glanced toward the gate-way as if he had half a mind to take to his heels. He believed, now, that it would have been much better for him if he had kept at a respectful distance from Don Carlos and his rancho. A dread of impending evil, which he could not shake off, began to press upon him; and it was plain to him that if he was not in a sc.r.a.pe already, he soon would be.

It is true that nothing had been said to induce this belief, but he had seen and felt enough to satisfy him that such was the fact. In the first place, it seemed to him that an air of mystery brooded over the rancho, and that the Don, in spite of his cordial greeting and jovial manner, was trying to conceal something from him. He acted, now, as though he did not want him there. And then, the sudden appearance of those men was another thing that troubled Frank. Until within a moment he had seen but two persons on the rancho besides the Spaniard, but, at an instant's warning, half a dozen herdsmen had sprung into view, and to save his life he could not tell where they had come from. They appeared at the same moment, and in different directions, as if they had come up out of the ground, or found their way into the court through secret trap-doors in the pavement. Why had they remained concealed? and what was the reason that Archie's disappearance had created such a commotion among them? Frank judged from the old Spaniard's words that he was particularly anxious to know where Archie was, and what he was doing; and this implied that there were things about the rancho that the Don did not want him to see.

Frank's uneasiness increased as the search progressed, and finally he became thoroughly frightened when he noticed the excited looks of the Rancheros as they hurried past him, and heard the angry, threatening words which they exchanged with one another. The Don began to be alarmed also.