The X Bar X boys at Nugget Camp

By the time Roy Manley shortened the stirrup that had loosened and slipped down two holes, his brother Teddy was nearly out of sight behind the hunch-backed rise of ground. Roy...

The thoughts that flashed through Teddy Mauley’s brain as he stood below watching that terrible fall will never be known. If he had not called out, the runaway would not have ju...

Teddy nodded. “I believe you have made a great discovery, Roy. Of course, some one else may have thought of it ahead of you. I seem to remember a man by the name of Einstein who...

A boxer who has trained his muscles to react automatically and to dodge a blow from an antagonist almost before it has started, does not consciously order his knees to bend or h...

“Then--” Teddy Manley began, and stopped. “I see,” he said after a minute. “They plugged him, robbed him, and took his bronc.” His voice was low--bitter. “The spirit of the West...

“Listen, Teddy,” he said quickly; “the way things look now, he’s got a chance--a slim one, but a chance. Whoever put that bandage around his neck probably saved his life. But he...

“Germans are not Dutchmen,” he corrected. “An’ just because we find a German gun is no proof that a German did the job. Of course, he might have--the signs point that way. Don’t...

Belle, Roy, and Teddy Manley rode into the ranch yard of the X Bar X. They had been away for three days, and Teddy looked about him to see if anything had changed--that gesture...

Teddy and Roy Manley exchanged glances. Pop was, in effect, asking them to give their definite approval or disapproval of the rush toward the new gold fields. Whether or not the...

During the next few days there was much to be done on the X Bar X. Three more men left for the promised land, and Mr. Manley had to recruit some help from other ranches, where t...

The first day on the range drew to a close with every man too tired to do much talking. A meal from the chuck wagon restored their spirits somewhat, but blankets were spread ear...

They were back at the X Bar X again. The cattle had been loaded and sent rumbling toward Chicago. Things were quiet, and the punchers, except those who were riding fence, occupi...

Strangely enough, the fact that Teddy and Roy and a few others were going did not tend to excite the rest of the punchers, or cause them to throw up their jobs and head for the...

By eleven o’clock the Manley boys and their companions were twenty miles from the X Bar X, and on the first leg of their journey to Nugget Camp. The day was cool, and the riding...

Darkness found the four riders with a little over a third of their journey completed. They selected a camp site near a running stream, and after watering and feeding the horses...

If there was doubt in the listeners’ minds concerning the meaning of Silent’s remark, there was also doubt in the mind of the one who had uttered it. Actually, it meant nothing...

At the sound of the revolver, men who had been making merry inside rushed from the hall. They saw the gleam of the gun and saw also that neither Teddy nor Roy was obeying the sh...

The clatter of a frying pan against the cook stove; the swish of canvas on canvas as tent flaps were rolled back; the bubbling of coffee; the good-natured cries of men keen for...

Forgotten now was the fate Roy had just escaped by the narrowest margin. Forgotten was the terrific labor that had been necessary to extricate him. Forgotten was everything exce...

Nick and the stranger, who said his name was Jimmie Allen, walked toward Allen’s tent. It proved to be quite a distance from Nick’s shelter, and not directly on the street, but...

“It’s about robbery, that’s what it’s about!” Allen broke in. “Your little playmate took the gold I trusted him with and substituted rock! Look!” He pulled from his pocket the b...

“Not any,” Silent replied. His face gradually resumed its normal coloring. “They got these here weapons from a mail-order concern. They ain’t registered. When you use guns for k...

“For the love of Pete, Teddy, we haven’t got a chance in this darkness! There may be half a dozen men around here, waiting for us to separate so they can pot us off. Let’s stick...

Men crowded to the flaps of their tents, chewing in haste the last of their breakfast. Others slammed open the doors of rude slab-sided shacks, some holding in their hands coffe...

Breakfast was finished and the prospectors were ready to break camp. Nat Raymond and Jim Casey had come over to help their former cow-punching comrades take down the tents and p...