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Two Boys in Wyoming, by Edward S. Ellis
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Two Boys in Wyoming, by Edward S. Ellis
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Title: Two Boys in Wyoming A Tale of Adventure (Northwest Series, No. 3)
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Two Boys in Wyoming, by Edward S. Ellis
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Author: Edward S. Ellis
Release Date: December 30, 2006 [EBook #20223]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO BOYS IN WYOMING ***
Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
Two Boys in Wyoming
A TALE OF ADVENTURE
BY EDWARD S. ELLIS
AUTHOR OF "DEERFOOT SERIES," "LOG CABIN SERIES," ETC.
PHILADELPHIA HENRY T. COATES & CO. 1898
Northwest Series, No. 3
[Illustration: "They had come a goodly distance since morning."]
CONTENTS.
I. Jack and Fred
II. Riding Northward
III. On Guard
IV. Visitors of the Night
V. "Now for the Ranch"
VI. At the Ranch
VII. The First Game
VIII. Look Before You Leap
IX. Night in the Mountains
X. The Signal-Fires
XI. A King of the Forest
XII. The Tug of War
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Two Boys in Wyoming, by Edward S. Ellis
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XIII. A Strange Occurrence
XIV. Missing
XV. Tozer
XVI. Watching and Watched
XVII. Into and Out of the Canyon
XVIII. The Quest of the Cowman
XIX. Into the Cavern
XX. A Climb for Liberty
XXI. How It All Ended
List of Illustrations
"They had come a goodly distance since morning."
"On the projecting ledge stood a noble buck."
"He was sweeping down upon them like a cyclone."
"He was looking in the direction of the break in the canyon."
TWO BOYS IN WYOMING.
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CHAPTER I.
4
CHAPTER I.
JACK AND FRED.
You should have seen those youths, for it gives me pleasure to say that two manlier, more plucky and upright
boys it would be hard to find anywhere in this broad land of ours. I have set out to tell you about their
remarkable adventures in the grandest section of the West, and, before doing so, it is necessary for you to
know something concerning the lads themselves.
Jack Dudley was in his seventeenth year. His father was a prosperous merchant, who intended his only son for
the legal profession. Jack was bright and studious, and a leader in his class at the Orphion Academy; and this
leadership was not confined to his studies, for he was a fine athlete and an ardent lover of outdoor sports. If
you witnessed the game between the eleven of the Orphion Academy and the Oakdale Football Club, which
decided the championship by a single point in favor of the former, you were thrilled by the sight of the
half-back, who, at a critical point in the contest, burst through the group which thronged about him, and, with
a clear field in front, made a superb run of fifty yards, never pausing until he stooped behind the goal-posts
and made a touchdown. Then, amid the cheers of the delighted thousands, he walked back on the field, and
while one of the players lay down on the ground, with the spheroid delicately poised before his face, the same
youth who made the touchdown smote the ball mightily with his sturdy right foot and sent it sailing between
the goal-posts as accurately as an arrow launched from a bow.
That exploit, as I have said, won the championship for the Orphions, and the boy who did it was Jack Dudley.
In the latter half of the game, almost precisely the same opening presented itself again for the great half-back,
but he had no more than fairly started when he met an obstruction in his path. The gritty opponent tackled him
like a tiger, and down they went, rolling over in the dirt, with a fierce violence that made more than one timid
spectator fear that both were seriously injured. As if that were not enough, the converging players pounced
upon them. There was a mass of struggling, writhing youths, with Jack underneath, and all piling on top of
him. The last arrival, seeing little chance for effective work, took a running leap, and, landing on the apex of
the pyramid, whirling about while in the air so as to alight on his back, kicked up his feet and strove to made
himself as heavy as he could.
The only object this young man seemed to have was to batter down the score of players and flatten out Jack
Dudley, far below at the bottom; but when, with the help of the referee, the mass was disentangled, and Jack,
with his mop-like hair, his soiled uniform, and his grimy face, struggled to his feet and pantingly waited for
the signal from his captain, he was just as good as ever. It takes a great deal to hurt a rugged youth, who has
no bad habits and is in sturdy training.
