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Pony Rider Boys on the Blue Ridge

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<h3>CHAPTER XXII</h3> <h3>PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE STEW</h3> Jay Stillman, after starting the fire, had suspended a kettle from a crane, having first half filled the kettle with a stew that he proposed to warm over for their evening meal. Fortunately for the two lads who were sliding down the chimney the stew had not yet become hot enough to do any damage to a boy's skin. On the other hand, the smoke in a dense, suffocating cloud was pouring up the chimney. As the yell in the chimney reached the ears of the two men sitting by the table they gazed at each other in amazement. Quick-witted as they were, the true significance did not occur to them. Pieces of stone, soot, the accumulation of years, were dropping into the fire. Then came a solid body. Tad Butler hit the fire first. He smashed into it, carrying kettle and crane down with him. Fire, burning brands and sparks belched out into the room as though an explosion had occurred in the big fireplace. Tad with quick instinct was struggling to get out of the way of his falling companion, when Ned Rector landed on him full force. Tad humped himself, and Ned went sprawling out on the hearth. Butler did not lose his presence of mind for a second. In fact Tad had formed his plans, so far as it was possible to form them, before he reached the fire. Uttering a yell, calculated to strike terror to one who heard it, Tad rolled out on the hearth, his clothes ablaze and his hair almost singed off. The mountaineers still sat in their chairs, lower jaws hanging, eyes bulging. Without waiting for the men to recover from their surprise, Tad gave a couple of quick rolls. The rolls served to put out some of the fire in his clothes as well as to bring him nearer to the object towards which he was rolling. The boy's feet came up with great force, and the deal table standing between the two mountaineers rose up into the air, dishes, lamp and all. Ned uttered a howl, a series of howls. Blood-curdling howls they were, too. He had caught Tad's purpose and was aiding it with all his might. The lamp, dishes and all went over with a crash. The two men in trying to get out of the way of the flying dishes and lamp both toppled over backward, landing on their backs on the floor. Of course the lamp exploded with a dull "pouff"! "The door!" Tad commanded sharply. "Run low!" Ned scrambled to all fours and made for the door dog-fashion. By this time Stillman and Batts had sprung to their feet and drawn their revolvers. "Shoot! Shoot!" yelled Jay. "My gun's stuck," howled Batts. "Bang, bang, bang!" Three shots were fired in quick succession from the pistol of Jay Stillman. Two of them bored holes in the door casing just above Ned Rector's head. The third shot went out through the open door. Tad was still in the room, but crawling toward the door with all speed. The light from the burning oil now flared up, revealing his presence. Stillman let go two quick shots at the boy. One bullet grazed Tad's head. He remembered afterward that it felt hot, like the heat in the fireplace when he fell into the stew. Batts at this juncture jerked his weapon from its holster, but the pistol slipped from his hand and fell to the floor. "Oh, you fool!" roared Stillman. Tad plunged out through the open door, landing on his face in the dirt. "Jump to one side!" he commanded sharply. Ned, taking the hint, gave a leap to the right, and just in time, for he was standing directly in front of the open door, through which two revolver bullets were fired almost at the instant of his leap. Tad had crawled to the left. "Run!" he called. Ned did run until Butler called a halt a few rods from the cabin. Tad grasped the arm of his companion the instant he reached him, then led the boy back toward the cabin. "Where, where you going?" gasped Tad. "To see what is going on back there. Are you hurt?" "I'm near dead," groaned Rector. "I haven't any skin left except what is hanging in shreds. Oh, what an awful experience. I'll bet you are a sight, too." The boys were creeping nearer the cabin. They found the two men inside stamping out the fire on which they had thrown blankets from the bunks. Stillman dashed out of doors as soon as he had extinguished the fire. In his hand was his rifle. In the meantime Batts had procured another lamp and shortly afterwards had lighted and placed it on the table. Stillman remained outside, crouching by the doorway listening, with rifle ready to take a shot at the slightest sound. At that moment Tad Butler and Ned Rector were lying less than ten feet from the crouching figure of the mountaineer. They dared hardly breathe. "What do you make of it, Jay?" asked the other man, thrusting his head out close to the watching mountaineer. "Funny business." "Where are they?" "I wish I knew. I'd kill them on sight." "You—you don't think it was one of the outfit down in the gulch, do you?" asked Batts. "I reckon not. Still, it might have been. We'll get supper and I'll go down there and find out," decided Stillman with emphasis. "If I see any signs of a fellow who has been in a fire I'll plug him sure as my name's Stillman," raged the mountaineer. "Look out, Joe!" warned Batts. "They may still be touchy about the pup and have a weather eye open." "They won't catch me, now that I'm on my guard." Stillman entered the cabin, slamming the door behind him. "Somebody ought to keep watch," suggested Batts. "You go out. I'll fix up the wreck. No; take your own gun. I want mine where I can get hold of it. I overshot, too. Did you get wise to the foxiness of those fellows? Run out on all fours so we'd shoot over them. Foxy, foxy! That wasn't no tenderfoot trick." Batts picked up his rifle and started for the door. "Skip!" whispered Tad. "Run for it, but don't make a sound unless you want to stop a bullet." Ned Rector needed no urging. By the time Batts had reached the threshold of the door the boys were well down the path. Even then the keen-eared mountaineer heard them, and sent a bullet in their direction, but the bullet sailed far above the heads of the boys. Tad changed his course somewhat, as the fellow had their range a little too closely to suit young Butler. "I guess that's all," decided Ned. "Don't be too sure of it. They may be following us, so we must be cautious." "What do you mean?" demanded Ned. "I mean that I am going to follow those fellows. There surely is something big on foot. I think I know what it is, and if I am right we shall have done the biggest piece of work of our lives." Ned Rector groaned. <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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