登陆注册
15457100000020

第20章 CHAPTER V. THE MASKED RIDER(3)

And while busy with his few camp tasks he revolved the thing in his mind. It would not be wise for him to remain long in his present hiding-place. And if he intended to follow the cattle trail and try to find the rustlers he had better make a move at once. For he knew that rustlers, being riders, would not make much of a day's or night's absence from camp for one or two of their number; but when the missing ones failed to show up in reasonable time there would be a search. And Venters was afraid of that.

"A good tracker could trail me," he muttered. "And I'd be cornered here. Let's see. Rustlers are a lazy set when they're not on the ride. I'll risk it. Then I'll change my hiding-place."

He carefully cleaned and reloaded his guns. When he rose to go he bent a long glance down upon the unconscious girl. Then ordering Whitie and Ring to keep guard, he left the camp The safest cover lay close under the wall of the canyon, and here through the dense thickets Venters made his slow, listening advance toward the oval. Upon gaining the wide opening he decided to cross it and follow the left wall till he came to the cattle trail.

He scanned the oval as keenly as if hunting for antelope. Then, stooping, he stole from one cover to another, taking advantage of rocks and bunches of sage, until he had reached the thickets under the opposite wall. Once there, he exercised extreme caution in his surveys of the ground ahead, but increased his speed when moving. Dodging from bush to bush, he passed the mouths of two canyons, and in the entrance of a third canyon he crossed a wash of swift clear water, to come abruptly upon the cattle trail.

It followed the low bank of the wash, and, keeping it in sight, Venters hugged the line of sage and thicket. Like the curves of a serpent the canyon wound for a mile or more and then opened into a valley. Patches of red showed clear against the purple of sage, and farther out on the level dotted strings of red led away to the wall of rock.

"Ha, the red herd!" exclaimed Venters.

Then dots of white and black told him there were cattle of other colors in this inclosed valley. Oldring, the rustler, was also a rancher. Venters's calculating eye took count of stock that outnumbered the red herd.

"What a range!" went on Venters. "Water and grass enough for fifty thousand head, and no riders needed!"

After his first burst of surprise and rapid calculation Venters lost no time there, but slunk again into the sage on his back trail. With the discovery of Oldring's hidden cattle-range had come enlightenment on several problems. Here the rustler kept his stock, here was Jane Withersteen's red herd; here were the few cattle that had disappeared from the Cottonwoods slopes during the last two years. Until Oldring had driven the red herd his thefts of cattle for that time had not been more than enough to supply meat for his men. Of late no drives had been reported from Sterling or the villages north. And Venters knew that the riders had wondered at Oldring's inactivity in that particular field. He and his band had been active enough in their visits to Glaze and Cottonwoods; they always had gold; but of late the amount gambled away and drunk and thrown away in the villages had given rise to much conjecture. Oldring's more frequent visits had resulted in new saloons, and where there had formerly been one raid or shooting fray in the little hamlets there were now many. Perhaps Oldring had another range farther on up the pass, and from theredrove the cattle to distant Utah towns where he was little known But Venters came finally to doubt this. And, from what he had learned in the last few days, a belief began to form in Venters's mind that Oldring's intimidations of the villages and the mystery of the Masked Rider, with his alleged evil deeds, and the fierce resistance offered any trailing riders, and the rustling of cattle-- these things were only the craft of the rustler-chief to conceal his real life and purpose and work in Deception Pass.

And like a scouting Indian Venters crawled through the sage of the oval valley, crossed trail after trail on the north side, and at last entered the canyon out of which headed the cattle trail, and into which he had watched the rustlers disappear.

If he had used caution before, now he strained every nerve to force himself to creeping stealth and to sensitiveness of ear. He crawled along so hidden that he could not use his eyes except to aid himself in the toilsome progress through the brakes and ruins of cliff-wall. Yet from time to time, as he rested, he saw the massive red walls growing higher and wilder, more looming and broken. He made note of the fact that he was turning and climbing. The sage and thickets of oak and brakes of alder gave place to pinyon pine growing out of rocky soil. Suddenly a low, dull murmur assailed his ears. At first he thought it was thunder, then the slipping of a weathered slope of rock. But it was incessant, and as he progressed it filled out deeper and from a murmur changed into a soft roar.

"Falling water," he said. "There's volume to that. I wonder if it's the stream I lost."

The roar bothered him, for he could hear nothing else. Likewise, however, no rustlers could hear him. Emboldened by this and sure that nothing but a bird could see him, he arose from his hands and knees to hurry on. An opening in the pinyons warned him that he was nearing the height of slope.

