When the wounded had been cared for and the prisoners had been sent to the nearest jail, the remains of the skeleton of the Triceratops, part of the bones imbedded in rock, were carefully hoisted out and laid to one side. When I tell you that the skull, alone, of one of these monsters, imbedded in rock, weighed, when boxed for shipment to a museum, over three tons, you may form some idea of the magnitude of this sort of relic collecting, and understand why many powerful steers were needed, with tackle, to raise specimens out of a deep pit.
That the boy ranchers were intensely interested in the remaining work of restoring to science the lost Triceratops, goes without saying. When it was made plain that the two professors and their men were not cattle rustlers, Mr. Merkel gave them every assistance in his power, assigning some of his cowboys to help with the labor of excavating the remaining bones, not all of which could be found.
For it is rare that a complete skeleton of these monster Dinosaurs is recovered. While our western states, in certain places, are rich in fossil remains, there is very seldom a complete skeleton unearthed. At best there are but a few bones, or the impressions of bones, in the sandstone rocks or shale. But from these bones, from the impressions of those that have been eaten by time, and by their knowledge of what sort of anatomy was needed to keep these wonderful creatures on earth, it is possible for scientists to almost completely and perfectly restore them, in some medium like papier-maché.
"We shall be the envy of all our colleagues!" declared Professor Wright, as the work progressed from day to day, the boy ranchers becoming eager helpers. Professor Wright and Professor Blair labored with their men, and as hard.
There was one exception to this – Silas Thorp. He of the sour face and hangdog manner, it was discovered, had acted with Del Pinzo in stealing cattle, intending to sell them for their own profit, after they had "borrowed" the animals from Diamond X ranch, letting the two professors think the steers had legitimately been "hired."
Silas made his escape during the fight, but Del Pinzo and most of his men were captured. Not all of the professors' employees were confederates of the Greasers, Del Pinzo and Silas Thorp. Some were as ignorant as the scientists themselves that anything wrong was going on. These men were soon freed, and helped in the work of excavating the Triceratops.
There really were some cattle rustlers engaged in operations around Diamond Z ranch when Nort and Dick happened to come on their visit. This fact was discovered later when some of the cattlemen organized a posse, and after a fight, in which several on both sides were slain, arrested a notorious gang.
It was Del Pinzo who had tried to rope Dick that night, hoping, it was surmised, that in the confusion, he might be able to steal some steers.
But the mission of the professor, that same night, was perfectly legitimate. He had heard that some rival scientists were "on his trail," and he rode off alone to see if this might be true. He found nothing, however, but his suspicions were ever on the alert. As a matter of fact he learned, later, that his rivals had never been near him. But he took all precautions, some needless, as it afterward developed.
That some of the Double Z outfit, and perhaps even the owner of that ranch, Hank Fisher himself, were involved in cattle rustling, was suspected, but not proved – at least for some time.
With the discovery that the professors were really scientists, and not cattle rustlers, all suspicion of them vanished. They had come west to hunt for the fossil relics and bones of the Triceratops. The reason they headed for Diamond X ranch was because, some time previous, another scientist, connected with the same college to which Professor Wright and Professor Blair were attached, had been given, by a Mexican guide, a bone from that strange monster – the Triceratops.
By dint of much questioning this professor learned that the bone had been found on land near Diamond X ranch. Professors Blair and Wright secured government permission to prospect on unclaimed land, and thus began a search for the complete skeleton, a search that ended so dramatically.
The two professors had hired an outfit, and planned to spend the entire summer looking for the remains of the prehistoric monster Dinosaur. Their actions were misunderstood by some of the Mexicans and Indians they hired, these ignorant men thinking gold was the object of the search. Hence the attack on the camp at the time Bud and his friends warded it off.
On the occasion when Ridin' Kid rode his horse against the tent, which seemed to conceal something valuable, there was, inside the canvas shelter, some bones that, later, proved to be part of the very skeleton which Bud, Nort and Dick helped to raise from its ten-million-year-old bed. The professors were afraid there would be a premature discovery of what, to them, were valuable relics, so guarded the tent jealously.
But eventually the bones and fossils were hoisted out of the hole, which had to be blasted larger to enable this work to go on, and the scientists departed for the East and their colleges, parting on the best of terms with the Diamond X outfit.
"Saddle up, boys!" called Mr. Merkel to Bud, Nort and Dick one day, about a month after the fight in the valley camp.
"What for – have we got to quiet a stampede?" asked Dick, who had recovered from his injuries, as had Nort.
"No, we've got to ride in to town, to give evidence against Del Pinzo and his gang," answered Bud's father. "Their trial comes off to-day. They've been in jail ever since we roped 'em!"
"More excitement!" yelled Bud as he raced for the corral to saddle his pony, an example followed by Nort and Dick.
The boy ranchers, with some of the older men, rode off over the prairies to the distant seat of the local government, where the trial of the cattle rustlers was to be held.
And, as they rode into the small town, a typical western ranch settlement, they became aware of something exciting that was going on.
Through the main street rode a number of cowboys, with drawn guns in their hands. Several of these horsemen knew the Diamond X outfit, and when one man clattered past on his horse Mr. Merkel cried:
"What's up?"
