The Sky Phantom Read online

  She stalked back toward the corral. Ben was not in sight. She hurried into the barn, but the cowboy was not there, either.

  By this time George had led Daisy D up to the barn so that some soothing antiseptic salve could be put over the punctured flesh on her back.

  Bess was even more upset about the incident than the other girls. When she found out Ben was not around, she went to look for Pete, the man in charge of the corral.

  After Bess told Pete what had happened, he exclaimed, “There’s no excuse for this! Every person who saddles a horse is supposed to inspect blankets and saddles carefully so nothing harmful will be put on a pony’s back.”

  Bess looked at him. “We don’t know why, but we think that Ben Rall put the bur there on pur pose.”

  Pete yelled loudly for Ben, and finally the cowboy came. Pete showed him the bur and the puncture on the pony’s back.

  “How do you explain this?” he asked sternly.

  Ben looked at the ground, then said, “I don’t have to explain nothin’”

  Daisy D suddenly sunfished.

  “You explain,” said Pete, “or you’re all through at Hamilton Ranch!”

  Instead of replying, Ben Rall turned and looked at Nancy. Glaring at her with anger in his eyes, he cried out, “I hate the city brand of a cowgirl who tries to fly planes and goes around nosing into everybody’s business to solve mysteries. I’ll get even with you for making me lose my job!” He waved a fist at her.

  CHAPTER VI

  A Puzzling Medal

  NANCY stared after the retreating cowboy, realizing that she had unwittingly made an enemy. But what was the reason? She had never seen or heard of Ben Rall.

  “He mentioned my being a detective. That’s strange. Could he have had something to do with the mystery of the stolen palomino, or even with the disappearance of Roger Paine?” she asked herself.

  To Pete she said, “What kind of a man is Ben Rall?”

  “Very hard to get along with,” was the answer. “He seems honest enough, but pretty ornery at times. The other boys don’t care for Ben so they try to avoid him. I think this angers him, and then he’s meaner than ever to everyone on the ranch.

  “Some other tricks have been played around here, but we never could find out who did them. After this bur incident, I’m beginning to wonder if Ben wasn’t responsible for the other things, too. Well, I’m not sorry to see him go.”

  Bess asked in concern, “What will Ben do? Where will he go?”

  Pete said that Pop Hamilton was generous to people he had to discharge.

  “Usually they get a month’s wages in advance and a good pony. I don’t think it’ll be hard for Ben to find a job on another ranch before he spends all his money.”

  This made the girls feel better, but Bess admitted she was afraid that Ben might try to harm Nancy.

  “Oh, let’s forget the whole incident,” George Fayne said. “It disgusts me to think about it.”

  Nancy had little to say, but she decided to keep her eyes open for any trouble from the dismissed cowboy. She also decided that the next day she would inspect and saddle Daisy D without any assistance. She wanted no more sudden sunfishing by her pony!

  Before breakfast the following morning, she went out alone to the barn, where Daisy D had been put into a stall. The pony wagged her head as the girl entered.

  “How are you, pretty girl?” Nancy asked, stroking Daisy D’s neck.

  Apparently the pony liked this and nuzzled the girl. Nancy examined the bur puncture on the animal’s back. It was healing nicely.

  Just then Pete came into the barn. “Morning, miss,” he said. “You’re out early!”

  Nancy smiled and said she had a reason for getting up before the regular rising time at the ranch house.

  “I thought I’d take Daisy D and see if riding bothers her.”

  Pete grinned. “Sort of a trial run, eh? Well, I don’t blame you.”

  Nancy nodded and said she wondered if a protective bandage should be put over the pony’s sore before a blanket and saddle were set in place. The cowboy agreed.

  As he went to get a large antiseptic gauze, he called out, “You’ll be glad to hear that Ben collected his wages and left last night. He went off on a pony Pop gave him.”

  “That was very generous,” Nancy commented. She asked what the pony looked like and was told she was a sorrel with a broad band of white down her nose. The animal’s front feet had large patches of white on them.

