CHAPTER
I an exciting escape
II Mr. Alden brings news
III word from the west
IV Gus Megget
V the half-moon ranch
VI in the saddle
VII A race in the moonlight
VIII Horace in danger
IX the message from cross-eyed
Pete
X the return to the ranch
XI preparations fob pursuit
XII what Nails learned
XIII out on the plains
XIV another discovery
XV the contested trail
XVI what Jeffreys knew
XVII lost!
XVIII A mysterious call
XIX A terrible plot
XX the prairie fire
XXI A ride for life
XXII Lawrence’s plan
XXIII in the mountains
XXIV capturing the cattle thieves
XXV homeward
COMRADES OF THE SADDLE
CHAPTER I
AN EXCITING ESCAPE
Twilight was settling on the land. The forms of trees and houses loomed big and black, their sharp outlines suggesting fanciful forms to the minds of two boys hurrying along the road which like a ribbon wound In and out among the low hills surrounding the town of Bramley, in south-western Ohio.
As the darkness increased lights began to twinkle from the windows of the distant farmhouses.
“We’re later than usual, Tom,” said the larger of the two boys. “I hope we’ll get home before father does.”
“Then let’s hurry. The last time we kept supper waiting he said we’d have to give up playing ball after school if we couldn’t get home before meal time.”
“And that means that we won’t make the team and will only get a chance to substitute,” returned the first speaker.
As though such a misfortune were too great to be borne, the two young ball players broke into a dog trot.
The boys were brothers, Tom and Larry Alden. Larry, the larger, was sixteen and Tom was a year younger. Both were healthy and strong and would have been thought older, so large were they.
The only children of Theodore Alden, a wealthy farmer who lived about three miles from Bramley, unlike many brothers, they were chums. They were prime favorites, and their popularity, together with their natural ability and cool-headedness at critical moments, made them leaders in all sports.
As it grew darker and darker, the brothers quickened their pace. Talking was out of the question, so fast were they going. But as they rounded a turn in the road, which enabled them to see the lights in their home, a quarter of a mile away, Larry gasped:
“There’s no light in the dining-room yet. Father hasn’t gotten home!”
“Come on then for a final spurt,” returned Tom.
Willingly Larry responded, and the boys dashed forward as though they were just starting out instead of ending a two-mile run.