Ryder of the Hills by Robert J. Horton

Author:Robert J. Horton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.

Chapter Sixteen

Within the hour, Lucy Ware, grimly determined not only to keep the ranch but also to disconcert Sinclair by paying him his money, began a thorough search of the house. She examined the few papers Sneed had left without finding a clue as to the whereabouts of the hidden treasure. She sent for Buck and Ted and put them to work helping her.

“Have you any idea where he would hide his money?” she asked Buck.

Buck thought and thought, and shook his head. “He wouldn’t hide it in the bunkhouse where the men hung out, that’s a cinch. Fact is, I don’t believe he’d hide it in any building because there’s a chance of fire. I’d say it’s buried. But we could dig up the whole ranch an’ maybe not find it. It’s probably somewhere in the hills. But that’s like trying to rope a needle. I don’t know what else to say, Miss Lucy.”

And that evening, after an all-day search to no avail, Lucy was ready to give up. But the money to pay Sinclair had to be found somewhere.

“I don’t know what to do,” she told Buck, who had been fully acquainted with the situation. “An’, you know, since this came up, I’ve been thinking that when Snark Levant hears that Jess is gone, he’ll come back here thinking to get some of his money. Night an’ day it worries me…this thought that Snark will come back.”

“You needn’t be scared of him if young Ted is around,” said Buck with a grin. “Ted would fix him.”

“Why, Buck,” said Lucy, “Snark was almost as fast as Jess with his gun.”

“I know,” said Buck with a nod. “But I’ve seen Ted practicing. He was natural born to it, I’d say. I’d bet my hoss an’ saddle against a cancelled postage stamp that he’s as fast as Sneed was right now.”

Ted came into the room at this juncture and no more was said on the subject. Lucy looked at him curiously. Why, this sixteen-year-old boy was a man. So she told him about Sinclair’s demand.

“I reckon it’s all my fault, Aunt Lucy,” said Ted contritely.

Then he told them of his visit to the Sinclair ranch the night before, his purpose in going, and the result. Of course, he knew nothing of the meeting of Sinclair and his daughter.

“I guess it’s because he wants to drive me out of here,” he concluded. “He told Dorothy I’d have to go.”

“That settles it!” Lucy said. “We stay till the cows come home with roses around their necks.”

“I’ve been thinkin’, Miss Lucy,” said Buck, “an’ maybe for once I’ve got a ripe idea. You know when we shipped last fall Sneed took me over to the bank where I got some papers to use in Chicago. Maybe he’s got money in that bank. Maybe there’s more there than you think, Miss Lucy. An’, anyway, why wouldn’t the bank lend enough money to pay up on the cattle? They’re good for it. Of course, we haven’t got much to ship this year, maybe nothing.

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