"Jail delivery!" was the answer. "Those cattle rustlers broke out just now! We're after 'em! Come on!"
"Not Del Pinzo and his gang!" cried Bud.
"You said it!" shouted the man – a deputy sheriff. "A lot of Greasers rode in just now, started shootin' up promiscus like, and in the excitement Del Pinzo and his crowd managed to get out of the calaboose! We got to get a new one, I reckon! But come on! We may land 'em yet!"
"Oh, Zip Foster!" yelled Bud, as he urged his horse forward.
"More exciting fun!" commented Nort. "Got your gun, Dick?"
"Sure!" was the answer.
Through the main street of the town rode the boy ranchers, following the trail of the posse of officers and men who were trailing the escaped prisoners.
As they turned into a cross thoroughfare the sound of rapid firing came to the ears of Bud and his cousins.
"Watch your step!" counseled Mr. Merkel. "Wait a minute!"
But the boys did not wait. On they rushed, only to come into action at the tail end of the fight. Some cowboys and members of the sheriff's hastily organized posse were shooting at some Greasers who had turned to make a stand. But the Mexicans saw that they were outnumbered, and fled off in disorder, firing and being fired at.
However, there were no casualties, and when one of the deputies explained that this "bunch" was not Del Pinzo and the escaping men, but some others, Bud and his friends rode back.
"They tried to draw us off the trail of that slick Greaser," explained one of the deputies.
"Can't we join the posse?" asked Nort of Mr. Merkel.
The ranchman shook his head.
"There's enough after 'em without you," he said. "And as long as Del Pinzo has taken matters into his own hands, and succeeded in postponing his trial, we might as well get back to Diamond X."
Bud, Nort and Dick rather regretted this, but when they learned, later, that the sheriff and his men rode hard all night after the prisoners, only to lose them among the hills near the Mexican border, our heroes decided it was just as well they had not gone.
"So Del Pinzo got away after all, did he?" asked Babe, when the boy ranchers rode back to put their ponies in the corral. "That Greaser sure is a bad one! He'll make trouble yet!"
And Del Pinzo did. He was of a vindictive nature, and he associated much of his trouble with Diamond X ranch. So, naturally, he watched his chance to be revenged on those connected with it, including Nort and Dick.
But for the details of this I must refer you to the succeeding volume of this series.
"Well, fellows, are you satisfied with what you saw and what you did, for a start?" asked Bud of his cousins, two or three days after the escape of Del Pinzo.
"We sure have had some summer!" exclaimed Nort.
"Never one like it!" agreed Dick. "It's a shame to have to go back to school!"
"Well, you wouldn't like it out here in winter as much as you have this summer," spoke Bud. "It's pretty fierce, sometimes. But can't you come out next year?"
"You said it!" cried Nort. "From now on we're going to be ranchers in the summer, and students in the winter. And the summer can't come any too soon for me!"
"Well, just at present, grub can't come any too soon for me!" laughed Bud, as he urged his pony onward. The boys had been out on a last ride, mending a broken fence. For, by this time, Nort and Bud were almost as expert cowboys as was their western cousin.
"I made a pie for you!" called Nell, Bud's pretty sister, as they rode up to the corral, and turned their horses in. "I hope you'll like it!"
"Couldn't help it!" said Nort, gallantly. "Pie! Yum! Yum! Where have I heard that word before?"
"It does seem to savor of happy days," remarked Dick.
"Oh, cut out the poetry!" advised Bud with a laugh. "Let's figure how long it will be before you can come back."
For Nort and Dick did come back to Diamond X ranch. Their further doings will be told of in the next volume of this series to be called "Boy Ranchers in Camp, or the Diamond X Fight for Water." In that you may learn what Bud, Dick and Nort did, and more about mysterious Zip Foster and the wily Del Pinzo.
As Bud, Nort and Dick entered the house, escorted by the smiling Nell, who was well pleased at the tribute to her pie-making, there was a rattle of hoofs, and a bunch of the cowboys clattered in, having been out riding herd.
"Grub ready?" cried Babe, as he slumped off his weary pony – Babe was heavy enough to make almost any pony weary.
"Come on!" cried Mother Merkel.
"Don't tell them about the pie!" whispered Nort to Nell.
"Oh, there's enough for all of them – mother and the women baked a lot, but I made one specially for you boys," Nell answered.
And what the boy ranchers said I leave you to guess.
Up the lane leading from the corral to the house came the hungry cow punchers, to wash the dust and grime from hands and faces, and then to eat with appetites that even a Triceratops might envy. And as they splashed at the washing bench, Slim raised his voice in what, doubtless, he intended for song and warbled:
"Leave me alone with a rope an' tobaccy,
Then let the rattlers sting!
Give me a sweet, juicy apple to chaw on,
Then when I'm sad I will sing."
There was a rattle of tin wash-basins, the swish of water as it was heaved at the singer, and then a howl of dismay from Slim.
"Take that soap out o' my mouth!" he bawled, and amid a chorus of laughter he ran around the corner of the porch, to escape the attentions of his jolly friends.
"Come on to grub!" sang out Bud, and no second invitation was needed. And while the boy ranchers are thus insured of at least temporary happiness, we will say, with the Spaniards:
"Adios!"