CHAPTER XIX
AN AMAZING RECEPTION
At last, however, Bob emerged into a clearing and stopped to survey the group of buildings. The one with the red roof faced the track and was built of logs. It was only one story high and about twenty feet long. The other two stood one on each side and were about twice as long but no higher. Back of the building, toward the west, was an enclosure surrounded by a high fence.
Had any one familiar with ranches been with Bob, they could have told him that enclosure was the corral, into which the cowboys turned their ponies when at the ranch, that the long building nearest the corral was the bunkhouse for the cowboys, and that the other long structure was the eating-house and storeroom of the ranch. But it was not long before Bob learned these facts for himself.
To all appearances, there was not a soul in any of the three houses and, as Bob stood gazing at them, trying to discover some sign of life, for he was loath to take the long tramp back to Fairfax without at least having asked Ranchman Ford for a job, he was suddenly startled to see a huge dog bounding toward him, its lips drawn back disclosing wickedly-long fangs.
Bob's first impulse was to flee, but such tremendous leaps did the creature take that he realized it would be only a few minutes before the dog would overtake him. Then it flashed through his mind that this might be the ranchman's way of "trying out" strangers who came to his door, and the boy determined to stand his ground.
"I'll show them that a 'tenderfoot' has some courage," Bob said, as he braced himself for the impact when the dog should leap upon him.
All the while, he had been steadily looking into the dog's eyes, and just as the creature was upon him the same power that had urged him to come to the Ford ranch seemed to tell him to speak to the animal.
"Steady, boy! Steady! I'm not going to do any harm here," he exclaimed.
Whether in surprise at the boy's unusual procedure in facing him—most callers at the ranch either hastened away or yelled to Ford to call off his dog—or what, the beast hesitated before his last leap that would have brought him on top of Bob and then, beginning to prance playfully, he approached fawningly.
"Good boy! That's the way. We ought to be good friends, you and I. Come here," exclaimed Bob, and as the dog came up, he patted his head caressingly.
The boy's relief was so great at finding the savage beast did not attempt to tear him limb from limb that he failed to notice the door of the red-roofed cabin open and a grizzled head emerge.
But the next instant the presence of the man was called to his attention by a terrific roar:
"Chester!"
Amazed at hearing his name, Bob gazed openmouthed toward the house.
By this time, the man had come out onto the ground and the boy beheld a tall, spare-boned man, with weather-tanned face, a scrubby beard, and a mass of tousled hair.
The dog, however, paid no heed to the voice, rubbing against Bob and licking his hands.
Again came the bellow.
"Chester! Come here!"
Too alarmed by the imperiousness of the tone to wonder how the secret of his identity could be known by this man of the plains, Bob called:
"Yes, sir. Right away, sir."
But if the hearing of his name had caused Bob surprise, his response created more in the man.
"Oh! It's not you I want!" he yelled. "It's that fool dog! Come here, sir!"
But the dog obeyed no better than before.
A moment the ranchman glared at it, his face terrible in its anger, then dropped his hand to his hip and drew forth a revolver.
Divining his intention, Bob leaped in front of the dog, exclaiming:
"Don't shoot, sir! The dog has done nothing!"
"Done nothing, eh? I suppose you call making friends with a stranger nothing. Stand aside!"
But Bob did not move.
"Just because a dog makes friends with me is no reason for shooting him," he retorted.
A moment the man glowered sullenly from the dog to the boy, then, attracted by something about the latter, came closer and peered eagerly into Bob's face.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"Bob Nichols."
"Nichols, eh? Then I must have been mistaken," he added in a voice too low for the boy to hear, and a look of disappointment settled on his face as he continued aloud: "Well, what do you want?"
"You are Mr. Ford, I presume?" asked Bob.
"I am; John Ford, owing no man a cent and afraid of nothing, or no one on earth."
Smiling at this unusual introduction, Bob said:
"I came out to ask if you'd give me a job on your ranch, Mr. Ford."
"Know anything about ranching?"
"No, sir. But I can learn."
"Who sent you to me?"
"A Mr. Higgins."
"Ned Higgins, eh? Trying another of his jokes, I suppose. Probably thought the dog would chew you up."
Then for a moment that seemed hours to the anxious boy, the ranchman pondered, finally exclaiming:
"Well, we'll fool Higgins this time. I'll take you on for a try. You're sure game or you wouldn't have stood before that fool dog, the way you did. Come in and we'll talk about wages."
And, as Bob entered the cabin, Ford turned to look at the dog, muttering to himself:
"Strange, mighty strange. I never knew him to make friends with any one before."