The active lad who had downed Jack when going at full speed, and nipped in the bud his brilliant attempt, was
Fred Greenwood, only a few months younger. He was full-back for the Oakdales and their best player.
Furthermore, he was the closest friend of Jack Dudley. In the game it was war to the knife between them, but
in the very crisis of the terrific struggle neither had a harsh thought or a spark of jealousy of the other. Fred
led the cheering of the opposing eleven when Jack kicked such a beautiful goal, but gritted his teeth and
muttered:
"You did well, my fine fellow, but just try it again--that's all!"
And Jack did try it again, as I have explained, and, tackling him low, Fred downed him. While the two were
apparently suffocating under the mountain, Fred spat out a mouthful of dirt and said:
"I got you that time, Jack."
"It has that look, but----"
CHAPTER I.
5
Jack meant to finish his sentence, but at that moment the mountain on top sagged forward and jammed his
head so deeply into the earth that his voice was too muffled to be clear. Besides, it was not really important
that the sentence should be rounded out, since other matters engaged his attention. The two friends went
through the game without a scratch, except that Jack's face was skinned along the right cheek, one eye was
blackened, both legs were bruised, and half his body was black and blue, and it was hard work for him to walk
for a week afterward. The condition of Fred, and indeed of nearly every member of the two elevens, was
much the same.
But what of it? Does a football-player mind a little thing like that? Rather is he not proud of his scars and
bruises, which attest his skill and devotion to his own club? And then Jack had the proud exultation of
knowing that it was he who really won the championship for his side. As for Fred, it is true he was
disappointed over the loss of the deciding game, but it was by an exceedingly narrow margin; and he and his
fellow-players, as they had their hair cut so as to make them resemble civilized beings, said, with flashing
eyes and a significant shake of the head:
"Wait till next year, and things will be different."
Fred Greenwood was the son of a physician of large practice, whose expectation was that his son would
follow the same profession, though the plans of the parents were in a somewhat hazy shape, owing to the
youth of the boy. As I have already said, he and Jack Dudley had been comrades or chums almost from
infancy. They were strong, active, clear-brained lads, who had not yet learned to smoke cigarettes or cigars,
and gave no cause to fear that they would ever do so. It is not necessary to state that neither knew the taste of
beer or alcoholic drinks, nor did they wish to learn. They understood too well the baleful effects of such
indulgences to be in danger of ruining their bodies and souls, as too many other youths are doing at this very
time.
Doctor Greenwood had been the family physician of the Dudleys for many years. The heads of the families
were college mates at Harvard, and continued their intimacy after the marriage of each, so that it was quite
natural that their sons should become fond of each other. The fathers were sensible men, and so long as their
boys' fondness for athletic sports did not interfere with their studies the gentlemen encouraged them, and,
when possible, were present at the contests between the representatives of the schools.
When Jack Dudley was presented with a shotgun and allowed to make an excursion down the Jersey coast
Fred was his companion, and the two had rare sport in shooting duck and wild fowl. They became quite expert
for boys, and before the hunting season set in did considerable fishing in the surrounding waters, and both
learned to be skilful swimmers and boatmen.
Mr. Dudley was wealthier than his professional friend, though the large practice of the physician placed him
in comfortable circumstances. In one of his many business transactions Mr. Dudley found that he had to
choose between losing a considerable sum of money and accepting a half-ownership in a ranch in the new
State of Wyoming. There seemed little choice between the two horns of the dilemma, for he saw no prospect
of ever getting any money out of the Western land, but he accepted the ownership, the other half of which was
divided among three gentlemen, one of whom lived in Cheyenne, and the others in Chicago.
It is perhaps worth noting that although the fathers of Jack and Fred were great admirers of athletics, and, as I
have said, encouraged the devotion to them shown by their sons, yet neither was inclined that way in his
youth.
"I never expected to own a foot of ground west of the Mississippi," remarked Mr. Dudley, when making a call
upon the doctor, "and here, before I fairly knew it, I have become a half-owner in a ranch away out in
Wyoming."

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