  “She’s pretty easy to identify,” Pete remarked. “While you’re riding, you’d better keep your eyes open for Ben and his pony.”

  “I certainly will,” Nancy said.

  She took a saddle pad from the shelf and examined it carefully. Finding it clean, smooth, and soft, she swung it across Daisy D’s back, holding the gauze tightly in place. Then she located the comfortable saddle she had used the day before and put it on.

  “Climb up,” Pete said, “and I’ll adjust the stirrups to exactly the right height. I noticed, Nancy, that you ride more in the English style than in our western type.”

  “Yes, I do,” she replied.

  Nancy got astride. The stirrups were adjusted properly. Then she gathered up the reins and squeezed the pony with her legs. They rode off at a brisk pace.

  Daisy D proved to be a wonderful companion. She was affectionate and responded to the rider’s slightest signal. Nancy walked, trotted, cantered, and galloped. Daisy D did not object. The girl detective returned to the barn, smiling.

  “Daisy D is great,” she said to Pete. “I can’t wait to start on the pack trip.”

  He told her that the breakfast gong had already rung. “You’d better scoot to the mess hall,” he advised with a grin. “I’ll take care of Daisy D and give her some breakfast too.”

  “Thank you,” Nancy answered, and she ran off toward the ranch house.

  One hour later her group was ready to leave. An extra pony was being taken along to carry supplies. It was a gorgeous morning, and the six riders were exhilarated.

  Chuck Chase rode with Bess and they seemed to be having a delightful time, laughing frequently. Range Cooper kept pace with George, while Nancy and Pop Hamilton led the group.

  They followed the road for several miles, planning to turn off near the place where Roger Paine’s plane had come down. Just before noon-time Nancy spotted a lone rider in the distance. She pointed him out to Pop and the others.

  The rancher looked ahead intently. “I wonder if that could be Ben Rall,” he said. “If so, we’d better catch him! I found out this morning that he stole over a hundred dollars from the other men when he left!”

  The rider disappeared around the bend. As the group reached the turn, they found a steep hillside on their left. Hoofprints indicated that the man on horseback had gone up to the top. The slope had little growing on it, but a dense growth of trees covered the peak.

  Pop commanded, “Come on, boys! We’ll see who that is! Girls, you stay here.”

  The three girls dismounted and held their ponies. Nancy and George looked out over the wide stretch of land in front of the hill. Bess stood still, gazing up to the top.

  Suddenly she cried out, “Run, girls, run!”

  Nancy and George spun around to see why. Looking up the slope, they saw a huge tree trunk tumbling down the steep incline directly toward them!

  “Grab the ponies!” Nancy yelled.

  Although Bess had given the signal, she now seemed paralyzed with fright and did not move. George grabbed their two ponies and dashed out of the way of the oncoming tree. Nancy reached for Bess’s hand while clutching Daisy D’s bridle, pulling her and Bess to safety.

  The tree, coming at lightning speed, just missed them. It rolled for some distance along the flat area.

  No one had been hurt!

  Bess stood like someone transfixed, staring into space. Her cousin shook her. “What’s the matter with you, Bess?” she asked. “Come to! The danger is over!”

  Bess s
aid she was sorry for not reacting faster after warning the others. “The reason was that I saw a face at the top of the hill leering down at us. I’m sure he started that tree rolling. And what’s more, I think the man was Ben Rall, who threatened to hurt you, Nancy.”

  “If you’re right,” the girl sleuth replied, “I hope Pop and the boys capture him.”

  In a little while the other riders returned. The girls were sorry to see that the cowboy was not with them. Pop reported that they had not seen the lone rider.

  “But I did!” Bess spoke up. “He tried to kill Nancy, George, and me!”

  “What!” Pop, Chuck, and Range exclaimed together.

  “That’s right,” George added. She told them what had happened. “You can see the evidence some distance from here.” She pointed toward the tree that had rolled down the slope and onto the open area.

