CHAPTER XX

LEAD AND MYSTERY IN THE AIR

"Are--are we attacked?" wailed Emma Dean.

"Bullets are coming from somewhere, that is certain," answered Hippy, raising his head from the ground on which he, as well as his companions, had thrown themselves at the first shot.

Following the last two shots, the reports of rifles were distinctly heard by each member of the party, and each pair of eyes was straining to locate the source of the shooting.

"Oh, it must be a mistake," cried Emma.

"That doesn't help us any," replied Tom Gray. "But I do wish we had our rifles."

"Don't wolly till to-mollow," advised Stacy.

Hippy raised himself to a sitting position and waved his handkerchief.

"_Woo, woo, woo!--Bang!_"

Hippy threw himself over backwards, his feet kicking up into the air, his attitude being so funny that the Overlanders laughed heartily. Their laughter, however, quickly subsided, when they recalled that the last shot had passed very close to them.

Tom Gray had been listening to the whistle of the bullets and to the reports that followed, and the result of his listening and looking was the conclusion that the shooters were getting the range, and that, undoubtedly, smokeless powder was being used.

"I don't care whether they see me or not," exclaimed Hippy, getting to his feet, but no sooner had he done so than a bullet whistled so close to him that, as he declared later, he felt the hot breath of it on his cheek.

"Did you see that?" he cried, throwing himself on the ground.

"No. I didn't see it. I may have sharp eyes, but they aren't sharp enough to see a bullet on the wing," retorted Stacy.

"What I cannot understand is, why they are shooting at us," wondered Elfreda.

"Perhaps they think we have been throwing stones at them," suggested Emma.

"Rolling stones gather no moss," interjected Stacy. "Possibly, however, our rolling stones came near gathering in some parties down in the valley, and they are retaliating by shooting at us."

"Girls! Let's get out of here," cried Grace, springing up. "I am weary of hiding."

"Get down!" shouted several voices.

Grace gave no heed to the command, nor to the bullet that sang over her head, but when one barely grazed her cheek, she decided that she was quite ready to join her companions on the ground again.

"Are we going to lie here all day and let those ruffians shoot at us?" demanded Emma.

"The only other alternative is to crawl away," answered Tom.

"Crawl where?" questioned Grace.

"To that ridge to the right of us."

"I'm blest if I do!" retorted Hippy, getting up and walking deliberately towards the rocks indicated by Tom Gray.

The others, with the exception of Stacy Brown, not to be outdone in courage by Lieutenant Wingate, got up and followed him, not hurriedly, but walking slowly, keeping some distance between them, and in this way finally reaching the ridge and safety. Several shots were fired at them on the way, but all went wide of the mark.

"Where is Stacy? Quick! Maybe he has been hit," urged Nora almost hysterically.

Grace sprang back and peered around the corner of the rocks.

"Oh, girls! Look at him, will you?" she cried.

Leaning as far out from the rocks as they dared, the Overlanders discovered the missing Chunky. He was flat on the ground on his stomach, wriggling along in a fair imitation of a serpent.

"Get up and walk, you tenderfoot!" laughed Hippy. "What are you afraid of?"

"Nothing. I just happened to think how, when I was a baby, I used to creep to the pantry to pick up crumbs, so I thought I'd see if I had forgotten how," answered Stacy.

"You are a fine hero, aren't you?" observed Emma sarcastically, when Stacy, having finally reached the protection of the rocks, got up and brushed the dirt from his clothes.

"No. All the heroes are dead. I don't want to be a hero. What's the news from the front?"

"Impossible!" muttered Tom, laughing in spite of himself. Tom had been pondering, wondering, trying to account satisfactorily to himself for this attempt on their lives.

"What do you make of it?" asked Elfreda, nodding at him.

"It may have been accidental," he replied.

Grace shook her head.

"No, they were shooting at us," declared Hippy.

"I have been wondering, thinking about what Mr. Giddings told us at the 'Lazy J' ranch," said Miss Briggs. "You remember what he said about the mysterious Aerial Lake, don't you?"

