CHAPTER XI

A RUNAWAY AUTO

Behind the boys sounded the yells and shouts of the men in camp, mingled with rifle shots and the screeching of several of the cougars, for, it developed, a band of three, grown desperate by hunger, had made an attack.

"Are you hurt, Jerry?" cried Bob and Ned, as, with his pails of water, the boy staggered into the cave.

"Not a bit, but I had a close shave," was the answer. "But we must be quick! Here! Help fill the radiator with the water."

"Can't we drink any?" asked Bob who, like the others, was very thirsty.

"Not a drop," said Jerry firmly. "We need every bit for the automobile. Without it we can't get away from here, and now is the only chance we may have to escape. We can drink later."

While Jerry and Ned filled the radiator the other boys and the professor made ready for the escape. Everything was packed up and placed in the car, which, as soon as the coil was filled, would be ready to start and dash from the cave.

"I'm afraid this is not going to be water enough," spoke Jerry as the second of the pails was emptied into the radiator.

"Can't I make a dash for some more? There seems to be excitement enough in the camp to keep them from watching me," said Ned. "I'm going to try."

There was considerable activity among the ranch men. The cougars, though wounded, seemed to have temporarily lost all fear and made attack after attack on the men, who had to fire several volleys from their rifles.

"Go ahead," said Jerry. "I'll start the engine slowly."

Grabbing up the pails Ned walked from the cave.

"I'm going to help, also," said Tommy.

"No, you stay here," commanded Jerry. "Bob can go if he wants to."

Bob joined Ned. They ran to the stream and had filled the pails when, just as they started on the way back, the wounded cougars, driven from the camp, came dashing after the boys.

"Now we're in for it!" exclaimed Ned. "Run, Bob!"

And run they did, as they had never run before, and left the beasts behind.

"Have you the water?" asked Jerry eagerly as the boys came in.

"We have!" exclaimed Bob. "And hard enough work we had getting it."

"Good!"

Jerry hurriedly poured most of it into the radiator, though every one in the cave looked at the fluid with longing eyes.

"I must get a drink soon, or I shall go half crazy!" said the professor suddenly. "I never was so thirsty in my life."

"I'm saving just a little bit for each of us," spoke Jerry. "But it is a very small quantity, and will only serve to wet our mouths. If all goes well we shall soon have plenty."

He distributed about a pint of the water among his companions, and though each one got only a little it brought welcome relief.

"Now we're ready to skip out!" announced Jerry as he screwed the cap on the radiator tank, and increased the speed of the engine. "But first we had better take a look outside to see if any of that gang are in sight."

The professor, who had good eyes, went to the mouth of the cave, and, coming back, reported that he could see a dark mass moving on the further bank of the stream.

"They have evidently gotten over their scare about the cougars," Mr. Snodgrass said, "and are waiting to bag us. What are we going to do?"

"There's only one thing to do," replied Jerry.

"And that is what?"

"We must make a dash for it. The road is fairly good, and I guess we can speed up enough to get out of the range of their bullets in a short time. They can't be very good shots or they would have killed the three cougars, with all the bullets they fired."

So it was decided. They all took their places in the car, and Jerry, who, as if by mutual consent, assumed the place of steersman, leaned forward to throw in the gear clutches.

"Here we go!" he cried. "Look out everybody!"

Slowly at first, but gathering speed, the auto moved out of the cave. The lamps lighted up the path, and, though the boys realized that the lanterns disclosed their position to their enemies, they had to use them for their own safety. It was too dark to do without them.

A few seconds later and the car emerged from the cavern. As it shot out there came a chorus of angry cries from the camp of the ranchmen, and several shots were fired, though none of them came close enough to be uncomfortable.

"Here we go!" cried Jerry again, as he increased the speed, and the auto fairly leaped forward. It swayed from side to side, and struck several ruts, so that the occupants were tossed about.

But the main thing was that they went ahead, and away from their enemies. Jerry, peering as best he could into the darkness ahead, made a course for the stream, intending to go close to it, and then run along the bank, or near it, as he had noted in the afternoon that there was a fairly good road there.

Gradually the shouts of the men, and the firing of their guns died away, and the travelers began to breathe more freely. They had made their escape, and, for the present, were safe.

"Oh do let's stop and get a drink!" pleaded Bob.

"Not yet!" exclaimed Jerry. "Five minutes more will not kill you, and it may save all our lives," for he did not want to slack up while there was any danger of the ranchmen coming after them.

The five minutes seemed like an hour to Bob, and the others, too, were impatient. But at last Jerry shut off the power and the machine came to a halt not far from the creek. Out scrambled the boys and the professor, and then, in spite of the danger of drinking snakes and lizards in the darkness, they all made for the stream, where they quenched their thirst from small collapsable cups which each one had been holding in readiness for just that chance.

"That's better than an ice cream soda!" exclaimed Ned.

"You bet!" agreed Bob heartily. "I never tasted such fine water."

"Very good!" said the professor.

"I guess we can stop long enough to lay in a supply now," remarked Jerry. "We can start off again in five minutes, and in that time they can not catch up to us."

So the radiator was filled to the top, and the auxiliary tank likewise, while the boys indulged freely in the liquid, thinking, perhaps, they might have some of the characteristics of the camel, and could drink enough at one time to last a week or more.

Then they started forward again, and the auto soon carried them beyond the possibility of capture that night. They camped out in the open, and, in spite of their rather exciting adventures they slept soundly, awaking as the sun rose.

Ned was given a chance to run the machine, and he took the front seat with Tommy, who was delighted to be there for the first time. They had not been going long before they found the land was rising.

"We're coming into the mountains now," said Jerry.

Up a long hill, with a gradual assent, puffed the auto. On either side were broad fields where tall Pampas grass was growing, amid which thousands of grasshoppers, or some similar insect, were singing.

"Better be sure your brake is in good working order," suggested Jerry, as they came to the steep descent on the other side. "We don't want any more accidents."

Ned tried the ordinary brake. There was a clicking sound, followed by a snapping one.

"Brake's busted!" exclaimed Jerry. "Try the emergency!"

Ned did so. That, too, gave out only a faint screech, and did not grip the axle as it should.

"Look out now!" yelled Jerry. "We're in for it!"

An instant later the auto began to move forward at a rapid pace. All Ned's efforts to check it were in vain.

"We're running away!" cried frightened Tommy. "I wish I'd stayed in back!"

"Keep to the middle of the road!" Jerry cried above the noise of the auto rushing down the steep hill. At the bottom the road took a sharp turn, and the hearts of all beat rapidly with fear as they beheld it.