  Pop commented, “That’s a fine twist. Here I tell you to stay in this spot so you’ll be safe, and you were the ones who were nearly killed while the boys and I didn’t even get a glimpse of the culprit!”

  Bess nodded. “If that was Ben Rall, he has already started to carry out his threat to get even with Nancy!”

  The three men frowned. Pop said, “From now on we must take double precautions.”

  The group had lunch and rested a while, then set off again. It was almost dark when they reached the spot where Roger Paine’s plane had landed. It was not there now. Had it been there and gone again? They all examined the ground but could not answer the question.

  Later in the evening, they brought out their sleeping bags. When they were ready to climb into them, Chuck said, “I think we should set up guard. I’ll take the first watch.”

  Pop Hamilton agreed and asked Chuck to awaken him three hours later.

  Range Cooper grinned. “That makes me last, and my watch will run into breakfast time. I promise you all a great feast!”

  The three girls offered to take turns watching, also, but the others wouldn’t hear of it. They slept soundly and awoke to the aroma of sizzling bacon and hot biscuits.

  “How heavenly!” Bess exclaimed, raising her arms to stretch. “Nothing ever smelled so good!”

  The morning meal was as tasty as it smelled. Range, complimented by the girls, seemed embarrassed, and a red flush came over his sun-tanned face.

  “It was nothing,” he declared.

  As soon as they had finished and tidied their little camp, Nancy was eager to start her search for a clue that would identify the sky phantom. She walked in ever-widening circles in order not to miss an inch of ground. An hour later, to her delight, she found something exciting. Nancy called to the other searchers to come and see what she had picked up.

  “What did you find?” Pop asked.

  “It’s a silver medal with a chain attached to it,” she said. “And look, the initials on it are R.P.!”

  The others in the group were amazed. George asked, “You believe the R.P. stands for Roger Paine?”

  “I don’t know,” Nancy replied. “On the back of the medal is a series of strange marks.”

  Her friends rushed over to look at them.

  Bess asked, “Do you suppose these marks are a clue that Roger left behind on purpose? Do you think that if we can figure out what they mean, we can find him?”

  CHAPTER VII

  Happy Discovery

  THE RIDERS gathered around Nancy. She held up the silver medal, showing first the side containing the large engraved initials.

  “Those must be Roger Paine’s,” George said. “It would be too much of a coincidence if they belonged to someone else.”

  Chuck asked to see what was on the back of the medal. Nancy turned it over.

  The cowboy laughed. “Looks like Greek to me,” he said.

  Each one glanced at the strange markings, but no one could make any sense out of them.

  Range asked, “If Roger Paine was abducted and left this as a clue, why didn’t he put something on it that we can read?”

  All this time Nancy had been staring intently at the back of the silver medal and the carefully made grooves on it.

  Finally she said, “These markings are machine-cut, and he wouldn’t have had any engraving apparatus out here!”

  “You’re absolutely right,” Pop agreed.

  Once again each member of the group took a turn studying the oddly formed characters, but still no one could venture a guess as to what they meant.

  “Let’s get on with our search!” George suggested impatiently.

  Nancy put the medal in her pocket and once more the searchers separated, each one scanning the ground carefully for further bits of evidence.

  “There must be something around here,” Range murmured.

  The search lasted nearly an hour before anyone made a discovery. Chuck and Bess had found some indistinct hoofprints that did not belong to any of the group’s ponies. They called the others to look at them.

  After Nancy had examined the marks she commented, “These weren’t made by our ponies. They’re too faint and indistinct. They must have been here for a while and been partially obliterated by rain or dust.”

  “We’ll follow them,” Pop decided. “They may be a clue.”

  He asked Nancy to lead off, saying, “You have a detective’s eye. If these prints lead somewhere, you’ll be the one to find the place. I’m convinced of that.”

  Nancy blushed a little at the compliment. “I’m sure all you ranchers could do the same thing,” she said, smiling. “And as for Bess and George, I think you’ll find them pretty good detectives in their own right.”