"It is my opinion that we have been bombarding that very same lake," declared Grace. "That, however, does not explain the shots."

"Perhaps not," returned Elfreda, "but it does go a long way towards proving that there is something in what the foreman of the 'Lazy J' told us. I, for one, am in favor of giving that lake a wide berth."

"No, no," protested Hippy and Grace. "Let's find out what the mystery is," added Grace.

"I'll stay back and watch the horses while you are gone," offered Stacy.

"Back to camp for us, now. To-morrow we shall decide what is best to be done," advised Tom.

Having reached the safe side of the mountain, the party took a direct course for their camp, which was located close to what they had named "Bear Mountain," because its top strongly resembled an ambling bear. They found pretty rough going until they reached a point about a mile from the camp, and there Tom suggested that they move more cautiously, and not blunder into camp, not knowing what they might find there.

They had approached within sight of their camp when Hippy halted and beckoned his companions to him.

"What is it?" questioned Tom.

For answer, Hippy pointed to a jutting rock which they knew lay just back of the camp itself. There, outlined on the rock, was a figure. It did not require very keen eyes to recognize the figure, even at that distance.

"Woo! Thank goodness," exclaimed Miss Briggs.

"I'll give him a yell," volunteered Stacy.

"No, no!" protested Grace. There was that in the attitude of the Chinaman that appealed to Grace's bump of caution. "Wait until he sees us," she counseled. "Trust Woo to shout, unless there be good reason why he should not."

The party moved on cautiously, thus far well screened by foliage, but the instant they appeared in the open, the guide saw them and began excitedly waving his arms.

"Do you see?" nodded Grace.

"He does seem to be excited about something," agreed Tom.

"If there is likely to be trouble, perhaps I had better fall back as sort of reserve," suggested Stacy. "In case of trouble it is a wise plan to have reserves, you know."

No one paid the slightest attention to Stacy's suggestion, nor did they increase their pace, not wishing to show that they shared the excitement of the guide, though there was a suspicion in their minds as to the cause of that excitement.

As they drew nearer, Woo Smith clambered down from his perch and trotted out to meet them. His face expressed neither pleasure nor alarm.

"Good-afternoon, Mr. Smith," greeted Emma with dignity.

"Are the ponies all safe?" smiled Grace.

"Him velly good."

"Then what are you stewing about?" blurted out Stacy Brown.

"Anything wrong, Smith?" asked Tom Gray anxiously.

"Les. Bang, bang!"

"You mean bing, bing, don't you?" cut in Stacy.

"Me savvy bang, bang!" returned the guide.

"Oh, let it go at that," urged Hippy. "It doesn't make much difference either way, whether it is 'bang, bang' or 'bing, bing'!"

"Me savvy boom, boom, too," added Woo.

"No, no. You mean bang, bang!" insisted Chunky.

"For goodness sake, give the poor fellow a chance," begged Elfreda laughingly. "You will get him so befuddled that he will not know what he means. Woo, what _is_ the trouble? Have you seen strangers about?"

The guide's queue bobbed vigorously, as he pointed to a ridge on the other side of the canyon.

"Me savvy man there. Me savvy boom, boom! Bang, bang!"

Grace's face lighted up.

"We understand, Woo. You heard guns and you saw a man over there," she nodded. "Did the man see you?"

The Chinaman shook his head.

"Do you think he discovered the camp?" asked Tom Gray.

Woo shook his head again.

"He heard the boom of our bowling game and the shots following. That seems quite clear, but there appears to be no reason why we should be excited about it," said Lieutenant Wingate.

Grace said she did not agree with him.

"What the guide says, indicates to me that the stranger was not only seeking to wing us, but that he was looking for our camp. Was that all you saw, Woo?"

"No. Me savvy woman."

"What's that?" demanded Hippy sharply.

The Overlanders' interest was aroused anew.

"Me savvy woman. Woman come close and peek. Woman see camp, then go 'way. Br-r-r! Big piecee woman make ugly face!"

"Discovered!" exclaimed Hippy Wingate dramatically.