He gained it, and dropped low with a burst of astonishment.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 忧郁酷公主

    忧郁酷公主

    她,是个爱幻想的女孩,她也很忧郁,但是不向外界所表露,她不喜欢家族的生活,不喜欢家族对自己的宠溺,独自离开了家族,寻找自己的生活,有了自己的男闺蜜,遇到了各种各样的人,他,她,他……家族的人拼命寻找她,她隐藏身份过着自己想要的生活,她爱幻想并将幻想写下来,一次次经历,一次次理解,不是神,幻想竟然成为了现实??
  • 绝世杀手:废材嫡小姐

    绝世杀手:废材嫡小姐

    爷爷给他们留下了东西,那究竟是什么?为什么会穿越?还穿越成了一个废材?
  • 火之主宰

    火之主宰

    一场上位面的战争波及而来,作为下位面的世界,能够做的就是保护自己的家园。可就算是牺牲了无数的英雄,得到的结果却是仅仅封印了那些异族的入侵。现在眼看封印之期就要到了,若是封印被解开,而没有人能阻止得了异族,这个世界就会被毁灭。子天,就是在这样的背景下出生在这个世界中,他能否成长起来,成为拯救这个世界的英雄?请看火之主宰。
  • 灵鬼女神探

    灵鬼女神探

    姑娘,我看你骨骼清奇,很有做灵媒的天赋呀,不如拜我为师可好,拜师的日常啊?洗衣服,做饭,给师傅暖床。。。喂你干嘛打我,你才是神棍,算命的呢,本帅可是天下第一的风水师!
  • 社会警言

    社会警言

    这些名言警句句句经典,字字珠玑,精辟睿智,闪耀着智慧的光芒和精神的力量,具有很强的鼓舞性、哲理性和启迪性。具有成功心理暗示和潜在力量开发的功能,不仅可以成为我们的座右铭,还能增进自律的能力。
  • 鎏世执颜

    鎏世执颜

    本书以溟夙教为主题,自古六界内无法与另界人相恋,毕竟各界的寿命也是不同。比如仙人,魔族,妖族都可以活上千岁之久,可人却只有不到百年的寿命。但凭空冒出的还愿族解决了这个大难题,没有人知道这一族从何而来,为何而来...........溟夙教,不同于其他亦正亦邪之教。传说是千年前仙魔界之间的爱恋感动了还愿一族,之后还原族人就在一个国家设立了溟夙教,因为千年后,这两人的缘分会再一次的交错。而地点,则就是这溟夙教。一个千古不曾改变的教派,只是为守护这刻骨铭心的恋。也只为了人世间的转世姻缘而建立,可命中注定的缘分又是谁能挡得了的?
  • 断魂琴

    断魂琴

    我是个不能轮回往生之人,因为我只怕一入了轮回,来世再认不出你。
  • 穿越百年生死依恋

    穿越百年生死依恋

    1、雄踞北方的一方霸主傲龙堡,就像是一夕之间崛起,没人知道他们的来历,但是却都忌惮他们的势力,尤其是大堡主石无忌。2、一个饱受欺凌的苏家小姐,在瞬间摇身一变就成了堡主夫人,但是这位堡主夫人的言谈举止却甚为奇怪,但更为奇怪的是,就是这样一位奇怪的夫人让两位堡主倾心。3、一个职场菜鸟,误打误撞却碰上了自己心仪的人,但是却想爱不能爱,她怎么能找到平衡点呢?
  • 上古世纪之勇闯地下城

    上古世纪之勇闯地下城

    原大陆毁灭,诺伊女神牺牲了自己开启了冥界之门让众生来到了新大陆。然而来到新大陆之后一切都改变了,破坏神并没有就此罢休,也随之来到了新大陆。新的世界改变了原有的一切,一切都为了生存下去。黑暗与光明,魔法与力量,我也要在这个世界生存下去,站到顶峰,让诺伊女神复生。不管是妖娆美丽的精灵妖精,还是萝莉一般的兽灵妹子,统统都是我的。诺伊女神只会是我一个人的女神,也许英雄有很多,但是英雄其中之一必须有我!
  • 白色眷恋

    白色眷恋

    因为不满皇马6比2的比分,中国青年律师沈星怒砸啤酒瓶,结果电光火石间,他穿越成了佛罗伦蒂诺的儿子,且看来自09年的小伙子如何玩转03年的欧洲足坛