  All of them laughed and made a little bow, then saddled their horses and rode off at a brisk clip.

  Though a little hard to follow, there were still enough footprints intact to lead the group to a hill not far away. It had a rocky slope.

  Conversation had ceased and it seemed as if there was not a sound except the plodding of the walking ponies.

  Suddenly Nancy reined in sharply. “Listen!” she called out.

  The others pulled up abruptly and remained silent. Somewhere off in the distance they could hear a faint whinny.

  “Could that be Ben Rall’s pony?” Range asked.

  “I hope so!” Bess said in a rising tone. “If Ben’s there, we ought to punish him for rolling that tree down the hillside at us.”

  Pop Hamilton had another idea. He urged his mount to get closer to the sound. The others raced after him. A few minutes later he stopped her and asked the young people to listen. The whinny was definitely louder.

  “That sounds like Major!” he said, excited.

  Guided by the whinnies that finally became almost frantic, the group was led to a natural stone stable. Everyone dismounted and rushed inside.

  There stood the stolen palomino!

  The animal began to prance around, although he could not get loose. A heavy chain had been attached to his halter and then secured to a spike set deep into the rock.

  “Major!” Pop exclaimed.

  Bess rushed up and said, “Major, you poor fellow! I hope you haven’t been mistreated!”

  Again and again the beautiful pony nuzzled Pop. It seemed as if he could not get enough affection from the master he loved. Each of the girls and the two cowboys went up to pat Major. Aside from looking a little thin, the animal seemed to be in good condition.

  “Now we can start for home,” Pop said, beaming happily.

  “Aren’t we going to try to find the thief?” Nancy asked.

  The rancher said he thought that would be like hunting for a needle in a haystack. “Most likely the culprit saw or heard us coming and hurried away from here.”

  The young detective and her friends did not agree. One by one they gave Pop reasons why the thief might be hiding in the area—in a cave, perhaps.

  George said, “Unless he has another pony, how could he get away from here?”

  “Maybe,” said Bess, “if Ben Rall is the thief, he’s off riding his own pony.”r />
  Pop listened to all the arguments, then said to Nancy, “Let’s have your opinion of the whole thing.”

  “I’m beginning to think it was not Ben Rall who stole Major,” she replied. “It’s possible that whoever did it is connected in some way with Roger Paine’s plane. There’s a shortcut from here to the spot where we found the craft. Whenever the person piloting it arrives, he may walk over here and use Major for some kind of work—perhaps to carry heavy packages.”

  “What in the world could he be bringing out here?” Bess asked. “And why would he go to so much trouble to make deliveries?”

  “He would if it’s contraband,” Nancy replied.

  Range said, “Maybe the man is taking something important away from here.”

  “Like what?” George asked.

  Range grinned. “Gold!”

  Chuck laughed. “If there’s any of that around, I’m going to start digging myself!”

  Nancy reminded the others that they had come out to this area for three reasons: to find Major, to catch the horse thief, and to locate Roger Paine.

  “I have a suggestion,” she said. “Pop, would you please let me ride Major?”

  “Sure. Why?”

  “I’ll give him his head and see if he’ll lead me to the horse thief.”

  The rancher nodded his assent. They found the pony’s bridle hanging on another spike. After removing the halter, they slipped the bridle over his head. The saddle and saddle blanket lay on a protruding stone. When everything was adjusted, Nancy jumped astride the pony’s back and urged him out of the rocky stable.

  “Go find the thief!” she told the palomino. “Good boy! Then go find Roger Paine!”

  Major lifted his ears and looked wise, as if he understood every word. The pony, finding that he was not being directed, turned at once in the direction of the Hamilton Ranch. Everyone laughed as Nancy guided Major back to the group.

  She patted his neck. “We’ll go home in a little while,” she said. “Right now we have a job to do. Find the man who took you away from the ranch.”

  Once more the pony’s ears stood straight up. Hopefully, Nancy waited. Once more Major veered around and headed for the ranch.