The Saddle Boys at Circle Ranch; Or, In at the Grand Round-Up

“I’m beginning to think so myself,” and Bob Archer looked meaningly at his chum, as though a suspicion might be forming in his mind to the effect that there was a practical joke...

“And if you look close,” remarked his chum, “you’ll see that he wobbles just a little with that left hind leg of his. Reckon he got a thorn in his paw, or cut it on a sharp rock...

“All of a month, I’m positive,” replied the stockman. “Yes, I remember now that we missed a round dozen head at the time, followed their tracks for several miles, and then they...

Bob Archer always believed that he made record time in getting dressed that night. Just how long it took him he never knew; but Frank seemed to vie with him in speed, for they r...

“Sounds like it’s coming from the east, which means that herd is safe!” remarked Bob, as he and his chum stood in the faint light of early morning, listening eagerly to the soun...

There was an immediate scattering of the ten cowboys. Every one was eager to be first to make a discovery. Jumping to the ground, they searched the earth for traces that would i...

“What’s the programme, Frank?” asked the Kentucky boy, a short time later, after they had taken the horses into a little bay, which the Colonel called a cul-de-sac, where they c...

Of course it was very plain now why the expedition had come to such a sudden halt. Here was a vidette posted in a position where he could discover any suspicious movement below....

Just as Bob had anticipated, it was found that the narrow pass served somewhat as the neck of the bottle. Perhaps it was the only way whereby cattle could enter or leave the sec...

When half an hour had passed, both boys began to grow a little anxious. They knew that, undoubtedly, those in charge of the expedition must have been holding a council of war, a...

Bob knew that his chum had been wriggling past him for some little time, and he guessed that Frank wanted to communicate with his father. Now the Kentucky lad could hear them wh...

“How do you like it, Bob, as far as you’ve gone?” asked Frank, as they prepared to follow after the others, who were slowly moving off in Indian file, pressing close to the eart...

The cowboys without, not being able to hold themselves in check any longer, started to shoot; and the rattle of firearms was the first sign that told the prisoners of the bunk-h...

Perhaps, after all, it was not so very strange that Bob should give utterance to this exclamation. He had been thrown to the ground, and with considerable violence too. The cons...

“At the worst,” he said resolutely, “we might hold the fort here, and send for help. Some of the other stockmen, learning that we had Mendoza cooped up, would rush assistance; a...

“There’s only one thing to do,” replied the stockman; “which is to head back in the direction of the camp, watching out to see just where the old rascal left the regular trail,...

Bob was trying vainly to get a decent aim as he shouted these words of warning. He had spoken them in a mechanical way, and not because he feared that his chum would not be on h...

At noon the drivers had eaten whatever they chanced to have along with them. If one happened to be better provided than his mates, he was only too willing to share his lunch. It...

“It promises to be a bully day for the round-up, Frank!” remarked Bob, just forty-eight hours after the morning that saw them near the foot of the Thunder Mountain Ridge, and dr...

When Frank heard these words spoken in his ear by the old Moqui he threw up his right hand, to let Bob know he intended coming to a halt, so that the galloping horses might not...

Just as Bob had remarked, the hard work of the first day of the grand round-up seemed to be done. The cowboys had taken their wearied mounts to the corral, and were themselves g...

That crackling sound which came to Bob’s strained ears he knew must mean that a match had been struck. Yes, he could see the sudden little glow; and even managed to catch a view...